Original Correspondence.

" mero tnotre" are of course " mero motu . " With respect to the "Benevolent" leaderette , " onus" is put for " men . " Commentary is superfluous . —Yours fraternally , THE WRITER OF THE TWAIN .

FIRE AT FREEMASONS' HALL . —PROPOSED MASONIC TEMPLE AND MUSEUM . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Pending the erection of another hall for the use of Freemasons , permit me to call attention to a project I

have long advocated , viz ., the erection of a Masonic Temple and Museum , worthy the recognition and growing influence of so exalted an Order . There are 2000 lodges affiliated with the Grand Lodge of England . The number of Masons connected with them is nearly 200 , 000 . It has ever been a matter of astonishment and regret since my

connection with Masonry in 1 S 65 , that an Order so ancient , numerous and influential , celebrated alike for its loyalty , morality and charity , throughout the wide , wide world , should not possess a building adequate to their growth and requirements , and worthy the recognition and worship of our Supreme Master , the Great Architect , in whom all

Masons put their trust . In the United States it is computed there are 600 , 000 Masons . In New York there is a Masonic Temple , spacious and symbolical , comfortably seating in the Grand Lodge room over 1000 persons . There are also lodges for lady Masons ; the wives , mothers , widows , sisters and daughters of Masons , the theory of their

order , "The Eastern Star , " is founded upon the Holy Writings . They are not permitted to share in thc grand mysteries of Freemasonry , but are enabled to make themselves known to Masons so as to obtain assistance and protection , by means of which , acting in concert through the tie of association and mutual obligation , they may

cooperate in the great labour of Masonry , by assisting in , and in some respects directing the charities , and toiling in the cause of human progress . I have full details of my project in the hands of the printer , and will willingly send the same to any brother on written request . —Very truly yours , Pro . VVM . Hy . ELLIOT , C . E ., Joppa , 18 S . 7 , John-street , Bedford-row , W . C , May oth , 1883 .

A BEGGING MASON . To thc Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Almoners and others in the southern counties should beware of one James Donovan , of St . Patrick ' s I . odge , No , 4 , Johnstown , New York State , whose statements to me I have discovered are totally untrue . He was

at Chichester on I hursday , the 3 rd inst ., and the brethren there impounded his documents , waiting for information from Johnstown . He is about 5 ft . 10 in . high , has a thick brown moustache , no whiskers or bean * 1 , looks hearty and strong , and a bit sunburnt , and has a very slight impediment in his speech . —Yours faithfully , F . FRANCES .

Reviews

REVIEWS

THROUGH SIBERIA . Fourth Edition . By Bro . H . LANSDELL , D . D ., and P . G . S . Sampson , Low and Co ., iSS , Fleet-street . Bro . Lansdell is a well-known brother of ours , who has written one of the most agreeable and interesting works it has been our province to peruse . Widespread curiosity attaching to his revelations of a " terra incognita , " of a portion ot the earth around which gloomy clouds of fear and

honor seemed perpetually to hover quoad the European mind , has no doubt as an initial force invited a demand for a work of such professed aim and object . But the book itself has claimed and obtained the suffrages of the thoughtful and the sympathies of the intelligent . It is a manly , straightforward view and account of things as they really are in living verity , neither disfigured by the exaggeration of party writers , nor affected by the mere weakness of

sentimental " gush . We feel as we turn over Bro . Lansdell ' s striking pages that his facts are facts , and that his assumptions and his conclusions are both fair and reliable . Most , therefore , of the " idle tales " of partizan scribes , and the all but inevitable exaggeration of the popular views upon Siberia , have been dissipated and removed by the clear and conscientious eye-witness of Bro . Lansdell . Our esteemed brother had previously laboured successfully in Finland , in

seeking , by the distribution of bibles and tracts , prints and pictures to throw a little light upon the moral and intellectual darkness of the "Finn's , " and then he turned his attention to " Siberia . " Armed with a ministerial " passepartout , " he has seen what no onc else has seen , and has been able to detail accurately and lucidly what no one else could even approximately measure . The great doubts and grave horrors of Siberian life and Siberian cruelties fade

