Our Bro. Lord Lindsay.

ii H points out to all brethren that by a strict observance r , | ie princip les laid down in the several charges , and by king tne liberal arts and sciences their study , they can " if in their different stations of life , become useful if not distinguish- *' 1 members of society . i'From the very high position you hold , Right Worshipful Brother , in the Grand Lodge of England , my Lodge ,

nnd all Eng lish Masons in Mauritius , may , I feel assured , count on your valuable support , when the hour shall arrive to petition our beloved Prince and Worshipful Grand Master for an extension of Masonic indulgences in this Island , which I trust may not be far distant . " That you may long live to be a ruler in the Craft , is the sincere and fraternal wish of the British Lodge . "

St. Valentine's Day.

ST . VALENTINE'S DAY .

St . Valentine s day has come and gone , and the effusions of the poet and the sighs of the lover have by this time faded into " thin air . " We hardly dared to write on the subject , until after the venerated anniversary was passed away , tor fear we should bring ourselves under the

condemnation of that religious body which has thought well to make a deliverance about St . Valentine ' s annual festival , and the distribution of his missives on the day of rest . We agree with them in the abstract , and think that as all the " fair enslavers" of the metropolis could only

receive the expected epistle on Monday , our provincial fairies and lasses , and even " females of mature age" might have waited too , so as not to interfere with the poor postman ' s sabbath day . But our object in calling attention to the good Saint ' s anniversary is for a very different

purpose . A great deal has been written and spoken lately about women ' s rights , and " Female Freemasonry , " and we have heard lately , not a few allusions to the " Lone Star , " or the " Eastern Star , " or the " Mystic Star , " or something of the kind equally touching and

mysterious . It seems that like our fair French sisters in the last century , who invented " La Maconnerie d'Adoption . " These names or some such names as these , represent a movement in America , to establish a female Freemasonry . Well , despite St . Valentine ' s Day , despite its

memories and its associations , despite dear visions and laughing eyes and flowing ringlets , rather , we should say , close-clipped little patches of hair , we cannot sympathize with such proceedings . No ! Whether it be that we are old , or cross , or gouty , whether it may be said of us

that we are too much " laudatores tempons acti , not only do we believe in the pleasant presence and the tender souvenirs of a bye-gone time , but we are inclined to think that our fair sisters today , like some we hugely liked and loved years , yes , years ago , have no business , no , no business ,

we repeat , in a Masonic lodge . Dear creatures as they are , goodand true , and brave , " angel beings , " as we heard a married man once say , looking up to the gallery before him ( his wife was not there ) , " corruscations of beauty , " and " scintillations of grace , " as we have heard tbem termed by young

Masons , they are still , in our humble opinion , like "fishes out of water" in a Masonic lodge . If they ask why , as women sometimes Eve-like will , all we can say is , that there are so many valid reasons that we think it " unnecessary to state them . " We admit that this is rather in the

" haw-haw" style , in which some of the younger generation like to indulge . Butwere weto writeour reasons in full , we should be like the old parson , who got to tlie " seventeenthly " and then said , naively , " here I will close , though I have several other heads , but I fear your patience , my brethren ,

won ' t stand it any longer . " And so , in lieu of our prosy explanations and elucidations , as we lighted the other day on the following affecting stanzas , we give them in full . They explain themselves , and will doubtless be equally approved of by those fair sisters of ours , who read

theirhusbands , ortheir brothers , or their intended s Freemason , as well as by those enthusiastic bachelors , and those somewhat vivacious married men , who give , with the deepest emphasis of pathetic emotion , the happy toast of " Woman , lovely woman . "

As Brethren we arc met for mirth and delight , And joy the bright hours of our Banquet shall fill j Though , woman , dear woman , be absent to-night , The spell of her beauty is over us still . " Though shut from our Lodges by ancient decree ,

In spite of our laws woman there bears her part ; For each Mason , I ' m sure , will tell you , with mc , That her form is enshrined , and reigns in his heart .

St. Valentine's Day.

" 'Twas wisely ordained by our Order of old , To tile fast the door , spite entreaties and sighs ; For once in our Lodge , she would rule uncontrolled , And govern the Craft by the light of her eyes .

" Think not that in mysteries alone we delight , Or that selfishness ever our fond hearts can fill , Though woman , dear woman , be absent to-night , The spell of her beauty is over us still . " Philadelphia Keystone

The Prince Imperial.

THE PRINCE IMPERIAL .

We are not politicians , and the Freemason does not meddle ever with political questions per se . But there are certain subjects which seem to lift themselves , if we may so say , above the petty

controversies and passing polemics of the hour . It must be a subject of much rejoicing to all Frenchmen and Englishmen to learn how well and ably the young Prince Imperial has acquitted himself in his Woolwich career . Those who

know our English institution will be aware , that all we gave the Prince Imperial , as indeed all he asked for , _ v / as " a fair field and no favour , " and in that he has displayed most commendable industry and intellect of a very high order . That he is the seventh out of a list of thirty-four , with

31 , 615 marks , is in itself a great deal , considering the examination , but when we add that he is sixth in mathematics , seventh in fortification , that he has done " very well" in artillery and mechanics , that he is fifth in gymnastics and first in equitation , and this , though eleven months

junior than the average age of the class and not an Englishman , we feel that too much can hardly well be said either for his industry or his ability . It was our sad duty on a former occasion to offer our humble condolence to the widow and the orphan when , in the providence

of God , Napoleon III . passed away from the troublous scene of human affairs . To-day we are glad to be able to record the results of the Woolwich examination , so gratifying to a mother ' s heart , and so interesting to that large section of the French people , which was faithful to the father and has not forgotten the son .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

It is stated that at the Committee Meeting on Wednesday , the 10 th , our good Bro . Major Creaton in the chair , it was resolved to elect i _ $ widows and 22 male annuitants on the 21 st of May . This resolution , which , it is also stated , has been arrived at in consequence of the liberal amount received at the Anniversary Festival , will

enable the subscribers to vote for 37 candidates , leaving only 3 1 rejected applicants . If this announcement be correct , we congratulate the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and the Order , as , after the original announcements , this large increase of admissable candidates will come upon the Craft Loth as a pleasing surprise and a very welcome item of intelligence .

Surrey Masonic Hall.

SURREY MASONIC HALL .

We beg to call the attention of our readers to the lithograph of the Masonic Hall which appears in the Freemason to-day , and also to the report of the Company , which we have much pleasure in printing .

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

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

We are enabled to state , on authority , that the installation of our Royal Grand Master will take place at the Albert Hall . But no details are as yet arranged , nor will they be until after the next meeting of the Grand Lodge . Doe

notice will then , no doubt , be given to all the lodges of what is proposed to be done . We will keep our readers " au courant" of all the official and correct information on the subject , and recommend them not to pay any attention to sensational paragraphs , or unofficial statements ,

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

LWe do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving of the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit— -within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —ED . T

THE ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS . To Ihe Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — The want of care exercised by lodges in the admission of members has drawn from you remarks that fully indicate the evil of which your correspondent complains , but he also deals with another " blot or

mischiefmaking source to Freemasonry , and that is the holding of our lodges in public houses . " Having repeatedly had my attention drawn to the several points treated upon by yourself , and your correspondent , on the above subject , allow mc to give an opinion as to the remedy , and in doing so lay before your readers the way in which those evils were dealt with .

In the formation of a new lodge , three years ago , we had in view the objectionable features complained of , and therefore we adopted the following correctives : —That when a member had a candidate for initiation , or a joining member to propose , he should first name the matter to the W . M ., who , with the I . P . M ., Secretary , and Wardens , formed a " committee of enquiry , " and when the result

of their investigation had been laid before the lodge ( for it to judge of the eligibility or otherwise of the party ) , it should then consider the case previous to taking the ballot . This course deals effectively with the haste and lax manner complained of , and will prevent the admission of members who " never pass , or seek to pass , beyond the ' arcana' of the ' knife and fork degree . ' "

" The holding of our lodges in public houses " should most certainly be avoided . Having regard to this , we not only rented rooms in a Masonic hall , but we made a byelaw—that " no refreshment shall be served in connection with the lodge , except on the occasion of the annual installation banquet . " This I think you will say deals with the " public house" and "knife and fork" difficulty .

With regard to the benefits of our institution being a temptation to those who wish to enter the Order , this could be met as by the lodge I have referred to , by raising the scale of charges , which has proved a thorough success . With regard to the "fees" being a temptation to a lodge to disregard the necessary care that should be exercised in selecting its members—that is an evil that

carries its own punishment , and a lodge that thus disregards its own character , must soon pay the penalty of its breach of Masonic law . Another point you name , and very properly condemn , is the admission of members being directed by " a clique . " This proves the force of a statement in one of your previous leaders , that we number many members who are not

Freemasons . The only remedy for this is to see that every candidate for initiation is " first prepared " as he says , and then , depend upon it , we shall not hear of such unmasonic terms as " a clique" in the lodge . I cannot better close this than by quoting ourH . W ., Bro . the Rev . John Huyshe , P . G . M . of Devonshire , who at the banquet of the lodge referred to , on the occasion of my

installation , when treating upon this subject , said : " It ( the London lodge ) had endeavoured to do its duty without allowing itself to be carried away by a wish to largely increase its numbers , irrespective of the quality of those who were introduced into the lodge , and he wished to impress upon all Masons that they should not seek to get anyone and everyone into their lodges . For himself , he

should be exceedingly glad if the Grand Lodge would double the entrance fee ; they would then have a very different class of men in the Order . It was really a bad principle to look simply to the filling of their book with numbers . If a man put a bad stone into a building , it was by no means an easy thing to take it out again . But it must come out unless they wished to mar the beauty of

the whole building , and how was the mistake to be remedied ? Why , by never letting the stone go in . Never let them put an evil stone into a building , and then they would raise and erect a temple fit and proper for habitation . This was why they had raised their fee above that of every other lodge in the province , and he congratulated them very much upon having done so , because it was the way

to keep them select . It might perhaps be said , m opposition to such a course as this , that Masonry was universal , and therefore ought not to be kept select ; but he did not consider that there was anything in the argu . ment . Masonry was universal , it was true , in its principles , but in its members it was select , and ought to be select , " Yours truly and fraternally , I . C .

To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — The sentiments , regarding the admission of candidates into lodges , expressed by yourself and "a sincere Mason " in the last impression of this journal , demand grave consideration from members of the Craft . There can be no-doubt that great laxity has for some

time existed 111 certain lodges in respect to initiations . Were it necessary for mc to adduce evidence in support of this statement , I could easily offer indisputable facts , that have come under my own personal notice . I say this unreservedly , but with feelings of great regret and chagrin . The evil , to which reference has been made , may be

counteracted by the adoption of careful and conscientious investigation into the moral and social status of each candidate , some days previous to the balloting taking place at a regular meeting . I have often felt my dignity loweredby being compelled , through frequent visits to lodges , to associate with men whose reputation was known to be of an indifferent character , and who had been initiated with-