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Article BRO. DRUMMOND'S HISTORIC FALLACIES. ← Page 2 of 2 Article BRO. DRUMMOND'S HISTORIC FALLACIES. Page 2 of 2
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Bro. Drummond's Historic Fallacies.
or Deacon . Bloomfield , iu his ; 1 History of Norfolk , " says " Tho old guilds styled their officers either Custus , Alderman , Master or Warden . " The English Masons seem to have styled their officer Elder or " Alderman " np to tho formation of the Grand Lodge , but with two
exceptions . In tho Alnwicke record of 1701 , the laws provided for tho election of a Master and Wardens . Tho New Regulations iu our Harleian MS . also ordained the election of a Master and Wardens . It is not improbable that the compiler of the Harleian MS . may have derived
the innovation of the titles for the Lodge Officers from some Alnwicke Brethren . Now this Alnwicke Lodge continued an old-fashioned operative Lodge from 1701 , at least , till 1757 . In the ( London ) Freemason of 1871 , pp 35 and 36 , Bro . Hughan has furnished extracts from the
said record embracing those dates . He could not learn from the said record whether non-operatives were admitted into the said Lodge . The said record begins with the old style ritual , and neither degrees nor Grand Master are indicated either in the record or in the ritual . Here , then , we
have positive evidence that operative Lodges could have adopted the titles of Master and Wardens for their officers without dreaming of " speculative Masonry , " or of having
a Grand Master or Grand Lodge . I will here add that the word " Seniorihts " in the old MS . is in a Latin paragraph . In the Alnwicke MS . ( as well as in some others ) the said paragraph is in English , and reads as follows :
" Then shall one of the most ancient of them all hold a Book , that he or they may lay his or their hand or hands upon the said Book , and these precepts following ought to
be read . " After which the above laws or charges were recited by the Master , which wound up with "So help your God , " & c . In the above extract Senioribus is translated " ono of
the most ancient of them , but in another MS . it is " one of the elders . " I must further add that " Master , Fellow and Apprentice " are mentioned in all the MSS . ; but these
words refor to an employer , journeyman , and one who is serving his time to learn the trade . But as to such phrases or terms as Grand Master or Masonic Degrees , the old MSS . and records never allude to them .
The permanence of the Alnwicke Lodge for many years , both before and after 1717 , the numerous Lodges in Scotland , which existed for centuries before 1717 , proves conclusively that originally Lodges had permanent existence Nor does the first of the " New Regulations " prove that
when the Harleian MS . was written " the speculative element was very large . " There is , however , no doubt that non-operatives were admitted in the middle ages into all kinds of guilds . * The London Tailors claimed that seven English Kings , from Richard II . to James I ., were
members of their guild . In 1607 King James was a Oordwainer , and his son Prince Henry and a host of courtiers ; then joined the Tailors' guild . Ashmole was Masonized in . 1646 . Bro . Ryland has shown that another non-operative ' was made a Mason even before Ashmole . And in Bro . '
Lyon ' s " History , " page 51 , I find that a non-operative was ) the Warden or Master of the Edinburgh Lodge in the year 1600 ; but neither themselves , nor any one else , styled :
those non-operatives by tho term " Speculatives . " This title is of very recent origin , and unless it is proved that non-operatives in those days speculated , that phrase or term should be discarded from Masonic nomenclature .
But , reasons Bro . Drummond , the old regulations and old charges were not made in 1721 , but were only then collected , and of course they must have been printed verbatim et literatim . These printed old regulations
mention the office of Grand Master as a long-established title for the head of the Masonic fraternity ; and unless the old charges and old regulations contained in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1723 are frauds , why , then , Grand Masters must have existed before 1717 .
Now forty years ago such method of reasoning would have passed unchallenged and uncriticised ; then no one supposed it possible for a Masonic author to be guilty of writing a falsehood ; but I found out since that Masonic writers are unreliable . Why!—are not the writings of Oliver , Mackey , Moore , and others filled with falsehoods ?
* Mr . Bloomfield , to whom I have already referred , writing abont the guilds in the middle ages , says : " Divers of the nobility , bishops and other eminent persons , thought ifc no dishonour to bo
admitted into them , which admission was sned for with great roverenee , and an oath was taken to be good and true to the masters of the guild and to all the brethren . " ( Bloomfield ' s " History of Norfolk , " Vol . III ., page 494 . Lynn , 1769 . )
Bro. Drummond's Historic Fallacies.
