Craft Masonry.

Archipelago in 2 dace of Bro . Sir Charles Warren , whose term of office as Governor has ceased , and to which we have drawn attention elsewhere . It is , however , in South Africa that the progress made is the most conspicuous . Here the Transvaal lodges have been organised iuto a District G . Lodge , while in Natal there is at the helm a new Dist . G . Master , in the person of Bro . Wesley

Francis , who for some years previousl y had acted as deputy to the distinguished Bro . Finnemore to whose office he has succeeded . In the Eastern Division of S . Africa great activity is constantly beingexhibited , and on the 12 th September the day following the annual meeting at Port Elizabeth of the District G . Lodge , the Dist . G . M . Bro . Dr . 0 . J . Egan , laid the memorial stone of St . Mary ' s Collegiate

Church , which had been destroyed by lire some months previously . In the West Indies there have been sundry events out of the ordinary course , such as the reception on the 20 th March , by the lodges in the island of Trinidad , of Bro . the Karl of Lathom , Pro G . Master , who at the time was visiting the West Indies for the benefit of his health . Two months later—on the 16 th May—an

address and testimonial were presented to Bro . Col . John Elliott , C . B ., C . M . G ., on vacating the office of Dist . G . Master , which he had held since 1890 . These of course , are but a few of the events we should like to mention but they will serve to convince onr readers that to whatever part of the British Empire we direct our attention , Freemasonry

has been in a flourishing condition throughout the period we have traversed in the course of this review . May it always be in the power of this journal to publish equall y satisfactory accounts of the proceedings of Masonry in those parts of the world which owe allegiance to our gracious Sovereign Lady , the Queen !

The Cross Of Honour,

The Cross Of honour ,

J . MONK FOSTER , A uthor of " A Pit Brow Lame , " " Stares of Fate , " " A Miner ' s Million , " "Queen of the Factory , " " Children of Darkness " " Passions Aftermath , " " The Lass that Lored a Miner , " " The White Gipsy , " " Judith Saxon" § 'c , $ -c . [ ALL RIGHTS RESEUVKP . ]

'fSw ^ lfT was New Year ' s Eve , and the little borough of Cole-[ ffi § f jlsaj towne was rapidly being enveloped in a thick , soft , J £ j j » l . j nn ( l seasonable looking overcoat of white snow . The -fM asS-l dock of the old parish church in the Market Place had ' | . Gjj | = j ^ g 8 ) y . just chimed the half hour between eight and nine ; and although the big feathery flakes were falling thickly ,

the thoroughfare was crowded with people intent upon making purchases necessary for a due welcoming of the New Year ; whilst ( lie brightly lighted and gaily tlightcd shop windows were thronged by eager sightseers of widely varying years .

The Roj-al Hotel was one of the oldest and best known hostelrics in the town ; and inside its ample portico , or rather beyond it , all seemed most attractive , cosy , and bustling . Behind the great bar , about which half a dozen young fellows were lounging , while they

crossed wits with the yellow-haired barmaid , lay the "Royal Snug , " mid herein , scattered about the room within comfortable distance of •lie lire ' s red mass , were a dozen or so of old cronies , whose wont it was to meet there almost nightly , and over pipe and glass discuss every topic under the sun .

That grey-bearded man seated nearest the fire was an old Black Watch man , who had seen service in the Crimea , and during the Indian Mutiny : the big lumbering giant of a chap with a brownish heard , who sat opposite , hailed from " Auld Reekie , " like the c . v-• "" Idier , and he plied the vocation of travelling draper , or " Scotchman' ' «> lie and his kind are termed in . Lancashire .

Those about them were all well known tradesmen in the town . 'I'he druggist had a shop on the farther side of the Market Place , die surveyor was employed by the Corporation , the reporter did the .

iicws-getf ing for the local sheet , the mine manager managed a local •nine , said to be the deepest in J'higland , and the others were all s "inebodies , or they would not have been in the snug at the Royal Hotel .

The conversation had taken many turns in the course of the ' ¦ veiling , and at length had run itself fairly out ; but the Old Soldier S | 0 ing in the corner mig ht have been deaf and dumb , so utterl y unloved did he appear to be by the various little speeches , and their intervening silences .

'I'he momentary lull , although everyone felt it , was not so awkward ; is it mi ght have ' been had the various glasses been empty ; audit W | is brought to an end by the Travelling Draper remarking in his ( ' * 't' ]» bass voice , as he laid down the remnant of his " small special Scotch "—

" 1 suppose , Mae ., that you ' ve seen this month ' s ' Fortni ghtl y' r " 'I'he , old soldier nodded in reply . " Well , I see onr only general has a paper in it in which he , lliikes a rather remarkable suggestion about applications for the N ir 'toria Cross . "

The Cross Of Honour,

•' lies always making remarkable suggestions , isn ' t he ? " broke in the soldier , suddenly flashing into scorn to the delight of the company . "I never , " he added , " " heard of him making any suggestions that weren ' t remarkable , and he ' s always frying to wrigg | ' e " mil of them afterwards when somebod y wants found out whafihov ' ro good for . If our ' only General' as yon and ofhei—well , bullish

people , call him . had had old Nosey "Wellington to ileal with his lir . st suggestion would have been his last—as Adjutant-General ' . " " Now , look here , Mae , " retorted the Drapoi . who knew the old member of the Black Watch well , and meant to draw him out , " no one pretends to mistake the present Commander-in-Chief for either a Wellington or a Napoleon , but what particular fault have yon lo find with him ?"

