The Proposed New Code Of Laws For The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

responsibility well-defined , yet the General Court has the superior authority , while the House and Audit Committees are the delegates—the one ior administrative and the other for financial purposes—of the General Committee . Such a scheme of government as this , which has been carefully welded together and revised till now , only after many years' experience and approval of its working , should not be needlessly disturbed even in small matters , much less in one so important as the election of the Board of Management .

As regards the duties of the proposed new Board , they are , speaking in general terms , those of the House and Finance and Audit Committees , which it is intended to supersede , together with certain new duties , of vvhich the most important is that of examining in the first instance , and reporting upon the petitions of candidates .

Proposed Law XLIV ., corresponding with the last clause of present Law XXXVIIL , states that " the Board shall meet once a month or oftener , " but it does not fix the place or regular monthly day of meeting . We think these should be supplied , as they are now , in the case of the House Committee . Proposed Law XLV ., provides that it shall " define the duties of , appoint , or remove the Head Master , Medical Officer" —now elected by the General Court— "Assistant

Masters" —but not as now , " in conjunction with the Head Master "— "and Matron , determine the scheme of education , superintend the regulations of the Establishment , " receive and discharge the boys , ascertain the addresses of their parents or friends , & c , & c , & c , as nosv provided in present Law XXXVIIL Section 2 of the same law provides that " they shall have submitted for their approval all Rules , Regulations , and Orders made by the Head Master , Matron , and other officers , "

and svhen necessary " report to the next Quarterly Court on all matters which affect the interests of the Institution . " Law XLVI . gives the Board the power " to suspend the Head Master , Secretary , Medical Officer , Assistant Masters , Matron , and all persons employed in the Establishment , " while present Law XXXIX . restricts this power to the " Head Master , Matron , House Steward "—office abolished— " Assistant Masters , or any person employed in the Establishment , " the power of suspending

the Secretary and paid Officers being also vested in the Council under proposed Law XXXVI . Here , again , we consider the change is not an improvement , and prefer that the existing laws should remain in force . We consider also that the word "Establishment" should be defined , as vve believe it is now generally understood to be defined , as referring only to the officers , both superior and subordinate , on the Establishment at Wood Green , with which the Board of Management will be in

direct relations , and over vvhich , therefore , it is right , and indeed necessary , that it should exercise this posver of suspension . But the Secretary is the minister of the General Court and General Committee , and will attend the Board of Management , vve presume , and its subordinate Committees , only in this ministerial capacity . Hence vve vvould leave the suspension of this officer where it is , either under the existing Law XXXV . or under proposed Law XXXVI ., with the General Committee .

Proposed Law XLVIL , which concerns the periodical examination and reward and punishment of the boys , is verbatim the same as present Law XL . ; Lasv XLVI 1 L , as to annual inventory of clothing , furniture , & c , insurance of premises and goods , corresponds vvith present Law XLI ., except that it provides additionally that the Chairman shall sign the yearly inventory ; while LawXLIX ., relating to the examination of the building and premises , is almost verbatim the same as present

Lasv XLII . Lasv L ., relating to the examination of testimonials of candidates for a vacant paid Office is much the same as present Law XLA ^ . Law LI . provides that " they" ( the Board ) " shall be responsible for the general good government of the Institution , and the due observance of the lasvs and regulations , and maybe removed severally or collectively by resolution of the Quarterly Court , in which case the vacancies shall be supplied provisionally until the next regular period of

election . We consider the introduction of some such law as this of great value and importance , only , as sve are of opinion that the Council should be the constituency svhich elects the Board of Management , vve suggest that in the sentence " may be removed severally or collectively by resolution of the Quarterly Court , " the words " the Council" be substituted for the words " the Quarterly Court . "

Indeed Law XLII . already provides that vacancies on the Board caused b y " death , disqualification , or resignation , " shall be " filled up by the Council , " so that if our suggestion is acted upon , it will merely enable the Council to do vvith the Board collectively what it is already able to do in the case of vacancies arising through " the death , disqualification , or resignation " of any one or more of its individual members .

