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Article ROYAL ARCH, AND SOME OTHER QUESTIONS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article RELIEF. Page 1 of 1 Article RELIEF. Page 1 of 1 Article BOX BROWN. Page 1 of 2 →
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Royal Arch, And Some Other Questions.
the Eoyal Arch was built up . Nothing of it was known before 1740 , and all higher degrees from 1740 to € 0 have had their source in France , and are concocted from old books , etc . There is nothing in the whole Eoyal Arch which could be construed as pure ancient Freemasonry ; it is a confused medley of passages
from the Old and ISew Testaments , from history and fable , from religious dogmas and Masonic tradition . Iu my opinion the E . A . has nothing at all to do with Freemasonry , which consists of three degrees , and no more . The first degree contains the substance and essence of our royal art , and each Mason , be he called Master or a Sovereign Prince of the soi-disant higher degrees , Avill for ever remain an apprentice in this art .
With much pleasure I learn from the Magazine ihat the assiduous collector of Mason Marks , Bro . Shaw , is about to publish his interesting work . May he find more assistance than I met with in England . when writing my "History ! " The deplorable effects resulting from the so-called
higher degrees are shown in No . 445 , hy Bro . H . B . White , 18 ° , Avho , however , loses sight of the spirit and true meaning of that pure Freemasonry when he asserts that " no man can become a true Mason unless he be a Christian . " With the pride of a Pharisee he rejects all non-Christian Masons as such
, who are stated to be " only Masons in name , " for to us is accorded the privilege of knowing the mysteries , seeing they see not , & c . If Bro . White will read the first of the " Old Charges " of 1723 , he may perceive that Freemasonry embraces all free men of good report of every faith with the same love , that
our Fraternity has for its object to unite all good men or men of honour and honesty , aud thus " becomes the centre of union and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must Jiave otherwise remained at a perpetual distance . " True Freemasonry remains neutral in regard to
individual religious opinions ; it is neither Christian jior non-Christian ; it deals only with the man as a . man and brother , as a human creature , and has nothing to do with the Christian , Jew , Mohametan , . or Atheist . The fraternity of Freemasons and the Church are two different institutions . The Church
does not need a handmaiden , for it realises its o \ ra purpose ; and likewise the union of Freemasons has an existence and purpose of its OAVU . The Church jests on the faith , and all faiths have a separating element , for each Church pretends to be the only true one ; Freemasonry rests on lovewhich unites all
, men . I am , dear Sir and Brother , Tours fraternally , F . G . FINDEL . Leipzig , Jan ., 1868 .
Relief.
RELIEF .
¦ tO IHE EDITOE OE THE EHEEMASON 3 MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —It is frequently and truly stated that Masonry is universal . Does this refer to Masonry in the abstract , or to English Masonry exclusively ? The reason why I ask the question is this—a feeling appears to obtain credence pretty generally amongst the members of the fraternity in this part of the country ( eastern counties ) that
Relief.
brethren who have joined the English lodges from other Constitutions are not entitled to any benefit arising from the offices they may have held under the Constitutions from which they may have come . Foif instance , a brother who was initiated under the Irish Constitutionserves for a number of yearsit may be
, , the subordinate offices in his mother lodge , attains to the Senior and Junior Warden ' s chair , serves in either of the above for twelvemonths , or it may be two years , and is naturally looking forward to getting to Iv . S . 's chair in the cast , when circumstances cause his removaland he joins an English lodgethere being
, , none of his own in the place . Is he debarred the privilege he would have had in his OAVU lodge simply because he comes under another Constitution ? I take it in this light , serving in the minor offices is like a man undergoing an apprenticeship ; after he has completed the term agreed
upon , he is free to follow his trade anywhere without going through another apprenticeship . Tet such is not the opinion of the brethren I have hinted at . They argue that he has no right to count the service in his Constitution , but must begin afresh , and so get up the ladder as best he may . I am aware this does
not apply to Past Masters , they are P . M . ' s Avherever they go . Tet these same brethren think that even a P . M . of another Constitution is noteligibleto the chair under the English unless he has served as Warden for twelvemonths in an English lodge . If some experienced brother would he pleased to give his opinion
upon this knotty point , I and many others would be thankful for the information . Tours fraternally , AN ENGLISH AND IEISH P . M . Feb . 6 th , 1868 .
[ It Avas decided , some time since , in Grand Lodge , that service as a Master or Warden of any Lodge not under the English Constitution does not qualify a brother for election to the Master ' s chair iu our lodges ; aud he must , consequently , first serve as a Warden for one year , the same as an ordinary member . A P . M . of a forei lod he present at
gn ge may the installation of au English W . M ., but possesses no other privileges whatever . The Grand Lodge of Ireland , Ave belie \ e , when the question was raised , expressed no disapproval of this regulation . —ED . F . M- ~ \
Box Brown.
BOX BROWN .
