The True Mission Of Freemasonry.

aspirations , or mystical illumination . It indeed supplies us with touching ceremonies , and n moralizing comment on sign and symbol , and would lead us , ever , to bear in mind , that we are

all brethren , all mortal , and all members one of another . The earnest student , and the loving child of Masonry , may indeed find food , for much of philosophical contemplation , and elevating

tendency , in every formula , and every adage of our ancient lore , in that ritual which is dear to us all , in those symbolical ornaments which grace our lodges , and in those lectures which our

forefathers have bequeathed to us . But though Freemasonry to as is thus in one respect alike religious in its bearing , and philosophical in its scope , it is to us so personally and individually ,

rather than as members of a cosmopolitan order with great aims and lofty aspirations . This may be a defect in our English Freemasonry , this may make it appear dwarfed in

design , and common-place in object , but we on the contrary , deem it to be both the excellency and the safeguard of our English Craft , in that it has preserved it alike from extravagance of

profession and rhapsody of language , and has happily so far kept us free from some of those errors and complications , into which

portions of foreign Freemasonry have fallen , and into which some writers have , as it appears to us , gone astray . But we will recur to the subject in our next impression .

Mr. Cluff's Request To The Masonic Schools.

MR . CLUFF'S REQUEST TO THE MASONIC SCHOOLS .

The following are the terms of this bequest , which the Committee of the Masonic Schools have not yet determined on accepting , as it may bring them within the control of the . Charity Commissioners . The testator , whose will was proved on the 18 th of June , was a silk manufacturer , of 24 , Spiral-square , Shoreditch , and Walthamstow : —

" I bequeath to the trustees of the Fn em is . ms , Charity Boys' School the sum of £ > , ') oo Metropolitan Board of Works Three-atukt-Half per Cent . Consolidated Stock , and I desire that every year out of the dividends and income thereof the sum of ^ 100 may be awarded ,

subject to the conditions hereinafter mentioned , to the boy who shall be adjudged the most deserving boy in the schools , as a reward for good conduct and proficiency in his studies , but to be payable only if and when such boy shall attain the age of 25 years . I desire that such gift shall be called

' William Cuffs Gift , ' and that every boy gaining it may have a certificate on parchment given to him stating the fact . From and after the award being made in favour of any boy I request and empower the last-mentioned trustees from time to time to retain the X ' 100 so awarded

and invest the same , and pay the dividends from time to time to arise from such investment to or . for the benefit of such boy until he shall attain he age of 25 years or die under that age , and upon his attaining the age of 25 years , to pay the said sum of ^' loo to him , together with all

accumulations ( if any ) of interest thereon ; but if he shall die under that age , then tc apply the said sum of i £ ioo and all accumulations ( if any ) for the general purposes and benefit of the said schools in such manner as the trustees shall think tit . I desire that the balance of the dividends and income of the said sum of , ^' , 3 500

Metropolitan Board of Works Three-and-a-Half per Cent . Consolidated Stork , after deducting the said yearly sum of £ 100 , be applied for the benefit of poor Freemasons , at the direction of the said last-mentioned trustees . No boy shall be entitled to have the said gift awarded to him more than once . " The bequest to the Girls' School is , mutatis

Mr. Cluff's Request To The Masonic Schools.

mutandis , the same , except that the gift is to be payable to the girls at 2 1 years of age , to be for their sole and separate use , and free from the control and engagements of their husband . Both bequests are duty free .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

THK So-CALLED" LOCKK MS . I am induced to call attention to this question for one or two reasons . There are some facts connected with this document which are very singular , and unprecedented in the history of similar documents .

It originally came before the worlr * , and even our order , in the pages of the Gentlemen ' s Magazine . It was printed in a London newspaper , it was reproduced by Hutchinson and Preston , without a word of doubt , or a note of caution .

They evidently treated it as genuine . It has since then , been quoted in all Masonic works , " usque ad nauseum , " and the great name of Mr . Locke has been added , to strengthen its claims to genuineness and authenticity .

It originally professed to have been translated from the German at Frankfort-on-the-Maine , said to have been found " on the writing table of a deceased brother . " It purported to have been written by Henry VI ., and to have been copied bv Leland for his " Highness , " . but where was

this MS . ? Unless the above sentence be an anachronism , Leland , who beheld the dissolution of the Mo . nasteries , and was said to have found it there , transcribed it either for Henry VIII . or Cromwell .

