Of Proposing Candidates.

progress in Freemasonry as will justify the Lodge in conferring upon him a higher degree , and no one will be so mad as to affirm that a brother could not make that further progress in the science as well in twenty-five as in twentyeight days . If , however , the Board of General Purposes ,

HI order to vindicate the majesty of the law , considered it incumbent on them to impose a penalty and administer an admonition , for so trivial an error as raisins' a brother after a twenty-five instead of a twenty-eight days' interval , a fortiori and in strict Justine , ought a commensurate penalty and admonition to follow in cases where a candidate is

proposed , balloted for , and initiated at one meeting , when the members have had only seven days' notice of his candidature . Of course , the Board of General Purposes cannot be expected to deal with any question until it is formally brought under their notice , nor

have we any desire that a Lodge in which the practice we have stated has prevailed , or does prevail , should be fined and admonished . We firmly believe the Masters who allow this practice to prevail do so conscientiously , and in accordance with what they find to he the

custom , and believe to be the law as prescribed . But when there is a flagrant inconsistency between the law as prescribed and the law as administered , it is time , we think , that some steps should be taken either to vindicate or modify our Constitutions . It may be said that seven days

are as sufficient for all purposes of inquiry as twentyeight , or for the matter of that , as seventy . This may or may not be so , if the inquiries can be made . But the law requires a reasonable interval to elapse between the pro position and the ballot , and a seven days' notice is

unreasonably short . Some members may be absent from home when their notices arrive , or their engagements may prevent them attending the duties of the Lodge ; and among those who are thus circumstanced may be some who have good grounds for opposing the candidature . There is , then ,

in Lodges where so short an interval is allowed , no slight danger of objectionable candidates being , as we have said , " rushed " into Freemasonry , and it is certainly our duty to prevent , this if possible . We close our remarks for the present , but we should like to have the opinions of our readers on the subject .

Masonic Portraits. (No. 42.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 42 . )

OUR PERIPATETIC BKOTHER . " Eternal blessings crown my earliest friend , And round his dwelling guardian saints attend ! Bleat he that spot , where cheerful gnewiB retire To panse from toil , and trim their evening fire ! Blest that abode , where want and pain repair ,

Ami every stranger finds a ready chair ! Blest be those feasts , with simple plenty crown'd , Where all the rnddy family around

Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail , Or sign with pity at some mournful tale ; Or press the bashful stranger to his food , And learn the luxury of doing good !"

A SKILFUL portrait painter is not content with merely reproducing on canvas the exact form and features of whom he is called upon to delineate . His main purpose is necessarily to mark with accuracy the salient points by which his subject is characterised . But in doing this he is permitted—we may go further , and say , that by the very

nature of his art , he is expected—on the one hand , to heighten the effect of what is admirable , while , on the other , he keeps in the background or tones down whatevermay detract from the general merit of the picture . In other words , the likeness should be a pleasing as well as an

accurate one . It is , indeed , this skill in the manipulation of details , by which they are made to harmonise well together , which constitutes the true artist . Thus a bodily

defect should be hidden by a careful arrangement of the draperies , and ungainliness overcome by an easy posture of the body , while a face which is ordinarily stern and repellent should be softened and made attractive . We are not

so vain as to lay claim to any particular skill in word painting . Yet , knowing as we do , the essentials of a good pictorial sketch , we do our best by the adoption of similar

means to bring about resulis , eqnall y effective , in these penand-ink sketches . It is obviously , indeed , no duty of ours to parade a brother ' s defects before our readers . We are not denying that he has bis imperfections because we do

Masonic Portraits. (No. 42.)

not publicly proclaim them . On the contrary , we are acting in the true spirit of Freemasonry when , as far as is consistent with justice , we make the most of his virtues ,

and aro silent as to his weaknesses . "We have made theso preliminary observations in the hope that our readers will not mistake that for flattery which is , in fact , neither moro nor less than a just tribute of praise .

Thpre are few brethren who enjoy a higher reputation for ability , energy , and zeal in the cause of Freemasonry , than the subject of our present sketch , few more gifted to enlighten and please in the social circle , few who , in the business of life , have more faithfully , or more ably ,

discharged the trust reposed in them . It is not , perhaps , surprising that , as the years roll on , a man should exhibit an increasing amount of skill in the calling he has chosen to follow , or that his employers should repose an increasing confidence in his integrity , when they find that , with each

fresh duty entrusted to him to fulfil , he more than justifies their trust . Our worthy brother has laboured assiduously and conscientiously in the various important positions he has held . He has spared no pains or labour when the interests of his employers were in question , while , at the

same time , he has diligently maintained that independence which characterises honourable men . This is all the more creditable to him , seeing that , in these days , the spirit of sycophancy is abroad , and people are more ready than

formerly to fall down and worship the golden image which Mammon has set up . Rich employers are worse even than Shylock . They will have their bond , and something over ; and too often it happens that the ministers yield implicitly and unhesitatingly what is demanded of them .

But , while we are thus enabled to dispose of his business avocations in a few sentences , how shall we find it possible to convey to our readers an adequate idea of the vast

services he has rendered m connection with Freemasonry ? Many Craftsmen have occupied higher positions , it may be in this or in that branch of Freemasoury , but it has been ffiven to few to attain such eminence in all the branches .

Were we to attempt to give a complete record of his Masonic achievements , the mere enumeration of his honours would be found to occupy a moderately-sized pamphlet . In Craft Masonry , he has more than once filled the chair of his Lodge in this and sister jurisdictions . He is one of the best authorities on all constitutional

questions , having made it his especial business to study the laws and regulations of our society . Indeed , in the abstruser points of the law , there are few whose opinion is more trustworthy , and to whom , therefore , we should be more inclined to refer the settlement of

doubtful questions . In Royal Arch Masonry , he has attained an equal degree of eminence , and his views on all matters pertaining to the government of our crimson Lodges or Chapters are equally authoritative . In Mark Masonry , he has achieved still higher distinction , having

served the office of Grand Junior Warden of England . When the union took place between the Lodges holding under the Grand Chapter of Scotland and those under the Grand Mark Lodge of England , our brother held the honourable office of D . Prov . G . M . of Lancashire under the

Scotch Constitution , and was one of the warmest promoters of that auspicious event which has since proved so fruitful of good to Mark Masonry . Moreover , for the last two years he has been one of the brethren nominated by the Grand Mark Master Mason to serve on the General Committee .

As an able exponent of the science of Mark Masonry , and one of those most deeply versed in all its mysteries , he is frequently called upon to play a leading part on such occasions as the consecration of a new Lodge . It is only a month fir two since be figured prominently at the installation

nf the first W . M . of the Duke of Connaught Mark Lodge , No . 199 , and it is needless to say his interpretation of the impressive ceremony was as near perfection as possible . In the Order of the Temple in Scotland , he holds the rank of a Knight Commander . In the Masonic and

Military Order of Knights of Rome and of the Red Cross of Constantine , he is an Intendant General of Division unattached . He is a past Chief Adept of a Rosicrucian College , and has taken all the degrees in the Ancient and Accepted Rite , to the thirtieth . He is a Past Master of the

Order of St . Lawrence , and in the Royal Order of Scotland is Deputy Grand Master of the Province of Lancashire and Cheshire . In Scotland he has seven years fulfilled the duties of Grand Steward , is a Past G . S . Warden of Aberdeenshire East , and has taken the thirty-first degree

in the Scottish Supreme Council of the Ancient and Ac-