Point-Left-Right.

Point - Left - Right .

AVhat Aveather ! Not at all Masonic . I Avas in a blinding SUOAV storm at Penge last Aveek and coming back across the river not a trace of SIIOAV Avas to be seen . It is well ; for the last fall plainly demonstrated the incapacity of the City authorities to grapple with any inconvenience to their knife and fork routine of evcry-day duty . I suppose , grappling with slush and muck amounts to

money , and who , for one moment , would not wade ankle deep m half-frozen filth if only by so doing AVC are enabled to send a few thousand pounds to Timbuctoo , or China , to help the starving multitudes of Avhom we knoAA r nothing . The foreign policy of ' * City Charity " has no Avilling ear to native AA'ants . AA'hy should it have . ' AVhat business has any man to be poor in this land of peace and

plenty . ' Are not our streets paA r ed Avith gold , and is there not a soup kitchen and a Avorkhouse in every thoroughfare 1 Marry come up , forsooth ! AA'hat would you have , you half -starved mechanic' AA ould you allow us to give you better wages and cleaner homes at the expense of our reputation for being an eminently free country ?

AVould you rather us help you from the doors of the Avorkhouse and lead you into decent surroundings , by stopping the supply of rum and 'bacca to the heathen of Central Africa . Tut , Tut ! a pretty state of things , indeed . One would imagine almost the docking of turtle soup to pay you Avages for sAveeping the roads .

In spite of my guarded remarks , my par of last Aveek has brought me into sad disgrace with several of our Avortlty brethren Avho are ' publicans . " They must look at the question in its broadest view and from an impartial position before they discuss masonic lodges being held in public houses . There are , of course , public-houses

and public-houses , and I stand firmly by my opinion that there is no analogy betAveen the sentiment of masonrj' and the sentiment of the tap-room . Take away from masonry its sentiment and its enlightening motives—for masonry has enlightening motives—and it is nothing but a holloAv sham , fit only to encourage the delights of the fourth degree as a total eclipse of the first , second and third .

Mrs . Francis Hodgson Burnett has published an indignant letter about the neAvspaper comments upon her manners and associations , alluding to a story that she and her husband live apart . She says : " The member of my family who Avould be missing if it were true is at the present moment reading in the adjoining room . I am

described as encircled by an army of young men . I am encircled by an army of two young men , aged respectively 12 and II , and I am rather popular with them . I have no other masculine aquaintauces AVIIO are not older than myself ; Avhich giA r es them an excellent opportunity to be of ripe years . "

•• Is it . or is it not , of consequence that the statement published and copied all over the United States is untrue in every word and detail . ' Does it , or does it not , matter in the least that a man or Avoman Avho has done honest , respectable Avork should on that account feel that his or her character , good taste , and good manners

may be impugned at so much a line in any neAvspaper . ' Does it not matter that such an individual cannot live life so simple , so secluded , so Avell meaning , as to escape the most grotesque misrepresentations . ' I ask these questions , not only for myself , but for a number of modest , respectable persons , who have had the misfortune to Avrite a popular book or play . "

" Tlie inixfortune to Avrite a popular book or play ! " Ah , there ' s the rub ! No sooner does a man or Avoman do something or commit something that is brought to the public notice , and deemed by the public mongers to be Avorthy of comment , than the something and its perpetrator immediately become the property of the public . His private affairs are sifted for him , and the quality of his trousering

discussed by the column . It is then suggested that his Avife is not altogether Avhat she might be , and his son—well ! as for his son . the sooner he is dead the better for humanity . This is A-ery cheap chatter , the market price of AA * hich—to lie more definite than Mrs . Burnett—is just one penny a line , thirteen . I belieA * e , going to the dozen .

This kind of ** journalism " AV . IS originated by the cheap Society papers . ill-Avritten rags for the most part , edited by men Avhose moral surroundings are on a par Avith their educational attainments . The mode of running their papers is *' giA-e me an advertisement and I Avill give you an * editorial' note ; if you Avon ' t then I'll slate you as thick as printer ' s ink . " As far as Mrs . Burnett goes , she maA be

a very decent woman , and the Avife of a decent man , but Avhether she is living apart from that man or not is no business of the general public . All such twaddle is a development of garden Avail oratoiy . introduced by the butcher boy to his SAveetheart of the kitchen . lie informs her that the Rev . Mumbles has left the vicarage in evcrA *

one ' s debt , and she . tells him- of the terrible shindy last night between the Captain and his Avife . and that the former appeared at the breakfast-table this morning Avith a " lovely pair . " I believe very strongly in the freedom of the Press ; Avhen this freedom degenerates into impudence , the freedom of the Avhip should be brought into greater prominence .

I Ins reminds me of that eminently modern journalistic invention the ** Dramatic Critic . " The impudence of this gentleman is unbounded . His powers of expression are limited to a dozen set phrases—obsolete , vulgar , and for the most part meaningless to the general reader . His appreciation or disapproA'al of any new play is

supremely indifferent to a man of dramatic knowledge Avho Avill have long since discovered such appreciation or disapproval , is regulated by the quantity of Avhiskey Avhich IIOAVS from a particular quarter during a particular space of time , and by the degree of acquaintanceship which exists between the critic and . the raxle .

