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Article SERVICES OF THE GRAND OFFICERS. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS. Page 1 of 1 Article MODERN FRENCH FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 2 →
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Services Of The Grand Officers.
SERVICES OF THE GRAND OFFICERS .
GRAND J UNIOR WARDEN . Bro . Justice CAVE was initiated in thc Apollo University Lodge , at Oxford , in 1851 , and was M . M . in 1 S 52 , but never held any office in his
mother lodge . He was one of the founders of the Northern Star Lodge , and was in successive years Treasurer , Senior Warden , W . M ., I . P . M ., and Treasurer , but resigned the latter office on being appointed one of the judges of the High Court of Justice .
GRAND S ENIOR DEACON . Bro . Sir J AMES R AMSDEN , well-known as the founder and first Mayor of the important town of Barrow-in-Furness , to which office he was elected six successive years , was initiated in the Hartington Lodge , No . 1021 , Barrow-in-Furness , in November , 1864 ; was Senior Warden 1868 , and
eleeted to the Worship ful Master ' s chair in 1873 , and again in 1874 . Appointed Grand Senior Warden for the Province of West Lancashire October , 1873 . Sir James is a liberal supporter of the Masonic Charities . Bro . Sir Tames Ramsden received the honour of Knig hthood at the hands
of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle , on the 25 th June , 1872 , and was Hig h Sheriff of Lancashire in 1873 ; he is also a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Lancaster , and in the Commission of the Peace for Lancashire , and for the county of Cumberland , and Vice-Commodore of the Royal Barrow Yacht Club .
GRAND SENIOR DEACON . Bro . Major-General HENRY CLERK , R . Artillery , F . R . S ., Senior Grand Deacon , was initiated in the Union Waterloo Lodge , No . 13 , Woolwich , on the nth February , 1852 . After passing through all the offices , he served as W . Master in the year 1857 . In the same year he became one of the orig inal members of the Florence Nightingale Lodge , No . 706 , Woolwich ,
and held the chair of W . Master in it the ensuing year . In the year 1 S 72 , he was one of the founders of the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 13 S 3 , London , and served as Master in the year 1875 . Bro . General Clerk was exalted in Union Waterloo Chapter , No . 13 , Woolwich , on the 29 th April , 1853 , and in the year i 860 he served as its First Principal . He is at
present a member of Chapter 1383 , London , and on the 4 th inst . was appointed Principal G . Sojourner of England . He was for ten years one of the heads of the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich , and during all the time he was the moving spirit of Masonry in that town . He has largely contributed to the Masonic Charities , and is a Vice-President of all the Institutions .
GRAND ASSISTANT PURSUIVANT . Bro . W . R . W OOD was initiated in St . Mary ' s Lodge , No . 76—now 63 —in 1849 , W . M . in 1853 , and is now father of the lodge ; and one of the founders , as well as the P . Z ., of St . Mary ' s Chapter . He joined York Lodge , Brighton , and was its W . M . in 1 S 56 , having resuscitated the lodge ,
and initiated several eminent Sussex Masons who have done great service to the Craft ; he is now almost its oldest member . Bro . Wood joined Castle Lodge of Harmony , No . 26 , and was two years its W . M . He served as Grand Steward in 1861 , and is also the father of Castle Lodge of Harmony . He was exalted in St . James ' s Chapter , No . 2 , was P . Z . in 1861 , and is next
oldest member to the esteemed Comp . Col . Stewart , father of the chapter . He was one of the founders and a Past Master of the Yarborough Lodge , No . Sir , Brighton ; also one of the founders of the Yarborough Chapter and P . Z . Bro . Wood resuscitated the Rye Lodge with the late Bro . Pocock , and is a subscribing member . He also resuscitated
the South Saxon , Lewes , and is still a member . Served Stewardships of Girls ' , Boys ' , and Royal Masonic Benevolent Institutions , is a Governor of each of them , and took up to the Festivals in 1 S 57 , 1859 , and 1 S 60 , the largest collections then known . Bro . Wood sometime since generousl y
invited and defrayed the expenses of the visit of the girls and Committee of the Girls' School to Brighton . His provincial services consist of Deacon for two years , Senior Warden of the Prov . G . Lodge of Sussex , and Scribe of the recently established Prov . Grand Chapter of Sussex .
