Kosicrucian Society.

lo throw about Freemasonry a flavour of something more than those qualities which usually pervade the eternal Craft . Most of us who are members of the Order have had considerable experience of Freemasonry ; the bulk of the members of this College have passed through the chairs of Craft lodges , and many of us have threaded our way through other branches of the art , so that we may truly be said to be a body of tried Masons , whose only

object , I ttust , in meeting as Rosicrucians is to advance the study of the history of Masonry and archreology , to promote in every possible way the intelligent consideration of our symbolism , to bring as far as possible the light of truth to bear upon our legends , and to make a daily progress in Masonic knowledge . These are , indeed , the objects for which our Society was formed . It grew—our own revived modern version—out of the desire of a few

prominent Masonic students and workers to find something more in Masonry than mere rifualism and moral teaching , for excellent as are these and perfect as they are underour own teaching , yet in these progressive days we require something more than this . In the earlier days of Freemasonry , as we understand it , there was comparatively little learning . Men were satisfied with small things , and doubtless our ceremonies were regarded as of exceeding great value ,

simply as a medium of instruction . And I should be the last to suggest that even now they have decreased in value . The world is probably no better than it was in the days of Anderson and Desaguliers , and men stand in need of morality just as much at the end of the nineteenth century as they did at the beginning of the eighteenth century . Still , 1 think most thoughtful Masons will agree with me that there is great scope for more than the bare repetition

of a regular code of teaching , no matter how excellent it may be . And about a society , such as that of Freemasonry , there is such abundance of material for investigation , and such a wide platform for the explorations of brethren of literary tendencies , that I do not think a society whose objects are the elucidation of the traditions and obscure origin of the ; ancient brotherhood needs any apologist . It has been , I am aware , alleged against us that by the

assumption 01 the title of Rosicrucians we have attempted to draw around us a glamour of mystery which does not of right belong to us , and that the Rosicrucian Society is simply another attempt to add to the already somewhat inordinate array of Masonic degrees . I do not think that any such accusation can fairly stand good . Attempts had been made from lime to time to form a Masonic Archaeological Society , but without any permanent success , and it

seemed to the minds of some earnest brethren , more than one of whom is , alas ! numbered with the great majority , that a better prospect of stability might be secured if a little circle could be drawn together by something more powerful than an annual subscription , and that a sort of inner bond might be formed whereby individuals might be linked together by an invisible chain which should have more powerful bands than those of any ordinary society .

Then came the question of the form that this Fraternitas-m-Fraternitate should take , and , as usual in Masonic minds , a legend or historical event was sought for which could furnish the desired outline . The Rosicrucian Society seemed to present the requisite features , for , as far as we now know , this singular medi .-cval brotherhood was banded together for the purpose of investigating the hidden mysteries of nature and science . It met but seldom . It

was said to have drawn its members from every quarter of the globe , and its ostensible objects were the amelioration of the condition of mankind and the judicious communication of knowledge . Thus it has come to pass that we are met here as one section of the Rosicrucian Society of England , for the purpose of the intercommunication of knowledge , the sharing of any information we may possess , the propounding of any Masonic , archaeological , or

scientific problems , and mutual assistance in the solution of the numerous " cruces" that beset the Masonic investigator on every hand . I should , perhaps , be almost justified in the assertion that W 2 resemble the ancient Rosicrucians in another special and peculiar point . We know that in the later days , at any rate , of that renowed Society its members became the subject of much derision , in consequence of the common statement that

they were in search of the Philosopher ' s Stone—a material which when found would , it was believed , prove the source of enormous wealth and power . Now , we are in search of our Philosopher's Stone ; but we do not expect if we discover it to be rewarded by either the mines of Golconda or the power of a Xerxes . The grand secret of which we are in search is the true origin and h ' story of Freemasonry , a mystery that has so far rebuked the wisdom of some of the

most learned and talented men of the past century , and which is even now apparently a very long distance from disclosure . Masonic libraries teem with histories of Freemasonry . Nearly two centuries ago brethren began to publish so-called histories , and for ages before that period there existed MS . accounts of the descent of the ancient Craft from the earliest periods of antiquity , even from the father of the human race himself . These writings , known

as the " Old Charges and Constitutions , " are most curious and interesting , and may be read by anybody , thanks to the published collection of them , edited by our learned Bro . Hughan , himself a member of our Rosicrucian Order . Before the formation of the Grand Lodge in London in 1717 nothing more seems to have existed in the way of written knowledge than these ancient parchment rolls , which themselves bear abundant internal evidence of having

been copied by more or less learned scribes from still more ancient documents . After the organisation in London at this date numerous printed woiks began to make their appearance , some issued by authority , and others purporting to be betrayals and exposures of the mysteries of the Order , and so , right through the years until this present year of grace iSSO , we have a series of histories of Freemasonry most of them closely resembling one another ,

