Hunting For Manuscripts.

the red seal of the Athol Grand Lodge of England and was attached to the warrant of Bro . William Jarvis , just as he had received it from the Duke of Athol in 1792 . That was what I found . That warrant had been kept out of sight from the day in 1796 when Bro . Jarvis came to Toronto .

After his death , in August 1817 , it was held by one of his relatives and Bro . H . T . Page , of Ancaster , obtained a copy of it in 1820 . But in 1821 it fell into proper hands . Bro . Robert Kerr , when the Provincial Grand Lodge was reorganised in 1822 by Bro . Simon McGillivray , obtained

possession of the warrant and other papers and shipped them to Bro . McGillivray at York . This was in 1822 . He , however , had left York for England , and the parcel sent to Bro . John Dean at . Bath , eighteen miles from Kingston . He held

them until the close of the second Provincial Grand Lodge in 1830 , and , as there was then no Provincial body , they were given to the care of the old Brother in whose former home I found them . So they had been there in the attic room for seventy years . "

" You must have felt gratified by the result of your drive ? " " Gratified ! I should say . so ' . When I drove after midnight into Toronto I stopped at Bro . George J . Bennett ' s house , on Melbourne Avenue , and wakened him out of a

sound sleep and then I showed him my find . ' "What did he say ?" " Don ' t ask me—what did he not say ? " " Now you know how I have hunted for Masonic manuscripts . "— " Masonic Sun . "

Toadyism.

TOADYISM .

THE recent raising of Hon . Bird S . Coler , Comptroller of the city of Brooklyn , N . Y ., when the Bible used to swear in Washington as President was brought to the Lodge Room

to be utilised in the ceremony , is but another instance of what our friend , Bun . F . Price , so aptly calls " toadyism . " It is not so much that such proceedings give rise to envy and jealously—though that is sufficient cause for complaintas it is that they should disgust every true Mason , who cannot

countenance even such slight overlooking of the fundamental principles of the Masonic Fraternity . It is a cause for surprise that many Masons high in authority , and apparently true and devoted to' Masonic principles in every other way , should allow themselves to go beyond all bounds of propriety

in this respect . It is an easy thing to do , it must be confessed , with all our latter-day hero worship , but it is nevertheless one of the most insidious practices which we can establish , and one which bodes no good to our Order . — " Tyler . "

Caste Qualifications.

CASTE QUALIFICATIONS .

THE records of the Grand Lodge of England contain a minute of the Colonial Board of 7 th June 1864 to the following effect :

" The papers from Bombay relating to a misunderstanding and correspondence between Bro . Judge and the Provincial Grand Lodge of Western India under the Scotch Constitution were referred to the President and

Vice-President , together with the letter of the Provincial Grand Secretary of Bombay , dated 13 th May , wherein were enquiries whether Parsees are eligible for initiation , and whether Flindoos are eligible for initiation . ''

The Sub-Committee so appointed made their report to the Beard on 2 nd August following as under : " The Parsees are a tribe scattered over our Indian possessions , and numbering about 150 , 000 in population , including in this estimate the Parsees of Persia . Their

numbers , therefore , are insignificant in proportion to the 150 , 000 , 000 of natives by whom they are surrounded , and to the wealth and importance which they have themselves acquired . It is computed that more than half of the wealth of the city of Bombay is in their hands . Being chiefly

engaged in commercial pursuits they full y appreciate the advantages of British rule , and in the public benefactions of some of their merchant princes they may to some extent lay claim to having substantially acknowledged the blessings of

order , civilisation , and civil and religious liberty , under which , as a class , they have made rapid strides towards social and material advancement . Little as the mass of Englishmen know of their Indian fellow-subjects generally ,

Caste Qualifications.

few are ignorant of the name of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy , the fame of whose vast fortune was alone sufficient to have made him conspicuous , had it not been surpassed and perpetuated by the well-directed munificence which has enriched the city of Bombay with hospitals , schools , and public works

at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling . As might be fairly presumed , the industry , perseverance and benevolence displayed by the late baronet , are not , except in their extent , exceptional qualities . . Fie may be justly regarded as a representative man , and while many of his class have , like

him , started from poverty and accumulated large fortunes , his liberality and public spirit have been as widely emulated as his energy and perseverance . Nor are the springs and sources of this larsre and intelligent beneficence , which takes no account of distinctions of creed or caste , to be found

merely in self-interest or the desire for social distinctions . If the educated professors of their faith are to be heard , these acts proceed from the spirit of charity directly inculcated by their religion . Their morality , which is unquestionably pure , is intimately connected with the doctrines of their

religion , and the formation of their morality is the virtue of Brotherly love . Purity of thought , word , and deed is . by many moral precepts and leligious ceremonies directly sanctioned and enforced . The sacredness of domestic life is fully recognised , bigamy is only permitted in exceptional

cases , and woman holds a place of social dignity and respect rarely accorded to her in the East . Charges of idolatry and fire-worship have been brought against the Parsees , but with little justice . Of the former they may be acquitted at once . No idol is to be seen in their temples . With regard to the

latter an explanation has been given by intelligent exponents of their faith , which reduces supposed adoration of the element to an act of symbolism . Zoroaster , the founder of their religion , taught that the world was governed by two principles . Ormuzd was the source of all good and light ;

Ahriman , the author of all evil and darkness , though in his own realm co-equal , was not recognised as co-eternal with the author of good . To the sun , as the fittest image of the Almighty , and Fire , as the purest , the most active , the least corruptible of created things , the devout Persian was to turn

his eyes when engaged m prayer . ' It is not surprising that strangers from without , or the ignorant or superstitious from within , should have confounded the outward sign with the thing signified , the creator with the creature , which was at first intended only to signify his spiritual attributes in bodily

shape . Such a mistake is , perhaps , not without a parallel in Western lands and Western creeds . The Parsees present many points of contrast to the Iiindoos , and it cannot be denied that the advantages of the comparison are on the side of the former . Both , it is true , believe in the immortality

of the soul ; both expect a heaven or dread a hell ; but the Parsee , when charged with idolatry , throws the burden of proof on his accuser with justice , and . perhaps with success . The Hindoo , on the other hand , stands convicted by the idols that crowd both house and temple . " Gods many and lords

many' divide the allegiance which was once paid only to Brahma , the creator , and his ministers , Vishnu , the Preserver , and Shiva , the Destroyer . As a consequence numerous barbarisms and degrading superstitions check or neutralise the spread of western civilisation and education . The western

conqueror , though he has exchanged the olive branch for the sword , is repelled at the outset by the impenetrable system of caste . While this remains the strongest outwork of the religious and social system of the Flindoos it must not only be an almost insurmountable impediment to the access of

true religion and enlightenment , but also to the exercise of anything like large-hearted Charity and Brotherhood between man and man . Flow can western ideas make their way amongst a people whose superstition so kindles their

suspicions that a greased cartridge may become the cause of a general rebellion ? How can a man think of another as his Brother , made like himself after God ' s image , when to touch him is pollution ?

It is , however , only fair to acknowledge that the great sagacity of these people , the boundless resources of the country they inhabit , the interest in their welfare now awakening in England , all encourage the hope thatas they

, enjoy the laws and liberties , so they may be led to adopt the faith and manners of Englishmen ; until that day arrives there can be but little hope of friendly intercourse between the dominant and the subject races ,