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Article QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION OF UNITED GRAND LODGE. ← Page 2 of 2 Article Notes For Masonic Students. Page 1 of 1 Article Notes For Masonic Students. Page 1 of 1
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Quarterly Communication Of United Grand Lodge.
blue ribbon , four inches broad , with silver braid a quarter of an inch wide in tho centre . " Rules 307 and 308 will then remain as they wero before December 1886 , with the omission of tho words " Past Masters" in tho fourth line of 308 .
With respect to Rule 75 , the Board recommend that the mode of counting the Votes on a Division be left to tho discretion of tho Grand Director of Ceremonies ' , and that , therefore , all the words in that Rule after the word '' coudncte l" be erased , and tho following words substituted—" under the ) direction of tho Grand Director of Ceremonies . "
To the report is subjoined a statement of the Grind Lodge Accounts , at the last meeting of the Finance Committee , held on Friday , the 12 th day of An » ust inst ., showing a balance iu the Bank
of England ( Western Branch ) of £ 5 , 007 In 3 d , and in tho hands of the Grand Secretary for Petty Cash £ 100 , and for Servants ' Wages £ 100 , and balance of annual allowance for Library '; £ 25 6 s 3 d . ( Signed ) THOMAS FENN ,
President . FKKEMASONS' HALL , LONDON , W . C . 16 th August 1887 . The Annual Report of tho Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and tho Widows of Freemasons , dated 20 oh May 1887 , will be laid before Grand Lodge .
List of Lodges for which warrants have oeen granted by the Most Worship ful Grand Master since the last Quarterl y Communication of Grand Lodge . No . 2205—The Pegasus Lodge , Gravesond , Kent . 2206—The Hendon Lodge , Hendon .
2207—The Blackall Lodgo , Maekall , Queensland . 2208—The Horsa Lodge , Bournetnonth , Hampshire . 2209—Tho Brighton Lodge , Brighton , Victoria . 2210—The Star of the Bast Lodgo of Oueo , O uoo , Victoria .
2211—The Albeit Victor Lodge , Clifton Hill , Victoria . 2212—The Rupanyup Lodge , Rupauyup , Victoria . 2213—The Daylosford Lodge of St . George , Daylcsford , Victoria . 2214—The Josiah Weclgford Lodge , Etruria , Staffordshire .
N . B . —The Revised Edition of the Book of Constitutions , 1884 , may bo obtained at the Grand Secretary ' s Office , in 8 vo , price ls Od a copy , bound in cloth . The " Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket Rook " for 1887 cau be had at the Grand Secretary ' s Olli _ e , freemasons ' Hall , London , price 2 s , bound in rosin .
Notes For Masonic Students.
Notes For Masonic Students .
THR PATENT OF STEPHEN _ MOIUX . THE result of much consideration on this topic seems then to b that Stephen Morin ' s Patent , was tho " output" of a jnir . _ Hiyh Grade movement , and in no way mixed up with the movement- or di-cnssions , internal or external , of the ! i Grande Log . ; do France . " The Patent emanated from a Grand and Soverei gn Lod"e ol St . John , and the so-called " Con . oil ( lea Emporenrs . "
Thory , Kloss , and Findel havo undoubtedl y referred to the Grand Loge de France what was simply the rut of a High Grado Body . A writer in tho " Freemasons' Quarterly Review , " so far back as 1838 , all but fifty years ayo , thus places th' ; matter carefully nnd historically in a few clear words before us : —
"At this time a violent , schism ;> . " . _ . . between those brethren who persisted in adhering to Ancient Masonry , and tho * : ; who , having receiv d the Higher Graies , obimed for t heinselves a preeminent rank iu tho Order . Th ¦ Grand Lodtre , in which the adherents ol Ancient Masonry were the most nutno'ous , drei . iied in favour of the Symbolical O' -de . i , and deeiuii . d that it did not acknowledge any rank abort * that of Master Mason .
Bit v Belt-establish , d ' Supreme Tribunal ' of the High fira . lef loudly asserted its own niaj-aty and honour , . vithont producine- any effect . " Somewhat before this decision of the Grand Lodo-o , there , had been
a "dil-m among tho meranos of tlie lli-ie-r Grades , ami the c . v . C line Is wli-cli ui'veui ' . d tie < outemlie ;; p-.. vt . < ' _ . v . yr . le ' .,.. Y < > i . l . ¦ - ' -t-i i he , iindr r ihe t leu C' . ese . l ( tea Euipereut ' -, ' & c , am !• - _ de Oh- vali is . ' & c .
