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

(Chancery 8032)

THE

MONTHLY RECORDSEPTEMBER, 1912

SUNDAY MORNINGS AT ELEVEN

September 6.—PROFESSOR G. W. KEETON, M.A., LL.D.—The Beginningof the Fourth Year.

Pianoforte Solo: Prelude in D flat .. .. Chopin

MISS ELLA IVIMEY

Hymns: Nos. 7 and 10 (tune 207)

September .13.—C. H. DESCH, D.Sc., F.R.S.—Science and Humanism.Bass Solos: Myself when young .. Liza Lehmann

Linden Lea .. .. A. Vaughan Williams

MR. C. C. DOWMAN

Hymns: Nos. 101 (tune 17) and 118 (tune 1)

September 20.—PROFESSOR G. E. G. CATLIN, M.A., Ph.D.—Friendship.

Pianoforte Solo: Ballade in C minor

Intermezzo in E flat. Brahms

MISS ELLA IVIMLY

Hymns: Nos. 33 (tune 65) and 20

September 27.—C. E. M. JOAD, M.A., D. Lit. —The Educational Ferment.

Bass Solos: Merrow Down

Of all the tribe of Tegumai 1Edward German

MR. C. C. DOWMAN

Hymns: Nos. 112 and 41

Pianist: MISS ELLA IVIMEY

• ADMISSION FREE

A collection is made at each Meeting to enable those present to contribute to the Society's expenses. OFFICIAL CAR PARK—Opposite Main Entrance.

There are PUBLIC AIR-RAID SHELTERS in Red Lion Square.

ON THE PREMATURE INDOCTRINATION OF CHILDREN"Give me a child until he is seven, and I care not who has hint after-

wards." This saying, usually attributed to the Jesuits, expresses theaspiration of nearly every zealous reformer, whether in religion or inpolitics. "Catch them young " is the almost universal ambition. There are,of course, differences of detail. The doctrines of Karl Marx, for example.are not readily assimilable by children under seven, and communists maytherefore consider the second or third septennium more important than thefirst. But apart from differences of this kind, reformers have usually agreedin thinking it desirable to enrol young people as pledged adherents of theirvarious causes before they have had time or opportunity to think for thcm-selves, or discover what may be said on the other side. Ihey agree, in short.that people are not likely to bc " right thinking ' unless they are preventedfrom thinking independently, and that the best way of achieving this endis to indoctrinate as early as possible.

As in other matters, this is a habit whose evil results are most ecottlyseen when it is practised by others. Mussolini, for example, begins themanufacture of Fascists at the tender age of eight. They are instructedin the doctrines of the Fascist State, and trained to be its obedient servants.English socialists are very properly indignant at this exploltation or children.But what about those who send their children to sociatiot Sunday Schools?Are they sure that they are entitled to their indignatioa? If thin 1.904:11C:

results- from a determination to make socialists of their effildrea, Cleo theydiffer from Mussolini only in degree and effectiveness.

The yoot of the matter is that both Socialism and Fascism rue contro-versial issues, and the view I wish to advocate is that over issues of thiskind parents and educators have the duty of protecting children againstpremature indoctrination. By indoctrination I mean the deliberate attemptto cause the children to hold a particular opinion by stressing the argumentsin its favour, and concealing or soft-pedalling the arguments on the otherside. And I think one ought to regard any of one's opinions as controversial.however sincerely and firmly it may bc held, if there are sensible and well-informed people holding the contrary view. A candid person can usuallydecide without difficulty whether an opinion is controversial in this sense.

Not only is there a tendency to indoctrinate; there is also a tendency toenrol childreo, and get thcm to declare that they believe this or adhere tothat. I wish to protest agailist both these tendencies.

My first reason is that it is manifestly unfair to ask a person to declarehis allegiance to a cause unless he has had ample opportunity of realizing thefull implications of what he is doing, and this plainly involves some realknowledge of the other side. In view of the inevitable limitations of achild's knowledge and experience, and the degree to which he is necessarilyat the mercy of his elders, it is plain that he will not be given access to thisfull knowledge unless there is a conscious desire not to indoctrinate. When,for example, a child is invited to sign a pledge undertaking not to " touch,taste, or handle intoxicating liquor " he is not, I think, usually asked firstto pay due attention to the arguments of those who advocate the moderateuse of alcohol. He is allowed to suppose that the whole weight of argumentand morality is on one side.

Secondly, indoctrination is bound to involve an element of intellectualdishonesty. You cannot indoctrinate successfully by saying: "Well, of coursethis is only my personal opinion, and old so-and-so who knows at least asmuch about the subject as I do takes the opposite view. You will find avery clear and cogent statement of his case in such and such a book." Theindoctrinator is much more likely to say: "Every candid person who has2

really studied the matter thinks so and so; oh yes, I know about X.Y.Z., butthe trouble with him is his class origin, which makes him unable to thinkstraight. also he has never recovered from the bad effect of not geting onwith his father when he was young." The indoctrinator is bound to suggestthat knowledge and certainty exist where in fact there is only opinion: he isbound to tell or imply falsehood.

My third argument arises from a consideration of the psychology ofenrolment. Let us try to imagine what happens. An adolescent boy, let ussay, becomes interested in the state of the world, and rightly concludes thatit could be considerably improved and that he would like to help. He decidesthat socialism or pacifism or fascism or some other ism is the remedy.Suppose now, as is not at all unlikely, that he finds himself invited to jointhe youth section of the party which promotes whatever panacea he hasadopted. He is told that he can " help," is given a membership card, andmaybe a badge or button, or perhaps even a shirt. He addresses envelopesor licks stamps perhaps; joins in processions; and joins a study group devotedto making his knowledge as ore-sided as possible. He reads the party organ,and " wouldn't be seen dead " reading the organ of the opposition. He hat:" made up his mind."