, until we arrive at thc climax of Masonic literary activity , and have before us the noble work of Bro . R . F . Gould , the fifth volume of whose magnificent history is in the hands of most of us . Bro . Gould ' s Hislory is , as far as actual information is concerned , absolutely exhaustive , lt is in itself an entire Masonic library , and is by far the rr . of . t able work on the Craft that has yet made its appearance . But Bro . Gould

has dealt with his whole subject , I think , somewhat too much from his own professional standpoint . It is the business of the legal mind to reduce to its lowest ebb of credibility every statement that is arrayed before it , and to reject as unworthy of credence everything that cannot bc absolutely or irrefragably proved by facts or figures . Now , although this is a very proper frame of mind in which to

Kosicrucian Society.

approach a mere question of right and wrong , or to regard the positive details of contemporaryoccurrences and circumstances , yet 1 scarcely think it is the best spirit in which to attack the problem of the early and unwritten history of Freemasonry . Some sceptics would reply to this suggestion that Freemasonry has no history , that it was manufactured in London in the second decade of the eighteenth century , and that there was nothing of the kind before that

date . 1 his assertion is frequently made ; but it will not hold good for many reasons . In the first place , there is the diary of Ashmole taking us nearly a century further back , when the Warrington Lodge of Speculative Masons was in working existence . Then we have the minute books of the early Scotch lodges , whose story has been so well told by Bro . Lyon , the Grand Secretary of Scotland ; and , lastly , we have the early minutes of the lodge at York , where it is

plain that our brethren were at work before the year 1700 . The suggestion that the year 1717 saw the first establishment of Freemasonry is clearly wrong , and yet before that time we have little to show in this country but the most scattered and fragmentary evidence . To my mind this is in itself ample proof that it is not to written testimony that we must look for traces of our early history . Where , then , it will be asked , are we to seek ? I know of nowhere more

likely than in the monuments of antiquity , and the symbolic forms of them that are found in great abundance over the world ' s surface . But before we look to these we must divest ourselves of any notion that we shall find many of the symbols that are now so commonly used by us , and are so well known to every well-instructed member of our Craft . 1 am satiifiei that Freemasonry as it now exists resembles in only avery small degree , and in a few leading principles ,

the Freemasonry of by-gone ages . I am quite prepared to grant that the revival of 1717 saw a complete remodelling of the Order . I believe with Bro . Carson , of Ohio , that uptothat period Freemasonry had been essentially Christian in its teachings , and that what was known of it in England had been received from the Guilds of continental builders , which had previously died out through a process of natural decay and lack of useful objects for existence . It was , I

suspect , these Guilds who learned a certain portion of the ancient Christian mysteries from their employers of the Benedictine Order , and adapted them to their own purposes . It was they who added to those mysteries the Hiramic Legend and the symbolism of the Solomonic Temple , and converted into a stone worker ' s allegory what had previously been an exposition of the story of the fall of mankind , the sacrificial redemption of the human race , and

the doctrine of the Resurrection . The true mysteries had been handed down to thc Benedictines , and preserved by them , from the early Christians , and before that date had been kept secret and inviolate from the foundation of the world by successive patriarchs and prophets , whose "schools , " as they are termed in the Old Testament writings , were merely what we should term in our own phraseology lodges , or colleges , for the instruction of

chosen initiates . It I am asked how all this is to be proved , I frankly admit that it cannot be demonstrated by any possible means ; but , in default of any better or more probable thesis , I offer it for your consideration , feeling myself that the theory contains all the germs of possibility , and even probability . As I have said , in these days people wish to see everything reduced to an equation , and unless a statement will stand the test of an algebraical

demonstration , it is rejected as unworthy of examination . This is all very well where actual facts and records are available ; but in our case we stand on different ground . VVe look back , straining our eyes into the dim mists of antiquity , and we see nothing but faint shadows looming and flitting indistinctl y in the twilight of the past . Out of this material we must form our theories at present . VVe have yet the existing monuments of the past to refer to ; but I shall not venture

