MASONIC BAZAAR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1731, 9 December 1887, Page 2

MASONIC BAZAAR.

The bazaar In aid of tho funds of the Somoraot Masonio Lodge, which was opened yesterday, was m every way moßt successful. Owing to tho holiday that had been deolared, In consequence of tbe excursion to Mount Somers and the large numbers of people who had taken advantage of the opportunity for a day's outing, the attendance at the opening was not so hrge as would have otherwise been the case ; still the hall was comfortably filled, and with the return of excursionists the attendance was of course augmented. Very great taste had been evinced m the arranging of the various stalls, and iv tbe disposal of flags, evergreens etc, round the room, whioh, with the Masonio decorations devices, emblems, bannera etc, gave ihe hall a beautiful appearance, and In the avening numerous Chinese lanterns 1 materially heightened the pleasing effeat. 1 rhe stalls were presided over by the fol- i lowing ladies :— No. 1, Mrs Felton and i Mrs Dlmant ; No. 2, Mrs Shearman aud 1 Mrs Worner ; No. 3, Mrs Baker aud the l yllsßes Pearson (2) ; No. 4, Mrs Page and i VJlss Hardley ; refreshments, Mrs Patt- i nan and Mrs Oullen. The assistants c rere ; — Mlbbob Manning, Sloolair, Worner I tnd Undrill. The principal attractions t yore a monster bride-cake and Mr Henry t lander's collection of coins and stamps, dr Zander has made the round of the rorld and he, In a sense, belies the old roverb that " a rolling stone gathers no a tioEB," fur to possess bo extensive and D eautiful a collection must havo takeu Ime and trouble. There were four « ood Bfzid cases well filled and tastefully asorted, numbering some 2000 coins, § mong which wo note money as far back s 1600 B,C. The collection of rermau oolns Is simply marvellous, for bl lough some colna are hundreds of years ni Id, the state of preservation Is as If new D! i early every currency In the world is J! presented, and amongst the many are v otably spade guineas, half and a third ; 0 4inoa, ducats and some relics of •< the « B

