Craft Masonry.

CRAFT MASONRY .

'A S the years glide by , bearing ua on their wings to the bourne P \ where time shall be no longer , we are fche more deeply impressed by the fact that in the " Blue " Lodge is found all the substantiate that attach to Freemasonry . In so saying we have no disposition to disparage what are termed the " Higher Degrees . " We have taken much comfort , instruction and impressiveness in Chapter , Council , Commandery and Scottish Eite , but as the child to its mother , the wanderer to his early home , the flower to the

sun , so turn we to the first three degrees in Ancient Craft Masonry with the fully realised knowledge that nothing can be added to them which contributes a fresh knowledge , a fresh wisdom , a fresh view of the ethical philosophy of Freemasonry , that is not found embodied in the system of speculative Masonry . The Blue Lodge is the root and trunk of a massive tree , of which all else in Freemasonry are the branches , buds , leaves , blossoms ; and humanity blessed and benefited , the fruit .

With the degrees of the Council E . and S . M ., Ancient Craft Masonry concludes . Christian knighthood is but a graft on the parent tree , the Council tells the story of an . episode in the history of King Solomon , and its annex of the Super Excellent that of the last King of Jud _ a ; the Chapter elaborates the restoration of a captive people , a ruined city and temple , and the restoration of a

long-lost law and obsolete government to the emancipated Hebrews ; the Templar is brought out of the old into the new or Christian dispensation , and while but the adopted child of Ancient Craft Masonry , serves to unite the past with the present , the old with the new , the typical with the actual or spiritual in the Christian dispensation , and all are united to the trunk of the tree as branches , and derive subsistence from the original roots .

Bufc fche philosophy of the first , second and third degrees in Speculative Freemasonry goes deeper than history in the old , or the simulation of the soldier-monk of the crusades . It presents man in a state of nature , under a condition of symbolic religion , and finally , when both the former have failed to satisfy the yearnings of the soul after a knowledge of a future , it shows him

the death of the mortal and the resurrection of the immortal through the " Lion of the tribe of Judah , " who has brought to light life and immortality from the putrefaction and cerements of the tomb . On these fundamental ashlars all else in Freemasonry has been built . There may be more elaboration , and consequently a fresh impressiveness , but it is tbe same thought , the same facts ,

the same results more fully and possibly more strikingly developed through situation , but no new truth has been added , no grander sublimity has been attached , nor has the actor in fche great drama received anything more as he ascends the Masonic ladder , than a reiteration of what he has already received . " Naked came I into the world , " said the man in the land of Uz . Back to the conditions

of impoverished life goes the Masonic neophyte down to the level of the coming from , and returning back to the bosom of Mother Earth . Over the peninsula of time he travels . He is taught to ¦ work while it is called to-day . His employment is delineated by symbolic illustration and his wages are paid in the necessaries of life . As he approaches nearer to the boundary line marking the

shores of the eternal sea and fche " evil days draw nigh , " he pays the debt of nature and learns the lesson of a triumph over the grave in that grand connecting link between the Jewish and Christian dispensations , who , in clarion tones—which have since gone ringing round the world—cried , "lam the resurrection and the life , he that believe th in me though he were dead yet shall he

live , and in response to this promise of hope the horizontal of decay and death gives place to the perpendicular of an immortality beyond the grave . All this we are taught in the Blue Lodge . The eye and ear are instructed in these sublime lessons and the simple symbolism of the Craft is enlisted in the education of fche searcher after the mysteries of Freemasonry . Upon these foundations have been built rites innumerable . Esoteric

manipulators , political tricksters and fanatical enthusiasts , have all in turn laboured to build upon the triangular columns of Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty , and at their base can be found the debris of what was for a time called Freemasonry , which like the decayed windfalls at the bottom of the tree , but serve to render more valuable the healthy fruit which clings to the living branches .

We have a strong suspicion of the genuineness of a man ' s Masonry that ignores the " Blue " Lodge . We care not how active he may be in other bodies , if he has lost his interest in his Masonic cradle he is but little better than the proverbial " withered branch . " If his Masonic vitality be nofc derived from the original tap root , then is his Masonry cut off from the breast of the mother who nursed it into matured strength , stature , and stability .

With these facts before us we plead for more association with our Masonic cradle . Can a child forget its mother ? Go back to your poverty stricken hour , Brother , and think that as a stranger you were taken in ancl provided with a home . Cultivate the generic love you first experienced when you stood as a man

Craft Masonry.

and a Mason among Brothers and Fellows . It was character that gave you that entrance , and the tongue of good report had preceded you . Be not forgetful of those times and seasons , even if you be at the top of the Masonic ladder . — " American Tyler . "

A "Genius" Is He.

A " GENIUS" IS HE .

