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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ001144A
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00:26 It would be hard to talk about history in Australia and not end 00:30 end up talking about one man. Two centuries after his death 00:35 his name is probably more familiar to school children than 00:39 leaders of their own day. And of course the country is dotted 00:44 mountains, rivers, parks and monuments that carry his name, 00:49 Captain James Cook. But few people realize how unappreciated 00:54 he was in his own day. To begin with, Captain Cook wasn't even 01:00 a captain when he landed in this country on a sunny April 01:04 afternoon in 1770. James Cook was a God fearing Englishman who 01:10 would circumnavigate the globe literally putting Australia, New 01:15 Zealand and many other Pacific Island nations and locations on 01:18 the map. He would become the most influential navigator of 01:23 his time, charting coastlines from the Arctic to the Antarctic, 01:29 the east coast of Australia to the west coast of North America. 01:32 And hundreds of islands in between. James Cook would barely 01:37 rate a mention in the papers of the day but there's something 01:40 about James Cook not many people are aware of. Join us as we 01:46 discover just what it is. 01:52 ♪ ♪ 02:05 The world's greatest explorer and navigator started his 02:07 journey here. James Cook was born in the village of Markson, 02:11 Yorkshire in Northeast England on October 27th, 1728. This 02:17 granite vase now stands on the site of Cook's birthplace 02:21 cottage. The cottage was demolished in 1786 to make way 02:26 for a grand mansion since destroyed by fire. James and 02:33 Grace worshipped in this small village church of Saint 02:36 Catherine's in Markson. They were God-fearing people and 02:42 James, their second child, was christened here on the 3rd of 02:46 November 1728. The register in which James' birth was entered 02:52 is displayed in the church. The entry reads James the son of 02:59 James Cook, day laborer, and it's written in a single hand. 03:04 When James was eight years old his family moved to a farm near 03:11 the Village of Grate Ayton. His father's employer paid for James 03:15 to attend the local school here between 1736 and 1740. He 03:21 received his early education and learned the basics of 03:25 mathematics that would enable him to master the navigation 03:29 skills he became famous for in later life. Nearby in the 03:36 village is the old All Saints Parish church where the Cook 03:40 family regularly worshipped. The Bible and its message was 03:44 important to the Cook family. Here young James learned to 03:48 treasure the Bible and in later life would carry his Bible with 03:51 him wherever he went. Smuggling was a way of life along this 03:57 coast and Staids was one of the centers for this activity. For 04:03 generations these villagers made a living from the sea. Hardened 04:07 seafarers transported contraband up and down the coastline. When 04:14 James was 16 he came here to stay to work in the local 04:19 general store. Here he had his first contact with the sea and 04:24 had his introduction to the seafaring life as he listened 04:27 to the tales of the sea from the fishermen in the village. From 04:31 the nearby cliffs, the highest point on the east coast of 04:35 England, James must have dreamed of a life at sea as he watched 04:39 the coal ships passing by something that set him on the 04:44 path to become the world's greatest circumnavigator and 04:48 explorer. Encouraged by his employer young James left the 04:57 village of Staids and its general store in 1746 to journey 05:01 to Whidbey where he was apprenticed to John and Henry 05:05 Walker, owners of coal vessels plying the east coast to London. 