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1The raisins and almonds and figs and apples and oranges and chocolates and sweets were now passed about the table and
2Aunt Julia invited all the guests to have either port or sherry. At first Mr Bartell D'Arcy refused to take either but
3one of his neighbours nudged him and whispered something to him upon which he allowed his glass to be filled. Gradually
4as the last glasses were being filled the conversation ceased. A pause followed, broken only by the noise of the wine
5and by unsettlings of chairs. The Misses Morkan, all three, looked down at the tablecloth. Someone coughed once or twice
6and then a few gentlemen patted the table gently as a signal for silence. The silence came and Gabriel pushed back his
7chair. The patting at once grew louder in encouragement and then ceased altogether. Gabriel leaned his ten trembling
8fingers on the tablecloth and smiled nervously at the company. Meeting a row of upturned faces he raised his eyes to the
9chandelier. The piano was playing a waltz tune and he could hear the skirts sweeping against the drawing-room door.
10People, perhaps, were standing in the snow on the quay outside, gazing up at the lighted windows and listening to the
11waltz music. The air was pure there. In the distance lay the park where the trees were weighted with snow. The
12Wellington Monument wore a gleaming cap of snow that flashed westward over the white field of Fifteen Acres. He began:
13"Ladies and Gentlemen, "It has fallen to my lot this evening, as in years past, to perform a very pleasing task but a
14task for which I am afraid my poor powers as a speaker are all too inadequate." "No, no!" said Mr Browne. "But, however
15that may be, I can only ask you tonight to take the will for the deed and to lend me your attention for a few moments
16while I endeavour to express to you in words what my feelings are on this occasion. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is not the
17first time that we have gathered together under this hospitable roof, around this hospitable board. It is not the first
18time that we have been the recipients--or perhaps, I had better say, the victims--of the hospitality of certain good
19ladies." He made a circle in the air with his arm and paused. Everyone laughed or smiled at Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia and
20Mary Jane who all turned crimson with pleasure. Gabriel went on more boldly: "I feel more strongly with every recurring
21year that our country has no tradition which does it so much honour and which it should guard so jealously as that of
22its hospitality. It is a tradition that is unique as far as my experience goes (and I have visited not a few places
23abroad) among the modern nations. Some would say, perhaps, that with us it is rather a failing than anything to be
24boasted of. But granted even that, it is, to my mind, a princely failing, and one that I trust will long be cultivated
25among us. Of one thing, at least, I am sure. As long as this one roof shelters the good ladies aforesaid--and I wish
26from my heart it may do so for many and many a long year to come--the tradition of genuine warm-hearted courteous Irish
27hospitality, which our forefathers have handed down to us and which we in turn must hand down to our descendants, is
28still alive among us." A hearty murmur of assent ran round the table. It shot through Gabriel's mind that Miss Ivors was
29not there and that she had gone away discourteously: and he said with confidence in himself: "Ladies and Gentlemen, "A
30new generation is growing up in our midst, a generation actuated by new ideas and new principles. It is serious and
31enthusiastic for these new ideas and its enthusiasm, even when it is misdirected, is, I believe, in the main sincere.
32But we are living in a sceptical and, if I may use the phrase, a thought-tormented age: and sometimes I fear that this
33new generation, educated or hypereducated as it is, will lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality, of kindly
34humour which belonged to an older day. Listening tonight to the names of all those great singers of the past it seemed
35to me, I must confess, that we were living in a less spacious age. Those days might, without exaggeration, be called
36spacious days: and if they are gone beyond recall let us hope, at least, that in gatherings such as this we shall still
37speak of them with pride and affection, still cherish in our hearts the memory of those dead and gone great ones whose
38fame the world will not willingly let die." "Hear, hear!" said Mr Browne loudly. "But yet," continued Gabriel, his voice
39falling into a softer inflection, "there are always in gatherings such as this sadder thoughts that will recur to our
40minds: thoughts of the past, of youth, of changes, of absent faces that we miss here tonight. Our path through life is
41strewn with many such sad memories: and were we to brood upon them always we could not find the heart to go on bravely
42with our work among the living. We have all of us living duties and living affections which claim, and rightly claim,
43our strenuous endeavours. "Therefore, I will not linger on the past. I will not let any gloomy moralising intrude upon
44us here tonight. Here we are gathered together for a brief moment from the bustle and rush of our everyday routine. We
45are met here as friends, in the spirit of good-fellowship, as colleagues, also to a certain extent, in the true spirit
46of camaraderie, and as the guests of--what shall I call them?--the Three Graces of the Dublin musical world." The table
47burst into applause and laughter at this allusion. Aunt Julia vainly asked each of her neighbours in turn to tell her
48what Gabriel had said. "He says we are the Three Graces, Aunt Julia," said Mary Jane. Aunt Julia did not understand but
49she looked up, smiling, at Gabriel, who continued in the same vein: "Ladies and Gentlemen, "I will not attempt to play
50tonight the part that Paris played on another occasion. I will not attempt to choose between them. The task would be an
51invidious one and one beyond my poor powers. For when I view them in turn, whether it be our chief hostess herself,
52whose good heart, whose too good heart, has become a byword with all who know her, or her sister, who seems to be gifted
53with perennial youth and whose singing must have been a surprise and a revelation to us all tonight, or, last but not
54least, when I consider our youngest hostess, talented, cheerful, hard-working and the best of nieces, I confess, Ladies
55and Gentlemen, that I do not know to which of them I should award the prize." Gabriel glanced down at his aunts and,
56seeing the large smile on Aunt Julia's face and the tears which had risen to Aunt Kate's eyes, hastened to his close. He
57raised his glass of port gallantly, while every member of the company fingered a glass expectantly, and said loudly:
58"Let us toast them all three together. Let us drink to their health, wealth, long life, happiness and prosperity and may
59they long continue to hold the proud and self-won position which they hold in their profession and the position of
60honour and affection which they hold in our hearts." All the guests stood up, glass in hand, and turning towards the
61three seated ladies, sang in unison, with Mr Browne as leader: For they are jolly gay fellows, For they are jolly gay
62fellows, For they are jolly gay fellows, Which nobody can deny. Aunt Kate was making frank use of her handkerchief and
63even Aunt Julia seemed moved. Freddy Malins beat time with his pudding-fork and the singers turned towards one another,
64as if in melodious conference, while they sang with emphasis: Unless he tells a lie, Unless he tells a lie. Then,
65turning once more towards their hostesses, they sang: For they are jolly gay fellows, For they are jolly gay fellows,
66For they are jolly gay fellows, Which nobody can deny. The acclamation which followed was taken up beyond the door of
67the supper-room by many of the other guests and renewed time after time, Freddy Malins acting as officer with his fork
68on high. The piercing morning air came into the hall where they were standing so that Aunt Kate said: "Close the door,
69somebody. Mrs Malins will get her death of cold." "Browne is out there, Aunt Kate," said Mary Jane. "Browne is
70everywhere," said Aunt Kate, lowering her voice. Mary Jane laughed at her tone. "Really," she said archly, "he is very
71attentive."
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