ON THE WATCH TOWER.

Evening Star, Issue 14787, 31 January 1912, Page 3

ON THE WATCH TOWER.

[By Ariel.] Our good bishop tells us that Mr Lloyd George is very unpopular at Home. 'lt is a neat way of telling us the dass of society he moved in when in England. Macaulay said that he foresaw that Mr Gladstone would be the most unpopular , man in England. The prophecy was fulfilled, if England meant those who are out ef London when it is said "there is absolutely nobody in town." But if England were extended so as to includo the few feathoriess bipeds who are left in the city, then the prophecy was not entirely happy. So I think that, outside of those who have a good deal more than their share of this world's gear, Lloyd George can muster q.iito a number of friends. Cromwell was highly unpopular, too, but he has got his j' sue at last. Cobdcn and Bright were v-'ry unpopular. Clarkson and Wilber:>;ce were by no means without enemies. ,-.;..u-.sbury was cordially hated, and so ■..:'.;■ l'limsoll. But they get referred to in s-r. ■ jiis now as examples of triumphant ■.■•••;:,.■«. In ancient times there were two ■: ".•.*> by the name of Gracchus who * ■ <<• .--> unpopular that they were both ■•■ .:':'-\! by >er.pretab!e people with an ■ :-.r.v.-i in unearned increment. Stiil ■'■■■':■.- •>, ■'.? modier, has no cause to be .• ...•■•■•v. •>■' her "jev.els." There was also ■ '■ •■ ■• .' tinker who was £o unpopular '■'• '"■"■' ;i:i: him in Bedford Gaol, which ■" "•• 'ln" he has somehow immortal- .-••. '•■• a nw'; ;->:■• wrote there—John Bun- : .. th? p/:me of him, an accursed Ana- ' '■-* John, much against his liking, I '.> Vi- ju«t com" to a memorial win- • : ' W.-sl minster Abbey., dedicated in ■ ■' ■ v?r<THl presence of the Arch''>n!rrbi.ry. "Your fa-h-rs • i pr<r.-"!-.--ts, and ye " But " ;■ •.-.-■•. let it p.i". »*■»**** •" Kr:•i\v:n- v.-Jnt he knew of the profe?- >•". i:i the various colleges, it would be L\.i ; -o ; .'ib!-? to g°t them to agree in passing :•: l>!'.~. They kivjw how professors spoke j: prcf _•.*.-ors in other colleges." Thus the r i.'Mi-i'!!.-•!• of ihj Xew Zealand L'niverliiy! Al.n.' are there no serene heights »f !;nov.!<v!;;c where the squabbles and jciliiii-i'.es and [ rej":dices of schools reT.irJ.'l as commercial ventures are forr"..'u? A boy usually knows that his -:.-!':■'>! is the best in the country, and 1m i- - •■';.• to do battle, with whomsoever r.■..-;.• :!.-' tn impucrn it. Does this enlighten ' n"i:i:r!v .-f mind survive in profes- »•". f'. a T.-n'lon professor ready to , ~.). .;.. - nn interloper from F.din-.-■■v.-h ~r Dr-yham? Do students gather , ; ..... p.,..,;,..j;,,. s ~/ Tnj n st scn t s c f [earning ::■•■: ■ h : .-h their professor dors not hap- ['•■•■ ' .-'•■>■■»? An outsider naturally feels ?' r. ■■■■■•. Th- Ch.ir.-ellor implies' that •,':•:■• .?!••• who would pluck .itn- ],.■■>:* sdjnph- Itemise they had been taught :v s c'h«r nrofe= :or w ho presumably did i ■• /u •, !: ;';- -r i hi' right place, or who did -. -• ',.-..,:..-, t,-, ),„ a ~.,f v.-Jt)-! [] lP examiner. ?• ; r< ;> r'"-.t iivinus suggestion. It. means :!•-.: men in the walks oi secular ? ,;,,..»: ,-i ,-., n;i:i jla tf., : i by the spirit of aiis:-rr.t b re;tai i:s. ******* Are li'-'r: seers in e Juration and in knowledge? Are there heresies and ortho-d'.-iies in the 0.3.1ct sciences? I have al-*ayi urrdcrstoo ! that th:re are no sects in r>;-ithu><-'.ie. am! that the multiplication. U ; ie dees ntit irt:<l it-elf to argument. I'Lvh'ips. hcrCTe'.', this i-, my ignoraaee. Tlie Iv'.vmii;:! tiieorom, as taught' at C'am-bi-!''..e. rr.av ij? a very different thii'.",' from the b'nor:i'r.l the-reni at Glargow. " The latin e.equire.l at Oxford may be quite a ciiiftivnt language from that 'dispensed at Ab;.rJ-;on : hut "[ have no i-videnee of it. I C7,n conceive of sects in philosophy, and even in political ecou-niy. hut liow they can er.'r. in the vr--i majority of university s:r j-.-.'t:-_is b.--y:-.u-.l me. 1 have reed ffora.'-.vhere or a who said to an-cth'-r : " IV lHvil t.-'.c your soul to evpr-iK-tnirj p'ri.f'.u: fur y:ur treatise on the irrou-uiar vrij.t :" ! 'had imagined that klnt'swi-i't o.i san! hci v -r'gt<l to the Middle Ages, bat v.e lire r.nd i.-arn. The sh:.":iii.' .'f r:«pi;als is rare in history, it L.r.l ' •• ru.--;cs:-f'jlly dnilO only by jre.'.t ui:::.'.:-.'.'.:: Ci::.! great conquerors, and tyrr. tan.; 'he .::;;|-. ; :t capital rtt.ain.s all) !he ii:. ,;:.' of i.;...:ti.ui and sentiment, j I.'o. i.-1..:- .:'. -.:: it. J iii: rr>it of government •>diu the i'i;- ■ i; th-j Bosphcrus in 330. Ike i-l..:ii_n K.u.r:;-e had been divided, but ae had v.ii-i.O I. a..