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present , and I dare say will , at a later period , put me right if I am wrong in my supposition . To proceed , however , with my remarks—in Scotland it is very different , for both Lodge minutes and records abound . From these I shall next make a brief selection . It would appear from the oldest minutebook of St . John's Lodge , Kelso , which dates from 1701 , that in that year " George Faa" was the Master . This name is well known on the border ,

being the name of the royal family of the gipsy tribe located there . In the next year , under the date , Kelso , June 2 , 1 7 02 , we meet with the following : — " The whilk day the Company of Masons of the honourable lodge of Kelso having met ther , and taking to ther consideration that George Faa , last Master to the said company , is now deceased , they therfor , after matur deliberation , have selected the honourable Sir John Pringall to be

Master in the place of deceased deacon Faa , and to continu to actt and do as Master until St . John ' s day next , when the company shall again have it under their consideration whether to elect another or continue the said Sir John Pringall . " When St . John ' s Day arrived , Sir John Pringle was unanimously re-elected . And here I must proceed to explain why these extracts have been recited to you .

It would seem that in 1702 , or fifteen years before , there was a Grand Lodge of England , my direct ancestor and great-great-grandfather succeeded either the king of the gipsies or one of that Royal line , as Master of the Kelso Lodge . One more quotation and I have done . The Grand Secretary of Scotland , in his history of the Lodge of Edinburgh , records under the dale of June 24 , 1670 , the admission of Walter Pringle , Advocate , "as Brother and fellow Craft . "

This Walter Pringle was the brother of my "great-great-great-grandfather , Sir Robert Pringle , Bart ., " and with his name I reach the highest point to which I can trace my Masonic pedigree , that is to say , 219 years from the present time . But it will suffice , I hope , to establish what I am anxious to submit for your consideration . It is that the love of Masonry , with which I sincerely trust I am imbued , has come down to me by inheritance , and that in seeking

admission into the Craft , as well as in my fortunate selection of a mother Lodge , I have been guided by an instinctive feeling which has happily caused my feet to tread in the footsteps of those Brethren of my name and family in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , whose connection with the Lodges of Edinburgh and Kelso respectively I have briefly adverted to . —Col . Sir Norman Pringle , Bart ., at Ms installation to the Chair of the Moira Lodge .

* * * One of the signal pleasures arising from Freemasonry is that which is incident to Masonic visiting . Of course we enjoy attending our own Lodge ; it is our special home ; there we meet the members of our own immediate family ; but Freemasonry is an endless chain of families extending round lhe globe . It is no euphemism to say that in every land the Freemason may find

a home , and in every clime a Brother . This is not figure of speech , but fact . But many who never become travellers desire to visit in their own country , and their own city . There is a charm in visiting another Masonic Lodge , meeting even in the same Masonic Temple as our own Lodge . It may be a next-door neighbor . Yet in it we are abroad . We there widen our circle of experience , our knowledge of the Masonic world . We there , amid old

associations , meet new associates . It is the same old work , the same secret art and mystery , the same symbols and allegories , but all else new , and new life is sometimes thus acquired by the Brother , who has been previously following only a time-worn , monotonous path . As all roads lead to Rome , so every road leads to a Masonic Lodge . You cannot go astray in seeking one . Wherever there are all the outward tokens of Freemasonry

—a Masonic Hall , a Masonic Temple , or even an unpretentious Lodge Room , —duly guarded by the Tyler , and thus protected from the approach of the profane , a Freemason may venture to present himself . But if the customary Craft indications are lacking— the doors kept wide open , or ajar , where one may walk in unchallenged , or peep in , — beware ! That may be the

resort of clandestines , or so-called latter-day saints , or the profanest of lhe profane . It requires some skill to visit wisely . The Brother mu-t have his Masonic wits about him . He must not be like the acacia , ever green . He must be bright , a reading Mason , not merely on speaking terms with Freemasonry , but intimately familiar with its mysteries . Such a one cannot go astray . We will suppose a discreet Brother to be on his travels in quest of " more Light . " He presents

himself to a Lodge where he is unknown , and requests admission as a visitor . What is the usual course which ensues ? That depends on the Master of the Lodge . The Master is Master . His will and pleasure rules the Craft . He may perform his duty , or neglect it . He may , in due course , hear the request for admission presented , and for a good cause , or a poor cause , or no cause at all , pay no immediate attention to it , or

temporarily overlook it , or lose sight of it altogether . The constant recurrence of one or olher of these lines of conduct is becoming a crying evil in the Craft . A visiting Brother who sends in his request to a Lodge has a right to have it treated with Masonic courtesy , and with all possible promptness acted upon . He is a Brother of the Craft . Every Loelge should be made a home to him . We , of course ,

recognise the right of a Master to refuse admittance to any visiting Brother whom he thinks would mar the harmony of that particular Lodge , and also the personal right of any membir , for the same reason , to object to a visitor ; but we are not now treating of that aspect of the subject . Wc are assuming that

