say, "Play on, Macduff." Here is hoping that the Grand Encampment may soon have enough, and retire from the

arena.

It takes the entire firm to bring Sir Langridge of Iowa to a realizing sense of his madness in rushing on to Wisconsin ground where "wise men fear to tread."

Sir Langridge, in his review of Wisconsin, says:

Why will the Grand Recorder go to the trouble of misleading people by inserting as present the names of all the absentee officers in the State? The Committee profess to report those present, and then put in more names of absentees than of those present.

To which Sir John replies:

We beg pardon, but the Grand Recorder publishes what he is directed to do by his superior officers. We do not suppose the Grand Recorder of Iowa is under any such wholesome restrictions.

When we send our glasses to Sir Langridge, he may be able to note the fact that all Representatives present are in italics. This suits us and if our Fraters of other jurisdictions do not approve it, they need not look at it. This little blow" of Sir Langridge is uncalled for, but we excuse him on the ground that he was unable to find anything else to write about. We think our proceedings compare favorably with those edited by our eminent Knight of Iowa, and will bear all the criticism he has time to write. We have something more important on hand, and will feel just as well and sleep just as soundly if we avoid throwing pebbles into his "glass windows." They are too thin to stand the concussion.

Sir Langridge, further on in his report, when speaking of the Easter Services held in Wisconsin, says:

We do not desire to be flippant or irreligious, but we do not admire this playing at religion.

And that little line and a half cost him the following lecture:

My dear Sir Knight, you are all wrong in this and in the sentiments you utter. Would you discourage these ceremonies, all of which are calculated to make us better and wiser, and increase our zeal for the Order which we have the right to suppose you believe in and love? Would you prohibit men from attending church because they do not believe all the minister preaches?

Devotional service in any form can do no one any harm. We do not worship half enough. We are becoming, under the influence of infidelity, barbarians to a

certain extent, and need just such missionary work as is accomplished by these services. Also, we wish to say to our Brother, we do not attend these services with either bands or swords, but as gentlemen intent upon the performance of a sacred duty. The tendency of this, in our jurisdiction, has been to deprive the infidel of one of his best arguments against religion, and to increase an interest in our Order among the best citizens of our State.

These services, in this State, are not for vain display. There is no indication of anything of the kind among us. We go to church in a body, and read our services with contrite hearts and a true devotional feeling. We play no part of it, but perform it as a duty incumbent upon every Templar.

Sir Langridge, you ought not to have impugned the motives of our Sir Knights of Wisconsin. And Brother John, you ought to have hit with gloves on.

Michigan received due attention from Sir Woodhull, who speaks thus of the visit of Sir Benjamin Dean, Grand Master of the Grand Encampment, and Very Eminent Hugh McCurdy, Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Encampment:

The Grand Commander received the Sir Knights in a courteous manner, and with appropriate words of welcome.

The replies of Sir Dean and McCurdy were, as would be expected from these eminent gentlemen, nicely and appropriately worded. Sir McCurdy must not think we are slighting him by not giving his remarks in full; we can give but one of the addresses, therefore we give Sir Dean's, the same being a gem of literature.

He then quotes the most admirable address of Sir Dean in full.

After all said Wisconsin's report on Foreign Correspondence is what it has been for years, a most able, interesting and instructive paper which does honor to those who got

it up.

Notwithstanding we have devoted more than ordinary space to this review, we feel compelled to quote in full Sir Woodhull's closing remarks:

Several questions are now agitating the minds of Templars, and receiving much attention from correspondents. First and uppermost seems to be a belief in the Trinity. We are unable to discover why so much argument is necessary upon this

subject. It seems to us that every Templar is a believer in the Trinity. Differences may exist as to what the Trinity is, but a belief in the Christian religion, as we view it, is a belief in God, Son and the Holy Ghost. This is what Christ taught, and we profess to believe His teachings and to practice His precepts. It is not long ago that every Masonic organization held this doctrine, blindly perhaps, but still it was the belief of every Mason. The Saints John, to whom we dedicate our Lodges, and whose names have become inseparable from Masonry in this country, were believers and preachers of the dogma of the Trinity. A change has taken place in the Lodge and Chapter. We have accommodated ourselves to the growing sentiment that belief alone in a first cause - a Deity - should be the only requirement of a religious character. The object of this has been and is to-day to accommodate ourselves to the multitude, take in Jew and Gentile, believer and unbeliever, and thus increase our membership, but not our power for good. Atheistic doctrines are becoming rampant in our midst, led on and fostered by the same element which to-day desires to discard belief in the Trinity. Shall Templars discard this fouudation stone of our Order? It does not seem possible that such can be the result.

