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Article UNDUE HASTE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE LATE BROTHER PETER GILKES. Page 1 of 1 Article FUNERAL OF BRO. EDWARD COX. Page 1 of 1 Article REVIEWS. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Undue Haste.
UNDUE HASTE .
To the . Editor of the FRRKMASOX ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BKOTHKI * , —I wish to have tho opinion of somo of your readers , as well as to ventilate my own views , on a vexed question which too frequently prevails amongst somo members of the Craft , and which , to my mind , is of vital importance in tho making of a Mason . I
shall , therefore , feel greatly obliged by your inserting , at your earliest convenience , in your justly valued organ of the Fraternity , this letter . I venture also to think it may havo a beneficial effect so far as concerns tho introduction of candidates into the Order . There are certain preliminary questions which have to be put to candidates as a
test of their qualifications ; not the least important of these questions is , that of the repetition of tho printed declaration ( therefore no part of our ritnal ) , and I would ask , is it consistent with common sense that the Deacon shonld bo allowed to tell the candidato to answer in tho affirmative without giving him the opportunity of
exercising his reasoning powers ? I most strenuously hold that a man who is not capable of answering theso simple questions is not qualified to bo admitted a member of onr Order . Perhaps the most * important of all is tho question immediately after the prayer , "In all , ' & c . Assuming the candidate docs not at iirafc quite comprehend this
question , I suggest that it be asked again ' and again rather than comparative foice should be pnt upon him to gain his reply to a question ho does not fully comprehend . I havo had tho honour of being a member of tho Fraternity for nearly thirty years , and during that timo havo seen some hundreds of candidates initiated , and I can
safely assert that in nineteen cases ont of twenty the candidates have answered all the questions without any being put a second time , and that without prompting by tho Deacon . Indeed , I cannot recollect a single instance ( that is , in my own Lodge and a few others I have frequently visited ) whero any of the questions have been misunderstood . I may not express my ideas in writing so fully as I could desiro , but I
shall be glad to moot any of your readers with a view to discuss this question . What I contend for is , that fcho questions should bo so asked that the candidate may havo tho chanco of answering of his own free will and accord , and that ho may not be placed npon tho footing of a young school boy , which is too often the case when the impetuous Deacon is too urgent in suggesting the replies .
I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , LEWIS ALEXANDER , P . M . Joppa 188 . 19 'iFleet-street , 17 th September 1880 .
The Late Brother Peter Gilkes.
THE LATE BROTHER PETER GILKES .
To the Editor nf the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTH I . ; ; , —Can yon or any of your readers inform mo whero I shall find a memoir of tho above distingnished brother , who died towards the . cud of the year 1833 or tho beginning of the
year following ? if so , I shall esteem it a favour if any one will oblige me with a reference . Fraternally yours , STUDENT .
Funeral Of Bro. Edward Cox.
FUNERAL OF BRO . EDWARD COX .
THE interment of the remains of the late Bro . Edward Cox took place on Tuesday afternoon , in the Cemetery at Highgate . Among tho friends , relatives , and Masonic brethren of the deceased , who attended tho ceremony were—Bro . Edward H . Cox ( son ) and Mrs . E . II . Cox , Bro . W . Clifton Crick ( son-in-law ) ancl Mrs . Crick ( daughter ) , Mr . Edmund Cox ( brother of deceased ) , Mr . Cox , of Stonoy Stratford , and Mrs . Cox , Bro . W . Winn P . M . 657 , Bro . J .
