ever yielding to discouragement, or being disheartened by the dark clouds of adversity.

After the introduction, Br. Wells proceeded to consider several objections which are made to the Masonic Institution; such as, it is a secret society; it excludes the gentler sex; it admits men of every sect in religion, and party in politics, into its communion; it undertakes a work that properly belongs to the Church; and lastly, it is a strict and unaccommodating society, and does not conform to the changing fashions and tastes of the times. All these were thoroughly treated, and shown not to exist, or to be in reality no valid objection. But I cannot, and must not, attempt to give an outline of the Address for want of space.

After these exercises were concluded, the Brethren, together with their ladies and invited guests, repaired to the hotel of Joseph Fuller, Esq., where an ample and elegant supper had been provided, and there spent a couple of hours in social and festive enjoyment. The company at the table numbered one hundred and fifty, of whom one-third were ladies.

After the supper had been dispatched, we were regaled with music from the band, and the flow of wit and sentiment from various Brethren. Some of the sentiments which were offered are as follows:

1. In memory of the original founders and members of Middlesex Lodge.

2. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, present by its representative, the Orator of the occasion; we never need thirst while we can draw from such excellent wells.

3. Response of Br. Wells: The female members of Middlesex Lodge. Their smiles are ever beaming upon us encouragement and joy, like the sun at high meridian.

4. By Br. J. O. Skinner: Morning Star Lodge, of Worcester; though its brightness was for a time obscured, yet we greet its renewed appearance above the horizon as a sign of hope and promise to the whole Fraternity. 5. By Br. C. R. Train: The Society of Odd Fellows.

6. Response by Rev. H. P. Stevens. As Freemasonry dates its origin as far back as Solomon, and his Temple, which edifice was erected without the sound of axe, hammer, or any instrument of iron, thus quietly and unobtrusively may Freemasons fulfil their mission of peace and love.

7. By Br. C. R. Train. The members of Meridian Lodge, at Newton.

8. Response by Gen. Rice, Master of Meridian Lodge. The past officers of Middlesex Lodge. Though they go out, they still shine.

9. Br. J. O. Skinner, one of those kindly referred to in the foregoing sentiment, replied, at some length, as follows: "W. Master and Brethren,-I am happy to be with you to-night. My heart is full, for this occasion is to me of deeper interest than to the most of you present. Six years ago I became a member of the Masonic family, and for two years I have been honored with the office of Master. I am sincerely thankful for the testimonials of respect and confidence that I have received from this Lodge, and on ceasing my official connection with it, I shall not by any means cease to wish, or to work, for its prosperity. At the time of my initiation, the Institution was just reviving from the inactivity caused by the malignant hostility of its enemies.

Freemasonry, indeed, never, during the darkest days, lost its vitality, nor suspended its charities, nor ceased to number its strong and steady supporters; but its labors were carried on with more than usual reserve, it made itself felt without being seen or heard, and its pulsations beat so gently as to attract no attention from an indifferent or gainsaying world.

Thanks to a few faithful Brethren, Middlesex Lodge did not, like many sister Lodges, suspend its meetings, but kept them up through all opposition and reproach. Its records bear testimony to the steady zeal and honorable perseverance of its members, in holding fast to their integrity, through the transient excitements of the public mind, and in despising the gain or favor to be procured by a sacrifice of principle or a betrayal of friends.

Yet if this Lodge were not prostrated by persecuting intolerance, it shared with other Lodges in the common calamity; its meetings were thinly attended, its finances embarrassed and its usefulness diminished.

And the same adverse influences which for a time appeared to threaten the extinction of the Order, have no doubt partially operated up to the present time, and prevented its rapid increase in numbers. But then a sudden enlargement is not what all desire. I hope we all appreciate the peculiar character of the Masonic Institution too well to seek for a hasty growth or an indiscriminate accession of numbers or strength.

It is of too long standing, it has been too well considered in its organization, to suffer from the narrow prejudices of the ignorant, or be benefitted by the headlong zeal of the enthusiast. The spiritual Temple we aim to rear has a purpose and object too high and sacred to admit of any materials being employed, except the tried and true. Its strength must ever lie in the integrity of its members, and not in numbers; in the prevalence of its spirit, rather than in the multiplication of its badges or its honors.

Truly, my Brethren, when we consider the growing interest, manifested by this meeting, in favor of our Order, and the revival of Lodges in the adjacent towns, we may take courage and rejoice in the prospect before us.

