A Proposal.

did not yet understand the new duties . No concerted action recommended itself as specially needed for orphans till the last quarter of tho century . Then the ( Trent wave ( ii p bihiiitln-o pv , of . which wo

are proud to discern the early symptoms m ( he benevolence ol Freemasonry , burst over the Hritish Isles , and brought home to the people a priceless argosy of universal tolerance and mutual goodwill that had ( ill then sailed under the ensign of the Craft alone .

As IRISH FAIMJRR . Unsuccessful as Bro . John Boaman ' s scheme was , it came much nearer success than the Irish scheme of . 1 777 . The Grand Lodge of Ireland at its communication on St . John ' s Day in 11 ,-u ' vest of that year , resolved to patronise a lottery in order

to raise funds , of which a part should be devoted ( o an orphanage . Tho "Mason ' s Lottery" was to consist of 25 major prizes ranging from £ 3000 fo £ 100 , and of 15 , 900 minor prizes of half-a-gmnca each . This scheme was to be grafted on the State Lottery of the vear , and was estimated

to leave n balance for tlie Charity , if all the tickets were sold , of £ 17 ( 57 5 s . lOd . All the tickets were sold , but not paid for . Consequently , when the prizes were drawn they more than swallowed up all tho profits , actual or prospective , Thc amount realised fell so far short of expectation that the prizes could only bo paid

prorata . Possibly if all the tickets had been confined to members of thc Fraternity , this might have been got over . But the outside public who got oidj * £ 200 for a nominal prize of £ 300 could hardl y be expected ( o be satisfied . There was in particular one querulous iicket-liolder who , not content with receiving two-thirds of one of

the larger prizes in return for his half-guinea ticket , kept advertising in ihe public journals his loss , if we may so call it . Nor did the ill-luck of the Mason ' s Lottery end here . Tin ; legal agent , whom the Grand Lodge employed to collect outstanding

arrears , proved unworthy of his trust No accounts could be got from him . The matter drugged on for years . Finally Grand Lodge had to employ another legal agent to bring the first to account . Nothing , save bills of costs , resulted from the legal proceedings , and the Orphans' Belief Fund never came into existence .

In estimating this scheme , readers must take into consideration the difference between this century and the last ; just as had lo be done i \\ tho , e-Ase . of Bvo . Bounuvn ' s scheme . A lottery was then an orthodox

means of raising money . The folate itself held great periodical lotteries , toone of which the Masons' Lottery was tobealliliated . AVe have got far beyond that point lo-dny . We see clearly the immoralit y of a lottery . AVe do our gambling by ihe 1 'ari mul net , and on the Stock Exchange ; vastly superior methods .

The Government lottery is so thoroughl y dead that one can hardl y icidisc how easily the lottery agent slid into the stockbroker . Here is an example . Jn 17 £ S ^ h : Benjamin Disiaeli opened an ollice for the fale of lottery tickets , in llral ' ton-strcel , Dublin . At lirst . Mr . Disiaeli was styled lottery ticket seller ; next he becomes lottery ticket

seller and stockbroker ; then stockbroker and lottery agent ; and finall y stockbroker tout court . This Mr . Disraeli , whose degree of relationshi p to' ihe Furl of Bcaconslield is not clear , became a

prominent member of the Dublin Stock Exchange , and acquired un ample fortune . In 1810 , the former lottery-agent served as High Sheriff of co . Cnrlow , and in 181-1 he died at ( he comparatively early age of 48 .

With the judicious munificence that so oil en marks the Jewish character he utilised a part of his wealth in endowing educational institutions at Kathvilly , co . Cnrlow , in the laud of his adoption . We fire ever so much more moral than people who had lo do with lot ferics , but Mr . Disraeli , the lottery agent , made a use of his money which Stock Exchange speculators would do well to emulate .

Tin : Swi- ' . iusu OuniANAi . i * . The story of these Charities would hc incomplete without a reference to the earliest orphan asylum established by the Craft . This honour belongs to tbe Grand Lodge of Sweden . Freemasonry was introduced into Sweden from England about 1735 , and seems to have

taken great hold of the wealthy classes . In 1753 , the Swedish Lodges were anxious io commemorate ihe birth of n princess to the Royal House ( hat sheltered ( hem . They hit upon the plan of establishing an orphan asylum at Stockholm . An annual concert was organised for the benefit of ( his institutn n , and proved not less successful than

Ihe great festivals of the English schools , as a source of revenue In 17 ( 57 , a great accession to the resources of the Swedish inst itulion look p lace . In that year a wealthy incichant of Stockholm , . lohann Bohiuann , a member of the Grand Lodge of Sweden , endowed it with 300 , 000 copper dollars . This snui is not quite so formidable ,-is it

sei ins ; for Thory , from whom wc borrow the account , is careful to indicate that it represents only 130 , 000 francs , that is , about £ 520 ( 1 sterling . There is an odd similarity between the names of ( lie

English Hro . Boaman and the Swedish Bro . llohmann , or Rohan . Thc one sounds like an attempt to reproduce the ol her . In 1778 , the (' iieen of Sweden gave the Asylum an endowment of sixty dollars a year , and the Burgomaster of Stockholm presented a like sum .

