The Cost of Masonry. Grand Lodge Calendar, 1894
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Society into which men of large and men of moderate means have been THE COST OF MASONR Y. equally eligible to be admitted , but it is not , nor has it ever been contemplated , that men without visible means of subsistence should Is Masonry expensive ? " is a question that is often asked , but seldom " be received into our ranks. Thus, as the doors of our Society are answered satisfactorily, not because the respondent is in any way anxious opened indifferently to the men of rank and opulence , and the truth , or to exaggerate or underestimate the charges which lo conceal the honest tradesman and mechanic or artisan of moderate means, who a Mason incurs, but from the inherent difficulty under which every one must live in reputable circumstances , it is not necessarily expensive, though—• labour when he seeks to draw general conclusions fro m individual cases. using the word in an unfavourable sense—it may undoubtedl y be made so by the safest answer that can be given is that which is conveyed in the Perhaps indulgence in expenditure which , as it is not called for by any of the absolute oracular form of " All depends." No brother who replied in these terms requirements of Masonry, can have no other effect than to lower it in the expose himself to any more serious charge than that of having would world s estimation. Thus it is in Masonry as in other organisations—the cost answered vaguely, while for ourselves we should be—indeed , we are—in- depends chiefl y upon what the members, singularly or collectively, may choose clined to think that in its vagueness lies the chief merit of the answer. " All to make it , not upon an)' special rules or prescri ptions pertaining to it. What depends— " on what ? Aye, there's the rub. To furnish anything like an is necessary in connection with Masonry is not costly, neither does it furnish acceptable answer to this further question a man need possess the analytical occasion for needless extravagant outlay . As to what is to be found outside which have in many instances been exhibited by the German pro- powers this limit , we say again, as oracularl y as ever— " All depends. " fessor of philosophy or theology, or, better still , perhaps, by the German annotator on a Greek play. The latter in the case of those plays in which there is a fair number of difficult or GRAND LODGE CALENDAR, 1894 obscure passages, or where the hiatus valde dejlendi occur with exceptional frequency, has exhibited so much ingenuity in " The Freemasons' Calendar and Pocket Book for the year 1894 " is a furnishing a variety of both possible and impossible interpretations of the most welcome sight to me, and doubtless so also to many other Craftsmen. former and in filling the latter with lines which a Greek poet in his senses There is no Masonic annual more carefull y prepared , more deserving of would never have dreamt of writing, that the difficulty which the student support , or more exhaustive as to information , published anywhere through- experiences who is for the first time called upon to interpret , say, the out the " wide, wide world," and its compact arrangement adds much to its "Agamemnon " of /Ticchylus in classic English , is not so much to appreciate the usefulness and acceptability. The printer is Bro . George Kenning, who is beauties of the play as to explain why the German annotator should have ex- lhe official publisher of Grand Lodge, and is also the printer and publisher of pended so much of his undoubted analytical power in betraying his absolute the " Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar ,'' which completes the information as insensibility lo all noetic beauty. Thus when a friend or casual acquaintance lo the forei gn Grand Lodges , and Degrees of all kinds, other than the f ii'Sf . propounds to us the question , " Is Masonry expensive?" we reply with all three and the Royal Arch. the solemn dignity of an ancient oracle, " All depends," and when the further I .ast year s issue appeared to be complete and as near perfection as query is put to us, " Depends on what , " we answer with an equal amount possible, but 1S94 contains a new feature, which will be appreciated by those of solemnity—" on an infinite variety of circumstances," which the querist as fond of statistical information as the writer , viz., the total of the chapters would do well to consider in the first place separately and then in under each Prov. Grand Chapter. The last lod ge number in 1S93 Calendar concatenation. Thus, the question whether Masonry is or is not ex- was 2455, now it is 2492, so that 37 new lodges have been warranted in the pensive may be assumed to depend , in the