05:11 A view of the town with its ancient abbey and the squat 05:15 Saint Mary's church across the harbor, the plain tile rooves 05:19 of cottages has changed little since Cook's time here. James 05:24 lived on the east side over the bridge in Grape Lane. It was 05:31 here in John Walker's house that James began his apprenticeship 05:35 and training as a seaman. He worked late into the night 05:38 reading about navigation and seamanship. The Walkers were a 05:43 family of Quakers who owned a fleet of ships engaged in the 05:46 coal trade between the northeast of England and London. The 05:51 Quakers or Society of Friends were honest, upright, hospitable 05:56 Christians known the a simple lifestyle based on the values 06:00 and principles of the Bible. The Walker's Christian beliefs and 06:05 lifestyle made a lasting impression on young James and 06:09 became the true anchor in his life. These values and 06:13 principles would explain the way Cook went on to captain his ship 06:17 and treat officers, sailors and natives. James lived and worked 06:23 believing that God was with him. He had a reputation for fair 06:27 discipline, a strong sense of justice and respect for people 06:32 who others simply labeled savages. James sailed from here 06:38 regularly in Whidbey cats, small sturdy vessels suited to coastal 06:44 work not knowing, of course, that he would eventually become 06:48 one of the world's greatest navigators and explorers in 06:52 vessels built here in the tradition of these colliers, 06:55 these coal-carrying vessels. In the spring of 1755, James Cook 07:01 left just _ ship in the Thames to join the frigate HMS 07:05 Eagle as a volunteer, working his way up from able seaman to 07:11 master of his own vessel, the most famous being the ancient 07:15 bark Endeavor built right here on the flats in Whidbey. So Cook 07:21 and a Whidbey ship came together again in the Endeavor to lay the 07:26 foundation of some of the most significant voyages in the 07:28 history of exploration. Many records confirm Cook's Christian 07:33 faith. For example, he refused to allow cursing and the use of 07:38 profanity aboard his ships and personally conducted divine 07:42 services for his crew on Sundays He also carried a Bible with him 07:47 wherever he went which he obviously put to good use as 07:50 many of the places he discovered bear Biblical names. Cook lived 07:56 at the height of the Enlightenment, the period during 07:59 which intellectuals hoped to use science to transform society. 08:03 This lead to a lot of exploration and scientific 08:09 endeavor and 1769 was going to be a big year for Britain's 08:13 Royal Society because on the 3rd of June the planet Venus was 08:18 going to pass between earth and the sun. No that mightn't sound 08:23 like much to get excited about but by measuring this phenomenon 08:27 from points around the globe scientists would be able to 08:30 calculate the precise distance between the earth and the sun 08:34 and the size of the solar system could be determined for the 08:38 first time. In time this would make possible accurate 08:43 predictions of the movements of the planets. This was vitally 08:46 important information for navigators because it allowed 08:50 them to accurately calculate where they were when the ships 08:54 were far out to sea. James Cook was chosen to lead this 08:59 important scientific expedition. This was the great age of empire 09:05 building for the leading nations of Europe. The British were at 09:09 the forefront of these endeavors and in a fierce contest with 09:12 France and Spain to claim and colonize as much land around 09:16 the world as possible. They desperately wanted to find a new 09:21 continent, the mythical great southland and so planned a 09:26 secret expedition to the south Pacific. It had to be kept 09:29 secret so as not to alarm or alert France and Spain. Next 09:35 they began searching for the best person to lead this secret 09:40 expedition and the British admiralty found the perfect 09:46 candidate. They chose James Cook Of course, Cook didn't know 09:50 anything about this. He'd only just been made a lieutenant and 09:55 appointed to command a scientific expedition to observe 09:59 the transit of Venus from Tahiti in the Pacific. But the 10:03 Admiralty gave him a packet of secret orders only to be opened 10:08 when he was on the far side of the world. And they equipped 10:12 him with a secret weapon, the Endeavor. This is an exact 10:21 replica of Cook's first command, the Endeavor. And it might be 10:26 hard to imagine it but this comparatively small vessel was 10:30 the James Bond vehicle of the 18th century. The Endeavor was 10:35 one of Cook's beloved Whidbey coal ships with a few special 10:39 modifications. The Admiralty sheathed the hull with a second 10:43 layer of boards and stuffed the gap with thick felt and nail head 10:48 to protect against dangerous tropical ship worms and they 10:52 gave her teeth, arming the little ship with six carriage 10:56 guns and eight swivel pieces. She was a chunky little tub, 11:02 only 32 meters long and 9 meters wide with a broad square backed 11:07 stern. But the Endeavor was built to take the worst unknown 11:12 oceans could throw at her and her flat bottom design meant she 11:17 could be easily beached and take on supplies or conduct repairs 11:23 far from home. She was certainly not a luxury liner. The Endeavor 11:28 sailed from Plymouth with 94 people crammed into the two and 11:32 a half meters between decks. Sleeping space was at a premium. 