Consecration Of The Duke Of Fife Chapter, No. 2345.

Arch chapter . And what , when we reach the summit of this Degree , do we find is the lesson which runs like a golden thread through every lecture and ceremony V Perfection is set before us . We are taught that beyond an eternal of this transitory world there is a Divine Power , which is omnipresent , omniscient , and omnipotent . That absolute perfection is ever kept before the Royal Arch Mason as a living reality . No sceptic can honestly accept the teaching of this Order , The central facts of dogmatic belief are so engrained in the ritual of this

Degree that it would be dishonest to ignore their existence , and ns we stand reverently gazing at truths beyond our understanding , but not beyond our faith , we recognise two great facts—man ' s littleness and God ' s all-gracious power . Modern civilisation is ever tending to make us self-conceited and presumptuous . The more superficial our knowledge of any subject , the more qualified we consider ourselves to g ive opinions as experts . It is astounding to find how men pose as experts before they have ever begun to learn

the rudiments . Our ancient Craftsmen here give us a wholesome lesson . They learnt slowly , but they learnt thoroughly . They were Apprentices before they were Architects . In a book just published about one of our old Oxford Colleges , it is noted as a very significant tact that the Architect was an unknown man , and that he worked at the building himself . He was , in fact , only the Master Mason . He had to bear a share of carrying out with his hands what his head had devised .

The results produced by such a system were far more thorough than those of the present day , and were , so I think , as a consequence of man's humility in recognising the fact that education , whether of mind or body , was a life-long task . That perfection , which he never could reach , must ever be before his eyes , and towards that he must ever be striving , knowing that he would be accepted if it were an endeavour to copy pattern , and that when his hand dropped feeble to his side in death the Great Master himself would add the finishing touches , which would

alone give merit to the work . The following were installed as Principals : Comps . Samuel Cochrane , M . E . Z . ; John Wyer , P . Z ., as H . ; and J . W . Folkard , as J . The election of officers resulted as follows : Comps . Geo . Everett , P . G . Treas . Eng ., as Treas . ; C . Woods , S . E . ; A . Harvey , S . N . ; J . Andrews , Prin . Soj . ; J . A . Randall , Asst . Soj . ; and VV . W . Westley , P . Z .,

consented to act as l . P . Z . The Committee appointed to settle the by-laws consisted of the officers . In electing the Consecrating Officers as Hon . Members , it was unanimously decided ' to record a special vote of thanks to them for the excellent way in which they had rendered the consecration and installation ceremonies . The following brethren's names were given for exaltation : Bros . Boswell , Munslow , and Bonner .

After the banquet , which was well worth y of the occasion , the usual loyal and Masonic toasts were duly honoured . Comp . COCHRANE , M . E . Z ., in proposing " The Grand Officers , " referred to the good work they had done generally , and to the particular kindness of those who had consecrated the chapfer . Comp . Rev . J . STUDHOLME B ROWNRIGG , G . Supt . Bucks ., said there were two kinds of Grand Officers , those who made long speeches , and those who did not ; he was glad to belong to the latter class .

Comp . COCHRANE , M . E . Z ., in proposing" The Consecrating Principal , " eulogised the G . S . E . for his kindness to him personally , and for his zeal in the work . Comp . L ETCHWORTH , G . S . E ., trusted that under the guidance of a M . E . Z . who would shortly hold such a high office , the chapter would flourish . He followed by proposing the toast of " The M . E . Z . " Comp . COCHRANE responded , and then proposed " The Visitors . "

Comps . Capt . T . C . WALLS , H . J . LARDNER , F . HILTON , and R . J . VOISEY replied in able and telling speeches . Comps . WYER , H ., and FOLKARD , J ., responded for "The Second and Third Principals , " and the officers replied also to their toast . The pleasure of the meeting was greatly enhanced by songs and recitations from Comps . Capt . Walls , R . J . Voisey , H . J . Lardner , Frost , and Master Folkard .

The statement that the whole of the musical arrangements were in the hands of Comp . J . Read , P . Z ., will be sufficient to show that they were well carried out .

The "Stanley Ms."

