Vol. 52. No. 5. MAY, 1947 Threepence

CONTENTS

PAGE

QUITTING Tr4m6 IN CRISIS.By S. K. Ratcliffe

GnmecED's THROW. By Prof. A. E. Heath 3

PATTERNS OF CULTURE. By Prof. J. C. Flugel 5

EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND MODERN SOCIALISM. By Archibald Robertson 7

CONWAY DISCUSSION CIRCLE: Hector Hawton, Dr. Lin, JosephBraddock 10

SOUTH PLACE CONCERTS: PRESENTATION TO MRS. CLEMENTS .. 13

EDITORIAL Nome .. 14

CORRESPONDENCE: R. H. Vickers .. 15

SOCIETY'S Am-vanes .. 16

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•• • • 1. • ' • 11 •

S. K. Ratcliffe on " Quitting India in Crisis "March 9, 1947 -

Readings from: (1) Burma Route March, by Louis Hagen.(2) Tagore's poems.

The Government's declaration that India is to be independent, withBritish authority and responsibility ceasing by June, 1948, implies the mostmomentous step ever taken in British imperial policy. Actually it is the logicaldevelopment of the events which have taken place since the Cripps Missionof 1942. There was no possibility at that time of the Cripps proposals beingaccepted, for the war in the East was at a most critical stage and the Indianleaders would not accept any responsibility. Not a few of them believedthat British power in Asia was doomed; they feared that they might be drivento make peace with a victorious Japan.

Nevertheless, it was evident that the Cripps mission marked the close ofthe old British India. A rapid movement after the war towards the endingof the British connection was inevitable, but the Indian leaders did not realisethis. The Congress party resumed its agitation, Mr. Gandhi announced" open rebellion ", disturbances were widespread, and hundreds of Congressmembers went to prison. The miserable incidents of that time may rightlybe cited as among the most regrettable results of the Gandhist non-co-operation crusade. From 1943 the Viceroy Lord Wavell, with remarkablepatience, made efforts to bring agreement between Hindus and Moslemsand to make an Indian. coalition possible. In August, 1946, an interimGovernment was formed under Mr. Nehru. The Moslem League stood out,and when later it decided to nominate Ministers, the declared intention wasnot to work as a coalition, -but merely to look after the interests of theMoslem League. In the meantime a Consituent Assembly had been elected,with the aim of shaping a consitution for all India. This was boycotted bythe Moslem League by Mr. Jinnah, its leader, refusing to allow Moslemdelegates to take their seats. Then and later he stood uncompromisingly onthc demand for Pakistan, the separation of Moslem States; and further, heand his colleagues were .influenced by the unalterable minority position ofthe Moslems. As 100,000,000 in a total. of 400,000,000, they know that theCongress party must be dominant if a unitary Government were formed.

Another regrettable circumstance was the provocative attitude andtemper of the Congress leaders in the election campaign last year. Mr. Nehruhas been essentially an agitator. He was unable to adjust his attacks andpopular appeals to the greatly changed situation. He continued to deliverspeeches of an extremist tone right up to the hour when, as he should haveunderstood, the burden of ,governing responsibility was about to be placedupon him.

The great decision itself could not have been delayed. A definiteannouncement this 'year had become imperative, for the British Governmentcould not face a recurrence of the outbreaks which had followed the failureof the Cripps mission. Moreover, the internal developments were all tendingin this direction—for instance, the great new Indian army recruited after theJapanese attacks upon Burma, and the enormous industrial expansion whichhad come with the war. Manifestly this new India could not be kept insubjection.

The great surprise ,of..the Government's- decision was. the fixed date--and the narrowness of the margin allowed., An ,interval of only 15 monthsseems in India almost nci 'time-at all., It is difficult to realise how even thepreliminaries of the transfer of authority could be, compassed by June ofnext year. It was upon \this:part of the plan that the'OpPosition coficenirated D(pits attaclWand the GoVernment was not able to Make an effective answeiio

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Mr. Churchill and Sir John Anderson. The Government's hope is that thecertainty of the change, with a full transfer of authority, would compelthe Indian leaders to sink their differences and find a basis for co-operationbefore the withdrawal of the civil Government and the British Army.Unfortunately the evidences provided by recent disturbances do notencourage this view. The outbreaks in Bengal and Bihar, with tremendousloss of life, had been followed by similar scenes in the Punjab, India's keyprovince. There would need to be a great 'change in the Indian masses ifthe new independent India was to be inaugurated without bloodshed andadministrative chaos.

The British withdrawal cannot fail to comprise a series of events forwhich history furnishes no parallel. The calling in of the Roman legions15 centuries ago, with the abandonment of Britain, bore little resemblanceto this promised evacuation. Probably most people who try to make a mentalpicture in advance think of little more than a change of administrationand the wind-up of the Indian Civil Service, which as a matter of fact hasbeen more than half Indian in peisonnel for many years past. The with- .drawal, however, must be something far wider and more various than that.British India is an entirely unique structure of government, law, and socialservice; of industrial and commercial development; of educational, medical;technical, philanthropic activity. The public institutions and voluntaryassociations are without number. They are all centred in British authO•iity;they conform to Western methods and standards; they are held together bythe magic of the English language. These multiple enterprises have comeinto being through 150 years of effort, associated with the labours ofinnumerable British men and women, the best• of whom have displayed aremarkable devotion to the Indian people. The only right fulfilment of theBritish connection would have been an agreed and friendly parting, followedby.co-operation between the two races, as part of the tremendous movementof Asia in transition and reconstruction. That is still the hope; but we areimpelled to the conclusion that the new India can take shape only in stormand stress and amid the gravest dangers of suffering and disorder.

