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  • Aug. 31, 1889
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  • FREEMASONRY IS A SCIENCE.
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The Freemason, Aug. 31, 1889: Page 2

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    Article MASONIC STATISTICS, NEW ZEALAND. ← Page 2 of 2
    Article FREEMASONRY IS A SCIENCE. Page 1 of 1
Page 2

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Statistics, New Zealand.

lodges ; and Westland , 7 lodges : the Scotch District Grand Lodges are Auckland , 17 lodges ; Canterbury , 9 lodges ; and Otago and Southland , 22 lodges ; while the single Irish Provincial Grand Lodge is in Auckland , and comprises 15 lodges . The six English lodges which have no Provincial

Organisation are situated in the South Island . The subscribing members are thus distributed : 8 5 English lodges , 4265 members ; 4 8 Scotch lodges , 2625 members ; and the 15 Irish lodges , 810 members ; the total for the whole 14 8 lodges being 7700 members , or 52 per lodge ; the average , which is fairly well maintained

under all three Constitutions , being a fraction over 50 for the English , and 54 for the Irish lodges . As regards funds , omitting the six lodges in the Nelson District , which are in direct communication with the Grand Lodge of England , the balances brought forward from 188 7 for the nine District and Provincial

Grand Lodges amounted together to £ 1504 2 s . loci , while the receipts during the year reached £ 16 73 8 s ., the total on the Dr . side being , therefore , £ 3177 ios . iod . The expenditure was as follows : Remitted to Grand Lodges at home £ 297 4 s . 9 d . ; Expended on Benevolence £ 147 14 s . iod . ; Expenditure on

District and Provincial Grand Lodges £ 9 81 18 s . 3 d . ; the balances remaining in hand at the close of 1888 being £ 1750 13 s . In a footnote appended to the table from which we have taken the above particulars the compiler states that having been unable to obtain the balance sheets of the Canterbury and Otago

Provincial Grand Lodges , S . C , " the items of Receipts and Expenditure have been estimated from the corresponding items in the balance sheet of the Auckland Provincial Grand Lodge , S . C , in proportion to the number of the lodges . " We may assume , therefore , that the statement is substantially ,

if not precisely correct . Distributing these figures under their proper heads of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and omitting , as before , the six English lodges in the Nelson district , South Island , we find that , including the balances amounting to £ 659 15 s . 7 d . brought forward from 1887 , the receipts of the

five District Grand Lodges , England , during 1888 , reached £ 157 8 13 s . 4 d ., while , as regards expenditure , the amount remitted home was £ gi 18 s . 4 d . ; the sum spent in benevolence was £ 143 ; and the cost of the five District Grand Lodges was £ 563 us ., the balances remaining in hand at the close of the

year being £ 7 80 4 s . Including balances forward from 188 7 , amounting to £ 774 15 s . 5 c ! ., the three Scotch Provincial Grand Lodges received during 1888 the sum of £ 138 4 3 s . iod ., while they remitted home to the G . Lodge of Scotland £ 14 6 14 s . ud ., their expenditure on benevolence was £ 1 13 s . iod . ; and on their

Provincial Grand Lodges , £ 3 6 4 12 s . 3 d ., leaving balances in hand at the end of the year amounting to £ 871 2 s . iod . The one Irish Provincial Grand Lodge received £ 214 13 s . 8 d ., including balance forward from 188 7 of £ 69 us . iod . It remitted to the Grand Lodge of Ireland £ 58 us . 6 d ., and spent in benevolence

^ 3 is ., and on its own account £ 53 15 s ., the balance at the close of 1888 being £ 99 6 s . 2 d . It comes to this , then , that if we group the 142 lodges in the nine District and Provincial Grand Lodges together , the amount they remit home to their parent Grand Lodges in the United Kingdom averages somewhat

more than £ 2 per lodge , or about ninepencc-halfpenny per subscribing member . If we take the English , Scotch , and Irish groups separately , we find that the 79 English lodges in these live District Grand Lodges remit to England £ gi 18 s . 4 cl . —that is to say between £ 1 3 s . and £ 1 4 s . per lodge , or about fivepence

halfpenny per subscribing member . lhe 4 8 Scotch lodges in their three Provincial Grand Lodges remit to the Grand Lodge of Scotland rather more than £ 3 per lodge , and between 13 d . and I 4 d . per subscribing member ; and the 15 Irish lodges remit somewhat less than £ 4 per lodge , and about is . 5 id . per member .

