none of the speakers had mentioned the
most essential desideratum of a hat, and that was that it should be too
small. Whether it began by being too small, or became in time too small,
depended upon the wearer; but there was something smug and cowardly
about a hat that fitted. It suggested failure.

Mr. H.B. IRVING said that he was an impenitent advocate of the soft or
Southern hat. It was the duty of a hat to afford not only covering for
the head but shelter for the eyes, and no topper did this. A hat should
have a flexible brim, which neither topper nor bowler possessed. It was
absurd to wear a hat which could not sustain damage without showing it.
Let there be a revival in the silk-hat industry by all means, but
there must be no imposition of any one kind of hat on the public. The
individual must be allowed perfect freedom to wear what he liked. (Hear,
hear!) He personally hoped never to be seen either in a pith helmet or
a Tam-o'-shanter, but if the whim took him to wear either--or indeed
both--he claimed the right to do so. (Loud cheers.) Meanwhile he should
adhere to his soft hat.

Mr. MASKELYNE, who followed, urged upon the company the desirability
of the silk-hat mode. If tall hats, he said, went out of fashion, what
would become of conjurers? Rabbits could be satisfactorily extracted
only from tall hats. (Prolonged cheering.) An omelette made in a
sombrero was unthinkable. (Renewed cheering.)

Mr. ARNOLD BENNETT said that all this talk about toppers was pernicious
nonsense. The topper had become obsolete and should not be disinterred.
The only honest form of hat for an honest straightforward man was a
white bowler. A white bowler and a blue serge suit made as stylish and
effective a garb as anyone needed. Soft hats no doubt were comfortable,
but they were also slovenly. Moreover they were not practical. At a
horse sale, for example, you could not rattle them. As for the plea that
tall hats were of value to conjurers, he had no use for such arguments.
Conjurers dealt in illusion and all illusion was retrograde. (Oh! Oh!).

The Bishop of LINCOLN said that he felt bound to dissociate himself
from his, partner's remarks. He himself looked upon a silk hat as an
essential. (A voice, "With rigging?") Yes, Sir, with rigging. But that
was not why he advocated it. He advocated it because it was the proper
coping-stone of a gentleman.

The SPEAKER, after eulogising the white tall hat, added that although he
was glad t