Channel Islands.

"Nantes , May 20 th , 1866 . * ' Dear Brethren , —Five lodges of Brittany having agreed to unite once in each year on Midsummer-day , the Lodge " Mars et les Arts" will have the honour , on the approaching 21 th of June , of receiving the members of the Breton lodges . The object of these re-unions is not only to bind more closely the Masonic ties by holding a kind of family festival , but we propose also to discuss questions of moralit or of philosophnot in the

y , y , abstract sense of merely paying due homage to truth , but rather with the more practical view of rendering good service to the cause of humanity . The subject to be discussed this year is one of order . To popularise Freemasonry , that is , to consider the means of spreading and propagating its principles , of freeing it from the trammels of the early periods of its history , to ascertain if its forms and and ceremonies are not an obstacle to its

full development , to see if something more cannot be-effected than the preservation of the primitive legend of Hiram , and the symbolisms which are connected with the Masonic art , by making them subservient to the dignity and honour of the labours in which it is engaged . " We have then much pleasure , dear brethren , in requesting you to come aud enlihten us with knowled and

g your ge experience on these questions , and we trust that you will respond to our invitation by sending a deputation on the occasion . The Lodge "Mars et les Arts" will be happy to receive at its meeting the members of distant lodges , to offer them the right hand of fellowship , to extend and to knit" more closely the Masonic chain by which we are already bound together . Herewith we enclose the programme which has been drawn up for our

guidance at this annual fete . Receive our most cordial salutations . " ( Here follow the names or the W . M . and officers of the lodge ) . Bro . C . Le Sueur , after having expressed the intimate bonds of reciprocal friendship which exist between us and the Breton lodges , stated his opinion that it is indispensable on the part of the Lodge La Cesaree to send a warm reply to this fraternal appeal from the lodge at Nantes , by appointing as large a deputation as possible to attend the Masonic festival on June 2-ith . He entreated all the brethren who could make it

con'venient to undertake the journey on tins auspicious occasion , to give their names to the Secretary , and with this view he proposed the following resolution , which was seconded by Bro . J . Durell , and carried unanimously : "That Bro . Schmitt , P . M ., be deputed as the official representative of the Cesaree Lodge at the imposing annual festival of the lodges of Brittany . " The W . Master referred with grief to the loss which the ledge had sustained by the death of Bro . Thomas Gallichan

, architect . "Permit mo , " said he , " to occupy a short portion of your time by offering some remarks appropriate on the 'melancholy occasion . " The W . M . then gave the following biographical sketch of the late lamented architect of the Masonic temple . "Brethren , this day , as citizens and as brethren , wo have taken part in the funeral obsequies of a man who had laboured

well and constantly for the public and for us . This day we have deposited in their final earthly resting place , the remains of him who was Thomas Gallichan , during his lifetime the director of public works in this island , the architect of the temple in which we are now assembled , and superintendent of works in this Masonic province . "As he was found dead under peculiar circumstancesin

, justice to him , it became a duty on our part to ascertain how the death of our late brother was caused . An inquest on the deceased was indispensable . I therefore thought , not only as W . M . of this honourable lodge , but as a simple Mason , that a duty devolved upon me . I conceived , that in the name of our common fraternity , I was hound to see that justice was rendered to him who had been so suddenly surprised by the grim enemy .

Under these circumstances ,- I requested to be allowed to take part as a member of the jury on the inquest , and the deputy viscount not only acceded to my wish , hut evinced his interest in , and consideration for , the character of our Order , by appointing me foreman of the jury . "The verdict given on the inquest you know . Our brother met with , his death by ace'dent . You are aware , too , that a rumour had been spreadthat in a moment of despair Bro .

, Gallichan had designedly put an end to his existence . It was not so . Poor brother . ! he was very unhappy . His mind was much distracted . His brain was greatly excited . But his courage , though put to the most severe test , never abandoned him . Our brother did not yield to the weakness , at once

terrible and deplorable , which had been at first imputed to him . The unfortunate man , I repeat it , fell a victim to accident . With your permission , brethren , I will now submit to you a brief biographical sketch of the deceased . " Thomas Gallichan belonged to a family honourable but with limited pecuniary resources . He was naturally endowed with an intellectual organisation of a superior order . If this man had been enabled to receive an education in accordance with his

mental capacity , he would have shone , not in Jersey , but in the world . This was the deliberate opinion of Mr . Fowler , President of the Society of Engineers , the successor to Brunei and the Stephenson ? . Speaking of our departed 'friend , he said to me , ' You little know what sort of a man you have amongyou ; what a pity it is that ho was not brought up in London ! ' But , notwithstanding his imperfect education , by the natural energy of

his mind and character , Thomas Gallichan was enabled to create for himself a high position among his fellow citizens , and obtained the oppointment of Director of Public Works in our island . I must , however , in candour confess , that some of the structures which he designed or superintended are susceptible of improvement , or of a greater amount of finish and completeness ; but I conscientiously believe , that a largo majority of them are really

admirable . The system of sewerage , the hospital , this temple , the plans which his pencil has drawn with a view to the improvement or embellishment of the town , are only some of the evidences of his skill and talent which do honour to him . "His zeal was incontestiblo , and , if I may so express myself , his local knowledge was marvellous . He had a thorough acquaintance with everything that related to the drains , the roads , the tides , and the levels of the surface . He had ' become almost

indispensable to the local authorities . He had succeeded in gaining the confidence of all the successive constables of St . Holier , from the time of Le Sueur to the present day , and , almost to a fault , he deserved it . But , my brethren , what was that fault ? "I do not wish to cast the least shade on a coffin which has but just been placed in the tomb . God forbid . On the contrary , over the of brother I would desire to shed a tear of

grave every regret and of friendship—to sow the seed of a flower—to plant a token of affectionate remembrance . But duty and truth alike impel me to make a sad and painful confession . Our deceased brother had one terribly fatal fault . He had no system . He failed in that great essential point of an active and struggling career , order . " Without system and order , brethren , complete success is by

no means possible . The statesman or the agriculturist—the commercial man or the artist—the warrior or the artizan , he who fights or works in defiance of this grand principle , is destined from the outset to be checked , to be disappointed , to be defeated , in vain to strive against difficulties . " So it was with our lamented brother . I say so , while humbly bending in fond remembrance of him . I say it too , because I

desire to extract a moral from the career of this man , namely , that our brethren , especially those who are still young , should shun this terrible fault , which has been so fatal to him . With order and regularity he mig ht have attained an admirable position . Nothing but that was wanting in him , and that was precisely the point which he neglected . Alas ! he has bitterly expiated this defect . Embarrassment where there ought to have been ease and comfort ; an overwrought mind , a feverish and excited life ; darkness and difficulty on all sides ; lastly , a

premature death . "But , brethren , he possessed a quality which did much to counteract this grand mistake . He possessed a spirit essentially kind and fraternal . His disposition was remarkably charitable . I doubt whether any one ever heard him speak evil of another person . He was also one of the least egotistical men I ever know . One of the great pleasures of his life was to work gratuitously for his friends . We , my brethren , have good

reason to he aware of this fact . "Lotus hope , then , that when his soul , wending its way through the immensity of space , presents itself at the portals of the Grand Temple above , his charity will be remembered , and that even now , our deceased brother , having his faults pardoned by the mercy of the Eternal , on account of his active and charitable disposition , has learnt the grand secret , and has entered into the presence and the g lory of the Great Architect

of the Universe . " On the proposition of Bros . Schmitt and Binet , it was determined that the address now delivered be entered on the minutes of the lodge . Bros . Ouless and Durell proposed , and it was