Kent.

There are some even who go so far as to say they despise the Craft and all its connections . It is not always possible for members of an ordinary friendly society to defend it against the attacks and accusations of those outside the Order , but we Freemasons are in a very privileged position ,

because without breaking our vow of secrecy we can always produce at least one argument that ought to silence even the most bigoted of our opponents ; we have always the

opportunity of referring to those things we call our Charities , to the provisions the Masons throughout England make for the orphan daughters and sons of members , and for the widows , and numerous other Charities we support and maintain .

We can point in our Province of Kent with very justifiable pride this year to the very large sum of money we have been able to send up—and done so willingly , of a free heart —to the Masonic School for Girls . A society which has such Charities as these can never be put to shame . And the

fact that the English Masons provide every year a sum running almost into six figures for the relief of distress and want , is a fact which ought to silence the criticism of any level minded or respectable person . And this , I think , comes to a very great extent of our love of order . But I should

like to draw one lesson to-day , and ask you to remember that charity is not the first lesson that we Masons have to try and keep before us as we go through life . If we are Masons in our hearts , our hearts have been touched with the Divine love ; and it is because our hearts have been thus

touched by the Divine love that we see the beauty and the necessity and the desirability of giving up so much of our energies and time to the care and relief of those who are in want or sorrow . Brotherly love is good ; relief is good ; but there is one thing better—it is Truth . It is Truth who is

God , and God who is Truth . If we have this Truth , if we have God in our hearts , if our professions are real , if what we say comes from a faithful and believing heart , then all these other things which are so necessary to make us true , upright and good Masons , will follow as a matter of course . And

so I think those words " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" form a real motto for Masons all over the globe . If we are to be true and good Masons in every sense of the word we must be men who love the Great Architect of the

Universe , lifting up our eyes to Heaven and following those rules which He has set down for us to follow . If men lived only for this world , and were mere bodies only , having no future before them , and no God to face in the world after this , then to arrange for our temporal comforts , to look

forward for the interests of our families , and to care for the privations and wants of our fellow Masons and their families would be our first and most important duty . But seeing that man is a living soul , and has to stand in another world beyond this ; that we are made in God ' s image and are like

unto Him ; that we have a Divine spark in our bodies and we owe a duty to God as well as to ourselves ; then , this comes first of all , we must seek the righteousness of God and God ' s Kingdom . Whilst we think of our duties with

respect to brotherly love and with respect to relief , let us remember that charity begins . at home , and it is every Mason ' s first duty that he should be charitable to himself —he should remember his own soul and that soul ' s welfare .

I would suggest to you as members of a great body , that if you wish to be true members of it , that is a real and genuine thought we should take away with us : It is our first duty

as members not only of- a Christian body , but as members of the great Masonic body , to seek God and His righteousness and then we shall have all that is desired , both by God and by man .

A collection was made on behalf of the Masonic Charities and Dover Hospital , the service concluding with the hymn " Brightly gleams our banner , " sung as a recessional .

****************** The annual excursion in connection with the Gallery Lodge , No . 1928 , took place on Saturday , when a run to Ipswich , with luncheon at the Great White Horse Hotel ,

of Pickwickian fame , was followed by a steamboat trip down the Orwell to Harwich and round the Cork lightship . Dinner was served at the Great Eastern Hotel , Harwich , Bro . Lionel F . Gowing W . M . presiding , after which the party ( numbering about fifty ) returned to London .

Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

B OOKS , Hallo , * o . lntenisd for ravlew , liiould be addreiaod t * th « Editor •? th * FrMitikion ' i ChronlcU , » t Flatt W « rki , Xtw Barnat . — : o : — Poetical Tributes to the memory of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen "Victoria . Edited by Chas . F . Forshaw , LL . D .

