Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.
Lodges , the senior being- the British , No . 334 , of the year 1811 , and meeting in Capo Town . The Eastern Division has twenty-ono Lodges , tho Albany , 389 , of Grahamstown founded in 1828 . being the first on the Roll . Griqnaland . of which R . W . Bro . Giddy is the District Grand Master ,
has five Lodges , and there are scattered about in other parts no less than eighteen other Lodges , the majority of them being in Natal , i ^ Ve ono meets in St . Helena , ono at Cape Coast Castle , anoWe at Lagos . These latter , of course , should properly be described as on tho West Coast , but
they are grouped in the Calendar with the Natal and Transvaal Lodges , and we have not thought it necessary to take them out of the category in which they are placed . In the West Indies and Central America there are some thirty Lodges , of which eleven are comprised in the
District of Jamaica , ono being of this year's creation . The first on the roll , the Royal , No . 207 , of Kingston , was an " Ancient" Lodge of the year 1794 , and so , too , was the next , namely , the Friendly , No . 239 , also of Kingston , founded in 1809 . There is also the Friendly Lodge ,
No . 383 , of Montego Bay , which , however , is not included in the District Grand Lodge . The District of the Bahamas has only two Lodges , while the remainder are scattered abont in the various islands , Antigua having two , Barbadoes one—the Albion . No . 196 , an " Ancient" Lodge
of the year 1790 ; Bermuda three—the Atlantic Phoenix , No . 224 , " Ancient , " of 1797 , the Prince Alfred , No . 233 , "Ancient , " of 1801 , and Loyalty , No . 358 , of 1819 ; Curacoa one Lodge , Dominica one , Grand Turk one ,
St . Thomas one—the Harmonic , No . 356 , of the year 1818 ; and Trinidad five , the senior being the Royal Philanthropic , No . 405 , warranted in 1831 , and therefore just sixty years old .
In North America there are twelve Lodges . Four of these—namely , three at Montreal , and one at St . John ' sconstitute the District Grand Lodge of Montreal , the oldest being St . Paul ' s , No 374 , of Montreal , founded in 1824 . Five Lodges make up the District Grand Lodge of
Newfoundland , namely , one at Burin Bay , one at Fortune Bay , one at Grand Bank , and two afc St . John ' s . There are also two in Cape Breton , and one in Nova Scotia—fche Royal Standard , No . 398 , of the year 1829 , and meeting at Halifax . In South America are eleven English Lodges ,
four of which make up the District Grand Lodge of fche Argentine Republic , while the remaining seven are scattered about , George Town , Demerara , boasting
twothe Union , No . 247 , " Ancient , " of fche year 1813 , and the Mount Olive Lodge , No . 385 , of the year 1827 ; Monte Video one Lodge , New Amsterdam , Berbice one , Pernambuco one , Santa Maria one , and Valparaiso one .
The rest of our Colonial Lodges are located in Australia , which has some 166 Lodges , aud New Zealand , which has sixty-nine , while one has been quite recently warranted for Fiji . It will be readily understood thafc none of these are of very ancient date , the oldest—the Australia , No . 390 ,
of Sydney , having been warranted , only as far back as the year 1828 . Of the Australian Lodges , there are forty-two in the District of New South Wales : Sydney , the capital of the Colony , having ten out of that number . Queensland has twenty Lodges , t'iree of which meet in Brisbane , tbe
capital . South Australia has eighteen Lodges , Adelaide the capital possessing four . Victoria , however , has no less than seventy-two Lodges on its roll , of which ten meet in fche City ol Melbourne . These four groups constitute as many District Grand Lodges , and there are besides five Lodges
in Western Australia , which as yet have not been organised into a District Grand Lodge , and seven which form the District Grand Lodge of Tasmania , Hobarfc Town and Launceston having each two , and Hamilfcon-on-Forth , New Norfolk , and Sorrell one . Of the New Zealand Lodges
there are fifty-one located in the South Island and twentyeight in the North . Of the former , twenty-one constitute the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury , eleven that of Otago ancl Southland , six that of Westland , and there are three others whicb meet at Blenheim , Nelson , and Wakefield
respectively . The twenty-eig ht m the North Island are arranged in two Districts , that of Auckland having thirteen Lodges and that of Wellington the remaining fifteen . The Grand Lodge of England may well be proud of its array of Antipodean Lodges .
