IN PRASSE OF TOP HATS

Evening Star, Issue 17155, 23 September 1919, Page 2

IN PRASSE OF TOP HATS

It is -ood news that the top hat is reeapturiii"; tho favor of our exquisites, writes 31 r W. ("a'tne in the ' Daily _ Express.' A man who has no follies is in crave peril. To carry overmuch virtue f 3 to be ill-balanced, the centre of gravity being maintained too hi<rh: and for him who walks the Straight and Narrow Path the Abyss yawns on cither hand. A tightrope over Niagara is more safe. On the Broad. Road a stumble hj in the ordinary course of things, and may be easily retrieved; but _ the .saint who slips through spiritual pride is lost. Therefore did the fjreat and wise men of old commonly keep m their houses halfwitted fellow's, and this not for entertainment (as many now suppose), but rather as a reminder ■'hat all men. even the greatest and wisest, are capable of foolfshness. This was a salutary practice, because whenever the sage was tempted to value himself on his brains or his morals, the spectacle of the outrageous fool (a man like himself) restored him to humility and sent him to his prayers to be saved from error.

And sa it is necessary for the spiritual health of every nation that a reasonable percentage of its citizens should be perceived to be silly, for unless this is liie case, and very evidently the case, that nation will be'apt to grow into the belief that it is altogether wise, and that it cannot err, and "such a nation will then be separated from destruction by only a small space. 'The manifest folly of the few acts, therefore, as ballast to the _ many, by shifting the corporate centre of gravity to a lower and safer position than it would occupy were everyone apparently quite wise! A nation that counts a large number of unmistakably stupid people among its component units is not likely, in a fit of spiritual pride, to embark upon the. business of thrusting its own wisdom down all its neighbors' throats —a proceeding which is certain to be resisted to the death, and can only lead to the ruin of the evangelist. We ought, therefore —especially in England, where the good and the wise are so extraordinarily numerous—-always to suffer our fools gladly, so lone, of course, as they do not pretend to be persons of Rapacity. Thus shall we bo kept humble of heart and sympathetic towards what we regard as the follies of other nations, since wo shall know ourselves to be also not wholly above the reproach of silliness. Anything, therefore, which tends to make tho folly of cur fools conspicuous (such as the publication of their little articles in the daily papers) is to be commended.

And so it is good news t'hat the top 'iiat is recapturing- the favor of our exquisites.