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Article TO OUR READERS. Page 1 of 1 Article TO ADVERTISERS. Page 1 of 1 Article Answers to Correspondents. Page 1 of 1 Article Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Page 1 of 1 Article Untitled Page 1 of 1 Article THE PAST OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 1 Article THE PAST OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 1 Article THE LAST ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The FREEMASON is a Weekly News paper , price A &« It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information , relating to Freemasonry in every degres . Subscription , including oostaere :
United America , India . India , China , & c . Kingdom , the Continent , £ : c . Via Bnmlisi . Twelvemonths ios . 6 d . 12 s . 6 d . 17 s . 4 d . Six , „ 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . 8 d . Three „ 2 s . 8 d . 3 s . 3 d . 4 s . 6 d . Subscriptions may be paid for in stamps , but Post Office Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to
GEORGE K 2 MUNG , CHIEF OFFICE , LONDON , the latter crossed London Joint Stock Bank . Advertisements and other business communications should be addressed to the Publisher . Communications on literary subjects and books for
review are to be forwarded to the Editor . Anonymous correspondence will be wholly disregarded , and the return of rejected MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further information will be supplied on application to thi Publisher , 108 , Fleet-street , London .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . ADVERTISEMENTS to ensure insertion in current week ' s issue should reach the Office , 198 , Fleet-street , by 12 o ' clock on "Wednesdays . SCALE OF CHARGES FOR
ADVERTISEMENTS . Whole of back page £ 12 12 o Half ,. ,, ... ... ... ... 6 10 o inside pages ... ... ... ... 11 ° Half of ditto 400 Quarter ditto ... ... ... .. 2 10 o Whole column ... ... ... 2100
HaU „ .,. 1 10 o Quarter „ 100 Per inch 050 These prices are for single insertions . A liberal reduction is made for a series of 13 , 26 , and 32 insertions . Further particulars may be obtained of the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-street , London .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
W . D . —Each lodge has thc undoubted right to accept or reject candidates for admission , either as initiates or joining members . Two communications on Masonic Grammar stand over until next week , with which the discussion must close .
The following stand over owing to an unusual demand upon our space this week : — Liverpool Dramatic Lodge ; Royal Cumbirland Lodge ; Freemasons' Hall , Ipswich ; Derby Lodge , 724 ; St . Luke's R . A . Chapter ; Falcon Lodge , 1416 ; John of Gaunt , Leicester , 323 ; The Urban Club ; Parxton Lodge , 1686
Noties and Queries , F . M . in Essex ; Kenlis Lodge , Egremont ; Florence Nightingale Kodge , 706 ; Manchester foHgc of Integiity ; Leopold Lodge of Mark Masters , 238 ; St Andrew ' s Mark , 34 ; Wandsworth Lodge of Instruction Pic-nic ; St . Aubyn Lodge , Devonpoit , 954 ;
Meridian Lodge , 893 , Millbrook ; Tyrion Lodge , 11 ie , Eastbourne ; Duke of Connaught Instruction ; Lebanon Lodge , 1326 ; Royal Forest Lodge , 401 , Slaidburn ; Stanley Lodge , Liverpool , 1325 ; Downshire Lodge , 594 , Liverpool .
Owing to pressure of matter in the Freemason the article in the Times announced to appear this week will be reprinted in the Masonic Magazine lor August .
BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "Darlington Herald , " " Cornwall Gazette , " "Alliance Weekly News , " " Bulletin due Grand Oriei t de France , " " Die Bauhiitte , " " Broad Arrow , " " Hull Packet , " ' Piizc Paper , " "Proceedings G . L . New Brunswick , " " History of Protestantism , Part 1 . "
Births, Marriages, And Deaths.
Births , Marriages , and Deaths .
[ The charge is ns . 6 d . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ] BIRTH . Rico . —On the 29 th ult ., at 3 , St . Mary ' s-terracc , Scarborough , the wife of the Rev . W . H . Rigg , of a daughter .
