No. S. FEBRUARY, 1899. Vot. IV.

SOUTH PLACE MAGAZINE

Contents PAGE.

PURITANISM, PROTESTANTISM. AND PRIESTHOOD.. 65 By HERBERT BURROWS.

ENGLAND AND ISLAM (Ill)..... . .................... 68 By HENRY CROSSFIELD .

COLLET DOBSON COLLET............................ 71 By G. J. HOLYOAKE, E . F. BRIDELL·Fox, EDITII

S . COLLET, and Dr. MONCURE D. CONWAY,

A VISION OF HADES (Poem) ........................ 76 By CHARLES E . HOOPER .

THOMAS PAINE.,.................................... 77

NOTES AND COMMENTS •..• ,.,....................... 78

CORRESPONDENCE .••...... , . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • 79

NOTICES, &tc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 79

Monthly. ;;ad., O .R 2~. 6<1 . PER AHHUW, POST F Rf!E

1on~on

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY, FINSBURY, E.C. A. & H . B , BONNEH, J & 2 TOOK'S COURT, CHANCERY LANE, E .C .

I

------- ............... . South Place Chapel & Institute, Finsbury, E.C.

Object 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. "

FEBRUA.RV~ ~S99.

A sfI'ics oj fO/l1' Srwd4,Y Mor/ring DIscourses will b~ delive/'ed 0/1 "I,vPERI A L CITIZENSHIP" by GRAHAM WALLAS, M.A., as 1I1Idel' :-

February sth.-G RAHAM WALLAS, M.A.-" Old Ideals and New Problems. tt

I 1. "Agnus Dei" ... ... .., Anthems. 2. 11 0 Star of Eve" (" Tannhauser")

Hymns, 23, 33.

.. Golllloll.

..• 11'j-,g~o:

February 12th.-GRAHJ\.M WALLAS. M.A.-" The Limits of Imperial Self­Government. "

Antbc sIr " La Serenata " (with Violin Obligato) ... m. 2. "Neverfrom lips of cunning fell" (NO.22I)

... Brticr). TroJts.~t1lr.

Hymns, 30, 60.

l'ebrU:1r'y 19th. GRAHAM WALLAS, M.A.-" A Governihg Democracy."

i t. H A storm sped Over 'Sea and land 11 (No. 37) .. , Het/hOt'll" Anthems. 2. "Be thou faithful unto death" (" St. Paul ").. . I.. Mrlldt/s$ohfl.

. Hymns, 26, 38.

February .6th.-~~AH~M WA;!--LAS, M.A.-" Patriotism and Humanlty,lI .... ... J1aydll. Anthems. 1 r. A Sprnt Song .. .. .. , ...

2. U Around, around flew each sweet sound If •••

(" The Ancient M~riner ") Hymns, 35, 39·

Bnrllttt.

Visitm's may take allY Seats vacallt at the close of Ihe first A IIthem, alld they ale vlviled. 10 abtaill illformati01l regal'di.JZg Ihe Socul,y in tlte Library either befol'e O~ after the Services.

A Colle&tioll is made at tile close of each Service to e1lable Visitors to colZtribZlle 10 the expenses of tlte Society. . • •

SUNDAY SCHOOL. The Children meet in the Chape l every Sunday morning, at It.I5, and tbeir lesson Is

j:lven ~n the Class-room durin~ the discourse. The fol1owin~ are the arrangem.ents:- • February sth.-Miss LIDSTO~E: .. The Rise of the Greek Empire . ..

t2lh.-H. CROSSFIELD: U Culture and Life." 19th.-Si. G. FEN TON : " Praying Wheels." z6th.-F. FRECHET: "Garibaldi, Italy's Patriot. It

MEMBERSHIP . .. Persons paying for siltings in the Society's place of Meeting for tbe time being are thereby

constituted members of the Society. Members who are twenty-one years of a~e or upwards, whose names have been twelve lIIonlh. upOn the register, and whose subscrrptions for tb. previous quarter have been paid, shall be qualified to vote and to hold office."-Extract /.01/1 the Rules

Sitting8 may be obtained upon application in the Library, or to HAROLD SEYLER,14 Brading Road, Brixton Hill, S.W., Hon. Registrar of Members "nd Associates, prices varying from IS. to 10S. per quarter. Persons under 21 are charged half the usual prices.

ASSOCIATES. Persons residing at a distance, and who are unable to attend the services regularly, may

become Associates of the Society upon payment of an Annual SUbSCllption of 58., with the privilege of receiving all the current publications of the Society. Subscriptions may be paid In the Library, or to the Hon. Registrar of Seat Holders at above address.

Cyclists desiring to attend at South Place are intormed tbat the Committee have made arrangements for housing tbeir machjnes.

The Chapel is licensed for Marriages.

, SOUTH PLACE MAGAZINE.

NO.5 . Vol. IV. FEBRUARY, 1899. 2d. Monthly. 28. M. per annum, post tree

(Tlte writers of Articles appea l'illg ilt this M agazil/c are alO1tc l'cspo1tsible for the opilliol/s tltcrem expl'cssed.)

PURITANISM, PROTESTANTISM, AND PRIESTHOOD. From all Address delivered at Soltth Place Chapel, 011 Sllllday,

27111 November, 18g8,

By HERBERT BURROWS.

IN the history of mankind there has been one constant factor, the effort of man to know himself, to discover whether he has or has not a spiritual relation to a spiritual universe, and to settle the vexed question as to whether his own life is consciously continuous or only a single and transitory bead upon the endless thread of chance and change. The three words which form the subject of the address are three phases of the strivings of this conscious religious element. Just now they are peculiarly applicable because of the disturbances which, initiated in a blundering way by Mr. Kensit, are taking place in the Anglican Church. Although we may stand outside that Church, yet we as citizens have the right and the duty to consider and discuss every question which in any way concerns, whether politically, Socially or religiously, any of our fellow citizens. And this because in our complex modern society what affects one affects all. It is a mistake to suppose that the Ritualistic guarrel is merely a quarrel about candles, vestments, incense, crosses, and altars. These are merely symbols of the underlying priestly doctrines and assumptions, which have always been inimical to the true progress of mankind, and w~ich have always a tendency to become dangerous in national. hfe, because their constant effort is to control the civil power III anti-democratic directions.

The Reformation in England was not due solely to the lust and greed of Henry VIII, nor g.en.erally to Luther's religious zeaL It was intensely individ~ahst1c-the revolt of the slowly a~akening individual man agalDst the coercive and organised VOlce and power of the priest and the Church, against that sacramentalism which has always been the keynote of both the Roman and Anglican Churches: The ordinary Protestant saddled himself in this struggle w1th an infallible Bible but with n? .infallible interpreter, the result being a hundred sects and a ~hv1ded Christendom, thus partially carrying out his individual­Ism. The Puritan of all men pushed his individualism to its

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logical conclusion. Although he pinned his whole lif.e to the Bible, he was his own priest and allowed no one to stand between him and God as he saw him revealed in its pages.

