aracterised by serious thought, generous human
sympathies and a delicate imaginative quality.

A REMEDY FOR LONGEVITY.

Once upon a time there was a little boy whose parents took things very
seriously. They answered all his questions with painstaking precision.
At a comparatively early age he could prove that fairies were
non-existent. At the same time his toys were marvels of mechanical
perfection.

At the age of seven he was sent to a very efficient school, where,
being naturally a bright boy, he gained high marks every term and
passed all the examinations, for he had a wonderful and well-trained
faculty for remembering exactly what his teachers had told him.

When he left school he entered a London merchant's office, where his
knowledge of arithmetic was of the greatest assistance in bringing him
to the front. Moreover, he could argue very tellingly with all the
clerks and warehousemen, and always knew what the morning papers were
saving about health, neck-ties or religion.

In course of time he grew a moustache, joined the Territorials, was
made a partner in the firm, married a well-educated young lady and
became a strong supporter of the local Liberal Club, where his
opinions were so well known that it was unnecessary for anyone
seriously to combat them. He was never known to vote for the
Conservative candidate or to lose his head. His concluding speech in
the historic debate on The National Health Insurance Act will always
be remembered, by those who heard it, for its earnest defence of the
medical profession. In fact, the Mayor, who was in the chair, and was
a doctor himself, warmly congratulated the speaker, who was evidently
very pleased.

Ten years later he became a Town Councillor, opened several Institutes
for the Care of the Poor, and sent his second son to join the eldest
at the same kind of school at which he (the father) had been so well
trained. About the same date he bought a new edition of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica and carefully compiled a list of facts and
figures showing that idealists and all new-fangled ideas were the
greatest danger to the increasing trade and expansion of the Empire.

At the age of fifty he took a house at Surbiton and was continually
congratulated on his hale and hearty appearance. His opinions were
known and respected by all who met him. His sons were models of what
the children of such a father should be, and they supported him in
every argument.

At the