DEATHS . DoiiEiiTV . —On the 27 th ult ., at Belfast , Ireland , Captain C W . Onslow Doheity , Royal Scots Greys , suddenly . of hcait cimplaint . Aged 28 . Son of General H . E . Doherty , C . B ., Vernon House , Wiston-park , Bath . PHYTHIAN . —On the 30 th ult , Bro , George Phythian , of 43 * i West Strand . it . . . ^^ ..
Ar00606
THE FREEMASON . SATURDAT , JULY . 5 , 1879 .
The Past Of Freemasonry.
THE PAST OF FREEMASONRY .
In a very able leader , mainly with respect to the Lodge of Antiquity , the Times , on Thursday week , gave us a very remarkable and readable " leader" on Freemasonry . Not that the article professed to be very antiquarian , or very projound , or even , perhaps , very
critical , but it skimmed over the ground easily and pleasantly , and laid before a very large circle of readers a well-written and philosophically conceived essay on certain features , salient and significant , which Freemasonry presented to the mind of the writer , and
which deserves , therefore , respectful attention , and , above all , fraternal criticism . In a great deal which the writer there affirms we agree most heartily , in some points , however , we are compelled honestly to dissent from his views , most conscientious , no doubt , as they are , and
certainly lucidly and eloquently expressed . We quite agree with the writer that in dealing with the antiquity of Freemasonry we must always carefully distinguish between the " legends of guilds , " and the " facts of history . " But then our good friend and probably brother , who is so
clear a writer and so keen a critic himself , falls amusingly enough into the same very error he has just so characteristically reproved . Whatever may be the real antiquity of Masonry it is probably coeval with the Masonic guilds or sodalities , and hence no doubt much of the doubt
and obscurity , and the incorrect assertions and exaggerated claims which have arisen and which marked most undoubtedly the lucubrations of many Masonic writers , ancient and modern . But , as we said , if the writer of this interesting article ' complains of undue acceptance of ''
legends , " why has he fallen into the same mistake by treating the so-called Locke MS ., and the alleged endorsement or transcript of Henry VI . as a reality , when that so-called MS . has long been abandoned b y experts as a " pious fraud " ? And why above all does he suggest
the absorption of the soeculative element into the operative guilds as " possible" in the 15 th century , when it is clear from countless evidences which might be adduced , that such transformation could not and did not take place until about the middle of the r ; th century ? We are not
quite suie either whether we can accept , as indisputable facts , one or two statements in respect of the Lodge of Antiquity itself , with all due submission to the writer . There is in existence no evidence that King Charles II . laid the foundation stone of St . Paul ' s : all existing available
evidenee declares that Sir Christopher Wren laid it himself . But it is just possible that the tradition may allude to some special ceremony at St . Paul ' s with which King Charles II . was connected , and we do not know , except for historical truth ' s sake , that it matters much one way or the other .
The gavel was undoubtedly given to the lodge by Bro . Sir Christopher Wren . The statement of the initiation of King William III . is also only a " tradition , '' and we are not aware of any document in Iho possession of the Lodge of Antiquity which mentions the fact as a fact . We venture
to say all this in order to point out that even in J 879 how difficult it is to separate "tradition " from " history , " and how that , as it has been said , how true it still is"Tradition , oh , tradition , thou of the seraph tongue , The ark which binds two ages , the ancient and the young . "
We thence learn a lesson of caution as to blaming older writers . We do not agree with the writer when he seems to contend that there is some truth after all in the favourite Ultramontane complaint , that the " French lodges were instrumental in fostering the French Revolution . " We do not
think that any evidence of such a tendency really exists , but much , very much , to the contrary may be adduced . That in some of the lodges extreme views of politics may have prevailed is not unreasonable or impossible to suppose , but all the lodges , both undtr the old " Grande Loge de la Franco " and the " Grand Orient , " were , plunged
The Past Of Freemasonry.
