The Decadence Of Lodges.

THE DECADENCE OF LODGES .

rpHE heading of this article designates a process which JL is uui ' orinnntcly constantly going on in onr midst , niuio frequently perhaps in this and other colonies than at Homo , o . viug doubtless to thc changeful conditions of colonial life . It is a process which is sometimes inexplicable ,

arid , wo venture to say , always or nearly always avoidable , hy proper means , but it goes on all tho same , not only in little villages in which one can easily understand that some social revolution , or perchance the cessation of sonic personal influence , may have dire effect , bnt in large towns

where there are large numbers of brethren , old and wett establ shed Lodges , and a large reserve of likely material in the quarries . We havo in our mind's eye just now two Lodges having old numbers , situated iu flourishing commercial towns , and possessing a record of good corporate

and individual effort in Masonry , Lodges which have had at one time muster rolls running into the three figures , and have turned out somo of the best Masons of the day , but which aro nevertheless in that state of suspended animation which , but for the fact that it preserves the germ of a

possible future revival , is of little moro avail than total annihilation . One has not had a quorum for business for several months , and both have had to depend on outside help on the very occasions upon which they havo had any work to do . No one attempts to stay tho process of decay ;

old Past Masters , of whom there are many in both Lodges , quietly stand aloof , keep away from Lodge , and tako refuge in the selfish plea that younger hands must do the work—a plea which means , when correctly translated , " that having obtained all the available honours , they care

nothing for anything else . " Now this process of decadence is one not only opposed to all the traditions of the Craft , but guarded against by the Constitutions as carefully as human wit can devise . Every provision is mado to ensure permanency in our institution by a wise mixture of both

the personal and popular element in government , and by a graduated chain of executive responsibility regularly graded from the Grand Master himself downwards to tho humblest Tyler of the smallest Lodge . We have , —and in this connection we refer especially to the English

Constitution , —just enough of the personal element to guard us from undue risk of having our equilibrium disturbed by the evanescent gusts of popular feeling ; whilst , on tbe other hand , there is sufficient of the democratic in cur laws to establish our iustitution on a broader basis than the

personal ability or influence of one man . A Grand Master , one of his Deputies , or the W . M . of a private Lo Ige may die or retire , and yet every provision is made for carrying ou the chain of power unbroken . " The king is dead , long live the king , " marks the Masonic polity everywhere , and

the Masonic institution , whether as a whole or in any of its component parts , is meant to for ever continue its course as one unbroken entity . And there should be surely sufficient enthusiasm amongst us to provide the motive power for our very excellent machinery , sufficient of

Masonic feeling to ensure that Masons having once enrolled themselves in the Order should continue to march under its banner until it pleases the Great Architect of the Universe to call them hence ; sufficient of esprit de corps to bring forth an endless succession of Craftsmen ready to

take their place , at those working benches which death , sickness , or removal have left without occupants . If a Lodge has once been started in a town , it should be a point of honour -with every one concerned to keep it going . No Craftsman , old or young , has any right to shirk his duty ,

and the surrendering of a charter , or the perfunctory retention of one , ought to be regarded with a feeling akin to that which swells up in the breast of a soldier when he surrenders the colours of his regiment to the hands of the enemy . Now and then , in very exceptional instances , it

may happen that so great a social and commercial revolution may sweep over a town as to reduce it from the position of a fairly populous commercial centre to that of an insignificant village , and in such a case we may fairly condone the passing away of a Lodge with the verdict of death

from natural causes , without casting blame upon auy individual members . But such even ' s are , even in Colonial life , very few and far between . Towns experience

vicissitudes certainly , such as may fairly be taken as excuses for a manifest decrease in the prosperity of Lodges , bnt they are very , very rarely so sweeping as to furnish an explanation of the complete decadence of ono flourishing

The Decadence Of Lodges.

institution . No , the causes must be sought elsewhere . In the first placo Lodges are too frequently wan-anted in corn , munities too small to ensure their permanency under difficulties which may arise ; and in the second the members of Lodges , both those ' on the dais and those on the floor ,

too often fail utterly in their duty , and desert thoir posts at the first stress of bad weather . And from what directions may these signs of bad weather come ? From every point of tho compass . Past Masters go through the Chair , sport the level , or perchance the purple , aud tho

Lodgo knows them no more ; financial burdens are rashl y incurved , and when creditors begin to press , tho weak , kneed of the generation , like rats , desert the sinking shi p ; Lodges are worked in one miserable routine , offering no inducement to the young and aspiring to tako any interes t

in the meetings , and the mosfc promising Craftsmen drop out of tho ranks : dissensions arise , and tho " cranks " straightway forget all the lessons of brotherly love they are supposed to havo learnt , and at once take their names and influence off tbe books ; bad material is let in and good

material squeezed out ; and last bufc nofc least each Lod go is left to struggle along in its own isolated course without that moral and material support from headquarters which ifc has a right to expect but never gets . These are some of tho breakers upon which the good ship Masonry so often

wrecks , and into their incidence and the best modes of avoiding them we shall , according to our lights , make it our business to enter in our next leading article . Until then we part in peace , love , and harmony . —South African Freemason .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . All Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

THE "HUB" ( or BOSTON ) MS

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEA . R SIR / VND BROTHER , —Oar friend Jacob Norton is snch an inveterate joker that I hardly know whether to take hia effusion in your last number seriously or not . Kightly or wrongly , I have always understood that the title " Hub of the Universe " was firsfc applied to the city of Boston , U . S ., by some 4 th of July orator in an unusually

" spread-eagle " speech , and that the epithet has since stuck to it in genial derision . Certain I am thafc no Englishman ever uses fche term without metaphorically placing his tongue in his cheek . I was under the impression , when I protested against the name , that its uso would rather grate on the ears of a Bostonian . Bro . Norton says not . Are we to accept his assurance , or is he poking some more fun at us ?

If not , then let ifc be " Hub , " by all means ! Only I can assure all whom ifc may concern that the title will always raise a smile , and a rather broad one too , on this side of the water . Will some member of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge say if the title is really approved by them ? But when Bro . Norton charges me with arbitrarily changing tho

name of the Cooke MS ., he brings an absurdly false accusation . In the index of Vol . II . of our Reprints ifc is entered as the " Matthew Cooke MS ., " and the same title is preserved in the heading fco my Commentary , and in both cases the words " Add . MS . 23 , 198 , " are added in italics , that being the only name by which ifc would he recognised at the British Museum should any reader wish to view it .

Perhaps Bro . Norton was not aware of this little fact . It is a pity , because otherwise he would hardly have written his absurd diatribe . In my Commentary I usually speak of the MS . by its well known name , bufc I occasionally do use the official nnmber in order fco avoid tautology . Yours fraternally , G . W . SPETH .

Freemasonry is a growing power in Australia . Many of tbe leading men , Governors like Lord Carrington , and Judges like Chief-Justtoe Way , of South Australia , are prominent Masons ; bufc I have jnsfc heard of two neophytes of the Craft who will certaiuly be welcomed , bnfc whose reason for being initiated into the mysteries of Free ' masonry is not a common one . Those are Dr . Keunion , Bishop ot Adelaide , and Captain Anstrnther Thompson , aide-de-camp to the Earl of Kintore .

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