And now let us assume that someday a demon of doubt assails him.He comes across an argument or a fact that h had not encountered pre-viously, and begins to wonder. He has an uneasy feeling that the doubt i;important, and that if he considers it frankly, and allows it to grow, he mayhave to change his opinions, and leave the organization he has joined. Th.,:is a critical stage in his development; he is on the threshold of creativ,:thought. On the one side is his intellectual candour, if that has not already

'been destroyed; his desire to know and understand fully, to think truly. Onthis side are all the forces promoting his own growth. On the other sidearc the forces of loyalty, of comradeship, and all the generous enthusiasmthat caused him to join up in the first place. This doubt is disloyal, and ifhe lets it master him, he will be forced to let down and disappoint thecomrades who are relying upon his support. He may have been taught thatit is his duty to " struggle against doubt." There is that meeting next weekat which he has promised to be a steward; and there is the summer camp inwhich his place has already been assigned. Much that is best in his naturewill fight against the honest facing of the issues raised by the doubt, andunless he is a person of exceptional intellectual force and integrity, the doubtwill be smothered and presently forgotten. And so one more promise ofintellectual growth fails to be realized; one more mind is prematurely closed.

This is the fundamental reason why all those concerned with educationought to be firmly opposed to all attempts to secure the allegiance of childrento causes. I am not, of course, suggesting that childfen ought to be preventedif possible from having opinions. If they are to take a vivid interest in theworld this is neither possible nor desirable. What is desirable is that theyshould be as free as possible to change their opinions. Change should beexpected as part of growth, and any obstacle to change is an obstacle togrowth. Any declared allegiance, any wearing of badges, buttons or shirts,is such an obstacle. It ought not, therefore, to be deliberately organized byadults, ard attempts to organize it ought to be firmly resisted by all thosewho care for-education. The deliberate mobilization of young people in theinterests of caUses is anti-educational in its very nature, sincej. the object ofeducation must be to keep the mind open and receptive to new, ideas as longas possible

Over a great part of the world children are already protected againsteconomic exploitation; I wish it were possible to frame a world-wide charterprotecting them against mental and spiritual exploitation.

W. B. CURRY.

3

SUMMARIES OF SUNDAY MORNING LECTURESDR. C. E. M. JOAD, M.A., on " RELIGION—FORTY YEARS

RETROSPECT," July 12, 1942

Readings from "The Confessions of an Octogenarian," by Dr. L. P. Jacks

I take as a text the book from which I have read because it indicatesclearly and significantly the general movement and development of thoughtin this country about religion during the last 60 years.

Dr. Jacks was born of lower middle-class parents. His father was aprosperous shopkeeper; a liberal, puritan and strict non-conformist whoselife centred in the Chapel. Whcn Dr. Jacks grew up he became a Unitarianpreacher at Birmingham and Liverpool. Later he was appointed to alectureship at Manchester College, Oxford, a Unitarian establishment ofwhich he became Principal. In 1902 he was appointed Editor of the/libber! Journal, which discusses theology, philosophy and religion. He stillho'ds that post.

The keynote of his thought has been insistence on " wholeness "; theoneness of humanity in thought and faith, and therefore his refusal to acceptany barriers in the way of dogmatic creeds. or assertions as to what God willsor how God should he worshipped, which separate man from man andtherefore impair wholeness. For example, there should be no dogmaticassertions in one's creed or faith. His tendency has been to jettison all theassertions of dogmatic theology in which the earlier 19th century rejoiced.Therefore he joined the Unitarians, not because hc attached much signifi-cance to the difference between them and the Trinitarians. " I am not,"he said, " concerned about that, but because I hope that 1 shall escape fromdenominationalism." He resented the assurance of each denomination thatit and it alone had the true method of worshipping God, and that all whoheld alternative creeds must be in error. Leaders of denominations still in-sist that children shall be brought up in their creed. Jacks goes toManchester College because it is Unitarian, and therefore he expects it tobe anti-denominational and not lay stress on one particular method ofworshipping God as opposed to other sects. He wants to get rid of theblinkers in which alone men have permitted themselves to look for God.He wants a place where God can be studied without fear or favour. He isdisappointed. jhere were no theoretical reasons at Manchester why studentsshould not 'represent any denomination. Nevertheless, they almost all tendedto come from Unitarian households, all the staff were Unitarians, and theteaching was on Unitarian lines. He tries to transcend this atmosphere andmake it a place where theology can be studied without bias. This policyhas dominated the Hibbert Journal. His early years of editorship werea time of great spiritual activity. Orthodoxy was faced by the highercriticism of the Bible •and by new theories of the physical and biologicalsciences. This world was not the centre of the universe; time and spacewere inconceivably large. There was also the ncw influence of the religionsof the East. It had just been discovered that there were Buddhism andConfucianism, and that their assertions were in many respects those ofChristianity. It was recognized that laymen as well as priests were interestedin religion. The idea of the Hibbert Journal was to bring all these forcesto a focus. Jacks desired to eradicate the last traces of priestly influencefrom religion and to conquer it for the common man. Religion was every-body's preserve, and even a layman could come directly to terms withGod without priestly intervention. The Hibberl Journal was, then, conducted

in an undenominational spirit. It was catholic on all subjects. It broughtin laymen to write some of its articles. Jacks tried to throw down barriersand open a field to all comers. He recalls various phases through which

4

the Journal passed during 40 years. They show the changes in religiousinterest. From 1902 to 1910 there was the conflict between religion andscience. From 1910 to 1914 the interest was monopolized by enquiry intothe historical foundations of Christianity. John M. Robertson had arguedthat there never was a historical Christ, that even if he had lived, we knewvery little about him, and that some of the most important things in thestory, such as the Virgin Birth and the Ascension lacked evidential support.From 1914 to 1930 there was a growth of interest in problems of ethicaland political philosophy; the extent to which human beings owed allegianceto the State and should modify that allegiance by an overriding allegianceto humanity at large. Finally, the field was dominated by the sense ofmoral catastrophe, and the decay of religion.

