Round And About.

of respect as the Province was able to show . Bro . Nottage is an indefatigable worker in the interests of the Craft , and is maturing some very sound and strong opinions on several questions which he thinks will benefit the social intercourse of Masons . He has proposed more than once a complete alteration in the customs of " visiting" among the various Lodges in a Province , and thinks

that if it became incumbent on a visiting brother to discharge the expenses of his own enjoyment , greater interest would be thrown into the after-dinner doings of country Lodges . There must be objections to any scheme that would upset the prosaic constitutions of rusty custom , but Bro . Nottage has discovered the philosopher ' s

stone , I think and if he can find its proper use he will have conferred a very great benefit on those men of intellect who get

somewhat disheartened with the " massaging '' propensities of I . P . M . ' s and Worshipful Masters of most of our ordinary Lodges .

* * * Mr . Bodley , of the business firm—if professional partnership constitutes a firm—of Bodley & Garner ,

ecclesiastical architects , has created a veritable masterpiece at Clumber , in the new chapel for the

Duke of Newcastle . The exquisite design for the proposed Liverpool Cathedral , prepared by these

gentlemen , would have provided that enterprising city with a monumental building for all ages , but it

was not successful in the public competition , which has , after all the waste of

valuable talent , come , as many big competitions do , to nothing . Mr . Bodley was very nearly becoming a member of the

fraternity some years ago , but a slip somewhere in the vicinity of the lip , or someone else's lip , broke the cup of his intentions , which have never been fulfilled . * * *

It has surprised me often that a Lodge has never been constituted solely for members of the architectural profession . The symbols upon which Freemasonry is based are the symbols of their own work ; and the ritual abounds with metaphorical allusions that appeal to the mind of an architect more than to any one else . It is a fact that but very few architects are Freemasons , which is a pity .

THE LATE SIR DANIEL GOOCII , BART .

The "Atlas" ot the World was in line form at the Centenary Festival of the Royal Clarence Lodge at Brighton the other day , and fired off one of those piquant after-dinner speeches of his with consummate art . Perhaps it was the sea air , or the excitement of the political battle between Bro . Loder ( whom I see has beaten his opponent ) and Sir Robert Peel .

* * * In " Provincial Grand Lodges and Chapters" will be found a rather longer report than with us is usual , of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex , and for obvious reasons . I commend the address that the late Gerard Ford had but partly prepared previous to his death to all men who , give a thought to the

extremely narrow tide that divides the known world from the unknown . Bro . Ford had written many passages that are worth

a thousand times more now that he is dead . " Bear with me , brethren , if my words arc somewhat tinged

with the hue of that dark valley into which I seemed about to enter , " is what he wrote , but he never

lived to say it . The whole idea is so terribly pathetic that one might almost read the sentences as coming

from the grave . I was sorry to see that a banquet followed the meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge .

* * * By a somewhat extraordinary error a copy of the MASONIC REVIEW was sent to Sir Frederick

Leigliton , the President of the Royal Academy . Sir Frederick immediately wrote me one of his kind and

thoughtful letters , explaining that he was not a Mason , and that he always thought " all Masons were

perfsctly well known to each other , but , " & o , & c . ; and then came a compliment that my modesty will not allow me to publish . Oh , no , Sir Frederick ! The privileged visit I once made to your studio showed mc many wonderful things , among that many a fine man who is a fine artist ,

but nothing that I saw suggested you were not a Mason . Is it too late , Sir Frederick ? If you could elevate our Craft as you have elevated your art , you would be doing a noble service . * * # Another earthquake ! The Queen-street Guide says the province of Berks and Bucks is to be " split into two . " Good gracious !