Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
the evidence on which the sentence of expulsion was founded incomplete , and in the circumstances generally , advised Grand Lodge that the sentence of the District Grand Lodge was wrong , and that consequently the brother ' s appeal should be allowed , in which ruling Grand Lodge at once acquiesced . In the further explanation which Bro . PHILBRICK has given , and which
appeared in these columns a fortnight since , he points out that the course he recommended to Grand Lodge was no bar to the exclusion from the lodge of which he was a member , of the offending brother , that the said brother had in fact been already excluded , and that , as a result , he would be unable to join any other lodge , " unless that lodge sees the clearest evidence on
going into the whole matter that he is ht to be a member of it . " From this it will be seen that the HOLLAR appeal against the decision of the DISTRICT GRAND MASTER of Jamaica had nothing to do , and no features in common , with the appeal against the sentence passed on a brother for immorality by the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury , New Zealand .
„ , IF the Grand Chapter of Canada is actuated bv the same Ine C » iiiaai 3 . n ,. _ —¦ (¦ i 1 * 1 1 " 1 1 R . A . Chapters spirit of courtesy and forbearance which characterised the m Melbourne . Qran ( j L 0 rige of Canada in a difference which arose shortly
after its establishment and recognition by our Grand Lodge , as to the status of certain of our lodges which had elected to remain English , there is little doubt that the new difficulty which has just arisen with our Grand Chapter , and to which we referred last week , will be promptly settled . But it behoves our authorities to act firmly yet vigorously in a case of this kind ,
and to insist that the warrants for the Australian Kilwinning and City of Melbourne Royal Arch Chapters are cancelled forthwith . It is difficult to imagine a more flagrant and wanton aggression against the authority of our Grand Lodge and Chapter than this of which the Grand Chapter of Canada has just been guilty . There is no excuseforit . There are about a dozen English
R . A . Chapters in the Colony of Victoria , and of these one half are located in the City o f Melbourne . It is most unlikely there can be anything like an appreciable number of Masons of Canadian origin , much less of Canadian R . A . Masons , resident in the city , the probability being that the bulk of the members of these Canadian chapters are dissentient English ,
Irish , or Scotch companions who have had something to do with the attempted establishment of the so-called Grand Lodgeof Victoria . We are not in a position to determine the precise meaning which the advisers of the Grand Chapter of Canada may attach to the word " unoccupied , " but it strikes us there can be very little doubt about the impropriety of the
term as applied to a colony which was Masonically presided over by a Piovincial Grand Master , appointed by the Grand Master of England , when Canada itself , though contemplating the establishment of its independence , was still under the authority of our Grand Lodge . To deny the justice of the claim we make on behalf of the Grand Lodges of
England , Ireland , and Scotland and their Grand Chapters—whether associated in authority with the respective Grand Lodges or not , to have and exercise the right to issue lodge and chapter warrants , is to deny the regularity of their own descent and the necessity for the treaty or compact in which our Grand Lodge recognised the independence of theirs . Again , as
to the meaning of the expression , " Supreme Authority ; " if we can bring ourselves to imagine that the English lodges in Victoria do not occupy it , still we must allow that those English lodges must exist by virtue of warrants issued by a power having authority to issue them , and this power is the Grand Lodge ol England , irom which so many of the Canadian
ledgtb are mightily and rightly proud of tracing their descent , and which has been exercising for close on 50 years the rights we claim for it , just in tie same manner and to the same extent as it had exercised them in Carada for a -still longer period . Here , then , we have the case of a Grand Locge which for the best part of half a century has been issuing warrants
ior the constitution of lodges , and whose lodges so constituted derive their existence from her ; and vve fail to see what is a "Supreme Authority , " if , in the chcumstances we have described , the Grand Lodge of England is not . The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland have been doing the same thing , and there are , consequently , three Grand Lodges acting by an
understanding among themselves concurrently , which exercise " Supreme Authority" in things Masonic so far as they affect their respective lodges , and yet the Gran d Chapter of Canada denies there is any "Supreme Authority" whatever , just as it denies that the English , Irish , and Scotch lodges working in Victoria occupy it . We have
met in the course of a long experience with many eccentricities in the way of argument , but nothing more eccentric than this . As for the suggestion that the Grand Chapter of Canada , being , as it undoubtedly is , the peer of our Grand Chapter in the rights and privileges of all Grand Chapters , is on that account entitled to exercise those rights and
privileges in the domain presided over by the Grand Chapter of England concurrently with those of Ireland and Scotland , it is beyond our comprehension that a sane person can advance it . As we said last week , Victoria is a British Colony , not a Canadian . It is in the Masonic domain of the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom , as much as West Yorkshire ,
Perthshire , County Meath , or any other of the home provinces . The Masters and Wardens , when visiting the old country , take their seats in Grand Lodge , and so do the Principals of chapters in Grand Chapter . They are therefore an integral part of our Masonic system , and all these rights and privileges which they possess they derive from us and exercise
by virtue of the warrants we have granted them . But the Grand Chapter of Canada cannot be serious when it expects that we shall accept so ridiculous an argument as that because it is the peer of our Grand Chapter and so enjoys the same rights and privileges , it is therefore entitled to invade our domain and constitute Chapters under the very nose of our District Grand Chapter .