Llewellyn Jones P . M . 057 , Bro . W . J . Crutch , Mr . Hartshorn , Mr . F Martin , Mr . Buckland , Mr . Harry G . Eogers ( Secretary of tho United Law Clerks' Society ) , Mr . Scrivener , Bro . John Lay ton No . 657 ( Vestry Clerk of ' Islington ) , Mr . Willcocks , Brother W . F . C . Moutrio , Bro . James Terry Secretary of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and Bro . IT . Massey . Tho Province of Northampton
and Huntingdon wns represented by Bro . Butler Williams , Depnty Provincial Grand Master ; liro . Frank J . Buckle , Provincial Grand Secretary ; Bro . J . TJ . Stanton , Past Provincial Grand Senior Deacon ; Bro . S . P . Ekins , Past Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . T . M . Evans , Worshipful Master Lodge of Fidelity No . 415 , Towcester , Provincial Grand Pursuivant ; and
Bro . H . Stanclley , Worshipful Master Lodge of Perseverance , No . 455 , Kettering . Among thu brethren and gentlemen who assembled at fche deceased ' s placo of business to witnes the departure of the funeral cortege were W . Long , George Martin , C . Noacl , D . J . Noad , Joseph Thorpe , J . Warner , aud Clutterbuck . On arriving at the Cemetery Chapel , the funeral service was conducted by tho
Eev . Georgo Stanton , D . D ., Bishop of North Queensland , who is a very old friend of Bro . Edward Cox , and who called on , and spent a considerable portion of his timo with , Bro . Cox during his long illness . When the body had been committed to tho earth , and the funeral service completed , tho family of tlio deceased gave their final look at the coffin , with many tears and sobs , aud when tlie relatives had departed the Masonic brethren approached the grave , and dropped their
sprigs of acacia on tho coffin of a clear old friend and a trne Mason , whom they were never to seo again . Although the funeral waa numerously attended , there is reason to believe that if the London brethren had not been , as a rule , out of town , tho company would have been more numerous , and it is probably owing to this circumstance that tho Secretaries of Ihe Boys' and Girls' Schools , ancl members of the Committees of those Institutions , to which Bro . Cox was deeply attached , were not also present .
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Beview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 23 Great Queen Street , "W . C . —* . o : — Recherches sur le Rite Fjcossais Ancien Acccpte . Precedees d ' nn Historiqno de l'origine et do l'lntroduction de la Franc-Maconnerie en Angloterre , en Ecosse , et on France . Par J . Emile Daruty S . G . I . G . 33 e Venerable de la E . L . Ecoss . L'Amitie No . 245 .
Paris : Chez le F . Panisset , Ene de Metz , 14 . lie Maurice ; General Steam Printing Cy , Eue dn Gouvernment , 6 . 1879 . THIS work , which is fraternally dedicated to Bro . Albert Pike , of the Supreme Conncil ( Southern Jurisdiction ) of the United States , and Bro . Cremieux and the members of the Supreme Conncil in Franco , exhibits the author in a very favourable light , and bears unquestionable testimony to his loving labours and painstaking
research . In tho list ho gives of the works consulted are all the best and most trustworthy histories , and sketches of Freemasonry either in its integrity , or as existing in particular conntries and localities , among them being the works of onr own Bros . Preston , Murray Lyon , Hughan , Gould , Cox , Mackenzie , & c . ; that of Bro . Cindel , the well-known Masonic historian of Leipsio ; and those of Thory ,
Eebold , Eagon , Clavel , and other eminent French writers on Freemasonry . From such sources it was to be expected that any one taking " npon himself the task of writing of any branch or offshoot of Freemasonry , would be able to compile a narrative that should be not only readable and instructive , bnt likewise as nearly as possible complete and exhaustive . But considering tho wider range of
Masonic inquiry during those latter years , and the greater degree of accuracy tho present generation of Masonio writers have sought , and in many instances attained , it is not a little surprising that a writer of snch acumen as M . Daruty shows himself to be in a great part of his elaborate work shonld have adopted seriously tho myths and legends of onr Fraternity . There is no doubt those myths and legends
cast a halo of mystery around the orig in and early progress of the Craft , bnt the days have passed since the pretty little traditions about St . Alban , Edwin of York , & c , & c , are accepted serionsly as a part of the History of Freemasonry . No one , of course , would take so deep an interest in the histories of Greeee and Eome if the fabled stories about Hercnles and other mythic heroes in the one
case , and those of the birth and education of Eomulus and Eemus , & c , & c , in the other , were passed by without notice . These are no longer regarded as possessing a real value as regards the particular persons , places , and times they refer to , though there seems to be little doubt they do contain a certain indeterminable amount of _ truth , but changed and modified from the orig inal in the course of being handed
down orally from generation to generation . We have so often been afc the pains of expressing our opinion as to the sense in which Freemasonry may be accepted as an institution which had its origin iu remote antiquity that we need not be at the pains of repeating ifc iu this article . But it is very trying to our more sober judgment to ask of us to accept the array of Grand Masters , from St . Alban to Sii
Christopher Wren , who are alleged to have presided over tho destinies of the Craft in the days anterior to the year 1717 . Thus it severely taxes our patience when we find it gravely repeated in the pages of what purports to be a veritable History of Freemasonry , that our Edward III . proclaimed himself Grand Master in 1327 , when ho was still nnder the tutelage of his mother and her infamous paramour
Mortimer ; that Henry V . was initiated in 1442 , thafc Henry VII . presided as Grand Master at a Lodge of Masters assembled in bis palace afc Westminster on the 21 th Juno 1502 , and that James I ., Charles I ., Charles II ., & c . fee , & c , were in the succession of Grand Masters from Sir Thomas Gresbam , in the reign of Elizabeth , to Sir Christopher Wren in 1685 . Nor do we regard with more favour than thoy deserve
the myths which envelop tho early history of Freemasonry in Scotland . Wc claim to bo severely sceptical as to the foundation in 1314 by Eoberfc tho Bruce of what is known as the Eoyal Order of Scotland . Thero are portions of our so-called history which read prettily enough no doubt , but which only unthinking brethren wonld dream
of accepting . It is the more to be regretted , therefore , that a writer like M . Daruty should consider it necessary to preface his Ecsearchcs into the rise of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Eito with so much that is merely amusing fable . The year 1717 is quite far enough back for any oue whose object is to sketch the history of this particular rite .
