Masonry's Silent Work.

of virtue . There surely must be some good in an institution whose avowed purpose and constant teachings is to make men's lives better , purer , and by consequence , happier . Masonry seeks to do this and if she fails in her

office , it is from the innate depravity of tbe subject and not from the fault of tbe institution . From the initial step of the Entered Apprentice , to the full honours of a Master Mason , there is a deepening impression and

enlargement of influence and motive , and augmentation of forces ever directing the mind to a higher and butter life . If the rough Ashlar will not receive tho polish of the skilful hand and the fitting instrument , it only demonstrates

the nnworthiness of the material , and not the incompetency of the architect , but the worthy aud true , the refining and polished processes of Masonry are surely a benediction and blessing , and all over the land are thousands of bright and

shining examples of its beneficent influences in the elevation of our nature and the refinement of human character . Another fact : it is a great law in nature that the mightiest forces in her realm operate silently and unseen .

The stupendous power of gravitation that moves all worlds and holds the universe in its grasp , operates so silently ancl obscurely that its very existence is often unsuspected , except by those who comprehend

the mighty mystery . So Masonry has gone ou from age to age , performing her own silent mission of good to the world , often unseen ancl unrecognised , only by those who have felt the genial influence of her secret power . If

her record is to be blazoned in glowing statistics , or proclaimed with Pharisaic pretensions at the street corners with sounding trumpets , then she modestly declines the

unworthy test ; but if the silent inscriptions , written in a true and faithful heart , a genuine and manly character , and a life whose aims were nurtured iu a school of truth

and the teachings of virtue ; if these are tlie criterions of her judgment , then may she proudly hold up her head , and with the noble Roman matron with her children around her , exclaim in the face of her enemies , " These are my

jewels , " But to complete the answer to the question , What good does Masonry do ? We turn now to another great object which Masonry proposes . This is embraced in its own formula , brotherly love , relief and truth , or in

the Scripture phrase , " Faith , Hope and Charity . " Faith in GOD , Hope in Immortality , Charity to All Men . Nobler , worthier motives than these , no man can entertain ; no

creed can expound . But does Masonry carry them out ? We can only reply that they are certainly her vital principles and the practice of them is her highest object .

There are untrue men everywhere . " Traitors in every camp . Black sheep in every flock . Foul birds in every nest . Hypocrites in every church . " So in every Lodge

there may be deceivers , untrue to their fraternal ties and faithless to their obligations , but these are not the exponents of any cause .

To the heart of all true and genuine manhood , these ties and obligations are doubly sacred . They appeal to the highest and noblest sensibilities of his nature . To relieve a worthy brother or his family in distress , to aid him in the

time of struggle and danger , to ward off the evils and lift the burden from his life , becomes a pleasure as well as a duty . If to do this even for the stranger in a strange land , to open the heart of sympathy , to stretch the hand

of charity , to right the wrongs of a distressed brother , to defend his character and protect his home and loved ones , to nurse him in sickness , to soothe and comfort his dying hours , and to watch over the bereaved and sorrowing ones

he leaves behind ; if all this be doing good , then does Masonry do it in many ways and many instances . True she does not flaunt her deeds of charity in the face of the

world , nor sound the trumpets in the streets ; but far better than this , she writes her record in silent eloquence ° n tho homes she cheers and the heart she blesses . Her

unheralded deeds of benevolence are among the secrets enshrined in her own bosom . Her mission to the world is 0 r * e of quiet and unobtrusive good , like a gentle stream in the desert whose sources are hidden from the eyes of men , hut

whose refreshing waters carry fertility and blessings wherever they flow . This silent mission she performs , if n ° t with lavish hands , at least with true and faithful heart , and thus through the flight of years and tbe march of

centuries , she has pursued her even , onward course , with serene ancl quiet steps , seeking no applause from the world & ud no reward from men , save the noble reward of duty d ° ne , and inspired by no ambition save the sublime hope ° * an unfading immortality . —Voice of Masonry .

A Few More Words To Bro. Lane.

A FEW MORE WORDS TO BRO . LANE .

