Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 4 ° ' Consecration o £ the Alexandra Chapter , No . ij u , Hornsea 40 ; Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex 402 Prox-incial Grand Chapter of Somerset 403 Nexv Grand Lodges 403 History of the Roval Masonic Institution
for Hoys ( Continued ) 40 ^ Oration hy Bro . Dr . Macrae 40 . Grand Council Allied Degrees 40-New Brunswick 40 J . CORRESPONDENCEA Matter of Taste 4 ° 7 Provincial Clothing and Past Masters ' Levels .: 4 ° ? A Point of Laxv 407
CORRESPONDENCE ( Continued)—Regulations of Royal Arch Masons 40-The Preparatory School for Boys 407 Notes and Queries 407 Board of Benevolence 407 Reading Freemasons 407
REPORTS UF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 40 S Instruction 409 Royal Arch 409 Obituary 410 Masonic and General Tidings 410 Lodge Meetings for Next Week Cover .
Ar00103
WE most sincerely regret to have to publish the contents of the folloxving post card received by us this ( Thursday ) morning : " To the Editor qf the ' Freemason . ' " SIR , —It is xvith sincere regret that I have to inform you that our Bro . J HAVERS , P . G . W ., died at Berkhampstead this morning .
" 40 , Seymour-street , Portman-square , W ., " EDMUND OWEN . "Aug . 20 , 1884 . " It is impossible to-day to do justice to our own feelings , and , above all , the services of our distinguished brother , whose loss is an irreparable one in many respects to our Order , but xve shall hope to do PO next xveek . We deeply grieve to make this announcement to the Craft .
Ar00100
ALL our readers will rejoice to hear the great success attending the Progress of our Royal GRAND M ASTER , thc Princess of WALES , ancl their children at Newcastle-upon-Tyne . They xvill also be happy to learn that the
unfortunate little episode of Colonel YOUNG ' S restive horse xvas xvithout inconx-enience to the Royal visitors . His Royal Highness the GRAND MASTER seems to have had a most fortunate escape from what might have proved a most annoying " contretems . "
OUR esteemed Bro . J . VV . SIMONS , Editor of the New York Dispatch , has the following remarks anent a letter rcceix'ed by him from a correspondent " We have received the folloxving document , and as it illustrates the ideas of a great many persons who knoxv nothing and understand less about the Brotherhood of Freemasonry , we give it this prominent position that many
instead of fexv may reach a proper understanding of the ends and aims of the Institution . Our correspondent asks : ' i . Would you advise a moral and respectable young man to join a Masonic lodge ? 2 . Do all Masonic lodges have sick and death benefits ? 3 . If not , xvhat benefits accrue or result from belonging to a Masonic lodge ? ' —No Masonic lodges have any sick or
death benefits—xve do not understand things in that way , nor do xve xvant any members who join us as they xvould an insurance company . We are alxvays and ex'er ready to assist those in distress ; but xve make no bargain to pay a man xvith a sore thumb or one xvho thinks he ought to be paid for some irregularity of his natural functions a certain amount per xveek . Our
idea is the largest charity to those in absolute need , but not anything to those xvho , needing not , still make a claim upon us . " We quite agree xvith our " confrere" in all he says , and are glad to hear that the American system is the same as our oxvn . Lord ZETLAND emphatically warned us years ago against the " Benefit Club system " in Freemasonry ,
and the xvarning cannot be too often repeated . There are too many of us all , like the correspondent of the New York Dispatch , xvho look on Freemasonry as a system from xvhich they may derive certain benefits , and it may be feared that a large proportion of " Intrants " are attracted by the mere materiality of Masonic prosperity and its " good things . " No true
Freemason will ever advise anyone to become a member of the Order , and though , perhaps , in the enthusiasm of the moment , or thc unguardedness of social converse , brethren may speak incautiously and unwarily in this
respect , yet xve may lay it down as the indubitable proof of a true realization of Masonic teaching and duty , xvhen the same sound caution exhibited by Bro . J . W . SIMONS , in ansxver to his correspondent , is exhibited by us all , even amid the amenities of kindly sociality , and the carelessness of colloquial ease .
