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THE

MONTHLY RECORDAPRIL, 1942

SUNDAY MEETINGS, 11 a.m.

April 5.—NO MEETING.

April 12.—PROFESSOR G. W.the Pacific.

Bass Solos : Serenade —The Vagabond

MR. G. C. DOWMAN

Hymns: Nos. 16 and 151

. . Schubert• . Vaughan Williams

KEETON, M.A., LL.D. — The Future of

April 19.—PROFESSOR L. SUSAN STEBBING, M.A., Tewler and Homo Sapiens."

Pianoforte Solos: Three short 18th Century piecesAllegroThe Flute..Jig..

MISS ELLA IVIMEY

Hymns: Nos. 136 and 123

D.Lit. — " Homo

A rneDef ownDubourg

April 26.— C. E. M. RIAD, M.A., D.Lit. — Philosophy and Science— ILBass Solos: Hill and Vale

April's Charms

MR. G. C. DOWMAN

Hymns: Nos. 60 (tune 65) and 87

May 3.—PROFESSOR G W KEETON, M.A., LL.D.—Latin America andthe War.

Man& : MISS ELLA IVIMEY

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11 1 G . C. Dowman

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SUMMARIES OF SUNDAY MORNING LECTURESPROFESSOR C. W KEETON, M.A., LL.D., on " THE MODERN

STATE," February 8, 1942.Reudim,iv: h e End of Gunpowder Democracy, by Professor H. C. BrearIey,

in "Current History,- November, 1941.

If one looks at Europe in the year 1415, and again a century later, onesees a change so profound that it is difficult to imagine that we are surveyingthe same civilization. In 1415, feudalism and chivalry were paramount, andnationality was a less strong tie than loyalty to one's own order. France,Spain, and Scotland were all weakened by the feuds of rival groups ofbarons. Even in England, Henry VI; the son of one of the most popularand powerful of our mediaival kings, was dethroned and killed during theWar of the Roses in which the English baronage destroyed themselves.Throughout Europe, in the second half of the fifteenth century, the baronagewas committing suicide, exactly as the nation states today are committingsuicide. It is possible to push the parallel still further. In its early days,feudalism had established order, by the exercise of force, in a distractedEurope. In its middle period, its vigour had been employed upon theCrusades. In its decline, the baronage turned on itself, and destroyed itself.Similarly, the nation state, with its superior organization, based on moremoddrn methods of warfare, replaced the loose-knit and decentralized feudalsociety, and brought internal peace to the countries of Europe, as feudalismhad previously brought security to the freemen who placed themselves underan overlord's protection. In its middle period, the modern political systemoffered outlets to the powerful nation states in the wars of expansion of theseventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. Now we are seeingthe collapse of the political system established at (he Renaissance. Thcmodern states are committing suicide in turn because they have failed tosolve the problems of economic and social organization. Gunpowderdestroyed feudalism. The tank, the aeroplane and the submarine havedestroyed the modern state; and our present conflicts will continue, possiblywith temporary breathing spaces, until some newer and larger system ofpolitical organization emerges. If it is not world-wide, we shall merelysubstitute for wars between nations, wars between continents.

Change in the sixteenth century, as at the present time, was due to manycauses, apparently unrelated—the invention of gunpowder, the discovery ofAmerica, the new learning, the Reformation, the barons' wars, and manyothers. All these played their part in the break-up of Christendom intoa few great and efficiently organized units, in which there was establishedthe supremacy of the royal authority over all groups within the kingdom,lay and religious. In England, this was founded upon the alliance of theCrown with the middle classes which was not broken until the advent ofthe Stuarts. But what was happening in England was happening also inFrance, Spain, and Portugal, and it is no accident that these countries werealso the pioneers of Europe's overseas expansion. All the rulers seek toestablish uniformity, more especially in matters of religion, and the com-promise which in England gave birth to the Established Church was dueto the desire to find a religious formula which everyone could accept.

Besides religion, the new nation states had another bitterly controversialissue to face. What is the origin of this tremendous authority which the

irulers wielded? The Royalists found thc answer n Divine Right, thesupporters of the Commonwealth in the consent of the governed. Thisissue between King and Parliament was fought out in England between1628 and 1688, and at the end of it, Divine Right had given way toParliamentary omnipotence. Parliament was more absolute than anymonarch had ever been.

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Elsewhere in Europe, the kings had won the struggle, and Parliamentsexisted only in name. In England, Parliament won because it controlledthe bulk of the nation's wealth, and could cut off supplies. Elsewhere inEurope, the middle classes were not so powerful, and the nobility and clergywere associated with the King's rule by being given a privileged status.

The great contribution of the French Revolution to modern politicaltheory was the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which, in the 19th century,gave birth to the twin forces of nationality and democracy, which receivedtheir fullest expression in the Treaty of Versailles.

The modern state was erected upon the ruins of the mediaival world.Religion no longer dominated the lives of men. It had become the play-thing of opposing cliques. The mediaival economic world had also brokendown. The manor was not self-supporting, and the guilds were in decay.Their corporate life was replaced by individual enterprise, giving rise laterto capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. There was a vast expansionof trade, and the beginnings of overseas empires. Through all these changesruns a common thread—the breakdown of corporate life, and the emergenceof the individual, face to face with the one controlling authority, the state.Within its territorial limits, the state is absolute, and anyone who denouncesthe system is as much a rebel as the mediceval citizen who repudiates theauthority of the Pope is a heretic. The authority of the modern .state,indeed, is only tolerable to thc extent that the community as a whole is,directly or indirectly, associated with its exercise.

