China.

recruits flocked to our standards , aud now we are hero in our own building , which will almost certainly be free from debt in less than three years , with a list of members increasing so rapidly that it is only by bard work that we can keep pace with the aspirations of our initiates ; and with an income of more than £ 2000 per annum , independently of what wo receive in the shape of rent for the spare rooms in the building . Certainly , this is a most satisfactory state of affairs , and we owe it all to

Bro . Thorne . I will add no more , but have very great pleasure in presenting you , Bro . Thorne , with this P . M . ' s jewel , iu token of our esteem and regard for you as a brother , and also of our gratitude for the many valuable services rendered by you to the lodge , and I trust you may long be spared to render further assistance to the causa of Freemasonry here or elsewhere . " At the termination of this speech the W . M . fastened the P . M . 's jewel ( an article of exquisite workmanship ) on Bro . Thome's

breast , amid the evident , though partially repressed , plaudits of all present . Bro . THORNE , to whom tbe foregoing address was tbe first intimation of the jewel , so long since voted to him , having been received at Shanghai , immediately afterwards rose , and in a tone of deep feeling , said— " W . M and brethren , I can assure you , I was never more taken by surprise in my life than on the present occasion . Whilst thanking you all for the

magnificent jewel which my esteemed friend and brother , tbe immediate P . M ., has just fastened on my breast , I would remark that If I have ever deserved the title of an earnest Mason , it is because I have always considered there is something more in the Craft than is apparent to the superficial observer , and that fidelity to its tenets guides a brother ' s thoughts to the study of that hook ( pointing to a volume of the Sacred Law ) , and

that , whilst steadily progressing in Masonry , he is none the less qualifying himself for the civil duties of life . With regard to the state of Masonic anarchy that we were fast drifting into a few years since , and which has been so vividly depicted , I ¦ g ladly embrace this public opportunity of stating that to the cordial and energetic co-operation of the various officebearers , during my occupancy of the ch . iir , is mainly clue the commendation which , with no stinted hand , our worthy P . M . has just dispensed — and by Bro . Dunlop ' s own brilliant mastership , so rccentlv tecmiuated , the

keystone in our arch of success , if I may so express it , has heeii fixed with a solidity , presaging , as far as human foresight can penetrate , a lengthened period of immunity from the perillous consequences of a second breakdown . W . M . and brethren , once more accept my thanks for your kind present , which it will be my pride to wear as an enduring remembrance of the many happy moments I have spent in Masonic pursuits at Shanghai . " Bro . Thorne , whose reply was listened to in breathless silence

and with the respect his words at all times command , then resumed bis seat , amid the whispered congratulations of the lodge . The following resolution , proposed for incorporation with the bye-laws , was then read and unanimously agreed to : —¦ " That so soon as the loan advanced by the brethren , for tho erection of the building , has been paid off , the lodge shall annually remit to England tbe sum of £ 150 sterling , to be apportioned to the following charities ( provided always that the funds of the

lodge are in a sufficiently flourishing condition . to admit of it ) , say to the Royal Freemasons' School of female children , £ 50 ; Royal Masonic Institution for the Sons of indigent and deceased Freemasons , £ 50 ; Royal Benevolent 'Institution for aged Freemasons and their Widows , £ 50 . The W . M . then referred to a communication of interest recently received from Bro . W . MedhurstH . M . Consulancl noticing that brother to be present

, , , , requested that he would read his letter to the lodge , which was complied with , to the following effect , "j'l'o P . Underwood , Esq ., AV . M ., Northern Lodge of China : —Shanghai , 4 th March . 1863 . Dear Sir and Brother , —I have ventured to address you on a subject which I have often thought of since I became aware that the brethren of Shanghai bad succeeded in securing a permanent building for a lodge-roomand which I think is one of

