The English Rite Of Freemasonry.

their making the sum of three pounds three shillings . And for their admittance the snm of five shillings , and every Brother who shall pass tho Degree of F . C . and M . shall JMV < he further sum of seven shillings unci sixpence . " Th- pp quota'ion * are followed by particulars furnished by

Bro . W « tM ) n . of Lii'Coln . from the Minute Book of a Lodge founded in that city in 1730 , ami referred to by Oliver in his " History of the Witham Lodge . " The regulation noted was passed 5 th December 1732 , ancl is to the following effect : " No Brother made in another lodge shall be

passed Master in this under half-a-gninea , to be paid for tbe entertainment of the Masters present ; and if he be a member of another lodge , he mnst bring the leave of the officers thereunto belonging , if the lodge is still existing over and above . The members are to be excused for five

shillings , when they are sufficiently qualified to be admitted to that degree . " But the following from the same Minute Book relates particularly to the Third Degree : " Tuesday Dec y 3 rd , 1734 ; present ( names given ) , it was proposed that there should be an election of new members , ancl at

the request of the whole lodge , Sir C . Wray , Bart ., D . G . M ., was elected Master of the same , who was pleased to nominate Sir Christopher Lahr , Bart ., Sen' Warden , and Sidney Every , Esq ., Jnn . Warden for the ensuing year . But as regards our said two new Wardens , as well

as several other Brethren of this lodge well qualified and worthy of the Degree of Master had not been called thereto , our said Right Worshipful Master was pleased to direct that a Lodge of Masters should bo held at the place aforesaid , on Monday ye thirtieth instant , at which time

the said ( names given ) should be severally admitted to the Degree of Master , on their paying severally 5 s a piece to the box and 12 d to the Door keeper . " The Lodge of

Masters was accordingly held , as appointed , and " the several Brethren following were in due form admitted to the Degree of Master ( to wit ) , Bro . Lahr (& c ) , after which a general lodge was held . "

After references of a similar character to a Salisbury Lodge , dated 1735 and 1737 , and one to a Norwich Lodge , dated 1743 , we are told that of those present at the constitution of the Royal Cumberland Lodge , Bath , now No . 41 , on the 18 th May 1733 , " there were present ( 1 ) the Master , ( 2 )

Wardens , ( 3 ) Fellow Crafts , ( 4 ) six brethren described as Masters , ' and ( 5 ) four styled ' Pass'd Masters . '" The 15 th Bye Law of this Lodge , passed in the year 1746 , provides that " Every Fellow Craft who is found able and cunning in the judgment of the officers , and desirous to

pass Master , shall pay five shillings into the Treasurer ' s hands for the benefit of the lodge , " Bro . Hughan suggesting , and very reasonably , on the strength of this , that " the

'Masters noted in the minute of 18 th May 1733 , were those who had received the Third Degree , the ' Pass'd Masters' being brethren who had presided in the lodge , and thus qualified as Past Masters . ' "

As regards the records of the Grand Lodge at York , Brother Hughan considers the fact of his having obtained no help in the pursuit of his investigations from the •*• oldest Bye-Laws , dated 1725 , " is a further significant

fact m evidence of the modern character of our system of Degrees . He notes , however , that there is preserved " a little narrow slip of parchment containing list of M . M . ' s" —to the number of 35— "from 1729 to 1734

{ area ) , ancl also that Brother Francis Drake , m his address before the York Grancl Lodge on 27 th December 1726 , as J . G . W ., declares "that three parts in four of the whole earth , might then be divided into E . P ., F . C , and M . M . "

Bro . Hughan ' s attention is next directed to a question raised in this journal on 25 th August 1777 , by our worthy friend Bro . Jacob Norton , as to the character of Master Masons' Lodges , of the existence of which in the 1738 Constitutions he happened to have become aware a short

time previously , and he ( Bro . Hughan ) expresses it as his opinion " that ' Masters' Lodges * described really two classes of meetings . " 1 . Lodges which worked the Third Degree on certain days in each month , and ( 2 ) Lodges which assembled as Master Masons only , inst as some

