Masonry In America.

certain bodies not comprised in the original plan of Freemasonry some may , and others may not , be supported by the adhesion of Craftsmen in their jurisdictions . The Cerneauites , as Bro . Norton calls them , are , I suppose , composed mainly of the members of the A . and

A . S . R ., under the supreme Council of which Mr . Haigh is the Sov . G . Commander , though in a pamphlet before me two "So-called Cerneau Supreme Councils of tho 33 rd Degree for the United States in New York , " are referred

to . * But it is tolerably conclusive that all bodies of the Rite are deemed to be without the pale of Masonry , in cases where the Massachusetts New Departure has been adopted , excepting only those owning fealty to the Supremo Councils of the Northern and Southern jurisdictions .

The Grand Festival.

THE GRAND FESTIVAL .

THE Annual Festival of the United Grand Lodge of England was celebrated on Wednesday , when , for the fourteenth time , His Royal Highness the Prince of "Wales was proclaimed as Most Worshipful Grand Master of English Freemasons . The Rt . Hon . the Earl of

Lathom Deputy Grand Master , occupied the throne , and was supported by Lord Kensington as Deputy Grand Master , Lord Euston as Past Grand Master , Colonel Sandeman and Sir Reginald Hanson as Senior

and Junior Grand Wardens respectively . The Grand Lodge having been opened , Sir Albert Woods , Garter , proclaimed the Grand Master amid loud cheers , which

were renewed when it was announced that His Royal Highness had been pleased to re-appoint tho Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Lathom Pro and Deputy Grand Master respectively . The following were then invested

as the Grand Officers for the year . Bro . Lord Halsbury ( Lord Chancellor ) Grand Senior Warden General Lord John Tfiylour . Grand Junior Warden Rev . Richard William M . Pope - ) ,-, lfl , , . Rev . John Augustus Lloyd - j Grand Cha P »» 3 Edmund N . Asher Barfield - Grand Treasurer

jr . A . rniiDricu , y . u . - - urana registrar Thomas Fenn - - - Pres . Board of Gen . Pur . Colonel Shadwell H . Clerke - Grand Secretary Dr . E . E . Wendt - - - Secretary German Cor . Robert Grey - - - Pres . Board of Benevolence Gabriel Prior Goldney - O „ , T .

Edmund Ashworth - - j ™ u OBmor " Bauona Sir Richard Howard - - ) n - > T . „ t > u L T > - J i vnranu Junior Deacons Robert Berndge - ) Lieut .-Colonel Robert W . Edis - Superintendent of Works

Sir Albert W . Woods , C . B . ( Garter ) Director of Ceremonies Colonel John Davis - - Deputy Dir . of Ceremonies William Henry Spaull - . Asst . Dir . of Ceremonies Herbert Jordan Adams - - Grand Sword Bearer John L . Stothert - - -In i m . i ¦> -n Michael C . Peck - . - ] Grand Sfcanda ^ Bearers

W . A . Barrett - - - Grand Organist A . A . Pendlebury - - Grand Asst . Secretary Walter Hopekirk ... Grand Pursuivant F . W . Whitmarsb . - - Grand Asst . PnrBtrivant Henry Sadler ... Grand Tyler

The following having been nominated as Grand Stewards were approved of from the throne : Bro . A . G . Medwin M . D . 1 , Francis Tagart 2 , H . Emaus Pollard 4 , Alexander Finlay 5 , James Harvey Brand 6 , John Pullman 8 , Gordon

Smith 14 , The Rt . Hon . the Lord Mayor Polydore de Keyser 21 , George Simonds 23 , A . E . Cumberbatch 2 G , John William Green 29 , Hubert Spencer Clutton 46 , T . G . Robinson 58 , A . J . Altman 60 , Sydney Claris 91 , C . H .

