The Baroness Burdett Coutts At Freemasons' Hall.

THE BARONESS BURDETT COUTTS AT FREEMASONS' HALL .

THE presentation of chairs by the Baroness Burdett Coutts to the Lodge bearing her name , is not without its significance . In England , Masonry , as a rule , fights shy of the ladies , not because ivlasons are nngallant enough to depreciate their presence or influence , but simply

because Masonic teaching commands us to limit our society to the male sex . Abroad , perhaps , they view these things differently ; but be this as it may , we have hei'e our laws , and what is more , we act up to them . But , to say the least , the presence of a lady , not perhaps actually in a

regular Lodge , but in the semblance of one , is a great innovation on our ordinary mode of procedure . The old story of a lady hiding herself in a clock-case , in order to learn our secrets , reads well as a story , but here we have a lady of high position heartily welcomed within the sacred

precincts of a Lodge , m order that it may receive at her hands the gift of certain furniture . "We admire the kindness of the lady who has thus done ns honour . We recognise the wisdom of the Lodge which departed from the usual custom of Masonry , and accepted the gift in full Lodgo

assembled , but without Masonic working , or Masonic display of any kind , save dress . The speeches on the occasion , and at the banquet which followed , were in admirable keeping , and though we think these trifling eccentricities of usage should not be observed too

frequently , it is clearly an advantage to Masonry that its work is thus liberally regarded . The full significance of this gift is not , perhaps , openly recognised . We are constantly charged , with being a secret society , and therefore with being hurtful to society . The untruth , of this accusation needs no demonstration , but this corroborative evidence

in our favour of a lady who is kindly disposed towards all classes of her fellow-creatures is worth , at least , something . The Baroness Burdett Coutts is known , not only for her wealth , but for her philanthropy . She is a leader among men in all works of charity . Be it the fate of animals , or of the

poor , of the middle-class , or of sufferers by some extraordinary calamity , she is always foremost in her efforts to relieve distress . Whatever people may think of Masonry in the abstract , it cannot be denied that we use much diligence in helping our fellow-men onwards in their conrse

through life . The value of figures , as facts , is undeniable . There is no gainsaying the fact of thousands sterling being raised by us towards relief . We may put what interpretation we like on the motives of the donors , but the broad fact remains that some thirty thousand

pounds annually are contributed towards the relief of suffering Masonry . This is the chief ground , indeed , urged by the Baroness for her interest in Masonry . Herself conspicuous among philanthrophists for her readiness to succour distressed people , she assigns this same

readiness on the part of Masons to render aid where aid is needed as her chief motive for honouring one of our Lodges . Another reason assigned is that she herself is the daughter of a Mason , who , in his day , was not only a distinguished man , but fully carried out the beneficent

views which Masonry strives to inculcate in all its followers . But further than this we see reason for congratulation . The Papacy has of late been most violent in

its attacks on our Order . First the Bishop of Orleans , then His Holiness the Pope himself , have fulminated their anathemas at us . We cannot conscientiously say that we have seriously suffered by their abuse . We are about as

The Baroness Burdett Coutts At Freemasons' Hall.

free from harm as was Daniel in the den of lions , or the three who passed unscathed through the fiery furnace . But though uninjured by abuse , we readily admit that this act of the Baroness has exercised a benign influence over us . It is , in its way , an answer to the silly abuse of the

Pope and his minions . An Order from which " there is no honest man who does not turn from it with horror " is not calculated to enlist the sympathies of philanthropic ladies . We have not heard it argued in any respectable society , that the Baroness Burdett Coutts has ever shown

the slightest inclination to encourage murder , or that she is at all anxious or even disposed to " do guilty battle with the Church . " But here she is , ready , as the daughter of a Mason , to do homage , or perhaps , we should say , to show respect to the Order whose interests we

advocate . Her acknowledgment of our worth as a beneficent body must be taken as a complete answer to the silly bombast of the Pope , to whom of all men in the world has been reserved the special duty of committing the grossest act of folly of which any generation of men has ever been the witness .

The Press And The Craft.

THE PRESS AND THE CRAFT .

OUR Masonic friends on the other side of the Atlantic are apparently beginning to find that Masonic indifference is one of the grave evils against which enthusiastic members of the Craft have to guard . Notwithstanding the rapid growth of the Order in America , it

would seem that , side by side with its unprecedented prosperity , has grown up a species of indifferentism with which we are only too familiar here . Masons in the States are apparently very willing to appear on Gala days , tricked out in the regalia of the Craft , but many of them are

careless or absolutely ignorant of the practical business of which these toys are the mere symbols . Masonic Journalism does not appear to command as much support in America as it deserves , and we have before us at this moment the valedictory address of the St . Louis Freemason , which

collapsed in the middle of its ninth volume . This journal , which appears to have been respectably conducted , fell from a combination of adverse circumstances . Masonic indifference , in the first place , largely contributed to bring it to the ground . The recent panic no doubt told

heavily upon its subscription list , and , in addition , it had to struggle for existence amid younger and , possibly , more vigorous competitors for public support . That Masonic

indifference was however the chief cause of the termination of a career of eight years and six months , the following extract from the valedictory address would appear to prove .

" To the many earnest and unselfish friends of our late journal , who adhered to its fortunes till the last , we desire to return our heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation . To those who fell by the way , on account of poverty , wo extend a deep sympathy , and to

those who squander as much in dissipation in one day as would pay for a Masonic journal a year , yet " cannot afford to subscribe , " we leave to their own guilty consciences to enjoy the torments incident to all who must feel that they are unworthy of the name and intellectual dignity of Freemasonry . "

This is rather stronger language than journalists here would be disposed to use , but , leaving the coarser part of this piece of invective out of view , as in no way characteristic of our brethren , we confess that the