APRIL, 1916.

Soutb plac~ €tbical South Place, Moorgate Street, E.C.

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

MEMBERSHIV. Any person in sympathy with the Objeot of the ooiety is cordially invited to become

0. M"mbcr. Particulars of Membership may be obtained in tbe Library before and after the Sunday services, or on application to t he Hon. Registrar, Miss F. BEenAM, South Plaoe Institute, Finsbury, E.O. -

1\SSEH~I7\TES. Any person interestcd in the Society' s work, but not wishing to become 0. Member,

Illlly join as on _\ssocio.te. Particulars may be obtoi1lCd from the Hon. Registrar as nbove.

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICES. The following DISCOURSES will be delivered on Sunday mornings

Service beginning at ELEVEN O' CLOCK. March 26.-GRAHAM WALLAS, M.A.-The War and our Ways of Thinking.

{

I {Spring'. faith .. . Anthems . Keep inuocency .. .

2. Light, light in darkness

{No. 105. Aa wo w.x: older OIl lhis earth.

Hymns No. 225. Praise to the heroes.

Franz Mac/a,...."

Hnmmcl

April 2.-HERBERT BURROWS.- The Religious Failure of the Free Churches. Anthems r 1. Evcrlnsting, changing llc"cr Trou88cllc

1 2. Man is his own star ... W. bster Hymn. {

No. IG. 0 llclp the propllet to be bold. No. 14. Of old snt .Io'rccdolll on the heights.

April 9. - JOHN A. HOBSON, M.A.- Free Trade as a Factor in Civilization. Anthems {I. The worldly llOpe .. .

2. Ha,ppy is the mnn .. .

Hymns {No.207. Men I whose boast it is that ye. Xo . 115. H appy Ito whose spirit cnr.

April16. -S. K. RATCLlFFE. S Ubj ect to be announced. Anthems {1. Spring her lovely ohnrms unfolds

2. How sweet the moonlight... ...

Hymn. {NO. 5. Britain's first pact. No. 208. All men "ro equal in their birth .

April 2a.-Easter Sunday. - No Service.

Le/"nann Pront

Haydn L .. lie

April aO. - Shakespeare Tercentenary- C. DELlS LE BURNS, M.A.-" Callban." Anthems {1. 0 bid yOlll' faithful Arid fly (" Tho Tempest ") ... ~mc

2. ~'ho cloud c"pp'd towers ( .. TI1 'rempcst ").

Hymn. {No.8. Oh how muell more cloth b

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Sunday School. The Ohildren meet at Armfield'. Hotel, opposite the OHAP])L, over;\' Sunday MorninA',

at 11, and their lesson i8 given during the dlscourse. Members n.nd fnends ,.ishing theu' children to attend school are requested to communicate with thc Secretary.

The Ohildren'. Library. in the class· room over the 'estry, is open every Sunday Morn ing bofore and after the serviCtld, Dulwich, .E. Hon. Sec.· •. ALfRED J. CLElIENTS, 8, Finchley Way, Brent Onrden Villnge, Ohurch End,

.Finchley, N.

{Mrs. OLEMENTS, 8, Finch ley Way, Brcnt Oorden Village, Ohurch End,

Hon. 41St. Sec8. Finchley. N. D. CnRISTJE TAIT, 36, LamboUe Road, S. Hampstead, N.W.

erchestra. Conductor: Richard H. Walthew.

The usnnl procticcs will be ht'ld on Fridn\'s, Ipril i and 11. The onnunl concert \vil1 he glvl'n 011 Hundn:1 , _\pril IG, ut (j p.m. )tlI'S Dorothy nnnd.\" will Sillg nnd Mr. H. H. 'Yo.ltlH'w .nnd lIr .. John Rnl1nd~r8 will ploy Jlinnofort{' and violin solos re-spN'th·(·l". TIll' Orcl\estm. will IlCrform the following works: Rymphonie Rpirit,,"lle, by Unm"rik; .iIolhrr~ ~1~~(!,cicl~Y Gl'icg; Prelude to .. The D('lug'

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NOTES AND COMMENTS.

"THE ROUND ThBLE."-The temporary sLlspension of the Discussion Meetings at South Place renders it more important than ever that facilities should be available for members to keep in touch with the many problems confronting us through the war, with all its attendant upheavals and its widespread interference with the ordinary duties and amenities of life.

Towards this end two members of the Society have kindly arranged to present copies of "The Round Table," as puh-lished for the year 1916, to the Lending Library.

