Original Correspondence.

notice of tlie District Grand Master for purple honours . With these few remarks I leave the matter to some brother with more ability , more power , and a Httle more flowery eloquance than 1 possess , to obtain the rest . —I subscribe myself , A PROV . GRAND OFFICER OF NEARLY THIRTY YEARS .

THE CREMATION OF BRO . CAPT . HANHAM . To the Editor of ihe " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — The paragraph you quoted from the Times last week , reporting the funeral and cremation of the late Capt . Hanham , is utterly untrustworthy , and could only have been communicated by some wretched inventor of fables , or some erratic scribbler of the most morbid

imagination . _ Short as the report is , it abounds in inaccuracies and positive untruths . ( i . ) Thc Times says : [ 'The remains of Captain T . B . Hanham , a prominent Freemason in Dorsetshire , were cremated with Masonic rites " !! ! It would be just as true to say , " cremated with special rites prepared for thc occasion by the Pope of Rome , the Patriarch of Constantinople ,

and the Archbishop of Canterbury . " ( 2 . ) The Times says : "The funeral ceremony was entirely a Masonic one , no clergy or ministers officiating . " Four clergymen werc present ( one in canonicals ) , and the prayer was offered by the Rev . \ V . M . Heath , rector of I . ytchett , and P . Prov . G . Chap . ( 3 . ) The Times says "The ritual war , very ancient , and

has not been employed in England for the past century . " The ritual used is the well-known ritual of Preston , to be found in his Book on Alasonry , whicii may be obtained of every bookstall in thu country . And further , it was used in the churchyard of Blandford in the spring of 1 SS 2 , at the funeral of a deceased brother of 1266 . About 40 or 50 brethren attended this funeral . The service was read

partly by the W . M . and partly by the Chaplain , the Rector of Child Okeford , who offered the prayer . ( 4 . * The Times mixes up the funeral and the cremation as if both were parts of one ceremony . The funeral had no more to do with the cremation than it had to do with the Fisheries Exhibition , or the formation of the Suez Canal . As one present at both funeral and cremation , I am , yours

fraternally , E . T . BUDDEN Wimborne , 12 th Dec , 1 SS 3 .

To thc Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I enclose a cutting from a local paper relative to "the Masonic funeral" and subsequent cremation of our VV . Bro . Hanham deceased . Your leaderette in to-day's issue of the Freemason appears to me to be a judgment on the conductof our province without you being in possession

of any of the facts of the case . 1 he great care with which all . Masonic matters in this province are supervised and arranged by " the Provincial Grand Master , " a brother well known at Grand Lodge , of which he is a Past Grand Officer , should have been sufficient guarantee that nothing which could in any way be construed as a contravention of

the Constitutions would be allowed . No province in England is more jealous of Masonic exactness in ritual than Dorset , and no member of the province more so than yours truly and fraternally , ZILLWOOD MILLEDGE , The Fernery , Weymouth , S . W . 170 . November Sth .

THE FIELD LANE REFUGES AND RAGGED SCHOOLS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir , — I trust you will ( with your usual kindness ) allow me to appeal through your valuable paper for contributions in support of our work at this season of the year . During the

past year we have been enabled to give 14 , 629 night s lodgings to the deserving homeless poor in the Refuge ; to maintain and train for domestic service 113 friendless or poor girls in our Servants' Home and Girls' School ; to maintain and industrially train 100 boys in the Boys' School ; to give 26 , 000 breakfasts on Sabbath mornings to the outcasts at the Ragged Church ; to provide a dinner for 750 of thc

destitute and 4 S 0 poor families on Christmas Day ; to benefit ( in short ) a total of over 2000 people weekly by our various operations . My committee are striving to continue these benefits , but in order to do so , at least £ 3000 must be raised by voluntary contributions before the 31 st March , and for this they

earnestly appeal . Treasurer , Wilfrid A . Bevan , Esq ., 54 , Lombard-st ., K . C , by whom donations or subscriptions will be thankfully received , or bv—Your obedient servant , PEREGRINE PLATT , Secretary . Vine-st , Clerkcnwell-rd ., K . C , December nth , 1 SS 3 .

