The "Freemason."

publisher , it has tided over many difficulties , and successfully weathered the gale . At the present time it can boast of a larger circle of readers and subscribers than any English Masonic paper has ever received , and , with one or two exceptions , perhaps than any foreign Masonic journal . It

has been the first that has taken a high standard of Masonic literary excellence , and has maintained up to the present moment its intellectual character and its archaeological tone . It has led the way to that more critical study of our records , and annals , and monuments and

MS ., which has practically developed the modern Masonic historical school , and all passing topics it has handled witb prudence and firmness , with proper liberty of discussion , and yet with often needful reticence . And , one especial feature of its career has been its toleration of , and its con

sideration for contemporary Masonic literature it has never attacked and never maligned , it has nevereven condescended to the covert insinuation , or the ill-mannered taunt , but has always been free and fair , plain dealing and plain speaking , honest and aboveboard , firm in its own

principles , but courteous to all ! We think it advisable at the beginning of 1876 , to say all this , not to " sing our own praises , " nor to be our own " trumpeter , " but simply in justice to our publisher and ourselves ' . Such as we have been , such we shall continue to be . We hope still to

merit the confidence of our subscribers , and the approval of our readers . In the year before us , just as in the years behind us , we shall strive to keep up the high character of the " Freemason , " alike for correctness in our reports , independence of thought in our leaders , and an anxious

endeavour to deserve the good opinion and sympathy of a very numerous and very kindly clientele . We thank sincerely those good friends and brethren of ours , who have cheered us so greatly , and encouraged us so warmly , by their Masonic

countenance and support in times past , and especially the last twelve months , and we beg to ask them with the new year for a continuance of their liberal patronage , their welcome contributions , and , their zealous co-operation .

Masonic Swagger.

MASONIC SWAGGER .

We all of us know that a little swagger goes often a great way in common things and in daily life . Many unsophisticated natures , as well as easy going people , are sometimes alike imposed on and affected by pretentious swagger . As a general rule the swaggerer is , to use a common

and slang term , a " duffer , who covers the vacuity of his brain , or the tenuity of his acquirements , mental , critical , or intellectual , by the pretentious assumption or the overbearing demeanour ! And even in Freemasonry , as in all other mundane institutions , we often find plenty

of swagger , and not a few swaggerers . Who of us all does not recall even now that amiable but intolerable bore who will ever expatiate " ore rotundo " on what he has done for Freemasonry , and what he knows of Freemasonry ? To hear him talK , to peruse his magniloquent phrases ,

you would suppose that he was some Delphian oracle , some Masonic " Deusex machina ! " Nobody knows anything of Freemasonry as well as he does , nobody writes likes he does , nobody has ever done anything for Freemasonry , either in its literary development or its oratorical

studies , until he came to the rescue , until he burst on our astonished Order , in the plenitude of his archaeological knowledge , and the beauties ofhis ornate style . Well , they say every one has a delusion in this world , and why should he not have his , poor fellow ; if it amuses him , it does

not hurt any one else that we know of . So we shrug our shoulders with a look of pity on such harmless self-deception . For if the truth be told , the perpetrator of this Masonic swagger for the most part , is certain never to " set the Thames on fire . " He has , no doubt , great

readiness of assertion and a considerable amount of " native brass , " but when he comes to " chapter and verse " the true Masonic student soon " spots " his deficiencies and is amused both b y his blunders and his ignorance , which

are pretty much " on a par . ' We have listened to not unfrequently the Masonic swaggerer , and found him generally to be a plausible sciolist . We have perused many specimens of Masonic swagger , and for the most part they were only

Masonic Swagger.

