[Dear Readers, Many of you will be in lockdown
as we struggle together against the coronavirus. I earnestly hope you and your
nearest and dearest are all well or are only mildly affected. Keep up your
brave spirits! To the bereaved, I can only express my heart-felt sympathy and
condolences. Be sure, this nightmare will end before too long.]
A few days ago, I had a dream, unusual for me
as I usually sleep heavily and undisturbed. I was in a pleasant land of
bird-song and flowers and in the background, I heard the strains of the Hymn Thou
whose Almighty Word with its chorus Let there be Light. I slowly
woke up and, to my only slight disappointment, realised I was not (yet!) in the
Elysian Fields but still in homely but agreeable Folkestone with her blue skies
and bracing sea breezes.
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| The Old High Street, Folkestone, Kent |
My butterfly mind was perplexed by this dream. I am far from being a religious person and I only remember the hymn from my school days 60 years ago. The rousing tune, Wikipedia tells me, is Moscow by composer Felice Giardini (not Charles Wesley to whom it is often mis-attributed). The lyrics of the version normally sung in the UK, in an unusual 6646664 meter, were written by one John Marriott in the 1810’s. I have no idea why this tune flooded my sub-conscious.
The hymn is associated with
Evangelical Anglicans and Methodists which reminds me of my Oxford college, St
Edmund Hall, from which 6 “Methodist” scholars were expelled in 1768 for their
extreme evangelism. Boswell complained to Dr Johnson that expulsion was unduly
harsh to which Johnson famously replied: A cow is a very good animal to be in a field; but we turn her
out of the garden.”
The hymn was included in the Methodist hymnary at the prompting
of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, a close supporter of John Wesley and George Whitefield,
the hyper-energetic Methodist preachers in England and America. Lady Selina was
typical of those influential pious ladies who made their mark on Georgian and
Victorian Britain with their good works – I would cite Elizabeth Fry and
Florence Nightingale. Many men deplored women preaching vide a rueful Dr
Johnson again:
"Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's
walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it
done at all."
By the early 20th
century, women had advanced into almost every sphere, encouraged no doubt by
the regal example of Queen Victoria herself, by the philanthropy of Angela
Burdett-Coutts, by the achievements of the Bronte sisters, by the crusaders
against drink, slavery and abuse in the UK and America. When women won the
vote, the floodgates opened and all open societies became incomparably
enriched.
By the early 21st century, women were prominent
everywhere. Queen Elizabeth II’s reign is already even longer than Victoria’s. The
UK has had two female prime ministers in Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May and
dozens of cabinet ministers. Cressida Dick heads Scotland Yard, Lady Hale
recently retired as president of the Supreme Court and Nicola Sturgeon is First
Minister of Scotland. In literature Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf and Hilary
Mantel have mystified, moved and excited us, as have a host of other lady
authors.
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| Florence Nightingale |
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| Emmeline Pankhurst |
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| Cressida Dick |
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| Margaret Thatcher |
It is not necessary to admire
every representative of the fairer sex. Personally, I would pass on spooky
Greta Thunberg, the Climate Change fanatic, and on thin-lipped Rebecca
Long-Bailey, Corbynista candidate for the Labour leadership. Not that I much
care either way, but I put my money on relatively sane and normal Keir Starmer
(an alumnus of St Edmund Hall by the way!)
To dispel the illusion that St
Edmund Hall is a hothouse of Lefties, I call to the witness box Michael
Nazir-Ali, the erstwhile Bishop of Rochester, a postgrad scholar at The Hall in
the 1970s.
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| Michael Nazir-Ali |
Born and raised an Anglican in
Karachi, Pakistan, Michael is the son of a Shia Muslim convert. He studied in
Karachi before doing postgraduate work in Oxford and Cambridge. Returning to
minister to the very poor in Pakistan, he incurred the ire of authoritarian
President Zia al-Huq and was “rescued” by Archbishop Robert Runcie who gave him
an appointment at Lambeth Palace. He thrived and became Bishop of Rochester but
resigned in 2008 to join an ecumenical think-tank.
Describing himself as an
Evangelical Catholic, his distinctive opinions have regularly offended the
liberal establishment. He mourns the breakdown of traditional Christianity in
England which he blames on the vacuous Sixties culture. The connection between
mothers and their children in transmitting the faith was broken and Michael
insists on the duty of couples to have children, if possible, in Christian
marriage. He deplores active homosexuality by the priesthood and did not
tolerate the proposed elevation of a homosexual to become bishop of Reading. He
rejected having talks with the Episcopal Church of America after it appointed a
homosexual bishop. He has addressed a UKIP conference but rejects far-right
parties like the BNP. He is critical of “multi-culturalism” in historically
Christian Britain and he opposes any appeasement with militant Islam,
ever-hungry for power and filling vacuums left by a weak Church of England. His
voice deserves an audience.
My journey from dreams to hymns, from
strong women to exotic clergymen may weary you. Yet, at this dark moment, I am
sure all will join me in thanks and praise for the doctors, nurses, carers and emergency
staff – so many of them female – who are doing so much to reduce suffering and
bring back joy to our lives. Thanks a million!
SMD
28.03.20
Text copyright ©
Sidney Donald 2020
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