The First Masonic Meeting In Damascus.

that time it ivas proposed that the Masonic brethren of Damascus should be invited ere longto come together in the same apartments to become acquainted with each other , to take the preliminary steps should prudence dictate , for the

organisation of a lodge in that city , and to hear some remarks of a Masonic nature from myself . This meeting was accomplished a few days later , and it is this that forms the basis of the present article to which , I must confess , there has been a

most unconscionable preface tacked on . It ivas Tuesday , April 7 , 1868 , that this "first ^ asonic meeting in Damascus" ivas held . There iveiv present ten , out of the fifteen Masons residents oE that city , viz .: E . T . Rogers , Worshipful

Master elect of Palestine Lodge ( No . 415 , Scotch Registry ) , Beyrout , Syria ; Joseph Pilastre , Lodge La Verite , Marseilles , Trance ; Christophe Delenda , Lodge Stella Ionia , Smyrna , Asia Minor ; Nasif Meshaka , Palestine lodge ( No . 415 ) , Beyrout ,

Syria ; Asari Messedie , ibid ; Mohee-ed-Deen , son of the Emir ; Abd-el-Kader , ibid ; Mohammed , son of the same , ibid ; Ali Ibn Khalil Mohassini , ibid ; Mustafa Sebace , ibid ; Saleh Iadachir Azm , ibid ; Robert Morris , Fortitude Lodge ( No . 47 ) , La Grange , Kentucky , United States .

After the proper introductions and tea-drinking —the latter being among the land-marks of Oriental life—and the preparation and ignition of a suitable number of cigarettes , your correspondent Avas called upon for his remarks . These I had

written out in English . Bro . Rogers translated them into French , and a portion of them from that tongue into Arabic , for there ivas but one of the native brethren present ( Bro . Meshaka ) ivho kneiv any English . What I said would not be

worth detailing here , except as it forms a part of the history of this transaction . It was designed to be a sketch of the practical influence of Freemasonry , particularly in the country from which I came , ancl in which , as my hearers had already

been informed , I had played some part as a Masonic ivriter and oral instructor . I told them that " in the United States we have more than six thousand lodges , one-half of all the lodges in the world ; that these are divided into about forty

Grand Lodges ; that there is very much zeal manifested amongst the members therein affiliated , who love one another and venerate the ancient Order ; and that they had sent me to this distant land that I mi ght see Avith my oivn eyes how many

Masons are here , ivhat kind of persons they are , and ivhat is their condition , and tell them the facts when I return home . " I informed them that , amongst American travellers to Damascus , there are very many

Freemasons ; but they cannot find their brethren here for ivant of a lodge ; when I notify them that in this city there are not less than fifteen of the brotherhood , they will be equally surprised and delighted . I assured them that , should they visit

the United States , thev would find lodges in every town and village . Our largest city , Neiv York , not one-half so large as Constantinople , has alone more than one hundred Freemason ' s lodges , and in every American lodge they ivould be greeted

ivith welcome , and their acquaintance hailed with undissembled joy . Then I informed them that the grand objects of Freemasonry are the honour of God , the increase of brotherly love among men , and the' relief of the poor and distressed . The world in whicli we live is afflicted with sorrow and

cursed with selfishness . Strangers are usually unkind to each other , or , at the best , indifferent ; Avhile those professing opposite creeds hate and Avorry each other . But in this ancient and worldwide institution we have a common religion—the

Avorship of God—and a common language—that of the sign , the hand-grasp , and the word ; so that ive both recognise and fraternise with each other through it . In its rites we are assimilated by solemn obligations , and thus , by duty as well

as love , ive become brothers . The world , it is true , cannot understand this , nor do ive care that they should . Those ivho have not penetrated our charmed circle are slow to believe this ; nor are we careful for that . We know it to be true . I , ivho

for more than twenty years have travelled from lodge to lodge ; studying and instructing—bearing the light of Freemasonry as upon a torch from heart to heart—I know that this claim is well founded . Ever since I left home I hai r e secured

additional proofs of this . The steamer upon which I crossed the Atlantic had amon g its officers and passengers ten Freemasons . We recognise each other , and exchanged the undying proofs of sympathy and fraternal esteem . The steamer

which brought me from Marseilles to Beyrout was not ivanting in the " good men and true" Avho bore their Masonic covenants gracefully . At Smyrna , ivhere I remained for a few hours , the Craft conducted me to their halls ; heard my message gladly ; entertained me with the largest