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FREEMASONRY
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FREEMASONRY . According to an old " See also:Charge " delivered to initiates, Freemasonry is declared to be an " See also:ancient and See also:honourable institution: ancient no doubt it is, as having subsisted from See also:time immemorial; and honourable it must be acknowledged to be, as by a natural tendency it conduces to make those so who are obedient to its precepts . . . to so high an See also:eminence has its See also:credit been advanced that in every See also:age Monarchs them-selves have been promoters of the See also:art, have not thought it derogatory from their dignity to See also:exchange the See also:sceptre for the See also:trowel, have patronised our mysteries and joined in our Assemblies." For many years the See also:craft has been conducted without respect to clime, See also:colour, See also:caste or creed.
See also:History.—The precise origin of the society has yet to be ascertained, but is not likely to be, as the See also:early records are lost; there is, however, ample See also:evidence remaining to justify the claim for its antiquity and its honourable See also:character. Much has been written as to its eventful past, based upon actual records, but still more which has served only to amuse or repel inquirers, and led not a few to believe that the fraternity has no trustworthy history. An unfavourable See also:opinion of the historians of the craft generally may fairly have been held during the 18th and early in the 19th centuries, but happily since the See also:middle of the latter See also:century quite a different principle has animated those brethren who have sought to make the facts of masonic history known to the brotherhood, as well as See also:worth the study of students in See also:general. The See also:idea that it would require an investigator to be a member of the " mystic tie " in See also:order to qualify as a reader of masonic history has been exploded. The evidences collected concerning the institution during the last five See also:hundred years, or more, may now be examined and tested in the most severe manner by See also:literary and See also:critical experts (whether opposed orfavourable to the See also:body), who cannot fail to accept the claims made as to its See also:great antiquity and continuity, as the lineal descendant of those craftsmen who raised the cathedrals and other great See also:English buildings during the middle ages.
It is only needful to refer to the old See also:works on freemasonry, and to compare them with the accepted histories of the See also:present time, to be assured that such strictures as above are more than justified. The premier See also:work on the subject was published in See also:London in 1723, the Rev. See also: . See also: Probably not, as existing records of the See also:period preserve a See also:sphinx-like silence thereon. Likewise there were many scores of lodges at work in See also:Scotland, and undoubtedly in See also:Ireland the craft was widely patronized. Whatever the ceremonies may have been which were then known as Freemasonry in Great See also:Britain and Ireland, they were practically alike, and the See also:venerable Old Charges or MS. constitutions, dating back several centuries, were rightly held by them as the title-deeds of their masonic See also:inheritance. It was a bold thing to do, thus to start a governing body for the fraternity quite different in many respects to all preceding organizations, and to See also:brand as irregular all lodges which declined 1 If history be no ancient See also:Fable Free Masons came from See also:Tower of See also:Babel. (" The Freemasons; an Hudibrastic poem," London, 1723.) 2 The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry and See also:Medieval Builders, by Mr G. F. Fort (U.S.A.), and the See also:Cathedral Builders: The Magestri Comacini, by " See also:Leader See also:Scott " (the See also:late Mrs See also:Baxter), take rather a different view on this point and ably present their arguments. The Rev. C. See also:Kingsley in See also:Roman and Teuton writes of the Comacini, " Perhaps the original germ of the great society of Freemasons." to accept such authority; but the very originality and audacity of its promoters appears to have led to its success, and it was not See also:long before most of the lodges of the pre-Grand-Lodge era joined and accepted " constitution " by See also:warrant of the Grand Master. Not only so, but Ireland quickly followed the See also:lead, so early as 1725 there being a Grand Lodge for that country which must have been formed even still earlier, and probably by lodges started before any were authorized in the Englisn counties. In Scotland the See also:change was not made until 1i36, many lodges even then holding aloof from such an organization. Indeed, out of some hundred lodges known to have been active then, only See also:thirty-three responded and agreed to fall into See also:line, though several joined later; some, however, kept See also:separate down to the end of the 19th century, while others never See also:united. Many of these lodges have records of the 17th century though not then newly formed; one in particular, the See also:oldest (the Lodge of See also:Edinburgh, No. 1), possesses minutes so far back as the year 1599. It is important to See also:bear in mind that all the regular lodges throughout the world, and likewise all the Grand Lodges, directly or indirectly, have sprung from one or other of the three governing bodies named; Ireland and Scotland following the example set by their masonic mother of England in having Grand Lodges of their own. It is not proved how the latter two became acquainted with Freemasonry as a See also:secret society, guided more or less by the operative MS. Constitutions or Charges See also:common to the three bodies, not met with elsewhere; but the credit of a Grand Lodge being established to See also:control the lodges belongs to England. It may be a startling See also:declaration, but it is well authenticated, that there is no other Freemasonry, as the term is now understood, than what which has been so derived. In other words, the lodges and Grand Lodges in both hemispheres trace their origin and authority back to England for working what are known as the Three Degrees, controlled by regular Grand Lodges. That being so, a history of modern Freemasonry, the See also:direct offspring of the See also:British parents aforesaid, should first of all establish the descent of the three Grand Lodges from the Freemasonry of earlier days; such continuity, of five centuries or more, being a sine qua non of antiquity and regularity. It will be found that from the early part of the 18th century back to the 16th century existing records testify to the assemblies of lodges, mainly operative, but