Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS S 4 S Supreme Grand Chapter S 46 Advancement of the Prince of Wales to the Mark Degree i-fS The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ( Continued ) 547 Provincial Grand Lodgeof Durham S 48
CORRESPONDENCE ( Continued)—The Hughan Testimonial JJs Old Masonic Portraits £ 53 Reviews 553 Notes and Queries 553 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 553 Instruction 55 s
Provincial Grand Lodge of Jersey $ 49 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Kent 549 Sir Christopher Wren . —A Study 550 The Revise of the Constitutions 551 Records of Extinct Lodges—( Continue ® ... Sgt CORRESPONDENCEPosition of Joining Past Masters JJ 3
Royal Arch 555 Mark Masonry 556 Knights Templar 556 Obituary 556 Scotland £ 56 The Theatres 55 6 Masonic and General Tidings 557 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 558
Ar00101
OUR esteemed Bro . ARNOLD ' S remarks on the Past Master status will receive , as they well deserve , attentive perusal and careful consideration . We are not disposed to differ much from him . If we understand him rightly , he nowhere bolsters up that broad and unwise theory that all joining- Past Masters are to be Past Masters of the lodge , simply on account of
the fact that they have joined a Iodge and a paid a money consideration . He is too good and old a Freemason to hold any such mistaken and , in our humble opinion , heretical view . He , like us , looks on rank and honours as a reward for work , and not to be obtained by a mere money payment . We think with him the provincial position of Past Masters in , but not of , a lodge
was both anomalous and unjust , and we are glad to note the rectification and alteration brought about by the revised provision of the Book of Constitutions , and which we ourselves also originally recommended . We are also pleased to know that Past Masters in a lodge can now be utilized and do the work when need be of the Master's chair . But we cannot see our
way to endorse the recent suggestion that private lodges should have the power to give a sort of quasi rank to joining Past Masters , a rank the conditions of which are specially laid down in the Book of Constitutions . We cannot at present realize a proposition which would be more likely , if carried to a large extent , to break up the harmony of our lodges . The
arguments in favour of such Iodge resolutions and acts are more subtle than safe , more shadowy than real . In fact , it is really the old argument cropping up over and over again in the constant endeavour to amplify and extend the phraseology , meaning , and bearing of distinct provisions for the government of this body or that . Put into English the argument amounts to this— " all
that is not positively prohibited is lawful , " and its converse , " all that is not positively commanded is not forbidden . " But then we must be on our guard against what Lord RIPON once well termed "tampering with the Book of Constitutions . " It has been the boast of some persons that there was " no Act of Parliament they could not drive a carriage and six through , " and
few codes of laws there are to which , and of which , if we set to work , we cannot find opportune exceptions and ingenious evasions . We ourselves do not like this theory of Iodge rank at all , and we feel convinced , from some knowledge of our lodges , that it will not and cannot work . In fact , we return to our original text , " quieta non movere , " let well alone . We have
conceded all that Past Masters can fairly claim , then let us " stand fast . " We trust that all our readers will weigh well the arguments in the recent paper in the Freemason against altering any further the "Status of Past Masters . " We think that to the good sense of the vast majority of the members of Grand Lodge the remarks we have alluded to will appear alike most weighty and unanswerable .
