NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13148, 10 April 1906, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

SPEAK UP! Eiox.boys of all ages listened with rapt attention to Mr. Arthur Bourchier's lecture on "'The Art of Public Speaking." The school library was the scene of the lecture, and the boys' cheers were loud and Ion"- as Mr. Bourchier appeared on the platform. Two reasons bad compelled him to accept the invitation, be said. First, an invitation from the headmaster to an old Etonian was equivalent to a command, and, second, because he took it as a great compliment to the profession of which he was proud to be a member. " There were, however, Etonian actors before Bourchier/' he added, amid laughter. " The most celebrated was Edmund Kean, who when he went to London and played Shylock with such success, ran home to his wife and said, ' Nancy, you shall ride in your carriage, and Charlie, my boy, you shall go to Eton!'" Continuing, Mr. Bourchier said the /gentle art of speaking distinctly was vital to success in every walk of life. Two of the finest orators he ever knew were the silver-ton-gued Lord Chief Justice Coleridge and the present Provost of Eton, Dr. Hornby. It was an art, added Mr. Bourchier, which could not- be cultivated too early. Many a fine point was lost because preachers and actors dropped their voices at the end of a sentence, and many a Parliamentary candidate had been howled down because he would not speak up. One of the best ways of learning to speak fluently was to belong to a dramatic society, and if they formed such a society at Eton he would be pleased to place his humble services at their disposal. Mr. , Bourchier illustrated his lecture with many recitations, which drew from Canon Lyttelton the remark that he bad " never heard so many beautiful utterances so nobly delivered." THE EAST END OF LONDON.

. The Bishop of London has given to a Bournemouth audience a surprising description of the " spell" of clerical work in the East End of London. He attributed it to

the 'perpetual round of excitement and the constant humour and brightness of the people in face of terrible difficulties, comparing the poor'people in the East End to soldiers laughing and joking as they vent forth to battle with bullets whizzing round them. \5 an illustration, he gave the instance of a vicar whom he presented with a comfortable countrv living of £500 a year. In less than 12 months the vicar and his wife were on their knees ir front of him imploring him to take them back to East London, and they gladly accepted a living there at no mere than £250. •.„-;-' - -