THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES

GIFT OF

COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS

\^m*

The Twentieth Century Edition De Luxe

A LIBKARY OF

FREEMASONRY
COMPRISING
ITS HISTOliy, ANTKIIIITIES, SYllliOLS, CONSTITUTIONS, CUSTOMS, ETC.

AND CONCORDANT ORDERS OF

Royal Arch. Knights Templar, A. A.
S. Rite,

Mystic Shrine

WITH OTHER IMPORTANT MASONIC INFORMATION OF VALUE TO THE FRATERNITY

^Derived

from

Official

and Standard Sources Tfiroughout

the

World

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME

EDITORS AND COLLABORATORS ROBERT FREKE GOULD

^faf:nln'r llixtnrinn,

Piist

nnd Past Senior (Irand Deitcnn of the Grnnd Lorlqe Master of Quatiior Coronati Lodge, London

of Kiujlnnd,

WM. JAMES HUGHAN

MdSdiiir Historian, and Past Si'niordrand Deacon
of the

JOSIAH

H.

DRUMMOND
.

Grand

Lod(je of

England

P..O.'.M.'. of Maine, and P.'.d.'.C'oni.' Northern Supreme Council of the U. S.

REV.
-;/

A. F. A.

WOODFORD

ENOCH
T. S.

T.

CARSON

.^fasonic IIislori<in,
the

nnd Past Grand Chaplain Grand Lodge of England

P.-.D.- .Xorthern Supreme Cnuncil. ?s- /"'" '""'. ,/ p,,^, drnnd Com: .K.' .T .\af Ohio

DAVID MURRAY LYON

Masonic Histarinn, and Past Grnnd Secrelarg of the Grand Lodge of Scotland

PARVIN
nnd
P.'.G.'.

P \G: .M :.

of Iowa,

Recorder

G: .E:.K:.T:.

of the

U. S.

and other authorities

VOLUME
LONDON

II

I'lIILADELPHl A

MONTREAL

THE JOHN C. YORSTON PUBLISHING COMPANY

I

'.to

JOHX

('.

CoprRIGHTEn YORSTON PUBLISHINO CoMPANT

1906

sblf
/.

Y^t

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME
CHAPTER

II,

VIII.

Early British Freemasonry (Scotland) "Mother Kilwinning Lodge" The Shaw Statutes Lodge of Edinburgh No. 1 Other Early Lodges,

PAGE

IX. X.
XI. XII.

Masons' Marks,

75

The Quartuor Coronati, The Four Crowned or Four Holy Martyrs History, Legendary and Otherwise,

...

87 107

Apocryphal Manuscripts, Charter of Cologne, Knights Templar, Etc.,

Early British Freemasonry (England I.) Masonic Tradition Sir Christopher Wren Papal Bulls Annual Assem-

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

Early British Freemasonry (England II.) The Cabbala Mysticism The Rosicruceans Elias Ashmole, Early British Freemasonry (England IH.) Ashmole Masons' Company Plot Randle Holme The "Old Charges," Early British Freemasonry (England IV.) The "Old Charges " The Legends of the Craft Light and Dark-

blies

AND Documents,

125 184

ness

Gothic

264

Traditions,

328

LIST

OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME
II.

Plate Representing the Distinguishing Characteristics of Masonic Charity, Dedicated

to the

Grand Lodges of the United

States,

....
Initiated into

Frontispiece.

Portrait of Brother Benjamin Franklin, Philosopher, Patriot and Statesman ; was Initiated into Freemasonry in " St. John's " Lodge, Philadelphia, February,

1731
Portrait of

Junior Grand

Provincial

Warden of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 1732; Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 17.34,
;

Freemasonry in St. David's Lodge, Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland, October 1, 1784, and was inaugurated Poet-Laureate in Cannongate-Kilwinning Lodge No. 2, Edinburgh, Scotland, February 1, 1787, Engraving of the oldest Masonic Minute in existence; fac-simile of the oldest Masonic Minute of the "Lodge of Edinburgh," No. 1, instituted in 1518,
Fac-simile of the Original

Brother Robert Burns, the Scottish Poet

14 19 26

MS.

of the Minutes of Admission to the Lodge of

3,

Edinburgh of Lord Alexander and Sir Anthonie Alexander, July

(v)

1634,

lG242S'i

"

vi

ILLUSTRATIONS.
rAGB

Fac-simile of the Original

MS. of

the Commission to

'^

Enter and Pass Masons,"

granted by the Lodge of Kilwinning to Residents in the Cannongate, Edinburgh, 1677,

Engraving of the Seal of the "Mother KUwinning Lodge" of Scotland, Portrait of Johne Myllne, Younger, IMaster Mason to Charles First of England, Fellow-Craft in the Lodge of Edinburgh, 1633, "Deacon of the Lodge and
.

30 30

Warden "in 1636,

Portrait of Brother Jesse B. Anthony, Past

32

the State of

New

York,

Portraits of Prominent Freemasons of

..........
Grand Master of
State.

the

Grand Lodge of
40

New York

C. L. Stowell, 33, Sov.

Grand Master of the Grand Council of the U. S. of A. ; J. B. Andrews, 33, Past Sov. Grand Inspector General, N. M. J.; Robert T. Waterman, 33, Past Hon. Mem. Supreme Council, N. M. J. John Boyd Thatciier, 33, Hon. Mem. Supreme Council, N. M. J. John S. Bartlett, 33, Past Grand Com. Grand Commaiidery, K. T.,
;

.......
;

48

Plate of the Inauguration of Brotlier Robert Burns, as Poet- Laureate in Cauongate

Kilwinning Lodge No.

the Original Painting

Board Room at died July 21, 1796, Plate of Masons' Marks, from the Originals on the Buildings; from the Collection of Mr. George Goodwin, Editor of the Builder, and other Authoritative
Sources, Portrait of Brother

From 2, Edinburgh, Scotland, February 1, 1787. by Brother Stewart Watson, in the Grand Lodge Edinl)urgli. Brotlier Burns was born January 25, 17.59

62

Lodge of Massachusetts,
Portrait of Brother Jus.
Initiated
into

............. ..........
Abram
;

80
96

Samuel C. Lawrence, 33, Past Grand Master of the Grand

Garfield, Twentieth President of the
;

Freemasonry November 22, 1861 in made a Knights Templar in " Culumbia Commandery," No. 2, Washington, D. C, May 18, 1866, Plate of Richard the First, Farewell to the Holy Land,
Columbus, Ohio
. . . .

United States " Magnolia Lodge,"

110 124

Most Holy Land, I commend thee to the care of the Almighty may he grant me long enough to return hither aud deliver thee from the yoke of the infidels
''
: 1

life

Portrait of Brother General

Israel

Fame; was

Initiated into

Putnam, of Bunker Hill and Revolutionary Freemasonry During the Revolutionary War,
i

Fac-simile of the Frontispiece to "Ah man Rezon," 1764 The title "AhimanEezon" is derived from three Hebrew words. Q'nX
Tnanah, " to appoint," or " to select,"

.....
.

136 160

ja/iim," brothers," ilJO

and IVT

ratzon,
title,

*'

the will, pleasure or meaning :" and hence

the combination of the three words in the

brethren "

= the law of a class of society

Ahiman Rezon, signifies " the will of selected of men who are chosen or selected from the rest of the

world as brethren.

Portrait of Brother

His Excellency Viscount Kitchener, the Hero of Khartoum and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army iii India; Past Grand Master of Egypt and the Soudan District Grand Master of the Punjab, India,
;
.

184

Portrait of Brother

George

W.
;

Kendrick,
initiated

Jr.,

33, Grand Master of the

Grand

Lodge of Pennsylvania

into

Freemasonry August 27th, passed

in

September 24th, and raised October 22, 1863,

Mitchell Lodge, No. 296,

.

Germantown, Philadelphia

Elected Grand Master, December, 1905,

198

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Portrait of Right Honorable
the

vii

PAGB

Thomas Dundas, Earl of

184:5-(59,
tlie Soiitliern States.

Zetland,

Grand Master of
212
S.

Grand Lodge of England,

Portraits of Prominent Freemasons of

John

Davidson, 32,
.'}2,

Past Grand Master of the Grand liodge of Georgia; J. Adger Smyth,

P. G. Master of G. Lodge of
ter of
;

Soiitli Carolina O. S. Long, 33 P. G. MasG. Lodge, of West Virginia; Joseph P. Horner, 33, P. G. Master of the G. Lodge of Louisiana; Philip C. Tucker, 33, P. G. Master G. Lodge

of Texas, and PastSov. Grand

Commander Supreme

Council, Soutiiern

M.

J.,

U.S.A., Portrait of Hon. John Wanamaker, Merchant and Philanthropist, of Philadelphia; was Initiated into Freemasonry March 30, 1898; Worshipful Master of "Friendship" Lodge, No. 400, and Member of "Abington " Cliapter, both of Jenkintown, Pa.; also Member of " Mary Commandery," K. T., of
Philadelphia, "A man of remarkable executive
determination

240

254
ability

Plate of

Arms Age et

to command success, of Masons, Carpenters,

and power of organization, combined with irresistible and withal a man who loves peace and good works."
etc.,

after Stow, Lacroix

la Renaissance,"

and other

authorities,

......
&
Sere,

"Lemoyen

268

Portrait of Brother

Thomas

J. Shryock, 33,

Grand Master of
into

Maryland continuously since 1885; Initiated Lodge, Baltimore, Md., August 20, 1874,
Portrait of Brother Gil.

Grand Lodge of Freemasonry in Waverly

the

282

W.

Barnard, 33, of Ciiicago, Grand Secretary of the

Grand Lodge of Illinois, Grand Recorder of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Illinois and of all the other Masonic Bodies in the State of Illinois. One of the oldest and best known members of the fraternity in
the United States,
Portrait of Brother

294
.Josepli

Hon.

R. Knowland, 32,
;

Member

of Congress for the

Third District of California Initiated into Freemasonry in Oak Grove Lodge, No. 215, Alameda, California; Past Master of Oak Grove Lodge, No. 215, of Alameda, California, having been raised to the chair June 2, 1898; made a companion of Alameda Chapter, No. 70, May 13, 1899; Oakland Commandery, K. T., No. 11, August 7, 1899, being a life member of the last two Oakland Lodge of Perfection, No. 2 Gethseraane Chapter, No. 2, Rose Croix De Molay Council, No. 2, Knights Kadosh, and Oakland Consistory, No. 2, A. A. S. R., all of Oakland, California. He is a life member of the Scottish Rites bodies, and belongs to Islam Temple, of San
;

Francisco, A. A. O. N.

M.

S.,

306

Plate of Seals and Tokens of French and

other authorities,
.

German

Guilds, from the Originals, and

Engraving of the Profession of a Benedictine Monk,

324 354

THE

History and Antiquities of Freemasonry.

CHAPTEE YIII.
EAELY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.
SCOTLAND.

THE
the craft,

ordinary practice of masonic historians, from Anderson to Oliver, having been to

draw largely upon their imaginations, whilst professedly furnishing proofs of the antiquity of Freemasonry, has led many critical readers to suppose that at best the
is

existing society

simply a

modem

adaptation of defunct masonic organizations, and that

now

so widely dispersed over the four quarters of the globe, dates only
last century.
is

from the

second decade of the

The

trite

observation that " truth

stranger than fiction," finds an apt illustration in

it is

the early histories of the fraternity, for however improbable,

none the

less

a fact, that

the minutes of Scottish

lodges

from the

sixteenth century, and evidences of British

left

masonic

life

dating farther back by some two hundred years, were actually

unheeded by

our premier historiographer, although many of such authentic and invaluable documents
lay ready to hand, only awaiting examination,
chests.

amongst the muniments

in the old

Lodge
of

Instead of a careful digest of these veritable records

records,

it

may be

stated,

unquestionable antiquity

those

anxious to learn anything of so curious a

subject liad to

wade through a compendium of sacred and profane history (of more than doubtful accuracy), entitled " The History and Constitutions of the most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of
,

Free and Accepted Masons, collected from their old Kecords and faithful Traditions," and

then found very

It will

little

to reward their search.

be seen that, by the collection and comparatively recent publication of

many

of

to, so mucli evidence has been accumulated respecting the early history, progress, and character of the craft, as to be almost embarrassing, and the proposition may be siifely advanced, that the Grand Lodges of Great Britain are the

the interesting records above alluded

direct descendants,

by continuity and absorption,

credulity.

of the ancient

Freemasonry which im-

mediately preceded their institution, which will be demonstrated without requiring the
exercise of either

dogmatism or

members and meetings, as well as particulars of their laws and customs, ranging backward nearly three hundred years. Many of these bodies were the founders of the Grand Lodge in 1736 after the model of the
oldest lodges in Scotland possess registers of

The

VOL. u.

'

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

of England, 1717

Grand Lodge

some,

however, not participating in the

first

instance were

subsequently admitted, whilst others preferred isolation to union

has existed as an independent lodge to this day.

one of

the last

named

It is therefore evident that a sketch of

the salient features of these ancient documents will form an important link in the chain

which connects what

is

popularly

known

as the

Lodges of Modern Freemasonry, with their

operative and speculative ancestors.

Though not

the

first

references to Masonry, or Freemasonry, in order of date, the "St.

Clair Charters" deserve examination at the outset of our inquiry, because of the signatures

attached to them.
land, presented

The

original charters are in the custody of the

late Professor

Grand Lodge

of Scot-

by the

W.

E. Aj-toun,

who obtained them from

Dr. David

Laing, of the Signet Library (the purchaser of the late Mr. Alexander Deuchar's valuable

MSS.).

Lyon

states there

can be no doubt of their genuineness, having compared several

with autographs in other MSS. of the period.

of the signatures in the originals

The " Advocates Library "

at

Edinburgh contains a smaD volume well known

charters,
is

a.;

the

"Hay MSS.,"

in

which are copies of these two

According
to tke

but Lyon, after a careful scrutiny,

probably due to the lack of

pronounces the transcripts to be faulty in character, which

exactitude in the transcriber.

"Genealogie of the Saint Clares of Eosslyn"

by Father Richard Augustin Hay, Prior oi Pieremont," the junior of the Hay MSS. was subscribed at " Ed[inburgh] 1630," which entry does not occur in the original, and, according to a communication from the editor to Mr. D. Murray Lyon, the date must have
^

been an interpolation, the same year being assigned to the charter by Lawrie in his

"History of Freemasonry," 1804.

the one being 15 by llj inches,

They

are written on scrolls of paper in a superior style,

in length, the

and the other 26 inches

width being the

same as
comer.
is

its

companion.

few words are obliterated, but are

easily supplied, the only

is

serious injury sustained, affecting the senior

It

document, which

minus the south-east

has been suggested that the absent portion contained other signatures, which

quite possible.

The

dates have been approximately settled by Mr. Lyon, to

whom

am

chiefly indebted for the interesting particulars respecting their character,

I

have selected for reproduction, in preference to any of the several

and whose text transcripts which were

previously issued.

The
of

first

charter could not have been written immediately after the Union of the crowns
24, 1603),

England and Scotland (March

having been signed by William Schaw, master

is

of work,

who

died in 1602; and

its

probable date

1601-2, the

names

of the deacons of the

masons at Edinburgh affording some assistance

long assigned to 1630, and so dated in

in identifying this period.

The

second,

many

of the transcripts,

was evidently promulgated

in 1628, according to the internal evidence

which has been

so well marshalled

by Mr. Lyon.'
and per-

The

text of these singular

it

documents has been

so frequently misrepresented
'

verted, that I have thought

best to present exact transcripts of the originals.

There are

no insuperable
'

difi&culties besetting

the comprehension of their quaint and obsolete phrase-

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 58. Edited by James Maidment, Edinburgh, 1835. Freemason, May 24, 1873. In the addenda to Lyon's BBstory (p. 438) appears the following note: "We have received a communication from James Maidment, Esq., advocate, editor of the Genealogies,' in which he states his impression that he copied the date from Lawrie's History." This seems to fix on Lawrie [Brewster?] the onus of interpolating a date into the second charter."
"
''

'

'

<Lyon, History

of the

Lodge

of Edinburgh, chap,

viii.,

pp. 57-66.

'See Appendices,

EA RL V BRl TISH PREEMA SONR Y.

ology,

though modern renderings of similar records

In
all

will

be usually given, in the hope of

all

averting the transient ard perfunctory examination which ordinarily awaits

this class.
cases,

excerpts of

however,

let

me
I

say,

once for

all,

that either the originals or

will

certified copies

have been consulted for such purposes, and an intimation have

relied.

always be given

of the sources of authority upon which

No

useful end
I shall

would be attained by
refer,

literal

reproduction of

all

the curious minutes to which

have occasion to

but every care will be taken to accurately present their true meaning and intent; and upon

any measure of confidence which

portion of this history,
I

my

readers

may

accord me, in respect of the earlier

must further

rely for a

continuance of their belief in

my

good

faith, whilst acting as their guide,

during our united pilgrimage to the shrines of the

ancient Scottish craft.

It

wOl readily be noticed that the two deeds are altogether

silent as to the

Grand

Mastership of the Craft being hereditary in the

St. Clairs of Roslin, yet

that distinction has

as Lawrie's

been claimed for this family.

The author
late Sir

of

what

is

commonly known

" History

of

Freemasonry"'
in
to

the

David Brewster

observes:

"

It deserves to

be

remarked that

both these deeds the appointment of AVilliam

the
office of

Sinclair, Earl of
is

Orkney

and Caithness,
fact well

Grand Master by James

II. of

Scotland,

spoken of as a

known and
it is

universally admitted.'

this assertion, for

simply untrue.
is

look in vain for any corroboration of Certainly the consent of the " Friemen Maissones "

We

within the realm of Scotland

of

acknowledged, also that of the master of work, in favor

William

St.

Clair purchasing the position of patron and judge from " our sovereign

lord," for himself

are pledged in

and heirs; and, as far as they could do so, the successors to these masons like manner to support such an appointment. Yet the office of "master of

work " was not superseded thereby, and whilst the first deed records a statement that the "Lairds of Rosling"had previously exercised such a privilege for very many years, the
masonic body must have valued their patronage very
deed to be executed in
slightly, to

have required another

obtained from the
it
is

"hammermen"

blacksmiths
text, the

less

than

tliirty

years.

The second being

and others

as

well as the masons,

and though

not

mentioned in the

cluding the crafts of

"squaremen" ' were likewise a party to the agreement, these incoopers, wrights (or carnenters), and slaters, who were represented
from Ayr!

on the charter by
Castle,

their deacons

The important

declaration in the junior aocument, as to the destructive fire in Koslin

by which some extraordinary writings of value to the craft perished and were thus lost to the Freemasons, would surely have been announced in the deed executed at an earlier date by the masonic body, had the conflagration been of the character represented.

The misfortune

is

that to refer the absence of confirmatory evidence to

is

fire

or other "visit-

ation of Providence, "

an old method of seeking to turn the edge of

criticism,

and has

been followed by brethren in later times, when they have been pressed to account for the
fact that the entire weight of evidejice is
theories.

opposed to the establishment of their own pet

Maidment has demonstrated the utter groundlessness of the claims put forward
Alexander Lawrie, wishing to publish awork on Freemasonrj', asked

'

1st edit., 1804; 2d edit., 1859.

its

Dr. Irving to undertake

compilation, on whose refusal he applied to Sir David (then Mr.) Brew-

ster, by whom it was readily undertaken (Lyon, Histoi-y of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 55; Notes * Lawrie's History of Freemasonry, 1804, p. 103. and Queries, May 9, 1863). 'According to Mr. M'Dowall, this term comprehended masons, joiners, cabinet-makers, painters, and glaziers (History of Dumfries, 1867, p. 741).

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y.

by the Lawries, that there ever was such an appointment made either by royal authority, or the vote of the masonic craft, to secure the office of hereditary " Grand Master " to the
St. Clairs.

These questions

will

be

still

further elucidated,

when the formation

first

of

what

deem

to be the

premier Grand Lodge, and the election of the

later, in

Grand Master, took

place,

about a century

London.

Meanwhile

it

may

be noted that there are no

deeds

known

which confer such a position as that claimed on the Earl of Orkney in the
branch of the
St.

fifteenth century (the representative of the elder

Clairs), neither

is

there any record of that nobleman or his successors having conveyed such hereditary The " St. Clair Charters " themselves give privileges to the younger branch of the family.

an emphatic denial to the absurd statement, and as Sir David Brewster in 1804, and the younger Lawrie in 1859,' cite the two deeds as confirming their assertions, which deeds, on an examination are found to contain no such clauses, the only wonder
credence.
is,

that such an im-

probable story as that of the hereditary Grand Mastership ever obtained such general

The

lodges

who were

parties to Charter

No.

met

at

Edinburgh,

St.

Andrews, Hadbears the

dington, Atcheson-Haven, and Dunfermline respectively.

of the representative lodges

The second deed

Stirling,

names
St.

at

Edinburgh, C^lasglow, Dundee,

crafts at Ayr.

Dunfermline,

Andrews, and

also

of the

masons and other

These several bodies united for the purpose of obtaining a patron for their craft, and inasmuch as other districts in Scotland are not included, which we have every reason to
believe contained lodges at that period, such as Kilwinning

and Aberdeen,

it

seems likely

that the office of patron was

more sought with the object of settling whatever local disputes might occur amongst the Freemasons in the exercise of their trade, than intended in any way to set aside the king's master of work, who, as we have seen, supported the petition
of the lodges.
If this

were

so,

then

it

might

fairly

be expected that similar powers were

find did occur

obtained in other counties, and that

is

just

what we

on September

25, 1590,

on which day James VI. granted to Patrick Coipland of Udaucht the office of "Wardene and Justice" over the "airt and craft of masonrie" within the counties of Aberdeen, Danff,

and Kincardine, with the fullest liberty to The appointment was made in response

act in such a capacity within the district

to the vote in his favor,

named.
pairt of

"by the maist

the master masounes within the sheriffdomes," and likewise because the nominee's "predecessoris hes bene ancient possessouris of

boundis."

the said office of Wardanrie over all the Lawrie accepts this appointment as " proving beyond dispute that the Kings
office-bearers of the order,"

but Lyon considers it "a strictly civil one, like I entirely agree with the that of the Barons to the wardenrie of the Crafts in 1427."'

nominated the
latter view;

but supposing we take Lawrie at his word, what becomes of his "hereditary Grand Mastership" theory, and how comes it to pass that different districts are thus allotted to wardens to act as judges of the masonic craft, if the Earl of Orkney and his heirs were empowered to act as Grand Masters of the fraternity, from the reign, and by the authority Surely the master masons within the three counties named in the deed of of, James II ? 1590, who provisionally elected a warden to rule over them, would not have obtained the
'

W.

A. Laurie, son of the publisher of the original work

edition of 1859.

The

altered spelling, adopted

by the

son, has

(1804), and author of the enlarged conveyed an impression that the two

editions are distinct works.

'

details.

These will be duly noticed, except the Stirling Lodge, about which I can gleam no authentic 'Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 5.

EARLY BRI TISII FREE MA SONR V.

countenance and confirmation of James VI. had there been an
office

then existent of
points out

Grand Master
in his

of the Freemasons,

whether hereditary or otherwise.

'

As Hughan

" Early History of British Freemasonry"

tlie

(from which

quote the terms of Coipland's

appointment),

laws promulgated by William Schaw, Master of

Work

to

King James

VI., of December 28, 1598, were in force in Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine, just as in
all

other parts of Scotland, and this alone

is

sufficient to give

a death-blow to the illusions

of the Lawrie school, in which, alas, there are believers even at this day.

Ab a matter
mason.

of fact,

we do not even know that

this

No

actual minutes or

documents record the admission

warden ' and judge of 1590 was a of speculative members at

we can do n> more than concede that he may have been "acand made " free " of the ancient craft, out of compliment to his responsible position, and in accordanoj with the motives which actuated the fraternity in olden times, to secure the co-operat'on and favor of those who exercised rule and authority
so early a period, therefore

cepted " as a brother,

over them.

These documents of the sixteenth and the following century, having retrospective as well as prospective clauses the former of which have been unduly magnified and distorted

beyond
especial

all

fair

bounds of interpretation

must
Of

be
still

my

order, in a review of the

MSS.

of the craft.

excuse for placing them first more importance, however, and

in

of

value are the noted Statutes of 1598

compiled in order

that they might be sent

of the masters con{bt/

to all the lodges in Scotland, having received the

unanimous sanction

vened at Edinburgh and to which William Schaw, the master of work

pointment) and general warden, had duly subscribed his name, and
servance by the Scottish craft.
year, signed

royal ap-

enjoined their

due ob-

Of scarcely

less

importance are the laws of the following

tlie

by the same

official,

having particular reference to

old lodges at Edinburgh

and Kilwinning, the clauses of which are most extraordinary

craft, superior to

in character, considering the

period of their promulgation, and afford an insight into the usages and customs of the

any other documents which have come down to us from remote times. The older masonic code bears date the 28th day of December 1598, is written in a legible manner in the first volume of the records of the "Lodge of Edinburgh," and is duly
attested

by the autograph of Schaw as master of work. It consists of twenty-two "items," not numbered, and concludes with the attestation clause, which recites the obligation taken
by the master masons who were convened, to keep them
faithfully.

The

general warden

was requested to sign the statutes in order that an authentic copy might be made and sent to all the lodges in Scotland the names and number of which unfortunately the record does not disclose; but evidently their scope was of a general cliaracter, and by no means

restricted to the

" Lodge of Edinburgh," which from

throughout the realm.
Statutes, No.
1,

its

situation naturally served as the

medium

of their circulation

The Schaw
In considering these rules in

of a.d. 1598.

detail, I

have numbered the itsms in consecutive order,

and
'

shall briefly

summarize their leading

characteristics.'

Voice of Masonry, Chicago, U.S.A., 1872-73. office of warden over a large district in Scotland, herein noted of 1590, must not be confused with tiiat of wardens of a lodge as provided for in the Schaw Statutes of 1598-99. ' For the exact text of these regulations, see Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, pp. 9-11;

'The

also Constitutions of the

Grand Lodge

of Scotland, 1848.

"

6
1.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

All the good ordinances concerning the privileges of the craft, which were

their predecessors of
to one another,

made by " gude memorie, " to be observed and kept; and especially to be true
together as becometh sworn brethren and companions

and

live charitably

of the Craft.
2.

To be To be

obedient to their wardens, deacons, and masters in

all

things concerning the

Craft.
3.

honest, faithful, and diligent in their calling,

and upright with the masters or

it satis-

owners of the work which they undertake, whatever be the mode of payment.
4.

That no one undertake work, be

it

great or small, unless able to complete

factorily,

under the penalty of forty pounds

[Scots], or the fourth part of the value of the

officers

work, according to the decision of the general warden, or the

for the sheriffdom
5.
6.

named

in the

2d item,

where the work

is

being wrought.

That no master

shall supplant

another under the penalty of forty pounds.

That no master take an uncompleted work unless the previous masters be duly

under the same penalty. That one warden be elected annually by every lodge, " as thay are devidit particularlie," to have charge thereof, and that, by the votes of the masters of the said lodges,
satisfied,
7.

with the consent of the general warden

results of

if

present.

Should the

latter

be absent, then the

such elections must be communicated to him, that he may send his directions to
have more than three apprentices during his lifetime, unless
officers previously

the wardens-elect.
8.

That no master

shall

with the special consent of the

mentioned, of the sheriffdom in which

the additional apprentice shall dwell.

9.

Apprentices must not be bound for

less

than seven years, and no apprentice shall be

made "brother and

by the
sufficient trial

fallow-in-craft," unless

he has served an additional seven years, save

assembled for that purpose, and then only,
if

special license of the regular officers

has been

made

of his worthiness, qualification,

and

skill.

The

penalty was

forty pounds, as usual, " besyde the penal teis to be set

to the ord'' of the ludge quhair he remains.
10.

doun aganis

his persone, accordying

Masters must not

sell

their apprentices to other masters, nor dispense with their

time by sale to such apprentices, under the penalty of forty pounds.

11.

No

master to receive an apprentice without informing the warden of his lodge

[ludge], that his

Vi.

name and

date of reception be duly booked.

13.

No No

apprentice to be entered but by the same order.

master or fellow-of-craft

to

be received or admitted except in the presence of six

six,

masters and two entered apprentices,' the warden of that lodge being one of the
date thereof being orderly booked, and
'^

the

his

together with the names of the six masters,

always that no one be admitted without "a?ie

name and niark insert" in the said book, Provided the apprentices, and intender. assay and sufficient tryall of his skill and

worthy nes
14.

in his vocation

and

craft."

No No

master to engage in any masonic work under charge or

command
work

of

any other

craftsman.
15.

master or " fellow-of-craft " to receive " any cowanis"

to

to

in his society or

compaBy, or

send any of his servants to work with them, under a penalty of twenty

pounds

for each offence.

'

" Sex maisteris aad twa enterit prenteissis."

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

16.

No

apprentice shall undertake work beyond the value of ten pounds from the owner
its

thereof,

under the penalty aforesaid, and, on

in their
strife arise

completion, a license must be obtained

if

from the masters or warden

17.

own neighborhood,

more

is

desired to be done.
'

Should

amongst the masters,

servants, or apprentices,

they must inform

the wardens, deacons, or their lodges, within twenty-four hours thereof, under ten pounds penalty in case of default, in order that the difficulties may be amicably settled. Should any of the parties concerned therein, refuse to accept the award made, they shall be liable to be deprived of the privileges of their lodge, and not be permitted to work during the
period of their obstinacy.
18.

Masters and others' must be careful in taking

all

needful precautions as to the

erection of suitable scaffolding,

shall not act as
others.

and should accidents occur through their negligence, they masters having charge of any work, b^^t for ever afterwards be subject to

19.

Masters are not to receive apprentices

who "

salhappin to ryn

away" from

their

lawful service, under penalty of forty pounds.

20. All

members

of the

mason

craft

must attend the meetings when lawfully warned,

'bj their

under " the pane of ten punds."

21. All

masters present at any " assemblie or meetting " shall be sworn

great

oath, not to hide or conceal as they

any wrong done each other or to the owners of the work, as far

know, under the same penalty.

be collected from those who break any of the foregoing by the wardens, deacons and masters, to be distributed " ad pios vsus according to
their advice.

22. All the said penalties shall

statutes,

gud conscience," and by

The Statutes,

subscribed by William Schaw, "Maistir of Wark,

Warden

of the Maisonis,"

were agreed to on December 28, 1599, having apparently been duly compared with the code
of the previous year,

and obviously were arranged

especially for the old

Lodge

at Kihvin-

ning,

A.yrsliire.

As there
all

are several points mentioned in these ordinances which are not of

it is

a general character, but refer specially to the lodge named, and as

desirable to

examine

the records of

the more ancient Scottish lodges, I shall at once enter upon the task,
It

taking the history of each separately as far as possible.

becomes necessary, however,

to

determine in what order we shall proceed with the investigation, the more particularly as
the delicate question of precedence
sensitive.
is

involved, about which these old lodges are not a

little

It

is

the custom of some writers to claim that the years

when the

various abbeys were

erected, provide the surest

sumption that each of

builders.
to

means of determining when the lodges originated, on the asthese structures required and had a lodge of Freemasons as their

Lyon

observes, that while their southern neighbors hold the masonic fraternity

have been organized at York in the time of Athelstan, a.d. 926, Scottish Freemasons

are content to trace their descent

from the builders of the abbeys of Holyrood, Kelso,

slightest vestige of authentic evidence, however,

Melrose, and Kilwinning, the Cathedral of Glasgow, and other ecclesiastical fabrics of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Not the

has yet been adduced in support of the legends in regard to the time and place of the
institution of the first Scottish masonic lodge.
>

And

if

it

has to be acknowledged that the

'

" Entert prenteissis."

" Interpriseiis."

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

Freemasonry into Scotland
is

tradition regarding the introduction of

somewhat apocryphal,
it

the same

is,

apprehend, true of

much

that has been written of the Brotherhood as

existed at any time prior to the close of the sixteenth century.

If

Holyrood

is

mentioned as the

earliest of the Scottish abbeys,

is

Kelso

is

at once

brought

forward as of the same period, and when Kilwinning

of institution are immediately asserted.

proudly referred to as exceeding in

antiquity any ecclesiastical edifice of the sister kingdom, the claims of Melrose to priority
It is scarcely possible that

any agreement can be

arrived at under such circumstances, and I shall advance no opinion of

to the primogeniture of these old lodges, because several have to

my own
if

in regard

lament the

loss of their

most ancient manuscripts, whilst others are at the present time almost,
destitute of

not quite,

any records whatever.

Bearing in mind these

difficulties,

which of themselves
it

are suggestive of the great age of

decision of the

many

of the lodges, I have

thought

safest to follow the

Grand Lodge of Scotland as to their relative precedency, leaving their antiquity an open question, and these old ateliers will therefore be marshalled according to their positions on the roll, after which I shall notice those that have ceased to exist, concluding with some remarks upon the Lodge of Melrose which still keeps aloof from the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

"Mother Kilwinning" Lodge, Atrshihe, No.

0.

The historian of Scottish Masonry in general, and of the Kilwinning and Edinburgh Lodges in particular (Lyon), acknowledges that the pretensions of the former to priority of
upon the story which makes its institution and the erection of Kilwinning Abbey (1140) coeval, are weakened by the fact that the abbey in question was neither the first nor the second Gothic structure erected in Scotland. That the lodge wa
existence, based as they are

presided over about the year 1286 by James, Lord Steward of Scotland, a few y^ars later

by the hero of Bannockburn, and afterwards by the third son of Robert II. (Earl of Buchan), are some of the improbable stories which were propagated during the last century,
in order to secure for the lodge the coveted position of being the first
Eoll, or to give countenance to its separate existence as a rival

on the Grand Lodge

grand lodge.

Whatever

pre-eminence the supporters of " Mother Kilwinning"

may have

arrogated to that ancient

it

lodge during the early part of the last century, and however difiicult

might then have

been to reconcile conflicting claims, we are

the second place.
It is

left in

no doubt as to the precedence given to

the " Lodge of Edinburgh" in the Statutes of 1599, Kilwinning having distinctly to take

most singular, under the circumstances to be presently mentioned, that neither

the records of the Edinburgh or Kilwinning Lodges allude in the slightest degree to these
regulations,'

and the

craft does not appear to have

had any idea of the existence of such a

was unknown in 1736, and during the struggles for priority and supremacy waged by the Grand Lodge and " Mother Kilwinning," is quite
until recent years.

document

That

it

certain, because

its

production as evidence would have at once settled the points in dispute.

In 1861 the late Earl of Eglinton and Winton, through the then Deputy Grand Master
(Mr.

John Whyte-Melville,

of "Memorials of the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton."

Castle was diligently

Grand Master), presented the Grand Lodge with a copy The muniment room in Eglinton searched and placed under requisition for the purposes of that work,
since
is

'

That

to say, to the regulations or code of 1599 (not 1598).

EARL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR V.

and thup, through the devotion of the lamented Lord Eglinton
decisions.

9
and

to archaeological studiee

research, the Scottish craft owes the discovery of this valuable code of masonic laws

and

Tliere cannot be a doubt as to the authenticity of the MS.,

its

and Lyon's sug-

gestion that
all

preservation in the repositories of the noble house of Montgomerie was in

probability
is

owing to that family's former connection with the masonic court of Kilfacts.

winning,
I

one fully warranted by

shall

give, as far as possible,

an accurate rendering of each of the thirteen items,

former regulations (Schaw Statutes, No.
to offer in foot-notes, so as not to break the con-

numbering them consecutively as

1),

in the case of the

placing any observations I

may have

tinuity of the actual code.

The Schaw
1.

Statutes, No.

2,

of a.d. 1599.

The warden

to act within the

lodge, shall be annually elected

bounds of Kilwinning, and other places subject to thai on the 20th day of December, " atid that within the kirk at

Kilwynning," as the " heid and secund hedge of Scotland," the general warden to be informed accordingly.^ 2. The " Lord Warden Generall," considering that it was expedient that all the Scottish
lodges should prospectively enjoy their ancient liberties as of yore, confirms the right of the Lodge of Kilwinning, " secund lodge of Scotland," to have its warden present at the
election of

wardens within the bounds of the " nether waird of

of Carrik "

Cliddisdaill, Glasgow, Air,

and boundis
district

and

also to

convene these wardens to assemble anywhere within the

(embracing the west of Scotland, including Glasgow), when and where they had to

submit to the judgments of the warden and deacon of Kilwinning.'

3.

"

the first
is

The warden general, for reasons of expediency, confirms the rank of Edinburgh and principal lodge in Scotland," ih&i of Kilwinning being the second, "as
notourlie manifest in our awld antient writtis; "

as

of

befoir

and the Lodge

of Stirling to be

third, according to their ancient privileges.*

document, see Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 12. in 1599 corresponds with that of a District Grand Lodge at the present time, its jurisdiction being defined in the next item. The status accorded to it is both strange and paradoxical, for how can that which is " head" be also second, masonically or otherwise? Be'

For the

full text of this

'

The

position of the

Lodge

fore arriving at a decision, the third of the rules

must be

carefully examined.

St. John's Lodge, Glasgow, which was foisted upon the fraternity in comparatively recent times; for that city in 1599 was masonically subject to Kilwinning (see post, "Apocryphal MSS.").

'This clause disposes of the pretensions of the"Malcolm Canmore Charter" of

'This item

(3.)

establishes the clear

is

meaning and intention

of

Schaw, for he expressly declares

that the Lodge of Edinburgh

Stirling the second

the ^rs( and principal in the country, awarding to Kilwinning and

respectively. Accordingly either of the three

might be termed was given to Edinburgh over Kilwinning, and to both these lodges over Stirling, and at the head of them all, was the Warden-General by royal appointment. The usage of existing Provincial Grand Lodges affords an illustration oC the working of this rule tliese are the heads or chiefs in their jurisdictions, as empowered by ftieir common head, precedence being given according to their respective ages and over all presides the Grand Master, in some corresponding with the General Warden. This being so, whatever place on the roll is occupied by the old lodges in question at the present time, Edinburgh was above its compeers in 1599. Lyon cites an example of the use of the tei-m head, as applied to several, in the case of some persons guilty of manslaughter being required by an Act of the Lords of Council,
"

and third positions

Head Lodge,"

there thus being a trio of head lodges, only of these precedence

1490, to repair to tlie market-cross of

Edinburgh, with their swords in their hands, to seek forgive-

'

'

"

lO
4.

EARLY BRITISH FREE MA SONR V.

The wardens
of every lodge shall be answerable to the Presbyters within their sherififfines paid

doms, for the masons subject to their lodges, the third part of the

by the

dis-

obedient being devoted to the "godlie usis of the ludge," where the offences were committed.
5.
'

An

annual

trial of all ofEences shall

be made, under the management of the warden

and most ancient masters

served.
6.

of the lodge, extending to six persons, so that

due order be ob-

The

lord warden-general ordains that the

warden

of Kilwinning,

" as secunde in
and antient

Scotland," shall select six of the most perfect and worthy masons, in order to test the
qualification of all the fellows within their district,

"

of thair art, craft, scyance,

memorie," to the intent that the said wardens

are under them.
7.

sliall

be duly responsible for such persons as

The warden and deacon

from the
society all

of Kilwinning, as the second lodge,

is

empowered

to exclude

and

expel

who

persist in disobeying the ancient statutes,

and "all

personis disobedient ather to kirk, craft, counsall,"

and other regulations

to be hereafter

made.
8.

The warden-general
The
acts heretofore

requires the

warden and deacon (with

his quartermasters) to

select a skilled notary, to be ordinary clerk or scribe,' by

9.

whom all

deeds were to be executed.

faithfully in the

made by Kilwinning masons must be kept most

all

future,

and no apprentice or craftsman be either admitted or entered but "within the

banquets arising out of such

kirk of Kilwynning, as his paroche and secund ludge;"

entries to be held
10.

" within the

said ludge of Kilwinning."

All fellow-craftsmen at their entry and pri r to their admission

of 10, with

must pay

to the

lodge the sum 10s. worth of gloves, which shall include the expense of the banquet; also that none be admitted without " ane sufficient essay " and " pruife of memorie

and

art of craft,"

under the supervision of the warden, deacon, and quartermasters of the

lodge, as they shall be answerable to the warden.'

ness from the friends of the slain man, and then repair to the " four head pilgrimages of Scotland, and there say mass for his soul " (History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 243). In common with other trades, the masons were required to support the Church; not only during the period prior to the Reformation, but long after the influence of Roman Cathohcism may be supposed to have ceased in Scotland, and the examples are too numerous to quote, of a compulsory application of the fines levied upon masons towards the maintenance of ecclesiastical fabrics. ' This remarkable rule is the direct corollary of the fourth item, for unless the officers had tlie authority to expel unruly members, their accoimtability to the presbyters would have been a meaningless phrase. That the cosmopolitan and unsectarian features of our later Freemasonry are in direct opposition to the earliest teachings of the craft may, however, be new to some readers. ' " Ane famous notar as ordinar dark and scryb." * According to old mvmicipal records, it was the custom for public bodies to hold their meetings in the kirks of their own neighborhoods, probably iu what we now term the " vestrj'" part, and hence there was nothing unusual in the provision made for the assembling of the masons therein. It may, however, only refer to the immediate neighborhood of the kirk, just as in Cornwall certain parts contiguous to such edifices are still called "Church Town" the name of the town or %'illage being prefixed. That this is, at least, a probable explanation may be inferred from the regulation respecting the banquets being ser\-ed in the "said ludge." In 1665 the use of the " coui-t-house was granted to the members for their assemblies. 'As the "Essay," or " masterpiece," will be again alluded to, I shall merely invite attention to the fees exigible on the passing of fellow-crafts.
'

'

EA RL Y BRI TISH FREE MA SONR Y.

11.

Apprentices are not to be admitted unless they pay 6 toward the

all

common

banquet,

or defray the expenses of a meal for

12.

the members

and apprentices of the lodge.

the masters and fellows of craft com-

The wardens and deacons

fidelitie

of the second lodge of Scotland (Kilwinning) shall anall

nually take the oath, "

and trewthe," of

mitted to their charge;

that they shall not keep

company nor work with cowans, or any

of their servants or apprentices, under the penalties provided in the former acts.'
13.

The "generall warden"

ordains that the Lodge of Kilwinning, being the second

lodge in Scotland, shall annually test every craftsman and apprentice, according to their
vocations,

and should they have forgotten even one point of the "art of memorie and
if

science" thereof, they must forfeit 20s.

neglect.

fellow-crafts,

and

lis. if apprentices, for their

Fines to be paid into the box for the

common

weal, in conformity with the

practice of the lodges of the realm.

The

regulations are followed by an intimation from the

" generall warden

of Scotland

"

that he had subscribed to

them " with

his

hand,"

in

token that they were to be observed,

;

as also the acts and statutes

made

previously by the officers of the lodge aforesaid

so as

The sjime to preserve due regularity, conformably to equity, justice, and ancient order. " office and law." The dignitary also empowered the officers to make acts according to the
with that enjoyed by modern lodges, which are permitted to have by-laws, binding upon their particular members, so long as they are not in conflict
latter privilege corresponds

with the general regulations of the Grand Lodge.

from William Schaw, which proves that the document of 1599 was intended exclusively for the masons under the jurisdiction of the Kilwinning Lodge, for it is addressed to the warden, deacon, and masters of that lodge, and testifies to the honest and careful manner in which Archibald Barclay, the com-

The MS. concludes with an important

certificate

missioner from the lodge, had discharged the duties entrusted to him.

It

seems that

this

delegate produced his commission before the warden-general and the masters of the "
of

Lodge

Edinburgh; " but by reason of the king being " out of the Toun," and no masters but those of the lodge named being convened at the time, the deputation was not successful in
obtaining
all

that the

members

desired.

of the warden-general, their recital

The chief requests of the lodge (if, in the records may be taken as indicative of their prominence) were to
from the king (James VI.) a recognition of the priviupon " the dissobedient
members
of craft within the said ludge

obtain additional powers to preserve order, wliich the craft required for the conservation of
their rights,

and

especially to secure

leges of the lodge, including the power of imposing penalties

'

Utherwyes
It will

to

pay to the bankat

for the haill

and pren-

teissis thairof."
'

The Lodge
Magazine,

of Kilwinning, in 1705, defines a "

vol. ix., 1863, p. 156);

be observed that by these statutes fellowship with cowans is rendered a misdemeanor. cowan " as a " mason without the word " (Freemasons'

and the same body,

in 1645,

"ordanit that

Hew Mure sail

not

work

with ony cowane in tymes cuming, under the pane of x lb. monie" {Ibid., Aug. 4, 1866, p. 90). The word has been variously derived from the Greek, mnv, a dog; the French, chouan; and many other sources. Lyon says: " May the epithet, as one of contempt toward craftsmen without the word.'

'

not have been derived from the Celtic word cu

A Gael would so express

p. 34).

himself by the term, a choir.,

you dog" (History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

M.ai'key considers that the

term has come

to the English fraternity from the operative masons of Scotland, and accepts the first definition given in Jamieson's " Scottish Dictionary " (Encyclop:edia of Freemasonry): but Woodford believes it has

crept into use in England from the old word covin [formerly coiiin or couen, as observed by Mr.

W.

H. Rylands], so frequently employed by the guilds (Kenning's Cyclopadia).

12

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

all

personis and pertiirberis of

casion offered,

guid ordour."

and

so far thought

good

to signify

These Schaw promised to procure when ocunto the whole brethren of the lodge. The

statutes were duly attested at

Holyrood Palace, and occupied the parties two days in their

preparation, comparison, and (shall

we

say) fraternal consideration.

These regulations and

decisions are in

many

respects

most singular; for although, in

some

points, they are a reproduction of the Statutes of 1598 ("

plicable to a particular lodge,

tive precedency of the three

Schaw," No. 1), yet, as apand containing an authoritative judgment respecting the relaIt is

head lodges in Scotland, they are absolutely unique.

im-

portant, also, to notice that several of the laws in the

" Constitutions "

of

modem Grand
and customs

Lodges are but a

lodges.

reflection of these ancient rules,

and that many

of the usages

of the craft in the sixteenth century are actually practised at the present day in our masonic

The premier
burgh
"

historiographer of " Mother Kilwinning "

it is

and of the

"Lodge

of Edin-

is

Mr. D. Murray Lyon, and

to be regretted that his interesting sketch of the

former, which appeared in the Freemasons' Magazine (1863-65), has not been published in
a separate form.
Since then, another history of the lodge has been written by Mr. Robert
I shall

Wylie, of which

have to speak hereafter;

but, for present purposes, the elder pro-

duction will be placed under requisition.

After alluding to the theories which connect the Kilwinning Lodge with the (modern) degrees of masonic Knights Templars, and of the " Royal Order of Scotland," Lyon emphatically declares that the lodge

" was never more nor

less

than a society of architects and

artisans incorporated for the regulation of the business of the building trade,

and the

relief

of indigent brethren, until the development, early in the eighteenth century, of speculative

masonry."

"So

imperceptibly," he adds,

"has

the purely operative character

merged

into the condition of a purely speculative one, that the precise date of such change
'

cannot with any certainty be decided upon."

"speculative" we should read

In this opinion

concur, though for

"Orand Lodge" masonry,

the eventful changes of the early

described, as the former expres-

portion of the last century being thereby

sion
is

more accurately

applicable to certain features of the craft which can be traced back to

much

earlier

times.

Lyon, however, was not, in 1863, so fully conversant with

be inseparably connected;

all

the facts relating to

masonic history as in later years, and especially when writing the admirable work with which
his

fame

will

for

we

find

the Baron of Roslin to the Grand Mastership by James

ful delusions

him mentioning the appointment of II., and adopting many other fanci-

which his magnuin opus has since done so

much

to dispel.

Two

vexed
intro-

questions, viz., the masonic priority of the "

Lodge

of Kilwinning,"

and the alleged

duction,

by

this body, of

Freemasonry

into Scotland, I shall not pause to consider,

and

even further on shall only allude to these points incidentally, for the suflScient reason that
there
is

an utter absence of the evidence necessary to ensure a correct decision.

There

is,

doubtless, something in the suggestion that Kilwinning

may have been

originally the chief

centre of Scottish Freemasonry, the removal of the masonic court to

to causes

Edinburgh being due which can be explained; but there is also much weight in the argument, that if Kilwinning ever was the headquarters of Freemasonry, as one or more of the legends declare,
it is

not likely that the lodge would have so quietly accepted a secondary position in 1599,
its

and by

representative agree that

it

its

True, in 1643

styled itself

" The Ancient Lodge

'

authority should be restricted to Western Scotland. of Scotland; " but that was only an in-

Freemason's Mafcazine,

May

30, 1863.

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

dlcation of the vanity of
its

members, and a claim

Statutes
''

to

which others might have had recourse

such pretensions,
its

with just as

much

reason.

The " Schaw

effectually dispose of all

it

and

whilst admitting Kilwinning into the trio of head lodges, place

rival.
I

immediately after

metropolitan

In

all

other respects,

can follow Lyon without any break whatever, and

its

it

is

only to

be regretted that each of our oldest lodges has not, in curacy and
zeal.
is

ranks, a chronicler of equal ac-

The The

oldest minute-book preserved by the lodge

its

a small quarto,

bound

in vellum,

and

contains accounts of
lapses in
its

transactions

from 1643
in

to 1758,

but not regularly or continuously.

its

records are not conclusive as to the suspension of

meetings, for detached

in existence,
its

scrolls referring to

some of the years

lias

which a hiatus occurs are

still

and the

members have

to deplore the acquisitive propensities or careless

conduct of

custodians,
it is

by which an older volume

been

lost,

MSS.

of value have been dispersed,

which

now

scarcely probable will ever be restored to their rightful owners.

As the

record-chest of the

lodge has been frequently subjected to purification by

no cause for wonderment to hear of the paucity of

gratulation,

its

fire and other vicissitudes, it wUl be MSS. It is rather a matter for con-

that

its first

precise

so much remains of its ancient documents, and minute saved from destruction is dated so early as December 20, 1642.' The object of the meeting appears to have been to receive the submission of members to

under the circumstances, that

the lodge and the laws thereof.

Over forty signatures follow the minute;

also the

marks of

the brethren, of

whom

a few, however, were undistinguished by these symbols, owing, in

the opinion of Lyon, to their being apprentices.

Though

this

may

correctly explain the

apparent anomaly, apprentices, as we shall presently

see, had marks given them in the " Aberdeen Lodge." Three of the members are recognized as one deacon and two freemen of the " Ayr Squaremen Incorporation,'"" to which I have already referred, as representing

other trades than the masons.

One year

later

" the court

of the

Ludge" was held

in the

upper chamber of the dwelling-house of "

Hew

Smithe," Johne Barclay, mason-burgess of

Irwine, being the deacon, the other brethren being termed masters of work. Barclay was chosen warden, and " Hew Crauford deacon." Several of the regulations of 1598 are recited

and described

as

" ancient

statutes,"

and

officers

were appointed in charge of the

districts of Carrick,

Kyle, Cunningham, and Renfrew,

their duties;
(oath).

and James Ross, notary,

who were duly "obligated" as to was appointed clerk, who also took "his aithe"

The
if

quarterage was agreed for the masters and apprentices, the latter having to

pay double

not prompt in the settlement of their dues, and the " quartermasters" were

instructed to take pains in collecting such subscriptions.

Freemason's Magazine, Augnst 8, 1863. Lyon speaks of the "squaremen word," also of the " grip and sign," peculiar to that org^anization, and which the members were sworn to keep secret. He also says that other crafts than the
'

'

through several generations (History of the Lodge of by the Scottish historian, but I apprehend that in the above stutenu'Jit he follows Mr. W. P. Buchan, who says: "A few days ago, I met an old man, a smith, hisnuuie is Peter Cree, and he told me he was made a squareman in 1820, at Coilsfield, near Tarbolton, and received a word, grip, and sign, and took an obligation but not on the Bible " (Freemasons' Magazine, November 12, 1869). A year or two ago I asked of Mr. Buchan (through Mr. Hughan)
of recognition
is

masons had their secret modes

p. 23).

Edinburgh,

No

authority

cited

some further
tion.

particulars respecting this circumstance, but all details has passed out of his recollec-

Judging by his past contributions to the Masonic press, no one, I feel sure, would deprecate more strongly any reliance being placed upon this startling assertion than Mr. Buchan himself.

14

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

It will doubtless surprise those

who

are unfamiliar with old masonic records, that the

lodge, on

December

20, 1643, passed a law that the

deacon and warden

shall

pay to the box,

on

their

first

election to office, the

sum

of

each, which was to be paid before the next

is

choice, the officers

honor " being

tions.

and other masonic organizaUniformity, however, was not observed as to this matter, for the " Lodge of Edinexigible, just as are

named having agreed thereto. This now levied in modern

a very early insUince of " Fees of

lodges,

burgh" required no such payments, though others followed the example

to

of

" Kilwinning,"

which

I shall refer
is

further on.

Apart from masonic degrees,

it

is

not easy to discover

much

that

either

new

or original in the practices of the lodges of to-day, for, generally

speaking, the ancient minutes afford abundant evidence that our

are but survivals of the time-honored customs of former days.

modem

masonic usages

In 1646 (December 19), the lodge assembled in the same " upper room," other chief
officers

being recorded.

to ye said
five

tred" {trade),

Three masons were " received and accepted "as " fellow brethren having sworn to the " standart of the said lodge ad vitam," and

apprentices were received.

Hew Mure

in

Ealmarnock was mulcted

in ten

pounds for

working with cowans.

Some

ten years later (January 20, 1656), another

member was

obliged to promise, on his oath, not to

being fined according to the ancient rules;

work with any cowans for the future, under pain of and those who had been disobedient in other
Mauchline in the follow-

respects (not named), were required to be present at a meeting in

ing month, or abide by the penalty if they failed in their attendance. Lyon terms this meeting " a sort of Provincial Grand Lodge," and so it was virtually, for their twelve delegates represented Ayr, Maybole, Kilmaurs, Irvine, Kilmarnock, Mauchline
StUl, the prefix

and Kenfrew. "grand " may as well be omitted until applied to assemblies of the craft some fifty years later. Lyon states that the fees at this period in force at Kilwinning were, for apprentices 20s.; felloes-of -craft 40s., with 4s. additional on selecting a mark " Scots

money," be

it

remembered, and hence about a twelfth of English value.

The

fines for

non-attendance were levied with military precision, the absentees being as regularly named
in the minutes as those

who were

present.
districts,

In 1659 (December 20) the Lodge appointed certain representatives in the four
previously mentioned, to assemble annually iu

Ayr upon the Wednesday before Candlemas " to take ordours with the transgressors of the actis of the court in the Mason Court bulks (books) of the Ludge of Kilwinning," and that due report be made to the Lodge on Dein each year.

cember 29

Lyon

inclines to the belief that these stated

meetings were ordered in consequence of the

slaters,

disaffection of the

squaremen (masons, carpenters,

and glaziers)

of Ayr,

who, claimin 1564,

ing the privileges granted to the crafts of Scotland by the charter of

Queen Mary
'

declined paying dues into Kilwinning treasury, having a box of their own.
is

This opinion
of

strengthened by the fact that the regular representatives of the

"squaremen"

Ayr

acted independently of the " Kilwinning Lodge," in joining with the lodges that signed the

agreement known as the

ancient privileges,

St. Clair

Charter

A"o. 2 (a.d. 162S, circa);

and the motive of the

deputation from the lodge seeking the powerful authority of the king in upholding their
is all

the

more apparent,

if

Lyon's view be accepted as the correct one,

which
crafts,

deem

it

to be.

The monopoly

in connection with the Freemasons, as with other

was being gradually but surely undermined, and neither the "ancient privileges" nor the indignant remonstrances of the head lodges were sufficient to arrest the growing
'

Freemasons' Magazine, Augiist

8, 1863.

The life of Robert Burns is dear to the curious and thinking Freemason throughout the entire world. His
Masonic songs and poems are numerous, and are familiar in the nnnds of many Scotch Freemasons. He was a frequent and most welcome visitor to Masonic meetings in many places of

"Bonnie" Scotland.
is

The
:

following

from his talented pen THE master's apron. " There's mony a badge that's unco
and la]ie on Let Kings and Princes wear them
\Vi' ribbons, lace
;

raw,

a',

Master's apron, The honest craftsman's apron, The jolly Freemason's apron. Bide he at hanie, or roam afnr. Before his touch fa's bolt an' bar. The gates of fortune fly ajar, 'Gin he wears the apron. For w'alth and honor, pride and power .\re crumbling staues to base on : Fraternity sh'u'd rule the hour
tlie

Gie

me

.^nd ilka worthy Mason. Each free, accepted Mason, Each ancient, crafied Mason. Then, brithers, let a halesome sang

Gudewives and

From

the originnl painiini; by Nasmyth.

Arise your friendly r.nnks alang. bairnies blithely sing Ti' the nncieiit badge wi' the apron string That is worn by the Master Mason."

Comidered the only authentic portrait.

brother Robert ^urns, the Scottish Poet.

Initiated into Freem.isonry in St. David's
^

Lodge, Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland, October

I,

1784,

and was
February

inaugur.ated Poet-I.aurtnte in Cannongate-Kilwinning

I,

Lodge No.

2,

Edinburgh, Scotland,

1787.

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR V.

craft either in

ayersion to the interference of these old associations with the development of the masonic

Kilwinning or elsewhere, and especially did the cowans object to be banished

in their trade,

by the lodges, when they were competent to work

not actually i^ee-masons.

even though they were

the authority of the old lodges,

The introduction of the speculative element, whOst it was doubtless intended to strengthen must in effect have paved the way for their ultimate surrender of many rights and privileges no longer suitable to the times. The Earl of CassiDis was elected a deacon of the lodge in 1672, but, singular to state, his lordship was not entered as fellow-craft until a year later, when Cunninghame of CorseThe latter was hill was his companion, and in the following year occupied the same oflBce. created a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles II. in 1672. Alexander, eighth Earl of Eglinton,' appears in the sederunt of the

annual meeting in 1674 as a " felloe-of -craft, " being

elected as the chief deacon in 1677.

These appointments necessitated the selection of

is

operative brethren to act as deputies, so that the office of " Deputy Master" (which

an

arrangement of
Lords

modem

times, consequent

upon a " Prince

its

of the blood

Royal" accepting

the mastership of a lodge)

Cassillis

may be
It

said to

have

archetype in the election of deputies for

election,

was customary for the deacons and wardens, on their to subscribe to the enrichment of the " Box; " so, after all, it may have been the

and Eglinton.

exercise of a little business prudence

and foresight which led the members

aristocratic class.

of

Kilwinning

and other lodges to obtain the patronage of the

34.
fied

The

earliest instance of

Buch an appointment will be found duly noted in the sketch of the Aberdeen Lodge, No. In 1676 three candidates were proposed for the
office of

deacon, the votes being signi-

by strokes drawn opposite each name.

This primitive mode of recording the suffrages

members prevailed for many years. The result was tabulated as follows: Three for Cunninghame of Corsehill, seven for Lord Eglinton, and eight for Cunninghame of Robei'tland, the last named being declared elected by a " pluralitie of vottis." The same custom
of the
prevails to this day, as respects the ballot for the master, the brother having the greatest

number
there
is

of votes in his favor, of those

not an absolute majority of those

who are eligible, being who voted.

elected to the chair, even

if

Lord Eglinton was again deacon on December

rane, eldest son of the Earl of Dundonald.

20, 1678, his

warden being Lord Cochapprentices were

At the same meeting two

entered,
is

who "paid

their

buiking money and got their marks."

Lord Cochrane's mark

appended

to this record,

and was of the ordinary kind.

In the year 1674 occurs an entry of six pounds from fellow-crafts in Glasgow.
considers these brethren hailed

Lyon
it

was not at

all likely

from the mother lodge, and that, at the period noted, the masons of the city of Glasgow in any way recognized the right
all

of

Kilwinning to levy dues upon them.

Glasgow was, in

probability, the first to escape

from the

jurisdiction of Kilwinning,
in-

and "in the eternal

significant place,

fitness of

things" there do seem to be very grave objections to an

to

which claimed

be the source of Scottish Freemasonry, possessing au-

thority over an important city like Glasgow, which, even at that time, was certainly not a
This nobleman succeeded to the earldom in 1669, and was a warm partisan of the principles which led to the Revolution, enjoying the confidence of King William. His social relations were, in one respect at least, very unusual, for on his second marriage he became Xhe fourth husband of a lady then in her ninetieth year (Freemasons' Magazine, August 8, 1863). Lord Cassillis was as able at handling a sword as presiding in a Masonic lodge; for he fought most vaUantly at the battle of Marston Moor on the king's side, who as we know, was beaten by the parliamentary forces.

i6
likely district for the

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

deacon of a lodge " holding
its

head court in an npper chamber in a

small country village," to have any rule or power over, masonically or otherwise.

The members
and,

of Kilwinning, however, were not willing to lose their masonic influem

167T, exercised

what they deemed

to be their rights

by chartering a lodge in tho

Edinburgh, which was a direct invasion of jurisdiction, and contrary to the " Schaw Statutes," Xo. 2. It was, to all intents and purposes, a new lodge that was thus authorized
city of

to assemble, subject to its parent at

Kilwinning, and

is

the

first

instance of

its

kind in Great

by a body tiiking upon itself the> and exercising somewhat of the functions, of a Grand Lodge for Scotland, though neither so designated, nor, do I think, was such an institution thought of at the time.' That the ancient statutes were not looked upon as " unalterable as the laws of the Medea
position,

Britain, being practically the premier lodge warranted

and Persians "

the

is

evident from the frequent departures from their exact requirements, at

exemplified in the records.

So long as their evident intention and

servile

spirit

were preserved,

members dispensed with a

adherence to every minute item; and, provided a

new law was duly passed

old enactments.

in the regular way, at times even directly overruled some of the Take, for example, the ninth rule of the " Schaw Statutes," Xo. 2. A

minute of 1720

states that a plurality of

" many

jars

and debates

of entering freemen," agreed that

members, having taken into consideration the " no freeman be entered or

'

passed without conveying his

money

before he be admitted either in the lodge or elsewhere."

The
that

old regulation distinctly prohibited such admissions taking place outside the precincts

of the "

Kirk of Kilwinning." Ere long it became clear to the chief promoters of the lodge numbers brought wealth, and rejections meant loss of funds to the " box; " otherwise
to account for the laxity in the

it is difficult

mode

of receiving

new members.

In 1T35,

two individuals claimed

stances in Maybole.

to belong to the court,

one having been entered by a member

resident in Girvan (thirty-five miles

from Kilwinning), and the other under similar circum-

Half of the fee for entry was paid at the time, and on July 12 the

balance was tendered, and was accepted by the lodge (so

having

satisfied

themselves that the couple were in

Lyon informs us), the members possession of " the word." Other inlodge,

stances occur of such private

modes of admission on behalf of the mother

and ap-

parently so long as the fees were paid the acts were condoned.

The plurality of members on December 20, 1T25, enacted and ordained that two of its brethren " are discharged from entering the societie of honest men belonging to the Lodge
of

KUwinning, and

also discharge every

freeman to give them no strocke of worke under

the penaltie of 20 Scots, untU they be convinced of their cryme."

sentence meant something more than mere words
sonic
is

That

this severe

proved, beyond a doubt, by the ma-

" criminals," two years afterwards, appearing before the lodge, and acknowledging on due submission restored to membership. In the interim, it is not unlikely that being placed " under the ban" was found to act prejudicially to their emtheir fault, being,

ployment, and hence they solicited pardon for the offence committed.
consequences of their misdeeds,
if

They

regretted the

not the faults themselves.

The
nary

fees for the admission of apprentices

were gradually raised from

23s. 4d. in 1685-89

to 40s. 4d. (Scots) in 1704-5, the latter, however, being unusually high,

and not the

6s.

ordi-

sum then

charged.

In 1736 the English money was reckoned for payment, at which

as a fellow-

period a non-working mason was charged 10s. sterling as an apprentice, and

by

me

'The lodge thus chartered by "Mother Kilwinning" is No. 2 on the roll, and is 'Freemasons* Magazine, vol. after the "Lodge of Edinburgh."

briefly noticed
ix., p. 154.

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.
craft, one-half

being placed in the box, and appropriated for " Liveries,"

half-a-crown
respectively,

etc.

The
Gd.

foes for

for
''

working masons were a crown and

and

Is.

and

It was also agreed that "every gentleman mason" shall pay Is. sterling anand " every working mason or other mechannick," 6d. sterling. Then follows the suggestive clause that, in the event of any deficiency, each defaulter "shall be distressed for the same, on a signed complaint to a justice of the peace, or otlier magistrate, and his
'iveries."'
..aally,

warrant obtained for that

efEect.

"

'

The "Kilwinning"

version of the

"Old Charges"'

provides for recourse

"to the

common law
respected,

as usuallie is," in the event of the award of the masters and fellows not being and apparently without the " strong arm of the law " being occasionally invoked,

the old lodges would have experienced considerable difficulty in gathering in their arrears,
for,

even with

its aid,

there were at times

still

a considerable

number

of defaulters.

" Old Charges " and the " Schaw Statutes," that I need not here stay to compare them; neither
There are
think
so

many

points of resemblance between any ordinary version of the

do

it

possible for the latter to be consulted, side

by

side,

with such a

roll as

the
ac-

" Buchanan MS.,"' without the

belief being intensified that

some such document was

cepted as the basis of the regulations promulgated by the Master of Work, a.d. 1600-30.

Those intolerable nuisances, masonic tramps

craft,

in general very unworthy members of the

it

vexed

the souls of the "Kilwinning" brethren in days of yore, as they do the

Society in these

more favored

times.

In 1717, the members passed a resolution that, " as

is

the lodge have been imposed upon by begging brethren, both here and at Irvine,

re*

solved that no charity be given to travelling brethren without an order from the master. "

After a lapse of more than a century and a half, no better regulation has been made to lessen
this evil, for indiscriminate

and profuse

relief to

masonic mendicants tends but to widen

the area over which their depredations extend.

Indicative of the spread of

modern

designations, the records

from 1720 contain descrip-

tions of meetings, such as "quarterly,"

"grand," and

Bought admission to the ranks of " Kilwinning," that

many gentlemen and tradesmen operatively the lodge may be said to

so

have ended

its

career.

The Grand Lodge

tution of the premier

of Scotland

was formed in 1736

in

nearly twenty years

after the insti-

Grand Lodge

body were exercised by two,

chief in that respect.

especially

London but in the north the functions of such a of the " head lodges," Kilwinning having been the
Grand
regime.
fully
^

Though

these united with the other lodges in forming the

still

Lodge at which was

resumed

Edinburgh, the Kilwinning members

inconsistent, to say the least, with
also

continued to grant warrants after 1736,

its

profession of adhesion to the

roll

new

The brethren were

their

imeasy at accepting the second position on the

and soon

Three lodges we know, and very probably several others, were constituted by " Mother Kilwinning " prior to 1736, viz., " Canongate Kilwinning" (No. 2), "Torphichen Kilwinning" (No. 13), and "Kilmarnock Kilwinning." In fact, there are numerous references in the Records and old papers, which testify that the " Kilindependent career.
winningites " were very actively engaged in extending their influence by chartering lodges

soon after 1670.

and
'

later charters

As a lodge warranted for Paisley, by its authority bore the number 77, being 78 and 79 respectively for Eaglesham and E;ist Kilbride, although
4," Ibid.,

Lyon, " Mother Kilwinning, No.

Ante,
p.

September
"

26, 1863.

65 (No.

16).

'^Ante, pp. 96-102.

VOL. n.

Freemasons' Magazine. No.

231,

186a

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

lists

in the

of

" Kilwinning"
it is

three are recorded,

clear that there are

These are more

likely to liave

and Wylio,' only some thirtymore than forty lodges to be accounted for. been constituted by " Mother Kilwinning" before 173C than
charters, published
still
'

by Lyon

afterward, and probably several were established

or, in Scottish phrase,

erected

during

the latter part of the seventeenth century.

the

This point of

itself is suflficient to

account for

of old lodges wliich append the name " Kilwinning" to their own special titles, " Hamilton Kilwinning," " Dalkeith Kilwinning," " Greenock Kilwinning," "St. Buch as

number

John's Kilwinning" (Hamilton), and others, whose claims to antiquity range from 1599
to 1728.

There were,

it

is

supposed, seventy-nine warrants issued by the lodge

as I have said, can trace even half that

down

to

1803, but neither

Lyon nor Wylie,

number.

all these vicissitudes, struggles, and rivalries, upon the point of a correct knowledge of the " secrets of freemasonry." The members of "Kilwinning" and its offshoots were accepted as individuals by the Grand Lodge and its subordinates, even when as lodges they were refused countenance, and the old lodges that joined the Grand Lodge had sufficient information Interesoterically to obtain a brotherly greeting from post Grand Lodge organizations. course betweeTi the representatives of the old and the new sj'stems of masonic government was uninterrupted for many years subsequent to 1736, and nothing can be plainer than the fact, that Avhatever changes were introduced by the Edinburgh freemasons, through the visit of a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England in 1721 (of which more anon),
it is

Now

noteworthy that, throughout

the different parties never fell out

the fellowship between the friendly rivals remained unaltered, thus proving that a sufficiency
of the old

forms of reception must have been retained to constitute a

common means

of

recognition, whatever else was superadded, to keep pace with England.

The

subject of masonic degrees will be referred to as I proceed, so that portion will

is

only be anticipated so far as to state that the degree of blaster Mason

alluded to in the Kilwinning records on June 24, 1736,
as are

for the first time

when
"

a by-law was passed that such

shall

found

to be qualified as apprentices

and

fellow-crafts

be raised to the dignity

of a master gratis."

The terms "

enter, receave,

and pase,"

'

occur in the warrant to the lodge chartered in

1677 by "Kilwinning," but these words, by reference to the records, are found to describe
the admission and acknowledgment of apprentices and craftsmen.

When

the three degrees

also

were worked, that circumstance was soon notified in the minutes, and so

when the

new

titles

were adopted.

Deacon was the designation

of the chief officer in

Kilwinning

from " time immemorial,"

ward the same
officer is

until in 1735 the presiding officer is termed "Master of ye Freemasons," in the succeeding year the prefix " Right Worshipful" was used, and soon after-

denominated " The Right Worshipful the Grand Master."

In 1735

was witnessed the addition of a second (entitled the junio?-) warden, but in previous years wardens did not assume the chair in the absence of the deacon, the chairman under such
circumstances being elected by the members.
to preside over them,

They not infrequently chose an

apprentice

which suggests the improbability of degrees, as we now understand them, having been worked at that period in the lodge. Taking all the peculiar circumstances into consideration, we are not likely to err in assuming that the mode of admission,
so far as respects its esoteric character,

was exceedingly simple, and in accordance with the

capacities of the operatives, of

'

whom

the lodges generally were mainly composed.

Freemason's Magazine, December 12, 1863. 'Wylie, History of Mother Lodge Kilwinning. Glasgow, 1878.

Lyon, History of

ttie

Lodge

of

Edinburgh,

p. 102.

TRANSCRIPTION.
Vltimo July
Tlip cjlk
dokiii
1o1)9.
ooiifess't.

day George Patoun

of
tlu' (jlk otti'iiss

maissoiiii groiittit

&

that

lie

liad offendit
tiui

agane the
for qt

&

nirs lor plaoeing

aiie
111!

cowaiie to wirk at aiie

chymnay

heid lor

dayis anil an^

half day, for

viilaw tiiey

siil)iiiittit

him

sulf in the dekiii

&

mrs

gilds willis

and thav having respect to the said Ge<irg('s huniill stihmi.ssionii & of his estait, thev remittit him the said offenss, Providing alway is that gif atiier he (or) ony vther brotiiereomitt tlie lyke ofFenss heirefter that tlio law sail stryke vpoun thame
pie.ss

to kiy to

his charge,

indisci'eta wtont oxcoptionii of personis. This wos done in jnvs of Panll Maissonn dekin, Thoas Weir warden, Thoas Watt, Johne Broun, Henrie Tailzefeir, the said George Patoun, & Adam Walkar.

ita est Adamiis Gihsone iiorius,

PAULL MAISSOUN,
*^*
It
is

dekin.

a sworn statement

employed

to ilo tiie

one operative mason against another, that a cowan had been work of a mason. Cowan is a purely masonic term and signifies and
in'

means an

intruder.

The Oldest ^asonic

Fac-simile of the Oldest Minute of the "

/Vlinut^ in

Existence
i,

Lodge of Edinburgh," No.

Instituted in 1518

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

"Lodge
me
of Edinburgh, No. 1,"
is

19

Lyon's history of this ancient lodge

to

so exhaustive, that

it

would be superfluous
its

for

attempt to present anything like a comprehensive account of

career

from

its earliest

records, dating back to 1599

down

to the year 1736,

when the Grand Lodge

of Scotland
filled

was inaugurated.

As

some four hundred pages of closely printed matter are well

it

by

the Scottish historian in doing justice to so important a subject, and even then the old

minutes are not exhausted,

their general scope

will readily

be seen that

all

can well do

is

to offer a repro-

duction of some of the chief excerpts from the records, with a running commentary on

and character.

known, but the memorandum affixed to its " Roll of Lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of Scotland " (as also to the title on the previous Lodge No. 0), may be safely accepted as correct, viz., "Before 1598." Its earliest minute bears date " Vltimo July 1599," and is a deliverance on a breach of the statute

When

this ancient lodge originated is not

'

against the

employment

of cowans.

warden, and master masons, by presuming to employ "ane cowane" to work at

George Patoun had vexed the souls of the deacon, " ane

chymnay

licid,"

but on his humble submission and expression of penitence, the penalty was
all

them should they The warden's mark is appended to ever violate the law after this exhibition of leniency. the minute.' Lyon draws attention to the silence of the records upon this vexatious subject from 1599 until 1693, when on December 27 the matter is again noticed, but only to impose the same penalty for permitting cowans to work, as enacted by Schaw in 1598.' The 22d regulation states that the fines shall be devoted to " pious uses," but in 1693 the penalty
not imposed, though he and
others were duly warned of what awaited

was to be " for the use of the poor," which after

the word
pious.
in existence
clear

all is

an excellent practical

illustration of

That the lodge was

cinute, already noted,
istyle it

and

flourishing the year before that of

fact that the
I

its

earliest

is

from the

" Schaw
not

Statutes, No. 2," rule 3,

"the first

and princi^ml

lodge in Scotland."

shall

now

dwell upon the

its

signifi-

cant circumstance that almost an unbroken series of minutes are preserved of

transactions,

from 1599 to the transition period of 1717, and from that year to 1736, when Scotland had
its

own Grand Lodge, down

its

to 1883, extending over nearly three centuries;

for the extra-

ordinary preservation of

and the continuity of its life, as a lodge, for so many Pears, under such eventful changes and occasionally most adverse circumstances, will, at the proper time and place, be cited as one of the strongest links in the chain of evidence which proves that several lodges, working long before the epoch of Grand Lodges, united
privileges
to

form such organizations; that they retained nevertheless,

their inherent right of as-

sembling without warrants

to all intents

maintained, in

all

material points, their

autonomy

and were,

and purposes, as

much masonic

lodges after as they were before the era of

such formations.

Two

items of uncertain date, but in the same handwriting as the minute of 1599, are to
firstly,

the effect,

that wardens are to be chosen yearly,

upon

St.

John's Day (the Evangelist);

to act as con20,

and secondly, that commissioners be elected at the same meeting, who are
veners,

by command
'

of the General

Warden (Schaw).

The

transition

from December

Constitution and Laws, Edinburgh, 1881, p. 120. Lyon, History of the Lodg-e of Edinburgh, p. 35. See Rule 15 of this Code.
'

'

20
as enjoined
falling

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

by Schaw,
to

December 27 was

easy,

and the

election

had the advantage of

an annual test of ap" Kilwinning"
trials of skill,

on a special

saint's day.

prentices

Although the " Schaw Statutes, Xo. 2 " (rule and craftsmen, with regard to their skill

13), provide for

as masons, neither the

nor the "Edinburgh" Lodge minutes contain any account of such yearly

though they may hare been

in force notwithstanding;

and

it is

argued that the prescription

" Incorporation of Mary's Chapel," so far as Edinburgh was concerned, and not with the lodge, the two being quite separate and distinct bodies. As Schaw's Statutes affected the lodges only, I can, however, hardly concur in this view. Lyon thinks it probable that the " power of
of the essay,' as well as the final examination

and

decision, rested with the

raising fellow-crafts to the 'position or status of masters in operative masonry," in the

seventeenth century, was vested in the Incorporations, and not in the lodges, the latter

simply certifying that the candidates, for such positions were duly passed as competent
fellow-crafts,

and

in that opinion, I think,

lodge objected to a son of the late Deacon

to qualify

and be admitted

to

an essay

we must coincide. On January 30, 16S3, the Brown being passed as a fellow-craft in order by the " whole House" (the Incorporation), because

he was only nineteen, and, therefore, too young to be "admitted to" an essay before acceptance as a master, the minimum age being fixed at twenty-one years. Three present at tbe meeting are termed "old dickins" (deacons), which correspond with modern Past
Masters.

In 1714 the lodge prohibited

its
is

journeymen from acting

as deacon,

warden, or

"intendents."
a
relic of it is

The

office of

"intendar "

a very ancient one, and, according to Lyon,

till

recognizable in the custom which prevailed in the lodge

its

the middle of

the last century, of

operative apprentices imparting certain instruction to the nonits

operative or speculative section of

intrants.

of Wrights and Masons," already referred to, was constituted by an act of the Magistrates and other authorities of Edinburgh in 1475,' and though originally

The " Incorporation

members of those two trades who have for many centuries generally worked harmoniously together in time received into their number the glaziers, plumbers, and others, by decision of the " Court of Session" (1703). It was known usually as the " United Incorporation of Mary's Chapel," from its meetings being held in a chapel dedicated
confined to the

to the Virgin Mary,

As

the lodge assembled in the same building,

is

which was swept away on the "South Bridge" being built in 17S5.' its rather curious name, " The Lodge of Edexplained.

inburgh (Mary's Chajjel),"

The "

Seal of Cause "

is

given in full by Lyon,' and in

many points

deserves very careful

for the purpose of

examination.

The

petition of the

masons and wrights was presented

St.

obtaining the consent of the Lord Provost and others to certain statutes and rules

made

amongst themselves
'

for the

honor and worship of

John,

in

augmentation of Divine

RegTilar " Essay Masters" were appointed in each case, whose duty it was to be present at the performance of the task, and see tliat the candidate actually did the work as settled on by the " House." An allusion to these craft trials will readily occur to the memories of those familiar with the works of Sir Walter Scott himself a member of the " mj-stic tie "viz., in " Rob Roy," where Diana Vernon characterizes the behavior of her lover as a masterpiece.

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 18. Ratified by the Archbishop of St. Andrews in 1517, by Royal Charter Common Council in 1633 (Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 230). * Freemasons' Magazine, March 1858. ' Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 231.
' 2

in 1527

and 1635, by the

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

service,

and the regular government of the two crafts. On a scrutiny of the regulations, "gud and loveable baith to God and man," so their prayer was Aisle of St. John in the " College Kirk " of St. Giles was assigned to them. granted, and the
they were found to be

The
viz:

statutes are probably those

which are recited

in the

document

'

of October 15, 1475,

1.

Two masons and two

of the allied crafts.

wrights were to be sworn to act faithfully as overseers of the

work
2.

All complaints to be referred to the deacon

and the four

overseers, and, in the last

resort, to the provost and bailies (magistrates).

3. Craftsmen entering the city, and desirous of obtaining work, were to pass an examination before the " said four men," and, if accepted, they were to give a mark to the

repair of the altar.

4.

Masters were not to take apprentices for

at entry,

less

mark

and

to be

mulct

in fines for disobedience.

altar,

than seven years; the latter to pay half Apprentices duly " passed"

by the overseers were to pay half a mark to the

craft"
5.

and " brouke the priuilege

of the

each man " worthy to be a master " was to be made "freman and fallow."
Those causing discord were
to be

brought before the deacon and " Overmen"

if
still

[i.e.,

the four overseers], so as to secure their better behavior, but,

contumacious, they

were threatened with the strong arm of the law.

6.

The

overseers were charged to take part in

all

general processions, "lyk as thai haf

in the

towne of Bruges, or siclyk gud townes," and should one of the number die and leave
sufficient to bring him furth honestly," the wrights (or masons) shall, at their provide a befitting funeral for " thair brother of the Craft."

"no guds
own
cost,
7.

to pass other statutes, which were to have on being allowed by the authorities, and upon their being entered in the " common buke of Edinburgh." It should not be lost sight of, that the " passiiig" of fellow-crafts connected with the

The masons and wrights were empowered

similar force to the foregoing,

masons and wrights was relegated to overseers appointed by both trades (1, 4), who together formed a quartette of inspectors, and hence all notions of there being secret ceremonies
connected with Scottish masonic receptions of the fifteenth century, save, possibly, such as
the whispering of " the word," are utterly opposed to the evidence contained in this old

document, as well as in others of

to fellow-crafts.

later date, so far as respects the

promotion of apprentices

That the Incorporation would act independently of the Lodge of Edinburgh, and even sometimes in quite an opposite direction, might be expected, considering the mixed character

and varied aims

of the former.

That the members

of the Incorporation respected neither

is

the laws nor the customs of the Freemasons of the lodge, the records, which testify that,
relaxed,

amply proved by reference

to

when

the funds of the

first

were concerned, the rules were

and

elastic

measures adopted which were opposed to masonic precedent.

The

innovations, however, introduced by the mixed body of artificers paved the way, not only
for the gradual curtailment of the lodge privileges, but for the complete overthrow of the

of 1491 anent the

See Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh (Publications of the Burgh Records Society); the statute Masons of St. Giles, p. 61, and Contract, 1500-1, for Building the Tower of the Old Tolbooth, p. 89. The Rev. A. T. Grant (of Rosslyn) has also kindly drawn my attention to an old indenture between a laird and the Provost, etc., of Edinburgh, on the one part, and certain masons on
'

the other, for buUding five chapels on the south side of the parish church of date,

November

29, 1387,

'

22

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

monopolies peculiar to the Trade Incorporations themselves; hence, without intending it, the one body, by undermining the foundations of the exclusively masonic combinations, were, at the same time, weakening their own, until finally, as trade monopolies, both ceased
to exist.

Not only did the lodge use every means in its power to prevent " unfremen," as they called, from engaging in work on their own account in the city of Edinburgh (as in 1599, when Alexander Stheill was placed outside the pale of the free masters, who were not allowed to employ him but at their peril, because he set the lodge at defiance by working as a master), but even those who had lawfully served their apprenticeships were prowere

from utilizing the services of other apprentices and servants had secured the consent of the lodge, by taking up their freedom, and of the municipal authorities, by the purchase of their tickets as burgesses.
until they

hibited from obtaining work, or

Enterprise amongst the apprentices was evidently viewed with great horror by the

Free Masters, who discouraged

(a.d. 1G07), in

it in every possible way, notwithstanding the early statutes provided for apprentices undertaking work under certain circumstances. Lyon cites a case

which an apprentice passed as a fellow-craft, and received his freedom, but the latter was conditional on its non-exerc'se for two and a half years from the date of its nominal bestowal by " Mary's Chapel!" The bond also arranged for the conditional
freeman not working outside Edinburgh during the period named. The " brethreine fremen of the masones of Edr." in 1652, on finding that a " maisone jorneyman" had wronged them in " several relations," unanimously agreed not to give the offender work within their
liberties for

seven years, and not even then until due submission had been made.

The

same

parties viewed with great disfavor the importation of craftsmen,

and

resolutely set

their faces against employing any who were not approved of by the lodge. In 1672 such an event occurred; the strangers, hailing from a town about three miles distant from the

seven years were subjected to all possible annoyances in order to obtain their removal or prevent their securing work; eventually the small minority left i.e., gave up the
city, for

Beyond the exhibition of spleen, and imposition of fines, these outsiders were apparently not otherwise interfered with, from which it may be inferred that the lodge then possessed no real authority over craftsmen who did not acknowledge its rights and
struggle
privileges.

in 1680.

especially

The members were naturally averse to seeing any of their customs neglected, when their funds decreased thereby; hence the disinclination of apprentices to
and pay the
it

pass as fellow-crafts,
resolutions.
as

requisite fees, w^as the subject of several special rules or

was resolved that no masters shall employ any apprentices who act journeymen, though not " passed " as such, if two years have elapsed since the expiration
In 1681

of their time;

and again,

in the following year, the deacon, warden,

and remnant masters

agreed that, for the sake of their funds for the poor, each journeyman
to the lodge shall pay the

who

does not belong

sum

of 12s. (Scots) per

working with a freeman, which was to first month's pay by his master, and given to the warden for the time being. Should this law be disregarded, the journeyman was to be discharged from working in the city (which meant simply not being employed by members of the lodge), and the master be censured accordingly.
I

annum, be deducted from his

for the privilege

and

liberty of

have said that the Incorporation did not confine

itself to

following the wishes of the

lodge.

In 1685 the former body agreed to exact and accept fees from the apprentices of

journeymen (not masters) for

'

whom

they charged wages, just as

if

they were regular servants

Lyon, Histoiy of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

p. 80.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

it

23

or journeymen, which was in direct opposition to the lodge, though certainly, at the time,

was for the benefit of their own funds.

It
is

interesting to note that, liowever strong were the declarations of their adherence
Statutes, the Edinburgli

to

the Schaw

Freemasons of the seventeenth century did not

scruple to depart from some of the rules

course.

when circumstances appeared

to warrant such a

The term

of apprenticeship

is

a case in point, which

varied according to the

whims

and wants

of the individual

meetings, the

members of the lodge, who rarely mustered in any force at the " seven years" being sometimes reduced to a much shorter period at Edinin those early days, the regulations of the general
official in

burgh and Kilwinning; hence, even

warden, the highest masonic

Scotland, were not looked upon or accepted as "

un

As late as alterable landmarks," but were subject to change according to circumstances. to bind, at its expense, a son of a poor operative 1739 the Grand Lodge of Scotland agreed
mason
1754.
It may be of interest to note the wages received by the masons generally in Edinburgh " and elsewhere. Lyon is my authority for the statement that the system of " monthly pays In Aberdeen, the master mason was usual in Edinburgh some two hundred years ago.

to one of the

Freemen Masons of Edinburgh, and in 1740 the indentures were agreed

This laudable custom of aiding poor lads ceased about

to for the period of eight years.

wlio was

employed on church work by the

Town

Council received 34,

IGs. 8d.

Scots

quarterly
Gs. 8d.).

{i.e., a little over 2 sterling), and his journeyman 30 marks per annum (1, In 1500, the masons engaged in building the steeple of the " Old Tolbooth " were

paid weekly, each master 10s. Scots (lOd. sterling) and each journeyman
sterling).

9s.

Scots (9d.

In 1536, the master mason employed by the town of Dundee was paid every six

weeks at the rate of 24 Scots, and 10 Scots for his apprentice, per annum; and at Lundie,

had per day lOd., and his journeyman 9d., " and all their diet in the house." In 1691, Lyon tells us that the value of skilled labor had much increased, the incorporation of Mary's Cliapel then enacting that no mason should work under 18s.
Fife, in 1661, the master

Scots per day in

summer, and

2s. less in

winter.

Much

information as to this matter

is

obtainable by reference to Lyon's History.

The hours

of labor furnish another subject intimately connected with the question of

wages; but I must hasten on with my sketch, and can only spare enough space to allude to the remarkable " statute anent the government of the maister masoun of the college kirk
of St. Giles, 1491," extracted

by Lyon from the burgh records of Aberdeen.

The master
8,

and

his servants

were to begin their work in the summer at 5 a.m., and continue until

then to be allowed half an hour, resuming labor from 8.30 a.m. to 11,

were given, one o'clock witnessing the resumption of work until 4 p.m.;
a recreatioun in

when two hours "and than to gett

tlie common luge be the space of half ane hour," the remainder of the time from 4.30 p.m. to 7 being devoted to " lawbour continually." In winter the work

was to conmience with the

(it is

hojied)

welcome appearance of daylight, the hours

else to

be kept as before, provided the

men having "

bot thair none shanks aUanerly afternone,"

and labor until "day

licht

begane."
earliest use of the

So far as can be traced or known, this document contains the

word

" luge "

dral,

(lodge) in connection with the Scottish craft.

is

An

earlier instance of its use at

'

York, by more than a century,

to

be found noted in the " Fabric Rolls"

of that cathe-

and the context, with other evidence to be enumerated, clearly establishes the fact
Publications of the Surtees Society voU xxxv.

24

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

to fashion the stones, to

that at both periods, the word

which the freemasons assembled

access,

"lodge"' was understood to mean the covered shed in which only the regular craft had

cowans being especially excluded.

The " Schaw Statutes, Xo. 1," indicate that the lodge was particular in regard to the employment of a notary for registering its proceedings; but gradually the members grew careless about the matter, and eventually, as Lyon informs us, the writing in the minutes devolved upon those members who were competent, hence many matters of moment were
quite passed over, such as the annual election of wardens

not a single register

of this im-

made during the seventeenth century, though, fortunately, rt often happens that their names are traceable through the signatures of those present at the meetings. From 1701 that omission was repaired, and ever afterwards the annual elections
portant office having been

were as systematically recorded as they had previously been neglected.

The
with

exact position of the journeymen masons connected with the Lodge of Edinburgh
shall see further on,

was for a long period a most tender subject, and, as we

was fraught
sprang the
to a

many

difficulties,

eventually culminating in an open rupture with the master masons

and a severance

of their connection

with the lodge.

From

this secession

"Journeymen Lodge," No.

S (which see).

Though the journevmen were admitted

voice in the affairs of No. 1 from 1706, or practically, from Schaw's time, they were but
as ciphers in the lodge, the latter

body

itself

being virtually an auxiliary to the incorporaalso

tion of masters, the deacon or head of the

masons in their incorporate capacity being

the ex

officio

head of the lodge, and,

its

like the warden, held his

appointment by the suffrages

of those of

members whom the municipal

offices of

authorities recognized as master masons.'

Sometimes the

deacon and warden were held by the same brother, which was a
Apparently, from early days to the last century, the warden

most unwise combination.

an
not

acted as treasurer, the corresponding officer in the Incorporation being the

office

" box master,"

unknown

to

some

of the seventeenth century lodges.

The unlimited powers

of the warden, as the dispenser of the funds, were

found

to be prejudicial to the interests

members; so the lodge ordained, in 1704, on St. John's Day, that no portion of the moneys in " the common purse " was to be disposed of without the consent of the deacon
of the

and a quorum of the brethren.

The

earlv records of the

Lodges Xos.

and

'

contain no note of the initiation of the

no reason to suppose, from the absence of any record of the cirThe first notice of the kind occurs in cumstance, that they were not regularly admitted. the records of No. 1, of date December 23, 170G, when William Marshall, clerk to the Incorporation, was admitted as an " entered apprentice and fellow-craft and clerk to the
clerk (or notary), but I see

Brethren Masons,

whom

he

is

freely to serve for the

honor conferred on him."*

last election

On St
under

John's Day, 1709, Kobert Alison was similarly admitted, his being the
the old system.

This brother continued to act as clerk to the lodge for the long period of

forty-three years, for

though elected the

first

clerk to the

Grand Lodge

of Scotland in 1736,

he remained secretarv of the

steps, the latter

lesser institution,

and

his son subsequently followed in hie

having been initiated on St. John's Day, 1737, without aught being contributed to the lodge's own funds, " on account of his father's services." That the lodge eventually agreed to compound for the intrants' banquet, just as lodges
' Lyon, Historj- of the Lodge of Edinburg-h, Ante, p. 303. Mother Kilwinning and the Lodge of Edinburgh. * Lyon, History of the Lodge of Eklinburgh, p. 43.
'

p. 41

'

EA RL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

did for " gloves " (hence " glove
a similar

money "), might be anticipated, but what will be thought of arrangement being made for the payment of money in lien of arms? Strange as it

may sound,
to

the Incorporation of Mary's Chapel agreed on September 6, 1G83, through the " deacons, masters, and brethren " present, that it was unprofitable and possibly dangerous

his admission,

keep adding to the " magazine of arms," which each freeman had to contribute to on and as money, besides being " usefull in the meantyme," could be used for the

purchase of such implements of warfare in the event of there being a demand for more,
instead of freemen giving in their quota of

arms

as formerly, the

paid to the box master.

There are

several entries of 3, 10s.

13 (Scots) was each being paid for " fireof

sum

locks," so that the cash of the Incorporation was often employed to provide warlike weapons,
if

not directly for warlike purposes.

satisfied

were not

Evidently the craftsmen composing the Incorporation with having only the " sinews of war," for on March 23, 1684, the vote

alluded to was rescinded, and the return to the old customs was defended in a most elabo-

which led thereto. The members considered the arms were less usefull defensively than offensively," and that having at that period fortified their house, and rendered it suitable for the custody of arms "keeped and reserved for the
rate account of the reasons

" no

defence of the true Protestant religion, king, and country, and for the defence of the
ancient
cittie

and their own privileges

therein," they were determined to require that

" armes

be given to the house," so that all of them may have the means at hand, as they were pledged " to adventure their Uves and fortunes in defence of one and all" of the objects

named.
These craftsmen were in no manner of doubt as to the Presbyterian form of religion being the " true " kind, for their house was granted for the use of that body as a place of
worship in 1687, and they consented to the erection of " a loft in the easter gable " of the
building for their better accommodation, a step which was rendered unnecessary by the

Eevolution of 1688.'

Lyon has not been

master mason
i.e.,

able to trace

more than one instance

of an old Scottish lodge ac-

knowledging the lawfulness of a female occupying the position of

in consequence of the decease of her

"dame"

in place of a

husband

but
of

have no doubt

myself that such occurrences were not infrequent, though not cited in the records, and
the following minute of April 17, 1683,
roborates this opinion.

from the books

of the

Lodge

Edinburgh, corit

The deacon, warden, and

several masters being present,

was

agreed, in accordance with " the former practise," that a

of

some competent freeman, receive the benefit of her behalf, which was offered to her by the " ancient customers of her deceased husband," and the freeman who thus obliged her was prohibited, under heavy pains and penalties,
from participating in any
position occupied
to profit

widow might, with the assistance any work the latter may undertake on

which accrued.

have previously alluded to the anomalous

by the widows of Freemasons,' and whilst one cannot help giving credit the motives which prompted the passing of the foregoing resolution, it is not a little

curious to note

how anxious the members were to guard against the potential rivalry of masonic " dames," thus proving, if any proof were needed, that widows of Freemasons
the trade.

were not permitted to join the lodge, although to a certain extent they were made free of
Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 49. In the same work the prayers are produced which were offered at the opening and closing of the meetings of the Incorporation, a.d. 1669. They
'

are essentially Christian and

'

most devotional

in character (/bid.

p. 132).

Ante, chap.

ii.

p. 94.

26

EARLY BRITISH FREE MA SONR Y.

Tlie early records of the lodge are of course mainly taken

mission and booking of apprentices, and such entries need not

is

up with accounts of the now be recapitulated.

adIt

remarkable, however, to note the fact that apprentices were frequently present in the

lodge during the making or passing of fellow-crafts, and that they were also in attendance
as active

members, their names being inserted

and

as attesting the entry of

William Hastie,

June

12, 1600;

also later on, certain apprentices are

mentioned as "consenting and

assenting " to the entries

I shall

made

of

new

receptions.

have occasion to refer to these important facts farther on, for they certainly

dispel the notion that apprentices

were only present at the constitution of the lodge, but

were not in attendance when the passing of fellows or masters was being transacted.

Whatever masonic secrets were known to the lodge, all its members freely participated in them, from the youngest apprentice to the oldest master mason, until the era of separate
degrees was inaugurated in the last century.

A singular

office is

introduced into the minutes of

St.

John's Day, 1731,

viz.,

"eldest

entered apprentice." Alexander Smely accepted that position, and promised "to be faithful therein " for the ensuing year. The " eldest apprentice " officiated March 2, 1732, at the pass-

ing of a fellow-craft, and

apprentices, but as the

it

was his duty apparently to act as president at any assemblies of

modern masonic customs crejit into use, this and other old titles gradually fell into desuetude, and were no more heard of. Indicative of the introduction of titles into the lodge, and the appointments to office, I shall here give the list and dates of their adoption in the Lodge of Edinburgh on the authority of Lyon, to whom also I am
indebted for several other particulars which follow.
treasurer)

1598, warden (who was president and

warden as treasurer; 1710, from 1763); 1731, presiding officer designated "grand master;" 1735, presiding officer designated "master;" 1736, depute master first appointed; 1773, senior and junior wardens, treasurer, and two stewards; 1739, "old master" (changed to past master in 1798); 1759, substitute master; 1771, master of
clerk;

and

1599, deacon, as ex

officio

president, with

chairman

first

called "preses;" 1712, officer (tyler

ceremonies; 1798, chaplain; 1809, deacons; 1814, standard bearers; 1814, inside and outside
tylers; 1836, architect; 1840, jeweller; 1848, trustees; 1865, director of music.

The

office

of clerk to the lodge

was a

life

appointment untd 1752, when

office as clerk to

it

became

subject to an annual election.

In 1690 William Livingstone, writer in Edinburgh, pre'

sented a petition to Parliament

praying to be reponed in

the Incorpora-

tion of Mary's Chapel, to which he

had been appointed ad viiam aid culimm, and from which he had been deposed, "because he refused to comply with the Test Act of 1681." The petitioner had his prayer granted, and the Incorporation was ordered to reinstate him.
Before concluding the excerpts from the records of the Lodge of Edinburgh, I shall

now

refer to the admission of sju'cnlative masons, the first being in 1600.

shall

use the word

speculative as an equivalent for non-operative, and

vertible terms, so that the expression

"

sjieculative

of

any one
esoteric

after the explanation thus given.

employ these adjectives as conmason " need not rouse the susceptibilities My meaning will be evident, viz., one who
definition applies to

has been admitted as a mason, without any intention of qualifying as such, save as respects

any

knowledge or peculiar

privileges,

and the same

its

any persons
8,

who

join other trades in like

manner.

The earliest minute

of

of the presence of a speculative

is

freeman mason in a lodge, and taking part in

facsimile of the record

deliberations,

dated June

1600, a
of the

from the minutes

the Lodge

of

Edinburgh being one

'Acts of the Parliaraeut of Scotland,

vol. ix., p. 68b.

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

idomments of Lyon's now to decide, suflBce
saidis maisteris),"

27
it is

History.
it

When

the brother in question was admitted

impossible

to say, that

" Jhone Boiswell

of Achinflek," with the others (y

"

affixit

y" markis," in witness of the accuracy of the entry, the clerk

him "ye Laird of Aichinleck." It appears to have been a special assembly at " Halerudhous," the " Master of y" werk to ye Kingis Ma'stie" being present, and, probably, was chiefly convened to determine what fine " Jlione Broune, Warden of y" Ludge of Ed r.," had incurred through his having " contraveinit ane actt." It might surely have
styling

been expected that this instance of the attendance and participation at a masonic meeting,

by a non-operative or speculative brother (for they were all called brethren even then), would have been allowed to pass muster without any embellishment or addition of any

Not so, however. Lawrie declares that Thomas Boswell, Esq. of Auchinleck, was made a warden of the lodge in the year 1600. It will be seen that, short as the preceding
kind.

sentence

is,

it

contains two errors, one being of a grave character, viz., that Boswell was

made

a warden in 1600,'

which

is

not true; the

first

speculative
it

mason
will

that honor not being appointed until 1727, in which respect

in No. 1 who held be seen that " Mary's

Chapel " was long behind such lodges as Kilwinning and Aberdeen, which,
previously, permitted non-operatives to rule over them.
I shall

many

years

have to speak of other

members

of this old family

myself to seventeenth

who were connected with the craft, but at present must confine century initiations. The chief of these, accepted by the Lodge of
The quhilk day
the Right honirabell

Edinburgh,

is

thus referred to in the ancient records:"

off

" The
is

day

Joulay 1634.
the craft be

my Lord

Alexander

admitet folowe

off

Hewe

Forest, diken, and Alexander Nesbet, warden; and

the hell rest off the mesteres off mesones off Edenbroch;
fiupscriuet

and

tlierto eurie

mester heath

with ther handes or set to ther markes [Deacon and Warden's marks], Jn. Watt,

Thomas

Paterstone, Alexander,

John Mylln."

Similar entries attest the reception of Anthonie Alexander, Right Honorable Master of

Work

to his Majesty; Sir Alexander Strachan of Thorn toun, on the same date; and of Archibald Steuaret in July 1635; whilst on December 27, 1636, " Johne Myllne, dekene

and warden, with the

27, 1637,

heall consent of the heall masters, /rte

'

mesones of Ednr., Dauied

is med an entert prentes; " on August 25 and December Daued Ramsay and Alexander Alerdis were respectively admitted to membership, the former as a fellow and brother of the craft, and the latter as a " fellow off craft in and " amongst the Mrs off the loudg." On February 16, 1638, Herie Alexander, " Mr off Work to his Majesty, was received as a "fellow and brother;" and on May 20, 1640, James Hamiltone being Deacon, and Johne Meyenis, Warden, " and the rest off Mrs off meson off edenbr. conuened," was admitted the Right Hon. " Alexander Hamiltone, generall of

Dellap, prentes to Parech Breuch,

the artelerie of thes kindom, to be felow and

Mr

off

the forsed craft."

off

Further entries show the admission of William Maxwell, " doctor

1647; and on
'

Fisek," July 27,

March

2, 1653, of

James Neilsone, " master

sklaitter to his majestie,"

error,

who

Findcl, (HLstoiy of Freemasonry, p. 113) reproduces the

same

and numerous minor au-

thorities, as usual, follow suit.

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, pp. 79-81. 'According to Lyon, this minute contains the earliest instance yet discovered of " Free Mason" being in Scotland applied to designate members of the mason craft, and was evidently used as an
'

abbreviation of the term " Free-men Masons"

i.e.,

master masons, legally entitled to exercise their

vocation as such within the Uberties of the town or burgh of which they were burgesses (History of
the

Lodge

of Edinburgh, p.

79).

Cf. post, p. 38.

28

EARLY BRITISH PRE EMA SONR V.

had been "entered and past in the Lodge of Linlithgow." On December 27, 1667, Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth was admitted as " fellow of craft and Master; on June 24, 1670, the Right Hon. " Mr. William Morray, His Mai'ties Justic Deput, Mr. Walter Pringle,
Advocat," and the Right Hon. Sir John Harper of Cambusnethen, as brothers and feflowcrafts.

Lord Alexander, who was admitted as a fellow-craft

Sir

in

1634 (died 1638) with his brother

Anthony Alexander

(sons of the

first

Earl of Stirling), took an active interest in the

in the
first

society,

and frequently attended the meetings, signing the records,

instance,

with the addition of their marks, as did also Sir Alexander Strachan.
tioned (died 1637) was, at the time of his reception, Master of

The second mento Charles L,

Work

and

presided over an important assembly of master tradesmen at Falkland, October 26, 1636, to which I shall refer when noting the records of the " Atcheson Haven " Lodge.

Archibald Stewart (initiated July 1635), judging from his autograph, was also a
of education,

man

and

as

he attended the lodge with the three brethren previously recorded,

it is

who

attested his reception,

probable, as

Lyon

suggests, that he was a personal friend

of theirs.

The David Eamsay mentioned in the excerpt of 1637 (August 25), was " a gentleman of the Privy Chamber " according to Bishop Burnett; and Henrie Alexander, who was passed a fellow-craft in the following year, succeeded his brother as General Wardea and
'

Master of Work, occupying that ofSce, however, prior to the reception named.

He became

the third Earl of Stirling, and died in 1650; but he did not regularly attend the Lodge of

Edinburgh, though we meet with his name in the Atcheson-Haven Lodge records, March
27, 1638.

The Right Hon. William Murray, who became a

of the Faculty of Advocates,

fellow-craft in 1670, was

"a member

and rose

to considerable

eminence at the Bar;" and Mr.

Walter Pringle, also an advocate, was the second son of John Pringle, by his wife Lady
Margaret Scott, daughter of the Earl of Buccleuch, and brother of Sir Robert Pringle, the
first

baronet of Stitchel; the third reception being that of Sir John Harper, also a

member

of the Scottish Bar,

and sherifi-depute

of the

county of Lanark.

The admission of General Alexander Hamilton, on May 30, 1640, and of the Right Hon. Sir Patrick Hume, Bart., on December 27, 1667, are especially recorded as constituting these intrants, "felow and Mr off the forsed craft," and "fellow of craft {and Master) oj
this lodg," respectively. It

may be assumed

that the term Master simply

meant that

compliment was paid

these two brethren,

and nothing more.

Certainly there was nothing corresponding with

the ceremony of a separate master mason's degree at that time, for we

of master then,

know

that the position

amongst the operatives, merely implied that certain privileges were exercised, with the approval of the trade; this status, moreover, was generally conferred by the Incorporation. As these two brethren were speculative members, no objection appears
to have been raised to their being called Masters, hence apparently they were so described;

and we may
account!

feel tolerably confident that

they did not set up as master masons on their own

Many
favor,

of the operatives did not view the introduction of the speculative element with at

and

into hostile camps, but eventually those

'

one time the promoters and the opponents of the innovation were divided who supported the " Gentlemen " or " Geomatic"
Memoirs
of the

Dukes

of Hamilton, 1677.

EA RL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

Masons won the day, the " Domatics" having
rayed against them.
to

29

succumb

to the powerful influences ar-

In No.

1,

however, the latter held "the balance of power" in their

hands; but

in

the Lodge of Aberdeen, the majority in a.d. IGTO were actually non-operative

or speculative

members!

General Hamilton was present with the Scottish army at Newcastle,

May

20, 1641,

on

which day, together with certain masters and others of the Lodge of Edinburgh, he took
part in the admission of

Quarter

Mr

to

the

" Mr. the Right Honenibell Mr. Robert Moray (Murray), General arniie off Scotlan." The proceedings of this emergent meeting were
states that

duly accepted by the authorities, though taking place beyond the boundaries of the Scottish

kingdom.

The minute
off

" the same bing approven be the

is

hell

mester

off

the

mesone of the Log.

Edenbroth," and the entry

ratified

by the signatures and marks

part in the

of four brethren, including the two Generals.

The Quartermaster-general took

business of the lodge held July 27, 1647, on the occasion of the admission of Dr. William

Maxwell, as already

cited.

These irregular admissions, however, were not so readily conit

doned

in the event of ordinary operatives being the offenders, or, in other words,

every difference

who

it

was that presided at the meetings.

On December

27, 1679,

made John

Fulton, one of the freemen, was planed in "Coventry" and his servants called upon to leave
his

employ, because of his presuming "to pass and enter severall gentlemeii without licence

or commission from this place."

mason

for

The neighborhood of Ayr was selected by this over- zealous introducing speculative members into the fraternity, and as his conduct so greatly
ire of

roused the

the authorities, he

must have thought "

discretion was the better part of

valor," for he
ised to

4 as a fine, "and prombehave as a brother " for the future; whereupon the vexed souls of the masters

humbly

supplicated

a return of

his privileges, paid

relented,

and he was duly "reponed. "

to

Still it is

singular to

mark

that there

is

no reso-

lution passed against the reception of gentlemen as masons, either in or out of the lodge,

and the objection seems

himself as the

have arisen out of the fancy of a particular brother

to select

medium
of

of such admissions.

The

subject presents

many

features of interest,

and

is

worthy of more careful consideration than either time or space

will

now

permit.
less

The entry
election oi
a,

March

2,

1653,

is

an important one, for

"joiniyig member."

It

than the seems that James Neilsone," " master slaiter" to the
it is

nothing more or

who had been "entered and past in the Lodge of Linlithgow," was desirous of being received as a member of the Lodge of Edinburgh, and on the day named the whole company elected him as a " brother and fellow of their companie," and, in witness thereof,
king,

they

all

"set to their

hands or marks."
these records,

'

One more remark on

stance yet discovered of
of the

and

have done.

Lyon

declares that the reference

is

to "frie mesones," in the

minute of December 27, 1636 (before quoted),

in

the earliest in-

" Free-mason " being

it is

Scotland applied to designate

members

mason

craft,

and considers that

used as an abbreviation of the term " Freemen-

masons."
In the latter opinion
I

concur, and so does Huglian

who

has devoted more time to

But, as

the elucidation of these old Scottish records than any one else in this country.
regards the earliest use of the
'

yf or A freemaso7i,'' I

think that virtually

'

it

may be
'

traced back
in the

Lyon observes

"The fact of an

operative slater having been

entered and passed

Lodge

of Linlithgow, affords evidence tliat in the first half of the seventeenth centurj* the membership of the lodge in question was not purely masonic " (History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 80).

'By

this, of

course

is

meant,

in

connection with Lodges (see ante, pp.

66, 308, 338,

383X

'

so
to 1581,

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

when
the "Melrose" version of the "Old Charges"
is
'

was originally written, of which

the copy of 1674

alone preserved.

In that document the expression free mason ("frie

mason "
are so

) occurs very frequently, and clearly was then used as synonymous with freemenmasons, the term " f rie-meii "' being cited therein as an equivalent for freemason. There

many examples of
I

the use of freemen, freemasons, brother freemen, freemen masters,

and

like terms,

ba k to the fifteenth century, that unless violence be done to the ordinary

meaning of words,
in

cannot see how any interpretation can be placed upon such designations
I

other than that advanced, in which

have the singular good fortune

io find

myself wholly

agreement with both Lyon and Hughan.

" Canongate Kilwinning " Lodge, No.

It

2.

was the custom

in the seventeenth century, as

we have

just seen, for

some lodges to

permit certain members to enter and pass masons at a distance from their regular places of
meeting, which occasioned

much

irregularity of proceeding,
is

and prevented the exercise of

that due care with regard to admissions which

so essential to the prosperity of the craft.

These practices appear generally to have been reported at the nert assembly of the lodge,

and duly noted, the

of their

fees paid,

and membership allowed.

The

first

authoritative commission

or warrant seems to have been that issued by the

Lodge

of Kilwinning (No. 0) to several

own members
to meet as

resident in the Canongate, Edinburgh, dated

it

December

20, 16T7.

This was a direct invasion of jurisdiction, for

was not simply a charter to enable their

masons in Edinburgh, but it empowered them to act as a lodge, quite "Mother Kilwinning" herself, totally disregarding the proximity of the "First and Head Lodge of Scotland." We have seen that a friendly invasion of England was masonically consummated in 1641 at Newcastle by No. 1, but the transaction was confined to the initiation of one of their own countrymen, and there the matter ended; but the authority granted to the " Canongate Kilwinning" Lodge amounted to a warrant for its constitution and separate existence, which was the actual result that ensued. The charter to this lodge, which may be fairly termed the "Premier Scottish Warrant of

members

as

much

as

Constitution," runs as follows:

" At the ludge of Killwining the twentie day of december 1677 yeares deacons and wardanes and the rest of the brethren, considering the love and favour showne to us be
the rest of the brethren of the cannigiite in Edinbroughe, ane part of our
willing to be

number being

boked and inroled the

to

qcli

day gives power and liberty to them to enter,

fitt,

receave,

of Killwinning,

and pass ony and

qualified persons that they think

in

name and
to

behalf of the ludge

s"*

pay ther entry and booking moneys due

to the

ludge, as

we do
if

our

selves,

they sending on of ther

number

to us yearly,

and we
"

do the lyke to them

need be.

The

qlk day ther names are insert into this book.

The document was

generally attached,

signed (actually, or by proxy) by twelve brethren, their marks being

it is

and

entered verbatim in the books of the mother lodge, the original

of the transaction in the minutes of the

warrant being

now

lost.

The record

"Canongate

Kilwinning" Lodge for 1736

are believed to date 'Ante, chap,
'

the year next following that

from which

its earliest -nTitings

is

not a correct version of the proceedings, and appears to have been

ii.,

p. 91.

an excellent facsimile of this extraordinary resolution of 1677 the Lodge of Edinburgh," p. 101. See also Freemasons' Maga^ne, August 8, the Lodge.

There

is

in

Lyon's " History of

1863, for

an account of

GRANTED BY THE LODGE OF KILWINNING TO RESIDENTS

IN

THE CANNONGATE, EDINBURGH,

MS.

16I7,

Fac-simile from the original

fOt^

:r^-^-

Seal cf the /\lothcr K'lwinning I^odgc of Scotland

1'

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y.

penned with a view to sustaining the claim of the members to a high position on the Scottish The lodge was reorganized in 1735 by speculative Freemasons, and in that year the roll.
third degree, although not the first so to do in Scotland, that honor the " Edinburgh being claimed for another offshoot of the " Mother Kilwinning," viz.

members worked the

Kilwinning Scots
masons.

Arms"

of 1729, the brethren of

which were theoretical or speculative

No. 2 performed a very important part in the inauguration of the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, and the latter body has acknowledged that the former dates from
1677.

December

20,

" ScooN AND Perth " Lodge, No.

This ancient lodge, like several others,
satisfied
is

3.

much

older than No. 2, but has

had
it

to rest

with

its

position as fourth

on the

roll,

though the authorities

state that

existed

"

before 1G58,"

Nos.
also

and

I,

and the Grand Lodge acknowledges this date at the present time, placing however, as " before 1598," and No. 57 (Haddington) at 1599, there being
one " of great antiquity, and possesses a
years.
'

many

bearing seventeenth century designations.

is

Laurie says that the lodge

records for

series of

weU-kept

upwards of two hundred

It

is

singular that the minutes have so far

escaped examination by any

city

known masonic

historian,
little
'

and even when Hughan

visited the
is

he failed to obtain a glance at them; the

he found out about the lodge

given

in his

" Early History of British Freemasonry."

He also printed in the

its

Masonic Magazine
Norie, warden, and

an exact transcript of a document known as

Tills

"Charter," dated December 24, 1658.

instrument

thirty-nine
It

members

which

is

signed by J. Roch,

"Mr Measom," Andro

is

quite different from any other of the seventeenth century

*

MSS.

combines features of the " Old Charges "

with items of

local interest,

and

also recites the

" Kilwinning" and other legends.

Edinburgh.

It speaks of the

" Lodge of Scoon" as being secoad in

is

the nation, priority being given to Kilwinning, and a singular reticence

observed as to
fellow-crafts,

The masons

are frequently described as masters, friemen,

and the
"

recital

of the traditions

and laws begins

it

" In the name of God, amen," the con-

and

clusion being so unique that I give

verbatim.

And

Lastlie, wee,

and

all

of

obleidge ws, and our successoris, to

of the said

ws off ane mynd, consent, and assent, doe bind and mantayne and wphold the haill liberties and previledges
and passing within
is;

Lodge

of Scoon, as ane frie Lodge, for entering

ourselves,

as the bodie thereof residing within the

burgh

of Perth as sd

And

that soe long as the

Sun

ryseth in the East

all

and setteth

in the West, as

attend ws in

our wayes and actiones."

we wold wish the blessing of God to This reference to the " glorious luminary of

nature " will at least arrest our attention, as suggestive that speculative Freemasonry was

then not wholly

those

unknown
also a

in the city of Perth,

modern craftsmen who

is

find for

and may well challenge the research of every existing ceremony an ancient protot}'pe. The
I

term free lodge

most expressive one, pointing to the use of the word free as a

prefix to mason, a conjunction

upon which
words.

have

many

times commented, and shall yet

have occasion to say a few

final

The same record states that, a-cording to the "Knowledge of our predecessoris ther cam one from the North countrie, named Johne Mylne,' ane measone or man weill experted
'

Laurie's History of Freemasonry, 1859,

*

p. 368.
ii.,

"Voice of Freemasonry,
^

May 1872.

'October 1878.

Ante, chap,

p. 80.

Ante, pp. 294, 322,

"

32
in his calling,

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

who
entered himselfE both frieman and burges of this brugh. "
skill,

In process

of time, because of his

also master of the lodge.

he was preferred to be the king's master mason, and he was

His son, " Johne Milne," succeeded him in both oflBces, "in the reigne of his Majestic King James the Sixt, of blessed memorie, who, by the said second Johne Mybie, was (be the King's own desire) entered Freeman, measone, and fellow-craft." This royal initiation naturally calls for special remark, hence we read, " During all his lyfetime he mantayned the same as ane member of the Lodge of Scoon, so that this Lodge is the most famous Lodge (iff Weill ordered) within the kingdome." Well done, Perth! Of the family of Mylne there continued several generations who were master masons to their majesties the Kings of Scotland until 1657, at which time " the last Mr Mylne being Mr off the Lodge off Scoon, deceased, left behind him ane compleit Lodge of measones, friemen, and fellow-crafts, wh such off ther number as wardens and others to oversie them, and ordained that one of the said number should cho3'se one of themselves to succeid as master in his place." The several persons named, nominated and made choice of James Roch to be master ad vitam, and Andrew Norie as warden (both being subject to the " convenience " of the masters and
fellow-crafts); all agreeing to confirm the old acts, the chief being:
1. 2.

No
is

frieman to contradict another unlawfully.

to

" Kor goe

no other Lodge, nor

mak

ane Lodge among themselves, seeing this

Lodge

the prin' within the Shyre.

3. If

any freeman leave the lodge

for another,

he can only return on payment of three

times the
the

sum

exigible

on
'

his joining either,

and

shall

"

be

put

cleane from the

company of

Lodge he was
4.
6.
6. 7.

last in."

The master and warden

before

named

to see these rules carried out.

No

master to take another's work unless so entitled.

Masters not to

"go between "

their fellows

engaged

in

seeking work.

Apprentices and journeymen belonging to this (or any other) lodge must have their

free discharge from their previous masters prior to re-engagement, an exception, however,

permitted in the case of twenty days' services only.

8.

AU

fellow-crafts passed in this lodge, shall

pay 16 (Scots), besides the gloves and

dues, with 3 (Scots) at their "first incoming, efter they are past."
9.

If these

sums are not paid

at once, "cautioners"

must be obtained outside

the lodge.

10.

Apprentices not to take work above 40s. (Scots), and not to have apprentices under

the penalty of being " dabared from the libertie of the said Lodge."

The Milnes were

to

a famous masonic family, the third

John Milne having been

called

Edinburgh

in

1616 to undertake the erection of the king's statue.

to

On
I.,

the death of
oflBce

William Wallace in 1631, Milne was appointed master mason

resigned in 1636 in favor of his eldest son

Charles

which

he

made a
in 1636,

fellow-craft in

"Johne Mylne, younger," who, in 1633, was " the Lodge of Edinburgh, became " deacon of the lodge and warden
former
office for

and served

in the

many

years,

having been re-elected ten times

during twenty-seven years.

This same Mylne was at the masonic meeting at Newcastle in

"

1641, and his brother Alexander was " passed " June 2, 1635, in the presence of his brother, " Lord Alexander, Sir Anthony Alexander, and Sir Alexander Strachan.

Robert was apprenticed to his uncle John, in Lodge No.

That the dues should be paid prior to joining another lodge as well as of the ancient craft
'

1,

December

27, 1653,

and was

is

a requirement of modern lodges

^^O^H^I^^^
MASTER MASON TO CHARLES FIRST OF ENGLAND, FELLOW-CRAF" IN THE LODGE OF EDINBURGH, 1633, "DEACON OF THE LODGE AND WARDEN," IN 636.
1

Who

maketh the Fourth John

descent from Father unto Son Sixth Master Mason to a Royal Race Of seven successive Kings, sat in his place. Rare man he was, who could unite in one Highest and lowest occupation: To sit with Statesmen, Councillors to Kings,

And by

To work with Tradesmen

in

mechanick

things.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

33

elected warden in 1663, also deacon in 1681, taking a leading part in masonic business until 1707. Kobert Mylne appears to have succeeded his uncle as master mason to

Charles

I.,

being so designated in an agreement with the Perth authorities for the re-

building of the cross which had been removed from the city by Cromwell.

High

Street,

through the possession of

and was warden

William, his eldest son, was received into the Lodge of Edinburgh, December 27, 1681, several times from 1695, dying in 1728.
eldest son of the latter,

Thomas Mylne,
December
fellow-craft,

" was entered and admitted

as apprentice,

27, 1721; chosen Eldest Prentice,

December

27, 1722; admitted

December

27, 1729;

and chosen 'master

of the society,'

and received December 27, 1735.

Noticing the connection of this worthy with the Lodge of Edinburgh, Lyon points out
the remarkable fact "of his having been entered in what
transition period of
its

may

emphatically be termed the

of his having been advanced during the masonic twilight which preceded the institution of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and of his having mainexistence,

tained a connection with the lodge until every vestige of

its

operative character had dis-

appeared."

Kobert and William Mylne (sons of Thomas Mylne) were and on the death of the former in 1811 (who was buried in been surveyor of that
edifice

also

members

of the lodge,

St. Paul's

Cathedral, having

for fifty years), this family's connection

with the Lodge of

Edinburgh, which had been maintained through

five successive generations

was terminated.

This ancient lodge at Perth joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland, I believe, in 1742, not having taken any part in the inauguration of that body, its age being admitted, as already noted, to be " before 1658."

Lodge of " Glasgow

This
as
is

St.
its

John," No.

bis.

an old lodge undoubtedly, though

admirers have declared.
Its
it

some

of its
I

documents do not date back quite as far secondary position to " Mother Lodge Kilits

winning "
for for

have already noticed, though

at all events
it

does not appear that the subordination lasted

separate and distinct existence,

any long period, and

its

did not affect

The noted fabrication, " Malcolm Charter," originally said to be of the year 1057, but afterwards The second in dated about a century later, will be duly examined in a future chapter. order, or rather the first of the genuine documents, is the " William the Lion Charter " of
in the second of the St. Clair Charters.

name appears

entitled the

the twelfth century.

The original has not been preserved, but a copy is to be found in " Hamilton of Wishaw's description of the sheriffdoms of Lanark and Eenfrew," compiled
it is

about 1710," and

is

recorded in the venerable Register of the Bishopric'

is

translation

given in the history of the lodge which

attached to

its

by-laws (1858).
is

Every

line of this singular

document

(as I

am

informed by the Rev. A. T. Grant)

it

in-

consistent with the charter phraseology of the period to which

has been assigned.

Yet
this
'

if

we concede

its

authenticity, I

full to see

that the pedigree of the lodge

higher.

Money was required

for the restoration of the cathedral,

solicited.

purpose that the patronage of the king was

is carried any and it was evidently for The " charter " proceeds to

'

History of the Lodge of Edinburg-h, p. 94. Maitland Club, Glasg-ow, 1831. See also Mackenzie Walcott's Scoti-Monasticon, London, 1874,
1873.

appendix ii., p. 163. ^ Hiighan, Voice of Masonrj-, June

vol.. II.

34
state that

jEA RL

V BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

" the

fraternity appointed by the Right Rev. Jocylin, Bishop of said Cathedral,

with advice of the Abbots, Priors, and other clergy of his diocese, we devoutly receive and

confirm by the support of our Royal protection,

Cathedral
for
its

aye

and

until the

finishing of the

itself;

and

all

the collectors of the same fraternity," and those

who

request aid

we have taken into our favor." It has been too hastily concluded that the word " fraternity" means the lodge, but I demur to any such interpretation, the intention manifestly being to describe a religious fraternity which had been formed to promote the
building,

renovation or restoration of the cathedral.

The

inference that the charter referred to a

masonic lodge appears to

me

wholly unwarranted by the context.

Moreover,

who

ever

heard of the builders of a fabric being also collectors of the funds? The " Seal of Cause " of a. d. 1600 was required to separate the wrights from the masons
as

an Incorporation, the coopers having been disjoined in 1569.

The

reasons offered by

the Wrights for such division are carefuDy recited, and appear to be fair and conclusive, the
prayer of the petitioners being granted by the magistrates and town council on

May 3,

1600.

The

wrights (carpenters) had a deacon and elder, and are called freemen.

They pointed out

that the masons could not judge of their work, and vice versd;

and that the same arguments which led to the separate establishment of the coopers, operated also in their favor. The grant was made " For the levying of God almyty Father Sone and Halie Gaist" (as with tlie " Old Charges "), and provision was made therein for the regular management
of the Incorporation, election of officers, etc'

Mr. W. P. Buchan
corporation of

'

states that the first

notice in the minutes of the

22, 1620, viz.,

"Glasgow In-

Masons" bears date September

" Entry

of

Apprentices to the

Lodge
of

of Glasgow, the last

day of december 1613 years, compeared John Stewart, Deacon

Masons, and signified to David Slater, Warden of the Lodge of Glasgow, and to the

remenant brethren of that Lodge, that he was to enter John Stewart, his apprentice, in the said Lndge. Lykas upon the morn, being the first day of January 1614 years, the
said

warden and brethren

of the said lodge entered the said

elder,

prentice to the said

John Stewart,
clerk.

conform

to the acts

John Stewart, younger, apand liberty of the Lodge."

and in the " he was entered

The
keys,

deacons' courts in 1601 consisted of a deacon, six quartermasters, two keepers of the

an

officer

and

James Ritchie was accused

of feeing a cowaii,

record of the Incorporation,

May

1,

1622,

it

is

stated in his favor that

with a Lodge, and had a discharge of a master in Paisley."

Xo

old records of the lodge

have as yet been discovered, but the foregoing proves

century, and as
stitution in

its

existence early in the seventeenth

to exist,

we know the Incorporation has continued

I

from

its

separate con-

1600 to the present time,

think there need be no doubt thrown upon the

continuity of the lodge during the period covered from 1613 to the
existing minutes.

commencement
''

of its

That

it

was represented on the occasion of the second

it

St.

Clair

Charter,"

is

unquestionable, for

was described as "

The Ludge

of Glasgow,

John Boyd,

deakin; Eob. Boyd, ane of the mestres."

'

'

"Et omnes ejusdem fraternitatis coUectores." Mention is made of the expensive banquets in former times, which it was
They were given by each freeman on
;

decided not to con-

" Booths to tcork in" corresponding with the Lodges of Freemasons are mentioned apprentices were bound for seven years tlie most experienced masters were selected to pass and visit ah men"s work and no craftsman was to set up a booth in the city until he was first made burgess and freeman of the same (Seal of Cause, etc., 1600, printed 'Freemasons' Magazine, April 3, 1869. from the orig^inal at Edinburgh, mdcccxl. 4to, 12 pp.).
tinue.

his entry.

EARL V BRITISH' FREEMA SONR Y.

iiller

35

a deal of delicate

management the
though

lodge was placed on the roll of the

it

Grand

Lodge

of Scotland in 1850 as No. 3 bis,

was not the fault of the members that

they failed to obtain a higher position.

united to the Grand Lodge, until there ancient ateliers, which

I refer to the old

is

Thus one after another the old lodges became now but a solitary representative left of the

still prefers isolation and independence to union and fraternity. Lodge of Melrose, of which I shall have to speak farther on. The membership of the " Lodge of Glasgow," unlike that of other pre-eighteenth century lodges, was exclusively operative and " although doubtless giving the mason word

to entered apprentices,

none were recognized as members

till

they had joined the In'

corporation, which was composed of

mason

burgesses.

The

erection of

St.

Mungo's
"

'

in
St.

1729 was the result of an unsuccessful attempt to introduce wow-operatives into the

John's Lodge, Glasgow, an object which was not attained until about the year 1843."

"Canongate and Leith, Leith and Canongate" Lodge, No.

I pass

5.

over the " Glasgow Kilwinning " Lodge, No.

4,

dating from 1735, as too late for

5.

my

present purpose, after which comes the foregoing

numbered

It is authoritatively

acknowledged as dating from a.d. 1688, in which year the schism is recorded in the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh, the seceders being composed of masons in Leith and the Canongate, hence the title of the lodge. They were charged with disobeying the
masonic laws, by presuming " to an tar and pase " within the precincts of the old lodge, and of having erected a lodge amongst themselves without the authority of any royal or general
warden.''

Then

followed, as usual, a recital of

all

the pains and penalties, but notwith-

standing the strong measures taken to stamp out the rebellion, only one of the defaulters

appears to have

made submission and returned within the fold, viz., James Thomson, who was pardoned on payment of the fine of 10 (Scots). The earliest minutes now possessed
by the lodge begin in 1830, but the charter of confirmation, dated February
8,
'

1738,
pre-

acknowledges

its

descent " from the mason lodge of Mary's Chapel in Edinburgh,"

its

cedency being allowed from

a minute of that date,

May

29, 1688,

" in

respect its hook

was produced which contains

and which was openly read in presence of the Grand Lodge." Its presence at the constitution of the Grand Lodge in 1736 was objected to by the parent
lodge,

but

without

avail,

soon after which the

organization led to a renewal of the old friendship.

character, for of the fifty-two
operative

names enrolled

harmonizing influences of the new As a lodge it was mainly of a speculative on November 30, 173G, only eighteen were

masons !

Lodge of " Old Kilwinning

St.

John," Inverness, No.

Grand Lodge

6.

charter of confirmation was granted by the

30, 1737, its existence

of Scotland to this lodge

on

November

being admitted from the year 1678, but

much

of the

value of the record is vitiated from the fact, that it is gravely stated therein that the lodge had " practised the passing of master masons from that period." Its antiquity is not noted
'

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 413. No one has yet discovered that such an officer ever did warrant a lodge, however, and unlikely to have occurred.
'

'

it is

most

Another lodge also claims descent from No.

its

viz.,

the lodge at Coltness, which,

for

Lyon

states,

obtained

charter in 1737 (1736

?).

The members maintained that

;

more than

thirty years pre-

viously they had worked the was not forthcoming.

third degree

but
*

I need hardly say that the proof of this statement Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 215.

36
in the registers of

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

all

of

" Mother Kilwinning," though Lawrie says, " it goes the farthest back the Kilwinning lodges, none of the others going beyond 1724, "which opinion, howopen
to question.

ever,

is

" Hamilton Kilwinning " Lodge, No.

7.

The

lodge occurs on the roll of the Grand Lodge as No.

7,

and

is

considered to date

from the year 1695.

Of

its

history,

but

little is

known.
8.

" Lodge op Journeymen," Edinburgh, No.

OfiBcially entitled to

precedence from 1709, and numbered 8 on the revised

to

roll,

the

"Journeymen"
The

of

Edinburgh have much reason

be proud of their position and pros-

perity, considering the strong influence originally

brought to bear against their lodge.

domineering

introduction of the speculative element into the Lodge of Edinburgh, and the exspirit

clusive character of the Incorporation of Mary's Chapel, as well as the

of the masters in both organizations, all tended to keep the

journeymen masons

in a sub-

ordinate position.

They

did not, however, submit easily to the yoke; and as their class

increased in knowledge, and monopolies were gradually abolished, the leading spirits

among

them

rebelled,

and soon

set the

masters at defiance.

In 1705 steps were taken to enforce

i.e.,

the rules against journeymen working on their ing them.

I quite think with Mr. William

own

account,

without masters employ-

in the lodge, arose

from

their condition in

Hunter that the subjection of the journeymen life rather than from their belonging to a lower
referred to in almost every one of the early

grade in speculative masonry.

The masters

minutes, were, therefore, most probably simply masters in trade, and not masters in the

records of No. 8 are missing, those preserved

The old commencing in 1740; but there are not wanting evidences of its career years before that period. The centenary of the lodge was celebrated in 1807, and I think that its origin or separation from No. 1 was in 1707, not 1709." The resolution passed by the journeymen in 1708 to raise money for poor members
sense in
in the masonic lodges of this country.
'

which they are now regarded

was signed by forty-four brethren, the name of almost every one of whom books of No. 1, for that lodge was most particular in enrolling all those
entered or passed.

is

found
it

in the

whom
and

either

On December

27, 1708, the Fellow-Crafts

(Journeymen) presented a
in response
in-

petition to the parent lodge, asking for a fuller inspection of the accounts,
to the

memorial

six

discreet " fellows " were allowed to be nominated as a committee of

spection.

This arrangement continued for some years, but the smouldering embers of
life

discontent were fanned into renewed

203. Scots, payable

by the imposition of an annual subscription of

by journeymen
liis

for the privilege of being

employed by masters of the

Incorporation
of the

Mr. Hunter, in
in

excellent sketch, expresses an opinion that the decisions

finally

Lodge of Edinburgh

August 1712

completed the rupture, for the masters

rescinded the resolution appointing the committee of inspection, doubtless being aggrieved
at the separate lodge

formed by the craftsmen, and the zealous watch they kept over the

general funds of the society.

On

the passing of the resolution,

all

the journeymen present but

two left the lodge, headed by James Watson, deacon of the Incorporation, and preses (master) of No. 1. Then, " war to the knife " was declared; all who were left behind in the lodge
Hunter, " History of the Lodge of Journeymen " (Freemasons' Magazine, March, 1858, p. 571). Although Lyon is inclined to fix upon St. John's Day, 1712, as the period of origin, lam disposed to follow the computation of Mr. Hunter. Cf. History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 135.
'

W.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

37

agreed that none of the recusant journeymen should be received back into the society until
they had given full satisfaction for their contemptuous conduct, and the masters prohibited
the apprentices from assisting the journeymen in entering apprentices, under the penalty
of being disowned by the parent lodge.

The
its

desertion from No. 1 of the deacon

and

preses

(.James Watson) was a severe blow to

prestige,

and proved

of

immense

benefit to the

journeymen, who thus had a competent master to preside over them. On February 9, 1713, the parent lodge met, and elected David Thomson, " late deacon of the masons, to preside in all their meetings. " He was succeeded by William Smellie, a most determined
antagonist of the seceders,

who

initiated very stringent

measures against them.

All this

while the journeymen were working actively, and lost no opportunities of entering and
passing masons within the royalty of No.
1 to

the manifest injury of the original lodge.

their society, notwithstanding the
all

They would neither surrender

old

their

arms nor break up

severity of the laws passed against them,

and even though

the united influence of the

Lodge and Incorporation was exerted

to pi'ocure their suppression.

The

opposition

they received, and the indomitable courage they evinced, are unparralleled in the early
history of the Scottish craft,

and whilst proving that the powerful influence of the lodge

finally to

and Incorporation, wielded in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was on the wane,
foreshadowed that the pluck and perseverance of the journeymen were
all obstacles,

overcome
to the

and secure
of

for ever their independence.

On

the assumption apparently, that

the journeymen would be overawed and eventually succumb on resort being

law, the

made

Lodge

Edinburgh and the Incorporation

jointly agreed to obtain a warrant for

named William Brodie and Winram. Accordingly these two journeymen were confined in the city guard-house, Robert and the books of their society were also seized at the instance of the same authorities.' How long the detention lasted we are not told, but the journeymen did not delay in bringing an action for the unlawful imprisonment of two of their number and the abstraction of their records. The damages were laid at a considerable amount, the defendants
being the deacon of the wrights and the deacon of the masons (representing the Incorporation),

the apprehension and detention of two of the malcontents

who was

also the jreses of the lodge.

Whilst the case was before the Lords of

Council and Session, the dispute was referred to the arbitration of Robert Inglis (late deacon
of the goldsmiths)

on behalf of the

plaintiffs,

and Alexander Nisbet

(late

deacon of the

surgeons) on the part of the defendants, and in the event of an amicable settlement being
impossible, then the final decision was left to

John Dunbar, deacon

all

of the glovers, full

powers being given to the said parties for the purpose of obtaining

on the various

jioints raised.

needful testimony This was arranged on November 29, 1714, the " Decreet
8, 1715,

Arbitral" being accepted and subscribed to on January

the necessary witnesses.

by those interested and

The document, which

is

without parallel masonically, proves that

the craft had no insuperable objection to their disputes being adjusted under the sanction
of the law,

and

in a matter of
it

such consequence, there being nothing said about the heredisafely

tary grand mastership,

may

be concluded that

at the period in question, there

were

no brethren invested with any masonic rank beyond what was conferred by individual lodges
or the Incorporation.
"

The

arbitrators adjudged

100 to be paid Brodie and Winram by the two deacons,

'

Brodie and

Winram were

apprenticed in the Lodge of Edinburgh a.d. 1694, and passed fellowin " Voire of

craft-s in 1700.
'

Lyon,

The whole " Decreet Arbitral " is given by Hughan, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh." in his
'

Masonry," July 1873

and by

38

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

plaintiffs.

because they had used undue severity, and that the books must be returned to their lawful

owners on a receipt being given by the

They next decided that the deacons and

"/(;/

the whole body of Freemen Masters of the Incorporation of Masons were absolved from ac-

counting to the journeymen for the money received

called," either to

giving the mason word, as it is freemen or journeymen, prior to the date of the "Decreet Arbitral." In order to put an end to the disputes arising between the said freemen and journeymen,

" anent

the giving of the

their Incorporation,

"an

themselves as a society
ings, actings,

mason word," the two deacons were instructed to procure from act or allowance, allowing the journeymen to meet together by for giving the word," etc. Provided always (1.) tliat their " meet-

and writings be only concerning their collecting the moneys for giving the mason word," etc.; (2.) that the moneys thus obtained be used for charitable purposes
connected with themselves;
bursed;
(4.) that (3.)

that a register be kept of the moneys so received and dis-

a chest be provided with two different locks, one key being kept by a free-

man mason
in order,

elected annually by the Incorporation,

and the other by " one

of the

journeymen
all is

to be elected

by themselves; "
report,
if

(5.) that the said freemen attend the meetings, see (6.)

done

and

need be, to his Incorporation;

that the journeymen produce

their books and accounts to the deacon of the

and
sine

(7.)

that five journeymen form a

quorum

masons and the Incorporation each half year; " their purse keeper for the time being a

qua non."
penalty of disobedience by either party was fixed at 100 Scots, and as the Lodge
persistently ignored the award, steps were taken by the plaintiffs to enforce

The
of
its

Edinburgh

terms, as well as to obtain their books.

The " charge"

itself

was discovered about thirty

it

years ago by Mr. David Laing of the Signet Library, by

whom

was presented
8.

to Jlr.

Kerr,
state,

who

very properly deposited

is

it

in the charter-box of the

Lodge No.

Singular to

nothing

known

at the present time of the result of the application; the records

of the parent lodge, whilst they contain a

silent as to the ultimate result;

minute of

its

decision to contest the claim, are

is

more consequence, viz., the rescinding of the obnoxious resolutions, that the journeymen were readmitted " upon certain conditiones mentioned in a paper apart signed and approven of both masters and jurnaymen " (so they must have concocted another agreement), and that Deacon Watson was Little actually re-elected in 1719 to his former position in the old Lodge and Incorporation. " difficulties, however, again croj^ped up affecting the independence of the " Journeymen Lodge, but eventually, as Lyon well observes, lodges and incorporations parted company, free trade in mason-making became popular, and the bone of contention that had long
but they record what
of

existed between the

Lodge

of

Edinburgh and

its

youngest daughter

'

having thus been

of its privi-

removed, the Journeymen Lodge was

leges.

left in full

and undisturbed possession

" Lodge of Dunblane," No.

9.

The
later,

existing minutes begin in

contain any "

marks"

(or references thereto), in

January 1696,' and, strange to say, neither then, nor which respect they differ from the

generality of old masonic records.

in 1696.

He

served with the Earl of

John Cameron of Lochiel was a member of the lodge Mar in the Rebellion of 1715, was the husband of

'May we not term such relationship involuntary maternity, just as in tlie case of the Lodge " Canongate and Leith ? " ' Tliere is a jotting on one of the fly-leaves of the oldest minute-book of the Lodge Dunblane St. John, of payments made to its funds in April, 1675.

EA RL y BRITISH FREE MA SONR Y.

Isabel

39

Campell

(sister of Sir

Duncan Campell, one

of the four initiates of Dr. Desaguliers,

in-

in 1721, at Edinburgh), his eldest son, Donald, being one of the most celebrated and
fluential chiefs

who

joined Prince Charles

its

Edward

Stuart,

and who was the

first

to obtain

possession of

Edinburgh on

investment by the Highlanders in 1745.

In fact, the

majority of the brethren were not only "spoculatives," but several were noted .Jacobites.

Lord Strathalane (master, 169G), Lord John Drummond, brother

(initiated

of the

Duke

of Perth

March

13, 1740,

and master

in 1743-45),

and other leading members

of the lodge,

were prominent actors on the Stuart side in the Kisings of 1715 and 1745; but, as if to prove the unpolitical character of the society, their disaffection was counterbalanced by
the strong partisanship on behalf of the House of Hanover manifested in other masonic
lodges.

Lyon furnishes

transcripts of several of the old records, the

first

in order, dated

January
this

28, 1696, being of unusual length.

In the

list

of

members present

are to be found several

gentlemen, the operative masons being in the minority.

assembly was not the
dissipates
first

There cannot be a doubt that

of

its

kind, for the text of the earliest preserved record entirely

any such

illusion;

and why the lodge should be accorded precedence only from

cannot understand. The business transacted in 1696 partook of the nature of a masonic " court" (as it was termed), and was certainly of a repthe year 1709 on the
oflBcial roll, I

resentative character.

The meeting was

called

"The Lodge

Lord Strathalane

(the second viscount) being entitled

of Meassones in Dunblane," "master meassone;" Alexander

Drummond
"deput"

of Balhadie, warden, an " eldest fellow of craft," was also appointed; and a

(deputy), a clerk, a treasurer, an officer, and a

" Pror.

Fiscall."
his

tuted the court, with other

members

also

named.

Each workman on

These consti" entry " was re-

quired to pay 6, and half that

It

sum on

his "passing," in addition to the ordinary dues.

was likewise agreed that no one present, or any one who joined subsequently, should

divulge any of the acts passed by the court to any person whatsoever

who was

not a

memlater,

ber of the lodge, save the two rules as to entry and passing," binder the breach of breaking

of their oath."

As many

of the laws passed at this meeting,

and others

in 1696

and

relate to the craft in its operative character, I

notice any points of special interest.

need not cite them, but shall proceed to Commissions were issued by " Dunblane " to authorize

the entry elsewhere than in the lodge, " of gentlemen or other persons of entire credit and
reputation living at a distance from the town," provided that the holders thereof obtain

the co-operation " of such members of this lodge as can be conveniently got,
necessity, to borrow from another lodge as

or, in case of

was the cus" passed " in the lodge; but by an enacttom for such as were entered in this fashion to be ment of the court in September 1716, which prohibited the entry and passing "at one and the same tyme," exception was made in favor of "gentlemen who cannot be present at a second diet." The minutes record the presentation of aprons and gloves to three specuas shall
It lative intrants

many

make

a quorum."

on January 8, 1724, the lodge itself having been presented with a copy of The following the " Constitutions of the Freemasons " of a.d. 1723, a little while before.
is

worth giving in extenso

"Dunblane, the

twenty-seventh day of December 1720 years.

Sederunt: Robert Duthy, deacon; AVm. Wright, warden;

craft.
.
. .

Wm.

Muschet, eldest fellow of

Compass, and
is

Compeared John

Gillespie, writer in

Dunblane, who was entered on the

to

24 mstant, and after examination was duely passt from the Square

the

from an Entered Prentice to a Fellow of Craft of

obliged,

this Lodge,

who

present as said,

bound,

and enacted himself

to stand by, obey,

and obtemper, and subject himself unto

40

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR V.

'

the heall acts and ordinances of this Lodge and Company."

After due " examination,'

6,

another apprentice was similarly passed on Xoveraber 28, 1721; and on September
it is

1723,

certified that others

gave "

satisfieing

answers of their knowledge" prior to receiving

the promotion solicited.

remarkable entry occurs, of date December 27, 1729.

Two

apprentices (one being a merchant in Dunblane) applied, from the Lodge of Kilwinning,
to be

"entered" as apprentices in the lodge, and then "passed" as fellow-crafts. James Muschet was instructed "to examine them as to their qualifications and knowledge, and having reported to the lodge that they had a competent knowledge of the secrets of (he mason word," their petitions were duly attended to. It will be noticed that the minutes speak of the " secrets of the mason word," the " Decreet Arbitral " of Edinburgh alluding
only to the " mason word."
is

That the
8.

esoteric

ceremony or ceremonies consisted

of secrets

testified

by the records of two lodges

1

Dunblane and
of

plicit

than those of Nos.

and

The Lodge

Haughfoot which are more exDunblane did not join the Grand Lodge

until 1760-61, therefore

its

proceedings are the more valuable, because they were unin-

modern organizations. As with the minutes of certain other old lodges, those Dunblane contain numerous references to the appointment of " Lntenders," or instructors, for the intrants. An enactment relating thereto is on the books of the Lodge of Edinburgh so late as 1714, the duties of such an ofiBcer being defined in 1725 by the lodge
fluenced by
of
at

Dunblane

to consist of

their future tryalls."

"the perfecting of apprentices, so that they might be fitt for In the Lodge of Peebles, " intenders " were selected at times for such
and a
half, a similar officer

a purpose, extending over a century

so early as 1670.

being

known

at

Aberdeen

" ToKPHicHEN Kilwinning " Lodge, Bathgate, No.

I pass over three lodges,

13.
it

ranging from 1724 to 1728, to introduce one which, whilst

dates only from the latter year officially, existed, according to

Hughan, many years

earlier.

On December 12,
their rights

1728, twelve fellow-crafts

for a constitution,

and seven " Enter Prentices " petitioned Mother

their request

Lodge Kilwinning
and
of the nineteen
leges solicited

and based
petition

upon the

fact that they held

privileges

from that ancient

15, 1729;

society.

The
also

application was

members who signed the

and

" absent brethren."

were granted May

but on the lodge deciding to

made on behalf The privijoin the Grand

for the recognition of Kilwinning,' on the ground " a charter of erection, of a very ancient date," from that source. The year in which this warrant was originally issued is nowhere recorded, but Kilwinning Lodge agreed on March 30, 1737, that " their former ancient charter be corroborated," and the request of the brethren be granted.

Lodge

in 1737, the

members again applied

of their having once accepted

" Peebles Kilwinning " Lodge, Xo.

24.

the

There are not a few old lodges which appear with modern dates attached to them in. official roll, of which Xo. 17, Linlithgow, is an example, for I have already quoted an

extract
as

from the records

17,

of Xo. 1,

which
is

refer to that lodge as early as 1653, yet

it is

placed

Xo.

and dated 1736.

it

Peebles

another instance of chronological and numerical

anomalies, ranking as

does from a.d. 1736, though at work in 1716.

p. 416.

The

lodge,

from

'

''

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, Freemasons' Magazine, August 29, 1863.

i^tll.2
Pf-! '-i: Master of
itie

Grand Lodge

oi

the

State oi

New York.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

1716 to the end of
last

41
trial of

century, regularly observed the custom of holding an annual

the apprentices and fellow-crafts.

In 1726 an inventory of

its

property was made in the

Lodges in London, Next year the entry reads, "Square, tow, and compass." Some of the marks registered by its members are of an exceptional character, that of a captain of the King's Foot Guards being "a V-shaped shield, bearing on each half a small cross, the whole being surmounted by a cross of a larger size. Amongst other varieties are a slater's hammer and a leather cutter's knife; whilst later on (1745), the mark "taken out" by a wigmaker was "a human head with a wig and an ample beard!"" At the opening ceremony the members engaged in prayer, and the brethren were sworn to refrain from undue partiality in the consideration of the business, which, Lyon tells us, was called " Fencing the Lodge," and was so observed at Peebles for very many years. From its origin in 1716, the lodge was speculative in part, and observed many ancient customs long after they had disappeared from other lodges, such as the foregoing, the appointment of instructors {intenders), and the annual testing of apprentices and fellows. The third degree is not alluded to in its first volume of records, which end in 1764, Kilwinning being added to its name in 1750.
the Square, and a piece of small tow."

minute-book, consisting of "

Ane

Bible, the Constitutions' of the haill

The original record of October 18, 1716, is peculiar, for it is an intimation of the lodge being self-constituted by " sufficient number of Brethreen in this Burgh," in order to
repair the loss they sustained " by the

members, who

also attach their marks,

want of a Lodge." The record is signed by twelve and during the meeting a deacon, warden, and
Festival of St.

other officers were regularly elected.

The

John the Evangelist was annually

celebrated by the lodge, on which day the annual subscriptions were payable and the officers
elected.

John Wood, merchant, having been "gravely and decent!y entered a member of the said St. John's Day, 1717, "any complement to be given being referr'd to himself," which was, I presume, a delicate way of saying that they, as members, did not wish to decide the amount of his gift, but left the matter in his own hands. On December 19, 1718, Mr. John Douglass, brother-german to the Right Hon. the Earl of March, and Captain Weir, were received and admitted members, and each chose their two " Intenders" and their marks, paying a guinea and half a guinea respectively to the Box, whereupon the " honorable society having received ane handsome treat," also did its part to enhance the feast, " being that tvhich was due to tlieir carecter."
ludge" on
David White, on January
13, 1725,

was charged with a breach of the laws, in that he

threatened to "enter" some persons in a certain parish and to set up a lodge there.

He
27,

was found guilty, and " ordained to beg God and the honorable company pardon, and
promise not to doe the like in time coming, which he accordingly did."
1726, the

On December

members finding

that the annual subscription of one shilling each, payable

by
all

the brethren

who were

not workmen, was considered excessive, agreed "to restrict in

time coming the sd shilling to eightpence." Mr. Robert Sanderson has compiled an excellent sketch of the records from 1716, some
of

which originally appenred

in the Scottish Freemason,

but subsequently the chief excerpts

were given in the Masonic Magazine," many of the more curious marks being reproduced.
'

Presented by the Provost of Peebles

(a

member

of the lodge)

on December

27, 1725,

who was

heartily thanked for so acceptable a gift.

tions of 1723, soon after their publication.

Several old lodges in Scotland had copies of the Constitu-

'Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

1380-82.

p. 68.

"December

1878, Febri.ary 1^79,

and

42

EARL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

many volumes
of ancient records,

In those days the delta was not a prohibited mark, as in these modern times.
tion of these old marks scattered over so
really

The collecmauy being

good geometrical
lodges,

figures,

would provide an excellent assortment for the registrars of

of limiting the choice of such ap-

mark

and of themselves prove the absurdity

set

pendages to any

number

of lines or jjoints.

"Lodge
The
hence a sketch of
circumstances
is

of Aberdeen," Xo.

34.
itself,

eventful history of the ancient Lodge of Aberdeen deserves a volume to

its

chief characteristics

is

all

can

now
its

undertake, and under present

really all that can

be accomplished, as
of

complete history, in anjrthing

like the fulness of that of the

" Lodge
'

Edinburgh," has yet to be written.

series of articles in the

The materials
of

hefore me, from which

have to compile a brief account of this very ancient lodge, consist

mainly of the " Burgh Records,"

Hughan's

" Voice

Masonry,"'

and chapter
placed at

xliv.

of Lyon's excellent history.'

Furthermore, Mr. Hughan has kindly

my

service all the facts

he has since collected, many of which have never been

to time

made
its

public,

and were obtained from time

is

through Mr. John Jamieson of Aberspecial facilities for

deen, a respected past-master of the lodge,

old minute books, and

who had
and

an examination of

a most accurate

diligent transcriber of ancient documents.

The original formation of a lodge at Aberdeen ranges back into the mists of antiquity, and wholly eludes the research of the historian. The editor of the work first mentioned states that the records of the burgh of Aberdeen present us with a greater combination of
materials for a national history

glimpses of the actual

styles of

social position of the people, as seen

in a system of jurisprudence in legal pleadings, as exhibited in various professions

trades, pageants,

and

and

sports,

and

manner and

dress

than

is

generally to be found

in similar sources.

Their historical importance has long been acknowledged by those

who have had

access to them.

the Baillie and the Guild Courts from 1398,

being the period comprised in

They comprehend the proceedings of the Council, and of when the first volume commences, to 1745, the selections printed for the Club.' The records extend
on an average about 600 pages each, and, with the

to sixty-one folio volumes, containing

is no hiatus in the series. volume (1399) contains an account of an early contract between the " comownys of Ab'den " on the one part, and two " masonys " on the other part, which was agreed to on to the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel. The work contracted for was to hetv " xii dur-

exception of the years from 1414 to 1433, there

The

first

ris

and

xii

wyndowys,
27, 1483,

in fre tailly,"

and the work was

to be delivered in

good order

at

any quay

in Aberdeen.
it is

noted that the " master of the kirk wark," appointed, decreed, " masownys of the luge," consisting of six members, whose names and ordained that the are duly recorded, were to pay 20s. and 40s. to the Parish Church (" Saint Xicholace

On June

Wark

") for

the

first

and second ofEences

it

respectively, in the event of either of

them

raising

any debate or controversy, for

sequence of their so doing.
'

appears that previously there had been disputes in con-

It

was also provided that "gif thai fautit the thrid (third)
tlie

PubUcations of the Spalding- Club (Extracts from the Registers of

Voice of Masonry, U.
S. A., 1872-74

Burgh

of Aberdeen), voL

v., pp. 26, 41, 53, 68, 141, 290.

*

(Early History of British Freemasonry),

History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, pp. 407-427. *The Spalding Club was instituted in 18.39.
'

'

EARL V BRITISH FREE MA SONR V.

tym," they were "to be excludit out of the luge as a common forfactour." It aeems have been a common practice from that day to this to give two warnings, and to inflct

43
to as

many (though
oflfence,

increasing) fines, preparatory to the exclusion which was to follow the third

what may be termed a " by-law " is certified to have been agreed to by the members concerned, and approved by the aldermen and Council, the masons being " obligated " to obedience " be the faith of thare bodiis." and
in this case,

Two

of the

number were

particularly specified as offenders,

to,

should either of them break the rule they had agreed

thairof salbe expellit the luge fra that

and were cautioned that, " he that beis fundyn in the faute

tyme furtht."

In 1493 (November 15) three masons were hired for a year by the Aldermen and Counto "abide in thar service, batht in the luge and vtenche, and pass to Cowe,' thar to hewe and wirk one thar aone expensis, for the stuf and bigyne of thar kirk werke, and thai haue sworne the gret bodely aithe to do thar saide seruice and werk for this yer, for the quhilkis thai sal pay to ilk ane of the said masonis xx merkis vsuale money of Scotland One of the three masons bore the name of Mathou alarnelie, but al accidents of trede."
cil,

Wricht,
is

who was

also

mentioned

in the decree of

1483,

referred to

seruice in the

Wricht

oblist

(November 22, 1498) as "the said day" (it is also noted) "that Nichol Masone and Dauid thame be the fathis of thar bodiis, the gret aitlie sworne, to remane at Sanct
luge"

agreeing, " be

and probably was the same who his hand ophaldin," to make gude

Nicholes werk in the luge

...

to be leile trew in all pontis," etc.

The

foregoing furnish

word Lodge (Luge), and assuredly the context in each case the penalty of exclusion suggests that something more was meant than a mere hut by or covered building. Even in the filteenth century, at Aberdeen, it would appear that the Lodge was essentially a private building, and strictly devoted to the purposes of masonry.
early instances of the use of the

To work

in a lodge

being excluded; and as

was the privilege of free masons, cowans and disobedient members it was a covered building, ti/led or healed, a very early use of the
') in British Freemasonry is here apparent. was ordered that " Craftsmen " bear their " tokens"
"

words Tgler and Heal (or Hele

On February
breasts

1,

1484,

it

on their

on Candlemas Day, and on January

23, 1496, that every craft

have

its

standard.

There was an old castle and church at Cowrie, fourteen miles south of Aberdeen. It was a " Thanedom," and at one time belonged to the Bruces. This, as Mr. Officer (one of the leading masons in the Scottish metropoUs) has suggested to me, is probably the spot referred to in the agree'

ment
'

of 1493.

The Rev. A.

T. Grant, however, identifies

it

with Cove, a fishing village four miles

from Aberdeen.
It \vill

doubtless occur to those conversant with the form of taking the oath in Scottish

Coiu^

of law, that the right

'Ante,

p. 303.

hand is still upholden, as of yore. The Burgh Records of Aberdeen mention the " keiping

of the Glass in vindokis

of thair kirk,
249).
*

and the

sklattis of thair luge," a.d. 1547 (Publications of the Spalding Club, vol. v., p.

From

the Anglo-Saxon, hilan, to conceal, to cover, or to close up.

ing, temp.

Henry

VI., at the admission of a burgess,

was

to this effect: "

The oath imposed at ReadThe comyn counsell of

this said glide,

lice,

and felishipp of the same, that

it

shall
. .

ye heele and secret kepe, and to no p'sone pubAll these things shall ye observe, and truly kepe

shew, ne declare, except

be to a burgess

poynis to y'or power, so help you God, and holy dome, and by this boke" (Rev. C. Coates, ii., p. 57). In tlie last will and testament of Thomas Cumberworth occurs the following "Iwyll that ray body ly still, my mouth open, unhild xxiii owrys" (Harleian MSS., 6952). Cf. Smith, English Gilds, pp. 356, 398 and ante, p. 377, note 1. 'Publications of tlie Spalding Club, vol. v., pp. 290, 413, 450 and see chap, vii., ante, p. 366.
in all

History and Antiquity of Reading, 1802. vol.

:

44

^A RL Y BRITISH FREEATA SONR Y.

latter

The

were carried when any procession took place. On May 22, 1531, it was ordained by the Provost and Council that, in " honor of God and the blessit Virgin Marye, the craftismen, in thair best array, keep and decoir the processioun on Corpus Cristi dais, and Candilmes day, every craft with thair awin baner, with the armes of thair craft thairin
last of all,
.

nearest the Sacrament, passis

all

hammermen,
crafts,

that is to say smythis, wrichtis,

niasonis. cuparis, sclateris, goldsmythis

and armouraris."
according to the rule of October
Baillies in

A
4,

visitor

was chosen every year by each of the

1555, who was required to be sworn before the " Provest and

judgement,"

duty being to see that all the st^itutes and ordinances were faithfully kept, and particularly that " thair be na craftisman maid /re man to vse his craft except he haf seruit
his

as prentise

under ane maister thre

I

yeiris,

and be found

sufficient

and

qualifeit in his craft

to be ane maister."

quote this regulation, not by way of illustrating the discrepant terms

which prevailed, notwithstanding the precision with which uniformity of usage was enjoined by the ordinances, but to emphasize the fact for such it must be designated that the prefix /ree was generally applied to those Scottish craftsmen who were
of apprenticeship

free to exercise their trades, by virtue of due service and qualification, hence free mason,

and, as

I shall
first

have occasion to note elsew where, /ree sewer,

//ce

carpenter,"

and the

like.

