Letter Of Bro. W. J. Hughan, Of England, To The Grand Lodge Uf Ohio.

LETTER OF BRO . W . J . HUGHAN , OF ENGLAND , TO THE GRAND LODGE UF OHIO .

MY DEAR BKETIIUEN , — The zealous chairman of your '' Foreign Communications Committee" has so frequently and kindly notice ! my various contributions toAViirds a universal Masonic history in his valuable and original reports , that I feel

bound to fraternally respond to his call , and write a special Centennial letter to him iiinl my warm friends in Ohio , and through thorn to the fifty Grand Lodges in the United States , whose prosperity is the deliht of the Craft in Great Britainand the

g , joy in particular of the Avriter . The " New Day and the Ncio Duty , " alluded to by our esteemed Bro . Caldwell , has special reference to the United States , and so docs not suit- my pen . The longer I live the move am 1 convinced that the Grand Lodge

jurisdiction theory , mainly propounded by my American friends , is the ri ght one . One Grand Lodge only for each State , country , or dominion . 1 am also convinced that so long as a candidate believes in God , and is a free man , of mahtre agesound

, hulgmenl , and strict morals—these five conditions aro the only desirable prerequisites for proposition in a Masonic lodge , all other questions with respect to colour , physical qualifications , and so on , beimr left to the secret ballot for decision .

Carry this law m America , and the Eastern and Western Hemispheres Avill join " hand in hand " in Masonic legislation , and the Centennial year will be the Masonic year . With respect " to tlie relation Masonry bears to the early Guilds of London" f have alreadyin connection Avith my brother

, , the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , traced the connection plainly , and so have several of your leading Masonic scholars—Dr . Albert G . Mackey , General Albert Pike , and more recently George F . Fort . IhaA'e , however , recently been favoured Avith transcripts by

my friend Bro . William Clarke , of Sheptou Mallet , England , of several early allusions to Freemasonry of an important character , and Avhich have hitherto been unnoticed b y the Craft . They are of interest to Masonic students , and I have , therefore , decided to copy them for reproduction through the

medium of the Grand Lodge of Ohio , and I feel sure the time and trouble involved in tracing and authenticating such references by me will be Avell employed . With respect to early Freemasonry , you will be aAvare of the contents of that truly

magnificent Avork , the "History of the Lodge of lidinburgh , " from 1599 , by my dear friend David Murray Lyon . It is quite clear that the evidence submitted by Bro . Lyon proves that Modern Freemasonry Avas introduced into Scotland

by Dr . Desaguliers in 1721 . Before , however , the Past Graud Master Avas permitted to visit the Ancient Lodge of Edinburgh , bo was examined , and found to bo " duly qualified in all points of Masonry" so that Avhatever differences ( or additions ) there

might have been betAveen Modern and Ancient Freemasonry , they Avere not sufficient to obliterate the original character of the society or prevent visitation . Many lodges continued working in Scotland ancl iu England for years after the Grand

Lodge of England Avas formed iu 1717 ( and the Grand Lodge of all England at York , A . D . 1725 , and the Grand Lodge of Scotland , 173 C ) , which had been in existence

prior to the advent of the first Grand Lodge iu the Avorld , and visitations between the old and new regime Avere not uncommon . At times an old operative lodge accepted a Avarrant from a Grand Lodge ; at other times some old lodges Avere allowed to retain their Ancient

privileges to meet Avithout warrants so long as they gave in their adhesion to the new system , and of this class many still exist in Scotland , notably the Lodge of Kilwinning , No . 0 ; the Lodge of Edinburgh , No . 1 ; the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge ,

No . 2 . ( an offshoot of mother lodge Kilwinning , in 1 G 77 ) ; the Sevon and Perth , No . 3 ; the Ancient Lodge at Aberdeen ; St . John ' s Lodge , GlasgoAv , No . 3 ; Canongate and Leith , No . 5 ; and the Journeyman Lodge , No . 8 ( an offshoot of the

Lodge of Edinburgh in 1704 ) , and others . Also in England , the Lodge of Antiquity , London , No . 2 , and the Somerset House Lodge , No . 4 . Others also in Eng land have joined the Grand Lodge Avho date now from their warrants , but their real origin goes back long antecedent to that period . Some , like tlie old lodge at Alnwick ( whose history 1 have Avritten from A . D .