Non·Members oan obtain this publlcatJon from the Hon. Seoretary, post free 2/· per annum

SEPTEMBER, 1926.

Cb~ montblp R~cOrd of

Soutb Plac~ €tbical South Place, Moorgate, E.C.2

ObJect of tbe Society •

.. The Object of the Society is the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment, the study of ethical principles, and the promotion of human welfare, in harmony with advancing knowledge. "

MBMBBRSHIV. Any person in sympathy with the Object of the Society is cordially invited to becom ••

a. member. Too .amount of subsoription is optional, with a minimum of 28. Gd. peT (f".lnrter, or 108 per annum Any ppl"coon inwrc.stN! in +hp Societ~,Js work but not wishing to beeoDlb a member, may join n.s an ASSOOUTE, tbe minirrum !lllbseription ooing 58. per nnnum. Furtber pnrticulara may be obt.ined in the Library before and nfter tho Sundl1Y ""moo, or on appliootion to the Hon. Registrar, Miss R. HALI.S. South PLnce Institute, Fin,bury, E.O.2.

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICES. The following DISCOURSES will be delivered on SundaY' mornin~s,

Service beginning at ELEVEN O'CLOCK.

September 5.-S. K. RATCLIFFE. -The ReJ1glon of Bernard Shaw. Qunrtet. nark the fnith in days of yore Solo (S.). If I wc re " voi"" (No. 127)

{No. 5. Britain's fiNt pO<'t.

Hym.n.a No. 141. 0 star of strength I I see thee stand.

Flower TrouRRellp

September 12.- Dr BERNARD HOLLANDER.- The Supernatural Beliets.

Origin and History of Mans'

Quo.rtet. •. Make U$ n. god," stud man (No. 2(14) ... Solo (B.). Truth is not dumb (No. 191)... . '"

Hymn. {NO. 1. Be true try every inmost thought. No. 79. Tell m. not in mournful number ...

September 19.-C. DELISLE BURNS, M.A., D Llt. - What I Trio (S.O.B.). H3St thon wand('rcd in the forest Quartet. How 10v.·Ly is th<, world around

Hymn. {NO. ·:12. All around us, fl1ir with flower •. No. 92. 0 beautifuL, my oountry I

saw in Bavarja.

Collet Sclll/bert

001D('n Spollr

September 26. - C. DELISLE BURNS, M.A .• D.Llt. - UnempLOyment a.nd Europe's Fo'ly oLo (0.). 0 my hoon is weary. .. Goring TllomoH

Quintet. 0 work for thc good of Immunity ... Tllo",p ffym.n.a {No. SS. \York I it i. thy highest mi'Bion.

Xo. 210. Who is thy n"ighhollr?

d. Hymn Practice. to whicll all person. deRirolUl of improving tlte lIymn smging arP 'n.ited, is Iwld at the cloBe of each Service.

Organist: H. llITn WEDSn:R, 59, Loraine Road, N.i.

VisitOrs arc invited to obtain information regard'ng tJle Soo;£ty in the Librarll on Sunday morninUB.

d. Colleotion i. made at each Service, to mabZI- tllos6 presen' 10 contribute 10 llip expenses of tll6 Society.

Cyclists desiring to attend the Services arc informed that the Committee have made arrangements for hOWling their maohines in the basement.

The Building Is to be let lor Me.tln~s, etc. Application may be mude to the Caretaker 1%, Soutb Place, E.C.2. or to Mr. N. Lldstone, 96, Blnckstock I{oad, Flnsbury Park. N.4.

The Chapel Is licensed lor Marriages. Arrung.ments coo be made tor Funera Services on application to tbe Secretary.

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Lending Library. The Lending Library is open free- to Members of the Society on Snnday mornings

b~for<> and oftcr the Servl<>e. A 6sociak.s and Non·Mem hers of th" Society m"y under oertain oondition·s be granted the U<8e of the Library upon payment of a 6ubsoription of 28. 6d. per annUln. The Catalogue, including <cv ral supplements, is on sale, prioo 6d. A. written Catalogue, oontaining up·to-date additions, is avni]ablo for the refercn<>e of borrower.. Subeoriptions toward. the purchase and repair of books are invited.

