“It is painful to read that some of the literary activities in the School have been temporarily suspended because of the pressure of time due to ambulance classes; assuredly this could not be avoided, but we know that the School authorities, no less than the rest of us, must regret it. When the ancient universities have a third or less than a third of their normal number of students, when thousands of the most promising minds are perishing, or, more terrible still, being seared and demoralised by the ghastly ordeal imposed upon them, one may naturally look to the schools in every part of the country to encourage those who are least liable to the oppression due to a true perception of the meaning of war to continue the national tradition expressed in the ideal of the gentleman. “Sweetness and light,” the true culture, is needed to-day – needed, perhaps, even more than courage and heroism. The heroism, too, for which, we believe, Bootham will always stand is not merely the courage to withstand the forces of evil, but still more that loftier courage which strives to direct and control the forces of good; and for this the first requisite is surely a true cultivation of the mind and soul. We look forward to a time when not only the winners of the Natural History Exhibition shall gain scientific scholarships at the universities, but when winners of the Le Tall prize, and many who have worked solely for love of art and learning, will win fame in the “gentler” arts. We believe that the literary section of the Bootham Natural History, Literary and Polytechnic Society has a duty in equipping men who will be the true solace of a stricken world.”
From ‘Bootham’ magazine, March 1915. The Annual Report of the Natural History, Literary and Polytechnic Society in the same issue noted that the Senior Essay Society and Senior Reading and Discussion Society had abandoned their meetings during the Autumn Term owing to the pressure of work caused by ambulance classes etc.