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Article Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article TO OUR READERS. Page 1 of 1 Article TO ADVERTISERS. Page 1 of 1 Article Answers to Correspondents. Page 1 of 1 Article Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article THE BURDETT COUTTS LODGE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE BURDETT COUTTS LODGE. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC ELOQUENCE. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC ELOQUENCE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE FLOODS IN FRANCE. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ar00600
NOTICE .
Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason , in the West-end , the publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Black , H . J ., 47 , Great Quccn-strcet .
Jordan , G . W ., 169 , Strand . Kirby and Kiidcan , 190 , Oxford-street . Nash and Tctitcn , Savile Place , Conduit-street . Phillips , D ., 6 7 , Great Portland-street . titling , Wm ., 2 , Palsgrave-place , Strand , And al W . li . Smith and Son ' s bookstalls .
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The Freemason is a sixteen page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly from th : oflice of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add te . the 2 d . per week the postage on aoz .
newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in the United Kingdom by giving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Flect-st . All communications , correspondence , reports , & c , must be addressed to the Editor . Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , & c , to the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The Freemason has a large circulation in all parts o ( the Globe , its advantages as nn advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
A letter awaits " L . of L ., " at the oflice of this paper , which will be forwarded on receipt of address . A letter from Bro . J . W . Faulk ner unavoidably stands over .
REMITTANCES RECEIVED . £ s . d . Benning , Thos ., Cape of Good Hope , Cash o 12 o Bower , It . F ., Iowa , Draft 1 11 o
Ford , V ., Merino , Victoria , P . O . O 300 MacCalla , C P ., Philadelphia 027 Monaghan , W ., St . Thomas ' s Mount , B . of E . o 8 8 Tait , John , India , P . O . O 1 o 0 Wolff , E ., South Africa , Cash o 3 3
Ar00609
The Freemason , SATURDAY , AUG . 7 , 187 < .
The Burdett Coutts Lodge.
THE BURDETT COUTTS LODGE .
The proceedings at this interesting reunion , " which we give in another column , will , we think , be very gratifying to all our readers . For not only do we as Freemasons gratefully acknowledge the kindness evinced to our Order by that estimable and benevolent lady who was
present on the occasion , but we think the tone of the proceedings was most thoroughly in accordance with the spirit of Freemasonry from first to last . Lady Burdett Coutts called attention we are glad to perceive , to the open Bible in the lodge , her own kindly gift . We are always
pleased to point to the fact , that English Freemasons still preserve in their lodges , and still revere in their minds , thc Best of Books The address of the lodge was , we think , both in good taste , and entirely Masonic in expression and utterance , and equally do we feel bound to
commend Lady Burdett Coutts ' s reply , and trust that this friendly interest of hers in the Burdett Coutts Lodge may continue unabated on her part . Under thc energetic presidency of Bro . Terry , and aided by the zealous assistance of the Stewards , the gathering appears to have been a
great success . and despite lachrymose complaints and petty jeremiades at such revolutionary proceedings , we congratulate the brethren of the Burdett Coutts Lodge on the fair assembly which responded to their invitations , and smiled on their pleasant hospitality . Such occasions as this , and certain great and high days of our
Order are , we venture to repeat , most suitable occasions , when we can properly invite and approvingly hail the presence of our fair sisters amongst us . Such days may be fairly called our Masonic lied Letter Days , when woman ' s kindness may animate , and woman ' s grace may delight , and when the monotony of our custo-
The Burdett Coutts Lodge.
mary assemblies may be advantageously varied by the introduction of that most potent charm of earthly life , the influence and personality of the ladies . Amid those mysteries of dress which puzzle us " outsiders , " lords of the creation though we call ourselves , amid the genial and
enlivening flow of female conversation , which is often most prolonged and animated , amid those charms of bright eyes and waving locks , and warm hearts , and unselfish wills , by which woman so attracts and impresses our often harsh and doubting sex , we can well fancy how this successful gathering pleasantly passed oftj and
has left many vivid memories behind it . We wish that all success may attend on the Burdett Coutts Lodge , and that this assembly of Craft Masons will not be the last which will unite their benevolent patroness with them , in mutual feelings of truly Masonic esteem , respect , and good-will .
