This notes what Pil Schneider (tortured when refereing to the underground bases connected to Rome and the 'aliens' or Chimeras (create life) to scare the public for years with CIA 'mind controls' all of which are the same activity in ancient Israel but with different tactics; plagues, etc. and it also notes the bigger aspect to the wars since 1929, not being for Israel or Jews; but the wars in Israel with each person of a religious/military/public figure being replaced/killed by 2006 also shows this.


The Builder Magazine

November 1929 - Volume XV - Number 11



Ernst and Falk

From the German of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Translated by BRO. B.A. EISENLOHR, Ohio

THERE appeared in THE BUILDER, vol. I, page 20, an article entitled: "Ernst

and Falk." " Translated from the German of G. E. Isessing (1778) by Louis

Block, P.G.M. of Masons in Iowa." In a precatory note the editor states that

it was during the author's "last years that he wrote 'Ernst and Falk: Five

Conversations for Freemasons'-a gem of purest ray and a treasure forever to

the Order which he loved." The translator calls them not " conversations "

but " discourses. " They are to be called "dialogs" here, if for no better

reason than that this term is suggestive of the Soeratic dialog whose manner

was well matched by Lessing's in "Ernst and Falk."



In how far these dialogs constitute "a gem of purest ray," especially in the

light of the fourth and fifth dialog, here presented, each reader will have

to judge for himself. There probably will be differences of opinion. The

article on Masonry in the Catholic Encyclopedia, as reprinted in THE BUILDER,

vol. V, p. 250, does not seem to miss the truth so very far in what it says

about Lessing's opinion of Masonry, and the same would be true of other

intellectuals in Germany at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of

the nineteenth century. That they did not hold such a very high opinion of

the Order is not at all surprising in view of the great number of different

"systems" prevailing then, or their experiences with the Johnsons,

Cagliostros, and like adventurers, or the evident frauds that everywhere were

being practiced under a pretended Masonic cloak. Lessing's connection with

Masonry, and His Masonic works: Nathan the Wise and The Education of the

Human Race, as well as Ernst and Falk are the fruits of the author's pure

humanity. They are not only Masonic Classics, they have been cataloged in the

classic literature of the world. Perhaps in some later articles in THE

BUILDER some competent brother will attempt to discuss the author and his

Masonic writings. It is a field ripe for the reaper. Here, the translation of

only the fourth and fifth dialogs is attempted. Why Brother Block did not

continue the translations the writer does not know. The prefatory note about

there being "five conversations" is quite correct. In THE BUILDER, vol. II,

p. 201, appears the third of the five. From the note accompanying it we

quote: "Herewith we present the Third Discourse, to appreciate which the

reader must needs turn baek to the first two," and in the present instance,

this should be amended to read "turn back to the first three," the first two

appearing in vol. I, and the third in vol. II.



In very brief summary, the first three dialogs say that Masonry has its

foundation in those things that are part and parcel of human society. Each

man is to live with all his fellowmen so that the one shall perfect the

other. Individuals are hindered in this by such things as the diversity of

races, of political constitutions, differences in occupation, in social rank,

and differences in creed. Freemasonry is to do away with all these

differences and their infamous influence by establishing humanity as the bond

that unites all human beings. Freemasonry is not instituted, primarity, to

lend assistanee in extreme need, or to bestow benefactions upon others, or

for purposes of amusement and entertainment. Its purpose is to exercise the

individual in improving himself constantly and to assist others in the

attainment of perfection.



This is "the spark" that "had kindled."



Ernst went and became a Free-Mason. What he found there forms the Subject of

a fourth and fifth discourse with which the road divides. (1)



The business or translating is often a treacherous thing. Even the best

translator may happen to have before him all edition of the original which is

faulty, through careless editing or other reasons, and the peculiarities of

the original idiom are ever with him, as will be manifest in the translation

herewith presented. Occasionally the idiom defies translation. Almost at the

end of the third dialog Falk says, in substance, that the Masons have never

made a secret of a certain fundamental principle of Masonry. According to

this principle they accept every worthy man of proper disposition without

regard to his nationality, his religion, his station in the social order.

Then he continues:



Naturally this fundamental principle takes for granted the existence of men

who have risen above such divisions, rather than those who intend to create

them.



This translation seems justified according to two of four immediately

available editions, each by a different publisher. According to the other

two, Falk says something like this:



Indeed, this fact [that Masons accept worthy men regardless of their

nationality, religion, etc.] seems to presuppose the existence, even now, of

fundamental laws that were established by such men as have risen above these

divisions, rather than that the purpose of this fait should be the

establishment of such laws.



The passage as quoted above from THE BUILDER is clearer than this. But is it

as authoritative? The original German is not so very clear in either of the

available versions. The difference between them is merely one letter. The

following translation of the fourth and fifth dialogs is based upon Gotthold

Ephraim Lessing's samtliche Schriften. Herausgegeben von Karl Lachman,

Dritte, auf's neue durchgesehene und vermehrte Auflaye, besoryt durch Frank

Muncker. Vol. XIII. Leipzig: G. J. Goschen, 1897. This is the most scholarly,

painstaking, comprehensive, and most authoritative edition of Lessing's Works

that has appeared up to the present time.



Inasmuch as the author uses some English words and phrases in these dialogs,

their translation into English is an impossibility. Because of that fact and

others, the "flavor" of the original is lost somewhat in translation.



Lessing was librarian of the Ducal Library at Wolfenbuttel, Brunswick. The

first three dialogs were accompanied by a few lines of dedication to the Duke

of Brunswick, Ferdinand, who was himself a Mason. They were preceded also by

a "Preface by a Third Party." Not all editions contain these. Since they did

not appear in THE BUILDER, vol. I, they are given here. The first three

dialogs were published in 1778, the last two in 1780, though it is pretty

well established now that the fourth and fifth were written, at least in

outline, before the others were, and even before Lessing was made a Mason.



DEDICATION OF "ERNST AND FALK" Dialogs 1, 2 and 3



To His Most Serene Highness, Duke Ferdinand. Most Serene Duke:



Even I was at the fount of Truth and drew from its waters. Only he can judge

of how deeply I have drawn, from whom I expect permission to draw even more

deeply. The people are languishing for water and are perishing. Your

highness' Most Humble Servant.



Preface by a Third Party



IF the following pages do not contain the true ontology of Freemasonry I

would be eager to learn in which of the innumerable writings that have been

the cause of them, a more definite idea of its substance may be found.



