MASONIC LITERATURE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 92, 15 August 1871, Page 6

MASONIC LITERATURE.

—o — There are among our readers, we believe, a goodly number of Free and Accepted Masons, to whom some information about the current literature of the Craft will prove interesting. Cromwell has its " Kilwinning Lodge of Freemasons," Bro. J. A. Preshaw being the W.M. It is matter for regret that we have not also a Masonic Hall in the town ; but perhaps the proposed new Athenaeum may be so constructed as to serve the purpose of a Masonic Lodge-room better than the present arrangement. We have before us a couple of copies of a weekly journal published in London, styled The Freemason, which is devoted to the publication of all matters connected with the Craft, and is duly recognised and authorised by the Right Hons. the Earl de Grey and Ripon, E.G., the M.W. Grand Master of England ; the Earl of Zetland, K.T., M.W. Past Grand Master; the Earl of Rosslyn, the M.W. Grand Master Mason of Scotland ; and the Grand Masters of many Foreign Grand Lodges. This weekly journal is exceedingly well got up, and is full of matter of the deepest interest to every member of the Brotherhood. It boasts a circulation of nearly half-a-million per annum. The subscription is 12s a year (post free), payable in advance. In America, too, Masonic journalism appears to flourish. At Springfield, Illinois, a monthly journal is published, styled The Masonic Trowel, which has a circulation of 20,000 monthly. The largest Masonic Monthly in the world is published at St. Louis, Missouri, the editor being Bro. G. F. Gourley, Grand Secretary and Recorder of the four Grand Bodies of that State.

For many years Masonry has found a modest place in periodical literature ; but it is only recently that the Brethren have taken up the pen with a vigour almost equal to that with which they have for ages handled the mystic trowel. Of course the published literature of the Craft is not allowed to go beyond certain well-defined limits ; the secrets of Masonry must not be divulged in any printed form. Judging from the samples we have before us, the conductors of the Freemason are fully alive to their duty ; and the interests of the Craft will be considerably advanced by their labours. We have not space for any | lengthy extracts ; but the articles are con- | ceived in excellent spirit, and rendered j with discriminating taste. The great hope ! and endeavour of the true Mason is to make the world a temple fit for the dwelling place of the G.A.O.T.TJ. Masonic mysteries and lore we may not here enter upon ; but we feel justified in commending the Freemason to the attention of menitHab of the Craft in New Zealand and the adjacent Colonies. The Lodge of St. Andrew, at Boston, United States, recently held its centenary anniversary, when Bro. Willis delivered an oration. His concluding remarks are not only sound, but beautifully expressed, and we give our readers the benefit of his able peroration :

"Brethren of St. Andrew's, let us be true to our own responsibilities as present workmen in the great Temple of Freemasonry ; remember that by good work only can it be handed down to the ages to come. We are, each generation of Masons are, equally important links in the time-hallowed ancestral chain. May it with us he kept ever bright ; may we remember also that we are the successors of men whose love for the rights of man, whose sturdy patriotism led them to do yeoman's service for a nation's independence. We, too, are the successors of Masons whose love for Ancient Free and Accepted Masonry drove them to seek in a distant land a clear title empowering them to work. We also are the successors of brethren whose convictions of right, whose skill in the Craft, whose patient endurance to the end, helped to give the Masonic Fraternity of the commonwealth an honourahle affiliation. The life-long pathway of these brethren was beset with difficulties ; ours, under a felicitous union and ample possessions, is made easy before us. Let not our course be wayward. In the absence of such pressure as our predecessors bore, it becomes us to avoid all thought of minor differences, if any arise, and aspiring to the just dignity of our glorious inheritance, work onward, upward, as they did, in the spirit of Masonry. The hundred years are complete ! The eventful series is accomplished ! We stand on the threshold of another century ! The genius of the age bids us look forward, heeding the lessons of the past, but abiding upon ourselves. Thus are we to make history. Thus have we our own responsibilities, and thus alone must our memories encounter the test hereafter. Let us, let each geuoration of Masons be true to themselves. Then shall ceutures go by filled with blessings, and centennial days shall herald grateful memories." The Editor of tho American Freemason is now engaged in compiling a General Masonic .Register of the Lodges and Grand Lodges in North America, which will contain such useful and necessary information concerning the COOO Masonic Lodges anil the 45 Grand Lodges of the North American Continent as is suitable for general circulation, compiled from the reports of

the Secretaries now in office in the various lodges of the United States and the Dominion of Canada, with an appendix comprising most useful Masonic memorabilia. It will be published by the American Masonic Publishing Association. When shall we have a New Zealand Masonic Journal 1