partly speculative, in Great Britain, whose guiding stars and common heritage were the Old Charges, and that when their actual minutes and transactions cease to be traced by See also:reason of their loss, these same MS. Constitutions furnish testimony of the still older working of such combinations of freemasons or masons, without the assistance, countenance or authority of any other masonic body; consequently such documents still preserved, of the 14th and later centuries (numbering about seventy, mostly in See also:form of rolls), with the existing lodge minutes referred to of the 16th century, down to the See also:establishment of the premier Grand Lodge in 1717, prove the continuity of the society. Indeed so universally has this claim been admitted, that in popular usage the term Free-mason is only now applied to those who belong to this particular fraternity, that of mason being applicable to one who follows that See also:trade, or honourable calling, as a builder. There is no evidence that during this long period any other organization of any See also:kind, religious, philosophical, mystical or otherwise, materially or even slightly influenced the customs of the fraternity, though they may have done so; but so far as is known the lodges were of much the same character through-out, and consisted really of operatives (who enjoyed practically a See also:monopoly for some time of the trade as masons or freemasons), and, in part, of " speculatives," i.e. noblemen, gentlemen and men of other trades, who were admitted as honorary members. Assuming then that the freemasons of the present day are the See also:sole inheritors of the See also:system arranged at the so-called " Revival of 1717," which was a development from an operative body to one partly speculative, and that, so far back as the MS. Records extend and furnish any See also:light, they must have worked in Lodges in secret throughout the period noted, a history of Freemasonryshould be mainly devoted to giving particulars, as far as possible, of the lodges, their traditions, customs and laws, based upon actual documents which can be tested and verified by members and non-members alike. It has been the See also:rule to treat, more or less fully, of the See also:influence exerted on the fraternity by the Ancient Mysteries, the See also:Essenes, Roman Colleges, See also:Culdees, Hermeticism,. Fehm-Gerichte et hoc genus omne, especially the Steinmetzen, the Craft See also:Gilds and the Companionage of France, &c.; but in view of the separate and See also:independent character of the freemasons, it appears to be quite unnecessary, and the time so employed would be better devoted to a more thorough See also:search after additional evidences of the activity of the craft, especially during the See also:crucial period overlap-ping the second See also:decade of the 18th century, so as to discover in-formation as to the transmitted secrets of the medieval masons, which, after all, may simply have been what Gaspard See also:Monge felicitously entitles " Descriptive See also:Geometry, or the Art and See also:Science of Masonic Symbolism." The rules and regulations of the masons were embodied in what are known as the Old Charges; the See also:senior known copy being the Regius MS. (British Museum Bibl. Reg. 17 A, i.), which, however, is not so exclusively devoted to See also:masonry as the later copies. See also:David Casley, in his See also:catalogue of the See also:MSS. in the King's Library (1734), unfortunately styled the little See also:gem A Poem of Moral Duties; and owing to this misdescription its true character was not recognized until the year 1839, and then by a non-mason (Mr Halliwell-Phillipps), who had it reproduced in 1840 and brought out an improved edition in 1844. Its date has been approximately fixed at 1390 by Casley and other authorities. The curious See also:legend of the craft, therein made known, deals first of all with the number of unemployed in early days and the See also:necessity of finding work, " that they myght gete here lyvynge therby." See also:Euclid was consulted, and recommended the " onest craft of See also:good masonry," and the See also:genesis of the society is found " yn Egypte lande." By a rapid transition, but " mony erys afterwarde," we are told that the " Craft See also:corn ynto England yn tyme of good kynge Adelstonus (IEthelstan) day," who called an See also:assembly of the masons, when fifteen articles and as many more points were agreed to for the See also:government of the craft, each being duly described. Each brother was instructed that " He must love wel See also:God, and See also:holy Churche algate And hys mayster also, that he ys wythe." " The thrydde poynt must be severle. With the prentes knowe hyt wele,
Hys mayster cownsel he kepe and See also:close,
And hys felows by hys goode purpose;
The prevetyse of the chamber telle he no mon, Ny yn the logge whatsever they done,
Whatsever See also:thou heryst, or syste hem do,
Telle hyt no mon, whersever thou go."
The rules generally, besides referring to trade regulations, are as a whole suggestive of the Ten Commandments in an extended form, winding up with the legend of the Ars quatuor coronatorum, as an incentive to a faithful See also:discharge of the numerous obligations. A second part introduces a more lengthy See also:account of the origin of masonry, in which See also:Noah's See also:flood and the Tower of See also:Babylon are mentioned as well as the great skill of Euclid, who
" Through hye See also:grace of Crist yn heven,
He commensed yn the syens seven ' ,
The " seven sciences " are duly named and explained. The compiler apparently was a See also:priest, line 629 See also:reading " And, when ye See also:gospel me cede schal," thus also accounting for the many religious injunctions in the MS.; the last hundred lines are evidently based upon Urbanitatis (Cott. MS. Caligula A 11, fol. 88) and Instructions for a See also:Parish Priest (Cott. MS. See also:Claudius A 11, fol. 27), instructions such as lads and even men would need who were ignorant of the customs of polite society, correct deportment at See also: 23,198, British Museum), because See also:Matthew Cooke published a See also:fair See also:reproduction of the document in 1861; and it is deemed by competent paleographers to date from the first part of the 15th century. There are two versions of the Old Charges in this little book, See also:purchased for the British Museum in 1859. The compiler was probably a mason and See also:familiar with several copies of these MS. Constitutions, two of which he utilizes and comments upon; he quotes from a MS. copy of the Policronicon the manner in which a written account of the sciences was preserved in the two historic stones at the time of the Flood, and generally makes known the traditions of the society as well as the laws which were to govern the members.
