Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 451 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire 452 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham 455 Tenebr ; e e Tenebris . —No . II 453
CORRESPONDENCEGrand Lodge of South Australia 455 Hughan's Origin of the English Rite of l- ' reemasonry 455 The Survivors of the Mignonette 455 Was Shakespeare a Mason ? 455 Proposed " Masonic Archaeological Association " 45 $ Notes and Queries 4 : 5
RETORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 456 Instruction 457 Ancient and Accepted Rite 457 Obituary 457 Summer Outing of the Corinthian Lodge ,
No . 13 S 2 457 Laying of a Foundation Stone at Castleford , Yorkshire 457 The Craft Abroad : 458 Antiquarian Notes 459 The Theatres 450 Masonic and General Tidings 460 Lodge Meetings for Next Week Cover .
Ar00100
THE official circular from the Mark Grand Lodge , which was published last week , comes in , as it seems to us , very opportunely to demonstrate , if need be , the "bona fides" of that body , and the utter untenableness of the position of the Quebec Grand Chapter . We quite concur with the propositions therein laid down , andjthe conclusions therein come to . It has been evident
to us from the first where " the shoe pinched , " and as each successive step was taken by the Quebec Grand Chapter , it was clear to us how badly advised it was , and how it must inevitably " come to grief . " And as it has been , so it is . The Quebec Grand Chapter enjoys the unenviable notoriety of being proved to be illegal b \ ' the laws of the land , in the express terms of an
enactment passed even " ad hoc ; " and until it is legalized by the legislature of the land , it is practically an illegal secret society , against which all loyal Freemasons must be warned , and none of whose meetings loyal Freemasons can attend . In the Masonic bodies of the United States it is we note gradually dawning over many clear Masonic minds that they have been in far
too great a hurry to recognize the acts and the outcome of the Quebec movement . If there is one " point" to which American Freemasons adhere , it is "legality , " which has been the basis of all their own foundation , the unvarying accompaniment of their progress , and their onward growth and enlargement . Without legality the whole American Masonic structure
crumbles away . American Freemasonry is not without its opponents , though happily , they are at present alike weak and contemptable , in that their origin is cruel mendacity , and their " output " debased fanaticism ; but it would become a serious fact to " score " against the American Freemasons b y irreconcilable and watchful foes , if it could be alleged , that they could
dispense with legality , and claimed a sort of " dispensing power " over and in respect of the laws of the land . When once the American Masonic bodies realize what this struggle really means , they must , if true to their own principles , admit both the legal position of the English lodges and chapters in Quebec , and the illegal status of the Quebec jurisdiction . That illegality
must be " healed " before it can claim , legally or Masonically , jurisdiction over any brother or companion ; and our advice to our Quebec brethren will also be endorsed by all American brethren , " Go and get legalized and then come and talk to us . " It seems to us that the Mark Grand Lodge has shown a very sound and considerate mind in the matter , by limiting the
acceptation by its lodges of the Mark grade ot English Freemasons alone , who do not fall into the Quebec or American system of the R . A . especially , and prefer the simpler and to us more reasonable system in use at home . After all , the whole question is a very trumpery one , and never would have
become what it is , except for the meddlesome interference of some irresponsible mischief-makers , who have fanned up a flame of artificial and childish excitement , which we recommend our Quebec brethren to try and put out as soon as possible themselves , in any way which may seem best suited to the circumstances of the case .
