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Articles/Ads
Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Ad Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article To Correspondents. Page 1 of 1 Article Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article Original Correspondence. Page 1 of 1 Article REVIEWS Page 1 of 1 Article Masonic Notes and Queries. Page 1 of 2 Article Masonic Notes and Queries. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad00904
"LA BRILLANTINE " METALLIC POWDER IS the best , cheapest and most effective Powder for cleaning and polishing Metals and Glass , especially Brass . It is used by the Life , Horse , and Dragoon Guards , the Fire Brigades , Sic . Sold everywhere in Gd . & is . Boxes . Proprietors , J . F . BAUMGARTNER & CO ., 22 , N EWMAN STREET , OXFORD STREET , LONDON , W . Beware of spurious imitations .
Ad00905
^ FOR MANSIONS OR YILLAS , r ^ l ^ I MPERISHABLE FLOORING > * , SSN > FLOOR COVERING . ¦ Ov ^* Estimates Free . V 2 ( 3 , BERNERS STREET , W .
Ad00906
F . READ , READ , JAILOR & OUTFITTER , n * A T- » wr Sixteen vears with ALFRED Won MiLES MARK , and Co ., 12 , Brook-st ., Hanovcr-sq . AND SPECIALITE 63 s . SUITS and „ . „ ... 16 s . and 21 s . TROUSERS . LEARN , 14 , Brook Street , Bond Street , W .
Ad00907
CARRIAGES . - F and R . SHANKS particularly call . attention to theirvlight ONE-HORSE LANDAUS , of the very best materials , and fitted with their patent Self-acting Head . Several building to order to be seen in all stages at their manufactory , 70 Si 71 , Great Queen-st ., Lincoln ' s Inn-Fields . Drags and new and second-hand Carriages of all descriptions . Estimates given for repairs .
Ad00908
KNITTING AT HOME , BY which Incomes can be Increased and recreative as well as Healthy Employment secured . Apply for terms to—PATENT AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINE CO ., LONDON : 417 , Oxford-street , W . ; 159 , Upper-street , Islington . LIVERPOOL : sg , Islington . GLASGOW : 7 , Howard-street .
Ad00909
PARASCHO CIGARETTES Possess a delicious natural aroma . When smoked or inhaled do not irritate the throat or nostrils . Are made ONLY from the finest YEXIJF . II ( Turkey ) Tuiucco . Are rolled in specially prepared paper , tasteless , and free from nitre and arc diUerent from and . superior to all others . A sample box containing 24 . will be forwarded to any address on receipt of as . 6 d . in Stamps or Postal Order . SOLE ADDRESS—6 i , PARK STREET , GROSVENOR SQUARE , LONDON , W .
Ad00910
OU R E YE S . Just Published , Third Edition . HOW to USE OUR EYES , and HOW to PRESERVE THEM , from INFANCY to OLD AGE , with Special Information about Spectacles . By JOHN BROWNING , F . R . A . S ., F . R . M . S ., & c . With 54 Illustrations . Price is . ; cloth , is . 6 d . " How to Use our Eyes , " by John Browning , F . R . A . S ., is a thoroughly practical little manual . "—Graphic . " Gives many a useful hint to those who enjoy good eyesight and wish to preserve it , and gives the advice of an occulist to those obliged to wear spectacles . "—Pall Mall Gazette . Chatto and Windus , Piccadilly , London , W ., and all Booksellers . Sent free for is . 2 d . by the Author , John Browning , G 3 , Strand , London , W . C . NE
Ad00911
DFTNlT' ^ W ILLUSTRATED XJ Xi IN 1 O CATALOGUE of HIGH-CLASS rjrr A mpTTTTiq WATCHES and CLOCKS at VVAIUHJIIO . REDUCED PRICES , sent post < A »^^ V . jL free on application to E . DENT Ar JT ^^? 6 an < * Co ., Makers to the Queen , XllFNTv ' 6 l > STRAND ; LONDON , W . C , S W . HI ^ or 4 > ROYAL EXCHANGE .
To Correspondents.
To Correspondents .
The following communications stand over—CRAFT LODGES : —Harmonic , 252 ; Benevolent , 446 ;
I'attison , 913 j Amhurst , 1223 ; Henley , 1472 ; United Millitary , 1536 ; Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar , 1903 ; John Carpenter , 1997 j Abbey , 2030 ; Richmond , aoji . LODGES OF INSTRUCTION . —Domatic , 177 ; Royal Commemoration , 1585 ; Wanderers , 1604 ; Guelph , 16 S 5 . R . A . CHAPTER - . —Affability , 30 S ; West Kent , 1297 . Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire and Consecration of Lodge Castlebergh , 20 9 , at Settle .
BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " Le Monlteur dc la Chance U / iiverselle , " " Southport News and West Lancashire Standard , " " Masonic Advocate , " " Proceedings of the District Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Queensland , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " The Oswestry Advertiser , " " lioletin Olicial del Gr . Or . de Espana , " Jewish Chronicle , " " New York Dispatch , " "Sunday Times " ( New York ) , " Broad Arrow , " " Citizen / " * Masonic Truth , " f 'Hull Packet , " "The Argus , " " Court Circular , " "Keystone , " " S \ l'an M ' l"on > " " Piano , Organ , and MusicTradcs journal , " the Victorian Freemason , " " Liberal Freemason , " " Little One ' s , „ , Paper , " ' « Proceedings of . the Grand Holy Koyal Arcli Chap , nv Pennsylvania , " " Sunday Times " ( London ) , and " The l reemason" ( . Detroit ) .
Ar00913
. SATURDAY , MAY 16 , 1885 .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
OVedo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of the opinions expressed by ourcorrespondents , but \ ve \ rish inaspirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE BALLOT . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I had hoped Bro . Whytehead would have replied to your leader of the 25 th ult . As he has not done so I venture once more to return to the charge . 1 cannot but think your leader hardly goes far enough to help us . You
would " punish with the utmost severity every one who attempts to disclose or discount a ballot" ; that is to saythe aggrieved majority . You mention a case where " it took the W . M . and officers a long time to find out the clique . At last they did so ... . and ejected them one by under the lodge bye-laws . " You seem to mention this case with approval , and as being the correct Masonic
course . But , Sir , will you tell us hoto the W . M . and officers found out the clique ? Of course they in no way attempted to disclose the ballot ! And , will you further tell us when the clique had been found out , under what bye-laws , and
for what alleged offence the blackballers were ejected The precedent might then be of some practical use to us . I have not seen such a bye-law as " the usual lodge byelaw in respect of conduct detrimental to the best interests of the lodge . " If you could give us a precedent it would be interesting , and possibly useful . —Yours fraternally , LEX SCRIPTA . May 10 .
Reviews
REVIEWS
THE ; MAGAZINES . The magazines this month are multifarious , alike in their contents and contributions , the outcome , in all good truth , having little , we feel bound to say , of what is novel or startling . "Temple Bar" has its stock tales , "A Girton Girl " and "Mitre Court , " both full of figures , and sketchy and racy
enough , if without pretensions to being Ai . " My Friend Edith " is happily told , and "Julian Ormestone ' s Story " promises a striking denouement of some kind . " How an Empire was Founded , " " Mary VVollstonecraft Godwin , " " A Summer Day at Stratford-on-Avon , " and " Sully Prudhomme " will all repay perusal . "Longman's Magazine" has "White Heather" and
" Prince Otto , " both , to say the truth , rather dubious stories alike as to interest and reality . " Mr . Black , " in the former , we presume , is resting on his sketches of scenery ; but it is possible we may have too much of a good thing . " A Very Pretty Quarrel " and "An Apostle of the Tules" are very readable ; "The Upper Air" and " Some Modern Abuses of Language , " slightly heavy and dull .
" The Century " is a striking number . Its articles— " On the New Orleans Exposition , " "Typical" Days , " "An Artist among the Indians , " * ' Greely at Cape Sabine , " " Manassas to Seven Pines , " " Incidents of the Battle of Manassas , " " The Second Day at Seven Pines , "
" Recollections of a Private , " "The Peninsular Campaign "—all are remarkable contributions . The portraits of Generals McClellan and Grant are very effective . " The Rise of Silas Lapham " and " The Bostonians " are two new stories .
" Harper' sets | befbre us a dainty dish of " Espanola and its Environs , " "Anneke Jans Bogardus and her Farm , " "Through London by Canal , " "Jersey Cattle in America , " "A Witch - Hazel Copse , '' "A Wildgoose Chase , " "Lady Archer , " "At the Red Glove , " " East Angles , " " Passages from the Diary of a Hong Kong
Merchant " are all mostreadable and interesting . In "The English Illustrated Magazine" we are struck by "Legends of Toledo , " "About the Market Gardens , " "Lord Wolseley , " "In Canterbury Cathedral , " and "A Family Affair " will all be widely read and greatly appreciated .