Masonic History And Historians.
MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS .
BY MASONIC STUDENT . " " •¦ ^ ¦ _ . THE ROYAL ARCH AND RAMSAY . As we are now looking into all old corners , and turning up all forgotten documents , it seems to me that we should set to work and try to obtain a
little more certain and clear information relative to the Royal Arch . At present all seems doubt and confusion . Forei gn writers , asa general rule , certainly undervalue and mostl y ignore the Royal Arch , and though we properly hold to it and esteem it hi ghly in England , wc know little of its early history . Hence the ground wants clearing away , and so let us go to work .
1 . It is quite clear that Ramsay had nothing to do with our Royal Arch ; indeed Ramsay ' s connection with any High Grades at all becomes more and more problematical . Ramsay was himself dead before the earliest mention of it is made in Eng land—1744 ; and there is no more reason to believe
that he knew Dermott than there is to accept the " sheepwalking" story that he—a Jacobite—came over to England and saw the authorities of our Grand Lodge . The only facts that seem clear are ( a ) that Ramsay was a Freemason ; ( b ) that he was an adherent of the Stuarts ; ( c ) that he delivered the famous address commonl y ascribed to 1740 , but , in truth ,
Masonic History And Historians.
spoken in 1737 ; and ( d ) that he died in 1 743 . Indeed , the more we look into the matter the more hazy everything appears . If you look into Ragon , or Findel , or any other Masonic writer , for the most part you find the old story repeated—that he was the originator of the High Grades , the Royal Arch , Jacobite Masonry , and so forth ; but when you ask for proof not .. scintilla of evidence is forthcoming to establish these various apparently
authoritative assertions . For instance , he is said in 1728 to have submitted to the English Masonic authorities what has since been called the Rite de Bouillon , though the names are given differently ; in one the Royal Arch being mentioned , in the other Knight of the Temple , as the last grade . Ramsay seems to have been in England in 1730 , but there is no evidence of any connection with our Grand Lodge , which , from the nature of things , is impossible , and , of course , no record exists of it in our Grand Lodge
archives . The" Handbuch " states that Ramsay was admitted into Masonry in 1730 , and seems to endorse the oft-repeated statement put forth contentedly and deliberately by Thory , Besuchet , Clavel , Laurie , Oliver , Kloss , Ragon , Findel , & c , that he was the ori ginator alike of the High Grades and of Jacobitical Masonry . But , still , of this no proof is vouchsafed . As far as we can now trace his Masonic career he was initiated in 1730 ; he delivered
his "discourse , " & c , in 1737 , not in 1 740 ; and in 1738 his "Relation Apologique et Historique " appeared , published at Dublin , ( which is said to have been publicly burned at Rome in 1739 ); and in 1743 he died at St . Germains . We may then dismiss the theory that he had anything to do with the Royal Arch . 2 . There is , however , one point lo which Bro . Gould has alluded which I
cannot overlook , as it is of much importance . If the " Relation Apologique was really written by Ramsay , and was published at Dublin , and the first allusion to Royal Arch Masonry occurs in a Dublin work too , there is just a possibility of Ramsay and Dermott , if not brought into personal contact , of having this in common , that Dermott obtained at Dublin his ideas of the Royal Arch . Dermott was made a Mason , I believe , in 1740 , and a R . A .
in 1746 . It seems from Bro . Gould ' s researches that he was made a R . A . in No . 26 , Dublin , 1746 . This would . take the R . A . to Dublin before it is known to have been worked in England , and yet , according to the same authorities , the grade was repudiated b y the Irish Grand Lodge in 1 S 13 . How is this ? Here is a most important point to be carefully noted and considered , remembering Fifield Dassigny ' s pamphlet of 1744 .
