Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO : ALEXANDER WATT BAXTER , MM . 333 , AND P . M . 419 ,

"What man is there that liveth and shall not see death ?" Tt has pleased God to remove from this world and from all the present scene of things , one whom we have long regarded with much esteem and honour—Bro . Alexander Watt Baxter , M . M .

of Lodge St . George , 333 , and a Past-Master of Dunoon Argyll , and of Lodge Neptune , 419 . He died at Glasgow on the 20 th of June last .

From the time of his joining the Craft he took a warm interest in its affairs . In the year 186 * 2 he came prominently before the Scottish Craft , having been instrumental in the formation

of the Lodge Neptune , No . 419 ( perhaps the most successful lodge of the present time in Scotland ) , and was installed as the first Right ^ Worshipful Master , to which hi gh oflice he was elected thrice , and held it for three and a half

years . He did nofc take the oflice onl y in name , but entered into it with' heart and spirit , being fervently imbued with the principles of . Freemasonry , and his heart devoted to adoration of God , the supreme Architect , and good-will

towards all mankind . He was never absent from the regular meetings of the lodge , nor on any . occasion where his services were called for . The remains of our lamented brother were interred ' at Southern Necropolis , Glasgow , on the

23 rd of June , and the funeral was' attended by about' 300 people , including nearly 200 members of the Neptune Lodge , all in Masonic mourning costume . The large attendance of other friends was ' a manifestation of public respect .

Bro . Baxter was , indeed , esteemed by all who knew him , and day by day he gained ' on every one ' s affection . Seldom has Glasgow ' given to the grave a more worth y citizen , nor ' the Fraternity a more estimable brother . •We mourn over

the loss we have sustained , hut it would be well also * if we could follow the example set before us , ¦ with the same earnestness , 'the ' same' diligence iu every thing good , the same amiability ' of character , and the same evident desire for the promotion

of every worthy object . May we all take the lesson of his life and death to heart , and may his weeping friends be comforted when they think of the worth of the departed , and of the glorious hopes which surround his place of rest . Let us

not forget our motto : " In God is all our trust , " and let us rejoice in thinking of our brother as oho who lias gone to dwell in the glorious mansions which have been framed by the hand of theGreat Architect of tho Universe Himself

American Anecdote.

AMERICAN ANECDOTE .

A Baptist minister , named Elijah Dodson , in the state of Illinois , has been excommunicated by his congregation because he belonged to a lodge of Freemasons . When called b . fore the church ' to answer this imaginary crime , he proposed the following questions : —

1 . is' a moral good a spiritual evil ? 2 . Is Masonry a sin ? 3 . If Masonry ia a sin , wherein does it consist ? 4 . AVhy may I not pursue what course I please , if it is lawful and an advantage to me , provided I do not sin ? ;

6 .. When I have neither done nor intended harm , why should I be excluded 1 6 . How can you judge of that of which you know nothing 1 Hisaccusers couldnotextricatethemselvesfromthe difficulties involved in these questions ; nevertheless

the sentence of exclusion was pronounced . On this extraordinary proceeding the j 0 _ to _ r _(\ Vilmington Gazette , litis the following pertinent remark : — " We will venture to say , that no man who is acquainted with the . principles of Masonry will ever aver that they are inconsistent with the precepts of the gospel ; and for men to undertake to condemn that of which

theyknow nothing , and censure others for holding principles of which they are totally ignorant , argues the existence of feelings in their own minds which no one can envy or admire . " [ The circumstance which gave rise to the above anecdote occurred iu the autumn of 1825 , and was published in the New York Evening Tost . ' ]

Papers On Masonry.

PAPERS ON MASONRY .

BY A LEWIS . XIV—MASONRY AND DISPLAY .

" Thus saith the Lord , against all mine evil neighbours that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit : Behold I will pluck them out of their land , and pluck out the house of Judah from among them . "—/ erciriiWt , * sii . 14 .

