PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 5

PASSING NOTES.

(From Saturday's Daily Times.)

The one good thing for which we may bless the Dogger Bank Commission is that its finding shows us how insufficient the reasons for which, in our anger and our haste, we might have gone to war. Though we never admitted as much, nor perhaps were ourselves aware of it, the fact that we should have had our enemy at advantage undoubtedly weighed' with us. To this hour the Service journals moan and groan over a lost opportunity. Strategically, the Russians at Vigo, they lament, were " in the hollow of our hand. " No doubt ; and our instinct of this fact at the moment of greatest heat did not make easier a policy of patience and selfrestraint. By this time we have cooled a bit and can receive with equanimity the doctrine of the Commission that there was nothing to go to war about. If this doctrine is sound, nothing remains but to tot up our compensation claims and hug ourselves on having chosen the better part. Sick and sorry should we have been to-day with a war on our hands for which the more we looked into it the iess justification we could find. Something to luck we owe. something to management. The King, as everybody knowsj is a steadying influence, making always for peace ; and the Balfour Ministry, with all its faults, has at least the gentlemanly virtue of not being easily flurried. How else indeed, after all that has come and gone, could it contrive to go on existing?

According to the Saturday Review, Mr Lloyd-George — a Welsh politician of some importance, in characteristics an exaggerated T. E. Taylor — has " blessed the Welsh revival."

Ho abandoned one of his political demonstrations to make room for the- revivalists. The grace this attention of Mr G-eorge to the rival demonstration may have had nothing to do with the little fact that in every place where the revival is in force nobody will give even a thought to politics, far less attend a meeting. -Sir Lloyd-George astutely made a virtue of necessity, shut up his show, and attended the revival meeting. That he " blessed the revival " Is to be understood, I fancy, by the rule of contrary. He blessed it ironically, which is all the same as pronouncing it anathema. If I may speak my mind, I should say that a revival capable of flooring the politicians is a revival to be respected. Distinctly there is room for a revival of this quality in New Zealand. If, for example, Mr Seddon, now on a stumping tour, could be constrained to " shut up his show," cease from his political taradiddles and get to his marrow bones, it would be not bad for himself and certainly good for the country. The Welsh revival has, indeed, many merits, — this for one, that it has temporarily silenced Mr Lloyd-George, and another as yet insufficiently recognised — namely, that it is not a professional revival. Its origin is spontaneous generation. The professional revivalist who carries from place to place his music-hall ditties, his stage surprises, his sacred jokes, trading on factitious excitements, is, I am afraid, no friend to religion. Moreover, any fifth-rate New Zealand politician at £300 a year would knock him out first round.

The editor of the Tablet lives so entirely out of the world that he only becomes aware of " Civis " and Passing Notes when his attention is summoned to these mundane phenomena by the interposition of "a friend." So he tells us himself, so he has told us more than once ; — for example, the other xlay :

Sir, — I owe to the courteous len-.inder of a friend the somewhat belated peiusal of two paragiaphs in last Saturday's " Passing Notes," etc., etc. This comes nearer to Laputa than anything I know. Listen to Captain Lemuel GuHiver : I gksfiKyfid, Jieie and there racing in th.c habit

of servants, with a blown bladder fastened like a flail to the end of a short stick which they carried in their hands; in each bladder was a small quantity of dried pease. With these bladders they now and then flapped the mouths and ears of those who stood near them [the Laputan philosophers] ; of "which" practice I could not then conceive the meaning ; bub it seems that the nimds of these people are so taken up with intense speculations that they neither can speak, nor attend to the discourses of others, without being roused by some external taction upon the organs of speech and hearing ; for which reason, those persons who are able to afford it always keep a flapper in the family as one of their domestics, nor ever walk abroad or make visits without him. It is evident fr&m his own account of himself that the editor of the Tablet "keeps a flapper," or is somehow provided with one, and by this agency as occasion may require is recalled from the Middle Ages or woke up from any hypnotic abstraction into which he may have fallen.

Once awake and got going the Tablet editor may, on some subjects, be listened to with interest, his only fault a regrettable long-windedness. Nullum tempus occurrit ecclesiae — which is the same as saying that to an ecclesiastic, whether preacher or editor, it never occurs to think of the time. But when we get the Tablet editor standing up for " rights of conscience," defending " the minor Christian creeds," offering himself as the protector of the Jew, the Agnostic, and " Our national university," who would or could think of the time ! In this vein, a Saul among the prophets, let him talk at his will ; every word is precious, and one is only left wondering what would have happened to liim could he have talked the same to Torquemada and the Holy Office. However, let that pass, and let us come to the Tablet editor on the true and essential nature of a divinity' degree, respecting which "Civis" had darkened counsel by words without knowledge.

