Quarterly Magazine

THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.. ' DECEMBER 31, 1853. THE BOARD OE BENEVOLENCE. IT is universally believed that Freemasonry is a system in which charity largely abounds. Ereemasons themselves invariably insist upon this as a fact. They give proof, too, that it is so for the most part. They support the Institutions of the Order with earnestness and zeal. They encourage the inculcation of the duty to bestow relief to the needy, and assistance to the distressed. A considerable portion of the fees, paid annually by all Lodges to the United Grand Lodge, is devoted to the purposes of benevolence. Every month a Board is formed at Freemasons' Hall to dispense this fund, and to take into con- sideration the afflicting circumstances of those Brethren, " Who, once in Fortune's lap high, fed, Solicit the liand of charity ;" who, from no fault of their own, but in the dispensations of T. G. A. 0. T. IT., are reduced from affluence to beggary, and are compelled to throw themselves upon the good feeling aud generosity of those, with many of whom they once worked in peace and harmony. It is impossible that any fault can be found with the provision which the Grand Lodge has made for this purpose. But we have a word to say as to the manner, in which the Fund of Benevolence is distributed . A few months since, several influ- ential Brethren, doubtless induced by the same motive which leads us to take up this subject , endeavoured to prevail upon the Grand Lodge to make a considerable change in the constitution of the Board of Benevolence. They failed. Many Grand Officers, who scarcely ever attend the monthly distribution of the Fund of Benevolence, except when called upon in rotation to preside, opposed the proposition most vehemently, and showed hy their observation s that they were thoroughly unacquainted with the VOL. i. 2 Q working of the present system. The Brethren below the dais also took alarm. They considered, whether rightly or not wc are not disposed to argue, that an attempt was being made to infringe their privileges, and therefore they almost unanimously gave an adverse vote to the proposition. That the constitution of the Board of Benevolence may be altered, is clear ancl conclusive. But two years have passed since a new element was introduced into it. Up to that period the Board was composed of all Present and Past Grand Officers , ancl W. M.'s of all Lodges, under the English constitution. Twelve P. M/s were then introduced by annual election in the Grand Loclge, held in the month of December. This change arose out of the circumstance of several Brethren, who had taken a prominent part in the transactions of the Board during the period of their Mastership, being no longer eligible after they had passed the Chair. Although so short a time has elapsed since this change was made, it has already become apparent, that the nomination of the P. M.'s, thus added to the constitution of the Board, is degenerating into a job. This year, for instance, especial care was taken that there should be no contest in the Grand Lodge of December, just a sufficient number of names having been put forward at the Board of Masters, and sent up, to prevent the necessity of a ballot. Whilst the Board of Benevolence was free of the presence of the twelve P. M.'s, there was often occasion to complain of the manner, in which the suppliants for relief were interrogated. We have ourselves wished, whilst such interrogatories were going on, that the floor of the Lodge would open and hide us from the presence of our suffering Brethren, who had to endure the ordeal of a cross-examination by one or two officious Brethren, and who must have lamented the hour in which they entered the Order, if such were the practical consequences of the sentiments they had then heard inculcated. In those times, however, such conduct was but occasional. Now it has become proverbial! Several of the Brethren, who pursued this course when W. M/s, are now amongst the twelve P. M/s. They are also the most constant and regular in their attendance at the Board. The consequence is, that the state of things here- tofore only occasional, and which we have no terms strong enough to denounce, is perpetuated. Questions are now invariably put to our poor and needy Brethren that would disgrace the Board of Guardians of an Union workhouse. It is asserted that the applications to the Board of Benevo- lence by poor Brethren , who, from residence within the precincts of the metropolitan districts, must attend for personal examination, are gradually diminishing. We know that this is hailed as a matter of congratulation by some, who, with a cheeseparing expediency, desire to keep up a good balance with the Grand Treasurer, ancl seem not to care what suffering may originate from such an un-Masonic feeling. If these were really the evidences of the principles of the Order, we hesitate not to say, that we would no longer rank uncier its banners. But as we know that such conduct is a violation of every Masonic O. B., we avail ourselves of this means to urge the immediate correc- tion of an abuse, which ought not to be tolerated, and which will not be tolerated, if those, who are in their lives the true exponents of the principles of the Order, will make a point of attending regularly at the Board of Benevolence, and enforce the recognition, in their full extent and pm-pose, of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. THE SAD AITAIR OE THE YEAR . WITH sorrow, but not in anger,—with how much more sorrow than anger those who know us intimately can well, vouch for,—we advert to the subject that is now producing feelings of great irritation throughout our noble Order. We allude to the removal of the R. W. Prov. Grand Master of Dorsetshire, William Tucker, from the chair of that Province. We should be consulting our private feelings much more in trying to bury everything connected with that act in ob- livion ; but holding the position which we do, as the public journalist of the Order, we cannot vacate the duty imposed upon us for private or personal considerations. That dismissal, we unhesitatingly declare, appears to us to have been harsh and unwise, and entirely unwarranted by the reasons assigned for it in the letter signed by the Grand Secretary's name. In saying this, let us not be mistaken ; we clo not justify the act of the R. W. Brother, friend and beloved by us as he is, and has ever been. The act was one of irregularity, and contrary to the strict discipline, as to clothing, laid down in the Book of Constitutions. The R. W. Brother ought to have kept himself within the letter of the law ; he failed to do so, and was for such act amenable to rebuke. But is the offence in any way commensurate with the punishment ? Was he contumacious when applied to on the subject ? Did he defy the law, or the Grand Master ? Quite the contrary. Hear what he says :—" I have myself, before receiving the G. S.'s letter, well considered the matter over, and I had determined never more to mix anything ivith Craft and Royal Arch Ma- 2 Q 2 sonry than what was sanctioned by the Grand Lodge and Grancl Chapter." This, let it be remembered, for it seems hardly credible, was before the dismissal of the R. W. Brother. What could lie Lave done more to put himself right with the Masonic authority that questioned his act ? Wc cannot believe that this harsh ancl unwise proceeding, as we shall ever characterise it, was the spontaneous work of the M. W. Grand Master, or his Grand Secretary. There has been some under-current at work, with which we are not made ac- quainted, but which time will bring to light. We should now leave this sad affair, but there are some things in the letter of the Grand Secretary, which cannot he passed over in silence. The Masonic world is there led to believe that the universality of the Craft means the admission into the Order of all persons, whatever their creed or belief. We deny that this is so, and most emphatically state, that no Brother, unless he be a hypocrite, can be a Master Mason, or a Royal Arch Mason, as sanctioned by the Grancl Lodge and Grancl Chapter, without he be a believer in revealed religion as found in the Old Testament. What ! we who have reared the Temple, and hacl King David, King Solomon, and Zerubbabel, for our Grancl Masters ! ancl Ezra and Nehemiah for our Scribes !—not believers in revealed religion ! The idea is preposterous. The cant of the words alone it is that has made the meaning of the thing obscure. The universality of the Craft means the eligibility of those to admission into the Order, who admit the moral law,—that Decalogue revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai,—as part of their belief, and the foun- dation of their morality. The Grand Lodge ancl the Grand Chapter acknowledge no universality in the Craft beyond this. We now take leave of this subject as we began, more in sorrow than in anger. We trust the performance of our public duty has lost us no friends ; but however that may be, there are some things holier than friendship,—stronger than the grave.

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