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Article TO OUR READERS. Page 1 of 1 Article TO ADVERTISERS. Page 1 of 1 Article Answers to Correspondents. Page 1 of 1 Article Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER'S VISIT TO INDIA. Page 1 of 1 Article THE LAST LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE LAST LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE. Page 1 of 1 Article PLEASANT MEMORIES. Page 1 of 1 Article PLEASANT MEMORIES. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC CORRESPONDENCE. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The Freemason is a sixteen-page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , io / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly
trom the office of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add to the 2 d . per week the postage on 20 z . newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent n the United Kingdom by g iving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The F ) -eemason has a large circulation in all parts of thc Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
All Communications , Advertisements , <_ c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wedne sday morning . Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to thc Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by stamped directed covers . The following communications stand over •—
Consecration of a Lotlge at Nairn ; W . J . Hughan ; York Masonry ; Hamall Lodge ; Ramsay and Freemasonry , unavoidably kept over till next week ; arrived a little too late . A letter from Bro . C . Pcgler and Bro . H . Smith under consideration . In reply to Bro . Wm . W . Wilson we beg to say : — In the Lodge . Bro . Itenry ' s communication received ; another account has already appeared .
BOOKS RECEIVED . "The commencement of thc Second Christian Epoch . " "The Provident Knowledge Papers . " "Nature Pictures" Sonnets by Bro . Rev . M . Gordon , M . A ., Walton , Barnbey .
Ar00809
The Freemason , SATURDAY , Nov . 27 , 1875 .
Our Royal Grand Master's Visit To India.
OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER'S VISIT TO INDIA .
The record of the last week may be briefly summed up in the statememt that His Royal Highness has been enjoying Indian sporting with much of zest and activity , despite the great heat . He has been to Baroda , has witnessed the cheetah hunting , has enjoyed quail and snipe shooting , and wild boar hunting . His visit seems to be producing very good results .
The Last Lodge Of Benevolence.
THE LAST LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .
Our readers , we think , will have been struck with the last report of the meeting of this most important committee of Masonic Benevolence . The new cases dealt with amounted to thirtyone , of which one was dismissed and two deferred ; and , for the remaining twenty-eight the
large amount of s £ 86 c , was voted . One case was recommended for , £ 250 , three cases received £ 50 each , five small grants were made of £ 5 each , and the remainder was taken up by various cases receiving £ 30 , £ 10 , g £ i $ , and £ 10 respectively , so as to reach the large amount on
the whole , as we said before , of £ 865 . We think that all our brethten will agree that this is a very " strong order , " and opens out many serious considerations . Were anything like this to be the average amount of the sums voted by the monthly Lodge of Benevolence , the Fund of
Benevolence would require an income of ^" , 00-a year . And though we are inclined to hope , and to believe , that such claims on our Masonic Charity are exceptional , yet we must not shut our eyes to the fact , for it is one of very pressing import for us all alike , that there is a tendency just now in our Order to increased and
increasing demands upon all our benevolent grants and institutions . A question , then , may fairly be asked by the observant Freemason , whence arises this overwhelming application for the benefits of our Masonic funds of relief , aid , and education generally ? Whence this strain —for it is a strain , say what you will—on the Fund of
The Last Lodge Of Benevolence.