Though published in German , it had originally come from England , and must be somewhere , if extant at all . Mr . Halliwell searched for it in the Bodleian ;

others have looked for it in the British Museum , but no trace of any such original MS . was found . But yet it is not correct to say that no MS . of it exists . A MS . of it does exist amonsr the

" Additional MS . British Museum . There , among the " Ess ^ x MS ., " as they are sometimes called , written probably by the hand of Es-ex himself , an able architect , who died in 1784 , may be found "certayne

questions and answeres , " & c , & c . As I said before , the MS . is also apparently written by Essex , and may be , therefore , put down about 1770 or 1775 , " the close , " as Mr . Sims says , " of the iSth century . "

Now , the question naturally arises , from what did Essex copy this manuscript ? As a general rule men do not copy from printed documents , especially a document which was then in so many books , but we cannot lay down any such

rule in Freemasonry . There is , for instance , among the " additional MS . " a transcript of " The Life of Coustos , " evidently copied from either a French edition or our English edition . Still it is a matter of some little interest to know

that there is a MS . version or this debateable document—of this , I confess , as it appears to me a suspicious document—and I will endeavour to collate the printed and the MS . versions , and ascertain if there are any difil-rences . For , though we can hardly accept the document , both

from internal and external evidence , ; ' . s of the dale of Henry VI ., it may have ! some foundation in some old Masonic MS ., which ignorance has perverted or credulity has appropriated . It mar be a "fraus pia " altogether , of some

mistaken rieemason , though , prima facie , I do not see the object of such a proceeding . So far its manuscript date is not earlier , apparently than 1770 . A MASONIC STUDENT .

ALEXANDRA PA LACK . —The directors have announced that not only will the new season tickets admit to the Park until the palace is re-opened to the public , and be available foi all shows , concerts , festivals , fetes , and other

entertainments , but that tlie holders will be entitled to participate in the annual distribution of the Alexandra Palace Art Union . The arrangement is that two-hundred-pounds-worlh is to apportioned to every thousand tickets ,

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The General Committee of this Institution met on Saturday last , in the Board-room , Freemasons Hall . Bro . Henry Browse , V . P ., presided , and there was a large attendance of brethren to support him .

The minutes having been read by Bro . F . Binckes , the Secretary , Bro . Jesse Turner moved that a vote , expressing the loss all Masons had sustained by the death of Bro . Henry Empson , be recorded on the minutes , and that a letter of

condolence be written to Mrs . Empson . He felt that it was due to the memory of Bro . Empson that at the first meeting of this committee after his death , such a recognition of the valuable services he had rendered the Institution

should be made . He had always been zealous , honest , and straightforward , in the cause of Freemasonry and of the institutions connected with it , and the general welfare of those institutions was always near his heart . Bro . J . W . Dosell seconded the motior and begged to add his assent to all that had falleu from Bro . Turner .

Bro . John Symot . dssaid he should not like an opportunity like this to pass without saying a word or two as to their deceased brother , aud of the value he was to Masonry . When he ( Bro . Symonds ) was Master of the Ionic Lodge , Bro . Empson was introduced to Masonry , and he

initiated hin :. From that time he proved himself a thoroughly worthy member of the Craft , and when he got further in Masonry he took a deep interest in the charities , and soon became known to the Fraternity by the very active , kind , and efficient services he rendered at the elections .

To him was due the organization of the . present system of srerutiny , by which the rest'It of elections was declared almost immediate ! ) after the close of the poll . He was a man of whom it was impossible to speak too highl y , and with regard to cases for the elections which

he took up , his inquiry into the merits of those cases was so well known to every one that it was only necessary for his name to bo attached to a case to secure the general support of the brethren . Every case that came under his notice was thoroughly inquired into , and the

result was that he invariably carried it in . The Chairman said he himself had met Bro . Empson from his earliest days in Freemasonry , and had always found him a most worth y brother . Of tlie way in which he conducted the scrutiny at the elections it was impossible to

overrate the value , and the brethren , for many years to come would be indebted to Bro . Empson for the saving of much time and labour . He felt his loss very much indeed , and it would be long before the void caused by his death would be filled up .

'Ihe motion was then put , and carried unanimously . Bro . Binckes then read a letter he had received from the Prov . Grand Secretary of

Lancashire , informing him that he would lay Bro . G . P . Brock bank's scheme for ^ benefiting the charities before the Provincial Grand Master . Bro . Binckes then read the following extract from the will of the late Air . William Cluff

silk manufacturer , of 24 Spital-square , Shoreditch , and Walthamstow , which was proved in London on the 18 th ult ., by W . G . ClufF , W . Stevens , and Eliza Spalding : — " f bequeath to the Trustees of the Freemasons' Charity Boys ' Schools the sum of i £ 3 < oo Metropolitan

Board of Works 3 }; per cent . Consolidated Stock , and I desire that every year out of the dividends and income thereof tlie sum of ^ , may be awarded , subject to the conditions hereinafter mentioned , to the boy who shall be adjudged the most deserving boy in the school ,

as a reward for good conduct and proficiency in his studies , but to be payable only if and when such boy shall attain the age of 25 years . I desire that such gift be called ' William Clutf s Gift , ' and that every boy gaining it mat have a

certificate on parchment given to him , stating the fact . From and after the award being made in favour of any boy , I request and empower the last mentioned trustees from time to time to retain the dlioo so awarded ,, and invest the