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eyes longingly toward the East , and nervously awaited the result of the ballot that placed you at the head of your Lodge ? Did you note particularly the ancient charges and regulations to which yon were required to give assent previous to your in vesture with the insignia of your office ?

Did you give that assent honestly and truthfully , or simply as a form that was required by the established ceremony of installation ? Did you then resolve that your Lodge should be none the less honoured by the preferment given than

you were in receiving it r If so we may safely congratulate your Lodge as well as you upon your promotion to the East . An honest effort on yonr part to perform all you have promised , in the end will be crowned with success .

It is no easy thing , however , to discharge the various duties incumbent upon a Worshipful Master . They require on his part hard study and patient , perseverant labour . It is to him that the members will look for instruction and

guidance . He must place such designs upon the trestleboard as will produce perfect work , and give such instructions as will enable each one to perform the part assigned him . Let each newly installed Master look well to his

designs , and may the trestle-boards in all Lodges for 1884 produce work that shall have more the appearance of being the handiwork of the Supreme Architect of the Universe than that of hnman hands . —Masonic Advocate .

The common saying , some years ago , that " no Irish need apply , " was a pet theme for writers in the comic papers and music hall singers . Mr . J . Kermack Ford , late a solicitor at Portsmouth , has enlarged the list of the proscribed . This shrewd limb of the law has gone the way

of all flesh : he has left behind him , we believe , a considerable amount of property . To most people it will appear that he has made one very peculiar bequest . He has left £ 2 , 000 to the Portsmouth Grammar School for the establishment of a scholarship , with the conditions that

Jews and the sons of Freemasons are to be excluded from the competitors , unless they happen to have fathers who have served in the Army and Navy . The Governors of

the School are anxious to accept the gift , conditions and all , but there is some doubt as to their powers under the endowment scheme , and until thafc point is settled , the matter remains in abeyance .

Whatever else Mr . Ford may have been , he was patriotic . Even the poor Jew would be eligible for the scholarship were his father a soldier or a sailor . We believe such a conjunction of affairs has not happened , nor is likely to happen , in the case of the Jew , so he is completely

ostracised . With Freemasons it is different , and the ban will not apply with the same force . We will not pause to attempt to discover the hidden motives that swayed Mr . Ford , those on the surface are sufficient for our purpose . He doubtless knew that the Jews take particular care of

their own poor ; they are as exclusive in this matter as in their religion , and need none of Mr . Ford ' s help . The Craft hitherto have managed to maintain their own Institutions , and can afford to laugh at the petty spite this Plymouth solicitor could indulge in , even in the face of

death . Should the Governors of the Portsmouth Grammar School be able to accept this gift , we hope the circumstance will be commemorated . We would suggest that " Charity " should form one of the subjects of the competition , taking

Mr . Ford ' s gift as the text . We should say that the papers would afford curious examples of moral science , and would be fit company for some of those productions so forcibly illustrated in that excellent journal , the Civil Service Candidate .

Success has stimulated enterprise . The Fisheries Exhibition of last year was a great triumph ; it opened up many questions of a social character , and if not out of it , certainly in connection with the inquiry it provoked , another exhibition has been arranged to be held in the

same building . No one can doubt the value of fish as food , nor question the importance of the fishing industry ; but in interest and moment the proposed International Health Exhibition of the present year will exceed it . The Queen takes an interest in the movement , as she does in all things

affecting the comfort and progress of her subjects , and our Royal Brother the Prince of Wales is the President of the new undertaking . The Exhibition will open in May , at South Kensington , and will continue for six months . It will be divided into two main sections , repre-

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senting Health and Education , and these will be sub-tli vided into six principal groups . These groups will embrace tho food resources of the world , and dress , in which illustrations of the clothing of tho chief peoples of all nations may be

expected , thus combining the picturesque with the practical . Then there will be exhibits pertaining to the healthful construction and fitting of the dwelling , the school , and the workshop , also all that relates to art education . Such

an exhibition ought , and doubtless will , command the sympathy of all who desire free intercourse between nations , the development of the resources of tho world ,

and the progress of humanity . Those who desire specific information can write to tho Secretary , Mr . J . R . S . Vine , at the Offices , Exhibition-road , S . W ., or at 27 Great Winchester-street , E . C .

