The Dominion SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1915. THE NOTE OF TRAGEDY IN HISTORY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2438, 17 April 1915, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1915. THE NOTE OF TRAGEDY IN HISTORY

Though the people of New Zealand are only far-off spectators of the great struggle which is going on in Europe, we' are able to form some idea, inadequate though it may be, of the terribleness of modern warfare on a large-scale. ' Our realisation of the suficring and devastation caused by the conflict is' vivid enough to direct our thoughts occasionally to tho deeper meaning of lyings and to make us wonder why it is that this profound note ol tragedy runs through the history of the human race, The tragic element stands out as prominently in the story of nations as in the lives of individuals, and it is said that Nature itself is "red in tooth and claw with ravine." Life iB not all tragedy, but the tragic note seems to predominate. In discussing tho law of tragedy as applied to history Professor Cramb states that "in tho history of past Empires, their rise and decline, in the history of this Empire of Britain from the coming of Cedkic 'and Cymric to the present momentous crisis, there reveals itself a force, an .influence, not without' analogy, to tho influence described by Aristotle to Attic Tragedy." Aristotle defined the function of tragedy as the purification of. the soul by compassion and by terror. At first the mind is inclined to revolt against a scheme of things in which life's pains are greater than its pleasures. But when one thinks a little more about the matter one begins to see that a life of unbroken pleasure would be a rather shallow and unsatisfying form of existence. The discipline of suffering seems necessary for the formation of strong and sympathetic personalities. "In '.e tragic hour," writes Professor Cramb, "the soul is vouchsafed a deeper vision, discerns a remoter, serener, mightier ideal." War provides "the tragic hours" in the careers of .nations. It. develops certain highly desirable qualities which are in danger of languishing and becoming atrophied in the soft and easy-going times of peace and plenty. A nation that has had to fight for its very life adds a new element to its character resembling that purification by terror and by compassion which was the dominant note of Greek Tragedy. The struggle against adverse circumstances is the subject of many a, chapter in. British history, and is one of the leading features in the story of every nation that has, any real claims to greatness. '

■ Belgium at the present moment provides a most impressive example of national tragedy. All the elements of drama are there, if we may accept tho definition of drama as "conflict between any two irreducible forces, whether of character, or situation, or moral duty." The Belgians were compelled to make a fateful decision—a decision which must affect the whole course of their history, and the people have sufficient confidence in the justice of their cause to believe that the fiery ordeal through which they are passing will have a permanent influence for good upon their national character.. In an article on "The Soul of Belgium" the Abbe Noel expresses the belief that the war has deepened* the national consciousness of the Belgians. They have become conscious of themselves in a- manner that indicates that the nation has arrived at a "point of departure for a new life.'' The guarantee of "perpetual neutrality" had its drawbacks as well as its advantages. It tended to sap the virility of the people by making them feel that they were beset by none of those external perils which keep alive the fighting spirit of other nations. Belgium was drifting out of the main stream of international politics, and lived the security of isolation, scrupulously declining to take part in the quarrels of the Powers. The Arbe Noel sees that this state of affairs had a narrowing effect on the national character, "unconscious of the- right lo lake a cle6nitr. attitude in international , life," he writes, "we became habit-!

uatedto taking no interest in it, and that in no small measure has contracted our minds and confined our ideas and our dreams within the narrow limits, of our own frontiers. . . . We lacked self-confidence, wo felt we had no footing of equality among the other nations, and so we remained among them not unlike a child in the company of great personages." It seems to he a law of Nature that a. nation must live dangerously if it is to avoid the downhill drift to decay. The elimination of the tragic element from a nation's liEo results in a tendency to slackness, and enfeebles the national spirit. The best among the Belgians are 'now looking forward to the day when their country shall play a more glorious role than that of "perpetual neutrality," and it is said that one of the 'outcomes of the war will be that Belgium "will cherish the right to speak and to act in the now world which is coming to its birth."