Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
which you have published . You rightly state that I proposed a vote of thanks , which was cordially and unanimously passed , to Brother Pigott , and ordered to be recorded in the minutes of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lincoln , for his exemplary services in the cause of charity during the past year , and acknowledged by Brother Terry ; also the proposals of Brothers Sutcliflo and Mantle in the cause of
charity , which I seconded , are briefly mentioned , my name also being studiously omitted , and all reference whatever to the discussions both in Committee aud the Grand Lodge which you antecedently reported , —and , I presume , with due authority , —respecting the projected Oliver Scholarship at the Boys' School , and yet the recollection of this Grand Officer , the P . G . Secretary , is so vivid that he relates ,
what he himself declared , that it was not in the power of the Grand Lodge to vote any of its hoarded money to charitable purposes without the previous recommendation of some omnipotent committee . I hope the bye-law on this matter will be altered . Although I disclaim reporting or writing on any subject discussed in the Grand Lodge , without the sanction of the Grand Master , I do most seriously
claim that a succinct summary of all topics of discussion be accurately and faithfully recorded , and that 110 elimination , at the caprice of any one , be allowed , without the authority , at least , of the Deputy Grand Master . One recommendation for the disposal of the Oliver Memorial Fund is mentioned , the other is suppressed . A question naturally arises ; is
that fair or ingenuous ? We shall most certainly have a scholarship at the Boys' School ; shall Lincolshire have the credit ? or , is it to be set aside by a side wind ? We have tho most exal ted specimens of genuine Masonry in Lincolnshire ; men who would scorn any act of breach of faith and honour , men whoso hearts and purses are at the disposal of any Masonic charity . Among the foremost of these stand Major Smythe and Brothers
Satellite and Pigott ; these gentlemen shall not bo snubbed , even if jealous juveniles are anxious to clip my wings . These gentlemen , by indefatigable exertions , by unexampled charity , have made Lincolnshire stand in the front rank of Masonry ; all honour to them , and to whomsoever it is due . But wo repudiate a garbled record of charity and devotion , even with the imprimatur of our Provincial Grand Lodge , to be circulated amongst the brethren ou earth , even if our witness be in heaven and our record on high .
I am , Sir , Yours respectfully , DANIEL ACE , D . D ., P . P . G . Chaplain for Lincolnshire , and P . Mark G . Chaplain for Lincolnshire .
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Keview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . Travels in Portugal . By John Latouche , with illustrations by the Right Hon . T . Sotheron Estcourt . London : Ward , Lock , and Tyler , Warwick House , Paternoster Eow ;
WE are uttering a truism when we say there are travellers and travellers . There are travellers , for instance , who mako tho grand tour . This , not so very many years ago , meant a visit to the principal towns and cities of Europe . Now-a-days we fancy the grand tour embraces pretty well the whole of the civilised world . To this class
belong the man , who by rail , road , or steamer has contrived , within a moderate space of time , to accomplish so many thousand miles of distance .. Ho has seen towns innumerable , been bored by cathedrals picture galleries , battle grounds , monuments innumerable . He has seen much , but learned little . In fact , his solo claim to enrolment
among the noble and ignoole army of martyrs to an absurd fashion or mania for rushing about is that he lias journeyed these several thousands of miles . To him , indeed , though not in its usual sense , may be applied the familiar adage , — " It is distance that lends enchantment to tlie scene , " for it is only the distance travelled that
makes him care at all for scenery . Then there is the Alpine traveller , usually of the muscular Christian type of man , who has ascended Monte Eosa , Mont Blanc , the Matterhorn , and all the peaks and passes of the Alpine range . He possesses great courage and activity , great presence of mind , great powers of endurance . Never a
season passes but we hear of his doings , how on one occasion he narrowly escaped death in a crevasse , how on another he achieved some ascent of marvellous difficulty , which had seldom or never been attempted before . He communicates , perhaps , to the Alpine Club , a modest narrative of his achievements , aud , in a few years , subsides
into private life , honoured and respected by his friends and acquaintances , but having contributed very little to the general stock of knowledge about the country ho has traversed . Then there ia the naturalist traveller , who is often a bore , always an enthusiast , to whom the grand historic monuments that have been handed down to us from
remote ages are oi comparatively little worth , so long as he can find tou a new kind of flea—supposing him to be au entomologist ; a new species of bird , beast , or fish—supposing him to have a preference for either of those branches of natural history . Again there is the connoisseur in art , who is in raptures with everything pictorial or sculptural , though he has but a sorry modicum of art
knowledge , and can no mure distinguish between a genuine work of Titian or Correggio than we can describe the inhabitants—if there are any—of the planet Mercury . Another class of traveller arc Cook's tourists , for setting down whom ; is batches of escaped lunatics the late consul anil uoveii .-t , Charlc * I ' . cvcr , v . u believe , got into hot water with the Foreign Office--. Ttuvc tin a given journey in a given time , stopping at given places , and paying a given sum for ° theh
Reviews.
