Grand Lodge Of Scotland.

GRAND LODGE OF SCOTLAND .

IN the course of the remarks made by the Grand Master , at the Quarterly Meeting reported in our last issue , Lord Saltoun said : Through the kindness of Grand Secretary Brother Murray Lyon a few notes had been put into his hand which were most interesting as to the progress of Grand Lodge since the Queen ' s

accession to the throne . In those notes it was re-called that at the period of the Queen ' s accession to the throne Grand Lodge had for its Grand Master Lord Eamsay , who succeeded to the Earldom of Dalhousie on the death of his father , the ninth Barl , a Past Grand Master , and the son of a Past Grand Master . Dalhousie became Governor-General of India . The address by

Grand Lodge on Her Majesty ' s accession was presented at the first levee of her reign , the deputation being introduced by the Duke of Argyle . Sixty years ago there were 230 Lodges on the roll of Grand Lodge ; in the present year there are 614 . The number of intrants recorded in Grand Lodge books in the year of Her Majesty ' s accession was 805 , the lowest point thathas been

touched in the present century . In the year just ended 5 , 343 intrants have been enrolled . The total number between 1837 and 1896 is 182 , 725 . The income of Grand Lodge in 1837 was £ 390 ; the last published audit of Grand Lodge accounts shows the income from all sources to have reached £ 6 , 600 in the year 1896 . In heritable and movable property and money Grand

Lodge is now worth £ 69 , 000 . It was under the Grand Mastership of Sir Michael E . Shaw-Stewart that , in 1877 , the business departments of Grand Lodge were reorganised , with results for good to the Craft that have surpassed all expectation . In 1837 an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish in Edinburgh an institution " for educating and advancing the

prospects in life of the daughters of indigent and deceased Freemasons . " But in 1846 the Fund of Scottish Masonic Benevolence was formed , and in 1889 the Annuity Fund came into existence . In 1837 the sum of £ 49 was dispensed in charity by Grand Lodge . In 1896 grants to the extent of . £ 697 were made by the Fund of Benevolence , and in annuites the sum of

£ 1 , 010 was expended . It was in 1889 that , under the Grand Mastership of Sir Archibald Campbell ( now Lord Blythswood ) , Grand Lodge held a bazaar in Edinburgh , which brought some £ 15 , 000 to the Annuity Fund . During the Victorian era Scottish Freemasonry has been introduced into India , Arabia , Syria , Asia Minor , Canada , Egypt , Peru , Chili , China , Japan , Ceylon ,

Queensland , Victoria , New South Wales , South Australia , "Western Australia , Tasmania , New Zealand , Fiji , Hawaiian Islands , the Transvaal , Cape of Good Hope , Natal , Orange Free State , Matabeleland , Mauritius , British Columbia , New Brunswick , Newfoundland , Central America , Gibraltar , and British Guiana . And from the Scottish-holding Lodges , and those of the Sister Constitutions of England and Ireland , have

risen the Grand Lodges of Victoria , New South Wales , Tasmania , South Australia , New Zealand , New Brunswick , Quebec , and Nova Scotia . In the year of her Majesty ' s accession , George Gilfillan was Poet Laureate of Grand Lodge . The Grand Master trusted that the prosperity shown in these figures would not be dimmed , that Her Majesty would be long spared to reign over them , and that as long as she reigned Scottish Freemasonry would continue to improve .

Antiquity Of Symbols-Origin Of Geometry.

ANTIQUITY OF SYMBOLS-ORIGIN OF GEOMETRY .

IN ancient times , when language and the art of writing were still in their infancy , symbolical representations were the sole medium of preserving and transmitting to posterity the experiences and observations of past generations . " Geometry , " says Stieglitz , " was the most ancient of all the sciences , it being an art expressive of the invisible powers of the universe . It

proved to be the means best adapted to convey to the mind the great truths of nature , to render intelligible the immaterial and spiritual , and to explain from whence the forms of all things originated . " A knowledge of the first principles of Geometry is therefore requisite , in order to understand clearly the historical development of architectural symbolism , which plavs so

important a part in the early history of Freemasonry . One of the most important and significant geometrical figures , is the right angled triangle of unequal sides . Pythagoras , initiated into the wisdom of India , based his celebrated proposition ( the 47 th problem of Euclid ) on this triangle . Philo terms it " the beginning of the creation of all things , the basis of that particular

disposition of matter in every body , which constitutes its form . By this triangle itself we learn how it was constructed . Nature and its various phases teaches us that all substances are produced from one germ or first principle ; aud this knowledge leads us to the truth , that the great whole which surrounds us is produced by and proceeds from the primitive creative power ,

