History Of Freemasonry In Cornwall.

the months of December or June presented themselves , and required their customary ballots , elections , and appointments . This December there was a close run for the Master's chair , but , as the Irishman would say , the winner had it . ( To be continued ) .

Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

EARS OF WHEAT FROM A CORNUCOPIA .

By Bro . D . MUEBAY LYON , one of the Grand Stewards in the Grand Lodgo of Scotland . Initiators , Pass or Past Masters . Passing into Nithsdale , recently , Ave directed our steps to Thornhill , Avliere , pulling the

latchstring of Bro . A . C . Hislop's retreat , Ave found liirn on the point of testing a weary-footed stranger Avhose claims for needed relief were based upon the presumptive evidence of his being a Freemason presented by the possession , of a Grand

Lodge diploma . The due examination of transient brethren is among Craftsmen more theoretical than practical , less perhaps from lack of the desire to comply Avith a standing rule of the Fraternity , than from a sense of incompetency properly to

conduct an examination , —such incompetency being traceable to the unskilful manner in Avhich in too many instances the rite of initiation is performed , and the subsequent instruction of novitiates attended to . And IIOAV can it De otlier-Avise , when we find Ignorance enthroned in the minds of brethren entrusted with such jewels as

the square , level , and plumb , and Avhose highest Masonic aspirations seem to be after the possession of qualifications for conducting the conviviality of a lodge . What wonder then that so many of our number should fail to sppreciate the

beauty of our symbols , to apprehend the instruction they are meant to convey , or to be able either to undergo or to conduct a thorough Masonic examination . Grip , word , and sign communicated in a- ceremony hurriedly performed , and the friendly

interchange of sentiment over the social cup , are but poor apologies for Masonic instruction . In the case of the applicant for relief , above referred to , the examination Avas conducted Avith an amount of caution and intelligence Avhich

evidenced the thoroughness of the Masonic education of both interrogator and interrogated . The Avayfarei" hailed from Beifch Sfc . John—a lodge holding its orig inal charter from Mother Kilwinning , and in Avhich , apart from the Master , there is a recognised Initiator , elected along Avith the other officebearers , and in point of precedence

ranking next to the Inner Guard . The present Initiator in the Beith Lodge has long held that post , and for every intrant he receives from the lodge one shilling as a recompence for his services . We knoAV not whether there be now such au

official in any other lodge ; but from the records of another of the offshoots of the mother lodo-e , Ayr KilAvinning , reference is made to a somewhat similar practice—the Initiator being there designated the " Pass" Master . For several years

Ayr Kilwinning would seem to have had the floor-Avork of the lodge conducted , as in our OAVII clay , sometimes by the Master , more frequently by other brethren . But in 1771 , from a consideration that " a Pass Master Avas essential

to the welfare and order" of the lodge , such an officer Avas ordered " to be put upon the establishment thereof . " The propriety of such an appointment was urged by the then Wardens of the lodge in these terms : " That in all

wellregulated lodges of Free and Accepted Masons , there is an office-bearer called the PASS Master , vvhose business is to enter Apprentices , pass FelloAV Crafts , and raise Master Masons , and likewise to assist the Master , Depute Master , and

Wardens for the good government of the lodge ; —that the PASS Master ought to be Avell-acquainted Avron juicienc ana lvioaern iviasonry , aim especially he ought to be Avell qualified to instruct young brethren in the Ancient Noble Art , and in their

duty to the lodge , as becomefch Masons , that good order aud harmony may always be preserved by every member of this body ( which is the glory of

Masonry ) . " The office of "Pass" Master ( or Initiator ) continued till 1809 to be discharged by brethren neither of whom had ever passed the chair ; but iu that year the " Pass " Master ( who had precedency immediately after the Junior

Steward ) gave place to a real , though not the immediate , Past Master , with rank next to the Depute Master ; and thus dropped from the officials of Ayr Kilwinning , one Avhose presence had by a previous generation of Craftsmen been

considered indispensable in " all Avell-regulated lodges . " Mother Kilwinning , Ave find so recently as March , 1842 , electing a " Pass" Master in room of a brother ( not the Past Master ) . But it was only a few years prior to that date that either

Pass or Past Master appeared among the officebearers of the Kilwinning Lodge ; it is twentyfive years since the " Pass " Master ' s office Avas abolished at Kilwinning .