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Article THE PRESS AND THE INSTALLATION. ← Page 3 of 3 Article THE PRESS AND THE INSTALLATION. Page 3 of 3
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The Press And The Installation.
interest . In this interest Freemasonry itself , as an institution , will naturally be included . What i 3 this society which alone among secret societies has flourished in all countries and among all conditions of men , preserving its secret , and though repeatedly persecuted , ridiculed and fulminated against , continuing to maintain its existence not only without any diminution of prestige , but apparently
in greater vigour than ever , in spite of sarcasms , scandals , and anathemas ? There must be somo mysterious principle of vitality in an Order which , perpetually assailed , and never caring to defend itself , is yet nnshaken in its foundations . Even the uninitiated mnst be awed into something like respect for an institution which apparently defies all the corruptions of time , and is proof against
the inroads of tho sceptical and levelling spirit of tho age . The most lenient of its critics pronounce it to be an anachronism , and yet we have it rearing its head in the Albert Hall , and Royalty claiming to havo a share in its direction . To-day it is the most fashionable of Orders , as it was in the days of the widow ' s son Hiram of Tyre , chief builder of the Temple . If we may
accept the traditions of the society itself , and no traditions are more uniform , more coherent , or more binding upon those who receive them , Freemasonry dates from the era of the first builder npon earth , even if it does not go back further than that , to the great author of the human race himself . Just as surely as that Adam was " the first gentleman who wore coat-armour , " according to Sylvanus
Morgan , in his Book of Heraldry , is it testified that he was the first Mason . By the sons of Lamech the secrets wero engraved on stone pillars , so that they might outlast the Flood . From them the Craft was duly transmitted through Abraham to Solomon , who is supposed to have been the first who associated " speculative" with " operative " Masonry . However this may be , and every one is free , in an unbelieving
age , to doubt the fact , what is certain is that the Masonic signs and emblems are to be found in the stones among the ruins of Baalbec , that they have been traced in the buildings of the pre-Brahmincial period in India , and among the Druidical remains in England and Brittany . An ancient and universal tradition among English Freemasons preserves the belief in a continuity of the association down to the times
of the Saxon kings . The existence of a charter from King Athelstane empowering his brother Prince Edwy to hold a Lodgo in tho crypt of the old Cathedral at York is one of the landmarks of Masonic history , and though the charter itself , we believe , has never been discovered , the ancient York Lodge holds stubbornly to the belief as a prime article of faith . It is in the thirteenth century , however , that we
first find any historical evidence of the existence and practice of Freemasonry as a secret society , with watchwords , signs , and emblems takon from the building art . Documentary proofs of the guild of fraternity at Strasburg are still in existence . In the next century wo have distinct and undoubted evidence of tho Order in England in the laws and charters of the Edwards . In 1432 , Lodges of
Freemasonry wero forbidden to bo held by Act of Parliament , and for a long timo afterwards Freemasonry , discouraged and persecuted by Kiugs and Parliaments , languished and led a precarious existence . It was not until the year 1717 , when tho Grand Lodgo of England was founded on its present constitution , at tho tavern known as the
Goose and Gridiron , that Freemasonry was fairly revived in tho shape which wo know ; and since then it has continued to grow and to prosper , till now there are some 1 , 500 Lodges in affiliation with the Graud Lodge of England , besides those in Scotland and in Ireland , their being , according to the latest calculation , more than 300 , 000 British Masons at present numbered of tho Order .
