THE PETERITE Vol. XL
OCTOBER, 1948
No. 319
EDITORIAL Not the least enjoyable feature of Commemoration at the close of the term chronicled in this issue of The Peterite was the fact that it introduced us to the delightful and inspiring personality of Dr. J. T. Sheppard. The Provost of King's came to St. Peter's primarily to distribute the prizes and to give the traditional Speech Day address. How memorably he performed this duty is recorded elsewhere in these pages; and few will dispute our verdict that his consummate artistry will not easily be surpassed. But he was truly our guest in a sense which far transcended the narrow limits of this formal occasion at the Clifton Cinema. When the official business of the morning was over he remained with us, and in the freer atmosphere of the afternoon cricket match saw to it that he got to know St. Peter's School. The eagerness and obvious pleasure with which he chatted to one and another member of the School broke down all restraint, and many are the boys—juniors and seniors alike—and members of the Staff who will treasure the memory of his great personal charm and the encouragement of his conversation. In the truest sense he was with us for Commemoration, and we were delighted that he could stay to its culmination and make one of the congregation which filled the Chapel for the Service on the Sunday morning. Our last glimpse of Dr. Sheppard was as he said a personal "good-bye" to monitors and others at the Chapel door, and we feel sure that only the inexorableness of railway time-tables restrained him from shaking hands with every boy in the School. We are grateful for the unique experience of meeting the Provost of King's. We hope—and believe—that Dr. Sheppard's recollections of his visit to St. Peter's will be no less pleasant. The Christmas Term, upon which we shall be embarked by the time this number is circulated, will see many changes in our organization. The continued increase in our numbers has necessitated the creation of a fourth boarding-house, the Grove, and we take this opportunity of offering our best wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Harding as its Housemaster and Housemistress. The development has been made possible by the completion of the re-building of the war-damaged Rise. After more than six years of exile and dispersion the Rise have at last returned home. The sojourn in the wilderness may have been long and at times uncomfortable. But the magnificent new premises which they now occupy atone for much. In retrospect one cannot but feel that in this matter, at any rate, the incendiary bombs
