Consecration Of The Star Lodge No. 1275.

carried round the lodge three times , in accordance with the custom of circumanibulation in the ancient mysteries : and after the second dedicatory prayer , Bro . Hervey formally constituted the lodge , in the name of the Grand Lodge of England and by command of the Most

Worshipful Grand Master , and the Patriarchal Benediction by Bro . Little closed the ceremony of consecration , which was performed by all the officers concerned in a manner rarely , if ever , surpassed . We must not omit to add that Bro . H . G . Buss ,

P . M ., discharged the duties of Inner Grand with great efficiency , and the importance of having a tried and experienced Mason in such a position at the opening of a new lodge can be readily understood .

The lodge having been resumed in the second degree , Bro . Joseph Smith , P . G . Purst ., was presented for installation , aud that beautiful ceremony was also rendered to perfection by the Grand Secretary . The Wardens named in the warrant were Bros . Edward Palmer and Charles

J . Hogg , Past Graud Steward , but the former was unable to be present . Bros . F . Walters was appointed Secretary , aud H . Keble , S . D ., the other offices being left vacant . Among the visitors present were the

following : —Bros . J . Hervey , G . S ., the Consecrating Master ; W . Ough , G . P ., and J . Brett , A . G . P ., who filled the Wardens' chairs ; W . Farnfield , P . A . G . Sec . ; H y de Clarke , P . D . D . G . M . for Turkey ; W . Watson , P . G . Steward ; J . Dixon ,

M . D ., P . M . : H . G . Buss , P . M . ; R . Wentworth

Little , P . M . ; J . Terry , P . M ., P . G . S . B . Herts ; H . Potter , P . M . ; H . W . Hemsworth , W . M , 190 , J . Trickett , W . M .-elect 11 . 94 ; J . Henderson , P . M . ; H . Massey , P . M ., G 19 ; R . B . Newson , P . G . S . B . Kent ; H . Whittle , S . W ., 871 ; G . Bolton , P . M ., 147 ; D . Hose , W . M ., 73 ; D .

Lines , C 1 U ; H . Bartlett , 1178 . ; T . Trickett , 954 . The Grand Secretary was unanimousl y elected an honorary member , aud the lodge was then closed . A Banquet followed , and it is onl y bare justice to the host to say that it was admirabl y served ,

and comprised everything in season . Several capital speeches were made during the course of the evening b y Bros . J . Smith , the W . M . ( who for the eighth time fills the seat of Solomon ); J . Hervey , G . S . ; Hy de Claikc , XV . Farnfield ,

W . Ough , J . Brett , F . Walters , the respected Secretary , 1 ! . W . Little , < tc , and the eilective recitations of Bro . Sinih , ( not the W . M . ) who accompanied , himself on the harmonium , added to the charm of a very pleasant evening .

Papers On Masonry.

PAPERS ON MASONRY .

Bv A LEWIS . XXT . IL—MASONRY AND POLITICS . "Thy killed . nn isan everlasting kingdom , ami thy dominion cndurcih throughout all genera lions . ' '—Psalm cxlv . l'i . "Having spoken this she only said to her oflicers , 'Tubachins , » pin . n-ea , ' an * * * sirait lliev uesired us not to take it amiss if the Queen did not invite us to dine with her ; l ' oi * .-lie

never eat anything at dinner but some categories , jecsbot . s cninins , diminns , abstractions , h . ii-boi * iiis , cliclciuins , sei-ontl intentions , i-arradoths antitheses , metempsychoses , transcendent prolcpsies , and such other light food . Thin they look us into a lillie closet , lined through with alarums , where we wore treated ( iod knows how . " I ' ADI'I . AIS ( Pantngrucl ,

Book v . ch . 2 o ) . It has been mule a charge against me , and by high authorities in Masonry , that 1 import somewli . it too much politics into this series of papers . Il is perfectly competent for gentlemen to hold what opinions they please , but I must firmly and respectfully

respond to the charge made as to this political tone assumed by me . It is not alone a question whether Frci masonry is political : it is a question , further , what the true meaning of polities may be . Referring to Liddell and Scott ' s Lexicon , I find

the following definitions : —IIoAis , a city , TTOXIS aKpn = uK / io-roAis , a citadel , the right ol citizenship ; ¦ j roAiTtitt , the relation of a citizen to tbe State ; iro \ iTn ,, a freeman , a statesman , transformed into Eolite ( learned ) cuurteousie , courtesy , and human indness . How , I will ask , can any Mason , with these fuels

before lis , lie otherwise than p ilitical 1 Tlie object of the aggregation of individual * into a nationality is lniitu d defence and alliance— i e tnliin . ition to uphold right agaimt wrong , and a viiidici'iou of the sacred name of justice . Plotters meet no mercy * ithe hands of real stitesiuen ; the noble spirit of Patriotism is uplield by the lances of the I ' ruo . Though war be a sad necessity , the profession oi *

