History Of The Lodge Of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), No. 1.*

noteworthy of those subsequently admitted may be mentioned Alexander Hamilton , General of His Majesty ' s Artillery and Master of his Ordnance and Ammunition , who fought under King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden , in the 30 years' war , and

who was admitted " fellow and Mr . " on the 20 th May , 1640 , his collateral descendant being the present Earl of Haddington , who was Grand Master Mason of Scotland 1 S 92-93 ; and Robert Moray , Quarter Master General of the Scots army which

defeated Charles I . ' s troops at Newburn , and subsequently occupied Newcastle , where he was admitted a member of No . 1 on the 20 th May , 1641 . Of this Moray , or Murray as the name is spelt by historians and in judicial registers , Bro . LYON

remarks that " his subsequent public career , not less than his character as a private gentleman , was such as to reflect honour upon the Fraternity . In Burnet ' s estimation he was ' the wisest and worthiest man of the age . ' He was

the son of Sir Robert Murray , of Craigie , by a daughter of Halket of Pitferran . Me served in the French army under Richelieu , prior to his appointment to the post which he held when admitted to the Lodge of Edinburgh . He was with the

Scottish army to which Charles in 1646 delivered himself , and designed a scheme for the King ' s escape , which failed through his Majesty ' s irresolution . He took a prominent part in the negotiations in Church matters between Charles II . and his

Presbyterian subjects . Possessing the Royal confidence , he was made a Privy Councillor , Justice Clerk , and a Lord of Session , and was subsequently associated with the Duke of Lauderdale in the direction of Scottish affairs . He was one

of the founders of the Royal Society , and promoted its objects by delivering lectures and exhibiting experiments—the geology of Scotland being a favourite branch of his studies . He died in June , 16 73 , and was buried in the Canongate churchyard . "

A peculiarity about the admission of Robert Moray which is noted by Bro . LvON , is that it is one of two notable instances of making Masons outside of the lodge , of which this was condoned , while in the other , John Fulltoun , who was chiefly

concerned , having " taken upon him to passe and enter sevrall gentlemen without licence or commission from this place , " brought upon himself severe censureand was not rcponed—i . e ., restored to his rights and privileges—until he had made due acknowledgment

of his fault and paid to the Warden of the lodge " fourtic punds Scotts . " We are told that " traces of the custom of granting written licences to enter mesons at a distance from the Lodge arc ; found in the minutes ol the Lodges of Kilwinning ,

Dunblane , and the now extinct village of Ilaughfoot ( Peeblesshire ) . " Had such things happened in these days the expenditure of pens , ink , and papers in demonstrating the monstrosity of such invasions of lodge jurisdiction would have been something terrible to contemplate .

We have dwelt on these personal accounts of the early gentlemen members of Lodge No . 1 , and the instances quoted by the author of Masons being made at a distance from the Lodge , not because it is new matter , but because of the interest it cannot fail to excite in the readers of the volume .

But much as we should like to dwell on the mailers of importance which are dealt with in the following chapters , to wit . the Old Charges—with which Bro . HuGHA . N has made us so familiar , and to whose valuable efforts in bringing them to light and classifying

them according to their dates and peculiarities , Bro . LvON pays a warm tribute of admiration—and the visit of Dr . Desaguliers to the Scottish capital and his conference with the office-bearers and members of the lodge , we must rest content with

commending to the readers the information vouchsafed us by the author on these and other matters which have necessarily claimed a large share of his attention . Thence we pass to the period when the Grand Lodge of

Scotland was inaugurated , and the differences which subsequently led up to the secession of Lodge Kilwinning from the "cncral body of Masons . There is indeed no reason why we

should touch upon these matters , seeing that the Masonic body ' ¦ vnerallv has become familiar with them not merely through the medium of the former edition of this work , but likewise from

numerous other works ol a cognate kind which have been 1 tiblished at intervals since 18 73 . As to ( he career of the lodge Miu . clhe commencement of the Grand Lodge era , and the vicissi-

