OLD ETONIANS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20708, 4 May 1929, Page 21

OLD ETONIANS.

LORD MAYOR'S BANQUET. OVERSEAS GOVERNORS PAST SCHOLARS. (Fbom Ohe Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 19. An event unique in the annals of the Mansion House took place last night. The Lord Mayor, Sir Kynaston Studd, to celebrate the fact that the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and himself were all at Fton, give a banquet in the Egyptian Hall to old Etonians. Those present in the large company included :—The Duke df Gloucester, Prince Arthur of Connaught, Viscount Lascelles, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Byng of Vimy, the Provost of Eton, and the headmaster. The Lord Mayor left Eton in 1877. After the laving cup had circulated and the toast of " The King " had been the Lord Mayor said it was impossible to find words with which to welcome the company and to thank them for gathering together as representatives of their beloved school. He read a '.etter from Lord Balfour, who could not attend, but said that, as an Old Etonian, an old citizen, and an ex-parliamentary representative of the city, he had received the invitation with peculiar gratification. They would all know, the Lord Mayor continued, that this was a wonderful year for Eton, but the only thing he would say was that, at present every overseas Governor was an Old Etonian. In the name of those present he had sent to them and others telegram? if greeting. The King of Siam had replied: " Please convey ray thanks to the gathering of Old Etonians for greetings, which I sincerely reciprocate, and wish all of you happiness and prosperity." The Duke of Brabrant replied that he was deeply moved by the token of. sympathy from old frjends of the college, foi which he returned the sincerest regard. Replies were also received from Prince Nicholas of Rumania, Lord Stonehaven, Lord Willingdon, Lord Irwin, Sir Charles Fergusson (Governor-General of New Zealand), the Earl of Athlone, and the Duke of Abercorn. The company sang the "Eton Boating Song" with enthusiasm, the verses, with the exception of the first and last, being divided among the tables. The-procedure aroused a spirit of emulation, and the final verse particularly must have awakened school memories. , NO PLACE LIKE ETON. Giving the toast, " Floreat Etona," the Provost (Dr M. R, James) made referonce to Eton in the Sctiun of Ouida and the creator of Captain James Hook. He spoke of Etonians now holding great positions, and expressed his heartfelt satisfaction at a list that could not be paralleled by any institution comparable with their own, if such an institution existed.— (Cheers.) He did not believe there had been a place quite like Eton, or any masters or boys quite as good as theirs. He trusted that everything that made for the usefulness and happiness of Eton might be hers for many generations to come. ETONIANS IN THE EMPIRE. As a supporter of the toast the Lord' Chancellor (Lord Hailsham) remarked that, as it was 150 years since there was an Etonian Lord Chancellor it was fully time that the office had come to a suitable holder.— (Laughter.) The Lord Mayor had said this was a golden age in Eton history, and although they had had many times at which Eton had had its full Bhare in the governing of the Empire he doubted if it could ever have produced a bigger series of successes than it could show to-day. But for the fact that, like the present Government, Eton suffered from a lack of self-adver-tisement, he was sure that their merits would be more widely appreciated.— (Laughter.) The Lord Mayor had done his best to repair,the fault. They were proud to hear that four great dominions, the Empire of India, and other outposts of Empire were governed'by old Etonians. They were proud, too, to think that one-third of the Cabinet, and more than one-sixth of the House of Commons had th»nr education at Eton,- and Eton seemed to have a complete monopoly of the government of London just now. Nob only was the Lord Mayor an old Etonirn, he believed for the second time since the Lord Mayoralty had been in existence, but the chairman of the London County Council was another. In conclusion, Lord Hailsham Baid that all who had ■been invited to represent generations from 1859 to 1929 would probably never fully know how much they owed to Eton, but t'-ey would all be proud all through their lives of their Eton traditions and memories. PERSONALITY AND PRIDE IN THE SCHOOL. The Speaker of the House of Commons said that the education he received at Eton established in his mind the great value attached to tradition, and this had been brought home to him much more since he had had the honour of holding the great office of Speaker of the House of Commons, where he had come to the conclusion that tradition was perhaps the most valuable possession of the House and the thing which made it the greatest of all assemblies of a similar kind throughout the civilised world. Lord Byng of Vimy could not help thinking that they found more personality jwnong Etonians than among anvone else.. lie did not know whether this was due to tradition or the beauty of the place. He thought it was due, "perhaps, to both, and above all to their ■pride in the "school. THE LORD MAYOR'S RECORD. The Duke of Gloucester' proposed the toast of "The Lord Mayor." He said that Sir Kynaston Studd went to Eton in 1872, played cricket against Winchester in 1875, and was twelfth man at Lord's in that year. He played against Harrow in the two following years. At Cambridge he played-for the University in 1881, 18S2, 1883 and 1884— (cheers) being captain in the last-raentioncd year. In 1880 he became secretary cf the Polvtcchnic Institute, and had done much in its interests ever since. To-day they saw him as Lord Mayor of London", entertaining them on that most enjoy able evening. He was going to be braveenough to suggest to the Old Etonians Association that the Lord Mayor should be nominated as chairman for the ensuing year.— (Cheers.) The Lord Mayor mentioned the presence of n old Etonian, Mr L. S. Chand ler, who came as a representative of the Old Etonians of the United States, oi America, and they welcomed him particularly because the Old Etonians across the Atlantic still remembered the old school and kept in touch with them in the Old Country, He especially wel conied Lord Monk Bretton, on his first visit to the Mansion Jlo.ise as chairman of the London County Council. Speaking as Lord Mayor, it was a great pleasure to see the different spirit which" existed to-day from that which had existed between the executive of the i ndon County Council and the exeeutive of the city of London.