Constitutions, 1815 To 1888.
CONSTITUTIONS , 1815 TO 1888 .
The several editions of the Book of Constitutions , authorised by the p . mier Grand Lodge of England , were described by me in the Freemason for 1886 , and that of the first issue at more length in the volume for iS 7 Q They were published as follows : 1 ., 1723 ; II ., 1738 ( a new title of 1745 substituted in some copies ); III ., 1756 ; IV ., 1767 ; valuable appendix
( historical ) added in 1776 ; and V ., 1784 . These were all in small or larg e quarto size , with fine lrontispieces , those of 1723 and 1738 being alike-. ( see Freemason October 9 th , 1886 , letter by Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre ); a new and suggestive design distinguishing those of 1756 and 1767 , and that of 178 4 having a grand plate by Bartolozzi . There was also an Svo copy printed in 1769 ( London and Dublin ) without a frontispiece and without any authority .
The 1723 edition has frequently been reproduced , that of Bro . Kenning ' s being the best , but the second of 1738 has never been reprinted in this country , though a poor one was published by Bro . Hyneman in the United States . As the work is so rare , a reproduction is to form Volume II . of the reprints being prepared by the " Quatuor Coronati" Lodge , No . 2076 , London ( Bro . G . W . Speth , Secretary ) .
( VI . )—The first issue after the Union of December 27 th , 1813 , was in 1 S 15 , large quarto . The laws were considered at Grand Lodges held February ist , May 31 st , and August 23 rd , when they were ordered to "be in force for three years , from the 1 st of November , 1815 , " and then to be subject to revision . The Prov . Grand Master of Dorset ( Wm . Williams ) kindly offered to have the work printed , with the copyright secured , any
profits to belong to the Grand Lodge . This explains the signature of that zealous brother being appended to all copies , which were sold at £ 1 each . Subscribers were requested not to have their books bound until after the expiration of three years . The " Second Part , " curious to state , onl y was printed , the first portion , containing the historical introduction , being pro . mised as soon as possible , but was never published . Apparently it was being
produced , as a number of sheets are preserved in Grand Lodge , as also a fine emblematical frontispiece , which were intended for the purpose . The plate , however , is all that was really worthy of circulation . No loss has accrued from the absence of Part I . The original preface was dated from " Belmont House , December 12 th , 1815 , " that of the second issue ( VII . )
bearing date 19 th February , 1819 . Subscribers were desired to send their copies to the Grand Secretaries , for the purpose of having the revised leaves introduced—free of expense—they being easily recognised by a : ]{• being on each . As this volume of 1815 , & c , was but little known , I had it reprinted in my " Memorials of the Masonic Union " ( 1874 ) , being the only reproduction of the kind .
