BRITISH AND FOREIGN

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 318, 3 October 1908, Page 10

BRITISH AND FOREIGN

. CURRENT TOPICS. A Sohool of Citizenship. The efforts of various societies to give instruction in-' the principle of citizenship in adult schools and-' by other methods will 110 doubt produce valuable results (says the London "Daily News")- Exact and definite information will bo given to persons whose knowledge of social organisation would other-, wise remain vague ana uncertain. But the influenco exerted by purely voluntary classes for grown men must after all bo limited. Only those attend who already take an intelligent interest in political questions, and even they, in the scanty leisure of hardworking lives, cannot be expected to apply themselves with, tho maximum of advantage to subjects demanding much, mental concentration. The problem of educating democracy in public spirit is not to bp solved by these methods alone. They fail to roach precisely thoso whose ignorance and lack of tho sense of public responsibility constitute the most threatening of tho difficulties of modern democracy. It is in the compulsory educational system of the country that the rights and duties of citizenship should be taught.. A little elementary instruction in the political organisation, including tho powers ■ and functions of local - authorities, should-be given, to every child in the last year of-Echool life. It is true that the subject is rather beyond the grasp of children of fourteen. " But that'is not-an argument for omitting it; it is.ah argument for raising the school age, or for malting attendance at evening continuation schools compulsory. If from the ages,of fourteen to eighteen children spent part of their time in practical work in the workshops of tho trade to which they were apprenticed, and part in continuation schools where they received proper physical training, instruction in tho theory their craft, and in the principles of citizenship, we Bhould'be well on tho way to a solution of many social problems. Mr. Balfour. "The figuro of Mr. Balfour has stood out more conspicuously this summer than at. any previous period of tho present. Parliament, says the always interesting Parliamentary correspondent of tho "British Weekly.. "His air of distinction seems somohow to have become more manifest and to.have more vividly impressed tho House. There is, perhaps, nobody on the. Treasury Bench, except Mr. Lowis' Harcourt, who has equal dignity and elegance. Tho tall, thin fra'mo in tho long black coat; tho' intellectual, meditating, scheming face; tha head widening. to tho back, with/ its fining of grey hair, -form a picture which"pleases tho oyo and'undoubtedly affects tho imagination of the Houso of Commons. Mr. Balfour's debating power, is -now fully. appreciated even by thoso new members who two years ago wondered how he had formerly mastered the House. It is unsurpassed in any quarter, and it is tho moro conspicuous when set off. by the pale 1 performances of his colleagues." . King and Cabinet. The .'English Constitution was discussed by tliOi recent . Constitutional Congress, and Mr. Gibson Bowles put forward some-plaus-ible arguments in favour of tho King presiding .over Cabinet Coiiucils. Nothing in the development of our political institutions (says tho "Guardian") has happened more curiously than this.abdication by a Sovereign, of functions held, to be natural to him in every country except our own. It,began, of course, With the total inability of George . 1, to understand English, which would.-Jave made his presence useless in Council;,' His, son's ignorance of our idiom was. much less complete, but'tho custom of a thirteen years'reign easily.-, became a precedent, and 110 subsequent monarch, has even attempted to set it aside. In'truth it'has some obvious', advantages under a system of party government, for the Cabinet's decisions must perforce be Committeo in power, ana it' would not bo'advisable tliat the Chief of the State, in the position which Englishmen . accord him, should even seem to be identified with\them. Mr. Bowles indeed suggests -that his Majesty's presence .would prevent mere party decisions, but this seems, doubtful. ,In an ago when tho great personal authority of tho Sovereign was very great, James 11. thought to impose some restraint on' a debate in : the House of Lords by his presence, but.-bis expectation was entirely disappointed. A Distinguished Scholar. The sudden death of the Master of St. JohnV College, Cambridge, Dr. Charles Taylor; is a loss to the ranks of the learned clergy and to academic circles. A mathematician, a Hebraist and Rabbinical scholar, Dr. Taylor .contributed to learning much that will last. ' In ono department of study, Geometrical _ Conies, lie was an acknowledged expert; in: Rabbinic and New Testament literature, and particularly in modem Biblical research, he held a conspicuous place. His "The . Gospel in the Law," "The Dirgo of Coheleth," and "Sayings of the Jewish Fathers" are works , of permanent value and wide repute. Among foreign distinctions which hiS ilearning secured for him was the honorary degree of LL.D. in Harvard University. In bis own university he served as vice-chancellor, and in the university town achieved the distinction of ■ an alderman. A man of 'many parts, ho could boast of achievements outs'de the academic and tho civic spheres,'' for he accomplished - several considerable Alpine ascents. The outsido world knew little of him, for he eschewed publicity, but whero he was known he was field in much esteem:. The Lady. Margaret Settlement'and Church in Walworth-will have reason to mourn the loss of a sincere friend and patron. Disappearance of tiie Milkmaid. A sad fact is brought to light in the report of the medical officer of tho' Tendring district of Essex. The milkmaid, that picturesque figuro with her print dress, her yoke of pails, and her sunbonnet, has gone from tho dairy business (says the "Daily News"). No longer can she be addressed by her curious but cautious lover in terms that are familiar to every nursery child. The "pretty maid," with tho face that is her fortune, has been replaced by a prosaic, cor-duroy-clad cowman, who, the medical officer in question informs us, "does all the dirty work about tho place."' Indeed,, it is not only the cause of romance, but also that of. (sanitation which has suffered through tho abolition of. tho dairymaid. The cowman cannot or will not practise tho dainty cleanliness which" ought. to be universal 111 dealing with food. ; his hands, we arc told, are always dirty) a very unpleasant consideration when wo realise that lie is in close contact with an article of food so easily contaminated as milk. Efforts should be mado to restore the milkmaid to her earlier position. Some county councils already hold classes for women iu dairy work, l'eihnps beforo very long a modern and highly-trained dairymaid may once more be a feature of the country life of England. • But dare wo venture to hope that we shall ever see again the.innocont rural charm commemorated by the old nursery rhyme? A Balzac Museum.; ' "A Balzac Museum has begun to take form and substance at Passy, the Parisian suburb whero the novelist lived during his most productive period, from 1842 to 1847," says the "Dial.". "There, at 47 ltuo Raynou'ard, the little houso that Ba.lzac hired for six hundred francs a year has been purchased by a group cf his admirers, and is to bo turned into a public museum after the pattern of Victor Hugo Museum in the Placo des Vosges. It is proposed to furnish the house in the stylo of Louis Philippe's time, and to fill it,, with all sorts of Balzac relics. . Balzac's formor landlady is said to- be still living at Passy, and to be entertainingly communicative concoming her famous tenant." Canon Thompson and the Court' of ArcMos. Canon Thompson, against whoso action in refusing tho Communion to one who'married his deceased wife's'sister the-Court of -Arches decided,. "does not,"'-says tho "Guardian," "intend cither to obey tho admonition of the Court of Arches in'the case of Mr. and Mrs. Banister or to'appeal against the decision, and that Bishop of.Norwich is giving him his support and assistance in this course. Canon Thompson's argument is that if lie were to submit he would bo acquiescing in an at j tempt oh.-jtbo part of. tho-State, to .impose a now moral law upon the Church." The