(Contributed by S. K. Ratcliffe)

Professor A. E. Heath on " Gambler's Throw," March 16, 1947

Readings from: (1) George Santayana " The Life of Reason"(2) William James " The Will to Believe"

We are all gamblers. There are reasons for this. First, the changes andchances in events: secondly, because cosmic development is not yet finished;and thus it is possible to meet the unexpected (pleasant or unpleasant) innature, human and otherwise. To these elements of open possibility in theuniverse we owe the delight (shared by high, middle and low brows alike)in accepting odds and seeing the gamble come off. Is this pleasurejustifiable?

Well, in my opinion, it sometimes is and sometimes isn't. So let us looka little more closely at this notion of possibility. The idea is familiar toeverybody; from backers of horses to those who undertake Gallup polls inorder to forecast the results of elections; and from stock-exchangespeculators to insurance-office actuaries constructing tables giving ourexpectations of life. Men of science, when formulating hypotheses, aremaking a shot at possible explanations of bodies of facts; and evenphilosophy itself can be regarded as the exploration of what is logicallypossible. Possibilities are, moreover, capable of being put into mathematicalform. All the different kinds of gamblers I have mentioned can, in varying

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degrees, calculate the odds for or against their hunches. They work outtheir probabilities. These are expressed in proper fractions which range fromthe very smallest, approximating to the value 0 (when the chance of theevent's happening approaches extreme unlikelihood) to the largest properfractions, approximating to the value 1 (when the chance approachescertainty).

" But surely," you may say, " the fellow at that end of the probabilityscale who backs only certainties or near-certainties ought not to be calleda gambler at all." I would prefer to put it in another way, and say thatthere are gamblers and gamblers. The " and gamblers " with their near-certainties take their chance like the others, but they perform a perfectlylegitimate function. Their inductive and statistical generalizations are ofassessable quantitative value, and extend over the whole field of bothphysical and social science. The " illegitimate " gambler at the other endof the scale plays a riskier game. His " certs" are too uncertain.

Having drawn this distinction between gamblers and gamblers, I wantto call your attention to what seems to me to be an important, thoughcommonly overlooked, consideration. Namely, that there is a wide field ofhuman behaviour in which we thoughtlessly allow ourselves to take onunjustifiably long odds; behaviour in which what I have called illegitimategambling raises its ugly head to menace our peace of mind and even oursanity. I mean superstition. Nobody really believes that spilling salt canhave any conceivable effect on what is to happen to us in the next few •hours or days. Nevertheless quite a large number of folk feel vaguelyuneasy. What happens I fancy, in these circumstances, is that they say tothemselves " I know that it's silly to suppose that this little accident willaffect my immediate future, but I'd better throw a pinch of salt over myleft shoulder on the odd chance that there might be something in it." Thetruth is, however, that our superstitions (like this about salt-spilling) arenot just absurdities. When studied carefully they are found to be entangledin all sorts of human motives, both conscious and unconscious. Their rootslie deep in our human history. That is why these weeds are so difficult toeradicate. Moreover, the evil is not confined to casual superstitions like theones I have mentioned—though these in themselves, multiplied, may becomea nightmare burden to weak or tired or perplexed minds. There are alsoorganized systems of superstitions. Astrology for example. I need scarcelyremind you of the havoc which has been wrought in modern Europe bya megalomaniac . with tame astrologers attached. If any of you suppose,hopefully, that this cult is dying out, you should'take a look at some ofour newspapers.

The point• I am stressing is that superstition, whether casual orsystematic, can be treated on objective lines. It is a mathematical matter ofthe odds against. This provides a rough-and-ready-reckoner for assigningbeliefs to their proper place on scale stretching from mere superstition toreasonable expectation. The importance of this, in my opinion, is that themethod can be applied to religious beliefs in order to judge whether theyare superstitious or not. If there is evidence for a belief, if its probabilitiesare calculable and of reasonable amount, then there is nothing irrationalin your taking a chance in believing it. But if the odds cannot be estimated,or if they are grossly weighted against what is believed, then the belief isa superstition. It's a gambler's throw, which can readily crystallize aboutitself all the paraphernalia of superstition—amulets, charms and sacred relics.

Let us consider one important belief, the basic belief in immortality.This is crucial in many of the great religions. So anybody who doesn'tbelieve in personal survival should not call himself (or allow himself to becalled) a Christian, Buddhist or Mohammedan. And yet this is the greatest4

gamble of the lot. Think of it. The evidence for survival after death hasbeen searched for assiduously throughout the ages without avail. Even themost careful enquiries of modern psychical research societies fail to bringto light anything in the least impressive in favour of it. Yet men cling tothis belief with all the tenacity of despair, and may even (though not sooften as many would have us suppose) succumb to that last minute gambler'sthrow a death-bed repentance.

The most notable argument on this point in literature is Pascal's famouswager. In his Thoughts he tried to force us into Christianity byreasoning as if our concern with truth resembled our concern with the stakesin a game of chance. You must either believe or not believe that God is.Which will you do? A game is going on between you and the nature of'things which at the day of judgment will bring out either heads or tails.Weigh what your gains and losses would be if you should stake all youhave on heads, or God's existence: if you win in such case, you gaineternal beatitude; if you lose, you lose nothing at all.

