The Master Court And The Master Degree.

him a mere creature of the imagination , which only appears formidable when viewed through London fog . But be that as it may , the Grand Lodge of England , as a body , and the members of the Grand Lodge of England , as individuals , are

in great measure answerable for the vast amount of Masonic ignorance which exists both in their own body as well as elsewhere . Great part of what was done during last century tended to supportand spread Masonic imposition , not to give true

Masonic light , e . g ., Dr . Anderson's paltry "Defence of Masonry , " & c . As a Freemason—or speculative mason—I consider that we have all a hold

upon England , for she was the mother of our speculative masonry , and she is therefore entitled to give her children light . To come to the point , she ought to appoint some able and honest man to give us the light we stand in need of , and at

her expense there should be taken verbatim et literatim copies of such extant Masonic documents as existed before 1717 , said copies to be published in the manner judged . best , especially the minutes of old lodges before 1717 . Such being - done , the

true history of the Order would soon be properly elucidated , and , supposing it was proved that our speculative masonry was no older than about 1717 , and that it was then manufactured by Desaguliers , Anderson , and Co ., what about it ? The Order

can stand upon its inherent merits apart from all antiquity , and if it originated in England then , so much more honour to England for being the land of its birth . And with its history once set satisfatorily before us , our minds would be relieved from the duty at present incumbent of searching for the true in order to set aside the false .

The stonemasons have given out that they were the great , even the only , custodiers of " secrets , '' words , and grips , & c . ; but such an idea is a great mistake , for while they built stone edifices , the wrig hts built wooden ones . Then , who contributed

to the pomp and military glory of mediteval chivalry ? who made the sword and the lance , the shield and the helmet , the coat of mail , and all other such warlike appurtenances ? Was it not the smiths ? Consequently when other -branches of

the military service used their signs and countersigns , can we suppose that under the then circumstances , the smiths had none ? The thing is absurd , and contrary both to fact and evidence . Therefore in any full history of Masonry we must not only have a history of it per se ., but also of its relation and constitution in juxtaposition with

The Master Court And The Master Degree.

other co-existent trades . The time is ripe for such a work , and all honour will be due to whoever does it . In the heading of my article the "Master Court , " is mentioned . This is merely another name

for the office-bearers , it being the duty of this court to look after the affairs of the Incorporation ; , there being of course " Master Courts " in other corporations as well as the Masons . The officebearers of the Glasgow Incorporation of Masons

for this year are : Deacon , James Grant , junr . ; . Collector , James Man well . Master Court , Peter Shannan , James Gilfillan , Robert McCord , James Watson , Robert Taylor , David Manwell , James Cruickshank , John Mclntyre , Robert Craig , John Rennie , Gavin Park ; Key Keepers , Peter Shannan and Jas . Gilfillan . Representative in Trades '

House , Robert Taylor . Representative in building committee of Trades' House , James Grant , jun ., Deacon . Delegate in Gorbals lands , James Watson . Delegate in the Trades' School , James Cruickshank . Clerk , Alexander Young , Writer .

The majority of the above are members of the Lodge of Glasgow St . John , and several of them P . M . 's thereof ; three , however , of the number are not Freemasons , as we now understand the term , at all . In next weeks' MAGAZINE , I intend to

begin a history of " the Lodge of Glasgow St . John , which will be in two parts , which I may call ancient and modern , and I intend to begin with the second part first , in which shall be given some interesting information , which , although a member of the lodge for years , never came to my knowledge until a few clays ago .

How I Spent My Five Weeks' Leave.

HOW I SPENT MY FIVE WEEKS' LEAVE .

Being a Journal l _ ept during an Excursion lo Syria ancl Palestine in the month of May , 1868 . { Continued from page 429 ) . LEAVE MALrA UPPER BETHOEON TO JERUSALEM . Etnero-ino- from the orchards , we ride for miles

across this noble plain , extending to right and left , as far as the eye can reach , one boundless sea of waving corn , dotted here and there with olive trees . In front we see the rocky hills of Judah , over which lies our route . Leaving

Ramleh on our right , we soon see the Minaret of Lydda or Lind , where Peter healed the paralytic . Lydda is prettily embowered in verdure , the orchards contain peach , lemon , orange and pome-