-
Articles/Ads
Article SO-CALLED MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE. ← Page 2 of 3 Article SO-CALLED MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE. Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
So-Called Masonic Jurisprudence.
America he is enjoined to venerate the Saints John as " parallels in Masonry as well aa Christianity , " j & c , and in Sweden none but Christians can be initiated into Masonry . And it is rather curious that while the Grand Lodge of England was hoirified at the conduct of the
Grand Orient of France , for removing all theology from the Masonic ritual , and denounced it as a violation of an Ancient landmark , yet the same Grand Lodge not only never found fault with the Grand Lodge of Sweden for
violating the landmark of Masonic universality , bufc not very long ago tho Grand Lodge of England ( I have been told ) conferred upon the King of Sweden the title of Past Grand Master of England .
Again , our Modern Masonry started with three degrees only . At tho Union of the Ancients and Moderns , in 1813 , when the Grand Lodge was obliged to acknowledge tho Boyal Arch degree as Masonic , it did so with a quibble . In reality thoy have in England jour Masonic degrees , but
tbey aro called three degrees . In America the Royal Arch itself consists of four degrees . Besides which almost every ambitious Mason takes from fifty to a hundred or more other degrees , all which , up to within a few years , Avero acknowledged by our highest Masonic luminaries to be equally
Masonio . About eight or nine years ago , however , tho wiseacres of tho Grand Lodge of Massachusetts discovered thafc Masonry consisted : first , of three degrees in " Blue Masonry ; " second , of four degrees in " Royal Arch Masonry ; " third , of three degrees in " Templar Masonry ;"
fourth , of ( I believe ) three degrees in " Royal and Select Master Masonry ; " and fifth , of thirty-three degrees of " Scotch Rite Masonry . " These degrees , and theso only , Massachusetts Masons aro allowed to take ; providing , however , the forenamed organisations were ruled by
certain named high dignitaries . But if a Massachusetts Mason presumed to belong to a Scotch Rite body , & o . ruled by another Sovereign , or if he belonged to Rites not called Masonic in tho new law , " he shall he " expelled from Masonry . Subsequently , however , tho word may was substituted for the word shall . But though the law
" may be expelled ' has been in existence for years , Massachusetts Masons have continued to belong to all kinds of Masonic Rites and degrees , without any molestation from the Grand Lodge ; in short the law " may be expelled" is a dead letter , and hence the peace in the Massachusetts Masonic jurisdiction remains undisturbed .
The Masonio wiseacres of Ohio , however , passed a law that Cerneauites shall he expelled , and they not only expelled avowed Cerneauites , but even thoso who found fault with the anti-Cerneauite law , and the result may be read in the following slip , cut from the Boston Advertiser of 31 st July , viz . —
A NEW MASONIC BODY .
OUTCOME or THK FEUD IN OHIO—THE NEW LODGE RECOGNIZES ONLY THREE DEGREES , BUT DOES NOT PROSCRIBE MEMBERS OF HIGHER DEGREES . Columbus , 0 ., Jnly 30 . —As a result of the fend in the Masonic fraternity of Ohio , growing ont of the differences between what is
known as the Northern Jurisdiction and Cerneau Scottish Bites , there is a split in the Master Masons' Grand Lodge of this State . The Grand Lodge placed all Bine Lodge Masons identified with tbe Cerneans nnder a ban , and this culminated in the creation of the Grand Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio , whioh
to-day received its charter from the Secretary of State . An irrevocable clause in the constitntion of the grand body provides : " It ¦ hall be a fundamental and unchangeable law and landmark of this Grand Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons , that it shall recognize as Masonio no degrees in Masonry except those of Entered
Apprentice , Fellow Craft and Master Mason , nor shall it recognize any body as Masonio whioh confers other than those three degrees . " The now grand body , it is announced , while recognising only the
three degrees of Entered Apprentice , Fellow Craft and Master Mason , will not proscribe any one for having taken any of the so-called higher degrees , whether it be the Northern Jurisdiction , Cerneau or other Scottish Bites , or the Boyal Masonio Bite .
There , then , we have Grand Lodges who may or must expel every Mason from the Blue Lodge who joins what is called high degrees , which are ruled by Cerneauites . We have also Grand Lodges , which make no restrictions whatever about degrees , above fche Master Masons' degree .
