I confess that I fully share these sentiments, and it
is for this reason that I wish we in this country would- follow the example of the Dutch. I was speaking at the Hague last Monday night and had come prepared with a powerful speech in which the superbia Britannorum was (I venture to feel) neatly blended with that becoming self-dispraisement which is rightly regarded by foreigners as one of the most irritating symptoms of our arrogance. On arriving at the Zoo, where my meeting was to be held, I said brightly to my chairman, " For how long do you think I should speak ? " " Well," he answered, " I should say forty minutes during the first part of your speech and twenty minutes for the second part." " How do you mean ' second part ' ? " I enquired, not without anxiety. He then explained to me that in Holland nobody ever made a speech straight off. There was always an interval of fifteen minutes in the middle, during which the audience walked about outside, sipped coffee, smoked cigarettes and asked the speaker for his autograph.
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