Is It Disloyalty.

IS IT DISLOYALTY .

THE absurd argument that a Lodge cannot sever its connection with the Grand Lodge which originally chartered it without disloyalty , has been brought forward in every movement for Masonic autonomy in tho Australasian Colonies . Iu New Zealand it has over and over again been advanced by brethren who have evidently no

knowledge of tho manner in which the numerous Grand Lodges of the United States , Canada and Australia have been established . Tho word loyalty means neither more nor less than submission to law , and in Masonry a Lodge or brother does not become disloyal by giving his

assistance to the furtherance of a measure which is held to be legal by all Grand Lodges , and which the majority of his brothen believe to be for the good of the Craft . On the contrary , by so doing , ho proves his loyalty to Freemasonry . The word has becomo so distorted in application that the

sound of it is becoming distasteful . No Grand Lodge has the right of claiming the perpetual allegiauce of Lodges in a distant and distinct territory , nor are we aware of any Grand Lodge that claims such right . It is universally admitted by Grand Lodges that the Craft in any distinct

division of the earth has an inherent right to establish a Grand Lolge . This principle is as fully recognised as is any landmark , and yet the same ridiculous cry of disloyalty is raised again and again , only to be again refuted . The Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland , on

whose behalf the claim of loyally is made , do themselves fully recognise that thoy havo no claim on their Lodges in a colony where the Craft desires to establish a Grand Lodge Was Lord Carnarvon , the Pro Grand Master of England , disloyal when he recommended the Lodges in

New South Wales to unite under an independent Grand Lodge , or was Lord Carrington disloyal when he accepted the Grand Mastership of the new Grand Lodge ? Were tbe Grand Masters of England and Scotland disloyal when thev congratulated heartily the Masons of South Australia

and New South Wales on the establishment of their Grand Lodges , and in the warmest terms recommended their recognition by the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland ? Were the brethren in the former colonies of England , now

States of the American Union , disloyal when they founded Grand Lodges , and laid the foundation of tho noble system of American Freemasonry ? If all these were disloyal , then we are proud of being similarly disloyal .

Surely when Bro . Sir F . Whitaker D . G . M . of the North Island S . C . issued his recent circular he must have been utterly oblivious of the fact that there are fully sixty Grand Lodges in English-speaking countries which have been formed by the Lodges throwing off their allegiance to their

parent Grand Lodges and combining to establish an independent Grand Lodge ; and surely he must have been ignorant of the fact that the Grand Lodges of England , Ireland , and Scotland insist that , before they recogniso a new Grand Lodge , the majority of their own Lodges must

have feown off their allegiance to their parents to establish the new body ; and surely he must have forgotten that tfcass ao-called disloyal Lodges are fully recognised by the Gbr ,::, d Lodges of Great Britain and Ireland as legitimate . li ali waj not unaware of these facts , then he must have

dvjHb-jr-:. '; dy sat himself to mislead the Lodges now or prexno'cAj undo ? his rule , by informing them that any resolution to -ixtxi-iisj their allegiance from the Grand Lodge of teoiliiiid would be ultra vires . In South Australia , New

Sov . ta wdes , and victoria such resolutions were passed , aiid * v / ora not ultra vires , as the Lodges are no longer under iaa o-i « nd Lodgo of Scotland and yet are recognised by it ca logitiiaate . Similar resolutions were passed in the Tasaaaaifln Lodges , and there is not the slightest doubt will

be universally held good . Bro . Sir F . Whitaker is a lawyer of repute , but we fear that he has not given that careful study to universal Masonic law ( which knows no quibbles ) which the brethren of his district had a right to expect would be given to it by an officer holding the high position which he held . —New Zealand Craftsman .

The Secrets Of Freemasonry.

THE SECRETS OF FREEMASONRY .

PROFESSOR LANCIANI tells us that the secrets of the Vestal Virgins—an organization which existed for a thousand years , from the foundation of Rome to the fall of tho Empire—were never revealed to mankind . We

The Secrets Of Freemasonry.

believe it . Nor havo the secrets of Freemasonry ever been revealed , though our Fraternity has existed for a longer period than did the society of tho Vestal Virgins . There are some striking analogies between tho reception of the Vestals and of Freemasons . They were regularly

initiated , and candidates wero required to be freo from physical , mental and moral defects . So rigid , for example , was the regulation with regard to physical disability , that defective eyesight , or a lisp in speech , or the slightest physical imperfection , absolutely excluded from the sisterhood .

Of course there have been numerous guesses concerning what were the secrets of the Vestals . Cicero affirms that " in Vesta ' s penetralia was kept the statue fallen from Heaven "—that is , the Palladium , a rude archaic statue of

Pallas , said to have been brought by iEneas from burning Troy . But the better opinion is that the secrets over which the Virgins presided were buried with tho last Vestal , about the year A . D . 394 .

The secrets of Freemasonry will in like manner be buried with the last Freemason .

Tho number of pretended exposes of Freemasonry is I legion , but after all the Craft has never been exposed . Aud it never will be . Indeed , we might almost say that in the nature of things it cannot be . The man who would do it cannot do it . One must

first thoroughly know what he would'reveal , and how many thoroughly know Freemasonry ? Can you not count them on your fingers ? And who of them would reveal it ? Besides , the man who assumes to reveal to tbe profane the secrets of Freemasonry , well knows that the profane

are in total ignorance concerning these secrets , and hence anything may be palmed off upon them as the genuine article . We may fairly infer that they reason with themselves thus : Supposing we know all the secrets of the Craft , what is the use of rightly disclosing any of them , when a substitute will answer just as well ?

We wish we could induce all initiates to become

thoroughly conversant with the secrets of the Craft , for their own advantage , since we should havo no fear whatever of their revealing them under any circumstances to the public . Initiates are entitled to know all the secrets of

Freemasonry . They have had their physical , mental and moral characteristics investigated , and been found worthy of entering the Craft . They havo paid the fee incident to initiation . The Fraternity has received them aud conferred upon them a knowledge of its secrets , and with

line upon line and precept upon precept , month after month , over and over again , has impressed upon them their real character and true value . And yet bow many

brethren practically remain ignorant of them ! How many merely sail on the surface of the Craft , without measuring with a plumbline its depths ! How many ienore Labour and devote themselves to Refreshment !

The secrets of Freemasonry in danger of being revealed ! Not a bit ! But Freemasons are in danger of learning little or nothing about the Craft , of receiving next to nothing in exchange for their physical perfection , their moral uprightness , their mental sanity , and their seventy-five dollars ?

Suppose henceforth we all devote ourselves with new energy to acquiring the secrets of Freemasonry . Let us first learn the A , B , C of the Fraternity ; next let us learn to spell and read with facility . Here we find two lines of research—the work , which is purely traditional and oral ,

and illustrative matter pertaining to the Craft , which may legitimately be placed and found in print . Here we have the two forms of physical and intellectual Masonry . Both are worthy of the most patient and careful investigationthe physical to enable you to perform the work , the intellectual to qualify you to understand it .

How can any one rightly perform the work who does not thoroughly understand it ? How can he confer that which he does not possess ? A Master of a Lodge should be true to his name , Worshipful—that is worthy of respect and honour . "

Worship " signifies the state of worth or worthiness . That should be the jitate or condition of the Master of a Lodge . He should be intimately acquainted with all the secrets of Freemasonry , botb the physical and the intellectual secrets .

And being Master of these , he should earnestly and intelligently impart them to the initiates whom he receives . It is his duty to know them , and it is their privilege to receive them . When the Masonic millennium comes , every