Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LlADIRS , , 649 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Somersetshire OjO Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham 630 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of North and
East Yorkshire 6 go IV . —Constitutions of 1567-69 . and 17 J 6 ... bti Truro Cathedral 651 Reviews 632 REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry G 33 Instruction 655 Roval Arch 656
REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—Mark Masonry 656 Red Cross of Constantine ,. 6 57 Ancient and Accepted Rite 6 57 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 658 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 658
Grand Council of the Allied Degrees 658 The Influence of Masonic Teachings versus Freemasonry on the Wane 658 * ' Ladies' Evening " of the Skelmersdale Lodge , No . 1658 6 ^ 9 Obituary 659 Masonic and General Tidings 659 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 66 a
Ar00101
THERE may , perhaps , be some differences of opinion as to the sufficiency of the honour which the QUEEN has been advised to confer on Bro . Alderman STAPLES on his retirement from the Chief Magistracy of London , but all will agree that he has deserved well of his sovereign and the city he presided over with so much ability and geniality during the past year .
His time of office may not have been as eventful as some we have known , but it has not passed without leaving behind it some worthy memorials which will justify its challenging honourable comparison with the Mayoralties of his predecessors . Thus , the Prince of WALES , asher MAJESTY ' S representative , drove the first pile of the new Tower Bridge during its continuance ,
while the splendid monotony of Mansion House Festivities was varied for once in the way by the entertainment of many of our chief Colonial and Indian notabilities , when visiting this country in connection with the Exhibition at South Kensington . Nor was the even tenourof Bro . STATLES ' S administration otherwise quite undistinguished . The terrible distress which
prevailed last winter among the unemployed was relieved under his auspices , and at very insignificant cost , to the extent of close on ^ 80 , 000 ; the Hospital Sunday Fund collected during his Mayoralty was the largest as yet known , and a new recreation ground at Highgate has been opened to the use of the public for ever . These are the memorials which in future
years will be associated with Bro . Lord Mayor STAPLES ' S year of office , and he has all the greater reason to be proud of them from the benevolence of their character in the case of some , and in that of others from their connection with works of great public utility . In any circumstances , his fellow citizens of London and the general public have resolved that Bro .
Alderman STAPLES acquitted himself most honourably in his administration of the duties of his late exalted position , and the Q UEEN , as the fountain of honour , has endorsed that resolution by creating him a Knight Commander of the distinguished Order of St . Michael and St . George , an order of
knighthood which of late years has been conferred only on public men who have rendered service in or to the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown . We congratulate Bro . Alderman Sir J STAPLES , K . C . M . G ., on the honour conferred upon him , and trust he may be spared many years to enjoy it .
To " Welcome the coming , speed the parting guest" is in the main an agreeable duty . The departure of one who , like Bro . Sir J STAPLES , has laid himself out to please , is naturally to be regretted , but the feeling of regret is alleviated , if not obliterated , by the knowledge that his sojourn was a source of pleasure to all around , and that his presence as a guest ,
though not in the same exalted position , may be looked forward toon future occasions with a tolerable degree of certainty . Bro . Alderman Sir R . HANSON , now Lord Mayor of London , as " the coming guest , " will probably receive all the heartier welcome from thc great popularity of his immediate predecessor . Indeed , his friends and brother Masons , including Bro . Sir
J STAPLES himself , are naturallyanxious that , for the sake of the exalted office he holds , and in the interests of the city he presides over as Chief Magistrate , he may prove as diligent in the performance of his many arduous functions , and as jealous for the honour of Old and New London
as the best and brightest of those who have gone before . He has certainly begun well , and we have no doubt will be as worthily and heartily congratulated on laying down his office as the kindly and able brother Mason and brother Alderman he has just succeeded .
# » THAT Bro . A . M . BROADLEY has deserved well of the Drury Lane Lodge is beyond question . As our readers are aware , it has not completed the first year of its existence , and yet there are few lodges of even older standing which have achieved such brilliant results as that which meets
within the walls of Old Drury . It is already strongly set both as regards Ihe number and status of its members , it works regularly and well , and it has played its part admirably during the Festival campaign of the current year . To these results Bro . BROADLEY , as Hon . Sec , has largely , perhaps we mi ght venture to say principally , contributed , and it is not surprising that
Ar00102
the officers and members should have taken an early opportunity of exhibiting their appreciation of his help , by deciding to present him with a handsome testimonial of plate , the intrinsic value of which will be considerable , but which will be chiefly acceptable from the kind and fraternal feelings which have prompted its presentation . We congratulate Bro . BROADLEY on the receipt of a gift he has laboured so consistently and successfully to deserve .
