The Refreshment Question.

the social board and exchange views upon various subjects and entertain and be entertained with harmony or literary amusements . An hour after the Lodge has been closed is certainly not wasted if wise chairmanship controls the occupation of time so spent . It is moreover an excellent school for the less experienced Brethren , is a good medium through

whioh to overcome diffidence or nervousness , and also to make the mutual acquaintance of Brethren more intimate and cordial . We know of many Lodges in and near the metropolis whose fare from Installation to Installation is not more bountiful than that provided in the case we have alluded to , and yet after Lodges are closed the rooms aro cleared , the tables—or boards upon

trestles—are arranged , and the frugal fare is tastefully spread before the Brethren , whilst harmony is always forthcoming . It is generally at these meetings at which the true social opportunities are made so apparent and at which members and their visitors become more closely and fraternally associated . In the country districts such frugal fare is often superseded on

quarterly nights by set suppers of a more sumptuous character , and then some entertainment is provided . We think these distinctions are invidious ; we doubt the benefit , or even wisdom of establishing these quarterly nights or of extending special invitations for such occasions . The spirit of Freemasonry teaches the right of visit to Lodges , and the social character of the

Institution prompts the extension of a hearty welcome to all visitors to the festive board . The measure of that welcome certainly should not be gauged by the sumptuous character of the repast provided . Some country Lodges have a supper only at the annual meetings , and for the remaining months of the year the members separate without having any opportunity of social

intercourse unless it be at the bar of some neighbouring publichouse , a practice which is most undesirable in the best interests of the Craft . A single " ship ' s biscuit" and a small glass of beer should be sufficient for all ordinary purposes . Should it be too much trouble to spread even such fare as that around tables , at which the Brethren could gather and hold fraternal and social intercourse of an elevating character ?

We do not know of a single instance in which a Lodge which neglects this duty is as prosperous and live and attractive to its members as it ought to be . We do not for one moment suggest that the object or even ulterior view of the gathering should be the enjoyment of the supper , but we do urge that the more live and attractive the Lodge meeting itself , the better the

opportunity of spending a profitable hour socially afterwards , where the pros and cons of the meeting may be even further weighed and provision made for useful work for future gatherings . When visitors reach country Lodges from great distances , from other parts of the same colony , or from neighbouring Constitutions , their presence in the Lodge Room is about all

that is known about them , and the benefit of an exchange of experience and knowledge is prohibited . The attractiveness of such a supper need certainly not be gauged by the abundance or variety of the provisions , but in the neat ness of preparation and in the cordiality of the welcome to the board , and in the amusement there provided . It were also a pity that members should bo

allowed to rust , but a wise and active chairman would know how to spur them on to prepare something for the entertainment of their comrades . In the thousands of visits paid by our staff in the course of the year , the brightest ideas transcribed in these columns for the edification of our readers are gathered from the meetings in the S ., and not in the Lodge Room .

Unfortunately Lodge Room meetings are narrowed down too much to routine and degree work . In the S . Brethren find opportunity to relate their experiences , give some gems of thought to their Brethren which we conserve for a much wider range of readers , and there can be no gainsaying the fact that these gems are nearly always forthcoming only at the festive board . That the

uses and opportunities of our Lodges are sadly curtailed by the practice which we follow of crowding degree work forward goes without saying , and it is a pity that it should be so ; the pity is greater when opportunities are still further narrowed by the negligence of social gatherings when Lodges have

been closed . It is really the attractiveness of the meetings which holds the members and causes them to be active or indifferent workers in the cause of Freemasonry . We hope that those Lodges to which these remarks apply will carefully consider our suggestions , and apply them , if possible , to improving their own opportunities . — " Masonry . "

Hungry For Social Enjoyment.

HUNGRY FOR SOCIAL ENJOYMENT .

IT is a great mistake to suppose that Freemasons are gourmands , devoted to the pleasures of the table . It is true they hunger and thirst like other men , but only because appetite is a universal malady . Nevertheless , the feast that is merely filling has no special charms for the average Freemason . It is what follows the feast which gives zest to a Craft banquet since that is its Masonio charm . This is one of the cases in which the

afterpiece is better than tbe play . The " knife and fork degree would be a vain , thing , were it not succeeded by what might be styled the " tongue degree . " Loosen the tongues of Freemasons , cause them to break forth into singing , speaking and story-telling , and then you have Masonic enjoyment par excellence . The ordinary tongue may be an unruly member , but the tongue

of the Freemason , which has learned to obey the voice of the gavel , is all that could be desired . It is liquid with music , flexible with story , and eloquent with speech . Some of the old English had a tenure denominated " gavelkind" ( give all the kin ) , whereby land , contrary to the law of primogeniture , descended from a father to all of his sons in equal proportions . Freemasons have a law of " gavelkind " of their own . All who

