Passed Over.

PASSED OVER .

1 THE generosity of Freemasons is occasionally put - to a severe test , but seldom more so than when , some Brother having been passed over by the new Master in the appointments for the year , the members are asked to endorse the selection made by their chief , and congratulate the new Officers on their

preferment . Although there is no law m freemasonry making it compulsory to observe a hard and fast rule of seniority in conferring the honours of the Lodge , that method is probably the best , and more likely to meet the approval of the brethren ; any departure from it being sufficient to cause disappointment and surprise , and not unfrequently leading to trouble in a Lodge . We have spoken so often

in the pages of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE in regard to preferment to office—either as a reward for merit , or merely as a matter of routine—that there is little , if anything , fresh to be said on the subject . But it must not be supposed the question is unimportant on that account ; it is one which very considerably affects the future of the Craft on the principle that two

or three disappointed or dissatisfied members will do more harm to such an institution as Freemasonry than fifty times that number of ordinary members will counteract . It will be some little time before the regular season of installations are upon us , but a few weeks will witness the opening of the Masonic season , and it is certain that in many quarters speculation is rife as to who is to be promoted to office , while in no

small number 01 cases there is probably an active canvas already going on on behalf of one or other of the aspirants . This is assuming that strict seniority is not observed in tbe appointments—where it is observed there is , of course , no need for speculation , and on that account , if for no other , we must recognise the advantage of seniority being the rule . One of the most difficult problems to solve in a

Lodge in this connection is to decide what shall be done in the case of a Brother passed over at his own request when his turn for ajmointment came round . It may happen that office is not desired by a Brother when it is offered him , but later on he is anxious to secure it , and in some cases he is then told that having desired to be passed over the chance of preferment is gone for ever

so lar as that Lodge is concerned , or at least he must go to the bottom of the list and take his turn after the youngest initiate . This is a severe punishment , for it can make no difference to the Brethren following on whether one of the members becomes

Inner Guard in due regularity or a year or two after his appointed time . The Brethren appointed over the member who preferred to wait will be a year in advance of their rights , but those following after will not really be any worse off than if there had been no break in the order of preferment , although there will be an

Passed Over.

apparent delay of a year in their advancement . We think the desire of a brother to delay the responsibilities of office for a time should be commended ,

rather than bring punishment upon him , but we must , at the same time , admit that the whole subject bristles with difficulties , and can only be satisfactorily met by a desire on all sides to work harmoniously and happily together .

Gentlemen.

GENTLEMEN .

WHAT constitutes a gentleman ? The word is commonly used , and frequently without regard to its truo definition . " A gentleman , " said Thackeray , " is a rarer person than some of us think . Who of us can point out many such in his circle—men whose aims are generous ,

whose truth is constant and elevated ; who can look the world honestly in the face , with an equal manly sympathy for the great and small ? We all know a hundred whose coats are well made , and a score who have excellent

manners ; but of gentlemen how many ? Let us take a little scrap of paper and each make out his list . " But tho lists would greatly vary in the names included and the

characters represented . The fact is wo do not make careful discriminations in the use of tho term . We apply the term to whoever wears a decent coat and observes the

proprieties which in a large way society insists upon When such carelessness of discrimination , there is jastifi cation for the stinging charge of Tennyson :

" Tbe grand old name of gentleman , Defamed by every oharlatan , And soiled with an ignoble use . " A gentleman is not tho work of a tailor and a barbor ,

nor is ho the production of mere social conventionalities . A man is not to be thus designated because he ia well born , or because he holds a position among the favoured " four hundred " supposed to lead tho fashionable world .

Gentleman is a term that is not limited to any rank or station , but applies to men of every condition who are possessed of the finer qualities of mind and heart and manifest such qualities in their daily walk and conversation .

A modern writer says : " It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain . " This description is accurate as far as it goes . It represents a primary , essential quality of the true gentleman , viz ,

regard for the feelings of other people . Such an one who has the purpose and the tact to avoid , so far BB possible , whatever is likely to cause pain to his associates—his desire being to put every one at his ease and make thr m

satisfied with themselves and the company they are in . A gentleman adapts himself to those he addresses ; ho guards against unreasonable topics , avoids allusions to matters of an irritating nature , and in no case does he

thrust his own opinions offensively upon those with whom he is brought into communion . If the occasion calls for an avowal of belief he expresses his judgment in couitcous

words , not reflecting on the motives of thoso who differ from him , and always maintaining an attitude of candour , consideration and charity . A man of this stamp , intelligent , intolerant , sympathetic ,