Masonic Facts.

MASONIC FACTS .

LOS-DON , SATURDAY , DTSCTEMBFR 28 , 1801 .

"We shall next iveek commence under the aboi e head the publication of a chronological collection , of facts , connected with Masonry , from the 1 st to the 17 th Century , comprising the names of Architects , -works they constructed , also particulars relating to some of

the mediffii'al buildings , dates of laying Foundation Stones , names of Master Masons , wages , customs , ordinances , obligations , contracts , extracts from Acts of Parliament , and various other facts interesting to the Craft . These facts , many of which will be illustrated

by engrai'ings , have been collected by a valued correspondent , E . "W . S . of Leeds , by whom they are obligingly placed at our disposal , as being of importance to the Masonic student and likely to be hereafter useful in the compilation of a more complete history of Ereemasonry than at present exists .

The Lodge Of Benevolence.

THE LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

There are , in most countries , two systems of lawthe written and the unwritten , the latter being dependent on the habits and customs ofthe people , and often more clearly defined than the former , which is apt to be misread and misinterpreted . So it is in

Ereemasonry ; we have one system of laws , as laid doAvn in the Book of Constitutions , being the actb of the Masonic legislature , and another been handed down to us by tradition , and which guides us in many of our most important decisions . But in no case should a written law be overruled by an unwritten law ; and yet it is so

by the Committee or Lodge of Benevolence , of the inefficiency of which , for the relief of pressing and casual distress , we took occasion to speak some time since , suggesting that a standing committee to meet once or twice a week , or an officer , whose duty it should be to

attend to such eases , should be appointed , it being but poor relief that comes to a man seeking temporary assistance that cannot be obtained until a month afterwards , but ivhich is rendered still worse under the regulations of the Committe of Benevolence—regulations of which a petitioner is not informed , and by ivhich relief , if given , may be withheld for another month on a mere technicality . In the Booh of Constitutions it is laid down : —

"Applications for relief must be by petition , stating the name , occupation , place of abode , and present circumstances of the petitioner ; the name and number of the lodge in whicli , and the time when he was initiated , and the other lodges , if any , which he may have since joined . The applicant , unless disabled by disease or accident , must sign his name to the petition .

" To every petition must be added a recommendation , signed in open lodge , by the Master , Wardens , and a majority of the members then present , to which the petitioner does or did belong , or from some other contributing lodge , certifying ( see the form at the end ) that they have known him to have been in reputable , or at least tolerable

circumstances , and that he has been not less than two years an actual contributing member , paying the stipulated subscription to the funds of a regular lodge * as well as quarterage to the Fund of Benevolence , with such other observations as they may think proper ; and the Master , or some member of the lodge , except it be a country petition , shall visit the petitioner at his own residence , and afterwards attend the committee , to speak to the truth ofthe statement set forth in the petition , and to certify that the signatures thereto are genuine . "

Under this law it has been laid down that the master , or some member of the lodge attending to support the case of a petitioner , shall have visited Mm or her at his or her residence , in order to verify the truth of -the statements contained in the petition , and speak as to the actual position of the applicant . And of this we do not

complain , because we believe it often most important to the applicants themselves that the full extent of their distress should be known , in order that it may meet with efficient relief . It ivill be seen by the extracts we have given that this does not apply to country petitioners ;

and if not , we should like to be informed how it can be made applicable to mere wayfarers , who apply for relief under the following law : —

" Brethren under the constitution of the grand lodges of Scotland aud Ireland , as well as of foreign grand lodges , may be relieved on the production of certificates from their respective grand lodges , or other sufficient certificates and testimonials to the satisfaction of the Lodge of Benevolence , and proof of identy and distress . "

Now it will be seen that it is not provided that a petitioner under this clause need even be recommended to the committee—for hoiv is a stranger in a foreign land to find brethren to recommend him for relief—and yet without he does obtain such a recommendation , his

petition would not be received ; pretty charity this . But that is not all , the Committee or Lodge of Benevolence have also ruled that he must be A'isited at his residenceperhaps a nightly lodging-house ; perhaps a coffee-house ; perhaps the dark arches of the Adelphi—as if

anyinformation could be obtained by such a visit relative to a stranger without a friend within hundreds of miles . Anything more absurd could scarcely be devised , but to the absurdity absolute cruelty is added , by tlie unfortunate petitioner not being made acquainted with the rule . Our attention has been particularly directed to tMs

subject by what took place at the last Lodge of Benevolence . A poor Mason , named Mackintosh , who was for two years the Master of a lodge in Edinburgh , being in London , in distress and out of employ , applied to the lodge for temporary relief . He did obtain the recommendation of a brother , who attended and spoke in his

behalf ; but because that brother had not visited kirn at his residence , a lodging-house in the precincts of Drury Lane , the case was deferred for a month , during which the poor man may starve for anything likely to be done for him by Masons , as he must not apply to a private lod ge for relief , as that will be a bar to anything being done for him by the Lodge of Benevolence , it being a charge