There follows extracts from
four past papers, to give a feel for what has been delivered by the vast range
of speakers over the years.
The first is a gory, yet illuminating extract from a paper entitled 'Some of my
Predecessors,' given by Bristol's Past Provincial Grand Master, RtWBro Dennis
Fox. In his paper he referred to one Brother Henry Smith who was elected
Provincial Grand Master in 1815:
'Brother Henry Smith's
portrait hangs in the front hall at Park Street today. This portrait was
discovered by the Provincial Grand Secretary and myself in the back of a
cupboard. We have no idea how it came to be there since it must have been
removed from the Hall prior to its destruction by enemy action in 1941. It is
the original of the copy to be found in Freemasonry in Bristol (1910) by Arthur
Cecil Powell and Joseph Littleton.
Brother Smith's claim to fame lies in the fact that he fought a duel. He was a
well known solicitor in the city and on February 27th 1827 attended the Theatre
in King Street. In the crowd he received a blow on his back, which he thought
had been delivered by Mr. Richard Priest, a tailor of Clare Street. During the
altercation Priest called Smith a liar. Such an insult demanded satisfaction by
duelling. Despite requests to Priest to apologise he refused to do so and the
duel took place in a field in Gloucestershire. Henry Smith was unhurt but
Richard Priest was wounded in the thigh, his leg was amputated on the field by
attending surgeon and he subsequently died. Henry Smith immediately after the
death of Priest went overseas and fought in the Peninsular War. In April 1810
Smith returned and surrendered to the local magistrates who concluded that the
death of Priest had been in fair fight and Smith was immediately released. It
is interesting to note that the barrister appearing for Smi th charged 80
guineas. Lawyers' fees were expensive even in those days!'
Next is an excerpt from a fascinating paper
given by one of our most erudite members, WBro RAGilbert, PPrSGD (Glos1998)
from his paper 'Bristol Fashion - The Triumphs and Follies of our Operative
Ancestors.' In this paper on what operative masonry has to do with our
speculative Craft he referred to the famous Temple Church in the centre of
Bristol:
'The original oval church dated
from 1145 but it was replaced at the end of the 14th century, beginning with
the tower. Whoever was responsible for the tower seems to have designed it at a
distance and not to have realised that Temple Church sits on a marsh.
Consequently the tower began to sink and there is a pronounced bend where the
upper part of the tower, added later, rests on the lower. The tower is some
four feet out of true, and only stands because of massive underpinning put in
place in the 15th century. Within a hundred years of its completion the tower
was famous for its alarming movement when its bells were rung. In 1576 the
experiences of a cartographer Abraham Ortelius were recorded by his German
contemporary, Braunius: "When the bells [
] sound, it is so moved
this and that way that at length by the too great and frequent shaking it has
separated from the body of the church, and has made a chink from the very top
of the roof to the foundation, gaping so wide as to admit four fingers breadth
[
] when he put his back against the tower, he was afraid that he should
be oppressed by its fall [
] the Mayor and others of authority there told
him that the whole of the fabric formerly shook [
[ with such force that
the lamps were put out and the oil wasted [
] but the church now because
it is not affected by the sound of the bells, stands without motion." Does
this have any bearing on the possible connection between Operative Masonry and
our modern speculative Craft? It does if we separate Masonry from the masons.
What seems clear to me from examining medieval buildings in Bristol is that the
working freemasons were simply doing just that: working. They were not
impressing any symbolic message - moral, religious or of any other kind - upon
the structures that they built. Any symbolic content came solely from
architects who were theologians and moral philosophers. Such content was also
closely bound up with medieval liturgical practices.'
