Round And About.

with him , the less one finds to appreciate . The terrible over-growth of population causes something to give way in the engines of social progress , the boilers do not burst , but the pistons get out of gear , and the unfortunate working man , being buoyant upon the caprices of his richer men , sinks in the mighty sea of depression which encompass all nations . "

"We , in our fraternal assumptions , can look upon this question of the working-man and his livelihood from a higher standpoint ; read it with calmer thoughts than most men . But we can dig no deeper into the social problem than other men have dug , to find a barren soil . It is a two-edged

sword with an arrow point offering but death whichever way it turns . Each unit of the population had , of course , no personal interest whatever in the matter of his birth . He is brought into the world a passive inhabitant , with a mission of elbowing and wedging his way into the great

mass of humanity for food and shelter . The man without brains is submissive to the man who has them ; and as the former numerically predominates over the latter to an amazing extent , nothing remains but to demand of our superiors the wherewithal to feed our offspring and clothe

ourselves . It is again a question of futurity . Nothing in the past and nothing in the present shows a solution of the problem . In ages unborn they may do better , who knows ? Perhaps some future Edison may discover a new science whereby a brainless , soulless , heartless creature may marry and keep his offspring decently on a pound a week . "

» * * Lord and Lady Zetland returned to Dublin Castle the latter part of last month , and his Lordship is already in the full play of his official duties . His last act before leaving England was to preside at the Provincial Grand Lodge of his own Province , North and East Yorkshire .

There is but little truth in the reported sea voyage of the Duke of Clarence , but his installation as P . G . M . of the Royal Province of Berkshire has been postponed till a suitable date in October or November . The united provinces of Berks and Bucks were never particularly

strong , and to divide them would prove a mistake from a financial point of view . It is to be hoped H . R . H . will accept the honours of the post with its duties , and not be content to manage the Province by deputy . The Sydney Bulletin , in commenting upon Prince Albert Victor ' s

accession to the Peerage under the title of Duke of Clarence , harmlessly says : — " Of the four Dukes of Clarence who preceded Prince Albert Victor in the title , one was poisoned , the next killed in battle , and the third came to grief in a butt of Malmsey wine . It is feared that the present Duke will be choked by his collar . "

The Sussex Daily News says it is understood that the numerous engagements of his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught will not permit him this year to visit the Province of Sussex , as Provincial Grand Master of Sussex Freemasons , but that he hopes to do so early next year . Now

that his Royal Highness has assumed the command of the Southern District it is hoped his visits to the Province will become more frequent . He has not yet been installed as Provincial Grand Master of the Mark Masons of Sussex .

The R . W . Dep . Prov . G . M ., Sir W . T . Marriott , Q . C ., M . P ., will accordingly open the Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex on 24 th October , at the Eastbourne Town Hall , when it is intended by the local Freemasons to give a very enthusiastic reception to the brethren of the Province .

Bro . J . Brindley James , P . M ., of Jamaica-road , S . E ., has addressed the following letter to the British Medical Journal : — At the recent annual meeting at Birmingham of the British Medical Association I foundin conversation with many professional brethren ,

, a widespread concurrence with my opinion that , taking into consideration the vast number of Medical men who are Masons , the formation of a Medical Masonic Lodge would meet with unanimous professional support . In the interests alike of the profession and of the Craft , to both of which I have the honour to belong , I therefore should feel deeply gratified if you would kindly afford this scheme the

powerful circulating medium of your valuable columns , with a view to ascertaining the sentiments of the profession at large upon the subject . Might I venture to supplement the same with the further suggestion that the " . / "Esculapian Lodge " would be a highly appropriate designation . I shall be most happy to receive the names of any professional brethren willing to join such a lodge , with a view to concerting active measures for its formation .

My contemporary of Pentonville objects to class lodges because there is a fear of " their undermining , so to speak , the whole basis on which the Order is founded , which , above all other considerations , is one of perfect freedom on the part of those who are or desire to be associated with its

mysteries . .... We should again object to the principle which puts restrictions on the free and untrammelled admission of desirable gentlemen into our ranks . "

Rubbish ! There are , perhaps , many different definitions of a "desirable gentleman , " and the great wonder to me is that we have so many respectable men in Masonry as we have . Anybody who saw the noble band of Freemasons besiege the victuals and wines at Drury Lane when

Augustus Harris invited them to the cutting of the Baddcley Cake would shudder to imagine many of these were desirable gentlemen ; and if the two cads who in their drunken fit insisted upon vamping on a piano in the saloon and singing idiotic snatches of verse could by any twisting

of the imagination be considered of the species , then heaven , perhaps , will help the ideas of my namesake of the north . AVe do want class lodges , and exclusive lodges . We want such lodges as the Quatuor Coronati , the Apollo , the Universities , the Drury Lane , the Savage Club , the Royal

Alpha , and others of this class . We want what the Rev . Studhohne Brownrigg speaks of when he " rejoices in the multiplication of class lodges , which , without in any way endangering the landmarks of our Order , will open it out by providing lodges and chapters which will attract into our ranks those whom otherwise we should lose . "

¦ w ti- w The question of closing up the Register of the Grand Lodge of England is one which is advocated from time to time in different quarters , but there is much to be said against it . The Roll of Lodges at the present time no

doubt presents somewhat of an anomaly , considering that the younger Lodges on the list are designated as something like 2 , 370 , and the real total falls about 500 short of that number . It appears to have been the rule in bygone years