But if all Freemasons, regardless of what stamp they may be, will be glad to

admit that the viewpoint here indicated is the only one from which sound eyes

see a real form, and not one from which a mere phantom shows itself to the

dim visioned eye, then the question still might be asked, why no one has come

out in such plain language long ago?



There is much that could be replied to this question. But one will hardly be

able to find another question that resembles it more than does this one: Why

did the elementary books of instruction in Christianity come into existence

so late? Why have there been so many and good Christians who were neither

able nor willing to give an intelligible statement of their faith?



But this, after all, would have occurred too early, in Christendom, inasmuch

as faith would have gained but little, had it occurred. If only the thought

had not come to the Christians to give a statement of it in a very absurd

manner.



Let every individual make his own application.



FOURTH DIALOG Preface by a Third Party



AS is known, the author of the first three dialogs had this continuation in

manuscript, ready for printing, when he received a pleading hint, from higher

up, not to publish it.



Previous to that, however, he had communicated the fourth and fifth dialogs

to some friends. Presumably without his permission, these friends had made

copies of them. By a peculiar accident one of these copies came into the

hands of the present publisher. He regretted that so many magnificent truths

were to be suppressed and, not having received any hint, he resolved to have

the manuscript printed.



If this liberty is not abundantly excused by the desire to see light east

over such important subjects, then nothing more can be said in defense of

having taken this liberty, than that the publisher is not an initiated Mason.



Nevertheless, it will be found, by the way, that for reasons of caution and

respect for a certain branch of this society he has not, in the publication,

mentioned several names which were spelled out in full.



FALK. Welcome, Ernst! Back again at last. I have long since finished my

mineral spring treatment.



ERNST. And because of that you feel quite well? I'm glad of that.



FALK. What does that mean? Never has a "I'm glad of that" (2) been uttered

more irritably.



ERNST. I am irritated, and it would lack but little for me to say that you

are the cause of my irritation.



FALK. I ?



ERNST. YOU induced me to take a foolish step. Give attention! Give me your

hand! What have you to say? You shrug your shoulders ? That caps the climax.



FALK. I induce you ?



ERNST. It may be, without intending to do so.



FALK. And yet the blame is mine.



ERNST. The man of God speaks to the people about a country which flows with

milk and honey, and the people should not be longing for it? And are the

people not to grumble over this man of God when, instead of leading them into

this promised land, he leads them into arid deserts ?



FALK. Well! Well! The damage can't be so very great. Besides, I see that you

have been working at the graves of our forefathers.



ERNST. They were not encompassed with flames, however, but with smoke.



FALK. Then wait until the smoke is dispersed, and the flame will shed light

and warmth.



ERNST. The smoke will suffocate me before the flame gives me any light. And I

will see that others, who are better able to stand the smoke, will warm

themselves at the flame.



FALK. You surely are not speaking of people who like to endure the pungent

smoke, if it but be the smoke of another's bountiful kitchen?



ERNST. So you know them, after all ?



FALK. I've heard about them.



ERNST. All the more, what is it that could induce you to trick me this way?

To make a false showing to me of things whose groundlessness you knew all too

well ?



FALK. Your vexation causes you to be very unjust. You claim that I spoke to

you of Freemasonry without having given you to understand, in more ways than

one, how useless it is that every honest man should become a Freemason? How

useless only? Indeed, how harmful.



ERNST. Well, that may be.



FALK. You claim that I did not tell you, that one may fulfill the highest

obligations of Masonry without being called a Freemason ?



ERNST. Rather, I remember that. However, you well know that, when my fancy

has once spread its pinions, has made one flap with them- can I restrain

them? I reproach you with nothing except that you held before them such a

bait.



FALK. And you soon wearied of the effort to reach it. Why didn't you say a

word to me about your intention?



ERNST. Would you have dissuaded me ?



FALK. Most certainly. - Who, in the case of an active boy, wound talk him

into getting back into the gocart again because he still falls now and then?

I'm making you no compliments. You had already gone too far to make a new

start from there. No exception could be made in your case. All must set foot

upon that road.



ERNST. Nor should I rue having set foot upon it, if I could promise myself

better things of the remainder of the road. But, promises, excuses for

delays, and nothing but promises !



FALK. Well, it's something if they are already making promises. And what is

it they are giving promises about ?



ERNST. Oh pshaw, you know. It is the Scottish Masonry, the Scottish knight.



FALK. Oh yes, quite right - But based upon what promise is the Scottish

knight hoping for ?



ERNST. Would that somebody knew !



FALK. And those like you, the other novices in the Order, don't they know

anything either ?



ERNST. Ah they, they know so much, they expect so much! The one wants to make

gold, the other wants to conjure up spirits, the third wants to re-establish

the * * * (3). You're smiling, and smiling only?



FALK. What else can I do ?



ERNST. Show indignation at such nonsensical fellows!



FALK. If it were not for one thing that reconciles me with them again.



ERNST. And what's that?



FALK. That in all these dreamings I recognize a striving after reality, that

from all these mistaken paths one can nevertheless see whither the true path

leads.



ERNST. And from the making of gold, too ?



FALK. From the making of gold, too. Whether gold really can be made or not

made is a matter of indifference to me. But I am very certain that sensible

human beings will be wishing to be able to make it only with regard to

Freemasonry. Also, anyone who comes into possession of the Philosophers'

Stone, becomes a Freemason that very same moment. And it really is odd, that

all reports about actual or supposed goldmakers that are current in the

world, actually confirm this.



ERNST. And those who would conjure up spirits?



FALK. About the same is true of them. It is impossible that spirits can give

ear to the voice of any human being other than that of a Freemason.



ERNST. How seriously you can say such things !



FALK. By all that's sacred! Not more seriously than they are.



ERNST. Oh pshaw! But finally these new * * *, so it please God?



FALK. O well, they !



ERNST. Do you see? You know nothing to say about them. For surely, * * *

existed once upon a time, but goldmakers and spirit conjurers possibly never

existed. And, of course, it is easier to say what is the attitude of the

Freemasons to such creatures of the imagination, than what it is to real and

actual ones.



FALK. Indeed, in this case I can only express myself in a dilemma: Either, or



ERNST. That's good, too. If one at least but knows that, of two statements,

one of them is true. Well then: Either of these "would be (4) " * * *-



FALK. Ernst ! Stop before you finish your mockery. On my conscience! There

It is just they who either are surely on the right road, or they are so far

from it that there remains to them not even the hope of ever getting on it.



ERNST. Well, I can't help but listen to all of that. For, to ask you for a

more detailed explanation



FALK. Why not ? It has been long enough now that they have been using

secrecies from which to make the secret.



ERNST. What do you mean by that?



