MASONIC.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 764, 22 October 1886, Page 6

MASONIC.

Having re-opened the Masonic column in the Mail, under the supervision of a Master in the Craft, we shall he glad to receive from Secretaries of Lodges, and brethren generally, short reports of Lodge meetings and Masonic events of all kinds likely to be of interest to members of the craft. All correspondence for this column to be addressed to the Masonic Editor, New Zealand Mail.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. P.P.M.W. —Yes ; each of the" four faces of the Great Pyramid of Jeezah present a perfect equilateral triangle. It is situated in latitude 30 deg, and is in the exact centre of the habitable globe. G. —Many thanks. We -were, however, informed of the matter prior to your communication reaching us. H. —Reliable historians are inclined to think that the Stuart family supported Freemasonry more or less. The Chevalier Ramsay, one of the Pretender’s great supporters, instituted seven Masonic degrees called the ‘ Primitive Scottish Rite.’ HaWERA. —Yes ; the installation should take place on St. Andrew’s Day. E.E.G. —Albert Pike is the recognised head of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in America. FAVORS RECEIVED. London Freemason, Rivista della Massoneria Italiana (Rome), Masonic Chronicle (New York), La Acacia (Buenos Ayres),

Sydney Freemason and Luce e Concordia* (Naples).

CORN, WINE AND OIL.

Why Masons employ corn, wine and oil in. their ceremonies of consecration has neverbeen satisfactorily explained ; still it is evident that the use of these articles is retained, •" in Consequence of their being remnants of the mysteries of paganism as weir as featnresin those of Christianity. For instance, the consecrated wafer corn in a palatable form —is intimately connected with the sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church, whiles bread and wine- constitute the physical elements in the communion of the Episcopalians. Oil is used to consecrate individuals, temporal kings and tonsured monks. Corm related to the mysteries of Ceres, which were based upon the legend of that agricultural goddess’ search after her lost daughter Proserpine, and the compromise made as to her remaining with her lover, Pluto, in the bowels of the earth for six months annually, and with her mother the remainder of the year. This symbolic fable is one of thosebeautiful theological myths, inducing a. religious veneration peculiar to the nations, of antiquity, capable of a double interpretation. Proserpine, product of Ceres, or corn, is seized by Pluto, god of wealth, and hidden, below the surface of the earth, or in other words, corn is planted by the agriculturist to become the source of individual wealth, and of national greatness. With a nomadic, people, wealth was estimated by the possession of flocks and herds, but among a resident agricultural community this measure naturally became the one as to extent of grain the farmer was enabled to. sowProserpine’s story is, moreover, a religious parable, inculcating the doctrine of. mortal birth, death and resurrection, for there areno fables of antiquity without a symbolic significance, which moderns fail-to appreciate. The use of wine is derived from the Dionysian or Bacchic mysteries, as commemorated among the sun-worshipping people of Asia, and partially transferred tothe Greeks and Romans. As bread, the staff of life, is the direct product of the sun ; wine,,, another necessity for physical maintenance,, became his blood. Consequently, in the conjunction of the mysteries of Ceres with those of Bacchus, bread and wine were employed to denote the birth and death of the sun, and the- certainty of his resurrection, Christianity, upon extinction of these mysteries, has unwittingly conserved the vestiges of paganism. Upon Easter, the birth of the sun, or the annual period when his fructifying power, dormaut during the winter, recommences, we good Christians devour ‘Hot Cross Buns,’ or colored eggs, a practice derived from the mysteries of the Egyptian Isis, while in the Last Supper we have a harvest home festival of antiquity. The eating of bread and the drinking of wine was a significant thanksgiving solemnity, commemorative of gratitude to the Deity, who, under the visible symbol of the sun, is about to die, after leaving for our sustenance his body, bread, and his blood, wine.

