Bahamas.

were given also to the Patriotic Fund—m fact , to everything tending to relieve the distressed , sums of money are yearly voted . Widespread then as those principles are , there is at the present time no part of the habitable globe in which Masonry does not flourish .- It has a universal language understood by the fraternity in every part of the world . That it neither threatened the state or true religion , but rather tended to insure the stabilitof bothis shown from the number of dignitaries

y , of the church and royal personages , who have since its introduction into England , 1600 years ago by St . Austin , presided over its councils — Alfred the Great , Edward the Confessor , Henry I ., Henry AT ., James I ., Charles I ., AVilliam III ., AVilliam Stapleton , Bishop of Exeter , AVilliam of Wykeham , Cardinal AVolsey , and the late Archbishop of Canterbury , and a host of others , such as Locke , Newton , Sir Ini

Christopher Wren , go Jones , ' AVellington , & c And the only distinction carried by that great , pure , aud patriotic Washington into his retirement was that of Grand Master of Freemasons in America . And even now in the present day , such names as the Earl of Zetland , the Earl de Grey and Ripon , the late Duke of Atboll , the Duke of Leinstev , the Marquis of HuntingtonViscount CombermereEarl Howe

, , , the Duke of St . Albans , the late Duke of Newcastle , the Earl of Fife " , and numbers of our own blood royal , have not thought it derogatory to lay aside their i-oyalty and preside over our councils ; whilst amongst foreigners of distinction we can at the present time name Charles XV . of Sweden , AVilliam I . of Prussia , the Prince of Prussia , the Prince of the Netherlands , & c . Such names as these surel ht to silence calumny and

y oug ridicule , and show that the views Freemasonry embrace has deep and abiding interests for the statesman , the minister of religion , the patriot , and the man of science . They prove that' Our order was designed

To expand the human race and elevate mankind . AVisdom herself contrived the mystic frame—Strength to support , to adorn it beauty came . It bids us ever gratefully to adore The God of all—the Universal power . ' " It should not militate against the Order that all its members have not profited by its teaching . There must bo imperfections and shortcomings in human institutionbnt Masonry

every ; would never make a good man bad , whilst the exhortations of better brethren have made many a bad man good . Such , then , are some of the principles of this Society . Many . may have laboured under a wrong idea of the Institution . If they have , and if these few remarks set them thinking and inquiring , the object of the writer will be obtained . "I ., Fidelity ( No . 230 ) . "

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . ROBERT WADISON We regret to announce the death , of Bro . Robert Wadison , which occurred at his residence , Birckin-lane , on Monday , the 23 rd ult ., after a feAV days' illness , in the 56 th year of his age . Bro . Wadison was initiated in the Wellington Lodge , Deptford , in October , 1854 , and passed through its various offices . He was also a member of the Domatic Chapter and the Thistle Lodge of Mark Masters .

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

The Dramatic Almanack for 1865 . By J . W . Axsox . Arliss , Great Queen-street . This is a most useful little almanack , aud contains a fund of information relative to the theatrical and musical professions which must prove extensively valuable to all who take an interest in public amusements . The general information is well selected ; and certainly not one of tho least recommendations of this annual is to be found in the fact "the profits aro devoted to the Dramatic , Equestrian , and Musical Sick Fund . "

Literary Extracts.

LITERARY EXTRACTS .

ABOUT WIIIST . —Whist is unquestionably of English origin , though as to the time aud place of its birth we do not possess any precise evidence . Whist is nob mentioned by Shakespeare , nor by any Avriter of the Eliza ; - bethan era , from Avhich Ave may infer that the game was then scarcely in existence . All that Ave know about the extreme childhood of whist is , that it was spent in

fcVte servants' hall . Its associates there , we are informed on the authority of Dailies Barrington , Avere " put" and " all-fours . " The game seems soon to have manifested seductive powers , for as early as 1630 Taylor , the Water Poet , mentions whist as inducing the prodigal to " fling bis money free Avith carelessnesse . " We cannot deny that at this period the character and friends of Avhist

Avere decidedly low . Whist even appears in a lock-up in the questionable company of Mr . Jonathan Wild . The great Fielding records that Avhen the ingenious Count la Ruse Avas domiciled with Mr . Geoffrey Snap ( who enjoyed office under the sheriffs of London and Middlesex ) , his countship sought to beguile the tedium of his in-door existence brecourse to the amusements

y of the day . Mr . Snap's two daughters benevolently aided him and chose Wild to make up their parties . Whisk and swabbers ( which is only whist under an . alias ) , Avas then ( 1682 ) greatly in vogue , and the ladies Avere consequently obliged to look out for a fourth person . In the " Memoirs of the Lives , Intrigues , and Comical . Adventures of tbe most Famous Gamesters" from the

timo of Charles II . to that of Queen Anne , we come across a sharper named Johnson , whose last adventure was that he was hanged in 1690 . Of him it is Avritten that he excelled in the art of " securing" honours for himself and partner Avhen playing at whist . We next hear of Avhist frequenting public-houses in the City . "The Compleat Gamester , " originally published in 1674 , does not mention Avhist at all ; but in later editions we are told that Avhist was a tavern game , and that

sharpers generally took care to put about the bottle before business began . For all this , whist never accommodated itself easily to the designs of card legs . It never took to them kindly , but , like Oliver Twist , it was the victim of circumstances and of its own inexperience . Whist was more sinned against than sinning . Accordingly it contrived , after a time , to escape from its

tavern acquaintances ; and early in tho eighteenth century , though not as yet fashionable , it had , at least , become respectable . Its principal friends at this epoch were country squires and country parsons . In the "Beaux Stratagem , " by Farquahar ( 1707 ) , Squire Sullen is said to be fond of whist , and Mrs . Sullen , Avho was a fine ladfrom Londonrefers to her husband ' s

prediy , lection in terms which imply that whist Avas then classed with rural rather than Avith West-end accomplishments . Pope , also , about this time ( 1715 ) alludes to whist in connection with the squirearchy ; and Swift , in his "Essay on the Fates of Clergymen" ( 1728 ) says that the clergy occasionally indulged in the society of whist . This patronage does not seem to have been equal

to the task of altogether retrieving whist from the character of vulgarity . Better days , however , were in store for it . About this time " The Compleat Gamester " became amalgamated with the " Court Gamester , " and whist Avas admitted into the first , the courtly division of the work , in company with " ombre , quadrille , quintille , picquet , and the royal game of chess . " About 1730 , a

party of gentlemen , of Avhom the first Lord Folkstone Avas one , frequented the Crown coffee-house in Bedfordrow , and there introduced whist , studied the game , and , it is believed , discovered some of its principles . They laid down the following rules : —Lead from the strong suit ; study your partner ' s hand , and attend to the score . Iu 1743 , whist Avas adopted by Edmund Hoyle , Avho is to this day called the father of the game . Under his auspices whist made the acquaintance of all the rank