The Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

only' 13 can be elected to immediate and deferred annuities ; while for the Widows' Fund the case is even worse , there being 54 candidates ancl only eight immediate and deferred vacancies . It mav be that other vacancies will arise between

now and the third Friday in May ; but what wc arc desirous of urging upon thc brethren is that a great effort should be made to raise such an amount on Wednesday next as will justify the Committee in

creatinoa few additional vacancies on one or both Funds , and thereb y reduce the number of those poor old people who must , in any circumstances , be compelled to wait for another twelvemonth ere another opportunity presents itself for any of them securing

the benefits they have been adjudged worth y to receive . We said in tlie article we are referring to , and we repeat it now , that no more fitting tribute of respect could be shown to our

late Queen than to raise such a sum as will allow of provision beinsj made for a few more of the candidates during- the remaining years that may be vouchsafed them . And we sincerely hope that our appeal will bear fruit .

Masonic Jurisprudence.

MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE .

1 COMMUNICATED . ] THE LITERATURE OF THE CRAF'I

The student of Masonic jurisprudence cannot possibl y get on without a library , and it is proposed to indicate what such a library should contain . It must be perfectl y understood that the absence of this , that , or the other book does not impl y the writer ' s opinion that such book is not worth stud y , or may not be of even more value than some of those indicated . But there

are certain works ol reference which every brother whose duty it may be at any time to interpret tlie Constitutions ou < rht to keep by him and study . And , first of all , we place the Book of Constitutions itself . A stud y of the whole work is an absolute necessity for every

brother aspiring to rule a lodge , whether from south , west , or east , if for no oilier reason than that he may be able "the better to comprehend and to appreciate the connection of our whole system , and the interdependence of its several parts . " It is a great mistake to suppose that any article of the Constitutions

can be properly interpreted b y itself . And yet nothing is more common than lo see the attempt made . A difficulty arisesthe index of the book is rapidl y turned over , and eventuall y something germane : is lound , and further investigation at once ceases . 11 the parlii'iilar article does not exactl y apply , so much

the worse forthe article , and it is made to do so . It is the writer ' s experience that the . statement , so familiar to most of us , that "there is no difficult ) 'that can arise in connection with pure administration of the affairs of your lodge that a reference to this Book will not solve , " is far from being the rhetorical fli ght of fancy that such statements < rencrally are .

I he fact that so many sets of bye-laws contain excerpts from the Book of ('( institutions does not free the brolher from the obligation he is under to study it . At his admission to

Freemasonry he is shown the warrant , which he is told is open to his inspection ( hen oral any future time . If this permission were more frei-lv taken advantage of than appears to be the case , we should not be troubled with the strange cases that come before

Grand Lodge of lodges usurping powers never committed to anv lodge . The presentation of the warrant is accompanied usually by a statement that the candidate ' s inspection ol it . is in order to s ;; lislv himself lhat the lodge is legally empowered lo collect

fees , but , uiiforlunalrlv , the warrant onl y refers to fees which the . lodge : is to transmit , and says nothing of those it has authority to collect . We shall , however , refer to the warrant in di-tail in a further chajiter . Immediatel y after the presentation .. I llic uanant a copy ol the Constitutions is handed to the

candidate with a strict injunction to study it . The language of that hook is > " studiously simple and devoid of ambiguity , that we cannot understand any brother who has read it through twice tailing lo acquire a grasp ol tin : whole subject of Masonic jurisprudence .

A knowledge of tlit- ' history of the Craft is , of course , i-:- .: -. i li ' . ial for the cultured . Mason , bul for practical every da )' purposes a knowledge ol the current history is even more r .-M-iilial and for tins purpose the official printed reports of

( irand l . od : ; e , published quarlerly , should be studied as they , -, , 1 ,,-ar . li seldom happens thai a quarterl y communication of ( irand l . od : ; e passes wiihoiil some appeal or another being decided . 'J lie disposal of an appeal b y ( irand Lodge means

Masonic Jurisprudence.

much more- than the resolution of some particular brother ' s difficulties . In most cases it means an authoritative interpretation of the Constitutions . The brother who carefull y studies them will lind his mind stored with precedents which cannot but be of value . As we have remarked before , Grand Lodge is b y

no means a slave to precedent and has on occasion "gone back " on previous decisions of its own , in a most disconcerting way . All the same , the brother who could quote Grand Lodge procedure in support of his conduct , would have a remarkably good case either in his own lodge or on appeal .

