AAA Coming of Age Dinner

upon that restricted arena to which I have referred, at Greenwich, and also Col . Fox, to whomthe Army andthe Country owe smo uch (hear, hear). And remember that though we ourselves may perhaps look upon athletics from a restricted point of view at timesy, et , really athletics,no matterwhat they may be, I am certain that everybody who belongs to the A.A.A. approves of them. We have seen sometimes, atthe Agricultural Hall , some of the results ofthe training at Aldershot . If only we could train many thousands more men like that , how much better it would be! I will , therefore, askyou to drink the health of His Majesty's Forces, on Land and Sea, in the MotheCr ountry, andin the Loyal Colonies (loudcheers). RESPONSE. Capt . H. J.MAY, C.H. , R.N. : "My Lords and Gentlemen, I should feel very nervous under the great honour which has been put upon me to-night , if I did not know that I am not speaking for myself, but I am speaking as a humblre presentative of a very great service, charged with a very great and important dutyW. e scarcely realize—I cannot realize it myself, and I amsure you do not —how much we depend uponthings that come to us over sea. We have been having a verygood dinner to-night (hear, hear). I won' t argue as to how much oift came from over the sea. Even the very clothes we wear, a great deal of them at any rate, come from over the sea. Our Empire dependesntirely on the sea.There never was an Empire, there nevehr as been, in theworld like it , and therefore, we are in avery exceptional position.It is an axiom in the present day that no nation will stand interference with its internal affairs. I believe our good friend President KRUGEK is very fond of that axiom. Now our internal affairs extend all over the world (laughter).There is no such thing as a place where our internal aaifrfs do not go; and the police who guarantee that there shall besafety in the administration of our internal affairs all over the world, is the British Navy (cheers). Well , then, having this responsible position, havingthis onerous duty, we want the very bmesetn (hear, hear). I do not knowwhere you canget a description of the very kind of man we wantb, etter than you find in avery old document , and I must ask the Archdeacon's pardon for quoting the inspired works of the Apostle, who lays down the propositionthat an ideal man is an athlete. ' Every man, ' says he', that striveth forthe mastery is temperate in athllings; '— that is the kind ofman we want inthe Navy, thatis the kind of man you train in the A.A.A. ; a man who is controlled, who, evenin his athletics, keeps himself under control , isnot too anxious to win, is ready to put himself under training and to do his duty—that ismthane we want , andI am thankful to sayas far as mjyudgment goesw, e are getting and we have got in the Navy (hear, hear). We have not beencalled upon lately, as the Army has been calledupon, and has nobly responded, stohow their metal and their self-sacrifice, and to show that they can win the mastery for Old England ; but from little samples which we have seen of the men who have done so well in China, and of a gallant sailor, an athlete himself, who, when shotthrough the lungs still continued to leadhis men,