The Lodge Of Glasgow St. John.

its proper position on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland' was postponed till next meeting . " Another dangerous "delay" here , for now all that ' s left of poor Malcolm Canmore is his ghost !

28 th Deer ., 1863 . Installation , Gavin Park , R . W . M . ; J . B . Walker , Dep . M ., the Secretary was Wm . Eraser , who proved rather , careless as we well remember , Bro . Buchan , J . D . ; D . Hannay , Prov . G . Steward , & c .

27 th Deer . 1864 . Installation , Gavin Park , R . W . M . ; Jas . Anderson , S . W . ; W . P . Buchan , J . AV . In this year ( 1865 ) the Junior Warden began to work the ceremonies by doing the first degree occasionally and also if we remember correctly , the second , but not the third until the

beginning of 1867 . The first bona fide member of No . 3 bis , so far as I know , to work the Master degree was Bro . J . B . Walker , painter , when he was R . W . M . in 1866 . I must apologise for tbe shortness of the quotations during 1864 and 1 S 65

the " Secretary " for these years having saved me the trouble of doing much in that way . The oldest extant minute book of the lodge is now finished , it extends over a period of about 40 years , years too , of great interest to the

lodge , and I should have been very sorry indeed had this book beeu lost before the contents , especially the older portion , had been so far preserved , now , however , we shall be able to digest the principal portions of their contents at our leisure , in common with all other readers of the MAGAZINE .

The Grand Masonic Allegory.

THE GRAND MASONIC ALLEGORY .

An Address- delivered to the Brethren , of the Victoria Lodge , { No . 1026 ) , Hong Kong . By Biw . HENKY MUIUJAY , Dist G . M , Ghina-Brethren , —We are told in the Book of Constitutions that by the solemn act of union between

the two Grand Lodges of Freemasons in England , in December , 1813 , it was declared and pronounced that pure antient Masonry consists of three degrees , and no more , vin , those of the Entered Apprentice , theFellow Craft , and the Master Mason ,

including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch . Profound wisdom , it has always seemed to me , dictated this enunciation , for in these degrees , pure and simple , as worked under the hiram of England , is contained the whole

The Grand Masonic Allegory.

allegory of Freemasonry ; namely , the birth , life , and death of man , together with his resurrection to the knowledge of things eternal . In other systems than that of England , and in England too , apart from the jurisdiction of her symbolic

Grand Lodge , are practised many more degrees ; some valuable , because of the historic light which they shed upon the teachings , incentives , and pro " ceedings of our ancient brethren , and all beautiful on account of the fervently moral lessons which

they inculcate : but none of them essential to the exemplification of those mysterious truths , nor the elucidation of that grand allegory , which the Freemasons of 1717 derived and eliminated from their

predecessors hanchcralt . Of those rejected degrees , which may still be considered valuable , is foremost that of Mark Master , never now , under any system , conferred upon brethren beneath the degree of Master Mason , but m reality connected

only with that of Fellow Craft , and to a great extent explanatory of the formula , especially appropriated to Craftsmen . Yet beautiful as the Mark Master ' s degree undoubtedly is , and excellent as are the lessons of charity , integrity , and of faith and trust

in the divine government and beneficence , which it exemplifies , the United Grand Lodge , and the Supreme Grand Chapter of England , true to their symbolic and allegorical instincts , have rejected it , as neither adding to , nor taking from , the

sublime mystery contained andcomprisedin the Antient York Bite of the Entered Apprentice , Fellow Craft , and Master Mason , including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch . The nature of

that sublime mystery I have already suggested , and its preservation in simple , yet majestic , purity and grandeur , has long been the constant care and aim of English Masonic authority . I do not say this , brethren , because of the high position in the

order with which my own poor services to the Craft have been rewarded by the Grand Master of England , but because such is the sincere conviction left upon my mind by earnest study of the subject . The rulers and patrons of

Freemasonry in England have always kept iu view the genuine symbolic meaning 0 f the institution , and have from time to time unhesitatingly cast aside whatever degrees and ceremonies seemed to cumber , or not to advance , that devout subjection

to , reverence for , and reliance upon the Great Creator and Father of All , and that divine morality , which have from time immemorial formed , he esoteric mysteries ofthe Craft ; mysteries , the