" The
it

cathedral church of Aberdeen," says Mr. Jamieson, " stood for only about

200 years, and was demolished by Bishop Alexander, the second of that name
too small for a cathedral
in 1357.

he deeming

founded

to make room for the present edifice, which he is said to have Now, whatever of truth may have been in the early tradition of the

craft, it is evident the present building

was erected by Freemasons, from the mason marks

just

found on

it

from the foundation upward,

such marks as were

Grejrfriars'

common among

the fra-

ternity; masons'

marks have

also

been found on
in 1494;

Church, founded in 1471, and

in King's College

and Chapel, founded

likewise
if

1505 and finished in 1527."^

So far this writer; but

on the Bridge of Dee, begun in the existence of marks is to be

taken in every instance as affording conclusive evidence of a contemporaneous freemasonry,

the antiquity of our venerable Society would be at once cast back
torical research could

much

farther than hisis,

attempt to follow

it.

The

tradition he alludes to

that a

mason

named

from Kelso, was employed by Matthew Kininmonth, Bishop of Aberdeen, in building St. Machar's Cathedral about 1165, and that, by Scott and his associates, the Aberdeen Lodge was founded. Without doubt the fact that the Lodge
Scott, with several assistants of

Aberdeen existed

at a very early date

can be verified without recourse to the traditions

trustless.

of the craft, too

many

of

which unfortunately are altogether

city, of

The

references in

the fifteenth century to the lodge in that

themselves, abundantly prove, that at

the period in question the masons assembled in a lodge, and apparently not always for
strictly operative purposes,

though doubtless the main object of a lodge being buUt was

to

secure privacy for those engaged in fashioning the stones for the kirk and other structures.
It is
'

now

impossible to prove the identity of the ancient Lodge of Aberdeen with that

craft,

maner of person occupy nor use anj- points of our said crafts of surgery, or barber within this brugh, but gif he be first frie-man, and burgess of the samen. Every master that is received frie-man to the said crafts, shall pay his oukly penny, with the priest's my te " vide Seal of Cause of Chirurgeons, a.d. 1505 (History of the Blue Blanket, or Craftsmen's Banner, Edinburgh, 1832, pp. 63, 64). In 1583 it was decreed, " That na manner of person be sofferit to use
. . .

" That nae

merchandice, or occupy the handle wark of ane free crafts-man within this brugh, he be burgess and/ree-man of the same " {Ibid., p. 113). ' Aberdeenshire Masonic Reporter, 1879, p. 16.

without

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

described in the

45

Burgh Records
in

of 1483,

though for

my own

part I see no reason to doubt

the probability of their being one and the same.

In early days there does not seem to have

been more than a single lodge

each town or city

and

privileges pertaining to the trade

wliich had a monopoly of the rights until secessions gradually led to the formation of a

rival sodality, as at

Edinburgh

in the seventeenth centurj-.

The
the

Seal of Cause of the

seal

common

masons and wrights was confirmed on May 6, 1541,' under of the burgh, and then included liie coopers, carvers, and painters.
brethren in Aljerdeen date the institution of their lodge, and
it, November 30, 1T43, acknowledged was likewise recited on the charter " that their

From

this confirmation the

the Grand Lodge of Scotland, on granting a warrant to

that year as the period of
its

formation.

It

records had by accident been burned, but that since

a regular lodge, and authentic records of their proceedings."'

claim from 1483 as

"

before 1670,"

for

December 26, 1670, they have kept The members may as well from 1541, although their lodge is now only officially acknowledged as as an undoubted fact it must have been at work long before the latter

year, according to the declaration of its veritable records, which, of those preserved, com-

tnehc A.D. 1670.

Although the lodges

ciously, the

assignment of the

to the subject of

my

England and Scotland have been numbered very caprion the masonic roll of the latter country, present sketch, must strike every one as a patent absurdity. Of its
in both
thirtif-fourffi place

relative antiquity, credentials are not wanting, and,

though
'

inferentially
yet,

it

may

date from
its

a far more remote period than

is

attested

by existing documents;

even restricting

claims within the limits imposed by the law of 1737

two or three lodges only

in all Scot-

land are entitled to take precedence of

as the last century, are above
it

it

though several of
of

these bodies, chartered so late

on the

register of the

The
termed
the
to

dignified protest of the

its

Lodge

Grand Lodge. Aberdeen against what may, with

it

propriety, be

comparative effacement, failed to avert the calamity, and, had

solicitous to preserve

not been that

of

and extend brotherly love and concord than haggle for precedence, there would have been a rival Grand Lodge formed in the North Scotland, as well as by " Kilwinning" in the South.
Before proceeding to consider the actual records of the lodge,
it

members were more

will

be well to note that

Udauchtas warden "over all the boundis of Aberdene, Banff, and Kincarne," by no less an authority than King James VI. Hughau cites the document in the " Voice of Masonry," and Lyon states that the original is contained in the Privy Seal Book of Scotland. The terms of the grant are singularly interesting and suggestive, for they are to the effect (a) th^t the Laird of Udaucht possessed the needful qualifications to act as a warden over the " airt and craft of masonrie;" (b) that his predecessors had of old been wardens in like manner; (c) the said Patrick Coipland having been " electit ane chosin to the said office be common consent of the maist pairt of the
a grant was
in favor of Patrick Coipland of

made

Master Masounes within the three Sherriffdomes;"

'

(d) the

king graciously
to

ratifies their

Seal of Cause, 1541

Voice of Masonry, June

1873.

The deacons were required

examine can-

didates for the freedom of their craft, no one being allowed the privileges of a freeman until duly

admitted and acknowledged as such.

'Constitutions, 1881, p. 181. of the Aberdeen Lodge, 1853. Appendix EL "In the course of this year it was resolved thac all the lodges which held of the Grand Lodge of Scotland should be enrolled according to their seniorities that this should be determined from the authentic documents which they produced and that those who produced no vouchers should
*
; ;

'Laws

be put at the end of the roll" (Lawrie's History of Freemasonry, 1804,

p. 152).

46

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

Wardane and
Justice ovir

choice, constitutes Coipland "

them

for all the dayes of his lyif

all fees, etc.,
is

and

(e)

empowers him
is

to act like

any other warden elsewhere, receiving

officers, etc.

holding courts, appointing clerks and other needful

The grant

dated Sepit

tember 25, 1590, and

certainly a remarkable instrument.

According to Lawrie

proves
I quite

"beyond dispute that the kings nominated the office-bearers of the Order," but The appointment was simply a civil agree with Lyon that it does no such thing.
with the
St. Clairs,

one, as

and of

itself is

quite sufficient to demonstrate that the hereditary

is

Grand

Mastership declared to be centred in the latter

for all Scotland

a myth.

If

the office of Grand Master

had been held by the

St. Clair

family (putting on one side the question

privilege), clearly

whether the younger branch could or could not claim this hereditary
Coipland's appointment would never have been

made by
it

the king, neither would the

to pass

masons

of

Edinburgh, Perth, and other

office of

cities

have allowed

suh

silentio.

That the semi-hereditary

ratification

warden for the counties named was lawfully held by

claim on behalf of the
It is
St. Clairs, as

succession in the case of Coipland, subject to the consent in part of the master masons and

by the king, completely

sets aside Lawrie's

to.

Hughan
settle

fully demonstrated in the history referred

a subject for regret, however,

that the grant of 1590 contains no mention ol " Lodges," though, to

my

mind,

it

was

to

and hence any matters which affected their interests or conduct, either in or out of lodges also to see that the general statutes were obeyed by the particular craft in question that the Laird of Udaucht was
the various trade disputes connected with the masons
appointed, and empowered to act in a magisterial capacity.
the case,
it

Assuming

this to

have been
its

would seem probable that the old Aberdeen Lodge

represented

by

master

was a party to his election, and acknowledged him as its warden by royal authority. Such an appointment, however, was of a purely local character, being confined to the districts named, other wardens doubtless acting in a similar capacity for the other counties, and superior to all these was the General Warden, William Schaw.'

masons

In subsequent years the operatives whose proceedings

official to

it

was the function of this high

regulate and control, appear to have considered

it

only right and proper that they

should have a hand in his appointment.

year 1641, "contain the
'

The Acts of the Scottish Parliament, under the humble remonstrance of all the Artificers of the Kingdome, who

in one voyce

'

doe supplicate his Majestic and the Estates of Parliament, least

men

inca-

pable of the charge of

Mr

of

Work may

attaine to that: therefore

it

may

be enacted that

none

shall ever

bruik or be admitted to that place of

ommended

to his Majestie as sufficiently qualified,

Work, but such as shalbe recby the whole Wardens and Deacons of the
of
shall

Mr

Masons, Wrights, and others chosen by them, assembled for that purpose by the Parliament

and Priuie Couucell when the place of

'

Mr

of

Work

happen

to be vacant."^

The Constitutions of 1848 (Grand Lodge of Scotland) contain a biography of this hifch masonic He was born in 1550, and seems to have been early connected with the royal household, as name is attached to the original parchment deed of the National Covenant of 1580-81. In 1583 his Schaw succeeded Sir Robert Drummond as Master of Work, and hence all the royal buildings and palaces were under his care and superintendence. In the treasurer's accounts various sums are enHe died in April 1603, and was buried in the Abbey tered as being paid to him for such services. Church of Dunfermline, Queen Anna erecting a handsome monument to liis memory. It was. however, as General Warden, and not as Master of Work, that he exercised authority over the masons. He may have been an honorary member of the fraternity, and doubtless was, but of that we know
official.

nothing.

Acts of the Parliament of Scotland,

vol. v., p. 706a.

The

result of this petition does not appear.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

that

47

This petition or " remonstrance " would appear to have been dictated by the apprehension some unfit person would be designated to the charge of the king's works, and the petitioners lay great stress on the importance of the " Wisdome, Authoritie, and Qualities"

of this high officer,

" being such,

as

whole
the

artificers of buildings, as

may make him deserue to be Generall Wardene of the AVhether any worthy men haue euer formerly bene."
I find in

answer was returned to this remonstrance does not appear, and the only further allusion to
office of

which

it

sought the nomination

is

volume

vi.

of the Scottish Statutes, of Daruall, in

under the year 1645, where there

tradesmen."
I shall

a "ratification by Sir

John Veitch

favor of Daniel Carmichael of the ofiBce of master of work, and general warden of the king's

before

now proceed with an examination of the veritable records observed, date from 1670. The book in which the traditions,
and
sides,

of the lodge, which, as

laws,

and transactions

are entered, measures about 12 inches by 8, each leaf having a double border of ruled lines
at the top

the writing being on one side of the page only, and the volume

originally consisted of

about one hundred and sixty pages.

According to a minute of

February
bound, as
special

2, 1748, Peter Eeid, the box-master, was ordered to have the precious tome reit

was being injured by the iron clasps wliich confined its leaves. Whatever talents Eeid may have possessed, neither book-making nor bookbinding was amongst

the
all
is if

number, for instead of having more pages inserted, as he was instructed to do, he had removed save about thirty, and even these are somewhat singularly arranged. There much, however, to be thankful for, as the " Lawes and Statutes" of 1670 remain intact not undisturbed; also the " Measson Charter," the general laws, the roll of members and

apprentices and the register of their successors, etc.

features exclusively their own, whilst
acter in interest

Many

of these

documents possess

served,

and value. and has long been, known as the "Mark Book," doubtless because the mark of each member and apprentice is attached to the register of the names, the book possibly
is,

some are unsurpassed by any others of a similar charThis, the first volume of the records which has been pre-

having been intended for that purpose only.

one dates from 1762, though in
latter.
all

The

old seal of the lodge

is lost,

the present

probability the design of the former reappeared in the

It is divided

The 1762

seal

does duty as a frontispiece to the lodge by-laws of 1853.

into four quarters, in the Jirsi are three castles; in the second, the square

and compasses

with the letter

trowel,

in the centre; in the third, four in the fourth, the sun,

working

tools, viz,

the level, plumb-rule,

six staves;

and gavel; and

moon, and ladder of

the whole

being surmounted by the motto:

rules

Commissum

tege et vino tortus et ird.'

An

edition of the

was printed in either 1680 or 1682, but no copy can now be traced, which is much to be regrettec", as it is very possible that a history of the lodge may have been bound up with
these regulations, which, compiled at so early a date, would be of great value to the student
of masonic history.
it is

Though the

nevertheless to be hoped that

search for this missing record has hitherto proved abortive, it will be proceeded with, and that the living representa-

former members may be induced to carefully examine all books, papers, and bundles of documents among which such a copy of by-laws might possibly have become
tives of

entombed.
'Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. vi., pt L, p. 426. " Comniissumgite teges et vino tortus et ira " (Hor., Ep. i. " Let none thy secret trust divine.

'

18, 38.

Though racked with wrath

or dazed with wine."

'

48

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

The " Lawes and
Stsitutes ordained

be the honorable Lodge of Aberdein, December 27,

1670," claim our next consideration.

They

consist of

eight rules or enactments duly

are original

numbered, several being of unusual length. A careful scrutiny reveals the fact that they and independent regulations, agreed to by the members, and compiled to meet
the wants of the lodge without uniformly respecting, either the ancient ordinances or the

"Measson Charter." They differ singularly, and at times materially, from all other laws of the period, and will be found to present a vivid picture of some of the customs of the fraternity, absolutely unique in expression and most suggestive in character.

The Laws and Statutes

" FiEST Statute
Prentises "
casions

of the Lodge of Aberdeex, a.d. 1670.'

Article

who

are subscribers to the book,

for the Maister." The master masons and " Entered vow and agree to own the lodge on all oc-

unless

prevented by sickness or absence

as they did at their entry,

and on

receiving the

" Second Statute

to inflict fines,

"Mason Word." Maister Continued."

pardon
faults,

The master to act as judge in all disputes, " always taking the voice of the honorable company," ' and he
tools of malcontents,'

may

instruct his officer to

impound the working

who,

if

they are

further rebellious, shall be expelled from the lodge.

" Third Statute Wardens." By the oath at entry, the warden is acknowledged " as the next in power to the Maister," and in the absence of the latter he is to possess The similar authority and to continue in office according to the will of the company. master is to be annually elected on each St. John's Day, also the box-master and clerk, no
'

salary being allowed the latter,

it

being "only a piece of preferment."

The

officer

to be

continued

till

another be entered in the lodge. "

Ko

lodge was to be held within an in-

habited dwelling-house, save in "ill weather," then only in such a building where "no " Otherwise the meetings were to take place in the ojJen fields. persoJi shall heir or see us. "
'

"Fourth Statute Box for our

present no abstract, as tenor
I
it will

poor," etc.

Of

this lengtliy regulation I shall

text.

be best understood by a perusal of the fuller

From

its

am

inclined to believe that in

1670 there was a reorganization of the lodge, the

meetings for

many

years previously, owing to the unsettled condition of the country,

It is said that the

having only been held at rare intervals.

masons

of

Aberdeen had a tent

Cunnigar
Hill, at

which was erected (on the occasion of an Garden Howe, or at the " Stonnies," in the hollow
peculiar facilities for such assemblies.

initiation) in the hollow at

at the

Bay

of Nigg, sites offering

The members to whom I shall refer farther on, " a charitable scheme emanating describe themselves as the authors of the " Measson Box from themselves and in the furtherance of which they not only pledged their own sup-

Published by Mr. Buchan (from a transcript by Mr. Janiieson) in the " Freemason," August 12, and September 2, 1871; by Hughan, in the " Voice of Masoni-y," Febmai-y 1872; by Lyon, in his " History of the Lodge of Edinburgh," 1873; and in the " Masonic News," Glasgow, 1873, all from the " Jamieson" text. ' It will be noted that no superior masonic authority is acknowledged, the master at that time evidently being the highest masonic ofiScial recognized by the lodge.
'

* Precisely as in modem times" To poynd his work looms." Doubtless the youngest appre^itice, in consonance with the usage of some other lodges. 'This regulation accords with the old tradition that lodges assembledon the " highest hiUs or in
3 '

the lowest valleys," and, moreover,

"< apprentices in their "outfield

is

indicative of esoteric practices as free-masons at the reception

lodge" (See Statute V.)

PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF NEW YORK STATE.

J, e.

GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND COUNCIL OF THE U. S. OF A. 33, SOV ANDREWS, 33. PAST SOV G INS ROBERH T. WATERMAN, 33, PAST HON MEM. GEN .-., N. M. J. COUN .-., N. M. J. SUP JOHN BOYD THACHER, 33. HON .-. MEM ,-. SUP .-. COUN . N. M. J. JOHN S. BARTLETT, J30, PAST GRAND COM OF GRAND COMMANDERY OF K .-. T.
C. L.

STOWELL,

.-.

.-.

.-.

.-.

.-.

.-.

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

port,
tion,

49
modern
imita-

but also that of their successors.

Several of the clauses are worthy of

fail

though

at the present time

we may
/o

to appreciate the rule which permitted

money
a

to be taken

from the treasury "

give a treat to

any nobleman or gentleman

that is

measson," considering

"Fifth Statute
and
one
a pair of gloves;

Entered
and
if

tliat

the funds were to be devoted to the sacred purposes of charity.

Pkenteses."

Each apprentice was required

member
'

to

pay four

rix dollars at his admission,

to present every

of the lodge with a linen

apron

though

his

means were

insufficient to clothe the lodge

as this custom
substituted for
to tlie

continued to be called for nearly a century later

in kind,

a money payment was

and two additmial

dollars,

with a dinner, and some wine, sufficed for his con-

tribution, exclusive of one

{officer) of the lodge.

mark

piece for his

mason mark," and another

convener

dinner and pint of wine also commemorated his attainment of the

though a stranger " entered " in another lodge, being desirous of becoming a master mason at Aberdeen, was to pay two dollars, accompanied by the invariable pint of wine, or more, should the company will it, but the benefit of this last proviso was limited
fellowship,
to gentlemen masons.

Persons duly apprenticed to the handicraft were to pay

if

fifty

marks

at their entry,

and the customary dues, and

unable to provide the money, they were to

serve their masters for three years without remuneration, and could not receive the fellow-

ship earlier.

The funds

so obtained were to be divided equally

entertainment of the members.

The

eldest sons of the

" authoires

between the box and the of the Book " (and all

mason word, free of all dues, save those for the box, the mark, the dinner, and the indispensable " pint of wine." Similar privileges Apprentices were to devolve upon those who married the eldest daughters of the brethren. were to be entered in the "antient outfield Lodge, in the mearns in the Parish of Negg,
their successors) were to have the benefit of the
'

at the stonnies at the

"Sixth Statute

For

poynt of Ness."

the Box Maister."

The sums received by

this official

were

not to be retained by him, but placed in the box, the oversight thereof being in the hands
of the three masters of the keys.

" Seventh Statute

St.

Johne's Day."

All apprentices and fellow-crafts were

St.

re-

quired to pay twelve shillings Scots to the master mason or his warden at each

John's

Day, and in default their tools were to be seized and kept in pledge until redeemed.
St.

The

John's Day was to be observed as a day of rejoicing and feasting; and the subscriptions were devoted to that purpose according to the votes of those present, absentees being fined.

The rules were to be read at the entry of each apprentice, " that none declare ignorance." " Second Part Intender." Apprentices were to be taught by their " Intenders" " given over" as being instructed; and when interrogated at " public meetings," only, until were to pay for forgetfulness "as the company thinks fit," except they could prove that

'

1670. There were more than fifty members Hence the saying, " I put down one mark (merk) and took up another." 'The latest by-laws of the Lodge (1853) provide in the " Table of dues " for the lowest fees being paid by the " eldest son, or husband of the eldest daughter of a viember;" the intermediate fees by " tlie other sons or those marrying tlie other daughters of members;" and the highest by ordinaiy auplicants, the least being (I am glad to say) in advance of the highest now charged by some lodges
'

'

in Scotland.
Also Intendar or Intendent. The minutes of the Lodge of Dunblane (1725) define the duty of Intender to be " the perfecting of apprentices so that they might be fltt for their future tryalls. The appointment of instructoi-s has for a century and a half obtained in the Lodge of Peebles " (Lyon,

History of the Lodge of Edinburgli,

p. 18).

VOL.

II.

50

EARLY BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y.

they were "never taught such a thing," in which case the penalty was shifted to then " intenders." All were to love one another as brothers born, and each man was to have a

good report behind his neighbor's back " as his oath t yes him." The Lord's day was to be kept holy, and Sabbath breakers, habitual swearers, unclean persons, and drunkards
were to be severely punished.

"Eight Statute
the book

The

Book."

The

master masons and apprentices ordained that

of laws be kept in the box, securely locked, save

to be received.

when

required to be carried to

any place where there was an apprentice

whilst

After-comers and successors were

required to be equally careful, the clerk only being allowed to have access to the volume

making entries therein, the three key masters being present at the time. Future members were further commanded by the oath, taken at their entry, not to blot out the names of any of the then subscribers, nor let them decay, but to uphold them for all time The regulation terminates by placing on record an emphatic statement as their patrons.
that there was never a poor-box amongst the masons of Aberdeen, within the

memory

of

man, until established by the authors of the book. These /aws conclude with a general clause which amply
and those
the trust
of their successors,

attests the brotherly feeling

prevailing in 1670, and as the subscribers invoked the blessing of

God on all their endeavors we may be justified in supposing that the latter were true to which subsequently devolved upon them. Indeed, it is a matter of notoriety that
periods,

the example set by the masons of 1670 has been emulated by the brethren of later years,

who, in

all

and notably at the present

date, cherish in affectionate

remembrance
of 1670.

the memories of their worthy predecessors, the originators of the

mark book

These curious ordinances of a bygone age present some remarkable features, which, as
yet,

have been very imperfectly considered.

We

perceive that
for

upward of two hundred

gentletneii-maso'as h&aig

years ago "speculative" masonry was

known and provided

list

required to pay higher fees at entry, and their presence being heartily welcomed at the
festivals of the lodge.

Examined

in connection with the

of

members

I shall

presently

exhibit, the existing records of the

Lodge

of Aberdeen afford conclusive evidence, not only

of "speculative" customs, but actually of speculative ascendency, in the year 1670.

The

power of the master was then even more absolute than it is now, and the duties of the warden corresponded very closely with those peculiar to that position in modern times. The " officer " received a gratuity in those days from initiates, much as many tj'lers do now, and

no more precaiitions are taken under the modern system to seciire privacy than in days of yore. The charitable nature of the fraternity is embodied in the rules for the " PoorBox," which article of furniture is not neglected in our own ceremonies, and during the
last

century, not to say later, the candidates had often to provide a treat at their admission;

the regulations, also, for the annual festivals were, at both periods, somewhat alike in
character.

The "Intenders" are now represented by the proposers or introducers of candidates, who are supposed to see that the latter are duly qualified to pass in their "Essays" or
"questions" prior to promotion; and the careful preservation of the minute-books and
other effects of

modern lodges

is

happily not lost sight

of.

The
Masons
title

allusion, in the fifth statute or clause, to the practice of

making strangers " Master

" will not

or grade ot

fail to arrest attention. Yet it should be distinctly understood that the "Master Mason" was then unaccompanied by any secret mode of re-

EA RL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR V.

ception, such as, in

modern

parlance,

would be

styled a degree.

By the

expression " Mastei

to

Mason," was

signified, in those days, a

duly passed apprentice

who was competent

There were but two

unthe

dertake work on his

title

own

account, and a gentleman (or gcomatic) mason, upon

sense.

whom

was bestowed in an honorary or complimentary

viz.,

classes

noted in the rules of 1670,

master masons and apprentices, the former being somethose

times described as fellow-crafts,

i.e.,

who had

served their lawful time as apprentices.

Throughout the

entire series of records of the Scottish lodges, of

an

earlier date

than the

on the making eighteenth century, there is ^r acknowledging of master masons, whilst, on the contrary, there are several entries which strengthen the belief that this title simply denoted promotion or dignity, and that it could not have implied a participation in a secret knowledge, with which if we are guided by
not a single reference to any separate ceremony

no Scottish mason of that period was ever conversant. some leading members of the fraternity, it is contended that the fact
the evidence

am

aware

that,

by

of

many lodge

records

being silent as to the exact date

when

the three existing degrees were introduced or prac-

tised, furnishes, negatively at least,

some evidence that they were worked prior to the forthis view, resting,
it

mation of grand lodges

days, the occasions

in

England and Scotland;

first

would seem, upon

fail to

a supposition that, had not ceremonies akin to the present ones been in vogue in those early

upon which the innovations

took place could not

have been

recorded by some scrupulous clerk of one or more of the old lodges whose minutes have

come down
these were

to us.

Now, what does such an argument amount to?

all

Are we

to

assume from

the uniform silence of

ancient masonic records with regard to the three degrees, that

veil of secrecy,
it

worked under an impenetrable

?

lay concealed

By

a similar process of reasoning

behind which their very existence would be quite easy to establish the

antiquity ot

all

those degrees

knownio be

of

modern

construction, such as the Royal

'

Arch

the Masonic Knights Templars, and others too numerous to mention;

necessary to reject the testimony of the actual minutes of

though it would be these old lodges, which clearly

demonstrates the impossibility of there being a separate and secret ceremony at the admission of a Master.
It is satisfactory to find, in a

point of so

much

importance, that the opinions of experts

mainly incline in the sjxme direction toward which we are led by the evidence. Hughan and Lyon, both authors of repute and diligent students of masonic records, whose familiar
acquaintance with the details of lodge history
is

unsurpassed, concur in the belief that there

we now understand them) known to the early members of the fraternity, the separate ceremonies or modes of reception, incidental to the more modern system, having (they contend) been introduced by those members of the society who, in 1716-17, founded the premier Grand Lodge of the World.' Hughan states emphatiwere no masonic degrees
(as

need not multiply such instances, but one occurs to me that can easily be tested. Some of the old minute-books of the last century never once allude to a Grand Lodge or to the masonic degrees. Are we then to conclude that the lodges whose proceedings they record were subordinate to a Grand Lodge, because the latter is nowhere referred to which is about the same as believing in
'

three degrees, from the circumstance that their existence

is

never even remotely hinted at?

If

we

do, the error is easily proved, because they never joined a Grand Lodge at aU. ' Findol observes: " There was but one degree of initiation in the year 1717; the degrees or

grades of apprentice, fellow and master, were introduced about the year 1720" (History of Freemasonry, p. 150). Against this, however, must be arrayed the higher authority of the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, who argues with great ability in support of a tri-gradal system, analogous to, if not
identical with, the present

arrangement of degrees, having prevailed long before the date which

52
cally that

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR V.

'

" no records mention the degree of a master mason before the second decade of the List century," and Lyon, in the same chapter of his History of Freemasory where this dictum is cited, points out that " the connection which more or loss subsisted between the Scottish Lodges and Societies of Incorporated Masons, whose province it was, as by law
established, to

admit to the privileges of mastership within their several jurisdictions

accounts for the former confining themselves to entering apprentices and passing fellowcrafts.

The

increase of theoretical craftsmen neutralized ojjerative influence in the

Lodge

of Edinburgh,

and eventually led

it

to discard its ancient formula for that

which had been

prescription

concocted by the English speculatives in 1717."

"The

institution of the third degree,"

he continues, "was an expansion of this system of Freemasonry."

of the master

The

mason's essay lay with the "Incorporation" as

respects

Edinburgh,

and, according to Lyon, the same rule was

observed by other incorporations, these,

and not the

master

old

lodges, having the

power to make or constitute the fellow-crafts as

were

masons.

Now,

as

these incorporations

composed
it

of

many

different

trades united for purjioses of general trade legislation,

follows that there could not

have been any esoteric masonic ceremony at the admission of such masters, because
the court was of so mixed a character, and not exclusively masonic.
clerks and the brethren generally of these old lodges were not very

Furthermore, the

reticent as to the fact

of there being a secret ceremonial at the reception of apprentices, though they were so

laudably faithful to their trust that no one can now say precisely of what the secret or The " masonic word " is frequently mentioned, and, as we have seen, a secrets consisted.
grip
as
is

also alluded to,

but only and always in connection with the apprentices.

Therefore,

it is

evident that the Freemasons of old had no objection to declare publicly that they
secret

had a

word, which was entrusted to apprentices on their solemnly swearing not to

it

improperly divulge

the entire absence

of any allusion whatever to words or secrets im-

parted at the passing of fellow-crafts or the admission of master masons

is

conclusive, to

my

mind, that no such degrees, in the sense we now understand that term, existed. Moreover, apprentices could be present at all meetings of the lodge; and there is no minute of
their exclusion

on the occasion of a higher degree being conferred, in any of the Scottish

records, until after the formation of the

Grand Lodge of Scotland (1736)." Passing from the subject of degrees, to which I shall again revert at greater length, let Thus us continue to examine what the old records do, rather than what they do not say. pursuing the inquiry on these lines, I have next to bring before my readers the " Measson Charter," which immediately follows the " Lawes and Statutes" of a. D. 1670. Originally " and is numbered this version of the " Old Charges " was " in the hinder end of the Book;
'

eighteen in

my

list

of these old

and valuable documents.

is

As

already explained, the text

presents no features of variety, and the manuscript

chiefly noticeable

the terminal clauses

common

to the generality of these documents.

from the absence of The " Mason Charter,"

at the entry of each

as well as the regulations contained in the

mark book, were read

has been arbitrarily assigned (1717) as marking the era of transition from operative to speculative masonry. Mr. Woodford's argument will be fully examined in a later chapter.

Lodge of Edinburgh, chap, xxii., pp. 309, 311. The minute of November 33, 1759, records the facts that on the brethren resolving themselves into a Fellow-craft's Lodge, and then into a Master's Lodge,' the entered apprentices were put out,' an act indicative of the formal obliteration of an ancient landmark, and the rupture of one of the few remaining linlcs uniting Operative with Symbolical Masonry " (History of ^ Ante, chap, ii., p. 66. the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 76).
"

Historj' of the

'

Lyon

observes: "

'

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR V.

apprentice.

53
if

At

least this practice

was rigorously enjoined, though,

strictly carried out,

affair,

the ceremonial of reception in those days must have been rather a protracted
very
little practical

and of

benefit to the parties chiefly concerned,

who

could have carried away

but a faint recollection of the curious traditions and quaint customs which were rehearsed
to them.

Attention has already been called to the remarkable fact that all Scottish versions of the " Old Charges " are of English origin. It is difficult to explain such a strange circumstance,
'

but the

fact, as I

venture to term

it, is

abundantly confirmed, though in most other respects

the Scottish craft was both independent and original

its

especially in the scope and intent of

Freemasonry
in the

laws and customs

until

its

acceptance of the modern system of

third or fourth decade of the last century.

Next

in order

we have the general laws

of the crafts in Aberdeen,

which are similar in

viz.,

many
These

points to those entered in the minutes of the

will

Lodge

of Atcheson-IIaven of a. d. 1G36.

be found to confirm the view which has been previously advanced,

that the

prefix_/Vee, or in other

words the freedom of the

crafts, constituted their rights to certain

privileges, the
full in

have,

" unprivileged companies" being denied these liberties. They are given in the appendices from the transcript made by Mr. Jamieson for Mr. Ilughan, and believe, never before been published iw extenso.
be convenient to next consider the special feature of the Aberdeen records, upon my statement of there having been a speculative ascendency so early as a. n. 1670.
I

It will

which

rests

Here, perhaps,

may be

allowed to explain that the word speculative

(1.)

is

used by me, when

to tools, as re-

applied to persons, as

meaning
I

a non-operative, and

(2.)

when applied
of labor.
I

ferring to moral symbolism

tion there
is

drawn from operative implements

In this interpreta-

nothing,

assume, either strained or unusual, but

attached by

am

anxious that in

my

review of speculative freemasonry in the seventeenth century there

may be no
list

possible

misapprehension of the meaning which

I

is

me

to that expression.

much

regret

my

inability to present in facsimile the

remarkable

of

members

of

the Lodge

in 1670, being the period, I imagine, of its reconstitution.

.James Anderson,

the clerk (No. 11 on the Register), was by trade a glazier, and styles himself " Measson

and Wreatter of

this

Book."

The

initial letters

of the Christian

and surnames,

especially

the former, are rather elaborately sketched, and great care was taken to render the calligraphy

worthy of the occasion.

a lapse of

Anderson succeeded
centuries, the

in this respect, for the list is easily read after

more than two

save in two instances,

enduring

monment

of

names being very legibly written, and after each, The list was intended to exist for ever as an is the masonic mark.' the "authoires of the Book," though no objection appears to have
these I shall give, with the roll of members, in

been raised to the practice of supplementing the information contained in the original
register

by occasional interlineations;

crotchets;

some are dated, and others

not.

Ante, p. 92. As this is a point of considerable importance, I take the opportunity of stating that the View expressed in the text is sustained by the opinions of two Masonic writers, who, in tlie " Historj' of the Lodge of Edinburgli " and in the " Old Charges of British Freemasons " respectively,
'

have established a clear right to speak with authority upon a question which must be mainly decided by referring to the excellent works for which they are responsible. ' For these marks, which have not previously been pubUshed, I am indebted to W. J. Hughan.

54

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

HE NAMES
:

T
1.

of

us all
: :

OF THIS
:

who are the Authoires of and Subscryuers: Book Ix order as followeth. 16 70.
: : : :
:

Harrie Elphingston: Tutor of Airth:

Collector of the Kinges Aberdeiii: Measson: and:

19.

Allexander

Patterson,

Ar-

Customes of

of our Honourable Aherdein.

2.
:

Master Lodge of Vf>>

:

ni(turer:and: Measson. [A7)d m^ of our lodge in the year of

^^
^. 1^^

yK

God 1690+1692-1-1698.]
20.

Alexander Charlls

Alexander: Charles,
James
:

Yonger'',
:
:

Wrighte and: Measson: and Master of our {0 ' Lodge.

:

Glassier: and: Measson.

3.

William

Kempte

Measson.

V^
SB

4.

James: Crombie:

Jt/eassow.
:

King Wrighte and Measson: and: Tlieassvrer of our Lodge. 22. Maister Georg Liddell, Professor of Mathematickes.
21.
:
: :

23

J^

23.
24.

Mr Alex" Walter
:

lRuiNG:i/ert.s>ow.

5.

William Mackleud Measson and Warden: of: our Lodge. *^k [ William M'Leod.^
Patrick: Steuison: J/eassow.
[Patrick Stevison.}

^^

Piriuige Simpson Macker: and: Measson.

:
:

'^^
Is ^_^

6.

A
^|^r

25.

William: RicKARD:^e?-c/H^;? cf Measson and Treassurer of

:

our: Lodg.
7.

John Roland:
of:

Measson: and Warden:

our: Lodge.

And y fi?-st
8.

Warden of our Lodge: **

Rotiald.']

26. 27.

Thomas Walker
:

Wright and:
:

Measson.

^& ^
|^ Pr"

[VbA

^^
-*

John Sheen Merchand

:

and

Measson.
28.

Dauid Murray:

Measson.

David Murray, Key Master, 1 686- llf

7rtH(/8.]
9.

John: Craurie: Merchatid: and

Measson.

a 3C

[David Murray in 1693 Master. ] John Caddell: Measson. nAir

[John Cadell.]

29.

William :YouNGSON:CAyrMr^eow
ami: Measson.

10.

William

Georg

Smith

and
our:

Measson: and Maister: Lodge. [W. George.]

11.
:

of:

James: Anderson: Glassier Measson and Wreatter of thisO^

Jk '^ and ^^

W m
^k

30.

JoHN:THOMSON:CAyrMr^eow:aH(^
Measson.

^ %4
^
hf
ic

31.

Earle:

of:

Dunfermline, Meas[1679.]
Ji/eassoH.

son. 32.
33.

g^

[And
12.

Book, 1670. J^ Master of our Lodge in if year of God 168S and 1694.]
:

Earle: of Errolle:

John

Montgomrie
of:

Measson

3omi:G:RX\:Younger:of Ghrichie ^L^ and Measson. Jl

and Warden:
13.

our: Lodge.
:

iW
:

34. 35.

The

Earle

of

Findlator

Measson.
14.
15.

W ^
j|gK

Mr Georg:
Fyvie:
son.

SEATTON:J/"mjs^e;- o/
:

TT

and Measson. Georg: Rait of: Mideple

[1679.]
:

Meas-

^
'f

The: Lord: PiTSLiGO:Jfeassow.

Macker: and: Measson.

36. 37.

John Forbes Merchand and

:

George: CATTANEUCH:Pt>mi^e: ^A.

Measson.

^R ^^
jl^

^S^

Georg

Gray

Wrighte

and
:

Measson.
38.

16.
17.

John: Barnett:

i/eas6o.

John Duggade
Measson.

Sklaiter

and,

[1677.]

'^
Al

Mr William: Frasser:
of:

Minister:

Slaines:

and Measson.
and: Measson.

f
A.

39.

Robert: Gordon: Garde: Macker :^S^ "

and Measson.

18.

Mr Georg: Alexander: Aduncat

in; edinburghe:

40.

Patrick: NoKRiE:i/erc/taw(f:aj^
Measson.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

4\.

55
:

James

Lumesden
Cowie
:

Mercliand

46.

Patrick

Mathewson

Sklaiter

and

and: Measson.

John
43
44.

Merchand and

Theassurer of our Lodge.

m
:

Measson. [Patrick Matkezvson.l

47.

John: Burnet:

il/erts.ww.

[John llur7wt.]
48.

^g
'^fc

Allexanuek
David
:

Moore

Hook
:

Mucker: and: Meatsson.

William: Donaldson Merchand:

:

^ftr

Achterlounie
:

Merchand
:

and: Measson.
49.

and: Measson.
45.

Mr Georg
" So endes

Iruing

Measson

and: Preacher.
y^

Alexander Forbes
:

Sklaiter

and: Measson.

tHi

names
till

of us all wlio are the Authoires off this

in order, according

age);

so

wee intreat

all

Book and ye meassonis hox our ages, as wee wer made fellow craft (from qth wee reckon our our good successores in y*" measson craft to follow our Eule as yo''

patternes and not to stryve for place, for

lieir ye may sie above wr" and amongst y rest our names, persones of a meane degree insrt be for great persones of qualitie. Memento yer is no entered prentises insrt amongst us who are y Authoires of yis book. And therefor wee

ordaine

all our successoires in y** measson craft not to Insrt any entered prenteise until he be past as fellow craft, and lykwayes wee ordaine all our successores, both entered prenteises

and fellow
for
it till

crafts, to

pay

in to

y''

box ane rex dollar

at yer receaving, or

ane sufficient caut"

a day by and attour

y""

composif.

Wee ordaine

lykwayes y"

y"

measson charter be

read at

y'=

entering of everie entered prenteise, and y

whoU Lawes

of yis book, yee shall

fynd

y" charter in j"

hinder end of yis book.

Fare weel."

The names

of the

Entered Prenteises

<

56
of the

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

marks not being
registered.
is

I notice,

however, that the mark of William Kempte,

No.

3 of

the "Authoires,"

the same as follows another of that name,

who

is

the thirty-

third of the "Successors."

No. 29

of

"Alexander Kempte," No. 13, and ''Allex'- Kempt, Elder," the " Successors," have each the same mark, but " Alex^ Kempt Yo'"," No. 32,

chose quite a different one.

The marks

are composed sometimes of even,

initials of

and

at others, of

odd points, several being made up of the

grams.

the Christian and surnames, as mono-

Some

represent an equilateral triangle, one or two being used to furnish a single

to as

mark, but in the forty-seven marks attached

are exactly alike.
(or master masons),

many names

in the first roll,

no two

It will be noted that the apprentices liad similar

marks

to the craftsmen

and that on

their being

promoted

to a higher grade the

same marks
it

continued

to be

used; yet, until this was pointed out by

Hughan some

years ago,

was

generally believed that marks were conferred on Fellow-Crafts only, a fallacy which the

Aberdeen records effectually dispel. Amongst the " Successors" the speculative element was still represented, the fourth in order being " Alexander Whyt, merchand," the fifth " Thomas Lushington, merchand in London," the seventh " Patrick AVliyt, bookmaker and measson," and the eighth " George

and measson," the mark of the latter being a pair of scissors or shears! The any notice of past rank, for whether the member served as warden or master, the fact is recorded by the name of the office only, and each list is made to read as if there were several wardens and masters at the same time. It may be,
Gordon,
taylior

clerk appears never to have taken

that owing to the predominance of the speculative element, the same care was not observed,
as time rolled on, in registering the

for them, as with the operatives.

marks of However

this section, there not this

being the same need

may

be, the later registers are not so

complete as those of 1670, and

it is

just possible that the operatives

kept a separate mark

book for themselves soon after the period of the reconstitution of the lodge.

In 1781 the

bulk of the operatives left the old lodge, taking their mark book with them, and established Since the " Operative Lodge," No. 150, on the register of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
then, as
its

am

informed, the senior Lodge of Aberdeen has ceased to register the marks of
to

members, a circumstance

be regretted, as such an ancient custom was well worthy of

list

preservation.

Reverting, however, to the register of a.d. 1670, what a remarkable

of

members it discloses to our view! If, more than two centuries ago the singular intermixture of speculatives with operatives at a date, it must be recollected, preceding by nearly fifty years the assembly of the four London lodges (1717), whence it has become the fashion to trace the origin of speculative masonry, amply confirms the opening words of the current chapter, wherein I have
in tion

moreover, we bear

mind the period

of its compila-

ventured to

assert, that

the true sources of masonic history have been strangely neglected.

In the opinion of Mr. Jamieson eight only of the forty-nine members described as " authors " and " subscribers " were operative masons. My own examination of the record had led to the conclusion that about twelve of the brethren fall within that definition, but I am quite willing to accept the dictum of one so much better qualified by local knowledge to

determine this point.

a tutor and

collector of the customs,

Of the number, whatever it may be, the master for the year 1650 was and enjoyed the distinction of presiding (in the lodge)
three
ministers,

over four noblemen,

merchants, two surgeons, two glaziers, armorer, four carpenters, and several gentlemen, besides eight or more masons, and a fewother tradesmen.

an advocate, a professor of mathematics, nine a smith, three slaters, two peruke makers, an

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

If

5;

what we have been considering does not amount to "speculative" Freemasonry, I, by whom the proofs I have adduced are insufficient to sustain my contention. deemed It may, indeed, be urged that the register
for one, should despair of ever satisfying those

was not written

in 1670;

but the objection

will carry

no weight, there being abundant

Furthermore, the
all

in-

ternal evidence to confirm the antiquity of the document.

style of callig-

raphy and orthography, and the declaration of the penman,

record was compiled in the year named, and that
of the
it is

confirm the fact that the

a bona fide register of the

members

Lodge of Aberdeen for 1670. The noblemen who were enrolled as fellow-crafts or master masons at the period of reconstitution were the Earls of Findlater, Dunfermline,
and Erroll, and Lord Pitsligo. The only member of the lodge, in 1670, whose death can be recorded with any certainty, was, according to Mr. Jamieson, Gilbert, Earl of Erroll,

who

died at an advanced age in 1674, and, therefore, in

all

probability

must have joined

was

the craft
these

many

years previously.

few rays of light have been cast upon the careers of

of Erroll succeeded to the title in 1638,
for the rescue of Charles
I.

noblemen by Mr. Lyon.'

The Earl

colonel of horse in the " unhappie

of the Parliamentarians,

engagement "

from the hands

and subsequently raised a regiment

for the service of Charles II.

Charles, second Earl of Dunfermline, succeeded his father in 1623,

High Commissioner

to the General

and was the Lord Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland in 1642. He was at

Newcastle with Charles I. in 1642; but, after the execution of that unfortunate monarch, went abroad, returning with Charles II. in 1650. At the Restoration he was appointed an Alexander, third Lord Forbes extraordinary Lord of Session and Keeper of the Privy Seal.
of Pitsligo, died in 1691.

He was

great-grandfather of Sir William Forbes, Grand Master

Mason
It

of Scotland in 1776-77.

James, third Earl of Findlater, died in 1711.

His lordship

was a firm supporter in parliament of the Treaty of Union.

may be

safely

assumed that as the Lodge of Aberdeen was, doubtless, in

its

inception^

a purely operative body,

many

years must have elapsed, prior to 1670, before such a prepossible; for, unless the

dominance of the speculative element would have been

section of the

" Domatic ''

from those

Aberdeen Lodge was actuated by sentiments

differing widely

which prevailed in other masonic bodies of a corresponding period, the admission of

perhaps, representatives of the nobility and gentry must have been viewed, certainly, in the first instance, Hence the introduction of members of other trades could not have with extreme disfavor. been very rapidly effected; and though, unfortunately, we literally have nothing to guide

members not

of their

own

class, except,

of the immediate neighborhood,

us in forming an opinion of the internal character of this lodge in the sixteenth century,
yet,

on the

safe

assumption that

human

nature

is

very

much

the siime everywhere,

it

is

more
'

than probable that the operative masons were but slowly reconciled to the expediency

'^

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgli, p. 423. According to Lyon, the operative and speculative elements into wliich the old Scottish lodges
in

became distinguished by finer shades of expression. Thus the was held to comprise "Domatic" masons only; and the latter "Gentlemen" masons, "Theorical" masons, "Geomatic" masons, "Architect" masons, and " Honorary members." In the view of the same writer, " Domatic" is derived from the Latin and " Geomatic," from the Greek yea, the land or soil, the former of these adjecd<yrmis. a house tives signifying "belonging to a house," and the latter having special reference to "landed proprieBut the last-named title, whatever tors, men in some way or other connected with agriculture." may have been its origin, was ultimately applied "to all Freemasons who were not practical
were divided,

common

parlance,

former, consisting of actual handicraftsmen,

masons " (History

of the

Lodge

of

Edinburgh,

p. 82).

58
of such an

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

innovation

or,

as the parties affected

might have termed

of
distinct

it,

invasion
of

as

allowing themselves to be outnumbered by

crafts.

members

and possibly

rival

Neither can

it

be supposed that the " Geomatic" masons, who, as we have seen, con-

stituted the larger section of the lodge in 1670, were the first of their

kind admitted to

membership which, indeed, would be tantamount to believing that the lodge was suddenly " flooded " with the speculative element. Upon the whole, perhaps, we shall be safe in
concluding that the character of the lodge had been for
as

many

years very

much

the same

we

find

it

revealed by the early documents which have passed under review;

precise measure of antiquity to

which

it

is

entitled, as a

but the body practising to any extent a

speculative science, cannot, with any approach to accuracy, be even approximately de-

termined.

'

One

of the operative

members, John Montgomery (No.

12), a

warden

in

1686, con-

tracted with the magistrates for the building of the present " Cross," which is an ornament With rare exceptions, from 1670, the master has to the " brave toun " and good old city.

been elected from the gentlemen or " Geomatic " masons; the senior warden being usually " In 1700 the brethren purchosen from the " Domatic " or operative element until 1840.
chased the croft of Footismyre, on which they built a house and held their lodge meetings,

when, owing

to the

number

of

noblemen and gentlemen

in

town and country who were

the place became too small

admitted members, together with other professions and

tra^les,

and inconvenient," ' and a change was rendered necessary. Kenneth Fraser, who was warden 1696-1708, and master in 1709 (So. 5 of the apprenIn 1688 he took do-mi the bells from the tices, 1670,) was the " king's master mason."
great steeple of the cathedral of St. Machar.

According to Lyon, there

is

a hiatus in the
entered in

records between 1670 and 1696, in which latter year the election of

officials is

the minutes.

Two wardens were appointed

The
is

until 1700,

when

the "

first

" (or senior warden)

was discontinued.

old custom of having two wardens was resumed in 1737.

and wardens from 1696, but mark book of 1670. Many of the "Aitthoires" held office in the lodge, and not a few occupied the chief chair for many consecutive years, their names also occurring as wardens. The second volume constitutes the " apprentice " minute-book, and contains nndoubted
In the by-laws of the lodge of 1853
a
list

of the masters

an earlier one might be compiled from the notes subsequently inserted in the

records from 1696 to 1779, but

it is

probable that some of the admissions date from 1670.

The may

elections are in one part of the book,

and the

entries in another.

The

following

serve as a sample of these minutes:

"Aberdeine Massone Lodge

Election 1696.

Att Aberdeine, the 27 of December, being

St.

John's Day, 1696, the Hon'* Lodge bein^

convened hes unanimusly choysen

James Marky, JIaister. John Ronald, , , \ wardens. ^ ,, _, Keneth Fraser,

) )

William Thomsone, Theasurer

Alex. Patersone and Geo. Gordone,
'

Key

:Masters."

tiieir

In the opinion of a liigh authority (Hughan), the Lodge of Aberdeen may reasonably claim for mixed constitution of 1670, an ancestry of at least a century earlier, and possibly long-er.

Aberdeenshire Masonic Reporter, 1879, pp.

18. 19.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

Another minute
of Tulloch,

59

"Aberdeine, reads
lies

the twentie-sext of July 1701, the ITonourable

Lodge being conveined,

Merch'

uiiaiiimousiie received, admitted,

and sworne, William Forbes and oblieges him to pay

to

in Aberdeine, a brother in our fraternitie,

the theasurer yierly twelve shillings (Scots) for the poor, as witness our hands, day and
place forsaid, &c.
.. r7
(

Pairkk Whyt, Mr.

William Forbes."
it

^'3^"^
\

There are numerous entries

difference in the

of apprentices so

and

if

bound

to their fathers

form

but as they are

much

alike,

one example

will suffice

" Aberunaniall

made no

deine, the third day

November

1701, the Honorable

Lodge being conveined,

printise to
the points obliedges

lies

mouslie Received and admitted John

Kempt

brother and
and by

Alexander Kempt,

Younger
yierlie,

entered

printise in our fraternitie,

(if

him during
in

the days of his lyf tyme

able) to pay the

Theasurer of the Massone Lodge

Aberdeine

twelve shillings Scots

forsaid.

money

for behoof of the said Lodge, as witnesseth our hands,

day and place

Signed, John Kempt."

On February

11, 1706,

Ensign George Seatone was made a " brother in our fraternitie,"

and on July 18, WUliam Thomsone (younger), " a sklaiter, was received a masotme brother." Throughout the records, apart from the " Measson Charter" of which the spirit rather than the letter was accepted as a rule of guidance there is not a single reference to the " perfect limb " legislation, which, of late years, has been so much insisted upon in American

Freemasonry; and we

shall vainly search in the records of those early times for a full

specification of the ttventy-five

" Landmarks," which modern research pronounces

15, 1715, describing five apprentices as

to be

both

ancient and unalterable.

From

entries of

December

"lawfull" sons,

it

may, perhaps, be inferred that candidates not

marriage,

bom
is,

in

wedlock would have been

ineligible,

though, as the stigma of illegitimacy was, and

it

removable in Scotland by subsequent

Apprentices were sworn not to

seems

to

me

improbable that the status of a bastard, in that country, entailed

it

the same disabilities as were attached to

in

England.

engage in any work above 10 Scots money, under the penalty that the lodge should
impose, but they were freed from such a rigid rule on becoming fellow-crafts.
contributions then were
Is.

The annual

sterling for operatives,

and double that sum

for gentlemen,

to the use of the poor. Small as these sums were, the early period must be considered; but though insignificant now to English ears, they cannot be so to many of the Scottish fraternity, as some lodges still decline to impose any annual contributions whatever upon their members. The following minute possesses some interesting features "Att the Measson Hall of aberdein, 20 of December 1709, the honorable lodge thereof being lawfullie called and con-

the

money being devoted

of their assessment

veined to settle ane compositione upon those

lodge of aberdeine, and
said lodge shall
trie,
all

who

shallbe entered prenteises in our forsaid

unanimouslie agreed that the meassones prenteises within the

pay for the Benefit of the measson word twelfe poundes Scots at ther enall

yr.

to,

with

necessarie dewes to the clerke

and

officer,

with founding pynt and

Cf. Mackey, Encyclopasdia, s.t'. ; American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry, vol. ii., p. 230; Kingston Masonic Annual, 1871, p. 20 and Masonic Review, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 1876. Of the Ancient Landmarks it has been observed, with more or less foundation of truth: " Nobody knows
'

what they comprise or omit they ai-e of no earthly authority, because everything is a landmark when an opponent desires to silence you, but nothing is a landmark that stands in his own way "
;

(Freemasons' Magazine, February 25, 1865,

p. 139).

'

6o
dinner, and
all

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

those
is

who

shall

be entered in onr Lodge,

who hath not

served their pren-

teishipe therein
this act
is

to pay sixtein

pounds

Scots, with all

to stand

ad futurem

re

memoriam.

dues conforme as aforesaid, and In witness whereof wee, the Maister and Warthir presents with our hands,

den and Maisters of and dait forsaid."

this honorable

Lodge have signed

day

On November

15, 1717,

" George Gordon, Master

this fraternity,"

of aritlinietick in Aberdein, (was)

unanimously admitted a member of

and with

this

minute

propose to

and execution of the " Essays" or " masterpieces," as necessiiry to obtain full membership, are, as may be expected, frequently referred to, the only marvel being that the custom was continued for so
setting
as

terminate, for the present, extracts from these records.

The

many years after the lodge joined the Grand Lodge of Scotland. we have seen, were common to all, or nearly all trades, though,

Essays or masterpieces,
in general

ing from the later Freemasons

speculative science.

demanding

here differ'

In the year 1584 the cutler's

knowledge of operative, rather than of essay was " a plain finished quhawzear."

The
iron,

blacksmith's masterpiece consisted of " ane door cruick, and door band, ane spaid

ane schoile iron, and horse shoe and

six nails thereto;" the locksmith's being

" with

consent of the blacksmith's, two kist-locks."

Upon March
was pleased

31, 1657,

Mr. Charles Smith, advocate, was admitted a blacksmith, and

of essay,

to produce,

by way

" the portrait

^

of a horse's leg, shoed with a silver

shoe, fixed with three nails, with a silver staple at the other

end thereof, which was found

rigid upholders of the

to be a qualified

and well-wrought

essay. "

The

novelty of the examination probably

tended to ease the consciences of some of the old school,

who were

" ancient landmark " theory; and as the prescription of such an essay for an operative blacksmith would have been as useless as demanding the customary masterpiece of the trade from a candidate for speculative membership, in this particular instance the class rivalries
were well balanced.

" In 1673,"
I

says Mr, Little, "

James Innes was admitted a freemason on

this occasion, neither

his application.

sorry to say I can find " admission.

Sir

am

no essay on

can

I trace

the cause of his

11, 1679, and on March 25, 1746, the freedom was conferred on William, Duke of Cumberland. As H.E.H. was similarly admitted to the freedom of all the corporations within the city, Mr. Little suggests that the victory at Culloden must be considered as his essay!

George Mackenzie of Eosehaugh was admitted a freeman on January

In a later portion of this work

I shall call attention to

the benefit fund connected with

the lodge, which has experienced the vicissitudes of good and bad fortune; but before passing

from the subject,

may be
who

permitted to express a hope, which will be shared by

many
will

students of the craft, that ere long a complete history of the " Aberdeen
written by some one
records.
'

Lodge"

be

rightly

comprehends the extraordinary character

of its ancient

Observations on the

Hammermen

of

Edinburgh, by

W.

C. Little of Libberton, Esq. (Archjeoloi.,

gia Scotica
170-175).
''

Transactions

of tlie Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburg-ii, 1793, vol.

pp.

Ibid.

Mr. Soane observes

for
his

are so no longer.

myth, and and typify

" If Masons and Freemasons were at any time the same thing they Whatever, therefore, the Freemason retains of the workman's occupation is a mere any useful or intelligible purpose, he might as well wear the apron of a blacksmith, morals by a horseshoe " (New Curiosities of Literature, 1847, vol. ii., p. 38).
:

'Archteologia Scotica, 1793, vol.

i.,

p. 175.

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

"Ancient Lodge," Dundee, No.
49.

6i

On May 2, 1745, this lodge received what in modern phraseology wc should term a " warrant of confirmation," and was numbered 54 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The precise measure of antiquity, however, to which it can lay claim, upon the authority of this instrument, there is some difficulty in accurately defining. If the veracity of the petition which led to the charter is duly vouched for, I must either disregard the semi-judicial opinion of the highest tribunal commanding the confidence of Scottish masons, or forthwith apply myself to rewrite this history of Freemasonry. For example, the petitioners declare "they [their predecessors], in prosecution of the Art, had
probably charters, and were erected into a lodge of more ancient date than the petitioners

knew

of,

but under the reign of David the First of Scotland, and Malcolm the Fourth, and

William the Lyon, his sons, kings of Scotland.

About the year 1160, David, Earl of

Huntingdon, a younger son of King David, did arrive in Dundee from the Holy Warr, erected a Lodge there, procured them charters, and was himself their Master.
.
.

That this Lodge was in town by General Monk

with

virtue of their rights continued

in

down

to the fatal storming of the

many

other valuable things, were

September 1651, when all the rights and charters of this Lodge, lost and destroyed; and that ever since tliat time
!

they had been in use of continuing the said Lodge, and to enter apprentices, pass fellows
of craft,

and

raise master

masons therein

"
in

There was a convention of lodges called

of Edinburgh, that

January 1600 at

St.

Andrews, apparently
minutes of the Lodge

by order of the warden-general, at which, as the notice appears body was doubtless charged
St. Clair

in the

to attend,

and

also the lodge at St.

Andrews,
of

and "

tiie

Maisteris of Dindie and Perth be alsu warnit to convene."

The Lodge
all

Dundee

was likewise a party to

Charter, No. 2 (1G2S), which body, in

probability, at

that time represented "

Our Lady Luge of Dunde," referred to in an indenture of March This elaborate document is given in the " Registrum Episcopus Brechinensis."' 23, 1536. The agreement was made between the provost, council, etc., and the kirkmaster on the one part, and George Boiss, " masoun," on the other part, the latter engaging to " exerceiss
the best and maist ingenouss poyntis and prackis of his craft," in working either upon the
kirk, or about the town,

yearly for

liis

lifetime the

" at the command of the masteris of werkis," who was to pay him sum of 24 " usuale money of Scotland," in half quarterly
work, or " for any uther

portions, but should the said George be engaged about the king's

ad inferim. likewise to be paid in the case of illness, should such last for forty consecutive days, but not beyond that time, until work was resumed. The mason was to be allowed an apprentice " fra vii yeris to vii yeris,"
Lordis or gentilmenis," then the
to cease

money

and

as the time of one wore out he

was to take another, each apprentice

sail

to

be received

'

at the

sieht of the maisteris of werkis,"

and " he
is

mak

tliaim/V'c without

any fee the

first

yer

of thair interes."

All this was declared to be according to the use of " our lady Inge of

Dunde," which Lyon points out

lowing the name of a
saint, viz.,

the earliest authentic instance of a Scottish lodge

fol-

"Our Lady
laid

hours of work are most explicitly

schankis,"
desirable.
'

The i.e., St. Mary's^Luge of Dundee."^ down, and an allowance of " ane half hour to his none
the shortness of the days rendered the latter un-

save at certain times,

when

This indenture was signed and witnessed by several parties and by George Boiss,
p. 36.
'

'

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

Ihhl.

'

Ante,

\>.

347, note 5.

62
with
liis

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

" hand
led at the pen,"

and the document

is

tolerably conclusive of the fact, that

at the period of its execution, in that part of Scotland, to say the least, the term/ree re-

ferred exclusively to the general privileges of the trade.

Lodge of "
It is
sis

St.

Andbevf," Banff, No.

52.

not possible to decide

is

when
The

or

how

this lodge originated.

In Hughan's " Analy-

"
'

mention

made

of its records extending as far back as 1703,

and

traditionally to a

much more remote

wants and customs.
27, 1708, to 1711,

period.
its

third degree was not

an operative lodge, and

records are therefore taken

Hughan

has several facsimiles

entries,

worked until after 1736. It was up with matters appertaining to trade of its minutes, ranging from December
but although
curiosities in their

and particulars of other

way,

they do not demand reproduction here.

The minute book, commencing

it

1703, consists of
Its

one hundred and forty pages, twenty-three of which only have been written on.
is

length

but

six inches,

and

its

breadth scarcely throe inches, so

It
is,

can be easily

imagined that the

records contain nothing superfluous.

indeed, a minute book in miniature.

The

" The masons belonging to the Lodge of Banff," the chief oflBcer being entitled the master, and the second in rank the warden, the box-master of course being one of the officials. The members assembled annually on the fes-

members

of present No. 53 called themselves

tival of St.

John the

Evangelist, and in the early part of the last century, though the

reverse of an opulent body, did a great deal to promote the honor

and usefulness of

the masonic craft.'

Lodge of "St. John Kilwinning," Haddington, No.

Although by the grand secretary
it is

57.

of Scotland this lodge has been traced back to 1599,

first

only numbered 57; but

many

private lodges, through withliolding, in the

instance,

their adhesion

and submission

to the

newly formed governing body,' found, on eventually

"

falling into line," that the positions to

filled

render of their independence, were

which they might have attained by an earlier surby junior organizations which had exercised greater

promptitude in tendering their allegiance.

out of
all

Hence they had

which

to rest satisfied with a position

keeping with their

is

real antiquity.

Laurie affirms, that the oldest record in

sets forth that a lodge

possession of this lodge

of the year 1599,

was opened in

being so
to

GuUane Church (now in illegible. The

'

ruins), but for

what purpose cannot be ascertained, the writing

existence of this old record does not appear to have been

its earliest

known

Lyon, as he declares that

minute

is

dated December 26, 1713, being an entry

of the passing of a feUow-craft.

He

objects to the claim that " St.

a. D. 1599,

an offshoot of the " Lodge of Wark in Northumberland,"

John Kilwinning" is and I entirely concur

In 1726,

with him in so doing, for I have not succeeded in tracing either at that period.

the masons of Tranent bound themselves to attend the yearly meetings of the lodge at Haddington. They have still the " band " given by John Anderson, mason burgess, to the

masonic lodge, dated February

'

2,

1682, in security for 6 Scots, and an interesting contract

13, 1869.

Freemasons' Magazine, 1868; and Freemason, March

''

Banff, in the second half of the eighteenth centui-y, took

up a prominent position

in regard to

Royal Arch and Mark Masoni-y, of which more hereafter.

2

The Grand Lodge

of Scotland, established 1736.

Laurie's History of Freemasonry, 1859, p. 376.

tn

A RL Y BRI TISH FREEMA SONR V.

(on paper) of

63

May

29, 1G9~.

It is

an agreement between the " Masson Lodge of Hadding-

loun and John Crumble," the then deacon of the lodge (viz., Archibald Dauson), acting on behalf of the " remnant massons " thereof. The first condition was that Crumble " shall
not work with, nor in company nor fellowship of any

Cowan at any maner of building nor mas-

son work," and the second recapitulates the usual clauses of an apprentice's indenture of that
period such as the avoidance of contracts, days' wages only being allowed, and G Scots the

maximum
to receive
is

value for work that an apprentice could legally undertake.

ting any or either of the rights and privileges of the lodge was 40 Scots.

The penalty for violaThe deacon agreed

use

and wont."

and support the apprentice. Crumble stipulating to pay the ordinary dues " which The document was to be registered " in any judge's books competent

within this kingdom."

The lodge allowed "

fees of

honor " to be paid on election

to oflBce,

as with other old lodges, 10s. Scots having been charged a brother

on

his

appointment as

warden

in 1723.

" Lodge of
For
all
tlie

St.

John," Kelso, No.

lodge, the craft

58.
is

Vernon
"

of

known details respecting this Kelso. The lodge must have been
'

indebted to Mr.

W.

F.

in active existence long before the earliest

first

date of the minutes which have been happily preserved, for the
of the honorable

opens with an account

Lodge

of Kelso,

under the protection of Saint John, having met and

previous meetings).
Evangelist.

considered

all former

sederunts"

{i.e.,

land assembled on the festival of

St.

John the

The lodges generally in ScotThe Lodge of Edinburgh only

Baptist.

met some
Scotland
lodges.

six times

on June 24, from 1599 to 1T5G, and " Kilwinning" and other lodges

observed their festivals on other days than that of

is

St John the

Indeed so far as

concerned, the
great "

memory

of the latter saint

was much neglected by the ancient

The

High day"

of Freemasonry in Scotland was at or near

is

December

27.

The
*'

first

minut of the lodge at Kelso of December 27, 1701,

in part devoted to a recital

of the by-laws

which were agreed

to at the meeting.

Apprentices were to pay 8 Scots,

of the
It

with their glovs,"

and "all the gentlemen who are \he honorary members

'

comlike-

panie obleidg themselves to pay a crown yearly,"

wise enacted that

to wit,

on

St.

John's Day.

was

when an apprentice he must pay fyv shillins, with new

not

is

registered

"as master

or fellow of the craft, that

gloves, to the soc'ity."

treasurer were entrusted with the disposition of the funds.

The master, warden, and The names of the officers are

mentioned in 1701, but in June 2, 1702, that of the late master is recorded as " George Faa," deceased. This name is well known on the Border, being that of the royal

family of the Gypsy tribe, whose headquarters have been for

situated village of
will

Yetholm, near Kelso.

" The gypsies cam'

To

lovers of

many generations the pleasantlyballads, the name of " Johnie Faa,"

be familiar:
to our g\uA Lord's yett."

The

ballad

commemorates the abduction

of the Countess of Cassillis by Sir

John Faa

of

Dunbar, and his subsequent execution by the enraged Earl. After mature deliberation, the members elected " Sir John Pringall of Stlchell " to be " the honorable master," and the

" Laird
'

of Stothrig" to be

" the worshipful warden."

sum

of

money was voted

to the

History of the Lodge of Kelso (privately printed), 1878. 'The almost universal payment of annual subscriptions by members of the more ancient Scottish lodges is very noteworthy, the more so since of late years the custom has unhappily been allowed to
fall

into abeyance,

much

to the disadvantage of the Scottish craft.

64
widow
period.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

of the late master,

George Faa, and other amounts were presented to her at a

later

thanks of the lodge were voted to those officers for their " prudence and good conduct " and " care and dihgence " respectively. The lodge was both
20, 1704, the

On June
and

operative

speculative, apprentices being regularly entered

There
first

is

a hst of

members

for St. John's Day, 1T05, forty in

and feUows duly number; the names

passed.
in the

column were probably written by the clerk, those in the second column are autographs. Some have curious marks attached to them, and several of the members were persons of distinction, including " Sir John Pringall, Baronet." The " Acks of our Books,"'
referred to in the records, are missing, the earliest kept being those of 1701.
nately,

Unfortufor the
that,

the box was "purged

older documents.

of

all

unesory papers" in 1716, which

resolved on
St.

may account
Day,

absence of

The brethren

John's

1718,

according to the acts of their books, some time was to be spent on that day, in each year,
in

an examination, preparatory to " passing," and only those were to be accepted who

qualified. On the celebration of the festival in 1720, members were prohibited from "entering" any persons save in the place "where the Lodge was founded." The nomination of " Intenders" is not recorded until 1740. The prefix//re is not used until 1741, when the lodge was called " The Society of Free and Accepted Masons," but for some

were found

time previously there had been a gradual alteration going on in the ordinary descriptions
of the business transacted, the

members evidently leaning toward the modern

of Scotland in 1753.

designations,

and ultimately they united with the Grand Lodge

teenth century, or even earlier, and possibly the

It is quite within the limits of probability that the lodge

it

was in existence in the sevenclergyman

''

was the source from which a knowledge of

Tliis Presbyterian

"word" was

derived by the Eev. James Ainslie.

was

laureated at the University of Edinburgh, April 17, 1639, called January 11, and admitted

and

instituted (after being sustained

by the General Assembly) December

trials,
is

jection having been taken because he

9, 1653. Obwas a Freemason, and the neighboring presbj'tery

consulted previous to entering

replied
'

him on

the presbytery of Kelso, February 24, 1652,

that to their

judgment there
this kirke,

neither sinne nor scandale in that word, because,

that

in the purest

tymes of

maisons haveing that word have been ministers;

maisons and

men

haveing that word have been and are daylie in our sessions, and

many

professors haveing that

word are
extract, I

daylie admitted to the ordinances.'

1,

He was
1662."'

deprived by

the Acts of Parliament June 11, and of the Privy Council October

For the preceding

am

indebted to the

Rt^v.

A. T. Grant of Eosslyn, past

grand chaplain of Scotland, the well-known

archaeologist, ivho says,

made
strict

in regard to this case.

The

first is,

that Freemasor ry

" two remarks may be was then held by many of the

to the

Presbyterians as not incompatible with their principles, the fact that Mr. Ainslie was
II.

deposed on the restoration of Charles

tion of the Church.

showing that be belonged

tlian operative

covenanting sec-

The second

is,

that by the solemn declaration of a church court in 1652,

Freemasonry was practised by men other

'

masons before 1600,'

'

the purest

Dr. Hew Scott, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, part ii., " Synods of Merse and Teviotdale, Dumfries and Galloway," p. .506. The Rev. A. T. Grant says: "Dr. Scott g-ives tlie MS. records as his authority, and there can be no doubt that the words he gives are therein contained." ' The impoi-tance of this expression of opinion will become evident if we bear in mind that by the generality of Masonic historians it is distinctly laid down that speculative Freemasonry had its origin in 1717, as the result of a resolution " that pri\-ileges of Masoni-y shoiMiio longer be restricted
to operative masons."
Cf. Preston, Illustrations of

Masonry, 1793,

p.

346; Findel, History of Free-

"

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y.

tymes of
this kirke
'

65
ReformaAs-

to a Presbyterian doubtless being the years subsequent to the

tion of 1560, or at

any rate before the introduction of Episcopacy

is

The

following

from the " Chronicle of Fife:"'

satt

" Ther was

in 1610."

something

(in the

sembly) spoken anent the meason word, which was recommended to the sevenill presbytries
for tryall thereof.

This Assembly

The quotations presented above may throw some

Clarendon as being inferior to no Scotsman in
integrity to the King,
dicates his character,

from the 4 of July to the 6 of August" [1649]. light on a singular passage which

is

to be found in Ayrton's Life of Alexander Henderson.'

" Traquair is represented by wisdom and dexterity, and as one whose

and love for the work in hand, was notorious. Baillie also vinand Hamilton always advised the King to make use of him, notwithand not
to be trusted. ' for

standing his ambition and love of popularity.

colors as
fast
'

a dangerous piece,

and

loose; the bishops

blamed him

But Heylin and others paint him in black Laud complained of Traquair playing giving information to Johnston; and it was a

common

saying at the time that he had the mason's loord

among the

Presbyterians."

Lodge of "
Although the history of
review of
1714,
its

St.

Ninian," Brechin, No.

66.

this lodge has

been briefly sketched by Hughan,* no detailed

ancient records has yet been published.

The

earliest by-laws are of

the year

and were agreed to on the festival of St. John the Evangelist. (1.) "If ane free handy craftsman," the fee for entry was 40s. Scots, but strangers were charged 3 sterling. (3.) None were to be " entered " unless either the master of the lodge, warden, or treasurer were present, " with two free masters and two entered prentices." (4.) No members were " to witness the entry or passing of any person into any other lodge, unless
prentice or
the dues be paid into this lodge."
(5.)

Passing only to take place in the presence of the

(6.)

master, warden, and seven of the members.

"Any man who

shall

come

to

work

within this lodge,

if

not ane free

man

ye"' shall
(8.)

pay into the box the sum of

40s. Scots

mony, with
pay

3s.

and

4d. to the officers."

Joining members from other lodges were to

20s. Scots.

(9.)

"Each measson

shall insert his

mark

in this book,

and

shall

pay

thir-

teen sliillings

moe
for

for

booking their mark."

(10.)

Brethren were to attend on

St.

John's

Day

yearly,

"

commemorating the

said apostle,

our patron, and tutelar saint."

These rules were entered in the minute-book, a.d. 1723:

"We

subscribers, measons,

members

of the honorable fraternity of

Measons of the Lodge of Brechine subscribing,

strictly, to

hereby bind and oblidge, and our successors, duly and

Ordinances and acts

obey and observe the

An "
the 27th

index"

is

of the same. preserved in the " several marks of the haudycrafts and members since

...

in the hail heads, tenor,

and contents

December 1714."

The

lodge submitted to the Grand Lodge in 1756.

The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 139; and Steinbrenner, and Early History of Freemasonry, p. 127. Diary of John Lamont (Chronicle of Fife), 1649-73, p. 9. ' Rev. J. Ayrton Life and Times of Alexander Henderson, introduction, p. 68. 'The Rev. A. T. Grant, to wliom I am indebted for the three references in the text to the mason word, informs me that he remembers, wlieii a boy hearing- people talk mysteriously of the " millers' word and grip," some pereons indeed believing that by the word a miller could arrest the action of p.
nasonrj', p. 130; Fort,

Origin
'

mill-wheel
*

Voice of Masonry, Chicago, U.S.A., July 1872; and Masonic Magazine, London, Oct. VOL. II.

1873.

66

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

Lodge of " Atcheson-Haven
I cordially endorse the statement

" {Extinct).

made by Lyon

that
1
;

the records of this lodge rank

next to those of the Lodge of Edinburgh in point of antiquity.

frequently alludes to
its

That zealous antiquary

and
re-

minutes in his History of No.

it

but, notwithstanding the several

excerpts therein presented,

is

to be regretted that a thorough examination

Its version of

production of
year 1G66

its

records has yet to be made.

I have already noticed.' There was in all but through " wear and tear" it had to be replaced

"Old Charges" of the probability a much older copy in use, at that period. The lodge itself met
the

successively

at

Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Morrison's Haven, Atcheson's Haven, and

Pinkie, and, in conjunction with the Incorporation, regulated the affairs of the

mason
I

trade within those boundaries until the middle of the last century.

Lyon, from

whom

quote, says there was a benefit society, into which Protestants only were admissible, under

the wing of the lodge until 1852,

when

it

was dissolved, and

its

funds, amounting to

about 400, divided amongst

its

members.

There
tolerate

is

no trace

of the third degree being

practised prior to 1769, although the lodge united in forming the

in 1736.

Grand Lodge

of Scotland

The members, however, would not

any interference with their peculiar

was
finally

rules, so they

withdrew their allegiance in the following year, but the lodge was restored

to the roll in 1814, continuing thereon

erased.
thiit

untd 1866, when, becoming dormant,

it

it

In

its

charter, granted

va.

1814 by the Grand Lodge of Scotland,

was

certified
its

the lodge had been in existence from the year 1555, and from the circumstance of
it

being present at the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736,

that precedence should be allowed from that date."
Sir

was resolved
of

Anthony Alexander, master

work

to Charles

I.

(a

member

of

No.

1),

presided in that capacity (and as general warden)

over a meeting of master tradesmen at Falkland, October 31, 1636.

The minutes

of this

assembly are duly engrossed in the

craf tis " of masons,
plasterers, etc.

few pages of the oldest records of "AtchesonHaven," the object of the conference being to repress certain abuses in the " airtis and
first

wrights, shipwrights, coopers, glaziers, painters, plumbers, slaters,

The

suggestions then

1637, which was presided over by Sir

thereof.
It is singular,

made were agreed to by the lodge on January 14, Anthony Alexander, who duly attested the minutes
is

however, that there

no evidence in the minute books of any

the

portion of these regulations ever having been actually in operation in the lodge, and the records are not so

commonly embellished with

marks

of the craftsmen, as in the case

of most other Scottish lodges of a similar antiquity.

It is also

noteworthy that neither the " Schaw Statutes" nor the early records of " Kilinitiation
It is highly probable that the notary elected as clerk

winning" and " Mary's Chapel " show any trace of or make any provision for the
of the clerks.
to the oath of fidelity,

had not only to subscribe

but

also to pass
of),

through the ceremony of admittance as a free-mason

being qualified to act in the lodge requiring his

(whatever that consisted

services.

before

At

all

events, the clerk of

"Atcheson-Haven" Lodge was a mason

in 1636, as

the following quaint certificate appended to the statutes before mentioned recites:
Sir

"We,

Anthony Alex'., general wardin and mr. of work to his Ma'tie, and meassouns of the Ludge of Achieson's Havin undersubscrybeand, haveing experience of the literatour and
understanding, of George Aytoun, notar publick, and ane hrotlier of craft, Thairfor witt
See chap,
passim.
'Laurie's History of Freemasonry, 1859.
p. 186.

'

ii.,

A RLY BRI TISH FREEMA SONR V.

ye UB to have acceptit and admitit, lyke as
said
all

67
and admitt the

we be the termes

heirof accept

George Aytoun and na other, dureing our pleassour, our onlie clerk for discharging of Sir Anthony Alexander was made a mason about two writt, indentures, and others."
'

years before the passing of these statutes, which

may account

for the preference exhibited

towards a brother of the same

craft.

In 1638, the then master of work, Henrie Alexander (brother of his immediate predecessor),

met " ane competent number

only
it

of

meassons of the ludge," who approved of the

is

new
still

acts, elected officers, etc.,

was provided that their clerk

fidelj

to hold office

durmtj
is

vita veil

ad

ctilpam.

The "aithe de

" was administered to each

a custom which

continued in Scotland, though not in England.

The members were much

distressed

at the

number

of brethren so

who ignored

or disobeyed the rules of their " craft of masonry,

and well-ordered laws; " so the foregoing formed they agreed, at the annual meeting on December 27, 1700, part of a long preamble, to have the regulations enforced and respected for the future. The chief grievances were, that apprentices did not qualify themselves to undertake work
which has been
in all ages for its excellent

much honored

when

by passing as fellow-crafts; that craftsmen

who countenanced such

a course virtually

admitted them

to the privileges

which

tliey

only obtained by lawful means, hence such

conduct brought " all law and order and the mason word to contempt;" and that those who Even after did " pass" were not accepted at the regular time, viz., the annual meeting. these efforts, the apprentices were not obedient, so that in 1716 it was enacted that all
such must be passed not later than the third St. John's Day after the expiration of their indentures; and on December 27, 1722, it was resolved that the warden shall, on each

morning of every

St.

John's Day, " try every entered prentis that was entered the
'

St.

John's

Day

before, under the penalty of on

croun

'

to the box."

Lodge of " Haughfoot "

(Extincf).

The history of the Lodge at Haughfoot who is also the historian of the old Lodge of
of the last century

has been carefully written by Mr. Sanderson,

Peebles.

The

records begin in the

first

decade

and terminate

in 1763;

and throughout observe a uniform

silence as to

the third, or master mason's degree. the festival of

St.

The meetings were

first

generally held once a year, on

John the

Evangelist, the officers being the

" Presses"

(or master), clerk,

and

box-master, until 1759,

when a warden was

appointed.

The members

were, for

the most part, gentlemen and tradesmen in the neighborhood, and not necessarily of the " mason's trade; thus, from 1702, it really had a greater claim to be deemed a " speculative

than an " operative " lodge.

On December

22, 1702, Sir

James Scott

of Gala, his brother

Thomas, and

six others,

one being John Pringle, a wright, " were duly admitted apprentices and fellow-crafts;" after which the brethren resolved with one voice to hold their meetings on St. John's Day.

remarkable entry occurs in the early minutes (1702) " Of etitrie as

the apprentice

did

They then whisper the word as before, These words are capable of more than one interpretation, but having regard to the fact that the postulant was already in possession of the word, and that the grip was to be of the ordinary kind, I think we shall not go far astray in concluding tha t they were a direction to the " Master" at the "passing" of "fellows of craft."
leaving out (the
his

common judge).

and the Master grips

hand

in the ordinary

way."

'

These " Actis and Statutis" are reproduced

in Laurie's History of

Freemasonry,

1859, p. 445.

68

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

"

The ceremonial was plainly a " common form

were taught a grip as well as a word.
the Scottish records,
it

but

it

informs us that the Haughfoot masons

There being no similar reference of equal date in

(jrij)

cannot be positively determined that both

and word were comthey were,

municated in the lodges of the seventeenth century.

and, for

It is probable, indeed, tliat

my own

part, I regard the curious entry above cited as indicating that long prior

to the era of

Grand Lodges, the " masonic

secret " comprised

more than a

single

method

of

recognition.

The Laird

of Torsonce

was elected Master in 1705.

In this lodge the

youngest apprentice was called to office, but whether to assume the same duties as those " filled by the " oldest apprentice " in other lodges, I cannot say; as he is termed the " officer

was in part to act as Tyler, according to modern usage. In 1707 it was re" except on special considerations, ane year at least should intervene betwixt any being admitted apprentice and his being entered fellow-craft." On St. John's Day, 1708, two persons " were admitted into this lodge, and received the word m common forjn,"
probably
it

solved that

'

whatever that may mean.

to be again masonically invaded, for on January 34, 1711, several members some being resident in that city, assembled therein, but in what part is not said, and admitted Mr. John Mitchelson of Middleton an " apprentice and fellow-craft in common form. " Middleton was half way between Edinburgh and Hauglifoot. No notice

Edinburgh was

of the lodge,

appears to have been taken of such admissions by the lodges in Edinburgh, one reason

probably being that they were not very particular themselves, and evidently what

is

now

known

as the

American doctrine of exclusive masonic

jurisdiction did not then prevail.

Lodge of "Melrose"

{Independenf).

Prior to 1880 no history, worthy of the name, of this old lodge had ever been presented.

This was partly owing to the

difficulty of obtaining access to its

musty records, and

in

some degree, no

doubt, to the fact of the custodians of these

documents not entertaining

a very clear idea of what had been confided to their charge.

Melrose of great antiquity, which possessed
ceedings of bygone members,

That there was a lodge

at

many

curious manuscripts relating to the pro-

who would not

join in the formation of a

Grand Lodge, and

whose influence had been sufficient to leave their mark upon the present generation of Melrose masons, we all knew, the existence of the lodge being kept alive in our memories by the annual torchlight processions which stUl continue to be observed. It is true, moreover, that Mr.

Buchan

of Glasgow visited the ancient town,

mation respecting the lodge about ten years before the

of his pilgrimage.'

visit of

and obtained some little inforMr. Vernon of Kelso, and

that the former gave to the craft, in the Freemasons' Maga,zine, a most interesting sketch

which he had

been privileged to inspect,

Mr. Buchan, however, presented no excerpts from the old records and was not even aware of there being amongst

" Old Charges," dating from the seventeenth century. Vernon was equally fortunate in the opportunities afforded him, and more diligent in the advantages He examined the whole of the records, made careful extracts from he took of them. the minutes, and transcribed with extreme exactitude the Melrose JIS., a version of

them

a copy of the

the Masonic Constitutions or Charges, which has already been described.'

inquirer must,
therefore, be hailed as the
first

This zealous

historian

of

the

Lodge of Melrose,

and

it

is

very greatly to be desired that the success which has attended his original
16, 1869.

Freemasons' Magazine, October

Z6fd., September 11

1869.

Ante,

p. 66.

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

search
this early

69
still

may stimulate him to undertake a further examination of home of Freemasonry. This sketch of the lodge may be divided into two sections
Of the former there
is

the records

extant at

the
little

traditional
is

and the

historical. interest.
If,

but

little

to say,

but

tliat

not deficient in

in the absence of

documentary evidence, the dates

of the erection of the various

abbeys in Scotland are accepted as the periods when Freemasonry was introduced into their
it is claimed by Venion that Kelso would stand first, Edinburgh second, and the third place would be occupied by Melrose. According to Fort (p. 113), " the first reliable account touching masons, historically considered, is to be found engraved, in nearly obliterated characters, on the walls of Melrose Abbey Church, and establishes the fact that, as early as the year 1136, this portion of the United Kingdom depended on master masons imported from abroad." The inscription in question will be found upon a tablet inserted

respective districts,

in the wall of the south transept,

and

is

commonly taken

to be:

'

3rf)n
feias
:

nnittior
:

Birm
born
:

tgm
in
:

callft i
t

ant)
:

parBSse

crttafnig

onli
:

fjal'
:

fjifccpinjj
:

al

mason
:

tncik

of

eantan
of
;

lUrc^s
:

5$

bs'

'

itfTk
:

glas
:

gu mrlros
jigMoBtiagll

anb
:

paainn
:

of

anlj
:

of
:

galtoaj
:

ptag
anil
:

to

golj
:

atiTJ
:

mari
:

bailf)
:

stoEct

sanrt

iohn

to

kttp

t?)is

Ijalj

feitlt

fra :0feaitb"

From
that

the evidence of this inscription. Fort has deduced some startling conclusions
a

(1.)

John Morow,"

Frenchman, was the architect or master mason

of the edifice; (2.) that

there were lodges of masons employed, over which ilorow presided as the general or grand

master; and(3.)

as already stated that in 1136 Scottish architecture only flourished under

In the
first

the direction of master masons imported from abroad.

inscription,

place, however, the

is

which may, indeed, have been cut at some time

iiot

after

Morow's death,

con-

sidered by the best authorities to be

incline to the opinion that it
is

older than the fourteenth century, whilst they

probably of

much

later date.

Secondly,

it

nowhere appears
all

Morow workmen employed at the construction of quaint lines. The inscription simply states
that

was either architect of the building, or that he had charge over

the other

the churches and cathedrals mentioned in his

that he h.id charge of the masons' work, as the " keeper" or superintendent of the repairs and alterations of buildings already completed.

J. Morton, Monastic Annals of Tevlotdale, 1832, pp. 250, 851. Murdo, Mordo, Morow, Morvo, or Meurvo perhaps originally, Moreau or Murdoch " The inscription cannot well be older than the sixteenth century; and it is not likely that Murdo, whose name would indicate a Scottish origin, performed any functions beyond repairs and restoi'ations" CR. W. Billings, Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, vol. iv., p. 6). Leroux de Lancy mentions a Jean Moreau as having been consulted at the rebuiUliug of the bridge of Notre Dame at
'

Rev.

'

Paris, April 8, 1500 (Dictionary of Architecture

Arch.

Pub. Soc).

'

70
It is,

EA RL Y BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y.

however, a curious fact in mediaeval operative masonry

which, being important, has

Above
relief,

naturally been neglected

that one man should

unknown
is

have been the superintendent of so many

buildings; but the usage was not

in England,

for example, at Salisbury.

the door leading to a stairway in the abbey of compasses interlaced,

a shield carved in

displaying two pairs

quaint Gothic

letters,

and three fleur-de-lys, with an almost obliterated inscription in which Morton says may be read thus:
"

%i
aa

gaga {e compos

efagn

abmt
mtnbflk*
'

ttntf) dxCn lontc lu,

txi

but bontt.

Itfjanllit

gt

fitnlir q. isAfca

"There are very few lodges," observes Mr. Vernon, "either in England* or Scotland, which can produce documentary evidence of having been in existence over two hundred
years;
in,

but this the

of,

'

Melrose Lodge

'

can do, and while we regret the position

it

occupies

or rather out

the Masonic world,

we cannot but reverence

it

for its antiquity,

we remember that

its

records date in almost unbroken succession from the year 1674

when down

to the present time."

The

place of meeting was not Melrose, but

is

Newstead

situated about a mile east from Melrose, or

Newstead {" Neusteid"), down to 1743. mid-way between the ancient reis

ligious houses of Mailros

and Melros.

The

collocation of the minutes

very confusing,

there being an entire absence of chronological sequence;

and, from the examples which

Vernon gives

us,

it

may be

period, have been rebound,

safely concluded that the first book of records must, at some and the sheets stitched together without any regard being paid

either to the pagination or chronology.

The

first

entry in the volume

!

is

of 1678, the

second 1729, and then there are others of 1679 and 1682

The

earliest

minute

is

dated December 28, 1674, and

shall take

is

to the effect that,

of the lodge,"
(Scots) for

no master

an apprentice under seven years, the

sufiBcient gloves."

"meit and drink," and 40s. (Scots) for "the use of It was also " condescendet on y' w ever a prentice
w"*"

" be the voyce pay 8 the box, by and allow y"

latter to
is

mad
St.

frie

mason,

he must pay four pund Scotts,

lodge."

four

pund

Scotts

is

to

be stowet at the pleasour of the

John's Day.
receipt thereof

Neither apprentices nor fellow-crafts were to be received save on

27, 1679, the contents of the

On December
extraordinary
'

box were duly examined, and

I

taken from the " boxe master," Thomas Bunye being the master.

have refeiTed to the

of

number

of

members connected with the lodge bearing the name

Mein;

"As the compass goes round without deviating from the circumference, so, doubtless, tinitli and loyalty never deviate. Look well to the end, quoth John Murdo " (Morton, Monastic Annals of Teviotdale, p. 251). The inscription does not i-un in regular lines, but is carved above and beside the sliield. John Bower reads the name Morvo, and states, that in the town of Meh-ose, " There is a Lodge of Free-masons belonging to St. John; in the Lodge is an old picture bearing the masons' coat of arras, with an inscription of 'In deo est omnes fides ;^ below the arms is John Morvo, first grand-master of SI. John's Lodge, Meb'ose, anno dom. 1136" (The Abbeys of Melrose, 1833, pp. 66, 109). It is probable that Fort's conclusions rest upon no other authority than the evidence supplied by the " picture " here alluded to? 'Three out of four lodges, which foimded the Grand Lodge of England, a.d. 1717, still sursive, but their existence cannot be traced with any certainty beyond the year named. Cf. Preston, Illustj-ations of Masonry, 1793, p. 219; and The Four Old Lodges and Tlieir Descendants, 1879. jxtssim. s Masonic Magazine, January to June 1880, op. 321, 365. 409, 453. See ante, p. 93, note 3.

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

and, as an illustration thereof,
I

71

may remark

that five out of the seven brethren present at

the audit were distinguished by that patronymic.

At the

St.

John's Day, 1680,

Andrew

Mein is described as the " M'' Masone," and Alexander Mein as the "wardine." On December 27, 1681, John Bunye " was entered and received fr[ee] to the tread" [trade], his master being his father; another entry states that one of the members was obliged to be " cautioner " for the good conduct of an apprentice. It was likewise noted that an apprentice was entered at Dalkeith instead of the regular place of meeting, so the offenders

were to be made answerable for the same at next

explained does not appear in the records.
is

St.

John's Day.
I

How

the irregularity was

reached, which runs

" At Neusteid, the day of december 1684,

is,

Other entries

pass over until the one in 1684

it

isfastlie

compted

be the measons in the lodge of melros what the trou expence of the building of the loft and
seat in the kirk of Melros

the wholl soume

is

242

lb. 13s.

6d."

I desire to

draw parone

ticular attention to this minute, not only because the

members were

so interested in a
is

provision being

made
its

for

them

in their kirk,

but also from the fact that the entry

of the earliest of

kind in ascribing a name to a particular lodge, apart from the house

or place in which the meetings were held.

plicitly called the Lodge of Melrose.

Although assembling
28, 1674,' so

in Newstead,

it is

ex-

The

festival

was celebrated again on December 23,

it is

1685, which was on a Friday, as on

objections to the

December

probable there were local

Thursday being utilized for the purpose. The cash paid out of the box On the festival of St. for "meat and drink, etc.," amounted to 11, Os. lOd. (Scots). John, 1686, eighteen members signed a resolution, that, in consequence of the difficulty
experienced by the treasurer in collecting the dues, on and after that day, none are to be

" past
cember

frie to

ye trade," unless for " readie money," or on approved security.

a note of the

On De-

37, 1687, is
I

payment

of

1 (Scots) to

Thomas Ormiston, "

for keeping

of ye seat."

fancy this expenditure had reference to the use of the kirk for their annual

service prior to the banquet,

but nothing

is

said there to enable us to decide;

is

but in the

particulars of the cost of the annual feast in the following year, there

the charge for

" the

lad for keipein of the set in the kirk," which

ceding remark as to the 1687 register.

I had not noticed on writing the preVernon suggests that the next entry must have

been written after dinner, and the conclusion at which he arrives,

unchallenged:

" 27 Dec*"
lists

will doubtless

remain

1690
is

f**

is

votted that everie meason that takes the place in the

kirk befor his elder broy""

a grait ase."

There are
owing

of fellow-crafts

and entered apprentices ' of the seventeenth, and others

in the succeeding century, to the lodge read as

having distinctive marks attached.

The

fines

and other sums

in
it

heavy amounts; and, evidently, the arrears then, as

In 1695 (December 27)

modern
was en-

times, were the subject of very painful contemplation.

acted that neither apprentice nor fellow-craft be received, unless they have the gloves for
those entitled thereto, or be mulcted in 10 penalty.

Before dismissing the seventeenth century records, there

29, 1675,

is an agreement of January " betwixt the Maisones of the Lodge of Melros," that deserves examination. It
'

was written by " Andro Mein, Meason, portioner

of Neustied,"

who

was, iu

all

probability,

Possibly a special assemblj* held after the celebration of the festival of St. John ? 'There is a roll of "apprentices" for 1703 and 1709, ha\nng several marks attached, and iists of "apprentices" entered 1719-1734 their marks are also insei-ted.
'

in the

#.,

A smadl proprietor

72
the " A.
is

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y.

M." who
transcribed the " Old Charges " of the preceding year.'

The document
is

a mutual bond by the masons and apprentices " in ye lodge of Melrois," and
less

signed

by no
(1675)

than eigldy of

its

members, several of

whom append

their designations, such as

" maltman," weaver,

vintner,

and

hostler, thereby proving that at the period

mentioned

many

of the brethren were not operative masons,

though connected with the lodge as

//fe-masons.

The

apprentices had hitherto only been

bound by

their indentures for

some

three or four years, which was found to act prejudiciously to the trade, so the brethren

agreed that the period should thereafter be extended to seven years, the

sum

of

20

(Scots)

being payable for each year by which the term was shortened.
ceived on St. John's Day, save

Apprentices were to be re-

when

it falls

" on ye Sabbath Day," when the day following

was to be observed.
stranger apprentices

Should the master mason, warden, box-masters and others consent,

may be entered on other days, so long as the requisite fees are paid, and such receptions regularly reported. Other clauses are inserted, and the whole were to be " insert and registrat in ye book of counsall and sescion books of ye regalitie of Melrois." The rule which required an examination as to the skill of the craftsmen was not to be
infringed with impunity, for in 1707 those "persons"

the required scrutiny were there and then

mission was made.

On

the Festival of

Lodge

of Melros,"

ivright),

on finding that three on their own confession, had been guilty of " Entring " a certain person on an

who had absented themselves from "denuded from aine benifite until due subSt. John, 1739, " the Companie of the Ancent of their number (two being masons and one a
"'

ir-

regular day, fined

them 8

(Scots),

every

member
St.

There were several

and they were also to provide a pair of gloves for fines imposed about this period for the non-presentation
levied.
it

of gloves at the proper time,

which were promptly

The
" that

John's Day, 1745, was specially entered in the minutes, for

was proposed

members doe atend the Grand Mr. to walk in procession from their meeting The proposition was carried by a great majority, and it was then agreed the " each in the company walk with the Grand Mr. with clean aprons and gloves." The same meeting resolved to accept five sliillings ster-Ung from apprentices and craftsmen " in Leu of Gloves" in all " time comeing."
all

the

to their generall place of Eandevouz. "

There are numerous minutes transcribed by Vernon, which

his general history of the lodge.

it-

would be foreign to

my

present purpose to present in detail, though they are of considerable value as portions of

His remark, however, that the third degree does not

is

appear in the records until a few years since,

specially emphasized.

too important to pass over without being

The members continue

ancient forefathers,

to

keep the

festival of St.

John the Evangelist

as did their

and proceed

in procession by torchlight through Melrose to the ruins of

fire,

the abbey, " which they illuminate with colored

superior. His Grace the

having special permission from the

and afterward they dine together." Even should the weather prove unfavorable (as it did on December 27, 1879, when more than one hundred members mustered in honor of the occasion), there is no lack in the attendance and enthusiasm of the bretliren, and as the lodge owns " a fine hall and shop," has 300 deposited at interest, and its income approaches 200 annually, it is most gratifyof Buccleuch, so to do,

Duke

ing to reflect that the representatives of this ancient body have proved so worthy of the
trust reposed in

them; and the only regret we

shall experience, in passing

from the history

'

Ante, pp. 67, 93 (note

3).

EA RL Y BRITISH FRE EMA SONR V.

of this lodge, arises
roll of

73

from

its

continued objection to accepting a place and number on the

the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

The Acts

of the Scottish Parliament are referred to

by Lyon as " strengthening the

a purely fabulous personage;"
'

presumption that the Grand Master Mason of James

of AVork, they present few features that

is

but except in this particular, and as illustrating the character of the appointment of Master

would

interest the reader.

None

of the statutes enacted during the reigns of

preserved, have any special relation to the

mason

craft;

James IL and IIL which have been nor does it appear from any

municipal records of the same period that

trades.'
tailed, as

it

eujoyed a pre-eminence of position over other

The privileges of the crafts in general are indeed alternately enlarged and curwe have seen was the case in the southern kingdom, and the Parliament of Scot-

land, like that of England,

the exorbitant

was constantly occupied in repressing by legislative measures demands made by associated bodies of workmen. The Laws of the Burghs (Leges Quatuor Burgorum), the earliest collected body of the
is

laws of Scotland of which there

to

any mention," allow the son of a burgess "the fredome

by and

sell

*'

whilst with his father, yet on setting

it

up

for himself he

is

not to use the

freedom of the burgh, " bot gif he by

In 1424, each trade, with the
or

and be maid freman."'

of the town, was empowered to choose a
craft;

officers

" Dekyn
are

Maisterman"

to

"

ass<iy

and govern" the works of that

but in 1426 the powers

of the deacons

were restricted to examining "every

sufficient," the

fifteen

days that the

workmen

cunning and their work

take more work

wages of wrights and masons and the price of

materials were to be determined by the

in

town

council,

and workmen were ordered not

to

hand

tlian

they could finish within the stipulated time."

In the follow-

ing year the privilege of electing deacons was withdrawn, that they might no longer " hold'

meetings, which are often conspiracies," and the government of

all crafts

was entrusted to

wardens,

who were

to be appointed

"by

the council of the Burgh, or the Baron in land-

and whose duties comprised the fixing of wages and the punishment of Laws against combinations of workmen and extortionate charges were passed In the last-named year the office of deacon was in 1493, 1496, 1540,' 1551, and 1555." once more suppressed, and it was declared that no one shall have power to convene or asward
districts,"

offenders.'

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 3. " While Free-Masonry was flourishing in England undertiie auspices of Heniy VI. it was at the same time patronized in the same sister kingdom
'
,

Viy

King James

I.

By

tlie

authority of this monarcii every Gi-and Master

who was chosen by

entitled to

the

brethren, either from the nobility or clergy, and approved of by the crown,

was

an annual

revenue of four pounds Scots from eacli master mason, and likewise to a fee at the initiation of every

new member"
"
''

(Lawrie's History of Freemasonry, 1804, p. 99). Lyon, History of tlie Lodge of Edinbiu'gli, p. 4. Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, 1844, vol. i., preface, p. 33. * Ibid., p. 33 (Lex Burgh, xiv.). This law is almost identical with one Tyne, temp. Henry L
'Ibid., vol.
'

in force at

Newcastle-on-

ii.,

pp.

8, 13.
it

Ibid., p.

14.

In 1469

was enacted, "that the Doan

p. 95.

of Guild should

be chosen by the
I

Town

Council and the repre.sentatives of the crafts,"

assume, in the cases where the crafts or trades were associated for purposes of domestic government. ' By the terms of this law employers were permitted to choose "gude craftis men, fre men, or
vthencise.''

This regulation applied,

Acta of the Parliament of Scotland, 1844,

vol.

i.,

pp. 334, 338. 376, 487, 487.

'

74

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SOMR Y.

Combinations to enhance prices were not, however, so readily put down, as we
the craftsmen of Edinburgh, under renewed pressure, undertaking not to
office

semble any craftsmen in a private "conuention" for the purpose of making ahT acts or
statutes.'
find, in 1584,

continue this

making
it

private laws or statutes

but to submit to the

award of the

was provided that each craft might "convene" for the election of a deacon, " the making of masters," or " the trying of their handie work."'
magistrates, though

Foremost among the noticeable features of early Scottish masonry is the evident sim" Until about the middle of the last century," says plicity of the ceremony of reception. " initiations effected without the Lodge were freely homologated by Mother KilwinLyon,
ning; and
it

was only when the

fees for

such intrants failed to be forthcoming that abhorits

rence of the system was formally expressed, and

perpetuation forbidden."

By

the rules of at least

one of her daughter lodges, framed in 1765, ordinary members

resident at a distance of

were permitted "

to

" more than three miles from the place where the box is kept," enter persons to the Lodge," a custom " in the observance of which

one mason could, unaided, make another

elaborate proportions than

indicating either the presence of a ritual of

is

less

now

in use, or a total indifference to uniformity in imparting to

novitiates the secrets of the craft."*

In his larger work, the same authority speaks of the

ever alluded to in the minutes of Mary's

Mason Word
earlier date

as constituting the only secret that

Chapel, Kilwinning, Atcheson's Haven, Dunblane, or any others that he

than 1736, and this

lias examined, of " imparted by individual he believes to have been at times

"

brethren in a ceremony extemporized according to the ability of the initiator."

At

a subsequent stage I shall

resume and conclude

my

review of British Freemasonry

before the epoch of Grand Lodges.

in the seventeenth century, the
tives
;

To many readers

the fact will be new, that in Scotland

members

of Masons' Lodges were not exclusively opera-

of which there
Between the

but the precise bearing of this circumstance upon the Masonic system of three degrees I cannot now pause to consider, as is no positive evidence before 1717

its significancy will

more

fitly

claim our attention at a later period.

Scotland and England respectively

earliest record in

of the admission or
unknown
full light of

reception of a candidate for the lodge

in the former country

there

is

a wide interval; and influences

may not have been

without weight, in determining the form which

English Masonry assumed, on passing from the obscurity of tradition into the
history.

In the chapters next following

XI. Apocryphal Manuscripts

IX.

Masons' Marks; X. The Quatuor Coronati; and

am

desirous of drawing

and

of

examining in
tliis

detail a variety of

upon all sources of information, matters incidentally mentioned in the various di-

visions of

work.

This accomplished, and the evidence being complete, I shall proceed with the early
history of Freemasonry in England.

'

Without ony powar

to

mak gaddenng
Cf. chap,
vol.
ii.,

or assebling of

thame

to

ony priuate conuention or

making- of ony actis or statutis."

'
"

ante (XVI.).

'Acts of the Scottish Parliament,

iii.,

p. 363a.

Freemasons' Magazine, July

Ibid.

1,

1865, p.

1.
'

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

p. 22.

MASONS' MARKS.

-5

CHAPTER IX. MASONS' MARKS.

known, but not so then, that the stones of many work of the original builders; and that, so long ago as 1841, he submitted a communication on the subject to the Society of Antiquaries, which, with a second memoir on the same subject, and transcripts of 158 of the marks from England, France, and Germany, was printed in the " Archajologia."' Mr.
he noticed the
fact,

MR. GEORGE GODWIN, now

editor of the Builder, has justly claimed that in early days

well

old churches bore peculiar marks, the

Godwin's

letters

brought these signs under public observation, and in the interval between

the dates upon which they were written

December

16, 1841,

Didron of Paris communicated a

des Arts et

series of obser\'ations

on marks

and February 2, 1843 M. to the " Comite Historique

Monuments," which Mr. Godwin notices in his second letter to Sir H. Ellis.' The marks collected by M. Didron divide themselves, according to his opinion, into two classes those of the overseers and those of the men who worked the stones. The marks of the first class consist generally of monogranimatic characters, and are placed separately on the stones; those of the second class partake more of the nature of symbols,

such as shoes, trowels, mallets,

etc.

It is stated that at
is

Rheims,

in

one of the portals, the

of monogranimatic

lowest of the stones forming one of the arcades

character,

marked with a kind

stone above
it

and the outline of a

sole of

a shoe.

The

has the same character,

same character and three soles and so on all round the arcade. The shoe mark he found also at Strassburg and nowhere else, and accounts for this by the fact that parts of the cathedral of Rheims were executed by masons brought
and two
soles of shoes; the third the

from Strassburg.

The marks on both English and French

from
2 to T inches,

buildings, for the most part, vary in length

from 1^ inch to 2 inches, and were chiefly made, Mr. Godwin believes, to distinguish the work of different individuals. At the present time the man who works a stone (being different from the man who sets it) makes his mark on the bed or other internal face of it, so that it may be identified. The fact,

and those found

at Cologne

Something About Masons' Marks in Various Countries (Transactions, Royal Institute of British by George Godwin, Fellow). 'Two Lettei-s from George Godwin, F.R.S. and F.S.A., to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S.. Secretary, on Certain Marks Discoverable on the Stones of Various BuilUiogs Erected in the Middle Ages
'

Architects, 1868-69, pp. 135-144,

CArchaaologia, 1844, vol. xxx., pp. 113-130).

'

'

'

76

31A SONS'
it is

MARKS.
number
of the stones -which beat

however, that in the ancient bnfldings

only a certain

symbols

that the marks fouml

and
in all

in different countries (altliougli the variety is great) are in

many

cases identical,

have a singular accordance in character, in the opinion of

that the

the same writer

seems to show
if

men who employed them

did so by system,

and

that the system,

in

not the same in England,

one country to that of the others.

as the Freemasons.

Germany and France, was closely analogous Moreover, adds Mr. Godwin, many of the signs are

evidently religious and symbolical, and agree fully with our notions of the body of

men

known

Mr. Godwin's communications gave a great impetus to the study of this branch of
archfeological research,

and he remarks with good reason,

until
it

in 1869,

"

It is

curious

how long

a thing

may remain unseen

priest, to

has been pointed out; " and records the observation of

an old French

whom

he had shown the marks with which the walls of his church

in Foictiers were literally strewn:

"
flit

have walked through this church four times a day,

twenty-eight times a week, for nearly forty years, and never noticed one of them; and
I

now

cannot look anywhere but they

into

my

eyes."
if

Mr. Chalmers (1850) thought that masons' marks had,

or preparing stones for any building:
his
ft

they have not now, a mystical

meaning, their primary use being to denote the work of each mason employed in hewing
first,

that,

if
if

paid by the piece, each

man may have

work
at

measured without dispute; second, that

once be seen on
is

work be badly done, or an error made,

may
It

whom

to

throw the blame, and by whom, or at whose expense,

the faults

to be amended.

was a law
in a book,

mark

respect in

in St. Xinian's Lodge at Brechin tliat every mason should register his and he could not change that mark at pleasure. The marks differ in no To the character from those which were brought into notice by Mr. Godwin.

inquiry, on

what

principle, or according to
replied,

masons generally

what rule, these marks were formed, Scottish " That they probably had in early times a meaning now unknown,
is,

and are

still

regarded with a sort of reverence; that the only rule for their formation

that they shall have at least one angle; that the circle must be avoided, and cannot be a
true mason's that there
is

mark

unless in combination with some line that shall form an angle vnih

it;

no distinction of ranks

that

is,

that there

is

no particular

class of

marks

set

apart for and assigned to master masons as distinguished from their

workmen; and

if it

should happen that two masons meeting at the same work from distant parts should have
the same mark, then one must for a time assume a distinction, or, as heralds say, 'a ' "
difference.

Tlie Irish craftsmen

marks but
'

also a dialect called

and masons of the Middle Ages it is said not only had private " Bearlagair-na-Sair," which was unknown to any but the

In a paper, read at the Institute of British Ai-cliitects, March 14, 1836, and published in the iii., p. 193 (on the " Institution of Free-Masoniy," by George Godn-in. architect), the author quotes extensively from the " Parentalia," PownaU and Hopes " Essays," and
Architectural Magazine, vol.

Dallaway's" Discourses," and was evidently deeply imbued with the erroneous teaching which reached its culminating point in the attractive pages of the late Mr. Hope. 'Fallou asserts that the apprentice Steinmetzen, at the conchision of his term, received a mark,

which always contained one

2

riglit

Patrick Chalmers, Esq., F.S.A.,

33-36).

angle or square (Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 68). On the Use of Mason marks in Scotland (Archaeologia. 1852,

vol. xxxiv., pp.

An

intelligent English

stonemason recently stated to Mr. G.

W.

Speth:

"

We choose a mark, and then if on our travels we find that some other mason uses a similar one we
some
slight particular.

alter ours in

'

'

'

MASONS' MARKS.
Initiated of their

jj

own

callings;

that this dialect

is still

in use

and the writer who is responsible for this statement asserts among masons (though not exclusively confined to them) in

the counties of Limerick, Clare, Waterford, and Cork.

Upon
in the

the question as to whether or not marks were heritable by descent from father

to son, the highest authority

on Scottish masonry

says,

"

We

have been able to discover

Mary Chapel records only one instance of a craftsman having adopted his deceased father's mark."" Mr. Lyon continues, "Whatever may have been their original signification as exponents of a secret language a position which is assigned to them by some

writers

there

is

no ground for believing that in the choice of these marks the sixteenth

century masons were guided by any consideration of their symbolical quality, or of their
relation to the propositions of Euclid."

view which has been very generally received

is,

that the short-hand signatures or

markings which masons have for centuries been in the habit of cutting on the stones wrought or hewu by them, may be all included in two classes: the false or blind mark of the apprentice, displaying an equal number of points^ and the true mark of the fellowcraft or passed

mason, consisting of an unequal number of points."

Indeed, the late Mr.

E.

W. Shaw, who had made

a collection of 11,000 marks, professed his ability to discrimi-

nate between the marks of the master masons, fellow-crafts, and apprentices, and the

"blind marks," as he termed them, of those hired to work, but who were not members
of the guild.

Two marks
that
it

not unfrequently occur on the same stone, showing, according to one view,

had been hewn by the apprentice and finished or passed as correct by the mason;

mark belonged to the overseer. memoir presented at a meeting of the Institute of British Architects,' gave 522 marks from ancient buildings in Portugal, and the design of his paper was to show that the opinion of those who have believed that these marks have a masonic
and, in the opinion of other authorities, that the second Chevalier de Silva, in a

The

signification
this

cannot for a

moment be

entertained.
it,

The

Chevalier's strongest reason for

belief although, as Mr. Godwin well puts

to convince

English archajologists hardly need any

argument
were

them that the marks

all

are not symbolical

is

thus expressed:

summoned from

parts to

work

at the buildings in Portugal;

and

as the

gressed but slowly, not only on account of the

cially

enormous

size of

the edifices,
all

"Adepts work probut more espe-

because cut stones of small dimensions were employed, and

buildings being con-

structed W'ith stones faced on every side, the

available to avoid this
fit

hand labor was greatly increased; the only means inconvenience and hasten the works, and at the same time to bene-

the
'

workmen, was

to

make

i\\Qm cut the dones as piecework, according to the dimensions

E. Fitzgerald, architect, On Ancient Mason Marks at Youghal and Elsewhere; and the Secret Langua^-e of the Craftsmen of the Middle Ages in Ireland (Kilkenny Aixha;ological Society, vol. ii., ' Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinbiwgh. pp. 68, 69. new series, p. 67). Of. ante, pp. 54, 56. J. A. Smith, M.D. (Sec. Soc. Antiq. Scot.), Exhibition of Mason Marks, Copied from the Melrose

Abbey, Dryburgh, Jedburgh,

*

etc.

(Proceedings, Societyof Antiquaries of Scotland, 1863, vol.

is

iv., p. 548).

be regretted that Mr. Shaw's contemplated work, "Historical Masonry," the publication of which was announced in the Freemasons' Magazine of April 18, 1868 (to contain 5700 Masons' marks), has never seen the light.

The Rev. A.

F. A.

Woodford

my authority

for this statement.

It is to

'Didron, Godwin, and Papwortli. 'Dr. J. A. Smith. ' " Sur la veritable signification des signes qu'on voit Graves sur les anciens Monuments du Portugal. This memoir was not printed in the " Sessional Papers," Royal Institute of British Architects,

but has been sufficiently summarized by Mr. Godwin (Transactions, Koyal Institute of British Architects, 1868-69. p. 139).

'

;8
given and designs drawn by the
a

MASONS' MARKS.
arcliitect. To enable payments to be made to so large workmen without mistake, to know exactly those who had done the yarious assigned to them, the workmen shaped their blocks one after another, and, to avoid

number

of

duties

confusion in their work, were in the habit of marking each block with a given sign, as
representing their signature, so as to show
If,

how much was due

or,

to them."

however, we admit the probability,

as Mr.

Godwin

expresses

it,

the fact, that

the guilds adopted existing forms and symbols without considering the marks symbolical,

we may yet believe that they owe their wide diffusion to the existence of associated guOds. " The general similarity which they present all over Europe, from, at any rate, the eleventh century to the sixteenth, and indeed to the present day " points, as Mr. Godwin well observes,
"
to a

common

origin

and continued transmission."

early times as distinctive devices or

or

Inasmuch, indeed, as monograms or symbols were adopted in all countries from very " trade marks " whereby the work or goods of the owners

makers could be identified, it is fairly inferential that masons' marks have been brought more prominently under notice from the simple fact of their having been impressed upon

more durable material than was the case with the members of other trades. Merchants, ecclesiastics, and other persons of respectability, not entitled to bear arms, adopted " marks or notes of those trades and professions which they used,' and merchants
(for their

more honor) were allowed

to bear the first letters of their

names and surnames

interlaced with a cross."

friars,

In the yard or garden of the convent of the Franciscans or Grey-

now called the Howff^ of Dundee, may still be seen many tombstones ornamented both armorial and mercantile emblems and monograms, those of the burgesses bearing, with Thus, the in many instances, carvings of objects illustrative of their crafts or trades.
ecissors or

goose

is

found on the tomb of the

tailor;

the glove, on that of the skinner; the

hammer and crown

or anvil, on that of the blacksmith; the

loom or

shuttle,

on that of

the weaver; the compasses and square, on that of the mason; the expanded compasses or
saw, on that of the wright, etc.

Some

of the older

monuments present the more

letters.

interesting figures

known

as

mono-

grams or merchants' marks. or cipher, which is formed of interlaced

into

Both are objects of high antiquity, particularly the monogram

Soon
after the introduction of printing

England, both monograms and merchants' marks were pretty generally adopted, and

placed by artists in the corners of paintings and engravings; by printers and publishers,

on the

first

and

last

pages of the books they issued; and tradesmen in general used them,

not only as signs or distinguishing

labels

marks over the doors

dealt.

of their shops, but as stamps

and

on the cloth or other goods in which they

In two Statutes of uncertain date, one of which has been variously ascribed to the 51st
year of

Henry
to

III.

(1266) and the 13th of

Edward

I.

(1285),
I.

and the other

is

stated in

some copies
sions to the

have been enacted in the 14th of Edward

afiBxing a mark.

(1286), occur very early alluof these laws ordains,

custom or requirement of
shall

The former

that "every baker

'

have a mark {signum) oi his own for each sort of his bread;"*

Favyn, Le Theatre d"honneur, Paris, 1633 (Dictionary of Architecture Marks). Hmvff, hotiff, or hoif, a haunt, a place of frequent resort (Jamieson's Scottish Dictionaryj ' A. Jervise, Memorials of Angus and the Mearns, 1861, pp. 193, 195-197. " Although these marks are to be seen in different pai-ts of the country, perhaps no single place contains so many and such oddly designed specimens as the Hmcff oi Dundee" (Ibid., p. 19T). * The Statutes of tJie Bakers of Rheims, 1681 (XVII.), order " that every baker shall have his dif'

MASONS' MARKS.

79

and the latter, which, on a deficiency of freemen, allows " the best and most discreet bondsmen " to serve on an inquest, stipulates that " each sliall have a seal "(e ke checun eyt seal).'
In 1363,
it

was enacted, that every master goldsmith "

lui),

shall

have a mark by himself" {un

merche a par
fullers shall

and

set it to his

work;^ in 1389-90, "that the workers, weavers, and

put their

seals {lour signes) to every cloth that they shall

work;

"
'

and

in 1443-

45, that
sign. "
*

of

no worsted weaver shall make any worsted, "except he put upon the same his A similar duty was imposed upon workers in the precious metals, by the Statutes Edward IV. and Henry VII. respectively. In 1477-78, it was ordained, "that things
of silver

wrought
severall

or sign (niarke

ou signe);"

were to be marked with the Leopard's Head, and the workman's mark " every fyner of golde and sylver put his " and in 1488-89, that

merke upon such, to here witnes the same to be true."' In 1491," the chief oflScer for the tyme beying in every cite, towne, or borough," was required to have "a The last speciall marke or seal, to marke every weight and mesure to be reformed."' enactment in the reign of Henry VII., bearing upon this subject, has the singular title of Fewtrer's Wlakying and is levelled against travelling tinkers and traffickers in metal, the prototypes in fact of our modern " Marine Storedealer. " They are described as " possessing deceivable and untrue beams and scales, whereof one of them would stand even with twelve pounds weight at one end against a quarter of a pound at the other end," and the law requires "that the makers of all hollow wares of pewter shall marke the same with [the] The last statute I shall quote is of date 1531, and by it severall marks of their owne."* brewers were restrained from "occupying the mystery of a cooper," or making any vessel for the sale of beer, which, in all cases, were to be made " by the common artificers of coopers;" it being further enacted, " that every couper mark his vessell with his owne
marke."
"

In the City of London, by various ordinances, confirmed by the civic authorities,

'"

the blacksmiths (1372), bladesmiths (1408), and brasiers (1416), of London, were required

" to use and put their own mark upon their own work."
I.

marks on the accompanying plate are taken from may be found in all parts of the The seven earliest numbers have been selected by Mr. Godwin as the marks most world. The hour-glass form (1) is widely used, which are to be met with in different countries.
Although the
first

two rows

of

English buildings, with scarcely an exception, the same

perhaps the most

common of

all

types,

and whilst employed in nearly every land as a cipher

inscrip-

by operative workmen, appears nevertheless in a large proportion of the ancient

ferent
pt.

mark his bread" (Archives Legislatives de la \411e de Rheims, tom. ii., Documents Inedits sur I'Histoire de France). The Old Usages of Worcester (of the fourteenth centurj') require "that euerych bakere habb hys seal y-knowe vpon hys lofl;" and the Ordinances of the same city, temp. Edw. IV. (1467), " that euery tyller sett his propre marke vppon his tyle " (Smith, English Gilds, pp. 355, 399; see ante, pp. 149, 193).

mark

in perpetuity to

ii. Collection de

'

Statutes of the Realm, Temp. Jncert., vol.

37

i.,

pp. 203, 211.

Edw. IIL, c. vii. See 2 Henry VI., c. xvii. (1423), where it is enjoined that in places where ' 13 Rich. II., stat. I., c. xi. there is no touch, the goldsmith shall set his mark or sign. * Sanz ceo qil metta sur son signe: 23Hen.VI.,c. iii. in 1467, by the 7 Edw. IV., c. j., Similarly ' withoute he sette theruppon. it was ordered that no worsted weaver of Norfolk should make worsted, his owen woven marc." By the same statute the wardens of this craft, if they found the worsteds " well and lawfully made " were also required to affi.x a " mark or token " (signe ou token). 19 Hen. VH., c. vi. ' 4 Hen. VH., c. ii. 17 Edw. IV., c. i. 7 Hen. VLL, c. iii. '23 Hen. VIH., c. iv. I am informed that in the city of London to this day the work of indi2
=

vidual coopers can be distinguished by their marks.

See ante, pp. 92, 146, 149 193.

"

Riley,

Memorials of London, pp.

361, 570, 626.

8o
tions

MASONS' MARKS.
Many examples of tliis mark are given and alphabets that have come down to us. accompanying plate, of which perhaps the most curious is Xo. 100. The letter N symbol which appears on the coins of the Ariarathcs, a series of Persian
'

in the

kings

who

lived before Christ,

is

infinitely diversified.

Of

this

an instance

is

presented in

No. 44, a mark which we also find at Kilwinning Abbey, Canterbury, and other places, In this figure or letter as well as amongst the Arab " Wasm," and upon gnostic gems.
Mr. Dove thinks we have something like an equivalent for the sexual union of the
the

and

A on

the feminine and masculine symbols of the Egyptians.^

Piscis,

The Vesica
er's

which has been already referred

fish

to,

was constantly used as a build-

emblem. by the Christians with other Pagan symbols,' but the origin I apprehend, of this emblem, must be looked for in the Hindu sectarial marks, denoting the followers of ^iva and ParThe vati (93), which in their general form symbolize the female principle of nature. trident is one of the attributes of Parvati, and this form (10) is of very frequent appearance
typified

Fort suggests that the

was

by ancient notions, and appropriated

in the East; two varieties are

shown
is

in the examples of

Arab

Wasm

(105, 107),

and others

are to be found amongst the marks collected by Sir

II.

W.

Ouseley and Mr. Creed.*

The second

line of

marks

from

Carlisle

Abbey, selected from the 316 specimens

published in the paper last cited.

unlike any other English

fourth in this row (14) is a curious form, and come under my notice, though it possesses some affinity with Xos. 33 and 101, also with a mark of the Kilwinning lodge, given by Lyon at p. 67 of his history, and to a greater extent with one of the specimens from Jedburgh

The

mark

that has

Abbey, published by Dr. Smith.

out of lines
set at various

In a closely analogous symbol

"^^

or

^^>'

formed
is

angles to each other, and intermingled with dots, which

frequentlv met with on gnostic gems, Bellermann professes to trace the sacred divininglots

figures produced by the accidental juxtaposition of

'

23,

and balls. This series exhibits some curious varieties of the hour-glass or " lama " form. Xo. III. which also occurs at St. Giles Church, Edinburgh, Furness Abbey and elsewhere, ia
little sticks

identical with

Xo.

88.

lY.'

The

Irish specimens present

general character resemble the

Arab

the three right-hand figures (38-40)

lections before me.

some novel features. The three first (31-33) in their (XL). X"o. 37 constitutes a type of itself, and are singularly unlike anything to be found in the col-

Wasm

V. The French examples are taken from the " Annales Archasologiques,"

"

but ampler

'C/. Runic Inscriptions from Carthage (Archaeo)ogia, vol. xxx., pi. iii.); and Von Hammer, Ancient Alphabets Explained. 1806, pp. 13, 34, 37, 33, 33, 45, 65, and 69. In a plate illustrative of Moor's Hindu Pantheon (14, JIahadeva (or Q'iva) is represented with an emblem of this form in his On Geometrical and other Symbols (Builder, June 6, 1863). rio-ht hand.
'

E^rly History of Freemasonry, p. 357. Ouseley, Travels in Various Countries

Carlisle

of

tlie

East, 1833, pi. Lxxxii.

W.

T. Creed, Masons'

Marks from
=

Abbey

(Transactions,

Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archao-

logical Society, 1880).

This figure
(pp. 7,

Hammer
1

to be found in the alphabet of Philaos, the philosopher, who, according to Von 37), " invented miraculous fumigations, marvellous compounds, taUsmans, and asis

trological tables.

He

also constructed the treasure chambei-s in the

pi. iii.

pyramids ?"

Archajologia, vol. x.xxiv.,

(Chalmei-s).
vol.
iii.,
ii.,

Kilkenny Archaeological Society,

new

series, p. 67 (Fitzgerald).

Tome

ii.,

145, p.

250 (41-47); tome

p. 31

Signes Lapidaries (4&^).

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ha

Tn

Copied from the Originals on the Buildings, the Collection of Mr. George Goodwin, Editor of the Builder, AND other Authoritative Sources.

MASONS' MARKS.
varieties

8i

have been reproduced by Mr. Godwin in the publications to which I have already

referred.

VI.

'

The German 4

types are abundantly illustrated by the collector

upon whom

I liave

drawn
I

for the specimens

annexed

the figure

may be traced

The fifth mark (55) in this row a form of throughout many ramifications in the collections from which
(51-00)."
(98).
It is also

have quoted.
is

No. 50, a cross cramponee, or two intersecting straight lines with angled

arms,

a noted

Hindu symbol

known

as the Swastika

and Fylfot, and a

specimen appearing on a

Brouglit(i as denoting the

Roman altar in Alnwick hammer or mace of the

Castle has been described by

Lord
seen

Scandinavian god Thor.

It is

with Thor on various medals and on Runic monuments, and also occurs in the minster at
Basle.

With reference

to the connection of the Scandinavians with Italy, Sir William

it.'

Bethani (" Etrurio Celtica") shows an P^truscan coin with this symbol on
Besides the

Roman stones worked

Andrew's
cross.*

in

rude patterns with the pick, either in straight

lines,

diamond
stones,

pattern, or basket-work, as occasionally

St.
'

with a plain
thus

found on Hadrian's Wall, some are marked when figuring some of the marks on Roman Mr. Bruce,

remarks on those taken by Horsley to be numeral letters, denoting the number of the cohorts: " In all probability, the marks in question are the result of the

caprice of the stonemasons.

The

editor has seen

many examples

of stones scored in the

way

which Horsley represents (some of which are shown

in the woodcuts),

but which

lie

thinks

partake more of the nature of masons' marks than of

Roman

numerals.

Sometimes a

simple cross will be observed, sometimes two parallel strokes, occasionally, as in Horsley's

No. XVII., a 'broad arrow.' No. XVI.

is

what masons

scored occur chiefiy in

One of the examples which our great antiquary gives under diamond broaching, and is very common. Stones thus the separations of the wall and the stations. The stones used in
call

Hadrian's original erection are severely jjlain."

The

late

Thomas Wright, M. A.,' mentions

and resemble most

that the " masons' marks are often found on

Roman

buildings,

closely those of the

Sometimes they
more usually

consist of a letter, perhaps the initial

masons of the Middle Ages. of the mason's name, but they are

crosses, triangles,

and other geometrical

figures."

Though enough has been said to show that such were in use by the Romans in Britian, one more example may be quoted, if indeed it be a mason's mark. It is found on an altar
at

Habitancum, and dedicated

to the goddess

Fortuna by Julius Severinus, on the comcross 2Mtenf Jitchce, as a herald

pletion of a bath.'

The

incised figure or

mark resembles a

would

call

it,

except that the crutch ends are only on the side-arms, the uppermost arms

being a distinct cross, thus, *t<

The Romans
erected.
'

also

marked

their building tiles, but for the

most part with an inscription

indicating the troops or officials by

whom

or under whose directions the buildings were

Archaeologia, vol. xxx.,

pi. x.

(Godwin).

'

ties
iciii.

See Transactions, Royal Institute of British Arcliitects, 1868-69 (Plate of Marks). 'Ibid., p. 136. See also Moor's Hindu Pantheon, pi. ii.; Fort, The Early History and Antiquiof Freemasonry, pp. 238, 336; and King, The Gnostics and their Remains, pi. xi. fig-. 5, and pi.
i, fig. 6. J.

CoUingwood Bruce, The Roman Wall.

1867. p. 83.

"Lapidarium Septentrionale (published by the Society of Antiijuaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne), The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, 3d edit., 1875, p. 183. 1875, p. 39.
1

Bruce, The

Roman
II.

VOL.

Wall, 1867,

p. 335.

"

'

82

MASONS' MARKS.
VII.' These are the marks of a lodge of /Veemasons.

of cipher are given

by Lyon in his noted work.

An

early instance of a
is

Numerous examples of this class "mason" who was

afforded by the records of the

not an operative being elected to rule over his brethren,

Lodge of Aberdeen, 1670, under which year appears the murk of Harry Elphingston, " Tutor of Airth and Collector of the Kinges Customes," master, or a past master, of the lodge. At the same date is found also the cipher of Maister Georg Liddell, "Professor of
Mathematickes.
VIII.
logiques.
'

"

The marks of the Strassburg architects are taken from the "Annales ArchseoThe seal from which I have extracted figure No. 71 is described as that of
'

"Pierre Bischof d'Algesheim, one of the master stone-cutters {niaitres tailleurs de pierre)
who were received into the

new brotherhood

of the chief promoters of this association,

d'oeuvre)

{confrerie) of the year 1464. Bischof, one was afterward master of the works [maitre-

of the city " (Strassburg).

The two

following marks are those respectively of

Nos. 75-79 are from monograms emblems on tombstones at the Howff of Dundee. No. 75, which appears on a monuand ment referring to the Mudie family, is identical with the craft ciphers of Scottish and German stonemasons (24, 83); and the anchor (76) fitly marks the last resting-place of a sailor. The 4 mark (77), differing but slightly from a cipher in St. Giles' Cathedral, The marks of John and James Goldman, father and son, "Edinburgh,' is of date 1582. Next follows the monogram of William Chaplane A. D. 1 607, are represented in figure 78.

Masters Mark Wendlind and Laurent de Vedenheim.

(79),

from a monument erected

last of this series is

in

memory

of his wife (1603).

The

the cipher of Telford, the celebrated engmeer, of

whom

Smiles

records, that " many of the stones composing the bridge over the Esk, at Langholm, were hewn by his hand, and on several of the blocks forming tlie land-breast his tool-mark is still Telford's mark is almost exactly presented in one of the alphabets, which to be seen. "
'

the erudite

Von Hammer

claims to have rescued from oblivion.' TT

stiU

Yet probably no one

amongst
us, to

would be more astonished than the worthy engineer, were he

the similarity.

hear of

IX. The fourth mark of the Steinmetzen

is

taken from Heimsch," the preceding ones

indebted to the obliging clerk of that

from

Stieglitz."

For those

of the Carpenters I
to

am

company, Mr. Preston, who allowed me

piece, of 1579, erected

copy them; No. 85, the mark of .John Fitzjohn,

master, 1573, from a book of that date; and the others from a handsomely carved mantel-

during the mastership of Thomas Harper (86) and the wardenship

of Anthonie Bear (87).

collection.

The marks

of the Tylers

and Bricklayers are from Mr. Godwin's

' Ante, chap. viii. ("Lodge of Aberdeen," No. 34). pi. iv. (Chalmers). du Moyen Age: Sceaux et Marques des Architectes de la Cathedrale de Strasbourg (~\"Sur le premier de ces trois Sceaux (71) la marque se compose de la Croix, 73), tome viii., p. 187. toujours placee verticalement an milieu de I'ecu, et de I'equerre posee an bas, de telle maniere que la branche courte est tournee vers le haut " (Ibid., tome v., 1846, p. 372 Monogrammes Ecussones des Architectes AUemands 74). * Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, plate facing p. 67, fig. 3. ' Cf. Ibid., p. 55, and plates of marks (St. Giles and Mother Kilwinning). In 1786, Telford, writing from Portsmouth, " states that Life of Thomas Telford, 1867, p. 116. he is taking great interest in Freemasonry, and he is about to have a lodge-room at the George Inn, (Ilnd., p. 139). fitted up after his plans and under liis direction ' Von Hammer, The Alphabets of the Seven Planets, sec. v., pp. 10, 51. Craft Customs of the Ancient Stonehewers, trans, by G. W. Speth (Masonic Monthly, July 1882). ' C. L. Stieglitz, Uber die Kirche der Heiligen Kunigunde, Leipzig, 1829, appendix iii.
'

Archseologia, vol. xxxiv.,

Artistes

"'

MASONS' MARKS.
X.'

83
are familiar.

The Hindu symbols

present

many forms with which Freemasons

and has
also

The

figure (92) occurs very frequently in Spain,

been copied by Sir W. Ouseley

from an ancient palace near Ispahan. " In others the sexual origin of all things is indicated (93-97), the most prevalent being the equilateral triangle. The Hexalpha (95) represents the two elements in conjunction; and with a right angle bisected by a line (97), worshippers of Sacti, the Female principle, mark their sacred jars, as in like manner the votaries of
Isis

inscribed the sacred vase of their goddess before using

is

it

at her rites.'

The

latter

symbol, which

Lycian and other alphabets, and also corresponds with the broad arrow, used to denote Crown property, formed one of the apprentice " marks " in the " Lodge of Aberdeen," 1670, and occurs in all countries where masons' marks are
in the

to be

found

perceptible.

The Rose (99) is uncommon, yet amongst the weapons belonging to the stone period found in Denmark are many flint mallets, cross-shaped, presenting this appearance, with
a hole at the intersection for the haft to be inserted.*

An

exact counterpart of the

Hindu

symbol was found by Hughan in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral; but with these two exceptions, the mark under examination is, so far as I am aware, unknown to western colThe last three specimens in this line (98-100) are rare forms of the Hindu sectarial lectors.
marks, and belong rather to certain great families than to religious sects
XI. These
tribe
graffitti,

or scratchings, are characters adopted by Arabs to distinguish one

from another, and commonly used for branding the camels on the shoulders and

haunches, by which means the animals

not hostile to tne owners.

may be
found

recovered,

if

straying,

and found by Arabs

walls in

They

are

also scratched

upon the

many

places

frefjuented by Bedawin, as, for instance, in the ruined convents,

plain of the Jordan,

churches, etc., on the

and
"

occasionally, as at

Amm4n,
;

several such cip'hers are united into

According to show where a dispute was settled without bloodshed; but as a rule it may be regarded as an expression of gratiCaptain Burton says, " that the Wasm in most cases showed some form of a cross, tude.'
interpretations.
it

one complex character.

some,
it

The custom, however, has many

others

denotes the terminus of a successful raid

make

which

is

held to be a potent charm by the Sinaitic Bedawin," and

is

is

further of opinion that

the custom

dying out.
:

" Every stone, not only in the chief buildings, but in the walls and bastions and other public monuments, when not defaced by time, is marked with a character, amongst which were very common the ancient mirror and handle, ? (102, 108), emblematical of Venus, the Mylitta of the Assyrians,
Describing the ruins of Al Hadhr, Mr. Ainsworth observes

and
last

Alittii of

the Arabians, according to Herodotus; and the Nani of the Syrians."

is

'

The
col-

cipher (110)

styled

by Burton the "Camel stick."

XII.
lection;
'

The examples

of

compound marks
is

are mainly taken

from Mr. Godwin's

the Scottish specimen

from the plate attached

to Dr. Smith's paper, already re.

'

Moor, Hindu Pantheon,

pi.

ii.

'Travels in Various Countries of the East, 1823,

pi.

Ixxxii

Symbolism in Reference to Art (Transactions, Royal Institute of 1859-60, p. 97); King, The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 176. ^Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonrj-, p. 278. 'James Finn, Bj-^vays in Palestine, 1868, Appendix A, pp. 453, 454 (101-103). R. F. Burton, The Land of Midian, 1879, vol. i, p. 320, vol. ii., p. 156.
'Dr. Barlow,

British Architecta,

'W.

F. A. Ainsworth, Travels

and Researches

in Asia Minor, etc., 1842, vol.

ii.,

p. 167.

Transactions, Royal Institute of British Architects, 18C8-C9. pp. 135-144 (111-116).

"

84
ferred to;

MASONS' MARKS.
and
to the three last figures,

from a recent work.'

M. da Silva thought, "that

the second mark, added to the special sign used by them, was always the siime for an entire
a triangle, A a disc, O or a small cross, +. marks being usually a zero, from Portugal and Spain the second mark is chiefly a circle, but In the examples given in England the N form and the acute angle, <, have by ^Ir. Godwin lieen generally found This careful observer has met with four stones in one wall, nearly close to be so used. together, each bearing two marks, whilst no two of the eight marks were alike.

family, these

Mr. Ainsworth says that the marks at Al Hadhr were carefully sculptured, one in the

any regard to uniand Reservoir at Bozrah Mr. Merrill noticed many formity or position. At the Mosque stones with marks upon them, but there were only four varieties: (1.) /^ was on those of on those of the south wall; (4.)/ ori the north wall; (3.)^ on those of the east wall; (3.)
centre of every stone, but as a general rule the ciphers are traced without

those of the west wall.

In the west wall he counted upward of one hundred and sixty

It is singular

stones which had this mark.

and noteworthy that many of the

of their labor

stones,

however, bore no mark at

all.

That workmen have been accustomed

times,
is

to

mark the product

from very early

indisputable.

In default of stone, the Chaldeans used bricks, sometimes of un^

baked clay hardened by the heat of the sun.

they stamped on the bricks the
the god or goddess to

name

of the king

The curious archaic characters with which who built the temple, and the name of
all

whom

it

was dedicated, taken separately, might very well pass for

Like the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, in
probability,

masons' marks of a later age.

stamped the inscription upon their bricks with a solid stamp.

But, unlike the Chaldeans,

who impressed
The

the characters on a small square near the center of the broad faces of the

bricks, the writing of the Assyrians either covered the

whole face or else ran along the edge.

Babylonians, like the early Chaldeans, seen to have almost entirely used bricks in

their constructions,

and

like

them impressed the

inscription

on the broad face of the brick,

in a square, with a solid stamp.

The
and

Egyjitians stamped their bricks with the cartouche of the king, or with the

name

titles of

a priest or other influential person.'

number

of these

marks are figured by

are supposed to date

RLfaud, and represent hieroglyphic characters, numerals, etc.

They

from about the fourth dynasty, and the marks were traced upon the bricks with the finger; the bricks bearing cartouches impressed with a stamp date from the eighteenth dynasty; but

we must not

forget the masons' marks, scrawled in red pigment, within the great pyramid,
etc., etc.

the cartouche of King Cheops,

In the fifth dynasty, the porcelain tiles were

facilitate their

arrangement; and those found at

marked on the back with numerals, to Tel-el- Yahoudeh bear on the back both

hieroglyphics and, in some instances, Greek letters.

animal, encircled by his

Each Roman brick-maker had his mark, such as the figure of a god, a plant, or an own name, often with the name of the place, of the consulate, or the owner of the kiln or brick field. ^ No marks of this kind have been observed on any brick or tile found at York, though many of these have the inscription, Leg. vi., or Vic, or Leg. ix.. His. or Hisp., stamped upon them. In the same city, however, several frag'

Selah Merrill, East of the Jordan, 1881, pp.

55, 151.

'Voyage en Egypte,

etc.. 1830-36, Paris, pi. Ixxxviii.-xci.

Cf. also Lepsius,

Denkmaler; and
later.

S.

Birch, D.C.L., etc., Historj- of Ancient Pottery, edit. 1873, pp. 9-14, etc.

'Seroux d'Agincourt, Rec. de Fragmens, pp.

83-88;

Smith, Dictionary of Antiquities

MASONS' MARKS.
ments of amphorae have been discovered, from whi('h
holding olives,
or honey, but especially wine.'
it

85

appears that the

name

of the potter

was commonly stamped upon one of the handles or the neck.

oil,

This vessel was used for

An

eloquent writer has described the finding of masons' marks at Jerusalem as one of

their "capital discoveries,"

coming upon the explorers "like

flashes of

morning light."'
weut down
it

Emanuel Deutsch

arrived in Jerusiilem while the shaft was open, and

to

inspect this record of his race.

In the port of Sidon he afterward found marks of the same

kind, and after careful weighing of the evidence, came to the following conclusions: (1.)

The marks on
or inscriptions.

the temple stones are Phoenician;

(2.)

they are quarry-signs, not writings

As Herod employed Greek

numerals, Mr. Hepworth Dixon

artisans,
is

who knew nothing of Phoenicians letters and probably right in alluding to the " masons' marks " as
" in the
first

" one

of their capital discoveries," because, as he contends,

place, they settle

the question of whether the work was Solomonic or Herodean;^ and in the second place,
they prove the literary accuracy of the text in Kings, that
ployed in quarrying these stones for the Temple wall.

workmen from Tyre were emdisagree,

first

Josephus gives two accounts of

Solomon's buildings on the Temple

led

hill,

and these accounts unhappily

which has
statement

Lewin

to the charitable conclusion that the

Jewish historian made his

before he had studied his subject with

much

care.

"

difficulty is
text,
'

admitted," says Mr.

Dixon, " but our discovery removes suspicion from the sacred

Solomon's builders and

it is

Hiram's builders did hew them.

to

'

In the presence of our Phoenician marks,

impossible

doubt that Hiram's builders did also help to hew these stones."*
In inquiries of this character we cannot be too careful not to confound what

may be the
relates,

effect of

chance or

idle

amusement with

letters or syllabic characters.

Mr. Truter

that in the southern extremity of Africa,

tracing on a rock, with

among

the Betjuanas, he saw children busy in

re-

some sharp instrument, characters which bore the most perfect

the

semblance to the
tribes

P and

M of the

Roman

alphabet; notwithstanding which, these rude

were perfectly ignorant of writing. "

Probably nothing would have more astonished

the

signatures.

of past ages than the interpretation which has been placed on their ancient For any practicable purpose, collections of marks are alone valuable in determining whether the siime workmen were employed, to any great extent, upon buildings
in the

workmen

same countries.

To

settle this point,

the resemblance between the most frequently

recurring marks, should be carefully noted.

Wellbeloved, Eburacum;

To do

this effectually,

however,

many thousand

'

or,

York under the Romans,

inscriptions on

pp. 118, 121.

See also Smith, Dictionary

of Antiq\iitips, s.v. Fictile.

in

Many

Roman

tiles

and

potterj' are given

by Dr. Birch

the appendix to his worlv. ' W. Hepworth Dixon, " Underground Jerusalem,"' Gentleman's Magazine, October 1876. ' " On the east wall, at the very base. Captain Warren discovered stones with Ancient Hebrew

letters in red paint,

and these have been thought by some to show that the masonry must of neces-

This character was, however, in common use as late as the time of Herod, and the discovery only serves to show that the wall is not later than Jewish times" (Lieutenant C. R. Conder, "The High Sanctuary (f Jerusalem," Good Words, October 1881). Captain Warren's excavations (referred to by Mr. Hepworth Dixon) were carried out during the years 1867sity be the

work

of Solomon.

69.

Lieutenant Conder was his successor in Palestine, and continued occasional researches during
1873-7.5.
p. 491.
i.,

the years
*

Gentleman's Magazine, October 1876, 'Cited in Humboldt's Researches, vol.

p. 154.

86

MASONS' MARKS.
it

specimens would have to be collated and

to the late Mr.

seems more than probable that until a successor

Marks,"

or, as

no comprehensive study of " Masons' Mr. King styles them, " enigmatical symbols," will be either practicable or
Shaw,
in zeal

and

assiduity, arises,

desirable.

Many communications on

this subject,

accompanied in some instances by tracings

or copies of marks, have been published in the

of these, the disquisition

" Builder," and

in the Masonic journals;

late Dr.

by Mr. Dove in the former (1863), and the papers of the

to Dr. Back's collection of stone
is

Somerville

'

in the latter, will well repay perusal.

is

In the Keystone (Pliiladelphia) of January

19, 1878, reference

made
I

marks copied by him from

German churches and

other edifices, but of this work there

no copy in the British Museum

or other libraries to which

'

have had

access.
p. 450; 1853, p. 316),

Ancient Masons' Marks (Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine, 1851,

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

87

CHAPTER

X.

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

THE FOUR CROWNED OR FOUR HOLY MARTYRS.
''

^HE

history, legendary or otherwise, of the four patron saints of the mediaeval building

J[

trades

must always possess a peculiar

interest for the masonic body, even

though

it

be impossible fairly to deduce those arguments which some have sought to derive

from
be

it.

This, together with the confusion

and obscurity that

exist

on the subject, a conwill, I trust,

fusion and obscurity which arose almost immediately after the

martyrdom itself,

my excuse
The

for entering

somewhat more

into detail than the importance of the subject, as

bearing upon masonic history,

outline of the story

may at first sight seem to warrant. may be told in a very few words. Four

oflBcers of

the

Roman

Imperial Court and five sculptors were martyred for their faith in Christianity, in the reign,

and apparently by

tlie direct
little

orders of Diocletian, and were interred in the same spot on

the Via Labicana, a

outside

Rome, on the road

it

to Praeneste.

The names

of the five

was ordered that the entire nine should bear the appellation of the Four Crowned or Holy Martyrs (although it was always known that The names of the five were subsequently rethere were two distinct sets of martjTs).
covered, but the whole nine
relics,
still

having in process of time become forgotten,

retained the original

saints

title,

and the church,

built over their

were subsequently removed, thus forming a kind of Christian Pantheon, after having been more than once destroyed and rebuilt,

and

to

which the bodies of other

subsists to the present day.

Hence has
it

arisen a certain

amount

of confusion, the

names of
of

the martyrs and the priority, of the respective martyrdoms having been occasionally mis-

taken the one for the other, while

happens strangely enough that the four

officers

the Imperial Court have become the patron saints of the building trades instead of the_/?ve
sculptors as in strict propriety
it

should have been, while the

trade, or profession of

the five

has survived under the

name

of the four.

This confusion has, as we shall see in the sequel,

they had no real connection.

been somewhat further increased by the fact of the names of one or two of them having

been

common
first

to other martyrs with

whom

The
earliest

mention of these mart\Ts occurs in some of the ancient martyrologies, the of wliich now extant, that of St. Jerome, was written about a.d. 400. After this,

at a considerable interval,

come those

of Beda, 730;

Floras, 830;

Wandelbertus, S44;

Hrabanus Maurus, 845; Ado, 858; the

Romanum Parvum,

873;

Usuardus, 875;

and

88
Notker, 894.
plirastes,

THE QUATUOR CORONA TI.

Besides these, there are for the Gi'eek
tlie

and

Church the work of Simon iletaGreek Mena?on, which have, as dealing with the oriental legends, no imus.

mediate interest for

Among

the former, at least Bede, Wandelbertus, Ado, Usuardus, All these notices are of the

and Notker, mention the legend now under consideration.

briefest.

Gregory the Great

feast day:

1073-1085 in
of the four of

his

" Sacramentary," has the following

for

their

" These are the names

and Carpophorus, the day and been forgotten,
their
i.e.,
it

crowned martyrs, Severus, Severianus, Victorinus,

whose martyrdom having been neglected through carelessness

was decreed that the celebration of their martyrdom should take

place in the church of those five martyrs

whose names are celebrated

in the mass, so that

th/*

memory
five.

i.e.,

of

ihafour

should be honored at the same time as that of

others

the

" VI. Ides of Nov. (9th).

Martyrdom of the Four Crowxed Ones.

that we, acknowledging the constant

" Be

pleased,

we beseech Thee, Almighty God,

faith of the glorious martyi's, Claudius,

Nicostratus, Simphorianus, Castorius,

the benefits of their holy intercession in

Thy

presence, for Jesus Christ's sake.

may re^p Amen.

"At
" Let Thy bountiful
for Jesus Christ's sake.
blessing,

the Oblation.

Lord, and

may our
it

gifts

be acceptable in Thy sight

through the intercession of Thy Saints, and may

be unto us a sacrament of redemption

Amen.
"Preface

before receiving the Sacrament.

at all times,

"

It is very meet, right, just,

and salutary that we should

and

in all places,

give thanks unto Thee,

celebrate the Passion of

when we Thy Holy Crowned Martyrs, since while we magnify the glory of Thy name, through them we may grow in the increase of our faith through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God,

"After receiving

the

Sacrament.

suppliants, that of those

" Being refreshed with the heavenly sticraments, we do beseech Thee, Lord God, as whose triumphs we celebrate, by their help we may be sustained

through Jesus Christ, His sake.

Amen." The Roman Martyrology (date uncertain): " The octave is the Passion at Rome, on the Via Lavicana,

at the third milestone

from

the city (at the North East on the road leading to Prteneste) of the holy martyrs, Claudius,
Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius,

and Simplicius, who, having been

by order of Diocletian.

first

imprisoned,

were then most severely scourged, and since their faith in Christ could not be shaken, were

thrown headlong into the

phorus, and Victorinus,
of the

river (Tiber)

Also on the Via Lavicana

occurred the martyrdom of the four holy Crowned brothers, Severus, Severianus, Carpo-

who were beaten

But
it

to death with scourges loaded

with lead by order

same Emperor.

since their names,

which

after a subsequent lapse of years

were

was decreed that their anniversary, together with that of the other five, should be celebrated under the title of the Four Crowned Ones, which custom was continued in the Church even after their names had been revealed."
revealed by God, could not be found,

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

Next
account
in clironological order

89

comes the Golden Legend of Jacobus a Voragine, which

may be termed
is

the loveliest collection of mediaeval sacred fairy tales, although the subjoined

very inferior to most of those wliich have been described or adorned by his pen.

'"The

four crowned ones were Severus, Severjanus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus.

They were beaten to death by order of Diocletian, with whips armed with lead.' Their names were lost for many years until discovered by a revelation from on liigh, and it was therefore ordered that their memory should be honored with those of the five other martyrs, Claudius, Castorius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, and Simplicius, who suffered two years These exercised the sculptors' art, and as they refused after the martyrdom of the former. to sculpture an idol commanded by Diocletian, or to sacrifice to false gods, they were by command of the same Emperor enclosed alive in leaden coffers and thrown into the sea in They were honored with the other four martyrs whose names the year of Our Lord 2ST. had been forgotten, and whom Pope Melchiades (or Milthiades, 310-314) ordered to be designated under the title of the Four Crowned Ones, and when later their names became known, the above denomination continued in use." We now come to the various Breviaries, that of Eome of course ranking first. The date of the one I have used is the " Breviarium secundum usum Komanum Yenet, 1477," but the sources from which it has been compiled must be far older. I may as well say,
once for
all,

that the Breviaries took their origin in the earliest times, and gradually grew
in different places

and expanded, varying

and countries until Pius V., by a Bull dated

as follows

July 1568, published one authorized version which has ever since been continued to be
enforced to the exclusion of
all others.
'

The legend

is

"/w

Sanctor^im

Martyrum Quatuor Coronatorum."

" Prayer.

torius,

"Grant, Oh God, that the glorious martyrs, Claudius, Xicostratus, Symphorianus, Casand Simplicius, whom we acknowledge as steadfast in their faith, may intercede for

us with Thee.

"L

It

came

to pass, that

when the Emperor

Diocletian

joumied

to Pannonia, in order

that in his presence metals might be taken from the rocks; that

when he had assembled

together all the masters in metals, he found

in the art

Claudius,

Castorius, Symphorianus,

amoQg them men endowed with great experience and Xicostratus, who were marvellously

learned in the art of cutting stone {in arte quadratarid

quadratacid,
Christ.

1518
all

).

These

men were secretly Christians, who

as sculptors they executed, in the

observed the

commands
Lord Jesus

of God,

and did

things which

name

of the

" IL

It

came

to pass, however, that,

one day, by

command

of the

Emperor

Diocletian,

the artificers were preparing to

make

a statue of the Sun-god with his four horses,

and

all

things thereunto belonging, the chariot and the horses out of Tbasian stone.'
siime time

At

the

when

all

the artificers and philosophers were meditating thereupon, the former

began

to speak in dissenting terms.

"
fit

III.

And when

they had found a great block of Thasian stone, they did not think

it

for the statue, according as the

'

Emperor
Small

Diocletian had
folio.

commanded, and

for

many days

Opus Aureum,

etc.,

Lugdini, 1519.

'A
knot.s.
*

classic cat-o'-nine-tails, technically

termed "a scorpion,"

balls of lead being substituted for

vol.
ii.,

^Rev.

W.

Maskell,

Marble from the island of

Monumenta RitiiaUa Ecclesia Anglicanae, 1846, Thasos, near the month of the Danube, highly prized

p. xxi.

for statuary.

"

'

90

THE QUATUOR CO RONAT

I.

thoroafter a great contention arose between the artificers and the philosophers (masters of

the work and native masters 1518).'

However, on a certain day,

all

the artificers (622 in

number), and the

of the stone
artificers

five

philosophers, assembled together in order to examine the structure

and the veins thereof, and there arose a prodigious contention between the and the philosophers.
'

" IV. Then began the philosophers to dispute with Claudius, Symphorianus, and SimWherefore obey ye not, with your skill, the commands of the most plicius, and said, devout Emperor Diocletian, and fulfil not his desire?' Claudius answered and said, Because we may not blaspheme Our Creator and sin against him, because we may not
'

be found guilty in his

sight. '

Then

said unto

them the

philosophers,
'

'

Hence

it

seemeth

that ye are Christians;' and Castorius answered and said,

Verily

we

are Christians.'
{artifices

" V. Then the philosophers chose other

rios),

artificers

and stone cutters

quadrata-

which Thereupon the philosophers informed the Emperor Diocletian that the statue of Asclepius was finished, and he straightways commanded that it should be brought before him that he might look upon it. "When
to

and caused them

make a

statue of Asclepius out of the Proconnesian stone,

was brought unto the philosophers after thirty-one days.

he beheld the statue he marvelled much, and

of those

said,

'

Verily, this

is

a testimony of the

skill

who have our approbation

in the art of sculpture.

'

" VI. Then the philosophers

rianus, Nicostratus, Simplicius,

said,

Most sacred Emperor, know that those

whom

your

majesty has declared to be most learned in the art of cutting stone, Claudius, Sympho-

and Castorius, are Christians, and by their magic works

'

subject the
of the law, of the law
'

human
and
if

race.

'

Diocletian said unto them,

If they

the charges of your accusation be true, then

may not obey the commands may they suffer the penalty
the tribune

(sacrilegii).
skill,

" VII. Then Diocletian, in consideration of their

dius,

commanded

Lampa-

and

said

'

If

they will not offer sacrifices to the Sun-god, then take them and scourge

them with

stripes

and scorpions; but

if

they will consent, then lead them to submission.'

Five days afterwards Lampadius sat in judgment in that place, and

commanded the
'

herald to

summon them
martyrdom.

before him, and showed

them

terrible things,

and

all

sorts of instruments of

When

they had entered, he turned to them and

said,

Hearken unto me, and

avoid martyrdom, and be submissive and friendly to the noble prince, and sacrifice to the

Sun-god, for hereafter

may not speak unto you

liis

in gentle words.'

"VIII. Claudius and

of our God.'

fellows answered with great confidence, 'This

may

the

Em-

peror Diocletian know, that verily

we

are Christians,

Exasperated at this reply,

and turn not aside from the worship the tribune Lampadius commanded them to be
'

stripped naked and scourged with scorpions, wliile the lierald proclaimed,
'

Ye

shall

not

contemn the commands of the prince! In that same hour Lampadius was seized with an evil spirit; he was rent asunder with cramps, and died in his chair of judgment. "IX. When his wife and household heard these tilings, they ran to the philosophers
with a great outcry, so that
occurrence, he said,
into the river.'
tliat
'

it

came

to the ears of Diocletian;

and when he heard of the

Make

leaden coffins, put them alive into the same, and cast

them

alive

Thereupon Nicetius, a senator {fogatvs), a coadjutor of Lampadius, did which Diocletian had commanded. He caused leaden coffins to be made, put them therein, and ordered them to be cast into the river.
'

Referring, as in Lectio

I.,

to

Wog's

translation of this year.

THE QUATUOR CORONA TI.

Here ends the legend
tion.

91

in the

" Breviarium Romanum," 1477.

to Lectio III.,

The

edition of 1474

agrees exactly with the ahove

up

hut varies slightly in the concluding por-

The

translation of the Komisli

German

Breviary hy Jacob Wog, Venice, 1518, like-

wise agrees with the above version, with the exception of two passages noted in the text
(I., III.),

and concludes with the following additional paragraph

saints,

"When,
Lord."

however, the holy Cyril heard these things, being in prison, he was

filled

with grief because of the death of these

and departed thus from

this

world to the

The " Breviarium

Rpirense," 1478, varies as follows

" IV. Claudius, Castorius, Nicostratus, and Simphorianus, ingenious artists in the art of cutting stone and sculpture {mirafici quadrandi et sculpendi artifices), being secretly Christians, obeyed the commands of God, and made all their work in the name of Christ. A certain Simplicius, who was also experienced in the same art, marvelled much at their skill and works, for they surpassed all the architects of the Emperor, who were six hundred and twenty-two in number. Ho was himself still a pagan, and when he worked with them his work succeeded not, but his own tools broke daily. Therefore he said unto Claudius,
'I pray thee, sharpen hands, and said, the work.'
'

my

tools, so that

they break not.'

.Jesus Christ,

Claudius took the tools into his

In the

name

of our

Lord

be this iron strong and proper for

to completion.

From

that hour Simplicius finished everything that belonged to the ars qnadit

rataria with his iron tools, as did the others, and brought

" V. He then asked Symphorianus iu what manner he had sharpened them, for the edge of his tools never broke, as had previously been the case. Symphorianus and Castorius answered and said, God, who is the Creator and Lord of all things, has made His crea'

tion strong. '

Simplicius asked,

'

Has not god Zeus done

this ?

'

and

said.

'

Repent,

my

brother, for you have blasphemed God,

Then answered Claudius, who has created all things,

and

whom we
With

acknowledge; but we do not acknowledge as God him.

these,

whom

our hands have

made.'

and words
lying

like

unto them, they converted Simplicius to the faith of

Christ, so that he, despising all the images of the gods,

went with them

to the

Bishop Cyril

of Antioch,

who then was

bound

in prison, because of the

name

of Christ, and had

for three years been tortured

by many blows, in order to be baptized by him.

all

When

they

were returned, and he had again resumed his task, they

sign of the cross in the

labored together, and

made the

name

of Christ, while they worked.

They

were, however, accused

by the philosophers of being Christians, because they would not make a statue of Asclepius
of marble, as the emperor had
'

Make

leaden coffers, and shut

commanded; whereupon, them up alive therein and

Diocletian, full of rage, spoke,

cast

them

into the river.'

But

Nicodemus, a Christian, after forty-two days, raised the chests and the bodies and brought

them to his house. " VI. The four crowned martyrs were so called, because their names were not known. For when Diocletian commanded that all should sacrifice to Asclepius, who was called the god of health, because he had been a good physician, these four refused; whereupon they were scourged to death with leaden scourges, and their bodies cast into the streets to be devoured by dogs. So they laid five days, and were then buried by St. Sebastian and the Bishop Melchiades. Their names were afterwards revealed as follows: Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, Victorianus; before which time, however, the holy Melchiades ordained that
the anniversary of their martyrdom should be kept on the same day with that of the holy

92

THE QUATUOR CORONA TI.

who were
cast into the

Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Caetorius, and Simplicius,

river in leaden coffins."

According to the " Breviarium secundum consuetudinem domus Hospitalis Hierosolj'-

mitanus Sancti Johannis; "

Spirae, 1495, the bodies

were raised after

five days,

and

secretly

interred in the Via Lavitiina by St. Sebastian. In the " Breviarium Ultrajectense " (Utrecht), Venet, 1497,

we

find the legend

much

the same as in the " Breviarium

Romanum," but

considerably more briefly narrated.

Lampadius executes the five martyrs, and dies suddenly. Forty days afterward NicodeThen follows miis raises the coffins and buries them in his house. II. " Eleven months afterwards Diocletian ordered a temple to be erected to Asclepius
:

in the

Thermje Trajani, and a statue of the god

to be

made

of Proconnesian stone.

As

all

the people were

commanded

to sacrifice, there were present several tribunes (cornicularii).

When

their opposition

was made known to the Emperor Diocletian, he ordered them to

After they had been scourged

be slain with leaden scourges, before the statue of the god.

for a long time, they gave

up the ghost."
with the VI. of the " Breviarium Spirense."
''

The

III.

and

last Lectio agrees

is

The

pre-

cise date of

the martyrdom
states,

given in the

ilodus orandi secundum ecclesiam Herbipo-

lensem," 1450, which

" that

these holy martyrs suffered for the

name

of

God

in the
is

year 287, on the 8th day of

Xov."(.s-e.r^o

ydus Xovcmbris).

But more than one date

or,

current, and the two martjTdoms occurred at an interval of eleven months,

to

according
Eccle-

some

authorities,

two
:

years.

'

The account given by Baronius

in his

" Annales

siastici

" runs as follows

"a.d. 303.

To

these (other martyrs previously cited) were added the five martyrs

Claudius, Nicostratus,

Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius, who were followed to

the martyrs' crown two years after by Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorius,

who

excelled in the art of statuary.

