Sketches Of Masonic Character No. X.

SKETCHES OF MASONIC CHARACTER No . X .

Bro . Whittaker , who is a very distinguished Mason , — < rreat in fact " in everything and to everybody , " has been oending his holiday time at Naples . He returns home full of Nap les and the Corso , Mount Vesuvius and St . Janarius , the Malocchio , and Maccaroni , Herculaneum and Pompeii , the Sybils and the Brigands . Like Lord Alvanley he says BRO . WHITTAKER AT NAPLES .

he could hardly tear himself away from the " head-quarters of far niente , political apathy , maccaroni , tarantella and sunshine . " Indeed , he aelels that , like his Lordship , he too had " got to think that looking out of the window at the sea , sniffing up the afternoon "breeze , driving up and down the Corso at night , and then supping lightly on fish and

Lacbryma Christi was the perfection of existence , and when a souvenir of more brilliant amusements , more exciting . pleasures , and younger and happier days " flashed across his memory , he only " heaved a little quiet sigh , " drank another glass of Lacbryma , and relapsed -back into the vacancy of thought , from which it had momentarily aroused him . "

As we think iBro . Whittaker wrong in taking this morbid and melancholy view of life , and we disapprove of this sy baritic colouring of ageing epicureanism , we deem it only fair to the readers of the Freemason to mention the fact , and to express our disagreement with Bro . Whittaker . Bro . Whittaker is an excellent fellow , but he is too much of the "haw-haw schorl " for us in every department of life ,

and , however much he does , and he has done Masonically a good deal , he might effect a good deal more , if only he would rouse himself to his duties , and nerve himself to his -work . How many lodges there are up and down the land where one such brother " rules the roast , " and his " regime " is not always to the advantage of the lodge . He may be too dictatorial or too downright , too reserved or

too matter of fact , too much given to routine , or too much addicted to nepotism—too fond of a clique , or too ready for a nice little job . Like Bro . Whittaker he may also be too languid , too grand to attend to minutia ; , to deal with difficulties . If Bro . Whittaker was a married man , we should have no doubt that Mrs . Whittaker would mend matters , if she was

a woman of tact and sense , but as he is a confirmed old bachelor , we have no hope of him in this respect . Such as he is , such he always will be to the end of his days , till his kindly presence is missing , till his well-filled place knows him no more . He is one of those , not a few by the way , who do much , and might do a good deal more , if only he would , for the welfare of his brethren , and for the happiness

of mankind . But no 1 The God that he worships is indifferentism and epicureanism , so he prefers to drawl through life , to saunter through existence , magnificent , patronising and unimpassioncd , rather than apply himself earnestly to any one thing in this mortal world of ours . A- Clough has depicted such a character when he says : —

Heartily you will not take to anything , Whatever happens—do I see you still , Living no life at all ? Will you go on thus , Until death end you , if indeed it does ? For what it does none knows . Yet as for you , You'll hardly have the courage to die outright ,

You'll somehow halve even it . Methinks I see you Thro' everlasting limbos of void time Twirling and twiddling ineffectively , And indiscriminately swaying for ever . Is there no teaching in these words for any of our readers , nay for ourselves ?

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

PINE'S LIST OF LODGES 1731-3 I am unfortunately at fault just now in my researches respecting the "Origin of Freemasonry in America , " by the absence of any authorised lists of lodges for 1731 , 1732 , ! 733- J- Pine published such annually , beautifully engraved , from A . D . 1723 , but alas those of the years named , and several others are missing , and apparently not known

to any Masonic student . Should any brother know of the whereabouts of " Pine ' s Lists of Lodges , 1731-3 , " andean purchase them , I shall not mind the cost , arid will then make their contents known most gladly to the readers of this paper , ' our other Masonic publications , as well as be

able to decide a point or two , at present in abeyance . I would gladly give five pounds or more for those lists , for without them , there does not appear any probability of clearing up the question finally and positively . Certified transcri pts would do , or a perusal of the lists , if they could not be sold . W . J . HUGHAN .

ZACHARIAS JEPSON AND FREEMASONRY . I can quite think with " Masonic Student" ( whose signature I always hail with pleasure ) that if the respected Prov . G . M . of West Yorkshire can furnish evidence of acharias Jepson being a Freemason during the Seventeenth Century , "it would be an important fact in itself . " I noticed the statement myself , but considered it " a flight of oratory" at the time , and a guess , rather than a fact .

" •n ° wever , it can be substantiated , it will be of real value ' 0 our annals of the Craft , though not an exceptional re-C f ' . ? -Ashmole was initiated in 1646 , and many others ot position and importance during the period in question . Mill , our Masonic records of the last century are very bare indeed as compared with those in Holland ( so amply ilustrated in my friend Bro . Lyon ' s Grand History of the •w ? ll K C ° mburgh ) , that any additional information i „ be . dced most welcome to the Craft in general and m particular to " Masonic Student" and yv . J . HUGHAN , P . G . D .

Reviews.

Reviews .

