"Freemason" Indian Famine Relief Fund.

"FREEMASON" INDIAN FAMINE RELIEF FUND .

To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Kindly permit me to trespass on the space in your columns with the object of furthering your endeavour to enlist the sympathies of the brethren in the above

calamitous visitation . I must unite with " 1426 in expressing some little disappointment in the fact of your generously-headed list of subscriptions apparently " hanging fire" as it does , but I am inclined to think that perhaps the appeal has appeared after ( in the case of many lodges ) the first meetings of the season had been held , after which , as we all know , an interval would occur , which may

account for the inaction . Again , many brethren will , ere your Fund had commenced , have probably sent their personal assistance through other channels . At the same time there ls no doubt but that a very creditable sum ought now to be forthcoming from our body generally , and I applaud very much your action in the matter . Some week or two since a letter appeared in your

columns from Bro . Cooke , indicating a very good plan of co-operation , that of one of the officers of each lodge or chapter to take the initiative and make an all-round collection after lodge , limited to some small stated sum per head . This was done at 158 9 Lodge on Friday week , and resulted in the sum of twenty-five shillings . Would that every lodge could do the same . I very much hope to see the " Freemasoit Famine Fur . d" acknowledgments show

a good bold front in your next . The cause is too well known to need recapitulation . It may occur to you that I would do well to take action in my own lodge before urging others , but to somewhat justify myself , I may remark that my humble mite was included in one of the sums acknowledged in your first list . Yours fraternally , A CONSTANT READER .

Consecration Of The Sub-Urban Lodge, No. 1702.

CONSECRATION OF THE SUB-URBAN LODGE , No . 1702 .

On Friday week a lodge , bearing the title of the Sub-Urban Lodge , and numbered 1702 , was consecrated at the Abercorn Arms , Great Stanmore , Middlesex , by Bro . John Hervey , Grand Secretary , who was assisted by Bro . the Rev . P . M . Holden , Prov . Grand Chaplain Middlesex , as

Chaplain ; Bio . Joshua Nunn , P . G . S . B ., as D . C .-, Bro . W . T . Howe , G . P ., as S . W . ; Bro . Frank Green , Grand Steward , as J . W . ; and Bro . Sadler , P . M . 147 , as I . G The Sub Urban Lodge is to be a summer lodge . Ten years ago the Urban Lodge , ng 6 , was consecrated at St . John ' s Gate , London , by Bro . R . Wentworth Little , and the then Grand Secretary of England ; Bro . W . Gray

Clarke , was one of the spectators . The Urban Lodge derived its title from the Urban Club ( a well-known literary and artistic club , meeting at St . John ' s Gate ) , which derived its title from " Sylvanus Urban , gent ., " of the Gentleman ' s Magazine , who with a number of the celebrities of a century back , held pleasant evenings at the same rendezvous . The Urban Lodge was intended more

particularly as a lodge for literary brethren and for those literati who wished to become brethren in Freemasonry . Dr . J . E . Carpenter was the first Master , and in the course of the ten years' existence of tbe lodge it has had 100 members . This lodge is a winter lodge , and it was conceived by several of its brethren that a summer lodge in connection with it would be a

desirable feature . Hence the Sub-Urban Lodge , for which a petition asked for a warrant , naming Bro . Japheth Tickle , I . P . M . 1196 , as the first Master , and Bros . Hawkcsley and Roberts , as the first S . and J . W . respectively . The Abercorn Aims , Stanmore , was chosen for the locality , and perhaps a more desirable position could not have been selected , as , in addition to the beautiful

landscape roundabout , and the accommodation afforded by Bro . Veal , the proprietor of the hotel , the neighbourhood abounds in hktciieal associations . The arrangements made by the brethren who had the management of the day ' s proceedings were perfect , although they entailed a vast amount of care and thought . Bro . Veal did his best to make everyone comfortable j and as the Urban Club and the Urban

Lodge have always been celebrated for a quaint though apt bill of fare and list of toasts , Bro . Hawksley had printed a very choice specimen of these productions for the use of the Sub-Urban Lodge , thus keeping it in perfect harmony with those two celebrated compositions which are preserved with great carefulness by all who have the privilege of joining in the meetings of those two bodies .

The ceremony of consecration commenced shortly after three o'clock , and after the lodge had been opened , Bro . Ilervey said he much regrttteu the absence of Bro . Little for more than one reason . One , and the most cogent , was that his health did not permit him to venture upon a consecration just now . Another was that had he been present , no doubt as

connected with the provir cc of Middlesex and being very well known to the Craft in that character , he would naturally bc a better exponent of the ceremonies of the day than he ( Bro . Hervey ) . He regretted exceedingly Bro . Little ' s absence on account of his ill health . Bro . Little had written to him faying he cculd not attend because he was too unwell to do so , and he requested him to perform the ceremony for him . This was the reason of bis ( Bvo .

