Ar00505

" " - gre ^ k ^^* - ^ . ^ - ^^ ^^^ s ^^^^^^^^ v ^ -fr ^^ vW ^^^ l SATURDAY , JANUARY 24 , 1885 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We tlo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of the opinions expressed by our correspondents , bnt sve svish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—svithin certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

THE TREASURERSHIP OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , In confirmation of your remarks in this day's issue of the Freemason , I enclose you a copy of a letter I sent to Sir John Monckton on Monday last , as soon as I received the official notice , and I also enclose you a copy of Bro . Monckton ' s reply to—Yours fraternally ,

HORACE B . MARSHALL . Clifton Villa , East Brixton , January 17 th . TCOPY . 1

"To Sir John B . Monckton . " 12 5 , Fleet-street , January 12 th , 1 SS 5 . " My dear Sir John , " The enclosed official notice I have just received , to mygreat surprise , having read in the City Press that your consent had been obtained to allosv yourself to be nominated for the office of Treasurer of the Girls' School ,

s * acant by the death of Col . Creaton . " Had I been present at the meeting on Saturday , I certainly should not have allosved my name to be placed against yours . Will you do me the honour of nosv permitting me to withdrasv in your favour ? and believe me , dear Sir John , ever yours fraternally , ( Signed ) " HORACE B . MARSHALL . "

[ COPY . ] " Guildhall , E . G ., 12 th January , 1 S 85 . " Dear Bro . Grand Treasurer , " I am obliged by your kind and fraternal letter ; but , of course , could not for a moment entertain its unselfish suggestion . " It svas the first I had heard of Saturday ' s proceedings , or that such an election svas imminent .

. " I did some time since , in answer to a question from some brother , say I should have no objection to be nomimated as a Trustee or as Treasurer—I forget svhich—of the Girls' School ; but since that moment I had not heard anything on the subject , either direct or indirect .

" You svill be a far more valuable man there than I , and I sincerely congratulate you on the choice of the Quarterly Court . " I am , faithfully and fraternally yours , ( Signed ) "JOHN B . MONCKTON . "To Horace Brooks Marshall , Esq ., Grand Treasurer . "

THE WIDOWS' FUND , ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , The present position of the Widosvs' Fund of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution is one that claims , and should receive , the most serious consideration of the

Craft generally . This Fund has been enormousl y increased of late years , yet , in spite of this—the cynic svill perhaps feel inclined to suggest , because of this—the Executive finds itself confronted by a supreme difficulty , namely , that of endeavouring to make out of nothing some provision tosvards thc relief of a host of candidates . There are Si applicants for admission svith no vacancies to be competed

for in May next . The mind revolts from the bare idea of leaving these old and poverty-stricken svomen to the tender mercies of the poorhouse ; indeed , our obligations as Masons require us to do something to relieve them , if only it can be done svithout detriment to our osvn necessities . But out of nothing comes nothing . There are , as I have said , Si candidates , but no vacancies , and as matters stand

at present , the utmost that can be done is to elect the three deferred annuitants—that is , the three svidosvs who , by Lasv 13 , are entitled to receive the annuity as vacancies to that limited extent occur after the " Annual General Meeting . " The tsvo svho stand next highest on the poll svill receive their proportionate shares of the "John Hervey Testimonial Fund , " svhile as to the remaining 7 6 , unless some svay out

of the deadlock can be found , there is nothing for them but to wait and take their chance of being elected in May , 18 S 6 . In the meantime , some may die , all must suffer , and the question svhich has to be considered , and I hope svill be considered , in all our lodges during the next four months is —Can anything be done to alleviate thc necessities of these poor old people ; and , if so , svhat ?

It is no consolation for us to knosv that the position in which sve nosv find ourselves svas bound to overtake us sooner or later . Everyone must knosv that it svas impossible to go on creating additional vacancies every year ; even the generous Mason Craft of England could not stand that . Yet the increase in the number of candidates for admission into the Institution has more than kept pace svith the number of

vacancies created . It is literally the fact that there are wore applicants nosv than there svere 10 years ago , svhen the Widosvs' Fund svas less than half its present strength , and its SS annuitants absorbed only £ 2464 amongst them , the annuit y payable then being only £ 28 per annum . The follosving figures svill shosv hosv the Fund has increased in the interim . In 1 S 74 there svere , as I have said , 88

