Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, NOV. 27, 1926 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16202, 27 November 1926, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, NOV. 27, 1926 THE PASSING OF THE GREAT MAN

At the gates of knowledge nro all manner or pleasant things, new and old. At a modern banquet it is impossible for any one of tho guests, even the most eon firmed gormand, to so much as taste of all tho delieaeies that are freely offered to him. The boundaries of knowledge are every day widening; expansion not contraction for some time has been an inevitable law. In the nineteenth century it was possible for an average man to claim to possess a full general knowledge. That claim cannot be made in tho twentieth century. Dr. Nicholas M. Butler, the President for twentyfive years of tho Columbia University, New York, recently, in an interview reported in tho New York Times, placed t lie change over, from the acquisition of general knowledge to extreme specialisation in knowledge, in tho year 1890. This he associated with tho date of Sir John TonniePs famous cartoon in Punch, “Dropping the Pilot,” which represented King William If. parting with Bismarck. At that time Dr. Butler would place thi' beginning of an industrial revolution. He said: “The new science of which Huxley and Tyndall were the prophets and the popular- teachers, with ideas of evolution, obtained a hearing. And the new scientific knowledge was adapted to the needs of society by Kelvin, Helmhotz, Pasteur and’ others.” The large place which had been given to the classics in education then began to be questioned, and abandoned, or at least balanced by the introduction of “the Modern Division,” even into the most conservative of English schools. It was at about this time that ihe Columbia University was founded. As an institution, its President claims that it is unique. For this reason. “Go to Oxford, go to Cambridge, and you will find seats of learning that, like Topsy, have simply grown. But for a number of years Columbia University gathers together her various activities, and integrates them, according to the general recomracnda-

tlons of Lord Haldane’s report of 1011. Columbia will stand alone of its kind. Its nearest analogue is the University of Paris." The new Knowicdgo contracted knowledge. No single brain is now sutlicient to compas its abundance. Columbia’s President did not say so, but is it not true that to keep up with knowledge, even within the limits of specialisation, the field is only open to the expert? It would be a strange limitation upon tho gift to men of the increase, of knowledge upon the earth, if the greatness of the gift were to eontri lute to mentifl loss rather than to gain. Tantalus, a son of Jupiter, far revealing his master’s secrets was punished by a raging thirst that he was unable to allay, although the means for satisfaction were close at hand and within his sight. The case mentally of modern man appears to bo little bettor than that of Tantalus. Certainly ho can benefit by the combined efforts of others; he can oat of the fruits of the tree of knowledge, to which he has done nothing to contribute, much as he accepts the gracious rains which fall from the heavens. Extension of knowledge, which has made specialisation compulsory, has come in an age that has proved, singularly barren of groat men. It. will be remarkable, if it should prove to be so, that the extension of knowledge should eliminate. rather than promote greatness. The grant of education, or.at least its alphabet, to classes in Europe, that to the world’s shame had for centuries remained in the darkness of ignorance, and were serfs existing at the pleasure of others levelled up: it now looks as if the further and wider extension of knowledge, no longer a more alphabet but a mass of erudition and technalia, tho pursuit of any branch of which makes its follower its slave for life, levels down. Dr. Butler would be the last man to deprecate study and .the widest possible extension of knowledge to anyone. Yet this is his summing up of the result of extreme specialisation in knowledge: “You will notice that to-day there is not anywhere iu the world a mind that can integrate the universe as we are discovering it and interpret it. There is no one great poet. There is not one great philosopher. There is not one groat spiritual leader. There is not a Dante, not an Aristotle, not a St. Dominic-o, a St. Francis, or a John Wesley. It is a long time —a very long time- —since civilisation has been so situated.” Dr. Butler docs not say, and it would indeed be quite contrary to fact to hold that there are not now great specialists among the younger men of our day to prove worthy successors to their famous predecessors. The continuity of scholarly leadership is assured. 'There will be great scholars and great specialists, if not, all round, great men. There is not the same opportunity under modern conditions for tho great sailor or the great soldier. Machinery ha« developed the engineer at the expense of the master: chemistry, explosives, and long distance firing, have developed the staff at the expense of the general. There can never again be a Hannibal, a Julius Caesar, an Alexander or a Xapoleon. Xor will specialisation of tho fields of knowledge give to the world another Socrates, a Shakespeare, a Bacon, a Xcwton, an Erasmus or a Hooker. The world has gained enormously by the greater spread of knowledge among all classes of the people: it appears to have lost in the number of great- leaders of thought. We cannot have it.every way. To be life greatest industrial age the world has even known we have had to sacrifice much. But hrfS the really great man passed for ever? Is his greatness merely obscured by the general increase of knowledge among all classes and by tho exceptional brilliance of tho great specialist? Exceptions must be permitted in any sweeping derogation of great men. We still have the great artist, the sculptor, the architect and the engineer. Schools of art, and engineering, may differ as to their ideals but there is nothing to prevent excellence in pursuits which consist of getting things done. Wo may yet produce an equal to a Corregio, a Romney, or a Turner. Tho bridge at Sydney, or a modern dirigible, may be set' off against the pyramids of the Pharoahs. But the law applies even to these exceptions. The great artist or engineer to ensure success must abandon the pursuit of any other knowledge except that which is an auxiliary aid to him in his special calling. A man may, however much knowledge may extend upon the earth, be a greater painter, a greater architect or a greater engineer than tho world has ever known and in no case be, of necessity, a great man. Specialisation may not always increase differentation. It may simplify. It. is now seen to be breaking down barriers in knowledge rather .than creating new ones. The ultimate goal may be simplicity. A “tree of knowledge” may again stand out in a new paradise, unattended by % danger, from which al may freely partake. The great man may appear again once more. It may bo possible to eseapo the uninspiring commonplace of average mediocrity. Science has won great, victories. She has become more modest in her claims. She no longer scoffs nT, but venturing greatly, explores the unseen. Dr. Butler sees a larger unity now evolving. “The barriers between subjects, regarded hitherto as separate are breaking down*. . . . vou have the atom. \ou have the cell. Who to-day dares to regard them as totally distinct and unrelated?” The return of the gieat man may arise when knowledge becomes simple.