3 . Neither can the Royal Arch be in any way identified with the High Grade "Arch of Enoch , " except by the use of the name . Oliver originally said that the Royal Arch was composed of two foreign grades—the Arch of Enoch and the Red Cross of Bab ylon—though why he made so incorrect and absurd a statement has always ever passed my powers of understanding to conceive even .
4 . As I said before , the first mention of the Royal Arch in England is in 1744 , and then it seems " to hail " from York , not London , and was thus anterior to Dermott and the Anlients . The official remains of it at York are not much before the foundation of it under the wing of the Grand Lodge in London .
5 . We have then , it appears to me , to find out something more about it , and two facts have lately seemed clear to me —( 1 . ) That such as it is—it is purely English ; ( 2 . ) and is after all—under a somewhat taking name perhaps , the developement of a common ritual—identical and well-known both to "Moderns " and "Antients . "
6 . I wish some one could hel p me to find out where Bro . Shuttleworth ' s books are . Among them , published about 1730 , if I remember rig htly , is a book containing essays and accounts of Ancient Chivalry . I searched for the book in vain in thc British Museum and the Grande Librairic at Paris . Among the books are the regulations of " La Confraternite de l'Archc Royale , " which professed to be the copy of regulations for the protection of pilgrims to the Hol y Land , by a Confraternity in the middle ages .
7 . Ragon says that Ashmole first used the words "Royal Arch" as emblematic of the Temple of Solomon . It is just possible that the words may have been Hermetic and Rosicrucian words , and , if so , we have another point of interest to consider . But I think I have said enough to show . how much ground is covered , an d how much of importance to the true history of Masonry is evolved , in researches as to the actual history of the Royal Arch .
Modern French Freemasonry.
MODERN FRENCH FREEMASONRY .
BY MASKELYNE . Having read either in n recent " Bulletin du G . Orient , " or in the "Chnine d'Union , " I forget which , the account of a consecration of a French lodge quite recently b y Bro . " Le Pie , " I noted that there is in it no notice whatever of the slightest use of prayer , or of any recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . But I have in my possession a curious little French
pamphlet , called " Manuel Pratique du Franc Macon , published at Angers , France , in 1845 , which , under the head " Des Installations d'Ateliers , " gives the following " prayer , " and affords frequent recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . What I want to know is—how long has this great severance and departure from old French Freemasonry been usual in France ? The prayer is as follows , p . 60 :
" Recois , O Grand Architecte de I'Univers , l'hommage que Te fait dans ce nouveau temple , les ouvriers reunis dans son enceinte . Ne permets pas qu'il soit jamais profane par l'inimitie ou par la discorde . l ' ais au contraire que la tendresse fraternclle , le devouement , lacharite , 'la paix , et le bonheur y regnent constamment , et qu' unis pour le bien les travaux des Freres aient ce r . sultat .
" Receive , O Great Architect of the Universe , the homage which the workmen assembled within this lodge room offer to Thee in this new Temple . Suffer not that it be ever profaned by enmity or discord . Cause , on the contrary , that fraternal tenderness , devotion , charity , peace , and happiness shall constantly there abide , and that , united together for what is good , the labour of the brethren shall always bring about this result . "
Why , I ask , is this prayer not still used ? Thc recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . more than once is very striking , p . 5 8-1 . The President says , " Mes Freres le premier voeu que nous ayons a former dans ce temple , e ' est qu'il soit agre _ par le Grand Architecte de I'Univers , a qui nos Freresl ' ont dcdie . Puissent tour les Masons qui viendront ytravailler etre animes comme nous le so mines tous de sentiments de fraternitc , d ' union , de paix , et d'humanite . "
" My brethren , the first aspiration that we should form in this temple is that it will be approved of by the G . A . O . V . V ., to whom our brethren have dedicated it . May all the Masons who come hither to work be animated , as we all are , by the sentiments or fraternity , of union , of peace , and the care of humanity . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Services Of The Grand Officers.
