The Chost Of Marney Castlq.

castle , we found a staircase from tho vaults , which led np to a panelled room , the door of which was fastened outside by rusty chains aud bars . " "Yes , but you know , " I said , " thc legend that tho wicked Baron beats her for her intense wickedness , though , if tho legend itself be true , he and sho were six of the ono and the half dozen of tho other . "

"Well , " said Inspector Robinson , " its all plain Sailing after all . No doubt Jimmy , for that is what wc always called Dodds , did beat his wife , aud no doubt she really screamed when he boat her . Thc night , or rather tho morning , those two officers saw her , he had been simply strapping her , aud probably folioweel hoi- upstairs , and no doubt her screams wero real and

piercing . Ah , sir , she ' s a bad one ! Her name is Margaret—sho goes by the namo of Hamping Meg , and she has given mo moro trouble than a half-adozen men 1 She tried Jimmy very hard . " "And , " continued tho inspector with a gravity which impressed me deeply , as if ho felt what ho said , " there is no sich aggravating thing for a man as a knagging

woman . I know its against the law , and tho Lorcl Chief Justice would say thafc its a " gross illegality and a grave impropriety , " bufc for all that , though you need not repeat what I say , there arc somo women for whom nothing on earth will do hut a little judicious ' strapoil . ' Meg was the Whito Lady , aud had theso two young oflicers not been so scared hy her screams and hor white dress , the ghost would have been found out

long ago . We don't believe in ghosts at Scotland Yard . Tho only ghost I ever saw was one who would walk into other people's bedrooms , but as thafc ghost always took articles of jewellery away , wo took her at last . Sho was a fine , fat , bouncing ghost when we took her ! " "Well , " I said , " you see they'll still believe in tho ghost in the country , anil so many to this hour declare that the " White Lady walks in the ruins of Marney Castlo . "

"Dc Custibus."

"Dc Custibus . "

BY Buo . S . POYNTER , P . M . AX » TII * . B * CKOOVS * B 002 , P . M . AND FouxriKii ATHEX . IXWf 1-191 . . $ jW }| llMA V 1 KUMQUE CANO , aud as I propose " eKft *> carolling ou a congenial subject , 1 meau to te-SsiSSs tmio np lustily . Tho arms 1 sing about are ""^ offensive weapons , ex : gr : a knife proper t grasped dexter , a fork proper , argent , elisp layed sinister ; aud the man 1 warble of is "a

man and a brother , and wears a lambskin apron across thafc portion of his anterior anatomy which patrous of the V . R . term , or used so to phrase it , " below the belt . " My brother , I am about to moralise musically upon you in " thc fourth degree ; " I mean to apply my title to

you in its most material aud oven vulgar sense . I do nofc propose to discourse of thc attribute of taste in its icsthotfcal or moral application ; that is to say , I am nob about to bo didactical on tho modern renderings of the famous proverb which runs iu English— "Every one to his taste , as tho old woman sniel wheu she kisseel hor

cow , " and in French— " Chacun A son gout . " No ; my pa'au shall ho of pnlpnblo physical enjoyment ; tho tangible sensation communicated to tho animal palate ; the enjoyment that is experienced in the actual reception , mastication , and deglutition of good food and drink .

And why not ? Wo have poetical authority for asserting that " good wino is a good creature , " and fcho resplendent genius who is responsible i ' or this proposition has uot disdained to expatiate also upon " ilawn and custards , " and honest" beef and mustard . " Another poot assures us

that" In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish il dove ; In the Springa young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love . " And it seems to tho mind of a writer whoso feet , like Thackeray's , have been " under tho mahogany of mauy men , " that there is tho same touching fitness of idea existing between Christmas and feasting that Tennyson

and Shakespeare establish hctweou youth and aiuourishncss , and that the earlier poet also ascribes to thc association of old ago with covctousuess . Touching old ago , was tho " swan of Avon" cpiito accurate when he described tho senile one in tho immortal recapitulation of humanity's scenes as " sans tasto ?"