In the international sphere, the transition brought about in the fifteenth

century was as revolutionary as in the internal structure of the state. Thenature and extent of mediaval warfare had been conditioned by the peoplewho fought, but gunpowder brought about the final destruction of thefeudal armies, and the rulers of the ncw nation states found themselves incommand of unlimited military power. Money for a time was a limitingfactor, but this difficulty was overcome by the invention of national debts,linking the entire community to the regime by inducing it to invest in its

enterprises. National debts, with the vast armaments which alone can beraised in this way, are a striking illustration of state absolutism, impossibleto think of in medixyal times.

In the sphere of foreign politics, rival absolutisms met in conflict. Theresult at first was chaos. No ruler need keep faith with any other ruler,one state attacked anothcr without cause as opportunity offered, and warswere waged with the very greatest savagery. The old mediteval system had

broken down in this sphere also. Neither Christianity nor ethical principleslimited a state's freedom of action in relation to other states. Whilst the lifeof a human being within the state was governed at every turn by moraland legal rules, externally the state was fettered by neither. In that spherewhere states met, negotiated and fought, the only ultimate principle was

force, but the illusion of stability was given to this precarious and unsatis-

factory system by two things :

The political principle of the Balance of Power, which knit up the

states into two opposing groups, to prevent one state from achieving domina-tion over the rest, and to prevent wars from breaking out over trifling causes.Thus, knowledge that a too-ready resort to war may provoke a generalstruggle has often caused disputing states to compromise, and so accept alesser evil, more especially since modern wars absorb more and more ofthe national effort, and therefore are not supported by the peoples of thestates except for sufficient cause.

The second factor is International Law, the modern counterpart of

the medizeval concept of Christendom. International Law is no more thana smoke-screen behind which the policies of sovereign states operate un-

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checked. Its alleged basis is the consent of the community of states. Thereis no such consent, and there never has been any such community, sincethe disintegration of Christendom. But to dress up state conduct in quasi-legal terms gives the policy of a state a more respectable appearance, andallows a state to prove to its subjects that it is always legally (and therefore.by inference, morally) right. If war actually broke out, certain rules ofwarfare might be followed, because failure to observe them would bringretaliation in kind from the other side. But an aggressor state fighting forits continued existence breaks all the rules eventually, and there is nothingfor other states to do but to retaliate.

There have always been challenges, both to the Balance of Powerprinciple, and to International Law. Yesterday, it was Philip of Spain,Louis XIV, Napoleon, or the late Kaiser. Today it is Nazi Germany andJapan. Tomorrow there may be new challenges. In fact, any state whichbecomes too strong .becomes an object of fear to others, because in noother way can the independence of small states be preserved. There isthus no solution in the existing system, or in the principle of dominationby one or more powerful states. What. then, is the solution'? It is simplythe reorganization of thc entire world on the basis that it forms one humancommunity, and is already one unit for many purposes. Nothing less willdo. The state system has been tried and found wanting. Today it is asmuch an anachronism as Don Quixote was in the sixteenth century. Oursovereign states must . be merged into a larger world order if the humanrace is to enjoy security from the nightmare of recurring world wars.

(Contributed by Professor Keeton)

DR. C. E. M. JOAD, M.A., on " GOODNESS AND FREEDOM " OD, February 15, 1942.

Readings front: (I)" The Seientifh. Outlook," by Bertrand Russell.(2) "Darkness and the Light," by Olaf Stapledon.

In my previous lecture I spoke on the opposition between determinismand free-will and drew attention to the fact that while almost every argumentwas in favour of determinism, nevertheless everybody has a conviction offreedom. No direct grounds can be given for that conviction. You canonly indicate certain ways of regarding the universe and the place of manin it which carry the implication that man is free. I propose to speak ofone such way pointed out by Kant. He is a stern moralist whose viewsI should not have thought of communicating before the war to anyone whowas not interested in ethics. There is renewed interest in ethics andphilosophy. For example, I, who have always been among the great unread,now find that everyone wants to read my books only to learn they are outof print.

Kant is intolerably difficult to read and his thought is, on the surface.out of tune with all the influences which have made our age. But all thisis temporary only. In the 18th century Shakespeare was under a cloud andwas comparatively unread. Voltaire was asked to resign from the FrenchAcademy because he praised Shakespeare. In the early part of the 19thcentury Bach was also out of favour but closer acquaintance brings greaterappreciation. It is the same with Kant. At first he is forbidding, but hispower and originality gradually grow upon you and especially is this soin the sphere of ethics.

Kant begins by making full allowance for those arguments for deter-minism I developed in my last lecture. Looked.at from the standpoint ofthe sciences man is seen to be the product ot a chain of circumstancesaccounting for his body and mind, temperament, cravings and passions.But in addition to all these which determine what is, we have the concept

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of morality, of what ought to be. What are you to say about the originof this ought which cannot be derived from an examination of the ordinaryworld and the influences which prevail in it. Psychology will tell you whatyou are, not what you ought to be. Kant points out that the conception ofought is on an entirely different plane from the conception of is, and thatthe consciousness of moral obligation is inextricably bound up with thenotion of human freedom. Our desires, cravings and impulses are madefor us by our environment, but in so far as we can act contrary to themwe are acting in accordance with a morality which comes from ourselvesalone. He erects a distinction between the categorical and the hypotheticalimperatives. The only kind of action which is not conditioned by an ifand which is not therefore hypothetical is the obligation to do our duty.We know we ought to do it whether we want to or not. When dealing withthe natural world this concept of ought has no meaning : it is only whenyou are dealing with human beings that it has.

