Lodge Rulers

bers is unsatisfactory . The interchange of courtesies with other Lodges is of rare occurrence . The meetings are purely formal . An air of somnolence pervades everything , and the Lodge may think itself fortunate if it does not fall into abeyance , with little or no chance of resuming its labours .

Now and then it happens that a brother is called upon to fill the chair of some Lodge at a time when ho is less capable than he was in his earlier days of exhibiting tho needful energy , less able to master the duties he will have to perform . He is sensible , perhaps , of his unworthiness . He

appreciates the honour that is paid him , bnt accepts it only when he finds that a refusal will be painful to his future subjects . It Aveve unkind indeed to blame a brother who accepts office under these circumstances , and if he is careful to acquire as much knowledge as he can , ancl to appoint

zealous , skilful , and enthusiastic brethren to assist him in his labours , he will very likely complete tho term of his Mastership , not only without detriment to the interests over which he has been called upon to preside , but probably also with a fair degree of credit to himself . Itis almost certain he

will possess already some qualities which eminently fit him for his post , or , when seeking for a new ruler , his Lodge would never have selected him . He will enjoy , therefore , from the very first , the respect and esteem , if not the affection , of all his fellows . A certain amount of study , and the

requisite practice will soon enable him to do " creditably , if not triumphantly , " as Oliver phrases it , all he is ever likely to be called npon to do . We should not care , in the interests of Freemasonry , to see even such a case as this too often reported , but we protest against men being pitch .

forked into power who have absolutely nothing to recommend them but , in some cases , a certain harmlessnesscombined with geniality ; and in others , inordinate ambition , untempered by any pleasing and commendable quality . It is against the election of such as these latter

we feel inclined to protest so strongly . The government of a Lodge is of too great importance to be entrusted either to child-like simplicity of character , or ambitious ignorance . Of the two , of course we prefer the simplicity , yet it is beyond all question that both are out of place in the conduct of a Lodge .

Demolition Of The First Masonic Lodge In Paris.

DEMOLITION OF THE FIRST MASONIC LODGE IN PARIS .

From "THE BUILDER . " I 71 NGLISH Freemasons cnrious in the history of their Craft , and -i familiar with Paris and its innumorablo memorials , must remember tho old traiteur ' s in the Rue des Boucheries St . Germain ( now the Rne do l'Ecolo de Medocine ) , where the first Masonic Lodgo established in Paris was founded by Lord Devwentyrater in 1725 .

Every Mason must know how this antique confraternity of the arts was transformed in 1717 , at London , from a mechanical and philosophical corporation into an institution purely philosophic , abandoning for ever the material portion of its labours , the construction of monuments , but preserving at the same time scrupulously its doctrines and traditional symbols .

The first towns on tho Continent where Masonry thus regenerated was carried from London were Dunkirk ( 1721 ) and Mons ( 1721 ) . It was only in 1725 that a first Lodge was founded at Paris , by Lord Derwentwator ( and two other Englishmen ) , under the title of St . Thomas , and constituted by them in the name of the Grand Lodge of London , 12 th June 1876 ; its members , to the number of five or

six hundred , met at Hurre ' s , a traiteur , in the Rue des Boucheries St . Germain . By tbe care of the same Englishmen , a second Lodge was established , 7 th May 1729 , under the name of Louis d'Argent ; its members met at Lebreton ' s , another traiteur at the sign of Louis A'Argent . The 11 th of December , the same year , a third Lodge was constituted under the title of the Arts Sainte Marguerite , its meetings

were held at the house of an Englishman named Ganstand . At length , in 1732 , 29 th November , was founded a fourth Lodge , called that of Buci , from the name of the Hotel where its members met , situated in the Rue de Buci , and held by the traiteur Landelle ; this Lodge , after having initiated the Due d'Aumont , took the name of the Loge d'Aument .

Lord Derwentwater , who had in 1725 received from the Grand Lodge of London full powers to constitute Lodges in France , was , in 1735 , invested by the same Grand Lodge with the functions of Grand Provincial Master ; and when he quitted France to return to England where some time after he perished on the scaffold , the victim of his attachment to the Stuarts , he transferred the powers ha possessed to

his friend Lord Harnouester , whom he charged to represent him during his absence . Tho four Lodges existing then in Paris ' resolved to found a Grand Provincial Lodge of England , to which tho Lodges , which would in time to come be founded throughout France , could address themselves directly as representants of the Grand Lodge of London . A short time after the departure of Lord Derwentwater , this resolution waa

Demolition Of The First Masonic Lodge In Paris.

put into execution , and , in 1736 , under the presidency of Lord Harnouester , this Grand Lodge was legally and regularly constituted . Little by littlo were established at Paris , by the side of those Lodges founded on the principles of tho Grand Lodge of London , other Lodges , constituted by a Scotchman , Baron Ramsay , a firm partisan of tho exiled Stuarts . This famous Mason for somo time

hold the functions of Orator to the Grand Provincial Lodge of England , above referred to . He , however , succeeded in establishing and introducing another Masonic system , called the Scottish , with seven grades , which had been created at Edinburgh by a Chapter of the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge , with a political aim , —tho support of the Stuarts , tho subjection of Masonry to Catholicism , and the

founders of which , not being able to state its true origin , had attributed the creation to Godefroi de Bouillon . This Masonic Rite has never been accepted either in Scotland or in England ; bnt , introduced by Ramsey into France in 1730 , it has served as the basis of all the Masonio systems propagated from that time throughout Franco and in many parts of the world .

