The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

relieve his wants . In sympathy , in charitable relief , as Freemasons , we can claim a pre-eminence over other societies , for , while rules curb these , and certain qualifications

are necessary before the applicant can be provided for , the poor brother has only to present himself at our doors to find

immediate assistance . In relief , there is no question of Freemasons neglecting their duties ; but there is something else wanted to make our claim to brotherhood perfect .

It would be a work of supererogation to point out that many brethren are in needy circumstances , that there are many brethren who systematically live upon the Craft : but

it is also true that there are many brethren who , by accidents of fortune , are compelled to seek assistance , who would rather , by employment , earn money wherewith to

provide for their wants . Now , this is a point in which , as yet , no steps have been taken . Money , in thousands of pounds , can be easily raised for Freemason charitable

purposes , but are there not many Masons who would rather die than accept of such pecuniary assistance , and yet who would gladly accept the hand offered to procure

them the means of earning their own livlihood . Money is , at best , but a temporary relief . It often acts as a temptation to the recipient to abandon labour altogether , and ,

the trade is one easy to learn , to start in the world as a Masonic cadger . We have many boards of relief . Why not add to these one of employment ? A brother

could then accept of relief , distinctly understanding that from his earnings the sum advanced him should be returned . In this manner the money subscribed for charitable

purposes would be of more utility , and many brethren would be prevented descending into the lower and abject scale of beggars , while the feelings of others would be spared the sting of receiving charity .

Freemasonry also extends the hand to those who wish to retrieve their positions Man is fallible , and he who saycth he standeth should take peculiar heed that he

do not fall . Wc are told upon the authority of thc Great Teacher , that our brother should be forgiven , although he sin against us for the seventy-and-seventh time . Man

generally , is an unforgiving animal , but , as Freemasons , mercy should overrule all our actions . As brethren , we should strive to

reclaim the erring , and to lead back to the principles of rectitude those who may have strayed from the path . ERROL .

" AND SO ye have taken the teetotal pledge , have ye ? " said one Irishman to another . " Indeed I have , and am not ashamed of it aither . " " And did not Paul tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach ? " " So he did ; but then , my name is not Timothy , and there ' s nothing the matter with my stomach , bedad . "

BREAKFAST . —EPPS ' S COCOA . —GRATEFUL AND COMFORTING . — " By a thorough knowledge of llie natural laws which govern the operations of digestion ancl nutri \ ion , ami by a careful applicatian of tlie fine properties of well-selected cocoa , Mr . Epps has provided our

breakfast tables with a dclicately-llavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors' bills . " —Civil Sei-vice Gazette . Made simply with Boiling Water or Milk . Each packet is labelled— "J AMES Errs & Co ., Homoeopathic Chemists , London . " Also , makers of Epps ' s Milky Cocoa ( Cocoa and Condensed Milk ) . — [ Advt , ]

Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.

ILLUSTRATIONS of the HISTORY of the CRAFT .

BY A MASONIC STUDENT . CHAPTER IV . Whether or no the Roman guilds were so

arranged by Numa Pompilius , or Servius Tullius , matters very little , but there is no doubt that , from a very early epoch , the artificers of Rome

were formed into guilds , or corporations— " collegia , sodalitatis . " One statement of the historians deserves our notice : that the original members of the Building Collegia were Greeks .

From a comparison and careful collation of authorities , we are warranted in thus summing up the Roman evidences : — The lodges , or " macerije , " were held in secluded rooms or buildings exclusively

appropriated to the purpose , and most of the lodges had schools attached to them for the instruction of the apprentices and inferior workmen . These lodges had their regular meetings and peculiar ceremonies , generally monthly . Their

proceedings took place in secret . They met , we are told , to admit new members , to regulate the affairs of the college , and unfold their teaching in art and science . The members took an oath mutually to assist each other , and indigent

members received relief during then * lives , and at their death were buried at the expense of the " area communis , " or common chest . Three members formed a collegium * hence the saying , " Tres faciunt collegium , " an adage entirely in accordance with our own iiasonic traditions and

usages . They kept a register of their members , some of which arc still extant ( Schauberg , Krause , Lenning ) , and these members were known to each other by signs and words .

They also paid monthly contributions . The members of these colleges were exempted " a muneribus publicis" and "immunes" from taxes and service to the municipalities and the state . Hence , probably , the real origin of the word Free-Mason .

According to Vitruvius , the College of Architects admitted none into their mystery but their own children and relatives , though they elected ,

from time to time , honorary members , as " patrom perpetui , " or " honorati , ad lecti honorati , * " and even ladies were admitted as "honorata : matron *"—honorary members and patrons .

The names of their officers are preserved on many inscriptions ( Gnitcr , Spoil , Orelli ) . Their masters were called magistri " pnefecti , " or quinquennales , as elected for five years ; their

wardens , decunones ; their elders , seniores ; secretaries , scribaj ; priests , saccrdotes collegii ; keepers of the archives , tabularii * messengers , eranistas ; serving brethren , viatores , or servos ; and flag-bearers , signiferos .