Our sketch of English Freemasonry abroad is now complete , and if we were desirous of showing the full extent of the popularity attained by the Craffc in the Colonies and elsewhere , it would only be necessary that we should enumerate the Lodges affiliated to fche Grand Lodges of
Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.
Ireland and Scotland respectively . Those together would furnish close upm 240 more , scattered , like our own throughout India , China , Japan , South and Central America , and the West Indies , as well as in Australia and New Zealand . Thus , if we take the three jurisdictions together
we find there aro considerably over 700 Lodges which owe , and willingly pay , allegiance to the three oldest Grand Lodges in the World , tho three , indeed , from which it may bo asserted without fear of contradiction that all the other Grand Lodges now existing have originally sprung .
The Antiquity And Universality Of Masonry.
THE ANTIQUITY AND UNIVERSALITY OF MASONRY .
\ I / E recently had the good fortune to discover , in the VV pages of an old magazine , the following essay on the " Antiquity and Universality of Masonry . " As it contains certain opinions to which we have more than once given utterance as explaining the true character of that
antiquity on which we so justly pride ourselves , we have nofc hesitated to reproduce it in fall . It does nofc strike us as containing anything very novel , but , though we may have done so , ifc does nofc occur to us that we have ever
come across ifc in the course of our Masonic reading , though there are many essays iu which the writers have adopted a similar line of argument . However , whether new or old , it cannot fail to prove interesting to our readers , especially at a time when there ia so little Masonic news stirring .
" It is an opinion prevalent amongst almost the whole of mankind that the greatest honours are due to antiquity . He who can trace back his line of ancestry to the most remote ages is considered superior to him whose origin lies buried with the bones of his forefathers in oblivion .
Nations as well as individuals have been equally anxious to deduce their origin from the earliest ages . Hence , the Chinese pride themselves upon their empire having existed thousands of years ; hence Ireland boasts her Milesians ; ancl hence other countries , not content with their present
opulence or grandeur alone , claim greater glory from fche distant years of their first founders . If such a pride is , therefore , so universal as to appear almost ; a principle inherent in human nature , it is not to be wondered at thafc the wisest and best constituted societies are nofc devoid
of ifc . Thus the Mason glories in tracing the origin of the Masonic Institution from the commencement of the world , in pointing out , amidst the religious forms and mystic rites , the true source from whence the present ceremonies
of his art arise . Ifc is well known thafc science first arose in the East , and in Egypt was carried fco the highest degree of perfection . To the Colleges of Thebes and Memphis all those who wished to be instructed in deep learning resorted , where
the priests , with whom alone the treasure was deposited , communicated to such as were found worthy , those intricacies of learning which they concealed from the generality of mankind ; lest , by becoming too common , they should be turned to a bad use : this society was evidently of
a Masonic nature , though under a different appellation . The priests employed a peculiar kind of writing , and their temples were ornamented wifcn various mysterious symbols , which , to the initiated , were full of instruction , but totally inexplicable to the profane , as in the Freemasons' Lodges of the present day .
From Egypt these customs passed into Greece , where schools of learning were established , under various sages , who , although they openly professed a particular system , yet reserved for the instruction of their favourite disciples alone certain principles of knowledge , which they
concealed from the rest . In all the Eastern nations the candidates for admission into the sacred mysteries were proved by repeated trials ; their prudence , fortitude , courage , judgment , were all put severely to the test , and one failure for ever condemned them to remain amongst the
common herd of mankind . Twenty-one years elapsed before they could attain to the knowledge of the hig her mysteries . During the first seven , they were commanded to listen , but not to speak ; during the next seven they were permitted to inquire with prudence and diffidence ; ancl during the last were gradually initiated , till , being
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.
