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Correspondence.
lative Masonry , " you mean really , Masonry such as we know to have been practised since the Revival of 1717 ; and certainly , in that sense , I contend the operative Masonry of former years is vastly different , although not so much as to prevent our seeing sufficient points of resemblance to prove one was the forerunner of the other . "
I received Bro . Hughan ' s permission to publish the above , and I shall now comment upon it . He admits that " there was no Masonry of the character of the Freemasonry of the 18 th century" before 1717 ; so far , therefore , Bro . Hughan has not thrown over the 1717 date , as some at pages 308 and 309 would fain imagine- furtherBro . Hughan still
, , asserts that our " three degrees ' ' did not exist before then . With Bro . Hughan I , of course , admit that " gentlemen were admitted " before 1717 ; but I do not admit that they thereby became " speculative Masons " in any such sense as ice now understand the term ; for , before 1717 , they neither received the
doctrines nor degrees we now promulgate and practise ; they were simply gentlemen members having a sort of honorary connexion with an operative society . Again , when non-operatives joined a Masonic friendly society , that was not for the purpose of becoming . specidative Masonsso far as our degrees & cwere
, , , concerned , for said degrees were not in existence before 1717 . They had a word or countersign ( as a soldier has ) and a bit of " apron-washing , " but that was merely something similar to the practices of other trades . Consequently , a gentleman joining the Masons' Society before 1717 became no more a
" speculative Mason" thereby than his joining the old operative weavers' or cordiners' societies would haxe made him a speculative weaver or a speculative cordiner . In short , the objects and ideas of the Masonic members before 1717 were different from what they became after that date .
Of course I admit that operative Masonry was " the forerunner " of speculative Masonry ; but I object to the former being called the father of the latter , for I assert that speculative Masonry was grafted on to operative Masonry .
It was not operative Masonry that gradually developed itself into speculative Freemasonry—no ! It was the doctrines and ideas stirred up by the Reformation which Desaguliers & Co . took hold of and made into speculative Freemasonry that constituted our present system and gave it its grand ideas ; to pass these ideas into active circulation they made
use of operative Masonry , hence the great change about A . D . 1717 , which was not a development of , but a grafting on . It has been the not perceiving this " point " that has led to so many absurd notions regarding Freemasonry aud its supposed antiquity , & c ., and which
enabled so many mushroom legends to spring up and spread abroad . From the above remarks it may perhaps be seen that it will take a stronger wind than any we have yet felt to uproot the 1717 date ; possibly , as the wind does to a good tree sometimes , the shaking will
only cause it to take deeper root . *• Yours fraternally , W . P . BUCHAN .
Correspondence.
THE FIRST GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND . 10 THE EDITOR OE THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIBEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —As so much has _ been written of late tending to undermine the faith of the fraternity in the antiquity of our traditionary
Order , a transcript of the following extract from one of our standard works may tend to quiet the minds of those who are unsettled on the subject -. — "King Edward died in 924 , and was succeeded by Athelstane , his son , who appointed his brother Edwin Patron of the MasonsThis Prince procured a
. charter from Athelstane , empowering them to meet annually at York , where the first Grand Lodge of England was formed in 962 , at which Edwin presided as Grand Master . Here many old writings were produced in Greek , Latin , and other languages , from which the Constitutions of the English lodges
are derived . "—Vide Dr . Oliver ' s Preston ' s " Illustrations of Masonry , ' ' 17 th edition , p . 118 . Yours fraternally , JESSE BANNING .
AUXILIARY LODGES . TO THE EDITOB OU THE EKEEJIASONs' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC UIEKOfe . Dear Sir and Brother , —A question has been raised whether an auxiliary lodge can be held under the same roof of a Masonic Hall for the purposeof
^ initiating , passing , and raising candidates , the object heing simply to aid the presiding W . M . to get through the evening without postponing any of the candidates to another day . To present the question in a somewhat clearer formI may observe that there are three initiations
, , three passings , and three raisings to be completed , and , with a view of concluding all the business of the evening , the W . M . of the lodge proposes to take the three raisings with the assistance of his regular officers , and to depute a P . M . of the lodge with a staff of officers to initiate and pass the others in
another room in the hall , which is in every particular suitable for the ceremonies , he having the proper tracing-boards and working tools appropriate to the two degrees . It is contended that this would not be
incorrect , as the whole business would be done under the same roof and within the same walls of the building dedicated solely for Masonic purposes . The proposed course is assimilated to a Court of Quarter Sessions , when the chairman sometimes requests some of his brother magistrates to open a second or even third court for the further and more speedy dispatch
of business . The object will beat once apparent ; the whole business will be accomplished in one night without putting so severe a strain on the physical and mental energies of the W . M . and his officers , in addition to which the lodge would be closed at a reasonable hour , thereby enabling the brethren to
return to their respective homes at a very much earlier hour . I shall be glad if any of your correspondents will give me their views upon this important question , and further to say if they remember any similar event taking place , and , if so , when and where . Yours fraternally , ^ B . *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