These words are being accomplished . Truth is truth , in whatever sense you may veil it . The house of Judah is plucked out with a vengeance . There is too much display in Masonry , and to pure simple styles of architecture have succeeded abominations shocking the sight and offending the heart . Is the cause of the

just to be demolished by those who have upheld , it ? Do men need outward trappings of state to show what the inward emotions should convey ? Are we , to speak without a parable , to have constantly paraded almost every symbol of the Iloyal Art upon breast ornaments and fingers ? That the regalia of lodges

should be sumptuous and in conformity with the dignity of the Fraternity is beyond dispute ; but it is truly terrible to see it painted on doorposts , emblazoned on cards , and worn upon ordinary costume . Plethora of ornament does not prove the faithful labourer , and working clothes are" far more practical in working

times . The kid glove era has passed away , and by endeavouring to substitute , in public , a more uniform system of Alasonic conduct it is surely true that we cannot be lar wrong . It is well known to the writer that many persons who are covered with shame on interrogation , openly

wear emblems on their persons to which in absolute truth they have no other right than that of mere property possession . To what innumerable abuses this practice must lead , it is almost incalculable to say . In themselves , if not misinterpreted , they are not only harmless , but laudable , when in hands entitled to their

use and familiar with the responsibilities they imply . But the old adage is ever true , that it is dangerous tc play with edged tools . I do not object to jewelry as an ornament in general , but when I see symbols of a significant kind made the common property of unthinking and ignorant minds , I cannot but shudder at what

may ensue . I do not apply this to Masonry only ; other orders , with which I am more intimately affiliated , admit with sad carelessness similar abuses . I have , in my own experience , compelled by a proper challenge the offenders to denude themselves of their falsely-worn adornments , and I consider it to bo the duty of till

persons having a regard for their own good repute as citizens , only to sail under colours they may legitimately hoist . Is life , then , mere absolute war , in which it is legitimate to employ every stratagem to forward the mere ends of personal subsistence and advancement ? Perish the thought and the practice ,

as being unmasonic and unhumanitarian ! Is it possible to pass through the streets of our great world-town without seeing everywhere the heraldry of Masonry and other similar associations conspicuously staring every one in the face ? What is the tendency of this ?

Does it not lead to clandestine Masonry of the griping and grasping kind ? A very distinguished and intimate friend of minenot in reference to Masonry , but to another powerful and benevolent order—told me that it had been

necessary , m consequence of certain abuses , to remodel or suppress all that could be remodeled or suppressed , in consequence of the rapacity of the unprincipled . It was done : the effect , my friend told me , was duplex . While it saved the integrity of the order and preserved its . funds and dignity , it for a long time paralyzed its

energy and suspended its healthy action , but the rogues who won their way into it were effectually excluded and their designs frustrated . I do not expressly say that the society of Masons can apprehend this to the same alarming extent , but is not a prudence necessary on this point ?

I will not say what I could say , but surely it is but a little thing I am advocating—a small concession to caution ? . Why not divest walls and dress of signs , laughable to those unacquainted with their use ; erase them from tradesmen's cards , and edict them from every p lace where they may in real truth exercise a

pernicious influence ? Docs the drunkard look at the signs on thc publichouse ? Docs the smoker find a better flavour from his cigar or pipe because squares and compasses are printed on the wrapping-paper ? To compare Small things with great—is there any real advantage in a

stale conundrum on a tobacco-paper ? I question it ; and really , with sincerity , advise the use and not the abuse of Masonic and other symbols . It is only where they arc engraven on the heart — as they are of millions—that symbols can be even more than the unmeaning scrawl of the wandering idler on the blank wall .

Is not the inheritance too sacred—bequeathed , as it is , by the noblest of beings—to be made a trade mark of ? The Beni-lsrael have inherited it , but did not the Lord pluck out the house of Jn !; th from among them ? There exists another difficu . ty in the matter : that temporary absence , or surrender of certain houses of business , do not obliterate these marks . A person may

Papers On Masonry.

enter , with perfect good faith , and be trading on false pretences . Another designing individual may commit a crying injustice , and yet there only exists the on & mode of ' punishment , which the outside public can

mark with no stigma . In some places , the real chief or brother may be absent or otherwise incapacitated , and some pert individual may attempt mystificationa power easily acquired under the circumstances by which we arc environed .

