WHY SUBMERGED ?
SIR,—The letter of your correspondent Mr. E. J. Killham strikes an old Victorian as a very depressing and decadent outlook on the primary virtues which constitute real worth of character, and the true values of life. What, then, is the subconscious operative power that governs our sojourn here on earth? To paraphrase Macaulay: "Abs steam is to machinery, so are adverse circumstances and inequality to men—the great motive power."
What, precisely, Mr. Killham means by the " submerged " generation, I cannot determine. Neither as a unit, or a class, is it a necessary corollary that either can be submerged by circumstances however unfavour- able—given the ability and the will to attain a desired end. Character is formed by courage and self-reliance, and is tempered in the furnace of struggle and tribulation: and any amelioration spoon-fed to damp down the fires for the weak and invertebrate, reacts, ultimately, in the deterioration of these sovereign tests both in the individual and the race itself. Life was never intended to be a fairway with all the bunkers removed, but as an obstacle race ; to develop the courage, initiative, and enterprise of the individual ; upon which qualities all real progress, spiritual and material, alone depends, The opening sentence of Mr. Killham's letter is illuminating, indeed, with regard to his outlook on life. He complains that while the war lasts he " can achieve nothing "! One would think that there could be no experience in which the achievement of knowledge of one's real self, and its compelling influence on the lives and conduct of others, could be more enlightening than is to be found in his present environment. Has this ghastly war, with all its dark deformity, not thrown into high relief against its grim background thousands of deeds of moving self- sacrifice, magnificent courage, and unflinching steadfastness in the face of overwhelming odds ; selfless service, not only in the cause of one's country, but for that of justice and righteousness ; for civilisation, and the whole world ? It would seem as though the sensitive plate of the mind—experience—has, in Mr. Killham's case, been unexposed. Each of us has been placed in this world in the niche God has assigned to him. Opportunity, Mr. Killham, is not denied to anyone. She knocks at every- one's door. If you don't answer the summons, she rarely calls again. You must go and search for her. She is always to be found if you resolutely seek her out, and take her by the hand.
Give me the Victorian courage, love of independence, and stubborn self-reliance. The present generation has " nothing on us " for moral courage: we have a whole lot on them. "Peccavi" seems to be their
Previous page
