Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

inadmissible, as No. 264 was then not legally under its jurisdiction. 104
Furthermore, as “these degrees of Masonry were not sanctioned or authorised by
the Grand Lodge of Scotland and consequently all of the members of the Grand
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Lodge [were] totally strangers to these orders of Masonry,” no questions “should
be put to the witness regarding Royal Arch Masonry or Knights Templars.” 105
However, the Grand Lodge did “Find it Competent for Brother McAdam to
prove by witnesses or otherways the charges subsequent to the date of the Letter
form the Grand Lodge authorising them to hold meetings under their
authority.” 106
Having effectively vindicated itself, the Grand Lodge then directed
McAdam to provide evidence supporting the allegations of misconduct and
sedition by the members of No. 264 subsequent to 6 February 1797. 107 Upon his
failure to substantiate such claims, Grand Lodge then heard testimony from
William Hamilton and Quintin Stewart, both of whom were members of No.
264. Each testified that the lodge practiced only the three sanctioned degrees of
freemasonry, and that Paine’s Age of Reason or “anything Profane or Immoral,
or any thing inimical to the Church or State” were all absent from lodge
104 Grand Lodge of Scotland Minutes, 19 May 1800: “A debate took place as to the Relevancy of
the Charges now brought and after a considerable discussion the Grand Lodge Found that none
of the Charges brought against the Members of the Royal Arch Lodge Maybole No. 264 prior to
the 6 th day of February 1797 the date of the Letter form the Grand Lodge authorising them to
hold Mason Meetings were competent to be the subject of Investigation before the Grand Lodge
because till that date they were in no shape under their Jurisdiction.”
105 Ibid.
106 Ibid. See Appendix 6, 19 May 1800 for a full text of the entry.
107 Ibid. The full charge reads as follows: “The Grand Lodge Find it Competent for Brother
McAdam to prove by witnesses or otherways the charges subsequent to the date of the Letter
form the Grand Lodge authorising them to hold meetings under their authority.”