WE must all be struck xvho read the American Masonic papers xvith the intense realism of their summer excursions , and the height of excellence , alike in
arrangement and idea , to xvhich they have attained . Probably one of the greatest elements of success and enjoyability in those agreeable relaxations , those friendly aggregations , is the habitual presence of the ladies . They seem thoroughly to enter into all the details of these expeditions , and not
Ar00101
only thoroughly to enjoy themselves , but to confer heartfelt gratification on many admirers , friends , brethren . The principles of Freemasonry are in themselves so refined , so purifying , and so elevating , that they seem at once to harmonize xvith thc gentler and kindlier nature of the xvoman . Man
is often selfish and imperious , exacting and intolerant , hard to please , harder to pacify , impatient of opposition , morbid in disappointment ; xvhile to xvoman is granted , in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U ., those touches and traits xvhich seem to cheer , support , and control the man here .
Still , lit up by rays of seraphs' eyes And glimpses of remembered Heaven , the peculiar moral beauty and excellence of the xvoman ' s character is often placed in happy contrast with the rougher tastes and less accommodating disposition of us " Lords of the Creation . " And therefore it is that
her personality and her smiles often shed brightness where all is gloom , trust xvhere all is doubt , happiness and peace xvhere all is discomfort and disagreement . We can quite understand hoxv it is that our American brethren ha \ -e found the great good accruing from female "juxtaposition" and companionship , and hoxv thoroughly
successful such assemblies are , what present happiness they impart , what pleasing memories they leave behind . We are moving on sloxvly in this same sound direction at home . Little by little old prejudices are disappearing , and antique superstitions are effaced . It has been discovered that our summer St . John's gathering is rendered more attractive and
pleasant by the kindly sociality , the bright looks , the gay dresses of our sisters , and that his is a churlish and an un-Masonic disposition , —yes , un-Masonic , —which hugs the idea that he cannot enjoy himself half as much if the " women are present . " Let us seek to dismiss such misplaced cynicism and mistaken fallacies from our minds and let us strive to imitate our
American brethren in their good sense and good taste , their wise apprecia ? tion of , their seasonable recognition of , the incalculable benefits accruing to Freemasonry from the softening and soothing and elevating presence of our sisters—that smiling interest , that warm-hearted sympathy , and that unselfish goodness of theirs xvhich are their charm , their poxver , and their abiding characteristic in life and the xx'orld to-day .
* * * WE call attention to an amusing letter elsewhere , signed "A Citizen of the World , " for this reason , —that xve xvish to warn all our readers against attending professedly Masonic bodies anywhere which affect an air of special secresy , and are evidently either forbidden by thc laxvs of the land , or are
in opposition to the constituted authorities of the country . In many regions such pernicious bodies are to be found xvhere secret societies exist , easily mistaken by the credulous and the careless for Freemasons , whose organization they ape , and xvhose name they assume . Italy , —the mother land almost of secret societies , —is still ox'errun by them , and honest English Freemasons
cannot be too often warned against yielding to the suggestions of untrustworthy " commissionaires , " and being induced to enter lodges xvhich , though they assume to be those of Freemasons , are after all onl y " secret political societies . " Freemasonry , let us remember once for all , has nothing to do ever xvith political questions or religious controversies . It always obeys the
laws of the land , and avoids anything like a secret political society . When-, ever Freemasons depart from this cosmopolitan and unchanging law of true Freemasonry they always have to repent it , and " come to grief ; " and xve therefore think it right to urge prudence , care , and caution on many of our readers travelling here and there , in many countries , at the present hour ,
* * * WE fully endorse Bro . Snyder ' s letter to the "Alasonic Home Journal , " printed elsewhere , that the excuses of Freemasons for not reading or supporting Masonic literature are " shabby and worn out . " It is a singular fact , explain it as you xvill , that Masonic literature alxvays has had , and still has , a
hard struggle for existence . In 1793 the first English Magazine appeared , and' since that period what has the history of Masonic Literature been but a succession of disappointments , failures , and cessations . Even in America , with 600 , 000 Freemasons , it is very hard xvork indeed to keep up either the needful concrete material support , or the abstract Masonic interest . In
Great Britain it is the same . Some see the Freemason , for instance , at the club , and will not go to the expense of taking it in , apparently expecting , like many more , that keeping up such a paper costs nothing , and that , it is , in fact , rather a favour to the Publisher
to subscribe for it than otherxvise . If many of our good friends xvould think they xvould see that the measure of sympathy and support they accord to Masonic literature is simply enough to render any effort to supply the Craft with nexvs home and foreign , archaeological information , and the like
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 4 ° ' Consecration o £ the Alexandra Chapter , No . ij u , Hornsea 40 ; Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex 402 Prox-incial Grand Chapter of Somerset 403 Nexv Grand Lodges 403 History of the Roval Masonic Institution
for Hoys ( Continued ) 40 ^ Oration hy Bro . Dr . Macrae 40 . Grand Council Allied Degrees 40-New Brunswick 40 J . CORRESPONDENCEA Matter of Taste 4 ° 7 Provincial Clothing and Past Masters ' Levels .: 4 ° ? A Point of Laxv 407
CORRESPONDENCE ( Continued)—Regulations of Royal Arch Masons 40-The Preparatory School for Boys 407 Notes and Queries 407 Board of Benevolence 407 Reading Freemasons 407
REPORTS UF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 40 S Instruction 409 Royal Arch 409 Obituary 410 Masonic and General Tidings 410 Lodge Meetings for Next Week Cover .
