The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-16


HIS cha, tsrs Are the English Dullr'
The query really must be put and an
swered, because It embodies q mlsap-
prehension that prevails widely not only
in the United States but in France and
elsewhere. The slowness and steadiness
Of the English race tempt the superficial
critic to call them dull. Our author
submits, however. that people who have
produced Chauoer. Shakespeare, Swift,
Sterne, Sydney Smith, Charles Lamb
and Robert Louis Stevenson may well
laugh at any accusation OF q lack OF in
telleotual humor, while the people who
have gobbled the wealth and commerce
Of the world for a century may well look
on with some amusement while other
nations call them dull. 1t Ii suggested
that what the Americans call dulness the
Englishmen call steadiness. There Ia
no doubt that steady Is q much used
word among the English. STEADY. men!'
you hear on every parade ground. and
STEADY. lad!' STEADY. girl!' from every
horseman. whether he be riding or driv-
ing. 1t is the quality Of steadiness that
the English demand above all others in
their statesmen and their soldiers, as
well as in their horses. There 10 NO talk
OF glory as in France; no constant vision
Of self-adyertisement and self-advanoe-
ment by means of the reporters pen and
Gamers The Englishman merely ex-
poets every man to do his duty; that is
all, The glory and the advertisement
may take care OF themselves
Mr.. Collier comedies that some OF Eng
lands great men would probably appear
dull at our after dinner festivities along
side Of certain American public men who
might be mentioned and who have been
renowned principally az orators or
story t~ellers; but what man, he asks.
however much he might love his country,
would mention them in the same breath
with Conner, with Miner or with kitch-
ener as public servants and patriotsf
'In the long run which Of these two types
Of men is dull-the for years hard work
ing, unheard Of Cromer or the ceaselessly
chattering, simian public men We all have
in mind?"
So little do the English believe in mere
talking and writing and reading, az SUCH
80 little do they appreciate the super
fetal accomplishments that 90 TO make
up what is generally described al a
brilliant" man, that up to a very late
epoch they gave astonisbingly little at
~tention to the education Of the masses.
While the rest Of the Western world has
given itself up to the fetish OF universal
education, they have been quietly devot-
ing themselves to the task Of conquering,
~oolonizing Ind gathering a fifth OF the
habitable globe. Ten years after the be-
ginning Of the reign Of the late Queen
Victoria practically one-haf the adults
in England could neither read nor write.
The author Of this book il inclined to
think that here in America we perhaps
oyerrate the value Of education. We
have been too busy for much culture, and
40 we e~xaggerate its Importance. Mr..
Carnegie apparently thinks that he would
have been a more useful man had he been
born TO schools and libraries. MIR. Col
lier doubts 1t. He asserts that education.
trained intelligence and a wide range
of reading are not in themselves moral
or efficient OF productive Of comfort or
contentment. Macaulay's dictum Is
Quoted: .Nipe-tenths OF the calamities
" hich have befallen the human race had
no other origin than the union Of high
intelligence with low desires Educa-
ton may engender sins Of the mind which
are quite as dangerous as sins OF the body.
A forger is quite as dangerous to the CON-
munity as a wife heater.
Mr.. Collier evidently Is not one OF those
people who look upon the question Of uni
yersal education as though there were
t. " - E0r hIa mart he
deems it very disputable whether the
oyeremphasis OF the intellectual side OF
the animal man is good for the individual
or profitable to the race. He not only In
sists that the shovel. the hoe, the pick and
the plough are the necessities for the foun-
dation OF civilization, but he feels equally
certain that experience has by no means
proved that the continued employment
OF those implements Ia not the most WHOLE
some exercise for the vast majority OF
the human race. We are reminded that
no educated race has yet proved itself
able to survive and hold its place in the
world. Greece to-day is represented
by a few islands and q peninsula covered
with crumpled monuments.
There is no doubt that In England there
Ia a large number of intelligent people
who are altogether opposed to free gem
eral education. They hold that the chill
dren Of each parish should be taught to
read and write. and to say their catechisn
In schools under the supervision OF the
clergy, and then be set to earn a living. as
did their forefathers. MI. Collier has
talked with these so-called ~reactionaries
and finds that they scout the very idea that
the education Of the lower classes has
benefited either those who have received
it or those who have bestowed II. They
point to the achievements Of the English
people. which. while paying compare
lively little attention to technical eduoa-
ton and much attention to personal char
acter and religious observance, has
beaten all rivals in the race for supremacy
and respect among the nations. They
hold to the Old Testament view that
corn, wine and children are the fruit OF
the God fearing people, with whom
education has nothing to do Our au-
thor denies that this attitude Of mind is
arrogant. 1t does not imply that these
people feel the lower classes to be I'M
worthy Of notice and incapable Of be-
coming like themselves. The authors
discussion Of the makeup OF the House Of
Lords has shown that this is not the Eng
lish spirit. He says that at the bottom Of
this feeling about gratuitous public edu-
cation is the thoroughly Saxon instinct
-. -h., n ma conpot oorn or cat FOR