From the DAILY NEWS , 29 t 7 i April . Yesterday afternoon , in the midst of the most splendid gathering of the Brotherhood that has ever been witnessed , the Prince of Wales assumed nominally the duties and responsibilities of the Grand Mastership of English Freemasons . It is , in his caso , an office whose functions ho will seldom personally perform , and tho acting chiefs
of the institution will bo Lord Carnavon and Lord Skelmersdale . Nevertheless the presidency of the Prince of Wales is a fact in which Freemasons may justly feel satisfaction , if only as a continuation of tho traditional connection with the Royal Honso which is characteristic of Freemasonry in England , as it has always been in Prussia and Sweden . It was in the year 1782 that this connection
first began , when the Duke of Cumberland , of Culloden memory , was nominated Grand Master . In 1790 a great festival was held , over which ho presided , accompanied by his grand nephews the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence , newly made Masons , and surrounded by five hundred brethren . Two years later the Prince was himself installed Grand Master , which office he held till his
accession to the Regency , when the Duke of Sussex succeeded him . The Duke was an enthusiast in Freemasonry ; he studied its antiquities , and was profound in its ritual ; lie discovered great secrets and hidden mysteries unsuspected by other brethren ; and , in moments of enthusiasm would declaro that there were but three men in the world who knew what Masonry meant . He was ono ; but history
has not preserved the names of the other two . It is to be hoped that they have handed down this sacred flamo of wisdom , which shonld not be extinguished , even if it be destined to lie for ever hidden beneath ' a bushel . Iu all these installations , there were great gatherings and splendid ceremonials , but there has never been so grand an assemblage as that which yesterday crowded tho Albert
Hall with eight thousand members . The spectacle of a vast assembly is not a novel ono to the newly-elected Grand Master ; but , as Lord Carnarvon pointed out , it was especially remarkablo as being a representative body from a vast society whose leading principles have always been those of loyalty and order . Freemasonry is , in fact , an eminently respectable and important
institution . Its modern history is that which belongs especially , as wc know , to happy nations—that is , it has none . Occasionally , a great function brings together delegates , deputations , and members , who surprise by their numbers and tho numbers they represent . Ls a rule it leads a peaceful existence , exciting no suspicion , challenging ao enquiry , quietly increasing aud growing fat ia the dark , If it is
The Press And The Installation.
publicly spoken or written of , it is with a tributary sneer , the sting of which has long beon lost , referring to pretentions of an importance in quite another direction to that which the wealth and position of its adherents naturally claim for it . But these are not advanced by any member of the Craft openly , and therefore no ono ought to assume that they are advanced at all . The Brotherhood again have
a peculiar costume , with collars , cuffs , and grotesque things in gold and silver , at which the profane scoff . But then these adjuncts are kept for the most part in the background ; it is noteworthy that Sir Albert Woods forbade Masons attending the Installation yesterday to put on Masonic clothing till they wore within the Hall ; the Masonic apron is not flourished like tho green tunic , yellow boots , bow and
arrows of the Ancient Forester , or the crimson sash of the United Temperance Leaguer ; aud if Hogarth has drawn a fnlly clothed brother making his tortuous way homewards after a convivial night , it may be pleaded that this was a hundred years ago . The Order has also , it is stated , secret words and signs by which its members may know each other ; bnt , so long as it is certain that these pass-words
and tokens are used for no evil purpose , that concerns only themselves . The Carbonari had signs by which to recognise a brother ; so have the secret societies in Naples and Sicily at this day ; so , too , doubtless had Guy Fawkes and his little circle of associates ; but Masonry , compared with these combinations , is before the world , open , and honest . A secret Band which required a conspiracy of half-a-million
would collapse in a week ; and we may , perhaps , fairly boast that in this country the fact of a thing being secret and yet largely spread ia a presumptive evidence in favour of its being harmless , or even actively benevolent . Lastly , the Brotherhood , their adversaries point out , have traditions of an antiquity compared with which the geanology of a priestly Jew is dwarfed aud
that of a Breton of the vieille roche is annihilated . It may be so ; but as these claims are only whispered within the safe retreat of Lodge , no outsider need be so weak as to bo offended . In fact , there is no charge which can bo maintained against Masonry at all except one—that it chooses to shut its doors ; it certainly will not tell the world what is done behind those gates ontsido which is popularly supposed to stand a brother of peculiar determination , chosen
for strength and ferocity , armed with a drawn sword . But the Craft , in this country at least , manifest the innocence of their secret conventions by the goodness of their acts . In this they reverse the rule of an early Grand Master , King Solomon , whoso practice , as Sterne pointed out , was so lamentably inferior to his preaching . The brethren maintain asylums , benevolent institutions , orphanages , and schoola j they keep the aged from want ; and they protect the young .