* * * VVE shall be curious to hear what Quebec and its supporters may have to say as to the course pursued by the Grand Encampment ' of Knights Templar of the United States at its recent triennial meeting at St . Louis , with reference to the question of jurisdiction pending between the Great Priory of Canada
and the Scottish Templar Encampments in New Brunswick . The question , as our readers are aware , is not quite on all fours with that contained in the dispute between the Grand Lodge of Quebec and our three Anglo-Montreal Lodges . The Scottish New Brunswick Encampments havealwaysbeen outside the authority of the Great Priory of Canada , which now claims jurisdiction
over them , but the Anglo-Montreal lodges were part and parcel of that English Canadian Freemasonry , from whijh were in great part formed , in the first place , the Grand Lodge of Canada , and then , through it , the Grand Lodge of Quebec . However , the analogy is close enough for us to see our way clear to applying to both the same general principles of common
sense . Thus , if the Grand Encampment has not considered itself justified in declaring clandestine the Scottish Templar Encampments of New Brunswick , which never had anything to do with the Great Priory of Canada , it fortiori , must the Grand Bodies of America declare the Anglo-Montreal lodges , which were formerly an integral part of Canadian Masonry , be
nonclandestine likewise . Hence the Grand Lodges of America which sympathise with Quebec are between the horns of this dilemma . If , as some of them have done already , they pronounce the three Anglo-Montreal lodges clandestine , then the Grand Lodges of Canada and Quebec , which were originally constituted in chief part by lodges created by the same Supreme
Authority as the Anglo-Montreal lodges , must also be clandestine . If , however , the said Anglo-Montreal lodges are not clandestine , but derive their warrants from a legally-constituted Grand Lodge- and no one has yet had
the hardihood to deny the legal position of the United Grand Lodge of England—then they are well . within the compass of their rights in pursuing the course they have adopted . Here is another nut for our friend the Canadian Craftsman to crack .
* # * WE referred some time ago to the position that the Mark occupies amongst the recognised Masonic Degrees under the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The matter has again been considered by that Body . Thc Grand Committee has ruled that " it is incompetent , under the Scottish Constitution , to work
the Mark in so-called Mark lodges with office-bearers other than those of the Craft lodge , & c , also that the Degree shall be conferred on Master Masons as a section of that of the Fellow Craft , and that all such admissions
to the Mark shall be recorded in the ordinary minute book of the lodge . Further , that it is competent to lodges [ Craft ] to give the Mark to regularly recorded Master Masons of other lodges under thc Scottish Constitution , as well as to their own qualified members . "
* # THE position of the Scottish Mark Degree , or ceremony , is thus unique . It is recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland , the subordinates of which are permitted to work the Degree , so long as the Craft minute book is used for its records , and Master Masons of Scottish lodges are eligible for
" advancement , " even in lodges to which they do not subscribe as members . The fiction of its being a " section of the Fellow Craft" is still persisted in , but that is not of much moment . Then the Mark Degree is recognised by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland , it being a necessary prerequisite for " exaltation ; " and , the two Grand Bodies having agreed to work
the same ritual , should a Mark Master of a Scottish lodge desire to join a Royal Arch Chapter , his being in possession of the Degree thus conferred in a Craft lodge renders it urnecessary for him " to take it a second time "; so that the Grand Lodge and the Grand Chapter work most amicably together though they both exercise jurisdiction over Mark Masonry in Scotland .
* * * HAD it not been for the " Articles of Union , " it is just possible a somewhat similar arrangement would have prevailed in this country , but a' * it is , the Mark Degree cannot be actually recognised by the Grand Lodge of England .
