Freemasonry In The Levant.

FREEMASONRY IN THE LEVANT .

LONDON , SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 4 , 1865 .

la translating from the Freimaurer Zeitung an interesting account from a Naples correspondent of the condition of Freemasonry in the Ottoman Empire , at page . 502 of our last volume , we made the observation that we did not mean to endorse

the whole of our contemporary ' s views , because we saw there were inconsistencies in the statement , doubtful Masonic theories put forth , and that there were statements incompatible with the facts as recorded in our own pages .

The same motives of interest attaching to the subject which induced us to take it up in the first instance ., have led us to investigate it ; and as we found the discrepancies were of importance , we have followed the subject up for the vindication of English Masonry , of the transactions of which the

correspondent has shown himself ignorant to such an extent that , except the first line of it , there is hardly a word of truth throughout , so far as it regards English lodges or English Masons . The fact is that in 1859 there was only one

English lodge in Constantinople , and a French one had expired ; but it is not true that the ambition of the English inhabitants led to the foundation oi two more lodges there , with a view of establishing an English Provincial Lodge for Turkey . It is

not true that the English Provincial Lodge opposed German brethren in establishing a Germ ' an lodge under the Hamburgh Grand Lodge—or that they put in a solemn protest—or that they set up district rights—or that the protestation was laid aside by the German lodge—or that these proceedings of the German brethren encouraged the

establishment soon after of French and German lodges . All these things , and most of the others recorded , exist only in the imagination or invention of the correspondent or his informants , and the end is befitting- the beginning ; for , instead of describing

the condition of Masonry in Turkey , it only gives a maimed account of Masonry in Constantinople , and of the abortive attempts of Bro . Treu and Bro . Salvotti to overturn Masonry , and substitute some new-fangled crotchets of their own .

Instead oftlie fabric of Masonry in the Ottoman Empire being in such an unsound state , it will be found that its progress has been steady and solid ; and instead of its being true that English Masons have been backward in promoting Masonry , and

have not contributed to its prosperity , it will be

found they are first and foremost , and that they have led the way , while Bros . Treu and Salvotti have been projecting . The English lodge existing at Constantinople in 1859 is the same which exists there at the

present time—the Oriental , a very distinguished and flourishing lodge , and which , then and now , lias taken a prominent part in promoting every effort for extending- and encouraging Masonry there . It fraternized with the old French lodge and the neAv one—it founded the first German lodge by contributions from its own coffers—it held out the hand

of fellowship to the new Italian lodge—and in this present year it promoted the formation of the first Greek lodge in the Ottoman Empire , the consecration of which was celebrated in its own lodge room on the 19 th of January , and the installation of the Worshipful Master performed by old Past Masters of the Oriental .

Such is a brief sketch of the services of the Oriental in this direction , and it is almost needless to say that it has done more than any other lodge in Constantinople , for till lately there have been no lodges there to clo anything . So much for the

assertion that " unfortunately" the English brethren are the most behind hand in these movements . Bros . Treu and Salvotti hold forth , that the English brethren " deem themselves superior to the commun des mortals , and keep aloof from ,

the aspirations tending towards the redemption of the vices of the East , and will not admit that the slightest reform in the organisation of Masonry is due to the spirit of the time we live in . " This tirade is due to the circumstance that the

brethren of the Oriental and the English brethren throughout the East have refused to countenance the innovations of these new lights . How far they are chargeable with keeping aloof from true Masonic progress , we have conclusively shown ;

and it is easy to extend the defence to the English brethren in the Ottoman Empire at large . While the Oriental Lodge maintained Masonry singlehanded at Constantinople , the Homer Lodge did the same good service at Smyrna , and brought

the spurious Grand Lodge and its dependent lodges to a close . For some time these two English lodges were the only lodges existing in Turkey , aud it has been by their efforts thatMasonry has been puton its present successful basis . The Homer Lodge has

directly promoted a German , a French , an Armenian , and a Greek lodge , and the new Italian lodge meets in its lodge-room .