Special Communication Of Grand Lodge.

formed as that of onr Lifeboat Institution , and it is certain there is no service for which thero is greater need . The lifeboats stationed along our coast-line are numerous , but not numerous enough for tho demands that aro constantly being made upon them . Many a stout ship

goes down , many a score of lives are lost which would bo spared to us were tho means of rescue moro numerous . Tho dreadful accounts of disasters which have figured so conspicuously in our daily contemporaries during tho last few days are evidence enough that wo are still insufficiently

furnished with life-saving apparatus . Therefore it is we havo said there is no Institution throughout all England we should moro gladly seo benefited substantially than the Lifeboat Institution . The whole world will , to a certain extent , benefitby thegif fc , and Grand Lodge will have

thegratification of feeling that it has adopted a right worthy plan for commemorating the most auspicious event in the recent history of our Craft , though not , in our opinion , Uie most worthy . Nor must it be forgotten that , barely two years since , when a proposition was made to vote £ 100 from

Grand Lodge funds towards the endowment of the existing Freemasons' Life Boat already referred to , the motion was rejected , one of the grounds urged against the proposal being that the funds of Grand Lodge were intended for Masonic purposes only . Thus , by their present action , our

rulers are to some extent stultifying themselves . The endowment of our Charities is a legitimate Masonic purpose , and certainly the endowment of Lifeboats is as much outside the main object of Freemasonry now , as in the first quarter of the year 1874 . We repeat our opinion , that

the Masonic Charities should have received , each of them , a handsome contribution from Grand Lodge Funds , to be known always as the Prince of Wales ' s Endowment . But as this , it seems , is not to be , we cannot but state our belief that the Special Committee have mado the second best proposal it was in their power to make .

Tolerance And Intolerance.

TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE .

OUR readers must not run away with the notion that all Masons practise what they profess . Wo are no more free from human infirmity than the rest of our fellowcreatures . We all . of us have our special idiosyncracies , and are not always sufficiently careful to sink them in the company of our fellows . Wero brethren as disposed to

study the beauties of Freemasonry as they are prone to cultivate the fourth degree , the Fraternity would rub on the better for this disposition . But precept and practice do not always go hand in hand together ; there is even at times a very strong antagonism between the two . We

ought to be perfect illustrations—as perfect , that is to say , as men can be ; we ought , we repeat , to bo perfect illustrations of all the cardinal virtues ; but we are not , and perhaps in no one particular do we more exhibit the innate weakness of our humanity than in the tenacity with

which—paradoxical as it will seem to many or most of our friends—we cling to the vices of tolerance , and neglect the virtues of intolerance . We are tolerant to a fault in many instances —that is , we exhibit forbearance towards many things and on many occasions which we have no business to , or , at all

events , which it were better we should not , exhibit . We are also intolerant to a fault—that is , we are not always as forbearing towards onr fellows as we should be . This

is what we mean by saying that we cling to the vices of tolerance , and eschew the virtues of intolerance , so that our readers need have no fear on the score of our perfect orthodoxy . But to the proof of our proposition .

Is it not within the knowledge of every one of our readers that all of usendurewhat ought not to be endured , on the plea that harmony and good fellowship require us to do so ? We see around us brethren who are as careful in

ignoring the fundamental principles of the Craft , as they should be in observing them . Wo give them all credit for possessing the will to observe them , but they lack the courage to exercise that will . They allow the natural vices of their disposition to ride roughshod over the

beautiful teachings of our Society , and the consequence is their whole Masonic career is , in very truth , a lie . Setting aside the infirmities of our humanity , for which , indeed , we have already made sufficient allowance , we find there are many who neglect their duties , or defy our principles almost as a matter of course . For instance , we are enjoined to study

Tolerance And Intolerance.

the doctrines of Masonic science , yet wo study them not , or only in a perfunctory sort of way . We are taught to speak well of a brother in his absence as well as in his presence , and if that cannot be done honourably and with propriety , to observe silence ! Yet there are far too many

who are slanderously given ; or , we should rather say , there is a good deal of backbiting among Craftsmen . It is gently insinuated b y some one that Bro . So-and-So is not the model Mason he appears to bo . True , he is active and attentive in the fulfilment of his duties , but then he has

some purpose to servo in being so . Ho is a subscriber to our Charities , but he takes good heed beforehand to satisfy all his own luxurious wants . He is a zealous official , but in private life he has , or is said to have many and great infirmities , and to indulge them incontinently . These

backbitings , of course , are only ordinary weaknesses to which all men yield more or less at home , but the Mason who yields to them is guilty of a two-fold crime . The religion he professes teaches him to behave towards others aa ho would havo others behave towards himself : and tho Masonic

obligations he contracts long after he has imbibed his first lessons of religion enjoin on him the fulfilment of the same righteous duty . There is , then , in tho case of the Mason who neglects the observance of what he has been taught is ri ght , in the first place , an infraction of religious

duty , and secondly an infraction of Masonic duty , the latter being , in our opinion , the more blameworthy of the two , seeing that , in a certain sense , Masonry is higher than any or all religious faiths . It includes them all , for no man can become a Mason who does not at least solemnly

declare himself to he of some religious persuasion . And as the whole is greater than any one of its parts , so is Masonry , in this sense , greater than any or all of the religions it includes , or requires its members should profess . Far be it from us to prefer , ordinarily , a system of

morality to any religious creed . We are merely now indicating that the Brother who violates his Masonic oathand the backbiter does so unquestionably—is doubly guilty , towards his religion and towards Freemasonry . Moreover , there is no such thing as free will in being a religious

man — the forms of religion are a matter apart and may justly bo left to one ' s own conscience—but men become Freemasons voluntarily . We are , however , digressing , and must return to the main purpose of our article . We have said there is much backbiting among Craftsmen .

There is also much ostentation , which exhibits itself principally in a love of vain display . The original simplicity of the Craft is lost sight of in the painful eagerness with which

so many among us strive after Masonic decoration . Wo see no particular harm in a brother wearing a score or two of jewels , but we see great harm in the jewels being assumed to be the evidence of a Mason ' s worth . The

Charity Jewel , for instance , was instituted as a reward for meritorious exertion in the cause of our Institutions , but many brethren virtually purchase the right to wear them . They serve the requisite number of stewardships , paying their own subscriptions , but concerning themselves little

about the further duties of the office . There are numbers of brethren who wear several P . M . ' s jewels . In many instances they are the jtfst reward of superior merit , but in many also they are merely the evidence that the wearer has been W . M . of , and subscribes to , a corresponding number of

Lodges . Sometimes , too , we see a brother wearing a P . M . jewel , who , during his term of office as W . M ., properly fulfilled no single duty of the Mastership , and who is , in fact , almost as ignorant of Lodge duties as the initiate of yesterday . We are not citing imaginary cases , but cases

which are generally known to have occurred , and we ask our readers , is it not carrying Tolerance to a fault when we sanction or connive at these evils ? We go further , and ask , Is it not worth while making a vigorous effort to repress them ? The backbiter would soon find his occupation gone if

brethren resolutely declined to hear his tittle-tattle . The silly ambition to be covered with jewels and gold would quickly give place to loftier and worthier aims , if the practice of wearing so many decorations were discouraged . As a rule , men in high places in the State are simpler in

their habits and personal adornment ; the higher their position , the greater their merit . Let this be the case in Freemasonry . Let a brother's worth be judged more by his ability , and less by the number of his jewels , and we

shall approach moro nearly to the true principles of our Craft . The endurance of these evils of which we have spoken is one of the foremost vices of Tolerance . Let us now turn