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Article LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF A NEW MASONIC TEMPLE AT BARMOUTH. ← Page 2 of 2 Article DESAGULIERS AND SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY- A STUDY. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC MENDICANCY. Page 1 of 1 Article MASONIC MENDICANCY. Page 1 of 1 Article THE COUNTERCHECK ARGUMENTATIVE. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Laying The Foundation Stone Of A New Masonic Temple At Barmouth.
We would call attention to one fact mentioned by Bro . SPAULL in responding to the Charities , and that is , the province of North Wales and Shropshire are receiving value to the amount of ^ " 375 per annum from the o-reat Masonic Charities in London , and svould join with him in urging the brethren of the province to support those Charities by liberal contributions . A bright example for imitation is afforded by Bro . Pope , who has contributed 20 auineas lo the provincial fund , and a similar sum to be divided amongst the London Charities .
The Temple at Barmouth is being erected at the expense of Bro . Pope for the use of the Mawddach Lodge . On Saturday , the ioth inst ., the contractors and men who are employed at the buildings were entertained by Bro . Pope to dinner at the Corsygedol Hotel . Mr . Thomas Roberts , C . E ., the architect , presided , and Mr . David Thomas occupied the vice-chair .
Desaguliers And Scottish Freemasonry- A Study.
DESAGULIERS AND SCOTTISH FREEMASONRYA STUDY .
So much is now said about the change introduced by Desaguliers in Scottish Freemasonry about 1721 , that I think it right to treat the matter simply , critically , and historically in the Freemason , and endeavour to ascertain what are the " pros and cons" for assertions and averments which appear to me , wtih all respect to others , be it said , very debateable ground . 1 . It is asserted that at Desagulier's visit to Edinburgh , and notably to Mary Chapel , he introduced the nesv English system emanating from the
movement and revival in 1717 , and probably methodized about 1720-1-2 , in England . Up to this date it is alleged no Scottish minute so far discovered alludes in express terms to the Third Degree , qua the Third Degree , but that after his visit , and gradually later in the century , the " raising to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason " is recognized formally and fully . Hence it is argued that previously to that visit no such precise knowledge of the Third Degree existed in Scotland .
2 . It is urged that it is clear that up to that date there was one universal Degree , and one universal Mason word alone , and that there is no trace of any distinction of ceremonial Degrees as we nosv understand them . If it is said that there were initiates , and also that there was a passing lo Fellosv of Craft and Master , even before Desagulier's visit , it is claimed , as I
understand the proposition , that such passing , & c , are Grades , not Degrees , ( a distinction without a difference , according to Cocker , by the way ) , and that there is no entry to verify any assertion that before 1721 there was anything but one Degree , —the monograde theory , in fact , in fullest development and perfection . " Per contra , " as it seems to me , the arguments are very many , critically and historically , against any such conclusions .
3 . In the first place , the evidence is manifestly imperfect , and we can hardly base a substantive proposition on such very partial premises . 4 . There is not , as far as I am aware , any evidence of any sort in favour of such a contention , except purely negative evidence , and what may be termed by the favourers of the theory " a balance of probability . " Indeed ,
the suggestion emanates from these two sources , and is the " output" of a most able Brother D . M . Lyon . There is no letter , or trace of a letter , anywhere in any lodge records that I have had brought to my notice , after frequent enquiries , whereby any such great change is recognized , or even alluded to .
5 . Such a great and important change as the addition of two ceremonial Degrees , & c , must havelelt some trace behind . I am assured there is none . Desaguliers had to pass through an examination before he svas admitted to the " Diett" of Mary Chapel , and that simple fact , as it seems to me , if it does not settle the whole question " per se , " points undeniably to a common ritual of some kind existing alike in Scotland and England in 1721 .
