District Grand Lodge Of British Burmah.

the 24 th June last . There were present—W . B . H . Krauss D . D . G . M . as D . G . M ., W . B . Jos . Dawson P . D . S . G . W . as D . D . G . M . and W . Bros . E . Hopper D . S . G . W ., J . V . Douglas de Wet D . J . G . W ., A . H . Etty D . G = Chaplain , W . D . Cruikshank D . G . Treasurer , Bernet Samuel D . G .

Secretary , W . H . Porter D . G . Pursuivant , Geo . Greenhill and T . N . Seymour D . G . Stewards , and J . Hampson D . G . Tyler , together with the following representatives of Lodges ; Bros . S . Andrews S . W ., and J . Brown as J . W ., Star of Burmah Lodge , No . 614 , and W . B . H . Prince P . M . as W . M ., H . " B . Davidson as S . W . and W . H .

Wootten as J . W ., Victoria in Burmah Lodge , No . 832 . The Lodge was opened at 6 . 15 p . m . The summons convening it was read . The minutes of the previous Communication having been printed and circulated were taken as read , and confirmed . Apologies from several brethren

for non-attendance , were then read . Next the report of the Board of General Purposes , consisting of W . Bros . H . Krauss D . D . G . M . President , E . Hopper D . S . G . W ., and J . V . Douglas de Wet members , and W D . Cruickshank D . G . Treasurer and Bernet Samuel ex officio

members , was read by the D . G . Secretary . The D . G . Treasurer ' s audited account showed tho following figures receipts , 133 Rs . 0 8 , including a balance brought forward on 1 st March 1875 of 17 Rs ., disbursements Rs . 72 15 6 , leaving a balance in hand on 7 th June of Rs . 60 1 2 . The

D . G . Benevolent Fund showed recei pts Rs . 448 , viz ., balance on 1 st March of Rs . 309 , and Lodge dues 139 . The only disbursement was a loan to District Grand Lodge Fund

of 50 Rs ., thus leaving a balance in hand , on 7 th June , of 398 Rupees . The revised returns for the Lodge Philanthropy , for quarter ended 31 st December 1874 , had been submitted , and Avere found in order . Returns and dues

had been received from Lodges " Victoria in Burmah , " No . 832 , " Star of Burmah , " No . 614 , " Rangoon , " No . 1268 , "Philanthropy , "No . 542 , and "Greenlaw , "No . 1095 , for quarter to 31 st March 1875 , but those from Lodges " Arakan , " No . 546 , and" Astra ? , " No . 1376 , were not yet to hand , and a reminder in each case had been sent .

Permission was granted to "Victoria in Burmah" Lodge to hold two regular meetings in the month instead of one , provided the Bye-Laws of the Lodge were amended accordingly . The case of a distressed Irish Bro ., Thomas L . Butt , was then referred for further inquiry to D . G .

Secretary . The amended report of the Special Committee consisting of W . Bros . H . Krauss , D . D . G . M . President , C . J . Brown P . D . D . G . M ., and W . D . Cruikshank D . G . Treasurer members , and Bernet Samuel D . G . Secretary ex officio , appointed by the District Grand Lodge of British Burmah ,

to report to tho Board of General Purposes , what alteration it is advisable to make in the Bye-Laws of the D . G . Lodge , was submitted and adopted , as also was the report of the Board of General Purposes . A sum of Rs . 100 Avas , on the recommendation of the Board of General

Purposes , voted to Bro . Butt from the District G . B . Fund . Bro . J . Hampson of Lodge " Star of Burmah , " No . 614 , was appointed to officiate as D . G . Tyler for the rest of the year . W . Bro . Krauss , having taken that opportunity of expressing the sense of the D . G . Lodge at the loss Masonry

in British Burmah had sustained by the death , while in the execution of his duty , of Bro . Col . T . C . Hamilton , and having mentioned that only a few hours before his death Col .

Hamilton had been elected W . M . of " Rangoon Lod <* e " No . 1268 , so that had he been installed in that office ° he would have had a seat in the D . G . Lodge , The D . G . Lodge was closed at 7 . 15 p . m .

Speakers And Speeches.

SPEAKERS AND SPEECHES .