Its introduction into England through See also:Egypt is noted (where the See also:Children of See also:Israel " lernyd ye craft of Masonry "), also the " lande of behest " (Jerusalem) and the See also:Temple of Solomon (who " confirmed ye chargys yt David his Fadir " had made). Then masonry in France is interestingly described; and St Alban and " iEthelstane with his yongest See also:sone " (the Edwin of the later MSS.) became the chosen mediums subsequently, as with the other Charges, portions of the Old Testament are often cited in order to convey a correct idea to the See also:neophyte, who is to hear the document read, as to these sciences which are declared to be free in themselves (ire in hem selfe). Of all crafts followed by See also:man in this world " Masonry bathe the moste notabilite," as See also:con-firmed by " Elders that were bi for_us of masons [who] had these chargys wryten," and " as is write and taught in ye boke of our charges."
Until quite recently no representative or survival of this particular version had been traced, but in 1890 one was discovered of 1687 (since known as the See also: These scrolls give considerable information as to the traditions and customs of the craft, together with the regulations for its government, and were required to be read to apprentices long after the See also:peculiar rules ceased to be acted upon, each lodge apparently having one or more copies kept for the purpose. The old Lodge of See also:Aberdeen ordered in 167o that the Charge was to be " read at ye entering of everie entered prenteise "; another at See also:Alnwick in 1701 provided " Noe Mason shall take any apprentice [but he must] Enter him and give him his Charge, within one whole year after ' , ' The service rendered by Dr W. Begemann (Germany) in his " See also:Attempt to Classify the Old Charges of the British Masons (vol. 1 Trans. of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, London) has been very great, and the researches of the Rev. A. F. A. See also:Woodford and G. W. Speth have also been of the utmost consequence.and still another at Swallwell (now No. 48 See also:Gateshead) demanded that " the Apprentices shall have their Charge given at the time of Registering, or within thirty days after "; the minutes inserting such entries accordingly even so late as 1754, nearly twenty years after the lodge had See also:cast in its See also:lot with the Grand Lodge of England. Their See also:Christian character is further emphasized by the "First Charge that you shall be true men to God and the holy Church "; the York MS. No. 6 beseeches the brethren " at every meeting and assembly they pray heartily for all Christians "; the See also:Melrose MS. No. 2 (1674) mentions " Merchants and all other Christian men," and the Aberdeen MS. (167o) terms the invocation " A Prayer before the Meeting." Until the Grand Lodge era, Freemasonry was thus wholly Christian. The York MS. No. 4 of 1693 contains a singular See also:error in the admonitory lines: " The [n] one of the elders takeing the Booke and that . hee or See also:shee that is to be made mason, shall See also:lay their hands thereon and the charge shall be given." This particular reading was cited by Hughan in 1871, but was considered doubtful; Findel,2 however, confirmed it, on his visit to York under the guidance of the celebrated masonic student the late Rev. A. F. A. Woodford. The See also:mistake was due possibly to the transcriber, who had an older See also:roll before him, confusing " they," sometimes written " the," with " she," or reading that portion, which is often in Latin, as ille vel ills, instead of ille vel illi.
In some of the Codices, about the middle of the 17th century and later, New Articles are inserted, such as would be suitable for an organization similar to the Masons' See also:Company of Loudon, which had one, at least, of the Old Charges in its See also:possession ac-cording to inventories of 1665 and 1676; and likewise in 1722, termed The Book of the Constitutions of the Accepted Masons. See also:Save its mention (" Book wrote on See also:parchment ") by See also:Sir See also:Francis See also:Palgrave in the Edinburgh See also:Review (See also:April 1839) as being in existence " not long since," this valuable document has been lost sight of for many years.
That there were signs and other secrets preserved and used by the brethren throughout this mainly operative period may be gathered from discreet references in these old MSS. The Institutions in parchment (22nd of See also:November 1696) of the See also:Dumfries See also:Kilwinning Lodge (No. 53, Scotland) contain a copy of the See also:oath taken " when any man should be made ":
" These Charges which we now reherse to you and all others Ye
secrets and misterys belonging to free masons you shall
faithfully and truly keep, together with ye Counsell of ye
assembly or lodge, or any other lodge, or brother, or See also:fellow."
