Colonial And Foreign.

temple . Again , the Grand Orient has recognised the colored Grand Lodges , which the American Masons claim to be bogus in the extreme , inasmuch as the Prince Hall Charter was originally obtained through fraud , and afterwards revoked for non-payment of dues . Finally , there are in this city four Lodges meeting in the Bleecker-street building , working at present under authorisation of the Grand Orient .

* * * Somewhere about 1870 Harry I . Seymour , actor and costumier , as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Supreme Council for the United States of America , whence he had been expelled , finding himself impecunious , conferred the thirty-third and last degree upon a number of Master Masons , whom he formed into a Supreme Council , which he claimed as being a continuation of

the Sovereign Grand Consistory founded by Joseph Cerneau in 1 S 07 in this city , although expelled from Scottish Rite Masonry by the self-same body , whose name he , like his fellow-impostcr Santangelo , appropriated . Despite its unmitigated illegitimacy , Seymour ' s creation has at the present moment a very large following , particularly in Kentucky , Virginia , and Maryland , who have been ingeniously entrapped through fraudulent assumption of the title

and history of another New York Supreme Council , still extant , declared by the treaty of Paris , at which it was represented by Lafayette , to be the only legitimate Council in America , of which Judge John I . Gorman is present Grand Commander . In April , 1 S 8 S , Ferdinand I . S . Gorgas , Grand Commander of the so-called Cerneau Grand Consistory , visited Paris , saw Frederick Dermous and other officers of the Grand Orient , established fraternal

relations with it , and appointed Alpha O . Munro , of Paris , his representative "in guarantee of friendship . '' Strange to say , this same Gorgas was Chairman of the Maryland Grand Lodge Committee , recommending perpetual severance of fraternal relations with the Grand Orient , as a promoter of infidelity .

* * * There is said to be a serious conflict between the French and American Freemasons , resulting in the suspension of all relations between the Lodges of the two countries . This matter has been going on ever since the Grand Orient of France dispensed with I . G . A . D . L . U ., that is , Le Grand Architecte de l'Univers . Now , when invited to attend a Convention of Freemasons , to be

held in Paris , the Americans have refused . Possibly the difficulty will be got over by the invitations being issued by those who follow the Scottish Rite , which retains the L . G . A . D . L . U . This Rite was dominant under the Empire , but has fallen quite into the background vmder the Republic .

* * * A meeting of the local Executive Committee for the establishment of a United Grand Lodge of Freemasons for New Zealand was held on the 15 th of August , at the Commercial Hotel , Auckland . There was a large and influential attendance , including representatives from the sister Lodges of Waikato , Warkworth , Wairoa South , l'apakura , Pukekohe , and other districts .

Bro . Malcolm Niccol presided . The principal business of the meeting was to receive the report of Bro . Niccol , one of the delegates appointed at the last meeting of the Committee to confer with other delegates at Wellington , to arrange a basis of union . This was submitted in circular form , the basis generally being on similar lines to that on which the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales has been established . Bro . Niccol explained in detail the work

which had been done , and the unanimous support which was apparently afforded to the movement throughout New Zealand . It was resolved that a circular be sent to all those Lodges wdio had voted against the movement for the formation of a United Grand Lodge , and to those who had not as yet decided , asking them to reconsider the matter , take a fresh vote of their Lodges , and communicate the results to the Secretary at as early a date as

possible . It was further resolved that as the work of the formation of the United Grand Lodge was now in such a forward state , monthly meetings be held , and , if circumstances required it , that special meetings be called . A friendly discussion took place on the circular laying down the basis of union of the new constitution , but all seemed satisfied that it met the requirements of the colony , while maintaining all the principles and forms of the Craft . A vote of thanks to the Chairman for his services as a delegate , and for his explanations to the meeting , brought the business to a close .

Mr . Archibald Grove announces the enlargement of the New Review by ten pages . We are glad to hear it , for he knows how to work , does Archibald . A charming little story reaches us through the unsophisticated brain of our publisher , which is really worth repeating . His minion waited upon a certain Masonic jeweller , who shall be nameless , but who ran a small and under-paid advertisement in the defunct Masonic Star , calling his attention to the benefits ,

& c , & c , of advertising in , & c , & c . "My good fellow , " said the astute Brother to our representative , in a small , piping voice , " I put an advertisement in the Masonic Star , and paid eighteen-pence a week for it , and , do you know , I was always being asked for catalogues , and 1 hadn't no catalogues to send them . I don't believe in advertising . I never did any good by it , I didn't . " Our publisher assures us the above is a fact . It may be a grain of comfort to Bro . Stevens to know it .

