Round And About.

undoubtedly will , make a position . No one would seek to tell me , I should hope , that that lad had a just right to be admitted a scholar of the Institution . In another case , which has but now come under my notice , a very worthy Brother has died , who for thirty-five years past has been in receipt of a Government pension . Although the pension has ceased , his widow has a little property and an income

sufficient to keep her in comfort for the rest of her life , but a family of three unmarried daughters , who have lived at home under the support and care of their parents , has prompted an application to the Board of Benevolence with every hope of success .

* * Another year of dead endeavors buried beneath the tombstone of time , and another year upon us to lure us into the belief that as its predecessor dies , with all its troubles and disappointments , so this one is born with greater hopes and ambition . How we all live for the future ! At school we long for Christmas to come , so that we

may spend that promised week with Jack Fenton and Jack Fenton ' s sister . Is it really Jack or his sister we long for ? Then we are anxious for school life to cease in favor of that hour when we may step out into the world , with a tall hat and irreproachable " patents . " Then we wish to " become a Mason , " which does not

satisfy us , We must get married—which does not satisfy us ; and so we go on unsatisfied until the end of the chapter , always living for something to be obtained to morrow , always ambitious for something that on ! ) ' futurity can procure us . Next year will give us more than this . Wait till December comes round , and the last

days of the old year , too . We can drink a little extra wine to the death of the present , and one glass more to the health of the New chapter . As the bells ring out the funeral march we can clasp hands , sing "Auld Lang Syne , " and convince ourselve . s that the new Year—long live the New Year—will be full of accomplished hopes

and satisfied endeavours . Pshaw ! What dreaming insects we are after all ! THE DRUID .

Masonic Mems.

Masonic Mems .

At the annual festival of the Moira Lodge ( 92 ) , held the early part of last month at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgate-street , Col . Sir Norman W . Pringle , Bart ., S . W ., was installed into the chair by Bro . R . F . Gould , the distinguished Masonic historian . All the

officers and many P . M . ' s of the LoJge were present , and many visitors , among them being the Grand Treasurer , Bro . Frank Richardson , Major Lambert , Col . R . W . Edis , and Lieut . Coe Pratt , At the banquet which followed , " The Memory of the Earl of Moira " was proposed in a learned manner by the Treasurer of the Lodge ,

Bro . T . L . Wilkinson , P . M ., and in response to the toast of the Worshipful Master , Sir Norman promised to uphold the dignity of the chair during his term of office .

* * * Lieut .-Col . Pratt , R . A ., in responding to the toast of the " Visitors" said : — "I feel that my having been called upon to respond for so many distinguished brethren is due to the fact that I this year fill the chair of a London Lodge—the Quatuor Coronati —of which one of the principal founders is the Bro . Gould to

whom the W . M . has already alluded in such eloquent terms . The object of this new Lodge is to find out something about Masonry . We Masons have been sarcastically alluded to as people who kept shut with a secret key an empty room . No one can deny that there is some foundation for the epigram , but our wish is to furnish the

room , and to clothe with flesh the skeleton we have been long carrying about with us . Few among us again have not wondered at , and perhaps resented , part of our ritual as not being in accordance with modern ideas . If we can show that the quaint and archaic forms are but a survival of long past times , and once had a definite meaning , we shall confer a boon on all Masons , and explain many things that are now hid in darkness . I may add that

Masonic Mems.

our Masonic researches are published , open to all , and procurable at slight expense . I am sure , however , that , whatever we learn , we shall not be able to find a better exemplar of good companionship and hospitality than the Moira Lodge . " * * *

Bro . the Rev . T . W . Lemon , M . A ., P . P . G . J . W . of Devon , Provincial Prior , & c , of Hertford College , Oxford , late Vicar of Buckerell , Devon , having performed the statutable exercises , has , by decree of the Convocation of his University , been admitted to the Degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity , by acclamation . We hope to have an early opportunity of spending a few hours with this " Eminent Mason at Home . "

* * * The December meeting of the Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was held in Freemasons' Hall as usual . Bro . Jabez Hogg , P . G . D ., occupied the chair . The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and verified , the

Secretary reported the deaths of one male and one widow annuitant and one widow candidate . The Warden's report for the past month was read , and one application from the widow of a recently-deceased candidate for half her late husband ' s annuity was granted . Eleven petitions ( seven men and four widows ) were considered , with the

result that of the male petitions five were accepted , one deferred , and one rejected , while the widows' petitions were accepted , the names of those accepted being ordered to be placed on the list of candidates for the election in May , 1890 . * *

-it-Brother Thomas Girdwood , who died at Craigmore , Rothesay , on the 1 st of last month , was ninety-three years of age , and was made a Mason in St . John's , Maybole ( 11 ) , on March 23 , 1822 , so that at his death he had been nearly sixty-eight years a member of the Craft . * * •*

There is a Lodge in the Glasgow Province that has no less than seven Gunns on the roll of membership . Five of them were present at the last meeting , and these five are now in office . There is a father and three sons ; the fifth , though a " real good Gunn , '' is not related to the others . You will see , says the writer , that another

Gunn would have made a complete battery . The old Gunn was a gunner in his time , and has done good service for his country in India and elsewhere . * * * The Right Hon . the Marquis of Breadalbane , R . W . Prov . G . M .

for Perthshire , East , has visited St . John ' s Lodge ( 137 ) , accompanied by a deputation of Brethren from Perth . The books having been examined , the Grand Master expressed his satisfaction at the accuracy which they displayed and the flourishing condition of the Lodge both in regard to membership and funds . The Lodge is now in a healthier condition than it has been for the past five years .

* * * The General Committee of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys held their monthly meeting at Freemasons' Hall , on Saturday last . Bro . Richard Eve , P . G . Treas . presided , and there were present Bros . George Plucknett , P . G . D ., Treasurer of the Institution , G . Everett , C . F . Hogard , G . Corbie , W . Masters , J . Glass ,

Joseph D . Langton , S . Richardson , W . A . Scurrah , F . E . Bennett , William Smith , E . Valeriani , E . de la Coste , C . H . Webb , E . Chamberlain , Stanley J . Attenborough , W . W . Morgan , J . S . Cumberland , Gordon Smith , George Mickley , M . A ., M . B ., the Rev . R . Morris , M . A ., LL . D ., W . Maple , Arthur H . Scurrah , G . P . Britten , A .

Durrant , Alfred Lamb , G . R . Langley , G . P . Gillard , J , H . Hawker , W . M . Stiles , J . Newton , C . D . Mote , E . St . Clair , Andrew Motion , A . J . Dixie , W . H . Saunders , G . Motion , Edwin Storr , and F . Binckes ( Secretary ) . The minutes of the previous Committee having been read and verified , three petitions were considered ,

with the result that one was deferred and two accepted , and the names ordered to be placed on the list of candidates for the election in April , 1890 . Four applications made in respect of grant towards