At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

Olver , P . G . D . C . ; R . Edgcumbe , P . Asst . G . D . C . ; J . Cleave , P . G . Org . The banquet was held at the Royal Hotel , Comp . P . Colville Smith presiding . © © © At the last meeting of the Cornish Lodge , No . 236 9

, which , as our readers are no doubt aware , is composed of Cornishmen resident in London , and was , we believe , the first of its kind established in the metropolis , the Secretary of the lodge and a P . M . of No . 1641 , Bro . Richard Greenwood , was elected W . M . for the ensuing year . The lodge has

had the misfortune of losing , by death , its much respected W . M . elect , Bro . Church , and it was the unanimous desire of the brethren that Bro . Greenwood , who had filled the office of Secretary from the first , and to whose constant efforts so much of the success of the lodge was due , should

fill the Master ' s chair . The lodge may look forward to a year of progress and prosperity under Bro . Greenwood ' s able guidance . At the same meeting , Bro . P . Colville Smith , P . G . D ., Deputy Provincial Grand Master for Cornwall , and Secretary of the R . M . B . Institution , was elected a joining member .

© © © We hardly dare imagine what would have been the result of such proceedings as are recorded in the Kelso Mail of the 30 th December had they occurred in connection with a lodge under the Grand Lodge of England . Our Scotch brethren

are evidently less amenable to the influence and discipline which characterises our own authorities in the direction of public assemblages of Masons clothed in badges of the Order . On the occasion in question it appears that the brethren of the ancient lodge at Melrose met in the afternoon and

evening and celebrated the festival of St . John . After the business meeting there was a procession through the streets and round the old Market Cross , headed by the Hawick Volunteer Band . After dinner the procession was repeated , the brethren on this occasion each bearing a flaming lurch . An

adjournment was then made to the Abbey , round the inside of which the Masons marched three times , and before leaving they halted while the band played " Scots Wha Hae" over the spot where thfc heart of Bruce lies buried . The burgh regulations were relaxed for the clay , and during the procession

there was a fine display of fireworks and coloured lights in the streets and the Abbey , the effect on the famous ruin being specially striking .

But for the undoubted Scotch origin of the following communication which a correspondent has forwarded to the Dumfries Courier , we should have thought that some humourist had attempted , albeit " with deefficulty , " to foist a joke on the worthy editor : — " To the editor of the Courier and Herald . Sir , —In Wednesday ' s issue I observed

an admirable address on Freemasonry by Mr . William Campbell . There is no proof , however , that Seth , Noah , Shem , and Abraham were Freemasons . If the claims that Freemasons make regarding Freemasonry of its wonderfulness could be established , then how is it that our Lord and His

Apostles never mentioned such a craft , or taught that men ought to join such a secret society ? Why should such a society be secret ? Why do they not have a schedule so that men would know what is to pay , what ceremony they have to go through , and what oaths they are expected to

make , commencing with the apprentice Freemason ? Unless Freemasons can answer these questions straight and open , then Freemasonry is a delusion and not of God , but of man ' s invention , and therefore to be strictly avoided by all Christian men . —I am , etc ., J . M ., Edinburgh . "

© © © Cannot some of our Masonic students help to lay at rest the good man ' s doubts as to the connection of Seth and other patriarchs with Freemasonry . The writer is evidently in earnest in seeking light , but he is perhaps a trifle too

practical , and it is quite evident that the symbolic and figurative sides of Freemasonry do not appeal to his severely logical mind .

A curious action came before the Court of Session at Edinburgh recently , which raised the question of whether the Chapter General of the United Order of the Religious and Military Order of the Temple and Hospital of Scotland was a body identical with the Supreme Council in Scotland of the 33 of the ancient and accepted Scottish rite

of Freemasonry . The action was at the instance of the former body against the trustees of the late Lindsay Mackersy , W . S ., and its purpose was to recover a debenture for £ 100 issued by the Supreme Council and certain sums on the deposit receipt that were in the hands of the late Mr . Mackersy

in his capacity as Grand Treasurer of the Chapter General at the date of his death in August , 1902 . The defence was that Mr . Mackersy also acted as treasurer and agent to the Supreme Council , which they averred was composed of the same individuals as composed the Chapter General , and that

the latter body was responsible for obligations of the former . As between the two they maintained that there was a balance in favour of Mr . Mackersy of £ 24 6 , which they claimed they were entitled to set off against the pursuer ' s claim .

© © © The evidence for the pursuers was to the effect that the Supreme Council and the Chapter General were entirely separate bodies . The only common interest was that the Chapter General paid a rent to the Supreme Council for the use of the hall in Queen Street . The two bodies had a

different origin and a different history . In reply to Lord Kyllachy , Mr . Jos . Inglis , grand treasurer of the Chapter General of the Temple , explained that that was a religious and military order , and was not a Masonic order , and was in no way connected with the ancient and accepted Scottish

rite . Its members supposed themselves to be direct descendants of the Knights Templar . They were really a religious order . They took a religious obligation . The Chapter General governed bodies known as preceptories , and these preceptories admitted Knights Templar by the signing of a

formal ritual , ordination and obligation on the part of the initiate . By a certain process of selection they were permitted to be members of the governing body , the Chapter General . On the other hand , the Supreme Council was admittedly a Masonic body . In order to be a member of the Chapter General one must be a Royal Arch Mason , but

that was part of the process of selection . To be a Royal Arch Mason was regaided as a certificate of character . A member of the Supreme Council did not require to be a Royal Arch Mason . There were no preceptory buildings left in Scotland except at Torphichen . No evidence was led

for the defenders . After hearing council , his Lordship repelled the defences that both bodies were identical , and that the pursuers had no title to sue , and made an order on the account of Court , with whom the bond and the money had been consigned , to hand them over to the pursuers , who were found entitled to expenses .

© © © The Grand Lodge of Sweden will always possess agreeable associations for the English Craftsmen as the Masonic birthplace of King Edward VII ., who , as Prince of Wales , was received into Freemasonry in a lodge under the jurisdiction of that Grand Lodge , of which his Majesty King Oscar II . ( a portrait of whom appeared in our last issue ) , is the Grand Master .

© © © Swedish Freemasonry as at present worked dates from the year 17 60 , but its ritual and observances appear from that time to have possessed little in common with the other nationalities of Europe . The Grand Lodge of Sweden was formed in 1759 of which Count Eckleff was the first Grand

, Master . There is much ambiguity in the available records of that period , but it appears tolerably clear that down to the time of the union of the two kingdoms of Norway and Sweden many of the lodges were working under a patent from the Grand Lodge of Scotland , while there were a few that had

been erected by the English Provincial Grand Lodge which then existed in Denmark . These , however , all became absorbed in the Grand Lodge of Sweden .