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Article ANCIENT MASONIC LODGES No. 2. ← Page 4 of 4 Article THE PRESENT POSITION OF MASONIC HISTORY, No. 1. Page 1 of 3 →
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Ancient Masonic Lodges No. 2.
at the lodge held June 24 th , 1756 , when a net balance Avas declared of £ 51 16 s . lOd , The following entry is made : — " Inrollments of Apprentices—James Swan bound apprentice to Patrick Mills , November , 1751 ; Edward Robinson bound apprentice to
Michael Robinson , Aprill , 1752 . " We find that these two Master Masons ( i . e . Mills and Eohinson ) Avere members of ' the lodge .
The minutes conclude Avith a statement of accounts dated "June ye 24 th , 1757 , " and mentions that tAvo shillings Avere " paid far Travelling Brother . " Whether any but operative Masons Avere admitted Ave cannot determine from the volume of records . It ii probable other than Masons Avere accepted
as members , Avhich , after all , would be nothing unusual , for gentlemen Avere received into operative lodges in the seventeenth century . Mainly , liOAvever , if not wholly , the Almvicke Ledge AA'as an operative one , and Avas for the protection of the Craft and the benefit of the Craftsmen . The question as to " Three Degrees " being
Avorked prior to A . D . 1720 , receives no additional light from these minutes . In common Avith all old Lodge Eecords that Ave have examined there is a uniform silence as to Masonic degrees of any kind , and Ave do not think that these Alnwicke Lodge Minutes are likely to prove more than
usually valuable , although , of course , these heing the earliest of their kind yet discovered in England gives them a peculiar prominence , and confers a special English value on their contents . In Scotland the fact of lodge records dating hack to 1701 is nothing uncommon .
According to the "Bombay Gazette , " " a large lumber of European , Parsee , Mahommedan and Hindoo Freemasons had tbe pleasure of witnessing 'lie presentation of a Past Master ' s Jewel , a beautiful 'ime piece with a glass dome , and a Masonic work to < V . Bro . Darasba Euttonjee Cliiclrgur , the immediate P Mof Lod ' Rising Star of AVestern
. . ge India , ' as a token of the appreciation of members of "io lodge of his services to the Craft during his year of office—1872 . The same evening the Provincial Grand Master , with his Officers , happened to ^} on an official visit to the lodge , and these , with the Masters and members of sister lodges who had been "ivitcd at the interesting proceedingsformed a
, very respectable gathering at the Scottish Masonic Hall , w . Bro . Chichgur acknowledged the presentation in f 111 appropriate address , and assured his adherence to he interests of the Craft in future years . "—Masonic ¦ Herald , Calcutta .
The Present Position Of Masonic History, No. 1.
THE PRESENT POSITION OF MASONIC HISTORY , No . 1 .
I propose from time to time to call the attention of the readers of this Magazine , to the present position of Avhat perhaps may not inaptly be termed the " Historical Question " amongst usthatso Ave may see how far Ave have
, , hitherto successfully travelled along the somewhat dusty higliAvay of our Masonic Annals . Now there are certain canons of criticism , I feel hound to lay doAvn strongly at the outset , as otherAvise Ave are but repeating in truth an "
ofttold tale ; " Ave are in our turn but handing on to others , Avhat Ave have received AAdthout consideration and investigation , from those Avho Avent before us in' our Masonic life , from our predecessors in the " Ancient and Eoyal Art "'
The first canon of criticism that I would therefore lay down to-day , Avhen we approach the Historical Question of Freemasonry is , that , Ave must not treat Freemasonry in any other Avay , than , Ave would treatthe many grave and
in-, teresting topics of historical discussion and consideration . We must not draw near the " vexata qucestio " of the Antiquity of Freemasonry , or its origin ; Avith any pre-conceived notions or favourite theories of our OAVII . We must not
sacrifice the ever great cause of historical truth , at the shrine of any false god , Avhether of sentimentalism on the one hand , or of scepticism on the other . In the next place Ave must , in treating
the subject historically and critically , really carry out the rules and regulations of historical criticism . AVe must not put forward our OAvn VIBAVS , and defend them " a l ' outrance , " unmindful of evidences which are undoubted , and
of facts which are incontestable . We must not call our treatment of so serious a subject , as the Antiquity of Freemasonry , history or criticism , and then make it a personal question or an individual theory , and then complacently assume , that , Ave are right , and that , everybody else is wrong .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ancient Masonic Lodges No. 2.
at the lodge held June 24 th , 1756 , when a net balance Avas declared of £ 51 16 s . lOd , The following entry is made : — " Inrollments of Apprentices—James Swan bound apprentice to Patrick Mills , November , 1751 ; Edward Robinson bound apprentice to
Michael Robinson , Aprill , 1752 . " We find that these two Master Masons ( i . e . Mills and Eohinson ) Avere members of ' the lodge .