If Desaguliers propounded his amended scheme , then , for the first time in Scotland , it is odd , to say the least of it , that neither the minutes of Mary Chapel , Canongate Kilwinning , the Lodge Journeymen , or any other Scottish lodge have the slightest note of any such change . I believe that later in the century allusions are found to a " nesv system ; " but that , I think , is
explicable by certain changes arising out of the Masonic movements , & c , of the time . 6 . There is another point which has to be considered—the respective antiquity of the verbiage of the degrees , which I will not dsvell on here seems to oppose itself to this theory of the [ implied use of the First and Second Degrees .
7 . All such changes , as a rule , are marked by consultations , communications , resolutions , or committees of some kind or other . But of this there is no trace in the Scottish minute books and letters , and we must assume therefore , if this ingenious hypothesis is to be accepted , this able conclusion be well founded , that by a sort of tacit understanding this alteration was effected without " beat of drum or sound of trumpet , " privately , and yet universall y , in Scotland , and at a time when the feeling between Scotland and England was not good .
8 . No doubt the " Crux " is a very difficult one to solve . But we are lot warranted historically or critically in getting over a difficulty by basing pur conclusions on even the outcome of a brilliant imagination or an ¦ ngenious hypothesis . 9- As I doubt very much whether this proposition as regards Desaguliers and Scottish Masonry , however curious , interesting , and
ln genious , as I said just nosv , can be critically or historically maintained , when we set ourselves down to write the true annals of our wonderful Craft , I think it right to-day in these pages , where so many interesting archieolog ical contributions and studies have appeared from time to time , to offer these few and hasty considerations of mine to the attention and perusal of the courteous reader , and the student Freemason . M ' . S .
Masonic Mendicancy.
MASONIC MENDICANCY .
Many brethren have been seriously exercised in their minds of late as to the best mode of dealing with Masonic mendicants , and some have even gone so far as to suggest there should be a kind of central organisation or the purpose of detecting and proclaiming them . We arc not too favourabl y impressed with the plan adopted in some American jurisdictions , because it occurs to us that a little too much zeal on the part of the central . -Hoard or Committee—or whatever else the organisation might be called—
Masonic Mendicancy.
might occasionally involve them in legal difficulties . Moreover , it might be necessary that the members of the said Board should pass a qualifying examination in judging people's ages and weights , or their chances of success in detecting imposture would be somewhat remote . Hosvever , for the
benefit of those who have formulated no scheme of their osvn for checking this kind of mendicancy , we reproduce the following from the pages of a Philadelphia Keystone of somesvhat recent date , our worthy contemporary having derived it from the Report of the Masonic Lodge of Relief of Baltimore : —
William W r , aged about 60 years , sveight 150 pounds , red face , svhiskers and hair a little gray , shabbily dressed , svears a light broad-brimmed hat , on the cow-boy order , plays the lost pocket - book dodge , and asks assistance to reach his friends . Claims to be a Past Master , and to hail from California , of Inigo Lodge , No . 221 , from svhich he dimitted to Cedarville Lodge , U . D . of Modoc County , Cal . Is a first-class fraud .
This is one of half a dozen cases described by Bro . D . F . Penington , President of the Baltimore Lodge of Relief , and our contemporary is sanguine enough to suggest that if his efforts " are generally seconded , the Masonic tramp will become a thing of the past . " We wish we could come to the same conclusion , but tramps , as a rule , are knowing people , " artful dodgers " of the [ first water . No one svorthy of the name svould dream of
being of the same age and sveight at two different places and times , unless indeed it suited his purpose to be so . We have ourselves met with young "bucks" and "bloods "of 70 years and upsvards , while a little wadding judiciously placed will make all the difference , at least as far as outsvard appearance , between 150 pounds and 1 S 0 pounds . As regards the hat , our knowledge of headgear is not co-equal with Bro . Penington ' s , but we
imagine a Masonic "Artful Dodger" would have , or seem to have , a different hat for every different lodge or almoner he visited . And so , too , with his hair and whiskers , he would probably have little or no difficulty in varying the colour , or even in dispensing with them partly or altogether , as the svhim of the moment or circumstances might suggest . At all events , such a Relief Board would have to be composed of brethren up to all the innumerable expedients of the " Artful Dodger " in order tolesscji materially
his chances of obtaining money under false pretences , and we imagine the prospect of finding such brethren outside the ranks of our detective force or the Charity Organisation Society is not over promising . Perhaps the best thing to be done will be to leave lodges and almoners lo exercise their own discretion in these matters , and whenever one of them comes across a clear case of imposture , for him to make a note of it for his own future security , and at the same timet privately advise the neighbouring lodges and almoners of the particulars of his discovery .