{ WULlS M'NsPoRn, "The Outlook." KiiDg,cnd Av., Rmislip, Middle ... ".

Bon IAbrarians F. JAMES, 802, Da.1ston Lane, Hnokn.y, E.8. MISS V. A . .A.L&xANDEB., 5, Hopefield Av., BrondeBbury Pk., N.W.6.

Treasurer... ... MRS. SrEVENS, 1470., Olapton Oommon, E.S.

League of Nations Union Branch. Particular. of the next Publio Meeting, which wtJl be held about the middle of

October, will be announocd shortly. loJIy one wishing to become .. member of this Branoh i.s requested to "pply to

Hm. Seoretary, H&LEN M. FAmlULL, 8, 8carborough Rood, Straud Green, N.4.

SUnday Popular eoneertll (C!bamb.r Mu.le). The FORTY·FIRST SEASON will begin on SUNDAY, OOTOBER S, with the 98lat

Oonoert. Door. open at 6.10, commenoo .. t 6.S0 p.m. Admission Free, with Oollection. October S.-STRING QUARTET: Mi .... Jesoie Grim.on, Mr. Charl .... WoodilOuse, Mi.as

Mary Stcw .. rt, Mr. B. Patterson Pa.rker. Pianoforte: Mr •. Ethel Hobdny. J.'ooali8t: Pfit,nor'. Piano Quintet'; Dvomk'~ String Qunrtet in E fLa.t.

The l,OOOth Oonoort will taloo place on February 20. when a Special Programme wiU be given ·and many Artists .. 8800iated with the Oonoerts will appear.

Trausferablc Re8erved Seat Ticket., 5.. each for Whole Seruron from October 3 to M<arch 27, 1927, and including admi.asion to the 1,000th Ooneert, will be ready on September 19; Progrn.m.me Subscriptwn 58. extra. Applic .. tion should be made to the Hon. Treasurer of the Oon<>crts, F. A. HAWKINS, IS, Thurlow Park Road, S.E.21, accompanied by Te.rr.ittanoo a.nd stamped addr,,".ed envelope, and a sto.mpcd postcard if an acknowledgment is required before the ticuts are sent. Tiokets will also bol on sale at SOUTlI PLACE INSTITUTE on Sunday mornings, September 19 and 26, and on tbe latter date from , to 9 p.w.

Hon. Trea,.: FRAmt A. HAWXINS, 13, Thurlo ... Park Road, S.E.21. HOn, S,e.: Ar.nu 1, ~lIElmJ, 8, Finobley IV .. ,., N.S. H Aut 8IIu' {Mrs. D. M. Cull2mS, 8, Finoble,- W .. ,., N.S.

OIl. • •• W. 8. M1cADlI01l.B, 64, Lowndes Squu.., Xaighhbrid~, S.W.l.

Rambles. Sunday, Sep'ember 5th.-Xew Gardens . Oonducte<l by Mr. NXLlu:s. Train Broad

!treet 12.60 p.m. Cheap return, 9d. Bring luncb.

SUnday, September 12th.-Hayell to Orp!ngton, Conducted by Mr. F. M. OVERY. London Bridge.!. 7 p.m. Oheap return to RayeH, lB. 7d.

Saturday, Sep~ember lSth. - Federation of Rambling Clubs JoInt Outing to Brickett Wood. Take return tickets, 21 .. from Broad Str.et to Radictt returning from Watford. Leader, Mr. HEARD. Tea at Gray.. Ticket., lB. 6d ., from Secretaries beforehand.

Saturday September 25th,- Epsom Downs, I Bur&h Heath, and Headley. Con. dl1cted by Mr. F. M. OVltRY. Take 2.12 return, Victoria to Epsom Down., h, 6d.