on that ground to-day , but reserve some remarks on tlieir symbolism for a future occasion . In the meantime I should like you to think over what I have said . In the space of the few remarks I have made it has been impossible to do more than put the theory to you in the barest outline ; but you will see that the gist of the idea is that " Free and Accepted Masonry" is nothing more nor less than an adaptation , to meet modern cosmopolitan ideas , of the

ancient Christian mysteries , and that these in their turn were a continuation of the first revealed religion of mankind . Many of you will probably not agree with me , will see impossiblities and insurmountable objections to such a theory ; but , at all events , you will all give me credit for an honest and earnest desire to arouse a genuine anxiety to probe every imaginable crevice whence we may extract some ray of light to illumine the present clouded condition of the

sources of our ancient history . Some discussion took place , in which Fratres Rev . VV . C . LUKIS and J . R . DoitB took part , and a vote of thanks was passed to Fra . T . B . Whytehead for his address . The M . C . was dissolved , and the fratres adjourned to the supper room , where they partook of high tea , under the presidency of the Celebrant , and subsequently passed a pleasant evening .

New South Wales.

New South Wales .

MASONIC PRESENTATION TO LORD CARRINGTON . With the combined artistic talent of Uro . G . Ralph and lhe ingenuity of Messrs . ISoore and Long , the brethren of the District Grand Lodge prepared a very handsome address for presentation to Bro . Lord Carrington on his assumption of his vice-regal position . Bro . Lord Carrington

intimated that the recei p t of such a token of esteem from his brethren of the mystic tie would afford him much pleasure . 'The address is as follows : " 'To his excellency the Right Honourable Lord Carringliin . a member of her Majesty ' s Most Honourable Privy Council , Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the colony ( if New South Wales .---May it please your excellency : The members of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of the

I '' rec anil Accepted Masons of New South Wales , acting under the warrant from the Grand Lodge of England , Ireland , and Scotland , fraternally desire to greet your excellency on your arrival as lhe administrator and representative of her Most Gracious Majesty the Oueen . and to offer you run * sincere and united congratulations 011 your appointment to the Governorship of this , the colony of New South VVales ; and , though situated as wc are many thousands of miles from thc clear mother land , the same

New South Wales.

sentiment of loyalty and unswerving allegiance to the British Crown will ever be found among the brethren of the mystic tie in the land in which you have been called upon to sojourn . We have thc honour to subscribe with every feeling of loyal respect on behalf of our respective Constitutions , your excellency ' s obedient servants , John Williams , District Grand Master presiding over sixty-three lodges under the Constitution of England ; and G . Sedgwick , District Grand

Master presiding oyer forty-six lodges under the Constitution of Scotland . " ' 'The presentation took place on the iSth December last in the drawing-room of Government House . 'The deputation was composed of tlie following breihren : Bros . ) . Williams , D . G . M . ( E . C ); VY . G . Sedgwick , D . G . M . ( S " . C ); A . 11 . Brav , D . G . Sec . ( E . G . ); F . A . Wright , D . D . G . M . ( E . C . I ; Allx-it Chapman , D . G . I . W . ( S . C . ) ¦ F . B . Davidson , D . D .

G . M . ( S . C ); | ohnM'Lachlan . D . G . S . W . ( S . C ) : ( .. Gabriel , l ) . G . S . VY . ( E . ' C . ) : aiidW . H . Tulloh , D . G . J . VV . ( E . C ) The deputation was received by his excellency , who was attired in the regalia of a Past Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of England . 'The address having been read by Bro . Bray and presented by Bro . Williams , Lord CARKINUTOX said : 'To District Grand Master

\\ illiams . presiding oyer sixty-three lodges under the English Constitution , and to District Grand Master Sedgwick , presiding oyer forty-three lodges under the Scottish Constitution , and members of the Ancient and Accepted . Masons of Neu- South Wales . Gentlemen and brothers , —I have to return to you mv most cordial thanks for your kind address of welcome . As a brother Mason , as well as Governor of this colony , 1 beg to acknowledge , with pride and

satisfaction , the expression ol your loyalty which you have delivered to me as the representative of her Majesty the Oueen . I sincerely trust that the same deep allegiance may ever continue to exist between the brethren in this country and the British Throne , and that under the guidance of the Great Architect of the Universe , New South VVales anil Great Britain may ever continue to preserve the most cordial

relations . In conclusion , I can assure you that my earnest endeavours will ever be directed to further the welfare of our ancient and most honourable Craft . Bro . Williams on behalf of the English , Bro . Sedgwick on behalf of the Scottish , and Bro . Gallagher on behalf of the Irish Constitutions , each tendered the congratulations of their respective Constitutions , and tbe deputation retired .

