Church Service At New Barnet.

Bro . E . C . Mulvey P . P . G . A . D . C . Herts P . G . P . England acted as Director of Ceremonies , and was assisted by Bro . W . Lewis P . M . 1385 P . P . G . A . D . C . Herts , with Bros . W . W . Morgan and S . Turnbull as Stewards , and F . S . Plowright P . M . 193 and Frank Mason P . M . 1385 P . P . G . W . Herts as Secretaries .

As soon as possible after the arrival of the special train from London the Brethren marched in procession to the Church , where every seat save those reserved for the Masons was already occupied , and were followed by the Clergy and choir , many of whom wore the regalia of the Craft outside their surplices .

Rev . Bro . C . A . Lane read , the prayers , Rev . Bro . A . Dawson Clarke P . M . the special lesson , and Bro . Ven . W . M . Sinclair , D . D ., Archdeacon of London , Canon of St . Paul ' s , and Past Grand Chaplain of England preached the sermon . Bro . Fred Paterson P . P . G . O . Herts directed the

musical arrangements , while Bros . H . Cribb , John Probert , Horace W ard , and H olden Walker rendered special aid by singing the , Anthem . Our esteemed Brother Sinclair ' s sermon was as follows , preached from I Kings vii , 13 , and following verses :

King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram . out of Trye . He was a widow ' s son of the tribe of Naphtali , and his father was a man of Tyre , a worker in brass : and he was filled with wisdom , and understanding , and cunning to work all works in brass . And he came to king Solomon , and wrought all his work . For he cast two pillars of brass , of eighteen cubits high apiece : and a

line-cf twelve cubits did compass either of them about . And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple : and ho set up the right pillar , and called the name thereof Jachin ( that is , He shall establish ) : and he set up the left pillar , and called the name therefore Boaz ( that is , In it is Strength ) . —I Kings viij 13 , and following verses .

Freemasonry is a principle which has existed in all stages of civilisation . The state in which we know it of a vast Brotherhood of amateur Masons , who are not really builders ,, but who , as everybody knows , have adopted the signs and symbols of the building Craft to express their own secret

principles , is as far as we know about two-and-a-half centuries old . The first instance of a gentleman or amateur being accepted into one of the Lodges of the old building Grafts is that of Elias Ashmole the antiquary ( afterwards Windsor Herald to King Charles II . ) who , along with Colonel

Mairiwanng , was entered at Warrington in 1646 . It is believed that there are now more than 10 , 000 Lodges , and more than 1 , 000 , 000 members . The conception of Freemasonry implies , like , the Christian Church , cosmopolitan or universal Brotherhood , and was impossible'to the ancient world , or until the

Brotherhood of man was taught by Jesus of Nazareth . But the principle of sacred , moral , and religious- Societies on the one hand , and the principle of Brotherhoods of the building Craft on the Other , are as old as civilisation itself ; and it is of these two that Speculative Freemasonry is the modern

representative . The principle of moral and religous societies is represented in ancient times by the Pythagoreans and the Eleusinians among the Greeks , by the Essenes among the Jews , and by the Carmathites and Fedavi , who were the mystic-Rationalists of the Mahometans . But the true

historical precursors of our modern Brotherhood of Freemasons were the mediaeval building corporations , who may themselves have a remote connection , with the East , while amongst the Romans there were collegia , or skilled fraternities for the-same purpose . These Roman . collegia had an

exchequer , an archive , patrons , religious ceremonies , an oath , a benefit and burial fund , and a register . Their officers were masters , wardens , recorders , and censors , and they instructed their apprentices to a certain extent in secret . - There can be no ; doubt , that such Fellowships existed for centuries in Gaul

and Britain , and it is probable that 1 they deposited : in these countries the tradition of their ideas and habits . And again at a later ^ period there : was a ; distinct invitation sent from the West to-the building corporations of Byzantium ; the reforms ofthe Emperor Leo , who was : zealous . in breaking down

Christian idolatory , inclined the Masons to avail themselves of . the opportunity . . The European building societies themselves , however much they owed ¦ to the traditions of the Roman skilled : fraternities , and of these building societies from the East , -were independent and original growths . , Of

these- the most distinctive . type is found in ; the Steinmetzen ( Stonemasons ) of Germany . , The . liheri mur a tores , or Freemasons , grouped themselves round the monasteries . As architecture developed , and with increasing wealth the Church gradually undertook larger and nobler works ,-the societies of

