Masonic Mendicancy.

and gradgingly come , it has been so spare and slender as to afford no substantial assistance . The poorboxes at our police-courts give , as near as we can cite , a humane and ready means of aid , for promptitude in such cases is rendered imperative by their very urgency . If

a family is in need of the common necessaries of life , they cannot afford to await the result of a prolonged , and often an inexcusable , " enquiry " at the hands of a " circumlocution party , " to whom the pangs of hunger are unknown . " While the grass grows the horse starves " is a motto

bearing much trnth ; and if a man needs ready help , it is valueless when delayed for a month . We understand the method adopted by the Lord Mayor and other magistrates is to grant snch aid as the condition of the poor boxes will admit—unfortunately they are , by all

accounts , at a very low ebb just now — upon the recommendation of one or two respectable householders ; and this is a step which in nine cases out of ten frustrates any attempt at imposture . Iu the event of a distressed brother applying to any Lodge ,

the practice usually adopted is for one of the brethrengenerally the almoner—to visit the applicant and , by kindly enquiry , ascertain the real condition in which he is placed . This is only a wise and just precaution , for the safety of the Lodge funds ; and we imagine that no brother

so reduced as to prompt him to ask for aid would object to an examination so fraternally and privately conducted . Nor do we believe there are many cases in which such applications made by the deservingly necessitous have been overlooked by the brethren of our Lodges . On

the contrary , we have observed that , if an error has been made , it has been invariably on the side of leniency , and the amount granted as large as the benevolent fund of the Lodge could possibly bear . It is earnestly to be hoped that a large proportion of the money which is now lavished

upon vagabonds who live upon the good nature and indiscriminate kindness of the public may be diverted into proper channels . Our chief aim should be , whilst extending the hand of Charity " with no bounds save that of prudence , " to those who need it , to banish from our midst

those lazy , skulking mendicants who fasten like leeches upon our social system , and divert the Bow of true philanthropy from its legitimate and proper channels . The correspondence lately appearing in our columns may have some effect in impressing upon brethren the positive

necessity of discrimination in the granting of relief , and , if so , our object in drawing attention to it will have been accomplished . Still that caution should not degenerate into the persecution delineated by Dickens in his satire upon Bumble , tbe " porochial" beadle , or the " gentleman in the white

waistcoat" ; and we feel assured that if on the one hand a tight-rein is drawn upon the unscrupulous persons who would , if they conld , live in idleness upon the generosity

of their more prudent but often , in the matter of Charity indiscreet , brethren there will be a reduction in the number of that undesirable section of the Fraternity , and a by no means diminished solicitude towards those who are deserving of our Masonic help aud commiseration .

We have to thank Messrs . Bedford Lemere and Co . for copy of their photograph of the members of the Lodge of Prosperity , No . 65 , and their friends , taken on the occasion of the summer banquet , held at the Star and Garter Hotel , Richmond , on Wednesday , the 19 th ult . Knowing , as we

do , so many of those present at the meeting , we can bear testimony to the excellence of the several portraits , while , as regards the difficult question of grouping together so many subjects , the artists appear to have been more than

usually successful . Wc trust the photograph will find an honoured place on the walls of the Lodge . One other matter we must notice , and that with an apology for our excusable en-or . The artists are not " Messrs . Bedford

and Lemere , " of 147 Strand , as stated by us recently , but " Messrs . Bedford Lemere and Co . " of that address . We have great pleasure in making this rectification .

The following is the text of Bro . James Stevens ' s proposed motion : — " That , Iiaviug regard to tho great increase , during the past twenty-five years , in tbo number of ' Lodges within the Loudon

District , ' ( see Book of Constitutions , page 72 ) , this Grand Lodge desires to respectfully represent to His Koyal Highness the Most Worshipful Grand Master the desirability of subdividing the said London "District into Subordinate Grand Lodges , to be constituted in like manner to Provincial Grand Lodges . "

After The Sesqui-Centennial.

AFTER THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL .

THE Keystone asserts that the recent St . John s Day celebration by the Pennsylvanian Craffc , in commemoration of fche one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the Grand Lodge of "Pennsylvania , was enjoyed in all its great features by the thousands of brethren who had the privilege of participating in ifc . The gathering was of a remarkably comprehensive character , including features grave and gay , dignified and entertaining . The

historical idea was afc the foundation of the celebration , and ample justice was done to it , as wns mosfc becoming . We commemorated a notable event—the origin of Masonio Grand Lodge Government in America , with the exercise of the electoral privilege to choose a Provincial Grand Master to preside over the Craffc in the then province of Penn . sylvania . In fche ceremonies of both the Grand Lodge and the

Academy of Music , the history of this leading event in American Masonry was correctly and ably given , and fche records thus made by the different distinguished brethren who prepared the historic papers will be preserved in our annals as valued additions to American Masonic history . The mists that obscured the past have beeu scattered , the truth that was before discovered has been officially

promulgated , justice has been done the early fathers of the Penn sylvanian Craft , and tbe antiquity of our Fraternity in this jnrisdic . tion has been placed beyond a peradventure . No more will it be pre . tended thafc any Lodge , or Grand Lodge , antedates those firsfc con . sfcitufced in the city of Philadelphia , in the good old Keystone State . And , as Bro . Hughan pointed out in his valuable communication in onr

last week ' s issue , tbe first Lodge ever constituted in America by the Graud Lodge of the " Ancients , " as well as by fcho Grand Lodge of the " Moderns , " was located in Philadelphia . We have heretofore shown , in these columns , that the same priority maybe justly claimed for the introduction of Eoyal Arch and Templar Masonry in America

the " city of Brotherly Love" in every instance being the Masonic pioneer , fche premier or mother city of Freemasonry . The pages of Masonio history written for the Sesqui-Centennial celebration , will remain for the instruction of posterity , and be a lasting monument to the ability and industry of their several compilers . AW of these we shall present in full .

We have read in fche local press , that the author of this celebration was a certain brother , who originated and introduced the resolution in the Grand Lodge providing for the Sesqui-Centennial celebration , which was on Saturday last so fully and enjoyably observed . In a certain sense this is true ; bufc there is a higher sense in which another is entitled to the bonour , and we desire to name the Brother whom

we consider the author of tbe celebration , and to whom , in this conneotion , a sufficient tribute has not yet been paid . Brother Benjamin Franklin was the " father " of our Masonic anniversary , for it was he who reported in his newspaper the Pennsylvanian Gazette , the firsfc meeting of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , only two days after it ocenrred . Without this ootemporaneous record , we shonld have

had no specific information of this important fact . All honour , then , to Bro . Benjamin Franklin , who was wiser than he knew when he penned and published that small item ? of news concerning the first meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , and its election of Bro . William Allen as its first Grand Master . Without this act , we shonld afc this time have been unable fco sufficiently

ascertain fche facts whereon to base the historic claim to precedence of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , and the notable events commemorated in our St . John ' s Day celebration . So much for the historic features of our Sesqui-Centennial . But there were others . The procession of the Craffc was of a remarkable character . Over five thousand brethren were in line , and all of them were represents .

fcive men . They were nofc decorated with regalia—they wore no di 8 . tingnishing emblems , save a lambskin apron , and the Officers and Past Officers each the jewel of his office . They wore only the orna . ments of exalted personal character , native dignity , manliness and moral worth . Many of onr best citizens were in the ranks . And these ranks are seen so rarely in public , thafc they always attract public

attention . Tbey were filled by those who do not court applause by display , by men of knowledge , intellectual , financial and social status . The Masonic Fraternity was demonstrated to be not a refuge for per . sons of impaired character , nor a hospital for the cure of diseased reputations , but a Temple composed of living stones , all plumb , level

and square . The hundreds of rejected applicants did nofc appearin that procession to disfigure ifc with their fragmentary moral , social and intellectual characters . Masonry demands for its spiritual Temple perfect ashlars , and thafc its demand has been complied with , is evident whenever a procession of the Craft appears on a great

anniversary . Ifc will doubtless be a nnmber of years before there is another de . monstration by the Freemasons of Pennsylvania akin to thafc which was made on St . John Baptist ' s Day 1882 . Such celebrations should not be frequent . Their impressiveness and value depend upon their iufrequency . They are red-letter days in the history of the

Craft , to be looked forward to after long intervals of every-day worn and refreshment . When thus observed they stimulate healthy Masonic action , gratify fche brethren , and emphasise great principles and leading Masonic events . They draw together visiting brethren from neighbouring and even distant jurisdictions , all of whom flit together as members of a common Craft , and rejoice with their brethren in their local celebration . "No one , we are sure , regrets our Sesqui-Centennial celebration , while every one who participated in it win

bear through life the recollection of a most enjoyable Masonic anm " versary , one well planned , well executed , and that reflected credit upon all the Graud Officers and sub-Committees thafc for months were busily engaged in perfecting its details . Long live the R . W . Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania , whose Sesqui-Centennial has jnst been so fitly and gloriously commemor ated . The Keystone-