SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY CONWAY HALL, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON, W.C.1.

(Chancery 8032)

THE

MONTHLY REC.ORDDECEMBER, 1910

SUNDAY MORNING'S AT ELEVEN

December I—PROFESSOR a W. KEETON, M.A., LL.D.— lbe American Constitution

Pianolorto Solo: Prelude and Fugue in E BachMR. HUGH FENN

Hymns: Nos. 42 and 65

December 8—C. E. M. JOAD, M.A., D.Lit.—Civilization: What it MeansBass Solo: Silent Worship . Handel

MR. G. C. DOWMAN

Hymns: Nos. 10 (tune 207) and 87

December I5—JOHN KATZ, B.A.—The New Individual in the New Society

Pianoforte Solo: Impromptu in G minor .. .. SchubertMISS ELLA IVIMEY

Hymns: Nos. 94 and 53

December 22—JOSEPH McCABE—The Starry Heavens and the Moral LawBass Solo: Ring out wild bells Gounod

MR. G..C. DOWMAN

'Hymns: Nos. 95 and 103

December 29—No Meeting

Pianists: MR. HUGH FENN AND MISS ELLA WIMPY

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PEACE AND DEMOCRACYThe advocates and supporters of democracy speak of the Rights of Man.

The phrase was revolutionary in the eighteenth century, because it expresseda protest against privilege and tyrannical government. But the philosopherswho criticised that phrase in the nineteenth century were not reactionarywhen they said that it was more important to know the duties of individualmen and women in particular times and places than to claim " natural "rights of " man " in the abstract. The individual must be respected andgiven equal justice, whatever his place in the community and whatever thelimitations of his ability. It is undeniable, also, that States and Governmentsand Churches and all other social institutions exist for the sake of individualmen and women—their welfare and their happiness. All this is trulyexpressed in the claim to rights against any form of tyranny. But tyrannyis not the only danger which may destroy the democratic way of life anddemocratic government. The other danger is social chaos. And when menare too much concerned about their rights, they tend to dissolve theircommunity into a mere confusion of contending atoms. In that confusionself-government is impossible; and any government which exists becomesinevitably tyrannical. The claim for the recognition of rights is a demandfor what other people ought to do for the claimant. It is a form of self-assertion, not unreasonable as a protest against the demand of establishedauthority for unlimited obedience. But there are some men and womenwho live upon protests. They can always see what is bad and never whatis good in other people. They are more concerned with what they opposethan with •what they support. They spend much of their energy in writingto the papers or to the B.B.C. or in passing resolutions at small meetingsabout what other people ought to du, There are also periodicals whichsupply the needs of this type of person. Indeed there is no denying thatmany evils exist and that no Government is perfect. There was a manwho went to heaven and was asked by a friend whether he was at lastsatisfied. " No," said the newcomer, " my halo doesn't fit."

But if rights are the demands that each man makes on others, dutiesare the claims which other men make upon each man. They are not burdens.but opportunities. They are not limitations of liberty, but expressions ofthe ability to serve others; and liberty itself is not " being left alone," buthaving the power to help others. No community at all can exist withoutthe mutual service of its members; and in a democratic community, aboveall, each man should have his part to play in the common service for acommon good. This alone will forestall the danger of confusion or chaosin a community which allows equal rights to men of different races, religionsand political opinions. It is therefore essential •that men and women shouldknow, not so much what they have a right to expect from others as howthey may best serve others.

The democratic system of government involves not merely the right ofeach citizen to derive advantage from public policy, but also the responsibilityof each to assist in some way in the maintenance and development of thatpolicy. The system of majority rule is a device for discovering at certaintimes which direction should be taken by the Government of the day. Itinvolves at least as much support from a minority, of a policy which isnot its own, as will make government of some kind possible. And aminority which is so much obsessed with its own views as to underminethe authority of all government may reduce a community to that confusionin which gangsters alone have a free hand. All this is generally recognised

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to be true within the frontiers of any civilised community. But the principlesof democratic government are not usually applied to the relation betweendifferent nations.

Much has been said about the rights of small nations, but too littleabout their duties. As in the case of individuals, the rights of nations haveled to isolation and neutrality, both of which are, in practice, repudiationsof responsibility for what happens outside the frontiers of nations that seekto save themselves at whatever cost to others. Clear thinking is preventedby mythology connected with the word "State." This mythology affectsboth international law and foreign policy. And the more popular mythologywhich speaks of mysterious beings called England, Germany and Francemay be no less dangerous. We shall be lost in abstractions if we forgetthat all these words are only names for different collections or communitiesof men, women and children. Any State may be more important than ajoint-stock company or a goose club, although, to be honest, some gooseclubs are more useful than some States. But the relations between Statesare merely the relations between different men and women in differentcommunities, organised separately for peace and justice: and the duties ofany man towards other men do not end at frontiers. But unfortunately, forat least two hundred years, the dominant idea about the rights of nations,or sovereign States, was that each should leave the other alone. Just asliberty for the individual was wrongly conceived as a non-interference byother individuals, so the liberty of each nation was thought to consist inits power to go its own way, in its policy of tariffs and defence, without

.regard to the effects of its policy upon men and women who were not itscitizens. Thus peace was wrongly conceived to exist when each nation orState kept to itself. Each nation, in this false conception of peace, wasassumed to look after itself alone. Here also, as in the case of individuals,the conception of rights obscured or excluded the idea of duties. And inthe ridiculous mythology of the State, which the Englishman Hobbes andlater writers in Germany made current, the relation between States wassupposed to be that of gladiators or of natural forces unaffected by moralstandards.

On these assumptions, peace can only be an equilibrium which is alwaysin danger of becoming unstable or merely an interval following one warto be used in preparation for another. But if we think of men and womenin England, France or Germany, and not of mythological beings, it will beclear that peace .between men of different nations is of the same nature aspeace within the frontiers of any State. That is to say, real peace mustdepend upon the duty of the men and women in any one country to helpthose in other lands. The duties of any nation or State and its Governmentare no less important than their rights. The citizens of any State are morallybound to support such a policy as will assist and not hamper the maintenanceof peace and justice abroad,

It may be said that conceptions of justice differ in different communities.So do conceptions of good manners or good food. But it does not followthat all kinds of possible food are nutritious or that a civilised communitycan do without any manners at all. It is clear to all reasonable men in allnations that it is not just for one man to torture or murder another. Thereis.a large area of possible disputes about the details of justice, especiallywith regard to the possession and use of wealth. But there is no doubtwhatever that justice involves the use of reason and not force as a meansof discovering whose claim should be satisfied. As between nations, there-fore, It is clear that justice involves the elimination of the use of force forthe promotion of one claim against another. But, as in the case of individualswithin the community, the use of force by any one of them for his own

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interests can be prevented only if the community as a whole uses, or threatensto use, force for the maintenance of peace. So, in the relation betweennations, the gangster nation will always waylay its weaker neighbours if themen and women of many nations do not feel it to be their duty to suppresssuch methods, if necessary by force of arms. This is the application ofdemocratic principles in the relation between Governments. Each democraticGovernment should express in its policy the duty of its citizens to help thecitizens of other States. But no Government in any nation will oppose agangster Government which invades its neighbours unless all citizens under-stand that their duties include not merely the defence of their own territories.but also the maintenance of peace abroad.