The two opposing factors of the universal religious sentiment may be typified by the sternly individualistic Puritan and the priestly sacerdotal party wherever found. Among the latter of these the Anglican Church is to be classed, for its very existence depends upon pure sacerdotalism. The Christian sacrament is a religious ordinance believed to have been instituted by Christ himself, or by the Church in virtue of powers derived from him as God, by the use of which the members of the Church believe that they can approach nearer to God at particular times or seasons, and can thus, by coming into closer than ordinary contact with him, build themselves up in their spiritual life. Sacramcntalism is the belief in this, and sacerdotalism is the further belief that the divinely appointed priest, who in "irtue of that divine appointment is necessarily marked off from the people to whom he ministers, is essential to the proper adminis­tration of the rite . This is the basis of Romanism and Angli­canism, and in a modified degree it has its place in some systems of Nonconformity.

The actual rule of life for the outward organisation of the English Church is the Prayer-book, and it is saturated with sacerdotalism. By the ordination service the priest is supposed to specially receive the Holy Ghost at the bands of the bishop, and thereby he alone is made fit to administer the rites of the Church. No layman may trespass on this so-called sacred right. Out of this grows naturally the whole priestly and Ritualistic position; and if the ordinary" Protestant" church­man were logical he would not attempt merely to check the use of vestments, etc., but he would leave the Church itself, as opposed to every tradition of the religious individualism on which he prides himself.

Morally the result of sacerdotalism is harmful to the indi-vidual and the nation. Another's standard of moral right or wrong is not the standard for us. Man's coherent life can only progress towards a coherent end as each individual sees and knows what he personally believes to be right, and acts up to that seeing and knowing because i.t is right and not hecause he is told so. The helping hand we must always seek for-the riper experience of wiser years than our own is always to be gratefully accepted as a basis for our own thought; but at the last, at the ultimate, no outside hand must lead us blindly, no experience but that of our veriest inmost souls must point the way. And so there is no greater blasphemy against the true order of things than to assert that at any particular moment any particular man can truthfully say to another: "I absolve thee, go in peace, thy sins are for~i ven, the burden is lifted from thee." The burden cannot be lifted from the heart of the

wrong-doer, nor from him to whom the wrong has been done. till in the long process of evolution the causes which set the wrong going have been counter-balanced by a new set of causes, which often in their inception mean long and bitter anguish. The priest says othenvise, but there is no forgiveness of sin in the economy of the universe if forgiveness mean absolution for mere sorrow and repentance. The sinner may be forgiven-the sin must work itself out till the harmonies of evolution are restored . To teach otherwise is to teach sheer immorality.

Lastly, priesthood and sacerdotalism are anti-democratic, and the organisation which shelters them is necessarily anti­democratic in its character. Some of our church friends, such as Stewart Headlam, who work with us heartily on social and political democratic lines, delight in telling us that the Anglican Church is a thoroughly democratic institution. It is true that one of its ideas, that all are equal in the sight of God, has a democratic ring about it; but that is not the whole of Anglican­ism. What is democracy? Democracy does not mean that every human being, because he or she is born into the world, is as good all round as everybody else, neither does it mean that there is to be no leadership by the wiser and better. But it does mean that all power of whatever kind which is exercised in the community, to which the units of the community have to submit, must be derived from the conscious action and consent of the units themselves. Priesthood and sacerdotalism mean exactly the opposite. Lately the Church Times, basing itself on Ignatius, had been girding at those who represented the Church to be any other than monarchical in its conception, and that is what the democrat also contends. Episcopal authority is the authority of the priest qua priest, and that the democrat resolutely and con­stantly refuses to acknowledge, ever likewise on the guard to prevent its intrusion into civil affairs.

For us, then, can there be no Church? Is tbere no Priest­hood? No, not as churches and priests are known in the ecclesiastical organisations which we see around us. But beyond and above these is the loftiest of all churches-the Church of Man; the greatest of all priesthoods-the service of our kind. In all ages, in all races, in all r~ligions, often in spite of them, that church has existed, tbose pnests have lived. It is a church Whose -:reeds are lJoble lives, wbose prayers are loving deeds: Whose vestments are freedom, whose ritual is brotherhood: whose anthems are the glad songs of regenerated peoples, whose temple is the heart of man. Her priests are the workers for ~1umanity, by whatever name they call themselves: her Bible is Justice, and the progress of the nations: her aspirations are lOfty as the measureless arch of the azure sky. To her ample b?som she gathers all the children of men who are willing to gIVe themselves for the service of humanity. Into her coffers are poured the richest and the best in science, in art, in litera-

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ture, in true religion, all to return ID ever fertilising streams t()o help on the growth of man. Her open gates are never closed;: at her altars the poorest and the humblest may minister side by side with poets, prophets, martyrs, sages, for the unity which comes of sympathy and love is the true sacrament of her life.

Of that church we one and all may be the architects and the builders. Woe be to us if we build not truly, faithfully,­and well.

[The renditlgs were takeu from Macaulay's descriJ>tio,~ of the Pu.ritans ill his essay 01£ MiltOll, Lowell's" Bibliolaters ", Qlld Theodore Parker's sermon 011 Sacrlllllmts.)

ENGLAND AND ISLAM.

In. BEFORE proceeding to examine the possibilities of progress. latent in Islam, only needing the right quickening into new life, it is well to recognise at the outset those elements of obscurantism. fanaticism, and superstition which still continue to inhere therein; similarly with the case of other wide-spread faiths, and their imperfect interpretation of the mysteries of existence. But, in their sound sociological sense, the words of an able­observer are equally applicable here, speaking in a somewhat different connection: "In all the nations of Europe Christianity has taken the hue and complexion of the social state with which it was incorporated, presenting itself unsullied, contaminated, or corrupted in sympathy with the enlightenment, or ignorance, or debasement of those by whom it has been originally embraced. The rapid and universal degeneracy of the early Asiatic Churches is associated with the decline of education, and the intellectual decay of the communities among whom they were established." Apply this judicious reasoning to the data afforded by the history of Islam, and I think we shall arrive at a parallel conclusion.