Masonic Eloquence.
MASONIC ELOQUENCE .
We called attention some time back to " afterdinner speeches , " and we feel it to be our duty to-day to enlarge on the subject of Masonic Eloquence generally . It is , as Bro . Binckes said at the Chaucer Meeting , a " very wide subject , " when speaking of the admission of ladies to the
Boys Anniversary . We accept his words today , as exactly descriptive of the matter on which we are now treating . If we are to believe Mr . Heckethorn and numerous other profane " ansers , " whose cackling may be constantly heard , and in respect too of subjects of which
they are utterly ignorant , Freemasonry just now has neither literature nor writers , speeches nor speakers , utility nor mission at all . Pace , however , Mr . Heckethorn , and all the " vulgus profanum , " we are prepared to contend , as we contended before , that Masonic Eloquence has
increased greatly latterly amongst us , and is every now and then of very high " calibre , " and for the most part" above the mark , " that is to say , above the average eloquence of the British public . It is true that every now and then some erratic speaker lands himself and us in a dreadful
" corner " or " hole , and boggles out of his illtimed words with the greatest clumsiness , and the worst possible grace . It is a fact that here and there you may still have to listen to lugubrious specimens of that turgid nonsense , of that " high falutin " which seemed at one time to be
the necessary accompaniment of Masonic meetings , and the unvarying characteristic of Masouic oratory . Men are still men j Freemasons are yet human j and to suppose that simply because they are Freemasons , they are not likely to be betrayed into frailties , or to display inanities , or
to commit a " betise , is neither reasonable , nor is it even the way of the world . For if there be one thing the longest experience of time would teach us all , it is this , that we all of us need , and all of us should make , many allowances here for the inevitable foibles , the uncontrollable "
niaiseries " of our race . That all Freemasons talk sense we do not aver ; that no Freemason ever talks nonsense we do not say ; but this we do affirm , that in our opinion latterly the eloquence of Masonry has been marked by careful abstinence from its ancient besetting faults , " tall
talk , " empty phrases , and wearisome repetitions . And we think that we note a decided improvement in the character of Masonic orations and addresses , and even of the dinner speeches generally . Some of us who are now " getting on in
. years , " and remember old meetings and old friends , can vividly summon up before us to-day the old fashioned speakers with their stereotyped formularies of Masonic eloquence at ancient gatherings . Their history was shaky , their
chronology was defective , their views of Freemasonry proper hazy in the extreme . You were taken back to Noah , and Nimrod , to Babylon and Bacchus , to Grecian mysteries , to Egyptian pyramids , to the Druids , as a matter of course , with an amount of confidence which was somewhat
startling , and a calmness of assertion which left no doubt or reply possible . We were told that Freemasonry was ancient , and social , and benevolent , undeniable truths , and that it possessed great and invaluable privileges , and that we were all "jolly good fellows , " and that we were a
Masonic Eloquence.
loyal , a moral , and a friendly Order . Such was the address we heard over and over again , with no variation , made up moreover of a little of Anderson , of a touch of Hutchinson , more of Preston , and a good deal of Oliver . Now we do not deny that there may be , and there most
probably is , a substratum of truth in all these claims and asseverations , more or less , but boldly spoken they do not commend themselves to the fair criticism of the outer world , or even of the Masonic student . Surel y we have changed for the better . Masonic
investigation has opened the chained-up gates of Masonic Archaeology , has stirred the dust of centuries , has put Dryasdusts and Fabulists to flight , and has offered to our Order a critical and a reasonable account of our organization . We say nothing here of those great rhapsodical utterances
which are termed , " proposing the ladies * , " as we prefer dealing with what is real and prosaic even , rather thanwithwhat is purelysentimental . Masonic eloquence has become , we think , more natural , more reliable , and more accurate , and generally more intellectual , since the days of its old
hyperbole are over , and what may not unfairly be called " Masonic swagger" charmeth us no more . But after all is said and done , the orator like the poet , " nascitur non . fit . " Masonic eloquence to be truly effective must come from the intellect as well as from the understanding , from a