The monthly meeting of the Board of Benevolence was held , on Wednesday , at Freemasons' Hall . The three chairs were occupied by Bros . Joshua Nunn , President , James Brett , Senior Vice President , and C . A . Cottebrune ,

Junior Vice President . The number of cases on the list for relief was small , there being only twenty petitioners . This latter circumstance arose from the fact that the new rules requiring provinces to enquire into the cases of

petitioners coming from them had caused several petitions to be sent back . Grand Secretary informed the Board thafc the new Constitutions would be ready in three or four weeks ' time . The brethren first confirmed recommendations to the

amount of £ 475 made at the December meeting . Out of the new list two cases were deferred , and one case was dismissed . The remaining petitioners were relieved with

amounts as follow : —One £ 150 , one £ 75 , one £ 50 , two £ 25 each , eight £ 20 each , two £ 15 each , and two £ 10 each , making a total of £ 535 .

A Committee has been formed to make arrangements for a Ball in connection with the Manchester Lodge , No . 179 . It will be held at Freemasons' Tavern , Lincoln ' s Inn Fields , on Wednerday evening , 13 th February . Applications for tickets can be made to any of the following Stewards : —

L . Dettmer , 19 Poland Street , W . [ W . Dickeson , 157 Drury Lane , W . C . W . Hughes , 54 Huddleston Road , N .

A . Hughes , 52 Acton Street , W . C . F . Hughes , 5 Moore Terrace , Highgate , N . R . Hughes , 18 Millman Street , W . C . W . T . Day , 47 Bloomsbury Square , W . C .

H . Brinkmann , 253 Oxford Street , W . J . Ford , 31 Endymiou Road , Brixton Rise , S . W . J . W . Cain , 36 Drnry Lane , W . C . L . Benet , 19 Langham Street , W . J . H . Kew , 42 St . John ' s Villas , Upper Holloway , N .

W . Hopekirk , Crystal Palace , Upper Norwood , S . E . Gentleman ' s Single Ticket 12 / 6 , Lady ' s Single Ticket 8 / 6 , Double Ticket ( to admit Lady and Gentleman ) 21 / -. The charge for tickets will include Supper and Light Refreshments during the evening .

At the North London Chapter of Improvement , at 8 o ' clock , on the 24 th inst ., at the Alwyne Castle Tavern , St . Pauls Road , Canonbury , Comp . Gregory filled the chair of Z ., Comps . Dean H ., Knight J ., Strugnell S . N .,

Radcliffe P . S . After the Chapter was closed Companion Meekham the host entertained the Comps . of the Chapter ; the evening was spent very pleasantly Comp . T . Meekham

as usual doing all in his power to make his guests comfortable . There were several good songs sung throughout the evening .

Bro . James Terry P . P . G . W . Norths and Hunts , & c , Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , will be present at the regular meeting of the Brixton Lodge of Instruction , No . 1949 , on Tuesday evening next , the

29 th inst ., at the Prince Regent Hotel , Dulwich Road , East Brixton , and will rehearse the ceremony of installation . Lodge will be opened at 8 p . m . prompt , and the early attendance of brethren is solicited .

HOLLOWAT ' S OINTMBNI AXD PILLS . —During every break of wintry weather strenuous exertions should be made by the afflicted to recover health before unremitting cold and trying storms set in . Throat ailments , coughs , wheezings , asthmatical affections , shortness of breath , morning nausea , and accumulations of phlegm can readily be removed by rubbing this fine derivative Ointment twice a day upon the chest and neck . Holloway ' s treatment is strongly

recommended with the view of giving immediate ease , preventing prospective danger , and effecting permanent relief . These all-important ends his Ointment and Pills can nc ? omplish , and will surely prevent insidious diseases from fastening r- > tue constitution , to display themselves afterwards in those disastrous lorms that will probably embitter life till death itself is almost prayed for .