Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
the town guard-house , untilsuch time as theywere tried by the magistrates for the insolent and rude language which they had employed in speaking to the two Deacons , and the contempt which they had thereby displayed towards these di g * nitaries . We are rather startled at such an outset as this , and apt to conclude that the arbiters are going to give a very harsh and unfair decision against the journeymen . The language used must surely have been of a very strong kind to warrant so severe a judgment , that the persons who uttered it deserved to be kept
in confinement till they were arraigned before the magistrates . Our curiosity is excited to know what the reprehensible words really were . Did they consist of blasphemy , defamation of character , or threats of violence | . So far as I know , no record exists to solve such queries , and the likelihood is , that we shall remain for ever in the dark as to their real import , but I have a latent impression that the opinion of the arbiters in this respect was much too severe . The fact is , that they appear to be of that opinion themselves ; for in the very next breath they in a manner contradict what they had advanced . They go on to say that the two
journeymen were put under greater restraint than their crime deserved , and , therefore , to quote their own words , ' we unanimously decern and ordain the said Deacons , James Bro wnhill and William Smellie to refund , content , and pay to the saidRobert Winram and William Brodie , the sum of a hundred punds Scots , in full compensation and satisfaction to them of the whole damages , cost , skaith , and expenses , paid out and sustained by the said journeymen throw their commitment and the process of wrongous imprisonment raised and pursued by them thereupon , and to deliver up to the said journeymen their books , now in custody of the said Deacons /
" In the second place , the arbiters take a step which we think must have been highly repugnant and injurious to the journeymen . The journeymen had paid sums of money for being entered and passed as Masons , and it may be that they had also paid quarterly or other contributions into the parent Lodge ; and , there - fore they no doubt considered that they had a right to participate in its funds , as well as to have a voice in their appropriation ; but the arbiters declare that they unanimously absolve and assoilize the Deacons and whole freemen Masters of the incorporation of Masons from all counting and reckoning to the journeymen for
the moneys received by the incorporation , for giving the Mason's word either to freemen or journeymen , as well before the date of the decreet arbitral , as in all time to come . By this decision the claims of the journeymen were cut off at a single blow . The object for which they had been contending for years was withdrawn from their grasp , and their hopes of being able to exercise a control over the funds of the incorporation or parent Lodge , were blasted for ever . As a compensation for so serious a loss and disappointment , the arbiters offer them a solatium , sufficient as they thought to meet their requirements . They decide that
the journeymen should have full power to maintain the society which they had set up . For this purpose they ' decern and ordain Deacons Smellie and Brownhill to procure from the incorporation of Freemen Masons an act and allowance to be recorded in their books in favour of the journeymen masons , allowing them to meet by themselves as a society for giving the Mason ' s word , and to receive dues therefore , and such voluntary contributions and donations as shall happen to be given in by any person to their common stock and purse / This boon was to be clogged by a number of restrictions , evidently imposed out of deference to the claims and privileges exercised by the Incorporation .
" In the first place , the journeymen were not to make any laws that were intended to regulate wages or fees , or that would bo prejudicial to tho lieges in general , or to the rights and privileges of tho good town of Edinburgh , or the incorporation of Freemen Masons , but their whole actings , writings and meetings were to be confined to the collecting and distributing of their funds . It is
evident from this restriction that the Masters were apprehensive that the Journeymen would take advantage of their Masonic meetings to form a combination for regulating the rate of wages—to get up , in fact , a trades' union , to coerce their employers into such measures as they might think fit to adopt . I am not aware that the journeymen ever resorted to any step of this kind , although a discussion on the s \ ibject of wages could scarcel y be considered a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
the town guard-house , untilsuch time as theywere tried by the magistrates for the insolent and rude language which they had employed in speaking to the two Deacons , and the contempt which they had thereby displayed towards these di g * nitaries . We are rather startled at such an outset as this , and apt to conclude that the arbiters are going to give a very harsh and unfair decision against the journeymen . The language used must surely have been of a very strong kind to warrant so severe a judgment , that the persons who uttered it deserved to be kept
in confinement till they were arraigned before the magistrates . Our curiosity is excited to know what the reprehensible words really were . Did they consist of blasphemy , defamation of character , or threats of violence | . So far as I know , no record exists to solve such queries , and the likelihood is , that we shall remain for ever in the dark as to their real import , but I have a latent impression that the opinion of the arbiters in this respect was much too severe . The fact is , that they appear to be of that opinion themselves ; for in the very next breath they in a manner contradict what they had advanced . They go on to say that the two
journeymen were put under greater restraint than their crime deserved , and , therefore , to quote their own words , ' we unanimously decern and ordain the said Deacons , James Bro wnhill and William Smellie to refund , content , and pay to the saidRobert Winram and William Brodie , the sum of a hundred punds Scots , in full compensation and satisfaction to them of the whole damages , cost , skaith , and expenses , paid out and sustained by the said journeymen throw their commitment and the process of wrongous imprisonment raised and pursued by them thereupon , and to deliver up to the said journeymen their books , now in custody of the said Deacons /
" In the second place , the arbiters take a step which we think must have been highly repugnant and injurious to the journeymen . The journeymen had paid sums of money for being entered and passed as Masons , and it may be that they had also paid quarterly or other contributions into the parent Lodge ; and , there - fore they no doubt considered that they had a right to participate in its funds , as well as to have a voice in their appropriation ; but the arbiters declare that they unanimously absolve and assoilize the Deacons and whole freemen Masters of the incorporation of Masons from all counting and reckoning to the journeymen for
the moneys received by the incorporation , for giving the Mason's word either to freemen or journeymen , as well before the date of the decreet arbitral , as in all time to come . By this decision the claims of the journeymen were cut off at a single blow . The object for which they had been contending for years was withdrawn from their grasp , and their hopes of being able to exercise a control over the funds of the incorporation or parent Lodge , were blasted for ever . As a compensation for so serious a loss and disappointment , the arbiters offer them a solatium , sufficient as they thought to meet their requirements . They decide that
the journeymen should have full power to maintain the society which they had set up . For this purpose they ' decern and ordain Deacons Smellie and Brownhill to procure from the incorporation of Freemen Masons an act and allowance to be recorded in their books in favour of the journeymen masons , allowing them to meet by themselves as a society for giving the Mason ' s word , and to receive dues therefore , and such voluntary contributions and donations as shall happen to be given in by any person to their common stock and purse / This boon was to be clogged by a number of restrictions , evidently imposed out of deference to the claims and privileges exercised by the Incorporation .
" In the first place , the journeymen were not to make any laws that were intended to regulate wages or fees , or that would bo prejudicial to tho lieges in general , or to the rights and privileges of tho good town of Edinburgh , or the incorporation of Freemen Masons , but their whole actings , writings and meetings were to be confined to the collecting and distributing of their funds . It is
evident from this restriction that the Masters were apprehensive that the Journeymen would take advantage of their Masonic meetings to form a combination for regulating the rate of wages—to get up , in fact , a trades' union , to coerce their employers into such measures as they might think fit to adopt . I am not aware that the journeymen ever resorted to any step of this kind , although a discussion on the s \ ibject of wages could scarcel y be considered a