The primitive Arabs, among whom Mohammed sought so strenuously to introduce his doctrines, were a people with a distinctive character of their own, who had lived for ages apart

' from the main stream of civilisation. As their scattered tribes gradually coalesced, under the social discipline of Islam, into a more or less organic nation, the C:l.reer impelled by the militant side of the new faith brought them naturally into contact with other nations, other politics and cultures differing widely from their own, to which they had hitherto remained a stranger. From the beginning of this signal departure they appear to bave exhibited towards these fresh influences a remarkable recep­tivity. A vivid impression of the leading social features of the first Moslem empire at the height of its prosperity, may be

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.gathered from the pages of the famous" Arabian Nights ", with their pleasant atmosphere of cheerful enjoyment, of sensuous luxury, and their vistar of the many sided activities of the Saracens, including, even in the instance of" Sinbad the Sailor ", ,their commercial and maritime enterprise. In the course of their efforts after expression in art they contributed to the "general deed" of civilisation new and valuable forms of esthetic development; while many important branches of knowledge were cultivated with Success. The growing com­Iplexity of their social life evolved an adequate system of jurisprudence. Under the most enlightened Baghdad Khalifs, translations of the Greek classics were rendered into the Arabic. The mental stimulus thereby engendered gave rise to schools of philosophy which affected, even then, the orthodox interpretation

-of their sacred book-the Koran. There is evidence of the existence of a very suggestive theological literature in Arabic, .concerning those elusive questions which have taxed the powers of the greatest minds of the West; the nature and attributes of

-God- the character in which these can best be apprehended. Among the various "heresies" to which such exercise of Freethought gave rise, we find a very similar phase of that form of Theism which has lately attracted attention in English liberal

,circles- the association of this idea with a Universal Mind or Reason pervading the universe.

The Moslem dominion in Europe yields still further evidence of the capacity of Islam to lend itself under favourable conditions to tolerance and humanism of an admirable order. To cite the words of one, among the many, testimonies to the work of the Moors in Spain: "Even now the traveller in Spain feels as he approaches Andalusia that he is breathing a clearer atmosphere, that he is brought into contact with a finer literature, and is contemplating a far nobler architecture, than any which the more northern parts of the Peninsula can boast. Moorish, Dot C,atholic, is everything that appeals to his imagination and to Ins finer feelings; Moorish are the legends and the ballads of the country; Moorish are the Alcazar and the Giralda of Seville; l'Vloorish all the glories of the Alhambra." Vv'ithout dilating further on this side of our subject, it must suffice to assert that the earlier Moslem civilisation was largely ruined by the eruption of ?arbarous Mongol hordes in the 13th century, bringing in its tram the conquering Turk, who thus succeeded to the over­lordS~ip of this heritage. Its outcome has apparently been only to, blight all its fairer prospects, and to darken its hopes along WIth the gradual decline of his mere militarist ascendency.

That further and more sinister aspect of the case with which west~rn prejudice has particularly familiarised us- the fanatical and mtolerant element in Islam, responsible for such fearful atro~ities as in Turkey have recently shocked the civilised sense -thIS must in fairness be classed in the same category with

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those manifestations of the same infernal spirit in Christendom :­the massacre and persecution of heretics by believers, of Pro­testants by Catholics, of Catholics by Puritans. They pertain to the darkest phases of human malignity as affected by varying degrees of brutality, superstition, and semi-barbarism. Taken in its entirety, the history of Islam compares favourably even in this respect.

How then can we best approach the Moslem world with the hope of inciting therein a movement towards the revival of its earlier greatness and enlightenment. Hardly, one would imagine, through the merely dubious channels of diplomacy. We must, I think, to begin with the political side of the case, largely reverse the traditional policy of England for the last half century in the so-called Eastern Question of seeking to maintain, in conjunction with autocratic powers with whom we have little in common, even in Turkey, the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Although the subject is too extensive for detailed consideration here, I feel that this country has been stultified in her dealings with Mohammedans through this incongruous association. I suppose one of the strongest influences hitherto affecting our relations with the rulers of Turkey, is the position they have occupied in the Mohammedan community as Khalif or Pontiff of the Faithful. Now the validity of this title and office even in tlte eyes of numerous Mohammedans themselves is very questionable. They owe its possession entirely to military conquest; and it is a very different thing to the power wielded by the old line of the Khalifs of Baghdad, prior to the disrupting Mongol invasion. Several distinguished authorities hold there no longer exists a Khalif in the old comprehensive sense of the word. .

Once we arrive at a righ t understanding with the real deter­mining forces of Islam-which are in their nature democratic and little concerned with Turkish or other Sultans-the question of the future of the existing Ottoman Empire, or its rulers, be­comes, it seems to me, a matter of minor importance. And for this great task we must first look for real effective assistance to the culture-factors in our own empire. It is a singular feature in the existing state of things that the study of their classic language-the Arabic-by Moslems has apparently fallen into neglect . In the course of a letter from an Indian nobleman appended to Dr. Leitner's lecture previously quoted, he points to the present backward condition of education throughout the Mohammedan world, and assigns as one of the principal reasons that while treatises on the various arts and sciences cultivated in former times are still extant, they are chiefly in the Arabic language, while the Mohammedans who speak that tongue form but a small proportion of the total Musalman population of the world. Many of these treatises have not been translated into the languages now in general use, and original works such as.

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would be requisite for a complete .system of national Moham­medan education in all its branches have not yet been produced in them. There would seem to prevail, too, a disinclination on the part of Moslems to receive instruction from alien sources. Such are the difficulties we must first endeavour to compass. I n the same letter this gentleman also urges the desirability of Cl movement being set on foot among those competent to partici­pate, both Europeans and Moslems, for the purpose of investi­g-ating the real nature and claims of Islam, of reviving interest in its ancient Arabic learning, and of encouraging the introduc­tion under its auspices to Moslem considerat ion of our Western science and enlightenment.

These suggestions are as valuable as they are a sufficient earnest of the feeling of instructed Mohammedans towards the present condition of their co-religionists. They were originally proffered nearly ten years past, and I know not what advances, if any, have since been made towards their realisation. Certainly I am not a ware of the formation of an Anglo-Mohammedan Association having for its object the specific aims indicated above. Yet, taken in conjunction with all the circumstances which I ha ve endeavoured to set forth in these articles, nothing could be worthier the attention and in terest of our Oriental Scholars and Humanists, our responsible statesmen and administrators. A movement for advancing the mutual interests of Eastern and \Vestern culture offers the very means to enahle us to reach in the most effective possible way the recognised leaders and teachers of Islam. We already possess a significant instance of what may be accomplished in a similar direction by sympathy and mutual culture in the old Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded under the initiative of the great proconsul Warren Hastings by a few earnest enquirers into Brahmin religion, philosophy, and jurisprudence. The far-reaching influences which the new sources of intellectual enlightenment and stimulus thus made known have exercised upon modern thought and civilisation are familiar to all students of these concerns. May we not infer a ~orresponding result if Islam be approached in the true spirit of IUtelligent amity?

COLLET DOBSON COLLET.

