Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 109 United Grand Lodge 110 Annual Festival of thc Koyal Alasonic Benevolent Institution no CORRESPONDENCEThe Election of Grand Treasurer 117 nh

Thc Hssghan Testimonial Provincial Grand Secretaries 118 Clothing and Emblems 118 A Typc-ical Trial 118 A New-Word 118 Reviews 118 Notes and Queries 119 Ros * al Masonic Institution for Girls " 119

Reconciliation of thc Dclgian and Dutch Masons 119 Masonic Halls 119 Rosicrncian Society of England 119 Obituary 120 REPORTS or MASONIC

MEETINGSCraft Masonry rzo Instruction 121 Royal Arch 111 Mark Masonry 121 Rosicrncian Society 121 Masonic and General Tidings 123 Lodge Meetings for Next Week ... Page 3 Covei

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THE Festival for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for 1884 took place on Tuesday last , under the Chairmanship of thc President of the Board of General Purposes , Bro . Sir J B . MONCKTON , osving to the indisposition of our esteemed Grand Treasurer , Bro . J . D . ALLCROFT . There were 299 Stesvards , and the returns amounted to £ i 4 > 343 9 $ - •- >*]••

made up of £ 8245 us . 6 d . from 159 London Stesvards , and £ 6097 18 s . brought up by 140 Stesvards from thc Provinces . A fesv more lists have since come in , adding £ 24 1 is . 6 d . to the above amounts , making a grand total up to thc time of our going to press of , £ 14 , 368 is . Wc should like to

call attention , in our editorial columns , to thc returns this sveek , but osving to pressure on our space must postpone doing so till next sveek . Wc rejoice to note that thc G RAND TREASURER sent a handsome contribution of 200 guineas .

**»* * OWING to the illness of our esteemed Grand Treasurer Bro . J . D . ALLCROFT , as above mentioned , Bro . SIR J MONCKTON , at a moment ' s notice , undertook to preside , and did so with bis customary ability . Our svorthy Bro . the G RAND TREASURER had not , however , forgotten thc excellent Charity of which hc is such a svarm friend .

»* WE congratulate all concerned on the result of our first great Festival for 1884 , and think wc see at once that , accepting thc gathering and returns of last Tuesday as an omen of future success for subsequent festivals , the fire of Masonic charity burns as brightly as ever , despite bad times , thc dulness

of trade , and many claims of various kinds pressing upon us all just nosv . Indeed , under the circumstances of thc hour , wc deem thc return a vcry good one , and [ a just reward to Bro . TERRY ' S untiring efforts for thc last tsvelve months , svhile it puts thc reality of Masonic charily before us all and thc world at large in a vcry striking light .

•• WE regret to note that our friendly advice to thc combatants in re the election of Grand Treasurer has not been taken . We werc extremely loth to publish one of thc letters especially svhich appeared in our columns last week , and svhich for violence and personality sve have seldom seen equalled ,

if ever surpassed . Thc Freemason having determined to allosv both sides to " speak out , " has found it impossible to use the censor ' s prerogative , or the editor ' s supervision . The correspondence speaks for itself , and svill be

judged befittingly by brethren of asquable and educated minds . We only deplore the svaste of type and temper on matters svhich are so trivial , and which certainly might be argued svith decency and decorum , svith moderation and self restraint .

•• THE follosving figures in respect of lodge support of our Charities in 1883 desers'c perusal and thought . It svill be seen that out of over 2000 lodges normally on our roll , only 504 sent up Stesvards in 1883 . Of these , 56 lodges sent up Stesvards for all the Charities , 84 for tsvo Charities , and

364 for one Festival only . We have to make , of course , allowance for Colonial lodges , and vacancies , and thus thc actual number of London Lodges is 329 ; Provincial 1023 ; thc Colonial lodges being 515 ; and the vacant numbers 143 . But allosving the needful margin , in our humble opinion the balance of " donothingness " is very great indeed , far too great to

be pleasant . Wc said before , 504 lodges actually sent up Stesvards , but allosving for Provincial Grand Lodges and other bodies , there seem to have been 717 thus represented by Stesvards . Of these , 220 svere London , 497 Provincial ; the London lodges returning nearly three-fourths of their number , and thc Provincial lodges not quite half . Of the 504 lodges actually

remitting , 220 werc London , 284 Provincial ; thus the London again nearly threefourths , and the Provinces just over a quarter . It is possible that if sve take the last six years , say , sve shall find a larger number of lodges contributing than at first to seems be the case . But still a great many do nothing at all , and the one fact remains clear and certain , that the same lodges year by year do the greater part of the work . We invite our readers to reflect on the point sve have

