Returning- To Work.

RETURNING- TO WORK .

DULL days and raw chilly evenings are bringing back our friends and neighbours from the country and the seaside , and London is beginning to assume once more its normal aspect of busy industry . The respite has been too brief to many , for mind and body alike require needful

rest ; a tonic which shall sweep away the cobwebs left by hard nnd continuous exertion ; an oil which shall ease the cogwheels and bolts of a machinery that will go all the more swiftly and effectually after its " closing for renovation and repairs ; " and an impulse gained to its motive

power by the life-giving influences of health-invigorating exercise . As in other spheres of life , so it is with Masonic action ; and , much as many would decry a cessation of work for ever so brief a recess , we are of opinion that an " interregnum , " so far from militating against the interests

of a Lodge , or proving a drag upon its movements , is to all intents and purposes a fillip which must end nltimately in adding sinew and strength to the means by which good work is to be achieved . It is a wise impulse , therefore , which prompts most of our Lodges , especially in

the metropolis , to cease from labour during the summer months ; for , although this season has certainly been marked by an absence of anything like the continuously brilliant weather that might have been expected , yefc there are abundant reasons why the regular working of Lodges

should be suspended for a time , when all who can spare the time and money are out of town , in the enjoyment of fresh scenes and " pastures new , " and the companionship of friends as happy as themselves , all " on pleasure bent . " He would be a bold man indeed who would assert that a

Masonic gathering is all that could be desired when the evenings are bright , and the sunshine invites him away to outdoor pleasures that are so attractive , and must be taken advantage of ere the opportunity is lost . There is a certain degree of secrecy in Masonry which requires the exclusion of

all exterior light ; and the ventilation of many of the homes of our professional avocation is ofteu defective , so that for a number of brethren to meet in the oppressive atmosphere of a Lodge frequently becomes irksome . The inevitable

consequence is that the attendances at those Lodges which persistently pursue an nnbroken session becomes sparse , and the proceedings uninteresting ; and there can be no doubt these circumstances tend to form a habit

of non-attendance on the part of members , from which Lodges must of necessity suffer . This should not be the case , but unfortunately it is so . If one attends a church , and experiences the sense of

comparative indifference and sees the empty benches , the mind is imbued with a feeling of heaviness , which if strained , might develop into profound laxity , and ultimatel y into apathy . And so it is in a Masonic Lodge . If by the tenacious and obstinate whim of the rulers there

is no rest allowed to the members , they become recalcitrant , in spite of their good intentions and motives ; and the consequence is , that the work flags , and the interest of the " faithful few " who make a point of upholding the Master in all he does , is necessarily blunted . We must ,

therefore , commend the plan' adopted by most London Lod ges—and many in the country , toe , so far as that goes—of making it an understood thing that during the heated term of summer there shall be no labour to be performed , but that , like all other classes and interests , we

Returning- To Work.

shall have a holiday , by which to recruit both the physical and the mental faculties , and thus fortify ourselves for the work to which we must ere long return . If this is an understood maxim , that all the business shall be suspended dnring a month or two at this season of the

year , all will gladly hail the respite , and none can be disappointed . As boys at boarding-school whose parents or guardians will not be "bothered" with them during the vacation ply themselves half-heartedly to the lessons they are compelled to learn , whilst their buoyant and

happy-hearted fellows are away on the wings of holidaykeeping , so our brethren who are not happy any longer than they are hard at work , have their Lodges of Instruction , at which they can figure in the most prominent positions congenial to their thoughts , and make

progress which may do them good suit and service in after days . It remains to be seen how these plodders progress in after years ; but to our mind there is nothing like a span of leisure now and then to invigorate the faculties and brace the man to any amount of hard work

which may be required of him . Thus it is that our zealous brethren who have beea basking in the sunshine of the moors , indulging in a sturdy tramp across the stubbles where has been heard " the frequent gun , " skimming over dancing waves on sea and river , or toiling

up the mountain side , come home with the keenest and most pleasant anticipations of a . resumption of labour , strengthened to it by the consciousness that nothing has been required of them during the vacation , and that they will start afre _ h in a line with all the rest of their brethren

We . are just now at the "commencement of another session , and already the welcome summonses are reaching us of Lodges meeting for the first time after the recess . Already the gavel has sounded in one or two of them , and we have assisted at gatherings wherein brethren have

reassembled , with visages bronzed by a sunnier clime than we have enjoyed in London , and listened , to their accounts of pleasant " accidents " by road , river , and rail . Presently our Lodges will be in full vigour of work , and the anticipation , " happy may we meet again , " will have been realised

to the full . There will be the officers posting themselves to the work of campaign , a spirit of healthy emulation inspiring them to renewed assiduity in the interests of the Craft , and the discussion of important questions blended with the amenities of fraternal life such as are only found

within the precincts of our Masonic Lodges . We commend to them much that has been said and written at various times , and especially during the recess , as to the judicious application of funds , the secret of the prosperity of Freemasonry , and the various subjects to which attention has been directed in these columns . It must be remembered

that Masons are , in every sense of the term , gentlemen , and form a society which has within it no actual kind of opposition , even in the sense in which it applies in a Parliamentary signification , although in many phases it approaches it in the consideration of certain matters . For instance , a

Lodge which is swayed entirely by one section is not unfrequently found to drift into discord and difficulties , and the parties who have had it all their own way for a lengthened period receive a check , when changes occur in the rulers of

a Lodge . There is in many Lodges a rivalry , not always of a hostile nature , between the " old blood and the new , " and it will be well if the former do not forget that they themselves were young afc one time , and had their own viewsjmd ideas as to progress , We are continually hear-