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Article NOTES ON THE CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION. ← Page 2 of 3 Article NOTES ON THE CEREMONY OF INSTALLATION. Page 2 of 3 →
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Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.
his Masonic career . He was nominated by the Duke of Kent , one of the orig inal members of the Lodge of Reconciliation , and was seldom absent from its meetings , generally officiating as S . VV . He was a warm supporter of the Boys' School , and a regular attendant at the meetings of the Committee of that Institution .
Henry Rogers , P . M . No . 5 , is thus referred to by the writer of his obituary in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , 1835 . " Brother Rogers ' s career in Masonry was sincerely characterized by strict propriety . Fully
competent to the most important duties , he was always ready to fill the junior offices when circumstances rendered it necessary . For several years he was the Installing Officer of the Bank of England Lodge , the members of which entertain an affectionate reverence for his worth . "
In contemplating the signatures of these old brethren , and hunting up their achievements , I find it somewhat difficult to avoid running into a sort of Masonic biography , and thereby losing sight ot my first intention , which was merely to show in what manner our ceremony of installation originated and received official sanction , and the channel by which the present
generation obtained a knowledge of it . Having completed , I hope to the satisfaction of all concerned , the former portion of my undertaking , I will now endeavour to discharge the latter , and for this purpose will first offer a few observations on the subject of general lodges of instruction . In all
probability assemblages of Masons for the purpose of mutual instruction are coeval with the formation of regular lodges meeting on stated days , but when the lodges met much more frequently than they do now , there was , as a matter of course , less need of lodges of instruction .
An examination of the old lists will show that many lodges formerly held fortnightly meetings , and some even more frequently ; for instance , No . 163 , of 1738 , is advertised to meet on the ist , 2 nd , and 3 rd Thursday , and to hold a Master ' s Lodge every Sunday ; and , as I happen to have the minute book of the period before me , I can safely say that the lodge did so
meet . No special legislation for instruction purposes seems to have been required until after the Union , when the ceremonies were re-arranged and promulgated throughout the English Fraternity , and lodges of instruction naturally became important factors in our Masonic system . I cannot find them mentioned in the Constitutions prior to 1819 ; but in this edition
regulations similar in substance to those now in force appear , and others have been added as circumstances required . Fifteen Lodges of Instruction are named in the Calendar for 1814 ( issued in November , 1813 ) , and the same number in that for 1815 , after which years they appear to have been entirely omitted from the Calendar until 1841 , when , under the heading of
"Lodges of Instruction which have given notice of their meetings in conformity with the laws of the Grand Lodge , " three only are named in London , although it is quite certain that many others were at this time in active and regular work . Ten years later the list includes 29 , and others were added , increasing year by year , the last issue of the Calendar showing no less than 148 in the London district alone .
The first volume of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , published in 1834 , gives a list of 12 Lodges of Instruction in London , with the names of about 20 brethren who attended them for the purpose of imparting Masonic
knowledge . At the head of this list stands the " Emulation Lodge of Improvement , Blue Posts , Charlotte-street , Rathbone Place ; Friday , at 7 in the winter and 8 in the summer . Brothers Dovvley , Cooper , Wilson , Pitt , & c . "
Each of the lodges mentioned appear to have been attended by several of these old instructors , some of whose names are appended to more than one of the lodges . Unfortunately , the early records of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement are lost , but the list of members from its commencement is still preserved intact .
The last-named publication for 1836 contains the following brief outline of its origin . "About the year 1823 several Brethren considered that the Masonic lectures were not worked in Lodges upon a sufficiently regulated system , and that if those whose attainments as working Masons placed them as a prominent authority were to meet together and to work efficiently ,
they might be the means of effecting much improvement . They accordingly •net , we believe , in Wardour Street , pursuant to a general notice in the Public papers , which advertisement created a considerable sensation in the Craft . Some members of the Grand Stewards Lodge , hitherto the only authority for a recognised system , felt that it was necessary to watch the
proceedings . Some Grand Officers , with Brother E . Harper , the Grand Secretary , also attended . The several chairs , from the Master to the Outer Guard , were all filled with the most practical and experienced Masons of the day ; and we have the authority of a Grand Officer for stating , that never
was there so perfect an illustration of the ceremonies and lectures ever before manifested . The visitors separated highly delighted ; amongst ftem the lamented Peter Gilkes , who so highly approved of the proceedings , fnat in about twelve months afterwards he joined the Lodge , and supported 11 until the time of his death .
