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The Spread Of Mark Masonry
THE SPREAD OF MARK MASONRY
OF all the " distinctions without a difference " we have ever come across perhaps that which has so long excluded Mark Masonry from recognition hy the Craft is the most remarkable . There are hosts of brethren in this country who are apt to include it amongst the " fancy "
degrees , to " innovate which would be to depart from the strict Masonic role ; nevertheless we see its increasing popularity in all parts of the kingdom , until no fewer than 247 Lodges have been figured upon the roll of Grand Lodge . Last week we reported the introduction of the degree ,
under the most spirited auspices , into the county of Northampton , where it had long been assailed by elder Masons who Avere content to have jogged along upon the hard and fast lines , and who regarded the importation of Mark Masonry as a " new fangled " notion , and an undue
extension of the boundaries of the Craft . As the general tendency of Freemasonry is misconstrued by the outer world , so to a great extent is the scope and teaching of the Mark degree misjudged by those who will not take the pains to inquire into its merits and value . But having passed the
barrier in the county referred to , we see the Mark springing forward with a bound , and if this vigorous offshoot of the Province of Leicestershire marks well—as indeed it promises to do—we shall not have long to wait ere the number of Lodges in the county is sufficient to justify the
constitution of another province . Two days later on the mallet and chisel were again at work , in Hereford , where a new Lodge was consecrated with great eclat , and again we have to record a similar conclave of expert workmen in the city of Oxford . Mark Masons who " appeared " at the
Grand Festival at Freemasons' Tavern on Tuesday last , rejoiced to hear the most healthy reports as shadowed forth by the deepening interest which is being manifested in this degree by Craftsmen in all quarters . Intelligent Masons will foresee , from this readier acceptation which
Mark Masonry is gaining in every direction , that ere lon ° - it must receive the recognition of Grand Lodge , and be admitted to its rightful place among the Craft degrees . That it is of no new origin was lucidly pointed out by Bro . Binckes , the popular Grand Secretary of Mark Masons , at a
consecration banquet we recently attended , and where he stated that , in company of another earnest Masonic student , he had traced back tbe records of various old Lodges , and found that , so far back as the year 1785 Mark Masonry was practised in connection with the Craft . In one old
dusty record it was pointed out that , " having completed its duties in Craft Masonry , the Lodge was advanced , and a certain number of Masons were admitted to the Mark degree , and passed on to the rank of Mark Masters . " After that date , however , there do not appear to be any
records extant in which mention is made of Mark Masonry being practised in connection with Craft Lodges . But this authentic record , found in the minute hook of the old Athole Lodge—one of the Ancient Lodges—is sufficient to prove that Mark Masonry is not the mushroom organisation that
some would endeavour to make it appear , but that it can boast of an existence co-equal with that of the Craft itself . We believe it can be proved beyond question that the degree has been recognised since 1717 , and seeing that it is
now being recognised so widely as an integral portion of essential Masonry , it is not too much to expect that ere long the Grand Lodge of England may be induced to reverse the verdict passed at the time of the Union , in 1813 , when , in the exercise of its prerogative , it eliminated
The Spread Of Mark Masonry
the Mark from the regular and recognised degrees of Craft Masonry . If we stand up in any Lodge room and ask the question , " Why is a brother forbidden to wear the Mark jewel in a Craft Lodge ? " we shall find no response save that the degree is " not recognised " by the Grand Lodge
of England . "And why ? " The brethren will look askance all round , but nowhere will be given a satisfactory fundamental reason why the Mark has been so long relegated to the cold shade of excommunication by the ruling powers of English Freemasonry . That such
will not long be the case is a wish cherished by all who enjoy the privilege of having passed from an intelligent graduation in the three degrees into the arena of actual and practical Mark Masonry . Here it is that many of the points and figures which have hitherto
arrested the attention in earlier stages of our research hecome practically illustrated , their historical associations and meanings enlarged npon , and the beautiful moral lessons already learnt in part are driven home by the mallet and chisel in the hands of an astute master and his
overseers . In its very quamtness of form and application , Mark Masonry is calculated to give solidity to thoughts that might otherwise have taken unkindly to the soil in which they had been planted . Approaching almost to a histrionic exemplification of the manner in which the stones requiredfor