away at the touch of truth . Tortures do not exist ; corporal punishment is inflicted , as in English Prisons , for hardened malefactors , by the " Rods " and by the " Plete , " in milder and more painful form . But the story of arbitrary and revolting crulties maybe dismissed , like many other human Cads and popular superstitions . The charm of Bro . Lansdell's work is its natural and kindl y tone , the careful outcome of one evidently desirous ot truth

aud reality , and seeking to be just to all men . We can commend Bro . Lansdell's "Through Siberia " conscientiously to all who seek not only with a love of travel to realize the efforts of hardy voyagers , but who desire to know something about a country so often mentioned as Siberia . If they wish for a clear " coup d'o * il " of the entire subject , if they seek to know what Siberia really is , and what is the life or status or actual lot of the entire quasi-criminal population , we recommend

Reviews

them to obtain "Through Siberia , " and they will , we feel sure , like ourselves , feel improved by the perusal . In the Freemason we have had necessarily to leave out many topics which might be enlarged on in other papers , as Bro . Lansdell will himself concede ; but we repeat we advise our friends to read and think over the book for themselves . .

MODERN NOVELS . We do not profess to be great readers of Novels , but every now and then we come across them , and they confront us in the way , and we have to take account of them , whether we like it or not . We are among those who , rightly or wrongly , do not perhaps set as much store by modern novels as they may , with more lenient critic perchance , fairly claim .

Despite every allowance for altered tastes and prevailing tendencies of thought and sympathy as the generations come and go , we find fault as a general rule with the paradoxes , the sensationalism , the affectation , and the unreality of the general run of imaginative works to-day . Though comparisons are professedly " odorous , " from the days of Mrs . Malaprop , we prefer the older tales which entranced

our youth , or vivified our advancing years . VVe may be perhaps too much , as we sometimes arc , " laudatores temporis acti , " but we venture to think , that modern novels are woefully deficient for the most part in sincerity , reality , high feeling , and common sense . There are , of course , notable exceptions , and many of us will recall pleasant books with familar names , with which we have made ado to pass many

sunny or stormy hours , which have moved our feelings , or soothed our sensibilities , and yielded to us pleasant moments of complacent thought or grateful memory . But the " bulk " of modern novels is , to our mind , both insipid and unprofitable reading , too often pandering to a most mistaken and injurious love of the weird , the grotesque , the sensational , and without the slightest pretence

either to educate the intellect , control the imagination , or touch the heart . With some persons novel reading is said to act like dram drinking , —a constant condition of " nips , " keeping up a state of sickly sentimentality , mournful laxity , and , above all , an idle waste of time and attention . As an illustration and commentary combined on what we have just ventured to say , we take up two novels to-day , which have

made no little noise , attracted much attention , and have been largely read , and on which opinion , as is usual , is much divided . These are , " All Sorts and Conditions of Men , " by Walter Besant , and " The New Arabian Nights , " by Robert Louis Stevenson . They were originally published in 1 SS 2 , but are still vastly in request . VVe confess that we think they are both marked , and marked strongly , with the

faults of our modern novel writing school , which we have above shortly enumerated . " All Sorts and Conditions of Men " is , as Mr . Besant fairly admits , an " impossible story . " It is characterized no doubt by all those graces of style , and all that peculiar use of the English language that quaint collocation of sentiment and sentences , which distinguish so vividly that able writer and his

quondum and lamented "collaboratuur , " Mr . Rice . Under the conditions in which Miss Angela Messenger is happily placed , everything is possible , nothing is impossible . She has only to wish , and it is executed , to say , and it is done . And , therefore , this representation of the hyperheroic novel , has in it an element of weakness , which mars its prominent ability of execution from first to last . Many

