Brotherly Love.

BROTHERLY LOVE .

DEDICATED TO BRETHREN—FAR B AST , WEST AND SOUTH .

O'er the land and the sea , with high standard unfurl'd , The Mason , advancing , will conquer the world ! By many an ocean on farthermost shore His standard is rooted , to float evermore ;

Where voices in multitude sing of his fame , And murmurs of gratitude herald his name ; Not spreading terror , with brand and with blade ,

Not with the " Darkness that maketh afraid , " But breathing a word , from his Master above , And coming in triumph of BROTHERLY LOVE !

O ' er the land and the sea , with high standard unfurl d , The Mason , advancing , will conquer the world ! Nations for ages had hedged themselves round As dangerous , unapproachable ground ,

And , all others' excellence thrusting from sight , Had gone on decaying and pining for Light;—So the myriad souls they inclosed , like an Ark Envelop'd in mystery , toil'd in the dark ;

Till Progress at last made a breach in the wall , Where strangers from far met and wrangled with all ; Here Masonry came on the wings of the Dove , Uniting the sundered , in BROTHERLY LOVE !

O ' er the land and the sea , with high standard unfurl d , The Mason , advancing , will conquer the world ! Islands and Continents bounded the main

With lakelet and river , mountain and plain , Where the savage athletic roved reckless and free , As the fish thro' the waters , the bird on the tree ,

As the beast in the jungle , and cruel as they , Irresponsible , made of his species a prey . The armies of Progress came dauntlessly on , The beast and the savage are tam'd or are e'one :

The prairies are gilt with the ripening grain , The smoke from the townships curls white o ' er the plain , Rich harbours and cities are fringing the sea , And ships are the fruit of the old forest-tree ; Whilst everywhere rising , in town and in grove , Are Masons' Halls—Temples to BROTHERLY LOVE !

O ' er the land and the sea , with high standard nnfurl'd , Tbe Mason , advancing , will conquer the world ! When rulers infuriate , marshal their strength , And war , with its horrors , seems coming at length ;

When the lips of the many are pallid with rage , And the heart of the warrior burns to engage ; When maidens and matrons are praying for peace , Would Masonrv rise and bid Passion to cease !

But tho' nerving fast and expanding in girth , Not yet is our Empire supreme in the earth . The quickening progress of culture and mind , The erowth of the P-flnern . ! wfial nf nnr kinrl

Will yet loud proclaim , in the blaze of tho sun , That tho' rulers are many , THE PEOPLES ARE ONE ; Then Masons will hail their behest from above , And preach to humanity—BROTHERLY LOVE . Walter Spencer .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

IT behoves us to call the attention of our readers to the necessity for supporting this Charity . The Annual Festival will bo held on Wednesday next , under tho presidency of the Right Hon . Lord Skelmersdale , Deputy G . M ., and we trust the efforts of those brethren who have

undertaken the arduous , and oftentimes thankless , duties of Stewards , will prove , at least , as successful as in former years . We go even further , and express a hope that , as the Craft is becoming numerically stronger every year , and has latterly risen so much higher in public estimation , the

brethren will recognise the imperative necessity there is for increasing the monetary aid hitherto forthcoming in support of the funds of this Institution . There is , too , one other reason why the Festival of 1876 should be a very great success , and that is the presence in the chair of

the third in rank of our Grand Officers , who now , for the first time since his appointment to the high position of Deputy Grand Master , has an opportunity of aiding , by his example and zealous advocacy , that cause which all true Masons have most at heart—the cause of Charity .

We need not dwell on the claims of this Institution to the support of the Craft . In our very first issue we drew a sketch of its origin , purpose , and progress . We pointed

out then , how , from a very small beginning indeed , it had gradually increased its sphere of operations , till now it was one of the most considerable Institutions of its kind in the United Kingdom . The first election took place in May

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

1843 , and then fifteen brethren were chosen to receive annuities , varying from £ 10 to £ 30 , according to age . There are now one hundred and thirty male annuitants , each of whom is in recei pt of £ 36 per annum , one hundred female annuitants , severally receiving £ 28 per annum , and

sixteen widows of former annuitants in receipt of a moiety of their late husbands' annuities . Thus the number of annuitants , men and women together , has grown from fifteen men , in 1843 , to two hundred and forty-six , in the year just ended . This , of course , is an eminently satisfactory

picture , but it is possible to do much moro than this . Clearly , therefore , more than this must be done . We say " must" advisedly . It is the duty of Freemasons to be charitable , but when not all is done that can be done , it is manifest the duty is imperfectly fulfilled , or fulfilled

m a loose perfunctory sort of way . Therefore it is we shall have a right to feel disappointed if the subscription list to the Festival of Wednesday next is not greatly in excess of the lists in previous years . But while , with a due regard to all eventualities , we note the possibility that

the subscriptions may not be progressively increasing in amount from year to year , we incline to the hope that as the amount in 1875 showed an increase of about £ 1 , 500 over the amount in 1874 , so the sum realised by the efforts of the Stewards in 1876 will be little , if anything , short of

£ 2 , 000 in excess of 1875 . In such case it will be in the power of the Committee to add to the number of beneficiaries ; and , as last year , owing to the liberal addition made to the funds of the Institution , they felt themselves in a position to increase the number of male annuitants from