Masonic Notes And Queries.
Masonic Notes and Queries .
597 ] STATUTES OF 1743 AND 1755 . Our good Bro . Speth says I am "hard to please . " But so frequent has been the fictitious use of names and authorities , so great the absurd use of such expressions as "immemorial usage" and "Ancient Constitutions , " that one has at this period of Masonic enquiry to be sceptically inquisitive and critically severe . Even on our good brother's own showing , if I understand his words aright in
his two " notes , " I am not far out . If I understand Bro . Speth aright , there is not a copy by Mund at Frankfort of the Laws , but only an illuminated copy of a High Grade Certificate . We are then reduced to the fact of a copy at the Hague , made in 17 G 1 , by Mund , apparently of a copy of 1755 , which latter copy is not extant . Perhaps Bro . Speth will now fully exp lain the facts of the case , which are made a little indistinct , by the 2 nd Note , which apparently contradicts the first one . There is a copy at the Hague , of which
Masonic Notes And Queries.
Bro . Speth has recently made a transcript , and which copy Kloss saw , but there is no copy of it , as we understand Bro . Speth ' s 2 nd Note , at Frankfort . The lodge now possesses Bro . Speth's transcript of a transcript ; but has no other copy . As regards the Laws of 1743 , a lodge copies into its minute book certain professed laws of the Grand Lodge of France . But these exist nowhere else , and in
later publications of the Grand Lodge of France are not alluded to . All the evidence amounts to is actually is , that m ' 743 a- lodge professes to possess certain laws of the Grand Lodge , but without further corroborative evidence they cannot be assumed to be laws of the Grand Lodge , except . ' on the testimony of a defunct lodge . It is not safe evidence to rest upon . " A . F . A . W .
59 SJ VON TSCHOUDY . If I understand the contention aright , it is that Von Tschoudy bears witness to some mysterious Hermetic Oriental Grade anterior to that of Master Mason , or that the Grade of Master Mason is a substitution for another one . I cannot agree with any such contention , which seems to be verging on the region of the imaginative
purely . It is most difficult now to decide what is the connection , if any , between the Craft Degrees and the Mysteries , and still more in respect of any alleged form of Oriental Hermeticism . How each bear on each , and what was the analogy and sympathy between them , is the Crux Masonic students have now to face , and it cannot be disposed of by the repetition of the older ideas of an uncritical
school as to the Rites of Adonis , " et hoc genus omne . " It would almost seem , though even that is not clear , by any means , that there is a link of some Uind between the Compagnonage and the Mysteries , and it is possible that as some say , a therefore unexplainablc Hermeticism influenced the Masonic " Aporreta . " There seems to have been a sort of prevailing system of secret union , reception ,
and probation , which cropped up in various forms , during the middle ages , and which probably came from the East . But more than this 1 think we cannot safely say , except by way of allowable hypothesis . At the same time I am myself disposed to believe that Hermeticism is a 'factor" of some influence in Masonic perpetuation . As regards the Oriental Mysteries ,
thus far the connection between them and Freemasonry is purely a matter of suggestion , perhaps fancy . As regards the Egyptian Mysteries , so often mentioned , we know positively next to nothing yet . From certain passages of the Book of the Dead , it may be inferred as probable that a system of initiation of some kind prevailed . But we must dismiss for ever the
imaginary descriptions of Sethos as realities . The Babylonians or Chald . xans do not seem , curious to say , to have had mysteries at all , and , therefore , if there was a form of Hermeticism , it was probably that Indo Mithraic form , which was percolated through Egypt , starting originally from Cabine and Arhite form , and which was subsequently reproduced in Greece and Rome , and may have touched
in some form the Hebraic fraternities . But let us also give up the notion that there is or can be any connection with Egyptian Mysteries and the reveries of Martinism , or the charlatanism of Cagliostro , and the later grouping of ineffable Grades under the united names of Mizraim and Memphis . This terrible multiplication of Grades , without a meaning or an endis working
, great evils , and tending to the formation of purely social aggregations , which indulge in travesties and childish romances of every kind . The love of the abnormal , the magnificent , the gorgeous , and the ridiculous , seems to have penetrated even Freemasonry , and much ,
therefore , on these subjects is hardly worth controversy or discussion . It is more than probable that the High Grades , popularly so called , had an earlier existence than Craft writers have liked to allow , and there seems to have been , both in London and Paris , almost contemporary with the Craft revival or formation , an Hermetic organization of some kind . MASONIC STUDENT .
