masonic charity

"Above is a coloured reproduction of the famous picture painted by J. Stothard in or about 1790, showing the Founder, the Chevalier Bartholomew Ruspini, leading the children from the Masonic School into the Temple of the Grand Lodge in Great Queen Street, before His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George IV, and other distinguished Freemasons.

For many years the original was in the Museum of Grand Lodge, but, in 1947, Bro. Beachcroft was able to acquire it from the Masonic Authorities (who most generously accepted a price greatly below its actual value).

It was by him presented to the School and now hang over the mantel of the Commitee Room, behind the Chairman's place." (Maurice Beachcroft, Memories of Rickkansworth,  p.31.)

GEORGE WASHINGTON, the father of our country

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come

unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven"

TO THE GRAND LODGES OF THE UNITED STATES

This print represents THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC OF MASONRY, CHARITY, bestowed on proper objects.

"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."

The second picture is from Kitty Cheatham's A Nursery Garland (New York, G. Schirmer: 1921). It seems the second is a copy from the first, with some changes of the faces and figures. But for what end? 

I found these in my research on W. Graham Robertson. 

a dagger

Every country has its law on the weapon control.

A number of atrocious homicides by daggers outbroke in my country of 2008 and consequently the selling and possesing of daggers became illegal. The police was persuading the citizens who possesed a dagger to bring and give it up to the neaby police station by the 4th of July 2009. After that date, possesing of dagger was regarded as a crime and offenders will be fined or imprisoned. So I gave up my air dagger to a police station (after demagnetizing it) and have been using a small paperknife since then. But today I found a really good alternative "lawfuldagger". The hilt is natural wood and very easy to paint, the blade being genuine stainless steel yet without the edge, an ideal ceremonial tool. And it's not expensive, about 10 bucks. To tell the truth, the official name of the dagger is "oyster knife": a simple tool for fishermen to open and scrape oysters. The jurisdiction might interfere if the tool is unnecessarily sharp or hefty, but those now on the market is legally okay. I am a conformist.

Raphael

Of course "Raphael" was a nineteenth century astrologer named Robert Cross Smith (can we express his name as "R+"?) who wrote much about astrology and occultism including John Dee, John Pordage, geomancy etc. And he seemed to be a member of an esoteric group "The Mercurii".

I love the following description of serpentine movement.

"Although it is vey well known to astronomers and learned persons, that the path of the moon through the firmament has, from time immemorial, been symbolized by a dragon or serpent, yet many through whose hands this work may be expected to pass, cannot be sepposed to have any notion of these ancient symbols; it therefore becomes necessary to make mention of them in such a manner as to let every one understand their application. That no emblem could have been fixed upon to symbolize the moon's path, which is really serpentine, and to have done it more appropriately, than a serpent, will become evident to the least learned, by inspection of the following little cut and references.

Suppose the curve line A B to represent a portion of the ecliptic or orbit of the earth, along which let the earth be supposed to be moving from E to F, and from F to G, while at the same time, the moon, keeping nearly an equal distance from the earth, moves along the serpentine described by the body of the dragon, from C to H, from H to I, from I to D: at C, where the moon crosses the line of the earth's orbit from north to south, is the Dragon's Tail, marked in modern astronomy thus XX; and having made the semicircle C H, it ascends, crossing the earth's orbit from south to north, where it bends again in the semicircle H I; and having reached the earth's orbit again, it bend forward in the direction of the curve I D, where, as it is again ascending into the north, I place the Dragon's Head; and thus you see how very appropriatedly the moon's path about the earth may be denoted by a serpent or dragon. For the sake of showing the application of the emblem the more perfectly, it is here continued to four points of the ecliptic; but let it be understood, that in every descent of the  moon from north to south, she is in the tail, and in every ascent from south to north, in the head of the dragon. The most improtant astrological significations are attached to the head and tail of this emblematic dragon; and hence it was deemed by the Babylonian priesthood a fit object to promote superstition, and to effect the purposed of that sort of imposture which it was their desire to accomplish in those oriental nation." (from The Astrologer of the Ninetheen Century)