grandeur that was Rome." Time and Bpace do not allow ub to specify them any further, but lt will repay anyone to pay a visit to this rare collection, In addition to which he also shows a collection of Borne 3500 postage stamps, among which we note the rarest and oldest. The opening ceremony took place at three o'clock, the speeches made on the occasion being as follows:— Tho Worshipful Master, Bro E. Dlmant, said he had no desire to detain the brethren, ladies aud gentlemen present. Doubtless they knew that they were assembled for a special purpose, and the sooner they applied themselves to it the better for tbo object they had In view. Ho felt It his duty to make special reference to tho it fluonca the ladies had exorcised at all times npon their institution m and upon the characters of the brethern themselves, who, he took lt, were proud to class themselvea amongst the members of their institution over all tha four quarters of the globe. A Mason, In the strictest sense of tho woid, owed his position to the influence of his wife, or his mother, cr the ladio3, m Borne other oapaolty. Her illustrious Majesty the Queen was the daughter of one ef the most eminent Masons of the day. — the Duke of Kent —In whose time masonry flourished to euch an extent as waa never known before. Take again the Most Worshipful Grand Master the Prince of Waleß, also his wife the r'rlnoeaa of Wales, who It Is known for a fact has exeroised an Influence on any Masonic work taken m hand. Amongst themselves they also numbered two of their boos. They were connected with many aots of charity. It could not be therefore expected otherwise than that Masonry should be thought of m a high and holy sense. The object of assembling on that occasion was to engage m a work which had for ita object the consoling of tho afflicted and tho relief of the distressed. This ho might say not m any spirit of ecotism, but for tho purpose of allowing what Masonry was, if he might be permitted to lift the veil of MUaonry as far as the bounds of propri ty would admit. The reason they applied such secrecy was the same as with the sympathy and affootioas of the home circle, which were observed with the samo amount of secrecy as they ("the Masons) observed. The members of a home circle would not care to have their affections and sympathies exposed to the public gaze ; it was for the same reason that the brethren met together m their lodge room for the purpose of disseminating that inparted m the sanc'ity of their home 3. That being so, one of their safeguards was that of secrecy. The delight of Masonry was to dispense charity with a quiet hand. They therefore purposed hiding that bazaar, its object being t\> enable them to respond from time to time to the numerous appeals for the relief of diotress Misonry, like everything else, required money to support it. As a rulo they did rot call on the outside public, but they thought the bazaar ihe best means of attaining the ohjeet m view. He had great pleasure m introducing to them Bro. Job a Ollivier, and would call upon him to opan the bazaar Mr John Ollivier, ea:d he waß sura whether there were any present not belonging to the craft. If there should happen to be any such he oould only say he hoped they were under the influence of good and affectionate wivi s and that these would teach them to become Masons. He oawe m the expectation of discharging a very Important and serious duty, that he was oomtog there to lecture and admonish them as to the exercise of charity, but the Worshipful Master's words had actually taken them out of his hands. It was so admirable an address that he oould not see how be oould add to It. excepting this, If the ladles had been guilty of anything wrong nudor the face of the earth, they would be fi rgiven for it If thoy exercised all the Influence they oould over those weak creatures commonly called men, and draw from their pockets all they oould for so good an object, Thpy would have that duty to perform before night. There wbb a fad going through the oolony named " depression," but that fad only existed m the feeble minds of those feeble creatures "men." If the men would only Bpend £5 where last year they only spent £2 'hey would heat* nothing of distress. Qe would tell the ladies they had to move the money ont of the pockets of the gentlemen aod help to relieve what was certainly existing under the nnjustloe these men creatures had Inflicted — The pi were Borne who had never taken the trouble to nsoertaln what the true prinoi- j pies of Masonry were. It was a solemn brotherhood grounded m charity, and m fulfilling all the good principles which existed m the breast of man. Thoy never knew a Mason lying to a brother Mason or a Mason to remain In distress If It co pleased the Creator of the universe to place him without sufficient means. They had that solemn trust one In another, when he gripped the hand of a brother Mason he knew it waa given him with the solemn pledge of truth and honor, and whatever he said or did it was Influenced by the highest possible amount of propriety. Thi y oould talk what they I liked about various sects of Christianity but there was snch a great, grand work m the principles of Masonry, that he ventured to say there was nothing to oome up to lt. Even if they belonged to different nations, whether English, French, Russian or German, these people all talking different languages and having nomeansof oommunioating their wants and sympathies, the grip of a Mison would tell Its own tale Instantly, whether he be English or Frenoh. The grip of a Mason would tell him exaolly what was meant, and what he wanted, and he would know it was his duty to receive that brother if m his power so to do Go forth to the world, go anywhere they pleased, and listen to all the doctrines of the highest churches they knew, and they oould not teach any higher obligation than that Love to their fellow creatures ; love to the universal brotherhood. That was tbe purpose for which they were there to-day. They had heard from thoir Worshipful Master that there were numerous oallß made upon that Lodge. Therefore a number of ladies had very generously come forward, filled that room with all sorts of entfoing things, and it would be their fault If any of the < gentlemen wentoutwithanymoneyin their j pockets. It would be tho ladies' feult If j on Saturday night theie was anything j remaining. He hoped the ladies would cause the people to buy things, drop ( them and forget to take them away, and t they could then sell them over again. Be thought on such an oocasion it would t be perfectly justifiable. He would ask t the yount ladies to be sure they did not r illow a single young man to escape. He aeed not occupy their time any longer, -o could see the ladies were preying r ipon their purses and the purses of their fl 'rleids, and that they wanted to make nocey. He had great pleasure In de- c ilarlng the baziar open, and hoped when y t was dosed it would be with tbanks to v hose ladies who were going to discharge fa heir duties, he was sure, sncaesßfully,

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