"Guardian" says it "learns this with very great regret." The; "Saturday Roview," on tho other hand, says:—"What is needed is that High Churchmen and Evangelicals alike should givo to Canon Thompson their moral support. In truth he and tho Bishop, who is so bravely standing by him, appeal to both the historic parties in tho Church, for they are fighting at 0110 and tho same timo for the authority of tho Church, tho marriage law of tho Reformation, and the light of tho individual conscionco." Dean Swift and Chelsea. Writing to "The Times" from tho -Manhattan Club, Madison Square, New York, Mr. Randall' Davies, F.S.A., says:—"lf it bo truo that Crosby Hall is to be re-erected in Chelsea, I should bo glad of your assistance in preventing tho destruction of another building there to inako room for it. Iu my researches into tho old Chelsea ratebooks I found —but have had no opportunity as yet of making my discovery widely known —that tho southernmost houso now standing on the west side of Danvers Street is that from which Swift wrote his journal to Stella during six weeks of the summer of 1711, when he retired to Chelsea for tho sake of his health. Will you allow mo, as one who knows something of the older history of Chelsea, to make an- earnest, appeal for the preservation of this littlo relic?" The Revolution in Turkey. The real story of how the great revolution in-Turkey was brought about has not yet been told. But in the "Chronicle" an inter-, view is given with Mr. Santo Semo, who is called the John' tho Baptist of the movement. He says:—"We recognised from the first that nothing could bo done in Turkey cxcopt from the, army. For tho last eight'years no effort lias been spared to familiarise the officers of tho Turkish Army with the principles of Constitutionalism. Prince Sabahoddino (tho Sultan's nephew), who ever sinco 1900 has been the head, centre of the Young Turkish movement in Paris, published a Turkish newspaper called "Tcrekki," or "Progress)" a copy of ■which was sent regularly in a registered letter to every officer in tho Ottoman Army in Europe and Asia. Our propaganda had oven more hold of the Asiatic army than the army in Europe. For some years past the Sultan has found - himself confronted by tho power of'the Paris bureau, which, by its hold on tho army, was able timo and_ again to compel him to submit to its decisions." Modern England. Professor J. H. 13. Masterman recently delivered a course of lectures at the summer meeting of Extension Students at Cambridge 011 "Modern England." The great difficulty that the foreigner experienced in attempting to understand British institutions, _ho said, was that'nothing was exactly what it seemed, to be. -This was due to'the strongly conseiv vative character of -the British nation, and lie thought we were the most conservative nation on the earth with tho oxceptioi; of the Chinese. The absence of general principle behind our political acts presupposed -something which formed a marked characteristic in our English life, the habit of give : and take, or compromise, tho strong insistence upon "playing the game," which was. nowhere more emphatically expressed than in the world of sport, but rail through an Englishman's whole" life. National temperament was partly • accounted for by the vagaries of tho English climate, and partly by the lack of. travel, which rendered, the English a peculiarly unimaginative race, and made them often appear rude-to tho foreigner, because .everything he did seemed to Englishmen extremely ridiculous, rnd thoy showed it without any intention of being rude. To coun'teract, the influence' upon national • temperament of, grey' skies,. Professor..Masterman suggested that qri dull days and in winter .tho 'ladies should wear •clothes of the. brightest