widosvs on the Fund receiving amongst them at £ 28 each £ 2464 . In 1 S 75 this number svas increased to 100 and the total to £ 2800 ; in 187 C to no , and as the annuity Payable was raised from £ 28 to £ 32 , the total to be distributed amongst them svas increased to £ ' 3520 . In 1 S 77 , 'he number became 125 , and the amount £ 4000 . ln 1 S 7 S there

were 135 widosvs receiving £ 4320 ; in 1 S 79 , 145 receiving £ 4640 ; in 1 SS 0 , 155 receiving £ 49 60 ; in 1 SS 1 ¦ ind 1 SS 2 , ifio receiving £ 5120 ; in 1 SS 3 , 167 receiving A 5344 ; and in 18 S 4 , 182 receiving £ 5824 . The follosving represent the yearly increases during this period in the number of annuities created and the aggregate amount

Original Correspondence.

payab ! e | thereon , namely : —in 1 S 75 , 12 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 336 per annum ; in 1876 , 10 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 320 per annum , all the annuities being at the same time increased from £ 28 to £ 32 per annum ; in 1 S 77 , 15 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 480 per annum ; in 1878 , 10 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 320 per annum ; in 1 S 79 , ioadditional annuities , sum payable , £ 320 perannum ; in 1 SS 0 , 10 additional

annuities , sum payable , £ 320 perannum ; in iSSi , 5 additional annuities , sum payable , ^ , iflo perannum ; in 1 SS 2 , no increase ; in 1 SS 3 , 7 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 224 ; in 1 SS 4 , 15 additional annuities , sum payable , £ 480 per annum . T'husthe Widosvs' Fund , which in 1 S 74 provided £ 2464 for SS annuitants at £ 28 per annum each , nosv provides £ 5824 for 1 S 2 annuitants at £ 32 perannum each , the total increase being 94 annuitants and amount payable

annually £ 3360 . This shosvs svhat has been done in the ten years 1 S 75-S 4 , and confirms svhat I have said as to the impossibility of going on creating additional vacancies every year . Moreover , there is the Male Fund , svhich in 1 S 74 provided £ 4320 for 120 annuitants at £ 36 each , and for svhich , svith its 170 annuitants at £ 40 , the sum of £ ( 5 Soo must nosv be found annually ; to say nothing of the tsvo Schools , svhich , as they

have smaller permanent incomes , require an even greater degree of consideration and svatchfulness than the Benevolent Institution svith its £ 1750 a year from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter and dividends amounting to a further £ 1900 or thereabouts . At all events , though it is the Widosvs' Fund of the Benevolent Institution svhich is in such extremities , sve must not lose sight of the Male Fund svith its £ GSoo per annum , and the Schools svith their

£ 20 , 000 and upsvards—taken together . The provision of the necessary funds for these forms part of the annual obligations svhich the Craft as a body has voluntarily contracted , and svhich , if its credit is to be upheld , must be fulfilled . Thus the question as to svhat had best be done in the case of the Widosvs' Fund is not so easily met as some might imagine , because it is only one out of four funds svhich must be provided for annually . Of course , if the

response next month to the canvassing svhich is nosv going on on behalf of the Benevolent Institution is favourable , the task of the executive ss'ill be easier . If , for instance , the Festival yields no more than it did in iSSs . when the sum subscribed svas . £ i 3 , 26 o , there svill be margin enough left to provide for a fesv of the present female candidates . If Bro . Terry is fortunately able to announce the same sum as last year— £ 14 , 665—there svill be a still svider margin , and still

more of them may be assisted . But no matter hosv satisfactory may be the returns at the approaching Festival , there still remains the question , the consideration of svhich it is impossible to postpone indefinitely , namely , Can the Craft , or rather , Is it prudent on the part of the Craft to go on annually increasing its responbilities , svhen they stand already at something like from ^ 36 , 000 to £ 40 , 000 a year , as against some £ 21 , 000 at the outside in 1 S 74 ? Will it

not suffice , if some temporary arrangement is made by svhich the present strain , in the case of the Widosvs' Fund , can be met to a certain extent , svhile the liabilities of the Craft remain at about the same figure ? What is there to prevent the number of "deferred annuitants" under lasv 13 being increased ( say ) to 32—the present number eligible being three—an annuity of £ 20 a year being assigned to each until such time as room can be found for them in the