599 } A CURIOUS WARRANT . In 1 S 04 the independent Lodge Archimedes at Altenburg constituted a Lodge Archimedes at Gera . The German Grand Lodges questioned the right of Altenburg to warrant lodges , and declared Gera clandestine . Gera applied to the English Prov . Grand Lodge at Hamburg for an English constitution . Being outside his province , the Prov .
Grand Master could only act in England ' s name without exercising any future provincial authority over the lodge , i . e ., the lodge became directly dependent on London . As the circumstances are therefore rather peculiar , the warrant may interest some of our students , and I append a translation . Curiously enough , the lodge never obtained an English number , and is now , what it has always practically been , quite independent . G . W . SPETH .
WARRANT . Lodge Seal . Johann Philipp Beckmann , P . G . M . We , John Philipp Beckmann , Doctor of Laws , Sic , nominated Prov . Gd . Mas . of Hamburg and Lower Saxony by the Most Worshipful Most Ancient Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at London , to all and every our Very Worshipful , Worshipful , and beloved Brethren , Greeting . A due number of free and accepted masons in the town
of Gera having approached us with a petition to allow them to establish in said city of Gera a regular lodge under the English Constitution , to be called "Archimedes of Eternal Union , " we , in virtueof the specialcharge confided to us by said Most Worshipful Grand Lodge at London to constitute Lodges even outside our own provinces in lands where as yet no English Prov . Gd . Master has been
appointed , have therefore , not been desirous to evade fraternally granting said Very Worshipful , Worshipful , and Worthy Brothers their request ; and we do therefore hereby and by these presents constitute said Lodge " Archimedes of Eternal Union " a regular Lodge of Kreemasons , and do acknowledge and confirm in his rank of Worshipful Master , to which he has been elected by said brothers , our
Very Worshipful and dearly beloved Brother Doctor Ernst August Sorgel . Wherefore , we do enjoin and charge our said Very Worshipful Brother Ernst Sorgel , as also all his successors in the chair , to take due care that all members of this lodge be regularly made masons , and also that both the general laws contained in the Bool : of the Constitutions of the Most
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad00904
"LA BRILLANTINE " METALLIC POWDER IS the best , cheapest and most effective Powder for cleaning and polishing Metals and Glass , especially Brass . It is used by the Life , Horse , and Dragoon Guards , the Fire Brigades , Sic . Sold everywhere in Gd . & is . Boxes . Proprietors , J . F . BAUMGARTNER & CO ., 22 , N EWMAN STREET , OXFORD STREET , LONDON , W . Beware of spurious imitations .
Ad00905
^ FOR MANSIONS OR YILLAS , r ^ l ^ I MPERISHABLE FLOORING > * , SSN > FLOOR COVERING . ¦ Ov ^* Estimates Free . V 2 ( 3 , BERNERS STREET , W .
Ad00906
F . READ , READ , JAILOR & OUTFITTER , n * A T- » wr Sixteen vears with ALFRED Won MiLES MARK , and Co ., 12 , Brook-st ., Hanovcr-sq . AND SPECIALITE 63 s . SUITS and „ . „ ... 16 s . and 21 s . TROUSERS . LEARN , 14 , Brook Street , Bond Street , W .
Ad00907
CARRIAGES . - F and R . SHANKS particularly call . attention to theirvlight ONE-HORSE LANDAUS , of the very best materials , and fitted with their patent Self-acting Head . Several building to order to be seen in all stages at their manufactory , 70 Si 71 , Great Queen-st ., Lincoln ' s Inn-Fields . Drags and new and second-hand Carriages of all descriptions . Estimates given for repairs .
Ad00908
KNITTING AT HOME , BY which Incomes can be Increased and recreative as well as Healthy Employment secured . Apply for terms to—PATENT AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINE CO ., LONDON : 417 , Oxford-street , W . ; 159 , Upper-street , Islington . LIVERPOOL : sg , Islington . GLASGOW : 7 , Howard-street .
