Heritage for sale

Our heritage up for sale:
Only copy of Magna Carta in private hands to be sold in New York
by Arifa Akbar
The Magna Carta, which set out the most basic principles of English law, is recognised as one of the most important documents in existence. So rare are the surviving 17 versions of the manuscript, drawn up by King John in 1215, that all but two reside in Britain's most hallowed institutions, including the British Library and Salisbury Cathedral.
But yesterday, in an extraordinary announcement, Sotheby's revealed that the only copy of the Magna Carta in the world to remain in private hands will be auctioned in New York this December. It dates from 1297 � the year the final versions of the charter were ratified � and it is likely to be the only version ever to be sold.
As one of only two versions outside England � the other belongs to Australia � the sale, which even by conservative estimates is expected to fetch �15m, has been hailed as momentous. David Redden, vice-chairman of Sotheby's, said that, as "the most important charter in the world", it had become a worldwide phenomenon. "The document symbolises mankind's eternal quest for freedom," he said. "It is a vessel for everyone's hopes and fears; it tells us how the concept of freedom in law began. If we go back to find the seed from which it all comes back to, the Magna Carta has had a huge impact which resonates today."
There is something sad about the sale of so symbolic an article, to those of us in the Anglosphere. I hope that it will go to some reputable organization or group who will preserve it and keep it against the day when all of our heritage may be destroyed or effaced. It's happening. Those who could never in a million years have created our civilization are now having their revenge by seeking to rewrite history and obliterate that which can't be spun to favor themselves.
...Claire Breay, head of medieval and earlier manuscripts at the British Library, said it was of great national and international importance. "Its significance was international because of the impact it had in other countries, and it has echoes in the American Bill of Rights as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That's why it still gets cited by lawyers and quoted by politicians," she said.
I am sorry, but Ms Breay is wrong to suggest that it means as much to some third-worlder as it does to us in the Anglosphere. For us, it is a visible, tangible token of the greatness of our ancestors and of their ideas, the like of which the rest of the world has never been able to approach.
As for likening it to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is very different in spirit, although liberal scholars claim that the U.N. document is merely a logical next step in the evolution of 'freedom' and 'rights.'
Jeane Kirkpatrick may have been accurate in calling the United Nations' document as a 'letter to Santa Claus.'
But in our age, the ideas of the past are being pressed into service to justify today's radical left ideas such as multiculturalism, and the universal 'right to immigrate' which is found in the U.N. declaration.
' Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.'
And ironically, the Runnymede Trust, named for the site of the signing of the Magna Carta, seems to be a leftist/globalist/multiculturalist organization.
The Runnymede Trust is an independent policy research organisation focusing on equality and justice through the promotion of a successful multi-ethnic society. Founded as a Charitable Educational Trust, Runnymede has a long track record in policy research, working in close collaboration with eminent thinkers and policy makers in the public, private and voluntary sectors. We believe that the way ahead lies in building effective partnerships, and we are continually developing these with the voluntary sector, the government, local authorities and companies in the UK and Europe. We stimulate debate and suggest forward-looking strategies in areas of public policy such as education, the criminal justice system, employment and citizenship justice system, employment and citizenship.''
Since 1968, the date of Runnymede's foundation, we have worked to establish and maintain a positive image of what it means to live affirmatively within a society that is both multi-ethnic and culturally diverse. Runnymede continues to speak with a thoughtful and independent public voice on these issues today.
How sad. What would the Magna Carta barons or King John think of what is being done to their country today?

Labels: Anglosphere, British Culture, History, Western Civilization