Geand Lodge.

including the Royal Arch ; and yet now it was proposed to add an additional Degree . ( Cries of No , No . ) It was clear that if it were not anew Degree , it must have been known at the time of the Union , and that those who had had the charge of that measure had come to the conclusion tjiat it was unnecessary to the wellbeing of the Order . If they acknowledged this new Degree , they knew not where they would be able to stop , and they might be led into connection with Oddfellowship , or any other Society . He knew but few of the Committee who had

recommended this measure to their notice , but he believed that one of the Committee was Bro . Herbert Lloyd . He had not the pleasure of the acquaintance of that Bro ., but he knew him to be an honourable and conscientious man , and he trusted he would see the value and importance of the observations he ( Bro . Henderson ) had felt it his duty to lay before the Brethren . When the late regretted G . M . the Duke of Sussex did him the honour to appoint him as

G . Registrar , he particularly enjoined him to see that no innovations were made in the Order ; and he could scarcely conceive that the present Registrar had used sufficient authority in allowing the matter to be brought forward . If this measure became law , it would give an excuse to the disloyal to bring forward constant innovations , or oppose the authority of the Grand Lodge ; and he" therefore prayed them to join with him , and vote that so much of the proceedings of last Grand Lodge which related to the Mark Degree be not Confirmed .

Bro . Savage congratulated the Brethren that Bro . Henderson had again appeared at Grand Lodge , and implored them to listen to the words of warning they had heard . He thought they were called upon to arrive at too hasty a result upon so important a question as that of altering their ceremonies , and he therefore had great pleasure in seconding the motion . Bro . Aria opposed the resolution now brought forward , and urged upon the Brethren the propriety of supporting the minutes of the last Lodge . He could

see no injury that could possibly be inflicted on their Order by legalizing the Mark , as throughout the world , in Lodges holding from the Irish , Scotch , or other Grand Lodges , a Brother could not be exalted to the Royal Arch without going through the Mark Degree . He knew that throughout the West Indies and other colonies the Mark was given as a preliminary to being exalted , even under the English constitution ; and would they stigmatize such Brethren as acting illegally , when it was done by every Lodge every day in the week ?

The G . M . begged to observe that that was a question for the Grand Chapter to consider , and not for Grand Lodge . Bro . Dobie could not feel with Brother Henderson , that he had not done his duty , but would be glad to resign his position to that worthy Brother , if he would again take it . He was no Mark Mason , but from what he had heard of it , it

was no deviation from the landmarks of the Order ; and as a member of the Committee , after witnesses had been examined , including the G . Sec , who had taken the Degree in the Isle of Wight , he had come to the conclusion , in the words of the report , that it formed no portion of the Royal Ai'ch ; and that whilst it was not essential to the Craft , it could not be considered as opposed to it , and might prove a graceful addition to the Craft Degree .

Bro . Beach would merely suggest that the matter had been referred to a combined committee of G . Lodge and G . Chapter , and that they ought to repose their confidence in them . Bro . Hearn , P . Prov . D . G . M . for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , denied that the Mark was a new degree , it only filling up a gap which existed in their histo ry , and which made the three acknowledged degrees complete . As an antiqu arian , he loved to trace the progress of Masonry , and this he was enabled to do by the Marks of the Mason on the stones of the churches and cathedrals

fcuroughout the country . Were they to be told that a most beautiful ceremony was to be repudiated because it was not properly understood at the time of the mon ? Surely , if it were a portion of Freemasonry , —and nobody who had spoken » ad demed it to be so , —they ought to restore it to its proper position ; and this was what they were asked to do when it was proposed to consider it as the completion of the Fellow Crafts degree . He pledged his Masonic honour that its uoautilul legend showed it to be an integral portion of Freemasonry , and he there * VOL . H . 3 %