These have been held without interruption. Air raids did not materially affect attendances until September 11, by which date warnings were becoming frequent and indiscriminate night bombing a regular experience. Then there were only some dozen guests to be welcomed by four of our helpers. The party had tea under the platform of the Large Hall. One of our most regular and energetic assistants attended in the slacks she was wearing when the house next door to her home had been levelled to the ground a night or two before. She had to seek a roof elsewhere possessed of only the clothes she stood up in. She has since been able to remove some of her property by mounting a dangerous staircase.
Despite the continuance of air raids a still larger party assembled on September 18 when conditions enabled them to use the Library as usual. One of them (a Czech journalist) writes that they are doing their best to overcome this ordeal and to remain cheerful. It is the only thing they can do to help their British friends to win the war. Now, as they are in the front line, their confidence is even greater and their admiration for the British people infinite. Their friends coming from France, who are competent in military matters, are likewise convinced that England will win; not only because of the fighting spirit of the forces, but because they see the courage of the whole people in contrast to what they saw in France.
These weekly `' At Homes " will go on as long as practicable. We regret that in consequence of the bombing of adjacent flats and a gas main explosion our Hon. Secretary has had to seek rest in the country in order to recover from the shock. Mrs Lister, aided by Mrs. Nash and the lady in slacks, hopes to be able to carry on with such other help as may be forthcoming. Mrs. Battersby was able to attend on September 25.
The opening Sunday morning meeting was duly held on September 15. There had been frequent air raid warnings in London since August 24 and intensive attacks since September 7. The neighbourhood near Red Lion Square had suffered. Many people setting forth to the meeting had yet to learn tbat Conway Hall itself was still unharmed.
It was therefore with anxiety that a few responsible officers of the Society assembled. They wondered how many peop]e would be able to join them. It was not even known whether the lecturer would be able to attend. Lord Snell however, arrived punctually. Some twenty persons were present to greet him from the start, and the number rapidly rose to sixty. Miss Ivimey and Mr. Dowman provided music, and the proceedings, although briefer than usual, were normal.
Two-thirds of the way through the lecture the sirens were heard. Lord Snell good-humouredly broke off his discourse to state that members of the audience could seek public shelter, change their seats to safer places under the balcony, or remain where they were. No one moved. There was an encouraging cheer and the lecture was continued without further interruption. Only a mile or two away part of a fierce air battle was in progress.
The Sunday meeting on September 22 took place successfully, despite a late start, caused by circumstances beyond the control of those concerned. There was a very fair attendance and no siren disturbed the proceedings. A shortened version of Dr. Joad's lecture on " Principles at issue " will in due course appear in our next issue.
Many of our members have lived in and around London all their lives. South Place Ethical Society has developed from a body of religious dissenters who founded their organisation within the City. Some of them lived over their business premises and continued to do so until modern times. London is therefore the background of their lives. They love its old churches, its public buildings, its ancient streets, its docks, warehouses and industrial establishments, its picture galleries and museums.
Several of them now live on the outskirts in circumstances which do not require daily visits to town. The news of destruction by fire and bombs fills them with sadness, as of injury done to friends and familiar faces. They make a journey ,to Red Lion Square in some dread of the sights which may meet their eyes.
This, at any rate, was the feeling of one who went to Conway Hall on September 15, after watching fires and hearing explosions for ten days from a house on high ground some ten miles to the north-east of Dockland. It was encouraging, therefore, to notice from the train how normal everything looked. Miles and miles of suburban houses and gardens, and well-known landmarks were as usual. Only between Stratford and Liverpool Street Stations were there occasional signs of damage—mere flecks on a familiar scene. The Central London Railway does not favour sight-seeing, but Southampton Row, Kingsway and Oxford Street seemed to be as usual. Only a barrier to traffic suggested that all was not well in Holborn. London, up to September 15, had been dealt some nasty knocks, but the bruises required searching for, unless their position was known. Journeys to town on September 22 and 25 gave rather less favourable impressions, but there were still extensive undamaged areas. Conway Hall had only suffered a little broken glass, but on the later date there were some ugly sights in Red Lion Square.
This is a time when the scientific mind and some knowledge of psychology stands the owner in good stead, albeit he may not be popular with those less fortunately endowed. His attitude to rumour is sternly sceptical. Statements of alleged facts made to him by those around are sifted as carefully as politeness admits. People don't like this treatment. They get a kick out of the communication of horrors. If.the effect is not as was expected, the horrors tend to be still further magnified. There is also the opposite and rarer tendency to understatement of which official bulletins are perhaps an excusable example.
In these times the importance of the exact use of terms becomes even more apparent. It is difficult to give an accurate account of what one sees, and still more difficult to repeat accurately what one has been told. No wonder that miracles are said to have occurred and that beliefs unfounded in fact have been and are still held.
It is the intention to conduct the Sunday morning meetings as long as may be practicable. Although the sirens are heard often during the day there is not so much danger in Central London as at night. It is recognised that circumstances may arise at any time to render attendance inconvenient and that a lecturer may not be able to reach Conway Hall. It is hoped however, that all supporters of the Society will do what they can to keep its principal activity alive.
Arrangements have been made for Professor Keeton and Mr. Katz to give a series of three monthly lectures. Mr. Katz's lectures will all be entitled " I Believe in Man." On October 13 he will deliver the introductory discourse; on November 17 the sub-title will be "The crisis and the rebirth of civilisation"; and on December 15 "The new individual in the new Society.'
The thanks of the Society are due to Mr. and Mrs. Lister for continuing in residence at Conway Hall during a particularly difficult and dangerous period of our history. Fortunately it is possible for them to obtain fair protection in the basement. Mrs. Nash, the Housekeeper, also remains at her post. Zealous attention to the interests of the Society is being given by the Hall Porter, Mr. E. CI. Perry, who is regularly in attendance, and makes a special examination of the premises when there has been some risk of damage. He acts as watcher when the siren has been heard, and gives warning to people in the Hall when immediate danger is threatened. The Secretary attends almost daily, although he has to face difficulties. The Society is fortunate in its officers and staff.
The October issue of the Literary Guide (Watts; 3d.) contains several contributions of noteworthy interest, even in the midst of the stirring and difficult events of to-day. Mr. Ernest Thurtle, for instance, pays tribute to the bravery and devotion of those who are defending the freedom and independence of Britain, while Surgeon Rear-Admiral Beadnell discusses the elements of warfare as they are to be discerned among sub-human animals. "Protonius" devotes most of his monthly causerie to the recent Day of National Prayer, Mr. L. G. Rylands writes of Loisy's last book, Dr. C. O. Hawthorne reviews at some length Mr. J. E. R. McDonagh's fascinating volume on The Universe Through Medicine, and Mr. John Rowland provides an interesting survey of the work of Roger Fry as shown in Mrs. Virginia Woolf's recent biography.