William James was rightly contemptuous of this argument. Yet hehimself came perilously near it in his defence of religious belief as " forcedoptions ". There arc two ways, he said, of looking at our duty in the matterof opinion. We must know the truth, and we must avoid error. Whichoption, when faced by the need to believe a particular doctrine or not,should we take? The faith-vetoer opts to chance loss of truth rather than torisk error. He backs the field, James thinks, against the religious hypothesis.But is it wiser, he asks, to yield to our fear of being in error than to yieldto our hope that it may be true? " If hopes are dupes, fears may be liars."

The interesting thing about James's whole argument is that he nowherementions probabilities. My contention is that statistical generalization is notonly basic to modern scientific work but also clears the ground ofsuperstition. " Faith in the supernatural is" as Santayana says " a desperatewager made by man at the lowest ebb of his fortunes." When he is at thetop of his powers he estimates the changes and chances of things with acoolness that is prepared to meet the expected and unexpected with equalcalmness. He refuses to be stampeded into superstition because he knowsthe odds against; yet he does not close his eyes to startling possibilities inthe universe.

(Contributed by Professor Heath)

Profeisor J. C. Flugel on " Patterns of Culture,"March 23, 1947

Readings from: (I) Margaret Mead," Race to Racism."(2) T. H. Pear," Personality in Its Context " (Lecture in the

John Ryland's Library, Manchester).Students of man have always found it difficult to assess properly the

relative influence of Nature and Nurture in human life. The pendulumswings to and fro as new discoveries are made and new points of view areopened up. At the present moment there is a strong swing towards Nurtureso far as the social sciences are concerned and the Culture Pattern school ofAnthropology has contributed very largely to this.

This school is chiefly associated with the names of two American women,• Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead. The former's well-known Patterns ofCulture was the book that first clearly stated the position of the school,though some of Mead's books appeared earlier and are, perhaps, even betterknown. Among these are Coming of Age in Samoa, Growing up in NewGuinea and Sex and Temperament. Not only anthropologists but thosewho are largely psychological in approach, such as Kiuckholm, Linton,

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Kardina, Dollard in America and Pear in England, have devoted considerableattention to the claims and findings of the school. The main tenet of theschool is that each culture has its own special pattern or configuration, whichdistinguishes it from other cultures and which can as a rule be mostconveniently described in terms of some particular impulse, tendency or modeof behaviour. Thus, to take the three examples studied by Benedict in herPatterns of Culture: The Pueblos of New Mexico have a way of life whichsoft-pedals all emotion, all outstanding individuality and all manifestation offeeling; the inhabitants of the island of Dobu, off New Guinea, are governedby a dour suspiciousness in all their doings, in which the practice and thefear of malignant magic play a leading part; while with the Kwakintl of theNorth West Coast of America a strong competitiveness finds eXpression infantastically lavish expenditure and conspicuous waste in their numerousfeasts and entertainments. Similarly in three related tribes of New Guinea,Mead found that in the Mundugumor aggressiveness in all matters is theprevailing note; in the Arapesh, there is a strong suppression of the tendency;while in the Tehambuli there is a striking reversal of the roles of the sexes asthey are known in otir western culture, initiative and economic activity beingallotted to the women, while art and the more narcissistic forms ofgratification are the province of the men.

Turning to more general issues, it would appear that cultural patternsof this kind may be of place, time or group. The primitive cultures studiedby the anthropologists are primarily geographical or tribal; here the patternholds for all those living in a given area. But especially in modcrn civilizedcommunities, the pattern may vary with the epoch, the change being some-times very rapid, as after a social revolution (vide the social consequences ofthe sudden rise to power of Mussolini and Hitler-in quite recent years).Once again, however, in a complex modern society there may be differentgroups, corresponding to class, political and professional divisions, each tosome extent with its own pattern of thought, behaviour, ideals and etiquette.These latter patterns may be narrow (as has been found in certain studentcommunities, the members of which tend to fall into two main patterns,according to whether they are interested primarily in their academic work orin outside activities), or wide (as when an individual belongs to a " radical "or a " conservative " pattern, a matter which, as has been found in a numberof researches, is apt to affect his attitude in such different fields as those ofpolitics, economics, religion, education and sex).

The culture pattern school of anthropology has obvious affinities tocertain contemporary psychlogical doctrines. The whole idea of a culturalpattern has much in common with Gestalt; it might indeed be said to be asocialogical application of the Gestalt concept. The stress laid on therelative uniqueness of each culture is also reminiscent of the uniqueness ofeach individual personality, as recently emphasized by G. W. Allport andothers. It agrees with behaviourism in the importance it attaches toenvironmental influences and the immense flexibility it ascribes to humannature. It seeks to correct the over-generalizations that, in the opinion of.many, Freud has made from the patriarchal culture in which he lived, whileon the other hand, it agrees with psychoanalysts and psychoanalyticallyminded anthropologists in emphasizing the great importance of an individual'searly experience (as when it is suggested that the strongly masculinecharacteristics of many adult institutions among the Australian aborigines isconnected with lack of material tenderness or exaggerated maternaldominance in childhood). •• As regards the immense plasticity of the human mind as revealed by thestudy of culture patterns, it is pointed out that any given culture can onlymake use of a relatively small segment of the immense range of behaviouralpossibilities that man possesses in virtue of the vague and imprecise natureof his instinctive equipment and of his quite unique powers of adaptation.