'At first the object was confined to the delivering of lectures , but after-Wards the ceremonies were introduced which gave great satisfaction , gratified as we are to bear testimony to the value and importance of this Lod ge , and satisfied as we are of its influence on the Craft , we must enter 0 u r caution to the leading members of it not to relax from the discipline so
unremittingly enforced by the institutors , and which was especially observed b y the late Peter Gilkes . We do not make this allusion without cause . Let " excellent Brethren to whose care the interests of the Lodge are unanimo usly confided , feel no diffidence in correcting the passing errors . They should
remember that error may become practice unless early checked , nd we further call upon the junior members to weigh with scrupulous care . e language which the landmarks permit , and not to be too ready to alter , ln the sli ghtest degree , what is in itself so excellent . "
Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.
The estimation in which this Lodge of Improvement was held half a century ago is thus plainly manifested , and the distinguished place it has ever since occupied is ample evidence that the warning contained in the concluding sentences was fully appreciated by those for whom it was intended .
The reader will observe that one person is particularly mentioned in the foregoing quotation , and as there are probably very few now living who were acquainted with the "late Peter Gilkes" I will here introduce a few extracts from his biography in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review of 1834 .
" An honest man ' s the noblest work of God . " " Brother Peter William Gilkes was born on the ist of May , 1765 , in the neighbourhood of Carnaby Market , and baptised a member of the Catholic church in the same year ; he was named alter the late Lord Petre , who had been an excellent friend to his family The funeral
of a distinguished brother , whom the Craft honoured by a public procession , first directed his attention to Masonry ; enquiry satisfied his mind of the utility and benevolent views of of the Order , and he was initiated in the year 1786 , at the age of twenty-one , in the British Lodge , now No . 8 . Delighted with the science , he devoted his energies and time to qualify himself for those honours which Masonry holds out for the deserving . . .
" The Lodge of Unity , now 82 , satisfied with his attainments and general conduct , first elected him their Master . He filled successively the chairs of 23 , 188 , 201 , 211 , 318 , 259 , and 7 , several times each , and died the
Worshipful Master of the St . Michael's Lodge , No . 235 . For the last 16 years of his life he was a distinguished member of the Board of Benevolence , to qualify himself for which he , during that period , annually filled the chair of a lodge , and discharged its arduous duties . . . .
" The difficulties Bro . Gilkes had encountered in perfecting himself in Masonry made him resolve to teach gratuitously such brethren as were disposed to attend him every day from one o ' clock till time to attend some
lodge or other , where his evenings were generally spent ; he was always ready to receive them for this purpose , and even made several journies into Lincolnshire , Cambridge , and Norfolk , refusing all remuneration further than the mere expenses of his visit . . . .
" He was in a manner something Johnsonian in regard to Masonry—no advantage could be taken of him in lodge—he would not allow the slightest deviation in word , or manner , or matter , to please the most learned or the
most accomplished in other subjects ; we have observed him correct many men of rank and influence for deviations from the standard of Masonic illustration , and who , to their credit , acknowledged the reproof with all the courtesy which became their allegiance to the Craft . . . .
" In his youth he must have been an extremely powerful man , for when in his 67 th year , on his return from the Blackfriars Lodge , he was attacked in Lincoln ' s Inn Fields by four men , three ot whom he knocked down ; he generally carried a cook ' s knife to defend himself with in case of attack , but , fortunately , he had left it at home on the night of the attack .