board and travel , though certain we believe take out tourists' tickets , and travel on their own hook between certain termini . We might , of course , extend this enumeration of the various species of the genus traveller almost ad infinitum , but we shall content ourselves with adding to our list one more , namely the man who travels for tho purpose of enjoying and appreciating the country he visits , and of
studying the people among whom he momentarily sojourns . To this class , Sve opine , belongs the author of these pages , Mr . John Latouche , whose experiences of travel in Portugal are no doubt familiar to such of onr readers as have consulted tho earlier numbers of the New Quarterly . That these experiences are now published in the form of a connected narrative must be a subject of congratulation ,
not only to the author's friends , but to all lovers oi this class of literature . In his preface to this volume Mr . Latouche describes his work as a collection of " nothing more than notes—mental notes , for I travelled without any design of future publication , aud kept no single written memorandum of what I did or saw . " Whether they are tho
result of mental notes only , or whether the style of tho work is " discursive , " as the writer suggests , is very immaterial . Here , at all events , is a most readable volume , from which we may gather more insight into Portuguese life or character than from all the guide books io this countiy that were ever written . Nor does it matter that ho "did not travel continuously . " Eather rejoice we
that his "travels were interrupted by periods of residence , for these rests must have given time for reflection , time to digest what he had seen en route , and thns hasty conclusions have been probably avoided . Any slight derangement of a settled plan often induces a man to form impressions that are essentially unjust , and these pauses in his travels to which Mr . Latouche refers probably
have enabled him to set right any such impression that ho may have formed . Even since the first appearance in the New Quarterly of these notes , the author has seen fit to modify some of his statements , and it is just possible that , had he not broken his journey , these modifications might have been more frequent and more extensive . However this may be , the volume , we reneat , is eminently readable
and is all the more valuable as it is intended , not for " tho mere tourist , the ignorant , conceited , incurious , moneyed traveller , for whom so much deserved contempt has been expressed in curreut literature , " but for those " who go to Portugal to enjoy a pleasant winter climate , " or to " see a strange people , with a famous name in European history , to watch the successful working of a representative
Constitution , to study archaeology , ecclesiology , or natural history , " or " who simply desire to take a month ' s holiday and a month ' s relaxation in spring , summer , or winter , in a quite new country ( with no intention to 'do' the country in ordinary tourist fashion . " This is just the kind of book that is needed . We have Guide Books in . numerable , valuable , no doubt , in their way , but of use chiefly to those
who , without an atom of true sentiment about them , travel , because it is the fashion . These fix their route beforehand , marking out the various stages of their intended tour , how long they shall stop at this , how long at that place , what lions they shall visit , and what they mean to spend . With such , wc fancy , Mr . Latouche ' s book will find but little favour . Of what interest , for instance , to this kind of people
is a sketch of "Farm Work in Northern Portugal , or of "Land Tenure and Tenant Farms ? " The ordinary tourist neither knows nor cares anything about such interesting matters , and he would probably traverse Portugal , or any other country , from ono end to the other and many times , without even giving a thought to those or similar questions . Yet , what more pleasant sight can be imagined than the following at pp . 45 and 46 P—
"It was a 'festa' —a holiday—and the peasantry were all in their holiday dresses ; tho women very gaily attired , with embroidered muslin kerchiefs on their heads , over which is worn the heavy , black Spanish-looking hat , with ornaments of floss silk , made to curl and to look like a black ostrich feather . The costume of the women varies slightly in almost every parish of the kingdom ; but it generally con .
