Masonic Curiosities.—Iii.

Master under the Mark Grand Lodge to faciliate the reception of English Royal Arch Masons abroad .

[ CERTIFICATE No . 7 . ] > We , the H . P ., & c , & c , & c , ofthe Grand p . Encampment of Royal Arch Super-Excellent 5 . Masons , held under the sanction of Lodge P * - ^ No . 47 , in the town of Castlerea , and on tlie g " tfif registry of Ireland — We do hereby certily re i ? that the bearer , Robert Woods , our faithful and

" » well-beloved Brother , past master of said lodge , 0 ¦*¦;• was by us installed and initiated into the most , g 2 . sublime secrets of R . A ., S . Ex . Masonry , he n ^ having with due honour to the Royal Craft S * B 0 iustlv sunnorted the amazing and mvsterious

S . §** 3- trials of skill and valour attending his admis-™ re g sion into said lodge . We therefore recommend 2 ! j ? a him as a just , faithful and worthy brother . « J > 2 , Given under our hands and seal of our G rand

5 = p c" Encampment held in Castlerea , this 27 th day a . 3 of March , in the year of our Lord God one g . **— ' thousand eight hundred and eight , and in the n ( Seal ) year of Royal Arch Super-Excellent Masonry three thousand eight hundred and eight . , R . M . !

...... « .-. R . A . C . , Secretary , , G . M . K . S . & G D . G . M .

[ CERTIFICATE NO . 8 . ] And God said let there be light and there was light , and the light shineth in darkness , and the darkness comprehended ! it not . We , the High Priest , & c , of the Grand Charterof Royal Arch , Excellent , Super-Excellent Masons held under the sanction of Lodge No . 828 , at Drumquin , in the County Tyrone , on the Registry of Ii eland , do certify that the bearer hereof , our Excellent trusty , true , and well-beloved

brother , Edward Kinchella , was well and duly recommended unto us , and we found him endued with Justice , Valour , Temperance , and Fortitude . Whetcupon we further Initiated him into the Sublime Sweets and Holy Mysteries of Royal Excellent , Super-Excellent "Masonry , he having with honour , justlysupportedthe Mysteries and amazing trials of skill and valour attending his admission . * 0 Therefore , may the soul of this our wells' beloved brother , he both inspired and illumined ,

u \ and finally be admitted into the Presence of the § Most High with this short prayer . We now re-2 . commend him as a Royal Arch , Excellent , Supers' Excellent Mason , also a just and true brother , § and worthy Member of the Royal Community . ¦ **¦"* Given under our hands and seal of our Royal En-( Seal ) campment , this 7 th day of September , 1797 . W . H . T . orZ . , R . A . C . G . M .

, D . G . M . ( To be continued . )

Masonry In America.

MASONRY IN AMERICA .

SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF OLIVE BRANCH LODGE , LEROY , N . Y . As an example of the thoroughly searching manner in which our American brethren pursue their investigations into Masonic ethics , wc have great pleasure in copying from thc New York Masonic Tidings the following report , in which is included one of thc most masterly orations on Freemasonry wc ever remember to have read * . —

Olive Branch Lodge , No . 39 , was just fifty-nine years old on thc 22 nd clay of June , 1870 . It is one of the few lodges which stood true during the anti-Masonic crasade , undergoing the most malignant forms of persecution for the faith . The lodge-room being too small for such an occasion , Starr Hall was called into requisition . The walls were beautifully festooned with evergreens , and

adorned with wreaths of flowers and pictures of Masonic worthies . At high twelve representatives ofthe following lodges met at tlie hall : Olive Branch , No . 39 , LcRoy ; Churchville , No . 667 ; Batavia , No . 475 ; Erie , No . lOl , Buffalo ; Warsaw , No . 549 ; Avon Springs , No . 570 ; Mount Morris , No . 122 . Scott ' s " Ryan Zouave Band , " of Rochester , was in

attendance , and discoursed the finest of music—they have few equals in thc State . After the usual pieliminaries , the brethren were formed in procession under the direction of Bro . James S . Showennan , and , headed by the band , visited thc grave of Ezia Piatt , the first Master of the lodge . Returning to the hall , the following c . \ crciscs took place : Opening ode , prayer by Rev . Bro .

Furgason , after which the following ode , written for thc occasion by W . II . C . Ilosmcr , was sung 10 thc air of " Auld Lang Syne : " Our Olive Branch the vision cheers , While Masons true convene , By lapse ol more than fifty years Still unimpaired ils green .

lis power benign will never cease To wake fraternal love ; Dear symbol of the perfect peace That reigns witli God above . Chorus— Its power benign will never cease To wake fraternal love ; Dear symbol of thc perfect peace That reigns with God above .

