Qualifications For The Charities.

eluded , we argue that by far the larger part of the money annually subscribed to the Institutions is given by those who are not in a position to endow their own children with £ 500 , £ 600 , £ 1 , 000 or more , on their attaining the age of twenty-one years , or being married , should either of

those events occur during the lifetime of the parents . The question really hinges on the soundness or otherwise of this proposition . If it be correct , then there can be no doubt

but that children possessed of means should be excluded ; while , on the other hand , if it is incorrect , then the possession of property should not be a bar to the admission of a candidate . We are afraid there is not much hope of

discovering , with any degree of certainty , the actual social position of all , or even a majority of those who give ; but from our experience , and hearing in mind , among other features , the fact that a very large amount is annually raised , in connection with the various

Charity Associations , —now established in all parts , —by means of weekly subscriptions of sixpence and upwards , we should say there can be no question as to its soundness . It is of course true that very many subscribers to our Schools are in good positions ; able to give their children

as much , and more , than the amounts possessed by the children we have particularly mentioned ; but the question then arises—for whom do they subscribe their money ? Do they give it with the view of assisting children of their own position in life , or do they give it in order to aid only those

who have been left really destitute , and much beneath them as regards social position . This is an argument that could only be answered by the individuals themselves , and even then it would depend on the pai-ticular views of the several donors . Speaking strictly from a Masonic point of view

we think that that portion of our ritual in the first degree where reference is made to the subject of Charity , should form tbe basis on which our decision should be formed ; there are many ranged under the banner of Freemasonry

who , from unforeseen calamity or misfortune , are reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty and distress , and it is on behalf of those that an appeal is made , and that too in the face of the assertion that there are also many of rank and opulence connected with the Order .

Our correspondence columns this week contain several letters from brethren on this subject , and in them are contained some of the most opposite views that can be formed in reference to it . " A Northern Subscriber , " who , we may mention , is a brother well known in connection with

our Institutions , and conspicuous in the past for his advocacy of the claims of all cases of distress which came under his notice , takes up the cause against us editorially . We do not object to his doing so ; and , with our usual desire to give both sides a fair hearing , and also to elicit , as far as

possible , every argument that can be adduced , we shall devote some attention to him . Our brother repeats the argument that our Schools are not intended for paupers only , a statement we , in some measure , endorse . We say we " in some measure endorse " this , because , obnoxious as

the term " pauper " may appear , we fail to see much distinction between it and that of an inmate of either of the Schools . The children who are new enjoying the benefits of those Institutions receive food , clothing , education , and , indeed , everything needed for their welfare , at the hands of

strangers , who most certainly have only the claims of sympathy to induce them to subscribe from their own means for the benefit of others . These gifts being voluntary , the children are therefore described as being brought up

on charity , while , in the case of pauper children , we suppose the distinction is , that the subscriptions of strangers is compulsory , in the form of rates . Truly a very fine point on which to base an argument , and one which we think does not make mnch material difference in the actual result .

The definition varies , but that is about all that is different , except perhaps that Masonic " Charity " children are better cared for than the majority of " pauper " children . Our correspondent next repeats the often-expressed opinion that a lad , even though he has some little property , may be

as poor , comparatively speaking , as those without any provision . This may be the case in theory , but we cannot believe it to he so in practice . At the present time we venture to assert there are very many lads on the list of candidates for the benefits of the Boys' School who , if they

do not actually know what it is frequently to want a meal , are yet so far destitute as to be without very many of what may truly be described as the necessaries of life . This being the case , we think that every lad who it , cn . n be shown is in a position to enable him to pay for his

education shonld be excluded until such time as no other of the more necessitous class come forward . We are aware that by adopting this course we may almost fill our Schools with members of the lower middle class , but , on the other hand , there are many families who were once in a tolerably good

position who are now reduced to the greatest straits . Surely their claims are stronger than those of a similar family who are even now tolerably well provided for . The argument that " families who have always lived in a higher sphere feel just as much the coming down to a lower one

as those in an inferior do having to make shift lower still , " is only true in sentiment . The former lose caste only , the latter may lose their supply of clothing , aye , even of food . Surely the pangs of hunger are stronger than any feeling which can follow a loss of position . This and other

considerations in connection with the subject are really matters upon which there will always be a difference of opinion , and it is only by the minority acquiescing in the decisions of the majority that anything approaching harmony can prevail .

There is one point bearing on this subject on which we would urge the strictest caution ; we allude to the publicaof rumours , unsupported by reliable information . If brethren take upon themselves to give publicity to any particulars they may become possessed of , they should

first of all take the trouble to ascertain whether their information is correct , otherwise they will not only themselves run a great risk , but may be the means of doing irreparable mischief to the individuals more particularly

concerned , and permanent injury to the cause they wish to befriend . We make these remarks on the present occasion in consequence of an expression contained in a letter we have received from a weH-known brother in reference to

another lad on the list of candidates . The expression we object to is one in which there is a doubt implied , the writer himself qualifying his statement by the use of the little word " if . " Once having raised a prejudice against a case , it is next to impossible to entirely remove it ; we

therefore consider that no one has a right to publish anything detrimental to a candidate unless he can prove , beyond question , that his statements are correct . We have been very particular in this respect in the past ; if we had not , we might have questioned the eligibility of many a

candidate who has been put forward during the past few years ; but , as we were unable to satisfy ourselves that the rumours were well founded , we did not try to influence our readers by the publication of what might or might not have been correct . For the sake of the cause we are endeavouring to serve , we trust others will be equally careful .

Freemasonry In The City.

FREEMASONRY IN THE CITY .

THE present Lord Mayor of London ( Bro . Alderman Knight ) is well emulating the exnmple set him by many of his predecessors in office , by mingling freely with the brethren of the City Lodges , who seem to vie with each other in securing his Lordship's genial society for an

evening now and then . Since his accession to the Mayoralty , Bro . Knight has been a visitor to as many Lodges as the multifarious engagements of the Civic chair will admit , and we can readily understand how perplexed he occasionally must be when inundated with the

invitations of the brethren , at whose festivities he would be a welcome and an honoured guest . On the last occasion of his appearance in a Masonic capacity , at a complimentary banquet given by the " Good old Neptune Lodge , " his Lordship , in a very happy vein , alluded to the guiding

principles of the Craft , and impressed upon the Masters of Lodges the desirableness of doing their work in a thorough and complete manner . Very happy was his allusion to the kind of triple alliance which existed between himself and his two Sheriffs , who by an almost " unique" coincidence

are also members of our Order , although Bro . Savory is as yet "but a fledgeling . " The Lord Mayor in his allusion to this happy trio , dwelt urbanely upon the mutual sympathy which pervades the brethren of the Craft , not merely in the performance of their Masonic duties , but in all the other relations of life , and observed that when they

felt the brethren with whom they were associated were deserving of their sympathy it increased the zest with which they set about their work , and tightened the bonds by which they were held together in the great