The Grand Lodge Of New South Wales.

have pointed out on many occasions in the past , something more than a knowledge of the ritnal of Freemasonry is needed to constitute a ruler of a Lodge , and if this is the case with the Master , it is equally so with regard to

the subordinate Officers . It is very difficult to decide on any rule to measure merit , and if each of the Officers of a Lodge had to be elected on such grounds , we imagine it would simply resolve itself into a system of individual

expressions of opinion as to what constitutes merit . At the same time snch elections would prevent those display ?; of favouritism which , though utterly opposed to Freemasonry , are none the less occasionally found to upset the harmony of our Lodges .

Passing on , we find Bro . Tai'rant expressing the loyalt y of his followers towards the empire of which their country forms a part . As he says , the fact of their establishing an independent Grand Lodge does not in any way affect their

loyalty to the throne , and no doubt as an independent body they are as loyal as ever they were when recognising the home Grand Lodge as their head ; indeed , the members of this officiall y unrecognised body had the honour of being first

among the Freemasons of the colony to whom was accorded the privilege of welcoming to Australia the lately appointed representative of Her Majesty the Queen , and no doubt

they full y recognised the honour thus conferred npon them The Grand Lodge is in a healthy position , both numericall y and financiall y , and , most important , its members an bound together in unity .

After congratulating his brethren on the several matters to which we have referred , the Grand Master drew attention to an abuse which he said was prevalent in the colony—and he might with equal justice have said all

over the world . The abuse of which he complained was the use of some of the Masonic emblems as trade signs to attract attention , and he went so far as to trust that tho subordinate bodies under the Grand Lodp * e of New South

Wales would make some provision in their bye-laws to erase the name of any brother from their list of members \? ho descended to adopt such un-Masonic practices . This is a severe remed y for an almost universal practice , bnt

there are no doubt many brethren , both in this country and abroad , who would agree with some such stringency in order to put an end to what they recognise as an abuse of the Craft . For ourselves , we think that the enforcement

of such a rule would have no beneficial result , principally because we believe that a large number of those who exhibit Masonic signs in business are not Masons at all , but having strange ideas of the power of Masonry they do not hesitate

to seek to benefit themselves by pretending to belong to it . How many Masons are there who patronise a place of business solely because of the square and compasses being displayed over the door ? Have any of our readers ever

been lured by the magic signs , or do they know of any brother who has ? We are inclined to think not , and we believe if it were possible to form an opinion it would be found that the abuse complained of is really productive of

more harm than good to those who adopt it , as it brings to their door the many in distress—Masons real or imaginarywho are continuall y travelling about in all parts of the globe . Ask a brother who displays the signs of Free

masonry in business how many times he has secured a customer through the display , and how many times his benevolence has been appealed to from the same cause , and we think the " abuse" will be looked upon as likel y with extended knowledge to decrease rather than to

increase . In concluding our remarks we feel we owe some thanks to the brother on whose utterances we have so largely drawn . We full y recognize him as a brother possessed

of the true spirit of Freemasonry , and we feel the mere fact that he is outside the official recognition of our ruling authority is insufficient reason for treating his utterances , and the efforts he is evidently making to extend

Freemasonry , with contempt . No doubt there are many men inside the recognised circle who are equally as worthy and equally as active , but the opportunity of judging them has not so readily presented itself : besides , we think that

a better acquaintance with those outside the charmed circle may prove interesting and beneficial to all concerned . Of one thing we are assured , —the Masons of New South Wales , whatever their faults , have the heartiest good withes of their English brethren in so far as their desire

to extend the principles of Masonic Chant y is concerned . We hope soon to hear that their efforts have been crowned with success , and that their example in this

respect has been followed by each of the other sections of Australian Freemasonry .

Not For Naught.

NOT FOR NAUGHT .

FREE MASONRY , whatever its early history may he , and whatever vital force and self-perpetuating power

may be argued from its survival , as is claimed , from the mysticism of the remote past , derives its highest claim to consideration from tho relation it has been able to maintain

and now holds to the new civilization , undisturbed b y tho revolutions of thought and theory that have made and unmade doctrinal religions and created new schools of doubt and atheistical uncertainty .

At no other time than now , and in no other country than this , has general knowledge been so universal , scientific attainment so extended , or the course of speculative inquiry been followed with more freedom and persistence , and yet

we find the Order , here and now , afc its highest range of prosperity—never more respected by those not of its members , or so beloved by those of its Fraternity . Oar membership , increased by selection by the most crucial

tost , has grown in numbers formidable to ourselves , and suggestive of power , however unconscious and unexercised , thafc mighfc well excite attention and apprehension from those without . Yet so well has the Order preserved its

characteristics of universality , uprightness of purpose , and broad benevolence , that no fear is felt , no jealousy is excited , and the cementing tie has become a synonym for true , unselfish brotherhood and charity , and it is regarded

as no unworth y ambition which inspires us to become known as Masons good and true , and worthy of our Order . To what may we attribute this condition of prosperit y ? We are like as other men are ? We have come into the

Order from worth y motives , without solicitation , and b y selection , it is true , but with no previous knowledge of thafc upon which we engage , and we are without power to change or control it from the accepted ways . The Architect has

planned our work , and only by following His designs can we preserve the harmony of the edifice . To depart from the plans he has prepared would destroy and bring to naught that which we would seek to ( upbuild . Our

individualit y is lost m the general characteristics of the whole , and in our brief day of action we cannot seek to change that which is given us to preserve . May we believe that this Institution which has been so handed down to us , and

which we are engaged in preserving and handing down to those who shall come after us , is founded in those elements of unchangeable truth that find their resting place in every heart , uninfluenced ancl undisturbed by every storm of

passion , doubt and unbelief ? That while the progress of free , untrammelled thought has wrought its change in creed and practice , in national lifo and government , in the very forms and ways of society and private life , Freemasonry ,

holding its unaltered course , teaching its old familiar lessons of duty , charity and faith , but firmly fixed to the ancient landmarks , and regarding neither the times nor the seasons , the passions nor prejudices of men , has

demonstrated that it supplies a primal human need , and conforms to the most powerful instincts of the human heart . In our complex civilization we often find the circumstances of experimental progress at variance with our native needs ,

and while the shifting scenes revolve about us , we turn to the simpler past , where the emergencies of life alone were thought to justify new laws and methods , for rest and guidance .

Of the social state of primitive man , we have evidence in the records of the more advanced societies , of their observations on fche life and laws of those more rude , and everywhere we find the germ of compact a vital moving

force . At first , the family , with its properties , its laws , its power all centred in the patriarchal head , the needs of every member supplied from the common source , and the lives of each devoted to tbe maintenance of the family

unit , and each protected by the strength of all . The individual died , the family remained , increased and grew in power . The world was made up of families , the tie of blood forming the common bond of safety and support . As

gamerations passed , the family grew strong in numbers and possessions , and the numbers of these compacts , increased with years , formed tribes , and from these tribes grew a commonwealth or nation . In all these evolutions of society , we find the first great