" Although universally held in esteem amongst Masons , his conduct was always characterised by good sense ; he never aspired beyond his station in life , and declined the honour of an office in the Grand Lodge , because he considered that his circumstances in life were not equal to the appointment . "
Peter Gilkes died on the I ith , and was buried on the 19 th December , 18 33 , in St . James ' s Churchyard , Piccadilly . " The highest tribute of respect to departed merit was amply offered in the number as well as b y the character of a larger concourse of the Fraternity than were probably ever congregated at any Masonic meeting , whether of a public nature or upon
any occasion of festivity . " In the following year ( 18 34 ) , a Committee was appointed to collect subscriptions for the purpose of erecting a monument to his memory . As may readily be imagined , the many admirers of the departed brother , soon enabled the Committee to carry out their wishes , and a most appropriate and handsome tablet , the gratuitous design of his
friend and pupil , the late Stephen Barton Wilson , P . G . D ., wis placed on one of the pillars in the South aisle of the above-named church , where it can still be seen by anyone who cares to inspect it . No doubt the foregoing extracts will sufficiently evince the esteem in which this worthy brother was held by the Fraternity in London , forming , however , but a
very small portion of the well-merited encomiums bestowed upon him ; indeed , I question whether any single individual , either before his time or since , has attained to such distinction as a Masonic instructor . Gifted with an extraordinary memory , he seems to have to come to the front at a period when his peculiar qualifications were most in demand , and consequently
fully appreciated . The official records show that he was a frequent attendant at the Lodges of Promulgation and Reconciliation , and , as will be seen , he attended every meeting of the •' Board of Installation . " The following copy of a letter written by W . H . White , Grand Secretary , will indicate the official estimate of his character and abilities :
"F . M . Hall , 6 Sept ., 1843 . " W . Master , In reply to yr letter of the 5 th instant enquiring whether any alterations have been made in the Ceremonies of Initiation , & c , since the late P . Gilkes was in the Country ; I beg to say ( without knowing at what
period that visit took place ) that no alterations have been made since the G . Lo . formally approved and decided on them in the year 1816 . Br , Gilkes was fully Master of all the Ceremonies ' and I believe most strictly observed them . " I remain
W . Master , " Lodge 323 , Yrs fraternally , Kidderminster . " W . H . W ., G . S . I cannot well close my remarks on the career of Bro . Gilkes without adverting to his connection with the Emulation Lodge of Improvement
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.
his Masonic career . He was nominated by the Duke of Kent , one of the orig inal members of the Lodge of Reconciliation , and was seldom absent from its meetings , generally officiating as S . VV . He was a warm supporter of the Boys' School , and a regular attendant at the meetings of the Committee of that Institution .
Henry Rogers , P . M . No . 5 , is thus referred to by the writer of his obituary in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , 1835 . " Brother Rogers ' s career in Masonry was sincerely characterized by strict propriety . Fully
competent to the most important duties , he was always ready to fill the junior offices when circumstances rendered it necessary . For several years he was the Installing Officer of the Bank of England Lodge , the members of which entertain an affectionate reverence for his worth . "
In contemplating the signatures of these old brethren , and hunting up their achievements , I find it somewhat difficult to avoid running into a sort of Masonic biography , and thereby losing sight ot my first intention , which was merely to show in what manner our ceremony of installation originated and received official sanction , and the channel by which the present
generation obtained a knowledge of it . Having completed , I hope to the satisfaction of all concerned , the former portion of my undertaking , I will now endeavour to discharge the latter , and for this purpose will first offer a few observations on the subject of general lodges of instruction . In all
probability assemblages of Masons for the purpose of mutual instruction are coeval with the formation of regular lodges meeting on stated days , but when the lodges met much more frequently than they do now , there was , as a matter of course , less need of lodges of instruction .
An examination of the old lists will show that many lodges formerly held fortnightly meetings , and some even more frequently ; for instance , No . 163 , of 1738 , is advertised to meet on the ist , 2 nd , and 3 rd Thursday , and to hold a Master ' s Lodge every Sunday ; and , as I happen to have the minute book of the period before me , I can safely say that the lodge did so
meet . No special legislation for instruction purposes seems to have been required until after the Union , when the ceremonies were re-arranged and promulgated throughout the English Fraternity , and lodges of instruction naturally became important factors in our Masonic system . I cannot find them mentioned in the Constitutions prior to 1819 ; but in this edition
regulations similar in substance to those now in force appear , and others have been added as circumstances required . Fifteen Lodges of Instruction are named in the Calendar for 1814 ( issued in November , 1813 ) , and the same number in that for 1815 , after which years they appear to have been entirely omitted from the Calendar until 1841 , when , under the heading of
"Lodges of Instruction which have given notice of their meetings in conformity with the laws of the Grand Lodge , " three only are named in London , although it is quite certain that many others were at this time in active and regular work . Ten years later the list includes 29 , and others were added , increasing year by year , the last issue of the Calendar showing no less than 148 in the London district alone .
