Honorary Members.

not militate with the the Book of Constitutions , and here we must leave the matter to-dav .

Weekly Summary.

WEEKLY SUMMARY .

Her Majesty is still at Osborne . Ths Confirmation of H . R . H . Princess Beatrice , by the Archbishop of Canterbury , took place at Whippingham Church , on January 8 , in the presence of the Queen and their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales , the Prince and Princess

Christian , Prince Arthur , and Prince Leopold . Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales , attended by Lady Emily Kingscote , Lord and Lady Suffield , Lieutenant-Colonel Teesdale , Lieutenant-Colonel Ellis , Mr . F . Knollys , and Captain the Hon . Oliver Montagu , left Marlborough House on Saturday evening , en route for St . Petersburg .

His Royal Highness Prince Arthur , attended by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Howard Elphinstone and Major Pit & ard , accompanied their Royal Highnesses . H . R . H . the Duke of Edinburgh has safely arrived at St . Petersburg , where he has been

most warmly received by the Emperor , the Imperial Family , and the Russian people . H . R . H . the Duke of Cambridge was assaulted in St . James ' s-street , by a Captain Charles Studdert Mansell , late of the 2 nd Foot , on the

6 th cf January . It is only charitable to hope and to believe that the unfortunate man is insane . His Royal Highness appears to have shown the greatest dignity and forbearance towards his assailant .

The equestrian statue of the late lamented Prince Consort was unveiled in the presence of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , the Duke of Cambridge , the Lord Mayor of London , and other notabilities , at the western entrance of the Holborn Viaduct , on Friday the oth . The

statue is given by a donor , generally unknown , and executed very effectivel y by Mr . Charles Bacon . The speeches of the Lord Mayor and of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , were most interesting and well-received . On the 8 th , the coffin of Napoleon the Third

was transferred to the sarcophagus in the little mortuary chapel at Chislehurst , with a short religious ceremony . The sarcophagus itself , is a gift of Her Majesty the Queen to the widowed Empress . That excellent and august lady , attended by her son , was present in the Mortuary

Chapel , and a considerable number of distinguished adherents to the empire assembled to do loyal homage to the memory of their old master . In general news we have little to record Lord Ilchester has succeeded Lord Cowper as Captain of the Hon . Corps of

Gentlemen-at-Arms , and Lord Monson has been appointed Treasurer of the Royal Household . Mr . Dorington has been elected M . P . for Stroud in the place of Mr . Winterbotham ; and Mr . Townley appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cambridge in the place of Lord Hardwicke .

The Castro trial continues , and its end seems still far off . Old fashioned people feel , that , twenty-one days in summing up a defence is a serious tax on patience and propriety . It is frightful to contemplate the amount of costs a " grateful country " will have to pay . A most

extraordinary correspondence appears in the Times , as between Mr . Whalley , M . P ., and Jean Luie . Another claimant has started up in Scotland , for the Eglinton estates , and we fully expect to have now a succession of wonderful , claimants , and still more startling claims , alike for public and private property .

The legal profession , as well as the public , lose a great deal by the retirement of Sir Samuel Martin . Those of this present , or rather , perhaps of an older generation , will long fondly remember his outspoken honesty , his unsullied integrity , and his increasing desire to be just , and to administer the law , both in the letter and in the spirit .

A curious case has been heard before that able judge , Mr . Justice Keating , an assessor for the Bishop of Exeter , at Exeter . It seems a pity that Mr , Chancellor PhiJpotts could not restrain his conscientious feelings , as it reminds us of what has been called in French , " une tempctc dans un verre d ' eau . "

Weekly Summary.

Abroad , the news is still not important . In Germany the Roman Catholic Church is very militant indeed , and Prince Bismark shews clearly that " there ' s life in the old dog yet , " to use a very homely proverb . But a war of conscience , or what is taken to be

conscience , is always a very difficult one to wage , and we doubt much the efficacy of penal enactments , in such matters . The elections for the German Parliament are meanwhile quietly proceeding . In France the Ministry have been placed in a

minority , and have resigned , but having obtained a vote of confidence , have resumed their portfolios . Marshal and Madame McMahon gave their first ball at the palace of the Elysee , on the 14 th when the fair " Parisiennes " would think much

more of agreeable partners , than of disagreeable votes of the " Chambres des Deputes . " In Spain the military pronunciamento has so far succeeded , and is apparently quite approved of by Spaniards . Madrid tranquil , Carthagena bombarded , Moriones " in a fix , " such seem to be just now the " Cosas de Espana . "

The young King of Siam has abolished prostration on the " Kotoo , " as it is called , and promises to be an enlightened ruler . We have to announce the death of General Baron de Ros , of the Countess of Stanhope , of the Dowager Countess de Clifford , of General Sir James Chatterton , and of Mr . Henry Glassford Bell .

The Times also reports a very serious accident on the Great Northern Railway , at Barkstone Junction , by which two persoas have been killed , and eight more or less seriously injured .

Freemasonry In Ireland.

FREEMASONRY IN IRELAND .