11:38 Amongst the officers, marines and crew was a scientific party 11:42 of 11 men appointed by the Royal Society, naturalists astronomers 11:48 and artists lead by Joseph Banks Now Banks was everything Cook 11:54 was not. Well educated at Harrow, Eaton, and Oxford, well 12:00 connected because his father was a politician and with a private 12:03 rural fortune. The voyage to Tahiti would take close to seven 12:09 months during which time Joseph and his team would catalogue 12:13 literally hundreds of plant, bird and fish species. James 12:19 took a great interest in the welfare of his crew. He was 12:23 concerned about their physical and spiritual well-being. Before 12:27 setting out, his wife Elizabeth gave James a prayer book. With 12:32 a Bible in hand he would personally conduct church 12:36 services for the Endeavor's crew every week. The lack of vitamin 12:42 C found in fresh fruits and vegetables resulted in scurvy, 12:46 the curse of every long sea voyage. It loosened sailors 12:51 teeth turned their skin blotchy weakened and eventually killed 12:56 them. When Magellan first sailed across the Pacific in 1520 he 13:01 lost almost half his crew. Most sea captains took these sorts 13:07 of deaths as an unfortunate by product of long sea voyages. But 13:12 not James Cook. He ordered that all crew members eat a daily 13:16 portion of pickled cabbage and dried pea soup. Anyone who 13:20 who refused would be lashed. Now that's tough love. But it was a 13:27 success. On April the 11th 1769 when the lookout first sighted 13:34 Tahiti James hadn't lost a single man to scurvy. Cook was 13:40 the first captain to eliminate scurvy from his crew. But now 13:45 the transit was over. James could finally open his secret 13:50 orders. The Endeavor was instructed to sail further south 13:55 than all previous explorers, then head due west in search of 14:00 Terra Australis, the great south land. After two months at sea 14:07 the boy at the masthead finally shouted land. Joseph Banks was 14:12 convinced they'd found the mythical great southland, but 14:16 James the master navigator knew better. The Endeavor had 14:21 rediscovered New Zealand and James spent the next six months 14:26 mapping both islands. James had now completed his secret mission 14:31 but instead of turning back towards home, he made a 14:35 momentous and providential decision. After 20 months at sea 14:40 the Endeavor was a leaky tub and he didn't relish taking it back 14:46 around Cape Horn. The decision: Head west and sail into the 14:52 history books. The Endeavor sailed west for about three 14:55 weeks without seeing anything more interesting than birds. 14:59 Then on the evening of April the 18th in the middle of the ocean 15:04 the captain gave a strange order James ordered his men to close 15:10 reef topsails effectively slowing the Endeavor down. 15:15 His intuition 15:17 proved right. At 6 A.M. the next morning the lookout cried land 15:23 ho. The lookout had spotted the dry, scrubby coast of Victoria. 15:28 But the ship had to sail north for another 10 days before the 15:33 captain spotted a suitable harbor and on the 28th of April 15:39 1770 the crew of the Endeavor anchored here, Botany Bay just 15:45 south of Sydney. As they sailed into the bay the crew observed 15:50 several canoes with dark skinned natives busy fishing. 