sists of an ample serge petticoat , descending to the ankle , and gathered round the waist into innumerable pleats , a close-fitting bodice ( either black or gaily coloured ) over a linen skirt , showing white on the shoulders and the arms , with a bright coloured kerchief , commonly red , or orange , or blue , crossed over their breasts . All this makes a picturesque costume , which well suits the comely , buxom
black-haired peasant women of the Minho province , with their rich olivo complexions and fine eyes . The women have attained their national dross , and in the remoter parts , the men also ; but iu many places tho latter arc less conservative , and wear wide-awake hats , trousers and short jackets , in lieu of the old national costume . " The women use their peculiar peasaut jewellery of ancient Moorish
design on feast days only . Heavy necklaces , of complicated pattern , suspend huge heart-shaped lockets on their breasts ; in their ears are heavy pendant earrings . The wotueu will often wear three or four such necklaces of gold , of a standard of 110 less thau twenty carats ; we have been assured that many of the peasant women carry about them no less than twenty or thirty pounds worth of gold ornaments . "
The above scene was witnessed in the neighbourhood of Ponte de Lima , about ten or fifteen miles above Yianna ou tho river Lima . How many " ordinary tourists" would have left the high road to Oporto , and turned in this direction because it seemed to offer some " very rich and picturesque " scenery , or who among them would go out of their- way to such a neighbourhood , "because it is classic
ground to the student of Portugese literature . " To them it would be no inducement to visit it , that " Not far from the town is the Quinta de Tapada , the country house of tho groat poet , S ; l do Miranda , who holds the second place among the poets of Portugal , even if he does not deserve to rank with Camoeus himself . " Would it
occur to them to note that " the ' Socco' or wooden solid slipper , worn by both men and women—by women only on gala days—is prce ' sjly the foot covering to be seen iu the bazaars of Cairo or Damascus ; and the Portuguese will shuffle ofT their slippers , in token of respect , as they enter a house or church , just as au Oriental will leave his at the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
which you have published . You rightly state that I proposed a vote of thanks , which was cordially and unanimously passed , to Brother Pigott , and ordered to be recorded in the minutes of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lincoln , for his exemplary services in the cause of charity during the past year , and acknowledged by Brother Terry ; also the proposals of Brothers Sutcliflo and Mantle in the cause of
charity , which I seconded , are briefly mentioned , my name also being studiously omitted , and all reference whatever to the discussions both in Committee aud the Grand Lodge which you antecedently reported , —and , I presume , with due authority , —respecting the projected Oliver Scholarship at the Boys' School , and yet the recollection of this Grand Officer , the P . G . Secretary , is so vivid that he relates ,
what he himself declared , that it was not in the power of the Grand Lodge to vote any of its hoarded money to charitable purposes without the previous recommendation of some omnipotent committee . I hope the bye-law on this matter will be altered . Although I disclaim reporting or writing on any subject discussed in the Grand Lodge , without the sanction of the Grand Master , I do most seriously
claim that a succinct summary of all topics of discussion be accurately and faithfully recorded , and that 110 elimination , at the caprice of any one , be allowed , without the authority , at least , of the Deputy Grand Master . One recommendation for the disposal of the Oliver Memorial Fund is mentioned , the other is suppressed . A question naturally arises ; is
that fair or ingenuous ? We shall most certainly have a scholarship at the Boys' School ; shall Lincolshire have the credit ? or , is it to be set aside by a side wind ? We have tho most exal ted specimens of genuine Masonry in Lincolnshire ; men who would scorn any act of breach of faith and honour , men whoso hearts and purses are at the disposal of any Masonic charity . Among the foremost of these stand Major Smythe and Brothers
Satellite and Pigott ; these gentlemen shall not bo snubbed , even if jealous juveniles are anxious to clip my wings . These gentlemen , by indefatigable exertions , by unexampled charity , have made Lincolnshire stand in the front rank of Masonry ; all honour to them , and to whomsoever it is due . But wo repudiate a garbled record of charity and devotion , even with the imprimatur of our Provincial Grand Lodge , to be circulated amongst the brethren ou earth , even if our witness be in heaven and our record on high .
