LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17936, 15 May 1920, Page 1

LITERATURE.

THE COMING KING * AN EVERLASTING INHERITANCE.

By Constant Reader.

It ia surely more than a coincidence that on tile ©vo of tho arrival ot the Prince of Wales ui Utago, thero should roaeix Dunediu a copy of Sir J. G. Frazer's learned work on "Tlie Magical Origin of Kings"— a book whioii at this exact period in history pot*M!uaos considerable interest,. If it bo permissible to speculate wliether the maintenance and security of tho British Monarchy amid the gonerul overthrow of potoukites and powers, the crumbling of thrones and the disappearance of dynasties may bo traceable £o tho working of magic, tbo origin and nature of the magic must be a lit subject for inquiry, and for such an inquiry no man living possessed a greater stoi'o of learning, and can bo deemed a more relwhle authority „ than Sir J. G. l'ruzer, author of that masterpiece of Anthropological soienoe "The Golden Bough." Fifteen years ago Sir J. G. Frazer de-. live red' a course of lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge, under the title of "The Sacred Character and Magioal Functions of Kings in Early Society." These were subsequently published as "Lectures on the Early History of tho Kingship," arid the etrbstance of the lectures was afterwards incorporated in the third edition of "Tho Golden Bough." The re-issue of them in a separate volume may be taken as indicative of their bearing upon present-day ovents. As all students of "The Golden Bough" are aware, the particular case of a snored kingship, which served as the starting point of Sir J. G. Frazor's comprehensive and masterly investigation, was the priesthood of Diana at Nemi, "which combined the regal with the sacred character; for tho priest bore the title of Rex Nemorensis or King of the Wood, and his office wag called a kingdom." As to the scope of tho inquiry, Sir J. G. Frazer remarks: sacred character a«d magioal functions of Icings in early society cannot be understood without eon>o knowledge of those general forms of superstitifcion of which this aspect of the kingship is a particular expression; above all. we must acquaint ourselves with the elements of primitive magio, since the anoient king waa often Httle more than tho chief magician of his tribe." Examining the general theory of magio, Sir J. G. Frazer, from hia vast store of knowledge, gleaned out of an exhaustive survey of every possible source of information, gives examples of two divisions of magical rites—tho first drawn almost wholly from _ what may be called privato magic, that is, from magioal rites and inoantations practised for the benefit or tho injury of in- ! dividual®; tho socond illustrating public magic,—that is, sorcery practised for the benefit of the whole communitv. This leads up to gome interesting- conclusions: — Wherever ceremonies of this sort are observed for the common good, it is obvious that the magician oeasea to be merely a private practitioner, and becomes to some extent a publio functionary. The development of such a class of functionaries is of great importance for, th<* political as well as the religious evolution of society. For when the welfare of the tribe ia supposed to • depend on tho per formanoo of these magical rites, tne magician becomes a personage of muoh influence and repute, and may readily acquire the rank and authority of a chief or king. The profession accordingly draws into its ranks some of tho ablest and most ambitious men of tho tribe, because it holds out to them a prospect of honours, wealth, and power such as hardly any other career could offer. . . . Thus, so far as the publio profession of magio affected the "constitution ofsavago sooiety, it tended to place the control of affairs in the hands of the ablest men; it shifted tho balance of power from tbo many to the one;, it substituted a monarchy for a democraoy, or rather for an oligarchy of old men; for in general the savage community is rulod, not by th(? whole* body of adult males, but by a council of elders. 