Charity.

CHARITY .

LONDON , SATURDAY , FNBRTJA . EY 2 , 1801 .

There has been , during the last few weeks , so many claims on . the charity of all men , whether Ereemasons or not , that we cannot but reflect ivith pride , 1 IOAV well they hare been responded to , as the columns of our daily contemporaries have evidenced . During the late severe weather the distress in the metropolis was almost

unexampled , and the public used every exertion to alleviate it—and it was with pride that we noticed the continual appearance ofthe names of distinguished Ereemasons , and even of lodges in their corporate capacity , appearing in the lists of subscriptions so published .

At the same time , our noble brother , Lord Leigh , has heen heading a committee of Warwickshiremen—not a few of whom are Masons—to raise a fund for the relief of the distress which prevails in Coventry—not so much through the rivalry of French manufactures , as some believe , as the . change in fashion by whieh

hats have to a large extent superseded bonnets , and ribbons become an almost obsolete article of adornment with the " belles of society . Most gratified have we been to observe the efforts made to l-elieve that distress , ancl wishing the promoters of the movement every success

, we cannot conceal from ourselves that any real amelioration of the condition of the ribbon weavers can only be permanently looked to from a large portion of them beingdrafted into other employments . The endeavours noiv making to induce ladies to purchase Coventry ribbons , to

obtain new patterns , & c , are all laudable in their way . but can only prove palliatives of tlie distress , Avhilst the effects of such measures cannot be permanent . A similar movement was a few years since made on behalf of the metal button makers of Birmingham , only to end in

disappointment ; and a gentleman is noiv scarcely ever met with a metal button on his coat , excepting he be one of the few remaining beans of the reign of George the Third , ivho adhere to the old costume because they do not like innovations .

In Monmouthshire , our Neirport brethren are usinotheir best exertions to assist in relieving the distress of fifty-one widows , suddenly deprii-ed of their natural supporters—of fourteen old and infirm parents , who were dependent solely on the labour of their sons—and of one hundred and twenty childrenall made orphans

, by the same calamity—an explosion of fire-damp at the Risca Colliery , on the 1 st of December . The miner at all times lives in an atmosphere of danger , and yet how few of us think of that when sitting by our firesideand ivhat we should do Avithout their labour it is

impossible to say , especially in iveather such as that which we have recently experienced . When , therefore , our attention is called to that danger by such a catastrophe as that which has just occurred , it is the duty of all to do their best to alleviate the misery of those thus throivn hel pless on the world . The brethren of the Silurian Lodge , to whom be all honour for having undertaken to appeal

Charity.

to their brother Masons to assist the noble efforts of the public of Newport to provide for these people , needed no apology , that , though the poor men were not Masons , they felt assured the brethren would assist them . And ive do not apologise to the brethren for drawing attention to the claims of such deserving objects to

commisseration and relief . AVe therefore hopie that the appeal of the Isca Lodge will be liberally responded to , and that many a Post-office Order will find its ivay to Bro . Williams , Silurian Lodge , Newport , Monmouthshire . But it is especially gratifying , whilst these numerous

claims upon the sympathy and purses of Masons are being made , and ive think ive may add , nobly responded to , that our own Charities are not forgotten—as was amply proved by the splendid list of subscriptions and donations , amounting to no less then £ 3 , 000 , announced

at the Eestiva ! of the Royal Benevolent Institution for Aged Masons and their Widows , on Wednesday last—an amount exceeding by nearly £ 900 the subscription of last year , and which was of itself one of the , if not the largest ei'er made for the institution . Viscount

Ilolmesdale , the Provincial Grand Master for Kent , presided , and ivell may he be proud of the noble manner in which he was supported by the brethren . To the provincial brethren , too , who acted as Stewards , great thanks are due for the manner in which they have roused their respective provinces to action . A few years since it was

a too true complaint , that whilst the greater - part of the benefits derived from the charities went to provincial brethren , nearly the ivhole of the money came from London . The provinces were at first piqued at the complaint ; but having upon inquiry found the statement

to be founded on fact , have nobly set about the work of giving their full share in aid of the different charities ; and upon this occasion upwards of one-third of the subscription came from three provinces , West Yorkshire sending £ 500 , Kent £ 300 , and East Lancashire nearly

£ 230 ; the latter being , we are informed , only an earnest of ivhat they intend to do in future . A few more such festivals as that of Wednesday , and ive shall be in the jiroiid j > osition of being able to boast that an aged Mason or his widoAV neA'er has to aslc for a nension in vain .

Masonic Symbolism,

MASONIC SYMBOLISM ,

WITH RETERENCE TO THE MEASES ' CI- AND ORIGIN OE THE WORDS "FREEMASON" AND " OGATAS ' . " PART V . ( Concluded from page 23 , Vol . IV . ) The newly-initiated having been duly enlightened , is

now enabled to proceed with his alloted task , and derives knoivledge and delight from the various emblems which surround him . Symbolically , a Mason's Lodge is a representation of the world . " Its cloudy canopy , " says a writer in THE EREEMASONS MAGAZINE" is an emblem of those

man-, sions of unutterable bliss where the Grand Master of the Universe for ever reigns ; whose all-seeing eye beholds with unceasing complacency the efforts of His creatures to do His will . " To that abode of the blessed the Mason is taught to aspire , while the path is indicated by the