15:52 The Endeavor could have been invisible. The Aborigines barely 15:57 paid them any attention at all, but things got tense the moment 16:02 they tried to go ashore. The beach here at Botany Bay, marks 16:09 Cook's landing place and effectively a turning point in 16:13 the history of the great southern land. Tuot warriors 16:19 threatening with spears and stones approached the group 16:21 James ordered some trinkets to be turned towards them but they 16:26 showed no interest. The natives just wanted them gone. But James 16:31 pushed on and after several warning shots, the Aborigines 16:35 retreated into the scrub. James was accompanied by his well 16:40 connected botanist Joseph Banks. Both witnessed a wide range of 16:46 strange plants and animals. James was struck by the parklike 16:50 nature of the land and named it New South Wales. The Endeavor 16:57 scientists would eventually bring back a staggering 30,000 17:01 specimens from their voyage including 1600 species that were 17:06 wholly new to science. But for all that Joseph was singularly 17:12 unimpressed with New South Wales, describing it as: 17:28 Banks also saw the local aborigines in a very poor light 17:31 and returned a scathing report on them to his government. Cook, 17:38 however, was impressed with the simplicity of the Aborigines 17:42 life. Unencumbered by the need for things. His Christian 17:45 charity saw the Aborigines as men and women, fellow 17:49 human beings. 17:50 This noble attitude was something many of his countrymen 17:56 could do well to learn from. The Endeavor remained in Botany Bay 18:00 taking on fresh water and food for about a week and James made 18:05 attempts to contact the aborigines, but they steered 18:08 clear of this stranger. Eventually the captain turned 18:12 his ship north. With peerless accuracy James and his officers 18:18 would go on to map almost the entire eastern seaboard of 18:23 Australia, a chunk of land 30 times the size of Great Britain. 18:27 It would take James another year to bring the Endeavor back to 18:33 the safety of England and the reception would not be the one 18:38 we'd expect. Joseph Banks' natural discoveries would make 18:41 him the toast of the scientific world, but James role as the 18:46 captain of the Endeavor was largely forgotten. Back in 18:50 England the ship's botanist pulled every string with the 18:56 papers and peers to promote himself. Soon Joseph was being 19:00 referred to in the papers as the immortal Banks and enjoying 19:05 frequent audiences with King George. Before long he also 19:10 announced plans for a second voyage of discovery but for that 19:15 he would need James. And that's how James became Captain Cook. 19:21 In order to secure his services Joseph arranged for a member of 19:26 the nobility to get his companion promoted. James Cook 19:30 led two more major voyages. He was promoted to captain for his 19:35 third and last voyage. While stopped in Hawaii to resupply 19:39 his vessels he was stabbed and killed in a confrontation with 19:43 the natives on the 14th of February 1779. He was just 50 19:50 years old. His shocked and grieving crew buried his remains 19:55 at sea. James Cook undertook three great voyages of discovery 20:02 that took him literally to the ends of the earth. He sailed 20:07 over 300,000 km, the equivalent of traveling to the moon and 20:12 back. He is quite simply history's greatest explorer. 20:18 But he was anchored by a great faith, a faith-based on the 20:23 Bible, a faith that was instilled in him as a child as 20:28 he attended church with his parents at Markson and at Grate 20:32 Ayton where he learned to treasure the Bible. A faith that 20:36 grew stronger at Whidbey where he saw the principles and values of 20:40 Christianity demonstrated in the lives of the Walker family, 20:44 faithful Christians that he lived with for several years. 20:47 A faith that he took with him to sea and on his three great 20:51 voyages of discovery, a faith that he shared with his crew 20:55 each week as he read to them from the Bible, a faith that he 20:59 brought all the way to New Zealand and Australia. Yes, a 21:04 faith based on the Bible. And that Bible is still around, 21:09 preserved here in the state library of New South Wales in 21:13 Sydney. This is the very Bible that accompanied James Cook on 21:18 all of his voyages and that he constantly used in performing 21:23 services. This is the very Bible that he brought with him to 21:27 Australia and New Zealand on the Endeavor. James Cook's wife 21:32 Elizabeth died in 1835 at the age of 93. She lived for another 21:38 56 years after her husband's death. Amongst her most 21:43 treasured possessions was her husband's old Bible which 21:47 accompanied him on all of his voyages. It remained close to 21:51 her all those years. She read it regularly and meditated on 21:56 its message. In the frontice piece is a printed message from 21:59 Elizabeth. This Bible is on the authority