THE PETERITE Vol. XLVI
MAY, 1954
No. 336
EDITORIAL We congratulate the Head Master on his twin appointments to the Committee of the Head Masters' Conference and to the Chairmanship of the Northern Division. All of us at St. Peter's find satisfaction in the thought that his voice is heard in the important deliberations which affect the destinies of all Public Schools and are gratified that his colleagues on the Conference have come to appreciate those qualities in Mr. Dronfield with which we ourselves have long been familiar. For the Public Schools the present time is difficult and the future obscure. We are confident that the Conference, in facing the many urgent problems which confront it today, will be helped considerably by the wisdom and experience of our own Head Master. The School heartily welcomed the return of Mr. Ping and Mr. Burgess after their prolonged absences through illness. Mr. Burgess in the Senior School and Mr. Ping in St. Olave's both resumed duty on the 1st 'March, and both were obviously delighted to be among us once more. It is gratifying to know that though the efforts to save Mr. Burgess' eye were in the end unsuccessful, the consequences of the protracted and painful struggle have not been as disastrous for him as was at first feared, and he will be working at full pressure next term. As to Mr. Ping, he is his usual ebullient self and none the worse, it would seem, for his ordeal. We wish them both good health in the future. The return of Mr. Burgess means, of course, that his deputy, Dr. Grayeff, left us at the end of term. We were fortunate to obtain at such short notice one who combined scholarly and efficient teaching with an unassuming charm which commended him to all. We thank him and wish him well in the future. It is a matter of regret that no School registers survive before 18'28. Inevitably one wonders how many men who, in the long centuries of the School's existence, have played prominent parts on the stage of our national life or have been distinguished in the smaller world of local affairs have escaped notice as being Old Peterites. The reflection is prompted by the recent discovery that John Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer who promoted in Parliament the notorious scheme for paying off the National Debt through the agency of the South Sea Company, was an Old Peterite. Aislabie, it has transpired, was at
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