West Yorkshire.

WEST YORKSHIRE .

AT a meeting of the Halifax Town Council in Committee the other evening an item of interest to Freemasons cropped up in an informal way . Several members drew the Mayor ' s attention to the fact that on the date fixed for the next Council meeting—3 rd April—there is to be a visit of the Grand Provincial

Lodge of Freemasons to the town . It was pointed out that of the forty-eig ht members of the Council eighteen were members of local Masonic Lodges , and as they all wished to attend the Provincial Lodge they would be absent from the Council meeting on that evening . The Mayor at once acceded to the request to

change the date of the Council meeting to Thursday , 4 th April . The Grand Provincial Lodge will meet under the banner of the pe Warren Lodge , in the Mechanics' Hall , but the banquet will take p lace in the Bank Field Mansion . The Right Hon . W . L . Jackson , M . P ., will be present . — " Bradford Observer . "

What Has Been, And Shall Be.

WHAT HAS BEEN , AND SHALL BE .

By NH . ES SEABLS Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of California . THE FORMULATION OF MASONRY .

A HALF century since the orthodox Mason was supposed to believe- that while the world moved and mutation was impressed upon all other sublunary things , Masonry alone stood as a crystallised entity , embodying the same essential elements , illustrated by the same formulas , characterised by the same mystic signs and symbols as in the days of King Solomon .

To-day , the consensus of opinion , as I think , regards it as a product of evolution , as a product of that change under natural and fixed laws , which involves continuous progress from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous in structure , and from the single and simple to the diverse and manifold in quality and function .

It applies to Masonry as * to the growth , development , expansion of institutions , manners , language , civilisation and all other products of human activity .

The laws which govern the process are often obscure and difficult of analysis , but however difficult the rationale of the theory , we can usually trace the progress of change from result to premises through even its dim manifestations .

Viewed in this light and what seems to us the origin' of Freemasonry becomes consistent with history and easy of comprehension . The Greeks were far in advance of all their neighbours in a knowledge of the arts and sciences . Architecture with them

had reached a degree of perfection not elsewhere attained , and it may well be doubted if much has been gained even to the present time , except in modifying their forms to meet modern wants , over the knowledge possessed by these ancient architects .

The religious mysteries of all former ages were familiar to them . When , therefore , a colony of the inhabitants of ancient Attica were driven by exhaustion of their soil and by

over-population to abandon their own country , they carried with them to Asia Minor not only a riper knowledge of science and art than was possessed by their new neighbours , but also the mysteries of Athene and Dionysius in their original purity .

Located in Tyre , surrounded by a people between whom and themselves there was little in common , possessed of information to which their new neighbours were entire strangers , finding their acquirements could be turned to good account in their new abode , and animated by a strong desire to perpetuate

among themselves and their descendants the knowledge and the ennobling principles inculcated among them in their former environment , it is not strange that they organised themselves into a society for mutual benefit and improvement , or that such societ y should have taken on the mystic character of the religious associations of their native land .

The members of this society became the architects and artificers , the projectors and builders of the temples and palaces of Tyre . They hewed the rough stones of the quarry into forms of strength and beauty . They carved the trees of the bountiful forests of the mountains into objects of symmetry and usefulness .

Their devotion to principle , their fidelity to their Brethren and to their art , stamped them as worthy of the approbation of the Tyrian king . They beautified and adorned Tyre ; and Hiram , its king , upon ascending the throne , extended to them his protection and became a recipient of their garnered knowledge , a patron of their mystic rites .

Their isolated position at first , and the fame they acquired a httle later , together with the * ever present necessity for mutual aid and protection , all tended to cement them together as a close corporation and to impress upon them a distinctive character . Their fame having extended far and near , it was but natural when a little later King Solomon desired to erect a temple to be

What Has Been, And Shall Be.

dedicted to Jehovah , the resplendent lustre of which should eclipse the world , that he should apply to his royal neighbour , Hiram , King of Tyre , for a detail of the famous designers , architects and artisans to consummate the great work .

At the head of this body of men , as our traditions inform us , was the son of a widow , Hiram Abiff , under whose auspices something akin to our organisation was formulated for the government and control of the various bands of workmen confided to his care and guidance .

The ritual of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons abounds in evidence of not only the belief of those by whom it was prepared in the Scriptures , and of the grandeur of the Temple ,

but in all the canons of the church of the earlier days , and the mystical and symbolical views entertained among the Hebrews in relation to the Temple are pretty faithfully copied by the Craft .

To trace the course of Operative Masonry through the middle ages and down to the last century is much easier than to discern its connection as a consistent and continued Order . The first Gothic cathedrals of the middle ages—many of which as a matter of fact greatly excelled in size and grandeur

the temple of King Solomon—were , as we are assured by the historian of the day , erected by companies of builders who possessed a peculiar social organisation , which enabled them to preserve most of their professional secrets , and furnished facilities

for mutual defence and assistance in the midst of rude and turbulent communities . Among them there was always a governing head , from whose decision there was no appeal , and " every tenth man was called a Warden , and overlooked each nine . "

In this manner and by these Freemasons were built the magnificent convent of Batalha in Portugal , about the beginning of the fifteenth century the cathedral of Strasbourg , from 1015 to 1439 of Cologne , which occupied centuries in its construction , and many other famous structures in England , Italy and various parts of Europe .

In England and Scotland they were incorporated guilds and were early known as Freemasons , a name assumed by reason of the many exclusive privileges which they enjoyed as a corporation of builders .

All these remarks are trite , and are only indulged as a predicate for the enforcement of the central idea , which is , that from this practical organisation having for its main object the

advancement of the material welfare of its members , has evoked the grander organisation of Speculative Masonry , with the higher and nobler purpose of advancing the moral and intellectual forces of its members . ( To be continued ) .

Surrey Masonic Hall Ball.

SURREY MASONIC HALL BALL .

THE members of the Surrey Masonic Hall Lodge , No . 1539 , and the Dagmar Lodge , No . 2262 held their annual ball at the Surrey Masonic Hall , on Wednesday , 13 th inst ., says the " South London Press . " At the supper many complimentary things were said of Brother W . G . Cannon I . P . M . of the Dagmar Lodge , and Bro . W . Malham I . P . M . of the Surrey Masonic Hall Lodge , who were responsible for the holding of the happy annual ball .

Bro . R . J . Mulhs W . M . of the Surrey Masonic Hall Lodge proposed success to the combined Lodges , which was enthusiastically drunk . Bro . W . Malham , who responded first , said this was the second ball that had taken place in connection , or rather in conjunction , with these two Masonic Lodges , and he hoped these dances would continue to be held each

year . Bro . Cannon also responded . The Surrey Masonic Hall Lodge and the Dagmar Lodge were now , he said , so blended together that they had become almost one Lodge . He hoped they would continue in that friendly spirit for many years to come .

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