FALK. As I have already told you, the secret of Freemasonry is that which the

Freemason cannot reveal even were it possible that he wanted to reveal it.

But secrecies are things which, while they indeed can be revealed, were

concealed at certain times and in certain countries partly because of envy,

were choked back partly because of fear, were kept secret partly as a matter

of prudence.



ERNST. For instance ?



FALK. For instance, in the first place, this relationship between * * * and

Freemasons. It may be, indeed, that once upon a time it was necessary and

well not to let anything of this be noticed by others. But now, now on the

contrary it may become very harmful if they continue to make a secret of this

relationship. Rather ought it to be loudly acknowledged, and all that ought

to be necessary is, to determine the exact period in which the * * * were the

Freemasons of their time.



ERNST. May I know it, this period?



FALK. Read the history of the * * * thoughtfully. You must hit upon it. you

surely will hit upon it, and that is the very reason why you should not have

become a Freemason.



ERNST. O, that I were sitting among my books this very minute. And if I hit

upon it, will I get your admission that I have done so ?



FALK. At the same time you will find, that you do not need my admission. But,

to get back to my dilemma again.



It is this period alone which furnishes the data for its determination. If

all Freemasons who are now pregnant with the * * * see and feel this real

period, well for them ! Well for the world! Blessings upon everything that

they undertake! Blessings upon everything which they forbear from

undertaking! But if they do not see and feel it, this period; if a mere

consonance has misled them; if it was only the Freemason working in the * * *

(5) who made them think of the * * *; if they merely fell in love with * * *

on the * * * (6); if they merely would like to bestow on themselves and their

friends nice * * * fat prebends; well, then, may Heaven grant us very much

compassion so that we may refrain from laughing.



ERNST. Behold ! You still are able to get warmed up and bitter.



FALK. Sorry, yes ! I thank you for your remark, and I'm cold as ice again.



ERNST. And what do you think, which one on the two cases is the one of these

gentlemen ?



FALK. I fear it is the latter. Would that I might be mistaken! For if it

should be the former, how could they entertain such a peculiar project ? To

re-establish the * * * ! That great period at which the * * * were Freemasons

no longer occurs. Europe, at least, has long since passed it and, in matters

pertaining to it, no longer has need of any extraordinary assistance. What is

it then that they're after? Do they, too, want to become a saturated sponge

that the higher ups will sometime squeeze dry? But to whom am I directing

this question, and against whom ? Did you ever tell me, could you tell me

that other than novices burden themselves with these vagaries about

goldmakers, spirit conjurers, * * *? Other than children, than people who

have no scruples about abusing children? But children become men. Just leave

them undisturbed! Enough, as said, that even in the toy I behold the weapons

which at some time the men will wield with a sure hand.



ERNST. After all, my friend, it is not these childish things that put me out

of humor. Without presuming that anything serious might be back of them, I

ignored them. A cask, I thought, thrown overboard for the young whales ! But

what vexes me is this: Everywhere I see nothing, everywhere I hear nothing

but these childish things; that no one pretends to know anything about that

concerning which you aroused expectations within me. I may strike this tone

as often as I will and towards whom I will. Nobody cares to join in; always

and everywhere the deepest silence.



FALK. You mean



ERNST. That equality which you indicated to me as being the fundamental law

of the Order; that equality which filled all my soul with such unexpected

hope: at last to be able to breathe it in fellowship with men who understand

how to do their thinking in a sphere that is above all civil modifications,

without sinning against any one of these equalities to the detriment of a

third party.



FALSE Well ?



ERNST. It still exists? If ever it did exist! Let an enlightened Jew come

along and put in his application. "O" they say, "a Jew? Of course, a

Freemason must at least be a Christian. It is quite a slatter of indifference

as to what kind of a Christian. Without distinction as to religion, means,

only, without distinction as to the three publicly tolerated religions in The

Holy Roman Empire. " Don't you think so, too?



FALK. No, not exactly.



ERNST. Let an honest shoemaker who, at his last, has had leisure for many a

good thought (even though it were a Jacob Bohme and Hans Sachs (8)), let him

come and put in his application! "O" they say, "a shoemaker! Why, of course,

a shoemaker." Let a faithful, experienced, tried servant come and put in his

application. "O" they say, "of course, people of that kind, who can't

themselves select the color of their own coats - we enjoy such good company

among ourselves."



FALK. And how good is their company ?



ERNST. Oh, well ! I have nothing in particular to criticize in regard to

that, except that it is exclusively good company, of which one gets so tired

in the world - princes, counts, gentlemen of the nobility, officers,

councilors of all sorts, merchants, artists - all of these, without

distinction as to their social class, have their topsy turvy fancies in the

lodge, it is true. But as a matter of fact all are of one and the same class

and, alas, this is - (9)



FALK. In my time things were not exactly like that. And yet!. I don't know, I

can but guess. I have been outside of all connection with lodges too long a

time, whatever their form may be. Not to be able to be admitted for a while

into the lodge now and, to be debarred from freemasonry, these, surely, are

two different things.



ERNST. How so ?



FALK. Because the relationship between the lodge and Freemasonry is like that

between the church and belief. From the outward prosperity of the church we

can draw no conclusions as to the faith of its members, none whatever. There

is rather a certain outward prosperity of it concerning which it would be a

miracle if it could exist along with the true faith. And furthermore, both

have never yet gotten on with each other. On the contrary, the one has always

destroyed the other, as history teaches. And thus, I fear, I fear



ERNST. What ?



FALK. In short, this lodge business, as I hear it is carried on at the

present time, it will not down with me. Having a treasury; to acquire

capital; invest this capital; try to use it to make the best bargain; buy

lands; have kings and princes bestow privileges; to use the prestige and

power of them for the suppression of the brothers who belong to an observance

different from the one which they would so much like to establish as being

the essence of the thing - If this does well in the long run ! How gladly

would I be willing to have prophesied falsely !



ERNST. O well ! What is it than can happen ? The State does not carry on so

any longer now. And besides, among the persons that make its laws, or

administer them, are probably, even now, already too many Freemasons.



FALK. Very well ! Then even though they have nothing to fear from the State,

what kind of an influence, do you think, will such a form of government have

on them themselves? Will they not, evidently, get back to that, from which

they wanted to tear themselves away ? Will they not cease being what they

claim to be? I don 't know whether you quite understand me



ERNST. Just continue !



FALK. To be sure ! Yes indeed nothing endures forever. Possibly this is the

very means selected by Providence to put an end to the whole schema of

Freemasonry.



ERNST. Schema of Freemasonry? What is it you call by that term? Schema?



FALK. Well! Schema, husk, dress.