Annual Reun.on Soiree, The Annoal Reunion Soir~e will be held on Sunday, SeptembeJ' 26, 1926, 6 p.m.-

9.30 p.m. , to meet membe,.., .. nd friends of the London Etbica.l Societies, the Ethioal Olturoh, the Positivist Sooiety, "-'1d the Rationalist Pre.. AMociation. Mr. JOlIN MURPllY will preside, and Dr. O. DELIsr.E BURNS, Dr. ST.moN ColT, and Mr. R. DnrSDUJ! StOCKER will _peak on "The Ethico.J Mowment in English Life." Song.s by Miss JOAN SHEPPAnD. At the Piano, MAURICB BLOWER.

Monthly Play .. Readlng. The IIrst monthly play·rea.dlng will be he ld in the library on Wednemy, Septem.

ber 22, at 6.30 p.lD. , when portioIL& of llernard Shaw'. "Man "-'1d Superman" will be road. The readmg w;~1 be pre<>eded by ilea, from 5.30 onward6. All membel\S of tIle Society, whether taking part in the reading or not, are invited to attend.

Monthly Dance. The fir9ft cJanoo of the sea.son will be held on Wednesday. September 29, a.t the AsII .

burton Hail, 28, Red Lion Squa.re, W.0.1, fro", 7 to 11 p.D>. Tiokeos, Ss. each. including refresh.ments, m.n.y be. obtained in the Library, or from

MRS. SuTCLIFFE, If Brn.mhletye/ ' Nightingale Road, Rickmnnswortll .

South Vlace ~rehe8tra. Conductor: RICHARD H. WALTHEW.

Memberahlp.-Tbo support of former members and the aooosaion of ne ... onos, are desired in order that the improvement of l"",t .... son may not only be mamtained but e&\ended.

8nbseription.-lOs. for caab half season. ~n;r further pa.rti()Ular.s may be had from too Hon. Seereta.ry,

F. W. CANNING, 63, Kingshal! Road, Beckenhll.lH.

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eODWay Memorial Lecturell. The Conwny MemoriAl Lectures, whioh are delivered annually in M,!"oh, ~ere inaugu.

rated in 1908, as a Men:.orial to Dr. Moncure D. Oonw .. y. The Commlttee ,. not let m pos ..... ion of the neoessary co.pital tor the permanent endowment of th& LectureshIp, nnd in th~ meantime it makes an earnest appeal to nll r eader ... of the MONTUl.Y RECORD either Cor subscriptions or donations, to ensure the oontinunnoe of the 1ectores. Those shoald be scnt to the Hon. Treasurer, MM. OoCKDU1lN, P&rJlden.iya, 18, Northn.mpton Road, Oroydon.

Seventeen lectures hn.Te boon given, and oapies oC thl>ge can be purchnsOO .. t the book .tall.

H 8 ••. 8 { ERms-r OAUII-, .. Lyndnli," Easendou Road, Sanderstend, Surrey. on. orB_ne Mrs. C. FLETcnall- SMYTlI, 35, StJltion Way, Letohworth.

The GENERAL OoHMrTTE£ will meet on Wednesd .. y, September 1. Correspondence dCJIling ,.ith matters for oonlJidcration should be forwa.rdod to F. M. OVEny, Hon. Sec., 36, Oa.terha.m Roa.d, Lewi.hn.m, S.E.13, at the earliest possible moment. All matters rel .. ting to financ& should be addreBsed to the Treasul'er.

Seoretnrw. of &ub·oommitteeos .are reqnested to note tba.t 8.Oy matter whioh th&y wish to insert in the MONrnLr REcollJ) should be in the h8.Ods of Mr . F. W. RUD not la>ter thn.n 15th of the 1T.onth. All literary matter should be forwarded to the Editor, Mr. O. J. POLLARD, as ea.rly in the month as poasible.