THERE are" Freemasons and Freemasons ; " there are , as in the Army , the " go aheads " and the " come alongs ; " there are those who trade on Freemasonry , who care nothing for its principles or its practice , except in as far as it benefits them , and who laugh at earnestness , depreciate work , and sneer at enthusiasm . There are those , on the other hand , who really believe
in what Freemasonry teaches , and are never so happy or so well pleased as when illustrating its beneficent principles , or taking part in its graceful ceremonies , or aiding its humanizing and civilizing efforts . It seems to us , —we may be wrong , —that we are in great danger just now of forgetting that Freemasonry is not intended to appeal
Ar00101
to us by what it materially is to us , what it gives , what it promises , what it obtains ; but that we are ourselves to make its principles beneficial to us in our various walks of life , by realizing and making our own in all their intensity , effect , and value , its kindly and unfailing message of brotherly consideration and goodwill , sympathetic . humanity , toleration , mercy ,
pitiful ness , and love of one another . There is just now a tendency to forget all these things in the hardening routine and customs of work and sociality until we come to rest in these things , and only to value our lodges for them , their customary routine , and the like , forgetting that all these things are the veil , the shadow , the type , after all , and that " within " we are meant
to seek the higher and elevating lessons of Freemasonry in the intellectuality , the refinement , —those great virtues of morality , —which alone render Freemasonry a living power in the world , and without which its titles and its rank , its decorations and degrees , its posts of honour , and its episodes of solendour are verily to us "Nehushtan , " and nothing more .
* IN English Freemasonry we have to record week by week the passing away of some old friend , the loss of some faithful brother . It is very sad olten this breaking up of old associations and long lasting ties . The lodge and chapter where we have met so often in health and happiness , in pleasantness
and peace , knows us no more , and others take up our work , others fill our places , others hand on to another generation the teachings we clung to and believed in , the sympathies we evoked and cherished . But such is the law
of life and nature and the world . Ever living , ever changing , and yet ever moving on . Nature is ceaselessly witnessing to us that we are but creatures of a day , children of the dust , and offering us that best of all lessons to moralize over and call to mind , as the poet has said , and said so bcautifully ,
" Ait is long and time is fleeting , And our hearts , though stout and brave , Still like mufiled drums are beating , Funeral marches to the grave . " We have lost recently several worthy brethren , good workers , kind friends ;
let us not too easily forget them . Week by week we record the passing away of some familiar face , and some valued frater of our Order , and let us never be ashamed to express our brotherly and earnest regrets for the premature loss of a familiar friend , or a much respected companion , whose loss may in some cases be irreparable , humanly speaking . One of the great
charms of Freemasonry is the personal and fraternal interest it calls out , and the long fast friendships it cements , and when next we meet in lodge after our summer rest , we may well allow the full feelings of kindliest sorrow for the loss of a much missed member to have their fitting effect and full
force upon us all . We do not believe in the affected stoicism of some ; for we may be well assured that it is almost invariably the outcome of a shallow mind , or a cynical scepticism . In Freemasonry we should always seek to keep our minds and hearts true , sympathetic , and impressed .
THE members of the Philanthropic Lodge , Leeds , celebrated on Wednesday the renovation of their beautiful hall , and had a most successful and happy gathering . Few lodge rooms can compare with that of the Philanthropic Lodge in artistic adornment and Masonic array , and never does it look so
well , even in its graceful proportions as when filled with earnest workers and warm hearts . We congratulate the W . M . and brethren on this successful assembly , and trust that as in the past so in the future the pathway of the Philanthropic Lodge will ever be marked by its habitual and zealous adherence to the beneficent tenets and elevating principles of English
Freemason ry . * * * To show the great interest which attaches to our Masonic investigations today , Bro . GOULD has raised the important and ingenious question whether
Bro . WARBURTON , the well-known writer of the " Divine Legation , " & c „ was not the author of the " Defence of Masonry , " and not ANDERSON . If any of our readers has a copy of the original pamphlet , which it is assumed exists , and could produce it , it would help us and all students in a most important discussion .
* * * WE alluded some time since to two little contemporary Masonic amiabilities , namely using our humble leaderettes as original communications in other journals without acknowledgment , and of crediting us witharticles which we
never wrote at all . The Philadelphia Keystone of September 13 th amusingly records a kindly plagiarism on the part of an American journal in the following sly words : " ' The Teaching of the Craft Touching the Hereafter ' looks amazingly well as an original article in the September issue of the . Texas Freemason , but it isn ' t , all the same . Verb , sat . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Contents.
CONTENTS .
