Ar00501

ODE

( Bix . % Installation of f # J . jjniwc of ( Ldlalcs AS MOST WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER , AT THE ALBBST HALL , 28 th APBIL 1875 . Br BRO . WALTER SPENCER , or LODGE 263 .

REMOTEST Past hath left its prints sublime : Its ruined Temples everywhere remain , Admonishing through change of place and time By monuments not thus bequeathed in vain ,

That all things here must suffer change—save TRUTH . Like sand by sand earth's crust is worn away , For Continent and ocean change , as youth Changes to age , as night succeeds to-day .

Review the vanished Empires of our earth Which budded , ripened—and then faded out Until , down-trodden in a wintry dearth , Their very names become tho sport of donbt ! Reckon the leaders who have toiled and wrought

To leave their marks on Hist ' ry ' s page—in vain , Whoso cherished visions have been brought to nought , Whose praises never can be sung again ! Think of tho great thoughts that have flashed to light ;

Thoughts to inspire the coming time and mind , Whose authors rest neglected , in the night Which gave a brighter dawn nnto mankind ! Even Religion—see how changed at last The Creeds that millions clung to in the Past !

Is there an Ideal in whoso spirit-youth There lives enshined an everlasting Truth ? Is there a ray beaming through Hist ' ry ' s night Which emanated from the primal Light Revealing antient symbols , that reflect The fiat of tho world's Great Architect ?

Yes ! Nature s Truths extending through the Past As through tho Present , shamo Man ' s changeful tale The antient Landmarks founded deep , to last , Those primal Truths in graven symbols veil . Our allegory claims them for its own ,

Echoing a voice which , laden with their lore Through ages gone , repeats in earnest tone Their solemn formula ) for evermore And teaches Masons , an immortal lot In " Universal Charity " to found , Whose centre may be struck at every spot

And whoso circumference no space can bound .

Those Truths , to us m allegory told , With Light in the beginning had their birth ; The banded wisdom of the wise of old Their moral treasure guarded for tho earth . And ever with the Sun , that from the East

Will tnards the West its living radiance shed , The sacred flame to glow has never ceased Which for our use departed Brethren fed

That we might tend it in our turn : the while Tlioy numbered years in stone on Canute ' s bed , Recorded Seasons on Stonohenge ' s pile , Or named tho Stars from off the Pyramid .

We work by the inexorable Laws Which the great Cosmos owns for rule of right , Nor waste our strength upon the quips and flaws Over which some dispute aud bigots fight ! We gaze up at the canopies of stono

That from the ground aspire to reach the skies , And ( claiming antient Masons' art our own By which our spiritual temples rise )

Acknowledging a great Ideal divine Embodied thus by Masons' toil and sighs Feel , that the altars which thoso fanes enshrine Are hallowed by tho thoughts wo symbolise !

FREEMASONS work for love unto the art , Not for tho hire alone to serve the Lord ; Infusing fervour into every part Which grows an earnest of our rich reward .

For at the last , our earthly labours done , If worthy , the Great Architect ' s commands Will raise each like a proved aud perfect stone Into a Temple builded not with hands .

And here—the heirs unto the men of old Will emulate their fervency and zeal : Joining in courses of symmetric mould To strengthen and adoru the commonweal .

Though dying dogmas shun the Mason ' s light Nor brook the Level laid upon the priest , Here may the FREE of every creed unite Where one rule tries the greatest and the least !

The SONS OF TOLERANCE assemble here , Christians or Jews , Parsees or Musulmen . The same Great Architect we all revere With those of yore , bonded by Truth as then .

Ar00502

Under our PRINCE a living dome wo build Tho polished keystone of whoso crown is he ; And each for ever in the Temple filled Tho Masons ' -word seals

thrice—FIDELITY !!! For God sa id : "In STRENGTH will I establish this mine house TO STAND FIRM TOR EVER . "

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor respondents .

