The Budget.

THE BUDGET .

LONDON , SATURDAY , APBIZ 25 , 1863 .

CITJE LICENCES ASB EBEEITASON ' S' HALLS . That -we should pen an article on . the Budget of the Chancellor of the Exchequer may appear somewhat strange to the brethren , looking at the neutral position we , as Ereemasons , are hound to hold in all

matters of politics ; hut on the present occasion it will he seen that we have good reason , in the interests of the Craft , to depart from our usual custom , and call attention to the new Budget , which is calculated to have a very serious effect on those lodges which are held apart from hotels .

It has been long the urgent desire of the majority of Ereemasons to have the various lodges held in halls or apartments exclusively devoted to the purposes of the Order , and in very many parts of the country buildings have been erected , or rooms rented for the purpose , where refreshments have been served on the

club principle , without having recourse to taverns . Under the new Budget , as is pointed out in two letters from correspondents , which appear in another column , these halls will have to take out the victualler's licence , as clubs , at a cost of £ 17 Is . per annum

, and 5 per cent , additional . How injuriously this is likely to act may he shown by one example . In a town in Dorsetshire there is a lodge held in private rooms , the number of members of which does not exceed

twenty , the whole expenses of the year probably never amounting to £ 30 , and yet upon this expenditure the members will be called upon to pay a duty of £ 18 ; and there can , therefore , be but one of two resultseither the members must abstain from refreshment entirely , or remove to a public-house . [ Nor is this

the case in one town only , but in scores , if not hundreds of places , throughout the United Kingdom ; and certainly it could never have been the intention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to so heavily tax small bodies of men meeting together for the carrying

out the principles of an association , one of whose great objects is the practice of Charity ; and how nobly it is carried out in the small country lodges few know , excepting those who have witnessed it .

errand Lodge does not meet until June ( excepting for the annual festival on ^ Wednesday next ) , or it should take the initiative in making a representation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subjectt > ut there is no time to be lost , and those brethren who take an interest in the matter—and what brother will

not- —should at once bestir themselves to form a deputation , to represent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ' he utter ruin which his measure , if persevered in to

The Budget.

its full extent , will bring upon Ereemasons' Lodges not held in taverns , and sure we are that the deputation need not long look for a proper introduction to the right honourable gentleman , when we remember the number of distinguished Masons , including the Eight "Worshipful Deputy Grand Master , who occupy prominent positions in the Government .

Freemasonry As A Teacher.

FREEMASONRY AS A TEACHER .

Craft Masonry teaches us a very large range of subjects , but there are only a few Masons who look upon it as a part of their duty to make themselves acquainted with its teachings . This , we believe , arises less from a desire to carry out the principles of the Order than from an idea that special subjects are ,

Masonically , represented by the presence , in lodges , of individual brethren who have made particular branches their specialities , either as a profession or as amateurs .

The teachings or the objects recommended for constant study to all Ereemasons embrace a very extended range , and it is our purpose to call attention to them in the course of this article . In the ceremonies and lectures Ave are continually

reminded that our principal duty is to honour ancl obey the will of the Great Architect of the Universe in all stations of life . This we are constantly reminded of by the unfolded volume of the sacred law , which sanctifies and rules all our Masonic rites . Prayer is

the first duty in which an initiate joins before he is made a Ereemason , and it is the last in which every brother participates before a lodge is closed ; therefore it is evident that prayer should be the chief duty of every well-regulated Ereemason . But do we

habitually pray ? Let us hope that the answer may be in the affirmative ; for , without asking how a man prays , or what form of faith he considers the most acceptable to his conscience , we should all remember that prayer and praise are due from every creature to an allwise and gracious Creator .

Loyalty is another duty . Ereemasons are expected to be good citizens and loyal subjects ; and in Great Britain and her colonies there can be no doubt but at the present day there is more true loyalty to the Sovereign than ever was the case before , even in the boasted days of chivalry . Loyalty , then , may be

dismissed in one sentence , often reiterated but no less true , that Ereemasons are amongst the foremost and most loyal subjects of the Crown .

Brotherly love is a duty Avhich we are proud to think is really carried to an extent amongst us unequalled by any other tie . If we search the whole of the wide Avorld through we shall find that where two Ereemasons meet together there is brotherly love .