Part 12 (1/2)

Here the two lines of the original are expanded into eight lines in the translation, and some fresh matter is introduced. Dr. Grundy imposes more severe limitations on his muse. His translation, which is more literal, but at the same time singularly felicitous, is as follows:

Hail, thou who hast the roses, thou hast the rose's grace!

But sellest thou the roses, or e'en thine own fair face?

Any one of literary taste will find it difficult to decide which of these versions to prefer, and will impartially welcome both.

It cannot, however, be doubted that strict adherence to Dr. Grundy's principle occasionally leads to results which are open to criticism from the point of view of English style. A case in point is his translation of Plato's epitaph on a s.h.i.+pwrecked sailor:

?a????? t?f?? e??? ? d' ??t??? ?st? ?e??????

?? ??? ?a? ?a?? ????? ?pest' ??d??.

Dr. Grundy's translation, which is as follows, adheres closely to the original text, but somewhat grates on the English ear:

A sailor's tomb am I; o'er there a yokel's tomb there be; For Hades lies below the earth as well as 'neath the sea.

Another instance is the translation of the epigram of Nicarchus on The Lifeboat, in which the inexorable necessities of finding a rhyme to ”e'en Almighty Zeus” has compelled the translator to resort to the colloquial and somewhat graceless phrase ”in fact, the very deuce.”

But criticisms such as these may be levelled against well-nigh all translators. They merely const.i.tute a reason for holding that Sh.e.l.ley was not far wrong in the opinion quoted above. Few translators have, indeed, been able to work up to the standard of William Cory's well-known version of Callimachus's epitaph on Herac.l.i.tus, which Dr.

Grundy rightly remarks is ”one of the most beautiful in our language,”

or to Dr. Symonds's translation of the epitaph on Prote, which ”is perhaps the finest extant version in English of any of the verses from the Anthology.” But many have contributed in a minor degree to render these exquisite products of the Greek genius available to English readers, and amongst them Dr. Grundy may fairly claim to occupy a distinguished place. He says in his preface, with great truth, that the poets of the Anthology are never wearisome. Neither is Dr. Grundy.

[Footnote 77: _Ancient Gems in Modern Settings._ By G.B. Grundy. Oxford: Blackwell, 5s]

[Footnote 78: ?????? ??ef??s????--the depth of a man's common sense.]

XII

LORD MILNER AND PARTY

_”The Spectator,” May 24, 1913_

The preface which Lord Milner has written to his volume of speeches const.i.tutes not merely a general statement of his political views, but is also in reality a chapter of autobiography extending over the past sixteen years. If, as is to be feared, it does not help much towards the immediate solution of the various problems which are treated, it is, none the less, a very interesting record of the mental processes undergone by an eminent politician, who combines in a high degree the qualities of a man of action and those of a political thinker. We are presented with the picture of a man of high intellectual gifts, great moral courage, and unquestionable honesty of purpose, who has a gospel to preach to his fellow countrymen--the gospel of Imperialism, or, in other words, the methods which should be adopted to consolidate and to maintain the integrity of the British Empire. In his missionary efforts on behalf of his special creed Lord Milner has found that he has been well-nigh throttled by the ligatures of the party system--a system which he spurns and loathes, but from which he has found by experience that he could by no means free himself. As a practical politician he had to recognise that, in order to gain the ear of the public on the subjects for which he cares, he was obliged to do some ”vigorous swashbuckling in the field of party politics” in connection with other subjects in which he is relatively less interested. He resigned himself, albeit reluctantly, to his fate, holding apparently not only that the end justified the means, but also that without the adoption of those means there could not be the smallest prospect of the end being attained. The difficulty in which Lord Milner has found himself is probably felt more keenly by those who, like himself, have been behind the scenes of government, and have thus been able fully to realise the difficulties of dealing with public questions on their own merits to the exclusion of all considerations based on party advantages or disadvantages, than by others who have had no such experience. Nevertheless, the dilemma must in one form or another have presented itself to every thinking man who is not wholly carried away by prejudice. Most thinking men, however, unless they are prepared to pa.s.s their political lives in a state of dreamy idealism, come rapidly to the conclusion that to seek for any thoroughly satisfactory practical solution of this dilemma is as fruitless as to search for the philosopher's stone. They see that the party system is the natural outcome of the system of representative government, that it of necessity connotes a certain amount of party discipline, and that if that discipline be altogether shattered, political chaos would ensue. They, therefore, join that party with which, on the whole, they are most in agreement, and they do so knowing full well that they will almost certainly at times be a.s.sociated with measures which do not fully command their sympathies. What is it that makes such men, for instance, as Lord Morley and Mr. Arthur Balfour not merely strong political partisans, but also stern party disciplinarians?

