TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13742, 25 May 1910, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

What is described as Education the ,last stronghold of in obscurantism in Egypt is Egypt. to he found at Cairo in the ishape of tho famous Moslem University, the Gamia El Azhar, whero students go through a course of study that declines to reoogniso that there has been any advance in knowledge since the days of the Koran. "Religious science," as taught there, affirms that tho earth is flab and rests on the horns and back of a bull; it is surrounded by mountains inhabited by jinns or bad spirits, who war against good angels for the mastery of mankind. After imbibing ]& sufficiency of this knowledge, the I student goes on to law, and tie proper way to recite tho Koran, with the art" of poetry perhaps as an embellishment. A writer in tho "Daily Mail" describos a visit to this relic of the dark ages. First one. comes to a very largo openair court, full of squatting figures in turbans and flowing robes. Some are reading, some are talking, some ore grouped round a. .professor taking notes, others are eating, and others are asleep. Tho sweeper, tidying up, prods a slumberer with his fcot, or walks over a class without a. word of apology either to them or to their teacher. There.is a hum of talk everywhere, and. a constant passing to and fro. There is, however, something that is admirable about this ancient sent of learning, whose records go back to the century before William the Conqueror crossed the English Rich and.pcor mingle in its courts, and the life is very simple. It has ample funds bequeathed from time to time by the faithful. ''Undergraduates" are often to he seen mending their clothes in public. Their usual meal consists of a bowl of lentil soup with a cako of maize bread, a little garlic, or a handful of dates. The NewSpirit is, however, a little impatient of El Azhar. As one would expect, the Europeanised Egyptian scon's openly ; but even tho faithful are beginning to waver, and a demand for real education pervades all classes. Eighty years ago Mehemet .Ali, a - convert in middle 'bge to modern knowledge, tried! to impose it on tho Egyptians, and established schools for the purpose; but they would have none of it, though he did ail he could to forco and persuade them. Small boys were taken to their classes in chains, and others were paid to go; but he could rouse no enthusiasm, and , when he died, ignorance once again became bite. These conditions prevailed until recent years, when they began to disappear before the desire for education as a means of getting on. Tho dissatisfaction with the benighted school system is based on the mercenary desire to make a better living. Arabi Pasha told his countrymen nearly thirty years ago that European advancement was due to Europeans being better taught, and a large section of tho people are beginning to see the truth of the statement.

The British public was conRiding sidorably altonishedto learn Made tho other day that wooden Easy. horses had been introduced

into the army for the training of recruits. The first intimation of this horrid fact was afforded by the sight of an Army-Service waggon conveying a largo wooden horse through London. Strong men who saw it wondered if they were afflicted with visions, but there was a stern reality about the lethargic animal and the equally lethargic soldier driver, wliose face remained rigid under the restraint of discipline. "The mechanical steed is a wooden horse with an astonishing tail," Says a journalist who investigated the innovation. "It , is painted brown, and mounted on swinging rails, which give a gontle rocking with perfect safety. Not the least remarkable feature of the horse is the neck, which is artfully jointed and held by indiarubber in a warlike attitude. The recruit leaps into the saddle and pulls at the reins, while the riding instructor rocks

the animal to and fro with his foot. The noTice drags at the reins, stretches tho indiarnbber, neck ligaments, and the rocking-horse lots down hie head in a fashion which surprises the young recruit, and causes him to cling to the saddle instinctively." It is claimed that the rocking-horss teaches the recruit the elements of riding without frightening him, and without subjecting him to any risk. This may be so. but one would like to know exactly how far 'his mechanical training goes. When is the aspiring cavalryman permitted to sit astride of a live animal, and how does he feel when he gets there, after the regular motions of his inanimate charger? There is an uneasy feeling, too, that this strange innovation is not unconnected with tho prevailing scarcity of' horses, and the Government's passion for economy. Wooden horses are delightfully cheap. The experiment may be interesting, even magnificent, but it is distressingly unlike war.