LEADERS 451 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire 452 Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of Northumberland and Durham 455 Tenebr ; e e Tenebris . —No . II 453
CORRESPONDENCEGrand Lodge of South Australia 455 Hughan's Origin of the English Rite of l- ' reemasonry 455 The Survivors of the Mignonette 455 Was Shakespeare a Mason ? 455 Proposed " Masonic Archaeological Association " 45 $ Notes and Queries 4 : 5
RETORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 456 Instruction 457 Ancient and Accepted Rite 457 Obituary 457 Summer Outing of the Corinthian Lodge ,
No . 13 S 2 457 Laying of a Foundation Stone at Castleford , Yorkshire 457 The Craft Abroad : 458 Antiquarian Notes 459 The Theatres 450 Masonic and General Tidings 460 Lodge Meetings for Next Week Cover .
Ar00100
THE official circular from the Mark Grand Lodge , which was published last week , comes in , as it seems to us , very opportunely to demonstrate , if need be , the "bona fides" of that body , and the utter untenableness of the position of the Quebec Grand Chapter . We quite concur with the propositions therein laid down , andjthe conclusions therein come to . It has been evident
to us from the first where " the shoe pinched , " and as each successive step was taken by the Quebec Grand Chapter , it was clear to us how badly advised it was , and how it must inevitably " come to grief . " And as it has been , so it is . The Quebec Grand Chapter enjoys the unenviable notoriety of being proved to be illegal b \ ' the laws of the land , in the express terms of an
enactment passed even " ad hoc ; " and until it is legalized by the legislature of the land , it is practically an illegal secret society , against which all loyal Freemasons must be warned , and none of whose meetings loyal Freemasons can attend . In the Masonic bodies of the United States it is we note gradually dawning over many clear Masonic minds that they have been in far
too great a hurry to recognize the acts and the outcome of the Quebec movement . If there is one " point" to which American Freemasons adhere , it is "legality , " which has been the basis of all their own foundation , the unvarying accompaniment of their progress , and their onward growth and enlargement . Without legality the whole American Masonic structure
crumbles away . American Freemasonry is not without its opponents , though happily , they are at present alike weak and contemptable , in that their origin is cruel mendacity , and their " output " debased fanaticism ; but it would become a serious fact to " score " against the American Freemasons b y irreconcilable and watchful foes , if it could be alleged , that they could
dispense with legality , and claimed a sort of " dispensing power " over and in respect of the laws of the land . When once the American Masonic bodies realize what this struggle really means , they must , if true to their own principles , admit both the legal position of the English lodges and chapters in Quebec , and the illegal status of the Quebec jurisdiction . That illegality
must be " healed " before it can claim , legally or Masonically , jurisdiction over any brother or companion ; and our advice to our Quebec brethren will also be endorsed by all American brethren , " Go and get legalized and then come and talk to us . " It seems to us that the Mark Grand Lodge has shown a very sound and considerate mind in the matter , by limiting the
acceptation by its lodges of the Mark grade ot English Freemasons alone , who do not fall into the Quebec or American system of the R . A . especially , and prefer the simpler and to us more reasonable system in use at home . After all , the whole question is a very trumpery one , and never would have
become what it is , except for the meddlesome interference of some irresponsible mischief-makers , who have fanned up a flame of artificial and childish excitement , which we recommend our Quebec brethren to try and put out as soon as possible themselves , in any way which may seem best suited to the circumstances of the case .
