The article of which part is reproduced below was penned by. Bernard Levin
for the Features section. of the Times on 21 September 1991. To my mind, it
described. the situation at the time and in particular a recent meeting with
a friend, during. which I for the first time admitted to someone other than
my GP that I had been subjected to a conspiracy of. harassment over the
previous year and a. half.

At the time this article was written. I had believed for some time that
columnists in the Times and other journalists had. been making references to
my situation. Nothing unusual about this you may. think, plenty of people
have the same sort. of ideas and obviously the papers aren't writing about
them, so why should. my beliefs not be as false as those of others?

What makes this article so extraordinary is that three or four. days
immediately. preceding its publication, I had a meeting with a friend,
during the course of which. we discussed the media persecution, and in
particular. that by Times columnists. It seemed to me, reading the article
by Levin in Saturday’s paper, that. he was describing in some detail his
"artist’s impression" of that meeting. Most. telling are the final
sentences, when he writes, "The madman bursts into. tears, and swears it is
all true. And it is." Although I did not "burst into tears". (he seems to be
using a bit of poetic licence and exaggerating) I did try. hard to convince
my friend that it was all true; and. I am able to concur with Mr Levin,
because, of course, it. is.

At the beginning of the piece Levin reveals a. fear of being attacked by the
"irrational" subject. of his story, saying "I have no reason to believe that
he. is violent, but he should certainly be approached with caution". This
goes back to the xenophobic propaganda. of "defence" against a "threat"
which was seen at. the very beginning of the harassment. The impression of a
"madman running loose" who needs to be. controlled through an agency which
assigns to itself the mantle of the "police" is. also one which had been
expressed. elsewhere.

In the final paragraph of. this extract, his reference to Everyman’s Library
as having "died a. lingering and shameful death a decade or so ago" shows
clearly what sort of conclusion they wish. to their campaign. They want a
permanent solution, and as they are prevented from achieving that. solution
directly, they waste significant resources on methods. which have been
repeatedly shown. to be ineffective for such a purpose.

6058

good effects, and
what God has greatly blessed amongst us: but it must be confessed, there
may have been some ill consequences of it; which yet are rather to be
laid to the indiscreet management of it than to the practice itself; and
none can wonder, if among such a multitude some fail of exercising so
much prudence in choosing the time, manner, and occasion of such
discourse, as is desirable.

SECTION III. This Work Further Illustrated in Particular Instances.

But to give a clear idea of the nature and manner of the operation of
God's Spirit, in this wonderful effusion if it, I would give an account
of two particular instances. The first is an adult person, a young woman
whose name was Abigail Hutchinson. I fix upon her especially, because
she is now dead, and so it may be more fit to speak freely of her than
of living instances: though I am under far greater disadvantages, on
other accounts, to give a full and clear narrative of her experiences,
than I might of some others; nor can any account be given but what has
been retained in the memories of her friends, of what they have heard
her express in her lifetime.

She was of an intelligent family: there could be nothing in her
education that tended to enthusiasm, but rather to the contrary extreme.
It is in no-wise the temper of the family to be ostentatious of
experiences, and it was far from being her temper. She was, before her
conversion, to the observation of her neighbors, of a sober and
inoffensive conversation; and was a still, quiet, reserved per