Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE "MARK DEGREE AND P . M . I do not know that there is any need for me to continue the discussion relative to the prerequisites for the Mark chair . Only let

it be . shown that the present law injuriously affects any lodge ( as a dispensing power is specially provided for ) , and I will join the present members in their attempts to procure its repeal .

The zealous Mason , Bro . James Stevens , even in seeking the change , states that the present S . W . of No . 104 Mark Lodge { not yet , or soon likely to be , a Master of a Craft lodge ) will , under the authority of the M . W .

Grand M . M . M ., be installed as the W . M . This , then , is a case in point . The present law and its dispensing power exactly meet

the wants of the lodge , and the brother will be installed , although not an installed Master of the Craft ! Then where is the grievance ?

I am not aware that the Mark Master ' s degree ( not the Mark Man ) was ever given as the intermediate stage between the F . C . and the MM . degrees . I have endeavoured

to make myself familiar with the history of Mark Masonry , and my investigations lead me to the opposite conclusion . W . J AMES HUGHAN , P . M . No 78 & c & cP . Prov . G . Sec . Cornwall

, , , , , Past Grand Overseer , & c .

THE GRAND CONCLAVE K . T . The only remedy now left to the independent members of the Order of the Temple , with respect to the illegal—I use the word advisedly—proceedings at the last

Grand Conclave , is to join in a requisition to the M . E . and S . G . Master to call a special Grand Conclave for their reversal . It is absurd to suppose that thirty or forty

gentlemen—members of an encampmentcan be deprived of the power of choosing their own associates in the Order for the future .

In fact , the secret object of those who framed the law seems to be to weaken , if not destroy , the Masonic Order of Knights Templar . Let all opposed to such despotism act therefore , and at once . A P . E . C .

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BRO . YARKER AND THE " HIGH DEGREES . " I beg to back up the remarks of Bro . " 333 ° , " at p . 297 , and not only " challenge , " but defy Bro . Yarker to produce real and substantial proof of several of the assertions

which he makes at page 283 . He made these assertions before , but , when challenged , his proof was non est ! I refer especially to what he says about things having existed in or before the first quarter

of last century . Bro . " 333 is assisting in a good work when he challenges proof of statements which he considers to be untrue . We have had far too many of these already , without getting any more . The principles

of Freemasonry seem to be one thing , the actions of Freemasons another ; at least , if we are to judge by the lies , forgeries , and impositions which are , and have been , concocted and promulgated by individuals

calling themselves "Freemasons , " but who , I venture to say , although " Freemasons " to outward appearance , are not so at heart . If they were allowed to go on unchecked , such a " mine " of explosive material would

soon be accumulated in and around our system as , if once set fire to by one living spark from the torch of truth , our Order might be buried in the conflagration of the

rubbish which surrounded it . I trust , however , that all lovers of the truth—and these , it will yet be found , are the real friends of our Order—will unite in scatter-

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ing to the winds the " rubbish " which men calling themselves " brethren " seek to pass off as " gold . " I would therefore respectfully request Bro . Yarker to be careful , and not to allow

himself to be either imposed upon , or to be made the tool of unprincipled and designing men . I am sorry to have to differ with some of my- brethren whom I esteem , but the truth ought to be paramount . W . P . B .

A Few Ideas On Masonic Organisation.

A FEW IDEAS ON MASONIC ORGANISATION .

BY A ROYAL ARCH MASON . The letter of the Empress of the French recently published , contains one sentence full of serious import , viz ., " It will be necessary to prove that you have ideas and not expedients . " Ideas , after all , are those fertile seeds , of

unpretentious aspect , which we may pick up with the point of a bodkin , like Carathis ( " Vathek , " ) but which contain the germs of trees , affording protection and sustenance to many , and even fortune to a favoured few .

Of such ideas is the system of Freemasonry , based on a few simple and expansive principles , that require only judicious culture , to raise into the scriptural shade of the fig tree , where man may enjoy the fruits of his labour , undisturbed by the ambition of warring tribes .

But Freemasonry is something more . It is the leaven ofthe middle-class—that class in which are found the flourishing oflshoots of the lower orders , and the decayed branches of the upper ; that sphere of action in which brute force is repelled and struggling merit fostered—the class of " solution not revolution . "

The observer of " times and seasons may perhaps remark , that the defect of Masonry is its esoteric character ; and this we are not prepared immediately to deny . But Masonry is of so elastic a constitution , that it may not be premature to say that it is capable of any expansion ,

suitable to the exigencies of the times . Unity of organisation is that of which , at present , it stands in most need ; and the details of such a reform , as should bring about the desirable object , we need not stay to discuss , but at once proceed to one of the many questions that will

arise m contemplating so momentous a subject . The truth seems to be that the Masonic body is at present scarcely fully aware of its own power and resources , and were these combined in the cause of progress , it would be difficult to over-estimate their value .