Lodges , the senior being- the British , No . 334 , of the year 1811 , and meeting in Capo Town . The Eastern Division has twenty-ono Lodges , tho Albany , 389 , of Grahamstown founded in 1828 . being the first on the Roll . Griqnaland . of which R . W . Bro . Giddy is the District Grand Master ,
has five Lodges , and there are scattered about in other parts no less than eighteen other Lodges , the majority of them being in Natal , i ^ Ve ono meets in St . Helena , ono at Cape Coast Castle , anoWe at Lagos . These latter , of course , should properly be described as on tho West Coast , but
they are grouped in the Calendar with the Natal and Transvaal Lodges , and we have not thought it necessary to take them out of the category in which they are placed . In the West Indies and Central America there are some thirty Lodges , of which eleven are comprised in the
District of Jamaica , ono being of this year's creation . The first on the roll , the Royal , No . 207 , of Kingston , was an " Ancient" Lodge of the year 1794 , and so , too , was the next , namely , the Friendly , No . 239 , also of Kingston , founded in 1809 . There is also the Friendly Lodge ,
No . 383 , of Montego Bay , which , however , is not included in the District Grand Lodge . The District of the Bahamas has only two Lodges , while the remainder are scattered abont in the various islands , Antigua having two , Barbadoes one—the Albion . No . 196 , an " Ancient" Lodge
of the year 1790 ; Bermuda three—the Atlantic Phoenix , No . 224 , " Ancient , " of 1797 , the Prince Alfred , No . 233 , "Ancient , " of 1801 , and Loyalty , No . 358 , of 1819 ; Curacoa one Lodge , Dominica one , Grand Turk one ,
St . Thomas one—the Harmonic , No . 356 , of the year 1818 ; and Trinidad five , the senior being the Royal Philanthropic , No . 405 , warranted in 1831 , and therefore just sixty years old .
In North America there are twelve Lodges . Four of these—namely , three at Montreal , and one at St . John ' sconstitute the District Grand Lodge of Montreal , the oldest being St . Paul ' s , No 374 , of Montreal , founded in 1824 . Five Lodges make up the District Grand Lodge of
Newfoundland , namely , one at Burin Bay , one at Fortune Bay , one at Grand Bank , and two afc St . John ' s . There are also two in Cape Breton , and one in Nova Scotia—fche Royal Standard , No . 398 , of the year 1829 , and meeting at Halifax . In South America are eleven English Lodges ,
four of which make up the District Grand Lodge of fche Argentine Republic , while the remaining seven are scattered about , George Town , Demerara , boasting
twothe Union , No . 247 , " Ancient , " of fche year 1813 , and the Mount Olive Lodge , No . 385 , of the year 1827 ; Monte Video one Lodge , New Amsterdam , Berbice one , Pernambuco one , Santa Maria one , and Valparaiso one .
The rest of our Colonial Lodges are located in Australia , which has some 166 Lodges , aud New Zealand , which has sixty-nine , while one has been quite recently warranted for Fiji . It will be readily understood thafc none of these are of very ancient date , the oldest—the Australia , No . 390 ,
of Sydney , having been warranted , only as far back as the year 1828 . Of the Australian Lodges , there are forty-two in the District of New South Wales : Sydney , the capital of the Colony , having ten out of that number . Queensland has twenty Lodges , t'iree of which meet in Brisbane , tbe
capital . South Australia has eighteen Lodges , Adelaide the capital possessing four . Victoria , however , has no less than seventy-two Lodges on its roll , of which ten meet in fche City ol Melbourne . These four groups constitute as many District Grand Lodges , and there are besides five Lodges
in Western Australia , which as yet have not been organised into a District Grand Lodge , and seven which form the District Grand Lodge of Tasmania , Hobarfc Town and Launceston having each two , and Hamilfcon-on-Forth , New Norfolk , and Sorrell one . Of the New Zealand Lodges
there are fifty-one located in the South Island and twentyeight in the North . Of the former , twenty-one constitute the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury , eleven that of Otago ancl Southland , six that of Westland , and there are three others whicb meet at Blenheim , Nelson , and Wakefield
respectively . The twenty-eig ht m the North Island are arranged in two Districts , that of Auckland having thirteen Lodges and that of Wellington the remaining fifteen . The Grand Lodge of England may well be proud of its array of Antipodean Lodges .
