Commentary
| Date | 01 May 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804100501 |
| Published date | 01 May 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
Sir Joseph Simpson
.On March 29, in the forenoon
of those brilliant spring days that
have a special poignancy in the
heart of a big city, the police and
nation paid their last respects to
Sir Joseph Simpson.
The
funeral
service was held among the
ancient glories of the Abbey.
scene of so many tributes over
the centuries to those who
had
served our sovereigns and our
people in wholly .memorable,
wholly admirable ways, and it
was supremely fitting to honour
this great public servant there in
Westminster, where the nation 's
public affairs are principally transacted. The bells of the great
church have never tolled for a man more dedicated to the public
good.
It
was a grand and at the same time a simple occasion, dis-
tinguished by the universal affection felt by all present, from the
brocaded seniors to the youngest cadet, for the Commissioner they
were laying to rest. The fine, dignified bearing of the Metropolitan
Police was perhaps the most striking impression of the day.
The majestic, measured service in the crowded Abbey will never
be forgotten by those who were privileged to participate in it. The
choice of preacher could not have been more fortunate. Dr. Stop-
ford, the Lord Bishop of London, had been the Commissioner's
housemaster at Oundle some forty years before. and he better
than anyone else was able to trace the early evolut ion of a charac-
ter whose qualities destined the man to his outstanding career.
The towering integrity and ability, the just and even personality,
the fine sportsmanship, the kindly humour, the huge commonsense,
the keen and objective mind, were apparent even in schooldays
and, as the Bishop said, Simpson's qualities grew richer with the
experience of the responsibilities which were laid with ever in-
creasing weight upon him.
The Service knows the record of the early days of patrolling the
London streets as a constable (he was the first policeman to have
May 1968 191
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