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Article ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM. Page 1 of 3 Article ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM. Page 1 of 3 →
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Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.
ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM .
BY BRO . ROBERT FIIRKE GOULD , ( Continued from page 309 ) . 11 HE article to which I last referred , or it will be more _ correct to say , the greater part of it , waa written by me in order to assure our Bro . Whymper of the pleasure we
all derived from his becoming an actual contributor to the Proceedings of the Lodge . His diffidence in this respect was very marked . In a letter of 23 rd July 1892 , he writes to me , " I feel your reproaches as to members not helping 2076 with literary matter are just , bnt how can a
man in this country send any really new matter . I worked for a short time at Chukra Symbolism , but it really has no more Masonic import than any Baptismal Service of any Christian Church . " And he winds up with , " I am sorry to say I am never well now , liver quite out of order , and I havo terrible nervous attacks . "
In the next letter ( that I have preserved ) he writes , under 4 th November , " I have been losing health for three years past—I have been compelled to say that I cannot , after all , take the Punjaub District Grand Mastership .
I hopo you can get me Holyoake ' s Life of Garlile . I think I told you I have a MS . Life of him . But I hesitate to publish it from not knowing whether it is merely a crib from Holyoake . It is an interesting memoir , however , and with other data I have about Carlilo in connection with
Freemasonry , would make a sufficiently good article to be my maiden offering to A . Q . Q . " In his next letter—25 tli December—there occurs , " I wish you could have got me Holyoake ' s Carlile . I am rather frightened to publish what I have about Carlile , as I expect
some of the facts are merely extracts from Holyoake . When my paper , ' Four Free-thinkers on Freemasonry ' is read by Speth , I . hope you will do me the service of stating that you know I have tried to get Holyoake—if you are present ? I shall send the paper on shortly . The four
of course , are Paine , Carlile , Rev . R . Taylor ( ' the Devil ' s Chaplain' ) , and Bradlaugh . I cannot find that Holyoake ever wrote on Freemasonry . Voltaire is said to have done so , but I cannot find anything in a complete set of his works , which I bought on purpose to see what he said on tho subject . "
An excellent summary , however , of tho literary work performed by our lato brother , having been already given by Bro . Hughan , I pass to the death of Bro . Whymper , at Bombay , from dysentery , on 27 th . April last . Few particulars have yet come to hand . Indeed , all we know
with certainty is , that what may he termed his last act in this life , was one of extraordinary kindness and self sacrifice . He escorted an aged and infirm friend from Rawal Pindi to Bombay , and saw the latter safely embarked on his homeward passage . The heab and fatigue
consequent upon such a journey ( 4 days and nights in the train ) under an April sun , may perhaps warrant the conjecture that our Bro . Whymper fell a victim to them ? But whatever the actual circumstances attendant upon his
untimely decease may ultimately turn out to be , the lamentable fact that he is dead awaits no further confirmation ; and we can only hope that the influence of his bright example , in every walk of life to which either by duty or inclination his steps were directed , may , for all time
Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.
stimulate and encourage his fellow labourers and successors in tho Quatuor Coronati Lodge . Returning to my review , let me next pay a well-deserved compliment to Bro . C . C . Howard W . M . 2036 , our local Secretary for Marlborough , New Zealand , whoso latest
contribution , The Evidential Value of the Begins , the Cooke , ancl the W . Watscn MSS ., will , I trust , aid . materially in creating a taste for the study of these and other old documents of the Craft . In this branch of our antiquities the workers may be counted on the fingers of a single
hand , and there is room for doubt whether the number of readers is any larger . But our Bro . Howard , with great daring , has ventured to dispense with much of the dryness which seems to have been hitherto considered absolutely
essential when dealing with tho Manuscript Constitntions , and from the success which has crowned the experiment , we may venture to hope that an era is dawning , when the written traditions of Masonry will meet with at least a portion of the attention to which they are justly entitled .