For they, having refused on the ground of their

first

Christianity to carve images of the gods, were

beaten with scorpions, and

finally,

being enclosed in leaden coffins {loculis plunibeis), were thrown alive into the river on the 8th Nov., on which day they are entered on the
lists of

the Holy Martyrs, by reason of their

famous memory; on which day

It is

also is

kept the celebration of the finding of their bodies.

remarkable how the art of statuary decayed through the ever increasing members of
disgraceful to consider as gods the things which they
tliat

the Christians; for the possessors of this art having been almost without exception converted
to Christianity, held
it

had fasliioned

with their hands, and preferred to die rather than

dedicated to gods.

they should sculpture gods or things

Hence the

art of statuary, being deprived of almost all its followers,

came

to,

and remained
all,

in, a state of

complete collapse; a proof Of which

still

plainly seen by

in those statues wliieh

exist at

may be clearly and Rome, and which are obviously of

rude workmanship, very inferior to those of the (true) ancients. To give but one example out of many, we refer to those wliich all can see at Rome on the triumphal arch which

martyrdom Constiintine erected to celebrate his victory over Maxentius, and which, on account of the dearth of sculptors, was obliged to be mainly constructed from portions of the memorials of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and other noble monuments
shortly after this
portions of the above would almost seem to point to an operative masonic influence. That such should exist in Germany I can imderstand, but not its existing at Rome. What is said in the beginning about the philosophers seems to show that at the commencement of the sixteeoti^
'

Some

century the distinction between mason and architect was already fully recognized.

'

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

shapeless as
like the

93

of the city, while the remaining figures which were carved at the time are so rude and

if

we may use a

jioetic simile

to appear,

when compared with

'

the others,

neck of a horse joined on to the head of a man. "

The above statement

are weighty.

as to the inferiority of late sculpture

still

is

perfectly true.

It is usually

referred to the general degeneracy of the times, but

the reasons given by Baronius

The other
has

great,

and

in

some

respects greater, ecclesiastical

historian, Tillemont,

" The martyrs called by the name of the Four Crowned Ones are famous
but as regards their history, we have nothing but what
is

in the

Church,

written in the

'

Martyrologies,'

and

in the
is

Acts of SS. Symphorian, Claudius, Castor, Nicostratus, and Simplicius, whose

at the best

authority

but very middling {fori imdiocre).

All concur in the saying that

they (the four) were

officers

attached to the prefect of Rome, and

named

respectively Sevsacrifice,

erus, Severianus, Carpopho.sus (.!ijf),and Victorinus,

who, having refused to

were

condemned by Diocletian to be beaten to death with scourges armed with lead. " This festival is marked for the 8th Nov. in the Martyrologies' of Jerome, Bede, and
'

others of later date.

missal of Thomasius,

It is also

found
'

in the

'

Sacramentary

'

of St. Gregory, in the

Roman
and
'

and

in the

Calendar ' of Father Fronto.

In these three

last,

in

Bede, they are only mentioned by the

name

of the
'

Four Crowned Ones.

We

find also the

same

saints

on the 7th and 8th August

in the

Calendar' of Bucherius, and in the

is

Mar-

tyrologies' of St. Jerome, save that the first

called

Secundus or Secundinus, and not on the road to

title

Severus.

It is stated that their festival

was held
a
Title,
it

at Albano,

Ostia,

where

their bodies reposed. "

There was

at

Rome

(church from which a

exists (1698).
It

was derived)

and a church
the fifth
in their

of the

Four Crowned Ones, and

still

was the station of

Monday

in Lent.

Anastasius says that Pope Honorius built and dedicated a church

their bodies

name; and that Leo IV., having found

about the year 849, rebuilt their

altar,

church, which was falling into ruin, and placed their bodies under the " those of several other martyrs.

together with

The account given by

have met with.

the hagi.ographer Surius

I

is

the most copious of

its

kind that

Mombritius

have not seen.

it

It is

apparently derived from the same

if,

source as those in the Breviaries, which

itself,

much

resembles,

indeed,

it

be not the source

for Surius, although he wrote considerably later, yet derived his materials from, or

rather reprinted, the most ancient and authentic lives whenever he was fortunate enough
to find any.

His account

is

as follows

" The martyrdom of SS. Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius and also of the Four Crowned saints, from the Martyrology of Ado, who compiled the story which, up till then, had existed in various manuscripts, and wliicli was until then obscure in many places and abounding in falsehoods. "a.d. 290. I. Rome is the scene of the martvi'dom of the holy martyrs Claudius, Nicos'

'

tratus,

imian.

Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius, under the reign of Diocletian and MaxThese men being very famous workmen, and marble workers of the first rejjutation,

Annales Eccleaiastici cum Antonii Pagii critica; Luccaj, 1738-46, vol. iii., p. 365. This, pace Tillemont, is a confusion, as we shall presently see. ^Meinoires ijour seivir a THist. Eccl. des six premieres Siecles; parM. Le Nain de Tillemont, 2d
'

'

edit., Paris, 1701-171^, 16 vols. 4to.

94

THE QUATUOR CO RONATI.

'

stood very high in the esteem of Diocletian.

Hence, when on a certain occasion they were at

work carving marble, and hallowed

their labors with the sign of the cross, that the

turn out according to their wishes, one of them, Simplicius,

the errors of paganism, said to the other four,
is
'

who was

still

work might hampered with

'

I adjure you by the Sun-god, tell us who name you work so well.' To whom Symphorianus answered, If you are able to believe, we will tell you, and soon you will not only be able to follow the art as well The blessed Cyril confirmed as we do, but you will also be able to obtain everlasting life.'

that

God

in whose

him

in the faith to their satisfaction,

and then baptized him, and declared that he believed

in Christ the Lord.

" II. Not long afterward they were accused by the philosophers of being Christians, and because they refused to carve a statue of the god ^Esculapius out of porphyry and serpentine (Procoriissian) as the Emperor had ordered them, he directed a certain tribune To whom,' said Lampadius, adore named Lampadius to hear them with moderation.
'
'

the

Sun

deity in order that

'

you may

baffle the designs of these philosophers.'

they replied,

We

will

never adore the work of our

own hands, but we adore

the

To whom God of

Heaven and earth, who rules for all eternity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.' They were on this relegated to the public prison. From whence, since they refused to change their faith in Christ, they were brought, stripped by order of Lampadius, and most severely
beaten with leaden scourges.
pired.

Shortly afterwards Lampadius, being seized by devils, ex-

When Diocletian heard this,

rank, to see

he was

filled

with intense rage, and ordered one Nicetius,

an

officer of

them shut up

in leaden chests,

and in

this fashion

thrown into

the river.

Forty-two days after, a certain Nicodemus, a Christian, came and raised the

bodies of the martyrs in these leaden chests, and deposited

Tliey were martyred on the sixth of the Ides of

" IV.

It is also the

day of martyrdom of

them honorably in his house. November (Nov. 8th). the Four Crowned ones, that is, of Severus,
sacrifice, strug-

Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus.

These men, on being urged to

gled against

it,

and by no means yielding

their consent to the wishes of the impious, perse-

vered in the

faith.

But on

this being told to the

Emperor

Diocletian, he immediately

ordered them to be beaten to death with scourges loaded with lead, before the shrine of
.^isculapius (Asclepius),

and that

their bodies should be

thrown

to dogs in the public

some pious Christians came, and having collected the remains, buried them by the side of Via Lavicana at the cemetery (or catacomb, literally sandpit), and close to the bodies of the holy martyrs Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius. They suffered on the 6th of the Ides of Nov. (Nov. S), but two years after the passion of the five other martyrs. But when their names could
square, where they lay for five days until

no longer be found, the blessed bishop (Pope) Melchiades determined that the anniversary
of the

Four Crowned ones should be celebrated under the names of the five holy martyrs. Yet, after the lapse of years their names also were revealed to a certain pious individual;
still

the festival as before appointed continued to be celebrated under that of the other marwhile the place became celebrated as the resting-place of the Four. " ^
is

tyrs,

It

very clear, then, that whatever confusion

may have
drawn up

arisen in the

minds

of the

original writers
Diocletian

and those who have

builder.

at a later period

their compilations, whatever

'

was a great

cultivated his cabbages.

It is still

nearly perfect, and

Witness the cottage which he built at Spalatro, and where he is an oblong of 720 feet by 650, as nearly as
etc.

can be calculated.
'Laurentius Surius, Vitae Sanctorum,
CJolonise Agrippin;c, 1617-18, vol.
\'i.,

p. 200.

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

may
to

95

be the slight discrepancy of date

chronologies of these early times

a thing by no means uncommon or improbable in the or the divergences that exist in giving priority sometimes
is

one martyrdom and sometimes to the other, and the various other discrepancies which
be observed,

may

yet that

the main story

perfectly consistent
instance,

and perfectly probable,

namely, that there were, as stated in the

officers of the

first

two
city,

distinct sets of martyrs, four

Roman

Court, or of the Prefect of the

and

five

who were

sculptors,

and apparently of humble position, and whose names might hence be more

easily forgotten,

and who perished first according to the generally received opinion that these having been buried together became confused, and while the name of the first group was continued to These simple entanglements the second, the attributes of the latter were alone preserved.
have been to some extent further complicated, at
least to superficial writers

and
and

readers,

by the martjTdoms of

St.

Carpophorus,
7.

St.

Victorinus, and St. Severianus on the road to

Albano and

Ostia,

on October
is

This

is all

Ruinart

'

gives concerning them,

his refer-

ence to the four martyrs

confined to the following

St.

"9

Nov.
'

St.

Clement,

Sempronian,

St. Claudius, St. Nicostratus," for

which he
have not
fol-

quotes an

ancient

Roman
it

Calendar compiled under Pope Liberius toward the middle of

I

the 4th cent.,' but without giving any further reference, for which reason

thought
lowing
:

fit

to place

at the

commencement

of this chapter.

Kibadaneira

has the

" 29 July. the same day

Lives of the Saints Simplicianus, Faustinus, and Beatrix, martyrs.

as St. Martha, the

On

Church commemorates the holy martyrs Simplicianus,

Faustinus, and Beatrix, their

sister,

who

suffered at

Rome

for the faith of Christ in the

persecution of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian.

first

Simplician and Faustinus were

taken, and as they were found to be constant in the faith, they were put to the torture

by a Lieutenant of the Emperor, and afterwards beheaded, and their bodies thrown into Their holy sister Beatrix recovered and interred their remains." the Tiber.
Ribadaneira does not

cluded under that generic name.

make any mention of the Four Martyrs or of any of those inBut he gives, as does Ruinart, Symphorianus of Autun.
is

The very
Lastly,
or.

short notice by Alban Butler, a book so easily accessible, and which

but a
to.

very short abstract of some of the facts recapitulated above, need not be further alluded

we come

to the vast compilation

known by

the

name

of

the " Acta Sanctorum;

Lives of the Saints " par excellence, or sometimes by that of the Bollandists, from Bol-

landus, the originator, a Jesuit of Li^'ge in the seventeenth century,

who had Henscheniiis

monu-

and Papebrochius

as his principal coadjutors.

Probably no work has ever displayed greater

It
is,

learning, patient industry,

and

critical

acumen.

perhaps, the most astonishing

ment

of

human power
it is

that has ever appeared.

The

best and earliest lives, often several,

are given, but

the dissertations prefixed to the lives of the various saints, and which

often constitute the lives themselves, no original documents being forthcoming, that con-

power of skill, research, or candor any one of them without feeling that if according to the old saying, what Salmasius did not know was beyond the power of human knowledge, so with much greater truth it may be observed that what, on their parstitute the especial merit of the work.

Nothing

in the

is

omitted, and

when one never

rises

from the

periisal of

ticular subject,
'

is

omitted by the Bollandists

is

beyond the reach of human research.

It

Ruinart, Les Veritables Actes des Martyres, traduits par Drouet de Maupertay, Paris, 1732,
ii.,

tome
'

p. 575.

Les Fleur des Vies des Saints, mises en Fran^ais par R. Gaultier, Rouen,

1631,

tome

ii.

(Juillet 29).

96

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

that English proper

may be remarked

names are
origin,
I

invariably given correctly, a thing most

rarely to be found in

works of Continental

and

have often been surprised to find This vast

descriptions of English localities, with

clearness

which

am

personally well acquainted, given with a

collec'

and accuracy which would seem

and
it,

to imply personal knowledge.

tion

is still

progressing in the edition of Palme, Paris, 1868 (date of the last volume), in 47

vols, folio,

unfortunately, stops short at the end of October, thus omitting the very

names with which we are now most intimately concerned, an omission the more to be deplored, inasmuch as it is probable that more than one unedited MS. containing fuller They give, however, on July 39, Simplicius, who, accounts still exists on the subject. with Faustinus and their sister Beatrix, were martyred on that day by Diocletian, as menThis martyrdom is also in Surius, tom. iii., p. 136. That of Symphotioned above. some say Marcus Aurelius is given under date of Autun, martyred under Aurelian rianus August 23; also in Surius, tom. iv., p. 251. They also have under date August 7 Exanthus, Cassius, Carpophorus, Severinus, Secundus, Licinius, soldiers and friends of the Emperor Maximian, martyred by him on that day at Milan; also under dated September 9 Sever-

ianus, martyred in the

same jJersecution

at Sebaste (Samaria),

and inserted both

in the old

Greek and

in the Russian calendars.

:

In one portion of their work they have, however, the following verses on the Four
" Senas ornantes Idus merito atque cruore, Claudi, Castori, Simplici, Simphoriane,

Et Nicostratts pari

fulgetis luce coronas."

"O

Claudius, Castorius, Simplicius, Siraphorianus. and Nicostratus.

you shine with equal

light in

your ciown, adorning the sixth Ides by your virtues and your blood."

Unfortunately, I have mislaid the reference, and as the only defect of the " Acta Sanc-

torum "

is

the total want of an index,

it

will suffice if I

mention the martyrology of Wan-

delbertus (Migne. Patrol, cxxi. 617) where the same lines occur."

Having thus accomplished the history

of the lives or rather the deaths of these martyrs,

we

will
'

now turn our

attention to that of their relics.

'

"

1.

In the very ancient sacred

Mart}Tologies,' the blessed and adorably martjrrs

is

Claudius Nicostratus, Symphorianus, and Simplicius (Castorius

the Four Crowned ones, are said to have been buried on

omitted), together with

8

November

by the

side of the

Via Lavicana; and, indeed, Bcde,

words:

in his

'

MartjToIogy,' asserts this plainly in the following

'

At Eome

is

the scene of the martyrdom of the Four holy crowned martyrs

'M. Guizot, in his "Lectures on Civilization," speaks of the thii-ty thousand lives of the saints; having avowedly confined his acquaintance with the work to counting the names in one volume, taken at hazard, and multiplying it by 47. In point of fact, a gi-eat number of names of persons martyred together are taken, as it were, in one batch, and the lives are very frequently merely the notices of the BoUandists themselves, in default of original documents; and these notices, so scanty are the materials, often consist of but a few lines. The actual i.e., original Wyes are compara-

few in number. Many of these and contain much invaluable history.

tively
''

lives are at least ampUfications of

contemporary authorities,

are often

may state here that all the hagiographical collections are quoted imder their day, but as there many saints celebrated on the same day, an index where obtainable will be found a help.

Quoting the volume and page is of little use. Suppose a reader, desirous of verifj'ing a reference, has at his conunand only another edition that of Migne for instance what then ? The page and volume is only an approximate guide, but a good index will be a better. ^Aringi, Konia Subterranea Novissima, Coloniai et Lutetia; Parisiorum, 1659, tom. ii., lib. iv..

cap. X.

'f&tj/y^j f/^^^e^-t-T

<>

f:-

Cli/ivo^

^o-r^.'')/L^^_^

r.-ist

(iraiul

McisUn-of

diiiiul l.oilrte uL

MassacluiscUs.

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

their will,
to the

97.

Severus, Severinus, Victorinus, and Carpophorus, who, being urged to sacrifice against

and in no way giving their consent, persevered in the faith. This was reported Emperor Diocletian, who thereupon ordered that they should be beaten to death with scourges loaded with lead before tlie statue of /Esculapius, and who further directed
thrown to the dogs in the public square
(platea),

their bodies to be

where they remained

untouched for

five days.

The

Christians then came, and having collected the bodies buried

them on the Via Labicana

(or Lavieana, the b

and

being interchangeable) at the third

milestone from the city, near the bodies of the holy martyrs Claudius, Nicostratus,

Sym-

phorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius.

tyrs,

But two
(as

years after the passion of these four mar-

when

their

names were almost forgotten

might possibly happen

in a time of fierce

persecution and frequent massacres), the blessed Melchiades, the bishop, ordained that the anniversary of the Four Crowned ones should be kept under the
tyrs.

name

of the

Four Holy Marmar-

In the lapse of time, however, the name of each individual saint was revealed, but the

festival, as
tyrs,

had been ordained, continued

to be celebrated

on the

festival of the other

and the place became celebrated

as the burial-place of the

Four Crowned
also their

ones, as in
in the

the original

MSS."
it is

So far Bede,' with

whom Ado

agrees,

and

own Acta

added that their bodies were collected and buried in the catacombs (or cemetery), near the Via Labicana, by the blessed martyr St. Sebastian, and by Meleiiiades

Vatican, where

when

bishop, and before

occurs in these Acta:

in the public square,

" Whose bodies he (the Emperor) ordered

where they remained
five days.

tlie latter's

elevation to the papacy.

to be

The

following also
to the dogs

thrown

Then the

blessed Sebastian

came by

night with Melchiades, the bishop, collected the bodies and buried them by the side of the

Via Labicana, somewhere about the third milestone from the city of Rome, together with
other saints in the same cemetery " (always arenaria,
of this kind
Labic:n;a.
is
lit.

sand-pit).

But since a cemeteiy

city

said to have existed near the third milestone

from the

on the Via
St. Peter,
to, or,

which was equally the burial-place of SS. Marcellinus and Peter (not

the apostle),
at least,
*'

we may be permitted

to conjecture that this

is

one was either contiguous

it

very near to the other, for there

no mention of

elsewhere.

2.

Moreover, the precious

relics of these
,

martyrs were preserved in the above cemetery

until the time of the blessed

Pope Leo IV.

who, having been when a priest raised to the

rank of cardinal by the designation of that of the Four Crowned Martyrs,' on attaining the
dignity of

Supreme

Pontiff (.\.D. 841) honored their title with

no unsparing hand, and

ones, which, to-

having exhumed
transferred

many

bodies of holy martyrs from the cemeteries and catacombs, piously

them

to this spot,

and

especially those of the

Four Crowned
relics,

gether with other ever-to-be-venerated bodies of saints and other

all

he deposited with

honor under the high

altar of the church, as the librarian

:

'

(Anastasius), speaking of

" He, indeed, the ever blessed Pope, and the favored of God, being animated by the greatest zeal and divine love, collected together in a marvelLeo, relates in these words

Who,

it

may

be observed, had especial

facilities for

the Anglo-Saxon, and especially the Northumbrian, Church with

fred, etc.

knowing, owing to the close connection of Rome e.g., Benedict Biscop, Wili.e.,

'We
^

granted, as

have already seen in Tilleniont that the spot had a title, we say Connaught and Albany give dukedoms to the royal

such a

title

was usually
1

princes.
vol. folio.

Anastasius Bibliothecarius Historia Ecclesiastica

cum

notis Fabrolii, Parisiis, 1649,

The extracts given above have been collated with this edition. The author of this work, who was a Byzantine Greek, Uved about 879. At this stage of the nan-ative, Ai-inghi proceeds to quote from
the " Bibliothecarius."
'0L. II.

'

98

THE QUATUOR CORONATT.

numerous
saints

Ions manner, within the walls of the blessed city, the bodies of

which
re-

had long remained neglected.

For he discovered, by

skilful inquiries, the bodies of the

Four Crowned Holy Martyrs, and,

until

for the great affection

which he bore them, he

constructed the church, which was consecrated to their memory, and which church,

he was raised to the Papacy, he had governed with the greatest wisdom, but

which had become shattered by the defects of old age and the lapse of time, so that, broken to ruins, it had long proclaimed its antiquity, and, being fractured, retained
nothing of
rebuilt
its

former excellence except tottering craziness.

This church,

say,

he

from the foundation in a more beautiful and sumptuous manner, and glory of God collected and placed under the sacred alter their most sacred
Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus,

for the

bodies,
;

namely, those of Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius

also
;

Four Crowned brothers also Marius Audifax and Abacus, Felicissimus Agapitus Hippolytus, and his servants to the number of 18, Aquilinus, Aquila, Prisca, Narcissus, Marcellinus, FeUx Symmetrius,
the
berilis,

who were

Candidus, Paulina, Anastasius, Felix Apollion, Benedict Venantius, Felix, Diogenes, LiFestus, Protus, Caecilia, Alexander Sixtus, Sebastian, Praxides the Virgin, together
others whose

with

many

names are known

to

God

alone.

Over

this (tomb)

he raised a

cibarium to the glory of God of extraordinary beauty and workmanship, fabricated of the
purest silver
gilt,

being 313

lbs.

\."

and studded with emeralds and sappliires (amethysts?), the whole weight After which the Bibliothecarius (Anastasius) goes on to relate the list

of gifts presented to the

same church, which church became afterwards greatly ruined, more

Guiscard, prince of Salerno, during the papacy of Gregory VII.,
lies

especially

when Robert

burned

all

the region which

between the amphitheatre and the Lateran, but was again

II.

entirely repaired

by Pope Paschal

(1099-1118), and restored to

its

former beauty, to

which the Bibliothecarius

refers in these

words:

"In

like

manner, he consecrated the

Four Crowned Martyrs, which had been destroyed in the time of Eobert it from the foundation. He consecrated it in the 17th year of his Pontificate on the 20th of January." From which accounts of the churches of the holy martyrs, when the city, being surrounded with armed men, was forced to submit to the enemy's fury, we may understand that the ruin was effected with no slight loss to things sacred and to relics. " 3. Before, however, the said Pope Paschal had solemnly consecrated the church, i.e.,
of the

Church

Guiscard, prince of Salerno, after having rebuilt

in the twelfth year of his pontificate,

and while occupied with

its

restoration,

he came upon

two urns

(iirnas)

under the high

serpentine, in

altar,

one of porphyry, the other of Proconnesian stone

relics of

commonly called

which were preserved the

size,

the same blessed martjrs;

these chests (areas) he surrounded with a solid wall, an altar being placed above,

and

beneath was a stone of very great

having in
the right

its

middle a window shaped like an arch,

of the

and which opened on the

relics.

On

hand

same stone was the former

had been erected by Pope Leo IV., whereof the Bibliothecarius speaks, and on which was recorded a marble inscription on the left hand all that happened at the same period might be read at length in an
place of interment of the bodies of these revered martyrs, which
;

inscription

on marble written in similar characters.

These most sacred bodies, now no

longer clearly
'

known

to

any and enclosed by

walls,

remained hidden for a length of time

If

the church was

first

85),

and afterward

rebuilt

restored by Leo IV. about 841, then destroyed by Robert Guiscard (1073by Paschal n. Anastasius must liave hved at a very much later period
,

than 879 ?

THE QUATUOR CORONATL

until the last century,

99
from the

when Garzius

Millinus,
to

who took

his title of cardinal

church, and who was also urban vicar

this very ancient shrine

Paul V. (1605-21), proceeded to restore and adorn

from the great love he bore to the blessed martyrs, and while
bodies of the martyrs, together with very

wholly occupied with the work he suddenly came upon these extremely ancient stone chests,

and

in

them the most precious

many

relics of

other holy martyrs, some of which were of great value.

This discovery was the source of

Pontiff,

the greatest rejoicing to himself, the people, and the

Supreme

who was
new

zealous in

adorning the monuments

of sacred antiquity.

Wherefore, being animated by a singular

treasures of

accession of devotion, because, under the golden era of his pontificate,

sacred things hitherto invisible had, by the especial revelation of heaven, been
fest as well to

made manipeople, pro-

the city as to the world, he, accompanied by a noble attendance of cardinals,

by the leaders of the

ceeded with
all

Roman

Court, and by a great multitude of the

relics.

Roman

convenient speed to the sacred and venerable

Further, Fedinus,

canon of

St.

Maria, Maggiore, a counsellor of the aforesaid Cardinal Millinus, and an eye-

witness of the above events, gave a public account, diligently

drawn up

as usual, of the

worshipped and adorable finding of these relics, and also a most excellent account sufficiently
detailed to satisfy the curiosity of individuals, to

which we

refer the reader

who may be

desirous of further information.

And

so

much
it

for these things."

There

is

a short notice in " Le Cose Maravigliose Di

Roma," per Giacomo Mascardi,

I.

1622, which differs slightly, inasmuch as

restorer of the church.

makes Adrian

to

have preceded Leo IV. as

The "

Mirabilia Urbis Romse," 1618, with

sometimes bound up, makes no mention of the founder Melchiades or of Adrian

says,

which the former is I., but

" Honorius

I.

asdificavit,

collapsam fere restituit

S.

ehalis II."

And
^

precisely the

same stiitement appears

Of the present

in

Leo IV., instauravit deinde Pas" Las Cosas Maravillosas De la

Sancta Ciudad
description:

De Roma,

1589.'

state of the edifice

we have the following

" SS. Quattro Coronati. The church of the Four Crowned Brothers is situated on the summit of the Caelain hill between the hospital of S. John Lateran and S. Clements. It was first built, according to Panvinio, by Pope Melchiades in the fourth century; and it derives its name from the four martyrs, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus,

who

suffered in the persecution of Diocletian,

IV. in the ninth century (Anas. Biblioth. Vit. Leon IV.).

several Pontiffs,

and whose bodies were deposited here by Leo It was subsequently repaired by
,

and

also

by Cardinal Carillo in the time of Martin V. as

is

recorded by an

inscription in

its

inner vestibule.

The annexed Camaldolese convent was converted by

Pius IV. in 1560 into a female orphan-house, placed under the care of resident Augustinian
nuns.

"It
which
is

is

entered by a rude vestibule and two atria with porticoes, in the inner one of
S. Sylvester,

a door to the right opening into a very ancient chapel dedicated to

sculptors.

and now belonging to the confraternity of

On

its

walls are several paintings of

the seventh and eighth centuries, illustrative of the

life of

Constantine.

The church

is

divided into a nave and two small aisles by eight granite columns, over which rises a sort
of superstructure in the

manner

of the ancient basilicas, adorned with eight similar but

is

smaller columns.

The

floor,

which

much worn,

has been a handsome specimen of opus

the right,
is

Alexandrinum or mosaic.
'

Over the

first altar, to

a painting of S. Augustin

Was

the former copied from the latter, or had they both a

J.

common and probably Latiu original ?

i.,

'Rev.

Donovan, D.D., Rome, Ancient and Modern,

1843, vol.

p. 631.

lOO

THE QUATUOR CORONA TI.

learning, as a child, the exhaustless deptli of the profound mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

Next comes the handsome monument of Mons. Aloysio d'Aquino, who died in 1679. The flight of steps which we meet next, and also the corresponding one on the opposite side, leads down to the subterranean chapel, inside the altar of which repose the bodies of the

Four Crowned martyrs, together with those

under range of
Claudius,
etc.,

of several other saints.

In the tribune, the

the five sculptors,
represents
glory,
all

jiaintings represents the conversion,

martyrdom,

etc., of

whose

relics are

preserved in this church.

The second range

the sufferings and death of the /owr Crowned martyrs, and above the cornice is a much admired for the excellence of the design and the freedom of the execution,

by
S.

Manozzi, called Giovanne da

Sebastian by Baglioni
:

S.

Giovanni.

Over the next

is

altar, in

the left

aisle, is

the head of the martyr

preserved over the altar, having been

enclosed in a silver case by Gregory IV. , and placed here by Leo IV.
is

Over the

last altar

some obscure hand. The Station occurs on 27th day of Lent, and the festival on the 8th Nov." The observations which next follow have been forwarded to me from Rome by Jlr. Shakespeare Wood.' "The church, or rather Basilica, was dedicated to the 'Quattro Coronati ed i Cinque
the Annunciation
Ijy

Scultori Martiri

'

jointly.

" The Holy Martyrs, of

Quattro Coronati,'
so, as

whom

the legend speaks, were probably the Cinque.

But
'

as

the Basilica was generally called and

time passed, the

known by the first memory of the

ones,

part only of

its

name,

i.e.,

The

five sculptors or

masons became,
be considered as

so to say, blended in that of the

Four Crowned

and these
blessed

latter to

the patrons of masons.

" The

oldest inscription in the Basilica states

'

The

Leo IV. (who rebuilt the

church 847-855) replaced beneath the

Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victor.'

altar the bodies of the

Holy Martyrs, Claudius,

Nicostratus, Sinforian, Castor, and Simplicius, and of the Holy Quattro Coronati, Severus

" This inscription gives the post of honor

think this
is

in point of priority to the five sculptors.

[I

the generally received opinion

'i

among

the best authorities], and

it

is

to

be

noted that they are described as

Santi Martiri,' as in the legend, while the other four,

who were

soldiers trumpeters cornifices

are

called

'

Santi Quattro Coronati,' as in the

MS. " They were

called Coronati because of the

manner

of their

martyrdom.

Moreover, in

the inscription, the soldiers are grouped as the Quattro Coronati, while the masons are

simply described in the plural as the

'

Holy Martyrs.

'

These sculptors or masons suffered

a statue of ^sculapius.

martyrdom

in the reign of Diocletian rather than

make

Their

bodies were thrown into the Tiber, and, on being recovered, were placed in the catacomb

on the Via Labicana. " The four soldiers also suffered martyrdom later in the same reign, and their btxties were laid by St. Melchiades in the catacomb ad duos lauros," next to the bodies of the Holy Martyrs, Claudius, Nicostratus, Sinforian, Castor, and Simplicius i.e., the bodies of
'ad duos lauros
' '

the five sculptors or masons.

" Some years

later

Melchiades became Pope, 310, and tlien he removed [persecution

tlie

was now over] the bodies of

'

Holy Martyrs and

of the Quattro Coronati to a Basilica

on

For

this
I

communication, as well as
indebted to Mr.

for previous notes

on the same subject from Dr.

J. S. Steele

(of

Rome),

am

J. C. Parkinsori.

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

the Caelian, he had built and dedicated to their memory.

loi

This churcli must have been

it

one of the very

earliest built in

Home,

for the reason that

was only in a.d. 313 that Con-

stantine the Great emancipated the Christians from the disjibilities weighing

upon them,

and

it

became

possible for

them

to build churches without falling

under the provisions of

the penal code; and Melchiades died on the lOtli of Dec. of that same year.'

" Melchiades may have been a Mason (?). He was an African, but from what part I cannot ascertain, and it is curious that among other church regulations he ordered that
' '

two candlesticks should

stiind upoi\ the altar.

'

"

I find

that St. Bernard wrote a

Life of Melchiades,' the

i.e..

MS.

of

which

is

said to

have

been placed in the Library of Benet's College, Cambridge

of the Quattro Coronati in

Corpus

Christ!.

The

Basilica

Rome was

therefore built 300 years before that bearing the same

it is

name was founded

at

Canterbury

but

noteworthy that the primitive Basilica in

in

Rome

was rebuilt by Honorius L a.d. G32, and that

Canterbury was founded a.d. C19.^

" There may have been some

at that time

special revival of the veneration of those particular saints

or a connecting link of

some kind.

On

the death of Pope Sergius IL, a.d.

847, the clergy and people,

in the
'

who had then

their part in the Pontifical election, assembled

Santi Quattro,' and, taking the Cardinal Titular of the Basilica, carried

great apjjlause to the Patriarchal Basilica of St.

John Lateran

close by,

him with and acclaimed him

Pope.

He

took the

name

of

Leo

.,

and, as I have said, rebuilt the church with greater

magnificence.

" In 1084
"

A.D.,

it

was burned down when Robert Guiscard took Rome, and was again

rebuilt for the third time,

and a

palatial residence

added to

it

by Paschal IL a.d. 1116.

When

the Lateran Palace was destroyed, the Popes lived for some time in the Palace
Several Popes were elected there, and several of the Titulars of

of the Quattro Coronati.

the Basilica were, like Leo IV., elevated to the Pontifical throne.

The day
,

assigned to
closes the

the Quattro Coronati and the Cinque Scultori Martiri

octave of All Saints, and their office
Melcliiades.
If this
I.

is

the 8th of Nov.

which

one of the oldest in the Breviary

it

is

ascribed to Pope

be well founded,

must have appeared

in the Breviaries of his day.

it

"

St.

Gregory

held the Basilica in great esteem, and transferred to

still

the Station for

the 4th

Monday " The honor

in Lent, as in

observed.
Pontiff,

it

on the Saints' Day

which the Basilica was held was such that the

when

present in

-the 8th Nov. wore his Tiara. " The very ancient oratory of St. Sylvester in the portico of the Basilica was the chapel

of the confraternity of sculptors

and masons, founded

in the time of

Innocent VII.
five

a. d.

1406,

'

under the invocation of the Holy Quattro Coronati, and of the other

Holy

Martyrs

who had

followed the profession of sculptors.'

sashes.

wore a dress of red with blue

'

The members of the confraternity They now assemble in the Church of St. Andrea

a tolerated religion at least from the time and was probably more or less winked at from the time of Comniodus. A religion may be persecuted after it has been tolerated i.e., the toleration for some reason is withdrawn e.g., the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. There were many churches built openly before this time. The signal for this very Diocletian pei-secution was the burning of the magnificent church of Nicomedia, standing just outside the palace gates. The great change effected by Constantine was to substitute
Tliis is

erroneous; Christianity was a reiigio licita

of Aurclkin,

Christianity as the State religion for the old

^

Roman

jiaganism.
tlie

Mr. Shakespeare

Wood

has evidently

in his

mind

A.D. 619,

by Bishop Mellitus (according to Bede), on

its

sudden stoppage of the fire at Canterbury, reaching the martyrium of the " four blessed

coronati."

I02

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

on the side of the Capitoline
Hill, as
I

in Vinchi, near the Piazza Moiitanara,

being more

convenient tlian the old oratory.

Since what date this cliange was made,

cannot at the

moment

tell,

except that

it

was anterior, but perhaps not long anterior, to 1756.

of

The

primitive basilica of the Quattro Coronati was built before the Patriarchal Basilica of St.

John Lateran, the cathedral

of Melchiades, a.u. 319."'

Rome, which was consecrated by

St. Sylvester,

the successor

In a subject of

much

antiquarian interest, and in which some

I

little,

but considering
it

all

the circumstances by no means excessive, confusion exists,

every possible authority at length,

have though

better to give

to use a common

phrase, without note or

comment,
sculptors

and now having,

I tliink,

arrived at the tolerably safe conclusion that at

first five

clearly not, I think,

masons

and shortly after four soldiers or

what these emblems were,

officers,

civU or military,
spot,

were martyred probably on the same day, and were interred, certainly, in the same
whereof one
set supplied the

name and

the other the emblems to future generations,

after

we

now come

to the consideration of

which

I shall

conclude

with a few general observations on the whole subject.

The emblems
of the saw,

of these martyrs, since they

mallet, compasses,

hammer, a

became patrons of the building trades, consist and square; these instruments, especially in
with a dog or a wolf, to
sig-

Belgium, are sometimes found surmounted by a small crown, to signify their intimate
connection with the Four. '
nify the animals

These

latter are also represented

who

either refused to eat their corpses or prevented others

five

from eating
etc., is

them, when exposed for

days in the public thoroughfare.^

The hammer,
liave

used

by various trades, such as carpenters and joiners; and hence they

for their patrons.
their banner.

taken these saints

In Brussels, shoemakers have even, as

it

were, ranged themselves under

But

these are later innovations, which were adopted

when

the Flemish

trades were gradually reorganized, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, from motives

of public policy.

To what do

the crowns of the Four

been to certain distinguishing ornaments which, when

martyrs wore upon their heads, but their position was,
tinction;
it is

Crowned ones refer ? It may have alive and holding their offices, the
I think, too

obscure for such a

dis-

more

likely to refer to the

crown of martyrdom, which

in process of time

became more peculiarly attached to them; as in the case of St. George, the dragon originally meant sin, and the saint trampling on the beast represented the triumph of
the martyr over
sin.

Viewed

in this light,

it is

a very
it

common

attribute of the earlier

pictures of saints, especially of St.

exclusive property of St. George.*
'
'

Mary Magdalen, but

has since become the more or less

The facts are apparently taken from

C. Cahier, Caracteristiques des Saints dans I'Art popu-

one a kind of dictionary. ' The same emblems are even sometimes given to St. EUoi, who was a goldsmith. Dr. Husenbuth mentions an old painting at Nuremberg representing the Four Crowned Brothers, Martyrs, with a rule, square, etc., at their feet (Emblems of Saints, 1860, p. 66). ' Cf. St Edmund of East Anglia and the wolf. In "Les Images de Tovs Les Saincts et Saintes,"
laire, Paris, 1847, 2 vols, in

Faictes par Jacques Calot, et mises en lumiere par

Isi-ael

Henriet, Paris, 1636,

p.

302; Castorius

is

represented as a sculptor at work, his head encircled with a crown or nimbus.

Carpophorus, also

crowned,

lies

upright close to the bodies, whilst in the distance

military force.
*

dead on the ground, with two other corpses near him; three wolves or doss are sitting may be seen the spear-heads and helmets of a

St.

George was martyred at Joppa, which was the scene of the rescue of Andromeda by Per-

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

A good
deal has been

103

made

of the

Four Martyrs,

tiiking the

name

for the whole,

from

a masonic point of view, but as I think erroneously.

These martyrs were the patron

all

saints of particular trades, chosen, like the patron saints of

other trades, long after the

or other organized form,
affinity,

event of martyrdom,

when the

trades acquired

some corporate

and

when
less

in

consequence they chose for patrons those who had some kind of

more or

remote, with their

own

pursuits.

Hence the antiquity

taken in
its

of the legend of the

Four does

not prove the antiquity of the masonic body;

it

mediaeval,

i.e.,

working, sense,

merely shows that, as might naturally be expected, the building trades chose those saints

whose calling had some kind of connection with their own, and as they could not actually get bricklayers and stonemasons, they not unnaturally chose sculptors. No account makes

them masons, and the masonic tinge

fluence.
It is a curious fact,

in

Germany has

evidently been given by masonic in-

however, that in dioceses, where at the time great cathedrals

were being erected, as at Spires 1477, Utrecht 1497, and Wurzburg 1480, the Breviaries contain

ample

details of the

Four; whilst they are barely mentioned in those of Basle and Con-

stance 1480, Salzburg 1483, Luttich 1493,

I

and Erfurt

1495.

The

mediajval masons did not,

fancy, perfect their organization until the fifteenth century.

All the instances, given by

the

German

authorities, as far at least as I

am

able to ascertain, relate to this period.

tc-

statutes of the stonemasons of Strassburg, said

be the

earliest,

date from 1459.

The Then

come the regulations of 1463. Merzdorf, in his '' Medals of the Freemasons," mentions a copper medal, probably emanating from the Society of the Four Crowned Martyrs at Antwerp, the date of which is 1546; they are also mentioned in the " Missale Colouiense," 1480, and in the " Passio Sanctorum quatuor Coronatorum," printed by Wattenbach at
Vienna
given.
in 1853,

from a MS.

in the

Ducal Library at Coburg, but of which the date

is

not

Schauberg, in his

late

work on the " Symbolism of Freemasonry,"

had on each of
its

states that the

ineister tafel (master table) at Basle

sides a representation of
late.

one of the

Four Crowned Martyrs.

'

Neither of those two instances appear to be

We

have seen

above that the confraternity of the sculptors and masons at

at the Quattro Coronati at

Kome did
all
its

not occupy the chapel

I

Rome

until 1406.

So in England,

that

have been able to

final

discover tends to the conclusion that the masonic

body took

complete and

form

in

the same century.

In Moore's Freeniason's MontJily Magazine,''

to decide with certainty

it is

said that

"

it is

impossible at this day

which of these Breviaries

If

is

the original source from which this

in a circle,

legend has been taken."

Freemasons would only cease reading

and would

take counsel of some other writers besides those within the mystic pale, they would see that

the legend of the Four, besides being perfectly natural and authentic,

is

of immeasurably
It

higher antiquity than anything of which the building or any other trades can boast.

wdl be tolerably evident to those who take the trouble

to reason calmly

and

correctly, that

when the
been
sens.

guilds, trades unions, or bj

whatever name the associations of workmen

may have
The

called,

were formed, that according as was the fashion of the times, they chose patron

date of Jonah, B.C. 868,

^

Jonah also embarked at the same place. Is there any connection between the three? is early enough to have suggested dimly even the legend of Perseus.
p.

Ante.,

lea

Boston, U.S.A., April 1863, vol. xvii., p. 177, et seq., containing an English translation of the Legend of the Four Martyre, as g^iven by Kloss in his " Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung." A copy of this was kindly made for me by Mr. S.D. Nickerson of Boston, upon which I have drawn for the extracts from the Breviaries of Rome, Utrecht, and Spires, given at pp. 89-92 of this
chapter.

I04
saints,

THE QUATUOR CORONATI.

and that the building trades chose the sculptors, under the generic name of the Four Holy Martyrs, as being the nearest approach to men of their own calling. All references to the " ars quadrataria," their being masons, etc., are clearly the invention of those trades
whose patrons they had become, to bring them more
closely en rapport.

Cahier says that

the Carpophorus and Severinus whose martyrdom, together with that of others, was celebrated August 7 {vide stqjra), were in reality martyred at Como, and that their being con-

fused with two out of the Crowned was the cause of the latter having been considered as
the patron saints of Como.

tyrdom
is

But both Surius and the Bollandists concur in fixing the marand his comrades at Milan, which, though tolerably near to, emphatically not the same place as Como. The Magistri Comacini were celebrated as
of the above Severinus

builders in the earlier portion of the Middle Ages;

and

it

is

probable, though, as far as I

know, there is no proof of it, that it was here that the Four, again speaking generally, became the patrons of the building trades. When did these Magistri Comacini flourish ?

The
so

sole authority that I

know

of

is

^luratori,

who

in the

commencement
masons
of

dissertations merely says, speaking of progress in Italy, that the

of one of Ms Como became

famous that the name was used

in other countries as

(Lombardo, as a generic name, certainly existed in Spain).

Muratori gives none, nor, as far as
as of the Bollandists, that
I

know, the clue to

synonymous with a skilled mason But what date was this? and it may be said of iluratori any,

up

as

what was beyond the power of his research may fairly be given beyond investigation. Still, I do not think that it could have been very early, and

the influence of
tion, be

Lombard and Byzantine

architecture in Western Europe will, on examina'

found

to be exceedingly mythical.

The

generality of guilds, whether

an entirely

Roman Collegia, or their revival after they had been hidden, like seed in the ground, among obscure meetings of the people during a long period of ignorance and barbarism, do not, I imagine, date much before the year 1000 a.d., for
new
inventiou, or imitated from the

the same reason that prior to

tliat

period society was not in a sufficiently settled or advanced

stage as to admit of any great progress in the arts,

and consequently

to induce

any extended

trades organizations; and

It has, indeed,

tliis

would be more
St.

especially the case

officiated in the

among
.to

the building trades.

been said that

Augustine

Church

of the

Four Martyrs
is it

at

Rome

before coming to England, and, as a church dedicated

fire

the same martyrs

casually mentioned by Bede, speaking of a

that occurred in Canterbury, a.d. 619,"

has

been sought to connect the two events, and to deduce from them a kind of strange theory

way or another St. Augustine was instrumental in introducing masonry into Now, in the first place, it is as well that my readers should disabuse their minds once and for all of the idea that the Catholic Church had ever any connection with masonry. The employer and the mistress of the operative masons in the Middle Ages, she has been the unflinching antagonist of speculative masonry in modern times but has never been the ally or the originator of either, unless, in the sense of a demand creating a supjily, in
that in some
Britain.
;

The mere fact of Como being tlie only town under their patronage, and that no cathedral was shows the little influence ot the mediasval masons. Heideloff (Bauhutte des Mittelalters) says that many alters erected by medieval masons were dedicated to the four. Query Where are they ?
'

so,

'Beda, Historia Ek^clesiastica, recens.

1843-44. bk,

J.

Stevenson. 1841,
p.

lib. ii., c. vii.,

p.

115; Ecclesiastical

History of England, edited by Dr. Giles (Bohn) 1847,

ubi

80;

and Patres

Ecclesiaj Anglieanaj (Giles),

ii., c. vii., pp. 196, 197. In the last-named work, loc. eit., we read:" Eratautem eoloci, tlammanun impetus maxims incumbebat, raartjTium beatorum quatuor coronatorum " ' The Church of the Four Crowned martyrs was in the place where the fire raged most" The heading of

the chapter

is,

" Bishop Mellitus by pi-ayer quenches a

fire in

his city, a.d. 619."

THE QUATUOR CORONA TL

the Middle Ages.
if

105

Next, who built the church at Canterbury

Three hundred years almost,

religion,

not quite, elapsed between the martyrdom of the Four, an event which was almost con-

temporaneous with the establishment of the Christian as the State

of Augustine.

and the coming

should we assume that the church was necessarily built in the twenty years or so betweeii the coming of Augustine and the fire, and not in the 300 years before ?
It

Why

must not be forgotten

that, as

may
who

indeed be gathered from the legends, these saints

were in early times exceedingly popular

well as persons; take St. George,
is

for

saints

have their fashion and popularity, as

after all was a very ordinary kind of martyr;

and

it

therefore exceedingly likely tliat a church built in those times would be dedicated to
St.

them, whether erected by

Augustine or not.
well belong to the

Moreover, Augustine was a Benedictine

monk, and therefore could not

Church

of the

Four

at

Rome, which was

not connected with the Benedictine (then the sole religious) fraternity."
taking the most extravagant supposition, and assuming
tliat

Lastly, even Augustine did come from the Church of the Four at Rome, and did build the church at Canterbury, it only proves that

he remembered his former home, and does not prove any connection with building trade
organizations that sprung
tion,

up hundreds

of years later,

and

at

which time only the connec-

such as

it

was, between the masons and the Four began.

St.

Mr. Ireland names the churches of "

Martin," and of the " Four Crowned Martyrs,"

as the oldest ecclesiastical edifices in Canterbury.

date,

and thinks that the

latter,

To the former he assigns the earlier which stood on ground now occupied by the church of St.
St.

Alphage, was erected about the time of

Augustine, a. d. 579,

its

name (Four Crowned

the three
is

Martyrs) being conferred by one of the earliest archbishops, of

whom

first

were

Romans.^

On

the other hand, however, the view already presented in the text

supported

by the arguments of a learned writer, which are the more conclusive from the fact of being

penned without

special

reference

to the point in dispute.

According to Mr. Coote,

Britain in the fifth century was abundantly furnished with churches,

of this island was continued without a break

and the Christianity

from the date

of St. Alban's

martyrdom

(a. d.

303) down to the arrival The Germans, I am

of St. Augustine.^

aware, assume that, because the Four appear in their early ordi-

nances, therefore our masons must have derived their origin from them.
w^hich
is

well worthy of a German,' runs as follows

" Miiller and

The argument,
rejoice in

Smith both

the Christian

name

of Charles, therefore Miiller

is

not only senior

to,

but either father or

I pass over the idea that the possibility of Smith being senior to and quietly ignored; though on the same principle it might be contended that because the old churches at Yarmouth and Brighton are both dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen, that therefore the Brighton fishermen must necessarily be descended from those of Yarmouth. It might equally well be the other way; but of

uncle to Smith."
Miiller
is

coolly

course the truth simply

is,

that fishermen being under the general protection of St. Nicho,

aware (Lives of the Archbishops, vol. 1. p. 34), much doubts this, but the Benand the other great Catholic writere, who are infinitely better authorities, have no misgivings whatever upon the point. nV. H. Ireland, History of tlie County of Kent, 1828, vol. i., pp. 1.57, 166.

Dean Hook,

am

edictines themselves

3H. C. Coote, The

*\t

Romans

of Britain, 1878, pp. 417, 419.

was Prince Bismarck who said that a German was no good unless he was drilled. Similarly if the minds of the Teutonic race could be put under strict discipline as well as their bodies, it might prove beneficial to human learning. As it is, their patience and research, not being properly directed, only leads to their enveloping themselves and otliers in a fog of their own raising.

io6
las,

THE QUATUOR CORONA TI.

that class of

men usually invoked his

origin, actuated

protection, wherever found,

to

and without any

sort

of cohesion or connection,

and the attempt

by one

assume a universal body of fishermen, sprung

impulse, and ruled by one

from one common

is

common

common

head^

about equivalent to supposing the same in connection with the building trades.
trade,

It

has

never been suggested of the one

and indeed

its

absurdity would strike any one at once,

and

it is

only misplaced ingenuity, false pride, and narrow learning, which has ever caused But, as
it

the idea to be entertained concerning the other.

happens. Smith

is,

as far as

we know,

really older
is

than Miiller

i.e.,

the earliest masonic document yet discovered in

which mention
before there
in

made

of the Four,

is

English, and not

the Crowned Martyrs were the patron saints of a British Church,

is

historic proof of the legend of their

German / and as we have seen, many centuries, at least martyrdom having acquired currency

Germany.
Mr. Halliwell considers the MS. he has published of a date " not later than the latter
i.e.,

part of the fourteenth century,"

stitutions.

more than

half a century before the Strassburg Con-

The

following are the lines relating to the

Four

'

'Ars quatuor coronatorum.

" Pray we now to God almyght, And to hys swete moder Mary bryght,

That we mowe keepe these artyculus

here,

And
That

these poynts wel al y-fere. these holy niartyres fowre.

As dede
jTi

thys craft were of gret honours;

as gode

They were

masonus

as on erthe shul go,

also.

Gravers and jTnage-makers they were

'

For they were werkemen of the beste, The emperour hade to hem gret luste; He wylned of hem a ymage to make, That mowt be worscheped for his sake; Such mawmetys he hade yn hys dawe, To turne the pepul from Crystus lawe. But they were stedefast yn Crystes lay, And to here craft, withouten nay; For they nolde not forsake here trw fayAn bj'leve on hys falsse lay. The emperour let take hem sone anone. And putte hem ynto a dep presone, The sarre he penest hem yn that plase, The more yoye wes to hem of Cristus grace. Thenne when he sye no nother won. To dethe he lette hem thenne gon; Whose wol of here Ij-f yet mor knowe, By the bok he may hyt schowe,
In the legent of sanctorum,

The names
Here
fest

of quatuor coronatorum. wol be withoute nay, After AUe Hal wen the eyght day."

'Early History of Freemasonry

in

England, pp.

31, 32;

and see

ante, pp. 59, 81, 357-363;.

"

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.

io7

CHAPTER
AMONGST

XI.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
the

antiquity of the Masonic Craft, there

documentary evidence which has been adduced in support of the high is one kind which demands more than a pass-

ing notice, viz., the series of fabricated writings and charters

often

distinguished

by a strong family likeness

relied

upon

at different periods,

and

in different countries,

to establish claims of a varied character,

but marked by the

common

feature of involving

in their settlement the decision of important points, having a material bearing

upon the

early history of Freemasonry.

Two

of the manuscripts

examined in

this chapter are

grouped by Krause amidst " the

three oldest Professional

Documents
and
laws.

of the

Brotherhood of Freemasons; " whilst of the

third' Kloss aptly remarks, that, if authentic, all masons, subsequent to 1717, have resorted
to spurious rituals, customs,
I shall

now proceed with a review of six documents, falling within the category of ApocThese I shall consider according to priority of jmblicatmi, except the ryphal MSS.
*'

Larmenius Charter" (1810), with which, being only indirectly masonic,

I shall conclude

the chapter.
I.

The " Leland-Locke " MS.

in

This document cannot be traced before 1753,

which year

it

was published in the Gen-

tleman's Magazine, being described as a copy of a small pamphlet printed at Frankort in 1748.
It is

headed

" Certayne Questyons, with Awnsweres to the same, concernynge the Mystery
Kynge Henrye, the Sixthe of the Name, and copyed by me Johan Leylande, Antiquarius, by the commaunde of his
the hande of
:

of

Maconrye; wryttenne by
"

faythfullye

Highnesse.

The following is an abstract of this catechism " The Mystery of Maconrye " (1. ) is expressed to be " the Skylle of nature;" (2.) " Ytt dyd begynne with the fyrste menne in the Este; " (3.) " The Venetians [Phenicians] dyd brynge ytt Westlye;" (4.) "Peter Gower [Paythagoras], a Grecian," in his travels, " Wynnynge entraunce yn al Lodges of Maconnes, and becommynge a myghtye Wyseacre, framed a
'

'

The Charter of Cologne. I.e., Henry VIII., by whom Leland

asteries, to searcli for

(or Laylonde) was appointed, at the dissolution of the monand preserve such books and records as were of value.

io8

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
manye Maconnes, some whereoffe dyde journeye
yn Engelonde;"
(5.)

grate Lodge at Groton [Crotoiia] and niaked

yn Fraunce, wherefromme the

munycatodde
to

arte passed

" Maconnes hauethe cixn-

Mannkynde soche

of her Secrettes as generallyclie mj'ghte be usefulle,"

keeping back such as might be " harmef ulle " in improper hands, including " soche as do

bynde the Freras more strongelyche togeder, bey the

mpige

to the
to

connes"

Prolij'tte, and commodytye comherfromme;"' (G.) amongst the " Artes " taught by the "Ma" JIaiikynde '' are " Agricultura, Architectura. Astronomia, Geometria, Xu('(nifrvrie

meres, Musica, Poesie, Kymistrye,

are such good teachers, because they possess the

ffyrste

Govemmente, and Kelygyonne;" (7.) the "Maconnes" " Arte of fjnidynge neue Artes, whyche the

Maconnes receaued from Godde;" (8.) " Tliay concelethe the Arte of kep}Tige Secrettes, of Wunderwerckynge, of fore sayinge thynges to comme, of chaunges, the Wey

of

Wynnynge

the Facultye of Abrac, the Skylle of

(9.)

becommynge gude, and the

if

Universelle

Longage of Maconnes;"

those in search of instruction will be taught

found worthy

and capable
knowledge;

of learning;
(11.)

(10.)

masons enjoy

special opportunities for the acquisition of

"yn

the moste Parte, thay be more gude then thay woulde be yf thay
(12.)

war not Maconnes;"' and

treu,
It will

they love one another " myght3-lye, for gude

Menne and

kennynge eidher odhre

be seen that

to be soche, doeth always love the

more as thay be more Gude."

many

of the pretensions advanced in this interlocutory discourse

dialogist,

which are put forward by the

quirer

who

replies to questions addressed

him by an

in-

conflict

with the tenor of the ordinary masonic documents.

is

Prefacing the catechism

to the Right

a letter [expressed to be] from the learned Mr. John Locke,

6,

Hon. [Thomas] Earl of [Pembroke],' bearing date May

1696 [Sunday].

The philosopher stiites that, by the help of Mr. C[olli]ns, he has at length procured a copy of that MS. in the Bodleian library, which the Earl was anxious to see, and adds" The
MS., of which this
is

a copy, appears to be about 160 years old

is

yet

it is itself

a copy of

one more ancient by about 100 years, for the original

to be in the hand^vriting of
it

K.
to

Henry YI.
masons

Where

that prince had

it,

is

at present

an uncertainty; but

seems to

me

be an examination (taken perhaps before the king) of some one of the brotherhood of
;

among whom he
Siiy

entred himself, as

'tis said,

when he came out

raised against

of his minority,

and thenceforth put a stop to a persecution that had been

then goes on to

them.

"
'

Locke
Preston,

that " the sight of this old paper " has so raised his curiosity as to induce
fraternity the next time he goes to

him
'

to

" enter the

London; " and,

if

we believe

According to Dallaway, the above passage "seems to authorize a conjecture that the denomi-

nation of Free-masons in England was merely a vernacular corruption of the P^eres-ma^ons estab-

hshed in Fi-ance." But the same writer freelj' admits that the v-iew thus expressed is not borne out by their appellations on the Continent; which he gives as follow: " Frey-Maureren, German; Liberi Muratori, /fah'an; Fi-atres Libei-ales, Roman; Franc-masons, French; Fratres Architectonici, Mod-

ern Inscription (Discourses upon Architecture,

for the

p.

434).

If in

the adoption of a similar derivation

word FrecTTiason without the concluding reservation Fort (Early Historj' and Antiquities of Freemasonry, pp. 192, 437) in 1876, and the Rev. A. S. Palmer (Folk-EtymologT,-, a dictionarj- of Verbal Corruptions) in 1883 have leant on the authority of Dallaway, as seems probable in the first instance, and possible in the second the speculations of these two writei-s rest upon no other foundation than the verbiage of the literary curiosity which is being examined in the text. 'The names are not given in the Gentleman's Magazine, and were filled in by a subsequent
copyist.
^Cf. ante, pp. 358, 366 (note
zine,
1);

Dallaway, Discourses upon Architecture,

p. 429;

Masonic Maga-

October 1878,

p. 148;

and Notes and Queries, 4th

series, 1809, vol. iv., p. 445.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
" the favorable opinion
this philosopher conceived of the Society of
liis

109

Masons before
its first

his ad-

mission, was sufficiently confirmoil after

initiation! "

'

Notwithstanding the suspicious circumstances connected with

this country, the

appearance

in

MS. was very generally accepted

;

as

an accredited document of the

craft,

and

given in ertenso in most of the masonic works including the " Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England " published during the last half of the eighteenth century. The
is

first critic

who exposed

its

pretensions was Lessing, in his

to be a

"Ernst und Falk"

it

(1778),

and
later

though the document was considered

genuine one by Krause and Fessler,

German
tiquity.

writers

including

Kloss, Keller,

and Findel

regard

as a palpable fraud,

and

wholly unworthy of the

critical

acumen which has been

is

lavished

upon

its

simulated an-

A
to

learned writer has observed, " the orthography

most grotesque, and too gross ever

have been penned either by Henry the Sixth or Leland, or both combined.
Grecian, explained in a note by the fabricator
!

For instance,
else

we have Peter Gowere, a

have solved
it ?

for who
own

could

to

be Pythagoras

As a whole,

it is

but a clumsy attempt at deception,

and

is

quite a parallel to the recently discovered one of the^rs^ Englishe Mercurie."''

It

remains to be noticed, that

among

the masonic annalists of our

day, there yet

lingers a solitary believer in the credibility of this

MS.

"A

careful examination of the

me that it is genuine and entitled to full credence."' Yet few, I imagine, well be in agreement with this brilliant writer when he states that " whoever wrote the document in question was profoundly learned in the secrets possessed by the craft;" inasmuch as the extent to which this nameless fabulist was versed in the
pamphlet," says Fort, "convinces
arcana of masonry can only be approximately determined by a perusal of the mysterious

document which

all authorities,

except Fort, concur in regarding as an impudent forgery.

is,

The
at

conclusion

have myself arrived at

that the catechism must have been

drawn up

some period subsequent

it

think

Anderson's "Constitutions;" and I " not improbable that the memoir of Ashmole, given in the " Biographia Britannica
to the publication of Dr.

(1747),

may have

suggested the idea of practising on the credulity of the Freemasons.

II.

The Steinmetz

Catechism.
it

This curious document derives whatever importance

been made of
mason.
it

may

possess, to the use that has

by Fallou,

and writers
it

of this school,

who

dwell at length upon the resem-

blance which, in their eyes,

bears to the examination of an entered apprentice Freeat, in

This conclusion has been arrived

the case of the original

German
it

text,

by
ob-

persistently ignoring the ordinary as well as the technical

trade.

meaning

of words peculiar to the

The English

version has endured a similar maltreatment, aggravated,

may be

served, by the inherent defects of a faulty translation.

The

earliest publication of this

catechism appears to have been that of Schneider,*

who

says,' it from operative masons in Altenburg after much trouble, on aoi-ount of the secrecy they maintain." From some notes of Krause,' it would appear that Schroder and Meyer both possessed manuscript exemplars of this examination, but he He himself gives us ' a copy of Schneider's does not state whether they ever published them.
>

" that he obtained

Illustrations of
i.,

Masonry, 1792,
'Fort,
^

p. 162.

Halliwell.o;).

cif.,

p. 43.

D'Israeli, Cur. of Lit.,

1858,

135,
180.'5,

1.3fi.

p.

417.

Konstitutions

Bueh der Loge- Archimedes, Altenburg

drei

{circa),

p.

144.

Pace

K. C.
pt.
5,

F.
p.

Krause, Die
261.

Aeltesten

Kunsturkunden,

vo).

ii.,

Ihid., vol.

ii.,

Ibid., p. 260.


'

no
veracity
earliest

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
mind
his scrupulous

version (the original I have been unable to consult), and, bearing in

and conscientious exactitude, we may take

published form.
it

this to

be a

literal transcript of

the

From Schneider
in giving
it,

was copied by Stocks' and from the

latter

by Berlepsch.'

Fallou,'
:

remarks that he has before him one manuscript and two printed copies
as to the

the

we are again reMS. he does not siiy how or whence he obtained it. Findel gives it in the appendices to his " History of Freemasonry," and Steinbrenner presents us with an English translation immediately following the "Examination upon entrance into a Lodge," from the " Grand ^lystery of Free-masons discovered," declaring, " The one is a counterpart of the other." With the greatest desire to appreciate the full bearing of his argument, I am, nevertheless, quite unable to see more resemblance than
printed copies were probably those of Stock, Krause, or Schneider, so that

duced

to Schneider's authority

this, viz., that

they are both in dialogue form.

Finally

we

find the examination published

once more in the Masonic Magazine for February 1882, this time giving the
English versions in parallel columns.
Its antiquity
is

German and

a diflBcult matter to determine.

quite
it

To judge by

the orthography and conit is

struction,

Sclmeider
absence of

we must call it may have taken

all

modern

say eighteenth

century: but

evident that

from the mouth of an eighteenth century workman, and the

Again, the

archaic expressions and spelling would thus be accounted for.

fact of its being the examination of a salute-mason

as distinguished from a letter-mason

to these

points to a date subsequent to the fiision of the Steinmetzen with the bricklayers and
others;
'

though, on the other hand,

it

may have been communicated

it

new

bodies

by the old Steinmetzen, and

however,
is

slightly altered to suit the circumstances.

Steinbrenner,

cerUiinly not justified in calling

the " Examination of a

German Steinmetz

during the Middle Ages;" he adduces no proof ot such a high antiquity; and disproof of
course
is

equally wanting.

jecture rather than of opini"n.

The age of the catechism becomes, therefore, a matter of conThe document may be of recent origin, or a survival of
its

something more ancient; though in

date.
It

present /orwi

it is,

without doubt, of quite

modem

has been already observed, that the English translation

is

is faulty.

By

this a false

impression

denominated throughout "Warden." The German word is Alt-gesell, denoting properly the " old fellow," or " Elder," viz., the elected officer of a journeyman fraternity, and not a " Warden," who was appointed by the Master
occasioned.

The

catechiser

is

to preside over the lodge.

This slight but important correction transfers the scene of action from the Stonemasons'

" lodge "

to the journeymen's

" house

of call."

In Germany the craft guilds ultimately divided into two bodies, one being formed of The latter chose one or more of their own masters, the other of journeymen or gesellen.
class to preside at their

meetings

two bodies, were presided

The Steinmetzen, who did not divide into over by the Werl-meister; who appointed his " parlierer, pallierer,
{Alt-gesell).

or poUr," as the expression has been differently rendered.

'

He

was the Master's

alter ego,

' Chronik der Gewerbe. Gnmdzuge der Verfassung, etc, < Origin and Early History of Masonry, p. 146. 'Mysterien der Freimaurer, pp. 363-365. " stranger " calls himself a gnissnimtrer, or salute-mason," a term employed ' Ante, The p. 173.

by the Steinmetzen

to distinguish themselves

from the ordinary rough-masons, when inconsequence

latter.

of their decline thev had

amalgamated with the

TWENTIETl PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. WAS INITIATED IN FREEMASONRY l;OVEMBER 22. 1861. IN MAGNOLIA LODGE. COLUMBUS. OHIO. MADE A K.N'IGHTS TEMPLAR IN COLUMBIA COMMANDERY. No. 2. WASHINGTON D. C. MAY 18. 1866.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
his overseer,

iii

and the word

will rightly bear in

English the sense of Warden.

The following

distinction

may, therefore, be drawn. The " parlierer "or " warden " was appointed by the Master's sole authority the " Alt-gesell" or " Elder" was elected by his fellows and the

latter

term

will

not bear the construction (warden) that has been placed upon
is

it.

The next
to the query

" for what purpose " the " stranger "

point which claims our attention

the singularity of the reply which

is

is

made

tnivelling?

the answer being

is

(in the

English version) "for honorable promotion, instruction, and honesty."

The word "promotion"

has a peculiar significance, and at once suggests the idea of

there being a series of degrees to be conferred.

The German word

Befdrderung

literally

advancement, and Jigurativel// promotion.

the fact that that term has been and
trades to signify employment.
still is

But

a closer examination of the subject reveals

the only one used by

German workmen

of all

scavenger or chimney-sweep, equally with a Steinmefz,

was and is befordert by his employer. The expression probably grew out of a practice of journeymen working under a master for a few days, whereby they were enabled to earn
sufficient

money

to carry

them

to the next town.

They were,

in fact, furthered or ad-

vanced, but in no sense pro7)ioted.

are the " usages

We

are next informed that "instruction and honesty"

and customs

of the craft."

What answer more

and obeying

natural from a

workman?
his honesty

He travels for instruction,

instance, the translation
is

i.e.,

to acquire the technics or usages of the craft;

its statutes.

and

consists in maintaining its peculiar customs

But, again, in this

imperfect.
is

Honesty in German

is

"Ehrlichkeit ;" whilst the word here used

"Ehrbarkeit," in-

dicating that peculiar quality which causes a

man

to be generally esteemed by his fellows.

somewhat harsh equivalent in the vernacular honorableness or worthiness What answer more appropriate from the mouth of a trades-unionist? And it has been shown that the craftsman was always such, although the name itself was unknown. We are next told that these usages and customs commence with the termination of his
For
this, if

we read

its

apprenticeship, and finish with his death.

This

is

a bare statement of the truth, as the

ordinances show

it.

"

We

recognize a

mason by

his honesty."

Bear in mind

my

previous

definition of honesty,

i.e.,

a strict conformity with craft customs, and this answer will also

cease to imply the existence of

any hidden doctrine or mystery.

The

questions concerning the date of the institution of the trade, and the introduction

into the catechism of

sirable to

add

that,

Adonhiram and Tubal Cain have been already noticed, but it is deaccording to Krause," the names of the worthies last cited do not appear
'

in the manuscripts of Schroder

and Meyer.

He

also points out that

all

even

if

they did the

Steinmetzen would only be following the example of

proto-craftsman from some biblical character.
penters would read thus in English

trades,

who

invariably derived their

metrical tradition of the

German

car-

"When Adam
He
built

suffered heat

and cold

a hut, so we are told."

The " father

distich, of

of the human race" is also referred to by our own gardeners, in a familiar which the antiquated original is given in the " Curalia Miscellanea" of Dr.

Pegge
" "When

Adam

delve,

and Eve span,

Who was then the gentleman?"

'

Ante,

p. 175.

'

Die drei Aeltesten Kunsturkunden, 3d edition,

vol.

ii.,

pt.

ii.,

pp. 261-263, notes.

112

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
question with which

The next
itself?"

we

are concerned

is

the following

" What

is

secrecy in

To which

reply

is

made
I go."

"Earth,

fire, air and snow, Through which to honest promotion {employment)

In

German
It

as in English this forms a doggerel

rhyme, and was probably a mere catch:

phrase.

evidently alludes to a journeyman's tramp through the land

but taking

intcf

consideration the word " secrecy" in the question, those who insist on a mystic interpretation, must give " promotion " its figurative meaning, and they may turn it into an allusion
to the grave
his head

and the
carries

life

to come.

he

"laudable wisdom."'

English language the sense of the

this

The respondent next states that under his hat i.e., in It is now impossible to transfuse into the German word Wcislict by translating it differently; but
is

was not the case in former days, and unless the catechism
it

endowed with a

real

flavor of antiquity

will cease to interest us.

Anciently, Weishet would have been best

defined as " the power of applying to proper purposes the most appropriate means,"' or,
to vary the expression, skill or

cunning

in their original signification.

says, that

Eeplying to further questions, the Stranger [Fremder)

csirries

truth;" and "the sit/Wi^/A of the craft," he declares to

" under his tongue he be " that which fire and

water cannot destroy."

The

last

phrase probably alludes to the Steinmetzen fraternity.

The triad

skill,

truth,

and strength

is

obtained; but

its

accidental resemblance to the mafails to

sonic formula

wisdom, strength, and heantypace Fallou and his disciples

real

impress

me

with a belief in there being any

connection between the two.

:

The

last

question and answer are as follows

AU-gesell." What

Fremder

" Union "

is
(

the best part of a AVall Verband).

"

Anything more mystifying than this translation is again defective, though in

duction,
it

(in its present

form)

is

hardly conceivable.

The

justice to

whoever may be responsible for

this pro-

must be

fairly stated tliat

he has conveyed the exact sense in which the answer

Verband, however, cannot under any
the nearest approach to

has been understood by the Germans themselves.

circumstances be translated

it would be "a bandage." " Technologisches Worterbuch " informs us that Verband means the ditferent Jacobsson's manners of laying bricks to insure solidity. The " Globe Encyclopaedia" gives Bond, in

"Union;"

brickwork, the method of laying bricks so that the vertical joints in adjacent courses may not occur immediately over each other, and so that by placing some bricks with their length
across the wall (headers),

and others with their length

parallel to its face (stretches), the

wall

may have "Union" by "

the greatest attainable stability in

both directions."

Eeplace the above word

the bond," and what more matter-of-fact answer could be expected from a
?

stonemason or bricklayer

Viewed by the
vanced on
its

light of
is

common

sense, there appears to

me

nothing in the preceding

" examination " that

behalf.

capable of sustaining the claims to mysticism, which have been ad-

III.

The
'

first

appearance

The "Malcolm Canmore"' Charter. of this charter, according to Mr. W. P. Buchanto whom

the

Eine hochlobliche Weisheit. Adelung, Dictionary of the German Language, Leipsic, 1780-1786.

^Cean-More, or Qreat-head.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
craft
is

I13

mainly indebted for

the year 1806,

when

its

its antecedents and character becoming so fully known was in opportune discovery was utilized to support the claim of the Glas-

gow Freemen Openitive

St. John's Lodge," to take precedence of the other lodges in the masonic procession at the laying of the foundation-stone of Nelson's Monument on " Glas-

gow Green," although

at that time

it

was an independent organization.

Tlie title thus as-

serted was successfully opposed by the

province, on two grounds

Lodge " Glasgow St. Muugo," then the senior in the That the claimant body was not under the sheltering wing of

the Grand Lodge; and that the document upon which the

members relied

to vindicate their

claim was a " pretended Charter."

This view was shared by the then Grand Secretary (William Guthrie) and the Provincial

Grand Master

(Sir

victorious in 1810,
laid

John Stuart), yet somehow or other the St. John's Lodge came off when the foundation-stone of the " Glasgow Asylum for Lunatics " was
III.,

with " Masonic honors," some asserting that the charter granted by Malcolm
of Scots, gave the

King

members priority over all the other lodges in Scotland.' Dr. Cleland states that " the members of this Lodge having lately discovered an old musty paper in their Charter chest, procured a translation of it, when it turned out to be a Charter in
their favor, " etc.

The important
sessors,

character of the
led a

and ultimately

document gradually dawned upon the minds of its posprominent member of the lodge to declare, that had " our predprecise nature of the dereliction of duty

ecessors in office

done their duty, every Lodge in Scotland would have required to get a

charter from them."'

The

imputed

to their

masonic ancestors, and the evidence necessary to substantiate the claim to a sovereignty over the Scottish lodges, were not alluded to at the time, nor is any information yet forth-

coming upon two points

1051 (a.d.) was

of so

much

importance.
as the year of origin of the charter, then 1057, but

first

announced

later on, in deference to considerable criticism, a.d. 1157

was substituted, and Malcolm the

third was changed to the fourth of that name.

accurate investigations, the correct date
later
is

According, however, to more recent and

approximately some seven centuries and a half

than the year 1057

understand how the authenticity of tliis so-called " Malcolm Charter" can be upheld, when the " Eglinton MS." of December 28, 1599, provides, on the authority
It is difficult to

of William Schaw,

"Master
shall

of AYark,
its

Warden

of the Maisonis" for Scotland, that the

at the election of the

Lodge of Kilwinning

have

warden present "

Wardenis within

the boundis of the Nether Waird of Cliddisdaill, Glasgow, Air, and boundis of Carrik,"

and that the warden and deacon of Kilwinning Lodge

shall

convene the other wardens

and deacons within the bounds aforesaid

tion.

(viz.,

the West of Scotland), whenever circumstances

jurisdic-

demanded, and gave them authority to assemble anywhere within that extensive

Now, the pseudo-charter recites that " none in my dominions shall erect a lodge, until they make application to tlie Saint John's Lodge, Glasgow,"' and contains, moreover, a number of clauses respecting fees, dues, and special privileges wholly inconsistent with the regulations known to be in force during subsequent centuries, all of which are silent
as to

the pre-eminence claimed for this lodge.

'

Dr. J. Cleland, Annals of Glasgow, 1816, vol.

ii.,

p. 483.
9, 1870.

Glasgow Herald, June 17, 1870; Freemason's Magazine, July By-Laws of the Lodge of Glasgow St. John, 1858, p. 6. VOL. II.
'

"

114

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
subject of the charter and
its

The whole

relation to the St. John's

Lodge was discussed

in the

at great length in the pages of the Freemasons'

Magazine (1868), and

controversv

which then took

place, Mr.

Buchan posed

first

of all as a believer in the genuineness of the

document, but having subsequently made a more careful scrutiny of its contents, became its most destructive critic, and was chiefly instrumental in administering the death-blow
to
its

pretensions.

During the process of investigation Mr. Buchan obtained the opinion of Professor Cosmo Innes, the eminent Scottish archfeologist, who had examined the " charter " in 1868, and pronounced it " a forgery executed within the last 150 years, or taking plenty of time,
within 200 at the most."
ferent charters
ity
it was made up of pieces taken out of difand stuck together." In a letter to Mr. Buchan, the same excellent authorobserves that " our first corporate Charters were to Burghs, and not till long after came

He

also stated that

"

we have no Charters William the Lion (1195-1214), so you see it did not require much sagacity to stamp the Charter of Malcolm, /mZJ of the phraseology and the minute distinctions of a
to

those to the Gilds and Corporations within and under Burghs; but

Burghs

till

finally determined to test the strength by petitioning the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and particularly appealed against the action of the M. W. Grand Master in awarding precedency to the Lodge of "Journeymen," Edinburgh, No. 8, on the occasion of meeting in Glasgow Cathedral pre-

much later dag, as a forgery. The members of St. John's Lodge, Glasgow,
of their position

vious to laying the foundation-stone of the Albert Bridge,

upon
ter."

their ancient rights

and

privileges, secured to

June 3, 1870, thus infringing them by the " Malcolm Canmore Char6,

The

decision of the

Grand Lodge was pronounced on February

St.

1817, which

proving adverse to the claims of the memorialists, the members of

their

John's Lodge solaced

wounded

feelings

by sentencing Mr. Buchan,

their senior

warden

who had opposed

the prayer of the petitioners in Grand Lodge

to a

term of

five

years' suspension from his

masonic

privileges.

It is

almost unnecessary to add that on appeal this decree was reversed.

IV. "Kratjse's MS." OR

"Prince Edwin's Constitution of

between the dates

926."

The crux for

is

those

who maintain
MSS.

the authentic character of the documents under review,

of their alleged origin

to satisfactorily bridge over the period

and

of

their actual publication as

is

relating to the craft.

its

In this respect the " Krause MS."

is

no better

off

than

its

companions, though

internal character

in

many

points

superior to any of them.

Had some

portions of
it is

its

text beeu presented, as appertaining

to the latter part of the seventeenth century,

probable that no objections could reasonis

ably have been urged against their reception, inasmuch as absolute correctness

not to be

expected or required,

it

being only essential that the general character of these Constitu-

tions should be such as to accord with

known

versions written about the

same

period.

There

is,

however,

much more

involved than this, in allowing the claim

made by the

apologists of the

" Krause MS.," for it is either the " Constitution completed by the pious Edwin," and the " Laws or Obligations" are those "laid before his Brother Masons" by the same Prince, or the document is an imposture. Then again, " the old obligations and statutes, collected by order of the King in the year 1694," are declared to have been issued by "command of the King" (William III.), and other regulations were "compiled and
arranged in order, from the written records, from the time of King Edred to King Henry VIII." These pretensions are based upon no foundation of authority. The only evidence

"

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
applicable to the inquiry, tends to
differ

115

show tlmt many

clauses of this composite

document
last

most suspiciously from any that appear in the veritable "Old Charges" of the
if

century, while others could not have been circulated,

at

all,

until

some

thirty years sub-

Yet with all these drawbacks, there remain a considerable number that if removed from their objectionable surroundings, the resemblance to the early Constitutions of England and Germany, being frequently so marked as to suggest that a varied assortment of authentic masonic records lay conveniently at hand It was probably whilst the compilation or fabrication of the MS. was being proceeded with. from the close similarity, in places, of the " Krause " MS. to the ordinary text of the " Old
sequent to 1694.

might

fairly pass

muster,

Charges," that the genuineness of this anachronistic rehearsal of craft legends and regulations

was at first very commonly believed in albeit, a careful collation of the points of agreement between the " Edwin " and the attested " Constitutions," only brings into greater relief the divergences of narrative and description which stamp the former as an impudent travestie of the " Old Charges of British Freemasons."
;

True it is, the MS. is not always at variance with the recognized text, but it must have more to recommend it than a mere agreement now and then, especially when side by side with such resemblances are several statements and clauses wholly irreconcilable with its claim to be either " Edwin's Constitution " in part or even a version of some seven centThe " Constitution" is more elaborate and exact in its details than any uries later date.
other of

known

origin,

many

of the particulars being singular in character,

document of the tenth century. The and Progress of Masonry in Britain," is equally singular and precise in its verbiage as compared with the scrolls of the craft, from which it differs materially, especially in the introductory observations common to the latter, respecting the assembly at York and
of place in a of the Origin

and clearly out second division, entitled the " History

the laws then promulgated.

The " Laws

of Prince

Edwin "

(?)

are sixteen in number, the

first

of

which enjoins

"that you sincerely honor God, and follow the laws of the Noachedaeans. "

The

latter

reference, as I have mentioned,' is also to be found in Dr. Anderson's " Constitutions" of A.D. 1738, but was omitted in all subsequent editions, and does not appear in any other known version of the " Old Charges." The third and fifth regulations ordain respectively,

that friendship
is

is

not to be interrupted by a difference of religion, and that the sign

to

be kept from every one

who

is

not a brother; whilst the fifteenth further requires

that

" every mason

shall receive

companions who come from a distance and give him the

demonstrate the essentially modern

sign.""

These allusions are

it

sufficient of themselves to
will

character of the MS., and

sive

be unnecessary to multiply the evidence

already concluit

on this point

reader,

who

discrepancies which cannot fail to strike the least observant " compares the apocrj^phal document No. 51 in my chapter on the " Old Charges
in the

by citing

with any of the forms or versions of those ancient writings which there precede

enumeration.

1694" again refer to the sign; and the "regulations" " written records from the time of King Edred to King declared to be counterparts of the Henry VIII.," inter alia, affirm: I., III. " All lawful brotherhoods shall be placed under
old obligations for the year

The "

patrons,

who

shall occasionally

bers of a brotherhood shall

'

examine the brotherhoods in their lodges." IV. The numbe fifty or sixty, " without reckoning the accepted masons."'

Ante,

p. 79.
;

"A

note follows here

'The extracts are from Hug-han's " Old Charges." " For a longtime past the whole of them, in England and Scotland, have
!

numbered each one hundred

ii6

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
St.

VI. "Tlie master of a lodge can found a

assemble on

John the

Baptist's day.

XII. Those

new lodge." IX. Each year the lodges shall who wish to be made Masters musl
all

register their application

"

several

months before;"

the l)rcthren of the lodge to vote

on the

occasion.

No more

than

five

new brethren
is

to be accepted at one time.

The Latin

certificate

which

follows, runs thus:

" This

manuscript, written

in

the

old language of the country, and which

preserved by the venerable Architectural Society

in our town, agrees exactly with the preceding Latin translation,"

and

is

confirmed by

" Stonehouse, York, January 4, 1806." Inasmuch as there was no society of the kind in existence at York in the year named, and that the deponent " Stonehouse " cannot be
traced as having ever resided at that ancient city,
it

would be a waste
it

of time to carry this

examination any further.

lation
is

In conclusion,

may

state that the fidelity of the

German

trans-

attested by C. E. Weller,

an

official at

Altenberg, after

had been compared

with the Latin version by three linguists.

The original document, as commonly happens in forgeries of this description, is missing, and how, under all the circumstances of the case, Krause could have constituted himself Possibly, however, the exthe champion of its authenticity, it is difficult to conjecture.
planation

may

be, that in impostures of this character, credulity

on the one part

is

a strong
is

temptation to deceit on the other, especially to deceit of which no personal injury

consequence, and which flatters the student of old documents with his

the

own

ingenuity.

V.

The " Chaeter

of Cologne."

In the year 1816, Prince Frederick, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands, received a packet of papers,
'

accompanied by a letter, written in a female hand, and " C, nee von T.," stating that the manuscripts had been found amongst her designed ceased father's effects, and that she believed he had received them from Mr. Van Boetzelaer. In 1818 the Grand Master caused copies to be made of the documents, and sent the Latin text with a Dutch translation to all the lodges in the Netherlands. He also had all the manuscripts carefully

examined by experts

in writing,

who

at once expressed doubts as to

their authenticity.
ineness,

Some

lodges, however, could not be divested of a belief in their genu-

and the three hundredth anniversary

legend runs thus:

of the alleged promulgation of the charter

in 1835.

was actually celebrated by the lodge "La Bien Aimee"at Amsterdam

The

From
of

1519 to 1601 there was a lodge at Amsterdam

named

"Het
The

Vredendall," or the " Valley of Peace," which, having fallen into abeyance, w;is retitle

vived in 1637 under the

" Frederick's Vredendall," or Frederick's Valley of Peace.

constitution of the lodge

lodge-chest, according to a protocol dated January 29, 1637, contained, the following

documents:

(1).

The

original warrant of
(2.)

" Het Vredendall,"

(3.)

zoritten in the

English language;
i.e.,

roll of

the members,

1519-1601; and

The

Charter of Cologne,

a document in cipher, signed by nineteen master masons in

Cologne, June 24, 1535.

These papers passed from one person

to Mr.

to

another

iintil

1790,

when they were presented

Van The so-called charter appears to have been first printed in the " Annales Magonniques," 1818, and many German versions of, and commentaries upon, its text have since appeared.'
Boetzelaer, the

Grand Master

of the

Dutch

lodges.

'

According to another account, " C, child of V.

J.,"

leaving the inference that the writer waa

the daughter of

Van

Jeylinger, the successor of

Van

Boetzelaer as Grand Miister of Holland.

'Heldniann. 1819: Krause, 1831; Bobrik, 1840; Eckert, 1852; Kloss, and others.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
It is also accessible to

117
'

the English reader in

articles,

many popular

works.

It consists of

a pre-

amble, and thirteen clauses or

the latter being lettered in due sequence from

toN. The charter

of the lodges in

is

a manifesto of

" the chosen masters

of the St. John's fraternity, heads

Paris, Lyons, Frankfort,

London, Edinburgh, Vienna, Amsterdam,

Ham-

burg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Madrid, Venice, Ghent, Konigsberg, Brussels, Dantzic, Middleburg, Bremen, and Cologne," addressed to their fellow laborers and to the unenlightened

world."

A. That the order

the time

of

Freemasons

is

more ancient than that

of the

Knights Templars,

having existed in Palestine, Greece, and the

Roman Empire, even

before the Crusades, and

when the Knights Templars went to Palestine. That the fellowship (consociato) then, as in former times, embraced the degrees of B. Disciple, Fellow, and Master, the last-named class comprising Elect and Most Elect
Masters.
C.

over the

That one person was selected from the body of Elect Masters to assume authority rest, and to be reverenced (though known to very few) as the Supreme Elect Master

or Patriarch.'

D. The government of the society was confided to the highest Elect Masters. E. That the society of brethren began to be called " the fraternity of Freemasons, a.d. 1450,' at Valenciennes in Flanders, prior to which date they were known by the name of
St. John." F. None are admitted into the order but those who are professedly Christians. Na bodily tortures are employed at initiation. G. Amongst the duties which must be undertaken on oath, are fidelity and obedience

" brethren of

to secular rulers.

H. The aim of the society is expressed in the two precepts: to love all men as brothers; to render to God, what is God's and to Caesar, what is Caesar's. that, without ostentation, the brethren I, The secrets and mysteries conduce to this end

may do good. K. Every year a feast is held in honor of St. John, patron L. The ceremonies of the order, though represented by
ways, differ entirely from ecclesiastical
rites.

of the

community.

signs or words, or in other

M. He
who
brethren,
is

alone

is

acknowledged as a brother of the society of

St.

John or Freemason,
by at
least seven

in a lawful

manner, under the direction of an

Elect Master, assisted

ready to prove his adoption by the signs and tokens (signis et tesseris) practiced by the brethren. In which are included those signs and words {signis et verbis) customary in the Edinburgh lodge or tabernacle {mansione
initiated into the mysteries,

and

is

vd

tabernaculo),

and

in those affiliated

with her.

Also in

Hamburgh, Rotterdam, and

Venice.
'

Dr. J. Burnes, Sketch of the History of the Knights Templars, 1840; Findel, Historj' of Freep. 692;

masonry,
1882.
'

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

of deputies

p. 316;

and Masonic Magazine, January

stonemasons in Strassburg, Zurich, and and fifteenth centuries the central empoUtrechtr-as well as from Bruges, during the fourteenth rium of the whole commercial world detracts from the skill of the compiler

The absence

from the chief lodges

of the

'"Qui ut summus magister "In Uie Deuchar text, 1440.

electus vel patriarcha veneraretur."

"

"8
be transmitted to
all

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
is

N. As a general conformity it
[Signed] Harmauusf:
Coligni:

necessary in the lodges; therefore the " charter " shall

the colleges of the order.

Virieux:

Carlton: Jo. Bruce: Fr. Von Upna: Cornells Banning: De Johann Schroder: Hofmann, 1535: Icobus [.Tacohus] Prepositus: A.
la

Nobel: Ignatius de

Torre: Doria: Jacob Uttiuhove: Falk: Niclaes

Van Noot:

Philippus

Melanthon: Huyssen:

Wormer

Abel.

From

the conclusions of commentators,

I extract

who have

rejected the charter as an historical

(1.)

document,

the following
(2.)

Bobrik remarks'

The motive

for the supposed

in

meeting did not

resorted to,

exist.

The purpose

of the document,

and the form

which

it

is

carried out, do not correspond;

is

for in order to refute a thing publicly, writing in cipher

and

to conceal a matter, the signatures are written in

seal.

common

italics.

Neither can we conceive any documents legal without a

picious in the highest degree.

(3.)

The

signatures are susis

tremely doubtful; for

(4.) The assembly of Hermann would have preferred

the nineteen individuals cited the town of

is

ex-

Bonn

to that of Cologne,

where he had many enemies.

suffice as proofs, as there is

(5.)

Melanchthon's participation
(6.)

especially problematical,

as well as that of the other subscribers.

The

records of 1637, which are cited, cannot

nothing to show that there existed a lodge Vredendall at that

the term " Patriarch " (C) to be an allusion to the " General
is

period.

The same

critic believed

of the Jesuits, a view to which color

lent

if

the date of the forgery be placed at 1816, by

which time, the

their influence,

Jesuits, after their restoration in 1814,

had again succeeded

in establishing

which in Holland could only be accomplished by indirect means.

Dr.

Schwetschke, in a pamphlet published in 1843,' remarks, that after a careful comparison

of the signature of Jacobus Prsepositus at the
existing of his,

end

of the

document, and the handwriting

is

and proved

to be genuine, the

most glaring discrepancy

apparent; also

Hermann, and that represented to be his, are most dissimilar. He examines closely the way in which the document is written, and points out that different characters are used for U and V, a distinction unknown before the middle
that the real signature of Archbishop
of the sixteenth century;
also that in the

Cologne cipher the

is

wanting, which letter

was to be met with

VI.
It is

in all the alphabets of the

Middle Ages.

The Larmenius Chartek,

or

The Charter

of Transmission.
is

immaterial whether the French " Order of the Temple "

a revival of

"La

Petite

Resurrection des Templiers,"

a licentious
la

society established in 1682

or

an offshoot of

the lodge " Les Chevaliers de

CroLx," 1806.

The " Charter

of Transmission,"

upon

which

body to being the lineal successors of the historic Knights Templars, was not published until between 1804 and 1810, and its earlier history, if, indeed, it has one, is so tainted with imposture, as to remove any possibility of unravelling the
rest the claims of this

tangled
Jesuit,

web of falsehood in which the whole question is enveloped. named Bonani, at the instigation of Philip Duke of Orleans,
as the Charter of Larmenius,

It is said that

an Italian

fabricated the

document

now known
vicissitudes,
'

and with

its

aid contrived to attach the society of

" La Petite Resurrection des Templiers " to the ancient order of the Temple. After many and a lengthened period of abeyance, a revival of the order took place about
Findel, History of Freemasonry, p. 697.
'

Ibid, citing " Paleographic proofs of the spuriousness of the Cologne Freemason

Document

of

1535,"

by Dr. G. Schwetschke, Halle,

1843.

Cf.

Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh,

p. 323.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
1804, full particulars of which are given in the works below cited.'
translation of the charter,

119

The

following

is

which

is

given in Latin by both Burnes and Thory:

"

I,

brother Johannes Marcus Larmenius of Jerusalem, by the Grace of

God and by

the secret decree of the venerable and most holy Martyr, the Master of the Knights of the

Supreme Temple
Master
(I

(to

whom

be honor and glory), confirmed by the

common

council of the

brethren, over the whole order of the Temple, decorated by the highest and supreme
publish) these letters to be seen of one and
it

all

Salatem,

S'aluteni, Saluteni.

"Be
to the

known

to all, as well present as to

come, that strength failing on account of

extreme age, and weighed down by the want of means, and the onerousness of
greater glory of God, for the guardianship
I,

my

office,

and preservation of the Order, the

of the
'

Brethren, and the Statutes,

the aforesaid
efficient

Humble Master

Militia

'

of

th's

Temple,

have resolved to resign into more

hands the Supreme Mastership.

" Therefore, God helping, and with the unanimous consent of the Supreme Assembly Supreme Mastership of the Order of the Temple, my authority and privileges, to the eminent " Commendator " and dearest brother, Franciscua Thomas Theobaldus of Alexandria, and by the present decree, I confer for life, with the power of conferring the supreme and chief Mastership of the Order of the Temple, and the
of Knights, I have conferred the

chief authority

upon another brother, famous

This
I

for his nobility of education

and mind, and

that the

the integrity of his character.

do to preserve the perpetuity of the Mastership, the

of the statutes.

unbroken

line of successors,

and the integrity

But

command

Mastership cannot be transmitted without the consent of the General Assembly of

Com-

panions of the Temple, so far as this Supreme Assembly shall will to be collected together,
this being so, that a successor be elected at the nod of the Knights. " In order that the functions of the chief office may not languish, let there be now and always four chief Master-Vicars, having supreme power, eminence, and authority over the

and

whole Order, saving the right of the chief Master; and

let

the Master- Vicars be elected

from the seniors according to the order of their profession. Which was decreed according to the above mentioned vow of our most holy, venerable, and most blessed Master, the Martyr, entrusted to me and the brethren (to whom honor and glory). Amen.

"

I then,

by the decree of the Supreme Assembly of the brethren

will, declare,

in accordance with

the supreme authority committed to me,

and command the Scotch Templars

of
to

deserters of the Order, struck with anathema,' both

Jerusalem, the spoilers of the domains of the 'Militia' (on

them and the brethren of St. John whom may God have mercy),

be without the pale of the Temple, now and in time to come.

"
to be

known by pseudo-brothers, handed down by the Companions by word of mouth, and in whatever way it may now
have therefore instituted signs unknown, and not to be

please the

Supreme Assembly that they should be transmitted.

Latomorum,

'

Dr. J. Burnes, Sketch of the Historj- of the Knights Templars; C. A. Thory, Acta
ii.,

Mackey, Encj'clopabdia, s.v. Temple; and Findel, History of Freemasonry, p. 681. 'This would seem to have been aimed at the "Rite of Strict Observance," which was based on the Templar Order, and founded in 1754 by Von Hund. According to the founder of this Rite, Pierre d'Aumont (and not Larmenius) succeeded De Molay as Grand Master, and, accompanied by seven companions, escaped to Scotland, in the attire of operative masons. Cf. Clavel, Histoire Pittoresque
1825, vol.
p. 139;

de
ii.,

la

Franc-Ma^onnerie, 1843,

p. 184;

and Oliver, Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry,

1846, vol.

pp. 13, 15.

I20

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
" But these
signs

may

only be revealed after due profession and knightly consecration,'

according to the statutes,

rites,

and usages of the companions

'

of the

Temple, communicated

by me

to the

above mentioned

Commendator,'

just as

received

them

into

my

hands

from the Venerable and most Sacred Martyr Master " Be it as I have said. Be it, Amen."

(to vi'hom

be honor and glory).

Then
after

follow the signatures of Larmenius and his immediate successor Alexandrinus,

which come the acceptances and signatures of the twenty-two succeeding grand masters the last under the date of 1804.

In the notice of the "Order of the Temple" by M. Foraisse," the secrets learned by

Moses when he was initiated

of the

in Egypt, are said to

have been transmitted through the chiefs

St.

Hebrews to John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, apostles, and being received from them were preserved without
d' Orient.

Paul, and the other

alteration by the Freres

and such,

The Christians persecuted by the infidels conveyed the secret to Hugo de Paganis, we are told, was the origin of the foundation of the Order of the Temple, which,

thus instructed in the esoteric doctrine, and the formulas of initiation of the Christians of
the East, was clothed with patriarchal power, and placed in the legitimate Order of the
successors of St.

John the
is

Baptist

This knowledge
menius.
It is

said to

have descended to Jacques de Molay, who, foreseeing the

attributed the

troubles to which the order was to be subjected, elected as his successor

To

this

much
full,

to

John Marc Lardocument upon which so much has been based. be regretted that no facsimile of so valuable and curious a record as the
Larmenius
is

Tabula Aurea, or Charter of Transmission, has been published.'

given in
with no contracted words, which would in
all

The

printed copies are

all

probability, exist in

any writing

of the period claimed.

The text is merely that of a charter arranging for the

to require a roll of

election of the
of witnesses,

Grand Master and

there
is

officers;
it

and although there might have been the names

grand masters being added.
not at
of
all

nothing in

In

fact,

the Latin,
in 1324,

the form of document, the decorations,

etc., are

what would be expected

no mention
is

and

it is

difficult to

understand

why Larmenius,

whom
it

found in any of

the veritable Templar Records, should have considered

rules

necessary to break through the

his supposed

and

traditions of his Order, in executing this

document, when

immediate

predecessor, Jacques de Molay, an undoubted Templar, better versed in its customs, deemed no such action needful. It is only a matter of surprise that any one should have been deceived by the " Tabula Aurea," and more, that, when it was fabricated, the Act of Transmission was not at once taken from the fountain head, and registered as having been given by the celebrated Jacques de Molay, the last of the historic grand masters.

A few remarks on

the history of the true Knights of the Temple will not be out of place.
is

According to Matthew Paris' and the early chroniclers, the year 1118
'

usuaUy assigned as

am strongly of opinion

that the " artist " to

whom we are

indebted for the Charter of Cologne

of that

must have had this and the preceding paragraph present to his mind when penning clause L singula- document ' Cited in the Acta Latomorum, vol. ii., Paris, 1815, p. 139 et seq.
^Ibid.
vol.
ii.,

p. 145.

An

imperfect copy

is

given in " Les Sectes et Societes Secretes," par

469.

J.

H. E. Comte le CouteuLx, 1863, p. 259. < Roger of Wendover, Flowers of History, translated by Dr. Giles (Bohn), vol also the History of William of Tyre, who died about 1188.

i.,

p.

See

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
that of the foundation of the Order
of the knights being to to

121

the outcome of religious pilgrimages, the only mission

infidels,

defend pilgrims from the cruelty and barbarity of the

and

keep open the roads through the Holy Land over which the pilgrims had to
they lived entirely on alms
;

pass.

At
St.

first

and for nine years Hugues de Paganis and Geoffrey de

of

Aumer, with their seven companions, members of the Order.

In 112s,

whom

the names are

now

lost,'

remained the only

Bernard,

when

the Synod of Troyes was held, under Pope Honorius

II., St.

then Abbe of Clervaux,

desired by the Order.

who was

present, was charged by the Council to arrange the Rule

its

This Rule has unfortunately not come down to us in

perfect

form.'

The

Council, moreover, bestowed

III., in 1146,

by Eugenius

a red cross, to

upon them a white dress," to which was added be placed upon their cloak,' and worn by all
by William of Tyre,' the Templars num-

members

of the Order.

At

this time, as stated

bered at Jerusalem more than three hundred knights, not including the serving brethren;

and their property was immense," their riches placing them on an equality with kings. It was this fact, Du Puy considers, that made them, through arrogance and pride, cast
off their

gifts

says,

obedience to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, from whom they had received the first which enabled them to found the Order. Much of the hatred towards them was, he caused by their having seized upon the belongings of the churches, and disturbed their

ancient possessions.

In a few years after they had received formal recognition as a religious military order,
their possessions were enormous, and before 1140 they held fortresses
in almost every country.

and other buildings

at Paris;

Before 1150 they had founded the

I.

during the reign of Richard

ever their faults

they bought from that king the island of Cyprus.'

it is

may have

been,

certain

and Whatthat they were looked upon by Kings and

and that the history
of the Crusades

"Temple"

Popes alike as

one of the bulwarks of the Church,

abounds
with

in instances of their exploits.

When

driven out of Asia, like the other Christians,

;

they established themselves at Cyprus and in other islands

all

and

in

1306 the Grand Master,

the chiefs of the Order, came to France, bringing their treasure and archives, and
all the Templars then in Paris and the other provinces of France moment," and charged with the most sacrilegious and horrible crimes
"

established themselves in Paris.

On

October 13, 1307,

in a

were " arrested

which the brains

'

of their accusers were capable of framing.

These have often been enulatter (Geschichte des

On

this point

Raynouard and Wilckeare at variance; following the

Tem-

pelherrensordens), though without quoting his authority, the

Comte

le

Couteulx De Canteleu, op.

cit., p. 81, gives the names of the seven knights as Roral, Godefroy Bisol, Pagan de Montdidier, Archambault de Saints Aignan, Andre de Jlontbard, Gondemar, and Hugues de Champagne. ' The Exhorta,tions " ad Milites Christi " of St. Bernard are given by Raynouard, Monumens Hist relatifs a la Condamnation des Chev. du Templi, 1813, pp. 2, 3. ' Fosbroke, citing Maillot, says, that the long beard d Torientale was the distinctive mark of the

Order (British Monarchism,

'Nicolai
Giii-tleri,

1843, p. 289).

Historia Templariorum, 2d edit.,

Amsterdam,
i.,

1703, pp. 139,

163; Pierre
xii.,

Du

Puy, Histoire dela Condamnation des Templiers,

edit. 1713, vol.

p.

'

Liber

cap.

7.

'Matthew Paris, in his " Historia Major," states, under the year 1244, that the Templars have "in Christendom nine thousand manors" (Translation by Dr. GUes, vol. i., p. 484).
'

Du

Puy,

vol.

i.

p. 7.

Some of the commissions for the execution of this order of PhiUp IV. are given at the end of Du Puy (vol. ii., p. 309, et seq.). The Questions ordered by the Pope vrill be found in the same work,

vol.

i.,

pp. 139, 148.

'

122

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
it is

merated, and the examinations printed more or less in extenso;

it

therefore needless, as

would be out

of place, to include

them

in this

summary.
under Pope Clement

The Order was suppressed

V.
over to the Hospitallers;
'

in 1312, at a Council held at Vienna,

'

Bulls were launched against the Knights;

their lands
in

and goods were seized and made

instances, after having suffered

and they themselves,

many

Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master, together the horrors of an inquisition, were burned. with the brother of the Dauphin, still pereisting to the last in the innocence of the Order,'
after

Much

having been kept in prison, were burned alive in 1313, at Paris. has been written both for and against the charges urged against the Templars;

and perhaps the real explanation is best summed up by Voltaire that the terrible condemnation was the crime of a King avaricious and vindictive, of a Pope cowardly and betrayed, and of Inquisitors jealous and fanatical. Keference has already been made to the " Kule " formulated by St. Bernard, of which Fosbroke, in the List of Eules of the Orders which only an abstract has come down to us.
obtained in England, gives a

summary

of these regulations.'

Candidates for the Order

must have been born in wedlock, and were required to be of noble birth, free from any vow or tie, and of sound body. The Grand Master of the Templars ranked as a Prince when in the presence of Kings, but when in councils he took his place before the ambassadors and after the archbishops.
'

The other
which was

officers of

the Order were

tlie

grand

prior, the seneschal, the marshall, the treas-

surer, the drapier (literally, clothier),

the turcopoUer (the

commander

of light cavalry,

called in the East, turcopole),

and the

bailli (judge) of

Jerusalem.

There were

also visitors-general,

whose

office

was only temporary

provisionally held great power, took, at the time of their
haillis,

The

provincial masters,

who

election, a special oath.

Below them were

and priors or masters.

of the

The master

of

Jerusalem was always the grand treasurer.

The
liers

internal

government was managed by a council composed

Grand Master, the

other dignitaries, the provincial masters, the assistants of the grand master, and the cheva-

summoned by him.

This council was of course subject to the general chapters, which

It is evident that this
title

were very secret, and, on account of the cost, very seldom held.

government of the Grand general of the Pope, was largely

Master,

who

took the place of God, and held the

of vicar-

despotic.

The Order possessed many Urban III., and Innocent III.

peculiar privileges granted

by the Popes Alexander

III.,

Like most of the other Orders, religious or military, the Templars had some secret form of initiation through which a candidate gained admission to the Order. The following
is

given by Raynouard,' but the very contradictory and imperfect statements

it

made

in

the replies of the Templars render

'

quite impossible to arrive at anything like a correct

Du

Puy,

vol.
i.,

i.,

p. 181.

^Ibid.. vol.
'

pp. 186, 189.

Giirtler, Historia

Templariorum,

1703, pp. 413, 413.

73.
1.,

British

aeq.;

Monachism, 1803, vol. i., p. reprinted by Du Puy, edit. 1713, vol.

See
p. 330,

Giirtler, Historia
et seq.

Templariorum,

1703,

p. 80, et

'Mernoires Historiques sur les Templiers, par Ph. G*** [Grouvelle], Paris, 1805,
the work of Professor Miinter.
'Ibid., p. 31, etseq.

p. 11,

based on

Moaumens

Hist., etc., pp. 3-6.

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
idea of

123

the chapter assembled.

When a new chevalier was to be received, The ceremony usually took place during the night, in a church. The candidate waited without. The chief, who presided over the chapter, deputed three separate times, two brothers, who demanded of the candidate if he desired to be
what
really took place at the reception.

admitted into the Order of the Soldiers of the Temple.

in.

After his reply, he was brought

He
The

asked three times

'

for bread, water,

and

chief of the chapter then said to him:

will be

" You come

the society of the Order.

to enter into a great engage-

and danger. It will be necessary to watch when you would sleep to sustain fatigue when you would be at rest; to suffer thirst and hunger when you would drink and eat; to pass into one country when you would remain
ment; you
erposed to
;

much

trouble

in another."

Then

these questions were put

Are you a knight ? Are you of sound body?

Are you not married, or fiance ? Do you not belong already to another Order ? Have you not debts which you are not able to pay yourself, or with the help of friends ? When the candidate had replied in a satisfactory manner, he made the three vows of He dedicated himself to the defence of the Holy Land, poverty, chastity, and obedience. and received the mantle of the Order. The knights present gave him the kiss of brotherhood.

The form
"
I

of oath,

Raynouard

states, is

given by Henriquez,' and was found

:

among the

archives of the

Abbey

of Alcobaza, as follows

swear to consecrate

my

discourse,

my

strength,

and

my

life

to the defence of the

belief in the unity of

God and

the mysteries of the faith,

.
.

etc.

promise to be submissive

Grand Master of the Order. Whenever he shall be in need, I will pass over the sea to go and fight; I will give my help against infidel kings and princes and in presence of three enemies I will not flee, but alone I will oppose them, if
and obedient
to the
.

they are infidels."

Charges were made about certain objects used in the ceremony of reception.

The

"

Idol," as

it is

called,

which the Templars are said

to

have worshipped, appears to have

head, said to have borne the
it

been nothing more than a

human

figure or bearded

human

name

of BafEomet, or, as
relic or relic case,

it

has been explained, Mahomet.

Possibly

was nothing more

than a

venerated by the Templars,' in like manner as such objects were,

religious societies,

and are now, reverenced by

and for

this reason exhibited with the regalia

at all important meetings of the Order.

Another object of their worship

that purpose
in the

is

stated to have been a cat, kept by the

said.

Templars for

but of

this little

need be

It was,

according to one witness, the devil

form

of a cat,

who roamed round

a head held by the President of the Chapter, talked

all

to the brothers,
'

and promised them riches and

the good things of the earth

This was

M. Raynouard, In a note, calls attention to the fact that the number three seems to have been a favorite numeral with the Templars.
'Privelegia Ord. Cistercensis,
p. 479.

A relic case of silver gilt, belonging to the Temple in was produced, containing a skull, said to be that of one of the eleven thousand virgins. This apparently was the only " idol" of which the " Examination of the Templars" discloses any evidence.
^Raynouard, Mon.
Hist., etc., p. 299.

Paris,

124

APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPTS.
tlie

at Nismes; but an English Templtir denied

it

worship in England, although he had heard

sea.'

positively stated that both cat

and "

idol "

were worshipped at places beyond the

Michelet, in his

" History

of France/' has explained the ceremonies said to have been

enacted by the Templars, as being borrowed from the figurative mysteries and rites of the Early Church i.e., the renunciation by the candidate of his past sinful life, and his being
received into a higher state of faith.

In parting with the subject I may observe, that whilst those who have no power to judge of past times but by their own should always doubt their conclusions, yet the present age has much difficulty in accepting a,s facts any statements that rest on no foundation whatever of authority.

"Anonymous testimony

to a matter of fact," says Sir

George
it

Lewis, "

is

wholly devoid of weight; unless, indeed, there be circumstances

which render

probable that a trustworthy witness has adequate motives for concealment, or extraneous circumstances may support and accredit a statement, which, left to itself, would fall to the

ground.""

Blind manuscripts, according to Warburton, are always at hand to support

'

still

blinder criticisms;

and the dictum is fully borne out in the literature of Freemasonry. author of the " Kunsturkunden " represents the " Leland-Locke " and the The learned Krause MSS. as being two of the oldest and most authentic records of the craft. Dr. Oliver, in his " Historical Landmarks" (1846),' affirms, on the authority of the " Cliarter
of Cologne," that, a few years after 1519, there were

Lastly, Dr. (afterward Sir James)

Charter of Transmission:

" Startling

nimteen Grmid Lodges in Europe! Burnes observes of the so-called " Tabula Aurea," or
as
is

the assertion, there has been a succession of

Knights Templars from the twelfth century down even to these days; the chain of transJacques de Molay, the Grand Master at the time of the mission is perfect in all its links.
persecution, anticipating his
dignity,

own martyrdom, appointed

as his successor, in

power and

Johannes Marcus Larmenius, of Jerusalem, and from that time

judicial

to the present

there has been a regular and uninterrupted line of

the supreme authority has been transmitted

Order's continued existence ! "
'

is

Grand Masters. The charter by which and conclusive evidetwe oj the

Wilkins, Concilia, vol.

ii.,

p.

384

'On the
<Vol.
ii.,

Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion, 1849, p. 23.

ii.,

^Divine Legation, vol.

p. 19.

p. 237.

'Sketch of theHistory of the Knights Templars, 1840, pp.

39, 40.

to return hither

" Most Holy Land, I commend thee to the care of the Almighty and deliver thee from the yoke of the infidels!"

may he grant me long

life

enough

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

125

CHAPTER

XII.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

ENGLAND.
ANNUAL
I.

MASONIC TKADITION SIR CHRISTOPHER

WREN PAPAL BULLSof authenticated history lies a hor-

ASSEMBLIES.

BETWEEN the region

which
it

of fancy

and the province

der-land of tradition, full of difficulties, which can neither be passed without notice,

nor ever, perhaps, very clearly or

finally explained.'"

'

Upon many
is

of the questions

would be most interesting to decide, no conclusion wliatever

attainable.

The
will

historian

knows very

little

of the real facts; of the lives of his personages only a contemp-

tibly small

fragment has been preserved.

No
his

doubt,

if

his imagination be strong,

he

piece together the information he has, and instinctively shajie for himself

some theory

which

Judgment be as strong as his imagination, he will hold very cheap these conjectural combinations, and will steadfastly bear in mind that, Some, indeed, instead as an historian, he is concerned with facts and not with possibilities.^
will
all;

combine them

though,

if

of employing those tests of credibility

which are consistenly applied

attempt to guide their judgment by

that truth can be discovered by

the indications of internal evidence,

occult faculty of historical

"an

modern history, and to assume divination." Hence the

to

task they have undertaken resembles an inquiry into the internal structure of the earth, or into the question,

whether the

stars are inhabited ?

It

is

an attempt to solve a problem,

analogies,

for

the solution of which no sufficient data exist.

ing but hypothesis and conjecture, which

Their ingenuity and labor can result

in noth-

may be supported by

and may some-

times appear specious and attractive, but can never rest on the solid foundation of proof.
It
is

too often forgotten that

"

in traditional truths, each

remove weakens the force of

the proof; and the

more hands the

it

tradition has successively passed through, the less

strength and evidence does

to use the

receive

words of a learned writer,

from them." This it is necessary to recollect, because, we " find amongst some men the quite contrary oom-

monly
'

practised,

who look on

opinions to gain force by growing older.

7.

Upon

this

ground,

C. Elton, Origins of English Historj-, p.

See Professor Seeley, History and Politics, Macmillan's Magazine. Aug. 1879. 'Lewis, An Inquiry into the Credibility of the Early Roman History. IS.'io, vol.
'

i.,

p. 13.

'

126

EARL V BRITTSH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

enough in their first beginning, come by an inverted and those which found or deserved little
thought to grow venerable by age, and are

propositions, evidently false or doubtful

rule of probability to pass for authentic truths;

credit from the

mouths

of their first authors are

urged as undeniable."
In closing
tlie

mythico-historical period of English Freemasonry at the year 1717,' I

have been desirous of drawing a sharp line of division between the legendary or traditionarv,

and the authentic

histories of the craft.

The
we

era,

however, immediately preceding that

its

of the formation of a

Grand Lodge,

is

the most interesting in our annals, and

elucida-

tion will necessarily claim attention, before

later date.

pass on to an examination of the records of

Although, for convenience sake, the year 1717

i.e., oflBcially

is

made

to

mark the epoch

England
is

of authentic

accredited

Masonic history, the existence

first

in

of a widely-difEused

system of Freemasonry in the

half of the seventeeth century

its

demonstrable, whence

we

shall

be justified in concluding that for

period of origin in South Britain, a far higher

antiquity

may be claimed and

conceded.

The
Society,

present chapter will deal with what

may be termed

the " floating traditions" of the

rest,

and by carefully examining the sources of authority upon which they

(if

and the
shall

argumentative gronuds

any) by which their authenticity

is

supported, I shall attempt to

called

lay a sure foundation for the historical inquiry

properly so

upon which we
is

next enter.
It

has been observed " that a great part of the labor of every -writer

only the destructo

tion of those that

went before him,"' the

institution,

first

care of the builder of a

new system being

demolish the fabrics which are standing.

As the

actual history of Freemasonry, like that of

any other venerable

is

only to be derived from ancient writings, the genuineness

and authenticity of such documents are only determinable by a somewhat free handling of authorities; and whoever attempts to explain the meaning of a writer would but half discharge his task did he not show
It is difficult in a

how much other commentators have corrupted and obscured

it.

for others; to
or to satisfy

work meet the expectations of the student, without wearying the ordinary reader; t\iGfew that may be attracted by a desire for instruction, without repelling the
of this description not to write too little for some,
I

and too much

many whose sole object is to be amused. Some friends, upon whose judgment
light has

place great reliance, have warned

me

against

attempting to deal exhaustively with a subject flux and transitory, or at

least until

more

been

cast

upon

it

by the unceasing progress of modern research.

That more
I

might be accomplished
as

in a longer course of years devoted to the

it is

same study

admit, yet,
to

remarked by Hearne, "

the business of
is

a good antiquary, as of a good man,

have

mortality always before him."^ It

'

unwise to amass more than one can digest, and having

10.
'*

that

John Locke, Essay on the Human Understanding, book iv., chap, xvi., what in one age was affirmed upon slight grounds, can never after come
11).

This

is

certain,

to be

more

valid in

future ages by being often repeated"' (Ibid.,

'

Ante, Chap.

I.

p. 2.

'The Rambler, No. 71, Nov. 20, 1750. The following prayer, found amongst his papers after his and now preserved in the Bodleian Library, exemplifies Hearne's character as much, perhaps, as any anecdote that has descended to us: "Oh, most gracious and mercifull Lord God .-... I continually meet with most signal instances of tliis Thy Providence, and one act yesterday, when I unexpectedly met with three old MSS., for which, in a particular manner, I return my thanks" (Aubrey, Letters written by Eminent Persons, and Lives of Eminent Jlen, 1843, vol. i., p. 118).
decease,

^
"^

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

nndertiiken a work, to go on searching and transcribing, and seeking
already over-burdened,

127

new supplies when must inevitably result in that work being left unfinished. In the present chapter, I sliall somewhat depart from the arrangement hitherto observed, or at least attempted, of keeping the subjects discussed distinct and separate from one another. To the student of Masonic antiquities there is nothing more bewildering than to find scattered over the compass of a large book isolated allusions to particular subjects, which he must group together for himself, if he wishes to examine any set of them as a
whole.

The

slight variation of treatment

real, will not,
is

it is

now proposed
its

to adopt, which, after all,

is

more

nominal than

however, be productive of any inconvenience.

The

general

subject to be examined

Masonic tradition in

relation to the facts of history,

and though
is

several legends or fables will pass

to their respective sources of origin

under review, the evidence by which these are traceable

is

in

many cases
way

identical,

and one tradition

Although

frequently

so interwoven with another, that the only

is

of testing their real value

and importance
I

by subjecting them to a

common and
its

a searching scrutiny.
all

use the expres-

sion " Masonic tradition" in

widest sense, as covering

the information respecting the

past of Fi'eemasonry that has descended to us, whether handed down by oral relations or
professedly derived from
see very little

" Records

of the Society"
it is

of which we are told a great deal,

will

but

the
will

qualification

by which

followed above

remove any uneasiness

that might otherwise be excited.

No

attempt

be made to follow the beaten road of those voluminous plodders of

Masonic history, who make Masons of every

man

of note,

from
I

Adam

to

Nimrod, and from

Nimrod made in

to
all

Solomon, down to the present day; nor shall

seriously discuss the statements,

good faith by writers of reputation, that Masonry was introduced into Britain

A.M. 2974 by " E-Brank, king of the Trojan race," and into Ireland by the prophet Jere-

miah; that 27,000 Masons accompanied the Christian princes in the Crusades; and that
Martin Luther was received into the Society on Christmas night, 1520, just fifteen days
after he

had burned the Pope's

Bull.

'

These and kindred creations of the fancy

shall

dismiss to the vast limbo of fabulous narrations.

In the history of Freemasonry there are no specualtions which are worthy of more
investigation than
its

critical

conjectural origin, as disclosed in the

belief that tliis derivation

was attested

" Parentalia," and the common by the high authority of a former Grand Master of

the Society."
I

shall therefore carefully

arisen,
led,

and

as the theory of

examine the grounds upon which these speculations have " travelling Masons," by which so many writers have been misit

owes

its

general acceptance to the circumstance that

was esteemed to be the opinion

of a great Freemason, as well as a great architect, the evidence

upon which the opinion has

craft,

been ascribed to Wren, as well as that connecting him in any shape with the Masonic
will

be considered at some length. " The road to truth, particularly to subjects connected with antiquity,
error,

is

generally

choaked with fable and

'

which we must remove, by application and perseverance,

Multa Paucis, and July 2, 1881.
p. 45;

Cf.

Book

of Constitutions, 1738;
10, 1880,
,

Dalcho, Ma-sonic Orations, Appendix,

p.

56;

and Freemason, March

">

I. See also the Times of June 26, and the Pall Mall Gazette p. 3, and VI. p. 257. Although the pretensions of the Freemasons are mildly ridiculed in these leading journals, Wren's grand-mastership is accepted bv both.

Ante. Chaps.

of Oct. 20, 1879.

128
before

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

we can promise to ourselves any satisfaction in our progress. Because a story has been related in one way for a liundred years past is not, alone, sufficient to stamp it with truth; it must carry, on the face of it, the appearance of probability, and if it is a subject
which can be
lished data,
tried
it

by the evidence of authentic history, and by just reasoning from estabwill never be received by an enlightened mind on the ipse dixit of any
belief in

one."'

The common

Wren's membership

of the Society of

Freemasons

rests

upon two

what weight it may pos" Natural Hissess from the importance that is attached to an obscure passage in Aubrey's Wiltshire," and traditionally (or masonically) the acceptance of the " legend," and tory of
sources of authority.
Historically, the general impression derives
its

devolution from an article of faith into a matter of conviction,

is

dependent upon our

yielding full credence to statements in Dr. Anderson's Constitutions of a.d. 1738, which
are quite irreconcilable with those in his earlier publication of 1T23.
toiT of Wiltshire," originally

The " Natural

His-

commenced

in 1656,

and

of wliich the last chapter

was written

on April 21, 1686, was the author's first literary essay. He subsequently made some addi In 1675 it was submitted to the Koyal Society; tions, but none of a later date than 1691.
subsequently Dr. Plot'

Ashmolean Museum, and author of the " Natural This, requested by Aubrey to prepare it for the press. publish it" himhowever, he declined to do, but strongly urged the writer "to finish and The work remained in MS. until 1847, when it v>a,s jirst printed, under the editorial self. supervision of John Britton.' The original MS. was never removed from Oxford, but a fair copy was made by the author and presented to the Royal Society. Of the Oxford MS., Britton says, " Being compiled at various times, during a long series of years, it has a conof the

curator " History of Staffordshire was

fused appearance from the numerous corrections and additions

made

in

it

by Aubrey."

The

ety's

far as Aubrey's own labors are concerned, the Royal Socisame authority continues: copy is the most perfect; but the notes of Ray, Evelyn, and Tanner were written upon the Oxford MS., after the fair copy was made, and have never been transcribed into the Aubrey's remarks upon the Freemasons are given by Mr. Halliwell in two separate latter."

" So

but consecutive paragraphs, at page 46 of the explanatory notes attached to the second ediThis writer copied from the Royal Society manution of the "Masonic Poem" (1844).
Dalcho, Masonic Orations, n., p. 37. This passage is only one of many wherein the principles on which masonic investigration should be conducted are clearly and forcibly enunciated. Yet, as showing the contradiction of human nature, the talented writer poses to at least an equal extent aa an example of learned credulity. E.g., in the first Oration we read, " It is u'ell kno^vn that immense numbers of Free-masons were engaged in the Holy Wars; " in the second that tlie "archives of the sublime institutions are records of very ancient date, and contain, besides the evidence of the origin of Masoni-y, many of the great and important principles of science;" and in the Appendix, that the 27,000 masons who took part in the Crusades, "while in Palestine, discovered many important
'

'

'

masonic manuscripts among the descendants of the ancient Jews"!.' 'Dr. Robert Plot, born 1640, chosen F.R.S. 1677, became one of the secretaries of the Royal Society, 1683: was appointed fii-st keeper of the Ashmolean Museum by the founder, 1683: and sooa He was also Historiographer Royal, after nominated Professor of Chemistry to the Univei-sity. Secretai-y to the Earl Mai-shal, Mowbi-ay Hei-ald Extraordinary, and Registrar of the Court of Honour; died April 30, (1696). His chief works are the Natural Histories of Oxfoi-dshire (1677) and Staffordshire (1686). It was his intention to have publislied a complete Natui-al History of England

and Wales, had his time and health permitted so laborious an undertaking. John Aubrey, The Natural Hisloiy of Wiltshire, edited by John Brition,

1847, Eilitor's Preface.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

script, wliere the

129

second paragraph appears as a continuation of the

case in the Oxford or original

MS.

There, the

first

first.' This is not the paragraph, commencing " Sir William

Dugdale

told

me,"

is

written on folio 73, whilst the second,

Sir Christopher, in 1G91,

upon which Mr.

Ilalliwell based

his conclusion

"that

fraternity," forms one of tlie

was enrolled among the members of the numerous additions made by Aubrey, and is written on the
chapter of the history was written in 1686, a period of at
'CtiQtext

back of
least five

folio TvJ."

As the

last

years separates the passage in

is

from

'Can

addendum
'

of 1691, but the original

entry in the body of the work

probably far older than 168G

the date of publication of

fairly

Dr. Plot's " Natural History of Staffordshire"

Plot

yet,

whilst

it

may be

concluded that

must have seen Aubrey's general note on the Freemasons before his own work was written, which latter in turn Aubrey could not fail to have read prior to the entry of his memorandum of 1691, there is nothing to show that either the one or the other was in the slightest

degree influenced by, or indeed recollected, the observations on the Freemasons which

immediately preceded his own.

The Oxford copy of the "Natural History of Wiltshire" was forwarded by Aubrey John Kay, the botanist and zoologist, September 15, 1691, and returned by the latter
the October following.
It

to

in

was
'

also sent to

Tanner, afterwards Bishop of

St.

Asaph, in

February 1694.'

In 1719 Dr. Rawlinson printed the dedication and preface as addenda to

"Aubrey's History of Surrej-."

dotes of Painting" (1762), and

These he doubtless copied from the

original.

The

trans-

cript in the Royal Society Library

was quoted by Walpole

in the first chapter of his

"Anec-

Warton and Huddesford refer to the original in the list ol Aubrey's manuscripts at Oxford, in a note to the " Life of Anthony a Wood." The only
I

other notice

have met with

prior to

1S44 of

the masonic entry or entries in Aubrey's

it

unprinted works occurs in Hawkins' "History of Gothic Architecture"' (1813), but

merely alludes to Papal bulls said to have been granted to Italian architects, and does not

mention Wren.

have examined both manuscripts, the original in the Bodleian Library;

and the

fair

The

latter has

copy at Burlington House, by permission of the Council of the Eoyal Society. on the title page " Memoires of Naturall Remarques in the County of Wilts,"

by Mr. John Aubrey, R.S.S., 1685; but as the

memorandum

of 1691, as well as the earlier

it

entry relating to the Freemasons, duly appears in the text,

their

will

be safer to believe in
like the original,

contemporaneous transcription, than

to

assume that the copy,

received additions from time to time.'

The
'

following extracts are from the Oxford or original

MS

':

Mr. Halliwell has omitted the square brackets in the second paragraph of the Royal Society

copy, which sliould read

"Memorandum.

This day [May the 18th, being Monday, 1691, after Ro-

gation Sunday]
' '

is

a great convention,"

etc.

Aubrey wrote on one side of tlie page only, until he had completed his history. The allusion to the Freemasons occurs at p. 99 of the printed work (Natural History
184.5, p. 62.

of Wilt-

shire),

and there are 126 pages in all. John Britton, Memoirs of John Aubrey, F.R.S.,
'Ibid., p. 92.

This reference being inexact, I have been unable iii. 45. and have vainly searched the work quoted for the passage given by Hawkins. The allusion to the Freemasons appe;us at p. 277 of the Royal Society MS., and at p. 276 three pages are inserted conformably with Aubrey's rough note on the back of fol. 72 of the Oxford copy. During my visit to the Bodleian Librarj- in 1880. the late Mr. W. H. Turner was at the pains of instituting a careful, though fruitless search amongst the papere of Anthony a Wood, in order to
'P. 148, citing Antiquarian Repertory,
it,

to verify
'

VOL.

II.

9.

30

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

PaRT
II.

["

NaTURALL HlSTORIB OF WILTSHIRE"

72.

MS.

IN THE BODLEIAN LiBRABT.]

Reverse of Fol.

Fol. 73.

1691.

S''

William Dugdale told

that about

me many
PatoriU

years

Mdm,
Mondavi
Accepted

this
is

day [May the 18th being

Sunday
I

since,

Henry the

third's time,

aftf r Rogation

a great convention at St

the Pope gave a Bull or diploma to a comFreema.'^nfi

,

Paul's church of the Fraternity of the

pany of

Italian Architects to travell

all

up and

/Voc

Masons: where
is

S""

Christopher

downe over

Europe

to build Churches.

Wren
S'

to be adopted a Brother:

and
been

From
other

those are derived the Fraternity of

Henry Goodric
divers

....

Adopted-Masons.

of y" Tower,

Free-Masom.

They
it

are

known

to one an-

&
_

others

There

have

by certayn
:

Signes

& Mnrko and

in
several!

kings, that

haue been of

this Sodalitie.

Watch- words

continues to this day.

They
of
is

have

Severall

Lodges
:

Counties for their reception

and when any

of their

them

fall

into decay, the brotherhood

to relieve
is

him

&c.

The manner

Adoption

very formall, and with an Oath

of Secrecy.

printed or in any

As already observed, Aubrey's memorandum of Wren's approaching initiation was not way alluded to until 1844. It can therefore have exercised no influence

whatever in shaping or fashioning the belief (amongst Masons) which, from 1738 onwards,
has universally prevailed as regards the connection of the great architect with the ancient
craft.

Indeed,
If

the

statements

of

Aubrey (1691) and Anderson

(1738) are
it is

mutually

destructive.

Wren was

only " accepted " or " adopted " in 1691,

quite clear that he

if

could not have been Grand Master at any earlier date; and, on the other hand, over the Society in the j'ear 1663,
it is

he presided

equally clear that the ceremony of his formal

I shall

admission into the fraternity was not postponed until 1691.

now proceed

to

examwill

ine the qiaestion chronologicallj^, dealing with the evidence in order of time

i.e.,

time of

publication.

According to this method of procedure, the entries in the Aubrey MSS.

all,

be considered last of

at

which stage

I shall enter

upon a review of the whole

subject,

and conclude with an expression from the evidence before us.

masonic writers of the
last

of the views which, in

my

judgment, are

fairly

deducible

mind that we are chiefly concerned, were altogether uniyjflueneed by the singular entries in the Aubrey MSS., yet we should be on our guard not to assume too confidently that none of the FeUows of the Royal Society who joined the fraternity between 1717 and 1750 were aware that one of their own number Aubrey was chosen an F. R.S. in 1663 had recorded in a manuscript work (which
In proceeding with the inquiry, whilst
it is

constantly necessary to bear in

century

with whose works, in

the

first

instance,

he deposited in their own

library), the

approaching initiation into Masonry of a former

President of the Royal Society.

ascertain wliether Aubrey's
friend.

It is

improbable that so curious a circumstance was wholly

of 1691

Addendum

had been inspired by any information from

his

'The words " after Rogation Sunday," "Accepted," "Patents," Freemasons," and "AdoptedMasons," here printed in smaller type, are interlineated in the original; *Jie words here piinted in
italics

are there underlined.

"

" 1

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

unknown
some one
tion,
it
^

to

Dr. Desaguliers, Martin Folkes,

Martin Clare, or Ricliard Rawlinson,

If

all

Fellows of the Royal Society, and zealous Freemasons.'

or

we admit

the probability of
in ques-

more

of these distinguislied

brdhren having perused the manuscript

affords negative evidence,

from which we may not unfairly conclude that the

allu-

sion to

of

make any impression upon them. In next proceeding to adduce the evidence upon which the belief in Wren's membership the fraternity has grown up, I shall, in the first instance, cite the Constitutions of 1723,

Wren

failed to

as presenting an authoritative picture of the condition of Freemasonry in that year.

It

may, however, be premised that the Grand Lodge of England

established

in

1717

was

then in the sixth year of its existence. Philip, Duke of Wharton, was the Grand Master, and Dr. Desaguliers his Deputy. The earliest " Book of Constitutions" was published by Dr. James Anderson, conformably with the directions of the Grand Lodge, to which body it was submitted in print on

January

17,

1723,

and

finally

approved.

It

was the

joint production

of Anderson,

and the antiquary, George Payne, the two last named of whom had filled the Payne compiled the " Regulations," which constitute the chief office of Grand Master. feature of this work; Desaguliers wrote the preface; and Anderson digested the entire subDesaguliers,
ject-matter.

book speaks of " our great Master Mason Inigo Jones;" styles James I. and " Masons," and proceeds as follows: "After the Wars were over, and the Royal Charles I. Family restor'd, true Masonry was likewise restor'd; especially upon the unhappy Occasion of the Burning of London, Anno 1666; for then the City Houses were rebuilt more after
This
official

the

Roman

stile,

when King Charles II. founded the present

St.

Paul's Cathedral

in

London
Rome,

(the old Gothick Fabrick being burnt down),

much

after the style of St. Peter's at

conducted by the ingenious Architect, Sir Christopher

Wren.

" Besides the Tradition of old Masons now alive, which may be rely'd on, we have much reason to believe that King Charles II. was an Accepted Free-Mason, as everyone allows he
was a great Encourager of the Craftsmen. " But in the Reign of liis Brother, King James II., though some Roman Buildings were carried on, the Lodges of Freemasons in London much dwindled into Ignorance, by not
being didy frequented and cultivated.
In a footnote Dr. Anderson speaks of the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, "as having been
designed and conducted also by Sir Christopher Wren, the King's Architect."

William III. is termed "that Glorious Prince, who by most is reckon'd a i^ce-J/aso/ and having cited an opinion of Sir Edward Coke, Dr. Anderson says: " This quotation confirms the tradition of Old Masons, that this most learned Judge
really belong'd to the

Ancient Lodge, and was

a,

faithful Brother."

The

text of the original

" Book

of Constitutions" thus concludes:

civil

"And now

the Free-born British Nations, disentangled from foreign and

Wars,

and enjoying the good Fruits of Peace and Liberty, having of late much indulg'd their happy Genius for Masonry of every sort, and reviv'd the drooping Lodges of London. This fair Metropolis flourisheth, as well other Parts with several worthy particular Lodges, that
Dr. Desaguliers was Grand Blaster 1719, and Deputy Grand Master 1723-.3 and 1725: Folkes was Deputy Grand Master in 1724, and Clare in 1741; Rawlinson was a Grand Steward in 1734. ' It is hardly within the limits of possibility tliat RaAvlinson could have appropriated the dedication and preface of this work without perusing the work itself.
'

132

EARLY BRITISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

have quarterly communication, and an annual Grand Assembly wherein the Formn and Usages of the most ancient ami worshipful Fraternity are wisely propagated, and the Royal
Art duly cultivated, and the cement of the Brotherhood preserv'd: so that the whole Body
resembles a well built Arch."
It will
'

bo seen by the above extracts, that whilst various kings of England, the celeonly mentioned in a professional capacity.

brated architect Inigo Jones, and even a learned judge, are included in the category of

Freemasons, Sir Christopher AVrcn

is

From

which
first

it

may

safely be inferred, that the triumvirate

first

charged with the preparation of the

code of laws, and the

items of masonic history, published by authority, had at

that time no knowledge of his ever having been a

member

of the Society.
'

Dr. llackey

indeed thinks, that " this passing notice of him

land,'

who
all

has been called the

Vitruvius of Engthis dili-

must be attributed

to servility; "

but with

due respect to the memory of

gent lexicographer, I am of opinion for reasons which will hereafter appear in fuller o that the English Freemasons of 1717-23 had no reason to believe in Wren's condetail

if at any time during the building of St. Paul's " accepted " as a Freemason, all recollection of so important a cirCathedral he had been cumstance as the initiation or affiliation of the " King's Architect," would not have totally

nection with their Society,' also, that

died out in the subsisting lodges of masons, within the short span of six or seven years,

which, according to Anderson (in his subsequent publication of 1738), elapsed between Wren's cessation of active interest in the lodges, and the so-called Revival of 1717.' It is
important, moreover, to note, that the Constitutions of 1733 record no break
of prosperity,
in

the career

upon which the craft Between 1723 and 1738, though a large number of masonic books and pamphlets were He is not so styled in the published, in none of these is Wren alluded to as a Freemason. Constitutions of 1726, and 1730 (Dublin), which were reprinted by the late Mr. Richard
Spencer
in 1871,

had embarked

after the accession of Williiim III.

nor

is

his connection with the craft in

any way hinted at by Dr. Francis

Drake, the Junior Warden of the Grand Lodge of York, in his celebrated oration of 1726.
Smith's "Pocket

Companion"

for 1735, 1736,

II.

much masonic
iam
III. as

information, describe Charles

1737, and l^SB.Uhough they contain " that mason king," and refer to Willas

" with good reason believed to have been a Free-Mason," merely designate the

late surveyor general,

" that excellent

architect, Sir Christopher

Wren."
be presently

The newspapers during the same

noticed
consideration,

period (1723-38)

with the exceptions to

MSS.

at least so far as my research has extended, are equally silent upon the point under
and there
is

no reference

to

Wren

in the Rawlinson

at the Bodleian

Library.
Sir Christopher died

on February

25, 1723;

and

in the Postboy,

No. 5243, from Feb-

ruary 26 to February 28 of that year, appears an obituary notice of

tisement of the " Book of Constitutions."

Wren and an adverThe same paper in the next number (5244) gives
lines,

a more elaborate notice, consisting of twenty-eight

enumerating

all

the offices held

' The Constitution of the Freemasons, 1723, pp. 40, 43, 47, 48. "In a former chapter ("The Statutes relating to the Freemasons," ante, vol. i., p. 351), drawn attention to the scrupulous care with which the Constitutions of 1723 were compiled.

have

^ Even taking Aubrey's predic<io?( as a /ae^ and further ;issuming that Sir Christopher never attended another masonic meeting after his reception in 1691, is it credible that so remarkable an

occurrence could liave been entirely forgotten in 1717

*

In the 1736 and subsequent editions the

title is

enlarged to

"The Freemason's Pocket Ccm-

panion.

By W. Smith, a Freemason."'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

by the deceased.

133

The

Postboy, No. 5245, from

March

2 to

March

5,

has the following:

" London, March

5, this

evening the corpse of that worthy Free Mason, Sir Christopher

of St. Paul's Cathedral."
25,

Wren, Knight, is to be iuterr'd under the Dome announcement iijijiears in the British Journal, No. Wren, that worthy Free Mason, was splendidly
night last."
find in

March

9, viz.:

"Sir

similar

Christopher

interr'd in St. Paul's

Church on Tuesday

between Four are copied from the Fostboy, and a similar number from the Daily Post. Two each from the British Journal, the Weekly Journal or Saturday's Post, and the Weekly Journal or British Oazetteer, Single notices are given in the
I

my

notes sixteen notices in

9,

all

of

Wren's death or

burial, occurring

February 26 and March

1723.

London Journal and the Postman.

In none of these, except as above stated,
is

Sir Christopher designated a

" Freemason,"

and
I

this expression

is

not again coupled with his name, in any newspaper paragraph that

have seen, of earlier date than 1T3S.

It will be observed that the journal,

announcing tw

the first instance, that

Wren was a

" Freemason," had been previously selected as the advertising medium through which to recommend the sale of the " Book of Constitutions," and it is hardly to be wondered at tliat the editor of the Postboy should have deemed a title so lavishly bestowed by Dr. Anderson upon the persons and personages of whom he had occasion to speak, including
'

Inigo .Tones, a predecessor of

to designate the great

Wren

in the office of

Surveyor General, would be

fitly

applied

man whose

funeral obsequies he was announcing.

That a

single paper only

the British

Journal, No. 25

reprinted
if

the statement given

is

in the Postboy, will surprise the readers of old newspapers, for

there

one circumstance
it is

more than another which renders an examination

tiie

of these records especially fatiguing,

wearisome repetition by journals of later date, of nearly every item of intelligence pub-

lished in a

London newspaper.
I

Passing from this branch of the inquiry, the importance of which

do not rate very " The terms,"

[sic\

highly, I shall next present an extract from a work, published in 1730, that will be again,

on

its

own

merits or demerits, considered at a later stage of this history.

Fi-ee

says

Samuel Prichard, "of

till

and Accepted Masonry

(as it

now

is)

has

not been
ations

heard of

within these few years; no constituted Lodges or Quarterly

till

Communi

were heard of

1091,

when

lords

and dukes, lawyers and shopkeepersj and other

inferior
It will

tradesmen, porters not excepted, were admitted into this mystery or no mystery."'
be seen that stress
is

is

here laid on some great Masonic event having occurred in 1G91, which

so far corroborative of

Aubrey's memorandum.

This notion may indeed have suggested

its official

itself to
list

Prichard from the fact that, in 1729, the Grand Lodge of England, in

of as

showed the date of constitution of the senior lodge, formerly the old Lodge St. Paul, as 1G91; or, on the other hand, this entry in the engraved list may be viewed confirmatory of the statement in " Masonry Dissected"?
of lodges,
'

The Postboy, No. 5243. Commenting- upon the Passage in the Postboy, No. 5245, Mr. W. P. Buchan observes: " Is it ti-ue that Wren was really a Freemason before his death f And, if so, when and where did he become one? At page 595 of the Graphic for 19th December, 1874, we are told that the Duke of Edinlmrgh is a mason, but I fear this is a mistake; consequently, if the latter scribe is
'
'

nut infallible as regards a living celebrity,

I feel justified

in

doubting the veracity of the former

respecting a dead one."

'Samuel Prichard, Masonry Dissected,

1730, pp.

6, 7.

134
Elsewhere,

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

I

have exj)ressed an opinion that the date of 1691, as given in the

ofBcia,.

calendar for 1729,

St.

may denote

that in this year original Xo.

1,'

formerly the old Lodge ot

Paul {now Antiquity), from being an occasional became a stated lodge, and Aubrey's
I

statement respecting Wren's "adoption,"

instanced as strengthening this hypothesis.

If,

indeed, Prichard's observations are entirely put on one side, as being inspired by the calen-

dar of 1729, there yet remains the inquiry

must not this

date of 1691, officially accorded

to the senior lodge thirty-eight years after its

original establishment as computed by the

its

Grand

Oj^cers,' point at least to

it

some remarkable event connected with

recollection of
it

history

On

the other hand, however,

may

be fairly contended that nothing very extraordinary could

have taken place in 1691, since

all

had died out before 1723,' and though

I

slightly anticipating the sequence of

my

argument,

may

here conveniently add, that

it

would be contrary

to all

reason and experience for a tradition to hybernate for at least

full life

twenty-one years (1717-38) and then suddenly return to

and

reality.

Between 1730 and 1738, the newspapers

Freemasonry,

of the time contain very frequent references to

ilany of these were preserved by Dr. Rawlinson, and may be seen in the curious collection of Masonic scraps, entitled the " Kawlinson MSS.," in the Bodleian
Library.
lector, to

These

have carefully examined, and the passing allusions of the learned

I

col-

contemporaneous events of a Masonic character,

is

have in each case verified whereis

ever a date
to enable

named, or a journal
trace
it

cited,

and the reference

files

me to

in the newspaper

at the British

searched these
later,

files

with more or
I

less particularity

sufficiently plain and distinct Museum. Furthermore, I have from the year 1717 down to 1738 and

and though
I

have met with numerous dissertations on Freemasonry, squibs, cate-

chisms, and the like, nowhere, prior to 1738, save in the two journals of 1723, already cited,

have
is, I

found any mention of Wren as a Freemason.'

That

this belief did not exist in 1737

think, plainly evidenced by the " Pocket

Companion"

for 1738, printed according to

invariable usage slightly in advance,

and which,
been a

like its predecessors

and

successors, was

a summary of

all

the facts, fancies, and conjectures previotisly published in reference to

there, at that time,
scintilla of evidence to

Freemasonry.
Freemason.

Had

connect

Wren with

the fraternity, the worthy knight, without doubt, would have figured in that publication
as
a.

now proceed to snow how the fable originated, and in the first instance, before examining the " Constitutions " of 1738, two extracts from the Minutes of Grand Lodge
I shall

claim our attention:

'

The Four Old Lodges,

I

1879, p. 46.

from suggesting that that the period of formation of our oldest English lodge (present No. 2) was rightly determined in 1729. The Masonic authorities appear to have proceeded on no Thus the lodge at "St. principle whatever in the dates of constitution they assigned to lodges. Rook's Hill," near Chichester, No. 65 in the numeration of 1729-39, was duly chronicled intheotEcial calendars as having been established " in the reign of Julius Cresar." In the Weekly Journal, or British Gazetteer (i^o. 264, April 11, 1730), however, is the following: "A few days since, their Graces the Dukes of Richmond and Montagu, accompanied by several gentlemen, who were all Free and Accepted Masons, according to ancient custom, forni'd a lodge upon the top of a hill near the Duke of Richmond's seat, at Goodwood in Sussex, and made tlie Right Hon. the Lord Baltimore a Free and ^ The date of publication of the fii-st " Book of Constitutions." Accepted Mason." * Numerous extracts from the St. James Evening Post, ranging from 1732 to 1738, were reprinted by Mr. Hughan in the Masonic Magazine, voL iv., 1376-77, pp. 413, 472, 518, but in none of these a there any allusion to Wren.
'

am

far

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

" February 24, 1735.
to the Constitutions, the

135

Bro.
first

Dr. Anderson, formerly

Grand Warden, represented that

fitly

he had spent some thoughts upon some alterations and additions that might
Edition being
all

be

made

sold
.

off.
.
.

" Resolved That a committee be appointed . to revise and compare the same, and, when finished, to lay the same before Grand Lodge." " March 31, 1735. A motion was made that Dr. James Anderson should be desired to print the names (in his new Book of Constitutions) of all the Grand Masters that could be collected from the beginning of Time; with a list of the Names of all Deputy Grand Masters, Grand Wardens, and the brethren who have served the Craft in the Quality of Stew. .

ards.

"
edition of the "Constitutions" was published in 1738,
II.

The new

and we are informed

St.

therein that in 1660 Charles

approved the choice of the Earl of

Albans as Grand
Master,

Master; that in 1663 this nobleman appointed Sir John

Denham Deputy Grand

and
all

Sir Christopher

Wren

(slightly antedating his

knighthood) and Mr. John Webb,'

Grand Wardens.

I shall

proceed to give some extracts from this work, premising that by

authorities alike, whether in or out of the craft, the Constitutions edited by Dr. Ander-

son have been regarded as the basis of Masonic history.

" Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, an excellent Architect, shew'd his great skill in designing his famous Theatrum Slieldonianum at Oxford, and at his Cost it was

Wren and Grand Warden Web. " And the Craftsmen having celebrated the Cape-stone, it was open'd with an elegant oration by Dr. South, on 9th July 1669. D. G. M. Ween built also that other Master Piece, the pretty Muswum near the Theatre, at the Charge of the University. Meanwliile "London was rebuilding apace; and the Fire having ruin'd St Pi/i' Cathedral, the
conducted and finished by Deputy

King witli Grand Master Rivers, his architects and craftsmen. Nobility and Gentry, Lord Mayor and Aldermen, Bishops and Clergy, etc., in due Form levell'd the Foot stone of New St. Paul's designed by D. G. Master Wren, a.d. 1673, and by him conducted as Master of Work and Surveyor, with his Wardens Jlr. Edward Strong, Senior ' and Junior, under a Parliamentary Fund. " Upon the death of Grand Master Arlington, 1685, the Lodges met and elected Sir Christopher Wren Grand Master, who appointed
Mr. Gabriel Gibber
)

Mr. Edward Strong

iJ

'

^
(

'^^'^

whilst carrying on St. Paul's, he annually

to

met those Brethren that could attend him,

III.

keep up good old Usages, till the Revolution." The " Constitution Book " goes on to say that King William

was privately made a

Free-Mason, and that he approved the choice of Grand Master Wren; that in 1695 the

who have blindly copied from Anderson, are well described by the styhng Grand Warden: "Some are so far in love with vulgarly receiv'd reports, that it must be taken for truth, whatsoever related by them, though nor head, nor tail, nor foot, nor footstep in it oftentimes of reason or common sense " (John Webb, The Most Notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stonehenge, 1655, p. 108).
'

Preston, et hoc genus omne,

tliey persist in

worthy

'

Edward Strong, the

It is

1673.
elled.
is

elder, died in 1733, aged 72; consequently he was only 22 years of age in improbable that his son Edward was born until some years after the footstone was lev-

As

will presently appear, the credit of

having

laid the foundation-stone of St. Paul's

in

Cathedral

claimed for Thomas Strong by his brother Edward,

the latter's

"Memoir

of the

Family of
i.,

Strong," given in Clutterbuck's "History and Antiquity of the County of Hertford," 1815, vol.
p. 167.

36
of

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

Kichmond became Craiul r^Iaster, AVren being Deputy, and the Edward Strongs, Senior and Junior, Grand Wardens respectively; and again records Sir Christopher's elevation to the Grand Mastership in 1698. The official record proceeds: "Yet still in the South (1707) the Lodges were more and more disused, partly by the Neglect of the Masters and Wardens, and partly by not having a Noble Grand Master at Loudon, and the annual Assembly was not duly attended. G. M. Wren, who design'd St. Paul's, London, a.d. 1C73, and as Master of Work had conducted it from the Foot-stone, had the Honor to finish that noble Cathedral, the finest and largest Temple oi the Atigustan stile except St. Peter's at Rome; and celebrated the Cape-stone when he erected the Cross

Duke

on the Top of the Cupola, in July a.d. 1708." " Some few years after this Sir Christojiher Wren neglected the
In the Constitutions of 1738 we learn for the
this volume,
stitutions,
cally; that
it

office of

Grand Master,
a Freemason,
earlier

yet the Old Lodge near St. Paul's and a few more, continued their stated meetings."
first

time that

Wren was

must be

recollected, having

been written by the compiler of the

Concon-

Dr. James Anderson; that the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, was opened masoni-

King Charles

II. laid

the foundation-stone of St. Paul's; and that

Wren

tinued as Grand Master until after 1708,

to be
It

when

his neglect of the office

" caused the Lodges

more and more disused." is somewhat remarkable that

not one of the foregoing statements can be cited as an

historical fact.

do not propose multiplying evidence to invalidate the testimony of this work, but it may be shortly stated that among the English Grand Masters Dr. Anderson gravely enumerates Austin the Monk, St. Swithin, St. Dunstan, Henry YII., and Cardinal Wolsey; whilst of " Foreigners," who have attained that high office, he specifies Ximrod, Moses, SoloI

mon, Nebuchadnezzar, and Augustus Caesar Between 1738 and 1750 there is nothing
!

to chronicle

inquiry, but in the latter year appeared the following work:

" Parentalia;
;

which bears upon the present

or.

Memoirs
his

OF THE Family of the Wrens.

son Christopher:

But Chiefly

of Sir Christopher

Wren, compiled by

Now

published by his grandson Stephen Wren, Esq.

with the care of

Joseph Ames, F.R.S.

London, mdccl."

Two

passages in this publication

demand our

attention.

These occur

at p. 292

and

p.

306 respectively, the latter being the opinion ascribed to AVren in respect of the origin of

Fremasonry, and the former, the statement of his son Christopher with regard to
occurrences, about which there
is

cert<ain

a great diversity of testimony.

The remarks

attributed

an earlier chapter, ' and I shall proceed to adduce " Parentalia," which will complete the stock of evidence the remaining extract from the derivable from this source. At p. 292, the subject being sundry details connected with the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral, there appears: " The first Stone of this Basilica was laid
to Sir Christopher are given in full in

Year 1675, and the Works carried on with such Care and Industry, that by the Year 1685 the Walls of the Quire and Side ailes were finished, with the circular North and
in the
'

According to Edward Strong, senior,

in the "

Memoir"

before alluded to, the last stone of the

25, 1708.

lanthorn on the
claims
tlie

dome

of St. Paul's

was

laid

by himself, October
but

Christopher

Wren

also

honor of having

laid the " highest or last stone,"

fixes

the date of this occurrence at

1710 (Parent;ilia, or Jfemoii's of the Family of the AVrens, MDCCL.,

'

p. 292).

Ante, Chap. VI.,

p. 257.

1 / / //

^ /////

^^ y//

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

South Porticoes; and the great
pleased
Pillars of the

137
it

Dome

brought to the same Height; and

God

in his

Mercy

to bless the Surveyor with

Health and Length of Days, and to

enable him to compleat the whole Structure in the Year 1710 to the Glory of his most holy

Name, and Promotion of his divine Worship, the principal Ornament of the Imperial Seat Realm Majestas convenit ista deo. The highest or last Stone on the Top of the Ijantern, was laid by the Hands of the Surveyor's son, Christopher Wren, deputed by his Father, in the Presence of that excellent Artificer M"". Strong, his Son, and other Free and Accepted Masons, chiefly employed in the Execution of the Work." Before, however, commencing an analysis of the two extracts from the " Parentalia," it will be desirable to ascertain upon what authority they liave come down to us. In his " Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century," John Nichols' observes, "the last of M''. Ames's literary labors, was the drawing up of the Parentalia in one volume folio, from the papers of M''. Wren. The title sets forth that they were published by Stephen Wren, with the care of Joseph Ames." In the view that the work we are considering was virtually the compilation of Joseph
of this
'

'

'

those iu the
tic

Ames, Nichols has been followed by Elmes, whose two biographies of Wren,' together with " Biographia Britannica " and the " Parentalia," contain everything of an authencharacter in the
life of

Sir Christopher that has descended to us.

As

it is

my

purpose
influ-

to

show the gradual accretion

of error that has taken place

I

owing to the progressive

full

ence of successive publications,

postpone for the present a

consideration of those state-

ments wherein Elmes has copied from Masonic writers, and shall merely adduce in this place his comments upon the " Parentalia," as a work of authority. It is described by this writer
as

"Ames's miserable compilation, published under the name

is

of Steplien

Wren."

Alto-

gether, according to Elmes, the " Parentalia"

errors

a very bungling performance.

Numerous
and not

and inaccuracies are pointed out, especially in the matter of dates. Thus it is shown that a letter from Wren to Lord Broucker was written

in 1663,

iu

1661; that to a paper read before the Royal Society the year 1658, instead of 1668, had

been assigned; and that mistakes occur in the accounts both of Sir Christopher's appoint-

and his receiving the honor of knighthood; and such expressions its usual carelessness or contempt of correctness in dates;" and " This is not, by many, the only or the greatest falsification of dates by Ames.'" In spite, however, of the combined authority of Nichols and Elmes, I am of opinion that Ames's labors in connection with the " Parentalia" were strictly of an editorial charas surveyor-general,

ment

occur as

" the

'

Parentalia,' with

acter,
tect.

and that the actual writer or compiler was Christopher Wren, only son of the archiI liave arrived at this conclusion from an examination of tlie original manuscript of the work,' which appears to be in the handwriting of Christopher Wren, and as the title
'Ovid's Fast,
'

1.

i.

Gentleman s Magazine from 1778 until tiis deatli in 1826. He was the author or editor of at loast sixty-seven works, of which the one cited in the text was begiin in 1782, but recast and enlarged in 1812-15. 'James Ehues, Jleiiioii-s of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren, 1823; Sir Christopher Born
1745; edited tlie

Wren and

his Times, 1852.

niemoii-s of Wren, 1823, pp. 139, 217, 241, 242, 255, 263, 317, and 440. ' By permission of the Council of the Royal Society, in whose library it
presented by Mr. Stephen Wren, Feb.
21, 1759.
I

is

preserved, having been

am

also indebted to Mr. Reginald

Ames

for

an

opportunity of inspecting
of

many family documents,

including various

memoranda in

the handwriting

Joseph Ames, F.R.S., which bear no Idnd of similarity to the penmanship of the Royal Society

138

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

foot,

page shows at the

compiler

was prepared for publication

six years before the

death of the

C.

W.

ITTLY

J74J
first

Christopher "Wren, the only son of the great architect by his

marriage, was
antiquity,

bom

February

I'C,

1675, and died August 24, 1747, aged 72.

"

He had made

which

he weU understood, his particular study, and was extremely communicative." He wrote and published, in 1708, a learned work,' which he dedicated to liis brethren of the Koyal
Society, containing representations of
tions, followed

many

curious Greek medallions and ancient inscrip-

by legends of imperial coins from Julius Cassar to Aurelian, with their inter-

and an appendix of Syrian and Egyptian kings and coins, all collected by himself. He also wrote the MS. life of his father in Latin," and arranged the documents for the " Parentalia," which were afterwards published by his son Stephen, assisted by Joseph Ames. We find, therefore, that the memoirs or opinions of Sir Christopher Wren, come
pretations,
'

down

to us,

recorded by his son, a learned antiquary, at the age of 66,

when

his father

had

been just eighteen years in his grave.

The

first

observation to be

made on the passage

at p. 306 of the

" Parentalia," comis,

mencing, " He [Wren] was

of opinion (as

has been mentioned

in another place),"
in

that
the'

this sentence in brackets refers to a

memorial of Sir Christopher

I shall

his

own
*

words, to

Bishop of Rochester, in the year 1713, from which

*'

give two extracts:

This we now

call

the Gothick manner of Architecture (so the Italians call'd what was

not after the

it

Roman

Style),

should with more reason be

though the Goths were rather Destroyers then Builders: I think call'd the Saracen-style: for those People wanted neither Arts
in the

nor Learning, and after

of their Arabick-Books,

We

West had

lost

Both, we borrow'd again from

Them, out

what they with great diligence had translated from the Greeks. and wherever they Conquer'd (which was with amazing rapidity), erected Mosques and Caravansaras in hast, which oblig'd them to fall into another Way of Building; for they Built their Mosques Round, disliking the Christian Form of
They were Zealous
in their Religion,

a Cross."'

" The Saracen Mode

of Building seen in the East soon spread over Europe,

and particu-

MS. So far as I can form an opinion, the "Parentalia" was wTitten by the same hand as fol. 136 of the Lansdowne MSS., No. 698; of wliich MS. Elmes (Sir Christopher Wren and his Times, pp. 414419) remarks: " It is in the handwriting of Christopher, the eldest son of the great architect, and is
countersigned by the latter thus CoUata, OcV. 1730, C. W.' "
'

As

this

manuscript will again claim

our attention,

it

will be sufficient to observe that the portion attributed to Sir Christopher

was

evi-

dently written by the same hand as the rest of the MS.

Christophori Wren, Numismatum Autiquorum Sylloge, Populis Graecis, Municipiis et Coloniis Romanis cusorum, ex Cimeliarcho Editoris (London, 1768, 4to). ' Lansdowne MSS., No. 698, fol. 136. This is really a series of memoranda, wherein Christopher Wren appears to have recorded some of the leading events in the life of his father. These notes or jottings were printed by Elmes in his later work (1852).
'

'

Elmes, Memoirs, 1723,

p. 855.

take the opportunity of stating that the conclusion expressed

at an earlier portion of this

work regarding the authorship of this extract, is no longer tenable When note 1, p. 257 (Chap. VI.), was penned, I had not seen the MS. of the " Parentalia." These I have transcribed from the MS. in the library of the Royal Society, where they appear in
*

Part
is

ii.,

7.

As

thej- are similarly placed in the printed

tlie

book (Parentalia.

p. 297),

without variation

of terms, the impression that

work was ready

for the press in the lifetime of Christopher

Wren

confirmed.

'Parentalia MS., pp. J^, Ui-

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

larly in

39

France; the Fashions of which Nation we affected to imitate in

at

all ages,

eren

when we were

enmity with

it.

"
I

'

In the preceding quotations

have given everything in Wren's actual memorial, which

hand, by Sir Chris-

may
on.

tend to throw any light upon the opinion of the great architect, as recorded by his
It will

be noticed that the Freemasons are not alluded

to, at first

topher, therefore
as transmitted
uity,

we have no other choice than

to accept the evidence

quantum

valeat

and

it

by his son. It is true that the language employed is not free from ambigmight be plausibly contended that the authority of the architect was not meant

to cover the entire dissertation

on the Freemasons.

Still,

on the whole, we

shall steer a

safe course in accepting the passage in the

lection of his father's opinion,

Wren's recolthough tinctured insensibly by much that he may have heard

as being Christopher of the architect

" Parentalia,"

and read during the twenty years that elapsed between the death
compilation of the family memoir.

and the
in-

From

neither of the extracts from the

"

Parentalia " are

we

justified in

drawing an
'

ference that

Wren was

a Freemason.

The

passage at p. 292 of that work

is

contains the

only allusion to the English Society, wherein, indeed, Mr. Edward Strong

described as a

" Free and Accepted Mason," though it may well have been, mason noticed this statement in the autobiography which we
three contradictions instead of two,

that had the worthy master

shall consider a little later,

might have appeared between the testimonies of the

elder Strong

and the younger Wren.

was ever admitted into the society of Freemasons

If Sir Chi-istopher

whether we
I shall

fix

the event according to the earlier date given by Dr. Anderson or the later one of John

Aubrey,
sider the

is

immaterial

his son

Cliristophcr

must have known

of

it,

and

next con-

extreme improbability, to say the

of such

least, of

the latter having neglected to record

any

details

an occurrence with which he was acquainted.

Christopher Wren,'

elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1693, at the early age of eighteen,

though not

admitted until 1698, must have frequently met Dr. Plot, with his father
;

who was on

very intimate terms

and

it is

quite within the limits of probabOity that he was also personally

'

acquainted with both Ashmole and Aubrey.

With the

writings of these three antiquaries, however,

it

may be

confidently assumed he

was familiar, the references to the elder Wren are so frequent, that without doubt Ash" mole's " Diary " and "Antiquities of Berkshire," and Aubrey's " Natural History of Surrey

architect's family.

must be recollected, before 1720 were read with great interest by the If we go further, and admit the possibility of Sir Christopher being a Freemason, the entries in the " Diary," and the learned speculations in regard to the origin of the society prefixed to the "Antiquities of Berkshire,"* must (on the supposition above
all

published,

it

alluded to) have necessarily led to his having expressed agreement or disagreement with the

remarks of his friend Plot in 1686,' and

it

may

also

be as safely inferred that the

state-

ments
just

in

Ashmole's posthumous work (1719) would have been minutely

it

criticised, in

con-

nection,

may

well have been, with the proceedings of the

Grand Lodge

of

England, then

two years established.

aside,

But putting conjecture

'Parentalia MS.,
p. Jf|.

