Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

. PAGE THE BRETT TESTIMONIAL DINNER ... 73 and 74 ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES ... ' ... 74 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 75 Provincial 75 ailcl 76

Scotland 7 6 Foreign 76 ROYAL ARCHMetropolitan 76 and 77 Provincial ... ... ... ... ... 77 Scotland 77 MARK MASONRY 77

CONSECRATION OF THE FINSBURY PARK LODGE ... 77 A MASONIC SONG 77 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 7 S ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 78 A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ... 7 S and 79 MULTUM IN PARVO 79 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE So BRO . J ACOB NORTON AND THE PROVINCIAL

GRAND MASTER OF AMERICA So and Si PEACE Si LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY Si MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK S 2

The Brett Testimonial Dinner.

THE BRETT TESTIMONIAL DINNER .

Every one lias heard of the maxim Palmam qui meruit fcrat , and every Freemason will concur in the opinion that to few brethren will the saying more justly apply than to Bro . James Brett , in whose honour one hundred and thirty prominent members of the Craft , assembled

together at tlie Cannon-street Hotel , on Monday last . Some months ago the Masonic friends of this estimable brother felt that the time had arrived to recognise the able services which he has rendered to his brother Masons , as a preceptor in the various ceremonies of the Order .

A committee was therefore formed , of which Bro . W . R . Woodman , M . D ., P . M . 66 , and Z . 33 , was Chairman ; and Bro . H . G . Buss , P . M . 27 , P . Z . 177 , Treasurer ; Bros . R . Wentworth Little , P . M . and P . Z . 975 , and R . | Tanner , P . M ., 177 , being the Hon . Secretaries , and at a

subsequent period , Bro . D . R . Still , J . D ., 1293 , was added to the secretarial staff . The result of their exertions will be found recorded below , and it is therefore unnecessary to dwell upon it here , but a few remarks as to the singularly distinguished

Masonic career of Bro . Brett , will doubtless be acceptable to our readers . Bro . James Brett , was initiated in the Domatic Lodge , No . 177 , on the nth September , 1854 , and attained the position of W . M . in 1858 . He was exalted in the Domatic Chapter on the 25 th March

in the latter year , and was installed as M . E . Z in March , 1 S 6 3 , Since that period more especially he has been a star in the Order , we may instance his exertions as the founder and first Z . of the Rose of Denmark Chapter , No . 975 , as a founder of the Victoria

Chapter , No . 1056 , and , more recently , the Prudent Brethren Chapter , No . 145 . But it is his peculiar position as a teacher and exemplar of Freemasonry that Bro . Brett ' s services have been most valuable and important . We may almost say—and few have had better

opportunities of judging—that he has inaugurated a new era in Royal Arch Masonry , as its ritual and principles are now well understood and acknowledged mainly through Comp . Brett ' s untiring exertions . By establishing tlie Metropolitan Lodge of Instruction for the Craft degrees—a

seminary which enjoys a reputation second only to that of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement . Bro . Brett has shown his zeal for the Order in general , but in the formation and successful development of the Metropolitan Chapter of Instruction he has evinced more than zeal ; he has brought rare ability and

wondrous aptitude to the task of really making Royal Arch Masons , who were hitherto only nominal members of the Order of the H . R . A . Last year a just tribute of respect was paid to his merits when the Grand Master appointed Bro . Brett an Officer of Grand Lodge , and doubtless this year lie will be promoted to the

The Brett Testimonial Dinner.

position of Grand Pursuivant . It was in honour of this kind and good Mason that the brethren met together on Monday , and a more felicitous gathering it was never our good fortune to attend . The chair was occupied by Bro . W . Carpenter , P . M . and P . Z . 177 , who was supported on his

right by the guest of tlie evening , Bro . Brett , and on his left by Bro . R . Wentworth Little , Prov . G . Sec , Middlesex ; R . Tanner , P . M . 177 ; G . Kenning , S . W . 192 and 1293 ; D . R . Still , Hon . Sec . ; A . A . Pendlebury , 1056 ; & c , & c . After grace had been said , the chairman proposed ,

in succession , " The Queen and the Craft , " " The Earl of Zetland , Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons , " " The Prince of Wales , Past Grand Master of Masons , and the rest of the Royal Family , " and " The Earl de Grey and Ripon , Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Grand