Benevolence in particular ? We ascribe it to three causes . First , there is , and has been , a tendency in many lodges to relax the older regulations as regards the strictness of admission . Some brethren contend , that if a man can pay his fees and annual subscription at the time of his admission ,
no one has a right to look further or demand more . But we beg respectfully to point out that a great fallacy lurks within such a premise . It does not follow that because a man is flourishing today he will be so to-morrow , and , in our opinion , before any one is admitted into Freemasonry
it ought to be clearly ascertained that he is in such a position as to afford the fair presumption that he will not hastily or speedily have to appeal to his brethren for eleemosynary aid . There are several callings and trades in which , from special causes , life is less secure , and the prosperity is
more fluctuating than in others , and where the overweening superabundance of to-day is followed by depression and decadence to-morrow . If candidates are recommendable to lodges only because they are now well-to-do , there is and can be no possible limit to the probable eventual
demands on our charitable resources . We , therefore , beg to suggest that lodges should be more careful than they are in admitting many members of doubtful or precarious trades , inasmuch as in nine cases out of ten the ultimate appeal to the benevolence of our good Order is
only a question of time . So , too , as regards the habit of granting relief to unaffiliated Masons , a practice we cannot too highly deprecate . Many brethren join a lodge , they then pay two years ' subscription- they then "demit , " to use an American phrase ; they become unaffiliated to
antlodge ; and yet , after the lapse of five , or seven , or ten years , or even more , of inactive Masonic life , they appeal on the letter of the law for aid and relief . In our humble opinion , all such applications should be considered as only deserving the minimum of benevolence . It is idle to
contend that if a brother has so little interest in the Order as to leave it , after two years' membership , and to allow his brethren to bear all the " burden and heat of the day , " he is placidly to come in , when need overtakes him , or sickness weakens him , and claim relief on the ground of a
qualifying subscription of two years . We do not say that he is not to be relieved , we only advocate the very minimum of Masonic benevolence . Some brethren may be too poor to continue their subscriptions , but we have known cases where brethren have paid for two years , then
" demitted , then lived on in much apparent material prosperity , and then , " apres tout , " have recourse to the Lodge of Benevolence for relief and aid . And , lastly , there is a feeling abroad amongst many that Freemasonry is a wealthy body , and so they enter it for what they
can get from it . They join it with the full intention of receiving their " quid pro quo , " and there is a large class which thus constitutes a " dead weight " on our prosperous Order . No doubt the very effect of numerical increase and
material well doing is to entail on us , owing to the " wear and tear of life , " and the inevitable accident and changes of the world , a large class of claimants for temporal assistance . But many cases come before the Board of Benevolence
which ought never to be entered on the Grand Secretary ' s list , and very often the friends of - Uttering brethten are . more to blame than the applicants themselves , as they shift their own burden of responsibility and affection on to the * ' shoulders , " if we may so say , of Masonic
benevolence . We shall be glad if the ideas we have suggested may find favour with some of the abler and experienced heads of our Order , and we shall be pleased if they will favour us with their matured and judicious opinions on this most important subject .
Pleasant Memories.
PLEASANT MEMORIES .
It is a necessity of this lower earth to lament and lose our friends , and brethren , and companions . It is a compensation however for irreparable loss to remember their pleasant presence , or
their useful lives , their warm hearts , or their sunny associations . In Freemasonry we often form fast friendships and warm attachments , and many of us have constantly to mourn oyer
Pleasant Memories.
the loss of some familiar friend , the departure * often unexpected , of some much valued and longknown brother . Then it is that memory , with its vivid power , cheers the present , and soothes the sorrow by the pleasant vision it conjures up for us , of all that was good and graceful , or
valuable or consoling in the past hours , struggles , efforts , and career of those whose faces we miss , and whose place on earth or in the lodge knows them no more . Two brethren have lately left us , John Savage , well known in the metropolis , and James Franklin , hig hly esteemed in West Yorkshire , to whom a few lines of feeling and
fraternal tribute may fairly be offered in the pages of the " Freemason . " Bro . John Savage was well known in London and in the Grand Lodge , where his voice was often heard , and where his presence will long be missed . It may be that we did not always agree with his frankly expressed views , but we believe him to have been honest in his convictions , and sincere in his
professions . We knew him to have been a zealous
and earnest Mason , as well as a useful and valued citizen . He was a true friend and a genial comrade , and he worked on to the last , retaining the good will and sympathy of his friends and brethren , being always to the fore , and ready for every Masonic work , and most interested in all
plans affecting the active development of Masonic benevolence . He was a very valued member of our good Order , and seemed well to typify many of its most ornate and abiding characteristics . Bro . James Franklin was a very respected solicitor at Halifax , and a very zealous member
of the old Lodge of Probity , one of the oldest of English lodges , and had received the highest provincial honours . He was emphatically a hardworking , earnest , and resolute man , much looked up to in his own special avocation , and ever foremost in upholding and avowing the true principles
of Freemasonry . He was an agreeable companion , a true brother , and a good friend . They were both types in their way of our active metropolitan and provincial Masonic life , and fully represent the energy ) and steadfastness , and sterling worth of Freemasonry . They have both left in their respective spheres " pleasant memories " to those
who survive , ( a good deal , mind , for any of us to say , ) and those of us who knew them both in lodge or chapter , or Provincial or Grand Lodge , may well to-day deeply regret that we shall hail their kindly presence , or listen to their familiar voice no more here , as we realize that the ¦ Masonic career is ended of John Savage and of James Franklin .
