-
Articles/Ads
Article BROTHER JOSEPH DOLFI, Page 1 of 1 Article BROTHER JOSEPH DOLFI, Page 1 of 1 Article INELIGIBILITY OF BASTARDS AND THE MAIMED AS FREEMASONS. Page 1 of 1 Article INELIGIBILITY OF BASTARDS AND THE MAIMED AS FREEMASONS. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother Joseph Dolfi,
BROTHER JOSEPH DOLFI ,
( O jc gaiter of Jlomttt . On this side of the Alps we are well acquainted with the rough representative of the Transti'oerine element of Rome , Brunetti ( called Ciceruacchio ) , but the nobler figure of Bro . Joseph Dolfi has generally remained unknown .
Bro . Joseph . Dolfi has died recently ; his funeral was conducted with great ceremony by Freemasons ; we purpose , therefore , to give a few outlines of his life . Dolfi was simply a baker in the Borgo San Lorenzo , near the cathedral of Florence . His bread was
excellent and , what is a rarity in Italy , well salted ; he sat the whole day in his little shop , where hundreds of persons came daily for bread and advice . In the year 1853 , the buon govcmo—or , as we should say , the police—came to search his house , but found nothing except — flour . In 1855 , they succeeded ,
however , in confiscating a trough , the form of which showed unmistakeable signs of high treason , and Dolfi was committed to prison for two months . Having now become suspected he was again , in 1857 , sent to prison for three mouths , when the people of Leghorn had openly shown their sympathy for the
fate of Pisacane . This moderate martyrdom made him very popular , so that when , in 1859 , the programme "Italy free as far as the Adriatic ! " was published , Dolfi was at once elected a member of the High Council of Florence . He immediately gathered on the Piazza 12 , 000 men , and made known to the
Grand Dnke that as he stood in the way of the unity of Italy , he had better take his departure . In vain did the latter offer liberty of the press , a Constitution , and everything else . Every offer of his was invariably answered by , "Fuora il Granduca . " At last the Grand Ducal carriages made their
appearance , and His Royal Highness departed . " A rivederci" ( to meet again ) , said he . " Non s'incommodi " ( don't trouble yourself ) , was Dolfi ' s reply . When the news of the peace of Villafranca roused all Florence into fermentation , Dolfi was one of the
few who did not lose courage , although the town was totally denuded of troops and there were only 400 rifles in the arsenal . With these Dolfi armed 400 men , undertaking to preserve order in Florence , and he succeeded so well that the peace of the city was never disturbed . Dolfi's 400 served as a nucleus
npon which the Florentine National Guard was formed . In the midst of this excitement , Dolfi was by no means forgetful of his own affairs ; on the contrary , he attracted many buyers by a gigantic doll , made of dough , representing Italy brandishing her sword aud trampling under her feet the palm of
peace . Victor Emmanuel , on his entry into Florence , recompensed so much civic virtue and distinguished services with the knightly Order of St . Mauritius . On this becoming known , there was great rejoicing and astonishment in the city . Dolfi , however
hastened to the Pitti Palace , and was granted au audience . " Ah ! your Majesty , why did you do that to me ?" The King replied that it was a recompense for distinguished services , civic virtues , & c , and that he
had no other means of testifying his appreciation . Dolfi , however , replied , " Sire , this decoration undermines my influence with the people , and renders me ridiculous . I beseech your Majesty to take it back . "
The King , evidently of opinion that Dolfi was not altogether wrong , said , " In your place , perhaps , I might have acted in the same manner . " "Then why did your Majesty give me thc decoraration V
The King would not give a direct reply to this , but simply asked Dolfi whether there was anything more he could do for him . "No , " was the reply ; "but stay—yes , make Italy one /"
During the time that Dolfi was at the palace , his friends , who could have been counted by hundreds , were flocking to his house , knocking at the door , and boisterously demanding admittance . His wife put her head out of au upper window , whereupon she was greeted with repeated shouts of " We must speak to Cavaliere Dolfi ! " but the wife , not at all
pleased with such an uproar , and disliking such a display , called loudly to them , "AVhat do you want 1 Hero lives a baker , but no Cavaliere . You had "better make haste to leave , for otherwise you may get something on your heads I " On Garibaldi landing iu Sicily , Dolfi collected in his shop 102 , 000 francs , which ho forwarded to thc Dictator .