the building of the Temple were prepared and received , tho process through which they passed from the time of hewing out of the quarries until they reach the hands of the approving master of tho work—even in this aspect Mark Masonry is brimful of interest and attraction to the enquirer after
more light . But more important for the great guiding principles it evolves—the absolute necessity of rectitude and probity on the part of all who are employed in the great workshop of life—of an ever-consciousness of the All-seeing eye watching and examining the work
produced—of the impossibility of evading or deceiving that Omniscient Overseer of all—and of the penalty which is the inevitable result of attempted imposture—this degree , to our mind , commends itself to the enlightened understanding . The brother who has already learnt the reasons
why our ancient Craftsmen received their wages without diffidence and without scruple here see , in plain and pleasing illustration , the meaning of precepts previously inculcated . And equally will he be impressed with the dire dismay which overtakes the conscience-stricken impostor
who dares to assume a virtue he has not , and to claim that which is not justly his due . Consolatory to the upright honourable workman is the ease with which he passes the progressive stages of his journey from the far-off quarries , though the gates of the City , right up to the threshold of
the structure which he himself is helping to build , exemplifying to him that the path of duty is the path of safety , and a course of moral rectitude the only sure passport to the smiling approval of the Grand Overseer of the Universe . " Though the mills of God grind slowly , yet they grind
exceedingly small ; but when our natures , thus purified from even the grit and dust of deformity , enable us to turn out fair work and smooth , and such as is in accordance with the All-wise design , then there ia an abundant entrance , and a claim to that reward which is held in reserve only for the
deserving . Prominent , too , if not suppressively so in this degree , is the precept that though moral worth is too often unrecognised , and therefore lost from a human standpoint , there is an inscrutable eye observant over all our thoughts and actions , and that in the fulfilment of time works which to man ' s dull vision are crooked and deformed become the very material which in the Masters' mind become necessary
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Spread Of Mark Masonry
THE SPREAD OF MARK MASONRY
OF all the " distinctions without a difference " we have ever come across perhaps that which has so long excluded Mark Masonry from recognition hy the Craft is the most remarkable . There are hosts of brethren in this country who are apt to include it amongst the " fancy "
degrees , to " innovate which would be to depart from the strict Masonic role ; nevertheless we see its increasing popularity in all parts of the kingdom , until no fewer than 247 Lodges have been figured upon the roll of Grand Lodge . Last week we reported the introduction of the degree ,
under the most spirited auspices , into the county of Northampton , where it had long been assailed by elder Masons who Avere content to have jogged along upon the hard and fast lines , and who regarded the importation of Mark Masonry as a " new fangled " notion , and an undue
extension of the boundaries of the Craft . As the general tendency of Freemasonry is misconstrued by the outer world , so to a great extent is the scope and teaching of the Mark degree misjudged by those who will not take the pains to inquire into its merits and value . But having passed the
barrier in the county referred to , we see the Mark springing forward with a bound , and if this vigorous offshoot of the Province of Leicestershire marks well—as indeed it promises to do—we shall not have long to wait ere the number of Lodges in the county is sufficient to justify the
constitution of another province . Two days later on the mallet and chisel were again at work , in Hereford , where a new Lodge was consecrated with great eclat , and again we have to record a similar conclave of expert workmen in the city of Oxford . Mark Masons who " appeared " at the
Grand Festival at Freemasons' Tavern on Tuesday last , rejoiced to hear the most healthy reports as shadowed forth by the deepening interest which is being manifested in this degree by Craftsmen in all quarters . Intelligent Masons will foresee , from this readier acceptation which
Mark Masonry is gaining in every direction , that ere lon ° - it must receive the recognition of Grand Lodge , and be admitted to its rightful place among the Craft degrees . That it is of no new origin was lucidly pointed out by Bro . Binckes , the popular Grand Secretary of Mark Masons , at a
consecration banquet we recently attended , and where he stated that , in company of another earnest Masonic student , he had traced back tbe records of various old Lodges , and found that , so far back as the year 1785 Mark Masonry was practised in connection with the Craft . In one old
