NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1547, 17 September 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

In order.to fully realise the significance of the impressive ceremonies connected with the funeral of the Mikado, it must be remembered that the Emperors of Japan are regarded as divine. How this calnc about is told in the Japanese creation myth, which (according to Dr. MacOulloch, a well-known authority ' on comparative religion) relates how first of all, chaos, in the form of an egg, moved about like the waves of the sea. It contained the seeds of all things, and on these being set free tho purer went upwards, forming heaven, while the heavier seeds made the earth. From heaven and earth a divine being was produced, then several others, and lastly a male and female deity, who produced the sun and moon. The Emperors of Japan are said to be descended from tho original pair./ A similar myth exists in the Finnish mythology, although in this case the gods exist first and the egg afterwards. The world-egg also makes its appearance in several Egyptian myths. The God Khnoum, for instance, is represented as shaping the primal egg on a potter's wheel, upon which he subsequently formed men by kneading them out of clay. According to the Orphic fragments, the egg was produced by chaos, and from it came forth Phanes, who contained in himself tho seeds out of which sprang all the gods. In another Egyptian myth the god Ea, the immediate cause of all things, broke forth from an egg formed by the Divine Spirit out of the primeval water. In Japan the claims of the individual arc quite overshadowed by the social system—the family and tho State—and this culminates in the deification of the royal house. In one of the reports of the World Missionary Con-, ferencc it is stated that prominent Japanese declare that Christianity is opposed to the genius of Japan because it teaches that there is a heavenly authority higher than that of the Mikado, and because in its teaching of universal love it is opposed tothe patriotic desire for the aggrandisement of Japan. "In their whole way of looking at things wo havo a survival of the antique view of the State, it had emerged from the.most primitive form of society, and before human personality had emancipated itself from the trammels of tribalism."

The Liberal defeat in tho Midlothian contest last week must have been a great shock to the British Government and its friends. The mail just to hand left London just after' the Master of Elibank announced his retirement, and there were no signs that tho Liberals worn at all'anxious. Thoy had hold the seat at tho "three last elections by

lniijoritics of 1)157; ;)G35, and 3217 respectively. Last, week's contest gave the seat Ui the Unionists, lint of cotirsi! tho. Liberals claimed that tho Labour man had split the "Progressive" vote| and they are urging &ome kind of electoral reform. It is notorious; however, that the Labour party is by .no ljieans solidly attached to •the Liberals. The Labour men are realising in England that in tying themselves to. the Liberals they were doing themselves do good; and if the second ballot bad been in operation in the Midlothian contest, the Unionist .wquld probably have- received a majority of the Labour minority's votes. There, is no particular lesson fUr NcW Zealand in the Midlothian contest. The Government in power here is pno which is so genuinely Liberal .that only the false so-called "Liberals" are opposed to it, and when the next general election comes round the few remaining dupes of the Spoils party who have not yet realised that a prudent and progressiva Liberal Government is in office will have.awakened. We. have, in fact, reached that normal stage in modern political development—tho stage at which prudent, iind progressive filch have for opponents Only the reckless demagogues and doctrinaires. The retirement of Mr. George Buckle from the editorship of the London Times last month was a notable event and called forth much interesting comment.. Two points in particular were discussed, by the hewspapers. The Times, in issuing its announcement of the change, said that Mil. BtiJkLE was retiring to make way for a. younger man. He is only 5S years old! The Times, as the Westminster Gazette Botes, has-gone in generally for comparatively young men. DElane began his 37 years of editorship, at" the age of 23. Barnes" had died ili harness at 56, and GHEKEfIy died in harness at 58. The new editor is 31 The retiring editor was unknown to the public. He always shunned the photographer and was known at no club in London except the Athenaeum. The Westminster Gazette, in the course of its tribute to Mr. Buckle, makes this significant comment: "It is the highest tribute to Mil. Buckle that in his. twenty-eight years of his editorship he has left almost no material to appraise his work. With a singular, modesty; which has remained proof against .all the temptations of these days, he has remained true to the old rule which decreed that the editor of the Times should never appear in person." There is a greater connection than some of our simple-minded Radical legislators will suspect between the Times's tradition of strict anonymity aiid its great and useful influence.