The members were called " frataleas ( a corrupt Latin word for brethren ) , and collegiati , or collegre , and sometimes " sodales . " One inscription still declares that the collegium

commemorated yearly its foundation , " diem natalem , " by a feast for the members at the common cost—a custom not altogether unknown to the present members of our excellent Order .

As regards their ritual and mystical teaching , nothing has so far been discovered , or has survived , but many emblems have been found on the tombs of Roman Masons , members of these collegia , which are clearly identical with our own .

There , may still be seen , as well as on tesselated floors and mural paintings , the square and compasses , the gavel and plumb-rule , the sprig of acacia , and five-pointed star . Guitere , in his remarkable work , preserves

some most wonderful epitaphs and inscriptions . On one , for instance , though unhappily mutilated , we have recorded many names of members of the collegium—its " prxfecti" and "

quinquennalis , " its " honorati , and its " scribai . " On another , we have a list of " patroni , " of " quinquennales perpetui , " of " quinquennales , " and a long list of members , " ad lecti . " One epitaph

Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.

records that the person has been " bis electus quinquennalis , " and another that he has been " ter electus , " whilst there are constant mention of " quinquennales , " or " pnefecti perpetui , " as well as " patroni perpetui . "

A Greek KOLVUVIO , of builders , so late as the time of the Emperors , records its existence at Rome , and we hear , more than once , of the " marmorrje sodales . " As far as can now be made out , the full name of the collegium of builders was " Collegium

Fabrorum . " Some writers think that they were also sometimes called " Dendropreri , " while others have alluded to the frequent epitaphs of the " tignariorum centonariorum " ; but , on the whole , the evidence seems to preponderate in favour of the simpler appellation , " Collegium Fabrorum . "

That such corporations existed amongst the Roman municipalities in Italy and Gaul , Germany and Britain , up to the fall of the Roman empire , seems to admit of not the slightest doubt , and may be proved in a variety of ways . In one of the famous Pliny's ( Plinii Epistote

Gesnen Annot . Lib . x ., Epistle xliii . ) letters to the Emperor Trajan , there is an interesting proof , if proof were wanting , of the existence and importance and secret organisation of such an order , and , incidentally , of the custom of admitting honorary members even then : —

" Plinius Trajano Imperatori . " Tu Domine despice , au instituendum putes , collegium Fabrorum , duutaxat hominum 150 ; ego att ; ndam ne quis nisi Faber recipiatur , neve jure concesso in alind utatur . "

The Emperor refuses the request , and alleges as a reason , " sed meminiverimus provinciam islam , et pracipince eas civitates , ab ejus modi factionibus esse vcxatas . " A remarkable witness , surely , to the power and actual customs and usages of such secret confraternities !

That these collegia came over into England may be proved from monumental evidence . There is still extant in Chichester the oldest , so far , Roman inscription known , which is a tablet declaring that the " collegium Fabrorum " in this country " had erected a temple to Neptune and Minerva . " This is the first proof , so far , of associated artificers in England .

Later proof is , however , supplied by Musgrave ' s learned work ( " Julii Vitalis Epitaphium , " & c . Guil . Musgrave , 1711 ) of such a sodality in this country . In Sir F . Palgravc ' s interesting work , the " History of the Anglo-Saxons , " referring to the

Roman occupation of this country , we find the following most striking and apposite passage * . — " Each city , or ' municipium , ' contained various colleges or companies , or guilds of trades and artificers , and if I were a Freemason , which I

am not , I should , perhaps , be able to ascertain whether the Lodge of Antiquity at York is , as the members of the Craft say , a real scion from the noble stock , existing through so many changes . " Here , however , I must stop to-day , and hope to resume this interesting subject in Chapter V .

AVE learn that the Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire and Rutland , Brother Kelly , has appointed Bro . the Right Hon . the Earl Ferrers , P . M . of No . 779 , to Ihe office of Deputy Grand Master of the Province , and that his lordship

will be installed at the Annual General Communication of the Provincial Grand Lodge , to be held at Loughborough , on Friday , the 24 th inst . IIOLLOWAY ' S OINTMENT AND PILLS . —Lumbago , Rheumatism , Tic Dolureux , all excruciating pnins of the muscles and nerves are relieved wilh astouUhing rapidity

by the use of lhis extraordinary Ointment . The affected parts previously fomented with warm water , have only to be briskly rubbed with this soothing unguent to obtain instant ease . The Tills much assist in banishing the tendency to rheumatism , and similar painful disorders , whilst ihe Ointment cures the local ailment . Thc Tills

remove thc constitutional disturbance , and regulate every impared function of every organ throughout the human frame . The cure is neither temporary nor superficial , but permanent and complete , and the disease rarely recurs , so perfect has been the purification performed by these searching yet harmless preparations . —[ Advt , ]