into " sommeil " or inactivity by the Revolution and only emerged from torpor and silence _ if | . eJ the " reign of terror " was over . That one or two bodies , quasi-Masonic , like those of the "Philosophic Scottish Rite" and the "Philaletes " and , above all , the " Illumines , " may have
encouraged the revolutionary movement , is , we think , proveable , but the pure Masonic Craft lodges in Paris and the departments , to their honour , be it said , did not sympathize either with the principles or proceedings of the French Revolution . The writer unconsciously and uninten .
tionally exaggerates on imperfect data , the number of Masons in the world , which instead of six millions may be reduced to the more modest tottle of i , joo , ooo , and he hardly , in our opinion , does justice to the 600 , 000 Craft Masons in the United States , inasmuch as the Templar
body , popular and numerous as it is , is only after all about one twenty-fourth part of Craft Masonry and of Master Masons . But having said all this , which we feel it our duty , as the Freemason , to say , we beg to remark that we are greatly pleased , and flattered to think that , in such marked
contrast with much we have to wade through about Freemasonry , the Times has favoured us with an article , alike so able and so interesting , so favourable , and so fair to our Order . It is , we venture to think , a sign of the times in which we live , alike suggestive and satisfactory , and we can only
commend the article to the notice of all our readers in both hemispheres , as , despite a few , perhaps , unavoidable errors , slight after all , in theory and assertion , it will alike repay careful perusal by the Masonic student and archaeologist , by all who love Freemasonry , by all who are proud to claim the name of Freemasons .
The Last Anniversary Festival Of The Boys' School.
THE LAST ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .
The Stewards' returns , which our readers have perused , are both interesting and suggestive iu the highest degree , inasmuch as they prove we think , beyond possibility of cavil , that the charity of Freemasonry is still a living truth , and that the warm hands and hearts of Masons are
neither cold nor slack , neither " weary in welldoing " nor retrograde in the best of all causes—Masonic benevolence . Under the peculiar circumstances of the timer , under the present condition of commerce and agriculture , under
that tendency to panic , apprehension , and hopeless despondency which sometimes seems to afflict some of us , the return is a good one , though , of course , it mig ht have been much better . This is an obvious truism which it is
needless to dilate upon and useless to ignore . At the same time it is , in our opinion , most unwise to preach or to blame , to complain or find fault . Another year Bro . Binckes will , let us all hope , announce a fuller return , and let us note this great fact per se , to which Bro . Terry has
propetly called attention , that the English Freemasons have sent up already £ s 7 , oco to the three festivals , and that probably before the end of the year £ 44 , 000 will be realized , an amount unprecedentedly large , and , in our opinion , nost creditable to our zealous and large-hearted
Fraternity . Indeed , under such circmmstanceF , to talk of a " magnificent failure" is a monomania , to blame brethren or lodges unfair . The Boys School has done very well considering all thing ? , and we see no reason to grumble or compla" 1 . On the present occasion the Metropolian lodges
have returned £ 534 . 5 is . 6 d ., the Provincial £ 5189 is . 66 . ; there are eig ht London lists to come in and four Provincial , in all twelve . We fear we cannot put the possible addition to the list at above £ 200 , though we should be greatly pleased if we could hope that before 1879
is over the returns may be yet largely increased . Of the London lodges , the first and foremost is No . 164 a , Steward Bro . George Penn , wh ° brings up the noble amount of £ 52 $ . We congratulate Bro . Penn and Lodge 1643 . The next is Grand Stewards Lodge , Bro . Binckes , w" "
£ 249 18 s . ; and the third is 1383 , Bro . R . W . # Giddy , £ 207 2 S . ; No . 15 . 37 , Bro . Ralp h Glutton , with £ 143 ios ., fourth ; No . 174 , Bro . C . Lace ) , is fifth in order , with £ 13 $ ; and No . 25 , - j ' "' G . R . Shervill , is sixth with £ 128 2 S . 5 No 1 OO" , Bro . Charles Brewer , is seventh , with h n
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To Our Readers.
TO OUR READERS .