" The Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar . " George Kenning 198 , Fleet Street . ( Price , Post Free , 2 s 2 d ) . Time , with its revolving chances and changes again announces the appearance among us of this very valuable Masonic VadeMecum , for the year of light and grace 1878 . At the hazard of being considered egotistical and encomiasts , praising our own wares , puffing our own

commodities , we think it well to call the attention of the Craft to the fact , as a fact , and to say a few words in honest criticism and well earned praise , in favour of one of the most modest , most useful , and most important of Masonic literary undertakings . That the "Cosmo" has its utility and value , who can affect really to doubt or venture to deny ? Well printed , full of information never before put together ,

it appeals to all governing bodies , as to all individual brethren , with a sense of completeness and correctness which challenges scrutiny and commands admiration . Never before in the history of Masonic literature have so many invaluable Masonic statistics , so large an amount of otherwise inaccessible Masonic information been put

together for the convenience and information of the Craft . The list of contents is very striking in itself , really a study , and takes away one ' s breath , and strikes one ' s mind wilh the feeling of the time and trouble and expense which the preparation of this annual pocket-book has given to all who have had to do with it , and executed their work so carefully and so well .

Wejiever could understand on what grounds any opposition could be offered or any remarks made , by any one , ( le the brethren more or less ill-infirmed ) in respect of so unpretending and yet to Freemasons , so valuable a little work . The "Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar" stands on its own merits , and the public opinion of a numerous and critical

brotherhood . It represents no party ; it belongs to no clique ; it has nothing to gain , and seeks for no support , except that which is honestly accorded to it , on its own value , as an unerring yearly record of Masonic and High Grade organisations , which until the " Cosmo " appeared , never were well known or accessible even to Masonic Students , to Grand Secretaries , to W . Masters , to

the whole officialism , and rank and file of Freemasonry . As it is , the " Cosmo , " as its name slitws , seeks to represent , and does so effectively , from year lo year , the u hole extent of Craft , and High Grade developement in the world . What more need we say of it ? What greater praise can be given to it ? To find fault with this fair and legitimate enterprize of George Kenning , because it is a great

success , is unfraternal , to object to so much supplemental information being liberally provided for Freemasons , which is found in no other official hand-book or Almanac , is unreasonable . So let us hope we have heard the last of carping criticisms and defamatory handbills , and let us hail the re-appearance of the " Cosmo" with pleasure , and give it not only our " hearty good wishes " but substantial and fraternal support .

"A Portrait of Mr . Gladstone . " Alfred May . Alfred May ' s Photogram of Mr . Gladstone at Hawarden , resting at the foot of a stately oak , in the midst of one of his woodcutting exploits , strikes us as very life-like indeed , and brings before us all effectively the well-known features of a distinguished statesman , lt is one of the penalties of fame that every one wishes to know something about the

inner life of those who are so much outwardly before the common gaze , and have mounted , with greater or less success , the slippery heights of public popularity and applause . Mr . Gladstone is one of those " individual men , " who seems in his retirement , to have as much interest as when in office for a very large class of Englishmen and Englishwomen . The legislator , who in his active career ,

was Prime Minister of England , ( perhaps the highest of worldly posts ) , apparently retains amid the amusements of his retreat , at Hawarden , and his leisure hours , as much sympathy with numerous classes of his countrymen and countrywomen , as when he was leading the House of Commons , and directing the affairs of a mighty empire . The admiration and gratitude of us benighted islanders , for those statesmen who as " servants of the

Queen , " and representatives of the people , have well served old England , are happily always very great , and we trust will always long continue to be the case in our passing generations . If public life has its trials and dangers , its temptations and troubles , it also has its reward , in the sympathy of confiding citizens , and the honest approval and regards of a true-hearted people . We arc glad to call attention to the photogram .

Our well-known contemporary , the Civilian , contains the following note in its issue of the 20 th inst ., which will no doubt interest our readers in general , and the friends of Bro . Markham Tweddell in particular : — " Wc understand that H . R . H . Prince Leopold , K . G ., President of the Royal Society of Literature , has been graciously pleased to accept a copy of Mr . Emra Holmes ' s

' Tales , Poems , and Masonic Papers . ' The Prince , through his courteous secretary , Mr . Ccllin . 5 , also informs Mr . Holmes that , although it is not strictly according to precedent for members of the Royal Family to accept dedications of books , His Royal Highness will , having regard to the charitable object you have in view , be glad to accept the dedication of your new volume . " Our brother

civil servant proposes to give the proceeds of his second series to the aged Masonic friend for whose benefit his first book was published , and no doubt Prince Leopold ' s vatronage will greatly add to the success of the new literary penture , M . Gounod is writing on opera on the story of Abelard and Heloise . It will be called " Maitrc Pierre . "

Notes On Art, &C.

NOTES ON ART , & c .