Hervey ' s ) being now in the chair , and he trusted if there was any little lapse in the course of the ceremony of the day that the brethren would attribute it not to his want of desire to perform the ceremonies in a way which would be satisfactory to the brethren , but to the fact of his being only a substitute for another . Now , he had so many times addressed the brethren on the same subject as he was about to speak upon on the present occasion , and there were so many brethren present who had heard him make

Consecration Of The Sub-Urban Lodge, No. 1702.

the same observations before , that he felt some difficulty in his way . To say anything new he felt to be almost impossible , and it was very disagreeable to those who had attended consecrations before to have constantly the same tale told to them—to be admonished again that it was very desirable that those whom they admitted to their lodges were proper men , and also to be reminded that it was far

better that a candidate who was not acceptable to every brother of a lodge should be withdrawn from the list than that blackballing should be put in operation . This was one subject on which he had several times addressed the brethren -, and he had also frequently mentioned at these meetings the strong objection there was to such an event occurring as a brother indulging in a petty spite , if he

might so term it , and the unchantableness of blackballing those who might be put forward as candidates for initiation , because being soured by not being put into office when he estimated his own capabilities at a higher rate than the W . M . in the chair estimated them , he resolv-d that the W . M . should have no work to do during his year of office . Such a step was most undesirable , and it constituted su ? h

a meanness on the part of a brother who so acted that he ( Bro . Hervey ) could not help saying that he could conceive nothing more despicable , uncharitable , orunmasonic . He did not fear anything of the kind being resorted to in this lodge , and he hoped the members ran no risk of having amongst them a brother capable of such conduct . A word to the officers of the lodge , with whom , excepting the

Secretary , he had not the peasure of being acquainted . He would recommend them so to perfect themselves in the duties of their respective offices that the W . M . should have no cause to complain , either with respect to their attendance at the proper time , or the manner in which they carried out their duties . There was a time when probably there might have been some excuse

for brethren not performing the duties of their office properly , but there was none now , for there was scarcely a locality around London where there was not a good lodge of instruction ; and old Masons were well aware that there was a spirit of emulation now existing among members of the Craft which did not exist twenty-five or thirty years ago . Every member of the Craft now had the

opportunity of learning his duties ; every member surely could devote sufficient time and attention to make himself , if not perfect , at any rate efficient in the duties of the office that might devolve upon him . It was no very serious effort of memory for a brother to get up the duties of one of the minor offices ; and if he had got up such duties , one could readily imagine that he would feel desirous of doing what

he could to render himself acceptable to the members of the lodge , with whom his fate , if he might so term it . was bound up , in order that when the pi riod of his own election to the chair came round he might then be unanimously elected . Such a brother would also wish , if a candidate came up for initiation on the day when he was installed , that he might be able without any hesitation to give him

his degree , and also give him his other degrees during his year of office . He ( Bro . Hervey ) said this on account of the W . M ., because it was a thing which the W . M . could not so readily say to the officers of his lodge , or say it so boldly as an old member of the Craft like himself ( Bro . Hervey ) , who had gone through various offices , performed many duties , and found himself occasionally with Deacons

who did not know the woik , and Wardens who did not think it worth their while to perform the duties of their respective chairs . On a recent occasion he made an observation on another subject , a subject which did not interest the Craft generally , though it interested the lodge particularly . He did not know upon whom the duties of Treasurer of this lodge would fall , and he therefore said it

on behalf of an unknown brother—that he would recommend the brethren around the room to pay up their subscriptions on the day they fell due . The Treasurer of course was expected to keep his lodge out of debt ; and if he wished the lodge respectable he must keep it out of debt . He said this without any disrespect to the members of this lodge . How was he to keep the lodge out of debt

and respectable if the brethren did not pay their subscriptions , unless indeed , he paid the money out of his own pocket ? If he did not choose to do that the lodge fell into disrepute , and could not command that attention when it met that it otherwise ought to do . There was an amount of difficulty about the whole affair which the members of the lodge might obviate by the very easy method of paying

their subscriptions when they fell due . Now the subscriptions of a lodge fell due and were payable on the installation day . It was all very well for a brother to say , " Oh , I shall not pay to-day : I shall pay six months' hence ;" but did a brother who said that mean to sit down to the banquet and enjoy himself that day , and intend the Treasurer to pay for him then , and during the period that the

subscription remained unpaid ? In the interest of tlie Treasurer and for the well-being of the lodge he hoped the brethren would remember that the dues were payable on the day of installation , that without those dues were paid they were not doing their duty to the lodge , or assisting in keeping it in that position in which it ought to be kept , and they were not fulfilling that kindly feeling to

the Treasurer which ought to be manifested by every brother of a lodge towards every other . The JRev . PM . Holden , Prov . G . Chaplain Middlese x delivered the oration . He said : The science of Freemasonry of which you are professors was in the first ages of the world undoubtedly a system of pure religion ; and when mankind , ever fond of the material in preference to the

spiritual , degenerated into idolatry , and fell off from the worship of the Creator to the worship of the creature , " the sun , the moon , the stars , and all the host of heaven , " they engrafted upon the ancient principles of the Masonic Order their own crude and perverted notions and practices . In the family of Seth the belief in the goodness and mercy of Jehovah , the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments , and the necessity of moral purity as a quali-

Consecration Of The Sub-Urban Lodge, No. 1702.

