Facts, Suggestions And Questions

but no Masters' Lodges were constituted in 1734 . On looking back on the said list to Nos . 39 , 68 and 70 . I found again that no Masters ' lodges met at the taverns where the said Lodges met . This , then , is an additional proof that tho first permanent Masters' Lodges wove not created before Midamnmor of 1733 , ami these wero regularly chartered and placod upon the list , just tho samo as ordinary Lodges , according to seniority of constitution .

Query . —Had Masters' Lodges been attached to any of the chartered Lodges then existing ? Oi' had Masters' Lodges anywhere held meetings regularly , at stated periods , in public houses , wherein chartered Lodge * used fco meet ? I am sure that no body of Masons would havo petitioned in 1733 for charters for distinct Masters ' Lodges , and no Grand Master , or Deputy Grand Master , would havo

given charters for that purpose . The very fact that such charters were granted in 1733 is an additional proof that permanent Mister Masons' Lodges did not exist anywhere until Midsummer of 1733 . Tho List of tho Dublin Poekot Companion , copied from a 1733 list , with an imperfect addition of the Lodgos constituted in 1734 , has also but threo Masters' Lodges , viz ., the Lodges that wero constituted in 1733 .

I must here add that Anderson numbered tho London Lodges from Nos . 1 to 106 ; his method of numbering creates confusion when endeavouring to compare his Loclgo List with those of Pyno , & c . The Lodges wero not named in those days , and when a Lodge removed its meetings to some other tavern , we can only discover the identity of the same Lodgo by its date of constitution , and when the

ila'oa aro imperfect , and Lodges constituted about tho samo time happened to become extinct , then it is really impossible to identify the Lodgo . "But , anyhow , I carefully looked among the Lodges constituted in 1733 , and to my amazement I found that my three Masters' Lodges , viz ., Nos . 11 ( 5 , 117 and 120 , had vanished . In fact , they ceased to exist . And hero another puzzle was suggested , viz ., I found , on Anderson ' s List , that five Masters' Lodges met in public

houses where Lodges used to meet , that wero chartered in 1734 , 1735 and 1736 , so it seems that there arose at that time a demand for Masters' Lodges ; why then , I ask , were tho original Masters' Lodges of 1733 wiped out from the Lodge List ? And still again , according to Pyne , no Masters' Lodges were chartered in 1734 , but Anderson ' s List , attached a Masters' Lodge to a Lodgo chartered in 1734 . Now , which am I to believe ?

I next examined Smith ' s Pocket Companion ; its Lodgo list ends with April 20 th 1737 , and I found in it that Masters' Lodges met on overv Sunday , or every other Sunday , in the same houses where Nos . 39 , 68 and 76 used to meet , while the chartered Lodges held their respective meetings on the samo week days as given in Anderson ' s list of 1738 . And on hunting in the said Smith ' s list for Nos . 116 ,

117 , aud 120 , I found that Nos . 116 and 120 were Manic , while to No . 117 was appended "Shakespeare's Head , Covont Garden . Stewards ' Lodge , 3 rd Wednesday in January , April , July , and October , [ constituted ] 25 th June 1735 . " Here then is another puzzle . The Grand Lodge ordained in De ' cember 27 th 1727 that the precedency of Lodges was grounded according to seniority of their constitution .

How then came the Stewards to jump into the blank of a Lodge that was constituted in 1733 ? But on looking for those Masters' Lodges that were attached in Anderson ' s list to Lodges chartered in 1734-5 and 6 , 1 found no such Masters' Lodges in Bro . Smith ' s list . In short , there wero but three Masters' Lodges in existence in 1736 , or more properly , on April 20 th 1737 ; we may therefore conclude that the

other Masters Lodges given by Anderson were really not constituted until after 20 fch April 1737 . The inferences I draw from tho above facts are , 1 st , that no degrees existed before 1717 ; 2 nd , that no permanent Masters' Lodge existed before Midsummer of 1733 ; 3 rd , during the last named year , three Masters' Lodges were chartered as such , and plared on the

list according to seniority of constitution . The W . Masters and Wardens doubtless wero entitled to represent the Masters' Lodges in the G . Lodge ; 4 fch , that the said three chartered Masters' Lodgea had mysteriously disappeared from the list before 20 th April 1737 ; 5 th , in 1736 we find a new outgrowth of permanent unchartered Masters ' Lodges that used to hold their meetings on Sunday , or every other

Sunday , in the same taverns where chartered Lodges used to meet twice a month on week days ; 6 th , that between 20 th April 1737 , and 1 st March 1738 , seven additional Masters' Lodges were organised , making altogether ten Masters' Lodges when Anderson ' s 1738 Constitution was printed . And last , ib must be noticed here , that while Masters' Lod ~ ea did

not belong to the regular chartered Lodges , for , even after 173 R , it it doubtful whether the chartered Lodges at the " Swan and Rummer , " & e . had any control over the Masters' Lodges that used to meet in the same houses : yet , thero is no indication that Fellow Craft Lodges were ever separated from Entered Apprentice Lodges . This , however , will be more fully discussed in my next paper , and ' an effort will be made to account for it .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

SCIENCE AND ART EXAMINATIONS . DRAWING , _ L _ r 1877 .

