Lights And Shadows Of Scottish Freemasonry.

no National Benevolent Fund . Oh ! Avhat a great want is this ! what a great black shadow whose chill is ever being felt . A great deal has been said upon this subject , and yet it seems almost as far off being set at rest as ever . Some few years ago an

effort was made in the greater eastern and western provinces to lay the foundation of a scheme for the institution of a National Benevolent Fund , but it fell through , and ive suppose it is now a thing of the past . The efforts of two or threehowever great

, , Avill never encompass this national want . It is not one or tAvo of the great provinces that can successfully grapple Avith this mighty scheme ; neither can it bo done b y every provincial Grand Lodge giving its countenance or its aidnonor b

, , y every lodge , as a body ; it can only be clone by every Freemason as an individual throwing iu his helping hand and contributing annually his mite , not as a matter of charity but as a matter of duty . Numerically we are very much weaker

than our brethren in England or Ireland , and we do not believe we can cope with either of them in the matter of wealth , but still our numbers are such as to

warrant us saying , that the comparativel y trifling sum of 2 s . 6 d . per man contributed annually to one common fund would for a time be amply sufficient to meet the demands upon it . We are well enough aware that a few of our more wealthy provinces are able to bestow very

considerable sums in charity , but how many provinces are there , whose poorer brethren and their dependants , were it not for the individual efforts of the few , would be wholly unprovided for . That we have had many notable examples of individual and

lodge charity , we are well enough aware , but such instances are not any the less common in England or Ireland where they have , besides , a National Benevolent Fund . As a general rule the Freemasons of Scotland are poorer than those of the sister

countries ; but it is this very fact , which , to our thinking , ought to be one of the chiefest arguments anent the foundation of a Scottish Fund . They who are affluent need not any assistance , it is only they ivho are indigent . We do not believe that

there are any ivho would seek initiation into our fraternity with a view to become pensioners on such a fund , but if while able to afford it they each contributed their

portion , when circumstances so conspired as to render them more likely to be recipients of , than capable of bestowing charity , would they not be receiving only that to which they were duly entitled ? To receive assistance from one common

fund to wlnchamaii has himself contributed , savours far less of accepting a charity , than it does when one is the object of individual benevolence , and there are many who might thus be assisted when otherwise they would be left helpless . It has been said that had we such a fund

our lodge charity boxes would suffer , but we cannot afford to believe this , having a much higher opinion of our brethren than to fancy because they contributed 2 s . 6 d . a year to a national fund as a matter of duty , they would be the less willing to give

another occasional trifle to the private boxes of their respective lodges as a matter of privilege . Nor can we conceive of any very great difficulty in floating the scheme if only every Freemason would interest himself in itbut so long as every man

, waits for his neig hbour to taketheinitiative , the thing will never be managed . Let every master in Scotland set about forming a small committee to call upon the members of his lodge and ask their names to the movement , and we venture to predict that

not a single name will be refused , but except every lodge take the matter up and work with a will , it will end as all similar movements have done , owing to lack of energy , in talk . Upon this we could say much more , but another feature claims our attention .

In roaming about through England and Ireland , we have often felt pleased at seeing in their large towns an Institution wholly devoted to the purposes of Freemasonry . That one of all others which excited our envy and our admiration most , is the noble edifice in the Corn Market in Belfast . There meet under one

common roof all the lodges in the vicinity , there in their club room can the members enjoy each other ' s society , and discuss free from the presence and contact of the outer world the position and progress of the craft , and thither can the stranger bend his steps satisfied that he can gain that

Masonic information which is most likely to be reliable . That such an institution in our large Scottish towns would be greatly advantageous to the cause of Freemasonry