He argued that Father Christmas was the centre of a child's Christmas and was, after all, a good excuse for getting presents. Gardner asked the House to be sensible and not to be deluded by this myth, but the House was in full support of Santa and believed in him by 132 votes to two with one abstention. This debate was followed by a session of "One Minute, Please". It proved to be a very enjoyable innovation for the Society and was efficiently run by M. J. F. Everitt, the Chairman, and J. C. Oldroyd, the timekeeper. The subjects varied from Blackpool Tower to a pantechnicon, about which a member of the "Commons" team laughed his way through a minute. The "Lords", ably lead by Lord Butterworth, eventually beat the "Commons". The second impromptu debate followed. After M. Ruddock had drawn the subjects, the Society again chose one with a seasonable flavour. The Chairman then called upon R. D. Wheatley to propose "That this House thinks that Christmas dinner is the best part of the Christmas festivities". He gave a very tempting description of a Christmas dinner in which the word "turkey" figured prominently. A. N. Wyatt-Gunning, opposing, maintained that the best part of Christmas was when Santa Claus came down the chimney. The speeches from the floor were mainly of an anti-Christmas dinner flavour and so Wheatley and his band of pro-turkey supporters were doomed to defeat by 92 votes to 29 with 14 abstent:ons, with A. N. Wyatt-Gunning's pro-Santa Claus and pro-mistletoe elements in possession of the field. This meeting was a great success and provided a suitable ending to this term's debating. R.D.W.
THE SCHOOL PLAY It is six years since the School acted a play of Shakespeare's; and though our incursions into more modern drama, such as "The Twelve Thousand" and "The Lady's not for burning", were amply justified, it was a joy to return to Shakespeare, and to see what some at least think is his best comedy, "The Taming of the Shrew". Few can really appreciate the greatness of Shakespeare, and his amazing competence as a dramatist, without acting his plays : and it is an experience which is abundantly worth while to do this. Moreover it is not only a rewarding, but a very enjoyable experience : and perhaps the most striking feature of "The Shrew" this year was the obvious enjoyment of all those who acted in it. This enjoyment communicated itself to the audience, and everyone who came to see the play must have spent a thoroughly happy evening, and for this we are most grateful. Inevitably the play centres round Petruchio and Katharina, and it is no disparagement of the rest of the cast to say that A. G. D. Staines and E. I. Moore stood out somewhat conspicuously : they must do so, or the play would fall to pieces. Here we had two really