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Each culture, as it were, selects some few related items from the potentialrange, develops them and kneads them into a more or less coherent pattern(much as each language selects and organizes some few of the total range ofsounds of which the human vocal organs are capable). According to thetype of behaviour selected and organized the society in question acquires, thedominant characteristics of its pattern.

In virtue, however, of their native endowment (or perhaps also of someanomaly in their upbringing) certain individuals do not fit easily into thepattern in which they find themselves. These are the " misfits " or the" deviants." A highly emotional man is ill at ease among the Pueblos, anaggressive one among the Arapesh, while a mild, retiring individual will farebadly among the quarrelsome Mundugumor. Similarly those who sufferfrom an exaggerated sense of sin might have been highly honoured in the

Puritan societies of New England in the eighteenth century but are out ofplace and are liable to be neurotic in an American city of today. A complexurban culture such as our own has, however, the advantage that it containsnumerous group sub-patterns, in one of which at least, an individual shouldbe able to find himself relatively at home. Nevertheless, there are somefeatures of our general pattern (such as that which allots particular roles tothe two sexes) which in their arbitrariness may inflict unnecessary sufferingand difficulty of adjustment. A woman with a strong desire for adventurousinitiating is in a more difficult situation than a man with similar proclivities.while a man with strongly developed domestic tastes may find it hard tosatisfy them without being dubbed a " sissy." The " natures " we are inclinedto attribute to men and women are largely the product of our culture, similarin kind (though hardly in degree) to the arbitrary rule among theMundugumor that only individuals born with the cord around their neckscan be artists!

The culture pattern doctrine has naturally received much criticism.above all perhaps on the ground that the descriptions or labels given to any

pattern are themselves intuitive and arbitrary. In anthropology the patternhas to be intuited or inferred, whereas in the perceptual configuration studiedby the Gestalt psychologists it is given in immediate experience. This raises

the question : how good is the intuition or the process of inference involved?Indeed a whole series of interesting problems is raised. These problems are,however, in many respects similar to those involved in the measurement anddescription of types of individual " personality " or " character," and manyof the methods with which psychologists are working in the latter field maybe applied to the problem of culture patterns also.

Although much work remains to be done, there is no doubt that the

culture pattern school has had a beneficent influence, both in bringing abouta closer co-operation between psychologists and anthropologists and inmaking us more clearly conscious of the relativity of our own culture.

(Contributed by Professor Flugel)

Archibald Robertson, M.A., on " Early Christianity and Modern Socialism,"

March 30, 1947

Readings from: (I) The " Apology" of Tertullian.(2) "The Religion of Socialism," by Belfort flax.

Parallels have often been drawn between the history of Grxco-Roman

civilization and that of the modern civilization to which we belong. In bothcases we see, emerging from an earlier Dark Age of barbarism, a vigorous

civic life based on a foundation of trade, and productive of notable work,s

of genius in art, literature and philosophy. In both cases this period ofvigorous civic life leads to a phase of world conquest and to the

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establishment of a common civilization over a substantial part of thehabitable globe. In both cases the phase of war and revolution is succeededby a spell of tranquillity and seeming security (the Antonine period inantiquity, the later nineteenth century in the modern world) during whichpublic men nurse the illusion of automatic and continual progress. And inboth cases this spell of tranquillity and seeming security ends abruptly ina new age of violence (the post-Antonine collapse in the Roman Empire,the convulsions of the twentieth century in our own world) which writesa huge question-mark against the future of civilization.

Gibbon in the thirty-eighth chapter of the Decline and Fall discussesand dismisses the possibility of the modern world sharing the fate of theancient. He stresses the differences between the two cases. Rome had externalbarbarians to fear : modern civilization has brought the barbarians underits sway. And so forth. But while Gibbon saw the differences between theancient and modern worlds, he failed to see (or perhaps took as a matterof course) one important resemblance between them. Both ancient andmodern civilization rest on a sub-stratum of exploited labour (slave-labourin the ancient, wage-labour in the modern world) and the cultural achieve-ments which make so brave a show in each affect either not at all, or to avery limited extent, the lives of those who carry the whole thing on theirbacks.

The art, literature and philosophy of the Graeco-Roman world were inthe main the affair of the slave-owning aristocracy. There is no Chinesewall between classes; and in every age a certain amount of culture percolatesclass barriers. But on the whole the slaves and freedmen of the ancientworld were hardly touched by classical culture. They sought compensationfor the hard conditions of their life in the " mystery " religions of thoseEastern countries from which they mostly came (" mystery " in the sense ofsecret—not to be divulged). All these had as their main feature the cult ofa god who suffers, dies and rises again—originally a vegetation-god of thepeasants, but in classical times a pledge of a happier life hereafter to thosewho found this life a burden hard to bear. Later many of these disinheritedpeople became proselytes to Judaism. This was stronger meat than any" mystery " cult; for the Jewish scriptures inveighed against oppression ofthe poor and promised a " kingdom of the saints " not in the sky, but hereon earth. Christianity was a blend of the two types of religion. How theybecame blended is a fascinating problem, but very difficult to solve owingto the elaborate doctoring of the available documents. There was at firstno uniform brand of Christianity. Some Christian churches were just Jewishcongregations which expected a God-sent King or Messiah, by name Jesus,to appear and inaugurate the millennium. Others, the Pauline churches,had more in common with the " mystery " cults. But all had this incommon: they were essentially friendly societies held together by mutualassistance and a weekly common meal.

