Masonic Toleration.

that while Toleration holds its own manfully , warmly , truly , devotedly , it condemns no one else who differs or disagrees , it never desires to persecute , it never proposes to burn , but leaves every thing to that great and solemn hour when all our divisions shall be healed , all our

differences adjusted , and all our misunderstandings fully understood , when truth , and lig ht , and knowledge , and sight shall be all unclouded and perfected for evermore . And so Masonic Toleration , overlooking the peculiarities of national views , and of denominational teaching , regards every

Son of Adam as a brother of the dust , denounces no man ' s belief , asks for no man ' s credentials , but accepting all who acknowledge reverently the great Creator and father of all , rejects alone from its bosom sternly the avowed Atheist , and the notorious libertine . Such is the position of

Freemasonry , clear , simple , and intelligible , but , of course , open to attack from various quarters on account of this very singleness and simplicity of aim and declaration . To some , in consequence , Freemasonry is too lax , to others it is still too religious , to many it is too broad , and to others

unchristian on this very account . But we believe that if some minds may object to this wide and tolerant platform , a great majority of our Order admire it and uphold it . Freemasonry knows nothing of the questions of religious controversy which often so agitate

the world , and as Freemasons we have no right to pass any opinion on the dogmas and creeds , and catechisms of denominational bodies . We accept all good men and true within our pale , Church of England and Roman Catholic , Greek Catholic and Lutheran , Armenians and Copts .

Protestants generally , and members of the Society of Friends , in fact all denominations " who profess and call themselves Christians , " as well , let us remember , as the Hebrew and the Hindoo , the Mahommedan and the Parsee , the Druse of

Mount Lebanon , and the free coloured Masons in the United States ( made in a lawful lodge ) , since Freemasonry knows no distinction of caste or country , and , saving two notable exceptions , of conditions or creeds . If even in the heat of

controversy or induced by the ' passing polemics of the hour , we are led any of us to give expression to our feelings as regards the religious views of others , we are overpassing , let us bear in mind , the limits of Masonic teaching , we are forgetting the truth of Masonic toleration . One of our

chief opponents , the Church of Rome , is often very lavish in * ' piling up the agony " of epithets and abuse of anathema and ban—so be it . Let us not as Freemasons , however , return " railing for railing , but contrariwise blessing . " Above all , let us always keep before us , in all our

Masonic professions , and inall our Masonic speeches , that as Freemasons we are really above all such harmless diatribes , and all such illogical objurgations , come from what quarter they will . In our Masonic toleration we can afford to smile at the violence of such pseudo-religionists , just as

we pity the folly of those who evidently seem to hold that the true outcome of reli gious faith is best evidenced by violence of language , or a spirit of persecution . As Freemasons we are tolerant , and we will be tolerant , even amid the intolerance of fanatical accusers , come what may .

The Famine In Asia Minor.

THE FAMINE IN ASIA MINOR .

As we said last week , hardly a day passes but we have some startling exhibition of those visitations and abnormal conditions of this earth of ours , which are such an affliction to us all , and often such a scourge to humanity . The population of Asia Minor has for some time been

severel y suffering from a dreadful famine in which thousands have perished , some say 150 , 000 we see , and much commiseration has been felt for the sufferers , and considerable sums have been remitted b y benevolent Englishmen to the authorities in the district where such dire distress prevails . Mr . H . R . Munro Butler Tohnstone

called attention to the subject in the Times of July 8 th , in what we venture in all deference to consider a most unwise and unpractical letter . Never was Mrs . Malaprop ' s famous axiom , comparisons are odorous , " more fully verified " * an in that hasty communication . It has ' oeen observed before , how very often , even clever

The Famine In Asia Minor.