One of the most incessant publicists of this century died on December 28th last.-Collet Dobson Collet, who was born on January 1st, 1813, and would have been eighty-six had he lived ~hree days longer. He was the son of John Dobson, a merchant ~n the Old Jewry. His grandfather, Samuel Collet, was a hosier 111 Aldgate. Mr. C. D. Collet was educated at Bruce Castle

chool, then kept by Mr. Rowland Hill. He entered an attorney's office with a view to the Bar, and received (1833) the

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third prize in the Law Class at University College, London. His means being insufficient, he quitted the Bar for the pro­fession of music, and became a pupil in the Royal Academy of Music. He wrote for the Musical World, and his articles were copied into the Times. He afterwards became a member of the York Dramatic Company, and then of the choral department at Drury Lane during Macready's management, and subsequently -of the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden. In 1841 he was .appointed by Mr. W. J. Fox to direct the choir at South Place Chapel. In 1843 he held a similar appointment at Dr. Beau­mont's Chapel, Mile End. Not content with being a musical lecturer and teacher of singing, he became a member of the National Political Union and of the National Hall, Holborn. In 1848 he was a member of the committee with Hetherington, Watson, Thomas Cooper, and Moore, to watch the progress of the French Revolution, and was deputed to Paris with VV'. J. Linton to congratulate the French Republic on the downfall of Louis Philippe. In 1848 he, with Mr. Holyoake and many -others, acted as a staff of reporters on the loth of April, under instructions to watch the police, who were more to be feared than the people. The Committee of Observation expanded into the People's Charter Union, of which Mr. Collet was secretary. At his suggestion the Committee sent an address to Mr. Cobdf-!n requesting him to insert the Repeal of the Newspaper Stamp in his Budget. Mr. Cobden readily consented . In 1849 the News­paper Stamp Abolition Committee was formed on the 7th of March, at the house of Mr. Richard Moore, Mr. Hetherington being in the chair. Two years later it became the Society for Repealing the Taxes upon Knowledge, and Mr. Collet was secretary during the twelve years of its successful agi­tation. He was the author of the principle of repealing a bad law by enforcing it. Mr. Collet joined Mr. Urquhart in his endeavours to unravel the mysteries of the Foreign Office. For twenty years he edited The Free P,less and D iplomatia Review. For some time he was on the staff of Vanity Fair, when he wrote under the title of Diplomaticus. For more than twenty years he had been the secretary of the Committee for the Abolition of the Travelling Tax, of which the present writer was the presi­dent from the beginning. Mr. Collet had all the virtues of a secretary- entire information of the question in hand, accuracy, unceasing vigilance and suggestiveness. He would make twenty suggestions, of which only one might be eligible. But the twenty suggestions wOllld be there for choice, which is a great advantage to a committee, as Mr. Cobden often remarked. At the instance of Sir Edward Watkin, Mr. John Morris, of the City, and Mr. T. G. Galpin, Mr. Collet wrote the" History of the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge", con taining a store­house of facts unknown, as a whole, to anyone but himself. The History is being printed in the Weekly Times and Echo. He

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hoped to live to see the repeal of the Railway Passenger Tax. Mr. Gladstone befriended us, but Mr. Childers was the first Chancellor of the Exchequer who listened to us, and who saved the working class several hundred lhousands a year by repealing the tax on the penny a mile fares. The continuance of the re­maining tax, though a pitiful amount, still retards railway improvements for the" poorer class" of travellers. In 1854 Mr. Collet married Mrs. Jane Marshall, publisher of the Dmlfermline News, to whom he was introduced by the Edinburgh Stamp Office. Mrs. Collet survives him. Of five children, one son has official employment abroad, and two daughters hold classical degrees. G. J. HOLYOAKE.

A few words should be added to the tribute rendered by Mr. G. J. Holyoake to the high character of Mr. Collet's usefulness to society, which was so thoroughly in harmony with the work of popular reforms stimulated by Mr. Fox's Ministry. Some­thing more may certainly be said as to his relation to South Place in his capacity as musician.

Mr. Collet has described in these pages l the commencement of the musical life of this Society, beginning with the first formation of a choir formed from such members of the congre­gation as could sing. This was soon after the impressive service (October 14th, 1833) on the death of the Indian Prince, the Rajah Rammohun Roy, a convert to Christianity. For tbis service Miss Harriet Martineau wrote a hymn, Miss Flower composing the music, to be sung as an anthem by a choir. A special choir had to be engaged to do justice to it. This first anthem led the way for the music that afterwards became so noted that, as Mrs. Howitt wrote in her autobiography, the beauty of it actually proved a rival attraction to that of the eloquence of the minister.

With the admirable zeal and practical energy Mr. Collet put into every cause he undertook, he assisted Miss Flower in her efforts to place the musical part of the service on a higher footing than was then attempted in any Dissenting place of worship­at first by his voice, and later by organising a professional choir. Of this choir he was, in 1841, appointed director by Mr. Fox. Mr. Collet has given full details of the progress of this work in the interesting article already mentioned.

We may rest assured that the music would never have realised the very high character it has since attained had it not been for the able manner in which Mr. Collet for ten years

-seconded the original genius and plans of Miss Flower. My father, Mr. W. J. Fox, bore testimony to the high opinion

he held of Mr. Collet's abilities and dependable qualities, as well

1 South Place Magarille, September, 1897.

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as to his musical knowledge, in a MS. letter introducing him to · Mr. Macready. This letter secured him an engagement in the opera of "Acis and Galatea ", which the great actor-manager was then, in 1841, producing at Covent Garden Theatre. All who knew Mr. Collet will deplore his loss as one who gave his time and services with unstinted measure, and one who was absolutely to be relied upon in all the varied relations of life.

E. F. BRIDELL-Fox.

In response to our invitation to supply some facts concerning Mr. Collet's connection with South Place, Miss Collet writes:-

"I shall always regret that he did not live long enough to write some account of his own life, for his interests were so varied and extended over so many years that probably there is no one now alive who could do it.

" I feel myself very incompetent to supply facts concerning his connection with South Place. I know that it began at least as far back as 1833, for he has told me himself how at a meeting held in the Chapel in 1834, at which I suppose he and his party made themselves disagreeal>le, his vote was challenged on the ground that he was under age; but he triumphed, as he was twenty-one, and had had his name on the books for a year. He was too careful ever to leave his voting power insecure. He never in his life voted for a member of Parliament, because there never was a candidate in bis division whom he considered sufficiently sound on Foreign Affairs; but he was always ex­tremely careful to see that his name was kept on the register. We used to argue the point with him, but in vain.

" The period when he was choirmaster at South Place is t.o me almost prehistoric. I only know of the very great admiration he had for Miss Flower and her music, and that the music of those days was much more closely bound up in the service, and the minister and the choir were far more intimately associated, than grew to be the case in latter days. Nevertheless, in spite of the rather distinct separation of the music from the service, which he did not think ideal, he continued to take great pleasure in listening to the music when he was too deaf to bear more than half a dozen words of the discourse. My father and all of us were always intimate with all the choir, and took a great interest in all the musical proceedings. I know my father arranged a good many of the anthems, amongst others C The Little Fountain Flows', which he adapted to Mendelssobn's c Rivulet '.

