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Article WAS SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN A FREEMASON ? ← Page 2 of 2 Article CELEBRATION AT ST. JOHN, N.B. Page 1 of 2 Article CELEBRATION AT ST. JOHN, N.B. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Was Sir Christopher Wren A Freemason ?
qnity , acquired in 1774 , may have had some influence in bringing out the now information so well calculated to inoreiKO the presti-. v » f that old Lodge . Bro . Norton expresses hit judgment in this wi o : " Anderson and Preston falsified Masonic history ; tho former in order to puff np tho importance of the old Craft , and the latter to puff np the importance of his Lodge . "
If the assertions of Anderson and Preston respecting Wren s Masonry are to be set aside wo can hardly retiin our respect For them as honest men . It is difficult to believe that Anderson
deliberately stated a known untruth in this -natter or that Preston improperly expanded the evidence to suit his own purposes . That there are discrepancies in the proof furnished of Wren ' s connection with Masonry will not be denied . There are inconsistent and doubtful affirmations which very probably must be eliminated from the case . There is no positive record to which we may refer , nor has any
manuscript of Wren been found to famish the decided proof desired . That there is justification for much adverse criticism of Anders > n and Preston wo may fully concede ; but with nil that is said and written we yet incline to our long-cherished opinion , that Anderson uttered the truth respecting tho main proposition of Wren ' s
connection with the Craft , and that tho learned and skilful architect of St . Paul ' s was indeed , at one time , prominently identified with the Masonic Fraternity . With this onr conviction wo still wish that more light might break in npon what is now a question not easily settled .
Celebration At St. John, N.B.
CELEBRATION AT ST . JOHN , N . B .
fTiHE Centennial Auniversaiy of tbe Establishment - * - of Masonry in New Brunswick was appropriately observed in St . John , on Tuesday , 1 st Jnly , under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of the Province . The celebration included a well-arranged procession of various
Masonic bodies , whose movements through the principal streets elicited hearty commendation from thousands of spectators . After the parade the Grand Lodge with invited guests and many members of the Fraternity assembled in the Mechanics Institute , where an historical address evincing carefnl research and ability , was
delivered by Brother John V . Ellis , Grand Master of Masons in New Brunswick , this address being followed with a discourse on the general character and purposes of Masonry , by Eev . Dr . Macrae , a prominent divine and Craftsman , who dealt with the subject in a very entertaining and edifying manner . We reproduce , from the Freemasons ' Eeposilory , Dr . Macrae ' s oration .
MOST WORSHIPFUL AND BRETHREN : —To the addresses and responses of welcome and congratulation to which I have tho pleasure already of listening , no word need be added . Equally needless , or even impossible , it would be to expound the details of the well-nigh exhaustive sketch of onr century ' s history in this Province , given
with wonted felicity of diction , permit me to say , by yourself . A different task , as I understand the matter , has been assigned to me , for the honour of being selected to undertake which I beg most humbly to thank the brethren ; while , considering its importance , in view , especially of the occasion , my hearty wish is , that it had
devolved upon one more competent to do it the justice it merits . Not that , under one aspect , it is a task of difficulty . The materials , so far from being scanty , oppress by their superabundance . You have summoned me to discharge a congenial duty , to sound the praises of Masonry , and to set forth the grounds why it is this
day honoured among us ; to vindicate it from the charges by which our most noble Order is often ignorantly aspersed ; in a word , to exhibit the Temple of Masonry , so far as my powers may avail , in all its beauty and grandeur of symmetrical proportion . To such questions as the following it will be becoming to essay brief answers
at an occasion so auspicious in the history of our Order . What is tbe Spirit and Creed , if so it is becoming to express myself , of Freemasonry ? What are our aims ? What principles govern us ? By what tenets aro we held together , and what virtues—what cardinal virtnes , if any—do we profess to abide by and uphold ? It is almost a
duty to ask , it is a privilege of the most honourable character to be favoured with an opportunity so distinguished of answering these and the like questions , in view , partly , of the sceptical tendencies of our age , partly of the attacks—the able , but utterly unwarrantable and eveu grotesquely absurd attacks—to which we have recentlyin
, very high quarters indeed , been subjected . Most Worshipful and Brethren : Masonry , I begin by saying , has performed a feat which has hitherto transcended the efforts of any or all of the religious denominations of earth to accomplish . And hence , perhaps , the virulence of the vituperation with which it has been
assailed . It has built a platform so easy of access , and yet so firm in structure , that npon it can and do stand side by side , co-operating in the spirit of loyal friendship , peace and harmony , Jew and Gentile , Christian and Brahmin . To have done this without insisting upon the conversion of one to the views and beliefs entertained by the others ,
to be able to secure the most sincere and hearty co-operation in kindly deeds of men of all races , all ranks , all callings , all denominations , governed by a spirit of mutual sympath y , to be the object of attachment and the bond of union to rich and poor , to learned and
comparatively unlearned , to effect in happiest combination tho blending of equality with order , the equality that consists in community of privilege with the Order , which demands and justifies gradation only in official rank ; to do this without kindling ' jealousy—nay , to the consuming of every fooling of that baser sort in the firo of a
Celebration At St. John, N.B.
