1876. Past, Present, And Future.

march . Our enemies , and they are numerous and powerful , charge us with making professions that are never realized : shall we not so act as to prove those charges false ? There needs reform in Masonry , as well

as in other things . AVe have too many lodges that are of no use to the Order , but rather an injury ; there are too many Masons whose lives are a foul blot upon its escutcheon . There needs a sifting and a purifying , a weeding out and a cutting off . Jfasons must be educated in the principles and duties of the Order ; and if they will

not learn nor practice , they should be " thrown over among the rubbish . " And now for 1876 , the great Centennial year ! We ask the co-operation , in our work of every good and true Mason . Help us by writing for us , sending us

information , g iving us facts and incidents and current events ; help us by sustaining us with your subscriptions , pay for it promptly , induce others to subscribe for it , and thus , by increasing its patronage , enable us to make it more instructive , more useful and

more worthy of the noble cause for which it labours . From the Masonic Review , an able American publication , quoted by our friend the Keystone .

The Women Of Our Time.

THE WOMEN OF OUR TIME .

BY CALEBS . AVoMEN IN THE DECLINE OF LlFE . Mv readers will at once understand , I hope and think , wh y I have used such periphrastic words to express a very simple state of

things , a very natural condition of being . For no woman , however strong-minded , likes being called " old ; " and " old women " would sound , therefore , as if intended for provocation , and " old gals " would be too " fast . " So I have invented for the nonce

a phrase which is very civil , and even somewhat poetical ; for I was anxious at the outset not to affront my female readers , especially those who are no longer } onng . It has been said that nothing in the world does so aggravate a woman as to

term her old . Y ou may heap abuse upon her devoted head , you may add invective to invective , and even expletive to expletive ; all this she will often bear patiently and

resignedly , but if you dare to make use of the little and magbal word " old , " the steam escapes , the kettle boils over ! AVhy should this be so ? AVho can venture to explain ? I can't , and therefore won ' t , and don't attempt to do so . I leave it to a

bolder writer , and an abler expounder of feminine psychology ; while I content myself with stating the fact , as a very indubitable fact in the normal existence of women . Being naturally a foe to exaggeration and " high falutin" of all

kinds , I would not so distinctly put forward such a statement in the careful and veracious pages of the " Masonic Magazine , " did I not believe it to be an incontestable truth . Well authenticated cases have come before me where elderly ladies close on the

" soixaintaine , " as the French say , have put themselves down in the Census at 32 , and even 27 ! Indeed , I believe it might be statistically deduced from the Census , that we have no women in England , or very few indeed , beyond the '' mezzotermin . " I can

even now , and so can many of my readers possibly , hear the indignant outcry : " Old woman , indeed ! AA hom do you call old woman , sir ? " So let us not say anything to hurt the feelings of those " good old souls , " butletus speak ofthem as those venerable clam es who are wending do wn the decline of life . There surely is nothing objectionable in this !

Now do not suppose that I am going to indulge in a tirade against elderly females ; I am going to do nothing of the kind . I have known a good many " old women" in my time ( I mean old women , not old men ) , good

" old gals "¦—sio dicitur our irreverent youth ;•—and very kind and good and pleasant they were , one and all , and dear friends to myself . Indeed 1 am inclined to think that a friendly , genial , well-educated old woman is a most agreeable companion

, even for the youngest of us all . Experience has come to her and told its warning tale ; illusions have faded , and frivolity is gone , and in their stead you behold life in its ripest maturity and most cultivated wisdom , animated by genial memories , and leavened ,

by heartfelt sympathy . I look upon a genuine old woman as a very loveable and lovely character . In this I , of course , necessarily include the religious element , which is a sine qud non , in my humble opinion ; as a godless old