Mr. JENKYN THOMAS’S SPEECH
(much curtailed).
“Never have I received an invitation which I have accepted with more joy and exultation than the invitation which has led to my being here this afternoon, for I owe more than I can tell to Aberdare.  My gratitude in the first place to the Governors for giving me my first great chance in life by appointing me, at the age of 26, to be the first Headmaster of this school.  Mind you, I knew everything at 26, as most young men of the present day still do.  I wish I was as certain of anything, now, as I was of everything, then.
The school has always occupied a very warm corner in my heart.  Here I learned a large number of truths which have been very useful to me since.  The first is that you need never worry if you hear that the boys are overworked.  It can’t be done.  Boys are so careful about their health that it is only under duress that they run the risk of working at all.  As opposed to boys, girls can be overworked, because at that age they are more conscientious than boys, but you need not worry about that either, they grow out of it, and by the time they are married . . . well, perhaps I had better stop there!
Another truth I learned is that the attitude of some Headmasters to the parents is a wrong one.  Some Headmasters regard parents as some biological necessity for the production of raw materials for their industry, but troublesome after they have produced that raw material.
I admire the self-sacrifice of parents.  There are said to be many mansions in heaven, and I hope that a particularly delectable mansion is reserved for parents whose children proved ungrateful or disappointing.
I am going to tell you now what boys and girls are like in school.  You must not assume that they are the same at school as they are at home.  They may be angels at home, but in school they may be ….well, very different!
Children have their own code of morals ; it is a peculiar one, and differs in many material respects from the codes drawn up by the great ethical leaders of mankind.  They are lovers of truth, and they love it so much that they do not want to be extravagant with it.  Next, they have a strong sense of justice, as applied to themselves.  They are very accomplished quick-change artists.  When I used to go into a form-room in which there had been noise and disorder, the rapidity with which they changed from Robin Goodfellows to plaster saints was startling.  They are not devoid of guile.  Have you heard the Headmaster Telephone story?  A Headmaster, answering the telephone one day, heard a hoarse voice say, ‘ Brown minor has a bad cold, and cannot come to school to-day.’  The Headmaster, being suspicious, asked, ‘ Who is speaking?  My father, Sir,’ came the reply.
Years ago, boys were terribly afraid of Headmasters, but that is not the case now.  I remember when I was Headmaster, I saw a small boy of about eight standing outside the form-room door.  He had been sent out, so I thought it my duty to improve the occasion.  I said to him, ‘ Why have you been sent out? ’  The boy replied, ‘ I don’t like you, I shall tell my daddy about you.’
Then there is the story I broadcast in “In Town To-night” some time ago. 
It was this:—
A telegram was brought into my room when I was taking a class in Latin, and I went out to arrange for a reply to be sent.  When I came back one of the boys, in a little meek voice, said, ‘Please, Sir, I hope your horse has won.’  I attempted a schoolboy retort.  ‘Brown,’ I said, ‘ I have very little to do with horses, but I have a great deal to do with donkeys,’ and the whole class agreed that I had scored.