Masonic Portraits. (No. 3.) The Man Of Energy.

measures the citizen ' s confidence in the stability of both home and foreign governments . With his business engagements we have of course nothing to do . We care not though he bny or sell , in the twinkling of an eye , merchandise which would more than compensate for the losses of

Antonio , or satisfy the greed and the claims of Shylock . It is as a Mason that this man interests us , and , as such , we prefer to draw his portrait . The limner ' s art , indeed , is not always equal to the task imposed upon it . Some men , both in feature and mind , are like the negro ' s pig , which

would not stay to be counted ' , we may ask ouv subject to sit for his portrait , or we may prefer to draw his lineaments when he is unconscious of our presence , but our difficulty is to fix upon any one of the prominent features of his mind upon which we may dwell . Like most men of

vast energy he is never willing to pose himself for any appreciable period in one attitude . Your man of action is never happy if he is not in harness . In the world

Masonic , our hero will not permit himself to rest . Masonry , he believes , has peculiar claims upon him , and he does his very best to realise his ideal of what a good brother should be . We mieht almost venture to describe his charitable

labours as colossal ; and , looking merely at the results he has achieved , we might wonder how he manages to find leisure for the enjoyment of that domestic life to which hp is so warmly attached , or how it is possible that he can be the prince of employes with so many cares foreign to mere

business on his mind . Yet our hero is a man upon whom the holy influence of home exercises its full and legitimate power , and in the City he is , as we have already hinted , second to none of the men of action and energy by whom he is surrounded . His name has figured more prominentlv

in our list of Charity Stewards than that of any other man with whom we are acquainted . Like most men of action ho has learned to value small things . He knows that if you desire to swell the subscription lists with a long array of pounds sterling , you must begin with the shillings

and pence He has more than once startled an anxious Secretary with a princely sum , collected with untiring patience from a multitude of friends . In his last effort in this direction he has surpassed his past achievements , and if the amount subscribed did not actually reach £ 1000 ,

it was because our hero took pity upon Iho painstaking official of the particular Charity to which the cash was devoted , and did not wish to stun him with a knock-down blow . Our hero is not less prominent in Grand Lodge than he is in the working ranks of Masonry . His name figures as often

on the agenda paper as that of any of the great leaders of the Order , and he takes a peculiar pride in carrying the measures to which he is pledged . When the idea of a Life Boat Fund was broached in these columns , he was the first to move in the matter , and although he was not then

successful , wc are assured that he merely bides his time , and will strike again when the propitious moment arrives . But he is not less distinguished as a chronicler of the Order than as a worker for the Charities and a speaker at Grand Lodge . In his tranquil moments he has written the history

of the Lodge of which he was once the honoured Master . The work is a mere sketch , but slight as it is , it shows that our energetic brother has the true instinct of the truthseeker , and the painstaking zeal which prompts a writer to search for the gold of history amid its attendant ores . We

have said that our brother , like a good and true Mason , is attached to his home , upon which he lavishes all the tender care of a husband and a father . He is a jovial companion , and shines as a vocalist and a reciter . Policeman X has found in him an able exponent , but although he

likes the society of his brethren , he is too wise and too prudent to permit their fascinations to engross his leisure time . Gay without being frivolous , witty without being venomous , and a toiler who conceals his herculean labours under the careless ease of a man of the world , he would be

a valuable acquisition to any section of societ y in which his lot might be cast . If Masonry is a vital force in the world , it is because it comprises in its ranks many such minds as his . He is an embodiment of the practical side of the English character . Our countrymen are not inclined to

chase shadows , nor to sacrifice the substantial realities of life for the sake of the pure ideal . Our Order , in England , is powerful for good , because it has gathered under its banner a host of sturdy hearts , who are content to descend

from the known to the unknown , who are practical first , and theoretical afterwards . We cannot but have confidence in the stability of our Order , when it numbers such enero-etic brethren in its ranks .

Rumours Of War.

RUMOURS OF WAR .

UNPLEASANT rumours have been afloat during the past week with respect to the Eastern question , and it has even been stated that the programme of our Royal brother the Prince of Wales has been materially modified in consequence of news , bearing upon important European complications , having been transmitted to him from the

Home Government . The World , usually a well-informed , if a somewhat caustic journal , has even gone so far as to urge upon Her Majesty ' s Ministers the expediency of strengthening our fleet in the Mediteranean , and of taking immediate steps to call a meeting of Parliament . We

cannot think that our contemporary has shown its usual discretion in offering this advice , however much it may seem to have been justified by the facts of the case . In matters of peace and war , it is impossible that any newspaper can understand as well as the responsible Ministers

of the Crown the exigencies of the situation , from the simple reason that they are not in possession of the entire facts . When the facts are published to the world , the press is at liberty to comment upon them , but it would be little

less than a national calamity it the press m general were to acquire the habit of obtruding their advice upon the Government whilst questions are still under negociation . This has been done to a great extent in France , to the grievous injury of the nation at large .

In one particular the intimation conveyed by the World has been already falsified . Lord Salisbury has positively denied that the alteration in the programme of the Prince of Wales was occasioned by any European complications whatever . His route has been slightly altered , in

consequence of the prevalence of Cholera in one of the districts through which he was to pass . And if we enquire further into the rationale of the present aspect of the Eastern question , we shall find that there is as little reason for apprehension here as there was truth in the assertion

regarding our Royal Brother . It must , we think , be evident by this time that the Ottoman Government is a government that cannot govern without assistance from without . This assistance , the three powers , Russia , Prussia , and Austria , would be glad to afford . But it is , certainly ,

improbable that these powers should be acting in harmony in this matter , if , as has been suggested , by some writers , it is the design of Russia to obtain possession of Constantinople . We doubt if Germany would assent to such an arrangement , but , for Austria , it would simply amount to a

sentence of dissolution . Whilst the present negotiations continue , there will , probably , be an abundance of rumours , but , despite the few lowering clouds that appear in the political atmosphere , we cannot think that Russia , the only power that has been suspected of bellicose intentions , is

prepared "to let slip the dogs of war ; " and we feel a certain confidence that Germany and Austria would endeavour to restrain any such tendency , if it actually existed . The Eastern question will have to be settled some time , but the time has not yet arrived .

The Antiquity And Objects Of Masonry.

THE ANTIQUITY AND OBJECTS OF MASONRY .

WE are indebted to the columns of the Weekly Bulletin of San Francisco U . S ., for the following address , by Ex-Governor Haight , Grand Orator of Grand Lodge , California , at the third session of the meeting of Grand Lodge held last month . We think the sentiments to which

Bro . Haight gives expression in the concluding portion , on the "Antiquity and Objects of Masonry , " so admirable , that wc quote them with infinite pleasure , and we are sure our readers will appreciate the extract : —

The tendency to venerate ancient institutions is doubtless one of the chief attractions of Masonry . It is not a plant of yesterday , but a tree whose mossy trunk and giant growth speak to us of past ages . Kings have participated in its ceremonies , and men greater than kings have adorned its annals . If , however , its only merit was age ,

its destiny would be decay . Age alone contains no principle of immortality , and if Masonry had nothing bnt its ancient orig in to recommend it there would be no sound reason to expect that it would

survive , much less that it would grow . There are talismame worcis implied in its organization— "liberty , equality , fraternity "—terms grossly abused , but in the Order of Free and Accepted Masons full of real and practical significance ; because one of its first lessons is re-