Papers On Masonry.

arms remains honourable , and whether our battlefields are pitched in the arenas of Science , of real Religion , or of Truth , the obligation remains upon us of speaking truth and shaming the Devil . This is the enduring Kingdom spoken of by the Psalmist ; this thought inspired the Salique Law , and renders

significant the singular dinner of Queen Whims . Whether we build an acropolis , a temple , or a nationality , we are bound by laws identical . The polity we desire is mutual security and confidence ; the freedom we fight for is the maintenance of the Might . No brother is exempt from a share in the

burthen , nor wi'l any real labourer skulk , or any true soldier of the Blazing Star be found malingering . Whatever we possess of an everlasting nature is founded upon our individual efforts . Nature presents us the materials in rich variety—it is our duty

to so raise up to Heaven iu gratitude a structure where we can in spirit and iu truth give hearty thanks to T . G . A . O . T . U . Every man has his part to perform in this most excellent labour , and healthy emulation carries us onward in the due performance of the sacred task . To the bands of

some trusty disciple the torch of the Pauetheiiaic Games is entrusted , but not to him alone—it is the universal property of mankind . With Bro . Johann Wolfgang von GoeMie , we may exclaim , " More Light I" cr mournfully mutter with the much misunderstood Byron , "My soul is dark ! " The

nefastous torch of a Harriett Beecher Stowe cannot mephitically extinguish the li g ht of the glorious bard of Newstead . One qualification of society exists as Firmness , and that can only be attained by good government . Good government depends upon enlightenment . Masonry , in the

sense of its remote founders , meant tbis last , and thus it is useless to raise the cry that Masonry is non-political . Were it not political , of what moment would it be that crowned heads should swell the columns of Masonry ? It is founded upon kingship , but that kingship is intellectual ; it is , though ,

Conservative , militant , for the sake of the Good , and throughout the ages of its endurance has appealed to the heart and the large motives which guide the real leaders of society . Unfortunately people think so sordidly , rely so much on . mere money , that their senses have become dulled to the advantages of a

chivalrous light for the Heal and Absolute . I have hitherto been silent as to tliehi gber grades in Masonry ; the time is fas * , approaching when I shall be obliged to discuss their merits ami uses . Their chief value consists in their militant strength , and iu the confidence inspired by their universality .

" The light of the body is the eye ; if therefore thine eye be single , thy whole body shall be lull of light . " This singleness ofthe Eye is what 1 so strenuously contend for , and by the simplicity of which I conjure Masons to abandon the false principle that Masonry is non-political .

Wherever Freedom has been accomplished , it has been accomplished I . y the gradual progress of . Masonr ., and institutions akin to it or having similar aims . Such a revolution is real , bloodless , and permanent . Let any one recur to the historical ' ¦ Ineoiilideiie . ia " of . Minus , and ihey will see that the great rising

was promoted , as the Italian devolution of ( iuisepp'i Garibaldi—by Masonic influences . " Tira-dentts , *' Da Cost ' , Gonzaga , Amlrade , Jose Alves . Maciel , and others , wore freemasons , and by their gallantry , for which they sacrificed their lives and fortunes , secured tbe happiness and freedom of tbe Brazil . In

an age like our own , wheu competition is substituted for emulation , and a race for gold esteemed more glorious than a race for intellectual distinction , . Masonry must be combative , political , ami outspoken . It is inherent in the very nature of things . But I would not go so far as to say that this

political character is inconsistent with peace—it is to iv nder the kingdom of T . G . A . O . T . l ) . an everlasting Kingdom , that I advise Queen Whims further to feed upon her taneilill " / Lip-doodle "—while men , not automat ' , continue to labour at the

construction of the Acropolis of Glory and Human Happiness , "a temple not made with bands . " 1 therefore say in this sense Masonry is political , and so may it continue to Le . CIIYPTONY . MIJS .

11 IB Br . ooi ) Puitii * n * n . — Old Dr . Jacob Townsend ' s . S . iisaparill . i . Other Medical Testimony . — In speaking nt Ihi ! " Dloiul I'urilier , " "Id Dr . Jacob Townscnd ' s Karsiparilla , <* . C . Kernolt , il l ) ., I .. S . A . I . oiid ., s . iys : — " I strongly recommend it in cutaneous tt ' sum . 's ami all impurities of the blood . " March 1 M , 1 SUIJ . —Iu a letter to the propiiewrs , . lime , li , ISti ' . l , Dr . Irvine , of Ivvine ' s-town , savs : — ' I have

been in the habit of orderingvour Sarsaparilla for inv patients with the best results . Scud me six < purts and six mammoth bottles . " For all skin diseases , for purifying tlio sy-tc f mercurial poisons , and building up the brokmi constitution il is the only safe and certain remedy . —Iu Dottles * Js . fit , Is .,

• I . i Od , 7 s . «•! ., Its . Hold by all Druggists . I'illsanil Oinlment each in lloxis . Is . Hd ., 2 s . ' . Id ., 4 s . lot . Testimonials nho from the Hon . the Dean of l . ismore j ( lenera * WMIiiiiu ( Jilbcit , of Ihe Indian Army ; ordered also by Apolh varies Hall , London Can'ion—( Jet the red and blue wrappers , Willi thu Old Doctor ' s head in thu centre . No other > , euiiine .