SERVICES OF THE GRAND OFFICERS .
GRAND J UNIOR WARDEN . Bro . Justice CAVE was initiated in thc Apollo University Lodge , at Oxford , in 1851 , and was M . M . in 1 S 52 , but never held any office in his
mother lodge . He was one of the founders of the Northern Star Lodge , and was in successive years Treasurer , Senior Warden , W . M ., I . P . M ., and Treasurer , but resigned the latter office on being appointed one of the judges of the High Court of Justice .
GRAND S ENIOR DEACON . Bro . Sir J AMES R AMSDEN , well-known as the founder and first Mayor of the important town of Barrow-in-Furness , to which office he was elected six successive years , was initiated in the Hartington Lodge , No . 1021 , Barrow-in-Furness , in November , 1864 ; was Senior Warden 1868 , and
eleeted to the Worship ful Master ' s chair in 1873 , and again in 1874 . Appointed Grand Senior Warden for the Province of West Lancashire October , 1873 . Sir James is a liberal supporter of the Masonic Charities . Bro . Sir Tames Ramsden received the honour of Knig hthood at the hands
of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle , on the 25 th June , 1872 , and was Hig h Sheriff of Lancashire in 1873 ; he is also a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Lancaster , and in the Commission of the Peace for Lancashire , and for the county of Cumberland , and Vice-Commodore of the Royal Barrow Yacht Club .
GRAND SENIOR DEACON . Bro . Major-General HENRY CLERK , R . Artillery , F . R . S ., Senior Grand Deacon , was initiated in the Union Waterloo Lodge , No . 13 , Woolwich , on the nth February , 1852 . After passing through all the offices , he served as W . Master in the year 1857 . In the same year he became one of the orig inal members of the Florence Nightingale Lodge , No . 706 , Woolwich ,
and held the chair of W . Master in it the ensuing year . In the year 1 S 72 , he was one of the founders of the Friends in Council Lodge , No . 13 S 3 , London , and served as Master in the year 1875 . Bro . General Clerk was exalted in Union Waterloo Chapter , No . 13 , Woolwich , on the 29 th April , 1853 , and in the year i 860 he served as its First Principal . He is at
present a member of Chapter 1383 , London , and on the 4 th inst . was appointed Principal G . Sojourner of England . He was for ten years one of the heads of the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich , and during all the time he was the moving spirit of Masonry in that town . He has largely contributed to the Masonic Charities , and is a Vice-President of all the Institutions .
GRAND ASSISTANT PURSUIVANT . Bro . W . R . W OOD was initiated in St . Mary ' s Lodge , No . 76—now 63 —in 1849 , W . M . in 1853 , and is now father of the lodge ; and one of the founders , as well as the P . Z ., of St . Mary ' s Chapter . He joined York Lodge , Brighton , and was its W . M . in 1 S 56 , having resuscitated the lodge ,
and initiated several eminent Sussex Masons who have done great service to the Craft ; he is now almost its oldest member . Bro . Wood joined Castle Lodge of Harmony , No . 26 , and was two years its W . M . He served as Grand Steward in 1861 , and is also the father of Castle Lodge of Harmony . He was exalted in St . James ' s Chapter , No . 2 , was P . Z . in 1861 , and is next
oldest member to the esteemed Comp . Col . Stewart , father of the chapter . He was one of the founders and a Past Master of the Yarborough Lodge , No . Sir , Brighton ; also one of the founders of the Yarborough Chapter and P . Z . Bro . Wood resuscitated the Rye Lodge with the late Bro . Pocock , and is a subscribing member . He also resuscitated
the South Saxon , Lewes , and is still a member . Served Stewardships of Girls ' , Boys ' , and Royal Masonic Benevolent Institutions , is a Governor of each of them , and took up to the Festivals in 1 S 57 , 1859 , and 1 S 60 , the largest collections then known . Bro . Wood sometime since generousl y
invited and defrayed the expenses of the visit of the girls and Committee of the Girls' School to Brighton . His provincial services consist of Deacon for two years , Senior Warden of the Prov . G . Lodge of Sussex , and Scribe of the recently established Prov . Grand Chapter of Sussex .
