The Proposed Appropriation Of The Property For Masonic Purposes.

By this proposal we shall not only not sacrifice our present Eental of Bacon's Hotel £ 240 „ „ Mr . Lambert ' s workshops ,...... 50 „ „ And the tavern 907 £ 1197

but may fairly require an additional rental from the tavern for the increased accommodation the lessees will have , and thus I save a considerable portion of our income . Appropriating the whole of our property to Masonic purposes , I submit , is unnecessary , and would be unacceptable to the Craft ; as to convenience ,

the new buildings , as I have suggested , can be erected without in any way interfering with the present arrangement until they are completed ; then the tavern can be altered and improved so as to afford increased accommodation in such way as may be thought necessary . The different lodges will of course

dine in the various dining-rooms of the tavern as heretofore , to which , as before stated , there will be ample approaches , or , when necessary , some of the lodges can meet in the tavern as at present . As to the third suggested advantage I submit that my plan gives everything that the Board of General

Purposes in their report stated as necessary , and it is all compact and distinct from , yet connected with , the tavern . Two objections have been urged against this plan , both of which I can answer satisfactorily , to myself at least . Let the Crafb say if the answer is

satisfactory to the whole body . One is , that by this plan we lose both the temple and the hall ; this is urged with great force and earnestness by several brothers , but let us see what use is the temple ? I believe that it is not used six times a year , except as a committee room . Grand Lodge does not meet more than four

times a year ; and three out of the four times , I think it meets in the hall . To be sure , Grand Chapter does meet in the tenrple ; but the Grand Meetings of the hi gh grades are not allowed to enter into such a sacred place ; and so it is , in fact , converted into a

committee room for the Board of Benevolence and the Board of General Purposes . Its disuse as a temple will be an annual saving of expense , for we pay twelve guineas a-year , on a contract , for cleaning the chandeliers ; so that by my proposal , to give it

up to the use ot the lessees of the tavern , when it is altered ancl made into a large dining room , I really render the room remunerative and useful , instead of an expensive , useless apartment . Now as to the Hall . True I propose to give up this

grand apartment to the use of the lessee ( subject of course to conditions to be agreed upon , such as this : the Craft are to use it whenever they require it , on one day ' s notice for example ) , but what at present is

The Proposed Appropriation Of The Property For Masonic Purposes.

the actual use of our hall ? "We , the Masonic body , use it say seven times a year , four festivals and three Grand Lodges ; it is used by the public seventy times more ! Political , charitable , religious meetings a , re held there ; balls , concerts , pigeon-shows , dinners , and suppers , are held there . "Why we actually give . up

nothing . It is not dedicated , as it shoidd be , to Masonic pm'poses , but when our new hall is erected , then none shall enter there but " we who Master Masons are . " All intruders and cowans shall be kept off . "We can remove our paintings and other ornaments to the new hall , and let the public have the use of the present

hall , just as they do at present , and not one iota more . The other objection is that my plan gives such an insignificant part of the property up to Masonic

purposes . Is this so ? To be sure Bro . Jennings' scheme gives twice as much , Bro . S . B . Wilson ' s facade nearly two-thirds more than mine ; but is my space large enough ? I think it is ; it embraces all our requirements , it costs , as I have said , considerably less than either of the other two , and ifc will cover a space

of nearly forty-eight feet wide by one hundred and ninety-six feet depth . The frontage can be made as distinctive as is required . But one great objection I have to Bro . Wilson ' s scheme is , that his facade will cover three-fourths of the entire frontage of the property , a portion of which he proposes to be exclusively

Masonic , ancl another part of which he calls the tavern arrangement , that they are both commingled together and are not distinct .

Kabbalism, Secret Societies , And Masonry.

KABBALISM , SECRET SOCIETIES , AND MASONRY .

( Continued from page . 69 . ) The Gnostic doctrines , denounced by the Apostles , * condemned by the Pathers , soon ceased its false liaison with Christianty , and retired into the more congenial climes of the further East . Then it reappeared in the form of Manicheismin which it adopted the Persian

, doctrine of two antagonistic principles of good and evil . Again , under this new form , disowned by the Church , it found a refuge in the new religion of the conquering prophet of Mecca . In the bosom of this new dispensation , it revels with all the extravagance of Oriental imaginationtill it developed into that of

, which we have lately heard so much , " the great Asian Mystery . " In order to understand this , we must give a slight sketch of the early history of Mohammedanism in the East . Its cradle was steeped in blood , its beginning was wars and dissension . Mo-