Ar00600

COSMOPOLITAN MASONICCALENDAR, 1873 . Information wanted of the Names , Numbers ' Place and Days of Meeting of all . New Lodges and Chapters consecrated during the Years rS / i and 1872 . Secretaries and others will oblige , by forwarding the above to the Publisher , 19 S , Fleet Street , London , E . C .

Ar00606

NOTICE . The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now ios . per annum , post-free , payable in advance . Vol . I ., bound in cloth 4 s . fid . Vol . II ., ditto 7 s . fid . Vol . III ., ditto 15 s . oil . Vol . IV ., ditto 155 . od . Reading Cases to hold 52 numbers ... 2 s . fid . . United States of America . THE FREEMASON is delivered free in any part of the United States for 1 is . per annum , payable in advance .

Ar00607

giisfocrs to Cotrfspnbcnts . All communications for Thc Freemason should be written legibly on one side of the paper only , and , if intended for insertion in the current number , must be received not later than 10 o'clock a . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases . The name amluddress of every writer must be sent to us inconiidence . K . T . —Wc cannot inscit . your letter . Tbe following rcpoits will appear next week : —Lodges ^> . 13 . 11 > 2 ( S . C ) , 12 . 1-5 , Chapter rod .

Ar00608

Dirtljs , Carriages anb gcatljs . mirriis . NIP . SON . —August 1 , ^ , at 217 , West Derby-road , Liverpool , thc wife « f Bro . Henry Nelson , I . I' . M . ( . 7 , - ; , and V . I- ; , uf the ll . C . C , Skelnicrsdalc Conflate , No . 77 , of a daughter . Woi . PKitT . —On Ihe 141 I 1 inst ., at , 15 , Bintou-road , Brixton , the wife of John Baptist Wolpeit ( I ' . M . 720 ) , of a daughter . DKA'lil . 1- ' I- _ RMO _ I-I 1 . . _ SKI- _ TII . —At Hufford llall , near Onnskirk , on the 20 th inst ., Sir Thomas George l- ' crmor-l lesketh , Bait ., M . I' ., l ' rov . Grand Master of West Lancashire , Principal Superintendent of Koyal Arch Province for that division , and President oi the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution .

Ar00609

TheFreemason3 SATURDAY , Aui . u . yr 24 , 1872 .

Ar00601

The Frcc-mastm U published cm . Stitimluy Mnrnint ; .. in timt ; for the early tinins . The juice ol' the I'Tet-ni . T-nn is Twniicnce per wet !;; nmuinl subscription , lot _|>_ o . ' ! l ) le in . iilvanct-p All i-iiniinnnic .-ilitiiis , leller ^ , . Vtc , tti he atUlrcssetl In the Htlilor , 19 S , I .- | eet-. . ; lrecl , IPC . The l-t . lilmwill p .-iyc .-irt-liil . illeiiliiin In nil MSS . i-nirusleil tiihim , but c .-iuntit ' . intlerlake tti ictuin Ihem unlessaca . mpunieil by iio = t : igcstamps .

The Royal Order Of Scotland.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND .

Bv URO . DAVID . MURRAY I . VOX . "We noticed recentl y an interesting' report of the " Royal ( frder of Scotland , " one of the mosl

select and ancient degrees adopted by Freemasons . On looking up some old papers tlie other da } we came across the following by our dear friend

and Bro . D . Murray Lyon , of Ayr , Scotland ( the accomplished Masonic historian ) and as it nniiim refers to that degree , snd we know that 0111

Brother has a strong preierence for fact nilhei than fiction , we append his communication foi the information of the numerous readers of the widely circulated "Freemason ''

The Royal Order Of Scotland.

Having made a minute inspection of the masonic records at Kilwinning , we failed in obtaining the slightest trace of the Lodge of Kilwinning ' s reported connection with " Thc

Scotch Rite , " or any other of the so-called High Degrees . It was with a similar result that in 18 43 , through the medium of the late Dr . Arnot ( an enthusiastic admirer of the high degrees ) , the

resuscitators of the Royal Order at Edinburgh instituted a searching inquiry upon the following points : " ( 1 ) Whether there be any traditions , or documents , tending to shew that Robert Bruce

had patronised Masonry , and sat as Grand Master . ( 2 ) Whether there be still preserved at Kilwinning any traces , traditionary or otherwise , of the Royal Order of Robert Bruce , of which

the first step or degree is called H . R . D . M ., of Kilwinning . " It -was afterwards thought that although the Order was not now known at Kilwinning by name , traces of it might be

detected in some of the degrees—as Mark and Pastpractised by the Mother Lodge;—but this test could not be applied , because the Speculative degrees mentioned had never been worked in

Kilwinning . We know not therefore upon what grounds Robert Bruce and the Royal Order of Scotland are associated with the Lodge of Kilwinning ;

and , in thc absence of any tradition worthy of the name , local or national , or of authentic documents , corroborative of the legend pointing to Kilwinning as the source whence has sprung the

Order from which foreigners have spun out the degrees of what they call " Scotch Masonry , " we must continue to disbelieve the statement . Laurie , it is true , gives , in the last edition of his

"History of Freemasonry" some degree of credence to the legend in question . His belief on this and kindred points is , however , based on the assumed " certainty" that Mother

Kilwinning "possessed m iormer times other degrees of Masonry than those of St . John . " But seeing that the fraternity of Kilwinning never at any period , practised or acknowledged other than Craft

degrees , and have not preserved even the shadow of a tradition that can in the remotest degree be held to identify Robert Bruce with the holding of Masonic Courts or the institution of a secret