Christopher

Wren amongst "

and 1697

his brethren of the Royal

'-Ante, p. 137
in 1693, 1696,

'Ashmole,
*

Plot,

and Aubrey died

respectively.

Edited by Dr. Rawlinson.

Plot, Natural History of Staffordshire, p. 316.

40

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

whom
he dedicated his

Society," to
linson

own

book, must have constantly met Dr. Piicliard luiw-

"Antiquities of Berkshire"

writer of the memoir of Ashmole, containing the description of Freemaonry in the and think in the highest degree probable, that the
I
it

latter,

who
to

for reasons stated elsewhere, I conceive to have perused both versions of Aubrey's
satisfied

manuscript history, must have

himself of the inaccuracy of the statement relating

Wren, by personal inquiry

It

of the architect or his son.

would, on the whole, appear probable that Christopher

Wren knew
safely

of,

but rejected,

the statement of John Aubrey, and indeed in

my judgment we may

go further, and
is

conclude, that the omission of any reference whatever to the prediction of 1691,
to

tantamount

an assurance, that in the opinion of his son and biographer, there was no foundation whatever, in fact, for any theory with regard to AVren"s membersliip which had been set up.

The

real

importance of the passage at

p.

306 of the " Farentalia" arises from the fact

of its being in general

agreement with

all

the other theories or speculations relating to the

origin of Freemasonry, which have been traced or ascribed to writers or speakers of the

seventeenth century.

The next

point

a very remarkable one

Wren, and Ashmole

is

the singular coincidence

of the three versions attributed to Dugdale,

respectively, possessing the

common
The
erected

feature of having been handed

earliest

down by evidence of the most hearsay character. mention of the " travelling bodies of Freemasons," who are said to have

all

the great buildings of Europe, occurs in the " Natural History of Wiltshire," and

appears to have been written a few years before 1686.'

Aubrey here says: " S'' William Dugdale' told me many years since." In the "Farentalia," as we have seen, Christopher Wren records the belief of his father under the expression " He [Wren] was of opinion;" and it only remains to be stated, that in a similar manner are we made acquainted with the views of Elias Ashmole on the same subject. In the memoir of Ashmole in the " Biographia

Britannica," appears a letter from Dr. Kiiipe, of Christ Church, Oxford, from which I
extract the following:

",What from

ilr.

Ashmole's collection I could gather was, that the

report of our Society taking rise from a Bull granted by the Pope in the reign of
III.

Henry

to

some

Italian architects, to travel over all

Europe

to erect Chapels,

was ill-founded.
the opinion

Such a Bull there was, and those architects were masons. But this Bull, in of the learned M'' Ashmole, was confirmative only, and did not by any means fraternity, or even establish them in this kingdom."'

create our

In the preceding extracts we meet with at the best but secondary evidence of opinions It is almost certain, however, that these may entertained by three eminent authorities.

be traced to a single source.

'

For the purposes

of this inquiry,

it is

immaterial to consider

As the text of the Oxford copy of this MS. was completed ia 1686, it is evident, from the position of fol. 73(an^e,p. 130),that Aubrey's original remarks on the Freemasons were penned at some This inference is strengthened by the absence in the MS. of any allusion to the obpreNious time
servations of Dr. Plot on the
1686
;

same subject

in his " Natural History of Staffordshire," published in

his diary,

a copy of which, Elias Ashmole records in

was presented

to

him by the author on

May

23d of that year.

William Dugdale was born in 1605, and died Feb. 10, 1686. His daughter, Elizabeth, was the In the compilation of his chief third wife of Elias Ashmole, who was married to her Xov. 3, 1668. work. The " Slonasticon Anglicanum," Dugdale received much assistance from John Aubrey. 3 The above extract is thus prefaced: " Taken from a book of letters communicated to the author
''Sir

of this

by Dr. Knipe of Christ Church " (vol. i., mdccxlvii., p. 224, note E). In the second edi(Andrew Kippis, 1778), the writer of the title "Ashmole "is stated to have been Dr. Campbell (the author of " Hermippus Redivivus "), " who, it is much to be
life,

tion of the "Biogi-aphia Britannica"

regretted, did not contribute after vol. iv."

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

whether DugiJale acquired
his

141
Substantially

information from Ashmole, or vice versa.

their speculations were identical, as will

to

more
in

clearly

appear

if
'

any reader takes the trouble

compare Aubrey's note of Sir William Dugdale's statement

with the memoir of Ashmole,

from the pen of Dr. Rawlinson, given

of Berkshire" (1719). 1747,

Ashmole's posthumous work, the " Antiquities

The following extract must have largely influenced Dr. Knipe in when he communicated with Dr. Campbell, the writer of the title "Ashmole" in the
all

'" Biographia Britaunica," and though, in

probability, both Kni})e

it

and Rawlinson drew

lus

from the same fount,

rivulets of information

viz.,
still

the Ashmole Papers, yet

may be

fairly

assumed that

many

flowing during the early residence at Oxford of the latter, must

later

have become dried up half a century

during which period,

moreover, the reputation

of Dr. Rawlinson as a scholar and an archajologist had been firmly established

the younger
same
field

commentator, himself a Freemason,

is

scarcely likely to have recorded his impression of the

origin of Freemasonry believed in by Ashmole, without previously conferring with the

eminent antiquary and topographer who had so long ago preceded him
of inquiry.

in the

"On

October 16 [1646] he [Ashmole] was elected a Brother of the

'

Company

of Free

Masons, with CoUonel Henry Mainwaring, of Kerthingham

in Cheshire, at Warritigton in
tliat

Lancashire, a Favour esteemed so singular by the Jlembers.

Kings themselves have

is

not disdain'd to enter themselves into this Society, the original Foundation of which
to be as

said

high as the Reign of King Henry

to build

III.,

when the Pope granted a

Bull, Patent, or

Company of Italian Masons and Architects to travel over all From this is derived the Fraternity of Adopted Masons, Accepted Masons, or Free Masons, who are known to one another all over the World by certain Signals and Watch Words known to them alone. They have several Lodges in different Countries for their Reception; and when any of them fall into Decay, the Brotherhood is to relieve him. The manner of their Adoption, or Admission, is very formal and
Diploma,' to a particular

Europe

Churches.

solemn, and with the Administration of an Oath of Secrecy, which has had better Fate than
all

other Oaths, and has been ever most religiously observed, nor has the World been yet

able,

by the inadvertence,

surprise, or folly of
*

any of

its

Jlembers, to dive into

tliis

Mystery,

or

make the least discovery." The memoir of Ashmole, upon which

have just drawn,

is

followed by no signature,

nor does the title-page of the work disclose the name of the editor.

There appears, however,

open
to examination

no reason to doubt that the work was edited, and the memoir written, by Dr. Richard
Rawlinson
'

(of

whom more

hereafter),

and the
which
is is

latter, therefore, whilst

and

criticism, possesses the credibility

universally accorded to the testimony of a

to

well-informed contemporary.

Rawlinson

known

have purchased some of Ashmole's

and

Sir William Dugdale's MSS.,'

and

tliat

Aubrey's posthumous work,

"The

History of

Surrey," was published under his editorial supervision, has been already stated.
'

He was

Ante,

p. 130.
is

'

'As the word "Diploma"

*
'

omitted in the Royal Society's copj' of

liis

Kermincham. tlie Aubrey MS.,

p. vi.

it is

toler-

ably clear that Dr. Rawlinson derived

information from

tlie

Oxford copy.

Elias Ashmole, "Antiquities of Berksliiie." Preface

by Dr. Rawhnson,

"Prefixed to the 'Antiquities of Berkshire,' was a short account of the author drawn up by Dr. RawUnson" (Athena; Oxonienses, 3d ed., vol. iv., p. 363).
'

mole's library was sold

John NichoUs, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, March 5, 1694 {Ibid., vol. iv., p. 39).

1813-15, vol.

v., p.

489.

Ash-

142
also

EA RL V BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

an F.R.S.

Desagulicrs in 1714
of the

having been and

it is

elected together with Martin Folkes and

in the

John Theophilas
whence he derived

highest degree probable, that the Koyal Society's copy

of the sources of information

Aubrey manuscript, constituted one

his impression of the early origin of the Freemasons.

Nay, we may, I think, go further,

and
this

Siifely

Oxford

assume that whatever was current in masonic or literary circles at London or the life or opinions of Ashmole, Rawlinson was familiar with,' and in connection his silence on the purely personal point of Wren's " adoption," possesses a

respecting

significance

which we can hardly overrate.

of Masonic history given in the

is

" Parentalia," though somewhat enlarged, to the same purport, and we may conclude that it was derived from the same source.' At this point of our research, and before passing in review the further evidence by which

The sketch

the belief in Wren's initiation

is

supported,

it

will

be convenient
is

to

examine with some

particularity the theory of Masonic origin with

It

which his name

associated.

should be carefully noted that the reported dicta of Dugdale, Ashmole, and Wren,
trifling discrepancies,

though characterized by

agree in the main, and especially on the

point of Papal favors having been accorded to Italian architects.

part of the three Enylish authorities, to
ascribed,

This consensus on the

is

whom

the early mention of Bulls

traced or

we should keep

carefully in view, whilst examining the learned speculations to

rise in

which the subject has given

In an
earlier part of this

Germany.
it

work

'

has been mentioned that the tradition of the

Steiri'

metzen having obtained extensive privileges from the Popes, has been

current in

German

annals from very early times. In a series of articles recently communicated to the Freemason

by Mr. G. W. Speth, to which

ably discussed, and
it is

must

refer the curious reader,' this subject has

been very

contended with much force that, as the Constitutions of the Steinmetit

is

zen were confirmed by the Emperors of Germany,

they were submitted to the Popes.

equally reasonable to conclude that

"In

1518," says Mr. Speth,' "the lodge at Magdetheir ordinances, declaring their willarticles,

burgh petitioned their Prince for a confirmation of ingness to alter any part, always excepting the chief

which had been confirmed bj

their quarrel with the

Papal and Imperial

AntJwrifi/.

The Strassburg Lodge, during

Annaberg Lodge, wrote in 1519 that the abuse of four years' apprenticeship had been put an end to by his Holiness tlie Pope and his Majesty the Emperor. We also find that the quarrel came to an end after the Strassbiu-g Master had forwarded to the Duke of Saxony attested copies of the Papial and Imperial privileges which they possessed, and that the
'

original documents were produced for the inspection of the Saxon deputies at Strassburg."
Whilst, however, fully conceding the extreme probability, to say the least, of privileges
or confirmations having been granted by the Popes to the Steinmetzen,' I
'

am

unable to

It will

be observed that Drs. Rawlinson and Knipe

conclusions upon Ashniole's Papers

of the Society.
(1719)

both, as differ as to the Bull of Henry

I conceive,

mainly basing their

ECI.'s

time having been the origin

Upon this point it may be briefly noticed, that whilst the former wrote at a period when many were living who must have been conversant with the opinions he records, the latter (1747) fifty-five years after Ashmole's death expresses himself in such a cautious manner as

to convey the impression tliat he failed to grasp the

'

Cf. Transactions,

Gothic Architecture in
^Ante, Chap, m.,
'

meaning of the papers he was examining. Royal Institute of British Architects, 1861-63; G. E. Street, Some Account of Spain, 1865, p. 464; and Gwilt, Encyclop.-edia of Architecture. 1876, p. 130.
'Freemason, Jan.
20,

p. 176.

Feb.

3,

and Feb.

10, 183.

Citing Heideloff and Kloss.

Although rehance

lias

naturally been placed upon the research of writers

who have

diligently

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

follow Kloss,
to

143

when he

sjiys,

" the statement concerning the 'travelling masons,' attributed

the more suspicion the closer
is

Wren, should arouse

all

we

investigate the surrounding

circumstances, the incredibility of which

possibility of the facts narrated.

at once evident,

and the more we consider the

into the

may, therefore, ascribe the whole tradition thus 'put mouths of Ashmole and Wren to an attempt at adorning the guild legends, which

We

may be
As
any

based on the Papal confirmations really granted to the

German Stonemasons

in

1502 and 1517."

it is

the habit of commentators to be silent, or at most very concise, where there

is

difficulty,

and

to be very

prohx and tedious where there

is

none, this attempt by Kloss

to solve

one of the greatest problems in Masonic

It will

history, will bespeak

our gratitude,

if

it

does not ensure our assent.

story hangs,
is

be seen that the value of the evidence upon wliich the

made

to

whilst Kloss admits that the statements ascribed to

depend upon credible tradition rather than written testimonies, and Ashmole and Wren may have had some on the other
liistorians of
if

foundation in fact (otherwise the tradition would not have been credible);

hand, he finds a motive for their assertion in the anxiety of the

embellish the

Masonry

to

" Legend

of the Guilds."

am

afraid,

however, that
this

as witnesses the

mouths are
It

to be closed of Dugdale,

of the story of the

Ashmole, and Wren, " Bulls " from our traditionary history.
that however

must

necessitate the excision

appears to

me

rests the

theory of Papal BuUs

The

earliest in point of

amine, premising that the

much the authenticity/ of the thre<> statements whereupon may be impugned, their genuineness is not open to dispute. date, that of Sir William Dugdale, I shall now proceed to exmedium through which it lias come down to us, viz., the testiis

mony

of

Aubrey,

will

be hereafter considered.
reported to have

that Dugdale meant what he

Assuming, then, for present purposes, said,'' we find if the actual words are

to his belief, " about Henry the Third's time, the Pope gave a company of Italian Architects to travel! up and downe over all Europe to build Churches." The sentence is free from ambiguity except as regards the alluThat the recipients of the Bull or Diploma were Italian architects, and sion to Henry III.

followed

that, according
'

Bull or Diploma

to a

their function the construction of churches,

is

plain

and

distinct,

but the words, " Henry

the Third's Time," are not so easily interpreted.

On

the one hand, these

may

simply

mean

that Papal letters were given between 1216 and 1272, in which case a solution of the

problem must be looked for in the history of Italy; whilst on the other hand, they may
explored the
conclusions.
'

records of our

German archives, it might well happen that an exhaustive search amongst the neglected own country would open up many channels of information leading to very different
that which was written by the person whose
is

of it

"A genuine book is An authentic book

name

it

bears as the author

that which relates matters of fact as they really happened.

book

may
(Dr.
'

be genuine without being authentic; and a book

may

be authentic without being genuine "

Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, An Apology for the Bible, 1796, p. 33). Dr. Johnson observes: " It has been my settled principle that the reading of the ancient books For though much credit is not due to the fidelity, norany to the judgment, is probably true. of the first publishers; yet they who had the copy before their eyes were more likely to read it right than we who read it only by imagination " (Johnson's Works, 1818, vol. i., p. 355). Similarly, we shall do best if we consider what Aubrey actually records, rather than vainly speculate upon what Dugdale may have had in his mind when expressing his opinion of the Freemasons. * It must not be lost sight of, that in his original note of Dugdale's words, Aubrey also uses the
. . . .

word "Patents."

144

EARLY BRI TISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

King Henry
III,'

closely associate tlie reign of

with the occurrence described, and indicate

tlie

that in the annals of that period of English history, will be found a clue to

explanation

we

are in search

of.

The

latter supposition,

on the face of

it,

the more probable of the two,

is

fully

borne

out by the circumstiuiues of Henry's reign as narrated by the most trustworthy historians.

The Papal authority

throne.

in

An

Interdict hiid

England stood at its highest when this prince succeeded to the been laid on the kingdom in 1208, and in 1211 John was not

only excommunicated but deposed, and that sentence was pronounced with the greatest

solemnity by the Pope himself.

The

king's subjects were not only

all

absolved from their

oath of allegiance, but were strictly forbidden to acknowledge him in any respect whatever
as their sovereign, to obey him, or even to speak to him."

before the legate Pandulf, surrendered his

as a tributary vassal, swore fealty,

On May 15, 1213, John knelt kingdom to the Roman See, took it back again and did liege homage to the Pope.' " Never," says ilr.
and
his

Green, " had the priesthood wielded such boundless power over Christendom as in the daya
of Innocent the Third (1198-12 IG)
self

immediate successors."*

This Pontiff

set

him-

up

as the master of Christian princes,

changed the

title of

the Popes, which had

hitherto been Vicar of Peter, to Vicar of Christ, and was the author of the famous com-

parison of the Papal power to the sun, " the greater light," and of the temporal power to

the moon, "the lesser light."

At the death
tliat

of

authority being requisite to support the tottering throne,

fealty to the Pope,

and renew

homage

to

John (1216) the concurrence of the Papal Henry III. was obliged to swear which his father had subjected the kingdom.
watch over his
safety,

Pope Honorius III. (1216-27), orphan, and commanded Gualo

his just rights.'

as feudal superior, declared himself the guardian of the

to reside near his person,

and protect

The

Papal legate therefore took up his residence at the English court,

and claimed a share in the lulministration of the realm as the representative of its overlord, and as guardian of the young sovereign." " In England," says ilr. Green, " Rome believed She regarded the kingdom as a herself to have more than a spiritual claim for sup2)ort. It was only by the promise of a hea^'y vassal kingdom,, and as bound to its overlord. Eubsidv that Henry in 1229 could buy the Papal confirmation of Langton's successor."' During the reign of this king the chief grievances endured by his subjects were the
usurpations and exactions of the Court of Rome.
All the chief benefices of the

kingdom

were conferred on
'

Italians, great

numbers

of

whom

were sent over at one time to be pro-

It is

not likely that Dugdale referred to Henry HI. (1039-56), the most absolute of the Emperors,

who,

Western Church, was obej-ed as a dictator, and nominated the Popes. No less than four German Popes chosen by him succeeded each other. Cf. L. Ranke, History of the Popes, translated
in the of Histon,', 1833, p. 235;

by Sarah Austen, 1840, vol. i.. p. 26; Sir Harris Nicholas, The Chronology and H. Chepmell, A Short Course of History, 2d series, 1857, vol. L, p. 17. 'A. Bower, History of the Popes, 1766, vol. vi., p. 202.
J. R. Green, History of the

Enghsh People,

1881, vol.
ii.,

i.,

p. 336.

*lbid., p. 254.
of Bristol, Nov. 11,

Dr. Lingard, History of England, 1849, vol.

1216,

p.

387.

At the Council

his partisans at Lincoln

France and his adherents were excommunicated, and tliat prince, after the rout of and the defeat of his fleet, consented to leave the kingdom {Nicholas, The Chronologj- of History, p. 240; Chepmell, A Short Course of History, p. 161). Green, History of the English People, 1881, vol. i., p. 250. ' Ibid., Bulls of Pope Honorius O. to Henry (March 14, 1244) enjoin greater impartiality p. 268. and forbearance toward his subjects, and (April 27, 1226) forbid his assisting Raymond of Toulouse, or making war with the King of France (Royal Letters, temp. Hen. HL, Rolls Series, 1862, vol. i.,

Lewis

of

Appendix

v.).

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

vidod for;
height.

145

and the system

of non-residence

and

pluralities

was carried
to

to

an enormous
exacted
the

The

benefices of the Italian clergy in

England amounted
itself.

G0,000 marks a year,'

a sum which exceeded the anuual revenue of the Crown

revenues of
all

The Pope

vacant benefices, the twentieth of

all ecclesiastical

revenues without ex-

ception, the third of such as exceeded 100

marks a

year,

and

half of those possessed by

non-residents.
all

He

claimed the goods of all intestate clergymen,

usury, and levied benevolences

advanced a

title

to inherit

money gotten by

upon

the people.

When

the king,

contrary to his usual practice, prohibited these exactions, he was threatened with excom-

munication.'

" The general indignation," says Mr. Green, "at In 1231,

letters

last

found vent

in a

wide conspiracy.

from

'

the whole body of those

who

prefer to die rather than be ruined by

the Romans,' were scattered over the kingdom by armed men; tithes gathered for the Pope or the foreign priests were seized and given to the poor; the Papal collectors were beaten

and their Bulls trodden under foot."

'

Sir Robert

Thwinge, a knight

of Yorkshire,

who,

by a Papal provision had been deprived of his nomination family, became the head of an association formed to resist the usurpations of the Court of

to a living in the gift of his

Rome.'

The Papal

couriers were murdered, threatening letters were addressed to the

foreign ecclesiastics, and for eight months the excesses continued.

Henry

at length inter-

posed his authority, and Thwinge proceeded to

Rome

to plead his cause before the Pontiff.

He
him

was successful, and returned with a Bull, by which Gregory IX. (1227-41) authorized

to nominate to the living which he claimed.* There can be no reasonable doubt, that at a period When the Papal influence was dominant throughout the realm, when the King of England had to pay heavily to ensure the confirmation by the Pope of Archbishop Langton's successor, and when, as we have seen,

the right of a lay patron to present to a living was only successfully vindicated undercolor of a Roman Bull, the authority of the supreme Pontiff must have been constantly invoked
in

the smaller concerns of

human

life

of which history takes but

little notice.

In a pre-

shown that in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so great was the demand for Papal seals and letters in the city of London, that their counterfeit production must have amounted to a profitable industry.' It is on record, moreover, that a great forgery of Bulls and other documents, professing to emanate from the Papal chancery, was carried on in Rome itself; and privileges of quesvious chapter I have
tionable character were often produced by persons
sults of a visit to the

whose

interests they favored, as the re-

Holy

See.

Richard of Canterbury, a.d. 1187, after denouncing persons who attempted to pass
'According- to a Bull of Innocent in., published in Rymer's "Foedera," vol.
i.,

p. 471, tlie

nmount

is

stated not to have exceeded 50,000 marks.

'J. Tyrell, History of

England, 1700,

vol.

ii.,

pt.

ii..

book

viii., p.

836;

andT. Keightley, History

of England, 1839, vol.

^

i.,

p. 209;

The Student's Hume,

i.,

1863, p. 147.

Green, History of the English People, vol.

p. 369.

" Besides the usual perversions of riglit in the decision of controversies, the autliority of setting aside,

Pope openly

a-

sumed an absolute and uncontrolled

by the plenitude of his apostolic power, all particular rules, and all privileges of patrons, churches, and convents" (Hume and Smollett, History of England, continued by the Rev. T. S. Hughes, 1854, vol. ii. p. 21).

Lingard, Historj- of England, vol.

ii..

p. 417.

Cf. Milraan, History of Latin Christianity, 1864,

vol. vi., p. 87;

Cf.

and Willdns, Concilia, i. 369. Ante, Chap. Vn., p. 370; and Riley, Memorials of London, pp. 10. VOL. IL

495, 583.

146
themselves

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

off as

bishops by counterfeiting

" the barbarism

Innocent

of Irish or Scottish speech,"

goes on to complain of spurious Bulls, and orders that the makers and users of such docu-

ments

shall be periodically

excommunicated.'

III. alludes

frequently to these

forgeries, of

which a manufactory was

in his time discovered at

Kome; and he exposes some

genuine Papal
seal

of the tricks that were practised

such as that of

aflBxing to a forgery a

taken from a genuine deed, the erasure of some words and the substitution of others.'

The

canons, however, of later councils testify that the system of forgery long survived

these exposures and denunciations.'

In

my

judgment, the practice of applying in nearly every situation of

life

for Papal

Banction or confirmation,

and there
this usage

is

must have been at his height during the reign of Henry III.,' evidence beyond what I have already adduced, to favor the supposition that
especially prevalent in the British Islands.

was

The Papal

authority in England had been vastly strengthened by the sanction which

II.

Pope Alexander
Hildebrand

who was the mere

tool of

Hildebrand
it

had

been made to give to the

pontificiite of
spirit

expedition of William of Normandy.

Nor was

diminished during the

its

the type of papalism in

its loftiest

aims, as well as in

proudest

who,

as Gregory VII., was Pope from 1073 to 10S5, though his influence on the affairs of the Eoman Church had been paramount for nearly twenty years before he assumed the tiara. " There is only one name in the world," said Gregory, " that of the Pope. He has never

erred,

and he never

will err.

He

can put down princes from their thrones, and loose their

subjects from their oaths of allegiance."

This Pontiff claimed to be liege-lord of DenI.

mark, Hungary, and England; and for a while he had Philip

slave,

of

France as his trembling

and Henry IV.

of

Germany

a ruined suppliant at his mercy.'

When

the English throne was seized by Stephen of Blois

between whom and the Earl

title,

of Gloucester, natural son of

in swearing allegiance to the

Henry I., a dispute had occurred as to which should precede Empress JIatilda the prospect of favor to the church and

submission to the
diction in a Bull,

Roman

See, induced Innocent II. to confirm his

to send his bene-

and to take the usurper under the special protection of St. Peter.' In subsequently granted at Oxford by Stephen to the Church, particular mention the charter

made of the confirmation of his title by the Pope. The supremacy of the Popes over all temporal sovereigns was maintained by Adrian IV., who, on visiting the camp of Frederic Barbarossa, haughtily refused to give the kiss of
is
'

Rev.

J. C.

'E.g., Cone. Salisburg., a.d. 1281,

Robertson, History of the Christian Church, 1866, vol. c. xvii.; Cone. Leod., a.d. 1287,

iii.,

p. 581.

*Ibid.

c.

xxxi.

* The supply of these documents kept pace with the demand for them, and it was said that a Papal emissary, named Martin, came over in this reign " with a parcel of blank Bulls, which he had the liberty to fill up at discretion." Matthew Paris will not allow so hard an imputation upon the Pope, though he records that Innocent IV., in 1243, sent the King of England a. provisional Bull of pardon, that in case he should happen to lay violent hands upon any ecclesiastics and fall under the censure of the canons, he might receive absolution upon submitting to the customary penance!

(Collier, Ecclesiastical
'

History of Great Britain, ed. 1840, vol. ii., pp. 499, 503). Gregory, on being chosen Pope, had the election ratified by Henry IV. In the year 1076, at the Councils of Worms and Rome respectively, the Pope was deposed by the Emperor, and the Emperor excommunicated by the Pope. During the following year, however, at Canossa, Henry is
said to

have remained three days and three nights barefooted

!

in

the

snow before Gregory would conii.,

descend to see liim

Collier, Ecclesiastical

History of Great Britain

(F.

Barham).

1840, vol.

p. 213.

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

peace, until the
of the whole army.

147

Emperor elect had submitted to hold the stirrup of his mule in the presence Adrian, who was the only English Pope, granted the lordship of Irea Bull which declared all islands to belong to St. Peter.'
of

land to Henry

II. in

The murder
influence in

Thomas a Becket in 1170 still England. Henry II. submitted to

relics of

further conduced to the authority of

augment the Papal the Papal legates, and

desired the death

having sworn on the

of the archbishop,
all

the saints that he had not

also

commanded nor

and having

made

various concessions to the Church, he received

in the grant of Ireland

solution from the legates,

and was confirmed

made by Pope

Adrian.'

Although

in

a later chapter, some remarks will be offered upon the fact, that both

York and
will

those portions of southern Scotland most closely associated with the early legends

of the craft, were originally comprised within the boundaries of

Saxon Nortliumbria,
irifluence

it

be convenient, nevertheless, at this stage

as

showing that the Papal

ex-

tended throughout the whole of Britain

clesiastical

to

briefly notice the ancient subordination in ec-

matters of the prelates of the northern kingdom to the Archbishop of York.

II.

Pope Paschal

(1099-1118) in his Bull to the Bishops of Scotland, orders

them

to receive

Gerhard, the newly-consecrated Archbishop of York, as their metropolitan, and pay him

due submission.
tion, unless

Calixtus

II.

(1119-112-4), to

whom

John, Bishop of Glasgow, appealed

its

against his suspension by Thurstan, Archbishop of York, was threatened with

confirmaII.

within thirty days he

(1124-1130) wrote to the

King

of

made submission to his metropolitan. Norway to restore Ealph, Bishop of the

later
still,

Uonorius

Orcades, conse-

crated by the Archbishop of York, and subject to his jurisdiction, to the privileges

and

revenues of the bishopric.

letter to

a Pope Alexander III. (1159-1181),' informs that Pontiff that the churches of Scotland were anciently under the Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see of York; that the king had thoroughly examined this title, and found it supported by unquestionable records,
of Scotland, in

Even

"William the Lion," King

together with the concurrence of living evidence.

courage
basis.'

all

attempts at innovation and that things

He therefore desires the Pope to dismay be thoroughly settled upon the old
and Indulgences are to be many instances of any index

Although numerous examples of Papal

found
in

Bulls, Confirmations,

our ecclesiastical and county histories, the absence in

all

whatever, and in

cases

except

in

works of comparatively recent date

Furthermore, whilst

of references

calculated to facilitate investigiition, renders the search for these ancient writings a for-

midable as well as a wearisome undertaking.

if

the grants and con-

firmations of diocesans and metropolitans are included in the general category of these

their pretensions

We may observe how far the Popes of that age stretched upon the dominion of princes: for here we see the Pope very frankly presents KingHenry with the crowns of the Irish king-s, commands upon their subjects a new allegiance, and enjoins them to submit to a foreign prince as their lawful sovereign" (Op. cit., vol. ii., p. 257). 'Chepmell, A Short Course of History, 2d series, vol. i., pp. 332-347; The Student's Hume, p. 118. At the Council of Avranches, May 31, 1172, Henry H. was absolved from the murder of Thomas a Becket, after swearing to abolish all the unlawful customs establislied during his reign (Nichola-s, Chronology of History, p. 238). 'As William only became King in 1165, and Alexander died in 1181, the letter must have been written within the period covered by these two dates. 'Dugdale, Mona.sticon Anglicanum, 1830, vol. vi., pt. iii., pp. 1185, 1186, 1188: Collier, Ecclesias'

Upon this

Bull (1155) Collier remarks: "

tical

History of Great Britain, vol.

ii.,

p. 190.

'

'

148

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

name is legion, yet apart from the lists of charters given in such worki Rynicr's " Fcetlera," Dugdale's " Monasticon " and " History of St. Paul's," Drake's as
instruments, their

" Eboracum," the

like,

various chronicles, the annals of the different monastic orders, and the

no very extensive collection of Papal or episcopal documents of the class under examination will be found in any single work, nor has it been the practice of even our most diligent antiquaries to do more than record the result of their own immediate inquiries.
So uniform
is

this rule, that the occasional

mention of an Indulgence, such, for example,

as that granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1244 (to be presently noticed), in aid of the construction of Salisbury Cathedral,' and copied by one writer from another, as a

singular and noteworthy occurrence, has led

privileges of this nature,

many

persons to believe that a search for

among

the records of building operations carried on in countries

other than our own, would be alone likely to yield any profitable result.
edition of Dugdale's

Even
to all

in the latest

Indulgence of forty
visit

famous " Monasticon " the index merely days granted in 1480, by the Archbishop
Oseny Abbey, either

refers the reader to a solitary

of

York, "

who should
bestow

the Lady

Chapel at

in pilgrimage or devotion, or should

any of their goods upon it.'" The following are examples of privileges and confirmations emanating from the
See:

Eoman

" 1124-1130. The goods,

possessions,

and rents of the Provost and Canons

II.'

of the Col-

legiate Church of Beverley, confirmed by a Bull of Pope Honorius

" 1181-1185. The charter of the Great Guild confirmed by a Bull of Pope Lucius III.*
'

of St.

John

of Beverley of the Hanshouse,'

"Jan.
assist at

26, 1219.

An

Indulgence of 40 days given by Pope Honorius

III. to those

who
to

the translation of the body of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury.

"

1252.

pardon for release of

xl.

days' penance, sent out

by Pope Innocent IV.,

those assisting at the Sustentation of St. Paul's Cathedral.'

"1352-62.

An

Indulgence of two years and two quarters granted by Pope Innocent VI.

'to the liberal contributors' to the construction of the Cathedral of York.'

" 1366. One

same fabric."

year's Indulgence granted

by Urban V.

to

'

the Christian benefactors' of the

Three Papal confirmations relating to the Chapter of the Cathedral of St. Peter of York are given by Sir W. Dugdale, one from Alexander [III.] confirming a charter granted by
William Rufus; the others from Popes Innocent IV. and Honorius
leges conferred
'

III., ratifying privi-

by English

prelates."
tlie

"W.

Dodsworth, Historical Account of

Episcopal See and Cathedral Church of Salisbury,

1814, p. 134;

quoted by Britton in his "Architectural Antiquities," and thence passed on by numer-

ous later writers without any reference to the original authoritj'. ' Vol. vi., p. 2.50, note, citing Harleian MS., No. 6973, fol. 39.
'

"King

G. Poulson, Beverlac: Antiquities and History of Beverley in Yorkshire, 1829, vol. ii., p. 534. Athelstane, in the tliirteenth year of his reign, made and ordained the Church of Beverley
It

collegiate."

was afterward "spared

bj'

William

I.,

who bestowed

lands upon the church, and

confh'med

privileges" (Ibid., p. 14, citing a Latin MS. in the library of Corpus Christi College. Cambridge, entitled " De Abbatia Beverlaci"). < Smith, English Gilds, p. 153. This bull, which confirms the charter of an English craft guild,
its
is

given in
Sir

its

entirety at the conclusion of this

i.,

summary.
p. 14.

'Rj'mer, Ftedera (Record edition), vol.

p. 1.54.

W.

Dugdale, History of
p. 475.

St. Paul's

Cathedral, 1716,

'Drake, Eboracum,

'Ibid.

'Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicaniim,

vol. vi.. p. 1173.

'

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLA ND.

Innocent IV. appears to have been a
building
liberal dispenser of
all

49

Papal favors.

Marchese records
to the

that an Indulgence was granted by this Pontiff to

(if

those

who would contribute

the church "di S. S. Giovanni e Paolo" at Venice;'

and a Bull of the same

to the relief of the

Pope

specified that

" those who undertook the Crusade, or contributed

Holy Land, were to have the benefit of

value of their money."''

their Indulgence extended proportionally to the

The
jess

privileges

and possessions of the Monastery of Glastonbury were confirmed by no

Innocent, and Lucius (1119-1145), each the Second, and by Alex-

than six Popes between the beginning of the twelfth and the close of the thirteenth

century

by Calixtus,

ander, Honorius, and Xicholas (1159-1280), each the Third, of their respective names.*

document we have been considering, I must refer the reader to the works already quoted from, and to those below noted,' and shall next proceed to give some examples of Indulgences granted by English prelates. These are very numerous, and appear in the varied form of Indulgences, Confirmations, and Letters Hortatory. For the most part, they granted a commutation of forty days*
For
fuller information respecting the class of

penance, and were generally issued in aid of the construction or the repair of an ecclesiastical edifice.

Thus in 1137 the Cathedral of St. Peter at York having been destroyed by fire, an Indulgence was granted soon after by Joceline, Bishop of Sarum, setting forth, that " whereas
the metropolitical Church of
stroyed,

York was consumed by

new

fire,

and almost subverted, de-

and miserably spoiled

it,

of its ornaments, therefore to such as bountifully contributed

toward the re-edification of

he released to them forty days of penance injoyned."

languished, as there were similar Indulgences published
in 1320,

The work, however, must have

by Bishop Walter Grey Thoreseby at a
still

in

1227, and by Archbishops William de Melton

and

later period.'

In 1244 an Indulgence of forty days was granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to such as should give their aid " to the new and wonderful structure of the church of Sarum,

which now begins to

rise,

and cannot be completed with the same grandeur without the

St. Paul's

assistance of the faithful."

The
by

earliest

Indulgence in aid of the sustentation of

of Hereford, in 1228,

Cathedral was granted

and the last if we except one sent from Hugh Foliot, Bishop Simon, a cardinal of Rome, affording " C. Days release "in 1371 by Roger, Bishop of

Salisbury, in 1316.'

'

Order of
"

Vincenzo Marchese, Lives of the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects of the St. Dominic, translated by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, 1852, p. 73, citing "Bullarium Ord.
i.,

Preed.," vol.

p. 166.
ii.,

CoUier, Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, 1840, vol.

p. 535.

'Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, 1830, vol. i., p. 36. For three letters of Pope Gregory X., confirming the priNileges of sundry Scottish churches (1274-75), and an Indulgence granted by Nicholas V., in recognition of the labore and expenses of
William, Bishop of Glasgow (1451), see W. Hamilton, Description of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew, 1831, pp. 176, 178, 198 (Maitland Club Glasgow). Many Bulls of Innocent III. (1198-1216) are given in the first volume of Rymer's " Foedera,"' and forty-one instruments of this class, granted by his immediate successor, Honorius HI. (1316-27) and Gregory IX. (1227-41), will be found collected in "Royal Letters, iemji. Hpnryin.," 1862, vol. i.. Appendix V. (Chronicles of Great Britain,
Eolls Series).
'Sir
'

Drake, Eboracum,

p. 473.

'

/brrf., p. 475. 12,

'

Dodsworlli,

ioc. ctt,

W.

Dugdale, Histoi-y of

St

Paul's Cathedial, 1716, pp.

la

50

EARL y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

Letters Hortatory granted

Between 1228 and 131G, the number of Indulgences, confirmations of Indulgences, and " to all those, as being truly sorry for their sins, and confess'd,

should afford their helps to this pious work," was very great.

In 1240 an Indulgence was procured

the Cathedral.'

from whom

it

is

not said

by Roger, surnamed
Indulgence was, bv
either for devotion's

Niger, then Bishop of London, of forty days' pardon to

all

such as come with devotion to

In

1244

Roger
tomb

having been canonized in the interim

the

Walter, Bishop of Norwich,

sake
visit

made

to extend

"to

those

who should

the

of the saint, or give assistance to the magnificent fab rick."'

From
letter

this date scarcely a

stir

year passed without similar favors having been held out, in

to liberal contributioils; "

order " to

and Dugdale mentions '- another Hortatory " having been issued by John, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1281, "af-

up the people

fording the same

number

of days for Indulgence as the other Bishops had done."

In this

letter, as well as in those of similar

tenor from the Bishops of Hereford (127G) and Norfolk

" Nay," says (1283), the Indulgence is expressly granted, "for the old and new work." Dugdale, " not only the contributors to this glorious structure were thus favored, but the
solicitors for contributions,

and the very mechanicks tliemsehes who labored therein.'"

ticed,

The confirmation of an English craft guild by Pope Lucius III. lias been already noand will now be more closely examined. As a ratification by the Pope of municipal
confirmed by an English king,
it

privileges, already

is

sui generis

at

least so far as

my

researches have extended, yet the absence of further documentary evidence of a like character by

no means warrants the conclusion, that the men of Beverley were exceptionally

favored by the

Roman

Pontiff.

It

is

but natural to suppose that the

crafts, as well as

the guilds and fraternities, in those early days, must have regarded the confirmation of their
privileges by the Pope, as consolidating their liberties

and cementing

their independence.

Nor

will

the silence on this point, of our antiquaries or of local historians, militate against

such an hypothesis. The confirmation of Pope Lucius was apparently unknown to the compilers of Rymer's " Foedera,"* and Poulson's " Beverlac," ' although the charter of

Archbishop Thurstau

is

given in both these works, and a copy of

it

was only discovered

amid the neglected rolls in the Record office, through the careful search of the late ilr. Toulmin Smith." "Amongst the few returns," says this diligent investigator, "remaining in the Record office of those that were made under the Writ of Richard II.' from the Great Guild of St. John of Beverley of the Hanshouse.'" craft guilds, is one from the It gives some interesting charters, the earliest of which is expressed to be from Thurstm, Archbishop of York, to the men of Beverley, granting "all liberties, with the same laws
'
'

Sir

W.

Dugdale, History of

'Ibid.

No

Ihid. Paul's Cathedral, 1716, pp. 12, 13. generally of forty days' release from penance less than twenty-five Indulgences

St.

were granted between 1239 and

1288, to the single Priory of Finchdale.

See Charters of the Priory

iv., 1869, p. 414.

of Finchdale, 1837, pp. 169-191 (Publications of the Surtees Society);

and Chronicles and Memorials

of Great Britain during the Middle Ages, Rolls Series, Annales Monastici, vol.
^

Record
i.,

edition, 1816, vol.

p. 51.

i.,

p. 10.
11.

'Vol.

It is also

set forth in this elaborate

worthy of observation that the Letters-patent of Richard and interesting work.

are not

English Gilds,

p. 150.

"Of the returns made under the Writ [of Richard II.]," says Mr. p. 346. Toulmin Smith, "a more complete and characteristic example, or one more historically valuable, could not be given than the return from Beverley" (English Gilds, p. 150).
''Ante.

Chap. VH.,

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

that the

men

of

York have

in that city."

'

This charter

is

followed by another, granted

by Archbishop William, the successor of Thurstan, confirming, though in different words, the substance of the former charter, and granting free burgage to the town and burgesses,

and that they shall have a guild merchant, and the right of holding pleas among themselves, the same as possessed by the men of York. Then follows a confirmation of the charters of the two Archbishops by Pope Lucius
words of which the following is a translation: " Lucius, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved children, the men of The charge which we Ixave undertaken Beverley, Greeting and Apostolic Benediction. moves us to listen, and readily to yield, to the right wishes of those who ask; and our well
III. in

known kindness urges us to do so. And pitious to us when we give careful heed to
fore, beloved children in the

because we
the just

make

the Redeemer of

all

men

pro-

demands

of the faitliful in Christ, there-

Lord, giving ready assent to what you ask, your Liberties,

which Thurstan and William of liappy memory. Archbishops of York, are known to have piously and lawfully granted to you, as is- found in authentic writings made by them, which have been confirmed by our dearest son in Christ, Henry, the illus-

and the

free customs

trious king of the English,

this present writing,

We

do, by our apostolic authority, confirm;

and by the help of

we do strengthen: decreeing

that no
it.

firmation, or be so rashly bold as to do aught against

let

man shall disregard this our conAnd if any one dares to do this,

him know that he will bring down on himself the wrath of Almighty God, and of the blessed Peter and Paul, Apostles. Dated, xiij. Kalends of September [20th August].'" In Beverley there was also a guild of Corpus Cliristi, the main object of which was as in York, to have a yearly procession of pageants. It was like the York guild, made up of both clergy and laity. The ordinances begin by stating that the " solemnity and service " of Corpus Christi were begun, as a new tiling, by command of Pope Urban IV. and John

xxn.'
many circumstances combine to render the era of memorable as a period when the ascendant of the Pope was at its Henry has been termed " the first monarch of England who paid zenith in these islands. attention to the Arts," and to nis munificence are ascribed the most beautiful works of the If, then, we consider the partiality of Henry III. for mediaeval age which we possess.* foreigners, the constant communication with Rome, and that so large a portion of the
It

has been already shown, that

III. especially

Henry

Smith, English Gilds,

p. 151;

Rymer, Foedera,
i.,

1816, vol.
p. 51.

i.,

p. 10;

Poulson, Beverlac: Antiquities

and History of Beverley A.D. 1114, and died 1189.

granted a.d. 1133.
'

in Yoi-Ifshire, 1839, vol.

Thurstan was chosen Archbishop of York In the chronologiciil index to Rymer, this charter is said to have been

Smith, English Gilds, p. 153. No year is given, but the Lmiiis who made this ciiarter must have been the third of that name; for Henry, " rex Anglorum," is spoken of as if tlien living, and Lucius the Second this can only refer to Henry H., whose reign began in 1154, and ended in 1189.
died in 1145.

" It is usually stated that Urban, alone, founded this celebration. He was Pope ' Ibid., p. 154. from August 1361 to October 1264. John was Pope from August 1316 to December 1334" (/bid.). ".4nno 1481, Sept. 18. There was an Indulgence of forty days granted to all who should contribute their charity towards the relief and sustentation of the fraternity or guild of Corpus Christi, ordained and founded in the city of York " (Drake, Eboracum, p. 346). Sir R. Westmacott. Observations on the Progress of the Art of Sculpture in England in Mediaeval

Times (Archological Journal,

vol.

iii.,

1816, p. 198).

52

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

Itjilians, it

English benefices wcre held at that period by

may be

fairly

assumed, that these

circumstances mi:st have materially influenced the employment in England of the artists
of southern Europe.

tions, or

Whether or not the opinion expressed by Dugdale was the result of his own induca mere embodiment of the prevalent belief narrated to him in good faith during one of his visitations is indeterminable, and in a sense, immaterial, that is to say, up to this point of the inquiry, though in the observations that follow, the possibility of the

latter hypothesis will alone

be considered.

From

the point of view, therefore that Dugdale, in his various heraldic visitations and
all

perambulations of counties, may, and in

probability did,

become conversant with many

belief

old customs akin to those described by Dr. Plot as existing in the moorlands of Staffordshire, it is desirable to

examine upon what foundations the

he notices could have

been erected.
III. of

The

history of the Papacy, at a period synchronizing with the reign of

Henry

England, affords the information we seek.

great religious event of the Pontificate of Innocent III.,' the foundation of the
at least

The
power

Mendicant Orders, perhaps perpetuated, or

for

immeasurably strengthened, the Papal

in different countries,

two centuries.

Almost simultaneously, without concert,

These were the
fiery

arose two

men

wonderfully adapted to arrest and avert the danger which threatened the
Spaniard, St. Dominic, styled " the burner

whole hierarchal system.'

and

slayer of heretics,"

and the meek

Italian, St. Francis of Assisi, called

by Dante

'

'the

splendor of cherubic light."

They were the founders

life at

of the

Dominican and the Franciscan

Orders, which sprang suddenly to

the opening of the thirteenth century, and whose

aim

it

was to bring the world back within the pale of the Church.
followers of St. Francis were formed into an Order, with the reluctant assent of
III. in 1210,

The

Pope Innocent

and the Dominicans were

similarly established in 1215.

bodies were confirmed by a Bull of Honorius III. in 1223, and the partiality

Both shown toward

Second

them by the Popes

so increased the
it

number

of Jlendicant Orders that, in the

Council of Lyons (a.d. 1274),

was thought necessary to confine the institution to the

Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians, or Hermits of St.
Augustin.'

the Benedictine
its

The members of these four orders were called friars, in contradistinction to Monks and the Augustine Canons. Each of these mendicant bodies had
amazing height.

General.

The

reputeition of the friars arose quickly to an

The

Popes,
tliej'

among

other extraordinary privileges, allowed

them the

liberty of travelling

wherever

pleased,

of conversing with people of all ranks, of instructing the

youth and the people in general,

and
'

of hearing confessions without reserve or restriction.'

On

the whole, two of these

Innccent was elected Pope 1198, laid England under an interdict 1208, declared John deposed

1212, received his submission 1213,

-

and died

1216.

Henry
8,

III.

became King

m 1216,

and died

1272.

Milman, Histxjry
p. 255.

of Latin Christianity, 1864, pp.

50;

Green, Historj' of the English People,

vol.

i., *

The Franciscans, called by tiieir founder FratercuH, or Fratres Minores (Minor Friars), received in England the name of Orey Friars, from the color of their habit. The Dominicans, at first termed Preaching Friars, were afterward styled Major Friars, in contradistinction to the Franciscans, and in England Black Friars. The Carmelites were tlie White Friars. Tlie Augustinians, of wliich body Marttn Luther was a member, were the Austin Friars. * Horace Walpole says: " The friars, freres, or brothers, united priesthood with raonachism; but while the monks were cliiefly contlned to their respective houses, tlie trial's were wandering

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

mendicant institutions
universal sway.

53

the Dominicans and

saj's,

the Franciscans

for

the space of near three

centuries, appear to have governed the European Church and State with an absolute and

" what the Jesuits were, after the reformation of Luther began, the same were the Dominicans and Franciscans from the thirteenth century to the times of Luther the soul of tlie whole Church and State, and the projectors and executors of all the enterprises of any moment." They filled, during this period, the most eminent,

Mosheim

'

civil,

and

ecclesiastical stations, for

although both Dominic and Francis had intended that

their followers should eschew ecclesiastical dignities,' tury,

we

find, before

the end of the cen-

many Franciscan and Dominican

Bishops, and even a Franci-scan Pope.'

The two

Orders grew with wonderful rapidity, and in the middle of the thirteenth century the Franciscans possessed about 8000 convents and nearly 200,000 monks. They gradually
forsook their early austerity, gathered riches, established a gorgeous ritual, and
chief seat, Assisi, a centre of Christian art.

made

their

From

the

name

of their

Church

in this town,

indulgences were granted

" Portiunicula," arose the phrase Portiunicula Indulgence, from the frequency with which to, and disseminated by, this order.'

As with the

followers of St. Francis, so with those of St. Dominic.

first

The extreme

plain-

ness which was at

affected in the dwellings

and churches

of the

two Orders was soon

superseded by an almost royal splendor of architecture and decoration.

buildings and princely houses.'

They had ample

The foundation
enough, as
is

in Italy of the

Franciscan and the Dominican Orders coincides strangely

when architecture underwent & and "tlie imitation of the antique was abandoned for the Gothic," or, as he prefers change, The same writer observes, " that religious enthusiasm, to term it, " the Teutonic style." '
which was kindled in the hearts not only of the
montanes
as
it

pointed out by ]\Iarchese, with the period

Italian people but in those of the Ultra-

also, is

very discernible in the vast

cities,

number

of edifices

which

in those days arose,

were, by enchantment in the

hamlets, and rural districts of Spain and Italy."

In 1223 Fra Giovanni, a Dominican of Bologna, appealed to the people of Reggio for means
to enable

him

to erect a

convent and church of his Order there.

Then was

repeated wliat

about as preachers and confessors. This gave great offence to the secular clergT,'. who were thus deprived of profits and inlieritances. Hence the satyric and impure figuies of friai-s and nuns in our old churches" (Walpoliana, vol. i., No. IX.). Cf. Ante., chaps. III., p. 166, and VI., p. 306. Mosheiai, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modem, 1868, vol. ii., p. 194. ' Acta Sanctorum, Aug. Lists of the Kings and Nobles of the Order, of the "Gen4, p. 487.
'

erals,"

pp. 534-541 (Chronicles of

and of the Provincial Heads in England, are given in the " Monumenta Franciscana," vol. i., Great Britain and Ireland, Rolls Series). The fact that royal personages

obtained admission into the ranks of the Grey Friars

established in the text, and
clares that
(1288-92)

may have

given

rise to

is consistent with the analogy sought to be that portion of the masonic tradition, which de-

"kings have not disdain'd to enter themselves into this society!" Popes Nicholas IV. and Sixtus IV. (1471-84) are numbered amongst the " Generals" of tlie Franciscans.
iii.,

'Robertson, History of the Christian Church, 1866, vol.

*Dr. Milner says:

p. 592.

"The

friars

intruded themselves into the dioceses and churches of the

bishops and the clergy, and, by the sale of Indulgences, and a gjeat variety of scandalous exactions,
perverted whatever of good order and discipline remained in the
Christ, 1847, vol.
iii., p.

Church" (History

of the

Church

of

170).

loc. cit.\ Milner, History of the Church of Christ, vol. iii., p. 157. Milman, Historj- of Latin Christianity, vol. vi., p. 587. 'Marchese, Lives of the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects of the Order Dominic, translated by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, 1852, pp. 8, 30.

'Robertson,
Cf.

of

Su

54

.4 RL

\
'

BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

was witnessea a few centuries before, when the Benedictines commenced the erection of

Men, women, and children noble and plebeian absolutely carried tlie materials for the sacred edifice, wliich, under the direction of a certain Fra Jacopino " This zeal for churchof the same Order, was finished in the brief term of three years.'
their

church at Dive.

building," says Marchese, "required a great numbers of architects, stonemasons, engineers,

and other persons competent

count, received

to

superintend the works, and the new Orders, on this acthe Dominicans followed one style

many skilful persons into their ranks." According to the Abbe Bourasse,' the architects of
specifies

whilst those of the Franciscans adopted another, but he neither discloses the source

whence

he derived his information, nor

spective Orders.

what constituted the

styles peculiar to the re-

In the oijinion, however, of Marchese, the Franciscans, who, in the

magnificence of their temples, very often equal, and indeed surpass, every other Order,
"either for want of architects, or being desirous to avail themselves of extern talent, neither
in the thirteenth nor fourteenth century

employed any architect of

it is

their

own body

to erect

any edifice of importance."

This writer suggests therefore that as the Dominicans comcommunities,

likely that the Franciscans

monly had

architects

'

in their

must have had

1221, and the
'

recourse to some

member
St.

of the rival brotherhood.

The Black

Friars of St.

Dominic made

their appearance in

England

in

Grey Friars of

Francis in 1224; both were received with the same delight.

"At

London," says Mr. Green, " they settled in the shambles of Newgate; at Oxford they made Huts of their way to the swampy ground between its walls and the stream of Thames.

mud and

timber, as

mean

as the huts

around them, rose within the rough fence and ditch

first

that bounded the Friary."'

In London the
St.

residence of the Franciscans was in

" Stynkinge Lane," in the parish of

Nicholas in Macello, but ere long, grant after grant

was made of houses, lands, and messuages in the same quarter, and in the reign of Edward L they possessed a noble church 300 feet long, 95 wide, and 64 high with pillars

of marble.'

At Oxford, in 1245, the Grey Friars enlarged new houses, whilst the Black Friars left their house
ing by the great bridge.
'

their boundaries,
in the

and began to build Jewry and entered a new dwell-

Marchese, Lives of the most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Arcliitects of the Order of St. Dominic, translated by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, 1853, p. 31. During the erection of the Church of St. Peter at Dive, the monk Aimone wrote to his brethren of the Abbey of Tutbury in Eng'laud thus:
" It
is

truly an astonishing sight to behold

men who

boast of their high lineage and wealth, yoking

all

themselves to cars, drawing stones, lime, wood, and

of the sacred edifice.

the materials necessary for the construction

Sometimes a thousand persons, men and women, are yoked to the same car, so great is the burden; and yet the profoundest silence prevails" (Comte de Caumont, Histoire Sommaire de I'Architecture Religieuse, Militaire et Civile au Moyen Age, chap, viii., p. 176). Cf.
Muratori, Italicarum

Rerum
p. 73.

Scriptores, vol.

viii., p.

1007; Parentalia, p. 306; Levasseur, Histoire des

p. 198,

Classes Ouvrieres en France,

voL

i.,

p. 336;

and ante, Chaps. IV.,

and V.,

p. 258.

'Marchese,
*

vol.

i.,

^Ibid.

numerous body
xxvili).
'
'

Of the Dominicans, Marchese observes: " In truth, no other Order has reared a grander or more of oainters, architects, painters of glass, intarsiatori, and miniaturists " (Preface, p.
Green, History of the English People,
p. 256.

Tbid,

Milman, History

of Latin Christianity, 1864, vol. vi,, p. 44.

Series,

' Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, Rolls Annales Monastici, vol. iv., 1869, pp. 93, 94.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

Within thirty years after the
this
ties.

arrival of the

Grey Friars

in

England

their

numbers,

in

country alone, amounted to 1242; they counted forty-nine convents in different

locali-

With equal

rapidity they passed into Ireland

and Scotland, where they were received

with the same favor, thus presenting an instance of religious organization and propagand-

ism unexampled in the annals of the world.

In 1234 John, Abbot of Osney, became a Franciscan, and in 1246 Walter Mauclerc,
'Bishop of Carlisle, assumed the habit of the Dominicans.^
ciscans
I.

general cliapter of the Franat Oxford, in 1280;

was held at Worcester

latter.'

in 1260,

and of the Dominicans,

Edward

being present at the

The Dominicans, who

existed in

ceased to be Mendicants in 1425, held wealthier benefices than

were possessed by any other Order.

At the

period of the dissolution of monasteries there

England

fifty-eight houses of this Order,

in

and

sixty-six of the

Grey
to

Friars. '

The

most learned scholars

sole support

the University of Oxford at the close of the thirteenth century

were Franciscan Friars, and long after this period the Grey Friars appear

have been the

and ornament of that university. ' Repeated applications were made from Ireland, Denmark, France, and Germany, for English friars." The " History of the Friars" is alike remarkable, from whatever point of view it may be regarded, and, as the editor of the " Monumenta Franciscana" has well observed,
deserves the most careful study, not only for
its

own

sake, as illustrating the development

of the intellect of Europe previous to the Reformation, but as the link which connects modern with mediaeval times.' The three schoolmen, of tlie most profound and original genius, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and Occham, were English friars. On the Continent the two Orders produced, in Italy, Thomas Aquinas, author of the " Sunima Theologia?,' and Bonaventura; in Germany, Albertus Magnus said by some writers to have invented Gothic architecture, revived the symbolic language of the ancients, and given new laws to the Freemasons;' and in Spain, Raymund Lully, to whose chemical inquiries justice has not yet been done, and who, whilst his travels and labors in three-quarters of the globe are forgotten, is chiefly recollected as a student of alchemy and magic, in which capacity, indeed, he is made to figure as an early Freemason, by a few learned persons, who find the

origin of the present Society in the teachings of the hermetic pliilosophers.

No
Wren

effort of the

imagination

is

required to bring the rise and development of the Menfloating traditions

dicant Orders into

harmony with the

tlie latter

from which either Dugdale or

least

even

if

we assume
it

to

have foi-med the opinion ascribed to him at

century before

was recorded by

his son

may have formulated their accounts of the origin

and Dominican Orders seems
a Bull incorporating the Society in the reign

of Freemasonry.

The

history, moreover, of the Franciscan

to lend itself to the hypothesis of

Dr. Knipe
'

" Such a Bull there was,"

Ashmole, as related by Dr. Campbell, on the authority of

i.e.,

Monumenta

Franciscana, ChaHers and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland, Rolls Series,

vol.

i.,

1858, Preface, p. xli.

' Chionicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages, Rolls Annales Mouastici, vol. iv. 1869, pp. 83, 94
,

Series,

^Ihid.. pp. 384, 446.

Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanmn,

ed. 1830, vol. vi., pp. 1483, 1503.

'Warton, History of English Poetry,

*

ed. 1840, vol.

ii.,

p. 89.
''

Monumenta

Franciscana, vol.

i.,

pp. 93. 354, 365, 379.

Preface, p.

lix.

Heideloff, Bauhiilte des Mittelalters, p. 15; Wiozer, Die

p. 59.

Deutschen Bruderschaften,

p.

54;

Findel, History of Freemasonry,

56

EA RL Y BRI TLSH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

III.

of

Henry

" but this Bull,

1323,' but
it

in the opinion

of the learned

Mr. Ashmole, was confirma-

tive only,

and did not by any means create our

'
'

fraternity, or even establish

them

in this

kingdom.

The Dominican Order,

as

we

liave already seen,

was confirmed by a Bull of

Honorius
I shall

III. in

had planted an offshoot in England two years previously.

in possession.

not contend that the speculative theology of the schoolmen has exercised any direct

influence

upon the speculative masonry of which we are

lies

Such

a supposition,

however curious and entertaining,

fact tLat

outside the boundaries of this discussion,' yet the

Roger Bacon, a Franciscan, Albertus ilagnus and Eaymond Lully, Dominicans,

craft,^

have been claimed in recent times as members of the

of, it being, to say

should not be

lost sight

the least, quite as credible

tliat

the persons from

whom

Dugdale derived

his information,

may have been

influenced by the general liistory of the chief Mendicant

Orders, as that writers of two centuries later should have found in certain individual
friars the precursors of

our modern Freemasons.

I shall

The
of

coincidences to which

next direct attention are of unequal value.

Some

are

an important character, whilst others will carry little weight. But, unitedly, they constitute a body of evidence, wliich, in my judgment, fairly warrants the conclusion, that the
idea of travelling

masons having been granted privileges by the Popes germinated in the

history of the Franciscan

and Dominican Orders.

them were many architects commingled with French, Germnnx, Flemings, and others.' They procured Papal Bulls for their encouragement, and particular privileges; they travelled all over Europe, and built churches; their government was regular, and, where they fixed near the building in hand, they made a camp of huts. A General ' governed in chief. The people of the neighborhood, either out of charity or commutation of penance, gave the materials and carriage. In the preceding paragraph I have closely paraphrased the statement in the " ParenThese
friars

were Italians

among

talia " as

being the fullest of the

series,

though,

if

we turn

to tliat of Dugdale, as being

the original from which the opinions of Ashmole and

ference will be deducible.

Wren were

derived, the

same

in-

Connected in men's minds, as the Freemasons were, with the erection of churches and
cathedrals, the portion of the ti-adition
of Italians,
is

which places their origin in these travelling bodie?

it

not only what we might expect to meet wth, but

possesses what, without

doing violence to language,

'

may be termed some foxmdation

tit.

in fact. '

For the

earliest

Biographia Bi itannica, 1T4T,

says:

Ashmole, ante,

p. 140.

'Heldman
'Of

"In the time

'

of

Henry

in., the English

masons were protected by a Bull of

(probably) Honorius HI.

St. Francis,

(Die drei Aeltesten Geschiclitliclien Denkmale. p. 342).

Mr. Brewer observes: "Unlike other and earher founders of religious orders,

the requisites for admission into his fraternity point to the better educated, not to the lower classes.
'

He

shall be

begotten; of good
xxviii.).
'

Cf.

whole of body and prompt of mind; not in debt; not a bondsman bom; not unlawfully name and fame, and competently learned' " (Monumenta Franciscana. Preface, p. * See the Masonic Encycloptcdias; and observations on the Rosicrucians. jmst. The statements attributed to Dugdale, Ashmole, and Wren, ante, Chaps. VI., p. 258, and
of the Franciscans

Xn.,
'

pp. 130, 141.

The General

was

elected

by the Provincials and Wardens

m the

chapter of

Pentecost, held every third year, or a longer or a shorter term as the General thought

fit.

He was

removable for insufficiency. British Monachism. 1803, vol.

'Attention
is

general chapter of the Dominicans was held yearly, (Fosbroke.

i., p. 72 et seq.). pointedly directed by Marchese to the numerous ecclesiastical structures erected

in the thirteenth century, not only in Italy, but in France,

Germany, England, and Belgium,

who

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

masons we must search the records of the
that
tliis

57

earliest builders,

and

whilst, therefore,

it is

clear

class of

workmen had been

all

extensively employed by the Benedictines, the Cisin

tercians,

and the Carthusians,

of

which had a footing

at

England long before the era

tlie

of

the Franciscans and Dominicans; on the other hand, the latter Orders can fairly claim to

rank as links in the chain, by which,

if

all,

the Freemasons of

Middle Ages can be

skill,

connected with their congeners, the actual constructors of those marvels of operative
the temples, of a more remote antiquity.

Dugdale, Ashmole, and

Wren

very probably derived their information mucli in the same

manner
told

as their several opinions

have been passed on to

it

later ages.

Somebody must have

Dugdale what Aubrey's pen has recorded,

is

matters not who, and whether a mason

of a secret society are rarely conversant

or otherwise

equally immaterial.

The members

with

its

origin

and

history, and unless the

Freemasons of the sixteenth century were ad-

dicted to the study of Masonic antiquities, in a degree far surpassing the practice of their
living descendants

of whom

not one in a hundred advances beyond a smattering of ritual

little

and ceremonial tliey could have had tion as it has come down to us.
I

or notliing to communicate beyond the tradi-

conceive that about the middle of the sixteenth century certain leading incidents in

the history of the Friars had become blended with the traditionary history of the Freemasons, and I think it not improbable that the " letters of fraternity,"' common in the
thirteenth century
liar sanctity,"

as well as before and after of

potently

whicli those of the Friars

had a pecu-

may have

assisted in implanting the idea,

of the brotherliond of

Freemasons having received Papal favors through the medium of the Halianx, who were
travelling over
fact,

Europe and building churches.

Color

is

lent to

tliis

supposition by the

already noticed, that in 1387

to three

"a

certain Friar preacher,' Brother William Bartone

of Ijondon, that he

by name, gave security

suit in

journeymen cordwaincrs

would make

Rome

for a confirmation of their fraternity by the

Pope."'

If this view of the case

be accepted, the Dugdale-Aubrey derivation of the Freemasons, from certain wandering

Italians

would be sufSciently explained.

the basilica of S. Francesco di Assisi, a.D. 1238; the
tlie

cites, inter alia,

duomo

of Florence, 1298; that

of Orvieto. 1290; S. Antonio di Padova, 1231;

Campo Santo

di Pisa, 1278; S.

Maria Novella

in

Florence, 1279; S. Croce, built in 1294; to which period also belong SS. Giovanni and Paolo, and
the Church of the Frari in Venice.

Outside Italy, he names the cathedrals of Cologne. Beauvais,

Chartres, Rlieinis, Amiens, Brussels, York, Salisbury, Westminster, Burgos and Toledo, as all belonging- to the first half of the thirteenth century (Lives of the

most Eminent

Paintei-s, Sculptors,

and Architects of the Order of St. Dominic, 1852, Preface, p. xxv.). " There were letters of fraternity of various kinds. Lay people of all sorts, men and womea, married and single, desired to be enrolled m spiritual fratevnities, as theroby enjoying the spirituall prerogatives uf pardon, indulgence, and si>eedy despatcli out of purgatory" (Fosbroke, British Monachism, 1802, vo'. ii., p. 53, citing Smith, Lives of the Berkeley Family, MS. iii., 443). 'Piere Plowman, speaking of the day of judgment, says:
'
'

'

'A poke full of pardon, ne provincial letters

Though ye be founden
'The

in the fraternitie of the

iiii.

orders"

(fol. .xx.xviii. b).

Dominican Order, is thus explained by Fosbroke: " When the Pope was going to write to Dominick on business, he said to the notary, Write to Master Dominick and the preaching bretliren; and from that time they began to be called the friars Preachers" (British Monachism, vol. ii., p. 40, citing Jansenius, Vita Domorigin of this trm, as applied to distinguisli a

member

of the

'

'

inici,

1.

i.,

c. vi., p. 44).

Riley, Memorials of London, p. 495; ante. Chap.

VIL,

p. 370.


'

158

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

tlie

Although, in

opinion of some respectable authorities, the only solution of the problem

is

under consideration

to

be found in the Papal Writings,' of which at various times the

it

Steinmetzen were the recipients,

appears to me, that the supporters of this view have

failed to realize the substantial difficulties of

making out there

case, or the lengths to

which they must go,

in order to even plausibly sustain the theory they

have

set up.
is

In

tlie first place, the belief in Papal Bulls having

been granted to the Freemasons,

an

English and not a German tradition.

rest

Secondly, the privileges claimed for the Steinmetzen

upon two distinct sources of authority one set, the confirmatio7is of Popes Alexander VI. and Leo X. in 1502 and 1517, are supported by credible tradition; the other set, the Indulgences extending from the time of Nicholas III. to that of Benedict XII. (1277'

1334), repose on no other foundation than unverified assertion.

show that Dugdale's statement to Aubrey was based on the Papal confirmations of 1502 and 1517, proof must be forthcoming, that the first antiquary of his

Now,

in order to

age not only recognized the Steinmetzen as the parents, or at least as the precursors, of
the Freemasons, but that he styled the former Italians, and
three centuries in his chronology!
possibility of his

made a

trifling
if

mistake of

True, the anachronism disappears

we admit the

having been influenced by the legendary documents of earlier date (1277a matter of fact, since the masons of southern

1334)

though, as
them

Germany only formed

can have been

themselves into a brotherhood in 1459, no Papal writing of earlier date

sent to

but

the error as to nationality remains, and under both suppositions, even

'

adding the Indulgence of Cologne

(1248),

it

is

impossible to get over the circumstance,

to travel over

that Dugdale speaks of a Society or body of

build churches.

men who were

Europe and

The Steinmetzen,

indeed, built churches, but the system of travelling

'

which, by the way, only became obligatory in the sixteenth century

was
whom,

peculiar to the
in preference to

journeymen of that association, and did not affect the masters, to

their subordinates,

we must suppose the Pope's mandate

to travel

and

erect churches,

would

have been addressed.

Except on the broad principle, that " an honest man and of good judgment believeth still what is told to him, and that which he finds written,"' lam at a loss to understand how
the glosses of the Germans have been so readily adopted by English writers of reputation.

The

suggestion of Dr. Kloss, that the tradition of the " Bulls" was fabricated for the

purpose of adorning the " legend of the guilds," and fathered upon Ashmole and "Wren

on the face of
words.

it

a very hasty induction from imperfect data

may be disposed of in a few

Kloss evidently had in his mind Dr. Anderson's " Constitutions" of 1723 and 1738, the " Memoir " of Ashmole in the " Biographia Britannica," 1747, and Wren's opinion, as related The " Guild " theory, as it has since been termed, was first in the " Parentalia," 1750.

broached in the publications of Dr. Anderson, by

'i.e.,

whom

no doubt the legends of the craft

Bulls, Briefs, Charters, Confirmations,

Indulgences, Letters

in

a word, every possible

laity.

written instrument by which the will of the Supreme Pontiff was proclaimed to the

and Xn.. p. 143. ^Ante, Chap, ni., p. 177. * Brentano, On the History and Development of Gilds, p. 89. ' Mr. Papworth says: " From a comparison of the circumstances, Dugdale's information most probably referred to the " Letters of Indulgence" of Pope Nicholas in. in 1278, and to others by his successors, as late as the fourteenth centurj-, granted to the lodge of masons working at Strasbourg Cathedral" (Transactions, Royal Institute of British Architects, Dec. 2, 1862).
^Ante, Chaps. HI.,
p. 176,

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

159

were " emVjellished, " somewhat, in the process of conversion into a simple traditionary history. Still, in the conjecture that the story of the " Bulls " was prompted by, and in a measure

grew out

of,

the uncritical statements in the " Constitutions," his commentator has gone far

astray, as this tradition has

come down on unimpeachable authority from

1686, and prob-

ably dates from the

of 1747

first

half of the seventeenth century.

From

the works already cited,

and 1750

respectively, Kloss

no doubt believed that the opinions of Ashmole and

less fanciful

Wren

acquired publicity, and as the earlier conception of Sir William Dugdale was then
in JIS., the conclusions

entombed

he drew were

than may at

first

sight appear.

The statement

attributed to

Wren can

claim no higher antiquity, as printed matter, than

1719,
to the

1750; and though the opinion of

Preston, in his quotation from Dr. Rawlinson's

Ashmole appears to have first seen the light in memoir of that antiquary, prefixed

" Antiquities
origin, of

of Berkshire," published in

1719, not only omits the passage relating to the

the Freemasons, but deprives the excerpt he presents of any apparent authority,
it

by introducing

as a

mere statement by " the writer

of Mr. Ashmole's

life,

who was

not a

mason."

'

The

tradition

we have examined forms one

of the
exist.

many

historical problems, for the

complete solution of which no sufficient materials

Yet as no

probability

is

too faint,

no conjecture too bold, or no etymology too uncertain, to escape the credulity of an

antiquarian in search of evidence to support a masonic theory; writers of this class, by
aid of strained
eses, for

and

which there
facile

volumus,

up some strange and incredible hypothno manner of foundation either in history or probability. " Quod credimus:" whatever accords with our theories is believed without due exfanciful analogies, have built
is is

amination.

It

far easier to believe

than to be

scientifically instructed;

we

see a little,

imagine a good deal, and so jump to a conclusion.

Eeturning from the dissertation into which I have been led by the statement in the " Parentalia," the next evidence in point of time bearing on Wren's membership of the
Society,
is contained in a letter written July 12, 1757, by Dr. Thomas Manningham, a former Deputy Grand Master (1752-56) of the earlier or constitutional Grand Lodge of

England, in reply to inquiries respecting the validity of certain additional degrees which had been imported into Holland. This document, found in the archives of the Grand

Lodge of the Netherlands in 1868, was shortly afterwards published by Mr.

veld of the Hague."

The

letter

"These runs:
My own

S.

H. Hertz-

innovations are of very late years, and I

believe the brethren will find a difficulty to

produce a mason acquainted with any such

forms, twenty, nay, ten years.

father has been a

mason these
Wren,
is

fifty years,

and

has been at Lodges in Holland, France, and England.

He knows none
lately.

of these cere-

monies.

Grand Master Payne, who succeeded

one old brother of ninety,

Sir Christopher
I

a stranger to them,

as is likewise

whom

conversed with

This brother

astill

sures

me

he was made a mason in his youth, and has constantly frequented lodges

rendered incapable by his advanced age," etc. " Here," siiys a valued correspondent,' "are three old and active masons,

who must

have been associated with Sir Christopher Wren, and

ing, with

known

all

about his masonic stand-

whom

Dr.

Manningham was
Wren,

intimately associated, and

correct information as to
'

in case

he had

it

not of his

who must have given him own knowledge."

me

Illustrations of Masonry, 1792, p. 213. 'In the "Vrijmetselaars Yaarbookje," the parts referring to the above letter were kindly sent by Mr. Hertzveld. The letter is printed in exlenao by Findel, p. 315, and in the Freemasons'
vol. xxiv., p. 14S.

Magazine,

'Mr.

S. D.

NiLkerson, Sccretarj-, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

i6o

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

The genuineness of the Manningham letter has been disputed. On this point I shaU Where Hughan, Lyon, and Findel, are in accord, and the document has renot touch.
ceived the " hall-mark" of their approval,
I

am

unwilling on light grounds to reject any

evidence deemed admissable by such excellent authorities.

Still, if

we concede

to the full the genuineness of the letter, the passage

under examinasul)ject

tion will,

on a closer view, be found to throw no light whatever upon the immediate

such it be of Sir Richard Manningham (the father of the writer) having been, in 1757, " fifty years " a member of the craft, and the assurance of the " old brother of ninety," that he had been " made a mason in his youth," are interestof our inquiry.

The

fact

if

'

ing,

no doubt, as increasing the aggregate

of testimony

which bears in favor

of the masonic

proceedings from 1717 onwards, having been continued without break from a
period.

much earlier
is

But with Wren, or the circumstances of liis life, they have nothing to do. The expression " Grand Master Payne, who succeeded Sir Christopher Wren, stranger to them, " is both inaccurate and misleading. In the first place, he did mil
ceed Wren, and the statement, besides carrying
of
it,

suc-

its

own condemnation, shows on

the face

that

it

was based on the " Constitutions" of 1738.

is

Secondly, the word " is," as ap-

plied to Payne in July 1757,

singularly out of place, considering that he died in the pre-

vious January, indeed,

it

seriously impairs the value of Dr.

Manningham's

recollections in

the other instances where he permits himself the use of the present tense.

" Biographia Britannica " which appeared in 17G3, was written by Dr. Xicholls, and merely deserves attention from its recording, without alteration, or addition, the items of masonic information contained in the two extracts from the

The memoir

of

Wren

in the

"Parentalia," already given.

subject of the

There are no further allusions

to the

Freemasons, nor

is

the

The
of 1738

fable

memoir represented to have been one of that body. of Wren's Grand Mastership inserted by Anderson

in the

" Constitutions"

was repeated, with but slight variation, in all subsequent issues of that pub-

which a history of masonry was prefixed.' It was also adopted by the schismatic Grand Lodge of 1753, as appears from the " Aliiman Rezon," or " Book of Constitutions," Laurence Dermott, the author or compublished by the authority of that body in 1764. and to whose force of character and adminpiler of the first four editions of this work ' istrative ability must be attributed the success of the schism, and the triumph of its principles agrees with Anderson that Wren was Grand Master, and that he neglected the
lication to

lodges,

but endeavors " to do justice to the memory of Sir Christopher by relating the
such neglect." This he finds in the circumstance of his dismissal from the
Benson.
surveyor general, and the appointment of Mr.
to Sir Christopher's great age,

real cause of
oflBce

of

" Such usage," he

to

argues,
,'ill

" added

was more than enough

public assemblies; and the master masons then in

London were

so

make him decline much disgusted at

Grand Master, that they would not meet nor hold communication under the sanction of his successor." " In short," he continues, " the any brethren were struck with a lethargy which seemed to threaten the London Lodges with a
the treatment of their old and excellent
final dissolution."
'

" at the
"

According to the register of Grand Lodg-e, Sir Richard Manninjcliani was a member of the lodge Home," Westminster, in lT3i5 and 1725.

The

last of these

of

England during the remainder of

appeared in 1784, and no later edition was published by the ^rs< Grand Lodge its separate existence (1784-1813). After the union (1813) t!ie
'i.e., tliose of 1756, 1764, 1778.

historical portion

was omitted. 'Ahiman Rezon; or, a Help

and

1787.

to a Brother, 1764,

p. xxiii.

"The famous

Sir Christopher W'ren,

eFro-vi-^H.;>i>lece -to "iLfii444-a'H. c^vcc^o-vt,"

1764.
oAim^
will,
title,

The

title

"Ahiman Rezon"

is

derived from three

Hebrew words, DTIN,

"brothers," HJO, manah, "to appoint," or "to select," ai\d [XI, ratzon, "the pleasure or meaning;" and hence the combination of the three words in the
iociety of

Ahiman Rezon, signifies "the men who are chosen

will of selected brethren''

= the

law of a

class or

or selected from the rest of the world as brethren.

EARL V BRITISH FRE EMA SONR YENGLA ND.

i6i

As Wren was not superseded by BeTison until 1718, the year afler the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, at which latter period (1717) occurred the so-called " revival of Masonry," the decay, if one there was, preceding and not succeeding that memorable event,

we need concern
its

ourselves no further with Dermott's hypothesis, though I cite

it

in this

place, because the

"Ahiman Rezon"

has been regarded as a work of great authority, and

to designate their books of

very

name has been appropriated by many Grand Lodges

Constitutions.

" The Compleat Freemason, or Midta Pmtcin for Lovers of Secrets," an anonymous work published in 1764 or the previous year, has been followed in many details by Preston and
other writers of reputation.
is
'

In this publication, the number of legendary Grand Masters

of

vastly enlarged.

Few Kings

ard

L and James IL

We

are here told that

England are excluded, the most noticeable being Rich" the King, with Grand Master Rivers, the

Architects, Craftsmen, Nobility, of St. Paul's Cathedral in of the reign of

St. Paul's,

Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Bishops, levelled the Footstone due Form, a.d. 1673." Also, that " in 1710, in the eighth year

Queen Anne, our worthy Grand Master Wren, who had drawn tlie Design of to see it finished in a magnificent Taste, and to celebrate with the Fraternity, the Capestoue of so noble and large a Temple." We'learn further, that masonry, which in the reign of James IL "had been greatly obstructed, and no Lodges frequented but those in or near the places where great works were carried on," after the accession of William and Mary (1689),' " made now again a most brilliant appearance, and numbers of Lodges were formed in all parts of London and the suburbs." Sir Christopher Wren, "by the approbation of the King from this time forward, continued at the head of the Fraternity," but after the celebration of the capestone in 1710, " our good old
had the Honour

Grand Master Wren, being struck with Age and Infirmities, did, from this time forward, [1710] retire from all Manner of Business, and, on account of his Disability, could no more attend the Lodges in visiting and regulating their Meetings as usual. This occasioned the
in

Number

of regular Lodges to be greatly reduced; but they regularly assembled

Head. " Preston, in his " Illustrations of Masonrj-,"' of which twelve editions were published during his lifetime the first in 1773, the last in 1812 follows Anderson in his description
of having again a noble Patron at their

Hopes

of

Wren's

oflEicial

acts as

Grand Master, but adduces much new evidence bearing upon

Sir

Ai-ts, formerlj' of Wadham College, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham and OxDoctor of the Civil Law, President of the Royal Society, Grand Master of the Most Antient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, Architect to the Crown, who built most of tlie churches in London, laid the first stone of the glorious Cathedral of St. Paul, and lived to finish

Knight, Master of
ford,

it" {Ibid.}.

Multa Paucis has two important statements, which wiU be hereafter e.xamined one, that six lodges were present at the " revival " in 1717; the other, that Lord Byron (1747-52) neglected the duties of his office. The latter, copied into the " Pocket Companions" and works of a like ciiarac'

has been accepted by eminent German writers, and held to iiccount in some degree for the gieat schism by which the masons of Englaiul were, for more tlian half a centiu-y, arrayed in hostile camps. See Kloss, Geschichte der Freimaurerei in England, Irland, und SchotUand, 1848, p. 157;
ter,

and Findel, History of Freemasonrj', p. 174. ' " The King was soon after made a Free-Mason in a private Lodge; and, as Royal Grand Master, greai'.y approved of the choice of Grand Master Wren" (Multa Paucis, p. 78).
'Ibia., pp. 75, 78, 81, 82.
*

Styled by Findel,

"one the

best and

most extensively known works

in

the masonic literature

of

England."

VOL.

TI.

^1.

"

i62

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND,

if

Christopher's general connection with the craft, which,

authentic, not only stamps

of Antiquity.

him

as

a Freemason, but also as an active

member

of the

Lodge

Preston, whose
first

masonic career

I sluill at this

stage only touch

in

upon very

briefly,

having published the

edition of his noted

work

1772, delivered a public course

of lectures at the Mitre

Tavern in Fleet Street in 1774, and the 15th of June in the same year having attended the " Lodge of Antiquity " as a visitor, the members of that lodge not only admitted him to
membership, but actually elected him master at the same meeting. According to his biographer, Stephen Jones, " he had been a member of the Philanthropic Lodge at the
Queen's Head, Gray's Inn Gate, Holborn, above
that tinae, but he was
ter
sis years,

and
of

of several other lodges before

now taught

to consider the importance of the office of the first

'

mas-

under the English Constitution."'

It will

form part

our inquiry to examine into the

composition of this Lodge before Preston became a member, for although during his mastership,

which continued for some

years,

it

made

a great advance in reputation,

of both

and

in

1811

exceeded one hundred in number, including

the brilliancy of
its

many members

Houses of Parliament,

subseqvei/t career will not

remove the doubts which suggest themselves,

when Preston

recounts traditions of the lodge, which must have slumbered through

its

many
are

generations of members, and are inconsistent and irreconcilable with

ble circumstances during whatever glimpses are afforded us of
its

comparatively hum-

early history.

Xor

our misgivings allayed by Preston's method of narration.

editions of his work,

Comparing the

successive

we

find

such glaring discrepancies, that, unless we believe that his

it,

information was acquired, as he imparts

piecemeal, or like,

Mahomet and Joseph Smith,

refuse credence to stateto
all

each fresh effort was preceded

by

a special revelation,

we must

ments which are unsupported by authority, contradictory

even inconsistent with each other.

known

testimony, and

The next
of the

edition of the "Illustrations" published after Preston's election to the chair

to as

Lodge of Antiquity appeared in 1775, where at p. 345, this ilasonic body is referred " the old Lodge of St. Paul, over which Sir C. Wren presided during the building

of that structure.

According to the same historian,' in June 1666, Sir Christopher Wren, having been appointed Deputy under the Earl of Rivers, " distinguished himself more than any of his
predecessors in office in promoting the prosperity of the few lodges which occasionally
at this time,*[pai-ticularly the old

met

Lodge

of St. Paul's,
^]

now

the Lodge of Antiquity, which

he patronized upwards

of eighteen years."

footnote
It

indicated

in the text at the place

where an

asterisk (*) appears above

adds, "

appears from the records of the Lodge of Antiquity that Mr. Wren, at this time,
preserved and

attended the meetings regularlj', and that, during his presidency, he presented to the lodge
three

mahogany

candlesticks, at that time truly valuable,

which are

still

higlily prized as a

memento of the esteem of the honorable donor." Preston follows Anderson in his account of the laying of the foundation stone of St Paul's by the king, and states that, " during the whole time this structure was building,
Mr.

Wren

acted as master of the work and surveyor, and was ably assisted by his wardens,

Mr. Edward Strong and his son."* In a note on the same page we read "The mallet, with which the king levelled this foundation stone was lodged bj Sir Christopher ^yren
'

Freemasons' Magazine, 1795,

vol. iv., p.

3.

'Illustrations of
it is

Masonry.

1792, p. 219.

The passage within

crotchets,

and the footnote by which

tlie

followed above, are not given in

the editions for 1781 and 1788, and appear for * lUurtrations of Masonry, 1792, p. 228.

/rs( time in that for 1793.

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

in the old

63

Lodge

of 8t. I'aul,

now

the Lodge of Antiquity, where

it is still

preserved as a

great curiosity."

" In 1710," says Preston, " the

last

stone on the top of the lantern was laid by Mr.

Christopher Wren, the son of the architect.

This noble fabric

was begun and com-

pleted in the space of thirty-five years by one architect

the

great Sir Christopher

Wren;

one principal matiun

It will

Mr.

Strong; and under one Bishop of London."'^

be seen that Preston's description of the completion of the cathedral, does not

quite agree with any other version of this occurrence which

we

liave hitherto considered.

The"
stone,

Constitutions" of 1738 date the event in 1708, imply that

Wren

himself laid the

last

and are

silent as to the presence of

Freemasons.

to 1710, deposes the father in favor of the son, implies

in

The " Parcntalia" alters the date that Wren was absent, and brings
" Multa Paucis " follows the

the Freemasons as a leading feature of the spectacle.

"Constitutions" in allowing Wren "to see" his work "finished," leaves the question

open as to by
Sir

whom

the stone was laid, adopts the views of the " Parentalia" as to the

year of the occurrence

and the presence

of the Freemasons,

and goes

so far as to

make

Christopher participate in the Masonic festivities with which the proceedings terPreston, in this particular instance, throws over the "

minated.

his faith

on the narrative of Christopher

Wren
all

in the

Book of Constitutions," and pins " Parentalia," though it should not

in the latter

escape our notice that he omits to reproduce the statement

work relating

to
I

the presence of the Freemasons, which, of

others,

it

might be expected that he would.

may here

briefly

remark, that whilst claiming as " Freemasons" and members of the Lodge

of Antiquity, several persons connected with

Wren

in the construction of St. Paul's,

no con-

nection with the Masonic craft

allude to

is

set

up on behalf

of the architect's son,' nor does Preston

him throughout

his work, except in the passage

under examination.

This, whilst

estsiblishing

with tolerable certainty that in none of the records from which the author of

the " Illustrations of

father,

Masons" professed

to

have derived his Masonic facts concerning the

for in the evidence supplied

same time lands us in a fresh difficulty, by the " Parentalia," written, it may be assumed, by a nonMason, we read of the Strongs and other Free and Accepted Masons being present at the
was there any notice of the
son, at the

celebration of the capestone in 1710, a conjunction of

much

importance, but which, asis

suming the statement

by William Preston.

of Christopher

Wren to bean

accurate one,

passed over sub silentio

The next

passage in the " Illustrations," which bears on the subject of our inquiry,
is

occurs where mention

The account

is

word

for

made of Wren's election to the presidency of the Society in 1685. word with the extract already given from the " Constitutions " of
Wren,
as

1738, but to the statement that

Grand Master, appointed Gabriel Gibber and

In the two preceding editions the words in italics do not appear, and the note simply runs: The mallet with which this foundation-stone was laid, is now in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity in London, and preserved there as a great cui-iositj' " (Illustrations of Masonry, 1781, p.
'

"

214; 1788, p. 226).

'

lUustrations of Masonry, 1792, pp. 236, 237. It will be seen that Preston wholly ignores TTwrnas

Strong, the elder brother of

'

Edward Strong,

senior.

Does Christopher Wren owe this immunity, to the consideration that his membersliip of the society might have been awkward to reconcile, with the tlieory of the lodges havmg langnishsd from about 1710 to 1717, owing to the neglect of his father?
Qxiery,

64

A RL V BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y ENGL A A'D.

his wardens, Preston adds,

" both these gentlemen were members of the old Lodge of >St. Paul with Sir Christopher Wren."' Throughout the remainder of his remarks on the condition of Masonry prior to 1717, He duly records the initiation of Preston closely follows the " Constitutions " of 1738.

Edward Strong

William

III. in 1695,

the appointment as Grand Wardens of the two

Edward

Strongs, and

concludes with the familiar story of the decay of

firmities of Sir Clirist02)her

Freemasonry owing

to the age and in-

drawing

off his attention

from the duties

of his office.

Arranged

in

order of time

i.e.,

of publication

the

we?y evidence given

by Preston

may be

thus briefly summarized:

it is first

In 1775

stated that

Wren

presided over the old Lodge of St. Paul's during the

building of the cathedral.

Between 1775 and 1788 the only noteworthy circumstance recorded, is the possession by the Lodge of Antiquity of the " liistoric " mallet, employed to lay the foundation stone of
St. Paul's.

In 1792, however, a mass of information

is

forthcoming: we learn that

Wren

patronized

the Lodge of Antiquity for eighteen years, that he presented it with three candlesticks during the period of his mastership, and " lodged " with the same body of which Gabriel

Gibber and Edward Strong were members

I shall

the "mallet" so

often alluded to.'

'

next quote from a memoir of the family of Strong

first

compiled seven years before

book of "Constitutions" (1723), though not published until " London, May the 12th, 1716. Memorandums of several works in masonry done by our family: viz., by my grandfather, Timothy Strong; by my father, Valentine Strong; by my brother, Thomas Strong; by myself, Edward Strong; and my
the appearance of the
1815.
It is inscribed:

son,

and which many masons and laborers were employed. Several He was succeeded in his possessions by his son Valapprentices were also bound to him. entine, who built some fine houses, and dying at Fairford, in Oxfordshire, in 1662. was buried in the churchyard there, the following epitaph appearing on his monument:
at Teynton, in Oxfordshire, in

Edward Strong." Timothy Strong was the owner

of quarries at Little Berrington, in Gloucestershire,

Here lyeth the body

of Valentine Strong, Free

Mason.

He

depai-ted this life

November

the

A.D. 1663.

Here's one that was an able

workman

long,

Who

divere houses built, both fair

and Strong;

Though Strong he was, a Stronger came than he. And robb'd him of his life and fame, we see: Moving an old house a new one for to rear. Death met him by the way, and laid him here.
Masoniy, 1792, p. 344. The above is shown as a footnote, and does not appear and earlier editions. * In which edition of the " Illustrations" it was first stated that the cathedral was completed by one principal mason, I cannot at this moment say, nor is the point material. 'Copied from a transcript of the original MS. in the possession of John Nares, Esq., of John Street, Bedford Row (R. Clutterbuck, The Histoiy and Antiquity of the County of Hertford, 1815, John Nares, a Bencher of the Inner Temple, was descended from Edward Strong the p. 167). younger, through his daughter Susannah, wife of Sir John Strange, Master of the Rolls, whose
'Illustrations of

in the 1788

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

According to the " Memoir," Valentine Strong had
his six sons
six sons

165
All

and

five

daughters.'

were bred to the mason's trade, and about the year 1665 Thomas, the

eldest,

" built lodgings for scholars at Trinity College, Oxford, under the direction of Dr. Christopher Wren, of

Wadham

College.

In the year 1C67, artificers were invited by Act of

Parliament to rebuild the city of London; and accordingly, the aforesaid

jirovided stone at the quarries

Thomas Strong
to

which he had the command

to other

of,

and sent the same

London, and sold great quantities

masons.

work with him, the year 1675 he made the

to

London

to serve the city in

first

up masons with him to what they wanted in his way of trade. In

also took

He

contract with the Lords and others, the Commissioners

St. Paul's

for rebuilding the cathedral

church of

in

that yeur laid thefirst stone in the foundation with his

London, and on the 21st of June in own hand."'

all

Thomas Strong

died in 1681, unmarried, leaving

his

employment
juti.,

to his brother

Edward, who he made his sole executor. The " Memoir" continues, " about the year 1706 Edward Strong,
thorn on the

began the

Ian-

dome

of St. Paul's,

sen., laid the last stone

It will

London; and on the 25th upon the same." '

of October 1708

Edward Strong,

be seen that the testimony of Edward Strong

is

directly

opposed to that of
is

Christopher

Wren

in the matter of the last stone.

On

this point their evidence

of equal

authority, both were present at the occurrence they describe,

it

and whilst on the one hand

have
laid the stone

may be contended

that the claim of the younger

is

Wren

to

has been
of

admitted by later writers, on the other hand this

Strong's relatives, as recorded on his

more than balanced by the opinion

monument

immediately after his decease.

As regards

the first stone, however, in the testimony of

of an eye-witness of the proceedings of 1675.

Edward Strong, we have the only deposition Christopher Wren was but four months old
it is

when

the foundation stone was laid, and without detracting in the slightest degree from

his honesty

and general accuracy of statement,

impossible to accord what he was told

higher measure of belief than

we

yield to the evidence of a Avitness of equal veracity

who

describes what he actualli/ saw.

Throughout the " Memoir" there is no reference to the " Lodge of St. Paul," or the "Free and Accepted Masons," of wliich Preston and Christopher Wren respectively declare Edward Strong to have been a member.
Elmes, in his
first

biography of Wren,' alludes to Freemasonry at some length, cites

daughter, Mary, married Sir George Nares, a Judge of the Court of

the above.

Common

Pleas,

and bore him

Viz., "Ann, Thomas, William, Elizabeth, Lucy (who died young), Sarah, Valentine, Timothy, Edward, John, and Lucj-, the second of that name." ''Seymour, in his "Survey of London" (1734), describes Strong as laying the first stone, and Longland the second, on June 21, 1675. ^ Upon the monument erected to the memoiy of Edward Strong in the Church of St. Peter, at "In erectSt. Albans, he is described as "Citizen and Mason of London," and the inscription a*lds ing the edifice of St. Paul's several years of his life were spent, even from its foundation to his laying the last stone; and herein equally with its ingenious architect. Sir Christopher Wren, and its truly pious diocesan. Bishop Compton, he shared the felicity of seeing both the beginning and finishing of that stupendous fabric" (Freemasons' Magazine, Oct. 8, 1864, p. 261, citing Peter Cunningham
'

m the Builder).
^This refers to a manuscript (British Museum, Lansdowne MSS., No.
ently examined.
698),

which

will

be pres-

stone

was

laid.

The " Parentalia," it will be recollected {ante, p.l37), does not state by whom the Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren, 1823, pp. 484,485, 493.
'

'

'

66

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

whom
he largely quotes, as
its

Preston, from
stories of

best historian,

and

faitlifully repeats

the

Wren's Grand Mastership, of the mahogany candlesticks, of the mallet, and of Happily he gives his authorities, the appointment of Edward Strong as Grand Warden. wliich are the " Illustrations of Masonry," the " Ahiman Eezon,"and Eees' " Cyclopaedia,"

on to a consideration of the points which are chiefly in dispute, and at the same time glean indiscriminately from the pages of his two biographies. Elmes cites " Clutterbuck's History of Hertford," containing the "Memoir of the Strongs," and in part reconciles the discrepant statements of Edward Strong and the
therefore

we may

safely pass

younger Wren by making Sir Christopher lay the first stone of St. Paul's, assisted by Thomas Strong, though the honor of laying the last stone, " with masonic ceremony," he assigns exclusively to the architect's son, who, he says, was " attended by his venerable
father, Mr. Strong, the

master-mason of the cathedral, and the lodge of Freemasons, of

so

which

Sir Christopher

was for

many

years the acting and active master.

"

This writer then proceeds to state that,

in the British
architect,"

"

in the

Lansdowne

collection of manuscripts

Museum
men
of

is

one by the eldest son of Christopher, countersigned by the great

which he
first leaf

cites in full

and
'

describes as

"

a remarkable breviate of the

life

of one

of the greatest

anv time."

On

the

of the manuscript, at the top of the page,

is

scrawled,

"

Collata, Oct.

1720, C.

W.," which,

despite the authority of Elmes, I unhesitatingly pronounce to be in

the same handwriting as the body of the MS.

The

entry, or entries, with

which we are
in

concerned are the following

1675. Novae Basilicae Dvi Paula? Lon.

Primum

posuit lapidem:

1710.

Supremum

Epitholio

et exegit.
is

This memorandum, however,

somewhat oddly wedged

in between entries of 1700 of

at in

and 1718 res2)ectively, and it is curious, to say the least, that all the other jottings, which there are fifteen, are arranged in strict chronological order. This manuscript most merely supplements the evidence of Christopher Wren, and tends to show that,
1720

to see
it

liis

own words
laid

in another place
lais

'"

he was of opinion" that the

first

stone of

St. Paul's

had been

by

father.

It
it

is

perhaps of more value in

this inquiry

from

what
:io

docs not ratlier than

from what
life

does contain, as the omission of any entry what-

ever under the year 1G91 will justify the conclusion that Christopher

Wren was

aware of

remarkable event in his father's

having occurred at that date.

Passing over intermediate writers, by

whom

the same errors have been copied and

re-copied with wearisome iteration, I shall next give an extract from a

work

of high

authority and recent publication, and then proceed

*
I

to

summarize the leading points upon

which our attention should be fixed whilst considering the alternative hypothesis with regard to Wren's '"adoption" by the Freemasons in 1G91, first launched by Mr. Halliwell
in 1844.

The Dean

of St. Paul's, in his interesting history of that cathedral,

wherein he

fre-

quently gives Elmes and the " Parentalia " as his authorities, informs us that " the architect

is

"a

The later of these is styled " Sir Christopher Wren and his Times," by James Elmes, 1853. It new work in a more general and less technical style than the former" (Author's Preface). ''Elmes, Memoii-s of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren. 18'2o, pp. 353, 493: Sir Chris'

topher

Wren and his Times, 18.53,, pp, 281, 428. ^Chronologica Series, Vitas et Actorum D"! Christopheri Wreu, Eq. Aur.,
698, fol. 136).

etc.,

etc.

(Britist

Museum, Lansdowne MSS., No.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

himself luul the honor of laying the
first

167

stone (June 21, 1675).

There was no solemn

ceremonial; neither the

even,
it

King nor a!iy of the Court, nor the primate, nor the Bishop, nor In the year 1710 Sir should seem, was Dean Sancroft or the Lord Mayor present.

Christopher Wren, by the hands of his son, attended by Mr. Strong, the master mason, who had executed the whole work, and the body of Freemasons, of which Sir Christopher

was an active member,

laid the last

and highest stone

of the lantern of the cupola."

'

retrospect of the evidence

from 1738

to 1823, or in other

words from Anderson's

"Constitutions" of the former year down to the publication of Elmes's first biogi-apliy of Wren, shows that whilst Masonic writers,' without exception, have successively copied and
enlarged the story of Wren's connection with the Society, their views acquire no corroboration, but on the contrary are inconsistent with all that has come down to us respecting the
great arcliitect in the writings of his contemporaries
'

and in the pages of the " Biogi-aphia

Britannica."

The fable of Wren's Grand Mastership I shall not further discuss, except incidentally and in connection with the testimony of Preston, it being sufficiently apparent as tradition can never be alleged for

an absolute impossibility

that he could not have enjoyed in

we
are considering,
stone,
laid the first

the seventeenth century a

title

which was only created

Strong, or the

in the second decade of the eight-

eenth (1717).

It is also immaterial to
II.,

the elucidation of the real point

architect himself

whether Charles

Thomas

or

whether Edward Strong or the younger Wren

Preston's statements, however,

laid the last stone of the cathedral.

demand a

careful examination.
is

These are professedly

no middle course between yielding them full credence or rejecting them as palpable frauds. The maxim " Dolus latet in generalibus" occurs to the mind when perusing the earlier editions of the " Illustrations of Masonry." In 1775 Preston informs us " that Wren presided over the old Lodge of St.
based on records of the Lodge of Antiquity, and there
Paul's during the building of the cathedral,"

and not until 1792, a period

of seventeen

years

during which
so,

five editions

of his

book were published

does he

express himself in

sufficiently clear

terms to enable us to critically examine the value of his testimony.

At

last,

however, he does
that Mr.

and we read, "

It

appears from the records of the Lodge of Antiquity

'

Wren

at this time [16G6] attended the meetings regularly,"

also that

he pat-

ronized this lodge upwards of eighteen years.

false one.

Now

this statement
its

is

either a true or a
if

If the

former, the Aubrey hypothesis of 1691 receives

quietus;

the latter,
is

no further confidence can be reposed in Preston as the witness of truth.

the evidence respecting the mallet
story of the "

Next there

and the candlesticks, which is very suggestive of the Three Black Crows," and of the progressive development of the author's
Finally there
is

imagination, as successive editions of his work saw the light.

that Gabriel Cibber

the assertion

and Edward Strong were members of the lodge.

I shall deal

These statements

with seriatim.

In the
is

first

place, the regular attendance

all

of Sir Christopher at the meetings of his lodge,

contradicted by the silence of

con-

temporary history, notably by the diary of Elias Ashmole, F.R.S., who,

'

in his register

Strong is also described Dr. H. H. Milnian, Annals of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1869, pp. 404, 433. " as the " master mason " who " assisted in laying tlie th-st stone and in fixing the last in the lantern
(Ibid., p. 410).

'Constitutions, 1738; Multa Paucis; Aliiman Rezon; and the Illustrations of Masonry.

'Ashmole, Plot, Aubrey, Christopher Wren, and Edward Strong. Dlustratious of Masonry, 1792, p. 219.
*

i68

EARL y PRirrSH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

would in all probability, along with the entry relating to the Feast brought in the name of the then President of the Royal Society,'

of occurrences for 1682,

at the Mason's Hall, have

had he been
counted
WTren

(as

contended) an active

member

of the fraternity.

Indeed,

it

is

almost cer-

tain that Sir

Christopher would himself have been present, or, at

least, his

absence ac-

for,' whilst
is

we may go

farther and assume from Dr. Plot's

known intimacy with

who

said to

that had the

latter's interest in

have written Chapter IX. of his "Natural History of Oxfordshire"' Freemasonry been of the extensive character deposed to

by Preston, Plot would have known of it, whereas the language he permits himself to use in regard to the Freemasons in 1686 is quite inconsistent with the supposition that he believed either Wren or Ashmole to be members of a Society which he stigmatized in such
'

'

terms of

severity.

The next

reflection that suggests itself, is the inference to

be drawn,

if

we

believe

Preston, that during the years over which Wren's membership of the lodge extended, the

same records from wliich he quotes must have

justified his constantly using the expression

" Grand Master,"

ignored in the

as

it is

hardly conceivable that a

member

of the lodge holding the high

position of President of the Society

would invariably have

lodge.

his superior

rank in the crajt

minutes and proceedings of the

As a matter

of fact, however,
title

we

know
then
as

that AVren could not have held, in the seventeenth century, a

which did not

and the conclusion is forced upon us either that the " records" spoken of were imaginary as the " Grand Mastership," or that their authority was made to cover wliatexist,
filled

ever in the shape of tradition or conjecture

of his lodge.

Preston's

mind when writing the

It
is

history

The
not

latter hypothesis

is

the more probable of the two.

irrational

to

suppose

that Preston, to strengthen his case, would have cited the authority of writings which did
exist.

Some members,

at least, of the

tion to contradict him,

and an appeal

to imaginary or lost

Lodge of Antiquity, might have been in a posidocuments would have been as

senseless an insult to their understandings as it would to those of readers of these pages, were I to appeal to the " Book of Merlin" or the manuscripts sacrificed by " scnipulous

brethren" (1720) as a proof of the Masonic Union of 1813.

In his use, however, of the word " records," the author of the " Illustrations " sets an

example which has been closely followed by Dr. Oliver,' and whenever either of these
writers presents a statement requiring for

its

acceptance the exercise of more than ordinary

President [of the Royal Society], Mr. Austine,
'

"Nov.

30, 1681.

Sir Christopher
tlie

Wren chosen

Secretary, with Dr. Plot,

vol.
ii.,

ingenious author of the

History of Oxfordshire " (Evelyn, Diary, 1852,

'

p. 161).

^The absence of Edward Strong-, senior, from whose epitaph " Citizen and Mason of London " I assume to have been a member of the "Mason's Company," a view strengthened by the circumstance that Edward Strong, junior, certainly was one in 1734, is hard to reconcile with the positive assertion of Preston, that he was also a Freemason ! The yoimger Strong was not a member of any
lodge in 1723.
^Elnies, 1852, p. 409.
'

"Natural History of Staffordshire, pp. 316-318.

Dr. Plot
first

was

firet

introduced to Ashmole in 1677 (through John Evelyn), and the latter appointed

him the

curator of his

presented

me

with his book,

museum in 1683. Ashmole's diary records: "Nov. 19, De Origine Fontium, which he had dedicated to me.

1684.

Dr. Plot
23, 1686.

May

Dr. Plot presented

lished

me with his Natural History of Staffordshire " (Memoirs of Elias Ashmole, pubby Charles Burman, 1717). ' Styled by Mackey, in his "Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry," " the most learned mason and the
of his age."

most indefatigable and copious masonic author

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

credulity,
record,
it

69

will invariably
in the

be found to rest upon the authority in the one case of an old

and

other of a manu.srript of the Society.

A
its

learned writer has observed,

blaze drives

" Illustrations"

"such is the power of reputation justly acquired that away the eye from nice examination." The success of the famous was so marked, and its sale so great, as to raise the authority of the author

beyond the range of criticism or detraction. '

in point that I shall here introduce them.

Some remarks, however,

late

of Dr. Armstrong,
so

Bishop of Grahamstown, on the kindred aberrations of the

the Freemasons were not in the least joking, in what

Dr. Oliver, are

much

After contending in a strain of severe satire that

many men
D.D.

considered as a joke, the

Bishop continues:

"Look

for instance at the Rev. G. Oliver,

He

is

quite in earnest.

something wonderfully refreshing in such a dry and hard-featured an age as this to find so much imagination at work. After having pored through crabbed chroni-

There
cles

is

really

letters, illegible

and mouldy MSS., with malicious and perverse contractions, ragged aud mildewed and faded diaries, etc., it is quite refreshing to glide along the smooth and
road of imaginalire history.
facts of history,

Of course, where there is any dealing with the more we must expect a little eccentricity and some looseness of statement we cannot travel quickly and cautiously too. Thus the doctor of divinity, before mentioned, somewhat startles us by an assertion respecting the destruction of Solomon's temple: Its destruction by the Romans, as predicted, was fulfilled in the most minute particulars; and on the same authority we are quite certain it will never be rebuilt.' He is
glasxi/

hackneyed

'

simply mistaking the second temple for the

Preston, like Oliver,
ligently

first

"

'
1

may be

justly charged with

having written Masonic history negIndeed, their works almost war-

and inaccurately, and from unverified rumors.

rant the conclusion that, by both these writers, the rules of historical evidence were deemed
of so pliable a nature as to accommodate themselves to circumstances. Yet although it is affirmed by a great authority that " unless some boldness of divination be allowable, all

researches into early history

must be abandoned; " when there

*

is

a want of solid evidence,

if

a writer does not render his history true by treating the incidents as
It will

they were

real.

illustrate this last position if

I pass to

the story of the mallet and the candle-

sticks, as in Preston's

time "

still

preserved, and highly prized as mementoes of the esteem of

II. levelled

the honorable donor."

The

statements that Charles

the foundation stone of the

cathedral with the mallet, and that the fact of the candlesticks having been presented by

Wren

is

attested

by the records of the lodge,

I

I shall pass

over without further comment,

and apply the few remarks

have to add in examining into the inherent probability of

either mallet or candlesticks having been presented to the lodge by Sir Christopher.

The

of Gloucester,

"Records of the Society" are cited by Preston in proof of the initiations of Humphrey, Dulce and Henry VI. and the latter, on the same authority, is said to have perused the
;

eincient Charges, revised the Constitutions, and, with tiie consent of

his sanction
!

liis council, lionored them with Masonry, 1792, pp. 189, 200. See also pp. 174, 184. 185). " He may be fairly called the father of masonic history, and his work ' Woodford says of Preston will always be a standard work for Masons. He was a painstaking- and accurate writer; and tliough we have access to JISS. which he never saw, yet, on the whole, his original view of masonic history

{Illustrations of

remains correct" (Kenning"s Cycloptedia, p. 566). Although dissenting from this estimate of the enduring value of Preston's writings, I readily admit that, at the period of original publication, the " Dlusti-ations of Masonry " was, by a long way, the best book of its kind. ^The Christian Remembi-ancer, No. Ivii., July 1847.
*B. G. Niebuhr, History of

Rome, 3d English

ed., 1837, vol.

i.,

p. 152.

70

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

first sight,

question involves more than would appear at

as its determination

must either

render the Aubrey prediction of no value, by proving that

Wren was

a Freemason before

1691, or by a contrary result, leaving us free to essay the solution of the alternative prob-

lem, unhampered by the confusion which at present surrounds the subject as a whole.
It

appears from the " Illustrations of Masonry" that about

fifty

years after the forma-

tion of the

Grand Lodge

of England, a tradition

was current

in the

Lodge

of Antiquity

that "Wren had been at one time a member, and that certain articles

still

in its possession
roll

were presented by him.

The importance
Lodge

of this
all

the

first

lodge on the

is

much

dwelt upon, and more suo, Preston silences

possible cavillers in the following words:

it

" By an

otd record of the

of Antiquity

appears that the

new Grand Master was

always proposed and presented for approbation in that Lodge before his election in the

Grand Lodge."'
Let us examine

how

these traditions are borne out by the existing records of the

Grand

Lodge

of England.
earliest

The
volume

minutes of

this body,

now

preserved,

of these proceedings, are given lists of lodges

after

commence in 1723, and in the first and their members for the years 1725

and 1730,
the

which

last

date no register of

authority until Preston's time, whose

Lodge of Antiquity,^

to

members was again kept by the central name appears in the earliest return of members from be found in the archives of the Grand Lodge. The first
it

entry in the volume referred to runs as follows:

" This Manuscript was begun the 25th November 1723," and

gives

"a

List of the

Eegular Constituted Lodges, together with the Names of the Masters, Wardens, and

members of Each Lodge." The four lodges, who in 1717 founded the Grand Lodge, met in 1723: 1. At the Goose and Gkidiron,' in St. Paul's Churchyard. 2. At the Queen's Head, Turnstile: formerli/ the Crown, in Parker's Lane. formerli/ the Apple Tree, in Charles 3. At the Queen's Head, in Knave's Acre
:

St.,
4.

Covent Garden.
:

At the HoRNE at 'W estminster formerly the Rummer and Grapes, in Channel Row. With the exception of Anthony Sayer' the premier Grand Master Thomas Morris and Josias Villenau, the first named of whom is cited in the roll of No. 3, and the others in that of No. 1,' all the eminent persons who took any leading part in the early history of Freemasonry, immediately after, what by a perversion of language has been termed " the In 1723 No. 1 had twenty-two members; No. 2, Revival," were members of No. 4. The three senior lodges possessed twenty-one; No. 3, fourteen; and No. 4, seventy-one. among them no member of suflScieut rank to be described as " Esquire," whilst in No. 4

'

Illustrations of Masonrj-, 1792, p. 257.

the lodge in 1770. See " The Four Old Lodges," 1879, passim. removed from the GooSE and GRmmoN between 1723 and 1729, from which latter year (except for a short time whilst at the Paul's Head, Ludgate Street) its description on the list was the King's (or Queen's) Arms, St. Paul's Churchyard, with the additional title, from 1760, of the West India and Americ.w; Lodge. In 1770 it became the Lodge of Antiquity. At the union in 1813, the two fii-st lodges drew lots for priority, with the result of the older lodge original No. 1 becoming No. 2, which number it still retains. i Sayer was Grand Master in 1717. and S.G.W. in 1719. 'Thomas Morrice was J.G.AV. in 1718, 1719 and 1721. Josiaft Villeneau was S.G.W. in 1721 Both were membere of No. 1, accoi-diug to the lists of 1723 and 1725.
'

This

name was taken by

1

Original No.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

clergymen, and twenty-four esquires.
this lodge.
It

i/i

there were ten noblemeu, three honorables, four baronets or knights, seven colonels, tivo

Payne, Anderson, and Desaguliers were members of

appears to

me

that

if

of the distinguished personages

Wren had been at any time who were Freemasons

lodge.
I'ut
social

member

of

No.

1,

some

at least

at the period of his death (1723) find ?

would have belonged

and
3

to the

sumo

what do we

Not only
4,

are Nos.
it is

1, 2,

composed of members below the

rank of those in No.

but

expressly

" the first and oldest constituted lodge, according to the Lodge Book in London," made a " visitation" to another lodge, on which
stated in a publication of the year 1730, that

occasion the deputation consisted of " operative Masons."

'

To

the objection that this fact rests on the authority of Samuel Prichard,

I reply,

that

statements which are incidentally mentioned by writers, without any view to establish a
favorite position, are usually those the
If,

most entitled

to credit.

Grand Master was always pi'esented for the approbation of No. 1 before his election in Grand Lodge an arrangement, by the way, which would have rendered nugatory the general regulations of the craft^ how came it to pass (not to speak of the singularity of i\w first Grand Master having been selected from the ranks of No. 3)
as Preston asserts, the

that no

member

of the senior lodge was placed on the Masonic throne before the Society
at its

had " the honor of a noble brother

head

"

Are we

to suppose that

from an excess

of humility or diffidence the brethren of this lodge passed a self-denying ordinance, or

otherwise disqualified themselves, for the supreme dignity which (in Preston's view of the

we must conclude, would be pressed upon their acceptance ? The difficulty of reconciling Preston's statements with the early elections to the office of Grand Master, seems, indeed, to have been felt by Dr. Oliver, who, unable to build an hypothesis on matter of fact, and make it out by sensible demonstration, forthwith proceeds to
facts),

find

a fact that will square with a suitable hypothesis.

This

is

accomplished by making

Desaguliers a

member

of No.

1,

a supposition wholly untenable, unless

we

disbelieve

the actual entries in the register of Grand Lodge, but which shows, nevertheless, that the

secondary position actually

filled

by the lodge during the period of

historical eras of the craft,

transition (1717-1T23)

between the legendary and the

William Preston.

must have appeared

its

to Dr.

Oliver inconsistent with the pretensions to a supremacy over

fellows advanced bv

The
preside.

early minutes of

Grand Lodge furnish no evidence

of

any
it

special privilege

having

been claimed by the masonic body, over which in

was Preston's fortune to They record, indeed, that on May 29, 1733, the Master of the Lodge at the
later years

Paul's Head in Ludgate Street, asserted his right to carry the Grand Sword before the Grand Master; upon which occasion the Deputy Grand Master observed " that he (the D. G. M.) could not entertain the memorial without giving up the undoubted right of the Grand Master in appointing his own officers." But the senior English Lodge met at the
'

Masonry Dissected, by Samuel Prichard, late member of a constituted lodge, 1730. This pamphlet will be again referred to. * When an election was necessary, it was ordered by the General Regulations of 1721, that "the new Grand Master shall be chosen immediately by ballot, every master and warden writing his man's name, and the last Grand Master writing his man's name too; and the man whose name the last Grand Master shall fii-st take out, casually or by cliance, shall be Grand Master for the year ensuing; and, if present, he shall be proclaimed, saluted, and congratulated, as above hinted, a.ad forthwith installed by the last Grand Master, according to usage" (Article XXXIV.). Grand Lodge minutes.
'

172

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

St. Paul's

King's Arms,
until 1735.

Churchyard, in 1733, and did not remove to the Paul's

Head
we

The

tradition of the mallet

'

and candlesticks was

first

made known

to the world, as

have seen, after Preston became Master of the Lodge.

the probability of
of a century, has
its

Its authenticity, or in other words,

liaving been so Jealously concealed

to be considered.

from the public ear for upwards

this history,^ I

now

At

the outset of

quoted the

dictum of a high authority, that

recorded."
witnesses

"a

tradition should be proved by aiithentic evidence, to

be not of subsequent growth, but to be founded on a contemporary recollection of the fact

^

In this case the requisite proof that the tradition was derived from contemporary
forthcoming, if the numerous records whereupon Preston bases his statements

is

are held to satisfactorily attest the facts they are called in aid of, without troubling our
selves to

weigh the pros and cons which may be urged for and against their admission as
Putting these aside, however, as the finger-posts of an imaginative

liistory, we upon the unsupported statement of a credulous and inaccurate writer unable to distinguish between history and fable and whose accounts of Locke's initiation, the Batt* Parliament, the admission of Henry VI., and of Henry VII. having

evidence.

find the tradition rests

presided in person over a lodge of Masters,' are alone sufficient to discredit his testimony.
All historical evidence

must indeed be

tested

by the canon of probability.

is

If witnesses

depose to improbable facts before a court of justice, their veracity

open to suspicion.

The more improbable the event which they attest, the stronger is the testimony required. The same rules of credibility apply to historical as to judicial evidence.' In the present case
a tradition
it is first

launched

to

our actual knowledge

itself,

nearly a century later than the events

less credible

inshrines,

and a

story improbable in

becomes even

through the

sus-

picious circumstances

which surround

its

publication.

The means

of information

open to

the historian, his veracity, accuracy, and impartiality, here constitute a

medium through

which the evidence has come down

rely.

to us, and upon which we must more or less implicity The immediate proof is beyond our reach, and instead of being able to examine it for ourselves, we can only stand at a distance, and by the best means in our power, estimate its probable value. This secondary evidence may sometimes rise almost to absolute certainty, or it may possess scarcely an atom of real weight. As it is of little importance by what authority an opinion is sanctioned, if it will not
itself

stand the test of sound criticism, the veracity and accuracy of Preston, even
I

if

he

is

accorded a larger share of those qualities than

little,

am

willing to admit,

wDl count for very

is

in the

judgment

of all

by

whom

the chief qualification of an historian

deemed

to

be " an earnest craving after truth, and an utter impatience, not of falsehood merely, but
of error."'
'

An

inscription

on a

silver plate, let into the

it

in 1827, records that

with

"King

head of the mallet by oi-der of the Duke of Sussex Charles H. levelled the foundation-stone of St Paul's Cathedral

A.D. 1673;" also its presentation to the

E.W.D.G.M., Worshipful Master

misstatements
^
I

of the

to be regretted that in this inscription

"Old Lodge of St. Paul's hy Bro. Sir Christopher Wren, Lodge " (Freemasons' Magazine, May 26, 1866, p. 407). It is behind wliich few will care to go there are no less than six

''Ante,

Chap. L,

p. 4.

Lewis,

On

the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion,

p. 366,

p. 90.

*Ante, Chap. VH.,

'

notel.

illustrations of

Masonry,

1792, pp. 162, 191, 199, 202.

i.,

C'f.

Lewis,

On

the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, 1852, vol.

p. 291;

and

Taylor, Process of Historical Proof, 1828, pp. 57, 85. ' Dr. Arnold, Lectures on Modern History, 1842
in his account of the early history of the

(viii.). p.

377.

As

all later
it

writers follow Preston

Grand Lodge

of England,

will be seen, as

we

proceed,

that the value of his evidence cannot be too closely examined.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

The statement
is

73

that in the reigu of George

I.

infirmities of Sir Christopher

Wren, "drawing off

masonry languished, owing to the age and his attention from the duties of his office,"
as, after his death,

obviously an afterthought, arising out of the necessity of finding some plausible explana-

tion of the embarrassing fact that such

architect
is

an earnest Freemason

the great

made out
it

to liave been,

should have so jealously guarded the secret of his early

membership, that

remained unsuspected even by his own family, and was quite unknown

to the compilers of the first

book of "Constitutions," including the many "learned some of whom no doubt were members of the lodge possessing the mallet and candlesticks on which so much has been founded. If this story had not
brothers " called in to
assist,

been generally accepted by the historians of masonry,

'

should pass

it

over without further

it

comment.
fall

Together with other mythical history, we may safely anticipate that

I shall briefly state

will

soon

back into oblivion, but meanwhile, out of respect to the names of those writers by
the belief has been kept alive,
is

whom

why, in

my

Judgment, the general

opinion

altogether an erroneous one.

first

In the

place,

assuming Wren to have been a Freemason at

all

and in my opinion
difficulty in neg-

the evidence points in quite another direction

lecting an
office,

he

would have had much

exist!

which at the time named did not

that has

Next,
spirit,

more, and grant the possibility of his being the leading

the Society;
all

we concede a good deal whatever name styled, of by

if

come down

to us in the several biographies of AVren,

by writers

other than those whose fanciful theories are merely supported by extravagant assertions,
testifies to his

complete immunity at the period referred to

1708-1717 from the ordinary

In 1713
called
in the

infirmities of

advanced age.

He

remained a member of Parliament until 1712.

he published his reply to the anonymous attacks made upon him

pamphlet

" Frauds and Abuses at

report on
its

St. Paul's."

The same

year he also surveyed Westminster

historical

Abbey

for his friend. Bishop Atterbury, the

Dean; and wrote an excllent

and

scientific

structure and defects, communicating his opinions on the best

ing

it,

together with other observations.^

An

instance of his activity of

mode of repairmind in 1717

the year in which the Grand Lodge of England was established

the commissioners for rebuilding
St. Paul's,

is

afforded by his reply to

who were bent on having

a balustrade erected

on the top

of the

church in opposition to the wishes of the great architect.'

" The

fol-

lowing year" (1718), says Elmes, " witnessed the disgraceful fall of Sir Christopher AVren in the 86th year of his age, and the 49th of his office as surveyor-general of the royal buildings;*

his mental faculties

office,''

unimpaired, and his bodily health equal to the finishing, as

the head of his

the works he had so ably began."

Wren
studies.

lived five years longer,

and employed

this leisure of his age in philosophical

Among

these,

he overlooked part of his thoughts for the discovery of the longi-

'

Anderson; the author of " Multa Paucis;" Dermott; Preston; Findel;

^

etc., etc.
is

Elmes, Memoii-s of Su- Christopher Wren, 1833, pp. 505, 506. "Parentaha."
'

This report

given in the

J bid.,

p. 510.

*"1T1S [April 26]. Exauctoratus est: Anno xt octogesimo sexto, et praefecturae quae operum regiorum qiiadragesimo nono" (Britisli Museum, Lansdowne MSS., No. 698, t'ol. 136). 'The " office" Sir Christopher is said to have neglected certainly could not have been that of
Surveyor-general.

'Elmes, Memoirs of Sir Christopher Wren, 1823,

si\\\

p.

510.

Dean Milraan

says, "

Wren, being
office of

of his vonderf id faculties, was iguominiously dismissed from his Surveyor of Public Works" (Annals of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1869, p. 4-lU).

m full possession

174
tude at
sea,

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

a review of some of his former tracts in astronomy and mathematics, and

otlier meditations

and researches.'

Having examined the question of Wren's alleged membership of the society, apart from the entry in the " Natural History of Wiltshire,"' the alternative supposition of his admission in 1691 will

now be

considired, and
in full at

I shall

proceed to analyze the statement of

John Aubrey, which has been given

In
is,

an

earlier page.

my

opinion,

it is

the sole shred of evidence upon which a belief in Wren's admission

for a

moment,

entertainable,

though

its

importance has been overrated, for

reasoi;.s

that are not far to seek.

The Aubrey Memorandum, as we have seen," was not printed until 1844. Up to that period the statements in the "Constitutions " of 1738, that Sir Christopher was a Freemason,
at least as early as 16C3,

had remained unchallenged.

its

The new evidence appeared not

;

to

dislodge the fact

itself,

but merely to indicate that

date had been set too far backwards.

The

old tradition was, therefore, modified, but not overthrown

and, though the change

in

of front involved in reality what might be termed a

new departure
and the

masonic history,

writers of the craft saw only a confirmation of the old story,

idea, that

under the
they were

influence of a pre-existing belief in

W^ren's connection with Freemasonry,

adopting a rival theory, utterly destructive of the grounds on which that belief was based,
does not seem to have occurred to them.

The

position of affairs

may be

illustrated in this way.

Let us imagine a

trial,

where,

after protracted and convincing evidence had been given in favor of the

plaintiff, it

had all to
?

be struck out of the judge's notes, and yet the

trial

went on before the same jury

its

The

Aubrey theory
\)^

requires, indeed, to be discussed

is

on

own
it

merits, since

it

derives

no con-

firmation from, and

in direct opposition to, the belief

displaced.

Suppose, therefore,

the publication oi Kvihrey's,

Memorandum
it

in

1844, the ^frs^ intimation

?

had been conthe statement

veyed that

Wren was

a Freemason, would

have been credited

Yet,

if

and

inference are entitled to credence, all authorities placing the initiation at a date prior

to 1G91 are, to use the

words of Hallam, equally mendacious.

it all

Down goes

at

one swoop the

Andersonian myth, and with

later historians

the improvements and additions which the ingenuity of

The case would then stand on the unsupported testimony have supplied. John Aubrey a position which renders it desirable to take a nearer view of his personal character and history.' Aubrey was born at Caston Piers, in Wiltshire, March 12, 1626; educated at Trinity College, Oxford; admitted a student of the Middle Temple, April 16, 1646;* and elected a
of

Fellow of the Royal Society in 1662.

He may

be regarded as essentially an archceologist,

and the

name. Historians, chroniclers, and topographers there had been before his time; but he was the first who devoted his studies and abilities to archasology, in its various ramifications of architecture, geneaology,
first

person in this country

who

fairly deserved the

'

'

Elmes, Memoire of Sir Christopher AVren, 1823, p. 513. Except wlien other references are given, the sketch which follows

''Ante, p. 128.
in the text is derived

from

Aubrey," 1845; the "Natural History of Wiltshire," 1847 (Preface); and the editorial notices prefixed to Aubrey's various works. In the same year Ashmole was initiated, and Sir Christopher "Wren was entered as a fellow commoner at Wadham College, Oxford. " 1646, Oct. 16. I was made a Freemason at Warrington
Britton's

"Memoir

of

in Lancashire " (Ashmole's Diary).

salis

"1646.

Adraissus in Collegio de
;

Wadham

Oxonise,

commen-

generosus "

(C.

Wren

in

Lansdowne MS. No.

698).

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

palaeography, numismatics, heraldry etc.
lost

75

With a naturally curious and inquiring mind, no opportunity of obtaining traditionary and personal information. So early as the days of Ilearne, this peculiarity had procured for him the character of a " foolish gossip;"' inhe
deed, Ray, the distinguished naturalist, in one of his letters to Aubrey, cautions
a too easy credulity.

"I think," says Ray

"if you give me leave to be free with youagainst that

Ilearne speaks of him,

him
"

you are a

little

inclinable to credit strange relations."

tliat

by

his intimate acquaintance

with Mr. Ashmole, in his latter years, he too

much

indulged his

fancy, and wholly addicted himself to the whimseys and conceits of astrologers, soothsayers,
writers, which have no foundation in nature, Malone observes: "However fantiistical Aubrey may have been on the subjects of chemistry and ghosts, his character for veracity has never been imlike ignorant

and such

and superstitious

I)hilosophy, or reason."

peached."
It

may be doubted whether

Anthony
il

the contemptuous language applied towards Aubrey in the

real sentiments of the latter whilst the
it

diary of

Wood, expresses the

Of Aubrey,
little

two

anti-

quaries were on friendly terms, and the article containing

liite

seems

to

have been written so

person, roving

as 1693 or 1694.

Wood
W.

says:

" He was a

sliiftless

ana

magotie-headed, and sometimes

better than crazed; and, being exceedingly credulous,

folliries and misinformations, which somehim into the paths of errour." Anthony a Wood also used to say of him when he was at the same time in company: "Look, yonder goes such a one, who can tell such and such stories, and I'le warrant Mr. Aubrey will break his neck down stairs rather

would

stuff his

many

letters sent to

A.

with

times would guid

'

than miss him. "

Toland,

who was

well acquainted with Aubrey,

gives this character of him: "

Though he was extremely

and certainly a better judge than Wood, superstitious, or seemed to be so,

man, and most accurate in his account of matters of fact. But the/ds he knew, not the reflections he made, were what I wanted."' The Aubrey evidence consists of two items, which must be separately considered. The first commencing " Sir William Dugdale told me many years ago," I accept as \!q& statement
yet he was a very honest
of that antiquary, tion
is

on the authority of an ear-witness, and

collateral facts
If

its

genuineness derives confirma-

from a variety of

which have been

stories

sufficiently glanced at.

The second

not so easily dealt with.

iu

both

cases, instead of in

one only. Sir William Dugdale

had been Aubrey's informant, and the

thus communicated were, each of them, cor-

roborated by independent testimony, there would be no difficulty.

The announcement,

however, of Wren's approaching admission stands on quite another footing from that of the
entry explaining the derivation of the Freemasons.

Upon

the estimate of Aubrey's char-

Athenaa Oxonienses (Dr. P. Bliss, 1813-30), vol. i., p. Ix. Malone remarks: " This example of bad English and worse taste was written after twenty-five years' acqxiaintance " (Historical Account of the English Stage). As a contrast may be citd a very fiiendlj- letter from Aubrey to Wood, dated Sept. 2, 1694, preserved in the Bodleian Library, wherein he reproaches him for haxing " cut out a matter of forty pages out of one of his volumes, as also the index." He concludes: " I thought

you so dear a
" 3

friend, that I

doth almost break

my

heart.

might have entrusted ray life in your hands; and now your unkindness So God bless you. 'Tuissimus.' A."

Athenas Oxonienses,
J.

vol.

i.

p. exv.
p. 159.

Toland, History of the Druids (R. Huddlestone), 1814,

Toland. one of the founders

modern deism, and the author of " Cliristianity not Mysterious"' (1696), was born Nov. 30, 1669, and died Slarch 11, 1722. By Chalmers he is styled " a man of uncommon abilities, and perhaps the most learned of all the infidel writers" (General Biograpliical Dictionary, vol. iv., p. 434).
of

"je

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

we may safely follow him in matters of fact, though his guidance is when he wanders into the region of speculation. His anecdotes of eminent great credulity, and are characterized by much looseness of statement. Thus,
'

acter, as given above,

to be distrusted

men

exhibit

he describes Dr. Corbet, Bishop of Oxford, at a confirmation, being about to lay his hand on the head of a man very bald, as turning to his chaplain and saying, " Some dust, Lushington
to

keepe his

" hand from slipping ! "

Two dreams

of Sir Christopher

Wren

are related.

In the year 1651, at his father's house in Wiltshire, he sees the battle of Worcester.
1671,

when

lying

that a

woman

In he dreamt that he was in a place where palm-trees grew, and in a romantic habit reached him dates. The next day he sent for dates,
ill

at Paris,

Dr. Richard Nepier, Aubrey informs us, was a person of great abstiand piety. " When a patient, or querent, came to him, he presently nence, innocence, went to his closet to pray, and told to admiration the recovery or death of the patient. It appears by his papers that he did converse with the angel Raphael, who gave him the re-

which cured him.'

sponses."'

The Memorandum
credulous writer, and,

of 1691,
if

it will

be seen, comes to us on the sole authority of a very

it,

we

believe

entails

some curious consequences.

To

Aubrej^'a

mere prediction of an approaching event, we shall yield more credence than his contemporaries did to the authenticity of his anecdotes.

Thus

affording an instance of our believhistorian.

ing as a prophet one

whom we

might reasonably distrust as an

Bayle says that a hearsay repoi't should be recorded only in one of two cases
very probable, or
if it is

if it is

mentioned in order to be refuted. '

By another
is

authority

it is laid

down

that " a historical narrative

it

must be

well attested.

If it

merely probable, without

either of these

being well attested,

cannot be received as historical."'

Judged by

standards, the belief that

Wren was

adopted a Freemason in 1691 being at once improbable

and

ill-attested,

must

fall to

the gi'ound.
is

The wording of the Memorandum

"is
to

he"

not was''adopted
otie

peculiar.

a brother."

On a certain day, Sir Two comments suggest

Christopher Wr>n
themselves.

The
tha'.

first,

that even had

copy only of the manuscript been in existence, the prediction

a particular event was about to happen can hardly be regarded as equivalent to

its fuIJiU-

ment.

The

second, that in transferring his additional notes from the original manuscript

" It must be confessed that the authenticity, or at least the accuracy, of Aubrey's anecdotes of eminent men has been much suspected " (Saturday Re%'iew, Sept. 37, 1879, p. 383). Aubrey's " liighly cedulous nature " is referred to in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," and by Rees he is styled " a good classical scholar, a tolerable naturalist, and a most laborious antiquarian; but credulous and addicted
'

to superstition "

''Aubrey, Lives of

(New Cyclopajdia, 1803-30). Eminent Men, 1813, vol

11.,

p. 393.

'Ibid., pp. 84, 85. * Aubrey, Miscellanies

upou Various Subjects

1784, p. 233.

According to the 'same authority,

Before the responses stands

"Elias Ashmole had

this

all

these papere, which he carefully bound up.

" mark, viz., R. Ris., which Mr. Ashmole said was Responsiim Raphaeli 'General Dictionary. Historical and Critical, English Edition, 1734-38 art. " Baldus," note c The same wiiter also points out the danger of trusting to hearsay reports in istorical questions (art. " Chigi," note g.). Sir G. Lewis says: "All hearsay evidence, all evidence derived from the repetition of a story told orally by the original witness, and p >rhaps passed on orally through two or three more persons, is of inferior value, and to be placed on a lower degree of credibility " (On
)

the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics,

18.53, p, 185).

Lewis,

On

the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics,

p. 393.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

to the fair copy,

177

which may have happened at any time between IGOl and the year of his death (1697), Aubrey, wlio was on good terms with Wren, would have supplemented his
meagre allusion
to tlie latter's initiation by

some authentic

details of the occurrence, derived

from the great architect himself,

his original entry

liad there been

any

to

relate.

Candor, however, demands the acknowledgment, that the transcription by Aubrey of may be read in another light, for although Wren's rfia? admission is not
plainer, the repetition of the
first

made any

statement

unless
is,

the fair copy was of almost

think, the true explanation

even date with the later entries in the earlier MS., which

will at least

warrant the conclusion, that nothing had occurred in the interval between

the periods in which the entries were respectively made, to shake the writer's faith in the
credibility of his original
It

announcement.
all

has been said, that we must give up

'

history

if

we

refuse to admit facts recorded

is

by only one historian, but in the problem before

single witness, he deposes to

us, whilst there

the evidence of a
testi-

no facts.

What, moreover,
or fall by
it,

rests

on the unsupported

mony

of a solitary witness,
is

must stand

whether good, bad, or

an eminent man, and

indifferent.
it

Here wo have what

us through the

at best a prognostication, respecting

comes to
by
all

medium

of a credulous writer,

whose anecdotes of

celebrities are,

Yet by historians of the craft it has been held to transform tradition into fact, and to remove what had formerly " Who ever," says rested on Mafionic legend to the surer basis of actual demonstration. Locke, " by the most cogent arguments, will be prevailed upon to disrobe himself at once of all his old opinions, and turn himself out stark naked in quest afresh of new notions ? " The Aubrey memorandum, may, indeed, record a popular rumor, and its authority can be carried no liigher; but even on this supposition, and passing over the weakness of its
authorities alike, regarded as the least trustworthy of his writings.
attestation, the event referred to as impeniling

can only be rendered remotely probable, by

writers on the subject of

clearing the

mind

of all that has been laid

down by other

Wren's

connection with the Society.

A commentator
the only account

observes

" the very words which Aubrey

of the co-initiates, all
safely rely.

uses, the

terms he employs,

the place of admission, the

names

combine
it

to

show that we have here

on which we can

However

may

interfere with other state-

ments, however antagonize received dates, I feel convinced that Aubrey gives us the true

chronology of Sir Christopher Wren's admission to the secrets and mysteries of Free-

masonry."'
later

With

slight variation of

language similar conclusions have been expressed by

in refutation of the earlier hypothesis bear
its

masonic writers.'
of the

Many

arguments already adduced

with equal force against the pretensions of

successor.

For example,

Freemason

at all, the curious fact that his

membership

of the Society was

Wren was a unknown to the

if

craft, or at least

had passed out of

recollection in 1723'

and the

strictly operative character

'

Dr. Watson,

'Locke, Essay on the

*

An Apology for the Bible, 1796, Human Understanding,

7,

p. 239.

1828,

book

iv.,

chap, xx., 11.

'Freemasons' Magazine. March

1863, p. 190.

Findel, History of Freemasonrj', p. 129; Fort,

p. 139; p. 46.

masonry,

Steinbrenner, Origin and Early Histoiy of Freemasonry, pp. 126, 133;

See, however, the title

The Early History and Antiquities of FreeThe Four

Kenning's Cyclopaedia.

Old Lodges,
J.e.,

"Wren"

in

in 1723, the date of publication of the first

book of "Constitutions."

The humble part

played by the senior lodge in 1717 VOL. n. 12,

is

also

worthy of attention.

178
of the

EARLY BRI TISII FREE MA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

"
01(1

Lodge

of St. Paul," in 1723, 1725,

and 1730, are

alike inexplicable

under

either h^'pothesis.
If Wren, Sir Henry Goodric, and other persons of mark, were really "adopted "at a " great Convention of the Masons " in 1691, the circumstance seems to have pressed with Such little weight upon the public mind, and is nowhere attested in the public journals.

an event,
tion, held

it

might be imagined, as the

initiation of the king's architect, at a great conven-

in

the metropolitan cathedral

the

Basilica of St. Paul

could not readily be

official (if
it

forgotten.

Nevertheless, this formal reception of a distinguished

all

ever oc-

curred) escapes
Sir

notice at the hands of his contemporaries, relatives, or biographers.

Henry

Goodric^'e

associated with Wren

He

in

Aubrey's

memorandum a knight and

baronet, was born October 24, 1642, married Mary, the daughter of Colonel W. Legg, and sister to George, Lord Dartmouth, but died without issue after a long illness at Brentford
in Middlesex,

March

5,

1705.

was Envoy Extraordinary from Charles IL, King of

England, to Charles

II.,

King

of Spain, Privy Councillor to William III., of the time,

and a Lieutenant-

General of the Ordnance.

Newspapers

throw no further light upon his general career, is he mentioned in connection with the Freemasons or with Sir Christopher AViltshire "

and the ordinary works of reference, nor except in the "Natural History of

"Wren.

In the preceding remarks,

of the sources,

it

has been

my

endeavor, to ascertain the general character

to indicate

from which the

belief in

Wren's adoption has been derived, and

assume the form in which it now exists. Originating with Anderson, it has nevertheless received so much embellishment at the hands of Preston, as to have virtually descended to us on his aiithority, with its vitality practically unimpaired by the discrepant

how

it

came

to

testimony of John Aubrey.

narrator,

In both instances the story depends upon the authority of the

in

of the author of the

and the word of the antiquary is, famous " Illustrations

my

judgment, quite as trustworthy as that

of

Masonry."

Both witnesses appear

its

to

me

to

have been misled, the one by partiality for his lodge and pride in
innate credulity.

history, the other

by

When
of

Preston began to collect materials for his noted work, which embraced an account
in the century preceding his

masonry

own,

all

memory

of events dating so far

backwards

had perished, and no authentic

istration;

oral traditions could

have been in existence.

describes, are antecedent to the period of regular masonic history

and

it

may

think be assumed with certainty,

events he and contemporaneous regthat the stories which he relates

The

of

Wren

prove at most, that in the second half of the eighteenth century, they were then

believed by the

Lodge of Antiquity.
fails.

" Unless,"

says Sir G. Lewis,

" an

historical aciirst

count can be traced, by probable proof, to the testimony of contemporaries, the

dition of historical credibility

con-

"

'

The

first

link in the chain of tradition

if

tradition there was

had

long ago dis-

appeared, and despite Preston's asseverations to the contrary, there was no channel by which
a contemporary record of any such events could have reached him.

Aubrey's

memorandum

has been sufficiently examined, but in parting with

it

may

re-

mark, that his story of Wren's forthcoming adoption, appears to

It

me

quite as incredible as

the other tales relating to the great architect, extracted from his anecdotes of eminent men.
is

quite certain, that

'

what

in one age

was affirmed upon slight grounds, can never

An Inquiry

into tlie Credibility of the Early

Roman

Historj', vol.

i.,

p. 16.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

afttT

79
be

come

to be
is

more

valid in future ages

by being often repeated.

"All that

is

to

found in books
paths to walk
in,

not built upon sure foundations, and a

man
'

shall

never want crooked

says Locke,

wherever he has footsteps

of otliers to follow."

" Perhaps,"

"we
edge,

should
if

make

greater progress in the discovery of rational and contemplative knowl-

use rather of our

to

we sought it in the fountain, in the consideration of things themselves, and made own thoughts than other men's to find it; for we may as rationally liope see with otlier men's eyes, as to know by other men's understandings."''' The popular belief that Wren was a Freemason, tliough hitherto unchallenged, and
is,

supported by a great weight of authority,

well-attested fact.

in

my

judgment, unsustained by any basis of

The admission

of the great architect

at

any period of his

but
it

life

into

the masonic fraternity, seems to

me

mere figment

of the imagination,
reality.

may

at least

be confidently asserted, that

it

cannot be proved to be a

General Assemblies.
As the question of legendary Grand Masters is closely connected with that of the " Annual Assemblies," over which they are said to have presided, the few observations I have to add upon the former of these subjects will be introductory of the latter, to the further consideration of which I am already pledged.' According to the " Constitutions" of 1723, [Queen] " Elizabeth being jealous of any
Assemblies of her Subjects, whose Business she was not duly appriz'd
old Masons have transmitted
of,

attempted to

break up the animal Communications oi Masons, as dangerous to her Government: But, as

by Tradition, when the noble Persons her Majesty had commissioned, and brought a sufficient Posse with them at York on St. John's Day, were
it

once admitted into the Lodge, they

honourable Account of the ancient Fraternity, whereby her

dispell'd,
all

and she

let

them alone

as

Arms, and return'd the Queen a most political Fears and Doubts were a People much respected by the Noble and the Wise of
of

made no use

the polite Nations."'

In the second edition of the same work, wherein, as we have already seen,

Wren

is

first

pronounced

have been a Mason and a Grand Master, Dr. Anderson relates the anecdote somewhat differently. The Queen, we are now told, " hearing the Masons had certain
to

Secrets that could not be reveal'd to her (for that she could not be Graiid Master),

and

being jealous of

all

Secret Assemblies, sent an

armed Force

to break

up

their annual

Lodge at York on

St.

John's Day, 27 Dec. 1561."

all

The Doctor next assures us

that

" This

Grand

Tradition was firmly believ'd by

Thomas Sackville, Grand

who, then joining in that

Master, took Care to

"^and proceeds: "But Sir make some of the Chief Men sent. Free-masons, Communication, made a very honourable Report to the Queen; and
the old English Masons

she never more attempted to dislodge or disturb them as a peculiar sort of Jlen that cultivated Peace and Friendship, Arts and Sciences, without meddling in the Affairs of
or State."'

Church

Locke, On the Conduct of the Understanding, 20. "We take our principles at haphazard, upon trust, and without ever havinfc examined tliem. and then believe a whole system, upon a presumption that the}' are true and solid; and what is all this but childish, shameful, senseless credu'

lity" (Ibid., %
'

12).

Essay on the

Human

Understanding, book

i.,

chap,

iv.,

23.

Ante, Chap.
Andei-son,

II., p. 108.

Dr.
of

The New Book

James Anderson, The Constitutions of the Freemasons, 1723, p. 38. Constitutions, 1738, p. 80. Throughout tiis e.xtract, the italics

are these of Dr. Anderson.

'

8o
Finally,

A RL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

we read
that "

when Grand Master

Sackville demitted, A.n. 1567, Francis

in the

Eussell, Earl of Bedford,

was chosen in the North, and

South Sir Thomas Gresham."

Identical accounts ajjpear in the later

" Constitutions"
of

for 1756, 1767,

and 1784.
narrates
it

The
an

story again expands

under the manipulation

William Preston,
it is

who

as

historical fact,

without any qualification whatever, and

conveniently cited in confir-

mation of there having been in still earlier times a Grand Lodge in York a theoiy otherwise unsupported, save by " a record of the Society, written in the reign of Edward IV., said to

have been in the possession of Elias Ashmole, and unfortunately destroyed" I Preston folConstitutions " in making the Earl of Bedford and Sir Thomas Gresham succeed lows the
''

Sackville, but

adds: "Notwithstanding this new appointment of a Grand Master for the

South, the General Assembly continued to meet in the city of York as heretofore, where all the records were kept; and to this Assembly appeals were made on every important occasion."'

The more
incident,

historical version,

and that preferred by Kloss, who

rationalizes this masonic

though he leaves its authenticity an open question, is, that if Elizabeth's design of " breaking up a meeting of the Freemasons at York was frustrated by the action of " Lord Sackville, " it does not necessarily follow that his lordship was jjresent as an Accepted Mason," since " he may have been at the winter quarterly meeting of the St. John's Festival
as

to have been.'"

an enthusiastic amateur of the art of architecture, which history 2)ronounces him actually Although the legend is mentioned by numerous writers both in the last

and present

centuries, room was found for a crowning touch in 1843, which it accordingly received at the hands of Clavel, who, in his " Histoii-e Pittoresque de la Franc- Ma9onnerie,"

not only gives full details of this meeting at York, but also an elegant cojiper-plate engraving representing the whole
affair!
!

" Surely,"

as a hostile critic has remarked,

" the

'three

Black Crows' were nothing to this story of masonic tradition."' Among the facts which Preston conceives to have become well authenticated by
version of the Sackville tradition are the following:

liis

own

That a General or Grand Lodge was established at the city of York in the tenth century, and that no similar meeting was held elsewhere until after the resignation by Sir Thomas Sackville of the office of Grand Master in 1567; that a General Assembly and a Grand Lodge are one and the same thing; and that
the Constitutions of the English Lodges are derived from the General Assembly (or Grand

Lodge)

at

York.
basis,

These pretensions, though re-asserted again and again

own, are devoid of any historical
legends of the
craft.

in times less remote from our and derive no support whatever from undoubted

The "Old Charges "

turies

or "Constitutions,"

now

and pace Preston, probably for several cenotie

the only surviving records

at Y'ork,

of the early Society, indeed inform us that

meeting

was held

but the clauses in several of these documents which allude

to movable

yearly assemblies, of themselves forbid the supposition that the annual convention took
place only in that city.

The

earliest of these old scrolls

the Halliwell and

{note), 205, 207.

the Cooke

MSS.

do not

mention

Illustrations of
*

Masonry, 1792, pp. 174

Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer

Wahren Bedeutung,

p. 299;

Findel, History of Freemasonry,

pp. 80, 110.

Paris, 1843, p. 92, pi.
7.

*Mr.

W.

Pinkerton

in

Notes and Queries, 4th Series,

vol. iv., p. 455.

"

EA RL Y BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y~ENGLA ND.

York
at
all.

liowever,

The next in order of seniority recites that Edwin obtained from

to
.'.
.'.

the Lansdowne, No.

his father.
at Yorke,

on the general
''

list

'

King Athelstane,
and

a Charter and

Commission once every ycare

within England

have Assembley witliin the Realmc, where they would

tliere lie

and he held them an Assembly

made Masons
to be

and gave them Charges, and taught them the manners, and Comands the same
ever afterwards."

kept

MS.

11,' the Harleian, 1942, a

remarkable

text, has, in its

22d clause,

"You

shall

come

to the yearley Assembly, if you

know where As a similar clause is to be found in MS. 31, the injunction in either case is meaningless if On this point the testimony of the the Annual Assemblies were invariably held at York.
it is,

being witliin tenne miles of youre abode."

"Old Charges" must be regarded as conclusive.

historical fact

admit that the

difficulty of extracting

out of legendary materials

is

great,

if

not insuperable, yet where statements

confessedly rest

upon the insecure foundation

of legend or tradition, the quality of the

legendary or traditionary materials with which that foundation has been erected, becomes
a fair subject for inquiry.

We

here find, according to the written legends in circulation

many
in

years before there was a Cxrand Lodge, that the

masons
for

of those times cherished a to hold

tradition of Prince

Edwin having obtained permission

them

Annual Assemblies

any part of England; also that their patron presided at one of these meetings, which

This the Harris MS. rightly styles the second Assembly of Masons in England,' St. Alban, if we believe the Lansdowne and other MSS., having set on foot the first General Assembly of British Masons, though the Annual commemoration of this event, together with its celebration as a yearly festival, was the work of Prince Edwin.
took place at York.

As we have

already seen,' the

" Old Charges"

miles or less

require

all to

attend at the Assembly

it is
is

are within a certain radius

fifty

of

the place where

holden; yet

who York

escapes notice in these mandatory clauses, which, to say the least,

fact of its being the

inconsistent with the

one city where such meetings were always held.

viz.,

The

legends of Freemasonry have been divided into three classes,

Mythical, Phil-

osophical,

and

Historical,

and are thus defined:

in the transmission of a narrative of early deeds

L The myth may be engaged

and
it

events having a foundation in truth, which truth, however, has been greatly distorted and

perverted by the omission or introduction of circumstances and personages, and then

constitutes the mythical legend.

IL Or

it

may have been

lastly,

invented and adopted as the

medium

of enunciating a particular

thought, or of inculcating a certain doctrine,

when

it

becomes a philosophical legend.

in. Or,

the truthful elements of actual history

of the

may

greatly predominate over

be, in the main,

the fictitious

and invented materials

myth; and the narrative may

it

made up
legend.

of facts,

with a slight coloring of imagination, when

because under

forms an historical

This

classification is faulty,

it

a legend would become either mythical or

it

historical, according to the

fancies of individual inquirers; yet, as

may tend
is

to explain

another passiige by the same author, wherein a problem hitherto insoluble

II., p. 60. Printed in full by See the corresponding numbers in Chap. rions," passim.

represented

'Ante, Chap.

Hughan
11.
;

in

liis

"Old Charges,"

p. 33.

'

and Hughan's " Old Charges of British Freem&*Ante, Chap.

II., p.

"

Freemasons' Chronicle, April

29, 1883.
p. 456.

1C2.

'

Mackey, Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry,

'

S2

EA RL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

no longer
so, I

as being

give

it

a place.

Of the " Legend

of

the Craft," or, in other

words, the history of

Masonry contained in the "Old Charges" or "Constitutions,"'

it

Mackey
torical

says:

" In dissecting
its

with

critical

hands, we shall be enabled to dissever

it

its his-

from

mythical portions, and assign to

its

true value as an exponent of the

masonic sentiment of the Middle Ages."'

At what time
is

the oral traditions of the Freemasons began to be reduced into writing

it

when they were moulded into a continuous narrative, such as we now find in the ordinary versions of the MS. ConThis narrative may have been formed stitutions, is likewise withheld from our knowledge.
impossible to even approximately determine.
period, also,

The

out of insulated traditions, originally independent and unconnected

highly probable by the absurdities and anachronisms with which
it

a supposition rendered
The
curiosity

abounds.

of the early Freemasons would naturally be excited about the origin of the Society.

Ex-

planatory legends would be forthcoming, and, in confounding, as they did, architecture,

geometry, and Freemasonry, Dr. Mackey considers that " the

workmen

of the Jliddle

acter of his profession,

Ages were but obeying a natural instinct which leads every man and to give it an authentic claim to antiquity."'

to seek to elevate the char-

That the utmost licence prevailed in the fabrication of these legends is apparent on the As the remote past was unrecorded and ixnremembered, the invention of the etiologist was fettered by no restrictions; he had the whole area of fiction open to him;
face of them.

and that he was not even bound by the laws of nature, witness the story of Naymus Grecus, whose eventful career, coeval with the building of King Solomon's Temple, ranged over some eighteen centuries, and was crowned by his teaching the science of masonry to Charles
Martel
!

Legend-maknig was
saints,

also a favorite occupation in the old monasteries

the

lives of

the

put together possibly as

rise to

ecclesiastical exercises, at the religious

title

houses in the late

all fictions

Middle Ages, giving

following anecdote:

the saying " that the

legend was bestowed on

is

which made pretensions

to truth.*

The

practice referred to

amusingly illustrated

in the

1380, was solicited by the

saint.

Stone,

ecclesiastic, who flourished about the year monks of Holywell, in Flintshire, to write the life of their patron applying to these monks for materials, was answered that they had none in

Gilbert de Stone, a learned

their monastery;

upon which he declared that he could execute the work just as easily all, and that he would write them a most excellent legend, after manner of the legend of Thomas a Becket. He has the character of an elegant Latin the writer, and, according to Warton, " seems to have done the same piece of service, perhaps
without any materials at
in the

same way,

to other religious houses

is

"
to rationalize single elements of a legendary

Although nothing

more dangerous than

or mythical narrative," the circumstance that an annual pledge day was celebrated at
in connection with the

York

Minster operations, coupled with the ordinary guild usage of

'

See the "Buchanan MS.,"

No

15, ante, p. 459.

Chap, n.,

p. 96.

'
^

Encyclopajdia of Freemasonry,

Mackey, Encyclopa;dia of Freemasonry, p. 459. Cf. ibid., p. 456; and Lewis, An Inquiry into the Credibility of Early
XI.
,

Roman

History, vol.

i.,

chap.

9.

Warton, History of English Poetry,

Lancastr. num. 39, vol.
40),

1778, vol.

ii.,

p. 190,

citing

MSS. James,

x.\xi., p. 6 (ad Iter

Bodleian Library.
vol.
i.,

'See A. Schwegler, Romische Geschichte, 1853-58,

p. 456.

'

EARL y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

183

making one day of the year the "general " or " lieail " day of meeting,' raises a presumption that the " Annual Assemblies" mentioned in the " Old Charges" were really held.
It

has been laid down, that a person

who

believes a story to have been constructed, cenoral relations,

is

turies after the time of the alleged events,

from legendary materials and

In such a case there

not entitled to select certain points from the aggregate, njion mere grounds of apparent internal credibility,

and to treat them as

historical.''

is

no criterion for
it is

distinguishing between the fabulous and the historical parts of the narrative, and
possible to devise a test

im-

whereby the

fact

can be separated from the

fiction.

Before the

authenticity of any part of a legendary narrative can be admitted, some probable account

must be forthcoming
or more of
its details

of the

means by which a fragment

of tradition or of fact has been

preserved, or the internal character and composition of the narrative

must

in

some one

be borne out by external attestation.

story of the

Now, although the

the interval
occurrences.
is

Annual Assemblies

is

nearer the time of authentic

still

masonic history than those of Nimrod, Euclid,

so

Naymus

Grecus, and Charles Martel,

wide that oral tradition cannot be considered as a safe depository for

to its historical attestation,

its

This portion of the general narrative presents, however, as already indicated,

some features with respect

from the

which places

it

on a different footing

rest of the legends.

Conjectures which depart widely from traditional accounts are obviously not admissible;
yet,
if

we

refrain
in the

meet with

from arbitrary hypotheses, and strictly adhere to the history which we " legend of the craft," it is impossible that a clear idea of the past of
historical inquirer.

Freemasonry can be formed.

no firm footing for the

great deal of
of that with

Most of the events have a fabulous character, and there is Even masonic writers, who, as a rule, have a history which no one else knows, though they are often deplorably ignorant
all

which

other

men

are acquainted, do not venture on an exposition, but con-

tent themselves with furnishing a description of the traditionary belief for which the Charges " are our authority.
It has

" Old

human

all tradition of authority would be depriving knowledge and of practice." Without the tradition say the Eabbins we should not have been able to have known which was the first month of the year, and which the seventh day of the week. A story is related of a Caraite who, rejecting traditions, tauntingly interrogated Hillel, the greatest of the Rabbins, on

been observed, that "to divest

of a necessary instrument of

life

what evidence they

repeat the three

rested.

The

sage, pausing for a

moment,

desired the sceptic

would

first letters

of the alphabet.

This done, that advocate for traditions in his

letters in

turn asked, "

other
?

How
learnt

do you know how to pronounce these

this

way, and no

"

"I

them from

my father," replied
"and
this
is

the Caraite.
!

"And your son shall learn

them from you,"

rejoined Hillel;

tradition "
ciists

In the words of a learned writer: " Tradition

world; but in remote ages, us by flitting
'

a light in the deep night of the

and uncertain moonlight, which may deceive shadows, rather than indeed show the palpable forms of truth. "
it is

like the pale

"The

periodical recurrence of

Commemorative festivals may serve as a nucleus, round which the scattered fragments of tradition are, for a time, collected and kept at rest" (Lewis, On the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 220). See Smith, English Gilds, Introduction, p. xxxiii.; and ante. Chap. VU., p. 374, note 1.
institution,
.
.

may serve

to stereotype

an anniversary, . an oral tradition.

the permanence of some legal form or

.

'

Lewis,

An

Inquiry into the Credibility of Early

Roman

History, vol.

i.,

p. 439.

Isaac Disraeli,

The Genius

of Judaism. 1833. p. 107.

i84

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

CHAPTER

XIII.

EAELY BRITISH FEEEMASONEY.

ENGLAND. II.
THE CABBALA MYSTICISM THE ROSICKUCIANS ELIAS ASHMOLE.
'"T^HE
I

we have now reached in the course of our researches, is at once the most interesting and the most difficult of sohition, of all those problems with which the
point
is

thorny path of true Masonic inquiry

clear that the ilasonic

everywhere beset.

It

is,

I think,

abundantly

body had

its first

origin in the trades-unions of medieval operatives.

At the Reformation these unions, having lost their raison d'etre, naturally dissolved, except some few scattered through the country, and these vegetated in obscurity for a period of close upon two centuries, until we find them reorganized and taking a new pomt de depart about the year 1717. But, by this time, the Masonic bodies appear under a new guise. While still retaining, as was natural, many forms, ceremonies, and words which they derived from their direct ancestors, the working masons, yet we find that operative masonry was, and probably long had been, in a state of decay, and a new form, that of speculative masonry, had been substituted in its place. During these two centuries of darkness we also have
abundant proof that the world,
or, at least,

the world of Western Europe, the world which

was agitated by the Reformation, was

full of all

kind of strange and distorted fancies, the

work

of disordered imagination, to an extent probably never

known

before, not even in the

age wliich witnessed the vagaries of the Gnostics and the later Alexandrian school.
strange fancies, or at least some of them,
ness from the earliest period to which
if

These

had been
it

floating about with

more

or less distinct-

human
who

records extend, and, as something analogous,

not akin, appears in speculative masonry,

has been supposed, either that there existed

a union between the sects or societies

practised, often in secret, these tenets,

and the

decaying Masonic bodies; or that some men, being learned in astrology, alchemy, and Cabbalistic lore generally,

were also Freemasons, and took advantage of this circumstance to

indoctrinate their colleagues with their

own

fantastic belief,

and

so,

under the cloak, and

by means of the organization of Freemasonry, to preserve tenets which might otherwise

have fallen into complete oblivion.
Especially has this been supposed to have been the
case with the celebrated antiquary Elias Ashmole.
disposal are almost nil; the evidence, even as regards

Unfortunately, the materials at our

Ashmole,

is

of the slightest,

and

really

amounts

to nothing.