History Of The Lodge Of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), No. 1.*

tudes of fortune it has experienced , these have been alread y most fully described by Bro . LYON , nor need we say more than that the history of the lodge , which terminated in the former edition shortly after H . R . H . the Prince of Wales had been installed as

Grand Patron of the Fraternity in Scotland , and was affiliated to No . 1 , has been continued to the present time , the narrative being marked by that completeness and accuracy which are the leading characteristics of whatever has come from Bro . LYON ' S

pen . But the facts he has so carefully chronicled have happened within our own time , and it must suffice if we say that he has made a special feature of the Tercentenary Festival which was held in the summer of last year in commemoration of

the earliest records extant of this , or , indeed , of any lod ge in existence . The account given of this unique event in Masonic history leaves nothing to be desired as regards fulness of detail , and the author has spared no pains in his endeavours to

do justice to the efforts of those in charge of the arrangements . There is also a full record of the service held early in February of the present year in St . Giles ' s Cathedral in aid of the War Funds , and an ail-too brief memoir of Bro . LYON himself

included in the Appendix and compiled by the Committee to which that portion of the volume was entrusted . There are also lists of the Grand Master Masons of Scotland from 1736 to the present year ; of those who have presided year by year—so far

as it was possible to make it complete—over the Lodge of Edinburgh ; of the Ticket holders to the Tercentenary banquet ) and of the original subscribers to this Tercentenary Edition of the History . We reserve the further comments we have made for a third and concluding article , which will appear next week .

Masonic Jurisprudence.

MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE .

[ COMMUNICATED . I QUALIFICATION OF A CANDIDATE . The antient charges tell us that persons made Masons or admitted members of a lodge must be " good and true men , free born , and of mature and discreet age and sound judgment ; no

bond men , no women , no immoral or scandalous men , but of good report" . . . "having no maim or defect in his bod y that may render him incapable of learning the art . " The Constitutions ( Article 187 ) add that he must be unbiassed by the improper solicitation of friends and uninfluenced by mercenary

or other unworthy motive , and that he must be prompted by a favourable opinion preconceived of the Order and the desire of knowledge , and all illiterate persons arc expressly excluded .

Tradition , as well as Article 186 , stipulate further that a candidate shall be , at the time of his initiation , in such reputable circumstances and of such means as will enable him to incur the necessary expenses without unduly straining his resources .

In enumerating the qualification of a candidate , Oliver ( Jurisprudence , p . 24 ) very fitly quotes the XVth . Psalm : "lb : that leadeth an uncorrupt life and useth no deceit in his tongue . . . . if he swear unto his neighbour he disappointeth him not . "

In 17 6 3 it was laid down that the worthy candidate was one who "to a we'll informed and accomplished mind added elegance of manners and a conduct guided by principle . . . who contracted no debts that he could not pay . . . " ( Oliver , ibid ) . That a Freemason should be a free man is axiomatic ,

but previous to 1847 it was necessary that he should be a free man born of a free woman . But by the Emancipation Act a good many persons became free men who yet were not born of

free mothers , and on September 1 st , 18 47 , Grand Lodge decided to abolish the disqualification , and now the onl y reference to parentage is in the IVth Section of the Antient Charges , where " honc . il" parents are spoken of .

The older Constitutions retain , of course , in the candidate s declaration " I . . being free by birth . . ., " and the lectures have references to the " degrading habit of slavery , " although it is fair to say that in practice modifications are made . The older Constitutions did not specify the age of the

candidate , but simply required him to be of mature and discreet age , Article 187 defines mature age to be the legal age of manhood , 21 years , and this requirement fits in with the definition of a

" free " man . In present times there is no question of slavery , and , therefore , a free man may well mean a man who is free to act independently of the consent ol his legal guardians , a lreedom which he only attains at the age of 21 . There is much misconception as to the conditions under which minors may be initiated . Oliver savs that it lias been a