Bro. Dr. Benjamin Franklin,

Church , at the corner of Arch and Fifth-streets , comprehend citiz-ns f a ] l the States in the Union , and visiting strangers from all climes f the world ; and all tread with reverent steps as they approach i he sepulchre of him who was one of the fathers of this free republic , and also of our great American Masonic Craft . In a work recently published , " The Life of the Rev . William

Smith , D . D ., by his grandson Horace W . Smith , " there aro contained a number of reflections upon the character of Franklin that are unworthy alike of the biographer and his subject , and which we feel impelled to notice . Dr . Smith , as well as Dr . Franklin , was a Mason , but they were diametrically opposed in politics , and Dr . Smith , durin" his lifetime , on several occasions allowed his zeal to outrun

his discretion , as well as the fraternal feelings he owed Dr . Franklin . Dr . Smith ' s character in this regard was justly outlined by Robert Jenney , in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury , under date of Philadelphia , 27 th Nov . 1758 , in which the writer refers to " the practice of some clergymen intermixing what is their true and real business "with politics iu civil att ' airs , aud being so zealous therein as to

blame and even revile those brethren who cannot approve of their conduct in this particular , " and , he adds , " I am sorry to be forced to name William Smith who , 'tis said , is gone to England with this view , and without doubt will wait upon your Grace . " ( Life of William Smith , Vol . I ., p 185 ) . There was certainly no love lost between Smith and Franklin , but the latter was usually discreet in

what he said and wrote , while the former was not . On the day that Franklin died , a great thunderstorm passed over the city , and the Hon . Thomas Willing , Dr . William Smith and others , were dining with Governor Mifflin at the Falls of Schuylkill . When Franklin's death was announced , the biographer of Dr . Smith tells us , Mr . Willing wrotes these lines :

" What means that flash , the thunder ' s awful roar-The blazing sky—unseen , unheard before f Sage Smith replies , ' Our Franklin is no more . ' The clouds , long subject to his magic chain , Exulting now , their liberty regain . "

Bro . Rev . Dr . Smith , at the request of the American Philosophical Society ( of which Dr . Franklin was President ) , pronounced a commemorative oration on the deceased in the German Lutheran Church , Fourth-street , above Arch , Philadelphia , on 1 st March 1791 , in the presence of President and Mrs . Washington , Vice-President and Mrs . Adams , the Senate and House of Representatives , the

Governor and Legislature of Pennsylvania , and others , in fche course of which he paid the following glowing tribute to Dr . Franklin : "He had a delight ; in communicating his discoveries to his friends , and such was his manner of communication that he appeared rather seeking to acquire information himself than to give it to others . . . From the beginning to the end of his life he observed the same

modest and cautions method of communication Speakin » of his ' electrical' labours he said : Although Von Kliesfc had discovered some properties of the Leyden phial , and Muschenbrock to his cost had experienced others , it remained for Dr . Franklin to discover its true principles , and how by means of it , to accumulate , retain and discharge any quantity of the electrical fluid wifch safety

Ue was the first who fired gunpowder , gave magnetism to needles of steel , melted metals , and killed animals of considerable size , by means of electricity . He was the first to inform electricians , and the world iu general , of the power of tnetaline points in conducting the electric fluid , acknowledging at the same time , with a candour worthy of true philosophy , that he received the first information of

the power from Mr . Thomas Hopkinson Amid this general admiration Dr . Fraukliu continued to communicate his knowledge and discoveries , under the humble appellation of conjectures or guesses . But no man ever made bolder or happier guesses , either in philosoph y or politics . He was likewise a bold experimenter in both . "

This was a noble tribute from a political opponent , but that opponent ' s biographer belittles his ancestor by relating this anecdote . * " After the conclusion of the oration , on Dr . Smith ' s return home , we are told that his daughter Rebecca told him , 'I don't think you believe in more than one-tenth part of what you said of old Ben Lightening-rod . Did you ? ' The doctor , without either

affirming or denying , laughed heartily . Such stories , perhaps , may do for the privacy of home , bufc should never appear in serious print , and we take it Dr . Smith regretted the nnwise assertions he had made during Dr . Franklin ' s lifetime . In conclusion , we wonld say thafc Philadelphia has honoured the memory of Franklin by naming one of its Lodges for him—Franklin Lod

ge , No . 134—and it will not be invidous to assert thafc there is no Masonic body in the jurisdiction of tho Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania held in higher esteem than it , or that has a larger number of uistiuguiahed citizens included in its membership . It was constituted on St . John ' s Day , 24 th June 1812 ; a greafc grandson of Bro . benjamin Franklin—Bro . Capt . Richard Bache—being its first WM .,

^ . ailother great grandson , Bro . Dr . Frank'in Bache , afterwards mliated with it . Franklin Lodge has given three Grand Masters o the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , viz ., Bro . George M . Dallas Jice-President of the United States , Bro . John M . Rpad Chief nst , of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania , and Bro . Peter v 'lliamson , the last of whom alone is left for the Brethren to honour .

ouch was Franklin as a Mason , . and such were his Masonic w 0 SC lT ^ ta ' . Mirabean said of the great Philosopher : "Antiquity m - have raised altars to this mighty genius , who compassed in his ( . jj " ° * h the heavens and the earth , and was able to restrain , aliko , ^ . unclerbolts and tyrants . " Franklin Lodgo has reared an altar to exf V y * aDd wc trust that the lights around it may never be 'tiguished . There is also an altar raised in his honour in Ihe

this * ° * ^ - Pennsylvauia Mason , and tho entire fraternity in Will 3 , an 8 d , otion mn 3 t disapear before the name of Benjamin Franklin "low !? ' i 0 be I , evered * -During our Sesqui-Centennial celebrathu ° 3 md eloqueut tribute *; will , no doubt , be paid to bis Mauuniu

Bro. Dr. Benjamin Franklin,

character , for his achievements for the Craft . We have now done what wo could , in The Keystone , to lay a sprig of Acacia upon his tomb .