fication for eternal happiness , all of which are foundation stories of the Masonic Order , were long maintained Among the Egyptians and Indians , pompous ceremonial observances very soon shrouded and altogether withheld truth from the uninitiated ; but still the religious worshi p , no matter the form it assumed , was placed on the foundation which Jehovah himself had laid ; and thus into

whatever part of the globe the descendants of Shem , Ham , and Japheth migrated , they carried with them some notion , some knowledge of the one true God . And if Masonic principles more or less distorted as the degradation of ignorance and licentiousness enwrapped them , this accounts for the science of Freemasonry not being exclusivel y the possession of any one branch of religion , though indeed

the system being a system of ethics and inculcatirg the purest morality , assimilates so far as I can judge , and it seems to me with no other religion so completely as with Christianity . And if you demand the reason of this assertion I merely reply that both Christianity and Freemasonry inculcate the same grand principles , viz , " to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction , " to do justice ,

love mercy , practise charity , and walk humbly with our God ; for be that , however , as it may , of this thing we may all feel quite certain , that had the superstructure of Freemasonry been erected on any othc * foundation than "the glory of God and the good of man , " had it been instituted merely to exalt human wisdom , or to promote human greatness , it would long since have crumbled

into dust and been buried in the archives of the past . This being so , it can excite little surprise or wonder that the authentic records of Freemasonry are to be found in the Sacred Volume alone , and we pronounce this to be Freemasonry ' s fairest gem ; for were its precepts at variance with the precepts of the Sacred Law it ought most decidedly to be rejected at once

as unworthy of credit or of the attention of intelligent beings . And let me further say—fearlessly and distinctly say—that nc brother can possibly be a good Mason who does not make the Word of God his frequent study , or , to use an expression more familiar to you , who does not diligently use the Sacred writings , which are given as the rule and guide of our faith . For be it remembered , that

the true Mason is but a builder whose task it is to build up body , soul , and spirit into a holy temple , acceptable to God ; and to accomplish this he must listen to the voice of the Great Architect of the Universe speaking at him frem his Holy Book ; he must patiently listen to this voice and obey its behests ; the chief corner stone of his foundation should be " Holiness to the Lord : " thereon he must

lay each stone of his spmtualhouse , carefully and accurately adjusted by the level and the square , till the whole is completed , and the capestone is brought forth with the exultation of a wise master builder , wlio at list shall hear the salutation , " Well done , good and faithful servant . " Now , in this building all that is most excellent in classical and mediaeval art will find its appropriate and proper

place . The strength , beauty , and repose which distinguish the classical will be visibje in manly bearing aiid upright dealing , in the absence of any churlish spirit , and in a graceful interchange of all kindly offices ; whilst the lofty aspirations and the eclemn seiwe of the eternal and the infinite will be no less fitly represented by unshrinking devotion to duty , by self-sacrifice , and by the constant

communion with the " Great Father of Spirits . " In the ceremony of setting apart and consecrating this moral edifice we by-and-bye shall use incens ^ corn , wine , and oil . Each had its meaning . Let our prayers ascend on high in a fragrant incense ; may we be thankful for the fruits of the earth , corn , wine , and oil , and temperate in their use . And whilst in the enjoyment of the blessings which

they typify and symbolise , may *? e neter forget the distressed . Brethren , the sum and substance , I am well aware , of these remarks has been repeatedly brought before you all in the Masonic teaching you are privileged to enjoy . If , therefore , it is our aim as Masons to promote the glory of God and Hie good of our fellows we must not only cherish all friendly dispositions and liberal sentiments , but

we must embody them in deeds , so as to ba clearly felt and acknowledged by all — love to God for His own sake , and love to the brethren for God's sake , being the two grand characteristics of our profession as Masons . And here let me testify with joy and satisfaction to the truth , for it is one , that as a body Masons have not been backward to acquire and carry

out into practice the duty of brotherly love . With them , brother helps brother -, many up to their ability , and beyond it , have proved by their self-denying liberality that charity is indeed the distinguishing characteristic of , a Freemason ' s heart . Your private and local works of mercy ; your General Fund of Benevolence ; yotir noble Institution for Aged Freemasons and the Widows of Masons ; your

excellent Boys' School -, your most admirable Girls' School ; your princely grants of assistance from time to time towards the relief of those who are overtaken by sudden calamity and misfortune—these things speak for you as Masons truropet-tongued , with far greater eloquence than any words of men . And did not these evidences exist , Masons would be utterly unworthv of the grand princip les

which they profess . But they do exist , and are flourishing still more and more ; and if any scornful enquirer asks what may be the practical use and good of Freemasonry , you may reply , with becoming pride and satisfaction , " circumspice . " The outside world , in its ignorance , may sometimes ridicule and misunderstand you ; but whator stnve

that ? " Do right , and fear not . " And would you to obey the Great Architect of the Universe and love one another , forget not the virtues of temperance , fortitude , prudence , and justice j for the state of prosperity , in whicn Freemasonry now is , is ever a very dangerous one , r * makes a man very likely to forget himself in respect to his conduct . Because His Royal Hig hness the Prince 01 Wales , the heir to the throne of this mighty empire , reigns over you as your Grand Master , with his Royal brotnere