The Grand Encampment is likewise receiving much attention at the hands of those whose greatest desire is "to be in at the death." It is true that for the last nine years the Grand Encampment has done but little to be proud of, but let us call to mind for a moment the fact that this Grand Body is composed of Representatives from all the Grand Commanderies in the United States; that they are supposed to be, and doubtless are, the best men who could congregate from the several States to deliberate upon matters pertaining to the Orders, and legislate for the good of all concerned. This being so, why is it that the Grand Encampment has, as is claimed, done nothing for the benefit of the Order? There are three very cogent reasons:

First. The session is too short, making it impossible for committees or Sir Knights to give to the various subjects before them that calm consideration which their importance demands. Matters of vital interest to the Order are, in the hurry

of legislation, disposed of in one way and another, laid on the table or indefinitely postponed, or laid over from one Triennial to the next, until all who have the welfare at heart become disgusted with this manner of doing business.

Second. The parades, banquets and shows always interfere with the legitimate business of the Grand Encampment. At New Orleans, the Representatives "danced all night and went home with the girls in the morning," consequently were unprepared for business the next day. At Cleveland we were entertained by brass bands and receptions and prize drills, etc., until the whole body of men there assembled became more like boys than Representatives of a Grand Order insti

tuted for the benefit of mankind. At Chicago, we met in a railroad yard, where locomotive engineers seemed to vie with each other to see who could blow whistles the longest and oftenest. That our Chicago Fraters meant well when they constructed this Temple where they did, is no doubt true, but the practical results were damnable. No one but the Grand Recorder knew what had been done in Grand Encampment, and if he made errors, he is entirely excusable.

1

Third. The clamor for office is another drawback. It has a tendency to demoralize the work before the Body, leads to ill-feeling, animosities are engendered, and this to the detriment of legitimate business. If the Grand Encampment wish to place a man in office, the Representatives will do so without any effort on his part. This "tickle me and I will tickle you" is becoming too much of a bad thing to be tolerated by those who are honest and upright members of this august Body.

THE REMEDY. - This we do not consider a hard question to answer. It is with the officers and members themselves to right these wrongs, and make the Grand Encampment what it should be.

One week at least should be occupied in settling the many questions of vital importance which ought to be disposed of at our next meeting. The matter of ritual should certainly be disposed of. This will take time, and however much time may be required, it should be eternally settled. Other inatters of perhaps as much importance, should be most carefully considered, and not postponed, but acted upon and settled.

We trust our Grand Master, in his wisdom, will see fit to prohibit any performances during the next Triennial, and insist upon the business of the Grand Encampment being transacted in a straightforward business way, and that the session shall continue until the business is disposed of. If this course is pursued, we believe every Sir Knight, Representative or not, will assist in carrying out such a programme, and will bear the Grand Master in sacred remembrance for the good he can thus accomplish.

Thus ends our labors for this year. It is hardly satisfactory to your committee, but such as it is, we place it before you, hoping errors may be overlooked, and harsh words, if any, forgiven.

Sir Charles F. G. Collins of Beloit, was re-elected R. E. Grand Commander.

Sir John W. Woodhull of Milwaukee, whose faithful portrait forms the frontispiece of the Proceedings, was reelected E. Grand Recorder.

GREAT PRIORY OF ENGLAND.

This National Great Priory held its last meeting at the City Terminus Hotel, Cannon Street, London, December 9, A.D. 1881, A.O. 763.

Col. Shadwell H. Clerke, on the Throne.

Sir W. Tinckler, K.C.T., Vice Chancellor.

"The Great Sub-Prior stated that the Great Prior, the Earl of Lathom had requested him to make his apologies to the Great Priory for his absence on that occasion. His Lordship had fully intended to be present, but he had been prevented at the last moment. The Great Prior had been the more anxious to attend as he had wished to propose a vote on a subject which all present were fully acquainted with. It was with reference to a lamentable event that had recently taken place in the United States of America. All present would remember with what feelings of horror they received last summer the intelligence that General Garfield, the President of that country, had been struck down by a cowardly blow, and how they looked with deep anxiety from day to day for the reports of his condition, and with what heartfelt sorrow they finally learnt that he had at last succumed to his wounds. General Garfield was an old Knight Templar, a Frater of that great branch of our Order established on the other side of the Atlantic, and was greatly respected by all the members of the Order. He, the Great Sub-Prior, was confident that Great Priory would unanimously join in passing a vote which, in the name of the Great Prior, and on his Lordship's behalf, he would without further preface then move, viz: That this Grand Priory desires to express its deep sense of regret at the loss his country and the Order of the Temple have sustained by the assassination of General James Abram Garfield, late President of the United States of America, and offers its sincere and respectful sympathy with his widow and family in their great affliction.""