How much easier , therefore , to avoid the weak conduct of the latter part of the reign of King Solomon , and not allow the precious heritage to lapse , from the ignoble feeling of outward vanity . The Preacher , in his sarcastic , cynical , but not un kindly way , said that most , nay , all things , were vanity . Was there not some profound meaning in this ? Did

it not , in effect , enjoin abstinence from those unrighteous snares and lures which stained the character of the wayfarer who met the strange woman by the wayside ? I feel it to be unjust to make any further use of " the little crooked thing that asks a question . ' The reply must be certain . It will be this : —Good can never be wrought otherwise than bv steadfast direction . C & YPTONYMUS .

Is Kilwinning The Birthplace Of Scottish Masonry?

IS KILWINNING THE BIRTHPLACE OF SCOTTISH MASONRY ?

We last week gave ' an account of the visit oi Glasgow St . John ' s Lodge to Kilwinning and Ayr , extracted from the Ayrshire Express , this also appeared in the Glasgow papers , and elicited fche following retort regarding the claim set up by the Kilwinning Lodge to be the nursery , mother , or birthplace of Scottish Masonry : —

( TO THK EDITOR OF TUB NORTH BRITISH DAILY MAIL . ) Sir , —In your issue of yesterday I read an interesting description , of the summer trip of the Glasgow Saint John's Lodge this year to Kilwinning and Ayr . In it , as usual , the remark is stated by the Ayr papers that Kilwinning is " The

Nursery of Masonry in Scotland , " or as it is otherwise g iven , "The Birthplace of Scottish Masonry . " Now I should like some substantial proof before 1 accept this statement , because I consider it to be a mistake ; further , I consider that in place of Kilwinning being the '' Mother" of Scottish Masonry ,

the Kilwinning fraternity was simply a branch from the 1190 Glasgow fraternity , consequently , however many children the " Mother " may have they had better do themselves the honour of acknowledging Glasgow St . John as the Father or

Grandfather . Since the birth of its first child , about the end of the seventeenth century , the "Mother " has been pretty prolific , and has b ^ een noways backward , either , in telling it ; her busiest time , however , would seem to have been after she had broken troth

with the Grand Lodge vu 1743 . The " Mother ' s " extant records go' back to 1 . 64 ' 2 , but they assert the great loss of an old book of about half . , a century earlier , which went back to about A . D . 1600 . However , it is perhaps as well it is lost , as it might have given data for the real age of the lodge , which

would not have coincided very well with the celebrated legend ; had the ruins of the old Abbey also been lost , or destroyed , before an exact description of them had been taken , it would have been a good thing for the life of the said legend , but as it is , the Kilwinning ruins distinctly say—the Kilwinning

story is but a mere tradition and a mistake . There is | also another Mother in Edinburgh whose extant retords go back , to 1598 , but she has the wnvisnal name of St . Mary . " St . John , " however , seems to have been the favourite name of those old lodges which existed in and before the 17 th century ,

scyeral of which still exist , as besides the venerable Glasgow St . John ' s , we have , e . g ., the old Melrose and Aberdeen St . John's , both of whom have very old records still extant , the latter having regular minutes from 1070 , and even long before that , as testified by the Burg Records of Aberdeen Spalding

Club , we find " the masqiiings of the Judge " of Aberdeen mentioned , " viz ., on 27 th of June , 1483 ! when "Sanct Nicholace wark" was going on . A circumstance worthy of observation is , that when the Aberdeen masons tirst went there they were known as " The St . John ' s fraternity . " Besides its

branch to Kilwinning , the Glasgow St . John ' s would seem to have sent another to Melrose , from whence the Aberdeen Masons suppose they originally came , while , again , the Aberdeen brethren claim to have sent "the light" to Stirling aud Perth—thafc is to say , that it was a member of the Aberdeen lodge

going south to these places who was the means of erecting the Stirling and Perth lodges . In reference to Kilwinning and Melrose hailing from Glasgow , it must be remembered that Glasgow , in the 12 th and following centuries , was the head ofthe diocese

in which these were situated , and Glasgow was the p lace to which the 1190 Building Fraternity were brought , for which Bishop Jocelyn had to get the consent ofthe " abbots , priors , and other clergy of his diocese . '—I am , &_ ., W . P . B . Glasgow , June 30 , I 860 .