I confess I havo not yefc qualified to give an opinion founded upon personal experience ou this knotty cmestion , but 1 am , alas ! in process of doing so . I remember that once , many years ago , an ociagenarian Alderman , with his serviette woll tucked under his chin—as you see his predecessors represented in Hogarth ' s

picture , " Master Goodchild elected Sheriff of Loudon is entertained by his Company " —challenged mo to join him in iced punch . His Worship ' s mouth was very full of callipash and callipee , almost too replete to enable bim to gasp out , apoplcctically , " Stick to the table , young sir—stick to the table ; it's tho only pleasure that lasts

to tho eud—lasts to the end . I suppose tho gourmand in that other picture of Hogarth's—in thafc pitiable state after tho surfeit of oysters , you remember—hold tho same creed—bufc thez-e , " something too much of this , " as Hamlet says .

We have-, all of us , been taught thafc Freemasonry is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols ; and probably , from tho very invention of the order—and by its invention I mean from the very inception of tho idea of formulating a cult from the practice of operative Masonry—some

"Dc Custibus."

method of communicating notions of rectitude , combined with technical skill , was desiderated by the craftsmen . From tho necessity so experienced , I assume ritual originated , and I do nofc think it at all improbable thafc tho mosfc convenient opportunity for communicating tho moral lessons this ritual was intended to convey , aud at tho same timo

perfecting the ritual itself , was found in the intervals when master and foremen and workmen assembled together for necessary refreshment after—or in tho intervals of—labour ? . By imperceptible degrees—by a process extending over a long period—this mode of commmiicatinginsfcruction would developcor degenerate —call it which you please—into the easy and convenient

practice of somo learned aud skilled brother discoursing , or reading in monologue , for tho instruction and presumably thc entertainment of his companions , while thoy recruited exhausted nature , tho lector finding other opportunities for taking his necessary refreshment . This system , wo know , prevailed in monastic communities , lt was , until comparatively recent times ,

the practice in our Universities , and in thc Inns of Court . In each of the latter to this day a reader is appointed once a year , and although his oflice has become a sinecure , ho enjoys tho kudos of beholding , at the enel of his year of nominal services , his armorial bearings emblazoned on a panel in fche hall of his legal nhni ) . nutter . Most of us remember how tho monastic lecturer is introduced by Longfellow , when the monks

" aro merry in hall , when beards wag all , " and

' - The reaeler elroneel from the pulpit , Like the murmur of many bees , The legend of good St . Cuthbert , Or St . Basil ' s homilies "at that groat feast , when tho fathers toasted tho whole

of the hagiology , oue by one—a bumper aud no heel taps for each—and how my lortl the Abbot succumbed at the last , ancl was found to havo quietly departed for tho " laud o' tho leal , " as Lady Nairne has it ; and how tho hearty roysterers improved tho occasion by improvising a canonization on tho spot— ,

" Hut not tor this their revels The jovial monks forbore , For they cried , ' ' - ' ill high the goblets , lit us think tn one saint mure ! ' " A companion to this story is a yam told by Sir Walter Scott , somewhere , of the astonishing composure evinced hy au old Caledonian toper at tho sudden death

of ono of his convives—wo will call him "the laird o ' Cairngorm . " A party who had spent " a very wet evening , " separating in the small hours of tho morning , one of tho number observed that a guest appeared to bc sleeping , and remarked a very peculiar pallor upon his face . " Cairngorm ' s unco' gash , " ho whispered to his neighbour . " An' wool he may be , " was the reply ;

