Armistice Centenary: Tolkien and the Great War

With the 100^thanniversary of the end of World War I this Sunday, there are so many heartrending stories about the Great War I’ve come across the past few weeks – mothers who lost all their sons, battalions that lost so many men they were disbanded, soldiers who died just weeks or days before the Armistice, and more – too much more.

But the story that has most drawn my attention is the war experience of J. R. Tolkien.

Orphaned at 12, Tolkien had experienced deep loss years before.  The War would pile loss upon loss.  The recent Tolkien exhibition here in Oxford and John Garth’s book, Tolkien and the Great War, brought that home to me.  Both quoted this from his preface to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings:

By 1918, all but one of my close friends were dead.

When I first read that at the exhibition, I had to stand aside for a moment to regain my composure.

A theme of Tolkien and the Great War is how the war tore apart what was an inseparable society of four friends at King Edward’s School, one of which was Tolkien.  Two died.  The other two drifted apart.  Tolkien survived because he came down with trench fever after front combat in 1916.  As a result, he had chronic bad health the rest of the war and served on the British coast instead of being sent back to the front.

Having just finished that book, I highly recommend Tolkien and the Great War to anyone interested in Tolkien’s experience of the war, including his literary output and evolution during those years. I also highly recommend the Oxford exhibition book, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, part of which deals with the war years and is very reasonably priced given how lavishly it is illustrated.

We can be thankful that J. R. Tolkien, along with his future friend and Inkling, C. S. Lewis, somehow got through the Great War. (Lewis was taken out of combat by a shell shrapnel injury.  Such was rightly considered good luck back then.)  Yet one can hardly imagine what great minds and writers we lost in that cataclysm.  That is all the more reason to remember them this Armistice Centenary.  We shall remember them.  We shall remember them all.

Hillary at Oxford: “You cannot be civil” to Republicans

While studying church history and worshiping the Lord of history here in Oxford, I unexpectedly encountered a bit of modern history after Evensong at Magdalen College – Hillary Clinton. There was quite a commotion during and after said Evensong this past Sunday.  Afterward I found out why when I saw Hillary herself enjoying the adulation of students. She looked well and happy by the way.

 But look what she said while in Oxford.  Her response to the recent uncivil, abusive, threatening, and, yes, violent tactics of Leftists?

 First remember that Bill Clinton, for all his faults, had enough gumption to confront the violent extremists in his party.  His Sister Soulja Moment remains an example of political courage (and of political calculation, too, of course.  We are talking Bill Clinton.)  But instead, Hillary justified the uncivil and violent Left with…

 You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about…

 She thereby endorses the tactics of the Leftist mob.  She endorses the Brown Shirt tactics of totalitarians.  And face it, the way the Leftist base of the Democrat Party has been acting, with the blessing of Hillary, of Eric Holder among others – that is the way totalitarians act.

 It became clear during the Obama years and is becoming clearer now: the Democrat Party has a disturbing totalitarian streak.  Its tactics against Kavanaugh, trying to turn his confirmation into a show trial, its attacks against the free speech of opponents and even against the peace and persons of opponents, reveal it is becoming a totalitarian party if it is not there already.

 And that is further indicated by even the uber-establishment Hillary Clinton being okay with that.

 With the way the Democrats are going, I expect to revisit this subject.  We must revisit this subject.  The 20^thCentury is full of lives destroyed because of slowness to confront totalitarians.  But it suffices for now to say that if the Democrat Party is not politically punished for their totalitarian tactics and soon, namely November, it will be a disaster for the United States.  I know that saying so will seem overwrought to some, but the Democrat Party is already that far gone as Hillary’s statement here in Oxford indicates.

Latin BCP Holy Communion?

Yes, a Latin Book of Common Prayer service may seem a bit of a contradiction, an oxymoron even. Wasn’t the BCP written in English precisely so that it would be “understanded of the people”? Wasn’t it a pointed break from the Latin Sarum Rite?

But remember that in times past, Latin was very well “understanded” by Oxford scholars.  You really could not get into the place without knowing Latin well.  This is reflected even in some 20th Century books in which it is assumed that if you are bothering to read them, you know Latin.  Anyway, in 1560, just one year after the Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559 was approved, a Latin BCP was promulgated for the use in the universities.

