The Progress Of Mark Masonry.

aud this will be all the more readily gauged when it is considered that , whereas at the first Festival , held in the year 1870 , the very modest sum of £ 100 was renlist . < l for the Benevolent Fund , last week the energetic Secretary ,

Bro . C . F . Matier , had the gratification of announcing , amidst enthusiastic applause , that the lists brought up by the Stewards amounted to fche magnificent total of £ 2 , 260 . That such an increase should have been accomplished in

nineteen years speaks volumes for the activity and earnestness of those who have taken a prominent part in advocating the claims ofthe Mark Benevolent Fund ; but at the same time it tells of the vast impetus the Mark Degree

has received of recent years . There are many of us who can recollect the time when the Mark was recognised only as a " side " Degree , and a very subsidiary one indeed ; but with the progress of time it seems to have established

for itself a p lace and name in Freemasonry which entitle it to the hi g hest regard and esteem . " By their fruits ye shall know them ; " and if , as is ever the case in all branches of Masonic work , the result of last week ' s

Featival may be taken as a criterion , then indeed the members of the Mark Degree may congratulate themselves upon the " progress they have made in the science , " which has rendered them " more extensively useful to their

fellow creatures . Ifc is satisfactory to know thafc the Fund has been sufficient to meet all the demands upon it , wifch something to be laid by . We all acknowledge that in every association whose object is the diffusion of benevolent

assistance it is absolutely necessary there should be a reserve fund , in order to provide against such an " occasional gust of ill-fortune " as that which the noble Earl suggested ; and it is comforting to be assured fche Mark

Benevolent Fund is safe in this respect . Since the establishment of the Fund the sum of £ 1 , 730 has been expended , in various kinds of relief , and twenty-six children have reaped the benefits of the Educational Fund , at a cost

of £ 680 . This may not appear a very large result in the aggregate of eighteen years , but when it is considered thafc , like all other Institutions , this sprang from very small beginnings , ifc will be conceded that there is much room

for gratification at the growth of an association which must now increase in volume as time goes on . At the last meeting of the Mark Grand Lodge it was unanimously agreed to give the sum of five pounds annually to each

pupil for clothing , which will necessitate this year a further expenditure of one hundred pounds , and the result of the recent Festival will satisfy the brethren that no difficulty in that respect will be experienced by the Executive . Some of our readers who are not associated with the Mark

Degree may be interested to know that the Fund is divided into three branches—Benevolent , Educational , and Annuity ; and all contributions received are equally apportioned to these most deserving objects . The first-named

branch , for relief and benevolence , is under the control of the General Board , and grants above certain amounts have to receive confirmation by Grand Lodge . In behalf of this fund there is invested a capital of thirteen hundred pounds .

There is , as yet , no educational establishment permanently raised in connection with the Mark Degree , snch as we are proud to possess in connection with the Craft ; but , notwithstanding this , the Educational branch of the fund ,

which has an invested capital of ninteen hundred pounds , has done good service in the way of educating the children of Mark Master Masons , eligible for assistance , at grammar or other schools , in the vicinity of their parents '

residences . This system has been found to work well up to the present time , and is much appreciated by those who have received its benefits . Eleven boys aud nine girls are now being educated by annual grants from this Fund ; and

as we have already mentioned , by a vote of Grand Lodge in November last , each child will receive annually the sum of five pounds to procure necessary clothing . The

advantage of such a provision will be practically understood and appreciated by all parents , and the new arrangement i . another feature in the Mark Benevolent scheme which should

commend it to the continued and increased support of the brethren everywhere . The Annuity Fund was established by Grand Lodge just eighteen months ago , when an amount of one thousand pounds was voted as a nucleus ,

and its object is to grant annuities of twenty pounds each to aged and decayed Mark Master Mason , and sixteen pounds to the widows of Mark Master Masons , after election

by the subscribers , in the usual way . To provide for any cases that may arise in connection wifch this branch , there is now invested thirteen hundred pounds .

The Progress Of Mark Masonry.

We are informed thafc numerous grants already made by the General Board and by Grand Lodge have in every case been highly appreciated , and hav >> been of such material service t ;> the recipients as to afford the best possibto

justification for the establishment of the Fund . It is hoped , however , that the extensions of the objects for which the Mark Benevolent Fund was originally constituted , aud which have been rendered practicable by the kind support

extended b y members of the Order since its foundation will provide an inducement to the old contributors to the Fund to continue their support , and to many others to render assistance who have hitherto withheld their aid

The response of the Stewards representing London and the Provinces—the results of which were given in detail in our columns last week—must have convinced the noble President , the Secretary , and all others interested in the

Mark Degree , of the solid and substantial progress which has been made in that branch of Freemasonry ; and , inasmuch as Freemasonry can breathe no other atmosphere but that of Charity , there need bo little fear for the future

success of the Mark Benevolent Fund . We are full y aware of the heavy calls that have been , and are likely to be , made upon the benevolent sympathies of members of our Order ; but the solid and indisputable fact remains

that wherever Freemasonry is , and whatever shape it may assume , there will be found an exemplification of those virtues and principles which are the bases and

landmarks of our Fraternity , as a spring of Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth , ever welling up from the inexhaustible sources of the stream of universal beneficence . We

sincerely congratulate the Executive of the Fund upon the very gratifying outcome of their Festival , and trust that as years go on they may " increase and multiply " in the power of doing good to our less fortunate fellows who stand in need of their assistance .

More Noble Building.

MORE NOBLE BUILDING .

An Oration delivered by Bro . William Grant Van Home , at ihe Dedication of the Neiv Hall of Story Lodge , No . 4 , at Provo , Utah , Uh October 1886 . ALTHOUGH Masonry is a secret Brotherhood , there are ways in which it has always shown to the world

something of its aims and purposes , not so much to disclose the good there is in the Fraternity , as that it has ever been a living force in the world ' s struggle for enlightenment , and by its work has laid bare its character .

We meet to-day as Masons to dedicate a hall to Masonic uses , and yefc as a Fraternity we have taken no part in the handiwork of raising these walls . So great a contrast is there between this dedication of to day and those other

days when Masons were builders for the whole world , that we may fitly pause to trace back , link by link , the chain which binds us , as Masons , to the Masons of the olden time

who wrought the birth of fcheir minds and tbe best fruit of their skilled hands into buildings whose beauty and grandeur have been the admiration of all times . Nor could we find

an hour or occasion more fit for scanning their work , and , through it , seeking to prove them brethren indeed to us who work only in the speculative art . In this quest we

can scarcely err , for by their fruits we know them , and they have left their sure mark upon the ages—their firm " Footprints on the sands of Time . "

In every age and civilization , there have been two opposing forces , —one intelligent , creative , seeking to build up ; the other ignorant , destructive , seeking only to ruin and tear down . The line of civilization is ever the resultant

of these two forces . Our ancient Brethren—the masterbuilders—have left unfading record that thev were ever in the forefront of human conflict—leaders in the race ot

human progress . Yea , more ! In days of old , when printing was unknown and thought could not be scattered broadcast on the printed leaf , architecture was the art by which worthy thought wrote itself on stony tablets for the

discerning eye to see . It has been said that " Language is fossil poetry ; " with equal truth ifc may be said that in former days architecture vvas character and thought , crystallized into stone . Not & ei

the transient character , the fleeting thought of the mas who drew the plans ; still less of the workmen who laid the courses of the stone—but the ruling character , the leading thought of the age in which the walls were reared .