# *
WE much regret to find that Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS have taken our comments on their able and laborious work a little to heart . They were made , we can assure them , in the most friendly spirit . We deprecated any obstruction to the publication of the revised edition , because , as we stated , we considered eleven months ample timeforformulatingamendments , and wecould see no
new suggestion among those submitted by them of sufficient importance to necessitate the reopening of discussion . Some of the amendments which were not recommended by the Board they again wish to bring forward , because they say they were not put to the vote ; they were , however , all read by the PRESIDENT , but as no voice was raised in their support they of course
fell to the ground . We have had an opportunity of seeing the arrangement of the two Books side by side as prepared for the use of the GRAND MASTER IN THE CHAIR , and we certainly consider that it offers a more intelligible comparison than that published in our journal . We do not profess to have studied carefully the whole of the latter compilation , but our attention was directed to one or two instances of so-called omissions which appeared mis-
Ar00102
leading , one in particular where the word "omitted " stands against A . 4 , P . 47 , would lead any one to suppose that a Provincial Grand Master was deprived of a power which he has hitherto possessed , whereas that power is distinctly preserved to him by Par . 2 of 208 . Again we notice the query against Rule 169 : " Should not the Master still
be made responsible for the observance of this rule as he was before ? " but in the arrangement submitted to us we find b y Rule 133 that "the Master is responsible for the due observance of the laws " ( that is , all the laws ) " by the lodge over which he presides ; " and against it are placed no less than four cuttings from the old edition in these or like
terms : " The Master is responsible for the observance of this law , " taken from pages 63 , 70 , 78 , and 8 9 , now all embodied in onegeneral law . Weare asked why Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS should be debarred from proposing amendments when others are said to be intending to move verbal alterations in the amendments standing for confirmation . We can only say in reply
that we were informed that the proposers of some of the amendments were desirous of putting them into more suitable language . But whether this can be done on confirmation we are not certain . We hope however that a way will be found to make some such corrections in the words as our Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS themselves suggest .
* * * OUR excellent contemporary the Graphic gives an illustration of the " First Lodge in Morocco , " with the likenesses of its members . We hardly know what the Masonic position of the Lodge " El Akhsa " is just now . When last we heard from Manitoba the " warrant of the lodge had been
withdrawn , and if it is now meeting it is assembling without Masonic authority , and not a legal lodge at which any English Mason can be present . We have always regretted the " embtoglio " which took place at Tangiers , doubtless through a little over zeal , and with good intentions , but in utter ignorance and disregard of the principles and laws of Freemasonry . There
is no reason why lodges should not be warranted to meet at Tangiers , Tetuan , Fez , Mogadore , & c , and why eventually a Grand Lodge of Morocco should not be formed . But as the original movement was , " ab origine , " most wrong , everything has to be done over again ; and though we shall always be glad to hear of a lodge being duly and lawfully formed
at Tangiers , until we are better advised we cannot , with deep regret , recognise " El Akhsa " as a true offshoot of our great Masonic tree . No objection was ever made in England to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba warranting a lodge at Tangiers . If that body , which has acted thoroughly Masonically , had granted a warrant for Tangiers , Tetuan , and Fez
( assuming the authorities did not object ) , the three lodges might have asked either to be formed into an English District Grand Lodge , or have formed themselves into a Grand Lodge , if they were the only lodges existing in Morocco . But with the oldest Provincial ( or District ) Grand Lodge a few
miles across the " straits , " it did seem , " primtt facie , " something of a "reductio absurdum " to obtain a warrant from across the Atlantic . As we think over the transactions and correspondence arising therefrom of this famous Tangiers case , we think we see how wise was old TALLEYRAND ' S advice to a young diplomatist , " Surtout point de zele . "
# * # THE history of lodge life is most interesting and valuable in itself , and often aids to settle many moot points of doubt and controversy . Yet strange to say , we have very few old minute books in England . There is a curious one at Alnwick , 1704 , and the Lodge of Industry , Gateshead , has another .
But so far , except Alnwick , no contemporary minute book of 1717 is known to be in existence . This is not to say that they do not exist , but they are not yet come to the fore . Therefore , as Bro . WHYTEHEAD to whom we are indebted for the minutes of an extinct lod ge at Chester , well puts it , all our brethren should be always looking out for similar documents .
