Masonic Benevolence In 1892.

R . M . B . I . R . M . I . G . R . M . I . B . ¦' . ' Total .. 1556 £ 18 , 194 13 6 £ 15 , 5461810 £ 13 . 05 '' 5 5 £ . > 79 S 7 9 1557 28 , 968 4 4 16 , 429 o 6 15 , 661 16 1 61 , 059 0 11 iSSS 21 , 361 15 1 49 , 259 4 4 12 , 283 2 5 82 , 904 1 10 1 SS 9 1 S . 729 , iS 7 14 . 98 . g 6 I 4-727 'o - 4-8 , 443 iS 3 1 S 90 21 , 305 13 4 21 , 763 19 1 12 , 472 6 9 55 . 541 19 2 1 F 91 22 , 238 14 5 13 . 190 iS 2 27 , 333 11 3 62 , 763 3 10 1 R 92 61 , 849 2 r > 12 , 778 2 1 15 , 837 iS o 90 , 465 2 7

thT ° 7 y __ rs . U > + S * a £ ¦ 43 . 954 12 6 £ 111 , 373 o 1 £ 447 . 975 14 4

the ^ fears . } ^ 'S ' * £ ° 5 < 5 + S " £ , 5 ' ' ° ' 7 f 63 '" ' ° Average per Institution ... ... •••••¦£ 21 , 332 3 6 The following is a statement , month b y month , of the cases relieved , and the sums expended in relieving them , by the Board of Benevolence : CASES RELIEVED . AMOUNT . January ... ... 27 ... ... £ 645

February ... ... ' 23 ... ... 6 70 March ... ... 35 ¦¦¦ •••SSo April . ... ... 23 ... ... 570 May ... ... 39 •••¦••95 ° lune ... ... 27 ... ... 630

J uly ... ... 20 ... ... 4 S 5 August ... ... 20 ... ... 515 September ... ... 10 ... ... 245 October ... ... 35 ... ... 845 November ... ... 43 ... ... 10 5 0 December ... ... 32 ... ... S 35

334 £ 8320 The above figures show a slight increase of two in the number of cases relieved , but a reduction of £ ^ 567 in the amount distributed , the figures last year having been—cases relieved , 332 , and amount distributed , £ 8887 . In 1890 the number of cases was 330 , and the amount distributed , . £ 7732 .

Thus the year which has just terminated , though it furnished a slightl y larger number of cases than those of its predecessors , occupies a position in respect of the total distributed , about mid-way between thc respective amounts . However , it is not the precise figures which are of so much

importance as the fact that the Board is manifestly actuated by the policy to which We have referred so pointedly in our previous articles on the subject , and which consists in keeping the disbursements within the income of the fund , and at the same time ensuring that every case is dealt with sufficientl y according to its merits .

Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland.

SUPREME GRAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER OF SCOTLAND .

At the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland , held on December 21 st , it was resolved— " That the words Depute Provincial Grand Superintendent be added to Rules 67 , " etc . There is no such officer appointed in England in Provincial Grand Chapters , though the office of Deputy Provincial Grand Master has long becn in use .

We are ver } ' p leased to report that one of the first—possibly the first—to be appointed under this new rule is our E . Comp . Edward Macbean , Grand Chancellor of Scotland , as Depute Provincial Grand Superintendent of the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire ( Glasgow ) . The choice thus made b y E . Comp . Major Allan , Provincial Grand Superintendent , is a very good one ,

for Comp . Macbean did good service as M . Ii . Z . of No . 50 , Glasgow , and as Provincial Grand Treasurer , besides delivering lectures on Masonic subjects of importance .

Wc understand Comp . Macbean , G . C , will be installed either at the next official visitation—probably to his own chapter—or at the next meeting of the Provincial Grand Chapter . We tender our esteemed brother the hearty congratulations of his many English friends and companions .

Freemasonry And Architecture.

FREEMASONRY AND ARCHITECTURE .

Before the invention of printing , when the means of communicating knowledge vvere few and imperfect , no readier mode prese nted itself o extending and keeping up the speculative and practical information spread among any profession than by establishing the profession itself into a community or order , all the members of which would have one object and

one interest in common . This would bs more particularly the case with regard toarchilecture , vvhich calls for the co-operation of various branches of science and the mechanical arts , and was , moreover , for several ages the paramount art , all the other arts of decoration being , as far as they then existed , subservient to it . The importance of architecture to the Church

on account of the impressive dignity it conferred upon religious rites and the ministers of religion , naturally induced the clergy to take it under their especial protection . For a longtime not only vvere ecclesiastics the chief professors of the art , yet as they had occasion for the assistancs of practical artificers in various branches they admitted them into

fellowship with themselves , establishing a kind of order of a mixed character , just as the orders of chivalry combined at their ori gin the principles of military and religious discipline . H _ nce some have supposed Freemasonry to have been a branch of chivalry , and to have been established at ihe time of the Crusades . The more probable hypothesis

perhaps is that they were related to each other onl y in emanating from the same source from the influence of ecclesiastical power ; and tlieir being so derived would alone account for the mystery and secrecy which the guilds of Masons affected ; and , together with their zeal in accumulating

knowledge for themselves , their desire to confine it to their own bod }' . By means of these associations the inventions and improvements made in architecture were communicated from one country to another , a circumstance which at once accounts for the sudden spread of Pointed or Gothic archi-