"Ob ! he ' s good enough—for Adjutant-General ! " the Old Soldiei replied , with great deliberation . "Its a case of 'like master , like man . ' Nature evidently intended one for a coal heaver and the other for a curate ; but circumstances were against her and they drifted into the army . It ' s not a great thing for ( he Army when a colourless creature like the ' only General ' has anything to say about the Victoria Cross , elsewhere than in the pages of a monthly

magazine . "But , look here , Mae , " persisted the Draper , stoutly , ' •yon ought to ho fair even to the General . His suggestion strikes m ' e as bemg a good one . He says that the Victoria Cross should be granted to no man on his own application . "

^ "And when or where was any man ever decorated with the Victoria Cross on his own application y" the ex-soldier cried , with some heat . "Not in my time , and certainly not in my regiment , as I could show you if I "

" Ah ! by-the-bye , " interrupted the other to the annoyance of the company , who full y expected a story , "I thought the order , ' For Valour' was not established nntil you had left the service . How did it come about , old man , that you missed securing the very desirable decoration for yourself Y "

" Well you see , " replied the veteran as he seemed to fall info unutterable depths of gloom and retrospection , " I was never much of a hero myself , and I had always sense enough to prevent me from pretending to be one . We are all cowards more or less ; and the bravest man is he who has succeeded , not in eliminating the coward in his nature , but in subduing it . Honestl y I am bound to admit

that there was enough of the coward in my nature to keep my hands full for a very long time ; and in war times I was always satisfied if I . could pull through without exposing myself—or , rather , the baser part of myself to my comrades . If I didn ' t succeed in winning the Cross of Honour I . succeeded in doing something which required a thousand times more fact , perseverance and patience—I served my

full time in peace and in war . and no man in the regiment ever suspected when I left that I was a whit less brave than tie was himself . But Victoria Crosses are not given for that kind of bravery , and , in tho nature of things , cannot he given ; still there is a kind of heroism in that too , " concluded the ex-soldier with a sigh , " which is not the less heroic because it is unrecognised anil unrecognisable . "

As be finished speaking , he bent his gaze upon the table , his eyes caught his glass , and he emptied it . He ordered another supply , most of the company did likewise , and when the soff-f ' ooted maiden bad disappeared , the Reporter said , quietly . " ' A fellow feeling , ' says fhepoot , ' makes- us wondrous kind . ' and I confess that I sympathise keenly with the man who is brave eiioim-li to

confess he is a coward . Perhaps in . similar circumstances I should hick the courage to make such an avowal . To my mind , moral courage is quite as desirable and commendable as physical bravery . Now , 1 dare say , sir , " lifting bis gaze to the Old ' Soldier , "as one of the Black Watch , you have seen the "Victoria Cross won b y other soldiers . As this is New Year ' s Eve , couldn ' t you tell us something—anyfhiii " — about some of the men who have , won the Cross and wear it ' ' '

There was a chorus of assenting cries from the others , and after a quick survey of the ring of expectant faces , the grey-bearded warrior murmured . " Well , I don ' t mind if I do , but I warn you that my tale will hardly be what some of you chaps expect . It ' s a kind of delusion among civilians that every man who wears the Victoria Cross must of necessity be an exceptionall y hr . ive man . Tln . t this delusion

is a pardonable one I am prepare : ! to admit , but I insist that , it is a delusion all the same . Some of the men I have known who hive received the decoration were—well , not men of exceptional count cc . One was a chum of my own , and a man with whom 1 was thoroughly intimate . If he is alive I shall be doing no injustice to him - if he is

dead I shall not be wronging his memory , if I say that he was ( he least heroic , least brave , and the least manl y of all the many soldiers I ever met , I will tell you all about his case shortly ; but first let me tell yon what was thought in the Black Watch , my old regiment , gentlemen , about General Lord VVolseley ' s special aversion—personal application for the distinction .

' ¦ The Order of the Victoria Cross for Valour , " the Old Soldier went on , after moistening his lips with his whisky , " was institute I in 1856 , soon after the return of the troops from the Crimea , and in the regiment to which I had the honour to belong the new Order was looked upon with no especial favour . Printed forms wore sent to ours

and to all other regiments which had been engaged in the operations in the Crimea , to be tilled up by the ollicer in command with the names of such men , officers included , as might on account of acts of conspicuous gallantry performed by them be deemed eli gible for admission iuto the Order , and for decoration with it > bronze Cross . " Well , what do you think happened in ours f Why , this . After