Eminent Masons At Home.

letlres , and it is there , perhaps , you should seek to hear of the kindness and forethought with which Baron Ferdinand treats those with whom he comes in contact . He is a great smoker , and , as no apartment in the house is sacred from the fragrant weed , you find him smoking his cigar through one of the quill-and-paper holders he is never without . The walls of the drawing-room are

panelled and white . Upon the mantel is a set of blue vases possessing a history . Four canvases , depicting the arts of Sculpture , Painting , Architecture , and Music , enhance the decorative simplicity of the walls , and in no wise detract from a superb Boucher portrait of Madame Pompadour . Furniture that has adorned the

palaces of Emperors is scattered here and there in simple elegance , and a glass case of antique jewels and articles of virtu stands behind the door in momentary fear of being smashed to pieces . Outside the drawing-room across a marble saloon lighted by a massive chandelier of imitation wax candles , each one of which has

a tiny electric glow lamp at its summit , manufactured from a special idea of the Baron , is the Red Room with its small collection of pictures by Rubens , Jardin the younger , Van der Velde , Greuze , Bercham , and Teniers . This room , with its secret door into a small apartment occupied by a secretary , is the " own " room of the Baron ; but this morning it has its furnishings shrouded in hollands and cases .

The innate good-nature and humane disposition which have attributed themselves to the Rothschild ' s ever since Mayer Amscher Rothschild founded the firm at Frankfort is apparent in the character of Baron Ferdinand no less than in that of the other members of the great firm of financiers . To Nathan Meyer , the third and most remarkable son of the Frankfort founder , must be

ascribed much of the subsequent prosperity of the family , for by his splendid financial abilities , subsequent to the year 1798 , when he came over to England to create a business of his own , he raised it to the brilliant position it has assumed ever since . The basis upon which the immense financial fabric has been raised is a

limitation of operations and profits , and it is mainly by these means we find the successors to the London house have gained their pre sent position in the honorable esteem of Englishmen . " There is but one power in Europe , " said the French writer Weille , " and that s Rothschild . His satellites are a dozen banking firms ; his

soldiers , his squires , all respectable men of business and merchants ; and his sword is speculation . Rothschild is a consequence that was bound to appear , and if it had not been a Rothschild , it would have been some one else . He is , however , by no means an accidental consequence , but a primary consequence , called into existence by the principles which have guided the European States

since 1 S 13 . Rothschild had need of the States to become a Rothschild , while the States on their side required Rothschild . Now , however , he no longer needs the State , but the State still has want of him . " And what was true in Weille ' s day is more soundly true in this . Never was a motto , perhaps , more applicable than

that of this branch of the Rothschild family : Concordia iniegritas industria . By industry of no mean order has the fortunes of the firm risen beyond the influence of the exterior financial world , for " Rothschild" is connected directly or indirectly with every big financial scheme of the hour .

As a patron of the Arts , there is more than one follower of the brush and chisel who owe their success in life to the generosity of Ferdinand Rothschild . His purse is never shut when the judicious application of a mite of its contents may raise a talented and struggling youngster upon the pedestal of success ; and never is a charitable purpose which can appeal to the generosity of a

r ight-minded man allowed to remain without a substantial gift from this or some other member of the firm of Rothschild . With all the urroundings of luxury which are due to a man who uses that luxury for others as for himself , there is that in the past life of Baron Ferdinand common to all mortals , that which riches cannot avail or power prevent , for sorrow is no respector of persons . In 1865 Baron Ferdinand married his

Eminent Masons At Home.

cousin , the youngest sister of the first Baron Rothschild , but before the first year of her married life had passed she died in giving birth to her son and heir , and a lengthened tour half over the globe only just succeeded in saving the unhappy husband ' s mind . For twentyfive years one of the most powerful men in the kingdom has been childless and a widower , and for twenty - five years , on each

succeeding anniversary of her death , a sorrowing man wends his way to a certain vault in the cemetery at West Ham and deposits memory ' s tribute to an attachment which a quarter of a century has done nothing but mellow into a lifelong regret . The Baron is honored with the personal friendship of H . R . H . the Grand Master

of English Freemasonry , and at Sandringham is always a welcomed guest . Kind in disposition and courteous to a degree , this member of the Rothschild family , who is no longer a partner in the mighty financial house in St . Swithin ' s-lane , has never known a man who was not his friend .

The Inner And Outer Guards.

THE INNER AND OUTER GUARDS .

TT may be supposed by many Brethren who do not consider the - * - importance to be attached to small beginnings , that the qualifications , duties , and responsibilities of the Inner Guard cannot be of sufficient moment as regards the working of a Lodge to merit any extended observations . But we shall endeavor to show that ,

although that officer occupies the lowest statutory position on the roll of assistant officers within the portals of the Lodge whilst at labor , much of the order and regularity which should pervade its proceedings depends upon the manner in which his especial duties are performed . The Inner Guard may well be likened to a sentinel

placed between the outworks of a military force and its camp , and a similar amount of care and watchfulness is as necessary from the one as from the other to prevent intrusion and disturbance . According to the late Bro . Dr . Oliver , in his work on Masonic Jurisprudence , the Inner Guard of a Lodge is an officer of modern

standing , and occupies the position which was assigned to the youngest entered apprentice in the old Lodges of Operative Masons , t ' e ., to see that none be admitted except those who are duly qualified , habited in their proper clothing , and have signed their names to the accustomed papers . He is entrusted with the further duty of

ascertaining whether the Lodge be properly and closely tyled at the command of the Junior Warden ; to report when brethren claim to be admitted , and to require the necessary proof of their qualifications ; to receive candidates at the inner entrance of the Lodge , and to ascertain their privileges by strict inquiry ; having

communicated with the Worshipful Master to admit them in proper form ; and to obey the general orders and commands of the Junior Warden .

We will not stay to inquire how such duties could have been faithfully and perfectly discharged by the youngest Entered Apprentice in the old Lodges of Operative Masons , but we can well imagineindeed , we know—that the Inner Guard of a Lodge of Speculative Freemasons of the present day must of necessity have made

advances in Freemasonry far beyond the acquirements of an Initiate . In fact , a mere superficial acquaintance with the ritual and ceremonial in the three degrees we practise would be worse than useless to such officer , and lead him into all sorts of errors and mischances . On the contrary , he should know , even if not sufficiently advanced

to be able to work the several degrees himself , what his superior officers have to do , and the proper times when and where their work may , for the moment , be stayed to permit the introduction of members and visitors without disturbance or confusion . He should

on no account permit the slightest interruption from without to interfere with the solemnity and regularity with which a ceremony or important discussion should be conducted . And in the discharge of that important part of his duty he should be no respector of persons . No matter what may be the position or exalted rank in the Craft of any applicant for permission to enter , the peace and harmony of a Lodge engaged in labor should not be broken by