"The Round Table" is a quarterly review dealing with Imperial problems, freed from the bia~ of Party issues; and to give some idea of its scope the following articles appear in No. 22, which will be available for borrowers simul-taneously with the publication of the April Monthly List:

The War for Public Right, Production in Peace and War, The Problem of \i\Tomen in Industry, America's Reaction in the War, and suneys on the present-day situation in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, compiled by com-petent authorities on the spot.

In order to introduce the character of the review to intend-ing readers, and to convey some idea of its spirit of approach to the subject matters dealt with, it will be fitting to quote the preface to the article on "The War for Public Right." :

It is sometimes difficult, amid the shifting anxieties and turmoil of a world· wide campaign, to retain a clear vision of the real purpose with which we entered the war. Tt is a commonplace in military history that the minds of men become so preoccupied with immediate and minor operations that they fail to concentrate sufficiently on the decisive theatre of the war. This is no less a danger in the political sphere. \Ye entered the war with a political, not a military, object. If we are to avoid the danger of a peace wh ich is no peace, it is important, from time to time, to resurvey our course. An attempt, therefore, will be made in this article to examine once more, in the light of the experience of the last eighteen months, the true nature of the conflict between l'russianism and ideals of a free Commonwealth, and what is, therefore, the essential condition of lasting peace

It is suggested that in order to circulate the review and meet the demand, as far as possible, borrowers should return the copy to the library on the Sunday immediately following the loan.

W ALLIS MANSFORD} H . . MARY RAWLINGS on. Lzbrarzmzs.

THE CON WAY MEMORIAL LECTURE.-The general high standard of these lectures was well maintained on Friday evening, March 17, when that veteran Rationalist and charDl-ing writer, Mr. Edward Clodd, woithily occupied our plat-form, taking for his subject" Gibbon and Christianity." Mr. Clodd's treatment of a familiar theme lacked neither vigour nor freshness, and 'the great panorama of Gibbon was revealed in TIne perspective across the valley of years we have traversed since his day, as the audience foll ... m'cd the lecturer from onc view-point to another.

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The chapel, though not crowded, was well filled, and Sir Sidney Olivier made a courteous and kindly chairman, albeit something of a Philistine in regard to Gibbon. His brilliant little opening speech fitly prepared us for what \,'as to follow, while appropriate short speeches from Mr. Graham \i\1allas and Mrs. Bradlaugh Bonner brought the proceedings to a close.

Vie hope that many, under the stimulus of Mr. Clodd's excellent paper, will turn again to the pages of the immortal historian, and we are persuaded they will deri\'e both pleasure and instruction from his stately and mellifluous, jf somewhat ponderous, sentences. H. T. H.

Subscriptions and donations have been received l:iy the Treasurer f.ro11! the following during the period, February IS to March 17 inclusive: l\Ir. Herbert Burrows, Mr. Eustace Conway, Mr. A. J. elements, Miss Eberty, M r. E. J. Fairhall, Mr. W. T. Harvey, Mr. W. L. Martin, Mr. C. J. Pollard, Mr. E. Pollard, Mr. and l\Irs. Reichert, Dr. Sworn, Mr. and Mrs. Unthank, Mrs. Wedd, Mr. F. Westbury, and Miss Whi1.10ck.

The" Trojan Women" of Euripedes. A DrsCOl!lIsE DET.IYF:RED AT Sor'TfI 1 L.\CF: 'TTAPEL, FEEl/tT,\l/I: 2j, 1916,

It cannot be denied that, at first sight, there i . something of an ana. chronism in speaking' of Euripides at a time like the pre eot. .As WE' moLiems have read him he has seemed so intimately and essentially the PO"l of pE'aceful preoccupation" the exponent of all those pal ilical, domesti(', anrJ personal intucsts which form the main burden of our national li fl' when its Ctlrrent runs calm and unimpedecJ, but which lakes refuge in crel'ks and backwaters when the storms of war beat upon it. .\5 Aristophalles makes him say in the immortal parody of the " Frogs" :_

(. T put things on the stage that came from daily life and busine. s, " ' here men could catch me if [ tripped: could listen without dizziness To things they knew, and judge my art. I lIever crashed and liglltl' lIed And bullied people's sense out: nor tried to keep them frightened 'Yith magic swans and .;]~thiop knights, loud barb and Clanging vizor-

This was the kind of lore I brought To school my town in ways of thought; 1 mingled reasoning with my art And shrewdness, till I fired their heart To brOOd, to think things through and through, And rule their houses better too."