I am , Sir , Yours respectfully , DANIEL ACE , D . D ., P . P . G . Chaplain for Lincolnshire , and P . Mark G . Chaplain for Lincolnshire .
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Keview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . Travels in Portugal . By John Latouche , with illustrations by the Right Hon . T . Sotheron Estcourt . London : Ward , Lock , and Tyler , Warwick House , Paternoster Eow ;
WE are uttering a truism when we say there are travellers and travellers . There are travellers , for instance , who mako tho grand tour . This , not so very many years ago , meant a visit to the principal towns and cities of Europe . Now-a-days we fancy the grand tour embraces pretty well the whole of the civilised world . To this class
belong the man , who by rail , road , or steamer has contrived , within a moderate space of time , to accomplish so many thousand miles of distance .. Ho has seen towns innumerable , been bored by cathedrals picture galleries , battle grounds , monuments innumerable . He has seen much , but learned little . In fact , his solo claim to enrolment
among the noble and ignoole army of martyrs to an absurd fashion or mania for rushing about is that he lias journeyed these several thousands of miles . To him , indeed , though not in its usual sense , may be applied the familiar adage , — " It is distance that lends enchantment to tlie scene , " for it is only the distance travelled that
makes him care at all for scenery . Then there is the Alpine traveller , usually of the muscular Christian type of man , who has ascended Monte Eosa , Mont Blanc , the Matterhorn , and all the peaks and passes of the Alpine range . He possesses great courage and activity , great presence of mind , great powers of endurance . Never a
season passes but we hear of his doings , how on one occasion he narrowly escaped death in a crevasse , how on another he achieved some ascent of marvellous difficulty , which had seldom or never been attempted before . He communicates , perhaps , to the Alpine Club , a modest narrative of his achievements , aud , in a few years , subsides
into private life , honoured and respected by his friends and acquaintances , but having contributed very little to the general stock of knowledge about the country ho has traversed . Then there ia the naturalist traveller , who is often a bore , always an enthusiast , to whom the grand historic monuments that have been handed down to us from
remote ages are oi comparatively little worth , so long as he can find tou a new kind of flea—supposing him to be au entomologist ; a new species of bird , beast , or fish—supposing him to have a preference for either of those branches of natural history . Again there is the connoisseur in art , who is in raptures with everything pictorial or sculptural , though he has but a sorry modicum of art
knowledge , and can no mure distinguish between a genuine work of Titian or Correggio than we can describe the inhabitants—if there are any—of the planet Mercury . Another class of traveller arc Cook's tourists , for setting down whom ; is batches of escaped lunatics the late consul anil uoveii .-t , Charlc * I ' . cvcr , v . u believe , got into hot water with the Foreign Office--. Ttuvc tin a given journey in a given time , stopping at given places , and paying a given sum for ° theh
Reviews.
board and travel , though certain we believe take out tourists' tickets , and travel on their own hook between certain termini . We might , of course , extend this enumeration of the various species of the genus traveller almost ad infinitum , but we shall content ourselves with adding to our list one more , namely the man who travels for tho purpose of enjoying and appreciating the country he visits , and of
studying the people among whom he momentarily sojourns . To this class , Sve opine , belongs the author of these pages , Mr . John Latouche , whose experiences of travel in Portugal are no doubt familiar to such of onr readers as have consulted tho earlier numbers of the New Quarterly . That these experiences are now published in the form of a connected narrative must be a subject of congratulation ,
not only to the author's friends , but to all lovers oi this class of literature . In his preface to this volume Mr . Latouche describes his work as a collection of " nothing more than notes—mental notes , for I travelled without any design of future publication , aud kept no single written memorandum of what I did or saw . " Whether they are tho
result of mental notes only , or whether the style of tho work is " discursive , " as the writer suggests , is very immaterial . Here , at all events , is a most readable volume , from which we may gather more insight into Portuguese life or character than from all the guide books io this countiy that were ever written . Nor does it matter that ho "did not travel continuously . " Eather rejoice we
