The Belgian Rifle Meeting And Freemasonry.

THE BELGIAN RIFLE MEETING AND FREEMASONRY .

LONDON , SATURDAY , OCTOBER 27 , 186 G .

The cordial , nay enthusiastic welcome that has been accorded to our English volunteers hy the brave and warm-hearted Belgian nation , cannot but awaken feelings of the deepest gratification in every British heart , and must serve -to

draw still closer the ties that bind Belgium to this country . We also rejoice that our riflemen have worthily sustained the national honour at the butts . Still

Ave must confess that as Masons we have rejoiced above all that the conduct and bearing of our countrymen have been all that we could wish , and that nothing has been done ( we read of one exception only ) to tarnish the honour of old

England , for the protection of whose altars and firesides they have taken up arms . Our gratification , however , reaches its climax , when we find that our good old Graft has been playing her wonted part of brotherly love , in the

festivities and amenities which have prevailed in Brussels during the visit of our volunteers . We read in the interesting letter of the special correspondent of one of our leading papers : — ** Then , on a sudden , there was much excitement ,

and a general tendency to take refuge in the f Heep , heep , hourrah ! ' of Belgic enthusiasm . It had , in fact , become known that the Lord Mayor of London had arrived at the Belle Vue Hotel ;

and the Lord Mayor of London is just as popular by name in Belgium as he is by presence and genial speech in England . Had it been know that the jalousie windows , by the side of the front entrance to the hotel , in the Palace Royal , were

those of his suite of rooms , he would infallibly have been serenaded , and compelled to appear . As it was , a request was preferred to him , by the Major of Brigade at head-quarters , Lieut . Purley , on the part of Col . Loyd Lindsay , the commandant ,

as well as of Lord Bury and the officers of the staff , that he would honour with his company , first , a Masonic meeting at the Grand Lodge , and afterwards the ball which was to be given by the Societe Royale de la Philharmonic , another of the

musical societies of Brussels . His lordship , though desperately tired , accepted with unhesitating good humour the invitations for the night ; and at ten o ' clock he was fetched by M . Jules Anspach the burgomaster . Lord Bury , ancl

Col . Loyd Lindsay , as well as the Lord Mayor are Freemasons ; and as may he supposed ihe reception they experienced from the brethren of the Craft was a noble and hearty one . No Masonic work had to be got through ; the meeting was

purely a fraternal interchange of sentiments , and the little speech of the Lord Mayor touched very happily the true chord of general feeling . He said it seemed to him that they were Freemasons outside as well as within the lodge ; for all Brussels was at that moment a field of universal

brotherhood . The ringing cheers which greeted this short address were only a foretaste of what the speaker may fairly expect while he is in Brussels . " The same correspondent in his next letter

further writes : — " In very great part the honours of yesterday were given to the Lord Mayor of London , whose arrival on the previous night , and hearty reception at the Freemasons lodge ancl ball room of the

the Societo Royale de la Philharmonic I have had the pleasure of recording . Though the details of proceedings at the Masonic meeting would not , if divulged , betray any Craft secrets , inasmuch as the signs given were only those of the first degree , and no actual business was done , there is yet no

reason why those same proceedings should be made publicly known . Indeed , the very fact that there Avas no secret business may plead as a very good argument for not gratifying the curiosity Avhich has so little motive of existence . But it may be

of some small interest to the general reader , that the speeches were more political than are frequently heard among brethren of the mystic tie ; that Lord Bury spoke Avith much fluency and animation ; that the Lord Mayor delivered his short and

appropriate address Avith his usual ready command of the right word ; ancl that a ceremony , banished , from the Masonic lodges of England , namely , the kiss of brotherhood , Avas observed on this occasion , to the slig ht momentary cmbarassment of the noble colonel of the Civil Service Volunteers . Avho

was the first to be embraced by the V , orslnpuu , or , as he is here called , the A enerable , Master . " It is impossible to read all this without unfeigned satisfaction , and an earnest resolve to reciprocate tenfold all the kindnesses which the Belgians

have lavished on our countrymen and brethren of the mystic tie . Let us see to it , that we , as Masons , be foremost in every effort on behalt of " peace on earth and good-will toAvards men . "