Shoppee 99 , John L . A . Monckton M . A . 197 , and John Johnasson 259 . Grand Lodge was then closed , and the hrethren passed in procession from the Temple to the Great Hall , in which the Stewards of the year had provided

the feast , which was partaken of under the presidency of the Rt . Hon . Lord Euston . The Grand Officers present were far more numerous than on previous occasions , and the gathering of brethren was also very great . The

musical arrangements were under the direction of Brother Sir Arthur Sullivan Past Grand Organist , and Bro . E . M . Lott . The toasts of loyalty to the State and the Craft were received with enthusiasm , and then were given those in

relation to the institutions of the Craft , including the Charities , the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , over whose festival the Royal Grand Master will preside , being placed in the front . Later , in the Temple , the brethren

The Grand Festival.

joined the ladies , who had dined in another part of the great building , and a concert was given .

Labour And Progress.

LABOUR AND PROGRESS .

FREEMASONRY is emphatically a working institution . Work , mental and physical , is practically taught in every lesson of the mystic science . From the time the initiate enters within the portals of the Temple the duty

of practical labour is enjoined in the symbolic instructions given to him , as well as in the illustrations of tho ceremonials of the several degrees of Masonry . As au Entered Apprentice , representing youth , he is expected to apply

himself to acquiring a knowledge of the duties pertaining to his probationary position and to prepare himself for more active usefulness in a higher sphere , that of a Fellow Craft representing manhood . Having acquired a

knowledge of those duties which , voluntarily assumed , he has obligated himself to , and exemplified practically that the lessons taught him were impressed upon his heart aud conscience , and that he is prepared for further

advancement , the veil is uplifted and he is led onward to assume higher duties and additional obligations , as a Fellow Craftsman . There can be no progress without labour , and advancement in Masonry is , orought to be , based upou an

intelligent application of the teachings imparted to the candidate . The indolent novitiate , who will not apply himself to tho proper study of Masonry as far as he has received the li ght , or practically exemplify its teachings in his daily life ,

ought never to be advanced beyond the portals of the Temple . As a hewer of wood or drawer of water , he should be held in a subservient position , as a learner , an apprentice . The diligent student alone has a ri ght to

advancement , to farther progress in our mystic science . Those alone ought to be promoted to the degree of Fellow Craft , and in due time to the sublime degree of a Master Mason . The titles of the several degrees indicate that of a

learner , a proficient , and a Master or teacher . The Master ' s degree , implying that the novitiate and probationary periods have been passed , although representing that time of life when men ordinarily expect to cease from their

active duties , it is then that the true Freemason , because of his temperate and regular course of life , having lived in accordance with the teachings of the institution , which are based upon the laws of nature and of nature ' s God , is in

the possession of both mental and bodily vigour , and well qualified , from his mature age and experience , to be a teacher in Israel . As development and progress , both mental and physical , necessarily result from a strict

observance of tho laws of nature , and the active exercise of our faculties in harmony with the design of the Creator , so the true Freemason , from the time of his entrance into our mystic Order , will progress in wisdom and knowledge ,

will unfold the divine nature of his being ; his faculties will expand with age so long as he is capable of active usefulness , and even as is taught in the legend of the Master ' s degree—when passed to a higher sphere , when raised from

the earthly to the invisible world , the spirit , divested of its mortal body , will continue , as in this life , unceasingly to develop and progress onward and onward , from one degree of excellence to a higher . In God ' s world progress is

impressed upon all his works . In man , created in His likeness , ultimate the ideal of His creations , and in and through man the grand design of the Creator will be perfected . Indolence and inactivity are incompatible with

progress , and , consequently , are inconsistent with Masonic obligations and duties . The teachings of Masonry are in harmony with God ' s laws , and labour , even when called off at refreshment , does not cease . And neither is the work

of Masonry confined to the Lodge rooms ; it is there are taught those lessons which are to be exemplified in our daily life and practice , and in our intercourse with our fellow man .

The working man alone is the true Mason . The indolent , the ignorant , those who neither acquire a knowledge of the true objects and purposes of Freemasonry , nor practise its

teachings , are not alone drones and useless , but are stumbling-blocks and impediments to the progress of the institution in fulfilling its mission in the elevation and improvement of the family of man . —Exchange .

Ad00304

FUNERALS properly carried out and personally attended , in London and Country , by Bro . G . A . SUTTON , 17 Newcastle 1 Street , Strand , W . C . Monuments erected . "Valuations made .