MODEL . —W . Barrett , A . G . Grimes , J . Hazeland . FREEHAND . —W . Pearson . GEOMETRY . —W . Booser , E . Pawley , A . Watkins , G . Howard , P , HeaTtside . PERSPECTIVE . —0 . R . Healey . FULL CERTIFICATE . —0 . R . Heeley . PHIZES . —E . Pawley , G . Howard , C . E . Heeley ,

Great Priory Of Canada, 1877

GREAT PRIORY OF CANADA , 1877

Address of th ' . V . U . and E . Sir Knight Col . W . J . B . MACLEOD MOORE , Grand Cross of the Temple , Great Prior of the Dominion of Canada , Delivered to the Sir Knights assembled in Great Priory at theMasonie Temple , London , Out ., on thelth August , A . D . 1877 . SIR KNIGHTS , GREAT OFFICERS , OFFICERS , AND FRATRES OF THE GREAT PRIORY OF CANADA .

I greet yon with heartfelt pleasure , and with thankful feelings that wo havo been spared to meet again , and exchange congratulations on tho success , so far , of our Great Priory . Tho custom of delivering an annual address at our re-unions , together with the report on foreign correspondence in the proceedings , although not demanded by our regulations , but adopted from our

brethren of the United States , I look upon as an admirable method of disseminating the different views and opinions entertained of the Order , as also of clearing away existing prejudices and errors , and am satisfied much good has already been the result ; at the same time , it has this drawback , in giving an opportunity to extend a simple record of facts into a long lecture not always very interesting to the

hearers , and , as I fear in the present instance , calculated somewhat to tax your patience . How little could wo have foreseen what the past year haa brought forth , or tho changes that have taken place in so short a period . Amongst them , a threatened disruption of the Union of onr Order , and the lamented and sudden death of the Great Prior of England ,

who , only a few months back , on the resignation of the Earl of Limerick , was installed as head of the English Nationality , with all the dignity befitting his high position as one of the representatives of England ' s most ancient and purest chivalry . The Right Honourable the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot , our late illustrious , worthy , and excellent brother , had endeared himself to

tho whole Fraternity , taking an especial interest in all that concerned tho Order of the Temple , which he was endeavouring to restore to a state of peace and harmony , when ifc pleased the Great Architect and Supremo Ruler and Disposer of all things to take him to that rest which knows no waking . Ifc appears frpm the announcement of his death by the Great

Sub-Prior , that ho had sat with him for a considerable time tho day previous , making arrangements for conducting the business of the coming Great Priory , as it was his Lordship's earnest hope that all differences then existing might be amicably arranged , and his most ardent desire to bo instrumental in cemenfcinir the Order—L'homme propose , mais Dieu dispose—was sadly exemplified in his sudden and lamented death

on the very day of the meeting of Great Priory . Oar good Fratres of the United States , who , a few years back , made a pilgrimage to Europe , will , I am sure , look back with mournful pleasure , to the kind and hospitable reception they met with from him at "Alton Towers . " I regret that my first official act , as G reat Prior , shonld have been

the necessity of issuing the circular of tho 4 th of December last , to repudiate tho advocacy of secession and the formation of another independent Templar Body in Canada . Had nofc tho truth of such a movement been authenticated to me by an official of this Great Priory , I should not have thought it worthy of notice . There is , however , no difficulty , when desirable , to form Provincial Priories for

any of the Provinces , which would place them exactly in tho same position to this Great Priory , as it formerly stood to that of England , and as the Grand Commanden ' cs of the United States do to their Great National Council , "The Grand Encampment . " With regard to the implied wish to adopt the system pursued across the line , I can only say that , delighted as we all are to cultivate tho

most intimate relations with our good Fratres of the United States , I think , with very few exceptions , we infinitely prefer our own English system . In this we are not singular , and I hope I may be pardoned for quoting an extract from a letter to me , of 27 th July last , by one always looked upon as an authority on Masonio and Templar matters , whose fearfal and untimely death we all so truly

deploredour late respected and talented Frater , George Frank Gouly . He says : — "Your letter clears away some doubtful points in my mind , and I can frankly say that I am in full accord with your views , and trust that some day our American work may be corrected so as to conform more sensibly and harmoniously to the ancient Templar system . "

The subject which now particularly engages our attention is the action taken by Convent General in October and December last , which called forth my circular aud the protest issued in your name on tho 19 th March . While , owing to tho death of the Great Prior of England , ib has nofc yet been finally arranged , I am happy fco be able to inform you that the Great Sub . Prior is using

every means in his power to bring about a settlement , and has explained his views to me , which I am convinced , when laid before you , will bo concurred in as the only practical way of satisfying " all parties . Ifc is with pain I record the state of confusion into which the

Order has been thrown by the inconsiderate action of some of the English representatives at Convent General . This continued reopening of questions which should bo regarded as having been finally settled , is not calculated to raise respect for the Order , or for those who cannot rest content unless they have everything their own way .

What has taken place is the more to be regretted , as it shows that a certain section of the Order in England is leagued together to upset existing regulations , that had , before adoption , been under careful revision for a period of four or five years : and that the parties

composing it are embarked on a retrogade movement , with bnt little regard either to the history or the unity of the Order to which they belong . England , or this for the time dominant section of her Great Priory in Convent General , seems to ignore oar rights to a voice in these