The first united grand lodge

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Part of The Cabletow

Title: The first united grand lodge
Creator: Austin, Sidney M.
Identifier: Grandmother of us all ...
Language: English
Source: The Cabletow Volume II (New Series No. 3) January 1960
Year: 1960
Rights
Fulltext: Qrandmother of Us cAll — The First United Grand Lodge By MWB SIDNEY M. AUSTIN, PGM The history of the Mother Grand Lodge of England is so well known that it might he considered presump tuous on mv part were 1 to address you at length on that subject. However, a leu' pertinent facts and dates will tend to refresh your memory and also serve the useful purpose of enabling you fully to understand and appreciate the great and enduring institution that those relatively few brethren brought into being when they decided thiat a Central Governing Body would be a very necessary and vital factor in order to stabilize and strengthen an institu tion that had already existed as opera tive masonry for centuries and which, at this particular epoch, was showing signs of decav. The first meeting was held at the Apple Tree Tavern. London, some time during the latter part of the year 1716. Some writers believe that this meeting mav have been held during the very earlv part of 1717. However, we do know that during this prelimi nary meeting matters were discussed appertaining to the formation of a lodge that would serve as a governing body and to which the other lodges would be subordinate. It is very unfortunate indeed that we do not have any really authentic infor mation regarding this historic meetin", bevond the approximate d,ate thereof, and the place were it was held. How ever, we can be sure that the discus sions must have ended to the satisfac tion of he brethren present because ar rangements were made to hold the first meeting as a Grand Lodge on St. John the Baptist's Dav in 1717, the meeting place was designated as the Goose and Gridiron Ale-house and we do know that this meeting t<x>k place as ar ranged and that a certain Brother An thony Saver was elected as the first Grand Master and he, in turn, appointed the following as his Grand Wardens'.— Jacob Lamhall and Joseph Elliot, the former was a carpenter and the latter a captain. However, we do not know For sure which one was the senior and which was the junior. The election of the Grand Master was accomplished bv a show of hands and it is a great pity that we do not know more about the individual to whom fell the unique and great dis tinction of being the first Grand Mas ter of the fraternity? He is referred to bv various writers as a gentieman which leads us to presume that he must have been, at that time, a man of independent means, otherwise, an individual who did not have to accom plish nhvskal work in order to provide for himself and family. During the course of this meeting, the brethren constituted themseives a Grand Lodge, pro-tempore. in due form and we cannot help but feel pangs of regret that no minutes have come down to us of the quarterly meetings for the first six years and we have to 96 relv upon Bro. Anderson lor much <>t what we know about those early for mative years. We do know that regular quarterly meetings were held and that the An nual Assembly and l east was held on |unc the 24th of each succeeding year. At the second annual meeting, Bro. George Pavnc, Esq. was elected Grand Master and he ehose as his Grand Wardens the following brethren: — George Cardwell and Thomas Morice. Alter the new officers had taken over, the newly elected Chand Master requested that the brethren bring to Chand Lodge anv old writings and re cords concerning masonry and masons in order to show the usage of ancient times and several copies of the Gothic Constitutions were produced and col lated. During the z\ssembly of 1719 Bro. |ohn Dcsaguilier was elected Grand Master and during this year the forma tion ol several lodges took place m London and vicinity and several men ol noble birth were made masons dur ing the course of the year. 1 hus the lirst Cirand Lodge of the world gradually grew but it was not all plain sailing. Apparently, a few pri vate lodges op|Mised the lormation ol a Grand Lodge and resisted all overtures lor their co-operation, in fact a few of these lodges actually destroyed .some very valuable manuscripts. At this pe riod ol the crah’s history they had no printed matter at all that dealt with re gulations. charges and secret usages of t»l the cralt. Masonic scholars deplore this destruction ol those manuscripts as they may have given us very valua ble inlormation about the operative cralt that we shall, in all probability, never bv able to obtain. At the quarterly assembly held on St. John the Evangelist’s day of the year 1720, it was agreed that in order to avoid disputes and save valuable time, the name of the incoming Cirand Master should be proposed to the Cirand Lodge at the quarterly meet ing immediately preceding the annual assembly bv the Cirand Master and. if approved, that the brother, if present, should be saluted. During the annual assembly of 1721, the first nobleman was elected as Cirand Master, the Duke of Montague, and it was at this assembly that it was suggested that the stewards were a[>ivointcd