that and nothing else . The froth on the surface , not to say the scum of the pot . Such communications for the most prut are very melanchol y reading . If the fool will w ; ar his motley let him do so hy all means , and jingle his bells and rjttle his " bauble" in the great vanity fair of

life , but let him leave Freemasonry alone . It is far too serious a matter to be handed over to the empirical , the charlatan , the swaggerer , and the ignorant . Ihe students of Freemasonry know well to-day both the difficulties and th-j dangers of their

course . They aie seeking , all real ones are at any rate , to matter historical truth , plain honest reliable truth " pur et simple , " without any admixture or fable , or fiction , or gloss , or myth , truth without pretence , alloy , or swagger of any kind . But the swaggerer does not take this more

real and enlig htened course . Not he . He has not studied the subject carefully or critically , and so he objects to and denounces all who have been so rash as to do so . " He does not approve , he says , of doubters or iconoclasts . " He does not like going too deep into any theory . He has

got a smattering of Masonic history , or archaeology or symbolism , or ritualism , as the case may be , and swagger does the rest for him . Now he always undervalues privately , and publicly deprecates the labours of ardent students of bumble enquirers . " He said so and so , " "his opinion

is to this effect , " " he does not see the good of such enquiries , " " he knows all that needs be known , " and " beyond that he thinks , " we " are going too far , and he disapproves of it , & c , & c , & c . How often in our life , have we heard these dreariest of utterances , how often have we

seen the ' ' wet blanket " thrown upon the intelligent , and the enquiring . When then , any lodge is blessed by that brother who " will be heard , " and " won ' t be put clown , " who swaggers in the lodge , and at the banquet , whose whole Masonic career is summed up in tho- one word " swagger "

whose ignorance is only equalled by his impudence , and whose overbearing disposition is onl y surpassed by his unconquerable " cheek , " we pity that lodge deeply , and unless some good fates or some countervailing influence should intervene for it , is doomed to the " husks " and rubbish ,

and '' debris of Freemasonry as long as that 1 ntoward specimen of Fieemasonry rules thc roast . We do not wish to pursue the subject further , except to say , that we do not ourselves believe that " swagger " happily ever long prevails after all . We have to encounter it daily , we peruse its " outcome '

every now and then , but luckily we are living in a discerning age , and though it treats all its friends even to its own childish impertinence , or its own idle boasting , it does very little harm indeed , after all , and may safely we think , be left to the discernment ofthe intelligent , the pity ofthe intellectual , and the contempt of the wise and instructed Craftsman .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

I We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving of thcopinions expressed by onr correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —liu . ]

THE ORDER OF THE TEMI'LE . To the Editor of the Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — I am sure the kindly letter signed " Richard Woof , Sub-Prior of Worcestershire , " which appeared in your issue of the 18 th ult ., has b ; en read with much interest and satisfaction by all the members of the Order of

the Temple , as coming from one who has most evidently the " true interests " of the Order at heart , and who really desires to lend his " influence and aid " towards the healing of those differences which most unhappily exist amongst us at the present time . The publication of the paper issued from Ihe Chancery , to which you have given so prominent a position on page 591 of your issue for the

25 th ult ., was not only an act of fairness on your part , as you had from time to time inserted in your columns memorials against the new statutes , but I consider it is an act calculated most strongly to serve the " true interests " of our Order , as " throwing ( as you have already stated ) considerable light upon the compilation and authorship of the new statutes , " against which there has been , and i * , I am sorry to see , so much opposition . A careful and calm

perusal of this document will , I hope , convince many that the changes which have been made are at least not the results of either hasty or clandestine legislation , and that the objections which have been raised to th se changes are answered in a straightforward and courteous manner . The p-ovince in which I have the honour to hold office memorialised the Great Prior , under date 25 th February last , and I think if you will be so good as to publish the ac-

Original Correspondence.

companying copy of our memorial it may help to throw a little more light on the matters in dispute . I find it necessary , however , to correct a misapprehension which seems to have arisen regarding the receipt by the officers of thc Great Priory of a similar copy of our said memorial some five or six months ago . It has been thought by some that these copies were sent out from the office of the

Chancery of our Order because our memorial was in favour of , and not against , the new statutes . This is a thorough mistake . By direction of our Provincial Prior I sent them out myself after my arrival in England in May last , each cover being addressed in my own handwriting . I wrote

and asked the Vice-Chancellor , it is true , to send them out , as he had the addresses of the officers of the Great Priory , but he declined to accede to my request , and referred me to the Calendar for the information I required . If then any officer of the Great Priory has not received a copy of our mcmoiial , it has been because I was unable to trac

his name and address . Trusting you may find room for this communication in your next issue , and with many good wishes , I am , dear Sir and brother , yours faithfully and fraternally , TUDOR TREVOR , Provincial Cnansellor Bombay .

