Why Freemasonry Exists.

They are all dead now , and the very names of some are forgotten in the State in which they lived ; and were almost wholly forgotten by me . But with the knowledge that they were Masons , even when I was not one , there have como to me a now and larger interest in the actions

of their lives , a warmer feeling of affection for the memories of those among them whom I liked and honoured , and kind thoughts and charitable opinions of

those whom I regarded with dislike . Such , surely , must be the influence of Freemasonry upon every generous soul . How often , in the words of Edwin Arnold , we would fain say to some one among the dead : —

Bear no grudge to those Who had not time , in life ' s hard fight , to show how well they liked thee : We that seemed less than friends were brothers ; now Death knows it ! and love knows ! and I ! and thou ! —Voice of Masonry .

Ends And Objects Of Masonry.

ENDS AND OBJECTS OF MASONRY .

" rT" 1 HE Masons' Lodge is a type of the world , " says a _ L great German poet , with an accuracy seldom belonging to epigrammatic utterances . In the several degrees of Masonry , symbolised under tho types of the tools of that art which has found its highest development

in raising upon earth material evidences of mankind ' s love and adoration for the Most High who dwelleth in the heavens , we find depicted as upon a stage , man's progress

through this mundane existence in such a manner as to bring before him the great truth that his days on earth are but few , and a stage on the great journey to the mysterious hereafter .

Masonry rightly viewed rests upon two great facts ; the recognition of the existence of a Supreme Being who is not only the Great Architect of the Universe but the Great Geometrician who has vouchsafed to us plans for our conduct here upon earth , on the Tracing Board of His

revealed word ; and the great principle of religious socialism , which teaches ns in all things to subordinate our own selfish ends to the needs of the other component parts of that great human fabric of which the greatest of ns is but an insignificant unit . Indeed , the great ends of

Masonry cannot be better summed up than in those grand principles of love to God and love to man , which run through all the pure religions of the world , and which were

never so impressively laid down as m the words of the Great Master who taught us that duty towards God and duty towards our neighbour comprised up the obligations of the good man's life here upon earth .

Masonry ever tends towards the concrete in thought , and all the highways and bye-ways of its beneficent action are as nothing if we forget to refer them to these two great principles upon which they are based . The benevolence which relieves the poverty-stricken brother , his

destitute widow , or his orphan child , the kindly help which sots the erring Craftsman once more on the right road , and the social spirit which leads us to congregate together for

innocent enjoyment , are but phases of carrying out our duty towards man ; and this again is as nought if we disassociate it from our duty towards the Great Architect and creator of the Universe .

The Mason who tries to build up the former without the help of the Revealed Will of the Most High , is like the Fellow Craft who flings the Master ' s Tracing Board aside , and tries to lay stone upon stone , and course upon course , without other guidance than his own fleeting ideas of the

fitness of things . Equally as such an erring Mason would have to lament his unfinished and useless work , so we who build a moral edifice know not whither we are going if we discard the plans laid down for us in the Great Light of the Craft , and trust only to the fitful guidings of that poor

and variable thing , the individual conscience . Happily , few amongst are inclined to controvert these principles , but it is well that we should now and then revert to them and

follow up the diverse streams of Masonry to their primal sources , lest we fail in giving a clear and distinct reason for the course we have mapped out for ourselves . —South African Freemason .

Ad00304

IMPORTANT NOTICE . —Confidential Advice free per post to all in weak and failing health , with loss of strength and vitality . Fifty years experience in Nervous Ailments . Address , The Secretary , 3 Fitzallan Square Sheffield . Form of Correspondence Free . Write to-day . '

Presentation To The Lord Mayor.

PRESENTATION TO THE LORD MAYOR .

