the MASONIC JOURNAL
Christ.
Knight Commander of the Temple;
twenty-seventy degree.—This is the first
of the really chivalrio degrees of the
Aneient and Accepted Scottish Rite. A
Mason is not only a moralis.t and , phifoa
opher, but a soldier, the successor of
those knights of the middle ages, who, ’
while they wore the cross, also wielded
the sword, and were the soldiers of honor,
loyalty, and Deity.
Knight of the 3un or Prince Adept,
28th deg.—Teaches that God is the au
thor of everything that exists, the Eter ■
nal, the Supreme, the Living and Aw
ful Being, from whom nothing in the
universe is hidden; make of Liim no
idols, and no visible images, but wor
ship Him in the deep solitudes of se
questered lorests, for He is invisible and
fills the universe as its soul, and liveth
not in any temple He is the infinite
mind and supreme intelligence ; that
man was created pure, and God gave him
truth a.s he gave him sight. He has lost
the truth and found error ; around him
sin and shame hover ever more that the
soul that is impure and sinful and defiled
with eartnly stains cannot egain unite
with God; until, by long trial and many
purifications, it is delivered from the old
calamity, and light overcomes darkness
and dethrones it in the soul. In the be-
ginaiog the universe was but One Soul—
He was The All—alone vdth Time and
Space, and infinite as they.
Grand Scidtish Knight of St. Andrews
29th degree—A miraculous tradition,
something like that connected with the
laharum of Constantine, hallows the
Ancient Cross of St. Andrews. John
Leslie, Bishop of Ross, says that this
Cross appeared to Achaius, King of the
Scotts, and Hungus, King of the Piets,
the night before the battle fought be
twixt them and Atheestane, King of
England as they were on their knees at
prayer.
Knight Kadosh, 3Uth deg.—The name
Kadosh i.s Hebrew and signifies holy,
consecrated, separated, and is designed
to denote the elevated character of the
degree and the sublimity of the truths
which distinguished it and its po-ssessors
from both degrees. The candidate is
here taught that''we often profit more
by our enemies than by our friends; we
support ourselves only on that which
resists," and owe our success to oj»po-
sition. The best friends of Masonry in
America were the Anti-Masons of 1826,
and at the same time they were its worst
enemies. Men are but the automata of
Providence, and it uses the demagogue,
the fanatic, and the knave, a common
trinity in republics, as its tools and iri-
.strumeuts to effect that of which they do
not dream and which they imagine them
selves oommi.ssioiied to prevent'
Central Park Desolate-
In consequence of the amount appro
priated for the care of the Central
Park, N. Y., having been exhausted, it
was determined last week to discharge all
the guard.s and men not absolutely nec
essary. The menagerie was closed up,
and the armory likewise. The men en
gaged upon the lakes and who care for
the shrubs and fountains were notified
their services would fie no longer requir
ed.aiid now the entire number of men in
the employ of the department is eight.
These are to remain in the stables and
keep the honses from starving, and look
after the zoological collection. The Su
perintendent thiiik.s the P-avk will be in
a desolate condition in the spring, as there
is so much that should be done now in
trimming trees, arranging lakes, etc.
Dimited Masons.
BY ROB. MORRIS.
feebl
For thirty years I ha.ve been,
e way, deprecating a practice that
has been still growing upon'the fraterni
ty, that of withdr-iwing from the mem
bership of the Lodge, which,is ordinarily
termed divriiing. The arguments that
were good thirty years since are as fresh
and unanswerable now. Three quarters
of all the Masons initiated during that
period have dimited, died out of Lodge
affiliation, Three quarters! It seems
incredible. I would not believe it with
out the figures. But the facts are incon
trovertible.
In my visits to Lodges, after an inter
val of ten years, there is scarcely ten per
cent of the members remaining who wel-
com.ed me ten years before! Where are
they? .Moved away, dead, suspended
for nonpayment of dues, dimited ; and
of the four classes the latter exceeds all
the rest. Is there not something in this
W'orth a column of your good paper ? In
your last you told us of the improved
features proposed for the Journal. Will
you not give a place to articles depreca
ting this wretched habit of dimiting?
