Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
[ EIDERS 199 Consecration of the Prince Leopold Mark Lodge , No . 352 - ° n fros-incial Grand I . odge of Cumberland and Westmorland 200 Provincial Grand Chapter of Cumberland ind Westmorland 200
Pros'incial Grand Chapter of Cornsvall ... 200 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Cornsvall 201 The Approaching Election oi the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . ' .... 201 CoaRF . si'oNnE . vcEProposed Northern Counties' Lodge 202 Masonic Bibliography 202 Masonic Poetry 202 A Ouestion of Alasonic Courtesy 202
Reviews 203 Notes and Queries 203 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry ..,.. 204 Instruction , ., 20 G Roval Arch inti
Mark Masonry :.. 207 Knights Templar , 207 Dr . Morris , the Masonic Poet Laureate ... 20 7 Masonic Concert at Cookstosvn 207 Board of Benevolence 207 Masonic and General Tidings 20 S Lodge Meetings for Next Week Coser
Ar00100
TIIF . Leeds gathering * is expected to be a vcry large one indeed . The DEPUTY GRAND MASTER , accompanied by Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE and and others , will be the guest of our distinguished Bro . TEsv . at Carlton Grange , svhile some " selections" from London will enjoy Bro . TEW ' wonted hospitality at the Great Northern Hotel , Leeds . West Yorkshire is so
distinguished aprovince , ahkefrom thc warm-heartiness of its members , their good Masonic work , and their remarkable charitable eTforts , that no doubt every thing will be truly well done on so notable an occasion , and our aspirations for the perfect success of the day , and the future prosperity of the province , under Bro . T . W . TEW ' S able and careful regime , are many and sincere . We hope next week to furnish a special account of the proceedings .
* # * WE understand that Bro . GOULD ' S fourth volume is shortly to appear , and that he deals with that very interesting portion of our Masonic Annals , namely , the seventeenth century , —in fact , pre 1717 Freemasonry . We shall await the volume with interest , as certainly , if we do not agree with all Bro .
GOULD ' S conclusions , nor can we endorse all his theories and explanations , sve feel strongly that no one can deny his work to be most original , and that he has evidenced a power of analysis , and an earnestness of investigation , as well as a power of language alike invaluable and remarkable . Mr , HALLAM ' S serious inculpation of Masonic writers may now
fairly be dismissed for ever , that they are divided into two parties , calumniators and panygerists each equally mendacious . But when we sit down to-day calmly " to take stock , " to realize what we have authenticated , how much we have established in respect of our Masonic studies critically and authentically , we see hosv much is wanting , even amid the
gams we so often loudly proclaim . The desiderata for a full and perfect history of Freemasonry are still many and great , Much that we hoped would be clear nosv is still in haze and doubt j even our very advances , our actual progress , our constant discoveries , our attempts at verification of dubious extracts and questionable
authorities , seem still to serve only to demonstrate hosv much we want to knosv which is yet hid from expert certainty . Therefore the far too common and free and easy assertion , that we know now all that can be known , is critically best unsaid , and scientifically absolutely untrue ! For instance , who of us can explain the following " cruxes ? " 1 . —What is the connection of the I 7 lh
century Freemasonry with the Guilds ? 2 . —What is the relative bearing ™ the 17 th century on the iSth century Freemasonry , or '" vice versa ?" Assuming that we can establish the identity of 18 th and 17 th century later English Freemasonry 3 . —How much farther can wc go ? 4 . —And then comes in that most serious problem , the English Guild Life , and its
connection svith German , French , Anglo-Saxon , Danish , Saxon , and Roman Guilds ? And beyond all lies the link with the Mysteries , Sodalities , Hermeticism , Cabala , Templar , Oriental Brotherhoods , Occult learning , and Societies , and the Rose Croix . All this constitutes a mass of doubt , imculty and debate , which no dogmatic utterances or off-hand declarations ,
can decide or unravel . And then comes in that critical , enquiring school of ¦ odern students of ours , which recent studies have called into being and Vitality , which is happily and slowly increasing , and which the good old plan of ogmatic assertion can neither silence nor satisfy ! That school is asking r proof , proof , proof ! Amid horsr-lr *!*** - anachronism *; nnd rlcincralp
