Honour To The Brave.

HONOUR TO THE BRAVE .

IT is a good quarter of a century since the Queen has held a review of troops on their return homo after having been engaged in warlike operations . In 1856 the three battalions of the Guards on their return from tho Crimea were inspected by Her Majesty in Hyde Park , the other four battalions of the same corps being likewise on

the ground and marching past tho saluting point . Tho year following our gracious Sovereign was the central figure in another imposing military ceremony , namely , the distribution of Victoria Crosses to the gallant officers and men who had been recommended to receive it for their personal

exhibition of distinguished valour in the field . The Order had only a short time previously been created , and to mark the Sovereign ' s sense of the importance she attached to thia first distribution of the Cross , there was a considerable gathering of troops on the occasion , who were under tho

command , we believe , of the late Lord Clyde , then Sir Colin Campbell , among other distinguished persons who were present being the late Earl of Cardigan , the gallant leader of the Light Brigade . Since then no other military ceremony has taken place in London , or , indeed , as far as

we know , in any part of tho country in which soldiers returning from a campaign have passed in review before tho Queen . The ceremony , therefore , which has been arranged for to-day ( Saturday ) on tho parade ground at the back of the Horse Guards is one which cannot fail to bring together

vast multitudes not only of Londoners , but also of people from all parts of the country . Preparations are being made to give all possible eclat to the review . Accommodation has been provided so far as the limited space at the disposal of the authorities will permit , for all who ,

officially or otherwise , have a claim to be present , and no doubt , if we are favoured with what is familiarly known as •' Queen ' s weather , " the spectacle will be as imposing as it is rare . Bro . Sir Garnet Wolseley , who commanded the expeditionary force to Egypt , will necessarily bo the central

figure . With him will be present Sir John Adye , his chief of the Staff , General Willis , who commanded the first division , Major-Gcneral Drury-Lowe , who commanded the cavalry , Major-General H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught at the head of his brigade of Guards , and

Brother Sir Evelyn Wood in command of the second brigade . The Seamen , Marino Artillery , Marine Light Infantry , the Engineers , the Commissariat , Transport , and Postal Corps will also be represented . In short ,

every branch of the sister services lately engaged in Egypt will take part in the Review , including of course tho small contingent of officers , non-commissioned oflicers , and men of the Indian contingent now visiting this country . The Review itself will be a most simple operation , and will be confined to a march past of the troops on the ground , but

the Queen haa resolved on doing her utmost to make the display as attractive and as honourable as possible to tho naval and military professions by personally distributing

medals to selected representatives of the different regiments and detachments that took part in the campaign . To the Craft , who must have many friends among our victorious soldiery and seamen , such a display will neces-

Honour To The Brave.

sarily commend itself . As loyal subjects they admire all who have successfully discharged any public duty , and as individual members of the community , they , in common with all others , will bo only too delighted to have this opportunity of paying Honour to the Brave .

The Revised Book Of Constitutions.

THE REVISED BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS .

( Continued from page 323 . ) rpHE subject of Private Lodges is dealt with in tho third ¦* - principal head or subdivision of the Revised Edition , and a mere glance at this and tho existing edition will suffice to show that it has undergone tho process of rearrangement to a very considerable extent . Thus , in the

present Book , it is first of all laid down who are tho Officers of a Lodge , & c . ; how , ancl how often , they shall be elected or appointed ; what office shall not be held concurrently by the same brother in two Lodges , except under what conditions ; what brethren shall not hold office except under

what conditions ; that Lodges may frame then * own bye-laws , " & c . & o . & c . In tho Revised Edition wc start with tho " App lication for a warrant for a new lodge ; " " Provisional warrants from district grand masters ; " "Must be exchanged for regular

warrants ; " " Form of petition for a warrant ; " A lodge must be regularly constituted ; " all which are taken from the heading in the present Book " OP CONSTITUTING A NEW LODGE . " This re-arrangement may justly bo described us a violent disturbance of the Order of our Regulations , for

which , as far as we can see , no sufficient justification can be shown . We aro told in the " Synopsis " which accompanies the Revised Constitutions , that " the Rules aro arranged methodically , having regard to their bearing and sequence , " but tho constitution of a new Lodge is merely

an ordinary incident in the evci * y-day life of Freemasonry , for which of course it is necessary to make provision in our Regulations , but which cannot be said to bo entitled to any priority of "bearing or sequence " over the laws that affect all Lodges , both those already constituted , and those

which may hereafter bo constituted . If " bearing or aequonce" are to bo our guides in the arrangement of our Constitutions , it must be clear to every one that our first duty is to lay down the definition of a Lodge , and then to describe its organisation . Of course , the primary bnsiness of

a number of brethren who are desirous of setting up a now Lodge is to obtain tho necessary authority in the shape of a Warrant of Constitution from the Grand Master . But the petitioners must be registered Masons , who are or have been members of regular Lodges , and the prayer " must bo

recommended by the master and wardens of a regular lodge . " The new Lodge is thus an offshoot from a Lodge or Lodges already in existence , and it seems a curious kind of methodical arrangement which gives

priority of " bearing and sequence " to the rules for constituting a new Lodge over those which concern the existence and organisation of Lodges already in existence . It must likewise be borne in mind , as still further confirming our

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