Lodge Minutes, Etc.—No. 11.

5 th . To be paid one pound ten shins , stg . of yearly salary and a pair of shoes , optional to the Office Bearers . 6 th . To be allowed an assistant on meeting nights , to be paid by the lodge . "

There are some disputes in regard to the funds , especially when the Master interferes Avith the Treasurer's duties . The fee of 2 s . 6 d . for recording the names of members in Grand Lodge books , being optional , is often evaded on one pretence or

another . " 9 th January , 1796 . — " In consequence of a summons sent to the Office Bearers , and other free members * of this lodge lodge , " & c . 24 th Feby ., 1796 . — " Unanimously agreed that

members may be entered when and where their friend who recommends them chuses , f provided the landlord be a Mason , or if a landlady , she be a AvidoAV of a Mason , and that no members be initiated upon the day of election , " & c .

Feby ., 1796 . —A committee ' s report winds up with "Wanted also vouchers for sundry R . A . Masons made by Bro . Begg . " We ask what had the lodge to do with that ?

2 nd March , 1796 . —• " It Avas unanimously agreed that an assistant—viz ., a Bro . —be got to Top the Lights , in order to lessen the burthen of the SfceAvards . " No gas with them then . To " top " the candles

reminds us of a story we have heard long ago about a young lady home from a boarding-school , who observing the candle burning rather di mly , ¦ addressed her father as folioAVS : — "Top the luminary , papa . " " Fats the lassie saying , sirce , "

says the father . " Snite the canel , faither , " says the son , acting as interpreter pro tern . This is equalled by the gentish midshipman on board ship , Avho , upon repeatedly ordering Jack to " extinguish that luminary , " receives in response

a continual " Aye , aye , sir , " Avhile the light still burns away . The middy , waxing wroth , reports the circumstances of the case to the captain , Avho ¦ says " it , sir , Avho could understand that ?" And no sooner had the captain himself ordered Jack to " douse the glim " than the luminary Avas

immediately extinguished . Every society has its own peculiar mysteries and styles of Avorking , ( To be continued . )

The Masonic Student.

THE MASONIC STUDENT .

THE NEWEST OR LATliST MEMBER . When a man has passed through the first three degrees , and is raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason , he finds himself in a novel position , receives the congratulations of his friends , and

often ; vastly too often ; ceases to take any great interest in the Masonic institution , contenting himself with his attainments , and so rests satisfied to become a mere block , an unpolished ashlar , and of little use iu the great temple of morality and

brotherly love . This falling away , hoAvever , is not from any dissatisfaction Avith the Order , but from a mistaken idea that he has acquired all tbe knowledge he can ; his curiosity as to the principles and

work of the Order has been gratified , ancl he needs not UOAV give much , if any , attention to the lodge meeting ; merely attending calls , and scarcely ever found in bis attendance , except only on some special occasion , and so falls back to a state of comparative indifference .

This state of things is undesirable , and detrimental to tbe newly made member , as much or even more than it is to the Masonic Order ; because the material for membership is ample , although it may never become highly polished . But Avith the

member there exists a vast difference . When he has been raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason , the lodge ceases to claim from him any further public examination of his proficiency , and if he has no incentive to emulation and study of

the philosophical principles underlying the ritual and drama of the degrees , he is apt to fall back into indifference , and for any usefulness in the institution is no better than he Avould be , had he never connected himself with the Order .

This vieAV of things is known and felt much by those AVIIO are the brightest members and officers of a lodge , and to find a remedy for this evil of indifference and unintelligent apathy , is an object most desirable to be discovered and presented

to all neAV members , and indeed to the older ones . There are , as we think , some good and efficient motives for thoughtful action which may be usefully presented to the mind , the conscience , and

the hearts of the membership of the Order , that should stir up in them more noble thoughts of the institution than that of mere membership ; should revive their interest in its workings ; its philo-