"The chief feature I remember about my father's connection with South Place was the vehemence with which he spoke at the political meetings which used to be held at the conclusion of the morning service. As his views on foreign policy were generally directly opposed to those prevalent, the meetings were stormy, but his voice was too powerful to be drowned by any

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uproar. I always believed, and do' so still, that it was to avoid these storms, which were inevitable in. those days, that Mr. Conway left off bringing up politics at such meetings and attempted to get petitions 'signed officially on behalf of the congregation, contentlDg himself with announcing that such and such a petition lay on the table in the library for signature.

" He was very regular in his attefldance at South Place, but in recent years we had to force him to stay at home a great deal during the winter, and I find that the last entry in his uiary of a visit there was on t~e 18th JUly,'1897' Early in September of that year he was senously ill, and then lost through paralysis the use of bis left arm. For several years he had sung in the Handel Festival Choir, but in 18g7 the exertion exhausted him very much, and in 18g8 be did not sing.

"On the IIth October he. attended a meeting of the Travelling Tax Abolition CommIttee, after which he was much exhausted, an(. never got up again. He considered it very strange that he was not well and able to get up and work as usual at the end of a week. His inability to work vexed him exceedingly. I know his sentiments always were tbat he would rather be dead than alive and unable to work. A man of more unbounded energy it would be difficult to find .

" He suffered from no disease whatever, and felt very little pain except the mental pain caused by his helplessness. At the last he slept peacefully away.

"EDITH S. COLLET."

The death of our old friend C. D. Collet is an event which I cannot let pass without some tribute. His connection with our chapel must be almost coeval ,~ith it, and for many years his services to it were of the highest Importance. In my Centenary History of our Society he is named among the reformers who worked for "every noble human cause", and the excellence attained by the choir under his direction is alluded to. But I now feel that I did not say half enough about him. His historical knowledge was wonderful: he was a living encyclopa!dia of the political history of the century now closing, and could report all the salient facts, with even the dates, connected with the careers of the leading public men who had fought on either side in the great struggles for reform. He was from youth inspired by the principles of which "\V. J. Fox was the eloquent standard-bearer, and was unwearied in his devotion to the chapel. His musical training was in its time the most advanced. He and his sister Sophia were among the enthusiasts who welcomed Mendelssohn to England, and used to watch the great composer when as conductor he was interpreting his oratorios" Elijah" and" St. Paul" in London. While Sarah Flower and Mr. Fox were Writing the celebrated South Place hymns, and Eliza Flower

was setting them to the sweetest themes of the famous com­posers or to compositions of her own (and several by Sophia Collet), C. D. Collet was constantly training his choir to sing them. I have heard from those who attended the chapel in those days that it was admitted by all that no other sacred music in London was equal to that of South Place. When I was preparing my history of the Society I often consulted Mr. Collet, and as often was struck with his modesty concerning his own part in the career of the chapel. His tenderness to his sister, deformed and invalid, and his pride in the good literary and musical work she achieved, despite her burdens, was touching. I remember that he was once somewhat hurt when on some occasion a hymn by Sop hi a was sung but printed in the pro­gramme without her name.

It was sweet to me to see his serene, blonde face, always in his old seat, as near as he could get to the choir. If Sarah Flower Adams had been alive to see him there she would have written a poem about him. Year after year his hearing failed, yet he came. At length he became so deaf that he could not hear a sentence uttered from the desk. Yet he came. He was drawn by ancient love for his old spiritual home: he could see in visions of memory the beloved faces, long passed away; perhaps, too, after the lecturer's voice was no longer heard, the hymns were still wafted into the far retreat of this fine soul. A brave, faithful, and gentle heart has ceased to beat.

MONCURE D. CONWAY.

A VISION OF HADES.

LIFE'S fickle day had closed, but yet I was not as the dead who sleep

In Earth's moist bosom and forget Mankind, themselves, the eyes that weep:

A conscious shadow, backward cast, I trod the Hades of the Past. A gloomy forest, vast and lone,

Enmeshed me with its sombre screen Of boughs, through which there seemed to moan

The voice of things that might have been: A mingled wail for joys unwon, Work slighted, kindly deeds not done. Dim phantoms, gaunt and vacant-eyed,

Sailed past me on the lifeless air, And each, in hollow accents, cried

Some now-unanswerable prayer, And all the leaves of all the trees Shuddered like creatures ill at ease.

77

Between those stems, of untold age, Long vistas opened to my view,

Each leading to a spectral stage, Where things-l did-and felt and knew,

In careless life, were acted o'er; AB gladness gone, all sin still sore. But soon there met me, as I gazed,

A broader space, a brighter gleam; Lo! countless starry systems blazed

Like fiery hu bbles on a stream: The stream was Time; each living world Along its silent current swirled. Remote, receding, on they sped,

Yet-strange I- my spirit's opened eye The tiny Earth-globe's fortunes read,

And all men's doings did descry, And marked each sequence, good or ill, Which flowed from my once-living will. The hapless sailor, cast ashore

Mid rocks and wastes of sand, who sees The ship which shall be his no more

Bend blithely to the giddy breeze, Could never feel, as I, bereft; By Earth-hope-laden Earth-thus left. But while I yearned and groaned to cross

Time's all -impenetrable void, And ached with that unmeasured loss­

That living sense of life destroyed­And knelt in agony, and spoke VJild, incoherent words-I woke.

I woke to Earth, to morning's rays Half-veiled in mist, to sounds of men,

To trivial and accustomed ways; Yet two new though ts possessed me then:

Greater is life than oft it seems; And death, less dreadful than our dreams.

CHARLRS E. HOOPRR. ====== THOMAS PAINE.

WE think our readers will be interested to know that M. F6lix Rabbe of Paris, the translator of Marlowe an.d Shelley, also an able writer on French history, has begun, in the R~vlew of the" Societe de I'Histoire de la Revolution ", a series of studies of" Thomas Paine d'apres les travaux recents de M. Conway." In his first article Uuly) M. Rabbe says:-

. "L'Amerique vient de lui payer sa dette, par la plume d'un de ses hlstoriens les plus distingu6s, M. Moncure Daniel Conway.

" A la biographie de Thomas Paine, signalee ici lors de son appari­tion, tlL Conway a ajoute depuis la collection de tous ses ecrits, publies ou inedils. Ces six volumes sont le deroier mot de l'histoire sur une des figures le plus origin ales et les plus attachantes de cette epoque.

