A Table Lodge.

A TABLE LODGE .

A TABLE Lodge , liko everything in Freemasonry , is unique . As the name implies it is a Lodge at table , afc which plaen a Lodge i : _ duly opened , this particular Lodgo being styled a Table Lodge . A Table Lodge has its especial forms and ceremonies * . It

is nofc an ordinary Lodge , but a Table Lodge . Yet none but the officers of a lawfully warranted and duly constituted Lodge may open it . Brethren at largo may not open such a Lodge—it can only be opened by the duly installed Master and Wardens of a regular Lodge .

It is always opened in tho Entered Apprentice degree , nnd remains open in that degree , and auy Entered Apprentice Mason , duly vouched for , may bo present . The custom of opening a Table Lodgo in tho Entered Apprentice degree is , no doubt , a survival of the formerly

universal custom of opening and transacting all of fche business of a Lodgo in tho Entered Apprentice degree . This is still the custom in a fow jurisdictions . The origin of it was , the fact that the great mass of Masons were , in the early times , only Entered Apprentice Masons . Now

not merely the mass of our membership , but almost without exception all Freemasons , are Master Masons , and hence the transaction of business by Master Masons only , in the Master Masons' degree in the Lodge . In the early part of toe lasfc century this degree was conferred only in Grand

Lodge , at a Quarterly Communication . This regulation limited tho number of possible Master Masons . Now the Table Lodgo is the only organization in Freemasonry which perpetuates tho rights of Entered Apprentice Masons . Ancient Masonic history is monnmonted in this observance .

Thoro aro many Brethren who have never seen a Table Lodge opened . Nevertheless , we think the genius of Freemasonry requires that whenever the Graft ; is formally assembled afc refreshment such a Lodge should be opened . It ensures under all circumstances tho preservation of

fraternal harmony and tho maintenance of good order . It forbids , also , the presence of the profane , who are nofc entitled to be at a Masonic feast . A Table Lodge is limited fco Freemasons , and nono others , under any circumstances , may bo present . Ifc is known how difficult it is to

exclude eavesdroppers , and even open participants who are not Masons , at a banquet hold in a public place , where a Table Lodgo is nofc opened . Tho invasive press is always

ready to enter . If the press representative is not a Mason , he has no right to be present , any more than any ofcher profane , at a Masonic banquet , and the opening of a Table Lodge certainly excludes him .

A Table Lodge is both opened and closed Masonically , and its work is as interesting as the analogous work of the Lodge . The officers aro afc their stations , the Master wields the gavel , and governs the brethren in the proper

enjoyment of tho evening's pleasures . At a Table Lodge the Brethren are as much in duty bound to obtheey sound of the gavel as if they were in a regular open Lodge .

When a Table Lodge is open , no one should leave the table and retire , without asking and receiving permission . This is nofc merely an act of courtesy , but an obligation of duty . A Lodge—a Table Lodge—is regularly open , and the members and visitors present are amenable to all the customary Masonic regulations .

The toasts of the Table Lodge are typical and significant . They teach , with all the force of an object lesson , the duty of obedience to the highest Masonic authority—fche Grand Lodge and ifcs Grand Officers ; the duty of looking beyond ourselves , and embracing with our

fraternal good-will and sympathy our Brethren of all the Lodges throughout the world ; and the further duty of ever keeping green in our memories tho example and virtues of our deceased Brother George Washington . Thus the

three lessons of the Masonic toasts of the Table Lodge are Obedience to Masonic authority , Brotherly Love for every member of the Craft round the globe , and Respect for the memory of our fraternal dead—sentiments that are in the highest degree commendable and ennobling .

In the olden time the opening of a Table Lodge was a custom much honoured in the observance . It dates back to the origin of the Craft in Pennsylvania . Our Grand Masters in their Annnal Addresses have often called attention to it , and its proper observance . Grand Master Milnor did so , in the year 1807 .

A Table Lodge.

We should jealously maintain the old usages and customs of the Craft . One of these is the Table Lodge , it is characteristic of Freemasonry , and no Masonic banquet is complete without it . Freemasons do not partake of a collation merely to satisfy thvir physical craving for food ,

but to introduce and lead up to those peculiar Masonic observances which distinguish and glorify tho Craft . A Table Lodgo is at once a Craft privilege aud a Craft pleasure , and whenever the Brethren are formally afc refreshment , it is fitting that a Table Lodgo bo opened .

The First American Lodge.

THE FIRST AMERICAN LODGE .

THERE aro few Masons who havo not a profound reverence for every relic and incident connected with tho early history of tho Fraternity in this country . And inasmuch as tho origin of the Craffc in America is involved in doubt and obscurity , every scrap of history connected

with it is doubly interesting . Pennsylvania has long claimed that the first permanent Lodge of the Fraternity was instituted in Philadelphia abonfc 1730 . The claim has been disputed by several historians and antiquarians of the Craft , but the Keystone State maintains its position

against all comers , and still leads the van in the argument . Some ono has been digging up somo old Masonic newspaper notices that tend to throw some light on the subject , and which goes far to establish the claim made by the Pennsylvania jurisdiction . The Pennsylvania Gazette oi

Sth December 1730 contains the earliest printed notices of Freo and Accepted Masons in America . In November 1754 , Henry Bell , at that timo residing in Lancaster , Pa ., wrote Dr . Thomas Cadwalader , of Philadelphia : " As you well know I was one of the originators of the first Masonio

Lodge in Philadelphia . A part of us used to meet at the Tun Tavern in Water Street , and opened a Lodge there . Gnco in the fall of 1730 we formed a design of obtaining a charter for a regular Lodge , and made application to tho Grand Lodge of England for one , but before

receiving it we heard thafc Daniel Coxe , of New Jersey , had been appointed by the Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . We therefore made application to him , and our request was granted . When Benjamin Franklin succeeded

Humphrey Murray , in 1773 , as Worshipful Master , he was tho editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette , and the following announcement appeared in the columns of his own paper " Philadelphia , Pa ., 29 th June 1734 . Monday lasfc a Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Society of

Freo and Accepted Masons was held at the Tun Tavern on Water Street , when Benjamin Franklin , being elected Grand Master for the year ensuing , appointed John Copp to be his Deputy , aud James Hamilton , Esq ., and Thomas Hopkinson , Gent ., were chosen Wardens , after which an

elegant entertainment was provided , and the proprietor ( Thomas Penn ) , the Governor , and several other persona of distinction honoured the Society with their presence . " The paragraph was reprinted in several of the London

papers afc the time . This evidence , while meagre and unsatisfactory , is nevertheless interesting as showing that Masonry had obtained a foothold in the New World as early as 1730 . —Ohio Freemason .

An exceedingly well executed photograph of the founders of the Lord Charles Beresford Lodge , which was constituted at Chatham on the 9 th Jnne last , and consecrated by Earl Amherst , Prov . Grand Master of Kent , haa just been published by Mr . Jaquea Moll , photographer , of High Street , Chatham , and is deservedly admired

The group contains twenty-one figures , in the centre of whioh is Bro . F . Powell P . P . G . D . ( Hants ) , the first Master of the Lodge , ' through whose energy the Lodge waa formed . The other photographs include the officers and principal members , the whole forming an excellent collection of well-known Freemasons connected with Chatham and ita vicinity , and , aa such , will be deservedly valued .

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