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Article A NEW JOKE. ← Page 2 of 2 Article BRO. CREMIEUX'S SPEECH AT THE FETE OF THE TROCADERO. Page 1 of 1 Article BRO. CREMIEUX'S SPEECH AT THE FETE OF THE TROCADERO. Page 1 of 1 Article Original Correspondence. Page 1 of 2 Article Original Correspondence. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A New Joke.
office , and as since ifi / , three Princes of Wales , and a large proportion ofthe Royal Family have belonged to it , and it includes within its pale today , some of the noblest , and the most cultivated , and ' most distinguished in the law , to say nothing of its p halanx of excellent men and law-abiding
citizens , we do not profess to understand what " mischief" Mr . Gladstone thinks English Freemasonry can do ! The truth is that Mr . Gladstone , like all frequent speakers , ( and he certainly does seek to improve the occasion ) , was in want of a little variety , and so he lighted upon our friendly
Order . So far , from his chargei if it be a charge , being valid , much less his joke , if it be a joke , being a good joke , as Freemasons we do not seek to attract , nor do we wish even to invite candidates to join our fraternity . It w "* ll be seen by this little " faux pas , " that great orators are not
exempt from the minor prejudices of common mortals , like all of us , and that this stale little joke , of " affected mystery " and a " pretended secret" can find an exponent in so great a speaker as Mr . Gladstone , and cause a laugh amid the good citizens of Chester , is a fact really amusedly
to wonder at . Some of our readers may remember how Mr . Pickwick admired hugely the readiness with which the friends of Mr . Peter Magnus were amused with his signing himself " afternoon , " and we can only enjoy the extreme complacency with which Mr . Gladstone ' s
harmless little jest at the expense of Freemasonry , ( of which , as we said before , he clearly knows nothing at all ) , was greeted and responded to by admiring listeners at Chester . We do not think that it is calculated to do any harm to English Masons or to English Masonry , and as for the
" mischief" about which Mr . Gladstone seems to be in doubt , as " possible though not probable , " we can safely assert to day , on the contrary , that English Freemasonry never does " mischief ' to anything or anybody , but is ever alike of value and reality to its brotherhood , and of utility and blessing to mankind .
Bro. Cremieux's Speech At The Fete Of The Trocadero.
BRO . CREMIEUX'S SPEECH AT THE FETE OF THE TROCADERO .
Bro . Hubert , in the "Chaine d'Union " for November , gives us what is a sketch of this speech , incomplete , however , because , as he says , it was impossible to hear the orator . Such as it is , we give a literal translation of it to our readers—see p . 4 87 , " Chaine d'Union , " for November . " The
eminent orator , " Bro . Hubert says , " then represented to us what mig ht have been the cradle of Freemasonry , its first sanctuary , its hearth and its element , when the people were still plunged in barbarism , in superstition in the mid-day of civilization and progiess , and placed us in presence
of the mysteries whence all the rig ht-thinking men of antiquity derived their doctrines , so pure , so moral , so enlightened , so humanitarian , by the self-illumination ofthe idea of a God , andfortifying themselves with the perspective of a future life . It is , thanks to these sages of antiquity ,
that the notions of civilization spread and penetrated throughthe entirety of nations , augmenting the sum of their well-being , adding to their intellectual , moral , aud physical knowledge . But , how not , in this work , in this travail to compare the heaven and the earth ? how not to be affected
and seduced by the serenity and splendour of the one , and the immense operations which mark every storehouse of the other r Then naturally appeared as the Grand Workman , Regulator , and Pacificator , in this contrast between heaven and earth , in this common existence of heaven and
earth , in this harmony , in this superior Order , which dominated , regulated , directed , the affairs of earth and heaven , T . G . A . O . T . U . Hewasthen properly in his place T . G . A . O . T . U , the frontispiece of the ancient mysteries . He was logically in the essence , and the result of their teaching , their doctrines , their belief in the absolute path
in which the adept were to walk and to believe . But the ages succeed , and behold us in mediaeval times . Tbe historians profess to deduce from Certain facts which they put forward , that ancient Freemasonry was perpetuated , was preserved by those numerous and powerful organized associations , under the-t-itle of operative Masons , who covered Europe with their grand and splendid
Bro. Cremieux's Speech At The Fete Of The Trocadero.
monuments , whicli constitute to-day our admiration and our astonishment , Those cathedrals , unique in their kind , and which reproduce in their architecture and their sculptures so many of the symbols and working tools which belong to our ritualistic and didactic ceremonies . T . G .