TO THE EDITOR OE THE EEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —Allow me to express my sincere regret iu my seeming want of courtesy to your esteemed correspondent , " H . H ., '' in not having replied to his letter of the 4 th of last month ere this ; but , added to the fact of my having been from home for some time past in au unenlihtened part of the
g west , where your valuable magazine has not yet been appreciated , and my own numbers being in the hands of your printer for binding , I was , and am still , unable to refer to the page as quoted by " H . H ., " hut I can assure him that if anything that J . might have said was supposed to be in any way
disrespectful or ungrateful to him for the trouble he has taken to arrive at the facts , it was perfectly unintentional , for of all your correspondents there is no one whose assistance I should value , to root out an abuse , in preference to himself .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Royal Arch, And Some Other Questions.
the Eoyal Arch was built up . Nothing of it was known before 1740 , and all higher degrees from 1740 to € 0 have had their source in France , and are concocted from old books , etc . There is nothing in the whole Eoyal Arch which could be construed as pure ancient Freemasonry ; it is a confused medley of passages
from the Old and ISew Testaments , from history and fable , from religious dogmas and Masonic tradition . Iu my opinion the E . A . has nothing at all to do with Freemasonry , which consists of three degrees , and no more . The first degree contains the substance and essence of our royal art , and each Mason , be he called Master or a Sovereign Prince of the soi-disant higher degrees , Avill for ever remain an apprentice in this art .
With much pleasure I learn from the Magazine ihat the assiduous collector of Mason Marks , Bro . Shaw , is about to publish his interesting work . May he find more assistance than I met with in England . when writing my "History ! " The deplorable effects resulting from the so-called
higher degrees are shown in No . 445 , hy Bro . H . B . White , 18 ° , Avho , however , loses sight of the spirit and true meaning of that pure Freemasonry when he asserts that " no man can become a true Mason unless he be a Christian . " With the pride of a Pharisee he rejects all non-Christian Masons as such
, who are stated to be " only Masons in name , " for to us is accorded the privilege of knowing the mysteries , seeing they see not , & c . If Bro . White will read the first of the " Old Charges " of 1723 , he may perceive that Freemasonry embraces all free men of good report of every faith with the same love , that
our Fraternity has for its object to unite all good men or men of honour and honesty , aud thus " becomes the centre of union and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must Jiave otherwise remained at a perpetual distance . " True Freemasonry remains neutral in regard to
individual religious opinions ; it is neither Christian jior non-Christian ; it deals only with the man as a . man and brother , as a human creature , and has nothing to do with the Christian , Jew , Mohametan , . or Atheist . The fraternity of Freemasons and the Church are two different institutions . The Church
does not need a handmaiden , for it realises its o \ ra purpose ; and likewise the union of Freemasons has an existence and purpose of its OAVU . The Church jests on the faith , and all faiths have a separating element , for each Church pretends to be the only true one ; Freemasonry rests on lovewhich unites all
, men . I am , dear Sir and Brother , Tours fraternally , F . G . FINDEL . Leipzig , Jan ., 1868 .
Relief.
RELIEF .
¦ tO IHE EDITOE OE THE EHEEMASON 3 MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —It is frequently and truly stated that Masonry is universal . Does this refer to Masonry in the abstract , or to English Masonry exclusively ? The reason why I ask the question is this—a feeling appears to obtain credence pretty generally amongst the members of the fraternity in this part of the country ( eastern counties ) that
Relief.
brethren who have joined the English lodges from other Constitutions are not entitled to any benefit arising from the offices they may have held under the Constitutions from which they may have come . Foif instance , a brother who was initiated under the Irish Constitutionserves for a number of yearsit may be
, , the subordinate offices in his mother lodge , attains to the Senior and Junior Warden ' s chair , serves in either of the above for twelvemonths , or it may be two years , and is naturally looking forward to getting to Iv . S . 's chair in the cast , when circumstances cause his removaland he joins an English lodgethere being
, , none of his own in the place . Is he debarred the privilege he would have had in his OAVU lodge simply because he comes under another Constitution ? I take it in this light , serving in the minor offices is like a man undergoing an apprenticeship ; after he has completed the term agreed
upon , he is free to follow his trade anywhere without going through another apprenticeship . Tet such is not the opinion of the brethren I have hinted at . They argue that he has no right to count the service in his Constitution , but must begin afresh , and so get up the ladder as best he may . I am aware this does
not apply to Past Masters , they are P . M . ' s Avherever they go . Tet these same brethren think that even a P . M . of another Constitution is noteligibleto the chair under the English unless he has served as Warden for twelvemonths in an English lodge . If some experienced brother would he pleased to give his opinion
upon this knotty point , I and many others would be thankful for the information . Tours fraternally , AN ENGLISH AND IEISH P . M . Feb . 6 th , 1868 .
[ It Avas decided , some time since , in Grand Lodge , that service as a Master or Warden of any Lodge not under the English Constitution does not qualify a brother for election to the Master ' s chair iu our lodges ; aud he must , consequently , first serve as a Warden for one year , the same as an ordinary member . A P . M . of a forei lod he present at
gn ge may the installation of au English W . M ., but possesses no other privileges whatever . The Grand Lodge of Ireland , Ave belie \ e , when the question was raised , expressed no disapproval of this regulation . —ED . F . M- ~ \
Box Brown.
BOX BROWN .
TO THE EDITOR OE THE EEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEEOE . Dear Sir and Brother , —Allow me to express my sincere regret iu my seeming want of courtesy to your esteemed correspondent , " H . H ., '' in not having replied to his letter of the 4 th of last month ere this ; but , added to the fact of my having been from home for some time past in au unenlihtened part of the
g west , where your valuable magazine has not yet been appreciated , and my own numbers being in the hands of your printer for binding , I was , and am still , unable to refer to the page as quoted by " H . H ., " hut I can assure him that if anything that J . might have said was supposed to be in any way
disrespectful or ungrateful to him for the trouble he has taken to arrive at the facts , it was perfectly unintentional , for of all your correspondents there is no one whose assistance I should value , to root out an abuse , in preference to himself .