Ad00909
PARASCHO CIGARETTES Possess a delicious natural aroma . When smoked or inhaled do not irritate the throat or nostrils . Are made ONLY from the finest YEXIJF . II ( Turkey ) Tuiucco . Are rolled in specially prepared paper , tasteless , and free from nitre and arc diUerent from and . superior to all others . A sample box containing 24 . will be forwarded to any address on receipt of as . 6 d . in Stamps or Postal Order . SOLE ADDRESS—6 i , PARK STREET , GROSVENOR SQUARE , LONDON , W .
Ad00910
OU R E YE S . Just Published , Third Edition . HOW to USE OUR EYES , and HOW to PRESERVE THEM , from INFANCY to OLD AGE , with Special Information about Spectacles . By JOHN BROWNING , F . R . A . S ., F . R . M . S ., & c . With 54 Illustrations . Price is . ; cloth , is . 6 d . " How to Use our Eyes , " by John Browning , F . R . A . S ., is a thoroughly practical little manual . "—Graphic . " Gives many a useful hint to those who enjoy good eyesight and wish to preserve it , and gives the advice of an occulist to those obliged to wear spectacles . "—Pall Mall Gazette . Chatto and Windus , Piccadilly , London , W ., and all Booksellers . Sent free for is . 2 d . by the Author , John Browning , G 3 , Strand , London , W . C . NE
Ad00911
DFTNlT' ^ W ILLUSTRATED XJ Xi IN 1 O CATALOGUE of HIGH-CLASS rjrr A mpTTTTiq WATCHES and CLOCKS at VVAIUHJIIO . REDUCED PRICES , sent post < A »^^ V . jL free on application to E . DENT Ar JT ^^? 6 an < * Co ., Makers to the Queen , XllFNTv ' 6 l > STRAND ; LONDON , W . C , S W . HI ^ or 4 > ROYAL EXCHANGE .
To Correspondents.
To Correspondents .
The following communications stand over—CRAFT LODGES : —Harmonic , 252 ; Benevolent , 446 ;
I'attison , 913 j Amhurst , 1223 ; Henley , 1472 ; United Millitary , 1536 ; Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar , 1903 ; John Carpenter , 1997 j Abbey , 2030 ; Richmond , aoji . LODGES OF INSTRUCTION . —Domatic , 177 ; Royal Commemoration , 1585 ; Wanderers , 1604 ; Guelph , 16 S 5 . R . A . CHAPTER - . —Affability , 30 S ; West Kent , 1297 . Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire and Consecration of Lodge Castlebergh , 20 9 , at Settle .
BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " Le Monlteur dc la Chance U / iiverselle , " " Southport News and West Lancashire Standard , " " Masonic Advocate , " " Proceedings of the District Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Queensland , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " The Oswestry Advertiser , " " lioletin Olicial del Gr . Or . de Espana , " Jewish Chronicle , " " New York Dispatch , " "Sunday Times " ( New York ) , " Broad Arrow , " " Citizen / " * Masonic Truth , " f 'Hull Packet , " "The Argus , " " Court Circular , " "Keystone , " " S \ l'an M ' l"on > " " Piano , Organ , and MusicTradcs journal , " the Victorian Freemason , " " Liberal Freemason , " " Little One ' s , „ , Paper , " ' « Proceedings of . the Grand Holy Koyal Arcli Chap , nv Pennsylvania , " " Sunday Times " ( London ) , and " The l reemason" ( . Detroit ) .
Ar00913
. SATURDAY , MAY 16 , 1885 .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
OVedo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of the opinions expressed by ourcorrespondents , but \ ve \ rish inaspirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE BALLOT . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , I had hoped Bro . Whytehead would have replied to your leader of the 25 th ult . As he has not done so I venture once more to return to the charge . 1 cannot but think your leader hardly goes far enough to help us . You
would " punish with the utmost severity every one who attempts to disclose or discount a ballot" ; that is to saythe aggrieved majority . You mention a case where " it took the W . M . and officers a long time to find out the clique . At last they did so ... . and ejected them one by under the lodge bye-laws . " You seem to mention this case with approval , and as being the correct Masonic
course . But , Sir , will you tell us hoto the W . M . and officers found out the clique ? Of course they in no way attempted to disclose the ballot ! And , will you further tell us when the clique had been found out , under what bye-laws , and
for what alleged offence the blackballers were ejected The precedent might then be of some practical use to us . I have not seen such a bye-law as " the usual lodge byelaw in respect of conduct detrimental to the best interests of the lodge . " If you could give us a precedent it would be interesting , and possibly useful . —Yours fraternally , LEX SCRIPTA . May 10 .
