Among The Bohemians.

he has office both in Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , and has been a generous subscriber to the Masonic charities . When Mr . Boord first got in for Greenwich , and at the General Election soon after headed Mr . Gladstone on the poll , the Radical caricaturists , referring to Mr . Boord ' s business of a gin-distiller , depicted him as the typical "bung" of the so-called comic papers , in shirt-sleeves tucked up and white apron . No description could be more grossly unfair . He is an old Harrow man , an F . S . A ., and a man of wide culture , as well as knowledge of antiquarian lore . He was one of the earliest officers of the Victorias , and despite his numerous avocations finds time to look after his huge business in Bartholomew-close .

* * * The late Sir William Gull was a member of the Craft , but had long since admitted his professional duties debarred him from taking an active part in Masonry . He was an old " Stu . " of Guy's , and was at the time of his death consulting physician to that excellent institution . He received his baronetcy after his attendance on the Prince of Wales during that memorable illness of the heir to the throne , and held for many years the post of a Physician-in-Ordinary to her Majesty .

The late father of the House of Commons , Mr . Talbot , M . P . for a Welsh constituency , was a very mean man , and although never guilty of using a wart at the back of his neck for a collar-button , has been known to haggle with a poor tradesman over a nimble sixpence . The oft-told tale of his tour up and down Oxford-street in search of a threc-and-ninepenny-a-yard carpet for three-and-three , is perfectly true . Mr . Carnegie ' s views upon millionaires were not the views of the late Mr . Talbot , M . P .

* a- Mr . Jubilee Benzon is a young gentleman without a particle of sense in his composition , and the only consolation he can have in his new trouble is that all his substance has been frittered away among a hoary pack of rogues . Mr . Benzon has met with one honest man in his short career . He was walking down St . James's-strcet one evening about nine , two years ago , when a rather shabbily dressed man , of gentlemanly physique , approached him with this

remark : " Will you lend mc haU-a-crown , sir , till to-morrow night ? It is nothing to you if I have wasted thousands on women and wine , or how it is that I am in my present state , because I am a stranger to you , but whatever I am or was , I stand here without a d coin in my possession , and if you will lend me half-a-crown my word upon it I will return it to you . " Mr . Benzon lent the man the money and appointed a time for its return the following

evening , went home , told the story to some friends , and bet one hundred guineas to five that neither the man nor the half-crown were forthcoming . The night after a merry little party of three waited at the top of St . James's-street at the appointed hour , and sure enough the stranger came up , and handing Mr . Benzon the borrowed sum thanked him sincerely and warmly for the loan of it . But there is a sequel to the story , which lo my

mind is stranger than any bom of fiction . The receiver of the odds stubbornly refused to take more than , £ 5 from the Jubilee J ., to which he added the £ -, he had himself risked and handed the two bank notes to the astonished stranger . A few weeks after Mr . Benzon received a letter from a man , extremely well known and greatly respected in the social world , containing two bank notes for , £ 5 each , and stating that his unfortunate son , who had died the previous night in his own house , had requested him to make this reparation .

* * * Mr . Spurgeon as a Bohemian : —A gentleman who had amassed a big fortune in the erection of jerry-built villas and " eligible family residences , " on retiring from business built for himself a splendid mansion in a suburban district , and being dubious as to a fitting name for it , wrote to Mr . Spurgeon for advice . When the answer came it was to the effect that , after very careful

consideration , Mr . Spurgeon could think of no other name than Dun robin . * * * Bro . George Alexander is much elated over the success of Dr . Bill , and has a very exalted opinion of the joys of lesseeship . It is to be hoped he will always be successful ; he deserves it . Mr . Alexander is a gem of Bohemia , a brilliant of pure water , sparkling out among gems , some of which are paste .

He loves his own home , his own books , his own wife , and there is before this handsome young actor a future of brilliancy and renown . If he could or would give a little more time to Masonry ! * * * Mr . W . Clarkson , who makes an excellent wig , is , of course , a Tory . He has been on a visit to the Queen , to whom he is " Perruquier in Ordinary , " and

for whom he superintended the head-gear of the lay figures in the tableaux vivants exhibited to the Court . It would astonish most people to know the enormous business done in wigs , and how much of it goes through the hairy fingers of Mr . Clarkson in his place in Wellington-street . * * * The greatest pious fraud in journalism is the Daily Graphicwhich has

, descended 50 per cent , in everybody's appreciation . Nobody likes it , nobody buys it , nobody reads it . The only smart thing about it is the illustrated weather chart , and that is as beautifully American as anything can be . The illustrated weeklies may rest happy for their lives . KING MOB .