Tho funeral of Brother Dolfi was the first which took place without tho assistance of the clergy . Immediately after the coffin was carried the banner of the Freemasons , followed by the banners of sixty democratic associations . In vain did the owners of the cemetery , in which the Franciscans had been in habit of performing the funeral services , make a protest to tho Government ; public opinoa had ex-
Brother Joseph Dolfi,
pressed itself too strongly on the subject , and the protest remained unheeded . So far the " Magonnick Weekblad . " The "Monde Maconnique , " in its necrological part , gives the following respecting Dolfi's funeral "Italy has just lost a great citizen , and Freemasonry
one of its most illustrious members , viz ., Joseph Dolfi , 33 ° , member of the Supreme Council and the Great Orient of Italy , Grand Master of the Working Men ' s Associations , and a baker in Florence . The interment was purely civil . More than 6000 persons accompanied the hearse . On the coffin , which
was covered with red velvet , was deposited the white sash of the 33 ° . The corners of the pall were held by Guerazzi and Mazzoni , ex-Triumvirs of Florence ; Frapolli , Grand Master of Italian Masonry ; the Director of the Bank of the People , and the Secretary-General of the Working Men ' s Associations .
The Masonic banner was borne immediately after the hearse , and followed by over 500 Masons , all bearing acacia branches . Among these were remarked the Minister Mordini , the brethren Macchi ancl George Tamajo , members of the Supreme Council ; several Generals and Senators , a large number of Deputies ,
and finally 80 ladies , wives of Freemasons , dressed in black . After the Masonic procession came the working men ' s societies , followed by a considerable number of the inhabitants . The whole city of Florence had gone out to see the funeral procession . The streets , squares , houses , and roofs , were filled
with people . " "I have seen the obsequies of Cavour at Turin , " writes to us our friend Frapolli , " but they were far from representing that unanimous , cordial , and spontaneous concourse of the whole population as witnessed on this occasion . Notwithstanding the great distance from the deceased ' s residence to the
burial-place , the most perfect order was everywhere strictly observed . " Ths death of Bro . Dolfi has beeu cause for general mourning . Bills spontaneously appeared on the walls of the city announcing that all the theatres would
be closed for that evening . Thus the Masonic banner has triumphantly traversed the City of the Medicis ; the ashes of Savonarola and the victims of of so many kinds of intolerance have at last been avenged .
Ineligibility Of Bastards And The Maimed As Freemasons.
INELIGIBILITY OF BASTARDS AND THE MAIMED AS FREEMASONS .
BY CIPES . ( Continued from page 125 . ) In the Grand Lodge of Mississippi , in 1845 , and in the Grand Lodge of North Carolina , in 1849 , Bro . Giles Yates , Chairman of a Special Committee of the Grand Lodge of New York , said : — "Freemasonry , in its original institution , was not formed
by an association of men exclusively for the prosecution of physical labours . It has always been speculative and moral , 'the secret societies of antiquity , from which we can trace a lineal descent , were not devoted exclusively to the physical labours attendant on the erection of buildings , whether of wood or stone . They were the depositories of other arts and sciences besides architecture They , moreover , taught
sublime truths , and duties towards God , and regarding tlie world to come , as well as towards our neighbours and the " brothers of the mystic tie . " Our ancient brethren were , in effect , more eminently speculative or spiritual than operative or practical masons . Those take too contracted a view of thc subject who infer that , because in the sixteenth century and previous , the York architects in Kugland wero the almost
exclusive conservatories of certain essentials in our mysteries , the eforo the reason of tho law in question had reference in olden times to operative masons only . The rationale of tho law excluding persons physically imperfect and deformed , lies deeper , and is more ancient than tho source ascribed to it It is grounded upon a principle recognized in tho earliest ages of the world , and will be found identical with that
which obtained among the ancient Jews . " Bro . W . S . Rockwell , iu an able report , presented in 1852 to the Graud Lodge of Georgia , decides in the same manner . He traces the law to remote antiquity , to the Egyptian and Mosaic rites , exhibits its symbolic meaning , and thus concludes : — " The symbolic relation of each member of the Order to its
mystic temple , forbids the idea that its constituent portions , its living stones , should bo less perfect or less a type of their great original trail the inanimate material which formed the earthly dwelling-place of the God of thoir adoration . We , tho successors of those who received their initiatory rites at the hands of Slopes and Solomon , received also , with this inestimable inheritance , the same symbols , and with tho
same expressive signification . Enough has been said to show at how remote a period in the history of Masonry this important Landmark was erected . Can man , in his shortsighted notions of convenience , vary its meaning ? Can a Freemason , the solemnly-installed Master of a Lodge of his brethren and equals , consistent with the obligations ho has voluntarily imposed upon himself , remove it from its place ?"