BY BRO . JACOB NORTON . I AM very sorry of being so dull of comprehension as not to understand Bro . Lane . I beg , however , to

assure him that before I saw his book , and his article in the Freemason of the 15 th January last , information reached Boston that he had made some mistake about the

unfortunate No . 79 ; ancl after reading his dictum that No . 79 was warranted for America , I could not help believing that he had imbibed Bro . McCalla ' s notion of the Philadelphia Masonic Mothership , and his subsequent answers to

my remarks convinced even Bro . McCalla that Bro . Lane was an advocate of his theory . So far , therefore , I was not mistaken . True , Bro . Lane has thrown overboard hia original theory that No . 79 was warranted for America ;

but he still cannot bring himself to my belief that the Grand Lodge of England had never issued more than one Charter with No . 79 thereon , which Lodge was constituted in 1731 , at the Castle , in Highgate . He still repeats : —

" That there was a Lodge ( he does not know where it was located ) having tbe No . 79 prior to the Lodge in Highgate in 1732 . " Now , earlv in 1731 , an order was issued by the Grand

Lodge of England to all her Lodges , requiring them to send to the Grand Secretary the names of their respective members , to be recorded in a book for that especial purpose . A number of the Lodges complied with the Grand

Lodge request , among them wai Lodgo 79 , at the Castle , in Highgate . On page 50 of Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges , " the reader will find a copy of the said Lodge List , minus the names of the members , and the dates of the

origins of the said Lodges . I shall now give the numbers of all the Lodges which were constituted in 1731 , and supply their respective dates , as given in Pine ' s Official Engraved Lodge List of 1734 , viz .:

—77 . Black Lyon , in Jockey Fields llfch January 1731 78 . Fountain , in Bury St . Edmunds 1731 79 . Castle , in Highgate ... 80 . Angel , in Macclesfield , in Cheshire 81 . Fleece , Bury St . Edmunds , in Norfolk ... 1 st November 1731 82 . Three Tuns , in Newgate Street 21 st October 1731 83 . Three Tans , in Smithfield 17 th December 1731 84 . Daniel ' s Coffee House , Lombard Street ... 23 rd December 1734

There is evidently a mistake m either a date or number of either 81 or 82 , for the November Lodge has a higher number than the one of 21 st October . But be that as it may , it is certain that eight Lodges were constituted in

1731 , and that No . 79 was the third Lodge chartered that year . Now , assuming that it was constituted in June or July , there was certainly ample time for the then Grand Secretary to have recorded the said Lodge before the year

1731 expired . If such was the case ( and I can see no reason to suppose otherwise ) , then I have no more reason to doubt that No . 77 was constituted in the " Black Lyon , in Jockey Fields , " or that the last Lodge , No . 84 , was

constituted in Daniel ' s Coffee House , in Lombard Street , " than I have reason to doubt of No . 79 having been constituted in 1731 at the Castle , in Highgate . What reason then has Bro . Lane for believing " That there was a Lodge [ and

neither himself nor any one else knows where it was located ] having the No . 79 , prior to the Lodge in Highgate in 1732 ? " he has so far offered only two reasons—first , the fallacious authority of the Dublin Pocket Companion of

1735 ; and , second , which , is not only fallacious , but also flimsy—viz ., because the Castle and Highgate Lodge did not pay for its Charter before late in 1732 . The last argument would no more be received as evidence by an

impartial jury , that the 1731 registered No . 79 afc the Castle in Highgate was a 1732 Lodge , than the evidence of the Dublin Pocket Companion of 1735 , that No . 79 was a Philadelphia Lodge .

I shall therefore only add , that unless Bro . Lane is in possession of more satisfactory testimony to sustain his peculiar notion that the Grand Lodge of England had

warranted two successive seventy-niner Lodges , I think that he would do better in future to stick to his former resolution , ancl write no more letters about Lodsre No . 79 . BOSTON , U . S ., 27 th July 1887 .

Ad00302

FUNERALS properly carried out and personally attended in London or Country , by Bro . G . A . HUTTON , 17 Newcastle Street , Strand , W . C . Monuments erected . Valuations made .