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CONTENTS . LEADERS— PAGH Masonic Benevolence in aid of National and Special Objects ... ... 4 og Freemasonry in Queensland ... ... •¦¦ ¦••4 ' ° A Masonic Address to her Majesty from the U . S . A . ... ... ... 410 Ancient Freemasonry ... ... ... ... ... ¦¦•4 " R . W . Bro . VV . F . Lamonhy , Past Deputy Grand Master of Victoria ... ... 4 '

District Grand Lodge ot Westland , New Zealand ... ... ... 4 12 MASONIC NOTESDeath of Bro . John Larlth , J . P . ... ... ... ... 4 ' 5 The Grand Lodge of New York ... ... ... ... 415 Past Rank in Supreme Grsnd Chapter ... ... ... ... 415 Proceedings of . the District Grand Lodge of Natal ... ... ... 415 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 416

Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Dorset ... ... ... ... 416 Yeatman-Biggs Lodge , No . 64—Inaugural Meeting ... ... ... 416 Addresses to the Queen from the Grand Lodge and Great Priory of Canada ... yy Our Portrait Gallery ... ... ... ... ... ... 417 Jottings from the Antipodes ... ... ... ... ... 417 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 41 S

District Grand Lodge of Burma ... ... ... ... ... 41 S Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 419 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ... 419 Carlow Masonic Bazaar ... ... ... ... ... ... 419 Chapter of Improvement ... ... ... ... ... 419 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 420

Masonic Benevolence In Aid Of National And Special Objects.

MASONIC BENEVOLENCE IN AID OF NATIONAL AND SPECIAL OBJECTS .

It has often been affirmed—with how little reason will be gathered from the following particulars—that Masons are selfish in their benevolence and limit their donations and subscriptions to members of or objects connected with their own body . Why

it should be the subject of reproach that the members of a society should , before all things , make generous provision for the necessities of their own aged and destitute and their widows and children we fail to see ; but even if we go so far as to

acknowledge that such a policy is an evidence of selfishness on the part of the society which adopts it , we are at a loss to understand how , with the facts before us , any such charge can be made against the Masonic body . Firstly , there are few deserving

objects of local or general interest in London , the Provinces , or Districts abroad , to which support by the local Masonic bodies is not freely and voluntarily given . Many a donation or subscription from lodges and brethren finds its way into the hands of the

I reasurer of the local cottage hospital , infirmary , convalescent home , or other similar charity , and of these frequent gifts there is in 99 cases out of 100 no record to be found outside the minute book . Again , our Provincial and District G . Lodges when

they hold their periodical meetings invariably make grants to some charity in the neighbourhood , while , whenever a scheme is projected for the restoration of a cathedral or the erection of some public edifice , the Masons are seldom , if ever ,

found less willing to contribute than their neighbours . It is for instance , but the other day that our Kentish brethren paid over £ 1000 towards Dean FARRAR ' Fund for the restoration of Canterbury Cathedral , while similar gifts have been made at

divers tunes for similar objects in other dioceses . Of these contributions , however , no special record is kept , and a few months after they have been made the names of the donors or donating bodies are forgotten . But irrespective of these subscriptions

and contributions , to which we only refer for the purpose of showing that the charge of indifference to charitable objects outside does not apply to local Masonic bodies , the donations which have been made from time to time to national and special

objects by our Grand Lodge , that is , by the Masonic body as a whole , are both numerous and considerable in amount . The latest act of Masonic munificence towards extra-Masonic objects will be found in the grant and contributions by Grand Lodge towards the Prince of WALES ' Hospital Fund for London , the

Masonic Benevolence In Aid Of National And Special Objects.

sum voted by Grand Lodge being £ 2000 , while the contribution in the shape of one moiety of the lees received for admission to the Masonic Jubilee Commemoration meeting in the Royal Albert Mall on the 14 th June amounted to £ 3512 15 s . 6 d .,

the total sum handed over to the bund , exclusive of amounts raised b y individual lodges and other Masonic bodies , being ^ 5512 15 s . 6 d . This , as we have said , is the latest act we are able to point to , but similar gifts , if not

precisely on the same scale , have been made during the last 40 years and upwards . Thus in 1 S 55 , during the war in the Crimea , Grand Lodge voted £ 1000 to the Patriotic Fund , while in 18 5 S a like sum was voted to the Indian Relief Fund . In 1 S 74 , ^ 500

was voted to the Bengal Famine Relief Fund ; in 1877 , ^ 1050 was voted to the Famine Relief Fund for the whole of India ; and in March of the present year a grant of equal amount was made towards a similar purpose . In 1 & 6 3 £ 1000 was granted towards

the alleviation of the distress caused by the American Civil War in the Lancashire Cotton Districts . In 18 77 , by way of commemorating the safe return of the Prince of WALES , M . W . G . M ., from his visit to India , Grand Lodge voted the

handsome contribution of £ 4000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the purpose of providing and permanently endowing two lifeboats . In 18 70 , when the war was raging between France and Germany a gift of £ 500 was voted by

Grand Lodge to the National Society for the aid of the sick and wounded in war . In 18 72 , when pretty well the whole of the city of Chicago was burnt to the ground , a sum of £ 500 was voted towards the relief of the sufferers by the terrible

catastrophe , in 1 SS 0 , when exceptional distress prevailed in Ireland , Grand Lodge gave ^ , 500 towards the relief of the sufferers , while in 1886 and again in 188 7 , sums were voted for the relief of the London poor , 200 guineas being

given 111 the former year for the relief of the unemployed in London , and £ 500 in the latter year towards relieving the distress prevailing among the poor . In rSgG , 500 guineas was voted towards the special fund that was being raised under the

auspicies of the Prince of WALES for the re-endowment of Guv ' s Hospital Fund . Other grants that have been made will be found to include £ 100 in 1825 towards the relief of the sufferers by inundation in Hanover ; two grants of , £ 105 each to

the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1868 and 18 7 6 respectively ; , £ roo to the Turks' Island Relief Fund in 1867 ; £ 105 to the Peruvian Earthquake Fund in 186 9 ; £ 100 to the Refugees ' Benevolent Fund in 1871 ; ^ 105 to the Famine Relief Fund for

Persia ; . £ 210 to the sufferers by the Fire at St . John , N . Brunswick , in 18 77 ; and £ 105 to those who suffered by the " Cataclysm" on the Coast of Peru in the same year . In 18 7 8 , , £ 100 was given to the members of Igualdad Lodge , No . 653 ,

Curacoa , who had suffered by the hurricane , and in 188 3 , £ 105 was voted to brethren who had suffered by the fire at Kingston , Jamaica . In 1 S 84 , , £ 105 was presented to the families of two

ol the crew of the Albert Edward Life-boat , Clacton-on-Sea ( one of the Grand Lodge Life-boats ) , who lost their lives in the performance of their duty ; and in 1888 , a like sum was voted in aid of the families of the crew of

H . M . S . Serpent which was lost , with all hands but three , off the coast of Spain . - The four following grants were also made in the years specified , namely , in 18 92 , £ 315 to

the relief of the general distress , and in 18 93 £ 200 to that of the Masonic distress caused by the lire at St . John ' s , Newfoundland ; £ 105 in 18 93 towards those who suffered by the earth-