Then follows a short article on The Nismesian Theory and French Legend , by Bro . John Yarker , who is of opinion that the main points of Bro . Howard's theory , as expressed in his Naymus Grecus Identified ( A . Q . G . IV . 201-20 . ) , aro correct—a conclusion I have the greater willingness to place
on record , since it is diametrically opposed to my own . After this , come a transcript of " Dumfries' Kilwinning MS . No . 4 , " by Bro . John Lane ; some Hammer Legends , by Mrs . Murray- Aynsley ; and " Sikh Initiation , " by Brother William Simpson P . M .
" Notes and Queries" follow , and the contents of this column are more than ordinarily attractive . The Reviews comprise notices of tho " South African Masonio Record ;" " History of St . George ' s Chapter , No . 140 ; " " Outlines of the History of Freemasonry in the Province of
Quebec , " by J . H . Graham P . G . M . ; " History of Freemasonry in the Province of Roxburgh , Peebles , and Selkirkshires , " by W . F . Vernon ; Dr . Dassigny ' s "Serious and Impartial Enquiry ; " and " The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns . "
The " History of Freemasonry in Quebec" has been very ably written by the first Grand Master of that jurisdiction , but the Histories of all the Grand Lodges in the world—outside the British Islands—fade in interest when compared with old Masonic records of 17 th and earl y
18 th century date , such as have been culled for our instruction by Bro . W . F . Vernon . As the reviewer in A . Q . G ., I there observe : — " Tho year 1717 is an important one . We are supposed to pass from the domain of Ancient to that of Modern Masonry . But the change was not carried
out in a day or a year . Modern Masonry , it is true , had its " beginning at the formation of the Grand Lodge of England . ( 1717 ) , but Ancient Masonry still existed by its side , nor was it until the example set in London had been followed in Edinburgh ( 1736 ) , that the Old System may
be said to have been practically supplanted by tho New . This renders the period of nineteen years , commencing with the great event of 1717 , and ending with that of 1736 , a deeply interesting one to all students of the Craft . Throughout it , the sovereignty of Grand Lodges was only on its trial .
"Freemasonry has come down to ns in two distinct channels , an English and a Scottish one . Ultimately , however , the two streams become united , and this ' meeting of the waters' occurred in 1736 . A system of Scottish Masonry , differing from that of England , might have
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.
ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM .
BY BRO . ROBERT FIIRKE GOULD , ( Continued from page 309 ) . 11 HE article to which I last referred , or it will be more _ correct to say , the greater part of it , waa written by me in order to assure our Bro . Whymper of the pleasure we
all derived from his becoming an actual contributor to the Proceedings of the Lodge . His diffidence in this respect was very marked . In a letter of 23 rd July 1892 , he writes to me , " I feel your reproaches as to members not helping 2076 with literary matter are just , bnt how can a
man in this country send any really new matter . I worked for a short time at Chukra Symbolism , but it really has no more Masonic import than any Baptismal Service of any Christian Church . " And he winds up with , " I am sorry to say I am never well now , liver quite out of order , and I havo terrible nervous attacks . "
In the next letter ( that I have preserved ) he writes , under 4 th November , " I have been losing health for three years past—I have been compelled to say that I cannot , after all , take the Punjaub District Grand Mastership .
I hopo you can get me Holyoake ' s Life of Garlile . I think I told you I have a MS . Life of him . But I hesitate to publish it from not knowing whether it is merely a crib from Holyoake . It is an interesting memoir , however , and with other data I have about Carlilo in connection with
Freemasonry , would make a sufficiently good article to be my maiden offering to A . Q . Q . " In his next letter—25 tli December—there occurs , " I wish you could have got me Holyoake ' s Carlile . I am rather frightened to publish what I have about Carlile , as I expect
some of the facts are merely extracts from Holyoake . When my paper , ' Four Free-thinkers on Freemasonry ' is read by Speth , I . hope you will do me the service of stating that you know I have tried to get Holyoake—if you are present ? I shall send the paper on shortly . The four
of course , are Paine , Carlile , Rev . R . Taylor ( ' the Devil ' s Chaplain' ) , and Bradlaugh . I cannot find that Holyoake ever wrote on Freemasonry . Voltaire is said to have done so , but I cannot find anything in a complete set of his works , which I bought on purpose to see what he said on tho subject . "
An excellent summary , however , of tho literary work performed by our lato brother , having been already given by Bro . Hughan , I pass to the death of Bro . Whymper , at Bombay , from dysentery , on 27 th . April last . Few particulars have yet come to hand . Indeed , all we know
with certainty is , that what may he termed his last act in this life , was one of extraordinary kindness and self sacrifice . He escorted an aged and infirm friend from Rawal Pindi to Bombay , and saw the latter safely embarked on his homeward passage . The heab and fatigue
consequent upon such a journey ( 4 days and nights in the train ) under an April sun , may perhaps warrant the conjecture that our Bro . Whymper fell a victim to them ? But whatever the actual circumstances attendant upon his
untimely decease may ultimately turn out to be , the lamentable fact that he is dead awaits no further confirmation ; and we can only hope that the influence of his bright example , in every walk of life to which either by duty or inclination his steps were directed , may , for all time
Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.
