The Expenditure Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

tributed by the Craft to this special account during the four years 1883-86 was £ 20 , 746 7 s lid , and the expenditure for freehold land , building , & c , & c , £ 22 , 036 13 s lOd .

A summary of the amounts expended on enlargements and improvements at Wood Green is next given , and from this we learn that £ 94 , 010 0 s 4 d has been spent on buildings , & c , and a further £ 9 , 013 10 s on freehold land , so

that the actual cost of the Institution , & c , at Wood Green up to the close of last year has been £ 103 , 023 10 s 4 d . The summary we have given will , we think , be sufficient to convince our readers that the work of the Institution is

being carried on with a due regard to ecouomy . If the working expenses of the future can be kept within the limits of last year there will be ample cause for congratulation ; if they can be reduced , so much the better ;

but we are sure it is not the wish of the subscribers that they should be reduced at the expense of efficiency . All we can hope is that equal prosperity may

attend the Institution in the future as has been experienced in the past , and that equal care may be taken in its management as that at present shewn by the various committees and officials .

Conversation.

CONVERSATION .

WHAT a debt of gratitude we owe to the new " fads " of society for the interest they lend to

conversasation ! How did our grandparents entertain their tnends at dinner or reception without discussing palmistry and thought reading , or asking the question as to whether the lady or the tiger first warmly greeted Mr . Stockton ' s

hero ? Of course our progenitors talked about the weather—we do now-a-daysjoccasionally—we speak familiarly of London fogs , and say with a pure Anglo accent that the walking is " nawsty , " or " beastly . " But this is

only incidental to the more weighty discussions based upon the varied theories regarding the brain's workings or the curious lines of the human hand . We give receptions and teas to our favourite exponents of the different theories , at

which host and guest are not troubled to find subjects for conversation that flows as freely as the wine or tea . But society is as rigorous in her laws as were the Medes and

Persians . Woe betide the hapless mortal who ventures to discuss palmistry when mind-reading is the cue of the hour , or alludes to Frank Stockton when Ben Hur is the ruling volume .

Employment bureaus now furnish gentlemen escorts for evening parties or the theatre , lay figures for reception or dance . Poor mortals , their duties are arduous , if they expect to discuss with any degree of knowledge the

questions of the day ; the day which oftentimes is literally from rising to setting sun , so quickly do sensations vanish . A training school for conversation would not come amisa , if society could find the time to attend , but the text-books

would require such frequent revision that no teachers could be found competent to undertake the task . This modern world of ours wags to a new tnne every hour in the twenty-four , and what wonder is it that we cannot

always keep on the key ! Education and experience , are they as potent factors now in society as in the days gone by ? No , for in our grandfather ' s time the standard of accomplishments did not vary , and when to these was

added the experience of years—the best fitted to speak was the man thus equipped . Now you may be proficient in Latin and Greek , know of science and quote the ancient poets , your conversation is voted flat and unprofitable ,

while the debutante is sought for her glib talk upon current subjects which she just brushes with her butterfly wings . But most conversation heard in society is very superficial , and the philosopher wraps his cloak more

closely around him and wonders at the vapid talk running ceaselessly on . The ear of Dionysius was a chamber in which the tyrant could hear all the conversation of his suspected subjects in prison . The sounds were carried

through various passages to an opening m the rock . What a punishment fitting the crime it would be to oblige poor mortals to listen at this " ear " to their friends' talk for several hours . Coming from that chamber they would certainly talk less , or try to converse more intelligently .

Good talkers are the exception , not the rule . There are many reasons why this is so . New England with all its progress has not quite shaken off its Puritau repression . To be sure there are so many modern Priscillas who would

Conversation.

venture to say , " why don't you speak for yourself , John ? ' that the question would not be so unusual as to merit commemoration . But repression of speech is yet natural to many who dwell amid the eternal silence of New

England ' s hills . But repression is fatal to interesting conversation , a free interchange of ideas , the going out of self in free thought and free expression . Just here comes that other barrier to conversation—self-consciousness .

We can never hope to interest others , if in talking we are conscious all the time of our own defects and shortcomings , if we are thinking of the effects of our words We may practise our speeches as much as we like , we may

overcome our faults by private study , but once m society , mingling with others , be natural and unaffected in speech , forget self and acquire ease . A good listener makes a good speaker oftentimes . The story is told of an

inveterate talker who once was telling his friends of a delightful conversation he had iu a train , for some hours , with a man named Smith . His friends shouted in derision that the said Smith was deaf aud dumb . So oftentimes

we think A and B entertaining talkers when they only listen patiently to our relating of our own ailments or our children ' s wonderful precocity . Oh , reader , foibear the discussion of your diseases in public ! Tour physician has

to hear about them , your intimate friend may be interested in them , but society at large will vote you a bore and turn you adrift if you persist . Talk mind-reading or palmistry if you will , but let a rehearsal of your infirmities be a sealed book to the public .

An interesting conversationalist is born , not made . Yet much may be done to improve the tongue , dull in wit or prosy in language . A quick appreciation of all the varying demands of life is needed . An eye for beauty , an ear

for harmony , a heart for humanity s broad interests . Quick wit and ready tongue do not always go together , neither do a warm heart and an easy form of expression . But what a world of power there is in the quick play

of the intellect , in the graceful speech , the glowing description , the charming fancy that can paint with words , as does the artist with his brush upon the canvas the distant scene !

The perfection of conversation is not to play a regular sonata , but like the ^ Eolian harp to await the inspiration of the . " passing breeze . " A good talker suits his conversation to the company , and does not , like a certain man ,

read the encyclopaedia upon one subject and make his listeners martyrs to that , whether they will or no . He who talks well has a ready tact and knows what to avoid , as each one of us has his pet corn , in a topic which he

dislikes to have hit , and while to one we may not mention " lobsters , " to another " mussels " may be as objectionable . We must not hold our listener by bodily force . Lord

Chesterfieldouce said : "Never hold any one by the button or the hand in order to be heard out ; for if people are unwilling to hear you , you had better hold your tongue than them . "

Above all to be a good talker or an intelligent listener look your companion directly in the face . Then you will be able to respond to the quick play of his emotions , you will be impressed by what impresses him , you will

participate in his thoughts . Why , many a time when I have been talking about the Vatican at Rome , with its art treasures , and its historic interest , my listener has been planning new curtains for the drawing-room , or , if

masculine , has been deep in the mysteries of stocks and bonds . Whatever you discuss , be interested in what you are saying or hearing . This will make our salons worthy of the name , and conversation will be an art not wholly relegated to the days of the harpsichord and the spinningwheel . —Freemasons' Reipositonj .

The ceremony of consecration will be rehearsed by Bro . James Terry P . M . 228 , Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , at the Lily Lodge of Instruction , No . 220 , Greyhound Hotel Richmond , on Tuesday , 19 th inst .

Hor . towAT' 8 PIIXS . —No Mystery . —Whenever the blood is impure , or the general health is impaired , the human body is predisposed to attacks of any prevailing epidemic . The first indications of faulty action , the first sensations of deranged or diminished power , should be rectified by these purifying Pills , which will cleanse all corrupt and reduce all erring

functions to order . These Pills counteract the subtle poisons in decaying animal or vegetable matter , and remove all tendency to bowel complaints , biliousness , and a host of annoying symptoms arising from foul stomachs . The fruit season is especially prone to produce irritation of tho bowels and disorders of the digestive organs ; both . of which dangerous conditions can be completely removed by Holloway ' a corrective medicines .