Sketches Of Character.

voice and " soaps " an utter stranger , and alvA'ays seeks to say " what is pleasant , " and always elaborates a compliment . I confess here that I belong to an older school of manners and ideas , and perhaps , therefore , am unable and . incompetent to give an opinion on the subject . But life , in my view of it , is too important for all such " trivialities , " and for all such social triflei ' s and flaneurs as these— " loungers , ' as we may Anglicise the expressive term—I haA'e little patience and much contempt . The man AA'ho is " too civil by half " to your face , when he hardly knows you , is pretty sure to slander you behind

your back , ( if that be not an frish bull ) , Avhen you leave the room ; and as a general rule , he is both a marplot and a mischief-maker . And so Sloper always appears to me in this light , disagreeable as it is . He repeats , he exaggerates , he insinuates , ancl he sneers ; he always has a tale of scandal , or a Avhisper of discredit even of those he knows the best ; and his conversation is always , to my mind , boring and benighted in the hi ghest degree , in that he never raises himself above the tittle-tattle of dubious society , or those conventional canards Avhich always betray the "bad form" of the gobemouelie AVIIO collects them , AA'ho . listens to them , and ,

aboA'e all , who repeats them ! Now , as I said before , Sloper probably has his good points , and others may regard him from a friendlier point of vieAV ; but as I am colouring my canvass strongly , and Avith perhaps pre-Raphaelite minuteness , I do not feel inclined to sacrifice truth for sentiment , or reality for possibility . But then , as I said before , I don ' t like Sloper ; and as Sloper don't like me either , perhaps he thinks my bhuitness rudeness , ancl my

"doAvnri ght Dunstableness " vulgarity ! So tastes ancl opinions differ , and Avill do so Avhile the world lasts ! If any of you , kind readers , meet Sloper , give him a Avide berth , for he is not worth knoAving ; he Avill make mischief if he can ; ancl you will find that when all that factitious suavity has disappeared , ancl the mask is Avithdrawn , you have to deal with one of those " rolling stones" of society who do more harm than goodin that they ha \ 'e

, no high aims or sincere strivings , but are shalloAA' -hearted and fickle , without reality of character , earnestness of will , or even true nobility of disposition I I hope that I haA'e not done injustice to the excellent Sloper , Avho no doubt enjoys life greatly more suo ; but I paint him as I find him ; and though I bear him no ill-will \ A'hatever , I never do see him without a shrug of the shoulders , ancl a sigh of contempt !

Obituary For 1878.

OBITUARY FOR 1878 .

" \ 17 "R bave to deplore during 1878 the loss of the folloAAing worthy , and many of them distinguished , members of our Order : — Kichard Woolfe , P . M . 286 , Past Z . and member of many of the higher degrees , who devoted much time to antiquarian , historical , and geological studies ; J . Sutcliffe , P . M . Harbour of Refuge Lodge , West Hartepool , etc . ; W . Doyle , Liverpool , P . M . 667 , P . P . G . J . D . West Lancashire , etc . etc . ; H . H . Wright , J . P ., ' of Bolton and Southport ,

W . M . No . 37 ; the Ri ght Hon . George William Baron Kinnah-d and Rossie , K . T . ( the deceased brother was Provincial Grand Master of Perthshire East for fifty years , also Grand Master of Scotland for two years , aud in that capacity laid the foundation stone of the New Harbour at Dundee , and presented an address to King William IV . expressing the abhorence of Grand Lodge at" the attack on his Majesty ' s life ); Charles Bennett , P . M . 25 , official shorthand writer to Grand Lodge ; George Nelson , Limba Magna , near Leicester ; Major George Barlow , P . M . 321 ; Dr . J . V " . Worthington , P . M . 220 : _ Bentley Shaw , P . M ., P . Z ., etc ., AA'ho Avas an ardent worker and promoter of the Charities , and Avhose loss will be severely felt in the province of West Yorkshire ;