men when they will rush into print , to use a common if somewhat vulgar expression , " put their foot into it . " In order to advocate the claims of the Asia Minor population on the charitable sympathies of the British public , Mr . Johnstone , somewhat depreciates the French

claims , and talks of " a few scores of people , & c , & c . " In Verdun , we may observe , a town of ten thousand people , only three houses are left standing , and 23 , 000 people at the very least are houseless , homeless and all but penniless . Neither do we understand Mr . Johnstone ' s

allusion ' to the " rich Pharisee , " unless indeed he alludes to the parable of the good Samaritan in which Priest and Levite successively appear on the scene , but not as far as we are aware a Pharisee . This is one of ths curious blunders of contemporary literature . We therefore entirely dissent

from the tone of Mr . Johnstone ' s remarks , and regret to have read them . We feel bound to say this for our English people , that their hearts are " generally open" as " melting charity , " for any well deserving case of sympathy and relief , and whatever may be the call for assistance of Asia Minor we are sure that no more

rig hteous appeal ever was addressed to our true-hearted English people than that which comes from the fair land of France , and from our suffering and ruined fellow creatures at Toulouse . We may add that the list of calamities is not full . Floods near Buda

have inflicted great injury and disasters in Hungary , and as there always is a great sympathy for the fine Hungarian population amongst all Englishmen , we think it well to allude to the subject in the Freemason to-day . Since we wrote this the Lord Mayor has also sanctioned a

subscription for the sufferers in Hungary , to which we wish all success . We deeply deplore , as we said before , the famine in Asia Minor , and feel that English benevolence may well be extended to that far off scene of privation and misery . Very glad we shall be if the

spontaneous efforts of English charitable impulse may tend to alleviate and mitigate the horrors of famine there . But having said this , we feel bound to add , that we rejoice to think that English sympathy is being warmly extended to our French brethren and sisters , and that the Lord

Mayor ' s list is already so largely filling up with the liberal largesse of our ever benevolent countrywomen and countrymen . Madame Mac Mahon ' s letter and appeal , which we publish today , will be read with interest , and we trust will not remain unanswered .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ . We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving of the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —Eo . 1

PROVINCIAL FUNDS . —II . LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND . ( THE LEICESTER MASONIC HALL . ) To the Editor if the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — In your article on the last annual balancesheet of this province , at p . 283 , ante , you have

appealed to me , in complimentary terms , for an explanation of the connection of thc Freemasons' Hall in this town with the Provincial Granil Lodge . This information I have pleasure in supplying . The erection of a Masonic Hall here had long been earnestly desired . Two attempts were made in the year 1824 ( when a site was actually purchased ) , and , again in 1842 , during my first

Mastership of St . John ' s Lodge , then thc only one in the town . Both of those proved failures , but a third , made in 1859 , was successfully carried out by the erection of the present commodious structure , almost entirely by the contributions of the members of the two local lodges . The intention was that these contributions shoultl represent so many £ 1 shares , to be thereafter entitled ,-Aro

rata , as a dividend to any surplus profits which might accrue . In the then state of the law our Prov . Grand Registrar saw a difficulty in the way , and a case having been laid before Bro . Roxburgh , Q . C , hc gave it as his opinion , that in order to keep the nominal purchasers of the sitc , _* c . ( theTrustees ) , free from personal liability , " there was no mode of carrying out legally the views suggested ; that no trust could be enforced if created , and , that the

subscriptions must be taken as absolute gifts . " This was accordingly done , and up to the present time all moneys received , except the balance now in hand , have been expended upon the property ( which includes an adjoining house , let off ) . The total expenditure has been over £ 2000 , a second mortgage of £ 350 having been paid off some years after the erection of the building , leaving the present charge of £ 750 still upon it

Original Correspondence.

Considerable alterations and improvements of the hall were made a year or two ago , in payment for which the surplus money and the sinking fund up to that time were applied , but it is now hoped that the debt of £ 750 may be gradually liquidated , leaving any surplus revenue to be be dealt with as the Provincial Grand Lodge may , from time to time , decide . Since the lamented decease of the

late Earl Howe , P . G . M ., only myself and one other of the nominal owners of the property remaining , a new trustdeed has been executed , the following brief summary of the provisions of which will show the connection of the hall with the Provincial Grand Lodge : 1 . —The management of the Hall to be under the control nf Ihi- Hnll Committee .

