The Masonic Mirror:

belong ? Wc are not speaking to the brethren of their proceedings individually ; for , as individuals , no doubt , they have alread y done their duty But we do ask , whether it can be said that the Lodges , as a whole , have done the same ? We fear not ! There are some Lodges which have already pome forward with donations , and we do trust that ere long there will not be found a single exceptionat least the roU of the United Grand

, upon Lodge of England . We entreat our brethren to take this matter into their serious consideration at the very earliest opportunity ; let them propose a sum m accordance with their means ; present it at once to the authorized Secretaries of the Patriotic Eund , in their locality ; and , if they will kindly apprize us of the fact , we shall be happy to announce it in these pages , as an inducement to others to

go and do likewise . Let it never be said that the Masonic fraternit y is backward in assuaging the griefs , and in administering to the necessities , of the widows and families of those who have shed then- blood , and laid down their lives , that we might repose in peace and quietude ! May we never be liable to reproach , as a fraternity , tor not having done our dut y in such a crisis as that which is now nassinp-&

over us ! r . In these remarks , we have no intention or desire to adopt a tone either ol reproach or regret ; our idea is , simply to suggest : even this is not absolutely necessary to the ultimate accomplishment of that which we have taken the liberty to recommend ; but our hints may , and we trust will operate as a powerful incentive to itudewhich '

promp , is of vast importance ¦ in all such undertakings as that now under consideration . Let the brethren remember the ancient adage , Bis dot qui cito dat , and act accordingly " t II , ° f the " Patriotic Fund , " and similar appeals which are put , 101-th at the present moment , are so obvious and self-evident , that the subject requires no elucidation or enforcement in articles addressed to

a -fraternit y like ours ; and were we to enter , at any length , into the advocacy of such projects , we should clearly demonstrate that we were not wise , but otherwise . But even were matters diametricall y opposed to the . state of things we believe to exist , and have endeavoured to indicate the : subject has been so ably taken up , and so clearly expounded from the pulpit and the latformb and

p —y tongue pen—that our feeble echo would be but a work of supererogation . It may , however , be as well to point out the two leading modes in which the "Patriotic , " and similar funds will prove a national blessing : they will alleviate the sorrows of those who are already plunged into the miseries of widowhood and hanhood

orp ; whilst the existence of such measures of provision for those whom they leave behind them , will sweep away , from the bosoms of our brave ones , the last regret which lingers , and they will rush , by so much the more vacantly , into that deadl y conflict which is hurling so many thousands of then- comrades into the mysteries of futurity

. _ In addition to the 'direct subscriptions of the Lodges towards the patriotic and other funds , taken up and conducted b y the outer world ihere are other duties devolving upon us as a fraternity , which must not be overlooked . Although it cannot be denied that many of the gallant officers , and other brethren engaged in the Crimea , of whose death on the