The Coming Session.

degrees . The coming session will in this particular be one of considerable interest . Whilst thus noting what has been done in connection with the erection of Masonic Halls , and advocating their increase , there arises a reflection as to the quality and standing of those who may during the coming session seek to become privileged to share in the

benefits such buildings can provide . It is an oft-told tale , but one which requires reiteration at every possible opportunity , that sufficient care is not taken in the selection of candidates for initiation into Freemasonry . Scarce a consecration of a new Lodge now takes place but the consecrating officer most earnestly impresses on

those about to conduct it the necessity for being more exacting in respect of qualifications for candidature . Although for a while the words of caution may continue to resound in the ears of those to whom they are addressed , a growing disregard , or , at least , a neglect

of attention , takes the place of a former well-meant resolution , and the desire to increase the number of members and associates overcomes the prudence with which every proposition for admission to the Order should be considered . Not every stone taken from the quarry is fit for an intended structure , or any part of it , and , as in the material building a careful selection must be made if perfection

is to be attained , so in the spiritual temple , in the construction of which we are , as Freemasons , presumed to labor , a discriminative eclecticism should prevent the introduction of material which gives no promise of being wrought into due form , and made perfect for the support or ornamentation of the edifice . It is to be hoped

that in the coming session much more thoughtful consideration will be given to the importance which attaches to the necessary qualifications for initiation into Freemasonry than it has for many years past received .

Licensed Victuallers And The Craft.

LICENSED VICTUALLERS AND THE CRAFT .

To the Editor of the MASONIC REVIEW . SIR , —In common with several of my Masonic friends residing in this neighborhood , I have been greatly interested in the letter of Houghton \ V . Winkley , under the above heading , in your issue of this month ( September ) . You will probably the more readily understand that , when I state that they and I are together promoting the erection of a building , not at New Crossas

, stated in the last paragraph of Bro . Winklcy ' s letter , but rather more eastward , and in about the most central part of the South-Eastern Metropolitan ( Masonic ) district . The meeting of the 6 th inst ., to which that paragraph alludes , was a very successful one , and resulted in the formation of a company , the prospectus of which has been issued . Herewith I enclose you a copy , and if you will do me the favor to peruse it , you will see on what strong arguments

we base our proposal , and submit it to the Masonic public for acceptance . Although Bro . Winkley's remarks as to tlie style and appointments of very many rooms in which Masonic Lodges are held may not be exaggerated , I am bound in fairness to admit that no such debasement of our Masonic working is to be found in our district , and that the necessity under which we , as Freemasons , labor for the hiring and use of tavern accommodation for our many

Lodges and Chapters , & c , has been rendered less objectionable than otherwise might have been , by the interest taken in our proceedings , and the consequent attention and regard to our requirements shown by the respective landlords of our neighboring hotels and taverns . We have no word against them or their houses , and shall always gratefully acknowledge the use which has been made of them . But our comfort and convenience , however great in

licensed houses , never can be equal to what we can ensure for ourselves , if we will , in a building especially prepared for and dedicated to Freemasonry ; and quite irrespective of the sentiment to which your correspondent refers , although that should be no small consideration , the practical gain in those respects are most important . If such gain can be accompanied with satisfactory pecuniary results , the greater the growth of Masonic halls in the present and future the better .

I cannot follow your correspondent in his suggestion as to the use of churches—village , country , or otherwise—for Lodge meetings , as we may be sure that cannot be . The fundamental principles of the Order , which , whilst most religious in its teachings , has no direct connection with religion , and which embraces individuals " of every sect , country , and opinion , " preclude the possibility of any such arrangement . In face of that factit would be

, waste of time to point out how greatly comfort and convenience would be sacrificed thereby . No ! a Masonic hall might , conveniently and not inappropriately , be used as a place of worship ; but a church or chapel could not properly be used as a Masonic hall . —Yours fraternally ,

The Secretary.

THE SECRETARY .

IN selecting the Secretary of the Lodge as the subject of the present article , it may be remarked that the order of precedence as set forth in the Constitutions of the Fraternity in relation to Members of Grand Lodge is disturbed . Possibly so , but there is a purpose in this , resulting from a consideration of the relative duties of the respective offices of Treasurer and Secretary in connection

with Private Lodges ; and precedence should be given where laborious work is actual rather than virtual , the latter is selected as the most important executive officer of the two . According to the Old Constitutions in the eighteenth century , " The Master of each particular Lodge , or one of the Wardens , or some other Brother by

appointment of the Master , shall keep a book , & c , " and as such appointment was an essential prelude to other business and decisions , whether of the Master himself or of his Lodge collectively , it would seem but reasonable that the order of precedence should have placed the Secretary next the Wardens . However , it is not likely nor

desirable that any change will take place in the present arrangement of the order of quality amongst the members of a Society who profess the exalted lessons taught by that exquisite symbol—the level . The present business is to set forth , to the best ability , what manner of man the Secretary of a Freemasons' Lodge should be ; what the nature of the work he has to perform ; and what it behoves him to do under the authority of the W . M . who appoints him .

To our thinking , no brother should be appointed to the office of Secretary who is not , at the time of appointment , a skilled Past Master , or , at the very least , an Installed Master . To those who know the particulars connected with the Chair degree , our reasons will be obvious and appreciated , and to those who have not reached that Masonic status , it would be alike useless and improper

to state them . As the former must admit so cannot the latter contradict the necessity for that particular factor in the making of a good Secretary . He should be an expert penman , careful and concise in abstracting the gist or essence of discussions , proud of his caligraphy , and desirous of transmitting to posterity , in clear

characters , records of proceedings which , for aught he may know to the contrary , might become of invaluable use to future Goughs , Lyons , or Hughans , in their researches into Masonic history . If our Secretaries of the present day , or at any rate the best among them , were to examine some of the original minute-books of

long-established Lodges , they would be amazed to note the extreme carelessness of their predecessors , and wonder how the Order could have been raised to its present position from the materials then at its disposal . As it is , we are now enabled to point to many Lodges in which the books are kept as perfectly as ever Tim

Linkinwater kept those of Cheeryble Brothers , and of which our old friend Nicholas Nickleby took charge . Would [ that as much could be said of all !

Kindness of disposition and courtesy of manner are also as indispensable in the wearer of the " crossed pens " as in the W . M . himself , and the welfare of the Lodge and the comfort of the brethren are promoted in proportion to the exercise of those qualifications . To the foregoing may be added qualities which have endeared many of our brethren to all members of the Craft

with whom they have come in contact , of which may be reckoned as not the least , self-abnegation . Some Secretaries , it is not too much to say , consider themselves as the " be all and the end all " of their respective Lodges , and rule where they should only serve . They delight in having the Lodge spoken of , not by its

calendar number and name , but as Bro . So-and-So's Lodge ! When this is heard , brethren may be sure that at some future date personality will stand betwixt the Lodge and its prosperity . It is but fair to say that Secretaries of this description are in a very small minority ; but here and there they are to be found and should

be discouraged . Zeal for the increase and further prosperity of his Lodge is a good quality in its Secretary . It is a mistaken zeal which induces a

canvass lot Initiates , and as we write we think of more than one of