" Then after ye oath taken and the book kissed " (i.e. the See also:Bible) the " precepts" are read, the first being:-
" You shall be true men to God and his holy Church, and that
you do not 'countenance or maintaine any eror, See also:faction,
See also:schism or herisey, in ye church to ye best of our under-
See also:standing."- (History of No. S3, by James See also: See also:Mus.) is still more explicit, termed The ffree Masons Orders and Constitutions, and is in the See also:handwriting of Randle Holme (author of the Academie of Armory, 1688), who was a member of a lodge in See also:Cheshire. Following the MS. Constitutions, in the same handwriting, about 16so,, is a scrap of See also:paper with the See also:obligation:
" There is sevrall words and signes of a free Mason to be revailed to yu wch as yu will answr. before God at the Great and terrible day of judgmt. yu keep secret and not to revaile the same to any in the heares of any p'son, but to the Mrs and See also:fellows of the Society of Free Masons, so helpe me God, &c." (W. H. See also:Rylands, Mas. Mag., 1882.)
2 Findel claims that his See also:Treatise on the society was the cause which " first impelled England to the study of masonic history and ushered in the intellectual See also:movement which resulted in the writings of Bros. Hughan, See also:Lyon, See also:Gould and others." Greatcredit was due to the late See also:German author for his important work, but before its See also:advent the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, D. See also: -
It is not yet settled who were the actual designers or architects ~ them " Cowans," a course justified by the king's Maister of of the grand old English cathedrals. Credit has been claimed Work," William Schaw, whose Statutis and Ordinanceis (28th See also:December 1598) required that " Na maister or fellow of craft ressaue any cowanis to wirk in his societie or companye, nor send See also:nave of his servants to wirk wt. cowanis, under the See also:pane of twentie pounds." Gradually, however, the rule was relaxed, in time such monopoly practically ceased, and the word "cowan " is only known in connexion with spectelative Freemasonry. Sir See also:Walter Scott, as a member of Lodge St David (No. 36), was familiar with the word and used it in Rob See also:Roy. In 1707 a cowan was described in the minutes of Mother Lodge Kilwinning, as a mason " without the word," thus one who was not a free mason (History of the Lodge of Edinburgh No. r, by D. Murray Lyon, 1900).
In the New English See also:Dictionary (See also:Oxford, vol. iv., 1897) under " Freemason " it is noted that three views have been propounded:--(r) " The See also:suggestion that free-mason stands for free-See also: (4) Perhaps the best See also:hypothesis is that the term refers to the medieval practice of emancipating skilled artisans, in order that they might be able to travel and render their services wherever any great See also:building was in See also:process of construction." The late secretary of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge (No. 2076, London) has thus had his view sanctioned by " the highest tribunal in the See also:Republic of Letters so far as See also:Philology is concerned " (Dr W. J. Chetwode Crawley in Ara Quatuor Coronatorum, 1898). Still it cannot be denied that members of lodges in the 16th and following centuries exercised the See also:privilege of making free masons and denied the freedom of working to cowans (also called un-freemen) who had not been so made free; " the Masownys of the luge " being the only ones recognized as freemasons. As to the prefix being derived from the word See also:frere, a sufficient See also:answer is the fact that frequent reference is made to " Brother freemasons," so that no ground for that supposition exists (cf. articles by Mr Gould in the Freemason for See also:September 1898 on " Free and Freemasonry ").
There are numerous indications of masonic activity in the British lodges of the 17th century, especially in Scotland; the existing records, however, of the See also:southern part of the United See also:Kingdom, though few, are of importance, some only having been made known in See also:recent years. These concern the Masons' Company of London, whose valuable minutes and other documents are ably described and commented upon by Edward See also:Conder, jr., in his Hole Crafte and Fellowship of Masons (1894), the author then being the Master of that ancient company. It was incorporated in 1677 by Charles II., who graciously met the wishes of the members, but as a company the information " that is to be found in the See also:Corporation Records at See also:Guildhall proves very clearly that in 1376 the Masons' Company existed and was represented in the See also:court of common See also:council." The title then favoured was " Masons," the entry of the term " Freemasons " being crossed out. See also:Herbert erroneously overlooked the correction, and stated in his History of the Twelve Great See also:Livery Companies (vol. i.) that the Freemasons returned two, and the Masons four members, but subsequently amalgamated; whereas the revised entry was for the " Masons " only. The Company obtained a See also: In early days the title " architect " is not met with, unless the term " Ingenator " had that meaning, which is doubtful. As to this interesting question, and as to the subject of building generally, an historical account of Master and Free Masons (Discourses upon See also:Architecture in England, by the Rev. James Dallaway, 1833), and Notes on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the Middle Ages (by See also:Wyatt Papworth, 1887), should be consulted. Both writers were non-masons. The former observes: " The See also:honour due to the original founders of these edifices is almost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under whose patronage they See also:rose, rather than to the skill and See also:design of the master mason, or professional architect, because the only historians were monks. . . . They were probably not so well versed in geometrical science as the master masons, for See also:mathematics formed a part of monastic