" M. Con way suit son heros pas a pas, d'annee en annee, dans sa "ie publique et privee, re£lltant au passage loutes les erreurs et les calomnies de ses biographes, a la lumiere d'une fonle de documents authentiques que sa sagace erudition a su decouvrir dans les Archives d' Amerique et de France. Ricn de lui echappe, documents officiels ou prives, onvrages de Paine publies ou inedits, ses nombreuses contributions aux journaux americains ou fran<;ais, sa correspondence avec les deux ITIondes, les lemoignages de ses amis ou de ses ennemis, il a tout compulse et soumis lous ces materiaux a une critique ingenieuse et severe. A cote de beaucoup de choses nouvelles qu'il nous a revelees, il a elncide une foule de POlDtS obscurs ou controverses tant sur la vie de Paine, que sur l'histoire generale du temps qu'il ne perd jamais de vue, portant sur les bommes et les evenements con­temporains des jugements souvent originaux et tonjours empreints d'impartialite et de science. Apres !'etude approfondie que nous avons faite de l'ouvrage de M. Conway, nons n'hesitons pas a dire qu'il a dote la litlerature historique de notre temps J'un livre appele a durer, pal-ce qu'il est ecrit avec le cceur autant qU'avec i'esprit, et qu'il renferme assez d'elements nouveaux pour Hre consulte avec fruit par tous ceux qui s'.occ~peront de l'~istoire de ~ette epoque. Quiconque voudra en parhculier approfondlr les relatIons de la France et de i'Amerique, dependant la guerre de l'Independance et aux diverse epoques de la Revolution franyaise devra recourir a lui."

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The Reminiscences of Sir Sydney Walerlow, on which that liberal veteran is now engaged, should contain a good deal of interesting matter as to South Place Chapel, with which he and his family were long connected .

In the New Age of December 15th appears a long appreciation of William Johnson Fox, from the pen of Harold Rylett. The article is one of a series devoted to Religious Teachers, and deals with its subject in his many aspects-as" the prophet of Religious Liberalism ", as journalist and man of letters, orator, and public reformer. In the first connection Mr. Rylett writes: " It was soon realised that a prophet had arrived, and in a very short time his chapel was crowded, and it was decided to build a new one. In 1824 South Place Chapel, Finsbury, was openf!d, and here there gathered about Fox perhaps one of tbe most intellectual and influential congregations a dissenting minister ever had ."

"Dr. Moncure D. Conway", says the Literary Guide, "is making rapid progress with his Reminiscences, wbich will be published some time during 1899."

79

CORRESPONDE C·E. To THE EU.TOR.

Whil!;t heartily endorsing Mr. ~awlings' remarks concerning the distribution of our members ' io the seats 00 Sunday mornings, I cannot agree with his proposed remedy. Indeed none suggests itsclf to me, unless our notice on the Monthly List that 11 visitors may take any seats at the close of the first anthem" applies equally to members.

Although I have held my position as Hon. Registrar of Seat Holders but a few months, sufficieut proof has been afforded me that the shilling per quarter seat rent has been invaluable . Amongst these seat holders are to be found young but earnest members who cannot afford to pay even the suggested minimum subscription of ten shillings per annum . It seems to me a pity to drive away those of our younger members who are less well olT, but whose acquaintance we should rather cultivate, by endeavouring to draw them into the .. working circle" of our Society. .

While on this topic may I remind our Members and Associates that we are near the end of our financial year, and it would be gratifying to show, if possible, no arrears of seat rents. Another item of importance is the register of Members and Associates. I should be glad if every· one concerned would refer to last year's Report, and if any correction in name or address be needed, to communicate with me before March 31st, either in the Library or at 14 Brading Road, Brixton Hill, S.W.

HAROLD SEYLER.

To THE EDITOR.

Will you allow me to draw the atteution of our members to the present state of the Guarantee Fund, which was called up at the beginning of last month . Up to the present time the number of subscribers has been exceedingly sm.all. If we except members of the General Committee (who have contnbuted more than two-thirds of the a mount paid in, I find that only nine outside members have as yet sent any contribution at all. I am qtllte unable to account for this, but it seems a most regrettable circumstan?e that so little cffort is being made in view of the outlay which is ineVItable during the ensuing year.

At the last Annual Meeting it was stated that in consequence of the dilapidated state of the building it would soon be necessary to effect considerable repairs and cleaning which will, judging from past ex­perience, cost not less than £250 to £300. The sum already subscribed and promised only amounts to £69· The Committee therefore trust that members will do what they can to assist in carrying out the arrangements now in contemplatl.on for the preservation of the bUilding and for their comfort and convemence.

\\fM . CROWDER, HOI/. TreaSllrer . -----------------

NOTICES . South Place Discussion Society .-On January 4th, Mr. A. W.

Hutton, M.A., opened a discllssion on" The Present Relation of the Church of Englaud to Modern Rationalism ", the Rev. Stewart D. Headlam in the chair. Mr. Hullon opened his remarks with a sketch Qf his religious history. His father and grandfather were clergy of the Church of England ; he himse.lf became a clergyman, and s':lcc~eded to hIS father's living. After a ttme he came to see that the pnnclple of authority which he had accepted could only logically be held in the

80

Church of Rome, and he accordingly joined a community belonging to­that Church and ultimately became a priest. Further reflection led him to reject the principle of authority itself, and he therefore severed his connection with the Romish Church. At that period of his career he lectured at South Place on several occasions, though he never felt entire sympathy with the anti·Christian tone that appeared, to prevail there. Now he was re.entering the Church of England, and he wished to explain how, in his view, he could do this consistently with his position as a Rationalist. He claimed that the Church of England was essentially a learning church, and that the Articles of Religion were to be construed in the light of literary criticism and sO\1nd soholarship. He also held that the alteration made in 186S in the fC!lI'm of subscription to the Articles was intended to give the clergr liberty to dissent from specific doctrines contained in them, provided they accepted the general spirit of the whole. Further than this, he looked forward to the time when Parliament would modify the fO[lmu· laries of the Church in a Rationalistic direction; and his reply to ·those who said that he should remain outside till this was done, was, that if men of his opinions remained outside it never would be done. .Aon interesting discussion followed, and the proceedings closed with a cordial vote of thanks to the Opener and Chairman.

Sunday Afternoon Free Lectures.-On January 2gth the Sunday afternoon lecture will be delivered by Mr. Frank Woolnough, Curator and Secretary Borough of Ipswich Museum, on "Ipswich". 1l1he following are the lectures for February.-Mr. H. Edmonds, B.Sc., Lond., of the Municipal School of Science and Technology, Brighton. on" Brighton"; Mr. A. W. King, Secretary of the Municipal Technical School, Blackburn, on" Blackburn "; Mr. A. Hamilton Thompson. B.A., late Minor Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, on "The Origin and Growth of the University of Cambridge"; Mr. W. P. W . Phillimore, M.A., B.C.L., Oxon., on "Nottingham ". The Corporation of Brighton has kindly allowed some slides of old prints, etc., of Brighton to ·be made for the purpose of illustrating tbe lecture of Mr. Edmonds.

New Member.-Mrs. E. Dallow, 4 West End Mansions, West lEnd Lane, N.W.

Removals.-Mr. J. H. B. Jenkills, to "Fernlea", Mansfield Road, vVanstead .

