The Press And The Installation.

show on the breasts of those who wear them . The uniform of a provincial grand officer is exceptionally gorgeous ; it is of the darkest blue , edge with gold laced fringe and embroidered with emblems , and includes an imperial collar , with pendant trinkets . A Grand Steward blazes in crimson collar and apron . " All these together made up "lines of crimson and gold , dark blno and gold , light blue and silver ,

bejewelled breasts and countless insignia—all melting ono into the other , and blending and filling the vast Hall with a blaze of colour . " Then there was a grand procession of tho chief dignitaries of Masonry through tho Hall , the Prince of Wales was led in , took tho oaths kneeling , and was invested with the insignia of tho supreme office in tho Craft . Lord Carnarvon , as Pro Grand Master , made a speech

in which he extolled Freemasonry for its human sympathies and charitable deeds ; the Princo replied ; and after endless presentations , a couplo of hours had been spent , and the ceremony is over . In the evening there were dinners of the various Lodges , more childish parade , aud empty talk . But tho " blazo of colour " was evidently the great object of the function .

It is nofc yet known what the Pope thinks of this singular demonstration , or whether on Wednesday last the floors of tho Vatican shook with subterranean convulsions , plainly indicating the agencies at work . It ; is extremely unlikely , however , that His Holiness is so simple as to bo mystified by tho inventions of tho newspapers . He will reason out the matter in his own mind , aud will find it impossible

to believe thafc a multitude of intelligent and educated Englishmen should come together from all parts of the country , and put themselves in such a state of excitement , for no other reason than to strut about for an hour or two in mystic privacy , dressed in gaudy clothes which they are ashamed to wear in tho streets for fear of the laughter of little boys . The English , he will say , are a sensible , practical race ,

and there must surely be something behind all this which has a real and important meaning , and which is purposely hidden out of the way . It is impossible not to see how much is to be said in favour of this view . Nothing can be more profoundly amazing than tho proceedings of the Freemasons as described in the newspapers . We are asked to believe that all theso people turned out merely to look at

each other , and to hear two or three vapid and utterly meaningless speeches . There is no reasonable person , not a Mason , who can have read the newspapers on Thursday morning without wondering what all this fuss could really have been abont . It would appear that the curiosity which has lately been excited by anticipations of this great function has led to tho enrolment of a large number of new brethren ,

and it would be interesting to know what are now their impressions of tho mysterious world into which they have been introduced . When we turn to the daily journals for a solution of tho marvel , we do not obtain much help from their oracular utterances . The Times traces it to the " singular passion in human nature for anything in tho form of order , association , and discipline ; " but a taste for being called

"Grand , " or "Right Worshipful , " and wearing tinsel trinkets such as would equally gladden the Sandwich Islanders , would seem to have also something to do with it . There is perhaps not much chance of foreign Governments adopting the recommendation of the Times to encourage Freemasonry as a security for the State . In this country " Charity and Loyalty" may be believed to bo the essential principles

of tho Order , and there can be no doubt that tho members arc wellmeaning enough . But it might be rash to expect that secret societies , if freely tolerated , would necessarily produce equally innocuous results in countries which are politically more volcanic . Tho reason why Freemasons in England aro so harmless may bo suspected to be simply that they do not mean anything in particular except a desire

to combine conviviality with fine clothes and big names , and an affectation of charitable sympathy which chiefly finds vent in frequent banquets . What would be simply dissipation with anybody else is thus glorified as a virtue . The Daily News , after a great deal of Egyptian and other ancient lore , arrives at the conclusion that some people join tlio Freemasons for the sake of getting something

out of them , but that tho source of its fascinations is mainly an " innate lovo of symbolism for its own sake . " Tho Standard repeatedly asks itself what can be the mysterious principle of vitality which keeps Masonry going , and does not seem very clear as to the answer . All this doubt and perplexity , however , are not surprising when it is remembered that the late Duke of Sussex , who for many years bent

his gigantic intellect to the study of tho mystery , was once heard to say that ho doubted whether anybody really understood Freemasonry except himself and perhaps another man . On the whole , tho simplest explanation is perhaps , as often happens , the best . Nothing can bo more natural than that Masonry should be particularly flourishing during a period when tho great object of

every ono is to try to mark himself off from tho common ruck of humanity by some badge of distinction , however trumpery or trivial . Anybody can be a Freemason who is of decent character and will pay a moderate subscription , and thereupon he finds himself hanging on at the tip of a tail that leads up at the other end to tho Royal Family and the highest of the aristocracy , v fch the prospect that , with duo

diligence , he may himself one day become a Grand something or other , and wear no end of gorgeous tassels and jewels . A similar ambition is at the bottom of tho Foresters , Odd Fellows , Convivial Buffaloes , and other working-men clubs ; and even when external decorations are dispensed with , we may trace the influence of the same passion in that eager competition for tho letters of scientific

societies to stick at tho end of a name which goes on among people to whom science is as much a mystic puzzle as Masonry . In another direction , the various classes of teetotalers are held together by the p , wer of badges and titles . After all speculation has been exhausted , Freemasonry turns out to be a very common-place affair in the mid ~ f of its pretensions and parade . It is qr . ito possible for people to lip

thoroughly loyal aud charitable in a plain evory-day way , and in thou every-rlay clothes . But the charm of a secret order is that the members lull themselves into the delightful belief that fl . ey are somehow of a superior caste to the rest of the world , with a monopoly of special virtues . " Knowledge comes , but wisdom lingers / ' and notwithstanding tlio spread of education , there is probably always pretty

The Press And The Installation.

much the same amount of folly in the world , only it sometimes changes tho channel by which it finds vent . Tho best that can be said in behalf of the body which has just been exhibiting itself is that a mob of Freemasons is more harmless than a mob of Kenealyites , but the ruling principle of self-assertion is pretty much the same in

each case . Nobody has anything to say against tho members of tho " great and ancient Order" enjoying themselves in this way , or with any amount of babyish beclizenment and make-believe , but for their own sakes it is a pity thafc they are nofc so mysterious as they might bo .

