Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 611 Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire 612 Address at Worcester to H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M 0 * The Grand Treasurer and the London Almshouses 613 James Anderson , D . D 613

CORRESPONDENCEThe Late Bro . A . E . Fradelle 6 iJ Masonic Emblems amongst Savages Gig Confirmation of Minutes 615 Masonic Mendicity 615 Defrauding Freemasons 615 The Grand Treasurership 615 Notes and Queries 616

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 616 Instruction 619 Royal Arch 619 Annual Ladies' Meeting of the Ranelagh Lodge , No . 834 620 Inauguration of Ncw Masonic Rooms at Belvedere 20

C Masonic Celebration at Alton 621 Presentation toa Liverpool Brother 621 Amateur Dramatic Performance in Aid of Masonic Charities 621 Obituary 631 The Craft Abroad 621 Masonic and General Tidings 632 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iii .

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CHRISTMAS , which again draws nigh , and will have passed away before we meet our readers in our next issue , suggests many memories and associations to us all alike , be we who or whom we may . It is said to be one great characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race lhat , in whatever corner of the earth their lot is cast , they somehow contrive to keep [ their Christmas holiday .

Our soldiers and sailors , thousands of miles away , the gallant little force under Bro . Sir CHARLES WARREN in Bechuanaland , maintaining the rights of the natives , restoring peace and order , and suppressing insurgent and freebooting Boers , will manage to have their Christmas Festivals . TOMMY ATKINS and the bluejackets in the deadly Soudan , under Bro . Lord

WOLSELEY , will , we feel certain , contrive a Christmas pudding , and not forget old friends and true friends , wives and sweethearts , at home . In India , in Ceylon , at Gibraltar , and Aden , in cantonments abroad , or in barracks at home , Christmas will be duly kept by our gallant Army and Navy , and Englishmen and Englishwomen of every grade . And so

everywhere , where ever are English Colonists under the Southern Cross or in the the Canadian Dominions , Christmas will not be forgotten . And it is very remarkable this unusual and hilarious regard for Christmas , we fear only in its material side ; and yet let us not be too austere and ascetic , too prone to moralize or find fault . It is said we are living just now under a " regime "

of " gab ; and high-spiced morality , and sanctimonious " gush , " which cost so little and mean less , seem to be much in favour . Such effervescence of sentiment must be considered as the outpour of abstract morality , though we fear accompanied with too little of concrete reality , too largely dominated

by the hypocrite ' s pretence . The world , no doubt , has taken possession of Christmas , and has " made much " of it ; indeed , seems to be making " more " of it as year follows upon year . We cannot have always all we want in the world , neither is Society nor are men governed , as a rule , by such

principles'Tis true , 'tis pity ; 'tis pity 'tis , 'tis true , and therefore , if we are wise , as LONGFELLOW said of yore , we shall Take each fair mask for what it seems to be , And look not thou beneath it . Christmas is now , irrespectively of its high religious purpose and its solemn

moral tone , associated in our minds with happy family gatherings past and present . As we write to-day the vision grows somewhat dim as we remember old Christmases never to return , old friends and dear friends whom we never more can greet here , past associations , faded moments of hope and happiness gleams of touching sympathy and tender aspiration

far too soft , too real to last . Few of us there are who have reached far in this journey of life who cannot and must not cast longing looks on the " years" that are gone , as they are reminded by the approach of another Christmas , and of some who shared and made their veriest [ happiness and delight in the never forgotten past , of some who even last Christmas were

still happily to the fore . And then if we turn the picture , what a pleasantness and happiness does the Christmas of to-day impart to countless hundreds up and down our happy land . Ft is an hour of meeting and enjoyment after long months of work , care , and separation . Old and young are again gathered in the free and unbought gladness of affectionate domesticity .