learning in a very limited degree." In the See also:Journal of Proceedings R.I.B.A. vol. iv. (1887), a skilful critic (W.H. See also: The lodge is often met with, either as the tabulatum domicialem (1200, at St Alban's Abbey) or actually so named in the Fabric Rolls of York See also:Minster (1370), ye loge being situated close to the fane in course of erection; it was used as a place in which the stones were prepared in private for the structure, as well as occupied at See also:meal-time, &c. Each mason was required to " swere upon ye boke yt he See also:sail trewly ande bysyli at his See also:power hold and kepe holy all ye poyntes of yis forsayde See also:ordinance" (Ordinacio Cementanorum). As to the term free-mason, from the 14th century, it is held by some authorities that it described simply those men who worked " freestone," but there is abundant evidence to prove that, whatever may have been intended at first, free-mason soon had a much wider signification, the prefix free being also employed by carpenters (1666), sewers (15th century, tailors at See also:Exeter) and others, presumably to indicate they were free to follow their trades in certain localities. On this point Mr Gould well observes: " The class of persons from whom the Freemasons of See also:Warrington (1646), See also:Staffordshire (1686), See also:Chester, York, London and their congeners in the 17th century derived the descriptive title, which became the inheritance of the Grand Lodge of England, were free men, and masons of Gilds or Companies " (History, vol. ii. p. 16o). Dr See also:Brentano may also be cited: " Wherever the Craft Guilds were legally acknowledged, we find foremost, that the right to exercise their craft, and sell their manufactures, depended upon the freedom of their See also:city " (Development of Guilds, &c., p. 65). In like manner, the privilege of working as a mason was not conferred before candidates had been " made free." The regular free-masons would not work with men, even if they See also:bad a knowledge of their trade, " if unfree," but styled 1 It is not considered necessary to refer at length to the.Fratres Ponds, or other imaginary bodies of freemasons, as such questions may well be left to the curious and interested student. ' " No distinct trace of the general employment of large migratory bands of masons, going from place to place as a guild, or company, or brotherhood " (Prof. T. See also:Hayter-See also:Lewis, Brit. See also:Arch. Assoc., 1889).
organizations. This See also:precious document was only discovered in 1871, having been missing for a long time, thus doubtless accounting for the erroneous representations met with, not having the correct See also:blazon to follow. The oldest masonic See also:motto known is " God is our See also:Guide " on Kerwin's See also:tomb in St See also:Helen's church, Bishopgate, of 1594; that of " In the See also:Lord is all our See also:trust " not being traced until the next century. Supporters consisting of two doric columnl'are mentioned in 1688 by Randle Holme, but the Grand Lodge of England in the following century used Beavers as operative builders. Its first motto was " In the beginning was the Word " (in See also:Greek), exchanged a few years on-See also: It is very interesting to See also:note that subsequently (but never before) the longer designation is met with of " Free and Accepted Masons," and is thus a See also:combination of operative and speculative usage.
Mr Conder is of opinion that in the Records " there is no evidence of any particular ceremony attending the position of Master Mason, possibly it consisted of administering a different oath from the one taken by the apprentices on being entered." There is much to favour this supposition, and it may provide the See also: It is primarily to Scotland, however, that we have to look for such numerous particulars of the activity of the fraternity from 1599 to the establishment of its Grand Lodge in 1736, for an excellent account of which we are indebted to Lyon, the Scottish masonic historian. As early as 1600 (8th of See also:June) the attendance of John See also:Boswell, Esq., the See also:laird of Auchinleck, is entered in the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh; he attested the See also:record and added his mark, as did the other members; so it was not his first See also:appearance. Many noblemen and other gentlemen joined this ancient atelier, notably Lord See also: 2," Edinburgh, the first of the numerous pendicles of " Mother Lodge Kilwinning, No. o," See also:Ayrshire, started in 1677; and of the Journeymen No 8, formed in 1707, which was a See also:secession from the Lodge of Edinburgh; the Fellow Crafts or Journeymen not being satisfied with their treatment by the Freemen Masters of the Incorporation of Masons, &c. This See also:action led to a trial before the Lords of Council and Session, when finally a " Decreet Arbitral " was subscribed to by both parties, and the junior organization was permitted " to give the mason word as it is called " in a separate lodge. The See also:presbytery of See also:Kelso' in 1652 sustained the action of the Rev. James Ainslie in becoming a Freemason, declaring that " there is neither sinne nor scandale in that word " (i.e. the " Mason Word "), which is often alluded to but never revealed in the old records already referred to .2 One Scottish See also:family may be cited in See also:illustration of the continuous working of Freemasonry, whose membership is enshrined in the records of the ancient Lodge of " Scoon and See also:Perth No. 3 " and others. A venerable document, lovingly cared for by No. 3, bears date 1658, and recites how John Mylne came to Perth from the " See also:North Countrie," and was the king's Master Mason and W.M. of the Lodge, his successor being his son, who entered " King James the sixt as ffreman measone and fellow craft "; his third son John was a member of Lodge No. 1 and Master Mason to Charles I., 1631-1634, and his eldest son was a deacon of No. 1 eleven times during thirty years. To him was apprenticed his See also:nephew, who was warden in 1663-1664 and deacon several times. William Mylne was a warden in 