Let us Now Praise Famous Men

“Let us Now Praise Famous Men.” Quick. Where does this famous quotation come from?: Julius Caesar? Winston Churchill? Walt Whitman? John F. Kennedy? James Agee?

If you’ve been reading from the bottom up, you know that Steven Spender put in his two bits on the topic, and sang the praises of transcendent and fully aware souls who have come and gone, moving among us throughout history, leaving “the vivid air signed with their honor.”

But the famous "speech" about praising famous men came much earlier. You may have heard it somewhere this week, because it is trotted out and read, in accord with the seasons, at the time of Halloween and All Saints Day, in churches around the world. It’s Biblical era stuff, read this week in autumn, when the depths of the earth are churning midway between equinox and solstice, and the spirits are free to roam, stirring and wakening our memories.

The famous passage also takes into kind account those who aren’t famous, those who lived in obscurity, those who toiled in the shadows like most of us do, and lived lives that were good.

The passage is from Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha, which the Anglicans accept as part of the Biblical canon, but even if you don’t, it’s still as old as the hills. And curiously comforting, if you let it be:

1 Let us now praise famous men,
and our fathers that begat us.

2 The Lord hath wrought great glory by them
through his great power from the beginning.

3 Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms,
men renowned for their power,
giving counsel by their understanding,
and declaring prophecies:

4 Leaders of the people by their counsels,
and by their knowledge of learning
meet for the people, wise and eloquent
are their instructions:

5 Such as found out musical tunes,
and recited verses in writing:

6 Rich men furnished with ability,
living peaceably in their habitations:

7 All these were honoured in their generations,
and were the glory of their times.

8 There be of them, that have left a name
behind them, that their praises might be reported.

9 And some there be, which have no memorial;
who are perished, as though they
had never been; and are become as though
they had never been born;
and their children after them.

10 But these were merciful men,
whose righteousness hath not been forgotten.

11 With their seed shall continually remain
a good inheritance, and their children are
within the covenant.

12 Their seed standeth fast,
and their children for their sakes.

13 Their seed shall remain for ever,
and their glory shall not be blotted out.

14 Their bodies are buried in peace;
but their name liveth for evermore.

15 The people will tell of their wisdom,
and the congregation will shew forth their praise.

Ecclesiasticus 44 1-15