Correspondence.

husband , our beloved District Grand Master , Major-General William Pitt Macdonald , and we would not wish a mail to leave Rangoon without its conveying ¦ our deepest and heartfelt sympathy Avith you in your great sorrow . You have , dear Madam , the heartfelt condolence of

every member of the lodge , and , we feel sure , of every member of our Order in the Masonic district of Madras . Tt is our earnest prayer that He who never errs , and who has seen fit so severely to afflict you , may support and guide you in your present time of sore

distress . With profound respect , dear Madam , we beg to subscribe ourselves , on behalf of all the members of the lodge , Your sincere friends aud well-wishers , S . T . A . J . GreenlawW . M .

, H . Duncan , W . P . M . Jos- Dawson , S . W- offig . Horace Speadman , . I . W . offig . A . M . Buchanan , Sec . A . M . BUCHAS - - , Sec . S 32 .

The Privileges Of A Lewis.

THE PRIVILEGES OF A LEWIS .

10 THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . ¦ D SIE AND BEOTHEE , — In your issue of Saturday , the 1 st inst ., among the answers to correspondents , I find it stated , " Any son of a Mason is a Lewis , and entitled to all the privileges of such , no matter how long his father has heen a Mason . " Will you permit me to ask if this is a final and

authoritative decision on the subject ? I have ofteu heard the question argued , and many intelligent Masons agree ivith me that the above definition does not appear at all satisfactory . If the question is open to discussion , I should like to elicit the opinions ofexperienced Masons ou the pointas

. , my own impression decidedly is ( and I think it is founded on reason and common sense ) that only those children who are horn after their father has become a Mason are entitled to the name and privileges of a Lewis . It really seems to me that any other interpretation deprives the privilege itself of almost all its

beauty and value , by making it so common that there would be nothing remarkable in a person being a Lewis . The privileges of a Lewis are great , and the very fact that such an one may he initiated at the early age of eighteen ( three years earlier than the bulk of mankind ) , seems to me forcibly to point out that

a Lewis must be one who all his life had seen an example of Masonry in his family , ancl was , consequently , more than usually anxious for the time to arrive when he might be admitted to its privileges . I trust you will acquit me of presumption in thus pressing the question again noticebut

upon your , really , until I am positively informed that the firstnamed definition of a Lewis is that sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of England , I can never bring myself to believe that a man with a large family , by simply joining the Masonic Order , can immediately confer upon each of his numerous sons the important privi

- leges of a Lewis , any more than he could make them Prenchmen by taking up his residence in Prance . Yours fraternally , HAEOLD YotJNGMAN , ¦ S . D . Perseverance Lodge ( No . 213 ) , Norwich .

The Privileges Of A Lewis.

[ Our correspondent seems to have some very exalted notions as to the " value , beauty , and greatness" of the privileges of a Lewis , but , although we have in our time come under that category , we have—and we say it most reverently—failed to discover any great privilege beyond the fact of following in £ 3

lineal descent one who had the pleasure and honour of belonging to our noble Order . We know of no unwritten law upon the subject , and even the " Book of Constitutions " is silent upon it . "We are told , it is true , that those who have " borne the heat and burden of the day , " as au act of filial duty towards

an aged parent , are entitled to a privilege , and what is it ? Why , simply if one of them is named for ' initiation on the same evening ivith some dignified personage , he can claim precedence of him for the ' services he has performed . And this is the sum total of what our correspondent talks of as " beautiful ,-great , and valuable . " As to the privilege of a son of a Mason to be admitted at eighteen years of age , hehas no claim to anything of the kind , and , even if

aiij ^ one is admitted before arriving at the age of twenty-one , that is by no means confined to the son of a Mason , and some very special reasons must be given before the Grand Master will grant his dispensation for the purpose . Here , agaia , we must refer our brother to the "Book of Constitutions , "

in which it is expressly stated that " No man- shall be made a Mason in any lodge under the age of twentyone years , unless by dispensation from the Grand Master or Provincial Grand Master . Every candidate must be a free man , his own master , and , at the time of initiationin reputable circumstances . "'

There-, fore , the wording of the only rule touching upon the subject does not help our correspondent in his notionsupon the assumed rights of a Lewis , as any man , even supposing none of his family ever belonged to our Craft , can be made a Mason while he is under ageprovided sufficient reason is shown to the

Grand-, Master for him to give his authority for it . Without it , the Lewis or any one else must remain outside , thepale of Preemasonry until his age can no longer offer a bar to his admission . As to who is considered a . Lewis , we have already answered that question . — En . P . M . ]

THE COMPASSES , SVMUOLS OF AunGirrr POWER . —Thoro is a Grand Anglo-Saxon miniature in tho British Museum of about tho yoav 100 0 . God is liovo in tho person of Christ , holding tha sphoro of tho world . Tho right hand holds tho compasses , symbols of Almighty- power . The figure of tho compasses is from tho magnificent passago in Proverbs : " Whon ho prepared tho Heavens I was there , whon ho sot a compass upon tho faco

of tho deep . " Of one of those devices to imago forth tho mechanism of divine power Milton has also mado use , whore ho describes tho Oinnific Word , on tho wings of ohorubim uplifted ,, riding far into chaos : Then stayed tho fervid wheels , and in his hand Ho took tho goldon prepared

compasses , In God's eternal store , to circumscribe This universe and all created things : One foot ho centered , and tho other turnod Bound through tho vast profundity obscure ; And said , " Thus far extend , thus far thy bounds , This bo thy just circumference , 0 World ! " —Paradise Lost , look vii .