French Views Of Freemasonry.

FRENCH VIEWS OF FREEMASONRY .

From the ECHO . Our Paris Correspondent writes : —Friday Evening . —The Installation of tho Prince of Wales as Grand Master of Freemasonry , which is duly reported by the French papers , has brought into prominence here a pamphlet about tho Order written a few weeks ago , by Mgr . Dupanloup . The Bishop of Orleans contends , in this last Ultramontane

diatribe , that Freemasonry is nofc only the radical negation of Christianity , but also of all kinds of religion , as well as of social order , political liberty , and universal peace ; and he winds up this extraordinary opinion by calling upon the State to put down the Order as speedily as possible . Tho clerical organs quoted the pamphlet with greafc Mat , but unfortunately they , as well as the Bishop himself ,

in the bigoted blindness of their Ultramontane zeal , overlooked one or two simple facts which alone constitute a convincing refutation of the absurd and sweeping denunciations indulged in . They forgot that the most distinguished personages in France , from Marshal MacMahou downwards , were Freemasons . Exceptions might be taken to these persons on

religious grounds , but it would bo difficult ; even to tho Ultramontane Jesuits to made them out revolutionists , as Mgr . Dupanloup pretends . However , a still more disagreeable truth had yefc to be learnt . The inauguration of Berryer ' s statue at Marseilles came off , and naturally the clerical prints indulge in warm eulogies of tho Legitimist advocate . Well , they had barely recovered from their joy over

tho event , when , lo and behold ! they find out that Berryer himself was also a Freemason ! And now , as if the above were nofc bitterness and mortification enough , they see the Hoir-Apparenfc of England chosen as Grand Master of the Order which they represent as a secret society of Communists and Socialists , plotting the moral and material annihilation of the human race ! Verily ,

their cup of deception is frill , and no wonder they are silent to-day . The Rappel remarks : — " Voila the future King of England excommunicated twice over—first as a Protestant heretic , and next as a Freemason . " The Dibats says : — " Wo can understand tho joy of tho English Freemasons ; their last Grand Master having suddenly abandoned them for the cause of Roman Catholicism , they determined to place the high post in a family which runs no risk of being

converted to the Roman religion . I ho means aro ingenious , and English Freemasonry may henceforth live in peace without any fear of suddenly losing their own chief . " La France observes : — "The Prince of Wales has become one of tho successors of King Solomon as Grand Master of Freemasonry . His speech on the occasion strikes us as very pale and little in harmony with the unusual display of coloured ribbon and Masonic insignia . "

Bro. Constable's Drawing.

BRO . CONSTABLE'S DRAWING .

THIS event , which has heen looked forward to most anxiously by our Masonic brethren , took place on Wednesday evening , at the White Hart , Abchurch Lane ,

when eighteen Life Governorships for the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls wore duly drawn for , and appropriated to the successful candidates , as under : —

No . of Ticket Purchased by 133 . Mrs . J . L . Mather , 5 A King-street , Finsbury , E . C . 226 . James Warner , 61 Chancery-lane , E . C . 430 . Jabez Garrett , 13 Broad-street , E . C .

582 . George Downing , Brixton . 776 . Benj . T . Hammond , Jamaica-street , Stepney . 1006 . Wm . Evans , Grove-road , Wallasey , Cheshire . 1276 . N . Gluckstein , 127 Brixton-road . 1326 . Edgar Hales trap , 12 Little Moorfields .

1512 . 11 . Jonnmgs , J . D . Royal Albert , 907 . 2019 . Browmigg Lodge of Unity , 1124 , Chatham . 2156 . N . E . Jauraldo , 9 Coleridge-road , Holloway . 2395 . Staff Sergeant W . J . Parish , St . Helena . 2603 . Chalmers I . Baton , 115 Princes-strcet , Edinburgh .

2820 . John K . Stead , 39 Great Tower-street , E . C . 3085 . W . Brown , 99 High-street , Marylcbonc . 3137 . T . M . Rigg , Shoerness . 3231 . Ed . J . Sears , 14 Jorrard-street , Lewisham . 3623 . E . Wilson , 78 Lime-street , Liverpool .

The arrangements wore most perfect , aud gave the p . 'reatest satisfaction to all assembled . We congratulate Bro . Constable upon the SUCJCSS which has attended his efforts .

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CHINESE CARVING . T ^ OR Sal e , an elaborately carved Set of Ivory Ches .-mien . The -L Kinga stnncl 8 ^ inclic * high , t'no other pieces in proportion . Knijp ' .-fs r > nd Pawns on horseback , nil mounted on stands , with c- 'iccntric { mils , rim bo seen , nud full particulars obtained , on application to W . W . Moim /;* , ' 67 Barbican , —AM . '