The first volume of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , published in 1834 , gives a list of 12 Lodges of Instruction in London , with the names of about 20 brethren who attended them for the purpose of imparting Masonic
knowledge . At the head of this list stands the " Emulation Lodge of Improvement , Blue Posts , Charlotte-street , Rathbone Place ; Friday , at 7 in the winter and 8 in the summer . Brothers Dovvley , Cooper , Wilson , Pitt , & c . "
Each of the lodges mentioned appear to have been attended by several of these old instructors , some of whose names are appended to more than one of the lodges . Unfortunately , the early records of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement are lost , but the list of members from its commencement is still preserved intact .
The last-named publication for 1836 contains the following brief outline of its origin . "About the year 1823 several Brethren considered that the Masonic lectures were not worked in Lodges upon a sufficiently regulated system , and that if those whose attainments as working Masons placed them as a prominent authority were to meet together and to work efficiently ,
they might be the means of effecting much improvement . They accordingly •net , we believe , in Wardour Street , pursuant to a general notice in the Public papers , which advertisement created a considerable sensation in the Craft . Some members of the Grand Stewards Lodge , hitherto the only authority for a recognised system , felt that it was necessary to watch the
proceedings . Some Grand Officers , with Brother E . Harper , the Grand Secretary , also attended . The several chairs , from the Master to the Outer Guard , were all filled with the most practical and experienced Masons of the day ; and we have the authority of a Grand Officer for stating , that never
was there so perfect an illustration of the ceremonies and lectures ever before manifested . The visitors separated highly delighted ; amongst ftem the lamented Peter Gilkes , who so highly approved of the proceedings , fnat in about twelve months afterwards he joined the Lodge , and supported 11 until the time of his death .
'At first the object was confined to the delivering of lectures , but after-Wards the ceremonies were introduced which gave great satisfaction , gratified as we are to bear testimony to the value and importance of this Lod ge , and satisfied as we are of its influence on the Craft , we must enter 0 u r caution to the leading members of it not to relax from the discipline so
unremittingly enforced by the institutors , and which was especially observed b y the late Peter Gilkes . We do not make this allusion without cause . Let " excellent Brethren to whose care the interests of the Lodge are unanimo usly confided , feel no diffidence in correcting the passing errors . They should
remember that error may become practice unless early checked , nd we further call upon the junior members to weigh with scrupulous care . e language which the landmarks permit , and not to be too ready to alter , ln the sli ghtest degree , what is in itself so excellent . "
Notes On The Ceremony Of Installation.
The estimation in which this Lodge of Improvement was held half a century ago is thus plainly manifested , and the distinguished place it has ever since occupied is ample evidence that the warning contained in the concluding sentences was fully appreciated by those for whom it was intended .
The reader will observe that one person is particularly mentioned in the foregoing quotation , and as there are probably very few now living who were acquainted with the "late Peter Gilkes" I will here introduce a few extracts from his biography in the Freemasons' Quarterly Review of 1834 .
" An honest man ' s the noblest work of God . " " Brother Peter William Gilkes was born on the ist of May , 1765 , in the neighbourhood of Carnaby Market , and baptised a member of the Catholic church in the same year ; he was named alter the late Lord Petre , who had been an excellent friend to his family The funeral
of a distinguished brother , whom the Craft honoured by a public procession , first directed his attention to Masonry ; enquiry satisfied his mind of the utility and benevolent views of of the Order , and he was initiated in the year 1786 , at the age of twenty-one , in the British Lodge , now No . 8 . Delighted with the science , he devoted his energies and time to qualify himself for those honours which Masonry holds out for the deserving . . .
