Freemasonry In France.

thereby created , in labouring for the object prescribed by our Order , ancl in promoting the progress of the masses ; but some ambitious men have wished to seize that force and employ it in a manner forbidden by your constitution . Some members desired to proclaim a new dogma , of which they would have been the apostles ; others were anxious to connect Masonry with the secret

societies which the Eevolution has spread over tho surface of tho globe . Deplorable scenes have in consequence taken place amongst us . Agitation has been employed and bad passions excited ; but as for myself , I have onl y appealed to the well inclined , and I am happy to say with success . I have been brought up a military man

, and for me obedience to orders is everything . Accordingly , being charged to execute the laws you passed , I cannot neglect my duly , for the law is inflexible . Several brothers ,, with good intentions and in becoming terms , have requested me to be indulgent . I have answered that every brother ivho may write to me to

admit that he was wrong in infringing the constitution Avhich he had sworn to observe , would be immediately relieved from tlie temporary suspension inposed on him . Ear from understanding the spirit of conciliation displayed in that decision , certain brothers wished to enter into discussion with me — the supreme authority . 'Strike out , ' said they , 'from the preamble of the decree the phrase which declares that suspended brothers have forfeited their honour ! ' ' That I will never do ! ' I

answered . 1 * or we are all bound by our oaths ; Masonic authority only possesses force in proportion as we respect it . The man who violates it forfeits honour , just as in the profane world a debt of honour not paid excludes the debtor from society . But a graver event has just taken place . The Lodge Saint Jean , Fraternite des Peiipies , has protested against Masonic authoritin

y a manner so violent and so contrary to our regulations , that I have summoned the council to assemble , to take a decision respecting the subject . All these incidents united have such a character , that henceforth the duties which the Grand Mastershi p imposes on me cease to be agreeable . I have taken measures to prevent your

material interests from being injured h y the intrigues of the men who are exciting the lodges to embarrass the authorities . As to the current affairs , desiring only to exercise my power to intervene in grave cases , which I hope will not occur , I shall nominate a commission which , with the co-operation of Brother Eexes and the

Council of the Grand Master , will occupy itself with such affairs up to the day of the elections . ' Let me then hope that calm will be re-established among you , ancl that in the meeting which is to take place in October to nominate my successor , you will be strengthened in true Masonic principles , and free from all spirit of coteries—¦ the only means of preserving intact the honour of our institution . "L . MURA ' .. "

THE RHINOCEROS ' S FKIEKD . —The rhinoceros's best friend , and the rhinoceros ' s hunter ' s most tiresome enemy , is a little bird , the TBuphaga Africana , vulgarly known as the rhinoceros ' s bird . It constantly attends 0 : 1 the huge beast , feeding on the ticks that infest its hide , the bird ' s long claws ancl elastic tail enabling it to hold fast to whatever portion of the animal it fancies . If it rendered the rhinoceros no further service than ridding him of these biting pests , it would deserve his gratitude ; but , in addition , it docs him

the favour of warning him of the approach of the hunter . AVith its ears as busy as its beak , the little sentinel detects danger afar off , and at once shoots up into the air , uttering a sharp and peculiar' note , which tlie rhinoceros is not slow to understand and take advantage of ; he doesn't wait to make inquiry , but makes off at once . Gumming asserts that when the rhinoceros is asleep , and the Buphaga fails to wake him with its voice , it will peck the inside of bis ears , and otherwise exert itself to rouse its thickheaded friend . —Wild Sports of the World .

Architecture And Archaæology.

ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHA ? OLOGY .

BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION . The eighteenth annual meeting or congress of this influential association commenced at Exeter on Monday , the 19 th , under the presidency of Sir Stafford H . Northcote , Bart ., MP ., C . B ., M . A At three o ' clock , the Mayor of Exeter , Mr . Frederick Franklyn . together with the members of the coporation , received the president and the associates in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall , hi

which , during the morning , a life-size painting of Field Marshall , the Duke of AVellington , by Northcote , and the gift of Sir Joseph Sawle , had been hung . The Bight AVorshipful the Mayor—Sir Stafford Northcote and gentlemen of the Archaeological Association—On the part of the Corporation of Exeter I have very sincere pleasure in finding that you are about to visit this city , ancl to give you a very warm and cordial welcome to our ancient and loyal citj-. I trust that your

visit to our city will be the means of calling the public attention to the value and importance of your inquiries . I hope the association will find in the neighbourhood and city such antiquarian objects ancl discoveries as shall reward them for their valuable attention . His worship then invited the president and other members of the association to luncheon , which had been provided in the committee room . At the conclusion of this the party left for the meeting at

the royal public rooms , to hear the president's address . In the room were several very valuable and highly interesting articles and representations of many old places in the county and in Exeter itself . There was a large company present , including several ladies . Sir STAEEOUD NoimicoTE ( the president ) , on rising , was received with loud cheers . After a few preliminary observations , he said—He found , on-looking back at the records of the proceedings of the association on former occasions , that it had heen the habit of those

who had held the office whicli he had the honour to fill , to commence the proceedings by offering to the association something in the nature of . 111 inaugural address , in which they had printed the many objects of interest which the districts visited contained , and in which they had . brought to the notice of the visitors many matters of interest and importance . He wished very much it were in his power to follow the example of his predecessors in that respect , but he really felt that it was uot in his power , and he did not wish to attempt anything in which he knew he should fail . He should , therefore , console himself as much as possible , in the

remarks he should make , to the much humbler province of introducing the British Arch _ eologic . il Association to his own county , and of introducing his own county to the association ; and if he did venture to trench upon any mattor of antiquity , or of archaiclogical character , he begged to assure those who were experts in the matter tbat he should not do so for the pnrpose of offering remarks that might enlighten , but rather to show the depths of ignorance they had dispelled in coming amongst them , so that he requested

them to look upon him in the light of what he had been called by an eminent statesman , with which , no doubt , many of them were acquainted , a "foolometer" —( laughter)—and by thus showing the depths of his ignorance they might see the necessity of enlightening him upon these interesting subjects . He introduced them to the meeting in the perfect confidence that they wonld feel great pleasure , and derive great profit from following these eminent men in the investigations they wore about to make in the different parts

of their county . He felt sure that the observations they would make in their presence would open their minds to many things they had probably been in the habit of passing over unheeded , and would open up new sources of interest , which , perhaps , they hardly conceived were in their midst , and therefore it was that he introduced his own comity ancl that city to members of the association , in the full and confident hope that they would find that it was not less rich in materials of archaeological lore than any

other county or any other city that they had visited . It did not require that they should bo very deep archaeologists themselves to enjoy an archaeological gathering like the present . The truth was that science was one of the most natural , he should rather say the pursuit was one of the most natural , and he thought he might say the most original that men could engage in . They were naturally curious to know how it was they found themselves in the position in which they were , and it was impossible they could

rightly understand what they were unless they knew how they had come to be that which they were . They found they had not stepped into a rich inheritance , like the people of Israel , who came into a lend full of treasures which their forefathers had not gathered for them . If they looked to the animal world they saw that the beavers made their houses , tho birds their nests , ancl other animals their different works precisely as they did in the beginning of the world ; but men should be continually advancing , throwing aside that which was clone for them by their ancestors and doing that which