In this career there are two main ideas to be noticed. First, the demandfor freedom in belief, the interest in humanism, and an insistence upon areligion free from ecclesiastical creeds. Second, that these ends can besuccessfully pursued and established because in the last resort of one'sfaith in humanity; in other words, the common man has enough sense andspiritual insight at bottom to run his life without priestly guidance, and toestablish right relations with God by his own unaided efforts. That faith isthe most important note in this book. The common man has not fallen.On the contrary, it is his mission to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.He bears witness to the freedom of the human spirit born in all of us whenyoung, but subsequently checked by worldly desires, and flickering awayinto nothingness owing to the absence of any proper fuel on which it cnnfeed. There is the contradiction of interests in middle age owing to domesticconsiderations, and in age there is concern with the aches and pains of thebody. Because Jacks believes religion to be something universally presentin all of us the fundamental truth of all spiritual insight is for all of us thesame. That is the idea comprised in the conception of wholeness. Whetherit is right or wrong I do not say, but it is clear that the movement to freecligion from shackles cannot go any further, and if religion is to be continued

it must reverse its steps. The movement typified by Jacks' career, cul-minating in such men as Bishop Barnes spans an era and marks its end.

For what are its results? There has been moral and religious collapse.Four out of five people now conne to maturity without a religious creed.What view can we take of the common man in 19423 Look how he behaves.Look how Germans and Japanese behave. Who can say that Englishmen,if driven, would behave so very much better. We have come anew to realizewhat people are like when suffering pain, hardship, hunger and misery.Another reason is that it is increasingly being borne in on people that theconcept of wholeness and unity in all of us is increasingly difficult to sustainbecause the common man is partly evil. Jacks believed that fundamentallyhuman beings were good and that evil was due to special economic andpsychological circumstances. Get rid of poverty and economic injustice,reform psychology and education, and you will produce human beings whoare almost perfect. You cannot wholly explain the conduct of Nazi Guardsin Concentration Camps in terms of psychological and economic malad-justment. The evil abroad today seems to be too widespread and obtrusiveto admit being written off in that optimistic way. You are driven to thetheological view that human beings are in part evil and that you cannot trustto human development by putting your faith in the common man if he losesthe discipline of creeds and a divinely supported moral code. If religionis to continue—and I do not say that it is—it would seem to be necessaryfor its followers to put themselves in harness to a creed, submit to a code,and become again practising members of a religious organization.

If religion is to continue at all, it must. I suggest, be on these lines. It

5

becomes clear that most human beings are unable to maintain a high

level of conduct without fear of divine wrath on the one hand, and the

imagined assistance of divine help on the other. For the last 50 years we

have eliminated God from our thoughts but retained the restraints whichbelief in God has been used to justify. It becomes clear that if you takeaway the historical grounds for restraints and prohibitions they do not in

the last resort stand. They stand in quiet times because mcn continue tolive good lives from habit rather than a principle, but the structure of

habit can gradually be eroded and under a storm it collapses. The

suggestion is then, that without some basis of moral principle you cannot

nmintain the structure of moral behaviour when times become difficult.

The second reason is that it is clear that nature abhors a vacuum in the

spiritual world as in the physical. All human beings have held certain

beliefs about the divine government of the Universe; it Is difficult to

suppose that this belief would have been universal, unless it appealed to

some fundamental need in human nature. If repressed into the unconscious

this fundamental belief seeks some outlook. On the Continent it has

done so in Fascism. When the God above the skies has been deposed by

philosophy and science, some all-too-human being has been dressed up to

take his place. One may expect the same development in this country

unless the vacuum is tilled by a revival of relieious het ef. 1( et I doubtif it can continue by going further along the humanitarian path freed

from 'creeds and dogmas. It looks as if the engines must be reversed and

it must become narrow again. One must not expect too much from the

common. man or from the common man's world.

Why should Jacks expect men's governments to be better than the men

who make them, or that because an institution is run by politicians, it is

worse than it would be if run by common people? To affirm belief in

the common man while denouncing his institutions is to fall guilty of an

inconsistency. We cannot expect any kind of Utopia by economic orpolitical action. We can only diminish some of the more palpable evils

trom which we suffer. Fifty years ago it was easy to believe in the

common man, and think that evil could gradually be eradicated, and that

a moral and economic Utopia could be attained. The kinds of religious

belief expressed in Jacks' book reflect a period of capitalist prosperity.

Contrast that with the typical religious belief of the period of the ThirtyYears War when the world was almost as cruel and evil as it is today.

Pascal expresses the typical religious view in that sort of world. It was

a period of restlessness and misery. Germany was devastated, there wascivil war in England and in France. Looking at this evil world, peace and

order seemed to Pascal to be desirable but he concluded that the remedy

was not to be found,in political reform but in simple passive obedience

to the legally constituted political authority. Revolt against the Govern-ment, hov*ever bad, would lead to disturbance, which in turn would lead

to the sort of world he saw before him. Pascal's council of despair took

its origin in the disturbed state of society just as racks' views take theirs

from an era of peace and progress. Pascal's creed and attitude to mankind

in the 17th century was the result of a political and belligerent situation

just as Jacks' was the product of his times. Are the times in which welive now more like those of the Thirty Years War, and the Europe of the

17th century? According to the answer, you will know whether Pascal or

Jacks is likely to be a more reliable interpreter of the immediate religious

f uture.

FG.G.

6

PROFESSOR J. C. FLUGEL, D.Sc., on " WORK, PLAY AND HAPPINESS," July 19, 1942

Readings from: (I) " The Social Good," by E. J. Urwick.

(2) " Life: A Psychological Survey," by Pressy. Janney andK uhlen.