fixed establishment ? By adopting some such temporary expedient as this the Committee of Management svould be able to assist a goodly proportion of the present applicants , svhile the addition to the permanent expenditure of the Institution svould be nil , or at all events so small as to be hardly appreciable . I offer this suggestion for svhat it is svorth , and I may add that I have selected the number ( 32 ) and the amount ( £ 20 ) payable to each , because the latter is the sum allosved to the svidosv of a male annuitant

under certain conditions and for a given term of years ; svhile as it svould be hardly possible to add less than 20 to the existing list out of so formidable a roll of candidates as Si , and as the amount ' of the annuity is £ 32 , the temporary amount at first required for the larger number of 32 at £ 20 each , svould be precisely the same as the permanent amount required for the smaller number of 20 at £ 32 each . —Fraternally yours . QUANTUM VALEAT .

Reviews

REVIEWS

MYTHOLOGY , GREEK AND ROMAN . Translated by Mrs . ANGUS W . HALL , from the German of FREDERICK NOSSELT . Kerby and Endean , 440 , Oxford-street , W . This svork , which is dedicated to H . R . H . Princess Christian , comes before us very seasonably . It is svell printed and effectively illustrated , and is ornamented by two charming photographic miniatures of the Princesses Victoria

ana Louise of Schlessvig . Our readers svill be struck by their intellectual faces . We quite agree svith the translatress svhen she says Greek and Roman Mythology is almost a sealed book for children . Fact though it be , we are among those svho deplore it . It is nothing , as sve see it , but a tokening of a defect of imagination , vulgarity of sentiment , and the gross materialism of the hour , svhich seek to discountenance the study by the

young of the classic literature of Greece and Rome , svhich talks in pompous tones or affected fear , of the ill effects of the older "Muthos" on the minds of the young . No doubt , as told in matter of fact plainness of old Lempriere and the like , the tale of Roman and Greek Mythology is a sorry one at best . We find hosv the grosser taint of earth , and Iosv-toned social conditions , have pointed the moral , and depraved the tale . The gods

are very poor gods at the best , human generally in conception , in sveakness , in folly , and in baseness . But yet behind it all and beyond it all , lies an historical region superior to the mere mythic elements of florid symposia and fabled elysia . It seems to us as if these outlines of something above them , so dear at one time

to the Greek and Roman mind , had been entirely coloured , dsvarfed , and tsvistcd , so to say , by the prevailing influence of passing sensations , of materialism and sensuousness . The gods no doubt represented ideas , probably virtues , probably Divine truths , garbled and covered over by the grosser fancies of diseased imaginations . They are palimpsests . so to

Reviews

say , svhich require careful and thoughtful study . That in their pettier and purely human nature they represented the belief of the thoughtful and the philosopher is certainly not the case . We knosv that Socrates and Plato , and the teachers and listeners of the academes did not accept the outer meaningof such symbolism . What the cultured , Greeks and Romans really did believe is difficult to say . It svould

almost seem to he a sort of necessitarian Anima Mundi . Ihe mysteries undoubtedly kept a portion of primo ^ val truth , remains of the belief of the " theodidaktoi , " before the minds of their "mustm" and " epoptai , " and the " muesis " svas meant to explain to the enlightened and truthloving all that else svas parable or absurdity . And , therefore , in its original grossness the Mythology of thc

past svas not a pleasing subject to contemplate or realize . But svriters in all time have sought to simplify , to illustrate , and explain , feeling convinced that behind all these " aberrations of the human intellect , " there svas something true and abiding in the great mass of Muthos after all . And so there is . We svill not , hosvever , though the subject is tempting enough , be led into matter svhich has given rise to

long and laborious controversies . We svill content ourselves svith pointing out that Herr NOaselt and his careful translatress present before us a skilfully connected and very readable book . Some of us svho remember old days amid the" streets of Rome and Troy , "or svhen sve lingered pleasedly over Horace and Virgil , or Tacitus , svhen sve perused the Metamorphoses , and pored over Livy , finding

grave delights in the pages of Thucydides , the Greek Plays , and above all svonderl ' ul old Homer , ever bright and pleasant , may not be unwilling to refresh our " sere and yellosv leaf" svith a perusal of these effective and animated pages . We are carried on very pleasantly by the style , svhich is neither too laboured nor too severe , but easy nnd graceful , and sets before us svith much effect the reality