AS we were goins » down Fulton Street the other day our attention was caught by a little tin sign , which gave the following announcement :

+ + j AMOS PATTERSON , : DEALER IN SECRET FRATERNITIES . : : Rituals Made to Order . : : Lodges Instructed . " : + + My companion and I involuntarily looked at each other . " Here , at last , is something new under the sun , " I said . " More likely it is the habitation of some escaped lunatic , " replied my friend .

"At all events , let us go in and see what manner of man he is , and whether perchance there is any method in his madness . " We clambered to the fifth story of the building as advised by constantly recurring pieces of cardboard nailed to the stairs , and found the door of his room . In response to our rap an old gentleman appeared . He looked at us over the top of a pair of gold-bowed spectacles with an expression of

interrogation . " Mr . Patterson , " we queried . " Yes , sir ; will you walk in ? " and without more ado he ushered us into a cosy little room fitted up as an ofiice and gave us seats . He had evidently been writing when we interrupted his occupation , and the ink was not dry on the last sheet on his desk .

"Is it true , sir , that you deal in secret fraternities ? " I asked , " and isn't it a new kind of business ?" " Well , sir , to speak more correctly , I do not deal exactly in fraternities , inasmuch as a fraternity consists more particularly of its members . But I do sell the prospectuses of new orders , with plans of secret work , together with all the minutise of nomenclature , symbols , signs , grips and so on . As to the last part of your question , I suppose I am the pioneer in this new line of work . "

" Do you mean to say that you keep on hand written descriptions of new organisations , with detailed accounts of the various ceremonies , to put on the market ?" Mr . Patterson smiled as he nodded assent . " I keep a few all written out ready for instant use , but tbe main part of my work is done to order . "

We glanced at a row of pigeon holes in the upper part of his desk which were filled with papers . They were labeled with phrases like these : "Independent Order Knights of Pestle , " "Ancient Guild of Mariners , " " The Cycler's Circle , " " The Favoured Pew , " " Chinese Chapter of Hung Hi . " " Might we look at one of your fraternity rituals ? " wo asked .

" Oh dear , no 1 If you think for a moment , you will see that it will never do . If I were to sell the fraternity afterwards which I allowed you to look at , the secrets would bo given away at the very start . In fact , whenever I expose one to the view of a prospective buyer , if by any means the trade should fall through , the entire work has to be thrown away . " ' Bufc how , then , can we judge whafc you can do ? We would like to know a little more about it so that we might write it up for our paper . If you could give us a little light as to your methods ifc would help us to fill a little space in our paper , and give you the benefit of the advertisement . "

" Perhaps we might arrive at such a result in another way . We will suppose you two gentlemen to be in search of a plan of organisation for use in a high school or college . The first thing we do is to select something for the groundwork upon which tbe society is to be built . Suppose , for instance , we take an idea from some study pursued by the students , say arithmetic . We then decide on a name . We call it the Arithmetical Association of Intimate Integers . At first blush there seems very little to work up in the way of initiation and few symbols for suggesting lessons of mortality , but we

shall find plenty of chances as we go along . We give the officers' names derived from general terms usi d in the science . Thc Lodge is called a multiplicand , and the chief officer ' most munificent multiplier . ' The secretary becomes the ' enumerator ' and the treasurer the ' dividend , ' and so long down the scale . Having once decided on the name it becomes an easy thing to write the ritual up to them . Let us begin with the presence of the candidate at the door of the Lodge room . One rap is given , followed by a dialogue something like this : " Brother common denominator , why this alarm 1 "

" An insignificant cipher who , feeling his uselessness by himself , seeks potentiality by joining this most ancient association of Intimate Integers . " " The most munificent multiplier wishes to know what good a mere cipher can be to the other integers of his multiplicand , since he is of no value to himself . " " By association with them he is sure he can add ten fold to their power . " "It is well . By order of the most munificent multiplier you will allow him to enter this multiplicand and receive the degree of addition . "

The candidate is led into the hall and placed between two parallel rows of members . " You are received into this multiplicand between two horizontal parallel lines , which is the sign of equity , and should ever remind you that whatever the value of an integer may be elsewhere , they will always meet here on the plan of equity . This therefore ( holding his arms parallel before him ) is the sign of membership in our order . ' '

The candidate is then duly sworn to secrecy by nine integers , after which he is duly pronounced a member and invested with a badge on which is printed a large figure 1 . " You will hereafter wear the badge ' number one , ' which , being the lowest in value of all integers , is to denote your position in this multiplicand as the least of its members , and will teach you true humility and appropriate

dependence . The sign of this degree is made by holding the index fingers at right angles across each other , forming tho cross with equal sides , which is the sign of addition , and signifies that there is much knowledge yet to be added to the little we have already imparted . As a true brother of this degree you will always welcome such additions whenever and wherovor there occurs an opportunity to make them . " The newly made integer is then conducted to the chair of the most