But the Grand Lodge of Hamburg had a law about twenty years ago ( and as far as I know it may be still enforced ) , thafc if any of its Masons should affiliate with a Masonic
body which confers more than the first three degrees he shall be expelled from Masonry . Now , can any body tell me whioh of the three classes of Grand Lodges have enacted laws in accordance with Masonic Jurisprudence ?
So-Called Masonic Jurisprudence.
Again , I have Bro . Geo . Wingate Charles's " Digest of Masonic Law , " first published in 1859 . It contains Masonic laws , Masonic opinions , and decisions on laws by Grand Lodges , by chairmen of Committees of Correspondence , and by other Masonio luminaries . But , strange to sny ,
in almost every case , there are conflicting opinions ; thus tho decision of one Grand Lodge is diametrically opposite to that of another . Nay , one luminary in the same juris diction decides differently to what another luminary did ,
and I found that even one and the same luminary some , times contradicts himself in the same paragraph ; for instance , in 1831 one thousand Masons in New England signed the following declaration , viz .:
—" Masonry simply requires of the candidate bis assent to one great fundamental religions trnth , viz ., the existence and providence of God . " But in 1857 the Grand Lodge of Texas made the following law , viz .:
—" That a belief in the divine anthentioity of the Holy Soripturea is an indispensible prerequisite for Masonio admission : and tho Grand Lodgo does not mean to exclude Israelites , whom it does not regard as disqualified for the mysteries of Masonry . " Now , if a belief in the authenticity of tho Bible is
necessary for a candidate for Masonry , and if the Bible consists of the Old and of the New Testament , and as no Israelite believes in the New Testament , ifc cannot be said that ho believes in the authenticity of the Bible , why then is an Israelite exempted from a belief in the Bible law ?
In 1856 the Grand Lodge of Ohio . declared , as its opinion , — " That a distinct avowal of a belief in the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures should be required of one who is admitted to the privileges of Masonry , and that a denial of the same is an offence against the Institntion , calling for exemplary discipline . "
The above law was condemned by Dr . Mackey , for ifc excludes all bufc Christians from Masonic Lodges . Rob Morris said , thafc " if the applicant believes in the moral law ( the ten Commandments ) , and governs himself accordingly , we can require no further . "
But here is a curious decision by a Mississippi luminary of 1857 , viz . : —
" We wonld require no express declaration of a belief iu either the Old or New Testament as an open qualification of a candidate ; but wo feel bound to adopt the views of the Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Correspondence of Iowa . Without the Bible there ia no Masonry . "
If the writer of the above paragraph was nofc a quihbler , then I do nofc know what quibbler means . However , though one chairman of a C . F . C . of Iowa may have said " without the Bible there is no Masonry , " on page 210 of my book , I find as follows : —
" The Grand Lodge of Iowa recognises no religious creed or dogma as a prerequisite to gain admission into the portals of her Temple ; all she requires is that the candidate should believe in tbe existence of God , the Creator of all things , and be free-born , of lawfnl age , and well recommended as a good man and true . "—Parvin , 1849 .
There are other Grand Lodges in the United States who differ in opinion about the limit to a Mason ' s creed . But here again comes fche question , who shall decide as to which of these opinions ' shall be accepted by all Masons as Masonic Jurisprudence ?
The few specimens on the Bible question from the " Digest of Masonio Law" given above , do not differ from the contradictory opinions of our law luminaries upon
all other Masonic Jurisprudence questions ; the whole book is a mass of confusion and contradictions , and I came to the conclusion that our books on Masonic Jurisprudence were written either by dreamers or charlatans .
To illustrate my idea of a specific kind of jurisprudence , I will take the United States Constitution as an example . We all know that every State , and every citizen in tho United States of America must obey the laws of the United States Constitution , and words may be some .
times ambiguous and liable to misconstruction ; whenever , therefore , a dispute arises about the meaning of certain words , or of a clause in the said Constitution , then fche Supreme Court of fche United States is empowered , when appealed to , to define the meaning and aim of said word or
clause , and the interpretation of the Supreme Court musfc be accepted and obeyed accordingly . Should any individual , State , or combination of States , presume to
disobey the laws in the Constitntion , or a law as interpreted by the Judges of the Supreme Court , then the United States has an army , it has prisons , and other means to punish the disobedient , and to enforce the laws of its
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
So-Called Masonic Jurisprudence.