knowledge of the subject , as well as from an " artificial memory . " We may make up a speech , we may string together facts and statistics , we may indulge in Masonic glorification and familiar commonplace , but unless the spirit of eloquence be there , it falls at once into the ruck of ordinary and
factitious speaking so prevalent amongst us . It is given to few , we may however well rejnember here , " the applause of listening senates to command , " and it is the lot of very few indeed of the more gifted of our species to attract attention and to retain interest . So long as we can boast
amongst our Order one or two really eloquent orators we should be quite content . They are in truth " rarae aves in terris , " and perhaps it as well that they should be so . Too many eloquent speeches would make some of us become like Simeon Stylites , or an Eremite in the loneliest
wilderness . If then our average Masonic eloquence is as a rule above the mark , —above , that is , the common level of the great river of human verbosity , —if it keeps equally at a distance from politics and religion , from hopeless vapidity and "bottled moonshine , " if it be fair and reasoning ,
calm and courteous in tone , true and tolerant in assertion , if it seeks to allure and to attract instead of dogmatizing , and denouncing , wc may rejoice to think that our lot is cast in these days when we are not forced to listen to reiterated absurdities , or to " didactic twaddle . " A clever
speaker once said , that the " truest eloquence is that , which is contained in the fewest if most forcible words . " And many of us will remember how in " auld lang syne , " some of the " doctors" of our " Israel" alike charmed us and warmed us up , alike encouraged and directed us , with words sparkling like brilliants , and with
scintillations fresh from the anvil of genius . Their speeches were neither too long nor too short , neither too learned nor too sentimental , but memory lingers by them yet , as delivered in all the pure simplicity of our Anglo-Saxon vernacular , with all of heartfelt admiration , saying to us gratefully , if regretfully " Adveniant utinam sic mihi scepe dies . "
The Floods In France.
THE FLOODS IN FRANCE .
The report of its two delegates , Mr . John Furley and Captain Kennick , has been received by the Executive Committee formed in the City of London for the relief of the distress caused by the recent inundation in the South of France , and which committee is , as most of our readers
know , presided over by our worthy and benevolent Bro . the Lord Mayor . Most sad is the report . They say that they have travelled over 800 miles of country , and the following is their
description of what they have themselves witnessed . Although the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Bordeaux bore evidence oi having been more or less inundated , they observed no traces of exceptional damage until they
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ar00600
NOTICE .
Many complaints having been received of the difficulty experienced in procuring the Freemason , in the West-end , the publisher begs to append the following list , being a selected few of the appointed agents : — Black , H . J ., 47 , Great Quccn-strcet .
Jordan , G . W ., 169 , Strand . Kirby and Kiidcan , 190 , Oxford-street . Nash and Tctitcn , Savile Place , Conduit-street . Phillips , D ., 6 7 , Great Portland-street . titling , Wm ., 2 , Palsgrave-place , Strand , And al W . li . Smith and Son ' s bookstalls .
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The Freemason is a sixteen page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , 10 / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly from th : oflice of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add te . the 2 d . per week the postage on aoz .
newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent in the United Kingdom by giving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Flect-st . All communications , correspondence , reports , & c , must be addressed to the Editor . Advertisements , change in address , complaints of difficulties in procuring Freemason , & c , to the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-st ., London , E . C .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The Freemason has a large circulation in all parts o ( the Globe , its advantages as nn advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
A letter awaits " L . of L ., " at the oflice of this paper , which will be forwarded on receipt of address . A letter from Bro . J . W . Faulk ner unavoidably stands over .
REMITTANCES RECEIVED . £ s . d . Benning , Thos ., Cape of Good Hope , Cash o 12 o Bower , It . F ., Iowa , Draft 1 11 o
Ford , V ., Merino , Victoria , P . O . O 300 MacCalla , C P ., Philadelphia 027 Monaghan , W ., St . Thomas ' s Mount , B . of E . o 8 8 Tait , John , India , P . O . O 1 o 0 Wolff , E ., South Africa , Cash o 3 3
Ar00609
The Freemason , SATURDAY , AUG . 7 , 187 < .
The Burdett Coutts Lodge.
THE BURDETT COUTTS LODGE .
