Mark Masonry.

Mark Masonry .

CARNARVON LODGB OF MARK MASTERS ( No . 119 ) . —The regular meeting of this lotlge was held at the White Hart Hotel , Brislington , on Thursday , August the 2 ist . The Iodge was opened by the W . M ., Bro . W . A . Scott , at 5 o ' clock . After the minutes of the last meeting had

been read and confirmed , the ballot was taken for Bro . J . B . Halford , as a joining member from the Amity Mark Lotlge No . 132 ; also Bro . W . Tucker , W . M . Craft Lodge 103 , Bro . John Summers , 326 ; Bro . E , Trood , 326 ; Bro . Dr . D . Bernard , 1296 ; Bro . II , W . Lane , 103 ; Bro . J .

R . Shetland , 610 ; and Bro . E . Cook , S . D . 103 , as candidates for advancement . The ballot being unanimous in every case , and five of the brethren being in attendance , and having signed the required declaration , they were severally introduced and advanced to the honourable der-ree of

M . M . M . ' s , with full ceremonial , in accordance with the new ritual . The brethren present expressed their great satisfaction at the introduction of the new ritual , and were advised by the W . M . to procure a copy each , so that by the next meeting they mi g ht be perfect in their part of the ceremony . There being no further

business the lodge was closed in ancient form at 7 . 30 . There were present : —Bros . W . A . Scott , P . M ., Grand Steward , W-M . ; Dr . S . Bryant , P . M ., Grand Master Overseer , Treasurer ; G . F . Tucker , N ., R . A . M ., Prov . G . Asst . Sec , S . W . J . M . Hunt , J . W ., ; A . G . Williams , Reg . of Marks ; William Munro , Asst . Prov . G . Dir . of Cers ., M . O . ; Hearne , S . O .: Hunt , J . O . ; J . A . Clark , Prov . G . Inspector of Works , J . D . ; H .

Amor , Prov . G . Deacon , S . D . ; Birtwcll , Secretary ; J . B . Warren , Steward ; Samuel Edwards I . G . ; J . Coles , Tyler ; D . P . Belfield , Prov . G Steward ; James Jones , and others .

Reviews.

Reviews .

Bro . D . Murray Lyon ' s History of the Lodge l > J Etliiiitirg / i , Xo . 1 . For some months we have been expecting the advent of the most important contribution to Masonic literature of this eventful period in the Craft ' s history ; now our hopes are realized , and

there lies before us not only the handsomest , but also the most readable volume which has ever been published , respecting the " Rise and Progress of Freemasonry in Scotland . " Containing as it does over 400 pages , printed most beautifully by Messrs . Blackwood and Sons , and

profusel y illustrated , the reall y splendid work by Bro . D . Alurray Lyon cannot be done justice to , even in a carefull } ' prepared review , and therefore ire are anxious to induce our readers not to rest satisfied with the following brief notice of its varied contents , but to procurecopies for themselves

whijst they are obtainable . Published under the patronage of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , K . G . ( " Patron of the Order" in Scathing , and dedicated to the Right Hon . the Earl 01 Dalhousie , K . T ., G . C . B . ( P . G . M . ) , we should say that the author and publishers have obtained every

in-Huence requisite to ensure success ; we predict a rapid sale of the volumes as yet unsubscribed lor , and confidently anticipate one hearty and unanimous expression of approval of Iho . Lyon ' s labours by the fraternity and Mnsonic press of both hemispheres .

The portraits are so numerous and excellent , Lhat it would almost be invidious to select anv for pavlictilarizatiou . To many , no doubt the full p . 'ige engravings will form the chief attraction in lhe series , they are the I , ail of i ) u ' i ! i * . * . i :-ie ( form"ig the frontispiece , liv | eii ) s , ;** om a

photograph ) , the Duke of Athol , John Whyte -Melville , Est ) ., liarl of Kosslyn , liail of 1 laildiiigt ( l » , Earl of 'Zetland , and H . R . H . the Piine . e oi *^ ales . There arc more than iiliy u < her portraits , engraved by our able Bro . Robeil I ' . iler--in . " nning an attract ! -, e t ' . alleiv of living and .

