Cæmentaria Hibernica.*

ceremony took p lace in the Great Hall of the King ' s Inns , and as it is announced that the Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master ( who was absent ) , and the Grand Wardens were included among those , who went in coaches and chariots to the place of

meeting , where in the course of the proceedings the new Grand Master ( the Earl of ROSSE ) , and Grand Wardens were chosen and his lordship appointed his Deputy Grand Master , it necessarily follows that , whether the Grand Officers who figured

in the procession were the same who were afterwards chosen for the ensuing year or a different set altogether , the Grand Lodge must have been in existence prior to this St . John the Baptist ' s Day , 1725 . For how long a time it may have existed previously

there is nothing to show , but that it was in existence some four or five years earlier than the time hitherto accepted by all writers has now been proved to a demonstration , and the honour of having made this discovery belongs , as we have said , to Bro . CRAWLEY .

It is just possible that , as the Duke of WHARTON , Grand Master of England in 1723 , and the Earl of ROSSE , Grand Master of Ireland , 1725-6 , were "Arcades ambo" men of the same character , between whose careers , as Bro . CRAWLEY points out ,

there is a strong parallelism , Lord ROSSE may have desired to emulate his brother peer , and got himself elected Grand Master of Irish Freemasons , as WHARTON had done two years previously of the English Freemasons ; but even this will not

explain the completeness of the Irish organisation in June , 1 725 , and the existence in that month of six lodges of Gentlemen Freemasons . These were not created in a day , and the inference

—a not unnatural one , considering the close intercourse between the two kingdoms—is that the Grand Lodge of Ireland dates its foundation from a period still nearer to the year 1717 than even Bro . CRAWLEY ' S discovery warrants us in accepting .

The further remarks we desire to make on this and the other contents of Fasciculus II . must be reserved for another article .

The Anti-Masonic Congress At Trent.

THE ANTI-MASONIC CONGRESS AT TRENT .

We do not think that it matters greatly to the Masonic body what happened at the Anti-Masonic Congress which was held at Trent during the autumn of last year . Great expectations were formed of its results . The soul of Christendom was

declared to have been stirred by the diabolical practices of the Freemasons , and it is just possible that some simpleminded people may have looked forward to the utter annihilation of Masonry as soon as the Congress had settled to its work and

issued its proclamations of anathema , & c , & c , & c . But like those in the Ingoldsby Legend , who heard the curses both loud and deep that were uttered by the priests in respect of a certain knavish trick that turned out to have been perpetrated by a

certain knavish little bird , no one seems to be a penny the worse . The Congress has met , denounced , and separated . The world still revolves on its axis in its appointed orbit round the sun and everything on the face of it bears a very striking

resemblance to what was on its surface six months ago . The people are for the most part the same , they follow pretty much the same avocations , their habits and modes of thought are about the same , nor is there anything to show that the Anti-Masonic Congress

of last autumn has had any other effect than that of involving those who attended it , as well as those who proposed and planned it , in the utmost ridicule . No one , in short , is a penny the worse . Yet a good many people still think it worth while

discussing what happened at the meeting , and among those are not a few of our Masonic contemporaries , who do not seem to realise that the Congress proved a fiasco , and that the best course to adopt towards it is to treat

it with silent contempt . The world is far too enlightened to swallow the absurd nonsense which the Romish priesthood is always ready to din into its ears , that Masonry is " ever waging an open , relentless warfare in the halls of its universities , in the

class-rooms of its schools—a warfare that has no other end than the one of placing the very DEVIL himself upon the altars of JESUS CHRIST , the Man of GOD ; of substituting Lucifer for

the GOD of the Christian throughout the length and breadth of the Christian world . " Such claptrap as this may have the desired effect of imposing upon the people who a . re so ignorant

The Anti-Masonic Congress At Trent.

as hardly to know their right hand from their left . But it is no good addressing this nonsense to those who have received even a modicum of educational training . Nor will it greatly influence men to talk in exaggerated strains to the effect that " the

Catholicity of Europe has shaken off its lethargy and at once donned the costume of the warrior . Yes , the Cardinal Maria Sancha has sounded , as did Peter the Hermit of old , by his pen , and his tongue , the tocsin of battle . For him alone ,

and in his service , does he to-day gird himself with the panoply of the crusader against the legions of Masonry , against those impious hosts who would feign war successfull y against the Blessed Sacrament . " Those who talk and write

in this Boanerges' vein , lose sight of the monstrousl y absurd disproportion between cause and effect . Catholic Christendom girding on its armour in order to do battle with the impious hosts of Satan turns up in a Congress of some 400

or 500 people , held in a tenth-rate city , whose name is barely known except to students of ecclesiastical history . The mighty host that was to annihilate the powers of Darkness was , after all , a mere "Three Tailors of Tooley Street" affair , and the

