TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12477, 12 April 1906, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The latest London.fad ie-the Plato cult of Plato. Everybody is •a-' la discussing the philosophy end Mode, teaching of Plato. Subline as they are, one may bepermitted to doubt -whether the Plutonic d«*rinea»can be profitably diamond by the nrahitude. The latest Ixncton newspapers contain interesting report* of * lecture on Plat 6 by Dr. Emil Beach, delivered in the presence of a large •nd "fosbionable" _ gathering, including Prince Francis of Teck and the Doohesa of Mariborougn! Dr. Reich, cciuidend Plato to be the mtateV mind and tf—l--est influence -of the hoary centuries of classical .antiquity. The thought* of Plato was at the bottom of all tie gees-" trons of education, of religion, of politics, of life which agftato ua\to>day. It was " the great bate Dote in the orchestra of modern human, life. Plato came to the reaoae of the nan or woman confronted by tibe fad* and orates of the time, when he or she had. to decide as to acceptance or mjaotian. Plato's philosophy fnnriabcd the aoood principles whose guidance was very precious in times of perplexity, and the thousand crises of busy lite." Referring to Plato's disdain for matter, which is ac nothing compared with .the welfare of tJhe soul, and criticising the ware of materialisa which typified the age of Huxley, Darwin, Tyndail, and others, Dr. Reich declared that time was absolutely no eoentifio proof that the brain is the seat of the intellect. "Scientists have utterly failed in their attempts to prove it. We shall tinder- j stand man, but we ehall never under-' stand! plants. You may nadanMiad Napoleon—oertainly the most complicated and antithetioally-compwuided human we hare had in human history —but yon are helpless before the humble violet, you. will never ooderatand it." , The hopeless conflict of opinion amongst physicists bore out Plato's dictum, "We can never understand matter, because it- doee not exist, bnt we can underetand the spirit." TbeCtrareh had obtained Uβ vast power thtvugh accepting that Platonic doctrine, and considering the body to be the origin of all human evils. Dr. Reich scouted One so-called "science" of phrenology, arguing that no man has ever succeeded in showing the connection between certain portions of the brain .and the various cerebral fanctionings or play of the mind. The smaller brain of woman was no proof of smaller intellect. "I smile the quiet SocraUo smile," said Dr. Reich, "when I hear men declare that women have not equal intelligence with man; it is a position that no man can seriously maintain." The old disparaging The Children saying about the sans of of the clergy' is very The Clergy, effectively dealt with „ by Bishop Welldon, in an article in the "Nineteenth Century." He has taken the trouble to examine the parentage of every person whose namo oceure in the axty.-eix volumes of the "Dictionary of National Biography," and he finds that fhe clergy of Great Britain have made, since the Reformation, in the persons of their children, a greater contribution to the treasury of the national life than have tho members of any other profession. He marked as worthy of remembrance for some service performed in' religion, politics, literature, science, art, com-

merce, philanthropy, names of 1200 sons arnl <_ I^|______ the clergy, and took no notice flfaffiH distinguished people who descendants. The significance number becomes more oo_par_o- between tbe p-ria_M clergy and that- of members oflSll 111 professions, for tbe children oVUnSIiI «nd doctors who ha.ro aUa_«l'|S_i nance in all English history h 510 and 350 respectively. '>';Bjj|3|Hl Welkkm tells us to receive' elusions as his article suggests, cautious spirit, but he mamtaiat';|gi|B£ the superiority of .ctergymeai'ii lies beyond dispute. -"Hie ""P*^TO_Mif has been one not of numbers