The Importance Of Masonic Study:

this class of work , tho more earnestly wo encourage their production , the easier will it be for us to appreciate the growth of Freemasonry . Many wonders have been wrought since tho creation of the world , but there are few things more wonderful than the growth of Speculative

Freemasonry . From the meeting one day at a London tavern of sundry enthusiasts , members of certain Masons' Lodges , there sprang into existence , almost as if by magic , a number of organisations , modelled pretty closely after the same fashion , and including people of every station in life , those

possessing only a small amount of means being , in the order of things , the least numerously represented . A single room of modest dimensions would have held all the Speculative Freemasons throughout the whole world . Now there is hardly a country in the civilised world which does not

contain some members of our Craft , while in the more enlightened communities , such as the United States , and the British Empire , the number of our Lodges is Legion . And it must be borne in mind that this progress has been made without any proselytising . There are no Masonic

ministers whose duty it is to travel from place to place , expounding the beauties of the Art , and inviting people to join our ranks . We hold out no inducements to people to enrol themselves among us . Mon seek us , not we them . We have been denounced again and again as a society that

is dangerous , being both immoral and irreligious , and acting in secret , because our acts would not bear the light of day . But though these charges have been frequently made , and , on sundry occasions , been followed by active measures of hostility , we have gone on swelling in numbers

and importance till now there are included among us men of the highest rank and intelligence in all civilised countries . And yet there are people who look upon us as

a set of empty headed noodles , as well as no inconsiderable number of Craftsmen who think the printing of any matter which may throw light upon our history is contrary to the true principles of Freemasonry !

The Wandering Freemason.

THE WANDERING FREEMASON .

X . EROM East to West again , memory leads me back to that charmed city where I first saw the Light— " la Ciudad de los Reyes" —Lima , to dream of its soft patroness Santa Mosa , where the Santa Rositas her little love birds , twitter aloof upon the eaves , as gaunt gallinazos *

swoop down and hop along the street in quest of some stray morsel ; to quiet saunters under the shade of its balconies , whilst trains of asses , laden with water-kegs and driven by some hideous negro , clatter briskly through the quivering sunlight ; to hours of excitement in the carnival and " noche

buena , " amidst frolic and revel rushing from house to house ; to the Margaritas , the Josefinas , the Trinidads , the Marianas , in seductive bevies ; to contemplation of the flocks of

meekeyed Llamas driven in from the mountains ; to the gay ballrooms of the Palacio ; to General Castilla the old President and his cronies , whiling away Sunday afternoon at Chorillos over cigars and Rocambor . f

There I first really felt the smiles of fortune , in place , in love , in society , in luxury . I had the good fortune , common to many a youngster , to be a general favourite , and one result of the kindly patronage of the fair sex over a wild waif and stray was aseatatthe table of our" Charge d ' affaires" every Sunday ,

by standing invitation . I became an intimate of the family , and met frequently Captains of H . M . ' s ships ( amongst them Lord Gilford of the "silver hand" ) , and English financiers' negotiators of Government loans . Under that

hospitable roof I became the innocent instrument of introducing an unscrupulous schemer , indirectly countenancing an enterprise , which led to a flagitious and disastrous culmination that sent a thrill of horror through the civilised world .

It is my misfortune in these sketches to have to make so frequent use of the pronoun in the first person singular ; it is unavoidable in an autobiography , more especially where action rather than scenery is described , where details rather than generalisations are requisite . I ask therefore to be acquitted of egotism , and , as the stories I relate are true , to

* Miniature condors , the size of Cochin China fowla , which roost on the housetops , and are the general scavengers . t The game of cards most affected on the West Coaat , played with the Spanish pack , of bastos , oros , copas and espadas .

The Wandering Freemason.

bo credited with sacrificing modesty at the shrine of sincerity in narrating events " Quorum pars minima fui . " I fell one evening into conversation with a newly arrived compatriot , over the Times and Illustrated , in the reading

room at Morney ' s Hotel , where I frequently dropped in of evenings for chocolate and dominoes . A ' cute looking Amorico-Australian , to whom ho alluded as " my secretary , " was occupied with the Melbourne Argus ; the pair had settled themselves comfortably to read the mail ' s news or

to study human nature through the glass doors , as fancy mig ht dictate . Miles Blake , the former , I found , to bo a man of vast experience of almost every clime and career , to whom most countries , languages and literatures seemed familiar . He and his companion were but a few hours

landed from Australia , but already experience of men and manners had furnished just conclusions upon the current social topics of the place . He was above the usual size , in good proportion but rather high shouldered , his facial outline smooth and lips close set ; his hair grizzled and

scanty betrayed , however , advanced ago which a straggling white moustache did not belie . His ordinary aspect was not prepossessing , though it perplexed my powers of physiognomy to tell why , for its characteristic was a calm impenetrability , much enhanced by the effectual concealment of his

eyes under green spectacles . His companion , " Carter , " was of a type often met with in the Southern Seas , combining the ' cuteness of the Yankee with the versatility of an Australian ; one , moreover , who adhered with tenacity to his purposes , and darted in the nick of time to his ends liko the lash of a stockwhip .

Subsequent knowledge of Blake enables me to describe him as an extraordinary man , who did everything by plan and rule . The expression wanting to his immobile countenance was concentrated in his eyes , they lighted up and flashed with every passing emotion like wave crests

under the moonlight ; so , pursuing in things small and great certain plans calculated to give him advantage ovei his fellow-men , he hid his tell-tale eyes behind green glasses , He was endowed with remarkable powers of memory ; when , for instance , be read the Times he learned it ,

carefully conning every paragraph and storing it up ; in the recesses of his brain he had garnered the information of many years , and from that centre could pour out radiations illustrative of the careers of politicians , the histories of

families , the development of national imbroglios and the fluctuations of commerce . From the most trivial volume of historic chit-chat to bilingual inscriptions or the letters of Louis Blanc , he may be said in a double sense to have had his Times by heart .

I gathered from him on various occasions that he had visited almost every country , that he had nine times mado the passage of the Red Sea ; that he had set on foot the first colonisation of Natal , had settled New Hebrides for Belgium , New Caledonia for France ; that he commanded

12 , 000 Burgher levies during the Caffre war , had been for a month the guest of the King of the Belgians , then of the Duke of Brabant , that he had had frequent interviews with Louis Napoleon , and that one of his sons was an

officer in the Sardinian army . How much of all this was true I shall never know ; he certainly had files of old newspapers and official documents corroborative of great part . I may , perhaps , be excused , at my age , for taking it all in as Gospel .

Two days after , I met him again , at the house of a leading American merchant , evidently as an honoured guest . It turned out that , three years before , he had been fellow passenger of the lady of the house down the Mississippi at a time when she was much an invalid . His charms of

conversation and constant flow of instructive anecdote had beguiled a weary journey ; to her gratitude he now owed his first entree to the rather guarded society of the foreign mercantile community . He was the central figure of tho drawing room , and contriving the conversation so that his

hostess should seem to bear m it a principal part and to be familiar with all his antecedents , he more than once let drop a word about " my wealth , " " my large investments . " This produced the desired effect , and expecially interested

the Danish Minister , a man of considerable riches and much knowledge of financial matters , who happened to be present . For my own part , I went away deeply impressed with having come into contact with one who was so evidently a master spirit of the age . On my next visit to the British Legation , I was , of