EDITORIAL. ANNUAL REUNION SOIREE.-The Jubilee celebration of the foundation

of the Ethical Movement in America was held in June last at the Ethical Church, Bayswater. The sentiments aroused by this celebration naturally extended lO the progress of the ethical movement in England, and this aspect of our general history will be further developed at the Annual Reunion Soiree in South Place on Sunday, September 26, when Dr. C. Delisle Burns, Dr. Stanton Coit, Mr. R . Dimsdale Stocker, and Mr. John Murphy (Chairman) will speak on "The Ethical Movement in English Life," and the musical part of the evening will be songs by Miss Joan Sheppard. As is well known, these September Soirees are organised for the purpose of bringing together the members and friends of S~uth Place Ethical Society, the London Ethical Societies, the Positivist Society, and the Rationalist Press Association, and we have no doubt that the forth. coming meeting will attract a . large attendance, as the basic object of these gatherings is eminently worthy of support, and the particular subject c.f the speeches is one that will appeal to all who are interested in the welfare of Ethical Societies.

INTERNATIONAL MORAL EDUCATION CONGRESs.-The object of this very valuable organisation is " to enlist the active co.operation of all, irrespec. tive of race, nation, and creed, in promoting the work of Moral Education." The Congress (the fourth) this year will take place at Rome, on September 28--0ctober 2. It has the support of H.M . King Vittorio E.manuell Ill., H. E . Benito Mussolini, the Prime Minister, H. E. Pietro Fedell, the Minister of Education, and the co·operation of the Italian Government. The Congress will be addressed on the following subjects:

(1) The possibility of a universal code as a basis for education. (2) Personality: the means for its development in the family, in

schools, and in human society.

The contributors of these papers are arawn from various countries of the world, and among those known to us are Felix Adler (U.S.A.), Abdullah Yusuf Ali (India), F. J. Gould, Gustav Spiller (England), and among other papers promised is one by Rabindranath Tagore. Members of South Place will be pleased to know that D . Christie Tait has been elected to the Council membership of the Congress for the seat of .the League of Nations.

SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR 1926·1927.-The attention of members is drawn to some slight differences in the social arrangements announced from those of last vear.

Dances will co·ntinue to be held monthly throughout the winter at the Ashburton Hall, Red Lion Square, but on the last Wednesday of each month instead of on Fridays as last year.

The play. readings, which were held weekly last year, will, for the pre ent, take place once a month only, and will be preceded by a tea.

The monthly soiree,; will take place, as before, on the second ThurSday

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in each month, beginning with October 14, when Mr. Herbert Mansford will show and explain some interesting photographic slides.

R.P.A. WHIST DRIvE.-The Rationalist Press Association is arranging a Whist Drive for Saturday, October 2, at 6.45 p.m. Ticket~, including refreshments, 2s. 6d., are obtainable from Mr. Charles T . Gorham, 4/6, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, E.C.4.

ETHICAL UNION CONFERENCE. The conference at High Leigh, near Hoddesdon, was a complete suc­

cess. The 34 membErS comprised representatives from various Ethical Societies, and a few kindred spirits who, it is to be hoped, will now occaslOnally attend local ethical gatherings and may eventually join the movement. High Leigh was for half a century the home of Mr. and Mrs Robert r~rclay, and arrangements were made by their children by which the mansion became available for conferences and similar gathering;, The estate is magnificently timbered, undulating, and on gravel soil. The gardens were laid out about 70 years since by Sir Joseph T'axton and the effects at which he aimed are now matured. On Sunday the conferen<:e was enlarged by a walking party of the Forest Ethical group, and a united service held after tea in the open air . Addresses given at various times by Profes.or Soddy, Mr. Dimsdale Stocker, and Mr. F. J. Gould proved fruitful of discussion. Sunday evening was principally devoted to read-ings of poetry. F . H . M

WA LT WHITMAN. WaIt Wbitman has just been raised ~o the rank of English Man of

LetterS'. If he had been asked a question relative to inclusion in tbis category, be would probably have scouted the i.dea that he, the bard and prophet of <the new world of democracy, sboul~ be classed with writers steeped in the old world traditions of feudalism and aristocracy. And it is improbable that the original editor of the English Men of Letters series woulc1 have accorded him ~llch a sta1us. John Morley has recorded that when he visited America in 1868, he had several talks with Whitman, but was not persuaded that "Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes, and their school had none of the real secrets of life and na1ure to tell, and that the future masters of song and imaginative ·truth must at once begin afresh alike in thought and form. I was more than content to stop at Emerson, and I was not any less content as years passed." It is notewor,thy that Haw­thorne was the only American writer in the first series, and no American was included in the second. The third, which has just been inaugurated under the editorship of Mr. J. C. Squire, opens with Herman Melvil1e, and Wbitman, is to be followed by Edgar Allan Poe, but there is no mention of Emerson, who might surely have been ,thought worthy of in­clusion long ago.

