Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad01001
PERRIER = JOUET & Cos . CHAMPAGNES . FINEST VINTAGE RESERVE-CUVEES . THE FAVOURITE MASONIC BRAND . Agent—A . BOURSOT , 9 , Hart Street , Hark Lane , London .
Ar01000
Published , monthly . Price Sixpence . Rates of Yearly Subscription ( including Postage ) : — The United Kingdom , India , America , ) s . d . and the Colonies i ... J- 6 Binding Cases for Vol . I . arc now ready , prices—Clolh , 3 s . 6 d . ;
Roan , 12 s . 6 d . The Editor , to whom all literarv communications should be addressed ^ will be pleased to receive interesting photographs as zvell as items of notes and comments thereon , and lo consider suggestions for lengthier articles .
Editorial and Publishing Offices : — 15 , Great . Queen Street , London , W . C . All Business Communications should be addressed to THE PROPRIETORS , MESSRS . SPENCER & Co ., 75 , Great Queen Street , W . C . All Applications for Advertisements lo be made to WALTER J , LTD ., 5 , Queen Victoria Street , Loudon , E . C .
Ad01003
4 __ ff 5 Snc
The Old Stem And The New Growth.
The Old Stem and the New Growth .
WE are wont to pride ourselves on the permanence and persistence of the Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity of Freemasons . And justly so , for our forefathers in the Craft are at one with us , both in the spirit that vitalizes the mighty mass and in the letter of the law that regulates its outward action .
Stable as our Institution is , it has undergone , in the course of generations , changes and developments that are beyond denial or cavil . The morning sun rises slowly with growing effulgence and occasional obscuration to its noontide splendour , though it is still the same sun . The great
world spins for ever down the ringing grooves of change . Ours is but a human Institution- —how could it be free from the universal law of change ? It is ours to see that each change shall be for the better . The Constitutions of Freemasonry classify the Craft under
two heads , Operative and Speculative answering roughly to some such distinction as is implied in the terms Art of Masonry and Science of Freemasonry . The Operative Freemason was employed in the practice of Architecture . The corresponding task of the Speculative Freemason is the cultivation of
morality The distinction is very much older than is usually believed . The word Speculative is used for the purpose in one of the oldest records of the Craft , the Matthew Cooke , MS ., which is held to date from the close of the fourteenth century . This MS . seems to have been before the Rev . James Anderson , D . D ., when he compiled the first printed
Book of Constitutions , and from it he adopted the old-fashioned word Speculative , giving it currency in this sense wherever English-speaking Freemasonry has penetrated . We have spoken of the spirit that pervades the older and the later forms of the Craft alike . That spirit is composed of three elements that may be briefly summed up as
the Fatherhood of God , the Brotherhood of Man , and the Life to come . All the Rites , Symbols , and Ceremonies of Freemasonry tend to the inculcation of these three fundamental doctrines . In Medieval times , these doctrines formed the undercurrent that flowed beneath the stringent conditions of secrecy and custom that enwrapped the Guild life of the
time . In modern days , the same doctrines underlie the intensely human gradations of kindly tolerance , social conviviality , and organised charity that form the external features of our Freemasonry .
Our Medieval forefathers had a great inheritance . They possessed amongst them , whence derived we know not—nor did they—the mathematical formula ; that enabled them to provide the sure foundation , to apply the flying buttres , to stem the strain and stress of towering roof and cloistered wall with a skill and success unsurpassed , nay , unmatched in our
da ) . These formuke we know to have heen Geometrical , there was no other engine of mathematical research available . "Geometry , " quoth Dr . Anderson , "is the foundation of Masonry and Architecture . "
The Articles , Obligations , and Sanctions of the Medieval Brethren , designed to prevent such esoteric knowledge from falling into unworthy hands , serve a similar purpose to-day , though the Operative has become merged in the Speculative aspect of the Fraternity . It is the nature , not the value , of the Secrets that have altered . The environment has
changed , and the interpretation of the old charges changes with it , if they are still to be interpreted in the spirit , and not in the letter merely . Here are two examples of the changes due to the growth of our stately tree . In the Old Charges , there is no provision for what we now call Grand Lodge Jurisdiction . How could
there be , when there was no provision for Grand Lodge itself ? But in process of time it was found , first , expedient and , then , necessary to limit the jurisdiction of each Grand Lodge to its own territory . An illustration of this compact between Grand Lodges marked the proceedings of our own Grand Lodge at its last Quarterly Communication . On the
other hand , old-time injunctions , valid in the Operative letter , need to be translated in accordance with the Speculative spirit . The Old Charges , as edited by Dr . Anderson , lay down that , " No MASTER should take an APPRENTICE unless he has sufficient Imployment for him , and unless he be a
perfect Youth , having no Maim or Defect in his Body that may render him incapable of learning the ART of serving his MASTER ' S LORD , and of being made a BROTHER , and then a FELLOW CRAIT in clue time , even after he has served such a Term of Years as the Custom of the Country directs . " Rely ing on this charge , and unmindful that the corporeal
requirements of the Operative Mason have been superseded by the spiritaul requirements of the Speculative Freemason , Grand Lodges are to be found clamouring for a physical perfection that cannot be found . For the normal human being does not exist . It is no longer a physical failing , but a moral obliquity , that should shut out the candidate .
Just as the Operative Mason was employed in building a material edifice that should display to succeeding ages , Wisdom of design , Strength of construction , and Beauty of Form , so the Speculative Freemason ought to employ himself in completing a moral edifice that shall testify to the honest discharge of the duties inculcated in the Lodge .
