New-York tribune., 1919-09-09
While Rome Is Burni.s,
(From The London Times)

are told, "gives pictures of life in
Germany that differ very It'll.
from those published in France and En,-
land"-pictures of tennis tournament.
boat races, horse races and picnics It NAV
surprise US, but it is what we ought to o.,
pect.
Human nature can never concern itse,s
with the momentous, whether it be good .,
evil, for long at stretch. If there is dea,h
in the house its inmates. by kind Of in.
stinct, talk as much as they can of trivia,
things, and bridegroom on the morrin.
of his marriage is wise to think as lit.le
as he can of it. The few VINO can lr>es-
sanity concern themselves with -: m.
mentous are either men of genius or mad.
men, who have been driven mad By the;,
unrelaxed concern; the many must alwav.
keep their sanity by the persistence o,
habit through all vicissitudes, and psrtic.
ularly by the habit of amusement
The Chinese. as we know, enjoy life be.
cause they hold it cheap. 1t is an absurd
business, they think, but worth living bv
those who know that it is absurd and are
ready to lose it for trihe; yet while il
lasts they throw themselves into work
and play as eagerly any ore. They
carry this view OF life further than othe,
peoples, yet all, consciously or uncon-
scously, share it. And that is whv
amusement and all trivalities persist al
ways, through the breakup of the Roman
Empire and the ruin Of Germany Tn.
whole human race, and not Nero only. fd
dies while Rome is burning; we are never
adequate to greatest triumphs or
caIamities.
This fact may give the cynic a text, but
he, too. is an instance of it; he himself in
his staggering over the incredible little.
ness Of humanity IS little as those at
whom he singers. i he were not he
would weep or rage, like Swift. But the
cynic is always one who judges without
psychology, and so never includes himself
in his judgments. sychology-that is to
say. the power of understanding others
from our understanding of ourseives-tell.
US that must relax the tension. and
that most Of them do so consciously BY
keeping up the habits of ordinary life
through the greatest events. Ii is only the
prig who reminds himself necessarily that
he is passing through a crisis and mus.
think, act and feel in manner worthy Of
it. Men Of sense know that their behavior
in a crisis is the result of their whole
way of living; they trust in their uncon-
scious reserve power and will not exhaust
it By too much conscious effort.
Hence our English habit Of hurlor on all
great occasions It is effort to give our
reserve power free play, and also an ac-
lnowledgment of the fact that we our
selves are never to be taken too seriously,
even by ourselves. On those terms alone
live we'll and throw ourselves with
out exhaustion into the task Of the mo-
ment. The German has always taken this
life, and SO himself and all his theories
too seriously. but even in him at this
dreadful moment the deep human instinc.
asserts itself. He, too must fiddle while
Germany is burning, if he is to i've
through it. and we need not wonder at his
trivoiity or be angry with it.
On any theory of this life, there is an
element of absurdity in it, something in our.
selves at which we must laugh, and the laugh
ter is both wise and wholesome. The
serious things best. Abraham Lincoln
used to shock stupid men with his frivolity
Germany now may shock herself, but she
is obeying an instinct wiser than her
elaborate conscious unWisdom that has
shocked mankind, and that perhaps, is the
first sign that she is learning an uncon-
scous wisdom.