Labour And Refreshment.

tural , and moreover only a simpler form of " condemn "it is in his nature perhaps . But the ridicule of folly and the condemnation of a Priest will do us no harm ; not even to the extent of diminishing our zeal for labour or our appetite for refreshment .

Freemasonry In Holland.

FREEMASONRY IN HOLLAND .

SOME writers fix the date of the first existence in Holland of a Masonic Lodge as early as the year 1725 , but the first evidence we have of a Lodge meeting belongs to the year 1731 . On this occasion a deputation of English brethren visited the Hague for the purpose of initiating into our Order Francis Stephen , Duke of Lorraine ,

afterwards Emperor of Germany . Our then Ambassador , the Earl of Chesterfield , presided , Bro . Strickland acting as Deputy , and Bros . Hadley and Will . Dneth being Wardens . This , however , appears to have been only a Lodge of Emergency , and it is not till three years later that ,

under the guidance of Bro . Vincent de la Chapelle , who had received his patent for that purpose , from the Grand Lodge of England , a regular Lodge was constituted , of which the Count de Wagenaer was chosen Grand Master . This Lodge held its sittings at the Hotel " Lion

d'Or" and . took the title of "Loge des Provinces-Unies et du ressort de la generalite , " and , in 1749 , it assumed that of Mere-Logo de VTJnion Royale . In 1735 , a Lodge was established at Amsterdam , and also a new one at the Hague , in the Hotel " Nieuve Doelen , " under tho

presidency of Grand Master J . Corn . Rademaker , J . Kuenen being chosen Deputy Grand Master . A notice of this having been published in an Amsterdam journal , the States General took alarm at the spread of Freemasonry , of the nature of which they were in utter ignorance , and

issued an edict forbidding Masonic assemblies , imagining that a confederacy had been entered into in favour of the House of Orange , which might be prejudicial to the government . The Book of Constitutions , handed over at a judicial trial by Bro . Dagran , was narrowly inspected ,

the consequence being , as we have stated , that all meetings were prohibited . This prohibition was repeated by the Burgomaster of Amsterdam , yet the Lodge established in that city continued to hold its meetings , but in secret . Hearing this , the Lodge was ordered to be closed , and the Masters and Wardens were summonded before tho

assembled Council , when they swore that Freemasons were peaceful , faithful to their country , and , in fact , so succeeded in convincing the authorities of the harmlessness of the Craft that further persecution was abandoned , and , it is said , by Lawrie andRebold too , that one of the judges was

sent to be initiated into the society , and that the rest became themselves Freemasons . However this may be , there is no question that the State not only ceased to oppose the spread of Freemasonry , but when , in 1740 , the priesthood refused to grant absolution to those who had

joined the Order , it came forward as the protector of the Brotherhood , and enjoined on the clergy not to reject any Freemason , if in other respects an honest man . As some of the Dutch Lodges held their constitutions from the Grand Lodge of England , and others from those of

Germany and France , a general assembly of the fourteen Lodges was called , at the instance of the Mother Lodge of the Royal Union , on 25 th December 1756 , when the Grand National Lodge of the United Provinces was established , Bro . L . Dagran occupying the chair . Baron Von

Aersen-Beyeren was elected the first Grand Master , and the year following the statutes of the Lodge , in 41 articles , were issued . In Angust 1758 , the Count Christian F . Bentinck was elected Grand Master , and , in Junel 759 , was succeeded by the Baron Carl von Boetzelaar , who held his office for no

less a period than . 39 years . During his tenure of the Grand Mastership everything was clone to consolidate Masonry in the Netherlands , and in 1770 , by his mediation , the Grand Lodge effected its independence from the Grand Lodge of England , the latter agreeing to recognise it , and only

stipulating that the former should not constitute any Lodge in England or the English provinces . The higher degrees were imported into the country in 1757 , and this led Bro .

