New York's New Masonic Home And Asylum.

shelter from the world tho orphans of oar Brethren , rearing them to lives of usefulness and worth . " But with the opening of the Asylum will come the most difficult problem yet before us , embraced in the questious relating to its system and management . And

tho perplexities to be connected with that subject we shouli strive from thiB time forward to realise and prepare for . Iu the past the effort has been to accumulate the means to establish and maintain this institution . In the

future our duty will be to meet tho responsibility imposed upon ua by the means we now possess , in such manner as to provo that our cherished project is no Utopian dream , but that it can be made a great and permanent and practical means of serving the Almighty , and of promoting

humanity . " So broad is the field for Masonic Charity that even the large means now at disposal will suffico to satisfy only a small portion of the just demands upon the benevolence of the fraternity . It is therefore greatly to be hoped that

those means will in the future become largely increased . Bnt this can only be looked for from the free-will offerings to be made from time to time by the members of the Craft . "

From Bro . Chatmcey M . Depew ' s eloquent address , we give this excerpt : " Fifty years ago a Fremason , who was rich in faith but poor in purse , contributed a silver dollar as the commencement of a fund for tho building of a suitable Home

for the Craft in the State of New York and an Asylum for its indigent members and orphans . No investment ever before yielded such magnificent returns . That Brothor must have had abounding hope and expansive imagination , and yet the results have surpassed his wildest dreams .

"This last half century has been full of marvels beyond all other periods in the history of the world . It excels in intellectual and material progress . Inventive genius haa ao reduplicated the power of man and the forces of nature

that the wealth of tho world and the happiness and welfare of its people havo * been incalculably increased . Vast as are these exhibits of the development of the period , the best is the growth of this silver coin . From it has accumulated a fund from which over two millions of

dollars have been expended in a hall suitable in solidity and grandeur for the Craft in the Empire State , and hundreds of thousands have been added for the care of the aged and infirm and to provide the means for educating the orphans . We have celebrated the completion of that

grand building in New York , which is an external sign of the power and permanence of Masonry , which is not only sufficient for the demands of the Craft for the present and the future , but provides an income of over 50 , 000 dollars

a year for tho charitable purposes of the Fraternity . Today we celebrato the beginning of the practical application of the benevolent spirit of the Brethren , which has been their dream in this State for a hundred years .

" There is no more important study for the statesman , the philosopher , or the generous man than the bestowal of gifts for the benefit of our fellow-men . Since St . Paul

announced that the three cardinal virtues wero faith , hopo and charity , and the greatest of them all charity , this sentiment has grown and expanded until it now finds expression in beneficent efforts all over Christendom ; but the prodigal liberality of the United States places them in front rank of humanitarian nations . From the enforced

taxation of all , and the liberal purses of many , a golden stream consantly flows into the hospital , the asylum , the home , the work of churches and parishes . When the effort is so great and the distribution so vast , and in many cases so indiscriminate , we stand upon the danger line of

pauperizing the recipients . The hospital , which nnrses , cures or mends the sick and the injured ; the asylum , which cares for the incurable in body or mind or provides a home and its influences ; with an education , for destitute and orphan children , one and all complete the purest and highest purposes of benevolence . "

Bro . Depew closed his eloquent address as follows : " A hundred years ago , at Newburgh , when the Revolution had succeeded , and the Continental Army was disbanding , Washington and all his Generals , standing within the

precints of a Masonic Lodge , of which they were all members , could rejoice in the fact that the Masonic principle of the equality of all men before the law had at last , after unnumbered centurie ? , become the Cornerstone of the Republic . A century of the successful

New York's New Masonic Home And Asylum.

operation of this principle enables us to contemplate to-day a government of sixty-three millions of people , pog sessing more power , enjoying more happiness , delighting in more liberty , and richer and more prosperous than those of any other nation upon the earth . We turn from

Washington and his generals and their great work in war from the early Grand Masters of our State , Bro . Robert R Livingstone , who gave us our judiciary system , and DoWitt Clinton , who created the Erie Canal , and wedded the lakes to the sea , to the duties of the hour . The past ia

superb and secure . The present is peace . The future under the beneficent operations of the Institution founded here to-day , and kindred asylums , whiob will be established in the different parts of tho State , will open , with increasing years , new avenues for charity and fresh reservoirs of benevolence . "

We congratulate Grand Master Vrooman and our Brethren of New York upon this auspicious inauguration of their great Masonio Charity , and wish them every success in bringing it to a speedy completion . —Keystone .

Our Holy Compact.

OUR HOLY COMPACT .

IN the mundane affairs of this life , it seems to be the idea of many , that when one has paid his money to any society he has done all that can or ought to be expected of him . There are certainly those in this community who are imbued with this commercial idea , feeling satisfied

that when they reach the end and cross over to the other side , they will meet no creditors on the shore beyond this haven . If this be their only aim , then commercially speaking it is commendable and proper that a man should

pay his just debts , but has he then fulfilled all his duty to God and his fellow man ? all his obligations to the Author of his existence and to his fellow creatures created in the image of his God , quickened with the Divine Spirit and fashioned by the hand of the Eternal .

Among the Masonic Fraternity and in the heart of a true and accepted Mason wo hopo and trust a far different view prevails . A neophyte is admitted and becomes a member , he pays the initiation fee and enrols his name to subscribe a small

amount for annual dues . Does he think this is all required of him ? Has charity no claim on him or does he fancy the cries of the widow and the orphan are to pass by

unheeded or unrequited by him ? Has he no further aspiration ? or does he desire to bo considered as a drone in the hive of usefulness ? A thing crawling on the earth in human form .

When a member takes upon himself the Masonic covenant , he enters into a solemn compact to illustrate its tenets in himself—in his daily life , and every one who

conscientiously endeavours to obey this rule will find himself intuitively called upon to make some sacrifice for the good of the Craft or for the good of his brother—and if one takes this as a basis he can measure for himself

the extent of his labour to Masonry as a return for admission to its privileges and blessings ; and it would be strange , indeed , if even the most active brother does not find some further opening for his zeal , some means by which he can further demonstrate that

with Mm Free Masonry is not a mere plaything or bauble , that the Lodge room is no guzzling hall nor place to wile away his dull or idle hours , hut a Holy Institution , having as its basis the three grand and solemn duties of all sects of religion to all mankind . In this age of

profanity , of Godless thought and scoffing at all sacred and higher sentiments , Masonry is a sheet Anchor to many , through whose channel , their noble self—their better nature , their high qualifications , their capabilities—all are brought out and . boldly asserted instead of their slumbering in

oblivion and wilfully neglecting to apply to advantage the good with which God has blessed them . In 1868 and upwards , during the several administrations of G . L . DeCordova , J . J . G . Lewis , J . L . Ashenheim , J . Mayner and Bros . G . C . H . Lewis , B . Stines , E . T . Brandon and a few others ,

the Friendly Lodge flourished and prospered . It was indeed a pleasure , a joy to be even a visitor , much more a member . An interest was taken by all in the teachings

and workings of the order . The pecuniary consideration was not the only idea of its members . They contributed with means and in person , thereby proving their sincerity , thoir fidelity , their firm and unshaken resolve to maintain