le-J-fased Masonic celebrities , the like ol uh ' i . ' i "as not hitherto been produced . In liic-siuiii .-; C work is especially rich , and certainly , win UUT ^' c consider the admirable and faithful lithographs ' ) ' Ritchie , or Ihe unique and curious ori g inals ,

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the publishers have offered us a rare combination of gems in art and antiquity . Commencing with the beginning and concluding portions of the Schaw Statutes of 1598 , and the oldest minute of the Lodge of Edinburgh , July , 1591 / , the artist pictures to us the exact

appearance of these old records , and reproduces all the chief documents mentioned by the author including the " Letter of Jurisdiction to William St . Clair , " of 1600 ( in full ) , the very large " Letter of Jurisdiction to Sir William St . Claii

of 1628 , " various commissions , seals , marks , portions of MS . charges , and lodge records from the sixteenth century . Apart altogether from the novelty of the foregoing , their value in assisting the studies of the literary members of the Craft cannot well ^ e over estimated .

Having thus , by way of introduction , referred to what may be termed the ornamental part of the book , it is needful we should glance at the History itself . No one familiar with Masonic literature for the last and present decades of this century , can

fail to have been impressed with the voluminous , instructive , and most valuable character of Bro . I ) Murray Lyon ' scontributions , and they at least will not wonder that his honorary and honourable connection with the Alasonic press for many years has culminated in the production of the massive

and well-written " History of the Lodge of Edinburgh , " and the publication of a work , which will always be regarded as the chef dfeuvre of Masonic research and information . Those who expect nothing more than an account of the lodge of Edinburgh will be most

agreeably surprised on turning over the pages of the book to find a history of the several ancient lodges in Scotland , and , in fact , an epitomized narration of the progress of Freemasonry in North Britain for the last three centuries , including a sketch of the " hautes grades " and

fanciful degrees which were so eagerly sought after about a hundred years ago . Brother Lyon disposes of the so-called " Hereditary Grand Mastership " of the St . Clairs , by demonstrating such a title to be wholl y foreign to the text of the " Letters of Jurisdiction " of

1600 and 1628 ( circa ) . The hitter was mainl y a confirmation of the older document , and both are silent as to the Grand Mastershi p . Hence , so far from affording corroboration of the appointment by James II . of William St . Clair

Earl of Orkney and Caithness , to the office of hereditary Grand Alaster ( as Bro . W . A . Laurie claims ) , Uro . Lyon shows that " ou the contrary , they furnish a pretty conclusive refutation of the statement . "

It would be strange indeed for a brother to be Grand Master of the Alasons prior In his initiation , and yet such must have been the case with William St . Clair , if we receive the fable , for he was not accepted a member of the Lodge Cannongate Kilwinning until Alay 18 , 173 ' 5 , and on

the 2 nd ofthe following month was " advanced to the . degree of Fellow Craft . " Bro . Lyon establishes the important fact " that more than a year before the date at whicli St . Clair is alleged to have formally intimated his intention of resigning the Masonic protectorate , and several months prior to bjv , admission into the OrtU r , the

creation ofa Grand Mastership for Scotland had been mooted among the brethren . " It should also be remembered , that whilst the first of these Letters of Jurisdiction purports to be drawn b y the Deacons , Alasters , and Freemen of the Scottish Masons , the second is the joint production of the " Alasons and Hammermen within the

kinsrdom of Scotland . It is thus evident , as Bro . Hnghan , the well known Masonic historiograph-. - ;* , his frequently observd , the ofh ' ce ol ' •Grand Masier was a creation of the Revivalists of A . D . 17 17 . "

The Acts ol the Scottish Pari . anient , anent the Crafts and Incorporations , are carefull y traced b y liro . Lyon , and their bearings with respect to the Freemasons accurately wei g ht d and considered indeed the complete manner i ;; which the early history of the Masonic lodges in / a . oihiml I * , treated bv our brother , is amply

¦ Indent to enable one quite a 'Granger to theii 1 : ; eer to become generall )* familiar with the salient points in their eventful history , and many of their proceedings are so graphicall y described , that thc reader cannot fail to be interested and

Reviews.

instructed as he proceeds with the perusal ofthe records . The great feature in the work is its readable character . Dry accounts of lodge meetings , confused particulars as to the origin of lodges .