Antiquity Of Symbols-Origin Of Geometry.

which is Unity . To render this evolution intelligible , we connect with it the idea of generation , a second power , apparently detached or separate from the firat , but in reality indivisible from it . Through the united powers of both creation begins . To illustrate these ideas , the Ancients made use of symbolical illustrations . Unity was represented by a horizontal line , and the second power

by a vertical line , which united gave the basis of all form , and from that union resulted the right angle . This was but one element of formation . Having recognised the principle of Unity , including within itself all powers , and again these powers as separated into two , then was envolved from Pantheism , the idea

of the Dualism of Divine power which prevails in all cosmogonies . Its fundamontal symbol was the right angle . The two pillars found at the entrance of Hindoo , Phoenician , and Egyptian temples , are symbols of this dualism . So are the two pillars of the Solomonian Temple , the very names of which betray the fact that they were genetic symbols .

Thus then , in the right angle , we behold the first geometrical figure that sensibly represents a reasonable idea , and from it others are developed . The ancients perceived that by the addition of a third line to the two above mentioned , a whole might be formed , and harmony be established ; that without this third line , the included space would possess no fixed limit , . no

distinct form . The two lines forming the right angle were then connected by a third , and we have the right angled isosceles triangle . By doubling this triangle we have the square , and at the same time the principle of opposition , the positive , as represented by the upper , and the negative by the lower triangle . By this square and the circle drawn from its centre , we are enabled to construct all the regular polygons methodically .

Here we have the origin of the elements of Geometry and at the same time the origin of symbols , the representation of immaterial ideas by visible forms , which dating from the earliest antiquity , served as rules and guides for the Masons of the Middle Ages . These geometrical figures thus visibly

representing the laws of creation , and enabling the student to trace to their foundation the laws of nature , were , adopted as symbols containing within themselves the primitive wisdom . From the knowledge of nature and of nature ' s laws , sprang the doctrine which exalted the worship of nature to religion .

From the two sides of the triangle , which thus appear as the Divine duality or two fold generating power , proceeds the hypothenuse , the generated product . This is . " the Word from the mouth of God " by which all things have been made ; the expression of the creative power , the Aum of the Hindoos , the Honover of the Persians , ELolpiah of the Phoenicians , and the

Logos of the Greeks . Here also we see the three in one , the triad or trinity of the Ancients , expressive of the nature of the Deity . It is the development of the primitive into three different powers . Unity denotes the Wisdom of the Creator from whom all things have emanated ; the second , power symbolizes his strength , through which creation began ; and the

third imparting harmony , light and life , is typical of that beauty which adorns all his creation . These three fundamental powers of creation ( Brahma ) , preservation ( Vischnu ) , and dissolution and reorganisation ( Schiva ) , are expressed by the Trimurti of the Hindoos . The Egyptian idea of the winged globe and serpents is still more ingenious , the globe signifying

the eternal primitive power , the serpents the agency of the Divinity , and the wings the labours of the spirit . The cube conveys the idea of severe and strict regularity , hence Plato denominates a man faultlessly formed , without blemish in body or soul , a cubical man . — " Masonic Sketches . "

The members of the Grenville Lodge , No . 1787 , Buckingham , recently subscribed a sum of £ 10 10 s to the funds of the Buckingham District Nursing Home . The Secretary of the Lodge Bro . C . A . Bennett has just received a letter of thanks from Mrs . the Hon . H . E . Douglas-Pennant , Secretary to the Home . Another subscription of £ 5 5 s was forwarded by the Lodge to the Bucks Infirmary , and the Secretary of . that

valuable Institution , in his letter of thanks to Bro . Bennett , expressed a hope that the Lodge would be able to make the subscription an annual one . It is to be hoped that the Friendly Societies of the neighbourhood will follow the good example set them by their Freemason Brethren , says the " Buckingham Express , " and thus try to help on the cause of two Institutions whose aim is to heal the sick and relieve the wounded .

"A Sprig Of Acacia."

"A SPRIG OF ACACIA . "

THE death is announced of Bro . John Dennis , a well-known Cheater Mason . The deceased , who was seventy-one years of age , was initiated in 1867 , filled the office of W . M . in 1874 , and was for several years afterwards Treasurer of his Lodge .