It follows that, at the end of the present war, we must abolish, or at leastgreatly modify, the traditional views of the rights of nations, of neutrality,self-determination and isolation. How far outside the boundaries of theBritish Commonwealth and the United States such peace can be maintainedwill depend upon the willingness of other peoples to undertake duties andrisks for the sake of peace. The policy of allowing the bombs to fall onyour neighbours so long as they do not hurt you is the expression of anatural tendency to avoid trouble. That policy was followed long beforeit was given the name of " appeasement." And it is precisely the samepolicy which has induced a great nation to promise all aid , " short of war.-" Short of war " is another name for appeasement. It is a repudiation ofthe obligations of power.

C. DELISLE BURNS.

SUMMARIES OF SUNDAY MORNING LECTURESMR. JOHN KATZ, BA., on " I BELIEVE IN MAN,"

October 13, 1940

Readings Irom : (1) Frazer's " Golden Bough."

(2) S. de Madariaga's " Theory and Pria.tice inInternational Relations."

We have reached a turning point in the history of the human race. Allcreeds and moralities are in the melting pot. Events are forcing us intonew insights with regard to Man and his Destiny. These new insights aregaining the momentum of a new ideology. And the rise of a new ideologymeans the twilight of a civiliration and the dawning of its successor.

The civilization .which is now drawing to a close has lasted for t:thousand years; its distinctive ideology is Christian; and we are entitled tospeak of it as a Christian civilization for the same reason that wc speak ofa Buddhist or a Mohammedan civilization. But the Christ of Christiandogma is not the creator of Christian civilization: civilizations arc createdby men and not by gods.

Religion is not necessarily the principal factor in the cultural pattern ofa civilization. We do not speak of the civilization of Zeus when we meanGreek, nor of Jupiter, when we mean Roman civilization. Politics and notreligion determined the pattern of Roman civilization. The Rome of theCxsars was one polity and many religions. And if we go back to the earliestof the civilizations such as those of Egypt and Sumer, we find that state andchurch, politics and religion are interfused. Egypt and Sumer were totali-tarian societies—or, as the term " totalitarian" has disagreeable associations,we may describe them as monistic societies. In Ancient Egypt, church andstate were one; in the pre-Christian Roman Empire there was one state butmany churches; in Medieval Catholicism there was one church and manystates: and in the Modern Period, where the cultural pattern is determined

5

by Individualist Protestantism, the ideal is an anarchism without churchor state.

Catholicism wove the cultural pattern for the first half, Protestantismfor the second half, of the last millennium. Both these cultural patternswere great experiments in civilization; they have helped to educate the humanrace; but, to-day, their educational mission is concluded. For neitherCatholicism nor Protestantism has solved satisfactorily the problem whichis crucial for every civilization—the problem of maintaining a society to beits carrier. For a civilization is not art or philosophy or higher mathematics—although all these may find a place in it. A civilization is the life of asociety with a collective consciousness and unconsciousness. To overlook theprimary importance of social unity and cohesion is to fall into the error ofSpengler's culture snobbery.

The breakdown of a civilization is due to a sociological and not abiological failure. A civilization perishes when the society which is carryingit has ceased to be society. Without a considerable degree of political,economic and cultural unity, a society is not a society but a chaos. All thecivilized societies known to history have been disintegrated by foreign warsand civil wars. The crucial problem for the human race and the meaningof its historic struggles is the creation of a society which shall be so com-prehensive and so stable as to escape both kinds of disintegration.

Christian civilization is drawing to a close because of its sociologicalshortcomings. To deal, first of all, with the failure of Catholic civilization.Three principal reasons may be assigned for this failure. First, Catholicism,in making religion paramount, allowed too small a space to men's economic,political and cultural interests. Catholicism made the saintly monk into itsrepresentative 'man and hero. But a vital society is not prepared to modelitself upon the, monk. Secondly, Catholicism is not a religion of Europeanorigin; and all the efforts of the Church have failed to fit it organically intothe structure of European society. Thirdly, Catholicism is, in essence, adefeatist religion. It was the religion of the Latin peoples of the RomanEmpire after their defeat at the hands of the Northern Barbarians; andsimilarly to-day, the pious Petainists of Vichy are trying to replace a French-man's loyalty to defeated France by an over-riding loyalty to the CatholicChurch.

The Protestant Experiment has failed because it has issued in an anarchicand isolationist individualism. Protestantism has made a large contributionto Western civilization. The Protestant's declaration that " It is better toobey God than man " encouraged him to battle against such politicalinstitutions as absolute monarchy. And the Protestant's declaration that aman must follow his vocation not for private pleasure but for the greaterglory of God meant in practice that the Protestant accumulated capital, layingthe foundation for a more complex economic order. Again, the Protestantdeclaration that without priest or sacrament and under the eye of God, theGreat Inhibitor, a man could harden his will into obedience to the morallaw meant in practice that a Protestant was determined to be his ownpoliceman and his own judge, thus laying the foundation for the LiberalState with its ideal of freedom from state interference.

But what was going to happen to Protestant morals and economics andpolitics when belief in God, the prop on which they all rested, was brokenthrough? Belief in God is not the essence of religion. Religion is a man'sconcern about mankind; it is a man's distinctive behaviour when he becomesconscious of the first and last things about himself and about the societycomposed of beings like himself. No society can hold together unless itsmembers have substantially the same feelings and attitude towards the firstand last things of life. Religion is social cement. Scienc.: is no substitutefor religion, if by religion we mean a collective concern about the substanceof human life.

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Where do we stand to-day? The culture pattern inspired by ProtestantIndividualism has reduced Western civilization to a mob of isolated privatepersons, all of them with divergent values, outlooks and philosophies.Geographically, modern man is a unity; spiritually, he is a chaos. And forthe first time in human history the masses have become class and civilizationconscious.

Christian civilization is, therefore, bankrupt, and a new culture patternis on the horizon. Hitler owes his victories to his insight into the spiritualchaos of the West. The Quislings have betrayed the democracies intoHitler's hands because to them democracy is not a religion to die for, butmerely a convenience to sell to the highest bidder.

Liberty and Equality are great ideals; but in the last two centuries ofProtestantism we have over-worked Liberty and Equality and have neglectedUnity. Without social unity there is no security for the average man.Europe and the world can no longer remain a congeries of sixty competitivesocieties. Mankind is forced to constitute itself into a single organic society.In voicing this demand for a world synthesis, the Nazis are the unconsciousinstruments of the spirit of history. And we are at war with the Nazis,not because of their demand for a world society, but because we cannotaccept a world order in which Nazis are masters and non-Nazis slaves.

