Masonic Appeal.

were needed to explain the object , and with the MASONIC MIEKOB made up my mind to call upon all the wives of the lodge member ' s , widows and single member ' s , asking them to give 10 s ., if they could , to help in this work ; of course there are many who cannot give as much , but if they who can , will do so it will make up for those who ive less . I have

g met with very good success as far as I have called , but I have not yet gone the round of the members , as I leave my books with them for a few hours that they may read for themselves . I send you this brief account , hoping you may aid the cause by inserting the plan in your next llaganne , putting it in the

best form you can to induce other lodges to take it up . At a small personal sacrifice this heavy debt might be easily paid , when we think that there are upwards of 40 , 000 members of lodges in England alone . Next month I hope to send you the finished account of the work in this lodge .

H . H . W . [ We feel very much pleasure in giving insertion to the above letter , and heartily commend the idea of our lady correspondent to the notice of the Craft generally , that they may be also induced to " go and do likewise . "—ED . F . M . ]

The State Of Masonry In The Provinces.

THE STATE OF MASONRY IN THE PROVINCES .

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FKEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I have read with much interest the correspondence which has lately appeared in your columns on the state of Masonry in the provinces ; and I feel strongly tempted to trouble you with some observations , prompted by my own

experience , on several of the points already discussed . Among these I may mention the mischievous effect produced upon a province by having at its head a Prov . G . M . . who persistently neglects the duties of his office , whilst retaining the whole power in his hands , and the great difficulty of getting rid of such

an one ; * the relative positions of the Prov . G : Masters and their deputies , and the anomalous status of the latter as regards the Craft in general . I must , however , for the present refrain , aud , trusting that so important a subject will not much longer remain in its present unsatisfactory state . I remain , Tours fraternally , D . P . G . M .

Masonic Relief In The Provinces.

MASONIC RELIEF IN THE PROVINCES .

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS * MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I venture to trespass upon your space with some remarks upon a point not yet touched upon , but which , although indirectly bearing upon the main subject , is one of no little importance , and well worth ventilating in your pages , with a view , if possible , to obtain a remedy , or , at least , a mitigation of a crying evil from which countrv lodges have

Masonic Relief In The Provinces.

long suffered . I say " country lodges , " because I presume , from the nature of things , the members of London lodges are very little exposed to it . I refer to the increasingly numerous applications for relief made to the Masters , Almoners , and individual members of lodges in the provinces by persons

styling themselves "Brethren in distress , " but who , as a class , may more truly be designated "Tramping Masons , " and , not unfrequently , " Masonic Impostors . " After an interval of more than a quarter of a century , during which I have been an active member

of my present and other lodges , I am again serving the Mastership of my mother lodge , and during the past few months the W . M . of the sister lodge in this town and myself have been inundated with applications for relief to au extent far beyond anything I have ever known in my long experience of lodge

business . "Distressed Masons'' have appeared herenot monthly , or weekly only , but almost daily , and , in some instances , by two or three in a day—indeed , between the Tuesday in last week and the preceding Thursday , no less than nine such applicants presented themselves .

Nearly all these comers , until their rapidly increasing numbers compelled us to say , " Hold , enough ! " have—perhaps injudiciously—been relieved , to a greater or less extent , out of the lodge fundsnot because they were thought worthy of it , but in the hope of sparing the brethren generally the

annoyance of being personally solicited for relief by these men , which is contrary to our by-laws . Now , past experience has long convinced me that

it is very rare indeed for any really deserving ease of distress to be presented to the Fraternity in this manner by itinerant begging ; and that , at least nineteen out of twenty of the men so asking relief are either arrant impostors or unworthy brethren who are debased enough to make a trade of Masonry , and to lead a wandering life of idleness bimposing

y with a lying tale of distress upon the charity of the country brethren , rather than earn an honest living by the work of their hands . I have been glad to find , for the credit of the Craft in this country , that comparatively few of these men claim to be English Masons . As a body they may be

divided into two classes—foreigners and Scotch Masons . Of the former class not a few—if their own account is to be credited—are " persons of distinction , " whilst , as a rule , the latter may be described as occupying a position little above that of artizans . I fear that among the former class ( for whom as

wanderers in a strange land our sympathies would be naturally excited ) are to be found not a few arrant knaves and impostors . In the early part of the year you gave insertion to a communication from the town from whence I write , respecting a Hungarian who had been detected

as a Masonic impostor after he had succeeded in fleecing many of the brethren , and , as it was subsequently found , he had also done on a former visit , but whose career was soon afterwards cut short by his being taken into custody at Bristol for felony . I regret to say that my colleague and I were soon afterwards victimized by another foreigner , who , however , unlike his predecessor , there was no reason