TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13595, 2 December 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A noticeable feature of the Nobility Spanish campaign in in the Morocco "has been the eagerRanks, ness of member 3 of the nobility to serve their country. Many nobles have enlisted in tiie ranks of the reserves mobilised for service in Morocco, and it has been noticed j that each of these men wears a badge on the left breast of his uniform. This badge means that the wearer belongs j to one of the three great Orders of ! Chivalry in Spain. Theso men, explains j a writer in an American paper, aro j bound by their membership to drive J the Saracen from Spanish soil, as mem- j bers have been bound to do from the Middle Ages. These Orders differ from all others in having a specific obligation attached to them. The Eng- ] lish Orders arc not chivalric in tho strict sense of the word, but. these three Spanish Orders lay on their members the duty of fighting tho Moor whenever he encroaches on Spanish territory. Under tho .law of the land, a young nobleman who"is a member of one of J these Orders can escape military service by payment of a certain sum of money, but he cannot escape his obligation to his Order when the Moor takes up arms against his country. Nor does he seek a commission. "The warning of ancient chivalry has come to him, noblesse oblige, and be lie the proudest duke in Spain, ho steps freely and willingly into the ranks to carry tho same arms and to bear tho same privations as the peasant who stands by his side" Tho writer of the article thinks the political effect of this is considerable. One of the great complaints of the Socialists is that while the peasant is forced into barracks, the nobleman can buy freedom from military duty; hero is proof that the aristocracy are willing to serve their country. The presence of these . men in the ranks also counteracts the incitements to mutiny spread among the troops by the Socialists. These Orders take us An Echo back to cne of the of the great struggles of hisMiddloAges. Tory, that of the -Spaniard against the Saracen. Between the years 711 and 720 a great Saracenic -wave swept over Spain and dashed against the northern mountains. It was in this region that the movement started, which, after centuries of war, drove the invaders back to Africa. There was a legend in Galich that a monk saw a miraculous star come to rest, and found beneath it relics of St. James. Some years afterwards, when the fate of Galicia trembled in the balance, the little army of defenders, with their backs to the rocks and their faces to the Moors, called on Saint Jago for help. They won the battle, and from that day the war-cry of the Spaniard has been "Santiago." The relics of the saint drew pilgrims from aU over the Continent, and as ail routes lay through or near Saracen strongholds, these people Buffered considerably. To protect them, thirteen great land-holders formed an association, which in time grew so powerful that Ferdinand 11. of Leon, in 1175, created it the Order of Santiago of the Sword, the oldest of the three Orders that are sending their members to fight the Moor to-day. The second Order, that of Alcantara, svas created in 1177, to help the older Order to hold the border of Castile against the Saracen. The third, the Order of Calatrava, owes its existence to the bravery of some Cistercian monks. Calatrava, the key to a mountain pass, "was entrusted to a band of Knights Templars, who declared the task to be beyond their strength. Two monks then organised a militia and held the place, and the Military Order of Calatrava was one result of their resolution. These Orders, under Ferdinand, became the first regular army of Spain, and indeed of the modern -world. Spain to-day is but a shadow of Rer former greatness, but the old victorious cry of "Santiago 1" still goes up as a charge is driven home and tlie Cross triumphs over the Crescent. It has long been felt Discreditable by officials, OrientalNeglect, ists, and oven business men, that Great Britain ie lagging sadly behind in the matter of training her Civil Servants destined for work in the East, in the language, customs, and. traditions of the peoples they are to mix with and govern. France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Holland, possess schools of living Oriental languages, supported by Government funds, in some cases to a considerable extent. Some departments of the British Government do a little towards training their own men, but facilities for the general public are eupplied by the "Universities or by private initiative. The Capital of the Empire has no school of Oriental languages. When it is remembered how vast are Great Britain's interest in the Orient, the number of her subjects, the greatness of her trade, and how much fiercer the competition there J-j likely to be, it is a mattox for surprise that she has allowed other uations to eclipse her in this respect. The scheme now beimj proposed has in view a school, with a name and home of its own, to be built up from the nucleus already existing and to be incorporated in the University of London, which shall serve the needs of candidates for Government services in the East. It -would provide for the traiu- ! ing, of Civil Servants, of military and naval officers preparing for interi preterships, of commercial, medical, and ! missionary students who intend to see.* ■ in the East a field for their respective ! activities, as -well as of natives of ! Eastern countries and Englishmen who I desire to pursue Oriental scholarship. The languages proposed to be taught aro divided into two classes. Class A includes Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Hindustani, Chinese, Japanese, etc. In Class B are comprised Armenian, Assamese, Tibetan, Melanesian, and Polynesian languages, Siamese, Somali, Zulu, etc. For all languages in Class A it is recommended that a native assistant, as well as a European teacher, should be provided. The school, in the opinion "of the committee set up to consider the '-scheme, should be kept closely in touch with the Eastern peoples, among whom new ideas are rapidly spreading, and "old catch ■words are dying out or losing their force." For this purpose, and for> purely linguistic reasons proxisions should be made for teachers of vne school to revisit from time to time Che country of Trhich they teach the language. The estimated total cost of the

school is £12,725, to which the Treasury is requested to contribute both an initial erant and an annual. This is not thought to be by any means excessive, and it is hoped that before long the much-felt want will be supplied.