ERNST. I still don t know



FALK. You surely don't think that Freemasonry always played the part of

Freemasonry?



ERNST. Now what does that mean? That freemasonry did not always play the part

of Freemasonry?



FALK. In other words, do you really think that that which is Freemasonry was

always called Freemasonry? - But see ! It's already past noon ! And there my

guests are already coming. You're surely going to stay?



ERNST. I didn't want to, but now I shall probably have to. For a twofold

satiation now awaits me.



FALK. Only, at table, please, not a word.



NOTES



(1) THE BUILDER, vol. ii, p. 202.



(2) These italics. and all which follow, appear in the original.



(3) The asterisks here, and wherever they appear subsequently, represent the

Order of the Knights Templar. Not of course, the American Masonic Order, but

in most places the original one, and in others the pretended revived Templar

Order that was making claims to the leadership of German Masonry at the time

Lessing wrote.



(4) Lessing here used the English words as marked by the inverted commas.



(5) Gosche's edition of Lessing's works, Berlin, 1875, p. 26, says: "An

attentive reader will easily be able to fill out the two * * * and some .'



(6) In the (second) edition of Ernst and Falk, 1781, the year of Lessing's

death, this passage reads: "the red cross on the white mantle."



(7) The punctuation of the original is here preserved. The sense is not very

clear. Two imprints of the 1780 edition have an exclamation point instead of

the question mark, The Gosche edition has however a comma instead but by what

authority? However the comma makes for clearer sense, viz., "It (this

equality) would still exist if ever it did exist! With the question mark as

it is given the meaning would be: "You say it still exists."



(8) The noted mystic and a well known poet of the Reformation period, both of

whom were shoemakers by trade.



(9) Here the edition of 1781 has: "one and the same class, that class namely,

on which time hangs heavily and whom the need to be occupied joins into one

and the same class."



----o----



If Pythagoras Returned



By BRO. CYRUS FIELD WILLARD, California (Concluded from October)



WE have spoken above of certain modifications which may be produced in the

egg and we ought to go further; proceeding from the idea that life is

produced by physico-chemical phenomena - which is, of course, metaphysical

for the experimental sciences show only a certain simultaneousness - certain

scientists leave tried to reproduce artificially, or at least to imitate

living tissue by beginning with the mysterious "protoplasm" which is their

constituent element.



Already the study of the "Brownian movements" have shown microscopic

particles in a state of incessant agitation, which appear inherent to them,

and may be perhaps the first stammering of life. But they have also wished to

go farther and surprise the secret of the construction and the genesis of the

cell.



Von Schron, Benedikt and other scientists have tried to seize the process of

the formation of crystals, but always by proceeding from a "germ crystal," as

in the egg all proceeds from an organic germ. The celebrated experiments of

Leduc have shown crystalline formations imitating vegetation by letting fall

a drop of a solution of sugared sulphate of copper into a mixture of

gelatine, ferrocyanide of potassium and marine salt. These similitudes of

plants possess some of the properties peculiar to living beings, but they are

not alive. If they are a daring manifestation of the power of the human, they

have not given us true living beings. Only they prove that when man

reproduces the putting to work of certain processes of nature, he happens by

the same effort to produce coherent forms, and not merely a vague chaotic

magma - is it not still "geometry" which reappears, here artificially, there

natural?



I would say as much of the experiments of Benard, or of those of Butschli of

Heidelberg, with linseed oil, alkaline carbonates and water, or with the

yellow of an egg, etc.: Mere one imitates the substances called "colloidal"

which are at the base of organisms, and even in certain cases they have been

able to form little film envelopes, microscopic cells, containing a jelly

analogous to that of organic tissues. This is not the famous "homunculus"

dreamed of by certain alchemists, but it is an interesting demonstration of

the steps which nature follows "spontaneously" in its constructions:-

architecture.



In another order of ideas, it is fitting to observe that the examination of

the spectra of different flames permits us to note, by the lines that appear

there, the chemical composition of the luminous focus thus analyzed. Behold

then, light indicating by its shafts that which are finally seen as

geometrical outlines and are the elements of the body in Combustion. And the

number of the lines (arithmetic) happens to corroborate their position

(geometry).



In the phenomena of acoustics the Mason will find still another reason for

meditation and study of the letter G.



We wish to make allusion to the experiments which have become classic because

they are so old, although they have been multiplied and perfected in our day.

This is not only the problem of the proportions of the strings or sonorous

pipes, of which it would be commonplace to speak; it is not only the direct

graphs of the sonorous vibrations of the tuning-fork, which give such curious

designs by the combination of the two movements, parallel or rectangular; it

is the action of the vibration of a sonorous environment on flames, with the

old experiments of Helmholtz. There are also the curious designs formed by

the stroke of a violin bow on plates sprinkled over with sand, according to

the place where they produce a contact, which is combined with that of the

violin bow.



At the same time we cannot help thinking of the other designs which are

luminous and which the phenomena of interference produce; the effects of the

polarization of light and the colored rings which appear in bi-refractory

crystals. Let us remark besides, that all these designs can be expressed in

numerical language: sound form and number.



The Mason in passing will salute the calculations of thermodynamics which

unite by figures the calorific vibration and the mechanical effect. But he

would not know that experimental psychology records sensation with figures,

and that the scientist Charles Henry has noted in this manner, in equations,

even the phenomena of life and of thought.



Then he would take cognizance of the results of stereochemistry, or the

relations of the atoms in their grouping in the molecule and the conceptions

which it inspires in the observer. Behold several composite bodies which are

formed of the same constituent chemical elements. Analysis reveals no

difference. What is it then which permits us to establish their identity and

to distinguish one from the other, to explain why they do not cause light to

deviate in the same way when it is caused to traverse their crystals.



This idea is that, in their chemical identity, that which distinguishes them

one from the other, is the molecular arrangement of their elements in space,

that is to say a geometrical rule. It is scarcely fifty years ago that Van

t'Hoff and de Bel, relying on the work of the great Pasteur, have brought to

light this new branch of science, which since has made considerable progress.

It has not only cleared the minds but it has permitted the synthesis of a

certain number of organic products. It is therefore no more a reverie than

all the other Scientific hypotheses, from which they have drawn the laws and

the results of it remain positively valid.



It is likewise remarkable that chemistry has had to have recourse to symbolic

notations, and to formulas which are a veritable algebra, permitting the

noting of the composition of bodies, the results of their combinations and of

their modifications by notations which one may compare to real equations.



