An Opportunity For The Energetic.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ENERGETIC .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIB AND BBOTHER , —The splendid systems of organisation that prevail in almost every Province of England , in regard to the collection and utilisation of voting papers for the central Institutions , has virtually created a new order of things to what I can remember some twenty years back . Then it was the custom for the candidates , in the case of the Old People , and the friends of the candidates , in the cases of the Girls and Boys , to take

personal interest in the contests , and actively canvass for proxies in the hope of thereby securing success—now , it seems to me , the whole matter is left to different Committees , who decide which candidate shall receive the support of the Province or other combination , the whole working afterwards resolving itself into mere routine , as the bulk of the proxies of the different districts are forwarded to the Provincial representatives , who fill them in and poll them with a certainty as to the result that has almost become painfully

monotonous . I am aware this feature in regard to the elections applies to the Provinces alone , as London has not yet been able to organise itself as systematically as the country districts—happily for them—but the same sort of spirit seems to pervade the London candidates , many of whom consider their case " safe , " directly this or that section of the Craft takes it in hand , and see no need for further activity on their own behalf ; to such an extent

has this feeling become the fashion that I was lately told of a candidate who replied to an offer of a dozen votes— " Thanks , Bro . — is working my case , I am all right , perhaps someone else may be glad of them . " This was very magnanimous , it is true , but those votes and a few others he might have collected by a display of activity and personal solicitation on the day of the election cost him £ 40 , as he did not secure the annuity until the following

year , and I am of opinion this was no exceptional case , as one so frequently hears , now-a-days , that proxies go begging on the days of election , and it seems to me that an energetic candidate might make capital out of this , and by dint of some of that old time activity whicb used to assail every visitor to Freemasons' Tavern on the occasions of the elections with numberless enquiries , " have you any votes ? " snatch a stray victory .

Another evil of the wide-spread system of organisation that prevails is the feeling that is created that individual votes are of little or no use . I remember a few elections back trying to loan a few proxies I had , and not only found that was impossible , but found it was also a difficult task to " give" them away , thus confirming what has been told me as mentioned above , but I had no idea Provincial Committees were equally troubled , yet that is what it really amounts to if one may judge from the evidence that is

to be procured , thus : the Report of the Charity Committee of Essex , presented to the Provincial Grand Lodge that met on Wednesday , stated that at the last Benevolent election " Widows votes were quite a drug—six , seven or eight being asked for one men ' s proxy , " while the same might be said in regard to the Girls— " the rate of exchange being five for one Boy ' s . " It seems to me a very serious state of affairs is looming in the near future in regard to this matter , for if Brethren discover and are told by their

Provincial Committees that proxies are of little value , they will begin to ask if there is any need for continuing to subscribe to the funds concerned . But a remedy seems to offer itself in the active canvass and personal effort of one or two of the outside candidates , in the way I have mentioned earlier in my letter , whioh I fear has reached too great a length to be acceptable for your pages . Yours , & c , A SUPPORTER OP THE INSTITUTIONS .

FEINTED EITUALS

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The article you last week reproduced from the "Indian Masonic Review" touches upon a subject which , I think , well deserves careful consideration by the Craft . "The printed ritual is one of those things which everyone is officially bound to ignore , and which probably every Freemason possesses , " is the remark of the writer—and it is about the

truth . This being so I might ask if the time has not arrived for the authorities of Grand Lodge to issue an official " guide , " the profit from which might make a substantial addition year by year to the Charity Fund ? It would be far better for them to issue a really reliable work than to leave members of the Order the necessity of obtaining what they desire—and most of them obtain—in the form of an incomplete or unreliable book .

I do not believe in wilfully shutting one ' s eyes to what is going on openly and without reserve on every side . Printed rituals are almost as common as Master Blasons , indeed ' , I might say that books professing to give details of our work are more common in some districts than fully qualified Craftsmen ; but wherever one turns I think it must be admitted the " ritual " is is evidence , and it should no longer be ignored b y the authorities , who thereby make matters worse , because they virtuall y compel members of the Order to learn from imperfect records what would surely be better understood and better appreciated if put in proper form .

But reverting once more to the article you reprinted ; it would seem our Grand Secretary has a very intimate knowledge of the " ritual approved by Grand Lodge , " and as my experience as a visitor in Lodges in different parts of the country has opened my eyes to glaring inaccuricies , to say nothing of wide differences in essential parts of the ritual , I am very pleased to hear that someone in authority has the knowledge , and also the courage to proclaim it

. The point raised by the ruling of the Grand Secretary is indeed a minor one , and if he gives so much of his attention to this pin hole in our system there is yet a chance of some of the larger splits receiving his consideration some day . There is no need to materially alter any essential parts of the ritual , but there would be no harm in trying to put some of the versions one hears in form , from an ordinary educational point of view . Yours fraternally , LISTENER .

English Freemasonry And Education.

ENGLISH FREEMASONRY AND EDUCATION .

The following letter appeared in the " Tablet . " SIR , —Your valuable and instructive article on the new Grand Blaster of Ital y deserves to be widely read and earnestly considered . It cannot be too often proclaimed that towards tho " control of education " and its " divorce from religion " the energies of Masonry in France and Italy are activelv directed . J

English Freemasonry And Education.