Thus , as regards the English section of the Craft in New Zealand the honour of belonging to the oldest Grand Lodge in the world , with the attendant advantages in the case of those who fall into distress of being able , if found worthy , to obtain assistance from our Fund of Benevolence , or from our Charitable Institutions ,

costs on an average about 5-id . annually per subscribing member . And yet the promoters of the present movement for establishing a Grand Lodge of New Zealand have the hardihood to talk of the terrible drain on the resources of the Craft in that Colony caused by their heavy remittances to the parent Grand

Lodge in England , and that , too , with assets of which the balances in hand , already stated as amounting to £ 7 80 4 s ., form only a part . We are very much obliged to the Committee which

is taking steps to sever the connection with the Old Country for forwarding to us this important Table , nor are we at all surprised that three out of the five English District Grand Lodges should have issued circulars in opposition to the movement .

BERKELEY HOTEL ( late St . James's ) , i , Berkeley-street , and 77 , Piccadilly , London , W . First-class accommodation for residents , with a restaurant newlyattached for high class luncheons and dinners , at fixed prices and a la carte . — C , DIETTE , Manager . —[ ADVT . ]

Freemasonry Is A Science.

FREEMASONRY IS A SCIENCE .

The statement " Freemasonry is a science , is made times without number in the lodges of this jurisdiction , as well as in all others throughout the world . The statement is certainl y true , but , nevertheless ( we say it with sorrow ) , the apathy shown by a very large part of the Craft towards the study of

Freemasonry would seem to imply that the science consists merel y in the assemblage of brethren in lodges once a month Tor the purpose of witnessing a ceremony well , ill , or indifferentl y performed . There is a great lack of interest in the study of the art , too little enthusiasm manifested in arriving at the truth

concealed under the cover of allegory and symbol , and , we fear , a very general absence of appreciation for Masonic literature . On the last-mentioned point we have something to say , in the hope that our remarks may be productive of good in directing the attention of brethren to a matter well worthy of their

consideration—we mean the establishment of a Masonic library under the care of Grand Lodge . We have said that there is a general lack of interest in Masonic literature in South Australia , and although at the present time this is the case , we are very hopeful that it will not continue , but that as time goes on

readino-Masons will become more numerous , and a knowledge of the works of leading Masonic writers will be as necessary a qualification for the higher offices in our lodges as the ability to perform a ceremony tolerably correctly . We know that in the old country the study of Masonic history and archaeology has undergone a

marvellous change . Until recent years the Craft was absolutel y without a reliable history , Masonic students were few or none , and the literature of the Fraternity consisted almost wholly of a mass of fiction and fable toned with a modicum of truth ; indeed , the writings of that school of Masonic authors of which Dr .

Oliver was the chief were looked upon as containing the authentic history of the Craft , and all that was or could be known of the constitutions and customs of the Craft in past times . Within the last few years , however , Masonic literature has made great strides , chiefly due to the untiring researches of such brethren

as Murray Lyon , Gould , Hughan , Findel , Speth , Woodford , Lane , Sadler , and others , which have removed much of the dark veil that had hitherto enwrapped the past doings of the Craft , and have instilled in many other worthy brethren a desire for further knowledge . Indeed , so esteemed has Masonic literature and

archaeology become in England that four years ago a Masonic Students' Lodge ( The Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 ) was established in London for the sole purpose of fostering and

encouraging them . The lodge is limited to 40 members , and none are admitted to membership without high literary qualifications . It is doing excellent work , and its printed transactions are a storehouse of Masonic learning . As at the outset of its career much

interest was shown by the Craft in the work of the lodge , its founders , to increase its usefulness , instituted an Outer or Correspondence Circle , to which any Master Mason is eligible for election , and this Circle numbers upwards of 470 members . The members of the Correspondence Circle hail from all parts of the

