The Rights Of Freemasons.

pathy , our kindness , and our attention , but Ave are to bestow our elimosinary aid only on the indigent or the destitute . He must also be worthy . There is no obligation on a Mason to relieve the distresses , however real they may be , of an unworthy brother . The claimant must be , in . the language ofthe charge" true and genuine . " " True" here is used

, , in its good old Saxon meaning , of " faithful" or "trusty . " A true Mason is one who is mindful of his obligations , and who faithfully observes and practises all his duties . Such a man , alone , can rightfully claim the assistance of his brethren . But a third provision is made in the fundamental law ; namely , that the assistance is not to be beyond the ability of

the giver . One of the . most important landmarks , contained in our unwritten law , more definitely announces this provision , by tho words , that the aid and assistance shall bo without injury to onesself or his family . Masonry docs not require that wc shall sacrifice ; our own welfare to that of a brother ; but that with prudent liberality , and a just regard to our own worldly means , we shall give of the means with which Providence may have blessed us for the relief of our distressed brethren .

It is hardly necessary to say , that the claim for relief of a worthy distressed Mason extends also to his immediate family . SEC . VI . —Ofthe Bight of Masonic Burial . —After a very careful examination I can find nothing in the Old Charges or General Regulations , nor in any other part of tho

fundamental law , in relation to Masonic burial of deceased brethren . It is probable that , afc an early period , when tho great body of the Craft consisted of Entered Apprentices , the usage permitted the burial of members , of the first or second degree , with the honours of Masonry . As far back as 17 54 , processions for the purpose of burying Masons

seemed to have been conducted by some of the Lodges with either too much frequency , or some other irregularity ; for , in November of that year , the Grand Lodge adopted a regulation , forbidding them , under a heavy penalty , unless by permission of the Grand- Master , or his deputy . " * As there were , comparatively speaking , few Master Masons at that period , it seems a natural inference that most of the funeral 2-irocoasions were for the burial of Apprentices , or , at least , of Fellow Crafts .

But the usage since then has been greatly changed ; and universal consent , the law , at first committed to writing , by Preston , who was the author of our present funeral service , is now adopted . The Regulation , as laid down b y Preston , is so explicit , that I prefer giving ifc in his own words . t

" No Mason can be interred with the formalities of the Order , unless it be at his oivn special request , communicated to the Master of the Lodge of which he died a memberforeigners and sojourners excepted ; nor unless he has been advanced to the third degree of Masonry , from ivhich restriction there can be no exception . FelloAV Crafts or

Apprentices are not entitled to the funeral obsequies . " This rule has been embodied in the modern Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England ; and , as I have alreadyobserved , appears by universal consent to have been adopted as the general usage . The necessity for a dispensation , which is also required b y

the modern English Constitutions , does not seem to have met with the same general approval , and iu this country dispensations for funeral processions are not usuall y , if at all , required . Indeed , Preston himself , in explaining the law , says that it was not intended to restrict the privileges of the regular Lodges , but that , "by the universal practice of Masons ,

every regular Lodge is authorized by the Constitution to act on such occasions when limited to its own members . " :, ' : It is only when members of other Lodges , not under the con-

The Rights Of Freemasons.

trol of the Master , are couvened , that a dispensation is required . But in America , Grand Lodges or Grand Masters have not generally interfered with the rig hts of the Lodges to bury the dead ; the Master being of course amenable to the constituted authorities for any indecorum or impropriety .

Templar Clothing In The United States.

TEMPLAR CLOTHING IN THE UNITED STATES .

[ Communicated to tlio Voice of Masonry by Fra . JOUNAA ' . SIJIOKS . Grand Treasurer of flic Grand Encampment , U . S . J HAYING been requested by various Knights throughout the jurisdiction of our Grand Encampment to give them the reasons for the change in colour from black to ivliite , ancl the form of the costume adopted last September in Chicago , I take this method of iving an answer . It will be understood that the inions advanced

g op are my oivn , for which I am responsible , and that although the Grand Encampment in adopting the uniform recommended by me substantially adopted the ideas upon ivhich it was based , still there is , as I understand it , no one IIOAV competent to speak for the body save our M . E . aud courteous Grand Master , Sir B . B . French . I will also say that if any Knight has investigated the history of the Order more carefully than I have , and can shoiv

that I am in error , there is no one who will more readily or cheerfully acknowledge that error than the writer . It may be as well to state in the beginning , tluit from the foundation of the Order iu this country its clothing or uniform has been black . For this , the reason " has been ordinarily assigned , that it was in token of our grief for the martyrdom of De Molay . That those Knights who survived the dignity and commanding laces

influence of the once mighty Order—who in secret and by-p Avept the untimely and cruel death of De Molay and his illustrious companions—had abundant cause for grief , there can be no doubt , but it is questionable whether that grief , absorbing as it must have been , would have swept from their remembrance , that to put off the white and assume the black was not only to violate their OAVII statutes and regulationsbut to descend from the dignity of

, Knights to the meaner capacity of esquires and serving brethren ; to make null and void the fair symbolism of the white mantle as a type of that purity of soul and rectitude of intentions which hael been the support of their Grand Master nndcr the anathemas of

his enemies and the cruel torture of the fire by which he was consumed . This reason , then , is just no reason at all ; the true one is , that Templary received its first impetus in North America under the auspices of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Kite ; one of the earliest Grand Encampments , that of New York , having been constituted by the Grand Council , on the Scottish Eite principle , which creates governing powers and

then allows them to establish subordinates— -precisely the reverse of the American system requiring the foundation of subordinates as a primary necessity to the establishment of Grand bodies to govern them . Now the degree of Kadosh , the 30 " of the Scottish series , is essentially a Templar degree . In it arc rehearsed the story of De Molay ' s martyrdom , aud a fanciful legend that the Knihts of Paris annuallcelebrate their sorrow for his death b

g y y going in procession around the equestrian statue of Henry IV ., supposed to stand on the spot ivhere the Grand Master was sacrificed . The scarf or sash of this degree is black , edged ivith silver —at the bottom of which is attached a poignard—precisely the sash Avorn by Templars , till Avithin a few years the passion ford isplay gainedthe ascendancy , especially among the younger members of the Orderand immense quantities of meaningless

embroi-, dery , fringe , jewels , & c , were added , in proportion to the taste (?) or means of the wearer . This is what many ivell infcentioned Sir Knights call the old uniform , just as they cling to the term Encampment , unknoAA'ii to the original Templars . I confess to an abiding veneration for that ivhich has been sanctioned by long use and acknowledgment , but I want the antiquity which I am to admire to back to the beginning . If the

go Knigtits of Kadosh choose to array themselves in black as a symbol of mourning , that is their affair , but it affords no reason why our Order , Avhich openly assumes the name of Templars , should not go to the original source for its information . With the reader ' s permission the inquiry will noiv be pursued in that

direction . The Order of Hospitallers or Knights of St . John of Jerusalem commenced about the eleventh century , their duties being confined , as indicated by their title , to the sick ancl wounded . When Kayinond De Puis joined them they were constituted a military Order ; he ivas elected Grand Master , and they assumed a black habit ivith a white cross of eight points on the shoulder . From