Past Rank.

PAST RANK .

PAST rank is' a peculiarity of Freemasonry , and we do not know that any corresponding provision exists in any other organisation . The President of the United States of America ranks only as a private member of society after the expiration of his term of office , whereas the President of the Board of General Purposes has a special precedence allotted to him for the rest of his Masonio career . Now , were it not for this concession

and . privilege , there would be very little of that craving after rank and office'that one sees , and that is so indecently exhibited in the annual election of the Gtftnd Treasurer . If that Officer , after paying ten guineas for the pite'fit of his" appointment , fifteen guineas for his clothing , the various subscriptions and donations to the Masonic charities , which constitute his

special and often his- only claim to election , and the sundry other disbursements necessitated by the many Brethren who dine at his expense on the day of election , if , after all this , the Brother concerned subsided into the rank and file for the rest of his life , there would be very little competition for the appointment . These expenses do not , of course , attend all who

attain to Grand or Provincial Grand rank . But still the new made dignity has to pay his footing . The patent of his appointment costs money , his clothing : costs money , he is marked down by the organisers of sweeps , balls ,

and other frivolities . The claims of charities are urged upon him with a vehemence never before exhibited , and the Masonio vagrant never fails to appeal to his open-handed generosity . What is it sustains the Brother amid all this ? The heading of our article answers this question .

Grand Officers and Provincial Officers are practically governed by the same rules as regards the tenure of their office . We alluded to the Deputy D . G . M . in our last number , and have to correct a misconception which arose . We compared his position with that of the corresponding Mark Officer . The latter is an Officer of Grand Lodge , and to qualify him to enjoy past rank as

such he must serve in that capacity for three years—whether successive years pr not is not stated . But the Deputy District Grand Master is not , as such , an Officer of Grand Lodge , and he is entitled to past rank as D . D . G . M . after serving one year . The constitutions under which this Brother is recognised are articles 84-87 and 96 . There is a distinction certainly

between him and other Officers , in that if not re-appointed , he remains in office , whereas other Officers automatically cease to be such at the expiration of their year . But there is no necessity for conferring the appointment for three years on the same Brother . One year is quite sufficient . Of course

there may be a lack of Brethren of sufficient eminence to fill this important post , and for other reasons it is convenient to maintain a ' show of permanence , especially when it happens , as is occasionally the case , that the titular Ruler of the Province is ornamental , or non-resident , or both .

There is , of course , no rule governing promotions among the Officers in Grand or Provincial Grand Lodges , but a careful study of the lists of appointments in both , for some years past , has given a clue to the principles on which such are made . For instance , the President of the Board of

General Purposes nearly always is promoted to the rank of a Past Warden . In Grand Lodge this is almost a prescriptive right ; in Provincial Grand Lodges it is a rule almost universally followed . In Grand Lodge also the President of the Board of Benevolence and the Grand Registrar are nearly always given the rank of Past Warden if they desire it .

It very seldom indeed happens that promotions into what may he called current rank are made in Grand Lodge . It is not necessary , inasmuch as the Grand Master can confer past rank to any extent he pleases . A Provincial Grand Master cannot ; hence promotions must take place among the actual Officers . A long course of observation shows that a present

Provincial Grand Officer is seldom , if ever , appointed to higher rank at once . He is allowed to enjoy the otium cum dignitate of past rank for some period during which it is in his power to show himself worthy of increased and renewed confidence . This is quite right , inasmuch as many Brethren who have once assumed the purple think regular attendance at their private

Lodges quite beneath them . They are always ready to accept invitations to installation meetings and subsequent banquets , and to accompany the Provincial Grand Master to public functions , but there they conceive their

Masonic duties end . Such Brethren as these probably find themselves quietly shelved , and when some junior but more Masonic Brother becomes a Grand Warden or Deputy over their heads , they are ready to attribute that fact to every reason but the right one .

Such drones in the Masonic hive ought to ask themselves whether it is the office should adorn the Brother , or the Brother adorn the office . In the opinion of such Brethren , office and clothing are convertible terms , and doubtless they have hitherto considered that the clothing was meant for the ornamentation of distinguished Brethren .

A very useful office is that of Grand Steward . Six of these may be appointed in a Provincial Grand Lodge , eighteen in Grand Lodge , and they are appointed by various Lodges according to constitutions 40 and 97 . The difference between the Grand Stewards and other Grand Officers is that they have no past rank as such . They are allowed to wear their special regalia ,

and that ia all . But to tell the honest truth , the wearing ot special regalia is too often , in the estimation of many Brethren , the sole attraction of Grand Rank . The purple is looked upon as a sort of Masonic pension which excuses the wearer from further service . It may occasionally happen that the

promotion comes so late m life that the Brother concerned may reasonably think he has earned repose by that time . Even in that rare case the dignity imposes fresh obligations on him . The rank and file naturally conclude that those features of Masonie character by which the Brother so distinguished is identifisd are those whioh are innately of most excellence , and conse-

Past Rank.

quently the whole of Masonry in a district may be expected to form itself on the model of the Officers past and present of District Grand Lodge . We should therefore like to see the Past Grand Officer or the Past Provincial Grand Officer think more of his duties and less of his rank and precedence and clothing . He ought to be diligent in attendance both at his own private Lodge and at his Grand Lodge , and if his work in one sense may be said to be over , in another sense it may be said that it has only just begun . —" Indian Masonic Review . "

The Cable Tow.