" The Lodge of Unity , now 82 , satisfied with his attainments and general conduct , first elected him their Master . He filled successively the chairs of 23 , 188 , 201 , 211 , 318 , 259 , and 7 , several times each , and died the
Worshipful Master of the St . Michael's Lodge , No . 235 . For the last 16 years of his life he was a distinguished member of the Board of Benevolence , to qualify himself for which he , during that period , annually filled the chair of a lodge , and discharged its arduous duties . . . .
" The difficulties Bro . Gilkes had encountered in perfecting himself in Masonry made him resolve to teach gratuitously such brethren as were disposed to attend him every day from one o ' clock till time to attend some
lodge or other , where his evenings were generally spent ; he was always ready to receive them for this purpose , and even made several journies into Lincolnshire , Cambridge , and Norfolk , refusing all remuneration further than the mere expenses of his visit . . . .
" He was in a manner something Johnsonian in regard to Masonry—no advantage could be taken of him in lodge—he would not allow the slightest deviation in word , or manner , or matter , to please the most learned or the
most accomplished in other subjects ; we have observed him correct many men of rank and influence for deviations from the standard of Masonic illustration , and who , to their credit , acknowledged the reproof with all the courtesy which became their allegiance to the Craft . . . .
" In his youth he must have been an extremely powerful man , for when in his 67 th year , on his return from the Blackfriars Lodge , he was attacked in Lincoln ' s Inn Fields by four men , three ot whom he knocked down ; he generally carried a cook ' s knife to defend himself with in case of attack , but , fortunately , he had left it at home on the night of the attack .
" Although universally held in esteem amongst Masons , his conduct was always characterised by good sense ; he never aspired beyond his station in life , and declined the honour of an office in the Grand Lodge , because he considered that his circumstances in life were not equal to the appointment . "
Peter Gilkes died on the I ith , and was buried on the 19 th December , 18 33 , in St . James ' s Churchyard , Piccadilly . " The highest tribute of respect to departed merit was amply offered in the number as well as b y the character of a larger concourse of the Fraternity than were probably ever congregated at any Masonic meeting , whether of a public nature or upon
any occasion of festivity . " In the following year ( 18 34 ) , a Committee was appointed to collect subscriptions for the purpose of erecting a monument to his memory . As may readily be imagined , the many admirers of the departed brother , soon enabled the Committee to carry out their wishes , and a most appropriate and handsome tablet , the gratuitous design of his
friend and pupil , the late Stephen Barton Wilson , P . G . D ., wis placed on one of the pillars in the South aisle of the above-named church , where it can still be seen by anyone who cares to inspect it . No doubt the foregoing extracts will sufficiently evince the esteem in which this worthy brother was held by the Fraternity in London , forming , however , but a
very small portion of the well-merited encomiums bestowed upon him ; indeed , I question whether any single individual , either before his time or since , has attained to such distinction as a Masonic instructor . Gifted with an extraordinary memory , he seems to have to come to the front at a period when his peculiar qualifications were most in demand , and consequently
fully appreciated . The official records show that he was a frequent attendant at the Lodges of Promulgation and Reconciliation , and , as will be seen , he attended every meeting of the •' Board of Installation . " The following copy of a letter written by W . H . White , Grand Secretary , will indicate the official estimate of his character and abilities :
"F . M . Hall , 6 Sept ., 1843 . " W . Master , In reply to yr letter of the 5 th instant enquiring whether any alterations have been made in the Ceremonies of Initiation , & c , since the late P . Gilkes was in the Country ; I beg to say ( without knowing at what
period that visit took place ) that no alterations have been made since the G . Lo . formally approved and decided on them in the year 1816 . Br , Gilkes was fully Master of all the Ceremonies ' and I believe most strictly observed them . " I remain
W . Master , " Lodge 323 , Yrs fraternally , Kidderminster . " W . H . W ., G . S . I cannot well close my remarks on the career of Bro . Gilkes without adverting to his connection with the Emulation Lodge of Improvement