Starting from the British Empire and from its identity of outlook withthe United States, we, too, can, if we choose, be the instruments of the spiritof history. We have made a beginning by offering France unity withourselves. We must go further and offer mankind unity with ourselves ina great world society. We must oppose to the bitter sectarianism of theNazis the impassioned universalism of a faith whose only article is " I believein Man."

J. K.

MR. JOSEPH McCABE on " IS ME DARK AGE RETURNING?' October 20, 1940

Readings from: (1) " The Illusion of IVational Character," byHamilton Fyfe.

(2) "Stoic, Christian and Humanist," by GilbertMurray.

In ancient manuals of geography you read a description of a provinceof the Grwco-Roman world which reminds you of Florida—a choice countrywith rich cities, One imagines Greeks and Romans sighing that they cannotgo to Cyrenaica. That country is now the modern, squalid and arid Libya.

From 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. was probably one of the greatest periods ofhistory when the world made more progress than in the previous threethousand years. Within two hundred years this civilization was shattered.There is no period in which civilization was so extinct as about the year600 AD. You might object that Pope Gregory (about 550-604 A.D.) wasa fine type of man, but he was engaged in burning the books of the Romancivilization.

You could find to-day some very distinguished American historians whotell you that there never was a Dark Age, that it was a myth created byrationalist historians of the nineteenth century. According to Buckle theDark Age lasted from the period between 500 and 600 A.D. to that between1000 and 1100, and the denial of its existence is an illustration of the appallingpower of the Catholic Church on American publishers, for it is able toarrange for the exclusion of certain books from college libraries unless truefeatures have been omitted from them. The American historians havediscovered a number of good abbots and bishops who lived during the perimin question. That is true, but you can count them on your fingers. Bucklemade a mistake in confining the Dark Ages to 500 years. Nine-tenths of

7

historical specialists say that the period from 1100 to 1500 was thc mostcorrupt and immoral in the whole of history.

There certainly was a Dark Age. Is it returning? I am shortly publishinga book called The Golden Ages of History. I examined those ages whichthe average historian assigns as theculminating points of civilizations of thepast. Why did those civilizations rise to a peak in one age and then tumbleback? I have shown that there are common factors in the rise and decayof every historical period, and that the overwhelmingly important factor inevery case was the character of the ruling class. The mass of the peoplehad nothing to do with the destiny of the nation. In twelve out of fifteencases of decay the leaders were immoral and irreligious.

Are we returning to a period of barbarism? Are we sure we know whatis wrong with the world? The fact is that there is nothing wrong with theworld at large. We have allowed three nations to darken it, and thegravest question is why we allowed it. Their rulers did not creep alonglike thieves in the night. Their intentions have been clear, but there hasbeen unwillingness to recognise them and allow the mass of the people tobecome aware of the preparations of the Dictators.

There is no parity between the collapse of c.ivilization in the sixth centuryand that of modern times. No one knows what is going to happen, but Iwilr not believe in the return of the Dark Age, or that present horrors willlast after next year. I do not entertain the possibility of our collapsing likeFrance, but even if we did there would be a great civilization ready tocontinue the fight. Long before the French Revolution troops were calledout against the workers of London who for nearly 50 years had put up amagnificent fight for ideals.

Even if the German and Italian system did spread over Europe it wouldnot last long. Men and women would rise again. If we had known thetruth there would never have been " appeasement."

I have heard people cry: "Let us have peace; it cannot be worse thanwhat we are enduring." Those who utter it do not realise the alternative.Present troubles may last a few months, but the evils of peace with theDictators, might last for decades. Through the system of education theNazis have transformed the youth of Germany. They have been taughtcallousness on an appalling scale. Liberty has been lessened, the welfareof the majority has been sacrificed for that of the few. It is a lie to saythat a fine work has been done for Germany and Italy by their Dictators.Their system puts a stop to all intellectual and cultural activity and devotesitself to military requirements.

People are alarmed by the devastation which is taking place here inLondon. It is not so bad yet as it was expected to be twelve months ago,but suppose it becomes much worse. Athens was destroyed by the Persians,but under the leadership of Pericles the Athenians raised an immortal citywithin fifty years. Their resources could not compare with ours. Sciencehas added much to our poWers, and the men of science who have too longneglected their duty will throw themselves into the work of recuperationas they never did into the work of destruction.

It is objected that you cannot change human nature and that when youhave rebuilt your new cities there will still be unscrupulous people to obtainpower. The behaviour of human nature is determined by educationalenvironment. The common people of Germany, Italy and Japan are as goodas our own, but they have been poisoned within a generation. We havenot tried hard enough to improve human nature. Under present conditionsone-tenth of the world will be ruined, but nine-tenths may go on to helprestore it. The price of continued progress is vigilance. We must not allowourselves to be duped, deceived and ruined by fevers from the old swampsof the past.

F. G. G.8

PROFESSOR G. W. KEETON, nA., LL.D., on

"THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA AND AFTER," November 3, 1940.

Readings from Somervill's Studies in Statesmanship.

The Congress of Vienna closed a chaotic period in Europe which had

lasted a quarter of a century. It began as a Social Revolution and endedwith an outraged Europe uniting to overthrow the tyrant. It established the

system which lasted in essentials down to 1918; and the Congress therefore

compares very favourably with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. With thisTreaty and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, it is one of the great European

Settlements of modern times.

The chief reasons for Napoleon's defeat were the overwhelmingsuperiority of the British Navy, the tenacity and endurance of the British

people and the determination of the peoples of Europe not to allow theirnational life to be crushed by an efficient and ruthless military machine. Itwas this determination which caused new national armies to stand up to

Napoleon's artillery and cavalry, which gave him an initial superiority as

great as that enjoyed by 'Hitler's tanks and dive bombers this year, and

eventually to destroy Napoleon's military power.

The History of Prussia, after her complete defeat round Jena, affords aninteresting clue to France's possible future conduct. For a time Prussia was

powerless, and there was active co-operation with Napoleon. Nevertheless,

her leaders were able to carry out comprehensive social and military reforms,even although Napoleon insisted on the dismissal of any Prussian Minister

who showed any sign of independent policy. However, after the retreat from

Moscow. Prussia was ready to intervene once more, and the military reformswhich she had carried out made her a most formidable addition to the alliance

which drove Napoleon back into France and finally destroyed him at

Waterloo.

