The Origin Of The Grand Lodge Of Mark Master Masons Of England, &C.

members that shall hereafter raise to the degree of Mark Mason , shall pay one Mark Scot , but not io obtain the degree of Mark Mason , before they are passed Fellow Crafts ; and those that shall iake the Degree of Mark Master Mason , shall pay

one shilling and sixpence sterling unto the Treasurer for behoof of the lodge . None to attain to the Degree of Mark Master Mason until they are raised Master . " This shows clearly the relative positions'of the Degrees of Mark Mason or Mark

Man , aud Mark Master , Mason to each other , and to the operative Craft . Every operative Mason , or Fellow Craft , being obliged to be made a Mark Man or Mark Mason , before he could " Mark " his work . While the degree of Mark Master

Mason was confined to those , who , as Masters of Lodges or Master Masons , had been chosen to rule over the Fellow Crafts .

In the United States , in A . D . 1768 , the Mark 'Degree was conferred in a Mark Lodge . At the present day in nearly all Masonic jurisdictions , with the exception of England , the Mark Degree has been taken under the control of the

Grand Chapters of the Royal Arch , though of far greater antiquity than that organization . Previous to the Union of the two Grand Craft

Lodges in England , effected in 1813 , under the title ot "The United GrandLodge of England , " the Mark Degree was regularly worked in many lodges meeting under one or other of the two constitutions , as well as under the authority of the Grand

Lodge , meeting from time immemorial at York " At the said Union , in 1813 , the Mark degree was excluded from the system then adopted , one of the articles of the declaration agreed to at such Union being— " Pure and Ancient Masonry ,

consists of three degrees and no more , including the Holy Royal Arch /' The Mark Degree , however , continued to be extensively worked , especially in the Northern and Midland districts of England , the lodges being

held under immemorial constitution , derived from the Old Athol York Grand Lodge . One or other of the Supreme bodies exercising Masonic Jurisdiction in Scotland , Ireland , and America , has always regarded the Mark Degree

as an essential and integral portion of Ancient Freemasonry , while in Scotland it is conferred under the authority of both Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter . In England , as has been shown , the knowledge

The Origin Of The Grand Lodge Of Mark Master Masons Of England, &C.

and working of the degree has never been lost , but it has been practised from the earliest time in distinct and independent Mark Lodges , which have never acknowledged the jurisdiction of either the Craft Grand Lodges of 1717 or 1813 ,

or of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of 1813 . In the Colonies much difficulty has been encountered from the establishment of lodges under different jurisdictions , some recognizing the Mark Degree , and some altogether ignoring

it . To remedy this state of confusion , an attempt was made , in the year 1855 , to obtain its recognition as a separate degi-ee by " The United Grand Lodge of England ; " and a Committee , consisting of members of that Grand Lodge and of members

of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter ot England , was appointed to investigate and report upon the subject of the Mark Degree . Some members of this Committee were already Mark Masters ; those who had not taken the

degree had it conferred upon them in the Albany Lodge ( time immemorial ) , Isle of Wight , and in other old Lodges , and some in the Bon Accord Mark Lodge , then recently established in London , under a charter received from the Bon Accord

Royal Arch Chapter of Aberdeen . The Report of the Committee approved by the M . W . Grand Master pronouncing the Mark Degree as in their opinion " not positively essential , but a graceful appendage to the degree of

Fellow-Craft , " was presented to " The United Grand Lodge of England" at the Quarterly Communication in March , 1856 , and was unanimously adopted . Owing however partly to the conscientious

objections of some of the leading members of Grand Lodge , including the M . W . G . M ., who maintained that Grand Lodge was pledged by the Articles of Union only to acknowledge the three Craft Degrees as then worked by the lodge of reconciliation

including the Royal Arch , ) and partly to the disapproval of many Mark Blaster Masons of the position , is was proposed to assign to the Mark degree , at the next ensuing Quarterly Communication of " The United Grand Lodge of England , "

on special motion , duly proposed and seconded , that portion of the minutes of the previous Quarterly Communication referring to the Mark Degree was non-confirmed , and the status in quo ante , was resumed . " The United Grand Lodge of England " having