Grand Lodge has no earlier records than 1723 , and though one or two of the London lodges have " notes " up to 1721-22 , as was their wont in those days the entries are very short , and altogether silent on what we want most to know about . There can be no doubt that a great deal has yet to be discovered about seventeenth and early eighteenth century Freemasonry . A
Freemasonry and Masonic lodges existed as between 1600 and 1700 in England , of which we have only traces here and there . It will be very curious if the earlier history of Freemasonry in this country in the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century should be eventually found to be mixed up in
some measure with Hermetic Masonry . And therefore fully endorsing Bro . WHYTEHEAD ' S expectations in his last interesting paper on the Chester Lodge , we hope that without any preconceived ideas on this or that , all Masonic students will set to work to solve what is still a " Crux " to the thoughtful and enquiring Freemason .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS S 4 S Supreme Grand Chapter S 46 Advancement of the Prince of Wales to the Mark Degree i-fS The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ( Continued ) 547 Provincial Grand Lodgeof Durham S 48
CORRESPONDENCE ( Continued)—The Hughan Testimonial JJs Old Masonic Portraits £ 53 Reviews 553 Notes and Queries 553 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 553 Instruction 55 s
Provincial Grand Lodge of Jersey $ 49 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Kent 549 Sir Christopher Wren . —A Study 550 The Revise of the Constitutions 551 Records of Extinct Lodges—( Continue ® ... Sgt CORRESPONDENCEPosition of Joining Past Masters JJ 3
Royal Arch 555 Mark Masonry 556 Knights Templar 556 Obituary 556 Scotland £ 56 The Theatres 55 6 Masonic and General Tidings 557 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 558
Ar00101
OUR esteemed Bro . ARNOLD ' S remarks on the Past Master status will receive , as they well deserve , attentive perusal and careful consideration . We are not disposed to differ much from him . If we understand him rightly , he nowhere bolsters up that broad and unwise theory that all joining- Past Masters are to be Past Masters of the lodge , simply on account of
the fact that they have joined a Iodge and a paid a money consideration . He is too good and old a Freemason to hold any such mistaken and , in our humble opinion , heretical view . He , like us , looks on rank and honours as a reward for work , and not to be obtained by a mere money payment . We think with him the provincial position of Past Masters in , but not of , a lodge
was both anomalous and unjust , and we are glad to note the rectification and alteration brought about by the revised provision of the Book of Constitutions , and which we ourselves also originally recommended . We are also pleased to know that Past Masters in a lodge can now be utilized and do the work when need be of the Master's chair . But we cannot see our
way to endorse the recent suggestion that private lodges should have the power to give a sort of quasi rank to joining Past Masters , a rank the conditions of which are specially laid down in the Book of Constitutions . We cannot at present realize a proposition which would be more likely , if carried to a large extent , to break up the harmony of our lodges . The
arguments in favour of such Iodge resolutions and acts are more subtle than safe , more shadowy than real . In fact , it is really the old argument cropping up over and over again in the constant endeavour to amplify and extend the phraseology , meaning , and bearing of distinct provisions for the government of this body or that . Put into English the argument amounts to this— " all
that is not positively prohibited is lawful , " and its converse , " all that is not positively commanded is not forbidden . " But then we must be on our guard against what Lord RIPON once well termed "tampering with the Book of Constitutions . " It has been the boast of some persons that there was " no Act of Parliament they could not drive a carriage and six through , " and
few codes of laws there are to which , and of which , if we set to work , we cannot find opportune exceptions and ingenious evasions . We ourselves do not like this theory of Iodge rank at all , and we feel convinced , from some knowledge of our lodges , that it will not and cannot work . In fact , we return to our original text , " quieta non movere , " let well alone . We have
conceded all that Past Masters can fairly claim , then let us " stand fast . " We trust that all our readers will weigh well the arguments in the recent paper in the Freemason against altering any further the "Status of Past Masters . " We think that to the good sense of the vast majority of the members of Grand Lodge the remarks we have alluded to will appear alike most weighty and unanswerable .