Reviews
REVIEWS
THE ; MAGAZINES . The magazines this month are multifarious , alike in their contents and contributions , the outcome , in all good truth , having little , we feel bound to say , of what is novel or startling . "Temple Bar" has its stock tales , "A Girton Girl " and "Mitre Court , " both full of figures , and sketchy and racy
enough , if without pretensions to being Ai . " My Friend Edith " is happily told , and "Julian Ormestone ' s Story " promises a striking denouement of some kind . " How an Empire was Founded , " " Mary VVollstonecraft Godwin , " " A Summer Day at Stratford-on-Avon , " and " Sully Prudhomme " will all repay perusal . "Longman's Magazine" has "White Heather" and
" Prince Otto , " both , to say the truth , rather dubious stories alike as to interest and reality . " Mr . Black , " in the former , we presume , is resting on his sketches of scenery ; but it is possible we may have too much of a good thing . " A Very Pretty Quarrel " and "An Apostle of the Tules" are very readable ; "The Upper Air" and " Some Modern Abuses of Language , " slightly heavy and dull .
" The Century " is a striking number . Its articles— " On the New Orleans Exposition , " "Typical" Days , " "An Artist among the Indians , " * ' Greely at Cape Sabine , " " Manassas to Seven Pines , " " Incidents of the Battle of Manassas , " " The Second Day at Seven Pines , "
" Recollections of a Private , " "The Peninsular Campaign "—all are remarkable contributions . The portraits of Generals McClellan and Grant are very effective . " The Rise of Silas Lapham " and " The Bostonians " are two new stories .
" Harper' sets | befbre us a dainty dish of " Espanola and its Environs , " "Anneke Jans Bogardus and her Farm , " "Through London by Canal , " "Jersey Cattle in America , " "A Witch - Hazel Copse , '' "A Wildgoose Chase , " "Lady Archer , " "At the Red Glove , " " East Angles , " " Passages from the Diary of a Hong Kong
Merchant " are all mostreadable and interesting . In "The English Illustrated Magazine" we are struck by "Legends of Toledo , " "About the Market Gardens , " "Lord Wolseley , " "In Canterbury Cathedral , " and "A Family Affair " will all be widely read and greatly appreciated .
Masonic Notes And Queries.
Masonic Notes and Queries .
597 ] STATUTES OF 1743 AND 1755 . Our good Bro . Speth says I am "hard to please . " But so frequent has been the fictitious use of names and authorities , so great the absurd use of such expressions as "immemorial usage" and "Ancient Constitutions , " that one has at this period of Masonic enquiry to be sceptically inquisitive and critically severe . Even on our good brother's own showing , if I understand his words aright in
his two " notes , " I am not far out . If I understand Bro . Speth aright , there is not a copy by Mund at Frankfort of the Laws , but only an illuminated copy of a High Grade Certificate . We are then reduced to the fact of a copy at the Hague , made in 17 G 1 , by Mund , apparently of a copy of 1755 , which latter copy is not extant . Perhaps Bro . Speth will now fully exp lain the facts of the case , which are made a little indistinct , by the 2 nd Note , which apparently contradicts the first one . There is a copy at the Hague , of which
Masonic Notes And Queries.
Bro . Speth has recently made a transcript , and which copy Kloss saw , but there is no copy of it , as we understand Bro . Speth ' s 2 nd Note , at Frankfort . The lodge now possesses Bro . Speth's transcript of a transcript ; but has no other copy . As regards the Laws of 1743 , a lodge copies into its minute book certain professed laws of the Grand Lodge of France . But these exist nowhere else , and in
later publications of the Grand Lodge of France are not alluded to . All the evidence amounts to is actually is , that m ' 743 a- lodge professes to possess certain laws of the Grand Lodge , but without further corroborative evidence they cannot be assumed to be laws of the Grand Lodge , except . ' on the testimony of a defunct lodge . It is not safe evidence to rest upon . " A . F . A . W .