The atomic notation employed by modern chemistry based on the admission of

the atom, a notion conceived by Grecian antiquity, is moreover conformable to

those which are current, although under another aspect, in the Oriental

philosophy. But again we must insist that the systems and their expression

are only points of view and the main point alone is of consequence for

Masonic esotericism, the equivalents and the definite proportions of the

combination of bodies brings to light that which we might readily call the

arithmetic of chemistry, by the side of its geometry.



Ampere had already admitted experimentally that the atoms are maintained

"separated from each other by repulsive forces," necessitating by this the

corollary of attractive forces, like the love and the hate of the atoms, of

which the old Greek philosophy speaks.



Wurtz has again taken up the same conception which is now classic, but it is

an entirely different question than that of the constitution of the atom, or

what Leibnitz would have called the monad, for the ancient atomist admitted

the impenetrability and the indivisibility of the atoms and saw in force only

a manifestation of movement, the point of view followed by the materialists

of our times.



But the present scientific knowledge has left very far behind it the atoms of

Democritus, and we are going to see, by the following, how they are

considered today.



The multiple and Protean-formed manifestations of the atoms, according to

contemporary physicists, no longer put us in the presence of a ponderable and

irreducible element but they make us meet, face to face, a new geometry of

which the constitutive factors will have to be determined and which will lead

us to new examinations. We shall see if they take us away from or bring us

closer to our point of departure.



The works of the experimentalists, our contemporaries, have demonstrated by

remarkable experiments that the theory of the atom, fundamental material

unity, has gone out of date and they have built a new theory of the atom,

which makes of it a multiplicity, of which the units have no longer the

character of matter in the sense that current language attaches to this word,

nor even in any acceptation.



The scientist M. Langevin has written this:



The conception of the atom of electricity, from which the material atoms are

formed, furnishes the necessary tie between matter and the Ether environment,

with which it is surrounded. The atom is a complex whole formed of a centre

positively electrified, called the nucleus, around which gravitate the

negative corpuscles or electrons. Ether, meta-ether, energy; what matters it

what they are called?



It is a kind of planetary system; it seems that the genial Pascal may have

prophesied it when he wrote in his "Pensees," that he saw in his abridgment

of the atom, "an infinity of universes of which each one has its firmament.

its planets its earth."



The atom of each body forms thus a distinct little world. The study of the

radio-active power of bodies, causing the discovery among other things of the

Alpha particles, has permitted us to examine these microscopic universes.



The atom of aluminum contains around its nucleus a group of 13 electrons at

varying distances. The atom of gold contains 79 electrons gravitating in six

orbits around its nucleus. The nuclei themselves are of an astonishing

complexity; that of aluminum contains 14 electrons and 27 protons; that of

gold, 118 electrons and 197 protons and that of mercury 200 protons and 120

electrons. What would Pythagoras say today of this arithmetic, and of this

geometry, proceeding from nothing in order to construct everything? Into what

admiration would he be plunged in the examination of the work of Curie, of

Becquerel and of Perrin?



What would he think of the algebraic calculations scrutinizing the frame of

universal life and filling up the gaps in it, classifying a new chemical body

in the Mendeleieff's tables, or making the discovery of an invisible planet

in the sidereal spaces of the universe?



Spiritualist on materialist, the Mason can thus see his system surpassed and

restored to unity with the contrary system, by the sciences which the symbol

of the letter G conceals, and which seem everywhere present, in order to

realize a synthesis conformable to that of the esoteric tradition.



Do we deserve to be taxed with being reactionary in spirit because we approve

of our illustrious predecessors for having placed in the foreground geometry

as the interpretation?



While much of the foregoing is "done over" into English in the words and

expressions of the translator, there are many things not covered. In

Langmuir's postulates we find a geometrical formation of the atom and in the

laboratory of the General Electric Co. at Schenectady there are young ladies

who have built up models of the different atoms in accordance with the

theories of Dr. Isangmuir showing the various geometrical shapes assumed.



There is an emphasis of the Letter G which is all the more effective because

silent. In many lodgerooms today in America, we see even when the lodge is

not in session the letter G in the East back of the Master's chair, and at

the same time, when the lodge is in session and the Master assumes his jewel,

there is a duplication and emphasis as he places his jewel in its proper

position.



Pythagoras was a Greek born on the island of Samos in the Egean Sea, who

settled in the southern part of Italy, called Magna Grecia. He required from

those who wished to join his brotherhood at Krotona, that they should possess

a knowledge of geometry. In fact Plato, one of his later followers, said "God

geometrizes" and today we know how true this is. The Greeks called the earth,

"Gea," and its measurement was "metron" hence "geometry" was used to measure

the earth, the other planets and for other purposes. The letter G in Greek

was called "gamma" and it was made exactly in the form of the square, the

jewel of the Master, and one of the Great Lights.



The Compasses, another of the great lights, was used to circumscribe the

circle, or to give the spherical form of the earth, "Gea," and this circle

with a horizontal diameter and an upright line crossing in the center, the

Mundane Cross, formed a square, the fourth part of a circle, the Gamma or

letter G.



The sphere drawn by the compasses represented the atom, as well as the earth

or the universe, following the old Hermetic maxim engraved on the Emerald

Tablet, " As above, so below." Four gammas (Tetragammaton) or four squares

with their ends joined at the center of a circle, make the Swastika, the

oldest symbol of the world according to the Smithsonian Institution.



When you next see the letter G in the East think of this and "our ancient

brother Pythagoras," who no doubt was the Master of building fraternities in

Greece, who built the surviving temple of Paestum not far from Krotona, as

well all the other temples that were "the glory that was Greece." Then

remember that our latest scientific knowledge is taking us back to the

knowledge of the ancients and the philosophy of Pythagoras who said, " God is

Universal Mind." When we realize the unit of matter, the atom, is composed of

electricity and has the three phases of energy, substance and consciousness,

and this consciousness is universal, we begin to get an awe-inspiring

conception of that Grand Architect of the Universe, who is always

geometrizing, based on the latest developments of modern science.



We also see why, as stated in Anderson's Constitutions,



A Mason * * * if he rightly understands the art, will never be a stupid

atheist nor an irreligious libertine.



That art is symbolised by the letter G.



----o----



The Almonte Stone



Communicated by BRO. N.W.J. HAYDON, Associate Editor



THIRTY-SEVEN years ago an alleged discovery was made of an inscription,

apparently of Masonic significance, near Almonte, a town about forty miles

southwest of Ottawa. It is necessary to make the statement guardedly,

because, as has so often happened in like cases, no adequate steps were taken

at the time to authenticate the find. In spite of having followed up every

line of inquiry that seemed likely to promise further information on the

subject, one must confess that the results have been very meagre and very

unsatisfying.



