Our Disappointed Brethren.

OUR DISAPPOINTED BRETHREN .

That many of our good brethren will have been sorely disappointed at not being able to find a place at the Installation of ouv Royal Grand Master is , we think , certain to be the case . Independently of the fact that English Freemasons have always constituted a loyal body ,

" pur et simple , " there is a widespread feeling of personal appreciation of the truly fraternal manner in which our exalted brother has taken upon himself the responsibilities of the Grand Master ' s office . Hence there has been an universal desire to be present on so glad an

occasion to the Craft , and to testify to those unanimous and deeply-seated feelings of fraternal attachment and loyal regard by which all English Freemasons are animated , in respect of the Heir to the Throne . No such large gathering has taken place in English Freemasonry before ,

and few so numerously attended are likely to occur again . It is quite clear now , that had even a much larger locale been selected it would have been filled , but , with one or two exceptions , London does not possess a place of assembly which would have been equal to the emergency .

And other matters , as our good brethren know , have had to be taken into consideration by the authorities . The meeting is a meeting of Grand Lodge , and the greatest care has had to be taken in order to secure the needful condition of a Masonic meeting—due provision for the members ,

and a perfectly tyled lodge room . It is , we believe , very doubtful whether any other site could have been found so suitable in both these respects , and so easily adapted to the proceedings of Grand Lodge . We might probably have obtained a larger area , or we mig ht , we do

not dispute , have secured greater accommodation for the brethren , but , in our opinion , all this would have been accompanied by a very serious drawback , the impossibility of properly tyling the Grand Lodge . We therefore think it well to remind our many

readers to-day , some perhaps among the disappointed ones , that while the numbers seeking to be admitted is utterly without precedent , so those who have received tickets are beyond any previous calculation . Our Installation is the largest Masonic meeting ever held in England , and large

as it is , it might no doubt have yet been tripled in numerical strength . Let those , then , who feel a natural disappointment consider carefully these simple facts , and they will be at once be consoled by the remembrance and the knowledge that it is much more than doubtful if any other

building could have been found , or safely made use of , at any rate , for the annual and festival Grand Assembly of English Craftsmen . We know with what unceasing zeal and devotion , and daily labour and anxiety , those to whom our Royal Grand Master has confided the

arrangements for the Installation have striven to give effect to our august Brother ' s wishes , and to afford satisfaction to the Order . After the day ' s proceedings are over , after the installation of our Grand Master is , most happily for Freemasonry and our English fraternity , and we may add , for

our mwcrsal brotherhood , a " fait accompli , " we feel strongly that the best thanks of our brotherhood are due to Bro . Sir Albert W . Woods , Bro . Fenn , Bro . Monckton , and our excellent Grand Secretary , for their long and sedulous endeavours

to render the Installation a complete success . Their duties have been most responsible , and they have performed them in a most impartial spirit , and with true Masonic zeal , for the convenience of all , and for the honour of English Freemasonry .

Our Country Cousins And The Little Village.

OUR COUNTRY COUSINS AND THE LITTLE VILLAGE .

This week will witness an unwonted influx of our good brethren from the Provinces into the great Metropolis . It is just possible that among the many excellent and worthy W . M . ' s , and P . M . ' s , and members of our Order , whom the Installation has called out from their district

habitations , some may never actually have been in London before , and , therefore , it is that , in the purest spirit of philanthropy and the truest sentiments of brotherhood we deem it well to offer them a few friendly words of sympathy and counsel . Many will come prepared to "do "

Our Country Cousins And The Little Village.

the " little village , " and some of more tender natures than others will have brought their wives or sisters with them . Among the great mass of comers Bros . " Brown , Jones , and Robinson " will be conspicuous , who have left their home and their " belongings " for a little

" outing , and mean to have a " lark , ' . ' as W 3 S once the word , though we believe the more fashionable expression just now is a " spree . " They are at last in London , often heard of , never seen , by many before , and where , to say the truth , they feel , as they say themselves , like "fish

out of water . They find that London is a somewhat difficult place to amuse themselves in properly , unless they seek to do so on a fixed plan . Having surmounted the difficulties of a room—¦ curious that such a difficulty should be experienced in London—and having settled where to

dine and what to have for dinner , most important duties and considerations , they mostly take a stroll and look about them . Oh ! fortunati nimium if some specious bird of pre } ' does not scent you from afar , and pounce upon you in your open and enquiring and believing mood !

Lucky will it be for you if some interesting stranger does not accost you with a tale of monetary splendour , and entice you , all unwary , and confiding , and sympathetic , into the attractive restaurant or the exhilarating bar . There he will forthwith proceed to appeal

to your warm heart , or your full pockets . Some wonderful tale of a large legacy just left him by a deceased and amiable first cousin , some shewing of money against money , the convenient stakeholder , and the affable referee , will all follow in due course , until early or late , hazy or

clear , the " yokel' finds himself in Scotland Yard , where kindly men listen intently to his tale of depression and misery ; and where he finds , much to his astonishment , that the fortunate legatee is an old familiar friend of Inspector Shore , and , in that meritorious officer ' s emphatic

words , " one of the most dangerous parties out . " Now , we do not say that j , uch will be the fate of any of our esteemed brethren—we hope not ; but London is full of dangers , and if you escape one you often fall into another , " Incidis in Scyllam cupiens evitare Charybdin . " We might go