Officers , " all of which were most cordially responded to by the brethren . The Honorary Secretary , Bro . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , then read several communications received from absent brethren , assigning the cause of their absence , and expressing their hearty approval

of the object of the gathering . The CHAIRMAN then again rose , and said : As ingenuousness is one of the Masonic virtues , I shall not conceal from you the fact , that although I feci what may , I hope , be deemed a pardonable degree of pride and gratification in having been named to

preside on this occasion , I am not guilty of any affectation in saying that I would gladly have forgone this feeling to have escaped from a position which I feel myself totally unable to occupy as it should bc occupied . ( No , no ) . I am here , however , and leaving those who have placed me here to bear the

responsibility of so doing , I must do the best I can , trusting to your forbearance and indulgence , and your acceptance of the will for the deed . ( Hear , hear ) . It has been said by our great poet , that some are born great , some achieve greatness , and some have greatness thrust upon them . I know in

which of these three categories I would choose to be found , supposing that I could get a place in either . But if it is not permitted to one to achieve greatness , the gratification next to that which must result from such an achievement , is the gratification of being permitted to take part in doing honour to

one who has . ( Hear , hear ) . It is this secondary gratification that is mine this evening . Wc have met together to do honour to one who has achieved greatness , not in the field , not in the senate , not in the regions of abstract , mental , or physical science ; but if his achievements have been unattended by the

dangers ofthe field , unaccompanied by the applause of the senate , and unconnected with the profound investigations and experiments ofthe philosopherif they will not ensure a place for his name on that scroll of fame which is exhibited in the face of all men , and in all times—they have been effected in a

circle so wide that its members are spread over the four quarters of the globe , and which has its records and journals so widely circulated and read , that one need not hesitate to say , there is hardly a spot in the civilised world where the name of James Brett is not known , respected , and admired . (

Applause ) . I have placed our Bro . Brett amongst men who have achieved greatness , and I am sure that none here will object to that , whatever the outside world , which knows not Masonry , might do . ( Hear , hear . ) What is greatness ? Is it confined to the exclusive circles of arms , of statecraft , of the fine

arts , or of science , or of literature ? No . Are none great but those who walk in the sunshine of royal or of popular favour , or whose names are written , or arc to bc written on the page of history ? Oh , yes , greatness is pre-eminence in anything ( H ear , hear ) . There are great rogues —( laughter , )—and great fools , and great bores—I hope I may

not be found one to-night —( Laughter , and ' No , no ) , " as there is great honesty , great wisdom , and great intelligence , I place our Bro . Brett amongst the great men who arc also the good and the useful ; amongst those who have achieved an estimable greatness ; and you will not object to that —( cheers ) for on what account is it that wc honour him ? Not

for his genial temper , his social amiability , nor his good looks —( laughter)—although these arc all good qualities , and are duly appreciated by us . Nor do wc honour him for his acquirements in Masonry , great as they arc . Wc know that a man may have all knowledge , but that without charity he is nothing .

By chanty , 1 do not mean almsgiving , though that may bc included . I mean that quality which is kind , gentle , easy to be entreated ; not puffed up or rendered arrogant by the possession of knowledge , but while assiduous in acquiring it , equally assiduous in imparting it to others —( cheers)—that is true

charity . The man who acquires anything , however largely , and keeps it himself , is not a great man , but a selfish and so far a contemptible one . We do not admire and honour the miser brooding over his gold . ( Cheers . ) Well , then , I say it is not for his acquirements , his large knowledge of Masonry , that

The Brett Testimonial Dinner.

