The Practical And Important Question.

THE PRACTICAL AND IMPORTANT QUESTION .

MASONRY is a sham and means nothing if it is confined to tiio Lodge Room , if it fails to permeate our conduct and actions throughout life , or if it fails in some cases to restrain , and in other eases to prompt us in the course we aro about to pursue in any direction . Perplexing questions of duty arise when business interests conflict with the charitable consideration due from one Mason to another , or when one ' s instinctive Masonic partiality

is combated by notions of what on other grounds may be right or wrong . Such difficulties might , in my opinion , be more frequently the subject of informal and fraternal counseling together in the Lodgo Room , with the ad-vantages of safer conclusions in the specific cases and educative influences upon the Brethren generally . The ideal of a Freemason is difficult of

attainment . We are human , and humanity is very weak and imperfect . But we are not good Masons if we do not strive to the best of our ability to exemplify our professions by the practical record we from day to day are making . We are prone to boast of the antiquity oi our Order , to descant in grandiloquent terms upon its stability and world-wide diffusion , and , with

pardonable pride , to grow eloquent in referring to its lofty aims and the everlasting principles on which it is founded . But the practical and important question for each of us is whether , by reason of being Masons , we are better men than we would have been if we had not been Masons . —J . M . GIBSON Grand Master Ontario , Canada .

The Future Duty Of Masonry.

THE FUTURE DUTY OF MASONRY .

EVEN if the Masonic Order did for humanity in the past all that is claimed for it , the question remains , What can it accomplish now ? In this pushing period it is capability and not sentiment that determines the usefulness of institutions . What can one do , not what has one been , is the vital test . Look through and under the surface of our magnificence . Are thero men to be elevated , great purposes to be accomplished ? Are there

still slaves of injustice , still toilers to be aided , still right principles to bo inculcated , still need for inviolable union of Brothers in the cause of Brothers and of all the world , still need for a sanctuary for the weak and a

confidence unbreakable for those who strive ? Is man anywhere in bonds , do vast oppressions still survive ? Then there is need for Masonry , and the great order of mankind . And this is the judgment of the people . To-day in America alone we number three-fourths of a million .

Our younger Brothers , the Odd-Fellows , molded in part on our ancient fashions , number even more ; and near a half million Pythians , in their way , tell the story of fraternity and power ; and besides these aro other aids and allies in the cause , which in degree inculcate tho solemn rights of man and the power of organisation . And whatever may be the excellence of theso

multitudinous associations , they will all acknowledge that before they were formed a vast and solemn host marched before them , making their paths straight and leading tho blind by ways thoy knew not ; which taught organisation , practiced order , afforded asylum , and made confidences inviolable . And in this age , the age of gigantic philanthropies , look where , like angels

whose shining feet are on the mountain top all radiant with the dawn , stand art and science and invention . See how the light steals down the crags into the valleys of oppression and wrong . Listen to the far voice of the trumpets blown at the head of the hosts of advancing men as they overcome resistance and strive to make the world a habitation of righteousness . See how the

forms of all civilisation move on to conquer . Yes , great is tho glory of the age , great its accomplishments , great the peace it will bring and is bringing ; but , as in peace and war , throughout all our national life , from Valley Forge to to-day , Masonry has taught patriotism , true democracy , a broad republicanism , so through the coming years it will practically assist in solving

national and social problems . It will teach that on the American trestleboard all the designs displayed for the guidance of the workman , however intricate their tracings , must begin and end at the ballot-box . For it is all powerful and stays violence . It accomplishes in due season and order all reforms and all needed changes . —John C . Black Grand Orator Illinois , in »* Voice of Masonry . "

Masonic Relief.

MASONIC RELIEF .

HOW to relieve distress without pauperising the recipient of charity is yet an unsolved problem * , and in these days of tramps and travelling impostors claiming to be Masons , the old haphazard method of individual relief without investigation i . s becoming impracticable , and , necessarily , organised charity takes its place . Of course no one will contend that organisations relieve any Brother of the duty of individual charity ; but

outside of all organisations he will find ample opportunity for its exercise , and , as a rule , he will not be obliged to seek the opportunity . It is nofc disputed that the relief of a distressed worthy Brother is a duty devolving either upon the individual Mason or upon the Lodge . It naturally follows , then , that the Brother has a claim for relief , and that claim mnst be upon

the Lodge . The question then arises , upon which Lodge , the one of which the Brother is a member , and to which he has been paying dues , or the one where he happens to be temporarily located ? The latter must obviously be the almoner of the charity , because the only one in position to investigate ; hut which should finally foot the bills ? We give two out of many examples within our experience which may

Masonic Relief.

