THE REAL THING.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1915, Page 11 (Supplement)

THE REAL THING.

Professor L. V. .larks has a striking article in the Vale Review on Kngland't Experiences with the Heal Thing.

"A preacher in Oxford recently used these words," he savs.

"'lt is impossibe for any honc-t clergyman to avoid preaching about the war. Strictly speaking, there is nothing else to preach about. The war a fleets all the great topic's of religion and all the great problems of philosophy, throwing them into a new light and setting them in a new context. Whatever we might say about these things, the war would make comments and perhaos challenge the truth of our words. •If you mention the name of Cod, the war says. "What do you mean by that name?" •If you talk of Love and Teace, the war replies, "What has become of them:"

'lf you announce the ultimate tri umph of Cood over Evil, the war an swers "Wait and see."

'lf you introduce the name of Christ, the war asks,. "What right have yon to call yourself His disciple';''

'lf you mention Atonement or Saerifce, the war reminds you that an opportunity is waiting to put your doctrine i-ito practice. •If you decry the wickedness of war, the war decries the greater wickedness of those who stay at home and enjoy the blessings for which others are fighting. And so it goes on.' "A veteran statesman told me not long ago," continues Professor .lacks, 'that at no period of his life had ne lound intercourse with thoughtful men half as suggestive and .stimulating ,13 it has been since the war broke out. In faying this, he continued my own impression, based on a shorter and far less varied experience. It is hardly possible to-day to enter into conversation with an educated person in this country without noting the emergence .of some interesting point of view. Under the .-train and pressure of the time, men's minds are yielding ideas and making discoveries. There is in consequence a (ortain vividness in the intellectual life of the country which relieves, to some extent, the moral tension

"In tin- presence uf (liiiiffrr, oiiv intelligence, our imagination, uur will are Hsu. ally wiili- awake. We begin to perceive (lie limits (if accepted forms of thought, the inadequacy of the standards 'by, which we have been accustomed l<» pass judgment im lift- and mi history, and | tin- partial nature uf truths wi- bad ; legarded a-< linal and complete. | "A groat disturbance, like Unit of an earthquake, is passing beneath our lif.-, anil tin- elements of that life, including I hose that are spiritual, are re-arranging themselves in new perspectives. We aiv virtually living in another world coinpared with that in which we were alive 'i year ago.

"But the shock, far from paralysing \ the nation's mind, serves rather to liber- : ale its reserves of intellectual vitality. The new world in which we find ourselves is not terrible only; it is profoundly interesting. It provides a daily stimulus, to spiritual curiosity. Thus the intercourse of thoughtful men grows more vivid than ever, and it becomes easy to understand how, from conditions like these, new births of the soul have come to nations, times of danger and calamity being often followed by times of ereativeness in all the arts of'life. | ".Nothing new and nothing startling is being discovered, but old and familiar trusts, neglected among the sophistries which flourish in peaceful times, are reasserting themselves and compelling us to recognise their importance. We are learning to see a new value in truths mi; h-arnf at our mother's knee. "Elaborate theories of human goo!. about which great book- have been written, dividing philosophies into opposing schools, are apt at these times to fall exceedingly Hat: while old saws and simple notions of right and wrong, and elementary instincts of the human heart acquire a worth and importance we bad never suspected them to possess. If one Were to write a philosophy of the state in keeping with the present temper it would be something that any child would understand. In presence of this scorching flame our scientific ethics retreat to a distance. Onlv the very simplest things will stand the test. " 'We are up against the real thing.' This familiar colloquialism sums up belter than any other statement I can think of the whole mentality of Creat Britain at the present moment. It is frequently used in soldiers' letters written from the front. J have heard it in sermon, and political speeches; in conversations with working men on the ears; and in the comments of distinguished philosu- ' phers. I will not attempt to define the j 'real thing' which we are 'up against.' | '■When the troop train steams out of the station, and our eldest son leans out of the carriage window to bid us his last farewell, and when a month later ' we get a telegram from the War Office ' announcing that he is killed, it would! ho no small comfort if someone would I convince us that this is not the 'real ! thing.' To us it seems as if this isn't ! real, then nothing is.

"The Real thing presents itself primarily as a threat and a challenge direcleil against the very foundations of our national and individual existence.! If you would conceive the state of our i national psychology, you must imagine l how you yourself would fee! and think | if everything you had taken for granted and reckoned as secure -your country,' your home, your family, your property, ' umr life, your ideals-were suddenly menaced and bidden to defend themselves from destruction. I "I have recently encountered among my friends he n . in Oxford a slate of mind which expresses itself in ~„„„, s „,.|, terms as these: "l-et us talk no more about the meaning of the war. Let us cease arguing tin' justice of our cause. Let us hn\» no more accusations against our enemies. 11,,,,. ,!,„„. with all at tempts to reconcile il„. war with tie- moral order Mine done with sermons I speeches ami pamphlets and articles. What will any o| |]„.se things matter if CerinaiM ' "ins'.' l.et • on,, thought, our one ' -are. o„r on,- effort ho („ make -ore fh.l • ieriiiaiiy docs not « in. "•Kirs! Ie! us act: then we will she,-i----1.11e.' ' '"'He' Heal Thing is leaching u,. |{„(. once more, shall we remember Hie le,' sou-.' Muiek. (],_,- (ablets, meniorv:" i