The Imperial Crown Prime Of Germany.

THE IMPERIAL CROWN PRIME OF GERMANY .

ALL loyal citizens ia Great Britain , and especially our Masonic confraternity , have felt , and continue to feel , the deepest , the most heartfelt interest , in all that relates to that most distinguished Brother of our Order , the Prince Imperial of Germany . Bound to us as a people

loyal and law-abiding by that tie of union and affection which is symbolised for us so gracefully and endearingly in the person of the Crown Princess , we have yet learned to

admire more and more in the years sinco run away in their rapid and giant strides , the soldier as well as the statesman , the man of letters , cultivation , and gentleman , as well as the Heir Apparent to a mighty empire .

Great ancl striking as has been the history of Prussia proper since the days of Frederick the Great , especially in all the sad and striking , and painful and glorious episodes which have signalised its onward progress and

national development , we to-day are contemplating a greater United Germany , which the genius of a Bismarck has created , and the strategy of a Moltke defends .

Our exalted brother who has so recently attracted the sympathy of all by the courage and resignation with which he has faced a most painful ancl dangerous malady , has truly earned for himself the earnest and lively sympathy of all .

In every relation of public and private life , in all the movements of a soldier ' s career , in his military , civil and artistic capacity , he has adopted the good old German

motto , " Durch und durch , " and most " thorough " and reliable and stedfast as he been in all he has said , and all he has achieved .

He has evidenced in various ways and under trying contingencies the instincts of a great commander , the tenderness of a conscientious ruler , and with all , and through all , the marked qualities and kindly sentiments of the man .

In respect of Freemasonry he has from the first been enrolled in the band of students and searchers after truth , has taken every means of avowing his warm approval of

all tentative efforts towards a more critical study and a more scientific development of our archaeology , our evidences , and our common history .

It was then a great shock to all reflecting minds when it was announced that so useful , so valuable , so important a life was threatened by one of those insidious and often mortal diseases which too often close sadly for us a great

and beneficent cause , and surpass the skill of the ablest physician to remove or to subdue . Our distinguished countryman Sir Morell Mackenzie , who has earned for

himself the gratitude ot his courageous patient , deserves well of his countrymen , in that he seems to have done all which the advanced medical science of the land has been able to suggest and achieve .

Admirably supported by his amiable and cultured consort , the Crown Prince has seemed anxious to demonstrate how much the example of the late Prince Consort has always swayed his private life and his public acts , by that wonderful devotion to his duties , and that intense

admiration and support of all that art can create , science develope , or genius ennoble , which havo been so appreciated by a contemporary generation , and have raised for him not only the genuine admiration of his own country-

The Imperial Crown Prime Of Germany.

men , but we may fairly say of all nationalities . Free « masonry may be proud to own him as enrolled amongst her children , and it may be doubted whether any truer or

more devoted " son of the widow " can be found enrolled under the banners of Loyalty and Charity , Peace ,

Toleration and Brotherly Love . We sincerely trust , with the closing weeks of 1887 , that in the good Providence of the G . A . O . T . U . we may venture to hope in the progress of 1888 for better days , and have

certain hopes for his anxious family and excellent friends , for his own people , and for humanity . It is truly touching to note the expressions of anxiety and grief which the " Allgemeine Vaterland " has exhibited when the dread

reality dawned on this pent-up emotion , sympathy , and affection .

We find in all this loving proof how , despite all that is often said and done , in the words of the disloyal and tho acts of the disaffected , there is yet a link of adamantine

force which bind the rulers and the ruled , the prince and the people together , and which is as happy for the one , as it is enduring for the other .

Wo shall all heartily join in the aspiration that all that is gloomy and heavy and threatening may pass away , and we shall rejoicingly hail the assurance of renewed health and strength to onr distinguished , our illustrious , our cherished brother , the Prince Imperial of Germany .

Another Harmless Shaft Against Freemasonry.

ANOTHER HARMLESS SHAFT AGAINST FREEMASONRY .

IT is not often that the Editor of a public journal is " caught napping , " or led by the caprice of a mischievous or interested informant io " rush in where angels fear to tread . " Certainly the most comical

illustration of a journalist being cozened into the discovery of a veritable mare ' s nest that we ever heard of is presented by the Financial News of the 24 th ult ., in which appeared an article under the queer sounding title of " Gas and

Freemasonry . " Now , those who know anything at all about Freemasonry would promptly inquire what earthly connection Freemasonry could possibly have with gas , or gaa with Freemasonry ? At first sight of this recondite article

we were inclined to smile , and to anticipate another of those would-be satirical attacks so often made by ignorant outsiders upon the Craft ; and to look upon " gas " in its American sense of loud talking and undue pretensions .

But on reading down a few lines we find that this misguided writer is in sober earnest when he charges the Masonic organisation with aiding in tbe building up of trade monoplies , and thus inflicting a serious injury upon

the public . The venom of the article is levelled against what is called the " Gas Institute Ring , " a conclave of the existence of which we had not the remotest knowledge , and with which we do not propose to deal . As we understand

the term " ring , " it is a combination of a few men of influence and power , in any class of trade , to keep up prices ; we hear of them in the fish , coal , and other trades , and they are invariably decried by those who loudly

declare themselves free-traders , although powerless to counteract the operations of the " ring . " It is , however , to the Masonic portion of this effusion that our attention is directed , and at the outset we must say we never saw Freemasonry assailed in so clumsy a fashion , or with argu-