THE PLUKKET MEDAL

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 62, 11 September 1905, Page 5

THE PLUKKET MEDAL

■ VICTORIA COLLEGE COMPETITION •IN ORATORY. The Victoria College Debating Society lias b«sn fortunate in that his Excellency lha Governor, Lord Plunket, has presented that hody with a "Plunket Medal" for oratory. This may bo deccribed aa Plunket Medal No. 2. Tho fhfit Plunket Medal is one of the most valued prizes of the College Historical Society of Trinity College, Dublin, and waa founded in memory of thg first Lord PJunket, orator and stato-man. The first competition for the Plunket Medal presented to Victoria College took place on Saturday evening in the Girls' High School. Mr. H. P. Richmond presided. His Excellency wag, present, ateo University figures and members of Parliament. Ten speakers, with ten-minutes' tim« allowance, spoke, each taking some historical personage/ Ths sneakers and their subjects were : — Mr. H. Banks, WiMiam Pitt; Mr. J. Graham, Napoleon; Mr. F. A. de la Mare, Sir Peter <le la Mare; Mr. R. Mason, Sir George Grey; Mr. F. P. Kelly, Gladstone; Mr. G. V Bogle, Joan of Arc; Mr. G. F. Dixon, Lord Shafteebury; Mr. J. A. Brailsford, General Gordon; Mr. C. B. Colluis, Edward Gibbon Wakefield ; Mr. E. J. Fitzgibbon, Daniel O'Connell. Tho winners were decided by voto of members of tho society. The vote placed Mr. Fitzgibbon first, Mt. Kelly aecond, and Mr. Graham third. Tho President of the society (Mr. nl. W. Richmond) moved: — "That this society again i'hanks Lord Plunket, and expresses its appreciation of the interest shown by him in Victoria College, by the institution and endowment of tho ' Plunket Medal, 1 and desires aleo to express its appreciation of "the honour done to it by -his presence -at the firet competition for the medal." Mr. J. W. Joynt, Registrar of .the University, seconded tho resolution. -Mr. F. E. 'Baumc, Chairman of tha Parliamentary Education Committee, -congralulatsd the society and his Excellency. The- -^solution was canied witli acclamation. In presenting the medal in MrFi'tzglbbon, Lord Plunket remarked that it was appropriate that the first winner of what was originally an Irish medal should be an Irishman. He had given the medal for two reasons. One was that the name of Plunket might be connected with the College of which he had laid the foundation etone; -and surely no debating society in New Zealand deserved more encouragement than this one, placed as it was in 'the midst of Parliament and the Law Courts. The second reason — and th© one nearest his 'heart — wae the fact that his ancestor owed a great deal of his 6ucccs6 in life to the opportunities his connection with tiie Historical Society of Trinity Collego gave him. The meeting concluded with cheers for his Excellency.. The hall was crowded.