first instance, on the further interim. As the roll is given to a few weeks prior to the end of the year question , what does the querist mean by the term Masonry ? Does 1S93, Bro . John Lane, the authority on such matters , has kindl y furnished he mean Craft Masonry pure and simple, or Craft and Arch Masonry ; me wilh the fi gures to the 31st December last. Six more charters were Craft , Arch , and Mark Masonry ; Craft , Arch , Mark , and Templar granted than the list exhibits, 2493, Westmorland ; 2494, North and East Masonry ; and so on , sing ly or in conjunction in parties of two, Yorkshire ; 2495, West Lancashire ; 2496, Cheshire ; 2497, Northumberland ; three , or more, throughout the whole category of all the various rites that and 2498, Transvaal. These raise the new warrants to 43 since the publica- were ever invented by the Ramsays, the Cagliostros , the Zinnendorfs , tion of the Calendar for 1893, and make the totals as follow : and other experts and impostors that have lived to vex the world wilh anno- In the Metropolitan district there 403 lodges, 1223 in the Provinces, 463 tations and emendations of the grand old Craft of Masonry. However , in the Colonies and Abroad and three in Military Corps, making 2092 011 the having at length and after the utmost patience completed this, which is only roll at the present '.ime. The grand total includes 22 lod ges removed in the first stage in the inquiry, we find ourselves under the necessity of calling upon error from the Calendar of 1S93 and duly reinstated in the one for 1894, our querist to state further what particular kind of Craft or other Masonry Many of the Provincial Grand Lodges in England contain a much larger he is desirous of ascertaining the cost of. Is it Craft Masonry as it is under- number of lodges than several fore ign Grand Lodges rolled into one. West stood , and practised in England, Ireland , Scotland ; in such European Lancashire has now 10S lodges, presided over by the M.W. Pro Grand countries as Germany, Sweden, Denmark, orin such other European Countries Master of England, the Earl of Lathom , and East Lancashire makes a close as France, Italy, Spain ; in the United States of North America ; or where second with only one less, thus making 215 in that count)'. West Yorkshire not ? Having completed this stage and determined which particular follows as the third in size wilh ils 76, having the Right Hon. W. L. kind of Craft or other Masonry it is we are inquiring about, we find that the Jackson as its chief , the R.W. Bro. Thomas W. Tew, J.P., having resigned l>articularcost of (say) Craft Masonry depends on the lodge we join , which , in owing to ill-health , to the regret of every member. Kent is fourth with 59, its turn , depends on the class of men who constitute its members. These again (he Ear! of Amherst , Prov. G.M. irom 1S60 ; Devon is fifth with 52, over are dependent on the characters they severally possess, while the which Lord Ebrington presides ; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight sixth , " characters have been variously formed according to the surroundings among with 48, the R.W. Bro. W. W. B. Beach , M.P., being the Prov. G.M.; which their respective owners have been trained and educated. Having Cheshire making a good seventh , with its 45 lodges, and has the Lord gratified our couriosity in respect of all these several points, in all their Egc'ton of Tatton as its Ruler. The oilier big Provinces are Middlesex , 39 several stages and classes, the next duty which will devolve upon our querist Surrey, 38 ; Durham , 36; Essex, 34; Warwickshire, 31; North and East; will be to define the meaning which he attaches to the term " expensive," York shire, 31 ; Staffordsh i re, 31 ; Cornwall , 30; and Sussex, 30. m order that we may so far frame our answer as not to find ourselves in Some of the District Grand Lod ges are also very large and prospero us, conflict wilh other people, whose ideas about cxpcnsivcncss more or less differ such as Benga l , 43 lodges ; Bombay, 24 ; Punjab , 23 ; Madras, 22; and fro m our querist 's and our own. But not to exhaust the patience of our with eight for Burma , making a total for East India of 120, being an increase readers, the question— "Is Masonry Expensive?"—is one that cannot be of 12 since 1889. For South Africa there are St lodges, the largest District answered directly. We have had a fairl y long and varied experience of the being that for the eastern part , numbering 30. In Queensland the Grand '-raft. We have seen it under favou rable and unfavo u rable conditions , in Lodge of Eng land has 40 lodges, one in Victoria , 12 in Western Australia, lodges that arc known to be exclusive, and in those into which admission is and one at Albany.