Now it is a fact that we do respond to the pull of moral obligation.Therefore, says Kant, in addition to belonging to the world of nature studiedby science, we also belong to another order, that of reality. You cannotexplain moral freedom or give any reasons for it because i' you were totry to do so you would by reason of your attempt bring it into the causalseries of events which rule in the familiar world, and if explained as due tocauses, no longer would it be free, and no longer derive its sources fromanother world. Therefore, that there should be no argument for freedomand free-will is only what you would expect to find if Kant is right.

When one comes to an account of what it is that the free moral willprescribes Kant lays down certain moral laws in observing which the doingof our duty consists. One such law requires us to act in a way which canbe universalized, that is, adopted by everybody, without contradiction.Immoral action cannot be so universalized. Thus the object of a liar isto be believed and to obtain credence for his lie. If every one lie& no onewould believe anyone else. Again, dishonesty only pays a few because mostpeople are habitually honest. In this way it can be seen that any kind ofevil is parasitic on goodness. Another law is that we should not makeexceptions in our own favour, for if everybody did so, ordered societywould become impossible. Kant goes on to deduce many other principlesfrom what he calls the dictates of the moral reason.

There are certain obvious criticisms. It is not always the case thatthe test of virtuous action is that it can be universalized. For example,some people, such as priests, have felt they must not marry, but celibacycannot be adopted by all. It is a law both that we should tell the truthand that we should save life. Occasionally we can only save life by tellinga lie. But the real difficulty about the theory brings up in an acute formthe sharp distinction. made by Kant between doing what one wants to doand doing what one thinks one ought to do. In so far as we act accordingto destre‘we are, he says, determined. His account of the ordinary deter-mined self is on hedonist lines according to which the only possible motivefor action is to get pleasure for the self, all 'altruism being only adisguised version of our own pleasure-seeking. There is no action thatcannot be explained on these lines. Thus, according to the hedonist,martyrs are men of obstinate natures who prefer having their own way toanything else that can happen to them. Some martyrs have been upheldby the religious conviction that they would go to hell if they proved falseto their convictions.

Kant's account of the ordinary determined self is completely hedonistic;that is what the ordinary self explored by psychology, is like. Now if yournotion of morality mainly affirms itself in opposition to what you wantto do, it follows that your duty will always be disagreeable. That is the6

siew suggested by Kant. It is surely pessimistic. Some theologiansobsessed by the doctrine of the Fall have in fact taken that view.

But is it correct? Assuredly the good man is he who acts as he oughtto do, but must he always dislike it? Cannot he ever enjoy it? There mustbe some truth in the view of Socrates that the good man is he who by naturewants to do what is right. He may make mistakes as to what is goodthinking riches or power are good. but these are mistakes of judgment.As Socrates pointed out, we require an incentive to tell a lie but not to tellthe truth. We tend to act honestly unless we have a particular reason forbeing dishonest. Yet Kant's view suggests that nobody ever wants to dohis duty.

Here, then, are two contrary positions. First, a person who is goodis good naturally and does his duty because he wants to do it. Second,unless there is sonw struggle there is no real element of morality. Bothpositions have their elements of truth. Kant recognizes the second only,suggesting that what is right is never pleasant.

F. G. Ci.

PROFESSOR G. W. KEETON, M.A., LLD., on "THE STRUGGLE FOR THE PACIFIC," March I, 1942

Readings (I) "The Times," February 18th, 1942--Special Article(2) " The Timm" February 28th, I942—Leading Article

When Japan attacked Great Britain and the United States last December,she did it with the object of driving the White races out of the Pacific andEastern Asia, and of uniting the whole vast area into a Japanese dependency.When Japan collapses, she will lose not only all her conquests since 1895,but also her ruling class, her philosophy of life, her commerce and her meansof survival. There will not only be a revolution, but there will also be civilwars, starvation, and possibly disintegration. For that reason, the Japaneseruling classes will drive their people to the limit of their endurance.Moreover, the war in the Pacific will be a long one. It will last between threeand five years. even if Germany collapses. Japan has been preparing forthis war tor the past forty years. She would not have precipitated it nowunless she thought she had an excellent chance of winning it. Before she isbeaten, the Allies will have to establish a Pacific fleet superior to that ofJapan, and they will have to obtain and defend bases within striking distanceof Japan. This will take time, even when the present impetus of theJapanese offensive has been slowed down.

The original Allied plan was to hold the Japanese away from the vitalraw materials they needed until Hitler was defeated, or until her ownstocks of raw materials (calculated to amount to a two-years' supply) wereexhausted. They expected to lose the Philippines and some of their out-lying bases, but not Singapore, Malaya. the Dutch East Indies or Burma.The loss of these has profoundly altered the course and duration of thewar. It has also made an immediate new policy towards India and ourFar Eastern possessions an urgent necessity.

Three factors, two of them foreseeable, the third not foreseeable com-pletely, have upset Anglo-American plans concerning the war in the FarEast. They are :

I. The speed and efficiency of the Japanese blitzkrieg in the Pacific. This was not necessarily foreseeable as there are so many imponder-

ables in war that accurate predictions are impossible. Thus the French collapse and the Russian resistance have alike confounded the experts. The main criterion for judging Japan's military strength was the war with China which began in 1937, and it is now evident that Japan did nOt exert anything like her full strength in it. Again, Japan was seeking to undermine Chinese resistance by political, rather than by purely military means, and

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in this she was achieving sonie success. Further, Japan was solving someof her own problems by keeping a large army of occupation in China, an4that urmy was being excellently trained in modern conditions of warfare.Another point to remember is that Japanese naval and military develop-ments have always been enveloped in impenetrable secrecy, so that Japan hasbeen able to spring a succession of surprises upon unprepared opponents.

