Touting.

gesting , virtually , if nofc in words , that tho R . A . Chapter will hail with satisfaction an addition to its numbers , and that members of tho Lodgo will be acceptable if they forward him their names " afc their earliest convenience . " He does not say , Walk in , brethren , and learn the

mysteries of Royal Arch Masonry ; but he does say , Thero is om Royal Arch Chapter , and if you havo nofc entered already , von had better lose no time in doing so . Brethren cannot

be too careful . Wo do nofc suppose the Secretary had any such intention when ho mado the announcement , but it is our duty to point out to him that such announcement lays him open to the charge of touting .

Masonic Portraits. (No. 48.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 48 . )

"A GKEAT ARITHMETICIAN . " " Horatio , thon art e ' en as just a man As e ' er my conversation cop'd withal . " ENGLISHMEN , who remain at home the whole or the greater part of their lives , can form bnt a very imperfect notion of the strange vicissitudes of fortune which people experience in a new country . True we are a

goa-head and a wealthy people . We are an inventive people , and there aro constantly passing around us very many things to which it is well nigh impossible to give credence . The fickleness with which Dame Fortune dispenses her favours is marvellously illustrated every day that we live , and all it is

possible for us to do is to look on and wonder what will be the next freak she will play , and for whose benefit or at whose cost . But though these wonders are more strange than

any we are wont to dream of in our philosophy , they are less strange than what happens well nigh every day in countries which are being or have recently been colonised . Wo , at home , are trained to follow one avocation . Wo enter on

our duties early in life , and steadily pursue them till , in the fulness of years , we retire on a hard-earned competence , on which to subsist for the remainder of our clays . Or , it may be by good luck , we strike out some path of our

own , and rapidly amass a fortune ; or , others stronger , abler , and more energetic than ourselves , push past us in the race of life , and we exist and nothing more . But in our Australian Colonies or in the distant States and

territories of North Western America it is one incessant struggle to live , and there a man in his time plays many parts . One clay he is a stockman , another he is manager ; in timo he farms on his own account , and then perchance he is smitten with the auri sacra fames and rushes off

incontinently to the diggings ; and the next we hear of him is either that he has amassed untold wealth or is a pauper with no hovel to shelter him , no bread to satisfy the pangs of hunger , and hardly rags to cover his nakedness . Again the scene changes , and the millionaire who has speculated

recklessly , and lost his all takes the place of the pauper , who had nothing to lose ; while the latter has risen to affluence , and having gained wisdom by experience , carefully husbands his resources , and spends the rest ; of his days in comfort , proud of the struggles he has endured , and

honoured and respected by all who know him . The late President Lincoln is one of the strongest and most illustrious examples of the men who have passed successfully from one extreme of fortune to another . Once an obscure rail-splitter , then an attorney , he rose till he ultimately

became President of the most glorious republic in the world . This we admit is a rare case ; but many a nouus homo in that same republic , who was once a shoeless errand boy , is now rolling in wealth , and holds high office in a State Government , or is a member of the national legislature .

So it is in Australia . Men who worked their passage over from England and landed in the country of their adoption with just enough to buy a meal or two , are now thriving citizens in one of those colonies , and members of the local administration .

But while there are happily many instances of men having emigrated to the States or tho Antipodes and prospered amazingly , there are others who , finding they could rub on only indifferently well , have returned ° home ,

and with the additional experience they have acquired abroad , have pnfc their shoulders to the wheel and carved out for themselves a position of competence or affluence . One such is known to us in the ranks of the Craft , who having spent several years of his life in America , subse-

Masonic Portraits. (No. 48.)

quently returned to Old England , and is now known as a highly successful trader . Wo do not say , however , that ie might not havo achieved an equal degree of success had ie remained abroad , but rather that , having the love of adventure strong in him , he visited the remoter States in

tho west of North America . Having acquired , by dint of great energy and perseverance , a large and varied experience in different callings , he , in tho course of a few years , returned home , with tho intention of applying that experience to some active business . While

away , he was , now a woodsman , now a schoolmaster , now the keeper of a store ; and be ifc said to his credit that , though these several callings differed so materially , ho nevertheless earned for himself the sincere respect of those with whom he was associated . He

prospered fairly , and returning in the year 1863 , has since followed the bnsiness of a produce salesman in the eastern district of London . During his residence in Wisconsin , he was initiated , in 1859 , into the mysteries of Freemasonry in the Washington Lodge , meeting at Green Bay .

On returning home , he joined the Sfc . George ' s Lodge , No . 140 , Greenwich , and having passed through , every grade of office , he was ultimately elected , in 1872 , to fill the Master ' s chair . On completing his year in this capacity , he was rewarded for his services with a P . M . ' s jewel .

In 1870 , he was one of a number of brethren who founded the Blackheath Lodge , No . 1320 . In 1875 , he was chosen to he its Worshipful Master , and now fills the office of Treasurer . With this , however , we close the list of our worthy brother ' s Masonic honours . He is a Craft Mason pure and

simple . Others may be exalted , advanced , and perfected . Of others we may bo able to enumerate , as , indeed , has been the case in the majority of our portraits , the various positions of dignity to which they have attained in Arch , Mark , and Templar Masonry , in Rosicrncianism and the Ancient

and Accepted Rite , but our brother has been content , thus far , at least , in his career , to have earned for himself the esteem and respect of his brethren in what is commonly known as Blue Masonry . He has passed through every grade of office , but beyond this , he seems to have no other ambition than to continue to render faithful services in

whatever capacity he may be called upon to fill in our Craft Lodges . Still , if he exhibits an indifference to joining the other systems of Masonry , he is one of the most strenuous of Craftsmen in his efforts to promote the success of our glorious Institutions . He is a Life Governor to all three ,

and has served the office of Steward on one occasion for the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and twice—namely , in 1873 aud the current year—for the Royal Masonic Insti . tution for Girls . He has further announced his intention of serving the same office for the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution at its Festival nexfc year . In 1875 , he was chosen honorary Treasurer to the Board of Stewards for the Boys' Festival , and at the final meeting of the Board , when ifc brought its labours to a close , not only was the usual compliment of a vote of thanks

paid him , but the sum of twenty-five guineas , augmented on this occasion from the customary ten guineas , was directed to stand in his name in the list of subscribers and donors , thus conferring upon him the privilege of five votes annually , over and above what he is entitled to in respect

of his own contributions . Ho is likewise a member of the Audit Committee of both our Schools , and in this capacity he is enabled to render good service to these Institutions . To the outsider , perhaps , the duties of a member of an Audit Board may seem to bo of

a comparatively trivial character , but those who have even a slight acquaintance with such work are well aware of the heavy cares and responsibilities which attach to such an office . An accountant ' s duties are severe , but an auditor must nofc only possess a perfect knowledge of

figures and book-keeping ; he must likewise possess great perspicuity of mind , great discretion , and entire freedom from bias . He has nofc merely to see that the accounts are duly vouched so far as the receipts or acknowled gments aro concerned ; he must also satisfy himself that tho

expenditure will stand the test of scrutiny in respect ; of its justice and expediency . An auditor who simply contented himself with noting that a certain outlay was properly supported by vouchers , would discharge

his duty but very imperfectly . Whero a work is done by contract , ho must look into the various tenders , and he should have a sufficient knowledge of most kinds of business , or , at all events , a sufficiently sound judgment , in order to enable him to determine whether ,