Answers To The Memorial Of The Lodge Of Glasgow St. John, No. 3 Bis.

from the Sfc . John's Lodge as the precedent , when some of its members have carried the tools at Masonic processions in Glasgow are after A . D . 1806 , as the oldest date there given is 1810 . Consequently seeing that this is the _ case , and that it was the St . John ' s Lodge itself which brougt forward , or " discovered " this pretended

Malcolm Charter in 1806 , bo further ibs pretensions then , and has ever since upheld it as a great foundation of those pretensions , it follows that if said pretended charter be ifalse , as I consider it is , all these pretensions based upon ¦ it fall afc once to the ground , and the Lodge of Glasgow St . John as such , and as a lodge holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland has no more ri ght and privilege over any of the other lodges under the sway of Grand Lodge than its position of JSTo . 3 bis gives it , or the laws of Grand Lodge allow it .

Another point I may here mention , is that although when Sfc . John ' s joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland about twenty years ago it got the high position of No . 3 bis , yet founding upon this pretended Malcolm Charter , they have been again and again hinting at demanding a higher position on the Grand Lodge Roll ; in fact this was made the foundation of a sort of standing grievance

by which as ifc appears to me , a feeling was kept up among the members of No . 3 bis as if they had not got justice at the hands of Grand Lodge as per , inter alia , a motion by Bro . D . Hannay , Senior Warden alluded to in a St . John ' s Lodge minute of date 4 fch August , 1863 , " That steps be taken to have this lodge placed in its proper position on the roll of the Grand Lod of

Scotge land , " and again at the December Festival of St . John ' s Lodge' 1867 , which was styled their " SlOfch Anniversary ! " and afc which Bro . Captain Spiers , of Elderslie , M . P ., the newly-elected Prov . G . M ., for Glasgow was present , and acted as Chairman , ( vide report of proceedings as given in " Freemasons' Magazine for January llth . 1868 , ) we find him saying , upon the authority of this

pretended Malcolm Charter , " That although their lodge - Tanked 3 | in the Grand Lodge of Scotland , ifc was not in its proper place , " and so on . Then later still we find Bro . Thomas McGuffie , ( the name I suppose who is mentioned in the memorial as carrying the plate ) asserting in Glasgow Herald of date June 17 th ., 1870 , ( and as we also see by " Freemasons ' Magazine " of date July 9 th .,

1870 ) , that "The Glasgow Freeman Operative Sfc . John ts Lodge is the senior lodge in Scotland even to the Grand Lodge ; and had our predecessors in office done their duty ; every Lodge in Scotland would have required to get a charter from them ; and the St . John ' s would nmo be iu the receipt of a Icwr / emcome , which I suppose the Grand Lodge uow enjoys . So we perceive that founding upon

Malcolms pretended charter the members of Glasgow ¦ St . John ' s Lodge would not only rise above all the other lodges in Scotland , but would fain soar above the Grand Lodge itself . However , the statements made by Bro . Captain Spiers , P . G . M ., at the so-called " SlOfch Anniversary" of St . John's Lodge , in December , 1867 , led to an examination

of the authenticity of this pretended Malcolm Charter , and in which examination circumstances led me to take an active part , and not only so , but under these circumstances I was bound in honour as a gentleman to make the result of said examination known , whatever that result was , which I did , and although by doing so I felt that many of my brethren in the body miht be displeased

g , I could not help that , but simply strove to act upon the square , and to do what I felt to be my duty , be the result what it might ; therefore , I not only made a personal examination of the document myself , but 1 have also striven to get it examined by , or to learn the opinions of some ofthe best authorities in the country , which opinions I now proceed to give : —

Dr . Anderson in his " Memoirs of the House of Hamilton " says , apart from other considerations , the writing is not above 200 or 300 years old . "

Answers To The Memorial Of The Lodge Of Glasgow St. John, No. 3 Bis.

Professor Cosmo Innes , V . P . E . S . E ., S . A : S . Scot ., & c . & c , whose high standing and skill as a chartologist are well-known , as witness his acting as editor to that splendid new work , "The National Manuscripts of Scotland , " and many other authorafcafcive and first-class works , and who saw ifc in 1868 , said it was a forgery exe

cufced within the last 150 years , or , taking plenty of time , within 200 afc the utmost ; further , it was made up of pieces taken out of different charters and stuck together . Even before he saw ifc , and from a description of it which I sent him , he said ifc was a forgery , and when I asked hira how he knew that before he saw it , he , very kindly and courteously answered "Our first Corporate Charters were to Burghs , and not till long after came those to the gilds and corporations within and under Burghs ; but we

had no charters to Burghs till William the Lion ( 1165 to 1214 ) , so you see ifc did not require much sagacity to stamp the Charter of Malcolm fidl of ihe phraseology and the minute distinctions of a much later day as a forgery . " The late Dr . G . A . Walker Arnott , the distinguished Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow , and who long took an active interest in Masonry , as well as holding several high offices therein , called this pretended

Charter a forgery ; and shortly before his death wrote as follows : —23 rd May , 1868 , — "On getting out of bed this forenoon (& c ) , I read the " Glasgow Herald , " and in ifc what I presume is a letter from you signed W . P . B ., I congratulate you on the frank and open manner in which you state your conclusions , and were such to be done in other cases many discourteous dissensions would cease . "

The late Bro . James Pagan , Esq ., member of No . 3 bis ., and editor of the " Glasgow Herald , " acknowledged it to be a forgery , stating that he had been misled by the late Bro . James Miller , E . W . M ., of St . Mark's Lodge , No . 102 , whose remarks on the subject he had copied and quoted . Bro . VVm , H . Hill , Esq ., who has considerable knowledge of old documents , and who not only saw it , but also examined the oldest extant minute book of the Glasgow

Incorporation of Masons , which extends from 1600 to 1681 , considered it a forgery . Even our late esteemed Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Captain Spiers , MP ., afterwards acknowledged in a letter to me that he had been misled in December , 1867 , and June , 1868 , says : — " I am very glad indeed that you have investigated the matter , and although we should have liked if our Charter had been a genuine one , still as ifc

as imposition , it is a good thing that it should be showed up . " Our Scottish Masonic historian , Bro . D . Murray Lyon , designated it " The Malcolm Canmore Swindle . " Bro . W . J . Hughan , of Truro , who I am happy to acknowledge as one of the foremost ; Masonic students of the day observes "I consider the 'Malcom Charter' to

have been written by zealous but mistaken Masons , not earlier than the latter part of the eighteenth century , in order to deceive the Fraternity . In that respect it is on a level with the noted ' Locke M . S ., ' and other wn-Masonio forgeries which are well suited to act as beacons to prevent Masonic students from being shipwrecked on the quicksands of credulity . "

Bro . Hyde Clarke , of London , another eminent Masonic student , and Foreign Secretary Ethnological Society , Member of American , German , and Oriental Societies , & c , & c , says , " from internal evidence the reputed Charter of Malcolm cannot be genuine . " It is unnecessary to give the opinions of other parties who have condemned this pretended Charter , only I might observe that one Glasgow historian who was misled by it observe to me

tliat the Masons used to carry it about in their pockets , which of course would tend to soil it and give it the appearance of age and , I have been told , ifc is much dirtier looking now than it was about thirty years ago , so that between that and other things tire present dirty , tattered , smoked up appearance of the parchment may be easily accounted for . At page 483 , vol . 2 , of Cleland's " Annals of Glasgow" published in 1816 , we find what has sent all the succeeding Glasgow liiafco-