AAA Coming of Age Dinner

18 one years, and slo ng as the Association likes stoee me I shall be pleased to remain. I have frequently told the members, and I will tell them again that as soon aths ey have had enough of me I shall go; but I have never known an unpleasant hour or an unpleasant half-hour or minute at the Council meetings ofthis Association, and I look upon this as one of the greatest pleasures of my life.("Cheers.) Mr. C. HERBERT, irneply to frequent calls, said: "My Lords and Gentlemen, this is a most unexpectpeldeasure—I suppose I ought to call it a ' pleasure ' (laughter)—buIt have had quite enough to do with this dinner withoutspeaking. I am extremely obligedfor the kind men­ tion of my name, but whenI put up Mr. MONTAGUE SHEARMANto respond to the Toast , I remembered that he knew more about it than I did. I knew he could give a better history otfhe Association than I could, and therefore, thanking youmost sincerely, from the bottom of my heart , for the honour you have done me, I beg to thank you and sit down." (Applause.) TOAST: " KINDRED ASSOCIATIONS." Mr. W. M. CHINNERY: "My Lords anGdentlemen, Ihave the honour to propose to you success and prosperity to what is describeodn the Toast list as 4 Kindred Associations. ' Well , as thisAssociation is a ruling body, that appears to me rather to limit the number of Societies whose health we should drink.There are ruling bodies in other sports, for instance, the M.C.C. in cricket , anthde Jockey Club inhorse-racing; but I apprehend it is other clubs of anthletic character that we should drink the health and prosperity of, anIdam sure we here, who are ailnlterested in sport of all kinds will heartily do that . I am very pleased to look round and see representatives of every description of sport , especially our splendid game of cricket well representedby Mr. ALCOCK and Mr. LACEY. I see boxing and rowing represented, and every sport in which we, as Englishmen, take an interest .I see many old athletes; some havme oved from the ordinary sphere of athletics intoan athletic sphere where the mind is grappling with another mind, where, by the way,the other day they had somesort of athletic encounter which ledto certain members of the House being removed—however, itonly shows how, at the bottom of all , there is a love of spor(tlaughter). I particularly would wish to drink success tiiis evening to all clubspromoting athletics; and what mI ean by athletics, properly speaking, is running and jumping, or rather, that description of exercise which we take with our bodies, more particularly without the use of other extraneous appliances, particularly the sport of running, in whichI myself was so interested, because I think it is one of those things which requirems ore self-control , andin which a man has to take more care ohf imself than in some other sports.I have a little fear, but I hope I am wrong, that this sport to which so many ot us are so much attached, has hardly so strong an attachment on the interests and sympathies of Englishmen as it hadthine early days. Then, for a man to