dusty record it was pointed out that , " having completed its duties in Craft Masonry , the Lodge was advanced , and a certain number of Masons were admitted to the Mark degree , and passed on to the rank of Mark Masters . " After that date , however , there do not appear to be any
records extant in which mention is made of Mark Masonry being practised in connection with Craft Lodges . But this authentic record , found in the minute hook of the old Athole Lodge—one of the Ancient Lodges—is sufficient to prove that Mark Masonry is not the mushroom organisation that
some would endeavour to make it appear , but that it can boast of an existence co-equal with that of the Craft itself . We believe it can be proved beyond question that the degree has been recognised since 1717 , and seeing that it is
now being recognised so widely as an integral portion of essential Masonry , it is not too much to expect that ere long the Grand Lodge of England may be induced to reverse the verdict passed at the time of the Union , in 1813 , when , in the exercise of its prerogative , it eliminated
The Spread Of Mark Masonry
the Mark from the regular and recognised degrees of Craft Masonry . If we stand up in any Lodge room and ask the question , " Why is a brother forbidden to wear the Mark jewel in a Craft Lodge ? " we shall find no response save that the degree is " not recognised " by the Grand Lodge
of England . "And why ? " The brethren will look askance all round , but nowhere will be given a satisfactory fundamental reason why the Mark has been so long relegated to the cold shade of excommunication by the ruling powers of English Freemasonry . That such
will not long be the case is a wish cherished by all who enjoy the privilege of having passed from an intelligent graduation in the three degrees into the arena of actual and practical Mark Masonry . Here it is that many of the points and figures which have hitherto
arrested the attention in earlier stages of our research hecome practically illustrated , their historical associations and meanings enlarged npon , and the beautiful moral lessons already learnt in part are driven home by the mallet and chisel in the hands of an astute master and his
overseers . In its very quamtness of form and application , Mark Masonry is calculated to give solidity to thoughts that might otherwise have taken unkindly to the soil in which they had been planted . Approaching almost to a histrionic exemplification of the manner in which the stones requiredfor
the building of the Temple were prepared and received , tho process through which they passed from the time of hewing out of the quarries until they reach the hands of the approving master of tho work—even in this aspect Mark Masonry is brimful of interest and attraction to the enquirer after
more light . But more important for the great guiding principles it evolves—the absolute necessity of rectitude and probity on the part of all who are employed in the great workshop of life—of an ever-consciousness of the All-seeing eye watching and examining the work
produced—of the impossibility of evading or deceiving that Omniscient Overseer of all—and of the penalty which is the inevitable result of attempted imposture—this degree , to our mind , commends itself to the enlightened understanding . The brother who has already learnt the reasons
why our ancient Craftsmen received their wages without diffidence and without scruple here see , in plain and pleasing illustration , the meaning of precepts previously inculcated . And equally will he be impressed with the dire dismay which overtakes the conscience-stricken impostor
who dares to assume a virtue he has not , and to claim that which is not justly his due . Consolatory to the upright honourable workman is the ease with which he passes the progressive stages of his journey from the far-off quarries , though the gates of the City , right up to the threshold of
the structure which he himself is helping to build , exemplifying to him that the path of duty is the path of safety , and a course of moral rectitude the only sure passport to the smiling approval of the Grand Overseer of the Universe . " Though the mills of God grind slowly , yet they grind
exceedingly small ; but when our natures , thus purified from even the grit and dust of deformity , enable us to turn out fair work and smooth , and such as is in accordance with the All-wise design , then there ia an abundant entrance , and a claim to that reward which is held in reserve only for the
deserving . Prominent , too , if not suppressively so in this degree , is the precept that though moral worth is too often unrecognised , and therefore lost from a human standpoint , there is an inscrutable eye observant over all our thoughts and actions , and that in the fulfilment of time works which to man ' s dull vision are crooked and deformed become the very material which in the Masters' mind become necessary