Obituary.

also endeared him to tho brethren generally throughout the province , and it is therefore not surprising that bis removal to the Grand Lodge above has occasioned deep and wide spread regret . Throughout his long and useful . Alasonic career , it may be said , without the least fears of exaggeration , that tbe deceased has been actuated by the leading ancl guiding principles of our Order—brotherly love , relief and truth—all of which ho has practised in private as well as public life to tho fullest possible

extent in his power . In some degree his exertions havo met with their reward , for about three years ago , Bro . Bond Cabbell , the Prov . G . M ., conferred upon him the honour of appointing him his Deputy , this selection being made from a large number of distinguished Masons , ancl Bro . Fox continued to occupy the office up to the time of his death . The brethren residing in Norwich held a meeting at the Freemasons' Hall on AA ednesday afternoon , and determined upon attending the obsequies of their departed brother in full Masonic costume , and the brethren of Suffolk also intend to join the cortege . Bro . Fox was only in the 46 th year of his age .

Reviews.

REVIEWS .

Winter m the South of ' Europe ,- or , Mentone , the Riviera , Corsica , Sicily , and Jiiarrit : as Winter Climates . By J . HENEY BENNETT , M . D ., Member of tbe Royal College of physicians London , & c . Third Edition . London : John Churchill ancl Sons , New Burlington-street . 1865 . The season when invalids flee from our stern northern shores to seek a more genial shelter in the sunny south , now draws on apace . The question is , doubtless , debated by many

— " Whither shall we go ? " How much depends upon tho decision arrived at—restoration to health , with all its attendant blessings , or , alas ! a journey to " that bourne from which no traveller returns . " A climate a little more or a little less bracing , a little warmer or a little colder , may , humanly speaking , make all the difference . How important , then , is it for the invalid himself , ancl his friendsto seek for the most reliable information as to the

, climate best adapted for his particular ailment . To furnish such information the book before us has heen written . That it has met with public appreciation is evidenced by the fact that it is now in its third edition . A \ e are not at all surprised at Dr . Bennett ' s success , for , in the first place , the work is " got up" in excellent style and taste , thus reflecting much credit on the ewtevpvising publishers , Messrs . Churchill and Sons . It is adorned with nineteen illustrations ancl maps . The latter

especially are most admirably executed ; the eye roams over them most luxuriously . In the second place , the matter is very good . The book abounds in information which is very interesting to the general

reader , as well as to those for whose especial benefit it has been written—conveyed in a lucid and agreeable manner . In the preface we are told that the work embodies the experience of six consecutive winters passed on the Mediterranean , at Men tone , from October , 1859 to April , 1 S 65 . It was as an invalid—after twenty-six years devoted to a laborious profession , and the harassing cares which pursue a hard-worked London physician—that Dr . Bennett betook

himself to the shores of the Mediterranean , in quest of a residence suited to his malady . After many wanderings and thorough investigation , he arrives at the conclusion that Mentone bears off tho palm from all other southern health resorts . " The work , " ho says , " was originally a mere essay on the winter climate and vegetation of the Mentone amphitheatre , and was first published in 1861 . It has gradually expanded ,

until it may now be considered a careful study of the meteorology and winter climate of the north shores of the Mediterranean in general . This edition contains , also , an account of various wanderings in search of health quarters , for winter and summer , in Italy , Corsica , Sicily , and the Italian lakes , ancl of a short residence at Biarritz . " Chapter I . is devoted to introductory remarks on tho reasons

which induced the author "to ily from England—memo in winter only to the hale and strong , who can defy ancl enjoy the cutting winds , the rain , the snow , and the frost of a northern hind . " In this chapter , also , Dr . Bennett furnishes us with a lengthened description of the geographical position of Menton c

Reviews.

and the neighbourhood . The mildness of its climate is to he attributed to the shelter afforded to it by " the Alps ancl the Apennines , which form an immense screen to the north-east . " "It is , " he says , ' - ' owing to this geographical fact that the health climates of Italy aro limited to its western shores . The mountains wc have described separate Italy into tw-o longitudinal sections , from Nice to the Gulf of Otranto , and as these mountains lisi from four t >> nine thousand feet in .

height , they constitute a barrier which protects the entire western coast lino from the north-east winds of central and northern Europe . This protection from the north-east , and exposure to the south-west , gives to the entire region described , from Nice to Keggio , a mildness of winter climate which latitude alone could not impart . " In chapter II ., we have a minuto description of Mentone itself * whichwo are told"is a small Italian town of five

, , thousand inhabitants , situated in latitude -13 ° io ' , twenty-two miles east of Nice , on the Cornice road to Genoa , and was the largest town of the principality of Monaco , before its recent annexation to France along with Nice . " Then follows a very picturesque description of the drives , the views , & c ., of this charming region . This is succeeded

by a disquisition on the climate , as shown by vegetation , and we must say that this portion of Dr . Bennett ' s book is worthy of all praise . He seems quite to have carried out the advice which he tenders in his preface to those who are stricken by physical affliction , " to turn to communion with nature as an inestimable source of solace , inasmuch , as hy so doing , they will most readily attain that frame of cheerful , contented resignation which is all hut indispensable to their recovery . "

AVe venture to give a few extracts from this peculiarly interesting chapter : — " At Mentone , the sun mostly shines , and generally throws a greater glow on the landscape in January than it does on our evergreen forests in July . " " Owing to the absence of frost in all but very exposed situations , many of our English garden flowers , which are cut down by tho first frosty nihtcontinue to flourish and bloom

g , all the winter through . This is the case , for instance , with the geranium , the heliotrope , the verbena , the nasturtium , the salvia , and some kinds of roses , including the China tea rose , which continue to flower throughout the winter in many gardens . " { To he continued . )

South Metropolitan Masonic Hall.

SOUTH METROPOLITAN MASONIC HALL .

A meeting of the brethren who are shareholders in the above projected hall was held on Tuesday evening last , the 23 rd October , at the Horns Tavern , Ivennington . From the prospectus of this Company we extract the following : — "The necessity of holding Masonic meetings in buildings apart from taverns , and specially adapted to that purpose , is generally acknowledged by all members of the Craft , as being more in accordance with the princiles of Freemasonry

pure p , and the numerous advantages arising therefrom have been fully proved in many provincial towns where that desideratum has * been supplied hy the erection of Masonic halls . . "This necessity has not hitherto been capable of ohviation on the Surrey side of the Metropolis , where no building especially devoted to Masonic business has yet been established . The object of the present company is to supply the want ,

which lias been long felt in this district , by providing a suitable building , in some convenient place , easily accessible to the lodges in the neighbourhood . " It cannot be doubted that this project will meet with the support of the brethren , whose sympathies are in favour of the separation of Masonry from tavern accommodation , as has been evinced hy the numerous promises of co-operation which

have already been given . At the same time tho Directors are anxious to impress on the members of the Craft the desirability of a combined effort to promote such a laudable undertaking , conducive as it is both to tho good of Freemasonry in general and to tho convenience of the South Metropolitan lodges in particular . "The capital of the Company is £ 5 , 000 , in 1 , 000 shares of £ t > each . The sum of 10 s . per share to he paid on application , a like sum on allotment , and the remainder by calls of £ 1 per share , at intervals of not less than three months .