Masonic Relief In The Provinces.

Pats notion of it?— "Sure , one man is as good as another , and a great deal better too . " The guinea is surely none the worse gold for being stamped . In describing the two classes into which , as a body , I had divided our applicants for Masonic relief , I : stated that among the former , consisting of foreigners , ¦ many of whom professed to be " persons of distinction , " are to be found not a few arrant knaves and

. impostors ; whilst the latter , consisting of Scotch Masons , as a rule , may be described as occupying a . position little above that of artizans . Surely , your correspondent cannot say that I have in this , cast any slur on " honest poverty ; " or does he deny the accuracy of my description of Scotch 'begging Masons as a body , founded on an experience of thirty years ? On the contrary , his remarks Tather tend to confirm it .

The money test , as I freely admit , is the least of all the qualifications for the admission of a candidate into Masonry , but surely it has its use . In expressing a fear that through the facilities existing in Scotland ( and which your correspondent ' s communication discloses ) , far too many persons are admitted into

-the Order for a small fee , who are not " in reputable circumstances" ( not respectable , as misprinted ) , I was only quoting from the English " Book of Constitutions , " one of the qualifications which every candidate for initiation in this country must possess , and very properly so . Your corresdondent says of a candidate

in Scotland , "We do not look to his respectable ¦ . circumstances . ' ' I say , in reply , and again without -any slur on " honest poverty "—so much the worse for Scotch Masonry .

I am sorry to admit that in England too many lodges look more to numbers , and to the increase of their funds , than to the selection of "fit and proper persons to become Masons , " but the stringent rules laid down by our Grand Lodge , which are binding on all private lodges , offer some check against abuse , but

which is wanting in Scotland ; where , I believe , the . fee for admission and the power of conferring all three degrees in one night are almost , if not entirely , at the discretion of any private lodge ; and which system ( or rather want of system ) I was led to express a fear " offers a premium to many in the lower ranks of life to become Masons from mercenary and unworthy motives . "

You , sir , in a note ( p , 213 ) state " this subject is one demanding his lordships' ( the M . W . G . M . M . of Scotland ) most serious attention , and affecting the deservedl y high reputation of Scotch claims and Freemasonry in Scotland . " In further confirmation of the correctness of the opinion I have expressed , a

brother ( than whom probably few have had more ¦ extensive and practical experience on the subject ) writes to me as follows— "I need not say how fully I endorse all your remarks on the subject of Masonic relief in the provinces . * * So long as Scotland pursues the course it does , we must expect' battalions ' of distressed Masons . * * I have had Scotch Masons applying for relief loitltin a month of their initiation ! "

The worthy Scotch brother is evidently greatly shocked at my want of veracity , and I can imagine him lifting up bis hands in pious horror at my not testifying the truth . " He quotes ( or rather mis-

Masonic Relief In The Provinces.

quotes ) the passage in my letter in which I say of the Scotch begging Masons , that they come " not in single files but in battalions , " with the remark , " I fear this is an exaggeration , and an exaggeration is equal to a . " ( Save the mark !) I must here , indeed , cry peecavi , but I do so in very respectable

company , no less than that of " the divine Williams " himself , with whom , it would appear , my censor has no acquaintance . I trust I have not fallen into the hands of one of those " uneo guid and rigidly righteous , " for whom Scotland is so celebrated , and of whom our Bro . Burns has sung . Now that immortal

brother—the "High Chief of Scottish song "—was endowed by the Great Architect of the Universe not only with poetic talent of very hi gh order , combined with great play of fancy , but he also possessed a great sense of the humorous . Without intending any disparagement to the many good qualities which he

doubtless does possess , I greatly fear that although your correspondent is " One who has sat in Robert Burns ' s chair , " he has not caught , by contagion , any of the qualities of the great predecessor in its occupancy when he presided o ' er the sons of light . That naughty wit , Syney Smith , said , " It requires

a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding , " but I trust , however matter-of-fact and practical ( pray don ' t print this poetical ) he may be , that extreme course will not be necessary on the present occasion in offering your correspondent , at all events , a negative explanation ; and an assurance that I did not mean to tell a . Masonry , as he knows , is illustrated by symbols , and when I said that Scotch begging Masons came in battalions , I no more meant

to imply that they came m " bodies of foot from 500 to 800 " ( which , to be explicit , is the meaning attached to the word in the dictionary ) , than Shakespeare , from whom I quoted , meant that troubles " come not in single files but in battalions , " from 500 to S 00 in number ! I simply meant to imply that they were far more numerous than welcome .

There is only one other point on which I will further trespass upon your valuable space , which I must apologise for having already so far intruded on . Your correspondent thinks " that any ordinary learned Mason ( not even a D . Prov . G . M . ) might detect an impostor from a free and accepted Mason" and in this I fully

, concur , even though , as he infers , " the D . P . G . M . has been a little rusty . " The examinations of applicants for Masonic relief , however , is a subject on which much might be profitably written could it be done consistently . I will only say that it requires some tact and discretion on the part of the examineror he

, may impart more valuable information than he will gain , and that , if left alone , many of them—some of them gross impostors—will , to use a vulgar but expressive illustration of my meaning , " cut their own throats " only too readily and openly , in their endeavours to obtain relief from every one they come

across , in their character of worthy brethren in distress . I have heard of instances of travellers in carriages on the public road being saluted by some of these individuals . In conclusion , let me assure my worthy Scotch brother , that I have not " set down aught in malice " against him , but in the best Masonic

spirit , and believe me to remain , Yours fraternally , D . P . G . M .