The Recent Masonic Festival In Dublin.

meeting of Freemasons in tho capital of one of their own most favoured countries—that is , of course , from a Romish ecclesiastical point of view ? What can the Freeman ' s Journal say when they know that the members of the first and most respected families in Ireland

assembled in Dublin , under the presidency of a Prince of tho Blood Royal , to clo homage publicly to the meritorious deeds of Freemasonry ? In one respect , the occasion was one of very ordinary occurrence in the United Kingdom , the mere annual distribution of prizes to the successful

pupils of orphan girls' and boys' schools . Yet , certain distinctive features about it gave it unusual prominence . The schools wero established by Freemasons , for the maintenance and education of the orphan sons and daughters of brethren . And tho Hall was crowded with fair ladies

and Craftsmen and non-Masons , who had come from all parts of the country , in order to evince their appreciation of Masonry . Tho people who thus met together had nothing about them of the conspirator . They were not diabolical in their appearance ; they were

simply a very numerous party of ladies and gentlemen , loyal subjects of Queen Victoria , who love their fellow creatures , without a thought for the religion or politics they profess . Some of our Irish contemporary journals may occasionally try to make out

that Freemasonry exercises a baneful influence on the flax trade of Belfast , or promotion in the army , but it will task all their powers to extract any harm to religion ancl society out of the brilliant Masonic gathering of Friday last . We again offer our Irish brethren our warmest congratulations on the splendid success of their School Festival this year .

The Centenary Of The Grand Lodge Of Massachusetts.

THE CENTENARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS .

A SPECIAL Communication of this Grand Lodge was held on the 8 th March , for the purpose of celebrating this auspicious event . A copy of the Proceedings at this and the regular Quarterly Communication on the 14 th , as well as at another Special Communication on the 22 nd of the

same month , has reached ns . For this wn offer our fraternal thanks , aud , as our readers will probably be pleased to learn some particulars of the celebration , we shall proceed to give a brief summary of the record of the Communication and its attendant festivities . It will be within the

recollection of our readers that Freemasonry was introduced into Massachusetts under the auspices of Bro . Henry Price , who received his patent of appointment as Provincial Grand Master of North America from our then Grand Master , Viscount Montagu , in the year 1733 , and that he opened a

Prov . G . Lodge at Boston in July of that year . In Pine ' s List of Lodges for 1734—recently edited and published by Bro . Hughan—we find Lodge No . 126 located at Boston , Mass ., this , no doubt , being the first Lodge warranted by the new Provincial G . M . This P . G . Lodge was known as

the St . John ' s G . Lodge , and worked on regularly till 1775 , after which no meetings were held till 1787 . In 1756 the Grand Lodge of Scotland chartered the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , Boston , and iu 1769 the same Grand Lodge , during the Grand Mastership of the Earl of Dalhousie , issued a

Commission to Bro . Joseph Warren , as Prov . Grand Master for Boston and one hundred miles round . Bro . Warren was slain at the Battle of Bunker ' s Hill , in 1775 , and his commission died with him . In 1776 informal meetings of the Craft ( " Ancients" ) were held . On 17 th February 1777

the P . G . Lodge met , under the presidency of Bro . Joseph Webb , Deputy Grand Master , and ifc was agreed to take the necessary steps to organise an independent Grand

Lodge . This was done on 8 th March following , Bro . Webb being chosen to fill the office of Grand Master ; and this was the event which our Massachusetts brethren assembled to commemorate on the 8 th March of this year .

The meeting was worthy of the occasion . Bro . P . Lowell Everett , Grand Master , presided . The Grand Officers , Present ancl Past , mustered in strong force , and

there were , in addition , about two hundred brethren from various parts of the jurisdiction present , together with representatives from the following Grand Lodges , namely : —the Grand Masters of Now Hampshire ancl Connecticut ,

the Grand Master and a Past Grand Master of Rhode

The Centenary Of The Grand Lodge Of Massachusetts.

