The Ark And Mark Degrees.

Ark-Mariner in " the hangman's lot , " and last , but certainly not least , comes Brother Morton Edwards . * The powers under which Brother Morton Edwards has revived the Ark-Mariners are indisputable . So keenly is this felt that no stone lias been left unturned by which he mig ht be cajoled into parting with the right he holds . Flattery , intimidation , and

every ruse have been adopted in turn , and he was on the point of giving way when we were introduced to him and showed him , in less time than it takes to write , the Crime it would be to hand over to those having no locus standi but their own sweet wills , a warrant under which they would have immediately emerged from a SELF-STYLED , to a REGULARLY CONSTITUTED , LODGE . This Warrant runs thus : —

" To all whom it may concern , We , the Grand Lodge of " the most Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Ark Masons , ' granted by grandfather Methusaleh , who lived two hundred " and fifty years with Adam , and died but a short time before " the flood . After the flood it was communicated to Japhet and " Shem , who convened Lodges under them , with full powers " " and instructions in all Orders of Masonry , and so handed down

" to all true Masons to the present time , and as a sure pledge " and token of Divine Sanction to this our Masonry , the Great " Architect of the Universe has condescended to place HIS bow '' in the Cloud , and said ' This is a token of my Covenant with " you' [ Ark Mariners ] ' and your seed for ever . ' Therefore , " to all Worthy Brothers who have received the honour of being " initiated into this and other degrees belonging to ARK " MARINERS and Sanctioned by the Grand Lodges at present in " England , to your honourable and noble Brothers we send

" GREETING . " Whereas , it has been proposed and resolved that a Grand " Royal Ark Lodge should be formed and established under the " Sanction of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence , for " which purpose His Royal Highness has been solicited to take " the Grand Command of the said Grand and Royal Ark Lodge , " that under his Royal Patronage those i'v . ntimable Masonic

" Institutions might be held . And as His Royal Highness has " been pleased to signify his acceptance thereof , whenever said " Lodge shall be in a proper and respectable situation to receive '• ' him and , till then , has deigned to grant leave to make use of " his name in order to form and organise said Lodge with " propriety , order , and regularity . To effect which laudable " institution the Royal Brother , by virtue of the powers given to

" and vested in him st a Grand Royal Ark Lodge , held at the " Bedford Arms , Bedford Square , on the twenty-fourth day of " November , 1 793 , do hereby grant this Warrant to our " Squadron , No . 3 , to our Worthy Brethren , William Durisk , " John Wilson , William Henry Collcotfc , and Isaac Hoare to " form and hold a Grand Royal Ark Lodge at the Rose and " Crown , Booth Street , Spitalfields , on the second and fourth

" Tuesday in each month , or at any other time , or elsewhere , on " Emergency , & c , & c , & c , not exceeding ten miles from St . " Paul ' s , London , for the purpose of conferring the above " mentioned Degrees to such Brethren as they , in their wisdom '' prudence , may deem meet , with this proviso , that they " admit none unless agreeable to the following restrictions , viz : — " For every Initiation into the Royal Ark degree , Five Shillings

" and Threepence ; for the Degrees of Mark Man , Mark Master , " Excellent and Super-Excellent , Five Shillings and Threepence ; " for those of Kni ghts of the Red Cross , Knights Templars , "Mediterranean Pass , & c , & c , & c , Ten Shillings and Six

-~ It cannot matier two straws to the subscribers toTiiEMAsoNic EXAMINER what degrees its Editor has taken . But that there may ' bc no partiality suspected on his part , he tegs to state he is not an "Ark-Mariner , " but he is . 1 " Mark Mason , " under the Scottish Constitution . He has nothing whatever to do with " Mitzraim , " " "Memphis , " the newly-imported burlesque called the "Ancient and Primitive Rite , " nor the equally novel importation of poor dear Rob . Morris ' s " Cryptic Masonry . " He merely makes these personal admissions for the purpose of guarding his vcaders against any supposition they might entertain of his being in identity with , or in favour of , tlie degrees mentioned . —ED . MAS . EX .

