Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland.—No. Iv.
subject of the threatened secession by an acknowledgment of the compliments paid to our reports by the " Interim Secretaiy : " Ave shall conclude our present one Avith a worcl in reply to " One of the Committee , " who si g hs for distinction as a
leader in the Avar AA'hich is noAv being Avaged in the west against the constituted authority of the Royal Arch Degree in this country . We have been enabled to identif y this self-important Committeeman as certainl y as if he had attached his
name and address to the letter from his pen , AA'hich appeared in the Magazine of the 21 st ult . As a Mason , his mouth is too full of mildeAV for us to approach him without fear of contamination ; but for one tiling , Ave would shun him as we would a
leper . His assertions as to our " shirking from the truth " and " misrepresentation of the features of the question " are unsupported by evidence the most slender ; and the important information he
volunteers as to the ori ginator and promoter , of "all the petitions for disjunction of Ayrshire , " resembles the discovery of a mare ' s nest . The readers of the Magazine care not Avho the ori ginator of these petitions is , how many or hoAv feAV
adhered to them , whether they were Chapter petitions or emanating from private members of the Order . Sufficient for them to knoAV the purport of the petitions , IIOAV they were disposed of , and what has followed upon the decisions in then- case ;
and on these points we presume all have had ample information . What portion of that information Ave have contributed we challenge any one of the Committee to gainsay . We are glad to have the assurance of " One of the Committee "
that he and his Companions in adversity " remember " their obligation . " Could they onl y be brought to " act" upon it , we should very soon see the end of this ill-advised and causeless insurrection in the rebels suing for pardon .
Masons Of England And Their Works.
MASONS OF ENGLAND AND THEIR WORKS .
( Concluded from page 169 . ) " The charters of Edward III . and his grandson Richard , distinctly point out the reasons of reconstituting the trading fraternities , as well as the principles upon which they had heen primarily established . We learn from them that the Avhole of these
societies were , at first , associations of persons , actually , and no tnominally , professing the trades from which they took denomination ; and that , existing on a principle of general subscription , they not only possessed an equal share in all rights Avhich themselves had not chosen to delegate , but that all of them
when " full brothers " equally participated in whatever advantages accrued to such societies , whether of property or privilege ; all in necessity could claim to be relieved in proportion to the fraternity ' s funds , ancl in cases of insolvency at death , the funerals of poor members Avere , by their ordinances , to be equallyrespected witli those of the rich . Finallyelections
, of officers AA * ere by ancl from the assembled commonalty . "— " The charters , moreover , furnish abundant information on other points , —as , the sort of authority in Avhich the guilds existed before such grants were made ; their then number and denominations of officers ; and the way in which they regulated and
governed themselves . The privileges granted are , as to general meetings , ' that they may have ancl hold their guild once a year , ' ancl may in the same , ' settle ancl govern their mysteries ; ' they may choose ' honest , lawful and sufficient men , ' best skilled therein , as their officersto enquire of the concerns of their tradesor
, , correct and amend the same ; they also confirm the ancient right of search through their respective trades , in order that each of them may detect dishonest practices in his OAVU craft and punish offenders , subject to the cognizance , or , as it is termed , vieAV of the Mayor . " *
In addition to this very intelligible account of the object of the charters of incorporation , it may be added that some of these companies or guilds had legendary histories of their trades . To these I haA * e already referred , and as forming a portion , I think a valuable portion , of this enquiry , I may be pardoned for dvrellmg somewhat on them . That of the masons
generally commences with the period of " King David , who loved masons well ; " but some copies are overparticular , and commence before the Elood . After relating the institution of geometry in Egypt , it is brought rapidly down , fortunately so , to Charles Martel ( this was a Erench tradition ) , to St . Alban , and to an assembly held in the year 926 by Athelstan
and his son or brother Edwin ; the later copies claim the City of York as the place of congress . Of such histories and constitutions there are five in manuscript in the British Museum ; one has belonged to a Chester guild and is dated 1 G 46 , one 1659 , aud the others are probably of the same century : anotheriu
, my own possession , is apparently of the same period . They all bear evidence not only of being copies of some earlier documents , but of the copyist not being versed in Avhat they Avere transcribing . At least four others of the same description have been printed in magazines , from various sources , during the last and
present centuries , f and the same legend was formerly claimed by the present Society of Ereemasons . Besides all these , there are also in the British Museum two ancient copies , Avritten on parchment and in English . The earliest of the two , presumed to date about the latter part of the fourteenth century , is
presented as a poem , consisting of about 573 lines , and Avas apparently composed by a priest , probably the secretary to the lodge or company , and as it may be presumed to haA'e been Avritten for public benefit , of those AVIIO could read , by the way , nothing very mysterious could haA'e been then considered as appertaining to such a history . The copy of the " Con-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Threatened Secession From The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter Of Scotland.—No. Iv.
