Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ...are some of us," wrote one of the members when the Society was twenty-five years old, "who go up to Radley's meeting with feelings akin to those of the ancient Israelites as they went to their sacred feasts." When after the move to Gresham Street the association with the hotel was severed, George Williams, as has already been stated, decided to perpetuate the old memories by holding at Radley's an annual social gathering consisting of the members of the Committee of the Parent Association and its various Metropolitan branches. This was accordingly done each year until the demolition of the hotel, when the gathering was transferred to the Freemasons' Hall, in Great Queen Street, where, however, it still preserved the name of Radley's meeting. The meeting was preceded by a reception at which the founder of the Association welcomed his friends in the manner for which he was famous, and which gained so much from his remarkable memory for faces and the personal nature of each individual greeting. After an hour's social intercourse over " seedy " cake and a cup of tea taken, as some one once explained, in peripatetic fashion--for many of those present only met thus once a year--the meeting settled down in a circle round the host's table to hear reports and personal testimonies. Afterwards it was George Williams's custom to suggest some topic of conversation or discussion in connection with the advancement of the Society, such as "The special difficulties encountered in the work for young men," " Lessons to be learnt from developments in America," or "The duty of members to the Association." It was in connection with this last subject that, at a Radley's meeting held in 1870, George Williams...
