Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 1 Masonic Benevolence in 18 S 4 2 Consecration of the Shadwell Gierke Prcceptory of Knight Templars 3 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 3 Board of Benevolence 3 The Roval Masonic Benevolent Iustitution
Festival for this Year ' . 3 Boys' Preparatory School 3 The Late Bro . James Norris 3 Knights Templar 3 Allied Masonic Degrees 3 Mark Masonry 3 Royal Ark Mariners 3
CORRESPONDENCEMasons by Inducement 4 Masonic Mendicancy S A Query 5 " Red Apron " Lodges S A Re-joining Brother . < A Correction 5 Notes and Queries 6
Craft Masonry o Instruction 7 Royal Arch 7 Funeral of Bro . James Norris 7 The Theatres ..... " 7 The Craft Ahroad S Masonic and General Tidings 9 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 10
Ar00100
AN old year has passed away , and a new one has dawned upon us all alike , those who write and those who read . 18 S 4 has been an eventful one and a sad one , for the passing generation which has hailed its advent or bewailed its departure . Wars and rumours of wars , scenes of wickedness and violence , crimes and conflicts , the wonted outcome of the weakness , the
preversity , the sinfulness of the world , much evidence of a loosening of the ties of society and the advance of insubordination , in general outline or in minute detail , have rendered 1884 a marked and a mournful epoch in the annals of Time for us all who form the living generation of to-day , and it is in wondering emotions and anxious anticipations that we stand on the threshold
of a new year . What will it bring to us all ? Who can tell ? The issues of life are so many , varied , and mysterious often , the changes and chances so abounding , the delusions , ( which fade at the magic touch of truth however ) the frailties and follies of our common life are so prevalent , that our whole time and thoughts , —if we do think , —are taken up in mastering the social
problems of our own general relations and particular interests , so much so that we : have little space left us to realize sometimes what the " morrow " may bring forth to us and ours . And yet it is that very uncertainty of human existence , the mutability of hnman prosperity , the passing away of all we cling to the most here often , which constitute for us the " crux "
hardest to solve , the " crook most difficult to bear by us all . We meet a . new year , we may not perhaps , in the inscrutable wisdom of T . G . A . O . T . U ., witness another . The plans we make , the homes we raise , the names we create , the outflow of industrious prosperity , or the emanations of cultured genius , all alike fade away before that levelling power which
recognizes no exemptions and displays no partialities . Like as with the stern sisters three of old classic story , —the " inexorable Fates , " -as the ideal poets like to paint them to-day , when the thread of life is cut , all the aspirations of the hopeful , all the flashes of the witty , all the wealth of the great , and all the struggles of the enterprising are in vain , gone , forgotten , in a moment ,
like an old wife ' s tale . Too often the only record of a long life is , as the poet sang , " a nameless stone , " at any rate , after a few dissolving years . As Freemasons , in our exalted philosophy of life , let us learn to look forwards and to look upwards . Life passes , with its shadows and ils sorrows , its trials and its troubles , its corroding cares and its customary connections , and
all the time like the mystic "Pastos" of old , the ark is floating down the great river of life , and speeding on , in irresistible progress , to the greater and silent sea of eternity . For thoughtful Freemasons everywhere these words at the beginning of a new year and at the close of an old one will have a general significance , and at the same time a fraternal message of sympathy , thoughtfulness , and goodwill .
