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ISSUES AND EVENTS
omtor was usurped by the sophists. A crowd of critics
and‘ of compilers darkened the face of learning, and the
decline of genius -was soon followed by the decayrtof
taste.” (Vol. i, p. 76.) - -
Or again, “The tragic and comic muse of the Romans,‘
who seldom aspired beyond the imitation of Attic
genius, had been almost totally silent since the ‘fall of
the Republic, and‘ their place has been occupied by
licentious farce, elfeminate music, and splendid pagean-
try.’f ..,(Vol..iii, p. 420.)
I have studied English writersof the Decline with
some care.. Few,were really healthy, and, from what
I"'can;gather,' the best amongthem were neglected by
the people at large. Critics and annotators flourished
as at"Rome; but genius, as at Rome, seems to have
beenpconspicuous by its absence. An unworthy imi-
t'atio,n,'of the worst elements in contemporary French
literature seems to have pervaded a large section of
English art and life. This was in part due to the fact
that the emancipated -Englishwoman of the age-used
her freedom for selfish rather than National ends. For
one picture in the National Academy, during this epoch,
that represented her as a Sweetheart, inspiring her
knight to battle for God and his country, there were
half-a-dozen that showed her forth as a Siren luring
him to destruction. Men boasted that they were “De-
cadents.’.’- Novels dealing with the morphia or cigarette
victim'.wer.e more widely read than the works of'Bun-
yan or.Sir Walter Scott. Men and women of all classes
purchased cheap and gaudily bound editions of the
Classics to adorn their shelves, but in only a few in-
stances were these books read with patient devotion.
The flimsy Musical Comedy, the illustrated Magazine,
and the‘ Newspaper were the chief intellectual food
of the Nation. I have only found one eminent writer
among them during the period of their decline, and he,
properly speaking, belongs to the Nineteenth Century.
Robert Louis Stevenson, for such is his name, suffered-
fi'om ill, health all his days. His Gospel was the Gospel
of trying to be cheerful, his task “the task of happi-
ness.” It is distressing to read of the thousands who
asserted, throughout this sad epoch, that the only
writer who really understood them was this spirited
-invalid. Their cry goes up to heaven like that of a '
people sick unto death, and the wonder is they never
know it. ‘
V. Gradual Decline of the Physique and Health of
‘the English People.
Here again Gibbon is our best guide, and his sad tale
is fully paralleled among the facts of English Life in
the last century. Speaking of the Roman legions of
The Decline he writes, “The relaxation of discipline
and the disuse of exercise rendered the soldiers less
able and less willing to support the fatigues of the serv-
ice; they complained of the weight of thearmor which
they seldom, wore; and they successively obtained the
permission of laying aside both their cuirasses and
their helmets. The heavy weapons-of their ancestors,
the short sword, and the formidable, “pilum” which
had subdued the world, insensibly dropped from their
feeble hands.” Vol. iii, p. 271. i ' v '
Similar incidents happened in the British Army.
' Early in the Twentieth Century, ‘the rifle, with which
the English troops had staved off defeat in South
‘Africa, was. declared to be too heavy for them and a
lighter ‘weapon was substituted for it.“ -Unlike our
own, the English infantry-man was rarely able to carry
his knapsack or often his great coat. The number of
men who "fell out” on route marches during timesiof
peace, or were relieved of their rifles byikindly‘ officers. '
was phenomenal. An eye-witness‘re'la'tes how he saw
a dozen men of the Guards Brigade fall. out during a
"ltluiayhhave been a better weapon.
353 .
Review at Aldershot when their only duty was to
stand at attention for a-somewhat trying period. About
the same time the height and chest-measurement which
had been the requisite, standard for service with the
Colours was reduced. In spite of this reduction thous-
ands upon thousands were turned away as unfitted for
the fatigues of a soldier’s life, owing to the excessive
smoking of cigarettes and unhealthy living in. general."
In 1904 a Report on Physical Degeneration appeared.
Overcrowding, insanitary conditions of life, ill-con-
ducted factories, the sweating, especially of women
employees, infant mortality, impure milk, the evils of:
excessiveindulgence in alcohol and tobacco, bad feed-
ing, and the increase of insanity were among the sub-
jects of this disheartening document.
As I have already noticed, the English at the opening
. of the last.century had, in a large degree, ceased to
be a nation of active habits: this was especially true in
London and the large towns. Like the Romans who
assembled to watch rival teams of gladiators, they came
together in roaring, and often gambling crowds, to
witness the efforts of paid Athletes. Cricket and foot-
ball ceased to be the sports of England. Teams repre-
senting heragainst Australia were composed almost
entirely of professionals. . Bowling, the most arduous
part of what had once been an amateur’s game, was
left, with few exceptions, to such men. And, as they
ceased to play themselves, the English insisted more
and more that they were a‘ Nation of Athletes.
It was far otherwise. Their theatres (thanks to one
Barrie,“ who seems to have had an inkling of the
truth) were turned into. hospitals; their newspapers
and magazines were so many eyesores, for the patent
drugs and supports for the emasculated with which
theircolumns were filled. But while hundreds of
thousands realized individually that they‘were not
physically sane or happy, no one seems to have under-
stood whither this collective misery must tend. .Evo-
lution was in the air, but few of the English philos-
ophers seem to have left their studies and gone into
the streetseto tell their countrymen that God's ‘unalter-
able law concerning the survival of the fittest is just
as applicable to the life of a Nation as it is to the briefer
existence of an animal or a human being. "And hence,
it came aboutythat there was no united effort on the
part of the English to remedy a state of things which
was bound in the end to place the British Empire‘
among those which had ceased altogether to control
the future of the world. ‘
I
(Continued next week.)
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Herrlicli Vaterland! ”
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A ISSUES AND EVENTS
2] Park Row, New York City
Some of the worst kickers on earth have one footin '
the grave. ‘
-“Auth r ltt 1 hi i V
who SUHEOIFQE 1:0; exycgig:awdegiitlgipgfiefhiehsalilggusunE nab": of man’