¦ ee Pwalking , amid much that constitutes the delusion and the snare of ° called Masonic history , it is this school and this school alone , although ^ v in number and " mightily discouraged , " confronting difficulties and ^ narances alike inexplicable and unreasonable , which has sought for light in tJ , ) rrouncun g darkness , and certainly where credulity and " old wives ' 4 1 ( O —J " « * ¦ * - - ¦ -. I Vttlllljr IU 1 UH . t-1 I _ UU | . JL J - aim UJU wivto S
BIJ . rswav * But , of course , as the pendulum of truth , ( says ARCHER ele TLRR ^ ' Sapt even to overswin ff itself , so in the reaction of the purely accurate cult - - sx ; yPerCriticlSm haS dcvelo P itself equally into a burden and a diffi' clin ^' d f our forefathers believed too much , or two easily , we are in-• .-sim ^ - n ' 1 CVe t 0 ° llUle ' ' ld t 0 rec l uire absolute proof where absolute proof ¦^ raditT 1 MuCh ° Freemasonry bem £ > from ^ e very nature of the case , _ - onal , can onl y be proved by fair inference , must alsvays remain a
Ar00101
moot point , and cannot be made amenable to the Canons of absolute criticism or " pure reason . " If we sum up the results of Masonic investigators , since GRANDIDIER propounded his skilful theories , and the Altenburgh School , poured forth its learning , since in fact we gave up as absolutely reliable witnesses , HUTCHINSON , PRESTON , OLIVER , and a whole host of
imitators and sheep \ s * alkers , we are very little advanced in good truth . The connexion of the Roman and Grecian and Oriental sodalities with Freemasonry is still only an unproved idea . The mediaeval existence of the Masonic guilds , fraternities , and lodges , is still a mystery . The influence of Hermeticism on Freemasonry , —" quod est probandum . " We
have , indeed , tapped the source of the Compagnonage and Steinmetzenthanks to Bros . GOULD and SPRTH , —more accurately in England than their own countrymen had essayed to do or succeeded in doing , and we have had demonstrated to us , we [ think irrefragably by Bro . RYLANDS , the existence of a seventeenth century of Freemasonry in England akin to our own to-day .
The evidences of Scotland rather point to a trade guild , with the admixture of the Speculative element . Despite the labours of a FINDEL , a HUGHAN , D . M . LYON , GOULD , FORT , RYLANDS , CARSON , C . MCCALLA , LUKIS , WHYTEHEAD , SPETH , and others , how much remains to be clearl y brought out and distinctly proved . Slill we may take heart . Rome was not built
in a day , and the long-neglected overlaid , despised study of Masonic archreology cannot be revivified or recuperated in a moment . We are on the right way now , if only we will but persevere , and , therefore , let patience , caution , loyal faith , and commonsense animnate our efforts and guide our * steps .
WE have been asked by Bro . WHYTEHEAD , to whom we alsvays give heed with pleasure , our view of the Ballot question . What we intended to convey by editorial note was this . We have had long experience of the working of the ballot in various lodges , and under favourable and adverse
circumstances . Absolute secrecy is so of the essence of the Masonic ballot , that in our opinion no graver offence can be committed by any member of the lodge than that of seeking or attempting to disclose it . Any such proceeding constitutes an offence against the common law of Freemasonry , its " Lex Inscripta , " and is forbidden by our general regulations , and
really by our particular bye-laws of lodges . Indeed , any such open conduct in lodge , as seems to be alluded toby Bro . WHYTEHEAD , appears to be provided for distinctly by Lasv 209 , Book of Constitutions . Anyone , for instance , openly saying , " I will blackball all candidates by whomsoever proposed , " is clearly amenable to the WORSHIPFUL MASTER , and can
assuredly be dealt with accordingly . Where , however , we slightly differed from Bro . W HYTEHEAD was in this . We do not quite agree . svith him , ( though he speaks no doubt from his own experience ) , that such things are openly talked of in lodges . Because if they are , the brethren so propounding such viesvs can be dealt with under the usual lodge bye-law , in respect of conduct
detrimental to the best interests of the lodge . But if there be a " caucus " formed in a lodge it generally acts with secrecy and caution , if with pertinacity . We remember a case which occurred not long back in a distinguished province , where a gang of blackballed had been formed in a particular lodge and blackballed nil candidates indiscriminately . It took the W . M .