As long ago as 1854, Grand Master
Toud assured the Grand Lodge of Ken
tucky that “the proportion of dimitted
Masons in this j'urisdiction had become
■so large as practically to control the leg
islation of the subordinate Lodges.” Is
not this a sad fast ? By every principle
of justice, a diprited Mason has forfeited
this grand and crov/ning honor. Yet
when a Mason dies. Lodges, especially
country Lodges, ask no questions, but
travel the long distance and vote the
heavy expense to give him the last hon
ors as freely as though he had not, by his
wretched parsimony, long since forfeited
the privilege.' The present writer refused
to walk in the Masonic procession at the
burial of Henry Olay, because that dis
tiuguished statesman had for thirty years
persistently neglected all Masonic, duty
implied in affiliation. But at his home,
when a neighbor dies who was once a
Mason, though he may h.ive dimited
years before, he cannot, without giving
offense, refuse to join in the funeral rile.s.
This proves the assertion of Todd.
Take the case of Masonic charity. By
every pirinciple of justice a dimited Ma
son has forfeited the right to demand aid
fioiu the craft. Yet the Masonic tramps
and dead beats are always of this cla.ss,
and of the realiy honest applicants Ar
Masonic relief, the largest part are of
the same class.
So dimited Masons are fast being re
lieved of the responsibilities of the order,
while yet they claim and receive all its
advantages. This monstrous perversion
of justice cries aloud against us. I fear
the multitudes of this class feel themselves
absolved from their Masonic obligations.
With -1 boldness and effrontery hard to
be borne, they claim participation in Ma
sonic privileges with us who bear the
burden and heat of the day, Some de
ny the right of the Lodges to criticise
their conduct, however immoral. Con
elusions so loose and misconduct so glar
ing may well make us pause and ask, is
there no remedy for th’s?
I do not see any remedy, except that
each Lodge might p^ss a by law positive
ly Asserting that no dimited Mason shall
be admitted to the charities of the Lodge
or to its social enjoymehts, or be entitled
to Masonic burial. Such a bylaw wouid
protect the Lodge from its own weakness,
fora by law cannot be dispensed with.
Let a man know when he is initiated in
to Masonry, that this is not Odd Fellow'-
ship. nor the Knights of Pythias, nor the
Red Men, nor any society of easy affilia
tion, but that its fundamental principle
is, “Every brothei should belong to a
‘ Lodge and be subject to its rules and
regulations.” Other-societies may be as
; good, or better than ours, but ours is the
only institution based upon the rule,
i “Once a Mason always a Mason.”—Lou-
isrille Masonic Journal.
Australian Blacks.
Vanderbilt.
The anxiety to prove Vanderbilt dead
must be veiy uncomfortable to that gen
tleman. It is not because the woild has
any particular spite against him that the
demise of this great railroad magnate is
so desirable, it is simply the rage for
spec lation, and the anxiety of certain
operators in Hew York to make a “big
thing” by the fall .of stocks vrhich would
inevitably ensue... Then-, also, the met
ropolitan newspapers wish a sensation,
and if we may believe the correspondents
who write letters from that city, the Com
modore's Louse lias been besieged for
months by a small army of reporters, all
eager to get the first intelligence that the
richest man in America has paid the debt
! of nature. The avenues to the telegraph
! offices are so guarded that it is almost im-
I posrible to get a bogus dispatch ov.-u' the
! 'wires ; but in this case the attempt suo-
I ceeded, and the forgery bore a no less
respectable name than that of Rev. Dr.
; -Deems, a gentleman as old as the-sick man
himself, and his lifelong friend. A sim
ilar disuatch was sent from Troy, N. Y.,-
I a few years ago, announcing that Van-
■ derbiit had been stricken down with ao-
I poplexy at Saratoga, and bearing the
1 forged signature of one of the editors of
the Times. This message was banded to
a messenger boy while bearing night di.s-
patches to a morning paper, and was
never traced to its rightful source. Of
course, railroad stocks took a tumble and
somebody was made rich. Sometimes old
men die who, through poverty or long
illness, have been burdensome to them
selves and friends; but here is a man
who through his riches has become a bur
den to the world. He show's a wonder
ful hold upon life, thi.s physical giant
among men, but die he must at no dis
tant day, and then his immense wealth
will take new directions, and much of it
will be scattered fortiie benefit of tlions--
aud.s againsi whom it has been for years
locked up. Astor, Stewart. Vanderbilt.
