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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
eating two popular works in which the queriest can trace the subject for himself . These are Mrs . Jameson ' s Legends of the Saints and Martyrs , aud the same lady ' s Sacred and Leaendartj Art . ~ \ JOSUTJA OR JESHUA .
If "P . P ., " who , in No . 282 , inquired the orthography of the name of the 3 rd Principal in the H . R . A ., will refer to the books of Ezra , iii . 8 and Haggai , i . 1 , he will find authority for using either of the above modes . —A . W ., 253 .
modus operandi would act as a sufficient check upon a further infraction of discipline . At all events , it is on record that a Speaker of the House of Commons having threatened to " name" some one ( with the usual result of bringing tbe culprit to repentance ) , was asked what he should have done had die hon .
member continued contumacious . He replied that he really did not know , hut believed that the consequences would have been awful . —A . W ., 253 .
BRO . W . C OLAR 1 CSON . Referring- to the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , vol . vi ., 1 S 39 , page ISO , 1 find the following obituary : — " On the 13 th December , Brother W . Comerford Clarkson , of Doctors' Commons , aged 82 , P . G-. T . aud P . M . of the Grand Masters' Lodge . He served the
office of Grand Steward for the Globe Lodge , and was a member of the Grand Stewards' Lodge at his decease . —A . W ., 253 .
GRAND "PURSUIVANTS . A question was asked by " tit , " in No . 2-77 , respecting the status of the Grand Pursuivant , hut I do not see that an answer has been given . It may be interesting to remark that , prior to the year IS-i-O , the office , if it could he so called , conferred no actual
Masonic rank , either present or past . Early in that year ( April 20 ) an honorary Grand Pursuivant was appointed by the Duke of Sussex , G . M ., in the person of Bro . "W . Rule , whose death took place in November last , as noticed in No . 282 of the FREEMASONS MAGAZINE . The duties of the office comprehended the superintendence of the proceedings of the scrutineers at the meetings of Grand Lodge , & c . —A . W ., 253 .
RAIN AND SECRECY . In No . 270 , "S . S . " inquires "What lias ram to do with secrecy , and how cau an intimation of wet weather be applied as attending to caution ? " Perhaps the following couplet will answer the query : — " Trusty brother , take cave ,
Of eaves-droppers beware . " —A . "W ., 253 . PERSECUTION . Prom the Gentleman ' s Magazine , July , 1737 : — "The Society of Freemasons , lately detected at Florence , makes a great noise . They pass there for Quietists , but it is here said they are of the E p icurean sect , and that there is no law too severe to deal with them .
The Pope sent the Father-Inquisitor post to Florence in order to prosecute them , at the request of the Great Duko of Tuscany , who was absolutely resolved to extirpate the whole sect . " As his Highness is since dead , aud the Duke of Lorrain , who was made a Freemason iu England , is to succeed , this persecution may not go far . —A . W .
THE DOOR OE FREEMASONRY . In America they often speak of the door of Freemasonry in somewhat of thefollowingstyle . Apopular paper gave it as follows : —There stands the door of Freemasonry—uot " partly open , " but " closely tiled " —inhospitably closed aud guardedlike the gate of Eden ,
, by the flaming sword . No invitation seems extended to the curious stranger to view the treasures that may be concealed within ; no hospitable warder stands without to invite the weary traveller to enter and refresh himself . No seductive entreaties allure the passerby ; but all is forbidding , dreary , dark . And
yet , over this apparently impenetrable portal are inscribed , iu classic Greek—the language of the ancient mysteries—the cheering words TO tcpovowri avoiyeatTui" to him that knocketh it shall be opened . " ¦ Here , surely , are words of cheering , hospitable importaud they should be sufficient answer to the too
, often repeated accusation that Freemasonry is an exclusive institution . A knock , a single knock , shall lower the point of that ever-vigilant sword ; shall turn the hinges of that ever-bolted door , and give to the knocker a ready entrance . Why , then , do not all men accept this general and
generous invitation , and judge for themselves of the value of the treasure which that door conceals ? or , why is the promise , thus made to the ear , so often broken to the sense , aud they who have confidingly knocked for admission , been so frequently repulsed ? The first question involves no charge against
Freemasonry , and may , in a few words , be dismissed . It is no fault of ours that all men will not seek admission into our Order . Its cause lies in the very infirmity of human nature . Men are ever reluctant to try untrodden paths . They fear to enter upon unknown sceues . They have no knowledge from
experience of how much beauty , aud truthfulness , and science , and religion there is in Freemasonry ; and ignorant , therefore , of the good that is awaitiug them , they have no incentive to remove their reluctance , no encouragement to banish their fear . Were the doors of Freemasonry thrown widely open , the timid , and
the idle , and the indifferent , might give the institution a passing glance , which , brief as it would often be , mi ght still tend to remove their prejudices . But the door is closed—the invitation is wanting—we dare not and cannot persuade their entrance , and the simple words , " to him that knocketh , it shall be opened , " have no power to awakeu unborn desires into life .
But the second question is of deeper import to us .. It involves a charge of broken promise and deceptive speech . We say "to him that knocketh , it shall be opened , " and yet how many have knocked and been sent empty away . But we have our defence against the charge .