The FREEMASON is a Weekly News paper , price A &« It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important , interesting , and useful information , relating to Freemasonry in every degres . Subscription , including oostaere :
United America , India . India , China , & c . Kingdom , the Continent , £ : c . Via Bnmlisi . Twelvemonths ios . 6 d . 12 s . 6 d . 17 s . 4 d . Six , „ 5 s . 3 d . 6 s . 6 d . 8 s . 8 d . Three „ 2 s . 8 d . 3 s . 3 d . 4 s . 6 d . Subscriptions may be paid for in stamps , but Post Office Orders or Cheques are preferred , the former payable to
GEORGE K 2 MUNG , CHIEF OFFICE , LONDON , the latter crossed London Joint Stock Bank . Advertisements and other business communications should be addressed to the Publisher . Communications on literary subjects and books for
review are to be forwarded to the Editor . Anonymous correspondence will be wholly disregarded , and the return of rejected MSS . cannot be guaranteed . Further information will be supplied on application to thi Publisher , 108 , Fleet-street , London .
To Advertisers.
TO ADVERTISERS .
The FREEMASON has a large circulation in all parts of the Globe , its advantages as an advertising medium can therefore scarcely be overrated . ADVERTISEMENTS to ensure insertion in current week ' s issue should reach the Office , 198 , Fleet-street , by 12 o ' clock on "Wednesdays . SCALE OF CHARGES FOR
ADVERTISEMENTS . Whole of back page £ 12 12 o Half ,. ,, ... ... ... ... 6 10 o inside pages ... ... ... ... 11 ° Half of ditto 400 Quarter ditto ... ... ... .. 2 10 o Whole column ... ... ... 2100
HaU „ .,. 1 10 o Quarter „ 100 Per inch 050 These prices are for single insertions . A liberal reduction is made for a series of 13 , 26 , and 32 insertions . Further particulars may be obtained of the Publisher , 198 , Fleet-street , London .
Answers To Correspondents.
Answers to Correspondents .
W . D . —Each lodge has thc undoubted right to accept or reject candidates for admission , either as initiates or joining members . Two communications on Masonic Grammar stand over until next week , with which the discussion must close .
The following stand over owing to an unusual demand upon our space this week : — Liverpool Dramatic Lodge ; Royal Cumbirland Lodge ; Freemasons' Hall , Ipswich ; Derby Lodge , 724 ; St . Luke's R . A . Chapter ; Falcon Lodge , 1416 ; John of Gaunt , Leicester , 323 ; The Urban Club ; Parxton Lodge , 1686
Noties and Queries , F . M . in Essex ; Kenlis Lodge , Egremont ; Florence Nightingale Kodge , 706 ; Manchester foHgc of Integiity ; Leopold Lodge of Mark Masters , 238 ; St Andrew ' s Mark , 34 ; Wandsworth Lodge of Instruction Pic-nic ; St . Aubyn Lodge , Devonpoit , 954 ;
Meridian Lodge , 893 , Millbrook ; Tyrion Lodge , 11 ie , Eastbourne ; Duke of Connaught Instruction ; Lebanon Lodge , 1326 ; Royal Forest Lodge , 401 , Slaidburn ; Stanley Lodge , Liverpool , 1325 ; Downshire Lodge , 594 , Liverpool .
Owing to pressure of matter in the Freemason the article in the Times announced to appear this week will be reprinted in the Masonic Magazine lor August .
BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "Darlington Herald , " " Cornwall Gazette , " "Alliance Weekly News , " " Bulletin due Grand Oriei t de France , " " Die Bauhiitte , " " Broad Arrow , " " Hull Packet , " ' Piizc Paper , " "Proceedings G . L . New Brunswick , " " History of Protestantism , Part 1 . "
Births, Marriages, And Deaths.
Births , Marriages , and Deaths .
[ The charge is ns . 6 d . for announcements not exceeding Four Lines under this heading . ] BIRTH . Rico . —On the 29 th ult ., at 3 , St . Mary ' s-terracc , Scarborough , the wife of the Rev . W . H . Rigg , of a daughter .
