Table Of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Masonic Musings 6 39 An Ancient Charge 641 Grand Chapter of Canada 642 Masonic Notes and Queries C 43

ConnESPONDENCE : — Instruction in South Wales ( . 43 Legality of Lodge Meetings C 43 Jhe Secretaryship of the Royal Masonic Institution

for Girls 643 Tlie Duke oi St . AJban ' s Visit to Lincoln 6 43 The Spurious Rite of Memphis C 44 C RAFT M ASONRY : — Metropolitan 6 44

Provincial 6 43 Consecration of a NewLodge , at Sunderland 645 Provincial Grand Lodge of N . and E . Yorkshire ... 6 4 6 R OVAL Ancn : — Provincial G 47

Consecration of a New Chapter at Derby 647 Grand Lodge of Scotland 64 8 Royal Masconi Institution for Boys 648 Masonic Meetings for next week ( 149 Advertisements 637 , 6 3 8 , 649 , 6 50 , 651 . 652

Masonic Musings.

MASONIC MUSINGS .

BY . B RO . J . BALFOUR COCKBURN , P . Z . 278 , Past Installed Mark Master 43 . When last I addressed your readers , I ventured to call attention to the true origin

and fundamental princip les of our Craft , and I endeavoured , so far as could be done without infringing on our Masonic caution , with regard to matters which may not meet the eye , or reach

the ear of those who are , not initiated in our mysteries , to sketch out such a general view of the nature and character of our society , as might at least be accepted as a sufficient guarantee or

proof of that which I undertook to establish , namely , that Masonry is not merely an empty name , that it is not confined to the sole purposes of social and fraternal union , or to the still higher

operations of the spirit of charity and ; benevolence , by which it is generally and most favourably known to the world at large . I wished to impress those brethren , who

mig ht be induced to peruse what I had written , with the [ conviction which the study of its history has for ' . many years _ fixed upon my own mind , not only of what it is not , but of what it

actually is . I desired to demonstrate as plainly as possible the many and cogent reasons for believing that Freemasonry is a secret combination of the arts and sciences , and especially of

architecture , which implies a knowledge , and requires a practical application of them all , with religion under every modification , whether true or false . The great end I held in view in submitting

this representation , was not alone to satisfy the minds of the brethren upon certain points , touching which , as Masons , they could not fail to be much interested , but equally to sustain the

honour of the Craft , and promote its welfare by encouraging its extension amidst men of high culture and liberal attainments , who would be unable to avoid being persuaded and convinced

that our secrets are worth knowing , inasmuch as they are connected with , and essential to , the maintenance of a system of the most sublime and precious character .

If then , with these principles in our remembrance , we should be asked " What is Masonry ?" —a question often put and seldom answered , we

may safel y reply—Sacred Science . What its origin ? The same Divine will which has preserved it .

What its object ? The benefit , temporal and spiritual , of mankind . What it means ? The union of those who are capable and ought to be instruments of

promoting piety , charity , and peace on earth . Again should it it be enquired in what more particularly this Sacred Science consists , what are its elements , what its subjects , or what its fruits ?

This answer may be given without fear of contradiction : It is a knowledge of those curious recondite , manifold modes of representation , by which the most sublime and important

discoveries of heavenly wisdom have been impressed on material structures , a knowledge of those oral traditions by which the earliest records of infinite goodness have been transmitted from

generation to generation , illustrated b y certain emblems , figures , and geometrical combinations ; it may justly be added that it thus forms a collateral but independent testimony to the great truth

and doctrines of religion . That it has preserved them , by its secret constitution and symbolic system , from the perversion or injury to which all merely written works are liable ; and it

corroborates , by its never-failing evidence , the authority and authenticity of those Hol y Writings , which have escaped the desolating hand of barbarism , the ignorance and fanaticism of the

dark ages , and the contaminating influence of those wild idolatries , which have overspread the earth . Under the surface of these very abominations you will find , indeed , on further

investigation , what is easily discoverable by those who possess the proper means of investigation , that the precious gem of primasval truth has been carefully , though often dishonourably concealed ;

to be revived bysincere and enlightened Masons , at different periods of the world ' s complicated history , to be cherished and cultivated by us and

our successors in the Craft , till that happy day when all human knowledge shall be absorbed in the plenitude of earthly wisdom , and for this end let the words of Addison be engraved on our

hearts—Remember , O ! my friend , the law delivered down , From age to age , by your renowned forefathers ; O never let it perish in your hands !

But piously transmit it to your children , From all that I have now said , and everything which the records of antiquity , as well as modern daily observation , can furnish for our guidance ,

it is evident that we are chiefly indebted to architecture , as employed in sacred buildings , for the visible and tangible evidence of the real and influential existence of Freemasonry , under

different names and modifications , from the creation of man to the present time . It may , therefore , be not unacceptable , if our attention is now directed to the illustration of an instance

of the manner in which we may avail ourselves of history , sacred and profane , to elucidate and apply those principles to which I have alread y adverted , as the solid basis of our Society , no less

than its proud distinction , and most beauteous ornament . In order to exemplify the mode in which the studious and enquiring Freemason may , with the key of our Science in hishand , obtain admission

to the various depositories of valuable information , which still exist , and which have multiplied exceedingly within the last fifty years , it is necessary to say a few words with regard to the actual

state of architecture , as it is discovered in the ruins and remnants of former ages , as well as in the many noble works of our more modern Fellow Craft . We will then consider what proofs

are to be sought and found in the one unerring Book which we have the happiness to possess , of thesubsistance and operation of the combination ol

religion with science , in the one period of history , which is common to all nations , that of 16 5 6 years before the Flood .

Did space and time permit the digression , much instruction and delight might be found in tracing the similarity or dissimilarity which has obtained in the architectural style of different

people and ages , up to its probable origin , that is , the circumstances of climate , situation , or materials , the degree , greater or less , of civilization , and proportionate advance in science , the

peculiarities of character , temperament and constitution , affecting the body politic . All this , however , though strictly subservient to our purpose , would demand too great a trespass on time and

space . I must , therefore , content myself with mentioning , in the first place , the different styles of architecture of which we have specimens or authentic notices , and , perhaps , on some future

occasion the most obvious characteristics of each , illustrating them by reference to the edifices of the several countries in which they are to be found , if our inquiries can be carried out to an

extent which may allow of so large a prospect . We have then , at least , these twelve distinct modes , kinds , or styles of architecture . 1 . Hebrew .

2 . Egyptian . 3 . Phoenician . 4 . Etruscan .

5 . Greek . 6 . Roman . 7 . Persian . 8 . Indian .

9 . Chinese . 10 . Arabian . 11 . Saxon . 12 . Gothic .

In this classification , a simple glance will sufto notice that no attempt is here made to give either a chronological or a purely topographical arrangement , or to take it as in any way granted ,

that in constructional knowledge one country took precedence of another in point of early cultivation . An arrangement of the different styles of architecture is , according to our greatest living

authority , the first and most serious difficulty which the student has to encounter , and this same author has himself , in his classical handbook , very successfully adopted , the

combination of the chronological and topographical methods . In the opinion of the same voluminous and experienced writer , the most obvious and convenient arrangement would be the

division of all architectural objects into Christian and non-Christian ; the latter might be called heathen or pagan , if these were not , as he very justly observes , generally used as terms of reproach . As the

Christian styles in every instance arose out of the pagan , which , as a rule , are the older , the pagan , of course . take priority of position ; and if antiquity

alone were , considered the Egyptian ought perhaps to hold first rank ; but granting this , the Assyrian would come next , with the Greek and Roma following , but now the listmustbe interrupted