MASONIC.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 850, 15 June 1888, Page 7

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 roents of all hinds likely to he of interest t* nembers of the craft. All correspondence for this column to he addressed to the Masonic Editor, New Zealand Mail.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Masonic. —You will be right welcome. Cubit (Mastsrton).— It is not customary to do so after the Tyler’s toast. E.C.—Many thanks, but we oannot receive contributions as our time is fully occupied. K.T. (Christchurch). — The Otago Priory meets in Dunedin annually on the 7th day of November. FAVORS RECEIVED. Masonic Review, Canadian Craftsman, South Australian Register, Freemason (London), and Proceedings of the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland. PHCENIX LODGE, WESTPORT. The above Lodye held its regular monthly meeting on Friday, 25th ultimo, at the Masonic Hall, Westport. There was a large attendance of members and visitors and the Third Degree was ably conferred on a candidate by the W.M., who was assisted by his officers and P.M.’s. Bro. W. Nahr, sen., the present W.M„ was again elected to fill the chair. Brothers Jamieson and Kaye were elected Auditors, and other Lodge business was transacted. We are pleased to note that the Phoenix Lodge is .making steady progress and that the Craft is doing good work on the West Coast of the Middle Island. UNIVERSALITY OF MASONRY. A writer in the Masonic Review states : ‘Four years ago I was at a Masonic Lodge in Calcutta, when the third degree was given to three F.C.’s, who knelt before the same altar. One was a Christian, who took h'is obligation on the Bible ; one was a Mohammedan, who took it on the Koran ; the other a Hindoo, who took it on the Shastras. It was administered by an English Lord, a Judge of the Supreme Court. Such is the universality of Masonry.’ TlfE GREAT “SECRET. At the recent Centennial Celebration in BaTtiqjqre the Hon. James Hodges, Mayor of that in hif And here I shall venture to say a word concerning the beneficent -character of freemasonry, as it appears to one who gees jt from the outside, pnd’judges tffe trae, of which your lodges fprm mapy branches, by spoh of its fruits as are visible from the highway. I do this with a full consciousness of my insufficiency to talk to you of things of whioh you know so much, and I, the uninitiated, so little. And yet, for all that, lam frank enough to tell you that the secret of Freemasonry is not so well kept as you are prone to believe. Those who flatter themselves that the world has no eyes to see nor heads to divine, are deluded. In vain you multiply your precautions and make more stringent your obligations ; the great secret of Masonry cannot be hid. It is known by intuition to huudreds and to thousands who never receive grip or password; who never passed the guarded pottals of your mystib lodge. Jt is" known to widctW3 and to ’biphans, to the friendless of dll kinds. It is inscribed in letters of light over'the doorways of lhany an edifibe devoted to the relief of Suffering and thb shelter of helplessness. 1 It is whispered in the still small 1 voice of many silent dgeds of benevolence and mercy. And on tfyat great ‘day when all' secrets are revealed, then tqe great secret of masonry be proclaimed before no less an audience than all the inhabitants of the earth and all the assembled agents in Heaven. And what of the great secret? I was naked, and ye qlothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye catne unto me.’ ■ . ", RAMSEY. It would appear from all we can glean historically, that to the Chevalier Ramsey the world of Masonry is indebted not only for introduction of the earliest higher degrees, but to suggestion of the distinctive title of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Masonry, at present applied to an elaborated system. Sir Andrew Michael Ramsey, Baronet, was born in Ayr, in 1686, and initiated, when quite young, in the Lodge Cannongate Killwinning of Edinburgh. He came to London, with other partisans of the dethroned Stewarts, bringing with him three Dew degrees—the Scotch, the Novice, and the Knight of the Temple, replete with situations, or allegories, in harmony with the cause of the Pretender. Many members, individually, took these degrees, but they were rejected by the loyal lodges. Ramsey went to France, and affiliated with the lodge founded in 1725 in Paris by the Earl of Derwentwater, subsequently executed in London for high treason. In England they had been ‘Ancient’ Free and Accepted Masons, so that, upon adoption of Ramsey’s Bystem, his adherents struck ont the word ‘Free,’ and interpolated the adjective ‘Scottish ’ to distinguish. themselves from those of English proclivities, and in this wise becoming Ancient and Accepted Scottish Masons. In Lyons, about 1743,• Ramsey's system.was developed and divided into various .degrees—tho Minor Elect, the . Elect of Nine ~or of Perignan, the Eject of Fifteen, Illiistrjous Master; Knight of Aurora or of Hope, Graq<l Inquisitor, Grand Elect and. Commander of the ; Temple—dho whole being :.known, as

