Freemasonry In France.

lodge to meet in solemn conclave . He proposes that the Grand Orient premises should be sold to pay the debt , as they are partly occupied by the Casino ; but the Ereemasons object , they like to be able to join in the dance with the merry mercenaries after their mystic . banquets . The Marshal then proposed that they should borrow the money to pay off Prince Murat

from the Credit Eoncier . M . Fremj ' , the manager , refuses to lend to any society which is not declared to be of " public utility . " The Council of State is called upon to decide ; they hesitated , even with their disposition to oblige , to " pronounce the Masons of public utility ; but their hesitation vanished on

learning that by thus assimilating the Ereemasons to other societies the Prefect of Police would have the right to send his moucliards . and agents to all the Masons ' meetings , and to appoint all the principal officers . The ladies are in raptures , as they think that they will now be able to worm out of the police those secrets of the Craft which are withheld from them even by their lovers ,

Another Paris letter says : —¦ The Ereemasons , of whom little has been heard since the coup d ' etat , which forced them to accept Marshal Magnan for their Grand Master , about a year and a half ago , are in trouble again . They fear to lose the few privileges of a free association , which

that sinister event left them still in possession of . It appears that the former Grand Master , Prince Murat , lent some money to the Craft for the repair and decoration of the Grand Lodge , in Rue Cadet . His conduct in opposing the election of Prince Napoleon , and thus producing the disorders and scandal which

afforded the Emperor an excuse for taking the election of a Grand Master out' of the hands of the brethren , rendered Murat hopelessly unpopular among Ereemasons . He now calls in bis money . The Committee of the Grand Lodge , in order to pay himhas applied to the Credit Eoncier for a loan upon

, a mortgage of tbe premises in the Rue Cadet . The Credit Eoncier , actuated , it is supposed , less by business considerations than by a hint from high quarter , objects that the security will be insufficient so

long as the . Ereemasons are not a society recognised by law as one of " public utility . '' Thereupon the Grand Master , Marshal Magnan , in order to meet the objection , applied to the Cuoncil of State to recognise Ereemasonry . A number of Masonic conscript fathers— "Past Masters

Wardens , and Deacon , "—have protested against this step of a Grand Master , as manifestly tending to fflake the Craft still more subservient to the gwernttent than it is already . The dissentients argue that if Masonry is to be made a " society of public utility , recognised by law , " its statutes must be approved of

V the government , and can never be altered without government permission . Mr . Eugene Delattre , a Paris barrister , has very energetically supported this view of the case . ' Marshal Magnan , who it must be admitted , has from the first done all that was possible to mitigate the ori ginal vice of his nomination

, and has , with really extraordinary tact , succeeded to a great extent in identif ying himself with the Craft , swears , " by his sword , " that he will cause the inherent Wghts of Masonry to be respected , and will resign if they are infringed . These assurances , though probably Well meant / failed to inspire the Craft with confidence .

Freemasonry In France.

Putting this and that together , they are led to fear that a vital blow is aimed against them at the present moment . Ereemasonry has always been detested by the Roman Catholic clergy . It is rumoured that tbe Empress has been set against the institution , and made to believe that its adepts are all atheists and miscreants . Under these circumstances , many leading Masons talk of retiring rather than pass under the yoke .

Another Lady Mason.

ANOTHER LADY MASON .

A ROMANCE ' as THE AMERICAN WAR . ( Coi'respondent of the Chicago Tribune . ) Among the many scenes of the war which have passed under my observation , my recollection enables me to give you an account of one of the most mysterious and strange adventures which . I have ever heard of .

During the month of August in 1861 , whiie our Ioiva regiment was stationed at Rolls , in Missouri , our company Avas detached from the regiment and sent to guard the railroad bridge at the Mozeille mills , which it was rumoured the gverillas of that neighbourhood were prepai'ing to destroy . We had been upon the ground but a few days when

there appeared in camp early one morning a very old , decrepid mule , which made direct for the door of a stable that adjoined the captain's quarters , from which , it appeared he had recently been stolen by a guerilla and carried aivay as a pack animal . Upon approaching the mule , a letter was discovered secured to the throatlatch of the bridle , which , being addressed to the

captain , ivas immediately handed into his quarters . Upon opening the letter , its contents ( written in the delicate handwriting of a female ) consisted of the following singular announcement : — "The Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed on the first Friday before the full moon . " The captain professed to understand it , and said , " The guerillas will attack the bridge to-night , " and immediately ordered the company to be mustered , and informed them of the imminence of an attack which might be looked for at any moment . Ammunition was

ordered to be distributed , the guards were doubled , pickets thrown out , and every precaution taken to guard against surprise . At the close of the day a drizzling rain set in , AA'hich continued until the next morning , causing the night to be intensely dark . Three picket stations had been thrown out into the country about half a mile from the opposite end of the

bridge , where the main guard was posted behind a pile of railroad ties . It was our lot to be one of the six that composed the midnight guard at this station . We had been upon our post about an hour when one of the men observed , " I bear footsteps . " We listened , and presently heard the footsteps of several persons approaching us , apparently with great cautionthrough a dense

under-, grovrth that skirted the opposite end of the road . The darkness of the night was so great that we could not see them even when they were within forty feet of us ; but ive could distinctly hear one of them observe in a petulant but suppressed tone , " Jim , hold up that gun of yours ; that ' s twice you ' ve stuck that bayonet in me . " At this moment we opened upon them with all our guns .

There' was no gun fired in return , but we could distinctly hear them for some time rushing with receding steps through the thicket , in the direction of a cornfield , in which stood a log cabin , occupied by a woman and two children , the husband and father of whom was a Union soldier in one of the Missouri regiments . The firing of our guns , which overshot the enemy , had aroused the entire command , and brought in the picket guard , when the log cabin alluded to was discovered to be on fire . Believing it to be the incendiary work of tbe