Whether any of these societies had revolutionary aims we cannot knowfor certain. Documentary evidence on this would naturally be destroyed.But that the Roman authorities regarded them as politically dangerous thereis no doubt whatever. All friendly societies, except burial clubs, were bannedunder the Roman Empire for political reasons. Societies which met togetherto hear discourses from itinerant " prophets " on the approaching day whenthe Lord would come and destroy the kingdoms of this world, to make wayfor the kingdom of God and his Messiah, were naturally open to the gravestsuspicion. There could be no doubt as to the interpretation which slaves,living under the constant threat of torture and crucifixion might be expectedto put on such teaching.

The leaders of the Church were anxious to avoid trouble with the8

Empire. In fact from the time of Justin (150).the apologists openly angledfor an alliance. During the tranquil Antonine period•the Empire could affordto ignore such overtures. But after the collapse of the third century it becameevident that the Church must be either crushed or brought over. Imperialpolicy wavered between the two. Then Constantine brought off his brilliantcoup, bought the Church bag and baggage, and turned a potential menaceinto a buttress of autocracy.

At the time when Gibbon was writing his Decline and Fall and turninghis blind eye, as we have seen, to the social problem which confronted themodern, as it had confronted the ancient world, the industrial revolutionwas beginning to bring that problem to a head. The year 1788 saw thecompletion of Gibbon's work; it also say:, a man whipped through the streetsof Edinburgh for taking part in a combination of hand-loom weavers toresist a reduction in wages. The trade union movement was beginning. Butwhereas the slave class of antiquity, cut off from the culture of their dayand helpless in the grip of a great military empire, saw no hope save indivine intervention, the modern worker, legally free and (owing to thenature of machine industry) possessing an ever-increasing modicum ofscientific training, seeks his citizenship in this world. In the Co-operativeMagazine, published in 1827 as the organ of the Owenite LondonCo-operative Society, occurs the first use of the word " Socialist " to denotethe advocates of common ownership of the means of production as analternative to the capitalist system. From the Owenite advocacy ofco-operation to the political agitation of the Chartists, from the Chartists'agitation and parallel movements on the Continent to the CommunistManifesto of Marx and Engels (which supplies a historical basis for themall), from Marx and Engels to the rise of working-class political partiesin all industrial countries, from the rise of such parties to the conquest ofpolitical power in one country after another, the spread of modern Socialismexhibits important parallels, but equally important contrasts with that ofearly Christianity.

Anyone who reads that very early Christian document, the Teachingof the Twelve Apostles, will be struck by the similarity between theorganization of a primitive Christian congregation and that of a modernSocialist or trade union branch. Each elects its officials; each enjoys thevisits of travelling speakers, who are paid their expenses. The earlyChristians are cautioned against propagandists who try to live on themovement—careerists, or as they are called, "Christmongers." Is this aparallel too? The differences between one Christian church and another,especially between those who would not compromise with the RomanEmpire and those who would and did, also have their parallel in the modernSocialist movement.

But the contrasts are as important as the parallels. The modern Socialistdoes not look for the supersession of the capitalist system by divineintervention. He knows that men and women must rely on themselves.Self-reliance is none the less self-reliance because it takes the form, not ofindividual go-getting a la Samuel Smiles, but of democratic, industrial andpolitical organization. May that remain the basis of the Labour Movement,and may it never sell out to a Constantine!

(Contributed by Archibald Robertson)

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CONWAY DISCUSSION CIRCLE

Hector Hawton on " Is Rationalism Enough ?March I I, 1947

Rationalism may be viewed as an attempt to apply scientific method tomost of the problems that face us. Applied to problems of conduct thiscompels us to take a positive line on social questions. Such a defunction ofRationalism implies much of the philosophy known as Scientific Humanism.which is the ideological reflection of a world in transition. lust as the Ageof Magic gave way to the Age of Religion, so the latter is at present givingway slowly but surely to the Age of Science. This is the culmination of along historical process—the gradual secularization of social life and institu-tions. The consistent Rationalist must therefore support all those policies.at home and abroad,,which hasten the secular process and oppose thosepolicies which retard it. Having supported the unfettered progress of science

he must accept responsibility for the results, such as atomic energy. Hemust therefore define his attitude to the international problems created by theatomic bomb. He cannot consistently support restrictions on research. Thedanger of atomic warfare must not be laid to the charge of the physicist.The solution is not to retreat and so be false to the Rationalist tradition bylimiting science, but to go forward and apply scientific method to thereorganization of society. Thus Rationalism leads us to devise a way of lifeas well as impelling a criticism of religious beliefs. What is needed in thepresent critical condition of the world is not less but more science. Byrecognizing that Rationalist principles imply Scientific Humanism it ispossible to make Rationalism the spearhead of the advance into a new agein which man will control his own destiny and free himself from the tyrannyof chance and superstition.

H. H.

Dr. Lin on " The Religion of China,"March 18, 1947

In the unavoidable absence of Mr. S. E H.siung, Dr. Lin, who hadrecently given a series of lectures in America, and who that day had come

down from Oxford, gave a most interesting lecture on "The Chinese questfor a rational religion."

There were actually three religions—Confucianism, Buddhism, and

Taoism, at any rate externally it might appear that they had three religions,but on the basis of these three they had derived a central religious senti-ment, which is what he would call the religion of China.