Masonry In America.

Night falls on many a ruined shrine Whose worshippers are gone , But , fed by effluence Divine , Our altar-flame burns on . Palmyra ' s hearths have long been cold , Old Tyre has passed away ,

But columns that our fane uphold Are strangers to decay . Chorus— Palmyra ' shearths have long been cold , Old Tyre hath passed away , But columns that our fame uphold Are strangers to decay .

Dear brethren of the mystic bond , Within a blissful clime Towers up our great Grand Lodge beyond The boundaries of time . There seekers of the light will meet The faithful gone before , And held with them communion sweet While death bereaves no more .

Chorus— There seekers of the light will meet Their brethren gone before , And hold with them communion sweet While death bereaves no more . W . Master William S . Brown then delivered the historical address .

After a stirring piece of music , R . W . John R . Auder-5011 , Past Master of thc lodge , delivered the following jration : " The celebration of the semi-centennial anniversary of a Masonic lodge brings with it associations rich in good cheer to the members of this time-honoured Fraternity , who have come from their homes , near and distant , to

meet and greet—some for the first , and some for tbe last lime—their brethren in the mystic bond of Fraternal Union . " Varied , indeed , are the emotions which fill the hearts of the older and the younger members of this ancient Order as they come together on an extraordinary occasion like the present . Some are here who are now in the

evening » f 'heir pilgrimage—they are approaching , if they have 110 U ready reached and passed , the age allotted to man . They have come lo lend to this festivity ihe sanction of their presence , to publicly testify their loyalty to a Brotherhood with which they have been so long and happily connected . They have come to witness its present almost unprecedented prosperity , and to share with

their younger brethren the pleasure of this reunion . Their venerable presence adds a dignity to these festivities which no feature could impart . They come up here well furnished with reminiscences of other days—other days of trial and triumph . They readily recall that period in thc history of this Institution when days were dark and friends were few ; when the fires of fanaticism swept over

the land , and with a fury which threatened in the madness of ils might lo destroy every vestige of this Masonic heritage , and leave not so much as one solitary lodge in the wilderness to tell to posterity the story of its wrongs , and to afford an asylum of peace to the poor and persecuted . " Misguided religionists and scheming politicians

combined to create that measure of universal distrust and opposition which sought to drive Masonry from thc society nf the wise and good , and to turn against it the terrific tide of popular odium . You , venerable , remember the time when church discipline and state legislation were brought lo bear with a force of intolerance upon the rights ol * men who were Masons , and because they were

Masons , which has scarcely had a parallel in the dark history of fanatical bigotry . This scathing trial was thc touchstone of fidelity , and failed not to show who were , and who were not , true men , who were willing to stand by Ihe principles of this Institution , and who were willing to abandon them . "These older brethren recall the period when the

lodges generally were closed , business suspended , and the true friends of the Order stood calmly and breasted the storm , conscious that their strength was lo sit still , confident lhat truth would ultimately triumph , that these calamities would bc overcast , and that renewed prosperity would break through these heavy clouds and clear every vestige ol" their blacknc . s from thc horizon of

Free--onry . "That expectation has been most happily realised . These brethren who have come down to us from past generations have lived 10 see their hopes more than fulfilled . In ill ' s day ' s proceedings ihey sec a complete and triumphant vindication of the trials to which they were then subjected , and the utter overthrow and despair of

their enemies . They have seen tlie ignoble end of an unrighteous opposition , the politician disappointed , the misguided zealot brought to a better mind , ami a credulous public disabused , an I ihe Institution which they have so lo : ig love . I coming ft r . h in ils ancient strength , cheered with the smiles of universal goo . I will . Peace and harmony are in the nsc'iidam throughout thc pale of the

great Brotneihood . "Our chief anxiety ancl our greatest danger arc lo bc foun 1 in ihe fact thai wc have a sky without a cloud , that our ark is borne upon a tide too much at flood , wafted by the treacherous breath of p pular favour . But there are those present , in the morning of their young manhood , wit . ) have known nothing of tie trying time , to which I have allude . I , which so thoroughly tested the principles of

the Craft ancl sifted Hie ranlcs of its members . To these the past is a b ' ank , the present a joy , and the future is spanned by a bow of unblemished promise . "It is well that it is so . Wc need the enthusiastic hopes and the vigorous activities of i * hc young , in union with the ripe wisdom and conserving modcraton of the elders , whose long labours and chequered experience have preeminently titled them for safe counsellors . " But there arc those here who belong to neither cl . * i **<*

Masonry In America.