Hungry For Social Enjoyment.

have learned to obey the gavel share in the enjoyments of the Craft , and know what to do and what not to do , when to do ifc and how to do it . The gavel is an emblem of authority , and the tongue is quick to obey it , for the gavel is kind , even when it is most authoritative . Once acknowledge the truth that Freemasons are fond of the banquet

because they hunger after social enjoyment , and you strike the keynote of the melody of Refreshment . The Refreshment which refreshes is the Refreshment that commences after the knife and fork are laid down . The stomach , if it lacked satisfaction before , has now been satisfied , and the mind and heart are craving food for their wants , and aro in the truest receptive state .

The lower nature has been lulled to rest and the higher nature is in full play . Let it play . Let wit scintillate , humour prevail , song and jest alternate with recitation and story and there will be tuneful melody in the air of the banquet hall , harmonising with that in the hearts of the Brethren . At Masonic Refreshment Freemasons recognise in the fullest sense what

completeness , and at the same time what coatrasts there are in Masonry . The distance from Labour to Refreshment , from sobriety to levity , measured from one temper of mind to the other , is a long one , but Freemasons place both in juxtaposition , so that they may pass almost imperceptibly from the one to the other . This was wise . He that has laboured is entitled to be

refreshed , both in body and mind , and Freemasons know no feasting which is merely material . Just as tbe mental and moral accompany the physical in the Lodge room , so the mental and social accompany the material in the banquet hall . But labour must precede Refreshment , and it must be actual ,

not imaginary , or else the refreshment should be imaginary also . But who " Can cloy the hungry edge of appetite By bare imagination of a feast ? " No more can a Lodge live upon imaginary work .

One thing is certain . There are no " riotous feeders in Freemasonry . The Gavel is ever before their eyes . We have witnessed stormy scenes at profane banquets , but never at Masonic ones , where the discipline is perfect . There , there is amusement that amuses , a measure of abandon matched with a measure of conscious responsibility to observe the proprieties of the

occasion . There is complete social and fraternal unity . The company is as one man—what pleases one pleases all . All are happy , because all are finding their hunger for social enjoyment satisfied . The language which Lord Bacon applied to the profane cannot be brought against Freemasons .

He said : " We love to see a well-worn apron ; but then let it be soiled with the marks of honest work , and not merely stained with wine and meat , that have fostered in glorious ease . " The Freemason ' s apron is never stained by dissipation . It is for labour , not Refreshment , and Refreshment is for rational enjoyment , not for revelry or excess . — " Keystone . "

Victoria The Good—Empress-Queen. 1897.

VICTORIA THE GOOD—EMPRESS-QUEEN . 1897 .

0 I Queen of many kingdoms , but of none More sure than the great kingdom of our hearts—The Sovereignty the proudest thou hast won Throughout the realm , in its most distant parts .

Mohammedan and Hindoo own thy sway ; Zulu and Kaffir happy are at peace ; Dominions welded after many a fray , Or calm debate . When shall our Empire cease ? Carib and Creole look to thee as Queen ; ' Maori and Bushman glad allegiance give—Never was nation happier , I ween ,

Than in these halcyon days in which we live . We Anglo-Saxons over all the world , 'Neath Afric suns , or cold Canadian skies ; In tropic Western Isles , where , unfurled ,

The meteor flag of England ever flies . In Australasian lands , or Guinea's Isle , And all the Islets of the Southern Sea ; Where ' er our race hath made the earth to smile , There thou art loved , our Mother shalt thou be .

Boundless extension of the Royal power , Mild and beneficent , for all are free ; When over other realms the storm clouds lower , We fear no foemen over land or sea 1 How shall we greet thee , venerable dame ?

Our liege-lady whom we greatly love—Empress of Britain ! thee we now acclaim—Call down blessings on thee from above . We bought our freedom in the days gone by ; We hand it on to nations yet unborn ; Thy name , Victoria , I dare prophesy ,

Shall glorious be , for ages , as this morn . So then to-day , when sixty years are fled Since thou first sat on thy ancestral throne , I pray the King of Kings upon thy head To place His signet , mark thee for His own . EMBA HOLMES , F . R . Hist . Soc . Aberdeen , 1897 .

We are pleased to learn that the above Jubilee composition of our old friend Bro . Emra Holmes has just been printed in the " Levant Herald " ( Constantinople ) and the " Daily Echo " ( Halifax , Nova Scotia ) , while it is being published in various papers of the United States , India , and the Colonies . It originally appeared in tho " Northern Figaro " ( Aberdeen ) , and the " West Briton " ( Truro ) .