Ar00103
WE most sincerely regret to have to publish the contents of the folloxving post card received by us this ( Thursday ) morning : " To the Editor qf the ' Freemason . ' " SIR , —It is xvith sincere regret that I have to inform you that our Bro . J HAVERS , P . G . W ., died at Berkhampstead this morning .
" 40 , Seymour-street , Portman-square , W ., " EDMUND OWEN . "Aug . 20 , 1884 . " It is impossible to-day to do justice to our own feelings , and , above all , the services of our distinguished brother , whose loss is an irreparable one in many respects to our Order , but xve shall hope to do PO next xveek . We deeply grieve to make this announcement to the Craft .
Ar00100
ALL our readers will rejoice to hear the great success attending the Progress of our Royal GRAND M ASTER , thc Princess of WALES , ancl their children at Newcastle-upon-Tyne . They xvill also be happy to learn that the
unfortunate little episode of Colonel YOUNG ' S restive horse xvas xvithout inconx-enience to the Royal visitors . His Royal Highness the GRAND MASTER seems to have had a most fortunate escape from what might have proved a most annoying " contretems . "
OUR esteemed Bro . J . VV . SIMONS , Editor of the New York Dispatch , has the following remarks anent a letter rcceix'ed by him from a correspondent " We have received the folloxving document , and as it illustrates the ideas of a great many persons who knoxv nothing and understand less about the Brotherhood of Freemasonry , we give it this prominent position that many
instead of fexv may reach a proper understanding of the ends and aims of the Institution . Our correspondent asks : ' i . Would you advise a moral and respectable young man to join a Masonic lodge ? 2 . Do all Masonic lodges have sick and death benefits ? 3 . If not , xvhat benefits accrue or result from belonging to a Masonic lodge ? ' —No Masonic lodges have any sick or
death benefits—xve do not understand things in that way , nor do xve xvant any members who join us as they xvould an insurance company . We are alxvays and ex'er ready to assist those in distress ; but xve make no bargain to pay a man xvith a sore thumb or one xvho thinks he ought to be paid for some irregularity of his natural functions a certain amount per xveek . Our
idea is the largest charity to those in absolute need , but not anything to those xvho , needing not , still make a claim upon us . " We quite agree xvith our " confrere" in all he says , and are glad to hear that the American system is the same as our oxvn . Lord ZETLAND emphatically warned us years ago against the " Benefit Club system " in Freemasonry ,
and the xvarning cannot be too often repeated . There are too many of us all , like the correspondent of the New York Dispatch , xvho look on Freemasonry as a system from xvhich they may derive certain benefits , and it may be feared that a large proportion of " Intrants " are attracted by the mere materiality of Masonic prosperity and its " good things . " No true
Freemason will ever advise anyone to become a member of the Order , and though , perhaps , in the enthusiasm of the moment , or thc unguardedness of social converse , brethren may speak incautiously and unwarily in this
respect , yet xve may lay it down as the indubitable proof of a true realization of Masonic teaching and duty , xvhen the same sound caution exhibited by Bro . J . W . SIMONS , in ansxver to his correspondent , is exhibited by us all , even amid the amenities of kindly sociality , and the carelessness of colloquial ease .
