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Article LODGE OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. ← Page 3 of 3 Article MASONIC GLEANINGS. Page 1 of 3 →
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Lodge Officers, Their Powers And Duties.
any difficulty between the brethren . The Secretary is the lodge historian ; for its current history is after all to be looked for in his records , ancl could not indeed be written without them . It ought to be a source of pride to every
Secretary so to keep the record that any matter of importance in the history of the lodge could immediately be found by reference to his minutes , ancl it should be an incentive to competent brethren to accept the-position when they reflect that their
work will be carefully treasured when they have passed away ; that the test of exactness will be , in the future , not what the lodge has done , not what the Master , Wardens , oi * brethren have said , but what the Secretary has recorded .
It may then be assumed that the qualities which should distinguish the Secretary are neatness , exactness , and promptitude . He should ahvays
be at his post before the opening of the lodge , with the minutes of the preceding communication neatly engrossed , and ready for examination , and for reading in the hearing of the lodge . He should take care that a broad margin be left for the
purpose of making notes opposite the most important paragraphs , for the sake of convenient reference , and , at the end of each evening ' s transactions , he should append a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures . He should be furnished with a
blotter , in which to keep his rough minutes , as they are called , which he may alter and amend to suit himself up to the time when they are read to and approved by the lodge before closing , after which no change can be legally made in them . It
is in this first sketch of the minutes that the real skill of the Secretary is made apparent ; for if he understands his business there will be nothine *
rough about them , except , perhaps , that the penmanship will be less heat and smooth than when he makes the final copy in what French Masons call the Golden Book . This reminds us to say that at the reading in a French lodge of the
¦ minutes of a preceding communication the first sketch is placed before the Master , who thus verifies the correctness of the final engrossment , which he afterwards signs in token of his assent to its correctness — a plan which mi ght be safely
adopted by our Masters , as at once an approval of the Secretary ' s accuracy and an additional proof of the legality of the record , in case of dispute . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Gleanings.
MASONIC GLEANINGS .
By Bro . the Rev . J . KINGSTON . In the last volume of "Notes ancl Queries , " I have met with the following articles ivhich may be interesting * to such of , the readers of this Magazine as are not in the habit of perusing the above periodical .
" Sir Christopher Wren ' s Mallet , " ( p . G . ) " At a late general meeting of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society , the original mallet , with which it is said King Charles II . laid the first stone of St . Paul's , was exhibited . By the kindness of C . J . Shoppee , Esq ., the Hon .
Secretary , I have been furnished with a , copy of the inscription , which is on a silver plate let into the head . It is as follows , ancl I believe will be interesting to many readers of " Notes and Queries : " " By order of the M . W . the Grand Masterhis Eoyal Highnessthe Duke of Sussex
, , , & c , and W . Master of the Lodge of Antiquity , and with the concurrence of the brethren of the lodge , this plate has been engraved ancl affixed to this mallet , A . L . 5831 , A . D . 182-7 . To commemorate that this being the same mallet with which his MajestKing Charles the IIlevelled the founda
y , . - tion stone of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , A . L . 5677 , A . D . 1673 , was presented to the old lodge bf St . Paul ' s , now the Lodge of Antiquity , acting by immemorial constitution . By Bro . Sir Christopher Wren , R . W . D . G . M ., Worshipful Master of the lodge , and Architect of that edifice . "
Poet s Corner . A . A . "The Templars in Scotland" ( p . 150 ) . " In arecent work , the ' Arnold Historical Prize Essay' for 1865 , by A . P . Marras , B . A ., there occurs a statement drown from Eckert , Die Ueidenldrchewhich perhaps some correspondent
, of " Notes and Queries" can elucidate . The passage in the essay runs thus . *—It is scarcely possible that all the traditions of so powerful an Order can have been swept away afc once ; indeed , the modern French " Templiers " pretend to have kept up the succession of Grand
Masters unbroken , ancl consider themselves the direct descendants of the Order of the Knights Templars , ofwhicli some remains can , perhaps , be traced in Scotland ( Eckert says , ' Heidenkirche , " p . 364 , that the knights who escaped assembled in one of the Hebridesand there re-organised
, , their fraternity ) , and in Germany , where , instead of strange and Baphometic rites , a kind of mysticism , mingled with Alchemy and Cabaiism , arose —that of the Rosicrucians .