From the Houu , 29 th April . The Prince of Wales was yesterday the central figure of a brilliant pageant . The preciso nature of tho pageant , and the particular foa « tures of tho ceremony , it is given only to the initiated to know . To tho outer world all was a blank after half-past 2 o ' clock , when the great doors of the Albert Hall was inexorably closed . It involves no
profanation of the sacred mysteries of Masonry to say that tho building itself was decorated upon a scale of commanding splendour , that pennons and ensigns streamed from tho walls , that the devices symbolical of tho Fraternity were there , glittering with scarlet and jewels aud that there were compasses literally aglow with diamonds . Upwards of ten thousand Masons wore present within the great Hall . There
wore deputations from different parts of the Continent ; thero was in especial a lengthy and eloquent address from Rome ; there was every variety of Masonio costume , from the gorgeously superb garb of the highest rank which tho brethren know , to tho plain black snit relieved only by the apron and the band . The Grand Lodge was opened by Lord Carnarvon . Sir Michael Costa had composed a
piece of music—which is spoken of as a masterpiece—in honour of the event ; and , with the sole exception of the reply of his Royal Highness , the new Grand Master vice Lord Ripon resigned , thero were no speeches at all . No singlo element of pomp was wanting . The personnel of the company collected was as distinguished as tho colebration was conspicuous , and will be long remembered in tho
annals of the Albert Hall . The Dukes of Edinburgh and of Connaught and Prince Leopold graced tho great occasion ; there were men famous in all the learned professions , highly placed Peers , and illustrious personages from abroad . It was impossible to walk along Piccadilly yesterday between tho hours of twelve and two , or four and six , without being aware that something very unusual was going
on . Cabs and carriages , laden with gentlemen apparently in eveniug dress , hurried to and fro ; there was a numerous contingent of pedestrians who had failed to secure a conveyance of any kind ; and if , instead of black broadcloth , crimson uniforms and gold lace had been the order of the day , it might havo been supposed that Her Majesty was holding a levee somewhere in tho direction of
Kensington . The Lord Mayor drove in state from Guildhall , and tho Marquis of Hartington , as Grand Senior Warden , contrived to snatch a few hours from his arduous responsibilities at St . Stephen's for tho occasion . ###### Tho Heir Apparent , it will be seen , on accepting from the Freemasons of England the supreme dignity of the Order , is not merely
acting upon the precedent of his family , but is following the example of tho most eminent of living potentates and monarchs . And he is doing more than this . By the ceremony of yesterday ho becomes the visible head of a society which , however cabalistic its insignia , and however fantastic its parade of secrecy of ritual , has at its command a machinery powerful for purposes of benevolence , and is
inspired by a sentiment of mutual kindliness aud reciprocal assistance . When kings were despots and liberty had not dawned npon the earth secret societies may have had their terrors , and Fremasonry itself may havo been regarded as the embodiment of a menace •; o civil discipline and political order . At the present moment there is , perhaps , no race of men more studiously loyal to the duly-constituted authority of the State than Freomasons , and when Piua IX
( Continued on page 283 . )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Press And The Installation.
interest . In this interest Freemasonry itself , as an institution , will naturally be included . What i 3 this society which alone among secret societies has flourished in all countries and among all conditions of men , preserving its secret , and though repeatedly persecuted , ridiculed and fulminated against , continuing to maintain its existence not only without any diminution of prestige , but apparently
in greater vigour than ever , in spite of sarcasms , scandals , and anathemas ? There must be somo mysterious principle of vitality in an Order which , perpetually assailed , and never caring to defend itself , is yet nnshaken in its foundations . Even the uninitiated mnst be awed into something like respect for an institution which apparently defies all the corruptions of time , and is proof against
the inroads of tho sceptical and levelling spirit of tho age . The most lenient of its critics pronounce it to be an anachronism , and yet we have it rearing its head in the Albert Hall , and Royalty claiming to havo a share in its direction . To-day it is the most fashionable of Orders , as it was in the days of the widow ' s son Hiram of Tyre , chief builder of the Temple . If we may
accept the traditions of the society itself , and no traditions are more uniform , more coherent , or more binding upon those who receive them , Freemasonry dates from the era of the first builder npon earth , even if it does not go back further than that , to the great author of the human race himself . Just as surely as that Adam was " the first gentleman who wore coat-armour , " according to Sylvanus
Morgan , in his Book of Heraldry , is it testified that he was the first Mason . By the sons of Lamech the secrets wero engraved on stone pillars , so that they might outlast the Flood . From them the Craft was duly transmitted through Abraham to Solomon , who is supposed to have been the first who associated " speculative" with " operative " Masonry . However this may be , and every one is free , in an unbelieving
age , to doubt the fact , what is certain is that the Masonic signs and emblems are to be found in the stones among the ruins of Baalbec , that they have been traced in the buildings of the pre-Brahmincial period in India , and among the Druidical remains in England and Brittany . An ancient and universal tradition among English Freemasons preserves the belief in a continuity of the association down to the times
of the Saxon kings . The existence of a charter from King Athelstane empowering his brother Prince Edwy to hold a Lodgo in tho crypt of the old Cathedral at York is one of the landmarks of Masonic history , and though the charter itself , we believe , has never been discovered , the ancient York Lodge holds stubbornly to the belief as a prime article of faith . It is in the thirteenth century , however , that we
first find any historical evidence of the existence and practice of Freemasonry as a secret society , with watchwords , signs , and emblems takon from the building art . Documentary proofs of the guild of fraternity at Strasburg are still in existence . In the next century wo have distinct and undoubted evidence of tho Order in England in the laws and charters of the Edwards . In 1432 , Lodges of
Freemasonry wero forbidden to bo held by Act of Parliament , and for a long timo afterwards Freemasonry , discouraged and persecuted by Kiugs and Parliaments , languished and led a precarious existence . It was not until the year 1717 , when tho Grand Lodgo of England was founded on its present constitution , at tho tavern known as the
Goose and Gridiron , that Freemasonry was fairly revived in tho shape which wo know ; and since then it has continued to grow and to prosper , till now there are some 1 , 500 Lodges in affiliation with the Graud Lodge of England , besides those in Scotland and in Ireland , their being , according to the latest calculation , more than 300 , 000 British Masons at present numbered of tho Order .
