The Province Of Wiltshire.

submitted for the consideration and acceptance of the brethren showed that in numbers , as well as in all branches of Masonic duty , Wiltshire had made very satisfactory progress . The Prov . Grand Registrar was able to report the numerical strength of the u lodges on the roll at 517 , as against 49 6 at

the corresponding period of 1888 . The Report of the Provincial Benevolent Fund and Charity Organisation showed that the Treasurer of the former had £ 415 17 s . invested in Consols , and a balance in hand of close on £ 80 , while as regards the Charity Organisation , the Committee were in a position to

announce that the duties of Secretary , which had been performed from the very first by the late Bro . WILLIAM NOTT , and since his death by Bro . HARRY BEVIR , the Prov . G . Secretary , had been undertaken by Bro . R . V . VASSAR-SMITH , Dep . Prov . Grand Master of Gloucestershire , in whose ability and zeal they

reposed the utmost confidence . It was further shown that the voting strength of the province in connection with the three Masonic Charitable Institutions , which had increased from 1 790 in 188 7 to 1858 in 1888 , had been still further increased during the present year to 197 6 . In his address , the Dep . Prov . Grand Master dilated with extreme satisfaction on these evidences of

the good work which had been done , while at the same time he referred in the highest terms to the services rendered by their late Bro . W . NOTT , as honorary Secretary of the Western Provinces Charity Association , and also to the deep regret which was felt throughout the whole English Craft at the recent

death of Bro . Sir DANIEL GOOCH , Bart ., who had served as Deputy to their Prov . Grand Master from his installation till the year 1868 , when the late Earl of ZETLAND , then M . W . G . M ., appointed him to the higher and more responsible office of Prov . Grand Master of Berks and Bucks . He also paid a

welldeserved compliment to Bro . HARRY BEVIR , Prov . Grand Secretary , not only for the readiness he had shown in undertaking , temporarily , the duties of the late Bro . NOTT , and the abilit y he had exercised in their performance , but also for the

services he was rendering as one of the Provisional Management Committee of the Boys' School ; and he echoed the hope , which had previously been expressed by the Provincial Committee , that the Governors and Subscribers of the Institution would lend their aid to the Provisional Committee in their

efforts to place the School in such a position as to command the confidence of the entire Craft . Thus the proceedings on this occasion were most gratifying , and we warmly congratulate our Wiltshire brethren on the prosperous state of Masonry in their Province .

Grand Lodge Of South Australia.

GRAND LODGE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA .

The following oration was delivered by Bro . Lord Kintore on the occasion of his installation as Grand Master of South Australia , at Adelaide , last month : His EXCELLENCY began with an acknowledgment of the eloquent charge of the Chiet Justice , and continued—M . W . Grand Sirs , R . W . Grand Wardens , and Brethren , —I desire very respectfull y to return you my sincere and hearty thanks for the kind feeling which prompted my nomination to the chair of Grand Lodge

—to the brethren who brought the proposal before you , and to you all for the unanimity which marked my election , as well as for the enthusiasm which has attended my installation . Believe me , I am at a total loss to know how best to attempt to assure you of my gratitude . You have , many of you , heard me protest times without number that my vocabulary has been exhausted in the effort to acknowledge worthily the constant acts of kindness which have been done to

me during the half-year I have spent amongst you . The proceedings of this afternoon have immeasurably increased my difficulty . When I look round at the brilliant assemblage of Freemasons , some of whose faces are familiar to me as being faces I have seen in far distant parts of this colony ; when I see present in such numbers our distinguished brethren from the great centres of Masonic life in Australia , all of whom have come to do honour to its senior Grand Lodge and to

him who has from the beginning ruled it with such ability and wisdom , and incidentally to offer the right hand of fellowship to his unworth y successor , I confess that words fail me in which to paint to you the feelings which fill my breast . Now , brethren , let me state at the outset that I entirely realise that the sole reason why I , a comparative stranger , am now filling the hi ghest office in the power of Grand Lodge to bestow is owing to the coincidence of my happening to be at once

the representive of the Queen and a Freemason . Treasuring as I do the recollection of the long-standing connection of my famil y has had with Freemasonry , you can understand how grateful I am for this coincidence . I understand that the Masons of South Australia desire to manifest their loyalty and attachment to the Throne in a manner which cannot be mistaken , and so , with the cordial approval of their Grand Master they have