( VIII . )—The " Second Part" was again issued in 1827 , with all the j alterations and additions to June 1 st of that year , the size being octavo , ' ¦ ; and the price 3 s . in boards . The original Preface of 1815 was reproduced , pagination was the same as that edition ( as far as could be ) , the matter corresponding as to arrangement , & c . i
( IX . )—On June 5 th , 1839 , "It was ordered that a new Octavo Edition ] of the Book of Constitutions be published , with all the Amendments and Additions vvhich have been made lo the present time , and that the same be ! arranged and printed under the superintendence and direction of a Committee , consisting of the Grand Registrar , the President of the Board of !
General Purposes , and Brothers j . Henderson , A . Dobie , and R . W . \ Jennings . " The work was " Published , by the Authority of United Grand Lodge , By William Henry White , as Grand Secretary , " in 1841 ( being signed accordingly on March 24 th ) , and was sold at 2 s . 6 d . unbound , or 3 s . cloth . For the first time , Plates of the Jewels , & c , are given , twelve in number , but of less artistic value than those published subsequently . 1
( X . )—Ihe Grand Lodge , on Sep . 23 , 1846 , agreed to a new edition j being * ' prepared and printed under the superintendence of the Board of j General Purposes , " and which was done in the following year , the copies bearing the date of June 24 th , 1847 , signed as before , the plates being an ' improvement on the foregoing . Size , & c , as before . ; :
( XI . )—Two special Grand Lodges were held on June 22 nd and August 2 nd , 1853 , to consider the alterations to the Constitutions submitted by the Board , and on September 7 th the revision was duly agreed to , and ordered to be printed , that date appearing in due course on the copies . All published
from 1827 to 1853 inclusive , I believe , were of the octavo size , but in 1855 , when the XI Ith was printed , it was ordered by Grand Lodge , March 7 th , "That a Pocket Edition be also published . " This is the first of the wellknown 32 mo issue ( though very rarely met with now ) , copies then being sold 1 at 2 / 6 each .
( XIII . )—As we get nearer to the period familiar to most brethren , there j is but little need to iurnish particulars of the several issues , save as respects i one or two special matters . The 1858 issue bears date September ist . ( XIV . )—On June 5 th , 1861 , on another edition being authorised , the price j was lowered to 1 / 6 , for both sizes , at which it still remains , and even at that \ figure allows a considerable margin for profit , the numbers required in- j creasing so rapidly as the years roll onward . 1
( XV . )—On June 3 rd , 1863 , 2000 were ordered in Svo , and 4000 in < j 32 mo , but for some reason or other neither of these sizes are often to be oh- \
tamed for that year , those of several earlier issues of smaller editions being much more plentiful just now . , \ ( XVI . )—At the Grand Lodge held on December 6 th , 1865 , the Board . reported that " finding the whole impression of the Book of Constitutions ; that was published in 1863 has been disposed of , they have ordered a re- ; print of a limited number of copies to be prepared in order to meet the
frequent applications that are made by lodges and brethren for the same , embodying in such reprint the alterations that have been made by Grand Lodge . " In an interesting article on this point by Bro . Sadler { Freemason , October 23 rd , 1886 ) , we are told that a report was presented to the Board by a Committee from their number , on November 21 st , 1865 , who had been appointed on the 18 th July previously " to collate the work , & c , " in consequence of the Grand Secretary announcing that " the Book of Constitutions that
was out of print " in both sizes . Bro . H . Sadler first of all thoug ht this edition was simply a reproduction of the 186 3 , but on examining j only copy then traced , exhibited by Bro . George Taylor { with all the other editions , 1723-1884 ) at the Shanklin Masonic Exhibition , 1886 , he at onc ^ acknowledged we were right in accepting it as a distinct issue for that y . ^ ' Since then , Bro . John E . Le Feuvre has secured a copy , thus comp- " * his set of the Constitutions , and making the only two of the kind so f ar I know that owned bprivate collectorseither in this country or e VVV uiai ail 1 31 111
are y , * ..... . unncu uy pnvaLC UUUGOIU , GUICL LUIS K *\ JI * .. . - . hat where . It is only with respect to this issue , and the following one , several libraries at home and abroad lack completeness , but the fact mains that until the Shanklin Exhibition catalogue was published
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
the evidence on which the sentence of expulsion was founded incomplete , and in the circumstances generally , advised Grand Lodge that the sentence of the District Grand Lodge was wrong , and that consequently the brother ' s appeal should be allowed , in which ruling Grand Lodge at once acquiesced . In the further explanation which Bro . PHILBRICK has given , and which
appeared in these columns a fortnight since , he points out that the course he recommended to Grand Lodge was no bar to the exclusion from the lodge of which he was a member , of the offending brother , that the said brother had in fact been already excluded , and that , as a result , he would be unable to join any other lodge , " unless that lodge sees the clearest evidence on
going into the whole matter that he is ht to be a member of it . " From this it will be seen that the HOLLAR appeal against the decision of the DISTRICT GRAND MASTER of Jamaica had nothing to do , and no features in common , with the appeal against the sentence passed on a brother for immorality by the District Grand Lodge of Canterbury , New Zealand .
