Scotland.

as Senior Warden , and Bro . J . Peters , No . 153 , as Junior Warden . There was a large attendance . The P . G . Master stated that he had had an interview with the authorities in Glasgow , and had ascertained the arrangements so far as made for the Prince of Wales ' s visit . The Masonic brethren would assemble very likely at Bumbank , where they would be joined by Grand Lodge . A

procession would be formed , and the brethren would proceed by way of the Lord Provost ' s house , when , after the Grand Lodge had passed , they would be followed by His Royal Hig hness and the Princess of Wales and Royal party . It would be impossible to accommodate the whole Masonic body at the place of ceremony in George Square , and as the general public would have largely to share in

the proceeding , it had been decided that on the arrival of the brethren at the square tbay wonld open up on either side of the road and along the route , and n-main there till after the ceremony , when the Royal party would return to the Lord Provost's house by the way they came . He suggested that a committee be appointed to communicate with the Grand Lodge , and also with the Provincial

Grand Lodge of Glasgow , and thereafter on learning the definite arrangements send information to all the lodges in the province . This was agreed to , and the following appointed : —Bros . Col . Campbell , M . P ., James Caldwell , James Gilmour , J , Peters , A . Macpherson , ex-Bailie Fisher , A . Wallace , and " J . Carswell . Bro . H . S . Edmunds suggested that if the Masons were to line the sides

of the streets it was but fair that the senior lodges should proceed first in the procession instead of as in the usual way , and thus they would bc arranged , as they were entitled to be , nearest the place of ceremony . It was agreed to forward this suggestion to the Grand Lodge . GLASGOW . —Caledonian Chapter of Unity CNo . 2 ?) .-Theannual convocation ofthis flourishinghiedilv

recommended , and well-conducted chapter took place in their chapter-rooms , 213 , Buchanan-street , on Monday evening , the 25 th ult . The minutes of previous meetings were read and approved of . Comp . Wheeler , First Principal of the chapter , then read a letter received from . Mr . Wm . Johnstone , purser on board the steam ship Nova Scotian , accompanied by a newspaper from

Baltimore , announcing the sad death of Comp . William Strathern , a member of the chapter , in the following teims -. — " Died among strangers , —Chief engineer Wm . Strathern , of the steam ship Nova Scctian , who was severely injured on Wednesday last , whilst the steamer was making a landing at Locust Point , died at the Maryland University Hospital on

Sunday afternoon from the effects of his injuries . The body was taken in charge [ by Messrs . Hughes and Co ., undertakers , by direction of the agents of the company , Messrs . Schumacher and Co . The officers and seamen of the vessel , to the number of nearly one hundred , and the members of Warren Lodge , No . 51 , of A . F . and A . M . Worshipful Masler Aldershaw , assembled at the Masonic

Temple , and paid the last sad rites to the memory of the deceased . The body was encased in a handsome rosewood casket , heavily ornamented with silver , and profusely covered with flowers , the gift of the officers of the ship . The services at the grave were impressive , and conducted by the Rev . Mr . Gardner , of the Castren Avenue M . C . Church . The procession formed [ and proceeded to

Baltimore Cemetery , where the final interment took place , with Masonic honours . Mr . Strathern was a native of Glasgow , aged 37 years , and has been married only 6 months . He was held in high estimation by the officers of the Nova Scotian , and was one of the most faithful and efficient officers in the service of the company . The mournful occurrence has cast a gloom ovtr the officers and men of the

vessel and his numerous friends in Baltimore , and much sympathy is expressed for his young wife , who is yet in ignorance of her husband ' s sad death in a foreign land . "Baltimore " American and Commercial Advertiser , " Aug . 1 Gth , 1876 . —Comp . Jas . Bailout ( who had known Comp . Strathern personally ) and others gave expression to their feelings , and spoke in high praise of the honesty and

integrity of the deceased companion . Comp . Wheeler then read a letter which he had prepared for the Worshipful Master , officers , and members of the Warren Lodge , No . 51 , Baltimore , thanking them for their kindness shown in performing the last sad rites to the memory of their deceased fiiend and companion , Wm . Strathern . Thereafter a brother , who had received the Mark Desrrec at last

meeting , received the degrees of Most Excellent Master and Holy Royal Arch respectively . The election and installation of office-bearers were then proceeded with , when they were duly installed into their respective offices by Comp . James Duthie , Z . of Chapter No . 67 , in a very able and efficient manner , viz .: Comps . George Wm . Wheeler , P-Z . ; George McDonald , P . P . Z . ; John Kinnaird , P . H . ;