59 SJ VON TSCHOUDY . If I understand the contention aright , it is that Von Tschoudy bears witness to some mysterious Hermetic Oriental Grade anterior to that of Master Mason , or that the Grade of Master Mason is a substitution for another one . I cannot agree with any such contention , which seems to be verging on the region of the imaginative
purely . It is most difficult now to decide what is the connection , if any , between the Craft Degrees and the Mysteries , and still more in respect of any alleged form of Oriental Hermeticism . How each bear on each , and what was the analogy and sympathy between them , is the Crux Masonic students have now to face , and it cannot be disposed of by the repetition of the older ideas of an uncritical
school as to the Rites of Adonis , " et hoc genus omne . " It would almost seem , though even that is not clear , by any means , that there is a link of some Uind between the Compagnonage and the Mysteries , and it is possible that as some say , a therefore unexplainablc Hermeticism influenced the Masonic " Aporreta . " There seems to have been a sort of prevailing system of secret union , reception ,
and probation , which cropped up in various forms , during the middle ages , and which probably came from the East . But more than this 1 think we cannot safely say , except by way of allowable hypothesis . At the same time I am myself disposed to believe that Hermeticism is a 'factor" of some influence in Masonic perpetuation . As regards the Oriental Mysteries ,
thus far the connection between them and Freemasonry is purely a matter of suggestion , perhaps fancy . As regards the Egyptian Mysteries , so often mentioned , we know positively next to nothing yet . From certain passages of the Book of the Dead , it may be inferred as probable that a system of initiation of some kind prevailed . But we must dismiss for ever the
imaginary descriptions of Sethos as realities . The Babylonians or Chald . xans do not seem , curious to say , to have had mysteries at all , and , therefore , if there was a form of Hermeticism , it was probably that Indo Mithraic form , which was percolated through Egypt , starting originally from Cabine and Arhite form , and which was subsequently reproduced in Greece and Rome , and may have touched
in some form the Hebraic fraternities . But let us also give up the notion that there is or can be any connection with Egyptian Mysteries and the reveries of Martinism , or the charlatanism of Cagliostro , and the later grouping of ineffable Grades under the united names of Mizraim and Memphis . This terrible multiplication of Grades , without a meaning or an endis working
, great evils , and tending to the formation of purely social aggregations , which indulge in travesties and childish romances of every kind . The love of the abnormal , the magnificent , the gorgeous , and the ridiculous , seems to have penetrated even Freemasonry , and much ,
therefore , on these subjects is hardly worth controversy or discussion . It is more than probable that the High Grades , popularly so called , had an earlier existence than Craft writers have liked to allow , and there seems to have been , both in London and Paris , almost contemporary with the Craft revival or formation , an Hermetic organization of some kind . MASONIC STUDENT .
599 } A CURIOUS WARRANT . In 1 S 04 the independent Lodge Archimedes at Altenburg constituted a Lodge Archimedes at Gera . The German Grand Lodges questioned the right of Altenburg to warrant lodges , and declared Gera clandestine . Gera applied to the English Prov . Grand Lodge at Hamburg for an English constitution . Being outside his province , the Prov .
Grand Master could only act in England ' s name without exercising any future provincial authority over the lodge , i . e ., the lodge became directly dependent on London . As the circumstances are therefore rather peculiar , the warrant may interest some of our students , and I append a translation . Curiously enough , the lodge never obtained an English number , and is now , what it has always practically been , quite independent . G . W . SPETH .
WARRANT . Lodge Seal . Johann Philipp Beckmann , P . G . M . We , John Philipp Beckmann , Doctor of Laws , Sic , nominated Prov . Gd . Mas . of Hamburg and Lower Saxony by the Most Worshipful Most Ancient Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at London , to all and every our Very Worshipful , Worshipful , and beloved Brethren , Greeting . A due number of free and accepted masons in the town
of Gera having approached us with a petition to allow them to establish in said city of Gera a regular lodge under the English Constitution , to be called "Archimedes of Eternal Union , " we , in virtueof the specialcharge confided to us by said Most Worshipful Grand Lodge at London to constitute Lodges even outside our own provinces in lands where as yet no English Prov . Gd . Master has been
appointed , have therefore , not been desirous to evade fraternally granting said Very Worshipful , Worshipful , and Worthy Brothers their request ; and we do therefore hereby and by these presents constitute said Lodge " Archimedes of Eternal Union " a regular Lodge of Kreemasons , and do acknowledge and confirm in his rank of Worshipful Master , to which he has been elected by said brothers , our
Very Worshipful and dearly beloved Brother Doctor Ernst August Sorgel . Wherefore , we do enjoin and charge our said Very Worshipful Brother Ernst Sorgel , as also all his successors in the chair , to take due care that all members of this lodge be regularly made masons , and also that both the general laws contained in the Bool : of the Constitutions of the Most