" he ' s been gano theso twa hours ; I saw him pass awa ' , hut I deed net' hvl ; c toileesturb guid company . " I need not say that in College aud University lifo , while tho system of commons is still maintained , its accompaniment of tho droning lector has become obsolete . Thoughtful observers havo long been convinced of tho moral utility of " keeping commons ; " and

thoro is extant a strong and nofc unreasonable prepossession for those seats of learning where this mode of educational association is still practised , while thoro is an equal and equally not unreasonable prejudice existing in tho minds of many against thoso institutions where this method of fitting their alumni for tho battle of lifo by wholesome attrition with their fellows and

future co-labourers has never been adopted , or has been allowed to fall iuto disuse . As to readers , their nominal appointment as such is not unfamiliar to us in certain ecclesiastical establishments of this day , in tho pulpits of which those monologists constantly appear , although to modern minds in this connection tho difference between a preacher and a reader is rather less

explicable than tho distinction between a crocodile and an alligator . Something of tho same feeling of veneration for ancient usages , I venture to assort , exists—notwithstanding how philosophers may theorise—aneiit tho convivial observances ol Freemasonry . The day , thank Heaven , has long passed by when it behoved a brother

to seriously buckle on his armour aud defend tho beloved Craffc from tho vulgar charge thafc it was only an excuse for feasting , for gormandizing , for indulgence in alcoholic excess . Excesses , either in meats or drinks , aro now—and tho facfc is uuivcrsally recognisedvery much tho exception rather than in any degree the rule in Masonic " refreshment ; " whilo , on tho other

hand , slackness , slovenliness , inaccuracy , or lukowarmnoss in tho performance and rendering of tho bautifulo " working " and ritual arc alsoas conspicuously infrequent . Wo havo nothing to apologise for , but littlo to defend ; tho charges involved in that littlo wo may perhaps bo sometimes put to viudicato , but tho answer need bo but brief , and I certainly do not propose to excite tho

ridicule of my readers by donning harness to ropol tho sprinkles of penny squirts . Thoro aro so many things it is cheap and easy to laugh afc . I personally enjoy tho annual procession of Lord Mayor ' s Show , aud shall continue , to do so , call you it gimcrack g ingerbread never so much . Perhaps to mo it has some occult meaning , and its gilding goes

deeper than tho surface j hut I am nofc necessarily a dotard because your occular organs havo not tho samo focus as mino . I roar at two or threo pantomimes every year , and tho spectacle of a fat , appoplectio looking middlo-aged gentleman , choking with laughter until tho tears run down his checks , onco or fcwico per annumat Mr . Clown purchasing a pound of butter in order to greaso tho pavement before tho cheesemonger ' s door ,

"Dc Custibus."

so fchat , when thafc honest tradesman emerges , his slithery slide may culminate in an undignified sprawl—may bo contemptible to you , dear reader ; but then I may seo in it " excellent fooling , " and reflect , if permitted to philosophise over so puerile a subject , thafc it may nofc be altogether unwise to bo sometimes for a brief miuute or two in this world of woo " even as a littlo child . "

Anel so with other things . When I elitie , as I frequently havo fcho honour of doing , wifch my noble friend thc Itight Honourable Geoffrey Plantageuct Fitz-Urse Staugate , Earl of Lamboth , Viscount Now Cut , and Baron of Pedlar ' s Acre , K . G ., etc ., etc ., I do nofc expect thafc exalted nobleman to tako wino with mo—ifc isn't clone in society now , you know ; that's information for

you , dear reader , isn t it f I do not teel slighted if , in the presence of fcho two solemn be-laccd ones , upright behind my chair , my noblo host does nofc give his curiously cut tasse a knowing cock , and audibly announce thafc ho " looks towards " mo , or affectionately preface his draught , ct la Gamp , with " here ' s wishin' you luck . " I am perfectly awaro fchat I can imbibo as much

or as little as I please afc my lord s mahogany , and that fche decorous plain—tho champagne—I mean the country not the liquor— " tho lie of tho land , " to use a Cambridgeshire term—of talk indecorous subdued tone , will not be disturbed by acclivities of heartiness and volcanic eruptions of expressions of frienellinoss , affection , and goodwill . I say , I tako my right honourable friend

as I find him ; I accept a sort of aristocratic pot-luck , as it were ; I accommodate myself to princely circumstances , because 1 am not proud and don't protend to look down upon peers of thc realm , as some folks do . But then I also am found ccpial to tho situation in a Freemason ' s lodgo , anel I do not , and I will uot , denouncer tho continuance of tho old hearty fashion of " Wacs

