MASONIC.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 765, 29 October 1886, Page 6

MASONIC.

\ Havitig, te : opkhed the Masonic tMMXitfuiicLer the'supervision the Craftj we’ shall be\ glad■■id''receivefro wP Secretaries of .Lodges', ancl brethren generally shfi'rt reports of Lodge meetings', and ''Masp}iie& events of all / IciiMp likely to feff' interest members 'of the: craft: All . correspondence", this, for column to be addressed to the Editor ,? New-'ZhAEANi)' MAil.f; ’•/';.

AN.SBZ-ERS TO/. G.-Ir.S.—-Gaimot say; Perhaps:the Secretaryf . ■will enlighten;you. s,: ; ' cti ini New thet sumtef I was--laid ;bn the foundation stonej hte> , radditiort.-to: ai- cheque - for *£so [from jheu .Grand Master, i £«.-./■; e? A J tv™ i •■•oiv/T

PnuMß-RtrLE;—The Masonic- Exhibition -htp ;. iShaukein .was to .be opeiiedi oti the : 9thk i September,; .‘‘We have no further?par'tiba*3 lars to-hand as yet./ .’ •: -te Jdgfa to the Texas FreemasPnp there' -were>.Tß7‘’ Lodgessin 'America?vjtt> ‘ ?1783;- ! There, are-over 10,-000 /Lodgescats i present. ; :?•"' : : : 1 •• Training . Boaed.—-In English-/Lodge* as» •not permitted Jo wear the Mark Jewel/' ss - ' f.dxtL*.' ""v : - .-•> -- ---? 11 ?~ - ; a'£ 5.9 ia&

i /; ’. r‘ / i; ayors- reCelyejd. ./, ’ :/;7, /Masonic 'Chromcle, ". Sydney London ’ Freemas.bn, v Kiieph, /Li befal/.Frge.-A; maspn,’. and Report of the Grand Lodge./ci;/ .Cuba."' 9 *’4 " ‘

./ . THE THIRD DEGREE.' //lYp-Jead/iri' bne".of our.exchanges that ip/., some-'quarters it is propose ( d to' re-c6mpile.| the Third Degree,' upon./the. ground at present composed, it is long,/tedious,/raßd : ' devbid'of dramatic’, effect. ■■ ' r jJ.w > Upbh; the . European Continent the First, Degree is,, as'it should. be, a.crucial a 'candidate’s/ nerve,,., veracity,./ persqpa3> interest-and courage. ; It comprises a serlesj of arduous ordeals, borrowed from the trialkj :of*the'elemehbs,cbaracberistic of •of initiation" iiitb", the apicient/. Egyptian .mystifies. v ,,. f . /:/// lyi answer/a/purpoe.e/,wliich>ColonialAlasohs/faill Jb'cbmprefiend-, inasmuch" as a'ny r tf.rrified,pr,demoralise,d at. this jeafliest/gtage ip. rolievea iroiii tne presence or a niernber m whom implicit trust cannot be placed,

