United Grand Lodge And Its Benefactions.

UNITED GRAND LODGE AND ITS BENEFACTIONS .

IT ... unnecessary to remind the members of our Ancient and Honourable Institution that , so far as ihe practical study of the Masonic art is concerned , religion ancl politics are prohibited subjects in assemblies of the Craft . But , inasmuch as Masons , like all other

rational and intellectual beings , must of necessity have their own private and personal views upon these two great guiding and motive principles of social life , it may not be inopportune now ancl then to glance at them without

touching upon the well-known dictates of our Masonic creed . We are called to these observations by a perusal of a lecture recently delivered in Guernsey by Bro . Emra Holmes , F . R . H . S ., a well-known Freemason , and author of several works on " the disestablishment and disendowment

of the English Church . " We will not enter upon the arguments which are just now being so hotly waged by political partizans on either side , but by way of a bird ' seye glance at Bro . Holmes's discourse , we note that he

proves incontestibly that many of the statements put forth by the adversaries of this ancient Church are wholly false . It is an exploded argument now-a-days to say that the National Church of England was created by Act of

Parliament ; no such Act can be produced , for there never was one . Many Acts and charters recognise the National Church as already existing , but none create it , for the very good reason that the Church of England existed

before Parliament itself . In controverting the erroneous assertion that at the Reformation , in the 16 th century , Parliament disestablished the Church of Rome and put the Church of England in its place , Bro . Holmes points out that as a fact the Church of Rome was never

established in this country . The Established or National Church was always called "the Church of England , " and when King John endeavoured to bring England and her Church under the Papal Dominion , the barons , with the

Archbishop of Canterbury at their head , resisted , and compelled him to grant Magna Charta . The bishops of Rome still continued to claim , and for a time exercised , unwarrantable authority in the Church of England ; but this ,

with some of the doctrines of the Papal Church , was rejected at the Reformation , ancl the reforms were in clue course accepted and confirmed by the nation in Parliament . But the Church still continued the same body , a branch of

the Holy Catholic Church ; not a single bishopric , cathedral , or parish being abolished , though some were acldcd . The monasteries were suppressed , it is true , but that was chiefly because their inmates professed allegiance to the

Pope rather than to the National Church . Admitting that the Church was despoiled by an infamous King , Henry VIII ., who "enriched his nobles with the things of God , " Bro . Holmes shows that but an infinitesimal part of

the clergy accepted the Reformation settlement ; that the tithes and glebe lands remained in the hands of the Church ; and that the Church of England , in fact , reformed herself by the united action of the authorities in

Church and State . As an apposite illustration of this , the lecturer quoted the characteristic reply of Queen Elizabeth , who , when asked , "Where was the Church of England

before the Reformation ? " said , " Where was my face before ifc was washed r" After dealing exhaustively with the history of the Church sinco the Reformation , speaking

United Grand Lodge And Its Benefactions.

of the vast sacrifice and liberality of Churchmen in

building , restoring , and endowing churches , the promotion of education , and the diffusion of social , moral , and intellectual benefits among the people , our brother toucbea upon a point which will interest many of our readers , and

it is to this point we would more especially devote a few observations . He says , " I was present at fche laying of fche foundation stone of Truro Cathedral by the Prince of Wales , in his capacity as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge

of England , and in all that vast assemblage of clergy , nobility , gentry , and Freemasons , I suppose the Grand Lodge of England alone gave nothing towards the stately edifice nnw boing prected by voluntary offerings of Englishmen for the first Gothic cathedral erected since the

Reformation . ... A few of the Cornish Freemasons have subscribed £ 500 towards the cathedral , but only a few . " We can but conclude that in making such a statement before an audience of Churchmen and politicians

in Guernsey , Bro . Holmes must have been led into an inadvertency by his excessive zeal and personal interest in the subject of which he treated . We have often pointed out that it is not the province of Grand Lodge to

subscribe out of its funds to all and every scheme that may be submitted to it . The fact stands on proud record that Masons of this country are ready to listen to appeals from " all sorts and conditions of men " in aid of objects of true

charity and philanthropy ; and whether it be at the laying of the foundation stone or the completion of a sacred building , the launching of a lifeboat , responding to the cry of distress , caused either by famine or disaster , in this

or any other part of the world , English Freemasons have ever been found the most willing and the most open-banded in their assistance . Bro . Holmes knows very well , or should know , that the Grand Lodge of England has no

funds which it can legally apply in aid of the erection of any structure , ecclesiastical or otherwise , that may be erected in the country , even though its corner-stone may have been laid by our Worshipful Grand

Master . The funds of the Grand Lodge are subscribed for a specific purpose ; they are the freewill offerings of the brethren for the relief of indigence , fche maintenance and

education of the orphans of the brethren who have helped to build up the grandest edifice under heaven—we were going to say grander even than the Church of which he

speaks so eloquently ; and without special authority the

money thus vested in its hands for a particular object could not , must not , be diverted from the legitimate intentions of the givers . Had Brother Holmes taken the trouble to inquire , he might have ascertained that the

" few Cornish Freemasons " of whom he speaks were not the only members of the Order present who contributed to the Truro Cathedral Building Fund . He could not , probably , have discovered , even approximately , how much the

brethren really gave , for the bounty of the Masonic heart is not worn upon the sleeve . To cast an insinuation upon Grand Lodge for a dereliction of duty in nofc officially subscribing to such a fund , and thus to hold the Institution

up to the adverse criticism of ardent Churchmen in the Channel Islands , is almost too gross a blunder to admit of serious thought , much less of blame ; but it only shows to what length argument may be carried by enthusiastic , albeit

well-intentioned , advocates . It is the boast and happiness of the Masonic Craffc that its acts of Charity and ? benevolence are not proclaimed from the housetops , or flaunted upon the platform ; it has a deeper and more . biding virtue—