„ , IF the Grand Chapter of Canada is actuated bv the same Ine C » iiiaai 3 . n ,. _ —¦ (¦ i 1 * 1 1 " 1 1 R . A . Chapters spirit of courtesy and forbearance which characterised the m Melbourne . Qran ( j L 0 rige of Canada in a difference which arose shortly
after its establishment and recognition by our Grand Lodge , as to the status of certain of our lodges which had elected to remain English , there is little doubt that the new difficulty which has just arisen with our Grand Chapter , and to which we referred last week , will be promptly settled . But it behoves our authorities to act firmly yet vigorously in a case of this kind ,
and to insist that the warrants for the Australian Kilwinning and City of Melbourne Royal Arch Chapters are cancelled forthwith . It is difficult to imagine a more flagrant and wanton aggression against the authority of our Grand Lodge and Chapter than this of which the Grand Chapter of Canada has just been guilty . There is no excuseforit . There are about a dozen English
R . A . Chapters in the Colony of Victoria , and of these one half are located in the City o f Melbourne . It is most unlikely there can be anything like an appreciable number of Masons of Canadian origin , much less of Canadian R . A . Masons , resident in the city , the probability being that the bulk of the members of these Canadian chapters are dissentient English ,
Irish , or Scotch companions who have had something to do with the attempted establishment of the so-called Grand Lodgeof Victoria . We are not in a position to determine the precise meaning which the advisers of the Grand Chapter of Canada may attach to the word " unoccupied , " but it strikes us there can be very little doubt about the impropriety of the
term as applied to a colony which was Masonically presided over by a Piovincial Grand Master , appointed by the Grand Master of England , when Canada itself , though contemplating the establishment of its independence , was still under the authority of our Grand Lodge . To deny the justice of the claim we make on behalf of the Grand Lodges of
England , Ireland , and Scotland and their Grand Chapters—whether associated in authority with the respective Grand Lodges or not , to have and exercise the right to issue lodge and chapter warrants , is to deny the regularity of their own descent and the necessity for the treaty or compact in which our Grand Lodge recognised the independence of theirs . Again , as
to the meaning of the expression , " Supreme Authority ; " if we can bring ourselves to imagine that the English lodges in Victoria do not occupy it , still we must allow that those English lodges must exist by virtue of warrants issued by a power having authority to issue them , and this power is the Grand Lodge ol England , irom which so many of the Canadian
ledgtb are mightily and rightly proud of tracing their descent , and which has been exercising for close on 50 years the rights we claim for it , just in tie same manner and to the same extent as it had exercised them in Carada for a -still longer period . Here , then , we have the case of a Grand Locge which for the best part of half a century has been issuing warrants
ior the constitution of lodges , and whose lodges so constituted derive their existence from her ; and vve fail to see what is a "Supreme Authority , " if , in the chcumstances we have described , the Grand Lodge of England is not . The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland have been doing the same thing , and there are , consequently , three Grand Lodges acting by an
understanding among themselves concurrently , which exercise " Supreme Authority" in things Masonic so far as they affect their respective lodges , and yet the Gran d Chapter of Canada denies there is any "Supreme Authority" whatever , just as it denies that the English , Irish , and Scotch lodges working in Victoria occupy it . We have
met in the course of a long experience with many eccentricities in the way of argument , but nothing more eccentric than this . As for the suggestion that the Grand Chapter of Canada , being , as it undoubtedly is , the peer of our Grand Chapter in the rights and privileges of all Grand Chapters , is on that account entitled to exercise those rights and
privileges in the domain presided over by the Grand Chapter of England concurrently with those of Ireland and Scotland , it is beyond our comprehension that a sane person can advance it . As we said last week , Victoria is a British Colony , not a Canadian . It is in the Masonic domain of the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom , as much as West Yorkshire ,
Perthshire , County Meath , or any other of the home provinces . The Masters and Wardens , when visiting the old country , take their seats in Grand Lodge , and so do the Principals of chapters in Grand Chapter . They are therefore an integral part of our Masonic system , and all these rights and privileges which they possess they derive from us and exercise
by virtue of the warrants we have granted them . But the Grand Chapter of Canada cannot be serious when it expects that we shall accept so ridiculous an argument as that because it is the peer of our Grand Chapter and so enjoys the same rights and privileges , it is therefore entitled to invade our domain and constitute Chapters under the very nose of our District Grand Chapter .