noble , a limitless , albeit a secretly manifestod charity—this is an !\(' Uu > - .-pnvMit which nriv HMv ('•>tv ; i vi 1 in > ro t ' rin a pwsiug notice Fmtn tho philos > p h- > r , III- ) s > v- ¦••: n 1 : 1 . ; vi I F - > ii numbers of the profession to which it is my ohluf h . vwiv t > t > -ion . ; . It U or > min' » to this , in fnft . in tho history of tho world , that ho who can success , fully pi ice his li \ nd on th . i liver ; v . ' . e iifl "> rd"il by Xfisonry , possesses a power , thiiiik Go . l , a p iwer for go-id—to which the only limits are tho limits oF tim » nnd tho nniverse of our race .
"Thank God , " did I say ? " A power for good , " did I spoak of ? What right , wima ono present may be thinking iu his heart , in re . memhrance of recent utterances delivered from one of tho verv chiefest places of authority on earth , and by a man , on many accounts deservedly , held in hi ^ h esteem and respect by those who differ most widely from his views and aims—What right have I , as
a Mason to take tho namo of God into my lips , or to apeak of doing Rood ? aro not Freemasons pronounced by an infallible authorit y to bo atheists in creed ? Are they not guilty , according to the same authority , of treating tho relations between the sexes in a fashion and spirit tho most lawless and light ? Do they not seek to separate education alike from religion and morals ? Is not their seoreoy a
mask beneath which they seek to disseminate vice and make vicious principles rampant ; to corrupt the morels of youth ; to overthrow government , order , religion ; to promulgate the tenets of sedition , revolution , socialism , communism . In a word , are not Masons patrons and promoters of tho Gospel of dynamite , foes of tbe famil y , foes of the churches , foes of society , foes of the State , friends only
of social disorders and bedlamite misrule ? And I speak of God , and as a Mason I use the phrase thank God . Yes , Most Worshipful , as a Mason I nse tho phrase thank God . I should be false , you one and all know ; false to my most solemn Misonio duty , did I not habitually nnd expressly as a member of your Order , practise that exercise of devotion of which giving thanks to God is one part .
When first we read that famous allocution signalising the close of onr century's history , in which onr Order is thus depicted , an allocution , it must be remembered , issued and proclaimed in the languages spoken by more than 200 millions of people , read and commented npon from pnlpits or altars among well-nigh every nation nnder heaven , proceeding , too , from one for whom , personally , it is
impossible not to cherish feelings of very great respect , alike on account of his character and his ability ; when we found ourselves depicted as atheists , socialists , promoters of vice and misrulewe of whoso every movement order , harmony , peace , the devout recognition of God , are the very fundamental conditions—we were as men that dreamed . We read tho fulmination with an air
of bewildered amazement . We read again , to pity the ignorance that can co-exisr , contradictory thoDgh it may sound , with infallibility . It is not worth while to expend indignation on ignorance . Need it " be said , let me now only observe , in the presence of this august assembly , that no atheist can , without perjury , enter a Lodge of onr Order ? Need the correlative statement be made that did a
brother become an atheist , ho would there and then , by the very terrible fact , cease to be , and on avowing his athsisra , would be disowned by every true brother with pity and sorrow , as no longer connected with what wo regard as Freemasonry . Most true it is that we do not term or consider our Order a religion in the current ecclesiastical sense—in the sense of basing a
denominational organization . But though not , religion—our first , our fundamentally indispensable princip le—is belief in God—in God , too , as Creator , the Architect of the Universe , in the God of Providence , in that God whose name is love . We believe , too , let me add , in prayer . Our system is permeated and throbs through and through with the spirit of religion . Open any of our authorised
manuals . You will find enough to assure yon that no well-conducted Lodge begins or closes its proceedings without the offering of prayer . Does this look or sound like atheism ? Of the charge that we make light of marriage and kindred relations , what shall I say ? What proportion of our Brotherhood are in the Benedict ranks of the married I do not know . But let our enemies compare the homes
whose heads belong to our Order , from that of His Royal Highness our Most Illustrious Grand Master in England to that of the lowliest Craftsman who acts as Tyler , or in other capacity , in onr obscurest country Lodge ; let our enemies , I say , compare such homes with those whose members repudiate Masonry . We do not dread the results of that comparison . The daughters , sweethearts , wives , to