WE must all be struck xvho read the American Masonic papers xvith the intense realism of their summer excursions , and the height of excellence , alike in
arrangement and idea , to xvhich they have attained . Probably one of the greatest elements of success and enjoyability in those agreeable relaxations , those friendly aggregations , is the habitual presence of the ladies . They seem thoroughly to enter into all the details of these expeditions , and not
Ar00101
only thoroughly to enjoy themselves , but to confer heartfelt gratification on many admirers , friends , brethren . The principles of Freemasonry are in themselves so refined , so purifying , and so elevating , that they seem at once to harmonize xvith thc gentler and kindlier nature of the xvoman . Man
is often selfish and imperious , exacting and intolerant , hard to please , harder to pacify , impatient of opposition , morbid in disappointment ; xvhile to xvoman is granted , in the good Providence of T . G . A . O . T . U ., those touches and traits xvhich seem to cheer , support , and control the man here .
Still , lit up by rays of seraphs' eyes And glimpses of remembered Heaven , the peculiar moral beauty and excellence of the xvoman ' s character is often placed in happy contrast with the rougher tastes and less accommodating disposition of us " Lords of the Creation . " And therefore it is that
her personality and her smiles often shed brightness where all is gloom , trust xvhere all is doubt , happiness and peace xvhere all is discomfort and disagreement . We can quite understand hoxv it is that our American brethren ha \ -e found the great good accruing from female "juxtaposition" and companionship , and hoxv thoroughly
successful such assemblies are , what present happiness they impart , what pleasing memories they leave behind . We are moving on sloxvly in this same sound direction at home . Little by little old prejudices are disappearing , and antique superstitions are effaced . It has been discovered that our summer St . John's gathering is rendered more attractive and
pleasant by the kindly sociality , the bright looks , the gay dresses of our sisters , and that his is a churlish and an un-Masonic disposition , —yes , un-Masonic , —which hugs the idea that he cannot enjoy himself half as much if the " women are present . " Let us seek to dismiss such misplaced cynicism and mistaken fallacies from our minds and let us strive to imitate our
American brethren in their good sense and good taste , their wise apprecia ? tion of , their seasonable recognition of , the incalculable benefits accruing to Freemasonry from the softening and soothing and elevating presence of our sisters—that smiling interest , that warm-hearted sympathy , and that unselfish goodness of theirs xvhich are their charm , their poxver , and their abiding characteristic in life and the xx'orld to-day .
* * * WE call attention to an amusing letter elsewhere , signed "A Citizen of the World , " for this reason , —that xve xvish to warn all our readers against attending professedly Masonic bodies anywhere which affect an air of special secresy , and are evidently either forbidden by thc laxvs of the land , or are
in opposition to the constituted authorities of the country . In many regions such pernicious bodies are to be found xvhere secret societies exist , easily mistaken by the credulous and the careless for Freemasons , whose organization they ape , and xvhose name they assume . Italy , —the mother land almost of secret societies , —is still ox'errun by them , and honest English Freemasons
cannot be too often warned against yielding to the suggestions of untrustworthy " commissionaires , " and being induced to enter lodges xvhich , though they assume to be those of Freemasons , are after all onl y " secret political societies . " Freemasonry , let us remember once for all , has nothing to do ever xvith political questions or religious controversies . It always obeys the
laws of the land , and avoids anything like a secret political society . When-, ever Freemasons depart from this cosmopolitan and unchanging law of true Freemasonry they always have to repent it , and " come to grief ; " and xve therefore think it right to urge prudence , care , and caution on many of our readers travelling here and there , in many countries , at the present hour ,
* * * WE fully endorse Bro . Snyder ' s letter to the "Alasonic Home Journal , " printed elsewhere , that the excuses of Freemasons for not reading or supporting Masonic literature are " shabby and worn out . " It is a singular fact , explain it as you xvill , that Masonic literature alxvays has had , and still has , a
hard struggle for existence . In 1793 the first English Magazine appeared , and' since that period what has the history of Masonic Literature been but a succession of disappointments , failures , and cessations . Even in America , with 600 , 000 Freemasons , it is very hard xvork indeed to keep up either the needful concrete material support , or the abstract Masonic interest . In
Great Britain it is the same . Some see the Freemason , for instance , at the club , and will not go to the expense of taking it in , apparently expecting , like many more , that keeping up such a paper costs nothing , and that , it is , in fact , rather a favour to the Publisher
to subscribe for it than otherxvise . If many of our good friends xvould think they xvould see that the measure of sympathy and support they accord to Masonic literature is simply enough to render any effort to supply the Craft with nexvs home and foreign , archaeological information , and the like