Colonial And Foreign.

Colonial and Foreign .

Freemasonry in France seems to be at present even more under a cloud than is usually the case in that country . Not only has the strictly Roman Catholic portion of the community testified publicly to its aversion to the Craft by declining to attend the public funeral of the late AI . Delatte , Prefect of the Department of the ISLTC , to which Masons were invited , but the Brethren appear to have incurred the animosity of M . Andrieux , ex-Prefect of Police . The last-named individual has recently published a statement to the effect that

he has satisfied himself of the fact that French Freemasons are , as a body , interesting themselves by far too largely in political questions . This charge , if true , which is at least doubtful , is , of course , entirely opposed to the tenets of the Order . The publication of the so-called "revelations'" at the present moment is inexplicable , as it is alleged that the whole strength of French Freemasonry was directed , in the interests of the Government , against General Boulanger and his

followers . Whatever truth there may be at the bottom of the silly " revelations " made by M . Andrieux , the fact remains , that English and French Freemasons work in very widely differing circles . In fact , the differences between them , which arose some years ago , and which originated in the action of the Brethren across the Channel , who decided to omit the most solemn part of the Ritual from their working , caused a considerable amount of feeling at the time .

* * * The members of the Provincial Grand Lodge of North Connaught has just passed a congratulatory vote to Dr . T . A . Parke , the medical attendant upon Mr . II . M . Stanley and Emin Pasha . Dr . Parker is an Irish Freemason , and no doubt will feel highly gratified at the honor thus done him by the Brethren of his Provincial Grand Lodge .

* * * The gathering of the Scottish Freemasons in Bombay was an event that will be of interest to the whole Masonic world . No less than thirty-one Lodges , working under the Grand Lodge of Scottish Freemasons in India , sent their representatives to give greeting to his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught , on the occasion of the presentation of the patent of his appointment

as Honorary Grand Master of All Scottish Freemasonry in India . They came from every part of the country , and were of almost every caste and creed . Their Bombay Brethren had spared neither pains nor money to render the , , reception and banquet worthy of so auspicious an occasion and so illustrious a visitor , and an open-handed welcome was extended to the leading Officers of the Lodges working under the English Constitution . Sir Henry Morland , the

Grand Master of All Scottish Freemasonry in India , of course presided at the meeting , and in his courteous and genial speeches had much to tell his audience that was absolutely new to them . He comes fresh from England , and brought more than one cheering message to the Craft . He announced , in the first place—and the announcement is probably new to all of us—that her Gracious Majesty the Queen-Empress is about to become the patroness

of Freemasonry in England as an acknowledgment of the loyalty of her Masonic subjects , and he hinted that she might probably become the patroness of Freemasonry in Scotland and Ireland also . In the second place , he announced that the Duke of Fife , the husband of the Princess Louise , would shortly be installed as Grand Master on the throne of Scottish Freemasonry . The Prince of Wales is , of course , at the head of the English Masons at home , and the Duke of

Connaught , who was present in the capacity of Honorary Grand Master of All Scottish Freemasonry in India , is also Grand Master of the English Constitution here . It was natural , then , that he should speak of the intimate connection that has always existed between our Royal Family and the Craft — a connection that is unhappily wanting in most European countries . " I am certain , " he said , " that with the Queen-Empress as our patron , and the Prince of Wales as the Grand Master of the English Constitution , we will carry all

the other Constitutions together with us . " For the present fortunate state of things in India we are indebted mainly to the Duke of Connaught himself . It has always been his aim that the two Constitutions should work together hand in hand and in brotherly fellowship and harmony . But in this country Freemasonry is something more than English or Scottish . It is Indian , and absolutely Ihe only "national" tie that binds together the

diversified people of this congeries of nations . In India , Freemasonry is a strong social and civilising power , and its pioneers are silently and unostentatiously doing admirable work . This was very aptly put by Sir Henry Morland . " Freemasonry , " he said , "has the power of blending the different castes and religions of this vast continent , and those who belong to it have for their aim brotherly love , truth , and benevolence . I feel that if we were to

spread Freemasonry wider and wider throughout this country , we shall be doing a noble and a great act for the various races that inhabit it . " This feeling undoubtedly accounts for much of the enthusiasm with which many Englishmen in India throw themselves into the movement . There is , however , one thing still wanting in Bombay—a home fitting the importance of the Craft . The two Constitutions , as it is , already live happily under one roof ; but the accommodation in this hired bungalow is scanty , hot , and uncomfortable . The bungalow itself