The Countercheck Argumentative.
THE COUNTERCHECK ARGUMENTATIVE .
Bro . Theodore T . Gurney , who is Chairman of the Committee oil Foreign Correspondence in the Grand Lodge of Illinois , and may be taken as one of the bright particular stars of American Freemasonry , is very severe in his condemnation of the manner in which the so-called Grand Lodges of Victoria and New South Wales have been organised . Considering the feverish anxiety which apparently is shown by all or nearly all
the Grand Lodges in the United States to recognise the "Sovereign independence " of every new Masonic body , no matter what its origin , or under what circumstances it may have been established , we should have felt neither surprised nor hurt had he declared himself in favour of their recognition . But , like Past G . Master John W . Simons , of Nesv York , referred to in our Melbourne correspondence last week , Bro . Gurney has not only
abstained from doing this , but he has also laid bare the falsity of the claims advanced by the said irregular Grand Lodges to be regarded as sovereign and independent in the jurisdictions in svhich they have been respectively set up . We learn at all events from an editorial , entitled " Gumey ' s Reports , 1884 , " in this month ' s " Voice of Masonry , " that our distinguished brother has a very low idea of the legitimacy !!) of these G . Lodges , and
strikes hard at the " suppressio veri , suggestio falsi , " which underlies their constitution . Thus , as regards the "Grand Lodge-of Victoria , " and its recognition by the Grand Lodge of Montana , Bro . Gurney twits Bro . Hedges , the G . Secretary of the latter , who recommended the course that was adopted , and suggests that if he ( Bro . Hedges ) " had submitted the other side of the question , the brethren of the Grand Body" ( Montana ) " would
not have been led astray into recognising an insignificant coterie of manipulators as a Grand Lodge ; " "the other side of the question " being that " sixteen lodges , with a membership of about eight hundred and forty ( taking the average ) assumed to pronounce themselves the governing body of a territory containing ninety-five lodges , and a membership of five thousand . " Again , as to the terms of Bro . Hedges ' s resolution of
recognition , in which the so-called " Grand Lodge of A . F . and A . Masons of Victoria " is described as " the legitimate and proper Masonic authority of this Australian province , " Bro . Gurney remarks : " There is nothing in the history of the Craft of our country so utterly mischievous , misleading , and preposterous as this bold assumption that sixteen of ninety-five lodges of a territory can legitimately usurp the rights of their seventy-nine peers , and of
right become * the proper Masonic authority of this Australian province . ' O , shame ! We don ' t have any care for the sentiments or approbation of our brethren of the British Islands to the formation of Grand Lodges in the provinces of the Empire where no Grand Lodges exist ; but sve do protest , in the welfare and peace of the Masonic world , and in the name of the common law of representative organisation , upon which is founded the
structure of our government from time immemorial , that insignificant minorities shall not be permitted to usurp functions that , in Masonry , are the exclusive heritage of majorities . " His remarks as to the " Grand Lodge of Nesv South Wales , " and the proposal of the Committee on Jurisprudence of the Grand Lodge of Michigan recommending its recognition are couched in the same vein , the circumstances attending the
establishment of these two usurping Australasian G . Lodges being almost precisely the same . _ It is not often we meet with such clear and emphatic utterances on a question of this kind , and still less often are we in a position to accept so unreservedly the opinion of our brother American jurisconsults . What our English brethren ) think of the position of Masonic affairs in Victoria
and New South Wales may be judged from the fact of our United Grand Lodge having granted during 1884 no less than twelve warrants for nesv lodges , namely , three in Victoria and nine in New South Wales . This does not look much as if the majority intended to allow an insignificant minority to lead them by the nose .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Laying The Foundation Stone Of A New Masonic Temple At Barmouth.