lative Masonry , " you mean really , Masonry such as we know to have been practised since the Revival of 1717 ; and certainly , in that sense , I contend the operative Masonry of former years is vastly different , although not so much as to prevent our seeing sufficient points of resemblance to prove one was the forerunner of the other . "
I received Bro . Hughan ' s permission to publish the above , and I shall now comment upon it . He admits that " there was no Masonry of the character of the Freemasonry of the 18 th century" before 1717 ; so far , therefore , Bro . Hughan has not thrown over the 1717 date , as some at pages 308 and 309 would fain imagine- furtherBro . Hughan still
, , asserts that our " three degrees ' ' did not exist before then . With Bro . Hughan I , of course , admit that " gentlemen were admitted " before 1717 ; but I do not admit that they thereby became " speculative Masons " in any such sense as ice now understand the term ; for , before 1717 , they neither received the
doctrines nor degrees we now promulgate and practise ; they were simply gentlemen members having a sort of honorary connexion with an operative society . Again , when non-operatives joined a Masonic friendly society , that was not for the purpose of becoming . specidative Masonsso far as our degrees & cwere
, , , concerned , for said degrees were not in existence before 1717 . They had a word or countersign ( as a soldier has ) and a bit of " apron-washing , " but that was merely something similar to the practices of other trades . Consequently , a gentleman joining the Masons' Society before 1717 became no more a
" speculative Mason" thereby than his joining the old operative weavers' or cordiners' societies would haxe made him a speculative weaver or a speculative cordiner . In short , the objects and ideas of the Masonic members before 1717 were different from what they became after that date .
Of course I admit that operative Masonry was " the forerunner " of speculative Masonry ; but I object to the former being called the father of the latter , for I assert that speculative Masonry was grafted on to operative Masonry .
It was not operative Masonry that gradually developed itself into speculative Freemasonry—no ! It was the doctrines and ideas stirred up by the Reformation which Desaguliers & Co . took hold of and made into speculative Freemasonry that constituted our present system and gave it its grand ideas ; to pass these ideas into active circulation they made
use of operative Masonry , hence the great change about A . D . 1717 , which was not a development of , but a grafting on . It has been the not perceiving this " point " that has led to so many absurd notions regarding Freemasonry aud its supposed antiquity , & c ., and which
enabled so many mushroom legends to spring up and spread abroad . From the above remarks it may perhaps be seen that it will take a stronger wind than any we have yet felt to uproot the 1717 date ; possibly , as the wind does to a good tree sometimes , the shaking will
only cause it to take deeper root . *• Yours fraternally , W . P . BUCHAN .
Correspondence.
THE FIRST GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND . 10 THE EDITOR OE THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIBEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —As so much has _ been written of late tending to undermine the faith of the fraternity in the antiquity of our traditionary
Order , a transcript of the following extract from one of our standard works may tend to quiet the minds of those who are unsettled on the subject -. — "King Edward died in 924 , and was succeeded by Athelstane , his son , who appointed his brother Edwin Patron of the MasonsThis Prince procured a
. charter from Athelstane , empowering them to meet annually at York , where the first Grand Lodge of England was formed in 962 , at which Edwin presided as Grand Master . Here many old writings were produced in Greek , Latin , and other languages , from which the Constitutions of the English lodges
are derived . "—Vide Dr . Oliver ' s Preston ' s " Illustrations of Masonry , ' ' 17 th edition , p . 118 . Yours fraternally , JESSE BANNING .
AUXILIARY LODGES . TO THE EDITOB OU THE EKEEJIASONs' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC UIEKOfe . Dear Sir and Brother , —A question has been raised whether an auxiliary lodge can be held under the same roof of a Masonic Hall for the purposeof
^ initiating , passing , and raising candidates , the object heing simply to aid the presiding W . M . to get through the evening without postponing any of the candidates to another day . To present the question in a somewhat clearer formI may observe that there are three initiations
, , three passings , and three raisings to be completed , and , with a view of concluding all the business of the evening , the W . M . of the lodge proposes to take the three raisings with the assistance of his regular officers , and to depute a P . M . of the lodge with a staff of officers to initiate and pass the others in
another room in the hall , which is in every particular suitable for the ceremonies , he having the proper tracing-boards and working tools appropriate to the two degrees . It is contended that this would not be
incorrect , as the whole business would be done under the same roof and within the same walls of the building dedicated solely for Masonic purposes . The proposed course is assimilated to a Court of Quarter Sessions , when the chairman sometimes requests some of his brother magistrates to open a second or even third court for the further and more speedy dispatch
of business . The object will beat once apparent ; the whole business will be accomplished in one night without putting so severe a strain on the physical and mental energies of the W . M . and his officers , in addition to which the lodge would be closed at a reasonable hour , thereby enabling the brethren to
return to their respective homes at a very much earlier hour . I shall be glad if any of your correspondents will give me their views upon this important question , and further to say if they remember any similar event taking place , and , if so , when and where . Yours fraternally , ^ B . *