' fc ' ' > r » 'er _ . ion __ r time this contest continued . ' At his peri , d i -. t jjrt-f > oi Ma .-. airv -. vere divided into sevet c a .-.- .- i r orders , which c .. ii 8 iituU d ai it was called ' Le Kit . Ancioe , ' anri two side orders , it was . said b y Ft edcrick II . oi !_' russia but this nidi aieh , though eenerall y as-cvte . l to havo been tin ' ¦ lo'eet r' of the Stipivmo Clnsses , had , in the opinion of man ; . itt . iiJ i : o c . ne .-ti'in - - ¦ i : ! i th . 'rn . "
: l " ' .. »¦ ' r - a "is n ! , ( . | . vrnons a ,., ] (_!<¦ . writer , who ' h " h- f > - :.. i i . % ' IM i / r . TI u , to | . ( , int . tint ' '• le en a - ., . s a I ;> ••• , ! . The wri'er w .. - me . t , ¦ .. ; . . es , .-md t - v .. . able to the Symbol i cal < -. ' - ¦¦ > , ai ¦ Le , i _ . L-re . _ r __ was quite au impartial witness as to thfi facts of tho c . i ....
Notes For Masonic Students.
Thory , as Kloss himself points out , had certain motives in thus hanging on the A . and A . P . Rito to the Grand Lodge of France but with Daruty , whose is the latest work on the subject , I hold it is qnite clear that any such theory is a mistake altogether . Some may say , what does it matter after all ? Masonicall y it
matters and means a good deal . The history of the A . aud A . S . Rite , for instance , has been travestied aud twisted by so many writers , that it is almost now im . possible to follow it . But it in a very important fact to establish , historically and actuall y
that in 1701 the high Grades were self-governed in fact , as this very certainty throws back its history neccessarily and naturally to at early epoch in the eighteenth century . All these Grades , very curious in thmselves , and not a few very
archaic , take us back to a greater antiquity than is generally con . ceded from that more common view of the history of the Grades , and therefore deserve to be studied by all students of the authentic school . St'EEO ,
THE HABLEIAN MS . 1942 . FOR various reasons this most , interesting and valuable Guild legend , as Bro . Hughan well and truly says , one of tho most valuable wo possess , just now is tho subject of some discussion and criticism . It is undoubtedly either the original or replica of
Roberts publication in 1722 , and Anderson had seen a transcript of it in 1738 , as he quotes nndeniably a portion of it . It is a fine MS ., in a peculiar and clear hand , aud is written on paper akin to a great deal which has the paper mark of the contemporary epoch . Of tho history of this MS . in the British Museum nothing is known ,
apparently except that it has been there since the Harleian Collection came there . That collection was made , as our readers are probably aware , by Robert Harley , 'Earl of Oxford , hence so-called sometimes the Harley MSS . also , 'toward the end of the seventeenth century , and consists of many thousand MSS . Among them two Masonic MSS . or Guild legends are found , Harleian 1942 and 2054 ,
well known to Masonic students . The peculiar interest to us of this particular MS ., independently of its Guild Legend value , is to be found in what are termed in it " the new articles . " Roberts says they were agreed on at a General Assembly , 8 th December 1663 . Anderson in tho 1738 Constitution declares at the Feast of St . John ' s Day , 27 th December 1663 .
Of this fact we have so far no independent testimony , and neither Roberts nor Anderson say where tho meeting took place , though Anderson declares Lord St . Albans was then Grand Master . In Roberts' edition there is a blank for the "locus in quo" or place of assembly . Some objection has been taken to these statements , and to the
special terminology of tho new articles , and their modern ideas and expressions . I venture to think much of this special criticism is misplaced , inasmuch as towards the end of the seventeenth century our English language was rapidly changing and modernising , and I do not think we need pay much attention to such objections , if those wero the only ones .
But some writers have gone further ; they havo expressed doubts both as to tho tona fides of tho M . S . itself , and seem to look upon it as in some respects a , " pious fraud . " I cannot see on what possible grounds any such allegations can properly be made , much less stand .
