Masonry And Benevolence.

be stated , leave the School when they are fifteen years of age . Each Charity has its own building , with separate staff and surroundings . The figures and facts we have recorded will give some ideaof the greatness of our Masonic Charities , but in addition to all that has gone before , there

is the Fund of Benevolence , made up of contributions from every member of the Craft at the rate of 4 s annually from those who belong to London Lodges , and 2 s from country members . Out of this fund the sum of £ 8 , 675 was

disbursed last year , to 334 cases . The amounts varied according to circumstances , in some cases being substantial , and in all very acceptable . Large as are fche sums recorded in the instances of the three Charities first named , they will doubtless be increased to some extent . It was

necessary , however , to close the books at the end of the year , for reasons that every man of business will understand . Let cowans cavil , bigots rave , and newspaper writers sneer , with such a record as we have given above , the

Craft should heed them not . But , as we said at the begining of this article , the past creates responsibilities for the future , and to maintain the position we have acquired will need all the self-sacrifice and labour which faith in principles can snggest , and loyalty and devotion carry into

effect . There must be no laggards in the onward march , no halting counsels . The past has left its mark in large proportions , and the future must not mar the noble figure that has been raised . Works of art are subject to the decaying touch of time ; charity , like an ever-rolling stream ,

renews itself continually , and gathers strength as it goes . There are no bounds to it , save those we are taught to respect in the beautiful language of our ceremonies , and if each brother acts up to the teaching he professes fco admire , which he has promised to practise , Freemasonry in the time to come will be a not less blessed inheritance than it is now .

The Evergreen Craft.

THE EVERGREEN CRAFT .

WE that live in the latitude of Philadelphia are pain " fully conscious that " leaves have their time to fall . ' ' Ours is no evergreen climate ; but we have an evergreen Fraternity , one that , whatever be the season of the year , deposits in the graves of its departed Brethren the emblematic "Sprig of Acacia ;"—a Fraternity , too , that after

death holds the virtues of its members ever green in memory . Naturalists tell us , that up to a comparatively recent geological period the entire earth , from pole to pole , enjoyed a genial climate . The floral of the tropics was the floral of the poles . The ivy and the laurel , the pine and the fir , the

rhododendron and the yew , were not the only evergreens , but all those trees which now are deciduous were as lasting as the conifers . Then the north-west passage was nofc the cemetery of seamen , but everywhere nature wore a livery

of green . The " great Ice Age " changed all thia , and we are now suffering from its chill embrace . Yefc , a slight amelioration of the climate '; has been perceptible within the historic period , which may presage a return to the good old times of yore .

What nature once did for the ancient world , and is weakly striving to do again , Freemasonry always has done , and now is doing , for humanity . It warms the affections of its initiates , brightens the atmosphere in which they live , and finally inters with their mortal bodies the immortal Acacia or Evergreen .

On going out into the fields one of these cold December days , how cheery it is to look up at the pines and down at the laurels ! How we admire the holly at this holiday season ! Christmas would not be Christmas without the

accompanying greens . They are reminders of a past age and a lost happiness , and symbols of the good time coming ; for there approaches an era when there shall be no boundary of death to hedge in this little life of ours . In the life elysian , in reserve for those found worthy of it , immortality shall be revealed , so that then man himself shall be

evergreen . Nothing causes us to estimate our blessings so highly as their loss . Contrast marks fcheir value . When we had them they were cheap to us ; now that they are gone we tnem invaluable

aeem , it is mainly on this account that in the midwinter we are saddened by the melancholy days that have stripped the vast majority of trees of their foliage , and made them so many gaunt , unbeautiful skeletons , and that the pine and the yew , the fir and the laurel , evergreen

The Evergreen Craft.

and ever lovely , now that the winding sheet of snow mantles the ground , and death apparently has claimed nearly all nature for its own , are looked upon with feelings almost akin to worship . We wonder nofc that the Scandinavians bowed in the presence of Ygdrasil , the ash-tree of existence ,

the symbol of the universe , and of its Grand Architect . No more sublime ftiimaii * conception of cosmogony has ever been framed . According to the great northern myth , Ygdrasil is the tree of life ; men were made from its branches , while its roots strike through all worlds . It is a triad , too ,

representing the past , the present and the future ; or , as Thomas Carlyle has poetically and forcibly said : " What was done what is doing , what is to be done—the infinite conjugation of the verb to do . " There is wisdom , strength and beauty

in this conception . We feci this with treble force now that the leaves are fallen , now that the earth is bare , now that the winter of death triumphs over nature , and the only trees of existence are the evergreens .

Freemasonry is an evergreen Fraternity . Through the ages past , while thrones have tottered and fallen , when nations even have merged and been lost , the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons has maintained a continuous existence , and during periods

when it has left no literary memorials of its presence , because these were lost amid fche confusion of the times , the handmarks of Hiram ' s Builders are apparent on Abbey and Castle walls , and on many a noble Cathedral—all so substantially built that they seem to have been erected for

eternity . Lodge Minutes may be lost or destroyed ( although some of these we have that are now three hundred years old ) , but Lodge work on durable stone is an enduring memorial . Well may the Freemasons say , in view of the Craft's long and honourable history ,

" The thought ot our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benediction . " As we recede in timo our history vanishes into tradition , and tradition itself is finally lost in oblivion . The received myth of the origin of the Fraternity at the building of

Solomon ' s Temple is but the outgrowth of a prior myth , now lost to memory . Freemasonry is the Acacian Fraternity , the Evergreen Craft , co-existent with the ages , bright and beautiful through all time . It has overspread

the world , and whenever it opens its Lodges it flourishes like a green bay-tree . In our " operative " days , when labour was not symbolically , but actually performed ; when with Compasses and Square , Rule and Gavel , our predecessors wrought on material Temples , they were no

" Mechanic slaves , With greasy apron , rules and hammers . " They were a chosen people , a select Craft , all free ancl all accepted , and they did nofc deign to perform any except honourable work . They were , as they are still , a law unto

themselves . Kings might ask , and they might refuse . Their skill was so unique , their control of the united Graft so absolute , their work so highly esteemed , that they commanded their own patrons and prices . They always preferred to labour upon edifices built to honour the Grand

Architect of the Universe . There never was a period when they sought not to honour God and advantage man . Such a Fraternity is entitled to perpetuation . It is known by its fruits . It is ever green because ever noble and ever pure . —Keystone .

We have received several acceptable remembrancers from Masters and Secretaries of our various Lodges . We do not join with those who are of opinion that these seasonable greetings are becoming a nuisance . We look upon these

little tokens as an intimation that onr labours are recognised , and it is a source of infinite gratification to us to know that we , in our official capacity , are not forgotten by those who send forth these tokens of regard . We have pleasure in publishing the following : —

ffl & g * 0 l $ i « % gfr . 174 . A NEW YEAR ' S GREETING FROM THE SECRETARY . " The Old . Year now has pass'd away , Bufc nofc its Memories dear ; May tbese remain , with pleasant thoughts , Throughout fche Coming Year .

" May yon have health , may you have wealth , And all things that will cheer , Yourself , your Friend , and others too , Throughout the Coming Year . " JAN . 1884 .