America he is enjoined to venerate the Saints John as " parallels in Masonry as well aa Christianity , " j & c , and in Sweden none but Christians can be initiated into Masonry . And it is rather curious that while the Grand Lodge of England was hoirified at the conduct of the
Grand Orient of France , for removing all theology from the Masonic ritual , and denounced it as a violation of an Ancient landmark , yet the same Grand Lodge not only never found fault with the Grand Lodge of Sweden for
violating the landmark of Masonic universality , bufc not very long ago tho Grand Lodge of England ( I have been told ) conferred upon the King of Sweden the title of Past Grand Master of England .
Again , our Modern Masonry started with three degrees only . At tho Union of the Ancients and Moderns , in 1813 , when the Grand Lodge was obliged to acknowledge tho Boyal Arch degree as Masonic , it did so with a quibble . In reality thoy have in England jour Masonic degrees , but
tbey aro called three degrees . In America the Royal Arch itself consists of four degrees . Besides which almost every ambitious Mason takes from fifty to a hundred or more other degrees , all which , up to within a few years , Avero acknowledged by our highest Masonic luminaries to be equally
Masonio . About eight or nine years ago , however , tho wiseacres of tho Grand Lodge of Massachusetts discovered thafc Masonry consisted : first , of three degrees in " Blue Masonry ; " second , of four degrees in " Royal Arch Masonry ; " third , of three degrees in " Templar Masonry ;"
fourth , of ( I believe ) three degrees in " Royal and Select Master Masonry ; " and fifth , of thirty-three degrees of " Scotch Rite Masonry . " These degrees , and theso only , Massachusetts Masons aro allowed to take ; providing , however , the forenamed organisations were ruled by
certain named high dignitaries . But if a Massachusetts Mason presumed to belong to a Scotch Rite body , & o . ruled by another Sovereign , or if he belonged to Rites not called Masonic in tho new law , " he shall he " expelled from Masonry . Subsequently , however , tho word may was substituted for the word shall . But though the law
" may be expelled ' has been in existence for years , Massachusetts Masons have continued to belong to all kinds of Masonic Rites and degrees , without any molestation from the Grand Lodge ; in short the law " may be expelled" is a dead letter , and hence the peace in the Massachusetts Masonic jurisdiction remains undisturbed .
The Masonio wiseacres of Ohio , however , passed a law that Cerneauites shall he expelled , and they not only expelled avowed Cerneauites , but even thoso who found fault with the anti-Cerneauite law , and the result may be read in the following slip , cut from the Boston Advertiser of 31 st July , viz . —
A NEW MASONIC BODY .
OUTCOME or THK FEUD IN OHIO—THE NEW LODGE RECOGNIZES ONLY THREE DEGREES , BUT DOES NOT PROSCRIBE MEMBERS OF HIGHER DEGREES . Columbus , 0 ., Jnly 30 . —As a result of the fend in the Masonic fraternity of Ohio , growing ont of the differences between what is
known as the Northern Jurisdiction and Cerneau Scottish Bites , there is a split in the Master Masons' Grand Lodge of this State . The Grand Lodge placed all Bine Lodge Masons identified with tbe Cerneans nnder a ban , and this culminated in the creation of the Grand Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio , whioh
to-day received its charter from the Secretary of State . An irrevocable clause in the constitntion of the grand body provides : " It ¦ hall be a fundamental and unchangeable law and landmark of this Grand Lodge of Anoient Free and Accepted Masons , that it shall recognize as Masonio no degrees in Masonry except those of Entered
Apprentice , Fellow Craft and Master Mason , nor shall it recognize any body as Masonio whioh confers other than those three degrees . " The now grand body , it is announced , while recognising only the
three degrees of Entered Apprentice , Fellow Craft and Master Mason , will not proscribe any one for having taken any of the so-called higher degrees , whether it be the Northern Jurisdiction , Cerneau or other Scottish Bites , or the Boyal Masonio Bite .
There , then , we have Grand Lodges who may or must expel every Mason from the Blue Lodge who joins what is called high degrees , which are ruled by Cerneauites . We have also Grand Lodges , which make no restrictions whatever about degrees , above fche Master Masons' degree .