and officers a long time to find out the clique . But at last they did so , we think after two or three years , and ejected them one by one under the lodge bye-laws . Since then that lodge has resumed its normal career of peace and prosperity . We doubt then if any sumptuary lasvs , so to say , will ever deal svith such an un-Masonic and debased state of feeling in a lodge . We
would , therefore punish with the utmost severity every one who attempts to disclose or discount a ballot , and though our difference with our esteemed correspondent is . as will be seen , infinitisimal in fact , we supported " CM . M . O . 's" contention , because we thought we gathered that he took the same view actually we have sought to explain and enforce to-day , Hi .. *
OUR good friend and confrere J SIMONS is much exercized in the New York Dispatch by the multiplication of Degrees and the " confusion " which , he says , is increasing— " The less we have to do with or say about these excrescences thc better for ourselves and our Masonic interests , and the less we shall help on this modern confusion . " He seems to be alluding more
especially to the so-termed Egyptian Masonry , for which some ignorant writers claim the impostor C AGLIOSTRO as the head . His Egyptian Masonry , whether Androgyne or not , was simply of his own concoction , and devised for the purpose of obtaining money from many credulous dupes .
We confess we agree with our contemporary . In America there are many purely social ordeis , which use mysterious receptions for the purpose of innocent travesties , or symposiac attractions , perhaps the iriost successful and important is the Mystic Order of Mecca . Of this
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
[ EIDERS 199 Consecration of the Prince Leopold Mark Lodge , No . 352 - ° n fros-incial Grand I . odge of Cumberland and Westmorland 200 Provincial Grand Chapter of Cumberland ind Westmorland 200
Pros'incial Grand Chapter of Cornsvall ... 200 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Cornsvall 201 The Approaching Election oi the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . ' .... 201 CoaRF . si'oNnE . vcEProposed Northern Counties' Lodge 202 Masonic Bibliography 202 Masonic Poetry 202 A Ouestion of Alasonic Courtesy 202
Reviews 203 Notes and Queries 203 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry ..,.. 204 Instruction , ., 20 G Roval Arch inti
Mark Masonry :.. 207 Knights Templar , 207 Dr . Morris , the Masonic Poet Laureate ... 20 7 Masonic Concert at Cookstosvn 207 Board of Benevolence 207 Masonic and General Tidings 20 S Lodge Meetings for Next Week Coser
Ar00100
TIIF . Leeds gathering * is expected to be a vcry large one indeed . The DEPUTY GRAND MASTER , accompanied by Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE and and others , will be the guest of our distinguished Bro . TEsv . at Carlton Grange , svhile some " selections" from London will enjoy Bro . TEW ' wonted hospitality at the Great Northern Hotel , Leeds . West Yorkshire is so
distinguished aprovince , ahkefrom thc warm-heartiness of its members , their good Masonic work , and their remarkable charitable eTforts , that no doubt every thing will be truly well done on so notable an occasion , and our aspirations for the perfect success of the day , and the future prosperity of the province , under Bro . T . W . TEW ' S able and careful regime , are many and sincere . We hope next week to furnish a special account of the proceedings .
* # * WE understand that Bro . GOULD ' S fourth volume is shortly to appear , and that he deals with that very interesting portion of our Masonic Annals , namely , the seventeenth century , —in fact , pre 1717 Freemasonry . We shall await the volume with interest , as certainly , if we do not agree with all Bro .
