Mr. Bernard Shaw was in excellent voice when the St.
Pancras Borough Council made him the first Honorary Freeman of the borough on Wednesday—so much so that the fact that, owing to an accident, he could not be present in the flesh cast less of a gloom over the proceedings than might have been expected. It was in 1897 that he was elected to the old St. Pancras vestry, and he served three years on the Borough Council after incorporation in 1900. The speech transmitted from Mr. Shaw's bedroom was less remini- scent than some of his hearers hoped, being devoted to an exposition, more entertaining than convincing, of the superiority of municipal councils over the High Court of Parliament. But a little remini- scence was contributed by the mover of the resolution conferring the freedom. It stands on record, apparently, that among his St. Pancras dicta Mr. Shaw delivered the injunctions: "Never do for the public what the public can do for themselves" and "Don't give the public what they want, but what they ought to want and don't "—which sounds more paternal than democratic ; but there is something to be said for it.
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