Glasgow St. John's And The Masonic Processios.

m no instance more so than in the publication of the letter from Bro . M'Guffie , which appears in to-day ' s Uerald . He introduces the remark , ' tempest in a teapot . ' Now , no simile could more aptly represent the conduct of St . John ' s upon the 3 rd inst . than a ' tempest in a teapot . ' I presume that when Thomas M'GuffieLA ., has come to the front'Delta' has

re-, , tired . I should have liked him to haA'e stated his evidence for certain statements he made , and which I called in question before he did so ; until he does so , I consider him mistaken . "As to the members ofthe Glasgow Freemen Operative St . John ' s Lodge carrying the working tools at

several Masonic processions in Glasgow , that Avas sometimes conceded to them for the sake of peace , and they , being members of the GlasgoAv Incorporation of Masons , were always able to bring a great deal of local influence to bear in their favour ; e . g ., at the laying of the foundation stone of the

Jamaicastreet Bridge in 1833 we find that , according to the programme , the St . John ' s Lodge were not to be allowed to occupy the position they wanted . However , they got up a large meeting on the subject , appointed a committee to wait on Dr . Cleland and the Lord Provost to remonstrate Avith them" aud thus by

; means of their local influence , and no doubt by appealing to their privileges as stated in their pretended Malcolm Canmore , Charter , which Dr . Cleland had unluckily published at 2 iage 4 S 5 , vol . ii ., of his 'Annals of Glasgow , ' they managed to carry their point , not because they Avere right , but because they then were

powerful , and the parties they were dealing wdth un-SAvare that the Malcolm document was a comparatively recent forgery . The reason why this pretended Malcolm Canmore Charter was ' discovered' in 1 S 06 Avas this : —At that time , the Grand Lodge of Scotland Had passed a motion that all lodges out of its pale not to

were be allowed to be present at any demonstration at which it Avas acting . Hence in 1806 the St . John ' s brethren Avere in a fix ; they not only Avanted to be present , but also to occupv the first position . However , Malcolm ' s Charter , being most opportunel y 'discovered , ' helped them out of their

difficulties . At that time the St . Mungo resisted them , but local influence , assisted hy a ' roval charter , ' prevailed . So we see that Bro . M'Guffie is mistaken Avhen he says ' there was never any hitch . ' " As to the idea that the GlasgoAv St . John ' s practised speculative Masonry before the institution of

the Grand Lod ge of Scotland in 1736 , I should like to see proof oi that . "I never cither kucAv or heard of any practical Mason—Mason or man—Avho worked the three degrees , and I can only point to one E . W . M . who ever did so , and that was in 1 SGG , and he Avas a painter , and of the other

office bearers who have done so one is a smith and the other a plumber , and it is within the last five years these began to work , - so that Avhen ivo look under the surface , Avhere do all the pretensions of this St . John ' s Ledge go to ? Had all the ' longarray of past office bearers' been put through a ' Civil Service examination , " where would they have all gone to ?

"As to the proof that this pretended Malcolm Charter is a forgery , I may state that the present E . W . M ., Bro . Baird , and another past office bearer of the lodge , were deputed by the lodge to call upon

Glasgow St. John's And The Masonic Processios.

Professor Cosmos Innes at Edinhurgh , and hear his opinion on the matter . Now this opinion is recorded in their own minute book , and he said the thing was a forgery , executed within the last 150 year , and made up of pieces taken out of different charters and stuck together . The late Professor Arnott called it a forgery . The late Mr . Paganeditor of this newspaper ,

, acknoAvledged it to be a forgery , stating that he had been misled hy the remarks of the late Mr . Miller , E . W . M . of St . Mark's Lodge . Our late Pro . G . M ., Bro . Capt . Speirs , M . P ., also says .- —'' Seeing it is an imposition , it is a good thing that it should be shown up . ' One of their own past office bearers who was

giving a sketch of the proceedings of the lodge , as recorded in their oldest extant minute book , iu the Freemasons' Magazine , of date Sth January , 1870 , & c , also says : — 'This charter , forged , as I believe , hy a Mr . C . in 1 S 06 , and by his influence inserted into Dr . Cleland ' s " Annals of GlasgoAv , " is one of the

most disgusting Masonic frauds I have yet met with , and its continued promulgation is not only a disgrace to tbe lodge itself , but also tends to the discredit of the whole Craft at large . The Mr . C . alluded to was , I understand , clever enough , but rather too fond of his dram . ' As the Avhole question is gone into at

length in the columns of the said magazine , I Avould only here say that the forger seems to have used M'fjre ' s " History of Glasgow , " as the style , & c , of the Latin shows . I would also call attention to the absurdity of the assertion that the Glasgow St . John ' s

Lodge and the Incorporation of Masons were chartered in the middle of the eleventh century , while even Glasgow itself was not chartered until near the end of the twelfth . As to the assertion that the Court of Session admitted the authenticity of this pretended charter , that is a mere dream , and pure ' bosh' and I defy Bro . Thomas M'GuffieLA . to prove

, , , his assertion . " As to the E . W . M . receiving a testimonial from some of the office bearers and members of St . John ' s I shall not say much—testimonials are sometimes given for rather queer reasons . " Although , as I mentioned above , Bro . Baird was

one of the deputation who heard Professor Inne's opinion regarding this pretended charter , he has hitherto acted and spoken in defiance of it , and thus catered to the ignorant pretensions of the majority of the members of the lodge ; while the other brother AVIIO accompanied him , and who has since supported

the opinion of Professor Innes , and in the opinion of neutral parties proved him to be correct , is of course ' black-ball'd' and charged with conspiring to lower the dignity of his lodge . However , there is no doubt the truth will be established in the end . "I must apologise for taking up so much of

your valuable space , and sincerely trust that hereafter the St . John ' s will think more of principles than pretensions , perceiving it to he their duty to support what are stated to be the foundations of speculative Masonry—viz ., brotherly love , relief , and truth . —I am , & c , MASONICUS .

Masonic Demonstration In Glasgow And The Glasgow St. John's Lodge.

MASONIC DEMONSTRATION IN GLASGOW AND THE GLASGOW ST . JOHN'S LODGE .

TO THE EDITOE OI ! THE FREEMASONS * MAGAZINE AND MASONIC SIIEEOB . Dear Sir and Brother , —The following letter of " Delta ' s" closes the discussion upon this subject in