Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

entered as sons of St . John's , Thomhill . The lodge , it may be stated , Avas then , and for nine months afterwards , working under a dispensation , granted until its charter could be prepared ;—and by virtue of such authority twenty-tAVO candidates

were entered , passed , and raised ; tAvo of the constituting members received the degrees F . C . and M . M . ; and one M . M . Avas affiliated . The first meeting of the lodge was opened and closed " with solemn prayer , " a custom by Avhich

it has ever since been characterised—praise being in certain cases offered previous to business being transacted . The universality of a Mason's religious faith is by many urged as a reason for the exclusion of the name of the Saviour from the prayers of a lodge of Freemasons . But on all occasions

when , as lodge , the members of No . 252 address the Deity , they crave to be heard and answered in the name , and for the sake of Jesus Christ;—and their practice in this respect agrees with that of the most ancient of Scottish lodges Avhose records

afford indubitable evidence of the Christian religion having been that which , Avithin as well as Avithout the lodge , was professed by its members -. indeed such profession seems to have been a sine quo , non to the candidate ' s admission to the mystic circle .

The following extract from our " Notes on Mother Kilwinning , " which have appeared in this MAGAZINE , may serve to show Loiv far the practice of Thomhill St . John ' s accords with that of the ancient Craft Lodges in respect to their formal profession of the Christian faith : —

" Theism is said to be the religion of Freemasonry . Theoretically this may be so ; but in practice , the Kilwinning Fraternity ignore this cosmopolitan characteristic of the Order , and substitute in its stead a feature ( not , hoAvever , till

after the novitiate has crossed the threshold of the lodge ) which effectually debars Turk or Jew from a full participation in their Avork . We are led to this 'remark from a glance at the grounds upon which the first recorded honorary member of

Mother Kilwinning was selected for that Masonic distinction . In recording the minutes of the meeting , December 20 , 1766 , the secretary Avrites : . . . . Mr . Alexander Gillies , preacher of the Gospel , formerly entered in another lodge , having

this day preached before the brethren in the Church of Kilwinning , to their great edification , and Avith universal applause , the brethren in consideration of the learning , sobriety , and sound divinity of the said Mr , Gillies , do unanimously

admit him as an honorary member of the Lodge of Kilwinning . ' In conferring this honorary rank upon a Protestant clergyman in consideration of his said ' sound divinity / the Lodge of Kilwinning not only cast a reproach upon the faith of those

of their brethren belonging to another sect of Christians , but committed themselves to the expression of belief in a creed repugnant alike to the feelings of brethren of the Jewish persuasion , Mahomedans , and all others to Avhom the religion

of the Cross is a ' stumbling block , aud rock of offence . ' In unison Avith this profession of faith on the part of the descendants of the Craftsmen whose zeal for the Eoman Catholic religion led them to devote time and talent in the construction

of the Abbey and Monastery of St . Winning , the prayers of the mother lodge continue to be presented to T . G . A . O . T . U . through f our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . ' Looking at the statutes and charges by Avhich our ancient Scottish brethren

were bound to regulate their lives , the Kilwinning Fraternity of the present time cannot , in thus ignoring the universality of faith claimed for Masonry , be chargeable Avith a narrow-mindedness peculiar to themselves , nor with the obliteration or

removal of the landmarks indicating their relation , as Masons , to the religion of the country in Avhich . their lodge has for so many centuries existed . According to the Eglington MSS ., Wardens of lodges were held ansAverable to the Presbytery for

' all offensis' committed by the maissonis subject to the ludgeis' over Avhich they Avere placed ; and to the Deacon and Warden of Kilwinnine- was

it ' given ... to put forth of their societie and cumpany ... all personis dissobedient ather ta Kirk , Craft , Counsall / etc . ;—at the period in Avhich these statutes were penned in connection Avith the Ordinance issued for ye guid

ordour keeping' of the lodge of Kilwinning , the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland AA as that to which the Scottish Craft were amenable for offences against religion aud morality;—an old MS . ' Narration of the Founding of the Craft of Masonry , '

still preserved iu the archives of the lodge of Kilwinning ' , opens AA ith a prayer which could only be offered by Christian Masons : ' 0 Lord God ! the Father of Heaven , with the power of His glorious Son , and the Holy Ghost , Avhich are

Three Persons in one Godhead , be with us at our beginning , and give ns grace so to govern us in our living that Ave may come to the bliss that never shall have an ending . Amen . So mote it