Proposed Laws LUI . and LIV . relate to the "Finance Committee , " which is to consist of io members of the Board of Management , five being London and five Provincial brethren . The Committee will be elected annually b y the Board , and three will form a quorum , and the duties will be generally the same as those

of the Finance and Audit Committee under the existing laws , but they are more stringently governed , as it is provided that " they" ( the Finance Committee ) " shall not recommend any bill or account for payment unless satisfied the same is properly due , and that the interests of the Institution have been duly observed and protected . "

Under proposed Law LV ., there will be a " Petitions Committee" vvhich will consist of io members—five London and five Provincial—of the Board of Management , vvhich will elect them anually . Three to form a quorum . They will examine into and report , upon the petitions of candidates , and make recommendations to the Board , but they will not " have the power to reject any Petition . " In establishing this Committee , the Revision Sub-Committee have taken a leaf out of the book of the Girls' School authorities , vvho already have a " Petitions Committee " that is found to anssver well the purposes for svhich it was established .

In fine , vve consider it is an excellent idea to place the svhole of the administrative and financial business of the Institution in the hands of one Board of Management , vvith Committees of its own for ( i ) finance and ( 2 ) petitions , but we do not consider the idea in all its details is as well worked out as it mi ght have been . ( To be Continued )

An Oration.

AN ORATION .

The following address was delivered at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorsetshire by Bro . the Rev . E . G . AUSTEN , Prov . G . Chaplain : — It is the duty of all Masons to strive "to make progress in Masonic knosvledge . " AVhy is this difficult ? Because so much is unknosvn , so much is veiled , the very meaning of some of the svords in use is a mystery . " What mote it be ? " is as difficult to anssver nosv ( as regards some points ) , as svhen asked by King Henry VI . AVhile much has been preserved , much , nay , more , has been lost to us , or forgotten by us : vve feel sve are

looking at only a part , perhaps a very small part , of a great whole . And yet , enough , surely , remains out of this vast unknosvn quantity to convince us that sve have come into a great inheritance from the past , a far distant past—stretching back sve knosv not hosv far—but , at all events long before the era of the first Grand Lodge in England , viz ., the revival of Masonry in 1717 . As svhen sve visit some ancient ruin , e . g ., Glastonbury , vve gaze upon the scene svith feelings of mingled interest and solemnity . AVhat sve see is but a portion of svhat has been ; it is not only svhat vve see that holds us by its spell what the and fills

but thought suggests up , and study , and a better knosvledge of the history of thc building may help us to fill up that outline . Or , as in some country churchyards , the tombstones have partly sunk beneath the soil so that some of the inscription is lost to sight , and some has been obliterated by time and sveather , and yet , by the aid of the parish registers , though there , alas ! is many a gap in the records , sve may be able to make out this or that name and date , and so supply the deficient particulars . So in the study of Masonry , what is , speaks to us of what has been ; and if we have only time

An Oration.

and inclination for research there is enough to stimulate further inquiry . And as from even imperfect registers the history of a parish has been written when the right man has taken up the work , so it may be hoped that in this our generation in svhich Freemasonry has so progressed , outsvardly , at least , in point of numbers and establishment of many fresh lodges , it is to be hoped that some of our more qualified brethren may be able to lift the veil partially and throsv light on some of the obscure points connected svith our Craft , so that there may be an internal as svell as an external advance . Some of the

brethren do not go behind the year 1717 , and are content ; but surelv the very diction and phraseology of our ceremonies shosv an ancient origin , and prove that Freemasonry did not start from 1717 , but is a continuance ot that svhich vvas working all along in the past , though as sve look back along the vista sve can only see some points in the haze of distance . Still , here and there are facts preserved vvhich prove the antiquity of Masonry , and it is not hopeless to try and unearth more . If sve only look at Masonry as modern ( i . e ., as dating from 1717 ) , vve may be content to do but little after sve have reached the