Island , the Graud Master , a Past Grand Master , and Grand Secretary of Vermont . Grand Lodge having been opened in ample form with the customary preliminaries , the Grand Master delivered an excellent , though brief , address , in tho course of which he touched on the leading

events in the history of Freemasonry in Massachusetts ; after which , Past Grand Master C . Levi Woodbury , in obedience to the Grand Master ' s summons , delivered a long and , for the most part , admirably conceived resume on the same subject . Bro . Woodbury having mentioned the

events we have already chronicled above , proceeded to show how , after the declaration of Masonic Independence , the new Grand Lodge took steps to clear away the doubts which appear to have existed as to tho legality of its constitution , and also how , in due time , steps were taken to

bring about a union between it and the older , or St . John ' s Grand Lodge , which had its origin in 1733 , under Bro . Price , but had not met together during the war or for a few years subsequently . This union was happily effected in 1792 , thus anticipating , by thirteen years , that still moro

important union of the rival ancients and moderns , which did not take place in England till 1813 . Bro . Woodbury further details the different steps which were taken for the establishment of a Supreme Grand Lodge for the whole of the United States . He points out , also , how in the course

of time other Grand Lodges , such as those of Connecticut , Maine and Rhode Island , sprang into being . Indeed , Bro . Woodbury ' s historical sketch is a most exhaustive one , and—save in one particular , of which hereafter—most favourably impresses the reader with the idea that his task

was undertaken as one of labour , and that to no one could it have been more safely entrusted . At the banquet which followed , Bro . Past Grand Master Nickerson very ably fulfilled the duties of toastmaster , and the speeches which were made in response to his various calls , breathed the true spirit of Freemasonry .

Appended to Bro . Woodbury ' s sketch is a mass of documents illustrating the progress of the Craft , not in Massachusetts only , but in other jurisdictions likewise . There are also included in the Proceedings a number of letters from officers of those Grand Lodges which were unable to

accept the invitation to be present at the gathering . All these latter are written in the heartiest style of congratulation . There is but one point in the address to which , as we have said , any exception can be taken , and we doubt not , if Bro . Woodbury should happen to read our friendly

criticism , coming as it does from a perfectly impartial source , he will say there is in it some validity . We fully recognise the patriotism of our American brethren of the Warof Independence . We admirethe loyalty they displayed in defence of their liberties . We understand the spirit

which animated Bro . Joseph Warren and other of his compatriots who were members of the Masonic body . But we think that , as far as possible , the political and the Masonic should be dissociated . We do not like , for instance , at p . 16 , to see any connection between the Provincial

Grand Lodge meeting at the Green Dragon Tavern , aud the Tavern as the head-quarters of the Revolution , or any mention of the St . Andrew ' s not holding its regular meeting on a particular evening in consequence of its member " having business with the consignees of foreign tea . "

Equally obnoxious to good taste , in our judgment , is it to speak of the brethren of Lodge St . Andrew being " busy preparing the tea with salt water . " History has fully justified the political acts of the American patriots , and therefore it would be supremely ridiculous in us to presume to

question them a century after they occurred . But these acts they did as citizens—not as Masons . It would have been in better taste had he praised these worthy fellows for their patriotism , without connecting their political with their Masonic labours , especially as there were very many

equally worthy Colonial brethren who took a different view of their political duty , and remained loyal to the King ' s Government . No doubt Bro . Woodbury only intended to record the events of that stirring period , and to show what fine patriotic fellows the brethren then were . We do not

dispute this for one moment . We think he might have paid the same tribute to their memory as patriots , if he had not made it seem as though they were prompted to do what tbey did as citizens by the teachings of Freemasonry . Save

in this particular , we commend Bro . Woodbury ' s historical effort unreservedly , and we take this opportunity of offering our Massachusetts brethren generally our heartiest congratulations on the success of their Centennial Masonic celebration .