whose deft labours tbe Order is indebted for the products arranged in the sumptuous fair which occupies our Temple to-day , do evidently not stand greatly in dread of the evil effects of Masonic principles upon matrimonial prospects or relations . As to education , some day , not now—it would occupy too much time—I may tell how it fell to my lot to deliver a lecture on the relations of Masonry to education and order , in connection with an
effort , happily most successful and permanent , to promote the cause of education in the interests of Masonry , in a neighbouring colony . Close against the grotesquely preposterous charge that ono of onr aims is to corrupt the morals of youth , let me set those tenets of brotherly love , relief , truth , to which we are pledged , and which all true Masons practise and uphold ; and over against tho accusations of sedition , revolution and tho like , let me sot our cardinal
virtnes of temperance , fortitude , prudence , justice . " But youra is a secret organisation , " it is said . " Why secret if you have nob something in reserve of which yon are ashamed ? " No , brethren , I am not ashamed of our secrecy . Let me once for all avow my glorying iu it , while , at the same moment , I proclaim what the spirit and purpose of that gracious secrecy is . Hear it , ye who revile us . It is tho secresy inculcated in the words : " Let not yonr mantle
left hand know what your right hand doeth . " It is tho which cloaks onr beneficence , which forbids our ever recording our good deeds , leaving them to be judged by tho One All-seeing Eye . It is that robe of need on the one hand , when need arises ; of charity on the other , when brotherly charity is solicited , wearing which , two of our Order can confer with each other , as in a twilig ht amid which tho bluish of ahauie on tho brow of ouo , tho flush of power to relievo
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Was Sir Christopher Wren A Freemason ?
qnity , acquired in 1774 , may have had some influence in bringing out the now information so well calculated to inoreiKO the presti-. v » f that old Lodge . Bro . Norton expresses hit judgment in this wi o : " Anderson and Preston falsified Masonic history ; tho former in order to puff np tho importance of the old Craft , and the latter to puff np the importance of his Lodge . "
If the assertions of Anderson and Preston respecting Wren s Masonry are to be set aside wo can hardly retiin our respect For them as honest men . It is difficult to believe that Anderson
deliberately stated a known untruth in this -natter or that Preston improperly expanded the evidence to suit his own purposes . That there are discrepancies in the proof furnished of Wren ' s connection with Masonry will not be denied . There are inconsistent and doubtful affirmations which very probably must be eliminated from the case . There is no positive record to which we may refer , nor has any
manuscript of Wren been found to famish the decided proof desired . That there is justification for much adverse criticism of Anders > n and Preston wo may fully concede ; but with nil that is said and written we yet incline to our long-cherished opinion , that Anderson uttered the truth respecting tho main proposition of Wren ' s
connection with the Craft , and that tho learned and skilful architect of St . Paul ' s was indeed , at one time , prominently identified with the Masonic Fraternity . With this onr conviction wo still wish that more light might break in npon what is now a question not easily settled .
Celebration At St. John, N.B.
CELEBRATION AT ST . JOHN , N . B .
fTiHE Centennial Auniversaiy of tbe Establishment - * - of Masonry in New Brunswick was appropriately observed in St . John , on Tuesday , 1 st Jnly , under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of the Province . The celebration included a well-arranged procession of various
Masonic bodies , whose movements through the principal streets elicited hearty commendation from thousands of spectators . After the parade the Grand Lodge with invited guests and many members of the Fraternity assembled in the Mechanics Institute , where an historical address evincing carefnl research and ability , was
delivered by Brother John V . Ellis , Grand Master of Masons in New Brunswick , this address being followed with a discourse on the general character and purposes of Masonry , by Eev . Dr . Macrae , a prominent divine and Craftsman , who dealt with the subject in a very entertaining and edifying manner . We reproduce , from the Freemasons ' Eeposilory , Dr . Macrae ' s oration .