Is not the solemn promise of our W . Masters , " ou the word and honour of a gentleman and Mason , " a mere farce ? Is not Templarism , and scores of other high degrees , all based mt fiction , shamelessly patronised and promulgated by tho highest Masonic dignitaries of tho
land ? And instead of our pious clerical brethren rebuking and censuring these deviations from truth aud justico , do they not either view them with apathy or defend them with Jesuitical sophistry ? Again , it is a wellknown fact that most of our Masonic editors will
cheerfully publish communications about the Masonry of Adam , Nimrod , Noah and Co ., while they are averse to publish anything which tends to undermine Masonic humbuggeries . Here , then , are sufficient proofs that Masonic writers can be guilty of writing falsehood ; and , on the other hand , I
know that Anderson deliberately altered the date to the New Regulations , which he copied from Roberts' MS ., changing the " Eighth Day of December " into" St . John ' s Day , 27 th December . " He also Grand Mastered Moses
Julius Crosar , Herod the Great , and many others , without giving any authority for the same . Why , then , could not Anderson also have exaggerated the antiquity of English Masonic Grand Masters ?
Again , there are now more Masonic MSS . collected than Anderson ever saw , and I have compared many of these with Anderson ' s so-called " Old Regulations " and " Ancient Charges , " and in the whole thirty-nine regulations in Anderson's Constitutions I found but one item that was
derived from the old MSS ., viz ., The Thirty-ninth Regulation contains an old law that apprentices should vote at the annual election of officers , and all the previous thirty-eight Regulations were new in 1723 . And I also found that the second and fifth of Anderson ' s Charges are indicated in
the old MS ., but the remainder of the said Charges were also neiv in 1723 . Taking , therefore , these facts into consideration , I feel justified in rendering my verdict against Bro . Drummond ' s conclusions , though they are endorsed by the editor of the Freemason ' s Repository . —Masonic Truth .
Colonel Sir Archibald Campbell Campbell , Bart ., of BIythswood , elected Grand Master Mason of Scotland on 1 st inst ., is the son of the late Archibald Douglas , of Mains , county Dumbarton ( who in 1838 assumed the name and arms of Campbell , on the death of Major Archibald
Campbell , of BIythswood , M . P . ) He was born 27 th of February 1837 , and served in the Scots Guards in the Crimea , where he was severely wounded ; he also served in Canada . He contested Paisley iu 1868 , as a Conservative , unsuccessfully , but was returned as a member for Renfrew
county in 1873 . In 1874 and 1880 he again contested the same county , but was unsuccessful . He married , in 1864 , Augusta Clementina , daughter of Robert John , second Lord Carrington . He is Provincial Grand Master of
Renfrewshire East , and is Vice Lieutenant and Convenor for the co . Renfrew ; also Colonel of 4 th Batt . Argyll and Sutherland Militia . The estate of Mains has been in the family since 1373 , and that of BIythswood since 1647 .
The annual dinner of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement took place at Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 28 th ult . Tho event was , as usual , preceded by a meeting at which the sections of the first lecture were worked , and
the brethren present had an opportunity of witnessing the admirable manner in which the Emulation working is carried out . At the dinner , or supper , which followed , the chair was taken by Brother Philbrick , Q . C ., G . Registrar , and a most enjoyable evening was spent .
A convocation of the North London Chapter of Improvement was held at the Alwyne Castle Tavern , St . Paul ' s Road , Canonbury , on Thursday evening . Comps . Gregory M . E . Z ., Knight H ., Hubbard J ., Sheffield S . E ., Strugnell
S . N ., Radcliffe P . S . The respective offices were well repre sented , and the ceremony of exaltation was ably conducted Comp . T . C . Edmonds ably fulfilled the duties of Pre ceptor .