Walter Gunn , P . J . ; James Balfour , | Scribe E . ; Thos . Yule , N . ; John Bannerman , Treas . ; William Hay , ist Soj . ; Frederick Jenkinson , 2 nd Soj . ; David Broadfoot , Third Soj . ; Angus Nicholson , Capt . of the Vails ; Wm . Jamieson , Janitor : and at the same time and place the office-bearers of Glasgow , Chapter No . 50 , were installed "y the same companion . A Board of Installed Principals

was afterwards formed , when the Principals belonging to the above chapters were installed and placed into their respective chairs , and saluted by the companions present . 1 hereafter the companions of both chapters adjourned to 'he banqueting room , Comp . Wheeler in the chair , when Th ' " ' . ancl ser > timent prevailed , and the last toast . 'he evening brought this happy and harmonious mtetln g to a close .

At the quarterly court of the Scottish Corpojation held at the hall in Crane-court , Sir John Heron axwell , Bart ., presiding , it was announced that Bro . the warquis of Hartington , R . W . P . G . M . Derbyshire , would ree f " i e clla ' the occasion of the 212 th anniversary Nomn ' b ' WU 1 takC pIaCe "" ' Andrew ' s Day >

The Cant Of Masonry.

THE CANT OF MASONRY .

The following appeared in the " Hampshire Post " of the 22 nd ult .: — A new Masonic lodge has been dedicated at Havant during the present week . The fact itself would scarcely be worth recording were it not for the other fact , that the lawyers , tailors , butchers , and tradesmen of all sorts , who usurp the

name of " Masons , " and who are vain enough to think that they inherit in some mysterious way the honour and glory of having erected Westminster Abbey , Solomon ' s Temple , the Pyramids of Egypt , and the Tower of Babel , appear to think that they have really achieved something extraordinary . Havant is not a large place , and we suspect that the new lodge , about which so much fuss has

been made , would not strike one by its size . It contains , as we are given to understand , a lodge-room , a retiringroom for the use of the W . M ., a committee-room , a Tyler ' s room , and the usual offices , by which is probably implied a supper-room , a kitchen , and a wine cellar . Though limited in extent , we trust the construction of the new lodge does fuller justice to the architectural genius of the

Craft than some lodges nearer home . Above all things , we hope that it is water-tight ; for notwithstanding their adoration of the ancient Craftsmen , the Havant Masons fought shy when the foundation stone was laid , because of the wetness of the day , and even the Provincial Grand Master himself was obliged to confess that laying a foundation stone in a pouring rain was by no means an

agreeable occupation . Many of the edifices of former times r Mr . Beach remarked , were erected on the principles of wisdom , strength , and beauty , and it was not possible to emulate them in the present day . This is scarcely flattering to the skill of modern Masons ; butif Mr . Beach ' s notions of architecture are derived from the style and character of the buildings in which the Order are accustomed to

assemble , he is to be pardoned . On the principle that those who drive fat oxen should themselves be fat , it might naturally be supposed that the descendants of the old builders would have been enthusiastic patrons of art , and that they would have held their periodical | symposia in lodges of perfect design and workmanship . With all their pseudo reverence for the ancient Craftsmen , however , we know that

their lodges have no arclnccctural pretensions whatever ; —that while some few of them combine composite columns of a nameless order with stucco walls , the vast majority hide themselves away down blind alleys and narrow " culs de sac . " If , then , the fraternity refuse to follow their exemplars in a matter of placing one stone above another what ground is there for thinking that they will copy

