3 MAY 1940, Page 12

How agreeable it was to observe with what kindliness the

hungry generations tread us down ; how comforting to find that the amateurs should speak so much better than the pro- fessionals; and to discover that the Union (which of late years has struggled through dark days) should once again be repre- sentative of the vitality, the high spirits and the serious- ness of the younger generation. Seldom have I spent a more agreeable evening, and it was only when I returned to the gothic solitude of my room that I was able to reconsider, in the light of the arguments which had been exchanged, my own attitude to this problem of neutrality.