MASONIC.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 272, 22 August 1872, Page 2

MASONIC.

CONSECRATION OF THE NEW FREEMASONS’ HALL, GRAHAMSTOWN. The new Freemasons’ Hall, opposite the Governor Bowen Hotel in Owen-street, was opened yesterday. The building, originally designed by Mr Cameron, architect, etc., for offices, has been greatly added to and improved, and is now well adapted for Masonic purposes. The furniture and appointments are elegant and appropriate. The chairs, which are of an old and much admired pattern, are finished with upholstery of blue, and have the insignia of the Craft inlaid iu white wood on the hack, and are admirable in design and executioh. The de coratious are very neat, and have beon made with a view to the use to which the room will be put. Tho work of constructing the hall has been carried out under the direct supervision of M John Briton, architect to the Sir Walter Scott Lodge. A very large number of Masons, amongst whom were several influential visitors from Auckland, met at 3 o’clock at the Lodge Room, Wharf Hotel, where they formed in procession and marched to the new Hall. On arrival at the Hall the brethren opened to the. right and left, face inwards, to allow the officers of the Grand Provincial Lodge to pass through. The Hall being entered, and the brethren having taken their places, the ceremonies of consecration, peculiar to Masonry, were performed, and the Hall dedicated to Freemasonry, Virtue, and Universal Charity and Benevolence. In connection with the consecration the Chaplain of the Sir Walter Scott Lodge, Brother R£v. J. Hill, delivered the following admirable address:—

“ The proceedings of this day afford good grouuds for mutual congratulation among tho brethren of the Sir Walter Scott Lodge. Since the commencement of the Lodge its history has been one of grand and uninterrupted prosperity. By its existence the principles of Freemasonry have been honourably maintained ; and so far as these can be known by those who are without its pale, they have been kept before the public mind, and as a gratifying consequence a very large number have applied for and received Admission into the Lodge. The success has been all that the most sanguine could have anticipated, or the most zealous have desired. But with this gratifying prosperity there necessarily came great inconvenience on account of the smaliuess of the room in which the meetings were held. The absolute necessity for a more suitable . , place for assembly forced itself on the minds of all the brethren ; tho requisite stepß for a remedy were taken with promptitude, and the successful result is before us to-day. We have met together in a hall commodious in size, excellent in design, and most tastefully adorned ; and henceforth the business of the Lodge will be carried on more efficiently, and the comfort and convenience of the brethren in every way secured. It is well known to us all that whatever is calculated to advance the interests of Freemasonry is most gladly welcomed by all right-hearted Masons. For our union with the craft is not a merely nominal thing, but a reality —not made out of slender threads ot superficial thoughts in the mind, but of strong CQfrls formed by the deep emotions of the heart. We are Masons, not merely because we have found a place among the brethren—we desire the welfare of the institution, not simply because we have come under solemn obligations, but we are Masons because we respect Masonry itself, and we seek its good because we love tho principles on which it is based and which it seeks to spread abroad among men. Even for its great antiquity alone it is worthy of our respect. It came not into existence yesterday—it is not a oreatiou of modern times—a creation which, when weighed in the balance, may be found wanting, and which on that account may soon pass away. No, Masonry dates with the origin of civilisation itself —it found a place among men when nations struggling with ignorance and barbarism rose to a higher life—rose to