We would call attention to one fact mentioned by Bro . SPAULL in responding to the Charities , and that is , the province of North Wales and Shropshire are receiving value to the amount of ^ " 375 per annum from the o-reat Masonic Charities in London , and svould join with him in urging the brethren of the province to support those Charities by liberal contributions . A bright example for imitation is afforded by Bro . Pope , who has contributed 20 auineas lo the provincial fund , and a similar sum to be divided amongst the London Charities .
The Temple at Barmouth is being erected at the expense of Bro . Pope for the use of the Mawddach Lodge . On Saturday , the ioth inst ., the contractors and men who are employed at the buildings were entertained by Bro . Pope to dinner at the Corsygedol Hotel . Mr . Thomas Roberts , C . E ., the architect , presided , and Mr . David Thomas occupied the vice-chair .
Desaguliers And Scottish Freemasonry- A Study.
DESAGULIERS AND SCOTTISH FREEMASONRYA STUDY .
So much is now said about the change introduced by Desaguliers in Scottish Freemasonry about 1721 , that I think it right to treat the matter simply , critically , and historically in the Freemason , and endeavour to ascertain what are the " pros and cons" for assertions and averments which appear to me , wtih all respect to others , be it said , very debateable ground . 1 . It is asserted that at Desagulier's visit to Edinburgh , and notably to Mary Chapel , he introduced the nesv English system emanating from the
movement and revival in 1717 , and probably methodized about 1720-1-2 , in England . Up to this date it is alleged no Scottish minute so far discovered alludes in express terms to the Third Degree , qua the Third Degree , but that after his visit , and gradually later in the century , the " raising to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason " is recognized formally and fully . Hence it is argued that previously to that visit no such precise knowledge of the Third Degree existed in Scotland .
2 . It is urged that it is clear that up to that date there was one universal Degree , and one universal Mason word alone , and that there is no trace of any distinction of ceremonial Degrees as we nosv understand them . If it is said that there were initiates , and also that there was a passing lo Fellosv of Craft and Master , even before Desagulier's visit , it is claimed , as I
understand the proposition , that such passing , & c , are Grades , not Degrees , ( a distinction without a difference , according to Cocker , by the way ) , and that there is no entry to verify any assertion that before 1721 there was anything but one Degree , —the monograde theory , in fact , in fullest development and perfection . " Per contra , " as it seems to me , the arguments are very many , critically and historically , against any such conclusions .
3 . In the first place , the evidence is manifestly imperfect , and we can hardly base a substantive proposition on such very partial premises . 4 . There is not , as far as I am aware , any evidence of any sort in favour of such a contention , except purely negative evidence , and what may be termed by the favourers of the theory " a balance of probability . " Indeed ,
the suggestion emanates from these two sources , and is the " output" of a most able Brother D . M . Lyon . There is no letter , or trace of a letter , anywhere in any lodge records that I have had brought to my notice , after frequent enquiries , whereby any such great change is recognized , or even alluded to .
5 . Such a great and important change as the addition of two ceremonial Degrees , & c , must havelelt some trace behind . I am assured there is none . Desaguliers had to pass through an examination before he svas admitted to the " Diett" of Mary Chapel , and that simple fact , as it seems to me , if it does not settle the whole question " per se , " points undeniably to a common ritual of some kind existing alike in Scotland and England in 1721 .
If Desaguliers propounded his amended scheme , then , for the first time in Scotland , it is odd , to say the least of it , that neither the minutes of Mary Chapel , Canongate Kilwinning , the Lodge Journeymen , or any other Scottish lodge have the slightest note of any such change . I believe that later in the century allusions are found to a " nesv system ; " but that , I think , is
explicable by certain changes arising out of the Masonic movements , & c , of the time . 6 . There is another point which has to be considered—the respective antiquity of the verbiage of the degrees , which I will not dsvell on here seems to oppose itself to this theory of the [ implied use of the First and Second Degrees .
