Character and Knowledge

Hokitika Guardian, 7 September 1922, Page 3

Character and Knowledge

(Exchange.) In one of tile addresses which Air AY. Al. Hughes delivered during his visit to Sydney, he gave some salutary advice to an audience composed largely of returned soldiers. He reminded them that- it w'as unity that won the war for the Allies. Unity made the A.I.F. the magnificent fighting force that it was. Let them perpetuate the Anznc spirit ; let them remember that in paace no less than in war there is scope for cooperation and for that gi'nerous emulation which spurred them qn the other

side of the world. All this was very much to the point, hut Air Hughes concluded his speech with an aphorism whose truth is more open to question. •‘Two things.” he said, “really matter in a man—character and knowledge. Of these knowledge is the greater.” This is, to say the least of it. a highly debatable proposition. There are many who would prefer to reverse the order adopted by Air Hughes, and would set character before knowledge. Knowledge is certainly a priceless boon. “Knowledge is power.” Only through greater knowledge can mankind attain the summits. Yet knowledge in itself is not all sufficient. Knowledge must ho supplemented by principle, for knowledge divorced from character may prove a most dangerous possession. A man may have the most remarkable endowments, yet unless they are directed and controlled l>v character they will profit the human race nothing. AA r o assume that Afr Hughes identified knowledge and wisdom, although a distinction can lie drawn between the two, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers,”, again:— I

Knowledge, when wisdom is to weak to guide her, Is like a headstrong horse that throws the rider.

No doubt the wise man is also the man of principle, for true wisdom means that not only does one see and approve of the better path, but resolutely follows it. But the point is that while very few can aspire to wisdom, all can, at any rate, strive after those indefinable j

qualities denoted by the term character. AYe refrain from quoting Tennyson’s hackneyed line in this connection. The advice he tenders to the sweet maid of the poem rather implies that even if cleverness is within her compass she is to renounce it and concentrate upon the business of being good. Let us by all means seek knowledge for it is the key which wiy open to us a new world. But let us not forget that knowledge is in the last resort secondary to character, and that knowledge will avail us nothing unless we apply it with wisdom.

Although his actions do not always suggest it, man is essentially a moral animal. In theory he admires what is right, even i| he does not practise it. He prizes character above things ol intellect. Knowledge he respects; brilliancy he often suspects; hut he sets must store bv conscience and principle. A few days ago a Judge who had for many years adorned the bench of New South AYales passed away. A feature of the many tributes paid to bis memory was that while due recognition was given to his eminent- attainments as a lawyer, the speakers dwelt espeei-

ally upon his tearlessiH’ss. nis lony ideals and his high sense of duty—qualities which we expect t<> find, and do find, in members of the judiciary, but which he possessed in a conspicuous degree. The paint is that ill our estimates of men we seem almost instinctively to attach more.importance to the qualities of character than to knowledge as such. It depends upon character whether a good or bud use is made of knowledge. This, of course is a truism, hut it is one which Mr Hughes apparently overlooked when he placed knowledge before character. In his masterly life of Queen A’ictoriu, Mr Lytton

Straehev analyses tlq- reasons of her extraordinary hold over the hearts ol j the British people. The Court was a i dull place and the Queen herself was I somewhat austere. Other monarclis ! have keen more brilliant; other inoni a rolls have mixed more freely with (heir subjects, other monarclis have lad a personality more calculated to capture the imagination and win “popularity” in the ordinary sense. Yet no ruler ever inspired a more unswerving lo.valtv and devotion than she did. Slq. occupied a unique place in the affections of Britain and the Empire. Mr Stra-

clu'v attributes this to various causes to the length of her reign, which had made her. so to speak, a national institution, to the sympathy offered to the widow whose grief time was powerless to assuage, but above all to the fact that Victoria stood for something which

the liiitish held very dear, namely principle. The Court set a standard of which the nation approved. Victoriawas tins embodiment of principle. There was no tolerance of moral laxity, brilliant endowments were not allowed to extenuate infractions of ethical laws. The Victorian concepts may have been narrow in some ways, but they were honest, and they insisted that principle should be the guiding force in life. Everything else must be subordinated to it. The pessimistic Dean Inge, and the censorious “Gentleman with a Duster” have discerned ill the present age a tendency to attach less importance to principle; and they might find in Mr Hughes’s aphorism some confirmation of their view. Bat- we believe Hint the great mass of mankind clings tn the old truth, rts feet may he in the gutter, but its eyes look towards the stars, and while it honours knowledge it honours cliaraeter still more.