MOST WORSHIPFUL AND BRETHREN : —To the addresses and responses of welcome and congratulation to which I have tho pleasure already of listening , no word need be added . Equally needless , or even impossible , it would be to expound the details of the well-nigh exhaustive sketch of onr century ' s history in this Province , given
with wonted felicity of diction , permit me to say , by yourself . A different task , as I understand the matter , has been assigned to me , for the honour of being selected to undertake which I beg most humbly to thank the brethren ; while , considering its importance , in view , especially of the occasion , my hearty wish is , that it had
devolved upon one more competent to do it the justice it merits . Not that , under one aspect , it is a task of difficulty . The materials , so far from being scanty , oppress by their superabundance . You have summoned me to discharge a congenial duty , to sound the praises of Masonry , and to set forth the grounds why it is this
day honoured among us ; to vindicate it from the charges by which our most noble Order is often ignorantly aspersed ; in a word , to exhibit the Temple of Masonry , so far as my powers may avail , in all its beauty and grandeur of symmetrical proportion . To such questions as the following it will be becoming to essay brief answers
at an occasion so auspicious in the history of our Order . What is tbe Spirit and Creed , if so it is becoming to express myself , of Freemasonry ? What are our aims ? What principles govern us ? By what tenets aro we held together , and what virtues—what cardinal virtnes , if any—do we profess to abide by and uphold ? It is almost a
duty to ask , it is a privilege of the most honourable character to be favoured with an opportunity so distinguished of answering these and the like questions , in view , partly , of the sceptical tendencies of our age , partly of the attacks—the able , but utterly unwarrantable and eveu grotesquely absurd attacks—to which we have recentlyin
, very high quarters indeed , been subjected . Most Worshipful and Brethren : Masonry , I begin by saying , has performed a feat which has hitherto transcended the efforts of any or all of the religious denominations of earth to accomplish . And hence , perhaps , the virulence of the vituperation with which it has been
assailed . It has built a platform so easy of access , and yet so firm in structure , that npon it can and do stand side by side , co-operating in the spirit of loyal friendship , peace and harmony , Jew and Gentile , Christian and Brahmin . To have done this without insisting upon the conversion of one to the views and beliefs entertained by the others ,
to be able to secure the most sincere and hearty co-operation in kindly deeds of men of all races , all ranks , all callings , all denominations , governed by a spirit of mutual sympath y , to be the object of attachment and the bond of union to rich and poor , to learned and
comparatively unlearned , to effect in happiest combination tho blending of equality with order , the equality that consists in community of privilege with the Order , which demands and justifies gradation only in official rank ; to do this without kindling ' jealousy—nay , to the consuming of every fooling of that baser sort in the firo of a
Celebration At St. John, N.B.
noble , a limitless , albeit a secretly manifestod charity—this is an !\(' Uu > - .-pnvMit which nriv HMv ('•>tv ; i vi 1 in > ro t ' rin a pwsiug notice Fmtn tho philos > p h- > r , III- ) s > v- ¦••: n 1 : 1 . ; vi I F - > ii numbers of the profession to which it is my ohluf h . vwiv t > t > -ion . ; . It U or > min' » to this , in fnft . in tho history of tho world , that ho who can success , fully pi ice his li \ nd on th . i liver ; v . ' . e iifl "> rd"il by Xfisonry , possesses a power , thiiiik Go . l , a p iwer for go-id—to which the only limits are tho limits oF tim » nnd tho nniverse of our race .
"Thank God , " did I say ? " A power for good , " did I spoak of ? What right , wima ono present may be thinking iu his heart , in re . memhrance of recent utterances delivered from one of tho verv chiefest places of authority on earth , and by a man , on many accounts deservedly , held in hi ^ h esteem and respect by those who differ most widely from his views and aims—What right have I , as
a Mason to take tho namo of God into my lips , or to apeak of doing Rood ? aro not Freemasons pronounced by an infallible authorit y to bo atheists in creed ? Are they not guilty , according to the same authority , of treating tho relations between the sexes in a fashion and spirit tho most lawless and light ? Do they not seek to separate education alike from religion and morals ? Is not their seoreoy a
mask beneath which they seek to disseminate vice and make vicious principles rampant ; to corrupt the morels of youth ; to overthrow government , order , religion ; to promulgate the tenets of sedition , revolution , socialism , communism . In a word , are not Masons patrons and promoters of tho Gospel of dynamite , foes of tbe famil y , foes of the churches , foes of society , foes of the State , friends only
of social disorders and bedlamite misrule ? And I speak of God , and as a Mason I use the phrase thank God . Yes , Most Worshipful , as a Mason I nse tho phrase thank God . I should be false , you one and all know ; false to my most solemn Misonio duty , did I not habitually nnd expressly as a member of your Order , practise that exercise of devotion of which giving thanks to God is one part .