THE CABLE TOW .

DID you ever think of the meaning of this word ? Not in the defination as laid down by standard authors on Masonry , but rather the application of this important bit of Masonic teaching . No two words have a greater meaning or are susceptible of a wider range of action . Every Mason has a " cable-tow , " the length of which is governed entirely by his conception of duty—duty which he owes to God , his neighbour , and himself ,

and must be regulated by his conscience . Some who are charitably disposed stretch their " cable tow " until it encompasses their duty as a good citizen and their obligation as a Mason . To all such its teaching have not been lost . Others who do not properly comprehend its meaning , and have no inclination to cultivate it to a finish , satisfy themselves with disengaging the knots of

but one or two strands , while others , whose consciences are so dwarfed by selfishness and self-esteem as to be satisfied by an occasional visit to the Lodge , never even unwind their " cable tow . " For all such we have a profound sympathy—sympathy akin to that " charity which suffereth long and is kind . "

As a citizen , did you ever " pass by on the other side " to avoid some organ-grinding object of charity on the corner whom you chanced to see while you were headed saloon-ward ? Or did you rush into the first cigar . stand you could find and spend the nickle which your conscience told you to drop in the tin-cup of the sightless one who asked your alms ? As a Mason ,

did you forego the pleasure of a drink and the happy effect of a smoke and contribute the price thereof to the relief of said object of charity , thereby extending you " cable tow" to the one whom God has bound you to by nature ? If you have done this , you have done well , and the sacrifice made thereby will be placed as a credit to your account when you " go hence . " As

a citizen , did you ever try to satisfy your conscience for failing to do alms with the thought that you may be assisting impostors . As a Mason your " cable tow " will not permit you to judge , but teaches you to relieve ninety and nine impostors rather than let one worthy person suffer . As a citizen , do

you herald your charities to the world by kindly mention in the public press , and by receiving the congratulations of your fellow-man ? As a Mason you are taught to " let not your right hand know what your left hand doeth , " being satisfied to wait your reward hereafter . So much for almsgiving . As a citizen you cannot separate yourself from your duty as a Mason .

My Brother , did you ever keep you seat in the Lodge when the Master called for volunteers to watch with a sick Brother ? Did you ever turn your head or find it convenient to visit the water cooler while the hat was being passed for the " evening offering ? " Did you ever absent yourself from the funeral of a Brother when you might have attended with the slightest

sacrifice to yourself ? Did you ever fail to exert yourself to assist your Brother to find employment ? Did you ever take him by the arm and by the " cable tow " that binds you , decline to have it loosed until you attained the end desired ? Did you ever fail to cover his faults with the " broad mantle of charity , " while you whisper in his ear a tale of reformation ? Did you

ever repeat a whispered scandal in the ear of another , the circulation of which would in time blast the reputation of your Brother or his family ? Did you ever do any of these things ? If so , then , indeed , is your " cable tow " being rapidly frayed out , and the quicker you have it repaired the better it will be for you , both here and hereafter . —Bun . F . Price , in " Memphis Appeal "

One Of The Ancient Mysteries.

ONE OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES .

By Bro . George Robertson .

IN the September number of the " Craftsman , " at page 590 , an address by Brother Frederick Speed P . G . M . of Mississippi is reproduced . In it mention is made of the early mysteries , including that of the Bona Dea in Rome , and their connection , through the associations or guilds of the middle ages with our more recent Freemasonry . Pagan Greece , as is well known to

students of mythology , archaeology and history , received most of its mysteries and religious beliefs from the land of Egypt , and these were in turn copied by the Romans and other nations , and adapted by them to suit the spirit of the age . Thus the worship of Bona Dea was a modified form of tbe adoration of Demeter Kourotrophos , one of the principal Grecian deities , and again of the

Egyptian Isis , the mother of creation , and the nourishing and fertilising principle of nature . In Italy the worship of this goddess was accompanied . by mysterious ceremonies , performed at night , at which no men were permitted to be present , the belief being that blindness or some other terrible

calamity would overtake any male who ventured to intrude . For days prior to the annual feast , which took place in December , and corresponds as nearly as possible with St . John ' s Day of Freemasonry , those who were to take part in the rite were kept in strict seclusion , being closely watched in their retirement by the vestals . Here , by fasting , and by abstaining from holding