'The change, by whatever causes produced, and whatever the character of the early rulers, was on the whole very beneficial. For the rise < f monarchy appears to bo an essential condition of the emergence of mankind from savagery. . . . Everything that helps to raiso society by opening a career to talent and proportioning the degrees of authority to men's natural abilities, deserves to lie welcomed by all who have the real good of their fellows at heart. One© theao elevating influences have begun to operate—and they cannot be forever suppressed—'the progress of .civilisation becomes comparatively rapid. Tho rise of one man to supreme power enables him to carry through changes in a single lifetime whioh previously many generations might not have sufficed to effect; and if, as will often happen, ho is a man of intellect and energy above the common, he will readily avail himself of the opportunity. Sir J. G. Frazer prooeeds to point out that, so far as the publio profession of magio has been one of the roads by which tho ablest men havo passed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition and to elevate it into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on, the world. . "This," he declares, "js no small service to humanity. And when we remember further thai in another direction magic has paved the way for science, we are foifced to admit that if tlie black art has done much evil, it ha* also been (ho souroa of muoh good; th,ot if it is tho child of error, it has yet bewi tho mother .of freedom and truth." In_ a savage and barbarous society the publio magician occupies a position of great influence, from which, if he be a prudent and able man, he oftentimes advances to the rank of a chief or a king. And the chief or the king owes his authority in great measure to the maintenance of his reputation as a magician. Amongst other things the king was expected, by his magic, to secure an adequate supply of food, to which end it was necessary for him to control the weather, and especially to ensure a sufficient fall of rain. He was also expected to cause tho sun to shine and to control the wind, making it to blow or bo still at his pleasure. A .mrvival of this superstition lingered as recently as tho reign of Queen Victoria, the phrase "Queen's weather" boing commonly used to describe a fine day when Royalty appeared in public. The belief thai a king or queen or chief possessed either supernatural powers or r.onder-working talismans lias left its traews in Europe, and even in England itself. A canon attributed to Saint Patrick ©numerates artoncr the blowings attending the reign of I a good king "fine weather, calm seas, crops abundant, and trees laden with fruit." Tli© same idea lias lingered in Scotland down to quite recent times. When Dr Johnson travelled in Skye, it was still held that the return of the chief of the Macleods to Donvegan, after any considerable absence prodrioed a plentiful catch of herring. Alexander Smith in "A Summer in Skye" tells of a magic flag kept at Dun vegan, reputed to be tho gift of a fairy. Tiio legond is worth repeating:— Tho old people say that one of the Macleods fell in love with a fairy, and used to meet her on tho green hill oat there. Macleod promised to marry herand one night the fairy gave him a green flag, telling him that when either he or on« of his race was in distress the flag was to ba waved, and relief would be < certain. Threo times the flag might be waved; bat after the third time it might ; be thrown in tho fire, for (ho power would havo gone all out of it. I don't know indeed, how it was, but Macleod deserted the fairy and married a woman. When tho heard of the marriage she was in a groat rage whatever. She cast a spell over Macleod'a coontry and all tho women brought forth dead sons and all the cows brought forth dead calves. Maclcod was in great tribulation. He would soon have no young men to fight his battles, and his teoante would < soon havo no milk or cheese to pay their i rente. Tho cry of his people came to him as ho art in his castle, and ho waved the flag, and next day over the country thore WW© living sons and living calves. Another time, in the front of a battle, ho ■ was sorely pressed and nigh being beaten, but he waved th© flag Mid got the victory and a great slaying of his enomiea. At tlie time of tho potato failure, when the people wcro starving in their cabins, it waa thought that ho should have waved j it and_ stopped the rot. But the flag stayed in its case. Macleod can only wave it onco now; and Fm sure bofs liko a man with his last gninea in his poobet— he does not liko to spend it. With regard to tho ancient superstition concerning tho Rojal touch, Sir J., G. Frazer has some interesting instances ,to ' rcoord: In the Middle. Ages German mothora ' offered their infants to Waldesmar First, ' King of Denmark, to be touohed by him, 1 » " Tho Magical Origin of Kinf,*." By Sir Jmooh teorgo Pvaasr. Louden : UiwwriUan, and 00. (10b I ft

