Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

spell the words correctly , measure the lines very carefully , ancl then—send it somewhere else . " Very encouraging for the poetaster , certainly ! And yet how many editors of other periodicals might g ive the same advice to numbers of their woidd-be contributors Many men who might say something useful in prose , make the most consummate fools of themselves in attempting to overtop Parnassus ; and as young local preachers , especially the most uneducated of them , generally despise simple texts of Scripture ,

which would content experienced ancl learned divines , ancl rush at first to expound the most difficult passages in Revelations , so does your most doggerel poetaster attempt the highest flights of imagination in his unrhythmical and unmeanin g lines , ancl , Icarus like , soon melts off his artificial wings by soaring too near to the sun . . Rose Cottage , Stolcesley .

The International Masonic Gathering.

THE INTERNATIONAL MASONIC GATHERING .

lit THE EDITOR OE THE EREEILVSOX " . HPl'IE proprietor of the Freemason , in a most pleasant meeting , singularly and perfectly - *¦ unique of its kind , sought , ancl not iu vain , to maintain the character of English ancl Masonic hospitality . He wished , as the solo owner of the most successful modern Masonic paperto ensure to his brethren from the other side of the Atlantic all those

, courtesies which their own high character , and the great link of Masonic sympathy , might fairly claim from him . He also was most anxious to convey to many hundred thousand brethren in the United States the fraternal ancl kindly feelings by which American and English Freemasons are ever bound . The times of alienation , of suspicion , of opposition , of hostility , have long since passed away , and England and the United States form a close ancl happy alliancein which are most truly symbolized both

, the great princi p les of toleration , loyalty , ancl charity , as well as the peaceful progress and the ultimate civilization of mankind . By the report which follows it will be at once seen what a great success attended in every way the patriotic and hospitable idea of Bro . Kenning , who enhanced the genial character of host by the admirable manner in which he discharged the duties of Chairman . No more enjoyable meeting ever took place , or under more auspicious circumstances , ancl from first to last , this festival of

" International Masonry " was a " white clay " to all who took part in it , and will be long remembered by that goodly phalanx of American and English Masons who hailed with delight every warm expression of Masonic sympathy and fraternal goodwill . It would not have been hi good taste at such a meeting , composed of the elite of two great bodies , to speak in terms of praise of the Freemason , but the proprietor felt then , as he feels now , that he may look with pride on what the Freemason has clone , ancl the

position it has achieved , solely on its own merits , and in the fair open market of Masonic criticism ancl general appreciation . The Freemason is now confessedly the - great representative of English Masonry , as well abroad as at home , and is as largely read and widely known in the United States as in England , ancl its proprietor rejoices to think that he has sought only to make the good old axiom true , " Palmam qui meruit ferat . The Freemason aided to inaugurate years ago that historical and archteological

study of the antiquities of Masonry which , hi the hands of Hughan and D . Murray Lyon ancl others in England , ancl of Mackey and Port , and others in America , has culminated in such striking results . One of its most distinguishing features has been its avoidance of personality , ancl its unceasing hostility to that sort of scandalous garbage which finds a ready sale , alas , in some sections of the press to-day . The