When you knew the religion of a people, you knew the basis of thementality of that people. One of the greatest dangers of this age is thatpeoples are drawn closer and closer together, but the way to bring themtogether successfully was to understand their religious creed. Were the

Chinese religious? The answer was perhaps No ' because they were not

religious in the sense that the Western people were religious, i.e.; highly

organised and sectarianised, so that a man embracing a certain religion

has to become a member of that community. They had religion in ageneral sense—you could not go for 3,000 years without a religion. Itmay be there are individuals who are impervious to religion, but as a

civilization, as a people with higher culture, it is impossible to think thatpeople can go long without some kind of religion. People of a higher culture

are those that in the end develop some kind of rational religion, and thatis probably the kind of religion the Chinese have.

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China 3,000 years ago entered upon an age of Feudalism, the beginningof higher culture in China, and in this first age the Chinese religion developedtwo features:

The first emphasises what is known as Ancestor Worship. This wasderived from the same kind of ancestor worship as in their primitivesociety, but reorganised and it represented the life affirmative rathcrthan the life negative.Secondly, together with this ancestor worship, there was evolved theidea of Heaven, and gradually the two merged into one.This ethical combination was, however, restricted to the ruling group:

an aristocratic god not shared by the common people, and then followedthe individualistic age, the time of Confucius, and the aristocratic god wasmade universal: The democratization of god, followed the democratizationof man and individuals were made equal: it was the time of the awakeningof the individual. Later there is the individualistic train of thought.

From this stage China started her quest for a real religion. People werenot satisfied unless they could build for themselves some kind of overallintegration, the quest for the whole, for the "all." So that when they spokeof religion in a rational sense it must be an overall sense, not based uponclass, but based upon everything. He called this cosmic integration, andpeople were not satisfied until they had this. Modern man, he thought, hadreached this point. They had outgrown the point when they could acceptthe traditional form without question, nor could they brush it aside as theopium of the people: they must find something which will embrace all.

Modern people were becoming restless for some kind of integration.That was the issue today, and the issue of the Chinese society 2,000 yearsago.

The religion must embrace all, but in that all a place must be givento the individual man. The danger of any overall or cosmic integration isthat it would have a tendency to authoritarianism. Religion, however, mustnot be authoritarian, but must give the individual a place. A real religionwould have to reconcile activity with permanence, which is what the Chinesehave set themselves to find.

Taoistic philosophy had more of a metaphysical basis, etherealizingeverything. About 100 years afterwards Buddhism came, reinforcing themetaphysical mind in China.

In Taoism there was a tendency to believe in the absolute as againstthe relative, to go slightly beyond the sphere of man into the sphere ofabsolutism.

Real Confucianism employed the two theories Buddhism and Taoism:the whole universe, was interpreted as an active thing in perpetualtransformation and transfiguration, what the Chinese sought 'in theirrational religion, a religion which embraces all.

Answering a question, Dr. Lin explained that Taoism meant "Theway." And as to what actually was the religion of China he said thereligious temperament, or spiritual ethos is connoted by Tao, which isidentified by•your own heart: there was no Tao but through your own heart.The mind is the seed of emotion, but man to have all must follow thereligion of the heart, the religion of the Tao, to be at one with the " all "and to comprehend all.

Mysticism was the essence of all religion. What did they mean bymetaphysical? The logical aproach was to get at a thing by inference. Youdid not experience god as such, but you argued it. But one is not convinceduntil the mind can be convinced, so a resort is made to metaphysics. TheChinese approach the problem from the positivistic angle, seeing a big group,as it were, of flowers, but those flowers belonging to all, to one. Theimmediate appreciation of this oneness is what is meant by the metaphysical

II

approach, to try and see everything in terms of meaning, and if you dothis you find everything has a meaning.

Concluding, the lecturer stated that the Chinese had developed theunderstanding of personal integrity, and this, he thought, had done muchto pull Society together.

A. F. B.

Joseph Braddock, M.A., on " What is Poetry ? "March 25, 1947 •

Mr. Braddock in opening stated that when Dr. Johnson was once asked"What is Poetry?" replied " Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it isnot." All poetry sprang from some form of enthusiasm: the IndwellingGod, or the God within. Poetry can be Ethical, Narrative, Dramatic,Lyrical, and sub-divided into poems of love, exaltation, pastoral, satirical,war poetry, etc.

He said it was the portrayal of characters and action by means ofverse, artistic representation of a speaking picture, bringing delight to thereader. Mr. Braddock quoted Wordsworth, a poet with powerful feelings ofemotion, bringing tranquillity. He instanced the poem " Daffodils," which hequoted : " I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high," etc. Shelleyhad said that poetry was the record of the best and happiest moments ofthe happiest and best minds.

Keats had said that the great end of poetry should be to ease thecares and lift the thoughts of men.

It had been said that it was not the poet's business to save men's soulsbut to make them worth saving. Poetry was really a strange flower, whichwould not bloom in every soil. A flower of imagination and not of logic.

Words become poetry by means of the fusion of thought and sound,and the best we can do is to describe poetry as prose in flight. Or theverbal manifestation of the singing voice. It was not studying life as it isbut as it might be. The poet is a diviner or a prophet.

Poets have in all ages had the gift of foreseeing the future, e.g.,Tennyson did this in Locksley Hall: " Till the war drum throbs no longer,and the battle flag is furled in the Parliament of Man, the Federation ofthe world." A poet did not differ from any other human being, exceptperhaps in perspective, and a greater power of sense and impression: " Wherethere is no vision the people perish."