Constitutions, 1815 To 1888.
CONSTITUTIONS , 1815 TO 1888 .
The several editions of the Book of Constitutions , authorised by the p . mier Grand Lodge of England , were described by me in the Freemason for 1886 , and that of the first issue at more length in the volume for iS 7 Q They were published as follows : 1 ., 1723 ; II ., 1738 ( a new title of 1745 substituted in some copies ); III ., 1756 ; IV ., 1767 ; valuable appendix
( historical ) added in 1776 ; and V ., 1784 . These were all in small or larg e quarto size , with fine lrontispieces , those of 1723 and 1738 being alike-. ( see Freemason October 9 th , 1886 , letter by Bro . J . E . Le Feuvre ); a new and suggestive design distinguishing those of 1756 and 1767 , and that of 178 4 having a grand plate by Bartolozzi . There was also an Svo copy printed in 1769 ( London and Dublin ) without a frontispiece and without any authority .
The 1723 edition has frequently been reproduced , that of Bro . Kenning ' s being the best , but the second of 1738 has never been reprinted in this country , though a poor one was published by Bro . Hyneman in the United States . As the work is so rare , a reproduction is to form Volume II . of the reprints being prepared by the " Quatuor Coronati" Lodge , No . 2076 , London ( Bro . G . W . Speth , Secretary ) .
( VI . )—The first issue after the Union of December 27 th , 1813 , was in 1 S 15 , large quarto . The laws were considered at Grand Lodges held February ist , May 31 st , and August 23 rd , when they were ordered to "be in force for three years , from the 1 st of November , 1815 , " and then to be subject to revision . The Prov . Grand Master of Dorset ( Wm . Williams ) kindly offered to have the work printed , with the copyright secured , any
profits to belong to the Grand Lodge . This explains the signature of that zealous brother being appended to all copies , which were sold at £ 1 each . Subscribers were requested not to have their books bound until after the expiration of three years . The " Second Part , " curious to state , onl y was printed , the first portion , containing the historical introduction , being pro . mised as soon as possible , but was never published . Apparently it was being
produced , as a number of sheets are preserved in Grand Lodge , as also a fine emblematical frontispiece , which were intended for the purpose . The plate , however , is all that was really worthy of circulation . No loss has accrued from the absence of Part I . The original preface was dated from " Belmont House , December 12 th , 1815 , " that of the second issue ( VII . )
bearing date 19 th February , 1819 . Subscribers were desired to send their copies to the Grand Secretaries , for the purpose of having the revised leaves introduced—free of expense—they being easily recognised by a : ]{• being on each . As this volume of 1815 , & c , was but little known , I had it reprinted in my " Memorials of the Masonic Union " ( 1874 ) , being the only reproduction of the kind .
