Our Bluff And Hearty Brother.

Fourth Degree Mason . Not a bit of it . Give him an intricate problem to solve in connection with his Lodge , and the Master and Wardens with the Brethren all round are satisfied it will be dono in the most correct and true

fashion . Mention to him a case of deserving need , and there is no rest until he achieves accomplishment of that principle which is the distinguishing characteristic of a Freemason ' s heart . Let there be a " special occasion , " when

extraordinary exertions are needed , tho Brethren fly off like a tangent to our friend , who is sure to put everything straight . 1 do not mean to say that some other Lodges are not possessed of an equally active and useful

brother , who having passed through all the offices is not content with merely sporting his Past Master ' s collar and jewel , and settling down a mute and occasional spectator of Lodge business for the remainder of his days . No

doubt , if we could find them , there are many such bright examples , but on this particular evening I discovered one who was pre-eminently a " general utility man , " and my subsequent experience of him testifies that I was not far

out . He is like the man of the song who " could never be still , " that is to say , as long as there was any work to do ; and at the banquet he shone no less conspicuously , as one to " keep the table in a roar . " If conversation flagged ,

Harry Bluff would " step into the breach , dear friends , " and supply the gap , just as readily as he would assume the Master ' s chair , if called upon , or officiate as Inner Guard . If there was one trait in him to be more commended than

another it was his wholesome aversion to long-winded speeches after dinner , and this is a sentiment which will be applauded , I am sure , by a great majority of my readers . The intervals between the few and pithy responses to toasts

were filled with musical selections of high order , and more especially on the part of one brother , who had only been passed that night ; and so the time sped merrily along , everybody being on the most affable terms with his

neighbour , and the company generally with their " noble selves . " Is it to be wondered at that , when with hearty shake of the hand—none of your limp , damp two-fingered business , mind you , but true Masonic grip—you are invited to

" come again , " you do not stay to calculate probabilities , but respond " I will , " with as much fervour as the most ardent swain would do at the hymeneal altar ? And when the Session recommences , and the Brethren rally round

their chiefs , of whom Harry Bluff is undoubtedly one , and a favourite—may I , in Gilpin phraseology , " be there to see . " Cynical readers may be inclined to shrug the shoulder and inquire , " Why all this dissertation on a single Masonic

meeting , and an off-night , too ? " Simply this—that often by the accident of such an introduction you are brought into contact with men worth knowing , and who , but for such an opportunity , might be , and very likely would have

been , utter strangers to you through life . The gain is one not to be held lightly , for the pleasure of such a gathering is not merely transient ; it leads you to inquire and learn of deeds that are highly prized among

Masonsacts which exemplify the cardinal virtues of the Craft , Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth . Since the little episode of which I write I have received much insight into the good wrought by our brother , quietly and unknown to the

world in general , but the inference is that one hand little knows what the other hand has done . Harry Bluff , whose permission I do not ask to indite these lines , may awake , like Byron , and " blush to find it fame , " but good deeds should be written in marble rather than in ink . With

such men as these in our ranks there is no fear for the stability of our righteous cause , and although we cannot gild refined gold or add lustre to the name of Charity , it is

to the class of active workers whom the subject of my sketch represents that we are vastly indebted for the proud position which Freemasonry has attained . The stumblingblocks are those who can see no other interest than self ,

and whose parade of every little puny effort only provokes a smile of sympathy and pity . Harry Bluff is none of this . Ever free and open-handed , generous to a fault , serving his Lodge with a fidelity and enthusiasm which we rarely find

amongst the " veterans , " he is beloved and esteemed by all , and many a poor heart has been made to leap for joy by the actions which he himself innocently imagines have been done " on the quiet . " Persevere in your good work ,

Brother "Harry , " for though you may mingle blnffness with your urbanity , you are a man we cannot afford to disregard , much less lose ; and long may we be spared to meet" A merrier man , within the limits of becoming mirth , I ne ' er spent an hour's talk withal . "

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . All Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

« v . ^—¦ PHILADELPHIAN CLAIMS . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE .

DEAE SIR AND BROTHER , —Bro . 0 . MoCalla , in his very able artiole in the Philadelphia Keystone , 11 th June , seems to intimate that he has shifted his ground somewhat in his support of the Philadelphian primacy , and he has I am inclined to think perhaps found a safer basis for his whole contention .

The matter is still , however , greatly environed by doubt and difficulty , uncertainty and mystery , and the skein is so twisted that it is at present almost impossible to unravel . We still want more light , and until we find the minutes of the " Moderns , " seen by Dr . Mease in 1811 , or light happily upon Liber A , I fear the

early history of Philadelphian Freemasonry must still remain very " debateable ground " indeed . Franklin's words and Franklin's silence constitute very difficult " enigmata" on this vexed question to solve or clear away . Coxe's two-years' Patent expired in 1732 , and if the brethren

in the three Provinces named in the Patent had then aoted on its provisions legally and fully , they could have elected a Provincial Grand Master to each Province , and three Provincial Grand Lodges could have sprung from the original Patent to Coxe , and this probably was the idea of the home authorities , both in the

" limitation and clauses of the Patent . But this they did not do . Franklin , who was apparently not a Freemason in 1730 , but certainly was in 1734 , in neither year alluded to Coxe , nor seems to be aware of the Patent of 1730 at all , unless indeed he considered a Patent for all North America to over .

ride a Patent for three Provinces only . If the newspaper account be correct , an election of Allen took place in 1732 , after the expiration of Coxe ' s Patent , bnt it is more than doubtful if , according to that original Patent ( though the verbiage is

somewhat obscure ) , the election in 1733 , and hence the election in 1734 , was legal . Franklin had some reason to doubt the validity of these proceedings , and to desire the sanction of home authority after his own election , and he seeks apparently for a confirmation from Henry Price—as Provincial Grand Master tor all North America—of what

he terms their privileges of " annual election , " & c . Either then . Franklin read the Patent as conferring after two years the right of annual election ( which is more than doubtful ) , or he was referring to some other " privileges " in being on some other authority than that of Coxe's Patent . In Liber B of St . John ' s Lodge , in

contradistinction to the declaration in the newspaper , is an allusion to Allen as Grand Master iD 1731 . A good many remarks occur here . We must not scan too closely either the use of the words Grand Master or Grand Lodge , as they were very loosely used in those days . Neither should we expect Minutes ever to be

very precise and detailed , or newspapers very accurate or specific . The entry may have been " posted up " after , and the mistake of a year is very common in such entries . Personally I set little store by Bell's Letter , or the theory of a delegated authority by Coxe to Allen . It would seem almost logically clear and certain that

only one of two explanations is correct ; either that the entry in Liber B is not so correct as the paragraph in the newspaper of 1732 , and that in 1732 the brethren proceeded to elect a Provincial Grand Master for Pennsylvania in accordance with the provisions of the then lapsed Patent . The only other alternative is that the entry in Liber B is

correct , and that when Franklin talks of their privileges of annual election he alludes to what may be called "immemorial usage . " For it may be observed if these privileges rested only on colonial usage ( call it immemorial if you like ) , Franklin might desire naturally some home sanction for what was merely of local usage .

On the other hand , he may have read " every other year" as every succeeding year ( as some do ) , I think , erroneously ; but as there were doubts doubtless then , as there are still , as to the exact meaning of the words , he asked for a confirmation of this then unusual

procedure . The truth is Franklin ' s words may be made to square with either proposition , r view , and hence the intense difficulty of this " complex question . "

Still , according to " evidence , " though there is difficulty no doubt , the position of Philadelphia is so far unshaken , and the averment of its Masonic primacy still remains in statu quo . Yours fraternally , A STUDENT O ? BRO . GOULD ' HISTORT .

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