Whitman met with very scant appreciation in his native country for many years; the recognition which he received from men of his own craft came mainly from England. He enjoyed some popularity in certain democra:tic circles here in those early years, but it can hardly have been very widespread. For the biography of Mr. Bliss Perry, which appeared in 1906, preceded a short ·time before by a similar work by Mr. Bryan Binns, found its way, along with the latter, to the remainder market. Mr. Binns was a Whitmanian (some might write Whitmaniac) of 1he type of the whole-hearted devotee, who saw Whitman as one of the greatest men of all time, very closely akin to Jesus of Nazareth . Mr. Perry, on the other hand, was a d~ached and critical admirer, not wanting. however, in a large measure of cordial appreciation. His book was a skilful piece of literary work, and brought a mass of information together relative to his subjeot for the first time. Moreover, it is an interesting book 10 read, and as a record of fact is not likely to be super-eded. Mr. John Bailey, who is the author of the latest book, deals only wi1h the life of Whitman in an introductory chapter; the greater part of- his book consists of a literary appreciation. He throws no light rn the my.tery which envelopesWh 't­man's ~tatement in old age to John Addington Symonds that he was the

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fatber of six cbildren; apparently no evidence is obtainable. Tbe most diligeni enquiries have failed to elicit any confirmation of tbe old man's assertion, and we are faced with the alternative of accepting the Siate. ment because Whitman made it, or of assuming that the utterances of a man who was accustomed to rhapsodise in forms of personal experience may have become confused when it was e5sential to separate fact from imagination. In this lalter event, the six children are to be regarded as a poetic fiction wbich has somehow failed to find its proper setting in Leaves of Grass:

Sir Edmund Gosse has remarked that the reader of Whitman must be infatuated, or he has nOihing to say to him. He also observes tbat it i possible to be thrilled by him to-day and disgusted to·morrow. Tbis is only to say that occasionally he rises to sublimity; his normal level is pedestrian; much too frequently it is quite imbecile. It is in .the mood of infatuation tbat Mr. Bailey declares that Wbitman's claim to a place among English Men of Letters is founded on Leaves ot Grass, although it is to be observed that the note of blame is much more frequent tban tbat of praise when he comes to the pJ;ocess of detailE'd examination and copi. ous quotation. He devotes much space to the question of vVhitman's form --or absence of form. On the side of deliberate intention, he no doubt correctly concludes that there was the wish to do something different from tbe recognised standards of verse, and so far as the content is concerned, the poet continued the journalist's method of putting down facts and names. He does not suggest that the absence of metre is due to sheer mental laziness, whicb explanation ha5 much to support it. He rightly submits that any innovation is to be judged by its result, and in Whitman's case he argues that he obtained effects which were quite original and unique, although he is constrained to agree that the method not infrequently fails and repels, especially in tbe han,ds of imitators. As a writer of English, he is compelled to admit that Whitman was ignorant of his native tongue.

The remarks of Mr. Bailey on Whitman's religion or philosophy-the terms are interchangeable-are similar to those of many previous commen tators. It was a mood; if the reader can persuade himself that he shares it, he under~tands as much of it as can be expressed in words, but it absolutely defies defini·tion. You are not to be an,!,ious about God, you are to think yourself immortal, nay, if you attain to the stature of 'Vhit. man you will think that you have always existed, you are 10 regard pismires and dung beetles as equal in beauty with the stars, and ,to feel that it is just as lucky to die as {o be born . This latter thought appears first in Whitman's notebook of 1847, not as trutb, but as beauty:

Have you supposed it beautiful to be born? I tell you it is just as beautiful to die; For I take my death with ~he dying And my birth with the new-born babe.