Worshipful Brother James Stevens P . M . P . Z . has accepted the invitation of the Royal Arthur Lodge of Instruction , No . 1360 , to deliver his Lecture , " Knobs and Excrescences , explanatory of the rituals and ceremonials of
the First Degree , " at the Collegiate School , Worple Road , opposite the Wimbledon Station , Wimbledon , on Thursday evening , 15 th January next . The attendance of brethren from surrounding Lodges will be welcomed .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. Drummond's Historic Fallacies.
or Deacon . Bloomfield , iu his ; 1 History of Norfolk , " says " Tho old guilds styled their officers either Custus , Alderman , Master or Warden . " The English Masons seem to have styled their officer Elder or " Alderman " np to tho formation of the Grand Lodge , but with two
exceptions . In tho Alnwicke record of 1701 , the laws provided for tho election of a Master and Wardens . Tho New Regulations iu our Harleian MS . also ordained the election of a Master and Wardens . It is not improbable that the compiler of the Harleian MS . may have derived
the innovation of the titles for the Lodge Officers from some Alnwicke Brethren . Now this Alnwicke Lodge continued an old-fashioned operative Lodge from 1701 , at least , till 1757 . In the ( London ) Freemason of 1871 , pp 35 and 36 , Bro . Hughan has furnished extracts from the
said record embracing those dates . He could not learn from the said record whether non-operatives were admitted into the said Lodge . The said record begins with the old style ritual , and neither degrees nor Grand Master are indicated either in the record or in the ritual . Here , then , we
have positive evidence that operative Lodges could have adopted the titles of Master and Wardens for their officers without dreaming of " speculative Masonry , " or of having
a Grand Master or Grand Lodge . I will here add that the word " Seniorihts " in the old MS . is in a Latin paragraph . In the Alnwicke MS . ( as well as in some others ) the said paragraph is in English , and reads as follows :
" Then shall one of the most ancient of them all hold a Book , that he or they may lay his or their hand or hands upon the said Book , and these precepts following ought to
be read . " After which the above laws or charges were recited by the Master , which wound up with "So help your God , " & c . In the above extract Senioribus is translated " ono of
the most ancient of them , but in another MS . it is " one of the elders . " I must further add that " Master , Fellow and Apprentice " are mentioned in all the MSS . ; but these
words refor to an employer , journeyman , and one who is serving his time to learn the trade . But as to such phrases or terms as Grand Master or Masonic Degrees , the old MSS . and records never allude to them .
The permanence of the Alnwicke Lodge for many years , both before and after 1717 , the numerous Lodges in Scotland , which existed for centuries before 1717 , proves conclusively that originally Lodges had permanent existence Nor does the first of the " New Regulations " prove that
when the Harleian MS . was written " the speculative element was very large . " There is , however , no doubt that non-operatives were admitted in the middle ages into all kinds of guilds . * The London Tailors claimed that seven English Kings , from Richard II . to James I ., were
members of their guild . In 1607 King James was a Oordwainer , and his son Prince Henry and a host of courtiers ; then joined the Tailors' guild . Ashmole was Masonized in . 1646 . Bro . Ryland has shown that another non-operative ' was made a Mason even before Ashmole . And in Bro . '
Lyon ' s " History , " page 51 , I find that a non-operative was ) the Warden or Master of the Edinburgh Lodge in the year 1600 ; but neither themselves , nor any one else , styled :
those non-operatives by tho term " Speculatives . " This title is of very recent origin , and unless it is proved that non-operatives in those days speculated , that phrase or term should be discarded from Masonic nomenclature .
But , reasons Bro . Drummond , the old regulations and old charges were not made in 1721 , but were only then collected , and of course they must have been printed verbatim et literatim . These printed old regulations
mention the office of Grand Master as a long-established title for the head of the Masonic fraternity ; and unless the old charges and old regulations contained in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1723 are frauds , why , then , Grand Masters must have existed before 1717 .
Now forty years ago such method of reasoning would have passed unchallenged and uncriticised ; then no one supposed it possible for a Masonic author to be guilty of writing a falsehood ; but I found out since that Masonic writers are unreliable . Why!—are not the writings of Oliver , Mackey , Moore , and others filled with falsehoods ?
* Mr . Bloomfield , to whom I have already referred , writing abont the guilds in the middle ages , says : " Divers of the nobility , bishops and other eminent persons , thought ifc no dishonour to bo
admitted into them , which admission was sned for with great roverenee , and an oath was taken to be good and true to the masters of the guild and to all the brethren . " ( Bloomfield ' s " History of Norfolk , " Vol . III ., page 494 . Lynn , 1769 . )
Bro. Drummond's Historic Fallacies.
