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  • Jan. 4, 1868
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Jan. 4, 1868: Page 14

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    Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.

are received as members ofthe various incorporations of to-day . 16 . Those gentlemen , notwithstanding their un-onerative character , received the degrees of Apprentice and Fellow Craft , and even accepted the office of Deacon or ruler of a lodge . 17 . When the lodges of Scotland became purely speculative is not easily decided . 18 . The influence of the Grand

Lodge of England , established A . D . 1717 , was felt far and wide before the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed . 19 . As a degree , the Master Mason was not known before the 18 th century . 20 . The Masonic student will find that such terms as Grand Master , Grand LodgeThird Degreeand Royal Arch are all

, , of the 18 th century . 21 . The lodge which Ashmole visited in London , March 10 th , " 1682 , for certain knew nothing of Freemasonry as we have it now . 22 . After a series of extended researches , Bro . H . fully endorses the opinion that , before A . D . 1717 , no

trace of Freemasonry , apart from its operative nature or connections , can be found . 23 . Bro . H . concludes the first part of his analysis by a few examples of the Christian character of the Craft . 24 . The Grand Lodge of England and all the other Grand Lodges are derived from this Craft . 25 . Although holding the opinion that Masonry is of a Christian oriin

g , Bro . II . does not find any evidence to warrant the belief that chivalry was connected with it , or materially assisted in its preservation during the dark ages . 26 . The prayers of the Craft abundantly prove that the Christian religion was held in great veneration by the Fraternity all over the globe . 27 . After

stating certain facts— "these aud similar facts , " says Bro . Ii ., "tend strongly to confirm us in the belief of the present society of Freemasons having ori ginally been formed out of , or on the basis of , operative Masonry . —C . P . COOPER . "

MASONIC SEABS AND MEDALS , ETC . My friend audBro . A . 0 . Haye , Edinburgh , is making a collection of the above , and would feel obliged if brethren would favour him with anything curious or of value of this department . I am sure it need only be made known that so eminent a Mason as Bro .

Haye is preparing subject matter for our future benefit in reference to lodge seals and their liiatorv , to ensure a ready response to his request . —W . J . HUGHAN ,

THE PARSEES . A brother will find the report of the President and Yice-President of the Colonial Board , respecting which he inquires , Freemasons' Magazine , vol . xi ., page 408 . —C . P . COOPER .

THE ROYAL ARCH . Bro . , " A Masonic Student , " in your number of the Magazine of the 2 Sth ult ., has favoured me with some of his views as to the antiquity of the Royal Arch degree , and thinks his investigation would tend to exalt the Royal Arch , and lead him to exactly the opposite conclusion to the writer .

Accordingly , I have carefully read his communication , but have been unable to discover anything to invalidate the statements made in the "History of the Royal Arch , " by the learned Mason the late Rev . Bro . Dr . Oliver , nor does there seem to be one argument used b y the Masonic student that would

prove this degree to have been in existence before-A D . 1740 . The name does not occur in Freemasonry before the eighteenth century , the Grand Lodge of England refused to recognise it until the nineteenth ; century , and the Grand Lodge of Scotland and . numerous other Grand Lodges still consider it foreign to ancient Freemasonry , and exclude it from

their list of recognised degrees . It is also generally admitted by those who are familiar with the sublime ,, ineffable degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite that the Royal Arch is in some respects a copy from one or more of those degrees , and that , even at onetimethe ceremonies contained iu the Royal Arch ,

, were , beyond question , considerably indebted to the 13 ° for its most imposing parts , in proof of which I refer the Masonic student to either of the editionsof Dr . Oliver ' s work . My inquiries have had reference simply to the antiquity of the degree in question ; aud in no sense do I desire to lessen

itsvalue or its teachings , but , as a Royal Arch Mason , would endeavour to see it placed in its proper position —viz ., a modern degree . I quite agree with "A Masonic Student" that the question turns on the actual extent of the mutilation or development of

the third degree ; but when we remember that the oldest rituals say nothing of the Royal Arch , thattheir ceremonies ( save as to the word ) are almost wholly different to it , and that those lodges which , continue even still to work the old system abroad ' practise a rite entirely foreign to the English Royal Arch ( excepting in the one instance referred to ) , we