Masonic History And Historians.
MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS .
BY MASONIC STUDENT . " " •¦ ^ ¦ _ . THE ROYAL ARCH AND RAMSAY . As we are now looking into all old corners , and turning up all forgotten documents , it seems to me that we should set to work and try to obtain a
little more certain and clear information relative to the Royal Arch . At present all seems doubt and confusion . Forei gn writers , asa general rule , certainly undervalue and mostl y ignore the Royal Arch , and though we properly hold to it and esteem it hi ghly in England , wc know little of its early history . Hence the ground wants clearing away , and so let us go to work .
1 . It is quite clear that Ramsay had nothing to do with our Royal Arch ; indeed Ramsay ' s connection with any High Grades at all becomes more and more problematical . Ramsay was himself dead before the earliest mention of it is made in Eng land—1744 ; and there is no more reason to believe
that he knew Dermott than there is to accept the " sheepwalking" story that he—a Jacobite—came over to England and saw the authorities of our Grand Lodge . The only facts that seem clear are ( a ) that Ramsay was a Freemason ; ( b ) that he was an adherent of the Stuarts ; ( c ) that he delivered the famous address commonl y ascribed to 1740 , but , in truth ,
Masonic History And Historians.
spoken in 1737 ; and ( d ) that he died in 1 743 . Indeed , the more we look into the matter the more hazy everything appears . If you look into Ragon , or Findel , or any other Masonic writer , for the most part you find the old story repeated—that he was the originator of the High Grades , the Royal Arch , Jacobite Masonry , and so forth ; but when you ask for proof not .. scintilla of evidence is forthcoming to establish these various apparently
authoritative assertions . For instance , he is said in 1728 to have submitted to the English Masonic authorities what has since been called the Rite de Bouillon , though the names are given differently ; in one the Royal Arch being mentioned , in the other Knight of the Temple , as the last grade . Ramsay seems to have been in England in 1730 , but there is no evidence of any connection with our Grand Lodge , which , from the nature of things , is impossible , and , of course , no record exists of it in our Grand Lodge
archives . The" Handbuch " states that Ramsay was admitted into Masonry in 1730 , and seems to endorse the oft-repeated statement put forth contentedly and deliberately by Thory , Besuchet , Clavel , Laurie , Oliver , Kloss , Ragon , Findel , & c , that he was the ori ginator alike of the High Grades and of Jacobitical Masonry . But , still , of this no proof is vouchsafed . As far as we can now trace his Masonic career he was initiated in 1730 ; he delivered
his "discourse , " & c , in 1737 , not in 1 740 ; and in 1738 his "Relation Apologique et Historique " appeared , published at Dublin , ( which is said to have been publicly burned at Rome in 1739 ); and in 1743 he died at St . Germains . We may then dismiss the theory that he had anything to do with the Royal Arch . 2 . There is , however , one point lo which Bro . Gould has alluded which I
cannot overlook , as it is of much importance . If the " Relation Apologique was really written by Ramsay , and was published at Dublin , and the first allusion to Royal Arch Masonry occurs in a Dublin work too , there is just a possibility of Ramsay and Dermott , if not brought into personal contact , of having this in common , that Dermott obtained at Dublin his ideas of the Royal Arch . Dermott was made a Mason , I believe , in 1740 , and a R . A .
in 1746 . It seems from Bro . Gould ' s researches that he was made a R . A . in No . 26 , Dublin , 1746 . This would . take the R . A . to Dublin before it is known to have been worked in England , and yet , according to the same authorities , the grade was repudiated b y the Irish Grand Lodge in 1 S 13 . How is this ? Here is a most important point to be carefully noted and considered , remembering Fifield Dassigny ' s pamphlet of 1744 .