The revival of Freemasonry is fairly and fully described nnder the Second Part , or that of the " Period of Progression , " and there is much given under this head which cannot fail to interest tho Masonic reader . Too great stress seems to have been laid on the doings of tho Grand Lodge in York , with its imposing title of Grand Lodgo of all England . York will always be an honoured name among
Masons , because of its presumed connection with onr legendary histoiy , while its wealth of ancient remains will always make it a centre of attraction , but its Grand Lodge had very little to do with tho spread of Masonry in England . Preston , it is true , speaks of the Grand Lodge in London having invaded the domain of fche York Grand Lodge , but whatever mav at one time have beon the influence of
the Northern Lodge , it gradually waned before tho ever-increasing activity of its Southern rival , till , after having dragged on a precarious existence , not uninterrupted by at least one period of absolute rest , it ultimately passed away in tho closing decade of last century , but little now remaining in evidence of its existence beyond the memory of its venerable traditions .
As regards the introduction of Freemasonry into France , M . Daruty very properly mentions the different statements with reference to tho exNtonce of Lodges in tho seventeenth century only to point out that there ia no authentic testimony , no historic document to support them , be the different systems never so ingenious or the view unfolded tu our gaze never so seductive ; it ia wiser to confine oneself to established facts , and recognise that ifc ia in England and Scotland tha
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Undue Haste.
UNDUE HASTE .
To the . Editor of the FRRKMASOX ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BKOTHKI * , —I wish to have tho opinion of somo of your readers , as well as to ventilate my own views , on a vexed question which too frequently prevails amongst somo members of the Craft , and which , to my mind , is of vital importance in tho making of a Mason . I
shall , therefore , feel greatly obliged by your inserting , at your earliest convenience , in your justly valued organ of the Fraternity , this letter . I venture also to think it may havo a beneficial effect so far as concerns tho introduction of candidates into the Order . There are certain preliminary questions which have to be put to candidates as a
test of their qualifications ; not the least important of these questions is , that of the repetition of tho printed declaration ( therefore no part of our ritnal ) , and I would ask , is it consistent with common sense that the Deacon shonld bo allowed to tell the candidato to answer in tho affirmative without giving him the opportunity of
exercising his reasoning powers ? I most strenuously hold that a man who is not capable of answering theso simple questions is not qualified to bo admitted a member of onr Order . Perhaps the most * important of all is tho question immediately after the prayer , "In all , ' & c . Assuming the candidate docs not at iirafc quite comprehend this
question , I suggest that it be asked again ' and again rather than comparative foice should be pnt upon him to gain his reply to a question ho does not fully comprehend . I havo had tho honour of being a member of tho Fraternity for nearly thirty years , and during that timo havo seen some hundreds of candidates initiated , and I can
safely assert that in nineteen cases ont of twenty the candidates have answered all the questions without any being put a second time , and that without prompting by tho Deacon . Indeed , I cannot recollect a single instance ( that is , in my own Lodge and a few others I have frequently visited ) whero any of the questions have been misunderstood . I may not express my ideas in writing so fully as I could desiro , but I
shall be glad to moot any of your readers with a view to discuss this question . What I contend for is , that fcho questions should bo so asked that the candidate may havo tho chanco of answering of his own free will and accord , and that ho may not be placed npon tho footing of a young school boy , which is too often the case when the impetuous Deacon is too urgent in suggesting the replies .
I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally , LEWIS ALEXANDER , P . M . Joppa 188 . 19 'iFleet-street , 17 th September 1880 .