Hence

it is

only possible to deal with these fanciful speculations in

general terms, and to offer some remarks as to the origin of the forms and ceremonies,
before alluded
to,

about which

may

venture to say that

much

misplaced ingenuity

brother His 6xcellenc\J Viscount Kitchener

THE HERO OF KHARTOUM AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE RRITISH ARMY IN INDIA; PAST GRAND MASTER OF EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN; DISTRICT GRAND MASTER OF THE PUNJAB, INDIA.
"

The Freemasons

of the Piinjal) are particul.irly

fi)rtiinnte in

having

at

their

head so

(listinj.uished a soUlier,

and wcnthy brother as H. E. Lord Kitcliencr, who has already held high offices as " District Grand Master" in Egypt. I well remember the afternoon of January 7, 1903, when advantage was taken of the large gathering of Masons at Delhi, in consequence of the Coronation ceremonies then in progress, to hold a meeting
poliiician

of the "District Grand

Lod^e"

our English District Grand Master by H. R. H., the

ing the wish of

of the Punjab for the purpose of the installation of H. E. Lord Kitchener as Duke of Connaught. On that occasion there were up-

wards of 400 brethren present. We have a new lodge Lodge Kitchener in Simla. I am sure that I am voicmy brother Masons, viz.: that the new lodge may so flourish that the name of Kitchener m.-iy live a"; an active factor and a not-to-be-forgotten word among us so long as Masonry may endure in the Pui'jnb.

(Loud cheers.)"

From an

address by the Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 459, Simla, India.

'

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

has been expended, causing no small amount of unnecessiiry mystery.
opinion, arisen mainly
treated.

185

Tins has, in

my

from the erroneous mode

in

in

which the subject has hitherto been

therefore, adhere as strictly as pos-

For

it

must never be forgotten that

and
to attain success

working out Masonic history we are in

reality tracing a pedigree,

sible to those
is

we must,

principles

to trace steadily

by means of which pedigrees are authenticated. The safest way backwards or upwards, discarding as we go on everything that does
the origin
if

not rest on the clearest and strongest available evidence, and so forging step by step the
links in the chain
is lost in the mists of remote antiquity. But, if we proceed commence from the fountain head, and, coupling lialf-a-dozen we making use of similarity of names, connections with the same locality, and
till

in the contrary direction,

families together,

therefore possible intermarriages, family traditions, or rather suppositions,

et

hoc genus

omne, we shall construct a genealogy, flattering indeed to the family vanity, and meant to
be
so,

but which would vanish like a cobweb before the searching gaze of The College of
deference,

Arms.

With all

it

to the Historians of ^lasonry.

would seem that the latter course has principally commended itself Commencing from the very earliest times they have pressed
they have suc-

every possible fact or tradition into their service, and, by the aid of numberless analogies and resemblances, some forced, some fortuitous, and others wholly fictitious,

ceeded in building up a marvellous legend, wliich, while

it

may

serve to minister to their

own
is

vanity,

to excite the supercilious at once too intense

and astonish a few readers by the mystical marvels it unfolds, has only tended contempt of the great majority of mankind, a contempt which

and too

disdainful, to condescend to
justly claim.

examine the rational grounds for

pride that all true

masons may
is

As

have hinted above, the direct male line

of JIasonic descent

traceable to the lodges of operative masons

who

flourished towards

the close of the mediaeval period, and, whatever connection the Masonic lodges

may

have,

with the older and more mysterious fraternities and beliefs, can be compared only to a
descent by marriage through the female line,
the direct descent of one body of
in
if,

indeed, they can claim as much.

occasionally varying in aims
is

For

men who, though

and often

name,

is still

one society tracing direct from the founder,

a very different thing from

a variety of societies with in

no particular connection the one with the other, but adopting,

many

instances, similar or identical symbols, language,

and ceremonies, and formed

is

successively to
race.'
'

promote certain aims, the tendency

to

which

inherent in the

human

mon

To give one example, no name of what may be termed the poetical class is perhaps more comthan Geraldine. But it cannot, therefore, be inferred that all Geraldines are members of one

mighty and wide reaching family, which would be a mj-thical and mystical reductin ad abimrdum. The probability is that the fame of the "Fair Geraldine" has recommended the name to novel TsTiters, and that through them the name, being of a somewhat beautiful and poetical nature, has recommended itself to fond mothers as a fitting appellation for their darlings. But the families in which the name is, so to speak, indigenous, exist at this day, and the connection of every one of them with
tlie Eponymus of the race (the individual from whom tlie name originally came) can be traced step by step without a break. This is very different from mere vague conjecture. ' E.g. The Cocoa Tree is the original Tory Club and still exists. The October has long perished. Besides these, we have White's whose political function has ceased, the Carlton, Conservative, Junior Carleton, St. Stephen's, Beaconsfield, and now the Constitutional. These are all the outcome of Tory politics, but can scarcely be said to be the offspring the one of the other. The Carlton was certainly not the offspring of White's, and it is somewhat doubtful whether any of the latter five, save the Junior, are descendants of the Carlton. So with the Service Clubs, no one would say

86

EARLY BRJ 1 VS/-f FREEMA SONR 'ENGLA ND.

1 I
slinll

Hence

not attempt to deny that

alent amono- Masons

many of tlie rites, symbols, and beliefs, prevmay have been handed down from the earliest times; either they have

been imitated the one from the other, being found useful, without any further connection; or they may have been the product of the human mind acting in a precisely similar

manner under

similar circumstances, in widely different periods

and

countries,'

and with-

Any one who out anv possible suspicion of imitation or other more close connection. reflects on the w'onderful vitality, even when transmitted to foreign countries, of superstitions,

forms, ceremonies, and customs, and even of jokes, stories, and games, will be

very slow to believe that the above imply any necessary lineal connection as indispens;ible
to their continuance.

They
it is

are

handed down from one

its

to the other in a

manner which

is

as impossible to trace as

certain in

existence.

An

observant friend informs

me

that

he has seen a ragged child plajang a purely Greek game in the churchyard of St. Margaret's, "Westminster, and also claims to have traced a particularly broad story told, after dinner, The governmentU of an American, through a rreuch epigram, to the Greek Antholog}'. Broad Arrow is believed, not without reason, to have had a cuneiform origin, having been
the

mark

set

by Phoenician traders upon Cornish

tin.

and, having been discovered on

certain blocks of tin,

was adopted by the Duchy of Cornwall, and from thence pressed

into the service of the Imperial government."

independently to jieople of a similar turn of mind

but without the slightest

On the other hand, many things occur when placed under similar circumstances, communication between each other. Le Yerrier and Adams both
Neptune
It
is

discovered the existence of the planet

at the

same time by

different methods,

and

wholly independent of each other.

boats,

highly improbable that the inventor of steam-

whoever he was

believe

it

was

really

Watt, but

it

was certainly not Fulton

knew

of the extremely rare tract in

which Jonathan Hull foreshadowed the discovery

in the year

1727, and who, by the way, was not the earliest.

of Alexandria?
It

Did Watt or Hull know anything of Hero though the balance

has been disputed whether Harvey or an earlier philosopher (Levasseur,

circa 15-10) was the actual discoverer of the circulation of the blood,
is

much

in Harvey's favor;

'

but

it is

in the highest degree

improbable that either knew of

the work of Nemesius, a Christian philosopher of the fourth century,

who wrote

a treatise

on " The Nature of Man ", a work of unparalleled physical knowledge for those times, and in which he seems to have had some idea of the circulation of the blood.' In the same way the same disputes have agitated the philosophical and speculative world from the beginthat they are the descendants of the " Senior," though they certainly spring from the wants felt by men in the two services. Alike as regards the royal Geographical Society, which is the direct de-

scendant of the Royal, and tlie latter the direct descendant of tlie Ti-avellei-s, all three being founded with a view to promote geogi-apiiical research, and eacli being started when its predecessor was

found to
'

fail.

In Japan

tlie

Daimios" servants have their master's arms embroidered on their coats, which

was a medieval European

fashion, but which could scarcely have been communicated to Japan. Per contra, European residents at Yokohama now adopt the Japanese mode. ' As this mark is placed on convict dresses, and as two of the great convict establishments are at Portland and Dartmoor, near the scene of Phoenician trading operations, an ingenious theoiy might, and probably some day will, be worked out to tlie effect that tlie Bi-oad Arrow had its origin in the mark with which the Piioenicians branded their slaves, a mai'k which has come down in the

same capacity
' *

to the present

day

Cf. P. Flourens, Histoire de la decouverte de la circulation

du Sang,

1857.
c. 3,

Cf. Friend's History of Physic:

and

J.

A. Fabricius, Syll. Script, de Yer. Rel. Christ,

30.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

iiing of time,

87

and the same philosophical opinions have died out only to bo repeated nnder the same or a slight!}' difierent form; and 'the " thinkers " of the present day might he on finding that their much startled, and perhaps humbled, if such a thing were possible

vaunted objections against the Scriptures

various heresiarchs of old

liave

been advanced times without number bj

and refuted as often.

The object of the present chapter will therefore be, 1st, to present in as clear and suc'cinct a manner as possible the origin, history, and development of mysticism or theosophism;
3nd, to endeavor to give some account of the mystical or theosophistical societies contemporary,

and

it

may be
we can

connected, with the

say

new development

of Freemaponry;

of the

possibility, for

no more, of such having been the

case; together with a short

account of the shadowy and half-mythical Eosicrucians.

To commence, ah
philosophy; and
of sound wisdom,

initio,

Alexandria was an emporium, not only of merchandise, but of

opinions as well as goods

were bartei-ed there to the grievous corruption

Grecian,
to

Egyptian, and Oriental

from the attempt which was made by men of different sects and countries to frame from their different tenets one general

system of opinions.

The

respect long paid to Grecian learning,

and the honors which

it

now received from

submit to
the

the hands of the Ptolemies, induced others, and even the Egyptian priests,

this innovation.

Hence

arose a heterogeneous mass of opinions which, under

name

of Eclectic Philosophy, caused endless confusion, error,

and absurditv, not only

in the

Alexandrian school, but also among the Jews, who had settled there in very large

numbers, and the Christians;

producing among

the former

that spurious philosophy

which they
time at

call

the Cabbala,' and, the Christian faith

among
itself.

the latter a certain amount of corruption, for a

/

least, in

From

this period there

can be no doubt

biit tliat

the Jewish doctrines were

known

to ad-

the Eg}-ptians, and the Greek to the Jews.

Hence Grecian wisdom being corrupted by

mixture with Egyptian and Oriental philosophy assumed the form of Xeo-Platonism, which,

by professing a sublime doctrine, enticed men of different countries and

the Jews, to study
its

religions, including

mysteries and incorporate

them with
earliest

their own.

The

symbolical

method

of instruction

which had been in use from the

of symbols.

times in Egypt was adopted

by the Jews, who accordingly put an

Hence under the cloak

schools,

and the Platonic doctrines,

upon their sacred writings. Pagan philosophy gradually crept into the Jewish mixed first with the Prthagorean, and after'ards with
allegorical interpretation

the Egyptian and Oriental, were blended with their ancient faith in their exj^lanations of
the law and traditions.

The

society of the Therapeutaj

was formed after the model of

the Pythagorean system; Aristobulus, Philo, and others, studied the Grecian lihilosophy,

and the Cabbalists formed their mystical system upon the foundation of the tenets taught in the Alexandrian schools. This Cabbahi was a mystical kind of traditionary doctrine,

which the Jews, while professing to follow the footsteps of Moses, turned aside into the paths of pagan philosophy. They pretended to derive
quite distinct
in

from the Talmud,

The observations on the various philosopliical systems, which next follow, are mainly derived from Bruckers " Historia Critica Philosopliias," 1767 (of which Enfield's " Historj- of Philosophy" is an abridged translation). This work was the result of a coui-se of investig-ation, in which tli(! life of an industrious student was principally occupied for the long term of fifty years (Pra;f. ad., vol. vi.). See further Dr. Ginsburg-, The Kabbalah: Its doctrines, development, and literature, I860; Gardner, Faiths of the World; and Fort. The Early Histoiy and Antiquities of Freemasonry, chap. xxxvi. and Appendix A.
'
,

188
their Cabbala

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

from Esdras, Abraham, and even from Adam, but
it

it is

very evident, from the

Cabbalistic doctrine concerning Divine emanations, that

originated in Egypt, where the

Jews learned, by the help of allegory, Two methods with Hebrew wisdom.

to

mix

Oriental, Pythagorean,

and Platonic dogmas

of instruction

were in use among the Jews, the one

exoteric

public or exoteric, the other secret or esoteric.

The

was that which was openly

taught from the law of Moses and the traditions of the Jewish Fathers.
treated of the mysteries of the Divine nature and other sublime subjects,

The

esoteric
called

and was

manner of the Egyptian and Pythagorean mysteries, were Even the only to those who were bound to secresy by the most solemn oaths. revealed influences, or from the Egyptian traditions; former was by no means free from extraneous as far down as the time of Maimonides, 1131-1304. Their notions and practices concerning Seventy-two names were reckoned in all agreeing sinthe name of God were singular.
the Cabbala, which, after the
gularly with the tradition of the seventy-two translators of the Septuagint

and from which,

by different arrangements in sevens, they produced seven hundred and twenty. The principal of these was the Agla, which was arranged in the following figure with Cabbalistic
characters in each space.

This was called " Solomon's Seal," or the " Shield of David," and was supposed, by

some strange and occult process of reasoning,

guisher of
fires,

to be a security against

wounds, an extin-

and

to possess other marvellous properties.'

The
vellous

esoteric doctrine or Cabbala,

from a word signifying

to receive, because

it

was sup-

posed to have been received by tradition, was, as might have been expected, more marstill.

It

is

said to

have been derived from Adam, to whom, while in Paradise,

it

was communicated by the angel Easiel

notion, that

wherein
The
Jezirah.

may perhaps be

traced the origin of the

Masonry

is

as old as

Adam.

learning was bequeathed to Seth, and having

been nearly

lost in the

degenerate days that followed, was miraculoxxsly restored to Abraham,

who committed it to writing in the book who received a traditionary and mystical,

This revelation was renewed to Moses,

as well as a written

and preceptive law from God,'

which, being again lost in the calamities of the Babylonic captivity, and once again delivered
to Esdras, was finally transmitted to posterity through the hands of Simeon ben Setach and others.' It is, to say the least of it, strange that it should have been perpetually lost and revealed until about the time when it was first forged.
It is tolerably clear that the abstruse

and mysterious doctrines of the Cabbala could not

p. 143.

'Fabr. Cod. Apoc. V.T.,

consists of

t.

ii.,

p. 1006;

t. iii.,

The hexagonal

two interlacing

triangles, is variously described as the

and answers to the Pentalpha, Pentagon, or Pentagram. Cf. and ante, chap. IX., p. 83. ^ It is so easy in all times and places to imagine some mysterious tradition whicli suits one's own fancies when tliere exists no sort of ground for it in wi-itten and authentic records. 'Buxtorf, Bib. Rabb., p. 184; Reuchlin de Arte Cabb., 1. i., p. 633; Wolf, Bib. Heb., wt. i.. pkey's EncyclopBedia, p. 700;
112.

figure shown above, which Hexagon, Hexagi-am, and Hexapla, Kennlng's Cyclopaedia, p. 307; Mac-

EA RL V BRITISH PREEMA SUNR YENGL A ND.

89

have been developed from the simple principles of the Mosaic Law, and must have been derived from an admixture of Greek, Egj'ptian, and Oriental fancies. It is indeed true that

many have imagined

this mystical system

that in the Cabbala they have discerned a near resemblance to the

and have therefore concluded that the fundamental principles of But this is traceable to a prejudice beginning with the Jews and continued by the Christian Fathers, that all Pagan wisdom had an Hebrew origin; a notion which probably took its rise in Egypt, where, as
doctrines of Christianity,

were derived from Divine revelation.

we have

seen.

Pagan tenets

first

crept in

among

the Jews.

When

they

first

embraced

these tenets, neither national vanity nor their reverence for the law of Moses would per-

mit their being under any obligation to the heathen, and they were therefore forced to
derive

them from
all

a fictitious account of their

own

sacred writings,

from them
Jews, to

other nations had derived their learning.

Philo, Joseijhus,

and supposed that and other learned

on the supposition

flatter their

own and

their nation's vanity, industriously propagated this opinion,

it

and the more

that
if

learned Christian Fathers adopted

without

reflection,

they could trace back the most valuable doctrines of heathenism to a Jewish origin
fail

they could not

phers,

to

recommend

the Jewish

and unfortunately many

real truth, as far as

in

modern

times,

and Christian religions to Gentile philosoon the strength of these authorities,

Divine origin of the Cabbala.
is briefly

have been inclined to give credence to the

idle tale of the

The

can be ascertained,

as follows:

The Jews,

like other

Oriental,

and indeed many Western nations, had

:.'rom

the most remote period their secret

doctrines and mysteries.

tion to the meanest,
its

Divine origin.

It was only Christianity which laid open the whole scheme of salvaand therein showed more conclusively than by any other possible proof It had no strange mysteries that it feared to disclose to the eye of the
its

world, and, secure in

immeasurable majesty,

it

could not be derogatory to stoop to the

meanest of creation.
tenets

When

the sects of the Essenes and Therajjeutae were formed, foreign

and

institutions were

borrowed from the Egyptians and the Greeks, and, in the form

of allegorical intei-pretations of the law, were admitted into the Jewish mysteries.

These

innovations were derived from the Alexandrian schools, where the Platonic and Pythagorean
doctrines had already been

much

altered

from being mixed with Orientalism.

The Jewish

mysteries thus enlarged by the addition of heathen dogmas, were conveyed from Egypt to
Palestine,

to their

when the Pharisees, who had been driven into Egypt under Hyrcanus, returned own country. From this time the Cabbalistic mysteries continued to be taught in
till

the Jewish schools,

tenets

at length they were adulterated

iip

which sprang

in

by Peripatetic doctrines and other the Middle Ages, and were particularly corrupted by the
'

prevalence of the Aristotelian philosophy.

portions, the Theoretical,
to

The Cabbala
Divinity to

itself

may be

divided into three

which

treats of the highest order of metaphysics, that relating

tlie

the Divinity and the relations of

man; the Enigmatical,

fit

consisting of

certain symbolical transpositions of the words or letters of the Scriptures,

only for the

amusement of children; and the Practical, which professed to teach the art of curing diseases and performing other wonders by means of certain arrangements of sacred letters and words. Without wearying my readers with a long account of the Cabbalistic doctrines, which would be as useless and unintelligible to them as they probably were to the Jews themaelves, I shall content myself with giving as brief a summary as is possible of the common
'Knorr, Cabb. Deaud., t
ii.,

p. 389;

Wachter, Elucid. Cabb.,

c. ii., p. 19.

90

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

and
Cabbalistic systems,
first

tenets of the Oriental, Alexandrian,

is

premising that the former

evidently the parent of the two latter.

All tilings are derived by emanation from one

snbstantial

iirinciple.

This principle
the image
of

is

God.

From Him a

power immediately proceeds,

This second

wliich

is

God and

the source of

all

subsequent emanations.

principle sends forth, by the energy

of emanation, other natures,

perfect, according to their different degrees of distiince in the scale

first

which are more or less of emanation, from the

all

source of existence, and which constitute different worlds or orders of being,

united

to the eternal

power from which they proceed.

emauative energy of the Deity.

Matter

is

nothing more than the most

its

remote

effect of the

The

material world receives

form
is

from the immediate agency of powers far beneath the

necessary effect of the imperfection of matter.

first

source of being.

Evil

the

Human

souls are distant emanations

from

the Deity; and, after they are liberated from their material vehicles, will return, through Besides the various stages of purification, to the fountain whence they first proceeded.

Cabbala, properly so called,

many

fictitious writings

were produced under the

aegis of

great

names which tended greatly to the spread of this mystical philosophy, such as the Sepher Happeliah, "The Book of Wonders;" Sepher Hakkaneh, " The Book of the Pen;" and Sepher Habbaliir, "The Book of Light." The first unfolds many doctrines siiid to have
been delivered by Elias to the Eabbi Elkanah; the second contains mystical commentaries on the Divine commands; the third illustrates the more sublime mysteries. Two of the most eminent Kabbis who studied these things were Akibha and Simeon ben Jochai.

The

former, after the destruction of Jerusalem, opened a school at Lydda, where, according to Jewish accounts, he had 24,000 disciples; and afterwards, in an evil moment, joined the
celebrated impostor Bar Cochbas, sometimes called Barochebas, in the reign of the

Emperor

After sustaining a siege of three years and Adrian. tended Messiah was taken and put to the sword with all his followers; Akibha and his son Pappus, who were taken with them, were fiayed alive, being in all probability regarded with justice as the mainsprings of the insuiTection. His principal work, the " Jezirah,"

a half in the city of Bitterah, the pre-

was long regarded by the Jews, who asserted that he had received it from Abraham, as of He was succeeded by his disciple Simeon ben Jochai," who was almost Divine authority. said to have received revelations faithfully committed to writing by his followers in the book " Sohar," which is a summary of the Cabbalistic doctrine expressed in obscure
hieroglyphics and allegories.

From
listic

the third century to the tenth, from various causes but few traces of the Cabbamysteries are to be met with in the writings of the Jews, but their peculiar learning

began to revive when the Saracens became the patrons of philosophy, and their school By this subsequently migrated to Spain, where they attained their highest distinction.
time the attention paid both by Arabians and Chi-istians to the writings of Aristotle excited the emulation of the Jews, who, notwithstanding the ancient curse pronounced on all Jews

who should instruct their

sons in the Grecian learning, a curse revived a.d. 1280 by Solomon

Eashba, continued in their philosophical course, reading Aristotle in

Hebrew

translations

made from the inaccurate Arabic

(for

Greek was at

this period little understood)

and became

eminent for their knowledge of mathematics and physics. In order to avoid the imputation of receiving instruction from a pagan, they invented a tale of Aristotle having been a conCalled by the Jews, the prince of the Cabbalists. wrote a work entitled '-The Philosopiiers Stone," which
'

is

The Eabbi Saadias Gaon, ciVca 937 a.d., not, as might be expected, Alehem.ic,

but Cabbalistic

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

vei-t to

Jiidaism, and tliat

lie

learned the greater part of his philosophy from books of Solo-

mon.'

The greatest of

the mediajval Jewish philosophers were undoubtedly two Spaniards.

Aben

Esra, born at Toledo in the twelfth century, and Moses ben

A. d. 1131,

Maimon,

better

known as

and who possessed the rare accomplishment of being scholar. The writings of these mediaeval Jewish philoso})hers are very a good Greek numerous, as may be seen by a glance at such works among many as Wolf's " Bibliotheca Hebriva," the earlier work of Bartolocci, "Hibliotheea ^fagna liabbinica," the later volumes After having long been almost totally negof the " Histoire Litteraire do la France," etc.
Maimonides, born at Cordova

lected, a

vague and transient interest has of

late

been excited in this kind of learning, by

a few articles which have appeared from time to time in various magiizines and reviews, and are well suited to the modern appetite for acquiring a smattering of novel learning without

doubt that the great mass consists of a farrago of useless and unintelligible conceits, which has deservedly sunk into oblivion, for though in all
trouble, but there can be but
little

probability
chafiE to

it

possesses

numerous grains

of wheat, yet they are too

much encumbered

with

render their laborious disinterment a matter of use or

as
it

profit.

may be and is sometimes called, the Eclectic who had all the gifts of a first-class impostor, but who is rather to be numbered with those who attempted to revive the Pythagorean system, or Simon Magus, who was a charlatan fighting for his own hand; we have the famous school, founded originally by Plotinus," and continued by Porphyry, who wrote liis
Of the Alexandrian Neo- Platonic, or
school, not to mention Apollonius of Tyana,
life;

Amelius, another pupil, lamblichus of Chalcis in Coelo-Syria, Porphyry's immediate

successor,

under whose guidance the school spread far and wide throughout the empire,
less secret

but was obliged to remain more or

Constantius.'

under the Christian Emperors Constantine and

Qi^desius, the successor of

lamblichus; then Eunapius, the weak and credu-

lous biographer of the sect; Plutarch, the son of Nestorius, oh. a.d. 434; Syi'ianus; Proclus,
at once one of the
06.

most eminent, and, at the same time, most extravagant of the whole, These philosophers, who, though
with the original Platonic
dissatisfied

485;

Marinus; Isodorus of Gaza; and Damascius.

men

of talent,

were half dreamers, half charlatans,

Supreme Deity was the summit of human Hence they forsook the dualistic felicity, aspired to a deification of the human mind. system cf Plato for the Oriental one of emanation, which supposed an indefinite series of spiritvial natures derived from the Supreme source; whence, considering the human mind as \\ link in this chain of intelligence, they conceived that by passing through various stages of purification, it might at length ascend to the first fountain of intelligence, and They even imagined that the soul of enjoy a mysterious union with the Divine nature. man, pro\)erly prepared by previous discipline, might rise to a capacity of holding immedoctrine, that the intuitive contemplation of the
diate intorcourse with
(iod,

good demons, and even

to enjoy in ecstasy an intuitive vision of

a point of

perfection and felicity which

many

of their great

men, such as Plotinus,

and Proclus, were supposed to have actually attained. Another striking feature in this sect was their hatred and opposition to Christianity, which induced them to combine all important tenets, both theological and philosophical, Christian or Pagan, into one system, to conceal the absurdities of the old paganism by coverI'orphyry, lamblichus,
'

Wolf, Bibl. Hebr.,

at

p. 383.

'

Plotinus, the father of Neo-Platonism,

ti-.red

Rome

for twenty-five years,

Hist. Eccl.,
1.

was born at Lycopolis in Eg-j-pt about 203 A.D. and died at Puteoli in Campania about 270 a.d.

He

lec-

'Sozomen,

i., c.

5.

'

92
it

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

with a

veil of allegory, and by representing the heathen deities as so many emanationa Supreme Deity, while in the ho2)es of counteracting the credit which Christianity derived from the exalted merit of its Founder, the purity of the lives of His followers, and the weight which must necessarily attach to authentic miracles, these philosophers affected, and probably felt, the utmost purity and even asceticism, and by studj-ing and practising the magical or theurgic arts sought to raise themselves on a level with our Lastly, for the purpose of supporting the credit of Paganism against Saviour Himself. Christianity they palmed upon the world many spurious books under the names of Hermes, Oi'[)heus, and other celebrated but shadowy personages. On the whole, if we can conceive which I admit to be difficult our modern spiritualists to be possessed of real talent, and to be animated by real but mistaken enthusiasm, working together for a definite purpose, and with a decided objection to imposture, we Neo-Platouism did not shall be able to form a pretty fair notion of tliis famous sect.

ing

of the

survive the reign of Justinian,

and

in fact received the coup de grace at the

hands of that

emperor.

In respect, indeed, of the action of Justinian in breaking up the academy at

Athens, we can but echo the laudation bestowed on an earlier

the school of folly to be closed."
'

Roman

" That he caused

Some

scattered

and vague reminiscences may have come

down

indirectly through the philosophy of the Jews to the Middle Ages, but the direct

influence

must have been very

slight, or

consider the almost total ignorance of

more probably nil, as will be evident when we Greek, in which language their works were written.

At

the revival of learning, however, they were eagerly caught up, especially the supposed

works of Hermes Trismegistus. Another ill effect followed the establishment of this strange and dreamy philosophy. In its infancy not a few of the fathers were so far deluded by its pretensions that they imagined that a coalition might advantageously be formed between it and Christianity;

and

this the

more

so as several of the philosophers

became converts

to the faith, the con-

sequence naturally being, that Pagan ideas and opinions became gradually intermingled

with the pure and simple doctrines of the gospel, without the slightest advantage being
gained to counterbalance so great an
evil
;

nay, philosophy herself became a loser, for in

attempting to combine

into one system the leading tenets of each sect they were obliged, in

be understood in a sense different from that intended by the original authors. Moreover, finding it impracticable to produce an appearance of harmony among systems essentially different from each other without obscuring the whole, they exerted their

many

cases, to

'

" Cludere ludum insiinentioB jussit."

Thrice Great," was, if not an utterly mythical personage, some extremely early Egyptian philosopher, who, for his own ends, passed himself off as either a favored pupil or incarnation of the Egyptian god Thoth, identical with the Phoenician Taaut, and, or assumed to be (for the Gi'eeks and Romans fitted all foreign gods to their own), the Greek Hermes and the
'

Hermes Trismegistus,

or the

'

is the reputed author of 30,000 volumes, hence there can be no wonShandy extolled him as the greatest of every branch of science, " 'and the gi-eatder that when Mr. est engineer,' said my Uncle Toby." The sacred books of the Egyptians were attributed to him, and were called the Hermetic Books. All secret knowledge was believed to be propagated by a series of wise men called the " Hermetic Chain." Hermes and his reputed writings were highly esteemed by all kinds of enthusiasts, who called themselves for him " Hermetici." The learned Woodford, whilst

Latin Mercury.

Trismegistus

admitting " that a great deal of nonsense has been written about the Hoi-metic origin of Freemasonry," stoutly contends "that the connection, as between Freemasonry and Hermeticism, has yet
to be explained" (Kenning's Cyclopaedia,
s.

v.

Hermes).

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

193

utmost ingenuity in devising fanciful conceptions, subtle distinctions, and vague terms;
combinations of wliich, infinitely diversified, they attempted only too successfully to impose

upon the world as a system of real and sublime truths. Lost in subtleties, these pretenders to superior wisdom were perpetually endeavoring to explain by imaginary resemblances and
arbitrary distinctions what they themselves probably never

understood.

Disdaining to

submit to the guidance of reason and

common

sense, they gave

up

tlie

reins to the imagi-

nation, and suffered themselves to be borne

away tlirough the boundless regions of meta-

physics where the mental vision labors in vain to follow them, as

may be

seen by a very

cursory examination of the writings of Plotinus and Proclus, not to mention others, on the

Deity and the inferior divine natures, where, amidst the undoubted proofs of great talent,
will

be fovind innumerable examples of egregious

trifiing

under the name of profound

philosophy.

But in justice to the Alexandrian Neo-Platonists, it should be allowed that they are by no means the only sinners in this respect. Even the greatest of the Fathers are full of the weakest reasonings, and the majority of our modern thinkers, much as we may vaunt them, differ only in being less acute and less learned.
In spite of the popular notion, the Arabians themselves not only were barbarous in their
origin,

but never in the times of their most exalted

their

civilization

made any

great advances

in science,

most eminent philosophers having sprung from conquered, though,

perhaps, kindred races.

But toward the end

of the eighth centurj', the Caliphs, beginning

with Al-Mansor, Al-Rashid, Al-Mamon, and others, having reached a height of luxury

and magnificence perhaps never equalled either before or since, were not unnaturally desirous of adding to the lustre of their reigns, by encouraging science and literature; and But by this time the Eclectic they accordingly invited learned Christians to their court.
sect

was nearly,

if

not quite, extinct, so that nearly the whole Christian world professed

themselves followers of Aristotle, deriving their ideas of his philosophy, however, not from
the fountain-head, but from the adulterated streams of commentators,
infected with the spirit of the Alexandrian schools;

who were deeply

and hence arose confusion twice confor the system of Aristotle was now added to those other systems which were founded, Add to this that the Arabians were already, we cannot say blended, but jumbled together. obliged to have recourse to Arabic versions, and these not taken directly from the original Greek, but from Syriac translations, made by Greek Christians at a period when barbarism was overspreading the Greek world and philosophy was almost extinct. The first translators themselves

were

ill

qualified to give a true representation of the Aristotelian philosofirst

phy, so obscurely delivered in the

instance by

its

author, and of which the text had

been for many centuries corrupt beyond the ordinary degrees of corruption, which had been
further obscured by hints of commentators, who, following with extreme vigor the usual
pursuits of the tribe, had succeeded in
rays of light wherever practicable.
translators translators

making obscurity more obscure and

in intercepting

What then

could be hoped from the second class of

who

implicitly followed such blind guides?

The

truth

is,

that the Arabian

and commentators executed

their task neither judiciously, nor faithfully; often

it,

mistaking, even,
'

when

there was no excuse for

the sense of their author, adding

many

Rabbi Aben Tibbon, " is composed of certain who judge of things, not according to truth and nature, but according to their own imaginations, and who confound men by a multiplicity of specious words without meanHuman folly is alike ing; whence their science is called The Wisdom of Words " (In Lib. Morch).
"

The

sect of the Rationalists," says the learned

philosophical sciolists,

'

'

in all ages.

VOL.

II.

13.

94

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

many
passages that they did not un-

things which were not in the original, and omitting

derstand.

These errors, greatly increased, were transferred into the subsequent Latin and became the cause of innumerable misconceptions and absurdities in the Christian school of the west; where the doctrines of Aristotle, after having passed through the hands of the Alexandrians and Saracens, and to a certain extent also of the Jews, proversions,

duced that wonderful mass of subtleties and

dialectic ingenuity

the Scholastic Philosophy.

all

Aristotle, or rather the half mythical Aristotle, which was

that these Saracens

could obtain, was implicitly followed, as were some other Greek works in mathematics, medicine, and pure physics, which also they were obliged to view through the intermedium
of imperfect translations.

The mathematical

sciences were cultivated with great industry

by the Arabians, and in arithmetic, and especially in algebra, wliich derives its name from them, their inventions and improvements are valuable, but in geometry, instead of improving on, they rather deteriorated from the works of the Greeks.
they paid

In medicine, to which

much

attention, their chief guides were Hippocrates

and Galen, but by attemptSo with botany, though

ing to reconcile their doctrine with that of Aristotle they naturally introduced into their

medical system

many

inconsistent tenets

and

useless refinements.

'

thev made

choice of no unskilful guide, and spent

much

labor in interpreting him, yet

they frequently mistook his meaning so egregiously, that in the Arabian translation a botanist

would scarcely suppose himself to be reading Dioscorides, nor were they more
Their discoveries in chemistry,
it

success-

ful in other branches of natural history.

is

true,

were

Even not inconsiderable, but they were concealed under the occult mysteries of alchemy. in astronomy, where they obtained the highest reputation, they made but few improvements upon the Greeks, as appears from the Arabic version of Ptolemy's " Almagest" and from their account of the number of fixed stars.'' In astrology, indeed, they attained preeminence, but this cannot be called a science, and owes
stition,
its

existence to ignorance, super-

and imposture.
confidence in their

The Saracens wanted

own

abilities,

and

they, therefore, chose to

put themselves under the guidance of Aristotle or any other master rather than to speculate for themselves; and hence, with all their industry or ingenuity they contributed but

Not that there were not great owed nothing to their exertions, but at the men among the Arabians, or that philosophy same time we must confess that the advances which the Saracens made in knowledge were inconsiderable; they certainly fell far short of the Greeks in general knowledge or in philosophical acuteness, and that it is only in a very few particulars that they made any addition Per contra, we must accuse them of materially adding to the fund of general knowledge.
little

towards enlarging the

field of

human

knowledge.

to that

development of mystery which formed so prominent a feature in the revived learnhave now explored,

ing of the sixteenth century.

We

admit

in a very imperfect

manner, the sources from which

the mystical learning of the Reformation period was derived, and shall be the better able to
estimate the value of these dreamy tenets from which, by a kind of morganatic marriage,

the learning and tradition of the Freemasons are supposed to have been derived.
that
all

We

see

ancient learning. Oriental, Jewish, Pythagorean, Platonic, Aristotelian,

combmed
influence

with that of Egypt, was strangly compounded into one, which gave birth to the Cabbala

and the Arabian philosophy.

>

Neo-Platonism had perished, save in so far as

pp. 13, 14.

its

Friend, Hist. Med., pt,

ii.,

'Ibid., pt.

ii.,

p. 11.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

was indirectly exerted
in the formation of the

193

Arabian and the mediaeval Jewish schools;

and our task now will be to endeavor to ascertain how far this ancient learning, descending from one family to the other, influenced the Reformation mystical philosophers, and whether it had sufficient influence on certain classes in the Middle Ages, to form a body Bf men who could transmit whole and entire, the old world doctrines to a generation living
in

a totally altered state of society.

As

before stated, the Alexandrian school perished,

it

may be

said,

with the edict of

Justinian closing the schools of Saracenic began three,

vritings of

Athens towards the middle

five,

of the sixth century.

is

The
in the

and the new Jewish

the interval.

centuries later, and there

little

Western Europe,

to suppose that

an uninterrupted sequence of Alexandrian

doctrines existed during

But both Jew and Saracen, apart from what they

may have

derived from earlier sources, had, doubtless,

many

strange fancies of their own,

which, while influencing the future,

may have been

influenced by the remotest past.

The

West was constant and complete. In the AngloSaxon times, to take but one example, pilgrimages to the Holy Land were customary, Indeed, one cause of the Crusades witness the travels of Arculfus, Willibald, and Sajwulf. The ill-treatment of pilgrims by the new dynasties which held sway in Palestine. was the
intercourse between the East and the

learning of both Jews and Saracens in Spain spread certainly throughout the south of The universal France, and how much farther it is difficult, at this period, to ascertain.
diflusion of the Jews,
this

and the influence

of the Crusades themselves, doubtless assisted in

new development, and when the romantic ardor

spirit of

of the Cross

an ardor so perfectly
easily

consonant with the

the times hid ceased, the mercantile enterprise of the

alive.

Genoese and Venetians doubtless kept the flame

Hence we may

conclude

that the Jewish and Saracenic ideas to a certain extent penetrated the intellectual feeling of Western Europe; but we may well pause, before giving our consent to the notion, however popular, that one mysterious and deathless body of men, worked in silence and in Mathematidarkness, for the transmission of ancient fancies to generations yet unborn.
cians, astrologers,

and alchemists,

especially

when we remember the

peculiarly romantic

tendency of the Middle Ages, doubtless existed here and there, and the quasi knowledge which they imperfectly learned from their Oriental teachers, may have been cultivated by

some few
Aristotle.

votaries,
its

was, save in

but the metaphysical speculations, the philosophy of the Middle Ages origin, essentially different, and depended more on Augustine than upon
i.e.,

Metaphysics,
is

abstract speculations as to the soul

and

its

relations to the

one thing; Theurgy, a magic alchemy and astrology, the attempt to bring these theoretical speculations to some practical point, such as controlling the secret powers of nature, is another and we may as well attempt to connect the speculations of Reid or
Divinity,

Sir William Hamilton, with the vagaries of

Mesmer

or Cagliostro.

Alchemists, astrologists,

et

hoc genus omne, doubtless existed in the Middle Ages, but

not, I imagine, to any great extent.

We must remember the power of the Church, the tremendous engine of confession, and the fact that in an age in wliich, though often unduly decried, physical learning and science, properly so called, was at a very low ebb.
Gerbert,' Roger Bacon, and Sir Michael Scott were aU accounted as wizards.

No

actual

magical

what might have existed among the most superstitious and ignorant of It is a the commonalty, had a chance of raising its head without being at once detected. mechanics, and reductio ad absurdum to suppose that the medijeval masons, who were mere
lore, save
'

Afterward Sylvester U.

He was

the

first

French Pope.

'

196 were perhaps

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

m
re

than any other

class of operatives

under the immediate eye of the Church,

could haye been chosen to transmit such secrets, or that they would have had a chance of But I shall doubtless be met with the argument that doing so if they had been so chosen.

mystic signs, such as the Pentalpha,

etc.,

have been repeatedly found among masonic

marks on
it is

stones, to say

nothing of rings and other similar trinkets.

To

this I reply, that

from the other without knowing the reason why, and that the greater part of these supposed mysterious emblems, were transmitted from one to the other without any higher reason than that they were common and handy, and had, so to speak, fashion on their side. What, for instance, could be more absurd
a very

common

thing for

men

to copy one

than to suppose that poor and

value, to be then turned in

illiterate

masons should copy the signs

walls,

of magical lore

on

stones under the very eyes of their employers

the clergyeven supposing they knew their

on the chance of their being
all

and buried within massive

in a niche,
if

discovered by some remote generation which would have lost

sense of their symbolism

As

well suppose that a

nun bricked up

ever such there were, was placed there

sin.

as a

warning

to

remote posterity and not as a punishment for present

So matters stood at the era of the Reformation.

This

era, of

which the Reformation

was only a part, formed a prodigious leap in the human intellect, a leap for which preparaThe phase of thought peculiar to the Middle Ages, had long tions had long been made.
been
silently

decaying before the

fall

or impending

fall

of Constantinople

Greek learned
was only the

to Italy, before the invention of printing

itself

had driven the had multiplied knowledge, and

long before the Reformation

final

had added the climax to the whole, for the Reformation

outcome
evil,

of the entire

movement.

For good or for

limited in area, far

the mind of
so

man

in

Western Europe

for

the revolution was

more

than we are apt to think

was

then

set free,

and, as few

people are capable of reasoning correctly, the wildest vagaries ensued as a matter of course.
It

literature,

was not only in theology that a new starting point was acquired; science, politics, art, everything, in short, that is capable of being embraced by the mind of man,

shared in the same movement, and, as a matter of course, no phase of

human

folly re-

mained unrepresented.

The mind

of

man

thus set free was incessantly occupied in search-

ing after the ways of progress, but mankind saw but through a^lass darkly; they were
ignorant of fundamental principles; they drew wild inferences and jumjied at
conclusions, while the imagination was seldom,
if

still

wilder

ever under control, and they were in the

dark as to the method of inductive science,

chain from
particulars to generals.

i.e.,

the patient forging of the links in the

This, one of the most precious of earthly gifts yet

vouchsafed to the

had escaped the Greek philosophers and the perhaps still subtler scholastic doctors, and awaited the era of the Columbus of modern science. Lord Bacon. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that everything of ancient lore, more
intellect,
'

human

It

stonemason, on moving from his

bol differing in

has been already mentioned [ante, Chap. IX., p. 76, note 3) that at the present day, if a own neighborhood, finds his mark employed by another workman,

new comer sliall distinguish his work by a sjiiisome slight respect from that of the mason whose ti'ade mark, so to speak, is identical with his own. The Cabbalistic signs, doubtless originating in the East, must have always been very convenient for this purpose. A friend informs me that some two yeare ago, when the southwestern portion of the nave of Westminster Abbey was in process of restoration, he saw a stone in the cloisters wliich had been taken down, and which bore the name of the mason and the date in full {circa March 30, 1663), the whole being enclosed by a line or border. A mere diagram was inHthe etiquette or usage of the trade requires that the
nitely simpler

and easier to

cut, especially for those

who

could neither read nor write.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

especially

197

when

it

possessed a spark of mystery, should have been eagerly examined,

and

that as the printing press and the revival of Greek learning aided their efforts, everything that could he rescued of the Neo- Alexandrian school, of the jargon of the Cabbalists, the

alchemists and the astrologers, should have been pressed into the service, and resulted in the formation, not exactly of a school, but of a particular phase of the
as I
It

human mind, which was,

was no
folly in religion,

have before

said,

even more extraordinary than that of the visionaries of Alexandria.

strictly so-called,

was not confined to the philosophers

or
arts,

there

politics,

which was not eagerly embraced during the same period, until finally the

storm died away in a calm which was outwardly heralded by the peace of WestphaUa, the
termination of the Fronde, and the English Restoration.
First in point of date

1315,

now

principally

for we may pass over the remembered as the inventor

isolated case of
of a

Raymond

Lully, ch.

kind of Babbage's calculating

machine applied to logic, but who was also a learned chemist and skilful dialectician comes John Picus de Mirandola, born of a princely family, 1463. Before he was twenty-four years of age he had acquired so much knowledge that he went to Rome and proposed for
disputation nine hundred questions in dialectics, mathematics, philosophy, and theology,

which he

also caused to

be hung up

professors to public disputation,

in all the open schools and offering " en prince "

in

Europe, challenging their

to defray the expenses of

any

one travelling to

Rome

for that purpose.

Naturally, he merely excited envy and jealousy,

and

after a

few years he gave himself up to solitude and devotion, and formed a resolution

to distribute his property to the poor,

and

to travel barefooted

throughout the world, in

in the thirty-

order to propagate the gospel.

But death put an end to this extravagant project

I

second year of his age. ^

to

Probably the blade had worn out the scabbard.

do not pretend
enthu-

any deep learning in the doctrines of

this school, or rather of the various classes of

It
is

siasts

who sprang up

we cannot exactly say flourished during this period.

school, but that each

tolerably

clear that very few

formed any connected

was eagerly searching after

truth, or following will o' the wisps, as his

own

fancies prompted;

and

if

several pursued the

store of

same mode
sics

of investigation

it

was more from

chance than design.

What

metaphy-

they had was most probably gathered from their predecessors,

their

physics, that is

the empirical arts which they professed, from themselves, based on what they could gather

from the Cabbalists and Saracens.

Freemasons must be derived,
if it

Bence

it

would seem that the mystical descent

all,

of the

be so derived at

from a somewhat mixed and doubtful ancestry.

'

from a bastard philosophy springing Men's minds being thoroughly upset, any
led

The whole

of this period, both in the matters

which

up

to

it,

it

passed, have had almost their counterpart in the French Revolution and

and the phases through which its causes, and the stormy

and perplexed state which nations are now in and have during the century been passing through. ' The custom, of which the famous nine hundred questions afford a typical illustration, was a common enough form of literary distinction in those days, thougli this is probably the most celebrated instance. But by far the greater part were from Aristotle or the Cabbala. The secret of the whole is simple enough. He, and others like him, studied certain authors, and then offered to be examined in them, themselves setting the examination papers. Any one would be glad to go into a civil service examination on these terms. But the subjects must have been uncommonly well " got up." Most people will remember the story of Sir T. More, who, when a young man, answered
the pedant who at Brussels offered to dispute " de omni scibili" by the proposition "An averia capta in Withernamia sint irreplegibilia?" (whether cattle taken in "Withernam be irrepleWable?). Only an English common lawyer could have answered it; but the barbarous Latiy in which it was

couched made

it

appear

still

more

terrible.

"

198

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

one of ill-regulated or ardent imagination naturally became excited, and launched out into every kind of absurdity. The superior and more educated classes believed in alchemy,
magic, astronomy, and fortune telling of a superior order;
the

common

people believed

For this witchcraft was not the effect of the " gross almost universally in witchcraft. superstition of the dark ages " and of ignorance, as is generally assumed by the glib talkers

and writers of the day, but was rather the effect of the " outburst of the human intellect and " the shaking-off of the thraldom of ignorance." It is strange that it prevailed mainly, if not entirely, in those countries most shaken by the throes of the Eeformation England,

Scotland, France, and

Germany

(there

is little

heard of

it,

I believe, in Ireland),

and seems
by His

most

likely to

have been a kind of lasting epidemic of nervous hysteria.'

it

Its existence

was believed in by the ablest of our judges;

was the subject of a special

treatise

Most Gracious Majesty James

him; and
if

I.

his opinion be not

who was by no means the fool it is the fashion to suppose deemed of much weight it was equally supported, and that
,

at a comparatively late period

by one of the acutest geniuses England has yet produced

Glanvillin his " Sadducismus

Triumphatus."

Indeed, there was nothing very extra-

ordinary in this universal belief, for earth and air were full of demons, and the black and

Not to mention Nostradamus, Wallenstein, who was probably mad, had his astrologer, and a century earlier, Catherine de Medicis, who was certainly not, had hers. Between the two flourished the famous Dr. Dee and Sir Kenelm Digby," whose natural eccentricity wanted no artificial stimulus, followed in the same path as did Dr. Lamb, who was knocked on the head by the populace early in Charles
other kindred arts objects of universal study.

the First's reign, from which arose the cant phrase, "
the astrologer,

Lamb him,"

'

teste

Macaulay.

Lilly,

who seems

to have been half enthusiast, half fool,

and whole knave, gives

his con-

in his autobiography several

most curious accounts of the various astrologers of

temporaries then flourishing in

London, every one of

whom would
also

now, most certainly,

and with great

justice,

be handed over to the police.

He

mentions that he himself (he

es-

seems to have towered above his colleagues) was consulted as to some of the attempted
capes of Charles
I.,

which, according to him, only failed owing to the king having wilfully

neglected his advice, while, on the other hand, he was thanked at Windsor by some of the
leading officers of the Republican

army

for the astrological predictions, with

occasionally revived their drooping hopes.

of opinion that these pious sectaries always

Before perusing Lilly's autobiography,'

which he had I was

" wrestled with the Lord

in prayer," or, at the

The poor women accused of witchcraft constantly asserted the truth of their having' dealings with the Evil One, althoug:h they well knew that the confession would subject them to a cruel death. Tliey must, therefore, in some way have been deluded into the beUef. Again, they constantly asserted that they bore marks on their person made by the fiend, and on their being examined this was genThis is another proof of nervous hysteria. erally found to be the case.
'

'Sir K.

Digby being

in the East,

and

finding, or fancying that

he found, his virtue in danger,

preserved his fidelity to his wife, the beautiful Venetia Stanley, to whom he was passionately attached, by writing a paneg^yrical biography of her. As he does not appear, however, from the same
narrative to have been over scrupulous of his wife's honor, the performance seems to have savored
slightly of supererogation.
' To " lamb into a fellow" is a very old school phrase. If this is derivable from the former, it is another illustration, and a curious one, of the way things are handed down without any visible connection. For even the proverbially omniscient schoolboy can scarcely be supposed to be well ac-

quainted with, or

much

interested in, the details of the life and deatli of the ill-starred Dr.

Lamb.

'Life of William Lilly, with Notes by Mr. Ashniole.

Ed. 1774.

brother George W. Kendricl<,

Initi.iii-il

Jr.,

33

RIGUr WORSHIPFUL intAND MASTER OF THE OUAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Freemasonry August 27, jmssed September 24, and raised October 22, 1863, in Mitchell Lodge No. 296, Gevmantown, riiiladeiphia; elected Grand Master December, 1905.
into

'

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

worst, tried a "fall" in the Bible akin to the Sortes Virgilianm, but
it

199
that, as

would seem

they deceived others, so they themselves should be deceived.

tensive that he complains, towards the

Lilly's business

was so exto

end of

his work, that he

had not proper time

(of

devote to his prayers, and, accordingly, retired to Hersham, near Walton-on-Thames, a place

he had long affected.

after),

Having, tlirough the interest of his friend Ashmole

whom

here-

obtained the degree of M. D. from Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, he practised

physic with

much

success at Kingston-on-Thames, and, dying in

1681 (he was born in

success, however,

1602), was buried in the chancel of

Walton Church.

Whatever
it

liis

he

did not take in everybody, for the honor of

human

nature, be

said, that

Pepys records:

"

Oct. 24, 1660.

So to Mr.

Lilly's,

with Mr. Spong, where well received, there being a

the rest. Esquire Ashmole, who, I found, was a

clubb to-night among his friends.

very ingenious gentleman.

Among

done we
great

all

many

please his

and I which may be done by nativities, and blaming Mr. friends and to keep in with the times (as lie did formerly to
parted:
fooleries

With him we two sang afterwards in Mr. Lilly's study. That home by Coach taking Mr. Rooker with me, who did tell me a
Lilly for writing to
his

own dishonour)

and not according

to the rules of art,

by which he could not well erre as he had done."

Lilly's prophecies this

And again: "June 14,

nack for

1667.

We read and

laughed at

month

in his

Alma-

this year.

"

Among the numerous philosophers, all of them more or less eminent, and many endowed with really powerful genius, who were led astray by these fancies, may be mentioned Johann Reuchlin,' born at Pforzheim in Suabia a.d. 1455, who professed and taught a
mystical system

compounded

of the Platonic, Pythagorean,

and Cabbalistic doctrines prinin 1486, a

restless spirit,

cipally set forth in his works.*

Henry Cornelius Agrippa, born near Cologne

man
phy

of powerful genius

and vast erudition, but of an eccentric and

and who

finally closed a
is

roving and chequered existence at Grenoble in 1535.'

His occult philoso-

rather a sketch of the Alexandrian mixed with the Cabbalistic theology than a

treatise

on magic, and explains the harmony of nature and the connection of the elemen-

tary, celestial,

and

intellectual worlds

on the principles of the emanative system.

Two

things

may

be especially noted of him.

He

started in life as a physician with the wild

project of

of nature,

recommending himself to the great by pretending to a knowledge of the secrets and especially of the art of producing gold. The other, that in the course of his wanderings he came for a short time to England, where he is said to have founded an hermetic society.* Jerome Cardan, an Italian physician, born at Pavia in 1501, and who
'

Samuel Pepys, Diary and Correspondence.

Reuchlin's zeal for the

'

1 bid.
Pfeffer-

'

Hebrew learning once nearly got him

all

into g^eat trouble.

One

korn, a converted Jew, of Cologne, with the not always disinterested zeal of converts, succeeded in

obtaining an order from the Emperor that

burnt.

Jewish books should be collected at Frankfort and

The Jews, however, succeeded in inducing the Emperor to allow them first to be examined, and Reuchlin was appointed for that purpose, and his recommendation that all should be spared save those written against the Faith was carried out; by which means he incurred the intense hatred of the more bigotted churchmen. Ob. 1.523. 4 ..De Verbo Mirilico" (1494), and " De Arte Cabbalistica " (1516). ' See H. Morley, Life of Cornelius Agrippa von Mettesheim, Doctor and BCnight, commonly

known

as a Magician, 1856.
to London, and, as appears

"In the year 1510 Henry Cornelius Agrippa came

t. ii.,

by

his corre-

spondence (Oj3!cu/a,

p. 1073),

he founded a secret society for alchemical purposes similar to one

200

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

compound
of

died about 157G, was a wonderful

life,

wisdom and

folly.

An
to

astrologer all his

his

numerous

predictions,

and the cures which he undertook

perform by secret

spirits, made him pass for a magician, while they mind infatuated by superstition. His numerous works, were in reality only proofs of a collected and published by Spon, in 10 vols, (fol., Lugd., 1663), show him to have been a man of great erudition, fertile invention, and capable of many new and singular disInnumerable singularities, both physical and coveries both in philosophy and medicine.

charms, or by the assistance of invisible

metaphysical, are found in his works, accompanied by

many experiments and

observations

on natural phenomena, but the whole is thrown together in such a confused mass as to show clearly that, though he had no lack of ideas, he was incapable of arranging them, an
incapacity which will render nugatory the most ingenious and original conceptions.

His

works

'

exemplify this combined strength and weakness, for

if

he could only have preserved

a clear head and cool judgment, he would doubtless have contributed largely to the progress of true science.

also

undoubtedly a

Thomas Campanella, a Dominican, born in Calabria in 1568, was man of genius, and it must be equally without doubt, that his imaginawhen we
find that he not only gave credit to

tion greatly predominated over his judgment,

the art of astrology, but believed that he was cured of a disease by the words and prayers

an old woman; that demons appeared to him, and that he persuaded himself that when any danger threatened him, he was, between sleeping and waking, warned by a voice which Still, in spite of his childish credulity and eccentricity, Campanella called him by name.
of

could reason soberly, and

is

especially

worthy of

praise, for the

freedom with which he ex-

posed the futility of the Aristotelian philosophy, and for the pains which he took to deduce
natural science from observation and experience.

He

died in a Dominican monastery at

Paris, A. D. 1639, in the seventy-first year of his age.

Numerous other

philosophers

who

have attained the highest eminence were, at least occasionally, not exempt from a belief in
these
follies,

and that

in comparatively

modern

times.

one of the most

brilliant of the

alumni

of Cambridge, the friend

Henry More, the famous Platonist, and colleague of Cud-

worth, 1614-1687, shows in his works a deep tincture of mysticism, a belief in the Cabbala,

and the transmission of the Hebrew doctrines through Pythagoras to Plato. Locke, 16321704, the father of modem thought and philosophy, was, early in life, for a time seduced by the fascinations of these mysteries; and the eminent Descartes, 1596-16S0, in his long
search after truth

which he

did not ultimately succeed in finding

for a time

admitted

the same weakness.

So far

have treated of philosophers

ogy, magic, and a belief in

who yielded demons; we now come

principle to the weaknesses of astrolto those

who,

also, in their

new born

ardour for the pursuit of material science, explored, or rather attempted to explore, the
realms of chemistry, and to the vague generalities with which men commencing a study, and groping therefore in the dark, feeling their way gradually with many errors, added the mystical views of their contemporaries. The idea of demons, which is probablv at the
root of
all

magic, inasmuch as
air,

it

supposes an inferior kind of guardians of the treasures of

mortals, and,

the earth,

and

planets,

who can be communciated with by

human

vanity

which he had previously instituted at Paris, in concert with Landolfo, Brixianos, Xanthus, and other students at that university. The members of these societies did agree on prii'aie sigres o/ recogiiifion; and they founded, in various parts of Europe, corresponding associations for the prosecution of the
occult sciences" (Montldj' Review, second series, 1798, vol. xxv.,
'

p. 304).

"

De Rerum

Subtilitate,"

and

"De Rerum

Varietate" aflorU a conspicuous illustration.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

will add, controlled

201

by them,

is

in all probability derived to

it,

trine of

emanation was peculiarly suited

from the Cabbalists, whose docand from the Saracens (the two streams hav-

ing united as already shown) wlio had plenty of jins and

demons

of their own, as

may be
and

gathered from the "Arabian Nights."

To

this possibly the old Teutonic, Celtic, so that the wliole

Scandinavian legends

may have been superadded,

formed a machinery to

which the

earlier chemists,

confused in their knowledge, and hampered with the superstiof the various forces of nature,

tions of their times, attributed the control

a system, of
was Philippus

which a French caricature

of

is

given, by the author of the

memoirs of the Count de Gabalis,

these,

whom more
The
first,

anon.
greatest, certainly the

and perhaps the

most celebrated of
said to

Aureolus Theophrastus

Paracelsus, a

man
real

of

strange and paradoxical genius, born at

is

Einsidlen, near Zurich, in 1493.

His

name'

have been Bombastus, which,

in accordance with the pedantry of the times,

he changed to Paracelsus, which expresses

the same thing in somewhat more learned language.

also a physician, his ardor for learning

Brought up by

his father,

who was

was so great that he travelled over the greater part

in search of knowledge, visiting,

of Europe,

and possibly even portions of Asia and Africa,

not only the learned men, but the workshops of mechanics, and not only the universities,

but the mines, and esteeming no person too mean nor any place too dangerous, provided
only that he could obtain knowledge.
despise
folio It

may

easily

be believed that such a

man would
six

book learning, and,

It

in

fact,

he boasted that his library would not amount to

volumes.

may

also

be imagined that such a

man would

strike out bold

and haz-

ardous paths, often depending more on mere conjecture or fancy than on close reasoning

founded on experiment, and

ing success.

also that

such a treatment might occasionally meet with striksuccesses, that it

So great, in

fact,

was his fame, a fame founded on undoubted

was not long before he rose to the summit of popular fame, and obtained the chair of medicine in the college of BAsle.
called Azoth,

Among other nostrums he administered a medicine which he and which he boasted was the philosopher's stone given through the Divine
Naturally his irregular practices, and
still

favor to

man

in these last days.

more, no doubt,

his irregular successes, stirred

up

all

the fury of the regular practitioners

than whom no
stricter

body of men, not even excluding the English Bar, have ever maintained a
of trades'

system

unionism

a fury which the virulence with which he censured the ignorance and
means tended
to allay.

indolence of the ordinary physicians by no

After a while he was

driven from Basle and settled in Alsace, where, after two years, he

returned in 1530 to

Switzerland, where he does not appear to have stayed long, and, after wandering foi

many years through Germany and Bohemia,

at Salzburg a.d. 1541.

finished his life in the hospital of St. Sebastian

His admirers, and followers have celebrated him as a perfect master of all philosophical and medical mysteries, and have gone so far, in some cases, as to assert that he was possessed of the grand
secret of

The

true character of Paracelsus has been the subject of great disputes.

transmuting the inferior metals into gold.

But, in this case,

why

did he die in

public hospital, therein following the example of most gold finders ? Others, on the contrary,

have charged his whole medical practice with ignorance, imposture, and impudence.
Crato, in an epistle to Z winger, declares that in
'

J.

Bohemia

his medicines, even

when apparently

I doubt Bombastus being the real name. It was probably the Latinized term of an honest Swiss patronymic which, having been once Laiinv'^d, could take no great harm by being further

Grectzed.

202

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

which
all

successful, left his patients in such a state that they soon after died of palsy or epilepsy,
is

quite credible seeing that he was in

probability a bold

and

reckless innovator
is

whose
easily

maxim was

the vulgarism "

kill

or cure."

The

hostility of the regular practitioners

understood, and as easily pardoned.

Erastus,

who was one

of his pupils for two years,

wrote a work detecting his impostures.

He

is

said to have

been ignorant of Greek, and to

it

have had so

little

knowledge of Latin that he dared not speak

before the learned

as,

however, he despised the learning of Galen and Hippocrates, this

gether to his hindrance
obliged to have his

and even his native

tongue was so

little

may not have been altoat command, that he was

has also been charged

German

writings corrected by another hand.

He

but

this will

carry no real weight

with the most contemptible ignorance, the most vulgar

scurrility, the grossest

intemperance, and the most detestable impiety.

The truth seems

to be, that

he was a rough and original genius who struck out a path for himself, but who,

in so doing, neglected too much the accumulated wisdom of antiquity, wherein he erred in an opposite direction to the generality of the profession at that period, and neglected still more the common decencies and civilities of life. His chief merit, and that was a great,

one, consisted in improving the art of chemistry, and in inventing or bringing to light
several medicines

which

still

hold their place in the " Pharmacopceia. "

He

wrote or

dictated

many works

so entirely devoid of elegance, and, at the

same time,

so

unmethodical

and obscure, that one is almost tempted to credit the statement of his assistant Oponinus, who said that he was usually drunk when he dictated. They treat of an immense variety of subjects medical, magical, and philosophical. His " Philosophia Sagax" is a most and confused treatise on astrology, necromancy, cliiromancy, physiognomy (herein obscure

anticipating Lavater),

and other divining

arts;

and, though several of his works treat of

it

philosophical subjects, yet they are so involved as to render

an almost impossible task, to

did, however,

reduce them to anything like philosophical consistency.

He

found a school
in-

which produced many eminent men, some

of

whom

took great pains to digest the

coherent dogmas of their master into something like a methodical system. A summary of his doctrine may be seen in the preface to the " Basilica Chymica " of CroUius, but it is
little

better than a

mere Jargon

of words.

A
of

greater visionary, without, moreover, any scientific qualities to counterbalance his

craziness,

was Jacob Boehmen, a shoemaker of Gorlitz

it

in

Upper

Silesia,

born in 1575, and

of the

whom

amy

safely be said, that

It

no one ever

offered a

more striking example

adage ne sutor ultra ci-ejndam.

has sometimes been said that he was a disciple of Fludd,

fre-

but beyond a probable acquaintance with the writings of Paracelsus, whose terms he
quently uses, he seems to have followed no other guides than his
enthusiastic imagination.

own

eccentric genius and

His conceptions, in themselves

to explain
still

sufficiently obscure, are often

rendered
art,

still

more

so,

by being clothed in

allegorical symbols, derived

from the chemical

system has only
it is

and every attempt which has been made

and

illustrate his

raised a fresh ignis fahms to lead the student

to explain that

further astray.

Indeed,

impossible

which possesses no system or design, and which contains simply the crazy

outpourings of an ignorant fanatic

represented a mediaeval Joanna Southcote, with more scientific theosophist was John Baptista van Helmont, born at Brussels 1577, who became lecturer on surgery in the academy of Louvain at the age of seventeen. Dissatisfied with what he had learned, he studied with indefatigable industry mathematics, geometry, logic, algebra, and astronomy; but, still remaining unsatisfied, he had recourse to the writings of Thomas d Kempis, and was induced by their

who

German mysticism superadded.

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

pemsal
to to pray to the

203

Almighty

to give

him grace
all

to love

was instructed by a droam to renounce

heatlien philosophy,

and pursue truth, on which lie and particularly stoicism,

Being dissatisfied with

which he had been inclined, and

in a

to wait for Divine illumination.

the medical writings of the ancients, he again had recourse to prayer, and was again ad-

dream to give himself up to the pursuit of Divine wisdom. About this time he learned from a chemist the practical operations of the art, and devoted himself to the pursuit with great zeal and perseverance, hoping by this means to acquire the knowledge which he had in vain sought from books. The medical skill thus acquired he employed
monished
entirely in the service of the poor,

whom

he attended gratis, and obtained a high reputalife

tion for

humanity and medical

skill.

His

ultimately

fell

a sacrifice to his zeal for

science and philanthropy, for he caught cold attending a poor patient at night,

which

terminated his existence in the sixty-seventh year of his age.

the chemical and the medical art, but his vanity led

Van Helmont improved both

into empirical pretensions.

him

He

boasted that he was possessed of a fluid which he called Alcahest or pure salt (to be again
referred to),

which was the

this

first

material principle in nature, and was capable of penetrat-

ing into bodies and producing an entire separation and transmutation of their component
parts.

But

wonderful

fluid

was never shown even

to

his son,

who

also practised

chemistry, and was rather more crazy than his father, inasmuch as to his progenitor's fancies he added the dreams of the Cabbala. His " Paradoxical Dissertations " are a mass
of philosophical,

medical, and theological paradoxes, scarcely to

be parallelled in

the

history of letters.

The

last of

these writers, which

I shall

have occasion to mention, and that more par-

ticularly, is

Robert Fludd, or
at

De

Fluctibus, born in 1574 at Milgate in Kent, and

who

became a student

Oxford in 1591.

Having

finished his studies

his return

he travelled for

six years

in France, Spain, Italy,

and Germany; and on

was admitted a physician, and

obtained great admiration, not only for the depth of his chemical, philosophical, and theological

knowledge, but for his singular piety.

So peculiar was his turn of mind, that there was nothing ancient or modern, under the
guise of occult wisdom, which he did not eagerly gather into his magazine of science.

All

the mysterious and incomprehensible dreams of the Cabbalists and Paracelsians were com-

pounded by him
chemical arts
mystical fictions.

new mass of absurdity. In hopes of improving the medical and he devised a new system of physics, loaded with wonderful hypotheses and
into a

He

supposed two universal principles

'

the

northern or condensing, and

the southern or rarefying, power.

geniuses, herein only magnifying

Over these he placed innumerable intelligences and

what had been done by

his predecessors,

and

called to-

gether whole troops of spirits from the four winds, to

diseases.

whom

he committed the charge of

Disease being blown about by wind

is

a theory perfectly consonant with the

germ

theory.

We
He

have only to go a step farther, and suppose that these winds are under

the guidance of
of emanation.

spirits,

which brings us back

to the old Cabbalistic

and Oriental doctrine

used his thermometer in an endeavor to discover the harmony between

the macrocosm and the microcosm,' or the world of nature and of man; he introduced
This was in a vague idea and geographically absurd.
'

true, putting north

and south
visible

for heat

and

cold,

which

is

physically

'

"

Two

works,

'

The Macrocosm,' or the great

all arts

world of nature, and

'

The Microcosm,' or

the

little

world of man, form the comprehensive view, designed, to use Fludd's

own

terras, as

'

an

Encyclophy, or Epitome,' of

and sciences" (Isaac Disraeli. Amenities of Literature,

1841, vol.

"

204

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

'

many marvellous fictions into natural philosophy and medicine, and attempted to explain the Mosaic cosmogony in a work entitled " Philosophia Moysaica," wherein he speaks of three principles darkness as the first matter, water as the second, and the Divine light as

the most central essence creating, informing, vivifying all things; of secondary principles two active, cold and heat; and two passive, moisture and dryness; and describes the whole mystery of production and corruption, of regeneration and resurrection, with such

vague conceptions and obscure language as leaves the subject involved in impenetrable Some of his ideas, such as they were, seem to have been borrowed from the darkness.
Cabbalists and Neo-Platonists.

One specimen
full

of

them

will

probably suiEce

my

readers.

He

ascribes the magnetic virtue to the irradiation of angels.

The

titles of his

numerous

works are (with a few exceptions) given in

enses.

by Anthony a Wood in the "Athense Oxoni-

The writings of Fludd were all composed in Latin; and whilst it is remarkable that the works of an Englisli author, residing in England, should be printed at Frankfort, OppenFludd, in one heim, and Gouda, this singularity is accounted for by the author himself. respect, resembled Dee; he could find no English printers who would venture on their
publication.

When

Foster insinuated that his character as a magician was so notorious,

that he dared not print at home, Fludd tells his curious story:

"

I sent

my writings beyond
to print the

the seas, because our home-born printers

first

demanded

of

me

five

hundred pounds
it

volume, and to find the cuts in copper; but beyond the seas

was printed at no cost

of mine,

and

as I could wish;

and

gold, as an unexpected gratuity for it.'"

had sixteen copies sent me over, with forty pounds in Fludd's works seem to have exercised a strange

fascination over the

mind of the scholar and antiquary from whose pages I have last quoted. " We may smile at jargon in which we have not been initiated, at Disraeli observes: whimsical combinations we do not fancy, at analogies where we lose all semblance, and at fables which we know to be nothing more; but we may credit that these terms of the
learned

Fludd

conceal

many profound and

original views,

and many truths not yet

patent."'

His extravagances were especially reprobated by P^re Mersenne

astonishment that James
I.

who

expressed his

suffered such a

man

to live

and write

and Kepler.
it

The

former, being either unable or unwilling to continue the contest, turned

Gassendij

over to

who wrote

a reply which

is

supposed to have had the

effect of crushing,

not only

Fludd, but also the whole body of Rosicrucians, whose great supporter he was.
Soane, indeed, in his
to shelter themselves

"New

Curiosities of Literature,"* asserts that they

were forced

under the cloak of Freemasonry, a view which was first broached in slight variation has been adopted by many English writers, notably by Germany,' and with Mr. King, who finds "the commencement of the real existence of Freemasonry" in "the
its fullest

adaptation to a special purpose of another society, then in

iii.,

bloom,

the Rosicru-

p. 232).

haps, our

According to the same authority, " the word here introduced into the langruage is, permost ancient authority for the modern term Encyclopcedia, which Cliambers curtailed to
fol."

Cyclopmdia." " Goudse, 1638, fol. Printed in Enghsh at Lond. 1659, Fludd makes Moses a great Rosicrucian. p. 622).
'

(Athenae Oxonienses, vol.

ii.,

1815,

'Isaac Disraeli, Amenities of Literature, vol.

'

iii.,

p. 340.

^Ibid.,

p. 237.

Vol.

ii.,

1848. p. 63.

Cf. 3. G. Buhle,

Ueber den Ursprung und

die

Vornehmstn SchicksaJe das Ordens der Rosen-

kreuzer und Freimaui-er, 1804.

'

EA RL V BRI TISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

cians."
'

205
ia

Gassendi's strictures on Fludd's philosophy I have not seen, but their purport

" Gassendus,
sifts

sufficiently disclosed in the

" Athenae Oxonienses. "'

his desiring

According
his

to the

Oxford antiquary,
of Fludd's
first
lie

upon Marsennus

him

to give

judgment
parts.

two

books wrote against him, drew up an answer divided into three

throughout his works.
third answers the
'

The

of

which

the principles of the whole system of his whimsical philosophy, as they

scattered

The second is against Summum Bonum' as his."^

'

Sophia}

cum

Moriii Certamen,'

and the

Although the

silence of Bayle, of Chauffepie, of Prosper

is

Marchand, of Niceron, and of

remarkable,
it is

other literary historians, with regard to Fludd,

less certain that his writings

not a

little

none the

were extensively read throughout Europe, where at that time

they were infinitely more inquisitive in their occult speculations than we in England.
Passing, however, for the present from any further consideration of the philosophy of this

remarkable Englishman
foundest

who died in

1637'

may
air

yet briefly state, that one of our pro-

scholars, the illustrious Selden, highly appreciated the

volumes and their author.

full

It has

been before observed that the earth and

were at this time supposed to be

of demons, and that this was probably owing to the Cabbalistic

countless angels and spirits,

and Saracenic doctrines of the whole springing ultimately from the Oriental doctrine of

emanation.

Much

curious information on this subject, and which will serve to show to

what lengths the

Buflfon or Cuvier.

belief

was carried, may be found in the works below noted.'

one very curious form of exorcism which

older authors wrote regular natural histories of demons, something after the

Some of the manner of

affected,

There

is

is

given as having

actually occurred.

The

exorcist,

on arriving

at night in the

room which the ghost

proceeded to form a charmed

subject

circle.

This done, and the ghost appearing, he proceeded to

his incantations, after

him

to control

by means of
Thou

which the following dialogue

ensued:
Exorcist.
shalt
lie in

the Red Sea.

be.

Ohost.
Exorcist.

Nay, that cannot

How

so

Ohost.

The Spaniard will take me as I go. (There being war with Spain at this time.)
p. 177.
'

'

The Gnostics and

their Remains, 1865,

Vol.

ii.,

col. 621.

under another name (Joachim Frizium), yet not only Gassendus gives many reasons to show it to be of our author's composition (Fludd), but also Franc. Lanovius shows others to the same purpose; and Marsennus himself, against whom it was directed, was of the like opinion" (Ibid., col. 620). The periods during which the various philosophers flourished, who are said to have been adsays,

'Of the "

Summum

Bonum," Wood

"Although

this piece goes

dicted to Rosicrucian studies,

become very material. E.g., Ashmole, whose Hermetic learning has been ascribed, in part, to the personal instruction he received from Michael Maier and Robert Fludd, was only three years old at the death of the former (1630), and had not quite attained legal age when the grave closed over the latter (1637). Cf. J. Fuller, Worthies of England, ed. 1811 (J. Nichols), vol. ii., p. 503; Athen;t Oxonienses (Bliss), vol. ii., col. 618; Biographie Univei'selle, Paris, Tome xvi., 1816, p. 109; and Disraeli, Amenities of

Literature, vol.

iii.,

p. 237.

'Martin Dehio, Disquisitionum Magicarum; Wiertz de Daem. Pra;st.; Reginal Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584 (the 2d ed., 163-1, has " a Discourse of the Natureand Substance of Devils

and Spirits"); Rev. J. Glanvill, Saducismus Triumphatus, or. Full and Plain Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions, 1667, etc. Amongst the more modern compilations which deal with the subject may be named Sir Walter Scott's Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1831 and the Dictionnaire Infernale of Collin de Plancy, 3me edit. 1844.
;

2o6

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

Exorcist.

Ohost.
Exorcist.

Thou Then

slialt

have a convoy.
boy.

1 will depart,

And

there shalt thou stay

daj-.

For ever and a

The ghost was

to repeat this after him,

life

but not being anxious for penal serritude for

by saying
I

life,

whatever a ghost's

may

be, tried to get off

And

there will

stay

For never any day,

and immediately flew up the chimney. If the ears of the exorcist could be deceived, the whole proceedings would have been rendered invalid; but the latter was far too much on
the alert to be thus caught, and sprinkled some dew, which he had brought in order to be prepared against such eventualities, on his " skirts," just as they were disappearing up the

chimney.

This brought the ghost down, and he ramped and raved, threatened and

stormed, in a frantic

manner, " but

nothing heeded his braggarding [the ghost-layer

is

made

to say],

knowing

well that he could not

tlie

come within the charmed

stay, while

circle."

The

ghost, having spent the greater part of

at length

night in this unprofitable exhibition of temper,

began to see signs of dawn, after which he dared not

he could not
therefore

leave without permission of the exorcist, because of the

dew on

his skirts.

He was

obliged to surrender at discretion, repeat the words like a good boy or ghost,

and depart to watery limbo. What would have happened to him if the exorcist had not let him go, and his he had been caught either by the dawn or cock-crowing, is not stated, but it must have
been something
terrible,

though nameless.

It

is

difficult to

imagine such a tale being

Yet not many years ago a gentleman in North Devon having a haunted farm which he was unable on that account to let, had recourse to the ingenious expedient of calling in a number of clergymen, who exorcised the ghost, and having driven it down to the seashore, allotted the usual task of tying up a sheaf of sand with a sand rope, and carrying it to the top of a cliff which overhung the shore to the A cave happened opportunely to be at the foot of the cliff, which was lieight of 600 feet. probably the reason why that particular locality was chosen, and when the wind and tide were high, the noise made by the breakers dashing through the cavern was fully believed by the natives to be the moaning of the ghost over his impossible task. Somehow or another, either the knot of exorcism was not tied quite fast enough, or the ghost was a kind

meant

seriously to be believed.

of spiritual Davenport or Maskelyne, but he was supposed to have got free

and

to be rapidly

moving up
to

hill to his old quarters,

from his task and an apprehension prevailed tliat it

!

might become necessary

this troublesome ghost

go through the ceremony of exorcism a second time

laid,

Whether

was again

and

if

so,

with what
'

result,

have not heard.

Similarly in another locality, not far from the above,

there dwelt an old laborer and his

wife in a cottage near a pool, which was supposed to be haunted, though nobody even in

that district ever pretended to have seen anything, but this legend, coupled with the fact
that the poor old

man was
sleep

in the habit of comforting himself with singing Wesley's

set

when he could not

through rheumatism, caused himself and wife to be

hymne down as
is

wizard and witch respectively, and to such an extent did this belief go, that there

not a
to

doubt but that some

'

villager or other

would have shot the harmless old couple, only

do

The remark of a learned writer, that the further West he proceeded, the more convinced he was that the wise men came from the East, will here occur to the judicious reader.

"

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLA ND.

this a silver bullet

207

was absolutely necessary, and as in the days

am

speaking of the Agri-

cultural I-aborers'

Union did not

exist,

the disposable funds were luckily not equal to so

large

an expenditure of capital for any purpose however laudable.

are apt to laugh at the superstition of former times, but I do not

We
have so were

know

that

we

much

to boast of ourselves.

Paracelsus, Cardan,

and other visionary philosophers,

certainly

though incapable of reasoning

correctly, or of restraining the flights of their imagination,

men

of talent

not to say genius and

I.

learning,

which

is

more than can be

still

said of Cagliostro,

and even possibly of Mesmer.

Astrological almanacs a la Lilly

find

abundant

sale;

if

Catherine de Medicis and Wallenstcin had their astrologers. Napoleon

a mystical lady, whose

had Mdlle. Le Normand, and Alexander

name
its

forget,

and who

persuaded him to found the Holy Alliance

which really was

in

inception an alliance
if

against the atheistical and blasphemous doctrines of the Revolution

the sixteenth cen-

tury believed in Nostradamus, a good

many towards

the end of the nineteenth believe in

Mother Shipton.
spiritualism,

Delrio and Wiertz are fairly matched by Mrs. Crowe,' while mesmerism,

animal magnetism, table turning, and the latest development, thought-

reading, to say nothing of the fact that there are very few people

who have not

their pet

" drawing them out," do not constitute a very high claim for immunity from superstition; moreover, I do not believe that any of the charlatans of the period of which I have been treating, ever hit on a more absurd mode of divining the future than by making use of a small piece of slit wood with two wheels at one end and the stump of a pencil at the other [Planchette]. Reverting to Robert Fludd, or " De Fluctibus," the mention of this celebrated man
ghosts

when once you succeed

in

brings

me

not unnaturally to the Rosicrucians or Brothers of the Rosy Cross, an impalpa-

ble fraternity of

which he

is

known

to

have been a follower and defender, and by some has

if

been supposed to have been the second,

not the actual founder.

The
its

celebrity of,

and

the mystery attached to this sect, together with the circumstances of

having by some

been especially connected with Freemasonry,

degree of minutite into the subject.

will, I trust,

warrant

my

entering with some

The

fullest

account we have, although we

may

differ

from

its

conclusions,

is

contained

in the essay of Professor J. G. Buhle, of

which a German version appeared in 1804,' being

This work was attacked by Nicolai in 1806,

an enlargement of a dissertation originally composed in Latin, and read by him before the
Philosophical Society of Gottingen a.
d.

1803.

and
the

in 1824
title of

of it in the "London Magazine,'" under " Historico-critical Inquiry into the Origin of the Rosicrucians and the Free-

De Quincey published an abridgment

miisons.

Professor Buhle's work, which extended over more than 400 pages, has been cut

down
I

by De Quincey to about 90, but in such a manner as to render

detect
'

it

often very difficult to

what

is

due to Buhle and what to De Quincey,* and

it

is

to this

abridgment that

The Night side of nature, 1848. Ueber den Ureprung und die Vornehmsten Schicksale des Ordens der Rosenkreuzer und Frieaurer, i.e.. On the Origin and the Principal Events of the Orders of Rosicrucians and Freemasons.
'

'Vol.
*

ix.

Reprinted

in his collected

works, 1863-71; vol. xvi. (Suspiria de Profundis).

De Quincey 's vanity and

upon the whole,
it is

conceit are most amusing, surpassing even the wide latitude usuaUy

E.g., "1 have done wliat I could to remedy these infirmities of the book; a good deal less paralytic than it was" again, "I have so whitewashed the Professor, that nothing but a life of gratitude on his part, and free admission to his logic lectures for ever, can possibly repay me for my services " (Pref.ioe).

allowed to a literary man.

and,

'

2o8

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

mainly for the following sketch of the
however, state the main argument.
rise

ehall havfe recourse

and progress of Hosicru-

cianism.

must

first,

Denying the derivation of the

order from the Egyptian, Greek, Persian, or Chaldean mysteries, or even from the Jews

and Arahs, the writer asserts (and herein both Buhle and De Quincey are certainly in agreement) that though individual Cabbalists, Alchemists, etc. doubtless existed long previously, yet that no organized body made its appearance before the rise of the Rosicrucian
,

sect, strictly so called,

towards the beginning of the sixteenth century, when

that Fludd, becoming enamoured of
its

it

was founded
it

really accidentally by Andrea;

doctrines, took

up in earnest, and that hence the sect, which never assumed any definite form abroad, became organized in England under the new name of Freemasonry; he then goes on to
show the points
of resemblance

between the two," which in his idea proves relationship.

The

essay concludes with a long dissertation disproving the assertion of Nicolai, that

Masonry was established to promote the Restoration of Charles II., and another theory sometimes advanced, which derives its origin from the Templars, neither of which requires
serious,
if

any, refutation.

His conclusions are

1.

The

original

Freemasons were a society that arose out of the Rosicrucian mania be-

tween 1633 and 1646, their object being magic in the Cabbalistic sense, i.e., the occult wisdom transmitted from the beginning of the world and matured by Christ [when it could

no longer be

occult,

but this by the way], to communicate this when they had

it

it,

and

to

and both under an oath of secresy. search for it 2. This object of Freemasonry was represented under the form of Solomon's Temple, The Temple is to be built of as a type of the true Church, whose comer-stone is Christ.
not,

when they had

men,
ing.

or living stones;

and

it is

for magic to teach the true

method

of this kind of build-

Hence

all

Masonic symbols either refer to Solomon's Temple or are figurative modes

symbols, etc., from the art of Masonry, to

of expressing magic in the Rosicrucian sense.

3.

The Freemasons having once adopted

which they were led by the language of Scripture, went on to connect themselves in a certain degree with the order itself of handicraft masons, and adopted their distribution of members into apprentices, journeymen, and masters. Christ is the Grand Master, and was

put to death whilst laying the foundation of the Temple of human nature. This is the theory of Buhle and De Quincey, which is plausible but untenable, especially

when confronted with

But

the stern logic of facts, as I shall hereafter have occasion to

it is,

show.

to return to the history, such as

of the Rosicrucians.

'

According to the Professor, "

first

it

was a distinguishing feature

of the Rosicrucians
tlie

and Freema-

sons that they

toleration."

conceived the idea of a Society whicli should act on

principle of religious

ideas

Besides the Spanish lUuminati of the sixteenth century, who seemed to have derived their from the works of Lully, which never had much influence out of Spain, and which sect, hav-

ing been suppressed by the Inquisition, reappeared not long after at Seville, when, being about contemporary, they were confounded w:th the Rosicrucians. There was a somewhat similar sect, at an earlier date (1525), in the Low Countries and Picardy, headed by two artisans, named Quentin and

There arose also a.d. 1586, a militia crucifera evangelica, who assembled first at Luneburg, and are sometimes confounded with the Rosici-ucians. They were, however, nothing more than a party of extreme Protestants, whose brains became overheated with apocalyptic \'isions and whose object was exclusively connected with religion. Our chief knowledge of them is derived from one Simon Studion, a mystic and theosophist who got himself into some trouble with alchemy, and more
Cossin.

A RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

Towards the
Germany.
close of the sixteenth century, Cabbalism,

209

Theosophy, and Alchemy had

overspread the whole of Western Europe, and more especially, as might have been expected,

No writer had contributed more

II.

to this

mania than Paracelsus, and amongst other

things wliich excited deep interest, was a prophecy of his to the effect, that soon after the

death of the Emperor Rudolph

who was himself deeply infected there would be found

Accordingly, shortly after

three treasures that had never been revealed before that time.
his death, in or about 1610, occasion

was taken

to publish three books.

'

The

first

was the

" Universal Reformation of the whole wide World,"

a tale not altogether devoid of

humor.

The seven wise men of Greece, together with M. Cato, Seneca, and a secretary, Mazzonius, are summoned to Delphi by Apollo, at the desire of Justinian, to deliberate on the best mode of redressing human misery. Thales advises to cut a hole in every man's breast;
Solon suggests communism; Chilo (being a Spartan) the abolition of gold and
bulus, on the contrary, that of iron; Pittacus insists on
replies
sliver;

Cleo-

them.

more rigorous laws; but Periander that there never had been any scarcity of these, but much want of men to obey Bias would have all bridges broken down, mountains made insurmountable, and
all

navigation totally forbidden, so that

cease.

intercourse between the nations of the earth should

Cato,

who probably

preferred drinking,
" Narratur et prisci Catonis
Saepe virtus caluisse mere,"
'

wished to pray for a new deluge, which should sweep away

without their
their knees

all

the women, and at the same

time introduce some new arrangement by means of which the species should be continued
aid.'

This exasperates the entire assembly, and they proceed to

of

fall

on

and pray that " the lovely race

woman might

be preserved, and the world

saved from a second deluge. "

Which seems

to have been about the only sensible thing

they did.

Finally, the advice of Seneca prevailed, namely, to

its

form a new

society out of all

in

ranks, having for

secret.*

object the general welfare of mankind, which was to be pursued

This was not carried without great debate and

the matter was at length decided by the appearance of "the Age,"

many doubts as to its success, but who appeared before

and his generally desperate

them

in person,

and described the wretched

at

state of his health,

tled as

in Wurtemberg 1565, and, having- graduated at Tiibingen, setHis work, " Naometria," which contains the information above mentioned, appeai-s to be a farrago of the ordinaiy class, and has apparently never been printed. This, the first of the three, was borrowed, if not translated verbatim, from the " Generate Ri-

with heresy.

He was born

Urach

a teacher at Marbach.

'

" Universe dai sette Savii deila Grecia e da altri Letterati, publicato di ordine di Apollo (" The General Reform of the Universe by the Seven Sages of Greece and other Literati, published by the orders of Apollo"), which occui-s in the " Raguaglio di Parnasso " of Boccalini, wlio was

forma

dell

cudgelled to death in 1613 (Mazzuchelli, Scrittori dltalia, vol. ii., pt. iii., p. 1378). So far Buhle, who says that there was an edition of the first " Centuria " in 1613. But as even the " Fama " is generally supposed to have an earlier date, for the actual time of
possible that the Italian
its

appearance

is

uncertain,

it is
is

work was derived from the German.

is

I shall

not venture an opinion, nor

the subject of any vital importance.

' '

"And

the virtue of the ancient Cato

said to

have been often preserved by old wine " (Horace).

witli the character of this glib philosopher, wlio made nearly two millions and a half sterling by his profession of court philosopher, and wlio was a kind The sudden of philosophic Square on a gigantic scale, if he had proposed an universal loan society.
*

See Milton's Paradise Lost, Book X. It would have been more consonant

recall of his loan of 400,000

was one

of the

VOL. n.

main causes

of the revolt of the

unhappy Boadicea.

14.

2 lo
condition.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGL A ND.

Whatever success
is

this jev, d'esprit

may have had

in its day,

it

has long been

forgotten, and

now

interesting only as having been a kind of precursor of the far

more

celebrated "

Fama."

John Valentine Andrea, a celebrated theologian of Wurtemberg, and known also as a and poet, is generally supposed to have been its author, although Burk has exHe was born 1586 at Herrenberg, and his zeal cluded it from the catalogue of his works. enabled him early to accumulate an extraordinary amount of learning. Very and talents
satirist

early also in life he seems to have conceived a deep sense of the evUs
times, not so

and abuses

of the

much

in politics as in philosophy, morals,

redress by

means

of secret societies.

As

early as

which he sought to his sixteenth year he wrote his " Chemireligion,

and

cal Nuptials of Christian

Rosy Cross,"

his "Julius, sive de Politia," his

of Astrology," together with several other works of similar tendency.

"Condemnation Between 1607-1613

he

travelled extensively through

Germany, France,

long continued, and even during the horrors of

and Switzerland, a practice he the Thirty Years' war exerted himself in

Italy,

founding schools and churches throughout Bohemia, Corinthia, and Moravia.'

in 1654.
his

He

died
in

" From a close review account of Andrea we may,

'

of his life
I

and opinions," says Professor Buhle

think, follow

him with confidence

'

and

' '

I
is

am

not only

satisfied

that he wrote the three works (including the

Confession,' which

a supplement

to the

and

to

Fama '), but I see why he wrote them. " The evils of Germany were enormous, a young man such as Andrea was, when he commenced what we must admit to be
might seem
easy, especially with the

his Quixotic enterprise, their cure

example of Luther
socie-

before him, and

ties, to

it

was with
"

this idea that

he endeavored to organize the Rosicrucian

which, in an age of Theosophy, Cabbalism, and Alchemy, he added wliat he

bait.

knew

would prove a
as

Many would On

seek to connect themselves with this society for aims

which were indeed

illusions,

and from these he might gradually

this view of

members

of the real society.

Andrea's real

more promising intentions we understand at

select the
follies of his

once the ground of the contradictory language which he held about astrology and the
transmutation of metals; his satmcal works show that he looked through the

age with a penetrating eye."'

afterwards he found

Buhle goes on

to say,

why
I

did he not at once

avow

his

books, and answers that to have done so at once would have defeated his scheme, and that
it

prudent to remain in obscurity.

do not myself see how an anony-

mous

publication at

first

would have helped him, but

writer.

if

he were merely throwing up a

100.

'Andrea was a very copious

The

titles of iiis

works amount to nearly

In

many

of

these he strongly advocates the necessitj' of forming a society solely devoted to the regeneration of knowledge and mannere, and in his " Menippus," 1617, he points out the numerous defects which in

own time prevented religion and Uterature from being as useful as they might be rendered under a better organization. Of Robert Fludd, who was, notwithstanding all his extravagances, a very There is a short sketch of learned, able, and ingenious man, we have yet no sufficient biography. ' and Isaac Disraeli has agreeably skimmed the subject in his his hfe in the "Athenaj Oxouienses, "Amenities of Literature," but that is all. [Abridged from a note in the " Diary" of Dr. Worthhis

ington, published 1847

by the Chetham

Society,

a work useful only

for

two things

first,

as showing

the utterly trivial nature of the majority of the publications of book societies; secondly, as form-

ing a vehicle for the valuable occasional notes of a very learned editor, the late
'

James

Crossley.]

So far Buhle, but Andrea never seems to have made any effort to carry out the deep not to say far-fetched design hei-e imputed to liim. Many have thought the "Fama "a mere satire, to those who read it carefully it wiU appear a straw thrown up to ascertain which way the wind

was blowing.

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

and suspicion which followed shortly
course.
after,

21

straw ho was right to conceal his name, and the storm of obloquy, excitement, hostility,

showed the wisdom and prudence of such a

lie

More than

this, as a

suspected })erson

even joined in public the party of those

find in
liis

who

ridiwiled the whole as a chimera.

'

But we nowhere
tlie

posthumous memoirs
avowed author of the

that he disavows the works;

and indeed

fact of his being the

"Chemical Nuptials of Christian Rosy-Cross," a worthy never before heard of, ought of be sufficient. Some, indeed, have denied his claim; for instance, Heidegger, who, in his " Historia Vitaj J. L. Fabricii," gives the work to Jung, a mathematician of Hamburg, on the authority of Albert Fabricius, who reported the story casually as derived from Others have claimed it for Giles Gutmann, for no a secretary of the Court of Heidelberg. Morhof has a remark, which if true, other reason than that he was a celebrated mystic. might leave indeed Andreii in possession of the authorship without ascribing to him any in" Not only," he says, " were there similar colleges fluence in the formation of the order.
itself to

of occult

wisdom

in

former times, but in

the'' last, i.e.,

the sixteenth century, the fame of

is,

the Rosicrucian fraternity became celebrated."

sort of proof of this assertion,

But

this

at least, as far as I

know, no
never
tliat

and the concurrent testimony

if

of all
it

who have

written on the
all, is

subject certainly

is

that the fraternity of Rosicrucians,

ever existed at

mentioned before the publication of the " Fama," in

perhaps with more or

spite of isolated societies,

such as
their

of Cornelius Agrippa in England, or of individual enthusiasts

less

who pursued
By

dreams

communication with one another.

Moreover, the armorial bearroses.

ings of Andrea's family were a St. Andrew's Cross

and four

the order of the

Rosy Cross he therefore means an order founded by himself

Christian,

Christianus Rosa Crucis, the

it

which he certainly was, of the Rosy Cross.

an explanation
will

But
its

so simple

not suit a numerous class of writers, for the love of

often changes
of secrecy

mystery being implanted in

venue,

human

nature never wholly dies out, though

and some, such

as Nicolai, have considered the rose as the

emblem
of,

(hence under the rose, snh rosa), and the cross to signify the solemnity of the oath by

which the vow of secrecy was

by the oath of silence, which
*

ratified,

hence we should have the fraternity

it

or

is reasonable and grammatical if Mosheim says that " the title of Rosy Cross was given to chymists who united the study of religion and chemistry, and that the term is alchemical, being not ro.'ia, a rose, but ros," dew. Of all natural bodies, dew is the most powerful dissolvent of gold, and a cross in the

were only true.

bound But

Sir Philip Francis, in liis later daj-s, was most anxious to be thought the author of "Junius," going so far as to present his second wife, the greatraunt of my informant, with no other bridal gift much, probably, to that lady's annoyance than a copy of "Junius," magnificently bound in gilt vellum; to my mind, a tolerably conclusive proof against him. We do not hear of Colonel Barre or Lord Grenville, both of whom are much more likely candidates for the somewhat doubtful honor, stooping to such tricks. Pitt, who was the soul of veracity, and who, by his mother's side, was a
'

Grenville, said: " I

knmo

wlio the author of

'

Junius

'

was, and he

was not
131, ed.

Francis."
i.e.,

"Fuere non

priscis

tantum

seculis collegia talia occulta, sed et superiori seculo,

I., p.

sexto deci-

mo, de Fraternitate Roseaj Crucis fama percrebuit (Polyhist ^ Like the Knight of the Fetterlock.
*
'

Lubecie

1732).

Ecclesiastical History, vol.

iii.,

pp. 216, 217.

" rhos," in Welsh "a marsh," which, to a cei-tain extent, is the same tiling, both having to do with dampness and moisture. It is a pity that so promising an opportunity for bringing in the Druids lias hitherto been neglected; but I do not despair yet of seeing it utilized. Perhaps some may take the hint

Why not

'

212

EARLY BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

fire

language of the

philosophers,

is

the same as hix, light, because the figure of the cross

They called lux the seed or menstruum of the Red Dragon," or that gross and corporeal light, which, being properly A Rosicrucian philosopher, therefore, is one who, digested and modified, produces gold. dew, seeks for light, i.e., for the Philosopher's Stone which, by the way, the by means of
exhibits
all

the three letters of the word lux at one view.

Rosicrucians always denied to be their great aim, in

secrets,

fact,

although they boasted of many

versions are false

they always maintained that this was the

least.

The other
in his

and

deceptive, having been given by chemists

of the title

who were fond

so)

of concealment.

was perceived

(or

imagined to be

by Gassendi

The true import " Examen Philosophiae

in his

Fluddiance," and better

ferences Publiques,"
iv.

still,

by the celebrated French physician Renaudot

" Conros,

87.

Many
dew,

of these derivations are plausible

enough, but unfortunately the genitive of

in this case

is 7-oris,

so that the fraternity

would

have been

?'oricrucians.

Soane, while admitting the family arms of Andrea, says, "

The

rose was, however, an

ancient religious symbol, and was carried by the Pope in his hand
cession on

when walking

in pro-

Mid Lent Sunday, and was worn

at one time

by the English clergy in their

button holes."'

Fuller, in his " Pisgali sight of Palestine," calls Christ

" that prime

it

rose

and

lily."

"Est
is

rosa flos Veneris" (the rose

is

the flower of Venus), because

represents

the generative power " typified by

Venus"

though how or why, except because exercised

the Holy Virgin of the Mexicans,
is

sub rosa,

it

hard to conjecture ?

Y snextie,

said to

have sinned by eating

roses, wliich roses are

elsewhere termed /7-?<c^o del arbol.

Vallancey,

in his " Collectanea de Eebus Hibernicis," giving the projjer

states:

names of men derived from trees,

" Susan lilium

vel rosa

uxor Joacim; " and after relating what Mosheim had said as

above, he goes on to say that Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus in Syria, asserts that Ros was

by the Gnostics deemed symbolical of Christ. " By dew is confessed the Godhead of the " The Sethites and the Ophites, as the emblematical serjient worshippers Lord Jesus. were called, held that the dew which fell from the excess of light was wisdom, the her'

maphrodite
I

deity.

quote the two above passages at length, as melancholy instances of learning, talent,
to

and ingenuity run mad, and

'

show

to

what extent a vivid imagination, a want

of

sound

and crux, is untenable. By rights, the word, if from rosa, should no doubt be Rosacrucian; but such a malformation, by no means uncommon, cannot outweigh the reasons adduced on behalf of the generally-received etymology" (Hours with the Mystics. 1856, vol. ii., p. 350). The elder Disr.aeli observes: "Mosheim is positive in the accuracy of his information. I would not answer for my own, though somewhat more reasonable; it is indeed difficult to ascertain the origin of the name of a society which probably never had an existence" (Amenities of Literature, 1841, vol. iii., p. 2;JU). Fuller's amusing explanation of the term " Rosa-Crusian " was written without any knowledge of the supposititious founder. He saj-s " Sure I am that a Rose is tlie sweetest of Flowei-s, and a Cross accounted the sacredest of forms and figures, so that much of eminency must be imported in their composition " (Wortliies ol England, 1663). According to Godfrey Higgins, " Nazareth, the town of Nazir, or Nafu^oiof, the flower,' was situated in Carmel, the vineyard or garden of God. Jesus was a flower; whence came the adoration, by the Rossicrucians, of the Rose and Cross, which Rose was Ras, and this Ras, or knowledge, or wisdom, was stolen from the garden, which was also crucified, as he literally is, on
' '

Vaughan says:

The derivation

of the

name Rosicrucian from

ros,

'

the red cornelian, the

See further, Brucker,

'

oi). cit.,

emblem of the Rossicrucians a Rose on a Cross " (Anacalypsis, vol. vol. iv., p. 735; and Arnold, Kirchen und Ketzen Historie, pt.
ii.
,

ii.,

p. 340). p. 1114.

ii.,

New

Curiosities of Literature, 1848, vol.

Qucfist. in

p. 37.
p. 91,

Theod.

Genes., cap. XX\'T[., Interrog. 83,

Tom.

i.

Hate

1773.

C::>,;^^eyCC^i-^<-r^^

GRAND MASTER OK THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND, 1843-1869.

EA RL V BRI TISH PREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

judgment, and
cool, clear,

21

common

sense, coupled with the vanity of displaying learning

generally irrelevant, and often unreal,

lead

and ingenuity

as perverted as

it

is

misplaced, will

men

of the greatest talents

and even genius.

The more one

reads, the

more one

will

be apt to parody, with

De Quincey,

the famous words of Oxenstiern, and say, "

Go

forth

and learn with what disregard of logic most hooks are written." The faults and foibles I have above enumerated have, I really believe, done more harm to the cause of true learnint^ than all other causes and hindrances put together. Maier, an upholder of the fraternity, in his " Themis Aured," denies that R. C. meant
'

either ros, rosa, or crux,

tion,
i.e.,

arbitrarily.

and contends that they were merely chosen as a mark of distincBut a man must have some reason, however sliglit, for choosing

anything, and the fact of the rose and cross forming his family arms must surely have been enough for Andrea. Arnold also ' says that in the posthumous writings of M. C. Hirshen,
pastor at Eisleben,
friend
it

has been found that John Arne informed him in confidence, as a near

and former colleague, how he had been told by John Valentine Andrea, also in confidence, that he, namely Andrea, with thirty others in Wurtemberg, had first set forth the " Fama," in order that under this screen they might learn the judgment of Europe thereon,
as also

what

lovers of true
is

forward."

There

wisdom lay concealed here and there who might then come further circumstance connected with the " Fama," which, though it a
it

certainly does not prove

to

have been a

fiction of

Andrea's, establishes with tolerabh

is,

clearness that

it

was a

fiction of

some

one's,

and that

that in the contemporary

life

of
is

the famous Dominican

John

Tauler,*

who

flourished in the fourteenth century, mention

one Master Nicolas, or rather one supposed to be Master Nicolas, for he is always referred to as the " Master," who instructed Tauler in mystic religion meaning thereby not mysticism in the ordinary sense, but the giving one's self up to " being wrapped up in,"
of

made

and endeavoring
the

to be absorbed in, God. This mysterious individual, who is supposed to have been a merchant at Bdsle, really existed, and he did actually found a small fraternity,

which travelled from country to country, observing, nevertheless, the from each other their place of sepulture, but who had also a common house where the master dwelt towards the end of his life, and who subsisted in the same silence, paucity of numbers, and secrecy, long after his death, protesting, as
of

members

greatest secrecy even to concealing

he did, against the errors and abuses of Rome, until the remnant was
in the vortex of the Reformation.

finally

swallowed up

The

date of the

"Master"

anticipates

by not much

more than
bear so

half a century the birth of the supposed C. R. , and the two stories altogether

many

points of close resemblance, that

we

shall be, I think, quite justified in con-

am very far indeed have ever existed, that Andrea, who was not only a man of very great learning, but a countryman also of the " Master" and his disciples, knew of and adapted
cluding, without for a
to

moment

tracing any real connection, which I

from supposing

the story for his " Fama," in the same way as he did that of Boccalini for his " Reformation. " The name was suggested by his coat of arms, and it so happens that it forms a by
'

Themis Aurea, Hoc

est de legibus fraternitatis Rosae Crucis, Francfort, 1618.

Translated into

Of the authors connection with the Rosicrucians, it has been observed: "Maier fut certainement un des inities ou plutot des dupes, puisqu'il a eu la bonhomie de rediger leurs lois, leurs coutumes, et qu'il a pris leur defense dans un de ses ouvrages"' (Biographie Universelle, Paris, 1820, t 26, p. 282). ' Kirchen und Ketzer Historie, p. 899. ' As the result proved, they were wise to commence in secrecy, and equally wise to remain so. ' Cf. Life and Times of Tauler, translated by Susannah Winkworth, 1857; and K. Schmidt,

English, and publislied with a dedication to Elias Ashmole, in 1656.

Uikolaus von Basel, Bericht von der Bekehrung Taulers, Strasburg,

1875.

214

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

no means uncommon German patronymic

Rosecranz,

would

of course be Latinized into Rosse Crucis.'

done, that the "

Fama " and "

Confessio " at
all

Rosencranz, Rosecreutz, which Assuming then, as I tliink may safely be least, if not the " Reformatio " as well, were

the works of Andrea, and leaving aside

gin, and of the mystical nature of the

speculations of their having had an earlier ori-

mad, or the vanity

genuity's sake, let

name as being either the work of imagination run and ingenuity exhibiting themselves for learning and inus now follow the fortunes of the works, and the results which sprang
of learning
its first

from them.'

Though
still

the precise date of

appearance

is

not exactly known, yet

it

was certainlv

not later than IGIO,

and the repeated editions which appeared between 1614 and 1617, and

more the excitement that followed, show how powerful was the effect produced. " In the library at Gottingen there exists a body of letters addressed between these years to the As qualifications most assert imaginary order by persons offering themselves as members. their skill in alchemy and Cabbalism, and though some of the letters are signed with initials

only, or with

names evidently

fictitious,
is

yet real places of address are assigned "

the

reason for their being at Gottingen

that, as

many

indeed assert, unable to direct their

letters to

communications rightly, they had no choice but to address their

some public body

its

"to be
mained.

called for," as

it

were, and, having once

come

to the University, there they re-

Others threw out pamphlets containing their opinions of the order, and of

Vaughan says in his " Hours with the Mystics," was in reality under Dr. Andreii's hat. " Each successive writer claimed to be better informed than his Quarrels arose; partisans started up on all sides; the uproar and confusion predecessors.
place of residence, which, as

became indescribable;

cries of heresy

and atheism resounded from every corner; some were

invisible society reti-eated

for calling in the secular power;

and the more coyly the

the more eager were
its

from

the public advances, so

blood-thirsty
first,

much

admirers, so

much

the more

Some, however, seem to have suspected the truth from the it antagonists." and hence a suspicion arose that some bad designs lurked under the seeming purpose, a suspicion which was not unnaturally strengthened, for many impostors, as might have been expected, gave themselves out as Rosicrucians, and cheated numbers out of their money by alchemy, and out of their health and money together by quack medicines.
Three, in particular, made a great noise at Wetzlar, Nuremberg, and Augsburg, of

whom

one

lost his ears in

running the gauntlet, and another was hanged.

At

this crisis

Andreas

Libau or Libavius attacked the pretended fraternity with great power by two works in Latin and one in German, published in 1015 and the following year, at Frankfort and at
Erfurt respectively, and these, together with others of a like tendency, might have stopped
the mischief had
'

it

not been for two causes

first,

the coming forward of the old Paracelsists,

This pedantic fashion of Latinizing- and Grecizing names lasted for a century and a half. Reuclihn was induced by the entreaties of a friend, who was shocked at the barbarism of his German appellation, to turn it into Capnio. It should have been Kairvoq, the Greek for smoke, but I suppose the fact of the friend's being- an Italian will account for it. I am not sure that it was an

improvement, but Melancthon (yi.elavx'iui' or Black earth) certainly is an improvement on Schwarzerd. So Fludd calls liimself De Fluctibus, which is wrong in sense and grammar. He was Fliictus or Diluvium, not De Fluctibus. His works certainly were drawn out of the flood, but he himself never emerged in the ark of common sense from the overwhelming wavesof fancy and irrational speculation. ' It is contended by some fanciftd commentatoi-s, that the words which stand at the end of the " Fama" Sab Umbra Alarum tuarum Jehova furnish tlie initial letters of Johannes Val. Andrea
Stipendiata Tubingensis
I

"5

EA RL y BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

who avowed
still

themselves to be the true Rosicrucians in numerous books and pamplilets which

further distracted the public mind; secondly, the conduct of

Andrea himself and

his

friends,

who kept up

the delusion by means of two pamphlets

;

(1.) Epistola

ad Reveren-

dam
mous

Frateruitatcm E. Crueis. Fran. 1G13

(2.)

Asscrtio Fraternitatis R. C. a

quodam

Fratern. ejus Socio carmine erpressa

Defence

of the R. C. brethren

by a certain anonyAltar of the

brother, written in the form of a poem.

This

last

was translated into German in

ICIG, and again in 1618, under the title of "

Ara

Fffideris Therapici," or the

Healing Fraternity

the most general abstraction of

the pretensions

made

for the Rosicru-

cians being that they healed both the body and the mind.'

The supposed
whose

Fraternity was, however, defended in

Germany by some men not

alto-

gether devoid of talent, such as Julianus a Oampis, Julius Sperber of Anlialt Dessau,

"Echo"

of the divinely illuminated order of the R.

C,

if

it

be indeed

his,

was

printed in 1C15, and again at Dantzig in 1616, and

who

asserted that as esoteric mysteries

Adam down to Simeon, so Christ had established a new and that the greater mysteries were revealed to St. John and St. Paul. Rudtich Brotoffer was not so much a Cabbalist as an Alchemist, and understood the three
had been taught from the time of
college of magic,"

"

Rosicrucian books as being a description of the art of making gold and finding the philosopher's stone.

He

even published a receipt for the same, so that both " materia et prajparathe ingredients and the

tio lapidis aurei,"

mode

of

mixing the golden

stone,

were

laid bare

to the profane.

It

might have been thought that

so audacious a stroke

would have been

sufficient to

have ruined him, but, as often happens, the very audacity of the attempt

earned him through, for his works sold well and were several times reprinted.'

far

more important person was Michael Maier, who had been

of Fludd.

in England,

and was the friend

to the

He was
II.,

born at Reudsberg in Holstein

in

1568,

and was physician

Em-

peror Rudolph

who, as has before been observed, was possessed with the mystical

mania.

He

Severus," Franc. 161T, addressed

especially to

Magdebourg in 1632. His first work on this subject is the " Jocus "omnibus veraj chymiaj amantibus per Germaniam," and those " illi ordini adhuc delitescent i, ut Famd Fraternitatis et Confessione suil
died at

admirandd
This work,
'

et probabili
is

manifestato"
the

"To

that sect, which

its

is

still

secret,

but which,
his journey

nevertheless,
it

made known by

FamA and

admirable and reasonable Confession.

appears, was written in England,

and the dedication composed on

Andrea probably refers to the enjoyment of the hoax he had so effectually carried out in tlie " Mj-thologia Christiana," published at Strasburg in 1619, speaking under the name of Truth (die
Alethia)

" Planissime nihil

cum hac

frat<?rnitate

commune

habeo.

Nam

cum, paullo ante lusum

libellis inter

quendam ingeniosiorem pereonatus aliquis

in literario pro vellet agere,

nihil mota sum

non sine voluptute spectavi." "It is veiy clear that I have nothing in common with this fraternity, for when, not long ago, a certain person wished to start a rather more ingenious farce than usual in the republic of letters, I held aloof from tlie battle of books, and, as if on a stage, watched the actors with delight." He was perfectly right, Truth had nothing to do with the Fraternity, the controversy, or the combatants. ' It is said of the famous Sir Thomas Browne that when dining one day with the Archbishop, I think he was Abbot at Lambeth, he met amongst othei-s, a gentleman who related that in Germany, he had seen a man make gold, and that, unless he had actually seen it, he confessed that he sliould not have believed it, but that, nevertheless, so it was. Some one, half.in joke, remarked that he wondered that he should venture to relate such things at his Grace's table (seeing that they savored of magic), and before so learned a man as Sir T. Browne, asking, at the same time, the latter what he thought of it " Why," said Sir Thomas, in his thick huddling manner, "I am of the same opinion as the gentleman, he says that he would not have believed it unless he had seen it, neither will L"
se conflictiintibus; sed velut inscena prodeuntes histriones

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

to
it,

from England
he believe in
order by his

Bohemia.

Returning, he endeavored to belong to the

sect, so firmly did

but, finding this of course impossible, he endeavored to found such

efforts,

an

own

and

in his subsequent writings spoke of

its

it

as already existing,

going so far even as to publish

author of the "Echo."

laws

which,

indeed, had already been done by the

From

his principal work, the'

is

" Silentium post Clamores," we

may
is

gather his view of Eosicrucianism " Nature

yet but half unveiled.

What we want

chiefly

experiment and tentative inquiry.

hid in nature.

Great, therefore, are our obligations to the

is

R. C. for laboring to supply this want.

Their weightiest mystery

It
is,

a Universal Medicine.

Such a Catholicon
medicine.
tracted."

lies

however, no simple, but a very compound,

is

Again "He

For, out of the meanest pebbles and weeds, medicine and even gold

to be ex-

that doubts the existence of the E. C. should recollect that the

etc.,

Greeks, Egyptians, Arabians,

in their existing at this

had such

secret societies; where, then, is the absurdity

self-discipline are these

day

Tlieir

maxims of
is

To honor and fear

" What

God above
is

all

things; to do all the good in their

power

to their fellow- men, etc."

contained in the

Fama and

Confessio

true.

It is a

very childish objection that the

brotherhood have promised so

many
prize,

are called, but few chosen.

but they

Egyptians, the

much and performed so little. With them, as elsewhere, The masters of the order hold out the rose as a remote impose the cross on those who are entering." " Like the Pythagoreans and Rosicrucians exact vows of silence and secrecy. Ignorant men have treated

the whole as a fiction; but this has arisen from the five years' probation to which they subject

even well qualified novices before they are admitted to the higher mysteries; within

this period they are to learn

how

to

govern their tongues."

Theophilus Schweighart of
o'

Constance, Josephus Stellatus, and Giles

order,

Gutmann were

Will

the Wisps of an inferior

and deserve no further mention. Andrea now began to think that the joke had been carried somewhat too far, or rather perhaps that the scheme which had thought to have started for the reformation of manners and philosophy had taken a very different turn from that which he had intended, and therefore, hoping to ridicule them, be published his " Chemical Nuptials of Christian Rosy
Cross," which had hitherto remained in MS., though written as far back as 1602.

This

is

a comic romance of extraordinary talent, designed as a satire on the whole tribe of Theosophists, Alchemists, Cabbalists, etc.,

with which at that time Germany swarmed.

gi-and serieux."

Unfortu-

nately the public took the whole

"au

Upon

tliis,

in the following year,

sive dialogo-

he published a collection of

satirical dialogues

under the

title of

rum

satyricorum centuria, inanitatum nostratium Speculum"

"A century of

" Menippus;

satyric dia-

logues designed as a mirror for our follies."

In this he more openly reveals his true design

revolution of
efforts

method

in the arts

and

sciences,

and a general

religious reformation.

He
His

seems, in fact, to have been a dreamy and excessively inferior kind of

German Bacon.

were seconded by his friends, especially Irensnus Agnostus and Joh. Val. Alberti. Both wrote with great energy against the Rosicrucians, but the former, from having ironi'

"Silentium post Clamoi-es, hoc

est Tractatus Apologeticus,

quo causEe non solum Claniorum

(seu revelationum) Fraternitatis Gerraanicae

de R. C. sed et Silentii (seu non redditse, ad singulorum vota responsionis) traduntur et demonstrantur. Autore Michoele Maiero Imp. Consist. Comite et Med. Doct., Francof, 1617." " Silence after sound, that is an apologTi% in which are given and proved
the reason not only for the sounds (clamors), i.e., revelations of the German fraternity of the R. C, bnt also of their silence, i.e., of their not having replied to the wishes of individuals. By Michael Maier (or, as it is sometimes written, Mayer), Count of the Imperial Consistory, and Doctor of Medicine, Frankfort, 1617."

EARL V
cally styled himself

ryRiriSII

FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.
in a
still

217

an unworthy clerk of the Fraternity of the E. C. , has been classed by

some

as a true Rosicriician.

But they were placed

tolerate.

more ludicrous

light

by the

celebrated Campanclla. who, though a mystic himself, found the Ilosicrucian pretensions

rather

more than he could

In his work on the Spanish Monarchy, written whilst

its

a prisoner at Naples, a

copy of which, finding

way by some means

into

Germany, was there

:

published and greatly read (1G20), we find him thus expressing himself of the R. C. " That the whole of Christendom teems with such heads " (Reformation jobbers) a most excellent
expression, but this
nity of the R. C.

by the way

" we have one proof more than was wanted in the Frater
'

For, scarcely was that absurdity Imtched,

a lusus

many

times declared to be nothing more than

when notwithstanding it was ingenii nimium lascivientis,' a mere

'

hoax of some man of wit troubled with a superfluity

dealt in reformations

of youthful spirits;

'

yet because

it

and pretences

to mystical arts

straightway
C!.

from every country

in

Christendom pious and learned men, passively surrendering themselves dupes to this delusion, made offers of their good wishes and services some by name, others anonymously,
but constantly maintaining that the brothers of the R.
by Solomon's Mirror or other Cabbalistic means.
advance, that they represented the
first

could easily discover their names

Nay, to such a pass of absurdity did they

'

of the three Rosicrucian books, the

it

Universal

Reformation,' as a high mystery; and expounded

in a chemical sense as if
it is

it

had con-

tained a cryptical account of the art of gold making, whereas

literal translation,

nothing more than a

word

for word, of the

'

Parnasso' of Boccalini."
it

After a period of no very great duration, as

first

would appear, they began rapidly

to sink,

into

so, for,

contempt and then into obscurity and oblivion, and finally died out, or all but did It is a state of thinkas Vaughan justly observes, " Mysticism has no genealogy.

ing and feeling to which minds of a certain temperament are liable at any time and place,
in Occident

and

orient,

whether Romanist or Protestant, Jew, Turk, or

to

Infidel.

The same
is

round of notions, occurring

minds of similar make under similar circumstances,

com-

mon
there

to mystics in ancient India

and

in

modern Christendom," and

'

it is

quite possible that

may be

Rosicrucians

still,

though they hide their

faith like people

do their

belief in

ghosts.

Not only had science, learning, and right reason

made more

progress, but the last

waves of the storm of the Reformation had died away and men's minds had sobered down in a great measure to practical realities. As usiial, rogues and impostors took advantage
of

whatever credulity there was, and this hastened the decay of the

sect, for

though there

was no actual society or organization, yet the name Rosicrucian became a generic term
bracing every species of occult pretension, arcana,
ritual,
elixir,

em

the philosopher's stone, theurgic

symbols, initiations

et

hoc genus omne.'

i.,

Some
The

few, as I have remarked, doubtless

'"Hours with the

Mystics,"' 1856, vol.

p. 60.

following, from the

same work,

is

also

worthy of note. Attlie revival " of letters spread over Europe, the taste for antiquity and natural science began to claim its share in the freedom won for theology, the pretensions of the Cabbala, of Hermes, of Neo-Platonist Theurgy became identified with the cause of progress"' (vol. ii., p. 30). In Quid short, men with excited imaginations were everywhere groping and struggling in the dark plura f ' See Athenae Oxonienses, passim. Butler writes

"A

deep occult philosopher,

learn"d as the wild
Ii-ish are,

As

He

Anthroposophus, and Floud,

understood:

And Jacob Behmen,

In Rosicrucian lore as learned.

As he that Vere Adeptus

earned."'

Htidibras,

pt. I.,

canto

i.

21
lingered.
C. at

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR 'ENGL A ND.

I

Liebnitz was in early life actually connected with a soi-disant society of the R. Nuremberg, but he became convinced that they were not connected with any real " H me paroit," he says, in a letter published by Feller in tb.e society of that name. " Otium Hannoveranum," p. 222, " que tout ce, que Ton a dit des Fr^res de la Croix de la
Eose, est une pure invention de quelque personne ingenieuse."

he

says, elsewhere

" Fratres Eoseae Crucis

of the latest notices
is

And

again, so late as 1696,

fictitios esse

suspicor;
in

confirmavit."

One

to be

found

quod et Helmontius mihi Spence's " Anecdotes of Books

and Men,"

'

where we have the Eev.

date of August 25, 1740

" Of a

J.

Spence writing to his mother from Turin under

sett of philosophers called adepts, of

.

whom

there are never

more than twelve in the whole world at one time. Free from poverty, distempers, and death " it was unkind and selfish in the last degree to conceal such benefits from mankind at large " There was one of them living at Turin, a Frenchman, Audrey by
".
. *.

name, not quite 200 years old

the original fraternity ?

'-'

who

jiiust in

this case

have been past 70 when he joined

In the same work

' it is

also stated that a story of

Gustavus Adol-

phus having been provided with gold by one

of the

same
it

class,

was related by Marechal

Ehebenden
related

to the English minister at Turju,

who

told

to Spence.

similar anecdote

is

by John Evelyn, who, whilst at Earis in 1652, was told by " one Mark Antonio of a Genoese Jeweller who had the greate Arcannm_ and had made projection before him

severall times."*

But the

gi'eat

majority were doubtless mere knaves, and whole clubs

even of swindlers existed calling themselves Eosicrucians.

Thus Lud. Conr.

Stultorum,"
tells

Orvius, in his

" Occulta Philosophia,

society,

sive ccelum

Sapientum

et Vexatio

us of such a
in 162-3,

pretending to trace from Father Rosycross,

after swindling

who were

settled at the

Hague

and who,

eleven thousand dollars,

him out of his own and his wife's fortune, amounting to about expelled him from the order with the assurance that they would
secrets,

murder him

if

he revealed their

" which

secrets," says he,

"

have faithfully kept,

the anri sacra (or

and for the same reason that

their knavery
vesa7ia)
is

women keep
After
its

secrets, viz., because I

have none to reveal; for

at, for

no

secret."

all it is

not to be wondered
its

fames does but change

form

not

substance;

and those who, not long ago,

emeralds, and dia-

bought shares
really

in Mr. Rubery's C'alifornian anthill,

fallen

made

vip of rubies,

monds, would doubtless have

with more excuse.

an easy prey

to the first Rosicrucian alchemist,

and

Considering that there never was any real body of Eosicrucians

e.g., especial

properly so called, there could not well be any fixed principles of belief,
as
it
'

creed

were;

still,

as the

number

of those

who, for one reason or another, chose to

call

them-

Ed. 1820,
P. 405.

p. 403.

'

alluded to

to be visited by an ambassador from the President of the Society of the Rosycross. He was, indeed, a heterocUte ambassador, for he is described as a youtli with never a hair upon his face.' He was to proffer to His Majesty, provided the King accepted his advice, three millions to put into his coffers; and by his secret coiuicils he was to unfold matters of moment and secresy " (Curiosities of Literature,

The extravagancies of earlier Eosicrucians, or of persons claiming bj' Disraeli "In November 1626 a rumor spread that the King was

to be sncli, are thus

'

1849, vol.

iii..

p. 512).

'Memoirs of John Evelyn,

Dee, of

whom Wood

says

"While

ed. 1870, p. 217.

See the

life

of

Arthur Dee, son of the famous John

little

boy, 'twas usual with

him

to play at quaits with the

slates of gold
iii.,

made by

projection, in the garret of his father's lodgings " (Atlienw Oxonienses, vol.

col. 285).

See also the story in Voltaire's " Diction. Philosph. s.v. Alchemiste," of a rogue who cheated the Duke de Bouillon out of 40,000 dollars by pretended Rosicrucianism, which, however, he would doubtless have lost elsewhere.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

selves Rosicrucians

was doubtless very great,

as being

it

may

readily be imagined that certain princi-

ples

may be gathered
way
the

common

to all or, at least,

most of

all

who might happen

be of that
that

of thinking.

Accordingly we lind that Mosheim says

"

to

It

is

remarkable,
the

among

more eminent

writers of this sect, there are scarcely any two

who adopt

same tenets and sentiments.

There

are, nevertheless,

some common

princijjles that are

generally embraced, and tliat serve as a centre of union to the society.

that the dissolution of bodies by the
arrive at true wisdom,

power of

fire is

the only

They all maintain way through whicli men can

and come

to discern the first principles of things.

They

all ac-

knowledge a certain analogy and harmony between the powers of nature and the doctrines of religion, and Ijelieve that the Deity governs the kingdom of grace by the same laws
by which

He

governs the kingdom of nature; and hence

it is

that thej employ chemical

is

denominations to express the truths of religion.

They

all

hold that there

a kind of

divine energy, or soul, diffused through the frame of the universe, which some call Archosus, others

the universal spirit, and which others mention under different appelations.
the most obscure and superstitious

They

all talk in

manner

of

what they

call

the

'

signa-

tures of things,' of the j)Ower of the stars over all corporeal beings,

and their particular

upon the human race" here the influence of astrology peeps out "of the efficacy of magic, and the various ranks and orders of demons." Besides the above works, we have the attack on the sect by Gabriel Naude, who gives the Rosicrucian tenets, or what he supposes were such but this is perhaps hardly reliable entitled " Instruction d la France, sur la verite de I'histoire des Freres de la Eose-Croix, Paris, 1633," and the " Conferences Publiques " of the celebrated French physician Renauinfluence

dot, tom. iv.,

trines

had in that country.

which destroyed whatever shght chance of acceptance the Rosicrucian docMorhof, however, in his " Polyliistor," lib. i., c. 13, speaks of
called the Collegium

a diminutive society or offshoot of the parent folly, founded, or attempted to be founded,

in

Dauphine by a visionary named Rosay, and hence

It consisted of three

Rosianum, a.d.

1630.

persons only.

certain ]\Iornius gave himself a great deal of

trouble to be the fourth, but was rejected.

brother.

All that he could obtain was to be a serving

The

chief secrets were perpetual motion, the art of changing metals,

and the
di-

universal medicine.'

Lastly

we have the famous

jeti d'esj}rit entitled

"The Count
viz.,

de Gabalis," being a

verting history of the Rosicrucian doctrine of spirits,

Sylphs, Salamanders, Gnomes,

and Demons, translated from the Paris edition, and printed tor B. Lintott and E. Curll, in 1714. It is subjoined to Pope's " Rape of the Lock," which gave rise to a demand for
this ti-anslation.

in ridicule of the

The piece is said German Hermetic

I

to

have been written by the French Abbe de Villars,

associations, 1670,
call
it

and Bayle's account of them

is

pre-

fixed to the translation.

should scarcely

a parody or a piece written in ridicule,

in the original

inasmuch
'1
{ante,

as the doctrines, as far as I

know

of

them
ii.,

Hermetic, Cabbalistic,

'Mosheim

Ecclesiastical History, edit. 1833, vol.

p. 104, note.

may

nientioa also the essays of C. F. Nicolai, at wliose fanciful theorj- i nave already glanced
I.,

Freemasons and the Rosicrucians year 1633; and Solomon S<>n\ler's " Impartial Collections for tlie History of the Rosy Cross," Leipzig, 1786-88, which gives them a very remote antiquity: also a curious little tract entitled " Hermetischer Roseuki-utz."
Chap.
p. 9); of C.

G.

Von Murr

(1803),

who assigns

to the

common

origin,

and only

fixes the date of their separation into distinct sects at the

Frankfurt, 1747, but apparently a reprint of a

much

earlier work.

may

here state that several

Rosicrucian writing^s, some translated from the Latin and others not, are to be found in the Harleian

MSS.

(6481-86), Bi-it.

Mus. Library.

220

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

may have been much
is

or Rosicnician books, are utterly incapable of being parodied in any similar way, although
certainly the doctrines

altered

and disfigured

since the

commence-

ment.

The

work, which

very short,

is

simply

tliat of

a witty and licentious French

Abbe,

for the diversion of the courtiers of the

which they were surrounded.

after discussing

Some

say

Grand Monarque, and the hterary world by that it was founded on two Italian chemical letters
'

written by Borri; others affirm that Borri

it,

took the chief parts of the letters from

Gabalis
is

it,

but

Bayle, as usual, leaves the case undecided.

supposed to have

been a German nobleman, with estates bordering on Poland, who made the acquaintance
of the writer,

and

so far

honored him with his confidence as to explain the most occult

informed him that the elements were
full of ethereal, or rather

mysteries of his art.

semi-ethereal beings

He

Sylphs,

Gnomes, and Salamanders, of exquisite beauty, but unen-

dowed with

souls,

which they could only obtain by union with a human being;

that there

were, therefore, great numbers of these beings

who were

also anxious to unite themselves

with those of the opposite sex

initiated to obtain a

among

us,

husband or

wife, or indeed half-a-dozen of the

and that therefore there was no trouble for the most exquisite, and,

what is better, of the most unfading beauty, but on one condition, that they must have no union with their fellow-creatures, which indeed they would be in no hurry to have, once they had seen the others. He added, however, that numbers of these sprites, seeing the
trouble into which the possession of a soul had led so
that
it

many

mortals, had wisely concluded

was better

to

remain without one.

Still it

was always the case that there were large

numbers pining

what they had not. Hence we see that poor Dr. Faustus was very much behind the age, and not really an adept at all, since he could easily have secured the affections of a bevy of infinitely more beautiful and unchanging Marguerites, and that without the aid of so very questionable and dangerous an old matchmaker as Mephistofor

However, we ought not to be angry with a conceit which has given us, besides pheles. the " Eape of the Lock," " Ariel," and the " Masque of Comus" " Undine," one of the

loveliest of the creations of

romance, and may have aided in inspiring

of our youth.
''

Madame d'Aunay,

the mother of the fairy tales

Bayle's account in the preface ends as follows:

Afterwards, that Society, which in

EeaUty,

is

but a Sect of Mountebanks, began to multiply, but durst not appear publickly,

and

for that Reason was sir-nam'd the Invisible.

The

Inlightned, or Illumituiti, of Spain

proceeded from them; both the one and the other have been condemn'd for Fanatics and
Deceivers.

AVe must add, that John Bringeret printed, in 1615, a Book in Germany,
Treatises, Entituled the
'

which comprehends two

selves to be the Library of

Manifesto [Fama] and Confession ol

Faith of the Fraternity of the Rosicrucians in Germany.'

These persons boasted themetc.,

Ptolemy Pliiladelphus, the Academy of Plato, the Lyceum,

they gave this Advertisement to the Curious:
'

and bragg'd
all

of extraordinary Qualifications, whereof the least

after, in 1622,

was that they could speak

Languages; and

We,

deputed by our College, the Principal of the Brethren of the Rosicrucians, to make our
visible

and

invisible

Abode

in this City, tliro' the grace of the

Most High, towards wliom

are turned the Hearts of the just. We teach without Books or Notes, and speak the Language of the Countries wherever we are; ' to draw Men, like ourselves, from the Error of
'

Josepli Francis Borri

imprisoned in the Castle ot

was a famous quack, chemist, and St. Angelo, where he died 1695, in

)ieretic.

A Milanese

by

birth,

he was
" speak

his seventy-ninth year.

' We ought not to forget that at the present day with tongues."

we have Irvingites in oui- midst who still

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

Death.'

22 In the

This

Bill

[which was probably a mere hoax] was Matter of Merriment.

liave disappear'd, tho'
'

meantime, the Rosicrucians

a

it

be not the sentiment of that German

of another,

chymist, the author of a book,

treatise stiled
'

De Yolucri Arbored,' and

who hath composed

De

Philosophia Pura.'"'

so clear an idea of what true Rosicrucianism really was, whether an account of a sect then actually existing, or the sketch of a sect which the projector hoped to form, or to which of tho two categories it belongs, than of course the "Fama" itself, and as it is either I am not now arguing on either side the parent or the exponent

But nothing can give

of a very celebrated denomination, and one which, in

some men's minds

be pardoned

at least, has
if

had

considerable influence on Freemasonry, I trust that

abstract as copious as
to perform. at

I shall

I present an

my

space will allow, and as accurate as

is

my

abilities will

enable

me

The

translation wliich I have used

" printed by

J.

M.

for Giles Calvert,

the Black Spread Eagle, at the west end of Paul's, 1652," and is translated by Eugenius Philalethes, " witli a preface annexed thereto, and a short Declaration of their

(R. C.) Physicall work."

This Eugenius Philalethes was one Thomas Vaughan, B.A. of

Jesus College, Oxford, born in 1621, and of

noted son of the

fire,
'

Crucian fraternity."
afterwards at

whom Wood says: " He was a great chymist, a an experimental philosopher, and a zealous brother of the RosieHe pursued his chemical studies in the first instance at Oxford, and
the protection

London under

and patronage
of Scotland.

of Sir Robert

Moray

or Murray,

Knight, Secretary of State for the

Kingdom

That

this distinguished soldier

and philosopher was received into Freemasonry at Newcastle in 1641, has been already shown ;' and in the inquiry we are upon, the circumstance of his being in later years both a Freemason and a Rosicrucian, will at least merit our passing attention. Moray's initiation, which preceded by five years that of Elias Ashmole, was the first that ocmirred on English In this connection, it is not a little resoil of which any record has descended to us.
markable, that whereas
it

has been the fashion to carry back the pedigree of speculative

masonry

in

England, to the admission of Elias Ashmole, the Rosicrucian philosopher, the

association of ideas to

which

this formulation of belief has given rise, will sustain

initiation.

no shock,

but rather the reverse, by the priority of Moray's

Sir

Robert Moray, a founder

and the

" was universally beloved and esteemed by men of all sides and sorts; " but as it is with his character as a lover of the occult sciences we are chiefly concerned, I pass over the encomiums of his friends, John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys,' and shall merely adduce in this place the short description given of him by Anthony a Wood, who says, " He was a single man, an abhorrer of women, a most renowned chymist, a great patron of the Rosie-Crucians, and an excellent mathematician." Whether
first

president of the Royal Society,

'

'

'

Athenae Oxonienses,
Ante, Chap. Vin.,

vol.

iii.,

col. 719.

'

p. 96;
2

For further details, see Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, and Lawrie, History of Freemasonry, 1804, p. 102.
p. 29.

man

Burnet, vol. i., p. 90. " Julj- 6, 1673. This evening I went to the funerall of my deare and excellent friend, that good and accomplish'd gentleman. Sir Robert Murray, Secretary of Scotland. He was buried by

order of His Majesty in Westminster

Abbey "

(Evelyn's Diary).

See, however, Lyon, op.

oit., p. 99,

who names
'

the Canongate Churchyard as the place of interment?

16, 1667.

" Feb.

To

my

and learning. (Diary of Samuel Pepys).

of reason

man

Lord Broucker; and there was Sir Robert Murroy, a most excellent " Here came Mr. Hooke, Sir Greorge Eat, Dr. Wren, and many others
iii.,

'Athenae Oxonienses,

vol.

coL

726.

222

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Ashmole and Moray, who must constantly have been brought together at meetings of the Koyal Society, ever conversed about the other Society of which they were both members,

The elder of It is not likely, however, that they did. cannot of course be determined. " brothers" or " fellows" died in 16T3, nine years before the celebrated meeting at the two
ilason's Hall,

Had

this

London, which I shall more closely consider in connection with Ashmole. assembly of London masons taken place many years before it did, the presence or
In

the absence of Sir Robert Moray from such a gathering of the fraternity, might be alike
suggestive of some curious speculation.

and widest sense

speculative

^herein comprising everything partaking of an operative as well as of a character must have been at a very low ebb about the period of Moray's
improbable, that lodges were held in the metropolis with any frequency,
fire.

my

opinion, however,

Masonry

in

its

general

death, and for some few years afterwards.

It is highly

until the process of rebuilding the capital began, after the great

Sir Christopher

Wren, indeed, went so far as to declare, in 1716, in the presence of Hearne, that " there From this it may be plausibly tcere 710 masons in London wJien he was a young ma7i."
'

contended that, if our British Freemasonry received any tinge or coloring at the hands of iSteinmetzen, Compagnons, or Rosicrucians, the last quarter of the seventeenth century is
the most likely (or at least the earliest) period in which
place.

we can suppose

it

to have taken

Against

it,

however, there

is

the silence of

all

contemporary writers, excepting Plot

and Aubrey, and notably of Evelyn and Pepys, with regard to the existence of lodges, or Both these latter worthies were prominent members of the even of Freemasonry itself. being president in 1684, a distinction, it may be said, declined times Royal Society, Pepys
without

number by
less

Evel\Ti.

Wren, Locke, Ashmole, Boyle," Moray, and

to

others,

who were

more or
title

addicted to Rosicrucian studies, enjoyed the distinction of F. R. S.

the personages

named we know

have been Freemasons, and for

Two of Wren and Locke the

whatever in
these men.

has also been claimed, though, as I have endeavored to show, without any foundation Pepys, and to a greater extent Evelyn,' were on intimate terms with all fact.
Indeed, the latter, in a letter to the Lord Chancellor, dated

March

18, 1667,

evinces his admiration of the fraternity of the Rosie Cross, by including the names of

William Lilly, William Oughtred, and George Ripley, in his list of. learned Englishmen, with whose portraits he wished Lord Cornbury to adorn his palace. On the whole, perhaps, we shall be Siife in assuming, either that the persons addicted to chemical or astro-

whom in the seventeenth century it was the fashion to style Rosicrucians, from the Freemasons altogether, or if the sects in any way commingled, their proceedings were wrought under an impenetrable veil of secrecy, against which even the
logical studies,

kept aloof

'

Philip Bliss, Reliquise Hernianite, vol.

vol.
i.

i.,

p. 336.
p.
lii.).

-Athente Oxonienses,

(Life of

Anthony a Wood,

The Oxford Antiquary himself

went through
Strasburgh"
3

'

a course of chimistry under the

of

noted chimist and Rosicrucian, Peter Sthael of

in the

(Ibid.).

busy and important times of King Charles early accustomed himself to note such things as occurred which he thought worthy of remembrance. Peter the Great to whom he lent Sayes Court, when that prince was studying naval architecture m 1698 having no taste for horticulture, used to amuse himself by being wheeled through his landlord's ornamen-

John Evelyn

Sayes Court,

in

Kent, lived

I.,

Oliver Cromwell,

King Charles

II.,

King James n., and King William, and he

tal

hedges, and over his borders in a wheel-barrow.

Cf. Diary, Jan. 30, 1798

1793-1811, vol. iv., p. 363.

Athenae Oxonienses,

vol. iv., col. 467,

and D. Lysons, Environs of London,

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

light of

223

modern research

is

vainly directed.
I

during the progress of our inquiry, which

Sir

Kobert Moray was accompanied to

were, suddenly,

These points may be usefully borne in mind now resume. Oxford by Vaughan at the time of the great

plague, and the latter, after taking

died there, " as
it

up his quarters in the house of the rector of Alburv, when he was operating strong mercury, some of which,

by chance getting up into his nose, killed him, on the 27th of February 1666."'
buried in the same place, at the charge of his jiatron.

He

was

Vaughan was
honest Anthony d

so great

Wood "

an admirer of Oonu-lius Agrippa that to use the words of nothing could relish with him but his works, especially his
all

'(kvHlt rhilosophij,' which he would defend in

of the

discourse and writing."

The

publication
life

" Fama "

Vaughan

with short declaration of the pJiysical work of the fraternity of the R.C., commonly of the Rosie Cross. Lond. 1652. Oct. Which Fame and Confession was translated into English by another hand;" but whether by tliis is meant that Vaughan

Large Preface,
translation

in

an English form

is

thus mentioned by the same authority in his

of

made one

and somebody

else another, or that

Vaughan's share in the work was

restricted to the preface.

Wood

does not explain.

He

goes on to say, however,

"

have

seen another book

entit.

Themis Aurea.

The Laws of

the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross.

Lond.

1656.

Oct.

Written in Lat. by Count Michael Maier, and put into English

for the information of those

society of wise

who

seek after the knowledge of that honorable and mysterious

and renowned philosophers.

This English translation

is

dedicated to Elias

Ashmole, Esq., by an Epistle

subscribed by
*
'

H.

S.,

but

who he

or they are, he, the said El. Ashmole, hath

utterly forgotten."'

Eugenius Philalethes,' whoever he was, commences with two

a small

epistles to the reader,

size of

which, with a preface, or rather introduction, of inordinate length for the

the book,

18mo

of 120 pages in

all,

occupies rather more space than the "

Fama "and " Conby an account

fession " together (61 pages as against 56),

to the reader," of five pages more. of the visit of Apollonius of

and the whole concludes with an " advertisement

is

This introduction
to the

principally occupied

Tyana

Brachmans

[Brahmens], and his discourse with

Jarchas, their chief.

The " Fama. "

The world
did, they
will

not be pleased to hear

is

it,

but

will rather scoff, yet

it is

a fact that the

if

pride of the learned

so great that

it

will

not allow them to work together, which,

perfect

they
still

might

collect a

Librum Natura, or

method

of

all arts.
if

But they

keep on their old course with Porphyry, Aristotle, and Galen, who,
'

they were alive and

iii.,

Atheme Oxonienses,

vol.

iii.,

col. 733.

"

Ibid., vol.

col. 724.

Although rather a favorite pseudonym, there can hardly be a doubt as to Vaughan having written under it in the case before us. * The " Bi-achnians " wei-e to the people of Western Europe of the seventeenth century, what the Chinese with their Mandarins and Bonzes were to Montesquieu and the men of the eighteenth, but when distance no longer lent enchantment to the view, the pretty stones to which they gave rise have not been exactly corroborated by East Indian officials or Hong Kong and Shanghai merchants. Nevertheless, there is actually, I believe, at the present moment somewhere in Bengal a Theosophic society for the restoration of true religion, founded on the Brahmiuicol precepts. But
'

do not

know the exact

address, nor do

intend to inquire.

224

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

itself
it.

had our advantages, would act very difEerently; and though in theology, physic, and
mathematics, truth opposes
to their proceedings as

much

as possible, yet the old

enemy
cloister

is still

too

much

for

For such general reformation, then, C. R., a German, and

Poor, but nobly

the founder of our fraternity, did set himself.

bom, he was placed

in a

when

five years old,

and, in his growing years, accompanied a brother P. A. L. to

the Holy Land.

The

latter

dying at Cyprus, C. R. shipped to Damasco for Jerusalem,

but was detained by illness at Damasco, where the Arabian wise

"had been expecting him,

men

appeared as

if

they

and

called

him by name.

He was now

sixteen,

and

after remaining

three years, went to Egypt, where he remained but a short time, and then went on to Fez,
as the Arabians

had directed him.

Constant philosophic intercourse was carried on for

so that there was no want of physicians, and philosophers, though the magic and Caballa at Fez were not Here he stayed two years, and then "sailed with many costly things into altogether true.' Spain, hoping well; he himself had so well and profitably spent his time in his travel that the learned in Europe would highly rejoice with him, and begin to rule and order all their [C. R. was now twenty-one years studies according to those sound and sure foundations." of age.] He showed the Spanish learned " the errors of our arts, how they might be cor-

mutual improvement between Arabia and Africa,

Cabbalists, magicians,

rected,

how they might gather

the true Indicia of the times to come; he also showed

them
to be

the faults of the Church and of the whole Philosojyhia Moralis, and

how they were

amended.

He showed them new

growths,

with old philosophy, and prescribed

new fruits, and new beasts, which did concord them new Axiomata, whereby all things might fully

be restored," and was laughed at in Spain as elsewhere.

He

further promised that he

would

direct

them

to the

" only true

centriim,

and that

it

should serve to the wise and

also that there might be a " Society in and precious stones enough for the necessary purposes of all kings," "so that they might be brought up to know all that God hath suffered man to know " [the connection is not quite clear]. But failing in all his endeavors, he returned to Germany, where he built himself a house, and remained five years, principally studying mathematics. After which there " came again into his mind the wished-for Reformation," so he sent for from his first cloister, to which he bare a great affection, Bro.

learned as a Rule " [whatever this might be];

gold, silver,

Europe which should have

G. v., Bro.

J. A., Bro. J. 0.

by which four was begun the fraternity of the Rosie

writing, with a large dictionary,
'

Cross.

They

also

made the " magical language and

which we

yet daily use to God's jiraise and glory, and do find great
also the
first

wisdom

therein;' they

made

part of the book M., but in respect that that labor was too heavy, and the

unspeakable concourse of the sick hindered them, and also whilst his new building called
Sancti Spiritus was

now

finished," they added four

the total

number

eight,

"

all

of

vowed

virginity;

more [all Germans but J. A.], making by them was collected a book or volume

of all that

which man can

desire, wish, or

hope for."

Being now
their

perfectly ready, they separated into foreign lands,

in secret, be

" because that not only

Axiomata might,
if

more profoundly examined by the learned, but that

it."
I believe, that philo-

they themselves,
error,
'

in

some country or other they observed anything, or perceived any

they might inform one another of

Fez was actually, or had been, the seat of a great Saracenic school, and,
in 1586,

sophic interchanges of %-iews were carried on between different parts of the Ai'abian Empire.

'Andrea was born

which
is

-i-

2\

1607.
It

1809 or 1610, but the real date

uncertain.

The Fama" is said to have been pubhshed was probably written before.
'

iu

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND,

But before
1. 2.

225

starting they agreed

on

six rules

To profess no other thing, than to cure the sick, " and that gratis." To wear no distinctive dress, but tlie common one of the country where they might
to be.

happen
3.

" That every year on the day C. they should meet

at the house S. Spiritus," or write

the reason of absence.

4.

Every brother to look about for a worthy person, who after his death might succeed

him.
5.
6.

" The word C. R. should be

their Seal,

Mark, and Character."

The

fraternity should remain secret 100 years.

Only

five

went at once, two always staying with Father Fra; R. C, and these were
lepthis

relieved yearly.

The
rosy.

first who died was J, 0., in England, after that, he had cured a young earl of " They determined to keep their burial places as secret as possible, so that at
'

day

it is

not

known unto
fit

us what

is

become of some of them, but every

secret, soever,

one's place was

supplied by a

successor.'

What

we have

learned out of the book M.

all

(although before our eyes we behold the image and pattern of

the world), yet are there

not shown our misfortunes nor the hour of death, but hereof more in our Confession, where we do set down 37 reasons wherefore we now do make known our Fraternity, and

and without constraint and reward also we do promise more gold than both the Indies bring to the King of Spain; for Europe is with child, and
proffer such high mysteries freely,
:

will

bring forth a strong child

who

shall stand in
is

need of a great godfather's gift."

Not long

after this the founder

supposed to have died, and

"we

of the third

row"

or succession "

knew

nothing- further than that which was extant of

them (who went

before)

in our Philosophical Bibliotheca, amongst which our Axiomata was held for the chiefest. Rota Mundi for the most artificial, and Protheus the most profitable."

" Now, the true and fundamental

relation of the finding out of the high illuminated

man

of

God, Fra; C. E.

C,

is

this."

D., one of the

first

generation, was succeeded by

A., who, dying in Dauphiny, was succeeded by N. N.

A., previously to his death,

"had
, .

comforted him in telling him that this Fraternity should ere long not remain so hidden, but should be to all the whole German nation helpful, needful, and commendable." .

The

year following after he (N. N.) had performed " his school, and was minded

now

to

travel,

being for that purpose sufficiently provided with Fortunatus' purse,"

first

'

but he deter-

mined

to

improve his building.

all

In so doing he found the memorial tablet of brass

containing the names of

to transfer to

the brethren, together with some few things which he meant

some more

fitting vault,

"for where or when Fra K. C.

died, or in

what

country he was buried, was by our predecessors concealed and unknown to us."
ing this plate he pulled away a large piece of plaster disclosing a door.

In removbrother-

The

hood then completely exposed the door, and found written on it in large letters " Post 120 annos Patebo" [I shall appear after 130 years]. " We let it rest that night, because, first,

we would overlook our Rotam; but we refer ourselves again to the Confession, for what we here publish is done for the help of those that are worthy, but to the unworthy (God For, like as our door was after so many years wonderfully willing) it will be small profit.
'

Andrea was a great

VOL.
II.

traveller.

His excursions began in

1607,

when he was twenty-one years

old.

15.

226

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

Europe (where the wall is removed which is expected of many."
sides,

discovered, so also then shall be opened a door to

already doth begin to appear), and with great desire

" In the morning we opened the door, and there appeared a Vault of seven
broad and 8 high.

every

Although the sun never shined in this vault, nevertheless side 5 feet it was enlightened with another sun, which had learned this from the sun, and was situated In the midst, instead of a tombstone, was a round altar in the centre of the ceiling. covered with a plate of brass, and thereon this engraven
"A. C, R. C. Hoc universi compendium unius mihi sepulchrum [I have erected this tomb as an epitome of the one universe].
feci

" Round

after the first circle

was
"Jesus mihi omnia

[Jesus

is all

things to me].

" In

the middle were four figures inclosed in circles, whose circumscription was
"
1.

Nequaquam vax:uum
'

2.

Legis

jugum

[There
3.

is

no vacuum],

[The yoke of the law].

4.

Libertas Evangelii

Dei gloria Intacta

[The liberty of the Gospel].

[The immaculate glory of God].

" This is all clear and bright, as also the seventh side and the two heptagons, so w knelt down and gave thanks to the sole wise, sole mighty, and sole eternal God, who hath taught us more than all men's wit could have found out, praised be His holy name. This vault we parted in three parts^the upper or ceiling, the wall or side, the floor. The
upper part was divided according to the seven
sides;

in the triangle,
is

which was

in the
shall,

bright centre [here the narrator checks himself], but what therein

contained you
eyes.

God

willing, that are desirous of

is

our society, behold with your own

But every
is

side

or wall

parted into ten squares, every one with their several figures and sentences as they

are truly

shown here

in

our book [which they are not].

is

The bottom,
evil

again,

parted in

the triangle, but because herein

described the power and rule of the inferior governors,

we forbear

to manifest the same, for fear of abuse

by the

and ungodly world.

But

those that are provided and stored with the heavenly antidote, they do without fear or

and bruise the head of the old and evil serpent, which this our age is well side had a door for a chest, wherein lay divers things, especially all our books, which otherwise we had, besides the Vocabulary of Theophrastus Paracelsus, and Herein also we found his Itinerarium these which daily unfalsifleth we do participate.
hurt, tread on,
fitted for.

Every

'

'

and

'

Vitam,' whence this relation for the most part

is

taken.

In another chest were looking-

glasses of divers virtues, as also in other places were little bells,

burning lamps, and chieflv

if it

wonderful

artificial

Songs; generally

all

done to that end, that

should happen after

many hundred

years, the

Order or Fraternity should come to nothing, they might by this

onely Vault be restored again."

They now removed the altar, found a plate of brass, which, on being lifted, they found fair and worthy body, whole and unconsumed, as the same is here lively counterfeited [was the original illustrated?] with all the Ornaments and Attires: in his hand he held a

"a

The primary meaning

of neqtiaquam.

is,

of course, " in vain."

have ventured on a

fi-ee

trans-

lation, as

seeming to possess slightly more meaning.

'

A RL Y BRI TISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

iiarchment book called
I., tlie

227

which next unto the Bible

is

our greatest treasure, which

ought to be delivered
C. R.

to the world."

At the end

of the

book was the eulogium of Fra,

C,

which, however, contains nothing remarkable, and underneath were the names,

or rather initials, of the different brethren in order as they

in a family Bible].

had subscribed themselves

[it

[like

The graves

of the brethren,

I.

0.

and D., were not found

does not appear that some

of the others were either], but it is to be hoped that they may be, especially since they were remarkably well skilled in physic, and so might be remembered by some very old folks. " Concerning Minutum Mundum, we found it under another little altar, but we will leave

him [query

it

undescribed, until

we

shall truly

be answered upon
it],

this

our true

hearted Fama.

[So they closed up the whole again, and sealed

left

and

'

departed the one

from the other, and

tJie

answer and judgment of

And so we do expect the natural heirs in possession of our jewels. [These passages seem to indicate the learned or unlearned.' "

the purpose of the book. ]

wUl be a general reformation, both of divine and and the expectation of others, for 'tis fitting that before the rising of the Sun there should appear an Aurora; so in the meantime some few, which shall give their names, may joyn together to increase the number and respect of our
after a time that there

"

We know

human

things, according to our desire,

Fraternity, and

make a happy and wished-for beginning

of Our Philosophical Canons,

fail

prescribed by our brother R.

be wasted), in
all

C, and be

partaken of our treasures (which can never

or

humility, and love to be eased of this world's labor, and not walk so

blindly in the knowledge of the wonderful works ol

God."

Then

follows their creed, which they declare to be that of the Lutheran Church, with

two sacraments.
Christian head. the same with
all

In their polity they acknowledge the [Holy]

Roman Empire
and would
also

for their

"

Albeit,

we know what
'

alterations be at hand,

fain impart
is

our hearts to other godly learned men.

Our Philosophy

no new
it:

invention, but as
also she

Adam

after

his fall

hath received
of, or

it,

and as Moses and Solomon used

and

ought not much

is

to be

doubted

contradicted by other opinions; but seeing

especially accorded

that truth

peaceable, brief,

and always
all

like herself in all things,

by with Jesus in omni parte, and

BO is she his Image.
It shall

members.

And
is

as

he

is

the true image of the Father,

not be said, this

true according to Philosophy, but true

according to Theology.

And

wherein Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and others did hit the

mark, and wherein Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, did excel [here we have traces of the
Cabbala], but especially wherewith that wonderful book the Bible agreeth.
All that

same

concurreth together, and

'

make

a Sphere or Globe, whose total parts are equidistant from

the Center, as hereof more at large and more plain shall be spoken of in Christianly Conference " [Christian conversation].

Gold making

is

the cause of

many cheats, and

little

even "

men

of discretion

do hold the
but a parer-

transmutation of metals to be the highest point of philosophy;" but the "true phOosophers are far of another minde, esteeming

the making of gold, which

is

of the wizard Michael Scott,

Monk and Wilbam of Deloraine uncovering the body with the " mighty book" clasped in his arm. Scott there indulges in one of his not unusual anachronisms. Michael Scott is mentioned by Dante, hence th&
One cannot help being reminded
which
of the old
laj'

Monk, who had been

larly,

his

Ulrica

who

in

"Ivanhoe"

companion, must have been 200 years old on a moderate calculation. Similived temp. Rich. L, and "had also seen the Conquest, muat hAve

ben 150."

"

228

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

God ascending and descending, name of chemistry, many name them in due season, and give the learned men to take heed of that kind
and meaning
of Fra.

gon; for besides that, they have a thousand better things; " for " he [the true philosopher]
is

glad that he seeth the heavens open, and the angels of

his

and

name

written in the

Book

of Life."

Also, under the

will
all

books are sent forth to God's dishonor, "as we

pure-hearted a catalogue of them; and we pray

of books, for the

enemy never

resteth.

So, according to the will

K.

C,

we, his brethren, request again

all

the learned in Europe

it

who

shall read (sent

forth in five languages) this our

deliberation to

Fama and
and
to

Confessio, that

would please them with good

minde,
eitlisr

ponder

this

our

offer,
all

examine most nearly and sharply their Arts, and

behold the present time with

concilio, or singulatim,

diligence,

and

to declare their

communicato

by print.

we make no mention either of our names or meetings, yet come into our hands, in what language any body fail, who so gives but his name, to speak with some of us, soever it be; nor shall Whosever shall earnestly, and from his heart, either by word of mouth or else by writing. bear affection unto us, it shall be beneficial to him in goods, body, and soul but he that is
at this time

" And although

nevertheless every one's opinion shall assuredly

false-hearted, or only greedy of riches, the

same

shall not

be able to hurt us, but bring

himself to utter ruin and destruction.

Also our building (although 100,000 people had

'

very near seen and be held the same) shall for ever remain untouched, undestroyed, and

hidden to the wicked world, sub iimbra alarum t%iaruin Jehova."

The "Confessio."
After a short exordium, there being a preface besides,
it

goes on to say that

condemn the east and the west They and offer to the head of the Romish Empire their prayers, i.e., the Pope and Mahomet [Andrea and his colleagues had some method in their secrets, and great treasures of gold.
cannot be suspected of heresy, seeing that they

madness.]
Still

they have thought good to add some explanations to the Fama, " hoping thereby

that the learned will be more addicted to us.

"We
her

have sufiiciently shown that philosophy

is

weak and faulty,".

is

"she

fetches

last breath, and is departing." But as when a new disease breaks out, so a remedy same; " so there doth appear for so manifold infirmities

generally discovered against the

of philosophy," the right

means

of

recovery,

which

is

now

offered to our country.

"Xo

other philosophy,

we

have, than that which

is

the head and sum, the foundation

and contents, of all faculties, sciences, and arts, the which containeth much of theology and medicine, but little of the wisdom of lawyers, and doth diligently search both heaven and earth, or, to speak briefly thereof, which doth manifest and declare sufficiently, Man
whereof, then,
all

Learned who

will

make themselves known unto

us,

and come into our

brotherhood, shall attain more wonderful secrets than they did heretofore attain unto, or

know,

believe, or utter."

Wherefore we ought to show why such mysteries and secrets should yet be revealed unto the many. It is because we hope that our offer will raise many thoughts in men who
'

This latter passage corroborates

all

the others italicized above, as to the intent and purpose of

the book.

"

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

never yet knew the Miranda
sextce cstatis [the

229
in those

wonders of the sixth age], as well as

who
"

live for the

present only.

We

hold that the medit^itions, knowledge, and inventions of our loving Christian
all

father (of

that which, from the beginning of the world, man's wisdom, either through
spirits, or

God's revelation, or through the service of angels and

through the sharpness and

till

deepness of understanding, or through long observation, hath found out and

now hath

been propagated), are so excellent, worthy, and great,

all

tliat if all

books should perish and

learning be

lost,

yet that posterity would be able from that alone to lay a

to light again."

new foundaall

tion,

and bring truth

To whom would
sixth

not this be acceptable?

if it

"Wherefore should we not with

had only pleased God
to lighten

our

hearts rest and remain in the only truth,

unto us the

Candelabrum ?

Were

it

not good that we needed not to care, not to fear hunger,

poverty, sickness,

and age ?
so,

beginning of the world, and as

in

lived from the That you should dwell one place, and neither the dwellers in India or Peru be able to keep anything from you ? " That you should so read in one onely book," and by so doing understand and rememit

" Were

not a precious thing, that you could always live

if

as

if

you had

you should

still live

to the

end ? "

ber

all

that

is,

has been, or will be written.

it,

"

How

pleasant were

that you could so sing, that instead of stony rocks [like Orspirits;

instead of hellish Pluto,

pheus] you could draw pearls and precious stones; instead of wild beasts, move the mighty Princes of the world ? "
God's counsel
If
it

and

now

is,

to increase

and enlarge the number of our Fraternity.

treasures too

be objected that we have

made our

common, we answer
intelligence,

that

tlie

grosser sort will not be able to receive them,

and we

shall

judge of the worthiness of those

who

are to be received into our Fraternity, not by

human

but by

t"he

rule of

our Revelation and Manifestation.

government

shall

be instituted in Europe, after the fashion of that of Damear [or

men govern, who " by the permission of the king make particular laws (whereof we have a description set down by our Chrietianly father), when first is done, and come to pass that which is to precede. Then what is now shown, as it were " secretly and by pictures, as a thing to come, shall be free, and publicly proclaimed, and the whole world filled withal." As was done with whose final fall is delayed and kept for our times, when he also the " Pope's tyranny, shall be scratched in pieces with nails, and an end be made of his ass's cry " [a favorite
Demcar]
in Arabia,

where only wise

phrase of Luther].

Our Christian father was born 1378, and lived 106 vears [his remains being to be concealed 120, brings us to 1604, when Andrea was 18]. It is enough for them who do not despise our Declaration to prepare the way for their " None need fear deceit, for we promise and openly acquaintance and friendship with us. say, that no man's uprightness and hopes shall deceive him, whosoever shall make himself known unto us under the Seal of Secrecy, and desire our Fraternity." But we cannot make them known to hypocrites, for " they shall certainly be partakers
of all the

punishment spoken

treasures shall remain untouched

them

for his use,

Fama [utter destruction, vide SMjwa], and our and unstirred until the Lion doth come, who will ask and employ them for the confirmation and establishment of his kingdom."
of in our

"

'

230

EA RL V BRITISH PRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

will

God

most assuredly send unto the world before her end, which

shall
all

happen shortly
"lies, servitude,

afterwards,

"such Truth, Light,

Life,

and Glory
and

as

Adam had;"

and

falsehood,

and darkness which by

all arts,

little

little,

with the great world's revolution, was

crept into

works, and governments of man, and have darkened the most part of them,
sort of all

shall cease.

For from thence are proceeded an innumerable

all

manner

of false

opinions and heresies:

the which,

when

it

shall

once be abolished, and instead thereof

a right and true Eule instituted, then there will remain thanks unto

them which have

taken pains therein; but the work

itself shall

be attributed to the blessedness of our age."