Saner to address a letter to the Grand Lodge of England , inquiring after their nature . The answer written by Deputy Grand Master Manninghamis very interesting , and "will be found in extenso in Findel . In 1780 , an alliance

Freemasonry In Holland.

was entered into with the Strict Observance , and the result was the installation of a National Chapter , of which Prince Frederic of Hesse Cassel was Grand Master . Beside this , however , Grand Lodge continued to flourish . In 1784 Baron von Boelzelaer celebrated the twenty-fifth year of

his National Grand Mastership , and in 1 / 98 , the very year of his death , a new Statute Book was , by his order , laid before the brethren , in pursuance of which the Grand Lodge only accepted the three symbolical degrees , while the four higher degrees were placed under a Grand

Chapter , who were to be entrusted with their distribution . Baron J . van Teylingen succeeded to the Grand Mastership , and the number of Lodges , both at home and in the colonies , was greatly increased during his administration . In 1801 a Lodge ( La Bien Aimee ) was held in the presence

of ladies , but in 1810 any further Lodges of Adoption were forbidden by Grand Lodge . Bro . C . J . Byefield was elected Grand Master in 1804 . Bro . Bosquet succeeded him in 1810 , and his successor was Bro . W . Barncart . In 1808 the Asylum for the Blind , in Amsterdam , was

erected at the sole expense of the four Lodges m that city , without any contribution from the corporation , the first impetus to this admirable work being given by Bro . Will . Holtrop , Grand Orator and W . M . of the Lodge La Gharite , in Amsterdam . When Holland became a part of tho

French Empire , the Grand Orient of France sought to assume jurisdiction over the Grand Lodge of the United Provinces , but the action of the latter was so firm and dignified , that the Grand Orient renounced its claims , only the nine Lodges constituted by it in various towns

remaining under its jurisdiction till 1814 . In this latter year Bro . Reepmaker was elected Grand Master , and in 1816 was succeeded by H . R . H . Prince Frederick of the Netherlands , who still occupies the throne . In 1817 the Belgian Lodges , at the invitation of Prince Frederick , entered

into an alliance with the Dutch Lodges , the result being that a grand central Lodge , or Orient , for the whole of the Netherlands , was erected , with Provincial Grand Lodges , one for the northern division , situated at tho Hague , the other for the southern , and situated at Brussels . When

Belgium became an independent power , a severance was effected between the two provinces . In 1863 , we are told in Findel , there were fifty Lodges under the Netherlands Grand Lodge , thirty-eight of which wei'e in the mother country , and the rest in the colonics .

Attendance At Lodge.

ATTENDANCE AT LODGE .

THERE are many things which Freemasonry will do for a man in the way of opening his mind and giving him larger and kindlier views of life , but Freemasonry itself , with all its power to polish and refine , cannot eradicate the natural bias of the disposition . Thus , the prompt man flowers into a prompt Mason , the dilatory man is ever

behindhand with his Masonic duties ; and so , through all the mental gamut , from the man who talks overmuch , down to the man who does not talk at all , Masonry is a microcosm ; a world in little , wherein we may behold all the varieties of mankind . These differences of

temperament and habit arc seen in no relation more clearly than in attendance at Lodge ; and in cataloguing a few varieties , in sticking pins through the Masonic butterflies , and in arranging them herewith in our cabinet , we shall be very

tender with the specimens , not to rub the faintest blue , not to soil the brightest silver , but to leave jewels and scarlet and gold as unsullied as when free in air they wantoned about the Masonic world .

He who marches on the right of the first four in the Masonic regiment is the man who never misses attendance at Lodge . As certain as that yon will get from the secretary your notice of meeting , with its due array of initiations , passings and raisings , so certain is it that , come what come

may , HE will be in his place . His is probably the first face which will greet you as you pass the sacred portal guarded by the mysterious tyler . A quick , ready man , versed in all the details of tho Craft , generally bland and courteous , willing to impart information , and help in

the duties which repetition and practice have made a second nature to him , the constant attendant is the safe pilot of the young Mason , the man to find out and follow . A beacon through many a dark passage , at the further end of which burns the shining light of knowledge . In contrast , next comes the man who is rarely seen .