I call him great ; but for his readiness to communicate all he has acquired to others . It is as one who has acquired knowledge largely , and who freely communicates it t 6 others , striving to make them as learned as himself , that we honour him as one who has achieved greatness . ( Cheers . ) Does

not a man's labour in this field of usefulness entitle him to be esteemed great ? What is Freemasonry ? A system of morality . What are its distinguishing characteristics ? " Brotherly love , relief , and truth . " And is not the teacher and promulgator of such principles and practices , teaching and inculcating

them indefatigably and without fee or reward , to be honoured as a great man ? And such a man is Bro . Brett . ( Cheers ) . Most of you—probably all of youknow him , and you can , many of you , better estimate the extent and value of his labours than I can . For my own part , I look upon what I may call the high

vocation of Bro . Brett—that is , ofanunfeedpreceptor in Masonry—as one of the most honourable vocations to which a man can devote the time he may find after discharging , his ordinary duties ; duties which he owes to himself , to his family , and to society at large . ( Cheers . ) To be of any utility ,

Masonry must be studied , and its principles be understood and cherished , and acted upon . ( Hear , hear ) . The Mason who is satisfied with passing through the several degrees , which he may do without any mental labour , or is satisfied with acquiring as much knowledge as will carry him through

the respective offices of his lodge , doing nothing for others but in a course of routine , is no Mason , in the proper sense of the word . ( Hear , hear ) . He is a mere cumberer of the ground . He fails to fulfil the requirements of his obligations , unless , indeed , he has good cause to show for his

abstentation . He must do good and communicatehe must achieve something for others as well as for himself , or he is no true Mason . In the school of Pythagoras , it was a point of discipline , that if , among the akonstikoi , or practitioners , there wers any who grew weary of studying to be useful , and

returned to an idle life , they were to regard them as dead , and upon their departing they were to perform their obsequies , and raise them tombs , with inscriptions to warn others of the like mortality , and quicken them to lift their souls above that wretched state . I fear wc should have many

such monuments in Masonry if each of us had what we really merit . ( Hear ) . But it is not for me to deliver a homily on the duties and obligations of Masonry , though I may bc permitted to suggest to my younger brethren , that Masonry opens to them a career of usefulness—one in which , if they

make a good start and persevere to the end , they may not only do great good to others , but reap similar honours to those we have this evening met to confer , if they do not always take the same form . ( Cheers ) . Brethren , if we look abroad into the world , especially into some parts of the

worldand not far from our own homes—there are moments in which we feel wearied similarly to the amiable Cowper , when he wrote that touching passage—Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness , Some boundless contiguity of shade ,

Where rumour of oppression and deceit Might never reach me more ! Nevertheless , that is not the part of a wise man , whose feelings arc held under the control of his judgment . A life of seclusion and inaction is not for us . Wc arc sent into this world to work—if

not to earn our bread hy the sweat of our brow , at least to cat our bread in the sweat of our brow . Our destiny is to work , not for ourselves only , but for others . And what a world would this become if wc helped and served each other as we should do ; if "brotherly love , relief and truth , " universally

prevailed ! The desert and the waste would be glad , and the wilderness rejoice and flourish , like the rose it would bloom abundantly ; and exult with joy and rejoicing . ( Hear , hear ) . Let us do each his part towards effecting so glorious a transformation , by following those who , like our Brother

Brett , not only exemplify in their conduct the true principles of Masonry , but labour heartily and effectively to impress this duty on the minds of others , by leading them into the arcana of the Craft , and developing and instructing their symbolic significance . ( Cheers ) .

" Lives of great men all remind us Wc may make our lives sublime , And departing , leave behind us , Footprints in the sands of time . " Footprints which perhaps another , Sailing o ' er life s troubled main ,

Some forlorn ami shipwrecked brother , Seeing , shall take heart again . " Art is long , and time is fleeting , And our hearts though strong and brave , Still , like muffled drums , are beating Funeral marches to the grave .

" Let us , then , be up and doing , With a heart for any fate ; Still achieving , still pursuing , Learn to labour , and to-wait , "