The first, and most obvious approach was to the local lodge, Mississippi No.

147. The secretary wrote me saying that he had no information on the subject,

but would pass my letter on to the- Master of the lodge, W. Bro. R.A.

Jamieson, who as it happened was also Town Clerk, and very much interested in

the history of the locality. Not hearing anything further, after an interval

of some months I wrote to him direct. He replied that it was the first he had

heard of my inquiry. He said that he had heard vague rumors of the discovery

of the inscription, but had no definite information on the subject whatever.

He added that he had no means of prosecuting an inquiry along the most

natural lines, as the files of the local newspaper had been removed.



The following July I met him at the meeting of the Grand Lodge of Canada (for

Ontario), and obtained some further information. The files of the local

newspaper, the Almonte Gazette, were in the hands of the Hon. Andrew Haydon

(no relative of mine, by the way, so far as I know) and through him I

obtained the first real light on the subject. He was preparing a history of

Lanark County, in which Pakenham Township is situated, and very kindly looked

up the original account that appeared in the Almonte Gazette. I might add

that I had previously written to the Department of National Archives at

Ottawa, in the hope that they might have a file of the Gazette there, but was

informed that if there had ever been one it had been destroyed with many

other documents in the destruction of the Parliament Buildings by fire some

years ago.



As soon as the date of the discovery was fixed I made a search through the

files of the Canadian Freemason and the Canadian Craftsman, but found no more

than a single paragraph in the former journal. This quoted a dispatch from

London, Ontario, which without giving any details, scoffed at the "discovery"

as a hoax.



Since then I have had some further correspondence with Bro. Jamieson, whose

inquiries have resulted in very little further information. He, however, did

elicit from a son of Bro. Forsythe, the first Mason to examine the stone,

that he remembered a man coming to the farm when he was a boy, to cut out the

portion bearing the inscription. All those who were mentioned as having

examined the stone in the account in the gazette, are now dead with the

exception of R. Wor. Bro. Dr. McIntosh. To this brother I also wrote and was

informed by him that, so far as he knew, the proposal to cut out the

inscribed portion of the stone was carried out, though he had no knowledge of

what became of it.



Bro. Jamieson wrote to me more recently to say that he was going to have the

minutes of the lodge searched in order to see if any mention was made of the

discovery, or of the proposal to cut out the inscription, and if this was

one, how the relic was disposed of. However, nothing rather has come to hand,

and though I have written Bro. Jamieson twice since, no further word from him

has reached me.



The date of the issue of the Almonte Gazette containing original report was

May 27, 1892. This account is here reproduced, with the heading and

sub-heading under which appeared, and a reproduction of the cut which

accompanied it.



A MASONIC MYSTERY



An alleged relic of 1604 discovered in Pakenham Township - How it was found -

What it looks like - Speculation as to its author



Considerable interest has been created in Masonic circles in this district by

the discovery of a peculiar inscription on a rock situated on a mound in an

out-of-the-way place on Mrs. Joseph Dickson's farm in Upper Pakenham. The

discovery was accidentally made by Mrs. Dickson's son over a year ago. He

told Mr. John Forsythe, his neighbor, of what he had seen. The latter thought

there was nothing of importance in the affair, and paid little attention to

it until a few weeks ago, when, during a search for his cattle, his attention

was drawn to a polished rock with Masonic emblems carved on its surface. Mr.

Forsythe, being an enthusiastic member of the Craft, made a careful

examination of the stone, and, finding it to possess unusual interest for

members of the fraternity, he communicated the result of his investigations

to his brethren in Almonte and Pakenham and invited them out to inspect it

for themselves. The invitation was accepted, and a short time ago Messrs. R.

Pollock, J. M. Munro, A. J. McAdam and W. P. McEwen, of Almonte, and Dr.

McIntosh, Major O'Neil and R. Moore, of Pakenham, enjoyed the hospitality of

Mr. and Mrs. Forsythe, and during the afternoon paid a visit to the spot

containing the mysterious inscription. They found a rock with a polished

surface six or seven feet in length, and a couple of feet in depth, bearing

an inscription that, judged by its appearance, had been placed there by an

unknown hand at a very early period, as the action of the elements in the

intervening period, clearly demonstrated. The writer, believing that Gazette

readers would be interested, took an impression of the inscription, of which

the following is a copy, but greatly reduced in size:



How such an inscription came to be carved in such a place is a mystery. If it

was cut in the stone in the year 1604 - nearly three centuries ago - as the

figures would seem to indicate, it looks as if some follower of Champlain

(who passed through this section about the year 1603) had done the work; but

of course is mere speculation. We understand that Mr. Forsythe intends sawing

out the interesting relic, and it will form the nucleus of a museum in

connection with his lodge - Mississippi No. 147, A. F. and A. M., G.R.C.,

Almonte. Some Almonte craftsmen have submitted specimens of the polished

stone to a prominent geologist, with the object of gaining information as to

the effects of the elements on it through the lapse of time, and every effort

will be made to unravel the mystery surrounding the affair.



The description leaves much to be desired. The writer says he "took an

impression of the inscription," by which is probably to be understood a

rubbing. The description of the stone as "polished" is very vague, and while

the dimensions given probably refer to the stone itself, grammatically they

refer to the polished surface. It remains doubtful whether this surface was

natural, or artificial. This makes a good deal or difference, for

inscriptions cut on natural surfaces, unless very deep and on a very large

scale, very rapidly become indistinct. The photograph of the Nova Scotia

Stone reproduced in THE BUILDER, vol. x, p. 295, shows such indistinctness

very conclusively.



The crux of the inscription is naturally the date. The square and compass, in

unusual position it is true, the hand, the trowel and perhaps even the eye,

may probably be accepted as having been quite clear. The design below the

trowel looks as if intended to represent a wall of rubble Masonry, either in

course of erection, or else an unfinished part of the "inscription." Perhaps

both. But the date is naturally very difficult to accept; and if the cutting

was done on a natural surface, it is well within possibility that the second

figure was 8, of which part had been less deeply cut owing to irregularity of

the surface, and had thus been obliterated by weathering. The date 1804 might

not be too early for a pioneer settlement in the vicinity; the ostensible

date, however, seems to present such grave difficulties as to be incredible.