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , in 1783 , in its Book of Constitutions , or "Ahiman Rezon , " required that candidates should be "hale and sound , not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making . " The same words aro used in the "Ahiman Rezon " of North Corolina and Tennessee , published in 1805 . The " Ahiman Rezon " of South Carolina , published in 1807 , requires that
Ineligibility Of Bastards And The Maimed As Freemasons.
Every person desiring admission must be upright in body , not deformed or dismembered at the time of making , but of hale and entire limbs , as a man ought to be . " The Graud Lodge of Missouri , in 1823 , unanimously adopted the report of a committee , requiring as a physical qualification of the candidates for
initiation , that they should be " sound in mind and all their members ; " and at the same time a resolution was passed , that the Grand Lodge cannot grant a letter of dispensation to a subordinate lodge working under its jurisdiction , to initiate any person maimed , disabled , or wanting the qualifications established by tlie Landmarks and ancient usage .
The Grand Lodge of Georgia ' s Committee o Correspondence , in 1848 , says : — " The conviction has been forced upon the minds , even against our wills , that we depart from the ancient Landmarks and the usages of Freemasonry whenever we admit an individual wanting in any of the human senses , or who is in any particular maimed or deformed . "
The Grand-Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana , in 1840 , cautioning his brethren against laxity as to the requirement of physical and other qualifications , said : — "Let not any one who his not all the qualification ! required by our Constitutions and Regulations be admitted
See that they are perfect men in body and mind . " The Grand Lodge of Maryland , in 1848 , adopted a resolution requiring its subordinates , in the initiation of candidates , "To adhere to the ancient law , as laid down in our printed books , which says he shall be of entire limbs . "
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey , in his address in 1849 , stated that he had rejected applications for admission of maimed candidates , deeming it necessary to maintain the ancien landmarks . The Grand Lodge of Florida , after correspondence
with other Grand Ledges , adopted the law prohibiting maimed or deformed persons from becoming members of the Masonic fraternity . The Graud Lodgeof Virginia was this year ( 1869 ) addressed by their Grand Master , who clearly and di tinctly pointed out tbat bastards and maimed
individuals could and ought not to be initiated , and pointed out the law prohibiting them . The notice of the initiation of the bastard or the maimed in other Grand Lodges resulted in the recognition , or we should rather say the confirmation , of the ancient landmark , and has led the lodges o
these countries to put au end to any laxity which might creep in . Freemasons have acknowledged the necessity aud duty of maintaining the ancient principles ot their Order , aud by consideration of these principles have beeu brought to perceive more clearly than before their excellence and the value of
the reasons upon which they are founded . The ancient rule has , however , beeu well maintained , aud the tendency to laxity now effectually checked . It is quite clear , therefore , that the Freemasons under the jurisdiction of the various Grand Lodges mentioned are unanimous in maintainiucr the ancient
landmark , and insisting that candidates for admission shall be free of all known imperfections in body and mind . The notion that Masonry was at first an association of mere operatives , aud that speculative masonry is of comparatively recent growth , is one which
cannot be reasonably maintained . It is an absolute contradiction to the well-established opinion as to the origin and history of our Order . The Freemasons who built the glorious cathedrals and abbeys of Europe , thoso who built the Abbeys of Melrose , Kelso , Jedburgh , and Aberbrothwick , and tho
Cathedral of Glasgow in the twelfth century , were certainly not mere operatives . It may be mentioned that the question of physical qualifications was , not many years ago , practically applied iu Edinburgh to the detection of an impostor , who having acquired some knowledge of
Freemasonry , received pecuniary supplies from a number of Freemasons , but happening to call on one of the shrewder members of the craft , was detected in consequence of his using the left hand when ho ought to have used the right . Instead of obtaining the money which he wished , he was carried to the
Police Court , aud sentenced to thirty days' imprisonment . This at once shows the advantage of having only one settled way of communicating the secrets of Freemasonry . Lastly , it is written , "the Candidate shall also
solemnly promise to submit to the Constitutions , the Charges , and Regulations , " so that any member of the order to alter them , without sanction of a Supreme Body , would be guilty of a violation of his duty as a Freemason . ( To be continued . )
GERMANT . —The Eclectic Lodge " a znr Bruderkette " ( the Masonic Chair ) excluded last year four members , for the simple reason of their having proved by their indifference unfit subjects for Freemasonry .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother Joseph Dolfi,
BROTHER JOSEPH DOLFI ,
( O jc gaiter of Jlomttt . On this side of the Alps we are well acquainted with the rough representative of the Transti'oerine element of Rome , Brunetti ( called Ciceruacchio ) , but the nobler figure of Bro . Joseph Dolfi has generally remained unknown .