of the characters are forcibly drawn , —Bunker , Captain Sorensen , Lord and Lady Davenant , Joseph Coppin , Mr . Fagg , and not excluding the hero and heroine , and not the least , Lordjocelyn Le Breton . But to say the truth this "Masquerading" hardly suits our English sobriety of thought or taste , and we are inclined to think that the rich and charming " Dressmaker " in disguise is a mistake , and

the result of the volumes is a feeling of general disappointments . In the higher underlying aspiration of this work we shall all share , that is those of us who have looked into such things and are aware of how little the upper " strata " of society know of the under , and how much of genuine suffering and sorrow constitutes the daily lot of large classes amongst us in our boasted stage of progress and

civilization . In their general advance and elevation we shall all take deep interest , and shall trust that the great truth of " sympathy " may yet spread more and more amongst us , to draw the most contrasted classes closer and closer together , to improve their lot , to advance their social well-being , to prepare the way for a far more general condition of independence and thrift , self-trust and

selfhelp , skilled labour , healthier homes , and prevailing prosperity amid the toiling masses of our people . " The New Arabian Nights . "_ VVe do not profess to like this " new departure" either in tone or temper , in outcome , outline , or tendency . The stories are more or less purely sensational , and most unsatisfactory to us in that they invest a most unreal and improbable

state of things , with the aspect of actuality and probability . Indeed , we are so old fashioned , such old fogies , if you like , that we confess we deem the " idea" of the work to be alike morally objectionable , and intellectually weak . That the tales are marked by much clearness of phrase and neatness of touch is undeniable . That you skip along easily , and they trip along glibly is

equally true , but these concomitant conditions may fairly be attributed to the expert intelligence and polished pen of the " ready writer . " But that these " Legends " are likely to subserve any good end , or be gratefully remembered after fashion and passing "chic" have had their day we do not believe . Our dear old friends the Old Arabian Nights

seem to us with almost electric brilliancy to mark the margin , —the very , very great margin , —as between the well-known and cherished originals and these would be imitations . The story of the Suicide Club , to our mind , is simply revolting . It is bul fair to observe that 011 c or two of the later tales had previously appeared in "Temple Bar . "

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

170 ] FREEMASONRY IN SUSSEX . Bro . Thomas Francis , of Havant , has done for the Province of Sussex generally , and for his own lodge , No . 56 , Arundel , particularly , what I much wish other brethren equall y competent , would do for their lodges and provinces . The history of Freemasonry in Sussex , and of the " Howard Lodge of Brotherly Love , " Arundel , has been most care-

Masonic Notes And Queries.

fully compiled by Bro . Francis , and by dint of zealous researches , and any amount of perseverance , a volume of facts have been collected , which has a value far beyond the province only , and should be read by all Masonic students wherever dispersed . The Editor of the Freemason has already favourably noticed the work , but as no London publisher seems to have been utilized for the purpose of its

sale , which is an unfortunate oversight , 1 desire again to draw attention to its merits . Lodges in Sussex are traced and many points of interest in their career are noticed , from 1724 , and the history of the province is given from 1774 . Of course the lodge , which assembled "from the time of Julius Cesar , " but as a matter of fact began to work in 1 730 , is not lost sight of . Its traditional existence

and honours appear to have proved too much for the members , anyway its erasure was chronicled in 1754 . The coloured illustrations are something unusual for such a publication , the four special medals being exceedingly good . No . 56 was originally a London lodge , and was chartered in 173 ( 1 , removing to Arundel in 17 S 9 , and the records

contain several items of importance , happily enumerated by Bro . Francis , who is its ardent historian , as well as that of the Province of Sussex . There are many other old lodges whose histories are worth writing , as the Editor of the Freemason continues to urge and bring before the attention of the Craft , and I desire to support him most heartily in his appeal for more light from such a pure source . W . J . HUGHAN .

1 Soj BROWNE'S MASTER KEY . During the last two years a work has been several times referred to in your columns in an indifferent sort of way , called " Browne ' s Master Key , " published in 1798 . Bro . Todd , P . M ., refers to it in Notes and Queries , No . 145 . The work in question explains in the preface why a

considerable portion is in a species of cypher-type , and therefore only to be read by those who are in possession of thc " key . " Has this key ever been heard of as in possession of a living brother ? If not , the difficulty of making it out should not be great , and I should be glad if some brother versed in such matters would write me on the subject . Bradford , Yorkshire . J . RAMSDEN RILEY .