In our present civilization there is a deeply rooted convention to divideour activities into work and play. Like so many other distinctions, this isuseful in practice but difficult to deal with in theory. It involves severaldistinct criteria and in applying them we jump from one to another. Thedictionary gives a bewildering series of definitions. The chief is that workis " something which has to bc done, an act deed or proceeding," clearlyvery wide, and covering all activity, and there is no distinction drawnbetween work and play. The second is " action involving effort or exertiondirected to a particular end," especially to earning your livelihood. Ruskinwrote: "There must be work done by the arms or none of us could live;there must be work done by the brain or the life we get would not beworth having." Smiles said: " Work, employment, useful occupation is oneof the secrets of happiness." On the other hand, one finds that trouble,affliction, pain and woe are meanings of the term going back a long way.Labour is detined as " exertion of the faculties of the body and mindespecially when painful and compulsory." Childbirth combines "labour "with " pains." Then you find the expression " to take pains" over a thingfrom mom (punishment). There are also Greek derivations suggesting toiland distress. Thus work implies happiness, and the reverse.

Turning to play, there are two main meanings. One is " exercise, briskor free movement, unimpeded activity." The other is " action for amuse-ment or diversion." There arc at least six criteria underlying these distinc-tions between work and play in present day use. Play is what we wantto do for its own sake. Work is done for an ulterior end. Play is morenatural and nearer to our more primitive tendencies, whereas work is com-pulsory in some way or other. The compulsion may be an external humanagency or may spring from one's own sense of duty. Then play is supposedto' be pleasant, while work is unpleasant (in spite of Smiles and others).To say that play. is pleasant is not quite the same thing as saying it isnatural or instinctive. Play is supposed to be easy or natural, whereas workis difficult, involving toil and effort. Here we have another important dis-tinction different from the second and third. As regards play, sometimesquite instinctive activities may not be easy: they may involve considerableexertion. The fifth criterion is that play is for recreation and amusement,while work is undertaken for economic reasons. It is paid for. Then,sixth, note that play often involves imagination to a larger extent than work.Whereas work is strictly realistic, play is often unrealistic. Much of the playof children involves Imagination. We use the term play for stage perform-ances. Thus there are a considerable number of ways in which work andplay are contrasted, and our meaning fluctuates between these six, orcombines several.

On the 'whole very young children do not work. They are made towork eventually as at school. They begin to regard it as work and contrastit with play. Adults, looking back on the life of young children, think of itas a Golden Age and wish they could return to it. We have this tendencyto look back with longing to the period of childhood however we mayidealize work.

Do animals work? They never get quite far away enough from instinct.7

Their behaviour is too near the primitive to be called work. Neverthelesswe are not quite consistent about this. There are two ways in which weconsider they work: (1) when they are endowed with instinct of a kindwhich makes them carry out activities which we call work, as in the case ofbees and beavers; and (2) when we induce animals to carry out activitiesremote from their instinctively determined actions, as when we harnesshorses, and train dogs to guard sheep. In the majority of cases we shouldagree that young children and animals do not work in the same way asadults. Young children, like animals, however, are said to play becauseunder certain circumstances they behave in a way different from that dictatedby adult instinct.

There have been four main theories of play. One is the surplus energytheory of Schiller and Spencer. When we have energy to spare, we mayplay for the joy of jumping and moving. A second theory (Groos) is thatit is an important biological function, a preparation for life in virtue ofwhich we indulge in certain queer instinctive tendencies which will becomeserious later on, as for instance a little girl's play with dolls. This tendencyhas been adopted by educationists, who hold that Nursery Schools prepareto teach something useful in the form of play. The next theory is that ofrecapitulation advanced by Stanley Hall, who thought that the individualin his development recapitulates the history of the human race, and thatthis tendency is manifested in play. Thcn there is what might be calledthe cathartic theory, that in some forms of play we try to work off emotionsWhich have been aroused. It relates play to art. Aristotle, in his cathartictheory of tragedy, explained this particular view. He said tragedy exercisesa beneficent effect on us through working off emotions of terror and pity.The theory has been resuscitated by psycho-pathologists in a different con-nection, and it is often maintained that the artist is trying to work off hisown conflicts in some way. He has found a fortunate way of doing so.The mere fact that civilized man is so astonished by play shews how farhe has got from the natural attitude.

As civilization advances the distinction becomes more clear. Institutionssuch as slavery assign one class of people to work, while others are relievedof it, and play becomes more complete. •

In recent years we find the distinction coming out in a new form, andacquiring a new gravity. Since slavery has died down, and machines havecome into general use, we might have thought they would have freed menfrom oppressive labour, but they have really created a more oppressiveform of slavery, as the attention they require is often specialized andrepetitive, contrasting badly with the craftsmanship of an earlier age. Onthe other hand, the machine undoubtedly has increased the economic possi-bility of production and will increasingly provide more leisure for people,so that however dull work may be there will be more time for leisure to beused for purposes of play. Thus the modern problems of work and leisureArise. Problems of work interest the industrial psychologist. He must tryat make work itself suitable to the worker. There is scope for vocationalguidance and selection. Recent investigations in America revealed that 60per vent. of High School pupils desired jobs in professions which could onlyabsorb 4 per cent. Another study showed that twenty-one times more boysdesired to be doctors than there were openings, whereas there would prob-ably have to be eleven times as many salesmen as boys desiring this kind ofwork. Only four per cent, desired jobs as mechanics, whereas there wasroom •or six times this number. Women on the whole are more realisticthan men. Six of the ten professional jobs most frequently entered wereactually among the ten they most frequently desired. The corresponding

8

figure for men was 0. Perhaps women do not regard employment soseriously because of their prospect of marriage. Many people approachwork with little knowledge of its requirements and with a very optimisticview of its possibilities. Of those who wished to enter the medical pro-fession, 80 per cent, expected far more money than the average doctor earns.A great deal of popular literature encourages this false attitude. When theyhave got their job many people are disappointed. Except in technical jobs,over half wished they were doing something else. This again applies less towomen than to men. Mass observation on people in production revealsthat one-fifth of the people in industry do not like their jobs. The problemwhich is most exercising us is that of boredom, but even pre-historic manhad a boring job in chipping his stone implements. You find that on thewhole it is greater among intelligent than unintelligent people, and manypeople allow their minds to wander dreaming of future bliss as a way ofmaking things tolerable. Another method is to give work an intrinsic aimby connecting it with some object such as keeping a record of your progressby a chart or other means. There is the celebrated example of munitionworkers who were surrounded by completed shells but reduced their effortwhen these were taken away. Dull work can also be made interesting byestablishing team competition. Then there is the extrinsic method of lettingthe worker see how his work links up with some big co-operative effort.One cause of inadequate work is that the workers do not realize they arean essential link in the chain of war production. The visit of an airmanto a factory had a good effect. It is important in all work to feel that weare doing something which is socially useful and that our work is needed.We have to face the fact, however, that much repetitive work must remain.