Miss Irene M. Reynolds, clo Dr. R. Weber, Rue Coulon, 12, Neucb:l.tel.

Dearb.-On the 28th December, 18g8, at his residence. Coleridge· Road, Finsbury Park, Collet Dobson Collet, aged 86 years.

In consequence of pressure on our space this month, several im· portant articles are held over until the March issue.

The SOUTH PLACE MAGAZINE is published for the Committee by A. and H. B. Bonner, 1 and 2 Took's Court, Chancery Lane. It is for sale in the Library of South Place Chapel, and also on the bookstalls of the following Ethical Societies: The West London, at Kensington Town Hall; The South London, at the Masonic Hall, Camberwell New Road; and at the National Secular Society, 376 and 37.7 Strand, W.e. It can also be obtained from the following booksellers: Mr. Ferries, 53 Finsbury Pavement; Mrs. E. Born, lIS London Wall, E.C. The Secretary will be glad to have the names of other societies or booksellers willmg to sell the Magazine.

Printed by A. BONNER, I & 2 Took's Court, Chancery Lane, London, E.C.

L

INSTITUTE SEASON TICKET. Ihe 1899 Half-Guinea Season Ticket will Only he issued up. tQ ~nd incluoiJlg 20tb

Fehruary, ~rid will be available for-Six Montbly Soir~es, held in February, M'arph; April, October, November, and December. Institnte Lectures-October to December. ' . , Conducted Rambles and Ramblers' Solr~es. Membership of Discussion Society and use Qf Le!ldiug Library.

The ticket Is i'suM in convenient pock~t fOnD, and nmy be obtained upon application in Ihe LilJrary, Or. of Hall. SI:C., WALel!; ~IANS"ORb, 53, Alde«gate Sueet, KC

THE MONTHLY SOIREES. The Soiree Committee have plea>;;ure in announcing that the followinA. arrangements have

been made for their next series of Soirees:~ . February 6th .-Mr. Geo. Whale (Past Presidont of th~ Omar'KlHiyyalll Club), will read a

paper on .. Omar KMyyam. Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids in ' th~ chaiT. Madame Liza I.ch­~ann's musical setting of a portion of the Rpbalyat, entitled "In a Persian' Gaqlen," will be given. .

March 6th,-Tableaux Vivants and music under,tbe direction of Miss Ada Lidstone. April 10th.-An exhibition of photographs, wood-carving, 'etc: The Committee will be

glad of assistance from rnl~m bers and fflends and also for the lom,! of exhibits. Mr. Charles Drysdale will rearl a paper on "Colour Photography," \"ith e"1>eriments.

Tickets for th e stlries of three Soirees, IS. 6d. i single tickets, IS., children under shaeen, 6d.; admission also by Institute Season Ticket; are to be obtained from allY m(;mber of the Soiree· Committee, in the Library, or from- .'

frou. Se.c., Mrs. COCKBtrRN, I 1 The Limes," 34 Clyde Road, Croydon CHILDREN'S SOC>lAL EVENINGS.

The cext meeting will take place on W~drlesday, February 15th, 5.30·tO 9 p.ll;; )\!r. Herbcrt Burrow!:; will give a short· address. There \'IIB be ,ea, 1I1usic, dancin~, etc. Tickets, 6el. each, may be had in the Library, or of Hon, Sec. Sunday School Committee.

Hon. Sec .. Mrs. C_ R. BRACE, 42 Mano( Road, ~. . RAMBLERS' DANCES. ' , ' . The series of five Fortnightly Dances beginning on January 14th, j,eJd at Armfield's Ho\d, I, South Place, Finsbury, will be continuecl on Salurday", February [lth and '5th. Ticket for se,rics of five dances, 8s. 6d.' for any three of ,above dunces, 55. od.; for single danCe, '2S. Tickets can be had in the Library, or of the Members of the Dance Committee.

Hall. Std.: S. TAYLOR. 22G, Hainault Road, Leytonstone. SOUTH PLACE ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY.

. The weekly Practices arc held on Friday evenin.gs, 11'00l 7.45 to 9'15. The Subscription 1515. per month, with an Entrance Fee of 2S. 6~. Playel's desirous of Joining the Society aJ'e JiequC!Sted to communicate with the Hon. Conductor, B. S'Y~10NS, 'ZI South Villas, Camd n Square, N.W.; or the HOIl. Sec., ALFRED ]. CL"""'~Th-, 25 Camden Road, N.W.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON FREE LECTURES. The Course or Lectures on It Our Cities and Municipalities to will be continued

.as under:_ .

Jan. ~9th.-FRAN'" WOOLNOUGH (Curator and Secretary, Borough of Ipswich Museum), " Ipswich." .

Feb. 5th.-H. EOMoNDs, RSc. London (Municipal Scbool of Science and Technology, Brlghtonl "Brlghlon" (with lantern iIIustrlltions).

Feb. 12Ih.-A: W. KtNG (Secretary ~i1,"icipal Technical Schools, Blnc!<burn), .. Black­burn" (with lantern illustralions),

Feb. 19th.-A. HAMILTON THOMPSON, 13.A. (Late Minor Scholar, St. lobn's Collelle, Cambridge). "Tbe Origin and Growth o( Cambridge University' (with lantern illustrations). .

'0" Feb. 2Gth.-W. P. W. PHILLlMORE, M.A., B:C .. L. Oxon., "Nottingham" (with lantern illustrations).

An Or!1an Recital will be given each afterrioon, (roni 3.30 to 4 o'clock. All sQats free. No collectIOn. Doors open at 3.30. Lecture at 4 o'clock.

HIm. Scc ., W. SHEOWRING, South,Place Institute, Soutb Place, :Finsbury, E."'. Arrangements are now pending for a course of

TUESDAY EVENING LECTURES . I J. lIAl..LAM, lB. St. Mark's, Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W.

lioll. Secs., I W. SllEOWRING, 24, Bethune Road, Stamford Hill. N.

SUNDAY POPULAR CONCERTS. T The THIRTEENTH SEASON will be continued evety Sunday untll further notice.

be following are the arrangements for February:-Feb. 5t h.-Tbe 300th Concert. -SPECIAL WIND CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT.

-/1IstrllJllwtalists,' Messrs. Richard H. Wait hew, W. M. Malsch, A.J. Shoher, JOlian Egerton, Perey EgertoD, T. Wallon, Edward Dubnrcq, H. Vandel'meersche'1, and A. I!rainA' Vocalists.' Miss Hllda Wllson and ~r. H. Lane WilsoD; A ceompallist: Miss Kate ugusta Davies. The programme Will InclUde Beethoven's Octet In E -ilat, PP. 103. for two oboes, two clarinets, twO bassoons, and two horns: Mozart's Serfmadc I~ C minor, for the same Instrument~; and Beethoven's Sonata Appassionala for Planoforle alone. .