-; 1: master of the whole. lie was i great conqueror, a very able aian. aril a.u .ii:to>Tat. The new site was rnfimttdy '.-•■rt- r Kr commerce tlian Rome, more d-jlti:?:i'le, ,a;i 1 mure central to the rreaith <:ui ]."pt:lr.tir.n ef the Empire. Byzantiau lir.d -i.irciiiy been a eonuuercial ;ity for .I.JO'J \v--irs, and e.ft-er 33(fJ it continual, ii:;der th • name of Constantirioide. to be r..c -:T.j-h:i] ot the Ea.neun Human j Empire ' r l.i-3'l yea-s..uhen the un'-jr.'ak-aide 'I i rt to.,k it. B.it no one coidd transplant t.i- tr.iditivns and fame of ltome. .\!! t:i-' Uf.-t :cll rud-'r tlie heel of ruthles 13r,:.:.j:r:. i-ui ;i:e idea oi Rome had eu\rfi ..: .» in- m ry boi-o:-; of men, and iont:nt.i. to ;.-. pnl them as a kind of s'tper-! it:'.;: i'' " r,-any ectturies nfu-r her tall. i h-; i'"c«■:.-'. m.i-.'.ers of Constantin ji'e ca'l t';e city Stamhoel, or Istam-b'-.ul. "i he.llr. .:.';.-< caile.-l the approach to the city fon: thr- bar!.or •■ eis tan polin " i (to the" c'v. or cityward-1. Stam'ooul is ' the i'urkiii co.-.ar't.iai of this. I ******* * I Peter tie (Iroat was another successful j shifter if cawieds. Moscow was the ancient apita;. and ln<l all the pc.litie.al | and reliiotts prestige. Indeed, the Tr-ars i go then to be ero'.vned still. But J'eter was a d-spot, a far-socinj statesman, and a ! eonfpterr. lie waatwl to get to the sea, but ha< no port sase Arciiangel, on the Arctic fcean. He took the mouth of the Neva torn the Swedes in 1702, and sent abroad an offer oi bCO ducats v> the first skipper t-o visit his harbor. In 1703 he be 4an o build vSt. Petersburg. His own '"palac-" was a leg hut, roofed with shingle. It is now preserved and shelterel ■}- an outer shell built over itlike 'b Itauparaha's church at Otaki. The fist ship was Dutch. The skipper rCeived the reward, and the crew 3 thalers apiece. The vessel was aenamd St. Peteicburg, and exempted from 11 to'ls and dues for ever. I'eter lemovd Jiis Senate to the new city in 1714, md four ye.ns later completed" the transit of the capital. He compelled all his nbles to build palaces in his city in piopction to the size of their estates—a hit, by the way, for the btihding of the lrw Australian capital. In 1713 there werealready 40,000 buildings where Peter foun'onlv a few fishermen's huts. It is .«aid that "200,000 men lost thoir live* in Luiiinj; this unhealthy city, where the deal' rate still exceeds the birth rate. But here, again, .the mighty Peter could not ransplant the traditions and magic of Mosow. ******* Hive was a third great shifter of . ~aitals; that is, he conquered Bengal an governed it from- the English trading sition, Fort William. By a .series ot uuvoidable events the whole of India fell, b- by bit, into our hands, and was naturay governed from the trading station, •men now has become the immense city £ Calcutta, But neither (Jtive nor Welesley could transplant the traditions and giaiiior ot DeDii to the upstart city of Siiopkeepers in the siramp. There is a poweir And magic in the ruined battlement, Eor which the palace of the present hour Must yield its pomp and wait tall ages are its dower. . The iignity of Delhi had supported the J thr<-.ae of Great Moguls long after their / effective power had become a shadow. ' 'lhe glory of Delhi wae ancient before Mogul, or Genghis Khan, or Sultan Mahmud, or Alexander the Great was thought of, and stretches away into the dim centuries of the Vedas. This glamor played a greart, part in the Mutiny of 1857. The rebels set; up their King of Delhi as a rallying point, and that appeal to ineradicable sentiment and reverence shook our power to its centre. The present policy is to abandon, after ISO years,, the attempt to create a new capital in' India, and to annex to the Throne the ancient loyalty that gatSiers around D«Tki. The abandoned city, a. thousand miles away, wijL be grieved >'hnt-.-tbitt-^BdlI»foe-.,

temporary, while the feeling for Delhi is permanent. Moreover, while tho Bcngalese are capable plotters and bombthrowers, they are no fighters, but the races that revere Delhi are. ******* China's ancient and natural capital is Nanking, on the great river Yang-tsc-iriang; but for eight or nine, centuries China has been ruled by conquerors from lhe north—Tartars, Mongols, and Ma.nchus. The conquest of China is the work of many years. The first conqueror, therefore, made his headquarters at the first provincial capital he came to. It had tho advantage of being near to his native country, tlie source of his power and his refuge in case of dtension To have gone to Nanking would have placed vast distances and great masses of population between him and