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REVIEWS

CHEAP DINNER DISHES . By the Author of "Supper Dishes for People of Small Means . " Simpson and Marshall , London ; Pawsey and Hayes , Ipswich . This tractate , cightpence in price , contains a great deal ol valuable advice , whether for young folks beginning housekeeping or fcr the ordinary run of cooks , and deserves to be noted and studied . Just now , when happily schools for cookery are on the increase , we think such little

manuals of cookery are both needful and useful . We are among those who ' have always advocated instruction in cookery in our elementary and other schools . No one who has lived in agricultural , mining , or manufacturing districts for any time but must be painfully sensible not only how good food is wasted from ignorance of cookery , but how much more comfortable our working classes , nay , all classes , might be , if those who go forth as cooks in families , helps

in the kitchen , and mothers and daughters of families , were provided with one such useful little work as this , and were able to understand it and put it in practice . The outcome would assuredly be better health , more family comfort , and a more saving use of much that is now thrown away . Many sicknesses in our thickly-populated districts would certainly be lessened materially , if our cooks , old and young , were fitly

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acquainted with the best use to be made of the materials placed in their hands , if , whether old or young , they were so instructed in the simple , and fyet important first principles of cookery , that they were able to make the food thev prepare more digestible , more varied , and more appetitizing . This little work offers us 11 S recipes , which are ali simple , easy , and practicable . We remember reviewing

"Supper Dishes in our columns , and thinking what a useful and unpretending little work it was , and all we said of it , we can say still more strongly of the present work , which we should be glad to see introduced into some of our elementary schools as needful and important for our future cooks to master and realize . We wish the work all success and support . ____

DIARIES AND DIARY BLOTTING PADS FOR 1 SS 4 . For professional and general use , are issued by Messrs . Hudson and Kearns , manufacturing stationers , of S 3 , Southwark-street , S . E ., as usual this year , and for their excellence and comprehensiveness we have no hesitation in saying are unequalled . The diaries are neatly bound in cloth , and made of a paper far superior to that generally supplied in this class of goods . The size is Sj by 5 . The

No . 9 is a diary for universal use , two days on a page , price 2 s . 6 d ; the No . 10 the same , with cash book and ledger attached , 3 s . 6 d . No . n is "The Builder and Contractor ' s Diary , " which also contains , in addition to the diary as above , a bill register , note book , rent , insurance , and mortgage register , cash book , and ledger , also 130 pages of cleverly compiled tables , and other information invaluable to all connected with the building trades , price

4 s . 6 d . Nos . 12 and 13 are specially adapted for architects , surveyors , and engineers , & c , the former haying one page to a day , also containing an index , rent , and insurance register , cash book , and ledger , also recent decisions in the Courts of Justice , specially interesting to architects , surveyors , & c , with list of metropolitan ssrveyors and districts , with their addresses , also much special matter connected with the various architectural , surveying , and

engineering associations , Index to the Practical Statutes , Practice of Architects , Stamp Duties , & c , & c . Price 4 s . 6 d . The volume No . 13 contains the same , with the addition of an extra page to each day devoted to cash items . To all business men we can thoroughly recommend these books as being the most useful , and , taking into account the superior quality , by far the cheapest we have seen . The Patent Date Indicating Blotting Pad and Book Diaries ,

manufactured by this eminent firm for so many years past , are so well known , that a lengthy review of their usefulness is unnecessary . Suffice it to say , that no business man's desk is complete without one . They publish them at prices from two to six shillings each . The No . 4 Portfolio Diary Pad is bound in cloth , folds up to 11 inches by g inches , and is specially adapted for private use , or for travelling

purposes , comprises blotting block , pocket , pen slide , diary , & c . ' , with elastic band , price 4 s . 6 d . Messrs . H . and K . invite an inspection of these goods ( when their acquisition is readily seen ) at their extensive establishment , S 3 , Southwark-street , S . E ., or samples will be submitted on application to their London Representative , Bro . H . Baldwin ( Sec . 1777 , & c ) , or may be seen and supplied through Bro . G . Kenning , of 16 , Great Queen-st ., Lincoln ' s Inn Fields , W . C .

