Rotatio In Office.

cheerfully obeying the laws and respecting those in authority —civil and Masonic ; to be temperate , peaceful , industrious , discreet , and charitable . In the peculiar organisation of our Institution is found its cohesiveness , the power of the Master in his Lodge is absolute , he is the arbiter of all questions ,

without the right of appeal except to Grand Lodge ; his power is that of an absolute monarchy , his orders must be obeyed , he must be treated with reverence and respect by all members , and it is his duty to instruct his Lodge at every meeting , he should have nothing to learn ; with the

Constitution , edicts , regulations , charges , and bye-laws he must be familiar , and withal he must be learned , patient , self-possessed , firm , magnanimous and self-dependent , and feel that he is right , and thus act . When a Lodge has a Master thus qualifieu and willing to serve he should be kept in that Omce ,

that the members may have pleasure and the Craft profit thereby , thus will each member be honoured . Where this is the custom , and rotation in Office is unknown , will be found Lodges where the work is intelligently and well done , the members as a class well posted , bright and useful , and the

Masonic community has respect for the Lodge as an institution occupying "the place that by right belongs to our Fraternity . — " Masonry . " [ As is known to our readers we by no means endorse these views . We are of opinion that

much more is needed in the Master of a Lodge than mere ability to confer the degrees . A successful Master is he who can make his fellow members happy and comfortable —one , indeed , who can himself be happy , and promote the happiness or others . —Ed . F . C . ]

UJLJUUUUULBJLKJAMJliLMJi ^ X X X X wTt imtKlRIIRl W XT There must be a certain degree of sociability and congeniality in every Lodge . It is a mistake , however , to suppose that the proper kind of sociability is that which is kept up by such events as picnics , call games , excursions , dances , & c ,

& c . All these may ue very well in their way and indicate a very commendable good fellowship , but they are very apt to indicate that it is from such frivolous sources that the Lodge members derive their chief enjoyments .- The great delight of the Mason should be the work of the Lodge .

Labour should be his highest pleasure and the beauties of Masonry his greatest enjoyment . When a Lodge exerts itself to provide amusement and entertainment for its members , in season and out , the natural result is that the Lodge grows to depend upon these evanescent pleasures , and ,

unless there is something unusual going on , the attendance is depleted . Masons . who have to have their interest in the Lodge constantly prodded by " functions " and " affairs " and social events of every character begin to have peculiar ideas about Masonry . They are apt no longer to regard it as a

system of morals or philosophy , but as a club , an aggregation of good fellows met together for selfish enjoyment . The Lodge—and there may be some such—which excels in selfentertainment , as well as in charity and benevolence and Brotherly helpfulness , not to speak of ritualistic work , is certainly to . be congratulated . — " Masonic Sun . "

We meet someone every day who believes that a Mason who has had but tliree degrees is by no means as much of a Mason as he ought to be . They believe that the blue Lodge Mason is still an apprentice in the workings of the Craftthat he will not be a full-fledged Mason till he has rounded

out the full quota of thirty-three degrees . It may be no fault of the Craft that such an impression has gone forth , but it is an idea that we should strive to correct , nevertheless . Without wishing to be understood as crying down the " higher degrees , we believe that Masons ought to publish abroad

the fact embodied , in the old law defined by the Grand Lodge of England in 1813—that " pure and ancient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more . " As a matter of fact , the Mason who does his duty well by the three degrees is a

better Craftsman than he who dabbles in thirty-three . Masons of the third degree should prove to the world that they need no higher education in Masonry to properly exemplify its teachings . — " Tyler . "

Bro . T . Rust P . M . Hawthorn , Vic , told rather a good story during his response to the toast of the Visitors , in a country Lodge out West lately . It went something like this—When a visitor rises , the P . M . said , he is generally expected to criticise the work . A hint is never given to me

Rotatio In Office.

to that effect but I think of a visiting Brother in a suburban Lodge who said , " I am never asked to express an opinion on the work , but I think of the fable of the lion , who wished to get an honest opinion from other animals ; he , therefore , deluged himself with some foul smelling mixture and asked a

bear what he thought of his new perfume . Oh , said the bear , most delightful . The truth is not in you , roared the lion , and bruin suddenly left this vale of tears . The king of beasts journeyed on and met a wolf , who , however , had heard of the fate of the bear . The question was repeated . Your

Majesty , said the wolf , the smell is abominable . You dare to insult me was the thundered reply , and wolf met bear on the other shore . Still further went the monarch , and at length met a fox—What think you of my perfume ? Oh king ! said

reynard , I have no sense of smell . " I therefore , said Bro . Rust , always preface my remarks with an apology for a cold in my head . — " Masonry . "

Freemasonry is the universal solvent m which all the discords weld into harmony . Churches are discordant—sometimes belligerent—but under the Lodges all differences are sunk and forgotten . Protestant has persecuted

Catholicand Catholic Protestant—Protestant has martyred Protestant of differing shade—Southern colonist—and colonist Southern . Freemasonry has never lighted a fire or turned a rack , but always and everywhere stood for the universal fatherhood of God and the universal Brotherhood of man . Others have

fought us , but we do not fight , and a million Masons in the United States are living testimony of the beneficence , usefulness , and progress for which the order stands . —H . H . Ingersoll , Tennessee . •» This growing desire to open our doors to the outside

and curious , whether it be to installations or anything else , must surely deprive us as a body of the respect which our old-time conservatism and exclusiveness demanded and received from the best elements of the community . —Geo . J Bennett , Canada .

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