From the DAILY NEWS , 29 t 7 i April . Yesterday afternoon , in the midst of the most splendid gathering of the Brotherhood that has ever been witnessed , the Prince of Wales assumed nominally the duties and responsibilities of the Grand Mastership of English Freemasons . It is , in his caso , an office whose functions ho will seldom personally perform , and tho acting chiefs
of the institution will bo Lord Carnavon and Lord Skelmersdale . Nevertheless the presidency of the Prince of Wales is a fact in which Freemasons may justly feel satisfaction , if only as a continuation of tho traditional connection with the Royal Honso which is characteristic of Freemasonry in England , as it has always been in Prussia and Sweden . It was in the year 1782 that this connection
first began , when the Duke of Cumberland , of Culloden memory , was nominated Grand Master . In 1790 a great festival was held , over which ho presided , accompanied by his grand nephews the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence , newly made Masons , and surrounded by five hundred brethren . Two years later the Prince was himself installed Grand Master , which office he held till his
accession to the Regency , when the Duke of Sussex succeeded him . The Duke was an enthusiast in Freemasonry ; he studied its antiquities , and was profound in its ritual ; lie discovered great secrets and hidden mysteries unsuspected by other brethren ; and , in moments of enthusiasm would declaro that there were but three men in the world who knew what Masonry meant . He was ono ; but history
has not preserved the names of the other two . It is to be hoped that they have handed down this sacred flamo of wisdom , which shonld not be extinguished , even if it be destined to lie for ever hidden beneath ' a bushel . Iu all these installations , there were great gatherings and splendid ceremonials , but there has never been so grand an assemblage as that which yesterday crowded tho Albert
Hall with eight thousand members . The spectacle of a vast assembly is not a novel ono to the newly-elected Grand Master ; but , as Lord Carnarvon pointed out , it was especially remarkablo as being a representative body from a vast society whose leading principles have always been those of loyalty and order . Freemasonry is , in fact , an eminently respectable and important
institution . Its modern history is that which belongs especially , as wc know , to happy nations—that is , it has none . Occasionally , a great function brings together delegates , deputations , and members , who surprise by their numbers and tho numbers they represent . Ls a rule it leads a peaceful existence , exciting no suspicion , challenging ao enquiry , quietly increasing aud growing fat ia the dark , If it is
The Press And The Installation.
