Freemasonry Considered.

MASOKIG NOTES AND QUERIESTiiE AVORD " PAPIST . " A correspondent justly complains of the word "Papist , " which occurred in the last line of my

communication " Notions of Freemasonry , " FREE-3 TASOSS' MAOAZIXE , No . 433 , page 307 . It is an offensive word . It did not , however , come from my pen . "What I wrote was "Trappist , " ' but my badlyformed letters have on this , as on so many other occasions , misled the printer . In the same

communication , line 9 , for '' truths" read "virtues , " ancl line 10 , for " contribute" read " constitute . " — C . P . COOPEE .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed ly Correspondents . PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND .

TO THE EDIIOH OE THE niEElTASOirS MAGAZINE AXD MA 50 XI 0 MOHOR . DEAR SIE AMI BROTHER , —In the Saturday Review of the SOtii ult . there appeared an article oil the above subject , wherein the writer , after stating that it is impossible to suppose that the exploration of the Holy Land will be abandoned for want of

funds , says , "Whether the great , generous , and influential body of Freemasons will respond to Mr . Porter ' s impassioned appeal to contribute to an undertaking in which they must feel a special interest —the complete investigation of the remains of the Jewish Temple , / ,-,- more than we are alia lo decide ; but we are certain that the mass of the English people simply re-pure information as to what is being done to awaken their interest aud secure their aid . "

The italics are my own , but the words italicised express a doubt but too often expressed on the part of the outside world , that we of the Fraternity of Masons are but too indifferent to anything but wbat immediately concerns ourselves , that we are an effete bodygrown too old for these days of utilitarianism

, , and that , in fact , we are useless , and , like the barren fig tree , "only encumber the ground . " I am afraid thc world is right after all . What good is Masonry doing , I would ask , in England at this moment ?

_ How many of vis interest ourselves in thc restoration of those noble churches and cathedrals which were built by our ancestors ? How often clo wo each in our own localit y ( in our character of Masons ) support the local charities as we should ? How clo we prove to the world at large that ive are worth y to be regarded as the exponents of a great religion and the worth y descendants of worthy ancestors ? As Brutus says , "I pause for a replv . "

It is a common remark that we Masons only seem to meet that we may enjoy good dinners and if one only takes up a number ' of the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE , is it not common to see the greater part of the portion devoted to Masonic meetings taken up with a description of the banquet which followed , and the toasts which were given and responded to , winding up , as usual , with the somewhat trite remark that

Correspondence.

"the meeting was characterised by that love ancl harmony which distinguishes Freemasonry ? " It is all very well to say that we support some noble charities , although Freemasonry is not a friendly society , but , after all , I am not sure that there is anything very laudable in this , since the recipients of

our bounty are Freemasons" widows or children , and our benevolence is confined to thc members of our household . A father who supported his children , or the children who support their aged parents , might as well claim the admiration of the world for simply doing what the law requires of them , as we who only

in like manner clo our duty and nothing more . In this noble work which Mr . Porter appeals to the Freemasons to support , we have an opportunity of showing to the world that there is some merit in Freemasonry after ail , if we onlv avail ourselvesof it .

Let Grand Lodge vote out of its large revenues such a sum towards the Exploration Fund as shall clo credit to that august body , and to the multitude it represents . We claim to be descended from those craftsmen of old who raised the Temple of Solomonour Grand

, Master . How nau we dare assert that claim in the face of the whole world if we clo not aid in snch a glorious undertaking as the exploration of the City of Jerusalem , in which that Temple stood , ancl where the remains of the Temple of Zerubbabel and that of Herod now stand ?

To my brother Knights Templar I particularly appeal , as the representatives of those Kni ghts of the Temple whose Order was instituted for the defence of the Holy Sepulchre . Our learned Bro . > J < EeA " . II . B . Tristram , whose researches in the Holy Land have already made him famous , is to accompany the expedition , and we may be sure that Masonic interests will be safe in his hands .

Irustmg that the subject will be brought forward at the next meeting of Grand Lodge , and that some brother more able than myself will advocate the . bums of the Palestine Exploration Fund before that assembly . Yours fraternally , * A . SO" - , Knight of the Soval Order of Scotland .

A Masonic Impostor.

A MASONIC IMPOSTOR .

10 THE EIHTOI ! OF THIS EJiEEMASO . VS "' AGAZIXE A >" D MAS 02 CIO MIBHOR . HEAP . Sri . AXD BROTHER , —In your impression of the 7 th inst . there appeared a letter from Bro . H . AWilliamson , W . M . 200 , relative to a begging impostor named James Black , of St . Stephen ' s Lodge , No . 145 , Edinburgh . I beg to say that he is the same individual that I wrote to you about , which

appeared in your MAGAZINE of the 19 th of October , and which has been the ori gin of the correspondence under the head " Looseness iu Masonry . " 1 do hope the letters that have appeared since then will not have been written in vain , but that some steps will be taken to put a stop to this rascally system , which is disgraceful to the Craft , and injurious to all really deserving cases . Tours fraternally , " P . M .