elected as their Grand Master for the ensuing year her Majesty ' s Governor . Brethren , loyalty to my Sovereign , respectful admiration of her blameless life and noble character , gratitude for her constant adherence to the lines of conduct marked out for the ruler of a constitutionall y governed monarchy , undying affection for the old country which is her home , and a longing that the few but valued ties which , centering in the Governor still exist to unite us to her , should not be

loosed , are sentiments which I passionately share . How , then , could I refrain from agreeing to place my poor services and such time as I can find available at your disposal ? And yet , brethren , I do assure you that , glorying though I do in the reason which is the cause of my election , proud beyond words though I am at being permitted to occupy so high and so dignified an office , still I cannot conquer the feeling of dismay which overmasters me when I think of the sacrifice that was necessary in order to render vacant the throne of Grand Lodge .

No need lor me to remind you of the late Grand Master ' s services to this Grand Lodge and to Freemasonry . His praises are in every mouth—they are sung in every land . We are thankful that his worth has been appreciated and acknowledged by Masons the world over . In laying down his office his is the pleasure of being able to reflect that he has earned the respect , the admiration , and the affection of all those very people whose loving regard he most desired to pt ssess . Brethren , had it followed that jb y accepting the Grand Mastership I

Grand Lodge Of South Australia.

should have deprived Grand Lodge altogether of Bro . Chief Justice Way s services , no consideration would have been wei g hty enough to induce me to accept it . However , I rejoice to inform you that , in a spirit of devotion to his Grand Lodge , and with the intention of adding yet another good deed to the many for which I am his debtor , Bro . his Honour Chief Justice Way has consented to take the office of Pro Grand Master . Thus happily Grand Lodge will still have the full benefit

of his advice and experience , and I of his much valued help . Greatly shall I need it ; often I shall have to appeal for your kind indulgence , for it is no light thing that I have undertaken . I have undertaken the Mastership of a Grand Lodge renowned for its devotion to Masonic principles , celebrated for the finish and accuracy of its working , and which , though but five years old , possesses the allegiance of 37 lodges , with more quickly to

follow , and which , without waiting for a larger membership , has made a good start , in the inauguration of a scheme of Masonic Charity . But more than that , the Grand Master has to see to it that he ever faithfully endeavours to adapt the words and actions of dail y life to the hig h standard which Freemasonry and this Grand Lodge inculcates . For , Brethren , it would be a bad day for Masonry if it came generally to be supposed that it consisted of a collection of mysterious signs or

phrases without corresponding action . Undoubtedly we possess secrets which we may not divulge . So do other Crafts . The merchant has his private mark , the professional man his sacred confidence . The priest is under most solemn vows to reveal naught of what reaches him in the confessional . But , brethren , whatever our secrets are , our principles and objects we proclaim from the housetops . They are principles which we are neither ashamed nor afraid to acknowledge , thus at once fixing a great

gulf between ourselves and those secret societies which adopt principles and exist for objects which they dare not avow . We are the champions of freedom and truth . I remember how Fox Maule , Lord Dalhousie , one of the most eminent Grand Masters the Grand Lodge of Scotland has ever had , used to point out that in the dark days , when civil liberty and relig ious truth were both endangered by tyranny and superstition , the lodges of Masonry were the receptacle and the protection

of both . Tyrants , said he , have ever dreaded Masonry , because Masons are the champions of freedom . Superstition has denounced it , because Masonry is the friend and protector of the truth . Brethren , we believe in God as Great Architect of the Universe , and we worship Him . We do not believe , as has been well said , that the clay is the potter , that the matter is the maker , or that the atom is the Architect of the Universe . We acknowledge with gratitude the goodness of the

bountiful Giver of our corn , and wine and oil . We commenceour undertakings hoping for and asking for the Divine blessing . The Holy Bible is placed in our lodge as a guide to our faith and practice . No dark conspiracies are found among us . We fear God , honour the Queen , and as children of the Great Father of all we teach the gospel of brotherly love , relief , and truth , of loyalty and Charity , of virtue and honour . We should stretch a helping hand to him that is in

necessity ; we inculcate universal benevolence without distinction of classs or colour , or country or creed ; we look for integrity and Charity in every action between man and man ; we enjoin subjection to civil authority and loyalty to our rightful Sovereign . We would obey God's will , so far as we know it ; we would carry ourselves while we live as good men , honest and true ; and in dying we would cast ourselves humbly and hopefully into the depths of infinite love . Brethren , such