Freemasonry is no robber ' s cave , whose portal must fly open at the " opeu sesame" of every intruder , pronounce the words in what tone he may . No . The knock , whose magic influence we feel , must be of a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
eating two popular works in which the queriest can trace the subject for himself . These are Mrs . Jameson ' s Legends of the Saints and Martyrs , aud the same lady ' s Sacred and Leaendartj Art . ~ \ JOSUTJA OR JESHUA .
If "P . P ., " who , in No . 282 , inquired the orthography of the name of the 3 rd Principal in the H . R . A ., will refer to the books of Ezra , iii . 8 and Haggai , i . 1 , he will find authority for using either of the above modes . —A . W ., 253 .
modus operandi would act as a sufficient check upon a further infraction of discipline . At all events , it is on record that a Speaker of the House of Commons having threatened to " name" some one ( with the usual result of bringing tbe culprit to repentance ) , was asked what he should have done had die hon .
member continued contumacious . He replied that he really did not know , hut believed that the consequences would have been awful . —A . W ., 253 .
BRO . W . C OLAR 1 CSON . Referring- to the Freemasons' Quarterly Review , vol . vi ., 1 S 39 , page ISO , 1 find the following obituary : — " On the 13 th December , Brother W . Comerford Clarkson , of Doctors' Commons , aged 82 , P . G-. T . aud P . M . of the Grand Masters' Lodge . He served the
office of Grand Steward for the Globe Lodge , and was a member of the Grand Stewards' Lodge at his decease . —A . W ., 253 .
GRAND "PURSUIVANTS . A question was asked by " tit , " in No . 2-77 , respecting the status of the Grand Pursuivant , hut I do not see that an answer has been given . It may be interesting to remark that , prior to the year IS-i-O , the office , if it could he so called , conferred no actual
Masonic rank , either present or past . Early in that year ( April 20 ) an honorary Grand Pursuivant was appointed by the Duke of Sussex , G . M ., in the person of Bro . "W . Rule , whose death took place in November last , as noticed in No . 282 of the FREEMASONS MAGAZINE . The duties of the office comprehended the superintendence of the proceedings of the scrutineers at the meetings of Grand Lodge , & c . —A . W ., 253 .
RAIN AND SECRECY . In No . 270 , "S . S . " inquires "What lias ram to do with secrecy , and how cau an intimation of wet weather be applied as attending to caution ? " Perhaps the following couplet will answer the query : — " Trusty brother , take cave ,
Of eaves-droppers beware . " —A . "W ., 253 . PERSECUTION . Prom the Gentleman ' s Magazine , July , 1737 : — "The Society of Freemasons , lately detected at Florence , makes a great noise . They pass there for Quietists , but it is here said they are of the E p icurean sect , and that there is no law too severe to deal with them .
The Pope sent the Father-Inquisitor post to Florence in order to prosecute them , at the request of the Great Duko of Tuscany , who was absolutely resolved to extirpate the whole sect . " As his Highness is since dead , aud the Duke of Lorrain , who was made a Freemason iu England , is to succeed , this persecution may not go far . —A . W .
THE DOOR OE FREEMASONRY . In America they often speak of the door of Freemasonry in somewhat of thefollowingstyle . Apopular paper gave it as follows : —There stands the door of Freemasonry—uot " partly open , " but " closely tiled " —inhospitably closed aud guardedlike the gate of Eden ,
, by the flaming sword . No invitation seems extended to the curious stranger to view the treasures that may be concealed within ; no hospitable warder stands without to invite the weary traveller to enter and refresh himself . No seductive entreaties allure the passerby ; but all is forbidding , dreary , dark . And
yet , over this apparently impenetrable portal are inscribed , iu classic Greek—the language of the ancient mysteries—the cheering words TO tcpovowri avoiyeatTui" to him that knocketh it shall be opened . " ¦ Here , surely , are words of cheering , hospitable importaud they should be sufficient answer to the too
, often repeated accusation that Freemasonry is an exclusive institution . A knock , a single knock , shall lower the point of that ever-vigilant sword ; shall turn the hinges of that ever-bolted door , and give to the knocker a ready entrance . Why , then , do not all men accept this general and
generous invitation , and judge for themselves of the value of the treasure which that door conceals ? or , why is the promise , thus made to the ear , so often broken to the sense , aud they who have confidingly knocked for admission , been so frequently repulsed ? The first question involves no charge against
Freemasonry , and may , in a few words , be dismissed . It is no fault of ours that all men will not seek admission into our Order . Its cause lies in the very infirmity of human nature . Men are ever reluctant to try untrodden paths . They fear to enter upon unknown sceues . They have no knowledge from
experience of how much beauty , aud truthfulness , and science , and religion there is in Freemasonry ; and ignorant , therefore , of the good that is awaitiug them , they have no incentive to remove their reluctance , no encouragement to banish their fear . Were the doors of Freemasonry thrown widely open , the timid , and
the idle , and the indifferent , might give the institution a passing glance , which , brief as it would often be , mi ght still tend to remove their prejudices . But the door is closed—the invitation is wanting—we dare not and cannot persuade their entrance , and the simple words , " to him that knocketh , it shall be opened , " have no power to awakeu unborn desires into life .
But the second question is of deeper import to us .. It involves a charge of broken promise and deceptive speech . We say "to him that knocketh , it shall be opened , " and yet how many have knocked and been sent empty away . But we have our defence against the charge .
Freemasonry is no robber ' s cave , whose portal must fly open at the " opeu sesame" of every intruder , pronounce the words in what tone he may . No . The knock , whose magic influence we feel , must be of a