Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended for Beview should bo addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , E . C . Sport in Ahjsinia ; or the Mareband Tackazzee . By tbe Earl of MAYO , Lieutenant , Grenadier Guards . London : John Murray , Albemarlestreet .

THIS is ono of the plesantest books of its kind wo have had the good fortune to rend . Tho author records his adventures , which are often amusing and always interesting , iu a simple , genial narrative , which must commend itself to every reader . Not many Englishmen have visited this country for the mere pleasure of pursuing game . There

is , then , a freshness about the work , which , were any needed , will prove an additional attraction to the reader . It is in literature as in other things , people very soon tire of sameness . When they have read a small library of sporting works ancl works of travel , all modelled after tho same cold , formal style , thoy willingly turn from them to

tho fresher and livelier jottings of the young and inexperienced traveller , who cares only to convey , as truthfully as he can , the impressions he formed by the way . Lord Mayo makes no effort to write methodically , except in this respect , that he notes in order the exploits of each succeeding day , but not as elaborately as though he

were engaged in preparing an essay for some public competition . He tells us plainly what he saw and what he did . He as readily notes down his mishaps as his successes . The blundering or bungling —which by the way is reduced almost to a minimum—he commits when the country is yet strange , is not omitted through any absurd

fear , which some might experience , of being chaffed . If he loses his quarry , he tells us so as readily as when he secures it . He may lose a capital shot at a boar in the belief the animal is only a stray donkey , or he and H ., in pursuit of elephants may badly miss a lion , and so frighten the game they had been so long and patiently stalking .

There is no concealment in cases of this kind . Lord Mayo is wise enough to remember that blunders are again and again committed by even the most experienced among us . Even the immortal Winkle would no doubt have developed into a thorough sportsman had he once mastered the difficulty of handling his gun . It is because Lord

Mayo records everything so impartially , as though he were recounting his adventures in an after-dinner chat , without exaggeration and without the slig htest attempt to conceal his failures or his blunders , that we have so thoroughly enjoyed this account of his trip . There

are many who have ample leisure now to enjoy a quiet read . If it accords with their taste , and they are not yet engaged on any other work , we strongly advise them to take up Lord Mayo ' s narrative of " Sport in Abyssinia . " It is capitally written , and we are convinced they will enjoy it thoroughly .

Some Of The Peculiarities Of Ancient Craft Masonry.

SOME OF THE PECULIARITIES OF ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY .

From the " VOICE OF MASONRY . " IT has long been conceded that Freemasonry—au institution peculiar , nay , wonderful in many respects—is a subject worthy of the attention of tho moralist , the statesman and the philosopher . Others , too , who are not entitled to these high designations , may study this oldest and strongest of human institutions with advantage . There are some pecularities of this Institution which will early

attract the attention and awaken the interest of the Masonic student , and which we may briefly consider . Our attention may be first directed to the universality claimed for the Order . The Monitors say : From East to West , and between North aud South , Freemasonry exteuds , and in every clime are Masons to be found . And the learned Dr . MACKEY states that

Over the whole habitable globe are our Lodges disseminated . Wherever the wandering steps of civilized man have left their footprints , there have our temples been established . The lessons of Masonic love have penetrated into the wilderness of the West , and the red man of our soil has shared with his more enlightened brother the mysteries of our science , while the arid sands of tho African desert have more than once been the scene of Masonic

greeting . The claim of universality is , indeed , not an idle boast . ^ Eeports of committees on foreign correspondence , foreign publications of the Order , statistics , the narratives of travellers , and other documents too numerous and elaborate to quote here , all bear testimony to the existence of Masonry in all parts of tho world . And

while the number of Masons iu any one community , or district , may be , and usually is , small in proportion to the whole population of such district , yet there are few localities , indeed , of auy considerable size where some members of the Order are not to be found . Freemasonry , in its organization , principles , methods of teaching , and in its objects , has , and from the facts above statedmust have

, the elements necessary to a cosmopolitan institution . For example , it recognizes no political systems or theories , save only the rights of man by the law of nature ; knows nothing of religious creeds or sectarian dogmas as such , save a belief in God , the obligations of the moral law and the immortality of tbe soul—fundamental truths

about which all men may agree . An eloquent writer truthfully says : It exists in Pagan , Jewish , Moslem and Papal countries . Some of its members worship the sun , and others the shekinab ; some fall before the crescent , and others before the cross : but it has taught them all to respect and tolerate each other .

Some Of The Peculiarities Of Ancient Craft Masonry.

Its universality is a peculiar characteristic of Freemasonry . Every man belongs to some nationality by birth or adoption , and is an alien in all other lands than his own . Other societies , religions or secular , are , in the main , confined to certain localities or countries . But Freemasonry is a universal republican brotherhood , which knows no

international boundaries , no race , no country , but has tho whole earth for its territory . It is , essentially , tho same institution where , ever found , providing for certain wants of men , of all races , and in all conditions of life , and possessing a universal language of signs ancl symbols understood by its members in all countries .