Master ' s chair in our lodge ; but if sve are convinced that sve are brethren of an Order and exponents of a system stretching back into the past , it gives a stimulus to further search . Compare the languid interest a man might take in Church history , vvho svould " not go behind the Reformation "—vvith that of the man svho believes he is a member of a spiritual society —svhich , amid all the changes and stages of progress and reaction , is still one and the same , and as such studies the subject , the present being linked vvith an historic past . To insist then on the antiquity of Masonrv is not to give utterance to a mere expression of

opinion , but it may lead to practical svork in the shape of study and investigation . And svhatever may tend to strengthen our position is svorth considering , for Masonry ( like every other institution in this critical and practical age ) , is on its trial . Not only do vve go back far into the past , but in the system and religion of Freemasonry sve find points of connection svith points in the Jesvish religion—in some of the old religions of India and the ancient Egyptian mysteries . Of all ancient nations none svas more distinguished than the kingdom of Egypt . If not the birthplace , it svas the early protector of the sciences ,

and cherished every species of knosvledge , svhich svas knosvn or cultivated in ancient times . Compare the death and resurrection of Osiris svith the raising of Hiram in the Third Degree . The 47 th Prop , of Euclid , svhich Pythagoras is said to have introduced into Greece , probably goes back to Egyptian times , and it is said that by the aid of its principle svere the Pyramids built . The three pillars—Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty —manifestly allude to the triads of Deity found in so many systems , e . g ., in the Brahminical system . Brahma , the Creator ; Vishnu , the Perserver ; Siva , the Destroyer ; svhose

images svere placed respectively in the east , south , and svest . The point within a circlethe Yod in a circle—the emblem of God surrounded by eternity . The fish , so prominent an early Christian symbol , formerly the jewel of the Grand Master . The cross , the anchor , and the heart , the emblems of Faith , Hope , and Charity , placed on Jacob's ladder . These and many others show that , as even in this nineteenth century of the Christian era sve use the names of Sun-day , Moon-day , Tuiscos-day , Wodens-day , & c , from heathen times , nosv vve no longer read into them a heathen meaning . So in Masonry

vve find intermingled numerous points of other religious systems , though the meanings vve attach to the symbols may be somesvhat modified from the meanings they originally bore . Let us nosv take a fesv proofs of the long standing of the Society of Freemasons in England , svhich have survived the svreck of time . Take , e . g ., a paper said to have been found in the Bodleian Library in 1 G 9 6 , supposed to have been written in 1436 . It purports to be an examination of one of the brotherhood by King Henry VI ., and even anti-Masonic writers admit that it possesses internal evidence of genuineness . The title

of the paper is , " Certain Questions , with answers to the same , concerning the mystery of Masonry , written by King Henry VI ., and faithfully copied by me , John Leylande , antiquarian , by command of his Highness . " In a work entitled "The Display of Heraldry , " by John Guillim , it is stated that the Company of Masons , otherwise called Freemasons , " of ancient standing and good reckoning , by means of affable and kind meetings , divers times did frequent this mutual assembly in the time of King Henry VI ., in the 12 th years of his reign " ( 1434 ) . Elias Ashmole , in his diary ( p . 15 ) , says : " I

svas made a Freemason at Warrington , in Lancashire , 16 th Oct ., 1646 . On March ioth , 16 S 2 , I received a summons to appear at a lodge to be held the next day at Masons' Hall in London , on March nth . I accordingly attended . We all dined at the Half Moon Tavern , where vve partook of a sumptuous dinner at the expense of the nesv accepted Mason . " Laurie , recording this anecdote , says : "This gentleman vvas the celebrated antiquary svho founded the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford . His attachment to the fraternity is evident from his diligent inquiries into its origin and history , and his long

and frequent attendance on its meetings . " Incorporation of Masons in London . —By the arms granted to this Society in 1477 , it appears to be of considerable antiquity . Hosvever , it vvas only formally incorporated by letters patent of Charles II . in 1677 , September 17 , by the name of Masters , Wardens , Assistants of the Company of Masons ot the City of London . This incorporation , of course , included the operatives of the Freemasons , vvho , in their society , make use of the same armorial bearings , vvhich it is very probable originally belonged to them . Just as in very old times , e . g ., the Romans