The Late Brother Peter Gilkes.
THE LATE BROTHER PETER GILKES .
To the Editor nf the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTH I . ; ; , —Can yon or any of your readers inform mo whero I shall find a memoir of tho above distingnished brother , who died towards the . cud of the year 1833 or tho beginning of the
year following ? if so , I shall esteem it a favour if any one will oblige me with a reference . Fraternally yours , STUDENT .
Funeral Of Bro. Edward Cox.
FUNERAL OF BRO . EDWARD COX .
THE interment of the remains of the late Bro . Edward Cox took place on Tuesday afternoon , in the Cemetery at Highgate . Among tho friends , relatives , and Masonic brethren of the deceased , who attended tho ceremony were—Bro . Edward H . Cox ( son ) and Mrs . E . II . Cox , Bro . W . Clifton Crick ( son-in-law ) ancl Mrs . Crick ( daughter ) , Mr . Edmund Cox ( brother of deceased ) , Mr . Cox , of Stonoy Stratford , and Mrs . Cox , Bro . W . Winn P . M . 657 , Bro . J .
Llewellyn Jones P . M . 057 , Bro . W . J . Crutch , Mr . Hartshorn , Mr . F Martin , Mr . Buckland , Mr . Harry G . Eogers ( Secretary of tho United Law Clerks' Society ) , Mr . Scrivener , Bro . John Lay ton No . 657 ( Vestry Clerk of ' Islington ) , Mr . Willcocks , Brother W . F . C . Moutrio , Bro . James Terry Secretary of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and Bro . IT . Massey . Tho Province of Northampton
and Huntingdon wns represented by Bro . Butler Williams , Depnty Provincial Grand Master ; liro . Frank J . Buckle , Provincial Grand Secretary ; Bro . J . TJ . Stanton , Past Provincial Grand Senior Deacon ; Bro . S . P . Ekins , Past Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . T . M . Evans , Worshipful Master Lodge of Fidelity No . 415 , Towcester , Provincial Grand Pursuivant ; and
Bro . H . Stanclley , Worshipful Master Lodge of Perseverance , No . 455 , Kettering . Among thu brethren and gentlemen who assembled at fche deceased ' s placo of business to witnes the departure of the funeral cortege were W . Long , George Martin , C . Noacl , D . J . Noad , Joseph Thorpe , J . Warner , aud Clutterbuck . On arriving at the Cemetery Chapel , the funeral service was conducted by tho
Eev . Georgo Stanton , D . D ., Bishop of North Queensland , who is a very old friend of Bro . Edward Cox , and who called on , and spent a considerable portion of his timo with , Bro . Cox during his long illness . When the body had been committed to tho earth , and the funeral service completed , tho family of tlio deceased gave their final look at the coffin , with many tears and sobs , aud when tlie relatives had departed the Masonic brethren approached the grave , and dropped their
sprigs of acacia on tho coffin of a clear old friend and a trne Mason , whom they were never to seo again . Although the funeral waa numerously attended , there is reason to believe that if the London brethren had not been , as a rule , out of town , tho company would have been more numerous , and it is probably owing to this circumstance that tho Secretaries of Ihe Boys' and Girls' Schools , ancl members of the Committees of those Institutions , to which Bro . Cox was deeply attached , were not also present .
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Beview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 23 Great Queen Street , "W . C . —* . o : — Recherches sur le Rite Fjcossais Ancien Acccpte . Precedees d ' nn Historiqno de l'origine et do l'lntroduction de la Franc-Maconnerie en Angloterre , en Ecosse , et on France . Par J . Emile Daruty S . G . I . G . 33 e Venerable de la E . L . Ecoss . L'Amitie No . 245 .