If the MS . had come out of lato Masonic custody , had been ostentatiously or improperly used to establish any point of Masonic discussion or Masonic archaism as tho occasion arose , something might perhaps be said fur snch a contention . But the MS . comes from a comparatively unsuspected source ; as a document in tbe British Museum it
has been lor a long period there , and there cau bo no possible reason , humanly speaking , why any ono should take the trouble to invent , for instance , the " new articles , " aud so anticipate and prepare for an abstruse discussion , which is of so specific and minute a nature that even now it has , and can only have , any interest for a handful of enthusiastic Masonic Students . That such an
insinuation shonld havo been made shows us how hardly put to it soino worthy critics tiro when they seek to invalidate tho evidence of such an interesting witness by suggestions of mala fides , and even worse , ! In my opinion this idea is so essentially absurd that it hanilv deserves notice . This is not criticism ; it is simply the old
idauo of tho Bar , "Abuse the plaintiffs attorney . Everything is in favour of the originality , the archaism , 'and the reality of the MS . It , is in a public collection , unamenable to any possibility of interested use , and vithont the slightest taint of possible collusion . It is wiiu . ii on paper of the very period ifc professes to date from , and is , in ;!;•; coinion of all experts who havo studied it aud collated it ,
a pre ITiiU MS . distinctly , and probably actually represents tho date it claims toset out . Of its antiquity and verity as a MS ., tho writer of this , in company with ;_ distinguished export , many years ago , formed a most distinct
opinion , from whioh he can never depart , and , therefore , he regrets to see others falling into the temptation of a very prevailing " fad , " of trying to mo-ierniz . ! all such documents for no conceivable reason or good . Bro . Hughan seems to think that ifc may be the copy of an
older original , and that is quite possible , indeed Roberts' Manuscript and it may havo had a common origin . Anderson also may have se-ii it as Roberts' copy , or another transcript of the original , which H now non-extant at any rats ; but all these probabilities and possibilities do not ai . ' ect the main question .
The llerloiun . llM- _! is there for tho inspection arid study of Students ; it well deserves ail the note tion they cau give it , as one of the most valuable of onr Masonio evidences , and , in my humble op inion , one of the most reliable documents we havo for the illustration and explanation of our common Masonic , history and sirnh : oology . W " .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Quarterly Communication Of United Grand Lodge.
blue ribbon , four inches broad , with silver braid a quarter of an inch wide in tho centre . " Rules 307 and 308 will then remain as they wero before December 1886 , with the omission of tho words " Past Masters" in tho fourth line of 308 .
With respect to Rule 75 , the Board recommend that the mode of counting the Votes on a Division be left to tho discretion of tho Grand Director of Ceremonies ' , and that , therefore , all the words in that Rule after the word '' coudncte l" be erased , and tho following words substituted—" under the ) direction of tho Grand Director of Ceremonies . "
To the report is subjoined a statement of the Grind Lodge Accounts , at the last meeting of the Finance Committee , held on Friday , the 12 th day of An » ust inst ., showing a balance iu the Bank
of England ( Western Branch ) of £ 5 , 007 In 3 d , and in tho hands of the Grand Secretary for Petty Cash £ 100 , and for Servants ' Wages £ 100 , and balance of annual allowance for Library '; £ 25 6 s 3 d . ( Signed ) THOMAS FENN ,
President . FKKEMASONS' HALL , LONDON , W . C . 16 th August 1887 . The Annual Report of tho Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and tho Widows of Freemasons , dated 20 oh May 1887 , will be laid before Grand Lodge .
List of Lodges for which warrants have oeen granted by the Most Worship ful Grand Master since the last Quarterl y Communication of Grand Lodge . No . 2205—The Pegasus Lodge , Gravesond , Kent . 2206—The Hendon Lodge , Hendon .
2207—The Blackall Lodgo , Maekall , Queensland . 2208—The Horsa Lodge , Bournetnonth , Hampshire . 2209—Tho Brighton Lodge , Brighton , Victoria . 2210—The Star of the Bast Lodgo of Oueo , O uoo , Victoria .
2211—The Albeit Victor Lodge , Clifton Hill , Victoria . 2212—The Rupanyup Lodge , Rupauyup , Victoria . 2213—The Daylosford Lodge of St . George , Daylcsford , Victoria . 2214—The Josiah Weclgford Lodge , Etruria , Staffordshire .