The most striking thing about the peace-making which took place in

1814-1815 is the persistent moderation of the allies, and this is probably oneof the main reasons for the durability of the settlement which was brought

about by the congress in Vienna. Although the French, first in the Revolu-

tionary period and later under Napoleon had agitated the entire continent,

as well as Africa, the Near East, and to a lesser degree America and the Capefor nearly a quarter of a century, and had at various times brought about notonly innumerable dynastic changes, but also the destruction of many in-

dependent kingdoms, there does not seem to have been at any time any

resolve to destroy the French nation. If the proceedings at Vienna are

compared with those at Versailles in 1919, it will be seen how much moremoderate those of 1815 were. Thc French representative was admitted tothe conference itself, and eventually exercised an important influence on it.

Only a small indemnity was extracted from France, and the army of occupa-

tion withdrew in 1818, five years before the agreed date. Moreover, France

was allowed to retain her frontiers of 1789. The result was that there wasnever any very strong feeling in France in favour of going to war to over-

throw the decisions of the peace treaties.

The congress Was also the most important conference of European

Powers since the peace of Westphalia in 1648. Every European state except

Turkey was represented, many of the smaller by their rulers in person. Theproblems which it had to settle were almost innumerable, since many of the

states had been continuously under French occupation for nearly twenty-five

years, and although, naturally, those persons who had been dispossessed in

the early days wanted to return as completely as possible to the state of affairs9

which had existed before 1789, it was found that in fact too many new claimshad arisen which it was impossible to ignore, and accordingly it was necessaryto strike a balance. Moreover, some of the consequences of the FrenchRevolution were permanent. The principles of nationalism and democracy,both of which had grown out of the French Revolution of both forces, moreparticularly in Spain and Germany, had been largely responsible for thecontinuance of the obstinate struggle against Napoleon. On the other handthe congress quite clearly did not go so far in recognising both these principlesas some of the more progressive thinkers of the time would have wished.

Some considerable share of the credit for the nature of the Peace settle-ment must be attributed to this country. Great Britain was the onlyEuropean state which had continuously opposed Napoleon, and the Revolu-tion before him, since the year 1790. Successive coalitions had fallen topieces, yet we had continued, and there were times when our situation wasone of extreme peril, and when invasion was hourly expected. It was thecomplete supremacy of the British Navy after Trafalgar which was able toundertake the tremendous task of cutting off Europe from the rest of theworld, and so ruin Napoleon's continental system as it will ruin Hitler's,which made victory possible. It was the skilful Ilse of comparatively smallnumbers of British troops under a great general, in co-operation with Spanishrevolutionaries, which first placed Napoleon on the defensive; and it wasBritish subsidies, which we could only raise because of our maritimesupremacy and expanding commerce, which built up successive coalitions.All• these factors are again present in our struggle with Hitler, and can beused with equally decisive results. In spite of this leading part which wehad played for such a long period, our demands were modest in the extreme,comprising a number of islands outside Europe, securing our road to India,and the Dutch colony at the Cape. for which we paid cash compensation tothe Netherlands. All these acquisitions were made for the purpose ofsecuring our seaborne commerce. Apart from this, however, our influenceat the Conference was a moderating one. Some of the arrangements madethere have been severely criticised on account of their artificiality. Amongstthese are the unions of Norway and Sweden (which lasted until 1908)and of Holland and Belgium (which only lasted until 1839), but itmay well be that Federation of these units, perhaps with the addition of otherstates, will have to be considered at the end of the present war.

One of the most striking features of the peace settlement in 1815 wasthe dominating part which Russia played. Although the British effort hadbeen longer, more consistent, and because of her sea power, more decisive,nevertheless the catastrophe of the retreat from Moscow, and the presenceof comparatively limitless Russian armies in Western Europe impressed itselfupon the minds of all the European peoples. The result was that a leadingplace at the Conference was'assigned to the young Czar, Alexander I. Hewas the architecbof the Holy Alliance which was intended by its founder toplay, the same part in the affairs of Europe that President Wilson intendedthe League to play in the World's affairs. Alexander's keen mind saw that solong as Europe was split up into independent sovereign states, wars, and evencivil wars, were unavoidable. He therefore planned that the five leadingPowers should be permanently associated together in a league which wouldsettle Europe's political problems by discussion, agreement and concertedaction. Great Britain refused to be committed to this scheme, partly becauseof a growth of isolationist opinion in this country similar to that in the UnitedStates after the last war, partly because our main interest appeared to lieoutsidz Europe; and partly because we suspected that the Holy Alliance might

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become the instrument of repression, which it eventually turned out to be.When this repressive coalition even considered intervention in South Americato restore the revolting Spanish Colonies to the control of Spain, we invitedthe American President to adopt the attitude which eventually became knownas the Monroe Doctrine.

The one thing which the congress of Vienna did not, and could not do,was to make any inroad upon the conception of State Sovereignty. Neverthe-less, with the steady increase in the number of national states in the nineteenthcentury, and with the equally steady increase of the deadliness of warfare, theEuropean system was probably seen at its best. The wars of the nineteenthcentury were comparatively few, and they were, on the whole, conducted forlimited objectives, and with consistent regard to the rules of InternationalLaw. Finally, at the very end of the century, we have the Hague PeaceConferences, which seem to mark a new departure in International relations,and coupled with the increase in number of arbitration treaties, seemed toindicate that the date when war, except for the most grave provocation, wouldbe a thing of the past. That these predictions have proved to be false is dueas much as anything to the repudiation by Germany of the conception of aconcert of European Powers, whose fundamental interests were not greatlydissimilar. Her attempts to secure, first European domination, and thenworld Empire, have shown the weakness of the foundations of this system,but so long as no state challenged it as directly as Germany has done, thesystem worked tolerably well.

The main lessons to be derived from the congress of Vienna seem to.bethese: There is quite clearly more chance of a peace settlement provingdurable when it is reached by negotiation with the vanquished, and is notdictated. Moreover, mercy towards the vanquished at any rate strengthensthe chance of collaboration with them. It was only with the war of 1914-1918that the main structure of Europe ceased to be based ultimately upon thecongress of Vienna, even though that congress had not provided for theunification of Germany and Italy. It is worth while remembering that nosaner European settlement has ever been made, and it was generally sorecognised, even in France. That being so, the settlement of 1815 is probablythe nearest approach to a stable peace which can be achieved under theexisting system of power politics. The Treaty of Versailles was quite clearlya worse one, and there. is no reason to suppose that a peace at the end of thepresent war, dictated in a spirit of vengeance by either side, would proveany more permanent than the peace of 1919. There is, in fact, no permanentsolution of European problems on the basis of the continued independenceof a number of sovereign states. That part of the treaty of Vienna whichdisappeared first, was that which accepted the subdivision of Germany andItaly into small states, even though in the case of Germany this was amaterial improvement upon the state of affairs which preceded 1789. Just asthe system which existed in Germany between 1815 and 1870 can today bequite clearly recognised as an intermediate step on the way to the unificationof Germany, so it is possible for the period between 1920 and 1940 to beregarded as an intermediate stage on the way to the federation of Europe. Itis in this direction that constructive effort should be made, provided alwaysthat it is realised that the unification of Europe in itself solves nothing andmight even participate in the future wars between continents, and that in thelast resort it is some closer association on a world basis which alone canpreserve world peace.