2 . —Thc Hall to be devoted primarily to Freemasonry and kindred institutions . 3 . —Subject to No . 2 , the Hall may be let for social or religious gatherings , & c , under certain restrictions . 4 . —Revenue to be received and applied by the Hall Committee in such manner as they shall think fit , subject , however , to the direction of P . G . Lodge .

5 . —When the 1 rustees are reduced to three , the -vacan . cies to be filled to the full number of seven , and the property transferred accordingly . The Hall Committee consists of the five principal officers of the P . G . Lodge , the W . Master of the local Craft , and Mark Masters' Lodges , and the M . E . Z . of the Royal Arch

Chapter , ex-officiis , together with two representatives annually elected by each of those bodies . Should any further information on the subject be desired , I shall be happy to supply it . Yours fraternally , WILLIAM KELLY , P . P . G . M . Leicestershire and Rutland .

Dear Sir and Brother , — I wish to correct one or two slight errors in your report of my " sayings and doings " last week . In the first place , as regards the Masonic oration delivered at the Chaucer Lodge , in the 18 th line from the close of the oration , page 304 , " Masonic grace " should read " woman ' s grace , " all the difference in the world .

Indeed , Masonic grace " is nonsense . In the report of my little speech at the dinner my words were actually these : — " That though we hail , as we often said , amongst us ' many members of rank and opulence , ' the great majority of our Order might fairly be termed the middle-class of Freemasonry , and theirs for the most part were limited incomes . I pointed out that ,

whatever some of our opponents might choose to say of us in their idle and childish allegations , all of them equally absurd and mendacious , they could not accuse us of want of charity . That as regards the Boys' School , the boys educated were the sons of our own brethren , with many of whom we had happily associated in the genial hours of peaceful ' reunion ' and innocent festivitv . We had sat

with them at the same board , belonged perhaps to the same lodge , and were member , of our common Alma Mater . " I have thought it well just to call attention to these points , as no doubt iu the hurry of the moment my few but simple words were a little abbreviated . I am , yours fraternally , A . F . A . WOODFOIIU , P . G . C .

BRO . C . J . BURGESS AND THE MARK DEGREE . To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — Four weeks have elapsed , and neither the Earl of Limerick , the Rev . J . R . Portal , nor any other members of the Mark Degree have thought well to come to the front in reply to my challenge , and to say why they have ex .

pelled me from that Masonic body . I begin to see Masonry under a new phase . Hitherto I had regarded it as professing noble qualities , chief amongst them being that charity which not only feeds the hungry , tends the sick , clothes the naked , and cares for the fatherless , the widows , and the aged , but which also thinketh no evil , and rejoiceth in the truth . I begin to regard it as a

powerful engine for crushing people by calumny , secretl y and widely spread . As such , I fear that it can hardl y continue to be regarded , either within or beyond the Craft as an unmixed good . The Mark Degree has never in any manner informed me that I have committed an offence against any Masonic principle , but the first act which has signalized the rei gn

of the present Grand Mark Master has been the expulsion of me as unfit to be associated with him and his brethren of that Masonic body . In so doing the Mark Degree has , in my opinion , offended against the first principle of British freedom , which provides that no person can be punished without having been previously warned of the accusation against him , anil

heard in his defence . The Mark Degree in thus acting has covered itself with the dishonour with which certain persons desire to clothe me . It has in thus acting brought a portion of Freemasonry into discredit , but it has done me no harm except in forcing upon me , regret , which I feel sure is shared by the Craft in general , that a Masonic body can , under any circumstances , be led into an act of injustice as

un-English as it is anti-Masonic . When I was made a Mark Master Mason I was solemnl y assured that whilst I continued to act in conformity with the sublime precepts of the Order , should other friends forsake me , should envy traduce my good name , or malice

persecute me , should dangers , doubts , or difficulties assail me , force attempt to drive , or temptation to entice me from the right path , among Mark Master Masons I should ever find friends , who would administer relief to my distress and comfort in my affliction . Where are those Mark Master Masons ? Faithfully yours , CHAS . j ' BURGESS .