his hardy compatriots. Each successive conqueror came by the same route and adopted tho same policy. For one or two short periods Nankin has been restored to its dignity, but the dynasties that did it were near their fall before a fresh horde of non degenerates. Pelting, like the queue, is a sign of conquest. After all these centuries the tradition and mana of Nanking survive. When the Taepings took that old city they rested contented. To their ignorance it seemed to be China, so they rested on their laurels for a dozen years or to, till one Gordon under'-ook to evict them. This was precisely what the Indian mutineers did ; they took the old capital, and thought they had won. To them Calcutta was "the standing monument of conquest ; but it is not. to be a painful reminder any longer. Should the Chinese revolution succeed, I expert to sec the capital shifted back to Nanking after a few years. To kce-p a boar-Jin-t-hotise for patients raitkrp'iinc: tho fasting t rot men t must be a gord line. It is desirable, however, not t-o repeat the blank menu for more than six weeks or so, for if you ci>:l up with an inquest and a funeral the profits arc absorbed; besides, a kind of dor.'bt is ca.ft upon the ntr-e itself. Years r»;o wo had a " I .'istinij Doctor"—Dr Tanner. He, however, di-rl the fasting himself ff the scriptural 40 days, and took the rate, lire modern version of the "Ta-st-inc; Doctor" is or.o who waxes fat on catering for other people's fast. There wore not wanting, 30 years ago, superior people who denied the possibility of fastiiiK 40 days. Tho scriptural records were called in question, and as to the ."t-nri-es of hermits and saints who had , equalled the scriptural record, they wore i no more to be believed than Marro Polo's | story that oil flowed out of tho ground near the Caspian. There is, however, ample evidence- that, given water to drink, a 40 days' f:Lst is rather a gluttonous proceeding. * -x " * ft * •:> * About 90 years ago Reuben Kelly, a young medical man, fell into melancholy and religious mania, shunned society, and kept liis room. From May, 1829, his appetite failed gradually until July when he refused feed. It was a matter of conscience, for he said God did not want him to eat. or he would send him an appetite. For three weeks he declaredhe was never better. For six weeks he took a walk every day, and his mind was clear. Ho then began to fail, turned blue, and later black. Ho died on the fifty-third day of his fast, aged 27. He had been almost fasting for somo weeks before the fast began. Dr Richardson tells of a gentleman, acred 35. whom ho visited every day. He was a great reader, but a small eater. He became a confirmed hypochondriac. His food was a groat trouble to him. and after much travelling and advice he met a quack who told him of Alexis St. Martin, a man who had been shot in the- stomach, and in whom the process of digestion was watched through the open wound. The description of the gastric ittico fascinated the invalid. He seized the quack's eugsestion that he had no gastric juice. He reduced his food to a minimum, and said he was better. Then he refused food, and soon loathed it, both taste and smell, and objected even to have it mentioned. All persuasions and all devices utterly failed. His symptoms were similar to the former case, and he died on the- fiftyfifth day of his fast, having almost fasted for some time previously. In both cases the patient drank water freely, but nothinvr else. " ****** * Perhaps the greatest piece of physical endurance on record is that of a- Japaneso youth of 15, who. on March 2-1, 1880, was lost, in a snowstorm. He became so benumbed that he could not rise or move. He was found nn April 19, dead to the knees and pulseless, but with careful nursinc; he recovered. He was lyiitig in tho open in the snow, and had had nothing to eat. The average temperature during the 26 days of his exposure was only sde>g above freezing point, and it had been 14deg below freezing point. Dr Richardfon thought this a much more remarkable ea?o of endurance than either of the others mentioned. I think that a case reported in the papers a few wceka ago is entitUil to honorable mention. A c;old digger some where in this island, but I foTget where, was workin.tr in his tail race when a large stone fell on him, crushing him down and pinnirc him at the bottom of the narrow ditch. He lay there, crushed and jammed as in a vice, for a whole week, with a cold stream of water running over his legs and the lower part of his body. How many of us could have slept in our beds if we had known ! T am glad to say he is making a good recovery.