"The Masonic Observer" To His Shameless Little Muse.

And one thing is most certain , They've convicted you of flirting With a false , vain , ribald , dangerous , and most obnoxious" party . " Now hush ! make no pretence , Miss , To set up a defence , Miss ;

All good old ladies reprobate such conduct , Miss , and scout you ; And dont fly in a passion , And say " you ' re quite in fashion " When I blow you up because I find this bustle all about you . Well , well—don't cry—now don ' t , love ;

Kiss me—I feel you wont , love , Vex me again by cutting so unlady-like a figure ; And this puff of slanderous breath , you know , Must die a natural death , you know , For blowing up will only tend to make a bustle bigger . Now go : with ways more winning ,

They'll soon forgive your sinning , Make but a good "parti" now ; it will wipe out the disaster ; And pick out one , Calliope , Who on the Dais is high up , he May be your / irf « re slave , my love , tho' now he's a Past Master ,

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"They hold that true liberty can no more exist and flourish without freedom of discussion , than can a plant confined and unwatered , put forth perfect and healthy bud and blossom . " —E . B . LVTTON . Must it be so ? hot lips and ready hand

Be sealed for aye , and fettered at command ? The living lie still flourish , and the truth Pant prisoned in the beating heart of youth ? Aye ! Youth , so full of promise at thy dawn , First learn to cringe , to flatter and to fawn : With eye abashed , and lips that give no sound , Fold thy weak arms , until those arms be bound ;

And mock thy brethren ' s wild despairing call When their old freedom crashes to its fall . ' For such the path that loads to purple state ; So little must thou be , if e ' er thou would ' st be great . Must it be so ? Brothers , such slavish things

Arc shaped but in a slave's imaginings . Turn to old lore your Exodus to see , And from what has been , judge of what shall be . When Rome first sickened at the Claudian sway , A young Icilius rose to point the way ; And we may fan , to bring our Craft release , Hampden's resolve , with Falkland's sigh for peace ;

Aye , peace that gives to far and near their due , Such , send your tribunes forth to win for you 1 Peace with just laws , and equal freedom fraught , Such Peace may still be ours , if still such Peace be sought .

Correspondence.

Correspondence .

Sir and Brother , I should be glad of your permission to say a few words on "A Past-Master's Address to the Craft ; " which , from its being printed in official type and on official paper , may not unreasonably be supposed to emanate from an official quarter , and is therefore entitled to more than ordinary consideration . The writer begins by assuming , that " an antagonistic spirit ... is calculated to do the most serious mischief to the fraternity -. " antagonism ,

however , is far from being necessarily mischievous ; on the contrary , antagonism to what is bad is the highest duty of every good man ; and the question therefore is , to what is there a spirit of antagonism ? to what is admirable and excellent , or to what is scandalous and faulty ? Now Sir , it is not I think too much to say , that the efforts of those below the Dais have been consistently directed to the remedy of acknowledged abuses , and to the maintenance , in its integrity , of the supreme authority of Grand Lodge , as distinguished from the authority of the Grand Master—which has of late been

exercised in a manner little consistent with that supremacy , but rather as though he really were ( what a distinguished member of the Dais never loses an opportunity of declaring him to be ) an independent and irresponsible sovereign ; a title , I need scarcely observe , not found in the Book of Constitutions . Among these acts , none has been of more frequent occurrence , than the refusal to put motions from the Chair of which the G . M . happens to disapprove ; the effect of which is to give him an absolute veto upon the

proceedings of G . L . ; a power nowhere hinted at in the Constitutions , which only allow him to refuse to put a motion , that is " contrary to the ancient landmarks of the order . " The notorious neglect of the Grand Secretary in replying to communications ; the no less notorious neglect of the complaints of the Prov . G . L . of Canada , on the part of the authorities ; the attempt to prevent the publication of a portable edition of the Constitutions ; the opposition to the business paper of Grand Lodge being placed in the hands of its members;—these are the matters which have evoked " an antagonistic spirit "

on the part of the delegates of the private lodges , who are somewhat impertinently styled by the nominees of the Grand Master , " selfconstituted teachers " So again as regards the " pliability" and " servility" of those who wear purple aprons—the question is simply one of fact ; is it or is it not true , that for years past , they have allowed the abuses to continue without protest , which are now in course of removal ( thanks to the " self-constituted teachers" )—that whatever the G . M . or the other authorities have done , they have ratified—and thatwhenever an independent member of G . L .

, below the Dais has presumed to question any of their acts or omissions , or to remedy any evil however crying , he has invariably met with the most determined opposition , if not with absolute discourtesy ? And then we are told , that we ought to have " brotherly confidence " in these brethren !

The "P . M . s" laudable attempt , to inspire the craft at large with jealousy of the Westminster and Keystone Lodge , as being desirous to " usurp the functions of G . L . " —while it comes with an ill grace from those who have not only " usurped its functions , " but done their best to silence its voice—will , I trust , prove a signal failure . Were it the case , that the distinguished members who compose that University Lodge , claimed a greater share in our debates , than , so far as I know , they do—I am convinced that all who desire to uphold the constitutions in their spirit , are too grateful to them for

the bold stand they have assisted them to make , in defence of their rights and liberties , to allow any unworthy feeling of this sort to mar the strength of the great " party , " who are insisting upon efficiency ; but a reference to the paper of business for December , will at once settle the question ; and I find there that while three members of No . 10 , have given notice of motion , ten names of other brethren appear upon the list . Once more , as to "P . M . ' s" facts . He states , in opposition to yourselfthat " no member of the Dais opposed the Colonial Board "

, . I quote from the report of the debate . "Bro . DOBIE contended that this clause ( iv . ) appointed a board which took some of the power of the B . of Gen . Purposes away from it ... . this clause was an alteration of the law , and as such could not be moved in its present shape upon that occasion . " Br . HAVEIIS said they could not put the resolution in its present shape , " and so on ; technical objections were urged ad nauseam . I have trespassed too long upon your space , and must conclude . I heartily desire that we may all unite in carrying out wliate / er