As many
to liave this

great

men

will assist in this

. . .

Reformation by their writings, "so we desire not

honor ascribed to us."

messengers, which should testify

" The Lord God hath already sent before certain His Will, to wit, some new stars, which do appear in the

firmament in Serpentarius and Cygnus, which signify to every one that they are powerful
Signacvla of great weighty matters."

Now

remains a short time^ when

all

has been seen and heard,

when the

earth will awake

and proclaim it aloud. " These Characters and Letters [he does not say what], as God hath here and there iur corporated them in the Holy Scriptures, so hath he imprinted them most apparently in the wonderful creation of heaven and earth yea, in all beasts." As astronomers can calculate eclipses, " so we foresee the darkness of obscurations of the Church, and how long

they shall

last."

" But we must also let you understand; that there are some Eagles' Feathers in our way, which hinder our purpose." Wherefore we admonish every one carefully to read " For as this is the whole sum and the Bible, as being the best way to our Fraternity.
content of our Rule, that every Letter or Character which
is

in the world

ought

to be

learned and regarded well; so those are like, and very near allyed unto us,
Bible a Rule of their
to have
it

who make
it

the

life.

Yea,

let it

be a compendium of the whole world, and not only

to all times

in the

mouth, but to know how to direct the true understanding of

and ages
Bible:]

of the World.

[Diatribe against expounders and commentators, as

compared with the

praises of the

" But whatever hath been

said in the

Fama

concerning the deceivers against the

is

transmutation of metals, and the highest medicine in the world, the same
derstood, that this so great a gift of

thus to be un-

God we do in no manner set at naught, or despise. But because she bringeth not with her always the knowledge of Nature, but tliis bringeth forth not only medicine, but also maketh manifest and open unto us innumerable secrets
and wonders; therefore it is requisite, that we be earnest to attain to the understanding and knowledge of philosophy; and, moreover, excellent wits ought not to be drawn to the tincture of metals, before they be exercised well in the knowledge of Nature."

As God esalteth the lowly and pulleth down the proud, so He hath and will do the Eomish Church. Put away the works of all false alchemists, and turn to us, who are the true philosophers.
secrets.

We

speak unto you in parables, but seek to bring you to the understanding of

all

"

We

desire not to
verily not

and that

the Spirit of

be received of you, but to invite you to our more than kingly houses, by our own proper motion, but as forced unto it, by the instigation of God, by His Admonition, and by the occasion of this present time.

A RL Y BRITISH FRE EMA SONR YENGLA ND.

An
exhortation to join
tlie

23

Fraternity, seeing that ihey profess Christ,

life,

condemn the

Pope, addict themselves to the true philosophy, lead a Christian

to enter into the order.

and

daily exhort

men

Then

follows a renewed warning to those

who do

so for worldly

motives, for though " there be a medicine -which might fully cure

all diseases,

nevertheless

those

whom God
in

hath destinated to plague with diseases, and to keep them under the rod

of correction, shall never obtain

any such medicine."

from Innumerable Miseries, yet
shall

" Even

such manner, although we might enrich the whole World, and endue them
it

with Learning, and might release

manifested and made

we never be
it

known unto any man, without

the especial pleasure of God; yea,

shall be so far from him whosoever thinks to get the benefit, and be Partaker of our Riches

and Knowledg, without and against the Will of God, that he

of the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross."

shall sooner lose his life in

seeking and searching for us, then to find us, and attain to come to the wished Happiness

have given these abstracts at considerable length, in order to afford

my

readers a

-complete idea of the substance of the two publications.

As

will easily

be seen, the " Con-

fessio" professes to give an account of the doctrines of the society, the

"Fama" rather
I

resembling a history
give an accurate

is

totally unintelligible, in spite of the care

which

have taken to

and copious abridgment.

It is impossible to believe that

Andrea, or who-

ever else

may have been

the writer, was describing a sect that actually existed, and difficult

indeed to believe that he had any serious object.

like a nonsensical

Indeed the "Confessio" sounds more

bear this interI

parody on the ordinary philosophical jargon of the day, and there are
it

many

passages in

as well as

some

in the

" Fama," which

will especially

pretation, like the celebrated nautical description of a storm

in Gulliver.

shall

not,
of

however, attempt to deny that Andrea was a

man

of talent,

and one sincerely desirous

to clear the

benefiting mankind, especially German-kind, but in the ardor of youth he

must have been

ground
both

more tempted

to satire

than in his maturer years, and

false

may have sought

by crushing the existing

the romancists.

philosophers with ridicule, as Cervantes subsequently did

He may
to

also, as

Buhle says

and thereare repeated traces of

came before him
in

this in

works

have sought
his friends

draw out those who

associates, of

were sincerely desirous of effecting a real and

lasting reformation.

The answers
and

doubtless

some form or another

through

whom

one account says that there were thirty, and

the answers,

if they were all like those preserved at Gottingen, which, in spite of the solemn warnings in both the " Fama " and " Confessio," chiefly related to gold finding, must have been sufficiently discouraging to induce him to relinquish, for the time at least, any

such scheme as that which has been ascribed to him.

with his
life,'

His
all

efforts,

however, only ceased

ulti-

though

his plans,

which

at first

embraced

science

and morality, seem

Was mately to have been reduced to the practical good of founding schools and churches. he after all a dreamy Teutonic and very inferior Lord Bacon ? ' As for the " Fama " itself, it
'It

are imaginaiy, but this

fessio."
'

has been asserted that the dates given in connection with C. R. C. by some German writers " Conis not so, since the precise date of his supposed birth is given in the
It is

not in the " Fama," and hence

tlie

mistake.

Lord Bacon's poUtical is lost in his scientific genius, nevertheless it was very great. So was There is a passage in his works wherein he laments the non-publication of also his legal capacity. his judgments, which he says would have shown him at least equal, if not superior, to his rival Coke. I know of no greater loss.

'

i32
seems
to

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

have been based on the " blaster Nicholas" of John Tanler, with a
early life of
little

taken

from the and

LuUy

not

forgetting his

own

personal career

and

coupled witk

certain ideas

drawn from the Cabbala, the Alchemists, the seekers after Universal Medicine
of this edition

the Astrologers.

comes a short advertisement, I imagine by Eugenius Phila. lethes himself to the reader, inviting him, siiys the writer, " not to my Lodging, for I would give thee no such Directions, my Xature being more Melancholy than Sociable. I would

At the end

only

tell

thee

how

Charitable I am, for having purposely omitted

1

some Necessaries in

my

ioTmev Discourse.

have u])on second TOoMy^/s resolved against that silence."

appears that he flatters himself to be one; and he

After this

he goes on to say that " Philosophic hath her Confidents, but in a sense different from the

Madams," among whom

would seem

it

is

so

much

in

her confidence that he even knows the right way of preparing the philosopher's
to be the long-sought-for universal medicine, a

salt,

which

medicine the true mode of preknown to few, if any, not even to Tubal Cain himself though Eugenius must have been very much in the confidence of Philosophie to have known anything about
paring which was

the secret practices of the great antediluvian mechanic.

This whole passage

is

so curious,

and

is

so illustrative, in a small space, of the ideas

it,

and

practices of these so-called philosophers, that I shall here introduce

possible,

preserving, as far as

both the textual and typographical peculiarities of the original. " The Second Philosophicall work is commonly called the gross work, but
Cornelius Agrippa

'tis

one of

the greatest Subtilties in all the Art.

hath clearly discovered

his

it;

but the Difficulty of

I

knew the Jirst Preparation, and the second made him almost an enemy to
it

own

Profession.

By the second work,

understand, not Coagulation, but the Solution

appears by

of the Philosophical Salt, a secret

which Agrippa did not rightly know, as

all his

his practise at Malines; nor

treaties.

would Natalius teach him, for

frequent and serious in-

This was

it,

that

made

his necessities so vigorous,

and

his

purse so weak, that

can seldome finde him in a full fortune.

But

in this,

he

is

not alone:

Raymond LuUy,

the best Christian Artist that ever was, received not this Mysterie from Arnoldus, for in

he followed the tedious common process, which after all is scarce profitable. Here he met with a Drudgerie almost invincible, and if we add the Task to the Time, it Norton was so strange an Ignoramus in tliis Point, that if is enough to make a Mati old. and Purgation were performed in three years, he thought it a happy work. the Solution
his first Practises

George Ripley labour'd for new Inventions to put rife this red
his gold:

salt,

and

his

knack
is

is,

to expose it to alter nat fits of cold

which he enviously cals and heat, but in this he is

that I have

singular, and Faber

so wise

he

will

not understand him.

And now

men-

After all we ought not to wonder at the facility vrith which dupes were then made. It is only a very few months ago, that an appeal was made in the newspapers for subscriptions to excavate the hiU of Tara, near Dublin, in order to discover the Jewish Ark, alleged to have been carried by the prophet Jeremiah, on the conquest of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, first to Egj'pt and subse-

Now this hill was the latest it was lodged in the aforesaid hill of Tara. the supposed royal Irish palace, and some human work such as a " rath '" or camp, fortified by earthworks, and enclosing wattled huts after the manner of the New Zealanders, only on a larger But before Tara, which was of a comparatively late date, was Emascale, certainly existed there.
quently to Ireland, where
site of

and before Emania some other abiding place whose name I forget, and it must have been the was in existence (if ever) when Jeremiah may have landed in Ireland. The prophet showed The subscription was actuhis prophetic instinct in placing the ark in the last seat of Irish royalty. ally begun, for there was, if I remember rightly, some dispute about it quite lately.
nia,
first tiiat

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

tion'd Faber, I
t}ie

23 3

must needs

say that Tubal- Cain himself

is

short of
it.

tlio

right Solution, for

Process he

describes hath not an}'thing of

Nature

in

Lot us return then to Ray-

mund
tlie

Lullie, for

[in nine days],

and

he was so great a Master, that he perform'd the Solution intra novem dies, this Secret he had from God himself. .: .: .\ It seems, then, that
is

greatest Difficult;/

not in the Coagulation or production of the Philosophicall Salt,

it

but in the Putrefaction of

of the Philosophers, for

when

it is

produced.

one of those Pra^cisians

tels us:

Indeed this agrees " Qui scil

best

with the sence

[et] ejus

SALEM,

SOLUTIONEM,
knows the
Alas, then!
salt,

scji!

SECRETUM OCCULTUM
its

antiquorum Philosophorum" ["he who

secret of the ancient philosophers"].

and

solution,

knows the hidden

Whence comes our next Intelligence? lam afraid here is a sad Truth for somebody. Shall we run now to Lucas Rodargirus, or have we any dusty Manuscripts, that can instruct us? Well, Reader, thou seest how free I am grown; and now I could discover something else, but here is enough at once. I could indeed tell
what
shall

we do?

thee of the

first,

and second sublimation, of a double Nativity,

is

Visible
tell

and

Invisible, with-

out which the matter

simple,

not alterable, as to out purpose.

could

thee also of Sulphurs

and compounded, of three Argents Vive, and as many Salts; and all this would be Book-men phrase it), even to the best Learned in England. But I have done, and I hope this Discourse hath not demolished any man's Castles, for why should they despair, when I cotitribute to their Building? I am a hearty Dispensero, and if they have

new

netvs (as the

got anything by me,

much good may

were I to

it

do them.

It is

my

onely/ear, they will mistake

when they read;

then, was the salt
their Errors.
I

for

live long,

which

am

confident I shall not [of what use,

?], I

would make no other wish, but that

I

my

years might be as

many
it is

as

speak not this out of any contempt, for

I

undervalue no man;
that gives

my
the

Experience in this kind of learning, which

ever

made my Business,
which
I

me

boldness to suspect a possibility of the sa,mefaylings in others,

self.

have found in

my

Reader know, that the Philosophers, finding this life subjected to Necessitie, and that Necessity was inconsistant with the nature of the Soul,
conclude,
I

To

would have

my

they did therefore look upon Ma7i, as a Creature originally ordained for some better State than the present, for this was not agreeable with his
the
spirit.

This thougJit made them seek

Libertie,

Ground

of his Creation, that,

if

possible, they

might take hold of

and

transthis

cend the Dispensations of that

Circle,

which they Mysteriously

cal'd Fate.

Now what

really signifies not one in ten tliousand

knows

and yet we are

all Philosophers.

" But to come to

all things,

my purpose,

I say,

the true Philosophers did find in every Compo%ind

a double Complexion, Circumferential,

and Central.

but in some things altogether venomous.

The Circumferential was corrupt in The Central not .so, for in the Center

ot eyery thing there was & perfect Unity, a miraculous indissoluble Concord of Fire

Water.

and These two Complexions are the Maniftstum and the Occultum of the Arabians,
resist
all,

and they

one another, for they are Contraries.

In the Center

itself

they found no
in Degrees of
it

Discords at

for the Difference of Spirits consisted, not in Qualities,

but

Essence and Transcendency.

As

for the Water,

it

was of kin with the Fire, for

was not

common but
Argenti:

(stliereal.

In

all

Centers this Fire was not the same, for in sonne

it

was only

a Solar Spirit, and such a Center was called.

Aqua

solis.

Aqua

Calestis,
it

Aqua Auri, Aqua

In some again the Spirit was more than Solar, for

was super-Cmlestial and

Serenans, Candelas

Metaphysical: This Spirit purged the very rational Soul, and awakened her Root that was
asleep,

and therefore such a Center was

et

called,

Aqua

Igne tincta.

Aqua

^uxnaens,

Domum

illuminans.

Of both these Wafers have I discoursed in these small


"I

234
Tractates
I

^A RL y BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGLA ND.

have published;

and though
it

I liave

had some Dirt

cast at

me

for

my

pains,

yet this
I

is

so

ordinary I mind

not,

for whiles

we

live here

we

ride in a

High-way.
are

cannot think him wise who resents his Injuries, for he

provide for

sets a rate

upon things that

This
is

toorthless, and makes use of his Spleen where his Scorn becomes him.

the Enter-

tainment

my

Adversaries, and

if

they think

it

too coarse, let

them judg where

they understand, and they

may fare

better."

Andrea's labors with respect to the Rosicrucians are said to have been crowned by the
foundation of a genuine society for the propagation of truth,
Fraternity,"
'

named by him the "

it

Christian

into the history of which, however, I shall not proceed, as

would needlessly

widen the scope of our present inquiry.

Buhle's theory

is

to rush

at once in medias res

that Freemasonry
translated
it

is

neither more nor less than Rosicrucianism as modified by those

who

into England.

Soane

'

goes a step further, and says that the Rosicrucians were

to

so utterly crushed

by Gassendi's reply

Fludd, not to mention the general ridicule of

their pretensions, that they gladly shrouded themselves

under the name of Freemasons;

and both seem

to agree that Freemasonry, at least in the

I will pass

modern acceptance
likely to

of the term,

did not exist before Fludd.

over for the present the fact, that the works of

little

Mersenne, Gassendi, Naude, and others, were but

have been read in

un-

England; and that no similar compositions were issued from the press in our own country,

on the one hand; while, on the other, that the Masonic body, as at present
doubtedly took
its

existing,

origin in Great Britain

so that

the Rosicrucians concealed tliemselves

also that

where there was no need of concealment, and did not conceal themselves where there was Masonry undoubtedly existed before the time of Fludd, and the Rosicrucians
never had an organized existence.

So that

men pursuing somewhat

similar paths without

any

real organization,

but linked together only by somewhat similar crazes, spontaneously

of a pre-existing organization,

assumed the character

shall next

which organization they could only

tacit

have invaded and made their own by the express or

permission of the invaded ?

its

show Buhle's theory somewhat

at length,

on which and

confutation to build

my

subsequent arguments.

To
reply,

the objection that the hypothesis of the Gottingen professor

is

utterly untenable

and equally

so are all the visionary speculations,

however supported by the authority

of great names, which in any form link the society of Freemasons with the impalpable fraternity of the Rosie Cross.

Yet

as a connection
'

between the two bodies has been largely

'

believed in by writers both within

and without

the pale of the craft, and in a certain

'

sense
'

for Hermeticism and Rosicrucianism are convertible terms

the

still

remains an article

A list of

members composing

tliis

Christian Brotheriiood, which continued to exist after

is

Andrea's death,
ing
it

is still

preserved, and the curious reader

referred for furllier particulars concern-

to a series of
iv.

of cliapter
'

works cited by Professor Buhle, and reprinted by De Quincey in a note at the end of his abridgment (De Quincey's Works, 1863-71], vol. xvi. p. 405).
.

New

Curiosities of Litei-ature, loc

cit.

'W. Sandys, A Short Histor3'of Freemasonry, 1829, p. 52. See also the article "Masonry, Free," by the same author, in the "Encyclopaedia Metropolitana," vol. xxii., 1845; and the "Anaoalypsis
of Godfrey Higgins.
'

Buhle,

De Quincey, Soane, King,

etc.

''I.e.,

Hermeticism

as a

styled Rosicrucianism.

Writers of

Hermetick learning,
t!ie

science,

now represents what in the seventeenth century was two centuries preceding our own, constantly refer to the philosopliy, or mysteries; but the word Hermeticism, which signifies
generic term
tlie

same

thing, appears to be of recent coinage.

EARLY BRFTfSH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

of faith with two such learned Masons as
fully

235

Woodford and Albert

I

Pike,'

it is

essential to care-

examine the theory of Masonic origin or development, so

In order to do this properly,
I

influentially, albeit erro-

neously, supported.

shall

put forward Professor Buhle as

the general exponent of the views of wliat

school.'

venture to term the Rosicrucian (or Hermetic)

Mackey
is

says:

" Higgins, Sloane, Vaughan, and several other writers have asserted

that Freemasonry sprang out of Rosicrucianism.

But

this

is

a great error.

Between the
of

two there

no similarity of
is

origin, of design, or of organization.

The symbolism

Rosicrucianism
operative art."

derived from an Hermetic philosophy:

that of Freemasonry from an

This writer, however, after the publication of his " Encyclopaedia," veered
fivers," originally printed in 1722, the consideration of which

round

to

an opposite conclusion, owing to the influence produced upon his mind by a book

called "

Long
all

we

shall ap-

proach a

little later.

Before, however, parting with the general subject, I shall briefly

touch upon

the points omitted by Professor Buhle, and urged by others of the " Rosi-

crucian school "

at least so far as

have met with any in the course of

my reading,

which,

by the greatest latitude of construction, can be viewed as bearing ever so remotely

the immediate subject of our inquiry.

upon

" At the beginning of the seventeenth century," says the Professor, " many learned
heads in England were occupied with Theosophy, Cabbalism, and Alchemy:
proofs of this

among

the

may be

cited the

works of John Pordage, of Xobert, of Thomas and Samuel

acquaintance with Rosicrucianism

Norton, but above

all (in

reference to our present inquiry) of Robert Fludd."'

first
is

The
corded
;

particular occasion of Fludd's

not re-

and whether he gained

immaterial.

his

knowledge directly from the three Rosicrucian books,

intimate terms with Fludd during his
it

or indirectly through his friend Maier,

stay in England,
is

should be remembered that it is the arguing he must have been initiated into Rosicrucianism at an early Fludd did not begin to period, having published his "Apology" for it in the year 1617. publish until 1616, but afterward became a voluminous writer, being the author of about twenty works, mostly written in Latin, and as dark and mysterious in their language as Besides his own name, he wrote under the pseudonyms of Robertus de their matter. His writings on the subFluctibus, Rudolphus Otreb, Alitophilus, and Joachim Frizius.
Professor

who was on At any rate and

who

is

'

In the opinion of Mr. Pike,

[i.e.,

"Men who were

adepts in the Hermetic philosophy,

in the

made

the cere-

monials of the blue

of Charleston,

craft] degrees."

The expression "blue degrees " or " lodges "

to

in

my

opinion a most objectionable one

appears

have been coined early

century by Dr. Dalcho

South Carolina.

'Buhle's " Historico-Critical Inquiry into the Origin of the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons," though " confused in its arrangement," is certainly not " illogical in its arguments," as contended

by Dr. Mackey.

Its

weak

point

is

the insufficiency of the Masonic data with which the Profe.ssor

was provided.

On

the whole, however, although some inaccuracies appear with regard to Ash-

mole's initiation, and the period to whicli English Freemasonry can be carried back, the essay

merely regarded as a contribution to Masonic history will contrast favorably with all speculations upon the origin of Freemasonry of earlier publication. Whether Buhle was a Freemason it is not easy to decide; but from the wording of his own (not De Quincey's) preface, I think he must have
been.

'With the exception

of "Norbert."

are cited in the Athense Oxonienses.

cianism and the yearly meeting of

principle,

whom I have failed to trace, all the writers named by Buhle Soane says that the Masonic lodges " sprang out of Rosicruastrologers," the first known members of which [the lodges]

Fludd, Ashmole. Pordage, and others,

who were Paracelsists though the ua,me was no longer owned by them."

being "all

ardent Rosicrucians in

236
ject of

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

Rosicrucianism are as follows:

I.

"A

Brief Apology cleansing

and clearing the

II.

Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross from the stigma of infamy and suspicion; "
getic Tract defending the

" An Apolo-

Libavius and others; " III.

Honesty of the Society of the Rosy Cross from the attacks of " The Contest of Wisdom with Polly;" IV. The " Summum
I

Bonum," an extravagant work, from which

of JIagic, the Cabbala,

shall give various extracts, written

"

in praise

Alchemy, the Brethren of the Rosy Cross; and for the disgrace of the notorious calumniator Fr. Marin. Mersenne; " and V. " The Key of Philosophy and

Alchemy."

Some

little

confusion has arisen, out of the habit of this author of veiling his identity

by a constant change of pseudonym.

But

it

may be

fairly

concluded that

all

the works
sufficiently

below enumerated are from his pen, since the references from one to another are
plain

stamp them all as the coinage of a single brain. Anthony a Wood omits the " Apology" (II.) from his list of Fludd's works; but though

and

distinct to

denied to be
of the

his, it bears his

name

in the title page,

and was plainly written by the author by him

at p. 39 of that work. (IV.),

"

Summum Bonum"

(IV.), being expressly claimed

(III.),

Now, the " Sophiae cum Moria Certamen"

carry any weight,

and the "

Summum Bonum"

two
is

witty but coarse books, were certainly Fludd's,

i.e., if

the opinions of his contemporaries

this disputed point,

and the summing up of the Oxford antiquary, on

generally regarded as conclusive.'

Our author,
of the kind, for

indeed, sullied these two treatises by mixing a good deal of

ill

language in

them, but Gassendi freely admitted that Mersenne had given Pludd too broad an example

some of the epithets which he thought fit to bestow on him were no better " Caco-magus, Haeretico-magus, fietidsB et horridae Magias, Doctor et Propagator." than And among other exasperating expressions, he threatened him with no less than damnation
itself,

which would

in a short time seize him.'

rival of

Herein Mersenne showed himself a worthy

in their attack

Henry VIII. and

Sir

Thomas More
says, the
it

on Luther, who was a great deal more than their match in vituperation,
their superior in theology.
It is certainly true that, as

though scarcely
effective, for

Hallam

theology of the Great Reformer consists chiefly in "bellowing in bad Latin," but

was
that

he not only convinced others, but also himself, or appeared to do

so,

every opposite opinion in theological argument was right, eternal punishment being always

denounced as the penalty of differing from the whim of the moment. Buhle's theory, as he goes on to expand it, is that Fludd, finding himself hard pressed by Gassendi to assign any
local habitation or

name

to the Rosicrxicians,

evaded the question by, in his answer to

Gassendi, 1G33, formally withdrawing the name, for he

now speaks

of

them
ille

as "Fratres

R. C. olim sic dicti, quos nos hodie Sapientes, vel Sophos vocamus; omisso

nomine, tan-

I. Apologia Compendaria, Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce Suspicionis et Infamije, Maculis aspersam, abluens et absturgens. Leydce, 1616; II. Tractatus Apologeticus, integritatem Societatis de Rose4 Cruce defendens contra Libavium et alios. Lugduni Batavorum, 1617; lH. Sophia cum Mori& Certamen, etc. Franc, 1629; IV. Summum Bonum, quod est verum, Magice, Cabals, Alchymia, Fratrum Rosie Crucis Verorum, Verie Subjectum In dictarum Scientarum Laudem, in insignis
'

Calumuiatoris Fr. Mar. Marsenni Dedecus publicatum, per Joachim Frizium.

losophiae et Alchymiae.

1629; V. Clavis Phiaffords, so fax

as I

am
'

Franc, 1633. The MS. catalogue of the aware, the only complete list of Fludd's works.
p. 205;

Brit.

Mus. Library

Ante,

Athens Oxonienses,
vol.
ii.,

vol.

ii.,

col. 630.

'Athena; Oxonienses,

col. 621.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

quam
I

237
fere

odioso miseris iiiortalibus velo ignorantia obductis,

'

el

in oblivione

hominum jam

sepidto."

may

observe, in passing, that,

though from one cause or another, the name of " Rosiis

may have fallen into disrepute, that there hidden themselves under the name of " Freemasons,"
crucians "
organization which could go over, as
it

no reason why they should have

because there was no distinct

first,

were, in a body

for the Rosicrucians never forme.

.1 separate fraternity in England any more than elsewhere; and, secondly, because there is no evidence of the English Freemasons ever having been called " Sapientes" or Wise Men. Buhle, however, goes on to say that the immediate name of " Masons " was derived

from the legend, contained

in the Fatna Fraternitafis, or the

"

Home

of the

Holy Ghost.''
house, and
impossible to
it

Some have been

it

simple enough to understand by the above expression a

literal
it

was inquired after throughout the empire.

it

But Andrea has rendered

understand

in

any but an

allegorical sense.

Theophilus Schweighart spoke of

as

"a

building without doors or windows, a princely, nay, an imperial palace, everywhere visible,
yet not seen by the eyes of
of the Rosicrucians.

man."

This building, in
that?
It

fact,

represented the purpose or object

or, in their

And what was

was the secret wisdom,

(3) Religion, or

words,
(2)

magic

viz., (1)

Philosophy of nature, or occult knowledge of the works of God;

Theology, or the occult knowledge of

course with the spirit of man;

God Himself;

God's occult inter-

which they fancied

He
is

was transmitted from

Adam

through

the Cabbalists to themselves.

But they distinguished between a carnal and

spiritual being Christianity, symbolized

a spiritual

knowledge of

this magic.

The
?

by Christ Himself

as a rock, and as a building, of which

the head and foundation.

What

rock, says

and a building of human nature, in which men are the stones, and Christ the corner stone. But how shall stones move and arrange themselves into a building ? Ye must be transformed, says Fludd, from dead into living
Fludd, and what foundation
spiritual rock

stones of philosophy.

But what

is

a living stone ?

living stone

himself up into the wall as part of the temple of

human

nature.
'

is a mason who builds " The manner of this

transformation

is

taught us by the Apostle, where he says,

Let the same mind be in you

which

is

in Jesus.'

In these passages we see the

rise of

the allegoric

name

of

masons,"

and the Professor goes on to explain his meaning by quotations from other passages, which, as he has not given them quite fully, and perhaps not quite fairly, I shall hereafter quote at length. He says that, in effect, Fludd teaches that the Apostle instructs us under the image of a husbandman or an architect, and that, had the former type been adopted, we
should have had Free-husbandmen instead of Free-masons.''
their business to erect in the heart of

The

society was, therefore, to

it

be a viasonic society, to represent typically that temple of the Holy Ghost which

was

man. This temple was the abstract of the doctrine of Christ, who was the Grand Master; " hence the light from the East,' of which so much
" The brethren of the R. C. who were formerly, at least, called by this name, but whom we now term the wise; the former name being omitted and almost buried by mankind in obUvion, since unhappy mortals are covered by such a thick veil of ignorance." ' He does not tell us why the prefix free should have been added in either case, nor did he probably know that as attached to masons it has several derivations all perfectly reasonable, though of course they cannot all be true, and all long anterior to the era of which he is speaking.' 'According to Soane, both the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons "derived their wisdom from
'

Adam, adopted the same myth

of building, connected themselves in the

same

unintelligible

way

with Solomon's temple, affecting to be seeking light from the East. in other words, the Cabbala, and accepted the heathen Pythagoras amongst their adepts" (New Cui-iosities of Literature, voL iL,
p.

9U

'

238
is

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

and Masonic books.
festival. St.

said in Rosicrucian

John was the beloved

disciple of Christ,

hence the solemn celebration of his

tributes of

"

Having, moreover, once adopted the attheir objects, they were led to attend

masonry as the figurative expression of

to the legends

more minutely

and history

of that art;

and

in

these again they found an

occult analogy with their

own

relations to Christian wisdom.

The

first

great event in the

Tower of Babel; this expressed figurative! v the attempt of some unknown Mason to build up the Temple of the Holy Ghost in anticipation of Christianity, which attempt, however, had been confounded by the vanity of the
art of masonry was the building of the
builders.

" The building

obvious meaning

of Solomon's

Temple, the second great incident

'

in the art,

had an

as a prefiguration of Christianity.

Hiram," simply the architect of this

temple to the real professors of the art of budding, was to the English Rosicrucians a type
of Christ;

dered by his fellow-workmen, made the type

and the legend of Masons, which represented still more

this

striking.

Hiram as having been murThe two pillars also,

This symbolic interest

Jachin, and Boaz,' strength and power, which are

in

among

the most memorable singularities

Solomon's Temple,' have an occult meaning to the Freemasons.

to the English Eosicrucians in the attributes, legends,

and incidents of the art exercised

by the

real life naturally brought the two orders into some connection They were thus enabled to realize to their eyes the symbols of their own allegories, and the same building which accommodated the guild of builders in their professional meetings, offered a desirable means of secret assemblies to the early Freemasons. An apparatus of implements and utensils, such as were presented in the fabulous sepulchre And accordingly, it is upon of Father Rosycross, was here actually brought together.
literal

masons of

with each other.

record that the

first

formal and solemn lodge of Freemasons, on occasion of which the very

first

name

of

Freemasons was

publicly

made known, was held

in Mason's Hall, Mason's

it

Alley, Basinghall Street,

London,

in the year 1646.

Into this lodge

was that Ashmole

the antiquary was admitted.

Private meetings there

may

doubtless have been before; and

[it

one at Warrington

is

mentioned in the Life of Ashmole

will

be observed that here

Buhle and De Quincey become totally lost]; but the name of a Freemason's lodge with all the insignia, attributes, and circumstances of a lodge, first canie forward in the page of
history on the occasion that I have mentioned.
It is

perhaps in requital of the services at

If this were really the case, there must have been a very long succession of Babels, which would, a double sense, mean confusion, from the original to our own day. ' It is unfortunate that the two first great incidents should relate the one to brick-laying and the other to metal workivg, for the Temple was nothing else but wood overlaid with gold plates, the platform, like that of Baalbec, was formed of huge stones di-agged together by mere manual labor. Hiram, King of Tyre, was half tributaiy prince, half contractor, and doubtless managed to make the one fit in with the other. As for the other Hiram, he was clearly a metal founder.
'

in

A footnote to the essay, explains that Hiram was understood by the older Freemasons as an anagram, H.l.R.A.M. Homo Jesus Redemptor AnimaruM others made it Homo Jesus Rex Altissimus Mundi; whilst a few, by way of simplifying matters, added aC to the Hiram, in order to make
'

it

CHristus Jesus,

etc.
first

See the account of these pillars in the

there stood upon the pillars, as
it

Book

of Kings,

vii.

14-22,

where

it is

said "And

were Roses." Compare 2d Book of Chron. iii. 17. ' The pillars were probably mere ornamental adjuncts to the facade like the EgjT^tian obelisks, the famous masts at Venice, and numerous other examples that might be cited, including the Eleanor Cross in the station j-ard at Charing Cross.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

239

that time rendered in the loan of their hall, etc., that the guild of Masons, as a body, and

the right of admission, and pay only half

where they are not individually objectionable, enjoy a precedency of all orders of men in fees. Ashmole, who was one of the earliest

Freemasons, appears from his writings to have been a zealous Rosicrucian."

The

Professor here pauses to explain that

" when Ashmole speaks

of the antiquity of

Freemasonry, he is to be understood either as confounding the order of the philosophic masons with that of the handicraft masons, or simply as speaking the language of the
Rosicrucians,
Uie secret

who

carry
'

up

their traditional pretensions to

of the lodge were

Adam

as the first professor of

wisdom."

" Other members

Thomas Wharton,

a physician;

^Jeorge

Wharton; Oughtred, the mathematician; Dr. Hewitt; Dr. Pearson, the divine; All the members, it must be tnd William Lilly, the principal astrologer of the day.
observed,

had annually assembled to hold a

title of

festival of astrologers before

they were connected

nto a lodge bearing the

Ihe

Free-masons.

This previous connection had no doubt paved

way
So

for the latter."

far,

BuMe, De Quincey, and

is,

also Soane.

very pretty and ingenious theory, but

unfortunately not quite in harmony with the facts of history.

part of the story

The whole

of the latter

as will be plainly demonstrated, a pure and gratuitous fabrication.

The

initiation of Elias

Ashmole

is

stated to have taken place at the Mason's Hall,

London,

in 1646,

and "private meetings"

for
it

example, one at Warrington

are

mentioned as

having been held at an even earlier date.

The truth

being, as the merest tyro

among

masonic students well knows, that

1646,

Ashmole was admitted.

details of

was at the Warrington meeting which took place in The lodge at the Mason's Hall not having been held until
will

1682, or thirty-five years later.

The
so

Ashmole's initiation

be considered hereafter at some length; but,

introduce some observations of
relied

before proceeding with

my

examination of the passages in Fludd's writings, upon which

much

has been based by his

German commentator,

I shall

a learned Masonic writer, which,

though much quoted and

of authorities, tend to prove that he had then (1845) advanced of Professor

Buhle (1804), and that he was unable to

upon by a large number little beyond the theory prop up that theory by any increase
'

The following extracts are from the " Encyclopaedia Metropolitana," the article of which they form a part, being, without doubt, the very best on the subject that has ever
of facts.

appeared in any publication of the kind.

"

It

appears that Speculative Masonry, to which alone the term

'

Free-Masonry
that
it

'

is

now

applied, was scarcely

known

before the time of Sir Christopher

at that time

Wren;

was engrafted

upon Operative Masonry, which

'

was frequently called Free- Masonry, adopting

Armstrong has well observed:" The Livys of the Masonic commonwealth are far from Rome have either a mean or unknown beginning." According to Preston, " from the commencement of the world, we may trace the foundation of Masonry;" "but," adds Dr. Oliver, " ancient Masonic traditions say, and I think justly, that our science existed before the creation of this globe, and was diffused amidst the numerous systems with which the grand empy-

As

Dr.

willing to let their

reum

of universal space
1823, p. 26).

is

furnished "

(Illustrations of

Masonry, 1792,

p. 7;

Antiquities of Free-

masonry,
at

Professor Bulile then proceeds to sum up the results of his inquirj'.

These

have already given

p. 208, q. v.

Vol. xxii., 1845,

s.

v.

Sandys, also the author of

ter's Lo.'se,

"A

Masonry-Free, by WilUam Sandys, F.A.S. and F.G.S., pp. 11-23. Mr. Short History of Freemasonry," 1829, was a P. M. of the Grand Mas-

No.

1.

240

EARL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

the signs and symbols of the operative Masons, together, probably, with some additional

customs, taken partly from the Rosicrucians of the seventeenth century, and partly imitated from the early religious rites of the Pagans, with the nature of which
his friends

Ashmole and
time,

(some of the

first

framers of Speculative Masonry) were well acquainted.

" Elias Ashmole was made a Mason at Warrington in the year 1646.
of those established in Society,

At the same

a society of Rosicrucians had been formed in London, founded partly on the principles

Germany about
made use

1604,

and partly perhaps on the plan

'

of the Literary

allegorically described in Bacon's

New

Atlantis,' as

the

House of Solomon.
triangle, etc.
in the

Among

other emblems, they

of the sun,

moon, compasses, square,

which met

Ashmole and some

of his literary friends belonged to this society,

Mason's

Hall, as well as to the Masons [company], and they revised and added to the peculiar

emblems and ceremonies

of the latter,

which were simple, and had been handed down to

them through many

their

ages.

They

substituted a method of initiation founded in part, on

knowledge of the Pagan

rites,

and connected partly with the system of the Rosicru-

cians, retaining, probably in a

somewhat varied form, the whole or greater part of the old and hence arose the first Degree, or Apprentice of Free and Accepted or Masonic secrets; Speculative Masonry, which was, shortly after, followed by a new version of the Fellow
Craft Degree."

in general,

" These innovations by Ashmole were not perhaps immediately adopted by the fraternity but Speculative Masonry gradually increased and mingled with Operative

Masonry, until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it was agreed, in order to support the fraternity, which had been on the decline, that the privileges of Masonry
fessions, provided they

should no longer be restricted to Operative Masons, but extended to men of various prowere regularly approved and initiated into the Order."
'

From what

has gone before,

it

will

be very apparent that

if

Sandys can be taken as the

fraternity, the

exponent of views, at that time generally entertained

thesis of the Gottingen Professor, or at

by the Masonic

hypo-

least his conclusions,

for the two writers arrive at

fair

virtually the

same

goal,

though by

slightly different roads,

were in a

way

of

becoming

traditions of the Society.

stress

This I mention because, for the purposes of this sketch, it becomes necessary to lay upon the prevalence of the belief, that in some shape or form, the Rosicrucians, in-

cluding in this term the fraternity, or would-be fraternity, strictly so-called, together with have aided in the development of Freeall members of the Hermetic ' brotherhood

masonry.
I

do not wish to be understood, as confounding the devotees of the Hermetic philosophy

The
resolution here referred \a,

'

which

rests

on the authority

of Preston, will be considered at

a later stage.
'

Amongst the works not

previously cited which will repay perusal in connection with the sub-

ject before us, I take tlie opportunity of

mentioning Figuiers L'Alchimieet

les AJchiraists, 1855;

Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (anonymous), 1850: and the Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique of Lenglet Du Fresnoy, 1742. The curious reader, if such there be, who desires still further enlightenment, will find it in " The Lives of the Alchemystical Philosopher," where at pp.
95-112 a list
is

Select., 1757-65, vol.

given of se,ven hundred and fifty-one Alchemical Books; and in Walsh's Bibl. Theol. ii., p. 96 et seq., which enumerates nearly a hundred more, more than half belists

Of course, but a small proportion of both these but the mere number will serve to show the extent of the mania. relates to English works,
ing devoted to the Rosicrucian controversy.

PROMINENT FREEMASONS OF SOUTHERN STATES.

JOHN S. DAVIDSON, 32, PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF GEORGIA. AAOGER SMYTH, 32, P.. G.-. MASTER OF G LODGE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. O. S. LONG, 33, P.'.G MASTER OF G.-. LODGE OF WEST VIRGINIA. JOSEPH P. HORNER, 33, P .-. G MASTER OF G .-. LODGE MASTER, GRAND LODGE OF TEXAS; OF LOUISIANA. PHILIP C. TUCKER, 33, P .-. G PAST SOV .-. G COM .-. SUP. COUNCIL, S. M J., U. S. A.
.-. . .-.
.
.

.-.

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR 'ENGLA ND.

\

24
of

with the brethren of the Rosy Cross, but the foUowing passage from the

life

Anthony k

Wood

will

more

clearly illustrate

my

meaning:

1663. " Ap. 23.

He began

a course of Chimistry under the noted Chimist

and Rosicruend of May

was one
Coll.

cian, Peter Sthael of Strasburgh in Royal Prussia,

and concluded

in the latter

following.
(since

The club
of the

consisted of 10 at least, whereof Franc.

Turner

of

New

Bishop of Ely), Benjam. WoodrofF, of Ch. Ch. another (since Canon of Ch. Ch.),

and Job. Lock

a turbulent the

same house, afterwards a noted

writer.

This Jo. Lock was a

man

of

spirit,

clamorous and never contented.

The Club wrot and

table,

took notes from

J.

mouth
to

of their master,
it;

who

sate at the

upper end of a

but the said

Lock

scom'd

do

so that while every

man

besides, of the Club,

were writing, he would be

prating and troblesome. This P. Sthael, who was a Lutheran and a great hater of women,' was a very useful man, had his lodging in University Coll. in a Chamber at the west end of the old chappel. He was brought to Oxon. by the honorable Mr. Rob. Boyle, an. 1659, and began to take to him scholars in the house of Job. Cross next, on the W.
side, to University Coll.,

Williamson of Queen's
State under K. Ch.
2.

Coll.

where he began but with three scholars; of which number Joseph was one, afterwards a Knight and one of the Secretaries of
After he had taken in another class of six there, he translated

himself to the house of Arth. Tylliard an apothecary, the next dore to that of Joh. Cross
saving one, which
is

a taverne:

where he continued teaching

till

the latter end of 1662.

The

chiefest of his scholars there were Dr. Joh. Wallis, Mr. Christopher

Wren, afterwards
afterwards an

a Knight and an eminent Virtuoso, Mr. Thom. Millington of

Alls. Coll.

eminent Pbysitian and a Knight, Nath. Crew of Line.

Tho. Branker of Exeter
Coll., a

Coll.

afterwards Bishop of

Durham,
Coll.,

noted mathematician. Dr. Ralph Bathurst of Trin.

a pbysitian, afterwards president of his college

Dr. Tho. Janes, both of Magd. Coll.,

and deane of Wells, Dr. Hen. Yerbury, and Rich. Lower, a pbysitian, Ch. Ch., Rich. Griffith.

M. A.,

fellow of University Coll., afterwards Dr. of phys.

and fellow

of the Coll.

of

Physitians.,

and

severall others."

"About

the begining of the yeare 1663 Mr. Sthael removed his school or elaboratory

to a draper's house, called Joh. Bowell, afterwards

mayor

of the citie of Oxon., situat

and

being in the parish of Allsaints, commonly called Allhallowes.

in

He

built his elaboratory

hostle),

an old hall or refectory in the back-side

(for the

House

itself

had been an antient

wherein A.

W. [Anthony

Wood] and

his fellowes

were instructed.

In the yeare following

Mr. Sthael was called away to London, and became operator to the Royal Society, and continuing there till 1670, he return'd to Oxon in Nov., and had several classes successively,

but the names of them

know

not;

and afterwards going

S.

to

London

againe, died

there about 1075, and was buried in the Church of

of Westminster,
shill.,

Clement's Dane, within the libertie

paid Mr. Sthael 30

May

30.

The Chimical Club concluded, and A. W.

class

having in the beginning of the

his

given 30 shillings beforehand.

A.

W.

got some

knowledge and experience, but

'

mind

still

hung

after antiquities,

and musick."'

This seems to have been a characteristic of

It will

heartily reciprocated by the fair sex.

all the ti-ibe, and the feeUng was probably very be recollected that the original foUowei-s of C. R. were

" all of vowed virginity." " It was a long received opinion amongst the Schoolmen and doctors, that no good angel could appear in the shape of a woman, and that any apparition in the form of a female must be at once set down as an evil spirit " (James Crossley, editorial note, Chetham Soc.
Pub., vol.
xiii., p. 361).

'Athenae Oxonienses, VOL. II.

vol.

i.,

p. Hi.

16.

'

"

242

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

the preceding extract,

From

we

learn that both

John Locke, the distinguished

philo-

Wren, pursued a course of study under the guidance of a noted " Rosicnieian;" and by some this circumstance may seem to lend color to the masonic Passing on, however, I shall theories which liave been linked with their respective names. examination of the passages in Fludd's writings, upon wliich Professor proceed with an Buhle has so much relied. The following extracts are from the " Summum Bonum:" " from dead blocks to linng stones of philos1. " Let us be changed," says Darnaeus,
sopher, and Sir Christopher
'

ophy; and the manner of this change

is

taught us by the Apostle when he says:

'

Let the

same mind be
lowing words:

in

you which

is

in Jesus,'" in

" For when He was

and this mind he proceeds the form of God, He thought

to explain in the folit

not robbery to be

equal with God.

it is

necessary that

philosophers,

in order that we may we should open out a little more clearly the meaning of the Chymical by which means you will see that these philosophers wrote one thing and

But

be able to apply this to the Chymical degrees,

meant another" [the hidden or esoteric wisdom].' 3. " We must conclude, then, that Jesus is the comer-stone of the human temple, by whose exaltation alone this temple will te exalted; as in the time of Solomon, when his prayers were ended, it is said that he was filled with the glory of God; and so from the death of Capha or Aben, pious men became living stones, and that by a transmutation from the state of fallen Adam to the state of his pristine innocence and perfection, that

is,

from the condition

of vile

and diseased

\lit.

leprous] lead to that of the finest gold, and

that by the

medium

of this living gold, the mystic pliilosopher's stone [whatever

it

Fludd

may have

dreixmt, the generality took

is

in a

much more

practical sense], I

mean wisdom,
as

and by the divine ema.nation which 3. " But in order that we may
three special columns of wisdom,

the gift of

treat this

God and not otherwise." brotherhood in the same way

namely:
,
.

Magic, the Caballa, and Chymistry,

we have the we may

define the Rosicrucian fraternity as being either

.

I rue or essential,
-1,4.1

and which

A
.

i
.,,
1

Magic or wisdom.
rm

1 J -iu ^i, the truth, deals rightly with ^1, +

M--, with
j

-^
i

The
pvi

Cabbala,
'

^,

'

Ante, p. 236, note 1. The following is a translation of its description on the title-page: " Supreme Good, which is the Truth, consists of Magic, the Cabbala, Alchymy, the Fraternity

Rosy Cross, which aie concerned with Truth. "In praise of the above named sciences, and for the disgrace of the notorious caluminator, (Fludd's Works, collected edition, Brit. Mus. Lib., vol. iv., pp. 36, 39, Fra. Mar. Mersenne; 1629."
of the
47. 49.)

'"Transmutemini [ait Darnjeus] de lapidibus mortuis in lapides vivos Philosophicos; viam hujusmodi transmutationis, nos docet Apostolus dum ait: Eadem mens sit in vobis, quse est in Jesu, mentem autem explicat in sequentibus, nimirum cum in forma Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus Sed ut Chymicis gradibus hoc prsstare possumus, necesse est, ut Sapiest se aiqualem esse Deo. entum Chymicorum sensum, paulo accuratiori intuitu aperiamus, quo videatis aliud scripsisse, aliud
intellexisse Sapientes " (pp. 36, 37).
^

" Concludimus, igitur quod Jesus sit templi

humani

lapis angularis, cujus exaltatione nonaliter

exaltabitur ejus templum,

fuisse repletum, atque ita

quam tempore Salomonis, finitis ejus precibus, gloria Domini, dictum est ex C^pha seu Aben mortuis, lapides vi\i f.octi sunt homines pii, idque

reali, ab Adami lapsi statu in statum suae innocentire et perfectionis, hoc est a villi pUimbi conditione in auri purissimi perfectioneni, idque mediante auro illo vivo, lapide Philosophorum mystico, Sapientia dico, et emanatione divina quas est donum Dei et non aliter

transmutatione
et leprosi

(p. 37).

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

Or
Of want or
avarice,

243

by which the

common
Bastard and adulterine,

people are deceived.

by which
of

Of

pride, so that they should appear

others give a false explanation of

this society, or else because they

to be

what they
that,

are not.

Of malice, so
life,

are led

away by a

by living a vicious
the worst pos'

spirit

they

may give

sible character to the society."

4. "Finally, the sacred pages show us how we ought to work in investigating the [nature of] this incomparable gem, namely, by proceeding either by general or particular

form [or 'method'].

The Apostle

teaches us the general, where he says,

'We beseech

you,

brethren, that ye take heed that ye be at peace and conduct your

own

business, laboring

with your hands as we have taught you, so that you seek nothing of any one.'

In his

particular instruction he teaches you to attain to the mystical perfection, using the analogy

as follows:
we
are

of either

Under the type of an husbandman, he speaks I have planted, Apollos watered, but the Lord will give the increase.' For the helpers of and fellow- workers with God, hence he says, Ye are God's husarchitect.
'

an husbatidnian or an

'

bandry'" [or
5.

'

tillage."

See

1 Cor., ch.

iii.,

v.

10].

"Finally, a brother labors to the perfecting of this task under the symbol of an

architect.

Hence the Apostle

says in the text,

'

As a wise

architect have I laid the foundait,

tion according to the grace

which God has given me, but another builds upon

is laid,
'

for

none

other can lay the foundation save that which

who

is

Christ alone.'

It is in refer-

ence to

tliis

architectural simile that St. Paul says,

We are the

fellow-laborers with God,

and another builds upon it; ' and David also agree with this when he says, Except the Lord build the house the workmen seems to labor but in vain.' All of which is the same as what St. Paul brings forward under the
as a wise architect have I laid the foundation
'

type of an husbandman,

'

For neither

is

he that planteth anything nor he that watereth.

'

eotia columnis videlicet,

r

" Sed ut rem pari methodo cum Fi-aternitate ista ac cum praecedentibus tribus praecipuis SapiMagia Cabbala atque Chymia aequamus, dicimus quod
'Vera et essentialis,
1
f

Magia seu Sapientia.

Cabala.

quae recti versatur

in vera,

-<
l_

Alchymia.
Avara,
seu
indigente,

Fratemitas
Rosae Crucis
sit

quo

aut

vulgus decipiant.

Adulterina
false

et

nothua
denomina_
ducti

Superba, ut scilicet videantur

atque iiujus sectas alii talem

induunt

-^

tales quales revera non sunt.

Malitiosa,

ut vitam vitiosam

,tionem, aut

anima

ducentes

pessimam
(p. 39).

in

veram
'4.

Fraternitatis

famam

inducant "

"Denique; qualiter debent operari ad gemmae istiusmodi incomparabilis inquisitionem, nos docet pagina sancta, videlicet, vel general! form4 vel particular^ Generaliter nos instruit Apostolus sic: 'Rogamus vos fratres ut operam detis, ut quieti sitis, et ut vestrum negotium agatis, etopeinstructione

ramini manibus vestris, sicut prjecepimus vobis, ut nullius aliquid desideretis.' In particulari sua more analogico discurrens, nos docet ad mysterii perfectionera, vel sub Agricolce vel ub
'

Archiiecti typo pertingere. Sub Agricolae, inquam, titulo. Unde sic loquitur Ego plantavi, Appollos ri^avit, sed Deus incrementum dabit. Dei enira sumus adj uteres et operatores: unde dixit Dei
apriciilUua cstis "
'

(p. 49).

244

^^ ^^ y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

Thus, although
to cultivate the
to

but God who gives the increase, for we are the fellow-laborers with God.'
the incorruptible Spirit of

God be

in a grain of wheat, nevertheless

it

can come to nothing

it is

without the labor and arrangements of the husbandman, whose duty

earth,

and

to consign to

it

the seed that

it

may
'

putrefy, otherwise

it

would do no good

that living grain that dwells in the midst [of the seed].

And
ujo into

in like

manner, under the

type of an architect, the prophet warns us,

build there the temple of wisdom.' "
I shall
'

Let us go

the mountain of reason and

not attempt to discuss the vexed question, and one which, after

all, is

impossible

of any clear solution, whether some of the ideas inculcated by Fludd, and adopted doubtless

more or

less in their entirety

it

by numerous

visionaries,

may

not have found their way,

it is, I

may

not have percolated, as

were, into the Masonic ranks; but

think, tolerably

clear that not only

was there no deliberate adoption of the Kosicrucian, or rather Fluddian

tenets by the Masons, and no taking of the old masonic

for the

name and

organization as a cloak

new

society,

but no possibility of such a thing having occurred.

The

expression "living stones"

upon which

so

much

has been founded

or "living
" Magister

rock" {vivam

rupeni), occurs very frequently in the old chronicles.^

The

title

de Lapidibus Vivis," according to

principal artist of a confraternity

" master of living

official just
'

Batissier,"

was given in the Middle Ages to the chief or stones," or " pierres vivantes." On
described was also termed " Magister

the same authority we learn that the

Lapidum," and some statutes of a corporation of sculptors in the twelfth century, quoted by a certain " Father Delia Valle," are referred to on both these points. It is tolerably clear that no Kosicrucian Society was ever formed on the Continent. In
other words, whatever
selves Kosicrucians,

number

there

no

collective

may have been of individual mystics calling thembody of Eosicrucians acting in conjunction was ever
Germany
or France.
'

matured and actually established

the position maintained
direct evidence,
'

in either

Yet

it

is

assumed, for

the purposes of a preconceived argument, that such a society existed in England, although
is

not only devoid of proof, but conflicts with a large body of in

irresistibly to

which leads

an opposite conclusion.

5.

" Denique; sub architecti figurd operatur frater ad hujus operis perfectionem, unde Aposto-

Secundum gratiani Dei qua? milii data est, ut sapiens Architectus, fundanientum autem superiedificat, fundamentum enim nemo aliud potest ponere pi-aster id quod positum est, quod est solus Cliristus. De hujusmodi Architectura intelligens Paulus, ait Dei sumus adjutores, ut sapiens arcliitectus fundamentum jjosui; alius tamen superajdificat, cui etiam David astipulari videtur dicens: Domum nisi ffidificaverit Deus in vanum laboraverunt qui earn superasdificaverunt. Quod est idem cum illo a Paulo sub typo Agricola? prolato.' Neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum dat, Deus, Dei autem sumus adjutores. Sic etiam Ucet incorruptibilis Dei spiritus sit in grano tritici, nihil tamen praestare potest sine Agricolse adaptatione et dispositione, cujus est terram cultivare, et semen in ea ad putref actionem disponere autgranum illud sivam in ejus centro liabitans nihil operabitur. Atque sub istiusmodi Architecti typo
lus ait loco citato

posui, alius

'

nos nionet Propheta,

(p. 49).

'

ut ascendamus

montem

rationabilem ut ajdificemus

domum

sapienti

as

"

'

Church Historians

of England, 1852-56, vol.

pt.
iii.

i.,

pt.

ii.,

p.

554;

W. H.

Rylands. Tlie Legend of the

Introduction of Masons into England,

(Masonic Monthly, Nov.

1882).

^Elements d'Archajologie, 1843; Freemason, July 8, 1883, note 19. *In the opinion of Woodford, lie is the same pei-son wlio wrote, in
d'Orvieto," publislied at

1791, tlie " Storia del

Duomo

Rome

(Fi-eemason,

loc. cit.).

'It is true that, according to the preface of the "Echo of tlie Society of the Rosy Cross," 1615, " meetings were held in 1597 to institute a Secret Society for the promotion of Alchymy." See ante,
p. 211,

no1e2.

EA RL V BRI riSH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

The
literature of the seventeenth century

245
of

abounds with alhisions

feast, if

to the vagaries

Alchymists and Astrologers.

There was an Astrologers'

indeed an Astrologers'
if

College or Society was not a public and established institution, and sermons, even

not

always preached, were at least written on their

at Oxford, as I

side.

'

school certainly existed for a time

have already shown, presided over by a noted Kosicrucian.

In
all

fact,

there

seems to have been no kind of concealment as regards the manner in which

of

descriptions

what may, without impropriety, be termed the " black art "were prosecuted. There is, however, no trace whatever of any Rosicrucian Society, and it is consonant to sound reason
suppose that nothing of the kind could either have been long established, or widely

to

spread, without at least leaving behind

some

vestiges of its existence, in the writings of

the period.
It is

scheme, a Philosophical College, with which so

worthy of note, moreover, that perhaps the most ardent supporter of that visionary many minds were imbued by Bacon's

" New

Atlantis"^

Samuel Hartlib' of whom a

*

full

memoir

is still

a desideratum in English
quite clear that, in the

biography, speaks of the Rosicrucians

in

such terms as to make

it

year 1660, they occupied a very low position in the estimation of the learned.

In letters

addressed by

him

expresses himself,

"

to Dr.
I

Worthington, on June 4 and December 10 respectively, he thus am most willing to serve him [Dr. Henry More], by procuring if I
says,

[ea;] Crucis;" and writing " the cheats of the Fraternity of the Holy [Rosy] Cross (w'''' they call mysteries) have had infinite disguises and subterfuges."' Macaria from /^laHorpia, " happiness" or " bliss " was the name of the Society, the

can a transcript of a letter or two of the supposed Brothers Ros.

under a

later date,

he

establishment of which Hartlib appears to have been confidently expecting throughout a long
series of years.
It

was to unite the great, the wealthy, the

assisting

religious,
all

and the philosophical,

and
of

to

form a common centre for

which mankind were

interested.

undertakings in the support Somewhat similar schemes were propounded by John

and promoting

Evelyn and Abraham Cowley; whilst John Joachim Becher or Beccher, styled by Mr. Crossley " the German Marquis of Worcester," in his treatise " De Psychosophia," put forward the idea of what the calls a Psychosophic College, for affording the means of a
convenient and tranquil
life,

and which

is

much

of the

same description

as those planned

by Hartlib and the others.

A
It

similar

society

seems also to have been projected by one

Peter

Cornelius

of

Zurichsea.
is

not likely that the Freemasons had any higher opinion of the Rosicrucians

i.e.,

Stella Nova, a new Starre, Preached before the learned Society of Astrologers, August 1649, by Robert Gell, D.D.; Astrology Proved Harmless, Useful, Pious, Being a Sermon written by Richard Carpenter, 1657. The latter, a discourse on Gen. i. 14, "And let them be for signs," was dedicated The author, according to Wood, " was esteemed a theological mountebank." to Elias Ashmole.
'

'The

late Mr.

James Crossley

alludes to

two continuations

of that fine fragment. Bacon's

"New
by the

Atlantis "^-one by R. H., Esquire, printed in 1660; the other (in his
celebrated Joseph Glanvill, and

own

possession) written

still in MS. (Chetham Soc. Pub., vol. xiii., p. 214). Evelyn and doctor Worthington. Milton's " Tractate on Education" was addressed According to Evelyn, he was a "Lithuanian" (Diary, Nov. 27, 1655); whilst Wood styles to him. him "a presbyterian Dutchman, a witness against Laud" (Athen<e Oxonienses, vol. iii., cl. 965).

'A

friend of

Meaning, of course, the so-called fraternity.

vol. xiii., pp. 197, 239.
v., p. 347.

'Diary and Correspondence of Dr. Worthington, Chetham Soc. Pub.,

'Ibid., pp. 149, 163, 239, 284; Boyle's Works, 1744, vol.

246

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A XV.

Freemasons, and Freemasonry more or
its

the fraternity ih&n was expressed by Hartlib.

less speculative, existed certainly in

Scotland, and inferentially in England, long before

I shall

supposed introduction bv Fludd, as

presently show,

and

if

we cannot

distinctly trace
2>'>'Oof

back to a higher origin

tlian the sixteenth century, it is

only to be inferred that

of

a more remote antiquity may

extant,

be yet forthcoming.

" Old records "

of the craft, as I have

;

already had occasion to observe, are of tener quoted than produced

but a few are

still

and from these few we

learn, that

Masonic Societies were in actual existence at

the time of their being written (or copied), and were not merely in embryo. It will not be difficult to carry back the liistory of the Freemasons beyond the point of
contact with the Kosicrucians, which
is

the leading feature of Buhle's hypothesis.

historical research that, before the

He

says:

1.

"

I affirm as

a fact established
oio

upon

beginning of

the seventeenth century,

traces are to he met with of the Rosicrucian or

is

Masonic orders; "

and

2.

" That Free-Masonry

neither

more nor

less

than Rosier ucianism as modified by

those

order, "as Buhle expresses it, are cerwith " before the period which he has arbitrarily assigned for its inception. to be met t linly It is abundantly clear that Speculative Masonry meaning by this phrase the membership of

who transplanted it into England." As regards the first point, " traces of the Masonic
"

lodges by non-operative or geomatic masons

of the second proposition
as
is

existed in the
its

sixteenth century.

'

The

fate

involved in that of

predecessor.

It is not, indeed,
its first

even

an hypothesis, endurable for an instant that Freemasonry made

as a Rosicrucian {i.e.,

appearance in
slightly

South Britain
Steinmetzen

German)

transfusion, ciixa 1633-46

herein

anticipating the other but equally chimerical theory of a Teutonic derivation thi'ough the

unless we adopt Horace's maxim

" Mihi
res,

non

me

rebus subjungere conor,"

in a sense not

uncommon
fact.

in

philosophy, and strive to

make

facts

bend

to theory, rather

than theory to

Hence, the dispassionate reader

will

hardly agree with Soane

doubt made

it

easier for

him

to suppose, that

whose faith in Buhle no what was probable must have happened,

than to show that what did happen was probable " that Freemasonry sprang out of decayed Rosicrucianism just as the beetle is engendered from a muck heap"' a phrase

which, however

lively

and

forcible, errs equally against truth

and refinement.
doubt that Hermeticism

Extending the

field of

our inquiry, there can be but

little

and

my

reasons for employing this word will be presently stated

if

only influenced
my

Free-

masonry,

at
as

all,
it

in a very

remote degree; for there does not seem even the same analogy
deprecate the hasty judgment of
friend, the Rev.

fanciful

is

-as

can be traced between the tenets of Fludd and those espoused by

I

the Freeemasons.

Here, however,

A. F. A. Woodford, whose known erudition, and the indefatigable ardor with which he dives into the most obscure recesses of book learning, entitle his opinions to our utmost
respect;

sarily rest

inasmuch as any p7-ese7it opinion upon the subject under discussion, must neceson purely circumstancial evidence, and is liable, therefore, to be overthrown at
of

any moment, by the production of documentary proof bearing in any other direction. It has been laid down by the authority I have last named, that " the importance
Hermeticism
in respect of a true History of
'
.

Freemasonry

is

very great;" also

tiie

opinion

Vide Chap. VIII. ante, passim. ''New Curiosities of Literature, vol.

ii.,

p. 35.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

is

247

" that an Hermetic system or grade flourished synchronously with the revival of 171T," and " that Ellas Ashmolo may have kept up a Rose Croix Fraternity " is stated to be " within the bounds of possibility."
ex])ressed,
'

by Elias Ashmole

Three points are here raised 1. What is Hermeticism ? 2. Was Freemasonry influenced ? and 3. Upon what evidence rests the supposition that Hermetic grades
in 1717 ?

and Masonic degrees existed side by side These points

I shall

now proceed

to consider,

though not exactly

in the order in

which

For convenience sake, and before summing up the final results of onr inquiry, I shall cite some evidence, which has been much relied on, by Mackey, Pike, Woodford, and other well-known Masonic students, as proving the existence of Hermetic
they are here arranged.
sodalities certainly in 1722,
little
is

work

called

and inferentially before 1717. This occurs in the preface to a " Long Livers," published in 1722, and my object in here introducing it,
it

to obviate the necessity of dealing with the general subject, as

were, piecemeal

i.e.,

in fugitive passages,

scattered throughout this history;

it

being in

my

judgment the

sounder course to take a comprehensive glance at the entire question of Hermeticism or

Rosicrucianism, within, however, the limit of a single chapter.

The

points, therefore,

which await examination in my concluding remarks are as follows: 1. Hermeticism; 2. The evidence of " Long Livers;" and 3. Ashmole as an Hermetic Philosopher. L I have already stated that what we now call the Hermetic art, learning, or philosophy, would in the seventeenth century have passed under the generic
cianism.
title

of Rosicru-

Whether the converse

of this proposition

would quite hold good,

it.

am

not pre-

pared to say

much might

be urged both for and against

However,

I shall

not strain

the analogy, but will content myself with describing the Hermetic art, as embracing the
sciences of Astrology
I.

and Alchymy.

The Alchymists engaged

all

in three pursuits

The

discovery of the Philosopher's Stone, by which

the inferior metals could be

transmuted into gold.

II.

III.

The discovery of an Alcahest,'' or universal solvent of all things. The discovery of a panacea, or universal remedy, under the name
which
all

of elixir vitce,

by

diseases were to be cured

I

and

life indefinitely

prolonged.
believe in Hermeticism

The
1.

theory of the small but,

as a factor in the actual

believe, increasing school

who

development of Freemasonry may be thus shortly stated

in the world,

That an Hermetic Society existed

whose palpable manifestation was

like Cornelius
if

that of the Rosicrucian fraternity.

2.

That mystic
part, are to

associations, of

which noted writers

Agrippa
earlier,

"

formed

be traced at the end of the fifteenth century,

not

with their

annual assemblies, their secrets and mysteries, their signs of recognition, and the
like.
3.

The forms

of

Hermeticism

of

occult invocations

are

also masonic,

such as the

(1882), vol. i., pji. 1.39, 392; and Cf. Kenning's Cyclopedia, pp. 303, 303. Although Brucker, op. cit., awards the credit of having introduced this term to Van Helmont, it is assigned by Heclverthorn to Paracelsus, and its meaning described as " probably a corruption of the German words all geist,' all spirit " (Secret Soc. of All Ages and Countries, 1875, vol. i., p.
'
'

'Masonic Monthly

'

'

220).

'See H. Morley, Life of Cornelius Agrippa

Von Mettesheim, Doctor and Knight, commonly

p. 304.

known

as a magician, 1856, passim; Montlily Review, second series, 1798, vol. xxv.,
s.v.

Mackey,

Encyclopajdia of Freemasonry,

Agrippa; and ante,

p. 199.

note

6.

248

EA RL V BRITISH PREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

sacred Delta, the Pentalpha, the
circle.

Hexagram (Solomon's

Seal), the point within a

4.

The

so-called

" magical alphabet,"

as

may be

seen in Barrett's "Magus,"

is

identical

with the square characters wliich have been used as mason' marks at certain
epochs, and on part of so-called masonic cyphers.
5.

[Ge?ieral Condusions].

Hermeticism

is

probably a channel in which the remains of

Archaic mysteries and mystical knowledge lingered through the consecutive ages.

Freemasonry, in all probability, has received a portion of its newer symbolical formulae and emblematical types from the societies of Hermeticism. At various points of contact. Freemasonry and Hermeticism, and vice i^ersd, have aided, sheltered, protected each other; and that many of the more learned members of the monastic profession

were

also Hermetics, is

a matter beyond doubt,

nay, of absolute authority.

it is

If ever there

was a connection between the building fraternities and the monasteries,

not at
all unlikely,

this

duplex channel of symbolism and mysticism would prevail; and

as

it is

by no means unnatural in

itself,

that the true secret of the preservation of a system

life

of masonic initiation centuries,

is

and ceremonial and teaching and mysterious

through so many

to be attributed to this twofold influence of the legends of the ancient guilds,

and the influence of a contemporary Hermeticism,

The above statement

disclaim the theory

have drawn up from some notes kindly furnished by the Kev.

the origin of Freemasonry in an Herhis

A. r. A. Woodford, and have merely to add, that the school of which he is the Coryphwus,

as being self-destructive of
itself

metic school, which grouped

around Elias Ashmole and

numerous band

of adepts

and

astrologers,

and

of

which germs may be found in the mystical works of

Amos Comenius,

and the " Nova Atlantis" of Bacon.' " II. " Long Livers " is "a curious history of such persons of both sexes who have liv'd several ages, and grown young again;" and professes to contain " the rare secret of Kejuvenescency."
It is dedicated

and

with this dedication or preface we are alone concerned

" to the Grand Master,

portion then proceeds:'

Masters, Wardens, and Brethren of the Most Antient

and Most

Honourable Fraternity of the Freemasons of Great Britain and Ireland."

The introductory

" Men, Brethren, " I address myself

the Beginning,

to

you after

this

Manner, because

it

is

the true Language of the

Brotherhood, and wliich the primitive Christian Brethren, as well as those

made

use of, as

we

learn

from

the holy Scriptures,

who were from and an uninterrupted

Tradition."

"
[one]

present you with the following Sheets, as belonging more properly to you than any

By what I here say, those of you 7vho are not far iUuminated, who stand in the outward Place, and are not worthy to look behind the Veil, may find no disagreeable or unprofitable Entertainment: and those who are so happy as to have greater Light, will
else.
'

Although much abridged, the ipsissima verba

J.

of the Rev. A. F. A.

Woodford are preserved

tliroughout.

'"'London: printed for

Holland at the Bible and

Ball, in St.

Paul's Churchyard, and L.

Stokoe at Charing Cross, 1732." ' The passages italicized are those which have been most frequently quoted in support of the theory that our present system of Freemasonry was directly influenced by earlier Hermetic societies.

"

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

discover under those

249

tention of a Genius the most elevated and sublime:

true,
solid

Shadows somcwliat truly great and noble, and worthy the serious AtThe Spiritual Celedial Cube, the only and immoveable Basis and Foundation of all Knowledge, Peace, and Hap.". ..

piness."

.".

that you are the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World, and the Fire of Ye are living Stones, built up [in] a spiritual House, who believe and rely on .-. the chief Lapis Angularis. You are called from Darkness to Light ." .-. .-. [A considerable portion of the preface is here omitted. The writer moralizes at very

"Kemember

the Universe.

great length, and throughout several pages the only observation bearing, however remotely,

upon the subject-matter of the current chapter, is his suggestion that legal pettifoggers, or "Vermin of the Law," should be "for ever excluded the Congregation of the Faithful," and " their names rased for ever out of the Book M.," from which disregarding all speculation with reference to his hatred of the lawyers some readers may infer that the idea of a Book M. had been copied from the Fraternity of the Rosie Cross, by the society he was

addressing. ]
' '

And now, my

Brethren, you of the higher Class, permit

me

a few Words, since you

it is

are but few; these few

Words

I shall

speak to you in Riddles, because to you

dearest Brethren,

given to

know

those Mysteries which are hidden from the Unworthy."

" Have you not seen then,

most limpid Water.
blazing
all
. . .
.

my
Its

that stupendous Bath, filled with

Form

is

a Quadrate

sublimely placed on six others,

with

celestial Jewels,
(I

each angularly supported with four Lions.

Here repose

our mighty King and Queen

speak foolishly,

am

not worthy to be of you), the King

shining in his glorious Apparel of transparent incorruptible Gold, beset with living Sapphires;

he

is

fair

and ruddy, and feeds amongst the

Lillies; his
.*.
.*.

Eyes two Carbuncles;

mystical

his large flowing Hair, blacker

in Tissue of immortiil Silver,

than the deepest black;

his Royal Consort, vested

watered with Emeralds, Pearl, and Coral.

Union

admirable Commerce

" Cast now your Eyes

before
.

to the Basis of this celestial Structure,

and you

will discover just

it

a large Bason of Porphyrian Marble, receiving from the Moiith of a large Lion's
. .

Head Ponder this well, and consider. a greenish Fountain of liquid Jasper. Haunt no more the Woods and Forests; (I speak as a Fool) hunt no more the fleet Hart;
.

let

the flying Eagle

fly

unobserved; busy yoiirselves no longer with the dancing Ideot,

swollen Toads, and his

own Tail-devouring Dragon;

leave

these as Elements to your

Ty rones." " The Object

speak as a Fool

of your
(is

Wishes and Desires (some of you perhaps have obtained it, I that admirable thing which hath a Substance neither too fiery, nor
...". In short, that One only Thing besides

altogether earthy, nor simply watery.

which there
that
is

is

no other, the blessed and most sacred Subject of the Square, of wise
it

Men

and been sacrilegiously perjured. I shall therefore speak of it with a Circumlocution yet more dark and obscure, that none but the Sons of Science, and those who are illuminated with the sublimest Mysteries and profoundest Secrets of Masonry may understand, It is then, what brings you, my dearest Brethren, to
1

had almost blabbed

out,

that pellucid, diaphanous Palace of the true disinterested Lovers of

Wisdom, that

trans-

parent Pyramid of purple Salt, more sparkling and radiant than the finest Orient Ruby,
in the centre of

which reposes inaccessible Light epitomiz'd, that incorruptible

'

celestial

Ante,

p. 234.

250

EARL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR 'ENGLA ND.

}

Fire, blazing like

burning Crystal, and brighter than the Sun in his

full

Meridian Glories,

which

is

that immortal, eternal, never-dying

is

PYROPUS,

the

King

of

Gemms, whence

proceeds everything that

great,

and

wise,

and happy."

.'.

.. .*.

"

Many are called, Few chosen." ..

..

..

Amen.

EuGENius Philalethes, Jun., F.R.S.

'March
1st,

1731."

The author

of

" Long Livers " was Robert Samber, a

ti-anslator.

prolific writer,

but who seems to

in

have made his greatest mark as a

Two

of his translations

members of the Montague family, one to the Duke, the own other to his daughter, Lady Mary.' The title of " Long Livers " states it to be by " Eugenius Philalethes, Jun.," author of a " treatise of the Plague." The latter work, published
dedicated to
in 1721,
is

name are

published

his

also dedicated to the

Duke

of Montague, and the preface

abounds with the

same mystical and Hermetic jargon

illustration of this will suffice.

as that of

which

have just given examples.

brief

"
it

true Believer will not reveal to anyone his

belong.
.

Good Works, but

to such only to

whom

may

This elevates us to the highest Degrees of true Glory, and makes

It is

us equal with Kings.

the most pretious and most valuable Jewel in the World: a

Jewel of Great Price, redder and more sparkling than the finest Rubies, more transparent than the purest Chrystal of the Rock, brighter than the Sun, Shining in Darkness, and is
the Light of the World, and the Salt and Fire of the Universe."

Eugenius Philalethes'
It is

i.e.,

Robert Samber

also exhorts his

Grace "

to do good to his poor Brethren."

Samber received many kindnesses at the hands of the Duke indeed, this is placed beyond doubt by the expressions of gratitude which occur in the preface of one of He says: " Divine Providence has given his translations,' dedicated to the same patron.
certain that

happy opportunity publickly to acknowledge the great obligations I lye under ti? your Grace, for these signal favours which you, my Lord, in that manner of conferring benefits so peculiar to yourself, so much resembling Heaven, and with such a liberal hand, withthis

me

out any pompous ostentation or sound of trumpet, had the goodness, in private, to bestow

on me;" and concludes by styling the Duke " the best of Masters, the best of Friends, and the best of Benefactors." Tliis preface, which is dated Jan. 1, 1723, and signed ' Robert Samber," brings us back very nearly to the period when " Long Livers," or at least its
Amongst his miscellaneous works may be named, " Roma Illustrata," 1722, and an " Essay m Verse to the Memory of E. Russell, late Earl ot Oxford, 1731." He also translated "A method of Studying Physic " (H. Boerhaave), 1719; " Tiie Courtier " (Count B. Castiglione). 1729: "The Devout Christian's Hourly Companion " (H. Drexellius), 1716; "The Discreet Princess, or the Adventures of Finetta " (reprinted 1818); "One Hundred New Court Fables" (H. de la Motte), 1721; "Memoirs
'

of the
1633.

Dutch Trade

in all the States of the "World," 2d ed., 1719;

and "Nicetas" (H.

Drexellius),

Some of

the dates are not given, and the last apparently refers to the year of the original pub-

lication.

'The various books and pamphlets

fill

classified

under the

title of

PhilaJethes. with varied prefixes,

nearly an entire volume of the British

Philalethes (Eugenius) pseud, [i.e., Robert Samber]; Philalethes (Eiveneus) pseud, [i.e., George Starkey] Philalethes (Irena^us) pseud, The last-cited non de plume is also accorded to Thomas Vaughan, J. G. [i.e., William Spang]. Burckhart, Louis Du Moulin, and Samuel Prypkowski. 'The Courtier, 1729; probably, from the date of the preface, a 2d edition.
;

Museum Catalogue. Inter alia, the following are given: Thomas Vaughan]; Philalethes (Eugenius, Jun.) pseud, [i.e.

EARL
1732, in which year,
it

1
'

BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

March
1,

251
tlio

dedication, was written, in, viz.,

1T21

i.e.,

173+

'

or,

according to

New Style,
head of

should be recollected, the

in

Duke

of

Montague was

at the
tliat

the English Craft.

Now,

my

judgment, nothing seems more natural than

Samber

himself an earnest Freemason, as his exhortations to the Fraternity abundantly

tion for the Society to

testify

should seize the opportunity of coupling his gratitude towards his patron, with his affec-

which they commonly belonged, by a complimentary address to the

of the

"Grand Master and Brethren Britain and Ireland."

ruler."

Most Honorable Fraternity of the Freemasons of Great

In this connection, indeed,

it

must not be forgotten that the Duke was a most popular

From 1717

to 1721 the Freemasons were longing to have a

"Noble Brother

at

their Head,' until wliich period only did they,

from the very

first

establishment of the

Grand Lodge, contemplate choosing a Grand Master ^\from among themselves" ' a,s Anderson somewhat quaintly expresses it. " At the Grand Lodge held on Lady-day, 1721, Grand Master Payne proposed for his successor John, Duke of Montagu, Master of a Lodge:* who, being present, was forthwith saluted Grand Master Elect, and his Health drank in due Form; when they all express'd great Joy at the Happy prospect of being again patronized by
I
7ioble

Gravid Masters, as in the prosperous times of Free Masonry."

(as it

"

have given these details at some length, because

seems to me) a good deal of

dis-

misconception has arisen from the phraseology of Samber's dedication having been

cussed by commentators, without any consideration whatever of the circumstances under

which

it

was written.

Indeed, a portion of the criticism that has been passed upon

it,

before I announced the real author's

sitions,

name

in

the Freemason,' rests entirely upon suppo-

more or
I

less

ingenious, which identify the writer with Eosicrucian or Hermetic

celebrities.'

Although
which
entertained
it

am

quite unable to discern anything in the language employed by Samber,

calls for critical

remark

in a history of

Freemasonry;

yet, as a different opinion is

by many

other writers whose claim to the public confidence I readily admit,

all

has seemed better, on

grounds, to

^'lace

the evidence, such as

it is,

fairly before

my

readers, in order that they

may draw what

conclusions they think

fit. '

With

this view, I

have presented above every passage which, to the extent of my knowledge, has served as the text of any Masonic sermoniser, although, as the commentaries upon this Hermetic work are scattered throughout the more ephemeral literature of the Craft, I cannot undertake to say that a more subtle exposition of Samber's strange phraseology than
seen, does not
'

have yet

lie

hidden in the forgotten pages of some Masonic journal.

and the practice of commencing the
legal year

The Juhan

or Old Style,

on the 25th of Marcii,

subsisted in England until 1752.

" Grand Master Montagu's good government inchn'd the better sort to continue
p. 114).

him

in the

Chair another year" (Constitutions, 1738,

Jbid., p. 109.
*

It is

very probable that Samber was a

p. 111.
4, 1881.

member

of this

Lodge?

Constitutions, 1738,

'

June

is an extremely rare work, preface will be found in the Masonic Magazine, vol.
I

As " Long Livers"

it

may

be useful to state that a reprint of the

iv..

1876-77, p. 161.

Eugenius Philalethes' exhortations, from quoting them he directs the Masons "to avoid Politics and Religion" (Long Livei-s, preface, p. 16, 1. 19)
of of

was deterred by the length

It
is,

some

literatim.

however, important to

state, that, whilst eulogising Christianity,

252

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

" Long Livers," or its author, is nowhere referred to in the early minutes of the Grand Lodge, or the newspaper references to Freemasonry of contemporaneous date, which were of frequent occurrence; and from this alone I should deduce an inference totally at vaThe only reference riance with the belief that the work possessed any Masonic importance.
to
it

obscurity by the late

have met with in the course of my reading, before its disinterment from a long Matthew Cooke, Dr. Mackey, and others, occurs in a brochure of 1723,

which an advertisement in the Evening Post, No. 2168, from Tuesday, June 18, to Thursday, June 28, of that year, thus recommends, curiously enough, to the notice of the Craft: " Just published, in a neat Pocket Volume (for the use of the Lodges of all Freemasons),
'

Ebrietatis

Encomium,' or

'

The
.-.

Praise of Drunkenness,' confirmed by the examples of

[inter alios] Popes, Bishops, Philosophers,

ages.

Free Masons, and other men of learning in

6d."

all

Printedfor E. Curll.'

Chapter
get drunk."
'

XV.
It

" Of Free Masons, and other learned men, that used to commences as follows: what brother Eugenius Philalethes, author of
is

Price

2s.

thus headed,

If

Long

Livers,' a

book dedicated

to the

Free Masons, says in his Preface to that

treatise,

be

true, those mystical

out entering into their peculiar jargon, or whether a

for revealing secrets
to the vintners.

gentlemen very well deserve a place amongst the learned.' But, withman can be sacrilegiously perjured

when he has none,

do assure

my readers,

they are very great friends

An

eye-witness of this was I myself, at their late general meeting at

of their catechism,' passed

Stationers' Hall,'

who having learned some

and took

my

examination, paid
to their

my

five shillings,

my

place accordingly.

We

had a good dinner, and,

eternal honor, the brotherhood laid about

them very

valiantly.

But whether,
be

after a very

disedifyiug manner, their demolishing

spiritual house, I leave to brother

huge walls

of venison pasty

building

up a
do
Let

Eugenius Philalethes to determine.

However, to do
'

them

justice, I

must own, there was no mention made

'

of politics or religion, so well

they seem to follow the advice of that author.

the king enjoy his
gravity
I

And when

the music began to play,

own

again,' they were immediately reprimanded

by a person of great

and science."

adduce the above, as the only contemporary criticism of the preface to "Long Livers" with which I am conversant, and have merely to add that the writer, in anticipation of the charge, " that he wrote the ' Praise of Drunkenness,' must be a drunkard by profession," expresses
'

"

his content, that the world should believe

:

him
:

as

much

a drunkard

The following appears on the title-page " Ebrietatis Encomium or, the Praise of DrunkenWherein is Authentically, and most e\nclently proved, The necessity of Frequently Getting Drunk and. That the Practice is Most Ancient, Primitive, and Catholic. By Boniface Oinophilus, De Monte Fiascone, A. B. C." According to the MS. Catalogue, Brit, Mus. Library, tliis work is a
ness
:

translation of L'Eloge de L'Yvresse" of A. H. de Sallengre.

^"Thus

shall Princes love

and cherish you, as their most

faithful

and obedient Children and

Servants, and take delight to

lent in all kinds of Sciences,

commune with you, inasmuch as amongst you are found Men exceland who thereby may make their Name, who love and cherish you, im-

mortal " (Long Livers, preface, p. 17, 1. 6). ^This must either have been the meeting of June
invested as
;

21, 1721, when the Duke of Montague was Grand Master, or that of June 24, 1722, when the Duke of Wharton was irregularly proclaimed no other assembly having been held at Stationers" Hall, at which the author of the work quoted from (1723) could have been present. The allusion to the toast of the Pretender, coupled with the Duke of Wharton's known Jacobite proclivities, would favor the later date. * This points to an earlier form of the Masonic Examination than has come down to us.
'

Long

Livers, preface, p. 16.

1.

19.

"

EA RL Y BRITISH FREE31A SONR YENGL A ND.

as Erasmus, wlio wrote
tlie
'

25 3

balance."

" The

Praise of

Praise Of Folly/ was a fool, and weigh him in the same Drunkenness " is both a witty and a learned book, and Samber's
is

more minutely than I have shown above. The criticism, however, tends to j)rove, that none of the speculations now rife with regard to the mystical language in which Eugenius Philalethes is supposed to have veiled Masonic secrets above the comprehension of the general body of the craft occupied the minds of
apostrophe to the Freemasons
dissected far

those by
It

whom

his jcii d'es2Jrit

was perused at the time of

its

appearance.

has been said that after Paracelsus the Alchymists divided into two classes: one com-

prising those
side of
totle,

who pursued

useful studies; the other, those that took

trash,

up the

visionary

Alchymy, writing books of mystical

which they fathered on Hermes, Arisis

Albertus Magnus, and others.

Their language

now

unintelligible.

One

brief

specimen

may

suffice.

The power

obtained in the following manner:

of transmutation, called the

''

Green Lion, was to be In the Green Lion's bed the sun and moon are bom,
is

they are married and beget a King; the King feeds on the lion's blood, wliich
father and mother,

the King's

who are at the same time

his brother

and

sister; I fear I

betray the secret,'

which

promised

my

how

to rule the philosopher's

master to conceal in dark speech fi-om every one "

fire.
"

who

does not

know

"Our
if

ancestors," says

had a great talent

for them. "

for finding out

still

enigmas

they were able to

elicit

Heckethom, "must have a meaning from these mys-

terious directions;

the language was understood by the adepts, and was only intended

To

give one further example.

When Hermes

Trismegistus, in one of the

it,

treatises attributed to

him, directs the adept to catch the &jing bird and to drown
fixation of quicksilver

so

that

it fly

no more, the

by a combination with gold

is

meant.
'

Many

statements of mathematical formulas must always appear pure gibberish

itiated into the higher science of

to the unin-

numbers:
*

still

these statements enunciate trutlis well

understood by the mathematician.

In my judgment, Robert Samber is to be classed with these Alchymists, or people addicted to the use of alchymical language, " who did not pursue useftd studies " and there
I

should leave the matter, but some interpretations liave been placed upon his words, of

which, in candor, I

am bound

to give

some specimens.
that this
is

"

If," says Dr.

Mackey

and

the

reader should carefully bear in

mind

and

diligent of Masonic students

" as Eugenius

the opinion of one of the most accurate

Philalethes plainly indicates, there were,

in 1721, higher Degrees, or at least a higher Degree in

which knowledge
.

of a Mas07iic

character was hidden from a great body of the craft

why

is

it

that neither Ander-

make any allusion to this higher and more illuminated system ? Mackey here relies on two passages which are italicized in my extract from Samber's preface one, the allusion to those " who stand in the outward place," and " are not far illuminated; " the other, the exhortation to " Brethren of the higher class." The result of his inquiry being, " that this book of Philalethes introduces a new element in the historical
son nor Desaguliers

problem of Masonry," in which opinion the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford evidently concurs.

Compare with the passage (satirized by the author of the " Praise of Drunkenness") wherein Eugenius Pliilalethes expresses his liorror of being "sacrilegiously perjured." Heckethorn, Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries, 187.5, vol. i., p. 222, 182.
'

'It

is

a singxdar

fatility

that

Abu Musa Jafaral Sofi better known

as Geber

considered to
have
loc. eit.

be

the father and founder of Chemistry, and also a famous astronomer, and

who

is

said to

wi-itten

600 hermetic works, should have descended to our times as the founder of that jargon

known by the

name

of gibberish

Heckethorn,

254

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

the further commentaries

Among

upon the introduction

'

to

Only briefly notice those of Mr. T. B. Wh3-teheacl,

who

alludes to

" Long Livers,'' I shall the " Spiritual Celestial

Cube," and infers from the language of the writer tliat he may have belonged to certain Christian degrees; and of Mr. John Yarker, who finds in its phraseology a resume of the
symbolism and history given in the three Degrees of Templar, Templar
Priest,

and Royal
in

Arch," which Degrees he considers date from the year 1686, and observes (on the authority
of

Ashmole) that they synchronize with the revival of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism
'

London.

The remarks
and
Philosopher.

have to offer on the subject of degrees

will

be given in a later chapter,

of

I shall next give a short sketch of Elias

Ashmole, in his character

an Hermetic

in. Elias Ashmole, "the

styled

eminent philosopher, chemist, and antiquary"

Campbell
'

as

he

is

by

his fullest biographer. Dr.

founder of
The

the noble

museum

at Orford,

which
in

still

bears his name, was the only child of

city his birth occurred

Simon Ashmole,

of Lichfield, Saddler,

which

on May

23, 1617.

chief instrument of his future

preferments, as he gratefully records in his diary, was his cousin Thomas, son of James
Paget, Esq. , some time Puisne Baron of the Exchequer,
wife, Bridget,

who had married

for his second

Ashmole's aunt by the mother's

side.

When

he had attained the age of

sixteen,

he went to reside with Baron Paget, at his house in London, and continued for

some years afterwards a dependent of that family. In 1638 he settled himself in the world, and on March 27 of that year, married Eleanor, daughter of Mr. Peter Mainwaring of Smallwood, in the county of Chester, and in Michaelmas term the same year became a In 1641 he was sworn an Attorney in the Common Pleas, and in solicitor in Chancery. The following year owing to the unthe same year lost his wife, who died suddenly.

settled condition of affairs

he
and

retired to Smallwood,
at

where he prosecuted his

t"he

studies,

and

in 1644

went

to Oxford,

Brazen-Nose College and

public library, "applied

himself vigorously to the sciences, but more particularly to natural philosophy, mathematics,

and astronomy, and

his intimate acquaintance

with Mr., afterwards

Sir,

George
than

Wharton, gave him a turn to astrology, which was

in those days in greater credit

now."

'

On March

13,

1646, at the recommendation of Sir John Heydon,' he was made

a captain in Lord Ashley's regiment at Worcester, and on

'

June

12,

Comptroller of the

Freemasons' Chronicle, May 14, 1881. 'Freemason, Jan. 1 antljan. 29, 1881. ' He says, " I may point out that Ashmole makes the London revival of Freemasonrj' and the occult Rosicrucian system, with which he was connected, as both taking place in 1686" (Freemason,
Jan. 29, 1881).

*BiogTaphia Britannica,
derived mainly from
1707,
tlie

Supplement,

2d,

As the ensuing monogi-aph of Aslimole is s. v. Ashmole. him in the work last cited in ColHers " Historical Dictionaiy,"' Alphabet; Wood's " AtheucB Oxonienses," vol. iii., col. 354; and Masonic
vol.
i.,

1747,

memoirs

of

Magazine, December 1881 (W. H. Rylands, Freemasonry in the Seventeenth Century Warrington, I shall only refer to 1646); together with his own "Diarj'," published by Charles Burman in 1717
;

these authorities in special instances.

According to Ashmole's " Diary," he " first became acquainted with Cap;" and their friendship, which had been discontinued many years, by reason of tlie latter's " unliandsome and unfriendly dealing, began to be renewed about the middle of December, 1669." Wliarton died Nov. 15, 1673. ' Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, who died October 16, 1653, and is to be carefully distinguished from John Heydon (Eugenius Tlieodidactus), tlie astrologer, of whom anon.
'

Biog. Brit.

loc. cit.

tain Wliarton, Ap. 17, 1645

brother The Hon. John Wananial(er, of Philadelphia

MERCHANT AND PHILANTHROPIST.

Was

Worshipful Master of Friemlship Lodge, No. 400, and Member of AliingtiMi Chapter, both of Jeiikintown, Pa.; also Member of Mary Commandery, K. T., of Philadelphia. "A man of remarkable executive ability and power of organization, combined with irresistible determination to Cuiiimaiid success, and withal a man who loves peace and good works."
;

iiiiliated into

Freemasonry March 30, 1898

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

Ordnance.
Cheshire, and on October IG in the same year (1646) was
in Lancashire, respecting wliich occurrence, as
it

25

After the surrender of the town of Worcester, Ashmole again withdrew to

made a Freemason

at

Warrington

will

form the subject of our inquiry,

merely pause to observe, that
is

from a different point of view,

wliilst

in the

next chapter,

I shall

he

is

stated to have regarded his admission as a great distinction, there

life.

no direct

proof that he was present at more than two Masonic meetings in his

Ashmole

left

Cheshire at the end of October, and arriving in London, became intimate

with Mr., afterwards Sir, Jonas Moore, Mr. William Lilly, and Mr. John Booker,' esteemed
the greatest astrologers living, by
their fraternity, wliich then

whom

he was " caressed, instructed, and received into

considerable figure, as appeared by the great
feast, of

made a very

resort of persons of distinction to their

annual

which he was afterwards elected

steward."

"

On November

16, 1649,

he became the fourth husband of Lady Mainwaring,*

and shortly afterwards settled in London, when his house became a fashionable rendezvous In 1661 he was admitted a Fellow for the most learned and ingenious persons of the time. Twice he declined the office of Garter-King-at-Arms. His wife. of the Royal Society.

Lady Mainwaring, died on April 1, 1668, and he was married to Elizabeth, the daughter Ashmole died on May 18, of Sir William Dugdale, on November 3 in the same year. Anthony a Wood, who seldom erred on the 1692, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. side of panegyric, says of him, " He was the greatest virtuoso and curioso that ever was known or read of in England before his time. Uxor Solis took up its habitation in his
breast,

and

in his

bosom the great God did abundantly

store iip the treasures of all sorts of

wisdom and knowledge.

of

Much
'

of his time,

when he was

in the

prime of his years, was

title

spent in chymistry; in which faculty being accounted famous, did worthily receive the

MercuriophilHS Anfflicus."

This, Dr. Campbell

who

can himself see no defects in by the further remarks of

Ashmole's character
writer,"
'

allows to be " an
see, it

extraordinary commendation from so splenetic a

qualified,

though, as we shall

was somewhat

the Oxford Antiquary.

After mentioning the

rarities,

coins, medals, bocks,

and manu-

scripts given by Elias Ashmole in his lifetime, and at his death, to the University of Oxford,

he very abruptly goes on to say

" But

the best elixir that he enjoyed, which was the

rarities,
.

foundation of his riches, wherewith he purchased books,

the lands and joyni'ures which he had by his second wife
to wife
till

and other

things, were

Mr. Ashmole taking her

on the 16th of Nov. 1649, enjoyed her

estate, tho'
first

not her company for altogether,

of the

the day of her death, which hapned on the

of Apr. 1668."

Ashmole's greatest undertaking was his history of the " Most Noble Order
Garter," published in 1'672, and of which
else, it
it

has been said,

for ever, since

"

if

ought to have preserved

his
'

memory

it is

he had published nothing in its kind one of the most

Valuable books in our language. "

As
'

it is,

however, with his Hermetic works that

IG,
;

we

are alone concerned, I proceed with

E.

g.

on October,

'

Booker died

in 1667,

1646 and on March 11, 1863. See however, post, p. 262. and Lilly in 1681 gravestones were placed over them by Ashmole, who
;

purchased both
*

tlieii'

libraries.

Biog. Brit, loc

cit.

Sole daughter of Sir William Forstr of Aldermarston, Berks,

first

Strafford, next to Mr. T.

Hamlyn, Pursuivant
col. 359.

of

Arms, and then to

Sir

married to Sir Edward Thomas Mainwaring, Knt.,

one of the Masters in Chancery. Athenre Oxonienses, vol. iii.,

Bioff. Brit. Zof. cf/.

">

Ibid.

256

EARL V BRITISH IREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

made
his first appearance as

their enumeration; premising that he

an editor and translator

before taking
1.

upon

himself the character of an author.

"Fasciculus Chjviicus:* or, Chymical Collections expressing the Ingress, Progress, and Eoress of the secret Hermetick Science. Whereunto is added the Arcamuii,'' or Grand Both made English by James Hasolle, Esq.; Qui est Secret of Hermetick Philosophy.
Mercurinphilus Anghcns.

To

these translations

London, 1650." was prefixed a kind

of hieroglyph ical frontispiece in several

com-

partments, of which

a brief notice will suffice" a scrowl

foot of an as^-tree, express the author's

i.e.,

name which
left

is

also

from above, and a mole at the anagramized in James Hasolle,

and
Ashmole's

Elias Aslimole.

A column

on the right hand

on the

refers to his proficiency in music,

to his being a Freemason,' as that

does to his military preferments.

prolegomena alone runs to thirty-one pages.

cian language," and dedicated to
all

According to Wood, " farc'd with Eosycruelaborate students of Hermetick

"the ingeniously

Chemicum Britannicum: or. Annotations on Several Poetical Pieces of our Famous English Philosophers who have written the Hermetique Mysteries in their own
ancient language.

Learning."' 2. " Theatrum

London, 1652."

In this he designed a complete collection of the works of such English chymists as had
till

and finding that a competent knowledge of Hebrew, was absoand explaining such authors as had written on the Hermetic science, he had recourse to Rabbi Solomon Frank, by whom he was taught the rudiments of the sacred tongue, which he found very usefiU to him in his studies. The
then remained in MS.
;

lutely necessary, for understanding

work
3.

last

described gained

him a great reputation among the

learned, especially in foreign

jountries.

to Bliss," in three books, made public by Elias Ashmole, 1658. penned by an unknown author, who lived in the reign of Queen EHzabeth. This was Ashmole received the copy from William Backhouse, and published it, because a pretended copy was in circulation, which it was designed " to pass for the child of one Eugenius Theodidactus, being by re-baptisation called The Wise-Man's Crown, or Rosie-crusian

"The Way

'

Physic."" This Eugenius Theodidactus

i.e.,

the taught of

God

was one John Heydon, a great

pretender to Rosicrucian knowledge,

'

who married

the widow of Nicholas Culpepper, the

Par.

Arthur Dee, Fasciculus, Chymicus de Abstrusis Hermetic^ Scientae, Ingressu, Progresso, etc.. Besides the libraries of Booker, Lilly, Milboum, and Hawkins, Ashmole also bought 1631.

that of Dr. Dee. As to the authorship of this, see post, p. 258. pillar adorned with musical instruments, rules, compasses, and mathe"Bio"-. Brit. loc. cit. "

matical schemes" {Ibid).

In Ben Jonson's comedy, " The Alchemist." 1610, Subtle says-

"

He shall have a bel, that's Abel; And by it standing one whose name
And
And
right anenst

is

Dee,

In a rug gown, there's D, and B.ng. that's drug;

him a dog snarliag

er:

There's Drugger, Abel Drugger.

here's

That's his sign.

now mystery and

hieroglyphic."

*
'

Athenae O.xenienses, vol. iv., col. 361. The Wav to Bliss, Ashmole's pieface.

'

EA RL V BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

'

257

famous quack, and published many idle books, in one or more of which he abused Ashmole on this subject. In his " Wiseman's Crown, or the Glory of the Rosy Cross," 1664, are the
following curious passages:

"The
silence

Rosie Crucians, with a certain terible authority of religion, do exact an oath of

initiate to the arts of

from those they

Astromancy, Geomancy, and Telesmaticall

Images, etc."

" The
etc."'

late years of tirany

admitted Stocking weavers. Shoemakers, Millers, Masons,

Carpenters, Bricklaiers, Gunsmitlis, Hatters, Butlers, etc., to write and teach astrology,

My

readers can place what construction they please on the preceding quotations, but

their value for

productions.

any useful purpose is much lessened by the general character of the writer's In one of these, indeed, he speaks of the Rosicrucians as " a divine fraternity

that inhabitethesubburbsof Heaven;

"and

in another place says,

"

am no

Rosicrucian. "

'

relating to the

His knowledge therefore, of the fraternity must have been of the slightest. The passage masons appears to me to prove rather too much, though I insert it, in def-

erence to the learning and research of the friend from

whom

received

it;

for not

masons

only, but apparently all kinds of mechanics, were admitted into the ranks of the astrologers; indeed, this
is

placed beyond doubt by Lilly's description of his colleagues.*

" The
to

Way

to Bliss" was a treatise in prose on the Philosopher's Stone, to which he

prefixed a preface, dated April 16, 1658.

This address to the reader was a kind of farewell

Hermetic philosophy on the part of Ashmole.

to be the best

The
"

treatise itself
'

is

pronounced by
expression of

Dr Campbell "
who pronounced

and most

sensible book in
"

our language "

I rather

an

opinion which induced the late Mr. Crossley

it 'a

to remark,
'

agree with Dr. Dibdin,'

work invincibly

dull,'

and a farrago

of sublime nonsense.'

Probably

neither of us have the true Heremetic vein, wliicli only

" Pauci quos aequus amavit

'

Jupiter

are blessed with.

Dr. Campbell might be one of those more favoured readers of

'

whom

Ashmole speaks:

It is a cause of

much wonder where he

that reads, though smatteringly

acquainted with nature, should not meet with clear satisfaction;

but here

is

the reason:

Many
'

are called, but few are chosen.

'Tis a haven towards which

many

skilful pilots

have

The Idea of the Law, 1660. Heydon, according to his own statement, was born in 1639. He has been confounded with Sir John Heydon, probably from the fact that the latter's father, Sir C. Heydon, wrote a "defence of Judicial Astrology, 1603. Twenty years afterwards. Dr. George
Carleton,
successively Bishop of Llandaff and Chichester, published
of Astrologei-s,"
ii.,

Madness
col.
"

which was an answer

to Sir C.

" Astrologimania or, the Heydon's book (Athenae Oxonieoses, vol. i.

;

745; vol.

col. 422).

For these extracts

is

I ana indebted to the

Rev. A. F. A. Woodford.

The work from which they

are taken

not in the library of the British Museum.

^The Rosie Crucian Infallible Axiomata, or General Rules to Know All Things, Past, Present, and to Come. 1660. (Preface.) A complete list of Heydon's works is given in the " Athena Oxonienses," vol. iv., col. 363.
*

Booker, a haberdasher's apprentice

EUias Aslimole).

Alexander Hart had been a soldier and

;

William Poole, a gardener,

Lilly,
'

plasterer,

and bnicklayer

a domestic servant (Life of Lilly, with notes by

Biog. Brit.
loc. cit.

'Chetham

Soc, Pub. vol. xiii., p. 157, note 17. VOL- IL

1.

''Bibliomania, p. 387.

258

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

it. For, as amongst the people of the Jews, there but one who might enter into the Holy of Holies, (and that but once a year,) so there

bent their course, yet few have reached

w:is
is

seldom more

in a

nation

whom God

lets into this

Sanctum Sanctorum

of philosophy; yet

some there are. But though the number of the elect are not many, and generally the fathom of most men's fancies that attempt the search of this most subtle mystery is too
narrow to comprehend
scured
in,
it,

their strongest reason too

weak
it

to pierce the depth

it lies

ob-

being indeed so unsearchable and ambiguous,

rather exacts the sacred and

it;

courteous illuminations of a cherub than the weak assistance of a pen to reveal

yet let

no man despair."
After Ashmole once addicted liimseK to the study of antiquities and records, he never
deserted
it,

or could be prevailed

upon

to

resume his design

of sending abroad the

it.

works

of the other
It

English Adepti, though he had made large collections towards

has been suggested, that some of the abler alchemists showed him his mistakes, in

what he had already published, particularly as to the Arcanum before mentioned, which he viz., the calls " the work of a concealed author," though in what seems to be the motto, unda Tagi, the very name of the author was expressed, viz., Jean words Penes nos Espagnet.' But this piece published by Ashmole, was only the second part of Espagnet's work, the first being published under the title of " Enchiridion Physicfe restitutae cum

Arcano Philosophife Hermeticae."' Paris, 1623. In the title of this work, the author's name is concealed under another anagrammatical motto, viz., Spes mea in agno est. The It was reprinted second part was entitled, " Enchiridion Philosophiae Hermeticse," 1628.
again in 1647, and a third time in 1650; and from this last volume Ashmole translated
it.

" The truth is," says Dr. Campbell, "and the Abbe Fresnoy ' has justly observed it, our author was never an Adept, and began to write when he was but a disciple. He grew afterwards more cautious, and though he never missed any opportunity of purchasing chymical MSS. yet he was cured of the itch of publishing them, and held it suflBcient to deposit them in the Bodleian Library, for their greater security, and for the benefit of
,

society."'

which the Abbe Fresnoy would deprive him, rests in the main, upon certain entries in his diary which refer to Mr. William Backhouse,* who himself was reputed an Adept, and, it is said, instilled into the mind of the younger inAshmole's claim to the
title,

of

quirer his affection for chemistry.

These are as follow:

Islx.

" 1651.
caused

April
to call
10.

3.

Post merid.

William Backhouse of Swallowfield, in cmn. Berks,

me

him

father thenceforward."

" June

Mr. Backhouse told

me

must now needs be

his son, because

he had com-

municated so many secrets to me."

Fasciculus Chymicus, 1650, prolegomena. '"President of the Parliament of Bordeairx, and esteemed the ablest writer on this sort of
'

learning whose works are extant" (Biog. Brit.

3
''

loc.

cit.).

Revived Physic, with the Secret of the Hermetic Philosophy. Citing Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique, torn. iii. p. 105.

The Enchiridion
Biog. Brit.

of

'

loc. cit.

studied chymistry and astrology, especially Elias Ashmole,

" a most renowned Chymist, Eosicrucian, and a great encourager of those that whom he adopted his son, and opened himself verj' freely to him the secret. He died on the 30th of May 1662, leaving beliind him the character of a good man, and of one eminent in his profession " (^Athenae Oxonienses, vol. iii. col.

Born

in 1593,

577).

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

" 1652.
1653.

259

March

10.

This moruing

my

father Backhouse opened himself very freely,

touching the great secret."

My father Backhouse lying sick in Fleet Street, over against St. and not knowing whether he should live or die, about one of the clock, Dunstan's Church;
May
13.

told me, in syllables, the true matter of the Philosopher's Stone,

which he bequeathed to

me

as a legacy. "

'

The nature

of this kind of philosophic adoption

himself, in his notes

on Norton's " Ordinal,"

"

is very copiously explained by Ashmole and perhaps the passage may not be dis-

agreeable to the reader.'

" There has been a continued succession of Philosophers in world hath seldom taken notice of them;
for the antients

all

ages, altho' the heedless

usually (before they died)

adopted one or other for their sons,

as are set

whom

they

knew

well fitted with such like qualities,

down
it,

in

the letter that Norton's master wrote to him,

when he

sent to

make

him

his heir unto this science and, otherwise than for pure virtue's sake, let
or, as in

no man expect

to attain

the case of Tonsile

"
'

For almes
it,

I will

Plainly to disclose

that

make no store. was never done before.'*

" Rewards nor terrors (be they never so munificent or dreadful) can wrest this secret out of the bosom of a Philosopher, amongst others, witness Thomas Daulton. " Now under what ties and engagements, this secret is usually delivered (when bestowed by word of mouth), may appear in the weighty obligations of that oath, which
Charnock took before he obtained
"
'

it:

For thus spake

be content,

his master to

him'-

Will you with

me to-morrow

Faithfully to receive the Blessed Sacrament,

Upon

this Oath that I shall heere you give For ne Gold, ne Silver, as long as you live

Neither for love you beare towards your Kinne,

Nor yet to no great Man, preferment to vvj'nne. That you disclose the seacret that I shall you teach Neither by writing, nor by no swift speech But only to him which you be sure
;

Hath ever searched after the seacrets of Nature ? To him you may reveele the seacrets of this art. Under the Covering of Philosophic, before this world yee

depart.'

" And

this oath

he charged him to keep

faithfully,

and without

violation, as

he

thought to be saved from the Pit of Hell.

'

Query:

Was

this to follow the course of ordinary legacies,

i.

e.

not to

fall in, until

the death

of the testator, which, as stated in the previous note, did not take place until 166a?

*Thentrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 440. In Ben Jonson's comedy. Sir Epicure Mammon thus addresses Subtle the Alchemist, "Good morrow, father;" to which the latter replies, " Gentle son, good morrow." Also when the deacon Ananias, announcing himself as "a faithful brother" as the Puritans styled themselves Subtle affects to misund(M-stand the expression, and to take him for a believer in Alchemy. He says, " Whafs that? a Lullianist ? a Ripley ?Filies Artis?" (The Alchemist, 1610, Acts ii. Sc. i.; Jonson's Works, edit. 1816, vol. iv., pp. 59, 81). 'Norton's Ordinal, apud Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 41. ''Ibid., p. 3!i.
'

Breviarj'of Philosophy, chap.

v.

(Theat. Cliem. Brit. p. 290).

'

26o
" And
if

EARLY BRI TISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

it

so fell out, that they

'

met not with any,

it

whom

they conceived in

all

re-

spects worthy of their adoption,

they then resigned

into the

hands of God, who best

left

knew where

to bestow

it.

However, they seldom

left

the world, before they

some
place

written legacy behind them, which (being the issue of their brain) stood in

room and
of Sons
^

of children, and becomes to us both parent and schoolmaster, throughout which they were
so universally kind, as to call
all

students by the dear and afifectionate

all

title

(Her-

mes, giving the

first

precedent), wishing

were such, that take the true pains to tread

their fathers' steps,

posterity,

and industriously

to follow the rules

and

dictates they

made over

to

and wherein they faithfully discovered the whole mystery

"
'

As lawfully as by

their fealty thai

may,

By

lycence of the dreadful Judge at domesday.'

" In these legitimate children, they lived longer than in their adopted sons, for though these certainly perished in an age, yet their writings (as if when they dyed, their souls had been transmigrated into them) seemed as immortal, enough at least to perpetuate their
memories,
till

time should be no more.

And

to

be the father of such sons,

is (in

my

opinion) a most noble happinesse."

" Our
is

author's

no necessity of
*

Commentary making this point quite clear," says Dr. Campbell, " there insisting farther upon it; only it may be proper to observe, that Mr.
till

Ashmole's father, Backhouse, did not die

'

May
it

30, 1662, as appears

by our author's
Ashmole's
dis-

Diary. '

He was

esteemed a very great Chemist, and admirably versed in what was styled
but
appears plainly from Mr.
literal a sense,

the Rosicrucian learning, and he was so;

writings, that

he understood his

fatlier.

Backhouse, in too

and did not

method of removing all the imperfections of metals to physic, and thereby misleading people on that subject, by the promises of an universal medicine,'' true perhaps in the less obvious sense and false in the other in which,
cover the confusion occasioned by applying a

however,

it is

generally taken."

In the opinion of the same authority, Ashmole, by saving so

writers

many

of the best chemical

from

oblivion, has very worthily filled that post

which he assigned himself, when

styling himself Mercurio-

declining the ardous labors which were necessary to the gaining his father Backhouse's
legacy,
2)hiht,s

and becoming an Adept; and

that, in modestly

and truly

Anglicus, he selected a title so ]ust, and so expressive of his real deserts, that one would have thought he had exerted his skill as a herald in devising it, if we had not known that chemistry was his first, and to his last continued his favorite, study.' In next proceeding with an examination of the influence, real or supposed, of Ashmole upon our early Freemasonry, I shall ask my readers to cast a backward glance at the ex" This article, from the pen tracts already given from the " Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.
'

'

Norton's Ordinal, chap.

ii.

in the story of

Thomas Daulton, a famous Hermetic

Chem.
Brit. p. 37).
^

Philosopher,

who
'

flourished in the reign of

Edward IV.

(Theat.

'Hermes

in

Pimandro.
cit.

^Norton's Ordinal, in his Introduction.

P. 28.

The Universal Medicine of the Rosicrucians shows that physical science had something to do with it. The mystical philosophy branches off into two the one mental, the other physical both equally absurd, though not without some grains of truth (for there generally are, even in the greatest absurdities), and both declined shortly after to give way beneath the genBiog. Brit. loc.

eral

advance of

human kc^wledge.
loc. cit.
'

Biog. Brit.

Ante,

p.

23a

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

it

261
is

should be recollected, of a learned Masonic writer,

it is

is

decidedly plausible, and, what

of infinitely greater importance,

also to a very considerable extent

in all probability

consonant with
of transfalls

common

sense.

Nor
is

shall

attempt to deny that

some process
1
detiiil.

formation such as

here indicated took place about this time;

but

think Sandys

into the error of asserting too

much, and

of going too minutely into

For without

reckoning the facts that there never was a

of the

German

Rosicrucian Society, and that the era

mania

is

slightly antedated,

we may

well ask, was there ever a Rosicrucian Society

London ? the members made use

established in

If there was, did

of certain

Ashmole belong to it ? How do we know that emblems ? Did Ashmole and his friends transfer the
'

same with sundry

rites,

ceremonies, and teachings to the Masonic liody

?

Did the Society

meet

in the

Mason's Hall

together with other queries of a like nature.

Ashmolean theory,
is

The argument

usually brought forward, on behalf of the

an ad-

mirable specimen of the kind of reasoning too often employed on such matters.

Certain

observances and ideas which did not exist before are found, or are supposed to have been

found, prevalent

among Masons towards

to

the

commencement
piirsuits

of the eighteenth century.

Ashmole was known

all sorts

have been a Mason, and to have been fond of wasting his time upon

of queer, out of the way,

to the

and unprofitable
!

therefore

these

new
by

conceits
his

were taught by Ashmole

Freemasons

But

in the

first

place let us see,

own

showing, what manner of

man Ashmole

really was.

strange being, very learned,' very

credulous, very litigious, and, to use a vulgarism, extremely cantankerous, perfectly capable

money and taking care of it when so acquired, capable also of writing one or two books of crabbed and ponderous learning, and capable of very little else. As a rule
of acquiring
his

" Diary "

is

trifling

where

it is

not simply nauseous.'

Pepys and Evelyn, judging from

the tone of the allusions to Ashmole, in their respective diaries, seem to have had no very

When the former says he found him " a very ingenious gentledamning with faint praise, in the same way as people call a person, " good natured," when by no possibility can any other salient trait of goodness be ascribed to him.
exalted opinion of him.

man,"

it

is

This was not the kind of

man

to influence

any considerable body or bodies of his fellowideas, or to

men, either
into
'

for

good or for evil, to inoculate them with his own

Moreover, we do not actually

guide their steps

new

fields of inquiry.

know

that he was a philosopher

Who were they? Ashmole was intimate at various times with Wharton, Lilly, Moore, Booker. Vaughan, Backhouse, Oughtred, and other votaries of the Hermetic art but the only Freemason among them, so far as any proof extends, was Sir Robert Moray. ' Evelyn, however, thus speaks of him " He has divers MSS., but most of them Astrological, to which study he is addicted, though I believe not learned, but very industrious, as his History
;

'

of the Order of the Garter' proves " (Diary, July 23, 1678).
^ " 1657. October 8. The cause between nie and my wife was heard, where Mr. Serjeant MayBard observed to the Court that there were 800 sheets of depositions on my wife's part and not one

word proved against me of using her ill, nor ever giving her a bad or provoking word. " October 9. The Lords Commissioners having found no cause for allowing my wife alimony, did, 4 hor. post merid., deliver my wife to me whereupon I cai-ried her to Mr. Lilly's, and there
;

took lodgings for us both."

summary mode of issuing a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights will astonish some Poor Lady Mainwaring had, I doubt not, at least 800 good reasons for leaving such a man, who must cei-tainly have been most " provoking."' Still, as he was her fourth husband, she ought
This
readers.

to

time of life she had a grown-up no one but herself to thank for her troubles, more especially as her acquaintance with Ashmole was not a sudden one.
sex, and, at her

have been pretty well used to the ways of the

family

when she made her

fourth venture

had

262

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

An
astrologer, or a believer at least in astrology, he certainly was,
it

of the class supposed

though

may be doubted whether any

of the charlatans forming his entourage ever suc-

ceeded in getting money from him; but

also denied that

it is

believed by competent authorities, as has been

stated on a former page, that he was never an adept or professional at either this or any
similar art.
trary.
ciple of
It
is

he was a Rosicrucian, although

I

Wood

asserts the con-

By "

Rosicrucian,"
I

we must,

imagine, in the former instance, understand a dis-

Fludd, of which

do not find any positive proof; whilst what

Wood meant must

clearly

have been that he was addicted to pursuits which passed under that generic term.
trifles

We

have also to consider, that the taste for such

had considerably died out, in the

last half of

the seventeenth century, during the greater part of wliich period lay Ashmole's

connection with the Freemasons.

Moreover, what were the circumstances attending his connection with the Masonic

body
his

Only two allusions to the Freemasons occur under his own hand one relating to admission in 1646, the other to his attending a meeting at Mason's Hall in 1682, thirty?

five years

subsequently, and

it

has been inferred from his silence that these were the only
'

two occasions on which he ever attended a lodge.

viously omits

But not

to

mention that his diary obaccount for his being smn-

many

things of infinitely greater interest than his colds, purges, or " the

heavy form which

fell

and hurt
if

his great toe,"'

it is

difficult to

moned to a Lodge at Mason's Hall, London, in 1682, thirty-five years after his initiation at
far distant Warrington,

or what

is

virtually the
Is
it

the Fraternity.

he held altogether aloof from Masonic meetings in the interim, same thing, strictly concealed the fact of his being a member of likely, under either supposition, that the Masons of the metropolis
have gone so far as to
distinguished and

even had the fact of his initiation in any way leaked out would
strmmon (not
invite)
tlieir

" unattached

" brother to take part in the

?

proceedings of a society upon which he had long since virtually turned his back
probable, therefore, that he did in some

It is

way keep up
any

his connection with the Freemasons,

but that
not,

it

was of such a slender character as not to merit any special mention.

not, have entered into
detail

He might
detiiils

and probably would

his diary scarcely gives

'

on any point except his ailments and his law-suits but he would probably have given at least as he does of notices of his having attended Lodges had he done so with any frequency

having attended the Astrologers' feasts. Moreover,

relative to

if

Dr. Knipe's account

of his collections
to

Freemasonry be

correct,

he does not appear to have been much inclined

mix

the

new

mystical and symbolical ideas, with the old historical or quasi-historical traditions

of the craft.

My own
much

view, therefore,
is

is,

that the Ashmolean influence on Freemasonry,

in fact,
is

of which so
it is

has been said,

not proved to have had any foundation

though
always

fair to state that I base this opinion

on circumstantial evidence alone, which

overthrown by apparently the most trifling discovery. Hence, whilst admitting that Freemasonry may have received no slight tinge from the pursuits and fancies of some of its adherents, who were possibly more numerous than is
liable to be

generally supposed

and the larger their numljer, the greater the

among them may have
indoctrinated
tlieir

probability that

some

of

the more influential

'

brethren with their peculiar

Findel, History of Freemasonry, p. 113.

Of the
I

11.

April trivial character of the entries, tlie following affoi'ds a g-ood specimen : " 1681. took early in the morning a good dose of EUxir, and liung tluee spidei-s about my neck, and

they drove
'

my ague away. See next chapter.

Deo

gratias."

EARL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

wisdom

263

still I

do not think that such a proceeding can with safety be ascribed to a parless to

ticular set of

men, much

any One individual.'

I

To sum

up.

We may

assume,

think, (1.)

astrologers, alchemists, charlatans,

and

visionaries of all kinds,

That while there was an abundance of who seem to liave pursued

i^ncktij

their hobbies without let or hindrance, yet there

less

was no organized

of

any

sort,

un-

the Astrologers' Feast, so often mentioned by Ashmole, be accounted one;

is

(3.)

That

no trace of any sect of Rosicrucian or Fluddian philosophers;' (3.) That Hartlib's attempt at a " Macaria " ended as might have been supposed, and was never either anticipated or revived by himself or anybody else; and (4.) That there is no trace, as far as any
there

remaining evidence

is

concerned, that the Freemasons were in any way connected with any

one of the above, but on the contrary, tliat, although they had probably in a great measure ceased to be entirely operative, they had not amalgamated with any one of the supposed Rosicrucian or Hermetic fraternities of the actual existence of which there is no proof
still less

that they were their actual descendants, or themselves under another name."
this,

To

assume

indeed, would be to falsify the whole of authentic Masonic history, together

it rests.

with the admittedly genuine documents upon which

I

have
its

now

finished this portion of

ceeded

collecting

though I some of the materials for an exhaustive chapter on the subjects above
allotted limits,
itself. 1

my task, which has, I am conscious, somewhat exam equally well aware that I have only succeeded in
treated,

not in writing such a chapter

Many

of

my

conclusions,

doubt not,

will

be disputed, and

many more may be

over-

turned by a more thorough investigation.

contained in our great collections, there
if

It is quite possible that,

buried in the dust of

long-forgotten works of Hermetic learning, or enshrined amidst the masses of manuscripts

may still
It
is

exist the materials for a far

more

perfect,

indeed, not a complete elucidation of this dark portion of our annals.

will,

The

indulgent

reader

however, pardon

my

errors.

impossible not to stumble in the midst of

intense darkness;

and

in the course of

my

explorations I have but too often found, not

I

only the cave to be dark, but that the guides are blind.
that

can truly say, with Nennius,

my work

has been

"non quidem ut

volui sed ut potui,"*

I feel

and

my

motto must be the

modest one of the Greek sculptors, of 'EIIOIEI, since

post pointing the
'

myself to be rather the finger-

way

to others, than I a guide.

Mr. John Yarker, however, pronounces Elias

spirit,

both in Craft Masonry and in the fact " that both Societes tell into decay together, and both revived together in 1683." He adds, " It is evident, therefore, that the Rosicrucians who had too freely written upon their instruction,

Ashmole to have been, circa 1686, " the leading Rosicrucianisra ;" and is of opinion that his diai-y establishes

and met with ridicule found the Operative Guild conveniently ready to their hand, and grafted upon it their own Mysteries. Also, from this time Rosicrucianisra disappeare, and Freemasonry springs into lite, with all the possessions of the former" (Speculative Freemasonry, an historical lecture, delivered March 31, 1883, p. 9). Cf. ante, p. 354. ' If it is held, that by some process of evolution the fraternity of the Rosie Cross became the first English Freemasons Hermeticism, as a possible factor in the historical jirobleni, is at once shut out, and the Masonic traditions as contained in the "Old Charges" are quietly ignored, to say nothing of Scottish Freemasonry, of which tlie Fluddian pliilosophy would in this case prove to be
an unconscious plagiarism
>In the
I

common

practice of sweeping everj-thing into their net, Masonic writers too often folcollector of unconsidered trifles."

low the example of Autolycus, described as " a * Historia Britonum, chap. 1.

264

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND,

CHAPTER

XIV.

EAELY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.

ENGLAND. III.
ASHMOLE MASONS' COMPANY PLOT HANDLE HOLME THE "OLD
CHARGES."

ALTHOUGH the
of

admission of Elias Ashmole into the ranks of the Freemasons

may

have been, and probably was, unproductive of the momentous consequences which have been so lavishly ascribed to
it,

the circumstances connected with his membership

what

in

South Britain was then a very obscure fraternity

so

little
it

not before the date of Ashmole's reception or adoption does

history

known, indeed, that come within the light of

from no other

are,

nevertheless, of the greatest importance in our general inquiry, since, on a

close view, they will be

found

to supply a quantity of information derivable

I shall

source,

and which, together with the additional evidence

writings, will give us a tolerably faitlif ul

adduce from contemporarv picture of English Freemasonry in the seventeenth

relate to his

century.

The
in

entries in Ashmole's

" Diary " which

membership of the
at

craft are three

number, the first in priority being the following: " 1646. Oct. 16, 4.30. p.m. I was made a Free Mason

Warrington in Lancashire,
of those that were
Collier, M,"'

with Coll: Henry Main waring of Karincham in Cheshire.

The names

then of the Lodge, [were] Mf Rich Penket Warden, M- James

Rich Sankey,

Henry Littler, John Ellam Rich: Ellam & Hugh Brewer."' The " Diary" then continues: "Oct. 25. I left Cheshire, and came to London about the end of this month, viz., the 30th day, 4 Hor. post merid. About a fortnight or three weeks before [after .?] I came to London, Mr. Jonas Moore brought and acquainted me with Mr. AVilliam Lilly: it was on a Friday night, and I think on the 20th of Nov." " Dec. 3. This day, at noon, I first became acquainted with Mr. John Booker."

It will

be seen that Ashmole's initiation or admission into Freemasonry, preceded by

astrological friends, Lilly

upwards of a month, his acquaintance with his

and Booker.
all

In ascending the stream of English Masonic history, we are deserted by

'

known

con-

Copied from a facsimile plate, published by Mr.

W.

H. Gee, 28 High Street, Oxford.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

temjjorary testimony, save that of the " Old Charges" or " Constitutions," directly
|iassed the

265

we have
in that

year 1646.

This of

itself

would render the proceedings at Warrrington

year of surpassing interest to the student of Masonic antiquities.

'

That Ashmole and

Mainwaring, adherents respectively of the Court and the Parliament, should be admitted
into
it

Freemasonry at the same time and

with the internal character,

place,

is

also a very

noteworthy circumstance.
of,

But

is

or, in

other words, the composition

the lodge into

which they were received that we are

of the " craft of Masonry, " except

chiefly concerned.

Down

to the year 1881 the prev-

alent belief was, that although a lodge was in existence at Warrington in 1646,' all were

Ashmole and Colonel Mainwaring.

flood of light,

however, was suddenly shed on the subject by the research of Mr.

in

W. H.

Rylands, who,

perhaps the very best of the

so far

many

valuable articles contributed to the

now defunct

Mamnic Magazine, has

to render
it difficult

proved the essentially speculative character of the lodge, as

to believe that there could

16, 1646.

on the afternoon of October

shown

to

have been a scion of

have been a single operative Mason present Thus Mr. Eichard Penket[h], the Warden, is the Penkeths of Penketh, and the last of his race who held

the family property.'

The two names which next

Collier, of

follow were probably identical with those of James Collyer or

Newton-le- Willows, Lancashire, and Richard Sankie, of the family of Sonkey, or

called,

Sankey of Sankey, as they were

landowners in Warrington from a very early period;

they were buried respectively at Winwick and Warrington

the former on January

17, 1673-4,

and the latter on September 28, 1667.* Of the four remaining Freemasons named in the " Diary," though without the prefix of " Mr. " it is shown by Rylands that a gentle family
of Littler or Lytlor existed in Cheshire in 1646; while he prints the wills of Richard Ellom,

Freemason of Lyme [Lymme], and of John Ellams, husbandman, of Burton, both in the county of Cheshire that of the former bearing date September 7, 1667, and of the latter

June

That these were the Ellams named by Ashmole cannot be positively affirmed, but they were doubtless members of the same yeoman family, a branch of which had appar7,

1689.

ently settled at

Lymm,

a village in Cheshire, about five miles from Warrington.

Of the

family of
this
*

Hugh

Brewer, nothing has come to light beyond the fact that a person bearing

patronymic served in some military capacity under the Earl of Derby in 1643.

Ashmole's first wife was the daughter of Colonel Mamwaring's uncle. See " Masonic History and Historians," by Masonic Student [the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford]. Freemason, Aug. 6, 1881. ' " From the Herald's visitation of Lancashire, made by St. George in 1613, it appears that
''

who died circa 1570, married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Sonkey and had a son Thomas Penketh of Penketh, county Lancaster, who married Cecilye, daughter of Roger Charnock of Wellenborough. countj- Northampton, Esq., whose son Richard (dead in 1652), married Jane, daughter of Thomas Patrick of Bispham, in the county of
Richard Penketh of Penketh,
of

Sonkey

[gent.],

Lancaster. This, no doubt, was the Richard Penketh who was a Freemason at Warrington in 1646, (W. Harry Rylands, F. S. A., " Freemasoni-y in the Seventeenth Century," Warrington, 1646 Masonic Magazine, London, Dec. 1881). * Rylands prints the will of James Colliar, which was executed April 18, 1668, and proved March

endorsement " Captain James Collier's Last Will and Testafragment of Masonic history to which I have already alluded " The hamlet of Sankey, with that of Penketh, lies close to Warrington, and coupled with the fact that at no very distant date a Penketh married a Sankey of Sankey, as mentioned above, it is not extraordinary to find two such near neighbors and blood relations associated together as Freemasons."
21, 1674.

It bears the following

ment."
:

He

also observes, in the excellent

266

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

at Warrington in 1646 establish

The proceedings
Ashmole
uses,

some very important

facts in relation

to the antiquity of Freemasonry,

The words " the names of those who were then of the lodge," implying as they do either
and
to its cliaracter as a speculative science.

members were absent, or that at a previous period the lodge-roll comprised other and additional names beyond those recorded in the " Diary," amply justify
that some of the existing the conclusion that the lodge,

when Ashmole joined it, was not a new creation. The term " Warden," moreover, which follows the name of Mr. Rich. Penket, will of itself remove
it

any lingering doubt whether the Warrington Lodge could boast a higher antiquity than
the year 1646, since
points with the utniost clearness to the fact, that an actual
official

of a subsisting branch of the Society of Freemasons was present at the meeting.

The
of

history or pedigree of the lodge

is

therefore to be carried back beyond October 16,

1646, but

how

far, is

indeterminable, and in a certain sense immaterial.

The testimony

Ashmole establishes beyond cavil that in a certain year (1646), at the town of Warrington, there was in existence a lodge of Freemasons, presided over by a Warden, and largely Concurrently with (if not entirely) composed of speculative or non-operative members. 3848 (13)/ which document bears the folthis, we have the evidence of the Sloane MS.,
lowing attestation:
" Finis p me Eduardu' Sankey decimo sexto die Octobris Anno Domini 1646."
:

Commenting upon the proceedings

at the

Warrington meeting, Fort remarks, "

it is

subject of curious speculation as to the identity of Richard Sankey, a member of the above Sloane's MS., No. 384S, was transcribed and finished by one Edward Sankey, on lodge.

the 16th day of October 1646, the day Elias Ashmole was initiated into the secrets of the
craft."'

The

research of Rylands has afforded a probable,

if

not altogether an absolute,

solution of the problem referred to, and from the same fount I shall again draw, in order
to

show that an Edward Sankey, "son

3, 1621-2.'

to

Richard Sankey, gent.," was baptized at War-

rington, February
It therefore

appears that on October 16, 1646, a Richard Sankey was present in lodge,

and that an Edward Sankey copied and attested one of the old manuscript Constitutions; and that a Richard Sankey of Sankey flourished at this time, whose son Edward, if alive, we must suppose would have then been a young man of four or five and twenty.' Now, as it seems to me, the identification of the Sankeys of Sankey, father and son, with the Freemason and the copyist of the " Old Charges" respectively, is rendered as clear as any
thing lying within the doctrine of probabilities can be made to appear.
I

assume, then, that a version of the old manuscript Constitutions, which has for-

tunately
'

come down

to us,

was in circulation

at

Warrington in 1646.

Thus, we should

Constitutions," will be frequently referred to in the present chai>take the opportunity of stating that in every case where figures within parenthesis follow ttie title of a manuscript, as above, these denote the coiTesponding number in Chapter II. ' Fort, tlie Early Histoiy and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 137. " Rylands, Freemasonry in the Seventeenth Centui-j-, citing the Wanington Parish Registers.
ter, I
*

As the " Old Charges," or "

As Rylands
is

cites the burial of "

gives no further entry from the Parish Registers respecting Edward, though he Cha? son to Richard Sankey, Ap. 30, 1635," the inference that the former was
,

livang in 1646

strengthened.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND,

have, in the year named, speculative, and,
it

267

may

be, also operative masonry, co-existing

with the actual use, by lodges and brethren, of the Scrolls or Constitutions of which the Sloane MS., 3848
(1'5),

affords an illustration in point.

Upon
of the

this basis I shall presently

contend, that, having traced a system of Freemasonry, combining the speculative with the
operative element, together with a use or

employment

MS. legend

of the craft, as

prevailing in the first half of the seventeenth century

fails us, as

when

contemporary testimony

we continue

to direct

our course up the stream of Masonic history, the evidence

further back, until the tran-

of manuscript Constitutions, successively dating further and

scripts are exhausted,

without apparently bringing us any nearer to their

common

original,

may

well leave us in

doubt at what point of our research between the era of the Lodge

and that of the Loge at York, 1355, a monopoly of these ancient documents by the working masons can be viewed as even remotely probable. The remaining entries in the " Diary" of a Masonic character are the following: " March, 1682.
at Warrington, 1646,

"

10.

About 5 P.M.

I rec"":

Sumons

to app"" at a

Lodge

to be held the next day, at

Masons Hall London. " 11. Accordingly

went,

&

about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of Free

Will:

Masons,

"S^ William Wilson' Knight, Capt. Rich: Borthwick, M^

Grey,
M"; I

Woodman, M^

W"

Samuell Taylour

&

M"-

William Wise.
(it

"
"

was the Senior Fellow among them

being 35 yeares since

was admitted)

There

were p'sent beside

M"'

my

selfe

the Fellowes after named.

Tho: Wise

M"; of

the Masons

Company

this p^sent yeare.

Esq-;

M^ Thomas Shadbolt, hose, M" William Hamon,

" Wee
all

Waindsford
M":

M"; Thomas Shorthose, M^ Nich: Young Mf John Short-

John Thomjison, &

M'! Will: Stanton.'

at

dyned at the halfe Moone Taverne in Cheapside, at a Noble dinner prepaired the charge of the New = accepted Masons."

From

the circumstance, that Ashmole records his attendance at a meeting of the Free-

masons, held in the hall of the

Company

of Masons, a

good deal of confusion has been

engendered, which some casual remarks of Dr. Anderson, in the Constitutions of 1723,

have done

much

to confirm.

By way

of filling

up a page,
of

from an old Record of Masons,

to the effect that,

as he expresses it, he quotes " the said Record describing a Coat of

Anns, much the same with

ally

that of the

London Company

Freemen Masons,

it is

gener-

believ'd that the said

Company

is

descended of the ancient Fraternity; and that in

former Times no

Man was

Free of that Company until he was install'd in some Lodge of

Free and Accepted Masons, as a necessary Qualification." " Practice seems to have been long in Dissuetude.
'

" But," he

adds,

" that laudable

Born at

Leicester, a builder

and

arcliitect

married the widow of Henry Pudsey, and through

her influence obtained knighthood in 1681. Iiam Castle.

Built Four

Oaks Hall

(for

Lord

ffolliott);

also Notting-

Was

the sculptor of the image of Charles U. at the west front of Lichfield Cathedi-al.
p. 101),

Died
'

ill

1710 in his seventieth year (The Forest and Chase of Sutton. Coldlield, 1860,

and Mr. William Wise, who are mentioned in the earlier one, were members of the Masons' Company. Thomas Wise was elected Master, January 1, 1682, Waindsford, Esq., is probably meant Rowland Rainsford, By who is described in the records of tiie Company a.s " late apprentice to Robert Beadles, was admitted a freeman, Jan. 1.5, I665 ;" and William Hamon is doubtless identical with William Hamond, who
All the persons
in this

named

paragraph

also

Mr. Will.

Woodman

was present
Wardens.

at a meeting of

theCompanj' on April
'Anderson.

11, 1683.

Jolin Shortliose and Will. Stanton were

of the Freemasons, 1723, p. 82,

The Constitutions

268

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

Preston, in this instance not unnaturally, copied from Anderson, and others of course
suit;

have followed

but as

believe myself to

be the only person

who

has been allowed

access to the books

the design of this

and records of the Masons' Company for purposes of historical research, work will be better fulfilled by a concise summary of the results of my
I

examination, together with such collateral information as

have been able

to acquire,

than

by attempting to

fully describe the superstructure of error

which has been erected on so

treaclierous a foundation.

This I shall proceed to do, after which ihe later entries in the " Diary."

it

will

be the more easy to rationally scrutinise

The Masons' Company, London.The

Arms,
is

original grant of

arms

to the

" Hole Crafte and felawship

of Masons," dated the

twelfth year of
is

Edward IV. [1473-1473], from William Hawkeslowe, Clarenceux King of now in the British Museum. No crest is mentioned in the grant, although one
'

figured on the margin," with the arms, as follows:

Sable on a chevron engrailed between

first,

three square castles triple-towered argent, masoned of the

a pair of compasses ex-

tended

silver.

Crest,

on a wreath of the colors a

castle as in

the arms, but as was often

the case slightly more ornamental in form.

This grant was confirmed by Thomas Benolt, Clarenceux, twelfth Henry VIII. or 152021,

and entered

in the visitation of

Loudon made by Henry

St.

George, Richmond Herald

in 1634.

At some

later

time the engrailed chevron was changed for a plain one, and the old

castles became single towers, both in the arms and crest. The arms thus changed are given by Stow in his " Survey of London," 1633, and have been repeated

ornamental towered

by other writers since his time. A change in the form of the towers is noticed by Eandle Holme in his " Academic of Armory," 1688." " Of olde," he says, "the towers were triple towered;" and to him we are indebted for the knowledge that the arms had columns for supporters. These arms he attributes to the " Right Honored and Right Worsliipfull

London and Westminster," 1735,' gives the company "about 1410, liaviug been called Free-Masons, a Fraternity of great Account, who having been honor'd by several Kings, and very many of He describes the color of the field the Nobility and Gentry being of their Society," etc.
of the Cities of

company of ffree-Masons." Seymour in his " Survey

date of the incorporation of the

of the arms, azure or blue.

Maitland in his "History and Survey of London," 1756,' describes the arms properly, and adds that the motto is " In the Lord is all our Trust." Although of considerable antiquity, he says that the Company was " only incorporated by Letters Patent on the 29th of Charles II., 17th September, anno 1677, by the name of the Master, Wardens, Assistants, and Commonalty of the Company of Masons of the City of London," etc' Berry in his " Encyclopasdia Heraldica" states that it was incorporated 2d of Henry
'

II.,
'

1411, which

may be a

misprint for 12th of Henry IV., 1410-11, following Stow (1633),

Addl. MS. 19, 135.

in colors will

'A facsimile
docnment
'Vol.
is
ii.,

be found

in the

there given at length.

Masonic Magazine, vol. ii., p. 87, and the txt of the Page 204, verso; and Mas. Mag., Jan. 1883.
'P. 1248.

bookiv.,

p. 381.
ii.,

'Rec. Roll, Pat. 29, Car.

p. 10, n.

'Vol.

i..

Masons (London).

*
1

7
;

A RL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

or for the date at which the

269

arms were granted

17, 12tli

13tii

Edw. IV.
II., 1677.
it

He

adds that the Com-

pany was re-incorporated September

Charles

By no

calculation could the 12th Charles II. be the year 1677;

Here is again an error. was the 29th regnal year

of that king as stated by Maitland

as given by Stow in 1633; arms of the French and German companies of Masons, Carpenters, and Joiners taken from the magnificent work of Lacroix and Sere, " Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance."' The latter show the use of various building implements, the

On

the annexed plate will

of

from the Patent Eoll. be found the arms of the companies

and with them a number

square, compasses, rule, trowel, in the armorial bearings of the Masons, etc., of other counthese are added in the plate, for comparison, the arms as painted upon two rolls " Old Charges," both dated in the same year, viz., 1686, one belonging to the Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2; and the other preserved in the museum at 33 Golden Square. Only the former of these bears any names, which will be considered in another place when
tries.

To

of the

dealing with the early English records of Freemasonry.

that the arms are precisely similar to those figured by

It

is,

however, interesting to note

Stow
top,

in 1633,

and that

in

each case

they are associated with the arms of the City of London, proving beyond doubt that both
these
rolls,

London Lodges

which are handsomely illuminated at the of Masons or Freemasons.

were originally prepared for

In a future plate I shall give a colored representation of the arms, showing the original
coat as granted in the reign of

Edward IV. and other forms subsequently

on the
latter period.

borne.

As
we

it is

with the

later, rather

than the earlier history of the Masons' Company, that

are concerned, I shall dwell very briefly

One important
its

misstate-

ment, however, which has acquired general currency, through

original appearance in

a work of deservedly high reputation,' stands in need of correction. Sharpe,"

Mr. Reginald R.

who

in

1879 was kind enough to search the archives of the City of Loudon, for

early references to the

term Mason and Freemason, obliged

*

me

with the following

memo-

randum:
" Herbert in his book on the
the Corporation Records for a
of
list

Companies of London,' refers to lib. Ix., fo. 46 ' among of the Companies who sent representatives to the Court
'

Common
,

Council for the year 50 Edw.

46
'

III.

[1376-1377].

He
is

probably means Letter

to be found.

Book H.

fo.

b.

where a

list
'

of that kind
'

and of that date

In

it

are

mentioned the

Fre masons

and

Masons,' but the representatives of the former are

latter.
' ' '

struck out and added to those of the

' '

" The term Fre[e]masons never varies; ' Masons becomes Masouns in Norman French; and Cementarii in Latin." The preceding remarks are of value, as they dispel the idea that in early civic days the The former body, indeed, appears to Masons and Freemasons were separate companies. absorbed the Marblers,' of whom Seymour (following Stow) says " The Company called have
'
'

184.5-51.
'

'

Herbert, Companies of London, vol.

i.,

p. 34.

I take the

opportunity of stating, that for the information thus obtained, as well as for per-

mission to examine the Records of the Masons' and Carpenters' Companies, 1

to Sir

am

primarily indebted

John Monckton, Town-Clerk of London, and President of the Board of General Purposes (Grand Lodge of England), who, in these and numerous other instances, favored me with letlei-s of
introduction to the custodians of ancient documents.
'

See ante. Chap. VI., p. 304. Brian Roclitfe says, volo quod Jacopus Remus, marbler, in Poules Churoheyerde in London, facial meum epitaphium in

" Merblers

Workers

in Marble.

In his will,

made

in

1494, Sir

'

Teraplo' " (The Fabric Rolls of

York Minster, Surtees

Soc., vol. xxxv.. Glossary, p. 347).

'

270
by the

EA RL Y BRITISH PREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

Name
of Marblers, for their excellent

knowledge and
like,

skill in

the art of insculping

Figures on Gravestones, Monuments, and the

incorporated

were an antient Fellowship, but no

Company
Sable,

of themselves, tho'

now

joined with the

in

Company

of Masons.
in

" Arms:
Argent."'

a chevron between two

Chissels

Chief,

and a Mallet

Base,

Down

to the period of the Great Fire of

London, the Company of Carpenters would

If,

appear to liave stood at least on a footing of equality with that of the Masons.

on the

one hand, we find in the early records, mention of the King's Freemasons,'' on the other

hand there
oflice of

is

as frequent allusion to the King's Carpenter,"

and promotion

to the superior

Surveyor of the King's Works was as probable in the one case as in the other.*

The

city records

show that

at least as early as the

beginning of the reign of Edward

I.

(1273), two master Carpenters, and the same number of master Masons, were sworn as
officers to

perform certain duties with reference to buildings, and

walls,

and the boundaries

of land in the city, evidently of

much
'

the same nature as those confided to a similar

title of

num-

ber of members of these two companies, under the

little

City Viewers, until witliin

In the matter of precedency the Carpenters stood the more tlian a century ago. and the Masons the 31st on the list of companies." Nor was the freedom of their 25th If the Masons styled themselves Free craft alone asserted by members of the junior body. the appellation of Free Carpenters,' though Masons, so likewise did the Carpenters assume
I

in a collective capacity, has

must admit that no instance of the latter adopting the common come under my notice.

prefix, otherwise

than

'Robert Seymour, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, 1735, bk. iv., p. 392. Handle Holme describes the Marblers as ston-cufters (Harl. MS. 2035, fol. 207, verso). ' This title is applied by Anderson, apparently following Stow, in the C!onstitutions of 1723 and 1738, to Henry Yevele, of whom Mr. Papworth says, " he was director of the king's works at the palace of Westminster, and Master Mason at Westminster Abbey, 1388-95." See Chap. VII., p. 342. 2 During the Cf. E. B. Jupp, Historical Account of the Company of Carpenters, 1848, p. 165. erection of Christ Church College. Oxford, 1512-17, John Adams was the Freemason, and Thomas Watlino-ton the Warden of the Carpenters (Ti-ansactions, Royal Institute of British Architects,
1861-63, pp. 37-60).
*

In the reign of

Henry VIQ. the

The form

office of

Surveyor of the King's Works was successively held

(Jupp, op.
cit., p. 174).

by two members
'

of the Carpenters'
188, 193.

Company

Ibid., pp.

8,

of oath taken

by the Viewers on their appointment is preserved

in the City Records,

and commences
" The Othe of the Viewers,
Maister

Wardens of Masons and Carpenters."

Henry VTH.
(1516-17),)

According to a

list

made

in the 8th year of

the only one which had for

In 1501-2 the Carpenters stood its precise object the settling of the precedency of the companies. the 20th, and the Masons the 40th, on the general list, the members of the former company being thirty in number, whilst those of the latter only mounted up to eleven (Jupp, Historical Account of

the

Company
''

of Carpenters,

Appendix A.)

An

address of the Carpentei-s'

Company

to the

Lord Mayor on Nov.

5,

1666,

complains of the

"ill conveniences to the said City

and freemen

thereof, especially to the Free Carpenters

vpon the

" entertainem' of forriners for the rebuilding of London (Jupp, Historical Account of the

Company

of Carpenters, p. 278).
*

It is probable,

however, that

if

prefix " free," as applied to the trade or calling of individuals,

the ordinances of more craft guilds had come down to us, the would be found to have been a com-

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

According
to a schedule of

271

wages for

all

classes of artificers,

determined by the justices

of the peace in 1610,'

we

find that the superior or

Master Freemason was hardly on a

footing of equality with the Master Carpenter, e.g.:

With Meat. Without Meat.

A Freemason which can draw his plot,

ing charge over others

8. D.

S.

O.

work, and set accordingly, havBefore Michaelmas,

After Michaelmas,
plot,

12

10

A master carpenter,

being able to draw his

work over others

and to be master of Before Michaelmas,

After Michaelmas,

8 6

14

10

am

far

from contending that the

details just given possess

operative significance; but the classification into

over others," Freemasons simpJiciter, i'ud

the peace, in a sparsely populated county

affords
made

anything more than an " rough masons capable of taking charge Freemasons who can draw plots by justices of

a good illustration of the difficulties

which are encountered, when an attempt

tive term,

is

to trace the actual

meaning

of the opera-

by which the members of our speculative society are now described.

After the (Jreat Fire of London, the

demand

for

labor being necessarily great,

"foreigners" as well as free

men

readily obtained

employment, much to the prejudice of

the masons and carpenters, as well as to other

Statute of 1666, entitled

members

of the building trades.

By a

"An

act for Rebuilding the Citty of

London,'"

it

was ordained

" That

all

Carpenters, Brickelayers, Masons, Plaisterers, Joyners, and other Artificers,

Workemen, and Labourers, to be employed on the said Buildings [in the City of London], who are not Freemen of the said Citty, shall for the space of seaven yeares next ensueing, and for soe long time after as untill the said buildings shall be fully finished, have and enjoy such and the same liberty of workeing and being sett to worke in the said building as the Freemen of the Citty of the same Trades and Professions have and ought to enjoy. Any Usage or Custome of the Citty to the contrary notwithstanding: And that such Artificers as aforesaid,

which for the space

of seaven yeares shall have

wrought in the rebuilding

of the Citty in their respective Arts, shall

from and

after the said seaven yeares have

and

enjoy the same Liberty to worke as Freemen of the said Citty for and dureing their naturall lives.

Provided alwayes, that said Artificers claiming such priviledges shall be lyeable

to nndergoe all such offices,

vice

and

to pay

and performe such Dutyes in reference to the Serof the Citty of their respective Arts

and Government

of the Citty, as

Freemen
interests,

and

Trades are lyeable to undergoe, pay, and performe."

This statute materially affected the

and diminished the influence,

of the two

men

practice.

Thus the

rules of the Tailors' Guild, Exeter, enact,

" that euery seruant that ys of

the forsayd crafte, that takyt wagys to the waylor (value) of xxs. and a-boffe [above'], schall pay

xxd. to be a ffre Satvere (Stitcher) to us and profyth [of the] aforsayd fraternyte " (Smith, English
Gilds, p. 314).

"With meat," a Freemason and master brick layer were each to receive 6s. " a rough mason, which can take charge over others," 5s. and a bricklayer, 4s. (The Rates of Wages of Servants, Labourers, and Artificers, set down and assessed at Oakham, within the County of Rutland,
' ;

by the Justices of the Peace there, the 28th day of April, Anno Domini, 1610
pp. 200, 203).

Archaeologia, vol.

xi.,

18

and

19,

Car.

II., c. viii.,

xvi.

Compare with

" Fitzalwyne's Assize" (Liber Albus, Rolls

Series, p. xxix).

'

272

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

In 1675, Thomas Seagood, a tilet leading companies connected with the building trades. and bricklayer, was chosen by the Court of Aldermen as one of the four City Viewers, an innovation upon the invariable usage of selecting these officials from the ilasons' and CarAs three years later there occurred a similar departure from the penters Companies.
'

ordinary custom,
tion of

it

has been suggested that as the

fire

of

wooden would be a better judge of the new buildings than a carpenter, and as good a judge as a mason; though it may well excite surprise that a Glazier, a Weaver, and a Glover were successively chosen Viewers in the years 1679, 1685, and 1695.'
layer

houses to be prohibited, the Court of

London had occasioned the erecAldermen considered that a brick-

The masons,
selves

carpenters, bricklayers, joiners, and plasterers of London,

feeling them-

much

aggrieved at the encroachments of " forreigners "

who had

not served an
for

apprenticeship,

made common

cause,

and

jointly petitioned the

Court of Aldermen

their aid and assistance, but

though the matter was referred by the

is

civic authorities to

a committee of their

own

body, there

no evidence that the associated companies obtained

however immaterial, upon a cursory view, they

any

effectual redress.

These

details are of importance, for,

may seem to the inquiry we are upon, it will be seen as we proceed, that the statutory enactments passed for the rebuilding of London and of St. Paul's Cathedral, by restricting the powers of the companies, may not have been without their influence in paving the way
for the ultimate development of English Freemasonry into the form under which
it

has

happily come
It

down

to us.

been common

was the subject of complaint by the free carpenters, and their grievance must have to all jnembers of the building trades, that by pretext of the Stat. 18

and

19, Car. II., c. viii.,' a great

of other companies; whilst many others were cured themselves to freemen of other companies, not by the force of the said Act, and yet used the trade of Such artificers, it was stated, refused to submit themselves to the by-laws of carpenters.

number of be made free of London

artificers

using the trades of carpenters, pro-

the Carpenters' Company, whereby the public were deceived by insufficient and

manship.

Even members

of the petitioners'

own company,

it

ill workwas alleged, had " for many

years past privately obtained carpenters free of other companies to bind apprentices for

them, and cause them to be turned over unto them," there being no penalty in the by" By means whereof," the petition goes on to say, " the carpenters laws for such offences.
free of other companies are already

grown

to a very great

number; you Petitioners defrauded

of their Quarterage

and

just Dues,

which should maintain and support their increasing

Poor; and their Corporation reduced to a

Name

without a Substance."*
in the 29tli year of Charles II. (1677)
(in the

The

charter granted to the Masons'

Company

confirming, in all probability, the earlier

instrument which was

opinion of the pre-

'

Jupp, Historical Account of the

Ibid. p. 383.

Company

of Carpenters, p. 192.
'

'

*The Humble Petition

I).

of tlie

Master, Warden, and Assistants

See xvi. of this Act, ante. p. 271. of the Company of Carpenters to

the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and

See, however,

Commons of the City of London, circa 1690 (Jupp, op cit.. Appendix "The Ancient Trades Decayed, Repaired Again. Written by a Country Tradeswhere the hardship endured by a person's trade being different from which he is free, is Dointed out and it is contended that " it would be no the Companies, for every one to have his liberty to come into that Company without paying anything more for it"
of
;

man," London,
that of the

1678, p. 51,

company
is of,

prejudice to any of

that his trade

"

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

sent Master
')

273

burnt in the Great Fire

provides

that

tlie

privileges of the Masons'

Com-

pany are not to interfere with the rebuilding of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. At that time, except by virtue of the operation of the statute before alluded to,' no one
could exercise the trade of a mason without belonging
to,

or by permission of, the Masons'

certain powers of search,

Company.

Incidental to the jurisdiction of the

find exercised so late as 1678.

company were

which we In the early part of that year the minutes record " a search was made after unlawful workers," and various churches appear to have that
been thus visited, amongst others, St. Paul's.

On

April 25 in the same year a second search

was made, which is thus recorded

' :

'

Went to

Paul's with Mr. Story,

and found 14

foreigners.

Afterwards, and apparently in consequence of the proceedings last mentioned, several " foreigners " were admitted members, and others licensed by the Masons' Company.

company alike commence in 16T7, which has rendered the identification of some of its members exceedingly difficult, inasmuch as, unless actually present at the subsequent meetings, their connection with the company is only established by casual entries, such as the binding of apprentices and the like wherein, indeed, a large number of members, whose admissions date before 1677, are incidentally reof the

The " Freedom" and " Court " books

ferred to.

Still, it is

much to be

regretted that an accurate roll of the freemen of this guild

extends no higher than 1677.

and though
Fire,
it

it

only

fills

One old book, however, has escaped the general conflagration, up an occasional hiatus in the list of members preceding the Great
two material items of information, which
in the

contributes, nevertheless,
'

one case

explains a passage in Stow

of great interest to Freemasons,

and

in the other

by

settling

one

of the most interesting points in Masonic history, affords a surer footing for backward research than has hitherto been attained.

The

volume in question, commences with the following entry: [1620]." The ACCOMPTE of James Gilder, AVilliam Ward, and John Abraham,
record, or

Wardens of the company of ffremasons." The title, " Company of Freemasons," appears to have been used down to the year 1653, after which date it gives place to " Worshipful Company," and " Company of Masons." The point in Masonic history which this book determines, is " that Eobert Padgett,
Clearke to the Worshippfull Society of the Free Masons of the City of London," in 1686,

whose name

together with that of William Bray,' Freeman of London and Free-mason

the MS. " Constitutions"

is

appended to (23) in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity,' was tiot the clerk of the Masons' Company. The records reveal, that in 1678 " Henry Also, that in 1709, James Paggett, Citizen and Mason," had an apprentice bound to him.
Paget was the Renter's Warden.
'

But the clerk not being a member of the company,

his

many years clerk of the company, to whom I am very greatly indebted and courtesy which he exhibited on the several occasions of my having access to the records, of which his firm are the custodians. Richard Newton was appointed clerk of the Masons' Company on June 14, 1741, to whom succeeded Joseph Newton, since which period the clerkship has continued in the same firm of Solicitors, viz., John Aldridge, Frederick Gwatkin, John
Mr. John Hunter, for
for the patience

Hunter, and A.
1738

an eminent attorney in Threadneedle Street, who in June Company, in the room of Miles Man, Esq., resigned and retired on being appointed Clerk to the Lieutenancy of the City of London, the present clerk of the latter body, Heniy Grose Smith, being his lineal descendant. '18 and 19 Car. H., c. viii.,g xvi. ^Ed. 1633, p. 630. Given in full at p. 301, note 4, pos(. *This name does not appear in any record of the Masons' Company. Ante, Chap. H., p. 68. VOL. n. _ 18.
^Ir. Grose,

J. C. Gwatkin. Richard Newton succeeded

was unanimously chosen

clerk of tlie

274

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

name was vainly searched for by Mr. Hunter in the records post-dating the Great Fire. The minutes of 1686 and 1687 frequently mention "the clerk" and the payments made The old " Accompte Book " however, already mentioned, has to him, but give no name.
an entry under the year 1687, viz., " Mr Stampe, Cleark," which, being in the same handwriting as a similar one in 1G86, also referring to the clerk, but without specifjung him

by name, establishes the fact, that "the Worshippfull Society of the Free Masons of the City of London," whose clerk transcribed the " Constitutions" in the possession of our oldest English Lodge, and the " Company of Masons" in the same city, were distinct and
separate bodies.

Whether Valentine Strong, whose epitaph I have given in an earlier chapter,' was a of the Company, I have failed to positively determine, but as Mr. Hunter enterAt all events, five of his sons, out of tains no doubt of it, it may be taken that he was. were, viz., Edward and John, admitted April 6, 1680, the latter " made six,' undoubtedly

member

by service to Thomas Strong," the eldest brother, whose own admission preceding, it must be supposed, the year 1677, is only disclosed by one of the casual entries to which I have previously referred; Valentine on July 5, 1687; and Timothy on October 16,
free

1690.

Also Edward Strong, junior, made free by service to his father in 1G9S.

In terminating

my

extracts

from these records,

it is

only necessary to observe, that no

168'2.

meeting of the

Masons' Company

appears to have taken place on March 11,

Xeither
record

Ashmole, Wren, nor Anthony Sayer were members of the company.

The books

nothing whatever under the years 1691 or 1716-17, which would lend color to a great conTention having been held at St. Paul's, or tend to shed the faintest ray of light upon the causes of the so-called " Revival." The words " Lodge " or " Accepted " do not occur in

any

of

the documents, and in

all

cases

Thomas
and the

Morrice (or Morris) and William Hawkins,

members were "admitted" to the freedom. Grand Wardens in 171S-19, and 1722

respectively,

were members of the company, the former having been " admitted " in 1701,

latter in 1712.

The

significance

which attaches to the absence of any mention whatever,

of either

William Bray or Robert Padgett, in the records of the Masons' Company, will be duly considered when the testimony of Ashmole and his biographers has been supplemented

by that of Plot, Aubrey, and Randle Holme, which, together with the evidence supplied by our old manuscript " Constitutions," will enable us to survey seventeenth century masonry
as a whole, to

combine the material

by
all

facts,

and

to judge of their

mutual

relations.

it may be no adequate distinction between the Freemasons of the Lodge, and those of the guild or company, has been maintained. Hence, This, to some a good deal of the mystery which overhangs the early meaning of the term. extracts form accredited records, such as parish slight extent, I hope to dispel, and by registers and municipal charters, to indicate the actual positions in life of those men who,

Before, however, passing from the exclusive domain of operative masonry,

writers alike,

incidentally observed that

in epitaphs

and monumental inscriptions extending from the sixteenth

to the eighteenth

centuries, are described as Freemasons.

To begin with, the " Accompte Book" of the Masons' Company informs us that from 1620 to 1653 the members were styled " fEremasons." ' If there were earlier records, they
'

Xn.,
is

p. 164.

'

Xn.,

p. 165,

note

1.
;

^It

highly probable that Valentine Strong was a

I think,

member

of the

London company

buti/ not

be must,

have belonged

to

a similar one in some provincial

iovra.

Cf. ante, p. 164.

'

EA RL Y BRI TISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

'

275

Still, as it would doubtless attest a continuity of the usage from more remote times. extract given by Mr. Sharpe from the City Archives carries it back, seems to me, the

inferentially, to the reign of

Edward

III.

In

'

The Calendar of
of

State Papers '" will be found the following entry:

" 1604,

Oct. 31.

Grant

Slaters, of the City of

an incorporation of the Company of Freemasons, Carpenters, Joiners, and Oxford." Richard Maude, Hugh Daives, and Robert Smith, " of the

Citty of Oxon, Freemasons," so described in a receipt given by them,

December
'

20, 16313.

the contractors for the erection of "

new

buildings at St. John's College,"

were probably

members

of this guild.

charter of like character was granted by the bishop of Durliam, April 24, 16T1, to
Frisoll,

" Miles Stapylton, Esquire, Henry

and others, "exerciseing the

gentleman, Robert Trollep, Henry Trollrtp,"

several! trades of ffree Masons, Carvers, Stone-cutters, Sculp-

tures [Marblers], Brickmakers, Glaysers, Penterstainers, Founders, Neilers,

Pewderers,

Plmmbers, Mill-wrights, Saddlers and Bridlers, Trunk-makers, and

strong waters."'

Distillers of all sorts of

This ancient document has some characteristic features, to which I shall briefly allude. In the first place, the Freemasons occupy the post of honor, and the two Trollops are known by evidence aliunde to have been members of that craft. On the north side of a

mausoleum
lop,

at Gateshead stood, according to tradition, the image dx statue of Robert Trolwith his arm raised, pointing towards the town halj of Newcastle, of which he had
lines;

been the architect, and underneath were the following quaint

" Here
lies

Robert Trowlwp
stones roll

Who made yon

When
The
His body

up

death took his soul up

filled this

hole up."

" comunitie, ffellowshipp, and company;" names the first wardens, who were to be four in number, Robert Trollap heading the list, and subject to tlie proviso, that one of the said wanlens " must allwaies bee a ffree mason;" directs that the incorporated body "shall, upon the fower and twenbishop's charter constitutes the several crafts into a
tieth

day of June, comonly called the feast of by the greatest number of theire

St.

