Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGE FREEMASONRY- IN ENGLAND 445 THE MARK DEGREE 445 & 446 REVIEWS 446 CONCLUDING LETTER FROM A BRO . IN ENGLAND TO A BRO . IN SCOTLAND 446 X 447 GRAND LODGE OF CANADA 447 THE GRAFT

Metropolitan ... ... ... ... ... 440 Provincial 44 S & 449 ROYAL A * RCHMetropolitan .. 449 MARK MASONRYBombay ... ... ... ... 449 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS 450 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 450

TRUE FRATERNITY 450 & 451 WAR NOTES HY THE EDITOR 451 MULTUM IN PARVO 451 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEElection of W . M 451 & 452 A Belief in God and a Future Resurrection , & c . 452 Foreign Titles .. ... ... ... ... 452 "A Country W . M . " and "Scotch v . English

Freemasonry 452 Scottish Masonry ... ... ... ... 452 GRAND LODGE OF CANADA ... 452 AID TO THE SICK AND WOUNDED 453 KNIGHTS TEMPLAR ' 453 CHAPTER WORK 453

MASONIC ORPHAN BOYS' SCHOOL , IRELAND ... 454 J OTTINGS FROM MASONIC J OURNALS ... 454 . S : 455 POETRYThe European War .. 455 Music in the Lodge ... .. * 455 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT "WEEK 455

Freemasonry In England.

FREEMASONRY IN ENGLAND .

BY THE SON OF SALATHIEL . ( Continued from page Afii . ) THE SCHISM . From 1739 to 1752 the history of the

" Ancients" is veiled 111 obscurity , for the very sufficient reason that no record of their proceedings was kept until the last-mentioned year . The Grand Secretary during the latter part of this

time was a Bro . John Morgan , who appears to have enjoyed his " oliitiu SINE dignitate , " inasmuch as he considered it no part of his duty to take minutes of the transactions of the " Ancient "

body which he served . It is but right to state that there was no " Grand Lodge " according to the " Old Institutions " all this while , the ruling powers being the Masters of the several lodges

held in London , and for a long period they had no lodges elsewhere , and these worshi pful brethren styled themselves the " Grand Committee . "

The first minutes ofthe seceders are dated 51 I 1 February , 1752 , and at the meeting to which they refer the representatives of nine lodges ( from 2 to 10 ) were present , being , as it is expressly stated ,

" all the Ancient Masons in and adjacent to London . " At this meeting , Bro . John Morgan resigned his office of Grand Secretary , in consequence of his having been appointed to some

situation in His Majesty s Navy , and after some discussion Bro . John Morris , P . M . 5 , and Bro . Laurence Dermott , a member of Nos . 9 and 1 o , and a Past Master of No . 26 , Dublin , were

nominated for the vacant post . The Committee thereupon requested Ex-Grand Secretary Morgan to examine the candidates on " initiations , passings , installations , and general regulations , " which

he very agreeably consented to do , and after due trial reported to the committee that the immortal journeyman painter , LAURENCE DERMOTT , was thc better qualified man for the position . Therein ,

as all will be inclined to agree , Ex-Secretary Morgan proved himself to be a judge of character , as no man did more afterwards to establish the

" Ancients" on a firm footing than the zealous and indefatigable Irishman , Laurence Dermott . The minutes of the next meeting are so quaint , and withal so important from their relation to

Freemasonry In England.

the Royal Arch Degree , that I deem it bes t to give them in cxtenso . They form an apt corroboration of D'Assigney ' s work * the authenticity of which has been seriously questioned , thereby causing considerable doubts in the minds of many enquirers , as to the existence of the Royal Arch Order before 1758 , or even later . There can now be no doubt that

the "Ancients " worked the degree in a systematic manner as early as 1752 , although probably only as an adjunct to the grade of Master Mason . Grand Committee at the Griffin Tavern , Holbom , 4 March , 1752 . Bro . John Gaunt , Master of No . 5 , in the chair .

Thc following brethren , viz ., Thomas Figg of No . 5 , Laurence Folliot of thc same lodge , Samuel Quay of No . 2 , Richard Prise of No . 3 , and Henry Lewis of No . 4 , made formal complaints against Thomas Phealon and John Macky , better known by the name of the leg-of-mutton Masons . In course of thc

examination it appeared that Phealon and Macky had initiated many persons for the mean consideration of a leg of mutton for dinner or supper , to the disgrace ofthe ancient Craft—that it was difficult to discover who assisted them , if any , as they seldom met twice in the same alehouse—that Macky was

an empiric in physic , and both impostors in Masonry —thatuponexaminingsome brothers whom they pretended to have made Royal Arch men , the parties had not the least idea of that secret—that Doctor Macky ( for so he was called ) , pretended to teach a Masonicalartby which any man could ( in a moment )

render himself invisible—that the Grand Secretary had examined Macky , at the house of Mr . James Duffy , Tobacconist in East Smithfield , who was not a Mason , and that Macky appeared incapable of making an apprentice with any degree of propriety , nor had Macky the least idea of knowledge of Royal Arch Masonrv—but instead thereof he had told the

people whom he deceived a long story about 12 white marble stones , & c , and that the rainbow was the Royal Arch , with many other absurdities equally foreign and ridiculous . The Grand Committee unanimously agreed and ordered , that neither Thomas Phealon nor J ohn Macky be admitted into ancient lodge during their natural lives . C To bc continued . )

The Mark Degree.