EOLLO WING up our article of last week , on " Dining as a Fine Art , " we feel it incumbent on us to offer a few remarks on Oratoiy , especially on that class of Oratory which so generally follows a good dinner . True , in a very early number we dealt with this subject formally , under

the head of " After-Dinner Speeches ; " but the theme is a fertile one , and may be viewed from so many different standpoints that we feel no apology is needed for reverting to it once again . Oratory , perhaps , is too dignified a term

to apply to the class of speeches we are about to refer to . Your true orator is a man who possesses many admirable qualities . He must be a fluent speaker . The man who halts and splutters over every half dozen words he utters is hardly the lean ideal of an orator . Then he should have a

Speakers And Speeches.

good sonorous voice . A speech delivered in a high squeaky > ort of key , or a dull rumbling , grumbling sort of basso , is not calculated to impress an audience . If wo imagine a man appealing to the better feelings of humanity in a voice which resembles the notes of a fiddle in a fi t of discord , or

endeavouring to pay a compliment to the ladies in a growl like distant thunder , we shall realise at once the kind of notes which are out of place in oratory . Again , your public speaker should have a commanding presence . Wo do not necessarily mean that he should bo a very big man , but there

should be a dignity about his bearing which will secure the rapt attention of his fellow diners . He must be thoroughly self-possessed . The man who is ever at a loss what to propose , and hesitates about the manner in which he shall propose it , the man , in fact , who is at all nervous

over Ins oratory , invariably affords a very painful spectacle . Orator and audience alike suffer . Lastly , he should have abundance of ready wit , so that he may deal with each subject ho speaks upon , not only fluently , calmly ,

sonorously , and self-possessedly , but appropriately . In other words , he should know a little , and , if possible , more than a little , about his subject matter , and then , though he may only express himself in good plain English , his speech will generally prove effective .

Our readers , perhaps , may suggest that we are too exacting in our picture of the orator . Not a bit of it . We do not look for a Cicero or a Demosthenes , a Pitt or a Burke , in every after-dinner speaker . We aro only placing before our readers , suggestively rather than emphatically , sundry

of the more essential qualities which pertain to the art of speaking . But , it may be argued , you are virtually shutting out from the category of speakers about nine-tenths of those who speak , and the majority of -whom aro forced to speak nolentes volentcs . This , however , is the point we

have in view , that the number of speakers should be more limited , for so shall we stand a better chance of having good after-dinner speeches . It is all xery well to urge that every one who sits round the festive board must be what the late Artemus Ward would probably have described

as a " a gay and festive cuss . All are very far from being " gay and festive cusses . Yet is it reasonable to confine the business of promoting gaiety and festivity to those who happily possess some gaiety , and festivity in their composition . Nor is it immaterial to the case if wo point out

the necessity there is for a little logical consistency in the selection of speakers . Who would think of asking a clergyman to return thanks for the Army and Navy , or of inviting a tenant farmer to propose " Prosperity to the Hardware Manufacture . " It might be the clergyman had once belonged to

a body of fighting men before taking holy orders in the Church , and that the farmer was well-informed as to tho process of manufacturing ail sorts of iron and steel implements . But as a rule we look on clergymen as men of peace , and farmers as skilled workers in the field of

agriculture . And if we are right in urging consistency in this particular , should we not carry it a little further and consistently suggest as speakers only men who know how to speak , who can deliver themselves , that is to say , of more or fewer sentences in logical sequence , common sensible

English , and a plain but impressive manner ? Fancy a man replying to the toast of the Army and Navy in manner following : "Ladies and Gentlemen ! Ahem—I—er—thank you—er—for your very great kindness—er—in—ercoupling my name with the toast—er . ! I' sure you

I—er—take it as a great compliment to the—er profession I formerly—had the honour to belong —( N . B . — He had been a member of some yeomanry corps about thirty years before)—I will not detain you long—but I feel that we havo had—er—very successful meeting , and I

think we may congratulate ourselves on the prosperous condition of agriculture , not only in this county , but generally throughout the kingdom . I maintain , sir , the agriculturist , be he farmer or labourer , has many admirable qualities , " and so on , ad nauseam . Or take a chairman

who is continually hoping his hearers will not assign his frequent reference to himself to any spirit of egotism , his speech right away through being a most ridiculous exhibition of that selfish property . Now , to say nothing of the platitudes which people utter , properly six or seven out of

every ten after-dinner speeches arc simply painful to listen to . There are generally at every dinner , as in every Lodge , two or three people who , when called upon to respond to this or that toast , are equal to the occasion , and if they confine their remarks to a few well-worded sentences , all goes well ; but it is as absurd to demand a speech of every