and historic truth , lingering in each classic episode , and bringing out striking points and startling contrasts thoroughly to the reader ' s contentment and gratification . We can confidently recommend this bock to the young amongst us , to schools and teachers . Our young people , especially our girls , are becoming so learned in scientific matters , that sve think it svill do them all good to make a

little journey into classic regions , and to lighten up the somesvhat darker realities of technical inforrration , svith these glimpses and touches of the ideal and the intellectual , svhich shed such a charm on the Mythology of Greece and Rome , svhen the mistaken excrescences of years are remos'cd and disallosved . We urge upon all our readers the perusal of a very improving and valuable book .

THE MASONIC GUIDE FUR THE COUNTY OF YORKSHIRE AND YORK MASO NIC CALENDAR FOR 1 SS 5 . Ninth year of publication . Printed at the GAZETTE Office , York . We congratulate Bro . T . B . Whytehead on the reappearance , for the ninth successive year , of the Masonic Guide compiled by him , and published and presented gratis to the Craft . It is strictly a multum in parvo ,

containing as it does all the needful information as to the places and dates of meeting of the different lodges , chapters , & c , in the tsvo Yorkshire provinces , and much other information svhich it is necessary or desirable the brethren should possess . Yet the publication in svhich all this appears may be carried conveniently in the svaistcoat pocket . We trust Bro . Whytehead may live to publish manv re-issues of his valuable Guide and Calendar .

Masonic Nothes And Queries.

Masonic Nothes and Queries .

4 S 6 J STEPHEN MORIN . There svas published in Paris in 1755 , almost contem poraneously svith the " Chapitrede Cleimont , " svhich some German svriters deem a Jesuit organization , the Statutes , & c , by the " respectable Lodge ol St . John of Jerusalem , " and svhich creates offices until then unknosvn , "

superintendents and inspectors of labour , " in Scottish Masonry . The mistake svhich Kloss , and Findel , and others have made is to confound this lodge svith the Grand Lodge of France , formerly the Grand Lodge " Anglaise" of France . That Grand Lodge never in any svay attempted to recognize or negotiate svith the High Grades until 1772 . The same svriters think they find tentative efforts indeed in the same

direction in 17 G 2 , and in 1766 svhen the Grand Lodge sought to overthrosv all the High Grades by a special interdict . The Conseil des Emperieurs svas formed in 175 S , the Conseil des Chevaliers de 1 'Orient in 1762 , the Ordre de l'Etoile Flambezante in 1766 , which professed to go back to an " Ordre de Palestine , " and regarding svhich the name of Ramsey is again invoked . Many of the members of the

Grand Lodge of France svere members of the High Grades and of these bodies . The Patent given to Stephen Morin in 17 61 ( Etienne Morin ) , clearly only deals svith the high Scottish Masonry and Masonic terms , and has nothing to do svith the Symbolic Degrees . He is bid to "labour regularly for the advantage and increase of the Royal Art in all its perfection ; " to "form and establish a lodge to

secure and multiply the Royal Art of Freemasons in all the Perfect and Sublime Grades -, " he is " to establish the lodge in the four quarters of the globe svhere he shall arrive or may dsvell , under the title of the Lodge of St . John and the surname of the Perfect Harmony ; "he is to " admit into his lodge true and legitimate brethren of the Sublime Masonry ; " he is to " consiitute brethren in the

Sublime Grade of Perfection , " and "to take care that the statutes and general regulations of the Grand and Sovereign Lodge in particular are to be held and observed ; " he is himself entitled in the Patent , " Grand Inspector , " in the " nesv ss'orld , " and is authorized to multiply the Sublime Grades of the High Perfection , and to create Inspectors in all places svhere the Sublime Grades are not yet established . None of these terms apply to the Grand Lodge

of France , and therefore this Grand Lodge is another body . The Grand Lodge of France never termed itself , for instance , the Grand and Sovereign Lodge . Bro . Speth seems to think the Conseil of the Empereurs , or the Conseil des Chevaliers , Sic , is recognised by the use of the svords "Grand Conseil , " but if he svill look at the svords of the Patent carefully , he svill see they themselves destroy his proposition . These svords are—Nous soussignes Substitute Generaux de la Grand et Souveraine Loge