The Present Position Of English Ereemasonry.

status of our Order , we must not be supposed to imply , that we are hi favour of anything like an exclusive or select association ; but what we would rather wish to imply and to turn attention to , is the fact , a good omen ever hi itself , of the

far greater care manifested generally in the admission of candidates . No doubt , in some instances , this Masonic virtue of commendable caution may be still further most properly increased ; but , on the whole

after a careful survey of the past annals and present position of our Order in England , they must be very inattentive observers who are unable to discern marked tokens of a hi gher tone , and more refining

influences amongst ourselves . For the last twenty-five years , those who have interested themselves in the real welfare of the Craft , must have rejoiced to notice , almost universally abounding , manifestations of social progress and

amelioration . "We do not mean in saying this to cast stones at anyone , least of all at those wdio preceded us as Members of the Order ; neither do we wish to make an idol in any sense , of those illused and often misunderstood words

" general respectability . " But we think that all will concur in this , that , as in society generally , late hours and protracted sittings are now to a great extent discountenanced , so the less such a possible charge could be brought forward by any

against Freemasons the better for us all , as the prolonged , if agreeable , seances of what has been humourously termed the "Knife and Fork Degree" when too much cultivated or considered , do not tend to promote the best interests , or to educe the

true spirit of our beneficial and benevolent Brotherhood . Indeed , there can be , we trust , but little doubt but that our Order generally has more fully realized that Freemasonry , to be worth anything in itself really and truly to us all , or to be able to encounter the unsparing criticism of the age , must make its practice and profession

go hand in hand ; and that , therefore , in the developement of its greater and truer principles of sympathizing kindness and active benevolence , its living mission seems to he best exhibited and worked out rather than in merely a careless routine of ritual , or

in pleasant and genial lodge festivities . It is to this feeling , that is to be traced undoubtedly , the great change which has come over all our feelings and arrangements in respect of the wonted accessories of our lodge rooms , and the needful

accommodation for our lodge meetings . Really magnificent buildings for instance have sprung up all over the country , of no mean architectural pretensions , reflecting the greatest credit on their professional builders , and testifying remarkably to the zeal and liberality of our brethren . There , within the sacred arena of the commodious

lodge-room ire are enabled to carry on with fitting solemnity and praiseworthy decorum , those hidden ceremonies of mystic observance which we have indeed such good reason to admire , to guard , and to prize .

Many of us wdio remember the bygone accommodation of Freemasons' Hall will heartily rejoice at our noble Grand Lodge , and at the great improvement happily effected hi that old scene of so many fraternal gatherings and so many

Masonic Associations . In . saying this , we should never forget , that , in a great measure it is in truth , to the energy and

administrative skill of our distinguished Bro . John Havers , that our Order to-day must fairly attribute changes of which all must approve , and ameliorations which all must admire ; changes and ameliorations carried out consistently and completely in

the face of many difficulties and many obstacles . At this moment , too , our Order is happily presided over by one , wdio possesses not only much experience as a ruler in our Craft , but who unites in his own person many of those attributes which ever serve here to add dignity to