world , and , we are pleased to hear , include five members of the Craft in South Australia . Tho members of the Correspondence Circle have several privileges , the chief of which are the rig ht to receive copies of the printed transactions of the lodge , containing all papers read in the lodge and reports of discussions

held therein , and to obtain at a reduced price reprints of old and valuable books and documents published by the lodge . We trust that the increased interest manifested in the study of Masonry in England may quickly spread to this colony , and we think there can be no better means of hastening it than by the building

up of a Masonic library . A small nucleus of a library already exists in the Grand Secretary ' s office , but no systematic arrangements have been made for adding to it nor for facilitating reference to it . We understand that a brother has given notice to move in Grand Lodge for an annual appropriation for the

purchase of books , and we sincerely hope that the motion will meet with the hearty approval of Grand Lodge . At present it would not be desirable to incur any heavy expenditure , but it is very important that a beginning should be made at once of what is an indispensable adjunct of Grand Lodge . Not a year passes

without the publication of valuable Masonic works by individual brethren , or by the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , and as the editions issued usually consist of a limited number of copies , unless they are secured when they first see the light the Grand Lodge will a ' a later date be either unable to obtain them at all or only to do so at a vastly enhanced price . We hope that before long tn Craft will possess a well-appointed library and reading room , t > that event should not be waited for before steps are taken to ac to our very poor stock of Masonic literature . —South Austral ' Freemason .

Bro . Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and the Staff of the British Embassy at . 1 ch ^ have presented the St . James's Club with a complete and magnificent st | iti , oi Persian armour .

“The Freemason: 1889-08-31, Page 2” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 30 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fvl/issues/fvl_31081889/page/2/.
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Title Category Page
UNITED GRAND LODGE. Article 1
THE ESTIMATED COST OF A GRAND LODGE FOR NEW ZEALAND. Article 1
MASONIC STATISTICS, NEW ZEALAND. Article 1
FREEMASONRY IS A SCIENCE. Article 2
DISTRICT GRAND LODGE ETHICS. Article 3
UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND. Article 3
PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF CORNWALL. Article 3
CENTENARY OF THE FRIENDSHIP LODGE, No. 277, OLDHAM. Article 5
MASONIC VETERAN ASSOCIATION. Article 5
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To Correspondents. Article 7
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Masonic Notes. Article 7
Correspondence. Article 8
REVIEWS Article 8
Masonic Notes and Queries. Article 8
REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS. Article 9
Royal Arch. Article 9
Lodges and Chapters of Instruction. Article 9
Scotland. Article 9
MASONIC EXCURSION. Article 10
BAKEWELL NEW TOWN HALL. Article 10
BOARD OF BENEVOLENCE. Article 10
Obituary. Article 10
OLD CUSTOMS. Article 10
MUSIC IN THE LODGES. Article 10
GRAND LODGE REPRESENTATIVES. Article 10
CHINESE MASONS. Article 11
CANADA'S MASONIC CENTENNIAL. Article 11
THE THEATRES. Article 11
MASONIC AND GENERAL TIDINGS Article 12
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Statistics, New Zealand.

lodges ; and Westland , 7 lodges : the Scotch District Grand Lodges are Auckland , 17 lodges ; Canterbury , 9 lodges ; and Otago and Southland , 22 lodges ; while the single Irish Provincial Grand Lodge is in Auckland , and comprises 15 lodges . The six English lodges which have no Provincial

Organisation are situated in the South Island . The subscribing members are thus distributed : 8 5 English lodges , 4265 members ; 4 8 Scotch lodges , 2625 members ; and the 15 Irish lodges , 810 members ; the total for the whole 14 8 lodges being 7700 members , or 52 per lodge ; the average , which is fairly well maintained

under all three Constitutions , being a fraction over 50 for the English , and 54 for the Irish lodges . As regards funds , omitting the six lodges in the Nelson District , which are in direct communication with the Grand Lodge of England , the balances brought forward from 188 7 for the nine District and Provincial

Grand Lodges amounted together to £ 1504 2 s . loci , while the receipts during the year reached £ 16 73 8 s ., the total on the Dr . side being , therefore , £ 3177 ios . iod . The expenditure was as follows : Remitted to Grand Lodges at home £ 297 4 s . 9 d . ; Expended on Benevolence £ 147 14 s . iod . ; Expenditure on