are our principles and objects . I rejoice to think that many and many a time has Masonry given tangible proofs of unselfish generosity , of nobleness of purpose , and of being a brotherhood of philanthropy , limited only by the bounds of the habitable globe , which have commanded the respect and admiration of mankind . Let us look to it that we fall not too woefull y short of so high an ideal ; that we , so far as in us lies , carry out these aims in this work-a-day world , and so find our

greatest delight in li g htening the sorrows of others . Brethren , I cannot sit down without offering the grateful thanks of Grand Lodge to the Grand Masters of New South Wales and Victoria and their Grand Officers for their attendance and kind services . It comes to me personally as a token of great encouragement , and to us all as a most valued expression of goodwill . In your name and in mine I

thank them . Brethren , I have done . I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your generous kindness—kindness as warm as any I have received in South Australia . I cannot say more . May the Great Architect of the Universe have this Grand Lodge , our sister Grand Lodges , and each and all of these great colonies for ever in His most holy keeping .

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE is a name given to a period and style of architecture under which more than one school or type is included . Why it is called Gothic Architecture is not quite clear . Clearly it had nothing to do with the Goths . Some have said that the name arose from an Italian expression , in contempt for the German or Gothic style , but which , as Lubke says , has become a name of honour . In all probability it was but a development of the " transition " style of the

Romaoesque and Byzantine by the operative guilds in Gaul and Germany . The first appearance of what we are accustomed to term the Gothic st y le is in the Isle de France , Paris , in the last 30 years of the 12 th century . Thence it seems to have passed into England , and to be traceable in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral , 1174—1185 . The first Gothic building in Germany is the nave of St . Gereon , Cologne , 1212—1217 ; also in Madgeburg , 1211 , and the Madonna Church

at Treves , 1227—1244 . In England , as we know , the Conquest brought in a " novum ,-edificandi genus , " and that probably is what has been termed Norman , or what Lubke calls the transition style . The development of that noble system of architecture , generally called Gothic , may be fairly credited to the operative guilds . We wish some better word could be devised for it than Gothic—Kenning ' s Cyclopcedia of Freemasonry .

HESSE CASSEL . —The history of Freemasonry in this Electorate is a chequered one . Freemasonry seems to have been set up in 1743 by a lodge at Marburg , called " Zu den drei Lowen , " which later took the name of" Marc Aurel zum flammenden Stern . " In Cassel itself a lodge , " Zum blauen Lbwen , " was existing in 177 i but even before that a lodge , " Ztun Thale Josaphat , " seems to have been founded . In 1774 Von Hunde established the Lodge " Zum gekronten Lowen .

In 1773 the Lodge " Friedrich von der Freundschaft , " under the Royal York , Berlin , was opened ; and in Rotenberg a Lodge " Houstanber zu den drei Kranzen . " In 1794 all the lodges were closed by Government until 1807 , when , during the French occupation , the Lodge " Friedrich von der Freundschaft" reopened , and took the name or "Jerome Napoleon a la Fidelite . " In 1808 the Lodge " Chevaliers de Catherine

la bien aimee " was founded ; "Des Arts et de 1 'Amitie" appeared in 1809 ; and " Catherine de la Parfaite Union " in 1813 . About this time daughter lodges from these were to be found at Hildesheim , Einbeck , Goslar , Osterode , Heiligenstadt , Eschwege , Gottingen , Nordhausen , Celle , Marburg , Hanover , Helmstedt ; and from these was formed the Westphalian Grand Lodge , at the head of which were the well-known SimeonVon ButtlerGraf Hardenberg , the Prince von

, , Philippsthal , Professor Glass , the preacher Gotz , and Ruppersberg , e f - After the fall of the so-called Kingdom of Westphalia , the Grand Lodge fell witn it , and two of the lodges attempted to revive a new Provincial Grand Lodge Hesse Cassel . In 1817 , under Von Bardeleben , the Grand Mother Lodge ot Hesse Cassel was founded , which lasted until 1821 , when all lodges were aga ' t

closed by the Government . In 1 849 General von Helmschwerdt became Worshipful Master of a new re-opened lodge— " Zur Eintracht und Stan - haftigkeit , "—but again definitel y closed in 1855 . We see , from Van Da-len s admirable little " Jahrbuch , " that in 1886 this lodge was revived , and we wish and Freemasonry in Hesse Cassel all prosperity . —Kenning's Cyclopaedia of l' f masonry .