stimulate and encourage his fellow labourers and successors in tho Quatuor Coronati Lodge . Returning to my review , let me next pay a well-deserved compliment to Bro . C . C . Howard W . M . 2036 , our local Secretary for Marlborough , New Zealand , whoso latest
contribution , The Evidential Value of the Begins , the Cooke , ancl the W . Watscn MSS ., will , I trust , aid . materially in creating a taste for the study of these and other old documents of the Craft . In this branch of our antiquities the workers may be counted on the fingers of a single
hand , and there is room for doubt whether the number of readers is any larger . But our Bro . Howard , with great daring , has ventured to dispense with much of the dryness which seems to have been hitherto considered absolutely
essential when dealing with tho Manuscript Constitntions , and from the success which has crowned the experiment , we may venture to hope that an era is dawning , when the written traditions of Masonry will meet with at least a portion of the attention to which they are justly entitled .
Then follows a short article on The Nismesian Theory and French Legend , by Bro . John Yarker , who is of opinion that the main points of Bro . Howard's theory , as expressed in his Naymus Grecus Identified ( A . Q . G . IV . 201-20 . ) , aro correct—a conclusion I have the greater willingness to place
on record , since it is diametrically opposed to my own . After this , come a transcript of " Dumfries' Kilwinning MS . No . 4 , " by Bro . John Lane ; some Hammer Legends , by Mrs . Murray- Aynsley ; and " Sikh Initiation , " by Brother William Simpson P . M .
" Notes and Queries" follow , and the contents of this column are more than ordinarily attractive . The Reviews comprise notices of tho " South African Masonio Record ;" " History of St . George ' s Chapter , No . 140 ; " " Outlines of the History of Freemasonry in the Province of
Quebec , " by J . H . Graham P . G . M . ; " History of Freemasonry in the Province of Roxburgh , Peebles , and Selkirkshires , " by W . F . Vernon ; Dr . Dassigny ' s "Serious and Impartial Enquiry ; " and " The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns . "
The " History of Freemasonry in Quebec" has been very ably written by the first Grand Master of that jurisdiction , but the Histories of all the Grand Lodges in the world—outside the British Islands—fade in interest when compared with old Masonic records of 17 th and earl y
18 th century date , such as have been culled for our instruction by Bro . W . F . Vernon . As the reviewer in A . Q . G ., I there observe : — " Tho year 1717 is an important one . We are supposed to pass from the domain of Ancient to that of Modern Masonry . But the change was not carried
out in a day or a year . Modern Masonry , it is true , had its " beginning at the formation of the Grand Lodge of England . ( 1717 ) , but Ancient Masonry still existed by its side , nor was it until the example set in London had been followed in Edinburgh ( 1736 ) , that the Old System may
be said to have been practically supplanted by tho New . This renders the period of nineteen years , commencing with the great event of 1717 , and ending with that of 1736 , a deeply interesting one to all students of the Craft . Throughout it , the sovereignty of Grand Lodges was only on its trial .
"Freemasonry has come down to ns in two distinct channels , an English and a Scottish one . Ultimately , however , the two streams become united , and this ' meeting of the waters' occurred in 1736 . A system of Scottish Masonry , differing from that of England , might have