DEATHS . DoiiEiiTV . —On the 27 th ult ., at Belfast , Ireland , Captain C W . Onslow Doheity , Royal Scots Greys , suddenly . of hcait cimplaint . Aged 28 . Son of General H . E . Doherty , C . B ., Vernon House , Wiston-park , Bath . PHYTHIAN . —On the 30 th ult , Bro , George Phythian , of 43 * i West Strand . it . . . ^^ ..
Ar00606
THE FREEMASON . SATURDAT , JULY . 5 , 1879 .
The Past Of Freemasonry.
THE PAST OF FREEMASONRY .
In a very able leader , mainly with respect to the Lodge of Antiquity , the Times , on Thursday week , gave us a very remarkable and readable " leader" on Freemasonry . Not that the article professed to be very antiquarian , or very projound , or even , perhaps , very
critical , but it skimmed over the ground easily and pleasantly , and laid before a very large circle of readers a well-written and philosophically conceived essay on certain features , salient and significant , which Freemasonry presented to the mind of the writer , and
which deserves , therefore , respectful attention , and , above all , fraternal criticism . In a great deal which the writer there affirms we agree most heartily , in some points , however , we are compelled honestly to dissent from his views , most conscientious , no doubt , as they are , and
certainly lucidly and eloquently expressed . We quite agree with the writer that in dealing with the antiquity of Freemasonry we must always carefully distinguish between the " legends of guilds , " and the " facts of history . " But then our good friend and probably brother , who is so
clear a writer and so keen a critic himself , falls amusingly enough into the same very error he has just so characteristically reproved . Whatever may be the real antiquity of Masonry it is probably coeval with the Masonic guilds or sodalities , and hence no doubt much of the doubt
and obscurity , and the incorrect assertions and exaggerated claims which have arisen and which marked most undoubtedly the lucubrations of many Masonic writers , ancient and modern . But , as we said , if the writer of this interesting article ' complains of undue acceptance of ''
legends , " why has he fallen into the same mistake by treating the so-called Locke MS ., and the alleged endorsement or transcript of Henry VI . as a reality , when that so-called MS . has long been abandoned b y experts as a " pious fraud " ? And why above all does he suggest
the absorption of the soeculative element into the operative guilds as " possible" in the 15 th century , when it is clear from countless evidences which might be adduced , that such transformation could not and did not take place until about the middle of the r ; th century ? We are not
quite suie either whether we can accept , as indisputable facts , one or two statements in respect of the Lodge of Antiquity itself , with all due submission to the writer . There is in existence no evidence that King Charles II . laid the foundation stone of St . Paul ' s : all existing available
evidenee declares that Sir Christopher Wren laid it himself . But it is just possible that the tradition may allude to some special ceremony at St . Paul ' s with which King Charles II . was connected , and we do not know , except for historical truth ' s sake , that it matters much one way or the other .
The gavel was undoubtedly given to the lodge by Bro . Sir Christopher Wren . The statement of the initiation of King William III . is also only a " tradition , '' and we are not aware of any document in Iho possession of the Lodge of Antiquity which mentions the fact as a fact . We venture
to say all this in order to point out that even in J 879 how difficult it is to separate "tradition " from " history , " and how that , as it has been said , how true it still is"Tradition , oh , tradition , thou of the seraph tongue , The ark which binds two ages , the ancient and the young . "
We thence learn a lesson of caution as to blaming older writers . We do not agree with the writer when he seems to contend that there is some truth after all in the favourite Ultramontane complaint , that the " French lodges were instrumental in fostering the French Revolution . " We do not
think that any evidence of such a tendency really exists , but much , very much , to the contrary may be adduced . That in some of the lodges extreme views of politics may have prevailed is not unreasonable or impossible to suppose , but all the lodges , both undtr the old " Grande Loge de la Franco " and the " Grand Orient , " were , plunged
The Past Of Freemasonry.