The attack on Pearl Harbour and the loss of the two British battle-ships.

The object of the attack on Pearl Harbour was to put so much of theAmerican fleet out of commission that it could not link up with ours andthe Dutch, so that the Japanese would obtain sufficient freedom of move-ment to overrun Malaya and the Dutch East Indies without serious navalopposition, and before effective military, reinforcements could arrive. Tocarry out the attack whilst special negotiations were in progress was simplyan improvement upon the technique employed to destroy the Russian fleetat Port Arthur in 1905, and great nations must be prepared for these jungle-like surprises, so long as international relations are what they are.

These naval reverses have conceded to the Japanese a considerablenaval superiority in the Far East, and have consequently thrown Alliedstrategy out of gear. We have been facing a world-power with out-of-dateweapons, inferior numbers, insufficient aircraft and obsolete tactics.

The third factor which has upset Allied calculations in the Far Eastis Japan's appeal to racial prejudice. and it is that which makes Japan aneven• more menacing foe than Hitler. In Europe. Hitler's racial doctrines

• meet with indignant repudiation and violent opposition wherever they areintrodueed. In the East, on the other hand. Japan is appealing to some-thing which has long been latent in many races, and for which the whiteraces have only themselves to blame. Before their appearance, there waslittle consciousness of race, colour, or even of nationality in the Far East.Racial discrimination came with the whites, in order that white dominationcould be perpetrated with comparatively slender forces. With that dis-crimination came ignorance of and contempt for Eastern civilizations, oftenmuch older than those of the West. Such an attitude has been responsiblefor the loss of our Far Eastern possessions. and must be completelyeradicated. The objective of Western policy must be pronounced to be, notonly political independence, but also economic freedom, as in the Philippines.When the Far Eastern peoples are given control of their own destinies, theywill then be compelled to work out the problems of freedom, security andworld order as we are doing, and their solutions are likely to be very similarto ours. The Far Eastern world which has dissolved before our eyes willnever be restored.

In the present war the Far Eastern peoples will find their true place in_the international spheres, and they will learn to rely, not upon sonie Westernpower, hut upon their own courage and their own preparations, as the peopleof the Philippines did. (Contributed by Professor Keeton)

PROFESSOR C. B. FAWCE117, D.Sc., on " THE NATION AS A HUMAN GROUP," March 8, 1942

Readings from: (I) " The Mind in the Making," by James Harvey Robinson.(2) "The Illusion of National Character," by Hamilton F.vfe.

Man is a social animal: and every normal human being spends mostof his or her life as a member of some group such as the family, in whichhe grows up and which is one of the chief influences on his growth, a church,a nation and a state.

Of all these the family is perhaps the first and most important. Outof the family grew the clan, and the tribe, and perhaps the nation. But theview that the nation is merely the family or tribe writ large should not beaccepted without careful consideration.

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I begin by stating four questions we may ask about the nation, andwill then discuss some possible answers to them. They are:—

What is a nation? Is there any generally agreed definition?What makes a nation? How is it formed and maintained?Is a nation an organism? Has it a life apart from that of the

individuals who are its members?What is the relation of a nation to other human groups?

The only scientific approach to the first question is to examine asufficiently large number of nations. Let us list some of them.

Probably all will agree to include as nations the French, Germans.Turks, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and Dutch.A second list may include Swiss. Belgians. Americans of the UnitedStates, Canadians, Brazilians and Mexicans.A third list includes Jews, Parsecs and other communities " otIndia, and Druses.The fourth contains the English, Scottish. Welsh and British.

And what of the " nations " of the past? Some writers (e.g., Madariaga)would group those of our third list with the gens of the Roman world, orthe Magian nations (Spengler) of the Hellenic and Byzantine times, andregard them as differing in essentials from modern nations.

The first list includes nations with almost homogeneous populations.which form a nation-state. In such cases there is a strong tendency toidentify nation and state, an identification which is sometimes thought of asthe essence of nationality though the grouping is largely political. Thesecond list shows that this identification is premature. All these nations aredivided among themselves by differences of language, or of religious affilia-tions, or of race (colour). In what sense arc the negroes and whites of theU.S.A. members of one nation? Yet all these " nations" are at least politicalgroups; though their nationalisms vary in extension and in intensity withinthe group.

What of our third list? Are the Jews a nation? If so, a nation existsindependently of a state or of a homeland. All discussion of a Jewish" national home " implies that the Jews are. or may become, a nation. Butin many ways they resemble the " communities" of India rather than thenations of the West. Their bonds of union are cultural, especially religious.and not geographical or political.

Our fourth list shows that as applied to the English and the Britishthe word means somewhat different things, for one of these includes theother. So there are nations of different orders.

It is clear then that the apparently simple term nation denotes humangroups of different kinds. All are cultural groups. But the unifying factorsof geographical contiguity, common language, religion, statehood, or of race.show no regular relation to nationality.

The bond which holds the members of a nation together is callednationalism. It is not a material bond, but one of emotions and sentimentlike that recognition of kind which makes the " Whites " or the English-speaking peoples. or Scotsmen, more closely kin among themselves thanthey are to outsiders. Any two members of a nation do normally feel thatthey have in common something which is not shared by any foreigner, whois not " one-of us." The foreigner is marked by the fact that he tends toreact in a different way to many situations in ordinary life, because he startswith different habits of thought and behaviour. It is such a complex ofhabitual mental and social assumptions, peculiar to themselves, that makesa nation.

