The Antiquity Of Masonic Degrees.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MASONIC DEGREES .

BY Bno . JACOU N ORTON . TN reply to Bro . Gould ' s letter in tho FREEMASON ' CiruoNicr . n of 21 st June , under the above heading , I loir ti * if > ro fbut while J was awaro that Anderson ' s piT-17 i 7 History of Masonry contains numerous fictions of Ardor son ' s invention , yet the history ho gave of his own

tin e ? , that is between 1717 and 1738 , 1 had no renson to dm . bt . Anderson , in tho latter part of his History , may ha \ e made some misiakes , but I cannot believe even now that knowingly and wilfully he stated an untruth in his post 1717 History of Masonry .

Now my belief in tho existence of three degrees in 1723 is n ainly based on the authority of Anderson ' s Constitntioi s of 1723 , where , in the first paragraph of Article XIII ., I 1 avo read as follows : —

" Apprentices most bo admitted Masters and Fellow Craft only hero" [ in the Grand Lodgo ] . Upon the above law I base my belief that in 1723 Masons had threo degrees . That the wording of tho above law was corroclly prinled is confirmed , not only by tho " Old

Regulations " in tho 1738 Constitutions , hut also by a manuscript copy of tho 1723 Constitutions , written by Dr . Desaguliers . The said MS . copy was shown to me in 18 G 0 , by tho then Grnnd . Secretary , Bro . Hervey , when ho called my attention

to a peculiar fact , viz ., that in tho MS . Constitutions and in the printed copy the beginnings and endings of the lines correspond . Eaoh successive line in each copy begins and ends alike .

Now , Bro . Gould explained in his last letter that the quotation he gave in his lecture was taken by him from tho Grand Lodge record of 1725 , and he shews a disagreement , both in dates and wording , between Anderson ' s

paragraph relating to the repeal of the above quoted 1723 law , in his 1738 Constitutions , and of the Grand Secretary ' s minutes relating to tho same event in 1725 . Thus , on page iGO , under " New Regulations , " in tho 1738 Constitutions , Anderson says : —

* The reader will notice that in the above quotations from both 1723 and 1733 Constitutions , Anderson had the words Apprentice , Mast-sr , and Fellow Craft , or Fallows , printed either in capital letters or in italirp . Now this fact alone seems to indicate that Anderson had

no idt a that Master nnd Fellowcraft were " convertible terms . " But , on t'ie c . u trary , it implies three distinct ranks in the Craft ; the first rank , or App entire , the Lodgo conferred " without an if or but . " lint the secou 1 and third rank could be obtained in the Grand Lodge uuly , except by dispensation .

But tho Grand Lodge ' s minutes of 1725 read as folloffs : — " 27 th Nov . 1725 . A motion being made that snch part ol the 13 ih Article of the General Regulations [ meaning Anderson ' s

C mstitutions of 1723 . above quoted ] relating to the making of Masters only at the Quarterly Court [ viz ., the Grand Lodge ] may be repsaled , and that the Master of each Lodge , with the consent of his Warden ? , and a Majority of the Brethren being Masters , may make Masters at their discretion . "

Now , with regard with the difference in dates , that is , whither the 27 th or tho 22 nd of November was the correct date when that law of 1723 was repealed , I admit that Anderson mado a mistake , and that it was a mistake only muy be seen in his History preceding the Constitutions of 1738 , where on page 119 he says : —

" Grand Lodge , in ample Form , at the Bell foresaid , 27 Nov . 1725 , when the Grand Officers were continued six months longer . " The difference in their respective dating the repeal of the 1723 law does not influence the question at issue . But as

others as well as Anderson could make a mistake in a date , it must be admitted that the Grand Secretary could also have made mistakes by omissions , and that the Secretary of 1725 mado such mistakes I shall herewith endeavour to

prove . Now , tho 13 th Article in the 1723 Constitutions debarred Lodges from making Fellowcrafts and Masters without a

dispensation . But in 1725 that prohibition was annulled . Thereafter tbe Lodges wore allowed to make both Followcrafts and Masters without a dispensation , which in Anderson ' s 1738 Constitutions reads thus : —