N . B . —The Revised Edition of the Book of Constitutions , 1884 , may bo obtained at the Grand Secretary ' s Office , in 8 vo , price ls Od a copy , bound in cloth . The " Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket Rook " for 1887 cau be had at the Grand Secretary ' s Olli _ e , freemasons ' Hall , London , price 2 s , bound in rosin .
Notes For Masonic Students.
Notes For Masonic Students .
THR PATENT OF STEPHEN _ MOIUX . THE result of much consideration on this topic seems then to b that Stephen Morin ' s Patent , was tho " output" of a jnir . _ Hiyh Grade movement , and in no way mixed up with the movement- or di-cnssions , internal or external , of the ! i Grande Log . ; do France . " The Patent emanated from a Grand and Soverei gn Lod"e ol St . John , and the so-called " Con . oil ( lea Emporenrs . "
Thory , Kloss , and Findel havo undoubtedl y referred to the Grand Loge de France what was simply the rut of a High Grado Body . A writer in tho " Freemasons' Quarterly Review , " so far back as 1838 , all but fifty years ayo , thus places th' ; matter carefully nnd historically in a few clear words before us : —
"At this time a violent , schism ;> . " . _ . . between those brethren who persisted in adhering to Ancient Masonry , and tho * : ; who , having receiv d the Higher Graies , obimed for t heinselves a preeminent rank iu tho Order . Th ¦ Grand Lodtre , in which the adherents ol Ancient Masonry were the most nutno'ous , drei . iied in favour of the Symbolical O' -de . i , and deeiuii . d that it did not acknowledge any rank abort * that of Master Mason .
Bit v Belt-establish , d ' Supreme Tribunal ' of the High fira . lef loudly asserted its own niaj-aty and honour , . vithont producine- any effect . " Somewhat before this decision of the Grand Lodo-o , there , had been
a "dil-m among tho meranos of tlie lli-ie-r Grades , ami the c . v . C line Is wli-cli ui'veui ' . d tie < outemlie ;; p-.. vt . < ' _ . v . yr . le ' .,.. Y < > i . l . ¦ - ' -t-i i he , iindr r ihe t leu C' . ese . l ( tea Euipereut ' -, ' & c , am !• - _ de Oh- vali is . ' & c .
' fc ' ' > r » 'er _ . ion __ r time this contest continued . ' At his peri , d i -. t jjrt-f > oi Ma .-. airv -. vere divided into sevet c a .-.- .- i r orders , which c .. ii 8 iituU d ai it was called ' Le Kit . Ancioe , ' anri two side orders , it was . said b y Ft edcrick II . oi !_' russia but this nidi aieh , though eenerall y as-cvte . l to havo been tin ' ¦ lo'eet r' of the Stipivmo Clnsses , had , in the opinion of man ; . itt . iiJ i : o c . ne .-ti'in - - ¦ i : ! i th . 'rn . "
: l " ' .. »¦ ' r - a "is n ! , ( . | . vrnons a ,., ] (_!<¦ . writer , who ' h " h- f > - :.. i i . % ' IM i / r . TI u , to | . ( , int . tint ' '• le en a - ., . s a I ;> ••• , ! . The wri'er w .. - me . t , ¦ .. ; . . es , .-md t - v .. . able to the Symbol i cal < -. ' - ¦¦ > , ai ¦ Le , i _ . L-re . _ r __ was quite au impartial witness as to thfi facts of tho c . i ....
Notes For Masonic Students.