* # * " RING the old year out , ring in the new , " sang the Poet Laureate in other days , implying , as we understand his words to-day , the ceaseless march of time , and the onward progress of countless years . Something like the French adage , " Le Roi est mort , vive le Roi , " so to-day , as Freemasons and
mortal men , we commemorate the close of another , we contemplate the advent of a fresh period of twelve months . It may be full of vivid interest to us all , whether in our Masonic character or our private relationships , or it may turn out to be most uneventful , abnormally dull and uninteresting . Whatever it may prove alike to us and ours , of this one thing we may rest
assured , it will witness for us in all parts of the globe , assuming that the outcome of Freemasonry is true , real , and constitutional , new victories and fresh triumphs . If bi gotry still raises its ferocious voice here and there , if the dictates of a barbarous fanaciicism still dominate certain sections of
reli gious thought and certain schooh of irreligious tendency , Freemasonry proper heeds none . of these things , takes note of none of these things , is intimidated by none of these things . Wherever the true principles of cosmopolitan Freemasonry are professed in earnestness and entirety , there we see light prevailing
Ar00101
against darkness , knowledge against ignorance , truth against error , reason against fallacy , loyalty against revolution , and religion against infidelity . If , indeed , there are jurisdictions of professing Freemasons from whose words and doings , silly programmes and childish developements , the Genius of Freemasonry turns away shamefaced and appalled , what
an outlook does the great family of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry present of happy reverence for antient truths and honest perseverance in the " good old paths ? " And so let us hope and believe that it will be for Freemasonry—real , simple , and honest Freemasonry in 1855 , in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U . as it has been in 18 S 4 . Everywhere Anglo-Saxon
Freemasonry is advancing , and let us trust that , avoiding fads and novelties , eschewing the hurtful advice of the mere agitator , and the selfish aims of the open or insidious malcontent , we may witness the peaceful progress and consistent advance of that beneficent Order of ours , that noble Army of lig ht and toleration , whose " parole" is loyalty and charity , whose " countersign " is glory to God , love to man .
* # * A few words of warning seem advisable in this the first issue of the Freemason for 1 S 85 . There are abroad and elsewhere disturbing influences at work as regards Freemasonry . We say nothing of direct persecutions or ridiculous anathemata , they are alike effete in idea and harmless in effect , —
a thing to smile at or deplore , to condemn or to forget . But we are thinking rather of those aberrations as regards the true intent and object of Freemasonry , which are placing before some bodies a " spurious Freemasonry" altogether , utterly alien from the mild and beneficent principles of the most humane and tolerant of Orders , utterly opposed to those true
living Cosmopolitan maxims which have constituted us honour , the glory , the proof of its utility and meaning in past epochs of doubt and difficulty and anxious times of opposition and incrimination . VVe see in some parts an actual parody of Masonic teaching presented to our notice , and every benign adage we teach , and every loving verity we proclaim , every
landmark which tells of archaic days , every symbol which typifies ineffable realities deliberately ignored or ungratefully repudiated . Freemasonry here and there appears to be assuming the form of a dangerous secret political society , hurtful to the world , and hateful to man . Instead of the goodly , beneficent , and sacred doctrines of charity , toleration , loyalty , and peace ,
we hear " the angry strife of tongues , " the " Babel shouts" of revolution and socialistic folly . Reverence and truth seem lo be passing away , and in their stead appear ill- ' omencd theories of change and idle discussion , and a most sterile " output . " Charity is unknown , and toleration is superseded . Let us learn then to value both the wisdom ot our Masonic forefathers and to
realize the loyalty of our own passing generation of Freemasons in their firm and calm adherence to all that time has tested , and experience has proved to be alike worthy of preservation , maintenance , and reverence . Peaceful , harmonious , prosperous , and contented , ' may our English
Freemasonry wend on its way , a light to others , a pride to ourselves , ministering greatly to our own comfort and edification , and advancing in no measureable degree the happiness of our universal Fraternity , as well as subserving the civilization , the progress , the enlightenment , and the welfare of all the nations of the world .
» * * WE call attention elsewhere to the details of the remarkable totals which attest the outcome of Masonic Benevolence for 1884 , namely , £ 48 , 823 17 s . 7 d . Of this the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution has
received £ 19 , 901 7 s . 8 d . ; the Girls' School , £ 14 , 928 19 s . ; and the Boys' School , £ 13 , 993 ios . nd . In the same period the Lodge of Benevolence has also voted , we are told , £ 9252 to indigent Freemasons of all nationalities .
