Reflections

Abstract

Memory, as those of us who sit examinations well know, is a lying jade at the best of times. Thus any subjective review of events occuring in the past session must be fragmentary and impressionistic. What follows is not a considered analysis of progress made and future objectives, but an armchair reverie.

Dr. David Stafford Clark opened the 224th session with a most elegant address which captured the imagination of the audience that filled 'the debating hall. This was a successful start and the promise of an excellent series of dissertations, talks and addresses to follow was entirely maintained. It is not however, the public face of the society which concerns me here, the articles of this journal are sufficient testimony of its workings. I shall attempt briefly to cast a lingering look behind and summon up the more personal impressions gleaned in the past session.

The vigour with which the members engage in "Private Business" is the essential measure of the success or otherwise of a session. In this respect the 224th was unusually fortunate. However there is room for improvement and all too often members look on the society as a lending library with an optional lecture course. This apathetic attitude must be dispelled. "The more a member puts into the society the more he derives from it," is admittedly an old Tory jingle but experience repeatedly proves it to be true.