Order at Kilwinning , the paternity of the " I-I . R . D . M . " must be attributed lo another than the hero of Ban nock burn , anil a birth-place must be sought for it in a soil more favourable to the

growth of the high grad . es than Scotland has hitherto proved . Another obstacle to its recognition as an ancient Order of native origin is tlie fact that Herodem

de Kilwinning does not appear to have been known in Scotland at the date of the erection of the Grantl Lodge of that country , or for twenty years afler that event . It is alleged that about

the year 1-j-. fi certain i'highsh records ot the Royal Order found their way to fhe Grand Lodge ofthe system at Edinburgh . But that such a body existed iii the Scottish metropolis at the

date mentioned is highly improbable ; for , speak ing thi ough the recently discovered letter or Bro Mann in " -ham Lord Aberdtmr , a Fast Grand Mas

ter of the Gram ! Lodge of Scotland , expresses himself in ! 7 .- ^ 7 as being " utterly unacquainted " with what was then op the continent denominated " Scotch Masonry . "

The Royal Order Of Scotland.

In treating ofthe origin ofthe " High Degrees " Bro . Findel remarks : " Ramsay pronounces the famous word Kilwinning , and the promise which it held out of reviving the Order [ Masonic

Knights ?] , was in the then state of things , only too alluring ... There can be no doubt that here we have the source of the high grades . " The votaries of" Scotch Masonry" should , when

pointing to the ancient bailiary of Cunninghame in Ayrshire as embracing within its boundary the fountain-head of that elaborate system of mystic rites , bear in mind that the place of

Chevalier Ramsay s nativity was within a short distance ( fourteen miles ) of Kilwinning , —and that to this circumstance may be attributed his knowledge of the traditionary fame of that

village as the ancient Scottish centre ofthe Mason Craft , and his subsequent use of its name in the promotion of his newly-promulgated masonic inventions : although at the time of his birth and

even during the period in which he was engaged jn the preparation of what has been termed ' the corner-stone of the hautes grades , " the Mason

Court of Kilwinning was a purely Operative institution , and its members for the most part were composed of masons and wrights , whose education was not such as could have fitted them

for the stud } ' or understanding of those ineffable and sublime , rites of which they were the alleged conservators . It is certain that Ramsay was not a member of the Kilwinning Lodge ; nor is it likely that he ever had any communication with it .

Reports Of Masonic Meetings.

REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS .

Craft liTasonrjj . HAMPSHIRE .

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODCI-P On the 16 th inst ., the Grand Lodge of Freemasons ofthe Province of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , assembled at Basingstoke by command of the Right Worshipful Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., Grand Master . They met at the Town

Hall , but adjourned to the Corn Exchange ( both of which were kindly placed at the disposal of the Masonic body by the Mayor ) to transact thc general business . The following members were present to support the Grand Master of the province : —Bros . Wyndham S . Portal , P . G .

Warden of England ; | . R . Stebbing , D . Prov . G . M . ; T . Best , I' . M . ; W . H . C . Plowden , F . Thoyts ( Oxford ) , R . five , P . G . Warden ; H . Cawte ; T . Giles , W . M . ( Cowes ) ; W . Edmonds , P . M . ; R . L . Loveland , W . M . ; A . Portsmouth , P . M . ;

G . Figgins , P . M . ; [ . -Maltby , S . D . ; W . Barnes , Org . ¦ S . R . Ellis , S . W . ; F . | . Martin , J . W . ; G . P . Arnold , ] . W . Wilmott , W . Payne , J . Hare , J . Morgan , PAL ; H . Gilbert , A . L . Emanuel , S . D . ; J . Harrison , S . D . ; J . Buntes , C . F . Webb , A ' ewman , Lumsden , H . Parsons ,

S . G . ; F . G . Horder , H . Hacker , S . W . ; W . Sowdon , P . M . ; C . C . Gold , G . Vallence , P . M . ; Richardson , S . W . : J . M . Fenn , W . M . ; H . J . Thatcher , Junior Steward ; iii . White , Senior ; T . Thornton ; A . McKenzie , JW . ; C . Carnegie , l . P . W . ; R . P . Lennox , J . D . ; G . T . Kilpatriek ;

G . Parncll , Org . ; F . Court , I . G . ; H . Doman ; 11 . t-iuintaneiha ( Pernambuco Lodge ); F . Trower ; 11 . S . Daniels , S . D . ; F . W . Thoyts , P . Prov . G . C , ; Hooper , P . Prov . G . W . ; P . H . Newnham , W . M . ( Andover ) ; C . R . Pettat , Chap . ; J . Dew , W . M . : J . Naish , P . Prov . G . J . W . ; C . Loxton , W . M ., ( Portsea ) ; W . Bemister , P . M . : H .

Fowler , V . Prov . G . R . j II . M . Green , W . M . ; W . Webb , W . M . ; H . Coles , W . M . Lear , l ' rov . G . S . ; J . T . Doswell , Prov . G . S . ; J . B . Thomas , Prov . G . S . ; F . F . S . Harvah ; H . M . Powell , Prov . P . G . O . ; | . X " . Pocock , Prov . G . J . W . ; V W . Whitbrcad , P . M . ;\ V . Prince , S . W . ; Tankerville Chamberlyne ; Even Nepean , Prov . G .