Rupert Brooke had said that the power of the poet consisted just oflooking at things and people as they are themselves. He suddenly feltthe extraordinary value of everybody he met and saw, even sitting intrains and seeing the essential glory and beauty of all the people he met.

A poet wanted to speak clearly, yet to the average listener appeareddifficult or obscure. One of the reasons for this is that poets rely on thepower of using words in a special way; to kindle minds to a fresh vitalitythat looks into the secret life of things. What could be said in prose,however, had far better be said in prose.

Interesting quotations were made from many poets, including Blake,Chaucer, Walter do la Mare, and T. S. Eliot. Mr. Braddock thought SidneyKeyes was the most tragic literary loss of the war. He had the strongestdesire for life, even to old age. He thought the function of poetry was togive some idea of the fusion of finite and infinite and to show the relation-ship between the eternal and its physical counterpart. Potentially he was agreat poet. The authority of his music was heard in " Glaucus ": the climaxof his poetry came with " Wilderness" . . . " The red rock wildernessshall be my dwelling place." •12

He thought poets were a national asset, the greatest glory of thenation, like a nest of singing birds. With the revival of the spoken wordon the wireless and the possibility of a new poetic drama, the future wasfull of promise.

Mr. Braddock concluded by asking his listeners to listen to the greatestpoetic NOICe of all, and gave a Shakesperian quotation, which was appreciatedby everyone.

Several questions were subsequently put to Mr. Braddock, to whichhe gave full and interesting replies. He was asked the best way of appreciatingpoetry, and recommended a book " Poetry for You." The appeal of goodpoetry, he said, should be both to the eye and to the ear. In Coleridge's" Ancient Mariner " line after line of poetry gave them a mental picture.

Modern poetry seemed confused jargon to one member of the audience,and Mr. Braddock mentioned that in every age there had been a lot ofbad poetry written. Modern poets tend to develop the imagination at theexpense of the complete poem. A lot of modern poetry came out of thesubconsciousness, and they expected you to jump from one link to another,but it would be a good thing if more objective poetry was written by otherpoets. He thought the modern poet was aiming at a highly sophisticated-audience, and not prepared to accept the old type of poetry.

Replying to a further question as to whether he was satisfied with theway poetry was represented over the B.B.C. Mr. Braddock thought somepoetry on the B.B.C. was very good indeed, and he specially mentionedthe Third Programme on Saturday nights.

Mr. Braddock, asked if a Shakespeare could possibly fit into thepresent age, said it was impossible to pass dogmatic judgments on anyliving poets. If Shakespeare had died at the age of 30 they would have hadno idea how far he could have gone.

He did genuinely believe this was the most interesting age in poetry,and they could not tell what the outcome would be.

He agreed with one questioner that poetry must be apprehended andnot comprehended. " Voyaging through strange seas of thought alone,"he mentioned that modern poets may succeed and they should beencouraged.

In conclusion Mr. Braddock stated that one of the most difficult thingsin the world was the translation of one country's poetry into the languageof another. The masterpiece of translation he instanced as " Omar Khayydm."

A. F. B.

South Place Concerts: PRESENTATION TO MRS. CLEMENTS

There was something of sadness, a sigh for days that are gone andwhich will never return, even a feeling that present invisibly in the audiencewere loved ones long departed, at Conway Hall on the occasion of the lastconcert of the season on March 30. During the interval and betweenperformances of the Dvorak Op. 106 and the Beethoven Op. 127 stringquartets, it was announced that Mrs. Clements was relinquishing thesecretaryship to the concerts with which she had been associated since thevery first—and this was the one thousand four hundred and fifth whichhad been given. An amazing record extending over sixty years. Sixty yearsis a. long time and the years take their toll no matter how willing the spirit,how young the heart. Struggling through a severe winter with bad health

• to contend with as well, Mrs. Cements managed to accomplish the season,but she felt another would be beyond her powers.

On behalf of the Committee and on that platform where so much oftlie finest thought of musicians has been expressed, Mrs. Briscoe presentedMrs. Clements with a bunch of flowers and a house coat as some small

13

token of their esteem and appreciation. Mrs. Clements, the music of hervoice as beguiling as the music she had loved all her life, thanking Mrs:Briscoe (and the Committee) said she hoped that audiences of futureconcerts would give that affection to her successors which they had sofreely given in the past to Alfred and herself. She visualised the time whenaudiences would not even have known Alfred by sight, but the concertswould still be going on.

It would be futile to attempt, in the compass of this brief note, toenumerate all that the South Place concerts owe to Mr. and Mrs. Clements.Briefly their unvarying high standard and'continued existence. Both impressedtheir personalities on the:concerts: personalities compounded of devotion,untiring efforts and love of the best in music. These qualities made South'Place into what has been so aptly described as the Mecca of chambermusic lovers. To maintain their high standards and fine tradition they havebuilt will be no easy task for her successor. If my good wishes have value,he will succeed.

W. S. MEADMORE.

EDITORIAL NOTES

South Place String Orchestra Concert, Sunday, April 13.This concert gave pleasure and delight to all those who were fortunate

enough to attend. Eric Sawyer, the conductor, must have felt rewarded forhis, consistent good work with the orchestra.

In addition to the works mentioned in our last issue, the orchestraplayed a work by Britten; Martin Gluth, tenor, who sang five songs, couldhave no doubt that the audience was very well pleased, for the acclamationthat ended his recital was loud and prolonged; and the violinist, Felix Kok,gave particular pleasure to lovers of Bach by his playing of the ViolinConcerto in E. He, also, was greatly applauded, and deservedly so. Avery successful effort, and we hope that the honorary secretary, E. J. Fairhall,feels in a very real sense adequately compensated for his work in resuscit-ating the String Orchestra as an activity of thc Society.