THE PKESS AND THE CRAFT

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . SIR , —Like yourself , I have been rather amused at tho snddeu , and , iu some cases , somewhat forced enthusiasm exhibited by many of the leading journals , in connection with the recent Installation of the Prince of Wales as our M . W . G . M . The fact of a Prince of the Blood Royal having been elected to this exalted position will , no

doubt , account for this display of feeling towards us , for what Royalty not only honours , but belongs to , must have some elements of good in it . Accordingly tho Times is grandly condescending to our Order . It is playful at the outset , but its playfulness has something elephantine about it . Tho merits of a Society which , in its revived form , has been before the world for over a century and a half can

hardly have been unknown to the " leading journal . But while it has passed Avith scant notice , or no notice whatever , the festivals of our great charities , it now finds itself , as it were , con . strained to record the grand ceremonial of Wednesday . Otherwise , tho sad spectacle would have been offered to tho world of the lessor lights of journalism taking tho shine out , to use a familiar phrase ,

of their more brilliant compeer . The Daily Telegraph , as might have been expected , is flippant for , " It is its nature to . " It affects also a certain air of mystery , in order , no doubt , to reconcile its description of the scene both inside aud outside the Royal Albert Hall , with tho well-known secrecy of tho Craft . And as mystery is thought to imply more or less of fnssinoss , the

picture was vouchsafed us of Grand Stewards and Officers ecstatically advancing without apparent rhyme or reason to somo unknown point , and then subsiding listlessly into their seats again . Had it recounted the exact number of times that any ono of the Grand Stewards looked wistfully up at the ceiling , tho effect would have been equally impressive . Genial Mr . Punch anticipated the event , more suo , with

much kindliness . It , too , " cut" a joke or two at our Older , but his jokes were neither elephantine nor silly . You have already commented on two recent articles in the Saturday Ileeieu ; I need say , therefore , but little as to your remarks . Your reply to , or commentary on the second of these articles is one of the most , admirable specimens of leader writing I have seen . I vend not a few papors in tho course

of a week , and , in common with a groat many other people , both Masons and others , I rejoice " muchly" that yon have administered so able a rebuke to the priggish impudence of the Saturday Jleuiuvj . A man , according to its ideal , should be a trained and educated curcynic is too respectable a term—ready to snap and snarl at everything that is decent and of good repute . The Standard seems to me to have

acted towards us in the manner most becoming an important journal , and not only as regards this particular eveiit , but generally . Festivals at which between £ 0 , 000 and cG 7 , 000 aro subscribed towards the support of the ind- ' gent members of our Order , or of tlie children of deceased members , receive a degree of notice not nnworthv such grand illustrations of charity . In its account of

Wednesdays ceremony it was neither condescending , as was the Times , nor flippant , as the Daily Telegraph , nor impertinent , as the Saturday Review . It treated tho event in a plain unsophisticated style , and I think you , Sir , and the Order generally , will not fail to recognise the value of this difference of treatment . Yours fraternally , T ,

SELECTION OF CANDIDATES .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , — The event of the day in Freemasonry , viz . the Installation of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales as M . W . G . M . will , no doubt , cause a great accession to our Order , but it should bo tho duty of every brother , as custodian of our Alasonio honour , to see that no ono enter our ranks unless ho be of good character and strict

morals . A Mason should be one to whom the burdened heart can poor forth its sorrows , and a little cautiou is ail that is required iu selecting good and worthy men . Many country Lodges hold meetings , wherein the merits of candidates for ballot are discussed , and if not found suitable it is suggested to the proposers and seconders that they should withdraw the names . By this means that great stigma ,

blackballing is avoided . It is easy to get into the Order , but difficult to exclude members . Lodges , where brotherly love should exist , are frequently scenes of discord , which is of ' ttimes caused by one brother , who , knowiug our ritual perfectly , and having a thorough knowled ge of our Book of Constitutions , will shew that a little learning is dangerous . Good and influential Lodges have nearly beeu broken up by

tho acts of ono who ought never to have been introduced , and it is to be hoped that brethren will now more than over bo guarded iu introducing into the Order those whose characters will not bear the fullest investigation . I am . Dear Sir and Brother , Youra fraternally , A FAST HASTES ,