Mark Masonry.

Motley presided at a banquet subsequently partaken of in celebration of the proceedings , which had lasted four hours .

TEMPLE LODGE , No . 50

r piIE annual meeting was held at the Freemasons Hall , Plymouth , J- when the W . M . elect ( Bro . Kin ton Bond S . W . ) was installed . Bio . Lord 50 P . G . J . W . was the Installing Officer , and the Board of Installed Masters included Bros . Captain Strode Lowe D . P . G . M ., the Hon . H . V . Dnnoombe W . M . 438 P . G . S . W . of Devon aud G . S . O . of England , the Rev . Dr . Lemon P . P . G . S . W . P . G . Chaplain of England ,

Gover P . P . G . J . W ., Westlake P . P . G . J . W ., Spinney P . P . G . D ., Due Pre P . P . G . S . B ., Toot , Rendle P . P . G . O ., Allsford P . P . G . M . O ., Westcott P . G . J . D ., Gurney P . P . G . S . B ., Coath P . P . G . Standard Bear « r , and Dillon P . P . G . Assistant Secretary . The Officers invested were Bros . Spinney I . P . M ., Thomas S . W ., Goad J . W ., Daniel M . O ., Hambly

S . O ., Collimjs J . O ., Pengelly Treasurer , Dillon Secretary , Burton S . D ., Eyre J . D ., Jacobs Dir . of Cers ., Menhenniok Assist . Dir . of Core ., Manning Org ., Brooks I . G ., and Phillips Tyler . The attendance was the largest ever seen at any Mark Masons' gathering in the

Masonio Hall , and many brethren came from a distance to show their fraternal regard for tha newly-installed W . M ., who is prominently connected with almost every branch of Freemasonry in the Province , and is a generous supporter of all its Institutions .

ASHLAR LODGE , No . 185 . THE installation of the Master took place on Thursday , the 27 th ult . The installation ceremony was performed by Bro . S . G . Homfray , assisted by Bro . H . Bradley . The following are the Officers for the ensuing year : —Brothers J . Johnson W . M ., G . Golding I . P . M ., F . C . Williams S . W ., D . W . Havard J . W ., J . Burnett M . O ., H . Harris S . O ., W . Charles Secretary , Edward Barnard Tyler .

Devon Masonic Educational Fund.

DEVON MASONIC EDUCATIONAL FUND .

A MEETING in connection with the Devon Masonio Educational Fund was beld on Saturday afternoon , tho 29 th nit ., at tho Freemasons' Hall , Plymouth , the special business boing tbe election of three candidates on the Fnnd . There was a large attendance of subscribers , and considerable interest was taken in the proceedings . Bro . W . Powell presided , and amongst others present were Bros , the Eev . Dr . Lemon , J . B . Gover Secretary of the Fund , J . B . Lord

Treasurer of the Fund , W . H . Dillon Assistant Secretary , R . G . Bird , S . Jew , J . W . Cornish , W . Trevena , R . Hambly , James Griffin , G . Whittley , E . H . Littleton , J . Gidley , E . A . Davies , W . L . Cocks , R . Blight , T . S . Eyre , C . Mutten , T . W . Atherton , J . Hammond , W . H . Williams , H . J . Barter , S . J . Hearle , N . Radmore , J . Griffin ,

C . Watfon , W . L . Lavers , A . Goodman , VV . H . Marey , W . Allsford , J . Leonard , W . T . Hocking , F . Prout , F . Mabin , J . Koskelly , and E . H . Osmond . Ifc wai unanimously resolved , on the motion of Bro . R . G . Bird , seconded by Bro . C . Mutten , tbat £ o be voted to the further advancement in lifo of a child who was now going off the Fnnd . For the throe vacancies now to be filled there were six

candidates , all of whom were applicants at the last election , but wore unsuccessful . Over two thousand votes had been issned for this election , and very fow of these were unpolled . The first three candidates named on the list obtained election precisely in the order in which their names stood , all of them obtaining very large majorities over the others . The child of a late brother of Dundas

Lodge , with 546 votes brought forward from the last election , headed tho list with a total of 823 votes . The child of a brother of Lodgo Prudence , who is afflicted with total blindness , and has a wife and three young children dependent upon him , came next on the list with 787 votes , including 189 brought forward from the last election . The third successful candidate , who obtained 761 votes ( 50 brought

forward from last time ) , is the son of a late brother of Sun Lodge , Exmouth . Of the unsuccessful candidates one obtained 316 votes , another 262 , and the third 28 . Before the meeting separated , notices of motion were given by Bros . Mutten and Barter having for their object an improvement in the present mode of election . These proposals will be considered at the annual meeting in April next .