them in the supposed divine consecration of their lives ? The idea that architecture reached its culmination in the days of cathedral building is an assumption merely , and one which can only have the effect of making the self , styled " Masons " entertain false and humiliating notions of the capabilities of modern art , The great difficulty now is to raise money , not alone for the service of God ,

but tor any transcendent purpose whatsoever . Were the Freemasons to raise the funds , we doubt not there are many men among us capable of erecting a cathedral . It is not the want of skill which leads the Methodist to rest content with his barn-like chapel , or which prompts the Nonconformist to build places of worship without curve or embellishment of any kind . When the old

cathedrals were built , land and labour were cheap , and they were raised by a Church which represented the undivided religious aspirations of the country . Despairing ot being able to emulate the noble edifices of former days , Mr . Beach advised the brethren to emulate the virtues of their ancestors , and to endeavour to carry out those principles which actuated them to execute the

noble works which they achieved . The advice would be admirable if we were only convinced that the principles referred to were excellent . The virtues of our ancestors is a very wide term ; and if the truth were known we should find that the motives of the old stonecutters did not greatly differ from those of other men . Our ancestors were for the most part unmitigated ruffians . The

artificer who assisted one day in creating the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault was probably engaged the next in shaping a dungeon . The noble baron who enriched an abbey , or gave away his land to the Church , did so in many cases as a sort of expiation for an offence for which he richly deserved hanging . If Mr . Beach means that the men who built our cathedrals and minsters did so as a

practical act of worship , and that by such works they are to be judged , we think him mistaken ; at the same time , any truth which his remarks contain must equally apply to the painter , or the singer , or the composer . And they must apply with still greater force to the monks . Indeed , it is utterly impossible to justify this exclusive admiration of the old Masons . In the language of Josh Billings ,

The more we think on it , the more we can't tell . Az nearaz we kan recolek now , we think we don't kno . Much mite be ced both ways , and neether wa be rite . " There can be little doubt that the first members of the fraternity were really Masons , and we should not be surprised to learn that the Order was originally a Trade Union , the purpose of which was to reduce the hours of labour and

to practice benevolence in the way of demanding higher wages . Surely if exemplars were wanted it is not necessary to go farther than Christ and His disciples and apostles . This brings us to the consideration : Are Christianity and Masonry consonant in principle ? Mr . Henry Ford , who occupied a conspicuous position at the dedication ol

the Havant Lodge , says they are . If this be true , then , surely Masonry is superfluous . If they are not so , then Masonry must be mischievous . Mr . Henry Ford is a great master of rhodomontade , and in his defence of Masonry he appears to have surpassed himself . He expounded Scripture , lamented the depravity of modern Masons , put himself forward as the apostle of sobriety , and performed a number of other astonishing transformations , Some of

The Cant Of Masonry.

hisVobservations are particularly suggestive . "They undertook , " he remarked , " the solemn obligations when they entered the walls of a Freemasons' lodge , not to forget that they had obligations to live sober , steady lives , and to present themselves an example to their fellow creatures and their fellow Masons . " We are afraid Freemasons have often treacherous memories . Possibly ,

however , Mr . Ford wished it to be implied that it was only within their lodges that the obligation held good . Certainly , it is not easy to distinguish by the superior morality cf the lives of Masons the efficacy of the " Divine principles . " In fact , in this sense , as in other senses , the pretensions of Masonry are all moonshine . The Order , however . has its political as well as its religious and moral aspect ;

and here , again , we find the deliverances of Mr . Ford by no means satisfactory . Mr . Ford is , as many may know , a Conservative , and just in the same way that he finds the principles of Masonry founded upon the Sacred Volume ( which is open at all lodge meetings ) , he appears to find the principles of Conservatism embodied in Masonry . Ergo , there is a direct connection bttween Conservatism