GOULD ' S conclusions , nor can we endorse all his theories and explanations , sve feel strongly that no one can deny his work to be most original , and that he has evidenced a power of analysis , and an earnestness of investigation , as well as a power of language alike invaluable and remarkable . Mr , HALLAM ' S serious inculpation of Masonic writers may now
fairly be dismissed for ever , that they are divided into two parties , calumniators and panygerists each equally mendacious . But when we sit down to-day calmly " to take stock , " to realize what we have authenticated , how much we have established in respect of our Masonic studies critically and authentically , we see hosv much is wanting , even amid the
gams we so often loudly proclaim . The desiderata for a full and perfect history of Freemasonry are still many and great , Much that we hoped would be clear nosv is still in haze and doubt j even our very advances , our actual progress , our constant discoveries , our attempts at verification of dubious extracts and questionable
authorities , seem still to serve only to demonstrate hosv much we want to knosv which is yet hid from expert certainty . Therefore the far too common and free and easy assertion , that we know now all that can be known , is critically best unsaid , and scientifically absolutely untrue ! For instance , who of us can explain the following " cruxes ? " 1 . —What is the connection of the I 7 lh
century Freemasonry with the Guilds ? 2 . —What is the relative bearing ™ the 17 th century on the iSth century Freemasonry , or '" vice versa ?" Assuming that we can establish the identity of 18 th and 17 th century later English Freemasonry 3 . —How much farther can wc go ? 4 . —And then comes in that most serious problem , the English Guild Life , and its
connection svith German , French , Anglo-Saxon , Danish , Saxon , and Roman Guilds ? And beyond all lies the link with the Mysteries , Sodalities , Hermeticism , Cabala , Templar , Oriental Brotherhoods , Occult learning , and Societies , and the Rose Croix . All this constitutes a mass of doubt , imculty and debate , which no dogmatic utterances or off-hand declarations ,
can decide or unravel . And then comes in that critical , enquiring school of ¦ odern students of ours , which recent studies have called into being and Vitality , which is happily and slowly increasing , and which the good old plan of ogmatic assertion can neither silence nor satisfy ! That school is asking r proof , proof , proof ! Amid horsr-lr *!*** - anachronism *; nnd rlcincralp
¦ ee Pwalking , amid much that constitutes the delusion and the snare of ° called Masonic history , it is this school and this school alone , although ^ v in number and " mightily discouraged , " confronting difficulties and ^ narances alike inexplicable and unreasonable , which has sought for light in tJ , ) rrouncun g darkness , and certainly where credulity and " old wives ' 4 1 ( O —J " « * ¦ * - - ¦ -. I Vttlllljr IU 1 UH . t-1 I _ UU | . JL J - aim UJU wivto S
BIJ . rswav * But , of course , as the pendulum of truth , ( says ARCHER ele TLRR ^ ' Sapt even to overswin ff itself , so in the reaction of the purely accurate cult - - sx ; yPerCriticlSm haS dcvelo P itself equally into a burden and a diffi' clin ^' d f our forefathers believed too much , or two easily , we are in-• .-sim ^ - n ' 1 CVe t 0 ° llUle ' ' ld t 0 rec l uire absolute proof where absolute proof ¦^ raditT 1 MuCh ° Freemasonry bem £ > from ^ e very nature of the case , _ - onal , can onl y be proved by fair inference , must alsvays remain a
Ar00101
moot point , and cannot be made amenable to the Canons of absolute criticism or " pure reason . " If we sum up the results of Masonic investigators , since GRANDIDIER propounded his skilful theories , and the Altenburgh School , poured forth its learning , since in fact we gave up as absolutely reliable witnesses , HUTCHINSON , PRESTON , OLIVER , and a whole host of
imitators and sheep \ s * alkers , we are very little advanced in good truth . The connexion of the Roman and Grecian and Oriental sodalities with Freemasonry is still only an unproved idea . The mediaeval existence of the Masonic guilds , fraternities , and lodges , is still a mystery . The influence of Hermeticism on Freemasonry , —" quod est probandum . " We
have , indeed , tapped the source of the Compagnonage and Steinmetzenthanks to Bros . GOULD and SPRTH , —more accurately in England than their own countrymen had essayed to do or succeeded in doing , and we have had demonstrated to us , we [ think irrefragably by Bro . RYLANDS , the existence of a seventeenth century of Freemasonry in England akin to our own to-day .
