Round And About.

A recent issue of the Nineteenth Century numbered among its contributions a king , a duke , a baron , two or three peers , a courtesy lord , and a knight . The fact of it is , there are infinitely too many titled people in this little island , who have no means to keep them steady in their

own positions . They flood commerce and the Stock Exchange , they lend their names to Directorates , they sell butter and cheese , they make bonnets , and do everything down to the grinding of a street organ . I have never read anything brilliant or even smart from a titled pen these past

ten years , and why they should be encouraged to cram the reviews is beyond explanation . The ]) rofessional charitable woman , for instance , who writes a ten-page article in one of the monthlies generally deems that , ' a very strong contribution to the cause , and pockets her fee she gets from the editor

with amazing relish . I must risk being considered ungallant , but Lady Wolverton sets an example to her fellow philanthropists which they would do well to follow .

# * # I am often reminded when speaking of charitable women , of a little bit of experience I had some years ago , when going over the country seat of one of our old nobility . It was a beautiful place , crammed with costly furniture and

art treasures , and its owner had a small income of about £ " 60 , 000 a year , or some such trifle . The housekeeper was commissioned to show me the upper parts of the house , and during our ramble some remark I dropped led her to sigh and say , "Yes ! it is a pity they are not richer . " "I beg

your pardon , " I could not help replying , feigning I had not heard her aright . " I say it is a pity they haven't got millions , sir , " and the self-satisfied old retainer undoubtedly grieved because her masters were so poor .

* * As Mr . McLeod has now fully entered upon his duties as the Secretary of the Boys' Institution , and Mr . Binckes has taken a final farewell of the little room behind the glazed partition , which divides it from the general office

of the Institution in Great Queen-street , the tableau curtain of the worn-out tragedy , " The Corsican Brothers , " may be rung down , and the audience may go home . With this reflection let us forget the most unfortunate episode

in the management of the Institution . Bro . Binckes has pocketed his . £ 2 , 500 , and the calm resignation he showed in sticking to his guns until he got it will be appreciated just so much or so little as each individual subscriber may please , and if the overwhelming majority by which Bro .

McLeod was elected to fill the position means anything , it means that every confidence is placed in his ability to succeed at his post . And nobody wishes him greater success than I do .

¦ , ' ! # # Wanted a solution of the following conundrum given by the Freemasons' Repository , in ah article on "Happy People . I regret I am not able to issue a free life insurance policy for £ 1 , 000 to the next-of-kin of the man who solves it :

The great Redeemer did not hesitate to observe the mother hen and her chickens ; and every day that one lives in the country he may feel deeply impressed with some lesson of wisdom and religion by seeing in his own or his neighbour ' s yard the various fowls pecking in the grass or on the ground , or cackling to one another to come to the bounteous table and join in the feast . And is there any pleasanter picture than that of the cows browsing in the pasture or chewing the cud ? And these examples are not selected carefully from the races of birds and

brutes ; they are most familiar examples . Can it be that the human race , unspeakably more highly endowed with means of good , has been denied the additional ability of using its means , without which ability all other means are felt to be useless ? * * *

Here is another Masonic note from the pages of a Masonic print , slightly abridged : — Our dear friend , Bro . Licquoring Smiles , P . M ., the landlord of the Piping Bullfinch , is having his first floor whitewashed , consequently the last meeting of the Unicorn Lodge of Destruction was held in the

cellar . It only remains for us to add that the sawdust used on the auspicious occasion was manufactured by Bro . Garge Kenen and gave great satisfaction . Bro . Smiles remarked he had not come across such sweet-smelling sawdust for many years . A vote of thanks to the potman for so nobly coming forward and placing his cellar at the disposal of the Lodge was carried with great enthusiasm , and all the members were eventually able to reach , home , with the exception of three who slept on a rum puncheon .

The musical profession lost one of its soundest followers , and masonry a good craftsman , in the death of Bro . Cusins , the Musical Chief of the Military Academy of Music at Kneller Hall , Twickenham . I have at last managed to visit

his grave , but it was only in October last I was speaking of his charming Wednesday afternoon concerts on the lawns of Kneller Hall , and it is but a few weeks ago we were discussing , during a long railway journey , the merits of Sir Arthur Sullivan ' s beautiful musical composition . Bro . Cusins was preceptor of several lodges of instruction , and was a P . M . of the Etonian at Windsor . He stated years

ago he jvould never marry whilst his mother was alive to receive his attentions , and he kept his word . A mart of real worth in the highest acceptation of the expression , a perfect master of the theory and rendition of classical music , his welcomed presence has already proved a loss to a great

number of people . He was buried quietly in Twickenham Cemetery , whilst his sweet music , which was the solace of his life , sent many a tender chord into the breasts of those of his friends who thronged , round his grave . I was not there , but let this be my tribute now to the memory of

a man who most nearly reached the ideal of true Freemasonry , and has left me with one honest , manly friend the less .

» # * With the exception of London , which possesses by far the largest number of Lodges , East Lancashire owns the greatest number of Masonic meeting-places of any province in the country . This is with a score of one hundred lodges ,

whilst West Lancashire is proxime accessit with a total of ninety-seven . West Yorkshire contains seventy-six , but North and East Yorks only claim thirty between them . Coming southwards , Kent heads the list with a total of fifty-eight , which is closely pressed by the fifty-two contained

in Devonshire , the province of Middlesex scoring forty and Surrey thirty-four . Of course , however , each of the two last-named counties contains many Lodges which are situated within the ten-mile radius of the Freemasons' Hall , which brings them on the London roll , and they are not therefore

included in the list of those belonging to their respective counties . There are about 350 Lodges in London itself , which speaks highly for the popularity and influence of the craft in the metropolis . The smallest list of Lodges claimed by any one county in England and Wales is the total of five , belonging to Bedfordshire ; whilst the Isle of Man includes seven within its limits .