The news of this patronage incited the lirethreu of Gollcnbci-g lo cm u late ihe beneficence of their lirethreu at Slock hoi in , and they , too , founded an Orphan Asylum . In tlie Diamond J iiliilcc ctiiiniieiiiorntitni number , Hro . ( I . J / lizard Abbott , told the story of our Grand Muster ' s initiation under ihe ausp ices and within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Sweden ,

A Proposal.

It is pleasant to recall that onv Grand Master His "Royal Highness was lironght to the Light of Masonry in the Jurisdiction that was Ihn first ta use that light in brightening the gloom of the orphan and dissipating the shadows that beset the path of the fatherless .

L'Exvoi . Thc omen was good , and thc event has more than justified the omen . For every shilling contemplated by Bro . John Boaman ' s forgotten plan , thousands upon thousands have been poured , since the Prince of AVales became head of tho Crait . into the coffers ' of the

four great Orphan Institutions maintained b y the Freemasons of England and Ireland . Yet the need is none the less to-day than in the days of our fathers . The orphan can never cease from the land . The wistful gaze of childish eyes is over strained in desperate hope to catch the sheltering gates ajar . The tramp of weary little feet

throngs endless round our walls . The touch of timid little hands is ever instant on our doors . The bitter cry of our dead brother ' s child burdens the air b y day and night . lie that hath cars to hoar lot him hear . '

The Object Of Freemasonry.

The Object of Freemasonry .

BY THE RF . V . T . SELBY HENREY , J . IV . of the Lion and Lamb Lodge , Vicar of St . George , Bren I ford . | p ^ = ||§| IIK object of Freemasonry is the education of man . ^ T f /^ cW . ytc P b y stc T ° conducts her children through A W ^ Sm tllC ! or-llous wind' » gs of this life , and then finall y P ^ JM § 0 'J shejnslruets them how to face eternity . Man is a Ibsfe-sg ^ ll subject created for an object , and without knowing

the object it is impossible to understand the subject ; without detecting the divine aim for man wc shall possess no key to his existence . What should wc have known of the magnanimous heart of Dante had it not been for its object—thc reverential love

for Beatrice ? Io be in darkness of the relations established between any subject and its aim and object is to live in ignorance both of the lirst and of the ultimate cause of its existence . How much can the callous one learn from the truthseeking Cicero living in darkness when he exclaims : " Mow

many excellencies has God bestowed on mankind ? " Me has raised him from the ground , and made him lofty and erect , that with an eye directed to heaven he mi ght aspire to the knowledge of thc Divine character . Listen to a modern : hc says that man is born with some resemblance to his parents , and though this

parental likeness may not be discernible during the years of health , yet , often when be is laid low on the bed of death , those dear and near have recognised for the lirst time that famil y likeness embossed and chiselled upon hiscountennnee , and thus the late l'oet Laureate wrote :

"As sometimes in a dead man ' s face , To those who watch it more and more , A likeness hardl y seen before Comes out to someone of his race . " lUati is also told , but b y a far greater authority , on the first

page of the Sacred Volume , that he is created after the image of his Father in heaven—God . And , though this Divine parental image may have been obliterated in the present life b y trouble and inconsistencies , when our eyes have closed upon this earthly scene , and these wrinkles that channel the human

browanil scar and plough the check , are softened and mellowed down ; then , grant that the angelic hosts of heaven may perceive chiselled upon our calm , serene , and placid faces , illuminated in death b y the reflection from the open flood-gates of the transcendent glory of the Great Lodge above , the image and likeness of Mini after whose likeness we were created .

But there is something far nobler than the outer resemblance . When wc are asked our opinion of a person , we hardl y for a moment consider the outer man , our thoughts are instantaneousl y centred on the "Ego" or " 1 " of the individual ; in other words , thc c / taracler , which we credit with either piety

honesty of purpose , stability , sympathy , or perchance some opposite quality . There is no exaggeration in the assertion that man ' s lirst and last experience of life is that everything- presents a hostile attitude towards him ; thai his environment is

continuall y militating against him ; life must be , therefore , boldl y laced , and these hostilities recognised and confronted . The question that presents itself is—What is man ' s action to be ? and the repl y is discovered in the truth enshrined in the lines : " Unless above himself he can erect himself How small a thing is man , "