One thing, before I close, I must not forget to say, and that is, that in all my Masonic experience and intercourse with Freemasons, for six years, there has been an uninterrupted prevalence of harmony and good feeling. When in the political world fierce contention was raging around me, and religion was disfigured by sectarian jealousy and strife, all has been peace in the Lodge.

While the interested and selfish, who cared nothing for principle, were willing to violate their solemn obligations, and were even bold and bad enough to advise others to seek the same level of infamy with themselves, yet the base and double-tongued have been rebuked, and God smiles upon and blesses the true and upright man, the true and faithful Mason.

Brethren, I could say much more if time would permit. But it is needless. I cease my immediate connection with this Lodge reluctantly, because it has been a source of pleasure and a means of improvement to me; and I shall always hear of your prosperity with great satisfaction."

Thus, Br. Moore, the evening passed off, and the Brethren separated at a late hour, at the instance of the Band striking up "Sweet Home." Reserving some particulars concerning Midd. Lodge, which I think may interest your readers, for another occasion, I remain yours, very truly,

Dudley, Nov. 18. 1845.

J. O. S.

BENEFICENCE BY FORCE.

Translated from L'Orient, for this Magazine, by Br. G. WASHINGTON WARREN,

PART I.

SIR BONBOROUGH, a wealthy English gentleman, disliked exceedingly the fog, which London offered to him in great abundance, and much preferred the intelligent and artificial life which London refused to him with avarice. He therefore emigrated. He would have chosen Italy for his residence, which has no fog at all, and which has a little of that intelligent and artificial life; but he preferred to establish himself at Paris, where the intelligent and artificial life abounds, although there is ever so little of fog. This shows, that Sir Bonborough had still more love for the one, than aversion to the other.

He established himself at the street New Saint George, where one is far from the Seine and quite near the opera.

Sir Bonborough is wealthy;—and this might excuse him for the want of other qualities. He is however generous and obliging-he has also his faults-among which the most startling are an unbounded obstinacy, which fortunately he directs to a good object more frequently than to a bad one-and this is a peculiar characteristic,—and an exclusive sentiment of nationality, proclaiming to and against all the supremacy of England-a sentiment which undoubtedly would have been held a virtue in London, but which, to say the least, would be troublesome in Paris.

In addition to the other traits of English character, of which he had however all the excellent qualities, Bonborough brought with him to France a strong tincture of odd humor. He was a rare, but a frank and clever original.

As soon as he was settled in his new home, he determined to solicit Masonic initiation. Masonry is much honored in England,—and what he had learned from an intelligent public of the charitable object and brotherly harmony of the institution, strongly impressed his noble and generous nature.

He saw the light in the respectable Lodge "Friendship," under the direction of the Grand East. Of the profitable instruction which he received in the course of the initiation we shall mention nothing, except the reply which he gave to a Brother who asked his opinion concerning duelling; he replied promptly to that question, "Humanly, duelling is wrong-for it is often force substituted for rightsocially, it is to be condemned, for it is the administering of justice by every body. If the duel is, under any extraordinary circumstances, a sad and terrible necessity, we must cast the blame upon him who makes it so." This bold and accurate sentiment obtained for him the votes of all the Brethren, and enabled him to escape the cast of a few black balls, which another remark, the effect of which was far from being so satisfactory, would otherwise have brought upon him. When he was asked, "Are all men equal in your eyes ?" "Yes," he replied. "But," said the examiner," speak frankly now,-do you not establish in the secrets of your heart any difference between them ?" "No," said he, "except that an Englishman appears to me primus inter pares, the first among his equals."

Sir Bonborough took quite at heart the duties which were imposed upon him by his new obligation. They were indeed very easy to him, for they were em

braced in these two words; love and charity. Masonry prescribed to him a law-his heart made that law a pleasure.

Among all his Brethren, towards whom his affection was the more ardent as it was the less expansive, Bonborough had selected the Brother Morlon, a young sculptor, who had applied himself to his profession so assiduously, that, under more favorable auspices, he would have insured to himself the most brilliant success, and as it was, he was enabled to support a large family. The Englishman became insensibly bound to this artist by a strong and secret sympathy. He admired him for his stern honesty, for his indefatigable zeal, for that ardor, not for gain, but for progress, which draws out in their full power all the faculties of the mind. He loved him as much, perhaps, for his pride, full of reserve, we might also say, of haughtiness-for a vein of stern misanthropy which the hardships of his earlier years had occasioned, but which had been happily tempered by the goodness of his character, and by the experience which he had gained in the discharge of his duties as a citizen and as a Mason.

