At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

The death of Bro . Henry Russell , the composer of " Cheer Boys , Cheer , " " Life on the Ocean Wave , " and other songs , was announced on the 7 th December . He was born in 1812 , and was initiated into Freemasonry in Philadelphia , subsequently joining the Royal Navv Lodge , No . 429 ,

Ramsgate , in 18 74 . Later in life he became a member of tlie Drury Lane Lodge , No . 2127 , and the Savage Club Lodge , No . 2190 . He had perhaps to some extent outlived the fame of his earlier successes , but his name is one of which Craftsmen will ever be proud .

The Grand Officers are now a very numerous body , and this , together with the fact of the appointments generally taking place at a somewhat late period in life , would doubtless account for a somewhat high rate of mortality , but during the past month or two death has been exceptionally active

among those august members of the Craft . Since our last issue we have to chronicle the death of Bro . Charles H . Driver , P . G . Supt . of Works , who had been in failing health for some time ; Bro . Howard H . Room , P . G . Std . Br . and P . Prov . G . Sec . of Middlesex ; Bro . Sir Arthur Sullivan , Past

Grand Organist ; and more recently Bros , the Earl of Donoughmore , Past Grand Warden ; Sir Francis Boileau , Bart ., P . G . D ., who was both Deputy Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent for Norfolk ( the deceased baronet was seventy-one years of age ); and Sir Alfred Bevan , Past Grand Treasurer .

The proceedings at the last Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge , on the 5 th ult ., were of a purely domestic character , if we exclude the speeches to which we have . already referred . The two clerks in the Grand Secretary ' s department , the increase of whose salaries was sanctioned , should

feel satisfied—the one , by the substantial addition which was made to his income ; and the other , by the compliment which was paid to his capacity for work by the President of the Board of General Purposes .

A startling indictment of Freemasonry appears in a leading Methodist paper , The Indian Witness , for November . The writer exhibits his qualification for the self-imposed task of criticising the Order by starting with the following ingenuous confession : — " Of Freemasonry I may premise I know

absolutely nothing by experience . I cannot , therefore , attempt to pronounce judgment upon the Fraternity from personal knowledge of its principles and operations . " This condition of mind is so characteristic of the genus , that we are surprised only at the writer ' s candid admission of the fact .

The Roman Catholic position with regard to Freemasonry , if bigoted and unjust , can at least be partially understood in view of the fact that in certain countries what was once—as' it is in England—a fraternal and benevolent organisation , has developed into a political and anti-clerical body ; but it is rare indeed that in these days a writer is found who unhesitatingly affirms

that Freemasonry is incompatible with the Christian life . Like many before him , this censor of his fellow man has set up a narrow standard of what he calls Christian life , and consigns to the depths all the human race who appear to him lo fall short of it . His knowledge of the aims and objects of the Craft may be judged by the following extracts : —" The

trend of Freemasonry is to supplant Christianity . By multitudes of nominal Christians , Freemasonry is accepted as a substitute for evangelical religion . Many non-Christians , feeling after God , if haply they may find Him , take up with Freemasonry , supposing it will be a satisfying portion for

their restless souls , and many more will do so . There may be large numbers connected with Freemasony who are still intellectually loyal to the general principles of the Christian faith ; but there are large numbers of Freemasons who avowedly reject and positively hate Christianity . " Such

diatribes are worthy of the most ignorant and bigoted of papists , and we may here fittingly take leave of our self righteous and pharasaical critic .

The alteration of the hour of meeting of Grand Lodge appears to have been acceptable to the Craft generally . Not only are the members of the Grand Officers' Dinner Club able to sit clown at a reasonable hour in the enjoyment of that satisfaction which conies of " business first and pleasure

afterwards , " but others who attend Grand Lodge must , we presume , dine somewhere , and they , too , are sharers in the advantages of the earlier meeting of Grand Lodge . « s < < s » A special war evening in aid of the Scotsman ' s Fund was held at the Music Hall , Edinburgh , on the 28 th November ,

under the auspices of the Lodge of Edinburgh , Mary's Chapel , No . 1 . An admirable and interesting programme was presented , which included addresses by Bro . Captain Hearn , P . G . S . B . England , late of the South Staffordshire Regiment ; Professor Chinn ; and Captain Towse , V . C ., late Gordon Highlanders .

Captain Hearn , who lirst spoke , gave an interesting account of his experiences during the early fighting at Dundee , and afterwards during the siege of Ladysmith . This he illustrated by many photographs thrown on the screen by means of the limelight . The portrait of General Penn

Svmons elicited a warm round of applause . Captain Hearn described him as the bravest officer he ever served under . He also paid a tribute to the splendid courage of the Indian stretcher-bearers , which , he said , had a great effect on the army generally . Speaking of the Boer artillery and their

own , he recalled the fact that for each of the two 4 . 7 naval guns they had only 200 rounds when thev arrived . It was , therefore , necessary for them to husband every shot . On the other hand , in one day , the 6 th January , no fewer than 106 rounds were fired into the town by one of the Boer big

guns . The last photograph thrown on the screen was that of the gallant defender of Ladysmith , General White , which was loudly applauded . Professor Chinn also addressed the meeting , giving a graphic description of the scenes he had witnessed in South

Africa during the war , and warmly defending the English soldier from the attacks that had been made on him by the late President of the Transvaal , who had called these men barbarians and worse than Kaffirs .

The ceremonies in connection with the dedication of the new Masonic Hall erected in Windsor Avenue , Lurgan , which took place recently , were conducted under the direction of the Grand Master of Ireland , His Grace the Duke of Abercorn , K . G ., assisted by the Deputy Grand MasterBro .

, Sir James Creed Meredith , and other Officers of the Grand Lodge , in conjunction with Viscount Templetown , Provincial Grand Master of Armagh , and present Senior Grand Warden of England . The three local lodges , whose future home the new hall will be , were largely represented , and the

ceremonies were also attended by numerous prominent members of the Craft from Dublin , Belfast , and other centres . The building occupies a handsome site in Windsor Avenue , well within one hundred yards of the main thoroughfare . The structure is of very chaste design , with a gable frontage to the

avenue , supported by an octagonal tower having a pretty bell-shaped roof . The foundation-stone was laid in August , 18 99 , by Bro . Sir James Creed Meredith .

It is a marvellous organisation when we come to think of it , this Order of ours , and one wonders at times what the nature of the bond is that unites this apparently incongruous mass of humanity , yclept the Craft , into such a homogeneous whole . The Masonic ideal , if seldom reached , is surely a

lofty one , and its votaries cannot be pursuing such a visionary and purposeless quest as the scoffers and cheap critics of the Order would have us believe . For ourselves , we have a solid faith in its principles and teachings , in its humanising mission , and its power of cementing into one harmonious structure the varied materials which go to make up the Masonic Brotherhood .