believing thai the children would thrive the bettor for tlio liciyal touch) and lor 11 like reason farmers asked him to throw tho sood for them, 'j.lie J'/iiglinh kin/;s ulsinuxl tlie power of curing scrofula by thoir touch, lor which reason tho disease was known an tho King's Evil. Charles tho ftecoud often exerciser] thia gift of luinling, us wo know from l'cpye, who witnessed tho cercmony more than once. Thus, on the 13th of April, IG6I, he rocords ii\ his diary; "Mot my Lord with tho Diiko; and after a little talk with him I wont to tho banquet house, and thero saw tho King healo, tho first time that over I saw him do it, which lie did with great gravity; ,-vud it seomed to rno to be <ui ujjly office and a simple one." In his childhood Dr Johnson was touched for scrofula by Queen Anne, and bo retained in later life a faint but solemn recollection of her as of a lady in diamonds with a long black hood. The French kings ckimod to ,possess same beneficent power, which they arc said to have derived from Cflovis or St. Louis; while onx English king* inherited it from Edward tho Confessor- But probably tho barbarous predecessors both cd the Saxon and the Norwegian kings had set up similar pretensions long before the dawn of history. Down to last century the West African tribe of the Walos, in Senegal, ascribed to their Royal 'Family the name power of healing by touch. Tiiis leads, directly to tho coodueion that in many parts of the world the Kmg is the lineal successor of th© old magician or medicine man. " When onos a special class of soroerecs," says Sir J. G. 'Frazer, " haa been segregated from tho oommumty and entrusted by it with the discharge ot <futies of which the safety and welfare. are belieived to depend, theae man gradually rise to wcakh and power, till their leaders blossom out into sacred kings." Thus quite early in the history of the human race there can be discomed a democracy which ovolvea into a despotism, and this by dint of the gradual aaazmt>tion of divinity. Oacar Wilde, in his heart' ■ searching essay on "Tie Soul of Man j Under Socialism," exclaimed: "There are three kinds of despots. Thero is tie despot who tyranmisea over five body. is the despot who tyrannises over the soul. There is the despot who tyrannises over the soul and body alike. Tho first ia called the Prince. The second is called the Pop©. Tlie third ia called-the People." By an entirely different process of reasoning Sir J. G. Fruzar roaches the some conclusion: — The, great social revolution which thus begins with democracy and ends in despotism ie attended by an intellectual revolution which affects both tbe conceptions and tlio functions of royalty. For as time goes on, the fallacy of magic becomes more and more apparent to tlie acuter minds and ia slowly displaosd by religion; ill other -words, tho magician given way to tlie. priest, who renouncing the attempts to control directly the processes of nature for tho good of man, seeks to attain the saice end indirectly j by appealing to the gods to do for him I what he no longer faaoice he can do for himself. ELonoe tlie kisg, starting ae a magician, tends gradually to exchange the praetico of magic for tho priestly functions of prayer and sacrifice. And while the distinction between the human and the divine is still imperfectly dfawn, it is often imagined that men may themselves attain tho godhead, not merely after thoir doath, but in their lifetime, through I tlie temporary or permanent possession j of their whole nature by a great and j powerful spirit. No okas of the com- j mnnaty haa benefited eo much kings by thiß belief in the possible incarnation of a god in human form. For tho details, which are full of interest and information—of the evolution of tlie soared kingship that still lingera in tho well-nigh exploded idea of tho divine right of kings, students roust bo referred to Sir J. G. Frazor's book. Historically the institution of the monarchy appears to liavo originated in tlie oroar ol public magicians or medioine men, deemod to have oonstituted tho oldest artificial or professional aksj in tho evolution of society. In tho process of tiaio, differentiations are observed- and the order of medicine men ia subdivided into Classen, sucß as tho healers of disease, the makers of rain, tho most powerful member of the order winning tlie position of chief and gradually developing into a sacred king. By dsgroes magio is ousted by religion, and later there is a partition between tbo civil and religious aspect of the Kingship, temporal power being committed to one man and the spiritual to another. " Regarded from th© industrial point of view," writes Sir J. G. Frazer, "the evatutkm has been from uniformity to diversity, of ftmo tion; regarded from the political point of view, it has been from democracy to despotism," Since Sir J. G. Frazor's subjeot is the growth and not th© decline of "the great and, in its time, beneficent institution" of monarchy, he does not enter into its later history nor attempt to deal with "the docay of despotism and its displacement with, forms of government better adapted to the higher deeds of humanity." But, having regard to tho deeper meaning of the Boyxl visit and the value to the dominion and the Empire of the coming of the Prince of Wales, it is fitting to conclude with a word or two in this regard. The problem which confronts the Prince in his role of coming King can be illustrated by an historical contrast. Towards the end of the thirteenth century and during the greater part of the fourteenth century, there reigned over England the three Edwards, whom Rudyard Kipling has respootively oalled Edward the Lawgiver, Edward tho Poltroon, and Edward the Knight. The son of Edward 111 was probably the first of the Royal line to bear the title of the Prince of Wales, and from tlie colour of his armour ho was oalled tho Black Prince. He bore himself bravely at Orecy and Poitiers, and won a great name as a warrior. He backed up the Parliament against his father 1 tlie King, but unfortunately died before his time came to succeed to the throne. The Black Prince had all tho magic qualities fitting him for the monarchy which he did not live to enjoy. The contrast is seen in Charles I who, coming to tlie throne, lost his head, largely owing to his fatal obsession of the divine right of kings. Charies, is known as "The White King," because, following tho fateful morning of January 30, 1649, "it was observed that at such time as the Bang's body was brought out from St. George's Hall tho sky was serene and clear; bat presently it began to snow, and the snow fell bo fast that by th© time the carps© oame to the -West End of the Hoyal Ohapel, the black velvet pall was all white, being thickly covered over with snow."

In the contrast between the Black Prince and the White King, there lies a parallel which he who runs may read. Tho magio of tho kingship inherent in the Blaok Prince was lost <3win? to the war with Franc®. Tho magic of tho kingship which descended to the White King waa dissipated in tbe war with his people. Tho research of Sir J. G. Frazer teaches tho lesson that the tidn of monarchy flows from democracy to despotism, reeodittg again towards democracy until it ia in danger of disappearing. It is towards the union of a meed of benevolent despotism with a measure of enlightened democracy t.fiat tho path of progress seems_ to point. It is given to the Prince to unito in his own person these two divergent streams, and of his desire and ability to bring about tho union he haa shown splendid evidence daring his tour through trie dominion. For -which reason, with one heartland voioe, the people of New Zealand cry "God Bless the Prince of Wales," atui in due tome may he enter upon the everlasting inheritance of the kingship!