There is the other problem of leisure which is urgent for those whosework is not suffIciently interesting. To obtain Wisfaction from leisure isnot so simple, and it is a good thing that people should devote time toconsidering this problem. In America, where opportunities for leisure havebeen increased enormously, there has been an investigation into the organiza-tion of leisure. There is considerable feeling that the occupations of leisureare not adequate, especially on the qualitative side. There is much increasein the number of escapist activities such as films, radio and magazines, butinadequate opportunities for more complicated relaxation. There is nodoubt that the more intelligent we are the more complex our leisure activitiesmust be. In a study of 130,000 young Americans close correlation wasfound between the amount of satisfaction and the complexity. The moreintelligent want more difficult games. They also want to be scientists, artistsand explorers and aim at high achievement. Here the distinction betweenwork and play tends to break down. It is even more important for themusician and artist to work in the way he desires and he often chooses aless well paid activity because of the inner urge to pursue a highly valuedend. We cannot all achieve the highest goals—compose symphonies, playtennis at Wimbledon, or climb the Himalayas—but we can all achieve some-thing worth while, and if the goal is not outstanding it should have somesocial value.

Summarizing, both in work and play we must have a goal. There mustbe some achievement to satisfy us. If the work is intellectually dull theremust be some additional motive connected up with it. such as competition,or it may be linked to a great social end. In spite of that, if work is reallydull we all need play, though if we are not to become morons it must beplay of a kind which, in its call upon our energy, in many ways resembleswork.

F.G.G.

9

NOTESWriting on Positivism and its supporters in 1923, the late Mr. F. J. Gould

said: "Today perhaps Desch of Sheffield has a high value: he is very modesttoo." By a happy chance our Lecture Secretary has been able to arrange forDr. Desch to deliver the discourse on September 13. We remember him in1889 as the head boy at the Kingsland Birkbeck School in N.E. London—anestablishment far in advance' in many respects of the ordinary SecondarySchool of the present day. He was great at chemistry, which became themain interest of his life. From Kingsland he went to the Finsbury TechnicalCollage, thence to a German Univers:ty. and finally to University College,London. His academic honours include the degrees of Ph.D. and D.Sc., andhe is a Fellow of the Royal Society. Dr. Desch has held the Professorshipsof Metallurgy at Glasgow and Sheffield Universities, and has been Presidentof the Institute of Metallurgy. He is Vice-President of the Institute ofSociology and has in the past been a frequent lecturer for the Positivists. Weunderstand that in his early years he used to attend the meetings of SouthPlace Ethical Society: There was a rumour among the friends of his boyhoodthat the Deschs were peculiar about religion.

Prompted by Mr. Bane Ritchie's letter on Walt Whitman and MoncureD. Conway in our June issue, Mr. J. Hutton Hynd, Leader of the EthicalSociety of St. Louis, Missouri. sends us a relative extract from the 1941biography by Babette Deutsch, entitled Wall Whionan — Builder for America.Herein it is stated that " Emerson had said in his letter (to Whitman) that heliked Letrves of Grass so well that he thought of striking his Mks and visitingNew York to pay his respects to the author. He did not obey the impulse atonce, but he sugge:ted to Moncure Conway, an alert young Southernminister with strong abolitionist sympathies, that he visit this startling newAmerican poet. Conway was glad to go." Then follow the accounts, withminor variations, of the visits paid by Conway to the poet's home, and laterto the printer's shop at Brooklyn, described in the letters from Messrs.Mansford and Carr in our July issue. This had not reached Mr. Hutton Hyndat the time of writing. He is kind enough to say he looks forward to thereading of the Record. We are naturally pleased to know that our modestlittle publication finds favour with an eminent American collaborator.

On February 1, 1924, the centenary of the opening of South Place Chapelon February 1, 1824, by William Johnson Fox, was celebrated. The Chair-man was the Right Hon. J. M. Robertson. The speakers were Mr. John AHobson, Professor Graham Wallas, Mr. Harry Snell, Mrs. Fletcher Smith,Mr. C. J. Pollard, Mr. F. J. Gould, Mrs. Bradlaugh Bonner, Dr. R. DimsdaleStocker and Mr. Wallis Mansford. A printed report of the proceedingsat this important event in the Society's history in the form of a green-coveredpamphlet *as issued to members as a souvenir. Very few copies remain inthe Society's possession, and if any nlember may have one which is no longerrequired, its return to the Secretary would •be appreciated.

Before South Place Chapel was available the congregations met at Parlia-ment Court Chapel, Artillery Lane, on the eastern edge of the City of London,where on its occupation our Society was organized on February 14, 1793.close to the date on which France in revolution declared war on England.Thus, our 150th anniversary will occur next year, and, if practicable, asuitable effort will be made to celebrate the occasion.

In the August number of World Digect there was a reproduction of thereport of Professor Keeton's lecture on " The Future of the Pacific," which10

appeared in our May issue. Permission has also recently been given for thereport in our August issue of Mr. McCabe's lecture on " America and Japan "to be reprinted. It has been arranged for copies of World Digest to be onsale at our bookstall on Sunday mornings.