Lodges practically do now , such as the ' Fortitude Lodge , No . 64 , Manchester , the fee for initiation being so high as to be virtually prohibitive ; bnt for joining Master Masons the cost is merely nominal . Taking this view of the

subject we can quite understand how all the Lodges had the right to confer the Third Degree , some of the nnmber working the ceremony at stated times only , ancl others caring but to assemble as Master Masons , leaving to the

The English Rite Of Freemasonry.

ordinary Lodges the duty of perfecting Apprentices and Fellow Crafts . In process of time , some of the first class seemingly cared as little for the Third Degree as those of the latter did for tho previous ceremonies , hence arose the custom of looking to certain Lodges for the working of the

Master Masons' Ritual , ancl thus becoming known especially as ' Masters' Lodges , ' though every Lodge had just as much right to work the ceremony . Beyond question , it was considered the warrants permitted of the three

Craft Degrees being worked , whether by old or new Lodges ; hence this fact must be allowed its full weight iu the inquiry ; and no explanation can be correct which ignores that right . "

uhe chapter concludes with the following passage : " There was a disinclination to proceed to the Third Degree manifested by many brethren during the latter part of last century , and there seems to have been some little truth , at least in the assertion made in 1730—in " The Mystery of

Free Masons , "—" quoted in the Freemason in July 1880 , to the effect that— ' There is not a Mason in a hundred that will be at tbe expense to pass the Master ' s part ? " So late as 1752 , when the first Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall was installed , tbe brother who presided was only a Fellow

Craft . In Scotland , matters were even worse , for in the historical account of St . Machar ' s Lodge , No . 54 , Aberdeen , Dr . Beveridge states that' The First Degree was always given alone , and the Second and Third together ; ' a large

number , however , contented themselves with the First Degree , without proceeding to the others . Thus , of 260 who up to , and including , the year 1775 took the First Degree by itself , only 137 took the other degrees . " ( To be continued . )

Different Views Of Masonry.

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF MASONRY .

THE difficulty of giving a proper definition of what Freemasonry is , presents itself to us at the present time with as strong a force as it has to Masonic writers iu the past . Not but that there have been innumerable definitions accorded ; but I make bold to say that not one of these can be held up as conveying fully the true signification of Freemasonry .

I do not propose in the present short article to propound a new definition , nor do I intend to criticise the many that have from time to time been laid before the

Craft ; rather do I wish to consider the several ways in which Freemasonry is presented to the minds of different Masons , and the estimation accordingly held by them of the value of our Institution .

In briefly looking at this question . we have to take into consideration fully the different temperament of individuals ; their mental capacity and training ; their association ; and , most of all , the Masonic education they have

received . Considering , therefore , these surroundings in connection with my subject , I will attempt to classify , as far as possible , the different aspects in which Freemasonry has been looked npon that have come under my notice .

Some have called Freemasonry a religion , others term it a science , others again make it merely a social Institution , where the bitterness of ordinary life is ( or should be ) eschewed and a peaceful hour may be spent amongst men bound together by a congenial tie . There are a goodly

number , again , who value Freemasonry solely for the convivial meetings attached to it , and are always to be found at Lodge when a good supper is to be had . Again , I have heard men say openly that they had joined the Fraternity to gain introduction to a certain class of

individuals merely as a trading matter , and that they were forced to do so because " every one did it . " Then there is the great class who join it out of curiosity , or , perhaps , because somebody in a position above them is a Mason , and it is

supposed to be the proper thing to do . Near akin to this is that class of individuals who wish for congenial society , and look to find amongst the members of the Craft men of education ancl intellect . Lastly , there are those who call our Institution merely a charitable one .

I think that from the divisions I have made I can illustrate my views , and will take the section first that considers Freemasonry a religion . Now there must be , I take it as a fundamental princip le ) in any religion that the practice of it will save the soul , and in dealing with this it is understood thafc I address