and Christ . This is the case , we must observe , in England . In less privileged countries it is possible that Masonry may be found on the side of Revolution . Hence it is probable , that , had Mr . Ford been a Spaniard or a subject of the Pope , he would have blossomed into a full-flavoured demagogue by virtue of the true Masonic principle which he holds . Masonry , he observed , " taught loyalty to the

throne , it taught them to obey the institutions of the country in which they lived , to reverence the laws , and to respect the obligations imposed upon them . " But as it is sometimes a virtue in a citizen to resist and depose a Prince , and to defy , instead of reverence , the laws of his country , Mr . Ford was careful to state that his optimism was qualified by the circumstance that thev were liviusr

under free institutions and in a free country . In other countries , in which to preach Conservatism would be tantamount to asking the toad to be content with his position under the harrow , the Freemasons , it appears , are subjected to great persecutions ., and Mr Ford does not wonder at it . Thus it happens that the political principles of Masonry are different in different countries . In Turkey , for

instance , a P . P . G . S . W . might be justified in tracing the " Divine principles " to the Koran , and impressing upon the assembled brethren the solemn duty of abstaining from wine , resisting the brutal ferocity of the institutions under which they lived , and of encompassing by all possible means the deposition of another Sultan . The Havant Lodge , it will be observed , was dedicated to

" Masonry , Virtue , and Universal Benevolence . " Masonry , in fact , was placed before both virtue and benevolence , and it is notorious that many Masons attach more importan ? e to their Masonry than to all the virtues in the world . Of all the shams of the Order the assumption of Universal Benevolence is the greatest and most preposterous . What the mysteries of the fraternity consist in we know not , but

we imagine that the brethren must never hear the words without putting their tongues in their cheeks . To talk of mysteries , and signs , and tokens in connection with a principle of such transcendent importance to humanity seems to us little short of criminal I Were a body of men to possess a panacea for the evils of society , so far from keeping the secret close tyled and known only to the

initiated , they would preach it from the house-tops . This duty would be , in fact , so imperative and morall y binding upon them , and the reason why the Masons do not reveal their secret is no doubt that they have none to reveal . And this surmise is farther strengthened by the fact , which is in itself not insignificant , that the tenour of their lives—as compared with those of men who have

only the principles of Christianity to guide them—affords no proof that the practice of their great moral prescription produces any visible result . On public grounds , indeed , it is not hard to believe that the operations of Masonry as a secret society are actually pernicious . Even its vaunted virtues give a colourable support to the conviction . It is related that when the passage of the Alle was forced by

Platoff at the head of his Cossacks , the French officer owed his life to the fortunate incident of his giving the Russian Commander the Freemason's sign just as his lance was about to pierce his breast . The circumstance is recorded by Sir Robert Wilson , but was disputed by the " Edinburgh Review , " whereupon Sir Archibald Alison remarked that a similar act saved the life of his

father-inlaw , Lieutenant Colonel Tyler , during the American War . In both these cases , we apprehend , everything turns upon the point whether the deaths of the officers were necessary , and the clemency exercised will appear virtuous or vicious in accordance as we answer the question . If their deaths were not necessary , killing them would have been murder ; if necessary , the duty of a soldier was clear . In

either case favouritism was culpable ; and were it extensively followed a State would be driven to the alternative of making the practice of Masonry a treasonable offence in time of war . The duty of a soldier to his country is not unlike that of a constable to the community , and the one who protects a dangerous enemy because of his Craft , is just as culpable as the other who allows a

thief to escape for the same reason . It is this favouritism which makes modern Masonry the power which it is . To a professional man his Craft is sometimes worth more than his skill in the way of custom . To a candidate for 311 office , for a contract , or for anything else which a public body can give , it means influence and votes . And

as wc are far from thinking that all virtue , skill , ability , and conscience are associated with the mystic tie , it is possible that the practice of Masonry may sometimes shut out virtue , skill , ability , and conscience from all public employment and offices of trust , whereby the commu . iuly at large undoubtedly suffers .

The manager of the " Graphic " . has received a telegram stating that two medals have been awarded toHhat paper ' , for its exhibit at the Philadelphia Exhibition .