The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-02-15
From he EnndOn s.o,.,erd.


are most Furnishing with the Freemasons,
not 10 say nothing OF provincial charities
and deeds of 6ene i0lcnGe done by indi-
vidual lodges thruughout the Kingdom
to their members smd families when iii
need of assistance. The three greut cen-
trail charities, the Boys School, the Girls
School, and the benevolent Institution,
received during the twelve months end
ing the last day Of last year the largest
totals ever reached, the aggregate being
over E39,000, and exceeding tha. Of the
year before by $1,000. This financial
prosperity of the Masonic charities is an
index of the increasing popularity and
rapid extension uf Frccnias0Lry in this
country. But even without this guide it
must have been patent to all observers
that during the last few years the dcvel-
opment OF "the craft" has been most
marked. Is has made great progress all
over the civilized, and even what We call
the uucivilizcd world. 1t shows in
creased vigor in India. in China and
japan, and even in Africa; while in The
United States, in Canada, and all our
colonies, il has grown during the last
quarter OF Il century, and particularly
within the last decade. But in no coun-
try has the progress Of the fraternity been
so marked as in our own, from which
what may be called modern" Masonry,
has spread into all other countries, or
from which, ut least, they have received
very great assistance in their develop
ment of it. The Grand Lodge of Eng
land WAS established in l7l7, and in 1873
existing differences among English Ma
sons rs To certain points OF ordc. and
ceremonial w.re settled by the acknowl-
edgement of the one common jurisdiction
of the United Grand Lodge of Freema.
sons Hall. From this latter year the
great progress of modern Masonry may
lie dated, but its greatest advancement is
rather OF the last ten or even five years.
The English monarchs and princes from
the reign of King Ath hclstanc A. d. 926)
down to the present era, have from tiE,e
to time given encouragement to the craft
nr become actual members OF it. The
greatest impetus of all impaired to it was
the installation OF the princc OF Wales lis
Grand Master of English Masons in the
spring of 1915, when the ceremony in the
Albert Hail presented most striking
spectacle. Tue number of lodges under
the English Constitution alone is now
little short of 1000, comprising we'll nigh
100000 members, to say nothing oi Ma
sons "unattached." while in Scotland and
Ireland nearly ::ae thousand regularly
constituted lodges are reckOned, aud
hardly II week passes without n new one
being c0nsecrated in some part of the
United Kingdom. During the last two
years the desire to become a Mason has
amounted to II positive mania, and ut the
present moment it has been computed
that nearly one out of every four or five
men of the upper and middle classes il a
Mason and this Masunrs may have al
ready begun to lose some of its interest
in the eyes Of outsiders" who used TO
look on a Mason rs n most mysterious
hoing. Familiarity, if it does not exactly
breed contempt, is sad detractor of
charms of many kinds but if from its
increasing popularity, and its members
outnumbering the rest of the community,
Mason! loses some of it's peculiar attrac-
tions we shall hu able 10 console our
selves with the thought that the spread
of an institution founded, as it processes
itself TO be. on the tasis of universal
charity, will promote both peace and
happiness. ILL.,.
ii may bc asked. what is the secret of
is the special influence at work which
makes it just now more popular than
ever7 "A full answer t. this would in
volve long disquisition. Suffice it to
say that the first and chief attraction OF
Masonry is the mystery with which it is
surrounded. combined with an antiquity
more than respectable, and universally
greater than has been attained h. on.
religion in the world. Although the fact
has been questioned, it is generally be.
lieved that Masonry il OF pref Christian
origin, and since its origin its principles
have remained unchanged, aud one great
central idea has continued 10 run through
all it's forms and ceremonies, though they
have received, from time to time, in diff
ierent countries, certain notifications,
additions aud dihiinutiuiis. Here, then,
we have the great fact that a world wide
institution has existed for an immense
length of time, and that up to the present
moment the outside world is in absolute
ignorance of the specific forms and cera-
monies, the signs and passwords connec-
ted with this wundrOus fraternity; its
general PRINCIPLES, which it makes known
itself, ara all lnet non members know OF
it. This is in itself enough 10 attract
candidates for admission. prompted. as
they probably are in very many cases, by
no higher feeling: than that Of curiosity.
II, as some will have it, there are no
secret signs and V'ords byhwhich Masons
can recOguize one another, the. curiosity
is none the less to ascertain for q fact
whether this be so or not; for IL would
be equally rs astounding q fact that the
secret of there being no secret has been
kept as that the real secrets should have
remained inyioluble. 1t was curiosity
: which led Hon. Mrs. Aldworth to secrete
herself i'll Il Masonic lodge and discover
the secrets of the craft, the story Of the
"lady in the clock case" being by no
, means apncryphal, rs even the generality
| OF the Masons themselves are inclined to
: treat it. Il is simply an historical fact
that the lady just mentiuned did so
secrete herself, and further, that when
discovered she was at once "mnde Ma.
. son." Size continued to take an active
interest in the Order throughout her life
: she founded the Eublin Benevolent In.
stitution for Orphan Daughters of Ma.
{ SONS. and her portrait still hangs in d
principal lndge-room in Cork, and under
it, in glass case, the Masonic apron and
jewel she used IN wear. Whether curl.
osty will ever incite another lady to at
! tempt to elude the vigilance of the ''tiler'
b: remains to be seen; but 1t may be taken
/ t5S granted that ;TioH, wha, perhaps, are
4 a1ifeallyias much creatures of curiosity as
i those TO whom they specially attribute
J, this weakness, will continne TO be influ
I, enced by tito join the mystic fraternity
That Masonry will continue to make
y progress among US for Q long time Il
. come may be taken as assured. for in adj