The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1907. INQUESTS AND OPTIMISTS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 9, 5 October 1907, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1907. INQUESTS AND OPTIMISTS.

During the past week a flood of magazines and newspapers arrived by the English, and American mails, and set_ us thinking whether, after all, it is not well for the world that the plain man has little time for reading, and no inclination for any reading outside the affections of his simple and homely tastes. We picked up review after review, magazine after magazine, newspaper after newspaper, and in all of them, from the lightest to the heaviest, we found pages full of inquiries hy earnest men into the diseases of life, and hopeful theories concerning the prospect of making the world a place fit to live in. In every article there was an earnest optimism, but it was the bedside optimism of doctors in consultation, and the cumulative effect was ■ a severe fit of depression. " I have tried, too, in my time, to be a philosopher," said Dr. Johnson's humble friend Edwards, " but — I don't know how—cheerfulness was' always breaking in." In these times Edwards would complain that lie was trying to be' cheerful, but the optimist would break-in. It is not in ethical regions alone that cures are being sought by the study pliilosophcrs. Their reflections, long pondered and deeply felt, no doubt, and ultimately well presented, fasten upon every sub- - ject of human interest. The correct food, the right way of eating it, the correct drink, the' I most efficient counter-agency to the bacillus that lurks in everything, the most stimulating form of muscular activity—they are all profoundly discussed by pliil- - osophers whose power of detachment is the more "remarkable ■ from the certainty that they eat [ and drink as they like, and do not exercise their muscles at all. ' 'Che tendency of modern litera- ' ture, the evolution of the novel, i and the hopes that can be held out for an ultimate perfection are the subjects of serious heartsearchings, in • all the popular ! periodicals. Perhaps the dismal - earnestness of the optimists can best be seen 'by considering a short random catalogue which we think fairly represents the range ' of the study philosophers. l G. B. Shaw supplies the solution of the problem of evil in , the " Christian Commonwealth," and sets a ball of solemn discussion rolling through the maga-. zines. Dr. Eobinson writes in ■ the "North American Eeview" on " Ticklislmess as the Key to Evolution." The London press ) is discussing- "The Spiritual L Subsistence of the People," and provoking Basil Tozer to write . -in the "Monthly Eeview," a " Plea for Shorter Novels," and " Mr. Scott-James to ramble over six pages, of the "Contemporary" - in an analysis of " The Democracy of Letters." " The Indecency of the Puritan Mind " excites philosophers in the New York " Deutsche Yorkamper," the " Cosmopolitan," ' and the "Fortnightly Eeview." Dr. Kay Lankestei" lectures on the way in which the literary man is 1 misrepresenting Evolution; the " Quarterly Eeview" is sucking sustenance and hope from a rediscussion of Ibsen's message; '• Nietzsche is still being tried as a hopeful key to open the door of happiness. A Cornell University professor inquires in " Putnam's . Monthly" whether America can attain to the Greek ideal. The American reviews are full of a new dictis't's discovery - that Liebig, the proteid champion, was a walking error, and >, are deeply concerned over Dr. " H. Henriet's recent Parisian lecture upon the atmospheric crisis 7 that threatens civilisation. A ' contribution to child-study is furnished by Mr. Havelock Ellis, who discusses in the "Nineteenth Century" "The Spiritual Virginity of Childhood"; and the catalogue, not U to make it too long, may fitly be ended by noting the great space which is given by the American _ reviews to Professor Starr Jordan's brochure, " The Philosophy of Hope." The most hopeful thing in all this lugubrious activity is that sensible people may be inclined by the modern craze for diagnor sis and speculation to reject all philosophy and trust unreservedly and gladly to things as they arc. Of the earnestness _ of what we may call the periodical philosophers there is no question. Perhaps even there is a mighty mass of iruth in their pages. But their industry in placing their thought before the public is surely a waste of energy that is not compensated for by the fact that here and there an indi-

vidual reader has his ideas set right. The average man has time to read but one magazine of the kind that contains these, speculative gropirigs after truth. But there are millions of average men, and between them they present an appetite which gives the magazines and the writers plenty of employment. And in all this unrest men think and write, and set other people thinking, but to small purpose. The mere pro- ' cess of encouraging thought may have its little results, but the laws of nature and the inarch of life are beyond modification by all the body of optimism. There was amongst our mass of magazines the latest number of the " Atlantic Monthly,", and in it an article by the Et. Hon. James Bryce, who, like everybody else, has been caught up in the whirlwind of speculation. Mr. Bryce has no,illusions. He denies that, we are better equipped for prophecy than were the ancients: " The bark that carries Man and his 1 fortunes traverses an ocean where the winds are variable and the currents' unknown. He can do little to direct its course, and the mists that shroud the horizon hang as thick and low as • they did when the. voyage began:"' If people would only be- , lieve Mr. Bryce, the philosophers would still philosophise in the magazines, but Man would feel happier, and renew the confidence in life that the " Lancet" and the optimists have done their best to shake.