Charity, And Its Application.

brought by it into intercourse with his rich neighbours , who have thus the opportunity of knowing and appreciating his character without any degrading efforts on his part to obtain their notice , and who are enabled to render him timely aid and kindly offices in a manner the least

offensive possible to his self-respectf . These are advantages which he may enjoy conjointly with the wholesome feeling that , in some way , he is entitled to them from his own effortsaftcr independence . The chief benefitdoes not consist in his having realised a sufficient fund from his own

savings . But it is well known that however resolutely and perseveringly one of this class may put by a portion of his wages , the accumulated sum must necessarily be so trifling in amount that the first casualty or illness , or a burial , or a dearth of employment , soon swallows up the little fund , and leaves him burdened with debt . And have not the

poor motives enough to save , independently of the exhortations and advice of their more comfortable neighbours ? Have they not the strongest that can appeal to human nature—tho good of their children—their respectability amongst their fellows—their fear of the Workhouse ? yet

they do not and cannot provide against the evil day ! No ; providence there may be , economy their must be , but saving is next to impossible . Let the reader just remember that the Government returns of the population of this country estimate that , on an average , the families of

England aro represented as five : husband , wife and three children . With the recent advance of the wages of the agricultural labourers they cannot be more than 14 s per week . If one penny per head is allowed for each of the four meals per day , the sum expended will be lis 8 d ,

leaving only 2 s 4 d ( oven supposing they live rent free ) to meet all the expenses of clothing and other contingencies of human life . A review of these facts should teach the nation to guard , with a jealous eye , every attempt that may tend to narrow the boundaries of charity , or check the flow

of a warm and genial benevolence . A State , to be wise , should look to its own security in the equality and brotherhood of all , in their interests linked to its own ; in their prosperity by its machinery , as the paramount object , with which no other system should be allowed to interfere , whatever its pretensions , or however high its claims .

A Medium On " Freemasonry."

A MEDIUM ON " FREEMASONRY . "

THE Spiritualists are a strange sect . We are not about to enter upon polemics which are forbidden ground , but give certain extracts from an oration delivered b y Mrs . Tappan at Cavendish Rooms on the evening of Sunday , the 24 th ult ., reported by a Spiritualists' Journal , called The Medium and Daybreak . Mrs . Tappan , whose

eloquence was much noticed in the press after her first appearance in this country , some months since , is a so-called " inspirational " lecturer , purporting to be the mouthpiece

of a " circle " of departed philosophers of the spirit-world . The Lecture , we notice , is entitled The Most Ancient Angel , and forms part of Series II . upon Statics , the first series , of twelve orations , having been denominated Dynamics .

"The Most Ancient Angel connected with tho ministration of spiritual dispensations of the earth , was known to the ancients by the name of Orisses , or the Osiris of tho Egyptians , and represented the spiritual power of which the material expression was the sun , or light of day It was under hie dispensation that the Order

of Melchisedeo was founded It was in the beginning of tho reign and under the control of Orisses , that the first thought of the Ancient Order of Freemasonry was founded , where tho All-seeing Eye represented tho light of day , the various implements of mechanical toil and worship the symbols of creative power , and where tho arc

of circle and the angle represented tho contact of the Divine Mind with Nature in the production of life and of mechanical force . Under his reign those most subtle laws and forces were revealed , whereby tho atom which is globular , is pierced by the angle or point of vital life and thus made to reveal itself as the symbolic expression of

vital power upon earth . Under his reign all those arts now scattered or lost , were concentrated for the perfection and perpetuation of physical life , symbolising some force in spirit or mind ; and while the records are lost and there are but few remnants of the most mighty nation of that period , there still remains sufficient to confirm the

connecting link between that remote past and the present ; Egypt being but the latest expression of the reign of Orisses ( other nations and continents were then in existence , who expressed it with even greater splendour ) Atalantis , then under the dispensation

of this mighty angel , tradition has often pointed out was submerged , and what is now known as the New World , must in reality have been peopled by a race whose splendour outlived in the reign of Orisses the pomp of the ancient Egyptians As Orisses represented the physical life , and the life of the sun , so Brahma administered