But if in France and Italy , why not also in England ? In 1885 there were 35 , 500 Masons in France and Italy ; in Great Britain and Ireland there were 287 , 100 . Can it be that the thirty-five thousand are in full activity and that tho two hundred and eighty-seven thousand are doing nothing ? And in what respect is it that Masonry in England differs so widely from Masonry abroad ? Catholicity is the same all the world over , saving certain differences of rite ( Latin , Greek , Armenian , Ambrosian ,

Mozarabic , & c ) . The Catholic Church everywhere tends towards the same end , and is directed by the same supreme authority . In like manner ( as may be learned from the writings of ex-Masons ) Masonry is the same throughout the whole world ; everywhere it tends towards the same end , and is directed by the same supreme authority . An English Mason , rite for rite and grade for grade , is essentially the same as any other Mason , whether

he be French , Italian , Spanish , Indian , or Chinese . Ex-Masons of the very highest grades state that they have been present at Luciferian assemblies in England ; and that they have found Englishmen in Pondicherry , Calcutta , Singapore , and Shanghai participating , in common with the natives , in Luciferian rites and worship . If some of the rites were peculiar to the locality , the object of the worship was the same , namely , Lucifer , or , in plain language , the Devil .

Luciferianism is the parent ; Freemasonry is the child . Freemasonry , in its modern organisation , dates from about the year 1717 . In its essence it dates from the Fall of Man , or thereabouts ( Cain is one of the early " Saints " of the higher Blasonry ); and I have no fault to find with the Masonic statement that the present year , A . D . 1896 , is " of the Era of Masonry , 5896 " ( see the inscription commemorating the laying of the foundation-stone of the new North Bridge , Edinburgh , on Blay 25 , 1896 ) . Ordinary Masonry in its lower grades is a kind of " Third Order " of Luciferianism , founded by Luciferians

and directed by the " Sovereign Pontiff of universal Masons , " assisted by the " Most Serene College of Emerited Blasons , " all of whom are Luciferians . The members of this " Third Order " form the vast body of the " uninitiated ; " they pay their subscriptions , promote Masonic policy by their brotherly sympathy or perhaps by their active co-operation , and form a screen by their respectability of character and their ignorance of the deeper ends and schemes of Masonry . But they form also the nursery-garden from which are chosen men and women suitable for the higher grades ; and , notwithstanding their respectability and oft-times their innocence , they are under the sway of IjuciferianK .

Masonry derives its distinguishing mark from its ultimate object as known to the " initiated , " rather than from the character of the individual members of its lower grades ; and it does not essentially differ in England from Masonry elsewhere , for English Masonry is a component part of Masonry as a whole and is directed towards the common end by one and the same supreme authority . Moreover , the Supreme Council of England , equally

with that of other countries , sends its two Delegates to the Sovereign Directory of Administration . These take part in the common deliberations , and vote with the other Delegates on the Masonic policy for the whole world , or for that to he pursued in particular countries . Are we to suppose that England stands apart , in insular innocence , from the general policy determined upon by the Sovereign Directory of Administration and sanctioned by the " Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Masonry " ?

It is difficult to avoid the logical conclusion that England must share in the solicitude of the " Sovereign Pontiff " ; and that he must count upon the co-operation and obedience of his two hundred and eighty-seven thousand islanders no less than upon that of his thirty-five thousand Frenchmen and Italians .

But in what will he count upon their co-operation ? Not in a policy which would be evidently repugnant to Englishmen and thus subversive of the object in view ; but in such a policy as may be put forward as a sensible one and as being not out of harmony with at least a portion of public opinion . Take the education question . The reigning Luciferian " Sovereign Pontiff , " when he was Grand Master of Italy , laid down two methods to be pursued as to education : ( a ) tho legal method ; ( b ) the suggestive method . We are

concerned for the moment only with the legal method . " The legal method , " he wrote , "is to stir up a movement of opinion in favour of withdrawing the communal schools from the municipalities and placing them directly under the State . " Translate this into English suitable to the present time and circumstances , and it will read : " The legal method is to stir up a movement

of opinion in favour of withdrawing the Voluntary schools from the present managers and placing them directly under School Boards . " There is nothing violent in this , nothing to alarm the minds of simple people . It can be represented as being merely a matter of administrative policy , apparently in natural accordance with the tendency of things and with the spontaneous sentiments of the English people .

But the two hundred and eighty-seven thousand , where are they all this time ? The word of command has come , perhaps , from the " Sovereign Pontiff '' to the " perfect" and " initiated , " who in their turn will have spoken gently and persuasively to the " uninitiated " of the great advantage of such an administrative change . And these thousands of " uninitiated "—not " in close alliance with one or other section of the Liberal party , " but ( far more

efficacious ) intermingled amongst men and women of all parties—will create " a movement of opinion "—a movement of opinion in favour of the policy sanctioned and recommended by the Luciferian "Sovereign Pontiff , " and , may bo , enjoined upon him at three o ' clock on a Friday afternoon by Lucifer himself . ( It is stated that the devil presides every week at that time at what may be called a kind of Cabinet Council . )

England was not excepted by the Holy Father when he bade the prayer involving St . Bliehael to be said after B'lass ; and , although an Englishman , I think that England may stand in need of St . Michael ' s aid no less than Franco and Italy . FRANCIS M . WYNDHAM . St . Mary of the Angels , Bayswater , 29 th June 1896 .

Pines for non-attendance or neglect of duty are nofc usually imposed in Masonic bodies , because each member is bound to the discharge of these duties by a motive more powerful than any that could be furnished by a pecuniary penalty . The imposition of such a penalty would be a tacit acknowledgement of the inadequacy of that motive , and would hence detract from its solemnity and its binding nature . —Exchange .

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