Rector’s Reflections
Tuesday 10th September 2024
A Different Take on Psalm 23
In yesterday’s reflections, I introduced one of the lesser known hymns inspired by the words of Psalm 23. The hymn in question starts with the words, “The Lord my pasture shall prepare, and feed me with a shepherd’s care”. It was written back in the early 18th Century by an English journalist and essayist called Joseph Addison. Addison wrote several hymns, which were published in The Spectator. I wonder if today’s Spectator would ever consider publishing the words of a new hymn? I suspect not. Things were different back in the early 18th Century.
Addison was not your typical hymn writer, and I am going to write about his life in today’s reflections.
He was born in Wiltshire during the reign of King Charles 11. To be precise, he was born in the village of Milston on 1st May 1672. He was born into reasonably comfortable circumstances: his father was an up and coming clergyman, who went on to become Dean of Lichfield. Addison was a bright boy, and he was sent to Charterhouse for his schooling. Time at Charterhouse was followed by Magdalen College, Oxford. Addison became a Classical scholar, and a fluent writer in Latin. His time at Magdalen is still remembered today: there is an attractive path in the college grounds, known as Addison’s Walk. One can imagine Addison strolling along the path, savouring the finer points of Latin verse.
So what was to follow his time at Oxford? Many people would have assumed that Addison was destined for a career in the Church, like his father before him. However, Addison had other thoughts. Although he remained a committed Christian, he did not feel that God was calling him to take Holy Orders. I wonder what his father thought about this? Was his father disappointed, or was he content that his son was ploughing his own furrow?
Addison decided to choose a career in politics and journalism. I say “journalism”, but Addison’s writing was of the highest standard, and his essays are regarded as exemplary examples of English prose. Addison was elected as an MP, and in due course held a series of Government offices, the most important of which was probably the role of Chief Secretary for Ireland. He died in 1719, in the reign of King George 1st.
Addison’s political life enabled him to earn a living, and it gave an outlet to many of his gifts and talents. But Addison also needed an outlet for his more creative side. His literary collaboration with Richard Steel bore fruit in the production of The Spectator, to which Addison contributed essays and a few hymns. Addison also tried his hand at writing plays, but it would be fair to say that his literary gifts did not lie in this direction. This should not surprise us- few poets are gifted dramatists, and few dramatists are gifted poets.
When Addison wrote, he wrote for a general cultured audience- that is, a general cultured audience by the standards of the early 18th Century, in which it was assumed that most educated adults would combine a knowledge of the Bible with a familiarity with the Classics. It was a culture in which it was normal, even expected, to talk and write about God , and to do so in a polite and respectful manner. It was also expected that one shouldn’t express too much excitement when discussing matters relating to religion: the expression of enthusiasm might be seen to betray a lack of education and good manners. I should add that it was male-dominated culture, in which it was acceptable to use the word “man” as a synonym for “human being”.
The literary and cultural assumptions of Addison’s day made it quite difficult for educated Christians to communicate the power of the gospel, but Addison tried his best to do so. Let me leave you with some words from Addison’s essay on gratitude, which he published in The Spectator in 1712: “ If gratitude is due from man to man, how much more from man to his Maker! Every blessing we enjoy, by what means soever it may be derived upon us, is the gift of Him who is the Author of good and Father of mercies”.
This essay on gratitude was, of course, a piece of prose. The conventions relating to poetry provided different opportunities. We shall look at Addison’s attempt to put the gospel into poetry in the days ahead.