Hotels V. Masonic Halls.

vexatious . Hence an hotel a century or even half a century ago differed very much from a similar establishment in our own day . Had the law as it at present stands been in existence at the beginning of this century , I very much doubt if the

movement in favour of the erection of Masonic Halls would have ever taken place . The result of it has been to sink a very large amount of money , probably from one and a half to two millions , in this country in the erection and adornment of these buildings .

The position now occupied by these halls is precisely that of clubs , the subscribing members of the lodges owning or ^ occupying being exactly that of club members . In many instances , Masonic clubs , on club bases and with club rules , have been formed in connection with them , and in large centres of

popula-. tion appear to flourish . This is all very satisfactory , very pleasant , ancl we are all very proud to see these evidences of our popularity , prosperity , and progress over the length and breadth of the land . Let us be quite sure that the advantages arising therefrom greatly outweigh the disadvantages of the

. older system . Suppose we briefly view the advantages and dis-¦ advantages of a Masonic Hall and an Hotel respectively as rival , places for lodge meetings , and see what we can make out of it . The . Masonic Hall is private , and there is no danger of inter-¦ ference or undue prying . Most likely it gives to the brethren

. who have been at the pains and trouble of its erection , a deeper and more personal interest in the lodge affairs . It affords particular facilities for working ceremonies which are often wanting in buildings not specially adapted for the purpose , and it forms - a safe local depository for the archives of the Order . Its

disadvantages are that there is no limit to the hours during which it may be kept open , and consequently it offers tempations for undue prolongation of times of refreshment , which was the very _ identical ground of complaint made against the practice of meeting at hotels in the old days , and that it involves a very

, considerably larger expenditure of money . The Hotel is peremptorily closed at 11 o ' clock in the provinces , and conse-• quently at that hour an end must be made of all entertainments , whilst being under the supervision of the law , nothing can be ' alleged against the proper conduct of its frequenters . Its

disadvantages are its want of privacy , the reluctance that some . persons cherish to be seen to enter licensed premises , and the absence of conveniences for any permanent custody of documents . It is to the invariable custom in early days of lodges meeting in hotels that we owe , I suspect , the vast loss of records of our Craft . Masters and Treasurers were in the habit of ,

keeping these valuable papers ior safety at their own houses , and when these brethren were removed by death , the records were lost sight of , and usually destroyed as valueless . It has been said of hotels by the profane that they hold out

a temptation to members for " nipping" under the cloak of Masonic business . But the same argument holds good of the Masonic Hall , with the difference rather in favour of the hotel , for obvious reasons .

On the whole , I think the hall has tlie advantage over the hotel if it be properly managed and controlled , but it is plain that the leaders of a lodge and the trustees of its hall are responsible

for its proper management , and it is their bounden duty to see that no abuses creep in , and that such regulations are carried out as will ensure the reputation of such a home of Masonry being above suspicion .

I should not have ventured to pen these remarks were I not known to be a strong advocate for the Masonic Hall system ; but , in spite of belief in the advantages of private accommo-> dation for lodges , I can see that weak points exist in that as in any other plan . I should like to have the opinions of other

brethren on the subject , for I havc often heard derogatory remarks made about lodges meeting on licensed premises , which I do not think are really merited or fair , and I think it should be

clearly understood that the fact of a lodge meeting on its own premises by no means proves that its members are either more intelligent or better conducted than those of its sister lodge meeting under the sign of the '" ' Goose and Gridiron . " T . B . WHYTEHEAD .

The Clergy And Freemasonry.

THE CLERGY AND FREEMASONRY .