It would be absurd to suppose that they consider a monopoly of political wisdom to be possessed by the party to which each belongs, or that they fail to see that every public question presents at least two sides. The inference is that, recognising the necessity of a.s.sociation with others, they are prepared to waive all minor objections in order to advance the main lines of the policy to which each respectively adheres.

The plan which has always commended itself to those who see clearly the evils of the party system, but fail to realise the even greater evils to which its non-existence would open the door, has been to combine in one administration a number of men possessed of sufficient patriotism and disinterestedness to work together for the common good, in spite of the fact that they differ widely, if not on the objects to be attained, at all events on the methods of attaining them. Experience has shown that this plan is wholly impracticable. It does not take sufficient account of the fact that, as the immortal Mr. Squeers or some other of d.i.c.kens's characters said, there is a great deal of human nature in man,[79] and that one of man's most cherished characteristics--notably if he is an Englishman--is combativeness. In the early days of the party system even so hardened and positive a parliamentarian as Walpole thought that effect might be given to some such project, but when it came to the actual formation of a hybrid Ministry, Mr. Grant Robertson, the historian of the Hanoverian period, says that it ”vanished into thin air,” and that, as Pulteney remarked about the celebrated Sinking Fund plan, the ”proposal to make England patriotic, pure and independent of Crown and Ministerial corruption, ended in some little thing for curing the itch.” Neither have somewhat similar attempts which have been made since Walpole's time succeeded in abating the rancour of party strife.

Moreover, it cannot be said that the attempt to treat female suffrage as a non-party question has so far yielded any very satisfactory or encouraging results.

Lord Milner, however, does not live in Utopia. He does not look forward to the possibility of abolis.h.i.+ng the party system. ”It is not,” he says, ”a new party that is wanted.” But he thinks--and he is unquestionably right in thinking--”that the number of men profoundly interested in public affairs, and anxious to discharge their full duty of citizens who are in revolt against the rigidity and insincerity of our present party system, is very considerable and steadily increasing.” He wishes people in this category to be organised with a view to encouraging a national as opposed to a party spirit, and he holds that ”with a little organisation they could play the umpire between the two parties and make the unscrupulous pursuit of mere party advantage an unprofitable game.”

The idea is not novel, but it is certainly statesmanlike. The general principle which Lord Milner advocates will probably commend itself to thousands of his countrymen, and most of all to those whose education and experience are a warrant for the value of their political opinions.

But how far is the scheme practicable? The answer to this question is that there is one essential preliminary condition necessary to bring it within the domain of practical politics; that condition is that a sufficient number of leading politicians should be thoroughly imbued with the virtue of compromise. They must erase the word ”thorough” from their political vocabulary. Each must recognise that whilst, to use Lord Milner's expression, he himself holds firmly to a ”creed” on some special question, he will have to co-operate with others who hold with equally sincere conviction to a more or less antagonistic creed, and that this co-operation cannot be secured by mere a.s.sertion and still less by vituperation, but only by calm discussion and mutual concessions. Marie Antoinette, who was very courageous and very unwise, said during the most acute crisis of the Revolution, ”Better to die than allow ourselves to be saved by Lafayette and the Const.i.tutionalists.”

That is an example of the party spirit _in extremis_, and when it is adopted it is that spirit which causes the s.h.i.+pwreck of many a scheme which might, with more moderation and conciliation, be brought safely into port. In order to carry out Lord Milner's plan any such spirit must be wholly cast aside. Politicians--and none more than many of those with whom Lord Milner is a.s.sociated--must act on the principle which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Henry V.:

There is some soul of goodness in things evil Would men observingly distil it out.

They must be prepared to recognise that, whatever be their personal convictions, there may be some ”soul of goodness” in views diametrically opposed to their own, and, moreover, they must not be scared by what Emerson called that ”hobgoblin of little minds”--the charge of inconsistency.