These differences vary very much in intensity. Those between Englishand Scots are so small that to many foreigners they are invisible. Thosebetween the British and the Hindu are so much greater that we may, andoften do, regard these peoples as belonging to different civilizations, which

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suggests that the nation is merely a subgroup in a civilization. Most ofthe nationally-conscious nations are in fact sub-groups in that section ofWestern civilization which is still called Christendom; though the Turksderive from the Islamic section.

Such conclusions may be put tentatively into a classification of culturalgroups—as Mankind, Civilirations, Religions, Nations—in descending order.But this soon becomes too complicated. We are, it seems, dealing with morefluid entities than the biological groups.

Is a Nation an organism? We assume that it is when we speak ofyoung " nations. The same assumption applied to the larger cultural

groups of Civilization is the basis of Spengler's great work The Decline of

the West; but is it true? Does the history of civilizations or nations show, ininevitable sequence and period, such changes as those of the birth, youth,maturity, decay and death of a single organism?

A nation is not an organism, in the exact sense of that word. It is acultural group formed of a large number of organisms, which shares someof the qualities of its members.

The French revolution was the occasion of the popularization of theconcept of the " sovereign people " and nationalism was an ascendant idealin the West from then till 1919. Then came the Versailles Treaty. Thevictors endeavoured to put into operation the " principle of nationality " asthey understood it; and it has had twenty years trial in Europe.

Nationalism as a dominant force has failed. The cause, and the effects,are similar to those which followed from the equally complete dominanceof the church in medievalturope. And it seems clear that it is not desirablethat nationalism should possess sovereign power to dominate other groupemotions among men, or the life of mankind.

(Contributed by Professor Fawcett)

" AT HOMES " FOR REFUGEESOn February 18 Mr. T. H. Elstob spoke on Insects and How They

Affect History. Man had been advised to go to the ant, observe her ways andbe wise. This whs good advice at the moment when industry and strictattention to business are key virtues, but slavish imitation of the insects would•upset all our ethical conceptions. The industry of the insect is often directedagainst the means by which man lives, and must be resisted with a likeindustry, for the battle between men and insects is far from being decided.Industry is observable in the larva of the cabbage-white butterfly. It haspowerful jaws and special means of locomotion to enable it to gratify itsappetite. The allotment-holder would gladly sacrifice the wsthetic value ofthe butterfly for the sake of his cabbages. We would find dogged determina-tion in the Colorado Beetle, which took sixty years to cross the RockyMountains—but when it did so, more of man's potatoes were in deadly peril.The Cottbn Boll Weevil also shows industry in a way disagreeable to man.When this little creature is on the march, alarm enters the offices of the cottonbroker. He peruses with consternation that part of the tape which tells howthe weevil is invading this and that district. If that invasion cannot bestemmed, he knows there will be little or no cotton to market.

There is little of economic importance to man that some insect or other

does not attack. Insects breed and live in alkaline lakes and petroleum wells.There are species that feed on lead cables,. telegraph wires, vinegar, drugs,buildings and books—almost anything you can name. And there is aconsistent frontal attack on man's food. Each crop seems to boast its one

(or more) specific insect, as well as being the prey of the vast hordes thatprefer a mixed fare. From various parts of the apple-tree more than 500 insects

derive sustenance. Man's fight to preserve his food takes many forms, and

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they cost vast amounts of money. Even when the harvest is " safely gatheredin " there are more perils. The granary weevil is among the most destructiveof all insect pests. The insects seriously limit the amount of man's food; hiswell-being depends upon the skill in which the war is conducted against thistiny world. The entomologists engaged in insect-control know how difficultand complex the task is.

Still graver is the problem when the insect is considered as a germ-carrier.Typhus, bubonic plague, hookworm disease, yellow fever, malaria, are onlysome of the dreadful diseases "carried " by the insect. Typhus, carried bythe louse, has ravaged armies and settled wars. Hookworm disease (whichcauses grave debilitation on a huge scale) caused stoppages in the work onthe St. Gothard Tunnel. Yellow fever (mosquito) was responsible forDe Lesseps' tragic failure to construct the Panama Canal. De Lesseps, likeNapoleon, had no word for " impossible " in his dictionary. The mosquitoknew better, and De Lesseps' effort was a calamitous and heart-breakingfailure. Men like Ronald Ross, Manson and the American ArmyCommission went to the little mosquito; they observed her ways and becamewise. The Panama Canal was " achieved " and the Plague Spot of CentralAmerica is today claimed as one of the healthiest places in the world.

(Contributed by Mr. T. H. Elstob)

On February 25, Dr. Rosa Feri (late of Vienna) opened a discussionon Sex Inequality. She paid tribute to the work of the Austrian, MarianneHainisch, who died in Vienna in 1936 at the age of 94. From the year 1875onwards she laboured to give women the possibility- of becoming skilledworkers, and advocated the equal right of women to be employed in everybranch of industry. She founded the first High School for Girls, and securedthe admission of women to Universities. Eventually, in 1919, the SocialDemocratic Government conceded to women the right to vote in electionsfor the City Council, and for Parliament.

Dr. Feri said it was a blemish in any cultured country if women wereleft in an inferior position. Much was heard nowadays of claims for theequality of races, religions and nations, but no one mentions completeequality of the sexes. There should be no limits to this. She put in aspecial plea for the recognition of the value of housewives who weredeprived of advantages enjoyed by other women in industry.

