A Year's Work.

latter have been abolished . As a Lodge of Benevolence it was opened and closed according to ancient custom , now the members meet as a business body , ancl except the great

fact thafc they are dispensing money subscribed by tbe Masonic body , there is no outward sign to show connection wifch fche Craffc . Whatever effect this change may have , we are certain that it will not detract from the interest the Board take in their labours .

Masonry And The Civil Law.

MASONRY AND THE CIVIL LAW .

IT is creditable to Freemasons and Freemasonry that questions relating to the Craft have so rarely been brought before the civil courts for adjudication . In the vast majority of cases , practically as well as theoretically , Freemasonry has been a law unto itself . Brethren have

very rarely appealed to the common or statutory law in support of their real or fancied rights , and profanes have seldom had occasion to cite a Masonic body into court . The facts being as stated , there are comparatively few

judicial decisions bearing upon Masonic questions ; but there have been some , and we propose referring to certain of the most important principles involved in and decided by them .

As a rule , Masonic bodies avoid incorporation . This is . wise . A body corporate is a creature of the Commonwealth , and of the courts , and is directly amenable to the statutory law bearing upon corporations . No Lodge or Grand Lodge is wise that places itself in this position .

Some Grand Masters have gone so far as to say that they would revoke the charter of a subordinate Lodge that sought incorporation . We entirely approve of the policy

of keeping Freemasonry separate and distinct from legal entities of the State . Owe the State nothing ; owe the courts nothing ; save to be loyal to the one , and respectful to the other .

It has sometimes been mistakenly urged that a Masonic Lodge should be incorporated in order to protect its members from becoming individually liable as partners for the debts of the Lodge . The members of a Lodge are NOT partners . This has been decided , again and again . A

voluntary association for social and charitable purposes stands upon an entirely different footing from a business association ; members of the latter are partners , while members of the former are not . Suppose a Lodge builds a Masonic Hall , or resolves to become responsible in any

manner for a moneyed expenditure , and that there are members of the Lodge—say nearly one-half of the membership—who are opposed to the proposed action . Were the Lodge a partnership , all would be individually bound ; but , in fact , in case the Lodge funds are insufficient to pay the

indebtedness , only those members can be personally and individually held liable who actively forwarded the plan , or assented to it , or ratified it—in other words , only those whose action it was . So if the officers of a Lodge borrow money on its account , and give a note officially for it , only

those members who approved or ratified the making of the note can in any event be made personally responsible . But while a society or association such as a Masonic Lodge can escape liability to the statutory laws of a State bearing upon corporations by avoiding incorporation , it

cannot escape liability to . a court of equity in case the property rights of its members become involved and a matter of ^ litigation . Here , however , Freemasonry , by its very genius , is peculiarly free from liability even to the law of equity . No Freemason can demand any pecuniary benefit

from the Craft . Its chanties are all voluntary . Of right , a member cannot claim anything as a matter of fraternal sympathy and good-will he may expect the most generous consideration from his brethren , who will give him , and

freely give him , as long as they have anything that they themselves enjoy . And not only do Freemasons freely dispense their charity to their brethren ; they occasionally go outside of themselves , and show that their charity is as broad as the world . In the largest and best sense of the

term , Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges are technical charities under the law , with no business whatever to conduct , and nothing to do with their means but to so

invest and dispense them as to subserve the best interests , primarily of their own members , and secondarily of the most deserving and needy throughout tho world . The outside world does not benefit oftener from Masonic charity

Masonry And The Civil Law.

simply because there are so many encircled by the Mystic Tie whose needs we feel in hononr bound to supply first . Tho question of the right of a civil court to reinstate an expelled member is not infrequently raised as to clubs and

societies non-Masonic , but very rarely in the case of a Masonic Lodge . The law is , that where a society acts judicially its sentence is conclusive . A court will not review the merits of the case . The mosfc that it will do in

any case , and this only where poverty rights are involved , is to decide whether the ground for expulsion is well taken . It seems scarcely necessary to add , that with the " mystery " of Freemasonry neither courts nor legislatures can have anything to do . The secrets of the Craffc are

inviolable . Wherever , under the bias of anti-Masonic fanaticism , the lever of legislative or judicial power has been employed to " torture " individual Freemasons into making a revelation of the " mystery " of our ancient and honourable Fraternity , it always has failed , and always must .

Ifc is evident , from what has been stated above , that a Masonic Lodge is such a voluntarily charitable body as is looked upon with partiality by the civil law . In England there is statutory law directly in favour of Masonic bodies . In this country there is no direct legislation , but the

general appreciation of the noble principles , humane character and charitable action of the Masonic Fraternity is so pronounced that the Craft is allowed to be a law

unto itself . We doubt not it will continue to deserve the good opinion of all intelligent men , and perennially maintain the even tenour of its way , teaching the purest truth and exemplifying the noblest charity . —Keystone .

"Christmas Comes But Once A Year."

" CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR . "

[ C ONTRIBUTED . ]

APAET from the religious origin of Christmas , about which we , as Freemasons , can form our own individual judgment , there is a fitness in the season for the exercise of that spirit of kindness and forgiveness which is the true sign of brotherhood . Rich and poor alike take advantage of this yearly festival to meet together , to bury

feuds , to renew friendships , and to still further cement the affections of years . To an Englishman , it has a peculiar charm ; no matter where he may be located—under an arctic sky or scorching sun , on sea or on land , he never fails to honour Christmas , and fco rejoice according to his

means . In this world of struggle and of strife , and in the race for wealth and pleasure ; in the hungering after knowledge , and the thirst for fame , it is a great thing to know that at least once a year all can unbend , and join in festivities which are withheld from few , and ought nofc fco be

denied to any . So strong is the feeling of rejoicing exemplified at Christmas that the ordinary amenities of society are relaxed , and offences that would meet with punishment at normal times are passed by with a goodnatured smile . The cold and phlegmatic melt before the

beams of genial kindness that prevails , and even the miser ' s love of gold has been known to yield to the universal spirit of generosity thafc the advent of Christmas evokes . Then there are the happy release from school , the meeting of glad parents and children , the festivities of

courtly hall and humble cot . The soberness of increasing years gives way to the sprightly spirit of the time , and even old age renews its youth , forgets for the moment all aches aud pains , and only to remember the happy present . The young look forward to balls

and parties , to pantomimes and fun . Jack Frost is eagerly looked for , and Santa Clans is regarded as a necessary visitor in every household . The poor are remembered ; even the pauper is feasted and his lot lightened for the day . The sick are tended with a more affectionate

care , if thafc be possible ; the very animals are made partakers of the good things that always comes wifch Christmas . It is a time of high tide with the heart , and the overflow runs in streams of kindness ancl generosity .

It is a period when unhappy thoughts are put aside , when difficulties are remitted to the limbo of forgetfulness . It is not less also the time for discounting wrongs , for forgetting grudges , and for the exercise of the noblest attributes of mankind .