throw light upon the question : In one of our interior cities a Brother in good standing in another jurisdiction has beeu sick , and requiring care ancl support for two or three years . The two local Lodges have paid for his support and medical attendance hundreds of dollars , without reimbursemen t from his own jurisdiction , and nre still sustaining the burden , although with

plenty of poor of their own to support . Another Lodge , with all ifc could possibly do to take care of its own indigent members , had a Brother from a neighbouring state taken sick within its limits , and , being unable to obtain anything from his homo Lodge , had to call upon our Grand Lodge for help

This serves to illustrate the following point : If a Brother is sick and destitute away from home in the jurisdiction of a Lodge unable financially to relieve him , either his home Lodgo must come to the rescue , or he must go without aid , to the everlasting disgrace of the Fraternity .

The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin has always recognised and acted upon the principle that each Lodge under its jurisdiction should take care of its own members , wherever they might be , and when they were unable to do so she has come to fcheir aid . As a consequence of a different custom in other jurisdictions we were called upon , at our lato communication , to pay to our

subordinates in small towns , with small incomes , about ono hundred and fifty dollars to relieve distressed Brethren of their own Lodges , and about five hundred dollars for relief of Brethren among us from foreign jurisdictions and in addition bills to amount of several hundred dollars wero sent us by

Lodges outside our limits who had relieved members of our Lodges . It J 3 seldom that a Lodge outside our jurisdiction , relieving one of our distressed Brethren , hesitates to send in the bill , but it is no uncommon thing to have our own bills repudiated .

All this shows a diversity of method which might be remedied . There are but two courses from which to choose to produce uniformity . Ono is that when a Lodge relieves a distressed Brother , it does it at its own expense without any expectation of being reimbursed . Thisjs open to the decided objection , as shown above , that where the Lodgo is impecunious , the Brother

must do without relief . The other , and it seems to ns the only practicable method , is fche one we submit for your consideration . It will cost no more to the Fraternity , but will equalise the expense , instead of putting it all upon those who think it their duty to take caco of their own families . We call your attention to this proposition :

It is the duty of each Lodge to take care of its own members in distress , wherever they may be . In case of its inability to do so , this duty devolves upon the Grand Lodge from wbich ifc holds its charter . Ifc being understood that in no case is the Lodge furnishing fche relief and asking reimbursement , fco go beyond actual necessities , without express authority from the reimbursing body .

Will you kindly submit this proposition to your Grand Lodge for its action ? If you have any suggestion which will improve ifc , we shall be glad to hear from you . It is our opinion that as soon as any Grand Lodge adopts it , it practically enters into a compact with all others which have taken the samo action , and all will eventually see fcho benefit of fche arrangement , and come into it . —Committee , Grand Lodge Wisconsin .

Pre-Historic Freemasonry.

PRE-HISTORIC FREEMASONRY .

AN address before the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Illinois , in Chicago , 4 th October 1893 , by Bro . Geo . "W . Warvelle , Grand Orator . We live in a progressive age ; the achievements of science and the developments of art give daily emphasis to this assertion . In many

particulars we have outgrown the ideas of our ancestors , and in the intellectual advancement of the last twenty-five years this fact is nowhere more apparent than in the marked departure from the methods formerly employed in the treatment of historical subjects . Indeed , a new theory of

history has been evolved , based upon the principle that nothing is now to be gained to tho world's progress by concealment ; that presumptions and opinions , from whatever source emanating , do not constitute facts , and that the duty oi the historian is to display the past as it was , and not as he thinks it should have been or might have been , in order to fit the views , theories or

beliefs of to-day . The force of tradition , so long exerted , has lost its effectiveness ; the unverified legend no longer passes current as authentic data ; critical inquiry has superseded complacent credulity , and in the reaction many a time-honoured myth has been destroyed . The entire

complexion of modern historical investigation has been changed through the unearthing of old documents and records , the opening of closed archives aiyl the publication of long suppressed evidence , and as one after another the hitherto inaccessible avenues of knowledge are laid hare to our inspection , we are arriving at clearer conceptions and more distinct views of the past

than was permitted to our predecessors . In no department of archaeological research do these remarks apply with greater force than to the antiquities , customs , traditions and ceremonial observances of tho Freemasons ; and while the past has as yet yielded up but a moiety of its hidden stores of learning , sufficient has already been obtained to cause a revision of our old beliefs and a practical rewriting of the

history of the Craft , It was the policy of the men who guided the destinies of Freemasonry at , and for many years subsequent to the revival of 1717 , to envelop its origin wifch an air of mystery , and to conceal , rather than make known , fche facts immediately antecedent to that event . The early commentators and historians of the Craft , disregarding the means within their reach , all soug ht