feel bound to state that the mutilation must , indeed , be very complete . I should like very much to be favoured with any numismatic evidence of the antiquity of the second part of the degree , coeval with the operative lodge of York Masons , certainly in the fifteenth century . Bro . J . G . Findel and myself have both been to York on purpose to discover such

evidence ; aud although all the records aud other historians of the lodge have been freely placed at ourdisposal , we have been unable to trace even the thirddegree before the Grand Lodge of England at Londonwas established in 17 L 7 ( as a secret or separate degree ) . What evidence is there that the symbolism and

traditions of the Royal Arch are old , i . e ., beyond thelast century ? None , in the opinion of a number of Masons who have made this matter their careful study aud mature reflection .

How much Dermottwas connected with the origin of the degree we know not . He states in the preface to the third edition " Ahiman Rezon , " p . 29 ,. that he was first introduced into that society in 1748 ( i . e ., modern Masonry ) ; and it must be admitted , that he owed bis success as an innovator of the Royal Arch degreewhich the real ancient Grand Lodge had

, not at first , but which some of its members soon after obtained , formed themselves into a Grand Chapter , and'bscame a formidable rival to a similar body formed by the seceders , resulting ultimately in-. the union ofthe two Grand Lodges in A . D . 1813 , and . of the united Grand Chapter subsequentl "A

y . Masonic Student ' ' refers me to the last edition of the "Royal Arch" by Dr . Oliver , wherein , however , the learned writer substantially makes the samestatements as in the first edition of A . D . 1847 . In the latter , page 20 , he says , " The degree is too in-

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1868-01-04, Page 14” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 5 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_04011868/page/14/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
ADDRESS TO OUR READERS. Article 3
Untitled Article 5
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. Article 9
CHAPTER XII. Article 10
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 13
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 15
MASONIC BANQUETS. Article 15
LOOSENESS IN MASONRY. Article 16
THE FIRE AT HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Article 16
MASONIC MEM. Article 17
METROPOLITAN. Article 17
PROVINCIAL. Article 17
SCOTLAND. Article 23
CHANNEL ISLANDS. Article 27
ROYAL ARCH. Article 27
MARK MASONRY. Article 27
KNIGHTS OF THE RED CROSS OF CONSTANTINE. Article 28
MASONIC FESTIVITIES. Article 28
Untitled Article 28
METROPOLITAN LODGE MEETINGS, ETC., FOR Article 28
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 28
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masonic Notes And Queries.

are received as members ofthe various incorporations of to-day . 16 . Those gentlemen , notwithstanding their un-onerative character , received the degrees of Apprentice and Fellow Craft , and even accepted the office of Deacon or ruler of a lodge . 17 . When the lodges of Scotland became purely speculative is not easily decided . 18 . The influence of the Grand

Lodge of England , established A . D . 1717 , was felt far and wide before the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed . 19 . As a degree , the Master Mason was not known before the 18 th century . 20 . The Masonic student will find that such terms as Grand Master , Grand LodgeThird Degreeand Royal Arch are all

, , of the 18 th century . 21 . The lodge which Ashmole visited in London , March 10 th , " 1682 , for certain knew nothing of Freemasonry as we have it now . 22 . After a series of extended researches , Bro . H . fully endorses the opinion that , before A . D . 1717 , no

trace of Freemasonry , apart from its operative nature or connections , can be found . 23 . Bro . H . concludes the first part of his analysis by a few examples of the Christian character of the Craft . 24 . The Grand Lodge of England and all the other Grand Lodges are derived from this Craft . 25 . Although holding the opinion that Masonry is of a Christian oriin

g , Bro . II . does not find any evidence to warrant the belief that chivalry was connected with it , or materially assisted in its preservation during the dark ages . 26 . The prayers of the Craft abundantly prove that the Christian religion was held in great veneration by the Fraternity all over the globe . 27 . After

stating certain facts— "these aud similar facts , " says Bro . Ii ., "tend strongly to confirm us in the belief of the present society of Freemasons having ori ginally been formed out of , or on the basis of , operative Masonry . —C . P . COOPER . "

MASONIC SEABS AND MEDALS , ETC . My friend audBro . A . 0 . Haye , Edinburgh , is making a collection of the above , and would feel obliged if brethren would favour him with anything curious or of value of this department . I am sure it need only be made known that so eminent a Mason as Bro .

