Courage and National Greatness.

Manawatu Standard, Issue 7059, 19 July 1901, Page 4

Courage and National Greatness.

It was only to be expected that a popular war like that against the Boers should have exalted courage once more to the position of the supreme national virtue of the British. As the Saturday Review points out, courage is above all other qualities the one which is essential to a strong nation,, the only one by which it can live and thrive in the* continual struggle for existence. In modern days there is conflict, not only on the battlefield, but also in politics, in commerce, in industry, and in invention; and there is a demand -for mental strenuousness and daring, even more than for disregard of pain and hardship. It is not mere pugnacity that succeeds for the undisciplined passion for fighting is, perhaps, the most frequent cause of distraction. An illustration of this fact occurs at once in the case, of the Maoriu, a far more warlike people than the modern British. Their energies were drained and their numbers reduced by incessant conflicts, and by raids like that of Te Eauparaha, so that they were quite unable to offer a solid resistance to the foreigners who had invaded their land. Courage, to be useful, has to be restrained and disciplined. The mere instinct of fighting for fighting's sake makes it impossible for tribes ever to grow into a nation. It has seriously hampered the ■ development of Prance, whose history has been a long series of.wars between rival factions, and where almost every constitutional principle had to be established amidst riot and bloodshed. Perhaps the Saturday Eeview lays too much emphasis on the necessity for "push" among the military, commercial and industrial classes of a nation whose courage is disciplined. We should find it hard to belieye that Rome was in any profound sense of the word greater under the Empire than under the Republic, or that the Greece of Alexander was " stronger " than the Greece of Leonidas, of Miltiades, and of Pericles. When these States developed the quality of aggressive " pushfulness " they certainly expanded their borders, but at the same time- they were on the high road to ruin, social, moral and political. The strongest and most solid courage is probably that of the people who are inclined to peace but indifferent to danger or disaster when any vital principle is at stake, or when the national existence is threatened. The spirit that is always rushing out into perils for the sake overcoming them is wasting much of its force in the process. A strong nation, like a strong man, goes on its way, attacking no one, but suffering no one to attack it. Britons naturally flatter themselves that their virtue is of this type, the one foreshadowed by Shakespere in a ruder and more bellicose age than our own ■— " Rightly to be great is not to stir without just argument, I But greatly to find quarrel in a straw when honour's at the stake." The difficulty is always, to draw the" line between aggressive and defensive action. If W e see enemies lurking m our path, we cannot always wait till .they fly at our throat. Britain is menaced now by many and serious perils in China, in Africa, on the Indian frontier, and her people would not be wise to allow their courage to remain latent. In such a ease the only possible attitude is that of strenuous opposition to every obstacle, and the only motto' the old Roman .one of ' sparing the | weak but warring down the proud.

Butter Market,

The London Daily Mail of May 27th contains some interesting but£ ter items. Our contemporary reports that there had been no arrivals of Australasian butter at British ports during the week previous and values remained about what they were, strictly " choicest" brands on the spot making 98s per cwt. Most of the Canadian creamery butter which has arrived recently, says the' Daily Mail, is of good quality and is giving satisfaction at Is per lb retail. Fresh spring grass creamery butter is expected this week, but the quality, of ■course, will not be perfect until the cows get on .to full grass. The "choicest" brands of fodder-made butter clean-flavonred bring 95 S to 97s per ewt. Tho quantity of Canadian _ butter that has been received during the present month is much larger than last May. Values of Canadian butter in Canada have risen about 3s' and are now 98s to 100s for " choicest" creamery. The Copenhagen official quotation for Danish butter continues unchanged, and the market remains firm. It is too early for the tin-packers to commence operatiens, or there would be an advance in the quotation, for sup plies are not plentiful. The second direct steamer this season, carrying 2000 casks of Siberian butter from Eiga to London, has arrived. Messrs Weddel report that there are many complaints about the irregular quality of the Siberian article, especially as regards flavonr. Its texture and make are satisfactory, however, and is meeting a good demand. The quantities of Irish and Dutch butter are increasing. The tin packing of butter in Ireland this "season has not yet commenced, as the grass is still unsuitable'for the purpose. Unless ■there be an early change in the <

weather to moist growing conditions it is expected that the prices of butter of all kinds will advance.