THE CHARITIES.

To state that all the Charities of English Freemasonry are flourishing, is scarcely to breathe the glorious truth. There is a promise of fruitful abundance-such as has never before been presented. On the occasion of the Festival in aid of the Boys' School on the 11th instant, upwards of six hundred pounds were collected. The promise of still greater generosity at the Festival of the Girls' School, in May, will no doubt be realized, for the requirements are more extensive. And then in June will be the Festival in aid of the Aged Mason, which surely will not be forgotten by the kind-hearted and the generously disposed. Would we could add a fourth Anniversary Festival in aid of Masonic Widows. We do not despair-our faith is strong. "Justitiæ soror fides."

CONTEMPLATED AMALGAMATION OF THE ASYLUM AND BENEVOLENT ANNUITY FUNDS.

PREJUDICE has at length been compelled to yield to consistency. This most desirable object has attracted the attention of the Committees of both institutions; and sub-committees from each are appointed to consider on what may be the most desirable means of accomplishing an end so devoutly wished for. In the present state, we purposely defer any observations, leaving to the intelligent Brethren to whose care this great question is committed, to deal with it as a "holy one." And may their labours be crowned with success.

The Election of Annuitants will take place on the 15th of May.

The circular of the Asylum to the Lodges and the Craft in general, is deserving of serious attention, and will, we hope, meet with a liberal support.

THE SUPREME GRAND CONCLAVE OF ENGLAND have elected Sir Knight Colonel C. K. K. Tynte as their most Eminent and Supreme Grand Master, who is to be installed on the 3rd proximo. The august ceremony will be celebrated with due solemnity. It has attracted the attention of the various Encampments, and a full attendance is expected. The Duke of Leinster has been invited to assist in the ceremony, but we regret to learn that His Grace cannot avail himself of such invitation. The Order of Masonic Knights Templar may now look forward with hope. Sperate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.'

66

INDIA. The re-union in Bombay was of a most stirring nature. Dr. Grant, the Prov. Grand Master of Bengal, under the English Constitu

tion, on his way to Calcutta, became the guest of the Prov. Grand Master of Bombay, Dr. Burnes, under the Grand Lodge of Scotland, who associated upwards of one hundred Masons to greet Dr. Grant. Our report, although but an outline, is worthy attention. The following extract will mark the spirit and intelligence of the various addresses :

"Among the anomalies of the physical world, accounts have been given by some who have gone down to the deep in ships and seen the wonders therein displayed, of founts of living fresh water in the midst of the sea; and in arid deserts the weary traveller has been comforted by spots of loveliness and verdure. It is even so in the moral world. In these cold utilitarian days, whatever clings to the past or cherishes the tender and the ideal, is apt to be looked upon with leer malign, by material philosophy and worldly wisdom. Springing up from the dim depths of remote antiquity, like freshets of the ocean, preserving their sweetness amid the waste bitterness around, the institutions of Masonry from primeval eras, even through the darkness of the middle ages, athwart which they gleamed star-like, have ever evinced a salient power, and living freshness of their own, not to be overborne by barbarism and tyranny, or to be annihilated by political changes and revolutions."

AMERICA.-Freemasonry in this hemisphere is resuming its original sway; the mists of error on the part of its opponents are passing away, and the principles of Washington, Franklin, De Witt, Clinton, and others of the noble-minded are in the ascendant. We doubt not that Masonry may even neutralize the deadly upas poison of conflicting politics, and that Brethren of one common stock, and speaking one language, may be kept from that fatal collision which submerges all in the curse of desolation and ruin. The Grand Master, Peabody, in his address to his Grand Lodge, after commenting on the necessity " of strengthening peace and the bonds of concord between two nations, kindred in laws, religion, and language, and which should never have been at variance," observes, that "pursuant to a provision recently incorporated into our Constitutions, two Englishmen,* who have become highly distinguished by their zeal and devotion in the cause of the Craft and of humanity, have been elected honorary members of this Grand Lodge." This compliment from American Masons is doubly valuable at this moment, when the political horizon is so much overcast.

CANADA.--Freemasonry is thriving. The Provincial Grand Lodge is about to be revived.

* Drs. Oliver and Crucefix.

AWFUL RETRIBUTION.

"At the time the lightning was most vivid, a party of men and women had assembled at the Milton's Head public house, on Tollhouse Hill, and, during its vivid flashes, one man, named Alfred Greenwood, residing at Radford, kept continually uttering oaths, and wishing that the lightning might strike some of the women blind. Scarcely had he uttered the wish than a more vivid flash than usual entered the apartment and struck him to the earth. On being taken up it was discovered he was totally blind. His eyes were completely turned up, and the whites only visible; he only spoke once, which was to say "Oh! God-my arın !'-Mr. Darby, surgeon, was immediately fetched, and he soon discovered that he was irrevocably struck blind. He was then placed in a Fly and conveyed home, where he now lies blind and dumb."-ACCOUNT OF A TERRIFIC STORM AT NOTTINGHAM," on Sunday, 6th July, 1845.

