Spring Time.

SPRING TIME .

THE season is now rapidly approaching when many of our Lodges , especially in the Metropolis , will be called from the winter session of labour to a prolonged period of refreshment ; and although within the past few

days we have been visited with as keen a touch of snow , and a painful reminder that Jack Frost has not yet finally taken his departure , yet in the intervening glimpses of sunshine with which we have been favoured we see , in the

parks and gardens which form the " breathing-sp-ices of London , " a thousand signs of the approach of the bright , sunny days we are all longing for . Bud and blossom are fast appearing on the trees and shrubs , amidst whose

branches the already mated birds chirrup gleefully in anticipation of Spring . The evenings are " drawing out " apace , and the various out-door pastimes in which British youth delight are fast developing into active preparation

for the summer campaign . The railway companies are announcing trips and excursions in every available direction , and to every possible quarter of our " tight-little island , " and elsewhere . Many other symptons there are -which

forcibly remind us of the nearness of that period when the gavel is put aside for a space in favour of the oar or the cricket bat . It is to all of us a time when our aspirations brighten and hopes rise , in view of the change of scene

and variety of pleasure which the balmy period of the year affords . The busy merchant , amidst the worries of life , the fluctuations between temporary briskness and the far too preponderating "depression—the hard-worked clerk ,

chained to his desk , year in year out—the toiling artizan and labourer—all look forward to the longer days with a certain degree of hopeful pleasure , when skies are bright , and glad nature tempts them to spend such leisure as they

have away from the " madding crowd , " and the din of city life . In like manner , in their own particular sphere , the brethren of " ye mystietie " hail with satisfaction that respite from labour to the refreshment provided for them

by the Universal Junior Warden , and with a consciousness of having done their duty in the session which is now nearly ended , they will enjoy with all the more solidity

the respite from the duties of office to which they are eminently entitled . As our columns have attested , the work of the Craft during what may be called practically the working half of the year has not diminished in

importance or activity ; and , though increasing rapidly in number , there is not the slightest indication of any falling off in the spirit which actuates the members of our Order . On the contrary , there is an ever-growing desire manifested

to emulate , and even to outvie , the efforts of preceding years , and the splendid contributions recorded a week or two ago to the funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution is only one amongst many proofs of the

deepening interest taken in the Craft by its adherents , and the strengthening and solidifying influences that are being brought to bear upon it . Whilst we hear of many other charitable institutions languishing for want of meansand

, their well-wishers bewailing the " badness of the times "the commercial and industrial depression which renders them less capable than they could desire of practising the

principles of benevolence to which they have set their hands—it is most significant that the charitable impulses of the Craft are not impeded by such considerations , nor the hand of beneficence closed in time of urgent need . We

Spring Time.

utter these remarks in no invidious spirit , nor would we compare our own boastfully with other institutions whose aim it is to " go about doing good ; " but it is , and must be , to all who are interested in the welfare and " good

report" of Freemasonry , a matter for the most cordial and heartfelt congratulation that , amidst all the vicissitudes of commercial life , and the strain that is felt on all public and private sources of benevolence , the

wheels of the Masonic chariot never flag , but roll grandly and sublimely on , on their mission of succour to the needy and afflicted . We have reason to believe , from the hints thrown out by those brethren who propose going up as

Stewards at the Boys' and Girls' Festivals , that , notwithstanding the magnificent total which was made up last month for the Old People , the lists in behalf of these former Institutions will not be in the slightest degree

depreciated thereby . We are fain to believe also that the additional help needed for the Preparatory Boys' School , on behalf of which Brother Binckes , the excellent Secretary of the Institution , recently issued so manly an

appeal , will be forthcoming ; and all these facts , when considered collectively , are a convincing evidence of the undying interest which Masons feel in the great principles they have espoused , and the sound and healthy vitality

which permeates tho Order of which we have so much reason to be justly proud . Well may the brethren , after such efforts as have elicited tho admiration of the world , look forward with complacent satisfaction to the season

when they may rest awhile from their labours ; though amidst their pleasures—at the seaside , on the Continent , in the country—they will never for a moment lose sight of the fact that whatever good may have been accomplished

during the last year must be excelled in the ensuing . " Onward and upward , " in all that is beneficent and good , is the " Excelsior " of that Brotherhood whose sustaining pillars are Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth . And thus

while we lay aside the trappings and insignia of our Lodge for the summer season we do so with the conviction that they will be taken up again " when the evening shadows lengthen " with a renewed determination to carry on the

work with undiminished efficiency , and with increased fervency and zeal . When our brethren who have the means , leisure , and inclination to recruit their physical and mental powers amidst " fresh woods and pastures

new " return with the beneficial evidences of their tours upon their countenances , then will recur the hearty " hail fellow , well met ! " which is so characteristic of our Masonic gatherings , and the sturdy grip of the hand once

more linked in the twice-blessed cause of Charity . In the meantime proposals are being made for those enjoyable interludes in Masonic work in which the fair sex are enabled to participate , and which they do with so much interest .

We are glad to see that this spirit is on the increase , and hope that our summer banquets this year may be not only more numerously attended , but that they may be more general amongst our Lodges . They tend to an eminent

degree to bind the members of various Lodges together , and by the interchange of amenities between the lady friends and acquaintances of the brethren they engender a most valuable social advantage . Thus , it is satisfactory to

learn that already committees are busily engaged considering the preliminary arrangements for these pleasant outings to the country side , the records of which give so agreeable a change to the events that are chronicled in our pages inj the summer time ; and we earnestly hope that ,