hael , " of demonstrating openly tho hospitality wo aro delighted to extcuel , tho affection wc are happy to bo ablo to feel when wo brethren meet , and amicably—and I hopo wc always all of us do so amicably—break bread together . "Turkey and chine , " "Boast beef and plum pudding , " " Hum punch and sparkling hock ! " " What

in onlogiscr of goiirmandine you aro ! 1 think I hoar somo of my readers exclaim . Head between the lines , my friends , anel you shall seo that this panegyric implies a deep concern for tho good fellowship in its higher seuso which theso tangibilities symbolically represent . Tho glass of wino that I tako at refreshment after labour with a brother whom I have never

seen before , constitutes tho recognition of tho value of ono of tho great principles of our fraternity , emblematises the great virtue , whether displayed by savage or by civilised man , tho ready and cheerful practice of hospitality . Again , over that glass of wino , sipped at tho samo moment with fcho friend of yonr heart , expressive- eyes meeting in sympathetic glances , how

many dear memories may not bo evoked , our many tender chords may noc bo rosfcruck—sounded anew ? Nay , move . Wo of tho esoteric can alford to admit that sometimes ifc may bo derisively asked—even of us —Tantcene animis cceleslibus iroi' f hut how often—do wo not kuow , brethren 1—how often an answer to this sneer is at lodgo refreshment anticipated by a flask of

Marcobrimner , quenching tho flames of wrath as effectually as Captain Shaw ' s now India-rubber hoso pipes squirt out tho Iiro in an incandescent Motroriolitan shop . Jones anil Green eye tho table-cloth between them as the lists , tho touruoy field—which , indeed , ifc is in tho sense of being boundeel by tho selvages of the napory—wherein thoy two meet , not unwilling , to

exchange wordy blows and tonguo-bangiiig battle , so far as tho W . M . will allow thorn , aud to reap up that old affair about tho—well , never mintl what—but somehow the pair of oyos of one of tho combatants twinkles over fche tall green flasks in the interval between soup and fish ; aud thoso sparkling orbs by chance , lookiug across tho intended battle-ground

encounter another pair twinkling , by no means antagonistically , but contrariwise , opposite . " With you , old boy 1 " stammers Jones , tho fierce foe , hesitatingly to Green , tho implacable enemy . Itetorts Groon , tbo I . E ., heartily , and as if immeasurably relieved , to Jones , tho F . F ., " With all tho pleasure in life , brother Jones ; what shall it be , hock or sherry ? " and imagination

need not bo accused of being very extravagant if you fancy you can read , inscribed on the diaper , Amantium irw amorin redintegratio est , or , think you hear , in the chink of tho weapons of these two doughty combatants —I mean in tho clink of thoir encountering gobletsour good old English ballad rendering of Terence ' s famous adage , " Tho falling out of ancient friends

¦ renewing is of love . " " So mote it be ! " And horo let mo conclude . " I had purposed , gentle reader , to point out to you thafc our after dinner speeches , tho which aro not without their uses—let a flippant generation say what ifc will—uses of exhortation , of encouragement , of admonition , of explanation , aro tho survivals of tho ancient fashion of

employing an orator to " improve tho occasion of refection , bufc I forbear . Rien sacre pour un sapeur aud if , as wo havo scon lately , oven that—if not venerable , afc all events , grave and solemn—institution , tho wedding breakfast—is not sacred from tho flippant sneer of tho cynic , how can wo expect thafc an apology for post prandial discourse " across tho walnuts and tho

wino" will bo gravely , or oven patiently received ? So , hopiug that I havo achieved tho great success in composition indicated by that eminent literary authorit y , Mr . Samuel Weller , as " pulliu' up short , and then you makes 'em wish for more , " I very fraternally and respectfully bid my readers farewell and " Waes haol , " and wish them all and each " A very merry Christmas , and a happy , prosperous New Year . "