F . R . S . L . With a foreword by Mackenzie Bell , F . R . S . L . — Swan Sonnenschein and Co ., Limited . OUR esteemed Brother , whose sonnets are so well known to readers of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , has discharged a difficult ta , sk in such manner as to deserve the thanks of the community at large . Such a task is by no means an enviable one . When a monarch dies poet and poetaster , from the Laureate to the village

bard , invoke the muse and blossom into verse . So written , so inspired , such verses rarely deserve the name of poetry—even the performances of poets Laureate evoke the laughter of the literary world , and have done so almost always . For these reasons we recognise the acumen and good taste displayed by Bro . Forshaw in the compilation of this volume . He has done everything

possible with such materials , and we have no doubt whatever that from among the many verses at his disposal he has selected the best . We need not hesitate to say that we like his own sonnet , reprinted here from our columns , as well as any verses in the volume ; partly because the sentiments which it expresses are more

natural and just than those expressed by some of Dr . i orshaw's collaborateurs , and partly because , as a sonnet , it is far more skilfully constructed than other similar efforts in the collection . " Poetical Tributes" should enjoy a large sale , for there must be many who are desirous of preserving , in a permanent form , verses which whilst printed only in various journals are soon forgotten .

New Century Library ( 2 s net per vol . ) . —T . Nelson and Sons . The Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT , Bart . Vol . v ., Old Mortality . IN the year 1 S 16 " Harold the Dauntless , " the historical portion of the "Annual Register , " "The Antiquary , " the "Black Dwarf " and " Old Mortality were written by the pen of Scott . This ,

from the standpoints of quantity and quality alike , was one of the best twelvemonth ' s work ever accomplished by anybody ; to find its parallel we must go back to that year in which Scott produced " Peveril of the Peak , " " Quentin ' Durward , " " An Essay on Romance ' and "St . Ronan ' s Well . " Readers of "Old Mortality " usually hold a brief on its behalf ; for to read is to admire and

champion its characters , and to marvel at the skill of its narrator . Those two Reverend and loquacious camp-followers , Kettledrummle and Poundtext , are in themselves sufficient to carry a story forward ; but the story is here so well knit and of auch sustained interest that few novels are more independent of

individual characters . The examination of Morton and Cuddie after the battle of Bothwell Brig will linger long in the minds of all who read it for the first time in this pocket edition . We are glad to see this edition of Scott steadily growing ; there arc several others being issued contemporaneously , but this is , we think , the handiest of them all .

Nineteen Thousand Pounds . By Burford Delannoy . Illustrated ( 2 s ) . —Ward , Lock and Co . Most folks will anticipate that , if the cover . of this volume belies not its contents , they have here a story meet for a rainy day . Mr . Delannoy has given something better—a , story good enough to keep us indoors despite shining sun and singing birds . The

story moves briskly from start to finish , which in itself is no small recommendation now-a-days . Moreover , it is distinguished by its variety of incident , so that readers are at once gratified and on the tenterhooks of expectation . We have a dentist and a dead body ; the mystery of the missing notes and of the sealed-up cabin ;

ghost , thief , confession , expiation : the menu is undeniable . Neither a long paragraph nor a dull dialogue are here , and we u-. ink it not the least of the writer ' s many claims upon oui gratitude that he seems to strive earnestly to use the fewest words that will suffice for his purpose . " T'were well if others followed his example . "

The White Company . By A . Conan Doyle ( 6 d ) Tit Bits Drawing Book ( 3 d ) . Monster Animal Story Book ( id ) . —George Newnes , Limited . THE cheapening of literature is an aim with most of our leading publishers now . With the publisher it is usually a question

of " force majeure " : others issue cheaply and he must follow suit or lose the trick . But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good , and all this competition in Paternoster Row and elsewhere is a source of delight to the needy reader . The sixpenny novel has come among us in such great numbers and so rapidly that we hardly realise , our good fortune . To be able to purchase such a book as " The White Company" for fourpence-halfpenny is a

boon indeed , and we wish we could think that all readers fully appreciate it . For almost everything from the pen of Dr . Conan Doyle is good , so good that it deserves to be read carefully , and certainly this story , so full of intrigue and adventure and incident , is no exception to the rule . Nor must we withhold a word of praise from this excellent drawing book , or from this book of animal stories . We have the best proof of their excellence , for we have taken the opinion of the youngsters touching this matter .