MASONIC LECTURES. We have had the occasion several times torefer to the instructive lectures which have been delivered in the Instruction Lodge (held under the auspices of the New Zealand Pacific Lodge), and have expressed an opinion that similar lectures should be given in the various city Lodges, so that brethren might from time to time be regaled with information on subjects closely allied to Masonry, which as a rule are entirely overlooked, and of which many know very little. To Bro. Drury, W.M. of the Wellington Lodge, is due the credit of having inaugurated series of lectures in his Lodge (the first, we believe, ever given in a Masonic Lodge in this district), and we sincerely trust that his good example will be followed by others. His first lecture, on ‘ Antiquity,’ was delivered some months ago, and we have much pleasure in stating that tne second was rendered on Friday last, the 15th inst., at the regular monthly meeting of the Wellington Lodge. The subject chosen was ‘ The Temple,' which plays such an important part in the traditional ceremonies of our Craft.

Bro. Drury prefaced his remarks by saying; that as several of the opinions expressed in. his previous lecture had not been shared by some of the brethren then present, he was prepared to prove what he had said, and remarked in support of his arguments as to ‘Antiquity,’ that in some of the Egyptian papyrus it had been found that the ancient Egyptian Hierophants could trace their country's history 11,OOOyears before our time. He also mentioned that recent'y in constructing an aqueduct which crossed the Nile near Alexandria, the piles had to be driven in the river bed ; and while doing this the workmen found their work seriously interfered with by what afterwards proved to be the granite walls of an ancient buried city, evidently unknown to the-Egyptians, but ,which must have existed at a very'remote period of the world’s history. In reference to the ‘ 1 emple,’ Bro. Drury stated that this magnificent Work was commenced by King Solomon in the year of Light, 2992, and was carried on with such speed that it was finished in all its parts a little more than seven years after, and was dedicated to the service of the Most High in the year 3000. It stood on Mount Moriah, a sacred spot eminently suitable for such a building, on account of the three grand offerings made, thereon w-liich met with divine approbation, and which are explained to the candidate for Freemasonry on his initiation. The Temple was originally built on a very hard rock, encompassed by frightful precipices j the foundations were consequently laid with, great labor and at great expense. The surrounding wall was constructed entirely of white marble. The temple itself, which consisted of the porch, the sanctuary, and the sanctum sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, was but a small part of the edifice which crowned Mount Moriah. Within the outer wall w r as the Court of the Gentiles, who were prohibited from passing further. It was surrounded by a range of porticoes, above which were galleries or apartments supported joy white marble pillars. The next court was that of the Children of Israel, separated from the previous one by a low stone wall; it was divided into two, the outer part being reserved for the women and the inner one for the men. Here the Jews resorted daily for.the=