( VIII . )—The " Second Part" was again issued in 1827 , with all the j alterations and additions to June 1 st of that year , the size being octavo , ' ¦ ; and the price 3 s . in boards . The original Preface of 1815 was reproduced , pagination was the same as that edition ( as far as could be ) , the matter corresponding as to arrangement , & c . i
( IX . )—On June 5 th , 1839 , "It was ordered that a new Octavo Edition ] of the Book of Constitutions be published , with all the Amendments and Additions vvhich have been made lo the present time , and that the same be ! arranged and printed under the superintendence and direction of a Committee , consisting of the Grand Registrar , the President of the Board of !
General Purposes , and Brothers j . Henderson , A . Dobie , and R . W . \ Jennings . " The work was " Published , by the Authority of United Grand Lodge , By William Henry White , as Grand Secretary , " in 1841 ( being signed accordingly on March 24 th ) , and was sold at 2 s . 6 d . unbound , or 3 s . cloth . For the first time , Plates of the Jewels , & c , are given , twelve in number , but of less artistic value than those published subsequently . 1
( X . )—Ihe Grand Lodge , on Sep . 23 , 1846 , agreed to a new edition j being * ' prepared and printed under the superintendence of the Board of j General Purposes , " and which was done in the following year , the copies bearing the date of June 24 th , 1847 , signed as before , the plates being an ' improvement on the foregoing . Size , & c , as before . ; :
( XI . )—Two special Grand Lodges were held on June 22 nd and August 2 nd , 1853 , to consider the alterations to the Constitutions submitted by the Board , and on September 7 th the revision was duly agreed to , and ordered to be printed , that date appearing in due course on the copies . All published
from 1827 to 1853 inclusive , I believe , were of the octavo size , but in 1855 , when the XI Ith was printed , it was ordered by Grand Lodge , March 7 th , "That a Pocket Edition be also published . " This is the first of the wellknown 32 mo issue ( though very rarely met with now ) , copies then being sold 1 at 2 / 6 each .
( XIII . )—As we get nearer to the period familiar to most brethren , there j is but little need to iurnish particulars of the several issues , save as respects i one or two special matters . The 1858 issue bears date September ist . ( XIV . )—On June 5 th , 1861 , on another edition being authorised , the price j was lowered to 1 / 6 , for both sizes , at which it still remains , and even at that \ figure allows a considerable margin for profit , the numbers required in- j creasing so rapidly as the years roll onward . 1
( XV . )—On June 3 rd , 1863 , 2000 were ordered in Svo , and 4000 in < j 32 mo , but for some reason or other neither of these sizes are often to be oh- \
tamed for that year , those of several earlier issues of smaller editions being much more plentiful just now . , \ ( XVI . )—At the Grand Lodge held on December 6 th , 1865 , the Board . reported that " finding the whole impression of the Book of Constitutions ; that was published in 1863 has been disposed of , they have ordered a re- ; print of a limited number of copies to be prepared in order to meet the
frequent applications that are made by lodges and brethren for the same , embodying in such reprint the alterations that have been made by Grand Lodge . " In an interesting article on this point by Bro . Sadler { Freemason , October 23 rd , 1886 ) , we are told that a report was presented to the Board by a Committee from their number , on November 21 st , 1865 , who had been appointed on the 18 th July previously " to collate the work , & c , " in consequence of the Grand Secretary announcing that " the Book of Constitutions that
was out of print " in both sizes . Bro . H . Sadler first of all thoug ht this edition was simply a reproduction of the 186 3 , but on examining j only copy then traced , exhibited by Bro . George Taylor { with all the other editions , 1723-1884 ) at the Shanklin Masonic Exhibition , 1886 , he at onc ^ acknowledged we were right in accepting it as a distinct issue for that y . ^ ' Since then , Bro . John E . Le Feuvre has secured a copy , thus comp- " * his set of the Constitutions , and making the only two of the kind so f ar I know that owned bprivate collectorseither in this country or e VVV uiai ail 1 31 111
are y , * ..... . unncu uy pnvaLC UUUGOIU , GUICL LUIS K *\ JI * .. . - . hat where . It is only with respect to this issue , and the following one , several libraries at home and abroad lack completeness , but the fact mains that until the Shanklin Exhibition catalogue was published