The assumption that an experience is beautiful because everyone passes through it needs not to be demonstrated as a fallacy. Tbe declaration wbich follows:

I am the poet of sin For I do not believe in sin,

is simply an example of the verbalism which often took possession of Whit­man's mind.

Mr. Bailey says that Whitman learned nothing all his life, except from the Civil War. It is certainly true that the struggle left an in­effaceable mark upon him in body and mind. His native patriotism was deepened and strengthened, and his kinship with !Jis fellows was hallowed by a peculiarly keen sympathy with their sufferings. As has of.ten been pointed out, he was not an abolitionist, the sentiment which moved him was that of 10yaHy to ·the Union. Most readers would regard that part of his work which is concerned with the war as the most valuable; some may, indeed, think that when the novelty of formlessness and the note of impropriety in the earlier work have become familiar there i'j. little left that will be remembered, although Mr. Bailey rightly claims the Song ot Myself as an astonishing expression of vital energy. But the homely touches and intimate impressions of war scenes and experiences possess

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an interest which belongs to <the fundamental side of life, and makes them real literature, while the poignant inspiration of Lincoln's assassination in the hour of triumph, lifted Whitman's utterance to a height which, if only for an hour, made him a great poet.

When Mr. Bailey oommenced his book he did not apparently intend to say anything of Whitman's prose writing, but at the close, as a sort of afterthought, he adds a few words in praise of Spuimen Days, which Mr. Bliss Perry urged has never won an audience comparable with irts deserts. It is the very best kind of journalism, in that it envisages the thing seen quite clearly and simply, and conveys to the reader the exact impression which he ought to receive. The vignettes of war sights in Washington streets and hospitals are peculiarly vivip, ,they are fully entitled to rank with the pictures in Leaves of Crass, and are perhaps the sotronger for having been written down in unpremeditated mood.

Whitman, says Mr. Bailey, is the" genius of America," and" one of the sincerest, healthiest ~nd, except Mazzini, perhaps even the loftiest, of all the voices of democracy," and the statements of his creed are said to be expressed in Democratic Vistas and in the preface to Leaves of Crass. You may read Mazzini now that the fire of his aspiration has well-nigh become a heap of ashes, and can hardly fail to be moved by the splendour of his diotion and the elevation of his thought, but it is possible to read Whitman and to be chiefly reminded of Mr. J efferson Brick and not in­frequently to be aware of traversing large tracts of unconscious humour. Nothing in Martin Chuulewit is so comic as some of Whitman's serious utterances. What did he mean by this passage from the preface of the first edition of Leaves of Crass:

There will soon be no more priest~. Th~ir work is done. A new order shall arise, and they shall be the priests of man, and every man shall be his own priest. They shall find their inspiration in real objects to-day, symptoms of the past and future. They shall not deign to defend immortality or God, or the perfection of things, or liberty, or the exquisite beauty and reality of the soul. They shall arise in America, and be responded to from the remainder of the earth.

Probably he did not mean anything. It was the kind of thing which Mr. Jefferson Brick and Ithe editor of the New York "Rowdy Journal" thought the American public liked to read. At any rate, the priests who were to come from the vasty deep of democracy did not arise. But Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and Mrs. Eddy did, followed by the Rev. William Sunday, ~he late W. J. Bryan, and Senator Borah. Our prophet concedes that much quackery teems even on democracy's side, and proceeds to demonstrate the fact:

To work in, if we may so term iJt, and justi.fy God, his divine aggre­gate, the People (or, the veritable horn'd and sharp-tail'd Devil, Ms aggregate, if ,there be who conclusively insist upon it)-this, I say, is what democracy is for; and this is what our America means, and is doing-may I not say say, has done?

If democracy means working for God or the devil, or for both, government and anarchy mean the same thing. There is here no expres­sion of thought, but only of a species of verbal delirium.

The original series of English Men of Letters, dealing wit:h Milton and Keats and SheIley and the princes of literature, used to cost th' purchaser one shilling and elevenpence; this book on the poet of demo" cracy costs five shillings. .

Is there not something wrong about democracy? A. S. TOMS .

