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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Time's Changes.
named Herring , who was elected last month , who , it is represented , will be entitled to receive at the age of twentyone over £ 1000 , some state £ 1800 . The same objections thafc were forthcoming with regard to Collingwood are urged in the case of Herring , and it is difficult to see upon
what grounds they can be satisfactorily met . Bro . Herring , the father of the boy , may have been all that a Freemason should be ; his friends may have been liberal supporters of the Charities . All this may be perfectly true , and yet it does not justify appropriating a place in the Boys' School
to one who is provided for in another way , who can afford and ought to pay for his own food , clothing and education . If a home is sought for the lad , and the Freemasons ' School is considered the best , let application be made for admission upon payment , accordingto the rules , and the case
will be dealt with as circumstances permit . The Quarterly Court would have to retrace their steps and to admit that they had made a mistake . No doubt it will be difficult to get them to do this , bufc ifc is a duty incumbent upon them . Their course is clear , they have no alternative but to
declare the election void . The spirit of the Institution , of charity itself , rebels against their judgment in the case of the boy Herring , and common sense as well as common justice demand reparation . It is not easy to understand people who would accept crutches when they can walk
alone , and it does not speak well for the friends of this boy who would use a charity while wealth belonging to him is allowed to accumulate . Such a feeling arises from a perverted sense of claim , an assumption that something is
bought when subscriptions are paid , and that what is required is to obtain a certain number of votes , and then all conditions have been satisfied . The whole difficulty has arisen out of this mistaken idea . The admission of the
boy as a candidate in the first instance was a blunder ; ifc was felt to have been such , and the question was raised at the Quarterly Court , when out of a Board of over fifty brethren there was only a very small majority in favour of the motion for admission . The existence of such
a difference of opinion is suggestive of doubt , and when the whole facts are considered , the action of the minority will command the assent of all who desire the righteous and intelligent application of charity . Let the case be put fairly and its nakedness becomes not only
apparent but startling . Here is a boy with something like £ 600 at the present time , most likely more , entirely in his own right , with no claims present or prospective upon it ; here is another one , it may be of a large family , with only a poor widowed mother to look to . Both are sons of
worthy Masons : the Dives of the case is admitted to the fruits of charity , while the poor dispirited Lazarus is sent empty away . This is no exaggerated picture ; it is true to life and experience . It is no answer to say that both had the same chance so far as the body of selection was
concerned , and that inequalities arise out of circumstances which neither they nor any one else can control . While this is true in letter , it is false in spirit . Both were admitted apparently upon equal conditions , but how can two persons be said to be equal in a contest in which money is
• essential , when one is rich and the other poor ? Yet that is just the equality upon which theboy Herring was admitted in the struggle as compared with some who have failed . No doubt the inequalities of this world are great and inexplicable , but that is a reason why the utmost care should
be taken not to increase or intensify them . Herring ' s case ought never to haye been brought forward at all , and it was a gross abuse of true charity to admit him as a candidate . He has heen elected upon a wrong issue , and justice , nay humanity , demands that he should be removed and his place filled by a real object of charity .
How Masonic History Is Taught.
HOW MASONIC HISTORY IS TAUGHT .
WE have remarked on more than one occasion , that one of the most serious evils with which the Craft of Freemasonry is afflicted is the extraordinary facility evinced by many of ifcs most devoted adherents in seriously regarding the personages and events of the ages long gone
as constituting a very important part of its history . Grave and reverend authors have not hesitated to make its origin coeval with the origin of Time itself , while all , or nearly all , the most illustrious personages of antiquity have had assigned to them the chief places in its development . To
How Masonic History Is Taught.
a certain extent , perhaps , there is no very grave objection to this course . As a system of morality , intended to elevate and improve mankind , to unite together all sorts and conditions of men by the sacred bonds of love , Freemasonry may , without any serious strain on the imagination , be said to have
existed from the very beginning . When men began to form themselves into communities , a certain code of morals , by which the conduct of each member towards his fellow members should be regulated , became a necessity . The principles on which this code was established were pretty
much the same as those which constitute our system of Freemasonry ; and those who had a hand in formulating or amending , from time to time , this moral code may be said to have been imbued with the principles which we brethren of the mystic tie are bound to profess . It is in
this sense , but in no other , that the founders and exponents of the different schools of philosophy , be they of eastern or western origin , may be said to have had a hand in establishing and propounding our Masonic system . Their systems of
philosophy were in fact so many systems of morality , and we are justified , therefore , in claiming them as of us , but in general terms only . To go further , and assign to them severally some particular role in the erection of our Masonic structure is to involve ourselves in endless and well-merited
ridicule , and it is because so many of our writers on Freemasonry have adopted this course that the world laughs so mercilessly at our claims to immemorial antiquity . We confess to having experienced the hope that with the more matter-of-fact researches of these latter years , we
had seen the last of this highly imaginative style of dealing with the history of the Craft . It seems , however , that we have been somewhat too hopeful in our anticipations . We have before us a pamphlet by Bro . John Yarker , on " Speculative Freemasonry , " which he describes as an
" Historical Lecture upon the origin of Craft and High Grade Freemasonry , and showing the great antiquity of the combined system . " As an illustration of the extent to which an intelligent man may allow his imagination to run riot , this pamphlet is certainly a curiosity- ; as an effort
at historical exposition it must be set down as one of the most conspicuous of failures . The writer begins by lamenting " the sad want of authentic knowledge which exists amongst brethren of all ranks and degrees ; " but when he adds , a little further on , that " if in Masonry there
is one thing more certain than another , it is that these socalled Higher Mysteries , " to which in the interval he has referred , " which a Craft Grand Lodge has no knowledge of , and cannot , therefore , be requested to patronise by recognition—have a better and more authentic history than
Craft Masonry , " we must take the liberty of assuring him , with all due deference , that he is even more conspicuous by his " sad want of authentic knowledge " than the brethren to whose ignorance he began by so plaintively referring .