Lodgli Torphichen-Kilwinning, No. 13, Bathgate.

LODGli TORPHICHEN-KILWINNING , No . 13 , BATHGATE .

By BED . D . MURRAY LYON , A . M ., Masonic University of Kentucky , U . S . ; Hon .

Corresponding Member of the Union of German Freemasons , and of the Rosicrncian Society of England , ; one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodge of Scotland ; P . G . S . W . Ayrshire ; Hon . Fdlow of the London Literary Union ; author of the " History of Mother Kilwinning , "

etc ., etc . In . presenting the second of those interesting "Specimens from a Masonic Quarry" to whicb our talented and industrious friend and brother , W . James Hughan , has of late been treating the readers of THK FREEMASON , he invites our aid in

the further preparation of block No . 13 . Although at present busy enough in our own " quarry , " it would ill become us to ask Bro . Hughan to rest contented \\ ith an apology for declining the honour of being a co-worker with him in this particular instance . "

Torphichen-Kilwinuing , Bathgate , " stands No . 13 on tho roll of the Grand Lodge—its original number was 16 , —and is there represented as having been instituted in 1728 . 1707 is given by some , as the supposed date of its erection ; but the brethren , Fellow-Crafts and Apprentices , who

were engaged in its resuscitation , in 1 * 28-9 ascribed a " very ancient date" to that event , and claimed direct descent from the Lodge of Kilwinning The exact date of its erection cannot now be fixed ; for the Kilwinning records

are silent upon this point . It appears , however , to have ori g inally belonged to Torphichen , from which village it in all probability took its name , and not from Lord Torphichen , any more than the Lodge of Kilmarnock could be said to have derived its name from the Jacobite Earl who

was its first Master . Tho practice of naming Lodges in honour of private individuals has , except in a few instances , never been adopted by the Scotch . Of the 32 lodges in the province from which wc write , only one , that of " Blair , Dairy , " bears the name of a brother t ^ the late

Colonel Blair of Blair , whom its originators delighted to honour ) . There is , we think , no good reason for supposing that the Lodge of Torphichen ever had any c ¦ nnection with tho Knights of St . John other than its members

would , as operative masons , contract with those who chose to employ them . It is too lato ia tho day to expect implicit belief in the fables with which the history of Freemasonry was wont to be embellished .

It was in May , 1729 , that a communication of Mother Kilwinning was held speciall y to treat with a deputation of brethren from Linlithgowshire charged with obtaimn" from Kilwinning o o o the recognition ofthe Lodge of Torphichen as a branch of the Mother Lodge—a petition to that

effect having some months previously been forwarded to Kilwinning . As that document is a gem in its way—showing as it does the hi gh repute in which the Lodge of Kilwinning was held out of Ayrshire . and at the same time onli ghteniiiir us as to the mutual benefits that were

expected to flow from a favourable consideration of its prayer—we shall here reproduce it from our notes on Mother Kilwinning : — " Kast Caller , Deer . 12 , 1723 . " The which day , we tlie uudersiib .-ciiljing Masons of the Lodge of Tarphichen , iu the sherill * .

dooni of Linlithgow , having met for our selves and for the remanent members of our brotherhood , and Taken to our serious coiisideralione the great loss we have sustained aud are still at through the neglect of our ancient Order formerly maintained in ( he honourable society of our ( . ' raft and a ' nt . Considering Also

that we can do nothing till such time we shall obtain authority and power to our Constitution from the honourable fraternity and society of the ancient Lodge of Kilwinning , of whom we acknowledge our selves lo hold all our rights and priviledges . Therefor with all reverence and submission we hereby

comlinssionut and delcgat tlnio ol ' ouer number - - - - of onr number trustie in onr name , with full power to I real , with the honourable president and remanent worthy members of the Society and Brotherhood of Ihe ancient Lodge of Kilwinning , that he may grant

us a power of eonslitutioiie and acting in our Society nuclei * you in all things , to the recovering and maintaining of good order and suppressing immoralities mid liccnciim . iiie . is in our constittitione , and hereby acknowled ging our selves uneapable for the time to be iidvantagious to you our honourable supcriours , yet