Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Demonstration In Glasgow And The Glasgow St. John's Lodge.
holding oflice in the Grand Lodge , also withdrew from the procession . Bro . Baird deserves well ofthe Craft for the testimony he has borne to the inviolability of its constitutions , and if as the result of his protest No . 8 be henceforth prevented from overruling its superiors and usurping the rights of its equals , the occasion will form an era in Masonic annals worthy of remembrance . —I am , & c , DELTA .
"Sir , —I have read 'Delta ' s' second letter in today's Herald , and perceive that he is still unable to bring forward any documentary evidence , or to quote any Grand Lodge law in support of his assumption that the senior lodge of Glasgow , or the senior lodge of any other province , is to carry the working tools .
Instead thereof , he only shows that he , in common with St . John ' s Lodge , wishes such to be the law ; but although they ivish such to be the case , before they can get it to be really the case they must go about the matterp-oforma , and propose a motion in Grand Lodge to that effect . I find no fault with St . John ' s
therefore for lodging a protest , but when they disobeyed the Grand Master and broke out into open mutiny , I consider they were guilty of a hig h breach of Masonic discipline ; more , I consider their conduct under the circustances to have been most uncourteous and very uugentlemaniy . The Grand Lodge has been
very kind to them upon more than one occasion . She gave them the high position on the roll of No . 3 bis , and that , too , although it is only twenty years since she joined . The Grand Lodge also backed up St . John ' s against the Provincial Grand Lodge anent the mark and chair in 1858 . So that St . John ' s in 1870
, for the good it received in 185 s aud 1850 , now returns evil—a fine example of brotherly love for the senior lodge of a province to set forth . Notwithstanding the lessons which thev . as Masonsreceive to restrain
their passions , they break forth into open anger upon the slightest opposition to their pretensions or desires , and all this , too , before the eyes of the ' neutral world . ' A slight exercise of the Masonic virtue of patience would have saved all this , would have done no harm to their protest , and would have been more
dignified and commendable . " I must contradict' Delta' when he says the ' past office bearers unanimously endorse the step which the E . W . M . Bro . Baird took , ' for that is not true ; there were past oflice bearers who took part in the processionone of them a Past Masterand there are
, , others who consider and are ready to assert that the E . W . M . behaved in a very unbecoming manner , and who question his right to order his men off the ground —in defiance , too , of his superior officer . More , a number of those who left simply followed the crowd —they did not know what to do , while others talked
of going back . In short , the occasion of all the uproar and bad feeling was so paltry that f feel justified in considering the E . W . M . ' demeaned' both himself and his lodge by the course adopted . "I question the truth ofthe statement that the 'St . Andrew ' s Lodge at Glasgow—afterwards called tiie
Glasgow Journeymen Pree Operatives—broke off from St . John ' s . ' I desire proof of 'Delta ' s' statement , there have been so many mis-statements made that we like to wei gh the evidence now . " In the oldest extant minute book of the Glasgow Preemen Operative St . John ' s Lodge it says , 'No
person who is not first dul y admitted a free operative member of the said incorporation of Masons shall be admitted members of the lodge . ' Consequently , I ask proof that the ' original members' of this St . tVndrew ' a Lodge were members of St . John ' s , and also if they were members of the Incorporation of Masons ? At
the hying of the foundation stone of the Glasgow Eoyal Infirmary in May , 1792 , I see the Glasgow Journeymen Operatives mentioned , and they walked first ,- ' in the position of the youngest ; and in the name * it is ' Operatives , ' not ' Pree Operatives . ' However , I shall be glad to see ' Delta ' s' evidence in support of
his statements . " ' Delta' is evidently afraid of the ' 1806 ' business , but that , I believe , is the foundation of the'timeimmemorial' privileges of St . John ' s , as held forth b y some of the past office bearers . It was then , we were told , that 'none in my ( Malcolm Canmore ' s )
dominions shall erect a lodge until they make application to the St . John ' s Lodge , Glasgow . ' What changes time makes . The lodge which in 1806 ' dicovered' a forged document and brought it forward to further its pretensions then , now feels a change coming over the spirit of its dream , and stands forth in the most
disinterested manner as the champion of the senior lodges in the various Masonic provinces of Scotland . —I am , yours respectfully , MASOBTCHS . June 13 fch , 1870 .
[ Other letters have been received , but the pressure upon our space compels us to defer them till nex week . ]
MASONIC LITERATURE AND MASONIC CONTEOVEESY . 10 THE EDITOR OP THE FREEMASONS' 1 IAGAZIKE AND MASONIC JTIEEOI ! . Dear Sir and Brother , —You deserve the thanks of the Craft for affording to your numerous subscribers a knowledge of what others say about us . I do not
consider it right that Bro . Pinkerton and other traducers of Masonry and Masonic institutions should be allowed to widely disseminate their denunciations in a journal which , although enjoying no doubt an extensive circulation , is , perhaps , not read by any great number of Masons .
I am glad to see that the Craft has found defenders in this discussion in the person of brethren of such known ability as Bros . Hyde Clarke , W . P . Buchan , J . Yarker , and others . At the time that the Editor of Notes and Queries closed the discussion with the remark that he
considered his readers " had enough of this "—at a point , too , which left the last word in the possession of Mr . Pinkerton , who I do not consider at all replied to the remarks of the defenders of the Craft—I had anticipated that these brethren would have continued their refutation of his denunciations in your columns , which ,
at the time I considered opportunely placed at their disposal . I should like to bear what some of these brethren have to say in reply thereto . Youra fraternally , PEOGEESS . April 4 th , 1870 .