A letter was published in The Tintn of August 13, signed by Mr. FrankW. Richardson of New York City, referring to a statement by the Minister ofInformation that he would send no more British lecturers to America because" they did so much more harm than any possible good." The writer says thisstatement does a grave injustice to the many British lecturers who havesplendidly served the British and, later, the allied cause, and it would seem tobe very unfair to disparage the many because of the few who failed. Hementions many eminent rram and women to whom tribute might well havebeen paid, and among these he includes our friend, Mr. S. K. Ratcliffe, whowith Mr. Cecil Roberts has been highly popular on American platforms fora quarter of a century.

Mr. Richardson goes on to say that Mr. Ratcliffe's splendid interpretai-tion of Indian ptoblems and Mr. Roberts' brilliant platform gifts and un-failing tact have created for their courtry an admirable impression.

We are always glad to have news of our members in the Forces. Amongthose who have written has been Mr. George Hutchinson, now a driver in theR.A.S.C. He and Mrs. Hutchinson were then reported to be very fit. Hereceives the Monthly Record and can thus keep in touch. As AssistantSecretary of the Sunday Concert Society, he naturally regrets the restrictionof musical activity, but he refers to the good work of the " Frank HawkinsChamber Music Library " and to the Chamber Music Competition, which isstill a bright spot in the Cements tradition.

CORRESPONDENCERELIGION—FORTY YEARS RETROSPECT

Sir,—I feel it my duty to express considerable disappointment withDr. Joad's lecture at Conway Hall on July 12. I might not have taken thetrouble to write about this, had I not discussed this discourse with severalothers who listened to it, all of whom felt as I did.

I would like to ask Dr. Joad if he proposes to adopt a superstitious basisfor his own faith, or whether he considers such a basis only necessary forthe common herd. I do not believe it is possible for any sincere andmoderately intelligent person to go back to that road when they have onceleft it. I agree man must have a faith, but can anything lead to a betterlife than the Ethical principles, taught by our Society for the past 50 years?I have just been reading a little Penguin by Viscount Samuel, the title ofwhich is Belief and Action. I would like to recommend this book to readersof the Monthly Record. including Dr. Joad.

102 Turnpike Lane, N.S. JOHN EDWARDS.

Dr. Joad•writes : " I think my view has been slightly misinterpreted. Itis that, if religion is to continue as a living force in people's lives, then itscontinuance must be on the lines indicated in the lecture. I do not say thatI personally wish it so to continue and I don't say that it will continue—Imerely diagnose the situation as a reporter or a doctor might do, indicatingby what methods it can be alleviated within the context of the religioushypothesis. I don't say that the hypothesis is correct and I am talkingthroughout only of the social effects of religion."—Ed. M.R.

11

BOOKS RECEIVEDDID JESUS EVER LIVE?

JESUS NOT A MYTH. By A. D. Howell Smith, B.A. (Watts.) 210 pp. 15s.

Mr. H. L. Mencken, in his lively and informative Treatise on the Gods,quotes E. W. Howe's comment that all books on religion are written either" by those who are fanatical, and believe in it too much. or by those whohate it, and abuse it too much." This shrcwd but too sweeping generalizationis definitely countered by such a work of wide scholarship and impartialjudgment as the subject of this review. Mr. Howell Smith, as he explains ina modest prefatory note discussing the leading exponents of both the Mythicistand the Historical attitude towards the founder of Christianity, " is not aprofessional scholar, but has had something of a theological training, beingthe son of a clergyman of the Church of England, whose calling he oncehoped to follow." This early familiarity with the authorities of orthodoxy,and a later scrutiny of the attacks made upon their arguments by sceptics ofevery school, doubtless go far to explain the author's patent competence todiscuss the much-debated question upon which—as his title shows ---he hasreached a positive conclusion: but the yet more essential quality ofscrupulous, uncompromising honesty must be sought—and will be found—inthe pages of his book. For Mr. Howell Smith, though a student of .theHumanities rather than of Science, has the devotion of the true scientist to asole mistress—Truth, He does not hesitate to admit the weaknesses in hisown case, the strength of his opponents, where these conditions exist. He is

. the sworn foe of the parti pris.

Because of these vital qualities in the workmanship, and to the author'sskill in collation, the present reviewer—though himself without the least claimto scholarship or to familiarity with the works of great Biblical critics athome or on the Continent—predicts that Jesus Not a Myth will have apermanent place among the outstanding volumes devoted to the problem :Had the " Man of Sorrows" a historic existence, or does he represent thecombination of various Jewish and Pagan myths to which St. Paul and theauthors of the four Gospels have given a pseudo-historical basis?

Towards his most redoubtable British opponent, the late J. M.Robertson, Mr. Howell Smith shows the deference due to " a foeman worthyof his steel ", terming him " a man of high achievement in many fields ofresearch, a very able political and economic thinker, and a distinguishedShakespearian scholar." Bot his complaint of " hyper-ingenuity " inRobertson's solutions is supported by a number of instances—notably by thelatter's coupling of Zech. ix, 9. and its derivative, Matt. xxi. 5. with the twoasses of Dionysos; whereas Zechariah (as the Septuagint version clearly shows)indicates not two animals, but one. (This fondness for rash speculation as tosources is very marked, in the reviewer's opinion, throughout Robertson'sEssay in Literary Detection.) Our author's conclusion is that Robertson'sprodigious tabours in the field of comparative religion deserve grateful recog-nition, but that " he has woefully erred in some of his conclusipns."

The frankness with which Mr. Howell Smith admits the pointsunfavourable to his own contention is nowhere more strikingly exhibitedthan in the chapter on the Story of the Passion as a Mystery Drama.Difficulties, indeed, stand like lions in the path of any perfectly demonstrablesolution. Paul's silence on the life and utterances of the Master presentsobstacles to the Mythic as to the Historic theory of origin. In seeking toprobe, at this distance of time, the sources of traditions and cults, and therelative authenticity of documents, not one of which is a positive andunglossed original—documents flawed by careless copyists, pious redactorsand unscrupulous interpolators—one moves in a misty land where conjectures12

of varying probability abound and certainties, even of historic incident, arerare indeed. Yet, as the author contends (at p. 98), " To admit the presenceof a symbolical element, large or small, in the New Testament is not tanta-mount to saying that it was first circulated as a corpus of deliberatemystifications. . . . The earliest protagonists did not preach and suffer for aSaviour whose ' agony and bloody sweat ' they knew to be mere figures ofspeech."

