“The people of Israel must ever be regarded with an interest unrivaled by that which attaches to any other of the nations of the earth… what picture of national history could ever display lights so bright, or shadows so deep and dark as this? No people ever stood on such a pinnacle of moral elevation, none ever fell into such an abyss of crime: no nation ever possessed such true grandeur, none ever groaned in such a depth of misery.
The Pomp of Yesterday is a novel inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s poem Recessional. Its message of England at the height of her glory has meaning for America today.
On This Page Recessional by Rudyard Kipling Book Contents Download the eBook Publication Information Recessional by Rudyard Kipling God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine— Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget—lest we forget!
“Mr, Wildthorne,” said Maggie, “have you fulfilled the promise you made me the last time we met?”
“What promise?”
“You promised me that you would read an authoritative life of Luther, an authoritative history of the Reformation.”
“Did I? Oh, yes, I remember. But why should’ I? I have read a great deal of Church history.”
“Yes; but you admitted that you had not read an authoritative life of Luther; that you only read such books as spoke of him as a Philistine and a clown, and which regarded the Reformation as the result of an appeal to the mob.
“It is exceedingly clever, and excites the reader’s interest and brings out the powerful nature of the clever young minister. This most engrossing book challenges comparison with the brilliance of Lothair. Mr. Hocking has one main fact always before him in writing his books––to interest his readers; and he certainly succeeds admirably in doing so.” ––The Queen.
“All of us long for forbidden fruit. This may explain why Alison Neville, of Neville Priory, desired to enter a Nonconformist Church.
“A young English man in the early 20th century is captured by a fanatical tribe of Muslims and given the choice between death and trampling on the cross. Life is more to him than religion, and he places his heel where the two sticks cross each other, and crushes them into the desert sands.
“This is the story of the consequences of this decision. What would you have done?
“Only a small part of this story is imagination. Nearly every incident in the book was told me by “Tommy” himself, and while the setting of my simple tale is fiction, the tale itself is fact.
“My only qualification for writing this simple story of “Tommy” is that I have tried to know him, and that I greatly admire him. I met him before he joined the army, when for more than six months I addressed recruiting meetings.
“Weapons of Mystery” is a singularly powerful story of occult influences and of their execution for evil purposes. Like all Mr Hocking’s novels, “Weapons of Mystery” has an underlying religious and moral purpose, but merely as a story, and quite apart from the purpose which was in the mind of the author, the tale has a curious fascination for the reader. The cleverly conceived plot, and the strange experience of the hero and heroine make “Weapons of Mystery” a story which it is not easy to put down when once commenced.
“Mr Hocking’s novels have been compared to those of Thomas Hardy, Hall Caine, Baring-Gould, and Stanley Weyman; they are, one and all, stamped with striking and original individuality. Bold in conception, strenuously high and earnest in purpose, daring in thought, picturesque and lifelike in description, it is not to be wondered at that Mr. Hocking’s novels are eagerly awaited by a great and ever-increasing public.” – Ward, Lock & Co.
Frank Erskine is just at the start of his career when he is given less than a year to live. He moves from London to the Cornish coast in an effort to find peace before the end. And there his adventures begin.
About Joseph Hocking Joseph Hocking was a faithful Welsh minister. A prolific and popular writer in his lifetime, Rev. Hocking considered the novel an ideal platform for exploring Christian spirituality and the deeper aspects of life.
”…A good selection of Scripture passages well suited for reading at family worship…chosen to furnish a reading for every day and to complete the bible in a year.
Rev. Jesse Hurlbut writes,
“It has seemed to me that there is need of a good selection of Scripture passages, of nearly uniform length, fitted for reading at family worship, so chosen as to furnish a reading for every day in the year and to complete the Bible in a year.