Round And About.

Bro . Maskclyne came also , but without his Cook . Of the profession I don ' t remember who was not there , but I saw John Slater , B . A ., mentally comparing the dome over the vestibule with that of the Pantheon ; and Romaine Walker—fresh from the Gaiety first night —as certain as ever that color is more effective than cream and gold .

# * * Of fellow scribblers and dramatists I came across Pettittlooking very weary—my friend , Will Chapman—who is going to do something better than " Topical Interviews , " for which Heaven be praised—the Hawk , with the assurance of a turkey—and Edward

Ledger , who brought his wife . When I left , the fun of the fair was about to begin , but last trains must be caught when one prefers the pine-woods to fetid London on a Sabbath morn .

* * * Death has been busy with his sweeping scythe these few weeks past . Bro . Firth , M . P ., the Deputy-Chairman of the County Council , a worthy and a good man , and a very zealous and excellent Mason , not particularly brilliant in his Parliamentary career , but

particularly sound in his Parliamentary logic . Bro . Delevanti also , a man of much musical attainment , a staunch friend and a respected Mason . He was a Fellow of the Zoological Society , and the Musical Director of Madame Tussaud ' s for thirty-five years . Then comes Judge Maclntyre , a Past-Grand Registrar of England ,

and one of the ablest advocates at the Bar in the present generation . There are many things one might say of these three men , but nothing can show their worth more than that they carried out the spirit of their Masonic belief to the letter . " Old Mac , " as His Honor Judge Maclntyre was familiarly termed , was not always as

frigid as some people believe . I took occasion once to refer a certain matter to him that intimately concerned the welfare of a widow lady and her young family , and it was owing to his foresight and determination that a great benefit was rendered to them , and , what is more to his credit , he refused to accept payment for his services .

* * Yet another ! Bro . Gerard Ford , Dep . Prov . Grand Master of Suffolk under H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught , has succumbed to the internal injuries he received in Switzerland spoken of in our last issue . The loss is the more regretable owing to the fact that

the date had actually been fixed for his installation as Provincial Grand Master of Mark Masonry for Sussex . The Craft has lost a good man and true , and it can ill afford it .

* * * A gentleman who scribbles under the heading of " Powder and Shot " in a journal called The Weekly Times and Echo , " a Liberal paper of Political and Social Progress , " has been good enough to quote from these pages , and honor us with his opinion of the Craft . It is that we are a sort of respectable " Goose Club , " kept alive by

Boniface , and in this opinion he claims to be joined by Cardinal Manning . Silly little " Powder and Shot , " why doesn't he keep a gun . or borrow one of mine ?

* * * At the moment of writing—amid the pine-woods of Farnborough —nothing has been settled as to the appointment of a Secretary and Medical Officer for the Boys' Institution . For the former post there is at present but one candidate who is at all suitable , and he is a

professional gentleman , a Bachelor of Arts , an LL . D ., and all sorts of other dignities , but , what is more to the point , he is possessed of a private income . I have not the pleasure of the gentleman ' s acquaintance , but I should say the possession of a private income ought not to weigh with the Committee of Selection . If the salary

offered is not sufficient to secure the services of a B . A . and an LL . D . who is not possessed of private means , then it should be raised , and raised very much beyond / 300 a-year . Let there be no mistake about this , or the exchequer of the Institution will suffer in a remarkable dcgiee .

Bro . Langton , the Hon . Sec . of the Provisional " Boys '" Committee , has asked me to call your attention to the very great want of pictures and such adornments for the walls of the dormitories and class-rooms at Muswell Hill . Send on anything that you think may be welcome to him at 37 , Queen Victoria-street , or to me , at

the offices of this journal . If you send anything here—books , pictures , games or whatnot—we can offer them as a Christmas gift . I will start the collection with half-a-dozen little picture-prints , framed and glazed .

* * * At the moment of going to press I am pleased to hear somewhat better news from Clewer Park , where Sir Daniel Gooch , the Chairman of the Great Western Railway and the Prov . Grand Master of Bucks and Berks , has had rather a serious attack of illness . Sir Daniel is " getting into years , " but I hope he has not reached the end yet .

* # * This from the Evening News and Post : —" When the Watermen ' s Company takes its turn in the universal strike , Mr . Robert Grey will not be in the background . The Master of the Watermen ' s Company is one of the best of Freemasons . Freemasonry and

beards do not intuitively go together , but no beard in ' the Craft ' can beat Bob Grey's . And the beard gives the lie direct to Bro . Robert ' s name ; it is about as black as black can be . There never , according to the prince of hairdressers , was a black beard which was absolutely perfect , but Bro . Robert Grey ' s comes very near

perfection . Robert Grey is a Brother whom the Most Worshipful Grand Master , His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , delights to honor ; and when the Prince went out of his way to create a new dignity , that of President of the Board of Benevolence , and gave that dignity to Bro . Robert Grey , all Masonry cried , ' Oh , come let

us rejoice . ' For he is a good Mason , and that , in a company where knife and fork play an important part , is a great thing . To dine night after nig ht and be good-tempered seemed impossible until Bro . Robert Grey did it . "

* * * " Although Brother Grey lives in Russell-square and has an office in Water-lane , he has never forgotten the true tradition of the old Merchant Taylor—to be just and fear not . The Prince loves him ; and it was in the Prince of Wales's own lodge , Number

Twohundred and something , that Brother Robert Grey initiated his Royal Hig hness the Duke of Connaught . Many people noted that , upon the memorable day on which the Prince was installed Grand Master of Freemasons in England , in succession to the only Gladstonian Marquis , the Marquis of Ripon , who , as a Roman Catholic

and a pervert to Roman Catholicism , dared not do anything but renounce his Freemasonry , the Prince went out of his way , and took the Duke of Connaught out of his way , to shake hands with the President of the Board of Benevolence , who can act as a courtier and yet never growl , as so many of the bigwigs do , and can never forget that he is a loyal subject first and an English gentleman afterwards . "

* * * Louis Engel , the Musical Critic of the World , has surrendered the editorship of " Our Celebrities , " which is a being of his own brain , and I hear—though surely it is not true—that the new editor is Clement Scott . Like all other things that strike oil , " Our Celebrities "

has many imitators , none of which quite equal the original , but Messrs . Cassell , in bringing out their work in cabinet size , have done wisely , for the price is thus reduced to the reasonable sum of one shilling , and gives inducements to the subscribers to retain their copies in book form . There is a very excellent photograph of Sir

Charles Russell in the current issue of " Men and Women of the Day . " * * # To be smart and concise is a very good feature of good journalism , but smartness becomes tomfoolery when carried to this