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Article THE MASONIC YEAR 1878. ← Page 2 of 12 Article THE MASONIC YEAR 1878. Page 2 of 12 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Masonic Year 1878.
latter a composition of nine shillings in the pound . As regards , however , the Charitable Institutions , there will bo little , if any , loss sustained by them , as several donations , amounting in the aggregate to a very considerable sum , havo been contributed towards the
formation of a fund to relieve them of any loss they might otherwise have had to endnre . As to tho new arrangements , the Committee , of which tho Earl of Carnarvon was Chairman , appointed to draw them up , recommended at the June Quarterly Communication that , for
tho future , Grand Lodge Account should be kept at tho Bank of England , in tho names of the Grand or Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , and Grand Treasurer , the latter of whom should give an authority to pay cheques signed as heretofore , and countersigned by
the Grand Secretary . These arrangements , except as regards the Grand Treasurer , were temporarily carried out , and at the September Communication tho necessary alterations wore made in tho Book of Constitutions for the piu ' - pose of giving full effect to tho above resolution ; so that
tho Grand Treasurer , on being appointed , will henceforth be called upon to give a general supervision of the accounts and sign cheques for payments authorised by Grand Lodge ,
which cheques must likewise bear the counter-signature of the Grand Secretary . Wc do not think it possible that any better plan could have been adopted . It should be added that the late Bro . Samuel Tomkins had filled the
important oflico of Grand Treasurer for considerably over twenty years . Who his successor will be , remains to be seen . One other death has to be recorded in the ranks of our Grand Officers , namely , that of Bro . F . Pepys Cockerel ! , who for very many years had held the post of
G Superintendent of Works , and whose name will ever be associated with the new Hall or Temple in which Graud Lodge holds its meetings , he having been the architect of the new building , the first , stone of which was laid on 27 th April 1864 , b y Grand Master the late Earl of Zetland ,
and which was formally inaugurated by the same Grand Master on the 14 'h April 1869 . The loss of one who had so highly distrngruished himself in the profession of architecture , as well as in the science of Free and Accepted or Speculative Masonry , must be , and is , deeply lamented
by the whole of the English Craft , and the Earl of Carnarvon , when presiding at the Communication this month , paid a just tribute of respect to the worth of our departed Brother . Ttoving clone this , his Lordship then invested Bro . J hn Gibson , who is likewise a distinguished architect ,
and a Past Master of the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 259 , with the insignia of the office of Grand Superintendent of Works , to which it had pleased His Royal Highness to appoint him . To have been able to find so worthy a successor to the late Bro . Cockerell is some slight consolation
to us in the midst of onr sincere regret for his premature death . And yet another member , high in rank in the Order , has passed away—to wit , Bro . John Bagshaw , who had held the post of Provincial Grand Master of Essex since the month of December 1854 , or for little short of
four-and-twenty years , and that of Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex since 1858 . His death caused general regret throughout his Province , and among Craftsmen generally . During his P . G . Mastership no less than eleven of tho seventeen Lodges , which now
constitute the Province of Essex , were established . His successor has nofc yet been appointed . The Provincial Grand Mastership of Nottinghamshire , vacant since the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle , has been conferred on the Duke of St . Albans , while the latter ' s post as
Provincial Grand Master of the neighbouring county of Lincoln has been filled by the appointment of Major W . H . Smvth , his Grace ' s Dpput y . There has been a cliange also in Worcestershire , where Sir Edmund E . A . Lechmcre , Bart ., M . P ., is installed Prov . Grand Master , in place of tho late
Bro . A . Hudson Royds , who had presided over the des tinies of the Province since 1869 . Other losses we have sustained , two afc least of which must be noted here-. abouts ; The first is that caused by the lamented death ; ' of Bro . Bentley Shaw , who had held the office of Deputy
I , Grancl Master of the important Province of W . Yorkshire * " for eleven years , till tlie appointment of Sir Henry Edwards , [ Bart ., to bo the Prov . G . Master . The late Bro . Shaw had ' been for upwards of thirty years a member of the Harmonv
' Lodge , No . 275 , of Huddersfield , and was a Past Grand " ^ Deacon ; and so hi ghly were his services appreciated by the bfeihren'bf the Province that , some years ago , he was presented by them with a grand and costly vase , which ho
The Masonic Year 1878.
had always regarded as the chief of the testimonials he had received . He had been for many years head of the firm of Bentley and Shaw , brewers ; was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace , and at the time of his death was tho Prov . G . Superintendent of the Royal Arch Masons of
West Yorkshire . Ifc is with similar regret that we record the death of Bro . Cowling , of York , Past Master of the " York " Lodge , No . 236 , which celebrated its centenai'y last year . Bro . Cowling was an exemplary Masou , and one who took a deep interest in all thafc was connected with its literature .