through other forms of temptation and peril to the impulsive and the excitable , but we forbear . We would only caution all our readers against the interesting widows of sea captains on a long sea voyage , against seedy strangers who take a sudden interest in yoa , against " touts " of any

description , against foreign " patriots , " and soidisant Barons . To all such may our good provincial brethren give a wide berth ! We trust , indeed , to hear that of the goodly host of Freemasons whom the Installation of our Royal Grand Master has brought to London all have

carefully evaded the prevailing drawbacks and difficulties of centralized civilization , and have found profitable amusement and pleasant memories to carry back home . Our brethren come from east and west , and north and south , and far away in quiet vale or in pleasant village ,

or in teeming town , are those who are fondly awaiting their return to their household gods , and to whom their journey to the great metropolis is actually an event in their lives . May all our brethren have a peaceful sojourn in town , and a prosperous journey home .

London , however , affords many striking amusements to the rational and active . Woolwich will delig ht the volunteer and patriot Masons , jwhile the Tower will supply food for wondrous legends and dreadful tales . There are the exhibitions of English and foreign artists , all

redolent with intellectual improvement , with the cultivation of artistic taste , and which cannot bo too highly commended . There is the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery , both worthy of a great people . There are the Houses of Parliament , and Westminster Abbey , and St .

Paul ' s , all deeply interesting to the thoughtful and studious Mason . The Parks should not be forgotten , which are , as Mr . Disraeli has so well said , such a charm to Londoa and Londoners . And if our brethren are musical they can

have Mdme . Titiens or Mdme . Patti ; if they are humourous , they can drop in at the Haymarket , or Adelphi , or Strand . They can see "Hamlet" at the Lyceum , or they can patronize the little Prince of Wales ' s Theatre , or they can if Italian

Our Country Cousins And The Little Village.

9 scholars , pay their respects to the great actor Signor Salvini , and look on the " sorrows of the Moor . " Then having witnessed the Installation , having cheered their Grand Master , with many cheers and " one cheer more , "

feelingproud of their good old Order , and having enjoyed their stay in the " little village , " they can go home , and delight those who have felt somewhat loneI ) without them , with a narrative of what they did and saw at the Great Installation Festival of the year of grace , 1875 .

Bro. C. Von. Gagern.

BRO . C . VON . GAGERN .

Our brother is very combative . Even before he receives an answer to a very childish , not to say unmasonic , attack on the Freemason , . with more zeal than discretion , he repeats his incrimination under the pretence of commending Bro . Bergmann ' s letter . We find no fault with Bro .

Bergmann ' s letter ; " au contrairc , " we think it does him all credit . All Bro . Bergmann sought , in good taste and true Masonic feeling , to establish was , which he was quite justified in doing , that the situation of German Freemasonry was one of some duration , and that all things , as we

ourselves had observed , tended to ri ghtful amelioration and careful reforms . But Bro . Bergmann nowhere attacked either our " bona fides " or our Masonic sympathies . Our remarks , which have so angered Bro . C . Von Gagern , and to some extent , apparently , even our worthy Bro . J . G .

Findel , were made in all honest intent , as a Masonic writer seeking to uphold , to improve , and to elevate the brotherhood . We are very sorry if in so doing we have trodden on any brother ' s tender foot , or upset his favourite theories . Our remarks did not , as Bro . Bergmann saw , apply to the

German Freemasons , who do not , as a body , whatever an insignificant individual now and then may do , import political discussions into their Masonic assemblies . We regret to add that the tone and temper of Bro . C . Von Gagern is , in our opinion , so thoroughly unmasonic and

partizan that we do not suppose that anything we can say , could tend in any way even to a reasonable discussion of " moot" points . If Bro . C . Von Gagern represents the opinion of any considerable number of Austrian Freemasons , either Masonically or theologically , we fear the " look

out" for Freemasonry in Austria must be very bad indeed . The amusing fact of the whole is , that here we are old greyheaded Freemasons , who , for six " lustra " and more , have been working actively in Freemasonry , and we forsooth , are to be set right at once by a clearly but partially

instructed Mason , who has a good deal to learn before he can profess to be the mouthpiece of others , much less to teach others . We have for many years advocated the universality of Freemasonry , we uphold it still , but we equally maintain and ever shall maintain the religious character

of our Order , and the happy fact that the Holy Bible is found always open in every English Maonic lodge . If that is a fault , we plead guilty to it at once . If for that we are called " retrograde , " " old fashioned , " "bigoted" and " effete , " we

consider the epithets to be compliments , as we know that we are in full accord with the vast majority of our English brethren , and that we best express the unfaltering and goodly teaching of English Freemasonry .

The Installation Of H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales.

THE INSTALLATION OF H . R . H . THE PRINCE OF WALES .

Those of us who witnessed the sight of the Installation of our Royal Grand Master at the Albert Hall , on Wednesday , will not , probably , ever see such a sight again , at any rate in Freemasonry . We that are old and grey , and getting

a little footsore in the race , may congratulate ourselves that we have been permitted to witness so grand an assembly of our brother Freemasons . For it was a noble gathering , and the sight of that goodly hall , with the dense rows of our beaming brethren , was one which must ever

leave a deep impression on all who were privileged to take part in the Installation . Our Grand Master seemed himself to be quite struck with the sight of these assembled thousands of loyal Craftsmen , and the cheers which greeted him from his entrance to his departure seemed