" Charity Is Giving ? "

" CHARITY IS GIVING ? "

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND B ROTHER , —Parsimony has lifted up her voice , and inquires , what shall I cry ? Is Charity giving ? Brother Binckes justly and trnly replies in tho affirmative ; but thoulogically considered , assertion is not proof . I may ask further

, a logical question : Is thero any charity without giving ? Ho who is not charitable is not a sincere Christian . Some Masons are not charitable ; therefore somo Masons are not sincore Christians . St . Paul , who is of high authority , is pressed into tho controversy .

But this I say , says St . Paul ( which some readers of tho sacred law , seem to havo forgotten ) , bnt is proved in daily 1 ifo ! " He which sowoth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and ho which soweth bountifully shall reap al = o bountifully . Every man according as he purpnsethin his heart , so let him give ; not grudgingly , or of

necessity : for God lnvoth a checrfnl giver . "—2 Corinthians , ix . 6 , 7 . Solomon , tho wisest , man , asserts what is proved in daily life : " There is that sratfereth , and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet , but it tniuleth to poverty . He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack : but he tlvtt hideth his eyes shall havo many

a curse . "—Proverbs xi . 21 ; xxviii . 27 . Bnt a greater than Solomon , the grcatost of all Teachers , our blessed Master of all , lays down as an incontrovertible axiom , " It is ¦ more blessed to five than to receive . " Whoso experience has proved the contrary ? Cadit giuustio .

Yours fraternally , DANIEL ACE , D . D . Laughton Vicarage , 2 nd December 1878 .

Caution.

CAUTION .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Will yon kindly permit ns , through the medium of your paper , to caution Lodges and Charity Committees against an itinerant , who calls himself " Bro . Charles Johnstone , of the Morning Star Lodge , No . 552 , Lucknow , " as he is unworthy of assistance ?

Wo shall be glad to give further information if required . Yours fraternally , T . J . HOOI'ER . J . II . SlLLtTOE . Almoners for tho Province of East Lancashire . Freemasons' Hall , Manchester , 3 rd December 1878 .

Bro. White And The L.M.C.A.

BRO . WHITE AND THE L . M . C . A .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . 4 th December 1878 . DKAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I have noticed in tho last number of tho Chronicle your account of tho proceedings at the last meeting of the Capper Lodge , at which Bro . White , in the course of an address to tho Brethren on tho subject of onr Masonio Charities , is reported to have said , " I joined the London Masonic Charity Association to farther Mrs . Priestley's child ' s case . After I had laid it before tho

Committee I noticed that a brother on my left stated that although pledged to support tbe Committeo ' s ' last chance' selections , still , he could not give up some 300 votes ho wielded . On this he was assured that his case would be cartiod at . the next election if he would lend those votes . " Now , as I recognise myself as the " brother on my left" and have a vivid recollection ( assisted by memoranda

made at the time ) of what occurred at the meeting ot the L . M . C . A . to which Bro . White alludes I beg that you will allow me to give my account of what then took place . It is somewhat at variance with Bro . White ' s statement , bnt I give it in no unfriendly spirit , as I can easily understand that Bro . Whito having attended tho meeting for tbe purpose of advocating the claims of a candidate in whom he felt an

interest , and finding the decision of the Committeo not in harmony with his own desires , left the meeting with a feeling of disappointment , and as I venture to say , not with a memory sufficiently accurate to state three months subsequently what then occurred . What did occur at tho meeting of tho Committee of the L . M . C . A . on 30 th Angnst was as follows .

Tho Committee received and considered a report respecting the London Candidates for the Schools , all of who c circumstances were carefnlly inquired into . Tho merits of Bro . White ' s candidate were fully recognised by the Committee who however came to the decision that two more urgent cases were entitled to their first support . As regards royst-U , I stated to tho Committee that , while 1 fully

endorsed their selection , I was already pledged ( previously to the fn' -nintioa of the L . M . C . A . ) to support the child of an old friend . I mentioned also , in reply to an enquiry , that I thought tho child ' s friends , not myself alono , which wonld havo been an idle boast , would crmmand at least 300 votes , when I WHS solicited to place the votes , if possible , at the disposal of the

Committee , who would , after securing tho election of the more urgent cases , tako that of my candidate into consideration . This , yotu readers will perceive is a very dilt ' eitut matter to offering mo n positive guarantee that the chi d should be olcetrd next Ayril . The idea of snch a bargain would not be entertained by tho Commit tec ;> t at present coustitnted . Such an arrangement would have been very convenient to me individually , bat as a member of the Committee I

Bro. White And The L.M.C.A.

should not conntenanco it , and I think tho other members of tho Committee would agree with me that such a bargain would be neither righteous uor discreet . I am , Dear Sir aud Brother , Yours faithfully , A . E . G .