CHRISTMAS CARDS . Messrs . Eyre and Spottiswoode are again to the fore in that department of Christmas literature and art ( for the modern Christmas card can with truth be dignified by those names ) , which seem each yearto reach the zenith of possible improvement and perfection . Finality is a word not known to producers of these charming reminders , and Messrs . Eyre and Spottiswoode have this year outdone any previous

efforts of theirs , both in variety and quality . Their designs are so numerous that it is impossible to select a twentieth part for particular notice , and we can only sum up our remarks by saying that they evidence a determination on the part of this well known firm to retain their position in the front rank of fine art printers . VVe have received specimens of Christmas Cards from

Mr . VV . G . Wallis , 112 , Fleet-st ., which the producers , Messrs . Weissner and Buch , of Leipsic , call " Fac Simile VVater Colour Cards . " The name is by no means misapapplicd . They are exquisite in colour and drawing , especially the flower subjects , of which there is a large variety . Both artists and printers have combined to produce the most perfects effects in chromo printing we have yet seen .

HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB 1 AND HIS FRIENDS : A story of Egypt and the Egyptians . By A . M . BUOADI . EY , Barrister-at-Law . Author of " Tunis Past and Present . " Illustrated by Frederick Villiers , Special Correspondent of the Graphic in Egypt . London Chapman and Hall , Limited , 1 SS 4 . Those who had the good fortune to read Bro . Broadley ' s work on Tunis , will no doubt call to mind thc skill with

which he treated a subject which , in the hands of the average writer , was almost certain to prove unattractive to the general reader . Tunis , to begin with , was a country of which comparatively little was known in England . The circumstances which brought her prominently under notice were but little understood , one thing alone appearing to be clear , namely , that France had set her mind on being aggrieved and wiping out the grievance by establishing a

protectorate over Tunis or , in other words , by virtually converting it into a French dependency . Yet , in spite of these and other drawbacks , Bro . Broadley succeeded in investing his description of the country and its people as well as the military events which resulted in the establishment of France as the protectress of Tunis , with a very considerable amount of interest . In the case of the book before us he is seen to even greater advantage . Thc campaign in

Egypt last year is still fresh in our memories . English troops still garrison the capital of the country and its principal seaport . The honour of England stands pledged to the extent of securing to thc Egyptian people a fair start on the road to reformation and ultimate prosperity . Moreover , as is the case with every phase of the interminable Eastern question or any branch of it , there are not a few who are in doubt as to whether we have adopted that particular line of

policy whicii is best calculated to strengthen our interests in the East . And last , hut not least , the ostensible leaders of the movement which led to the bombardment of Alexandria and the battle of Tel-cl-Kcbir have succeeded in attracting to themselves a large amount of interest , if not of sympathy , among thc British public . All these were advantages , which , in telling the story of " How wc defended Arabi and his Friends , " it is certain so capable a writer as Bro , Broad-

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ley would make the most of , and he has so made the most of them . More than this , he has so narrated his story that no one need fight shy of reading it through fear of finding himself involved in the consideration of abstruse legal technicalities . He states his case clearly , his views , which the reader may or may not agree with , are set forth frankly and without reservation ; and in addition , there is a charm about the author ' s style of writing , which stamps his book

as being one of the most readable that has come under our notice . In the earlier chap ters the author tells his readers how and through whose influence he received his retainer to defend the " rebel" Arabi . At first not a few Englishmen were for leaving Arabi to the tender mercies of the Khedive's ministers , but in time a healthier spirit prevailed , and , notwithstanding the difficulties interposed b y the

Egyptian authorities , it was at length conceded that Arabi should have the benefit of English counsel to defend him before the court , that was to enquire into and pronounce sentence upon his conduct . Yet even with this concession the circumstances looked anything but hopeful , and we are told in Chapter VI . that one military officer—a German—on the English staff , went so far as to bet the solicitor , Bro . Eve , a sovereign , that he would never see his client . At

length Bro . Broadley had an interview with a M . Octave Borelli , legal adviser at the Ministry of the Interior , who called on him at Shcpheard ' s with a card of introduction from Sir Edward Malet , the result being , to use his own words , that he " very soon realised two most important facts ; the first was , that the Egyptian Government had agreed to allow one or more of the political prisoners to give us their retainers ; the other , that our Egyptian