But such as he was, either by his good qualities or his bad ones, and perhaps by both, Brother Morlon inspired Brother Bonborough with a sentiment of benevolence, almost akin to friendship-a feeling, in fine, quite gratuitous, for he who was the object of it, scarcely observed it, or at least pretended not to perceive it. Do not suppose by this that Morlon had a bad heart; he had only a cold external appearance. His natural feelings and susceptibilities were not stifled, but only veiled by a certain restless and haughty demeanor, which resulted from the com parison drawn in his own mind between his personal worth, of which he was con scious, and the precarious and humble subsistence which fortune had allotted to him. Add to these general traits of character the exact antagonism of their national sentiments-the one adoring England like an enthusiastic son, the other loving France too well, and as a man of feeling, remembering too well the events of 1815, and even of the present time, not to feel towards England a hearty repulsion.

Bonborough and Morlon boarded in the same house; their frequent meetings were the occasion of an exchange of civilities, friendly on the one side and reserved on the other. "This Brother," said Morlon to himself, "is constant in his attentions to me, but he is a man proud of his wealth and wishes to crush me by superiority. Besides, I cannot endure the English." "This Morlon," said Bonborough, "appears unwilling to observe the advances I make to him; he is a proud fellow, but he shall not have the last word; for if I choose to do him a favor, it is for the pleasure which it will give me, and not for the pleasure which he will receive from it."

So things went on, when one morning Bonborough called upon his landlord to pay him his quarterly bill, and also to inquire after his health, which had lately declined.

"This will be nothing," said the Englishman, after having counted out the money, "fortunate landlord, you are now to receive a good deal of money-there is nothing which can cure one like this occupation."

"Boarders may well say so," replied the sick man, "they think that each quarter day is a feast-day to landlords. But, heavens! when one has an extensive

establishment and when the times are hard, it is enough to make a hearty man sick, and a sick man die. When one has to deal with boarders like you, every thing goes on well; but there are some whom one must coax, and some whom one must force, to pay. See, here are the bills for the last quarter, which will prove that at least one half of my boarders are in. arrears." And the landlord pointed with his finger to a bundle of papers lying upon his table. The piercing eye of the Englishman could not but observe in front of the pile the name of Morlon.

Bonborough soon decided what to do-in ten minutes he called upon the young sculptor.

A more skilful man would easily have effected the generous assistance which the Englishman meditated; but in his straight forward frankness, Bonborough was not aware that generally with every body, and especially with some persons, it requires a little ingenuity to make beneficence acceptable. One of the Brethren was in need of money, and he was very happy to be able to give it to him. As the honest Englishman, if the conditions of the parties were reversed, would not have hesitated to say yes to such an offer, it was impossible for him to conceive that any body in like circumstances should say no.

He soon experienced this difficulty as he said "I know, my dear neighbor, that you are temporarily straitened, and I come without ceremony to offer you bills for a thousand francs. You will repay me, when you are able, do not straiten yourself; I have, thank God, enough, and can well wait. And, besides, we Englishmen think nothing of these things."

Now that you know Morlon, you can well understand that, of all the means which Bonborough could have used, he selected the most unfortunate. The artist at first colored, then proudly raising his head, replied—" I thank you, sir, for your obliging offer, and trust me, I am not ungrateful. I do not know how you have ascertained that I happen to be just at this time somewhat straitened-this is true, and it is owing to a failure in which I have been a loser; but happily, I have enough to do, and, God helping me, I shall not need any body's assistance. I thank you heartily for your offers, but I do not accept them."

Bonborough was for a moment disconcerted, but soon he replied "I have a right to come to your aid. Do not forget that I am your Brother." "I do not forget it, and I shall never forget that you know how to perform your duties; but I repeat to you that I have enough to do, and I should also remember, that in accepting any money from you, I should be robbing other Brethren who have more need of it than myself."

"I have been unfortunate," said the Englishman, as he withdrew,-" another time I shall take a better course."

Bonborough adopted a method at last, which he should have taken at first; but he was too late-the suspicious disposition of the artist was awakened.

One day Bonborough took the artist to his room, and said to him, " my neighbor, I should like to decorate my apartment and embellish it on all sides with those charming sculptures which you execute so well."

"This apartment," said he, " permit me to tell you, has no need of them. It is