# *
WE much regret to find that Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS have taken our comments on their able and laborious work a little to heart . They were made , we can assure them , in the most friendly spirit . We deprecated any obstruction to the publication of the revised edition , because , as we stated , we considered eleven months ample timeforformulatingamendments , and wecould see no
new suggestion among those submitted by them of sufficient importance to necessitate the reopening of discussion . Some of the amendments which were not recommended by the Board they again wish to bring forward , because they say they were not put to the vote ; they were , however , all read by the PRESIDENT , but as no voice was raised in their support they of course
fell to the ground . We have had an opportunity of seeing the arrangement of the two Books side by side as prepared for the use of the GRAND MASTER IN THE CHAIR , and we certainly consider that it offers a more intelligible comparison than that published in our journal . We do not profess to have studied carefully the whole of the latter compilation , but our attention was directed to one or two instances of so-called omissions which appeared mis-
Ar00102
leading , one in particular where the word "omitted " stands against A . 4 , P . 47 , would lead any one to suppose that a Provincial Grand Master was deprived of a power which he has hitherto possessed , whereas that power is distinctly preserved to him by Par . 2 of 208 . Again we notice the query against Rule 169 : " Should not the Master still
be made responsible for the observance of this rule as he was before ? " but in the arrangement submitted to us we find b y Rule 133 that "the Master is responsible for the due observance of the laws " ( that is , all the laws ) " by the lodge over which he presides ; " and against it are placed no less than four cuttings from the old edition in these or like
terms : " The Master is responsible for the observance of this law , " taken from pages 63 , 70 , 78 , and 8 9 , now all embodied in onegeneral law . Weare asked why Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS should be debarred from proposing amendments when others are said to be intending to move verbal alterations in the amendments standing for confirmation . We can only say in reply
that we were informed that the proposers of some of the amendments were desirous of putting them into more suitable language . But whether this can be done on confirmation we are not certain . We hope however that a way will be found to make some such corrections in the words as our Bros . RIACH and HAWKINS themselves suggest .
* * * OUR excellent contemporary the Graphic gives an illustration of the " First Lodge in Morocco , " with the likenesses of its members . We hardly know what the Masonic position of the Lodge " El Akhsa " is just now . When last we heard from Manitoba the " warrant of the lodge had been
withdrawn , and if it is now meeting it is assembling without Masonic authority , and not a legal lodge at which any English Mason can be present . We have always regretted the " embtoglio " which took place at Tangiers , doubtless through a little over zeal , and with good intentions , but in utter ignorance and disregard of the principles and laws of Freemasonry . There
is no reason why lodges should not be warranted to meet at Tangiers , Tetuan , Fez , Mogadore , & c , and why eventually a Grand Lodge of Morocco should not be formed . But as the original movement was , " ab origine , " most wrong , everything has to be done over again ; and though we shall always be glad to hear of a lodge being duly and lawfully formed
at Tangiers , until we are better advised we cannot , with deep regret , recognise " El Akhsa " as a true offshoot of our great Masonic tree . No objection was ever made in England to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba warranting a lodge at Tangiers . If that body , which has acted thoroughly Masonically , had granted a warrant for Tangiers , Tetuan , and Fez
( assuming the authorities did not object ) , the three lodges might have asked either to be formed into an English District Grand Lodge , or have formed themselves into a Grand Lodge , if they were the only lodges existing in Morocco . But with the oldest Provincial ( or District ) Grand Lodge a few
miles across the " straits , " it did seem , " primtt facie , " something of a "reductio absurdum " to obtain a warrant from across the Atlantic . As we think over the transactions and correspondence arising therefrom of this famous Tangiers case , we think we see how wise was old TALLEYRAND ' S advice to a young diplomatist , " Surtout point de zele . "
# * # THE history of lodge life is most interesting and valuable in itself , and often aids to settle many moot points of doubt and controversy . Yet strange to say , we have very few old minute books in England . There is a curious one at Alnwick , 1704 , and the Lodge of Industry , Gateshead , has another .
But so far , except Alnwick , no contemporary minute book of 1717 is known to be in existence . This is not to say that they do not exist , but they are not yet come to the fore . Therefore , as Bro . WHYTEHEAD to whom we are indebted for the minutes of an extinct lod ge at Chester , well puts it , all our brethren should be always looking out for similar documents .
Grand Lodge has no earlier records than 1723 , and though one or two of the London lodges have " notes " up to 1721-22 , as was their wont in those days the entries are very short , and altogether silent on what we want most to know about . There can be no doubt that a great deal has yet to be discovered about seventeenth and early eighteenth century Freemasonry . A
Freemasonry and Masonic lodges existed as between 1600 and 1700 in England , of which we have only traces here and there . It will be very curious if the earlier history of Freemasonry in this country in the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century should be eventually found to be mixed up in
some measure with Hermetic Masonry . And therefore fully endorsing Bro . WHYTEHEAD ' S expectations in his last interesting paper on the Chester Lodge , we hope that without any preconceived ideas on this or that , all Masonic students will set to work to solve what is still a " Crux " to the thoughtful and enquiring Freemason .