Is not the solemn promise of our W . Masters , " ou the word and honour of a gentleman and Mason , " a mere farce ? Is not Templarism , and scores of other high degrees , all based mt fiction , shamelessly patronised and promulgated by tho highest Masonic dignitaries of tho
land ? And instead of our pious clerical brethren rebuking and censuring these deviations from truth aud justico , do they not either view them with apathy or defend them with Jesuitical sophistry ? Again , it is a wellknown fact that most of our Masonic editors will
cheerfully publish communications about the Masonry of Adam , Nimrod , Noah and Co ., while they are averse to publish anything which tends to undermine Masonic humbuggeries . Here , then , are sufficient proofs that Masonic writers can be guilty of writing falsehood ; and , on the other hand , I
know that Anderson deliberately altered the date to the New Regulations , which he copied from Roberts' MS ., changing the " Eighth Day of December " into" St . John ' s Day , 27 th December . " He also Grand Mastered Moses
Julius Crosar , Herod the Great , and many others , without giving any authority for the same . Why , then , could not Anderson also have exaggerated the antiquity of English Masonic Grand Masters ?
Again , there are now more Masonic MSS . collected than Anderson ever saw , and I have compared many of these with Anderson ' s so-called " Old Regulations " and " Ancient Charges , " and in the whole thirty-nine regulations in Anderson's Constitutions I found but one item that was
derived from the old MSS ., viz ., The Thirty-ninth Regulation contains an old law that apprentices should vote at the annual election of officers , and all the previous thirty-eight Regulations were new in 1723 . And I also found that the second and fifth of Anderson ' s Charges are indicated in
the old MS ., but the remainder of the said Charges were also neiv in 1723 . Taking , therefore , these facts into consideration , I feel justified in rendering my verdict against Bro . Drummond ' s conclusions , though they are endorsed by the editor of the Freemason ' s Repository . —Masonic Truth .
Colonel Sir Archibald Campbell Campbell , Bart ., of BIythswood , elected Grand Master Mason of Scotland on 1 st inst ., is the son of the late Archibald Douglas , of Mains , county Dumbarton ( who in 1838 assumed the name and arms of Campbell , on the death of Major Archibald
Campbell , of BIythswood , M . P . ) He was born 27 th of February 1837 , and served in the Scots Guards in the Crimea , where he was severely wounded ; he also served in Canada . He contested Paisley iu 1868 , as a Conservative , unsuccessfully , but was returned as a member for Renfrew
county in 1873 . In 1874 and 1880 he again contested the same county , but was unsuccessful . He married , in 1864 , Augusta Clementina , daughter of Robert John , second Lord Carrington . He is Provincial Grand Master of
Renfrewshire East , and is Vice Lieutenant and Convenor for the co . Renfrew ; also Colonel of 4 th Batt . Argyll and Sutherland Militia . The estate of Mains has been in the family since 1373 , and that of BIythswood since 1647 .
The annual dinner of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement took place at Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 28 th ult . Tho event was , as usual , preceded by a meeting at which the sections of the first lecture were worked , and
the brethren present had an opportunity of witnessing the admirable manner in which the Emulation working is carried out . At the dinner , or supper , which followed , the chair was taken by Brother Philbrick , Q . C ., G . Registrar , and a most enjoyable evening was spent .
A convocation of the North London Chapter of Improvement was held at the Alwyne Castle Tavern , St . Paul ' s Road , Canonbury , on Thursday evening . Comps . Gregory M . E . Z ., Knight H ., Hubbard J ., Sheffield S . E ., Strugnell
S . N ., Radcliffe P . S . The respective offices were well repre sented , and the ceremony of exaltation was ably conducted Comp . T . C . Edmonds ably fulfilled the duties of Pre ceptor .
Worshipful Brother James Stevens P . M . P . Z . has accepted the invitation of the Royal Arthur Lodge of Instruction , No . 1360 , to deliver his Lecture , " Knobs and Excrescences , explanatory of the rituals and ceremonials of
the First Degree , " at the Collegiate School , Worple Road , opposite the Wimbledon Station , Wimbledon , on Thursday evening , 15 th January next . The attendance of brethren from surrounding Lodges will be welcomed .