J. W. K.

I I

" AT HOME " FOR MEMBERS AND FRIENDSSunday, October 20, 1940

Despite a succession of Air Raid Warnings some twenty members andfriends assembled in the Library 10 meet Mr. and Mrs. D. Christie Tait, lateof Geneva.

In the course of a short address Mr. Tait said that during 19 years ofwork for the International Labour Office he had never lost sight of theprinciples of South Place Ethical Society which was his spiritual home. Theorganisation for which he had been working was now marking time, buthe hoped that it would play a still bigger part in the future. The InternationalLabour Office had achieved definite successes. It was in some respects apart of the great social revolution through which the whole world was passing,a revolution which was probably greater and more widespread than theFrench Revolution had been.

The purpose of the I.L.O. was to raise the standard of living of theworkers throughout the world. It had done this mainly by means of inter-national agreements concluded by the Annual Conference which wasattended not only by Government delegates but also by delegates of theemployers and workers from almost every country in the world. ThisConference was the nearest approach we had yet seen to the Parliamentof Man of which 19th century poets had dreamed. The Organisation wasbaSed entirely on the tripartite principle, which would still be a vital basisfor wOrk of this kind even if in a Socialist community private employerswere replaced by State management.

The first concern of the I.L.O. had been to draw up an internationallabour code covering such questions as hours of labour, the work of womenand children, social insurance, native labour in colonial territories, etc. Ithad also attempted to deal with the difficult problem of migration.

As time went on, the problem of unemployment emerged as the greatsocial problem of our time. Unemployment was a scourge which affectedall industrial countries, and it was the widespread insecurity which had donemuch to provoke the methods of violence now in operation. This problemwas one for which a solution must be found. In this connection the I.L.O.was obliged to deal more and more with economic questions. Social andeconomic problems were found to be indissolubly linked up together.

The I.L.O. had been an undoubted success and its influence had pene-trated to every one of the five continents. In South America, for instance.there had been a great advance in social insurance, in India social measureshad been introduced, in the new European countries created after the lastwar, all social legislation had to be built up from the beginning. In allthese movements the I.L.O. had played a considerable part.

During the' war, the information side of the work continued on theControl of Employment, allowances for soldiers', sailors', and airmen'sdependants, the work of women and young persons and various other mattersof interest to the countries at war as well as to those at peace. There hadalso been an American Labour Conference at Havana in November, 1939,and in May, 1940, it was still hoped. to hold several meetings during thesummer.

The outbreak of active war had prevented that, and the I.L.O. now hadto be content with a small nucleus staff which was holding the fort atMontreal. It would probably continue its publications on a reduced scale,and would, above all, plan for the future when the nightmare of war haddisappeared from the world.

12

NOTESAttention is again called to the form printed on page 2. The relative

note on page 15 in the November issue brought some response. It is hopedthat those to whom the appeal for support was directed will not delay theirreply. Receipt of contributions to the Record " Appreciation Fund," eachof one guinea, from Mr. E. Daniels and Mr. Wallis Mansford are gratefullyacknowledged.

Applications from outside bodies for the use of the large Hall on Sundaymornings are being received. In view of the much-needed additional revenuewhich would accrue from acceptance and of the comparatively smallattendances at our own meetings, it has been decided to hold the latter in theLibrary whenever this course appears to be in the Society's interests.

Frequenters of the Library will notice the disappearance of the pictures.These have been removed to a safer place. Members may also like to knowthat metal sheeting has.been put over the skylights of the large and smallHalls for protection against shrapnel and incendiary bombs.

Acting on a suggestion made at a meeting of the General Committee, theLibrary Committee have handed over to the Post Office, for dispatch to theForces, a gift of seventy books. These are mainly works of fiction for whichthere is little demand by members of the Society.

We are glad to welcome Mrs. Lindsay back to Conway Hall. She hopesto resume her post as Librarian, and she has also very kindly consented toact as Registrar for the time being. Owing to circumstances arising fromthe War, Mrs. E. Washbrook has unfortunately found it necessary to resignthis office.

The sad news has only just reached us that our member Miss EdithMay Hatienden was killed in bed, with her friend Miss Welham, by a bombon the night of October 1-2, presumably at her home in Cricklewood. MissHaffenden had been a regular attendant at our Sunday morning and othermeetings since the opening of Conway Hall in September, 1929, and she hadbeen a member for eight years. She took a keen interest in the CountryDance Group. Her gracious and kindly personality endeared her to allwho knew her.

Much sympathy will be felt for Mr. and Mrs. J. Brice (Doris Partington),of the General Committee, who are among the latest victims of enemy action.Their home has been destroyed by a bomb. We are very glad that theyescaped with minor personal injuries, but their property was much damaged.

We hear that Mrs. Hawkins and Miss Walters have also had similar, ifnot quite such disastrous, experiences.

Life for most of. us in the London area is exciting. The writer of thesenotes listens to the nightly gunfire as he performs his editorial duties, and hekeeps ears open for the whistle of a bomb. The nose-cap of an anti-aircraftshell dug out of his garden serves as a significant paper weight. Withneighbours killed, injured, or driven from their homes, he lives in hope thathe will see the publication of this number. Truly the Sword of Damocleshangs over our heads, but it was always so, if not quite so obviously. Wecarry on.

The Wednesday meetings for Refugees continue to be adequately

13

supported. The time of assembly from 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m. is perhaps notquite so convenient for some of our friends, but it has an important ad-vantage over a later hour. The short talks have been resumed.

Mr. S. G. Green spoke on November 6 on " Some outstanding SouthPlace figures of the past," and on November 13 Mr. H. L. Bullock talked on" The present situation."

A letter has been received from our friend, Dr. Lutz Wellman (formerlyco-editor of a Berlin periodical and literary adviser of a Berlin theatre). As aPioneer in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, he is among those who areclearing up London debris. specialising on the collection of bricks suitablefor further use. Although living and sleeping with 50 men in one room, hehas been able to turn to his former profession by writing a sonnet entitled" Greece Stands." We salute an unquenchable spirit.