The Unobtrusiveness Of Freemasonry.

THE UNOBTRUSIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY .

C 1 ARLYLE has said , " Bees will not work except in / darkness . " Thought Avill not work except in silence . Virtue will not work except in secrecy . This is a literal description of a most distinctive trait in Freemasonry .

Man , who is compelled by social necessities to battle with the rougher forms of every day life , finds the virtue of brotherly love flourishes best in the mystic circle into which none but the worthy are or should be admitted .

Occupied day after"day in the conflicting interests of business , or constantly engaged in the fierce competitions which his business engenders , the mind yearns for quiet , and longs for peace ; the man feels the need of relaxation , and therefore seeks in the Lodge a retirement from this

The Unobtrusiveness Of Freemasonry.

daily turmoil , where his better nature may grow and expand . Thus science and secrecy are tho essential features of Freemasonry , devoted to tho cultivation of fraternal feelings , and the contemplation of the great facts of nature .

upon which they seek to rear a system of universal truth . Growing out of this tendency to retirement from the contest and controversies of business life , Masonry has ever illustrated iu tlie lives of its votaries another tendency , that is , unobtrusiveness . Freemasons are not indifferent to

their professions ; there are well defined doctrines regarding the principles of morality , to which the conduct of ita followers must rigidly adhere , and to which intelligent

Masons everywhere are well prepared with reason and arguments ; but the protrusion of its doctrines into public notice is at variance with that disposition with which its teachings endow its disciples .

In this respect Freemasonry affords an admirable con . trast to that obtrusive tendency and controversial spirit which has in all ages animated nearly every religious sect which the world has seen . There has not been , through all time , a more fruitful source of discord among men , in

families or nations , than the obtrusiveness to which the spirit of sect has given rise . Freemasonry never offended any man by forcing itself upon his attention . A charge g iven to the candidate on his first entrance is , " That he must not suffer his zeal for the Institution to . lead him into

any arguments with those who through ignorance might ridicule it . " Freemasonry instead of repelling attracts by its unobtrusiveness . The celebrated English philosopher , John Locke , was so impressed with the teachings of Freemasonry , that in his celebrated letter " On Toleration , "

he evidently alluded to it , and in his Essay on the Reasonableness of Christianity , " the object of which was to determine what points of belief were common to all the Christian sects , in order to facilitate a plan for reconciliation and union of them all . Such an effort a Mason mighfc

well make in behalf of a cause which , in these latter days , has seemed to enter the thoughts of the Churches , but has not as yet been found practicable , owing to their being deficient in fche spirit of fraternity , which is a prominent characteristic in Freemasonry . Freemasonry

has no tendency to weaken attachment to any religious faith . Adhesion to Masonry is consistent with the most earnest , pilrioiism , and the most zealous devotion to religion . The crescent may confront the cross in the Lodge , because Fivemasonry strikes a chord in the human

breisfc deeper than the love of nationality or attachment to doctrines : ifc discovers in the sentiment and principle of brotherhood a fundamental something underlying nationality and arbitrary faiths—a platform on which all may stand . In this respect the cause of religious freedom owes mnch to Freemasonry .

The debt mankind owe to this Institution for the mental disfranchisement which characterises tho

present ago , is infinitely greater than professional reformers are disposed to acknowledge . The spirit of toleration which inspires its disciples , admirably qualifies the mind for an unrestrained and disinterested search after truth . Penetrating beneath the foundation of

creeds , and discovering under fchem all a substratum of truth common to the whole , the Freemason learns to seek it everywhere , and there is thus developed in him a spirit of eclecticism , than which nothing is so well

calculated to secure his progress in knowledge . The whole world of facts is open to him as a book , which he is free to read . And who so well prepared rightly and fully to construe the sentences of truth with which he meets as the man who has learned to love and'seek truth for its own

sake , and who has been taught to place it higher in his estimation than the ' iteresfcof sects or sections ? Thus , without obtruding his views on others , he very quickly pursues his course , aud leaves others to dispute aud

wrangle about sects and creeds , satisfied that if he lives up to thc command of " Doing unto others as ho would wish fchey should do to him , " that no more is required . —Masonic Review

The annual installation in connection with the St . Eleth Lodge , No . 1488 , took place on the 2 nd inst ., Bro . T . Williams being installed W . M . The Installing Officer was Bro . J . Smfch P . P . G . Chaplain North Wales . Tbe banquet was served afc ( ho Dinorbeu Hotel .