THE VAN LOON PAINTINGS . —Some erroneous statements have been circulated respecting the sale of the Van Loon collection of paintings at Amsterdam . The facts are that when it became known that this famens gallery was to be in the market , negociations were begun on behalf of the Dutch Government fer the purchase of

the whole , in order that it might be retained in Holland , the most desirable thing which could have happened . Owing , it is said , to the tardiness of the national authorities in coming to a decision in the matter and some difference of opinion about the price which might be accepted , the time passed , and the Rothschild family bought the entire collection for four millions of francs . The

collection is to bc divided into five parts , one of which will fall by lot to each of the branches of the family , who divide the cost equally . One lot consists of the two magnificent Rembrandts , the life-sire full-length portraits of M . Daey and his wife , both clad in black . The lady wears a cap , with a falling veil , and holds a black feather fan . The husband , William Daey , magistrate of Alkmaar , is about

28 years of age , and represented in neatly full front view , in a black velvet dress , with a pendent lace ruff , pale . gray silk stockings , bows of lace on the front of his dress , and white rosettes in his shoes . His right hand is in his breast . The left hand is extended , as in the act of speaking . It is signed and dated 1634 . The lady ' s portrait is dated 1643 . Both portraits are finished to the highest degree .

They were purchased of one of the descendants of the family in 1798 by M . R . Princenaar for 4000 florins , -and sold in the year following to M . Van Winter for 10 , 000 florins , or more than £ 1000 . They now cost the fortunate drawer of the lot more than £ 30 , 000 . The remaining portion of the collection comprises pictures by Van de Velde ; with a landscape by Berchem ; a fine Dow ; a

" Garden Scene , " by De Hooghe ; two small Paul Potters ; an Emanuel de Wit ; a "Cow , " by Cuyp ; "Lotand his Daughters , " by P . Wouvermans-, "A Lady and a Cavalier , " by Terburg ; a portrait , and "A Lady and Cavaliers , " by Mttsu ; " A Peasant Girl , " by N . Maas ; four beautiful flower pieces , by Van Huysum ; "View of a Church , " by Van der Heyde ; a delicately-finished Jan Steen ; two pictures by the brothers Wenix ; by I . Van

Ostade ; "A Kermesse , " by A . Van Ostade ; a landscape by Berchem ; two landscapes by Both ; large landscape by Wynants , with figures by Wouvermans ; " Rams and Cattle , " by Krel du Jardin ; fine Verkolie , " A Drummer , Lady , and Cavalier ; " a fine small A . Van de Velde ; another , in which this artist worked with Moucheron ; a Van Tol ; a good Lingelbach ; "Anthony and Cleopatra , " by G . de Laisesse . —Alhenwum .

A School of Science , Ark , and Literature for Ladies has been established at the Alexandra Palace for the convenience of residents in the neighbourhood . Mr . Lindsay Sloper is the director , and the course includes lessons , both public and private , in music and singing , languages ,

drawing and painting , mathematics , history , geography , & c , from well-known professor ? . There are three terms , and students are admitted free to the Palace on the days of their lessons , a similar admission being given to the lady who accompanies them .

Driving by electricity is the latest invention across the Channel , according to the live Stock-journal An electro-magnet is placed under the coachman's seat , from which one wire is carried along the reins to the horse ' s bit , and another to the crupper , so that the whole

length of the animal ' s spine forms part of an electric circuit . A sudden shock , which the driver can administer at discretion , will , it is said , arrest the most furious runaway , while a series of small shocks will stimulate a " screw " to marvels of pace and style .

Copies of the photographs taken during the late Arctic Expedition are to bc presented to the British and South Kensington Museums , the United Service , Royal Artillery , and Royal Engineer Institutions , and other Government collections . The originals are now being exhibited by the Photographic Society . The dome of St . Peter ' s , at Rome , is' again causing considerable anxiety for its security , as the fissures

and cracks in the upper part of the dome and its supports have much increased of late . A commission from the Russian Academy of Fine Arts has recently examined the dome , and it was found that almost every part of the structure was more or less cracked or dislocated . Bands of iron have been placed round the dome in previous years and marble tablets dove-tailed into the cracks , but numbers of the latter have been broken or torn by the widening of the fissures .

Sir Paul Pindar ' s hcuse in Bishopsgate-street , nowilivided into two houses , is shortly to be pulled down . The I eautiful ceilings , however , are to be preserved , and one or more will be given to the South Kensington Museum

A monument to the late Mr . Margary 15 to be erected at Shanghai . It will consist of a Gothic cross of red and green Ningpo stone on a granite base , supported on a pedestal of granite steps , and ornamented by shields bearing the Margj . ry arms and those of the Municipality .

Journalism is likely to have a patron saint , as the Turin journals , backed by the devout Roman Voccdflla Verita , propose to petition the Pope to nominate St . Francis de Sales guardian of Catholic writers . " Sales" is an appropriate name for a commercial venture .

The Charing Cross Publishing Company are about to publish a novel by the late Peter Boyle , Esp ., compiler of " Boyle ' s Court Guide . " The novel is entitled " The Red Knight of Germany . " ,- - ..