AN ETHICAL SOCIETY " UNDER FIRE "A Message to Members and Friends of the Ethical Society of

St. Louis, U.S.A. (September, 1940)words which may be wid to supply the text for this message are taken

from the Editorial published in "The Monthly Record" for October, 1939.I have been reading the Monthly Record of the South Place Eth:cal

Society, in London, England. The members there are poignantly aware thattheir Society is in the " front line " of the European- war. " There is aPublic Air-Raid Shelter in Red Lion Square," is the notice onc reads onthe' programme of their Sunday morning meetings! An aerial bombexploded near their fine new meeting-place a few days ago. Their livesare seriously disrupted in many ways and are in jeopardy every hour. Theyare most grimly engaged in the defence of their country. But they continueto meet for fellowship. The fellowship which their Soc;ety affords meansmuch to them. The following sentence from one of the Records suggests thespirit of courage and good sense which sustains them: " While the graveanxieties of the hour can never be far removed from our minds, and mustfind expression in our thoughts and writings, there is no need entirely to forgetthose interests which lutye hitherto made life worth living." The membersknow, perhaps as never before, that the high-minded interests sustained bytheir Society have hitherto made life worth living," and so they quietly andresolutely maintain their Society " Under fire."

These brave words from our friends across the sea recall a sentence fromIrwin Edman: " Friends do not cease to be friends because the age is tornwith enmities, and because there is gathering darkness we should not put outall the lights."

Here in Saint Louis we are not " under tire." But it can be said that wefeel very definitely the disturbing effects of the wars in Europe and Asia.There are profound emotional agitations as we read or hear the daily news.There are deep mental and spiritual disquietudes as we become well awarethat our ideals and principles are on trial. There are the disturbing in-sinuations that many of our professional and cultural interests are merely amatter of " fiddling while Rome burns." Economic upheavals are feared asthe financial structures of the nation take the shock of international chaos.Drastic changes in personal and social routine are sure to come with theconscription of the nation's manhood, and the mobilisation of its resources.Even so, we may recall the sober and sensible words of our beleagueredfriends: " There is no need entirely to forget those interests which havehitherto made life worth living."

Many are the things which make life worth living; we need not enumeratethem. But let it be said here that the fellowship which our Ethical Society14

affords gives worth and significance to your life and mine. Indeed, it is afellowship which may transcend our family relationships since it is born " notof the flesh but of the spirit." " There is first that which is natural, and after-ward that which is spiritual." It is a spiritual fellowship of the highest order.since it is a sharing of ideals and aspirations, of hopes and fears, of joys andsorrows, of triumphs and failures. It is a fellowship of free men and womenwho respect each other in the exchanges of thought and experience. And aswe participate in a communion such as this, our minds are enlightened andstimulated, our spirits are encouraged and renewed, and the supreme valuesof life are made more vividly real and compelling. Truly, these values giveworth to life; accordingly, we would sustain our Society in spite of disturbanceand distraction, and keep the light burning.

To " join " such a fellowship is not enough; the relationship must bemore deeply personal and more endurine. We greatly appreciate the interestand support of those who cannot participate more personally in the life of ourSociety, but the general rule of membership should be the more intimate senseof " belonging " to the group.

I recall a meaningful paragraph from the Survey Graphic. It makesreference to that experience by which a person may come to realise morereally and intimately that he " belongs " to a fellowship or group such as ours.The paragraph reads:

" No man yet has been happy without working, without con-tributing, without feeling that he is a part of civilisation. Nowmembership in a family, or a club, or a group, or a nation, or even thehuman race, comes not from drawing things out, but from putting thingsin. It comes from contributing, rather than from drawing unearnedbenefits. You can ascertain the truth of this from any man who has everbeen on a ' dole '—who had drawn out, without being allowed to con-tribute. Perhaps some psychologist. can tell us the reason for it. But Idoubt if anyone will dispute the fact."

Our own personal contribution to, and participation in, the creation of thevalues which our Society seeks to encourage brings us into vital union withthe sources of spiritual life—the source from which our own spirits may bereplenished.

1 am reminded of a story. A lay preacher had been invited to preach ina country church. His young son accompanied him to the appointment. Asthey entered the vestibule of the church the preacher generously dropped acontribution of fifty cents into a box marked " Home Missions." After theservice, one of the deacons met the preacher, thanked him for the sermon,and then opened the box and gave the preacher the fifty cents (the totalcontribution!), saying that it was the custom to give the lay preacher the" home mission money " for expenses. As the preacher and his son left thechurch, the boy said: " Dad, if you had put more in you would have gotmore out! "

The financial contributions are important enough, we need hardly say:but the best contribution we can give to our fellowship is ourselves—ourpresence, our sympathy, our opinion, our judgment, our enthusiasm, ourencouragement. And the point of the story holds good—for the more ofourselves we give, the more shall we feel that we " belong " to the group, andthe more shall we share in the spiritual life of the Whole.

Such is the promise which the services and activities of the comingseason hold for each one of us. Let us make the most of our greatopportunities.

" While the grave anxieties of the hour can never be far removed fromour minds, and must find expression in our thoughts and writings, there is noneed to forget those interests which have hitherto made life worth living."

J. HUTTON HYND.

15

GREECEThe entry of Greece into the war recalls some memories which may

prove of interest to readers of The Monthly Record.In 1931 I was deputed by the London Institution and the Poetry Society

to represent them at the unveiling of the memorial to " Rupert Brooke andImmortal Poetry " on the Isle of Scyros. Travelling overland to Marseilles,we sailed in a Greek ship. " Patras II," by way of the Corinth Canal toPincus, the port of Athens, and from there to Scyros, where early on EasterSunday we landed and walked up the rocky gorge to Rupert Brooke's grave,which lies in an open space, whilst

There olive trees make canopyWith wild-sown sage for company,Bright colours reign, sweet scents abound,Majestic mountains rise around.

Escorted by picturesque native, shepherds with their crooks, and themusic of the sheep bells wafted on the breeze, we gathered to hear Mr.Lascelles Abercrombie, the poet's friend, read " The Soldier," and to layflowers on the grave. Altogether a touching and beautiful experience notdescribable in mere words.

On the day of the unveiling ceremony, the islanders feted us in a waythat Rupert Brooke himself would have loved. We were entertained to adance by the shepherds, then to luncheon by invitation or the Mayoralcommunity, next the unveiling ceremony, followed by an island handicraftexhibition, more folk dances, fireworks on departure, and much beside.

His Excellency Eleutherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece, inunveiling the memorial—the symbolic figure of an inspired poet with a basrelief of Rupert Brooke on •the pedestal—laid the wreath on behalf of theGreek nation that I had brought from Byron's garden at Newstead Abbey,and feelingly explained its derivation to the assembled company. The wreathwas the means of affording me the privilege of a chat with His Excellency,one of the great outstanding personalities of his time.

When various dignitaries had deposited their wreaths, I was called uponto lay mine, one on behalf of the London Institution and another on behalfof the Poetry Society, which I was honoured to represent at •this interestingfunction. Mr. Lascelles Abercrombie then spoke a few appropriate wordson behalf of his friend, and we then had orations from Greek, French, Italianand Belgian poets-.

On the conclusion of the ceremony, I took the opportunity of thankingthe Prime Minister for his presence, Michel Tombros (the sculptor) for hisartistic work, and the Mayor for his generous hospitality.