The proceedings at this interesting reunion , " which we give in another column , will , we think , be very gratifying to all our readers . For not only do we as Freemasons gratefully acknowledge the kindness evinced to our Order by that estimable and benevolent lady who was
present on the occasion , but we think the tone of the proceedings was most thoroughly in accordance with the spirit of Freemasonry from first to last . Lady Burdett Coutts called attention we are glad to perceive , to the open Bible in the lodge , her own kindly gift . We are always
pleased to point to the fact , that English Freemasons still preserve in their lodges , and still revere in their minds , thc Best of Books The address of the lodge was , we think , both in good taste , and entirely Masonic in expression and utterance , and equally do we feel bound to
commend Lady Burdett Coutts ' s reply , and trust that this friendly interest of hers in the Burdett Coutts Lodge may continue unabated on her part . Under thc energetic presidency of Bro . Terry , and aided by the zealous assistance of the Stewards , the gathering appears to have been a
great success . and despite lachrymose complaints and petty jeremiades at such revolutionary proceedings , we congratulate the brethren of the Burdett Coutts Lodge on the fair assembly which responded to their invitations , and smiled on their pleasant hospitality . Such occasions as this , and certain great and high days of our
Order are , we venture to repeat , most suitable occasions , when we can properly invite and approvingly hail the presence of our fair sisters amongst us . Such days may be fairly called our Masonic lied Letter Days , when woman ' s kindness may animate , and woman ' s grace may delight , and when the monotony of our custo-
The Burdett Coutts Lodge.
mary assemblies may be advantageously varied by the introduction of that most potent charm of earthly life , the influence and personality of the ladies . Amid those mysteries of dress which puzzle us " outsiders , " lords of the creation though we call ourselves , amid the genial and
enlivening flow of female conversation , which is often most prolonged and animated , amid those charms of bright eyes and waving locks , and warm hearts , and unselfish wills , by which woman so attracts and impresses our often harsh and doubting sex , we can well fancy how this successful gathering pleasantly passed oftj and
has left many vivid memories behind it . We wish that all success may attend on the Burdett Coutts Lodge , and that this assembly of Craft Masons will not be the last which will unite their benevolent patroness with them , in mutual feelings of truly Masonic esteem , respect , and good-will .
Masonic Eloquence.
MASONIC ELOQUENCE .
We called attention some time back to " afterdinner speeches , " and we feel it to be our duty to-day to enlarge on the subject of Masonic Eloquence generally . It is , as Bro . Binckes said at the Chaucer Meeting , a " very wide subject , " when speaking of the admission of ladies to the
Boys Anniversary . We accept his words today , as exactly descriptive of the matter on which we are now treating . If we are to believe Mr . Heckethorn and numerous other profane " ansers , " whose cackling may be constantly heard , and in respect too of subjects of which
they are utterly ignorant , Freemasonry just now has neither literature nor writers , speeches nor speakers , utility nor mission at all . Pace , however , Mr . Heckethorn , and all the " vulgus profanum , " we are prepared to contend , as we contended before , that Masonic Eloquence has
increased greatly latterly amongst us , and is every now and then of very high " calibre , " and for the most part" above the mark , " that is to say , above the average eloquence of the British public . It is true that every now and then some erratic speaker lands himself and us in a dreadful
" corner " or " hole , and boggles out of his illtimed words with the greatest clumsiness , and the worst possible grace . It is a fact that here and there you may still have to listen to lugubrious specimens of that turgid nonsense , of that " high falutin " which seemed at one time to be
the necessary accompaniment of Masonic meetings , and the unvarying characteristic of Masouic oratory . Men are still men j Freemasons are yet human j and to suppose that simply because they are Freemasons , they are not likely to be betrayed into frailties , or to display inanities , or
to commit a " betise , is neither reasonable , nor is it even the way of the world . For if there be one thing the longest experience of time would teach us all , it is this , that we all of us need , and all of us should make , many allowances here for the inevitable foibles , the uncontrollable "
niaiseries " of our race . That all Freemasons talk sense we do not aver ; that no Freemason ever talks nonsense we do not say ; but this we do affirm , that in our opinion latterly the eloquence of Masonry has been marked by careful abstinence from its ancient besetting faults , " tall
talk , " empty phrases , and wearisome repetitions . And we think that we note a decided improvement in the character of Masonic orations and addresses , and even of the dinner speeches generally . Some of us who are now " getting on in
. years , " and remember old meetings and old friends , can vividly summon up before us to-day the old fashioned speakers with their stereotyped formularies of Masonic eloquence at ancient gatherings . Their history was shaky , their
chronology was defective , their views of Freemasonry proper hazy in the extreme . You were taken back to Noah , and Nimrod , to Babylon and Bacchus , to Grecian mysteries , to Egyptian pyramids , to the Druids , as a matter of course , with an amount of confidence which was somewhat
startling , and a calmness of assertion which left no doubt or reply possible . We were told that Freemasonry was ancient , and social , and benevolent , undeniable truths , and that it possessed great and invaluable privileges , and that we were all "jolly good fellows , " and that we were a
Masonic Eloquence.