antl questionable statements as to the an-. iqaity of certain offices , degrees , and o rem mics , are all touched by the " magic wand" of the historian , and changed into ; i compact aid '¦•i- nnimoiis narrative , of the s . iiiiws and domes ,, '*

-liearly Crait , every evidence being fitted into its proper place , and the whole cemented together by a master mind and skilful Mason The ' •Schaw Statutes" of 1 , 598-9 . an I the M' * * -S . of the " Atcheson-Haven" and "

Ediuburs-h-Kilwinning . " as also numerous other curious and valuable documents , are to be found in the volume , and what is more , every needful particular is furnished as to the period when such wee granted , written o- pro nti ! g ited .

We hive not b .-en able to discover one event of impoit-mee in lel . ition to Freemasonry in Scot ' an I which has been omitted , but so far as our researches have gone we have found every special event which has occored during the mainly operative period of the (" raft , and all the s . ili . nt points iu subsequent proceedings of ' . he Grand

Lodge of Scotland and its daughter lodges , to be faithfully pourtrayed by Bro . D . Murray Lyon , ami described in such an efficient , accurate , and happy manner that we do not hesitate to sti le the author of such a work the ' . Masonic Historian of Scotland , " a title he has earned for himself prior to the issue of the piesent volume .

'J "he n cords of the Lodgeof Edinburgh commence July 1599 , and extend to six vdunii'S , all of which are in excellent pr . servation No other lodge occupies so favourable a position iu this respect , either in Scotland or the sister kin >*

-doins of England and Ireland . The earliest authentic minute of a non-operative ( or gentle-111411 ) being a member ofa Alason-lod ge is to be found in the records of this ancient lodge , viz . —John Boswell , Esq ., 8 th day of June , A . D . 1600 .

On the 3 rd day of July , 16 34 , 1110 Ri g ht Hon . Lord Alexander , was " admittet folowe off the Craft , " and on the same day Sir Alexander Strachan , Bart , and Sir Anthony Alexander , were similiail y distinguished . Several other speculatives are chronicled as being initiated a

few years subsequently , and it is " worth y of remark that , with singularl y few exceptions , the non-operatives who were admitted to Alasonic Fellowshi p in the Lodges of Edinburgh and Kilwinning during the seventeenth century were persons of quality , the most distinguished ot

whom , as the natural result of its metropolitan position , being made in the former lodge . " General Alexander Hamilton was made a member of the Lotlge of Etl in burgh , Alay 20 , 1640 , and took part iu the initiation of Quarter-Master-General Robert Moray , at Newcastle ,

in Alay , 1641 , when that town was occupied b y the . Scottish army . This most singular admission of a Alason in a town in England , by members o the Lodge of Edinburgh , ( and which initiation was subsequently acknowledged to be lawful bv lhe brethren oi * the loci ** . )

ha-. ; entirely been overlooked I ) , all tho .-e w : u > preceded Bro . L ) on iu scrutinizing the ancient records , yet one of more value cannot be found in all the minutes . Sir Patrick Hume ( afterwards Earl of Marchmonnt ) joined the lodge on St .

Johns Day , 1667 , the Right lion . William Murray on June 24 , 1670 , and so al .-u was Sir John Harper . On the 271 I 1 December , 1679 , scleral brethren , for " taken upon them to passe and enter sevr-dl gentlemen without licence ot I'oniiiiis-iai ; Troni this p ' ace . " were -c-v"i ' ' !•

censured and ui . i le to sulf . r some ol the penalties of transgression for a season . L ' p till the year oi th-.: Revolution , in favour of William Prince of Orange , liro . Lyon tells us the Lodge of Edinburgh seems to have been in undisturbed possession oi the metropolis and its .-. capon as the lie ) . I of its labours . Jn 1677 ' 1 number 01

Masons started the Canongate Lodge b y representing themselves ; as " ane part " of the mother Kilwinning , " which in reality they we 10 not . In ] 685 several Masons formed themselves into a lodge for Leith ami the Ciinongate , and thus gradually tin . * monopoly enjoyed b y the Lodge oi Kdinburt-li was 'iraduallv and surclv undermined