Yesterday, we shared a few lines from
Boris Johnson
’s trade speech in Greenwich, and so we thought we would close out the week with this British valentine. There is no other context, but there are some thoughts that come to mind – one in particular -- along with a few details to set the scene for today’s quotation.
From October 1911 to May 1915,
Winston Churchill
had served as First Lord of the Admiralty in the Liberal government of Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith,
a role in which earned high praise for preparing the fleet for war and condemnation for his role in the debacle in Turkey, in a word, Gallipoli. After that, licking his wounds, albeit heroically, he served with the British Army in France. He was still, however, a Member of Parliament and still looking for a fresh grip on the reins of power. That quest suffered a setback on March 7, 1916. Winston gave a speech in Parliament that day that was widely seen as a political blunder, and he quickly returned to France. Of course he would be back, and, of course he when he came back, he would be full of political purpose.
It was against that background that Clementine wrote to him on March 25, saying:
When next I see you, I hope there will be a little time for us both alone. … We are still young but time flies, stealing love away and leaving only friendship, which is very peaceful but not stimulating or warming.