Our sketch of English Freemasonry abroad is now complete , and if we were desirous of showing the full extent of the popularity attained by the Craffc in the Colonies and elsewhere , it would only be necessary that we should enumerate the Lodges affiliated to fche Grand Lodges of
Freemasonry In The British Colonies And Possessions, And Other Countries Abroad.
Ireland and Scotland respectively . Those together would furnish close upm 240 more , scattered , like our own throughout India , China , Japan , South and Central America , and the West Indies , as well as in Australia and New Zealand . Thus , if we take the three jurisdictions together
we find there aro considerably over 700 Lodges which owe , and willingly pay , allegiance to the three oldest Grand Lodges in the World , tho three , indeed , from which it may bo asserted without fear of contradiction that all the other Grand Lodges now existing have originally sprung .
The Antiquity And Universality Of Masonry.
THE ANTIQUITY AND UNIVERSALITY OF MASONRY .
\ I / E recently had the good fortune to discover , in the VV pages of an old magazine , the following essay on the " Antiquity and Universality of Masonry . " As it contains certain opinions to which we have more than once given utterance as explaining the true character of that
antiquity on which we so justly pride ourselves , we have nofc hesitated to reproduce it in fall . It does nofc strike us as containing anything very novel , but , though we may have done so , ifc does nofc occur to us that we have ever
come across ifc in the course of our Masonic reading , though there are many essays iu which the writers have adopted a similar line of argument . However , whether new or old , it cannot fail to prove interesting to our readers , especially at a time when there ia so little Masonic news stirring .
" It is an opinion prevalent amongst almost the whole of mankind that the greatest honours are due to antiquity . He who can trace back his line of ancestry to the most remote ages is considered superior to him whose origin lies buried with the bones of his forefathers in oblivion .
Nations as well as individuals have been equally anxious to deduce their origin from the earliest ages . Hence , the Chinese pride themselves upon their empire having existed thousands of years ; hence Ireland boasts her Milesians ; ancl hence other countries , not content with their present
opulence or grandeur alone , claim greater glory from fche distant years of their first founders . If such a pride is , therefore , so universal as to appear almost ; a principle inherent in human nature , it is not to be wondered at thafc the wisest and best constituted societies are nofc devoid
of ifc . Thus the Mason glories in tracing the origin of the Masonic Institution from the commencement of the world , in pointing out , amidst the religious forms and mystic rites , the true source from whence the present ceremonies
of his art arise . Ifc is well known thafc science first arose in the East , and in Egypt was carried fco the highest degree of perfection . To the Colleges of Thebes and Memphis all those who wished to be instructed in deep learning resorted , where
the priests , with whom alone the treasure was deposited , communicated to such as were found worthy , those intricacies of learning which they concealed from the generality of mankind ; lest , by becoming too common , they should be turned to a bad use : this society was evidently of
a Masonic nature , though under a different appellation . The priests employed a peculiar kind of writing , and their temples were ornamented wifcn various mysterious symbols , which , to the initiated , were full of instruction , but totally inexplicable to the profane , as in the Freemasons' Lodges of the present day .
From Egypt these customs passed into Greece , where schools of learning were established , under various sages , who , although they openly professed a particular system , yet reserved for the instruction of their favourite disciples alone certain principles of knowledge , which they
concealed from the rest . In all the Eastern nations the candidates for admission into the sacred mysteries were proved by repeated trials ; their prudence , fortitude , courage , judgment , were all put severely to the test , and one failure for ever condemned them to remain amongst the
common herd of mankind . Twenty-one years elapsed before they could attain to the knowledge of the hig her mysteries . During the first seven , they were commanded to listen , but not to speak ; during the next seven they were permitted to inquire with prudence and diffidence ; ancl during the last were gradually initiated , till , being