Bro . Joseph . Dolfi has died recently ; his funeral was conducted with great ceremony by Freemasons ; we purpose , therefore , to give a few outlines of his life . Dolfi was simply a baker in the Borgo San Lorenzo , near the cathedral of Florence . His bread was
excellent and , what is a rarity in Italy , well salted ; he sat the whole day in his little shop , where hundreds of persons came daily for bread and advice . In the year 1853 , the buon govcmo—or , as we should say , the police—came to search his house , but found nothing except — flour . In 1855 , they succeeded ,
however , in confiscating a trough , the form of which showed unmistakeable signs of high treason , and Dolfi was committed to prison for two months . Having now become suspected he was again , in 1857 , sent to prison for three mouths , when the people of Leghorn had openly shown their sympathy for the
fate of Pisacane . This moderate martyrdom made him very popular , so that when , in 1859 , the programme "Italy free as far as the Adriatic ! " was published , Dolfi was at once elected a member of the High Council of Florence . He immediately gathered on the Piazza 12 , 000 men , and made known to the
Grand Dnke that as he stood in the way of the unity of Italy , he had better take his departure . In vain did the latter offer liberty of the press , a Constitution , and everything else . Every offer of his was invariably answered by , "Fuora il Granduca . " At last the Grand Ducal carriages made their
appearance , and His Royal Highness departed . " A rivederci" ( to meet again ) , said he . " Non s'incommodi " ( don't trouble yourself ) , was Dolfi ' s reply . When the news of the peace of Villafranca roused all Florence into fermentation , Dolfi was one of the
few who did not lose courage , although the town was totally denuded of troops and there were only 400 rifles in the arsenal . With these Dolfi armed 400 men , undertaking to preserve order in Florence , and he succeeded so well that the peace of the city was never disturbed . Dolfi's 400 served as a nucleus
npon which the Florentine National Guard was formed . In the midst of this excitement , Dolfi was by no means forgetful of his own affairs ; on the contrary , he attracted many buyers by a gigantic doll , made of dough , representing Italy brandishing her sword aud trampling under her feet the palm of
peace . Victor Emmanuel , on his entry into Florence , recompensed so much civic virtue and distinguished services with the knightly Order of St . Mauritius . On this becoming known , there was great rejoicing and astonishment in the city . Dolfi , however
hastened to the Pitti Palace , and was granted au audience . " Ah ! your Majesty , why did you do that to me ?" The King replied that it was a recompense for distinguished services , civic virtues , & c , and that he
had no other means of testifying his appreciation . Dolfi , however , replied , " Sire , this decoration undermines my influence with the people , and renders me ridiculous . I beseech your Majesty to take it back . "
The King , evidently of opinion that Dolfi was not altogether wrong , said , " In your place , perhaps , I might have acted in the same manner . " "Then why did your Majesty give me thc decoraration V
The King would not give a direct reply to this , but simply asked Dolfi whether there was anything more he could do for him . "No , " was the reply ; "but stay—yes , make Italy one /"
During the time that Dolfi was at the palace , his friends , who could have been counted by hundreds , were flocking to his house , knocking at the door , and boisterously demanding admittance . His wife put her head out of au upper window , whereupon she was greeted with repeated shouts of " We must speak to Cavaliere Dolfi ! " but the wife , not at all
pleased with such an uproar , and disliking such a display , called loudly to them , "AVhat do you want 1 Hero lives a baker , but no Cavaliere . You had "better make haste to leave , for otherwise you may get something on your heads I " On Garibaldi landing iu Sicily , Dolfi collected in his shop 102 , 000 francs , which ho forwarded to thc Dictator .