A . O . T . U . was again there . And its idea became still more striking and necessary when an element more preoccupied with building up , and constituting the moral human edifice , than * in building these monuments of stone , penetrated the confederations of operative Masons . From
that moment all the efforts ; all the concern , all the labours , of the Society of Freemasons was the development in the man ofthe moral , intellectual , and physical faculties , that is to say , to make him good , just , and healthy in mind and body ; that is to say , to teach him that which is good ,
beautiful , and true , to place him in the condition the most comformable to his aspirations , to his wants , his well-being , to the enlightened expansion of his intelligence . Behold our secret , behold our science , behold our mystery . To form man who will love his family , and will devote himself
to the happiness of his family ; to form the citizen , who will know all that relates to his country , and all that he can expect from his country , to enlig hten him sufficietly in order that he may understand that all the peoples are reciprocally united to each other , that all men are brethren
of humanity , and that if we owe a duty to our family we owe it more to our country , and much more to humanity . Mutual esteem , personal honesty , virtue are the means ; Freemasonry ought not to depart from them . Justice is its safeguard , the Freemason ought to adhere to it . But as
side by side with teaching it is needful to bring example , it is necessary to gain practice , Masons enlig hten themselves mutually , treat each other mutually as brethren , without distinction of race , nationalities , religions •Masons , in one word , from ono end ofthe world to the other , form but
one and the same family , united in all the members which compose it . This is the reason that on this auspicious day , in the solemnity of which every one will preserve a happy and comfortable recollection , we are all here , although of all
countries , receiving each other , greeting each other , considering each other , mingling with each other , better even than friends , as cordially , as sympathetically , as joyously , as brethren would do belonging to the same one family .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
[ W » - do not hold ourselves responsihle for , or even approving of , lhe opinions expressed by our correspondents , hut wc wish hi a spirit of fair pla 5 ' to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—tree discussion . ]
AN APPEAL TO THE LONDON SUBSCRIBERS . To the Editor of the " Freemason " Dear Sir and Brother , — While bowing with all due deference to your decision , I venture to lay betore you facts which may heretofore have been unknown to , or unheeded by , many , viz ., that year by year the number of
London candidates , hopelessly rejected by the pre-concerted and well executed action ot the provinces , is becoming annually stronger and more disheartening to the brethren among whom thc applicants dwell . I will only refer as far back as the October election , and call your attention to the fact , that whereas individual provinces were able to bring forward , and successfully elect , candidates on their first
application , with an average of three to eight more chances , London , with three candidates on their final chance , was only able to secure one , and that a combined London and provincial case . I would now call your attention to the ensuing April election , on which occasion , singularly , precisely similar cases will be laid before you , viz ., four London cases .
Frost with ten votes , Giles with three , and a combined London and Essex , Nicholls with 1013 , to bring forward . Recall to mind one of yEsop's Fables , " the old man who gave his sons a bundle of sticks to break , impossible ' en masse , ' but perfectly easy singly . " So , dear sir and brother , if the London subscribers are but true to themselves , they will , by the combination
of the proxies they possess , in the privileges they have purchased , always be enabled to secure the return of every urgent London case presented to them , and at the same time have a large amount of votes in hand to successfully aid any candidates from the provinces whom the London brethren indivdually and collectively deem most worthy of support ; but if thc London subscribers keep aloof
from each other , and eitncr from jealousy or indifference deem themselves self-sufficient , then they will , like those separated sticks , he broken , and become the victims , not of the provinces or others , who wisely make use of their wantonly wasted power , but ot thtir o *» n stlf-importance in thinking that they are wi-er or stronger than their neighbours , whose strength and wisdom is proved by their uni-
Original Correspondence.
form success . I do not ask you to join the London Masonic Charity Association , of which I have the honour to be Treasurer , unless you are at issue with the principles on which it is established , like Freemasonry , perfect freedom of inclination , but I have a scheme , which under correction and revision , would render the catholicity of Freemasonry as nearly perfect as anything human can be . I remain , dear Sir and Brother , yours most fraternally , CHARLES JOHN PERCEVAL .