" pence . That they regularly attend the Grand Royal Ark " Lodge at every Quarterly Communication , and then and there " make due returns of all their Initiations made in any of the " aforesaid Degrees , and see them duly registered by the Grand " Secretary , and truly and justly paying the said Secretary Two " Shillings for every Half-Guinea progressively , as above stated

" for the aforesaid Initiations . Concordant to the above " stipulations I do hereby authorise and appoint W . FI . Collcottr , " G . Scribe . Whilst the above instructions are properly adhered " to , strictly pursued , and duly executed , this Warrant remains " in full power , force , and virtue . When violated , by inattention , " misuse , or abuse , then it is to be rendered mill and void , and of " no effect whatever .

" Given under our hands and seals this twenty-fourth day of "November , in year of Our Lord , 1793 ; "i 'he year of " Masonry , 5793 ; and of the Grand Royal , 4143 . " Isaac Moseley , Acting Grand Commander , Noah . " Isaac Iioare , Deputy Grand Commander , Noah . " William Jones , First Lieutenant , Japhet . " William Durisk , Second Lieutenant , Shem .

" Charles Sinclair , Captain of IVatch . "JohnF . Dorrington , Grand Commander . Although the original document has been tampered with and bears the marks of four separate erasures , from the context which remains intact , these are of no consequence because they are simply the substitution of names of persons . The folly of a former possessor in affixing an old Grand Lodge seal in no way impairs the validity of the warrant , but only shows his bad taste .

How this warrant was held by Brother Dorrington ; how he transferred the same , with several old minute-books and other memoranda , to Brother Morion Edwards , all inquirers may leam from the book of " Statutes and Regulations for Royal-Ark Masons . " And now we come to as pretty a piece of ineffective diplomacy as ever was perpetrated . Those of our readers who have followed us thus far will , of

course , remember that the SELF-STYLED Grand Mark Lodge emanated from the apostacy of the Bon Accord Mark Lodge . That Lodge was simply a lodge to work the Mark degree ; it never claimed to be possessed of any further rights . But last year itsoffspring , the SELF-STYLED Grand Lodge of Mark Masters , thought that by giving Brother Morton Edwards some paltry rank in its bosom it would get his powers , and the farce of

drawing up a compact was gone through , meeting after meeting held , and the elected Grand Mark Master of . the SELF-STYLED Grand Mark Lodge , when called upon , refused to ratify his share of the bargain . Before this , however , that astute functionary wished to be put into a position to get hold of this tantalising prize , and therefore , he was advised to take the degree of Ark-Mariner , so as to make all sure . Well ! at a certain meeting , the Grand

Mark Master of the SELF-STYLED Grand Mark Lodge put in an appearance , carefully bedizened with all the tinselled gew-gaws of his office and there and then went through the ceremony , swearing allegiance to the superior degree , —which he evidently did

his utmost to acknowledge and honour , by appearing in his best clothes , —and , we rejoice to say it , is farther off than ever in getting a more genuine power to confer the Mark degree than he could derive from the apostacy of 1856 . The SELF-STYLED Grand Lodge of Mark Masters , aware of its unsatisfactory orig in , has never ceased making frantic efforts to secure a recognition from any quarter , but in this it has been ,

hitherto , unsuccessful . It first tried the Grand Lodge of England , and , in an unguarded moment , succeeded in introducing the thin end of its wedge but , when the mischief was discovered , was immediately driven ignominiously away . Then the Irish Mark Masons were importuned but they would have nothing to do with it . Next it tried to ride the high horse and almost ordered the Grand Chapter of Scotland to withdraw the warrants from those Mark lodges which had asked that body to issue j them . Finding this , too , unavailable , the SELF-STYLED Mark