Nor must we omit to mention another serious loss which Freemasonry , in all its numerous branches , has sustained . We allude to the death of Sir Frederick Martin Williams , Bart . M . P ., who at the time was only in the forty . ninth year of his age . His place will not be readily supplied ,
especially in Cornwall , with which his name will ever bo gratefully associated as one of the greatest magnates of his clay . He was initiated in 1863 in the Phoenix Lodge of Honour and Prudence , No . 331 , Truro , and was a member of several other Lodges . He was Deputy Prov . Grand
Master of Cornwall , a Past Grand Warden , and representative of our Grand Lodge afc the Grand Lodge of Portugal . He was Grand H ., that is , Second Principal of tho Prov .
Grand Chapter , Prov . G . M . M . M . of Cornwall , Intendant General and a Past Grand Sovereign of the Order of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantino , and had taken the 32 ° in the A . and A . Rite . He was a Vice-President
of the Girls' School , and a Vice-Patron of the Boys' School and Benevolent , besides being the moving spirit of tho Cornwall Masonic Annuity Fund . His death was sudden , and was caused by a fit of apoplexy which attacked him while on a visit to a relative .
So much for the changes which have taken place among our rulers , and the losses we have to deplore . Turn we now to the few bufc important events by which the doings of our Grand Lodge during the still current year have been distinguished . We have already referred to the
change in the arrangements for banking the funds of Grand Lodgo in connection with the death of Bro . Samuel Tomkins , and the failure of the firm of bankers of which he was a member . Ifc will not be necessary , therefore , thafc we should revert to it here . It will be in the
recollection of our readers that at the Quarterly Communication , held on 5 th December 1877 , on motion duly made and seconded , it was unanimously agreed to appoint a Committee for the purpose of inquiring into the circumstances of the then recent change made in the Institutions
of the Grand Orient of France , by which the doctrine of belief in a supreme being and a future existence had been sfcrnck out from the first article , and offering such recommendations as might seem proper . The Committee consisted of the Earl of Carnarvon Pro Grand Master , Lord
Skelmersdale Deputy Grand Master , the Earl of Dononghmore , Lords Leigh and Tenterden , C . B ., M . Mclntyre , Q . C , Grand Registrar , Rev . C . J . Martyn , John Havers Past Grand Warden , J . B . Monckton President of Board of General Purposes , aud R . F . Gould . The result of their
deliberations was submitted to Grand Lodge at the Quarterly Communication on 6 th March of this year , and took the form of four resolutions , of which No . 1 expressed tho deep regret felt by Grand Lodge at " the steps which the Grand Orient of Prance had felt it necessary to take by
eliminating the G . A . O . T . U . from their service . " No . 2 was to the effect " that the English Grand Lodge , while anxious to receive foreign members in the same spirit as heretofore , could not recognise as true brethren any person admitted in a Lodge denying or ignoring a belief in the G . A . O . T . U . "
No . 3 laid ifc down " in the case of any visitor desiring to enter a Lodge under tbe English Constitntion that the Alaster should exact the production of his certificate , or ; hat he shonld be properly vouched for . and distinctly pledge his belief in tho fundamental principles of our
Constitution , namely , belief in the Great Architect of the Universe . " Lastly , No . 4 provided that the above resolutions "be sent to the Masters of all L nlges holding
under Warrant from the Grand Lodg < - of England , " to this a rider being added , requesting the Worshipful Masters to read the resolutions in open Lo ln-e . These resolutions i were submitted and aereed to anvel loud and enthusiastic
| cheering . Snch , as will be seen from t » ' report wc gave afc the time , was the course fixed upon as what Lord Carnarvon described the " minimum of precaution " it was onr duty to adopt , and it will be noted that two points stand out prominently , tbo one that French brethren who were
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Masonic Year 1878.