NOTESAttention is called to the notice on page 2 respecting nominations for the

Committee in place of the seven members who are due 4o retire in May. Ofthe seven who retired last year, probably no more than four may offerthemselves for further election, and of the fourteen who remain, four donot find it practicable to attend the monthly meetings. At present these areheld on Sunday afternoons. It is hoped that among members who have notyet served on the Committee there may be some now willing to be nominated.

The Editor of World Digest has paid Professor Flugel the complimentof asking that the summary of his lecture on " Wishful Thinking " whichwe printed in our March issue may be republished in his widely-read andattractive magazine. Permission has been given.

For the enlightenment of those who may be puzzled by the subject ofProfessor Stebbing's discourse on April 19, it should be explained thatMr. Tewler is a character in the recently-published book by Mr. H. G.Wells, entitled " You can't be too careful."

The first Sunday afternoon " At Home " arranged for the joint benefitof Refugees who have attended the Wednesday meetings (now discontinued),

I I

and for members and other friends of South Place, duly took place on

March 15. It was well attended, but it would have been pleasant to see

more British people present. An excellent programme of Chamber music.

including works by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, was provided by Mr. and

Mrs. Berlowicz, their two &Righters and Dr. Boss.

Owing to circumstances beyond our control, publication of a summary

of Professor Catlin's discourse on February 22, entitled, —Three Viewx ot-

Immortality," has had to be postponed.

AN EARLY VICTORIAN DIARYThis article continues the narrative published in January. It covers the

period from April, 1852, to March, 1864. The Diarist was in the early prime

of life. His family of three children increased to nine, and it is significant of

the parents' vigour that the last six children attained 80 years or more.

There is something exhilarating in the story.of the life of this old-Time

member of South Place. Apart from the anxiety involved in occasional

serious illness at home, and deaths in the wider family circle, all went well.

The Diarist's wife in her sphere equalled his own energy and ability. Housing

oonditions continued to be congested. Smallpox still occurred. In the light

of modern precautionary measures, one is ,startled by the episode of the

adolescent son returning by train from a holiday at Brighton sutTering badly

from that complaint. A brother at home was already ill with it. They were

'nursed by their mother and were soon back at theiy work. The Diarist was

immersed in the business of a lace merchant, to which he added agencies for

tea, and for the sale of French oil used for flavouring gin and brandy. A

lot of this oil was sold, and one notes that in May, 1860, Professor Newman

of London University, lecturing as a substitute at South Place Chapel,

condemned the free sale of intoxicating liquors as one of the two great evils

of the age. The other was said to be the seduction of women.

The elder boys were being placed in situations (at very low wages), but

their father was indefatigable in successful efforts to find them better jobs.

Holidays, although still short, were more frequent, and visits to the theatre

more numerous. At Sadlers Wells, close by, the famous Samuel Phelps

offered Shakespeare. Public lectures and concerts were patronized. The

Diarist heard a reading by Charles Dickens.

Occasionally a " britzka " would be hired, in which the family would

drive from Islington to Kew or Hampton Court. Walking was a favourite

pastime, and one reads of a stroll towards Hornsey in the spring of 1862,

when " the country looked beautiful and the grass abundant."

It is recorded that Wellington's funeral on November 18, 1852. was a

" close holiday.- During 1853, rumours of war with Russia depressed the

money market. The Crimean War broke out on March 31. 1854. On

October 3 and 4 of that year nothing was talked of but the capture of

Sebastopol by the French and English, but that fortress did not fall until

September 12, 1855. Wishful thinking was a feature of the public newsservice in those days, too. The Diarist writes that " we arc engaged in a

bloody struggle to resist Russian aggression. We can only hope the struggle

will be favourable to the oppressed throughout Europe. The benefit is that

we have a firm alliance with France."

Fast-days were proclaimed on April 26, 1854, and on March 21, 1855,

presumably to help the war effort. The Diarist was able to take his children

for a walk: There was another fast-day on October 7, 1857, in consequenceof the Indian Mutiny. Our friend was too busy to attend to it. The only

reference to the American Civil War is the excjtement on November 29, 1861,

caused by the action of a Federal warship in stopping a British steamer to

12

remove " two commissioners for the Confederation." Apart from an increase

of taxes in all directions in consequence of the war with Russia, it doesnot

appear that the war caused public inconvenience. There is a note of rioting

on February 27. 1855, by people out of work as the result ol prolonged frost.

However little we moderns may have to congratulate ourselves. upon, the

effect of this type of industrial difficulty, at any rate, has been mitigated.

Throughout this period the Diarist regularly attended the Sunday

morning services at South Place Chapel. Up to April 1ff. 1857. almost all the

lectures were delivered by the Rev. Henry Jerson, who had been elected

minister in succession to the Rev. W. J. Fox. The Diarist recorded short

summaries from which it is possible to get a fairly clear idea of the subject

matter. Dr. Conway has written: " Mr. lerson was a worthy and earnest

man, though reactionary so far as South Place ideas were concerned."