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there is no formal objection to his admission , and that his request is simply neglected or ignored . This is a wrong , not only to the Brother who patiently and longingly sits outside the door , but to the genius of Freemasonry itself . He is our Brother , our other self , who is without in waiting . There is no good reason why his request should be treated with neglect , and every reason why it should be treated with the civility due to a gentleman and a Freemason . Put yourself in his place ! How would you like lo be kept

loitering in the outer courts of the Temple , while within those mystic rites which have so great a fascination to the average initiate are being enacted by your Brethren ? How would you fancy being kept nibbling your impatient thoughts , while hungering and thirsting for the abundance of Masonic food dispensed within the tylcd Lodge ? We trust the day , or the night , is at hand when all Masters of Lodges

will be thoughtful of the visiting Brother , give him instant attention , if practicable , and treat him with that fraternal spirit which he would invoke for himself were he knocking at the portals of another Lodge . The Tyler ' s room , or closet , or entry , is not always the most agreeable place in the Masonic world . Sometimes the stove is uncomfortably near , or the smoke unpleasantly thick , or the seats disagreeably hard , or the monotony

decidedly marked . Then the proposing visitor has a dull time of it . But even when the surroundings are the best imaginable , they are not what he is in quest of . He desires to enter the portals of Freemasonry , to visit his Brethren , to sit in the Lodge . He ought not to be unreasonably kept out . He should have the right hand of friendship and brotherly love extended to him . He is one of us probably , and he should be duly noticed , promptly examined , and , if found to be a Freemason , warmly welcomed as a visiting Brother . Brethren , think of these things , and perform your duty in the light of the sunshine of brotherly love . —Keystone .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

" TYLER . "—We are glad of your communication , but your complaint we muat not recognise . Your Lodge contains a number of gentlemen who would never countenance , we are sure , any unfairness to you , so that we feel you have not honestly stated all the facts of the case . A . G . SO . MERVILLI' . —1 . The Grand Secretary , at Freemasons' Hall , London , is the only person who can or will answer your query . 2 . We were not represented at the meeting , nor have we any correspondent in the locality

who had permission to use our name . We received your subscription through a Mr . Herbert Cox , and sent him a receipt . "WINDSOR CASTLE LODGE . "—Sir Henry Gooch is a Craft Mason and member of a Chapter , but a recent communication from him casually informed us that he had withdrawn from active work . He does not , we believe , reside at Cfewer , but at his place in Suffolk .

H . H . GLADE . —We do not know anything whatever about it . We are not private detectives nor diffiisers of filthy slander . "P . M ., 843 " ; J LANE ; A . BAR VI ELD ; C HARLES A . G . HONEYCHURCH ; " P . M . 2 , 609 " ; " CITV MASON " ; " NOVICE " ; " P . 7 J ; T . PARKMAN , and others , answered through post .

Books And Periodicals Received.

BOOKS AND PERIODICALS RECEIVED .

A Thousand Miles on an Elephant in the Shan States . By Holt M . Hallett , M . Inst . C . E ., F . R . G . S ., & c . William Blackwood & Sons , Edinburgh and London . —The acemisition of Burmah ought to be of incalculable service to us in our trade interests , and if we would not neglect the opportunities thus offered , we must bestir ourselves so as not to be forestalled in our markets , and one of the greatest of these includes Siam , the Siamese Shan States , and the

south-western province of China known as Yunnan , thus presenting customers of many millions who have not as yet come within touch of our commerce . To reach these people and to unite South-western China with British Burmah by the best possible railway route was the raison d ' etre of Mr . H . M . llallett ' s survey , which he carried out with almost pedantic accuracy , anel with no monetary advantage to himself whatever . The difficulties he met with are

modestly disclosed , the character of the country and the rites , customs , and often weird beliefs of the people are graphically and charmingly described , so as to make the volume most interesting reading . And although he adorns his tale , he does not forget to point a moral ; indeed , that he has felt lo be his mission in putting pen lo paper . And , briefly , it is this : that the only practicable trade route by railway is from Moulmein , in British Burmah , a

convenient port for English shipping , to Raheng , in the Siamese Shan States , making that town a junction with a line running north-east via Lakon to Kiang-Hsen , with an extension to Ssumao , on the Chinese frontier . Besides , this route has the advantage of being the speediest to reach Yunnan-fu , the objective point of all projectors . The book is well got up , contains many views and wood-cuts , anel the maps are marvels of the cartographic art .

New Zealand Craftsman ; The Freemason ; Freemasons' Chronicle j The Monitor j 7 lie Tyler j Keystone j Gardening Worlds " Sardinia and the Sardes " ( London : Bcntley & Son ) ; " Lodge ' s Peerage and Baronetage "' ( London : Hurst & Blackct ) ; "The New Prince Fortunatus" ( Sampson Low & Co . ) .