In 1737 Lord Harnouester , the second Provincial Grand Master of France , wishing to return to England , asked before his departure to be replaced , ancl manifested the desire to be so by a Frenchman . The Due d'Antin , a zealous Mason , succeeded him in June 1738 . Tho Duo d'Antin was chosen among those members of tho Court who had shown the most zeal for tho Order . He had in reality faced tho

prohibition of Louis XV ., who had forbidden any of the nobles of his Court to belong to any of tho societies of Freemasons , and tho Duko showed much courage in accepting the functions of Grand Master , in . asmuch as the King had threatened to immediately put into the Bastille any member of his Conrfc who would preside over Freemasonry in that quality , The king , however , did not carry out his

threat , but tho police of tho Chatelet continued the proscription against those members who could not oppose to them tho influence of their names or capacities . To follow the subsequent history of Freemasonry in France would be a study beyond the limits of these pages , but by a recent return it appears that there are at present in France no less than 203 , 400

active members of the Craft ; adding to those those Masons who have renounced any share in the work of the order , we have a total of some 500 , 000 Masons in France . Within , then , a very few days , this interesting old building will have disappeared . Not far from it rises the venerable old church of St . Germain des Pres , which has existed hero since the sixth

century . This quarter and its historical surroundings are about to be demolished to make way for those changes which , since the announcement that the Exhibition is to be opened iu 1878 , have received such an extraordinary impetus . The Boulevard St . Germain , which has partially existed already

for some years , will , by 1878 , be completed . Those who believe in Abernethy's prescription , that it is healthful to look into the shopwindows , and those fond of the asphalt pavement ( and really it would be affectation to bo otherwise than fond ) may then enjoy a walk or drive of some ten miles of cafe ' s ( where bock is chiefly consumed ) , bonbon shops , and Articles de Paris , between rows of trees , starting from the Place de la Concorde , pursuing the Boulevard St . Germain

and the Boulevard Henri IV ., * passing through the Place de le Bastille , along the Boulevard Beanmarchais , and so along still under the trees , to the Porte St . Martin , to their beloved Boulevard des Italiens , and the Cafe Anglais , and tbe familiar Madeleine . As for the rue de l'Ecole do Medecine , which has . now to give away , it has existed under this name but for a very few years , since , indeed , 1851 , up till which time it was known as the rue des Boucheries St . Germain .

Originally only a country road from the hamlet of St . Germain , in April 1274 , the butchers of the suburb wore allowed there to establish sixteen stalls , and from this time the street became one of the most commercial in the locality . After tho battle of Poitiers ( 1356 ) , when the English , victorious , advanced up to Chanteloup , these butchers abandoned their establishments , and took refuge

within the walls , and it was only after all danger was over that they ventured back to their deserted shops . Sauval , writing at the commencement of the eighteenth century , gives us a description of the street in his time . "The shops , " says he , " are part of the houses in which live , above , the masters . Each shop is accompanied by a spacious slaughter-house in the open air . "

Judging by this , we can easily imagine tho narrow street , lined with the stalls , while through it ran a gutter reeking of infection . Happily , the creation of public abattoirs in 1809 purified tho street . The butchers , judging by the appearance of the streets in Paris , seem always to have been a very important class of the bourgeoisie . and if , as vegetarians tell us , that their own innocent diet is

provocative of clear-headed sprightliness , it is difficult to account for the proverbial esprit of the French who , we are told , are mnch larger consumers of meat than we in England . The fact is , that the French , who have gained , and justly gained , so high a reputation for their provident ways , are provident and self-denying merely with a view to obtain the means for the indulgence of habits and modes of life

that are very much opposed to asceticism . When the people were poor , they were temperate a * d sober j as the workman ' s income increases , he eats more meat and drinks stronger wine . He is , still thanks to some unknown reason , a far more temperate man than hia English brothers , but it is evident that tbe use of alcohol is even here on the increase .

CHINESB CAETIITG . —For Sale , an elaborately carved set of Ivoiy Chessmen The Kings stand 8 } inches high , tho other pieces in proportion . Knights and Pawns on horseback , all mounted on stands , with concentric balls . Can bs seen , and full particulars obtained , on application to W . W . MOESAIT , 87 Barbican . —Adat .