Board Of Benevolence.

BOARD OF BENEVOLENCE .

The Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Masters was held on ~ Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' Hall , when the agenda paper of next Grand Lodge was read . The monthly meeting of the Board of Benevolence was afterwards held . Bro . Robt . ^ Grey , P . G . P ., President of the Board , presided , Bro . James Brett , P . G . R ., Senior

Vicepresident , and Bro . C . A . Cottebrune , P . O . P ., Junior Vice-President , supported him , and there were also present , Bros . A A . Pendlebury , W . Dodd , W . H . Lee , D . P . Cama , F . R . Spaull , David D . Mercer , VVm . P . Brown , H . T . Wood , J . H . Matthews , Charles Dairy , Walter Honekirk , Henry Garrod , G . P . Brittain , W . H . Perryman , Chas . Fredk . Hogard , Thos . Cubitt , Thos . Cull , A .

C . Woodward , S . C . Haslip , R . J . Taylor , Edgar Bowyer , Henry Maudslay , John Oliver , Geo . R . Langley , Arthur Roeer Carter , W . Alfred Dawson , Walter Snowdin , E . S . Cornwall , F . R . W . Hedges , J . Hallett , C . H . Webb , Alfred Voules , N . D . Fracis , A . Calver , David Hart , Lennox Browne , Joseph T . Dobbs , H . Dickey , Thos . Grummant , Alex . C . A . Higarty , John Renton Dunlop , Alex .

Street , H . Massey , W . VV . Morgan , James P . Allen , J . Tayler , S . R . Walker , VV . Proctor , B . Kauffmann , A . E . Birch , W . D . Becket , P . M ., W . Le Dunbar , Alf . Fisher , Geo . Bugler , J . D . Hartley , Alfd . Bannister , August Perl , A . Money , J . N . Batt , Robert Voisey , Vincent T . Murche , G . M . E . Hamilton , H . C . Lambert , James Salmon , E . I . Aeworth , G . P . Brockbank , John Warren , T . Parker

Dixon , T . R . Beaufort , Burcham Cooper , F . C . Christmas , A . Betts , C . Beaumont , D . M . Hughes , John G . Tongue , and H . Sadler , Grand Tyler . The brethren first confirmed recommendations made at the April meeting to the amount of £ 450 . On the new list there were 57 applicants from lodges in London , Dover , Sunderland , Lahore , Torpoint , St . Vincent's , Landport , Liverpool , Nagpore , Bloemfontein , Colchester , Hinckley , Gibral-PortsmouthMalta

tar , Altrincham , Woolwich , Maidstone , , , Hong Kong , Shipley Gate , Agra , Huddersfield , Norwich , France , Tavistock , Wellington ( E . L ) , Aberystwith , Enfield , Ipswich , and Castleford . Ihese were relieved with a total of £ 875 , consisting of two recommendations of £ 50 each ; five of £ 110 each ; and seven of £ 30 each ; and grants of , £ 20 each to ten petitioners ; £ 10 each to eleven petitioners ; and £ 5 each to seven petitioners . Five cases were dismissed and five deferred .

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

The regular meeting of the Committee of Management was held at Freemasons' Hall on the nth inst . Bro . Jabez Hogg , P . G . D ., occupied the chair , and there were present Bros . J . E . Dawson , W . H . Perryman , G . P . ; C . A . Cottebrune , P . G . P . ; George Andrew , Charles Daniel , H .

Maudslay , C . H . Driver , Joseph Freeman , J . J . Berry , L . Steans , W . B . Daniell , Hugh Cotter , John Bulmer , G . Bolton , James Brett , P . G . P . ; C . J . Perceval , Alex . Forsyth , Thomas Cubitt , J . Newton , F . Adlard , W . J . Murlis , W . Hilton , A . Durrant , C . F . Hogard , and James Terry ( Secretary ) . The minutes of the previous meeting having been read

and verified , a letter from Bro . Sir George Elliot , Bart ., M . P ., R . W . P . G . M . South Wales ( Eastern Division ) , was read consenting to be Chairman of the Festival in 1888 . The Secretary having reported the deaths of four annuitants ( one male and three widows ) and one approved widow candidate , the Warden ' s Report for the past month was read .

The nomination of members to serve on the Committee of Management followed , and the draft of the Annual Report having been read for approval and approved , it was agreed that all vacancies caused by death to the 20 th inst . be filled up at the election on that day , and that each of the annuitants shall receive a donation of ten shillings in honour of the anniversary of the completion of the Jubilee

year of the Queen ' s reign ( 20 th June prox . ) . It was resolved that the offer of West Yorkshire be accepted on terms to be agreed upon between the Province and tbe Institution . , Bro . Alex . Forsyth having written to state that he vvas informed a certain male annuitant was in receipt of a

pension of upwards of ^ , 40 from the Trinity House , it was agreed that the Secretary should write to the authorities to ascertain the amount of pension paid to the annuitant in question . A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings .

Masonic Presentation To Bro. R. C. Else, P.G.D. Of England.

MASONIC PRESENTATION TO BRO . R . C . ELSE , P . G . D . OF ENGLAND .

On Friday , the 6 th inst ., at a meeting of the Rural Philanthropic Lodge , No . 291 , held at the Railway Hotel , Highbrid ge , Bro . R . C . Else , the V . W . P . D . G . M ., and r . G . D . of England , was presented with a very handsome silver

salver , bearing an appropriate inscription , that had een subscribed for by the brethren on the occasion of his recent marriage . The salver , which was greatly admired , Save the greatest possible satisfaction to the subscribers , 'ne inscri ption being also admirably executed . „ 'ne presentation was made bv the W . M .. Bro . A .

UCKETT , in an eloquent speech expressive of the high esteem in which Bro . Else was held by the brethren , and ""•Pnde they felt that No . 291 was the brother lodge of so distinguished a Mason . [ J ? ° - ELSE was completely taken by surprise , and mani->> en c ° nsiderable emotion in acknowledging the gift , ^ e assured the brethren that he should greatly prize the j , . . ' ° ng as he lived , not so much on account of its tL „ . , nsic worth as the gratifying evidence it afforded of

•"' " •esteem for him . suidT BURNETT , P . M ., who had acted as Secretary the i ! ? SUrerof the fund , bore testimony to the pleasure the Wi , n ^ ^ experienced in subscribing thereto and n 'gh estimation in which Bro . Else was held by them .

to m ^ rince and Princess of Wales will proceed t 0 o ° rrow ( Saturday ) afternoon at 5 p . m . to the East End Medic ? r new Nurs > ng' Home of the London Hospital aCConi „ r . ' ege , which will provide separate sleeping The Db ' on for one hundred day and fifty night nurses . Pital , •» ° * Cambridge , President of the London Hos' wm receive their Royal Highnesses .

Remarks On Some Common Objections To Freemasonry.

REMARKS ON SOME COMMON OBJECTIONS TO FREEMASONRY .

The V . W . Bro . Dr . Thomas Cartwright Smyth , Senior Grand Chaplain of England , delivered a lecture bearing this title before the members of Prudence Lodge , 2069 , Leeds , of which lodge Dr . Smyth is I . P . M ., on Saturday , the 14 th inst ., at the Masonic Hall , Great George-street , Leeds . He said : Although Atheists , infidels , and renegade

brethren have exerted themselves to accomplish the ruin of Masonry , Sovereign Pontiffs and right reverend prelates of the Romish Church have levelled against it the thunders of their dark and once-dreaded anathemas , able politicians and eminent ministers of all denominations have applied the lever of their talents and influence to topple it down from its high position in the hearts of thousands through

the length and breadth of the civilised world , still , however , as a widely ramified and powerful community , has it ever continued to lengthen its cords and strengthen its stakes , affording in the failure of its baffled detractors irresistible evidence of its innocency and excellence . Levity may attempt to soil its _ beauty , and sophistry to mar it , but , like those pillars in

the temple of the Deity which it nobly typifies , it stands , and will stand , upheld by Truth , and admired in its wisdom , strength , and beauty by the wise and unprejudiced . Time will permit me on the present occasion to allude to but one or two of the opponents of our noble Fraternity . Ludwig Greismann , a Dominican monk and lecturer on biology , endeavoured to prove at Aix la Chapelle ,

in a course of sermons preached during Lent , 1779 , that the Jews who crucified Christ were Freemasons ; that Pilate and Herod were Wardens of a lodge ; that Judas Iscariot , before he betrayed his Lord and Master , was initiated in the synagogue , and that when he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the priests , he did no more than pay the fees for admission to the Order . Paul Cullen , Roman