7 . All such changes , as a rule , are marked by consultations , communications , resolutions , or committees of some kind or other . But of this there is no trace in the Scottish minute books and letters , and we must assume therefore , if this ingenious hypothesis is to be accepted , this able conclusion be well founded , that by a sort of tacit understanding this alteration was effected without " beat of drum or sound of trumpet , " privately , and yet universall y , in Scotland , and at a time when the feeling between Scotland and England was not good .
8 . No doubt the " Crux " is a very difficult one to solve . But we are lot warranted historically or critically in getting over a difficulty by basing pur conclusions on even the outcome of a brilliant imagination or an ¦ ngenious hypothesis . 9- As I doubt very much whether this proposition as regards Desaguliers and Scottish Masonry , however curious , interesting , and
ln genious , as I said just nosv , can be critically or historically maintained , when we set ourselves down to write the true annals of our wonderful Craft , I think it right to-day in these pages , where so many interesting archieolog ical contributions and studies have appeared from time to time , to offer these few and hasty considerations of mine to the attention and perusal of the courteous reader , and the student Freemason . M ' . S .
Masonic Mendicancy.
MASONIC MENDICANCY .
Many brethren have been seriously exercised in their minds of late as to the best mode of dealing with Masonic mendicants , and some have even gone so far as to suggest there should be a kind of central organisation or the purpose of detecting and proclaiming them . We arc not too favourabl y impressed with the plan adopted in some American jurisdictions , because it occurs to us that a little too much zeal on the part of the central . -Hoard or Committee—or whatever else the organisation might be called—
Masonic Mendicancy.
might occasionally involve them in legal difficulties . Moreover , it might be necessary that the members of the said Board should pass a qualifying examination in judging people's ages and weights , or their chances of success in detecting imposture would be somewhat remote . Hosvever , for the
benefit of those who have formulated no scheme of their osvn for checking this kind of mendicancy , we reproduce the following from the pages of a Philadelphia Keystone of somesvhat recent date , our worthy contemporary having derived it from the Report of the Masonic Lodge of Relief of Baltimore : —
William W r , aged about 60 years , sveight 150 pounds , red face , svhiskers and hair a little gray , shabbily dressed , svears a light broad-brimmed hat , on the cow-boy order , plays the lost pocket - book dodge , and asks assistance to reach his friends . Claims to be a Past Master , and to hail from California , of Inigo Lodge , No . 221 , from svhich he dimitted to Cedarville Lodge , U . D . of Modoc County , Cal . Is a first-class fraud .
This is one of half a dozen cases described by Bro . D . F . Penington , President of the Baltimore Lodge of Relief , and our contemporary is sanguine enough to suggest that if his efforts " are generally seconded , the Masonic tramp will become a thing of the past . " We wish we could come to the same conclusion , but tramps , as a rule , are knowing people , " artful dodgers " of the [ first water . No one svorthy of the name svould dream of
being of the same age and sveight at two different places and times , unless indeed it suited his purpose to be so . We have ourselves met with young "bucks" and "bloods "of 70 years and upsvards , while a little wadding judiciously placed will make all the difference , at least as far as outsvard appearance , between 150 pounds and 1 S 0 pounds . As regards the hat , our knowledge of headgear is not co-equal with Bro . Penington ' s , but we
imagine a Masonic "Artful Dodger" would have , or seem to have , a different hat for every different lodge or almoner he visited . And so , too , with his hair and whiskers , he would probably have little or no difficulty in varying the colour , or even in dispensing with them partly or altogether , as the svhim of the moment or circumstances might suggest . At all events , such a Relief Board would have to be composed of brethren up to all the innumerable expedients of the " Artful Dodger " in order tolesscji materially
his chances of obtaining money under false pretences , and we imagine the prospect of finding such brethren outside the ranks of our detective force or the Charity Organisation Society is not over promising . Perhaps the best thing to be done will be to leave lodges and almoners lo exercise their own discretion in these matters , and whenever one of them comes across a clear case of imposture , for him to make a note of it for his own future security , and at the same timet privately advise the neighbouring lodges and almoners of the particulars of his discovery .