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thus raised , and the statistics laid before them , and ss * e trust that . 1 sensible return for our great improvement svill take place in respect cf halting efforts and deficient returns in our great metropolitan Charities . * * * BRO . WHYTEHEAD ' able address last sveek in the Freemason deserves

some little attention . He sindoubtcdly " strikes oil , and " scores a point . We must not confuse as betsveen the end and aims of the " excellent gift of Charity . " Masonic Charity is indeed a great virtue , but it is not the " endall and be-all " alone of Freemasonry . We are in danger of giving to our excellent fraternity the idea and results of a Benefit Society . So many arc

the advantages , so abounding the benefits of English Freemasonry just nosv , that it must be feared many enter our Order on [ purely selfish grounds for the good they expect , svhile many are induced to proclaim themselves its neophytes because they can apparently discern some " quid pro quo , " some return for money paid . Nosv all this is most contrary to the true

teaching and real design of Freemasonry . Charity is one " mark " of true Freemasonry , a very golden one it is too , vcry valuable , vcry admirable , and vcry commendable , but Freemasonry is not merely Charity , though it includes Charity as one of its most distinguishing characteristics . Freemasonry implies self culture , self elevation , and self restraint , thc

studies svhich adorn and improve , thc morals svhich control and distinguish . An idle Mason , a " faineant" Mason , an ignorant Mason , are like " Ihes in amber , " inconsistencies in our profession , anomalies in our system , blots on our escutcheon , svhich all earnest Freemasons svill wish lessened and removed as soon as possible . Just as sve cannot all have thc same ideas

so sve cannot all have the same tastes . Some of us see through certain coloured spectacles , some through different ones , but allosving for all needful liberty in things non-essential and practically indifferent , \ vc have a right , as Bro . WHYTEHEAD puts it , to urge upon all our readers to uphold the real

dignity and advance the true interests of Freemasonry , by seeking to realize aright thc solemn precepts it proclaims , thc grave message it upholds , the stern and sacred duties it enjoins on all svho claim its membership or form its brotherhood .

»* # WE call attention to a letter clscsvhcrc relating to certain assumptions and assertions by those svho favour the movement in favour of the South Australian Grand Lodge . Wc arc asvare that such statements are commonly matle , and sve have invited attention to their unreality before . But being again put

forsvard , sve think it right to say , once for all , that all such asseverations arc absolutely incorrect and unfounded . That any compulsory support of our great Charities is exacted from our Colonial brethren sve may remark is a vcry bold figure of speech , or that they contribute to our Benevolent Fund ( except voluntarily ) is equally removed from fact . As regards llic movement ,

Bro . ROBERTS , Secretary and Past Master to Lodge 583 , seems , so far , thc only brother svho has deprecated the severance . At a mcelingof the Mount Gambia Lodge , 1207 , on December nth , the W . M ., liro . J . INULKIIY , in his address favouring the movement made the follosving remarks : " Every Mason under the English Constitution assists compttlsorily in building and

keeping up these stupendous Charities " ( our Metropolitan Charities ) " svith , as I certainly hold , small hope of participating therein . " This is not the first time such statements havejbeen made in the colonies , and , once for all , sve think it right to say ( sve might appeal to thc Secretaries ) that all such asseverations are absolutely untrue . No one is compelled to subscribe to thc

Charities ; but all legal members of English lodges , under certain conditions , have a right to ask to share their benefits . There arc also very hazy viesvs —sve fear designedly so—as regards the Lodge of Benevolence , as the brethren in Adelaide must knosv they send nothing to our Fund oi Benevolence , and arc exempted by the Book of Constitutions from the need of doing so .

We arc astonished , therefore , to read the following remarks of Bro . INGLEBY on this head : " But again , say the English Grand Lodge , Australian Masons are often assisted back to Australia ; to this I reply , not by denying its truth in rare instances , but by asserting the fact , svhich sve all knosv to be uncontrovertible , that Australians go to England svith their pockets lined svith

Australian gold , though doubtless in some fesv instances the reverse is the case , but then it is because they have rich friends at home . This has appeared to many lo be unfair and one-sided , and I think so too ; I therefore am at one svith those svho svish for a South ' Australian Grand Lodge , so that the fund at home may be distributed here . " That any

compulsory support of our Metropolitan Charities is exacted from our Colonial brethren , sve may repeat , is a bold figure of speech , and that they contribute to our Fund of Benevolence ( except voluntarily ) is equally removed from thc fact . The only possible colouring to the assertion arises from the fact that Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter have from lime to . time made grants to our Masonic Charities . But for all these grants votes have been