ERNEST CARR.

THE BIBLE AND ITS BACKGROUND. VOL I: Old Testament and more importantbooks of the Apocrypha. Vol. II : New Testament. By ArchibaldRobertson, M.A. Thinker's Library, Nos. 90 and 91. Watts. 2s. each.

That the Bible is not true to any large extent in a historicul sense is thecommon knowledge of educated people. It is also true that, as the authorsays, " the usual result is that we dismiss it as nonsense and never openit again." I agree that this is a pity for " a body of literature which hasheld the imagination of men and women for between two and three thousand

• years is worthy of study."In the first volume, Mr. Robertson reviews the books of the Old

Testament. He points to the composite authorship of many of them andendeavours to place them in something like chronological order. Greatlearning, and the results of deep research enable a vivid picture to be paintedof the troubled history of the people who lived in Palestine—that greathighway where the Empires of Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Egypt, Greece andRome in turn asserted their supremacy. The author endeavours todistinguish between the stories which arc mythical and those having somehistorical significance. Few ordinary people have time to read straightthrough the books of the Old Testament, and if they had they would obtaina very confused idea of the history of the Jews, but under Mr. Robertson'sguidance a fairly clear picture is displayed.

Of particular interest is the latter part of the book. Editions of the OldTestament in common use show no section to be of later date than397 B.C.. and many people must have wondered what happened from thenuntil the period covered by the New Testament. Mr. Robertson fills in thegap. "the vicissitudes of the Jews and the successive revolts of upholdersof Jewish religion in the centuries immediately prior to the beginning ofthe Christian era arc ably described, and the last chapter of the first volumeexplains the conditions in which primitive Christianity was established.

The second volume discusses the literary origins and the authorship ofthe books included in the New Testament. One is again impressed by theauthor's care and scholarship. Much space is naturally devoted to acomparison of the four Gospel stories. The original documents have sooften been re-written and added to by successive editors that it is onlyby the exercise of literary acumen and knowledge and by careful comparisonof different versions, that some approximation to historic reality can beenvisaged. The author provides good guidance.

As in the first volume the political and religious background of the Jews is depicted, and this helps the lay reader to understand much of the obscurity of biblical language. For example, the Book of Revelations is related to the terrible ordeals through which the Jewish people passed when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70 AD. The author is at considerable pains to demonstrate that two distinct streams went to the establishment of Christianity. These are known as (1) Messianism whose supporters looked for the coming of the Messiah (in Greek Christos),a second Joshua (Greek Jesous) to redeem the world from Roman oppression, and (2) Gnosticism, the upholders of which held that Christos Jesous would indeed redeem the

13

world, not by violence, however. but by revealing to mankidd the true Godof whom he was the only begotten son.

These two elements were in conflict with one another. According toMr. Robertson they were led respectively by St. Peter and St. Paul or thziradherents, and the reader will enjoy the discussion of this subject. One orhis important conclusions is that the Catholic Church from the secondcentury on dexterously appropriated thc writings of each, and offered itselfto the Roman Empire as a new opium for the people. I wholeheartedlyrecommend these two fascinating little volumes to those who arc interestedin the history of the Jews. and the origins of Christianity, but who are unableto spare time or money for more exhaustive works.

TOWARDS THE MILLEN1UMA COMMON FAITH, rr r SYNTHESIS. By J. B. Coates. (Unwin: 3s. 6d.)

Mr. Coates, who is a member of our Society, has sot forth in this littlebook of some 150 pages a grandiose plan for a vast social regenerationwhich is to secure, not only an Allied victory in the present Titanic struggle,but also contentment and abiding peace thereafter. These desiderata areto be gained by harmonizing and co-ordinatir g religion, politics, science,economics and art. He is greatly impressed by the high degree of socialcontrol attained by the Axis powers—though he denounces their methodsof securing it—and is distressed by our lack of such control, which heconsEders may lose us the war. As an instance of this disunity he writes(With what degree of accuracy our readers must judge for themselves):" Organizations of scientists and rationalists still tend to assault religionwithout making any distinction between dogmatism and superstition on theone hand, and genuine religious insight on the other, and without recog-nizing the great value of the latter as the prime source of our knowledgeof values."

The new social order thus to be inaugurated " on the basis of a newcommon ideal " is " perhaps the only way of winning the war." This pro-gramme must be made plain to the German people, with an intimation thatwe do not wish to continue the conflict " for a moment longer than isnecessary to achieve a just European order." How the German folk are tobe effectually informed is not stated.

The author seems to realize, at least in part, the stupendous difficultiesinvolved irr inducing by non -violent means a general acceptance of hisdrastic programme by a free democracy. His solution is to impose a checkupon the " harmful exercise of individualism, not only . . in the economicsphere, but also in the sphere of morals and cultural expression." Thischeck is to be applied through the will of a majority so powerful and sosingle of purpose that the term " party " seems hardly appropriate; indeed,he writes that " what is needed is a genuine national unity," not dependenton force or terror. This solution, in turn, raises other problems.