THE LONDON MASONIC CHARITY ASSOCIATION . To thc Editor of thc " Freemason . ' Dear Sir and Brother . Perhaps some member of the London Masonic Charily Association will kindly answer a few simple questions which I wish in your col umns to propound . ( 1 ) Is it not the fact that the London Masonic Charity
Association has been established with a view to defeating the rival organisations in the provinces ? ( 2 ) Has it not been avowed by the leading members of the London Association that this object is to secure a greater amount of patronage in the Masonic Charities for London votes , and , of course , for London candidates ? ( 3 ) Has not the disparity between the amount of
London subscriptions , and the number of successful London candidates , been shewn by elaborately compiled figures , and adduced as a most powerful reason for the establishment of a London Association ? ( 4 ) Is it not a fact that tbe London Association is intended to be an exact copy , in all respects , of the various provincial societies ?
( 5 ) Can it be shewn that in any single case the united votes of any province have ever been given in support of a candidate from another province , unless in the form of loans to be returned at a future election ? ( 6 ) Has the London Association avowed its intention of dealing with each individual case on the list on its merits alone , and irrespective altogether of accidents of locality ?
( 7 ) In the event of a candidate from some distant province coming up for the last time , with only a few votes to his or her credit , will the London Association support that candidate without making a bargin for a return of votes at a subsequent election ? ( 8 ) . Has not the legislature been appealed to times without number to amend the laws regulating admission to
various charitable institutions , with a view to stopping the pernicious system of charity electioneering ? ( 9 ) . Docs not the establishment of local Masonic Charity Associations ttnd to foster and increase this vicious principle of charity jobbing , which has been already widely condemned by the great majority of thinking men ? ( 10 ) . Can it be shown tha t the patronage exercised by
London Masons is really less than it ought to be , when regard is had to the many provincial brethren resident in London , whose votes are naturally gifen to their respective provinces ? And , finally , is it not the fact that London Masons receive far more money from the central Board of
Benevolence than do the indigent brethren of the provinces ? This last question may appear to be irrelevant , but I do not think it is so when the question is one ot London versus Provinces , in re the benefits derived from the Craft as a whole . I am , dear Sir and Brother , faithfully and fraternally yours , QUERIST .
THE MARK DEGREE . To the Editor ofthe " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — If I have refrained from troubling you with a communication on this subject it is not because I have been an idle reader , or an inattentive cbserver of the comments and statements which have appeared in your paper
of some weeks past , but because I am of opinion that the important questions involved cannot be discussed in print without introducing allusions which it is neither right nor prudent to submit to public scrutiny . Your correspondent , " Masonic Student , " however , render it impossible for me longer to remain silent , reviving as h docs the absurd idea ( he must pardon me if he please ) o
the association of this degree with " St . Mark" an idea have known only to emanate from one of the bitterest opponents of the degree in the ycarsjjgone by ; and for which there cannot be found thc slightest authority . I may be ask why decry as " absurd " the attempted association of the Mark Degree with the name of one Evangelist , while Cralt Masonry is—or was—proud o
its association with the name of another , still being widely known in many districts by the familiar appellation of" S John's Masonry ? " I make no specific reply , but simply enquire what became of " St . John ' s Masonry " when the two " Grand Parallels" of [ the New Testament were removed , and two of the Old Testament substituted ? In those days of mutual concession , of so much giving and
taking for thc purpose of reconciliation between two rivil bodies , how much of old Masonry " went by the board " I am not in a position to state , either with accuracy or authority , but I do not suppose it will be seriously disputed that a great deal of what was once held to belong to " pure and ancient Masonry " was eliminated , and many things embodied which had but little of antiquity , or
received tradition , to recommend them . That the Mark Degree was in the catalogue of eliminations I have every reason to believe , thc prestige o old usage not being able to save it when there was offered in exchange the more elaborate ceremonial of the comparative innovation , the Royal Arch . But it is not necessary to
attempt to depreciate one portion of Freemasonry for the sake cf endeavouring to give importance to another , and I tamistly wish that those who do not feel disposed to acknowledge the authenticity of the Mark Degree would content themselves with such abstention , and not go out of their way to attack an organisation , the ends and aims
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A New Joke.
