Among The Bohemians.

efficiency . He became lance-corporal of A Company , and served throughout the Egyptian campaign of 1 SS 2 . A comrade who fought by his side bears testimony lo Mr . Palmer ' s pluck and cool bearing at Tcl-cl-Kcbir . All the same , the gallant ex-corporal cannot , in the opinion of his military critics , clear himself of the charge of romancing which has been brought against him . The boys of the 79 th utterly repudiate his story of the shooting of two Glasgow Irishmen for disloyalty . There was not a grain of truth

in it , they say . The other story , however , of the chloroforming of a drunken man who jeopardised the success of a night-march by giving vent to ill-timed expressions of patriotism is said to be literally true . Lord Wolscley did actually , and with quite sufficient reason , order the man to be killed on the spot , and the sentence , no doubt , would have at once been carried out had not the surgeon come to the rescue with his chloroform .

According to Mr . Palmer's account , the man was left behind on the sand . This is not . so , however , for he was carried on a stretcher and carefully looked after during the engagement which ensued . The irresponsible individual in question belonged to the 74 th . Mr . Palmer during his military career once or twice attracted the attention of his superiors At Cairo , where he was stationed at the citadel , he once got himself into hot water by delivering a public lecture without the permission of the authorities .

* Bro . Sala is not accurate in his statement that Bro . Charles Whitehead , the early friend and intimate of Dickens , Thackeray , Leigh Hunt , and Douglas Jerrold , and himself a poet , novelist , and dramatist , "died in a ben : volent asylum at Melbourne . " It was in the Melbourne Hospital he died , whither the irreclaimable Bohemian had been carried by the police , who picked him up

insensible in the streets . Mr . Sala asks , Is it a fact that Whitehead had the first offer to supply the letterpress of " Pickwick , " and that he generously recommended his young friend Dickens in his stead ? Of course it is a fact the whole of the circumstances are set forth in John Forstcrs "Life . "

* * * Hall Caine has once more demonstrated his luck in obtaining good advertisements , no less a person than Mr . Gladstone himself having trifled away the hours of illness with the lively pages of " The Bondman . " One can fancy the author . singing —( but then he does not sing )— "Up higher yet , my bonnet , " as he read Mr . Gladstone ' s tribute to " the freshness , vigour , and

sustained interest " of ( he book . Yet the last sentence of the letter must have surprised him . " I do not know , " writes his critic , " whether there are other works tending to establish the connection between the Isle of Man and Scandinavia . I must confess that , although I read ' The Bondman' with a great deal of interest , and without more than a reasonable amount of ski pping , this feature of it quite escaped my notice . " Could Mr . Gladstone have really read it ?

* A new piece of fiction by Jules Verne will shortly be published . It contains a satire on modem mining speculators . The author makes his hero purchase mining rights at the North Pole , in a country so much frozen that it cannot be developed . The company is formed to turn lhe world around , bringing the North Pole into the region of the tropics and turning the universe upside down . Evidently Jules Verne has been investing in joint stocks . KING MOB .

Colonial And Foreign.

Colonial and Foreign .

At a recent meeting of Lodge "Industry " of Freemasons , at Lahore , a somewhat unusual occurrence took place after dinner . The occasion was that of the installation of the new Worshipful Master , liro . Williams , who was dulyinstalled by Worshipful Bro . Dr . Calthrop . After the banquet the usual loyal and Masonic toasts were being proposed , when it struck one of the Brethren to use a foreign language . The idea " caught on , " and though there were

only some one or two-and-lwenty Brethren present , no less than six European and seven Oriental languages found exponents . The speakers were : —Bro . A . Grey , in French ; Bro . Stoddard , in German ; Bro . Dr . Calthrop , in Latin ; Bro . Kcenig , in Italian ; Bro . Manesseh , in Hebrew ; Bro . Dhulip Singh , in Urdu ; Bro . George , in Persian ; Bro . Mukerji , in Bengali ; Bro . Mohan Lall , in Sanskrit ; liro . Dr . Calthrop , in Hindi ; Bvo . Kcenig , in Dutch ; Bro .

Jusrawali , in Guzerati . Then Right Worshipful Brother Parker , the District Grand Master , who had previously spoken in English , very appropriately wound up with a most amusing specimen of the lingua franca spoken by the Punjabi pleaders practising before the Chief Court . It is a little remarkable that the provincial language , Punjabi , was not represented , neither were Pushtu , Biluchi , nor Kashmiri ; still , the performance was decidedly a

creditable one , and the Masonic fraternity of Lahore may be congratulated on their linguistic talents . * * * In the Grand Chapter Room of the Masonic Temple , in Twenty-Thirdstreet , New York , last month , there was the largest gathering of the members of the Order of High Priesthood that has ever taken place within its walls . It was the meeting of the Grand Chapter for the purpose of conferring the degree of the order upon the newly-elected high priests of the various

Colonial And Foreign.

