Obituary.

Obituary .

THE LATE BRO . JOHN WEEDON , P . M . 382 .

This brother carried on the business of a house painter for many years in Uxbridge . He was initiated on the 1 st April 1831 , in the Royal Union Lodge , was W . M . of the Lodge in 1836 , and during his year of office he initiated , passed , and raised his father , rather an uncommon

experience in Freemasonry . Bro . Weedon again filled the chair for two years , in 1840 and 1841 , and for many years after this he undertook the duties of Secretary . Some years back he had misfortune to fracture one of his legs , and soon afterwards had a fall and broke the cap of the

other ; these accidents rendered him totally unfit for business , and for the last ten years he has been annuitant on the Royal Masonic Benevolent Fund . He passed quietly away early on the 1 st August . We understand the expenses of the funeral will be defrayed by the Lodge of ¦ which he was for over 50 years a member .

Death.

DEATH .

MASSEY—On tho 5 th instant , at 29 Lowden Road , Heme Hill , EDWABD , tho dearly loved youngest child of HBKBT and SABAH M ASSEY , aged fourteen months .

Fashions In Masonry.

FASHIONS IN MASONRY .

FROM THE KEYSTONE .

THEEE should be no fashions in Masonry , but that there are , few experienced Masons will deny . Shakespeare justly called fashion a deformed thief , that giddily tnrns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five-and-thirty ' . It is a tyrant , and the parent of folly ; it favours the science of appearances . All the new fashions are old , and yet , while every generation laughs at the old fashions , it

religiously adopts tbe new . We clothe even our minds as we do our bodies , after the latest educational style . An old clergyman , who had an old tailor for his beadle , once said to him pensively , " Thomas , I cannot tell why it is that our church should be getting thinner and thinner , for I am sure I preach as well as ever I did , and have far more experience than I had at first . " " Indeed , " replied the worldly .

wise Thomas , " old ministers now-a-days are just like old tailors , for I am sure that I sew as well as I ever did , and the cloth is tho same ; bnt it's the cut , sir , the new cut . " That's it , tbe world over—it is the new cut that many people want . Shall we have a new cut in Masonry ? Shall we admit that the ancient and honourable Fraternity of which we are members has a

" glass of fashion ? " Shall we allow Masonic man-milliners and dressmakers to set np their shops among us ? Shall we offer a premium for ntnal-mongers , or , frown them down when they presume to arise and proclaim , " presto , change P" We think there is but one answer to all these interrogations—legitimately there are NO fashions in Masonry . If we find traces of them in the past , they were frauds

upon the Craft , it may have been legalised frauds , bnt frauds , never , theless . What is the theory of Masonry ? It is a system of morality ? Do morals change ? Is it wrong to steal , to commit adultery , to kill today , and right to-morrow ? But , it may be said , you may change the allegories that veil the truth of F . eemasonry , and the symbology

that illustrates it . May you , can you change these without imperiling the truth of Masonry itself ? We trow not . We speak , familiarly , of the Lodge below and the Lodge above , the earthly Lodge and the heavenly Lodge , intimating thereby , that he who practises out of the Lodge the sublime principles of religion and morality he is taught within it , will , when he passes through the

gate of death and knocks at the portal of heaven , be received and welcomed to a place therein by the Great Architect of the Universe . But the First Great Light in Masonry expressly says , that " the fashion of this world passeth away , " and we are inclined to think that those who are fashionables in Masonry will pass away with it . If we would preserve the kernel of truth , we must preserve the shell that

originally covered it , for to change it is to imperil everything . Our distinguished Brother , Sir Christopher Wren , the greatest architect of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries , once said of his art , " Building ought to have the attribute of the eternal , and be incapable of new fashions . " So ought Freemasonry . It is the art of building . It was originated by operative builders ; it is now

perpetnated by speculative builders . We raise edifices , spiritual edifices ; we build arches , royal arches . We should be ABLE masterbuilders , wise Master Masons . In its essence Freemasonry antagonises the spirit of the age aud the world ; it says , Eaise your voico to God , extend your hand to your Brother . All things else radically change , Freemasonry should stand fast , immovable from its Ancient Landmarks .

But what are some of the facta that stare ns in the face . Somo brethren—the few , not the many , those who are ambitious to remodel the Craft , and leave upon it the impress of their own little individuality , seek to change the nsages and customs of Freemasonry . They aim to "improve" its work ; sometimes they even do this under the pretence of " restoring" it . We know the opinion of " restorers " that prevails amongst sages in tho world of art—they are generall y regarded as peddlers in disguise , who seek to vend their own wares

Fashions In Masonry.