of Mrs. Elizabeth Cook 22:04 to have been used by Captain James Cook in conducting divine 22:09 worship throughout his three voyages. Yes, this is the Bible 22:14 that he brought with him to Australia and New Zealand on the 22:19 Endeavor. It's a reminder of our heritage as nations. Both 22:24 Australia and New Zealand have a significant Christian heritage 22:30 based on the Bible that has played a major role in shaping 22:33 our national identities. From the Bible in our courts, prayer 22:38 in parliament, the design of our flags, the words of our national 22:42 anthems, Christian elements are laced through our judicial, 22:47 political, constitutional and social arrangements. Our laws 22:53 and parliament common law have been based on Christian values 22:57 and principles. Our freedom and prosperity are built on a 23:02 Christian foundation. Many of our founding fathers, early 23:07 explorers, leaders and politicians who laid the 23:10 foundations of our modern society were Christians. 23:13 In Australia Matthew Flinders, Captain Charles Furth, Edward 23:19 John Ayer, Fina Beinlay, Alfred Deacon, Willian Stahl and 23:24 governors such as Hunter, McCreary and Brisbane to name 23:29 but a few were all committed Christians. In New Zealand 23:33 Samuel Marsden, William Calensa, Henry William, William Hobson, 23:39 Tapahi, Ruatara, Harnihecka, Tamati Wakamene, Takooti and 23:46 others were committed Christians. Christianity brought 23:51 peace, stability, education and freedom. We need to remember 23:57 that Australia and New Zealand are the great nations they are 24:01 today because of that Christian heritage. And if we're wise, we 24:07 will value and protect our Christian heritage so that 24:10 future generations can enjoy the family values, benefits, 24:14 prosperity and freedoms that Christianity brings. And here's 24:20 the good news. This Christian heritage and all the blessing it 24:25 brings isn't restricted to any one nation or people. Listen to 24:29 what the Bible says in John chapter 3 and verse 16: 24:45 Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for our heritage that allows 24:50 us to enjoy the family values and benefits, prosperity and 24:54 freedoms that Christianity brings. We acknowledge you and 24:59 remember our Christian heritage with humility and gratitude. We 25:04 thank you that in Jesus each of can find true peace and 25:08 happiness in our personal lives. Lord, we pray that you will 25:12 bless us and grant us your peace In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 25:22 James Cook undertook three great voyages of discovery that took 25:28 him literally to the ends of the earth. He is the world's 25:33 greatest explorer who was anchored by a great faith, 25:36 a faith based on the Bible. If you'd like to experience that 25:42 faith and assurance in your life then I'd like to recommend the 25:46 free gift we have for all our viewers today. It's the book 25:51 Finding Treasure: A Beginners Guide. This book is our gift to 25:56 you and is absolutely free. There are no costs or 25:59 obligations whatsoever. Thousands have been blessed and 26:03 inspired by this book, Finding Treasure: A Beginners Guide. 26:07 So make the most of this wonderful opportunity to receive 26:11 the gift we have for you today. Here's the information you need: 26:16 Phone or text us at 0436333555 or visit our website www.tij.tv 26:30 to request today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally 26:34 free of charge and with no obligation. So don't delay. 26:38 Call or text 0436333555 in Australia or 0204222042 in New 26:50 Zealand or visit our website www.tij.tv to request today's 26:58 offer. Write to us at: Don't delay. Phone or text 27:21 0436333555 in Australia or 0204222042 in New Zealand to 27:32 request today's free offer. Call or text us now. If you've 27:39 enjoyed today's story of Captain Cook and his journeys 27:42 of discovery on the Endeavor and our reflections on our nation's 27:46 Christian heritage, be sure to join us again next week. Until 27:50 then remember the ultimate destination of life's journey. 27:54 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And God will wipe away 27:59 every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor 28:03 sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former 28:08 things have passed away. 28:10 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-02-02