--cates a moral, lesson .in a . most Bplemn and, •uigniiied manner, intended;. to convey, .bn initiate’s idea beyond., this .miindahe SpheYd. Tr should,,>e . expressed 'in .lofty, 'language, . befitting " tl.ie\ pije ; lancbplj'. .opre-': iponi’aCit is, pofirtray ; ,‘atfgL 'eoiif; dieted with.an sineerity'in accent" •and in manner.; inspiring awe, in place, of gratify or of pandering.to ippoble lhsjfincts. ~/It is.in'realityd;:si2niKciant'iiifrcr-r duction to a rfegion to tts iintnown.', ' ‘ " ... h iBROTHEttHObi). ,Il£j * -r" sa’hfi* BORNEO. ‘---V ' iV.riscq iißroi Frank Hatton, the explorer, who lost his .life among the savage tribes of Borneoin 1583,-..mentions-: in his. letters.: the following Ceremonial inrwhich he took-part during his •-•stay at Elopura - Z ' ■ ~ 2nd. To-day I was initiated into -fcho-Brotherhood of the Bendowen Dusuns., The-: old - men and : all r.the ..tribe . haying: -assembled, the-ceremonies began. * Fi rst, the jnngle was cleared for about twenty yards;' and-then ’a hole dug about a foot deep,, in. yyhiGb was.plaeed large., water-jatv, ..In tbiS; <jpuntry these jars are of enormous value >30,5 and even lOOdols o£:gutta.-being giyen i fo,iy -asingle jar. -The bottom of the jarin ques?, Ifon was knocked out, so as'to reiser, it' use-, less in future., .-The : clay takeOjOut to .make, the hole was thrown into the. jay,, and now, the. "old men commenced exclaiming ; ‘Q . Einarringan,.hear us —A loud shout, to the-. Rinarfingan. . The sound echoed away tlib valleys, and as it,died a stone was placed'; npal'tibe jar. _.Tben for old -memdeclared"that by .fire .(which was repre-; Mated by "a burning .stick), by water (which •syas brought in .a bamboo and poured into the □groan'd by earth", ,that-t Hey would/be true -to :all white men. A sumpitum was then fetched, and.,an ; arrow shot into the air to summon the Kinarriiigan.. We now placc’d •diip 'foii£guns,. which wereall the arms" my"‘ jjatty of "eight mustered, on the mouth of the'' and each put a hand in and tbok a littlfe cta'y out, and put it away'. Finally, several Trolleys were shot-over the place, and the •ceremony wSs complete.’:' *' f The writer mentions a" powder ivhfch the; afatives burn’totlieir deity, to protect therri 1 from : the spirits Of their relatives. f. who cares ?’-;,, ; _ //; *„Who.cares whether Masonry .originated in the Garden of Eden, or before the ; Flood, or aF jhe building/ of King Solomon’s Temple?. does it matter to us whether .Noah ■\iqa Master Of his Lodge or not ? or whether/ of not Moses was a Mason, because.be was ' versed in Egyptian mysteries ? What good vroiild the knowledge of' 'the fact do us, r> ; living so/ffiady centuries after the'se’worthy.; meh were ‘gathered to .their fathers 1 ?’; The audition for us, as individual membeYs of the,. rdcr is, ‘ Anr i a Mason?’ Do 1 practice theljuirity taught by Masonic lessons;? When. I‘entered the Lodge for the first' time, I/was taught to reverence the Creator-of the world: 1 I-was'told that my' trust should''be in Him ? : DoM Yeverence'theGrfeat Architect of "the lljrifverse ?- D6T‘put my trust fnKim ?' ' Ts my -life "in- accordance' with; the truths • ; He/ 1 vfijuld teach ftfeTT had" hardly pafesed-the 1 threshold'of Masonry before! was: frold that tKese.werefbur' cardinal virtues', and I was' * aShibnished :to‘ practice themr:at_ all times; ‘ De'/T heed this wise admonition ? Am i 1 * temperate -’ in all- my acts; in my thoughts, 1 ItfYtfy judgment of my. fellows:? Does- pru-s 1 mylife ? :Do.I- show to the ] profane, as well as to the Mason, that I possessfortitude sufficient toresist temptation; to defend the right; to espouse the cause of the s doWfi-trodden and oppressed ? Is justice a virtue that I practice in all my dealings-with s thaworld-? r I was told to ever walk- as an-<= / uprrghtrman -and Mason. Am.l-thus walk-*? 1 ing-? ?f.These-are questions more important to ( us as Masons thanthe , question;-_of antedilu-: 3We revei*e_ age, and' we* know enoughrof ! tfic‘lsftit;iquity?of the ! Grder to know "that-ifc-iff? veYy ancient,'and'should be respected for dts . c glorious past history'. Butthat is enough ten. J know of its clainr to antiquity; Let -us •expend'our energies in endeavoring to learn | the ; ’beaufiful:lessons taught in the several Degrees; and. to live those- blessed truthszih -our daily intercourse with the world-. >-.- W..er j need? every safeguard:wa can. get (while.pass--iiig through this world of care and sin,.'and. g left.ns: shield ourselves behind, the tried bulr'. t warks of our .Order, , Let us:.:;prgserye:; in-:; » violate the tenets of our profession,-and hands? •down ’ to the generations - to come pjan; .* ‘unimpaired : Brotherhood; made-up of ,tho,so. j who - practice -every,;, day .-the -lessons ,;theliodge room taught them,-;'Letu§-,f study;" •our own 1 iv e«^<>uo^o.wn-~times, and"' in j. brie£jßpan_QJi, fife to ,. tobur fell Ow-moo-; and- not lose the*diamom£.b_ •crown while seavcbJhgnfchet-i dusty pages of -the ‘ages something rtfiat;in,the end,,will,profit iis_nothing v _ f