" The essentials of a degree in divinity," said he in " Passing Notes," " should be, first, anL arts degree, and on tap of that a. pass in fciir subjects— (l) Hebrew, (2) Greek, (3) Bible literatuie, (4) Church history.

Now, words, like edge tools, need careful handling. Your contributor clearly does not know the meaning of tho terms " essentials," " degree," " divinity." Let us take the word " divinity." Accordingly he takes the word " divinity," and — for all that he is so simpleseeming — performs straight-ofi a " conjui'er's trick ;—"; — " the word ' divinity ' " is the Inexhaustible Bottle. From it he educes "Theology," "anthropology," " Christology," " pneunmtolog-y,'* " soteriology," " ecclesiology," " eschatology " — to which . add " tautology " and " phraseology,',' - with " doxology " as 3 a wind-up, unless it is' desired to bring in Shakespeare and the musical glasses. But anyhow, be his 'ologies as many as they may, surely they are all comprehended in, and may be got out of, Bible literature. If the Tablet editor doesn't get them thence, whence does he get them? It is an awkward question, and I forbear to press it. The matter may stand at that.

Dear " Civis," — I would like to gain your powerful support (assuming that the cause has 3'onr sympathy) to combat the use of that detestable word " Dunedinite-" Ido not know ■who is responsible for its birth, but to my ears it 13 a fearful concoction. Kearlv all words with the " ite " suffix (geological words excepted) are unsesthetic. " Dunedinite- " is clumsy and mean-sounding. Before it takes too deep a root I would like to see a discussion on it. How would "Londonite" or " Aberdeenite " sound? (or Oxfordite?). Horlible! The inhabitants of London are "Londoters" and of Aberdeen " Aberdonians " ; both words ioll off the tongue with ease. I personally favour the simple "Dunediner," and think it would meet' with general approval. " Dunedoniau " sounds heavy, but is not more so than " Abarcionian." A euphonious name would be " Dunesian," with the advantage that it would do for the adjectiv»!<|is well as for the noun. " Dunedian " is perhaps better still ; m fact, I think I prefer it to any of the above. What say you? — 1 am, etc., Oxoxiak. There is surely no need that any dweller in this town should be made absurd by the ticket '' Dunedinite." Better be a Hivite, Hittite, ' Jebusite, or Amorite. These ites are imposed upon us with a show of literary authority,' but " Dunedinite "is gratuitous. The story runs of an early Dunedin man complaining to the Daily Times of the period that in the account of some public function his name appeared amongst what the reporter called " the elite." He was not an elite, he said ; he was a member of the Church of England. This was a Dunedin man, and he hod a very proper feeling against being made into any sort of an ite. What is wrong with the form " Dunedin man"? Place-names that cannot be inflected exist by the thousand. Even when they can be inflected it is generally advisable to leave them alone. " Manchester man " is surely better than " Manchesterian," "Liverpool man" than " Liverpudlian," " Glasgow man " than " Glaswegian." And what would you do with the name Edinburgh but make it adjectival as it stands, — Edinburgh town, Edinburgh castle, an Edinburgh lass, an Edinburgh man. What is good enough for Edinburgh should be good enough for Dunedin.

Dear " Civis," — Is the following (from" a Dunedin paper) a- specimen of Yankee spelling. or is it an argument in favour of having the Bible m schools ?

" JUr Jamieson also conrinctccl the evening service at the church, and delivered a very impressive seimon en " Chiist Before Pilot, "' and af the close a number of pei'sous remained behind for a, conveisation with the preacher. Additional meetings vrill be held clming this ■week."

Considering thai it must have j-aswcl through the hands of reporter, sub-editor, compositor, and proof-reader, and yet appear as above, I think a few Bible lessons ■would not bo amiss. "What think you? — I am, etc.,

Celt. That the staff of this office, from the editor do\vn to the printer's devil and

the writer of Passing Notes, might bt the better of a course of Bible lessons, far be it from me to deny. But this is not quite the same thing as admitting that the country would be the better for Bible in schools. Nor do I a^Lmit that a course of private Bible lessons, which no doubt we all very much need, would save the typographical artist from typographical blunders. In the shocking example cited 'above the word " pilot," observe, is in itself a true and propel word. No such form as pylot, or pilotte, would have passed ; btit the form " pilot " did pass, and it passed for the reason that in a statement of no conceivable importance — for who on earth wants to know what the subject of Mr Jamieson"! evening sermon was? — only a glaring misspelling would arrest the proof-reader's eye. That is the philosophy of this typical blunder, — that is how you may explain the milk in the cocoanut ; and it has nothino- to do with the Bible in schools. ° Civis.