The whole history of this "discovery" is a striking instance of the ignorance

and carelessness with which possible evidences of Masonic antiquity are

treated. The project of cutting out the stone was unfortunate to say the

least. Better to have left it to the weather than to have removed and lost

it. On the other hand those who condemned it off hand as a hoax or imposition

were equally to blame; for that was only to be decided by examination. If

only such things could be carefully described and impartially judged at the

time of discovery, so that if genuine they might be preserved, and if not

that the fact might be authentically established! Unfortunately most of the

Craft "care for none of these things," and it is much easier to come to a

snap decision without information than it is to investigate. So some will

believe and some will reject, according to their individual disposition,

while the student can only regret that opportunities for examination were so

carelessly neglected and ignored.



NOTE



Other difficulties to be solved lie in the fact that the first known white

man to travel the Mississippi River, which is joined by the Indian River

quite near the Dickson farm, was Etienne Brule in 1610, not 1603 as stated

above. There is, too, the opinion of the Department of Archives at Ottawa,

who wrote me after receiving a copy of the photostat of the Inscription, that

the form of the figures and letters is different from that in use at the date

they present.



As to the suggestion that the figure 6 was really an 8, I find on examining

Robertson's "History of Freemasonry in Canada", that there was no record of

any lodge in the vicinity of Almonte during the era of our Provincial Grand

Lodges of Upper Canada. He gives, however, details of a lodge that met at

Richmond, in Carleton County, under a warrant dated 1821, which place was a

village on the Goodwood River, some twenty miles southwest of Ottawa. in the

Rideau Military Settlement



----o----



Freemasonry in South Africa



By BRO. WILLIAM MOISTER Transvaal



Bro. Moister, to whom we are indebted for this most interesting account of

the Craft in South Africa, is the Editor of the South African Masonic World.

He is also, if we have it correctly, Grand Organist of the District Grand

lodge of the Transvaal.



The situation in South Africa will seem very strange to American Masons, and

will be very instructive. It is a striking proof that the doctrine of

exclusive territorial jurisdiction is not a Landmark, as so many believe it

to be, nor is it even a necessary regulation for the good government of the

Fraternity and the preservation of peace and harmony among the Craft



THIS brief survey of freemasonry in South Africa makes no pretense whatever

to be a History of the Craft in this sub-continent, but is written,

primarily, with the view to correcting some erroneous impressions which

prevail in other countries, and also in the hope that the information may be

of use to such American brethren as may visit these shores, and who would

like to enjoy fraternal intercourse with their South African brethren.



I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of brethren from different

American jurisdictions, and most of them have been under the impression that

there is a Grand Lodge of South Africa. Let me say at once that we have no

Grand jurisdiction at all in South Africa. The nearest approach to it is the

case of the Grand East of the Netherlands, which body has a Deputy Grand

Master for South Africa in the person of Right Wor. Bro. C. C. Silberbauer,

33d, to whom the two Provincial grand Masters are subject, he being the

direct representative of the Grand Lodge at the Hague.



Just a word as to the order in which the four Constitutions were founded in

South Africa. The Netherlands started with Lodge de Goede Hoop (Anglice -

Good Hope) in 1772 and this Constitution was also the pioneer of Freemasonry

in the Transvaal. The English, after some military Lodges which functioned in

the latter part of the eighteenth and early in the 19th century, founded the

British Lodge No. 334 in 1811. Scotland followed (also at Capetown) in 1860

with the Southern Cross Lodge 398, but it was not until 1895 that the Irish

Grand Lodge Chartered a Lodge in South Africa, this being Abercorn, No. 159.



There are now about three hundred and fifty Lodges under all four

Constitutions, English, Irish, Scottish and Netherlandic, in the Union of

South Africa and Rhodesia. At present Rhodesia has no local government in the

shape of District or Provincial Grand Lodges, although there is a movement to

establish a District Grand Lodge under the Scottish Constitution. All Lodges

in these regions work directly under their respective Grand Lodges. This was

the case with many Scottish Lodges in the Union of South Africa until a few

years ago, when the District Grand Lodge of the Eastern Province was

established. The same remark applies to the Irish lodges at the Cape

(Peninsular) which did not come under the regime of the Provincial Grand

Lodge of South Africa. But a couple of years ago the Provincial Grand Lodge

of South Africa, Southern, was established at Capetown, with the Rev. Dr.

Watters as Prov. Grand Master.



The territorial divisions in South Africa, would, I imagine, appear somewhat

chaotic to the American brother who is used to clearly defined geographical

distinctions with supreme jurisdiction in each state. Constitutionally, the

boundaries overlap to a confusing extent, and as each Constitution has its

own ruling with regard to "higher" degrees, the Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, and

so on, it requires some study to grasp the position. Let me say one thing

here; in English, Irish, Scottish or Netherlandic Lodges any brother visiting

Lodges in South Africa from America will be sure of the same brotherly

welcome and hospitality. All work together for the common cause and with the

utmost harmony, and in many districts, have joint Funds of Benevolence, and

Education, and the like, no constitutional distinction being made either with

regard to maintenance or benefits.



THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION.



There are five District Grand Lodges District Grand Lodge of South Africa,

Western Division, D.G.L. of S.A. Eastern Division, D.G.L. of S.A., Central

Division, D.G.L. of Natal and D.G.L. of Transvaal, under Right Wor. Bros.

Thos. N. Cranstoun-Day, J.C. Duff, Joseph Van Praagh, Daniel Saunders and

G.S. Burt Andrews respectively. The first District Grand Lodges covers the

western portion of Cape Province (formerly Cape Colony), the second has a

very wide range, extending to Matatiele in East Griqualand in the East, and

as far as Heilbron in the Orange Free State. Formerly the Lodge at De Aar

came under this District but has recently been transferred to the Central

Division. The Headquarters of the Western Division are at Capetown, of the

Eastern at Port Elizabeth and the Central at Kimberley. The D.G. Lodge of

Natal has its seat at Pietermaritzburg, while that of the Transvaal is at

Freemasons' Hall, Johannesburg. This last, by the way, is the only District

Grand Lodge which owns its own building, in which most of the English Lodges

in Johannesburg also hold their meetings. The Central Division takes in one

Lodge in the Western Free State (at Koffiefontein) while several Lodges in

the Eastern portion of this Province are subject to the D. G. Lodge of Natal.

I must here remark that the term " Province " used Masonically does not

necessarily bear any relation to the word in a geographical sense. The

Central Division is the smallest of the District Grand Lodges and governs

Lodges in the Diamond Fields area and North as far as Mafeking.



THE IRISH CONSTITUTION.



As I have already remarked, the Lodges in the Cape Peninsular come within the

scope of the Prov. Grand Lodge of South Africa, Southern, while all the rest

of South Africa, including Rhodesia, is under the charge of Rt. Wor. Bro. Dr.