Point-Left-Right.

Perhaps this is not altogether surprising Avhen Ave remember thai-London alone possesses an aA-erage of one-and-a-half dramatic critics to every professional mummer in the United Kingdom . The gentlemen qualified to give an opinion upon the dramatic productions in the Metropolis may be counted on the fingers of both hands ; and among that number must be included "Launcelot Gobbo , " A \ dio has giA * en the readers of the MASONIC STAR the benefits of his experience .

AA ' onders will never cease , " Groom ' s , " the little coffee and muffin den in Fleet Street has actually undergone the process of a spring clean . The Bohemian Avails have been neAvly papered , and the sacred boards have been > r-covered ( as the decorator persists in calling it ) Avith brand neAv linoleum . But this is not all : the greasy little girls , A \ dio have for years identified themselves or their class

with Groom s , haA T e all disappeared . Their ceaseless chatter and party bickerings haA ^ e gone Avith them . No longer do we Avait our coffee Avhile the details of some feminine difficulty is adjusted to the satisfaction of the entire staff . Young ladies of the modern type IIOAV dispense the breakfast muffin and the choppy luncheon . Particular attention is given to deportment , and to grammatical

expressions , and the modulated tones of the mistress of the coffee pots as she gives her directions—via the lift—to the mysterious cook in the loAver regions , savours more of the high class academy thani of Fleet Street . HoAvever , I like Groom ' s . The coffee is very good —almost excellent—and the muffins—Avell , if they only would toast mine a little more thoroughly . I Avould name them the best in the market .

A A * ery excellent mason has paid the debt of nature in the person of Bro . Phillip James Shelley , of Deptford . He Avas a good man . indeed , far beyond the usual acceptation of the term : no man Avith a just claim appealed to him in A ain for assistance , and it is a significant fact that never Avas his good nature and human kindness imposed upon . Over the remains of three of his servants he had erected a

monument at his OAVII expense , upon which his own name had been engraved , and under Avhich a space for his OAVII body Avas reserved , against his decease . Seventy-nine years of a honored existence go doAvn with him , and with him the regret of a host of people he had benefited in some way or another . May his body and his soul gain that rest he so much sought after .

The Shops ( Aveekly Halt-holiday ) Bill , which Avas printed yesterday , seeks to empoAver local authorities , upon the application of not less than two-thirds of the occupiers of shops Avithin a given distance , to order that all shops within such district , except publichouses , refreshment houses , tobacconists' shops , and neAvs-agencies shall " be closed on one specified day in each Aveek at or before any

hour , not earlier than tAvo o ' clock in the afternoon . '' The penalty for a breach of the order is to be a line not exceeding . t . * i . A savinsr . clause exempts chemists and druggists from liability for supplyinsr medicines , drugs , or medical appliances after the appointed hour " : but they are required to close their shops all the same . The occupier of a shop is permitted to supply goods to any person lodging on the

premises . I sincerely hope that no such measure as this Avill e \ r er pass the Avatch-gates of common sense . Many of our tradesmen are surrounded by restrictions Avhich encroach far upon the freedom of the subject , and handicaps them heavily against the unblushingforeigner . I Avonder AA'hat Sir John Avould say to our compelling him to work no later than tAvo o ' clock on one day in ihe Aveek . Sir . Tohn , I fancy , prides himself upon his endless labours . I have

letters from him in my possession which plainly shew he has far more to occupy his time than he can properly discharge . Go to . John of the Lubbock ilk , you have done good work in your cay . and Avill undoubtedly do a great deal more , but don ' t pose so foolishly as a defender of the Avorking classes . I can prove to your satisfaction , Sir John , that such ridiculous legislation as you are attempting has nothing but evil results in front of it .

The stones of Temple Bar have been set up one upon another , and although the associations of the old gateway are for CA'er lost , still it is something to have reclaimed the remains from the despoiling mind of the City men . Travellers to AValthain will discoA'er the Bar converted into an entrance gateway to "Theobalds , " Sir Henry Meux ' s place , in this charming suburb of London . For small

mercies let us be thankful . AVe should have liked Temple Bar rehabilitated in the Temple Gardens , for Avhich purpose several charming spots were aAiiilablc . But the Temple fathers had no affection for the gate ; the City grandfathers had nothing but hatred for it . and so an oppulent brcAver accepted , the stones , and

thus the drama ends . I hope I am modest beyond the dreams of suspicion , but the one man AVIIO rescued the masonry from its tomb in the Farringdon Road , and Avorried the Corporation into some action in the matter Avas your A'ery deA * oted scribbler . THE DRI * ID .

Press Exchanges And Books Received.

Press Exchanges and Books Received .

Proceedings of the Grand Council of Jtoyal and- Sleet Masters «/" Maxxaehuscts . Dec . ] 2 th , 1888 . per Comp . Alfred F . Chapman . Grand Recorder ; South- African Freemason , East London , Cape Colony ( thanks for notice ) ; Masonic Calendar for Leicestershire , and lliitland . 1 SSI ) . compiled by Bro . B . A . Smith . P . M . . A 23 and P . P . G . St . 15 . : Society .

Oicintj to pressure of other matter , ire are eompiil-. d , to defer this inili' ne . vt iccrli .

ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY"