Forewarned Is Forearmed

us all , thank God ! Trade is free , Masonry is liberal and tolerant ,- and we have outlived , let us trust , the age of hurtful monopoly , of noxious utterance , and of unsatisfactory assumption . The great motto for us all now , and most Masonic in its teaching and its scope , is " live

and let live / ' and let us keep aloof from all that may seem to antagonize the full rig ht of individual enterprise , or the just reward of gladdening success . Freemasonry , approves all that is open , and above-board , and straight-running , all that is fair-dealing and business-like . Freemasonry

denounces and rebukes all intimidation , favoritism , and tendencies to jobbery and red tape of any kind , the specious complaints of interested individuals or the hopeless platitudes ot those who are distanced in the race , or have been unsuccessful in the active competition for existence .

Forewarned—forearmed is still a wise and necessary proverb for us all , and being forewarned , we are always forearmed , against the covert insinuation or the open diatribe , against the anonymous letter of the concealed slanderer , against the cackling of geese on the common , against the noisy uproar of the disappointed or

the desperate . Perhaps some of our readers may enter , more fully than we care to do , into the full force of these humble remarks , and we will only add , that in the battle of life we are always forewarned and forearmed , and meet , whether it be the open or the hidden attack , the circular , the handbill or the pamphlet , with one little , if meaning English word , namely , CONTEM PT \

What Is Platonic Friendship?

WHAT IS PLATONIC FRIENDSHIP ?

This is a question which has often been asked , but seldom satisfactorily answered . A recent trial in the Common Pleas seems to offer us a response to a somewhat difficult enquiry , and to point out to us that there is some meaning

in it after all . A " discriminating jury of our fellow-countrymen " has recently awarded a widow ( what Mr . Weller seniors' feelings would have been we do not like to realise ) , aejiooo damages for a breach of promise . In this special case the recalcitrant hero had pleaded " platonic

friendship ; nothing more ' pon honour . " Still , such was his fate , and let us moralize thereupon . Like the jury , we are inclined to think that " platonic friendship " means a good deal more than is generally supposed to be the case , and that in fact , it is not mere " bottled moonshine , " or

" sublimated sentiment" as some too hastily lay down , but is in ^ ruth , if abstract , concrete , if theoretical often very practical . Someexperienceu judges of human life and manners , seem to doubt whether you can really safely lay down any limit as to where platonic frienship beginsorends

and in fact , they assert , that there is no such thing really in the world . Whether platonic friendship be ideal or real , whether it be shadow or substance , whether it be natural or nonnatural , whether it be a delusion or a fact , we do not feel competent to express our opinion to-day ,

but we will confidently assert that it often assumes the shape of a specious proposition or a self-deceiving persuasion , if not of a personal and practical reality . In this recent case , while the gentleman was resting securely , as he thought , on his

beautiiul ideal of platonic friendship , the lady , as often happens , saw a good deal more than he saw , and laid much more stress than he did on apparently platonic words , and , as he assumed completely platonic acts . The jury thought the lady was right in her conclusions ,

and the gentleman wrong in his view of the case , and have demonstrated we think to all , not only how many are the illusions of life , but how great are the dangers of mere platonic friendship . A graceful French lady writer of some merit has said : —

Quel est ce sentiment , cet charme de s ' entendre Qui montrant le bonheur le detruit sans retour , Qui depasse en ardeur l'amitie le plus tendre Et qui n ' est pas l ' amour . What is that " sentiment—that charm of understanding Which

pointing to happiness destroys it without return , Which surpasses in ardour the most profound friendshi p , And yet is not love ? " We find it very difficult to answer this subtle Jjuery , and as the jury in the recent case found it equall y so , they gave a good round verdict of

What Is Platonic Friendship?

£ 1000 damages for the outraged affections of the fair realist .. We feel it therefore to be our duty , as Masonic moralists , to warn all Masonic widowers and bachelors amongst us , lest they too unconsciously are led away by the fancied safety of " p latonic friendship '' into words which

are dubious , attentions which are full of meaning , and acts which are dangerous , all the while thinking themselves petfectly safe . Or else some fine morning they will wake up to the pleasant consciousness that they have made a great mistake , for that platonic friendship which was apparently

the amusement of idleness or the novelty of dissipation has become for them the reality , if not the burden of their life . Too often like silly moths round a candle , they have fluttered around the festive scene , and amid the song laden hours of that amiable weakness of us " Lords ot

the Creation , ' until they have either to face a jury or confront a wife , to measure out full payment , from the pocket of a payee , or to hug the chains of the stern and unvarying seriousness of conjugal existence , instead of the lighter and more amusing role of some would-be professor of " platonic friendship . "

The New Grand Chaplain

THE NEW GRAND CHAPLAIN

We have the greatest satisfaction m announcing that H . R . H . the M . W . Grand Master has been pleased to appoint Bro . the Rev . H . A . Pickard , P . M . Apollo University Lodge , P . Prov .

S . G . Warden , Oxfordshire , as Grand Chaplain in the place of our late lamented Bro . the Rev . Lake Onslow , for the remainder of the Masonic year . A short account of our brother ' s Masonic career will be found elsewhere .

Une Amende Honorable.

UNE AMENDE HONORABLE .

We have to apologize to our esteemed and able confrere , Bro . C . P . McCalla , of Philadelphia , well known as one of the most rising of American Masons , for crediting to the Eclectic an admirable article entitled "Fraternity "

which appeared in our pages last week , and will have delighted many readers . We ought to have said Keystone , instead " of Eclectic , but , as Bro . McCalla well knows , such mistakes will occur even with Masonic Editors . We are glad to call attention for the information of our Craft at

large , for the great merit of that most ably edited Masonic paper , the Keystone of Philadelphia . All lodge libraries and reading Masons should at once order a copy of it , as it is well worth perusal .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do net hold ourselves responsible lor , or even as approving or eheopinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —ED . 1

UNIFORMITY IN RITUAL . To the Editor of the " Freemason . ''' ' Dear Sir and Brother , — My lines are very often cast in Scotland , and , as a zealous English Mason , I frequently make a point of visiting loelges working over the borders . A fortnight ago I visited a lodge the charter of which dates from the

year 1816 , when I was greatly surprised to find that all three of the Craft degrees were worked almost exactly as we do under the English Constitution ! that is to say , with regard to ritual . Last week I visited another lodge , in the adjoining county , dating the same year as that referred to , and was very much astonished to note the ritual of the three Craft degrees as being entirely different . The same

evening I casually mentioned this diversity to a prominent brother , holding high office in the Grand Lodge of Scotland , asking him why the working was not uniform , and his reply was to the effect that each lodge had its own regulations , and it was useless attempting to interfere with them . I am , however , hopeful that our good and eminent Bro . D . Murray Lyon , the Grand Secretary of

Scotland , will add this to the many useful reforms he contemplates initiating in connection with Scottish Craft Masonry . If a uniformity of ritual was observed between the two countries brethren of each Grand Lodge would then be more thoroughly at home as visitors , and besides ,

could in either country make themselves generally useful when invited to take an officer ' s position . The entente cordiale between the two Grand Lodges would also be more genuine . Fraternally yours , AM ENGLISH PAST MASTER .

LODGES AT TAVERNS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I am glad that through the freemason I have been able to draw the attention of some of the brethren to the stigma that is now attached to Freemasonry , " the holding of lodges at taverns . " Now , it should be im-

Original Correspondence.