office , and as since ifi / , three Princes of Wales , and a large proportion ofthe Royal Family have belonged to it , and it includes within its pale today , some of the noblest , and the most cultivated , and ' most distinguished in the law , to say nothing of its p halanx of excellent men and law-abiding
citizens , we do not profess to understand what " mischief" Mr . Gladstone thinks English Freemasonry can do ! The truth is that Mr . Gladstone , like all frequent speakers , ( and he certainly does seek to improve the occasion ) , was in want of a little variety , and so he lighted upon our friendly
Order . So far , from his chargei if it be a charge , being valid , much less his joke , if it be a joke , being a good joke , as Freemasons we do not seek to attract , nor do we wish even to invite candidates to join our fraternity . It w "* ll be seen by this little " faux pas , " that great orators are not
exempt from the minor prejudices of common mortals , like all of us , and that this stale little joke , of " affected mystery " and a " pretended secret" can find an exponent in so great a speaker as Mr . Gladstone , and cause a laugh amid the good citizens of Chester , is a fact really amusedly
to wonder at . Some of our readers may remember how Mr . Pickwick admired hugely the readiness with which the friends of Mr . Peter Magnus were amused with his signing himself " afternoon , " and we can only enjoy the extreme complacency with which Mr . Gladstone ' s
harmless little jest at the expense of Freemasonry , ( of which , as we said before , he clearly knows nothing at all ) , was greeted and responded to by admiring listeners at Chester . We do not think that it is calculated to do any harm to English Masons or to English Masonry , and as for the
" mischief" about which Mr . Gladstone seems to be in doubt , as " possible though not probable , " we can safely assert to day , on the contrary , that English Freemasonry never does " mischief ' to anything or anybody , but is ever alike of value and reality to its brotherhood , and of utility and blessing to mankind .
Bro. Cremieux's Speech At The Fete Of The Trocadero.
BRO . CREMIEUX'S SPEECH AT THE FETE OF THE TROCADERO .
Bro . Hubert , in the "Chaine d'Union " for November , gives us what is a sketch of this speech , incomplete , however , because , as he says , it was impossible to hear the orator . Such as it is , we give a literal translation of it to our readers—see p . 4 87 , " Chaine d'Union , " for November . " The
eminent orator , " Bro . Hubert says , " then represented to us what mig ht have been the cradle of Freemasonry , its first sanctuary , its hearth and its element , when the people were still plunged in barbarism , in superstition in the mid-day of civilization and progiess , and placed us in presence
of the mysteries whence all the rig ht-thinking men of antiquity derived their doctrines , so pure , so moral , so enlightened , so humanitarian , by the self-illumination ofthe idea of a God , andfortifying themselves with the perspective of a future life . It is , thanks to these sages of antiquity ,
that the notions of civilization spread and penetrated throughthe entirety of nations , augmenting the sum of their well-being , adding to their intellectual , moral , aud physical knowledge . But , how not , in this work , in this travail to compare the heaven and the earth ? how not to be affected
and seduced by the serenity and splendour of the one , and the immense operations which mark every storehouse of the other r Then naturally appeared as the Grand Workman , Regulator , and Pacificator , in this contrast between heaven and earth , in this common existence of heaven and
earth , in this harmony , in this superior Order , which dominated , regulated , directed , the affairs of earth and heaven , T . G . A . O . T . U . Hewasthen properly in his place T . G . A . O . T . U , the frontispiece of the ancient mysteries . He was logically in the essence , and the result of their teaching , their doctrines , their belief in the absolute path
in which the adept were to walk and to believe . But the ages succeed , and behold us in mediaeval times . Tbe historians profess to deduce from Certain facts which they put forward , that ancient Freemasonry was perpetuated , was preserved by those numerous and powerful organized associations , under the-t-itle of operative Masons , who covered Europe with their grand and splendid
Bro. Cremieux's Speech At The Fete Of The Trocadero.
monuments , whicli constitute to-day our admiration and our astonishment , Those cathedrals , unique in their kind , and which reproduce in their architecture and their sculptures so many of the symbols and working tools which belong to our ritualistic and didactic ceremonies . T . G .