Opulent , intellectual , energetic , combining at once the highest legislative and executive qualifications in its vast confraternity , it is , nevertheless , exposed to absorption by the political parties with which it comes into contact , and is thus regarded , too much , as a speculative , whereas it

is , in truth , or at any rate has the elements of , a large governing body . Were this powerful body fully organised , it would form a counterpoise , by the obligations of its bond urged at certain popular assemblies , to any one of the estates of the realm , which should attempt to exert an undue influence over the

others . Democracy would feel the corrective force of its precisely discriminative grades , while aristocracy would pause before its tenets of moral supremacy , which inculcate a cosmopolitan EQUALITY ; and both would be unable to deny the force of that bond of brotherly love which makes creeds and churches , Whigs and Tories , with all the other distinctions that are known in

politics , reconcile their differences in the furtherance of a common object—the prevention of violence , the protection of the weak , the coercion of tyranny , and the expansion of that world-wide charity which " covereth a multitude of sins . " But the Masonic body works only in the

cause of humanity by its moral influence , and , so far , it does well ; but the signs of the times are such as to demand our adopting every possible means of defensive cohesion ; and , in order to effect this object , we ought to employ such material means as are in our power to ensure

A Few Ideas On Masonic Organisation.

unity of action in the conservation of society , and to enable us , in any moment of trial or danger , to separate ourselves from other interests , and rally round those traditions which have made us respected , and have raised us above the level of the merefactiouist .

Nothing being impossible , a time might come when it would be desirable for the scattered Masonic body to coalesce , for the object of selfprotection and the preservation of the public peace . But in crowded assemblies of the people it would not be possible to distinguish a brother

of the Craft from the general mass , and therefore , instead of the present ordinary full-dress costumes recognised in lodges , it might be well to substitute some special uniform , not essentially military , but so completely distinctive as should mark its wearer in any throng as one of the initiated .

The suggestion of uniform may be by association repugnant to some minds ; but were not the hauberk of the Norman and the surcoat of the Crusader " uniform , " and is not likewise the clerical gown and the judicial robe in the same category ?

A simple , effective , and easily distinguishable costume or uniform might be , with advantage , adopted by the Maasonic body , to be worn only on urgent and public occasions ; and as regards Masonic decorations , it might not be unadvisable to restrict these to special services , rather than to

grades , leaving to the latter the simple distinction of some sumptuary variation . It were premature to develop the details of the present proposal , which is merely put forth as an idea ; but the idea is , itself , akin to expediency , and though it may never attain to ¦

maturity , still it may have the effect of drawing our attention to that spirit of organisation which now appears to be paramount in the direction of political affairs , and consequently ought not to be a stranger to our own . Freemasonry , in a liberal sense , is essentially

a co / iscneatwe institution , and , as such , may be said to be one of the most powerful bulwarks of the middle classes , divested at the same time of any element of cxclusivism . Its privileges are attainable by such qualifications as inspire respect in every well-ordered social community ,

and to this cause may be attributed the widespread influence of its elastic organisation . As a governing class , Freemasons are not open to the attacks which shake the foundations of others in tlie same category ; and experience has shown that , constituted as they are , the

bitter sarcasm of the Swedish statesman Oxenstiern , that " men are often exalted by their worst qualities , and depressed by their best , " can never be applicable . But while preserving inviolate our

fundamental doctrines , the course of public events and the changes of the times may legitimately exercise their influence on those ceremonial and , so to speak , sumptuary laws , which are removed from the sphere of moral considerations .

Thus , a more uniform system in the government of lodges might be adopted with a salutary effect—considering that unity is one of the surest safeguards in the preservation of all bodies corporate ; and as history has frequently inculcated the lesson , we may readily believe that

this principle alone has often sustained a social eclipse ( to say nothing of a political ) long after all its extraneous supports have given way . Such fears , however , do not belong to Freemasonry ; but , at the same time , we ought not alone to consider what is absolutely necessary , but also

what may be beneficial . Other questions at the same time arise , such as that lately propounded in these columns as to the use of the apron and gloves , and we add the appropriation of Masonic jewels and honoiary decorations , and an uniformity in the costume of Masons when assembled in lodge or on public

. With regard to the apron especially , immemorial usage seems to be in its favour , and we would not inconsiderately advocate any radical change in that direction , for it has often been observed that an undue interference with any custom , perhaps in itself not an essential , has often produced consequences the most serious