onJjiBHP of degree. From clerical sprung sons more larger number of. more - dKUraR sons, than from the homes of lar profession." Dr. Weildon fiflf__l out that 350 of the 1200 clergymen have themselves been. f^BjnP < men. The Church counts .tbe gfiiflNHc names in British art, in m*dioiii»lßraH| _axn» Abercrbmbie, Jermer. she has given fire C_isigUE jto the House of; Lords, and ! Navy Nelson and Hood, wh—e catalogue of llnglis-men who I stamped their names as fount—rt ef||||ffjl j ministrators upon the Imperial mmWe ;of the British Empire in roooi there are _o_e who stand higher the late Mr Rhodes and' Lord Ourp||lE of Kedleston." But tho children fit ;|s|&l§ clergy have attained their greatest mSBI t_—tion in En ii tera&ure, 'vfepfXji would be robbed of half jta tbat part which _tey have were taken .away. Ben Jooeon, VsJIBL oher, Thomson, Cowper, Twnw_||«' Hallam, Robertson, Fronde, ■•.immW m W Austen, Charlotte Bronte, QuwßL Kingsley, Addison, Haalitt, and Coleridge are among tihe la»a|§|K-'-Bishop WelkVm recalls. "Why chUdr—i of the clergy so eucoe—friflp ! Because they are "brought up I not always, in simple, natural nuTMHI ings, amidst the influence of etsnajlfl, ing examples, and in great and noble thoughts not witfariM some k of nor *Mwj^g' some desire of distinction, but ,'wwfM. definite religious impressions, sj&]j||l obedience to the Drvi_o Book." ';"'^^W * Tbe most or iis What Germans views on all tawnß/ Think English are'_j|ji9y^ of England. prevail in QsWm«BK| thanka to the , anoe of German journalists. to tbe Berlin correspondent °*<i&n9' "Daily Express," the newspaps*» k i«|ffl. to the British Premier as Lord o*l|l|| belUßannerman, ths argument benjfll that as "C.-B." is First Lord rf«W(9< Treasury, he is entitled to the tion. Mr Balfour is alnnart, atWas||l oslled Lord Balfour, and natural y>d|||l' fused, in consequence, with Loro.yßjp||M; fotrr of Burleigh'. A good instaMs.'d|B .' the ignorance of British affairs iS ( >MW/ forded by'the "Reicnshpto," owof,tb|||: leading and most ; which prints asV a serious A to its readers' knowledge a .let*er'|rfl||| > a German governess This' lady would hare her ,cbantrjia||||<; and 'countrywomen belief* that itfaHi: positively d-ngerous for "is 'German Ipg;' lire in England. . _x._pnds w_^B' ; men and women ere,, she *ays,-stsriffijgfl;i because of the influx of roan* willing to' do any trifling wages, end the hate pie bear to every German le te»t|||||; "Entry moment an can be expected in the* East; London. 'Vnew.'lew-fr'«aM-W|BHMI preparation forbidding* any,' Germans 'work* except under .Tej7JH__L usual- ciroumstenoes, in order; awful poverty of the and workwomen shell be Jt'elkwwffl|K No good com—lerciel house now ettgejfijjM? Germane, and it is quite ti_»psf-«|; Kaiser put s stop to this dw«rsoefu|W, state of affairs. But fewjw good words to e»y for thsjßritlsk admires particularly go to church, end the wsy.ihe ,<mwWm\~ always prsy for* prosperity.' "The British «l8H ; proud. - Tbe CtarjMfae ' something here in piety, 'men. I hare'never "see.towns so many -men'it<<&«r&i\Mil|» here here. The English clergyman •mm 'tract the men by 1 the' Ipolitios; wbjfjll they insert, end thus pie for God end "the' seme time." It wiltprobeblr«ri*?il| our readers to learn tist' "•ft»»i-tin services , every , ;_BgJiah .f •muses himself i with his" in such sports es football ntf y«spi|raa hundreds of persons > ; cycling excorsione/together. oontributien covers the oasts **< snd drink. Nothing i» tee. " And everything is - supervision of the clergyman. • •/ThmSa know so well how to- win -the, j_artsaHsa young snd old, men- snd worn the people osn do nothing without thjgjflj| parson." And the secret' of graatness, she oonsidem, .is a oompact publio opinion., All fjmymlmUm think, and set exeotly al_A is why the Ration is so gresty a»pib|ia9| snd so much feared. It would teresting to'know how Vmg the has been in England. •';^fii