Masonic Correspondence.
MASONIC CORRESPONDENCE .
Is it not very singular how very unmasonic all Masonic correspondence is apt to become ? So marked is this fact , imprinted on the pages indelibly of all Masonic journalism , more . or less , that one of the greatest difficulties which publishers of Masonic papers have to contend with
is the disposition of correspondents to " run riot , " the habitual tendency to be personal , unmasonic , and even scurrilous , ls it not a strange phenomenon , we ask again , in the history of men , and in the annals of Freemasonry , that the " odium humanum" of our race is so
strong in the Masonic body ? And yet wh y is this ? We profess to be " brethren of a mystic tie ; " " brotherly love " is ever on our lips ; we talk by the hour , and spin tremendous long yarns about philanthropy , benevolence , sympathy , toleration , charity ; and yet the moment we run
into print we become the most bitter , overbearing , and irate of men . Mournful inconsistency ! Were it not , indeed , that the Masonic philosopher knows-well the inherent weakness and littleness of human nature in all ages , under all circumstances , and in all earthly contingencies , he might
be disposed to think , as somebody once foolishlysaid , that " there is nothing new , and nothingtrue , and that it does not at all signify . " Now , we wish to give a little plain and outspoken advice to our brethren , which we trust they will
take in good part . It is this—Never write personally if you possibly can help it . By this we mean , do not erer , if you are attacked , descend to the lower arena of " scribbling vulgarity . " Do not damage a good cause by untoward personal reflections on your opponent j do not defend
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The Freemason is a sixteen-page weekly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating to Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in the United Kingdom , Post free , io / . Brethren in foreign parts , wishing to have this newspaper sent them regularly
trom the office of publication , should , in sending their remittances , add to the 2 d . per week the postage on 20 z . newspapers . The Freemason may be procured through any newsagent n the United Kingdom by g iving ( if needed ) the publisher ' s address , 198 , Fleet-st .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The F ) -eemason has a large circulation in all parts of thc Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . For terms , position , & c , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
All Communications , Advertisements , <_ c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 12 o ' clock on Wedne sday morning . Careful attention will be paid to all MSS . entrusted to thc Editor , but he cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by stamped directed covers . The following communications stand over •—
Consecration of a Lotlge at Nairn ; W . J . Hughan ; York Masonry ; Hamall Lodge ; Ramsay and Freemasonry , unavoidably kept over till next week ; arrived a little too late . A letter from Bro . C . Pcgler and Bro . H . Smith under consideration . In reply to Bro . Wm . W . Wilson we beg to say : — In the Lodge . Bro . Itenry ' s communication received ; another account has already appeared .
BOOKS RECEIVED . "The commencement of thc Second Christian Epoch . " "The Provident Knowledge Papers . " "Nature Pictures" Sonnets by Bro . Rev . M . Gordon , M . A ., Walton , Barnbey .
Ar00809
The Freemason , SATURDAY , Nov . 27 , 1875 .
Our Royal Grand Master's Visit To India.
OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER'S VISIT TO INDIA .
The record of the last week may be briefly summed up in the statememt that His Royal Highness has been enjoying Indian sporting with much of zest and activity , despite the great heat . He has been to Baroda , has witnessed the cheetah hunting , has enjoyed quail and snipe shooting , and wild boar hunting . His visit seems to be producing very good results .
The Last Lodge Of Benevolence.
THE LAST LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .
Our readers , we think , will have been struck with the last report of the meeting of this most important committee of Masonic Benevolence . The new cases dealt with amounted to thirtyone , of which one was dismissed and two deferred ; and , for the remaining twenty-eight the
large amount of s £ 86 c , was voted . One case was recommended for , £ 250 , three cases received £ 50 each , five small grants were made of £ 5 each , and the remainder was taken up by various cases receiving £ 30 , £ 10 , g £ i $ , and £ 10 respectively , so as to reach the large amount on
the whole , as we said before , of £ 865 . We think that all our brethten will agree that this is a very " strong order , " and opens out many serious considerations . Were anything like this to be the average amount of the sums voted by the monthly Lodge of Benevolence , the Fund of
Benevolence would require an income of ^" , 00-a year . And though we are inclined to hope , and to believe , that such claims on our Masonic Charity are exceptional , yet we must not shut our eyes to the fact , for it is one of very pressing import for us all alike , that there is a tendency just now in our Order to increased and
increasing demands upon all our benevolent grants and institutions . A question , then , may fairly be asked by the observant Freemason , whence arises this overwhelming application for the benefits of our Masonic funds of relief , aid , and education generally ? Whence this strain —for it is a strain , say what you will—on the Fund of
The Last Lodge Of Benevolence.
Benevolence in particular ? We ascribe it to three causes . First , there is , and has been , a tendency in many lodges to relax the older regulations as regards the strictness of admission . Some brethren contend , that if a man can pay his fees and annual subscription at the time of his admission ,
no one has a right to look further or demand more . But we beg respectfully to point out that a great fallacy lurks within such a premise . It does not follow that because a man is flourishing today he will be so to-morrow , and , in our opinion , before any one is admitted into Freemasonry
it ought to be clearly ascertained that he is in such a position as to afford the fair presumption that he will not hastily or speedily have to appeal to his brethren for eleemosynary aid . There are several callings and trades in which , from special causes , life is less secure , and the prosperity is
more fluctuating than in others , and where the overweening superabundance of to-day is followed by depression and decadence to-morrow . If candidates are recommendable to lodges only because they are now well-to-do , there is and can be no possible limit to the probable eventual
demands on our charitable resources . We , therefore , beg to suggest that lodges should be more careful than they are in admitting many members of doubtful or precarious trades , inasmuch as in nine cases out of ten the ultimate appeal to the benevolence of our good Order is
only a question of time . So , too , as regards the habit of granting relief to unaffiliated Masons , a practice we cannot too highly deprecate . Many brethren join a lodge , they then pay two years ' subscription- they then "demit , " to use an American phrase ; they become unaffiliated to
antlodge ; and yet , after the lapse of five , or seven , or ten years , or even more , of inactive Masonic life , they appeal on the letter of the law for aid and relief . In our humble opinion , all such applications should be considered as only deserving the minimum of benevolence . It is idle to
contend that if a brother has so little interest in the Order as to leave it , after two years' membership , and to allow his brethren to bear all the " burden and heat of the day , " he is placidly to come in , when need overtakes him , or sickness weakens him , and claim relief on the ground of a
qualifying subscription of two years . We do not say that he is not to be relieved , we only advocate the very minimum of Masonic benevolence . Some brethren may be too poor to continue their subscriptions , but we have known cases where brethren have paid for two years , then
" demitted , then lived on in much apparent material prosperity , and then , " apres tout , " have recourse to the Lodge of Benevolence for relief and aid . And , lastly , there is a feeling abroad amongst many that Freemasonry is a wealthy body , and so they enter it for what they
can get from it . They join it with the full intention of receiving their " quid pro quo , " and there is a large class which thus constitutes a " dead weight " on our prosperous Order . No doubt the very effect of numerical increase and
material well doing is to entail on us , owing to the " wear and tear of life , " and the inevitable accident and changes of the world , a large class of claimants for temporal assistance . But many cases come before the Board of Benevolence
which ought never to be entered on the Grand Secretary ' s list , and very often the friends of - Uttering brethten are . more to blame than the applicants themselves , as they shift their own burden of responsibility and affection on to the * ' shoulders , " if we may so say , of Masonic
benevolence . We shall be glad if the ideas we have suggested may find favour with some of the abler and experienced heads of our Order , and we shall be pleased if they will favour us with their matured and judicious opinions on this most important subject .
