REVIEW.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 221, 26 February 1866, Page 3

REVIEW.

Dioaenes the Cyuic : A Lecture delivered at the Wdlerihall Literary Institute, bg Samuel Cartwright, Willenhall : Isaiah Michordson. Every age has it;s prevailing characteristics ; aod in the great world-struggle in which truth is evolved, each era has been marked by special phases of it, and special admixtures of error. And this same ' tone of the age,' as a pent-up nation desire, thinkers in all climes yearning after the dim unknown, and struggling toward the hoped-for dawning, at length culminates in some individual mind, which thenceforth becomes the leading and representative spirit of his age. Such was Diogenes the Cynic. Young Greece was striving earnestly after the higher destinies of man in the world of intellect ; life-problems, then fresh and young, were discussed with avidity, each new thinker turning up fresh ground. Long-drawn and -fanciful speculations were manufactured by the sophists ; — shrewd common-sense was taught by the cool and deep thinking Socrates ; — Poe-tico-philosophy found a professor in the gentlemanly Plato ; while austerity and self-denial as essential to virtue, received a masterly exemplification in the life of Djogen.es. Waves of asceticism have from time to time swept our societies from the Cynics of Greece, and Simeon Stylites* of the Arabian deserts, down to Brother Ignatius of Norwich celebrity, And although ia

the present age we may fairly look for moderation in questions of the conduct of bhe conduct of life; yet we are by no neans called upon to smile complacently it the earnest philosophy of antiquity. N"othiag is easier in these days, now thai »ve're got to perfection, than to exhibit che absurdity of the past theories, or to laugh at the foibles a?id ireamings of the ancients. . In the lecture before us, Diogenes is handled with le3s of veneration than that to which his poiition entitles him. "He dopted a tub, or large open vessel, as his residence, resolved to be as far as possible, independent of the favors of fortune, or of his fellow men." Now, this is a most excellent subject matter for the ludicrous, so the lecturer invites us to consider the effects that would be produced by the universal practice of the I principles of Diogenes * * * * Instead of grand ancestral halls or comfortable cottages, there would be rows of tubs, a picturesque sight surely ! Similar, perhaps, to the dog-towns or the prairies 1 of America. A long row of cottages, all on the same plan, is not a very attractive .sight, but a row of tubs would be still less so. I might do if all men were, like Diogenes, bachelors ; but for a man with a wife, and it might be a large family, it is entirely out of the question. Even the bare idea of contemplating matrimony under such circumstances is preposterous. Just fancy Diogenes saying to a young G-reek beauty, " Come dwell with me in a little tub, You'll be so happy — no rooms to scrub." "Words would not be sufficient for a description. But shall we redieule the raiment of camel's hair ? or despise Calvin when he assumed his suit of leather? One of the grandest sights history unfolds is that of a man who dares to think strongly, and to practise his thinkings, albeit they tally not with the received maxims of Ins time. Of such were Ignatius Loyola, Peter the Hermit, Mahomed, and the Cynic, whose character is summed up in the lecture before us as — Not a great man, for he merely did what any other stubborn-minded man may do. Moreover, his views of man and nature wore very superficial, and only commanded attention because of his exI aggerated manner of recommending them. Though his philosophy in despising the luxuries and even comforts of life may, in the more brilliant light of modern thought, seem unsound and even absurd, yet we say all honor to one who could resist the luxurious tendencies of his age, and dimly shadow forth in his life the doctrine of One mighter than he, who taught that " man shall not live by bread alone." But in its broad and genial humour, as well as in its .comprehensive views of great social questions, the lecture commands our admiration. Nothing tests a man so keenly as his definitions. "Nature," says Mr. v , Cartwriglifc, " is the arrangement and order of all derived existences," and thence shows that man and his works are as. much part of nature as the Fauna and Flora of our globle. Q-od made the country — man the town, the lecturer calls a " pretty poetical bubble that bursts as soon as touched," and adds that Artists sometimes give us .very pretty pictures of the poor man's cottage, with roses climbing to the roof, the wife and children, so neat and trim, meeting quite a nice looking man at the wicket ; but they do not state how much a week the poor fellow gets, or whether he does a little bit of poaching on his own account to make ends meet. The manliness of Diogenes meets with more favor. I like Diogenes' assertion *>f his manhood, when in reply to Alexander's announcement of himself as " I am Alexander," he, Diogenes, said, " I am Diogenes, the cynic." No doubt some people think that when such a person as Alexander speaks to them they ought to tremble with awe. * And so Diogenes out to have said, " May it please your magnificent mightiness, your blinding brilliancy to tolerate the existence of me, a poor grub ;" instead of that, he had the impudence to say " I am Diogenes !" "With respect to the contempt in whie" some people, like Diogenes, hold intellectual culture, Mr. Cartwright is as withering in his sarcasm as he is clear and conclusive in his reasoning. There are plenty of persons now wh° pride themselves on their superior sanctity rid look upon scientific and literarya pursuits as innimical to virtue. Theywill tell you that they lead to intellectual pride and are beset with dangers : that the Lord does not stand in need of human learning; and that if the Lord want you for any work He will fit you for it. Well, I admit that intellectual pride is bad, enough, but I do not see that it is any worse than bigotted ignorance: and if human learning is not required, neither is human ignorance ; and as for being specially fitted by supernatural influence we have no right to expect miracles where natural causes will suffice. I And the lecturer goes on to say — If you wish to be model popular philosophers, don't trouble yourself to observe and think, learn to sneer aud ridicule ; that is a much easier and shorter cut to celebrity, or at least to notoriety, and it is not every one that can see the difference ! For plain common sense, and original humour, this little treatise has seldom been equalled. "With scanty material and what he is pleased to call a "lefthanded sort of hero " the writer has worked out some of the most delicate and interesting problems of social life. '"We close by transcribing the concluding para graph — " He lived to be ninety, and had been old Diogenes as long as many could ! remember. They would come to look

r , upon him almost as a national institution ; f lad so when he died the leading men of ) .Ithens would probably say, ' The bfcTboy is gone at last : he shall be honorably . buried. We will erect a monument over tiis grave ; a sculptured dog shall stand upon it ; it shall be as life-like as the • trtist can make ifc, so that it may seem to say,.' I would bark if I could.' " Opportunities, like eggs, must be hatched when hey are fresh. A Battle FBEQxrEynT Foitoht — A-gin-court (Agi court). "When does a cow become real estate ! When she is turned into a field. Steel is rolled in Birmingham to . the thickness of one-eighteenhumlre Ith pirt of the English nch. Note paper is only about the thickness of one-twelvehundredth part of an inch. "Ike," said Mrs. Partington, "how do they find out the distance batween the earth and the sun ?"— " Oh." said the the young hopeful, -.I* they calculate a quarter of the distance, and then multply by four." The Paris Correspondent of the Star Bays the Prince Imper'al now takes walks out in the streets with his tutor. The bo'v is a fine manly fellow, and might easily be mist ikeri foe an English schoolboy. He riJes capitally, and takea a fence as well as any boy of his age could.