Masonic Notes And Queries.

me , the study of the communications entitled " Kabbalisrn , Secret Societies , and Masonry" { Freemason ' s Magazine , vol . vii ., pp . 23 , 45 , 67 , 83 , and 102 ) , inquires whether that kind of Mystical , Eeligious Philosophy of the Jews called " Cabbala" ( a science asserted to be older than the creationand to have been

, taught by the Great Architect of the Universe to the angels ' " ) can be shown to have existed in our Freemasonry in the 17 th century . —A PAST PEOVINCIAL G-EAND MASTEE .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The TSditor is not responsible far tlte opinions expressed hy CorvespondenU MASONIC DEMONSTRATION IN GLASGOW AND THE GLASGOW ST . JOHN'S LODGE . IO THE EMIOK OB IHE MEEHiSOXS' HiSiZINE A 5 TD 31130 X 10 MIBEOE . Dear Sir and Brother—I beg to enclose a of

, copy eorrespondence on this subject which appeared in the Glasgow Herald . Tours fraternally , MASONICUS .

GLASGOW ST . JOHN ' S AND THE MASONIC PEOCESSION . " June 7 , 1870 . " Sir , —In the Herald of Saturday , the non-appearance of the Lodge Glasgow St . John in the public procession of the previous day is attributed to a '

misunderstanding' anent the carrying of the working implements of the Grand Lodge . The incident to which this refers was the result not of a misunderstanding , but of the usurpation by the Edinburgh Journeymen Lodge of a right that in no respect belonged to it , From the published Transactions ofthe

Grand Lodge of Scotland , it appears that in August , 1783 , that body ' approved of the senior member ( out of office ) of the Lodge Journeymen , Edinburgh , carrying the mallet in all future processions of the Grand Lodge . ' This would in all probability be held to imlthe privilege of the same lod ing the other

py ge carry working implements . Subsequent enactments of Grand Lodge seem to have restricted the exercise of this privilege to Edinburgh or its neighbourhood . ( See Laws and Constitutions of the Grand Lodge , 1848 and 1868-70 . ) Notwithstanding the explieitness of this restrictive clause in the statute under which

the Lodge No . 8 holds the privilege to which it refers , it has hitherto been the custom of that body to carry Grand Lodge working tools , & c , in processions which haje taken place at a distance from the Edinburgh or metropolitan province ; hence it has come to regard as a right the privilege which , through the forbearance of the

sister lodges , it has so long been permitted to enjoy ; and it was in this spirit that on Friday last it set up its claim to the honour in opposition to those advanced hy the St . John , No . 3 bis , the oldest lodge in the province of Glasgow . The Journeymen Lod had neither law nor equity to

ge support its demand , but St . John ' s had on its side the usage which concedes the precedency in such matters to the senior lodge in any particular province , Edinburgh excepted , and could also have cited as a precedent for its claim the fact that its operative members had carried the working tools in the precession at the

laying of the foundation stone of Yictoria Bridge by the Grand Lodge 19 ' years ago . ( See ' Grand Lodge Beporter , ' 1851 ) . Of the brethren of St . John ' s so officiating on that occasion , Jas . York , David Manuel , Wm . Broom , Alexander Toung , and Thos . M'Guffie are still alive . The Grand Master tried on Friday

last to arrange matters by offering to divide the tools equally between Nos . 8 and 3 bis ; but while the former lodge was willing to acquiesce in the arrangement , the latter very . properly objected to it , on the ground that such a compromise was opposed to the letter and irit of the Constitutions of Grand

sp Lodge , and having firmly but respectfully protested against the Edinburgh Journeymen being allowed to carry the working implements in processions of the Grand Lodge within the province of Glasgow to the prejudice of St . John ' s or any other of the lod in that districttheE . W-M . of No . 3 bisBro .

ges , , John Baird , architect , withdrew from the meeting , and declined to take any further part in the proceedings . Returning to St . Mark's Hall , the brethren of St . John ' s , to the number of about one hundred , including some five or six Past Masters and other ex-officebearers of the lodge , adopted and signed a minute

approving of and adhering to the protest that the E . W . M . had taken in Grand Lodge . In resisting the aggression which the Journeymen Lodge has in the present instance been allowed to make upon the province of Glasgow , Bro . Baird is contending for an impartial administration of the Masonic Constitutions , a principle that affects the interests of every lodge in

Scotland , aud ought to commend itself to the support of a majority of the Grand Lodge . It was an unpleasant duty the Master of St . John ' s had to perform , but it does not appear to be of his seeking . Through the arrogant assumption of the Journeymen he was laeed in a position where the honour of his own and

p the other lodges present was imperilled , and he manfully chose the only course that was open to him . The Journeymen Lodge aud those grand officials who supported it in its unconstitutional and impertinent demands are alone to blame for any unpleasantness that was imported into Friday ' s proceedings . The

Lodge No . 8 is , to say the least of it , under an obligation to apologise not only to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow , but to the head Masonic court of every other province into which it has obtruded itself during the last twenty years . —I am , & c , DELTA . " [ We are sorry to see that such remarks are imported into discussions upon Masonic subjects . —ED . ]

" Sir , —I have read the letter of ' Delta' in to-day's Herald , but fail to see that he has at all improved matters ; in fact , the greater part of his ideas are already set aside by the letter on this subject which appeared in Monday ' s Herald . He overlooks several facts 1 That it is the Journeymen Lodge of

Edin-. . burgh that carries the tools ; 2 . That the inference , therefore , is that it should be the journeymen lodge of every other province that should do so ; 3 . That the Glasgow St . John ' s Lodge , while being the senior lodge of Glasgow , is the Master ' s lodge ; therefore it it should follow the le of the Lodge of

Edinexamp burgh No . 1 , which is both the senior lodge there and also the Master ' s lodge , and not demean itself by carrying working tools either ; 4 . If what 'Delta' says be true , we perceive that , by tacit consent , whenever