Constitutions of Freemasonry are still in full force . Hence , while we do not suggest that Masons should despise even the smallest of their enemies , we recommend as the more dignified way of dealing with this Congress of Trent , that was held last

autumn , that as little notice as possible should be taken of its proceedings . It has come and gone , and we , against whom it was directed , can well afford to bury the ridicule it provoked in oblivion ,

Consecration Of Tee Arter Lodge, No. 2654.

CONSECRATION OF TEE ARTER LODGE , No . 2654 .

The consecration of the above lodge , of the Province of Worcestershire , took place at the Moseley and Balsall Heath Institute , in the presence of a large concourse of brethren of Worcestershire and the adjoining provinces , among them being Bros . W . T . Page , P . G . S . ; J . Attwood , P . G . D . C .

A . Pearson , P . G . R . ; W . Boddington , P . P . A . G . S . ; J . Hill White , P . P . G . S . of W . ; W . C . Box , P . G . O . ; Herbert Manley , P . G . S . of W . ; E . Collens , P . G . S . B . ; C . Mytton , P . P . G . R . ; A . Greene , P . G . P . of England ; T . Tallis ; W . Thomas , P . P . S . G . D . ; C . E . Bloomer , P . P . S . G . W . ; R . B . Morgan , P . P . G . S . B . j W . H . Dingley , P . P . G . S . of W . ; and

others . The ancient and impressive ceremony of consecration was performed by Bro . Augustus Frederick Godson , M . A ., M . P ., P . G . D . Eng ., Prov . G . M . ; assisted by Bros . R . Arter , P . S . G . of W ., Src , as S . W .. ' A . Greene , Past G . Purst . Eng ., as J . W . ; the Rev . George Frederick Hough , P . P . S . G . W ., as Chap . ; William Waldron , P . P . S . G . W ., as D . C . ; John

Millington , P . G . Purst ., as I . G . ; Charles Percy Perry , W . M . designate ; Richard Wheeler Haines , S . W . designate ; and Charles Benjamin Bishop , J . W . designate . The brethren having assembled in the lodge room , the lodge was duly opened , and the hymn " Hail Eternal by whose aid " having been sung , the

CONSECRATING OFFICER addressed the brethren on the motive of the meeting , after which a number of duly prescribed ceremonies were performed ; the warrant from the Prince of Wales , Grand Master of England , was read , and an oration on the nature and principles of Masonry was given by the Chaplain , Bro . the Rev . G . F . HOUGH .

After allusion to Bro . Arter , after whom the new lodge was to be named , commending him to imitation , and refering to his charitable work in laudatory terms , he said the new lodge , No . 2654 , was being consecrated in one of the most memorable years of the whole Christian era , namely , that in which our beloved Queen completed her record reign . The Queen had reigned on true Masonic principles . At

her advanced age we could not hope to have her with us for any long period , but we might be thankful for the benefits already enjoyed under her beneficent sway . ' Some said that the time for Masonry had passed away ; but its principles were more than ever needful . It was said that our civilisation had reached a height at which Masonry could be dispe nsed with . But in this age of self-sufficiency , when men seek new theories to replace the

principles for which our forefathers bled and died ; at a time when education tends to become more and more secular ; when the agnostic paraded ancient beliefs as incomprehensible mysteries ; when men of learning speak together in congress and the name of God is not mentioned in connection with scientific inquiry ; when order is derided , and everything of nature ' s laws is said to be antagonistic to personal freedom—in such an age Masonry was

calculated to be good for mankind . Men should make the Masonic principles the daily pursuit of their lives ; that is , they should live in love and charity with all men , not only with brother Masons , but with the whole world . The oration over , the brethren sang the anthem " Behold how good and joyful , " Bro . Vox being at the organ , after which came the dedication prayer and the invocation , and various other ceremonies of an interesting characterincluding the reading of extracts from the Holy Writ . Then

, corn , the symbol of plenty , was scattered ; wine , the symbol of joy , and oil , the symbol of peace , were poured , and salt was sprinkled , the symbol of fidelity and friendship . After the anthem " O how amiable , " the Chaplain went with the censer three times round the lodge , the lodge was constituted , and the anthem " The spacious firmament on high , " was sung . Then came the Patriarchal Benediction , and the consecration was over ,