For convenience , there are Lodges , or places of assembly in cities , villages , and other localities and separate general aud local jurisdictions , but ho who becomes a member in one Lodge or jurisdiction , is a Mason , not only there but everywhere . A Mason iu one country is a Mason iu all countries , ancl ia recognized as a brother entitled to certain rights and privileges , by the mysterious language he speaks in all lands . Have we not just cause to be proud of this peculiar feature of our Order ?

Another pectilarity of Freemasonry is its elaborate and beautiful system of teaching by symbols , allegories , types and emblems , being the oldest method of imparting instruction known to the world . By this system a large class of important truths and principles are brought within tho comprehension of even the most illiterate , and are impressed upon the mind iu a manner unequalled by any other

method of instruction , but now preserved only m Freemasonry , as a complete system , and in tho Romish Church partially . It is a system the beauty and value of which becomes more and more apparent the better we study its history and philosophy . Our attention is called , also , to the system of government of our Order , by a Master and two Wardens , in Grand and subordinate

Lodges , and certain fundamental and unchangeable rules , known as landmarks , all forming a system of government , original and peculiar , and found nowhere else , except by adoption . It is a perfect and happy blending of absolute power , with representative democracy and the preservation of individual rights by immutable laws . And right here we meet another , aud most valuable peculiarity of Free .

masonry , —that is its permanent , unchangeable character . In its system of government , in its landmarks , in its fundamental principles and objects , no changes or innovations are necessary to adapt it to the wants and conditions of men in all countries , and in all times j nor are any changes or innovations permitted . No power exists anywhere within or without the Order to make such changes . Here , indeed , is permanence . No perversion of purposes : no " shifting

sands of doctrine . " We know what we have . It is , indeed , gratifying to discover that amid the many ever-changing and ephemeral associations instituted by men , from time to time , for various purposes , there is , at least , one which is steadfast . Is it too much to say that Freemasonry is the only permanent conservator amid the chances and changes of time , of those fundamental laws and principles of human rights and those moral obligations which are binding ou all

men . A peculiar feature of Freemasonry is its silence and unobtrusiveness . A Lodge may exist in our midst for years , and we hardly recognize the fact . It interferes with no person , sect , party or opinion , and never asks any favours or special privileges from community , church or state . It raises no disputes , argues no qnes .

tions , ancl strives to live in quietness and peace with all men . Unlike other societies , it ever maintains its dignity and reserve . It seeks not the popular favour ; it does not proselyte ; it sends out no propagandists , and pays nothing for recruits ; and while the worthy who knock at its doors are seldom denied , they are never urged to seek admission .

The equality of all men before God and in natural right and in the Lodge room , as taught in Masonry , is peculiar to this Institution . Other societies , secular and even religions , grant preferment and favours much according to social , pecuniary and civil distinctions . But Masonic equality is real—not merely theoretical . The Ancient Charges declare that " all preferment among Masons is grounded

upon real worth and personal merit only . The Order regards no man for his worldly wealth or honours . Prince and peasant , pleboiau and patrician meet upon the same level . The day labourer , the farmer , the mechanic , as has frequently been the fact , may be Mastei or Grand Master , while the rich man , the professional man , or the highest civil or military functionary may bo , and often is but a private

member . And this is so because Masons assemble in a higher character , or upon a higher plane than that made by merely conventional distinctions—they meet as men and brethren . We may add , in conclusion , that while Masonry knows nothing o £ political parties , yet in all countries and in all times tho Order has taught its disciples the fundamental doctrines of Liberty , Fraternity .

and Equality , ancl these principles Masonry taught before modern republics had au existence . Liberty , regulated by law ; obedience to established authority ; the fatherhood of God ; the brotherhood of man , and tolerance of private religious and political opinions , are of tho very essence of Freemasonry . And the thought comes to us here—should it not Ions sinco have

come to the prejudiced and short-sighted opponents of Masonrywhat other institution known among men presents , has always pre - sented , such a powerful , such a successful bulwark to the insidious encroachments of those ecclesiastical and political despotisms , which would reinstate and are labouring to reinstate the intellectual darkness , the intolerance ancl bigotry and the religous dogmas of tho Middle Ages ?

Despotic power in Church aud State to-day , aa for ages past , hates B'reemasonry with an undying hate . What does it mean ? May not the friends of civil and religious liberty , of morality , of toleration , of fraternity , in all lands , ponder the question how great and good a work has Freemasonry been , silently , but surely , doing in the centuries gone by ? What mission has this Order , so old , so strong , so peculiar in its character , to fulfil iu the centuries to come ?