Double Initiation.

DOUBLE INITIATION .

LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 21 , 1803 .

" Once , a priest always a priest" is a well-knoAvn axiom of ecclesiastical law , Avhich must Avith equalforce be applied to the Craft . " Once a Mason always a Mason ; " for tliougli a brother may withdraw himself from the active discharge of his Masonic dutiesthough he may separate himself from his lodge—it is

impossible for him to absolve himself from the obligations he entered into at his initiation , and from which no person , however exalted , has the power to relieve him . That being so , it becomes clear that a person cannot be initiated a second time—and it appears somewhat mysterious that anyone should oiler himself

for a second initiation . Yet from a report which appeared in our MAGAZINE of last week , it -will he seen that not only has a brother been found so lost to

all ideas of propriety and decencj r —so disregardful of the sacred nature of the obligations he has entered into—to offer himself a candidate for a second initiation ( Avhy or Avherefore Ave cannot comprehend ) —but a Master of a lodge so thoroughly disregardful of his duty as to perforin the ceremony with the full

knowledge that the candidate was already a Mason has also been found , ' —and , worse than all , that our Provincial Grand Master has sanctioned by his presence the disgraceful farce which was enacted in defiance of the protests of the brother Avho had previously initiated the candidate and several other brethren who

had some respect for their obligations , and who properly retired from the lodge rather than be present at such a gross violation of Masonic propriety—in which , as our correspondent

writes' " Not the least extraordinary part of the performance was the invariable omission by the subordinate officers of the lodge of those portions of the ceremony which would have represented the brother as ignorant of the mysteries , thus giving a significant recognition to prior initiation . "

It is not for us to say what course will be pursued by the Masonic authorities , but we have no hesitation in asserting that Bro . Charles Eeznejs Kemeys Tynte ought at once to be relieved from the duties of Provincial Grand Master , which he eA'idently does not understand , and that the W . M . of the Glamorgan Lodge ,

the oflicers Avho assisted him in the ceremony , and , indeed , every brother who sanctioned the scandalous proceedings by his presence , should be suspended from all Masonic privileges until they can be brought to a better understanding of their obligations , and have

made a sufficient apology to the Craft through Grand Lodge for their conduct . Had the brethren generall y followed the example of their older members and retired , the lodge would have been dissolved , aud the Master prevented from enacting a ceremony

Double Initiation.

Avhich Ave feel cannot properly be treated as a farce , but must be visited with severity as a grave Masonic offence , to prove to other brethren that our ceremonies are not to be lightly dealt with , and that Freemasonry is not to be made a mere plaything for the frivolous and unreflecting members of the Craft .

Masonic Sayings And Doings.

MASONIC SAYINGS AND DOINGS .

THE EITE ECOSSAIS AND THE GRAND ORIENT OE FRANCE . —From various sources we learn that Marshal Magnau , Grand Master of Freemasons , by Imperial edict , has called in the strong arm of the law , in the persons of the police and gendarmerie , to suppress the meetings of lodges , throughout France

and Algeria , holding from the Supreme Council , and a wretched kind of internicine war is about to break forth again with unabated vigour on both sides . It is much to be deplored that Freemasonry should be made the tool of a despotism so harassing to its members ,

but it is one of the unfortunate results of that system of semi-political opposition to the powers that be , that urges on this kind of moral suicide . It would seem a lodge Avas opened under the auspices of the Supreme Council and closed hy the civil power . The visiting brethren , who had g iven in their allegiance

to the . Grand Orient , Avere branded as schismatics , and will be , perhaps , made to suffer the pains and penalties attached to such offences by the State . At the present moment the feeling runs high on both sides : the ancient lodges of the Scotch . rite cannot be left alone in their own tranquil labours , but are

invaded , denounced , threatened , and dispersed by a soldier of fortune , whom the Emperor has advanced to the highest . post in . Freemasonry . Contrasted with our own immunity from such State persecution , Ave can but pity the straits to which many noble aud ardent lovers of the . Craft in France are

reduced , and counsel them to follow the advice of Bro . Alexander Dumas , " wait and hope . " FUNERAL FETE . —This apparent contradiction to our mode of thought has been enacted at a lodge in Paris . Some 400 brethren assembled and went through much speechifying in the presence of the

deceased brother ' s Avidow and relatives , many of whom Avere ladies . Such curious manners would shock our notions of grief and propriety , but our lively neig hbours think nothing perfect unless it is accompanied by a fete or demonstration .. The widow

deems to have been soothed by this tribute to her departed husband , and , amidst all the grief she must have felt , coolly presented the lodge with her late husband ' s portrait . LODGE ORATOHS . —These officers must have a very pleasant , as well as a very difficult , part to play in the lodges of adoption . "We read of one being held