A Jubilee Year Suggestion.

alone , and setting aside for a moment all the rest , we wiU suppose that they each subscribe the small sum o seven pounds ten shillings beyond their normal contribution , and the grand result which we venture to lay before them

is instantly achieved . It is a fair computation that these Lodges will average a minimum of forty subscribing members each ; and it needs but little calculation to demonstrate that this Special Fund could be immediately raised , were every individual member of our Lodges to put his

hand in his pocket and contribute a modest five shillings Such a bagatelle would never he missed by even the humblest member of our Craft , and see what a glorious triumph would be attained—a result not only proudly beneficial to our youngest Charitable Institution but

redounding infinitely more than anything that has been done in recent years to the credit of the Order . Failing this , or any other scheme which may develop itself between now and then—if , through the lowness of the subscriptions last year the Committee do not feel themselves capable of incurring any additional risk at all—then even a more modest proposal is open for adoption . There are in all 130 candidates for admission to the benefits of tbe Charity ,

that is reckoning both sexes ; and supposing the idea be carried out that the Queen , being a widow and having reigned fifty years , therefore that fifty other widows were relieved , it might be urged that no provision whatever is made for the male candidates . But when we found that the supporters of the Widows' Special Fund came forward

with their donations , the male fund , which has its particular share in the general contributions to the Charity , would unquestionably be benefited in a more modest , if not to a corresponding , degree . We deal with the widows especially at this time , on the principle that it is to commemorate the

Jubilee of our beloved Queen , who is herself a widow . Then , failing the greater scheme which we have sketched above , we come back to the original calculation—that there are 130 candidates for admission , and out of these there will probably be from a dozen to twenty elected , leaving 110 still unprovided for . How would it be to present to the first fifty who secured the highest number of votes the sum of £ 10 absolutely as a Jubilee consolation gift ? This

would absorb £ 500 ; to the next twenty-five highest £ 7 10 s each , involving the additional sum of £ 187 10 s ; and to the remainder of the applicants £ 5 each , or another

£ 175 . In round figures this would amount to a total contribution of £ 900 , allowing a margin for small necessary expenses connected with the collection ; and surely this sum , spread over the great body of our Fraternity , is not too much to ask .

We do not desire to say ono word in reference to the debatable features of the circular which our Pro Grand Master has issued in relation to the Royal Jubilee , but when we consider that Masons everywhere are asked to subscribe

their guinea towards a national memorial which , though emanating directly from our Most Worshipful Grand Master , and therefore engaging his warmest attention , is

not essentially Masonic , there can be no inappropriateness in placing either of the suggestions above outlined before the Craft as deserving of special attention at this eventful period . The Grand " Commemoration Festival" might still be held , with its substantial result , for the benefit of

the three Charities ; but this special effort on behalf of the widows would raise a splendid tribute of " Devotion to the Craft , " whilst no way infringing upon the other portion of our motto— " Loyalty to the Throne . " The only other hint we throw out is , that Lodges having funds in

hand may be induced to vote a grant of say five or ten guineas for this special effort , and then the general contribution would be made still lighter , and would be infinitesimally felt . On the principle that such examples invariably find imitators , it is only necessary for one to begin then others would emulate the idea and a substantial result could be recorded . We proffer these

observations , as our Pro Grand Master did his now muchdiscussed circular , " confidentially , " in the hope that our readers may regard it in the same spirit , and communicate their opinions on the subject to us at " their earliest convenience . "

Seeing The Unseen.

SEEING THE UNSEEN .

ANY fool can see that which stands out objectively and plainly before him , but it requires a wise man to see the unseen . All Freemasons should be wise men , and many

Seeing The Unseen.

of them are . Their ability to draw aside the veil which separates between the appearance and the reality of things , to enter into the secret crypt and discover long lost truths , is proverbial . Freemasonry itself is a mental telescope , designed to assist the spiritual sight of the immortals who are its initiates . By its aid , under its instruction , they

learn the subltmest truths of the here and the hereafter . They learn these truths symbolically , according to a system which is peculiar to itself . All of these truths are old , for

there is nothing new in Masonry , but some of them are so old as to be regarded as out of date by the profane . Not so by Freemasons . Truth is always truth , and never becomes superannuated . The old truths constantlv need to be made

new to popular apprehension—as a thoughtful writer has forcibly phrased it , so as to become " truth out of truth , a thousand times reverified , self-illustrated , made selfluminous . " This is what Freemasonry strives to do , to make real the old ideals , to so clothe the eternal verities as to render them tangible to the senses , visible to the eye of

the mind , attractive to the imagination , so that the intellect may comprehend them , the heart feel them , and the whole physical and spiritual entity of man be made subject to their sway . Our Fraternity is a rendezvous for thinkers , a republic of initiates who have inherited Masonic light and

knowledge , and who are willing , nay , anxious , discreetly to communicate it to those who seek it and are worthy . We " let light into the nature of things . " As the sun in

the heavens , when it sheds its eftulgent rays clothes the earth with a garment of light , so Freemasonry when it speaks to its initiates by sign and symbol makes clear to their understandings some world truths of priceless worth . By its aid they rise to new life , lift the veil , enter the crypt , and see the unseen . Happy the Brother who " marks , learns and inwardly digests " the rich mental food offered him by the Masonic Fraternity . Such a Brother is a true

" son of Light ; " in him is no darkness at all . Is there any Brother that glances over these paragraphs who has eyes which have seen not , and ears which have

heard not , the secrets of Freemasonry which are hidden in its symbols ? Has he seen the objective , without apprehending the subjective ? If so he has failed to see the unseen , failed to be a true Freemason . Each Masonic jewel , each implement of our Craft , each piece of furniture in the Lodge Room , each symbol , each official title , each Masonic

ceremony , from the least to the greatest , is an object-lesson to craftsmen , a truth teacher . They point Godward , Masonward and selfward . They teach us our obligations to

the Grand Architect of the Universe , our Maker ; to our brethren , our equals ; and to ourselves , of whom alone we need to be afraid . We should love our Maker , love our fellows , and fear only ourselves .

Could the world well dispense with this race of Masonic seers . We trow not . At all events , the world has never in all of the ages been without exemplars of the Fraternity which teaches its initiates to see the unseen .

How little do we actually see even of material things—¦ how much we are compelled to take upon trust . We dwell upon a great habitable globe , only a speck of which

is familiar to us . We live in a human period which includes some six thousand years , and yet a mere span of this time is known to us personally . We are compelled to see , if we see at all , the unseen in time and space through the eyes of history and biography , of chronology and geology . And then what is our tiny globe to the myriad

hosts of heaven—the sun and moon , the stars and planets ? And what is time to eternity , and earth to heaven ? Do we not need to learn how to see the unseen ? Should Freemasous not avail themselves of their manifold opportunities

for grasping hidden truths , for learning Masonic verities , for comprehending the here and the hereafter ? Does an honoured member of our Fraternity , rich in years and abundant in labours , with his work squarely done , pass

our time ; it may be , has exceeded it . We shall meet him , and shall meet each other , hereafter . Here we are taught by our Fraternity to see the unseen . If we have been diligent students of Masonry , have tasted the flavour of its kernel , and not merely toyed with its shell , have peered through the symbol and seen the truth typified , then we

from our sight through the portals of the grave—how we should realise , as we have never done before , the divine reality , the priceless value , of the great Masonic doctrine of

the immortality of the soul ! He has gone from the Lodge below to the Lodge above , from the presence of the Grand Master on earth into the presence of the Grand Master of the Universe . We shall follow him . His time measures