The Archives Of The York Union Lodge.

" a lodge of Knights of the Holy Tabernacle of Jerusalem , " with its interlineations , and erasures , and proposed amendments , is still extant at York . That the Royal Arch degree and the Masonic Templar Order , were then entirely distinct , and

kept so purposely , is plain , from minutes of a Royal Arch Chapter , opened at Rotherham , in 1780 , and from the minutes of a Templar Lodge held the same day , and subsequently to the other . The warrants for both , and the minutes of both

are still preserved . There is also to be found a copy of a form of certificate , in which the four degrees are mentioned , and there is added "Knight Templar , " such a date . At this time , J . Browne was G . Secretary

of the York Grand Lodge , Grand Secretary of the Royal Arch , and Grand Secretary of the Templars , which naturally accounts for the simultaneous meeting and acknowledgement of these various separate organizations .

Both the York Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons , and the York Grand Lodge of Knights Templar met in the room of the York Grand Lodge , as it is expressly stated ; but neither Bro . Shaw , who is a Masonic Knight Templar ,

nor I , who am not , could find any formal link of union , as between the York Grand Lodge , on the one hand , and the Masonic Knights Templar on the other , further than those I have already noticed . There are two pages of accounts of the

Masonic Knight Templars , entirely distinct from those of Grand Lodge , and of the Grand Chapter , and if I remember rightly , in the hands of a different Treasurer . There is to be found at York , a curious ritual belonging to the " Order of Aaron

or Royal Union Band of Holy Royal Arch and Knights Templar Priests . " Itbegins / ''Thisgreatest andhighest order of Christian Masonry , which from its pre-eminence takes the title of Royal Union Band . "

This ritual is entirely distinct from '" that of the Royal Arch proper , and seems to be an Irish importation about 1809 . A most interesting MS . is also extant at York , containing the best explanation of the connection between the third degree

and the Royal Arch degree , which I have ever seen . There are many other documents and papers but I have mentioned or alluded to the most

important and the most interesting ; . - O There is , however , a box of unopened letters , which we were assured would shortly be examined , and I may have to trouble you , with the kind per-

The Archives Of The York Union Lodge.

mission of my York brethren , with another account . That numerous documents relating to Masonry still exist in York in private hands , at present inaccessible , which formerly belonged to the York Grand Lodge , is also more than probable .

We must hope that time and circumstances will yet restore them to the Order , and to the Lodge at York . In the meantime , let all Masons carefully note , and anxiously preserve all such documents as these , which the York Masons so

properly prize and guard ; as , if we are ever to have a true and correct history of Masonry it can only be , when we have collected a still larger amount of information and evidence than we at present possess .

The Unobtrusiveness Of Freemasonry.

THE UNOBTRUSIVENESS OF FREEMASONRY .

Thomas Carlyle writes in one of his essays : " Bees will not work except in darkness , —thought will not work except in silence , —neither will virtue work except in secrecy . " Here , in the quaint phrases of the English seer , have we a literal description of a most distinctive trait of Freemasonry . Modesty in the young maiden causes her to shun the stare which

greets her on the public thoroughfare , while in her innocence she disports herself with perfect freedom amid the privacies of home . So with the sterner ser , who are compelled by hard social necessities to battle with the rougher forms of every day life ; the virtue of brotherly love flourishes best in the mystic circle ,

into which none but tlie worthy are admitted . Occupied day after day in sustaining one or other of the conflicting interests of business , or constantly engaged in the fierce competitions which modern society engenders , the mind yearns for quiet , the heart longs for peace ; the whole man feels the need of relaxation ,

and therefore seeks in the lodge a retirement wherein his better nature may grow and expand . Thus silence and secrecy have become essential features in Freemasonry , defined as a system of morality , veiled in symbols , devoted to the cultivation of fraternal feelings among its adepts , and the contemplation of the great facts of nature upon which they seek to rear a system of universal truth .

Growing out of this tendency to retirement from the contests and controversies of business life , Masonry has ever illustrated , in the lives of its votaries , in whatever station in life appearing , another tendency , of which we would now more particularly treat , namely , unobtrusiveness . Freemasons are not

indifferent to their professions , neither is Freemasonry given up to latudinariamsin . It has its well defined doctrines regarding the principles of morality , to which the conduct of its followers must rigidly adhere , and to sustain which , intelligent Masons everywhere are well prepared with reason and argumentbutat

; , the same time , dogmatism , or the insolent protrusion of its doctrines into public notice , is at variance with that disposition with which its teachings endow its disciples . In this respect , Freemasonry affords an admirable contrast to the obtrusive tendency and con-