A . O . T . U . was again there . And its idea became still more striking and necessary when an element more preoccupied with building up , and constituting the moral human edifice , than * in building these monuments of stone , penetrated the confederations of operative Masons . From
that moment all the efforts ; all the concern , all the labours , of the Society of Freemasons was the development in the man ofthe moral , intellectual , and physical faculties , that is to say , to make him good , just , and healthy in mind and body ; that is to say , to teach him that which is good ,
beautiful , and true , to place him in the condition the most comformable to his aspirations , to his wants , his well-being , to the enlightened expansion of his intelligence . Behold our secret , behold our science , behold our mystery . To form man who will love his family , and will devote himself
to the happiness of his family ; to form the citizen , who will know all that relates to his country , and all that he can expect from his country , to enlig hten him sufficietly in order that he may understand that all the peoples are reciprocally united to each other , that all men are brethren
of humanity , and that if we owe a duty to our family we owe it more to our country , and much more to humanity . Mutual esteem , personal honesty , virtue are the means ; Freemasonry ought not to depart from them . Justice is its safeguard , the Freemason ought to adhere to it . But as
side by side with teaching it is needful to bring example , it is necessary to gain practice , Masons enlig hten themselves mutually , treat each other mutually as brethren , without distinction of race , nationalities , religions •Masons , in one word , from ono end ofthe world to the other , form but
one and the same family , united in all the members which compose it . This is the reason that on this auspicious day , in the solemnity of which every one will preserve a happy and comfortable recollection , we are all here , although of all
countries , receiving each other , greeting each other , considering each other , mingling with each other , better even than friends , as cordially , as sympathetically , as joyously , as brethren would do belonging to the same one family .
Original Correspondence.
Original Correspondence .
[ W » - do not hold ourselves responsihle for , or even approving of , lhe opinions expressed by our correspondents , hut wc wish hi a spirit of fair pla 5 ' to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—tree discussion . ]
AN APPEAL TO THE LONDON SUBSCRIBERS . To the Editor of the " Freemason " Dear Sir and Brother , — While bowing with all due deference to your decision , I venture to lay betore you facts which may heretofore have been unknown to , or unheeded by , many , viz ., that year by year the number of
London candidates , hopelessly rejected by the pre-concerted and well executed action ot the provinces , is becoming annually stronger and more disheartening to the brethren among whom thc applicants dwell . I will only refer as far back as the October election , and call your attention to the fact , that whereas individual provinces were able to bring forward , and successfully elect , candidates on their first
application , with an average of three to eight more chances , London , with three candidates on their final chance , was only able to secure one , and that a combined London and provincial case . I would now call your attention to the ensuing April election , on which occasion , singularly , precisely similar cases will be laid before you , viz ., four London cases .
Frost with ten votes , Giles with three , and a combined London and Essex , Nicholls with 1013 , to bring forward . Recall to mind one of yEsop's Fables , " the old man who gave his sons a bundle of sticks to break , impossible ' en masse , ' but perfectly easy singly . " So , dear sir and brother , if the London subscribers are but true to themselves , they will , by the combination
of the proxies they possess , in the privileges they have purchased , always be enabled to secure the return of every urgent London case presented to them , and at the same time have a large amount of votes in hand to successfully aid any candidates from the provinces whom the London brethren indivdually and collectively deem most worthy of support ; but if thc London subscribers keep aloof
from each other , and eitncr from jealousy or indifference deem themselves self-sufficient , then they will , like those separated sticks , he broken , and become the victims , not of the provinces or others , who wisely make use of their wantonly wasted power , but ot thtir o *» n stlf-importance in thinking that they are wi-er or stronger than their neighbours , whose strength and wisdom is proved by their uni-
Original Correspondence.
form success . I do not ask you to join the London Masonic Charity Association , of which I have the honour to be Treasurer , unless you are at issue with the principles on which it is established , like Freemasonry , perfect freedom of inclination , but I have a scheme , which under correction and revision , would render the catholicity of Freemasonry as nearly perfect as anything human can be . I remain , dear Sir and Brother , yours most fraternally , CHARLES JOHN PERCEVAL .