Having gravely delivered himself of this preamble , Bro . Yarker at once addresses himself to the subject matter of his lecture , and tells the audience before whom it waa delivered , that he will " indicate" to them " first , the history of Operative Masonry , and deal tenderly with it ;
second , the descent of the High Grades , and show their immense antiquity ; third , the cause of the amalgamation of the two systems , and the period of its occurrence ; constituting in effect the derivation and descent of Freemasonry as we now have it . " Ifc will be imagined that ,
having thus formally stated the points he is desirous of " indicating , " Bro . Yarker at once sets himself to the task of demonstrating their truth by means of arguments based on premisses which are beyond dispute . He does nothing of the kind . In " dealing tenderly " with the history of
Operative Masonry he begins by saying— " I do not entirely hold with those good brethren who express this opinion "namely " that Craft Masonry as a ceremonial system had no existence before the year 1722 , and that it is practising certain mysteries on the erroneous assumption that they
are very ancient" —but he adds , " I do assert that our existing Craft and High Grade Mysteries , as a matter of antiquity , must stand or fall together , and it is actually the Superior Mysteries which have afc various times during the last 5 , 000 years given off and organised numerous
Craffc Associations . " This is nothing else than assertion , plain and unequivocal , but what the reader , who is not content with a mere superficial exposition of the subject he is interested in , requires , is some sort of reasonable argument in favour of the proposition , and this argument is not forthcoming .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Time's Changes.
named Herring , who was elected last month , who , it is represented , will be entitled to receive at the age of twentyone over £ 1000 , some state £ 1800 . The same objections thafc were forthcoming with regard to Collingwood are urged in the case of Herring , and it is difficult to see upon
what grounds they can be satisfactorily met . Bro . Herring , the father of the boy , may have been all that a Freemason should be ; his friends may have been liberal supporters of the Charities . All this may be perfectly true , and yet it does not justify appropriating a place in the Boys' School
to one who is provided for in another way , who can afford and ought to pay for his own food , clothing and education . If a home is sought for the lad , and the Freemasons ' School is considered the best , let application be made for admission upon payment , accordingto the rules , and the case
will be dealt with as circumstances permit . The Quarterly Court would have to retrace their steps and to admit that they had made a mistake . No doubt it will be difficult to get them to do this , bufc ifc is a duty incumbent upon them . Their course is clear , they have no alternative but to
declare the election void . The spirit of the Institution , of charity itself , rebels against their judgment in the case of the boy Herring , and common sense as well as common justice demand reparation . It is not easy to understand people who would accept crutches when they can walk
alone , and it does not speak well for the friends of this boy who would use a charity while wealth belonging to him is allowed to accumulate . Such a feeling arises from a perverted sense of claim , an assumption that something is
bought when subscriptions are paid , and that what is required is to obtain a certain number of votes , and then all conditions have been satisfied . The whole difficulty has arisen out of this mistaken idea . The admission of the
boy as a candidate in the first instance was a blunder ; ifc was felt to have been such , and the question was raised at the Quarterly Court , when out of a Board of over fifty brethren there was only a very small majority in favour of the motion for admission . The existence of such
a difference of opinion is suggestive of doubt , and when the whole facts are considered , the action of the minority will command the assent of all who desire the righteous and intelligent application of charity . Let the case be put fairly and its nakedness becomes not only
apparent but startling . Here is a boy with something like £ 600 at the present time , most likely more , entirely in his own right , with no claims present or prospective upon it ; here is another one , it may be of a large family , with only a poor widowed mother to look to . Both are sons of
worthy Masons : the Dives of the case is admitted to the fruits of charity , while the poor dispirited Lazarus is sent empty away . This is no exaggerated picture ; it is true to life and experience . It is no answer to say that both had the same chance so far as the body of selection was
concerned , and that inequalities arise out of circumstances which neither they nor any one else can control . While this is true in letter , it is false in spirit . Both were admitted apparently upon equal conditions , but how can two persons be said to be equal in a contest in which money is
• essential , when one is rich and the other poor ? Yet that is just the equality upon which theboy Herring was admitted in the struggle as compared with some who have failed . No doubt the inequalities of this world are great and inexplicable , but that is a reason why the utmost care should
be taken not to increase or intensify them . Herring ' s case ought never to haye been brought forward at all , and it was a gross abuse of true charity to admit him as a candidate . He has heen elected upon a wrong issue , and justice , nay humanity , demands that he should be removed and his place filled by a real object of charity .