subject of the threatened secession by an acknowledgment of the compliments paid to our reports by the " Interim Secretaiy : " Ave shall conclude our present one Avith a worcl in reply to " One of the Committee , " who si g hs for distinction as a
leader in the Avar AA'hich is noAv being Avaged in the west against the constituted authority of the Royal Arch Degree in this country . We have been enabled to identif y this self-important Committeeman as certainl y as if he had attached his
name and address to the letter from his pen , AA'hich appeared in the Magazine of the 21 st ult . As a Mason , his mouth is too full of mildeAV for us to approach him without fear of contamination ; but for one tiling , Ave would shun him as we would a
leper . His assertions as to our " shirking from the truth " and " misrepresentation of the features of the question " are unsupported by evidence the most slender ; and the important information he
volunteers as to the ori ginator and promoter , of "all the petitions for disjunction of Ayrshire , " resembles the discovery of a mare ' s nest . The readers of the Magazine care not Avho the ori ginator of these petitions is , how many or hoAv feAV
adhered to them , whether they were Chapter petitions or emanating from private members of the Order . Sufficient for them to knoAV the purport of the petitions , IIOAV they were disposed of , and what has followed upon the decisions in then- case ;
and on these points we presume all have had ample information . What portion of that information Ave have contributed we challenge any one of the Committee to gainsay . We are glad to have the assurance of " One of the Committee "
that he and his Companions in adversity " remember " their obligation . " Could they onl y be brought to " act" upon it , we should very soon see the end of this ill-advised and causeless insurrection in the rebels suing for pardon .
Masons Of England And Their Works.
MASONS OF ENGLAND AND THEIR WORKS .
( Concluded from page 169 . ) " The charters of Edward III . and his grandson Richard , distinctly point out the reasons of reconstituting the trading fraternities , as well as the principles upon which they had heen primarily established . We learn from them that the Avhole of these
societies were , at first , associations of persons , actually , and no tnominally , professing the trades from which they took denomination ; and that , existing on a principle of general subscription , they not only possessed an equal share in all rights Avhich themselves had not chosen to delegate , but that all of them
when " full brothers " equally participated in whatever advantages accrued to such societies , whether of property or privilege ; all in necessity could claim to be relieved in proportion to the fraternity ' s funds , ancl in cases of insolvency at death , the funerals of poor members Avere , by their ordinances , to be equallyrespected witli those of the rich . Finallyelections
, of officers AA * ere by ancl from the assembled commonalty . "— " The charters , moreover , furnish abundant information on other points , —as , the sort of authority in Avhich the guilds existed before such grants were made ; their then number and denominations of officers ; and the way in which they regulated and
governed themselves . The privileges granted are , as to general meetings , ' that they may have ancl hold their guild once a year , ' ancl may in the same , ' settle ancl govern their mysteries ; ' they may choose ' honest , lawful and sufficient men , ' best skilled therein , as their officersto enquire of the concerns of their tradesor
, , correct and amend the same ; they also confirm the ancient right of search through their respective trades , in order that each of them may detect dishonest practices in his OAVU craft and punish offenders , subject to the cognizance , or , as it is termed , vieAV of the Mayor . " *
In addition to this very intelligible account of the object of the charters of incorporation , it may be added that some of these companies or guilds had legendary histories of their trades . To these I haA * e already referred , and as forming a portion , I think a valuable portion , of this enquiry , I may be pardoned for dvrellmg somewhat on them . That of the masons
generally commences with the period of " King David , who loved masons well ; " but some copies are overparticular , and commence before the Elood . After relating the institution of geometry in Egypt , it is brought rapidly down , fortunately so , to Charles Martel ( this was a Erench tradition ) , to St . Alban , and to an assembly held in the year 926 by Athelstan
and his son or brother Edwin ; the later copies claim the City of York as the place of congress . Of such histories and constitutions there are five in manuscript in the British Museum ; one has belonged to a Chester guild and is dated 1 G 46 , one 1659 , aud the others are probably of the same century : anotheriu
, my own possession , is apparently of the same period . They all bear evidence not only of being copies of some earlier documents , but of the copyist not being versed in Avhat they Avere transcribing . At least four others of the same description have been printed in magazines , from various sources , during the last and
present centuries , f and the same legend was formerly claimed by the present Society of Ereemasons . Besides all these , there are also in the British Museum two ancient copies , Avritten on parchment and in English . The earliest of the two , presumed to date about the latter part of the fourteenth century , is
presented as a poem , consisting of about 573 lines , and Avas apparently composed by a priest , probably the secretary to the lodge or company , and as it may be presumed to haA'e been Avritten for public benefit , of those AVIIO could read , by the way , nothing very mysterious could haA'e been then considered as appertaining to such a history . The copy of the " Con-