Haye is preparing subject matter for our future benefit in reference to lodge seals and their liiatorv , to ensure a ready response to his request . —W . J . HUGHAN ,

THE PARSEES . A brother will find the report of the President and Yice-President of the Colonial Board , respecting which he inquires , Freemasons' Magazine , vol . xi ., page 408 . —C . P . COOPER .

THE ROYAL ARCH . Bro . , " A Masonic Student , " in your number of the Magazine of the 2 Sth ult ., has favoured me with some of his views as to the antiquity of the Royal Arch degree , and thinks his investigation would tend to exalt the Royal Arch , and lead him to exactly the opposite conclusion to the writer .

Accordingly , I have carefully read his communication , but have been unable to discover anything to invalidate the statements made in the "History of the Royal Arch , " by the learned Mason the late Rev . Bro . Dr . Oliver , nor does there seem to be one argument used b y the Masonic student that would

prove this degree to have been in existence before-A D . 1740 . The name does not occur in Freemasonry before the eighteenth century , the Grand Lodge of England refused to recognise it until the nineteenth ; century , and the Grand Lodge of Scotland and . numerous other Grand Lodges still consider it foreign to ancient Freemasonry , and exclude it from

their list of recognised degrees . It is also generally admitted by those who are familiar with the sublime ,, ineffable degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite that the Royal Arch is in some respects a copy from one or more of those degrees , and that , even at onetimethe ceremonies contained iu the Royal Arch ,

, were , beyond question , considerably indebted to the 13 ° for its most imposing parts , in proof of which I refer the Masonic student to either of the editionsof Dr . Oliver ' s work . My inquiries have had reference simply to the antiquity of the degree in question ; aud in no sense do I desire to lessen

itsvalue or its teachings , but , as a Royal Arch Mason , would endeavour to see it placed in its proper position —viz ., a modern degree . I quite agree with "A Masonic Student" that the question turns on the actual extent of the mutilation or development of

the third degree ; but when we remember that the oldest rituals say nothing of the Royal Arch , thattheir ceremonies ( save as to the word ) are almost wholly different to it , and that those lodges which , continue even still to work the old system abroad ' practise a rite entirely foreign to the English Royal Arch ( excepting in the one instance referred to ) , we

feel bound to state that the mutilation must , indeed , be very complete . I should like very much to be favoured with any numismatic evidence of the antiquity of the second part of the degree , coeval with the operative lodge of York Masons , certainly in the fifteenth century . Bro . J . G . Findel and myself have both been to York on purpose to discover such

evidence ; aud although all the records aud other historians of the lodge have been freely placed at ourdisposal , we have been unable to trace even the thirddegree before the Grand Lodge of England at Londonwas established in 17 L 7 ( as a secret or separate degree ) . What evidence is there that the symbolism and

traditions of the Royal Arch are old , i . e ., beyond thelast century ? None , in the opinion of a number of Masons who have made this matter their careful study aud mature reflection .

How much Dermottwas connected with the origin of the degree we know not . He states in the preface to the third edition " Ahiman Rezon , " p . 29 ,. that he was first introduced into that society in 1748 ( i . e ., modern Masonry ) ; and it must be admitted , that he owed bis success as an innovator of the Royal Arch degreewhich the real ancient Grand Lodge had

, not at first , but which some of its members soon after obtained , formed themselves into a Grand Chapter , and'bscame a formidable rival to a similar body formed by the seceders , resulting ultimately in-. the union ofthe two Grand Lodges in A . D . 1813 , and . of the united Grand Chapter subsequentl "A

y . Masonic Student ' ' refers me to the last edition of the "Royal Arch" by Dr . Oliver , wherein , however , the learned writer substantially makes the samestatements as in the first edition of A . D . 1847 . In the latter , page 20 , he says , " The degree is too in-

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