nd trumpets broke out from the high-walled town
in a triumphant concert, because he had done worthily, and should now
see greater things than these.

XII. A SPEECH-DAY

In the course of the summer it was my lot to attend the Speech-Day
festivities of a certain school--indeed, I attended at more than one
such gathering, vocatus atque non vocatus, as Horace says. They are not
the sort of entertainments I should choose for pleasure; one feels
too much like a sheep, driven from pen to pen, kindly and courteously
driven, but still driven. One is fed rather than eats. One meets a
number of charming and interesting people, and one has no time to
talk to them. But I am always glad to have gone, and one carries away
pleasant memories of kindness and courtesy, of youth and hope.

This particular occasion was so very typical that I am going to try and
gather up my impressions and ideas. It was an old school and a famous
school, though not one of the most famous. The buildings large and
effective, full of modern and up-to-date improvements, with a mellow
core of antiquity, in the shape of a venerable little courtyard in
the centre. There were green lawns and pleasant gardens and umbrageous
trees; and it was a beautiful day, too, sunny and fresh, so that one was
neither baked nor boiled. The first item was a luncheon, at which I
sate between two very pleasant strangers and exchanged cautious views
on education. We agreed that the value of the classics as a staple of
mental training was perhaps a little overrated, and that possibly too
much attention was nowadays given to athletics; but that after all the
public-school system was the backbone of the country, and taught boys
how to behave like gentlemen, and how to govern subject races. We
agreed that they were ideal training-grounds for character, and that our
public-schools were the envy of the civilised world. In such profound
and suggestive interchange of ideas the time sped rapidly away.

Then we were gathered into a big hall. It was pleasant to see proud
parents and charming sisters, wearing their best, clustered excitedly
round some sturdy and well-brushed young hero, the hope of the race;
pleasant to see frock-coated masters, beaming with professional
benevolence, elderly gentlemen smilingly recalling tales of youthful
prowess, which had grown quite epical in the lapse of time; it was
inspiriting to feel one of a big company of people, all bent on being
for once as