1695, Thomas (eldest son) was Master in 1735, and took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Others of the family continued to join the Lodge No. 1, until Robert, the last of the Mylnes as Freemasons, was initiated in 1754, died in 1811, and " was buried in St See also:Paul's cathedral, having been Surveyor to that Edifice for fifty years," and the last of the masonic Mylnes for five generations. The " St John's Lodge," See also:Glasgow (No. 3 bis), has some valuable old records and a " Charter See also:Chest " with the words carved thereon " God save the King and Masons Craft, 1684." See also:Loyalty and Charity are the watchwords of the Society. The Craft Gilds (See also:Corps d'Etat) of France, and their progeny the Companionage, have been fully described by Mr Gould, and the Steinmetzen of Germany would require too detailed See also:notice if we were to particularize its rules, customs and general ' The See also:Associate See also:Synod which met at Edinburgh, March 1755, just a century later, took quite an opposite view, deciding to depose from See also:office any of their brethren who would not give up their masonic membership (Scots Mag., 1755, p. 158). Papal Bulls have also been issued against the craft, the first being in 1738; but neither interdicts nor anathemata have any influence with the fraternity, and fall quite harmless. : " We have the Mason Word and second sight, Things for to come we can fortell aright." (The See also:Muses Threnodie, by H. See also:Adamson, Edin., 1638.)character, from about the 12th century onward. Much as there was in common between the Stonemasons of Germany and the Freemasons of Great Britain and Ireland, it must be conceded that the two societies never united and were all through this long period wholly separate and independent; a knowledge of Freemasonry and authority to hold lodges in Germany being derived from the Grand Lodge of England during the first See also:half of the 18th century. The theory of the derivation of the Free-masons from the Steinmetzen was first propounded in 1779 by the See also:abbe Grandidier, and has been maintained by more modern writers, such as Fallon, See also:Heideloff and See also:Schneider, but a thorough examination of their statements has resulted in such an origin being generally discredited. Whether the Steinmetzen had secret signs of recognition or not, is not quite clear, but that the Free-masons had, for centuries, cannot be doubted, though precisely what they were may be open to question, and also what portions of the existing ceremonies are reminiscent of the craft anterior to the Revival of 1717. Messrs Speth and Gould favour the notion that there were two distinct and separate degrees prior to the third decade of the 18th century (Ars Q.C., 1898 and 1903), while other authorities have either supported the One degree theory, or consider there is not sufficient evidence to warrant a decision. Recent discoveries, however, tend in favour of the first view noted, such as the Trinity See also:College MS., Dublin (" Free Masonry, Feb. 1711 "), and the invaluable3 Chetwode Crawley MS. (Grand Lodge Library, Dublin); the second being read in connexion with the Haughfoot Lodge Records, beginning 1702 (Hist. of Freemasonry, by W. F. See also:Vernon, 1893).
Two of the most remarkable lodges at work during the period of transition (1717-1723), out of the many then existing in England, assembled at Alnwick and at York. The origin of the first noted is not known, but there are minutes of the meetings from 1703, the Rules are of 1701, signed by quite a number of members, and a transcript of the Old Charges begins the volume. In 1708-1709 a minute provided for a masonic procession, at which the brethren were to walk " with their aprons on and Comon Square." The Lodge consisted mainly of operative " free See also:Brothers," and continued for many years, a code of by-laws being published in 1763, but it never united with the Grand Lodge, giving up the struggle for existence a few years further on.
The other lodge, the most noteworthy of all the English predecessors of the Grand Lodge of England, was long held at York, the See also:Mecca of English Freemasons." Its origin is unknown, but there are traces of its existence at an early date, and possibly it was a survival of the Minster Lodge of the ,4th century. Assuming that the York MS. No. 4 of 1693 was the See also:property of the lodge in that year (which Roll was presented by George See also: " A narrow See also:folio See also:manuscript Book beginning 7th March 1705-1706," which was quoted from in 1778, has long been missing, which is much to be regretted, as possibly it gave particulars of the lodge which assembled at See also:Bradford, Yorkshire, " when 18 Gentlemen of the first families in that neighbourhood were made Masons." There is, however, another roll of records from 1712 to 1730 happily preserved of this " Ancient Honble. Society and Fraternity of Free Masons," sometimes styled " Company " or " Society of Free and Accepted Masons." Not to be behind the London fratres, the York brethren formed a Grand Lodge on the 27th of December 1725 (the " Grand 3 The Chetwode Crawley MS., by W. J. Hughan (Ars. Q.C., 1904). 4 The York Grand Lodge, by Messrs. Hughan and Whytehead (Ars Q.C., 1900), and Masonic Sketches and Reprints (1871), by the former. Lodge of all England" was its modest title), and was flourishing King Edward VII. ceased to govern the English craft, and was for years, receiving into their company many See also:county men of great influence. Some twenty years later there was a brief period of somnolence, but in 1761 a revival took place, with Francis See also:Drake, the historian, as Grand Master, ten lodges being chartered in Yorkshire, Cheshire and See also:Lancashire, 1762-1790, and a .Grand Lodge of England, See also:south of the See also:Trent, in 1779, at London, which warranted two lodges. Before the century ended all these collapsed or joined the Grand Lodge of England, so there was not a single representative of " York Masonry " left on the advent of the next century. The premier Grand Lodge of England soon began to constitute new Lodges in the metropolis, and