But the Grand Lodge of Hamburg had a law about twenty years ago ( and as far as I know it may be still enforced ) , thafc if any of its Masons should affiliate with a Masonic
body which confers more than the first three degrees he shall be expelled from Masonry . Now , can any body tell me whioh of the three classes of Grand Lodges have enacted laws in accordance with Masonic Jurisprudence ?
So-Called Masonic Jurisprudence.
Again , I have Bro . Geo . Wingate Charles's " Digest of Masonic Law , " first published in 1859 . It contains Masonic laws , Masonic opinions , and decisions on laws by Grand Lodges , by chairmen of Committees of Correspondence , and by other Masonio luminaries . But , strange to sny ,
in almost every case , there are conflicting opinions ; thus tho decision of one Grand Lodge is diametrically opposite to that of another . Nay , one luminary in the same juris diction decides differently to what another luminary did ,
and I found that even one and the same luminary some , times contradicts himself in the same paragraph ; for instance , in 1831 one thousand Masons in New England signed the following declaration , viz .:
—" Masonry simply requires of the candidate bis assent to one great fundamental religions trnth , viz ., the existence and providence of God . " But in 1857 the Grand Lodge of Texas made the following law , viz .:
—" That a belief in the divine anthentioity of the Holy Soripturea is an indispensible prerequisite for Masonio admission : and tho Grand Lodgo does not mean to exclude Israelites , whom it does not regard as disqualified for the mysteries of Masonry . " Now , if a belief in the authenticity of tho Bible is
necessary for a candidate for Masonry , and if the Bible consists of the Old and of the New Testament , and as no Israelite believes in the New Testament , ifc cannot be said that ho believes in the authenticity of the Bible , why then is an Israelite exempted from a belief in the Bible law ?
In 1856 the Grand Lodge of Ohio . declared , as its opinion , — " That a distinct avowal of a belief in the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures should be required of one who is admitted to the privileges of Masonry , and that a denial of the same is an offence against the Institntion , calling for exemplary discipline . "
The above law was condemned by Dr . Mackey , for ifc excludes all bufc Christians from Masonic Lodges . Rob Morris said , thafc " if the applicant believes in the moral law ( the ten Commandments ) , and governs himself accordingly , we can require no further . "
But here is a curious decision by a Mississippi luminary of 1857 , viz . : —
" We wonld require no express declaration of a belief iu either the Old or New Testament as an open qualification of a candidate ; but wo feel bound to adopt the views of the Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Correspondence of Iowa . Without the Bible there ia no Masonry . "
If the writer of the above paragraph was nofc a quihbler , then I do nofc know what quibbler means . However , though one chairman of a C . F . C . of Iowa may have said " without the Bible there is no Masonry , " on page 210 of my book , I find as follows : —
" The Grand Lodge of Iowa recognises no religious creed or dogma as a prerequisite to gain admission into the portals of her Temple ; all she requires is that the candidate should believe in tbe existence of God , the Creator of all things , and be free-born , of lawfnl age , and well recommended as a good man and true . "—Parvin , 1849 .
There are other Grand Lodges in the United States who differ in opinion about the limit to a Mason ' s creed . But here again comes fche question , who shall decide as to which of these opinions ' shall be accepted by all Masons as Masonic Jurisprudence ?
The few specimens on the Bible question from the " Digest of Masonio Law" given above , do not differ from the contradictory opinions of our law luminaries upon
all other Masonic Jurisprudence questions ; the whole book is a mass of confusion and contradictions , and I came to the conclusion that our books on Masonic Jurisprudence were written either by dreamers or charlatans .
To illustrate my idea of a specific kind of jurisprudence , I will take the United States Constitution as an example . We all know that every State , and every citizen in tho United States of America must obey the laws of the United States Constitution , and words may be some .
times ambiguous and liable to misconstruction ; whenever , therefore , a dispute arises about the meaning of certain words , or of a clause in the said Constitution , then fche Supreme Court of fche United States is empowered , when appealed to , to define the meaning and aim of said word or
clause , and the interpretation of the Supreme Court musfc be accepted and obeyed accordingly . Should any individual , State , or combination of States , presume to
disobey the laws in the Constitntion , or a law as interpreted by the Judges of the Supreme Court , then the United States has an army , it has prisons , and other means to punish the disobedient , and to enforce the laws of its