colleague cared very little what terms he agreed to if a public washing of political dirty linen could be either entirely avoided or perceptibly curtailed . " The two at once set about drawing up a kind of code of procedure , and in the end , Bro . Broadley found he had obtained even better terms than our Foreign Office had stipulated for , namely , " admission to the preliminary enquiry or instruction , whicii is forbidden by the French law , a right to

address the court , and what was more important , to argue from a political point of view . " It was by no means , however , all plain sailing . The code of procedure was , after all , not so easily arranged ; access to Arabi was delayed ; and the references to first one minister and then another were frequent . But at length the firmness of the English counsel prevailed , and M . Borelli on the one hand , and Bros . Broadley and Hon . Mark Napier on the other , signed

the agreement as to the mode of procedure which was to be followed , while shortly afterwards the order , signed by the Minister of the Interior , to admit the latter with their solicitor , Bro . Eve , and their interpreter to see Arabi in his prison , was received , and thc party at once set out for thc Daira Saniya , where the prisoner was confined . 1 he interview whicii followed is described very circumstantially . Bro . Eve obtained from the orisoner his written

authority to retain the author and the Hon . Mark Napier as the counsel for his defence , after which Arabi , in response to an invitation from Bro . Broadley to give them his full confidence and speak unreservedly of his defence , entered into an account of the position he had held during the war and the circumstances attending his surrender to General Lowe , and promised , as soon as he could see his son , to give them the papers necessary to make good his case .

The following picture of Arabi , whicii precedes the account of the interview , will no doubt be read with interest : — " In repose , an almost fixed frown and knitting of the brows can hardly fail to excite an impression of forbidding sullenness ; but I soon found out that this was the effect of deep and constant thought rather than moroseness or bad temper . Arabi ' s habit of perpetually thinking has gained him many enemies amongst those who judge by first appearances .

When his countenance lights up with animation , the change wrought in his expression is so wonderful that you would hardly recognize him as the same man . His eyes are full of intelligence , and his smile is peculiarly attractive . His complexion is li g hter than that of his son , but his nose is too flat and his lips too thick to allow one to describe him as a handsome man . He is considerably over six feet in height , and broad in proportion . During his imprisonment

his appearance was materially changed by the growth of a grey beard . After the manner of a Felaheen , a blue band was tattooed round his wrist , and he rarely , if ever , loosened his grasp on a small black rosary he perpetually ran through his fingers when talking . The cloud of anxiety which seemed to overshadow him at first gradually lifted , and before his imprisonment was ended he became almost cheerful . "

At a second interview the day following , the great Moslem festival of the Kourban Bain ' im , his counsel again impressed on Arabi the necessity of placing implicit confidence in them , dwelling at length on the relations between leg-al adviser and client as understood in England , and pointing out the imminent danger of any reservations on his part . Arabi explained that , to give them what they wanted , he must see his son or servant , but the chief gaoler

refused to admit either to His cell , and it was not until an appeal had been made to Sir Edward Malet and Sir Charles Wilson that the required permission for them to be admitted was accorded . The papers which Arabi required were at length obtained and deposited fcr the sake of security at the British Consulate , where a student-interpreter , doing duty with Sir Charles Wilson , was permitted to translate them . Arabi set about preparing his

instructions , and in the meantime , Bro . Broadley and his coadjutor , though not formally retained . had interviews with Ali Fehmy , Abd-el-AI , and Sheikh Abdu , three of the prisoners , who , with others , shortly afterwards became their clients . Chapter XII is occupied with the statement furnished by Arabi in support of his case , a statement whicii is described clearly and at considerable length . As regards the character of the defence , even the impartial reader who inclines

neither towards the Khedive nor Arabi must admit that the picas in justification of his conduct whicii the latter sets forth are exceedingl y strong . According to his version—and it is supported by what is described as " an authentic copy of the Khedive ' s resolution to declare war against England , " which is given in a foot note as having been furnished by

one of Bro . Broadley s clients , —Arabi acted in accordance with the order of his chief . Thus in one place we ara told that " tlie Khedive now showed apparently great'e ' oergy and courage , and repeatedly said that should the iyar'take place he would himself carry a rifle and be to the-ft ' clnt with his troops . " Again , " during the bombardrhent , ' messag | es were continually sent to us by the Khedive and Dervcsh Pasha , through Muheddin Eifendi , cncouragirjir ' us tode-