latter a composition of nine shillings in the pound . As regards , however , the Charitable Institutions , there will bo little , if any , loss sustained by them , as several donations , amounting in the aggregate to a very considerable sum , havo been contributed towards the
formation of a fund to relieve them of any loss they might otherwise have had to endnre . As to tho new arrangements , the Committee , of which tho Earl of Carnarvon was Chairman , appointed to draw them up , recommended at the June Quarterly Communication that , for
tho future , Grand Lodge Account should be kept at tho Bank of England , in tho names of the Grand or Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , and Grand Treasurer , the latter of whom should give an authority to pay cheques signed as heretofore , and countersigned by
the Grand Secretary . These arrangements , except as regards the Grand Treasurer , were temporarily carried out , and at the September Communication tho necessary alterations wore made in tho Book of Constitutions for the piu ' - pose of giving full effect to tho above resolution ; so that
tho Grand Treasurer , on being appointed , will henceforth be called upon to give a general supervision of the accounts and sign cheques for payments authorised by Grand Lodge ,
which cheques must likewise bear the counter-signature of the Grand Secretary . Wc do not think it possible that any better plan could have been adopted . It should be added that the late Bro . Samuel Tomkins had filled the
important oflico of Grand Treasurer for considerably over twenty years . Who his successor will be , remains to be seen . One other death has to be recorded in the ranks of our Grand Officers , namely , that of Bro . F . Pepys Cockerel ! , who for very many years had held the post of
G Superintendent of Works , and whose name will ever be associated with the new Hall or Temple in which Graud Lodge holds its meetings , he having been the architect of the new building , the first , stone of which was laid on 27 th April 1864 , b y Grand Master the late Earl of Zetland ,
and which was formally inaugurated by the same Grand Master on the 14 'h April 1869 . The loss of one who had so highly distrngruished himself in the profession of architecture , as well as in the science of Free and Accepted or Speculative Masonry , must be , and is , deeply lamented
by the whole of the English Craft , and the Earl of Carnarvon , when presiding at the Communication this month , paid a just tribute of respect to the worth of our departed Brother . Ttoving clone this , his Lordship then invested Bro . J hn Gibson , who is likewise a distinguished architect ,
and a Past Master of the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 259 , with the insignia of the office of Grand Superintendent of Works , to which it had pleased His Royal Highness to appoint him . To have been able to find so worthy a successor to the late Bro . Cockerell is some slight consolation
to us in the midst of onr sincere regret for his premature death . And yet another member , high in rank in the Order , has passed away—to wit , Bro . John Bagshaw , who had held the post of Provincial Grand Master of Essex since the month of December 1854 , or for little short of
four-and-twenty years , and that of Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex since 1858 . His death caused general regret throughout his Province , and among Craftsmen generally . During his P . G . Mastership no less than eleven of tho seventeen Lodges , which now
constitute the Province of Essex , were established . His successor has nofc yet been appointed . The Provincial Grand Mastership of Nottinghamshire , vacant since the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle , has been conferred on the Duke of St . Albans , while the latter ' s post as
Provincial Grand Master of the neighbouring county of Lincoln has been filled by the appointment of Major W . H . Smvth , his Grace ' s Dpput y . There has been a cliange also in Worcestershire , where Sir Edmund E . A . Lechmcre , Bart ., M . P ., is installed Prov . Grand Master , in place of tho late
Bro . A . Hudson Royds , who had presided over the des tinies of the Province since 1869 . Other losses we have sustained , two afc least of which must be noted here-. abouts ; The first is that caused by the lamented death ; ' of Bro . Bentley Shaw , who had held the office of Deputy
I , Grancl Master of the important Province of W . Yorkshire * " for eleven years , till tlie appointment of Sir Henry Edwards , [ Bart ., to bo the Prov . G . Master . The late Bro . Shaw had ' been for upwards of thirty years a member of the Harmonv
' Lodge , No . 275 , of Huddersfield , and was a Past Grand " ^ Deacon ; and so hi ghly were his services appreciated by the bfeihren'bf the Province that , some years ago , he was presented by them with a grand and costly vase , which ho
The Masonic Year 1878.
had always regarded as the chief of the testimonials he had received . He had been for many years head of the firm of Bentley and Shaw , brewers ; was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace , and at the time of his death was tho Prov . G . Superintendent of the Royal Arch Masons of
West Yorkshire . Ifc is with similar regret that we record the death of Bro . Cowling , of York , Past Master of the " York " Lodge , No . 236 , which celebrated its centenai'y last year . Bro . Cowling was an exemplary Masou , and one who took a deep interest in all thafc was connected with its literature .