The next extract is from a paper entitled
'Some Historical Aspects of Military Masonry' by WBro JW Reddyhoff PJGD (Yorks
W. Riding). His first paragraph reads:
'Brethren, I am assuming, and I am sure
correctly, that you all have some knowledge of military Masonry; how the Grand
Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland issued more than 400 Warrants during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for lodges to be attached to regiments,
and how these varied from ordinary Warrants. First, no place of meeting was
specified and the lodge could meet wherever the regiment happened to be
stationed. Secondly, no date of meeting was specified, and the lodge could meet
whenever convenient. There were some restrictions; for example it was still to
be at least a month between the taking of successive degrees. Sometimes,
however, the exigencies of the service prevailed and two or even three degrees
might be taken at one time. Today there are only two military lodges left in
the British army, both under the Irish Constitution.'
This address finished with mixed emotions;
WBro Reddyhoff described how the last two military lodges under the English
Constitution were converted to civilian lodges in the 1940s. and how they
helped considerably in spreading Freemasonry widely throughout the world. When
the last two warrants were surrendered, in 1947 and 1949, the Board of General
Purposes issued a statement:
'This brings to a close an important
chapter in English Freemasonry, for there can be no doubt that the spread of
the Craft overseas was largely due to the enthusiasm and pertinacity of the
members of the military lodges, who carried with them the seeds of Freemasonry
to many distant towns and cantonments, where stationary lodges were established
and still flourish. The Board would not wish this change of status of these
famous old lodges to pass unnoticed by the Craft.'
The final extract provides a glimpse of
what a very recent President of the Bristol Masonic Society, WBro AR Baker, now
PrSGW, was trying to convey in his paper entitled 'The Reasons for Masonic
Secrecy' (2005). He discussed the difference between a "secret" and a
"mystery" as follows:
'It is in the Third Degree that a mason
learns to differentiate between a "secret" and a "mystery."
A "mystery" in the masonic sense, is that which is concealed but may
be discovered; that which is concealed not by law or promise, but hidden by its
very nature. It is not so much kept secret from us but unknown to us, as are
all things of which we are ignorant. It is at present hidden from us by our own
inability to comprehend it, not because we are shut out of it, but because we
are not yet prepared or equipped to learn or understand it. A
"Mystery" in the true sense is hidden not because it is obscure but
because it is profound. Such were the Ancient Mysteries and indeed the
Christian mystery of which Christ himself said: "he that hath ears to
hear, let him hear" (Mark Ch. 4, v. 9).
In present day speculative Masonry it is not until reaching the Third Degree
that the poor Candidate is given a clue that the Signs, Tokens and Words are
not the real secrets of Masonry. Even in the Third Degree, after all his
patience and effort, he is still only given signs and words, but he is for the
first time told that these are not the real secrets - only substituted secrets
since the real ones, it turns out, have been lost! It is only in the Third
Degree that the aspiring mason gets the first clue as to what the genuine
secrets of Masonry might be. The clue comes in the opening (which of course he
does not see in his own Raising). It is in the opening that the WM asks the JW
where he expects to find the Genuine Secrets. In the Centre. Why in the Centre
Bro JW? Because it is that point within, around which, if a MM keeps his
conduct circumscribed; he cannot materially err.
Although her "secrets" are of no value outside the brotherhood,
Freemasonry's "mysteries," her teachings, and her philosophy are all
of great value to the world, and Freemasonry is keen to give them out to any
man who is capable of assimilating them.'
These are four very brief examples of what
goes on at the Bristol Masonic Society. More could have been given, for example
what do you know about Round Table Lodges; The origin of the Ceremony of
"Passing the Veils" in the Royal Arch as practised in the Province of
Bristol? The Society even received a paper from a non-mason, in October 2005,
entitled "Why I am not a Mason!"
Although the Society is called the "Bristol Masonic Society" it does
not have any actual membership boundaries, and brethren from other Provinces
are more than welcome to attend our meetings
References
Corona Gladiorum - Transactions of the Bristol Masonic Society
Anthology Volume 1992 - 2004
Volume 2004 - 2005
Volume 2005 - 2006
This page has been extracted from a paper entitled:
'The Bristol Masonic Society - Past, Present and Future' by AB Lavelle (2008).
The full paper may be found in Corona Gladiorum (2007-8), Vol 5, pp.
135-142. |