Is Masonry Really Flourishing?

seem to lose sight of the princip le which should guide them in admitting candidates for the mysteries and privileges of the Institution , and to lack discrimination in the selection of persons who seek a participation in its _ benefits . That the subject is one not unaccompanied with difficulties

we readily admit ; still , Avhen we hear certain ^ brethren exult over the ever widening extent and popularity of the Craft , it would he well to pause and eousider how far the quality of ov \ r Lodges is affected by the quantity . It is well known that many Lodges , by the freedom with which

candidates are admitted , have become too large to be manageable with any degree of satisfaction either to the Master or the members . The inevitable consequence is , that brethren aspiring to office , and seeing their chance , in the face of so large a number , very remote , reason

totogether with the view of starting an offshoot of the mother Lodge , and , of course make it a proviso that they shall fill the chairs from the outset , aud thus enter into competition so to speak with the parent branch . We have known Lodges in which young brethren yearning for

prominence , and unable to find it within their own circle , have strained every feeling of disinterested love for the Craft in their ambition to grasp a collar ; and have p ledged seats of honour to those who would combine with them in applying for a warrant to establish a new Lodge in which they

themselves might lay claim to offices which they bad failed to earn in the Lodges into which they were initiated . Herein has lain the cause of many a strife and much bitterness of feeling , and Lodges so formed have not unfrequentlv struck among the shoals and quicksands of jealousy aud heartburning

only when those who had been most active in their formation , actuated by personal motives , have either supped full of their self-sought honours , or grown tired of Freemasonry altogether , and retired—as so many do who are unsuccessful—disappointed with the "hollowness " of the profession ,

as they are pleased to designate it . The profusion with which warrants for new Lodges have beeu granted till within the last two years was , in our opinion , not altogether well-advised ; and we are by no means disappointed that , of late , the " progress of Freemasonry" has been more

steady and snbdupd . Had it gone on at the ratio it assumed prior to 1880 , the consequence must have been to cause such a degeneracy of the Craft as to have shorn it of much of its influence and importance . As it is , how many men do we know who , having sought admission to our

ranks with ulterior motives of benefit and gain , have seceded when they found their prospects of mercenary or personal aggrandisement fall short of their anticipations ? These are the men who shrug the shoulder when the praises of Masonry are sung by those who really love the

Craft for its own sake , and who fail to see any of its sublime professions borne out by practice . These are the malcontents who , having failed to gain honours by merit and the purity of their motives , stand aloof , and with bated breath malign the Institution they once professed to

admire and promised to support ; who ultimately descend from one point to anotrer , until we find them in the ranks of those who look askance at our Benevolent Funds , and ask in alms what they could not gain by avarice . We have known men , even after they have ass isted in breaking away

from their mother Lodge , and in building up an offsboot , in the ruling (!) of which they could take a share , going back to their original , and obtaining a petition for presentation to tbe Benevolent Fund for aid , which in some cases they need not have required but through faults of their own .

In the country this is even a worse evil than in London , because few Provincial Lodges possess benevolent funds , having quite enough to do to meet the necessary expenses of the Fourth Degree , and to pay Grand Lodge fees . In such cases , when brethren appeal for relief , all they can do

is to send up a petition to the Lodge of Benevolence in the hope of obtaining some help for the needy brother , and thus we find tbe number of applicants for assistance at each successive meeting of the Committee absolutely overwhelming , and impossible of being fully met . Apart

from all other considerations , this is one of the ill effect ? of a too ready admission of candidates into Freemasonry , of men who fall into arrear , at first with their subscriptions , then lapse altogether into a state of apathy and discontent , aud finally fall into tbe ranks of those who have to ask foi

charity . With young Lodges formed in the way we indicate , it is imperative that initiates shall be found , in order to keep up the balance in the hands of the Treasurer : though , unfortunately , in some Lodges we could mention , in spite of an average share of admissions the balance-

Is Masonry Really Flourishing?

sheet tells a woeful tale of laxity on the part of the members , and a hopeless state of arrears , so far as contributions are concerned . Far better it would be if instead of gratifying personal vanity , and endeavouring to " keep up appearances" before the world , members would remain

alive to a sense of their individual aud collective responsibilities , and maintain in their integrity those motives and impulses which first prompted them to enrol themselves under the Masonic banner . Initiation fees are necessary , and naturally acceptable , but if the vitality of a Lodge

depends upon theBe , and permits a laxity in the regular and constant support it has a right to expect from its older members , disasters must follow as an inevitable consequence . Another source of weakness is when we find brethren , after they have fought their way , with more

vigour than discretion , through the chairs , and at last are decorated with a Past Master ' s jewel , sadly retiring into the background , either because they think tbey have achieved all they can hope for , or because they may have aspired to the purple , and found it like the " sour grapes "

in the fable . Such men should never become Masons , whose zeal and enthusiasm are damped by every little trial of their fortitude and patience . This is another undesirable result of the inflation of the Craft by the too rapid creation of Lodges , and we think , all things considered , we shall

best answer the qnestion propounded at the commence , ment of this article by concluding that , much as we rejoice to pee tbe Craft widen in its influence and importance , the mere increase of numbers is not all that we can wish for , and that in this very rapid augmentation of numerical

strength there is danger of deterioration in point of the quality of the brethren admitted . Better far to have a reasonably workable Lodge , without drones , and in a sound financial position , than a crowd of apathetic members whose only aim is for office , whether they are qualified or not , and

who sink into gloomy discontent , if " vaulting ambition " happens to " o ' erleap itself and fall on tbe other side . " If it were possible to weed out the hundreds of dissatisfied onesintowhose outspread laps honours have not fallen , or deserved to fall , our Lodges would be freed from the trammels

by which many are so sorely tried , aud the wheels of Masonic prosperity would revolve with a far less grating sound . The query put to us , and which we have endeavoured in some way to open , is one which is exercising the minds of a considerable section of the Craft just now , and

we shall be glad if any of , our correspondents can , by their rboughts or experience , throw any additional light upon it . By the interchange of thoughtful opinions much good is wrought , and we trust we may receive tbe expression of many views upon the momentous and most important question under consideration .

Bank Holiday.

BANK HOLIDAY .

EACH of the four BaDk Holidays which , thanks to the initiative taken some ten years since by Sir John Lubbock . Bart ., M . P ., occur annually , has its special

recommendations . Boxing-day enables the hardy sons of toil to extend their Christmas festivities over two days , while it further stimulates the chemist to extra exertion by

promoting tbe sale of antibilious pills in order to counteract the dyspepsia that follows invariably the consumption of too many rich viands . Easter Monday , so dear to our Volunteers , falls in the early spring , when the trees are

just beginning to bud , aud the breadwinner , wearied by labours protracted through months of dull and musky weather , is looking forward to a little sunshine . Whitmonday falls later , when , for better or for worse , the

weather is more settled ; when cricket , and athletic ana aquatic sports are in full swing ; when visions of gooseberry tart and gooseberry fool loom in the by no means remote future ; when our school children are counting the

days to the Midsummer vacation , and bethinking themselves where they shall go , and what they shall do to enjoy themselves during that blissful period of the year ; and when working men—by no means limited to the artisan ¦ -ind mechanic classes—have begun to feel more acutely

than ever tbe heavy strain on their mental and p hysical powers . The August Bank Holiday comes in the fnll tide if summer , and is most enjoyable if the weather has about t anything of summer . The days are still long , and the n ' r generally warm—occasionally even a little more so than is pleasant . The corn crops are beginning to look their