Towards a Contemporary Renaissance

The Renaissance was and is a myth, one of those useful ideas which help men to master their own bearings and therefore act more effectively. It can be interpreted as ‘a bringing to life again’, or conceivably the ‘rebirth of civilisation.’ To speak of The Renaissance may be helpful if we keep in mind the limitations of the context in which we use the word, but it is to misrepresent history if we take it to imply a transformation of culture signifying a radical break from one period to the next. There is no clear line in history that separates anything.

Civilisation in contrast to an abrupt rebirth is that slow, patient building up of knowledge which makes Man. What then is knowledge? It is something much greater than mere book learning; it is knowing how to live, not hand to mouth in the prehistoric way of our ancestors, but finely, graciously, and bravely. Much of this knowledge is to be found in books, because books act as storehouses containing all that Man has thought, felt, discovered and achieved; but on the other hand the world about us is an open book where he who runs may read. Observation of our surroundings together with the application of sound critical analysis is capable of teaching us as much if not more than all the books or all the sages or, I’ll venture to add, all the politicians.

Enemies of Civilisation: Advance is often interrupted, held up and sometimes almost swept away by all kinds of setbacks. Flood, fire, famine, earthquake and disease for instance, but the worst enemy of Civilisation is Man himself. War, greed, lust for power, and religion have done more than all the rages of Nature to suspend progress often destroying completely the patient work of centuries. Nevertheless Civilisation has never quite died, and will not unless Man utterly betrays his own instincts, but he has a hard task before him in overcoming all these enemies of Civilisation, and above all avoiding setbacks of his own making.

Barbarian Invasion: One such setback occurred during the time known as the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Goths, Vandals, Lombards and Franks emerging from their primitive dwellings in North and Eastern Europe hurled themselves upon the frontiers of the Empire. The greatness that was Rome crumbled away like a sand castle before an advancing tide, and along with Rome the civilisation that Europe had been patiently building through the centuries also collapsed. Demolition of the realm was not restricted to a simple physical level, devastating though it was. Ignorance, greed and lack of understanding characterised the soul of these invaders as they surveyed the rich provinces before them. Absence of knowledge in the science of engineering, for example, guaranteed certain failure in maintaining or repairing Roman walls, roads, bridges and aqueducts. Lack of understanding of Roman law and government quickly culminated in violence, bloodshed, chaos and misrule. Oblivious of books and writing how could the Barbarians understand that the manuscripts tossed gleefully onto bonfires were storehouses of knowledge? Unskilled in anything but ruder craftsmanship the importance of paintings, vases and beautiful statues meant nothing other than targets on which to hone their skills in archery.

Dark Ages: The clock was set back a thousand years and twilight settled down over a whole continent. It was not until the advent of King Charlemagne in 771, a reformer, and often referred to as the ‘Father of Europe’ that the gloom began to lift. The long dawn of the Middle Ages presaged a new day. Much was lost and irretrievably destroyed, but was lost only in the sense that it was buried and forgotten, it would come to light again one day. In Western Europe priests and monks of the Roman Christian Church, holding aloft in that darkness the torch of Christian conduct and Roman law, saved something from the wreckage. In monasteries and priestly libraries, priceless manuscripts lay hidden and neglected even by the monks themselves, for the Church was primarily concerned with religion and conduct, secular and scientific learning came a long way behind.

The precursors of the Renaissance mentioned above resonate uncannily with events overwhelming us today in Britain and Europe. Civilisation and all it stands for has entered into a regressive chapter and regrettably may have to get worse before it improves. The modification of society and culture have been sinister, insidious and entirely manmade; those who lead choosing to ignore the lessons of history for their own gratification heedless of the native population and its plight. The major difference between the crushing of the Roman Empire by Barbarian Hoards and what faces us presently from the implacable advance of Islam… beggars belief altogether. Adversaries on this occasion had an invitation, and are now busily engaged in destroying us from the inside with every facility at their disposal courtesy of the government. Universally we face global warming, a food shortage, economic recession, increased crime rates, corruption on a grand scale by our leaders and over population. Our own diminutive island being reflective of some, if not all, of these conditions could be said on account of its small size to suffer acutely more than other countries.

The trouble centres both in those who rule and those who are ruled. Mankind has apparently ceased to dominate circumstances. We have become hapless fatalities drifting into the position of willing victims of Fate.

It is all wrong. It is wickedly wrong, since man has the power to dominate circumstances to a much greater degree than he did in the past. He can fashion his own future, and even create his own present. A nation, no less than an individual, posses the will power, the ability to learn from experience, and the authority to choose whether the world shall be hideous or handsome.

From the government downwards there is a vague belief that we are helpless in the grip of forces we cannot control. Such an attitude gathers forces from its own existence. The longer it persists the deeper its roots go. Our current position is serious and has to be reckoned with; but it must be regarded as a starting point, not as a conclusion.

Tradition, habit, custom and culture bind a nation. Fragmentation of these elements is not by any means an inevitability the rot can be reversed. What is essential now is a mental revolution a complete break from the erroneous ideology of the last three decades, and an approach to our problems with minds free from politically correct preconceptions. A Renaissance of thought. Moral courage is the lever that moves the world or a nation towards better things.

The British National Party together with its own Scottish Office is not referred to as ‘the quiet revolution’ arbitrarily. There is a source of strength in the love of one’s country that bids a man stand firm in the face of death itself. Some sneer, others applaud. Those who understand admire in silence and quietly get on with the job towards creating a contemporary Renaissance and the rebirth of our nation.

Elizabeth

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