Our Charities.

OUR CHARITIES .

ZONDON , SATUBDAT MATH , 1 S 61 .

The last of the Festivals for the Masonic Charities -was held 011 "Wednesday , under the presidency of the Eight Hon . Lord Leigh , Prov . Gr . Master for "Warwickshire , and the handsome sum of £ 2500 added to the funds of the Girls' School—a pretty convincing proof that the prosperity of one of our charities only tends to increase

the prosperity of the others . At the Festival of the Benevolent Institution for Aged Masons and their Widows in January , £ 3000 ivere subscribed ; at that of the Boys' School , in March , £ 1600 ; and now , for the Girls' School , £ 2500 ; a total of £ 7100 .

The brethren from "Warwickshire came up nobly to the support of their Prov . G-. Master , upwards of fifty being present ; and Lord Eichard Grosvenor , the new S . G . W ., gracefully availed himself of the opportunity of being introduced to the brethren by his

brother-inlaw , Lord Leigh , whose well-deserved popularity in the Craft would be sure to command a hearty reception to the introduction . Bro . Lord Eichard Grosvenor is a young man and a young Mason , having been initiated in 1 S 57 ; and we trust we shall have many opportunities

of recording his name amongst the supporters of our charities . There was also an unusual muster of Present and Past Grand Officers , to testify alike their regard for the Charity , and their respect to the noble brother who

filled the Chair . The whole of the proceedings were admirably conducted , and the glee-room nuisance having been abolished , there was nothing to mar the general enjoyment of the

company . But was there no omission ? Bro . Crew , the Secretary , who for nearly twenty years has been the life and soul of the institution—ivhose personal popularity has done much , very much , to increase the success of the school—lies on

a bed of sickness , from which , in all human probability , he will never rise again , and not one word of sympathy for his sufferings was uttered—not one hope expressed that the G . A . O . T . U . would mitigate those suiFerings , as He tempers the wind to the shorn lamb . Surely a kindly

word might have been spared on behalf of an old servant and worthy brother . Again , the House Committee and other officers give their services gratuitously , and it would be no great stretch of courtesy to acknowledge those services once a year . The Stewards , who prepare

the list of toasts , should see to this . But though the Festivals are passed , the brethren must not suppose that nothing remains to be done with respect to the Charities . The office of Secretary to both Schools is vacant , and care must be taken to select

the best man , in order that neither institution may suffer by the change . In the Boys' School , other and most important alterations are about to take place , and we trust the Committee will in their choice of Master and Matron be guided hy no other principle—indeed ive are

Our Charities.

sure they will not—than that of placing the School in the highest state of efficiency ; for on the appointment now to be made depends the prospects of a generation of boys who , according as they are well or ill instructed , will reflect credit or discredit on our Craft . If weeducate them so as to enable them to take a good position

in the world , they will naturally turn with yearning towards the institution through which they have been passed , and become not only useful members of society , but , we doubt not , active and sincere members of the Craft ; whilst , if they leave us so badly educated that

none but the inferior walks of life are open to them , they will not only reflect discredit upon us , but be for ever estranged from the Order . The election of annuitants in the Eoyal Benevolent Institution will take place on Friday next , and with the

growing popularity of the Institution , we look forward with pleasure to the day when it will be only necessary for a brother , as he advances towards the close of his career , or a widoiv , to be enabled to show that they are in distress , to he at once admitted on the funds , so that

all may feel that there is something more in Masonry than a name , and the charity which we profess is fully carried out in practice . "With such a day—and we believe it is not -far distant—Masonry must flourish even to a greater extent than it has hitherto done , though no

one would more sincerely regret than we should , that candidates , seeking advantages from the Order , should be admitted amongst us .

Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES .

( Continued from paye 3-i 3 . ) Soon after the French occupation of Naples , some of the most ardent Republicans retired to the mountains of Calabria , bearing with them the most vehement hatred of all kings , whether native or foreign . They were living there isolatedand not even formed into a societ

, y , when the English in Sicily received notice of this state of things , and determined to make use of them to disturb the French dominion . They excited them to combine and enlist followers , promising thein , in case of success , the form of a constitution . The Society of the Carbonari then arose , taking the name from the

charcoalburners of Calabria , many of whom joined the society . Capobianea was at their head .- they imitated the Freemasons in then- initiative rites , and enjoined the strictest secrecy ; but while the Freemasons had always a social end in view , and the welfare ofthe community , the Carbonari were purely politicaland closelfollowed in the

, y steps of those secret societies of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ( at the period of the disputes between the Guelphs and Gliibellines , and of the resistance of the Popes to the pretensions ofthe Emperors of Germany ) . Secret societies were then instituted in support of the Papacy , and in opposition to all foreign

domination , which in later societies assumed the phase of the independence and unity of Italy . " "We labour , " they said , in their symbolical language , " to purge tiie country ( Italy ) from the wolves" ( strangers ) . The Carbonari , in 1809 , vowed vengeance for the Laml slain by the wolf—by the Lamb meaning Jesus Christ , . and by