Support for this criticism can be found by scanning a volume of Mr. lerson's

lectures in our Library, entitled " The Divine Kingdom of Nature," but the

Diarist seems always to have taken particular note of Mr. lerson's more

heterodox utterances. There is much about the religion of Nature—" The

light of Nature affords better guidance than Scripture," and again, "There.is

no necessity for a Mediator if we consider our relation to Nature and its

Author "; " We should.pursue happiness by studying Nature "; " Nature says

nothing about depravity or salvation "; " Man was not an exception in

Nature." Compared with current orthodox teaching, Mr. Jerson was in

advance of his time. He treated the Bible as literature, although its subject

matter was his main theme. He believed in progressive religion and in theduty to enquire, and held that to be worthy of the name, religion must be in

harmony with advancing knowledge. Reviewing his teaching for the year

1854, our Diarist quotes Mr. lerson as stating that his object had been to

supply a truer and loftier notion of God and Nature than is to be found inpopular theology; he was not able to find any soundness in the dogmas about

original sin or the Atonement. It may be recalled that during the ministriesof Mr. Jerson and his successor, the great popular preacher of the day was

the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who despite his narrow theology

attracted huge congregations, and commanded enormous publicity. The

heterodox statements from the South Place pulpit cannot have been unrelated

to the views ol this famous evangelist. In a lecture on Sabbath Observance,

Mr. lerson condemned the resistance of the Church to the opening of the

Crystal Palace on Sundays, and invited signatures to a petition in support of

the opening. He devoted several lectures to a debate between the Rev. B.

Grant and Mr. G. J. Holyoake, finding the truth to lie between the two, but

expressing his appreciation of the greater forbearance and good temper

displayed by the famous Freethinker.

One gathers, however, from the diary that there was discord between the

Minister and a section of his membership. He sought to be a member of the

Committee of Management, and after the adverse decision of two General

Meetings he resigned. This was on April 26, 1857. The diary records that

during the next nine months eleven lecturers occupied the platform, and fromthese tho Rev. H. N. Barnett of Bristol was elected as Lecturer for the year

on January 31, 1858. There seems to have been no dearth of candidates

holding, as a rule, progressive views on religion.

On the whole, the Diarist seems to have enjoyed Mr. Barnett's discourses.

is a pity that he gives no picture of the man's personality or style of

preaching, for that term seems to have become increasingly appcopriate. Mr.•Barnett was a " free-lance" Nonconformist. He spoke of the absurdity ofthe doctrine of the infallibility of the Bible. He, too, criticized the doctrine

of the Atonement, which he described as a continuation of an old Jewishteaching of the shedding of blood for the remission of sins which wasopposed to right feeling and common sense. He asserted that the idea of

13

Christ's Messiahship arose from a misinterpretation of scripture. He didnot believe in the physical resurrection. This was relatively strong meat, butMr. Barnett seldom spoke on any but biblical subjects. He looked towardsthe establishment of a Universal Church and deprecated sectarianism,suggesting that there was more liberty in the Church of England than amongdissenting bodies. One detects some want of sympathy with Science. Heappeared to rank Theology with Geology. The year 1859 had seen thepublication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, and at the end of 1860the Diarist notes Mr. Barnett's remark that it was impossible to choosebetween the theory of an origin from an inferior organization, or direct fromthe hands of our Maker. He was emotional about the blessedness ofChristianity, which was very superior to the happiness cultivated by politicaleconomists or secular philosophers, and he was rhapsodical about the moralbeauty of Christ, and the love of God.

Mr. Barnett was enterprising. He edited The South Place Pulpit, inwhich he published his discourses. He deplored the Chapel's lack of success.We know from other sources that the congregation was dwindling. It owedmoney to the Treasurer. Mr. lerson could be heard at a church in Islingtonwhich the Diarist occasionally attended but did not like. Other membersmay have been thus drawn away. Mr. Barnett started Sunday eveningservices, but they were not a success. Weekday evening lectures wereinaugurated. Our Diarist attended the latter but, like many other members,not the former. Then ort June 21, 1863, a General Meeting of Chapelmembers accepted Mr. Barnett's resignation. This is all the Diarist tells us..but despite the definitely religious character of his own and Mr. lerson'slectures over a period of ten years, we know that iMr. Barnett held that SouthPlace Chapel had acquired the reputation of being anything but a religiousinstitution. It was, he alleged, the result of a policy extending over nearlyhalf-a-century. In other words, he put the blame on William Johnson Fox.One has only to study the life and read the well-attended lectures of that greatman to realize that his weaker successors could not prevent the Chapel fromsinking to a lower level of prosperity. It was never so low as when Mr.Barnett sought to provide a remedy by selling the building to the Baptists.Fortunately nothing came of this proposal except the resignation of Mr.Barnett after some very plain speaking on both sides. Again did theMinister protest against the rule which excluded him from the ExecutiveCommittee.

From,Inly 5, 1863, to January 24, 1864, there was a further successionof trial lecturers, among whom was one destined to make history. Here isthe significant record for August 9: " Heard at South Place a Mr. Conwayof Boston (America) give a very original discourse on the new birth ofChrist." On January 31, 1864 (the year of Fox's death), Moncure D.Conway was elected Minister for six months. Thus commenced a happyassociation which was to continue, except for an interval between 1888 and1891, until June, 1897, and once again South Place Chapel became animportant centre of progressive thought.

F. a G.

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVEDTHE LAST YEARS OF A GREAT EDUCATIONIST. By F. H. Hayward, MA.,

D.Sc., D.Litt., and E. M. White, F.R.Hist.S.This is a record of the work and thought of F. J. Gould from 1923 to

1938. By otker hands than his it completes the narrative which in theautobiography The Life Story of a Humanist F. I. Gould brought down tothe year 1923. The present work deals mainly with the three objectives whichoccupied his thoughts and labours during the last fifteen years of his life—Education, Economics and World Unity. Much of the book takes the formof extracts from his letters, and there are accounts of his dealings with14

Rationalism, Positivism, the Ethical Movement, the League of NationsUnion, and the Social Credit Movement. No one should resent the criticalattitude he adopted towards some of the societies concerned.

Those who knew F. J. Gould will find here a faithful record of him,and those who did not will discover a wise and penetrating personality whoseinfluence will increase as the significance of his educational and socialcontribution is more realized.