O LEARN, ye wicked! ye profane of tongue!
Whose hearts are darken'd by the cloak of crime—
Learn here an awful lesson!-There is ONE
Who hears and sees all creatures upon earth,
Who knows the countless acts of heedless man,
Traces his footsteps o'er the course of Life,
And searches the deep fountain of his thoughts!
Upon the golden Throne, where Mercy sits,
Eternal Justice watches from on high
The reckless millions that from day to day
Degrade humanity, and ev'n defy,

In impious language, and with brutal voice,

The boundless pow'r that form'd the wondrous world!
Oh! base and horrible are words of men
Who dare defy the awful will of Heav'n!

A wretched creature utters, with an oath,
The sinful wish that others may be struck
With blindness-that the lightning's burning flash
May wound his fellow-creatures, and destroy
In them the blessing they received from Go»,
Who gives all blessings for the good of all.-
The wicked wish is spoken, and the words
Are heard by Him whose judgment cannot err:-

An awful beam of sulph'rous fire descends,
And instantly the mortal speaker falls
Prostrate, in helpless agony !-His eyes
Roll in their sockets, but the darkness round
Is horrible. The gift of light from him
Who felt no gratitude that he was blest,

Is gone for ever!-How he groans and sighs!
His tongue would utter what he feels, and ask
For help from those whom lately he could curse,-
But double wretchedness is on him now,
For blind and speechless is the stricken man!-
The awful judgment of an angry GoD

Forbids that he shall e'er again behold

The lovely things of Earth.—The hills and dales,
The beauteous flow'rs, the plants, and shady trees,
The flowing rivers and the glittering streams,
The grassy meadows and the harvest fields,
The waving groves that cool the summer breeze-
The glorious sun, the moon, the twinkling stars,
The varying aspects of the changing year,
And every lovely scene that Nature gives
To raise the grateful soul from Earth to Heav'n,—
Are all to him a dark and dreary blank!

The boundless light of Heav'n is closed from him
For ever!-Bitterness of spirit clings

Round his chill'd heart, and Conscience wakes within
The frightful recollections of the past,
That bring no comfort to his hapless mind,
But sad increase of misery !—His soul
Is overwhelm'd with wretchedness: he longs
To speak of what he suffers; but he sighs
And pines in silence, for 'tis Heav'n's decree
That he shall speak no more!—

O wicked men!

Be warn'd-be warn'd, ere yet it be too late-
And learn that He who giveth life and death
Will not be mock'd by impious words and oaths
From creatures subject to His awful pow'r.

W. HERSEE.

ON FREEMASONRY.

BY THE REV. GEORGE OLIVER, D. D.

I have often wondered how it could happen that our forefathers, the Freemasons of England, should have omitted to work out the details of Masonry in a more particular and perfect manner than we find it accomplished in the publications of the last century; although it was generally believed, even then, that such discussions were extremely advantageous to the Order, being calculated to dissipate the mists and prejudices which biased the minds of men, and indisposed them for the reception of truth. Numerous evidences of this fact are scattered over the writings of the few Masonic authors, which distinguished that period. "The best way," says Laurie, in his preface, of refuting the calumnies which have been brought against the fraternity of Freemasons, is to lay before the public a correct and rational account of the nature, origin, and progress of the institution, that they may be enabled to determine whether or not its principles are, in any shape, connected with the principles of revolutionary anarchy, and whether or not the conduct of its members has ever been similar to the conduct of traitors." And from the publication of such sentiments, it must be evident to every Brother's experience, that the feeling against Freemasonry, which displayed itself so openly only a few years ago, has assumed a much milder form, if it be not entirely

removed.

It will not, however, be difficult to account for the dearth of Masonic writers in a preceding age. Before the eighteenth century, symbolical Masonry had no lectures; and, consequently, while it was confined to a simple ceremonial, needed no illustrations; because, as the science was chiefly operative, the secrets would be those which had a reference to building to the scientific ornaments and decorations of each particular style of architecture as it flourished in its own exclusive period, and these mysteries were communicated gradually, as the candidate rose through the different stages of his order or profession.

There appears to have been one general principle which extended itself over every style from the early English to the florid, decorated, and perpendicular, and constituted one of the most ineffable secrets of the Masonic Lodges. It is now known to have been the hieroglyphical device styled vesica piscis; "which may be traced from the church of St. John Lateran, and old St. Peter's at Rome, to the church at Bath, one of the latest Gothic buildings of any consequence in England. It was formed by two equal circles, cutting each other in their centres, and was held in high veneration, having been invariably adopted by Master Masons in all countries. In bas-reliefs, which are seen in the most ancient churches, over doorways, it usually circumscribes the figure of our Saviour. It was indeed a principle which pervaded every building dedicated to the Christian religion, and has been exclusively attributed to a knowledge of Euclid."1

The prevailing secrets of the Lodges in these early times, were the profound dogmata of Geometry and Arithmetic, by the use of which all their complicated designs were wrought out and perfected. These

VOL. IV.

(1) Kerrich. in Archæol. vol. xvi. p. 292.

C