CORRESPONDENCE Res-Po"/j,j/it., t",. tT,e o'linjo'l1 exp,.essed urlder tlli, "ulai", rutl Itllel.,

witll tile ."".Iote,.,. To th~ Editor of THE MONTHLY RECORD.

SUNDAYS IN CHURCHES. DEAR SIR,-In his article in the June number of the MONTHLY RECORD

Mr. Toms calls attention to the startling cbanges 1aking place inside tb<> churches to-day.

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Generally speaking, the utterances from the pulpits do not just appeal to Free Thinkers only. Moreover, in his specific instance, a Communist out for Class War, and on Industrial Sunday to boot, would have found them to his liking, too. Possibly occasional visitors to these interesting institutions, no ma'lter what school of thought they favour, might hail the occupant of the pulpit as a recent convert to th~ir particular brand of isms.

To give an instance. The notice board of a highly orthodox church in the City poin'led the meaning of Ascension Day in the following terms: "It meant the Sending of the Holy Spirit to be your guide and to be at your side." An ardent Spiritualist would, of course, have intet. preted this dictum in his sense alone.

At another 'place of worship near Holborn the reverend gentleman, who last year opposed the Christian vie~ of the Immortality of the Soul to that of Spiritualism, judged by his recent utterances, would have become: a convert to their interpretation. Not only that, he confessed to some grave scepticism regarding the miracles of the Church. This, again, would have been hailed, with delight, by any chance visitor of the materialistic pe •. suasion, or perhaps reconciled the latter to the Church.

A person the other day frankly admitted that he was able to reconcile Genesis-not all of it-with geological strata. "God's scrap album." "Ear,th, plant, fish, reptile, bird, animal, man-it is all there, and where is it on record that the day of creation was only a period of twenty.four hours?" As to Spiritualism, he accepted it. "Bl!t what good will it do 10 anybody being foretold his or his friends' impending misfortunes or even demise?" Such cases had come to his knowledge. Like the Initiates of old, they are all too conscious of ,the limitations and imperfections of their own knowledge, and aared not tell their people all they knew, with their fears and their own doubts. Asked ior more, they would have to make up from their own minds, as some of the mediums now do, or admit theh ignorance. Besides, people are not looking !or this when ~hey go la church, and he cannot swim against the stream or defy the ruling of his hierarchy. Science has erred too long and too often, and takes a lot fOT granted, so Reli.gion has learned to doubt it, aI!,d both grew suspicious of each other. When scientists admit the incOJinpleteness of their theories as an explanation of the Universe, and accept what is good in Religion, clergymen will welcome science in 1heir churches. When the Church com­mences to discuss Psychology and Evolution scientists will become re. ligious, because Religion becomes scientific.

Thus Sir Oliver Lodge, in his recent book, states: "There is no essential opposition between Creation and Evolution and there is no reasonable douM that Evolution represents the method of Creation." How­ever, Evolution---change or progress-teaching the descent of all existing species of animals and plants from simple forms-is necessarily incom. plete, unless one presupposes the changing of living things from inor­ganic matter-say, a lump of clay. So it does not explain the Cosmo and can never be a religion. The principle of Life must have preceded Life, and we can very well conceive God as an Element in the Universe, pervading every part of it, as the expression of a higher intelligence. As a counterpart we can realise the existence of a Force, which conveys thought and impressions from a distance to human beings, without the means of our senses. Call it Bioplasm or Soul Material, if you like.

Unfortunately Mr. Henry Fletcher, in his recent article: "Beauty and Truth: Some Misconceptions," has not given us much of a lead. In his Su~ary he rejects e~eryt?ing, even your c~1t of a rational reli~ious sentIment, as one of ,the objects of your Society. He seems to admit the immortali1y of the Soul, a sum total of surviving cells. From this to the admission of a Soul religion is still a long cry. However, with the changed attitude of the clergy and the undoubted purification of Christian ideals, we might do worse thnn re·enter the Church occasionally-and then admit in our discussions that there is plenty of room for improvement in our own Bethel.