A Medium On " Freemasonry."

the next stage of spirit And what Orissea represents in an angel having the greatest advancement , every order of beinga between him and the earth represents in a relative degree . That is why many nations in the East yet cling to that form of worship , because the wave of that life has not entirely left the Eastern

continent , while each succeeding wave has born its fruits , passed , and loft some remnant of its expression . That is why the nations worship so variously to-day That is why there are those who believe in the All-seeing Eye in its religious instead of its pure Freemasonie sense . . . . "

What think our readers of this for transcendentalism . We should pronounce it , in conception Goethe-like , and in description Schilleresque . Could we be assured of its truth , then indeed : —

" Miichtig lossten wir der Dinge Siegel , Nach der "Wahrheit lichtem Sonnenhiigol Schwiing , g ' sich unser Elugel !"

Freemasonry In The United States During And After The Revolution.

FREEMASONRY IN THE UNITED STATES DURING AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION .

WE are indebted to a history of Philadelphia , by a Mr . Thompson Westcott , now current in one of the American journals , for the following . particulars , which cannot fail to be in the highest degree interesting to our readers . During the earlier revolutionary movements , the

Masonic Lodges of Ancient York Masons continued to meet with occasional interruptions . Lodge No . 3 , met at Daniel Smith's City Tavern , in Philadelphia , on St . John ' s day 1775 , and participated in a banquet . On this occasion , we are told , thirteen members are said to havo

met , and , measuring all their proceedings by the patriotic number thirteen ( in honour of the thirteen States ) , they had thirteen dishes of meats , banquetted thirteen hours , drank thirteen toasts , sang thirteen songs , and , with a capacity which must astound our brethren of this generation , drank thirteen bottles of wine and thirteen bowls of

toddy , and it is added that , by way of consistency , the landlord ' s bill amounted to £ 13 . During the occupation of the city by the British troops , its Lodges were interfered with , and , perhaps , suspended ; but one , probably connected with the Royal forces , appears to have met at

Second Street and Elfreth ' s Alley . When , however , the city was evacuated , the return of the Whigs gave new spirit to Masonry . The brethren re-assembled , and though , as the issue of the contest was yet doubtful , no formal assertion was made at the time that the ties connecting

them with the Grand Lodge in England were severed , a feeling prevailed that the declaration of National Independence had virtually established a ground for such rupture . Certainly , American Masons were in no way restrained in what they did by any regard for ancient authorit y . P . G . M .

William Ball was charged with the important duty of organising the Grand Lodge , and he summoned the brethren to meet on 16 th December 1778 , when Bro . Rev . William Smith was appointed Secretary pro tern , and Grand Officers were elected . On St . John ' s day of the same year , the

Grand Lodge and subordinate Lodges celebrated the day by a procession and other ceremonies , the occasion being honoured by the presence of Bro . George Washington , who took part in the procession , supported b y the Grand Master and his Deputy . Divine service was held in Christ

Church , after which they returned to the College , and afterwards dined in their respective Lodges , a collection amounting to £ 400 , for the relief of the poor , appropriatel y closing this portion of the proceedings . At the meeting of Grand Lodge in this year , a committee was appointed

to present a new code of laws for its future government , and , in November 1781 , Bro . Rev . William Smith presented an abridgement of Dermot ' s " Ahiman Rezon , " with alterations and additions ; and it was unanimousl y accepted .

In 1780 , this abridgement was published , under the title of " The Abridged Ahiman Rezon , as a hel p to all that are , or would be Free and Accepted Masons , " and it is now known among the Craft as " Smith ' s Ahiman Rezon . "

In the meantime , an attempt was made b y the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to establish a Grand Lodge of the United States , even before the Revolutionary War was over . A special communication was held for this purpose ,

in 1780 , and resolutions were adopted in favour of a General Grand Lodge , with General George Washington as General Grand Master for the whole of the United States , but the proposition was coldly received by the Grand Lodge of Virginia , and afterwards fell through . In 1785 , a