LORD RAMSAY, M W. G. M. of Scotland address to the Grand Lodge 1837

LORD RAMSAY, M W. G. M. of Scotland address to the Grand Lodge 1837

THE following addresses of LORD RAMSAY, M W. G. M. of Scotland to the Grand Lodge on the recent celebration of its Centenary, did not reach the Editor of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review in time for insertion in the last Number:— 

" If, my Brethren , in introducing the toast which I am about to offer to your notice, I were to content myself with simply announcing alike without preface or comment, its subject, I should not feel that ! had, in any way, failed in my duty, or reproach myself for having neglected to employ the usual mean s for procuring for the toast a kind reception ; f or I am very sure, that, in this assembly or in any assemblage of Scottish Mason s from the Orkneys to the Mull of Galloway, to name the man, to whose memory I am about to invite you to pay a tribute of respect, to name St. Clair of Roslin, the Mason' s benefactor , and the Mason's friend, the last Hereditary Grand Master that Scotland saw, would suffice to ensure it the warmest welcome that admiration and gratitude could inspire. Perhaps, my Brethren, I should act wisely to leave the toast thus in your hands, but I am unwilling to let such an opportunity pass, altogether without comment; for, though no praise of ours can add lustre to the memory of the illustrious dead, it is our duty to see that the remembrance of them do not utterly pass away, that their memory do not lie sepulchred with their remains, but that it should be pointed out as an encouragement and incitement to those of.after times, and set up, as it were, for a beacon-light to ourselves and others. 

I have called St. Clair of Roslin Illustrious, for though his name is not proclaimed by fame or recorded in the page of history, to us as Scottish Masons St. Clair was illustrious. Born of an ancient and honourable family, he drew from them a bold spirit and an ardent disposition ; attached to no active profession , he passed much of his time in the cultivation of the ancient and manly sports of his country, to which he applied himself with that energy, which was the distinguishing feature in his character, and which procured for him honourable mention in the records of every society of which he was a member ; the kindness of his disposition and the warmth of his heart endeared him to a wide circle of attached friends, while his house was ever a ready refuge for every poor and distressed Brother ; if in poverty, he relieved him, if in difficulty or sorrow, he aided ox he soothed him. 

And thus he passed his life in the unpretending discharge of the duties of his station, and in the active exercise of charity and benevolence—occupying the high office of Gran d Master of Scotland, by a double birth-right, at once by the charter of many kings and the free gift of the Brotherhood, he was not content to sit down in the idle enjoyment of his dignities, but applying himself to the acquirements of Masonic knowledge, and to the stud y of his Masonic duties, he discharged the functions of his office with honour to himself and advantage to the Craft ; and when the time arrived that he thought that, under existing circumstances, the duties of that high station could he fulfilled with more efficiency by another, his determination was at once taken, and , with a noble self-sacrifice and public spirit he stripped himself of his hereditary honors, resigned the Masonic sceptre into the hands of the fraternity, and returned into their ran ks a simple, humble Mason. 

The Brethren will hear with me, while in a very few sentences, I recount in what manner he became possessed of the office which he thus resigned. In the time of James ]. of Scotland, the Grand Master and all the Grand Office Bearers were appointed by the king ; in the reign of his successor James II. a charter was granted by the Crown , giving to the family of St. Clair, the right of being hereditary Grand Masters of Scotland, and this was continued without interruption to the time when James VI. crossed the borders to assume the English sceptre. The claims of that family having been permitted for many years to remain in abeyance, the Craft at this time assembled, and seeing the great disadvantages under which they laboured from the want of a proper patron and protector, drew up a charter constituting once again the St. Clairs of Roslin their hereditary Grand Masters, which they continued to be till the year 1736, when William St. Clair, believing, as I have before stated, that he could no longer retain the office, with profit to the Brethren, resigned his right into the hands of those who gave it. 

A meeting of the Lodges was called, they assembled in Edinburgh, and the Grand Lodge was constituted as it now exists. Since then, under the blessing of the great Architect of the Universe, the Grand Lodge of Scotland has spread and prospered. The Lodges in Denmark own her as their mother ; she claims the Brethren in Russia as her children ; in France her power is acknowledged, and in Holland her sway is felt ; in New England they obey her laws, and in Nova Scotia her protection is claimed. In the West Indies and in Turkey, in Ceylon and Syria, her influence is confessed, her mandates are obeyed, and within these few days I have had the pleasure of investing as Provincial Grand Master for the Western Provinces of India our Brother Dr. Burnes, whose well known zeal, will, I am confident , tend materially to extend the influence of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. She has been the means of imparting light to thousands who were in darkness, and of spreading far and wide the principles and the knowledge of Freemasonry. 

Many of the noblest structures which adorn our land, raise their heads on foundations which she has laid , while several of the most valued institutions of Scotland, have testified by the privileges they have conferred on the Craft, the gratitude which they owe for her assistance. " Such, my Brethren , are the advantages which have occurred to Masonry from the noble gift of St. Clair of Roslin ; said 1 not well then, when I declared that to us as Masons he was illustrious, and did I not well when I bade you join with me in honoring his memory ; we must honor him—but we must do more, we must follow in his steps. If there be any young Brother amongst us, who feels no anxiety for the interests of his Order, no desire to study its advancement, tell him of St. Clair of Roslin, who eagerly cultivated the principles and knowledge of Masonry ; or if there be any of our elder Brethren, whose zeal begins to flag, and who is losing the ardour of former days,  remind him of St. Clair of Roslin, who till the latest years of a very long life, continued to be a diligent, unfailing workman. 

If there be one whose ears are deaf to the entreaties of the poor Brother, tell him of the warm heart and open hand of St. Clair of Roslyn. Above all, if there be one, and I fear there are many such, who overrating their knowledge and fitness, and aspiring to higher offices than their Brethren think it right to bestow, prefer rather to absent themselves from their Lodge and to run the risk of bringing dissension among the Brethren , than to sacrifice their own paltry ambition, remind him of the splendid sacrifice of St. Clair of Roslin, who suffered not his own honors to stand for one moment in competition with the interests of the Fraternity ; who for the love he bore the Craft freely laid down his family honors, and resigned those hereditary dignities which were his pride and his boast—the gift of kings, the heritage of ages. Drink with reverence and gratitude, and affection, "to the memory of St. Clair of Roslin, the last Hereditary Grand Master of Scotland."

From : THE FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY REVIEW. MARCH 31, 1837.