It has , however , all the recognition that is desirable by H . R . H . the Prince of WALES being the Grand Master of both Organisations . We fail to see what more can possibly be wanted , and have little palience with those who rail at " unrecognised Degrees , " yet would tolerate any ceremony which obtained recognition , however modern , useless , or un-Masonic i . * . character .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LlADIRS , , 649 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Somersetshire OjO Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham 630 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of North and
East Yorkshire 6 go IV . —Constitutions of 1567-69 . and 17 J 6 ... bti Truro Cathedral 651 Reviews 632 REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry G 33 Instruction 655 Roval Arch 656
REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—Mark Masonry 656 Red Cross of Constantine ,. 6 57 Ancient and Accepted Rite 6 57 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 658 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 658
Grand Council of the Allied Degrees 658 The Influence of Masonic Teachings versus Freemasonry on the Wane 658 * ' Ladies' Evening " of the Skelmersdale Lodge , No . 1658 6 ^ 9 Obituary 659 Masonic and General Tidings 659 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 66 a
Ar00101
THERE may , perhaps , be some differences of opinion as to the sufficiency of the honour which the QUEEN has been advised to confer on Bro . Alderman STAPLES on his retirement from the Chief Magistracy of London , but all will agree that he has deserved well of his sovereign and the city he presided over with so much ability and geniality during the past year .
His time of office may not have been as eventful as some we have known , but it has not passed without leaving behind it some worthy memorials which will justify its challenging honourable comparison with the Mayoralties of his predecessors . Thus , the Prince of WALES , asher MAJESTY ' S representative , drove the first pile of the new Tower Bridge during its continuance ,
while the splendid monotony of Mansion House Festivities was varied for once in the way by the entertainment of many of our chief Colonial and Indian notabilities , when visiting this country in connection with the Exhibition at South Kensington . Nor was the even tenourof Bro . STATLES ' S administration otherwise quite undistinguished . The terrible distress which
prevailed last winter among the unemployed was relieved under his auspices , and at very insignificant cost , to the extent of close on ^ 80 , 000 ; the Hospital Sunday Fund collected during his Mayoralty was the largest as yet known , and a new recreation ground at Highgate has been opened to the use of the public for ever . These are the memorials which in future
years will be associated with Bro . Lord Mayor STAPLES ' S year of office , and he has all the greater reason to be proud of them from the benevolence of their character in the case of some , and in that of others from their connection with works of great public utility . In any circumstances , his fellow citizens of London and the general public have resolved that Bro .
Alderman STAPLES acquitted himself most honourably in his administration of the duties of his late exalted position , and the Q UEEN , as the fountain of honour , has endorsed that resolution by creating him a Knight Commander of the distinguished Order of St . Michael and St . George , an order of
knighthood which of late years has been conferred only on public men who have rendered service in or to the Colonies and Dependencies of the British Crown . We congratulate Bro . Alderman Sir J STAPLES , K . C . M . G ., on the honour conferred upon him , and trust he may be spared many years to enjoy it .
To " Welcome the coming , speed the parting guest" is in the main an agreeable duty . The departure of one who , like Bro . Sir J STAPLES , has laid himself out to please , is naturally to be regretted , but the feeling of regret is alleviated , if not obliterated , by the knowledge that his sojourn was a source of pleasure to all around , and that his presence as a guest ,
though not in the same exalted position , may be looked forward toon future occasions with a tolerable degree of certainty . Bro . Alderman Sir R . HANSON , now Lord Mayor of London , as " the coming guest , " will probably receive all the heartier welcome from thc great popularity of his immediate predecessor . Indeed , his friends and brother Masons , including Bro . Sir
J STAPLES himself , are naturallyanxious that , for the sake of the exalted office he holds , and in the interests of the city he presides over as Chief Magistrate , he may prove as diligent in the performance of his many arduous functions , and as jealous for the honour of Old and New London
as the best and brightest of those who have gone before . He has certainly begun well , and we have no doubt will be as worthily and heartily congratulated on laying down his office as the kindly and able brother Mason and brother Alderman he has just succeeded .
# » THAT Bro . A . M . BROADLEY has deserved well of the Drury Lane Lodge is beyond question . As our readers are aware , it has not completed the first year of its existence , and yet there are few lodges of even older standing which have achieved such brilliant results as that which meets
within the walls of Old Drury . It is already strongly set both as regards Ihe number and status of its members , it works regularly and well , and it has played its part admirably during the Festival campaign of the current year . To these results Bro . BROADLEY , as Hon . Sec , has largely , perhaps we mi ght venture to say principally , contributed , and it is not surprising that
Ar00102
the officers and members should have taken an early opportunity of exhibiting their appreciation of his help , by deciding to present him with a handsome testimonial of plate , the intrinsic value of which will be considerable , but which will be chiefly acceptable from the kind and fraternal feelings which have prompted its presentation . We congratulate Bro . BROADLEY on the receipt of a gift he has laboured so consistently and successfully to deserve .