Lick, all dying within a year, must inev
itably let loose a vast amount of capital
that rightly belongs to the world.
Disraeli at the top of the Tree.—
“The determined and the persevering
need never de.spair of gaining their ob
ject in this world.” Thus wrote the au
thor of “Lothair’ (vol. 1- 247), a.id his
own career is a notable-illustration of the
truth of the saying. From boyhood he
had the ambition of becoming famous,
and the feeling was fosterea by a fond
and admiring mother, , who said, a.s he
stood on a chair spouting poetry, that
I “Ben would some day be Lord Cbancel-
I lor or Prime Minister.” His long strug
gles to get on the first round of the Par
liamentary ladder, arul his subsequent
■ triumphs are well known. And now, as
; Prime Minister and peer of England, his
words ill “Lothair” are reo.illed with
i force.
The Rev. G. King, of Australia makes
the following interesting statement: ‘The
Australian black has n > notion of a Su
preme Being. He kriow.s nothing of a
moral Governor of the world, nor has he
any idea of a moral government in the
universe But he is very superstitious,
and timid at night, and fears shadows.
He has a vague notion of an evil spirit
whicli he calls Gvngar, and employs one
of his tribe, who acts as an exorcist, to
expel the shadowy enemy, and remove
the curse which they suppose to accom
pany the presence of the unwelcome
spirit. These blackiS also believe in the
transmigration of bodies, and often fancy
some stranger has the life and spirit of
some departed black friend, and t-eat
him as a brother. They imagine that a
departed black fellow after burial rises
from the grave, and finds his way to a
small star, called the 'Emu star,’ which
will be seen ii. a dark field near the
southern cross {nux Australis), and that
the region there abounds in kangaroos
and emus, and all kinds of game. And
when asked how he finds his way thither
the native raises his finger slowly up to
wards the horizon, and asks you to look
at the Milky Way, and all the bright
stars there, and sol-smaly avers that the
chain of stars from the horizon to the
'Emu' is a spiritual ladder to conduct the
departed home. They are very acute
observers of nature, and might be staled
astute naturalists. They are naturally
truthful, but soon learn from Europeans
to invent a falsehood. They are also
gentle and ho.spitable by nature, but
when injured very revengeful. They
are very active and enduring; and one
grand trait of their character i.s gratitude
for benefits conferred on themselves or
their children. They are capable of
much moral and intellectual improve
ment, and learn quickly to read, write,
and to commit to memory. The girls,
when taught, work beautifully ” On re
ferring the matter to Mr. Dunkin, of the
Royal Observatory, he .says : ‘‘The star
alluded to by the Rev. G. King is evi
dently an unnamed star alluded to by
the late Sir John Herschel in the follow-
in;j words; ‘After this it (the Milky
Way) immediately expands into a broad
and light mass, inclosing the stars a and
B Crucis and B Gentauri, and extending
almost to o of the latter constellation. In
the midst of this bright mass, surrounded
by it on all sides, and occupying about
half its breadth, occurs a singular dark
pear shaped vacancy, so conspicuous and
remarkable as to attract the notice of the
most superficial gazer, and to have ac
quired among the early northern naviga
tors the uncouth but express ve appella- _
tion of the coal sack. In this vacancy,
which is about eight degrees in length
and five degrees broad, only one very
small star visible to the naked eye occurs,
though it is far from devoid of telescopic
stars, so that its str king blackness is
simplv due to the effect of contrast with
the brilliant ground with which it is on
all sides surrounded.’ I have no doubt
whatever but that this small unnamed
! star in the ‘coal sack' is the Emu star of
i the A ustralian black. Tins small star is
almost the sixth magnitude, or perhaps a
I little fainter,’’
Sixty four new Lodge,s have been con-
, solidated in England during the past
vear, Masonrv in Great Britain was
I never in a more flourishing condition than
i now.