The minutes conclude Avith a statement of accounts dated "June ye 24 th , 1757 , " and mentions that tAvo shillings Avere " paid far Travelling Brother . " Whether any but operative Masons Avere admitted Ave cannot determine from the volume of records . It ii probable other than Masons Avere accepted
as members , Avhich , after all , would be nothing unusual , for gentlemen Avere received into operative lodges in the seventeenth century . Mainly , liOAvever , if not wholly , the Almvicke Ledge AA'as an operative one , and Avas for the protection of the Craft and the benefit of the Craftsmen . The question as to " Three Degrees " being
Avorked prior to A . D . 1720 , receives no additional light from these minutes . In common Avith all old Lodge Eecords that Ave have examined there is a uniform silence as to Masonic degrees of any kind , and Ave do not think that these Alnwicke Lodge Minutes are likely to prove more than
usually valuable , although , of course , these heing the earliest of their kind yet discovered in England gives them a peculiar prominence , and confers a special English value on their contents . In Scotland the fact of lodge records dating hack to 1701 is nothing uncommon .
According to the "Bombay Gazette , " " a large lumber of European , Parsee , Mahommedan and Hindoo Freemasons had tbe pleasure of witnessing 'lie presentation of a Past Master ' s Jewel , a beautiful 'ime piece with a glass dome , and a Masonic work to < V . Bro . Darasba Euttonjee Cliiclrgur , the immediate P Mof Lod ' Rising Star of AVestern
. . ge India , ' as a token of the appreciation of members of "io lodge of his services to the Craft during his year of office—1872 . The same evening the Provincial Grand Master , with his Officers , happened to ^} on an official visit to the lodge , and these , with the Masters and members of sister lodges who had been "ivitcd at the interesting proceedingsformed a
, very respectable gathering at the Scottish Masonic Hall , w . Bro . Chichgur acknowledged the presentation in f 111 appropriate address , and assured his adherence to he interests of the Craft in future years . "—Masonic ¦ Herald , Calcutta .
The Present Position Of Masonic History, No. 1.
THE PRESENT POSITION OF MASONIC HISTORY , No . 1 .
I propose from time to time to call the attention of the readers of this Magazine , to the present position of Avhat perhaps may not inaptly be termed the " Historical Question " amongst usthatso Ave may see how far Ave have
, , hitherto successfully travelled along the somewhat dusty higliAvay of our Masonic Annals . Now there are certain canons of criticism , I feel hound to lay doAvn strongly at the outset , as otherAvise Ave are but repeating in truth an "
ofttold tale ; " Ave are in our turn but handing on to others , Avhat Ave have received AAdthout consideration and investigation , from those Avho Avent before us in' our Masonic life , from our predecessors in the " Ancient and Eoyal Art "'
The first canon of criticism that I would therefore lay down to-day , Avhen we approach the Historical Question of Freemasonry is , that , Ave must not treat Freemasonry in any other Avay , than , Ave would treatthe many grave and
in-, teresting topics of historical discussion and consideration . We must not draw near the " vexata qucestio " of the Antiquity of Freemasonry , or its origin ; Avith any pre-conceived notions or favourite theories of our OAVII . We must not
sacrifice the ever great cause of historical truth , at the shrine of any false god , Avhether of sentimentalism on the one hand , or of scepticism on the other . In the next place Ave must , in treating
the subject historically and critically , really carry out the rules and regulations of historical criticism . AVe must not put forward our OAvn VIBAVS , and defend them " a l ' outrance , " unmindful of evidences which are undoubted , and
of facts which are incontestable . We must not call our treatment of so serious a subject , as the Antiquity of Freemasonry , history or criticism , and then make it a personal question or an individual theory , and then complacently assume , that , Ave are right , and that , everybody else is wrong .