under fraudulent names . Out upon them ! Let ns have no change , for every change must be for the worse . Freemasonry is not a kaleidoscope , it is not a play-house . Let all things else change , but Freemasonry never . Let us state an example of an ephemeral fashion or novelt y in Freemasonry . Not only anciently , but modernly , it has been tha

custom of the Craft , from the very nature of that Craft , to perform its work in secret . This work includes the opening and closing of the Lodge , the election and installation of its Officers , and the initiation , passing and raising of candidates . All of this work , according to the genius , the law and custom of the Craft , mast he in secret , with no profane present . And yet , in our day there are those who boldly

assert , and among them Past Grand Masters , that Lodges may lustal their Officers in public , may make a show of a purely Masonio Lodgo ceremonial . Mark you , this is not a ceremonial that from the circumstances of the case must be performed in public . It is not a funeral , nor a corner-stone laying , that must take place ontside of the Lodge , bat it is a pure Lodge ceremony , including an official

covenant . With it the public have nothing to do , and whoever makes a "Jumbo" of it , belittles tbe Craft and himself . The whole of it cannot , dare not , be performed in public . The installation ceremony most be emasculated before it can be so profaned . We have a " Manual" before us that favours public installation—Morris ' s edition of " Webb ' s Freemason ' s Monitor , " and what does it say ?

" Installation is performed in an open Lodge , opened in either degree , or AFTER A SLIGHT PREPARATION , it may be done in public" It ia then Btated to consist of five particulars , and it ia added , " All these , EXCEPT THE THIRD SI ' ECIFICATION , may be porformed in public . " We assert , without fear of successful contradiction , that whoever mutilates the Lodge ceremonies of the Craft , or dismembers its offices so that they may be performed in publio , is a fashionable Freemason ,

that every lover of genuine Freemasonry should pity and avoid . And yet we hear one Brother , and another Brother , asserting , "I originated public installations . " Freemasonry cannot now be originated , and could not have been originated at any period in this nineteenth century . It is not a science of to-day , or yesterday . It has no fashions , nor fashion-mongers , and if there be any claiming the designation , let them quickly say :

" 0 you mortal engines , whoBe rude throats The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit , Farewell ! Othello ' s occupation's gone !"

A Mason ' s wife , half in fun , half m earnest , writes as follows to Past Grand Master Simons , of the N . Y . Dispatch : — " I see at the head of your Masonic column , after your name , tho letters P . G . M . If this means Past Graud Master , I sincerely pity yonr wife , if yon have one . Pray , sir , when yon were Grand Master ,

did you ever go to bed ? Where you ever at home r When the year had passed , I hoped I would be released and relieved , but my husband explained that it was customary in his Lodge , if a Master had faith , fully served for a year , and had done his duty , to compliment him with a re-election . So he was re-eleoted ; then he became a High Priest , an Eminent Commander , an Illustrious

Somebody of the Council . And so year after year this kept on , and the funerals he had to attend to ; I thought the Masons were dreadfully fast dying , and it takes so long to bury them . I have known my husband to come home late at night , returning from a brother's funeral , and with all the widows that had to be seen and looked after , he had no time to look after his own wife and family . Now , my husband is Past Master , Past High Priest , past

everything , past all hope . Bnt the measure of my trouble was not full until now . He had gone and joined the Veterans . This is tha worst of them all . In Lodge , Chapter , and Commandery I did some , times have some fun . They had balls , parties , excursions , and other social gatherings ; but-these horrid old Veterans have banquets and good times , bnt ' No Ladies Need Apply . ' The old fellows keep all the good things to themselves . I have now become resigned to my lot as "A MASON ' S WIFE . "

The Theatres, &C.

THE THEATRES , & c .

COVENT GABDEN .-PROMENADE CONCERTS . DBUBY LANE ,-At 7 . 15 , FOGGED . At 8 , PLUCK . ADELPHX—At 7 . 15 , FAMILIES SUPPLIED . At 7 . 45 , DRINK . PBINCESS'S . —At 7 . 30 , A PHOTOGRAPHIC FRIGHT . At 8 , THE ROMANY RYE . VAUDEVILLE . —At 8 , MONEY .

OLYMPIC—At 8 , FUN ON THE BRISTOL . CEITEKION " . —At 8 , CUPID IN CAMP . At 8 .-15 , LITTLE MISS MUFFET . LYCEUM . —At 7 . 45 , ROMEO AND JULIET . SAVOY .-At 8 , MOCK TURTLES . At 8 . 30 , PATIENCE . This day ( Saturday ) , at 2 . 3 D , also . AVENUE . —At 7 . 30 , SIMPSON AND DELILAH . At 8 . 15 , MANTEAUX NOIRS .

GAIETY—At 7 .-10 , HIS ONLY COAT . At 8 . 15 , ALADDIN . GLOBE .-At 8 , CRAZED . At 9 , THE VICAR OF BRAY . TOOLE'S—At 8 , DIANE . ALHAMBHA . —At 7 .-15 , BABIL AND BIJOU . SUBBEY . —At 7 . 30 , INJURED INNOCENCE . At 8 . 15 . REAL LIFE .

STANDABD—At 7 . 30 , UNCLE TOM'S CABIN . MOHAWK MINSTBELS , Agricultural Hall .-Every evening , ntS . CBYSTAL PALACE .-This . lay , CONCERT . Play , LOST IN LONDON ; BICYOLE RACES . PANORAMA . FRUIT AND DAHLIA SHOW . Dr . LYNN , tho ELECTRIFYING CONJUROR . Open Daily , Aqnarium , Pic ! ture Gallery , & c .