The evidences of Scotland rather point to a trade guild , with the admixture of the Speculative element . Despite the labours of a FINDEL , a HUGHAN , D . M . LYON , GOULD , FORT , RYLANDS , CARSON , C . MCCALLA , LUKIS , WHYTEHEAD , SPETH , and others , how much remains to be clearl y brought out and distinctly proved . Slill we may take heart . Rome was not built
in a day , and the long-neglected overlaid , despised study of Masonic archreology cannot be revivified or recuperated in a moment . We are on the right way now , if only we will but persevere , and , therefore , let patience , caution , loyal faith , and commonsense animnate our efforts and guide our * steps .
WE have been asked by Bro . WHYTEHEAD , to whom we alsvays give heed with pleasure , our view of the Ballot question . What we intended to convey by editorial note was this . We have had long experience of the working of the ballot in various lodges , and under favourable and adverse
circumstances . Absolute secrecy is so of the essence of the Masonic ballot , that in our opinion no graver offence can be committed by any member of the lodge than that of seeking or attempting to disclose it . Any such proceeding constitutes an offence against the common law of Freemasonry , its " Lex Inscripta , " and is forbidden by our general regulations , and
really by our particular bye-laws of lodges . Indeed , any such open conduct in lodge , as seems to be alluded toby Bro . WHYTEHEAD , appears to be provided for distinctly by Lasv 209 , Book of Constitutions . Anyone , for instance , openly saying , " I will blackball all candidates by whomsoever proposed , " is clearly amenable to the WORSHIPFUL MASTER , and can
assuredly be dealt with accordingly . Where , however , we slightly differed from Bro . W HYTEHEAD was in this . We do not quite agree . svith him , ( though he speaks no doubt from his own experience ) , that such things are openly talked of in lodges . Because if they are , the brethren so propounding such viesvs can be dealt with under the usual lodge bye-law , in respect of conduct
detrimental to the best interests of the lodge . But if there be a " caucus " formed in a lodge it generally acts with secrecy and caution , if with pertinacity . We remember a case which occurred not long back in a distinguished province , where a gang of blackballed had been formed in a particular lodge and blackballed nil candidates indiscriminately . It took the W . M .
and officers a long time to find out the clique . But at last they did so , we think after two or three years , and ejected them one by one under the lodge bye-laws . Since then that lodge has resumed its normal career of peace and prosperity . We doubt then if any sumptuary lasvs , so to say , will ever deal svith such an un-Masonic and debased state of feeling in a lodge . We
would , therefore punish with the utmost severity every one who attempts to disclose or discount a ballot , and though our difference with our esteemed correspondent is . as will be seen , infinitisimal in fact , we supported " CM . M . O . 's" contention , because we thought we gathered that he took the same view actually we have sought to explain and enforce to-day , Hi .. *
OUR good friend and confrere J SIMONS is much exercized in the New York Dispatch by the multiplication of Degrees and the " confusion " which , he says , is increasing— " The less we have to do with or say about these excrescences thc better for ourselves and our Masonic interests , and the less we shall help on this modern confusion . " He seems to be alluding more
especially to the so-termed Egyptian Masonry , for which some ignorant writers claim the impostor C AGLIOSTRO as the head . His Egyptian Masonry , whether Androgyne or not , was simply of his own concoction , and devised for the purpose of obtaining money from many credulous dupes .
We confess we agree with our contemporary . In America there are many purely social ordeis , which use mysterious receptions for the purpose of innocent travesties , or symposiac attractions , perhaps the iriost successful and important is the Mystic Order of Mecca . Of this