At a time when the Anglicans and Roman Catholics endeavour to find common grounds on which to effect a re-union-when Liberal Judaism is

8

IUclined 10 reconcile itself to the Christian Idea of the Messiah and to tbe abolition of the Sabbath, it shou ld not prove impossible to find an all­embracing religion.

Everything points to the fact of a common source of all existing re­ligions with their ch~ra.cteristics as the virgin birth, incarnation and the triune nature of God.

The Darwinian theory of evolution is anticipated both in the Hindu book of Mantou and its probable contemporary recorli of Genesis.

The former polytheistic character of God as shown in the crude mythologies and primitive religions is also vaguely pointed out in the 6th cbapler of Genesis.

The Hebraic-Christian traditions,' with their catastrophal dramas­without ignoring the claims of the Greek and Roma,:, classics-have in ­spired poets, composers, painters and sculpto.!s of all ages for their greatest works.

Why, then, in accordance with mysterious laws that govern all great human thoughts and actions, should it not be feasible, on an evolutionary basis, for a universal creed, on a higher plane, to re-unite the human race in the end?

Apart from the Idea of Redemption and Salvati.on, Christian ethics of self-effacement and altruism, rather practised in the breach than in the observance at present-as against classic assertiveness and egotism-have stood the test of time, when religions and philosophies, following or pre­ceding, have come and gone.

This is the view, as expressed by Mr. Toms, and incidentally al'lO that of

Yours and his respectfully, C. DYRENFORTH.

nE)NEHl7\RY E)FFH!ERS.

Trea8uror ... • .. C. E. LISTER, 21, Abbolt,s P"rk Road, Lcyton, E.lO.

{MRS. 0". FL"E'rCREtt 8MITH. 35, St~tion Way. Letehwortb,

!:iecretaries ... F. M. OVERY, 36, Cater ham ]toari . Lewisham. S.B.13 . Sunday Leoture Secretary F. W. READ, 65, Harl ey Rood, Harlesden, N.W.IO. Minute S.r.retury ... Miss V. A. ALE:tANDBR, 5, Hopefleld Avenue, Brondesbury

Park, N.W.G.

Re(fiHtr~r Of Members and} 1I1i.8 R HALLS 21 Bstcourt Road Fulbam S W 6 ASROclates .., ' " . ..

Editor of MONTHLY RECORD O. J. POtLARD, .. Sh .. nklin," Tb. A..eDU •• Cbmll'ford, E .• .

Librarians Middlesex. {

w ALLIS MANBFORD," Tbe Outlook," ICingsend Avenue. Ruislip

... F. JUIE., 302, Dalston Lane, Haokru!y, E.S.

Changes of Address:

Miss V. A. r\r.EXANDER, 5, HopeflcLd Avenue, Brondesbury Pllrk, N.W.6.

Mr. W . H. BOWLEB, 77, Rinll'stx>nod Rond, Cntford, S.E.6. Mr. GEOltOE FREEMAN, 20, Wtllesden Lone, N.W.6. Mrs. ELL., WYATT, The Chalet, GJOAlys Rond, Hove. Mr. nnd Mrs. P. ST. ,lollN DIXON, % Th08. C. Tucker, Box 215, G,lato., Constanti-

nople, Turkey.

Death. On June 2.1rd. 1926, Mr. H1':RDER1' A. HAWKINS, of Chcsham, Bucks.

OI"RV FC!'R SEPTEMBER.

I Gen. Committee meets 6.30 p.m. 5 Service II.O a.m. 5 Ramble: Kew Gardens

19 Service rI.oam 22 Play Reading 6.30 a.m·

(see page 2) . 12 Service lI.O a.m. 12 Ramble: Hayes to Or-

pington (see page 2). IS Federation of Rambling

Clubs Joint Outing to BrickeU Wood (see p. 2)

25 Ramble: Epsom Downs (see page 2).

26 Service 26 4\nnual ReuII ion Soiree 29 Dance

!l.o a.m. 6.0 p.m, 7.0 p.m.

Prated &nc PnbUeW by Tu UTOPU PR&I!IB LTD. 44. Wor.bip 1!In-t 1I.0.S.