The South African Freemason , of the 7 th December , has the following notice of our article on the Clerical Attack on Freemasonry : " As mentioned in a note last week , the London Freemason

has found it necessary to take up the cudgels in a battle happily not often waged now-a-days , viz ., to defend the Craft against an attack by a prominent clergyman of the Established Church of England . Fortunately , such clerical attacks are not often forth-

The Clergy And Freemasonry.

coming , and when they are we find it better to pay very little attention to them , and endeavour to live the tongue of the slanderer down . That the London Freemason has felt it necessary to depart from this attitude of masterly inactivity is noteworthy , and is only to be accounted for by a sense that the clerical

onslaught was of too systematic a character to be altogether ignored . The writer is the head of one of the best known theological colleges in England—that of St . Bees—and his position gives him , of course , immense power of influencing a large proportion of the clergy of the

future . As one development of this influence he has thought fit to issue a formal address to his students , couched in terms strangely suggestive of the Encyclicals of the Vatican , solemnly warning them against the Craft . The action is puerile , to say the least of it . Considering how many great religious and social

questions are forcing themselves upon the attention of the clergy , it is passing strange that Freemasonry , which interferes with nobody , and only seeks to be allowed to travel quietly along its benevolent road , shall be singled out for anathema . The main charges against us are those of universalism in

religious matters , and of possessing secret rites . Both these charges must seem to us who are behind the scenes , supremely ridiculous , that of secrecy the most of all . We know how very attenuated all that is really secret amongst us has become , practically involving nothing but our prescribed methods of recognition and

some portion of our ritual . The study of the beauteous Masonic symbolism , and of the archaeology of the Craft , interwoven as it is with the history of the religious systems of the ancient world , is certainly usually only perused by initiated Craftsmen , but

there is no earthly reason why it should not be taken up by any outsider who likes to take the trouble . Secrecy obtains in almost every walk of life , and it must be proved to be detrimental to the community at large before it can be logically condemned . If the reverend canon whose letter has caused so much trouble

can prove that Masonic secrecy bands men together for objects inimical to religion and society , he will have the best of the argument . But in the first place our formularies condemn , as strongly as words can , the least introduction of political or religious controversy into Masonry , and secondly , our practice goes

in this respect much further even than our theory . Every Mason knows how completely such controversial matter is tabooed in even the most loosely conducted of lodges , and how men bitterly opposed in religion or politics seem to meet on the floor of a Masonic lodge on a footing that they never compass elsewhere .

Our theories are open to our detractors m the Constitutions and Charges . Our practice is , of course , to some extent a sealed book , but they might at least judge of it by its effects . Has anyone ever found Freemasonry exercising any political or religious action ? And further , are we not able to point to hundreds of

Masons who occupy the highest positions in their own lands , and who at the same time are not only members of the Order , but persistent and earnest workers in it . We need onl y mention the Heir Apparent to the British Throne , Sovereigns and other members of half the Royal houses of Europe , and statesmen and

soldiers without number . And it is very noticeable that in the British Empire , at least , the members of that party professedly most devotedly attached to law and order , are just as prominent workers in Freemasonry as their political opponents . Whatever may be the faults of such men as the Earl of Carnarvon ,

the Earl of Lathom and other leading political notabilities , nobody in his senses would accuse any of these estimable gentlemen of a leaning towards revolution . Surel y even the most suspicious of outsiders might take the fruit of the tree as a fair evidence of its character . And now we come to the

universal , or , as some of our detractors call it , the ' non-religious ' character of Freemasonry . Now , we admit that Freemasonry to-day is universalis ! -, but we emphatically deny that it is nonreligious . On the contrary it emphasises right through the keystone of all religions , belief in a personal Supreme Beingf -who

takes supervision of the affairs of this world , and has revealed His will to man . Such a belief is certainly ' universalist' but within certain limited lines sufficiently defined to secure the first essentials of religious belief . And in practice we Masons know , and every reader of the Masonic newspapers can glean , that in

religious matters the practice of Masonry is far ahead of its declared principles . Most dergy recognise this . In England we question if any class , in proportion to its strength , is so active in Masonry . And here the clerical element is very strong indeed . We made a rough calculation the other day that fully

half of the Anglican clergy of the diocese of Grahamstown , including two Rural Deans , are Masons . The Dean of Capetown is D . D . G . M . of the Western Province , ancl we know of several

leading ministers of Protestant bodies who have lately joined us . Truly if clergy ancl ministers like to utilise the Craft , they will find a most powerful basis ready to hand to help them in doing their own special work . "