Craftsmen gradually assumed a more definite and more durable form . ¦ ¦ : The taste and science of Gothic Architecture were to a large extent the possession of the ' BauhutteH , or wooden booths , where the stone-cutters during the progress of-the work kept their tools , worked , held their meetings , and probably also

Church Service At New Barnet.

took their meals and slept . Hence our modern institution of the Lodge . In the 12 th century there are distinct traces of a general association of these Lodges throughout Germany , acknowledging one set of Craft laws , one set of secret signs and ceremonies , and , to a certain extent , one central authority , in the Grand Lodge of Strasburg .

The Jewish and Arabian symbols which were so popular in these Crafts are supposed to have been introduced by Alburtus Magnus early in the 13 th century . But the traditions may have come from the East long before ; and as we are

tracing the history of societies that considered their own special principles and ritual secret and sacred , we can put no limit as to the antiquity of these traditions . In any case , to all societies of builders the account of the construction of the

Temple at Jerusalem by the most famous of all builders , King Solomon , has always been of the profoundest interest . And that is the reason why I have placed the account of Solomon ' s chief constructor , Hiram of Tyre , and his skilful and mystic performances , at the head of this address .

The privileges which one of these ancient German Lodges was able to give to its Masters , Speakers , and Journeymen were chiefly a share in the administration of Justice , in the election of Officers , in the banquets , and in works of charity . There was a solemn initiation ; and

instruction was given to all apprentices in both architecture and its allegorical meaning . When an apprentice had served his time and finished his year of travelling , he was entitled , if of good character , to receive the Password and Salutation .

He took an oath of secrecy , on the Bible and other sacred symbols , and drank the Loving-Cup . The three great lights , the hammer or gavel , the gold , blue , and white colours , the sacred numbers 3 , 5 , 7 , and 9 , and the interlaced cords , all had their traditional meaning .

The atmosphere of these mediasval building societies seems even at an early date to have been favourable to liberty of thought and religious toleration . Hence they were prohibited at . the Romish Council of Avignon , in the year 1326 . The authority of the Grand Lodge was recognised at the

great assemblies of Ratisbon and Strasburg in 1459 , the statutes of which received imperial confirmation . It was legally destroyed by an imperial edict in 1741 . England had imported much of her Lodge organisation

and learning from Germany . The causes which led to the introduction of the new class of members , the amateurs , such as you and I , and which gradually converted operative into Speculative Masonry , were inevitable .

In the first place the old secrets of Gothic Masonry became obsolete through the spread of the classical and Renaissance architectures . Inigo Tones , and his patron Lord

Pembroke , had been studying them on the continent and brought them to England . Inigo Jones was Patron of the Freemasons from 1607 to 1618 . He invited several Italian artists to join the body .

Secondly , the disorder of the Civil Wars prevented meetings , and tended to disorganise the Masonic connection . Again , the growing spirit of the Reformation in religion gave men a freedom of speech which superseded the secret freedom of the old Craftsmen . Toleration was soon a political fact .

Fourthly , Science took a new departure from the time of Bacon . The interrogation of nature was preferred to legend and allegory . The glorious outburst of science fostered the idea of a hew humanitarian society , and at the same time kept up its direct connection with the old , and with a past that

was lost in the . mist of antiquity , by adopting the ancient symbols of fellowship . It was under this impulse that a General Assembly of Masons was held in 1663 , at which the old catechisms were revised , and a series of new statutes passed .

The reconstruction of London after the fire , the building of St . Paul's Cathedral , and the patronage of the immortal Sir Christopher Wren , kept up the interest in the movement ; and at last a . formal resolution was passed that the Masonic privileges should no longer be confined to operative Masons .

The modern phase of English Masonry may be said to have begun in London on 24 th June 1717 , when the four London . Lodges having erected themselves into a Grand Lodge , named their first Grand Master . The leading spirits were the Huguenot , Desaguliers , the well-known populariser

of Natural Science ; and James Anderson , a Scotch Presbyterian Minister , who compiled the " Book of Constitutions . " From this time new Lodges could only be formed by Warrant from the Grand Lodge . In 1721 the Duke of Montagu was elected Grand Warden . About the same time the Committee of Charity was formed , which has since raised and expended