* # * THE following paragraph has been forwarded to us from Montreal , as if we could explain it , which we cannot , never having heard of said lodge before . Can any of our esteemed brethren in Red Lion-square do so ?— " Hemlock Lodge , No . 314 , of Mark Master Masons , have , according to the Gazette ,
re-elected Bro . J AMES MARTIN W . M . It is not stated to what register this lodge belongs , and we fall to find it in the Directory . Can it be that , in face of the threatened edict , the Grand Lodge of England has issued a new charter , and thus hurls defiance at the authorities of Quebec ? The
indications are that ere long there will be music in Masonic circles , irrespective of that which is almost inseparable from St . John ' s Day celebrations . "—We would only observe , " en passant , " that the language of the Canadian Press is excessively grandiloquent , and , to our minds , absurdly turgid in respect of a most insignificant matter .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 1 Masonic Benevolence in 18 S 4 2 Consecration of the Shadwell Gierke Prcceptory of Knight Templars 3 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 3 Board of Benevolence 3 The Roval Masonic Benevolent Iustitution
Festival for this Year ' . 3 Boys' Preparatory School 3 The Late Bro . James Norris 3 Knights Templar 3 Allied Masonic Degrees 3 Mark Masonry 3 Royal Ark Mariners 3
CORRESPONDENCEMasons by Inducement 4 Masonic Mendicancy S A Query 5 " Red Apron " Lodges S A Re-joining Brother . < A Correction 5 Notes and Queries 6
Craft Masonry o Instruction 7 Royal Arch 7 Funeral of Bro . James Norris 7 The Theatres ..... " 7 The Craft Ahroad S Masonic and General Tidings 9 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 10
Ar00100
AN old year has passed away , and a new one has dawned upon us all alike , those who write and those who read . 18 S 4 has been an eventful one and a sad one , for the passing generation which has hailed its advent or bewailed its departure . Wars and rumours of wars , scenes of wickedness and violence , crimes and conflicts , the wonted outcome of the weakness , the
preversity , the sinfulness of the world , much evidence of a loosening of the ties of society and the advance of insubordination , in general outline or in minute detail , have rendered 1884 a marked and a mournful epoch in the annals of Time for us all who form the living generation of to-day , and it is in wondering emotions and anxious anticipations that we stand on the threshold
of a new year . What will it bring to us all ? Who can tell ? The issues of life are so many , varied , and mysterious often , the changes and chances so abounding , the delusions , ( which fade at the magic touch of truth however ) the frailties and follies of our common life are so prevalent , that our whole time and thoughts , —if we do think , —are taken up in mastering the social
problems of our own general relations and particular interests , so much so that we : have little space left us to realize sometimes what the " morrow " may bring forth to us and ours . And yet it is that very uncertainty of human existence , the mutability of hnman prosperity , the passing away of all we cling to the most here often , which constitute for us the " crux "
hardest to solve , the " crook most difficult to bear by us all . We meet a . new year , we may not perhaps , in the inscrutable wisdom of T . G . A . O . T . U ., witness another . The plans we make , the homes we raise , the names we create , the outflow of industrious prosperity , or the emanations of cultured genius , all alike fade away before that levelling power which
recognizes no exemptions and displays no partialities . Like as with the stern sisters three of old classic story , —the " inexorable Fates , " -as the ideal poets like to paint them to-day , when the thread of life is cut , all the aspirations of the hopeful , all the flashes of the witty , all the wealth of the great , and all the struggles of the enterprising are in vain , gone , forgotten , in a moment ,
like an old wife ' s tale . Too often the only record of a long life is , as the poet sang , " a nameless stone , " at any rate , after a few dissolving years . As Freemasons , in our exalted philosophy of life , let us learn to look forwards and to look upwards . Life passes , with its shadows and ils sorrows , its trials and its troubles , its corroding cares and its customary connections , and
all the time like the mystic "Pastos" of old , the ark is floating down the great river of life , and speeding on , in irresistible progress , to the greater and silent sea of eternity . For thoughtful Freemasons everywhere these words at the beginning of a new year and at the close of an old one will have a general significance , and at the same time a fraternal message of sympathy , thoughtfulness , and goodwill .