No other thoughts should supervene as we listen to the merry prattle of the " small fry , " or enter into the genial heartsease of our growing boys and our smiling fairies . " Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them , " for they give joy and brightness to many a home high and humble , and soften the heart of the misanthrope , and warm up the sympathies ofjthe worldly with

all the engaging graces , hopes , and promises of youth . And so we again , Publisher and Editor , beg to wish " A Happy and Merry Christmas" to all our good friends and patrons , for themselves and their family circles . May Christmas be to them a season of heartfelt rejoicing , mirth , and peace , may old and young be enabled in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U . to keep in fullest measure their Christmas holiday ,

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WITH this , the last number | for 1884 , a few words seem called for . Before we again greet our readers a new year will have confronted us all on the way , and it is impossible but that wilh this developement of a new division of time , of the passing away of another sensible portion of our own little lives , some thoughts and associations will supervene , will press

upon us , will be heard . For it is impossible to forget that with the last twelve months many honoured names and worthy brethren have left us ; some prematurely in their Masonic career , who this time last year were with us to cheer us with their presence , to guide us by their counsels , and uphold us in their strength , "familiar on our lips as household words . " We can

recall to-day the memory and names of those whom we greatly mourn and truly miss . And who of us can tell who will be spared to greet 18 S 6 . 1885 is now opening for us its mystic and weird pages . We have no oracle to delude us with its double meaning , as Delphi deceived its votaries of old . We boast no Sibyl to repeat to us solemn strains of living import ,

or mystic nonsense . We possess no Prophet to unfold the future to our anxious gaze , inasmuch as , in the Divine wisdom of our Great Creator , what shall be and what must be , is necessarily shrouded utterly from our ken . But it is not too much to say , that when 1885 comes to a close , the recording pen will again have to note the disappearance of many from their

Masonic place and lot on earth , with the same expressions probably of heartfelt sympathy and regret . Let us then leave the old year , and look on to the new year , in the true spirit of our Masonic philosophy , hopeful and trustful , cheerful and resigned . With . loyal courage for " every fate " let us

work for our good and common cause , "in the living present , ' and in everything , and with all men , especially our brethren in Masonry , let us meet Old Time as it passes on the way , however weary or footsore , however sorrowing , however tried , "heart within , and God o'erhead . " »_»

n WE shall all rejoice to hear that our most distinguished Bro . the Right Reverened Lord PLUNKETT has been elected Archbishop of Dublin by an overwhelming majority . A true and zealous Freemason , he is an ornament

to the Irish Bench of Bishops , and will , no doubt , in his new and important and elevated position , win in future , as he has done in the past , the love and attachment of his co-religionists and the confidence and respect and affection of the Masonic Fraternity .

••• THE jealousy of authors is said to be very great ; and it is even rumoured that in the great medical profession there is something like a similar tendency . But if there was a society or organization of men where such an ignoble animus should not be found , we

should , " a prion , be disposed to say , it must be Freemasonry . We should , however , be greatly mistaken in so alleging or so thinking . Jealousy is , on the contrary , rife in various ways in our little Masonic world , and curiously often exhibits a very pitiable representation of human nature . We are often positively jealous of another's fame , elevation , good report . VVe listen to

the petty tales of scandal , [ and the baneful whisper of malevolence , we are in ecstasy with idle gossip , or sarcastic comments . The errors , the frailties , the shortcomings , even the misfortunes of others , are too often the subject of frivolous aversion and unsparing animadversion . There are those who positively seem to think that Freemasonry is meant for

them , and them alone , and these can neither bear any " compeers " near the " throne , " or even apparently hardly tolerate those who seem to stand upon a level with themselves , or who differ from them honestly in opinion . As for the little jealousies of our lodge life , we need not touch upon them here . If they are many , patent to observe , and sad to see , they open out just

a chapter of narrowmindedness and littleness such as cannot be reached by our animadversions , just as they are beneath the notice of every honest Freemason . Thus we see that " all is not gold that glitters , " even in Freemasonry , and as we are not above the weaknesses of mortality , as Freemasonry is in itself too full of large hearted and tolerant truths to be trammelced by the petty encumbrances of Masonic jealousy .

*«* As our last note for 1884 , we have respectfully to record the death of Bro . NORRIS , the Warden of the Benevolent Institution at Croydon in his 95 th year . After a long and useful Masonic career , he has passed away full of years , a fitting representative of that goodly Home for Aged Masons and their Widows , of that great Institution of which he was a loyal servant .

* # * OUR last words for 1884 are , we repeat , "do not forget the Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Fnstitution for 1885 . "