A Twentieth-Century Crusader

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

A Twentieth-Century Crusader

A BRONZE bust of T. E. Lawrence was recently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, by Lord Halifax. He spoke of the astonishing achievements of Lawrence in the war and of the strange character of this man who seemed almost to have many personalities. It is significant how strongly the personality of Lawrence of Arabia has gripped the imagination of his countrymen. To comparatively few was he intimately known; his fame rested upon achievement in distant corners of the world; to the vast majority he was a figure legendary, elusive. There has been no character in our generation which has more deeply impressed itself upon the mind of youth. Many of us can remember when wo began to be told stories how impatiently we used to ask the teller if it was really true; and Lawrence's life is better than any fairy story. As we hear it we are transported back to the days of medieval chivalry, and then we remember that these things happened not many years ago. Lawrence set forth from Oxford eastwards, a crusader of the twentieth century, on behalf of peoples and causes which must remain for ever associated with his name. This phase of Lawrence's life fitted in with that most searching trial of his country which was the occasion of his rendering her such signal service. He had long dreamed of the to freedom of the inhabitants of Palestine and Arabia, and it was through the war that the chance came to realise his dreams. Others worked with him, sharing the perils of the strangest warfare that, those years witnessed, and share with him the glory of achieve-

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA'S GENIUS

ment; but he was the inspiration and fiery soul of the revolt which shattered Turkish misrule and made freemen of the children of the desert. In 1914 Lawrence was barely 26* known only to the small circle of his friends; -when the war ended his namd was on the lips of all the world. For nearly three \ears he organised and directed against the enemy a race oj nomadic tribesmen, counting upon a! devoted loyalty almost unique in the annals of military adventure, a lovalty, which over and over again turned for* lorn hopes to complete success. What was the secret of the almosfl mesmeric power he exerted? So differ* ent was he from other men that they; could often only catch part of his personality. Perhaps, with his strain of Puckishness, Lawrence was himself not averse from deepening a mystery. It is seldom that the direction of world events can be so clearly attributed to the dynamic force of a single individual. He saw a vision which to' the ordinary man would have seemed like fantasy, and by the sheer force of his character made it real. It has been said of him that no man was ever more faithful at any cost to the inner voice of conscience.

Not long before he died he was writing to a friend about his own uneasiness. "I think it v is (he said) in part because I to be dropped out. One of the sorest things in life is to realise that one [is just not good enough. Better perhaps than some,than many, but there is an ideal standard somewnere, and only that matters,; and I cannot find it." - That, said Lord Halifax, was where we must leave this extraordinary man, for the waters of genius run too deea for human measure.