possible for any lodge working in the United Kingtlom to be holding its meetings at hotels , taverns , or public- houses . Masonry has done great and noble things in the past ; it cannot be that there is not left sufficient vitality in the brotherhood but that a General Building Fund could be establUhed for the purpose of erecting small Bethels in the provinces , so that the litual of Masonry might be far

removed from the jargon of the tap-room , and the fascinations and trickery of the host . Asa means towards the desired end ( Masonic lodges in Masonic buildings ) , let Grand Lodge in future refuse to grant , f o under a new clause of the Constitution to be framed ) , any warrant for the holding of a Masonic Lodge in any hotel , tavern , or public-house . At the present time-, there

are in many towns Masonic Halls and Clubs . Sincere Masons wish to see them spread over the length and breaelth of the kingdom , and this will soon be accomplished if the great body of Masons will show to the world that they are Masons in truth anel deed . If it were made illegal to hold any lodge or chapter in any hotel , tavern , or public-house , Masons would then be driven to finel a proper place for the holding of their

loelges anel chapters . This they would soon do , anJ find that the change which they had been obliged to make was all for the better in every respect , both the Mason and Masonry gaining much—a new era , free and untrammelled from the influence of the " Pub " and the host , and at the same time rising much in the estimation of the world by the change . I am , yours fraternally , SIGMA .

OPERATIVE MASONS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir anel Brother , — Strolling through the town of Melrose , in Scotland , some tlays ago , I turned in to inspect the far-famed abbey of Melrose , one of the largest and most magnificent Gothic structures in the kingdom . It is no news to your

readers to say that the abbey was founded in 1136 by King David , that entombed within its stately walls are King Alexander II ., the Black Douglas , and the heart of King Robert Bruce , and further , that the noble pile forms a prominent scene in Bro . Sir Walter Scott's " Monastery , " " The Abbot , " and " The Lay of the Last Minstrel . " Having inspected for the first time Melrose Abbey , what

is there wonderful in discovering that a Masonic lodge exists likewise in the little Border town , and that there is also a Masonic Hall ? Refering to my " Cosmopolitan Calendar , " however , I found no record of St . John ' s Lodge , Melrose . This seemed strange at first view , but I was subsequently informed the lodge in question holds itself aloof from the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of

Scotland , never owed the Grand Body any allegiance , an el there was little or any probability of their evtr asking for a charter . Further , I was informed that St . John ' s Lodge , Melrose , is almost purely an operative body of Masons ; that it is a well-to-do organisation in a pecuniary sense ; and that the members claim their lodge to be contemporary with the building of Melrose Abbey On the authority

of an official of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , it is interesting to know that St . John's Lodge , Melrose , although not connected with the Grand Lodge , is everything that it should be in the working and objects of Masonry ; and there are , I am assured , hopes in another quarter , that one day or another a Grand Lodge charter will be applied for . Yours fraternally , KENNEQUHAIR .

LOOSE ADMISSION OF CANDIDATES . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , A meml er of the Ecclcston Lodge has taken up the cuelgels in behalf of that lodge , apropos of my remarks in your issue of the 3 rd inst ., on the subject of the admission of a candidate who had been black-balled by my

lodge . Bro . Beckham is the proposer of the candidate in question in the Eccleston Lodge , but he is evidently aware of the weakness of his case , and he makes no attempt whatever to explain why the courtesy of applying to my lodge for information was omitted , nor to show that the acceptance by one lodge of a candidate who has been rejected by another is

not contrary to proper Masonic feeling . He says that I should have made inquiries " outside my own select circle . " Well Sir , I reply to that by saying that as regards Masonry I have no select circle , and the muster roll of my lodge is a practical refutation of such a hint , for among the names will be found those of peers of the realm side by side with the sailing masters of their yachts . I now go a li * tle further than I have hitherto done , and I

say that if Bro . Beckham knew of the previous rejection of the candidate he had no right whatever to propose him in any other lodge without a proper explanation . He probably thinks thatanything is good enough for the country . It is a melancholy fact , but I am obliged to say that 1 do not think so , and with that remark I close the correspondence . Yours fraternally , A PAST MASTER .

A QUERY . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Would you kindly in your next issue give me an answer to the following questions : — In Bye-law No . in of our lodge is the following paragraph : — " It is also compulsory on every member present

entitled thereto , to record his vote . " Paragraph 2 ot Bye-law , No . 13 , reads : — " No brother under the rank of a Master Mason shall be permitted to address the lodge , unless particularly requested to do so , or on special leave granted by the Master . " It is proposed to add to this these words : "Neithei vote on any subject . "