THE " STANLEY MS . "

R . W . Bro . Tew , Provincial Grand Master of West Yorkshire , has followed up the many priceless gifts to the library of his province by purchasing and presenting one more of the old Masonic MSS . Although the text has not been previously made known , it is already familiar to the Masonic world by the title of The " S / ttnlcv MS . " Its discovery was

announced by Bro . G . W . Speth , P . M ., of Margate , in the Freemason of February iSth , 1888 , and specially treated in his paper entitled "Two New Versions of the Old Charges , " read before the " Quatuor Coronati Lodge " ( of London , of which he is the able and indefatigable Secretary ) on March 2 nd in the same year .

Bro . W . J . Hughan , of Torquay , the distinguished writer and authority on Masonic MSS ., also contributed brief articles on this MS . to the Freemason of March 24 th , 1 SS 8 , and October 18 th , 1890 , and he has also kindly

allowed perusal inter alia of a letter containing a valuable comment on the document , addressed to him by that eminent and learned brother , Dr . W . Begemann , of Rostock , Prov . Grand Master of Mecklenburg , who has done splendid service in his examination and classification of Old Masonic MSS .

At the time of the MS . being first announced it was the property of Bro . Frederick Stanley , P . M . 127 , of Margate . Bro . Stanley , taking a truly laudable and Masonic view of the responsibility of holding these precious curios and the vicissitudes to which they are necessarily subject when in private custody , decided thai the valuable scroll should pass into the safe keeping of some public body which could extend to it a permanent and secure resting-place .

Negotiations having been opened on behalf of the Provincial Grand Lodge Library of West Yorkshire , the MS . was purchased by me for R . W . Bro . Tew , who generously offered at once to present it to that noble collection .

Several learned brethren have already ably—we may say exhaustivelytreated on the merits of the "Stanley MS . " There remains , therefore , little for this introduction beyond summarising what has already been published .

The "Stanley Ms."

To quote from Bro . Speth's Paper on the MS . before lodge , \ 0 2076 : —¦ It is of parchment , in four slips stitched together , ten feet over all in length and seven inches wide . ... It is dated 16 77 , and the British Museum ' authorities , to whom I have shown it , are of opinion that the date is borne out In .

the style of caligraphy . It shovys signs of wear , and I cannot doubt was reall y a ( one time a lodge document . . . . Bro . Stanley says the owner was not ; i Freemason , neither was he descended from such ; that he came from the North Country , had possessed the MS . for many years , but was uncertain how he originally came by it . ...

The text of the MS . contains many peculiarities , and the following aro some of those pointed out by bin : Jaball " parted flockes of sheep and Lands , " instead of Lambs , as in the generality of versions . " Tcmplnm Dei " is described as the " Temple now called Voo . Hiram of Tyre ' s Son is spoken of by the previously unknown name of Aplco . Prentices is twice miswritten Parties .

In identifying the class to which the Stanley MS . belongs , Bro Hughan in his communication to the Freemason of March 24 th , 1 S 88 , says : The Stanley MS ., as regards the text proper , agrees mainly with the " Colne MS ., No . 1 " ( 22 a Gould ) , which I gave in the Christmas Freemason , 1887 . Many of the peculiar readings , variations , and substitutions are to be found in both MSS ., and beyond question these Rolls may be referred to the same original , not . withstanding the noteworthy differences in the two copies . . . . Singular to state , the Stanley MS . does not contain the '' Apprentice Charges" as the Colne MS .

In the Freemason of October 18 th , iSijo , Bro . Hughan also writes : ¦ Bro . Jacob Norton , of Boston , U . S . A ., has made known another copy of the Old Charges . This document became familiar to the Craft as the * Hub Manu . script , and the text was published by Bro . Norton in the " Masonic Review " for July , 1890 ( Cincinnati , Ohio , U . S . A . ) . Dr . Begemann , in writing to Bro . Hughan , sums up his views of the close kinship of the Stanley and Hub MSS . and their position as related to the Colne MS ., No . 1 , after examining the copies of each :