Who shall say that the example of a noble life and an unselfish career is less beautiful in the moral world than the finest Cathedral ever built in the material world ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ad01001
PERRIER = JOUET & Cos . CHAMPAGNES . FINEST VINTAGE RESERVE-CUVEES . THE FAVOURITE MASONIC BRAND . Agent—A . BOURSOT , 9 , Hart Street , Hark Lane , London .
Ar01000
Published , monthly . Price Sixpence . Rates of Yearly Subscription ( including Postage ) : — The United Kingdom , India , America , ) s . d . and the Colonies i ... J- 6 Binding Cases for Vol . I . arc now ready , prices—Clolh , 3 s . 6 d . ;
Roan , 12 s . 6 d . The Editor , to whom all literarv communications should be addressed ^ will be pleased to receive interesting photographs as zvell as items of notes and comments thereon , and lo consider suggestions for lengthier articles .
Editorial and Publishing Offices : — 15 , Great . Queen Street , London , W . C . All Business Communications should be addressed to THE PROPRIETORS , MESSRS . SPENCER & Co ., 75 , Great Queen Street , W . C . All Applications for Advertisements lo be made to WALTER J , LTD ., 5 , Queen Victoria Street , Loudon , E . C .
Ad01003
4 __ ff 5 Snc
The Old Stem And The New Growth.
The Old Stem and the New Growth .
WE are wont to pride ourselves on the permanence and persistence of the Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity of Freemasons . And justly so , for our forefathers in the Craft are at one with us , both in the spirit that vitalizes the mighty mass and in the letter of the law that regulates its outward action .
Stable as our Institution is , it has undergone , in the course of generations , changes and developments that are beyond denial or cavil . The morning sun rises slowly with growing effulgence and occasional obscuration to its noontide splendour , though it is still the same sun . The great
world spins for ever down the ringing grooves of change . Ours is but a human Institution- —how could it be free from the universal law of change ? It is ours to see that each change shall be for the better . The Constitutions of Freemasonry classify the Craft under
two heads , Operative and Speculative answering roughly to some such distinction as is implied in the terms Art of Masonry and Science of Freemasonry . The Operative Freemason was employed in the practice of Architecture . The corresponding task of the Speculative Freemason is the cultivation of
morality The distinction is very much older than is usually believed . The word Speculative is used for the purpose in one of the oldest records of the Craft , the Matthew Cooke , MS ., which is held to date from the close of the fourteenth century . This MS . seems to have been before the Rev . James Anderson , D . D ., when he compiled the first printed
Book of Constitutions , and from it he adopted the old-fashioned word Speculative , giving it currency in this sense wherever English-speaking Freemasonry has penetrated . We have spoken of the spirit that pervades the older and the later forms of the Craft alike . That spirit is composed of three elements that may be briefly summed up as
the Fatherhood of God , the Brotherhood of Man , and the Life to come . All the Rites , Symbols , and Ceremonies of Freemasonry tend to the inculcation of these three fundamental doctrines . In Medieval times , these doctrines formed the undercurrent that flowed beneath the stringent conditions of secrecy and custom that enwrapped the Guild life of the
time . In modern days , the same doctrines underlie the intensely human gradations of kindly tolerance , social conviviality , and organised charity that form the external features of our Freemasonry .
Our Medieval forefathers had a great inheritance . They possessed amongst them , whence derived we know not—nor did they—the mathematical formula ; that enabled them to provide the sure foundation , to apply the flying buttres , to stem the strain and stress of towering roof and cloistered wall with a skill and success unsurpassed , nay , unmatched in our
da ) . These formuke we know to have heen Geometrical , there was no other engine of mathematical research available . "Geometry , " quoth Dr . Anderson , "is the foundation of Masonry and Architecture . "
The Articles , Obligations , and Sanctions of the Medieval Brethren , designed to prevent such esoteric knowledge from falling into unworthy hands , serve a similar purpose to-day , though the Operative has become merged in the Speculative aspect of the Fraternity . It is the nature , not the value , of the Secrets that have altered . The environment has
changed , and the interpretation of the old charges changes with it , if they are still to be interpreted in the spirit , and not in the letter merely . Here are two examples of the changes due to the growth of our stately tree . In the Old Charges , there is no provision for what we now call Grand Lodge Jurisdiction . How could
there be , when there was no provision for Grand Lodge itself ? But in process of time it was found , first , expedient and , then , necessary to limit the jurisdiction of each Grand Lodge to its own territory . An illustration of this compact between Grand Lodges marked the proceedings of our own Grand Lodge at its last Quarterly Communication . On the
other hand , old-time injunctions , valid in the Operative letter , need to be translated in accordance with the Speculative spirit . The Old Charges , as edited by Dr . Anderson , lay down that , " No MASTER should take an APPRENTICE unless he has sufficient Imployment for him , and unless he be a
perfect Youth , having no Maim or Defect in his Body that may render him incapable of learning the ART of serving his MASTER ' S LORD , and of being made a BROTHER , and then a FELLOW CRAIT in clue time , even after he has served such a Term of Years as the Custom of the Country directs . " Rely ing on this charge , and unmindful that the corporeal
requirements of the Operative Mason have been superseded by the spiritaul requirements of the Speculative Freemason , Grand Lodges are to be found clamouring for a physical perfection that cannot be found . For the normal human being does not exist . It is no longer a physical failing , but a moral obliquity , that should shut out the candidate .
Just as the Operative Mason was employed in building a material edifice that should display to succeeding ages , Wisdom of design , Strength of construction , and Beauty of Form , so the Speculative Freemason ought to employ himself in completing a moral edifice that shall testify to the honest discharge of the duties inculcated in the Lodge .
Who shall say that the example of a noble life and an unselfish career is less beautiful in the moral world than the finest Cathedral ever built in the material world ?