Grand Lodge Of Pennsylvania.

GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA .

THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION . ( Continued from page 58 . ) After the orchestra had played "Meditation , " by Gounod , fche Grand Master Hon . Samuel B . Dick , delivered the address of welcome . After referring to the event which the day celebrated , the Grand Master said that it was a singular anniversary . " A century and a-half of Masonic' history of Masonic life , demands of us all our

earnest admiration . The forerunner of organised Masonic institutions in this land , the Grand Lodge of Pensylvannia points to its history as the highest evidence of the justice of its claim to fche love and obedience of its members and to tho respect of the Craffc round the globe . "The mysteries , virtues , and teachings of Freemasonry come out

of the ages , as forming one great light to illumine the human mind , so that it can understand the truth . Centuries have confirmed these teachings , and tradition has transmitted them to fche present age . The high mission of Freemasonry is to preserve and maintain them , so that the generations that are to pome may receive them unchanged . The duty is positive , but not onerous , for as truth is alike

indestructible and eternal , this duty demands fidelity and honesty for its full discharge . Our proceedings to-day have been baaed on an earnest faith in onr Institution , an earnest love of fche principles ifc teaches and exemplifies , and an earnest determination to preserve and maintain them , whioh animates every brother of our Craft . History , since she began to chronicle the events whioh mark the passing

time , has gathered on her pages the evidence of the moral grandeur of Freemasonry . There , too , may be found the utterances of men whose attachment to the principles of Freemasonry was among their distinctive characteristics . In the Old Testament ; and the New aro found some striking references to the existence of fche Institution which , in later days , has been best known by the term Freemasonry .

The relations of our Institution to society , its members , and the history of our Grand Lodge , will be given you by distinguished citizens who are our brethren . " A well-trained chorus of male voices having given a sample of their vocal powers , Governor Hoyt was introduced and delivered an address on " Masonry and its Relations to the Outer World . " The Governor

held thafc fraternity was not confined to those who meet in the Lod geroom . Masons proposed to help their brothers and fulfil the new and heightened demands of human fellowship . They do not usurp the rights of the Church ; they invade no ecclesiastical domain ; they usurp the franchises of no sect or Church or their ministers ordained under other and higher credentials , whose exhortations are to be

enforced nnder higher sanctions , lhey have no political dilemmas except the quality of men as children of a common Father , and no theological dogmas except only the daily prayer and precept that ' we may practise outside of the Lodge the principles of religion and morality we are taught in it . '" Without insisting on the antiquity of Free'nasonry , Governor Hoyt said he was insisting upon tho an .

tiquity or the reasons underlying it and the identity of its doctrines and methods with right hnmauity . These have come streaming down the centuries , the central ideas of rightness and the measures of justice which have saved us . " For my part I fully believe thafc mankind will finally triumph over the destiny which now seems so grievously to encompass them .

They have well held their own . Step by stop humanity has climbed nearer the heavens whence we came . The charity and art and democracy with which the Olympian games glorified the Hellenic race ought not to be anachronisms to us . Our contensions are in fche arena of ethics and morals . Rewards for victory in achievements more or less precious than the wreath from the sacred olive tree in

Olympia awaits successful competitors , lhey are for those who can ' best work in the best degree . ' Our beatitndes terminate nofc upon the individual , but npon the family , the State , and the race . We shall yet reap the harvest . " And it shall come to pass in that day , I will hear , saith fche Lord , I will hear the heavens , and they shall hear the earth , aud the earth shall hear tbe corn and the wine and the oil , and they shall hear

Jezral . The remainder of the programme iu the Academy consisted of a "Chorus of Pilgrims" by tho vocalists , au address by the Honourable Henry W . Williams , President Jndge of the 4 th District of Penn . sylvauia ; a cantata "To the Sons of Art , " and an address by J . Simpson Africa , of Huntingdon , Pa ., on " History of Freemasonry iu Pennsylvania . "

Lieut .-General Hir Garnet Wolseley will command in chief the expeditionary force that is being sent to Egypt , while Major-General H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught P . G . Warden , will have under him the First Brigade of the First Division , consisting of the three Battalions of the Grenadier , Coldstream , and Scots Guards respectively .

The meeting at Wimbledon concluded on Saturday last with the customary distribution of prizes . Their Royal Highnesses the Dnke and Duchess of Albany presided , it being the first occasion on which Her Royal Highness had taken part in any public ceremonial since the death , a few days after bur marriage , of her aister .