The Christmas Broadcast, 1957 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03[Music]
2. 0:11and glory
3. 0:12[Music]
4. 0:33Happy
5. 0:35Christmas. 25 years ago, my grandfather
6. 0:39broadcast the first of these Christmas
7. 0:41messages.
8. 0:43Today is another landmark because
9. 0:46television has made it possible for many
10. 0:49of you to see me in your homes on
11. 0:51Christmas
12. 0:53Day. My own family often gather around
13. 0:56to watch television as they are at this
14. 0:59moment. And that is how I imagine you
15. 1:04now. I very much hope that this new
16. 1:07medium will make my Christmas message
17. 1:10more personal and direct.
18. 1:14It's inevitable that I should seem a
19. 1:17rather remote figure to many of you, a
20. 1:20successor to the kings and queens of
21. 1:22history, someone whose face may be
22. 1:25familiar in newspapers and films, but
23. 1:28who never rarely touches your personal
24. 1:31lives. But now, at least for a few
25. 1:34minutes, I welcome you to the peace of
26. 1:37my own
27. 1:39home. that it's possible for some of you
28. 1:42to see me today is just another example
29. 1:45of the speed at which things are
30. 1:47changing all around
31. 1:49us. Because of these changes, I'm not
32. 1:53surprised that many people feel lost and
33. 1:56unable to decide what to hold on to and
34. 1:59what to
35. 2:00discard, how to take advantage of the
36. 2:02new life without losing the best of the
37. 2:06old.
38. 2:08But it's not the new inventions which
39. 2:10are the
40. 2:11difficulty. The trouble is caused by
41. 2:14unthinking people who carelessly throw
42. 2:17away ageless ideals as if they were old
43. 2:21and outworn
44. 2:23machinery. They would have religion
45. 2:25thrown
46. 2:26aside. Morality in personal and public
47. 2:30life made
48. 2:31meaningless. honesty counted as
49. 2:34foolishness and self-interest set up in
50. 2:37place of
51. 2:40self-restraint. At this critical moment
52. 2:42in our history, we will certainly lose
53. 2:45the trust and respect of the world if we
54. 2:48just abandon those fundamental
55. 2:50principles which guided the men and
56. 2:52women who built the greatness of this
57. 2:55country and commonwealth.
58. 3:00Today we need a special kind of
59. 3:04courage. Not the kind needed in battle,
60. 3:07but a kind which makes us stand up for
61. 3:10everything that we know is right.
62. 3:13Everything that is true and
63. 3:15honest. We need the kind of courage that
64. 3:19can withstand the subtle corruption of
65. 3:22the cynics so that we can show the world
66. 3:25that we are not afraid of the future.
67. 3:30It has always been easy to hate and
68. 3:32destroy. To build and to cherish is much
69. 3:36more
70. 3:37difficult. That's why we can take a
71. 3:40pride in the new commonwealth we are
72. 3:43building. This year Ghana and Malaya
73. 3:46joined our
74. 3:48brotherhood. Both these countries are
75. 3:51entirely self-governing.
76. 3:53both achieved their new status amicably
77. 3:56and
78. 3:58peacefully. This advance is a wonderful
79. 4:01tribute to the efforts of men of
80. 4:03goodwill who have worked together as
81. 4:06friends and I welcome these two
82. 4:09countries with all my
83. 4:14heart. Last October, I opened the new
84. 4:17Canadian
85. 4:19Parliament. And as you know, this was
86. 4:21the first time that any sovereign had
87. 4:24done so in
88. 4:26Ottawa. Once again, I was overwhelmed by
89. 4:29the loyalty and enthusiasm of my
90. 4:32Canadian people.
91. 4:36Also during
92. 4:381957, my husband and I paid visits to
93. 4:41Portugal, France, Denmark, and the
94. 4:44United States of
95. 4:46America. In each case, the arrangements
96. 4:49and formalities were managed with great
97. 4:52skill. But no one could have managed the
98. 4:55welcome we received from the people.
99. 4:59In each country, I was welcomed as head
100. 5:02of the Commonwealth and as your
101. 5:05representative. These nations are our
102. 5:08friends largely because we've always
103. 5:11tried to do our best to be honest and
104. 5:14kindly and because we have tried to
105. 5:17stand up for what we believe to be
106. 5:21right. In the old days, the monarch led
107. 5:25his soldiers on the battlefield, and his
108. 5:28leadership at all times was close and
109. 5:31personal. Today, things are very
110. 5:34different. I cannot lead you into
111. 5:37battle. I do not give you laws or
112. 5:40administer
113. 5:41justice. But I can do something else. I
114. 5:45can give you my heart and my devotion to
115. 5:48these old islands and to all the peoples
116. 5:52of our brotherhood of
117. 5:54nations. I believe in our qualities and
118. 5:58in our
119. 5:59strength. I believe that together we can
120. 6:03set an example to the world which will
121. 6:06encourage upright people everywhere.
122. 6:11I would like to read you a few lines
123. 6:13from Pilgrim's
124. 6:15Progress because I'm sure we can say
125. 6:18with Mr. Valiant for truth these
126. 6:24words. Though with great difficulty, I
127. 6:27am God
128. 6:28hither. Yet now I do not repent me of
129. 6:32all the trouble I have been at to arrive
130. 6:35where I am.
131. 6:38My sword I give to him that shall
132. 6:40succeed me in my
133. 6:41pilgrimage. And my courage and skill to
134. 6:44him that can get
135. 6:46it. My marks and scars I carry with me
136. 6:50to be a witness for me that I have
137. 6:53fought his battles who now will be my
138. 6:56rewarder.
139. 7:02I hope that
140. 7:041958 may bring you God's blessing and
141. 7:07all the things you long
142. 7:09for. And so I wish you all, young and
143. 7:13old, wherever you may
144. 7:15be, all the fun and enjoyment and the
145. 7:19peace of a very happy Christmas.