[ The above and several other communications have been received from time to time on this subject , the publication of which has been unavoidably deferred . ]
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Demonstration In Glasgow And The Glasgow St. John's Lodge.
holding oflice in the Grand Lodge , also withdrew from the procession . Bro . Baird deserves well ofthe Craft for the testimony he has borne to the inviolability of its constitutions , and if as the result of his protest No . 8 be henceforth prevented from overruling its superiors and usurping the rights of its equals , the occasion will form an era in Masonic annals worthy of remembrance . —I am , & c , DELTA .
"Sir , —I have read 'Delta ' s' second letter in today's Herald , and perceive that he is still unable to bring forward any documentary evidence , or to quote any Grand Lodge law in support of his assumption that the senior lodge of Glasgow , or the senior lodge of any other province , is to carry the working tools .
Instead thereof , he only shows that he , in common with St . John ' s Lodge , wishes such to be the law ; but although they ivish such to be the case , before they can get it to be really the case they must go about the matterp-oforma , and propose a motion in Grand Lodge to that effect . I find no fault with St . John ' s
therefore for lodging a protest , but when they disobeyed the Grand Master and broke out into open mutiny , I consider they were guilty of a hig h breach of Masonic discipline ; more , I consider their conduct under the circustances to have been most uncourteous and very uugentlemaniy . The Grand Lodge has been
very kind to them upon more than one occasion . She gave them the high position on the roll of No . 3 bis , and that , too , although it is only twenty years since she joined . The Grand Lodge also backed up St . John ' s against the Provincial Grand Lodge anent the mark and chair in 1858 . So that St . John ' s in 1870
, for the good it received in 185 s aud 1850 , now returns evil—a fine example of brotherly love for the senior lodge of a province to set forth . Notwithstanding the lessons which thev . as Masonsreceive to restrain
their passions , they break forth into open anger upon the slightest opposition to their pretensions or desires , and all this , too , before the eyes of the ' neutral world . ' A slight exercise of the Masonic virtue of patience would have saved all this , would have done no harm to their protest , and would have been more
dignified and commendable . " I must contradict' Delta' when he says the ' past office bearers unanimously endorse the step which the E . W . M . Bro . Baird took , ' for that is not true ; there were past oflice bearers who took part in the processionone of them a Past Masterand there are
, , others who consider and are ready to assert that the E . W . M . behaved in a very unbecoming manner , and who question his right to order his men off the ground —in defiance , too , of his superior officer . More , a number of those who left simply followed the crowd —they did not know what to do , while others talked
of going back . In short , the occasion of all the uproar and bad feeling was so paltry that f feel justified in considering the E . W . M . ' demeaned' both himself and his lodge by the course adopted . "I question the truth ofthe statement that the 'St . Andrew ' s Lodge at Glasgow—afterwards called tiie
Glasgow Journeymen Pree Operatives—broke off from St . John ' s . ' I desire proof of 'Delta ' s' statement , there have been so many mis-statements made that we like to wei gh the evidence now . " In the oldest extant minute book of the Glasgow Preemen Operative St . John ' s Lodge it says , 'No
person who is not first dul y admitted a free operative member of the said incorporation of Masons shall be admitted members of the lodge . ' Consequently , I ask proof that the ' original members' of this St . tVndrew ' a Lodge were members of St . John ' s , and also if they were members of the Incorporation of Masons ? At
the hying of the foundation stone of the Glasgow Eoyal Infirmary in May , 1792 , I see the Glasgow Journeymen Operatives mentioned , and they walked first ,- ' in the position of the youngest ; and in the name * it is ' Operatives , ' not ' Pree Operatives . ' However , I shall be glad to see ' Delta ' s' evidence in support of
his statements . " ' Delta' is evidently afraid of the ' 1806 ' business , but that , I believe , is the foundation of the'timeimmemorial' privileges of St . John ' s , as held forth b y some of the past office bearers . It was then , we were told , that 'none in my ( Malcolm Canmore ' s )
dominions shall erect a lodge until they make application to the St . John ' s Lodge , Glasgow . ' What changes time makes . The lodge which in 1806 ' dicovered' a forged document and brought it forward to further its pretensions then , now feels a change coming over the spirit of its dream , and stands forth in the most
disinterested manner as the champion of the senior lodges in the various Masonic provinces of Scotland . —I am , yours respectfully , MASOBTCHS . June 13 fch , 1870 .
[ Other letters have been received , but the pressure upon our space compels us to defer them till nex week . ]
MASONIC LITERATURE AND MASONIC CONTEOVEESY . 10 THE EDITOR OP THE FREEMASONS' 1 IAGAZIKE AND MASONIC JTIEEOI ! . Dear Sir and Brother , —You deserve the thanks of the Craft for affording to your numerous subscribers a knowledge of what others say about us . I do not
consider it right that Bro . Pinkerton and other traducers of Masonry and Masonic institutions should be allowed to widely disseminate their denunciations in a journal which , although enjoying no doubt an extensive circulation , is , perhaps , not read by any great number of Masons .
I am glad to see that the Craft has found defenders in this discussion in the person of brethren of such known ability as Bros . Hyde Clarke , W . P . Buchan , J . Yarker , and others . At the time that the Editor of Notes and Queries closed the discussion with the remark that he
considered his readers " had enough of this "—at a point , too , which left the last word in the possession of Mr . Pinkerton , who I do not consider at all replied to the remarks of the defenders of the Craft—I had anticipated that these brethren would have continued their refutation of his denunciations in your columns , which ,
at the time I considered opportunely placed at their disposal . I should like to bear what some of these brethren have to say in reply thereto . Youra fraternally , PEOGEESS . April 4 th , 1870 .
[ The above and several other communications have been received from time to time on this subject , the publication of which has been unavoidably deferred . ]