to assist the wardens to prepare for the feast at the annual assembly the following year. Also at this meeting we get the first indication that thy craft was expand ing because arrangements had to be made to find a more commodious meeting place and this resulted in the assembly of 1722 being held in Sta tioners llall and we arc informed that twelve lodges were represented bv their masters and wardens. These representa tives met at the King's Arms 1 avern and marched in procession to the meeting place. In this wav the new governing body existed from year to year until 172.4 when it was pul upon a more business like basis; minutes were kept; regula tions were promulgated and some sort ol order was put into its records and determined efforts were made to stand ardize the ritual and even Anderson's Constitutions were produced and ac cepted. Those lew brethren who instituted that historic meeting at the Apple T ree Lavern during the year 1716 could not have had the least idea that they were sowing the seeds of what was to dev elop into one ol the foremost organiza THE FIRST UNITED GRAND LODGE 97 tions of all time. If we take time out to reflect back upon many of the great movements that have come into existence we can not help but remark that most of them appeared to have been started on their wav in a casual or accidental manner. Speculative masonry is no exception. In fact the revival of masonry in 1717 put a new force and form into the craft that it had never known before and the impulse sent it on its beneficient mission throughout the entire world. In fact so unpremeditated was the beginning of this new movement that we can claim that the history of the origin of modern masonry is clothed in as dense a fog of mystery as that which surrounds the origin of our an cient symbols and rites and it is quite possible that this x-cil of mystery will never be pierced by man. From out of a period of mist and darkness the new masonry began to throw’ a beam of light that enabled man to see through the darkness and w'hich seemed to bring w'ith it a pro mise of a philosophy that would bring untold benefits to the lot of mankind. Although we are masons we are still human beings and, as such, we cannot help but possess a very keen curiosity to learn how our institution developed into the vital force for good that it has become today. We have very many questions to ask but, unfortunately, very few an swers seem o satisfy those ques tions and, much to our sorrow, we realize that the answers we are eager to have may never be found unless some hidden manuscripts, the existance of which is not even suspected at the present moment, are brought to the light of day. However, in spite of our unsatisfied curiosity, we must freely admit that the brethren of those formative da\s must have put their masonic teachings into actual practice and that they had cultivated the ability to guard a secret with a very pronounced success be cause they have left us so very little information and there is so much that we would like to learn. We canot say for sure how many lodges there were in London when the thought of establishing a Grand Lodge lirst began to germinate in the minds of those early brethren. However, we do have some reason to believe that there were more than the four “Old Originals” that were represented at that histOTy-making first meeting. Wc do not know what bond existed among them that could have caused them to unite to take common action in such a stupendous undertaking be yond the fact that we have strong reasons to believe that such action was necessary in order to save the craft from falling into a condition of such decav that it might have been beyond repair. We also know that some of the old lodges that were in existence at that time were wholly operative in nature whereas some were a mixture of opera tive and speculative masons and that, at least, one was wholly speculative in character. History informs Us that the craft at that time was in a very unstable condi tion, some writers claim that it was bordering on disintegration and we do not have to seek far in order to find the reason for this most unfortunate state of affairs. It is well known that the operative craft enjoyed a brief period of pros perity immediately following the great 98 THE CABLE TOW January, Hicn fire of London in 1666 when the serv ices of experienced masons were in great demand but, thereafter, a decline set and that put the operative craft in sore straits. According to one record that has come down to us, we learn that the few lodges of London feeling them selves neglected bv Sir Christopher Wren thought it fit to cement togeher under a Grand Lodge as the “Center of Union’’ and Harmony." Wren was the famous architect of that day and was responsible for the design and erection of St. Paul’s cath edral and many other churches that were rebuilt after the great fire that practically destroyed the City of Lon don. What tends to pique our natural in terest and curiosity is that we cannot find any record that would tend to prove hat Wren was ever a member of any lodge notwithstanding the va rious rumours and assertions to the contrary', even that great Mason, Wil liam Preston, stated that Wren was a member of the famous Lodge of