District and Provincial Grand Lodges £ 9 81 18 s . 3 d . ; the balances remaining in hand at the close of 1888 being £ 1750 13 s . In a footnote appended to the table from which we have taken the above particulars the compiler states that having been unable to obtain the balance sheets of the Canterbury and Otago

Provincial Grand Lodges , S . C , " the items of Receipts and Expenditure have been estimated from the corresponding items in the balance sheet of the Auckland Provincial Grand Lodge , S . C , in proportion to the number of the lodges . " We may assume , therefore , that the statement is substantially ,

if not precisely correct . Distributing these figures under their proper heads of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and omitting , as before , the six English lodges in the Nelson district , South Island , we find that , including the balances amounting to £ 659 15 s . 7 d . brought forward from 1887 , the receipts of the

five District Grand Lodges , England , during 1888 , reached £ 157 8 13 s . 4 d ., while , as regards expenditure , the amount remitted home was £ gi 18 s . 4 d . ; the sum spent in benevolence was £ 143 ; and the cost of the five District Grand Lodges was £ 563 us ., the balances remaining in hand at the close of the

year being £ 7 80 4 s . Including balances forward from 188 7 , amounting to £ 774 15 s . 5 c ! ., the three Scotch Provincial Grand Lodges received during 1888 the sum of £ 138 4 3 s . iod ., while they remitted home to the G . Lodge of Scotland £ 14 6 14 s . ud ., their expenditure on benevolence was £ 1 13 s . iod . ; and on their

Provincial Grand Lodges , £ 3 6 4 12 s . 3 d ., leaving balances in hand at the end of the year amounting to £ 871 2 s . iod . The one Irish Provincial Grand Lodge received £ 214 13 s . 8 d ., including balance forward from 188 7 of £ 69 us . iod . It remitted to the Grand Lodge of Ireland £ 58 us . 6 d ., and spent in benevolence

^ 3 is ., and on its own account £ 53 15 s ., the balance at the close of 1888 being £ 99 6 s . 2 d . It comes to this , then , that if we group the 142 lodges in the nine District and Provincial Grand Lodges together , the amount they remit home to their parent Grand Lodges in the United Kingdom averages somewhat

more than £ 2 per lodge , or about ninepencc-halfpenny per subscribing member . If we take the English , Scotch , and Irish groups separately , we find that the 79 English lodges in these live District Grand Lodges remit to England £ gi 18 s . 4 cl . —that is to say between £ 1 3 s . and £ 1 4 s . per lodge , or about fivepence

halfpenny per subscribing member . lhe 4 8 Scotch lodges in their three Provincial Grand Lodges remit to the Grand Lodge of Scotland rather more than £ 3 per lodge , and between 13 d . and I 4 d . per subscribing member ; and the 15 Irish lodges remit somewhat less than £ 4 per lodge , and about is . 5 id . per member .

Thus , as regards the English section of the Craft in New Zealand the honour of belonging to the oldest Grand Lodge in the world , with the attendant advantages in the case of those who fall into distress of being able , if found worthy , to obtain assistance from our Fund of Benevolence , or from our Charitable Institutions ,

costs on an average about 5-id . annually per subscribing member . And yet the promoters of the present movement for establishing a Grand Lodge of New Zealand have the hardihood to talk of the terrible drain on the resources of the Craft in that Colony caused by their heavy remittances to the parent Grand

Lodge in England , and that , too , with assets of which the balances in hand , already stated as amounting to £ 7 80 4 s ., form only a part . We are very much obliged to the Committee which

is taking steps to sever the connection with the Old Country for forwarding to us this important Table , nor are we at all surprised that three out of the five English District Grand Lodges should have issued circulars in opposition to the movement .

BERKELEY HOTEL ( late St . James's ) , i , Berkeley-street , and 77 , Piccadilly , London , W . First-class accommodation for residents , with a restaurant newlyattached for high class luncheons and dinners , at fixed prices and a la carte . — C , DIETTE , Manager . —[ ADVT . ]

Freemasonry Is A Science.