THE NEW CoNsriTurroNs . PROPOSED LAW No . 133 . As it is pretty generally understood that we shall soon be called on to re-discuss and redecide the question of the retention or expurgation of the above most objectionable rule in our

proposed new constitutions , I avail myself of the friendl y columns oiThe Freemason , to bring before the Order in general , and our Irish brethren in particular , a few reasons why we should at the very earliest opportunity expunge a statute , which , as has very forcibly been put in

a recent editiorial of this paper , never should have been permitted to find a place among the laws of" Free and Accepted Masons . " It is hardly necessary to quote the law in extenso , as probably nearly all your readers who take any interest in the subject , are by this time

tolerably familiar with it . Briefly , it proposes to compel the Grand Lodge of Craft Masonry to suspend , expel , or restore any brother , suspended , expelledj or restored , by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter , the Great Priory of Knights Templar , the Grand Chapter of Prince

Masons , or the Supreme Council of the 33 ° for Ireland , "without any further enquiry or investigation . " The principle attempted to be again forced on Grand Lodge for acceptance , is so utterly unmasonic , and so entirely subversive , not only of Masonic , but of general jurisprudence , that it

seems almost a waste of time to argue the question , but as there is a compact , if not a very numerous , section of Irish members , who seem determined to enforce their particular views as being most for the advantage of the Order in general , I propose to notice a few points that naturally present themselves in examining the subject .

We are told by some , that the law referred to , is what is called a " Reciprocal Treaty , " that the ' Foreign Bodies , " whose mandate we are called on , unquestioning , to obey , but ask us to do for them what they bind themselves to do for us , and we are threatened that if we do not pass this

law , those other orders may possibly pay no attention to sentences of suspension or expulsion pronounced by Grand Lodge , and may retain Masons so suspended or expelled , in their community . Is this line of argument to be taken as sarious ? Is it not perfectly plain , as laid down

Freemasonry In Ireland.

by Bro . Mackey in his " Jurisprudence , that suspension or expulsion from Craft Masonry necessarily involves suspension or expulsion from all the so called " higher degrees , " of which the offending party may be a member , but that the converse , is not , and should not be the « ase .

But assume for a moment that the implied threat be mtde a fact , and let us suppose that a brother who has been expelled from the Craft , retains his position as a member of the Royal Arch Order for example . It is unquestioned that suspension or expulsion , from Freemasonry

is a punishment applied only to serious Masonic crimes , the latter punishment being admittedl y irrevocable , and equivalent to Masonic death . Can the members of the Royal Arch Body , composed as it must be of Blue Masons , sit in chapter with one who has been cut off , for serious

oftences from the Craft ? or if they even so far forget their duty , as Masons , as to contemplate so doing , why should their conduct in the matter disturb the serenity of Grand Lodge ? The Craft being freed from the presence of an unworthy member , whose conduct called for such condign

punishment , if so called "higher orders " choose to tolerate such characters in their ranks that is their own affair , and Grand Lodge has no occasion to trouble itself further in the matter . But again , if the law be passed , Grand Lodge will stand in a very inferior position to the other

grand bodies , whose dictates it must however unhesitatingly obey without inquiry , even when those bodies order Grand Lodge to cut offa member , whose Masonic career may appear to Blue Masons unblemished . The members of those orders referred to , being of necessity Craft

Masons , can be perfectly acquainted with all the charges and evidences brought forward in Grand Lodge , against a member accused of any Masonic offence , but the members of Grand Lodge are not to ask , nor would they be informed if they did , of what it is a member of the other

bodies has been accused , and on what evidence he has been convicted . The idea of reciprocity , with this fact borne in mind , has a tinge of the comical about it . We are told indeed , that a member is never suspended or expelled from those other bodies , save for a

strictly Masonic offence , and we are expected to jump to the conclusion , that no brother can be cut off from fellowship in those orders , except for a crime , that would , if he were tried in Craft Masonry , involve a similar sentence . If so why not try him for the crime in Grand Lodge ? Let

all Masonic offences be examined and adjudicated on by the Craft . If the offence be a special one , such as a deliberate breach by the member , of his obligations in the order he belongs to , Grand Lodge cannot of course ask as to what special point he has offended in , but it

can , and it ought , to be told , that the member has been ostracised as a punishment for wilful crime , after a trial by his peers , and with that fact officially before it , Grand Lodge may safely be left to do its duty in the matter . The term Masonic offence , is besides , a very

vague one . For instance , resistance to the powers that be , would be regarded by those powers as a Masonic offence , and yet it is quite possible that circumstances may at some time arise in those o'Aicv bodies that would render resistance a necessity and a duty , and is Grand Lodge to be

bound hand and foot , to strengthen by its power the hands of those who in those higher bodies may , by their misgovernment and imprudence , provoke an opposition which they may be strong enough to put down summarily by the very simple argument of suspending or expelling their opponents ? I trust not .

The proposed law is altogether unnecessary . We have already , in rule 30 , protected the interests of those other orders , and have gone very much out of our way as Craft Masons to secure for them a monopol y of the privileges they enjoy . The High Grades in Ireland , if this rule had not been passed , would have been exposed

to the risk of two dangers . A " foreign jurisdiction " might invade their territory , and confer on Iri . sh members , certain degrees , the possession of which is supposed to make a brother Masonically happy , or there might be a secession from the ranks of some of those " ineffable " degrees , and the seceding parties might issue counter manifestoes , and show a culpable want of that delicate