How is that unity to be attained? The first step would be " the settingup of a society of a religio-political character, a, society of memberspledged to personal discipline and disinterestedness as well as to intensiveactivity in the political sphere." The role assigned to such a society whenformed—for no existent body satisfies the author's requirements—is mainlyto co-ordinate progressive associations into a single great entity. The pro-gramme it should seek to advance has been obligingly drawn up in readinessby Mr. Coates, its last point being a simple one: "The production of. achange of heart." The Labour Party will be induced to compel, either byactual withdrawal from the Government or by the threat of it, the adoptionof that programme. Unless such pressure induces a change of Mr. Churchill'spolicy he should be compelled to resign. India must be given complete14

HUMANIST

•

liberty immediately; and so will be ushered in the Golden Age.Mr. Coates' implicit and unwarranted assumption that the leaders in

thought of a great free people can be induced to lay aside deep-rooted con-victions in favour of a synthetic and generalized formula may be illustratedby his views on the religious problem. This thorny question, which hascaused such profound cleavages in Britain during the last four centuries. atleast, is readily soluble. Religious edueation in schools, whilst shunning"dogmatic instruction on controversial issues," should include " the singingof hymns, the reading of passages giving effective and beautiful expressionto the common beliefs—in fact, in the holding of some kind of religiousservice." And the " religio-political society " already mentioned shouldspecially concern itself with the question " of how by prayer, meditation,concentration or other means, it is possible to increase human moral andspiritual resources:: Such smooth generalizations point, not to a CommonFaith, but to a veritable homers' nest of warring schisms; and the resultantdiscords have to be harmonized, and the whole new order made effective,in time to win the war.

ONLOOKER.

SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBANDIt is a rare combination to find the character of a soldier, a political

officer, a leader in religious thought, and a mystic united in one man.Such a combination was seen in its happiest form in the late Sir FrancisYounghusband, who died on July 31, 1942.

At the age of twenty-three he found himself as a young soldier in anexpedition to Manchuria. This was ih 1886. In thc following year hewas in Peking, from which he made his celebrated march through Kashgarand Yarkand to the Himalayas. He crossed the Himalayas by the difficultMustagh pass. Later, in 1889, he was in the Foreign Department of theGovernment of India, from which he went as Assistant Political Agent toChitral, where the three Empires of China, Russia and India met. Hewas in Transvaal and Rhodesia in 1896-7, and saw the Jameson Raid inJohannesburg. Returning to India in 1898, he was a Political Agent inCentral India. But his special talents and experience marked him out forservice in more adventurous posts. He was sent as British Commissionerto Tibet in 1902-4, and he has recorded his own impressions of themission in his book " India and Tibet." " There was little advantage," hewrote (p. 336), " in bringing back a Treaty which was not framed ornegotiated in such a manner as to carry with it a considerable degreeof spontaneous assent. And it was especially necessary to secure the good-will of the people in general." He retired in 1909 after spending fouryears as Resident in Kashmir.

But the close of his official career marks the beginning of his culturalactivities in England. These have been variously appraised from differentpoints of view. But all are agreed that he acted throughout with an earnestzeal for promoting spiritual truth wherever he found it and for encouraginga spirit of fellowship and brotherhood among men and women of allraces and creeds. In the Conference of Religions of the Empire, held inLondon in 1924, he took a leading part. The Congress of Faiths, held inLondon in 19364 owed its success largely to his initiative and activity. Hecarried on that good work in the Continuation Movement, which is stillactive, though the war has necessarily curtailed its plans. He was free fromrace or religious prejudices, although he was devoted to his own religion.He was a true ambassador of good-will and understanding, especiallybetween the East and the West.

A. YUSUF

15

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London, W.C.1

(Chancery 8032)" THE ORifiCis OF THE SOCIETY are the study and dissemination of

ethical principles and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment."

MEMBERSHIP

Any person in sympathy with the objects of the Society is cordially invited to

become a Member. The minimum annual subscription is los., but it is hoped that

Members will subscribe as generously as possible and so assist the Society to meet its

heavy annual expenditure. Any person may join as an Associate, but will not be

eligible to vote or hold office. Further particulars may be obtained before and after

the meetings, or on application to the Hon. Registrar, to whom all subscriptions should

be paid.OFFICERS

Hon. Registrar: MTS. T. LINDSAY )

HON. Treasurer: C. E. Lim R - Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.I.

Secretory: S. G. G MTN

The Monthly Record is posted free to Members and Associates. Enquiries should

be addressed to the Secretary at Conway Hall. Matter for publication in the October

issue should be posted to reach the Editor, Mr. F. G. Gomm, 45 Traps Hill, Loughton.

Essex, by Saturday. September 19,The Society does not hotel itself responsible, for vieWS expressed or reported therein.

THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIESANNUAL RE - UNION. — This will take place on Sunday. September 27.

from 3.30 to 6.30 p.m. Dr. C. E. M. load, MA., will be the Guest

of the afternoon. The chair will be taken by Mr. E. J. Fairhall.

Miss Norima Semino (Cellist) and Miss Ella Ivimey (Pianist) will

play selections from the works of Scarlatti, Schubert and Chopin.

The Committee of South Place Ethical Society cordially invite their

own members, those of other Ethical Societies and of the Rationalist

Press Association to attend. Tea will be served at 4 p.m.

BOOKSTALL.—Attention is called to the selection of books and pamphlets

offered for sale in the vestibule on Sunday mornings.

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

associates.Librarian: Mrs. A. LISTER.

SESSIONAL TUTORIAL CLASS. — Arrangements are being made to resume

this class on October 3. Its proposed purpose is to study Post-war

Planning, with Dr. G. Schwarzenberger as lecturer and tutor. The

course will comprise twenty-four weekly meetings on Saturday after-

noons at 2.30 p.m. The inclusive fee will be 6s.

Members and others who may wish to join arc asked to communi-

cate with Miss Doris Partington, 102 Donnington Court, Donnington

Road, N.W.10.

Changes of AddressMr. and Mrs. R. B. NAYLOR, 14 Sunset Road, S.E.5.

Miss M. THOMPSON, East Acland, Landkey, N. Devon

BirthWASHBROOK —On August 25, 1942, to Edith, wife of Fred Washbrook

— a son.

FARR-RZH PRESS LTD. (r .U.), Beechtvood Works, Beechwoo Rise, Watford, Herts.