* # * " RING the old year out , ring in the new , " sang the Poet Laureate in other days , implying , as we understand his words to-day , the ceaseless march of time , and the onward progress of countless years . Something like the French adage , " Le Roi est mort , vive le Roi , " so to-day , as Freemasons and
mortal men , we commemorate the close of another , we contemplate the advent of a fresh period of twelve months . It may be full of vivid interest to us all , whether in our Masonic character or our private relationships , or it may turn out to be most uneventful , abnormally dull and uninteresting . Whatever it may prove alike to us and ours , of this one thing we may rest
assured , it will witness for us in all parts of the globe , assuming that the outcome of Freemasonry is true , real , and constitutional , new victories and fresh triumphs . If bi gotry still raises its ferocious voice here and there , if the dictates of a barbarous fanaciicism still dominate certain sections of
reli gious thought and certain schooh of irreligious tendency , Freemasonry proper heeds none . of these things , takes note of none of these things , is intimidated by none of these things . Wherever the true principles of cosmopolitan Freemasonry are professed in earnestness and entirety , there we see light prevailing
Ar00101
against darkness , knowledge against ignorance , truth against error , reason against fallacy , loyalty against revolution , and religion against infidelity . If , indeed , there are jurisdictions of professing Freemasons from whose words and doings , silly programmes and childish developements , the Genius of Freemasonry turns away shamefaced and appalled , what
an outlook does the great family of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry present of happy reverence for antient truths and honest perseverance in the " good old paths ? " And so let us hope and believe that it will be for Freemasonry—real , simple , and honest Freemasonry in 1855 , in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U . as it has been in 18 S 4 . Everywhere Anglo-Saxon
Freemasonry is advancing , and let us trust that , avoiding fads and novelties , eschewing the hurtful advice of the mere agitator , and the selfish aims of the open or insidious malcontent , we may witness the peaceful progress and consistent advance of that beneficent Order of ours , that noble Army of lig ht and toleration , whose " parole" is loyalty and charity , whose " countersign " is glory to God , love to man .
* # * A few words of warning seem advisable in this the first issue of the Freemason for 1 S 85 . There are abroad and elsewhere disturbing influences at work as regards Freemasonry . We say nothing of direct persecutions or ridiculous anathemata , they are alike effete in idea and harmless in effect , —
a thing to smile at or deplore , to condemn or to forget . But we are thinking rather of those aberrations as regards the true intent and object of Freemasonry , which are placing before some bodies a " spurious Freemasonry" altogether , utterly alien from the mild and beneficent principles of the most humane and tolerant of Orders , utterly opposed to those true
living Cosmopolitan maxims which have constituted us honour , the glory , the proof of its utility and meaning in past epochs of doubt and difficulty and anxious times of opposition and incrimination . VVe see in some parts an actual parody of Masonic teaching presented to our notice , and every benign adage we teach , and every loving verity we proclaim , every
landmark which tells of archaic days , every symbol which typifies ineffable realities deliberately ignored or ungratefully repudiated . Freemasonry here and there appears to be assuming the form of a dangerous secret political society , hurtful to the world , and hateful to man . Instead of the goodly , beneficent , and sacred doctrines of charity , toleration , loyalty , and peace ,
we hear " the angry strife of tongues , " the " Babel shouts" of revolution and socialistic folly . Reverence and truth seem lo be passing away , and in their stead appear ill- ' omencd theories of change and idle discussion , and a most sterile " output . " Charity is unknown , and toleration is superseded . Let us learn then to value both the wisdom ot our Masonic forefathers and to
realize the loyalty of our own passing generation of Freemasons in their firm and calm adherence to all that time has tested , and experience has proved to be alike worthy of preservation , maintenance , and reverence . Peaceful , harmonious , prosperous , and contented , ' may our English
Freemasonry wend on its way , a light to others , a pride to ourselves , ministering greatly to our own comfort and edification , and advancing in no measureable degree the happiness of our universal Fraternity , as well as subserving the civilization , the progress , the enlightenment , and the welfare of all the nations of the world .
» * * WE call attention elsewhere to the details of the remarkable totals which attest the outcome of Masonic Benevolence for 1884 , namely , £ 48 , 823 17 s . 7 d . Of this the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution has
received £ 19 , 901 7 s . 8 d . ; the Girls' School , £ 14 , 928 19 s . ; and the Boys' School , £ 13 , 993 ios . nd . In the same period the Lodge of Benevolence has also voted , we are told , £ 9252 to indigent Freemasons of all nationalities .
* # * THE following paragraph has been forwarded to us from Montreal , as if we could explain it , which we cannot , never having heard of said lodge before . Can any of our esteemed brethren in Red Lion-square do so ?— " Hemlock Lodge , No . 314 , of Mark Master Masons , have , according to the Gazette ,
re-elected Bro . J AMES MARTIN W . M . It is not stated to what register this lodge belongs , and we fall to find it in the Directory . Can it be that , in face of the threatened edict , the Grand Lodge of England has issued a new charter , and thus hurls defiance at the authorities of Quebec ? The
indications are that ere long there will be music in Masonic circles , irrespective of that which is almost inseparable from St . John ' s Day celebrations . "—We would only observe , " en passant , " that the language of the Canadian Press is excessively grandiloquent , and , to our minds , absurdly turgid in respect of a most insignificant matter .