"The Master of a Lodge , with his Wardens and a competent number of the Lodge , assembled in due form , can make Masters and Follows ot discretion . "

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"On 22 nd Nov . 1725 [ it was enacted that ] the Master of a Lodge with his Wardens and a competent Number of the Lodgo assombled in dne form , can make Masters and Fellows at his discretion . " *

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But the Grand Secretary , when the law was repealed in 1725 , carolessly omitted from his record tho word Fellowcraft . Ho omitted the word Fellowcraft , first , when referring to Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1723 when the

law was enactedjand second , when , alluding to the repeal of that law in 1725 , he wrote down " may make Masters at their discretion , " while he should in each case have written Fellowcrafts and Masters ( or vice versa ) .

But after all , when looking rightly at the question even the omission of the word Fellowcraft b y the Grand Secretary of 1725 from his minutes does not at all antagonise Anderson ' s statement in relation to that event in his 1738 Constitutions , for if Lodges

acquired the right in 1725 to make Masters without a dispensation , they must necessarily have acquired the same right with regard to conferring the Fellowcraft degree .

The difference in the wording about the repeal of the 1723 law in 1725 , between the Grand Lodge minutes of 1725 and Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1738 , really amounts to nothing .

If , however , my highly estemed friend Bro . Gould should , after reading the above reasons , still adhere to his opinion that the 1723 Masons had but two degrees , and , if I understand right , that even on the 27 th of November 1725

Masons still had but two degrees . And as thcro is no doubt that Masons had three degrees in 1730 , at least , I would therefore be obliged to Bro . Gould to inform me , if

he can , as to when tho thrd degree camo into existence , or when the words Masters and Fellowcrafts coased to bn " convertible terms . " BOSTON , U . S ., 8 th July 1890 .

The Secretary.

THE SECRETARY .

HAPPY , indeed , is tho Lodge which is in possession of a good Secretary . There is more true , practical Masonry obtained at the Secretary ' s desk than in any other station in the Lodge . It is the Secretary who is the connecting link of the

Order with the outer world ; to him belongs the prosaic , but practical work of gathering in the shekels wherewith to oil the machinery of the Lodge , and though the Master

may rattle off the ritual a la " Standard , " he can not therewith collect a dollar to help the widow , or clothe tho orphan ; it is the constant drumming and labour of the faithful Secretary that calls the brethren to his desk to pay

up . The Secretary , if attentive to his duty , will know all the members , and know how hard or easy it is for them to comply with the demands of charity upon thoir purse ; and more than any officer of the Lodge he should possess the

entire and unqualified confidence of the members . Masters come and go , but the Secretary remains ; many brethren have entered the Lodge , first complying with the prosaic demands of the Secretary in the aute-room , then become Deacons , Wardens , & c , and finally the ambitious

brother is installed as Master in the East , and behold there he finds the ever faithful Secretary at his post and as his right hand , toiling on for tbe good of the Lodge , and ready to help and support each incoming Master in all good works of the Lodge , ready to serve on committees , visit the sick and gladden the heart of those in need .

But there are others , alas ! who are not over scrupulous in handling the sacred funds of the Lodge ; happily these are few in numbers , and are generally known , and their tenor of office is of short duration ; by far the large majority of our Secretaries are true and faithful workers

in our quarries , and , if perchauced , a Past Master consents to act as such , it is all tho better , for then be is in possession of the full experience of the needs of the Lodgo and has "passed through" the ordeal , and having no further ambition to satisfy , may dovoto his entire energy

to the ntmost and absolute good of the Lodge . Brethren , if you have a good Secretary , stand by him and help him fulfil his arduous duties ; it is for the interest of the Lodge and of Masonry to have a good and efficient Secretary . —Hebrew Standard .

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