Craft Freemasonry.

imposed upon me , I hope to prove to you that you have made no unsvorthy choice . ( Loud cheers . ) Many there are , I regret to say it , svho cast in your teeth that because Ave are a secret society , that , therefore , there must be evil in our mysteries . ( Cheers . ) It is , therefore , our bounden duty to prove by our public and private actions that there neA-er Avas a baser libel east on any society of men . ( Cheers . ) Our secrets are not such as those benighted beings Avho knesv nothing of us svould have the Avorld believeas repugnant to the laAvs

, of God and man . They are founded on the truest principles of religionthey Avere secrets Avhich Avere entrusted to the masons of old , by them have been entrusted to ASS , and it is osu- duty to hand them dosvn to those svho are to come after us . ( Cheers . ) I confess it svas svith the deepest regret that a short time asro I read an unwarrantable attack made on our Order by the Pope

of Rome— - ( Oh ! oh ! and cheers)—and I am sure that attack must bo as distasteful to the feelings of Roman Catholics as it is to the members of the Protestant Churches . ( Cheers . ) Carry the mind back to the times AS-hen in darker ages superstition prevailed , and you Avill see that anathemas such as these launched against sis by the Pope As-ould has c caused the sacrifice of the lis-es of many thousands of human beings . ( Hear , hear . ) Attacks like these only prove the spirit of hatred and oppression . HOAV different that is from the spirit of love ,

forbearance , and charity Asliich is breathed in Masonry . ( Loud cheers . ) As the brethren in Antwerp said in their anssver to tho denunciations of the Pope—I do not quote the identical Avords , but the meaning Avas , Freemasonry is above all religions , because it accepts them all in as far as they serve to make man nobler and better than he is . ( Cheers . ) A society such as ours , founded on those high principles svhere all mens opinions are free , and ss-here the doctrines ssdiich are propounded to entered apprentices are carried through all the degreesare those

, of love and charity in their most liberal and extended form—a society founded on such high principles as this deserves and merits tho confidence and the respect of the rest of the cosiAUAUvuty . ( Loud cheers . ) Brethren , I said Avhen first I rose that I AA'ould not trespass on your time . I fear I am nosv doing this .

( "No , " and loud cheers . ) Before I sit dosvn I must again thank you from the bottom of my heart for the reception you have this day given me . I trust by the Avay in svhich I shall be enabled to attend to the duties ss-hich you have laid upon me to endeavour to promote the good of the craft in this county , and so to live that Avhen my last hour comes , I shall pass from among you lamented by even the humblest of my brethren—not as a Prov . Grand Master alone , but as a man ss-ho has striven to do his duty in that position of life in

svhich he has been placed , holding before his eyes the great principles of our order , love and charity—and leaving behind me in short a name respected by all , and regarded by the brethren as a benefactor and a friend . ( Loud and prolonged cheering . ) Brother Danks then proposed , in very suitable and appropriate terms , " The healths of the Provincial Grand Masters , and Deputy Grand Masters , " ss-ho had assisted at the ceremony that day . Brother Colonel Bosvyer replied and expressed , on behalf of the brethren Avhose healths had been drank , the pleasure they felt in being present on that

occasion . ( Cheers . ) He expressed at the same time Ins sincere desire for the future prosperity of the province , and trusted that he might have other opportunities of renesving the friendships svhich he had found on this occasion . ( Cheers . ) Brother Lord Arthur Pelham Clinton then proposed " The healths of the Deputy Provincial Grand Master and the Provincial Grand Officers of Nottinghamshire . " The toast having been suitably acknossdedged , the brethren dispersed to

attend the Theatre Royal , the performance at Avhich . place of amusement Avere under tho special patronage of tho body . The theatre presented a splendid assemblage of rank , beauty , and fashion . The dress circle and it passages Avere densely crosvded svith elegantly dressed persons , among whom the handsome and insignia and distinctive decorations of the numerous brethren Avere brilliantly conspicuous ; and 250 orchestra stalls , constructed for the occasion in the pit , ssere filled -svith a similar class of