which I have named . They are our friends who have been attracted hither by the spirit of curiosity , or by the love of spectacle , or by the influence of relationship with those who have been members of this Fraternity . To such the sound of martial music , the waving of banners , the display of regalia , constitute the chief charm of the occasion . The eyes of not a few of the younger and

fairer part of this audience never before , it may be , looked upon a Masonic pageant . To those the novelty of the sight and the mystery of the emblems are the elements of attraction . " But this occasion is not indebted to any suchlike adventitious circumstances for the true interest that attaches to it . Here are to be seen not simply a body of

men , about whose Institution there is an air of mystery , decorated with the emblems of their Order , whose brilliant jewels reflect the brightness of the sun to tbe eye of the beholder—all this may be assumed by any association of men —but in this assembly is a Society represented older and larger and more universally spread over the earth than any other organisation , a Craft which- was

venerable from very antiquity before this continent was discovered ; whose members to-day are lo be found in every quarter of the globe , ancl in every class of society , in every calling of life , who are bound by one bond , who speak one language , who act upon one great principle , and are chiefly aiming at one great end . '' In these times of change , and experiments , and

expediency , when the spirit of the age so easily tires of the old and so readily embraces the new , when progress is the watchword , with or without improvement , it is surely something to be thankful for that the r e is one Society of human origin strong enough to stem thc tide of universal innovation—a Society that can date its origin far back in the earliest ages of the world , and has come clown to our

times holding fast to the ancient landmarks , maintaining with an unshrinking firmness its conservative principles , and teaching old truths in " the old way , and zealous to sustain its normal peculiarities , however they may contravene the usages of the present generation . " It is , indeed , a refreshing novelty to look upon such an Institution . It is this antiquity , this universality ,

this fraternal union , this golden bond of charity , which reaches and binds together the forecomcrs of the earth , thus meeting in friendship and love men of every nation in one great brotherhood , which changes neither its principles nor its practices to suit the caprice of the times , which invests this celebration with an unborrowed interest that is peculiarly its own .

"The Masonic Institution stands to-day before the world a marvellous monument of antiquity , an institution which , amid the revolutions lhat have shaken the earth lrom centre to circumference , and before which kingdoms and empires have passed away , leaving no track or trace of their former splendours , has never lost essentially the form of its organisation , nor the spirit of its power in carrying

out the great law of love in doing the divine work of charity . "It has outlived the circumstances of its origin . The necessities that called it into existence , in connection with its first practical purpose , have long passed away , and no more constitute a feature of its organism . Originally a company of " builders , " whose monuments of matchless

skill now adorn almost every part of Europe , ancl to-day challenge the admiration of the world as masterly models for modern imitation ; they were associated , not only for the promotion of architectural science , but lor mutual protection ancl relief , for maintenance of that high order of integrity which is the dictate of the Divine Law ,

" The hand of time has brought ils operative labours to a close , and there are no more cathedrals or castles for it to build . But neither the hand of time nor the innovation of ages have changed or mutilated its great principles . They remain , ami ever will , as long as charity has its great mission amongst the children of men . ( To he continued . )

A SECOND edition of Bro . Kenning ' s Illustrated Catalogue of Masonic Paraphernalia and Jewels lias just been published . As the first edition met with thc unqualified approbation of out * contemporaries—the Era , the American , and thc City Press , amongst others—it is needless to add more upon thc subject than to simply direct attention to thc

fact that the catalogue is now considerably enlarged , and that thcjewels ofevery degree at present worked in England will bc found accurately and beautifully depicted therein . As a work of art it reflects the greatest credit upon Bro . Reeves and Son , the eminent firm of printers , under whose direction the engravings were executed .

REPORT of Dr . Arthur Hill Hassall , Analyst of the " Lancet * ' Sanitary Commission , Author of " Food and its Adulterations , " Sic , iVc , on Mayar ' s Semolina : " 1 have carefully tested , chemically and ' microscopically , the samples of Semolina sent by Messrs . L . Mayar & Co ., 36 , Mark Lane , London , E . C . I find them to be

perfectly genuine , of excellent quality , and eminently nutritious . They contain a very large percentage of nitrogenous muter , chiefly gluten , and arc far more nutritious than any oilier food , such as Arrowroot , Tapioca , Sago , Coin Flour , Farinaceous Food , ordinary Wheat Flour , or

any of the Cereals in use as food in this country . — ( ¦ . Signed ) AKTIIUK IIILI . IIASSAM ., M . D ., London . " - Highly recommended by the Faculty for Infants , Invalids , 6 cc . Makes delicious Pudding , Custards , Blanc Mange , & c . After a trial no family will be without Mayar ' s Semolina .