Round And About.

Round and About .

If influenza attack you , and the fogs and mists of an unnatural winter get into your throat , drive over to London Bridge or Victoria , and train it to Brighton . You have done it , of course ! And did you ever find influenza , or fog , or mist , or unnatural winters there ? I went the other morning—not on pleasure bent ,

however . I struggled through the pitchy atmosphere of the City , and reached the station just as the twelve express was starting . Gradually we steamed through the damnable curtain of London , and rushed along through the sun-girdled fields of Sussex and the Downs . Was it winter at Brighton , I wondered ; and why we poor dwellers in the Metropolis should not be favored with the climatic luxuries of this sister of ours by the sea .

# * * West Brighton and East Brighton and Brighton itself liave changed since I used to be taken down there twice a year for the benefit of my nurse ' s health . Hundreds of houses have grown up a la South and West Kensington , upon ground that was fields and

meadows in my recollection , and the rattle of omnibuses continues from misty morn to dewy eve . A long way to the right from the station live a perfect horde of newspaper men and dilettanti , and if you are careful enough to inquire you will come across the residence of the Senior Grand Warden of Middlesex , who swears by Brighton

much as he swears b y no other part of the civilised world . The glories of the interior of this exteriorly unambitious house are too much for a modest " par" ; so you walk away with promised visions of an " At Home " a little later in the year , and ring not the bell that would admit you to one of the best men Brighton has ever housed .

* # # There are friends who must be seen , and you see them . There are some maiden aunts and bachelor uncles to be called upon , and you call upon them . There are respectable jarvies waiting for a fare , and you satisfy them . And then there is that walk along the

sea-front back to West-street—and , of course , you walk along it . You did not expect to run against William B ., but j-ou do ; and actually you meet William C , and just married , too . What a charming wife William C . seems to have . ' Good luck to you , " Billy ; " may your life beyond the mantle of the present be as jolly as it was with tlie old boj'S at Winchester . But , married , you dog ! What surprises there are in life !

* * * Coming home in tlie train—how many years is it since I came home from Brighton last ?—a seaside-looking old lady busies herself with writing on the backs of envelopes , which presently she distributes to the occupants of the carriage . I get one , and find

it is an exhortation to wash myself in the blood of the Lamb , and become whiter than snow . Dear old soul ! I am going to have that precious little sermon framed and hung up above my desk . I wonder how many rebuffs she gets in her quiet mission of welldoing !

* * * Some months ago I was possessed of a guinea which I promised to give to the neatest child at the Girls' Institution . I applied to the Matron , who referred me to the Secretary ; the Secretary referred the matter to the Committee , and there it ends . Perhaps in the dim future , when my hair is grey , and

1 totter down Great Queen-street to beg a copper and a crust from a Brother of a future generation , the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls will apply to me for that guinea , and I shudder when I think of what the interest will amount to ! And to think that I promised toi ^ ublish the portrait of the lucky maiden !

*¦*•* ¦ My contemporary of Queen-street , who studiously avoids mentioning the title of this journal , and never acknowledges its receipt —The Freemason—prints a very full resume of the last year ' s work

Round And About.

in the Craft . Its knowledge of Latin is unfortunately limited , and its acquaintance with English composition more so , but it otherwise carries out its purpose admirably . Its Lodge reports are full to overflowing , and this feature commands much respect from the Craft generally . We should not like to guess what Bro . Kenning loses each year over the publishing of his twenty-year-old "journal , "

but to give such a mass of printed matter—and matter which is the most expensive to set—for threepence , must mean a very serious deficit on each issue . But Bro . Kenning is rich , and perhaps he does all this for charity .

* * * Our printer failed to notice our corrections m the spelling of two certain writers on Masonic matters in our last issue . I regret his carelessness the more , because Bro . Hughan has expressed to us highly complimentary remarks upon the MASONIC REVIEW , and has

contributed an article which will appear in a future issue . Bro . Lane also reads our columns and sends us his books , and credits us with a knowledge of him beyond the influence of the underhousemaid at Bromley .

* * * Another of those functions which the unbounded generosity of the Drury-lane Lessee arranges from time to time for the entertainment of his friends , was held at Drury-lane on the 6 th inst , when tlie Baddeley Cake was successfully cut by Bro . Fernandez . Mr . Harris had invited a number of Masons , with the result that the

place was packed with Brethren , who drank the wines and devoured the food in the usual manner among Masons . In fact , it was to some extent a Gastronomic Exhibition . Bohemia , with its elite , filled the stalls and private boxes , and derived great pleasure from the spectacle of a thousand hungry and thirsty followers of the

Masonic Order struggling to reach the heavily-laden tables , and , as Mark Twain says , " get outside as much victuals as time permitted . "

* * * The Lord and Lady Mayoress looked in and stayed an hour . T . P . O'Connor brought two or three of his City followers , and looked a greater Irishman than ever . J . L . Toole was unhappy , but forgot his unhappiness as time wore on . The Lumleys were there , and a strong contingent from the Adelphi , including J . L . Shine ,

who was receiving a " lecture" in the stalls , to his evident amusement . Thorne the Younger and Mr . Alexander escorting Miss Neilson . Four constituencies of the Lower House were represented by their M . P . ' s , and the House of Lords peeped its head inside the auditorium and left . There were but a very few ladies

outside the profession , present . Miss Phyllis Broughton represented comic opera , Miss Sylvia Grey burlesque , and Miss Agnes Hewitt , with Miss Minnie Palmer , pantomime , and many lords of the financial world were in close attendance . The Guards' Band played " God Save the Queen" in the Rotunda about 3 . 30 , and everybody went home to bed .

* * * The pension business connected with the R . M . I , for Boys is again topsy-turvy , and all the haggling will , no doubt , begin over again . The Provisional Management Committee has addressed a circular note to the Craft containing the following : —

In view of the narrow majority by which the Resolution proposing to grant to Bro . Binckes a retiring allowance of . £ 350 per annum was carried at the last General Quarterly Court , the Provisional Management Committee has decided to ask the nest Quarterly Court not to confirm ov proceed further with that resolution , but To substitute in its place another to grant him / 250 per annum Whilst askmg with confidence for the grant of £ 250 annumthe

Pro-, per , visional Management Committee has considered and sanctioned a scheme to raise a fund of £ 2 , 500 in lieu of granting a pension to Bro . Binckes , styled the " Pension Indemnity Fund , R . M . Institution for Hoys , " the immediate object of which is to relieve altogether the Institution from any charge on its funds , and at the same time to recognise the services of Bro . Binckes and provide some means for his " honorable retirement" from the office of Secretary , after upwards of twenty-eight ' service

years The Provisional Management Committee has the pleasure to announce that a distinguished Brother , fully believing the generosity of the Craft will support the scheme , has munificently placed at the disposal of the Provisional Management Committee the sum of . £ 2 , 500 , to enable it to commute the proposed allowance of . £ 250 per annum and arrange at once with Bro . Binckes for his retirement , and to allow six months for the collection of the fund . The