Then, through the helpful assistance of the Chief of the Police, I wasdriven, in the company of my lady volunteer interpreter, in one of the veryfew motor cars available across the island to rejoin our ship, which, owingto a high wind, lay at anchor in a distant sheltered bay. By permission ofThe Observer, my little poem, " In Remembrance—Rupert Brooke," wascirculated at dinner the same evening as a souvenir of the unveiling ceremony.So ended a memorable day!

Whilst in Greece special excursions were arranged for us to Crete andwe landed on several of the islands of the Cyclades. These islands, enrichedby legend and wrapt in present-day beauty, are crowded with monuments oftheir time-honoured glory and are unforgettable in their superb setting inthe ultramarine waters of the /Egean Sea, where dolphins playfully tumbledin the wake of our vessel.

Reaching the mainland we visited Athens and its Acropolis. Eleusis andother sights, and I was privileged to have an introduction to Monsieur D. P.Petrucochino, a cultured Athenian, who showed me all the places in Athens

16

associated with Byron, information which 1 was happily afterwards enabled

to turn to account.

We then motored to Corinth, Argos, Epidaurus, Mycenx and Nauplia.One day we drove to Cape Sunion, which stood high in Byron's favour.The cape, rising from •the fEgean Sea to a height of several hundred feet,is surmounted by the ruins of a magnificent temple, erected to Poseidon,theGod of the Mediterranean. When there, after bathing, the poet would climbthe rocky summit and sit for hours looking out on the Cyclades. It.was thenhis poetic fervour rose to its sublimest heights, for the beautiful vision thatmet his gaze reacted on his muse.

When at Cape Sunion, I found its entrancing beauty so enthralling thatI was moved to compose a short poem, which was published in The AthensTimes:

CAPE SUNION

Behold the Cyclades!Set in immortal loveliness and ease,Like sparkling gems on the /Egean seas.In Pagan majesty the Temple stands,Its rocky base the Cape's proud soaring height,Below—the blue-clear waters kiss the sands.The marble Doric columns glisten white.Earth, sea and sky reveal true beauty's store,The waves' soft music echoes from the shore.Here, Byron stood and mused in bygone days,He loved the classic scene that met his gaze,For after Athens—city of his heart,Cape Sunion won the dauntless poet's praise!

Sailing westward out of the Gulf of Corinth on my homeward journey,the last glimpse I had of Greece was the harbour light of Missolonghi, thatshone out across the waters of the Ionian Sea, illuminating the gatheringdarkness and luring my thoughts to the time when Byron—the Poet Liberator—lived, suffered, worked and died there so magnificently for "Hellas! "

It was then I formulated the idea of paying further homage to thethree English poets who were so intimately linked with Greece—this to takethe form of a lecture-poetry recital on " Greece and its associations withByron, James Elroy Flecker and Rupert Brooke." (James Elroy Fleckermarried a Greek lady, Mademoiselle Helle Skiadarresi, and spent his honey-moon in the Greek Archipelago, and several of his poems are titled from orconcern Greek islands.). It was very remarkable how, as soon as the recitalwas in training, everything seemed to move happily to make it a success.

The recital on "Greece and its associations with Byron, James ElroyFlecker and Rupert Brooke " was given on March 9, 1932, in the appro-priately Greek-planned theatre of the London Institution, before a large.distinguished and appreciative audience, including members of the Anglo-Hellenic League, and in the presence of Professor Lascelles Abercrombie(Rupert Brooke's close friend) in the chair; Madame Nene Flecker (the wifeof the poet), who travelled from the Continent to honour her husband'smemory; and His Excellency D. Cachlamanos, the Greek Minister, who notonly ably represented his nation, but graciously contributed an interestingand appreciative speech at the close.

The presence of these distinguished visitors reacted favourably on myhelpers, Miss Peggie Hodge, L.R.A.M. (Eloc.), and two members of SouthPlace, Mr. Horace Gowing and his sister, Mrs. Grace James, who renderedthe musical settings. Never before had my reciter and musicians displayedsuch intensity of feeling and beauty of execution. They excelled themselves.The large and attentive audience was enthusiastically responsive, and therecital proved as memorable and successful as it was original.

17

Few people realise the extreme veneration in which Ryron's name isheld in Greece. His memory with the Greeks is a living fire! FredericHarrison, the positivist, once related the following experience: When inAthens, in the company of a friend, he hired a carriage •to be driven to acertain place, and in telling the driver to proceed the latter asked: " Didthe gentlemen wish to see one of the houses where Byron lived when inGreece?" He was peremptorily told: " No! Drive to where you are told."After going a considerable distance the driver stopped and triumphantlywaved his whip in the direction of a building, shouting to his astonishedpassengers, " The house of the Lord Byron! " and he then deliberatelyturned the carriage round to take his passengers to where they really wantedto go, from which place the determined driver was as far off as when hestarted.

It is this inherent, measureless admiration for the memory of Byronwhich indirectly links the whole Greek nation in a spirit of enthusiasm forBritain, and is likely to prove a potent factor in the Greek alliance in thepresent struggle. Whilst the war will bring its ups and downs, it is quitecertain that the new air and naval bases now available to Britain in Greekterritory will be of the utmost value, not only in meeting Italian attack, butalso in crippling Italy's own bases in her home waters.

How little could Byron, the Poet-Liberator, foresee, when dying 116 yearsago at Missolonghi for the Greek cause, that his name in years to comecould become the rallying point for the Greek nation, which he loved, infacing her new and desperate ordeal to defend her frontiers, freedom andsoul from present-day aggressors who, in their ruthless aggrandisement, knownot the meaning of honour, mercy or liberty!

WALLIS MANSFORD.

BOOK REVIEWSAN OPEN LETTER TO MACAULAY'S NEW ZEALANDER

THE RATIONALIST ANNUAL, 1941. (Walls). 86 pages. Is.DEAR Stn.—You may recall the phrase in which Lord Macaulay

prophetically created you a century or so ago. Writing of the RomanCatholic Church, he said: " She may still exist in undiminished vigour whensome traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, takehis stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St.Paul's." I believe our literary pundit, when he wrote those words, conceivedonly that in some immensely distant future London might share the fate ofUr and Babylon and Nineveh. He did not dream that Nazi bombers wouldhave hastened the fulfilment of his prophecy had not our airmen taken adifferent view. Had he done so he would have shown you, armed with arifle instead of a sketch book.

If you chance to share Macaulay's view of Catholicism's vitality, let mecommend to your notice the Rationalist Annual for 1941, Not only is this amost interesting collection of the views of some of our leading scientists andhumanists; you will find in it many adverse comments on the health of HolyMother Church and her prospects of a prolonged survival.