under Numa , there svere incorporations of svorkmen , artificers , collegia-corpora . So I think there vvere these corporations of Masons , first wholly Operative then including Operative and Speculative , but vve are nosv svholly speculative or Free and Accepted Masons . The Old MS . Constitutions—1 , Regius Poem fourteenth century , "The privities of the Chamber tell he no man , Nor in the Lodge svhatsoever be done ; " 2 , Cooke MS . fifteenth century , " That he hele the Counsels of his Fellosvs , i . e ., Lodge , And in every place there as Masons be ; " 3 , Grand Lodge MS . 15 S 3 , " And that ye keep

all the Counsels of your Fellosvs truly , be it in Lodge or Chamber and all other counsels that ought to be kept by the svay of Masonhood . " All these references are to times prior to 1717 . To suppose that in 1717 the Freemasons' society first sprung up , and that such a mass of ceremonies bearing traces of remote antiquity svas then first concocted by Doctors of Divinity and other learned men , is preposterous ! Again , some of the terms then ( 1717 ) used vvere not intelligible to the revivalists themselves , vvhich is a proof of their antiquity . Would men starting a society in 1717 use terms vvhich they could not

explain . ' But men , carrying on on partly new lines , or in a nesv method , an old system svould include such terms , for they svould be loath to cut the links svith the past , and so svould retain all that svas deemed essential . Yes , on the revival of the Institution the surviving heirs of the mystery vvould give , as far as recollected , the very words and ceremonies as delivered to them . Hence vve may deduce four propositions . 1 , That from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries , two ceremonies existed ( a ) that of making Masons or binding them to the Craft ; ( b ) that of passing Masters

and admitting them to fellowship ; ( 2 ) that there vvere secrets knosvn only to themselves ; ( 3 ) that the Masons of 1717 inherited symbolism of the meaning of vvhich they svere ignorant ; ( 4 ) that to produce this ignorance a long course of decay and deterioration must have obtained , thus carrying back our symbolism to a remote period . Lastly , if sve think vve must leave this question of research into the past history and antiquity of Masonry to students , let us all ( svhether students or not ) as Masons , never fail to see a moral and spiritual meaning in all the externals of our lodsres . We oueht to be

better men , because we are Masons , and should never forget that Masonry is ou its trial . Masonry offers just those principles , svhich , if stamped vvith "image of God , " may tend to His glory and the welfare of men . But , like every other system , it may be abused . It is not to become an excuse for mere good fellowship or pandering to the animal or Iosver , instead of the intellectual and spiritual side of man—its form , only formality—its utterances , mere phrases . Let us try to be real . To mean the words vvhich so often pass our lips , and let us remember that each detail has its point of meaning . If

it be hard to trace out the meaning of some of the mysteries connected vvith the Craft , some , at all events , have their obvious moral teaching . 1 , the rule—to live straight lives , not deviating ; 2 , the line—strict attention to the line of duty ; 3 , theplumbline—to be erect and upright in our conduct ; 4 , the square—to square our actions by this rule and line ; 5 , the compasses—to live within proper bounds and limits ; 6 , the mallet and chisel—the advantages of education . Theblosvsof the mallei have their use . " Ssveet are the usesof adversity . " The chisel chips off the outer crust and reveals insvard beauties , latent beneath

the surface , so that there is in the roughest block— " an angel in the stone , " as Michael Angeld hath it , " if sve only knosv hosv to let it out . " 8 , the trowel teaches us that nothing is united svithout proper cement—Charity is that cement—the bond of perfection and all social union . 9 , the ha-mmet—that becoming discipline and correction are needed sometimes . 10 , the level—that sve are descended from one common stock , partakers of the same nature , the same faith , same hope , though distinction of ranks be necessary and subordination be necessary , yet sve are on a level ever through life . The highest in rank

must remember that vve all are men and brethren , and that death , the great leveller of all human greatness , will bring us all to a level at the last . Thus pondering on the symbolic teaching of our system vve shall become gradually fit stones for the comely edifice , being moulded and edified ( i . e ., built up ) , gradually to perfection , according to the measure of the Divine ideal , and so fitted for the Grand Lodge above ( for vvhich our lodges here may be a training school ) , that fabric svhich shall knosv no decay or ruin , on vvhich time canvvork no change , being a house " not made with hands , " but by the Great Architect Divine—made " Eternal in the heavens . "