Prize Presentation

AN ADDRESS OF WELCOME TO SIR LINTON ANDREWS

COMPOSED AND DELIVERED BY

J. R. JENKINSON (Winner of the Dean of York's Prize for Latin Prose Composition)

23RD JULY, 1955

ORATIO AD CONCILIUM SCHOLAE SANCTI PETRI EBORACENSIS A.D. X KAL. AUG.

Salvete omnes. In salutando hoc summo viro, Lintonio Andrews, equite, nescio an mihi timendum sit ut ad laudem maximarum ejus virtutum eloquentia mea sufficiat. Admiratio tamen impellit; et certe ineptum videretur si hoc tempore occasio omissa esset salutis dicendae lingua, ut solitum, Latina et gratias pro nobis omnibus agendi quod inter tot et tanta negotia nostrum concilium ornavisti ac illustravisti. Itaque spero me, quamvis imperitum eloquendi, bona venia omnium dicturum.

Nec fortasse, dum tua insignissima facta paucis expono, omnia per seriem recitare necesse est. Quis enim tua maxima merita ignorat? Nota sunt manifestaque omnibus. Quid vero' dicam de illis libellis quos in dies edendos divulgandosque curas? Nonne eos plurimi cives cotidie mane perlegunt scrutanturque, taciti, intenti, propinquorum, porci, ut ita dicam, ovorumque, rerum denique omnium humanarum atque divinarum obliti, dum res domi militiaeque gestas cognoscunt? Nec id, quod saepe metuendum, cavemus ne veri similia vel temere ficta pro vero accipiamus. Tu enim de rebus gestis illud Scotianum serval--libera est in interpretando opinio, veritas in narrando sacrosancta.

Reputanti igitur quantis in officio tuo amplissimo laudibus ornatus sis haud minim videtur to ad consilia eorum quibus editio actorum diurnorum curae est saepissime adscitum esse. Non solum in Britannia plurimis concilis interfuisti sed etiam delectus es qui ad conventum apud Canadios habitum legatus adires : quin paucis ante diebus praecipuo honore auctus es. Nam concilio nuper constituto ut quid legentium quid scribentium interesset discerneretur et ut provideretur ut omnia digna et honesta in libellis nostris fierent, propter probitatem tuam et experientiam qui consulentibus praesideres ab universis electus es. Ad summam, nunquam fere in unum conveniunt homines de his rebus disceptatum quin tu, quippe qui vir peritissimus, conventibus adsis.

Artis quidem scribendi ipse handquaquam expers es. Plurimos enim de plurimis rebus libros scripsisti, praecipue de nostri comitatus amoenitate moribusque habitantium, unde maximam laudem inter 10

scriptores paravisti. Mihi quidem et omnibus qui is hac regione septentrionali vitam degerunt gratissimum est quod res fama dignissimas indignabaris memoria intercidere.

Nec praetereundum puto te propter haec merita multos alios honores attigisse. Electus ad concilium Universitatis Leodiensis maxima beneficia in cives tuos contulisti. Nec non inter illos socios insignissimos et litteratissimos, quibus nomen Bronteis inditum, non modo numeraris sed etiam in summam dignitatem venisti. Quae res et studium tuum litterarum et omnium artium bonarum cultum testatur.

Nec, cum opus esset, patriae tuae in rebus militaribus defuisti. In priore hello per orbem terrarum maxima saevitia gesto tu adhuc juvenis, mira fortitudine in Gallia triennium propugnavisti. Nuper in altero bello Germanico tua virtus ita splendide enituit ut Galli, socii nostri, te, jam seniorem, maximo honore adornarent.

Sed orationis finem facio. Hoc solum addiderim, quod, credo, nostris temporibus maximi est momenti. Nostra enim aetate inter scriptores sunt qui nihil aliud in anima habeant nisi ut divitias coacervent. Ad hoc solum intenti recta et honesta nihili faciunt; vulgi appetitibus blandiuntur; omnia privata ac sancta assidue inquisita in lucem proferunt; turpissimi cujusque ingenio pravo et libidinoso indulgent, fas et nefas miscere parati dummodo quam plurimos nummos in loculos demittant. Tu autem, hand ignarus et in quanta discrimine positi sint mores nostri et quantum periculum immineat ne ipsi scriptores ab omnibus bonis contempti in ignominiam incidant—tu, inquam, exemplis illis in scribendo antiquis usus quae olim admirabantur omnes homines, in libello illo edendo, qui jam ducentesimum annum eximio honore ac laude celebratur, hoc consilio officio tuo functus es ut omnia pro bona publico fiant atque eae normae justae et honestae quae optima cuique civi probatae sunt defendantur et in perpetuum conserventur.

Quod vero Reginae notrae placuit te in ordinem equestrem ascribere omnibus volentibus factum est; et mihi pro nobis praesentibus tibi gratulari jucundissimum est munus. Postremo confide me ex omnium voluntate locuturum si iterum gratias ago quod tu, quamvis tantis laboribus defessus et e corpore invalido vixdum recreatus huic contioni Scholae nostrae antiquissimae hodie adesse voluisti.