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS .

( Craft JEasonry . STRAND LODGE ( No . 1987 ) . —A meeting of this lodge was held at Ashley ' s Hotel , Co vent Garden , on Thursday , the 10 th inst ., under the presidency of Bro . James Willing , jun ., the VV . M . There were present as visitors , Bros . H . Cotton Smith , 1 C 42 ; J . C . Smith and H . Dickers , 1744 ; J . G . Elderton , 317 ; C . Birshall , 1347 ; J . S . Edmund , 1507 and E . C . Massey ( Freemason ) .

There was a very large amount of business on the agenda paper , including nine raisings , six passings , and three initiations . At half-past three o'clock , Bros . J . C . Harrison , C . Osland , J . G . Shaw , E . N . Dale , fi . S . Foster , A . A . Thioden , O . Fawkes , E . B . Hartt , and M . I . Green were raised to the Sublime Degree of M . M . When this business had been disposed of Bros . VV . D . Horrocks , C . J . Weston , W . C . Archer , E . G . Banks , J .

Hewson , and D . Coivie were passed to the Second Degree . The ballot was then taken for-two candidates for initiation , namely , Mr . Edwin Evans , proposed by thc VV . M . and seconded by Bro . J . H . Batty ; and Mr . Charles A . A . Welsh , proposed by Bro . C . F . May , and seconded by the W . M . ; and both being approved , these gentlemen and Mr . Arthur Koning , who had already been

balloted for were initiated into the secrets and mysteries of the First Degree . The ballot was afterwards taken for thc admission as a joining member of Bro . Charles Spencer Crowder , 79 , proposed by Bro . A . A . Thioden , and seconded by the VV . M ., and being declared in his favour , Bro . Crowder was admitted to membership . Few Masters perhaps , would undertake the performance of such an

amount of business at one meeting , but Bro . Willing is well-known as a very rapid worker , and appears to possess an unlimited amount of endurance . During the evening the thanks of the lodge were tendered to one of the members who had presented a large Masonic carpet for the lodge room . There is something else however of which the lodge stands in greater need , the

want of which mars very much thc solemnity of thc ceremony in the Third Degree . The lodge room is li ghted by three or four large windows , which arc fitted with linen blinds only , so that there is no means of excluding thc glare of daylight , and for a lodge meeting early in the afternoon , or indeed at any reasonable hour at this period of the year , the absence of effective

darkening blinds is a very detrimental circumstance . After the lodge had been closed down , and the meeting adjourned , the members of the lodge and their guests dined together , and passed a very pleasant evening . Wherever Bro . Willing , jun ., presides there is sure to be plenty of merriment , bul : there is no great scope for the reporter's art . On this occasion , also , in consequence of the

duties connected with his theatre necessitating the early departure of Bro . Douglas , thc loyal and Masonic toasts were grouped together very ingeniously by Bro . Willing , who simply proposed " Loyalty to the throne and devotion to the best interests of the Craft . " "The Health of the W . M . " was proposed by Bio . Stiles , the able Secretary of the lodge , who said it was a

. peculiarly pleasant privilege to have the task to perform . He was quite sure that he had only to mention the name of the W . M . to secure for this toast the heartiest reception . His endurance and energy as a working Freemason were marvellous ; he had that day raised nine brethren , passed six , and had besides initiated three other gentlemen into the Order . Such work few could equal—none could

excel . He was sure they were very glad to see Bro . Willing , who was founder of the lodge , in the position of W . M . The lodge was making great progress and now numbered 50 members . Bro . Willing in replying to the toast said he felt so thoroughly identified with the Strand Lodge that anything that was said honouring him was really honouring thc lodge . The attention that had always been paid both by the original and the ncw members to the work of the lodge