Trevelyan: Whigs & Tories

Casuarinas on Patonga Creek

I've been reading 'The Stuarts' by Trevelyan. It has the usual hagiography of Charles I, which I am not prepared to buy. But for the first time, I feel that the Tory/Whig difference started to make sense.

Churchill tries to tell the history of the English 'constitution' and political arrangements in his "History of the English Speaking Peoples", but despite his overriding interest in political arrangements and in his family, he makes fails to explain these or why the English made the peace they made after Marlborough's resounding victories, whereas, it all seems to make sense in Trevelyan.

And as for Charles I, I'll take Geoffrey Robertson (The Tyrannicide Brief) over the two authors above. (But given the English ended up with the Stuart monarchs, Charles I as a saint was bound to prevail as the official viewpoint.)

Patonga Creek

Looking across the creek


Cabbage tree palms


Mangroves in the saltmarsh


Rushes, casuarinas and mangroves and saltmarsh beyond


Brush turkey

The last time I went to Patonga, I went by ferry from Palm Beach, and we paddled up the creek. But the ferry no longer runs, so I drove. I had a memory of how beautiful it was, but I had forgotten nonetheless.

I was surprised to see the turkey, but I had to include him, since he was so decorative. (I took photos of crabs and flowers too, but it was the landscape, which really knocked me out.)