Tho funeral of Brother Dolfi was the first which took place without tho assistance of the clergy . Immediately after the coffin was carried the banner of the Freemasons , followed by the banners of sixty democratic associations . In vain did the owners of the cemetery , in which the Franciscans had been in habit of performing the funeral services , make a protest to tho Government ; public opinoa had ex-
Brother Joseph Dolfi,
pressed itself too strongly on the subject , and the protest remained unheeded . So far the " Magonnick Weekblad . " The "Monde Maconnique , " in its necrological part , gives the following respecting Dolfi's funeral "Italy has just lost a great citizen , and Freemasonry
one of its most illustrious members , viz ., Joseph Dolfi , 33 ° , member of the Supreme Council and the Great Orient of Italy , Grand Master of the Working Men ' s Associations , and a baker in Florence . The interment was purely civil . More than 6000 persons accompanied the hearse . On the coffin , which
was covered with red velvet , was deposited the white sash of the 33 ° . The corners of the pall were held by Guerazzi and Mazzoni , ex-Triumvirs of Florence ; Frapolli , Grand Master of Italian Masonry ; the Director of the Bank of the People , and the Secretary-General of the Working Men ' s Associations .
The Masonic banner was borne immediately after the hearse , and followed by over 500 Masons , all bearing acacia branches . Among these were remarked the Minister Mordini , the brethren Macchi ancl George Tamajo , members of the Supreme Council ; several Generals and Senators , a large number of Deputies ,
and finally 80 ladies , wives of Freemasons , dressed in black . After the Masonic procession came the working men ' s societies , followed by a considerable number of the inhabitants . The whole city of Florence had gone out to see the funeral procession . The streets , squares , houses , and roofs , were filled
with people . " "I have seen the obsequies of Cavour at Turin , " writes to us our friend Frapolli , " but they were far from representing that unanimous , cordial , and spontaneous concourse of the whole population as witnessed on this occasion . Notwithstanding the great distance from the deceased ' s residence to the
burial-place , the most perfect order was everywhere strictly observed . " Ths death of Bro . Dolfi has beeu cause for general mourning . Bills spontaneously appeared on the walls of the city announcing that all the theatres would
be closed for that evening . Thus the Masonic banner has triumphantly traversed the City of the Medicis ; the ashes of Savonarola and the victims of of so many kinds of intolerance have at last been avenged .
Ineligibility Of Bastards And The Maimed As Freemasons.
INELIGIBILITY OF BASTARDS AND THE MAIMED AS FREEMASONS .
BY CIPES . ( Continued from page 125 . ) In the Grand Lodge of Mississippi , in 1845 , and in the Grand Lodge of North Carolina , in 1849 , Bro . Giles Yates , Chairman of a Special Committee of the Grand Lodge of New York , said : — "Freemasonry , in its original institution , was not formed
by an association of men exclusively for the prosecution of physical labours . It has always been speculative and moral , 'the secret societies of antiquity , from which we can trace a lineal descent , were not devoted exclusively to the physical labours attendant on the erection of buildings , whether of wood or stone . They were the depositories of other arts and sciences besides architecture They , moreover , taught
sublime truths , and duties towards God , and regarding tlie world to come , as well as towards our neighbours and the " brothers of the mystic tie . " Our ancient brethren were , in effect , more eminently speculative or spiritual than operative or practical masons . Those take too contracted a view of thc subject who infer that , because in the sixteenth century and previous , the York architects in Kugland wero the almost
exclusive conservatories of certain essentials in our mysteries , the eforo the reason of tho law in question had reference in olden times to operative masons only . The rationale of tho law excluding persons physically imperfect and deformed , lies deeper , and is more ancient than tho source ascribed to it It is grounded upon a principle recognized in tho earliest ages of the world , and will be found identical with that
which obtained among the ancient Jews . " Bro . W . S . Rockwell , iu an able report , presented in 1852 to the Graud Lodge of Georgia , decides in the same manner . He traces the law to remote antiquity , to the Egyptian and Mosaic rites , exhibits its symbolic meaning , and thus concludes : — " The symbolic relation of each member of the Order to its
mystic temple , forbids the idea that its constituent portions , its living stones , should bo less perfect or less a type of their great original trail the inanimate material which formed the earthly dwelling-place of the God of thoir adoration . We , tho successors of those who received their initiatory rites at the hands of Slopes and Solomon , received also , with this inestimable inheritance , the same symbols , and with tho
same expressive signification . Enough has been said to show at how remote a period in the history of Masonry this important Landmark was erected . Can man , in his shortsighted notions of convenience , vary its meaning ? Can a Freemason , the solemnly-installed Master of a Lodge of his brethren and equals , consistent with the obligations ho has voluntarily imposed upon himself , remove it from its place ?"