A survivor of those times – because tradition! – is a Latin BCP Holy Communion service at the University Church of St. Mary’s in Oxford at 8am the Thursday before the beginning of the academic year, which service I attended this morning.  Yes, this bit of strange history continues today.

I attended (among only about 15 so to do) because . . . tradition! -- I cannot resist strange history -- and because Oxford could use all the Latin prayer it can get.  But I have to admit it was more stirring than I expected.  As I walked down the High about ten minutes early, the St. Mary’s main bell was calling scholars to the service. Of course, most of even Oxford students on High Street were probably clueless as to why all the gonging.  Partly this is because of ignorance of history, but also because this bit of slightly arcane Oxford is not well publicized at all.  This is typical of Oxford.  As the famous Father Barry of Pusey House one complained, "No one tells you what is going on around here!"

The service itself was quiet and said, only about 35 minutes.  I found hearing and saying (tolerably well) the Latin moving.  There is something about Latin.  And when I crossed my arms for a blessing only (Oddly, the sacrament was brought around to the stalls instead of the congregation going forward.), being quietly blessed in Latin moved me indeed.

I attended this in 2007, missed it in 2011.  I am glad I didn’t miss it this time and recommend it to all visitors to Oxford, at least those not allergic to Latin.

Remembering the East Yorkshire Regiment in World War I

In the past when I visited English churches, I’ve rarely paid much attention to war memorials. I hope that is not because of callousness on my part. My focus has been much more on older, especially medieval aspects of church buildings.  But with this year being the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I, I am making a point to pay more attention.

So two days ago, I noticed a cenotaph style memorial in a small chapel of Beverly Minster.  Around all sides are the names of those who died in “The Great War” from the East Yorkshire Regiment.  I walked around it and saw all. the. names.  From just one regiment. 

It was overwhelming.  I had to sit down for a few moments to regain my composure.

Us Americans came in late to World War I.  And today we frankly suck at history.  So most of us do not get how devastating WWI was.  But I am at least beginning to get it in recent years.  Being in England certainly assists with that.  I was chatting with some gentlemen in York, and they told me a big reason the term “Lost Generation” came about.  When the English went off to war, they wanted to be together with their buddies and brothers, of course, (And I’ve noticed this desire reflected in some of C. S. Lewis’ letters.) and to a large extent this desire was accommodated. So during some of the worst battles and/or in some of the worst hit regiments, the male youth of whole towns were decimated.

And some of that decimation is documented, name by name, in that memorial in Beverly Minster.

About the Whining of the Press

I notice a number of newspapers are issuing alarming editorials about the supposed threat of President Donald Trump to a free press. 

The only threat Trump is to the press is to expose most of the “mainstream media” as propagandists for the Democrat Party that put “the narrative” above the basics of professional journalism.  And Trump and the rest of us have the right to exercise our Constitutional free speech to call out what is really the Democrat News Media for that.  Personally, I am glad we have a President with the backbone to fight back against the lies and distortions of the Democrat News Media, unlike the weak Bushes.

Speaking of free speech, where was the concern of these newspapers when Obama Regime weaponized the IRS, the FBI, the DOJ, the CIA etc. etc. against political opponents?  Where is their concern when speakers are driven off campus after campus?  When conservative and even centrist students fear to oppose campus totalitarians?  Where is their concern when masked Antifa black shirts violently attack free speech?  Where is their concern when more and more non-establishment rightist accounts are banned from Facebook and Twitter?

But if a President calls out fake news media for being propagandists and liars for the Democrat Party, oh, that is just TERRIBLE! 

So whiny Leftist, lib and establishment newspapers, you have the right to freedom of the press, and I hope you always will in spite of the anti-freedom forces you support.  But the rest of us to which you are doing a public DISservice have the right to free speech, too.  And we and the President are right to call you out for the frauds and charlatans you are. 

HERE WE GO AGAIN: 588 Mostly Democrat Votes “Found” in Ohio Special Election

What’s a close election (or even not so close. See the 2016 Presidential Election.) without Democrats trying to steal it afterwards?  In the Ohio Special Election for CD 12, 588 “missing” votes were “found” after election night.  And most of them are for the Democrat Danny O’Conner, of course.

