Masonic Portraits (No. 28.) The Father Of The Lodge.

in the heyday of youth . It is from the pencil of Edwin Dalton Smith , the eminent miniature painter , then also a member . Younger brethren , turning the honoured pages for admiring visitors , point affectionately to the lineaments of " tho Father of tho Lodge . " Time has added wrinkles

to tho face , and tinged the hair , but his hand has been powerless to efface the smile which still adorns , in undiminished freshness , the features of our honoured veteran . Age changes the superficial but leaves the deeper marks of character untouched , or developes them in stronger and

deeper lines . The genial goodness of the young Mason , mellowed like ripened fruit , is still conspicuous in the p hotogra ph before us . The Father of the Lodge must have been blessed through life with a good digestion and a clear conscience . The face is that of a man who can front

Eternity with the unblotted records of a life well spent . The Bank of England and tho Burlington Lodges were the most active promoters of the scheme which has ripened into the present Institution for Aged Freemasons . The idea originated with the former Lodge , and our hero was

active in the good cause ; at the present timo he is Yice-Patron of tho Charity . He has been a member of other Lodges , and No . 26 sent him up as Grand Steward . He afterwards joined the Grand Stewards' Lodge , and passed the chair . He is one of the oldest members of the

Emulation Lodge of Improvement , and has vivid recollections of Peter Gilkes , who presided over it in Charlottestreet , Rathbone-place . He is , of course , a P . Z . of the Royal Arch , and a P . M . of the Mark degree , has been for years a 30 ° , and remembers the first introduction , as his

guest , of the gallant Bayard to the Metropolitan Chapter of Rose Croix . The St . George ' s Preceptory of the Temple owns him for a Past Commander , and he has been for many years its Registrar . In the outer world the Father of the Lodge has led a painstaking and laborious life . The year

1826 found him , in partnership with a former secretary of the Girls' School , proprietor of a circulating library , which was freqnented b y the wits who made merry with

George IV . While in this position , he was brought into communication with the lato Rev . George Oliver , D . D ., and published successively those works which take rank as the staudard erudition of our Order . Until the author ' s

death , they remained on terms of trustful and affectionate intimacy . Perhaps the proudest moment of both their lives was when present at Lincoln , in 1844 , at the presentation of a testimonial of plate ( purchased by world-wide Masonic Subscription ) to Dr . Oliver , who was hailed with acclamation " THE SAGE OF MASONRY . "

Our veteran was from the beginning interested in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review and Magazine , and from the year 1826 to 1875 Masonic literatnre is inseparably connected with his name . Many of our Lodges know him as purveyor of their paraphernalia , and upon adding to his

own the business of Bro . W . Evans the jeweller , in 1856 , he first styled his establishment opposite the Freemasons ' Hall , "The Masonic Depot . " Having delegated the minntia ) of business to younger hands , he yet does not cultivate his well-earned leisure to the neglect of Masouic

duties . He is a regular attendant at Lodge , a steady worker upon Committees , and on matters within his experience ever a courteous adviser and referee . He has served frequent Stewardships , is a Vice-President of the

Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , Vice-Patron of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and of that for Boys , whilst of the larger Charity , which is not published ¦—which wells up from a heart in active sympathy with all misfortune—He that seeth in secret will finall y testify .

The Masonic Press.

THE MASONIC PRESS .

WE never expected , when we made our bow in public and announced our programme to be the f urtheranci of Masonic interests , that the Craft would take us at our own valuation , and at once accord us its support . We confess , however , we are hi ghly gratified with the kind reception we have met with in all parts of tho United Kin ° -dom . Oui

progress , like that of every well organised undertaking , has been , and , indeed , still is slow , but it is a sure progres ° , not materiall y affected by the excitement of passing events ! We have never experienced those extraordinary fluctuations which are the usual sign of a brief , uncertain career . W « have not been all hope one week , all despair the week fol-

The Masonic Press.

lowing . Wo have advanced , and are advancing by regular stages . Tho circle of our readers is an extending one . Those who cheered us onward at the beginning are pleased 'heir anticipations have been thus far realised . Those who have since <' ; von us encouragement have done so with the

evidence before them that we go on keeping steadily in view the orig inal p lan we carved out . We are an advertising medium , as all journals are ; but we are not a medium for the advertisement of any special wares of our own . Our stock in trade is the " CuROXici . E . " To keep that worth y

of the increasing support we receive is a legitimate object of ambition ; but there is no trading on Masonry lying hid behind that object . We encourage a class literature , as does every class organ , but that encouragement forms no part of any scheme for the promotion of our own sncce . 'S

in trade . We should never insult our readers by telling them their support was a matter of indifference . Even the withdrawal of a single subscriber pains us , not so much for the shillings we lose , though they of course are needed , but because we fear it may ba due to some error , either of

omission or of commission , ot which , unwittingly , we have been guilty . We naturallv strive to give general satisfaction , but we know it is hopeless to aim at giving universal satisfaction . In short , we do our best , and thankful are we to say , that best has been most kindly appreciated by our

clients . But do all we may , we find one obstacle to greater progress is well nigh insuperable . There are so- many Craftsmen who fight shy of the publicity of the press . Such cannot see how a Masonic press , or even a Masonic literature of any kind , is consistent with the secrecy to

which they are bound . Yet a journal may publish much without violating the secrets we have sworn to keep . Our Order has a history which is known of all men ; what harm is there in discussing it ? Again , and again , have we been denounced as the enemies oi' all religion and order .

What harm in defending ourselves from so foul an aspersion ? Masonry is spread over the whole surface of tho world . Why may nob the members in one country learn the doings of their brethren in other countries ? We have a regular form of government . What harm is there in

considering openly its merits ? Diffieront customs obtain in different places , yet a comparison of such differences is no sin . Here is ample material to fill a dozen Chronicles , and yet not a jot or tittle of our mysteries is ever divulged . On

the contrary , the more wo discuss publicly the history , the constitution , the proceedings of our Order , tho more likel y are we to satisfy the unbelievers that , in Masonry at all events , secrecy involves no wrong . Nor are we singular in holding this view . American Masons have loner since

settled that a Masonic press is not inconsistent with or an injury to the Craft , but perfectly allowable aud a supreme benefit . This at least is the opinion we have arrived at after a pretty lengthened experience of several American journals , which are devoted , either wholly or in part , to the

advocacy of Masonic interests . We often quote from them in our columns , for never a week passes but \ ve find something worth reproducing . Very easily , indeed , might we fill our pages with articles borrowed from American and other sources , only our readers very justly require of us that we should have and express some opinions of our own .

It is not surprising there should be moro organs of the Craft in the United States than in the United Kingdom .

To begin with , there are more Masons . New York alone has almost as many subscribing members as all England put together . Then the public take a deeper interest in its welfare . They see and hear more of it than people do in this country ) though certainly we have no cause to

complain , the last year or two , for the British public has spoken kindly of us whenever the chance has offered . And then again another reason exists why there are so many Masonic papers which find support in America . They aro invariabl y well conducted . As a rule their contents are

both interesting and instructive . The Keystone , for instance , a weekly organ of the Craft , published in Philadelphia , has not only the local Masonic intelligence , but a series of well written leaders and notes , with valuable contributions from learned Craftsmen , aud articles aud news of

interest to the general public . It is impossible to take up a number of this journal without deriving either pleasure or information . The Hebrew Leader , of New York , is , as its name betokens , an organ of the Jews , but it devotes no

inconsiderable portion of its space to Freemasonry . It is a well-informed paper ; its facts are well marshalled , its opinions well digested , its tone excellent . The New York Cornier and Pomeroy ' s Democrat—now published in Chicago