to reconstitute old ones that applied for recognition, one of the earliest of 1720-1721 being still on the Roll as No. 6, thus having kept company ever since with the three " time immemorial Lodges," Nos. 2, 4 and 12. Applications for constitution kept coming in, the provinces being represented from 1723 to 1724, before which time it is likely the Grand Lodge of Ireland' had been started, about which the most valuable Caementaria H'ibernica by Dr Chetwode Crawley may be consulted with See also:absolute confidence. Provincial Grand Lodges were formed to ease the authorities at headquarters, and, as the society spread, also for the Continent, and gradually throughout the civilized globe. Owing to the custom prevailing before the 18th century, a few brethren were competent to form lodges on their own initiative anywhere, and hence the registers of the British Grand Lodges are not always indicative of the first appearance of the craft abroad. In North America2 lodges were held before what is known as the first " regular " lodge was formed at See also:Boston, See also:Mass., in 1733, and probably in Canada3 likewise. The same remark applies to See also:Denmark, France, Germany, See also: Desaguliers being his 'immediate predecessor, who has been credited (and also the Rev. James Anderson) with the honour of starting the premier Grand Lodge; but like the fable of Sir See also:Christopher See also:Wren having been Grand Master, evidence is entirely lacking. Irish and Scottish peers See also:share with those of England the distinction of presiding over the Grand Lodge, and from 1782 to 1813 their Royal Highnesses the duke of See also:Cumberland, the prince of Wales, or the duke of See also:Sussex occupied the masonic See also:throne. From 1753 to 1813 the rival Grand Lodge had been busy, but ultimately a See also:desire for a united body prevailed, and under the " ancient" Grand Master, H.R.H. the duke of See also:Kent, it was decided to amalgamate with the original ruling organization, H.R.H. the duke of Sussex becoming the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge. On the decease of the prince in 1843 the earl of Zetland succeeded, followed by the See also:marquess of See also:Ripon in 1874, on whose resignation H.R.H. the prince of Wales became the Grand Master. Soon after succeeding to the throne, ' The celebrated " See also:Lady Freemason," the Hon. Mrs Aldworth (nee See also:Miss St Leger, daughter of Lord Doneraile), was initiated in., Ireland, but at a much earlier date than popularly supposed; certainly not later than 1713, when the venturesome lady was twenty. All early accounts of the occurrence must be received with caution, as there are no contemporary records of the event. 2 History of Freemasonry, by Dr A. G. Mackey (New York, 1898), and the History of the Fraternity See also:Publishing Company, Boston, Mass., give very full particulars as to the United States. t See History of Freemasonry in Canada (Toronto, 1899), by J. See also:Ross See also:Robertson. succeeded by H.R.H. the duke of See also:Connaught. From 1737 to 1907 some sixteen English princes of the royal See also:blood joined the brotherhood. From 1723 to 1813 the number of lodges enrolled in England amounted to 1626, and from 1814 to the end of December 1909 as many as 3352 were warranted, making a grand See also:total of 4978, of which the last then granted was numbered 3185. There were in 1909 still 2876 on the register, notwithstanding the many vacancies created by the See also:foundation of new Grand Lodges in the colonies and elsewhere.4 See also:Distribution and Organization.—The See also:advantage of the See also:cosmopolitan basis of the fraternity generally (though some Grand Lodges still preserve the original Christian foundation) has been conspicuously manifested and appreciated in See also:India and other countries where the votaries of numerous religious systems congregate; but the unalterable basis of a belief in the Great Architect of the Universe remains, for without such a recognition there can be no Freemasonry, and it is now, as it always has been, entirely free from party politics. The charities of the Society in England, Ireland and Scotland are extensive and well organized, their united cost per day not being less than £Soo, and with those of other Grand Lodges throughout the world must amount to a very large sum, there being over two millions of Freemasons. The vast increase of late years, both of lodges and members, however, calls for renewed vigilance and extra care in selecting candidates, -that See also:numbers may not be a source of weakness instead of strength. In its See also:internal organization, the working of Freemasonry involves an elaborate system of symbolic See also:ritual,5 as carried out at meetings of the various lodges, uniformity as to essentials being the rule. The members are classified in numerous degrees, of which the first three are Entered Apprentice," " Fellow Craft " and " Master Mason," each lass of which, after See also:initiation, can only be attained after passing a prescribed See also:ordeal or examination, as a test of proficiency, corresponding to the " essays" of the operative period. The lodges have their own by-laws for guidance, subject to the Book of Constitutions of their Grand Lodge, and the regulations of the provincial or See also:district Grand. Lodge if located in counties or held abroad. It is to be regretted that on the continent of See also:Europe Free-masonry has sometimes See also:developed on different lines from that of the " Mother Grand Lodge " and Anglo-Saxon Grand Lodges generally, and through its See also:political and See also:anti-religious tendencies has come into contact or conflict with the See also:state authorities6 or the Roman See also:Catholic church. The " Grand Orient of France " (but not the Supreme Council 330, and its Grand Lodge) is an example of this See also:retrograde movement, by its elimination of the See also:paragraph referring to a belief in the " Great Architect of the Universe " from its Statuts et reglements generaux. This deplorable action has led to the withdrawal of all regular Grand Lodges from association with