THERE are" Freemasons and Freemasons ; " there are , as in the Army , the " go aheads " and the " come alongs ; " there are those who trade on Freemasonry , who care nothing for its principles or its practice , except in as far as it benefits them , and who laugh at earnestness , depreciate work , and sneer at enthusiasm . There are those , on the other hand , who really believe
in what Freemasonry teaches , and are never so happy or so well pleased as when illustrating its beneficent principles , or taking part in its graceful ceremonies , or aiding its humanizing and civilizing efforts . It seems to us , —we may be wrong , —that we are in great danger just now of forgetting that Freemasonry is not intended to appeal
Ar00101
to us by what it materially is to us , what it gives , what it promises , what it obtains ; but that we are ourselves to make its principles beneficial to us in our various walks of life , by realizing and making our own in all their intensity , effect , and value , its kindly and unfailing message of brotherly consideration and goodwill , sympathetic . humanity , toleration , mercy ,
pitiful ness , and love of one another . There is just now a tendency to forget all these things in the hardening routine and customs of work and sociality until we come to rest in these things , and only to value our lodges for them , their customary routine , and the like , forgetting that all these things are the veil , the shadow , the type , after all , and that " within " we are meant
to seek the higher and elevating lessons of Freemasonry in the intellectuality , the refinement , —those great virtues of morality , —which alone render Freemasonry a living power in the world , and without which its titles and its rank , its decorations and degrees , its posts of honour , and its episodes of solendour are verily to us "Nehushtan , " and nothing more .
* IN English Freemasonry we have to record week by week the passing away of some old friend , the loss of some faithful brother . It is very sad olten this breaking up of old associations and long lasting ties . The lodge and chapter where we have met so often in health and happiness , in pleasantness
and peace , knows us no more , and others take up our work , others fill our places , others hand on to another generation the teachings we clung to and believed in , the sympathies we evoked and cherished . But such is the law
of life and nature and the world . Ever living , ever changing , and yet ever moving on . Nature is ceaselessly witnessing to us that we are but creatures of a day , children of the dust , and offering us that best of all lessons to moralize over and call to mind , as the poet has said , and said so bcautifully ,
" Ait is long and time is fleeting , And our hearts , though stout and brave , Still like mufiled drums are beating , Funeral marches to the grave . " We have lost recently several worthy brethren , good workers , kind friends ;
let us not too easily forget them . Week by week we record the passing away of some familiar face , and some valued frater of our Order , and let us never be ashamed to express our brotherly and earnest regrets for the premature loss of a familiar friend , or a much respected companion , whose loss may in some cases be irreparable , humanly speaking . One of the great
charms of Freemasonry is the personal and fraternal interest it calls out , and the long fast friendships it cements , and when next we meet in lodge after our summer rest , we may well allow the full feelings of kindliest sorrow for the loss of a much missed member to have their fitting effect and full
force upon us all . We do not believe in the affected stoicism of some ; for we may be well assured that it is almost invariably the outcome of a shallow mind , or a cynical scepticism . In Freemasonry we should always seek to keep our minds and hearts true , sympathetic , and impressed .
THE members of the Philanthropic Lodge , Leeds , celebrated on Wednesday the renovation of their beautiful hall , and had a most successful and happy gathering . Few lodge rooms can compare with that of the Philanthropic Lodge in artistic adornment and Masonic array , and never does it look so
well , even in its graceful proportions as when filled with earnest workers and warm hearts . We congratulate the W . M . and brethren on this successful assembly , and trust that as in the past so in the future the pathway of the Philanthropic Lodge will ever be marked by its habitual and zealous adherence to the beneficent tenets and elevating principles of English
Freemason ry . * * * To show the great interest which attaches to our Masonic investigations today , Bro . GOULD has raised the important and ingenious question whether
Bro . WARBURTON , the well-known writer of the " Divine Legation , " & c „ was not the author of the " Defence of Masonry , " and not ANDERSON . If any of our readers has a copy of the original pamphlet , which it is assumed exists , and could produce it , it would help us and all students in a most important discussion .
* * * WE alluded some time since to two little contemporary Masonic amiabilities , namely using our humble leaderettes as original communications in other journals without acknowledgment , and of crediting us witharticles which we
never wrote at all . The Philadelphia Keystone of September 13 th amusingly records a kindly plagiarism on the part of an American journal in the following sly words : " ' The Teaching of the Craft Touching the Hereafter ' looks amazingly well as an original article in the September issue of the . Texas Freemason , but it isn ' t , all the same . Verb , sat . "