These are, indeed, natural occupations for a poet, even a great poet, in times of peace; and there is enough truth in the fun of Aristophanes to make us readily admit that all this is to be found in Euripides. Discus-sions on religion, politics, social life, educatinn, art, poetry, music : all form part of the dramatic material of ]~uripides, as they formed part of the common life of the Athens of his day. But we may be quite sure that, were this all, Euripides, among all the hundreds of the poets of that great period of dramatic art, many of whom produced plays which gained the prize over his in the public celebrations-Euripides would never have secured that undisputed eminen e which Aristotle gave him side by side with .lEschylus and Sophocles, and which has been vindicated by the pre. servation of so much of his work, while less even of .IEschylus and Sophocles has survived, and that of all his other competitors has perished. The mere extent and importance of his dramatic material would not have .• ~ved him;

s his skilled and subtle craftsmanship; his exquisitely melodious lyrical gi ft would have helped h1m little; though even there one thinks there is some-thing the world would not willingly allow to die_ Does not the secret of his preservation lie in the fact that, as _\ristotle ,aw at once, he was the "most tragIc" of all the poets? Does not this explain his undisputed pr~eminence throughout the whole of antiquity? Does it Ilut explain w~y, after the quite natural neglect of him by the eighteenth and early I1lneteenth centuries, he is now again taking the position which was rightly his from the beginning? There has been much bicl;ering among scholars as to what Aristotle meant by saying that Euripides was the" most tragic" of all the poets_ But surely he meant simply what he said, which was, that _he best exhibited the true function of tragedy whi h, as Anstotle also ald, and as we have all believed, is to ]Juri fy the heart by arousing the emotions of pity and terror. \Ve have little reason to complain of a comedy if it leaves us no worse than it found us; we have n:;uch reason to complain of tragedy if it leaves us no better. The tragic ~lrama must I"ive us art, poetry, music -it must satisfy the a'sthetic sense; it must gi,·e us philosophy, religion, history, all the material of which human life is made; it must satisfy the demands of reason and truth; but unless it excites that terrible pity which springs from a passionate sympathy with human sorrow, and a burning indignation with human i"justice, it surely does little which less ambitious and less idolised forms of art have not successfully accolllplished.

And it is because Euripic1es does this that he is the Illost tragic of all the poets_ Even when clealing with those common matters of every clay li fe "which we make use of, which we live with "-a jilted woman, a deserted child, with fidelity in human rl'latinnships, with lc)\e, with sisterly affection or the devotion of friendship, with selfishness, piety, slaves, hilclren, with religious or political trickety, he seldom leayes us without making us con-scious of the" tears in things" without striking that eternal note of indig-nant pity which almost makes the illedea a burning contemporary exposition of the policy of the ""omen's Freedom League, and which is the soul of all rebellion, the inspiration of all revolt, the motive power of all demands for freedom in personal and sccial li fe.

Xow it would, indeed, hayc been a startling paradox if this poet, so gi fted with the power of tragedy e\en in simple matters of to-day, harl left outside the sphere of his cGn1prehensi"e genius that one subject which has tragedy-terror and pity-written on the yery face of it-the subject of war, with which the events of his career familiarised him as much as with any of the peaceful interests of life. LIe was contemporary with the devas-tating licence and passion 'of the l'eloponnesian war. He saw the annual prostitution of the pellucid air of Attica by the ravaging brutality of Spartan hoplites; the Theban massacre of the noble citizens of Platrea who had withstood them so long in fair and splendid fighting; the Athenian craving for empire exhibiting itself in such wanton acts of immortal cruelty as the destruction of the innocent population of ?l1elos, and finally coming to a disastrous end in the awful catastrophe of Syracuse. It would, indeed, have been a tragic miracle if the most tragic of all the poets had left this theme untouched and unexplored_ But not only were the circumstances of his epoch dri"ing him in this direction, the yery traditions of Athenian dramatic art which, as a rule, confined the poet's choice of subjects to the heroic antiquities of Greece, necessarily centred a great deal of his work around the Trojan War, and we naturally find scattered throughout his dramas innumerable passages which are inspired by a burning conviction of the terror ancl pity of war, and by a conception of its utter uselessness and emptiness even from the point of view of the victors. I clo not sugge_ t that this is a final or complete view of war, or that we must accept it with-out qualification even from Euripides. But coming from Euripides it is a view which counts, and it is a view with which we shall probably have to reckon even before this war is over. At any rate it is the ,-iew of Euripides_ Uer~ is a typical pas~age from a choru~ i~ the" Andromache, ' a passage puttmg mto clear rehef the poet's conVIction that war, however it end is a disaster even for the winning". sicle: "_ "ot o~ thee ~lone, defeated T;oy, not on thy people alone, haw IIg-hted cruel pa1l1s_ VIctorious Hellas, her-self, hath taken the plague, and from the fields of rhrygian Troy the blood-

