The Charge - has it been changed?

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:34 pm

I am printing out the Charge on the commemorative leaflet for the Devon and Cornwall OB Founders' Day Lunch at Lakeview Country Club, Bodmin on Sunday. In my copy of Christ's Hospital in the Year 2000, it reads as follows:

I charge you never to forget the great benefits you have received in this place and, in time to come, according to your means, to do all that you can to enable others to enjoy the same advantage; and remember that you carry with you, wherever you go, the good name of Christ's Hospital. May God Almighty bless you in your ways and keep you in the knowledge of His love, now and for ever.

Now I may be wrong about this, but I seem to remember something about helping others to enter into the benefits which you so richly have enjoyed.

Does this mean that there has been some dumbing down in recognition of the fact that, apparently (and there is evidence of this on the forum), there are those who did not enjoy their time at Housey? If so, I think a ringing phrase has been lost and I, for one, am sorry for it.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:37 pm

I think we richly enjoyed too, but that doesn't answer your question for Sunday!!

Post by **jtaylor** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:57 pm

Here's the exact wording. format and punctuation from my leavers' Bible from 1992:-

I charge you never to forget
the great benefits that
you have received in this place,
and in time to come
according to your means,
to do all that you can
to enable others to enjoy the
same advantage;
and remember that you carry
with you, wherever you go,
the good name
of Christ's Hospital.

May God Almighty
bless you in your ways and
keep in you the
knowledge of his love
now and forever

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:00 pm

... thank you, Julian. I think that is the same as in the version I have written out above, BUT ...

Where is the richly enjoyed bit?

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:03 pm

Youngsters like you Julian were obviously expected to forget it - all my leaver's bible says is 'The Gift of the Governors of Christ's Hospital to' than a space for name and date. It has me leaving ten days late, I KNOW I did not leave school on 26 December!!

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:31 pm

No Charge in my Bible (1955) or my grandfather's (1886)

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:37 pm

Geraint Jennings has some stuff on his website including the Charge (no richly endowed). He left in 1984. So if I am right, a change was made sometime between Katharine leaving (1965) and 1984.

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:09 pm

I may have solved it thanks once again to Geraint Jennings excellent website:

http://user.itl.net/~geraint/christshospital.html

On it he includes not only the Foundation hymn and the votum, but also a number of prayers in use in the Chapel including this:

O Lord, who has taught us that from those to whom much is given much will be required, grant us that we, whose lot is cast in so goodly an heritage, may steadfastly strive to extend to others what we so richly have enjoyed; and that as we have entered into the labours of other men, others in turn may enter into ours, to the fulfilment of thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

.... but I am still interested in the Charge. When was it started? by whom?
The history of CH is supposed to be better documented than any other school, but simple questions such as this, or even "When and why did the broady buckle migrate from bow to stern" remain unanswered.

Now this prayer may still be in use today.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:20 am

I think they may just have missed the charge out of Katharine's bible.

I have it stuck in the inside cover of mine (the same wording as Julian's et al,) and the Gift of.... and date of leaving (6 days late in my case) on the flyleaf.

I wonder why the dates are wrong, it cannot be because they sent the bibles on so wrote the date they were sent because they were presented as we left.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:36 pm

englishangel wrote:I think they may just have missed the charge out of Katharine's bible.

I have it stuck in the inside cover of mine (the same wording as Julian's et al,) and the Gift of.... and date of leaving (6 days late in my case) on the flyleaf.

I wonder why the dates are wrong, it cannot be because they sent the bibles on so wrote the date they were sent because they were presented as we left.

Perhaps I am misremembering charge and prayer with the so richly enjoyed.

When I left there were just six of us who left that day, perhaps that was why the charge was forgotten, but then 'the Gift of ... ' is on the inside cover where Mary has the charge. It was unusual to have them presented in chapel at Christmas time, but perhaps as the Head Girl was leaving DR decided to do it that way that time. It was the only time, in my time at CH, that the Head Girl left before the end of the year. I have checked my prayer book, that has the date 20 December, so that may be the date I left and it was a slip of the pen that made it 26 in the bible.

midget · Post by **midget** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:01 pm

Moine doesn't have the charge either

sejintenej · Post by **sejintenej** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:23 pm

DavebytheSea wrote:.... but I am still interested in the Charge. When was it started? by whom?
The history of CH is supposed to be better documented than any other school, but simple questions such as this, or even "When and why did the broady buckle migrate from bow to stern" remain unanswered.

I don't remember what Charge I received - I was summoned to the headmaster's study for an unexplained reason - no words leading up to it, simply the caherge and goodbye. The charge is not in my Bible.

As for the buckle: in my day a narrow girdle started off tight in the Prep and loosened more and more but the buckle was always in the centre front.

The broadie (which of course could not be lengthened) started off in the front and, over one's years, migrated to the side (right side AFAIR) in Col A. As for going to the back - some button grecians might do that but not the majority.
For formal occasions - St Matthews Day parade, House photos etc. it came back to front centre.

HTH

J.R. · Post by **J.R.** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:15 pm

midget wrote:Moine doesn't have the charge either

Is yours Irish, then ?

midget · Post by **midget** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:58 pm

Why not? Let's not get racist about it'
Maggie

blondie95 · Post by **blondie95** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 9:49 pm

I have been thinking about this and I don't think the ones that you have posted on here are what is in my bible-and as it is at parents house i cannot check but its the second line of benefits that i think is different the rest of it all seems to be the same.