13 JANUARY 1939, Page 14

I confess that I was somewhat disconcerted by this pro-

gramme. In order to get my audience on my side, my speech had been designed to begin with national self-abasement, whereas the superbia Britannorum part came at the end. I did not in the least relish a fifteen-minute interval between the two movements of my symphony. Besides, if in England, a speaker were once to allow his audience to break up they would immediately and rightly melt away. But not so with the Dutch. Such is their courtesy and their patience that they all filed back again after the interval, that I was able to resume my discourse without a too marked anti-climax, and in fact, after their coffee, the audience had been sufficiently invigorated and refreshed to stand even my peroration.

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