Thory , as Kloss himself points out , had certain motives in thus hanging on the A . and A . P . Rito to the Grand Lodge of France but with Daruty , whose is the latest work on the subject , I hold it is qnite clear that any such theory is a mistake altogether . Some may say , what does it matter after all ? Masonicall y it
matters and means a good deal . The history of the A . aud A . S . Rite , for instance , has been travestied aud twisted by so many writers , that it is almost now im . possible to follow it . But it in a very important fact to establish , historically and actuall y
that in 1701 the high Grades were self-governed in fact , as this very certainty throws back its history neccessarily and naturally to at early epoch in the eighteenth century . All these Grades , very curious in thmselves , and not a few very
archaic , take us back to a greater antiquity than is generally con . ceded from that more common view of the history of the Grades , and therefore deserve to be studied by all students of the authentic school . St'EEO ,
THE HABLEIAN MS . 1942 . FOR various reasons this most , interesting and valuable Guild legend , as Bro . Hughan well and truly says , one of tho most valuable wo possess , just now is tho subject of some discussion and criticism . It is undoubtedly either the original or replica of
Roberts publication in 1722 , and Anderson had seen a transcript of it in 1738 , as he quotes nndeniably a portion of it . It is a fine MS ., in a peculiar and clear hand , aud is written on paper akin to a great deal which has the paper mark of the contemporary epoch . Of tho history of this MS . in the British Museum nothing is known ,
apparently except that it has been there since the Harleian Collection came there . That collection was made , as our readers are probably aware , by Robert Harley , 'Earl of Oxford , hence so-called sometimes the Harley MSS . also , 'toward the end of the seventeenth century , and consists of many thousand MSS . Among them two Masonic MSS . or Guild legends are found , Harleian 1942 and 2054 ,
well known to Masonic students . The peculiar interest to us of this particular MS ., independently of its Guild Legend value , is to be found in what are termed in it " the new articles . " Roberts says they were agreed on at a General Assembly , 8 th December 1663 . Anderson in tho 1738 Constitution declares at the Feast of St . John ' s Day , 27 th December 1663 .
Of this fact we have so far no independent testimony , and neither Roberts nor Anderson say where tho meeting took place , though Anderson declares Lord St . Albans was then Grand Master . In Roberts' edition there is a blank for the "locus in quo" or place of assembly . Some objection has been taken to these statements , and to the
special terminology of tho new articles , and their modern ideas and expressions . I venture to think much of this special criticism is misplaced , inasmuch as towards the end of the seventeenth century our English language was rapidly changing and modernising , and I do not think we need pay much attention to such objections , if those wero the only ones .
But some writers have gone further ; they havo expressed doubts both as to tho tona fides of tho M . S . itself , and seem to look upon it as in some respects a , " pious fraud . " I cannot see on what possible grounds any such allegations can properly be made , much less stand .
If the MS . had come out of lato Masonic custody , had been ostentatiously or improperly used to establish any point of Masonic discussion or Masonic archaism as tho occasion arose , something might perhaps be said fur snch a contention . But the MS . comes from a comparatively unsuspected source ; as a document in tbe British Museum it
has been lor a long period there , and there cau bo no possible reason , humanly speaking , why any ono should take the trouble to invent , for instance , the " new articles , " aud so anticipate and prepare for an abstruse discussion , which is of so specific and minute a nature that even now it has , and can only have , any interest for a handful of enthusiastic Masonic Students . That such an
insinuation shonld havo been made shows us how hardly put to it soino worthy critics tiro when they seek to invalidate tho evidence of such an interesting witness by suggestions of mala fides , and even worse , ! In my opinion this idea is so essentially absurd that it hanilv deserves notice . This is not criticism ; it is simply the old
idauo of tho Bar , "Abuse the plaintiffs attorney . Everything is in favour of the originality , the archaism , 'and the reality of the MS . It , is in a public collection , unamenable to any possibility of interested use , and vithont the slightest taint of possible collusion . It is wiiu . ii on paper of the very period ifc professes to date from , and is , in ;!;•; coinion of all experts who havo studied it aud collated it ,
a pre ITiiU MS . distinctly , and probably actually represents tho date it claims toset out . Of its antiquity and verity as a MS ., tho writer of this , in company with ;_ distinguished export , many years ago , formed a most distinct
opinion , from whioh he can never depart , and , therefore , he regrets to see others falling into the temptation of a very prevailing " fad , " of trying to mo-ierniz . ! all such documents for no conceivable reason or good . Bro . Hughan seems to think that ifc may be the copy of an
older original , and that is quite possible , indeed Roberts' Manuscript and it may havo had a common origin . Anderson also may have se-ii it as Roberts' copy , or another transcript of the original , which H now non-extant at any rats ; but all these probabilities and possibilities do not ai . ' ect the main question .
The llerloiun . llM- _! is there for tho inspection arid study of Students ; it well deserves ail the note tion they cau give it , as one of the most valuable of onr Masonio evidences , and , in my humble op inion , one of the most reliable documents we havo for the illustration and explanation of our common Masonic , history and sirnh : oology . W " .