that his "travels were interrupted by periods of residence , for these rests must have given time for reflection , time to digest what he had seen en route , and thns hasty conclusions have been probably avoided . Any slight derangement of a settled plan often induces a man to form impressions that are essentially unjust , and these pauses in his travels to which Mr . Latouche refers probably
have enabled him to set right any such impression that ho may have formed . Even since the first appearance in the New Quarterly of these notes , the author has seen fit to modify some of his statements , and it is just possible that , had he not broken his journey , these modifications might have been more frequent and more extensive . However this may be , the volume , we reneat , is eminently readable
and is all the more valuable as it is intended , not for " tho mere tourist , the ignorant , conceited , incurious , moneyed traveller , for whom so much deserved contempt has been expressed in curreut literature , " but for those " who go to Portugal to enjoy a pleasant winter climate , " or to " see a strange people , with a famous name in European history , to watch the successful working of a representative
Constitution , to study archaeology , ecclesiology , or natural history , " or " who simply desire to take a month ' s holiday and a month ' s relaxation in spring , summer , or winter , in a quite new country ( with no intention to 'do' the country in ordinary tourist fashion . " This is just the kind of book that is needed . We have Guide Books in . numerable , valuable , no doubt , in their way , but of use chiefly to those
who , without an atom of true sentiment about them , travel , because it is the fashion . These fix their route beforehand , marking out the various stages of their intended tour , how long they shall stop at this , how long at that place , what lions they shall visit , and what they mean to spend . With such , wc fancy , Mr . Latouche ' s book will find but little favour . Of what interest , for instance , to this kind of people
is a sketch of "Farm Work in Northern Portugal , or of "Land Tenure and Tenant Farms ? " The ordinary tourist neither knows nor cares anything about such interesting matters , and he would probably traverse Portugal , or any other country , from ono end to the other and many times , without even giving a thought to those or similar questions . Yet , what more pleasant sight can be imagined than the following at pp . 45 and 46 P—
"It was a 'festa' —a holiday—and the peasantry were all in their holiday dresses ; tho women very gaily attired , with embroidered muslin kerchiefs on their heads , over which is worn the heavy , black Spanish-looking hat , with ornaments of floss silk , made to curl and to look like a black ostrich feather . The costume of the women varies slightly in almost every parish of the kingdom ; but it generally con .
sists of an ample serge petticoat , descending to the ankle , and gathered round the waist into innumerable pleats , a close-fitting bodice ( either black or gaily coloured ) over a linen skirt , showing white on the shoulders and the arms , with a bright coloured kerchief , commonly red , or orange , or blue , crossed over their breasts . All this makes a picturesque costume , which well suits the comely , buxom
black-haired peasant women of the Minho province , with their rich olivo complexions and fine eyes . The women have attained their national dross , and in the remoter parts , the men also ; but iu many places tho latter arc less conservative , and wear wide-awake hats , trousers and short jackets , in lieu of the old national costume . " The women use their peculiar peasaut jewellery of ancient Moorish
design on feast days only . Heavy necklaces , of complicated pattern , suspend huge heart-shaped lockets on their breasts ; in their ears are heavy pendant earrings . The wotueu will often wear three or four such necklaces of gold , of a standard of 110 less thau twenty carats ; we have been assured that many of the peasant women carry about them no less than twenty or thirty pounds worth of gold ornaments . "
The above scene was witnessed in the neighbourhood of Ponte de Lima , about ten or fifteen miles above Yianna ou tho river Lima . How many " ordinary tourists" would have left the high road to Oporto , and turned in this direction because it seemed to offer some " very rich and picturesque " scenery , or who among them would go out of their- way to such a neighbourhood , "because it is classic
ground to the student of Portugese literature . " To them it would be no inducement to visit it , that " Not far from the town is the Quinta de Tapada , the country house of tho groat poet , S ; l do Miranda , who holds the second place among the poets of Portugal , even if he does not deserve to rank with Camoeus himself . " Would it
occur to them to note that " the ' Socco' or wooden solid slipper , worn by both men and women—by women only on gala days—is prce ' sjly the foot covering to be seen iu the bazaars of Cairo or Damascus ; and the Portuguese will shuffle ofT their slippers , in token of respect , as they enter a house or church , just as au Oriental will leave his at the