Masonry In The Sandwich Islands. No. Ii.

MASONRY IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS . No . II .

ZONDOX , SATVSDAT , AVGVST 23 , 1 SG 2 .

C OMMUNICATED BY BEO . D . MTJEEAY LYON , B . W . PEOV . J . G-. W . OF AYRSHIRE . We now present the promised selections from the documentswhichwe announced in our former article as having been received from one of the far-off isles

of the ocean , by the Ancient or Mother Lodge of Scotland ; and these inig-ht very well be allowed to appear without farther introduction , as , while sufficiently explanatory of themselves , their publication when taken in connection with what has

previously , on the same subject , appeared in the Magazine , is calculated , we think , to impress one with the idea that Freemasonry , enjoying as it does the patronage of the highest civic dignitaries in Hawaii , is destined yet to produce important

effects upon the institutions and character of the races inhabiting the numerous islands which dot " the vast Pacific's liquid fields , " and which almost within the remembrance of some now living , were destitute of the blessings of even partial

civilization . Europe no doubt furnishes more than one instance of the nominal patronage of royalty beingconferred upon the craft , bub that extended to it

by the Sovereign of the Sandwich Islands is a living one pregnant with a hopeful future , and calculated to raise the blush upon the cheek of the numerous drones which are found to infest the hives of masonic industry with which our

vineyard is studded . Drone ! a cognomen which too appositely applies to many of oim number , whose primary recommendation for masonic distinction lies in their elevated rank in the social scale . But , while we thus express ourselves , we

do not wish to be understood as entertaining ' views antagonistic to an occasional suspension of the rule that masonic advancement should come by skill in masonry alone . On the contrary , we agree with those who hold it to be legitimate for

the craft to take advantage of all the worldly influence which the appointment to office of brethren moving in a high circle is likely to bring to the Order . Indeed , the wisdom of availing ourselves of these adventitious aids is strikingly seen in

some provincial districts , where the countenance given to masonry by brethren of ancient and honourable lineage and dignified social position las secured for the Order not only the favourable

Masonry In The Sandwich Islands. No. Ii.

consideration of cowans , but an extended membership in a field whence is drawn much of the com , wine , and oil so necessary to the successful development of those charities which a living belief in the benign principles of Freemasonry

has suggested to be established among us , and which in the case of hundreds have been preeminently instrumental in assuaging the trials of ilie grief-stricken widow , and affording a generous shelter to the houseless orphan .

" Great KINGS , Dukes , and Lords , Have laid by their swords , Our mystery to put a good grace on , And thought themselves fam'd To hear themselves nam'd , " With , a Tree and an Accepted Mason . " So is made to sing- the "Entered Apprentice , - "

and our traditions tell us of English , and Scottish Monarchs of days long- g'one by presiding in person over Grand Lodges or special convocations of the craft ; but it is rarely that we , whose lot has been cast in modem times , can point to the case of

a crowned head gracing with his presence a Grand Lodge , far less the chair of a subordinate one ; and the rarity of such an occurrence tends to throw a . charm around the brother whose personal intercourse with the craft furnishes a parallel to that of the ancient Kings who thought it to be'in no way derogatory to their royal dignity to trace

with their own hand upon the tracing-board of a Master Mason designs of the various parts , from crypt to cupola , of that moral superstructure which , as speculative Masons , we are all intrusted in the uprearing . To Bro . Kamehameha , then , are

the craftsmen of the present generation indebted for breaking- down the fence which a courtly etiquette and mimasonic custom had raised between royal brethren and their masonic peers ; and right glad are we to know that the body recognised by the

South Sea brethren as their Supreme Head , have not failed to appreciate the truly masonic spirit which , in all his relations to the craft , characterises the actions of that distinguished brother at Honolulu , upon whose shoulders hang so gracefully the

ermine and purple of sovereign power , and upon whose will depends so much of his subjects' prosperity as a nation , and happiness as industrial members of the commonwealth . Our enthusiastic admiration of Kamehameha ,

as a prince , as a Mason , and as a man , have nearly rendered us oblivions of the purport of our present communication , viz ., the production of certain extracts from the despatches of His