An tiquity and that he had presented to that Lodge three carved candlesticks. It may be that as When was the fore most architect of that time that his name became intimately connected with the operative masonic institution. Therefore, it could be but a natural consequence that his name would be associated with anv new move that had any connection with the masonic craft. z\s I mentioned before, the minutes of the meetings of the newly formed Grand Lodge were not kept until six years after that first historic meeting as a Grand Lodge and we arc therefore, mostly dependent upon Bro. Gould, a past Grand Deacon and one of our foremost historians, for most of what we have been able to learn regarding those first six years. Even he was ob liged to refer to an account which was not written until the second edition of he Constitutions of 1738, that is about 21 years after the events had taken place. It does seem to be really remarkable that a movement of such great im port should have left such a meagre record and a report that was made long afterwards and consequently, may not be as accurate as we could have wish ed it to be. We must all feel the urge to ask why were the minutes not kept? or pre suming that they were kept and record ed, what has happened to them? That is something that we shall, in all pro bability, never know. rXnothcr matter that must intrigue us is, why was the first Grand Lodge in the world formed with apparently no thought being given to the import ance of having a constitution? Even the General Regulations did not come out until 1721 and the constitution did not appear until 1723. After studying the scanty records that were enlarged upon by Bro. Gould, the impression is forced upon one that the formation of the Mother Grand Lodge must have been in the nature of an experiment rendered be cause of the pressing need of a "Centre of Union and Harmonv” and, from what we arc told bv the majority of our scholars, it must have been a press inn need indeed at that time in order to save the Craft from falling into a state of disintegration. It is very apparent that those early brethren did not intend that the new Grand Lodge should attempt to im pose its will upon the rest of the coun try. Its activities and authority were THE FIRST UNITED GRAND LODGE 99 to be restricted to the lodges that were operating in and around London and less must have been their thought that its influence would be felt in all lands overseas in a comparatively short space of time. It is a very significant fact that out of all the trade guilds and other simi lar associations that flourished at that lime, Masonry is the only one that went from strength to more strength after it underwent the change from operative to speculative, preserving its emblems, symbols and much of its an cient customs to teach the spiritual moral and charitable concepts of life. This feature of our institution causes us to believe that Masonrv continues to exist because it had never been merely an order that was created entirely for the benefit of architects and builders but that it had alwavs made it a point to combine first class workmanship with spiritual and moral insructions to its votaries. A A A A FILIPINO MASONS . . . (Continued from page 95) cent United States tour. The organ ization meeting was topped with a fraAmong the members of the club are: N. Moral*. Ibarra 31; H. Sotto, Roose velt 81; L. Cosca, Ibarra 31; S. Sison, Roosevelt 81: M. Contapay, Ibarra 31; C. Alfclor, Primera Luz Filipina 69; J. Villanueva, Ibarra 31; A. Asercion, Primera Luz Filipina, 69; F. Ricatrcntc, Ibarra 31; G. Manalo, Mount Mainam 49; J. Atienza, Bagong Buhav 17; Y. 1 rias, Zapote 29; 1. rarro, Keystone ](X); R. Ancheta, Union 70; F. Racadag. Keystone 100; S. Maramag, Kevston 100; M. Mata, Bagong Buhay 17; E. Aloni, Roosevelt 81; E. Potente, Roosevelt, 81 and F. Eusebio, Ibarra 31. EASTERN STAR OFFICERS (Continued from page 90) SAMPAGU1TA CHAPTER NO. 3 Fe C. Dcocales, Worthy Matron; Rufino Tolentino, Worthy Patron; Visitaciun S. C'rudo, zXssociate Matron; Castor Silvestro, zXssociate Patron; Fclicidad Mendoza, Secretary; Victorina R. Silvestro, Treasurer; I lonorata Asistorcs, Conductress; Alicia Abarquez, zXssociate Conductress; Telesforj I.olarga, Chaplain; Rose S. Ghent, Mar shal; Riorita Tolcntuio, Organist; Tere sita Dcocales, Adah: Luz Silvestro, Ruth; Angclita Cervantes, Esther: Ly dia Salcedo, Martha; Amparo de los Santos, Electa; Demetrio Quintana, XX'arder; Emilio Asistores, Sentinel. TEODORO M. KALAW CHAPTER NO. 9 Cristeta Santiago, Worthy Matron; X'icente del Carmen, Worthy Patron; Virginia Domingo. zXssociate Matron; Francisco /Xlizon, zXssociate Patron; Do mingo F. M. Domingo, Secretart; Eva E. Kalaw, Treasurer; Luz B. Sesc, Conductress; Soledad Rivera, zXssociate Conductress; Daniel Kolipano, Chap lain; Victorina Abcjo, Marshal; Teofilo zXbejc, Organist; Paz Ross, Adah; An tonia Kqlipano, Ruth; Purita Donor, Esther; Guadalupe Martinez, Martha; Aurea del Carmen, Electa; Milagros Olizon, Warder Porfirio zXquino, Sen tinel. (For more office™, nee page 120) A .A To live in the presence of areal truths and eternal lairs — that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him. —Hoitore Ihdzar 100 THE CABLE TOW January, I960