* * * VVE shall be curious to hear what Quebec and its supporters may have to say as to the course pursued by the Grand Encampment ' of Knights Templar of the United States at its recent triennial meeting at St . Louis , with reference to the question of jurisdiction pending between the Great Priory of Canada
and the Scottish Templar Encampments in New Brunswick . The question , as our readers are aware , is not quite on all fours with that contained in the dispute between the Grand Lodge of Quebec and our three Anglo-Montreal Lodges . The Scottish New Brunswick Encampments havealwaysbeen outside the authority of the Great Priory of Canada , which now claims jurisdiction
over them , but the Anglo-Montreal lodges were part and parcel of that English Canadian Freemasonry , from whijh were in great part formed , in the first place , the Grand Lodge of Canada , and then , through it , the Grand Lodge of Quebec . However , the analogy is close enough for us to see our way clear to applying to both the same general principles of common
sense . Thus , if the Grand Encampment has not considered itself justified in declaring clandestine the Scottish Templar Encampments of New Brunswick , which never had anything to do with the Great Priory of Canada , it fortiori , must the Grand Bodies of America declare the Anglo-Montreal lodges , which were formerly an integral part of Canadian Masonry , be
nonclandestine likewise . Hence the Grand Lodges of America which sympathise with Quebec are between the horns of this dilemma . If , as some of them have done already , they pronounce the three Anglo-Montreal lodges clandestine , then the Grand Lodges of Canada and Quebec , which were originally constituted in chief part by lodges created by the same Supreme
Authority as the Anglo-Montreal lodges , must also be clandestine . If , however , the said Anglo-Montreal lodges are not clandestine , but derive their warrants from a legally-constituted Grand Lodge- and no one has yet had
the hardihood to deny the legal position of the United Grand Lodge of England—then they are well . within the compass of their rights in pursuing the course they have adopted . Here is another nut for our friend the Canadian Craftsman to crack .
* # * WE referred some time ago to the position that the Mark occupies amongst the recognised Masonic Degrees under the Grand Lodge of Scotland . The matter has again been considered by that Body . Thc Grand Committee has ruled that " it is incompetent , under the Scottish Constitution , to work
the Mark in so-called Mark lodges with office-bearers other than those of the Craft lodge , & c , also that the Degree shall be conferred on Master Masons as a section of that of the Fellow Craft , and that all such admissions
to the Mark shall be recorded in the ordinary minute book of the lodge . Further , that it is competent to lodges [ Craft ] to give the Mark to regularly recorded Master Masons of other lodges under thc Scottish Constitution , as well as to their own qualified members . "
* # THE position of the Scottish Mark Degree , or ceremony , is thus unique . It is recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland , the subordinates of which are permitted to work the Degree , so long as the Craft minute book is used for its records , and Master Masons of Scottish lodges are eligible for
" advancement , " even in lodges to which they do not subscribe as members . The fiction of its being a " section of the Fellow Craft" is still persisted in , but that is not of much moment . Then the Mark Degree is recognised by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland , it being a necessary prerequisite for " exaltation ; " and , the two Grand Bodies having agreed to work
the same ritual , should a Mark Master of a Scottish lodge desire to join a Royal Arch Chapter , his being in possession of the Degree thus conferred in a Craft lodge renders it urnecessary for him " to take it a second time "; so that the Grand Lodge and the Grand Chapter work most amicably together though they both exercise jurisdiction over Mark Masonry in Scotland .
* * * HAD it not been for the " Articles of Union , " it is just possible a somewhat similar arrangement would have prevailed in this country , but a' * it is , the Mark Degree cannot be actually recognised by the Grand Lodge of England .
It has , however , all the recognition that is desirable by H . R . H . the Prince of WALES being the Grand Master of both Organisations . We fail to see what more can possibly be wanted , and have little palience with those who rail at " unrecognised Degrees , " yet would tolerate any ceremony which obtained recognition , however modern , useless , or un-Masonic i . * . character .