For example, a well-documented attack by Mr. J. W. Poynter onCatholic " certainty " discloses many instances, from early Church historyuntil today, of doubts, conflicts, and confusion of doctrine within the Vaticanitself. He reminds us that Papal Infallibility, to deny which is anathema,became a dogma as recently as 1870, and then only " after stormy debates "and by a majority vote. One trembles for the spiritual state of those highdignitaries who voted in Council against so vital a doctrine!

Other contributions illustrate the widespread critical and sceptical spiritthat threatens the very foundations of the Churches. Turn to Mr. Ivor

18

Brown's " What Christ Said," and consider with h:m the obscure andstrangely belated emergence of the Gospels. Or read " Religion in Trouble."in which Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell shows how inconsistent is the attitudeof the Vatican to the Axis Powers today. Again, Dr. Davidson, the eminentastronomer, suggests the probability of life on remote members of a on,verseso vast that this earth and its warring creeds seem nicroscopic.

If you value strict logic and clear exposition, other articles in the Annualwfil compel your attention and interest for their own sake. Such writers asDr. Gilbert Murray, Professor Haldane, Sir Arthur Keith and Dr. load needno commendation, even in the Antipodes. And if you appreciate literary artand daring wit, do not fail to read Mr. Gowan Whyte's ironic and irreverentfantasia " Voltaire in Heaven." Mr. Whyte is our native Anatole France,and his works should be on the Vatican's Index Expurgatorius.

And so, farewell. But, as your presence here to fulfil your author's fore-cast would spell disaster for Britain, please don't hurry to be born! Yoursfaithfully, JUNIUS JUNIOR.

A LEARNED WITTHE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS. By Richard Garnett. (Waits: The Thinker's

Library.) ls. 3d.

This slender book of ingenious, amusing and brilliantly written talesforms the latest member of that notable series The Thinker's Library. Dr.Garnett, as his son reminds us in a Foreword, wrote the stories at intervalsfor his own amusement in moments of leisure—though leisure must have beenrare to so hard-working and so learned a man as the Keeper of Printed Booksat the British Museum. Happily he " wore his learning lightly," with resultsso entertaining that at a first glance The Twilight of the Gods may seem outof place among its sober-paced brethren. But perusal of the narratives willshow their entire fitness for the series. Witty, dexterous and highly imaginativeas they are, they have an underlying seriousness of purpose throughout. Mr.David Garnett says of them with sure insight: " They express his characterand attitude to life in a way which was impossible in his more conventionalwork."

That " attitude to life " was a stern regard for naked truth, a contempt forsham and tinsel in high places, a distrust of priests, hierophants, mysterymongers and time-servers everywhere. " The Demon Pope " illustrates thisadmirably. The inner meaning of the ceremony of kissing the papal toe, itseems, is to make sure that His Holiness has not, as a predecessor significantlyhad, a cloven hoof! The lesson of " The Dumb Oracle " is that to deserteven the Gods own altars for Truth's sake is to offer them the only sacrificethey prize. And in " Ananda the Miracle Worker --the only story in whichthe satiric tone changes to tenderness—Buddha gently warns his erringdisciple: " That which is built on fraud and imposture can by no meansendure."

ERNEST CARR,

The December issue of the Literary Guide (Watts & Co. 3c1.) containsseveral contributions of considerable interest. The always entertaining" Protonius " devotes most of his space to the recent discussion of Mr. H. G.Wells's opinions whieh took place in the House of Commons; Mr. JohnRowland adds Dr. Julian Huxley tothe eminent Rationalists whom he hasinterviewed; Mr. Ernest Thurtle writes on Neville Chamberlain; and Mr.J. H. B. Peel discusses pagan influences on supposedly Christian Christmascustoms. There are also the usual book reviews, " Items of Interest,"" Passing Notes,- and " Random Jottings," the last named including anextensive quotalion from a recent speech by Lord Snell.

I 9

THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIESM(ltter for hisertion in the January issue of the Rt.(•()R1) should reach

the Editor early in the 1110nth, mut in any ease noi later than Saturday,

Det.enther 14.

" AT HOMES"- -FOR REFUCEES.—In the Library on Wednesdays from12.30 to 3 p.m. Most of the guests speak some English and are anxiousto increase their knowledge. Members are invited to help by talking tothem. Discussions, short talks or music are arranged. Contributionsto the Tea Fund will be welcomed by the Hon. Treasurer. DorisPartington, 14 Seymour Court, Coles Green Road, N.W. 2.

HMI. Set'. : Mrs. F. D. Jim it RSBY. ireeniallow, Bury Rise,I3o‘ ingdon. Herts.

FEDERAL UNION STUDY GROLIP.—Mr. Howard Vox is now organisingthis from 37 Gower Street. A university lecturer will conduct a courseof lectures on Federation on Sundays at 2.30 and a good library will beprovided to facilitate study A yen- good air raid shelter is nearby.Telephone Museum 1979.

LIRRARY.—Open Sunday mornings and Wednesday :afternoons and at othertimes by arrangement with the Librarian. Free to members andassociates-. Non-members may borrow hooks On payment of 5s. perannum. The fee is waived in the case of Refugees attending the " At

-Homes." A slip must be tilled in for each hook borrowed. When hooks;ire returned they must be handed to the Librarian, and not be replacedon the shelves.

Special attention is called to failure to return books after a longperiod of borrowing.

Librarian: Mrs. T. LINDSAY, Conway Hall.

Changes of Address

Mr. and Mrs. A. ANDREWS, 14 The Woodlands, Chesham Bois, Bucks.

Mr. J. BRICE. 14 Seymour C4, Coles Green Road, N.W.2.

Mrs. F. NI. (-DAPPLE. Chiswick House. Meldreth, Herts.

Mr. D. R. ERRINGFON, 127 Lord Avenue. Ilford, Essex.

Mrs. S. GARDNER, New Row, Fen Drayton, Cambs.

Dr. C. 0. HAM/ DIORNE. 68 Berriedale Avenue. Hove 3, Sussex.

Miss 1VIMEY, 69 Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale, W.9.

Mr. and Mrs. L. LiNiosAY,.33 Dawl:sh Avenue. Greenford, Middx.

DORIS PAR IINC,IION, 14 Seymour Ct., Coles Green Road, N.W.2,

Miss M. S. PYRE, 212 Redhank Road, Bispham, Blackpool.

Miss R. RAFTERY, 165 Park Road, Crouch End, N.8.

Mr. and Mrs. G. N. SALMON, Knowle Cottage, Cranham, Glos.

Miss C. SOLOMON. 41 Sunbury Avenue, Mill Hill, N.W.7.

Mr. R. WOOLF, 16 Wake Green, Birmingham 13.

Miss E. WYATT, The Anchorage, Sydney Road, Haywards Heath, Sussex.

Death

Miss E. M. HAFEENDEN. Killed by enemy action, October I.

FarIcigh l'rcss Ltd. (T.U.), licrchwood Works, Pcnhavocid Risc, Watford 1 lens