CHAPTER XLVI.
THE BRETHREN OF THE MYSTIC TIE.
SYNOPSIS:— Lodge of Australia Felix. —The Australasian Kilwinning Lodge. —The Australia Felix Lodge of Hiram. —The Lodge of Australasia. —United Tradesmen's Lodge. —The First Royal-Arch Chapter. —Presentations of Medals and Jewels. —Geelong Lodge of Unity and Prudence. —The First Provincial Grand Master. —The First Masonic Testimonial. —Freemasons in 1883. —The Only Lady Mason. — Oddfellowship: Formation of the First Lodge. —The First Medical Officer. —Formation of the Loyal Melbourne Lodge. —Port Phillip Constituted a District. — Opening of the Loyal Melbourne Lodge. — Oddfellows' Statistics in 1851. —First Board of Directors. —Duke of York Lodge. —Smoking in lodge-time Prohibited. —First Oddfellow's Funeral. —Oddfellows' Statistics in 1882-1884. —Panegyric on Dr. Greeves. —Druidism: Arrival of Mr. James Himen. —Formation of First Lodge a Failure. —Its Resuscitation. —Death of Mr. Himen. —Statistics in 1880-1883. —Orangeism: Its Alleged Origination in Port Phillip. —Formation of a Confederacy. —Reported Statistics in 1882. —Origin of the Loyal Orange Institution. —The Protestant Hall. —Laying the Foundation Stone. —Opening of the Building. —Erection of New Hall in 1882.
Freemasonry
HAS been defined as a Moral Order, instituted with the praiseworthy design of recalling to remembrance the most sublime truths in the midst of the most innocent and social pleasures founded on Brotherly Love and Charity. Of its great antiquity there can be no doubt, though its origin is clouded in uncertainty, and the theme is of much grandiloquent conjecture. Some Masonic historians gravely affirm that "it had a being ever since symmetry began, and harmony displayed her charms." They trace it to the building of Solomon's Temple, and it is averred that Mahommetan Architects, in the Sixth Century, brought it from Africa to Spain, as a specific against Christian fanaticism. The period of its appearance in England is matter of disagreement, some assigning it to the commencement of the Sixth Century, and others placing it earlier. In all I have occasionally read on the subject I have found only one writer venturing to disenchant the time-honoured traditions of Masonry by advancing anything like a plain, matter-of-fact statement as to its inception; and in the light of all that has been written and spoken on the subject, it is both instructive and amusing to read the following prosaic assertion from the pen of Dr. Brewer, no insignificant authority as an antiquarian writer:— "Freemasons: In the Middle Ages a Guild of Masons, specially employed in building churches, called " free," because exempted by several Papal Bulls from the laws which bore upon common craftsmen, and exempt from the burdens thrown on the working classes." Such is the definition given in a revised edition of the Dictionary of Reference, and if there be any truth in it, the Papacy in the cycle of time must have had good reason for repenting its favours, for in 1738 Freemasonry was excommunicated by the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church has since invariably maintained an unswerving position of hostility towards the Order.
If Mr. Brough Smyth can be regarded as an authority, the system is, like the kangaroo, indigenous to Australia, for in his elaborate work on the Aborigines is the following declaration:— "It is believed that they (the Aborigines) have several signs, known only to themselves, or to those among the whites who have had intercourse with them for lengthened periods, which convey information readily and accurately. Indeed, because of their use of signs, it is the firm belief of many (some uneducated and some educated), that the natives of Australia are acquainted with the secrets of Freemasonry." If so, their knowledge must be of the most rudimentary kind, and time has failed to elucidate it on any part of the great Australian continent. However vague and apocryphal may be the various speculations indicated, one thing is certain, that the Freemasonry of civilization was early acclimatized in Port Phillip, for so far back as 1839 (four years after the white settlement of the country) steps were being taken to establish the first Lodge in Melbourne.