Gathered Chips.

Gathered Chips .

Freemasonry has always been and is always willing to show its interest in all that pertains to human welfare , and to throw its influence upon the . side of truth and virtue . It is a secret society , but it is much more . Us noble principles and good deeds are known and read of all men . But any man who will read what is printed for the public eye , any man who will observe the course of life among men , may , in our records and from our actions , which arc open to the world , draw material for the formation of an opinion that is favorable

to our Order . The inner working of an institution of learning is practically a profound secret to those who have never had experience within its walls . But the man who is ignorant of the method knows how to appreciate the result which appears in the life of those to whom the method is familiar . Any man of proper mental powers can learn how to walk the hidden paths of wisdom . So any man of upright character and noble purpose may learn the

secret process through which Freemasonry preserves its existence and docs its work in the world . Secrecy is not the end of Masonry . The world at large ma }' rest assutcd that with the darkest shadow of mystery which appertains to this institution there exists not the least element of an > thing which would bring injury to the purest mind to which it might be revealed . Every social fellowship has the right to state the terms of its membership , which shall be accepted by

those who are identified with it . The great end in view among Masons , as may be plainly seen , is social enjoyment and practical beneficence among Brethren who arc bound together in the application to life of certain noble principles which lie at the foundation of all human welfare . An attempt is here made to put in practice within a limited circle a certain type of life which no man can afford to neglect . Masonry is no usurper of the rights and

privileges of the Church . It does not aspire to be the perfect embodiment of the religious life of humanity . There are limitations to its fellowship which it recognises to be inconsistent with any attempt to embody the religious sentiment in its fullest development . If , however , it is not the sun shining in the

perfect day of man ' s religious life , we may at least compare its influence to that of the refulgent moon , which throws no ether light over the earth than that which it first derived from the sun itself , and then reflected in glory and beauty over the scene of human life . Freemasonry reflects many of the choicest rays of the Sun of Righteousness , ' and throws a gentle light over the night of man's sorrows . So while our beloved Order does not set k to cover the whole ground of man's religious obligation , it is careful so far as it does go to say and to do

nothing that shall be out of harmony with the deepest needs and the highest aspirations of the human soul . The true Mason bows in reverence whenever he hears the name of God . The Atheist must look outside of this Society for congenial companionship . There is nothing which of right belongs to Masonry which interferes in the slightest degree with the attainment of a perfect Christian character . On the contrary , a faithful observance of the

obligations which Masons assume , the application of the symbolic teaching of the ritual , and the manifestation in social life of the spirit which pervades the Lodge-room , will strengthen and increase those elements of character which it is the province of the Church to carry to their perfection . There comes a time in the life of every man when he needs that which money cannot buy . Sickness lays him low , sorrow throws its pall over his life , his pbns fail , all things press heavily upon him—he needs a friend . Our Institution tries to do its share in lifting the weight of sorrow from human hearts . From thousands of those who have felt the touch of its beneficent hand the song of its praise

ascends to Heaven . While this is not in its essential features a society for mutual benefit in a monetary sense , there is developed among its members that spirit of helpfulness which allows no member selfishly to enjoy the abundance with which he has been blessed so long as a Brother , or the widow or orphan of a Brother , is in need of that which he can supply to make life comfortable . Masonic charity is free and full . Freemasonry is often spoken of as an Order . It is one among

many institutions which have sought to bring order into human life . No society established among men has been more successful in giving men a calm and orderly view of life . Through ignorance and wilfulness the life of man is full of disorder and confusion , it is often without satisfaction either to himself or to society . Masonry tries to bring order into man ' s life by teaching him that he is a part of a great order of creation . It points him again and again

to the order which is manifested throughout the realm of Nature , by which the stars move in their orbits , and all processes of growth go on . This order it teaches him to imitate within the sphere of his own life . Geometry and architecture are used as illustrations of the order of moral and spiritual life which man should seek to have established within his own being . Through the maintenance of rank and stationwith a due respect for authority within

, its own borders , and through the practice of brotherly love and relief , among those who are linked in its mystic chain , Masonry seeks to lead men to the truth—it guides men into the presence of God with some power to seek the true meaning of life . — Voice of Masonry .

* * * The practice of Freemasonry commenced in the p rimitive period of the world's history , and it has spread over the entire surface of the habitable globe . Freemasonry has a universal language , that can be understood by