Pleasant Memories.
PLEASANT MEMORIES .
It is a necessity of this lower earth to lament and lose our friends , and brethren , and companions . It is a compensation however for irreparable loss to remember their pleasant presence , or
their useful lives , their warm hearts , or their sunny associations . In Freemasonry we often form fast friendships and warm attachments , and many of us have constantly to mourn oyer
Pleasant Memories.
the loss of some familiar friend , the departure * often unexpected , of some much valued and longknown brother . Then it is that memory , with its vivid power , cheers the present , and soothes the sorrow by the pleasant vision it conjures up for us , of all that was good and graceful , or
valuable or consoling in the past hours , struggles , efforts , and career of those whose faces we miss , and whose place on earth or in the lodge knows them no more . Two brethren have lately left us , John Savage , well known in the metropolis , and James Franklin , hig hly esteemed in West Yorkshire , to whom a few lines of feeling and
fraternal tribute may fairly be offered in the pages of the " Freemason . " Bro . John Savage was well known in London and in the Grand Lodge , where his voice was often heard , and where his presence will long be missed . It may be that we did not always agree with his frankly expressed views , but we believe him to have been honest in his convictions , and sincere in his
professions . We knew him to have been a zealous
and earnest Mason , as well as a useful and valued citizen . He was a true friend and a genial comrade , and he worked on to the last , retaining the good will and sympathy of his friends and brethren , being always to the fore , and ready for every Masonic work , and most interested in all
plans affecting the active development of Masonic benevolence . He was a very valued member of our good Order , and seemed well to typify many of its most ornate and abiding characteristics . Bro . James Franklin was a very respected solicitor at Halifax , and a very zealous member
of the old Lodge of Probity , one of the oldest of English lodges , and had received the highest provincial honours . He was emphatically a hardworking , earnest , and resolute man , much looked up to in his own special avocation , and ever foremost in upholding and avowing the true principles
of Freemasonry . He was an agreeable companion , a true brother , and a good friend . They were both types in their way of our active metropolitan and provincial Masonic life , and fully represent the energy ) and steadfastness , and sterling worth of Freemasonry . They have both left in their respective spheres " pleasant memories " to those
who survive , ( a good deal , mind , for any of us to say , ) and those of us who knew them both in lodge or chapter , or Provincial or Grand Lodge , may well to-day deeply regret that we shall hail their kindly presence , or listen to their familiar voice no more here , as we realize that the ¦ Masonic career is ended of John Savage and of James Franklin .
Masonic Correspondence.
MASONIC CORRESPONDENCE .
Is it not very singular how very unmasonic all Masonic correspondence is apt to become ? So marked is this fact , imprinted on the pages indelibly of all Masonic journalism , more . or less , that one of the greatest difficulties which publishers of Masonic papers have to contend with
is the disposition of correspondents to " run riot , " the habitual tendency to be personal , unmasonic , and even scurrilous , ls it not a strange phenomenon , we ask again , in the history of men , and in the annals of Freemasonry , that the " odium humanum" of our race is so
strong in the Masonic body ? And yet wh y is this ? We profess to be " brethren of a mystic tie ; " " brotherly love " is ever on our lips ; we talk by the hour , and spin tremendous long yarns about philanthropy , benevolence , sympathy , toleration , charity ; and yet the moment we run
into print we become the most bitter , overbearing , and irate of men . Mournful inconsistency ! Were it not , indeed , that the Masonic philosopher knows-well the inherent weakness and littleness of human nature in all ages , under all circumstances , and in all earthly contingencies , he might
be disposed to think , as somebody once foolishlysaid , that " there is nothing new , and nothingtrue , and that it does not at all signify . " Now , we wish to give a little plain and outspoken advice to our brethren , which we trust they will
take in good part . It is this—Never write personally if you possibly can help it . By this we mean , do not erer , if you are attacked , descend to the lower arena of " scribbling vulgarity . " Do not damage a good cause by untoward personal reflections on your opponent j do not defend