Annual Installation Dinner Of The Prince Of Wales Lodge, No. 222, Bray.

ANNUAL INSTALLATION DINNER OF THE PRINCE OF WALES LODGE , No . 222 , BRAY .

The annual installation dinner of the above lodge took place at the Gresham Hotel , Dublin , on Tuesday evening , the iGth inst ., when over So brethren sat down at table , Bro . John VVeldon , VV . M ., presided , the vice-chair being

occupied by Bro . James Adam , S . W . 'The usual loyal toasts were duly honoured . 'The toast of " The G . M . elect of Ireland , the Duke of Abercorn , " was responded to by Bro . HODGES , G . J . W . ; and that of "The Prov . G . M ., and Officers of VVicklow and Wexford " ( 222 being in that province ) was responded to by the R . W . Col . COLCLOUGH , Deputy Prov . G . M .

lhe G . J . D . proposed "The Health of the W . M ., " and the PROV . D . G . M . proposed "The Health of the P . M . 's of 222 , " coupling the names of Bros . Francis Henry Wayland , the I . P . M ., and Francis Usher , Prov . G . S . D ., Ihe senior P . M ., with the toast ; after which the VV . M ., on behalf of the lodge , presented Bro . Wayland , Sec , with a beautiful P . M . ' s jewel , bearing suitable inscription , as a token of regard from his fellow members , and their

appreciation of the manner in whicli he discharged the duties of VV . M . during his year of office . Mention was made of the fact that Lodge 222 is now one of the most prosperous in Ireland , numbering over 50 active members . The toast of "The Visiting Brethren" was responded to by , amongst others , Bros . Williams , Prov . G . J . W . Armagh ; Hamilton , Prov . G . Sec . Armagh ; Robert

Keating Clay , Prov . G . J . W . VVicklow and Wexford ; Greene , Prov . G . S . D . Meath ; S . VV . Gordon , Prov . G . D . of C Meath ; Alderman Harris , J . P . ; James Dobson , J . P . ; Carlton , Langren , , and Cuthbert . Thc comfort of the brethren was attentively looked after by Bros . Russell , J . VV ., and M . Laren , P . M ., D . C . A large

sum was subscribed towards the Masonic Charities , and handed over to Bro . John Simpson , the Treasurer . The enjoyment of the evening was greatly enhanced by the singing of Bros . J . F . Jones , E . Oldham , C . Kelly , j . VVeldon , Ed . Johnstone , and other talented musical brethren .

Bro. G. Taylor's Masonic Collection.

BRO . G . TAYLOR'S MASONIC COLLECTION .

On Monday , March 1 st , a meeting will be held of the Lechmere Lodge , Xo . 1 S 74 , in the Masonic Hall , Kidderminster , at 6 . 30 p . m . prompt , when Bro . Hughan has kindly undertaken to leave his quiet study at Torquay to describe the main features of the collection , which will be on view

during that and the two following days . On Tuesday , March 2 nd , at 7 p . m . prompt , the same well-known Masonic arch : uologis ; t will deliver a lecture , entitled , "Connecting Links between Ancient and Modern Freemasonry ; " but not in open lodge ; and , on Wednesday , March 3 rd , there will be a Masonic Mall at the 'Town ll . ill . Tickets , to view the collection , may lie had of tlie

VV . M . and Secretary of either the Hope and Charity Lodge , Xo . 377 , or the Lechmere Lodge , No . 1 S 74 , or of the Honorary Secretaries , Bros . VV . li . Awdry and I ) . Mackay , Bank-buildings , Kidderminster . On Monday eve there will be a supper in the Assembl y Room , for which provision will be made for those only who

obtain the necessary tickets on or before to-day ( Friday ) , and on 'Tuesday refreshments may be obtained during the evening . Many visitors are expected , a rich treat being in store for all the fortunate participants , and , we feel assured , thai the Province of Worcestershire will be well represented on the occasion .

ttros . I . ord Henniker , thc Karl of Jersey , Viscount Ebrington , M . P ., and Baron Dimsdale , M . P ., were members of the deputation which waited on the President of the Board of Trade , on Friday last , on the subject of railway rates .