When a proposal came before the HigK Schools Board of Governors on Wednesday from the principal of the Girls' High School that shorthand and bookkeeping should be taught in the Girls' High School, Mr T. Mackenzie, M.H.R., ~took the practical view, and said he thought if the girls wera taught cooking, washing, and ironing, in, addition to the ordinary subjects of education, they were being fitted to become very ■useful members of society ; but if they were to be taught such subjects as shorthand and bookkeeping, and to usurp the functions of men, how were they going to expect the men to marry them? The board apparently took this view also, aa the matter was ordered to stand over. As a matter of fact, there are already so many excellent type writing, shorthand, and bookkeeping schools in the- city, where instruction, is given ai) such moderate fees, that one- fails to see tha necessity for adding these subjects to the Girls' High School curriculum; and, moreover, nine-tenths of those girls who take up shorthand do not continue it for more than a few years, unless they use it as a means of livelihood, and in that case they are more likely to attain more useful proficiency and more up-to-date commercial styles in the institutions, which are specially devoted to this and kindred instruction.

The weekly meeting- of the Benevolent Institution Trustees was held on Wednesday; afternoon, there being present Messrs It. M. Clark (chairman), A. Tapper, R. Wilson, J. Thomson, J. Green, and the Hon. H. Gourley. Accounts amounting to £215 4a 3d wero passed for payment. It -was reported that Bridget Baker bad died in tha institution during the past week. The outdoor relief book, laid upon the - table, showed that during the month of February 319 cases had been relieved, representing 139 men, 218 women, and 517 children, the weekly cost being £101 14-s 6d. - In February of last year the cases relieved outside the institution were 308, in which were included 131 men, 211 women., and 492 children — cost, £100 16s 6d per week. Mr Thos. Burton was appointed valuer on behalf of the trustees, to act in conjunction with Mr John Wright (representing the City Council) in the matter of valuing a strip of land to be taken for road-widening purposes. Relief cases numbering 34- were considered

A pitiful story was told at an inquest heldi a few weeks ago at Belhnal Green respecting the death of one of those who took part in the "Charge of the Light Brigade," and had also served under Sir Colin Campbell in the Indian Mutiny. His widow told rho coroner that her husband had had no pen sion, as he was purchased out of tho service. -So had been unable to work for rlie> last five years. They had been in sora straits of late, she having had to keep her husband. She was a silk weaver, but Iv the previous week her earnings only amounted to 3s 4d, and out of this 3s hadl to go for rent. The remaining 4d, added to 3s that was allowed the deceased as outdoor relief, was all they had to live on. Her 11 children were all dead. Her husband had fallen out of his bed early onetmorning. She got assistance, but when a constable procured a doctor death had taken place. . The poor old woman patheticalLy added that- her husband had made a pudding for eating on N«-w Year's Day, remarking 1 , "Well, old girl, rce shall have a. bit of pudding, if we don't have any, meat." She managed to get a bit of meat, but had to take it back again, as she was too broken-hearted to eat. Her husband kept a list of the survivors of the charge, and used to tick off the name of an old* comrade when death removed him.

The Paris correspondent of the Standard has recently given «omo particulars oE a remarkable case in Paris. The- plaintiff is an eminent Parisian surgeon, the defendants a firm who took cinematograph filma of his operations. This h© allowed them to do, so that he might get scientific records, but the films once obtained have been sold, and even exhibited at country fairs. In one case we are told that a certain Parisian hostess anxious to entertain her^ucsts us they had never been entertained before, had a einematographed operation performed after a select little dinner party. Other ladies followed the example thus set, until one fine evening a lady who some time before, had undergone an operation happened to be present at a party where the cinematograph proceeded to give a graphio representation of her o\mi suffering?. Naturally she was much cut up at thuS being wounded in the house of a friend. Wo are not surprised that the surgeon should claim heavy damages for the lisa made of the films. Meanwhile the photographers claim that they can do what i\\<sf, lil£ Trith their own,