into " sommeil " or inactivity by the Revolution and only emerged from torpor and silence _ if | . eJ the " reign of terror " was over . That one or two bodies , quasi-Masonic , like those of the "Philosophic Scottish Rite" and the "Philaletes " and , above all , the " Illumines , " may have
encouraged the revolutionary movement , is , we think , proveable , but the pure Masonic Craft lodges in Paris and the departments , to their honour , be it said , did not sympathize either with the principles or proceedings of the French Revolution . The writer unconsciously and uninten .
tionally exaggerates on imperfect data , the number of Masons in the world , which instead of six millions may be reduced to the more modest tottle of i , joo , ooo , and he hardly , in our opinion , does justice to the 600 , 000 Craft Masons in the United States , inasmuch as the Templar
body , popular and numerous as it is , is only after all about one twenty-fourth part of Craft Masonry and of Master Masons . But having said all this , which we feel it our duty , as the Freemason , to say , we beg to remark that we are greatly pleased , and flattered to think that , in such marked
contrast with much we have to wade through about Freemasonry , the Times has favoured us with an article , alike so able and so interesting , so favourable , and so fair to our Order . It is , we venture to think , a sign of the times in which we live , alike suggestive and satisfactory , and we can only
commend the article to the notice of all our readers in both hemispheres , as , despite a few , perhaps , unavoidable errors , slight after all , in theory and assertion , it will alike repay careful perusal by the Masonic student and archaeologist , by all who love Freemasonry , by all who are proud to claim the name of Freemasons .
The Last Anniversary Festival Of The Boys' School.
THE LAST ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .
The Stewards' returns , which our readers have perused , are both interesting and suggestive iu the highest degree , inasmuch as they prove we think , beyond possibility of cavil , that the charity of Freemasonry is still a living truth , and that the warm hands and hearts of Masons are
neither cold nor slack , neither " weary in welldoing " nor retrograde in the best of all causes—Masonic benevolence . Under the peculiar circumstances of the timer , under the present condition of commerce and agriculture , under
that tendency to panic , apprehension , and hopeless despondency which sometimes seems to afflict some of us , the return is a good one , though , of course , it mig ht have been much better . This is an obvious truism which it is
needless to dilate upon and useless to ignore . At the same time it is , in our opinion , most unwise to preach or to blame , to complain or find fault . Another year Bro . Binckes will , let us all hope , announce a fuller return , and let us note this great fact per se , to which Bro . Terry has
propetly called attention , that the English Freemasons have sent up already £ s 7 , oco to the three festivals , and that probably before the end of the year £ 44 , 000 will be realized , an amount unprecedentedly large , and , in our opinion , nost creditable to our zealous and large-hearted
Fraternity . Indeed , under such circmmstanceF , to talk of a " magnificent failure" is a monomania , to blame brethren or lodges unfair . The Boys School has done very well considering all thing ? , and we see no reason to grumble or compla" 1 . On the present occasion the Metropolian lodges
have returned £ 534 . 5 is . 6 d ., the Provincial £ 5189 is . 66 . ; there are eig ht London lists to come in and four Provincial , in all twelve . We fear we cannot put the possible addition to the list at above £ 200 , though we should be greatly pleased if we could hope that before 1879
is over the returns may be yet largely increased . Of the London lodges , the first and foremost is No . 164 a , Steward Bro . George Penn , wh ° brings up the noble amount of £ 52 $ . We congratulate Bro . Penn and Lodge 1643 . The next is Grand Stewards Lodge , Bro . Binckes , w" "
£ 249 18 s . ; and the third is 1383 , Bro . R . W . # Giddy , £ 207 2 S . ; No . 15 . 37 , Bro . Ralp h Glutton , with £ 143 ios ., fourth ; No . 174 , Bro . C . Lace ) , is fifth in order , with £ 13 $ ; and No . 25 , - j ' "' G . R . Shervill , is sixth with £ 128 2 S . 5 No 1 OO" , Bro . Charles Brewer , is seventh , with h n