FREEMASONRY IS A SCIENCE .

The statement " Freemasonry is a science , is made times without number in the lodges of this jurisdiction , as well as in all others throughout the world . The statement is certainl y true , but , nevertheless ( we say it with sorrow ) , the apathy shown by a very large part of the Craft towards the study of

Freemasonry would seem to imply that the science consists merel y in the assemblage of brethren in lodges once a month Tor the purpose of witnessing a ceremony well , ill , or indifferentl y performed . There is a great lack of interest in the study of the art , too little enthusiasm manifested in arriving at the truth

concealed under the cover of allegory and symbol , and , we fear , a very general absence of appreciation for Masonic literature . On the last-mentioned point we have something to say , in the hope that our remarks may be productive of good in directing the attention of brethren to a matter well worthy of their

consideration—we mean the establishment of a Masonic library under the care of Grand Lodge . We have said that there is a general lack of interest in Masonic literature in South Australia , and although at the present time this is the case , we are very hopeful that it will not continue , but that as time goes on

readino-Masons will become more numerous , and a knowledge of the works of leading Masonic writers will be as necessary a qualification for the higher offices in our lodges as the ability to perform a ceremony tolerably correctly . We know that in the old country the study of Masonic history and archaeology has undergone a

marvellous change . Until recent years the Craft was absolutel y without a reliable history , Masonic students were few or none , and the literature of the Fraternity consisted almost wholly of a mass of fiction and fable toned with a modicum of truth ; indeed , the writings of that school of Masonic authors of which Dr .

Oliver was the chief were looked upon as containing the authentic history of the Craft , and all that was or could be known of the constitutions and customs of the Craft in past times . Within the last few years , however , Masonic literature has made great strides , chiefly due to the untiring researches of such brethren

as Murray Lyon , Gould , Hughan , Findel , Speth , Woodford , Lane , Sadler , and others , which have removed much of the dark veil that had hitherto enwrapped the past doings of the Craft , and have instilled in many other worthy brethren a desire for further knowledge . Indeed , so esteemed has Masonic literature and

archaeology become in England that four years ago a Masonic Students' Lodge ( The Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 ) was established in London for the sole purpose of fostering and

encouraging them . The lodge is limited to 40 members , and none are admitted to membership without high literary qualifications . It is doing excellent work , and its printed transactions are a storehouse of Masonic learning . As at the outset of its career much

interest was shown by the Craft in the work of the lodge , its founders , to increase its usefulness , instituted an Outer or Correspondence Circle , to which any Master Mason is eligible for election , and this Circle numbers upwards of 470 members . The members of the Correspondence Circle hail from all parts of the

world , and , we are pleased to hear , include five members of the Craft in South Australia . Tho members of the Correspondence Circle have several privileges , the chief of which are the rig ht to receive copies of the printed transactions of the lodge , containing all papers read in the lodge and reports of discussions

held therein , and to obtain at a reduced price reprints of old and valuable books and documents published by the lodge . We trust that the increased interest manifested in the study of Masonry in England may quickly spread to this colony , and we think there can be no better means of hastening it than by the building

up of a Masonic library . A small nucleus of a library already exists in the Grand Secretary ' s office , but no systematic arrangements have been made for adding to it nor for facilitating reference to it . We understand that a brother has given notice to move in Grand Lodge for an annual appropriation for the

purchase of books , and we sincerely hope that the motion will meet with the hearty approval of Grand Lodge . At present it would not be desirable to incur any heavy expenditure , but it is very important that a beginning should be made at once of what is an indispensable adjunct of Grand Lodge . Not a year passes

without the publication of valuable Masonic works by individual brethren , or by the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , and as the editions issued usually consist of a limited number of copies , unless they are secured when they first see the light the Grand Lodge will a ' a later date be either unable to obtain them at all or only to do so at a vastly enhanced price . We hope that before long tn Craft will possess a well-appointed library and reading room , t > that event should not be waited for before steps are taken to ac to our very poor stock of Masonic literature . —South Austral ' Freemason .

Bro . Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and the Staff of the British Embassy at . 1 ch ^ have presented the St . James's Club with a complete and magnificent st | iti , oi Persian armour .

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