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raining bolt of death hath passed to fields which the war itself had left unwasted "-which, a Professer Venal! said, is a "transparent parable of the poet's own time , when the victory over Persia, and the consequent expansion of Greek politics, had led from stage to stage of restlessness up to the devastating struggle of the Peloponnesian "-ar." And in the" Trojan 'Nomen" we have a whole play devoted to the dramatic exposition of that point of view.

I propose, before very long, to connect this play with the events of contemporary Athenian history. At present we will, if you please, devote a few minutes to the story of the play itself. " tory," 1 said; but of story in the usual sense, there is hardly any to mention. There never was a drama so bare of incident, so devoid of action, so apparently static in its interest, so motionless in its main outlines. Its characters are grouped together like tableaux vivants; or rather like groups of statuary. But they are groups of statuary resembling the Laocoon in which each individual figure is mani-festly tortured into the activity of an unendurable agony. A bare transla-tion of the brief Greek argument prefixed to the play by antiquity gives a fairly complete account of the" plot." It is lust as follows: "After the capture of Troy, Minerva and Neptune determined to destroy the Greek army, the latter because he loved the city which he had built; the former becau e she hated the Greeks on account of the sacrilegious violence of Ajax against Cassandra. The Greeks then cast lots for the captive Trojan women; giving them to the chiefs, to Agamemnon Cassandra, Andromache to )l" eoptolemus, l'olyxena to Achilles. Achilles being dead they sacrificed her on his tomb. And Astyanax, the child of Hector, they hurled from the baltlements. Menelaus took off Ilelen, threatening to slay her; -\gamemnon Cassandra to make a bride of her, priestess as she was; while IIecuba, after scolding 11elen, and paying the last offices of duty and lamentation to the dead, is tal'en to the tent of l -lysses, having been given to him as a slave." And we may add that the cene is laid in front oI the Creek camp, near the sea. This is all the plot. How it is worked out you can all see, no doubt have already seen, in ProIessor Gilbert Murray's translation which, if it is not Euripides, is the be t substitute you are ever likely to get. It is one long agony of lamentation; broken, it is true, by beautiful lyrics which, however, do not so much relieve the torture as intensify it. And what torture it is! Not mental torture only, the sense of so much glory and beauty having faded away; the gloomy anticipation of the horrors of slavery and concubinage in strange lands; these can be borne with the proud dignity of queenhood, bitter as they are. But Euripides dares a mighty innovation; he makes his heroic queens and princesses mere women who have headaches and sideaches, and weep their tears into the dust on which their bodies lie. They complain of physical pain like an ordinary working woman. Fancy Clytemnestra with a head-ache, or Antigone with neuralgia. No wonder Aristophanes poked fun at Euripides for his total disregard of the dignity of the tragic Muse! Hecuba is no tragedy queen to Euripides; she is a woman, and, as only a woman can, . he feels the agony and the misery of war. Euripides, as in duty bound, gives the old heroic names to his characters, but they are not the llecl1ba and Andromache we know from other sources; they are merely the • women of his own time; that is to say, lypes of the eternal woman. And the war, whose victims they are, is not the Trojan \Yar; it is the l'eloponnesian " ·ar; any war; our war.

(To be concluded in tile May List.)

Correspondence. Responsibility tor the opinions expressed under this heading rests solely

with the writers. To the Editor at the MONTHLY LIST.

DEAR SIR,-A member of our Society recently received the following letter from a correspondent at Clacton: "Under separate cover I send you copy of our local paper, which contains an article adversely criticising the ethical principles of that ethical religion Ior which the Ethical Society stands. From the days of Moncl1re Con way I have always been an admirer

7 of the services at South Place Institute, and when permanently resident in London I attended the same a great deal. I feel that this article ought to be dealt with, and am, therefore, writing to ask if you see your way to answer it."