How Masonic History Is Taught.
HOW MASONIC HISTORY IS TAUGHT .
WE have remarked on more than one occasion , that one of the most serious evils with which the Craft of Freemasonry is afflicted is the extraordinary facility evinced by many of ifcs most devoted adherents in seriously regarding the personages and events of the ages long gone
as constituting a very important part of its history . Grave and reverend authors have not hesitated to make its origin coeval with the origin of Time itself , while all , or nearly all , the most illustrious personages of antiquity have had assigned to them the chief places in its development . To
How Masonic History Is Taught.
a certain extent , perhaps , there is no very grave objection to this course . As a system of morality , intended to elevate and improve mankind , to unite together all sorts and conditions of men by the sacred bonds of love , Freemasonry may , without any serious strain on the imagination , be said to have
existed from the very beginning . When men began to form themselves into communities , a certain code of morals , by which the conduct of each member towards his fellow members should be regulated , became a necessity . The principles on which this code was established were pretty
much the same as those which constitute our system of Freemasonry ; and those who had a hand in formulating or amending , from time to time , this moral code may be said to have been imbued with the principles which we brethren of the mystic tie are bound to profess . It is in
this sense , but in no other , that the founders and exponents of the different schools of philosophy , be they of eastern or western origin , may be said to have had a hand in establishing and propounding our Masonic system . Their systems of
philosophy were in fact so many systems of morality , and we are justified , therefore , in claiming them as of us , but in general terms only . To go further , and assign to them severally some particular role in the erection of our Masonic structure is to involve ourselves in endless and well-merited
ridicule , and it is because so many of our writers on Freemasonry have adopted this course that the world laughs so mercilessly at our claims to immemorial antiquity . We confess to having experienced the hope that with the more matter-of-fact researches of these latter years , we
had seen the last of this highly imaginative style of dealing with the history of the Craft . It seems , however , that we have been somewhat too hopeful in our anticipations . We have before us a pamphlet by Bro . John Yarker , on " Speculative Freemasonry , " which he describes as an
" Historical Lecture upon the origin of Craft and High Grade Freemasonry , and showing the great antiquity of the combined system . " As an illustration of the extent to which an intelligent man may allow his imagination to run riot , this pamphlet is certainly a curiosity- ; as an effort
at historical exposition it must be set down as one of the most conspicuous of failures . The writer begins by lamenting " the sad want of authentic knowledge which exists amongst brethren of all ranks and degrees ; " but when he adds , a little further on , that " if in Masonry there
is one thing more certain than another , it is that these socalled Higher Mysteries , " to which in the interval he has referred , " which a Craft Grand Lodge has no knowledge of , and cannot , therefore , be requested to patronise by recognition—have a better and more authentic history than
Craft Masonry , " we must take the liberty of assuring him , with all due deference , that he is even more conspicuous by his " sad want of authentic knowledge " than the brethren to whose ignorance he began by so plaintively referring .
Having gravely delivered himself of this preamble , Bro . Yarker at once addresses himself to the subject matter of his lecture , and tells the audience before whom it waa delivered , that he will " indicate" to them " first , the history of Operative Masonry , and deal tenderly with it ;
second , the descent of the High Grades , and show their immense antiquity ; third , the cause of the amalgamation of the two systems , and the period of its occurrence ; constituting in effect the derivation and descent of Freemasonry as we now have it . " Ifc will be imagined that ,
having thus formally stated the points he is desirous of " indicating , " Bro . Yarker at once sets himself to the task of demonstrating their truth by means of arguments based on premisses which are beyond dispute . He does nothing of the kind . In " dealing tenderly " with the history of
Operative Masonry he begins by saying— " I do not entirely hold with those good brethren who express this opinion "namely " that Craft Masonry as a ceremonial system had no existence before the year 1722 , and that it is practising certain mysteries on the erroneous assumption that they
are very ancient" —but he adds , " I do assert that our existing Craft and High Grade Mysteries , as a matter of antiquity , must stand or fall together , and it is actually the Superior Mysteries which have afc various times during the last 5 , 000 years given off and organised numerous
Craffc Associations . " This is nothing else than assertion , plain and unequivocal , but what the reader , who is not content with a mere superficial exposition of the subject he is interested in , requires , is some sort of reasonable argument in favour of the proposition , and this argument is not forthcoming .