, no small importance to tbe fraternity , involving as it does the respectability of the institution in the eyes of the Chinese . I refer to the choice of a suitable Chinese name for the Masonic Hall . Every public building and private establishment in the place has a designation of some kind , which is found not only useful but indispensable to meet the necessities of business ancl general intercourse . Most of these names are what the Chinese

call 'lucky , ' having been given by compradores or servants interested in the respectability and ' good-look-see" of their employers . A few , however , have not been so happily selected , tbe sound of the foreign name , having simply been represented

by native characters , and the Chinese asked to do this , have by a fatuity peculiar to the race , chosen words of not the most appropriate or agreeable meanings . Instances exist , where the precaution of giving a name to a house has not been taken , and in such , the Chinese , who have rare occasions to refer to the place , have dubbed it with some designation of their own , probably derived from some notable or ridiculous peculiarity either ofthe establishment cr its owners . In the case ofthe lodge the

natives at present know it , I believe , hy the name that tbe library has , but I have not the slightest doubt that ere long the mysterious character of the ceremonies conducted within it will reach their inquisitive eyes and ears , and their diseased imaginations will infallibly hit upon a solution of the mysteries , by no means complimentary to tbe fraternity , and the lodgeroom will be named accordingly . You will at once see , how detrimental this result may prove to the name of Masonry in

this port and even beyond it , more especially if you call to mind the fact that , to a Chinese , everything that is vile and horrible is associated with tho very idea of a secret society . If I have carried you with me thus fur , the next question is , what the lodge had better be called , on this head I crave your patient perusal of tbe following remarks . Mencius , who , as you know , was a Chinese sage of ancient clays , happened , curiously

enough , in the course of his teachings to'touch on the subject of tbe compass and square , and to demonstrate therefrom to his disciples that , as those instruments were tbe origin of the circle and square , so the good man was the perfect exhibition of the relations of human society : his remark , which will be found iu Dr . Legge ' s excellent translation of Chinese classics , vol . II ., page 168 , was as follows : ' Tbe compass and square produce

perfect circles and squares , by the sages the human relations are perfectly exhibited . ' In consequence , I presume , of this association of ideas , the Chinese terms for compass and square have in the course of ages come to express , order , regularity , propriety , and at this moment the colloquial Chinese equivalent for the sentence 'in a proper manner , ' or , 'in accordance with propriety , ' is'Chao Kway Ku , ' which being interpreted literally means ' on the compass and square . " This employment of the names of two instruments , which are important emblems of the craft , to express a moral characteristic , is curiously coincident

with some of the first principles of Masonry , and it has struck me that the identity may be happily taken advantage of in selecting a suitable name for the Masonic Hall . I propose therefore the Chinese name of ' Kway-Kee-Kaug / meaning ' Compass and Square Hall , ' as the most fitting designation that can be adopted : this title will at once associate the building , and the fraternity who congregate in it , in the minds of the uneducated natives , with all that is riht and orderl and to a Chinese who knows

g y ; anything of his country ' s literature , the name will carry his memory baclc to tbe sacred words I have before referred to , as uttered by the sage , and which , fortunately perhaps , but none the less distinctly , convey so masonic an idea to tbe mind , I beg leave to mention here a fact which strongly corroborates the truth of my impression that tbe mystery connected with a Lodge , unless veiled or explained by a suitable nameis calculated with

, the ignorant and superstitious heathen to lead to conclusions injurious to the fame of masonry . There is a Lodge in Batavia , in which place I spent many years of my life , learning of course , as I have clone here , the language of the country : long before I ever heard of masonry I received impressions inimical to its fame , repeatedly having had the Lodge there pointed out to me as ' Roomah Saltan , ' that is ' the dwelling of Beelzebub , ' by

which it was then , and I dare say still is , known amongst the native population . I may also add , that a simple translation of the word 'fiee mason , ' or ' masonic lodge' into Chinese , would fail to convey any idea beyond that of a ' free bricklayer' or ' stone mason , ' or ' the Lodge of bricklayers . ' The Chinese language possesses no equivalent for ' Mason , ' and hence they call a Stonemason a 'Stone-worker' and a 'bricklayer a ' mud and

, water worker / It would be impossible therefore to express the term ' Mason' alone . I must apologize for the length of this letter , and my best excuse for addressing it to you at all , must be tbe importance of the subject on which it treats . Should the brethren and yourself not view the matter in the same light as I do , I trust you will even then pardon me , in tbe belief that my anxiety for the good of Masonry has prompted my intrusion

of if on your notice . Apologies are also due from me for writing , when , having had the honor of admission into the lodge as a visiting brother , I might , perhaps , with more propriety have mentioned the subject viva voce . I should certainly have adopted the latter course , had I not feared to occupy too much of the