Woman And Masonry.

of grapes , so grateful to her fevered lips , sent in the name of Masonry . The memory of that would have bound me to you had I no other tie . I have heard a father—that I worshipped as men are seldom worshipped in this world—breathe

fervent blessings on the name of Masonry . He taught me to revere and love it as a thing . He was a Mason , and I am proud to be his daughter . But still a deeper cord than this vibrates within my soul . I can but lightly touch upon it , for my

feelings are too deep for utterance . Suddenly cut off from all support , a widow , in a strange land , penniless , with my fatherless children clinging to me for succour , dark enough seemed life ' s pathway , till , like inspiration , came the thought of

Masonry . It was the " open ses-satne" to hope and peace . If I were a man , I'd be a Mason . As I am a woman , I can only do what is allowed me . My daughter shall rise up and call you blessed ; and ,

if a mother ' s teachings can avail naught , my son shall grow up worthy to be joined with you . The prayers of a widowed mother shall add one more ray to the lustre of your reward , for God himself said : " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these , ye have done it unto me . " — Masonic Trowel .

Atmospheric Disturbances.

ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES .

During the last fortnight we have been inundated with letters of complaint—many written by brethren of eniinenco , men of mark in Masonry—referring to subjects deserving tho best attention o £ " the powers that be " and " those whom it may concern , " and portending , by the low rumbling sounds of discontent they contain , on some two or three of the subjects of

these complaints—an increasing amount of dissatisfaction and a coming storm . The first of these complaints is ono which demands deferential treatment at our hands , aud proper consideration by the members of our Order—that its mention may not be considered

as an impertinent interference with the prerogative of our most revered chief , the Most Worshipful Grand Master ; it would however , he a still greater mistake to conceal from his Lordship the fact that great complaints do exist of the state of arrears in the secretarial department of the Grand Lodge ; that official

documents , that ought long ago to have been delivered , have been detained unduly for want of a signature or signatures ; and that generally , whilst the assistant oflicers may be striving their best to keep the machinery of the Secretary ' s office going , they have now been without a responsible head of the department for several weeks , the late Grand Secretary having died more than four weeks ago ,

Atmospheric Disturbances.

no one has , it seems , yet been appointed to perform his duties ad interim , to sign warrants , certificates , and other documents which are said to be accumulating largely in the office of the Grand Secretary . It is suggested in some of the letters we have received , that in the present emergency , and to allow his Lordship , the Eight Worship ful the Grand Master ,

his own good time , to exercise his own good pleasure as to tho appointment of a successor to the late Bro . Gray Clarke ; the Grand Registrar should be authorized to sign such documents . Another subject of complaint , and one that ive feel less difficulty in ventilating , is the alleged unsatisfactory state of some

of the Masonic Provinces , and more particularly the present condition of the United Province of Berks and Bucks , which certainly appears to demand the more serious attention , and the prompt action of tho Acting Head to matters which it is supposed he is , or should be , cognizant ; and reference is made to

the last travestie of a Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting , held at Maidenhead , and it is urged by nearly all who have written upon the subject of the United Province , that the sooner two or three things are done , the better for Masonry ; the first is , that the two counties be legally dis-uuited and erected into two separate

Masonic Provinces ; the second is , that they be each put under a Provincial Grand Master ; and until these changes be effected , a Provincial Grand Master should be charaed with the affairs

of the Province . Another source of discontent exists as to the modern which the appointments of Provincial Grand Masters are made , as one not the most conducive to the well-being of the Order , and , ill many cases , to that internal good-will , peace , and harmony which we are all taught should characterise Freemasons and

Freemasonry . Some of our correspondents suggest that the members of each province , as knowing best tho increments of tho Masonic body , and [ those brethren likely to bo most useful in the usual and general interests of Freemasonry , should elect their own bead , subject to approval or confirmation by Grand

Lodge . This suggestion is impressively urged as being now an absolute necessity , by more than ono highly distinguished and conservative member of our Order . We aro reminded in one

of the letters , of the unsatisfactory state of things so long existing in an insular province which , notwithstanding the honest representations made to head quarters , was allowed to exist as a Masonic scandal for several years . Sow , if such things have been and have only , after long agitation , been redressed , we are impressed with the reasonableness of the

supposition that other equally good grounds for complaint mayexist elsewhere , and still remain unattended to , probably consequent upon the known disinclination on the part of members of the governing body to attend to representations of such a nature . Still , we say , matters of this kind will not stand

shirking for ever i it is better to look them straight in the face and deal with tl-. sm according to the altered conditions of things , remembering that , whilst the world moves on and all things change , the administration of Masonic affairs mus ' march with the general progress .