It is to be supposed that Mr . Marras was satisfied that Eckert hacl authority for his assertion of the re-organisation of the Knights Templars in the Hebrides , but I confess so bare and unsupported a statement seems to want confirmation . I should be glad to know whether any traces of the Order of the Temple really were discovered in Scotland after its public abolition by the Pope ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Lodge Officers, Their Powers And Duties.
any difficulty between the brethren . The Secretary is the lodge historian ; for its current history is after all to be looked for in his records , ancl could not indeed be written without them . It ought to be a source of pride to every
Secretary so to keep the record that any matter of importance in the history of the lodge could immediately be found by reference to his minutes , ancl it should be an incentive to competent brethren to accept the-position when they reflect that their
work will be carefully treasured when they have passed away ; that the test of exactness will be , in the future , not what the lodge has done , not what the Master , Wardens , oi * brethren have said , but what the Secretary has recorded .
It may then be assumed that the qualities which should distinguish the Secretary are neatness , exactness , and promptitude . He should ahvays
be at his post before the opening of the lodge , with the minutes of the preceding communication neatly engrossed , and ready for examination , and for reading in the hearing of the lodge . He should take care that a broad margin be left for the
purpose of making notes opposite the most important paragraphs , for the sake of convenient reference , and , at the end of each evening ' s transactions , he should append a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures . He should be furnished with a
blotter , in which to keep his rough minutes , as they are called , which he may alter and amend to suit himself up to the time when they are read to and approved by the lodge before closing , after which no change can be legally made in them . It
is in this first sketch of the minutes that the real skill of the Secretary is made apparent ; for if he understands his business there will be nothine *
rough about them , except , perhaps , that the penmanship will be less heat and smooth than when he makes the final copy in what French Masons call the Golden Book . This reminds us to say that at the reading in a French lodge of the
¦ minutes of a preceding communication the first sketch is placed before the Master , who thus verifies the correctness of the final engrossment , which he afterwards signs in token of his assent to its correctness — a plan which mi ght be safely
adopted by our Masters , as at once an approval of the Secretary ' s accuracy and an additional proof of the legality of the record , in case of dispute . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Gleanings.
MASONIC GLEANINGS .
By Bro . the Rev . J . KINGSTON . In the last volume of "Notes ancl Queries , " I have met with the following articles ivhich may be interesting * to such of , the readers of this Magazine as are not in the habit of perusing the above periodical .
" Sir Christopher Wren ' s Mallet , " ( p . G . ) " At a late general meeting of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society , the original mallet , with which it is said King Charles II . laid the first stone of St . Paul's , was exhibited . By the kindness of C . J . Shoppee , Esq ., the Hon .
Secretary , I have been furnished with a , copy of the inscription , which is on a silver plate let into the head . It is as follows , ancl I believe will be interesting to many readers of " Notes and Queries : " " By order of the M . W . the Grand Masterhis Eoyal Highnessthe Duke of Sussex
, , , & c , and W . Master of the Lodge of Antiquity , and with the concurrence of the brethren of the lodge , this plate has been engraved ancl affixed to this mallet , A . L . 5831 , A . D . 182-7 . To commemorate that this being the same mallet with which his MajestKing Charles the IIlevelled the founda
y , . - tion stone of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , A . L . 5677 , A . D . 1673 , was presented to the old lodge bf St . Paul ' s , now the Lodge of Antiquity , acting by immemorial constitution . By Bro . Sir Christopher Wren , R . W . D . G . M ., Worshipful Master of the lodge , and Architect of that edifice . "
Poet s Corner . A . A . "The Templars in Scotland" ( p . 150 ) . " In arecent work , the ' Arnold Historical Prize Essay' for 1865 , by A . P . Marras , B . A ., there occurs a statement drown from Eckert , Die Ueidenldrchewhich perhaps some correspondent
, of " Notes and Queries" can elucidate . The passage in the essay runs thus . *—It is scarcely possible that all the traditions of so powerful an Order can have been swept away afc once ; indeed , the modern French " Templiers " pretend to have kept up the succession of Grand
Masters unbroken , ancl consider themselves the direct descendants of the Order of the Knights Templars , ofwhicli some remains can , perhaps , be traced in Scotland ( Eckert says , ' Heidenkirche , " p . 364 , that the knights who escaped assembled in one of the Hebridesand there re-organised
, , their fraternity ) , and in Germany , where , instead of strange and Baphometic rites , a kind of mysticism , mingled with Alchemy and Cabaiism , arose —that of the Rosicrucians .
It is to be supposed that Mr . Marras was satisfied that Eckert hacl authority for his assertion of the re-organisation of the Knights Templars in the Hebrides , but I confess so bare and unsupported a statement seems to want confirmation . I should be glad to know whether any traces of the Order of the Temple really were discovered in Scotland after its public abolition by the Pope ;