I compared the Hub MS ., word by word , with the Stanley MS . , and was astonished at their resemblance , these two manuscripts being totally identical , but that the Httb MS . shows a number of errors which are to be attributed to the Scribe . The outer arrangement even is the same , both of them being written in a forthrunning text , but that the latter part has got the title " The Charge . " Now I am of opinion that the Stanley copy is more perfect , whilst in the Hub MS . there are many mistakes , which I give here :

HUB MS . STANLEY MS . Subtill / onHM ... ... instead of ... Subtill Tearmes . Tuball ... > ball . true with one to another ... „ ... true each one to another . live honest as gentlemen ... „ ... hones ^ . v . nor the Greate Learning ... „ ... nor no great Learning . all Comands of the Lodge ... „ ... all councells . several times "yce" ... „ ... "Your "

& c , & c , & c . Dr . Begemann then refers to other peculiarities common to each of the two .

" Judgment of the Starrs and the Planets . " " Hermerens . " " Eucled . " "Land of Behastie . " "Apelo . " " Regaline . " " Knight of England . " "Precepts . " " The Year 1677 at the end . " Furthermore , the spelling is almost the same in both manuscripts , in a very striking manner , but that the Hub MS . omits many times the " e" at the end of words , for instance : Sonn , goodness , four , ( locks , instead of Sonne , & c . On the other side the Hub MS . writer has almost always " theire " instead of " their" in the Stanley MS . . . . " 1 am inclined to believe that both the MSS . are transcripts of the same original , because there are

some passages in the Hub MS . which differ from the Stanley MS . First , there is inserted in the prayer the word "life here Living , " which "here" is not in the Stanley MS ., but in tte Colne MS ., therefore , it must have been in the original . We read the good Rcttl of Masonry ( in the " Hub MS . " ) instead of Rent in the " Stanley , " where the reading " Rule " is correct , whilst Rent must be an error of the Scribe , & c ., Sec . These trifles could possibly be the work of the Scribe , but the agreement between the Httb and Colne in two cases ( " here " and " ruie" ) make me believe that there was once a manuscript which was two times transcribed , so that the Hub and the Stanley MSS . are children of the same mother now lost . "

So far as the facts at present wjthin our horizon will admit , a fairly complete diagnosis of the case has been presented . Seeing the mass of valuable and unexpected evidence which has been unearthed of late years , wc may , perhaps , without being considered too sanguine , venture to hope that the Io l original of these two MSS . will yet be brought to light once more anil restore another stone to that edifice of history of which , alas ! in too many places , the very foundations have been buried or obliterated . The doggerel lines at the foot of the MS . have no collection with the

matter preceding , are in a different handwriting and of a more recent period . For an elaborate and interesting analysis of the text I must refer inquiring minds lo the paper to be found at p . 129 in Vol . 1 . of the Proceedings of the " Quatuor Coronati " Lodge , No . 2076 . Bro . Speth lias displayed much skill and ingenuity in identifying the allusions in the " prophecy" and the dates to which they refer , but I agree with liro . Hughan in holding back for the present from accepting Bro . Speth ' s hypothesis as to the dale when the "prophecy " was written ; no evidence as yet

of a conclusive or convincing kind having been adduced . 1 am disposed to favour the idea that he was one of the man ) ' scoffers who made their views as to Freemasonry known in various ways—more or less offensive—during the third and fourth decades of last century . There are now 13 " Old Alanuscript Charges " known to be located i " Yorkshire ( speaking roughly , about one-fifth of the total known to he in existence ) . Of these eight are held in West Yorkshire , six being the property of the Provincial Grand Lodge . The following list of the 13 indicates their ownership and how

published—LIBRARY OK PROV . GUANO LODGE OF WEST YORKSHIRE . X Thomas W . Tew MS . ... 1680 circa ... West York . Reprints . j- William Watson MS . ... ' A . D . 168 7 ... West York . Reprints . i Clapham MS . 1700 circa ... West York . Reprints . t Hughan MS 1700 circa ... West York . Reprints . t Waistell MS , A . D . 16 93 ... West York . Reprints . - , - Stanley MS A . D . 1677 ... West York . Reprints- _