NATIONAL GENIUS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20075, 16 April 1927, Page 25

NATIONAL GENIUS.

ENGLISH RACE NOT DISTINGUISHED. Viscount Grey of Falloden, in an address, i in London on' “Tho National Genius ot England" (reported by Tho Times), said no was not biiro that the title was very appropriate, lie did not think tho English I race had been distinguished tor genius, it I t>y “genius” was meant something which I was imaginative, romantic, and original tin the contrary, ho believed on tho whole that the English race, though quite ready lo admiro genius, had never felt very comfortablo with it when genius had been exhibited by one of us own citizens. If genius was dead, however, tluiy were 1 leady to honour it. because they know the question. “What will ho do next?” would not arise. Dealing with tho aspect of tho character of tho British race which ban come out in our history and political life, Lord Groy said that from this small island an inlluenco had been exorcised on the world’s history which had been quite out of proportion to tho size of tho country, and an Empire had been made of an extent and a character which was unparalleled. Tho qualities which had gone to eject that great achievement were due to three things—tho island, the climate, and tho race. The fact that this was an island had enabled tho race to develop its own character and qualities in a way it could not have done had it been part 01 a continent. Tho door to go out into the world had been specially easy for ns, and there had been no entrance for other people from outside to interfere with us. Without that characteristic tho English race could never have done nil it had done. The climate was such that it was never so hot as to depress energy, and it was never so cold as 3 make labour impossible or unretnuucrativo. Wo had a real passion for individual liberty, and that stood out m history as one of the great characteristics of the race. Judging by bis own feelings, he should say that every Englishman had a root in him somewhere of a rebel against authority. The Englishman did not like being told what to do, and did not like to obey. That came from the very energy which made our ancestors pioneers’, but which also made them strong with a passion for individual liberty and doing what they pleased. That outstanding quality by itself, however, would have resulted in chaos. But there was something in the race which corrected what would have been a great defect of tho passion for individual liberty, the race became permeated with a sense that order was necessary. He did not think that English people invited order, but they were convinced that order was necessary. Tracing those two qualities in history, Lord Grey said that hitherto when anyone class had abused power in its own interest tho remedy had been to invest tho class below it with power to protect itself. To-day every class was invested with power. Tho wage-earning class was the most numerous class —attempted to country depended greatly upon how the various classes, especially the most numerous class, would exorcise their power. Now that power was distributed over every class, if any one class —even the most numerous doss —attempted to use that power solely for its own interest at tbo expense of the others, ho believed that it would find there was a community sense iu the nation which would prevent the abuse of sudi power. That seemed to him to be the point at which we had now arrived. In those days they might well ask themselves whether the sense of order would remain strong in the British -ace, as it had been in the yiast. He was not at all pessimistic in regard to that. This year they had gone through the greatest industrial disturbances that any of them could remember. There had been incidents of disorder, no doubt, but coni loring what the state of feeling was tho issues involved, and the intensity of the struggle, there had been remarkably little disorder.