Nor must we omit to mention another serious loss which Freemasonry , in all its numerous branches , has sustained . We allude to the death of Sir Frederick Martin Williams , Bart . M . P ., who at the time was only in the forty . ninth year of his age . His place will not be readily supplied ,
especially in Cornwall , with which his name will ever bo gratefully associated as one of the greatest magnates of his clay . He was initiated in 1863 in the Phoenix Lodge of Honour and Prudence , No . 331 , Truro , and was a member of several other Lodges . He was Deputy Prov . Grand
Master of Cornwall , a Past Grand Warden , and representative of our Grand Lodge afc the Grand Lodge of Portugal . He was Grand H ., that is , Second Principal of tho Prov .
Grand Chapter , Prov . G . M . M . M . of Cornwall , Intendant General and a Past Grand Sovereign of the Order of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantino , and had taken the 32 ° in the A . and A . Rite . He was a Vice-President
of the Girls' School , and a Vice-Patron of the Boys' School and Benevolent , besides being the moving spirit of tho Cornwall Masonic Annuity Fund . His death was sudden , and was caused by a fit of apoplexy which attacked him while on a visit to a relative .
So much for the changes which have taken place among our rulers , and the losses we have to deplore . Turn we now to the few bufc important events by which the doings of our Grand Lodge during the still current year have been distinguished . We have already referred to the
change in the arrangements for banking the funds of Grand Lodgo in connection with the death of Bro . Samuel Tomkins , and the failure of the firm of bankers of which he was a member . Ifc will not be necessary , therefore , thafc we should revert to it here . It will be in the
recollection of our readers that at the Quarterly Communication , held on 5 th December 1877 , on motion duly made and seconded , it was unanimously agreed to appoint a Committee for the purpose of inquiring into the circumstances of the then recent change made in the Institutions
of the Grand Orient of France , by which the doctrine of belief in a supreme being and a future existence had been sfcrnck out from the first article , and offering such recommendations as might seem proper . The Committee consisted of the Earl of Carnarvon Pro Grand Master , Lord
Skelmersdale Deputy Grand Master , the Earl of Dononghmore , Lords Leigh and Tenterden , C . B ., M . Mclntyre , Q . C , Grand Registrar , Rev . C . J . Martyn , John Havers Past Grand Warden , J . B . Monckton President of Board of General Purposes , aud R . F . Gould . The result of their
deliberations was submitted to Grand Lodge at the Quarterly Communication on 6 th March of this year , and took the form of four resolutions , of which No . 1 expressed tho deep regret felt by Grand Lodge at " the steps which the Grand Orient of Prance had felt it necessary to take by
eliminating the G . A . O . T . U . from their service . " No . 2 was to the effect " that the English Grand Lodge , while anxious to receive foreign members in the same spirit as heretofore , could not recognise as true brethren any person admitted in a Lodge denying or ignoring a belief in the G . A . O . T . U . "
No . 3 laid ifc down " in the case of any visitor desiring to enter a Lodge under tbe English Constitntion that the Alaster should exact the production of his certificate , or ; hat he shonld be properly vouched for . and distinctly pledge his belief in tho fundamental principles of our
Constitution , namely , belief in the Great Architect of the Universe . " Lastly , No . 4 provided that the above resolutions "be sent to the Masters of all L nlges holding
under Warrant from the Grand Lodg < - of England , " to this a rider being added , requesting the Worshipful Masters to read the resolutions in open Lo ln-e . These resolutions i were submitted and aereed to anvel loud and enthusiastic
| cheering . Snch , as will be seen from t » ' report wc gave afc the time , was the course fixed upon as what Lord Carnarvon described the " minimum of precaution " it was onr duty to adopt , and it will be noted that two points stand out prominently , tbo one that French brethren who were