John Baptist,

yearely, for ever, assemble

themselves together before nine of the clock in the forenoone of the same day, and there
shall,

voices, elect
iitt

and chuse fouer of the

.'.
.

said fellow

shippe to be theire wardens, and one other

person to be the clarke;

shall,

and

shall

vpon the same day make Freemen and brethren; and tieth day of June, and att three other feasts or times
'

vpon the

said fover
is

and twen-

in the yeare

that

to saie, the

Ante,

p. 269.

''

Domestic

Series, 1603-1610, p. 163.

This rests on the authority of some extracts from documents in the State Paper OflBce, sent to the Duke of Sussex by Mr. (afterwards Sir Robert) Peel, April 36, 1830, and now preserved in the
^

Archives of the Grand Lodge.

*

Hughan,

to

whom I am

indebted for

tliis

reference, published the

extracts in the Voice of Masonry, October 1872.

made by Mr. W. H. Rylands. On the dexter margin of the arms of the [Free] Masons, and on the sinister margin those of the Sculptures [marblers]. These arms w\\\ be given in their proper coloi-s on a future plate. ' R. Surtees, History and Antiquities According of the County of Durham, vol. ii., 1820, p. 120. to the Gateshead Register, " Henry Troll ip, free-mason," was buried November 23, 1677, and " Mr. Robert Trollop, masson," December 11, 1686 {Ibid. See further, T. Pennant, Tour in Scotland, edit,
of the original,

From a transcript

actual charter with others are the

1790, vol.

iii.,

p. 310).

'

2/6

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

John Day in Christeninas, and the
.

feast of St Michael the Archangel, St

five

and twen-

tieth
sult,

day of March,

for ever assemble themselves together,

and
. .

shall alsoe con.

.

agree vpon, and set

though necessarie."
of the Masonic

downe such orders, acts, and constitucons as shall be Absence from " the said assemblies without " any reasonable excuse,"
"'

was rendered punishable by

fine,

a regulation which forcibly recalls the quaint phraseology

poem:
"

And to that semble he must nede gon, But he have a resenabul skwsacyon, That ys a skvt'sacyon, good and abulle, To that semble withoute fabulle."

The

charter and funds of the corporation were to be kept in a

" chist,"

of

which each

warden was to have a key. "

seven years.

Lastly, the period of apprenticeship, in all cases, was fixed nX

The

value of this charter

is

much enhanced

b_y

our being able

to trace two, at least, of

the persons to

whom

it

was originally granted.

to

Freemason and mason would almost seem,

from the Gateshead Register,

have been words of indifferent application, though, perhaps,

the explanation of the variec> forjn in which the burials of the two Trollops are recorded

may

simply be, that the entries were

made by

different scribes, of

whom

one blundered

a supposition which the trade designation employed to describe Robert Trollop does
to confirm.

much
less so

The annual assembly on

the meeting on that of
St.

the day of St.

John the Baptist

is

noteworthy, and not

John the

Evangelist, in lieu of Christmas

Day

the

latter

gathering forming as

it

does the only exception to the four yearly meetings being held on

the usual quarter-days.

In holding four meetings in the course of the year, of which one was the general assembly or head meeting day, the Gateshead

custom. '
it

Company or fellowship followed the ordinary guild The " making of freemen and brethren " is a somewhat curious expression, though

openly.

was by no means an unusual regulation that the freedom of a guild was to be conferred Thus No. XXXVI. of the " Ordinances of Worcester" directs " that no Surges
*

be made in secrete wise, but openly, bifore sufiiciaunt recorde."

'The HalUwell MS.
''

(1),

line 111.

"The very
tlie

soul of the Craf1>Gild

was

its

meetings, which were always held with certain cereliaving several locks, like that of the trade

monies, for
unions,

sake of greater solemnity.

tlie

The box,

and containing

charters of the Gild, the statutes, the money, and other valuable articles,

was opened on such occasions, and all present had to uncover their heads " (Brentano, on tlie History and Development of Gilds, p. 61). It may be useful to state that all my references to Brentano's work are taken from the reprint in a sepai-ate form, and not from the historical Essay prefixed to
Smith's "English Gilds."

" Every Gild ' Mr. Toulmin Smith gives at least twenty-three examples of quarterlj'-meetings. had its appointed day or days of meeting once a year, twice, three times, or four times as the case might be. At these meetings, called morn-speeches,' in the various forms of the word, or dayes of spekyngges tokedere for here comune profyte,' much busine.ss was done, such as the choice of one officers, admittance of new brethren, making up accounts, reading over the ordinances, etc.

'

'

day, where several were held in the year, being fixed as the
duction,

'

general day " (English Gilds, introp.

'

by Lucy Toulmin Smith,

8, 31, 76,

p.

x.Kxii).

Cf. ante.
p.

Chap. XII.,

179; Fabric Rolls of

York

Minster, Surtees Soc, vol. xxxv. {pleghdai),

Gilds, pp.
*

11; Harl.

MS.

6971, fol. 126;

and Smith, English

and

274.
p. 390.

Smith, English Gilds,

The

rules of the "Gild of St.

George the Martyr," Bishops Lynn.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Whether the words " freemen" and " brethren " are
vertible terms,
it is

277

to

be read disjunctively or as conthe Master and War(2.) the

not easy to decide.

In the opinion of Mr. Toulmin Smith, the Craft

Guild of Tailors, Exeter, "reckoned three classes,"

dens,

namely (1.)

and

all

who had

passed these

offices,

forming the livery men;

shop-holders
the "free-

or master tailors, not yet advanced to the high places of the Guild;

and

(3.)

sewers" or journeymen sewing masters, who had not yet become shojvholders. It is consistent with this analogy, that the " brethren " made at Gateshead, on each 24th of June, were the passed apprentices or joiirneymen out of their time, who had not
yet set

up

of Exeter
stitchers

in business on their own account; and the parallelism between the guild usages and Gateshead is strengthened by the circumstance that the free-sewers,' i.e., or journeymen sewing masters, are also styled " ffree Brotherys" in the Exeter

Ordinances.

These regulations ordain that " alle the feast " at Synte John-ys day in harwaste,"
Gateshead, on the day of St.
every servant at wages
Gef.,

fifeleshyppe of the

Bachelerys" shall hold their

the principal meeting thus taking place as at John the Baptist every shopholder was to pay %d. towards
it,

and "euery yowte

(put)

Broder"

\d.^

There were four regular days of meeting in the year, and on these occasions, the Oath, * the Ordinances, and the Constitutions were to be read.
It is improbable that all apprentices in the Incorporated Trades of Gateshead, attained the privileges of " full craftsmen " on the completion of the periods of servitude named in

their indentures,

and their

position, I

am

inclined to think, mutatis mutandis,

'

must have

approximated somewhat closely to that of the Tailors of Exeter;

in a similarly incorporated body,
i.e.,

on the other hand, and

not composed exclusively of Masons, we find by a

to be a

document
fallow."'
It

of 1475, that each

man " worthy

master" was to be made " freman and

may be mentioned, moreover,

that in the Eecords of the Alnwick Lodge (1701-1748),

no distinction whatever appears to be drawn between "freemen" and "brethren."

friend, to

A
all,

whom

am
tlie

indebted for

many
p. 76).

valuable references,' has suggested, that as there

only permitted the admission of new-comers at the yearly general assembly, and by assent of eave good
'

men from

country {Ibid.,

Ibid., p. 334.

The Ordinances

of this Craft Guild, which, in their general tenor date

from the

last half of the fifteenth century, enact, "

That
;

all

Past Masters shall be on the Council of the Guild

and have the same autliority as the Wardens also, that the Master, and not less than five Past Masters, together with two of the Wardens, must assent to every admittance to the Guild" (Ibid.,
p. 339).
'

Besides Free Masons, Free Carpenters, Free Sewers, and the "Free Vintners" of London,

there were the "Free Dredgers" of Faversham, chartered by Henry II., and still subsisting as the corporation of " free fishermen and free dredgermen " of the same hundred and manor in 1798. Each

member had

to serve a seven years' apprenticeship to

a.

freeman, and to be a married man, as

indis-

pensable qualifications for admission (E. Hasted, Historical and Topographical Survey of Kent, 17971801, vol. vi., p. 353); also the " ffree Sawiers," who in 1651. " indited a fforreine Sawicr at the Old

Bayly" (Jupp, op. cit., p. 160) " Free Linen Weavers" (Minutes, St. Mungo Lodge, Glasgow, Sept. and lastly, the " Free Gardeners," who formed a Grand Lodge in 1849, but of whose prior existence I find the earliest trace, in the " St. Michael Pine- Apple Lodge of Free Gardeners in New;

35, 1784)

by warrant from the " St George Lodge " of North Shields, which was itself derived from a Lodge " composed of Soldiers belonging to the Forfar Regiment of Militia" (E. Mackenzie, a Descriptive and Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1827, vol. ii., p. 597). * Ibid., p. 315. > Smith, English Gilds, p. 313. ' See Chap. VH., p. 379. 'Mr. Wyatt Papworth. "Chap. Vin., p. 21. See, however, p. 34.
castle," established in 1812

'

'

278
is

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

evidence to support the derivation of
i.e.,

sufficient

Mason," Free-man mason, and Free-mason

ble that

free of a Guild or

"Freemason" from "Free Stone Company it is possi-

my

deductions

may

afford satisfaction to every class of theorist.

I shall

Before, how-

ever, expressing the

few woi-ds with which

take

my

leave of this philological crux,'

some additional examples of the use of the word "Freemason" will not be out of place, and taken with tliose which have been given in earlier chapters,' will materially assist in making clear the conclusions at which I have arrived.

The

earliest use of the expression in

connection with ac^wa? building operations

in 1396, as

so

far,

at least, as research has yet extended

occurs

we have

already seen, and

I shall

pass on to the year 1427, and from thence proceed downwards, until

my

list

overlaps the

formation of the Grand Lodge of England.

It

may, however, be premised, that the exand that to the best of

time in a collected form.
it

amples given

are, as far as possible, representative of their class,

my

belief, a large proportio7i of

them appear

for the

first

For

convenience sake, each quotation will be prefaced by the date to which

in this

refers.

Arranged
to Beere

manner, we accordingly find under the years named:

1437.

John Wolston

and John Harry, Freemasons, were sent from Exeter

Willi

to purchase stone.

1490, Oct.

23." Admissio

Atwodde Lathami."
Atwodde, " ffremason," the
office

The Dean and Chapter

of Wells granted to William

previously held in the church by William Smythe, with a yearly salary.

appointment makes known, that the salary

his

in question

The letter of has been granted to Atwodde for

*

good and faithful service in his art of " fEremasonry. "

1513, Aug.
4.

By an
of the

indenture of this date,

it

was stipulated that John Wastell, to

f re-masons

whom

allusion has been already made,' should

" kepe continually 60

mason

work-

1535.
Iron,

" Rec.

goodman

Stefford, ffre

for the holle stepyll

wt Tymbr.
of Bath

and Glas,
office of

xxxviij?."'
tlie

1536.

John Multon, Freemason, had granted to him by

Master of
all

prior

and convent
it

" the

their

works commoidy called freemasonry, when

stones,

should be

vacant.

"

1550.

"The

free

mason hewyth the harde

and hewj^h

of,

here one pece,

&

there another, tyll the stones be fytte and apte for the place where he wyll
God a
free mason,

laye them.

Euen

so

God

the heavenly free mason, buildeth a christen churche,

us,

^nd he frameth and polysheth

whiche are the costlye and precyous stones,

is

'

It is

somewhat singTilar that the word Freemason

;

not given in Johnson's Dictionary, 1st edit

27 and XI.,
p. 108.

1755.

'

n., p. 66

VI., pp. 303-308

Vn., passim
;

Vm.,

p.

From

the Exeter Fabric Rolls

p.

published in Britten's Hist, and Antiq. of the Cath. Ch. of

;

Exeter, 1836,

97

also

Builder, vol. xxvii.,

p. 73.

by the late E. W. Shaw in the Freemasons' Mag., Ap. 18, 1868 John Wolston, I am informed by Mr. James Jerman of

Elxeter,

and in the was

Clerk of the
<

Works

there in 1426.

"Nos

dedisse et concisse Willielmo

Atwodde ffremason, pro suo bono

et diUgenti servicio in
p. 180).

arte sua de ffremasonry," etc. (Rev. H. E. Reynolds, Statutes of Wells Cathedral,

Chap. VI., p. 306. Maiden, Account of King's College, Cambridge, p. 80. ' Records of the Parish of St. Alphage, London WaU (City Press, Aug. Transactions, Royal Institute of British Architects, 1861-62, pp. 37-60.

26, 1883)i

'

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAT^D.

wyth the
crosse

279

and

affliccyon, that all

abhomynacyon & wickednes which do not agree

'

unto thys gloryous buyldyngo, myghte be remoued & taken out of the waye. i. Petr. ii." 1590-1, March 19. " Jolin Kidd, of Leeds, Freemason, gives bond to produce the orig-

inal will of

William Taylor, junr., of Leeds."

On a inscriptions
1594.
:'

tomb

in the

church of St Helen, Bishopsgate Street, are the following

South
"

side

HERE LYETH THE BODIE OF WILLIAM KERWIN OF THE CITTIE OF LON DON FREE MASON WHOE DEPARTED THIS LYFETHES6 DAYE OF DECEMBER ANO 1594."
I i I I

North
'

side
Attalicis

^dibvs

Londinvm

qui decoravi
:

Exig^'ain tribv\Tit banc mihi fata doniv

Me dvce svrgebant ah'js regalia tecta Me dvce conficitvr ossibvs vrna meis: "

Although the arms

presents,

of the

Kerwyn

family appear on the monument, " the west end

from a Masonic point

In a

were originally

granted,

with

of view, the most interesting

the chevron enrgailed, and with

portion of the tomb.

the

old

square

four-towered

panel, supported on each side

castles,

and not the plain chev-

by ornamental

pilasters,'

is

ron and single round tower, as

represented the arms of the

now

so often (fepicted."

Masons
year of

as granted in

by William
the twelfth
(1472-3):

In the opinion of Mr. Rylands,this

is

Hawkeslowe

the earliest instance

Edward IV.

of the title

" Freemason " being

On a chevron engrailed, between three square

castles,

associated with these arms.'

pair of compasses extended

1598. The Will of Richard Turner of Rivington. co. Lane.

dated July
1,

the crest, a square castle, with

the motto,
It is

proved Sept. 19.

God

is

our Guide.

An

inventory of Horses, Cows,

etc.

interesting to find the

Sheep, tools

total

57.

16. 4.' arms here rendered as they " Humfrey son of Edward Holland ffremason bapt[ized]."' 1604, Feb 13.

1610-13.

Wadham
'"'the

College, Oxford, was

commenced

in 1610

and

finished in 1613.

In the accounts
'

masons who worked the stone

for building are called Free masons,

1550, fol. xxi.

WerdmuUer, A. Spyrytuall and Moost Precyouse Pearle, tr. by Bishop Covoerdale,

'

From

the Wills Court at York, cited in the Freemasons' Chronicle, April

2,

1881.

' \V. H. Rylands, An Old Mason's Tomb (Masonic Magazine, September 1881). A brief notice of Kerwin's epitaph will also be found in the European Magazine, vol. Ixiv., 1813, p. 300. "The Fates have afforded this narrow house to me, who hath adorned London with noble

buildings.
'

By me

royal palaces were built for others.

left

By me

this

tomb

is

erected for
in the

my bones."

" At the base of the

hand

pilaster

is

a curious ornament, having

upper division a

what may also be intended to represent a rose." tomb and the family of William Kerwin he writes: In the South lie of this Church is a very faire Window with this inscription : This window was glazed at the charges of Joyce Featly, Daughter to William Kencyn Esquire, and Wife to Daniel Featly, D.D. Anno Domini 1633 " (" Remaines." a supplement to the " Survey," 1633, p. 837). W. H. Kylands, MS. collection. In the Manchester Registers an Edward Holland is styled
rose with five petals, and in the lower
'

From Stow we

learn

more

of the

'

'

'

"gentleman."

'

'

2 8o

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

It
is

or Freestone Masons, while the rest are merely called labourers.

curious that the

three statues over the entrance to the hall and chapel were cut by one of the free masons

(William Blackskaw)."'
1627-8.

Louth steeple repaired by Thomas Egglefield, Freemason, and steeple mender.'

co.

1638.

The will of Richard Smayley of Nether Darwen.

horses, cattle, sheep,

Lane. fEree Mayson (appar-

ently a Catholic), dated the 8th, proved the 30th of May.

In the inventory of his goods

[^spear'],
'

65.9.0 with
1689.

and ploughs, there occur, "one gavelock

implem'' belonging to a Mayson."

homars, Chesels, axes, and other

Ime

[^iron^

On

a tombstone at Wensley, Yorkshire, appear the words, " George Bowes,

Free Mason."

The Masons' Arms,

a chevron charged with a pair of open compasses be-

tween three
1701.

castles, is evidently

the device on the head of stone.'

of the Alnwicke
of

The orders (or rules)

observed by the

Company and Fellowship

Lodge are thus headed: " Orders to be Free Masons att a lodge held at Alnwicke
'

Septr. 29, 1701, being the genii, head meeting day."

1708, Dec. 27.

ing,

under the above date:

1711, April 28.

1722, Nov. 25.

Amongst the epitaphs in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Hull, the follow " Sarah Roebuck, wife of John Roebuck, Freemason." "Jemima, daughter of John Gatley, freemasson, Bapt[ized]." In the churchyard of the parish of All Saints at York, there the
is

late

is

tomb

of

Leonard Smith, Free Mason.'

is

1737, Feb. In Rochdale Churchyard, under the date given, " Here lyeth Benj. Brearly Free Mason."
'

the following epitaph:

The
readers,

derivation of the term " Freemason " lies within the category of Masonic problems,

respecting which writers

know not how much

all

previous information to assume in their

and are prone

is

in consequence to begin

on every occasion ab

ovo, a
is

mode

of treat-

ment which

apt to weary and disgust

I

those to

whom

the subject

not entirely new.

stages of an init

In this instance, however,

have endeavored to lead up to the

final

quiry presenting more than ordinary features of interest, by considering

points of view in earlier chapters."
'

from various

The

records of the building- trades, the Statutes of the

1850.

Orlando Jewitt, the late or debased Gothic buildings of Oxford,

Archseologia, vol. x., p. 70.

'

' W. H. Rylands, MS. collection. " gentleman." *

In the Manchester Registers an Edward Holland

is

styled

T. B.

Whytehead,

in the

Freemason, Aug.
titles will

37,1881.

..." buried Decern, ye

(28)

26, 1689 "(Par.

Reg.)
'

This singular combination of

be hereafter considered, in connection with the equally

MSS. Masonic Magazine, vol. i., p. 214; and from the MS. notes taken by Mr. F. Hockley from the Alnwicke records. The 12th of the "Orders," referred to in the text, is as follows: "Item, thatt noe Fellow or Fellows within this lodge shall att any time or times call or hold Assemblys to make any mason or masons free : nott acquainting the Master or Wardens therewith, For every time so offending shall pay 3. 6. 8." ' T. B. Why tehead, in the Freemason, citing Gent's Historj' of Hull, p. 54. 'W. H. Rylands, in the Freemason, Aug. 7, 1883, citing the registers of the parish church of Lymm, Cheshire. It will be remembered that Richard EUam was styled of "Lyme (Lymra), Che^
suggestive endorsements on the Antiquity
'

(23)

and Scarborough

From

the account of this lodge, published by

Hughan

in the

shire,

freemason."

Thomas Gent's Historj' of York, 1730. " James Lawton, in the Freemasons' Clironicle, Feb. 3, 1883. " To use the words of Father Innes " I have been obliged to follow a method very different from that of those who have hitherto treated it, and to beat out to myself, if I may say so, paths
G. M. Tweddell, in the Freemason, July 22, 1882, citing
:

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

Realm, and the Archives of Scottish Miisonry, have each
to critically
in

281

turn contributed to our stock

of information, which, supplemented by the evidence last adduced, I shall

now proceed

examine as a whole.

In the first place, I must demur to the conclusion which has been expressed by Mr. Wyatt Papworth, " That the earliest use of the English term Freemason was in 1396." Though in thus dissenting at the outset from the opinion of one of the highest authorities upon the subject, the difference between our respective views being, however, rather one
of of
to

form than of substance,

am

desirous of placing on record

my grateful acknowledgments

much

valuable assistance rendered tlyoughout the progress of this work, by the friend
in this single instance, I canijot yield
I

whose dictum

my

assent, especially in regard to

the true solution of the problem with which

am now
is

attempting to deal.

That the word Freemason appears

same descriptive term occurs
remark."
teries to

for the first time in 1396, in any records that are

extant relating directly to building operations,

in other
III.

indeed clear, and indisputable.

'

But the

and

earlier records, as I

have already had occasion to

In 1376-77

50

Edw.

the number

of persons chosen

be the

Common

Council of the City of

London was
6,

which figure Herbert then places the companies

representatives each.

would give them an average of about 3

148,

by the several myswhich divided by 48 at

Of these the principal ones sent

the secondary 4, and the small

The names of all the companies are given by Herbert, together with the number of members which they severally elected to represent them. The Fab"" m. chose The Carpenters are not named, but a note ex6, the Masons 4, and the Freemasons 2. plains FalTm to signify Smiths, which if a contraction of Fahrorum, as I take it to be, would doubtless include them. The earliest direct mention of the Carpenters' Company
companies
2.'

occurs in 1421, though as the very nature of the trade induces the conviction than an
association for
its

protection must have had a far earlier origin, Mr.

Jupp

argues, from this

that had not been trodden before, having thought

it

more secure

to direct

my

course by such

glimpses of

liglit

as the

more

certain

monuments

of antiquity furnished nie, then to follow, as so

many
'

others liave done, with so little advantage to the credit of our antiquities, the beaten road of our modern writers" (A Criticul Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland, 1739, preface, p. x). As the authority on which this statement rests, has been insufficiently referred to in Chap. VI. p. 308, I subjoin it in full, from a transcript made by Rylands, which I have collated with the actual

document

in the Libraiy of the British

Museum.
is

In the Sloane Collection, No. 4595, page 50, 14th June, 19th Richard n., or a.
d. 1396.

the following copy of the original document, dated

Pro Archiepiscopo Cantuar. 14 June. omnibus ad quos &c., Salutem Sciatis quod concessimus Venerabili in Christo Patri Carissimo Consanguineo nostro Archiepiscopo Cantuar. quod ipse pro quibusdam operationibus cujusdam Collegii per ipsum apud Villam Maidenston faciend. viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ffre Maceons et viginti et quatuor lathoraos vocatos ligiers per deputatos suos in hac parte capere et lathomos illos pro denariis suis eis pro operationibus hujusmodi rationabiliter
(Pat. 19 R.
2. p. 2.

m.

4.)

Re.K

solvend. quousque dicti opei-ationes plenarie facte et complete existant habere et tenere possit. Ita quod lathomi predicti durante tempore predicto ad opus vel operationes nostras per officiarios vel ministros nostros quoscumque minime capiantur.

In cujus &c.

Teste Rege apud "Westm

xiiij

die JuniL

Per breve de Privato

'Chap. VI.,
p.

Sigillo.

804; and Chap. XIV., p. 369.

i.,

Herbert, Companies of London, vol.

pp. 33, 84,

282

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

number
'

circumstance and from the fact of two Master Masons, and a similar
Carpenters having been sworn, in 1272, as
buildings, that there
is

of Master

oflScers to

perform certain duties with regard to

just

ground

for the conjecture that these

Masons and Carpenters

were members of existing guilds.'

members

of both the callings

may have been known by whatever name

This
list

the case, but unquestionably the

Guilds of Craft, enumerated in the

of 1376-77.

Verstegan, in his Glossary of " Ancient

must have been included in the English Words," Smithe, gives us: " To
s.v.

he Smitheth or smiteth with a Hamsmite, hereof mer. Before we had the Carpenter from the French, a Carpenter was in our Language also called a Smith for that he smiteth both with his Hammer, and his Axe; and for dis-

commeth our name

of a Smith, because

tinction the one was a

proper.

And
^

the like

is

Wood- smith, and the other an Iron-smith, which is nothing imseen in Latin, where the name of Faber serveth both for the

Smith and for the Carpenter, the one being Faber ferrarius, and the other Faber
lignarius."

As

it is

almost certain that the

Company
and

of

FaVm.

comprised several varieties of the

trade, wliich are

now

distinguished by finer shades of expression, I think

we may
to as
title

safely

infer that the craftsmen

who

in those

earlier times

were elsewhere referred

Fabri

lignarii or tignarii,

must have been included under the somewhat uncouth

its

behind

which

I have striven to penetrate.'

In this view of the ease, the class of workmen, whose liandicraft derived

raison d'etre

from the various uses to which wood could be profitably turned, were
in one of the principal companies, returning six

in 137G-7 asssociated

members

to the

common

council.

It

could hardly be expected that we should find the workers in stone, the infinite varieties of

whose trade are stamped upon the imperishable monuments which even yet bear witness Nor do we; for to their skill, were banded together in a fraternity of the second class. the city records inform us, pace Herbert, were in fact one the Masons and the Freemasons,

company, and elected

inquire.

six representatives.
first

How
it is

the mistake originated, which led to a

immaterial, as
it

separate classifiaxtion in the

instance,

now

would be
III. there

useless to

It is sufficiently clear,

that in the fiftieth year of

to

Edward

was a use

of the term Freemason

and that the persons

whom

it

was applied were a section or an

offshoot of the Masons' Company, though in either case probably reabsorbed within the Inasmuch, however, as no corporate recognition of either the Masons or parent body.

the Freemasons of London can be traced any further back than 1367-7, it would be futile It must content us to know, that in the above year to carry our speculations any higher.

In my judgment, the trade or handicraft of a Freemason was exercised in the metropolis. the Freemasons and Masons of this period i.e., those referred to as above in the city

'

Almost

identical with those afterwards conflded to

a similar body under the

title of oity

viewers, see ante, p. 270.

-

Hist, of the Carpenters' Company, p. 8. Restitution of Decayed Intelligence in Antiquities concerning the

Elnglish Nation, 1634,

p. 231.
*

Cf. ante,

Chap.

I.,

pp. 38, 44.

The only other branch of carpentry represented in the list of companies (1375), appears under Wodmog', which Herbert explains as meaning " Woodsawyers (mongers.)" This is very the
title of

confusing, but I incline to the latter interpretation, viz., woodmongei-s, or vendors of wood, which leaves all varieties of the smith's trade under the title Fab"- m. This company of Wodmog^ had 3
representatives.

brother Thomas
GRASn
MASTF.K OF TllK CK AND LODGE OK
I

J. ShrVocI<,
MMiYHNI)

33

CONTINIIOUSI.Y SINCE 18S5.

IniliiiL'

i'lto

I'li'cin.is. iiiry in

Waverly

Lo(l;i-. Pal iinore, Mil., Aii^iwt 20, 1874.

'

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

recorda

283

were parts of
I

a single fraternity,

and

if

not then absolutely identical, the one

so. In support of this position there are the oft-quoted words of Stow,' " the mmon.s, otherwise termed 'frec-vianoiis\ were

with the other,

think that from this porioil they became

a society of ancient standing and good reckoning;" the

and the records of the Masons' Company, not

will

to

speak of

monument of William Kerwin;' much indirect evidence, which

tlie

be considered in
will

its

proper place. Whilst, liowever, contending that

earliest use

be found associated with the freedom of a company and a city, I readily admit the existence of other channels through which the term may have derived
of
its origin.

" Freemason "

The

point, indeed, for determination,

is

not so

much

the relative antiquity of

the varied meanings under which the word has lieen passed on through successive centuries,

but rather the particular use or forvi, which has merged into the appellation by
is

which the present Society of Freemasons

distinguished.
in the

The absence

of

any mention of /'/eemasons

York Fabric

Rolls

'

is

rather singular,

and by some has been held to uphold what I venture to term the guild theory, that is to say, that the prefix free was inseparably connected with the freedom of a guild or company. However, if the records of one cathedral at all sustain this view, those of others
effectually demolish the visionary fabric wliich has

been erected on such slight foundation.

indeed Mr. Papworth
in 13.55 give

The

old operative regulations were of a very simple character;

observes

"The 'Orders' supplied to the masons at

work

at

York Cathedral
city,

but a poor notion of there being then existing in that city anything like a guild claiming
in virtue of a cliarter given

by Atlielstan in 926, not only over that

but over

all

England."

That Freemason was

in use as a purely operative

term from 139G down to the seven-

teenth, and possibly the eighteenth, century, admits of no doubt whatever;

and discarding

the mass of evidence about which there can be any diversity of opinion, this conclusion

may be

safely allowed to rest

on the three allusions to " Freemasonry"

in his translation

as an operative art,

and the metaphor employed by Bishop Coverdale

from Werdmuller. In the former instance the greater may well be held to comprehend the less, and the " art " or

"work"

of

even date.

"Freemasonry" plainly indicates its close connection with the Freemasons of In the latter we have the simUe of a learned prelate," who, it may be assumed,
craft usage, out of

was fully conversant with the

it is

which he constructed his metaphor.

our inquiry.

This,

true, only brings us

down
c.

to the middle of the sixteenth century, but there are especial

reasons for

making

this period a halting-place in the progress of

The
'

statute 5 Eliz.,

IV., passed in 1563, though enumerating, as I have already

Survey of London, 1633, p. 630. Post, p. 301, note 4. If Valentine Strong was a member of the London Company of Masons, the title Freemason on his monument (1663) would be consistent with the name used in the comi)any"s i-ecords down to 1653 but even if the connection of the Strong family with the London Guild commenced with Thomas Strong, the son, it is abundantly clear that Valentine, the father, must have been a member of some provincial company of M;isons (see Chap. XII,, p. 164). ' The references to masons, on the contrary, are verj' numerous the following, taken from the testamentary registers of the Dean and Chapter, being one of the most curious: "Feb. 12, 1522-3. Christofer Horner, mason, myghtie of mynd and of a hool myndfulness. To Sanct Petur warkall my
'
; ;

tuyllis [tools] within the

*

'

mason lughe [lodge]." Durham. See under the years 1427 and 1490 also Chap. See above under the years 1490 and 1536, and Chap. VI., p. 308, note 1.
Exeter. Wells, and
;

VI., p. 308.

'Miles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter,

who

published a translation of the Bible in 1535.

284

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

known
class of

observed, every other

handicraftsmen, omits the PVeemasons, and upon

will

this circumstance I hazarded

some conjectures which

be found at the close of Chapter

VII.
It is

somewhat

singular, that approaching the subject

from a different point of view,

find in the seventh decade of the sixteenth century, a period of transition in the use of

Freemason, which

is

Thus in either theory down and

case,

somewhat confirmatory of my previous speculations. whether we trace the guild theory up, or the

strictly operative

for the time being, even exclude

evidence respecting the Masons'

Company

of

London

from our consideration the separate we are brought to a stand still before
Valentine Strong, Richard Smayley,

we

quite reach the era I have named.

For example, assuming as I do, that John Gatley and

Eichard Ellam of

Lymm, John Roebuck, George Bowes,

Edward Holland, Richard Turner, William Kerwin, and John Kidd, derived in each case their title of Freemason from the freedom of a guild or company still, with the last named worthy, in 1591, the roll comes to an end.' Also, descending from the year 1550,

the records of the building trades afford very meagre notices of operative Freemasons. '

am

from sajnng that they do not occur," but having for a long time carefully noted all references to the word Freemason from authentic sources, and without any idea of estabfar

lishing a foregone conclusion, I find,

when

tabulating

my

collection,

such entries relating

to the last half of the sixteenth century are conspicuous

by their absence.
distinct classes of Free-

In 1610, there

is

the Order of the Justices of the Peace, indicating a class of rough

masons able to take charge over others, as well as apparently two

masons.
Oxford.
*

A year

or two later occurs the

employment of Freemasons
others.

at

Wadham
is

College,

In 1628, Thomas Egglefield, Freemason and Steeple-mender,

there
is

mentioned, and

five yjars after

the reference to

Maude and

Freemasons and Contractors.

foreign to the design of these

Such a contention,
remarks, and though
I

as that the use of

Freemason as an operative term, came to an abrupt

is

termination about the middle of the seventeenth century,

am

in possession of

no references which may further elucidate this

held by some to carry on the use of Free-

phase of Masonic history during the latter half of the century, the records of the Alnwick
Lodge,' extending from 1701 to 1748,

may be

mason

as a purely operative phrase until the middle of the eighteenth century.

My

contention

is,

that the class of persons

from

whom

the Freemasons of Warrington,'

Staffordshire,' Chester,' York,' London,'"

and

their congeners in the seventeenth century,

all sources, it can onl}' be carried back to 1581 (see next page, note 2). Further examples of the use of the word Freemason, under the years 1597, 1606, 1607, and and the Freemasons'' 1624, wiU be found in Notes and Queries, Aug. 31, 1861, and Mar. 4, 1883 Chronicle, Mar. 26, 1881. The former journal July 27, 1861 cites a will dated 1641, wherein the
'

Culling from

'

testator and a legatee are each styled "Freemason;" and Sept. 1, 1866 mentions the baptism of the son of a " Freemason" in 1685, also his burial under the same title in 1697.
2

It is fair to state, that

\'iz.,

the fount upon which I have chiefly drawn for

this point of

my

observations on the

early Masons,
dle Ages,"

Mr. Papworth's "Essay on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the Mid-

becomes dried up at

our research, in accordance with the limitations which

xxii. (1495),

the author has prescribed to himself.

'

According to the Stat. 11 Hen. VU.,

c.

a JVeemason was to take

'

less

wages than a

Master Mason. ' These will be duly examined at a later stage.

'

Plot, Natural History of .Staffordshire, 1686, pp. 316-318.

of

Hughan, History

Freemasonry

in

York, 1871.

'"

Ashmole, Diary, Oct. 16. 1646. '^Harl. MS. 2054 (12). Gould, the Four Old Lodges, 1879, p.

46.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

derived the descriptive
Vferefree 7nen,' and
title

285

which became the inheritance of the Grand Lodge of England,

of Guilds or Companies.

Masons

Turning

to the early history of Scottish Masonry, the view advanced with regard to of all speculative

the origin of

tlie title, which has now become the common property Masons throughout the universe, is strikingly confirmed.

Ilaving in an earlier chapter,' discussed, at some length,

tlie

use of the

title

Freemason

from a Scottish stand-point,

shall not
cite

weary

my

readers with a recapitulation of the

arguments, there adduced, though I

the leading references below, in order to facilitate

what
I

have always at heart,

viz.,

the most searching criticism of disputed points, whereon

venture to dissent from the majority of writers

who have preceded me

in similar fields of

inquiry.'

As cumulative proofs that the Society of Freemasons has derived its name from the Freemen Masons of more early times, the examples in the Scottish records have an especial
value.

Examined

separately, the histories of both English

and Scottish Masonry

body

yield a like

result to the research of the philologist, but unitedly, they present a

of evidence, all

bearing in one direction, which brushes away the etymological

imperfect consideration of the subject as a whole.

difficulties, arising

from the

Having now pursued,

at

some length, an inquiry

into collateral events, hitherto very

barely investigated, and expressed with some freedom

my own

conjectures respecting a
to return

portion of our subject lying somewhat in the dark,

it

becomes necessary

to

Ash-

mole, and to resume our examination of the evidence which has clustered round his name.
It is

important, however, to carefully discriminate between the undoubted testimony of

Ashmole, and the opinions which have been ascribed to him.

concerned

So far as the former

is

and

tlie

reader will need no reminder that direct allusions to the Masonic

it comes to an end with the last entry given from the " Diary" (1682); but the latter have exercised so much influence upon the writings of all our most trustworthy historians, that their careful analysis will form one of the most

fraternity are alone referred to

important parts of our general inquiry.

In order to present this evidence in a clear form, it becomes necessary to dwell upon the fact, that the entries in the " Diary " record the attendance of Aslmiole at two Masonic

meetings only viz., in 1646 and 1682 respectively. This " Diary " was not printed until 1717. Rawlinson's preface to the " History of
Berkshire " saw the light two years
'

later;'

and the

article ^sAwio/e in the

" Biographia

" Wherever the Craft Gilds were legally acknowledged,

we

find foremost, that the right to

exercise their craft, aad sell their manufactures,

fiistory

depended uyon the freedom of their

city" (Brentano,

and Development of Gilds, p. 65). 'Chap. Vm., p. 30, q. v. See further. Master frie mason (1581), p. 409; frei men Maissone and frie ^1601), p. 383 frie mesones of Ednr. (1636), p. 407 frie mason (Melrose, 1674), p. 450 Lodge (1658), p. 41. * The references in Smith's " English Gilds," to the exercise of a trade being contingent on the possession of its freedom, are so numerous, that I have only space for a few examples. Thus in the City of Exeter no cordwainer was allowed to keep a shop, " butte he be a ffraunchised man" " The Old Usages" of Winchester required that " non ne shal make burelle werk, but if he (p. 333) be of ye ffraunchyse of ye toun" (p. 351) and the " Othe" of the Mayor contained a special proviso that be would " nieyntene the fraunchises and free custumes whiclie both gode in the saide toune" Chap. Xn., p. 141. (p. 41(5).
; ; ; ; ;

"

286

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

Britannica " was published in 1747.

last

During the period, however, intervening between the entry referred to in the " Diary" (1682) and its publication (1717), there appeared Dr. Plot's " Natural History of Staffordshire " (1686),' in which is contained the earliest eriticoaccount of the Freemasons.
Plot's

historical

remarks form the ground-work of an

interlatter,

esting note to the

memoir

of

Ashmole

in the

" Biographia Britannica; " and the

of Masonic history,
is

which has been very much

intelligible

relied

upon by the compilers

scarcely

without a knowledge of the former.

ill

There were

also occasional references to

it

Plot's

work

the interval between 1717 and 1747, from which

becomes the more essen-

tial that,

in critically appraising the value of statements given to the world

all

on the authority

of

Ashmole, we should have before us

the evidence which can assist in guiding us to a

sound and rational conclusion.

This involves the necessity of going, to a certain extent, over ground with which, from
previous research,
traversed,

we have become

familiar; but I shall tread very lightly in paths already

and do

my

best to avoid any needless repetition of either facts or inferences

that have been already placed before

I shall first of all recall

my

readers.

attention to the statement of Sir William Dugdale, recorded

by Aubrey in his "Natural History of Wiltshire." No addition to the test of this work was made after 1686 Aubrey being then sixty years of age and giving the entry in ques-

tion

no

earlier date

(though in

my

opinion this might be safely done), we should put to

ourselves the inquiry,

what distance back can the expression,

of sixty, safely carry us
?

"many

years ago," from

this question

the mouth

of a

man

Every reader must answer

for himself,

and

I shall

dale's verbal statement

between October
before the

16,

merely postulate, that under any method of computation. Dugmust be presumed to date from a period somewhere intermediate 1646, and March 11, 1682. It is quite certain that it was made
latter year at the

meeting occurred in the

Masons' Hall.

Ashmole informs us: " 1656 September 13

.

About

9 lior

ante merid.

came

first to

Mr

Dudgale's at

BlythHall." " December 19

of

I went towards Blyth-Hall." A similar entry occurs under the date March 27 in the following year; after which we find: " 1657 May .19.1 accompanied Mr Dugdale in his journey towards the Fens 4
.

Hor

30 minites a7de merid."

Blyth-Hall seems to have possessed great attractions for Ashmole, since he repeatedly

went there between the years 1657 and 1660. In the latter year he was appointed Windsor Herald, and in 1661 was given precedency over the other heralds. He next records: " 1CG2 August I accompanied Mr Dugdale in his visitation of Derby and Nottingham
.

shires.

" 1663
shire."

March
3.

accompanied Mr. Dugdale

in his visitation of Staffordshire

and Derbyhis

" August

9 Hor. ante merid.

began

my

journey to accompany

Mr

Dugdale in

visitations of Shropshire

and Cheshire."
visits to

Further entries in the "Diary" relate constant

three following years;

Blyth-Hall in 1665 and the

and seven months after the death

of his second wife, the I^ady

Mainwaring, Ashmole thus describes his third marriage:

'

Cf. ante. Chaps. H., p. 75

VH.

p.

350;

and

XTI., pp. 128, 139, 168.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

" 16c8
dale, Esq.,
.

287
William Dug-

November .3.1 married Mrs. Elizabeth Dugdale, daughter Norroy King of Arms, at Lincoln's Inn Chapel."

to

As the

ideas of the

two antiquaries necessarily became very interchangeable from the

without assiguing the occurrence any exact date, we at

year 1656, and in 1663 they were together in Staffordshire, Ashmole's native county, we
shall not I think,
least

go far astray,

if,

assume that the

earliest collotjuy of the

two Heralds,' with regard

to the Society of

Freemasons, cannot with any approach to accuracy be fixed at any later period than 1663.
I arrive at this conclusion,

not only from the intimacy between the men, and their both

being

officials

Staffordshire

Arms, but also because they went together to make the " Visitation," which, taken with Plot's subsequent account of the " Society,"
of the College of
to justify the belief, that the prevalence of

appears to

me

Masonic lodges in his native

county, was a circumstance of which Ashmole could hardly have been unaware
the speculation

indeed

may be

hazarded, that the

"customs"
lot

of Staffordshire were not wholly

without their influence, when he cast in his

with the Freemasons at Warrington in

1646; and in this view of the case, the probability of Dugdale having derived a portion of

the information which he afterwards passed on to Aubrey, from his brother Herald in
1663, may,
It will
I

think, be safely admitted.

if

not be out of place,

here

call

attention to the extreme affection which Ashcity of his birth.

mole appears to have always entertained for the

His

visits to Lichfield

were very frequent, and he was a great benefactor to the Cathedral Church, in which he

commenced
him
to

his early life as a chorister.^

In 1671, he was, together with his wife, " enter-

tained by the Bailiffs at a dinner and a great banquet."

Twice the leading citizens invited become one of their Burgesses in Parliament. It is within the limits of probability, that the close and intimate connection between Ashmole and his native city, which only
ceased with the
life

of the antiquary,
11, 1683.

may have

led to his being present at the Masons' Hall,

London, on March

Sir William Wilson,

one of the " new accepted" Masons on

that occasion, and originally a Stonemason, was the sculptor of the statue of Charles
II.,

erected in the Cathedral of Lichfield at the expense of, and during the episcopate
it

of,

Bishop Hacket,' and

with the

seems to

me

that

we have

in this circumstance
it

an explanation of
is

Ashmole's presence at the Masons' Hall, which, not to put

any higher,

in

harmony

known attachment
employed

of the antiquary for the city

and Cathedral of Lichfield

an

attachment not unlikely to result in his becoming personally acquainted with any
of note, in the restoration of

artists

edifice enieared to him by so many recollections. " admission " or " acceptance " may therefore have Sir William Wilson's approaching been the disposing cause of the Summons received by Ashmole, but leaving this conjecture for what it is worth, I pass on to Dr. Plot's " Natural History of Staffordshire," the pub-

an

lication of

which occurred

in the

same year (1686)

as the transcription of the Antiquity

His autobiSir William Dugdale was born September 12, 1605, and died February 10, 1686. ography is to be found in the 2d edition of his " History of St. Paul's Cathedral," and was reprinted by W. Hamper, with his "Diary" and Correspondence, in 1827. He was appointed Chester Herald his son-in-law declining the appointment in 1677. in 1644, and became Garter-King-at-Arnis ' Dr. T. Harwood, History of Lichfield, 1806, pp. 61, 69, 441. Dr. John Hacket was made Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry at the Restoration, ^Ihid., p. 72. and in that situation exhibited a degree of munificence worthy of his station, by expending 20,000 in repairing his Cathedral, and by being a liberal benefactor to Trinity College, Cambridge, of which
'

he had been a member.

He

died in 1670.

288

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

little

MS. (23) by Robert Padgett, a synchronism of no trom which it will hereafter be regarded.
Although
Plot's description of

singularity,

from the point of view

votaries in the second

Freemasonry, as practised by

its

half of the seventeenth century, has been reprinted times without

impossible to exclude

it
'

from

this history.

I shall

therefore quote from the

number, it is quite " Natural His-

tory of Staffordshire,"

premising, however, that

it

the passages relating to the Freemasons,

I

have carefully read every word in

am unable to cast any new light upon from no lack of diligence on my part, as the volume from title-page to index.
if I

arises

Dr. Plot's Account of the Freemasoxs, a.d. 1686.

.

85.

" To

these add the Customs relating to the County, whereof they have one, of
into the Society of Free-Masons, that in the vioorelands
^

admitting

Men

of this

County

seems
or less

to be of greater request,
all

than any where

I

else,

though

I find

the Custom spread more

over the Nation; for here

found persons of the most eminent quality, that did

not disdain to be of this Fellowship.

Nor indeed need

'

they, were

it

of that Antiquity

and honor, that

from sacred

is

pretended in a large parchviejit volum

they have amongst them, containis

ing the History and Rules of the craft of masonry.

writ,

Which
it

there deduced not only

but profane

story, particularly that

was brought into England by S'

Amphibal,* and first communicated to S. Alhan, who set down the Charges of masonry and was made paymaster and Governor of the Kiiigs works, and gave them charges, and manners as S' Amphibal had taught him. Wliich were after confirmed by King Athelsfan,

whose youngest son Edwyn loved well masonry, took upon him the charges, and learned the manners 3iaA obtained for them of his Father a /ree-CAar^er. Whereupon he caused

them

to assemble at York,

and

to bring all the old

Books of their
fit:

craft,

and out

of

them

ordained such charges and jnanners, as they then thought

Schrole or Parchment volum, are in part declared;

and

thxis

which charges in the said was the craft of masonry

grounded and confirmed

'

in England.''

It is also there

declared that these charges and

Dr. Plot's copy (Brit. Mus. Lib., containing MS. notes for a second edition), chap.

viii.

85-88,

Throughout this extract, the original notes of the Author in the only printed edition (1686), are followed by his name. ' This word is explained by the author at chap, ii., 1, p. 107, where he thus quotes from Sampson Erdeswick's " Survey of Staffordshire :"" The moorlands is the more northerly mountainous part of the county, laying betwixt Dove and Trent, from the three Shire-heads southerly, to Draycote in the Moors, and yieldeth lead, copper, ranee, marble, and mill-stones." Erdeswick's book was not published during his life-time. Bis MSS. fell into the hands of Walter Chetwynd of Ingestrie, styled by Bishop Nicolson, " venerande antiquitatis cultor maximus." Plot was introduced into the county by Chet\vynd, and liberally assisted by his patronage and advice (Erdeswick, A Survey of Staffordshire, edited by Dr. T. "Harwood, 1844, preface, p. xxxvii). ' See ante. Chap. H. MS. 40, p.75. * All that is recorded of this Saint is, that he was a Roman Missionary, martyred almost immepp. 316-318.
;

Cf. ante, Chap, n., p. 87. These assertions belong to the period which began towards the close of the Middle Ages, and continued until the end of the seventeenth century, if not later, when all the wild stories of King Lud, Belin, Bladud, Trinovant or Troy Novant (evidently a corruption of Trinobantes) Brutus and his Trojans, sprang up with the soil, and. like other such plants, for a time flourished exceedingly. For references to these wholly imaginary worthies of whose actual existence there is not the faintest trace as well as for a bibliographical list of their works drawn up with a precision worthy of

diately after his arrival in England.

'

"

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

289

manners were after perused and approved by King Hen. 6. and his council,' both as to Masters and Fellou's of tliis right AVorsliipfull craft." 86. " Into wliich Society wlicn any are admitted, they call a meeting (or Lodg as they
term
it

in

some

places),

which must

consist at lest of 5 or 6 of the Ancients of the Order,

whom

the canclidats present with gloves, and so likewise to their wives, and entertain with

a collation according to the Custom of the place: This ended, they proceed to the admission of them, which chiefly consists in the communication of certain secret sig^ies, whereby

they are

known

to

one another

all

over the Nation, by which means they have mainteif

nance whither ever they travel: for

accepted mason, he

any

man

appear though altogether

unknown

that

can shew any of these signes to a Fellow of the Society,

is

whom

they otherwise

call

an

obliged presently to

come
'

to

him, from what company or place soever

he be

in, n:iy, the'

from the top of a

Steeple

(what hazard or inconvenience soever he

run), to

know
if

his pleasure,

and

assist

him;

viz., if

he want work he

is

bound

to find

him

some; or

he cannot doe that, to give him mony, or otherwise support him

is

till

work can
or bad-

be had; which

one of their Articles; and

it is

another, that they advise the Masters they

work

for, according to the best of their skill, acquainting

if

them with the goodness

ness of their materials; and

they be any way

out in the contrivance of their buildings,

modestly to rectify them iu

are

it;

that masonry be not dishonored: and

(to

many such

like that

commonly known
these, perhaps as

but some others they have

I

which they are sworn after their

fashion), that

none know but themselves, which

bad as
this

have reason to suspect are

itself;

much
is

worse

than

History of the craft

than which there

nothing

I ever

met with, more false or incoherent. 87. " For not to mention that S' A^nphibalus by judicious persons,

is

thought rather

to be the cloak, than master of S' Alhan; or how unlikely it is that S? Alban himself in such a barbarous Age, and in times of persecution, should be stipervisor of any works; it is plain that King Athelstan was never marryed, or ever had so much as any natural issue; (unless we give way to the fabulous History of Guy Earl of Warwick, whose eldest son

Reynhurn is said indeed to have been marryed to Leoneat, the supposed daughter of Athelstan,* which will not serve the turn neither) much less ever had he a lawfull son Edtvyn,
AUibone, the reader may consult Leland, Pits, and Bale, but especially the last named. King Cole in is also another of these heroes, though some writers have made him a publican of later date The subject, however, is not one of importance. Chancery Lane This evidently refers, though in a confused manner, like so many other similar notices, to the Cf. the statements Statutes of Labourers {ante Chap. VH., p. 350, Stat. 3, Hen. VI., c. L, q. v.). 75 of the Constitutions (1738), copied by Preston in liis " Elustrations of Masonry," edit. 1793, p. at p. There can hardly be a doubt as to " old record" under whose authority Anderson and Preston 200.
!
'

shield themselves, being the " Schrole or

Parchment Volum" referred to by Plot. membranaceo penes Coementariorum Societatem. Plot. Ex Rotulo The London Journal of July 10, 1725, gives a parody of the Entered Apprentice Song,
verse runs
"
If

of

which

the

fifth

on House ne'er so high,

lays on.

A Brother they spy,

his Trowel He dexterously He must leave off his Work And come down with a Jerk,

As

At the Sign of an Accepted Mason." See also the Rev. A. F. A, Woodford's reprint of the Sloane MSS. 3329, p. xvi. It may be here remarked that the famous Dun Job Rowse's Hist, of Guy, E. of Warw. Plot. 19. VOL. n.

290
of
of

EA RL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

a Brother of that name, the crown, that he sent

whom I find not the least umbrage in History. He had indeed whom he was so jealouse, though very young when he came to
to

Sea in a pinnace without tackle or oar, only in company with a page, that his death might be imputed to the waves and not him; whence the Young Prince (not able to master Who now unlikely to his passions) cast himself headlong into the Sea and there dyed.

him

learn their manners; to get

them a Charter;
is it
still,

or call

them together
fi

at

York;

let

the Reader

judg."
88.

" Yet more improbable

Felloivs, as

that Hen. the

and

his Council, should ever

peruse or approve their charges and maimers, and sp confirm these right WorshipfuU Masters

and

they are call'd in the Scrole

for in the third of his reigne

(when he

could not be 4 years old)I find an act of Parliament quite abolishing this Society. It being therein ordained, that no Congregations and Confederacies should be made by inasons, in

and Assemblies,^ whereby the good course and effect of the Statutes and broken in subversion of Law: and that those who caused such Chapters or Congregations to be holden, should be adjudged Felons; and that those masons that came to them should be punish't by imprisonment, and vaakefine and ransom
their general Chapters
of Laboiirers, were violated at the

Kings

will.'

So very

much

out was the Compiler of this History, of the craft of

in our Chronicles

masonry,' and so

little skill

had he

and Laws.

Which

Statute though

repealed by a subsequent act in the 5 of Eliz.,' whereby Servants and Labourers are compellable to serve,

and
is

their wages limited;

and
to

all

masters made punishable for giving more

if

wages than what

act too being

taxed by the Justices, and the servants

observed,
'tis still

they take

it, etc.

"

Yet

this

but

little

be feared these Chapters of Free-masons do as

much

mischeif as before, which

if

one may estimate by the penalty, was anciently so great,

it might be usefull to examin them now." In the extracts just given, we have the fullest picture of the Freemasonry which preceded the era of Grand Lodges, that has come down to us in contemporary writings, and the early Masonic "customs" so graphically portrayed by Dr. Plot will be again referred

that perhaps

to before I take final leave of

my

present subject.

Among
Wren.

the subscribers to the

"Natural History

of Staffordshire"

were Ashmole,

Robert Boyle, Sir William Dugdale, John Evelyn, Robert Hook, and Sir Christopher

now only remains at this stage to consider the character and general reputation of the light in a particularly dark writer, to whom we are so much indebted for this glimpse of
It

portion of our annals.

Evelyn,

who was a good judge

of

men, says

of Plot: "Pity

it is

that

more

of this indus-

It county of England."' trious man's genius were not employed so as to describe every must be confessed, however, that extreme credulity appears to have been a noticeable

Cow
'

was, in

all probability,

an Aurochs, the slaying

of

which single-handed would suiEce to en-

noble a half savage

chieftain.
p. 354.

See ante, Chap. VH.,

Ferd Pulton's Collect, of Statutes, i Hen. 6, chap, i. Plot. ante. by the Doctor have been amply considered in Chap. VII.,
3Seei>os, pp. 300, 301. *Lord Cook's [Coke's] Institutes of the

The

acts of

ParUament quoted

Laws

of Engl., part

3,

chap. 35.Plot.

'Ferd Pulton's Collect, of Statutes, 5 Eliz., cliap.

'

4. Plot.

Diarj--

July

^1. 1675.

"

'

EA RL V BRITISH FRE EMA SONR YENGL A ND.

feature of his character.

29
cer-

Thus a

friendly critic observes of him:

" The Doctor was

tainly a profound scholar; but, being of a convivial

and facetious turn of mind, was

lie

easily

imposed on,

wliich,

added

to the credulous age in

is

which

wrote, has introduced into his

works more of the marvellous than

In Spence's

adapted to the present more enlightened period."

following:

"Anecdotes" we meet with the

stories for
liis
'

"Dr. Plot was very credulous,

'

and took up with any

shire

History of Oxfordshire.

gentleman of Worcester-

was likely to be put into the margin as having one leg rough and the other smooth, had he not discovered the cheat to him out of compassion; one of his legs had been
shaved.""

Edward Lhuyd,' who succeeded

still

Plot as keeper of the

preserved, gives a very indifferent character of

him

to Dr.

Ashmolean Museum, in a letter Martin Lister. " I think,"

I

says

Lhuyd, " he

is

man

of as bad morals as ever took a doctor's degree.

wish his wife

a good bargain of him,

Plot's

quaries,

and to myself, that I may never meet with the like again."' "morals" were evidently at a low ebb in the estimation of his brother anti" There was for Hearne, writing on November 6, 1705, thus expresses himself:

once a very remarkable stone in JIagd. Hall library, which was afterward lent to Dr. Plott, who never returned it, replying, when he was asked for it, that 'tioas a rule among antiquaries
to receive,

and

never restore ! "

'

But
that

as

it is

with our author's veracity, rather than with

liis

infractions of the decalogue,

we

are concerned, one of the marvellous stories related by

him

in all

good

faith

may

here be fittingly introduced.

"foole"

is

mentioned, " who could not only

tell

you the changes of the Moon, the

fell,

times of Eclipses, and at what time Easter and Whitsuntide

whatever, but
or to come.
at

or any moveable feast

of years, past

what time any

of

them

had, or should,

fall,

at

any distance

Upon

the whole, in arriving at a final estimate of the value of Plot's writings, and es-

work from which an extract has been given, we shall at least be justified " In the eagerness and rapidity of his various pursuits he took upon trust, and committed to writing, some things which, upon mature consideration, he must have rejected." Between 1686 and 1700 there are, at least, so far as I am aware, only two allusions to English Freemasonry by contemporary writers one in 1688, the other in 1691. The
pecially of the

in concluding, with Chalmers, that

'

Some
'

'Rev. Stabbing Shaw, History and Antiquities of Staffordsliire, vol. i., 1798, preface, p. vi. further remarks on the subject by the same and other commentators will be found in the
Ixii., p.

Oentlemari's Magazine, vol.

694

vol. Ixv., p. 897

and

vol. Ixxiv., p. 519.

p. 333.

Rev.

J.

Spence, Anecdotes of Books and Men, ed. 1820 (Singer),

of Jesus College, Oxford,

'Or Llwyd,
died in 1709.

Lei and' s
1807, pt.
*
'

naturalist, bom about 1670, the author of a learned work entitled, " Archseologia Britannica." Cf. Itinerary, vol. ii., 1711 (Hearne), preface, p. iii.; and Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxvii.,

an eminent antiquary and

He was

i.

p.

419.
(Bliss), vol. iv., col. 777.
i.,

Athene Oxonienses

Reliquiae Hearnianiae (P. Bliss), 1857, vol.

p. 47.
viii.,

Plot, Natural History of Staffordshire, chap,

67.

He

also gravely states, that

"one

John
'

Best, of the parish of Horton, a

man

104 years of age, married a

woman

of 56,

who

presented

him with a son

'

so

much

like himself, that according to his informant, the god-father of the child.

nobody doubted but that he was the true father

Biographical Dictionary, vol. xvl., 1816,

of

it'

" {Ibid., viii.,

3, p. 269).

p. 65.

'

292
former
curious
is

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SO.VR YENGL A ND.

by the third Randle Holme," which
to
I shall presently

examine in connection with

refer.'

Harleian MS., No. 2054, and the old Lodge at Chester; the latter by John Aubrey, in the

memorandum
is

which

it

will

be unnecessary to do more than

One further
Society,

reference, indeed, to the Freemasons, or rather, to the insignia of the

associated

by a

later writer

with the reign of William and Mary

1688-9 to December 1694

or evolution of

and

February
be

although unconnected with the progressive development

Ashmolean

ideas,

which

am

endeavoring to chronicle,

may perhaps

more conveniently

cited at this than at

any

later period.

Describing the two armories in the Tower of London as

northward of the White Tower," Entick goes on to say

II.,

" a noble

building to the

'

It

was begun by King James

and by that prince built to the first floor; but finished by King William, who erected that magnificent room called the New or Small Armoury, in which he, with Queen Mary bis consort, dined in great form, having all the warrant workmen' and labourers to attend them, dressed m white gloves and aprons, the usual badges of the Order of Freemasonry."* As a revised issue of the " Book of Constitutions" was published in 1756 the year in

which the above remarks

first

appeared

also

under the

editorial supervision of the Rev.

John Entick, it would appear to me, either became a little mixed up, or that a portion

that his materials for the two undertakings

of a sentence intended for one

work has been However this may be, the readers of this history have the passage before them, and I shall not make any attempt to forecast the judgment which they may be disposed to pass upon it. A short notice of Ashmole from the pen of Edward Lhwyd was given in Collier's " Hisaccidentally dovetailed with a similar fragment appertaining to the other.
torical

Dictionary" in 1707," but his connection with the Masonic fraternity was

first

announced by the publication of his

MS.

in the

own " Diary" in 1717," from a copy of the original Ashmolean Museum, made by Dr. Plot, and afterwards collated by David

Parry, M. A., both in their time oflBcal custodians of the actual "Diary."
'

The Acadeniie

of

of the City of Chester,

sometime Deputy for See Chap. Xn., passim. ' This would include all the master tradesmen, e. g. the Master Mason and the Master Carpenter. Robert Vertue (who built, in 1501, a chamber in the Tower of London), Robert Jeayns, and John Lobins are called " ye Kings iii Mr. Masons," about 1.509, when estimating for a tomb for Henry \TL (Wyatt Pap worth). In the reign of Henry VH., or in that of his successor, two distinct offices were created those of Carpenter of the King's Works in England, and of Chief Carpenter in the Tower (Jupp, Historical Account of the Company of Carpentei-s, p. 166). In the thirty-second year of Henry VHI., the yearly salaries of Thomas Hermidea and John Multon, masons; John Russell and Wm. Clement, Carpenters; John Ripley, Chief Joiner; and William Cunne, Plumber, respectively, " to the King," were in each case 18, 5s., i. e., Is. a day whilst those of Richard Ambros and CorneHus Johnson, severally, " Master Carpenter" and "Master Builder" in the Tower, were only 13,
:

or, a Store-house of Armory and Blazon, etc. By Randle Holme, Gentleman Sewer in Extraordinary to his late Majesty King- Charles 2. And the Kings of Ai-ms. Printed for the author, Chester, 1688, fol.
;

Armory

3s. 4d. (Ibid., p. 169).

W.

Maitland, Histoi-y of London, continued by Entick, 1756,

vi. 171.
s.
i'.

p.

168

and see Londoa and

its

Environs Described, 1761,

'

'2d ed.. Supplement, 3d Alphabet,

Memoirs of the Life of Elias Ashmole, Esq., published by Charles Burman, Esq., 1717. 'To the preface, which is dated February 1716-7, is appended the signature of Charles Burman, said to have been Plot's stepson. As the doctor married a Mrs. Burman, whose son John, at the decease of his stepfather, became possessed of his MSS. (Athenee Oxonienses, vol. iv., coL 776), this is likely to have been the case.

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

Bon, viz., Aubrey's, " Natural History

293

In 1719 two posthumous works were published by E. Curll, and edited by Dr. Rawlin-

and Antiquities of Surrey," and Ashmole's " History and Antiquities of Berkshire." The former, containing the dedication and preface of Aubrey's " Natural History of Wiltshire," and the latter, the account of the Freemasons, which
I

have already given.

173(5, to

'

Subsequent editions of Ashmole's "Berkshire" appeared

in 1723' and

both of wliich the original preface, or memoir of Ashmole, written

by Rawlinson, was prefixed.

By
his

those who, at the present time, have before

of

them the

identical materials

from

which Rawlinson composed his description

our Society

and the most cursory glance at

have made no impression

memoir of Ashmole, will satisfy the mind that it is wholly based on the antiquary's " Diary," and the notes of John Aubrey the general accuracy of his statements will not

be disputed.

Upon

his contemporaries, however, they appear to

whatever, which may, indeed, be altogether due to their having been published anony-

mously, though even

in

this case,

there will bo

room

for doubt

whether the name of

of

Rawlinson would have

much recommended them

in 1690,

to credit.

Dr. Richard Rawlinson, the fourth son of Sir

Thomas Rawlinson, Lord Mayor

Lon-

don

in 1706,

was born

educated at
It

St.

John's College, Oxford, and admitted to

the degree of D.C.L. by diploma in 1719.'

has been stated on apparently good authority,

that he was not only admitted to holy orders, but was also a
episcopate, having been regularly consecrated in 1728.*

member

of the non-juring

He

evinced an early predilection for literary pursuits, and was employed in an editorial

capacity before he had completed his twenty-fifth year.

related in the " Athenae Oxonienses," are far

The

circumstances, however, as
to his credit.

from redounding

" In 1714, a work

E. Curll, and at
p.

called

'

Miscellanies

on Several Curious Subjects,' was published by

43 appeared a copy of a letter from Robert Plott, LL.D., design'd to

be sent to the Royal Society in London.

He

has, however,

no claim

to the authorship.

now among Dr. Rawlinson's collections in the Bodleian," and the fabrication of Plot's name must be ascribed to the Doctor, who was editor, or rather the The latter part of the letter Dr. Rawlinson has omitted, collector, of Curll's Miscellanies. and altering the word son to servants, has compleatly erased the name and substituted the
The
original letter
is
'

'

initials

R. P."
is

"

Why

he should have been guilty of so unnecessary a forgery," says Dr.

accordingly to give credit to his book."

Bliss,

"

not easy to determine; unless he fancied Plott's name of greater celebrity than
it

the real author, and adopted

After the preceding example of the manner in which the functions of an editor were

Mnie., Chap. Xn,, pp. 129, 141. London, printed for W. Mears and J. Hooke, 1723 Reading, printed by William Cardan, 1736. Another edition was begun in 1814 by the Rev. Charles Coates, author of " A History of Reading,' but not completed. There are two copies of the firet edition in the Bodleian Library, with MS. notes one with those of Dr. Rawlinson, the other by E. Rowe Mores (Athenae Oxonienses, vol. iv.,
'
;

col. 360).

Thomas Rawlinson, the eldest son, like his younger brother, was a Addison is said to have intended his character of Tom Folio in the " Tat^ While he lived in Gray's Inn, he had four chambers so completely filled with ler," No. 158, for him. books, that it was necessary to remove his bed into the passage. After his death, in 1725, the sale of his manuscripts alone occupied sixteen days (Ibid).
'

Chalmei-s, Biog. Diet.

great collector of books.

Reliquiae Hearnianise (P. Bliss), 1857, vol.

ii.
'

p.

847 (editorial note)

vol
iv., col. 775.

'Miscell. 390.

Athena Oxonienses,

'

294

A RL V BRITISH FREE MA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

discharged by Rawlinson in 1714, the unfavorable verdict passed upon his subsequent

compilation of 1719 will excite no surprise.

The following is recorded in the " Diary" of Thomas Hearne: "Ap. 18. [1719]. a present hath been made me of a book called the
8vo, in three volumes.
It

'

Antiquities of

Berkshire/ by Elias Ashmole, Esq., London, printed for E. Curll, in Fleet Street, 1719,

was given
into

me by my good
it,

friend

Thomas Rawlinson,
all this to

Esq.

As
else,

soon as I opened
rance,

it,

and looked

was amazed at the abominable impudence, igno-

and

carelessness of the publisher,"

and
is

can hardly ascribe

to

any one

than

to that villain, Curll.

Mr. Ashmole
I call
it

made

have written abundance of things

is

since his death.

....

a rhapsody, because there

no method nor judgment

observed in

it,

nor one dram of true learning.""

Rawlinson was a zealous Freemason, a grand steward in 1734, and a member about the

same time of no less than four lodges,' but could not, I think, have joined the Society much before 1730, as none of the memoranda or newspaper cuttings of any importance preserved
in his masonic collection at the Bodleian Library bear

any

earlier date,

that

is if

to say,

if

I have not overlooked

lection

any such

entries.'

His active interest in Freemasonry,

the col-

made by him is any criterion, appears to have ceased about 1738. It is hardly possible that he coiM have been a Freemason before 1726, as in that year Hearne mentions his return from abroard, after ' " travelling for several years," also that " he was four years
together at

Rome."

Rawlinson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, July 29, 1714, Martin Folkes and Dr. Desaguliers being chosen Members on the same day. He became a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries,

May

10, 1737.
5,

His death occurred at Islington, April

desired that at his burial in the chapel,
College, Oxford, his pall
lege,

1755.

By

his will, dated

June

2,

1752, he

commonly

called Dr. Bayly's Chapel, in St. John's

might be supported by

six of the senior fellows of the said col-

"to each of whom I give," so the words run, "one guinea, which will be of more use to them than the usual dismal accoutrements at present in use." A large number of valuable MSS. he ordered to be safely locked up, and not to be
opened until seven years after his decease. a precaution, in the opinion of Dr. Taylor, taken by the testator, " to prevent the right owners recovering their own," but this insin'

In an editorial note, Dr. Bliss says. " Hearne was

little

aware that

this

was

his very

good and

notoriously holiest friend, Richard Rawlinson."

See further, F. Ouvry, Letters to T. Hearne, 1874,

No.

39.
'

Reliquiae HeamianiEB, vol.

iv., col.

ii.,

p. 433.

or a corroboration of Hearne's opinion, see Athenae

Oxonienses, vol.

360.

3 Viz., Nos. 37, The Sash and Cocoa Tree, X oper Moore Fields: 40, The St. Paul's Head, Ludgate Street 71, The Rose, Cheapside ; and 94, t.>e Oxford Arms, Ludgate Street. < This collection was described by the Rev. S. Sidebottom of New College, Oxford, in the Freemasmi's Monthly Magazine, 1855. p. 81, as ' a kind of masonic album or common-place book
;
.

is

which Rawlinson inserted anything that struck him either as useful or particularl3- amusing. It compn.s some ancient masonic charges, constitutions, forms of summons, a list of all the lodges of his time under the Grand Lodge of England, together with some exti-acts from the Chrub Street Journal, tt :e General Evening Post, and other Journals The date ranges from 1724 to 1740." As stated above, I found, myself, nothing worth of the day.
in

partly in manuscript, partly in print, and

recording either before 1730, or after 1738.

'Reliquiae Hearaianiae, vol.
ii.
,

p.

594

I3rothcr Gil. W. 5^"'*'*^,

GRAND
SECRr.iAl.'V I'K Tlir.

33

of

Chicago

GRAND LODGE OF ILLINOIS. i.RAND RIXoRDER OF THE GRAND COMMANDERY OF KNIGEITS TEMi'LAR OF ILLINOIS AND OF ALL THE OTHER MASONIC BODIES IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
One
of ihe
ol Jest

and

best

known members

of the fratei

iiily in

the Uiiiled

St.ites.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

nation
is

295

without foundation, as the papers, the publication of which the Doctor wished were his collections for a continuation of the " Athenae Oxonienses," with Hearne'a delayed,
"Diaries, "and two other MSS.'

There are several codicils to the will, and the second, dated June 25, 1754, was attested, amongst others, by J. Ames," presumably Joseph Ames, author of " Typographical Antiquities," 1749,

and one

of the editors of the Parentalia."

Rawlinson's Library of printed books and books of prints was sold by auction in 1756;
the sale lasted 50 days, and produced

1164.

000 pamphlets, which lasted 10 days, and this Ashmole's connection with the Society

There was a second sale of upwards was followed by a sale of the single

of 20,prints,

books of prints, and drawings, which lasted 8 days.'

is

not alluded to in the " Constitutions " of 1723,

but in the subsequent edition of 1738, Dr. Anderson, drawing his own inferences from the actual entries in the " Diary," transmutes them into facts, by amending the e.xpres-

and making them read prefaced by the words, " Thus Elias Ashmole " I was made a Free Mason at Warrington, Lancashire, with Colonel Henry Manwaring, by Mr. Kichard Penket the Warden, and the Fellow Crafts (there mention'd) on 16 Oct. 1646."*
sions of the diarist,
in his
'

Diary,' page 15, says,"

The
besides

later entry

if

1682 was both garbled and certified in a similar manner, though,

except in the statement that Sir

Ashmole

at the reception of the

Thomas Wise and the seven other Fellows, present, New- Accepted Masons were "old Free Masons/"
t"he

there

is

nothing that absolutely conflicts with

actual words in the

" Diary."

We next come to the memoir of Ashmole in the " Biographia Britannica," published in 1747, upon which I have already drawn at some length in the preceding chapter. According to his biographer, Dr. Campbell, " on the sixteenth of October 1646, he [Ashmole] was elected a brother of the ancient and honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, which he looked upon as a very distinguishing character, and has therefore given us a very particular account of the lodge established at Warrington in Lancashire; and in some of his manuscripts there are very valuable collections relating to the
history of the Free Masons."

The

subject

is

then continued in a copious footnote, which

of those times,

itself still

further eluci-

dated, after the

1 shall in

manner

by a number of subsidiary
in order that

references,

every case append the letter

C,

my own

observations

and to these and those of

may be distinguishable. The note thus takes up the thread: " He [Ashmole] made very large collections on almost all points relating to English history, of which some large volumes are remaining at Oxford, but much more was consumed
Dr. Campbell
in the
fire at

the Temple," which will be hereafter mentioned.

letters,

What

is

hinted above,

is

taken from a book of

'Chalmers, Biog.

communicated
s.

to the author of this life by Dr. Knipe,' of

Diet., vol. xx^i., 1816,

v.

Rawlinson.
1755, pp. 1, 32.
p.

'The Deed
>

of Trust
fee. ci<.

and Will
vol.
ii.,

of Richard

Rawhnson,

Chalmers,

'Constitutions, 1738,
col.

100.

"ibjri., p. 103.
fire in

Athenae Oxonienses,
library" (Diary).
'It has not yet
if it

888. C.

" 1679, Jan.

26.

The

the Temple burned

my

been satisfactorily determined who this Dr. Knipe was and perhaps the present any Oxford reader interested in Masonic research, may lead to the realization of how much good work may yet be done in the way of fully examining the Ashmole MSS. Cf. Freemasons' Magazine, January to June, 1863, pp. 146, 309, 327.
;

note,

passes under the eye of

296

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

is

Christ-church, in one of which

the following passage relating to this subject.

'

As

to

the Ancient

society of Free- Masons, concerning

whom

you are desirous of knowing what

if

may be known with

him

certainty, I shall only tell you, that

our worthy brother, E. Ash-

mole, Esq; had executed his intended design, our fraternity had been as
as the brethren of the

much

obliged to

most noble Order of the Garter.

it

'

would not have you surof that order

^

prized at this expression, or think

at all too assuming.

The Soveraigns

have not disdained our fellowship, and there have been times when Emperors
Free-Masons.

were also

What from Mr.

E. Ashmole's collection I could gather, was, that the report

of

of our society's taking rise

from a Bull granted by the Pope, in the reign

Henry
'

III., to

some

Italian Architects, to travel over all

Europe, to erect chapels, was ill-founded.

Such

a Bull there was, and those Architects were Masons; but this Bull in the opinion of the

learned Mr. Ashmole, was confirmative only, and did not by any means create our fraternity, or

evea establish them in this kingdom.*

I shall

But

as to the time
collections.
it

and manner

of that

establishment, something

relate

from the same

St Alban, the Protoflourished

Martyr of England, established Masonry here, and from his time

according as the world went,
his brother

more

or less,

down

to the days of

King Athelstane, who,

for the sake of

Edwin, granted the Masons a charter, tho' afterwards growing jealous of his
said
sea,

brother,

it is

he caused him together with his Page, to be put into a boat and com-

Masons were affected by his fall, and we find under our and frequently received extraordinary marks of royal favour. Norman Princes, that they There is no doubt to be made, that the skill of Masons, which was always transcendent, even in the most barbarous times, their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other,
mitted to the

where they perished. '

It is likely that

suffered for

some time, but afterwards

their credit revived,

how

different soever in condition,

and their inviolable

fidelity in

keeping religiously their

to a vast variety

secret,

must expose them

in ignorant, troublesome,

and suspicious times,

The design, here attributed to Ashmole, of writing a History of Freemasoarj-, rests entirely upon the authority of Dr. Knipe. It is difficult to believe that such a positive statement could have been a pure invention on his part and yet, on the other hand, it is lacking in aU the elements of
'

credibility.
'

This statement takes us outside the British

belief,
;

Isles,

and

may

either point to

an embodiment of
it

the popular

such as

have ventured to indicate

all

in

Chap
it

XII., pp. 153, 157, respecting the origin

of the Society

or

in the opinion of those who

private

cherish a theory the

more ardently because

in-

volves an absolute surrender of

judgment

may

tend, not only to establish, but to

crown the view

of

conflrnaations of their ordinances

Masonic history associated with the Steinmetzen, by implying that the imperial must be taken as proof of the admission of the German emperors
C. See Antt, Chap. Xn., pp. 140-142. p. 3 Dr. Knipe wrote the letters from which an extract

into the Stonemasons' Fraternity

5

History of Masonry,

It
is

should be borne in mind

that in 1747,

when

professedly given, Rawlin-

eon was only in his

unlikely that the

fifty -eighth year. The " Republic of Letters" was then a verj' small one. It is memoir of Ashmole given in the " Biographia Britanmca" was prepared without assistance from members of the Royal Society and in that portion of it dealing with his admission into Freemasonrj', it seems especially probable that we should find the traces of information supplied by some of the Fellows of that learned body who were also Freemasons. Rawlinson, then, we may usefully bear in mind, was at once an F. R. S., a prominent Freemason, and a distinguished
;

man
* '

of letters,

Vide Chap. XH.,

p.

156.

Ex Rotulo membranaceo penes Coementariarum

(anfe, p. 288.

Societatem.

C.

This

is

evidently copied from

a similar note by Dr. Plot

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

of adventures, according to the different fate of parties,

297
in govern-

and other alterations

By the way, I shall note, tliat the JIasons were always loyal, which exposed them to great severities when power wore the trappings of justice, and those who committed treason, punished true men as traitors. Thus in the third year of the reign of Henry VI, an Act of Parliament passed to abolish the society of masons,' and to hinment.
der,
blies.

under grievous

penalties,

the

holding chapters, lodges, or other regular assem-

Yet

this act

was afterwards repealed, and even before that King Henry VI,

and

several of the principal Lords of his court

became fellows of the

craft.'

Under the

succeeding troublesome times, the Free- Masons thro' this kingdom became generally Yorktlie wise Henry VII, Masons to obtrude numbers of his friends on that worthy fraternity, so as never to want spies enough in their lodges, than to create himself enemies, as some of his predecessors had done by an ill-timed persecution.'
ists,

wliich, as
it

it

procured them eminent favour from Edward IV, so

thought

better by shewing himself a great lover of

As

this society has

is

been so very ancient, as to

is

rise

almost beyond the reach of records,

it's

there

no wonder that a mixture of fable

if

found in

history,

and methinks

it

had
St.

been better,

a late insidious writer

has spent his time in clearing up the story of

Alban, or the death of Prince Edwin, either of which would have found him sufficient

employment, than as he has done in degrading a society with whose foundation and transactions,

he

is

visibly so very little acquainted,"

and with whose history and conduct Mr.

Ashmole, who understood them so much better, was perfectly sjitisfied, etc."' " I shall add to this letter " (writes Campbell), " as a proof, of it's author's being exactly
right as to Mr. Ashmole, a small note from his diary, which shews his attention to this
society, long after his admission,

when he had time

to weigh, examine,

and know the

Masons

secret."

Dr. Campbell then proceeds to give the entries, dated the 10th and 11th of March
1682, relating the meeting at Masons' Hall, only through interpolating the word

"by"

before the

name

of Sir William Wilson

an

error into

which subsequent

copyists have

been beguiled^ he rather leaves an impression upon the mind, that the " new-accepted masons " were parties to their own reception, in a sense never contemplated by Elias Ashmole.

The Eev.
would
'

S.

R. Maitland says,

"

do not know whether there ever was a time when

readers looked out the passages referred to, or attended to the writer's request that they
see',
'

compare,'
if

etc.

such-and-such things, which, for brevity's sake, he would not

transcribe:

but

readers ever did this, I

am

morally certain that they have long since

ceased to do it."'

Concurring

in this view, I
as,

have quoted the passage above, and also

those from Dr. Plot's work, at length;

readers to be essential,
I

believing their right comprehension by

my

dare not content myself with referring even to such well-known

books

to be met with in the generality of public libraries as the " Biographia Britannica "
of Staffordshire."

and the " Natural History

'

Fred. Pulton's Collect, of Statutes, 3 Hen. VI. chap, i. C.

' '

History of Masonry,
Ihid., p. 19.

p. 29.

C.
allusions

C.

The three

by Dr. Campbell

to

a " Historj' of Masonry" will be pres-

ently examined.

Dr.

Plot

'Plot's Nat. History of Staffordshire, pp. 316, 317,

318.C.

Dr.

W.

to Sir D. N.,

June

9,

1687. C.

'

Diary, p. 66. C.

The Dark Ages,

1844, p. 36.

298
It
is

EA RL V BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

jnot

my

intention to dwell at any length

upon the discrepancies which

Still,

exist

between the several versions of Ashniole's connection with the Society.

professedly

when

extracts

made from the

actual

" Diary " are given

to the world in a garbled or inaccurate

medium of such works of authority as the "Book of Constitutions" and the " Biographia Britannica," a few words of caution may not be out of place against the reception as evidence of colorable excerpta from the Ashmolean MSS., whether published
form, through the

by Dr. Anderson under the sanction of the Grand Lodge in 1738, or by Findel and It has been well observed, that " if such licence be Fort, in 1862 and 1876 respectively. indulged to critics, that they may expunge or alter the words of an historian, because he
is

the sole relater of a particular event,

writers to

we

shall leave

few materials for authentic history. "

'

The contemporary

whom

I last

referroi have severally reproduced,

and

still

further popularized, the misleading transcripts of Doctors Anderson and Campbell.

The
is

former by copying from the " Constitutions" of 1738

'

though
liis

the authority he quotes

and the latter by relying apparently on the second edition of that of Ashmole himself the " Diary," published in 1774, which adopts the interpolation of Dr. Campbell, changes
^

"

ivere" into

"

loas,"

and makes Ashmole,

10, 1682,
I

after reciting

summons

to the

Lodge

at

Masons' Hall on March

go on

to state:

" [March]

11.

Accordingly

went, and about noon toas admitted into the fellowship

of Free-Masons, by Sir William Wilson, Knight, Captain Eichard Borthwick, Mr. William

Wodman, Mr. William Grey, Mr. Samuel Taylour, and Mr. William Wise."' The preceding extract presents such a distorted view of the real facts
Ashmole

that

as related by
shown

I give

it

without curtailment.
'

Compared with the

it

actual entry as

at p. Ii3,

and overlooking minor discrepancies

is

will

be seen, that the oldest Freemason

present at the meeting

made

to declare, that
this

he was " admitted into the fellowship " by

the candidates for reception.

Yet

monstrous inversion of the ordinary method of pro-

cedure at the admission of guild-brethren,

which, as a travesty of Masonic usage and cere-

"Quod si haec licentia daretur arti criticae, ut si quae in aliquo scriptore facta legimus commemorata, quae ab aliis silentio involvantur, ilia statim expungenda, aut per contortam emendationem in contrarium plane sensum forent convertenda, nihil fere certuni aut constans in histori'

corum sci'iptorum commentariis reperiretur " (Professor Breitinger, Zurich, to Edward Gibbon, Lausanne Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works, edited by Lord Sheffield, 1814, vol. i. p. 479).
:

'"In Ashmole's 'Diary' we

English edit. 1869,
'

find

tlie

following," etc. (Findel, History of Freemasonry, 2d

p. 113re).

by

Fort's description, it might be inferred that Ashmole was " admitted into the fellowship William Wilson, Knt," solus, as he cites no other names (Historj' and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 137). *The edition of Ashmole's " Diary," from which the above is extracted, was published, together with the life of William Lilly, the astrologer, in 1774. Lilly's autobiography (of which the latter was a reprint) first appeared in 1715, a memorandum on the fly-leaf stating "The Notes at the Bottom of the Page, and the continuation to the time of his death, were the Performance of his good Friend Mr Ashmole." At p. 43, a footnote, explanatory of the text, is followed by the letters D. N., which is, so far, the only clue I have obtained towards the identification of the " Sir D.N." referred to b3'

From

Sir

Dr. Knipe.
'

E.g.

to Rich., Will.,

The Christian names of Borthwick, woodman, and Grey, though shortened by Ashmole and Wm., respectively, are fully set out in the publication of 1774. This process,
reversed in the cases of Will.

however,
reprint.

is

Woodman and SamueU

Taylour, so styled by the antiquary

I

the former becoming

Wodman, and

the latter losing the final

of his Christian

name

in the

'

A RL V BRI riSH FREEMA SONR Y~ENGLA ND.

monial,
is

299

without a parallel

has been quietly passed

ability,

over, and, in fact, endorsed,

by comhill

mentators of learning and

by whose successive transcriptions of a statement

originally incorrect, the original error has been increased, as a stone set rolling

down

accelerates

its velocity.

It has been observed by De Quincey, that " the laborers of the mine, or those who dig up the metal of truth, are seldom fitted to be also laborers of the mint that is, to work up the metal for current use.'' Of this aphorism, as it seems to me, Dr. Knipe whose diligence and good faith I do not impeach affords a conspicuous illustration. The paucity and inaccuracy of Ashmole's biographers leave much to be desired. It is, therefore, the more to be regretted, that the solitary "witness of history," whose contribution towards his memoir was based on original documents, notably the "collection" of papers, or materials for a contemplated work on Freemasonry, should have been unequal to the task

of summarizing with greater minuteness, the conclusions of the eminent

describes as

"our worthy brother," and by

citing references that

man whom he have now escaped us,

is

have so far widened the area over which research can be profitably directed, as to carry
us back to a period at least as far removed from Ashmole's time as the latter

from our
distinc-

own.
In his communication to the writer of Ashmole's
tion
life.

Dr.

Knipe ignored the

which should always

exist

utor or purveyor

to history.

between the historian, properly so called, and the contrib" Those who supply the historian with facts must leave

much
ages
is

of the discrimination to him,

'

and must be copious,

as well as accurate, in their in-

formation. "

From

the facts collected and aiTanged by antiquaries, the history of past

in a great

measure composed.

The

services of this class of writers are invaluable to

the historian, and he frequently applies and turns to account, in a

manner which they

never contemplated, facts which their diligence has brought to

It

light.'

has been well remarked that " we admire the strange enthusiast, who, braving the

lethargic atmosphere of the

Academic

library, ventures in,

silent waters

and draws forth the precious

manuscript from the stagnant pools, whose

engulph the untouched treasures

collected by Bodley or Laud, Junius or Rawlinson, Gale or

Moor

or Parker: yet fully as

new and important

authorities,

known, and familiar which have only waited for the Interrogator, asking them to make the disclosis

the information obtained from the

trite,

well

ure."*
If,

then, either from a want of capacity on the part of Dr. Knipe, or from the absence

of the critical faculty in Dr. Campbell, the

'

memoir

of

Ashmole

in the

" Biographia Britani.,

Cf. Lewis,
Ibid., vol.

On
i.,

the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, vol.

295.

p. 227.

''

p.

"

It is useful to observe

on a large

scale,

and to

collect

much

authentic

winnowing process" (Ibid). ' " It is difficult to draw the line between those facts which are important, and those which are unimportant to the historian. A power of seizing remote analogies, and of judging bj' slight though sure indications, may extract a meaning from a fact which, to an ordinary sight, seems wholly inmaterial, which will afterwards undergo the
significant" (Lewis,
*

loc. cit.).
;

Normandj- and of England, vol. i., 1851, p. 18 Cf. Guizot, Hist, de la Civilization en France, 27'^" legon, p. 63. "Facts pregnant with most signal truths have, until our own times, continued uninvestigated and unimproved though plain and patent presented to every reader, fruitlessly forcing themselves upon our notice, against which historians were previously constantly hitting their feet, and as constantly spurning out of their path " (Palgrave,
Sir F. Palgrave, History of
;

loc. dt.).

300

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

nica" must be pronounced a very inferior piece of -workmanship: let us, howeyer, see whether, whilst anything like a precis of his real views is withheld from our knowledge, we
can extract any information from the references to authorities which, however trite and familiar in the estimation of the two doctors, now derive what vitality they may possess

from the circumstance

of fQling

up a

casual footnote in a

work

of such high reputation.

Among
enlarge.

the references given by Dr. Knipe, there are two

first
is

upon which
letter or

I shall slightly

The from " Dr W.

"History
tinct

to a

" History

of

Masonry," the second a

communication
is

to Sir D. N.,

June

9,

1687."

Taking these

in their
It is

order what
and
in the

this
dis-

of

Masonry," to which allusion was made in 1747?

something quite

from

the histories given in the Constitutions of 1723 or 1738,

" Pocket and 29

it

Companions."

The

pagination, moreover, indicated in the notes

viz., 3, 19,

not only shows that in the work cited, more space was devoted to the account of English

Masonry
is

in the

Middle Ages, than we find in any publication of even date, with which

possible to collate these references, but

3,

by resting the allusion

'

to the Papal Bulls

on the

authority of page
fills

materially increases the difficulties of identification.

Dr. Anderson

Grand Master or Patron of the Freemasons of England, and not until page 69 of that work do we reach Henry III., in connection, moreover, with which king there appears (in the " ConstituThe " Pocket Companions " were succestions " referred to) no mention of the Bulls.' sively based on the Constitutions of 1723 and 1738, and no separate and independent " Hissixty pages of his

" Book

of Constitutions "

before he

names the

first

tory of

Masonry" was published,

'

so far as I

am

aware, before the appearance of " Multa

Paucis

"

in 1763-4.

It is true that in the inventory of

books belonging to the Lodge of

Belief, Bury, Lancashire

present No. 42 in 1756,

by

in find,

" History

of

Masonry (Price

3s.);"*

but, as suggested
Scott's

Hughan and

mentioned by the compiler in a note

this

was probably
as

" Pocket Companion " and " History of Masonry" 1754. One of the further references by Dr. Knipe to the work under consideration, is given his authority for the statement, that Henry VII. used the Freemasons as spies an item

of Masonic history not to be found in any publication of the craft with

which

am
that

acquainted.
of

friend has suggested, that the

in its incomplete state.

" History"

referred to,

may have been

when
it

Ashmole himself

This, however, forcibly recalls the story of

the relic exhibited as Balaam's sword, and the explanation of the cicerone,

was

objected that the prophet had no sword, but only wished for one, that

it

was the identical

weapon he wished he had

One
not,
in

expression, indeed, in the

Memoir

" Book of

Letters" lets in a possible, though

judgment, a probable, solution of the difficulty. The " Book of Letters, communicated by Dr. Knipe " to the author of the life, via// have been a bound or stitched volume of correspondence, paged throughout for facility of reference, and labelled " His-

my

tory of Masonry " by the sender.

If

this supposition

is

entertainable,

it

may

be also

assumed that the several

the case which
variation of
is

letters

would be arranged

in

not only consistent with, but also

due chronological order a view of to some extent supported by, the

method adopted by Dr. Campbell

in citing the authority for Ashmole's alleged

'Ed. 1738.
'

Neither Henry HI. nor the Papal Bulls are mentioned in the Constitutions of 1723. 'Chap. Xn., p. 161. * E. A. Evans, Historj' of the Lodge of Relief, No. 42, p. 24. The "History of Freemasonry"
tlie

is

unfortunately no longer in the possession of

lodge.

'

EARL Y BRITISH PRE EMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

dissent

301

from the conclusions of Dr.

Plot, as a letter

from Dr, W.
it

to Sir D. N.,

under a

given date.

As

militating, however, against this liypothesis,

has been shown that whilst

Dr. Campbell's references to the History of Masonry" range from page 3 to page 39 of that work or volume, the entire subject-matter which their authority covers, is contained within the limits of a single letter a letter, moreover, plainly replying to such questions

"

we may imagine the compiler of the memoir would have addressed to some Oxford correspondent, and which is only reconcilable with any other view of the facts by assuming
as

that two other persons of lod identUi/ hut the result of whose labors has happily been preseiTed severally ])receded Campbell and Knipe in the collection and preparation of

materials of a similar biography of Ashmole.

The letter or communication, which is made the authority for Ashmole having expressed disapproval of the statements in Plot's "Natural History of Staffordshire," is
equally enigmatical, and
I

have quite failed to identify either the Dr. W. or the Sir D.

Doctors Wilkins,

N., cited as the writer and recipient respectively of that document.

Wharton, and Wren were

Wharton
D. N.
all
I

in

on friendly terms with Ashmole; but Wilkins died in 1672, 1677, and Dr, became Sir Christopher Wren in 1674. The only trace of Sir
all

can find occurs, as previously stated,' in a note to

Lilly's

autobiography, which, as

the notes were professedly written by Ashmole, though not printed until after his

death (1715),

may

point to the identity of what in these days would be termed his literary

executor, with the individual to

whom

was addressed the

letter of

June

9,

1687.

The

solution of these two puzzles I leave, however, to those students of our antiquities
to patiently explore the by-paths of

who, diverging from the high road, are content

Masonic

history, where, indeed, even should they find in this particular instance nothing to

reward

their research, their labors cannot fail to swell the aggregate of materials,

upon which the

hope they

conclusions of future historians

will be gratefully recorded.

may be

as safely founded, as I shall venture to

" the wise Henry VII.," the statement that Ashmole contemplated writing a History of the Craft, and the so-called "opinion" of the antiquary respecting the Papal Bull granted in the reign of Henry III., there is nothing

With the exceptions

of the allusion to

in the
is

memoir which we cannot

trace in publications of earlier date.

great part of
'

it

evidently based on Rawlinson's preface to Antiquities of Berkshire," of which the words, " Kings themselves have not disdain'd to enter themselves into this Society," are

the "

closely paraphrased

by Dr. Knipe, though the term " Emperors"

unless a free

rendering

of

" Kings

"

take to be the coinage of his

own

brain.
is

The view

expressed with regard

to the introduction of

Freemasonry into England,

apparently copied from the Constitu-

tions of 1738, whilst the allusions to

earlier or original edition of

Henry VI. and Edward IV.' are evidently based on the the same work.
i.,

'The second
article "

edition of the "Biograpliia Britannica," vol.

1778, contained

a reprint of the

Ashmole;" and as readere generally consult a work of reference in its latest form, tlie allusion to a ' Historj'of Masonry" in 1778, when not only " Malta Faucis" (ante, p. 161), but also several editions of Preston's "Illustrations," were in general circulation, would be devoid of the significance attaching to a like reference in the edition of 1747. Plot's parchment volum, or History of the craft, and Knipe's " History of Masonry," eacli allude to Hen. 'VI., but differ as to the origin of the Society.

The words, moreover,

something quite
p. 398,

scribe

distinct
4.

''ex rotiilo membranaceo," etc., are used from tlie " History."

by the

latter doctor to de-

'Ante,

note

*In the Constitutions of 1738,

p. 75. vrs rci-1.

"A Record

'Ante, Chap. Xn.,

in tlie

p. 141.

Reign of Edw. IV. says, the

302

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

To what
extent,
it

may now

be asked, does this memoir of Ashmole by Dr. CampbelV

add

knowledge respecting the former's connection with our Society, and the conditions under which Freemasonry either flourished, or was kept ahve during the It generally happens that I am afraid very little. first half of the seventeenth century ?
to the stock of

different portions of a mythico-historical period' are very unequally illuminated.

earlier parts of
it

The

approximate to the darkness of the mythical age, while the later years will be distinguished from a period of contemporary history by the meagreness, rather than by the uncertainty of the events." This is precisely what we find exemplified
will

by the annals of the Craft, of

wliicli

those most remote in date, are based to a great extent

upon legendary materials, whilst later ones extending over an epoch commencing with early Scottish Masonry in the sixteenth century, and ending with the formation of an English Grand Lodge in 1717 though closing what in a restricted sense I have ventured to describe as the pre-historic or mythico-historical period," really deal with events which come within

the light of history, although

the most extreme darkness.
If,

many

of the surrounding circumstances are

still

enveloped in

indeed, the extent to which Masonic archteology has been a loser, through the non-

publication of Aslmiole's contemplated

work, can be estimated with any approach to

accuracy, by a critical appraisement of the fragment given in his

ness of the latter, regarded from an
historicivl

memoir

the worthlessany other

point of view,

may

well leave us in doubt,

whether, except as to circumstances respecting which he could testify as an eye or ear

witness, the history designed

by " our worthy brother," would have

fulfilled

purpose, than reducing to more exact demonstration the learned credulity of the writer.
// Ashmole really expressed the opinion which has been ascribed to him, with regard
to the Papal Bull in

Henry

III.'s

time being confirmative only, and if the " collection"

dipped into by Dr. Knipe gave chapter and verse for the statement, the exhumation of the lost Ashmolean documents would seem a thing very greatly to be desired.
Yet, on the other hand,
actual sources, and assuming
ascribed to him,
it

it

is

quite possible that

if

we could

trace opinions to their

which has been might be found to repose upon no more substantial foundation, than the reveries of those philosophers who, to use the words of the elder Disraeli, " have too

Ashmole

to have really expressed the belief

otherwise termed Free Masons, of Auntient Staunding and good Reckon, by means of affable, and kind Meetings dyverse tymes, and as a loving Brotherhood use to do, did frqenent this mutual Assembly in the tyme of Henry VI., in tlie twelfth year of his Most Gracious Reign, viz. A.D. 1434, when Henry was aged thirteen years." Dr. Anderson's authority for this statement is probably the following : " The Company of Masons, being otherwise termed Free-masons, of ancient standing and good reckoning, by meanes of affable and kinde meetings divers times, and as a loving Brotherhood should use to doe, did frequent this mutual! assembly in the time of King

Company of Masons, being

ing,

Henry the

fourth, in the twelfth yeere of his

most gracious Reigne" (Stow, The Survey of London,

1633, p. 630.

Masons," Niebuhr observes: '/. e., The transition period between fable and contemporary history. " Between the completely poetical age, which stands in a relation to history altogether irrational, and the purely historical age, there intervenes in all nations a mixed age, which may be called the mythic-historical" (History of Rome, 3d edit., translated by Archdeacon Hare and Bishop ThiriwaU.
1837, vol.
'

In the earlier editions of 1603 and 1618, the compiler observes of the London Guild of but of what antiquitie that Company is, I haue not read"). Cf. ante, pp. 268, 273, 283.

1.,

p. 209).
xi., p. 271).

Lord Bacon, De Sapientia Veterum, pra;f. (Works, edit. Montagu, 1825, vol. and Lewis, On the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in PoUtics, vol. i., p. 382. Chaps. I. and XH.. p. 126.
Cf.

EA RL Y BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

often flung over the gaping chasms, which they cannot
fill

303

up, the slight plank of a vague

conjecture, or have constructed the temporary bridge of an artificial hypothesis:

and thus

they have hazarded what yields no sure footing."

'

Having, however, sufficiently placed on record

or fable of the Bulls,
is

my

belief, that

the seed of the tradition

I shall

contained in the early history of the Friars,'

not waste time

over a minute dissection of possible causes which

Elias Ashmole.

may have

influenced the judgment of

I shall

Ex

pede Herculem.

From

the fragment before them,

leave

my

readers to form their

own

conclusions with regard to the measure of indebtedness, under

his labors resulted in presenting us

which we should have been placed by Dr. Knipe, had

collection of papers, or materials for a

with the entire history, execided as well as designed by the eminent antiquary, of whose

work on Freemasonry, we, alas, know nothing beyond what may be gleaned from the scraps of information which have found their way into the pages of the " Biographia Britaunica."
Having duly considered the actual testimony
which have been somewhat loosely attributed
subject.
I

of the antiquary, as well as the opinions

to him, let us proceed to another part of

our

am

in

doubt whether to

call it

the next, for in examining seventeenth century

Masonry as a whole, the parts

that
it is

are so connected,

and

so intimately

dependent on each other,

difficult to decide

not only impossible to separate

them completely, but extremely

in what order they should be taken.

First of

all,

however,

it

may be
which

necessary to explain, that in deferring until a later

liave yet to be
I

stage, the general observations

made, on the character of the Free-

masonry into which Ashmole was admitted,

all

am

desirous of placing before

my

readers
portion,

the evidence which

still

may

tend, either directly or even remotely, to clear

away a

of the obscurity

surrounding this early period of Masonic history.

Although the only contemporary writer (in addition to those already named), by
either the

whom

Freemasons or their

art, are

mentioned

in the last quarter of the

seventeenth

yet the existence of several metropolitan lodges at this period was subsequently affirmed by Dr. Anderson, who, m his summary of Masonic history, temp. " Particular Lodges were not so frequent and mostly occasmial William and Mary,
century,
is

Handle Holme
states:

'

in the South, except in or near the Places

where great Works are carried on.

Thus

Sir

Robert Clayton got an occasional Lodge of his Brother Masters to meet at St. Thomas's
Hospital, Southwark, a.d. 1093,

and

to advise the

Governours about the best Design of

rebuilding that Hospital as

it

now

stands most beautiful; near which a stated Lodge con-

tinued long afterwards."

'Disraeli,
'

Amenities of Literature,

1841, vol.

iii.,

p. 360.

Chap. XIL, pp. 156, 157. It is possible, that in the opinion of some persons, the story of the Bulls will seem to have no ground or origin, as the authorities afford no explanation of tlie way by whicli However this may be, its pedigree, if it has one, must, in my judgment, be it came into existence. sought for outside the genuine traditions of the Society. Trailition will not supply the place of his-

Thus in 1770 the New Zealanders had no recolbest, it is untrustworthy and short-lived. Tasman's visit. Yet this took place in 1643, less than one hundred and thirty years before, and must have been to tliem an event of the greatest possible importance and interest. In the same way the North Amierican Indians socu lost all tradition of De Soto's expedition, although by its s'riking incidents it was so well suited \o impress the Indian mind. Cf. Sir J. Lubbock, Pre-historic Times, 4th edit., p. 294 Dr. J. Mawk-;sworth, Voyages of Discovery in the Southern Hemisphere, and H. R. Schoo craft, History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, 18531773, vol. ii., p. 388
torj'.

At

lection of

1856. vol.

ii.,

n. 13.

*Ante,

p. 293.

304

EA RL V BRITISH FEEEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

old

" Besides that and the

Lodge

of St. Paul's, there

was another in Piccadilly over

'

against St. Jatiies's Church,

one near Westtninster Abby, another near Coveiit-Oarden,

tliat

one in Holborn, one on Tower-Hill, and some more

assembled statedly. "

The

value, however, of the preceding passages

seriously

from the " Book of Constitutions," impaired by the paragraph which next follows them, wherein Anderson says
privately

is

" The King was

made

a Free Mason, approved of their Choice of G. Master

Wren,
an

and encourag'd him

ton-'ffioxtvt in the

in rearing St. Paul's Cathedral,

and the great

New

Part of
'

^ampafter

Augustan

Stile,

by

far the finest

Royal House in England

old Design of Inigo Jones, where a bright Lodge was held during the Building."

distinction

is

here drawn between occasional and stated lodges, but the

last quotation,

beyond indicating a possible derivation of the now almost obsolete expression, "bright Mason," is only of importance because the inaccuracies with which it teems render it difficult,

not to say impossible, to yield

full

credence to any other statements, unsupported

by no better source of authority.

Evelyn,'
of St.
it
it

may be

incidentally observed,

and

also

Thomas's Hospital, but in neither of their

diaries,

Ashmole' himself, were governors is there any allusion from which

to either of these

might be inferred, that the practice of holding lodges there, was known
is

persons.

Ashmole's death, however, in the year preceding that in which Sir Eobert Clayhave assembled his Lodge, deprives the incident of an importance that might
it,

ton

said to

otherwise have attached to

very

much

after the fashion of the precedent, afforded

by

the decease of Sir Eobert Moray prior to the Masonic meeting of 1682, from which his
absence, had he been alive, equally with his attendance, would have been alike suggestive
of

some curious speculation.'

We now
been

come

to the evidence, direct

and

indirect,

which

is

associated with the

name

of Randle Holme, author of the celebrated " Academic of

briefly referred to.

The

third Randle Holme, like his

Armory," which has already father and grandfather before

him, was a herald and deputy to the Garter King of Arms, for Cheshire, Lancashire,
Shropshire, and North Wales.

He

was born December 24, 1627, and died March 12,

I shall

1699-1700.

In the " Academic of Armory," which

presently cite, are several allu-

sions to the Freemasons.

These, even standing alone, would be of great importance, as

embodying certain remarks of a non-operative Freemason, A.D. 1688, in regard to the Society. For a simple reference, therefore, to this source of information, which had so far eluded previous research, as to be unnoticed by Masonic writes, Eylands would deserve the best thanks of his brother archaeologists. But he has done far more than this, and in two interesting papers, communicated to the Masonic Magazine,^ which conclude a series
'

Constitutions, 1738, pp. 106, 107.

is

In the spelling, as well as in the use of capitals and

italics,

the original

closely followed.

'ibid., p. 107.
3

Diary, Sept.

5, 1687.

5. Hor. ante merid. A green staff was sent me by the Steward of St Thomas's Hospital, with a signification that I was chosen one of the governors " (Ashmole, Diary).
*

" 1684

March 11
p. 233.

Ante,

Rylands, Freemasonry in the Seventeenth Century, Chester, 1650-1700 (Masonic Magazine, January and February, 1882). In this sketch, as well as in his notes on the Warrington meeting, a.d. 1646 {ante, p. 265, note 3), to which it is a sequel, the indefatigable research of the
"

See

W. H.

writer has been happily aided

"by a

species of fox-hound instinct, enabling

still

him

to scent out that

game

which, unearthed by previous sportsmen,"

lurks in or between the close covers of parish

'

EA RL V BRI TISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

of articles, entitled,

305

" Freemasonry in the Seventeenth Century," we are presented with

life,

a more vivid picture of Masonic

at a period distant

some two centuries from our own,

This has been accomplished,

than has hitherto been limned by any

artist of the craft.

by research

piecing together all the items of information relating to the general subject lying ready to his hand, by instituting a careful research among the wills in the Chester Court of Probate, and lastly, by adding a facsimile
of the material portions of an important manuscript, showing their original state in a

in the library of the British

Museum, by

manner which could never have been

Handle Holme
it

effected

by printing types.
is

is

the central figure, around which a great deal

of our task to

made

will

become a part

examine

his testimony, of which,

and some more than the

to revolve;

rest,

may be

said to be undesignedly

commemorative

of former usages

in

the threefold

capacity of text-writer.

Freemason

of the Lodge,

and transcriber of the "Old Charges."

In the two

latter,

present inquiry,

viz.,

he supplies evidence which carries us into the penultimate stage of our the examination of our manuscript Constitutions, and of the waifs
of

and

strays in the

form

Lodge

records,

from which alone

it

is

at all possible to further

illuminate the especially dark portion of our annals, immediately preceding the accredited history, wherein

dawn

of

we may be

said to pass gradually

from a

faint

glimmer into

nearly perfect light.

Reserving, therefore, for its proper place an explanation of the grounds upon which deem the evidence of the " Old Charges" to form an essential preliminary to our passing a final judgment upon the scope and character of Freemasonry in the seventeenth century, I shall proceed to deal with Handle Holme, and the various circumstances which concur in rendering him so material a witness at the bar of Masonic history. The following is from the " Acadeniie of Armory: " "A Fraternity, or Society,' or Brotherhood, or Company; are such in a corporation,
I

that are of one and the

same

trade, or occupation,

and covenant, do follow such orders and

order, rule,

rules, as are

who being joyned together by oath made or to be made, for the good

are generally governed

of such and every of their occupations. These several Fraternities by one or two Masters, and two Wardens, but most Companies with us by two Aldermen, and two Stewards, the later, being to receive and pay what concerns

and support

them."

page 111, in his review of the various trades, occurs: " Terms of Art used by Free Mason-Stone Cutters;" and then follows: "There are several other terms used by the

On

Free-Masons which belong to buildings. Pillars and Columbs.' Next are described the " Terms of Art used by Free-Masons;" and at page 393,* under
the heading of " Masons Tools," Randle Holme thus expresses himself: "
registers.
I

cannot but
I reluc-

Both essays merit a careful perusal, and

in limiting

my quotations

from them,

tantly acquiesce in the dictum of Daunou, that minute antiquarian discussions ought to be separated

from actual history (Cours d'fetudes Historiques,

ography; they are essential elements for the
'

1842-47, torn,

vii., p. 560).

'In cases of this kind, facsimiles of manuscripts are

critical

much more than mere specimens

history.

of palae-

knowledge of

Cf. Palgrave, History of

Normandy and England, vol. i., p. 749. The manner in which Randle Holme employs these terms, in 1688, may be mind when the passage is reached relating to his own membership of the Society.
68(23): and Chap. XIV.,
p. 273.

usefully borne in
Cf.

Chap, n.,

p.

^Bk. m., chap,

*lbid., chap. ix.
vol..

iii.,

p. 61.

IT. 20.

"

3o6

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Honor the Felloship of the Masons because of its Antiquity; and the more, as being a Member of that Society, called Free-Masons. In being conversant amongst them I have
observed the use of these several Tools following some whereof
I

have seen born in Coats

Armour."'
Later he speaks of "Free Masons" and "Free Masonry" tools; and, in his description of the

" Use
s,

of Pillars," observes:

" For
is

it is

ever a term amongst

is

Work-men

of the

Free Masons Science, to put a difference between that which

called a

Column, and that

which they term

Pillar, for a

Column

ever round, and the Capital and Pedestal answerfor the better understanding of all the parts of
set forth all their

able thereunto.'"

He
.

continues:
.

"Now

a Pillar, or Golumh,

I shall in

two examples,

words of Art, used

about them; by which any Gentleman

may be

able to discourse a Free-Mason or other

workman

in his

own terms."'
number
of engraved plates, intended for the second
of these
is

In Harleian MS. 5955, are a

volume of the " Academic of Armory," which was not completed. On one annexed curious representation of the arms of the ^Masons, or ffree " The arms of this body," says Eylands, " have been Masons.
often changed, and seem to be enveloped in considerable mystery

the

In the opinion of the same authority, the in some of its forms." form given by Handle Holme is the first and only instance of the two columns being attached to the arms as supporters. " It is also worthy of remark," adds Rylands, " that he figures the chevron plain,

and not engrailed

colors are the

as in the original grant to the Masons'

Company

of

London.
castles.

towers are single, as in his description, and not the old square four-towered

The The

same as those in the original grant to the Company of Masons. Eandle Holme describes the columns as being of the " Corinthian order," and of Or, that

is,

gold.

Two

descriptions, differing in

or manuscript

volume

of

some slight particulars, are given, in the second " Academie," of the plate, fig. 18, from which the facsimile, the

the same size as the original, has been tiiken, and placed at

my

service for insertion above,

by the friend

to

whose research
as follows,

am

indebted for these quotations from the work of Randle

I subjoin in

Holme.

One runs

and the other

a note: "

He

beareth. Sable, on

a cheueron betweene three towers Argent: a paire of compasses extended of the first v'^ is the Armes of the Right Honored & Right Worshipfull company of ffree = Masons: whose

escochion

is

cotized (or rather upheld, sustained, or supported) by two columbes or pillars

of the Tuscan, or Dorick, or Corinthian orders."*

We now
"
. . . .

approach the consideration of Harleian MS. 2054, described in the catalogue,

Bibliothecffi Harleianse," as

" a book

in folio consisting of

by the second Randle

Holme and

others

many tracts and loose papers and the third Randle Holme's

Account
'

of the Principal Matters contained in this

Italics, I

Book."

him
"
It

who observes of the above paragraph that it caused forming the essay to which I have previously referred. He adds, appears to have never before been noticed, and I need hardly call attention to its importance."'
In the use of

here follow Rylands,

to put together the notes,

Bk. in., chap,

xiii., p.

460.

'

Ibid., p. 466.

Masons, or ffree Masons, S. on a cheueron betw. 3 towers A. a paire Harleian MS. of compasses extended S (of olde the towers were triple towered), " the crest on a Wreath, a Tower A, the Escochion is cotized with two columes of the corinthion Order O. Motto is, In the laord is aJJ
2035, p. 56.

our Trust

the free Masons were

made a company,

13.

H. IV."

(Ibid., p. 204, n't-an^

5rother The Hon. Joseph K- Knowland, 32

MEMBER OF CONGRESS FOR THE THIRD DISTRICT OK CALIFORNIA.
Initiated into
ol"

Freemasonry

in

Oak Grove Lodge, No.

full

215, Alameda, California.

Brother Joseph R. Knowland,

in Congre.ss, yet his life
5,

.Mameda,

California, although only thirty-one years of age

and the youngest member

liorn in

h.is

been one of useful activity and his career

all his

of promise,

Alameda, August

1S73, of staunch

.American stock, he has lived

educated in the public schools,

sui.s s ion after
affairs,

community a life that is free from stain or shadow. He was Hopkins Academy and the University of the Pacific, entering into business purdays
in that

Knowland took a keen interest in public a Past Master of Oak Grove Lodge, No. 215, of .\lameda, California, having been raised to the chair June 2, 1898; made a companion of Alameda Chapter, No. 70, May 13, 1899; Oakland Commamlery, K. T., No. 11, August 7, 1899, being a life member of the l.\st two; OikUnd Lodge of Perfection, No. 2; Gethsemane Chapter, No. 2, Rose Croix; De Molay Counleaving college.

Before reaching his majority,

15i

other

and early manifested a

taste for politics.

Brother

Knowland

is

cil,

No.

2.

hfc

member of

Knights Kadosh, and Oakland Consistory, No. 2, A. A. S. R., all of Oakland, California. He the Scottish Rite bodies, and belongs to Islam Temple of San Francisco, A. A. O. N. M. S.

is

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Among
the "loose papers "
is

307

a version of

the " Old Charges"

already analysed with some particularity in an earlier chapter.'

tutions " was transcribed by the third Kandle

(12), which has been This copy of the " Consti-

Uolme.

I arrive at this opinion, in

is

the

main, from the general character of the handwriting, which

that of the person of the younger

evidently identical with

who wrote the table of contents prefixed to the volume. In the index Holme are the words: " Free Masons' Orders & Constitutions," which are
'

repeated, almost as it were in facsimile, at the top of folio 20, the only difference being, that in the latter instance the word " the" begins the sentence, whilst the " & " is replaced

by "and."
letter
final

The heading or
s,

title,
'

therefore, of the

catalogue of the " Old Charges,"

is,

MS. numbered 12 in my calendar or " The Free Masons' Orders and Constitutions." The
and the
is

/
:

and the long

which

in each case are twice used, are indistinguishable,

at

s in

"Masons," "Orders," and " Constitutions,"

both

folios 2

and 29

thus

shown
I

Orderg.
(fol.

have further compared the acknowledged handwriting of the younger Holme

I

2)

and that which

throughout the

deem

to be his

(fol.

29), with another table of contents

from the same

pen, given in a separate volume of the Harleian Collection.*

series,

and

it

only remains to be stated, that

The chirography is the same in setting down the transcripto the third

tion of the Masonic Constitutions, given in the Harleian

MS. 2054,

Handle

Holme,

I find

myself in agreement with Rylands, to whose minute analysis of Freemasonry

at Chester in the seventeenth century, I of pursuing the subject to

must

refer the curious reader

who may

be desirous

any greater length.

As

there were two Eandle

it

Holmes

before the
all

author of the "Academic," as well as two

after him,

has seemed desirable on

grounds to disentangle the subject from the con-

fusion which naturally adheres to

it,

through the somewhat promiscuous use by com-

mentators, of the same Christian and surname, without any distinctive adverb to

mark

which of the

;5i'?'e

generations

is

alluded

to.

The
later

third Eandle

Holme
it is

cannot, indeed, in the present sketch, be confused with his

some importance in this inquiry to establish the fact if fact it be that the author of the "Academic of Armory," the Freemason of the Chester Lodge, and the copyist to whose labors we are indebted for the form of the " Charges" contained in the Harleian MS. 2054, was one and the same person. In the first place, it carries us up the stream of Masonic history by easier stages, than
namesakes, but
of

if,

let us say,

the second Eandle

Holme

either transcribed
it.

MS.

12, or

was the Freemason

whose name appears in connection with

To make this clearer, it must be explained that the first Handle Holme, Deputy to the College of Arms for Cheshire, Shropshire, and North Wales, was Sheriff of Chester in He was buried at St Mary's-on-the-Hill 1615, Alderman in 1629, and Mayor in 1G33-4. Hs second son and heir was the second Handle Holme, at Chester, January 30, 1654-5.
baptized July 15, 1601, and became a Justice of the Peace, Sheriff of Chester during his

and was himself Mayor in 1643, when the city was besieged by the Parliamentarians. With his father, he was Deputy to Norroy King of Arms for ChesHe died, aged sixty-three, September 4, 1659, and hire, Lancashire, and North Wales.
father's Mayoralty,
'

Harleian MS. 2054, fol. 2, line 7. n., p. 64. " The third Handle Holme's List of the things of principal Note in this

'

Chap. H.

Book" (Harleian MS.

3072,

fol. 1).

'ilasonic Magazine, January and February, 18S2.

3o8

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

also buried at St. Mary's-on-the-Hill.

was
dle

His eldest son and

heir,

erine, eldest

daughter of Matthew Ellis of Overlegh,

It
is

co. Chester, gent,

by his first wife, Cathwas the third Han-

Holme."

therefore evident that

if

the Masonic papers in Harleian MS. 2054

point to the father instead of to the son, their evidence must date from a period certainly

whereas, on a contrary view, the entry referring to the membership a Randle Holme, and the transcription of the " Legend of the Craft," will be brought of

not later than 1659

down

to the second half of the seventeenth century.

i.e.,
'

Although by Woodford^ the date of the Harleian MS. 2054 has been approximately fixed at the year 1625, and by Hughan
it

the Masonic entries

following Mr.

Bond

'

at

1650,

must be

fairly stated that the evidence

on which they

relied, has

crumbled away
author of

since their opinions were severally expressed.

It is possible, of course, that the

the " Academic" may have made the transcript under examination so early as 1650, when he was in his twenty-third year ; but apart altogether from the improbability of this having
occurred, either by reason of his age
of evidence
is
'

or

from the unsettled condition of the times, a mass

it

forthcoming, from which

may

safely be inferred that the list of Free-

masons, members of the Chester Lodge, was drawn up, and the Constitutions copied, at

midway between the years of transcription of manuscripts numbered 13 and That is to s;ty, the gap between the Sloane MS. 3848 (13), 23 respectively in Chapter II. certified by Edward Sankey in 1646, and the Antiquity (23), attested by Robert Padgett in 1686, is lessened, if not entirely bridged over, by another accredited version of the " Old Charges," dating circa 1665. The evidence, upon the authority of which this period of origin may, in my judgment, be assigned to Harleian MS. 2054 (13), will be next presented; and at the conclusion of these notes on Randle Holme and the Chester Freemasons, I shall more fully explain the design of which the latter are slightly anticipatory, and, connecting the "Old Cliarges" of more recent date with the actual living Freemasonry which immediately preceded the era of Grand Lodges, I shall follow the clue
a date about

they afford to our earlier history, as far into the region of the past as
safety be relied

it

may with any

upon

as a guide.

In the same volume of manuscripts as the transcript of the Constitutions by Randle

Holme, and immediately succeeding it, is the following form of oath, in the same hand" There is seii''all words & signes of a free Mason to be revailed to y" w*^*" as y writincr will answ: before God at the Great & terrible day of ludgm' y"keep Secret & not to revaile

the same to any in the heares of any pson

free

but

to the

M" &

fellows of the said Society of

Masons
is

so helpe

me

God, xc."
it

This

written on a small scrap of paper, about which Rylands observes, " as

it

has evi-

dently been torn off the corner of a sheet before

it is

was used by Randle Holme, probably

rough memorandum." The next leaf in the same volume contains some further notes by Randle Holme.
a
'

These

W. H.

'The "Old Charges"

^ *

Rylands, Freemasonrj' in the Seventeenth Century, Chester, 1650-1700. of British Freemasons, 1872 (preface, p. xi).
;

Ibid., p. 8

Letter, dated

Masonic Sketches and Reprints, 1871, part ii., p. 33. June 8, 1869, from Edward A. Bond, British Musemn, to

W.

P.

Buchan

(Free-

masons' Magazine, July 10, 1869, p. 29). ' The "General Regulations" of 1721 (Grand Lodge of England) enact, that no man under the age of twenty-five is to be made a Mason. Unless, however, this law was a survival of a far older
one,
it

has no bearing on the point raised

in tlie text.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

CTidenily relate to the
varied interpretation.

309
admit of a

economy

of

an existing Lodge, but some of the

in each case I
'

details

Facsimiles of this page, and of the fragment of paper on which the

"Oath"
from the
it is

is

written, are given

by Rylands, but
of these

have preferred transcribing

fair copy,

which he prints

MSS.

The

following are the entries relating,

supposed, to the Chester Lodge:

William

Wade

w''

giue for to be a free Mason.

,20s.

inMi
iii
i

ii
i

ii

'

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A XD.

Commenting upon these items, Rylands observes: "The reason for the difference in amount of the entrance fees paid, as given in the analysis at the end of the list, is not Why, it may be asked, are the first five names separated from the others, easy to explain. different form? Are they superior officers of the Fellowship, and are we to and given in understand the marks occurring before their names as recording the number of their attendances at the lodge, the number of votes recorded at some election, or the payment of certain odd amounts?"
the
It is not,

however, so clear as to be reduced to actual demonstration, that the various

in the analysis at the foot of the list represent the

sums enumerated
by the initiates

entrance-money paid
(if

or " newly-made " brethren.

The

irregular

amounts

not old scores),

might just as well stand for the ordinary subscriptions of the members, since there would
be nothing more singular in the custom of a graduated scale of dues, than in that of exactat the admission of new members or brethren. names could hardly be those of superior officers of the Fellowship, except on the supposition that William Wade received promotion at a very early stage of his Masonic life. The marks, indeed, are placed before the names of the five and on this jjoint I shall again offer a few remarks but between the two, is a row of figures, denoting sums of money varying in amount from twenty to five shillings. The strokes or dashes can

ing a varying

sum

The

first five

hardly be regarded as a tally of attendances, except

to

bring in another supposition

we

imagine that the twenty-one members whose names appear in a separate column, stood

somehow on a

different footing in the lodge,

attendances unnecessary ?

which rendered a record of their Lastly, as to the payment of odd amounts, this is a feature
five,

from the

characterizing the entire body of entries, and therefore nothing can be founded

upon

it,

which

is

not equally applicable to both classes or division of members.

if
it

what shall we offer in its place ? amounts below the words " William Wade w* give to be a free Mason," were received at the meeting, of which the folio in question is in part a register, and that the five names only are the record of those who attended ? On this hypothesis,
Yet,

we

reject this explanation,

Can

be, that the

the clerk

or vertical lines
into his

may have drawn the long horizontal lines opposite specific sums, and the crosses may represent the number of times each of these several amounts passed pocket. The column headed by the name of William Harvey, may be an inven5,

tory of the dues owing by absentees, and in this view, there were present,
21, the total
will

and absent,

membership being

26.

Those familiar with the records of old Scottish lodges

be aware that frequently the brethren

who attended were but few

in

number compared

with those who absented themselves, the dues and fines owing by the latter being often
largely in excess of the actual

payments of the former.

it is

There
asks
votes at

is

one, however, of Rylands' suggestions, to which

necessary to return.

He
of

may not the marks

some
election
?

before the five

names be understood
it

as recording the

number
is

That

this is the true solution of these crossed lines, I shall

not
sup-

te so rash as to affirm, though, indeed,

'It

harmonizes with Masonic

usiige,'

and

Woods (8s. and 5s.). the and more attached to their names amounts to 19 exactly the number of scratches opposite the five names commencing the page also no account is taken of the five names in the summary of amounts, which only accounts for the twenty-one entries. Further Randle Holme could not have been botli scribe and absentee ' Chap, vm., p. 15; and Freemasons' Magazine (Mother Kilwinning), Aug. 8, 1863, p, 96.

may

be worth remarking that excluding the two names, Hughes and

number

of those

having

10s.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

lodges of Freemasons.

31

ported by some trustworthy evidence respecting the ancient practice at elections dehors the

The

of Master

records of the Mercliant Tailors, under the year 1573, inform us that at the election and Wardens, the clerk read the names, and every one " made his mark or tick "

against the one he wished to be chosen.

quote directly from

my

" In the case of an equal authority), " the master pricks again." "
St.

number

of ticks" (to

In the " Memorials of

of the Select Vestry,

John

at

among which, under

Hackney,"' are given some extracts from the Minutes the date of September C, 1735, it is stated that

the Vestry agreed " to scratch for the ten petitioners, according to the old method," which they did, and it is thus entered

Hannah England, aged

Mary North, aged 59

66 years,

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

.
.

. .

16
18
1

Elizabeth Holmes, aged 71 do.,

do.,

i i i

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

Elizabeth Stanley, aged 60 do.,

i i i i i i i i

in the main, the beaten track of those commentators who have preceded an examination of the Masonic writings, preserved in volume 2054 of the Harleian MSS. it becomes, however, at this stage, essential to point out, and, as it were, accentu-

Having followed
in

me

ate the fact, that, standing alone, and divested of the reference to William Wade, folio 34

of the

MS

would contain nothing from which a person of ordinary

intelligence
of

might

infer, that it related to the proceedings, or accounts, of a lodge or

company

Masons or
establish-

Freemasons.

The names and

figures

would lend themselves equally well to the

ment

of any other hypothesis having a similar basis in the usages of the craft guilds.

But

although the words " William

enigmatical

Wade

w' giue for to be a free Mason," are brief

is

the very brevity of

folio 34, if it
it

not to say
folio,

the sentence which

given in Harleian MS. 2054, at the

commencemeni of
suggests that

does not prove the sheet to have been only a

memorandum,

may be

the continuation of a paragraph or entry from a previous

now

missing.

It

unfortunately happens, that dates, which might have aided in determining this point,

are wholly wanting; but

we

are not without compensation for this

loss,

inasmuch as the baldthe subject

ness of the entries which are extant, induced Rylands to

make

the

Holme MS.

of minute research, from which

we get ground

for supposing, that as at

Warrington in

1646, so in Chester in 1665-75, and in the system of Freemasonry practised at both these

towns, the speculative element largely predominatal.

Also, that all the notes of Handle

Holme, glanced
bers,
is

at in these pages, were connected with the

Lodge
is

at Chestef

and

its

memWade,

placed beyond reasonable doubt; and that more of the latter than William
described, will

were entitled to the epithet free Mason, by which he alone

appear when
the several occupations in life of the greater
folio

more

clearly

number

of those persons
readers.

whose

names are shown on

It

34 of the

Holme MS.

are placed before

my

may be remarked, however,

that even prior to the exhumation of the Chester Wills

by Rylands, the fact that the names of Randle Holme, author, herald and son of the Mayor
Herbert, Companies of London, vol. L,

p.

194

By

R. Simpson, 1883, p. 133.

312

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

and Samuel Pike,
tailor, are

of Chester, William Street, alderman,

included in the

list,

shows very clearly that the Lodge, Company, or Society was not composed exclusively of
operative masons.

Rylands has succeeded in tracing twenty out of the twenty-six names given
but whether in every, or indeed, in any case, the persons

in the list,

who

are proved by accredited

last thirty-six

documents
of

to

have actually existed at a period synchronizing with the

life

years

Eandle Holme's

(1665-1700), are identical with their namesakes of the Chester asso-

ciation or fellowship, I shall, as far as space will permit, enable each of

my readers to

judge

for himself.

The names

of William Street, alderman, Michael Holden, Peter

Seth Hilton, Kandle Holme, John Parry,

Thomas

Morris,

Downham, Thomas May, and George Harand George Harvey

respectively, which, for

vey, do not appear in the index of wills at Chester; but William Street

are mentioned in the wills of Richard Eatcliffe

and Robert Harvey

the purposes of their identification as persons actually living between the years 1665
1700,
is

and

quite sufficient.

It will

be seen that namesakes of Holden,

Downham,
to this
list

Hilton, Parry,

and May, have not been traced; and

Hughes
then be

of whom
own

Rylands observes

"

if

we add
I

the names of
if

Thomas Morris, John and William

documents

am

only doubtful

in either of the

here printed under the

name

of

Hughes we have the

wills of the

Freemasons," there will

in

the opinion of the diligent investigator

nently his
cation.

only seven persons out

table,

of the original twenty-six,

who has made this subject pre-emiwho still await identifito Rylands' essay, places

The following
comprehended.

which I have drawn up from the appendix

is

the material facts in the smallest compass that

It is due,

consistent with their being adequately

however, to an antiquary

who

finds time, in the midst of graver

studies, to exercise his faculty of microscopic research in the elucidation of

knotty prob-

lems, which baffle

and discourage the weary plodder on the beaten road

of Masonic history

to

state, that whilst laboriously disinterring

much

of the forgotten learning that lies

entombed
his efforts

in

our great manuscript collections, and bringing to the light of day, from the

obscure recesses of parochial registers,

many

valuable entries relating to the Freemasons

do not cease with the attainment of the immediate purpose which stimulated
Thus, in the papers, upon which
I

them

into action.

am

chiefly relying for the present

are given, not only the details,

sketch of Randle

Holme and

the Freemasons of Chester,

we

sustaining the argument of the writer, but also those, which by any latitude of construction

can be held to invalidate the conclusions whereat he has himself arrived.

so far as to anticipate
prints, the title
is

Indeed, he goes

some objections that may be raised, notably, that in the wUls he " Mason," and not " Freemason" (as in the will of Richard Ellom,' 1667),
is

used; also that since in foiir only, the testator

even described as " Mason,"

wills of

it

may be

urged that the remainder "are not, or may not, be the

the MS. of Randle Holme."

the persons mentioned in

The names shown

sons,

in italics are those of persons, with

whose identification as Freema-

Rylands entertains some misgivings.

Ante,

p. 365.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

List of

313

314

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

This
reif

of Richard Tayler, button-maker, may, however, be left out of consideration.

duces the original twenty-six to twenty-four, from which,

of Holden,

we further deduct the names

will

Downham,

Hilton, Parry,
it

Thomas Morris, and May, there

all,

remain eighteen,

some of which, no doubt, and

may be

were identical with those of the Freemasons,

wills,

members

of the Chester fellowship.

In his classification or arrangement of the

This, of course, was the most convenient

analysis of their dates,

Rylands has printed them in the same order as the testators' names are given by Holme. method of procedure; but in dealing with an

which

is

essential

if

a correct estimate of their value

is

desired,

it

becomes necessary to

make a

chronological abstract of the period of years over which these

documents range.

For the purposes of

determined.

this inquiry, I shall

make no

distinction

between the

fifteen per-

sons whose wills have been printed and the three whose identification has been otherwise

To

the former, therefore,

I shall

assign the dates

when

their respective wills

were executed, to William Street and George Harvey those of the wills in which they are This method of computation is doubtless mentioned, and to Randle Holme the year 1700.
a rough one; but, without assuming an arbitrary basis of facts, I

am

unable to think of

any other which so well

(execute,

fulfils

my

immediate purpose,

viz.

to arrive at an approximate

calculation with regard to the dates of decease of the eighteen.

Thus we
six in

find that five die

or are

named

in wills)

between 1G65 and 1677;

1680-1684;

three in

1693-1699; and four in 1700-1716.

Now, Randle Holme was in his thirty-eighth year in 1665, the farthest point to which we can go back, if we accept the will of John Fletcher, clothworker, as that of the Freeand on grounds to be presently shown I think we safely may the If we do mason. of Holme's life will afford some criterion whereby we may judge of the inherent probspan

ability of his associates in the lodge, circa 1665,

having succumbed to destiny in the same

ratio as the testators whose wills have been examined.

Holme

died before he had quite

completed his seventy-third year.

older,

Some

of the

Freemasons

of a.d. 1665

must have been

possible that this
is

some younger, than

as

himself.

Among

the latter

we may probably include William

it is

Wade, who,

he outlived the herald a period of about sixteen years,

nearly represented the difference between their ages

a supposition

to

which color

lent

by the character of the entry respecting

he had not advanced beyond his
the fellowship of Freemasons;

Holme MS. It would thus appear twenty-second year when proposed for or admitted
him
in the

that
into

and indeed, from this circumstance, I should be inclined to think either that the Holme MS. must be brought quite down to 1665, the date of John Fletcher's death, or that the disparity of years between Holme and Wade is not adequately
denoted by the period of time separating the deaths of these men.

material point for our examination

is

the trade or calling which

is

to be assigned to

each of the eighteen.

Aldermen and Masons predominate, being four and

and
laborer.
It will

four.

There are two

'

gentlemen

(including Holme), a merchant,' clothworker, glazier, tailor, carpenter, tanner, bricklayer,

be seen that only /owr were of the Mason's trade, thus leaving fourteen (not to speak of the missing six), whose occupations in life, unless perhaps we except the brick'

'

Three, if we accept William Hughes of Holt as the Freemason. An ambiguous term in Scotland, retail dealers are often called
;

" Merchants" at

this day.

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

layer,

and possibly the carpenter and

glazier,

had nothing

in

common

with the operations

of the stone-masons.
It is certain that a large

number

and

should be inclined to say all the persons traced

by

Rylands as actually residing in the city or county of Chester between 1665

as the

and 1716
In the
first

must be accepted
place,
it

Freemasons with whose names their own correspond.

least, if for

may

fairly be

assumed that some at

Indeed, this

the present

we go no

further, of

Holme's brethren in

tlie

fellowship were of a class with

is

whom

he could, in the

social

mean-

ing of the term, associate.

placed beyond doubt by the MS.

itself.

William

Street, alderman, falls plainly within this description.

William and Robert Harvey and

John Maddock,

also

aldermen, though their identification with the Freemasons depends

upon separate evidence, must, I think, be accepted without demur as the persons Holme had Next, if regard is had to the fact that the index of the in his mind when penning his list. Chester Wills, in two cases only, record duplicate entries of any of the twenty-six names
'

in

Holme's

list,' it

is

in the highest degree improbable that in either of the remaining

in the

instances,

where namesakes of the Freemasons are mentioned

pi;t

documents at the
If,

Probate Court, the coincidence can be

wills printed

down

as wholly fortuitous.

moreover, the

by Rylands are actually examined, the fact that many of the testators (and
have been, whilst strengthening the conviction that the

Freemasons) were so intimately connected with one another, as these documents make

them out
sons for

to

men were members

of

the lodge, will supply, in the details of their intimacy and relatioushijj, very adequate rea-

many
I

of

them being banded together

in a fraternity.

Here

part company, at least for a time, with Handle Holme.

The evidence which

a portion of
it I

nis writings disclose, has

been spread out before

my

readers.

To

shall

return;* but
of evidence

it

will

be

essential, first of all, to explain

with some particularity the channel

upon which I shall next embark. As already stated, the preceding disquisition on Chester Freemasonry has been
which
will

to

some

degree anticipatory of a few observations on our old manuscript Constitutions, in their

collective character,

next follow.

A
rists,

passage in the interesting volume, which narrates the adventures of the French Laza-

MM. Hue
much

and Gabet,

in the course of their expedition through Mongolia into Thibet,

tends so

to illustrate the value of the

" Old Charges"

as historical

muniments, con-

necting one century with another, and bridging over the chasm of ages, that I
to transcribe
it.

am

induced

" On the third day we came,

in the solitude,

ment
'

of antiquity,

large city utterly abandoned.

upon an imposing and majestic monuSuch remains of ancient

.
.
.

I.e.,

of persons described as " of Chester."

Cf.

Masonic Magazine, Feb.

1883, pp. 309-319.

John Huglies and Richard Taylor, or Tayler. ' Particularly William, Robert, and Georg-e Harvey Richard RatclilTe and William Street and John Maddocke and Richard Taylor. In the last example, Maddocke by his will makes his "son-inlaw, Rieliard Taylor," executor, and an inventory of his goods was taken by Rich. Taylor, Senior. As the other Richard Taylor is styled Jun. in his own will, this is a little confusing, though it doubtless identifies either father or son as the Freemason. For the reasons already expressed, I incline to the latter view. In the will of the fourth Randle Holme (1704) are named a niece, Barbara Lloyd, a cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter ffoulks, and a brother-in-law, Edward Lloyd, gen'
; ;

tleman.
*I.e., to

the " Academie of Armory," ante, pp. 305, 306.

3i6
cities are of

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

no unfrequent occurrence in the deserts of Mongolia; but everything connected with their origin and history is buried in darkness. Oh, with what sadness does such a The ruins of Greece, the superb remains of Egypt, all these, it is spectacle' fill the soul
!

true, tell of death; all belong to the past; yet

they are;

you can

retrace, in

when you gaze upon them, yon knoto what memory, the revolutions which have occasioned the ruins and
Descend into the tomb, wherein was buried alive it is true, a gigantic skeleton, but you have
to

the decay of the country around them.

the city of Herculaneum,

you find there,

within you historical associations wJierewith

galvanize

it.

cities of Tartary, not a tradition remains; they are tombs without

But of these old abandoned an epitaph, amid solitude

'

and

silence,

uninterrupted except when the wandering Tartars halt, for a while, within
instance, inconsistent with the language of
to another, or, to vary the expression,

the ruined enclosures, because there the pastures are richer and more abundant."

fact.
is

The language of metaphor is not, in this What is faith to one man is but fancy
is

what

dross to one person, to another

precious ore.

Thus, our old manuscript "Constitu-

tions" will be variously regarded from the different points of view of individual inquirers.

To

may appear as " tombs without an epitaph " but " upon them, will know what they are,"^ nor will it be the thoughtful Freemason, looking The vital spark of necessary to receive by induction an inkling of the speechless past. " Like the electric fire, transtradition has been handed on without being extinguished.
the superficial observer, indeed, they

mitted through the living chain, hand grasping hand,"* there has been no break, the
transmission has gone on.

justified to

which notoriously exists with respect to the history of antiquity a laxity some extent by the necessity of taking the best evidence which can be obtained has caused it to be laid down by a great authority, that " where that evidence is wholly uncertain, we must be careful not to treat it as certain, because none other can be procured."' On the other hand, it is necessary to bear in mind that " historical pvrrhonism

The

laxity

and

may become more detrimental to historical truth than historical credulity. We may reject like the King of France, who, reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagreness,

refusing
tion."'

all

food

lest

he should be poisoned, brought himself

to death's door

by

starva-

1 adduce the preceding quotations, because the views to which I am giving expression, with respect to the value of the " Old Charges" as historical evidence, carrying back the

'

E. R. Hue, Travels in Tartary, Thibet,

and China, translated by W.

Hazlitt, 1852, pp. 71, 72.

it

'"A

mj'thology,

when regarded
it

irrespective of the

manner

in ichich

may

have been under-

a system, is obviously' susceptible of any interpretation that stood by those a writer may choose to give it. Hence we have historical, ethnological, astronomical, physical, and psychological or etliical explanations of most mythological systems" (Mallet, Northern Antiquities,

who first reduced

into

p. 477).
2

pared with the

of the earth,

Original historical documents, such as inscriptions, coins, and ancient charters, may be comfossil remains of animals and plants, which the geologist finds embedded in the strata

and from which, even when

in a mutilated state,

he can restore the

e.xtinct species of

a remote
i.,

epoch of the globe " (Lewis,

On

the Methods of Observ'ation and Reasoning in Politics, vol.

I.,

p. 202).
p. 83.

Cf. Lyell, Principles of Geologj', Bk.

chap,

i.;

and Isaac Taylor, Process

of Historic

Proof,

*Palgrave, History of Normandy and England, vol. i., p. 6 'Lewis, Liquiry into the Credibility of the Early Roman History, Palgrave, History of Normandy and England, vol. i., p. 533.

vol.

i.,

p. 16.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

ancestry of the Society to a very remote period,

317

may

not remain unchallenged

title "

and apart
it

from the estimation

seemed desirable

in

which these " muniments of

are regarded by myself,

has

to justify

on broader grounds their somewhat detailed examination at this

advanced stage of our research.

I shall

next group the several versions of the old Masonic Constitutions in six classes or

divisions.

The

Halliwell (1) and Cooke (2) MSS., as they stand alone, and do not

fall

properly within this description, will be excluded, whilst three manuscripts recently

brought to

light,

cluded in the

classification,

and therefore omitted from my general list in Chapter II., will be inunder the titles of the "Lechmere"' (14a), the Colne No.

l(22a), and the Colne No. 2 (25a).

I.

Lodge

Records,

i.e.,

copies or versions of the

is

"Old Charges,"

in actual

Lodge

custody, with regard to which there

no evidence of a possible derivation through any other channel than a purely Masonic one.
Nos. 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 26, and 30.
II.

Now, or formerly, in the custody of Lodges or Individuals, under circumstances

in each case raises a presumption, of their being actually used at the admis-

which

sion or reception of

new members.
Nos. 12, 13, 22, 25, 27, and 28.

III.

Rolls or
Nos.

Scrolls,'

and Copies

in

Book form.
25a, 29, and 31a.*

4, 5, 8, 9, 14a, 15, 20, 21, 22a, 24,

rv.

On Vellum or Parchment.
Nos. 6 and
7.

V.

On Ordinary Paper.'
Nos,
3, 11, 13, 14,

and

31.

VI.

MSS.

not enumerated in the preceding categories (32-51)

viz..

Late Tran-

scnpis, Printed Copies, Extracts, or References in printed books.'

'

Printed in the Masonic Monthly, Dec. 1883,

In omitting Nos. 25 (York,
I., it

p. 377.

'

4)

on

whicli rests the theory of female

membership

and

28

(Scarborough) from Class

may

be remarked that they do not, at least

in

my judgment,

reach

the hig-hest pinnacle of authority.

'

more
*
'

Although many of the documents combine features which would classes than one, each is shown above in that class or division
See Chap. H. last page
, '

justify their inclusion within cmly,

which determines their

(49).

relative authority as historical witnesses.

;

and " Descriptive List of Old Charges,' " post

11 (Harleian, 1942),

It will

be seen that Nos. 3 (Lansdowne) and

text,

both in

tlieir

way

departures

from the ordinary

all,

and as such

relied

upon accordinglj' by

theorists, are placed in the fifth class

Nos. 12 (Harleian, 2054), 13 (Sloane, 3848), 35 ("Vork, 4), and 28 (Scarborough), which it is hoped have been sufficiently disclosed, are included in the seco7id category. Of these the most important are, the Dowland (39), Plot (40), and Roberts (44) MSS. No. 39 is regarded by Woodford as representing the oldest fonn of the Constitutions, with the single exception of No. 25 (York, 4), which latter, in the passage recognising female memberehip, he considers, takes us back to "the Guild of Masons mentioned in the York Fabric Rolls." In No. 40 we have the earliest printed reference to the "Old Charges;" and in No. 44 an allusion to a "General Assembly," held Dec. 8, 1663, which, if based on fact, would make it by far the most valuable record
of these documents. for reasons

of our Society.

31

EARLY BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

The above
classification will

show the

relative estimation in

which

according

to

mj

judgment

the " Old Charges" should be regarded as authoritative or accredited writings.

I

In setting a value on these documents,

scales evenly,

have endeavored in each case to hold the

and whilst

in a

few instances the inclusion of some within either of the two

have been guided, in making what

leading classes

may

at the first view, appear as unreasonable as the exclusion of others, I trust

venture to term an "historical inventory" of our manuscript Constitutions, may meet with the ultimate
that the principles
I
I shall

by which

approval of the few antiquaries

who

will

alone fully traverse the ground over which

my

remarks extend.
In
the
all cases,

however, where the places assigned to those MSS., which are grouped in

first

or second class,

may appear
it
is

to have been
p.

wrongly determined,

it

will

only be

necessary to refer to the "descriptive list" at

319, where the form of each document,

and the material on which

in

written, together with the information already supplied

Chapter

II., will afford criteria for

the formation of an independent judgment.

up with some care, will serve the double pur. statements on trust, whilst indicating to the more cautious reader the sources of authority upon which he must mainly rely for verifyThe 5ISS. Xos. 3, 14, 22, and 25, in each case with an a superadded Melrose ing them.
pose of saving trouble to those

The

following table, which I have drawn

who

take

my

No.
II.

1,

the Lechmere and the two Colnes

is

are additions to the general

italics.

list

given in Chapter
roll

Melrose No. 1

indeed

named

in the text,

though omitted from the

No. 14a

of these
posses-

documents.
sion of Sir

These are shown in the subjoined table in

in the

Edward Lechmere I bring down to a later date than has been assigned to it by Woodford (1646).' Its text resembles that of No. 13. Nos. 22a and 25a preserved in the archives of the " Royal Lancashire Lodge," No. 116, Colne have been transcribed
by

Hughan, on whose authority they are now described. No. which the junior is a copy, though the latter does not contain the " Apprentice" Charges given in the former presents some unimportant variations from the common readings. The words Lodge Records, under the column headed "Form," describe in each case documents coming from the proper custodi/, and where there has apparently been no interruption of possession. Some of the other MSS. may have been, and doubtless were, veritable " Lodge Records " in the same sense, but having passed out of the proper custody, now fail in the highest element of proof. The muniments in Class II. stand indeed only one step below what I term " Lodge Records" as historical documents, and very slightly above the " Rolls " or " Scrolls," and copies in " Rook Form; " still between each of the three divisions there is a marked deterioration of proof, which steadily increases, until at the lower end of the scale the inference that some of the manuscripts were solely used for antiColne MS. (25a)

22 of

'

quarian purposes merges ino absolute certainty.

Freemason, Nov.
18, 1882.

'

of

The authority of Dr. Tregelles might be made to cover the anonymous copj'ists, in the first class. He observes: "Nor can
'

inclusion of
it

MSS. from the hands

be urged as an objection of any

we do not know by whom the ancient copies were written; if there had been any force argument in the remark, it would apply quite as much to a vast number of the modern codices. If I find an anonymous writer, who appears to be intelligently acquainted with his subject, and if in many ways I have had the opportunity of testing and confirming his accuracy, I do not the less accept him as a witness of historic facts, than I should if I knew his name and personal circumstances." (The Greek New Testament, p. 176).
weight, that
of

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

319

Descriptive List of the "Old Charges.'

Nc

320

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

" Old Charges "
(continued). Class VI.

No

'

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

script book,

32

" Secretum Abbatis," preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, containing a grant to an abbey; and an old grant to a priory, brought from the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum have in each case been held to be inadmissible.'
entitled the

On

one important point the writers of the text-books from which

It
if
is

have

last

quoted

are at variance.
admissible, proof,

urged by Mr. Phillipps, that in order to render ancient documents

possible,

must be given

of

some

act doiw with reference to

them, and

that where the nature of the case does not admit of such proofs, acta of modern e}ijo!/tnent

must

at least be shown.'

This doctrine, however, in the opinion of Mr. Pitt Taylor,

it is

is

unsupported by the current of modern decisions; "for although

evidence of acting under
weight,
still

perfectly true that

the mere production of an ancient document, unless supported by some corroborative

it

or of modern possession, would be entitled to

little, if

any,

there appears to be no strict rule of law, which would authorize the judge in

withdrawing the deed altogether from the consideration of the jury;

in other words,

the

absence of proof of possession affects merely the weight, and not the admissibility, of the " instrument.

As
heard.

already observed,' the historian has no rules as to exclusion of evidence or incom-

petency of witnesses.

In his court every document

may be

read, every statement

may

be

But

in proportion as he admits all evidence indiscriminately, he

its effect.

must

exercise dis-

crimination in judging of

Especially

is

this necessary in a critical survey of the

"Old Charges."
that of others.
ture,

The evidence of some of these documents is quite irreconcilable with The truth which certainly lies between them cannot be seized by conjec-

and

is

only to be got at by a review of facts, and not by an attempt to reconcile con-

flicting statements.'
It

being convenient at this point to introduce the promised explanation of the plates
Seals,

of

Arms and

which

will carry the chapter to its allotted limits, I shall

resume and

conclude in Chapter

XV. my examination

of Seventeenth Century Freemasonry, as dis-

closed to us by the evidence of Ashmole, Plot, Handle

Constitutions, not forgetting, however, the concurrent existence in

Masonic system akin

venience sake,
ively.
I

to, if

have up to

Holme, and our old manuscript North Britain of a not absolutely indentical with, our own, but which, for conthis period, as far as possible, treated separately and disjunct-

Description of Plates of Arms and Seals.

Mention has already been made of the arms

for convenience
it

of the Masons'

Company

may be

well to repeat here a description of the

of London, but arms given by Stow in

field is

the edition of the " Survey of

'Taylor,
'

London"

1633.
'

In his wood-cut the

printed the

"

It

Chap. I., p. 4. 'Commenting on the histories of the Council of Trent, by Sarpi and Pallavicini, Ranke observes: has been said that the truth is to be obtained from the collective results of these two works.
Taylor,
p. 547.
*

Law of Evidence, Law of Evidence,

1858, p. 544.

Phillipps,

Law of

Evidence, vol.

i.,

pp. 276, 278.

Perhaps, as regurds a very general view, this

lars" (History of the Popes, trans,

may

be the case;

it is

cei-tainly
p. 79).

not so as to particu-

by

Mi-s.

Austen, 1842, vol.

iii.,

App.,

This reminds

me

of

a custom which prevailed on the

time.

Home Circuit

in regard to cases referred to arbitration at the Assize

The

briefs of plaintiff
!

and defendant were both read by the

arbitrator,

and an award delivered

accordingly

VOL.

II.

21.

322

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

left white.

proper color, also the chevron and towers, but the compasses have been
correct blazon of the

The

arms would be: sable, on a chevron between three castles argent, a This description perfectly agrees with pair of compasses somewhat extended of the first. Uie roll of " Old Charges," in the possession of the Lodge of Antiqthe arms as painted on
at 33 Golden Square, both which MSS. are must be again noticed, the chevron is no longer engrailed, as in the original grant of arms to the Masons' Company. The Masons' Companies in several cities of England appear to have varied the colors of the field or the charges, possibly to distinguish them from the London Company. For
uity,

No.

2,

and
In

also that in the

museum
it

dated 1686.

all

three instances,

example: Guillim, as already mentioned, gives the

field in one instance azure,' and Sir Bernard Burke," copying Edmondson, " Body of Heraldry," 1780, in describing the Com-

pany of Edinburgh, blazons the chevron azure, the compasses

or,

and the

castles

proper

masoned

sable (see plate).

Again, copying Edmondson, we are told that "the Freemasons' Society use the following Arms, Crest, and Supporters, viz.: Sa., on a chev. betw. three towers
ar.,

a pair of

compasses open chevron-wise of the first; Crest a dove ppr. ; Su]r,porters two beavers ppr. ;" and the " Freemasons (Gateshead-on-Tyne), same arms: Crest a tower orj- Motto

The

Lord

is

our Trust."

'

" The Masons' Company of London:

of compasses of the
first;

Sa.,

Crest

castle as in the

on a chev. between three towers ar., a pair arms; Motto In the Lord is aU our

Trust."

referring in

Burke omits a note by Edmondson (1780) on the arms of the "Freemasons' Society," all probability to a seal, which will be given in a future plate: " N.B. These
marblers, statuaries, or sculptors, as they were called, do not appear to have been

are engraved on their public seal."

The

separately incorporated as a company, but, as

Stow

says,

seem "

to hold

some friendship
Their arms

with the Masons, and are thought to be esteemed

among

their fellowship."

may
last,

be thus described:

'

gules, a

chevron argent between two chipping axes in chief of the

argent, holding in the

and a mallet in base or; Crest on a wreath an arm embowed, vested azure, cuffed hand proper an engraving chisel of the last; Motto Grind "Well. arms of the joiners of London are thus described by Guillim: gules, a chevron The

argent between two pairs of compasses above, and a sphere in base or, on a chief of the
third two roses of the
of the second.
it

first,

and between them a pale sable chai-ged with an escallop

liis

shell

The

pale not being figured by Stow in

woodcut, as already mentioned,

has been added in the arms given in the plate; and the proper colors have been for uni-

formity engraved in this as well as in the coats of the marblers and carpenters.

The Company

of Carpenters, unlike that of the Masons, have retained the engrailed

chevron as orginally granted to " the felowship of the Crafte of Carpenters of the Worshipfull and noble Citee of London," by William Hawkeslowe, Clarenceux, November 24, 6th
of

Edward IV.
of
It will
'

[1466], or six years before the grant of

arms was made

to the Masons'

Com-

pany

London.
be seen that in the arms of the masons, carpenters, and joiners, the compasses,
'

'

General Armorj-, 1878. As now borne by the Grand Lodge of Freemasons, Scotland. The arms of the Freemasons have been discussed at some length by Mr. W. T. R. Marvin in a
Berrj',

privately printed tract, 1880.

*

Encyclopaedia Heraldica.

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

so necessary

323

learn

'

We an instrument for the correct working of their "crafte," always appear. " Tliree Compasses" is a particularly favorite sign in all parts of the kingthat the

dom, "which may be accounted for from the circumstance that three compasses are a charge in the arms of the Carpenters' Company, while two are used in the arms of the Frequently the sign Joiners' Company, and one in the Masons' or Freemasons' Company.
of the compasses contain

between the legs the following good advice;

" Keep within compass,

And

then you'll be sure

To avoid many

troubles Tliat otliers endure.' "

In the

list

of

London tavern

signs for the year 1864 there will be found 14 Carpenters'

There are 19 Castles in the same list. This sign may have originally referred to the Masons' Arms, although, doubtless, in many
Arms,' 9 Masons' Arms, and 21 Three Compasses.'
instances such signs took their origin from the fact that of old the castles of the nobility
traveller, and he was sure to obtain there food and shelter.' " The Three Old Castles," occurs at Mandeville, near Somerton. Another sign, The Axe is found combined with various other carpenters' tools, as the Axe and Saw, the Axe and Compasses, and the Axe and Cleaver.' Although the Axe finds no place in the

were open to the weary

arms

of the English Companies,

it

does in those of France, and, with the other charges,

naturally connects itself with the workers of wood.

must not be overlooked. The well-known engraving in Picarts' " Keligious Ceremonies,"' figures No. 129 on the screen of lodges as the " Masons Arms, Plymouth." It appears not to have been observed that the arms figured there, have dragons If not those of soma or griffins for the supporters, and are not the arms of the Masons.

One other

sign

peer,

which seems most probable, the sign may be an attempt to represent the coat of the
to the Carpenters'

marblers.

The arms granted

Company may be blazoned

as follows: Argent, a

downwards sable. " History of the Carpenters' ComA copy of the arms and grant will be found in Jupp's pany," p. 10, and a facsimile of the patent, dated 1466, in the " Catalogue " of the Exhibichevron engrailed between three pairs of compsisses extended points
tion at Ironmongers' Hall, 1869, vol.
i.

p. 264.

A
is

facsimile of the
others.

arms

will

be given in

a future plate, with the arms of the Masons'

Company and

The
of

coat occupying the centre of the plate

taken from Heideloff,' and

is

thus de-

scribed by him: "

He

[Maximilian

I.,

Freemasons'? the Masons] a new or, arranged in square; on the helmet the Eagle
saint of the old Masons), the

1498] is said to have granted to them [the 'fraternity coat of arms, namely, on a field azure, four compasses
of St.

John the Evangelist

(the patron
is

from an old drawing).

This description
'

head surrounded by a glory (see cut adjoining, which The lodges had beyond this each one its special badge."

copied

is

not quite complete.

The

eagle holds in
p. 369.

its

beak the

quill, referring,

Hindley, Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings, 1875,

See also History of Signboards, by Larwood and Hotten, 8th edit., 1875, p. 146. 'In the early lists of Lodges are found the " Masons' Arms," the "Three Compasses," and the
*

" Square and Compass " (see Four Old Lodges, Multa Paucis, etc.). 'Larwood and Hotten, History of Signboards, 8th edit., 1875, pp.
'ibid., p. 487.

43, 44.
>

/bid., p. 346.

Vol.

vi.,

1737, p. 202.

Bauhutte des Mittelalters in Deutschland, Nurnberg,

1844, pp. 23, 24.

324
it

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

supposed, to the pen with which the Gospels of St. John were written:
it

may be

should

be described as a demi-eagle, wings displayed, issuing from a ducal coronet, which sur-

and the annular nimbus placed behind the head of the eagle ioannes evanqelista. In the description of the arms no mention is made of the globe placed in the centre of The compasses are arranged in cross, not in square, wliich is an impossible the shield. term in heraldry. A reference to the plate will show the exact and unusual position of
of a knight,

mounts the helm

bears the words s

these charges.

The remaining arms

as given

figured on the plate are from the banners of various companies by Lacroix and Sere in their magnificent work, " Le Moyen Age et la Renais-

sance. "

They are here given

was executed.
of

as falling naturally into the series,

and

as they exhibit the

tendency there was of granting to the various

thoir labor

crafts, for a bearing, the tools

with which

The French Companies

it

being, however, not intimately con^

nee ted with those of England,

will

only be necessary to describe the arms

in fesse or.

Masons

Saumur: azure, a trowel

M\sons of Tours:

sable, a trowel erect or.

Masons of Beaulieu: azure, a rule and a square

compasijes extended chevron wise,

in sal tire,
'

accompanied by a pair of

and a

level in pale or;

interlaced

and bound together

by a serpent erect twisted among them,

the port
'Tules,

gold.

Tilers of Tours: azure, a tower roofed argent,

between on the dexter side

masoned and pierced sable, vaned or, a ladder of the second, and on the sinister a
two trowels erect in
two trowels in
chief,

trowel, go d.
Tilers of Rochelle: sable, a fesse between
also erect
i

and a mill-pick
handled

a base argent.
fesse argent,

Tilers of Paris: azure, a ladder in pale or, between

gold.

Carpenters of Villefranche: azure, a pair of compasses extended, points downwards,

and

in base a square, or.

or.

Carpenters of Angers: azure, a hatchet in fesse argent, and in chief a mallet erect
Carpenters of Bayonne: sable, a hatchet in bend argent.
Joiners of Metz: gules on a chevron argent, a torteaux. Joiners of Peronne: argent, a saltire paly of
six, sable

and

or.

Joiners of Amiens: argent, two pallets indented sable.

The

plato of seals

and tokens

of

French and German Guilds includes specimens of

already mentioned, I

various date?.

the earliest in

To the work of Lacroix and Sere, date the seal of the Corporation of
city,

am

indebted for

the Joiners of Bruges, and that of the

Corporation cf the Carpenters of the same

sions in green

both of the date 1356, taken from impresof Bruges.'

wax preserved among the archives

The

centre of the seal of

the Joiners

is

occupied by a chest, such as were probably used for the preservation of the

records of the Guild.

ktrsbab.[bHn ?]
. .
.

Round

the edge

is

the following inscription:

is

s'.

bcr s[cbrri]nEhjer-

acter,

That bears perhaps the arms

:

of the Carpenters, which

of the Corporation,

much more ornamental

in chars.

an

ax-e

and a square, with the words,

gnboc^E
'

faambtm [jtmmjermans.
level is

No

'

Lacroix, "

sbown in the woodcut given by Lacroix, which is here copied in the plate. Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance," vol. iii., Corporations de Metiers, fol. xiL

'

HAS0N5
Seal of the Corporation of CARPCNTtRS OF SAINT TROUO Bdfium.
1131

Seal of the OF STRAS8URC, Circa 1723

lASONS or

'

Seal of the NURENBURC Circa 172S

Token or

'Jet on de presence of the Corporation of

CARPCKTERS OF ANTWERP,
AJJ.

160t.

Scat of the Guild of OF COLOSNC. ChtTttr AJ}. 1396 Bnt. .Vut.

MASONS

Seal of the Guild of

COOPERS OF COLOGNE.
Charter
AJ). 1396

hnt.Mut.

Seal of The Corporation, of JOINERS OF BRJCES

.

Mark of
SMITHS OF MACOCBURC

Seal of Vie Corporation of CARPENTERS OF BRUCEG

AH

iia&

Berlepsch

Mereaa faneraire of CARPENTERS OF MAESTRICHI

^-^

^"^^^

Jetan

^ presence 'of

the Corporation

of

Token of the

CARPINTERS OF NAESTRICHT. AJilMt.