loyal , a moral , and a friendly Order . Such was the address we heard over and over again , with no variation , made up moreover of a little of Anderson , of a touch of Hutchinson , more of Preston , and a good deal of Oliver . Now we do not deny that there may be , and there most
probably is , a substratum of truth in all these claims and asseverations , more or less , but boldly spoken they do not commend themselves to the fair criticism of the outer world , or even of the Masonic student . Surel y we have changed for the better . Masonic
investigation has opened the chained-up gates of Masonic Archaeology , has stirred the dust of centuries , has put Dryasdusts and Fabulists to flight , and has offered to our Order a critical and a reasonable account of our organization . We say nothing here of those great rhapsodical utterances
which are termed , " proposing the ladies * , " as we prefer dealing with what is real and prosaic even , rather thanwithwhat is purelysentimental . Masonic eloquence has become , we think , more natural , more reliable , and more accurate , and generally more intellectual , since the days of its old
hyperbole are over , and what may not unfairly be called " Masonic swagger" charmeth us no more . But after all is said and done , the orator like the poet , " nascitur non . fit . " Masonic eloquence to be truly effective must come from the intellect as well as from the understanding , from a
knowledge of the subject , as well as from an " artificial memory . " We may make up a speech , we may string together facts and statistics , we may indulge in Masonic glorification and familiar commonplace , but unless the spirit of eloquence be there , it falls at once into the ruck of ordinary and
factitious speaking so prevalent amongst us . It is given to few , we may however well rejnember here , " the applause of listening senates to command , " and it is the lot of very few indeed of the more gifted of our species to attract attention and to retain interest . So long as we can boast
amongst our Order one or two really eloquent orators we should be quite content . They are in truth " rarae aves in terris , " and perhaps it as well that they should be so . Too many eloquent speeches would make some of us become like Simeon Stylites , or an Eremite in the loneliest
wilderness . If then our average Masonic eloquence is as a rule above the mark , —above , that is , the common level of the great river of human verbosity , —if it keeps equally at a distance from politics and religion , from hopeless vapidity and "bottled moonshine , " if it be fair and reasoning ,
calm and courteous in tone , true and tolerant in assertion , if it seeks to allure and to attract instead of dogmatizing , and denouncing , wc may rejoice to think that our lot is cast in these days when we are not forced to listen to reiterated absurdities , or to " didactic twaddle . " A clever
speaker once said , that the " truest eloquence is that , which is contained in the fewest if most forcible words . " And many of us will remember how in " auld lang syne , " some of the " doctors" of our " Israel" alike charmed us and warmed us up , alike encouraged and directed us , with words sparkling like brilliants , and with
scintillations fresh from the anvil of genius . Their speeches were neither too long nor too short , neither too learned nor too sentimental , but memory lingers by them yet , as delivered in all the pure simplicity of our Anglo-Saxon vernacular , with all of heartfelt admiration , saying to us gratefully , if regretfully " Adveniant utinam sic mihi scepe dies . "
The Floods In France.
THE FLOODS IN FRANCE .
The report of its two delegates , Mr . John Furley and Captain Kennick , has been received by the Executive Committee formed in the City of London for the relief of the distress caused by the recent inundation in the South of France , and which committee is , as most of our readers
know , presided over by our worthy and benevolent Bro . the Lord Mayor . Most sad is the report . They say that they have travelled over 800 miles of country , and the following is their
description of what they have themselves witnessed . Although the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Bordeaux bore evidence oi having been more or less inundated , they observed no traces of exceptional damage until they