I n response to this request the member in question penned a reply to the c, Clacton Graphic," of which a copy is appended. This correspondence will, I think, be of interest to the Society.-Yours faithfully,

C. J. l'OLl .. IRIJ. To the Editor 0/ "The Clacton Graphic."

D~; IR m,-As a member of South Place Ethical Society, Ioorgate Street, London, one of the leading Ethical Societies of the United Kingdom, if not the foremost, I submit to your readers a brief reply to the article in your issue of the 5th inst., by L. B. Lucas, entitled "Religion and Theology." But before pas ing any criticism upon your correspondent's "iews 1 should like to express pleasure at the tolerant manner in which his article is written. I think, also, that as an adverse critic he treats Ethical Societies with more sympathy than usual. It is true that he denies them certain qualities they claim to possess, and ascribes to them greater sub-servience to rigid intellectualism than they "rofess themsel ves, but he attributes to them &. philosophlcal creed, which, although it does not exactly represent their school of thought, is at least one that possesses many highly desirable qualities:

""Te are to do right because it is best for ourselves and others so to behave, since by so doing we protect our physical and mental powers from injury and ubtain (he good-wilJ of our fellows, and our lives lend lo the good of tIll' community." The humanitarian qualities of the ethical faith arc obyiulls evcn in tIllS

cold presentment, but, on the other hand, it does suggest, as claimed by L. B. Lucas, that emotion and f eling have no place in the ethical religion, a conclusion, which those who have actual experience of the movement lmuw to be incorrect.

The exact wording of the object of the particular society to which 1 belong is as follows:

"The cultivation of a rational religious sentiment, the study of ethical principles, and the promotion of human welfare, in harmony with advancing knowledge." The Sunday morning services consist of readings from the world's best

literature; the discourse; congregational hymn singing; and anthems sung by the choir; and this society, in common with all other ethical societies, seeks to stimulate moral ardour, by just such means as your correspondent advocates, but is apparently under the impre sion that the ethical move-ment ignores.

For example: (r) Hero-worship, keeping ali\'e the influence of the world's greatest men; their achievements are brought before the congrega-tion, deep calls unto deep, and everybody is stirred. (2) The inculcation of ideals, of ideal modes of living and thinking. These stir the imagina-tion, the finer possibilities of life are seen in a flash, and the lower self is repressed. (3) Appeals to the practice of ethical principles in all spheres of human activity. These appeals are largely based upon the truth that injustice, cruelly, greed, falsehood, vicious courses, and the like, cause the deepest suffering to our fellow man, the feeling of sympathy is awakened, tears spring to tbe eyes, and fresh efforts are made to act in accordance with principle. From the foregoing cursory statement of the attitude of ethical societies towards life's problems, I think it must be clear that no such com-prehensi ve grasp of the serious side of existence could be attained without emotion, feeling, sentiment having taken an important place as co-factor with pure reason in bringing this movement into life. Nor could its exist-ence continue unless such co-operation between the purely intellectual and the more imaginative, emotional elements of human nature is maintained. I conclude in the hope that your correspondent will now appreciate that ethical societies make a wider appeal than he at first believed.-Yours truly,

A ~IE)1DER OF SOUTU PLACE ETIIICAL SOCIETl'.

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HelNelRRRY e1PPlC!BRS. Treasurer F. W. READ, 65, Rarley Rand, RaTle.den, N.W.

Secretaries {Mrs. C. FLETcDm SMITll, 1i, ydenbam Park, .E.

.. O. J. POLLAItn, .. hnnklin," The Avenue, Obingford.

Registrar of Members ancl} Miss F. Becn .. J, 47, Wnlsingham Road, 01 apton , N.E. AS80c.ates .•. '" ...

Sunday Lecture Secrelal!J W. RAWLJNGS, 406, Mare trect, Rackney, N.E.

Editor of Monthly List R. T. RERNE, ·J5, Rognrth Buildings, Westminster, S.W.

{Miss )[AltY RAw r .. INGs. ,J06, Mnrc tr£'ct, Hackney, N.B.

Librarians •.. ... ... .. \1' ALLJS 1I.\NSFOlln, Oherry 'rree Court, 53, ~ Idcrsgate t., E.O. Treasurer, and Tm.'N'.' { ,r. R. OARTm. Old Rnli, Wallington, l1rrey.

ot the Rebuildinu FUlId E. OUNNINGDA.\!, 52, Bow Lane, Oheapside, E.O.

JOJlN .\LDRED E. OUNNTNOnAlI E. F. EnmNoToN MISS H. M . FAIRll.\LL E .. r. j