A TRANSLATION

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In welcoming our distinguished guest, Sir Linton Andrews, I am only too conscious that my powers of oratory may fail to do justice to his many great qualities. But my regard for him urges me to make the attempt; and certainly it would be inappropriate if at this time I omitted to pay him our respects, as is customary, in the Latin tongue, 11

and to thank him on behalf of all of us for finding time in his busy life to honour our gathering today. And so I hope that, despite my inexperience in public speaking, I shall have the good will of all of you in what I have to say..

Perhaps it will be unnecessary, in my brief review of his distinguished carrer, to rehearse everything in detail. Few can be unacquainted with his great public services. They are, indeed, wellknown and apparent to all. Need I touch on the great newspaper for whose daily publication he is responsible? Every morning it is read by thousands of our fellow citizens, silent, engrossed, forgetful of their wives and families, the bacon and eggs, and indeed of everything on earth or in heaven, while they devour its pages to learn what has happened at home and abroad. Nor is there the danger, which is often to be feared, that we shall be given something which is only a garbled version of the truth, or indeed irresponsible fiction. For you abide by the well-known dictum of C.P. Scott—"Comment is free; but facts are sacred".

When one reflects on the distinction you have gained in your important office, it is not surprising that you are called frequently to the joint deliberations of those whose business is the editing of our newspapers. Not only at home have you taken part in innumerable conferences, but you were selected as the delegate to attend the Imperial Press Conference in Canada [1950]. And within the last few days a particular honour has been accorded you, in that you have been unanimously elected as President of the body recently set up to preserve a just balance between the interests of journalists and the reading public and to maintain worthy and honourable standards in our newspapers—a tribute both to your integrity and your experience [The Press Council]. In short, on almost all occasions when such matters are under discussion you, with your wide knowledge, are called to the deliberations.

You have yourself contributed much to the art of writing. You have written many books on many topics—in particular on the beauties of our own county and the customs of its inhabitants—which have gained you no mean reputation among authors. I and all of us who have lived our lives in the North are grateful that you have saved from oblivion so much that deserves to be preserved.

I should mention, too, other honours which have accrued to you in recognition of your public services. As one of the Council of Leeds University, you have served your own city well; and as a member of that society which includes some of our most distinguished literary men and women—the Bronte Society—you have been elevated to the highest office. Such things are evidence of your zest for letters and your support of culture in all its forms.

THE HEAD MASTER

J. DRONFIELD, ESQ., M.A., J.P.

(The Portrait by Henry Carr)

['Yorkshire Post" Photo

When the need arose you did not fail your country in time of war. In the first world war, as a young man, you fought courageously for three years on the bloody fields of France. More recently, in the second war against Germany, although an older man, you earned from our French allies a distinguished decoration as a tribute to your great services [Medaille d'Argent de la Reconnaissance Francaise].

But I must draw to a close. I would add only one thing, which, I believe, is of great importance in the times in which we live. In the Press today there are those whose one concern is the amassing of wealth. Intent only on this, they give no thought to what is right and honourable; they minister to the appetites of the masses; they pry relentlessly into the sactity of private life—and drag what they have discovered into the light of day; they pander to the lowest and most depraved tastes, careless of all moral law provided they put as much money as possible into their own pockets. You, Sir, well aware not only of the threat to public morality but also of the danger that the Press may fall into contempt and disrepute in the eyes of the best of our fellow-countrymen, have always upheld those traditions of journalism which once were the admiration of everyone; and in the conduct of your distinguished newspaper, which has been honoured and respected for two centuries, you have been guided by considerations of the public interest and the defence and preservation of those fair and honourable standards which commend themselves to the best type of Englishmen.

That Her Majesty was pleased to confer on you the honour of knighthood met with universal approval; and it is a pleasure to me to offer the congratulations of all of us here; lastly I am confident that everyone will join me if once again I express our gratitude that, though you are scarcely yet recovered from an illness induced by overwork, you have been good enough to come today to our ancient School of St. Peter.

THE HEAD MASTER'S PORTRAIT

We reproduce in this issue a copy of the portrait of the Head Master which has been presented to the School by the Old Peterite Club. The painting, in oils, is the work of Mr. Henry Carr, wellknown for his portraits of Princess Margaret, Mr. Eisenhower, and other celebrities. The portrait of Mr. Dronfield was formally presented to the Chairman of the Governors by Mr. H. L. Greer, the President of the O.P. Club, 'at Speech Day, last term, and now hangs in the new Library extension. It is, perhaps, unusual for a portrait of a Head Master to be displayed while he is still in office, but the Old Peterites were firm in their desire to pay their tribute to the Head Master while he was still in the fulness of his powers. The Governors readily agreed with them; as, indeed, must all who are familiar with the great work Mr. Dronfield has done for St. Peter's in the 18 years of his Headmastership.