This reminds me of the Washington State stolen gubernatorial election in 2004 in which “missing” votes were “found” in heavily Democrat King County.  (Is there any evil Seattle hasn’t inflicted on the rest of that state?) Or, heck, it reminds me of LBJ’s Box 13 back in the 1948 Democrat Primary (which back then was pretty much the election in one party Democrat Texas):

…Box 13 in Duval County provided Lyndon Johnson the victory margin as the gangly congressman from Johnson City won a hotly contested Senate race by 87 votes.

Six days after election, authorities in Alice (now in Jim Wells County) “discovered” 202 additional ballots in precinct #13 that had not been counted.

Johnson received 200 of those votes. His opponent, Coke Stevenson, got two.

Stevenson’s razor-thin lead melted away and “Landslide Lyndon,” who believed that the 1941 Senate race had been stolen from him, was the winner in yet another deeply disputed election.

Later, it was reported that the ballots seemed to be written in the same ink. And the voters allegedly voted in alphabetical order.

Johnson never acknowledged that his allies stole the election. But former Texas Observer editor Ronnie Dugger told a story of visiting LBJ in the White House. The then-president whipped out a photo of five good ol’ boys from Alice with the infamous Box 13 sitting on the hood of their vehicle.

Dugger asked LBJ if he had stolen the election.

Laughter.

It’s not funny.  At least not anymore.

The Pope in the Waterloo Gallery

It is interesting what can stick in one’s mind during travel.  Pope Pius VII sticks in my memory from my visits to Windsor Castle.

That may seem odd given that the focus of Windsor Castle is the history and housing of the British Royal Family.  And the glorious Chapel of St. George certainly stands out as well.  So my focus on a pope may indeed be odd.  

Yet I remember him indeed thanks to a wonderful portrait in the Waterloo Gallery in the State Rooms of the castle.  As one may guess from the name, the Waterloo Gallery displays portraits of worthies who played a role in resisting and defeating Napoleon and in dealing with the aftermath.  Most of the subjects are in idealized stately and/or heroic poses.  But not Pius VII.

With Pius, the genius of the man who painted the portraits of the gallery, Sir Thomas Lawrence, is most evident. Pius VII is painted very honestly, in a remarkably informal sitting posture, and with few obvious trappings of the papacy.  He is elderly yet at the same time with a lot of life and personality.  His expression is almost mischievous as if saying, “Napoleon thought he had me beaten.”

An excellent video on the Waterloo Gallery with some focus on the portrait of Pius VII may be found here.

It is interesting that Pius VII is enshrined in this gallery; for he actually had a mixed record in opposing Napoleon.   His predecessor, Pius VI was dogged in opposing attacks on the church from the French Revolution and from Napoleon.  That did not work out well as he died a prisoner of Napoleon.  The papacy itself was in peril as well.

Pius VII understandably wanted a different result, so he was beyond reasonable in seeking accommodation with Napoleon. That included attending Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor in 1804, against the advice of some of his Cardinals, and enduring petty disrespectful treatment from the tyrant while in Paris for the occasion.  And it also included later agreements that reduced the papacy’s power.

But Napoleon was not nearly as flexible as the Pope.  When Pius was pushed to the point where he felt he had to say no – the appointment of bishops in the Papal States was a presenting issue, but who knows if Napoleon could have been appeased even if Pius VII gave in on that – then the furious Napoleon had him arrested on the night of June 9^th, 1812 with the intention of confronting him at Fontainebleau.

In poor health, Pius barely survived the trip.  But it turned out the health of Napoleon’s regime was even more precarious.  By the time the Pope made it to Fontainebleau, Napoleon was off to fight Russia where he would eventually lose most of his army.

But Pius VII did not know this, and when Napoleon returned, he was able to badger the isolated pope into an agreement that would have greatly weakened the papacy.  After deep regret, Pius later repudiated that.  And at that point there was little Napoleon could do about it.  He abdicated on April 14^th, 1814 (temporarily it turned out -- Waterloo was in June 1815). Pius VI triumphantly returned to Rome on May 24^th.

Thus for all Pius’ human frailty, miscalculations, and concessions, his imprisonment and twice saying no to Napoleon rightly turned Pope Pius VII into a symbol of resistance to Napoleon’s tyranny.

And Thomas Lawrence’s portrait captures well both the human frailty and the resilient strength of character of Pius VII. It captures the little old pope who outlasted Napoleon.