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , in 1783 , in its Book of Constitutions , or "Ahiman Rezon , " required that candidates should be "hale and sound , not deformed or dismembered at the time of their making . " The same words aro used in the "Ahiman Rezon " of North Corolina and Tennessee , published in 1805 . The " Ahiman Rezon " of South Carolina , published in 1807 , requires that
Ineligibility Of Bastards And The Maimed As Freemasons.
Every person desiring admission must be upright in body , not deformed or dismembered at the time of making , but of hale and entire limbs , as a man ought to be . " The Graud Lodge of Missouri , in 1823 , unanimously adopted the report of a committee , requiring as a physical qualification of the candidates for
initiation , that they should be " sound in mind and all their members ; " and at the same time a resolution was passed , that the Grand Lodge cannot grant a letter of dispensation to a subordinate lodge working under its jurisdiction , to initiate any person maimed , disabled , or wanting the qualifications established by tlie Landmarks and ancient usage .
The Grand Lodge of Georgia ' s Committee o Correspondence , in 1848 , says : — " The conviction has been forced upon the minds , even against our wills , that we depart from the ancient Landmarks and the usages of Freemasonry whenever we admit an individual wanting in any of the human senses , or who is in any particular maimed or deformed . "
The Grand-Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana , in 1840 , cautioning his brethren against laxity as to the requirement of physical and other qualifications , said : — "Let not any one who his not all the qualification ! required by our Constitutions and Regulations be admitted
See that they are perfect men in body and mind . " The Grand Lodge of Maryland , in 1848 , adopted a resolution requiring its subordinates , in the initiation of candidates , "To adhere to the ancient law , as laid down in our printed books , which says he shall be of entire limbs . "
The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey , in his address in 1849 , stated that he had rejected applications for admission of maimed candidates , deeming it necessary to maintain the ancien landmarks . The Grand Lodge of Florida , after correspondence
with other Grand Ledges , adopted the law prohibiting maimed or deformed persons from becoming members of the Masonic fraternity . The Graud Lodgeof Virginia was this year ( 1869 ) addressed by their Grand Master , who clearly and di tinctly pointed out tbat bastards and maimed
individuals could and ought not to be initiated , and pointed out the law prohibiting them . The notice of the initiation of the bastard or the maimed in other Grand Lodges resulted in the recognition , or we should rather say the confirmation , of the ancient landmark , and has led the lodges o
these countries to put au end to any laxity which might creep in . Freemasons have acknowledged the necessity aud duty of maintaining the ancient principles ot their Order , aud by consideration of these principles have beeu brought to perceive more clearly than before their excellence and the value of
the reasons upon which they are founded . The ancient rule has , however , beeu well maintained , aud the tendency to laxity now effectually checked . It is quite clear , therefore , that the Freemasons under the jurisdiction of the various Grand Lodges mentioned are unanimous in maintainiucr the ancient
landmark , and insisting that candidates for admission shall be free of all known imperfections in body and mind . The notion that Masonry was at first an association of mere operatives , aud that speculative masonry is of comparatively recent growth , is one which
cannot be reasonably maintained . It is an absolute contradiction to the well-established opinion as to the origin and history of our Order . The Freemasons who built the glorious cathedrals and abbeys of Europe , thoso who built the Abbeys of Melrose , Kelso , Jedburgh , and Aberbrothwick , and tho
Cathedral of Glasgow in the twelfth century , were certainly not mere operatives . It may be mentioned that the question of physical qualifications was , not many years ago , practically applied iu Edinburgh to the detection of an impostor , who having acquired some knowledge of
Freemasonry , received pecuniary supplies from a number of Freemasons , but happening to call on one of the shrewder members of the craft , was detected in consequence of his using the left hand when ho ought to have used the right . Instead of obtaining the money which he wished , he was carried to the
Police Court , aud sentenced to thirty days' imprisonment . This at once shows the advantage of having only one settled way of communicating the secrets of Freemasonry . Lastly , it is written , "the Candidate shall also
solemnly promise to submit to the Constitutions , the Charges , and Regulations , " so that any member of the order to alter them , without sanction of a Supreme Body , would be guilty of a violation of his duty as a Freemason . ( To be continued . )
GERMANT . —The Eclectic Lodge " a znr Bruderkette " ( the Masonic Chair ) excluded last year four members , for the simple reason of their having proved by their indifference unfit subjects for Freemasonry .