The value of a Masonic journal cannot easil y be over estimated . Time and distance are the two

the way of visiting sister lodges to the extent desirable . In the interests of uniformity especially , such visitation is almost essential , but if it be impracticable , then the best substitute is

the report of the meetings of other lodges . No Freemason can claim to be well informed who neglects to keep himself ait coitrant by the simple and read y means of reading a Masonic journal .

We now come to the library proper , as distinguished from current literature . This is distinctl y the age of cyclopaedias , and Masonic information lends itself well to this form of exposition . Of such books there are many in the market , and the writer will only mention the three he knows best , namely ,

" Mackey s Cyclopaedia / ' " Mackey ' s Lexicon , " and " Kenning ' s CycIop ; edia " ( Woodford ) . The publications of Lodge Quatuoi Coronati , though periodic in form , can scarcel y be classed with the Masonic journal , although a summary of notable events is generall y included . They comprise articles on sundry matters

of archaeology , and are of the utmost value to the Masonic antiquarian , but not to the same extent to the jurist , as the references to thc Book of Constitutions are usuall y of a bibliographical tendency . Seeing that our laws and regulations are for the most part crystallised tradition , it follows that a

knowledge of our traditions 111 their manifold forms must be of service . In this connection our glees , odes , anthems , and songs are not unworth y of study , and amongst the composers of such was no less a person than Bro . Goethe . Goethe celebrated his Masonic jubilee in the Lodge Amalia , in 1 S 30 , having been initiated in that lodge on June 23 , 17 S 0 .

The Antient Charges deserve respect at our hands quite as much as the Constitutions , and they should be studied . Bro . Hughan has made this subject almost his own , and his work is invaluable to the Masonic jurist . Dr . Oliver ' s work on Jurisprudence is largel y in the nature of a commentary on the Io " ook of

Constitutions and most of his other writings are in similar style , e . g ., " Thc Book of the Lodge , " "The Historical Landmarks , " and others . The three books named are referred to as authoritative in influential quarters , and even quoted as law , and they should by no means be absent from the library .

We have epioted certain Masonic Cyclop . edias . It is fair to say that Mackey ' s Lexicon is made li g ht of b y his own countrymen , and the student is recommended to go to the Encyclopaedia for Freemasons , b y C . Leiining , revised b y Mossdorf , 1828 , and republished later under the title " Handbuch der Freimaurerei , " I )) ' Schletter and Zille ( Leipzig , Brockhaus ) .

. Mossdorf , mentioned above , was expelled from the Craft on December 17 th , 1 S 19 . The encyclopaedia he assisted in producing is practicall y the parent of all similar works . A Freemason should be well acquainted with the history of his own lotlge , especially if it be an old one . Every lodge has

its own traditions , sometimes cherished even more than the Book of Constitutions , and no brother can reasonabl y claim lo fill the chair of his lodge who has not made himself thoroughly acquainted with its pasl history . There is a great temptation lo draw up a list for a Masonic

library , but it must be resisted . All those brethren who an : AIasonic students , and especiall y snch as have specialised , possess their own and mi g ht resent the writer ' s suggestions , and as for those who have not yet earned for themselves the ri g ht to be considered students , a few indications will suffice . For mere

purposes ol reference , one of the cyclop . 'edias named or Morris ' s " Dictionary of Freemasonry " should be uselul . The history of the Craft is writ large in Gould ' s monumental work ; but if this be too exhaustive , then h'indel ' s history can be strongly recommended . Oliver ' s works as named should be studied , and curious

sidelights in Masonic history are to be found in Hughan ' s " Old Charges . " Whymper ' s " Beli gion of Freemasonry" is a remarkable work , the onl y one of its kind we have come across , and though full of debateable matter , cannot fail to instruct and edif \

even the young Alason . He shoultl possess a knowledge of the histories of the great Charitable Institutions , which the writer believes have been compiled in hand y form b y Bro . G . ! ' Abbott . Handbooks of one kind or another have been published i » great number during the past fewycars , and il would be invidious