Chapters previous to the annual convocation , which will be held in the city of Albany , on the 4 th inst . The Right Excellent William J . McDonald occupied the East , Most Excellent William Sherer acting as Chaplain , and Right Excellent James Cornelius as Captain of the Host . Right Excellent Companion McDonald conferred the degree with the assistance of his able and efficient staff . The excellent manner in which the work was done commanded commendation from all present . It is said that the beautiful and striking

features of the degree were never better portrayed than on this occasion . There were twenty-two candidates who were anointed and consecrated to the Order . * * * In the course of a speech delivered by one of the Brethren at a Masonic Installation Banquet at Singapore , the other week , the speaker , referring to the exclusion of women from the Craft , said : — " Our order excludes the

admission of women , not that it refuses to pay a proper regard to the gentler sex , not that it insinuates that they will not implicitly obey the strictest law of secrecy , but that it will be inconsistent with the modest economy and delicacy of the female character to admit them among us . Moreover , their attractive presence and charming conversation will greatly interfere with our solemn rites . However , we are penetrated with pious considerations in their behoof : we are prohibited by our rules and obligations from injuring the peace of families or disturbing domestic happiness as fashionable libertines endeavor to do . "

Gathered Chips.

Gathered Chips .

I have been longer than some of you in climbing to the position in which I now find myself , but the exigencies of military service , by requiring me to be present with my regiment abroad , have operated to my disadvantage to a certain extent Masonically , by arresting the How of promotion , which , in the ordinary case , would have carried me through all the minor offices , and rendered me eligible for the chair , some years before it has actually been my

good fortune lo fill it . Yet I cannot thank too warmly those Brethren who stood aside , or the Lodge in general , for their kind consideration in placing me last year in the chair of S . W ., thus conveying to me the gratifying assurance that the Lodge and Brethren were equally conscious of my wish to walk up to the chair , and of the causes which had prevented me from doing so . Soldiers who are Masons have to contend with very grave disabilities , from which other

sections of our fraternity arc exempt . Prominent among these is the constant shifting of quarters , which makes it impossible for a military brother , unless on the permanent staff or other exceptional circumstances , to remain at any one station sufficiently long to reap the reward due to faithful service in the subordinate offices by election to the Master's chair . In further illustration of my meaning , let me state that I took office in the

Moira Lodge in 1 SS 1 , but had to rejoin my battalion in Malta ; there I also took office . In 1 S 82 I again took office in my mother Lodge , but was called upon to go to Egypt . I again took office in 1 SS 6 at Gibraltar , and lastly , in 1 S 8 S , 1 was appointed to the office of S . W . of this Lodge by the generous action alluded loin the earlier portion of my remarks . In former days tilings were very different . At one time almost every regiment had a Lodge attached to it , and lo the influence of these military , or travelling Lodges , is due much of the Masonic progress of the last century , more especially in America . 'There was a famous Lodge in my own regiment—the 38 th Foot , now the 1 st

Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment—for which a warrant , bearing the number 441 , was granted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1765 . This Lodge had many remarkable incidents in its history , one of which being that its chest , jewels , and warrant , together with the records of the regiment , were captured by the enemy . The former were returned uninjured , but lhe latter never were heard of again . Its proceedings , from the publicity given them , were , some years ago , a com lion topic of discussion in the Masonic

press . But I shall now only mention one more incident in its remarkable history . This Lodge , while the 38 th Regiment was in America , formed one of the nine Lodges present at the inauguration of the Grand Lodge of New York in 17 S 2 , and an officer in the regiment and Lodge 441 , Lieutenant ] . Studholme Brownrigg , was elected the first S . G . W . of the new governing body . Of those nine Lodges which took part in the formation of the Grand

Lodge of New York , it is not a little remarkable that six of them belonged to British regiments serving in the garrison . I have been unable to resist the temptation of alluding to an old and distinguished Lodge attached for upwards of a century to the regiment which I have so recently had the honor to command . It may be interesting to the Brethren to know that the Lodge was in working order up to 1 S 60 . 'The chest , jewels , and minutes are still in the

possession of the Masons of the battalion . Hut I must now endeavor to show you that there arc other and stronger reasons than the pleasing associations connected with my own military career for the wish I have long entertained to fill the important office in which I have been this evening so ably installed by Bro . Gould , Past Master and Past Grand Deacon . In England , so far as ] am informed , there is no documentary evidence relating to the actual proceedings of Lodges which is of older date than the Grand Lodge of England itself . By this I mean that there are no Lodge minutes or records of earlier date than 1717 . The W . M . of the oldest English Lodge , I am glad to say , is