Copies may be obtained from Miss E. M. White, 87 Norton Road,Wembley, Middlesex. Price 6/- post free. A copy has been presented to theLibrary of South Place Ethical Society.

YOUNG BRITAIN, AWAKE: By Philip S. Green, Chaterson Ltd. I /-.This pamphlet is of particular interest to those who are alive to the great

importance of Youth organizations. It points to the ideal of educationthrough the analysis of each aspect of Youth training, and suggests aworkable framework on which to build a comprehensive national scheme.

WHY I AM A RATIONALIST—Books WhiCh influenced me. Contributions by anumber of eminent Rationalists. Watts & Co. II-.Readers of The Literary Guide will be familiar with the series of articles

on this subject which have been appearing for many months in the monthlyorgan of the Rationalist Press Association. The pamphlet before us bringsthese contributions together and presents them to the reader in a form whichwill assist in the making of many interesting comparisons, and provide a readymeans of reference to a large number of stimulating books.

SCIENCE AND HUMAN PROSPECTS. By Prof. Eliot Blackwelder. Thinker'sForum, No. 19. Watts. 6d.Messrs. Watts & Co. have reprinted from the Bulletin of the Geological

Society of America, Volume 52, the Address of Professor Blackwelder asRetiring President of The Geological Society of America, 1940. This addresswas mainly concerned with the importance of training young people in thescientific way of thinking, and helping them to acquire the scientific spirit.He discusses the real nature of science and points out that the scientificmethod is relatively new. He deplores the fact that in ethics, which is insome respects the most important of all subjects of human inquiry, we havemade no great progress beyond the Greeks of Aristotle's day. Even todaythe study of human conduct is but slowly emerging from its age-long statusas an appendage of religion. The Professor rightly emphasizes that forscience to flourish, there must be complete freedom of inquiry and discussion.The address ends with a consideration of what may be in store for humanityin another epoch—not centuries hence, but probably in tens or even hundredsof thousands of years. Will a new and higher species of the genus Hornoarise? Here is matter of the greatest speculative interest to which a geologistapplies his mind.

HYPATIA BRAnt,Aucti BoNNER—The Story of Her Life. By Arthur Bonnerand Charles Bradlaugh Bonner. Watts. 41- or 6/-, according to cover.The subject of this fascinating biography was born on, March 31, 1858,

and died on August 25, 1935. Charles Bradlaugh died on January 30, 1891.His daughter, Hypatia, was a particularly gifted girl. She was devoted to herfather, and from about her twentieth birthday was closely concerned with hisaffairs. The record of her life thus covers the last thirteen years of the greatLiberal Freethinker. Then for a period of 44 years Hypatia gave herself up

15

to teaching at the Hall of Science, to the work of a business secretarY, literaryenterprises including the famous biography of her father, the editorship of theReformer, lecturing to freethought and other societies, attendance at manyCongresses, political activity, and finally to the duties of a Justice of thePeace. All this was in addition to the domestic life entailed by her completelyhappy marriage in 1884 to Arthur Bonner. The present work is based onmaterial collected by her husband. He did not live to complete the story,and the task was then undertaken by their son Charles, who will beknown as the Secretary of the International Freethought Congress held inLondon in 1938, and as a Director of the R.P.A.

Hypatia suffered from physical disabilities, and it is matter for wonderthat she was nevertheless able to carry such a heavy burden of public work.Unfaltering courage and determination were hers. To read the record of herlife as told with such moving simplicity and affection by her husband and herson is to take a mental tonic. As would be expected, she was speciallyinterested in the National Secular Society and the Rationalist Press Associa-tion, but she was a member of South Place Ethical Society and numbered,among her friends Dr. Moncure D. Conway, and particularly the Rt. Hon.John M. Robertson, M.P. We strongly recommend perusal of this inspiringmemorial to the life of a very noble woman.

THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIES'SUNDAY AFTERNOON " AT HOMES."—It has been arranged for these

to take place in the Library on the third Sunday in each month from3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. until further notice. The next will be on April 19when Mr. F. G. Gould will exhibit a selection of Spring Flowers andtalk about them. Members of the Society and those Refugees whohave been accustomed to attend the Wednesday afternoon gatherings(now discontinued) are invited to attend. Tea will be served at 4 p.m.British people and those who are not refugees, are asked to pay 6d.

Hon. Sec.: Mrs. L. D. BATI ERSHY, 3 Vale Court, Mallord Street,Chelsea, S.W.3.

BOOKSTALL.—Attention is called to the selection of books and pamphletsoffered for sale in the vestibule on Sunday mornings.

LIBRARY.—This is open on Sunday mornings. It is free to members andassociates.

Librarian: Mrs T. LINDSAY.

New Member

Mr. C. BRADLALKIH BONNER, 23 Streathbourne Road, S.W.I7.

New AssociateMiss V. SEURDENS, 17 The Greenway, Ickenham,, Middlesex.

Death

Miss ALICE Lucy SMITH, on February 23, 1942.

Changes of AddressMiss E. J. ARNOLD, Beacon Hill, Kippford, by Dalbeattie.Miss M. HILLIARD, Tremadoc, Smoke Lane, Reigate.Mrs. M. MIENS, White Gates, Oak Walk, Hockley, Essex.Mr. C. S. NEWSOM, The Jungle, Shorton Wood, Paignton,Mrs. F. S. TAR. 449 Winchester Road, Southampton.

FARILVIGH PRESS LTD. (T.U.), Reechwood Works, Reechwood Rise, Watford, Herta.