A Constitutional Question.

A CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , — At tho Consecration of a Lodge at Thame , on Thursday , the 5 th inst ., tho Lodge in tho course of the ceremony being in tho second degree , was " resumed " to tho third degree , instead of being " opened " in the nsual form .

I wns informed by a brother sitting next me , that this was no new idea , and often adopted at one of the Oxford Lodges , although tho question had been raised as to the correctness of tho ceremony . Perhaps somo of your numerous correspondents , who aro more conversant with the authorities on ritnal than your humble , servaut will kindly givo their opiuion on tho question ? Yours fraternally , J . W . 5 th December 1878 .

Charity Stewards.

CHARITY STEWARDS .

To the Editor of tho FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Permit nio to point out to your readers , , iu reply to Bro . Godtschalk ' s remarks in last week's issue , that he has misunderstood rny letter in CHRONICLE of 26 th Ocober . I suggested it was advisable for Lodge funds to bo kept tinder two heads , aud separate subscriptions :

1 . Charity fund and general expenses . 2 . Refreshment and tavern bill expenses . 1 There are many brethren who subscribe nnd seldom attend their Lod gp ; and- I repeatedly hear they are under tho impression their stibscripfcion is nsed for Charity . If thoy wero to attend the audit

meetings , they would soon bo relieved of this erroneous impression . If this system were adopted , many brethren would subscribe willingly who now do not , simply because of their inability to attend their Lodges , and they do not feel disposed to see their money expended for the benefit of banqueting members .

Thanking you for your courtesy in publishing my letters , I remain yours faithfully and fraternally , DICK RADCLYITE .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I fear I must plead guilty to having overlooked tho quoted passage containing tho word "compel , " which Bro . Godtschalk inclnded in his letter . But I read Bro . Radclyffe ' s proposition by the light of common sense , and not in a spirit of hypercritism . I interpreted his meaning to be that Lodges and brethren owed

it as a duty to contribnteto the necessities of our distressed brethren . This , in my humble judgment , was the limit of Bro . Radclyffe ' s suggested compulsion . But even if I misinterpreted him , am I not right in stating that every member of a Lodge is compelled to contribute to the Benevolent Fund ? In each case , the Charity dispensed by our Grand Lodge to distressed members and their families is the

result nf compuL-ory contributions . Therefore , if each Lodge were compelled to contribute a something to eaohof our Ins'itiitioug , thero would be an excellent precedent for it , and tho Charity > o dispensed would bo a Benevolence jnstly imposed on the Masonic community , without distinction of persons . Fraternally yours , OLD FILE .

Bvo . W . C . Parsons is very anxious wo should point out to our readers that he never thought of propounding the idea that a Charity Steward could b y any known arithmetical process be reduced to a guinea . What he wished to say was , that the Steward ' s " Fee , " not the " Steward , "

mi ght , in his opinion , very properly bo reduced to a guinea . We enter full y into our worth y brother ' s views . A Steward may , occasionally , be reduced to his last guinea , but that is a figure of speech , not the result of an arithmetical process . Nor aro " fees " and " Stewards "

convertible terms . If they were , "Our Hercules " and his colleagues of the It . M . I . G . and R . M . B . I . mi ght amuall y find themselves in a difficult y , as Bro . Best of the Freemasons' Tavern , nnd Bros . Bertram and Roberts of the Alexandra and Crystal Palaces mi ght , and doubtless would .

decline to accept corporeall y Bro . A . B . C . and Bo . X . Y . Z . in payment of their dinner bills , the said bi > t . hivi , no * being current coin of the realm . How-vcr , . IJ _; e ^ ha ....

has beon clone , and tho reason wc lu ^ del this letter " Charity Stewards" was si in p l y fh i su im- b < -et , throughout the heading appropiiaicd to th d particular correspondence .