WHEN W . Bro . the Right Hon Sir Henry A . Isaacs was installed as Lord Mayor the members of the Lodge of Israel desired to present him with an address of congratulation , and a Committee of the Lodge was appointed to carry out the resolution , bat it having come to their knowledge that the P . M . ' s jewel which had boon presented to him on his retirement from the chair of the Lodge had

been stolen from -him , the Committee thought that it wonld be a graceful act to present him with another jewel . Tho Lord Mayor signified his intention to be present at the installation meeting on the 28 th nit ., to receive the same , but , unfortunately , he was too nnwell to be able to attend ; but he agreed to receive tho Com

mittee on Friday , the 7 th inst ., for the purpose of having the jewel handed to him . Accordingly Bros . M . I . Emanuel W . M ., C . F . Hogard I . P . M . P . G . S . B ., A . M . Cohen Treasurer , Littaur P . M ., H . I . Phillips P . M ., J . A . Gartley P . M ., and A . J . Henoohsberg P . M . P . P . D . G . D . C . West Lancashire attended at the Mansion House for that purpose . Bro . Rev . Marcus Haines , the proposer of the resolution , being

unfortunately prevented by a serious attack of the prevailing opidemio from being present , Bro . M . I . Emanuel W . M . made tho presentation on behalf of the Lodge , alluding to the many services the Lord Mayor bad rendered to the Lodge in years gone by , both as a P . M . of the Lodge and as President for many years of its Benevolent Fund ; and read the inscription on the jewel : —

" Presented by the Lodge of Israel , No . 205 , to W . Bro . Rt . Honble . Sir Henry Aaron Isaacs W . M . 1856 , as a slight souvenir of his being Lord Mayor of the City of London for 1889-1890 . 28 th Januarv 1890 . "

The Lord Mayor very feelingly acknowledged the gift , and expressed his regret that the great number of the members of the Drnry Lane Lodge and the Grand Officers , and the want of sufficient room at the Mansion House to entertain all those he wonld have

desired to be present at his installation as Worshipful Master of that Lodge , did not permit him to invite the members of the Committee to dine with him on Tuesday next , but he would , on a future occasion , ask them to a dinner at the Mansion House . After the presentation , the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress entertained the members of the Committee at luncheon .

The Allegations Against St. Johns Hospital.

THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ST . JOHNS HOSPITAL .

IN connection with the allegations which have been made against the management of the St . John ' s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin , the Duke of Newcastle , as president , has issued a circular giving details of the vindication of the institution ; Ho says : — " The efforts to wreck St . John ' s Hospital , wantonly commenced upwards of two years ago , and malignantly persisted in , poisoned the minds of some of the managers of

the Hospital Saturday Fond against the Hospital . This body , however , with a candour redounding to their honour , instead of excluding the Hospital from participation in their distribution of the moneys collected for the hospitals , conceived the desire to have for thesmelves an independent investigation of the books and accounts of the Hospital . This action was hailed with

much satisfaction by the Hospital Board , who unanimously passed a resolution placing all the books and documents at the disposition of the Saturday Fund and for the purposes of the investigation . The firm of public accountants selected was Messrs . "W . H . Pannell and Co . In cheerfully and unreservedly submitting to the investigation the board were actuated by two motives—the desire to have once

and for all removed from the hospital the air of suspicion whioh the action of its traducers had certainly surrounded it with , and the knowledge that the body proposing to make the investigation was a recognised public one , and not a clique who but sought the ruin of the hospital . The investigation commenced on the 11 th December , and their report was brought before the Hospital Saturday Fund for

consideration on the 11 th January , at a meeting presided over by Alderman Sir James Whitehead , Bart ., at whioh upwards of 40 members were present , and after an exhaustive debate , a grant of £ 59 16 s was voted by a large majority to the Hospital . The result was received with enthusiastic applause , for throughout the

discussion no one had ventured to utter a syllable against the Hospital as a relief-giving and good-doing oharity ; indeed there were those present who emphatically declared that the poor who suffered from diseases of the skin could not possibly do without St . John ' s Hospi * tal . "—Qldbe .

The restoration of the choir , lantern tower , and transepts of Peterborough Cathedral having been completed , the Dean and Chapter are now in want of funds to furnish the ohoir . Several stalls have been promised , and a fund has been opened to present two stalls on behalf of the Freemasons of England , as a memorial of the Masonic

ceremony which took place on the occasion of the laying of tho foundation stone of the central tower by Lord Carnarvon in May 1884 . The Provincial Grand Lodge of Notts and Hunts have headed the list with a donation of £ 25 . The restoration committee have decided to issue another appeal for funds to proceed with tho work . —British Architect .

Ad00305

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