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  • May 11, 1859
  • Page 4
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, May 11, 1859: Page 4

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Page 4

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Our Architectural Chapter.

OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER .

BRO . W . COOKING , P . M ., No . 31-2 , who has already served the office of Prov . Grand Steward , has been appointed Prov . Grand Superintendent of Works for West Yorkshire . We should like to know whether Bro . Cocking is an architect . We are indebted to Bro . J . W . Brcitling , for an account of the Lodge or Hall at Stuttgart in Wurtenibiirgof which he was one of

, the founders . Wc would ask him again to give an account of the building , as that may very , likely furnish ns with some useful hints ; the financial plan described by him is very interesting . The cost of the Lodge of William of the Setting Sun was £ 2 , 500 , raised on the share or debenture scheme , bearing a fixed interest of four percent ., and redeemable out of the initiation and other fees .

The initiation fees , it will be seen , produce to the Lodge about as much as in . England , and , as Bro . Breitling observes , form a competent fund . There arc , however , further fees required for passing ancl raising , according to the ancient practice of Masonry observed in most continental countries , aud , like many other customs , altogether obsolete in this professed country of landmarks . There is no reason for

passing or raising without a fee , any more than there is for passing or raising as a matter of form at the next monthly Lodge . The Constitutions do not preclude a . Lodge from requiring a fee for these steps , and it would have a very salutary effect to demand a fee , in order to slacken the eagerness of initiates to got on ( before they have received any instruction ) aud of their friends to push them on . The

Consti-, tutions do not compel Lodges to pass at the next month , or raise in the following one , but this is done as a matter of course ; and many Worshipful Masters are under the impression that the Constitutions do compel them so lo advance apprentices . Now the clause is , " Nor shall a higher degree be conferred on any brother at a less interval than four weeks from his receiving a previous degree . "

The spirit of the law , it will be seen , is clearly that not less than four weeks must elapse , and that it is desirable a longer period shall pass before tho brother be advanced . We pride ourselves much that wc do not , as the publicans in Scotland sometimes do , make a Master Mason iu one night—but we forget that we do wholesale mischief by making a Master Mason in what we call two months ,

which iu reality afford only two sittings . Even where there is tho aid of a Lodge of Instruction , the instruction comes to very little , and the candidate , even if of superior education and attainments , is not in nineteen cases out of twenty competent for advancement . The German Lodges are assuredly more careful , and seek that in each degree the brother shall have time and opportunity to acquire instruction ; nay , they go further than wo do , for before a brother

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1859-05-11, Page 4” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_11051859/page/4/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
MASONIC MISSIONS. Article 1
OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. Article 4
MODERN WRITERS UPON FREEMASONRY.—III. Article 8
THE HIGH DEGREES. Article 15
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. Article 16
REVIEWS OF NEW MUSIC. Article 23
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 24
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR. Article 24
MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. Article 26
WHERE ARE YOU GOIING? Article 27
THE NEW GRAND OFFICERS. Article 29
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 31
PROVINCIAL. Article 35
ROYAL ARCH. Article 39
MASONIC FESTIVITIES. Article 42
THE WEEK. Article 43
Obituary. Article 48
NOTICES. Article 48
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 48
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Our Architectural Chapter.

OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER .

BRO . W . COOKING , P . M ., No . 31-2 , who has already served the office of Prov . Grand Steward , has been appointed Prov . Grand Superintendent of Works for West Yorkshire . We should like to know whether Bro . Cocking is an architect . We are indebted to Bro . J . W . Brcitling , for an account of the Lodge or Hall at Stuttgart in Wurtenibiirgof which he was one of

, the founders . Wc would ask him again to give an account of the building , as that may very , likely furnish ns with some useful hints ; the financial plan described by him is very interesting . The cost of the Lodge of William of the Setting Sun was £ 2 , 500 , raised on the share or debenture scheme , bearing a fixed interest of four percent ., and redeemable out of the initiation and other fees .

The initiation fees , it will be seen , produce to the Lodge about as much as in . England , and , as Bro . Breitling observes , form a competent fund . There arc , however , further fees required for passing ancl raising , according to the ancient practice of Masonry observed in most continental countries , aud , like many other customs , altogether obsolete in this professed country of landmarks . There is no reason for

passing or raising without a fee , any more than there is for passing or raising as a matter of form at the next monthly Lodge . The Constitutions do not preclude a . Lodge from requiring a fee for these steps , and it would have a very salutary effect to demand a fee , in order to slacken the eagerness of initiates to got on ( before they have received any instruction ) aud of their friends to push them on . The

Consti-, tutions do not compel Lodges to pass at the next month , or raise in the following one , but this is done as a matter of course ; and many Worshipful Masters are under the impression that the Constitutions do compel them so lo advance apprentices . Now the clause is , " Nor shall a higher degree be conferred on any brother at a less interval than four weeks from his receiving a previous degree . "

The spirit of the law , it will be seen , is clearly that not less than four weeks must elapse , and that it is desirable a longer period shall pass before tho brother be advanced . We pride ourselves much that wc do not , as the publicans in Scotland sometimes do , make a Master Mason iu one night—but we forget that we do wholesale mischief by making a Master Mason in what we call two months ,

which iu reality afford only two sittings . Even where there is tho aid of a Lodge of Instruction , the instruction comes to very little , and the candidate , even if of superior education and attainments , is not in nineteen cases out of twenty competent for advancement . The German Lodges are assuredly more careful , and seek that in each degree the brother shall have time and opportunity to acquire instruction ; nay , they go further than wo do , for before a brother

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