The Countercheck Argumentative.
THE COUNTERCHECK ARGUMENTATIVE .
Bro . Theodore T . Gurney , who is Chairman of the Committee oil Foreign Correspondence in the Grand Lodge of Illinois , and may be taken as one of the bright particular stars of American Freemasonry , is very severe in his condemnation of the manner in which the so-called Grand Lodges of Victoria and New South Wales have been organised . Considering the feverish anxiety which apparently is shown by all or nearly all
the Grand Lodges in the United States to recognise the "Sovereign independence " of every new Masonic body , no matter what its origin , or under what circumstances it may have been established , we should have felt neither surprised nor hurt had he declared himself in favour of their recognition . But , like Past G . Master John W . Simons , of Nesv York , referred to in our Melbourne correspondence last week , Bro . Gurney has not only
abstained from doing this , but he has also laid bare the falsity of the claims advanced by the said irregular Grand Lodges to be regarded as sovereign and independent in the jurisdictions in svhich they have been respectively set up . We learn at all events from an editorial , entitled " Gumey ' s Reports , 1884 , " in this month ' s " Voice of Masonry , " that our distinguished brother has a very low idea of the legitimacy !!) of these G . Lodges , and
strikes hard at the " suppressio veri , suggestio falsi , " which underlies their constitution . Thus , as regards the "Grand Lodge-of Victoria , " and its recognition by the Grand Lodge of Montana , Bro . Gurney twits Bro . Hedges , the G . Secretary of the latter , who recommended the course that was adopted , and suggests that if he ( Bro . Hedges ) " had submitted the other side of the question , the brethren of the Grand Body" ( Montana ) " would
not have been led astray into recognising an insignificant coterie of manipulators as a Grand Lodge ; " "the other side of the question " being that " sixteen lodges , with a membership of about eight hundred and forty ( taking the average ) assumed to pronounce themselves the governing body of a territory containing ninety-five lodges , and a membership of five thousand . " Again , as to the terms of Bro . Hedges ' s resolution of
recognition , in which the so-called " Grand Lodge of A . F . and A . Masons of Victoria " is described as " the legitimate and proper Masonic authority of this Australian province , " Bro . Gurney remarks : " There is nothing in the history of the Craft of our country so utterly mischievous , misleading , and preposterous as this bold assumption that sixteen of ninety-five lodges of a territory can legitimately usurp the rights of their seventy-nine peers , and of
right become * the proper Masonic authority of this Australian province . ' O , shame ! We don ' t have any care for the sentiments or approbation of our brethren of the British Islands to the formation of Grand Lodges in the provinces of the Empire where no Grand Lodges exist ; but sve do protest , in the welfare and peace of the Masonic world , and in the name of the common law of representative organisation , upon which is founded the
structure of our government from time immemorial , that insignificant minorities shall not be permitted to usurp functions that , in Masonry , are the exclusive heritage of majorities . " His remarks as to the " Grand Lodge of Nesv South Wales , " and the proposal of the Committee on Jurisprudence of the Grand Lodge of Michigan recommending its recognition are couched in the same vein , the circumstances attending the
establishment of these two usurping Australasian G . Lodges being almost precisely the same . _ It is not often we meet with such clear and emphatic utterances on a question of this kind , and still less often are we in a position to accept so unreservedly the opinion of our brother American jurisconsults . What our English brethren ) think of the position of Masonic affairs in Victoria
and New South Wales may be judged from the fact of our United Grand Lodge having granted during 1884 no less than twelve warrants for nesv lodges , namely , three in Victoria and nine in New South Wales . This does not look much as if the majority intended to allow an insignificant minority to lead them by the nose .