Catholic Archbishop and Primate of all Ireland , in November , 1851 , declared that " all Catholics who'join the Society of Freemasons are subjected tothe penalty of excommunication—cut off as rotten branches from the Church of God , and if they die in this deplorable state , are doomed to eternal perdition . " One Major Allyn published , some years ago , a book in America , against the Order , in which

he declares : " Its bloodly picture exhibits a combination of principles , the most inveterately opposed to free enquiry and individual rights that ever stained the annals of infamy . You may search the blackened character of the Holy Volume , or invoke the archives of the secret tribunals of Germany , where torture yells and grinds her bloody teeth , but your exertions would be vain-ryou could not find a case

to match this masterpiece . The Holy Inquisition , that harbinger of Hell ' s most dreadful attribute—vengeancealone * may strive for the mastery . " Major Allyn became an itinerant lecturer against the Order , and spent many months in delivering addresses before crowded audiences in New York , Connecticut , Rhode Island , Massachusetts , and Philadelphia . In the course of these lectures

he boasts that thousands seceded from the Order . His barefaced imposition was at last detected , and he was pelted off the stage in disgrace . He pitifully describes his most suitable reward for violating his Masonic obligations . Declaring himself a man of high standing , he confesses that he was " mobbed , insulted , stoned , imprisoned , abused , while he sought in vain the protection of the

law . " That many-headed body , the profanum mdgus , generally awards more pelting than pence to falsehood and perjury , and so Major Allyn appears to have found it . It is frequently asserted that Freemasonry encourages dissipation and intemperance of the worst description , as evidenced to the world by the evil lives of many of its members . I can scarcely imagine that a really

unprejudiced and sensible person could admit such an argument against any community . Can we point through the world to a single Institution so perfect and infallible as to possess the power of excluding from its ranks objectionable members . If Masonic lodges indifferent countries , as is doubtless the case , have in certain instances disgraced their meetings bv evil deeds , the blame

in aU fairness must rest with themselves , and not with the Order , whose primary principle it undoubtedly is to urge on its members , with the fear of God , " the practice of every domestic as well as public virtue ; that prudence may direct them , temperance chasten them , fortitude support them , and justice be the guide of all their actions . " Connected also with this objection may be viewed the argument

that the fruits of Masonry do not appear in every brother as regards peculiar eminence in the objects proposed by the Craft . I proceed in the next place to notice the objection that whatever is secret must consequently be bad , all secrecy , as some would argue , implying evil . If Masonry be really replete with every moral principle , it is asked by many , why is it not given indiscriminately to all ,

that all may be benefited by its valuableprivileges ? Now , I utterly deny that secrecy can fairly be imputed as a crime , inasmuch as every age ot the world has considered it an excellence when judiciously exercised . Are we not taught by the wisest of men that " a talebearer revealeth secrets , but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter ?" Is not secrecy also not only desirable , but absolutely

requisite in properly conducting all worldly affairs ; and do not all incorporated bodies enjoy this liberty without impeachment ? An apprentice , for instance , is bound to keep the secrets of his master , a friend to consult the interests of his company , and not to disclose in common society the mysteries of his profession . Secret Committees and Privy Councils are solemnly enjoined not to publish

abroad their debates and resolutions . In courts-martial all the members are bound to secrecy , and in many cases for more effectual security an oath is administered . As we are united in general society by our wants and infirmities and a variety of circumstances contributing to our necessary dependence on each other , so particular societies , of whatever denomination , are all conjoined by a sort of cement ,

by bonds and laws that are peculiar to each of them , from the highest tothe lowest ; consequently the injunctions of secrecy among Masons can be no more unwarrantable than in the cases and societies alluded to . Added to this , were the secrets of Masonry universally known , the design of the Art , which is to

include the honest and the virtuous , and those alone , in the bonds of its principles would be utterly subverted , and becoming familiar , like many other important matters , would lose its value and speedily sink into disrepute . "Why , " it has been asked in reference to this very subject , "do men lockup precious things except to keep

Remarks On Some Common Objections To Freemasonry.

them from unhallowed hands ? " The universality of our Order , moreover , extended as it is over every division of the habitable globe , must make it requisite that certain tokens and signs should exist by which brethren of different nations and languages though we may , without difficulty , be known to each other , and act upon the principle of excluding all known immorality , our lodges are open to every good and

worthy man , and our secrets are hidden from none but those whose presence among us would prove to the Order of doubtful benefit . We do not invite adherence , and therefore none can be disappointed . It is further alleged by objectors to our Order that on every occasion of admitting a member we bind him by an oath under solemn obligations , with heavy penalties , which they stoutly maintain is an

unwarrantable proceeding . Now , if certain persons have bound themselves into an organisation , with the laudable aim of constantly improving in useful knowledge , and also of promoting universal benevolence and the social virtues of human life , and have bound themselves by a solemn obligation to conform to the rules of such Society , where is the folly , immorality , or impiety of such a proceeding ? An

oath taken under such circumstances is surely lawful and obligatory . A voluntary _ oath is more binding for being voluntary , because there is no stricter obligation than that which we willingly take upon ourselves . Let us further remember that a person by the fact of requesting permission to enter Masonry admits our authority as accredited custodians of certain secrets , which secrets we surely have

a right to protect . I proceed in the next place to notice the objection that by admitting Mahometans , Jews , and Parsees we ignore the great head of religion . This assertion is based on the generally received but erroneous assumption that while Freemasonry embraces that universal system in which all agree—while the infidel and Atheist are excluded from its pale—it ought to be viewed as a .

