Taught To Be Cautious.

TAUGHT TO BE CAUTIOUS .

UNDE B the above heading we , in our issue of the 12 th November last , No . 931 , thought fit to remark upon a case of non-admission to a Provincial Lodge meeting of a well-known member of the Craft , a Past Master , a Past Preceptor , and a

Secretary of a prominent metropolitan Lodge . He had presented himself in the ordinary mannerfor examination ancl " proof , " and had been informed that such proof was " all right . " He had with him extraneous evidence of the several positions he had held in the

Craft , to which fact , however , although it would certainly have furnished corroboration of his statements as a member of the Order , we repeat , we do not attach great importance . Against his indubitable qualifications for admission it could only be advanced that he had not his certificate of membership with

him . As we said in our leader the above details were then ex parte , and we expressed willingness to receive any counter statement , at the same time urging that if the particulars we had received were correct the refusal to admit was a ** sten too far" on the Dart of

the authorities in the Lodge , and that they had not read the lesson " to be cautious " aright . We have now a letter from " A FREEMASON OF THE WEST , " dated County Town , Cornwall , 20 th January 1893 ( more than two months after our article

appeared ) , and this communication we published in our last week ' s issue . The writer informs us that time and trouble would have been saved had we referred to the Book of Constitutions , Article 150 , and if we , after such reference , still had any doubt as to the proper interpretation thereof the Grand Secretary

would certainly nave sootned our teehngs , whatever that extraordinary expression may mean . In a second paragraph of the same letter the details of the case as recorded by us are admitted to be correct , with a perfectly unnecessary observation that the aggrieved brother has not the credit given to him of

a "Masonic knowledge of everything . " Who does know everything ? and what is a Masonic knowledge ? It is also said by the writer , "he would do well to study the Book of Constitutions . " Has the writer himself done so ? Let us see : —

Article ISO . " No visitor shall be admitted into a Lodge unless he be personally known to or well vouched for , after due examination , by one of the Brethren present , oi- ( italics are ours ) until he has produced the certificate of the Grand Lodge to which he claims to belong , and has given satisfactory proof inat

ne is tne Brother named m the certificate , or other proper vouchers of his having been initiated in a regular Lodge . Every visitor during his presence m the Lodge is subject to its bye-laws . " Article 151 . " It is within the power of the Master j of every Private Lodge to refuse admission to any j Visitor whose presence he has reason to believe will

Taught To Be Cautious.

disturb the harmony of the Lodge , or to any visitor of known bad character . " Now it is not contended that the applicant did not satisfy the first portion of Article 150 by due submission to examination as provided for by both rules and ritual , or that he did not fully convince his examiner or examiners that he was , to use their own

words , " all right , " thus making quite unnecessary either of the following alternative requirements . He had undergone the requisite " trial and probation " ( act of proof ) in the form expressly provided for tho purpose , and when properly called upon ; and the result having given satisfaction his qualifications as a

visitor were all sufficient and unimpeachable . The refusal of his admission could then only be authorised under either of the two reservations contained in Article 151 , one of which is so serious , in regard to the imputation conveyed , that the insulted brother would be fairly within his right if he appealed in

justice to himself to the Board of General Purposes against the decision of the Lodge . It may be that the Lodge in question is an exception to the numerous Lodges in West Cornwall , which are cenerallv credited with a full observance of

West-country welcome and hospitality to strangers . We hope it is ; but of this we know nothing . Like the *• aggrieved brother" we cannot be credited with a knowledge of everything . As to the suggestion that the sufferer from want of ordinary courtesy

and brotherly kindness in West Cornwall could find ** talent and hospitality " such as he is accustomed to in London in " West Barbary , " we are not good at conundrums . Our Masonic Calendar , we are pleased to see , is silent as to that Provincial Grand Lodge , if

there be any such , and we cannot take the trouble to search out its locality . Surely nothing ** barbarous " could be found in Masonic Cornwall , unless the case we refer to represents Masonry as practised in a district entirely unknown to" our genial brotherhood .

Ten Minutes With Thyself.

TEN MINUTES WITH THYSELF .

OR THOUGHTS IN THE CHAMBER OP REFLECTION .

DID you ever see the burr of a chestnut tree , still clinging to fche limb , after the nuts had fallen ? Did you ever note fcho saucer of an acorn still attached to the stem , when fche life bearing capsule had long left it ? Did you ever note a lasfc year ' s birds' nest , swaying in the

breeze when the occupants had Jong ago deserted ifc . Did fche echo of a song , long ago sung , ever come to you in a ghostly breathing , when a singer was dust ? Has some memory of the pasfc ever visited you , when the

opportunities of life were holding out hands filled with golden possibilities , and you failed to grasp them ? Have you ever , in the silent watches of the night , when tossing npon a sleepless pillow , been interviewed by the grim warden of consqierice , who wifch keys and lantern in hand , has invited