THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 20 May 1905, Page 4

THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MAY.

During the last sixty years of the nineteenth century one of tho most popular holidays of the year wjia the birthday ot our lato revered monarch, and it wn."> gcncttilly felt that the anniversary which two generations of loyal subjects h.ul celebrated us v lcd-lellor day should not be allowed to p.iyj unnoticed in the future. Therefore, in various purta of the Ilritisli dominion, "Victoria Day" was still recognised a.s ono to bo «till observed, and the area of its observance seems to bo widening. Latterly, it has bocomo the fn.shion to apeak of tho 24th May .ih "Kmpiro Day;" but no Imperial coleoration cim afford to ignoie tho prrhonal associations of the time, or the memory of tho great nnd good womiii who presided so long over the Kmpirr, and wlkv.6 ewntful lifetime was marked so conspicuously by its extension and consolidation. So far, Uui» year no systematic ainingoments, either by the Government or municipal authorities, appear to have been niado for its local celebration; but, the occasion m one which can not bo allowed to pass unnoticed. Those whobo custom it is to '"obf-ervo times and son«onrf' will no douht ivgiird it from variod points of view. Some may exalt the personal, others tho imperial, significance of tho aimivorairy--Mime will glory in tho wealth nnd dignity, tho power and territorial dominion, of the nation, whilo others win n</lcct more seriously on the incresisinc burderw of responsibility which these qualities imply, und others," again, so far from exulting in the material progress of tho British people, will indulge in gloomy forecastA of national decadence. It is well tiwt such a morbid view is tho exception ; it is well klko that the bombastic and offensivo "Jingo" attitude so widely prevalent a. few years ago ii» no longer in ovidfnee. A «.mcr frpirit is abroad than when tho war-fever was epidemic: the titanic «trugglo now in progress has opened the eyes of men to the bitter fruits of unchecked Imperial ambition, nnd somo have taken (ho lesson to heail. Here, nt any rate, thero will bo little waste of money nnd effort in idle nnd ostentatious display; but the well-known dale will turn mm*? thought* to the changes of the p.mtf they will realise that in the peace and prosperity of their nittioti and its well -ordered government they have much cause for tluinkfulncs, and those thoughts will bo iifisocinted with the memory of tile good Queen whoso efligy they have placed at "tho entering-in of the city."

The present year Is the four hundredth since thi- birth of John Knox, ono of Scotland's greatest men. Thia much will bo conceded by opponent-s as we-11 as admirers, for personal animosities have time to die out in four centuries, even though tho embers of bygono controversies may still smoulder boncath tho a-shes of their f onnor fires. It would bo superfluous to write at any length on Iho por/orvid roformor or' hia work — for months past current literature has abounded with briof biographies and sketches of his jvorfionaluy and work, with portraits (unauthenticnUd), and o.von ficiion ha-s bwn called into requisition to ciiat vari-oolourod lights on Knox's strong and rugged charactor. Tho precise dato of his birUi is not certainly known, but tho Presbyterian Churches havo fixed upon Sunday tho 21st as tho day for memorial servicos, ami from various pulpita to-morrow roforoncos will be made to tho sturdy preacher "who iv his life novcr feared iho fuct> of man; who, often threatened with ibggo and dagger, yot," at the ngo of sixty-six, "ended his days in jK'iieo and Jioaniir."