THE MARK DEGREE .

BY BRO . W . J AMES HUGHAN , Past Grand Overseer , & -v ., & V ., for tlie Mark Degree ; P . M . No . 78 ; 87 , 94 , d-c ; P . Prov . G . See . Prov . of Cornwall & c ., & c A " Scottish Mark Master " has favoured

us , in THE FREEMASON for Sept . 3 rd , with his views of the present difficulties with respect to the different authorities claiming to work the Mark Degree in this country . " Our present and our future " arc noticed

by this worthy brother , and various methods are indicated whereby onr future may bc rendered more pleasant than our present . The article is well written , and will no doubt receive thc attention it deserves from the

Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons . It is evidently the result of much consideration , and offered by a distinguished member of the Scottish Mark Degree in England as

an attempt to " fairly state the evils under which the Mark Degree now suffers , " to alleviate them , and , "if possible , to buildup the broken fragments . "

Our brother considers that the "knotty question admits of three probable solutions , which are—recognition , union and concurrent jurisdiction . Thc first is undoubtedl y the best , and could easily lie attained by a motion

being carried in Grand Lodge . We think tha first is tlie best , also . sofuras recognition is concerned ; but from whom the recognition is to be obtained is quite another matter , ancl is really the " knotty question , "

although a "Scottish Mark Master" passes over that point as an easy matter , and assumes that the Grand Lodge of England

would soon grant thc excellent proposition which he submits . Our opinion is quite the contrary , because we believe it would bc a sheer waste of time to seek thc attainment

The Mark Degree.

of recognition by the Grand Lodge of England of the Mark Grand Lodge , or even of the Mark Degree . Surely no one can be ignorant of the fact that to admit the legality of one of the side Masonic degrees

now worked in England would virtually involve several others . It may be said * . "But the Mark belongs to the Craft , and the Knight Templar , Red Cross , and other degrees are chivalric . " Exactly , hut at the

" Union " it was provided and agreed on , most solemnly , that but three degrees and no . more ( including the Royal Arch ) should be worked as " pure and ancient Masonry , " and therefore to recognise another would

virtually nullify this important clause , and , ultimately , we should be worse off than before , and then where would the recognition stop ? Hence we cannot accept or entertain the idea of asking the Grand Lodge of

England to alter the basis of the Union of 1813 , which has answered so well . We do not care for " concurrent jurisdiction . " That may be seen working in Scotland , as both the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter have

control over the Mark Degree 111 that country , but certainly not for the advantage of the latter authority . We hear of thc " anomaly of a Grand Lodge for the Mark Degree , " and yet in the country which

mainly raises such an objection , the Grand Lodge actually has given permission to its members to work Mark Masonry , and claims authority over such as a Go ' verning Body

throughout Scotland . So that the Grand Lodge of England for the Mark Degree is not the only Grand Lodge for that part of Freemasonry ,

We favour " Recognition " and " Union " together , hut not the one without the other . The " Regulations for the Government of Mark Master Lodges out of Scotland " in Grand Chapter Laws of Scotland , 1869

( page 49 ) , declare all warrants " void and null and thc holders thereof bound to return the same to Supreme Grand Chapter , in thc event of the degree of Mark Master becoming at any time laivfitlly

recognised by a Supreme Grand Body , lazaftelly constituted tvithin thc country or province ivithiu -cv / eicli any Mark Master Lodge shall be situated" Now , we think such a time , in all fairness , is arrived . The Grand

Lodge of Mark Master Masons can rightly claim to be thc supreme authority for the Mark Degree in this country , proof of which has often been given , and such has been recognised by the Grand Chapters of

Ireland and Canada , both of which are represented in the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland . Why not , then , the latter influential body concede the same recognition as the two Grand Chapters named , instead

of waiting for recognition by the Grand Lodge or Grand Chapter of England of the Mark Degree , when both these bodies have never yet acknowledged thc Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland ? We simply

ask that no higher standard of recognition should bc required for the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters than for the Grand Chapter of Scotland , and wc make bold to say that all the Grand Bodies who recognise thc

Grand Chapter of Scotland , and exchange representatives with it , would bc found to admit the authority of the Mark Grand Lodge of England . The Grand Chapters 111 unison with the Grand Chapter of

Scotland are those of Ireland , Canada , South Carolina , and Tennessee . The two first have already recognised the Grand Lodge of Mark Masters , and wc feel persuaded the two last will also . Wc beg to draw the Grand Mark Master Mason ' s attention to this , and believe in these hurriedly expressed views will be found a solution of the diffi .