religious sect . It is simply a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols , uniting its adherents in the bonds of brotherly love , as well as in the constant practice of scientific attainments . It cannot , therefore , be justl y denominated a religious society except so far as it derives its authority for universal benevolence and Charity from such parts of God ' s word as existed

at different periods of time when the various decrees of the Order were established . Ancient Masonry having come into existence far antecedent to the Christian era , the name of Christ is not consequently essential to the formulas of the Craft or of Royal Arch Masonry . It has also been gravely aserted by some that our Order is dangerous as a political association . Such an accusation is refuted by

quoting the words contained in the charge to an Entered Apprentice : " Your obedience must be proved by abstaining from all topics of political discussion , " & c . " 1 am to enjoin you as a citizen ol the world to be exemplary in the discharge of your civil duties by never proposing or at all countenancing any act that may have a tendency to subvert the peace and good order of Society , and by paying

due obedience to the laws of any State which may for a time become the place of your abode or afford you its protection . " When Societies of Jacobins and disaffected persons were common in England during the sanguinary French Revolution the arm of the law was brought into action to put them down ; but the Order of Freemasons was especially exempted by the Act of Parliament which then

was passed "for the more effectual suppression of Societies established for seditious and treasonable purposes . " Well might it be so when the Government possessed so strong a guarantee of the loyalty of the Order as was furnished by the names of such of its members as the Duke of Wellington , Canning , and Wilberforce , and well may we point with pride , in evidence of its firm devotion to the throne and the

law in these our days , to a countless host of worthies so eminent as the Prince of Wales , the Earls of Carnarvon , Lathom , & c , to our own Provincial Grand Master ( Bro . Tew ) , the Dean of York , and thousands of others . Can it be supposed that such as these would glory in owning fellowship with a body of secret traitors , banded together for the hindrance of justice—divine and human ? I now

proceed to notice the last objection to our Order upon which I propose to touch at present . Our opponents assert that if there is not possible harm in it there is really no benefit , the principal object of those who embrace it being to enjoy the good things of this life and to deck their persons with gaudy ornaments . While we believe that God in His beneficence has given us the things of this present

wot Id ever to use as not abusing them , we are bound most stringently to fix rational limitsto our hours of enjoyment . Nor do we deviate from the ordinary usages of other Societies in wearing badges and such distinctions as the Craft may confer on its members for their laudable progress in its noble principles . Such are the brief replies which time has permitted me to offer to the leading objections against

our Order , an Order which has cheered for many a year my leisure hours , which fostered the piety of William of Wykeham , which developed the genius of Wren and Vanbrugh , which soothed , amid the turmoil of war and the cares of Government , that dauntless soldier and patriot Wellington , who raised on the shores of the Western world the standard of empire . Finally , I believe in regard to Freemasonry

that God has indeed been in the midst of her , and therefore has she not been removed—God who , in many a byegone age , has guided her bark through the mists of idolatry , the shoals of infidelity , and the billows of faction . And sure am I that the Lord of Hosts will still be with her , and the God of Jacob still prove her refuge , while she continues true to herself in teaching her votaries generosity to the

fallen , sympathy with the suffering , the love of peace , subordinate only to the love of freedom and the glorious principles of a vast philanthropy embracing all nations , which shall have its completion in the Lodge above , where the G . A . O . T . U . reigns as Eternal Grand Master , and the wise and good of every age and every clime shall meet as brethren to part no more .

Bro . John E . Le Feuvre , Dep . Prov . G . M . of Hants and Isle of Wight , was proposed as one of the honorary members of St . John ' s Lodge , No . 1247 , Plymouth , on the 12 th inst ., in appreciation of his valued assistance to the Masonic exhibitions , held at Worcester and Shanklin ; and a similar compliment was paid Bro . T . Lamb-Smith , P . Prov . G . D . Worcestershire , who has been always very ready to co-operate in all such

enterprises . FURNISH ON NORMAN AND STACEY ' SYSTEM . —This simple , economical sjstem commends itself . Admitted to be the most satisfactorymethod . No deposit ; 1 , 2 , or 3 years' credit . —Particulars on application . Offices : 79 , Queen Victoria-street , E . C , Branches at 131 . Pall Mall , S , W „ and q . Liverpool-street , E . C ,