the attainment: of some of tfae noble purposes of human existence ; and side by side with that civilisation it continued, helping to elevate the race —to adorn it with those, virtues and graces which make life desirable, and to provide a healing balm for many of the ills to which humanity is heir. For this antiquity we revere and love it. Not mere antiquity, however, can explain the greatness of our esteem and love. 'Masonry is yet most unlike many ancient things. These generally tell only of a distant past. They have no link leading them to the present. They are associated only with inactivity, with sleep, with death. Since the origin of Masonry how many nations have risen and fallen I how many people have started into importance and power, and then passed away ! Where now are their institutions, their achievements, their languages? They ore no more. And how many palaces, castles, and towers have crumbled into ruins since Masonry began ? Once their battlements # bade defiance to every foe, and their halls were scenes of joy and mirth; but the ivy creeps over the dilapidated walls now, silence reigns every where, there is nothing present but death. Not so is it with Masonry. Like; the pyramids of Egypt, it rears its head amidst the desolation and ruin of all ancient things. To look at Mnßonry we have not to brush away the dust of ages. The accumulation of that dust it ht|B kept off by its own inherent power ; for it still lives. It has secrets, but secrets not like hieroglyphics which cannot be deciphered, but which are symbols of truth, yet well understood and felt by thousands. It is old, bat it has all the strength, the vigour, and the freshness of youth. It lives, and it lives far and near. The places of the honoured dead have been well filled up. In the ages of the past the great and the noble—monarchs, princes, and rulers have given their influence to Masonry, and have in return received its blessing. And still do those whoso brows are adorned! with crowns ; and those whose gifts and attainments are the. praise of men come, and from the trowel, the gavel, the compass, and the square receive a lesson in the principles of a high-toned morality. And in the ages of the past the honest and the true, for the nobility- of man lies not in the tinsel of Royalty, nor in the gewgaws of earthly greatness, but in the honour and sincerity of a faithful heart—in the ages of the past the honest and the true in humble life have given support to Masonry, and still are the ranks of such well maintained. Yes, in days gone by, the Prince and the peasant —the learned and the simple—men in all the ranks, positions, and conditions of life are within the bonds of Masonry. And this, too, not in this and that country merely, but in •very land where knowledge has cast its light and liberty, its blessings. From east to west, from north to south, Freemasonry has found a place. It lives —it lives far near —and it lives for good. Some ancient things have come down to our time with an influence most hurtful to the interests of humanity. It is so with evil. Evil is old enough ; in some form or another it has ever found an embodiment. It still lives ; lives to poison the springs of human existence, to sap the foundations of Society, to . blight and wither the hopes and happiness of human hearts. But Masonry lives for good. It gives the blessing of virtue and truth to the individual mind, it binds hearts together in the holy bonds of brotherhood, and it extends a helping hand to the weak, the sorrowing, and the downcast. Its principles are those by which human happiness is gained, by which the foundations of society are secured, and which are the source of true benevolent feeling and action. In a world cursed by selfishness, who shall tell the value of principles that lead men to think and feel aright, to look beyond their own interests to those of others, and to bo willing to sacrifice something to promote them ? It is the fact of that good being wrapt up in Freemasonry that gives real cause for our congratulation to-day. What, after all, would avail the antiquity of Masonry, its life, its life far and near, if it had not within it some blessing for burdeued humanity ? Its strength is still the strength of trutli, its glory the glory of love. Such is the legacy which we, as Masons, have received from the past. Let us hand it down undiminished in power, undiminished in beauty. Science may extend its discoveries and art its blessings ; commerce, enlightenment, and liberty may advance ; but still will there be room for love in the world ; for true brotherhood ; for genuine disinterested charity. Masonry has in it much that is fitted to supply the want, and it is ours to transtnit it unchanged in principle and unshorn in strength. Let us be faithful to the trust. To-day, as we celebrate the opening of our New Masonic Hall, let the things we Bee around us produce a lasting impression on our minds. In harmony with the commodious character of the building let our hearts have room enough for all the brotherhood, yea, for all mankind ; for while we are specially bound to each other, it is not at the expense of the severnhee of the ties that should bind us to our fellow-men. In keeping with the fine proportionsx>f the Hull, the length and breadth and height, combining to produce a pleasing - harmony, let the virtues of Masonry have their due proportions in our hearts ; none dwarfed or dimmed by the prominence of others, but all in strength corresponding with their relative importance, that the life and character, which it is the aim of true Masonry to build up, may be obtained, but in accordance with that beauty that strikes the ejre, and awakens pleasure—that beauty of columns, of mouldings and cornices, of light and shade, of golden tints —let us seek to acquire that moral beauty, the beauty of mind and heart and life, which truth and moral principle alone can impart'; and' of which. all external beauty, even of the highest kind, is but a faint resemblance. Thus the proceedings of the day shall not pass away as if they had never been. They shall tend to make us better Masons, because by awakening proper thoughts and feelings in our breasts they shall tend to make us better men. Sure lam that all will unite with me in saying—may the blessing of God rest on our undertaking—may all we think and say and do meet with llis approval, and may the ultimate end be His praise and gloiy on the earth. Amen.”

The members of the Craft assembled again in the evening at about 9 o clock, for the purpose of participating in the Banquet. The hall was literally crammed. The spread provided for the occasion was truly excellent. The edibles having been disposed of, and the tables cleared, the following toasts were proposed and responded to, interspersed with vocal and instrumental music—“ The Holy Lodge of St. John “ The Queen and the Craftj" “ Brother Albert Edward, Prince Steward of Scotland, and the rest of the Royal Family ; ” “ His Excellency the Governor “ His Honor the Superintendent, Brother Gillies;” “The Army, Navy, Colonial Forces, and Volunteers “ The Grand Master-Mason of Scotland, Brother

Earl of Roslynn “ The Grand Lodges of England and Ireland “ The Provincial Grand Lodge and Brother Beveridge, R.W.P.D.G.M.“The Memory of St. Clair.of Roslyun “ Success to the Freemasons! Hall, Grahamstown.;” “ The Architect, Brother Britton“ Light of Lodge and Sister Lodges in the Province of Auckland ; ” “ R.W.M. Lodge Sir Walter Scott“ The Memory of Sir Walter Scott “Free and Accepted Masons all over the World“ Masons’ Wives and Bairns “The Croupiers and Stewards“ Poor and Distressed Brethren all over the World.”

The company separated in peace and harmony at about 12 o’clock, after having passed an exceedingly agreeable and happy meeting.