SINCE the speaking was so successful, it is all the more to be regretted that the decisions of the judges were not successful also. We say this weighing our words, for there were few indeed, we had almost said none, of those who heard the speaking, who were not disappointed and surprised at the award of the prizes. We would not for a moment question either the undoubted merits of the successful competitors, or the wishes of the gentlemen who acted as judges to do their best in a very difficult and, to some of them apparently, a novel position. But it does seem to us that power to sway an audience is one of the chief requisites of good speaking, and it is surely strange that neither of the three speakers whom the audience would have placed as high, if not higher, than any others, was mentioned in the award. Either there are certain arbitrary requirements, unknown to all but the judges themselves, or else they were unfitted for their responsible positions. Much dissatisfaction was also felt at the withholding of one of the first prizes, especially as the judges declared that they were greatly pleased with the high standard of the speaking. We cannot believe that they really gave as a reason that one speaker was so far above the rest that no other should have a first prize. As the whole matter stands, they have thrown a sleight upon the good sense of an audience certainly not lacking in intelligence, nor deserving to be considered a parcel of claqueurs.