■purposes of prayer. Within the Court of the Children of Israel was the Court of the Priests. In the centre of this Court was the altar of burnt offerings to which the people brought their oblations, and into which .pone'bufc the priests were allowed to enter. From this court twelve steps ascended to the "Temple proper,. which, as we already have ■said, was divided into three parts, viz., the rporch, the sanctuary, and the sanctum sanc--torttm. Bro. Drury dwelt at some length on the rporch of the Temple ; he minutely described its gates, made entirely of Corinthian brass, so.highlv prized by the aucients, the beautiful hollow pillars, made of cast brass, each twentv-seven feet high, with their artistic •chapiters adorned with lily work, net work, .■and pomegranates, on which were placed the spherical balls with maps of the terrestial ;aud celestial globes. Beyond the porch was the sanctuary divided from it by a magnificent veil of many colors, representing the ■universe. Ihe breadth of the sanctuary was ■•twenty cubits and its length forty. In it -were placed the altar, golden candlesticks, ■and the various utensils necessary for daily worship. The sanctum sanctorum, or Holy ot Holies, was separated from the sanctuary by -richly inlaid olive wood doors, covered with -veils of blue, purple, scarlet and the finest linen. It contained the Ark of the Covenant with its overshadowing Cherubims and the Mercy Seat. Into this Most Holy Place the High Priest alone entered once a year, and ■then only after many washings and purifications on the day of atonement. The most remarkable thing about the Temple was thateverv piece, whether timber, metal or stone, was brought ready cut, 'framed, and polished, to Jerusalem, and there fitted together with little or no noise. 'The sound of axe, hammer and saw was con--fined to Lebanon and the quarries in the Plains of Zaredatba. According to Josephus, King David ■collected 10,000 talents of gold, 100,000 talents of silver, besides other metals, in connection with the construction of so important a work as the Temple at Jerusalem. , 'This represented in our money about 44 millions of pounds sterling. There were upwards of 186,000 men engaged on the work, and these were divided into 300 liarodims or rulers, 3300 menatchims or overseers, 83,000 stonesquarers, hewers or builders, 30,000 apprentices, and 70,000 laborers, under the superintendence of Hiram Abiff, the widow’s son of Tyre. Their wage 3 ranged from a shekel, or 2s 3d, •a day, to as much as 81 shekels. The Temple retained its original splendor only 34 years, when Shishak, King of Egypt, took away its richest treasures, and 415 years, after its completion it was finally plundered aud burnt by the Chaldeans, under Nebuchad nezzar. Bro. Drury ended his most interesting and exhaustive discourse by saying that although Solomon’s Temple has been considered the most magnificent piece of masonry ever constructed, its grandeur is nothing as •compared with the vast extent of our speculative Lodges, of which the work •of our operative ancestors is but a symbol. He minutely described the duties and position of the W.M. of a Lodge and of his officers, and the excellent and beneficial effects of Freemasonry when properly carried out; its teachings of morality and virtue, and last but not least, its power of upholding belief in the Great Architect of the Universe, from whom the speculative Mason, by a uniform tenor of virtuous conduct through life, may hope to receive a just recompense when called to the Grand Lodge above. At the conclusion of his able lecture, the Lodge accorded Bro. Drury a most hearty vote of thanks, on the motion of P. M. Bro. Kenneth Wilson, M.A., seconded by P.M. Bro. Manley, the motion being put to the Lodge from the West.

LODGE MEETINGS.

The District Grand Lodge held its regular quarterly communication on Thursday, the 14th instant. Bro. C. T. Toxward, District Grand Master, was at his post as usual, and there were a considerable number of brethren present. Bro 3. Fownes and Patterson, P. M.’s of the Leinster Lodge, were among the visitors. The usual amount of business having been transacted, the District Grand Lodge was closed in due form at 9.30 p.m. The New Zealand Pacific Lodge met on Monday, the 11th inst., there being a good attendance. Bro. Higinbotham was passed to the Second Degree. The W M., Bro. Young, delivered the charge, and the S. W., Bro. Lyon, gave the lecture on the Tracing Board.

The Waterloo Lodge met on Tuesday, the 12th inst., a large number of brethren being present. The following principal officers were nominated for the ensuing year, viz : Bro. Harton as R.W.M., Bro. Masters as S. W., and Bro. Deacon as J.W. A full list of officers will be given in oar next. While wishing Bro. Harton our hearty congratulations on his nomination as It. W.M.. we must •not omit a word of praise to P.M. Bro. Greig •for the excellent way in which he has managed the affairs of the Waterloo Lodge in ?the past. The Wellington Lodge met on Friday, ■lsth inst., aud there was a good muster of brethren. As it was a recreation night as far as Ritual work was concerned, the W.M., Bro. Drury, gave his lecture on * The Temple,’ which was greatly appreciated. 'The Lodge adjourned for refreshments at TO p.m., and the opportunity was then taken of saying farewell and wishing Godspeed to Bro. E. S. Ward Butier, who is leaving Wellington. The Leinster Lodge, ably guided by Bro. •J. W. Ellison, also met on Wednesday, 13th Instant, aud various business was transacted. A candidate was initiated, and a brother was passed to the Second Degree. An emergency meeting was also held on Saturday, 16th inst., in or.’er to confer the Third Degree oa a bi other who is leaving New Zealand by the •Kaikoura