Paris : Chez le F . Panisset , Ene de Metz , 14 . lie Maurice ; General Steam Printing Cy , Eue dn Gouvernment , 6 . 1879 . THIS work , which is fraternally dedicated to Bro . Albert Pike , of the Supreme Conncil ( Southern Jurisdiction ) of the United States , and Bro . Cremieux and the members of the Supreme Conncil in Franco , exhibits the author in a very favourable light , and bears unquestionable testimony to his loving labours and painstaking
research . In tho list ho gives of the works consulted are all the best and most trustworthy histories , and sketches of Freemasonry either in its integrity , or as existing in particular conntries and localities , among them being the works of onr own Bros . Preston , Murray Lyon , Hughan , Gould , Cox , Mackenzie , & c . ; that of Bro . Cindel , the well-known Masonic historian of Leipsio ; and those of Thory ,
Eebold , Eagon , Clavel , and other eminent French writers on Freemasonry . From such sources it was to be expected that any one taking " npon himself the task of writing of any branch or offshoot of Freemasonry , would be able to compile a narrative that should be not only readable and instructive , bnt likewise as nearly as possible complete and exhaustive . But considering tho wider range of
Masonic inquiry during those latter years , and the greater degree of accuracy tho present generation of Masonio writers have sought , and in many instances attained , it is not a little surprising that a writer of snch acumen as M . Daruty shows himself to be in a great part of his elaborate work shonld have adopted seriously tho myths and legends of onr Fraternity . There is no doubt those myths and legends
cast a halo of mystery around the orig in and early progress of the Craft , bnt the days have passed since the pretty little traditions about St . Alban , Edwin of York , & c , & c , are accepted serionsly as a part of the History of Freemasonry . No one , of course , would take so deep an interest in the histories of Greeee and Eome if the fabled stories about Hercnles and other mythic heroes in the one
case , and those of the birth and education of Eomulus and Eemus , & c , & c , in the other , were passed by without notice . These are no longer regarded as possessing a real value as regards the particular persons , places , and times they refer to , though there seems to be little doubt they do contain a certain indeterminable amount of _ truth , but changed and modified from the orig inal in the course of being handed
down orally from generation to generation . We have so often been afc the pains of expressing our opinion as to the sense in which Freemasonry may be accepted as an institution which had its origin iu remote antiquity that we need not be at the pains of repeating ifc iu this article . But it is very trying to our more sober judgment to ask of us to accept the array of Grand Masters , from St . Alban to Sii
Christopher Wren , who are alleged to have presided over tho destinies of the Craft in the days anterior to the year 1717 . Thus it severely taxes our patience when we find it gravely repeated in the pages of what purports to be a veritable History of Freemasonry , that our Edward III . proclaimed himself Grand Master in 1327 , when ho was still nnder the tutelage of his mother and her infamous paramour
Mortimer ; that Henry V . was initiated in 1442 , thafc Henry VII . presided as Grand Master at a Lodge of Masters assembled in bis palace afc Westminster on the 21 th Juno 1502 , and that James I ., Charles I ., Charles II ., & c . fee , & c , were in the succession of Grand Masters from Sir Thomas Gresbam , in the reign of Elizabeth , to Sir Christopher Wren in 1685 . Nor do we regard with more favour than thoy deserve
the myths which envelop tho early history of Freemasonry in Scotland . Wc claim to bo severely sceptical as to the foundation in 1314 by Eoberfc tho Bruce of what is known as the Eoyal Order of Scotland . Thero are portions of our so-called history which read prettily enough no doubt , but which only unthinking brethren wonld dream
of accepting . It is the more to be regretted , therefore , that a writer like M . Daruty should consider it necessary to preface his Ecsearchcs into the rise of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Eito with so much that is merely amusing fable . The year 1717 is quite far enough back for any oue whose object is to sketch the history of this particular rite .
The revival of Freemasonry is fairly and fully described nnder the Second Part , or that of the " Period of Progression , " and there is much given under this head which cannot fail to interest tho Masonic reader . Too great stress seems to have been laid on the doings of tho Grand Lodge in York , with its imposing title of Grand Lodgo of all England . York will always be an honoured name among
Masons , because of its presumed connection with onr legendary histoiy , while its wealth of ancient remains will always make it a centre of attraction , but its Grand Lodge had very little to do with tho spread of Masonry in England . Preston , it is true , speaks of the Grand Lodge in London having invaded the domain of fche York Grand Lodge , but whatever mav at one time have beon the influence of
the Northern Lodge , it gradually waned before tho ever-increasing activity of its Southern rival , till , after having dragged on a precarious existence , not uninterrupted by at least one period of absolute rest , it ultimately passed away in tho closing decade of last century , but little now remaining in evidence of its existence beyond the memory of its venerable traditions .
As regards the introduction of Freemasonry into France , M . Daruty very properly mentions the different statements with reference to tho exNtonce of Lodges in tho seventeenth century only to point out that there ia no authentic testimony , no historic document to support them , be the different systems never so ingenious or the view unfolded tu our gaze never so seductive ; it ia wiser to confine oneself to established facts , and recognise that ifc ia in England and Scotland tha