Magna Carta
The words below were originally written the evening of my first trip to London.I was traveling with a group of my students. I don’t think I will ever forget this day.
Greetings from London! For the past several months our travelers have all been eagerly awaiting our arrival in the U.K,, but I do not think I could have been convinced of just how amazing the very first day would be. Before I get to that, let me summarize our travels here. Sunday afternoon our families said goodbye at the Bellingham airport from where we took a shuttle across the border to the Vancouver airport. After some dinner and a few card games we boarded British Airways to Heathrow. Upon arrival we took a train, then the tube. We had just moments to drop our bags and head across the street to the British Library. This is where my excitement begins…in fact my heart is racing as I recall the following events.
The library has many works on display for free, but the main exhibit requires an extra fee. I had researched ahead of time and knew that the Magna Carta was on display. After some general instructions, our leader set us free. I promptly asked permission to pay for entrance to the exhibit and all four boys decided to join me. As we purchased tickets we were told that an hour was recommended but it was closing in 30 minutes. I told them I didn’t mind because this may be our only opportunity. After getting tickets we only had 20 minutes and the guard wasn’t going to let us in so I again pleaded our case. As we entered I made the boys stop and reminded them that we were about to see an 800 year old document that would not only shape law and liberty in England but also influence our own liberties in the emerging colonies years later.
As we rounded the corner there was so much to see that, even now, I am not even sure what came first. There was a plethora of historical documents. One of the first documents was a papal bull issued by Pope Innocent III. I called all the boys over to remind them of the power and influence of a papal bull.The guard again reminded that time was against us so we moved forward. All of us were practically pressed to the glass as we examined the thumb bone and two teeth of King John, who signed the Magna Carta. What came next will have me grinning for years to come.
We rounded the corner and we had entered a room properly titled Law and the American Revolution. I was laughing because one sign explained that the colonists considered King George III to be a tyrant…He was a tyrant! In that room were many writings of William Penn, one of the first distributed copies of the Constitution and then one of my students got my attention. “Miss Callaghan is this real or a copy” so I looked and was it ever real! It was a handwritten Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson himself that included his notes on the portions that Congress had removed. The historian in me was weeping like a small child, though on the exterior I may have been skipping…you can check with the boys on that. My first day in London and I am seeing rare American documents! The guard again…5 minutes! We raced ahead to see the English Bill of Rights, the Petition of Right and finally with moments to spare the barely readable Magna Carta.
We left the exhibit and had just two minutes to see what the rest of the museum held. Just two minutes to see Jane Austins writing desk, DaVinci’s drawings, music of Handel and Beethoven, Lindisfarne gospels, and Shakespeare’s poetry. The boys and I walked and looked until the very last second. We ended the evening with some wonderful Peri-Peri chicken at Nandos and shared stories of the wonders we experienced that day. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for this opportunity. God has blessed us so richly on this trip already. I am thankful for my travel companions who have patiently suffered through my glee over the wealth of history we are experiencing. Just one day in London and I may never stop grinning! I am so overwhelmed with thankfulness that I am here, God has blessed me with wonderful travel companions.