publicly spoken or written of , it is with a tributary sneer , the sting of which has long beon lost , referring to pretentions of an importance in quite another direction to that which the wealth and position of its adherents naturally claim for it . But these are not advanced by any member of the Craft openly , and therefore no ono ought to assume that they are advanced at all . The Brotherhood again have
a peculiar costume , with collars , cuffs , and grotesque things in gold and silver , at which the profane scoff . But then these adjuncts are kept for the most part in the background ; it is noteworthy that Sir Albert Woods forbade Masons attending the Installation yesterday to put on Masonic clothing till they wore within the Hall ; the Masonic apron is not flourished like tho green tunic , yellow boots , bow and
arrows of the Ancient Forester , or the crimson sash of the United Temperance Leaguer ; aud if Hogarth has drawn a fnlly clothed brother making his tortuous way homewards after a convivial night , it may be pleaded that this was a hundred years ago . The Order has also , it is stated , secret words and signs by which its members may know each other ; bnt , so long as it is certain that these pass-words
and tokens are used for no evil purpose , that concerns only themselves . The Carbonari had signs by which to recognise a brother ; so have the secret societies in Naples and Sicily at this day ; so , too , doubtless had Guy Fawkes and his little circle of associates ; but Masonry , compared with these combinations , is before the world , open , and honest . A secret Band which required a conspiracy of half-a-million
would collapse in a week ; and we may , perhaps , fairly boast that in this country the fact of a thing being secret and yet largely spread ia a presumptive evidence in favour of its being harmless , or even actively benevolent . Lastly , the Brotherhood , their adversaries point out , have traditions of an antiquity compared with which the geanology of a priestly Jew is dwarfed aud
that of a Breton of the vieille roche is annihilated . It may be so ; but as these claims are only whispered within the safe retreat of Lodge , no outsider need be so weak as to bo offended . In fact , there is no charge which can bo maintained against Masonry at all except one—that it chooses to shut its doors ; it certainly will not tell the world what is done behind those gates ontsido which is popularly supposed to stand a brother of peculiar determination , chosen
for strength and ferocity , armed with a drawn sword . But the Craft , in this country at least , manifest the innocence of their secret conventions by the goodness of their acts . In this they reverse the rule of an early Grand Master , King Solomon , whoso practice , as Sterne pointed out , was so lamentably inferior to his preaching . The brethren maintain asylums , benevolent institutions , orphanages , and schoola j they keep the aged from want ; and they protect the young .
From the Houu , 29 th April . The Prince of Wales was yesterday the central figure of a brilliant pageant . The preciso nature of tho pageant , and the particular foa « tures of tho ceremony , it is given only to the initiated to know . To tho outer world all was a blank after half-past 2 o ' clock , when the great doors of the Albert Hall was inexorably closed . It involves no
profanation of the sacred mysteries of Masonry to say that tho building itself was decorated upon a scale of commanding splendour , that pennons and ensigns streamed from tho walls , that the devices symbolical of tho Fraternity were there , glittering with scarlet and jewels aud that there were compasses literally aglow with diamonds . Upwards of ten thousand Masons wore present within the great Hall . There
wore deputations from different parts of the Continent ; thero was in especial a lengthy and eloquent address from Rome ; there was every variety of Masonio costume , from the gorgeously superb garb of the highest rank which tho brethren know , to tho plain black snit relieved only by the apron and the band . The Grand Lodge was opened by Lord Carnarvon . Sir Michael Costa had composed a
piece of music—which is spoken of as a masterpiece—in honour of the event ; and , with the sole exception of the reply of his Royal Highness , the new Grand Master vice Lord Ripon resigned , thero were no speeches at all . No singlo element of pomp was wanting . The personnel of the company collected was as distinguished as tho colebration was conspicuous , and will be long remembered in tho
annals of the Albert Hall . The Dukes of Edinburgh and of Connaught and Prince Leopold graced tho great occasion ; there were men famous in all the learned professions , highly placed Peers , and illustrious personages from abroad . It was impossible to walk along Piccadilly yesterday between tho hours of twelve and two , or four and six , without being aware that something very unusual was going
on . Cabs and carriages , laden with gentlemen apparently in eveniug dress , hurried to and fro ; there was a numerous contingent of pedestrians who had failed to secure a conveyance of any kind ; and if , instead of black broadcloth , crimson uniforms and gold lace had been the order of the day , it might havo been supposed that Her Majesty was holding a levee somewhere in tho direction of
Kensington . The Lord Mayor drove in state from Guildhall , and tho Marquis of Hartington , as Grand Senior Warden , contrived to snatch a few hours from his arduous responsibilities at St . Stephen's for tho occasion . ###### Tho Heir Apparent , it will be seen , on accepting from the Freemasons of England the supreme dignity of the Order , is not merely
acting upon the precedent of his family , but is following the example of tho most eminent of living potentates and monarchs . And he is doing more than this . By the ceremony of yesterday ho becomes the visible head of a society which , however cabalistic its insignia , and however fantastic its parade of secrecy of ritual , has at its command a machinery powerful for purposes of benevolence , and is
inspired by a sentiment of mutual kindliness aud reciprocal assistance . When kings were despots and liberty had not dawned npon the earth secret societies may have had their terrors , and Fremasonry itself may havo been regarded as the embodiment of a menace •; o civil discipline and political order . At the present moment there is , perhaps , no race of men more studiously loyal to the duly-constituted authority of the State than Freomasons , and when Piua IX
( Continued on page 283 . )