Peb. 12th.-blStrume1J/nlists. Miss Annie Grllnson, Miss lcssie Grimson, Mr. S. Dcan Grhnson. Master Harold Grimson, and Mr.Robel t .Grimsoll; VoC</./i'I: ~ A ccam­P"''''I: Miss Kate Augusta Davies . . Tbp prograllltlle will include Beetboven'" Strin~ Quartetln E minor, Op. 59, No. ", and Rhelnberger's Q"illtet In C, Op. "4, for Piano and Stnngs.

Feb. Igtb.-l ltstrll1llCIIlnlists,' Jllessrs. Jol\n ~,!-unders, Archibald Evans, Ernest Yongc and Wiliam Cl Halln' Vocalists: Miss LIIHm Gardner and The progran'lme will 'include Mo.nrl's Strir,/( QunrlN in C.

! '

Feb. 26th.-I"sl/·/lI"e,,/alisls: Miss Josephine Troup, Mr. Hans Wesscly, and Mr. Charles. Ould; VOClliis/: Mdlle. OUa Brouy; Accompallis/: Miss Kate Augusta Davles. The programme wll\ include Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.

Doors open at 6.40. Concerts at 7 p.m. Admission free, with collection. Tbe Report of the Twelfth Season may be bad on application. Committee Meetings on February 5th and [9th, at 5.45 p.m.

HOII. TY<a5., H. G. MORR[S. 269 Lewisbam High Road, S .E . HO/I. Stc .. ALFRED J. CLEMENTS, 25, Cam den Road, N.W.

SOUTH PLACE DISCUSSION SOCIETY. The arrangeme ms for February are as follows:-

Wednesday, I'ebruary 8th.-" County Council Control with reference to Hospi­tals." Opened by Miss A. J. BEATTY.

Wednesday, February 22nd.-" What is Crime, and who are the Criminals.'· Opened by WILLIA" GA.TON.

Chair taken at 7.30 p.Ol. Visitors are cordially invited to attend these meetings and take­pan in the free discussion. Annual subscription, [5., or by Season Ticket.

Ho ... Sec. , MAuD BLAKE, 2, Laburnum Villas, South Park. Uford.

DEBENTURE J'l.EDEMPTION FUND. The repayment of Bond.s, together with the free gift of a Debenlure, reduces the out ­

standing lIability to £322. Art IInd Book SlIle. - Special attention is directed to the fact that the Committee have,

deoided to include Book Plates and Autographs in their collection, and they will be glad to receive gifts trom Members and friends. Arrangements have also been made whereby orig-inal designs for Book Plates can be prepared to order, and specimens of work can be .een upon application. lio". Sec. , WA ... L[S MANS~ORD, 53, Aldersgate Street, E.C.

LENDING LIBRARY. The Library is open to Subscribers and Season Ticket Holders. The Hon. Librarian.

allend every Sunday morning at 10.30. Books may also be obtained at the Monthly Soirj!es. either for reference or home reading. Any books borrowed prior to January should be re turned at once to the Librarians; it will be greatly to the convenience of readers If books borrowed are not detained more than twcnty·one days. Catalogues can be obtained in the Library, price .d. :o.lembers having books they are willing to fend are requested to kindly communicate with onc of the Librarians, who will be glad to make them known to users of the Library.

Hon. LibYctyirWS Mrs. J. SKELLORI<, Thornleigh, Ca vend ish Road, Harringay, N. J. R. CARTEl!, 67, Cromwell Avenue, Highgate, N.

SOUTH PLACE MAGAZINE. The Subscription to the Magazine for 12 months, post free, is 25. 6d., and it can be paid'

in the Library, or sent to ERNEST A. CAf'R, HOII. Sec. Magazs"e Committtt, Soutb PlaCit Institute, :::'outh Place. Finsbury, E.e.; or to W. HALL.I0AY, HOII. Treas., 111 Helix Road Brixton.

Secretaries of kindred Societies, bookseliers, and others willing to have copies of the­Magazine on sale, can be supplied on the usual trade terms by the publishers, A. and H. B. BONNER, I and 2 Took's Court, Chancery Lane, E.C.

PUBLICATIONS. The following amollgst other publications are on sale in the Library:

U Farewell Discourses," IS. II Centenary of South Place/' by Dr. CONWAV. 3S. gd . .. The Sacred Anthologr," by Dr. CONWAY; 3S • "Thoughts and AspiratIOns of the Ages," complied by Dr. W. C. COUPLAND' 7S. lId, ,r Workers on their Industries"; IS. lid. ' ~I Religious Systems of the World"; JTS. lId .. National Life and Thought"; 2S.6d.

HONORARY OFFICERS. T,-~aSfO'er: W. CROWD~R, 271, Evering Road, Upper Clnpton. N.E. Slut/ary: Mrs. C. FLIlTCIIER SM[TH, 38, Manor Road, Stamford Hill, N. F'HIJ"",,,I Sec,,/""y: J. ALDRED, 55, Chancery Lan~, E.C. RegIStrar oj ,lfl",btJ's and Associates: HAROLD SRYLER, '4 Brading Road, BrI:xton Hili, S.W. Regls/rar oj Dtb."f",.lloltfers WALLIS MANSFORD, 53 Aldersgate Street, E.C.

Secretaries of Sub-Colllmittees. Building H >:RUERT MANSPORD, 53, Aldersgate Street, E .C. Concert .. ... ALFRED J. CLEMENTS, '5, Camden Road, N.W. Debenture Redemption W ALLIS M .. r<sFoRn, 53, Aldersgate Street, E.C. Decoration ... ... Mrs. H. SEVLER, 14, Brading Road, Brixton Hill, S.W. Discussion Society Mrs. MAUD BLAKE, 2, Laburnum Villas, Soutb Park,llford, House Miss JOIINSOH, [62, Amhurst Road, Hackney, N.E, Institute ! W. SH>:OWRtNG, %4, Bethune Road, Stamford Hili, N.

! r. HALLAM, 18, St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W, Library f:'. FOR1)HAM FRECHET, 10, Emperor's Gate, S.W. MagaZine ERNKST A. CARR, 91, Tburlestone R,oad, West Norwood, S.E Music... E. M. REtSS, 27, Gresham Road, Bnxton, S.W, Season Ticket WALLlS MAHSYORn, 53, Aldersgate Street, E.C. Soiree Mrs. W. COCKBURr<, The Limes, 34. Clyde Road, Croydon. Sunday Morning t W, RAWLINGS, 406, Mare Street, Hackney, N.E,

Lecture .. . I Sunday School... /tlrs. C. R. BRACE, 42, Manor Road, Stamford Hili, N.

Organist ... H. SMITH WEBSTER, 132, Camden Street, N.W. , The Building is to be let for Meetings, etc. Forms of application may be hact

of the Caretaker, 11, South Place , E.C. ; and when filled up should be sent to Mr. N. Lidstone, 96, Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, N.