THE LONDON MASONIC CHARITY ASSOCIATION . To thc Editor of thc " Freemason . ' Dear Sir and Brother . Perhaps some member of the London Masonic Charily Association will kindly answer a few simple questions which I wish in your col umns to propound . ( 1 ) Is it not the fact that the London Masonic Charity
Association has been established with a view to defeating the rival organisations in the provinces ? ( 2 ) Has it not been avowed by the leading members of the London Association that this object is to secure a greater amount of patronage in the Masonic Charities for London votes , and , of course , for London candidates ? ( 3 ) Has not the disparity between the amount of
London subscriptions , and the number of successful London candidates , been shewn by elaborately compiled figures , and adduced as a most powerful reason for the establishment of a London Association ? ( 4 ) Is it not a fact that tbe London Association is intended to be an exact copy , in all respects , of the various provincial societies ?
( 5 ) Can it be shewn that in any single case the united votes of any province have ever been given in support of a candidate from another province , unless in the form of loans to be returned at a future election ? ( 6 ) Has the London Association avowed its intention of dealing with each individual case on the list on its merits alone , and irrespective altogether of accidents of locality ?
( 7 ) In the event of a candidate from some distant province coming up for the last time , with only a few votes to his or her credit , will the London Association support that candidate without making a bargin for a return of votes at a subsequent election ? ( 8 ) . Has not the legislature been appealed to times without number to amend the laws regulating admission to
various charitable institutions , with a view to stopping the pernicious system of charity electioneering ? ( 9 ) . Docs not the establishment of local Masonic Charity Associations ttnd to foster and increase this vicious principle of charity jobbing , which has been already widely condemned by the great majority of thinking men ? ( 10 ) . Can it be shown tha t the patronage exercised by
London Masons is really less than it ought to be , when regard is had to the many provincial brethren resident in London , whose votes are naturally gifen to their respective provinces ? And , finally , is it not the fact that London Masons receive far more money from the central Board of
Benevolence than do the indigent brethren of the provinces ? This last question may appear to be irrelevant , but I do not think it is so when the question is one ot London versus Provinces , in re the benefits derived from the Craft as a whole . I am , dear Sir and Brother , faithfully and fraternally yours , QUERIST .
THE MARK DEGREE . To the Editor ofthe " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — If I have refrained from troubling you with a communication on this subject it is not because I have been an idle reader , or an inattentive cbserver of the comments and statements which have appeared in your paper
of some weeks past , but because I am of opinion that the important questions involved cannot be discussed in print without introducing allusions which it is neither right nor prudent to submit to public scrutiny . Your correspondent , " Masonic Student , " however , render it impossible for me longer to remain silent , reviving as h docs the absurd idea ( he must pardon me if he please ) o
the association of this degree with " St . Mark" an idea have known only to emanate from one of the bitterest opponents of the degree in the ycarsjjgone by ; and for which there cannot be found thc slightest authority . I may be ask why decry as " absurd " the attempted association of the Mark Degree with the name of one Evangelist , while Cralt Masonry is—or was—proud o
its association with the name of another , still being widely known in many districts by the familiar appellation of" S John's Masonry ? " I make no specific reply , but simply enquire what became of " St . John ' s Masonry " when the two " Grand Parallels" of [ the New Testament were removed , and two of the Old Testament substituted ? In those days of mutual concession , of so much giving and
taking for thc purpose of reconciliation between two rivil bodies , how much of old Masonry " went by the board " I am not in a position to state , either with accuracy or authority , but I do not suppose it will be seriously disputed that a great deal of what was once held to belong to " pure and ancient Masonry " was eliminated , and many things embodied which had but little of antiquity , or
received tradition , to recommend them . That the Mark Degree was in the catalogue of eliminations I have every reason to believe , thc prestige o old usage not being able to save it when there was offered in exchange the more elaborate ceremonial of the comparative innovation , the Royal Arch . But it is not necessary to
attempt to depreciate one portion of Freemasonry for the sake cf endeavouring to give importance to another , and I tamistly wish that those who do not feel disposed to acknowledge the authenticity of the Mark Degree would content themselves with such abstention , and not go out of their way to attack an organisation , the ends and aims