J. G. Croghan who resides at Johannesburg. Although starting many years later

than its Sister Constitutions, the Irish body is making splendid headway. The

enthusiasm displayed by the Irish Craft is wonderful and at the Annual Stated

Communication brethren travel many days' journey from the uttermost parts of

South Africa to attend.



THE SCOTTISH CONSTITUTION.



There are four District Grand Lodges, Western Province, Eastern Province,

Natal and Transvaal. The Transvaal D.G. Lodge includes the Orange Free State

and one Lodge in foreign Territory, Friendship Lodge at Lourenco Marques,

Portuguese East Africa. These are governed by Rt. Wor. Bros. James Murray

Wilson (Capetown), Dr. F. A. Saunders (Eastern Province), Robert R. Peattie

(Natal) and James Thompson (Transvaal). As remarked earlier, there is a

movement afoot to establish a District Grand Lodge in Rhodesia.



THE NETHERLANDIC CONSTITUTION.



The affairs of this Grand Lodge are controlled from Capetown by Rt. Wor. Bro.

C. C. Silberbauer. The Provincial Grand Master at Capetown is Rt. Wor. Bro.

Mossir Alexander, K. C., who has the whole of South Africa under his charge,

including Rhodesia, while the Prov. Grand Master of the Transvaal is Rt. Wor.

Bro. William B. M. Vogts. This, the oldest Constitution in South Africa, is

making good headway, although it is small, numerically, compared with the

English and Scottish Craft. Some old Lodges under this banner are dormant,

but a few have been revived of late years while new Lodges are being formed

in various parts of the country.



As I said above, the fact that we have these four Constitutions working

together, with some diversity of territorial jurisdiction, will seem

confusing to brethren who reside in a country where the geographical

boundaries are clearly defined, and where only one Grand body holds sway in

each. The confusion is, however, intensified when we come to the "Higher,"

allied or side degrees, for each Constitution has its own peculiarities in

this respect. For instance: In the English system the Royal Arch Degree,

while worked in a separate Chapter bearing the number of the Lodge with which

it is identified (although not always the same name) is regarded as part of

"Pure and Antient" Freemasonry, and a complementary degree to that of Master

Mason. The brother who holds the rank of District Grand Master is, as a rule,

the Grand Superintendent of the Royal Arch, though this is not an invariable

rule. At Capetown the District Grand Master is Rt. Wor. Bro. Cranstoun-Day,

while the Office of Grand Superintendent is held by the Deputy District Grand

Master, M. E. Comp. W. J. Gibbons. In all the other Districts the Grand Supt.

is the District Grand Master.



In the Mark Degree the Office of District Grand Master is usually held by

another distinguished brother. This degree, although it has the Duke of

Connaught as Grand Master, is not actually recognized as part of Craft

Freemasonry, under the English Constitution, but with the Scottish it is

different. Any Craft Lodge may work the Mark degree, and some do; but in the

Transvaal the degree is usually worked in a R. A. Chapter. In the English one

may take the R. A. without the Mark, but not in the Scottish or Irish. And a

Master Mason may proceed to the Rose Croix without any intermediate degree

under the English rule, but not with the Scottish. In the last named

Constitution there is a degree, "Excellent Master," which comes before the

Royal Arch, and an English Companion has to retire while this is being

worked, though an Irish Companion is only required to take a short

obligation, as it is considered that the Irish R. A. approximates to the

Scottish sufficiently to permit the Companion to remain in the Chapter while

it is being worked. There are other degrees associated with the Royal Arch in

the Scottish working, the R. A. Mariner, Knights of the Sword, Knights of the

East and Knights of the East and West, and the Installed Degrees pertaining

thereto, as well as the Cryptic degrees. The R.A. does not appear to be

worked by the Netherlandic Constitution, although there are a few Rose Croix

Chapters operating in South Africa. They have, I believe, some other degrees

of which I cannot say anything, excepting that they are associated with the

Rose Croix system.



THE HIGHER DEGREES.



The Ancient and Accepted Rite, and the A. and A. Scottish Rite have several

Chapters Rose Crois (18d). In the case of the English, there are under the

control of two Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, Ill. Bro. G. S. Burt

Andrews, for Northern South Africa, and Ill. Bro. J. C. Duff for the Southern

portion, while Ill. Bro. James Thompson is the Sov. Grand Inspector General

of the Transvaal for the Scottish body. As a rule the members of the Rose

Croix are all brethren who have served the Craft with distinction, and the

degree may be considered an exclusive one. After passing the Chair of Most

Wise Sovereign in a Rose Croix Chapter a brother is usually recommended by

the Chapter for the 30d, which is as high as most brethren ever get. There

are very few (probably not more than a score) of 31d and 32d Masons in South

Africa, while it is not until a brother is appointed to the charge of a

territory as Sov. Grand Inspector General that he has the honour of the 33d

conferred on him. There are other orders such as the Knights Templar and the

Order of the Secret Monitor working here, but their numbers are limited, and

few of the rank and file of the Craft enter them.



I have noticed that the "Higher degrees" seem to command a large support in

America, and this is, probably, because where very large Lodges exist, the

brethren naturally seek for other channels of advancement. With us the Lodge

is a small unit, many Lodges containing perhaps twenty to thirty active

members. We consider a Lodge of a hundred a large one. Our opportunities for

advancement in the Craft proper, therefore, are greater than seems to be the

case in the United States, five to ten years being long enough in the

ordinary way for a brother to attain the Chair of King Solomon, while there

are the further prospects of advancement in District or Provincial Grand

Lodge rank.



MASONIC BENEVOLENCE



The four Constitutions unite in supporting Masonic Charities in most

Districts and Provinces. We have only one District which can boast of "Bricks

and Mortar" in this respect, namely the Transvaal, which has a fine Masonic

Hostel for boys at Boksburg, a few miles from Johannesburg. There is every

prospect of a similar institution for girls being established in the near

future, while another scheme which has been mooted from time to time is the

foundation of a Hostel for aged brethren and widows. The Boys' Home is under

the auspices of the Transvaal Masonic Educational Institution, while the

relief of aged and indigent brethren and their widows and dependents is

undertaken by the Transvaal Masonic Benevolent Fund. In addition to this,

most District and Prov. Grand Lodges have their own Benevolent Fund, as has

every Private Lodge.



MEETING PLACES.



The only District Grand Lodge which owns a building is that under the English

Constitution for the Transvaal. Freemasons' Hall in Johannesburg was acquired

some years ago, and the Offices of District Grand Lodge are in this fine

building. Most of the English Lodges in the city meet there. In some other

cases a building is owned jointly by two or three Lodges