The Masonic Charities At Home And Abroad.

Western railway , for instance , the names of Bros . Lewis Crombie , Joseph Beattie . John Strapp , and many other good men and true amongst the officers of that company ; on the Great Western railway Sir Daniel Gooch , M . P ., and others ; on

the London and Brighton , the South-Eastern , the London and North-Western , the Great Northern , the Midland , the Great Eastern—indeed , and every one of the greater or lesser railways in , and running out of , the metropolis , nearly all the

principal officers are members of our ancient and honourable fraternity . It is therefore scarcely necessary to do more on the present occasion than suggest the extensive and fertile fields of operation in which such important undertakings might be

advantageously prosecuted , and so materially aid those zealous and indefatigable officers and secretaries of the several Royal Masonic Charitable Institutions . We sincerely hope that the present suggestion

may be taken up promptly , and proved as productive and beneficial to the Masonic Charities , as Ave believe it is capable of being made with a minimum of strain upon the pockets of the charitably disposed members of the Masonic Order .

( No - Iv.)—The Grand Lodge And The Grand Orient.

( No - IV . )—THE GRAND LODGE AND THE GRAND ORIENT .

We are aware that the Grand Lodge of Ens * - land has not received official representatives from the Grand-Orient de France ; but the two Masonic bodies are undoubtedly en rapport , and interchanges of visits are continually going on

between brethren of the two organisations . In the French Calendrier MaQonnique the Grand Lodge is included in the Siste des Puissances MaQonniaues Etrangeres avec lesquelles le Grand-Orient de France est en Correspondence . The

Grand Lodge has , however , declined to acknowledge degrees conferred under charter from Le Supreme Conseil du Rite JScossais , Ancien et Accepte . The editor of the Jersey Express Avas made a Mason in a lodge of the French Scottish

Rite , but afterwards wishing to join an English lodge , the question was distinctly submitted to the Grand Lodge as to whether he could be received as a joining brother , when it was decided that he must be re-initiated , passed , and raised ,

which was accordingly done in Mechanics ' Lodge . The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland

( No - Iv.)—The Grand Lodge And The Grand Orient.

receive representatives from the Grand-Orient , and have accredited delegates to that body . Moreover , in Lodges of the Grand-Orient an English , Scotch , or Irish Mason is received with hearty Avelcome , Avhile those whom wo may term

" French-Scotch" Masons are regarded as illegitimate . It will be remembered that the lodges of the Grand-Orient in Brittany some time ago refused admittance to Masons of the Supreme Conseil . We have shown that the majority of the

members of the Grand-Orient have supported their Grand Master in declaring that a belief in God and the eternity of the soul is indispensable for membership . We do not know what are the regulations of the Supreme Conseil du , Rite

Ecossais on this head ; but it is unfortunately the fact that the lodges of that body have become notorious hot-beds of infidelity—all belief in God being considered as " retrograde " by many of the eminent " philosophers" Avho meet under the

cticjis of the Conseil . Nay , further , we are informed that one great obstacle to the union ofthe Supreme Conseil Avith the Grand-Orient is the dislike of members of the former body to the stricter discipline of the latter . It is , however ,

pretty Avell understood that the Supreme Conseil is in process of decay , and the probabilities are that when the present chief of the Order dies , its long-deferred dissolution will come about . With regard to the conflict of jurisdictions , we are

aware that there are in London Masonic bodies professing to be chartered by the Grand-Orient ; but we imagine that the charters , if existing , are of old date , and we fancy that they have been used for purposes foreign to the objects of the Craft .

We are , however , prosecuting inquiries hereon , though Ave are afraid that no good purpose would be served by the publication of the facts , Avhich , if Ave are rightly informed , Avould weigh more heavily against the members of these semi-secret ateliers than against the Grand-Orient .

There are in France some brethren who would like to adopt the English system of Avorking in preference to their own ; and it would be an immense advantage to the Craft generally if this idea could be carried . In London there is a lodge

under charter from Lord Zetland which is worked in the French language , but with regard to which we have no information . In Jersey , however , the Lodge La Cesaree , which has become celebrated throughout the world for the eminence of its members and the excellence of its working , is