Library Discussion Circle• Members are reminded that the last three talks on the specialist views

of " The Nature of Man " will be given in the library on Tuesday eveningsat seven o'clock, as follows: May 6—The Sociologist; May 13—ThePhilosopher and the Theologian; May 20—The Rationalist, the Humanist,and the Atheist.

A. J. Cements Chamber Music PrizeThe adjudicators for 1947 are Alan Bush, Howard Ferguson and Richard

H. Walthew. All work for the competition must be sent in by October 1.The prize is £20. Further particulars from the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. F. M.Hawkins, 9, Asmuns Hill, N.W.11.

The Annual General MeetingThis will be held on Thursday evening, May 29, at 7 p.m. There will

be tea at 6.15 p.m. The attention of members is directed to Rule 4, whichstates: " Those members only who are twenty-one years of age or upwards,whose names have been twelve months upon the register, and whosesubscriptions for the previous year have been paid, shall be qualified tovote and hold office." The Annual Report should reach members by May 21..An election of Trustees will take place at the meeting.

14 ,

R.P.A. Lecture

Members are asked to note that the Library has been let to the R.P.A.on Thursday evening, May 15. John Aitkenhead will lecture -on "Educationwithout Religion; Description of a Scottish Experiment." Any member whowould like an invitation to this lecture should apply to the Secretary or toMiss James of the R.P.A.

Conway Memorial Lecture

Members and friends are reminded that this lecture will be deliveredby Dr. Joseph Needham, F.R.S., on Monday, May 12. The title chosen is" Science, Mysticism and Ethics in Chinese Thought."

Change of Address

The address of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Barralet is now Hill Cottage,Farnborough, Kent.

Obituary

Many old members will hear with regret that Mr. Robb Lawson haspassed away after a six months illness at the age of 74. He was marriedin 1905 at South Place Chapel, and for many years was prominentlyconnected with the Society and its various activities.

CORRESPONDENCE To the Editor of The Monthly Record

DEAR SIR,-1 think the letter in the March issue of The Monthly Record—signed M. F. Unwin—on the need of a religion and the urge to worship inman is very true. The writer truly says " Man must worship, i.e., pray forand strive for, something better and greater than himself ".

I suggest that the booklet " The New World " by Lord Snell, reviewedin the same issue of -The Record, splendidly' answers this need. There aresome fine and inspiring chapters therein, pointing the way to a full andadequate " faith ". This can be summed up in "Service "—service in athousand ways to our fellow men—and in this " service " we can partlyrepay in this our day and generation the great debt we owe to the pioneers," priests ", poets, philosophers and ordinary men and women of the pastwho by their toil and vision have bequeathed so goodly a heritage to us.

Again I would say—read "The New World " by Harry Snell.R. H. VICKERS.

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SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYSUNDAY MORNING MEETINGS AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK

May 4.—H. L. REALES, M.A.—" Leadership or Leadership?"

'Cello Solo by ADELINA LEON Variations Boelhnann

Hymns: Nos. 50 and 207

May 11.— KENNETH URWIN, M.A., D.Litt. — ' Rational Optimism."

Bass Solos by a. c. D0WMAN The wonderful month of May .. Schumann

Sweet chance that led my steps abroad Michael Head

Roadway

Hymns: Nos. 76 and 65

May 18.— ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON, M.A. — " Is Man Selfish?"

Piano Solo by ELLA IVIMET Variations and Rondo from Sonata No. 20 Mozart

Hymns: Nos. 135 and 141

May 25.—WHITSUN—NO mEETING.

June 1.—PROF. J. C. FLUGEL. D.Sc.—" Sixty Years of International Language."

Pianist: ELLA IVIMEY. Admission Free. Collection.

At Home for Members and Friends.—In the Library on Sunday, May 18, at

3 p.m. Tea 3.45 p.m. (6d.). Community Singing arranged by Mr. Dowman.

Rambles.—Sunday, May 11, Caterham. Train, Charing Cross, 1.23. Leader: Mr.

James. Saturday, May 17, Rickmansworth. Train, Baker Street, 1.50 Leader: Douglas

Broughton.

Social Evenings.—The Library is available on Thursdays from 6,30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

for members and friends. Except on May 15: see note on preceding page.

South Place String Orchestra. Fridays, 7 p.m. Conductor: Eric W. Sawyer.

Particulars from lion. Scc., E. J. Fairhall, 18 Golden Manor, W.7.

The Monthly Record is posted free to Members and Associates. The annual charge

to subscribers is 4s. Matter for publication in the June issue should reach the

Editor, C. J. Turnadge, at Conway Hall, by Monday, May 12.

The Objects of the Society are the study and dissemination of ethical principles

and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment.

Any person in sympathy with these objects -is cordially invited to become a Member

(minimum annual subscription 10s.), or Associate (minimum annual subscription 5s.).

Associates are not eligible to vote or hold office. Enquiries should be made of the

Registrar to whom subscriptions should be paid.

Officers

Hon. Treasurer: C. E. LISTER

Hon. Registrar: Mrs. T. LINDSAY Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, W.C.1.

Secretary: C. J. TLIELNADGE

The Society does not hold itself responsible for views expressed or reported herein.

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