Public Installations.

PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS .

FOR some time past our American contemporaries have devoted considerable attention to the subject of Public Installations , bnfc so far as our memory serves us the question has not been noticed on this side of the Atlantic , nor should we have deemed it desirable to refer

to it now had it not been stated , in the columns of some of the American papers , on the authority of a brother of some standing , that public installations are practised in England . We must admit we are but imperfectly acquainted with

the mode of procedure at these public installations , and it may be that our remarks are based on an erroneous view of the case , but we will take the common sense rendering of the term , and assume that a public installation is the

performance of the ceremony of installation in the presence of outsiders as well as of Masons—in the presence indeed of any one who chooses to attend , armed perhaps with a regular invitation . We should not have thought it

necessary to inform English Masons that such a course is impossible in England , that it would be in direct violation of the laws of our Grand Lodge , or that the members of any Lodge allowing such a display would be severely penalised ,

but the statement to which we refer , made on the authority of " an English Mason , " proves that there is an idea prevalent in the minds of some contrary to the generally accepted view .

Our American brethren have taunted English Masons with being fond of display , while we , on our side , have accused them of carrying on their Masonry—especially some of the higher degrees—almost entirely for the purpose

of ostentation . In one of our earliest numbers we referred to this subject , and if our opinions are now slightly modified to what they were then , it is because our American brethren—or some of them—have taken steps to

infuse a little practical Masonry into their Masonic actions . We will not quarrel with our cousins for saying that English brethren are the more addicted to public displays of Masonry , as we look upon the question as almost too

absurd for argument . We will take any of the American Masonic publications , and compare their reports of Masonic displays with the law of England , which forbids any public assemblage of Freemasons , except perhaps the

attendance of brethren at Church in some Provincial town , or the wearing of Masonic regalia at a brother ' s funeral , at tbe laying of a Foundation stone , or at a Masonic Festival . In all these cases no part of the Lodge work

must be conducted outside the limits of a tyled Lodo-e , much less performed in public , and we must certainly express our surprise that any English Mason could have

stated otherwise . We most flatly contradict his statement , and challenge him to produce evidence in support or confirmation of it .

We are at a loss to understand on what basis public installations could be tolerated , unless it be , as the Keystone puts it , as " f hows for vanity ' s sake , " but there are few brethren in this country who would care to

recommend it on such grounds , much less attempt to practise it , even if it were not specially prohibited by the Constitutions of the Order . What would become of onr

secrecy if one of the most important ceremonies of the year were performed in public ? Would it be possible to prevent non Masons who attended such gatherings from learning many of the secrets of Freemasonry , or could we ,

Public Installations.

in face of such innovation , keep those who desired it from forcing their way into meetings other than those of installation . We think not , but our American friends may reply we are wrong , and bring for their proof the action

of their own brethren , many of whom believe in these public installations , and , as far as we know , practise them . It may be that the " English Mason " who assures onr contemporary that public installations are practised in this

country simply refers to the semi-public—and we must impress on onr readers that they are only semi-public—entertainments which follow our installations ; but if he does ho has a very clumsy method of expressing himself , as a

consideration of the case will prove . If we are to continue the system of following our meetings by banquets , it will always be necessary to have a number of outsiders present in the same room as tho members of the Lodge , during the

actual serving of the repast , for it would hardly be possible —and certainly not politic—to compel every caterer to initiate the whole of his staff simply for the purpose of attending on brethren at Masonic dinners . But what do

these non-Masons learn of Freemasonry dnring their short sojourn in our midst ? They may perhaps discover that the Master , and the Senior and Junior Wardens are fixtures at various points of the compass , they may learn the

title by which brethren address the Officers of the Lodo-e and their fellow members , bnt any knowledge of actual use to them they will be unable to acquire during the progress of a Masonic banquet , and immediately tho banquet is over

the Tyler assumes command of the door , and rigorously excludes all but regularly initiated Masons . The Tvler is as cautious during the time the toasts are given to exclude outsiders as he is during the performance of work in the

Lodge , and the brethren are as careful to keep themselves from prying eyes then as during any other part of their proceedings . The toasts are not infrequently followed by a song , and although uninitiated vocalists are sometimes

engaged , the same care to abstain from Masonry in their presence is practised as at the banquet , and nothing that would warrant the appellation " public installation " transpires in their presence . Besides all this , we fail ( o associate

the " Masonic toast" with actual Freemasonry , any more than we do the Masonic banquet . Both aro associated with Masonic gatherings , but really form no part of ancient Freemasonry , the practice of the ceremonies of which is

only permissible within the limits of a properly tyled Lodge . We shall be pleased to hear from onr " English Mason , Bro . Geo . S . White , " as to when and where an English installation was performed in public , but we doubt if he can enlighten ns ?

Grave Error.

GRAVE ERROR .

MASONS who read the current Masonic news , and who care about and observe what is transpiring , must be aware that an agitation which was begun several years ago , having for its object a revolution of existing

Masonic relations by the ultimate overthrow of all the socalled "higher degrees , " has ever since been carefully nursed with cumulative force by talented Masons in the various Grand Jurisdictions of this conntry .

It was vastly accelerated , if not actually caused , by what is known as the Massachusetts departure , by which the Grand Lodge of that commonwealth , at her Quarterly