To Ihe Editor of lhc Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — In the " Freemason , " December 25 th , there appears an article under the head of the United Orders of the Temple and Hospital , in one part of which the writer draws a comparison betwixt Knights Commanders , and Past Masters of lodges ceasing to be subscribing members . Of

the latter he says " But in Craft Masonry , if he ceases to subscribe for a year his right lapses , and he becomes a mere Master Mason , nor can he recover his position and franchise without again serving as Master of a lodge . ' ' This is a theorem which admits of considerable doubt , being opposed to the spiiit and principle of Masonry , contrary to the usages and customs of the Order , and

unsupported by law . In order to understand this matter more clearly it will become necessary to ascertain what is meant b y Past Master , and in what relationship does he stand to a Master Mason . " In ancient times no brother , however skilled in the Craft , was called a Master Mason until he had been elected into the chair of a lodge , " so that originally the

term Master and Master Mason were synonymous , but the Act of Union laid down that pure Masonry should consist of three degrees , viz ., Entered Apprentice , Fellow Craft , and Master Mason , and inasmuch as no community or borly of men can conduct their deliberations in proper order without a governor , or head , it still remained that the brethren should elect one of their number to presideover them ,

who , after he had been installed , they should call Master . Hence arose the distinction between Master Mason and Master of a lodge , nor is this a distinction without a difference . The law says " He shall be duly installed in the chair according to ancient usage , " at which ceremony " mere Master Masons " are not admitted , and none but actual Installed Masters , or Past Masters , can take part in

the proceedings ; even a W . M . elect cannot be admitted . It will therefore appear that , de forma , this is a fourth degree , as superior to a Master Mason as the latter is to the Fellow Craft , inasmuch as there are obligations , signs , words , & c , which are held as sacred from a " mere Master Mason , " as from the popular world ; and further , so long as memory retains its seat , these entitle him to be recognized as a

Past Master , equally as the rites , & c , of the Master Mason or Fellow Craft entitle them to their distinctions . In addition to this , the law grants him certain privileges subject to certain conditions . First , that so long as he holds the office of Master he shall be a member of Grand Lodge , and having executed that office for one year shall , so long as he continues a subscribing member of any

lodge-, rank as a Past Master , and be a member of Grand Lodge . Having ascertained the difference in position , rank , and privilege possessed by a Master , or Past Master , above that of a " mere Master Mason , " let us next consider the conditions upon which he continues to secure those privileges , and what he sacrifices by failing to comply with those conditions .

What is it then that entitles him to a continuance of those privileges ? Continuous subscription to a lodge which if broken or interrupted for twelve months " he shall no longer continue a member of Grand Lodge . " Observe I it does not say he shall no longer be a Past Master , nor does it say he shall become a " mere Master Mason . " By ceasing to subscribe he loses his lodge membership ,

and the privileges connected therewith ; he also sacrifices his right of membership of the Grand Lodge . The wi iter of the article grants that by ceasing to subscribe he does not cease to be a Mason . If then we admit the axiom " once a Mason " always a Mason , " by the same course of reasoning it may be demonstrated that once a Past Master always a Past Master ; and that the rights

and privileges of the one are no more affected by ceasing to subscribe than the rights and privileges of the other : one ceases to be a member of a private lodge , while tl other , in addition , loses his membership of the Grand Lodge , the Masonic rank of each remaining unchanged . This brings us then to the consideration of the latter part of the writer ' s theory . " Nor can he recover his position and franchise without again serving as Master of a lodge .

On what law does he establish this statement ? The Constitutions are comparatively silent on this point . Certainly they provide for a brother b : coming affiliated to a lodge after his privileges have lapsed , through not subscribing or otherwise ; but nowhere , even by implication , do they warrant the assumption of the writer of the article . On the contrary , they seem to imply that on a Past Master rejoining a lodge ( after a ' apse ) he does so in the posses-