When first we read that famous allocution signalising the close of onr century's history , in which onr Order is thus depicted , an allocution , it must be remembered , issued and proclaimed in the languages spoken by more than 200 millions of people , read and commented npon from pnlpits or altars among well-nigh every nation nnder heaven , proceeding , too , from one for whom , personally , it is
impossible not to cherish feelings of very great respect , alike on account of his character and his ability ; when we found ourselves depicted as atheists , socialists , promoters of vice and misrulewe of whoso every movement order , harmony , peace , the devout recognition of God , are the very fundamental conditions—we were as men that dreamed . We read tho fulmination with an air
of bewildered amazement . We read again , to pity the ignorance that can co-exisr , contradictory thoDgh it may sound , with infallibility . It is not worth while to expend indignation on ignorance . Need it " be said , let me now only observe , in the presence of this august assembly , that no atheist can , without perjury , enter a Lodge of onr Order ? Need the correlative statement be made that did a
brother become an atheist , ho would there and then , by the very terrible fact , cease to be , and on avowing his athsisra , would be disowned by every true brother with pity and sorrow , as no longer connected with what wo regard as Freemasonry . Most true it is that we do not term or consider our Order a religion in the current ecclesiastical sense—in the sense of basing a
denominational organization . But though not , religion—our first , our fundamentally indispensable princip le—is belief in God—in God , too , as Creator , the Architect of the Universe , in the God of Providence , in that God whose name is love . We believe , too , let me add , in prayer . Our system is permeated and throbs through and through with the spirit of religion . Open any of our authorised
manuals . You will find enough to assure yon that no well-conducted Lodge begins or closes its proceedings without the offering of prayer . Does this look or sound like atheism ? Of the charge that we make light of marriage and kindred relations , what shall I say ? What proportion of our Brotherhood are in the Benedict ranks of the married I do not know . But let our enemies compare the homes
whose heads belong to our Order , from that of His Royal Highness our Most Illustrious Grand Master in England to that of the lowliest Craftsman who acts as Tyler , or in other capacity , in onr obscurest country Lodge ; let our enemies , I say , compare such homes with those whose members repudiate Masonry . We do not dread the results of that comparison . The daughters , sweethearts , wives , to
whose deft labours tbe Order is indebted for the products arranged in the sumptuous fair which occupies our Temple to-day , do evidently not stand greatly in dread of the evil effects of Masonic principles upon matrimonial prospects or relations . As to education , some day , not now—it would occupy too much time—I may tell how it fell to my lot to deliver a lecture on the relations of Masonry to education and order , in connection with an
effort , happily most successful and permanent , to promote the cause of education in the interests of Masonry , in a neighbouring colony . Close against the grotesquely preposterous charge that ono of onr aims is to corrupt the morals of youth , let me set those tenets of brotherly love , relief , truth , to which we are pledged , and which all true Masons practise and uphold ; and over against tho accusations of sedition , revolution and tho like , let me sot our cardinal
virtnes of temperance , fortitude , prudence , justice . " But youra is a secret organisation , " it is said . " Why secret if you have nob something in reserve of which yon are ashamed ? " No , brethren , I am not ashamed of our secrecy . Let me once for all avow my glorying iu it , while , at the same moment , I proclaim what the spirit and purpose of that gracious secrecy is . Hear it , ye who revile us . It is tho secresy inculcated in the words : " Let not yonr mantle
left hand know what your right hand doeth . " It is tho which cloaks onr beneficence , which forbids our ever recording our good deeds , leaving them to be judged by tho One All-seeing Eye . It is that robe of need on the one hand , when need arises ; of charity on the other , when brotherly charity is solicited , wearing which , two of our Order can confer with each other , as in a twilig ht amid which tho bluish of ahauie on tho brow of ouo , tho flush of power to relievo