3 . Neither can the Royal Arch be in any way identified with the High Grade "Arch of Enoch , " except by the use of the name . Oliver originally said that the Royal Arch was composed of two foreign grades—the Arch of Enoch and the Red Cross of Bab ylon—though why he made so incorrect and absurd a statement has always ever passed my powers of understanding to conceive even .
4 . As I said before , the first mention of the Royal Arch in England is in 1744 , and then it seems " to hail " from York , not London , and was thus anterior to Dermott and the Anlients . The official remains of it at York are not much before the foundation of it under the wing of the Grand Lodge in London .
5 . We have then , it appears to me , to find out something more about it , and two facts have lately seemed clear to me —( 1 . ) That such as it is—it is purely English ; ( 2 . ) and is after all—under a somewhat taking name perhaps , the developement of a common ritual—identical and well-known both to "Moderns " and "Antients . "
6 . I wish some one could hel p me to find out where Bro . Shuttleworth ' s books are . Among them , published about 1730 , if I remember rig htly , is a book containing essays and accounts of Ancient Chivalry . I searched for the book in vain in thc British Museum and the Grande Librairic at Paris . Among the books are the regulations of " La Confraternite de l'Archc Royale , " which professed to be the copy of regulations for the protection of pilgrims to the Hol y Land , by a Confraternity in the middle ages .
7 . Ragon says that Ashmole first used the words "Royal Arch" as emblematic of the Temple of Solomon . It is just possible that the words may have been Hermetic and Rosicrucian words , and , if so , we have another point of interest to consider . But I think I have said enough to show . how much ground is covered , an d how much of importance to the true history of Masonry is evolved , in researches as to the actual history of the Royal Arch .
Modern French Freemasonry.
MODERN FRENCH FREEMASONRY .
BY MASKELYNE . Having read either in n recent " Bulletin du G . Orient , " or in the "Chnine d'Union , " I forget which , the account of a consecration of a French lodge quite recently b y Bro . " Le Pie , " I noted that there is in it no notice whatever of the slightest use of prayer , or of any recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . But I have in my possession a curious little French
pamphlet , called " Manuel Pratique du Franc Macon , published at Angers , France , in 1845 , which , under the head " Des Installations d'Ateliers , " gives the following " prayer , " and affords frequent recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . What I want to know is—how long has this great severance and departure from old French Freemasonry been usual in France ? The prayer is as follows , p . 60 :
" Recois , O Grand Architecte de I'Univers , l'hommage que Te fait dans ce nouveau temple , les ouvriers reunis dans son enceinte . Ne permets pas qu'il soit jamais profane par l'inimitie ou par la discorde . l ' ais au contraire que la tendresse fraternclle , le devouement , lacharite , 'la paix , et le bonheur y regnent constamment , et qu' unis pour le bien les travaux des Freres aient ce r . sultat .
" Receive , O Great Architect of the Universe , the homage which the workmen assembled within this lodge room offer to Thee in this new Temple . Suffer not that it be ever profaned by enmity or discord . Cause , on the contrary , that fraternal tenderness , devotion , charity , peace , and happiness shall constantly there abide , and that , united together for what is good , the labour of the brethren shall always bring about this result . "
Why , I ask , is this prayer not still used ? Thc recognition of T . G . A . O . T . U . more than once is very striking , p . 5 8-1 . The President says , " Mes Freres le premier voeu que nous ayons a former dans ce temple , e ' est qu'il soit agre _ par le Grand Architecte de I'Univers , a qui nos Freresl ' ont dcdie . Puissent tour les Masons qui viendront ytravailler etre animes comme nous le so mines tous de sentiments de fraternitc , d ' union , de paix , et d'humanite . "
" My brethren , the first aspiration that we should form in this temple is that it will be approved of by the G . A . O . V . V ., to whom our brethren have dedicated it . May all the Masons who come hither to work be animated , as we all are , by the sentiments or fraternity , of union , of peace , and the care of humanity . "