‘ Kadosh.’ Ramsey appears to have had no hand .in construction .of the Rose Croix of Hefredom, which was the work of the Jesuits. '

‘PRUDENCE.’ When summer days are bright and lorig, And sun-gleams fall both warm and atrdng, The busy ant, with tireleES ruD, Lays up for time, When, Summer fl6iie; The wintry days of cold and wet Forbid the search his food to get j Securely snug, his toiling o’er, He feasts on riches from his store. A lesson here the Masons learn : All sloth and idleness to spurn ; To store the mind, when bright and clear, For weakness of the aging year; To work and strive as health is by. That peace may fold us when we die ; To shirk no burden, rightly laid. Whilst strength of mind and frame can aid. Thus Providence, whilst we have our breath, Shall bless our life and gu .rd our death.

MASONIC MOURNING FOR THE ‘ EMPEROR WILLIAM.

A solem and impressive ceremony waa witnessed at the Freemasons’ Tavern on April 12, when the members of the Pilgrim (the German-speaking lodge of London) assembled to take part iri a mourning celebration in memory of the late German Emperor. Including a number of sympathetic JEnglish and Parsee' brethren, ■ there were present 200 members of the craft, the officers present being Herren B. Wagner, W.M. ; Baelz, I.P.M. ; C. Schmidt, S. W.'; Hamm, J.W.; L. Merfeld, S.D.; H’aacke, J.D.; Zehelmer, I.G. ; and Vogeler, sec. Herr Wilhelm Ganz presided at the organ. The hall was heavily draped for the occasion, the festoons of black cloth being upheld by shields bearing the Imperial eagle or the initial of the deceased monarch, the prevailing gloom .being somewhat relieved by a trophy of English, German and American flags' over the chair of the Worshipful Master. In the centre of the hall was a coffin covered with a pall,' and on a pedestal a bust of the. late Emperor; - crowned with laurel, the whole surrounded by lilies and palms,' and covered with funeral wreaths. The lodge having been opened, the Worshipful Master delivered a short address, and the choir sang the hymn “ How quiet they sleep,” after which the Immediate Past Master, Herr Baelz, delivered a eulogy of the .deceased Sovereign. He spoke of the universal sorrow and sympathy for the loss of the Emperor William, whose- clear head, energy, and knowledge of men, but principally his nobility and purity of heart, could .bo seen in all hiß actions. No other nation except their own had felt the loss or expressed so much sympathy as the English, who were united with Germans by the ties of race and community of feeling. The "world felt the loss the of late Emperor, and the object of the lodgd of sorrow was to pay a tribute to the memory of one vvho been nearly 50 .years a IVTasori, and’ who had conferred great services on JVjasonfy. He had defended the* pfatt against ijs epemjes, ancj in reply to thgir attacks had jnitated lii§ son aud advised him to remain always q strong protect >r of Masonry, that he might enjoy the consciousness of maintaining the truth, and assisting the good works promoted by it. In conclusion, he expressed the feeling of grief with which they bade farewell to the deceased monarch and placed a palm branch on the coffin. A further address, similar in character, was de? livered bythe orator of the lodge, Hehnee, and a telegram was despatched to the German Emperor from the Lodge expressing its sympathy with him,- and teXpreasing a wish 'that he might be long tipated for the good of the Empire.