Freemasonry And Architecture.

tecture throughout the whole of the West of Europe , and at the same time renders it so exceedingly difficult to determine at all satisfactorily where that style actually originated , or what nation contributed most towards its advancement . Owing-also to the jealousy with which the Masons kept their knowledge to themselves , it is not at all surprising that the history of the art during

thc Middle Ages should be involved in so much , obscurity that it can now be traced only by its monuments , all documents relative to the study of it having been concealed as much as possible , even when something of the kind must have been in existence . Among the causes vvhich led afterwards to the decline of these institutions was , on the hand , the suspicion with

vvhich the Church itself began to regard them as societies that might in time acquire an influence not easily watched and which might be turned against itself ; and on the other , the spread of information , together with the revival of the arts , which deprived such bodies of their utility and importance and rendered it impossible for them to confine their knowledge exclusively within

their own pale . In this country an Act was passed against Masonry in the third year of Henry VI ., at the instigation of thc Bishop of Winchester . It was , however , never enforced , and Henry himself afterwards countenanced

the brethren by his presence at lodges of Masons . It was also patronised by James I . of Scotland , but it was no longer indispensable to the Church , which accordingly withdrew its protection—an event that would otherwise have been occasioned by the Reformation . —Architect .

One Feature Of Masonic Charity.

ONE FEATURE OF MASONIC CHARITY .

Charity is a many featured virtue , and in all its forms is lovely and of good report . Masons are , thanks be to the Great Architect of the Universe , by no means alone in taking it up as a distinguishing portion of life ' s work . And yet , without any disparagement of the efforts of other institutions and individuals , it is possible , with pardonable pride , £ 0 discover some special

points of excellence in our Masonic methods of bringing relief to bear upon the great mass of human misery . Not the least of these is the fact , not often reflected upon , that our Charity in general is expended on just that class of the unhappy that is least touched by other agencies , and which , nevertheless , needs help more sorely than any others . Masonry , for the

most part , takes under its protecting wing the bitterest of all poverty , that of the sufferer who has known better days . And , without the slightest idea of minimising the misery of the ordinary poverty-stricken one , surely we are at liberty to say that bitter though the bite of the wolf at the door is at all times , it is doubly so when pinching the man or the woman whose previous

training has been altogether the worst for facing the frowns of adverse fortune . The coarsel y brought up labourer , for instance , hard though his lot may be , suffers little even if he knows not where to turn for a meal , as compared with the anguish of the delicately-nurtured lady to whom a reversal of fortune implies being cast adrift on a sea of shame and sorrow

that means grief unspeakable . In the one case the daily life has been such that a little more depression is only a shade deeper in poverty , but in the other it means utter and entire helplessness , the sting of which is all the sharper because of the persistent efforts which are made to suffer in silence . As a distinguished divine said lately to a deputation of London ' s

unemployed , " there is often an aching heart under a black coat . " It is exactly these aching hearts that Masonry steps forward to soothe . From thc very fact of those who have a claim upon us having been members of the Craft , it follows that they must , at some time or other , have been in the enjoyment of the comforts , if not of the superfluities , of life .

Amidst these they were trained , and it is not their fault that their training is all insufficient when the ship has sailed upon the breakers of life . Probably a pound is spent with more certainty of doing real good when bestowed upon such as these , than if sent to relieve the misery of the teeming

thousands of the proletariat . Not that any of our Craft would neglect the multitude if he has wealth at his command , but still we may be pardoned for a little pardonable pride when wc reflect that thc stream of Masonic Charity goes to water dry places almost untouched by other agencies—South African Freemason .

Lodge Decorum.

LODGE DECORUM .

In visiting lodges one is impressed with the different phases of human nature that meet upon the [ level . The "jolly good fellow , " full of fun , brimming over with mirth ; the sober , sedate individual who looks like he was at a hanging ; the zealous , impetuous young Mason , whose vigorous youth bubbles out in his effort to carry the Steward ' s rod ; the important

brother who carries the weight of the whole lodge on his shoulders ; the indifferent , born-lazy man , who cares nothing for anybody or anything ; the " oldest Mason , " whose long , white locks expect to be reverenced ; the good-looking , the homely , the red-headed , black-headed , and bald-headed all come with as many different ideas and notions of Masonry and its

mission . There is one thing that is certainly beautiful in all this mixture and that is the harmony that always exists in some form or other . It is seldom lhat the differences of opinion lead to anything more than the war

of words , and that war is generally settled by both parties capitulating . They may be " mad as a March hare" one minute , and friendly as two cooing doves the next , and all because thc spirit of Masonry commands it .

1 have heard brethren complain that there was too much talking during the work , and I have asked myself why is it V I have found that the fault is nine times in ten with the officer performing the work . Indecorum is not excusable at any time during work , but I have seen work where it was certainly a relief to "say something" to my next neigh-