that body, and such separation must continue until a return is made to the ancient and inviolable landmark of the society, which makes it impossible for an atheist either to join or continue a member of the fraternity. The Grand Lodge of England constituted its first lodge in See also:Paris in the year 1732, but one was formed still earlier on the continent at See also:Gibraltar 1728-1729. Others were also opened in Germany 1733, Portugal 1735, Holland 1735, See also:Switzerland 1740, Denmark 1745, Italy 1763, See also:Belgium 1765, Russia 1771, and 4 The Masonic Records 1717-5894, by John See also:Lane, and the excellent Masonic Yearbook, published annually by the Grand Lodge of England, are the two See also:standard works on Lodge enumeration, localization and nomenclature. For particulars of the Grand Lodges, and especially that of England, Gould's History is most useful and trustworthy; and for an original contribution to the history of the rival Grand Lodge or Atholl Masons, Sadler's Masonic Facts and See also:Fictions. 6 " A peculiar system of Morality, veiled in See also:Allegory and illustrated by Symbols " (old See also:definition of Freemasonry). 6 The British See also:House of See also:Commons in 1799 and 1817, in acts of See also:parliament, specifically recognized the laudable character of the society and provided for its continuance on definite lines. Sweden 1773. In most of these countries Grand Lodges were subsequently created and continue to this date, save that in See also:Austria (not See also:Hungary) and Russia no masonic lodges have for some time been permitted to assemble. There is a union of Grand Lodges of Germany, and an See also:annual See also:Diet is held for the transaction of business affecting the several masonic organizations in that country, which works well. H.R.H. Prince See also:Frederick See also:Leopold was in 1909 See also:Protector, or the " Wisest Master " (Vicarius Salomonis). King Gustav V. was the Grand Master + of the freemasons in Sweden, and the See also:sovereign of the" Order of Charles XIII.," the only one of the kind confined to members of the fraternity. Lodge's were constituted in India from 1730 (See also:Calcutta), 1752 (See also:Madras), and 1958 (Bombay); in See also:Jamaica 1742, See also:Antigua 1738, and St Christopher 1739; soon after which period the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland had representatives at work throughout the civilized world. In no part, however, outside Great Britain has the craft flourished so much as in the United States of See also:America, where the first " regular " lodge (i.e. according to the new regime) was opened in 1933 at Boston, Mass. Undoubtedly lodges had been meeting still earlier, one of which was held at See also:Philadelphia, Penna., with records from 1931, which blossomed into a Grand Lodge, but no authority has yet been traced for its proceedings, save that which may be termed " time immemorial right," which was enjoyed by all lodges and brethren who were at work prior to the Grand Lodge era (I716-1717) or who declined to recognize the autocratic proceedings of the premier Grand Lodge of England, just as the brethren did in the city of York. A " deputation " was granted to See also:Daniel See also:Coxe, Esq. of New See also:Jersey, by the duke of See also:Norfolk, Grand Master, 5th of June 1730, as Prov. Grand Master of the " Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania," but there is no evidence that he ever constituted any lodges or exercised any masonic authority in virtue thereof. Henry See also:Price as Prov. Grand Master of New England, and his lodge, which was opened on the 31st of See also:August 1733, in the city of Boston, so far as is known, began " regular " Freemasonry in the United States, and the older and independent organization was soon afterwards " regularized." See also:Benjamin See also:Franklin (an Initiate of the lodge of Philadelphia) printed and published the Book of Constitutions, 1723 (of London, England), in the " City of Brotherly Love " in 1734, being the oldest masonic work in America. English and Scottish Grand Lodges were soon after petitioned to grant warrants to hold lodges, and by the end of the 18th century several Grand Lodges were formed, the Craft becoming very popular, partly no doubt by reason of so many prominent men joining the fraternity, of whom the chief was George See also:Washington, initiated in a Scottish lodge at Fredericks-See also:burg, See also:Virginia, in 1752-1753. In 1907 there were fifty Grand Lodges assembling in the United States, with considerably over a million members. In Canada in 1909 there were eight Grand Lodges, having about 64,000 members. Freemasonry in the Dominion is believed to date from 1740. The Grand Lodges are all of comparatively recent organization, the oldest and largest, with 40,000 members, being for See also:Ontario; those of See also:Manitoba, Nova See also:Scotia and See also:Quebec numbering about 5000 each. There are some seven Grand Lodges in See also:Australia; South Australia coming first as a " sovereign body," followed closely by New South Wales and See also:Victoria (of 1884-1889 constitution), the whole of the lodges in the See also:Commonwealth probably having fully 50,000 members on the registers. There are many additional degrees which may be taken or not (being quite optional), and dependent on a favourable See also:ballot; the difficulty, however, of obtaining admission increases as See also:pro-, gress is made, the numbers accepted decreasing rapidly with each See also:advancement. The chief of these are arranged in separate classes and are governed either by the " Grand Chapter of the Royal Arch," the " Mark Grand Lodge," the " Great Priory of Knights See also:Templars " or the " Ancient and Accepted Rite," these being mutually complementary and intimately connected as respects England, and more or less so in Ireland, Scotland, North America and wherever worked on a similar basis; the countries of the continent of Europe have also their own Hautes Grades. (W. J. H. *). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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