Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine and Review

THB FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AND REVIEW. DECEMBER 31, 1851. MASONIC RETROSPECT. WITH this number of the "FREEMASON 'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AND REVIEW " we close the year 1851,—a period long to be remembered, as one of the most remark- able that has ever, perhaps, occurred in our country's history. It is not, however, with the political events, which have transpired during the year, that we have to deal ; neither is it any part of our province or duty to refer to the great religious struggle, which still goes on in the world. We also doubt very much whether we have any right to refer to the mercantile transactions, which have been of an unusual character, or to the operations of trade, which have either been benefited or depressed by the various circum- stances that have crowded upon each other in rapid suc- cession. On these accounts, therefore, we dismiss all such subjects from our minds, and leave them to those, who are more deeply interested in them than we are in our present position. We have to deal with quite another subject ,— one that is far more to our taste than those we have enu- merated—THE PROGRESS OE FREEMASONRY at home and abroad. In the natural order of events we will first consider the position of the Masonic Order in England at the close of 1851. In looking back upon the year, we are able to congratulate the entire Fraternity, no less than ourselves, upon the decided progress which has been made. It is true, that the opportunity afforded by the Great Exhibition was not VOL. II. I I used for any great or public demonstration on the part of the authorities of the Order. There was, however, a disposition to do so, and the matter was considered ; but the difficulties that environed the proposition were too great to be overcome, and the impossibility of inviting ALL the forei gn Brethren, who visited our shores, to any full Masonic reunion, formed an insuperable barrier to an at- tempt being made in this manner to bring them together. Had some of the foreign Brethren been invited to such an entertainment, others must have been excluded ; and jealousy, inherent as it is in human nature, might have been introduced, where Peace, Harmony, and Brotherly Love only ought to prevail. Whilst, however, the holding of any great Masonic meeting was thus impracticable, means were still offered by private Lodges for mutual intercourse and expressions of good will, whereby, in numerous instances, that spirit, which has ever marked the practices of the Order, was liberally and Fraternally manifested. We know of many cases, in which Brethren from all parts of the world joined with their Anglican relations in witnessing the working of the Craft, and in partaking of its hospitalities ; and we rejoice to be able to say, that in every instance, which has come under our cognizance, — and they are not a few,—mutual good will and the best feeling were recipro- cated. But it is not with reference to the visits of foreign Brethren alone to private Lodges, that Masonry may be said to have prospered amongst us. The condition of the Charities of the Order tell a tale, except in one instance, which ought to satisfy the most fastidious. In announcing that the funds of these Institutions have never been better supported, nor their welfare more anxiously promoted, we know that we say no more than what ought to be the pride of the Order ; for unless its Charities are liberally kept up, Masonry is but a disreputable fiction, and its profession an unhappy delusion. Of those which have been least considered, the youngest has the only cause to complain —the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons. To this the heJping hand has been too sparingly extended, and we regret that we cannot congratulate the Craft either upon the completion of the building, or upon any present prospect of such a desirable end, or upon that large amount of sustenance, which the Asylum ought immediately to receive. This Institution has become one of the acknowledged Charities of the Order, and so long as the building remains unfinished, and the comforts of the inmates are curtailed by reason of insufficient funds to make it one of the noblest of the Masonic Charities, the circle of Fra- ternal benevolence cannot be said to be complete. We made an appeal in its behalf in September : to that appeal, WE GKIEVE TO SAY, NO ADEQUATE RESPONSE HAS YET BEEN MADE ! We trust the year 1852, just commencing, will not pass without such a blot—as unworthy of the Craft as it is extraordinary—being wiped from its escutcheon — an escutcheon which ought in every respect irreproachably to maintain the motto, Sans tache, et sans reproche ! With reference to the Girls' School, every thing that is satisfactory may be announced : the children are advancing in their education with a rapidity and earnestness, which does great credit to their indefatigable school-mistress, Miss Jarwood ; whilst the superintendence of their do- mestic comforts continues to be as carefully and earnestly discharged as ever, by the assiduity and person al inspection of the venerable and respected matron, Mrs. Crook, in which duties she is assiduously aided by the services of Miss Jack. As to the educational progress of the children, we are happy to announce, that the Girls have lately under- gone two examinations, the latter of which was conducted in the presence of the M. W. the G. M., and the Countess of Zetland, when they shewed, especially on the former occasion, a proficiency in every branch of study in which they are trained, that would have done credit to any female educational institution in the country. When the new school-house shall have been completed, and the interesting inmates of the Royal Freemasons' School for Female Children have been removed there, we doubt not that even greater advancement will be made, and that the Craft will have to congratulate themselves that the largest amount of education, consistent with the circum- stances in which the children will probably be placed in after life, will be imparted, whilst their moral and religious supervision will continue to be as strictly regarded as it. has been hitherto. From the contemplation of the flourishing condition of the Girls' School, we turn to that of the Boys ; and here there is similar reason to be thankful ; for the advancement of these recipients of Masonic bounty has neither been slow nor disproportionate to the progress of the age in which their lot is cast. Two examinations have been held d uring the year, the satisfactory result of the first has been recorded in a former number of the " Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine and Review," * as well as in that of the present month. Considerable improvements have also been made in the system upon which the Boys are taught, and, in London, greater concentration, with respect to masters and scholars, has been very happily effected. At the moment at which we write, the proposition is on foot to raise a building, in which to house the Boys of this Charity, in the same manner as the Girls are provided for. Upon that scheme we have our own very decided opinion, but we refrain from expressing it until we have weighed the probabilities of " raising the wherewithal " to build a school-house, and considered well the pros and cons for and against such an establishment. The time is clearly come when the utmost should be done for the Boys, no less than for the Girls ;—the question has yet to be decided— what may be the best manner of doing it ? We turn now to a slight and brief review of the progress which the Craft has made in 185 1, by the initiation of new members. And we believe we may say on this head, that in no one year has it been upon record, that a greater number of more respectable gentlemen have been admitted into our time-honoured Order. Both in town and country, no less than in the Colonies, and Foreign dependencies, members are increasing ; and whilst care is taken not to ad- mit men rashly, but only upon proof, that the tongue of good report can be vouched for them, there is not the slightest fear that the Craft will either degenerate, or decrease in usefulness. Several Lodges, which, from untoward circum- stances, have fallen into abeyance, have been erased by order of the Grand Lodge; but new ones have been conse- crated in different parts of the world, over which the G. M. of England rules, more than compensating for the neces- sary removal of the others from the Register of the Grand Lodge of England. Thus, upon the whole, the year 1851 may be set down as having conferred much benefit on the Craft, and as having given considerable extension to its many and admirable appliances for good. * Pages 96, 06, 400. In Ireland the same happy results are going on; the re- ports tell most admirably for the energy of the Brethren on the other side of the Channel, and indicate that in spite of the intolerance of Priestcraft, and of a system of persecution by means of superstition, only suited to the darkest ages, the blessings, which Masonry dispenses, are being felt and acknowledged throughout the island. Opposition has only served to " strengthen the cords and lengthen the stakes " of the Order,—as the following authentic piece of information, received from a valued correspondent, will amply testify:— " At a time when the sectarian bigotry of PAUL CULLEN has caused him to send out an anathema against Freemasons and Freemasonry, couched in terms and "breathing a spirit hardly less than fiendish, we refer with peculiar pleasure to the testi- mony borne by those distinguished Brethren of the Order, the Hon.

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