CARPENTERS OF HAESTRICHT. A.M 1*77

Seal of the

HASONS OF DRESOCM Cwea 171)

FROM THE ORIGINAI^. AND OTHER AUTHORITIES.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Keference has already been made to the original act
esting document, which
'

325
constitu-

in the British

Museum,

ting a municipal council for the city of Cologne, dated September 14, 1396
is

This inter-

in

an admirable

state of preservation, has supplied the seals

is

next in

diite.

After rehearsing the terms of the incorporation, the document

seals of various trades.

sealed

with the large seal of the town, followed by twenty-two

of the seals are pendent by cords of

of each trade

is

written above on the

The whole silk, neatly laced through the vellum, and the name folded edge. The eleventh place is occupied by the

" Steynmetzen " or Stonemasons, and the twenty-second by the " Vasbender"' or Coopers. The former bears what is evidently the arms of the Guild of Stone masons of Cologne in fesse, two hammers crossed in saltire to dexter, and two axes crossed in saltire to sinister, and in chief three crowns: no doubt referring to the three king of Cologne,' who, as already stated, were confused with the "Quatuor coronati." The inscription round the
edge
.

is

so

fragmentary that
|

it

is
.

difficult to
. .

obtain a correct reading,

ifa(?)

sttgmmcl^jcr

bnbscr

.tj(?) is

The

seal of the

Coopers

even more broken at the edge, and only a few

. . .

letters of

the

inscription remain:

*s

bcr faa5b[ciibtr].

The

centre

is

not occupied, like that of

the Stonemasons, with a coat of arms, but has over a ground covered with vines bearing
grapes, a brewer's pulley used for sliding barrels

down on an

incline, a goat, over

which

is

what may be a pair

ing the
passes."
seal,

of pincers,

but more probably a pair of compasses.

it

friend, on see-

suggested to

me

that

was probably the origin of the

difficult to represent

sign,

" Goat and comsign.

This appears to be a far more probable explanation than that usually accepted,
it

"God
ing to

encompasseth us," which

would be

upon a

On

turn-

"The

History of Signboards,"'

I find

the following reference to the opinion of

the late Mr. P.

Cuningham: " At Cologne, in the Church

'

of S.

Maria di Capitolio,

is

flat

stone on the floor, pro-

fessing to be the

Grabstein der Bruder und Schwester eines Ehrbahren

Ampts, anno

1693'.

That

is,

suppose, a vault belonging to the

Wein und Fass Wine Coopers' Company.

Rhenish wine,

The arms
a

exhibit a shield with a pair of compasses, an axe, and a dray or truck, with goats

for supporters.

In a country like England, dealing so

much

at one time in

more

such a sign [as the Goat and Compasses] could hardly be imagined." The next in date, also taken from Lacroix and Sere," is the seal of the Carpenters of
likely origin for

Saint Troud, from an impression preserved

of the seal
is

among

the archives of that town.

The

date

1481,

The

centre

is

ornamental than those of earlier date given above. occupied by a shield of arms bearing an axe and a pair of compasses, the
it is

and

much

less

latter reversed.
Binltaben.

The
from

inscription

running round the edge reads:

sicgcl

btr

limtrfobe

ban

Heideloff,'

whom

the large sale in the centre of the plate

is

taken, of which he

gives the date 1524, thus describes the seals engraved in his work: "
of

The Strassburg

coat

arms or

seal is the
is

a shield; this shield

'

Mother of God, with the Child within a glory of rays, supporting gules, with the silver bend of the episcopal arms of Strassburg, of
III.,

In the King's library, ante. Chap.

pp. 169, 170.

Now

Fassbinder.
:

Argent on a chief giiles, three crowns or. The arms of the city of Cologne are *By Jacob Larwood and J. Camden Hottn, 8th edit., 1875, p. 147. ' Le Moyen Age, etc., vol. iii.. Corporations de Metiers, fol. xii.
'Eauhiitte des Mittelalters in Deutschland, Niirnberg, 4to, 1844. pp. 22, 23.

326

EARLY BRI TISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

field is

Bishop Werner of Strassburg; in the upper part of the red

a level, in the lower a

compass

or;

on the white bend are two masons' hammers gold."

seal I

" The Nurenberg Lodge, whose

of white, with the enclosing motto.

have before me, possessed the sjime coat of arms,

'

with this difierence, that the central bend, on which are the two hammers, was red

instead

The

Craft Seal of the Stone Masons of Nuremberg."

This

seal bears the inscription,

stainmetzt

handwerck zve strasbcrg, and

the

smaller one of Nurenberg,

seal of

handwerckss: d[er]: steinmtzen in nurnberg.

The

smaller

the Stienmetzen of Strassburg, and that of the Dresden Guild, are from the work

of Stieglitz."
Heideloff,

The former

exactly agrees in the armorial bearings with that given by

differs

and the inscription

but

little;

it is,

steixes
of the

handwerck

zv strasburg.
craft, the

The

seal of the

Guild of Dresden bears in the arms the usual tools of the

level,

com-

passes, square,

and

and

is

an interesting instance

two former being placed in

a position in which they are

the seal of
litz

now so often represented; it is, as the inscription informs us, das handwerk der steinmetzen zv Dresden. Stieglitz states' that the RochLodge (by those permission they had already rethem a copy of
letter dated

Lodge

in 1725 petitioned the Strasburg

ceived from that of Dresden extracts of the Strasburg Ordinances) to send

the Imperial Confirmation of 1621, and a printed brother-book.

This request was granted by the Strasburg Lodge, by a

July

5,

1725, signed

Johann Michael Ehrlacher, Workmaster

firmation of Ferdinand
11.
is
still

of the

High Foundation.
is

This copy of the conattested

preserved at Eochlitz, and

by

tlie

Notary

Johann Adam Oesinger, and

sealed with the Strasburg seal of red wax, in a tin box.

The copy
also
still

of a confirmation
is

preserved, and

by Matthias, Emperor of Germany, who died in 1619, is It was sent by the attested by the Notary Basilius Petri.

Strasburg Lodge to that of Dresden,

previously attached their

who forwarded
brown wax,
is

it

to the

Lodge of Rochlitz, having

own

seal in

also in a tin case.

From
same
it is

this, it

would

appear that the small seals of the Steinmetzen of Strasburg and Dresden were in use in
1725.

And

the date of that of Niirnberg

in all probability of the

it

period.

Before describing the tokens of Maestricht and Antwerp,

will

be well to give some

account of the mark of the Smiths of Magdeburg, which, connected as

is

with seal-marks,

of

some

little interest,

and shows a curious custom

in use in this Guild.

states,

Berlepsch,' to whose

work

am

indebted for the drawing and account,

that the

on the

authority of the keeper of the

of the

Magdeburg Archives,

mark

is

made by the Elder

Magdeburg Smiths in opening their meetings. Having knocked three times on the hammer, he commands " By your favour, fellow crafts, be still," etc. The The Elder proper official then brings in the chest, which is opened with proper dialogue. next places his finger amd thumb on the open ends of the outside circle, in saying " By your favor I thus draw the fellow circle it be as round or large as it may I span it [note that it is a symbol of his presidency], I write herein all the fellows that are at work here," etc. Knocks with the hammer, " with your favour I have might and right, and close the
table with a

fellow circle."
'

He

then completes the

circle

with chalk; the meeting being formed, they

This

is

contrary to the laws of heraldry, color upon color, but other instances will be found
of various confriries, quoted

in the
xxviii.

arms

by Lacroix,

Ibid., vol.

iii.,

Corporations de Metiers,

fol.

' Ibid., p. 17. Ueber die Kirche der Heiligen Kunigunde zu Roclilitz. *Chronik der Gewerbe, vol. vii., pp. 68, 69; citing Stock, Grundzuge der Verfassung. See ^

this

reference in Chap. HI.,

p. 167,

note

3.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

proceed to business.

327

At the end

of the

ceremony he closed the meeting, and rubbed the

chalk ring out with his hand.

The work
is

of Lacroix and Sere

'

is

the source whence have been obtained the various

the possession of Professor Serrure of Ghent,

tokens figured on the plate.

The

earliest, in

that of the Corporation of the Carpenters of Antwerp, dated 1604.

In the centre in a

form of cartouche are represented a number of implements belonging

is

to the trade.

There
to

no evidence on the token

itself as to
its

the place from whence

it

was issued, but we may

it

conclude that M. Paul Lacroix or

possessor

had good authority for attributing

Antwerp.

The same remark

will

apply

to

the remaining tokens of the Corporation of Carpenters

of the town of Maestricht.

The

earliest,

dated 1677, in the collection of M. A. Perreau,

bears on one side the compasses, cleaver, and another object difficult to describe, and on

the reverse " Theodociis herkenrad."

The next
is

in date, 1682, bears the

same form

of

compasses and cleaver, but in the centre

of

placed a skull.

This was also in the collection

M. Perreau, and is called, in the work of M. Lacroix, a " Mereau funeraire," or funeral token, which is explained to be intended to prove that the members of the corporation
were present at the obsequies of their confrere.

The

last of

the series, also in the collection of M. Perreau,

who supposed
side

that

it

had

belonged to a Protestant Carpenter, is dated 1683. It bears on one and another uncertain object in the centre, while round the edge runs the following: EERT GODT MARIA sios EPONSENPAT, and on the reversB the letters bovrs h. In this
instance the words have no marks of division.
I

an axe, cleaver,

have above given the inscriptions on the

various seals and tokens as they are represented in the works quoted from, but
to believe that the engravers

am

inclined

them with

perfect exactitude.

who copied the The " Mereau,

original seals, have not always

reproduced

or Jeton de Presence," as these tokens are

this instance
it

called, had probably a similar use to the " Mereau funeraire," only in to prove the attendance of the members at meetings of the corporation.
'

was

Le Moyen Age,

etc..

voL

iii..

Corporations de Metiers,

fol.

xiL

328

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLA ND.

CHAPTER XY.
EAKLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY.
E N G L A N D,

V.

THE "OLD CHARGES" THE LEGEND OF THE CRAFT LIGHT AND DARKNESS GOTHIC TRADITIONS.

WITHOUT a
there
is

classification of authorities,
will present the

any ancient

text preserved in a plurality of

documents,

appearance of a single labyrinth, through which no definite guiding clue. The groups, however, into which the " Old
will sufficiently enable us to

Charges " have been arranged

lective character,

grasp their true meaning in a col-

and

this point attained, I shall pass

it

on to another branch of our inquiry.

to explain, that whilst the
this, in

Before proceeding with the evidence,

may be convenient
some
cases,
is,

singularities of individual manuscripts will, in

be closely examined,

each instance, will be subsidiary to the main design, which

of the Freemasonry into

to ascertain the character

which Ashmole was received, and to

trace, as far as the evidence

will permit, its antiquity as a speculative science.

These " Old Charges," the title-deeds and evidences of ah inherited Freemasonry,

would indeed amply reward the closest and most minute examination, but their leading characteristics have been sufficiently disclosed, and in my further observations on their mutual relations, I shall leave the ground clear for a future collation of these valuable
documents by some competent hand. Whether " theories raised on facsimiles or printed copies are
correct archaeological or historical treatment of such evidences,"
'

titterly valueless for

it

any

is

not

my

province to
ordi-

determine, but

it

may

at least be affirmed, that

will differ

" the extemporaneous surmises of an

texts,

nary untrained reader

widely from the range of possibilities present to the mind

of a scholar, prepared both of the facts bearing

by general training in the analysis of

and by

special study

on the particular case."'

method

of textual criticism,

begun by Dr. John

I shall

Mill in 1707,

and completed by

Drs.
if

Westcott and Hort in 18S1, seems to me, however, to promise such excellent results,
applied to the old records of the Craft, that
'

present

its

leading features, in the hope

p. 98.

'

Woodford, The Age of Ancient Masonic Manuscripts, Masonic Magazine, Oct. 1874, Dr. Hort, The New Testament in tlie Original Greek. Introduction, 1881, p. 31.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

that their appearance in this work, whilst throwing some additional light
of our subject
field of

329
a portion

upon

which has hitherto

still

lain

much

in the dark,

may

indicate

what a promising

inquiry

awaits the zealous student of our antiquities.

method referred to, has been evolved in successive editions of the Greek Testiiment, commencing with that of Mill in 1707, and ending with the elaborate work of Doctors Westcott and ITort.
or
Mill was followed by Bentley, but the system received a great development at the hands of Bengel in 1734, whose maxim,' " Proclivi script ioni prcestat ardua," has been generally

The system

adopted.

By him, in the first instiincc?, existing documents were classified into families. The same principles were further developed by Griesbach "on a double foundation

of

enriched resources and deeper study," and with important help from suggestions of Sender

and Hug.

Lachmann inaugurated a new period in 1831, when, for attempt was made to substitute scientific method for arbitrary
of various readings.

the

first

time, a systematic

choice in the discrimination

Passing over Professor Tischendorf (1841), and, for the time being, also Dr. Tregelles
(1854),

we next come

to Doctors

Westcott and Hort (18S1).'

The main

points of interest

and

originality in the closely reasoned

" introduction "

of

Dr. Hort are the weight given to the genealogy of documents, and his searching analysis

upon the different ancient texts. maxims are laid down, of which the first is, " That knowledge of documents SHOULD PRECEDE FINAL JUDGMENTS UPON READINGS."' This is to be attained, in the firjt place, from " The Internal Evidence of Headings," of which there are two kinds, " Intrinsic Probability," having reference to the author, and " Transcriptional Probability," having reference to the copyists. In appealing to the first,
of the effects of mixture,

Two

leading

we ask what an author

is

likely to have written;

in appealing to the second,

we ask what

copyists are likely to have

'

made him seem

to write.

This great principle of distinction between various readings was then little understood, and has been practically opposed by many who have discussed such subjects in later times. On the other hand, Dr. Tregelles observes, " surely in cases of equal evidence, the more difficult reading the reading which a copyist would not be likely to introduce stands on a higher ground, as to evidence, than one which presents something altogether easy " (The printed text of the Greek New Testa-

Also, according to Dr. Hort, " it is chiefly to the earnest, if somewhat crude p. 70). advocacy of Bengel, that Ti-anscriptional Probabilities, under the name of the harder reading, owe their subsequent full recognition" (The New Testament in the Original Greek, Introduction by Dr. 'The New Testament in the Original Greek, 1881. Hort, p. 181).

ment, 1854,

from the legal axiom " Contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima in lege The best and surest mode of expounding an instrument is by referring to the time when, and circumstances under which, it was made" (2 Inst. 11 Broom, Legal Maxims, edit.
'

This differe slightly,

if

at

all,

1864, p. 654).
' "There is much literature, ancient no less than modern, in which it is needful to remember that authors are not alwaj-s grammatical, or clear, or consistent, or felicitous so that not seldom an
;

ordinary reader finds

;

easy to replace a feeble or half-appropriate word or phi-ase by an effective substitute and thus the best words to express an author's meaning need not in all cases be those which he actually employed "' (Hort, Introduction to New Test., p. 21).
it

' " It can hardly be too habitually remembered, in criticism, that copyists were always more accustomed to add than to omit. Of course careless transcribers may omit but, in general, texts, like snowballs, grow in course of transmission" (Tregelles, The Greek New Testament, 1854, p. 88).
;

330

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

limitation to Internal Evidence of Readings follows naturally
it

The

deal conclusively at once with every variation as

comes

in turn before a reader, a

from the impulse to com-

mentator, or an editor; but a consideration of the process of transmission shows

carious
it is

how

pre-

to attempt to judge

which of two or more readings

is

the most likely to be

right, without
is

examining which of the attesting documents, or combination of documents,

the most likely to convey an unadulterated transcript of the original text; or in other

words, in dealing with matter purely traditional, to ignore the relative antecedent credibility of witnesses,

and

trust exclusively to our

own inward power

we
see them.

of singling out the true

readings from

among

their counterfeits, wherever

Secondly, then, there here comes in the " Internal Evidence of Documents," that
the general characteristics of the texts contained in
selves

is,

them

as learned directly

from them-

by continuous study of the whole or

of considerable parts.

of

maxim to which I have already referred that " Knowledge Documents should precede final Judgment upon Readings." Wherever the better docuThis paves the way for the
different sides, the decision

ments are ranged on

becomes virtually dependent on the unceris

tainties of isolated personal

judgments; there

evidently no

way through the chaos

its

of
is,

complex attestation wliich thus confronts

us, except

by going back to

causes, that

by inquiring, what antecedent circumstances of transmission will account for such combinations of agreements and differences between the several documents as we find actually
existing.

In other words, we are led to the necessity of investigating not only individual
their characteristics, but yet

documents and

The next

great step consists in

more the mutual relations of several documents. ceasing to treat documents independently of each other,

and examining them connectedly, as parts of a single whole, in virtue of their historical relationships. In their prima facie character, documents present themselves as so many
independent and
rival texts of greater or less purity.

But
all

as a matter of fact, they are

not independent; by the nature of the case, they are

scattered fragments
intricacy.

fragments

usually

casual

and

of

a genealogical tree of transmission, sometimes of vast extent

The more

exactly

we

are able to trace the chief ramifications of the tree,

and and
suc-

to determine the places of the several records

among

the branches, the more secure will be

its

the foundations laid for a criticism capable of distinguishing the original text from
cessive corruptions.

At this point comes in the second maxim or principle, that All trustworthy RestoRATIOX OF corrupted TEXTS IS FOUNDED ON THE STUDY OF THEIR HISTORY' that is, of

the relations of descent or afiinity which connect the several documents.

The
bers.

introduction of the factor of genealogy at once lessens the power of mere

If there is sufficient evidence, external or internal, for believing that of ten

numMSS.
that

the
all

first

nine were

all

copied, directly or indirectly,

from the tenth,

it

will

be

known

the variations from the tenth can be only corruptions, and that for documentary evi-

dence we have only to follow the tenth.'

Person says
:

" Perhaps you think

;

it

into the text

yet I hope

you are not

an affected and absurd idea that a marginal note can ever creep so ignorant as not to know that this has actually happened,

not merely in hundreds or thousands, but in millions of cases.

transcribei'S to turn

From

this

known

propensity of

everything into text which they found written on the margin of their MSS.,

or between the lines, so

criticism
is,

many

interpolations have proceeded, that at present the surest canon of

150).

Preferatiir lectio brevior" (Letters to Archdeacon Travis, 1790, pp. 149,

"

Any number of documents

ascertained to be

all

exclusively descended from another extant

EA RL V BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

If,

331
derived,
vir-

however, tho rosult of the inquiry

is

to find that all the nine

MSS. were

not from the tenth, but from anotlier

tually into

lost

MS., the ten documents resolve themselves

two witnesses: the tenth MS., which can be known directly and completely,
MS., which must be restored through the readings of
its

and the
esses

lost

nine descendants,

exactly and by simple transcription where they agree, approximately and by critical proc-

where they disagree.

the genealogy of documents turns
is

The evidence on which

external,

sometimes, though rarely,

and

is

chiefly gained

by a study of

their texts in comparison with each other.

The
to

process depends on the principle that identity 0/ reading imjMes identity of origi^i.

Full allowance being

made

for accidental coincidences, the great bulk of texts

as certain evidence of a
is,

common

two or more MSS. may be taken

of origin
is,

munity

may be

either complete, that

is

common origin. due entirely to a common

descent.

This comancestry, or

partial, that

due to mixture, which

virtually the engrafting of occasional or partial

community

of ancestry

upon predominantly independent

The

clearest evidence for tracing the antecedent factors of

"mixture"

in texts,

is

afforded by readings which are themselves " mixed," or, as they are sometimes called, conflate, that
is,

not simple substitutions of the reading of one document for that of another,

but combinations of the reading of both documents into a composite whole, sometimes by

mere addition with or without a conjunction, sometimes with more or

Another
critical resource,

less of fusion.

which

is

in

some sense intermediate between internal

utility follows

evi-

dence of documents and genealogical evidence, in order of

the
is

latter,

and

may

be termed

its

sustaining complement.
its

This supplementary resource

internal evi-

dence of groups, and by

mission of a text
to get further

very nature

it

enables us to deal separately with the different

elements of a document of mixed ancestry.

is

Where

there has been no mixture, the trans-

divergent, that

is,

in the course of centuries the copies

have a tendency

" mixture "

likely to

is

and further away from the original and from each other. The result of to invert this process. Hence a wide distribution of readings among existing

groups of documents need not point back to very ancient divergencies.

be the result of a
late

They

are just as

wide extension given by favorable circumstances to readings

formerly very restricted in area.

In the preceding summary an outline has been given of those principles of textual
criticism,

which are found by experience

to be of value in inquiries

such as we are now

historical value,

pursuing.

My own
plicity,

method, of classifying the "Old Charges" according to their

all cases,
is

may not meet

which

nor

satisfy all readers.

It possesses,

however, the merit of sim-

no

slight one.

The

characteristics of each

MS. are revealed

at a glance,

whilst in " the descriptive list," which follows a few pages later, will be found the skeleton history of every document, together with a reference to the page in Chapter II.,
is

where

it

described at length.

In classifying the MSS. with a due regard to their separate weight as evidence,
in

hope

some degree

to

remove the confusion wliich has arisen from

the application of the con-

venient term "authorities" to these documents.

The " Old Charges" may,

must be taken

indeed, be regarded as competent witnesses, but every care

to understand their testimony,

and

to weigh

it

in all its particulars.

all

document, may be put safely out of sight, and with them, of course, other authority " (Hort, Introduction to New Test., p. 53).

readings which have no

'

332

EARLY BRI TISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

various readings in our manuscript " Constitutions,"
it is

The

not

my

purpose to scru-

tinize very closely.

originals.

In

all

cases

'

we

rely

upon

transcripts very far

removed from the

Yet,

if

three are put on one side

the

and the Krause

(51)

we find substantial

Harleian 1942 (11), the Roberts (44),

true that the

identity between the legend of the craft, as preIt

is

sented in the oldest and the youngest of these documents respectively.

number

of transcriptions,

and consequent opportunities

of corruption, cannot be accurately

measured by difference of date, for at any date a transcript might be made either from a contemporary manuscript, or from one written any number of centuries before. And, as
certain

MSS.

are found,

by a process of inductive proof,

to contain

an ancient

text, their

character as witnesses must be considered to be so established, that in other places their

testimony deserves peculiar weight."

of No. 4 (Grand Lodge)

Still,

taking the actual age of each MS. from that

1583

and

earlier,

down

to those of

documents which overlap

the year 1717,

e.y.,

the Gateshead (30), which will give us the relative antiquity of the

the traditions of the craft of which we any documentary evidence are found not to have undergone any material variation ' during tlie century and more which immediately preceded the era of Grand Lodges. The " Old Charges" were tendered as evidence of the Masonic pedigree in Chapter II.
possess

writings, though not, of course, of the readings

Indeed, a friendly critic complains of the insertion of their general description

first

"in the

volume

as being out of sequence in the history,"' though, as he bases this

upon

my

having

after leaving the Culdees " made a skip of

may be permitted
class at

some

centuries,

judgment and landed

my readers

in the fifteenth century," I

to reply, that the Colidei or Cele-

de continued to exist as a distinct

possess a

Devenish, an island on Loch Erne, until the year

1630; also that the historg of the Culdees,

and the written traditions

of the Freemasons,

common

feature in the grant of a charter

which

is

enhanced by the

privileges, in each case, derived

from King Athelstan, the interest of under the instrument, being

taTcen as read, I shall

exercised at York.

Assuming, then, that in Chapter

II.

the

"Old Charges" were

argument used
I

proceed a step further, and prove their legal admissibility as evidence.

For

this purpose,

and following the

line of

at

an

earlier page,' I shall

'

bring forward the group of documents to which

have assigned the highest place

under

my own
establish

system of

classification.

Several of these, at least

projier custodg;

and even one would

in others.
(2)

suffice to

my

point

come

from the
in

and of

acts done with reference to

them, there
'i.e.,

is

ample proof, direct

or, in

some

instances,
(1)

and indirect

excluding fiom consideration the Halliwell

and Coolve

MSS., wliich
in

may

be termed

evidences of pre-existing,
flate readings in botli

other words, fourteenth century Constitutions.

indicated in the Halliwell

The mixed or con-

documents, to be presently noticed, point to the use

each case of different

exemplars, one of

wliicli, at least,

poem by

the

Ars QUATUOR cORONA-

TORUM,
''

is

to be found in no other line of transmission.

tlie

Thus, in

opinion of experts, the

older document.
1500.

cribed from a

much

approximate date of
ii.,

Cf.

Dowland MS. (39) of the seventeenth century was transThe reading it contains has been assigned by Woodford the Hughan, Old Charges, preface, p. xi. and Masonic Magazine, vol.
;

pp. 81, 99.

^

observes; "Their authority

Respecting the general authenticity of manuscript copies of a single te.xt. Sir G. Lewis is increased by their substantial agreement, combined unth disagree-

ment in subordinate points, inasmuch as it shows that they are not all derived from some common original of recent date " (On the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 209). * Mr. Wyatt Papworth, in the Builder, March 3, 1883. Chap, n., pp. 50, 52.
=

Ante, pp. 320, 321.

Chi-ss I., ante, p. 317.

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Next, and hngo intervalh, come the remaining documents, ing the highest weight of authority.
all

333

of wliich fail in attain-

Thus the
prising the

relative inferiority of the

manuscripts forming the second class to these comratio.

first, is

not continued in the same

is

Descending a
Manuscripts

step, tiie deterioration

in roll or

of proof, though distinguishable,

not so marked.

book form

suggest wider inferences than are justified by others merely written on vellum or parchment. A clear line separates the components of the last from those of the last class but

one; but in the larger

number

of cases the importance

and value of

all

the documents

belojo

the Lodge Records will be found to depend upon extraneous considerations, which will be
differently regarded by diflierent persons,
cation.

and cannot therefore be

of service in the classifi-

To

use the words of Dr. Maitland," "every copy of an old writing was unique
its

every one stood upon

own

individual character;

and the correctness of a particular

manuscript was no pledge for even those which were copied immediately from it." It is evident, therefore, that if undue weight is attached to the existence of mere verbal discrepancies, each version of the
rate treatment.

" Old Charges " might

I
is,

in turn

become the subject

of sepa-

Subject to the qualification, that

do not concede the "correctness" of

"New Articles" which form its disand accredited reading which has come down to us through a legitimate channel the manuscript in question, when examined in connection with No. 44 (Roberts), fully sustains the argument of Dr. Maitland.'
Harleian MS. 1942 (11), that
in the sense of the

tinctive feature, being an authorized

The documents last cited, if we dismiss the Krause MS. (51) ' as being unworthy of further examination, constitute the two exceptions to the general rule, that the " legend
of the craft," or, in other words, the written traditions of the Freemasons, as given in the
several versions of the " Old Charges,"

from the sixteenth down to the eighteenth century,

are in substance identical.

The
is

characteristic features of the Harleian (11)

II.,'

and Roberts

(44)

MSS. have been given

belief that the latter
is

with sufficient particularity in Chapter

where
I

I also express

my

a reproduction or counterpart of the former.

am

of opinion that the Roberts text

the product of a revision, which was in fact a recension, and may, with

fair i)robability,

be assigned to the period

when

Dr. Anderson, by order of the

'

Grand Lodge, was "

digest-

ing the old Gothic Constitutions,"

tion of the

which would exactly accord with the date of pubhca-

Of the Roberts text, as may be said in the analogous case of the Locke upon the faith of the compiler and is only worthy of notice in an historical inquiry, from the fact that it was adopted, and still further revised by Dr. Anderson,' whose " New Book of Constitutions " (1738), " collected and digested, by order

MS.
it

manuscript,

stands

of the

Grand Lodge, from

Dark Ages,
p. 69.

their old records, faithful traditions,

'

and lodge-books,"' informs

;

'Tlie
*

Chap. H., pp.

64, 76, 90.

Ihid., p. 79

and Chap. XI.,

p. 114.

Pp.

64, 76, 105, 106, 107.

The date
Sir G.

of publication of No. 44, given at p. 76, line

23, to

read

MDCCXXU.

'Chaps, n.,

p.

105

\ai., p. 351, 352.

Lewis observes: "The value of written historical evidence is Sometimes this is effected by altering the texts of extant authors, or by interpolating passages into them " (On the Methods of Obsei-vation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 209). 'The New Book of Constitutions, 1738, title page, "We, the Grand Master, Deputy and Wardens, do hereby recommend this our new printed Book as the only Book of Constitutions, and we warn all the Brethren against using any otiier Book in any Lodge as & Lodge-Book" {Ibid., The
Cliap. n., pp. 106, 107.

further subject to be diminished by intentional falsification.

Sanction, preceding the

title page).

334
us,

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

the old Constitutions," tliat after the restoration of

on the authority of " a copy of

his deputy,

Charles II., the Earl of St. Albans, having

Denham

and

Sir

become Grand Master, and appointed Sir John Christopher Wren and Mr. John Web his wardens, " held a
St.

General Assembly and Feast on

John's day 37 Dec. 1663,"

'

when the

six regulations
all

were made, of which the

duly shown in No. 44.'

first five

are only given in the

MS.

of origin (11), though

are

These regulations, which Dr. Anderson gives at length, are so plainly derived from the
Roberts MS., that
it

would be a waste of time

to proceed with their examination, the

more

especially as the corruptions of the Harleian text (11)

which are found

in the recensions

and 1738, have been already pointed out in the course of these observations.' readings, we have last considered, may safely therefore, in accordance with the genealogical evidence,* be allowed to " drop out," and we are brought face to face with the
of 1722

The two

original text

Harleian MS.

1942.
of the principle laid

Having now attained a secure footing from an application

authority

down by

Dr. Hort in his second maxim, the canon of criticism previously insisted

may be

usefully followed.
its

Our "knowledge," however,

date,

of

upon by the same this document is of

a very limited character; and even

which

is

the most prominent fact

known about

a manuscript, can neither be determined with any precision by palaeographical or other

This is the more to be regretted, " to choose the harder reading," which is the essence of textual criticism,^ the "New Articles" given in MS. 11, open up a vista of Transcriptional and other Probabilities which we sliall not find equalled by the variations
indirect indications, nor
facts or records.
since, if

from external

we obey the paradoxical

precept,

of all the remaining texts or readings put together.

These constitute
cannot be opened,
to

tlie

crux of the historian.

cilt it,

It

has been well said, that "

if

the knot

let

us not

nor fret our tempers, nor wound our fingers by trying

it

undo

it,

but be quite content to leave

untied, and say so."'

The " New

Articles" I

cannot explain, nor in

my judgment

is

an explanation material.

We

are concerned with

the admissibility of evidence and the validity of proofs, and to go further would be to

embark upon the wide ocean

in

of antiquarian research.

The manuscript under examination,

an
historical record,

common

with the
if

rest, is admissible,

and

its

iveigld, as

has to be

determined, but
differs

by a careful review of

facts,

we

find that a material portion of the text

whilst, as

from that of any other independent version of the " Old Charges,"
document,
it

an au-

thoritative

ranks far below a great number of them

unless we deliberately
weaker evidence, and
its sole

violate every

canon of criticism* the stronger

will prevail over the

so

much
This
is

of the latter as
will

may actually conflict with

the former, must be totally disregarded.'

de-

not extend, of course, to the rejection of the inferior text, where

fect
'

the absence of corroboration, as the necessity for excluding evidence will only arise,
;

Cf. ante, p. 135

If

and Chap. H.,

p. 107.
it

'

Chap, n., pp.

76, 90.

might be worth while inquiring, why --[in all, thirteen the blank between the words, "a General Assembly held ticks or marks], on the Eighth Day of December 1663" was not filled up? The question of dates would also become material, since, if Mr. Bond's estimate is followed, we find MS. 11 dating from the beginning of the century containing six out of seven regulations which were only made in 1663
*

the so-called Roberts MS. had any better attestation,

Cf. Chap, n., pp. 76, 90.

*J.e.,

that identity of reading implies identity of origin.

p. 329,

Ante,

note

1.

'Palgrave, History of

Normandy and England,

p. 121.

'See ante,

p. 321.

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

when
wholly inconsistent readings.

335

the circumstances are such, as to compel us to choose between two discrepant and

Although, in the opinion of Mr. Halliwell, " the age of a middle-age manuscript can in most cases be ascertained much more accurately than the best conjecture could determine
that of a
reliance

human

being,"' the experience in courts of justice hardly justifies so complete a

in writing;

upon experts

and the date.which he has himself assigned

to the earliest

record of the Craft (MS. 1) differs from the estimate of Mr. Bond, by more years than

we

can conceive possible, in the parallel case of the age of a

man

or

woman

being guessed by

two impartial and competent observers.

It is to be

supposed that the remark of the antiquary, to

whom we
est

are indebted for

bringing to light the Masonic poem, would extend beyond the manuscript literature of the

Middle Ages, and though the maxim, "

cuilibet in

sua arte perito

credendum,"

'

must
is

not be construed so liberally as to wholly exclude the right of private judgment, there

no other standard than the judgment

of experts,

by which we can estimate the age of an

if it is

ancient writing, with the impartiality, so indispensably requisite,

conclusions should be adopted in good faith by readers

desired that our

who cannot

see the proofs.

The document under examination

the requirements of a lodge,

(11), as regards form, material,

its

and custody, comes

destitute of
in

before us under circumstances from which

use for antiquarian purposes, rather than for

may be

inferred.
sets of

Externally therefore,

it

is it

Masonic value by comparison with the four

fication.
Its internal

documents wliich precede

my classi-

character

we must now

deal with,
is

certain the date of transcription.

Mr. Bond's estimate

and the first thing to do is to as" the beginning of the seventeenth

In

century," and by Woodford and

Hughan

the date has been fixed at about 1670.

my

own judgment, and with

script itself
is iiot

great deference to Mr. Bond, the evidence afforded by the

its

manu-

conclusive as to the impossibility of

having been transcribed nearer

the end of the century.

setting

This

take the opportunity of expressing, not with a view of

in a matter of ancient handwriting against that of the

up my personal opinion

principal librarian of the British

Museum, but because the

farther the transcription of the

MS.
I

can be carried down, the less will be the probability of

my mode

of dealing with its

value as an historical document being generally accepted.

do not think, however, that by the greatest latitude of construction, the age of the
of the Antiquity

MS. can be fixed any later than 1G70, or say, sixteen years before the date MS. (23), with which I shall chiefly compare it.
Leaving for the time. No. 11 (Harleian),
let

me

ask ray readers to consider the remain-

ing MSS., except Nos. 44 (Roberts) and 51 (Krause), as formally tendered in evidence.

These

will

form the subject

of our next inquiry,

and

may

observe, that although the

details, this

copies which I place in the highest class, differ in slight

sideration does not detract

and unimportant

con-

from

their value as critical authorities, since they are certainly

in the

monuments
'

of

what was read and used

of the nature
is

time when they were written.

is

"Authorities cannot be followed mechanioally, and thus, where there

all

a difference of reading,

...

that

we know

and origin of various readings

the witnesses differ
;

must be employed.

But
fall
it

discrimination of this kind

into the error of
is" (Tregelles,
'

when determining by conjecture what

only required

for otherwise,

we should
it

the text ought to be, instead of accepting

as

The Greek
;

New
in

Testament,

p. 186).

A few

Hints to Novices

Co.Littl25 a

Broom, Legal Maxims,

Manuscript Literature, 1839, p. 11. 1864, p. 896. " Credence should be given to one

skilled in his peculiar profession."

'

336

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

the Antiquity MS. (23)
I

To

attach the highest value of

all.

It

comes down

to us

with

every concomitant of authority that can add weight to the evidence of an ancient writing.

Other versions of the " Old Charges," of greater age,

Scottish lodges.

still

remain in the actual custody of

These

assist in

carrying back the ancestry of the Society, but the Antipast,

quity MS.

is

by far the most important connecting link between the present and the
it,

between Freemasonry as we now have

The

lodge froin whose custody

it is

and its counterpart in the seventeenth century. produced the oldest on the English roll was one of

the four
lodges,

who formed and

established the
care.

Grand Lodge

of England, the
off its operative

mother of grand
trammels, became

under whose fostering

Freemasonry, shaking

wholly speculative, and ceasing to be insular, became universal, diffusing over the entire
globe the moral brotherhood of the Craft.

This remarkable muniment

full

is

attested

"by Robert

Padgett,' Clearke to the Worship-

Society of the Free Masons of the City of London.

It

Anno

1686."

has been sufficiently shown that in 1682 the Masons and the Freemasons were distinct
sodalities,

and separate

and that some of the former were received

'

into the fellowship of

the latter at the lodge held at Masons' Hall, in that year;

also,

that the clerk of the

Company was not " Padgett" but " Stampe." Thus in London the Society must have been something very different from iheCompany,
though in other parts of Britain, there was virtually no distinction between the two titles. Handle Holme, it is true, appears to draw a distinction between the " Felloship " of the Masons and the "Society called Free-Masons," though, " because of its Antiquity, and the more being a Member "
the expressions he uses
of the operative ancestry of a " Society" or
as he

"Honor's" the former

it is

of the latter,

probable that

which derive their chief importance from the evidence they afford
" Lodge" of Freemasons, a.d. 1688

merely

denote that there were Lodges and Lodges, or in other words, that there were then subsisting unions of practical Masons in which there was no admixture of the speculative
element.

The significance of this allusion is indeed somewhat qualified by the author of the " Academic of Armory," grouping together at an earlier page, as words of indifferent ap'

plication,

"Fraternity, Society, Brotherhood, or

Company"

all

of which, with the ex-

ception of " Brotherhood," we meet with in the fifth of the " New Articles," ' where they are also given as synonymous terms. In the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the word " Society" is occasionally substituted for Lodge, and fifty years earlier the Mus-

selburgh Lodge called

case,

itself

the

however, according to Lyon, was the

"Company of Atcheson's Haven Lodge."' In neither new appellation intended to convey any idea of

a change of constitution.

The Company, Fellowship, and Lodge of the Alnwick " Free Masons" has been already referred to.' But whatever may have been the usage in the provinces, it must be taken,
I think, that in the metropolis. Society

was used to denote the brethren of the Lodge, and

Indeed, on this ground only, and waiving the

Company, the brethren of the Guild.

question of
'

its

authority, I should reject the Harleian

p.

MS,
note

(11) as a
2,

document containing
^Ihid., p. 374.

Chaps, n.,

68

XIV.,

p. 373.
;

'

Ante,

p. 267,

<Book m., Cliaps. iii., p. 61 ix., p, 393. Cf. ante, p. 305. 'Harleiaa MS. 1942 (11), 30; ante. Chap. U., pp. 76, 90, Ante, Lyon, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, p. 147.
'

p.

280

and Chap. U.,

p. 69.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

laws or constitutions "

337

made and agreed upon at a General Assembly," or elsewhere, by London Freemasons." In the view, however, that the "New Articles" or "Addithe tional Constitutions" may have been made in London, let us see how this supposition will
accord with the facts which are in evidence.

We
of
;i

find in this code that the conditions

witli tlie

on which a " person " can " be accepted a Free

Mason " are defined

joining

utmost stringency.

The production

of a certificate

is

required

member

or visitor, and

we

learn, that for the future,

'

" the sayd Society, ComMaster,

pany,

&

fraternity of Free Masons, shall bee governed by one

&

Assembly,

&

Wardens.'"''

Now, if there was only one "Society" or "Company" of Freemasons the confusion we hitherto existing with regard to the " Company of Masons " having been dispelled'

might expect to
A.I).

find in the

"

received text" of the History and Regulations of the Craft,

1686, these very important laws, given with

some fulness

of detail.

The

absence,

therefore, of

any allusion
(23)

to

them

is

very remarkable, and a collation of the Ilarleian (11)

and Antiquity

MSS., reveals further discrepancies which are not restricted to the mere The former, strangely enough, does not mention Prince Edwin,* regulations or orders. whilst the latter, as before observed, presents a reading, which differs from tliat of all the other texts, except the Lansdowne (3), in giving Windsor as the place in which " he was

made a Mason." The two documents

clearly did not

come from the same manufactory, and the weight

may be determined with precision by the apjilication To repeat of those principles of textual criticism, of which a summary has been given. " History' and Charges of Masonry" are related in very much somewhat, we find that the
of authority they respectively possess,

the same

manner by
(51),
it

all

the prose forms of our old manuscript Constitutions, with the

single exception of the Harleian (11), of

which the Eoberts

(44)

was a recension.

The

Krause MS.

may

bo observed, we must consider relieved from any further criticism.

The
(39)
jority,

readings that have come

down

to us, omitting, perhaps, those given in the

and York No. 4 (25)

MSS. which

are in

the same

line of transmission with the

Dowland ma-

though their
(4) versions of

lost originals

may be

of higher antiquity

may, for
(3)

the purposes of

these remarks, be traced to two leading exemplars, the

Lansdowne

and the Grand

versions, or
if

Lodge

the " Old Charges."

Thus, on the one hand, we have the Lansdowne

and the Antiquity

(23) readings, or rather reading,

and on the other the

version, contained in the remaining MSS. , of which the earliest in point of date,

we base

our conclusions on documentary evidence, or groups differ only in slight and unimportant particulars, as
is

No. 4 (Grand Lodge).

I shall

These two families

proceed to show.
its

The Lansdowne, and

weight, in the
first

may

here explain, that although the text of this MS. derives

(23), its age,

instance,

from the attestation of a Lodge Record

and

in

a corresponding degree its author iUj,\& carried back to the earliest use of the same tradiThe historical relationship betional history, of which there is documentary evidence.

tween Nos.
'

and 23

is

happily free from doubt, and except that the older document has

' Ante, pp. 273, 274 ' Chap, n., Ante, p. 334, note 3. pp 90, 91. The Harleian MS., after mentioning the buildings constructed by Kinjj " Ailielstaue," proceeds" hee loved Masons more than his Father," etc. This clearly refers to Edwin, and the words omitted by the scribe will be found in the parallel passages from Nos. 3 and 4, given at a later page. See also the " Buchanan " text, XXU.-XXVI. (Chap. H., pp. 99, 100. Articles " to falL i.e. the written tradition* of the Craft, within which I assume the "New

VOL. n.

23.

'

338

EARL V

BR/TLS//
'

FREEMASONR Y~ENGLAND.

the words " trew Mason,"

and " the charges of a Mason or Masons," whilst its descendant " Free Mason," and the " Charges of a Free Mason or Free Masons" variations not lias without their significance, hut possessing no importance in the genealogical inquiry the

readings are identical.

In dealing with what has been described as " the Internal Evidence of Groups,"
only be necessary in the present case to
sentatives, the

it

will

compare the leading features

(4)

of their oldest repre-

Lansdowue

(3)

and the Grand Lodge

all

MSS.
really differ very slightly,

These documents, and the family each represents,

little,

indeed so
I fail to

that in

my judgment

they might

be comprised in a single group, whilst

discern any points of divergence between the several readings or versions, which cannot be

explained by the doctrine of Transcriptional Probability.

The
before

division of our old Masonic records into

" families," has been advocated by the

I

leading authorities, whose names are associated with this department of study,' and

have

" Old Charges," ' wherein the differences between the families or types, of which the Lansdowne and the Grand Lodge MSS. are the exemplars, are relied upon as supporting the Masonic tradition, that, prior to 1567, the whole of England was

me an

analysis of the

ruled by a single Grand Master.

This conclusion

is

based upon a statement, that with

(4)

two exceptions

Nos. 3 and 23

the Grand Lodge MS.

" or a previous draft originated In the

all constitutions,

whether in Yorksliire, Lancashire, Scotland, or South Britain. "

sense that the readings or versions thus referred to have a

common

origin, the position

claimed

may be conceded, though without our going

is

to the extent of admitting that the

theory, which

the most comprehensive, has the greatest appearance of probability.

Let us now consider the points on which the readings of the Lansdowne and the Grand

Lodge MSS.

conflict.
is

The
to the

invocation

practically identical in both documents,

and the

narrative, also,

down

end of the legendary matter, which,

in the

Buchanan

(15) copy, concludes the sixth

facility of

paragraph.'
reference
I

In the next of the sections or paragraphs (VII.), into which for

have divided No. 15, the Lansdowne and Grand Lodge readings vary.

In the
of

former, Euclid comes on the scene in direct succession to

Nemroth (Ximrod), King

Babylon, whilst in the latter

Abraham and Sarah

separate these personages.

According

to the former, certain charges were delivered to the

Masons by Nemroth, which, amplified,

are in the latter ascribed to Euclid, as stated in paragraphs VIII. -XVI. of No. 15.

The

omission of what are termed the " Euclid Charges" in the Lansdowne document,
virti;ally

has been laid stress on, but not to say that these are

included, though in an

abridged form, in the charges of " Nemroth "-the discrepancy between the two texts,

were we discussing an actual instead of a fabulous

the dictum of Paley, that
circumstantial variety.

history,

might be

cited as illustrating

human

testimony

is

characterized by substantial truth under

The

allusions in both manuscripts to David, Solomon,

Naymus

Grecas, St. Alban,

King

Athelstane, and Prince Edwin, are so nearly alike, as to be almost indistinguishable,

This term occurs in the Atcheson
Tlie

'

Haven

(17)

and Melrose No.

viz.,

2 (19)

MSS.

Also in the two

(25)

English forms to which Woodford assigns the highest antiquity,

Dowland
'

(39).

Grand Lodge

(4)

Huglian, Old Charges, pp.

In a letter from Mr.

16,

and Kilwinning (16) 18 and preface (Woodford),

;

the York No. 4 versions have " free masson."

p. xi.

and the

'
'

John Yarker.
i.

See Chap. IL, pp.

96, 97.

Evidences of Christianity, Part IH., chap.

'

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

as

339

though, in one particular, by the omission or the interpolation of two words, accordingly we award the higher authority to the one document or the other, some confusion haa
resulted, which,

by placing the passages in juxtaposition,'

hope

to dispel.

" Lansdowne " MS.

(3).

'Grand Lodge" MS.

(4).

" Soone after the Decease of St. Albones there came Diverse Warrs into England out
of Diverse Nations, so that the good rule of

" righte sone After the decease of Saynte there came din's war''es into England of
dyu''s

nacons so that the good rule of mas-

Masons was dishired and put downe vntill the tyme of King Adilston, in his tyme there was a worthy King in England that brought this Land into good rest, and he
builded

sory was destroyed vntill the

tyme

of Knigte

Athelston that was a woorthy King of England

&

brought

all

this land into rest

and

peace and buylded

many

great workes and buildings,

many greate workes of Abyes and Toweres and many other buyldinges

therefore he loved well Masons, for he had a

And

loved well massons and had a

Edwin, the which Loved Masons much more then his ffather did, and he
Sonne
called

soonne that height Edwin and he loved

massons muche more then his ffather did and he was a greate practyzer of Geometrey
to taulke & comen them the Craft and afterwards for love that he had to Massons and to the Crafte he was made a masson ] and he gat of the Kyng his ffather [ a Charter and a Comission to houlde euy

Geometry that he delighted much to come and tiilke with Masons, and to Learne of them the Craft, And after, for the love he had to Masons and to
was soe practized
in
tlie Craft,

and he drewe him muche

w"" massons to learne of

he was made
of the

and he gott
ter

Mason [at Windsor], King his ffather a Char-

and Comission once every yeare to have

Assembley within the Realme where they

would within England, and to correct within

yere a

sembly once a yeere where they woulde w'hin thee realme of England and to
Correct w'hin themself faults and Trespasses
that weare done w'hin the Crafte

themselves

ffaults

&

Trespasses

that

weare done as Tout^hing the Craft, and he

And he

them an Assembley at Yorke, and there he made Masons and gave them
held

held
there

himselfe an assembly

he

Yorke & made massons and gaue them

at

Charges,"

etc.

chargs "

etc.

The

crotchets or square brackets

but have been inserted by

me

to

shown above do not represent lacuna in the readings, mark in the one case certain words contained in the text,
words not contained
in the text,

which may be omitted, and

in the other case,

which may
passages

be added, without in either instance the context suffering by the

are so evidently taken from a

alteration.

The

common

original,

and the conjectural emendation under each

shall

hypothesis

is

of so simple a character, that in

my judgment we

do well

to definitively

accept or reject the words "at Windsor," in both cases, as forming an integral part of the
text,

and thus remove, as

I venture to think will be the result, the only source of diflSculty

which we meet with

It

in a collation of these representative

MSS.
of the craft, in the

may be observed that I am here only considering the written traditions which I mean the items of Masonic history, legendary or otherwise, given by
Charges."

Among
to

we have next
'

" Old " New Articles," peculiar to No. 11 must be included, and determine whether this document possesses a weight of authority superior
these, the
Cf. the
liere

Transcribed from the originals.

'

The evident omission

of a

word

Buchanan MS. (15), XXH.-XXVI. (Chap. EL, p. 99). [Atbon] wealcens jjro taido the authority of this reading.

340
to that of
all

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

the others put together, as, unless

we

are prepared to go to this length,

its

further examination need not be proceeded with.

I shall, therefore,

content myself with

the Ilarieian MS.

saying that there are no circumstances in the case which tend to

lift

above the level of

surroundings in the fifth class of historical documents;' on the contrary, indeed, whatever judgment we are enabled to form of its authority as a record of
its

the craft, bears in quite another direction, and induces the conviction that both parent and progeny stand on the same footing of unreality. The " New Articles " are entitled to no more weight than the " Additional Orders" of No. 4-1, or the recension of Dr. Anderson. All three are unattested and unauthentic, and the value of their united testimony,

must be pronounced absolutely nil. From the point of view I am regarding the " Old Charges," it is immaterial which of the Nos., 3 or 4, is the older document, nor must the superiority of the latter be assumed from the power of mere numbers. It is improbable that any care was taken to select for
to the fountain head,

which we have now traced

transcription, the exemplars having the highest claims to be regarded as authentic, whilst
it is

consonant with reason to suppose, that in the ordinary course of things, the most
all

recent manuscripts would at

erally accessible."

times be the most numerous, and therefore the most gen-

I have sought to show, however, that in substance the written traditions of the Freemasons from the sixteenth down to the eightet^nth century were the same; and our next

inquiry will be, to what extent

traditions at

is

evidence forthcoming of the existence of these or similar

an

earlier period

than the date of transcription of the oldest version of our

manuscript Constitutions?
This brings in evidence the Halliwell and Cooke MSS., which are not " Constitutions"
in the strict sense of the term, although they are generally described

by that

title.

The

testimony of the other Masonic records, which more correctly

fall

within the definition of

" Old Charges,"

century.

carries

back the written traditions of the craft to a period somewhere

are about to examine

intermediate between 1600 and 1550, or, in other words, to the last half of the sixteenth

The two manuscripts we

and Cooke dated

now

take up the chain, but the

extent to which they lengthen the Masonic pedigree cannot be determined with precision.
Halliwell
their discoveries, late fourteenth

and

late

fifteenth century

respectively,'
latter
?(/),

but a recent estimate of Mr. Bond, by pvishing the former down and the
This con(2),

has placed them virtually on an equality in the matter of antiquity.*

clusion must, however, be demurred to, not, indeed, in the case of the
'

Cooke MS.

which forms the introduction to the Masonic poem (1), was taken by Mr. Halliwell from Harl. MS. 1943 (11), whicli he quotes at second hand from the Freemasons' iQuarterly Review, vol. iii., pp. 388 et seq. This, if further proof was necessary, would amply attest /the necessity of classifying the "Masonic Constitutions," with a due regard to their relative
of the craft,"

The "Legend

authority - " Even

if

multiplication of transcripts were not always advancing, there would be a slow but

new copies for old, partly to fill up gaps made by waste and casualties, by a natural impulse which could be reversed only by veneration or an archaic taste, or a critical purpose" (Hort, Introduction to the New Test., p. 10). ' The Early History of Freemasonry in England, 1844, p. 41 The History and Articles of Masonry, 1861, preface, p. v. It should be recollected, however, that by David Casley, the Masonic poem was Aaied fourteenth century without any limitation to the latter part of it (ante, Chap. II., p. 59). * " As you seem to desire that I should look at the MSS. again, I have done so, and my judgment upon them is that they are both of the fii-st half of the fifteentli century" (Mr. E. A. Bond to the Mav. A. F. A. Woodford, July 39, 1874; Masonic Magazine, vol. ii., pp. 77, 78).
continual substitution of
partlj'
;

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

respecting which the opinion of Mr.
in handwriting,

34

Bond

is

not at variance with that of any other expert

(1),

but as regards the Masonic poem

liichard Sims."

the date of which, as approximately

given by Mr. Halliwell, himself no mean authority, has been endorsed by the late Mr.

Wallbran
assigned
century.

'

and Mr.
1 to

The MS8. may

safely therefore, in

my

judgment, be

No.

the close of fourteenth,' and No. 2 to the early part of the fifteenth,

The next

step will be, to consider

what these documents prove, though

it

should be

premised, that even prior to their disinterment from the

last resting-place of so

much

manuscript literature
Jcnotvn

the

library of the British

Museum

the

texts or readings then

were pronounced by a competent judge to be " at

period

least as old as the early part of

the fifteenth century."'

The

named

synchronises with that in which the Cooke MS. , according to the

best authorities, was compiled,

and our next task will be, to examine how far the readings of the " Constitutions," strictly so called, are confirmed by writings dating from the
as that assigned to the lost exemplars of the former.

same era

The
cal,

Halliwell

and Cooke MSS. possess many common

in prose, form.

features,

though one

is

in metriis

and the other

In both, the history of Masonry or Geometry

inter-

spersed with a

number

few illustrations
single documents.

and allusions to other subjects, wliilst each affords a of the phenomenon of " conflation " in its simple form, as exhibited by
of quotiitioiis

The Cooke MS.

very
ing

(2),

which

I shall first deal with, recounts the

it is

Legend

of the Craft,

much in the same fashion as down to Nimrod Abraham,

presented in the documents of later date. '

Com-

Sarah, and Euclid are next severally introduced, the

Children of Israel duly proceed to the " land of Bihest,"' and Solomon succeeds David as
protector of the Masons.

Naymus
it is

Grecus, indeed,
to

is

not mentioned, but we meet with

Charles the Second

meaning,

be supposed, Charles Martel

is

Saints Adhabell and

it is stated that he became a Mason, " purchased a free patent of the King," and gave charges after

Alban, King Athelstan and his son, who, by the way,

not named, though

the manner of the later Edwin.

narrative,

and

in

At line 642, however, there is a sudden break in the an abridged form we are given the story of Euclid over again, whose

under the name of Englet, though, as he is described as the " most subtle and wise founder," who " ordained an art, and called it Masonry," besides being
identity the scribe veils

referred to as
is

" having taught the children

of great lords " to get an

'

" honest

living," there

no room for doubt as to the world-famous geometer

being the hero of the incident, the

more so, since it is expressly stated that the "aforesaid art" was "begun in the land of Egypt;" whence "it went from land to land, and from kingdom to kingdom," and ulti'

Masonic Miigazine, Sept.

text
is

1874, p. 77

Huglian, Old Charges, preface (Woodford),

p. vii.

a hand of about the latter portion of the fourteenth century, or quite earlyfifteenth century " (Masonic Magazine, March 1875, p. 258). 'Not being an expert in manuscript literature, my personal contribution to the determination of this date consists of the remarks in Cluipter VII. (The Statutes relating to the Freemasons, pp. 357in
361),

^"The

where

deal with the grounds on which Dr. Kloss assigns a fifteenth century origin to the

Halliwell poem.
<Sir Francis Palgrave in the

'The leading features

pp. 85-87.
'

of this

Edinburgh Review, April, 1839; ante. Chap. II., p. 90. MS. and its descendants are given with some fulness in Chap. IL,
'

Cf.

Chap, n.,

p.

98 XYJil

Ibid. , p. 97, g

VH.

"

'

342

EARLY BRITISH FREE MA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

Englet [Euclid] and Athel-

mately passed into England " in the time of King Athelstan."

stanare the only personages
for the tradition of

named

in the shorter legend, in which, however,

its

room

is

found

Masonry having derived

fuller narrative.

name from

Euclid, a fragment of

Masonic

history missing

from the

These two versions of the Craft Legend were

evidently transcribed from different exemplars.

The

Halliwell

poem has been

described as

"a

metrical version of the rules of an ordi-

nary mcdiseval Guild, or perhaps a very superior and exemplary sort of trades union,
together with a

number

of pieces of advice for behavior at

church and

at table, or in the

presence of superiors, tacked on to the end.'"

The

latter I shall consider in the first instance.

The

Halliwell

MS.

(1),

from

line

621

to line 658, except

'Amen Amen so mot hyt be, Now, swete lady, pray for me,"
! I

is

almost word for word the same as a portion of John Myrc's " Instructions for Parish
'

With slight variation the two then correspond up to Myrc was a canon regular of the Augustinian Order; and it has been conjectured that his poem, avowedly translated from a Latin work, called in the colophon " Pars Oculi," was an adaptation from a similar book by John Miraeus, prior of the same monastery, entitled, " Manuale Sacerdotis. " The corresponding passages in Halliwell and Myrc MSS. were printed by Woodford in 1874.^ the The last hundred lines of the Masonic poem are taken from " Urbanitatis," ' a poem which consists of minute directions for behavior in the presence of a lord, at table, and among ladies. Of these Mr. Sims justly observes, " Some are curious, but some also there
Priests,"

commencing

at line 268.

line

680 of the Masonic poem.

are which

may

not well be written

down

here;

'

should have been found necessary to give

them

and strange indeed it is to think that it at all, for they show a state of manners

more

notable, perhaps, than praiseworthy."

is

"Perhaps, however," he continues, "the

of the

intention of the author

to leave of

The Masonic portion

appears, like the parts
sources.

no point unprovided for." the Halliwell poem, which consists

first

576

lines,

we have already examined,

to have been derived

from varied

This did not escape the observation of AVoodford, who, in his scholarly preface
in its present shape

Hughan's " Old Charges," says: " The poem has been put mainly by one who had seen other histories and legends of the Craft,
to
'

By

olde

tyme wryten.
vol.
ii.,

'Richard Sims.

Companson

of MSS.,

Masonic Magazine,

March, 1875,

p. 358.

Cf. ante.

Chap, n., pp.

'

81-85.

Lines 655, 656.

just before these lines.

This would seem to be the extension of a quotation in Myrc, which stops short They also resemble the two concluding- lines of the Masonic poem, which are
' '

based on the following, from

Urbanitatis:

"'

"Amen, Amen, so moot hit be, So saye we alle for Charyte

I

Early English Te-xt Society, vol. xxxi., 1868, edited by Mr. E, Peacock, who considers that the MS. was not written out later than 14.50, and perhaps rather earlier. * Masonic Magazine, vol. ii., p. 260. Cf. Myrc, Duties of a Parish Priest (Early English Text ' Line 693 to line 794 ' Masonic Magazine, vol. ii., p. 130. Society, voL xxxi). ' Cotton of " Urbanitatis" has been pnnted by MS., Caligula, A. n., circa a.d. 1460. The te.xt

'Cotton MS., Claudius, A.

II.

the Early English Text Society, 1868, as part of a volume on Manners and Meals in Olden Times,
pp. 13-15, edited
*7.e., in

by Mr. F. J. Furnivall. the descriptive account of this poem, given in the Maseriic Magazine, vol.

ii.,

p. 859.

"

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

And
it

343

seems to be,
line 470,

in trutli,

two legends, and not only one

line 471 begins a

the

first

legend appears to
of abbreviated use

end at
of the

and then apparently with

^

new rhjiihm
There
is

Masonic history.

Alia ordinacio artis gemetrice.'

not, indeed, in the

MS. any change

in the handwriting,

but the rhythm seems somewhat lengthened, and you

have a sort of repletion of the history, though very

much condensed."
is

The " Aks Quatcor Coronatorum"

second legend,"
'

occurs in what
its

thus termed by Woodford " the

and, apart altogether from

surroundings, which stand on an entirely

different footing,

and must be separately regarded, points to the existence, at the time the

poem was
The
its

written, of traditions

which

liave not

come down

to us in

any other

line of

transmission.

Halliwell

accepts, in each case, the date with

existence.

and Cooke MSS. have been collated with some minuteness by Fort, who which it was labelled by the person who made known Thus the transcription of the former is separated from that of the latter by

a period of about a century, an estimate I cannot concur in, and which, as we have seen, This gap in the early manuscript literature is diametrically opposed to that of Mr. Bond.
of the craft, would obviously justify wider inferences being

drawn from the discrepancies

between the Halliwell and Cooke documents, than if their ages are brought more closely Thus it is observed by the talented writer to whom I have just referred: " The together. operative Mason of the Middle Ages in France and Germany knew nothing of a Jewish
origin of his craft.

In case the traditions current in the thirteenth century, or

later,

had

pointed back to the time of Solomon, in preparing the regulations for corporate govern-

ment, and in order to obtain valuable exemptions, the prestige of the

Israelitish

king would Fort

have by far transcended that of the holy martyrs, or Charles the Hammer-Bearer."'

then goes on to say: no mention of Masons during the time of Solomon, nor does that ancient document pretend At a later to trace Masonic history prior to the time of Athelstan and Prince Edwin."* page he adds: " Halliwell's manuscript narrates that Masonic Craft came into Europe in
the time of
years.

"

It stands forth as highly significant, that Halliwell's

Codex makes

King Athelstan, whose

reign began about the year 924, and continued several

No

other ancient document agrees with this assertion."

The

majority of Masonic

chronicles refer the period of the appearance of Masonry into Britain to the age of Saint

Alban, one of the early evangelist martyrs,

but they all agree that the craft came
teresting period of Masonic history.

many

centuries prior to the time of Athelstan;

specify Athelstan's reign as an init

from abroad, and

From the

preceding statement

will be observed that

the older craft chronicles are lacking in

harmony upon

vital points of tradition,

and

in

some

respects, tested

by their own records, are on

totally antagonistic."'

In the opinion of the same writer, "at the close of the fourteenth century, the guild
of builders in England, depending
in Athelstan's day. oral transmission, suggested the origin of their Craft

Later records, or perhaps chronicles copied in remote parts of the

realm, expanded the traditions of the Fraternity, and added a

in the age of Saint Alban, introducing, moreover, the

more

distant

commencement

with the fabulous Assembly at York."

*'

It

is,

Edwin, together perhaps, impossible," he continues, " to fix

of Prince

name

Eughan, Old Charges, preface, p. vii. 'See ante, p. 333, note 1; and Chap. X., passim. *lbid. Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 181. 'The italics are mine. It is evident that the statement in the Halliwell poem will lose its miportance if the dates of the two oldest MSS. are brought into proximity. Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, pp. 443, 444.
'

'

344

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SOXR Y ENGL A ND.

a date for the legends of

Edwin and Athelstan," but strong belief is expressed that the " is no earlier than the fourteenth century," also that " the tradition i-tory of Athelstane of Edwin is clearly an enlargement of craft chronicles of the fifteenth." The precise measure of antiquity our Masonic traditions are entitled to, over and above that which is attested by documentary evidence, is so obviously a matter of conjecture,
that

would be a mere waste of time to attempt its definition. From the point reached, however, that is to say, from the elevated plane afforded by the Masonic writings (MSS. 1
it

and

2),

which, speaking roundly, carry the Craft Legend a century and a half higher than
it

the Lansdowne (3) and later documents,

will

be possible,

if

we

confine our speculations

within reasonable limits, to establish some well-grounded conclusions. not lead us

far, will at least

These,

if

they do

warrant the conviction, that though when the Halliwell poem

be held to antedate the period represented by the age of

has been produced in evidence, the genealogical proofs are exliausted, the Masonic traditions

may, with

fair probability,

the MS.

(1) in which we first find them, by as many years as separate the latter from the Lanslowne (3) and Grand Lodge (4) documents. The Legend of the Craft will, in this case, be carried back to " the time of Henry III.," beyond which, in our present state of knowledge, it is impossible to penetrate, though it must not be understood that I believe the ancestry of the Society to be coeval The tradition of the " Bulls," in my judgment, favors the supposition of with that reign.
its

going back at least as far as the period of English history referred

of the

" Old Charges" with regard

to

to, but the silence " Papal Writings" of any kind having been received

by the Masons, not to speak of

this theory of

Masonic origin directly conflicting with the

introduction of Masonry into England in St. Alban's time, appears to

oral fable or tradition of any further historical weight.

me

to deprive the

In the

first place,

the legendary

liistories

or traditions, given in the two oldest

MSS. of

the Craft, must have existed in some form prior to their finding places in these writings.

Fort

is

of opinion, that the Halliwell

MS. has been copied from an older and more

ancient parchment, or transcribed from fragmentary traditions, and he bases this judgment

upon the

internal evidence

which certain portions of the manuscript present, having an

In illustration of this view he quotes from the
shall set

evident reference to a remote antiquity.

"ancient charges," "that no master or fellow

lodge, to

any

layer,

within or without the

hew

or

mould stone,"' and

cites

the eleventh point (Functus undecimiis) in the

is

Masonic poem,' as showing one of the reciprocal duties prescribed to a Mason

"
If

That

sees his fellow

he this craft well know hew on a stone,

And is in point to spoil that stone, Amend it soon, if that thou can. And teach him then it to amend,
That the whole work be not y-schende."
'

Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, pp. 445, 446. 'The Halliwell MS. is cited as the authoritj' for this i-egulation, which is incorrect. See Chap, n., p. 102, Special Charges, No. 16. Layer in Nos. 12 (Harl. 2054), 20 (Hope), and others, gives place to rough layer, wliilst No. 3 (Lansdowne), followed by No. 23 (Antiquity), lias, "Also that a Master or flellow make not a Moulde Stone Square nor rule to no LowennoT Sett no Lowen worke within the Lodge nor without to no Mould Stone." ^ The extract which follows in the text I take from Woodford's modernized version of the poem.
''

Y-scliende

ruined, destroyed.

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

He
twelfth century stones were

345

next observes, on the authority of the Arch(eologia,' that until the close of the

duced, and superseded the hewing of stone.

words

'

hew

a stone,'
first

About this time the chisel was intro"Thus," continues Fort, "we see that the had descended from the twelfth century at least, to the period when

hewn out with an

adze.

the manuscript

quoted
'

(1)

was copied, and, being found in the

roll

before the copyist,

were also transcribed. "

In the judgment of the same historian, the compiler of the Cooke MS.
before
ology:

(2)

had

also

him an
it

older parchment, from which was derived the following remarkable phrase-

" And

is said,

in old books of masonry,' that

Solomon confirmed the charges that

David, his father, had given to masons."

In the conclusion, that the anonymous writers to

scripts
full

whom we

are indebted for the

lost to us, I
I

manu-

under examination, largely copied from originals which are now

cases, instead of in

am

in

agreement with Fort, though in both

one only,

should be into

clined to rest this deduction on the simple fact, that in either

older Masonic writings are so plain
tion.

document the references

and Thus, under the heading of " Hie incipiunt

distinct, as to

be incapable of any other interpretagemetriw secundum

constitticiones artis

Euclydem," we read in the opening

lines of the Halliwell

poem:

" Whose wol bothe wel rede and loke, He may fynde wryte yn olde boke Of grete lordys, and eke ladyysse,

That

Iiade niony

chyldryn

j'-fere,
'

y-wisse;

And hade no

rentys to fynde
felde,

hem '

Nowther yn towne, ny

ny

wjrth, fryth: "

The " book " referred to was doubtless a prose copy of the " Old Charges," whence the anonymous author of the Masonic poem obtained the information, which greatly elaborated and embellished, it may well have been, by his own poetic taste and imagination,' he has
passed on to later ages.

The same inconvenience from the

and with the happiest
of
result.

existence of a superabundant population

is

is

related in

the poem, as in the manuscripts of later date,' whilst in each case Euclid

applied to,

geometry," which receives

The children of the " Great Lords" the name of Masonry:

are taught the " craft

'Vol.

ix.,

pp. 112, 113.

'Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, pp. 117, 118. ^ " Olde bokj-s of Masonry," in original. The quotation above is from the modernized version

by the

late

Matthew Cooke (The

Histoi-y

and Articles of Masonry,

1861, p. 83).

*Y-fere, together; y-wisse, certainly.

' " Fynde, to provide with food, clothing, etc. We still use the word a man a week, and^nd himself" (Halliwell, The Early History of Freemasonry, 1844, p. Them. ' "Frv'th, an enclosed wood" (Halliwell, The Early Histoiy of Freemasonry). '

is

to

have so much

50).

See Woodford's Introduction to Hughan's " Old Charges,"

p. 97,

p. vi.

'Chap, n.,

VIL

"

346

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

"

On

thys maner, thro good wytte of gemetry

Bygan furst the craft of masonry: The clerk Euclyde on thys wyse hyt fonde, Thys craft of gemetry yn Egypte londe.'

Yn Egj'pte he tawghte hyt ful wyde, Yn dyvers londe on every sj-de

'

Mony
[Ere
']

erys

afterwarde, y understonde that the craft com ynto thys londe.

'

Thys ci-aft com ynto Englond, as y [yow '] Yn tyme of good kj-nge Adelstonus day."
'

say,

Leaving this early portion of the ijoem, I shall next invite attention to a passage commencing at line 471, where, with "a new rhythm of abbreviated use," and under the title. Alia ordinacio art is gemetriw, begins, what has been styled by "Woodford, " the second
legend," contained in this MS.;
" They ordent ther a semble to be y-holde

Every

[year],

whersever they wolde,

defautes,
[if]

To amende the

any where fonde

Amonge
Uche

the craft withj-nne the londe;

[year] or thrj-dde [year] hj't schuld be holde,

Yn

evei-y place

Tyme and

place

whersevsr they wolde; most be ordeynt also,

Yn what
Alle the

place they schul semble to.

men

of craft ther they

most ben,
sen,

And other

grete lordes, as [ye]

mowe

Ther they schuUen ben alle y-swore. That longuth to thys craftes lore,

To kepe

these statutes everychon,

That ben y-ordeynt by kynge Aldelston."

Let US now compare the foregoing passages with the following extract from the second

Cooke MS. (2), to which I have previously alluded:' manner was the aforesaid art begun in the land of Egypt, by the aforesaid master Englat, and so it went from land to land, and from kingdom to kingdom. After that, many years, in the time of King Athelstan [Adhelstone], which was some time King
or shorter legend in the

" In

this

of England,

by

his councillors,

and other greater lords of the land, by common

assent, for

great default found

among masons, they ordained

a certain rule amongst them: one time

great lords of the land, and
all

of the year, or in 3 years as need were to the

King and
and

the

comonalty, from province to province, and from country to country, congregations should

be made, by masters, of
'

all

masters, masons,

fellows, in the aforesaid art.'"

Land.

Yeai-s.

'In the original, obsolete words, having for their initial letter
like the z of

modern English manuscription

Saxon g written somewhat formerly used in many words which now begin with
tlie
y.

*Halliwell MS., lines 53-63.

'Ibid., lines 471-480, 483-486: ordent, ordeynt, y-ordeynt,

ordained; y-holde, holden; defautes,

defects; uche, each; thrydde, third;

everyone; Aldelston, Atnelstan.

mowe, may; y-swore, sworn; longuth, belongeth; everychon, The words within crochets are placed there for the same reason
which attention has already been
directed.

as those in the preceding extract, to

Ante, pp. 340, 341. 'Cooke, The History and Articles of Masonry, pp. 101, 103, Cf. Addl. MS., 23, 198, British Museum, lines 687-711, where a closer resemblance to the metrical reading will appear than can be shown by our modern printing types.

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

Halliwell

347

Having regard to tho fact, that the authors or compilers of what are known as the and Cooke MSS. availed themselves, in a somewhat indiscriminate manner, of
strict

the manuscript literature of their respective eras, without fettering their imaginations by

adhering to the

wording of the authorities they consulted, the similarity between the

excerpta from the two writings

which

have held up for comparison must be pronounced a

remarkable one.
to

The

points on which they agree are very numerous, and scarcely require

be stated, though the omission of any mention whatever, in the selected passages from

either work, of the long array of celebrities

who, according to the

later

MSS., intervene
l)riefly

between Euclid and Athelstan, as well as their concurrent testimony in dating the introduction of Masonry into England during the reign of the latter, must bo
as tending to prove

noticed,

an " identity of reading," which, as we have seen, " implies identity of

Fort has expressed too comprehensive an opinion, in withholding
to

origin.'"
It will be seen that

from the Halliwell MS. the corroboration of any other ancient document, with respect
the statement concerning Athelstan.

Upon
if

the passage in the Masonic

poem where

this

occurs," the learned editor has elsewhere observed:

" This notice of the introduction of

Adelard of Bath,'

Euclid's 'Elements' into England,

correct, invalidates the claim of

who has always been considered the first that brought them from abroad into this country, and who flourished full two centuries after the 'good Kyng Adelstone.' Adelard translated the Elements' from the Arabic into Latin; and early MSS. of the translation occur in so many libraries, that we may fairly conclude that it was in general circulation among
'

mathematicians for a considerable time after it was written."' It does not seem possible that the " Boke of Chargys," cited at lines 534 and 641 of the

Cooke MS., and which

assume to have been

identical with the

" olde boke" named

in

the poem,' can have been the " Elements of Geometry."

The

junior document (2) has:

" Elders that were before us, of Masons, had these Charges written to them, as we have now in our Charges of the story of Euclid, [and] as we have seen them written in Latin and in French both."' This points with clearness, as it seems to me, to an uninterrupted line of tradition, carrying back at least the familiar Legend of the Craft to a more remote period than is now attested by extant documents. It has been forcibly observed that, " in
all

the legends of Freemasonry, the line of ascent leads with unerring accuracy through
if

Grecian corporations back to the Orient," which, though correct,

to the legendary history given in the

we

confine our view

if

manuscript Constihitions,

is

not so

horizon, and look beyond the

" records

of the Craft " to the further

we enlarge oar documentary evidence,

Grecus," though they
in-

which adds to their authority by extending the antiquity of their

text.

The

Halliwell

and Cooke MSS. contain no mention of

"Naymus

both take us back to an earlier stage of the Craft Legend, and concur in placing the

' Halliwell MS., lines 61, 62; ante, p. 331. p. 346. " Euclid of Alexandria lived, according to Proclus, in the time of the first Ptolemy, B.C. 333-283, and seems to have been the founder of the Alexandrian school of mathematics. His best known work is his Elements, which was translated from the Arabic by Adelard of Bath about 1130," (Globe Encyclopedia, s.v. Euclid).
'

Ante,

*
'

J.

O. Halliwell,
2.

Kara Mathematica, 2d

eaii^ion, 1841, pp. 56, 57.

Line

in the first

should be borne in mind that the expressions, boke of chargys and olde boke, occur legend only of either MS.
It

'Ck)oke, History

and Articles of Masonry,

pp. 61, 63.

348

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGLAND.

On
this point the testimony of all the early

ception of Masonry, as an art, in Egypt.

Masonic documents may

be said to be in accord.

Now, without
old time,
this idea as a

professing an extravagant love of traditions, "these unwritten voices of

like mists in the air," I do not feel at liberty to summarily dismiss mere visionary supposition, a thing of air and fancy. Later, we shall approach the subject of " degrees in Masonry," when the possible influence of the ancient civilization of Egj'pt, upon the ceremonial observances of all secret

which hang

commemorated in excluded, when considering

societies
It

history, cannot
so

but suggest

itself as

a factor not wholly to be

important a question.
if

may

therefore be convenient,

here temporarily abandon

my main

thesis,

and

taking the land of Masonic origin, according to the Halliwell and other MSS., as the text

upon which
as

to construct a brief dissertation, pursue the inquiry

it

invites, to

such a point,

may render

unnecessary any further reference to the "great clerk Euclid," and at the
of service in our subsequent investigation, with regard to the origin

same time be

and

descent of the degrees

known

in

Masonry.

" The

irradiations of the mysteries of

Egypt shine through and animate the

'

secret doc-

and Italy." In the opinion of Mr. Heckethorn, " the mysteries as they have come down to us, and are still perpetuated, in a corrupted and aimless manner, in Freemasonry, have chiefly an astronomical bearing."' The same writer, whose freedom from any bias in favor of our
trines of Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Greece,

and his remarks are of value, as is attested by the last sentence, goes on to say from being those of a careful and learned writer, as by showing to us the historical relationship between Freemasonry and the Secret Societies of antiquity, which is deemed
Society
well

by a dispassionate and acute critic, who is not of ourselves. all the mysteries," he observes, " we encounter a God, a superior being, or an extraordinary man suffering death, to recommence a more glorious existence; everywhere the
to exist

" In

remembrance

of a grand

and mournful event plunges the nations

joy.

into grief

and mourning,

immediately followed by the most lively

Osiris

is

slain

by Typhon, Uranus by Saturn,

Adonis by a wild boar, Ormuzd

cules kill

is

conquered by Ahrimanes; Atys and Mithras and Her-

themselves; Abel

is

slain

by Gain, Balder by Loke,' Bacchus by the giants; the

the Scythians and Phoenicians that of

Assyrians
all

mourn the death

is,

of

Thammuz,

Acmon,
I shall

nature that of the great Pan, the Freemasons that of Hiram, and so on."'

As
limit

it

however, with the mysteries of Egypt that we are chiefly concerned,

my

observations on the mythological systems, to that of the country which according

to the traditions of the Craft

was the birth-place of Masonry.

us that Osiris had two natures, being partly god and partly man. Having been entrapped by the wicked Typhon iuto a chest, he was thrown into the Nile. His body being with difficulty re-

The legendary
'

life of

Isis

and

Osiris, as detailed

by Plutarch,

tells

'

Heckethorn, Secret Societies of

all

Ages and Countries,

of

1875, vol.

i.,

p. 78.

' '

lUd,

p. 23.

Cf. Fort,

The Early History aud Antiquities

Freemasonry, pp.

408, 410.

Heckethorn, Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries, vol. i.. pp. 23, 24. 'Heckethorn observes "Osiris symbolizes the sun. He is killed by Typhon, a serpent engendered by the mud of the Nile. But Tj'phon is a transposition of Python, derived from the Greek, word ffti^u, 'to putref}',' and means nothing else but the noxious vapors arising from steaming mud,,
*

and thus concealing the sun

" (Secret Societies of all

Ages and Countries,

vol.

i.,

pp. 67, 68).

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

covered by
Isis,

349

and hidden,
his wife

four winds.
to
life,

These

it was again found by Typlion, and the limbs scattered to the and sister Isis collected and put together, and Osiris returned

but not on earth.

He became

judge of the dead.

Osiris,

who

is

said to

have been a king of Egypt, "applied himself towards civilizing

by turning them from their former indigent and barbarous course of life; he moreover taught them how to cultivate and improve the fruits of the earth; he gave them a body of laws to regulate their conduct by, and instructed them in that reverence
his countrymen,

and worship, which they were

wards traveled over the
discipline, not indeed

to

rest of the world,

pay to the Gods; with the same good disposition he afterinducing the people everywhere to submit to his

compelling them by force of arms, but persuading them to yield to

of music."'

the strength of his reasons, which were conveyed to them, in the most agreeable manner,
in

hymns and songs accompanied with instruments

Such a god was certain to play an important part in the funereal customs of the Egyptians; and we learn from Herodotus,' when writing of embalming, that " certain persons are appointed by law to exercise this art as their peculiar business; and when a dead body
is

brought them they produce patterns of

this occasion."
'

mummies

in wood, imitated in painting, the

I

most elaborate of which are said to be of him, whose name

do not think

it

right to

mention on
Sir
to

Gardner Wilkinson

has an interesting remark on the above passage " with regard

what Herodotus says

of the

wooden

figures kept as patterns for

mummies, the most

elaborate of which represented Osiris.

All the Egyptians

who from

their virtues were ad-

mitted to the mansions of the blessed were permitted to assume the form and name of this It was not confined to the rich alone, who paid for the superior kind of embalmdeity. '
ing, or to those

mummies which were

sufficiently well

made

to

assume the form of

Osiris;

and Herodotus should therefore have confined his remark to a kind as not to imitate the figure of a man. For we know that the second

those which were

of so inferior
class of

mummies were put up in the same form of Osiris." The discloser of truth and goodness on earth was
taken after death than such a benefactor
?

Osiris,

and what better form could be

not very clear at what period the deceased particular form, though it seems possible that it was immediately took upon himself this after death; but it may be noticed that the term Osiris or Osirian ' is not applied in papyri or inscriptions to the deceased before the time of the XlXth dynasty, or about 1460 years
It is

B.C.

With the dead was buried a papyrus or manuscript

it is

a copy of the Ritual, or Book of

in reality

the Dead, as

called.

and

instances, was,

"according

This work, although varying in completeness at different periods to Egyptian notions, essentially an inspired work; and the

term Hermetic,
spired.
It is

so often applied

by profane writers to these books,

This Hermetic character
'

means

in-

Thoth himself who speaks and

where
'

reveals the will of the gods,

is

and the mysteri-

ous nature of divine things in man.

several places,
'

claimed for the books in

'

the hieroglyphs

or theological writings, and

p.

the sacred books of

Plutarchi de Iside et Osiride Liber, Samuel Squire, Cambridge, 1744,

Sir J. G. Wilkinson,
p. 473.

15 et seq.

*Ibid., pp. 16, 17.

*

Herod.,
edit.

ii.

86.

Manners and Customs

of the

Ancient Egyptians,

1878 (Dr. Birch),

*ol.

iii.,
>

"

The Mysteries

of Osiris," says Heckethorn, " formed the third degree, or

initiation.

In these the legend of the murder of Osiris

by

his brother
all

the god was personated by the candidate" (Secret Societies of Birch, Trans. Soc. BibL Arch., vol. viii., p. 141.

summit of Egyptian Typhon was represented, and Ages and Countries, vol. i., p. 75).

'

"

'

350

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

Portions of them are expressly stated to have divine scribe, are personified. been written by the very finger of Thoth himself, and to have been the composition of a

Thoth/ the

great God."

Dr. Birch' continues in the valuable introduction to his translation of this sacred book:

" They

were, in fact, in the highest degree mystical,

and profound

secrets to the unin-

itiated in the sacred theology, as stated in the rubrics attached to certain chapters, while

their real purport

to the
trials

was widely different."

" Some of the rubrical

is

directions apply equally

it

human
and

condition before as after death;

the great facts connected with

are

its

justification.
soixl

The

deceased, like Osiris,

all its

the victim of diabolical influences,

its

but the good

celestial

ultimately triumphs over

'

enemies by

gnosis or knowledge of
trials,

and infernal mysteries.

In

fact, it

may

be said that

all
is

these dangers and

culminating in the Hall of the two Truths, where the deceased

his judge Osiris

brought face to face with

hidden world,

whose representative he has been, so to speak, in his passage through the only "represented the idea common to the Egyptians and other philosonew form;
that nothing was annihDated;

phers, that to die was only to assume a

and that

dissolution was merely the forerunner of reproduction."*

Space would not allow, nor

beliefs as to night

is it

necessary here, to enter into a discussion of the various

creation of
first

and darkness being intimately connected with the creation and reexistences. The Egyptians, we learn from Damascius, asserted nothing of the
it

principle of things, but celebrated

as a thrice

unknown

darktiess transcending all

intellectual perception.

Drawing
all

a distinction between night

its

and the primeval darkness

to each its

or night, from which

spp'ial deity.

created nature had

commencement, they gave

Death was
the
sister

also represented in the

Pantheon, but was distinct from Nephthys, called

Isis.

goddess in reference to her relationship to Osiris and

As

Isis

was the be-

ginning, so Nephthys was the end, and thus forms one of the triad of the lower regions.
All persons
state,

who

died, therefore, were thought to pass

title

through her influence into a future

and being born again, and assuming the

of Osiris, each individual

had become

the son of Nut, even as the great ruler of the lower world, Osiris, to whose
entitled

name he was

when admitted

to the mansions of the blessed.

The worship

of

Death and DarkErebos, although

ness, as intermediate to

another form, seems to have been universal.

personified,

space

which in itself signifies darkness, was therefore applied to the dark and gloomy under the earth, through which the shades were supposed to pass into Hades;
all

indeed,

such ideas must have played an important part in the symbolical representa-

tions of the ancient mysteries.'

Among

the Jews darkness was applied to night, the

grave, and oblivion alike,

and we

find the use of the well-known expression,

darkness

and the shadow

of death."

The
'

idea of death as a

means

of reproduction

is

beautifully expressed in the text:

Ibid.

Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History,

vol. v., 1867 (Birch), p. 134.

^Ibid., p. 136.
'

'Wilkinson, op.

cit., vol. iii., p. 468.

symbols.

"In the mysteries all was astronomical, but a deeper meaning lay hid under the astronomical While bewailing the loss of the sun, the epopts were in reality mourning the loss of that light whose influence is life. The passing of the sun through the signs of the Zodiac gave rise to the myths of the incantations of Vishnu, the labors of Hercules, etc., his apparent loss of power during the winter season, and the restoration thereof at the winter solstice, to the story of the death, descent into hell, and resurrection of Osiris and of Mithras " (Heckethorn, Secret Societies of all 'St. John xii. 34. 'Job x. 21; x.wiii. 3. etc. Ages and Countries, vol. i., pp. 19, 20).
. .

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

" Except a grain of wheat
die
it

351
if it

fall

into the earth

and

die, it

abideth by

itself

alone; "but

beareth

much

fruit."

Baptism and reception into the Church by washing away, and

is,

entire change of condition,

in fact, a

form of death and new

article
'

birth.
late Kev.

As bearing on

this point, a carefully written

by the

Wharton

B.

Marriott will well repay perusal. baptism, he observes:

When

explaining one of the terms used to designate

an

Terms of Initiatiun or Illumination. " The idea of baptism being nvffrayooyia rfAf r;;) into Christian mysteries, an enlightenment {(poor 10 1.165, illuminatio illustratio), of the darkened understanding, belonged naturally to flie primitive ages of the Church, when Christian doctrine was still taught under great
initiation
( /.niffffis

reserve to

all

but the baptized, and when adult baptism, requiring previous instruction,

was

still

of prevailing usage.
vi. 4,

Most

of the Fathers interpreted the cpoanadevTe?,

'

once

enlightened,' of Heb.
(Justin M., Apol. II.)
of baptism.

as referring to baptism.
'

In the middle of the second century

we

find proof that

illumination' was already a received designation

And

at a later time (S. Cyril \i\cxos, Catecli. passim) 01 (fxariQoixsvoi (illu01

minandi) occurs as a technical term for those under preparation for baptism,
of those already baptized.
initiated, are contrasted

q)03riadivrss

So

01 ajxvrjroi

and

ot jxsjuvr/jxivoi, the uninitiated

and the

by Sozomen, H. E.

lib. i.,

c.3."

Much

curious information will be found in the quotations from the Cateckeses of St.

Cyril of Jerusalem," with reference to the ritual of that city, A.D. 347.
tized assembled

Those

to

be bap-

on Easter eve

'

in the outer

chamber

of the baptistry, and, facing towards

the west, as being the place of darkness, and of the powers thereof, with outstretched

hand, made open renunciation of Satan; then turning themselves about, and with face towards the east, " the place of Light," they declared their belief in the Trinity, baptism,

and repentance.

This said they went forward into the inner chamber of the baptistry.

The

figurative language of St. Cyril,

we

are told,

makes evident
is

allusions to the acwell

companying ceremonial of the Easter

rite.

This was celebrated, as

known, on the

eve and durijig the night preceding Easter Day.

" The use

of artificial light, thus ren-

dered necessary, was singularly in harmony with the occasion, and with some of the

thoughts most prominently associated with

it."
it

This being a most important Catholic ceremony,

short account of
it

will

not be uninteresting to give a

from

another source.

Dr. England, in his description of the ceremonies of the Holy Week, in the chapels
of the Vatican, observes:

"On

these days [Thursday, Friday,

office all

and Saturday

of the holy

week] the church

first

rejects

from her

that has been introduced to express joy.

is

The

invocations are omitted, no invitatory

first

made, no

hymn

is

sung, the nocturn com-

mences by the antiphon of the

chaunt, for no absolution
ceived;
is

psalm; the versicle and responsory end the choral

re-

said;

the lessons are also said without blessing asked or

which

is

no chapter at Lauds, but the Miserere follows the canticle, and precedes the prayer, said without any salutation of the people by the Dominus vobiscum, even without

the usual notice of Oremus.

the petition
itself;

The

celebrant also lowers his voice toward the termination of

is

thus the

Amen

not said by the people, as on other occasions, nor

is

the doxology found in any part of the service. " This office is called the tenebrae or darkness. Authors are not agreed as
'Smith, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, art. Baptism, p. 155. Easter Eve was the chief time for the baptism of catechumens.
*

to the reason.

Ibid.,

p. 157.

"

352

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

us that the appellation was given, because formerly
it

Some inform
church
is

was celebrated in the

darkness of midnight; others say that the

left at

the conclusion of the

itself

name is derived from the obscurity in which the oflBce, when the lights are extinguished. The only

doubt which suggests

regarding the correctness of this latter derivation, arises from

Roman church informed Amalarius, who wrote about the year 840, that the lights were not extinguished in his time in the church of St. John of Lateran on holy Thursday; but the context does not make it so
the fact, that Theodore, the Archdeacon of the holy
clear that the
St.

answer regarded this

office of

mattins and lauds, or

if

it

did, the

church of

John then followed a different practice from that used by most othere, and by

Rome

itself for

many ages since." " The office of Wednesday evening,

most simple and ancient

then,

is

the mattins and lauds of Thursday morning

in their

style, stripped of

every circumstance which could excite

grief of the

to joy, or

draw the mind from contemplating the

man

of sorrows.

At the
it is

epistle side of the sanctuary, however,

an unusual object presents

a triangle
is

itself to

our view:

a large candlestick,

upon whose summit

placed; on the sides ascending to the

itself.

apex of
shall

this figure, are fourteen yellow candles,

and one on the point

it's

Before giving

the explanation generally received respecting the object of

present introduction,

we

mention what has been

said
office.

by some others.

These

lights,

and those upon the

altar,

are extinguished during the

is

All are agreed that one great object of this extinction

to testify grief

and mourning.
origin in

Some

writers,

who seem

desirous of
it is

making

all

our

ceremonial find

its

the old-fashioned light

mere natural causes, tell us that which was used in former times when
its

but the preservation of

this office

was celebrated at
is

night, and that the present gradual extinction of

candles, one after the other,

also

derived from the original habit of putting out the lights successively, as the morning began
to

grow more

clear, until the brightness of full

artificial aid.

day enabled the readers to dispense

alto-

gether with any

These gentlemen, however, have been rather unfortunate

in generally causing all this to occur in the catacombs, into

which the rays of the eastern sun

lights.

could not easily find their way, at least with such power as to supersede the use of

They give us no explanation of the difference of color in the candles which existed and still exist in many places, the upper one being white and the others yellow, nor of the form of
this triangle.

Besides, in

some churches all the candles were extinguished

to represent that of Judas; in others, they

at once, in several
all

by a hand made of wax,

struck from a
flint,

were

quenched by
fire

a moist sponge passed over them, to shew the death of Christ, and on the next day

was

by which they were again kindled

of lights

to

shew his resurrection.

. .
.

"The number

was by no means everywhere the same;

and

in
.

some
. .

churches they were extinguished at once, in others at two, three, or more intervals.

upon a balustrade, which, however, are extinguished by a beadle, at the same time that those upon the altar are put out by the master of ceremonies; nor is the candle upon the point of the triangle, in this cliapel, of a different color from the others. The explanation adopted by Dr. England is that which informs us that the candles arranged along the sides of the triangle represent the patriarchs and prophets. John the Baptist being the last of the prophetic band, but his light was more resplendent than that of the others. The ceremony is based on the Redemption, and. preparatory to the closing scene, the last " remaining candle is concealed under the altar, the praj'er is in silence, and
In the Sixtine chapel there are also
six

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

a sudden noise
light has not
still
'

353

been extinguished,
its

reminds us of the convulsions of nature at the Saviour's death. But the it has been only covered for a time; it will be produced
light

burning, and shedding

around."'

As mentioned above, the ceremony of baptism was preceded by a formula of renunciaHe was at that time divested of his upper garment, tion, pronounced by the catechumen.
standing barefoot and in his chiton (shirt) only, being required to
nunciations in answer to questions put to

make
west,

three separate re-

him

whilst facing

the;

and before he was

turned towards the

east.'

The renunciation

of something gone before was followed

by a

formal ceremony of admission; and this appears to have been the universal rule, as such

admission necessiirily indicated a change.

Persons applying for admission to the Order

were to stay at the gate many

trial of fitness in

days, be taught prayers

and psalms, and were then put

to the

renunciation of the world, and other ascetical pre- requisites.*

Although monasticism, or the renunciation of the world, was widely established in Southern and Western Europe, it was the Kule founded by Saint Benedict, born a. d. 480, who died probably about 542, that gave stability to what had hitherto been fluctuating and
According to his system, the vow of self-addiction to the monastery became more stringent, and its obligation more lasting. The vow was to be made with all possible solemnity, in the chapel, before the relics in the shrine, with the abbot and all the brethren
incoherent.

standing by; and once made,

it

was

to be irrevocable

"Vestigia nulla retrorsum."'

his

" But the great

distinction of Benedict's Rule

was the substitution of study for the

comparative uselessness of mere manual labor.

ous; rather they were to spend

Not that

monks were

to be less laboriless servile,

more time

in

work; but their work was to be

"

of the head as well as of the hand, beneficial to future ages, not merely furnishing suste-

nance for the bodily wants

of the

The Rule

of St. Benedict for

the magnificent buildings raised

community or for almsgiving." some time reigned alone in Europe, and very many were by the care and energy of the members of the Order; it

would be endless to enumerate the celebrated men the Order has produced. As the first, and perhaps the greatest of all the religious Orders, and the one which, as
before mentioned, fixed in a definite

manner the
it

regulce or rules of such brotherhoods,

it

will not be out of place to give a short account of the formal ceremony of reception into

the Order; the more particularly as

bears on the subject

touched in the

last

few pages,

viz.

Darkness, as

upon which I have lightly I connected with death and initiation.

am

indebted to Mr. William Simpson,

who

himself witnessed the ceremony, for the follow-

ing account:

"
high

St. Paul's
altiir

without the walls [of Rome]

fitted

is

a basilica church, and in the apse behind the

of the Benedictines
I
is

an altar had been

up.

The head
after

a mitred abbot.

On

this morning, the 1st Jan. 1870, the abbot was sitting as

entered the church, with

mitre on head and crosier in hand.

the abbot,
steps,
'

Soon

our entrance a young

who

placed a black cowl on his head.

went on

his knees,

put his hands as in the

up to The young man then descended the act of prayer, when each of the monks
led

man was

Made by

striking books together.

'

Dr. J. England, Bishop of Cliarleston, Explanation of the Ceremonies of the

1833, p. 48 et seq.
1843, p. 14
p. 187.
'

Holy Week

in the
p. 160.

Chapels of the Vatican, etc., Rome, * Fosbroke, British Monachism,

'

Smith, Diet, of Christian Antiquities,

Smith, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, art. Benedictine Rule,

*lbid., p. 189.

VOL. II. 23

'

54

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

came up, and,
also

present

on their knees, kissed him in turn.

it,

When

they had finished,

a velvet cloth, black, with gold or silver embroidery on

was spread
laid over

in front of the altar;

on
was

this the

young man

lay

down, and a black

silk pall

was

him.

Thus, under

semblance of a state of death, he lay while mass was celebrated by the abbot.
finished,

When

this

one of the deacons of the mass approached where the young man

lay,

and mut-

tered a few words from a book he held in his hand.

were from the Psalms, and were to

life.
'

this effect

understood that the words used

that sleepest, arise to everlasting

'

Oh thou

The man then

rose,

was led

to the altar, where, I think,

he received the sacrament,

of the ceremony.

and then took his place

among
'

the Brotherhood.
I

That was the end

The young man was an American;

could not learn his name, but after he became a

monk

it

was

to be Jacobus. "

Before passing away from the mysterious learning of the East, a few remarks concerning two of the most powerful of the secret societies of the Middle Ages will not be out of
place.

The

symbols, metaphors, and emblems of the Freemasons, have been divided by

First,

Dr. Armstrong into three different species.

such as are derived from the various

Secondly, such as are

forms of heathenism
are derived from the
etc.

the

sun, the serpent, light, and darkness;

derived from the Mason's craft, as the square and compasses; and Thirdly, those which

Holy Land, the Temple

of Solomon, the East, the

Ladder of Jacob,

The

first

two species of symbols

those derived
Institution,

Mason's craft

he

finds in the

Vehmic

from heathen worship and from the and the third, being " of a crusading

character," he considers favors the assumption of a connection between the Freemasons

and the Templars.

borrowed their

It

is

further observed by the same writer, that the secret societies

rites of initiation, their

whole apparatias of mystery, from heathen systems;

remember that the Holy Vehme was in the height of its power during the fourteenth century, and tliat it was in that century that the sun of the Templars set
and we are asked
so stormily." to

The history

of the Knights

Templars has been

This

sufficiently alluded to in earlier chapters,'

but the procedure of the Holy Vehme, though lightly touched upon at a previous page,

may

again be briefly referred

to.

is,

indeed, in a measure essential,

if all

the evi-

dence which

may assist

in guiding us to a rational conclusion, with respect to

is

many obscure
readers.

points connected with our Masonic ceremonial,

It

to be spread out before

my

has been well observed, that " in

is

all

lodge constitv;ent elements and appointments,

'

the track

broad and direct to a Gothic origin."

Now,
if

leaving undecided the question

whether

this is the result of assimilation or descent,'

we

follow Sir F. Palgi-ave, the

Vehmic Tribunals can only be considered

'

as the original jurisdictions of the

" Old Saxons"

3, 1884, Mr. Simpson informs me: "This is the account from mj' diary on the day of the ceremony." Tlie annexed Plate is from a drawing by Mr. Simpson, which appeared in the Illustrated London Neus, Feb. 26, 1870.

In a letter dated Jan.

[1870] written

'The Christian Remembrancer,

'Chaps.
'

vol. xiv., 1847, pp. 13-15.

Fort,

and XI., The Early Historj' and Antiquities

I.,

pp.

8, 10;

V., p. 245;

pp. 118-134. of Freemasonry, p. 183.

'Chap. V., p. 250. " Points of identity between

lodge operations and mediaeval courts are of too frequent occurrence to be merely accidental " (Ibid.,
p. 272).
'

to 1723,
105;

be usefully borne in mind, that the regulations by which the Craft was governed prior were termed by the Masons of that era, the " Old Oothic Constitutions." Cf. Chaps. IL, p. Vn., p. 351; and XV., p. 333.
It

may

c o c
a
(J

c
CD
CM

o c

.2

Cm

o U

EA RL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

which survived the subjugation of their country.
itiation,

355
in-

" The singular and mystic forms of

the system of enigmatical phrases, the use of signs and symbols of recognition,
tlie

may

probably be ascribed to the period wlien

tile

whole system was united to the worship of Deities of Vengeance, and when the sentence was pronounced by the Doomsmen, as-

sembled, like the Asi of old, before the altars of Thor or Woden.

Of

this connection

with

ancient pagan policy, so clearly to be traced in the Icelandic courts, the English territorial
jurisdictions offer

some very

faint vestiges;

'

but the mystery had long been dispersed, and

the whole system passed into the ordinary machinery of the law.'"

Tribunal; and

Charlemagne, according to the traditions of Westphalia, was the founder of the Vehmic it was supposed that he instituted the court for the purpose of coercing the
This opinion, however, in the judgment of Sir F.
of the Vehmic Tribunal, we shall see that, from the summary jurisdiction exercised in
*

Saxons, ever ready to relapse into the idolatry from wliich they had been reclaimed, not

by persuasions, but by the sword.'

Palgrave,
is

not confirmed either by documentary evidence or by contemporary historians,

if

and he adds, "

in principle,
it

we examine the proceedings

no
essential character

differs in

townships and hundreds of Anglo-Saxon England. "

Vehmic Tribunals was vested in the great or general Chapter, before wliich all the members were liable to account for their acts.' No rank of life excluded a person from the right of being initiated, and in a Vehmic code discovered at Dortmund, the perusal of wliich was forbidden to the profane under pain of death, three degrees are mentioned. " The procedure at the secret meetings is somewhat obscure.
of the

The supreme government

A
(

Friegraff presided, while the court itself

was composed of Freischoffen,

also

termed
singular

Scabini or Echevins.
Wis^endeii or wise

The members were of two classes, the uninitiated and men), the latter only, who were admitted under a strict and
" Heimliche Acht," or

initiated

bond

of secrecy, being privileged to attend the

initiation the candidate took

secret tribunal.'

At

a solemn oath to support with his whole powers the

child, father and mother, sister and wind, from all that the sun sliines on and the rain wets, and from every being between heaven and earth," and to bring before the tribunal everything within
to conceal its proceedings,

Holy Vehme,

" from wife and

and brother,
his

fire

knowledge that fell under its jurisdiction. He was then initiated into the signs by which the members recognised each other, and was presented with a rope and a knife, upon which were engraved the mystic letters S. S. G. g.,* whose signification is still involved in
doubt, but which are supposed to

mean

strick, stein, gras, grein."

The ceremonies

of the court were of a symbolic cliaracter; before the Friegraff stood a

E.g., the strange ceremony of the " Gathering of the Ward Staff" in Ongar Hundred, possesses a simUarity to the style of the Free Field Court of Corbey. See Palgrave, op. eit., pp. cxliv., clviii, ' Palgrave, The Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, 1833, Part II., p. clvi.
^

Ibid.,

p. civ.
cit.

'Palgrave, Joe
'

'Ibid., p.
all

cli.

Heckethorn, Secret Societies of

cit.,

Ages and Countries,

vol.

i.,

p. 200.

'Palgrave, op.
'

pp. c.\lix.,

cli.

in

have been found in Vehmic writings preserved the archives of Hertfort. in Westphalia, and by some are explained as meaning stock, stein, strick,

Heckethorn states that the

initials s. s, s. o. G,

gras, grein, stick, stone, cord, gi'ass,

'

woe

(Secret Societies of all

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th

edit.

Ages and Coun'rios, vol. i., p. 301). For the preliminaiy procedure at the reception of a candi-

date, see Chap. V., p. 360.

'

'

"

356
table,

EARLY BRITISH FREE MA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

'

on which were placed a naked sword and a cord of withe [or willow twigs]. There was no mystery in the assembly of the Heimliche Acht. Under the oak or under the limetree the Judges assembled, in broad daylight

and before the eye

of heaven. of assembling the suitors

" In England," observes

of the
ness.
'

Sir F. Palgrave,

"the ancient mode

Hundred beneath the sky,' continued to be retained with very remarkable steadiWithin memory, at least within the memory of those who flourished when English
to be studied, the primeval custom still flourished throughout the realm. remarkable," he continues, " that on the Continent there appears to be very few sub-

topography began

"It

is

sisting traces of jiopular courts held in the

open

air,

except in Scandinavia and

its

de-

pendencies, where the authority of Charlemagne did not extend; in Westphalia, where the

Vehmic Tribunals

retained, as I have supposed, their pristine

Saxon law: and

in

Free

Freisland,' the last stronghold of Teutonic liberty.

"

Ihiring the proceedings of the Heimlichs Acht all had their heads and hands uncovered, and wore neither arms nor weapons, that no one might feel fear, and to indicate that they were under the peace of the empire.' At meals the members are said to have recognized

each other by turning the points of their knives towards the edge, and the jwints of their
forks toward the centre of the table.

Although the Vehmgerichte or

name, until as
or Society
late as the
is still

secret criminal courts of

Westphalia existed, at
liistory of

least in

middle of the eighteenth century,' the

the Association

enveloped in the utmost obscurity.

light of

Like many other subjects, however,

upon which the

modern research has but faintly beamed, its consideration was essential in this liistory, though for any success which may attend the method of treatment which has been adopted, I am chiefly indebted to a long- forgotten article on " Ancient
and Modern Freemasonry," from the pen of the late Dr. Armstrong, Bishop town an extract from which will conclude this dissertation.
of

Grahams-

According to the Bishop

all

the views formed of the Masonic body, stand, like Chinese

facts.

women, on small

feet,

on the slender foundation of a few

The

views, however, of

the principal writers on the subject, he considers

may

be ranged into two classes,

the one

maintaining that the fraternity was originally a corporation of Architects and Masons,
emjjloyed solely on ecclesiastical works, composed of persons of
all

ranks and countries,

the other as-

and moving from

'

place to place during the great church-building periods;

Mackey, Encyclopcedia of Freemasonry, p. 878. cit., p. cliv. The form of opening the court was probably by a dialogue between the Freigraff and an Eclievin, asm the analogous procedure of the Free Field Court of Corbey (Ibid., p. cxlv.). Cf. Fort, The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonrj-, chap, xxv., passim. ^ Palgi-ave, The Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, Part II., p. civiii. Cf. ante,
'

Palgrave, op.

p. 354.

Mackey, loc. cit. 'Heckethorn, Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries, vol. i., p. 201. Sir Walter Scott, in his novel "Anne of Geieretein," in which he unfolds to us somewhat of the mysterious history of the Holy Vehme, makes use of a judicial dialogue, the rhymes of which, by a perliaps excusable poetic licence, he has transferred from the Free Field Court of Corbey to the Free Vehmic Tribunal. 'Palgrave, Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, Part H., p. clvii. According to Heckethorn it was not till French legislation, in 1811, abolished the last free court in the county of
Munster, that they

may

be said to have ceased to exist; and not very

all

many

years ago, certain

citi-

zens in that locality assembled secretly every year, boasting of their descent from the ancient free

judges (Secret Societies of

Ages and

Couiitiies, vol.

i.,

p. 205).

EA RL Y BRITISH PREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

serting that

357

it was a secret society connected with the Templars, and merely using the terms and implements of the Mason's craft as a medium of secret symbolical communication.

Dr. Armstrong endeavors to soothe these opposing writers by the assurance

tliat

there

may be
the

truth in both opinions; on which assumption, and having in a manner associated

the Knights Templars, as we have already seen, by means of metaphors and symbols used by the Freemasons, and by an allusion to the date of extinction of the latter as an Order, coinciding witli that in which the
his classification of the

Vehmic Tribunals and

"We have now done our best for the two theories which we find floating about the world. Supposing that there is truth in both, it does not seem improbable to suppose that, at the time of the suppresfortunes of the former reached their culminating point," observes:
sion of the Templars, a

'The Freemasons,'
practical

was then formed, which adopted the title of Freemasons which, as a working body, was on the point of dying away was changed into a secret society; or perhaps
secret society
to escape suspicion;

new

or that the

the higher degrees, the inner

secret society.""
It

circle,

the imperium in imperio, merged themselves into a

has been already shown, that under the cloak of symbols, borrowed from the Egyp-

pagan philosophy crept into the Jewish schools, where it afterwards served as the foundation upon which the Cabbalists formed their mystical system." The influence of the Cabbala upon successive schools of human thought, with direct reference to the possitians,
bility of the old

world doctrines having been passed on whole and entire to the FreeStill, it is

masons, has also been examined.*

final

necessary, or at least desirable, to add

for whilst,

some
it is

remarks to those which appear in Chapter XIII.,

on the one hand,

and obsolete theories should be decently interred and put out of sight, on the other hand we must be especially careful, lest in our haste some of the ancient beliefs
essential that old

are buried alive.'

At the

outset of this history, the use of metaphorical analogies,

from
are

the contrasts of outward nature, such as the opposition of light to darkness, warmth to cold,
life to

death, was pointed out as a necessary characteristic of

all secret fraternities,

who

obliged to express in symbolical language that relation of contrast to the uninitiated on

which their constitution depends.'

masonry, we have

It is

important, however, to recollect that in Freeoral traditions, or in other words,

is

literate, symbolical,

and

our compre-

hension of the history and arcana of the Craft

assisted

by

letters,

by symbols, and by

memory.
material.

the three

The comparative trustworthiness of the three sets of traditions becomes very Where their testimonies conflict, all cannot be believed, and yet to which of shall we award the palm ? The point we have now reached is an appropriate one
in

from which to consider the varied forms

'

which our Masonic traditions are presented to us.

Ante, p. 3.54. In the Monthly Review, vol. xxv., 1798, p. 501, it is stated, on the authority of Paciaudi (Antiquitates Christianas, Romfe, 1755), that certain churches of the Templai-s in Lombardy bore the epithet " de la mason."

*The Christian Remembrancer,

vol. xiv., 1847, pp. 5, 17, 18.

In the opinion of Dr. Armstrong,

the Freemasons, possess tlie relics and cast-off clothes of some deceased Fi-iternitj-." He says, " Tliey did not invent .all the symbolism they possess. It came from others. They themselves have equipped themselves in the ancient garb as they best could, but with evident ignorance of the origi-

entangled themselves.

and we cannot but smile at the many labyrinthine folds in which they have to us the perplexity into which some simple Hottentot would fall, if the full-dress regimentals and equipments of the 10th Hussars were laid at his feet, and he were to induct himself, without instruction, into the mystic and confusing habiliments" {Ibid,,
nal

mode

of investiture,

They suggest

p. 12).

^Ante,

p. 187.

Ibid., p. 195 et seq.

>

Cf.

Chap.

I.,

p. 10.

'Ibid., pp.

11, 12.

358

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

craft symbolism,

Documentary evidence,
and the
East.

and

oral relations, alike take us

back to Egypt

In his " Contributions to the History of the Lost Word," Dr. Garrison observes,
tenets of the Essenes,
gestive.

" The
Word

and the doctrines of Pythagoras and the Cabbala are

all

especially sug-

Studied, as they

should be, in their relations to the Bible as the written

and the traditions and teachings of the lodge, they will, I am sure, furnish matter of continually increasing interest and instruction to every thoughtful student of the Fraternity, who may really desire more light." This view is supported by the authority of many writers of reputation, to whose works
of God,
'

I have incidentally alluded in the course of this history,

vitality of

and

it

may be remarked

that the

Masonic theories is dependent not altogether upon books, but derives much of from the opinions expressed by eminent members of the Fraternity. Now, one of the most learned of English Masons, in recent times, according to popular repute, was the late Dr. Leeson, who, in a lecture delivered at Portsmouth on July 25, 1862, states
its

force

that Egypt was the cradle of Masonry.

The mystic knowledge became known

in

to the

Essenes, hence arose the Jewish Cabbala, and

due process

of transmission,

Masonry

became the inheritance of those philosophers of the Middle Ages who were known as Rosicrucians." So far back as 1794, Mr. Clinch remarked, "it is now grown into a popular demonstration in controversy, to show a thing derived from heathenism."' It would be difficult, even in these days, to point out a single ancient custom for which a pagan origin
could not at least be plausibly assigned.
ized society, and
all

The

Egyjjtians were the

first

to establish a civilthis source.

the sciences must necessarily have been derived from

According to Jewish tradition, the Cabbala passed from

to

Adam

over to Noah, and then

Abraham, the friend

of God,

who emigrated with

it

to Egv'pt,

where the patriarch

al-

lowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out.* It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, which has probably served as the foundation of authority upon which the passage in the " Old Charges," relating to Abraham, was
originally inserted. "
is thus referred to in an essay " Book of Constitutions," 1738: " The Cab.vlists, bound up with, and forming part of, the The Jews had a great Regard for another Sect, dealt in hidden and mysterious Ceremonies.

The

mystical philosophy of the Jews

this Science,

their
'

and thought they made uncommon Discoveries by means of it. They divided Knowledge into Sjjeculative and Operative. Dayid and SoLOiroN, they say, were

The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, appendix A., p. 474 Lecture delivered by Dr. Leeson, Most Puissant Sov. Gr. Com. 33, before the Royal Naval Chapter of Sovereign Princes of Rose Croix (Freemason's Magazine, Aug. 2, 1862). Besides the statements in the text, the Doctor told his hearere a great many things which should have severely
Fort,
'

Grand Lodge of 1733 it was decreed and enacted, Mason with the highest honors, and in the words of the report, " he concludi.d a ve>-y learned and elaborate address, by stating that from the facts he had told them, every one would see that the 18th or Rose Croix degree had been practised so far
tested their creduUty; inter alia, that under the

that

all craft

lodges were to receive everj' 30'

back as the year a.d. 1400" {Ibid.). 3 Anthologia Hibernica, vol. iii., 1794, p. 423. "I shall show that the terms of Egyptian mystery have not merely been adopted in latter times, that they are coeval with Christianity, as their
!

ceremonies have been imitated in all nations" {Ibid., p. 424). * Dr. Ginsburg, The Kabbalah, 1865, p. 84; ante, p. 188.
' " Moreover, when Abraham and Sara his wife went into Egypt and there taught the vij Sciences unto the Egyptians, and he had a woorthy schoUer, that height Ewcled, and he learned righ'.. well, atui was a Jf of all the vij Sciences " (No. 4 Grand Lodge MS.).
.

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRY ENGLAND.

exquisitely skill'd in
it;

359

and no body
of

at first

presumed

to

commit

it

to Vir'ding:

seems most to the present Purpose) the perfection of their

Dissector
'

Skill consisted in

But (what what the

calls Lettering

it,''

or by ordering the Letters of a

Word

in a particular

Manner."'
In order to estimate
traditions,
tfie

comparative trustworthiness of
is it

literate, symbolical,
veil of

and

oral

when

in either case their aid

sought in lifting the

will

darkness which ob-

scures the remote past of our Society,

of

be necessary to pass in review the opinions

some

writers,

by

whom

the inferences deducible from symbols are held to

letters or

outnumber

and outweigh those handed down by

Thus, in the judgment of the historian, from whose interesting and instructive work on the " Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries," I have already quoted: " From the first appearance of man on the

by memory.

earth, there was a highly favored

and

civilized race, possessing a full

knowledge of the

laws and properties of nature, and which knowledge was embodied in mystical figures and

schemes, such as were deemed appropriate emblems for

its

preservation and propagation.

is

These figures and schemes are preserved in Masonry, though their meaning
understood by
the fraternity.

no longer

The aim

of all secret societies, except of those

still

which were

purely political, was to preserve such knowledge as

survived, or to recover
all

what had
and other
preceding

been

lost.

Freemasonry, being the resume of the teachings of

these societies, possesses

dogmas
it."

in accordance with

some which were taught

Freemasonry

in the Ancient Mysteries

associations,

though

it is impossi])le

to attribute its origin to

is

any

specific society

Finally, according to this writer.

of all primitive

or
'

rather ought to be

the com-

pendium
of

and accumulated human knowledge.'

From this flattering description I turn to one from the competent hand of the author " The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry," but shall first of all seize the opportunity of saying a few prefatory words explanatory of the estimation in which I
regard both the work referred
to,

and

also its talented author.

To

slightly paraphrase the

words of Sir F. Palgrave:

'

Whoever now composes the

to be solved.

early history of

Freemasonry has to
is lost,

contend against great disadvantages.

of the perplexities remain

All the freshness of the subject

whilst

many

Upon

first

consideration,

it

seems almost super-

fluous to multiply details of things popularly or vulgarly

to pass

them

over.

Yet the

historian will

known, and equally objectionable often find himself compelled to abridge what

I.e., Samuel Prichard. Cf. ante, pp. 133, 171. The Cabbala is divided into two kinds, the Practical and the TTieoretical. The latter is again divided into the Dogmatic and the Literal. The Literal Cabbala teaches a mystical mode of explaining sacred things by a peculiar use of the letters of words, and a reference to their value. This e\'idently a rabbinical corruption of the Greek is further subdivided into three species, Gematria yeij-fteTpia Notaricon, and Temura (Ginsburg, The Kabbalah). ^Constitutions, 1738, appendix, p. 221. Although the subject is headed "A Defence of Masonry, publish'd A.D. 1730. Occaaion'd by a Pami^Iilet call'd Masonry Dissected" {Ibid., p. 216). I am aware of no copy of earlier date than 1738. Dr. Anderson is said to have been the author, but, besides being unlike any piece of composition known to be his, the thanks which are offered him at p.
'

226 of the Constitutions "for printing the Clever Defence," by a member of his own lodge the " Horn," now Royal Somerset House and Inverness No. 4 who signs himself " Euclid," militate

strongly against such a conclusion.

*

Heckethorn, op.

'By

eit., voL i., pp. 248, 249. G. F. Fort, 4th edit, Philadelphia (Bradley

&

Co.), 1881.

'History of

Normandy and

of England, vol.

i.,

p. S4.

'

36o

EARL V BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

others have considered leading passages of liistory, and at the same time to invest with ap-

parently disproportionate importance the topics which his predecessors have disregarded.
If

an

edifice has

one principal fa9ade, the views taken by different

is

artists will

be pretty

nearly the siime; but this

not the case where there are diversified and irregular portions,
attention for their use, ornament, singularity, or

presenting

grandeur.
anotlier,

many fronts, each claiming The aspect selected in one

in a third quite cast into

picture will be seen only in rapid perspective in

and

the shade.
lie is

The
under
difEers

artist ctinnot

change his position whilst

working, or represent the same thing

two aspects at a time.

No

iiersous can see the same object in the same way.

Therefore, instead of quarrelling with a writer because his

mode

of treating history

from that wliich we should have preferred, we should rather thank him for affording us the opportunity of contemplating the Masonic Edifice from a position whicii we
cannot reach, or in wliich we should not like to place ourselves.
supersede each other.

Historians can tiever

all

No

one historian can give

all

we

wish, or teach
for

we ought

to

learn; neither can comparisons fairly be instituted

in their views,

between them,

no two are

identical

opinions, the

be studied
less,

no two possess the Siime idiosyncrasies, the same opportunities, the same same intentions, the same mind. History cannot be read off-hand; it must studied by investigation and comparison otherwise it profits no more, perhaps

than Palmerin of England or Amadis of Gaul.

all

Fort has succceeded, where

his predecessors

haye

failed

that
The

is

in rendering thft

study of our antiquities an attractive task.

of his

This, of
its

itself, is

no

slight merit,

but the value

work

is

by no means confined to

literary execution.

old-world libraries
visits

appear to have been ransacked to some purpose by the author, during his occasional
to Europe,

and we are the more disposed

to

admire the lucidity of the

text,

from the

copious extracts and references to authorities, which, in the notes, attest, so to speak, the
prodigality of his research.

In chapter xxv. of his

liistory,

the symbolical traditions, which

have come down to

us, are closely

examined, and compared with the cognate symbolism,

and the metaphorical analogies of Gothic origin. Thus he demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt, that many usages

noxu in

vogue

among Masons had

two

their counterparts,

if

not their originals, in the Middle Ages, but in

fortifying,
if

respects, as it appears to

me, the analogy requires

it

is

to sustain the

natural inference which will be

drawn from

it

by the generality of readers.

Fort's

"History"

is

one of those captivating works which are read by many who, though well

informed on other subjects, are wholly unacquainted with the " Antiquities of Free-

masonry," and are not really studying, or particularly curious, with respect to them.
do, however, almost unconsciously, or at least unintentionally,

They

form an opinion respecting

that subject " from broad general statements and

little

detached facts," one being very

commonly given

as

if

it

were a sufficient voucher for the other,

and both coming

in quite

incidentally as matters perfectly notorious

as matters so far from wanting proof themselves,

his history. Fort has withheld in-

that they are only brought in to prove other things.

Now

am

far

from suggesting that at any portion of

formation from his readers, that in his judgment might have modified the conclusions at

which they are asked to arrive on the authority of

'

his personal statement.

On

the con-

Cf. Dr. Maitland's Observations

on Dr. Warton's History of English Poetry (The Dark Ages, 3d

edit.,

note

B.).

'

'

EA RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y ENGL A ND.

tvary, the positions

361

advanced by this writer are frequently so

fortified

by references as to

be conclusive beyond what the mind altogether wishes, but in the jircsent instance, and in the exercise of an undoubted discretion
special province of the historian

to

which

have previously alluded, as the

facts,

having clearly established in his own mind certain

am
sure,

these appeared so incontrovertible as to justify the exclusion of the details by which they

were supported.
of criticism, that

But no one,

would more heartily concur

in the

golden rule

Tkuth
it

is

the great object to be sought, and not the maintenance of an

opinion, because

was once expressed.

Evidence must always modify

critical opinions,

when that evidence affects the data on which such opinions were formed; it must be so at least on the part of those who really desire to be guided on any definite priTiciples. The parallelism which has been drawn between the symbolism of Freemasonry and
that of institutions whicli flourished in the Middle Ages,
is

wanting

in completeness.

In

we begin with the proceedings or usages of the latter upon which the analogy has been built up, I see no reason why any pause should be made in our inquiry when we reach the Middle Ages. That era, no doubt, as well as the societies or associathe
first place,

and

if

tions coeval with

it,

is

interesting to the archfeologist,

if it fixes

either a date or a channel,

calculated to elucidate the transmission of Masonic science from the

more remote
tliat

past.

Yet
so

as the greater

number, not
as

to

go further, of the analogies or

justice claim

similarities,

which are
they are

much

dwelt upon, have their exemplars in the Mysteries

to the

extent

identical

we might with
we meet with

much

Egypt

as the land of Masonic origin,^ as

limit our pretensions to a derivation

from the Vehmic Tribunals of Westphalia.

In the
all

Mysteries

dialogue, ritual, darkness, light, death,

and reproduction,^

of
It

which reappear in the Benedictine ceremony of which a description has been given.
admits of no doubt that the
universal acceptation.
rites

and

theological expressions of the Egyptians were of

Indeed,

we

are expressly told by

Warburton

after remarking that

here comes in the sur-

the Fathers of the Church bore a secret grudge to the Mysteries for their injudicious treat-

ment

of Christianity

on

its first

appearance in the world:

" But

prising part of the story

that, after this,

they should so studiously and affectedly transfer

the Terms, Phrases, Rites, Ceremonies, and Discipline of these odious Mysteries into our

holy Keligion; and thereby, very early viciate and deprave, what a Pagan Writer (Marcel-

and acknowledge, was absoluta & simplex, [perfect and pure] as it came Hands of its divine Author." out of the The objection I have hitherto raised to the theory which has been based upon the
linus) could see

symbolical traditions of the Freemasons,

is

one rather of form than of substance, but the

its

ground on which
to

I shall next venture to

impeach

value, goes to the root of the

whole
with

matter, and, unless

my judgment
is

is

wholly at fault, clearly proves that the parallel sought

it

be

established,

unsupported by the only evidence which could invest

authority.
If,
'

indeed,

many

of the rites, symbols,

and

beliefs, no%o

prevalent

among Masons,

cor-

Cf. Tregelles,

The Greek New Testament,

effect,

p. 43.

whose comparison of the ceremonies of the Pythagoreans and the Freemasons, where lie instances no less than fifteen points of similarity, is prefaced by the words 77ie " Pythagoreans introduced their mystic rites from Egypt " (Anthologia Hibernica, vol. iii., 1794, pp. 183, 184; ante, Chap. I., p. 8.).
"

This was, in

maintained by

Jfr.

Clinch,

'Chap.
*

I.,

pp. 12, 15, 19,

vol.
i.,

Divine Legation,

1738, p. 172.

C/. ante.

Chap.

I., p.

16.

362

EARLY BRITISH FREEMASONRYENGLAND.

to,
'

respond with, or are analogous

of earlier

those supposed to have been

common

to the

members

this material in our consideration of the " customs" referred to by Dr. Plot? Freemasonry of Ashmole's time, and the Masonic

and

distinct societies,

to

what extent

is

De

Quincey, in the volume of his general works, to which I have so frequently referred,

very justly observes

" We must not forget that

what they now
are:

the Rosicrucian and Masonic orders were

not originally at all points

they have passed through

many

clianges,

and no

inconsiderable part of their symbols, etc., has been the product of successive

generations."'

Without further referring to the Rosicrucian fraternity, than to direct attention where the Brethren of the Rosy Cross are stated to have been one of the intermediaries
'

to in

passing on the mysterious learning of Egypt to our present-day Freemasons,

it

may be

De Quincey is a sound one, and commends itself to common sense. On this principle, therefore, we might expect to find the speculative Masonry of our own time characterized by many features which were wholly absent from the earlier system.
remarked, that the position taken by
our

Yet

if

we accept the conclusions

its

of writers

who have

carefully studied the comparative

in its later growth, instead of

symbolism of past ages,

changing in some degree

it is clear,

either that

Masonry
have

original character, has,

it is

on the contrary, gone back pretty

first started,

nearly to the same point from which

science was transformed into

said to
is

or that our speculative

what

it

now

by the antiquaries and philosophers who were

afSliated to the craft in the seventeenth

and eighteenth centuries.* from the " Defence of Masonry " first printed in 1730, and so highly esteemed A passage by the compiler of the official " Book of Constitutions," as to have been incorporated by

him in the second The author of the

as being

edition of that work, will be of service at this portion of our inquiry.

brochure referred to, after stating that Freemasonry had been represented

" an unintelligible Heap of Stuff and Jargon, without common Sense or Connection,"
I confess I

thus proceeds: "

am

of another Opinion; tho' the

Scheme oiMasonri/, as reveal'd

by the
I

Dissector,''

seems

liable to Exceptions:

Nor is

it

so clear to

at first View,

by attending only

to the literal Construction of the

me as to be fuUy understood Words: And for aught

or

know, the System,

as taught in the regular Lodges,

may have some Redundancies

Members.

Defects, occasion'd by the Ignorance or Indolence of the old sidering through

And

indeed, con-

what Obscurity and Darkness the Mystery has been

has survived; the

deliver'd

many
it

Centuries

it

many

Countries and Languages, and Sects

it

down; the and Parties

has run through; we are rather to wonder

ever arriv'd to the present Age, without

more Imperfection. In shorty I am apt to think that Masonry (as it is now explain'd) has in some Circumstances declined from its original Purity ! It has run long in muddy Streams, and as it were, under Ground: But notwithstanding the gi-eat Rust it may have contracted, and the forbidding Light it is placed in by the Dissector, there is (if I judge
right)

much

of the old Fubrick

still

remaining; the essential Pillars of the Building

may be

discov-'d

through the Rubbish, tho' the Superstructure be over-run with Moss and Ivy,

^Atite. pp. 185, 186.

'Vol.

xv-i.

(Suspiria de Profundis), p. 366.

35;

'Chaps.
'I.e.,

I., p.

Xni., passim.

<ChapsI.,

p. 13:

XH.,

p. 143:

Xm.

pp. 184, 335, 338-340, 361-363;

XVI., sub annollVJ.

Samuel Prichard.

'

EARL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGLAND.

and the Stones, by Lengtli of Time, be disjointed. Hero is of great Value among the Curious, tho' it

363

And

therefore, us the

Bust

of an old

lias lost

an Eye, the Nose or the Right

Hand;
ought

so
(in

Masonky
its

with

all its

Blemishes and Misfortunes, instead of appearing ridiculous,

my humble

Opinion) to be receiv'd with some Candor and Esteem, from a

Veneration to

AntiquUij."^
extract lends no color to the supposition, that the

The preceding

Masonry known

to
its

the founders of the Grand Lodge of England retained what they believed to have been
pristine excellences.
'
'

On the contrary, indeed, it is evident that in their opinion the ancient Fabrick " had sustained such ravages at the hands of time and neglect, as to raise doubts
much of
in
it

as to hotv

was "

still

remaining."

The

character of the Freemasonry, which existed after the era of

Grand Lodges,
it

will

be examined
sufficient for

the next chapter, but the reference which present purpose, wliich
is

have just made to

will

be

show the futility of all speculations with regard to a direct Masonic ancestry or descent, which attempt to link together two sets of circumstances peculiar to distinct bodies and eras, without some definite guiding clue which leads directly upwards or backwards, the one from the other. It is perfectly clear, that how much soever we may rely upon what is termed " a chain
to

my

of evidence," everything will depend

upon the connection and

and

quality of
all,

its links,

and

if,

so to speak, several of the latter are missing, our chain will be, after

only an imaginary

one, whilst the parts can only be separately used,

united.

to the extent that the links are

Whatever conformity
and
considering

of usage, therefore,
it

may be found

in the proceedings of

Lodges

of the old Gothic tribunals,

will

be expedient to test the weight of the analogy by

held to represent the Masonic customs of times

how

far the former

may be

remote from our own.

Among

the ancient customs so graphically depicted by Fort, and which he compares

I shall briefly

with those of the Freemasons, there are three to which

allude.

the formal opening of a court of justice with a colloquy; " the Frisian oath " I swear the " secrets to conceal {lielen), hold, and not reveal; ' and the " gait " or procession about their

These are

realms

made by the Northern Kings

at their accession, imitated in the Scandinavian laws,

under which, at the

sale of land, the transfer of possession

was incomplete until a

circuit

had been made around the property.* To take the last custom first, Fort, after citing it, institutes the following parallel: " During the installation ceremonies of the Master of a Masonic lodge, a procession of
all
is

the craftsmen march around the room before the Master, to

tendered.

whom

an approjiriate salute

This circuit

is

designed to

signify that the new incumbent reduces the

lodges to his possession in this symbolic manner."

'Dr. Andereon,
'

Fort, Tlie Early History

The New Book of Constitutions, 173.S, p. 219. aud Antiquities of Fieenuisoury, p.

geheimuiss zu
lieleu, liilten u.

368.

" Schwur das

iieilige

verwaliien, vor

mann, vor weib, vor

dorf,

vor stok, vor stein, vor grasz, vor klein, auch vor queck" {Ibid., p. 318, citing Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, pp. 52, 53). "Whoever will collate the foregoing triplets with the oath administered in the Entered Apprentice's Degree, cannot fail to avow that both have emanated vor
trael,

from a

higli antiquity, if not

cit.,
i>.

from an identical source "

(Fort, loc

cit.).

*Fort, op. 'Fort, op.

321.

cit., p. 331.

'

'

'

364
In
all

A RL Y BRITISH FREE MA SONR YENGL A ND.

these ceremonies vestiges appear of the rite of circumambulation, or worship of
I briefly

the sun, to which

alluded in

my

concluding observations on the Companionage.

old
for the cardinal points of the

It prevailed extensively in Britain.

sky

the north being the

left

Welsh names hand and the south the right

The

are signs of an ancient practice

If

of turning to the rising sun. "

When

Martin visited the Hebrides, he saw the islanders

a welcome

marching
If a boat

in procession three

times from east to west round their crops and their cattle.

put out to

sea, it

began the voyage by making these three turns.

cliild daily until it

stranger visited one of the islands, the inhabitants passed three times round their guest.

flaming brand was carried three times round the

was christened.^

It

will be seen that, for the existence of a

custom upon which a portion

of the installation

ceremony may have been modelled, we need not look beyond the British Isles, where the Indeed, an accurate writer observes: usage may be traced back to very ancient times. " The survival in remote districts of the habit of moving sun-wise ' from east to west,
'

may

indicate the nature of the processions in

which the British women walked,

"
is

'

with their

bodies stained

by woad
all,

to

an Ethiopian
an

color.'

But masons
portant.

after

this adoration of the sun,

which

unconsciously imitated by the Free-

in their lodges, establishes

historical conclusion
tliat

which

is

more curious than im-

There

is

no evidence

to

show

the degree of Installed Master was invented

before the second half of the eighteenth century, and at this day the Masters of Scottish

Lodges are under no obligation to receive it. The remaining points of resemblance which await examination, between the proceedings
of lodges

and those

of the old Gothic Tribunals, are the formal

opening of both with a

col-

loquy, and the oath or obligation administered by their authority.

To what
vivals of

extent, these, or any other portions of the existing lodge ceremonial, are sur-

more ancient customs, cannot be very accurately determined, but the evidence, such as it is, will by no means justify the belief, that the derivation of any part is to be found in the sources which are thus pointed out to us. The mode of opening the proceedings of a court, or society, by a dialogue between the
officials,

may be

traced back to a very remote era; but

it

will

to remark, that as the

Vehmic ceremonies,

of which

tliis

be sufficient for my purpose was one, were of " Old Saxon "

"Chap, v.,

p. 250,

on Welsh Philology, 1877, p. 10; Revue Celtique, vol. ii., p. 103. ^M. Martin, Account of tlie Western Islands of Scotland, 1716, pp. 113, 116, 140, 241, 277; Elton, origins of English History, 1882, p. 293. ^ Elton, loc. dt, quoting Pliny, Hist, Nat, xxii. 2. ' Laws and Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, 1879, pp. 2, 3. In the edition of these
'J. Rhys, Lectures

Constitutions in vogue in 1852,

of

Tlie Installation of the whole of the office-bearers a Lodge, including the Master, shall be held in a just and perfect lodge, opened in the Apprentice
it is laid

down "

Degree, whereat, at least, three Masters, two Fellow-crafts, and two Apprentices must be present; or failing Craftsmen and Apprentices, the same number of Mastei-s, who, for the time being, shall

be held of the inferior degree " (Chap, xxi.. Rule XXL). The postscript to the general Regulations in Dr. Andei-son's "Book of Constitutions," 1723, alludes to the Master of a new lodge being taken from among the Fellow-crafts, and installed by " certain significant Ceremonies and ancient Usages; " after which he installs his wardens. This is
very vague, but as
ferred
fore us.
it

bears in the direction of the third or Master Mason's degree, ha\nng been conI

on the actual Master of Lodges,

give

it

a place in this note.

The point

will ayain

come

be-

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

derivation,' they

365

must have been known

in

Anglo-Saxon England long before the time 0/

Charlemagne.

Vestiges of their former existence were recorded, as

we have

seen,

by

Sii

F. Palgrave, as existing so late as 1832."

The

Frisian Oath, witli which Fort has compared the obligation of the Apprentice in

Freemasonry,

may

be further contrasted with the last clause or article of Sloane MS.

3848 (13), of which the concluding words are:

" These
booke."'

Cliarges that

we have rehearsed &

all

other y' belongeth to Masonrie you shall

^keepe; to y* vttermost of yo' knowledge;

Soe helpe you god

& by

the Contents of this

That the extract

fied his assent,

just given, places before us the precise

words to which Ashmole

does.

si-gni-

on being made a Free Mason at Warrington on October 16, 1646, cannot of

it is

course be positively affirmed, but

fairly inferential that

it

The copy

of the

"Old Charges," from which use by Edward Sankey, the

it is

taken, was transcribed on the ^ame day

it is

presumably for

son,

to be supposed, of

Richard Sankey, one of the Free-

masons present
date of

in the lodge.'

But without going

this length,

dence, that the final clause of the Sloane MS. (13) gives the
its

we may assume with confiform of oath, which, at the

transcription, was ordinarily administered to the candidates for Freemasonry.

This, indeed, derives confirmation from the collective testimony of the other versions of

our manuscript " Constitutions," to which, and in connection with the same subject
admission of Ashmole

the

^I

shall again refer.

led,

Fort has carefully reviewed the circumstances which

in his

judgment, to " the

perpetuation of Pagan formularies used in the Gothic courts, and the continuation of
mythological rites and ceremonies in mediaeval giiilds;" and these, he considers, have

" conjointly furnished

ritualism was strung."

to

Freemasonry the skeleton of Norse customs, upon which Judaistic

lose

The passages in which his arguments are given are too long for quotation, and would much of their force by being summarized. I shall therefore content myself with pre-

senting the following short extract from his work, in which will be found the general conclusions at wliich he has arrived:

" Old Teutonic courts were a counterpart

of such heathen symbols

and ceremonies as
therefore, the

the priesthood manipulated in the celebration of religious services.'

When,

junction occurred which united the Gothic and Jewish elements of Freemasonry, by the

merging of the Byzantine

'

art corporations into the

Germanic guilds

in Italy, the

Norsemen

Ante,

p.

354 ei seq.

'

Rise and Progress of the English

Commonwealth, Part

II., p. clvi.

ante, p. 355.
p. 308;

'See, however, the forms of oath given in Chaps, n., p. 102; Viil., p. 43; XIV.,

and

Hughan's "Old Charges"

is

(11), p. 57.

'Bode, a learned German, maintains that

it

[Freema-sonry]

He proves this from the form of oath in which the perjured are threatened punishment determined by the English laws for those guilty of High Treason that of having their entrails torn out and burnt; and in which it is said besides, that he shall be thrown into the sea, a cable's length, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours " (J. J. Mounter, On the influence attributed to the Philosophers, the Freemasons, and the Illurainati upon the French Revolution, translated by J. Walker, 1801, p. 133). <Chap. XIV., p. 266. ' Fort. The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 388. See pp. 351-354, 361. A colloquy ensued, at the " Profession " of a Benedictine, between the abbot and the candidate (Fosbroke, British Monachisni, 1843, p. 179).
of English origin.
witli the

'

366

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR Y ENGLAND.

name and
orientation, oaths, dedication of the lodge, opening

contributed the

and closing

colloquies, Master's mallet

and columns, and the

is

lights

and

installation ceremonies.

On

the other hand, Judaistic admixture

equally well defined.

From

this source

Masonry

received the omnific word, or the faculty of

Abrac

'

and ritualism, inchiding the Hiramic

legend.'"
oral traditions, will demand very careful we should resume our examination of the " Old Charges. " I shall therefore bring this dissertation to a close by presenting a final quotation from the essay of Dr. Armstrong, which, while somewhat humorously enlarging upon

The legend

of

Hiram, which has crept into our

it is first

consideration, but

necessary that

a portion of the traditionary history of the Craft, open to deserved censure from the uncritical

treatment

it

had met with up

to the date of the Bishop's observations, will, so to

speak, take us back to the " Legend of Masonry," at the exact point where our study of
it

must recommence.

The Doctor

observes:

" There are minds which seem

to rejoice in the misty regions of

doubt, which see best in the dark, which have a sensation of being handcufEed

when they

are tied to proofs and documents; they despise those stubborn facts, the mules of history,

on which
'

safe historians are content to ride

I will find

down

the crags and precipices of olden times,

Inveniam viam, aut faciam;'

my

facts, or

make them;

so say the masonic

writers.

They have the same contempt

for plain plodding historians

ceive a stoker of the Great

Western dashing out of

which we can conPaddington would feel for an ancient

couple could suoh be seen jogging leisurely out of town in pillion-fashion on their old sober

mare, with the prospect of a week's journey to Bath.

history.

They

drive the

'

Express trains of
'

and floundering amid the fens and bogs of the seventh, and eighth, and ninth centuries, they look upon such times as the mere suburbs of the present age 'the easy distance from town.' They dash past centuries, as railroad trains whisk by milestones. For ourselves we see nothing of Freemasons before the seventh
"While

we

are groping

century;

we cannot even

scent the breath of a reasonable rumor.

But

if

under the charge of the most sober and matter-of-fact of Masonic

to the fourth, to the third, to the second,

historians,
fifth,

we put ourselves away we are

from the
fifth

skurried from the seventh century to the sixth, from the sixth to the
till

with dizzy heads, and our breath gone,

we

find ourselves put

down

b}'

the Temple of Solomon."

to

The preceding remarks having taken us back

one of the leading features of the

legendary as well as of the traditional history of the Craft, the thread of our main inquiry

may be here resumed.

According to the evidence of the " Old Charges," King Solomon was a great protector
of the Masons,

and from

this

monarch

it

was that Naymus Greens

later,

adventurous career might have suggested the fable of the Wandering Jew

whose protracted and acquired the

retains its hold of the

knowledge of Masonry, which, some eighteen centuries

to Charles Martel.

he successfully passed on

In a work of great pretension, and which

am

informed

still

'According to the same authority, " tlie Wey ofWynnj'nge the Facultye of Abrac,"' when properly understood, " signifies the means by which the lost word may be recovered, or, at least,
substituted."

See chapter xxxvi. of the work quoted from above, passim; Gould, The Four Old
note
3;

Lodges,

p. 42,

and ante, Chap. XI.,

p. 108.

'Fort,

The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 406. 'Ancient and Modern Frneniasonrv, Christian Remembrancer, vol.

xiv., 1847, pp. 18, 19.

'

'

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

popular judgment,
it is

367

" After the union of speculative and operative Masonry laid down
'

and when the Temple of Solomon was completed, a legend of sublime and symbolical meaning was introduced into the system, which is still retained, and consequently known
to all Muster Masons."

At a

later portion of his life,

however, Oliver seems to have shaken

off

a good deal of

the learned credulity which deforms his earlier writings, as will appear from the following
extracts, which I take

from

his

" Freemason's Treasury"'

it

" Freemasonry
traditional

is

confessedly

an allegory, and as an allegory no palliation."

must be supported,
is

for

its

history admits of

" One unexplained

tradition

the origin of Masonic degrees, which

era, viz., at

is

placed at a

thousand years before the Christian

the building of

King Solomon's Temple,

"

and that they were brought

into existence by three distinguished individuals.

The Doctor then

modern
but
if

states at

some length

his reasons for considering that the

Third

is

degree.

If

found

to be puerile or erroneous, he asks that they

may be

rejected;

sound, as he believes them to be, they

may

tend, he thinks,

"

to restore the primi-

tive dignity of

Masonry, at the risk of dissipating many a pleasing illusion

as

the child

who

is

in the seventh

heaven of delight at reading an interesting fairy

it is

tale,

becomes vexed

and annoyed when he discovers that

only a senseless fable. "

or

The

title

of Master Mason, which

may

may

not, at its original establishment, have

in the opinion of the

been dignified with the rank of a separate degree,

conclusions are corroborated by the

"Ancient Charges"

"was
is,

Doctor

and

his

strictly

confined to a

Master in the chair."'

"

It

was known only as the Master's Part, and comprised within

is

such narrow limits," that he

disposed to think " the ceremony and legend together

'

would not be of
Degree
is

five

minutes' duration."

His

final

judgment
its

that " our present Third

its

not architectural, but traditionary, historical, and legendary;

its

traditions being

unfortunately hyperbolical,

history apocryphal,

and

legends fabulous."'

Dr. Oliver next informs us that " the

of

name

of the individual

who

attached the aphanism

it

H. A. B. to Freemasonry has never been clearly ascertained; although

may be

fairly

presumed that Brothers Desaguliers and Anderson were prominent parties to it, as the legend was evidently borrowed from certiiin idle tales taken out of the Jewish Targums, which were published in London a. d. 1715, from a manuscript in the University Library
at

Cambridge; and these two Brothers were publicly accused by their seceding contem-

poraries of manufacturing the degree, which they never denied."'

The

italics are

those of Dr. Oliver, but

it

may

be observed, that as both Anderson and

when the earliest publication of the seceding or " Atholl" Masons saw the light, their silence, even under the severe strictures
years in their graves,

Desaguliers had been

many

passed by Laurence Dermott in the successive editions of his work, upon

in the early proceedings of the
Dr. G. Oliver,
1863, p. 290.
first

all

who took

part
at.

Grand Lodge
of

of England,

is

not to be wondered
ii.,

'

The

Historical

Landmarks

Freemasonry,

1846, vol.

p. 169.

'

'Oliver, Freeraasoi.''s Treasury, 1863, p. 217

^Ibid., p. 220.

'"In ancient times no Brother, nowever skilled in the Craft, was called a Master Mason until he had been elected into the chair of a Lodge " (Ancient Charges, Book of Constitutions, London,
1873, pp. 7,
8).
'

/bid., p. 288

Ibid., pp. 222, 223.

Ihid., p. 288.

368

A RL Y BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENG LA ND.

This statement of Oliver's has been, however, so frequently copied in later Masonic works, that it requires to be noticed, though I shall only add to the remarks already

made, that the entire story

tion.

is

unattested,

and therefore unworthy

of

any further considera-

The

point, indeed, as to wlien the

its

Hiramic Legend was introduced into Freemasonry

I shall

is

a material one, and

determination must rest largely upon conjecture, though

do

my

best to narrow the debatable period within

which

it

became an
if

integral part of our oral

traditions.

In the

first

place, the story or legend derives little,

any confirmation from the lan-

guage of the " Old Charges," and here the comparative trustworthiness of the traditions
preserved by letters and by

memory becomes
'

a consideration of great importance.

Our

written traditions remain what they were

rather more than three centuries ago, but the

same cannot be

positively affirmed with regard to our oral traditions.

Putting aside,

however, the operation of natural causes, upon which alone the relative infidelity of the latter might be allowed to rest, let us see if there is distinct evidence that will strengthen
this conclusion.

As a

preliminary,

it

will

be desirable to ascertain what the manuscript Constitutions

of the Temple.

actually say with regard to

Hiram and the legend

The judgment
thoixo'h,

have myself formed of the community of tradition which we find in

the lecendarv histories of Freemasonry and the Companionage, I shall at once express, for obvious reasons, the grounds upon which it is based will be more conveniently stated,

when

in the next chapter I deal

with the system of Masonry dating from

1717.

Shortly stated, then, I

tracing the Hiramic

am

of opinion that, wliatever difficulties

in the

may appear

to exist in

Legend

Companionage

to

an
it

earlier date

than 1717, the infer-

ence that

it

can be so carried back, problematical as

may

be, affords

perhaps the only

and

certainly the best

justification for the belief, that in

Freemasonry, the legend of

Hiram the builder, ante-dates the era of Grand Lodges. Hiram is not mentioned in either the Halliwell (1) or the Cooke

(2) MSS., though he is " King's son, of Tyre," is said to have been doubtless alluded to in the latter, where the Solomon's "Master masen." The Landowne MS. (3) has the following in which the remaining Constitutions for the most part substantially agree: " And he [Iram] had a Sonne that was called Aman, that was Master of Geometry, and was chiefe Master of all his

Masonrie,

&

of all his Graving, Carving,

and

all

other Masonry that belonged to the

Temple." The name, however, appears in varied forms and spellings, e.g.: Amon, Aymon, Anon, Avnone, Ajuon, Dyan, and Benaim. Generally, the Book of Kings is cited as the source of authority whence the information is derived; but in none of the documents is there any
prominence given to the personage thus described. in the Inigo Jones MS. (8), which runs:
special
'

The fullest account is contained

however, been maintained by Laplace, that the diminution in the value of testimony, produced by oral repetition through a series of persons, extends to the tradition of written testimony, through a series of generations (Essai Pliilosophique sur les Probabilites, o"" edit., p. 15). See. however, the counter remarks of Dauuou, Cours d" Etudes Historiques, torn, i., pp. 30-26; and of Sir G. Lewis, On the Methods of Obser%-ation and Reasoning in Politics, vol. i., p. 199.
It has,
is

which

EA RL Y BRI TISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

369

" And TTTTSAM, King of Tyre, sent his servants unto SOLOMON, for he was ever a Lover of King David; and he sent Solomon Timber and workmen to help forward the Building of the Temnh; And he sent one that was Named * First of Kings, ^ ^ ' VU., XIV. IIIRAM * ABIF, a widow's Son, of the Line of Nephtali; He was a Master of Geometry, and was [the head] of all his Masons, Carvers, Ingravers, and workmen, and
Casters of Brass and
all

other metalls that were used about the Temple."

With
full

this single exception, the

" Old Charges" do not make any approach towards a

if

(luotatiou

from the Scriptural account of Hiram, nor,

their orthography can be

relied

upon

as a criterion, could the various scribes, in the generality of instances, have

been aware of the identity of the "Master of Geometry" whose personality they veiled

under such uncouth

titles,

with the widow's son of Tyre.

The

silence of the old records of the Craft, with respect to

Hiram having

figured as a
in the

prominent actor in proceedings which were thought worthy of commemoration

Masonic ceremonial,
will suffice to

show

that at the time they were originally compiled,

the legend or fable with which his

associated, w'as unknown. There are circumstances, however, apart from the testimony of the " Old Charges,"
will enable us to form, in

name has now become

which

some measure, an independent judgment with regard

to

the antiquity of this tradition.

First of
all,

there

is

the opinion of Sir William Dugdale, and the statement in the

its

which

Henry IIL, if we consider the character of the Freemasonry into which Ashmole and Rjindle Holme were admitted, as, should the result of the inquiry show us what it really was, we at tiie same
"Antiquities of Berkshire"' that the Society took
origin in the reign of

must

at least record a popular

Masonic

belief.

Next,

it will

be convenient,

time

may

learn

what

it

could not have been.

I shall limit

In so doing, however,

our investigation to an examination of the facts

which are already

century
is all

in evidence.

faint outline of the

Freemasonry

of the seventeenth

that I shall attempt to draw.

It is quite possible that

between the era of the Chester Lodge (1665), of which Randle

Holme was

a member, and that of the formation of the Grand Lodge of England,

many

evolutionary changes

may have

occurred.

The

proceedings, however, of the few lodges

that can be traced between the date of Dr. Plot's remarks on the Freemasons of Staffordshire' (1686) and the establishment of a governing

body of the Craft

in 171T,

do not come

within the purview of the current chapter, and will be hereafter examined with some
detaO.

A comparison

of the

Masonry

of Scotland with that of

England

will in like

manner

be postponed until a later stage of this history.

The method

of treating the general subject

which

am

about to adopt,

will, I trust,

meet with approval. The characteristic features of the systems of Freemasonry which are found to have prevailed in the two kingdoms are slightly dissimilar; and though I
entertain no doubt whatever as to their both having a

common

origin, this fact, if

it

be

one, will find readier acceptation

in separate divisions, prior to

by

my

presenting the Scottish and the English evidence

facts as a whole,

combining the entire body of

and judging

of their mutual relations.

In England none of the speculative or non-operative members of the Craft, of whose

admission in the seventeenth century there

is

any evidence, were received as apprentices.

Ante, pp.

6, 17.

VOL. n.

24.

Ante, p. 287.

"

'

370

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

made Masons
required of

All appear, at least so far as an opinion can be formed, to have been simply
or Freemasons.

The

question, therefore, of grades or degrees in rank does not crop up;

(1), it is

though

it

may

be incidentally mentioned that, in the Halliwell MS.

the apprentice that

" The prevj'stj'e of the chamber telle he no
Nj- j-n the logge

mon

whatsever they done

Whatsever thou lierj'st, or syste hem do. Telle hyt no mon, whersever thou go."

And

in the

same poem

it is

distinctly laid

down

that at the Assembly

" And

alle schul sicere the same ogth Of the masonus, ben thej' luf, ben they loght, To aUe these poyntes hyr byfore That hath ben ordeynt by ful good lore." '

In Scotland the practice, though not of a uniform character, was slightly different, as I have

shown, and shall more fully explain in the next chapter. Ashmole, it may be confidently assumed, was made a Mason in the form prescribed by the " Old Charges," a roll or scroll, containing the Legend of the Craft, or, as I have sugin part

gested, the copy

assent to
ner.

the "Charges

made by Edward Sankey (13) must have been read over to him,' and his of a Freemason" were doubtless signified in the customary manno
difiiculty,

Up

to this point there is

but the question next

arises,

what

secrets

were

communicated

to

him ? On

this point I shall again quote

from Dr.

Oliver,

but rather from

the singularity of his having cited the Sloane MS. (13) in connection with some remarks on Ashmole's initiation, than for any actual value which the allusion possesses. To a
certain extent, however,
it

corroborates the view

have

exi:)ressed

with regard to the com-

After misquoting the diary of parative silence of the "Old Charges" respecting Hiram. the antiquary, and making the members of the Warrington Lodge " Fellow-Ceafts," he
argues that "there could not have been a Master's degree in existence," and adds, "this truth is fully corroborated in a MS. dated 1646, in the British iluseum,' which, though
expressing to explain the entire Masonic ritual," does not contain a single word about the

legend of Hiram or the Master's degree."

The evidence from which we can

alone form an estimate of the secrets communicated

is

to Masonic initiates in the seventeenth century,

of a very

meagre character.

For the

time being, and for the reasons already stated, I exclude from consideration the history of As regards the Freemasonry of South Britain, the only founts from the Scottish Craft.
'

Halliwell MS., Unes 379-383.

Ibid., lines 437-440.

Prevj'stye, privities
;

logge, lodge

heryst, hearest

syste, seest.

Schul, shall

oght, oath

luf,

willing

loght, loath.

" Tliese be all the Charges and Covenants that ought to be had read at the makeing of a Mason or Miisons." "The Almighty God who have you and nie in his keeping, Amen "(Lansdowne MS.,
'

No.

3,
*

conclusion).

Identified
is

'It

Cf. ante, pp. 364, 365, and Cliap. U., Nos. 18, 30, and pp. 95. 100. by the Doctor as Sloane MS. 3848 (13). almost unneces.sary to say. that it does no such thing, but tlie Doctor is rarely so impru.

dent as to
'

name

the " old manuscripts " he quotes from.

p. 284.

The Freemason's Treasury,

EARL Y BRITISH FREEMASONR YENGLAND.

which we can draw, are
the Freemasons
Plot's

37

"Natural History of Staffordshire,"' Aubrey's "Natural

These concur
last

History of Wiltshire,'" and Harleiaii M.S. 2054 (12).'

in the statement that

made

use of "

fsif/n.i,"

and from the two

named we

learn that the signs

were accompanied by words.

Here

pass for the present from the question of degrees, a subject

cannot further
will

discuss without transgressing the limits I have prescribed to myself,

and which

be

some fulness hereafter. For the same reasons, and until the same occasion, my observations on the inferences to be drawn from the similarities between our Masonic customs and those peculiar to the Steinmetzen and the Companionagc, will also be posttreated with

poned.

Some
''

other features, however, of our

2,

own Masonic

records

still

await examination.

In his notes on MS.

the late Mr. Cooke observes, with regard to lines 621-624,

This

is

to the free

and accepted, or speculative. Mason, the most important testimony.

was a master.

It asserts that the

youngest son of King Athelstan learned practical Masonry in addition

to speculative Masonry, for of that he

No book
is

or writing so early as the

present has yet been discovered in which speculative Masonry

mentioned, and
If
it

certa,inly

none has gone

lines, the

so far as to
tliis little

acknowledge a master of such

Craft.

is

only for these

book to Freemasons is incalculable."* Upon this, it has been forcibly remarked, " The context explains the word And after that was a worthy king in England that was called Athlestan, and
value of

'

speculative.'
his

youngest

son loved well the science of geometry, and he wist well that hand-craft had the science of

geometry so well as masons, wherefore he drew him to council and learned [the] practice
of that science to his specidative, for of speculative he was a master."

" The practice

'

of

that science," says the commentator, whose words I reproduce^

geometi'v
?

"what

science? clearly,

This

'

speculative

'

was a knowledge of geometry, and the word

'

no

'

should be

inserted to

make sense

before hand-craft.

He wist well that [o]

hand-craft had the practice

of the science of geometry so well as masons.

i.e.,

It also appears that the writer of the

book

Addl. MS. 23,198] did not consider speculative knowledge as making the possessor a
writes,

Mason, for he

'and became a Mason himself,'

i.e.,

of that science to his speculative.

He

was, clearly, not a

when he had added the p7-act ice Mason when only in possession
is,

of the speculative science."

'

The

conclusion arrived at by this writer

that " Masonry

was an

a?-t

and

science, and, like all other

working bodies, had

its

apprentices and free

members, and

also its peculiar regulations;

that speculative Masonry implied merely an

it

acquaintance with the science; that circumstances rendered

secret meetings;

a convenient excuse for

and that

its

professors have availed themselves of every source to throw a

mystery around their

ritual,

and

to

make

it

of as

much importance

as they can."' of

As bearing upon the use

of the word,

" Speculative," an expression, the import

which has been but imperfectly grasped by members of the Craft, the following quotations may not be uninteresting. Lord Bacon observes: " These be the two parts of natural philosophy the Inquisition of Causes, and the

production of Effects; Speculative, and Operative; Natural Science, and Natural Prudence,
'Ante, p. 287.
*
^

Ibid., p. 130.
p. 151, note
fc.

Ante,

p.

308

Chap.

II., p. 64.

History and Articles of Masonry,

'Freemasons' Magazine, Jan.

*Jbid., p. 85.

31, 1863. p. 84.

"

'

372
. . .
.

A RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A .YD.

Both
tlu'Sf

knowledges. Speculative and Operative, have a great connexion between

themselves."

Worsop, speaking of M[aster] Thomas Digges, says " All Surveiors are greatly beholding unto him, because he is a lauthorne unto them, as wel in the speculation, as the
practise.

And

of another

" He

understandeth Arithmetike, Geometric, and perspectiue, both

'

speculatiuely and practically singularly wel."

John Dee
writes:

in his

" Mathematical Preface

to Billingsley's
is

Elements of Geometry,"
skill is,

"

Mechauieien, or a Mechanicall

workmen

he,

whose

without knowl-

edge of Jfathematicall demonstration, perfectly to work and finishe any sensible worke,

by the Mathematicien principall or deriuatiue, demonstrated or demonstrable. Full well I know, that he which inuenteth, or maketh these demonstrations, is generally called A Sjiecidatluc Meclianicien : which differreth nothjmg from a Mechanicall Mathematicien."' Geometry is usually divided In the " Lexicon Technicorum " of John Harris, we find

'

into Speculative and Practical; the former of

ties

which contemplates and

treats of the Proper-

of continued Quantity abstractedly;

to

and the

latter applies these Speculations

*

and

Theorems

The
of

early

tionary or

Use and Practice, and to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind." Masons possessed the science, and practised the art of building. The tradimythical Edwin " lernyd " practical Masonry, in addition to spectilatice Masonry,

which he was already a Master.

By

this

we must understand

that he had studied

geometry, and comprehended the theory, so far as his mathematical knowledge could lead

him but wished to add the practice of the art to the knowledge of its principles. The "Edwin" tradition has been rationalized by Woodford, who believes that "it points to Edwin, or Edivin, King of Northumbria, whose rendezvous once was at Auldby, near York, and who in 627 aided in the building of a stone church at York after his The clue to this solution, is indeed to be baptism there, with the Eoman workmen." Woodford states, in the famous "speech" delivered by the historian of York found, as on December 27, 172G, wherein he says, "yet you know we can boast that the first Grand Lodge ever held in England was held in this city, where Edwin, the first Christian King of the Northumhers, about the Six Hundredth year after Christ, and who laid the Foimdation of our Cathedral, sat as Grand Master." ' The preceding statements have been closely examined by Fort, who is of oninion that from the evidence, but one conclusion can be
'

fol.

'The Works of Francis Bacon, edited by James Spedding, 1857, vol. iii., p. 351. A Discovei-ie of sundrie errours and faults daily committed by Lande Meatei-s. Lend., 1583, ^ London, 1570 a. iii. verso. K. Second edit., MDCCn'., s.v. Geometiy. See further Jacques Aleaume, La perapective specula'
;

tive et Pratique, Paris, 1643

T. Bradwardinus,
;

Geometria Speculativa,

Pai-isiis,

1530

J.

de Muris,

Arithmetica; Speculativa;, Moguntite, 1538

E. Phillips,
;

Batty Langley, The Builders' Compleat Assistant, 1738

tive

The New World of English Words, 1658 Jolm Nisbet, Sj'stem of Hei-aldry, Specula-

and Practical

and ante,

Cliap. 11., No. 50.

Preface to the " Old Charges," p. xiv.

time, but I believe the tradition
is

" Tradition sometimes gets confused after the lapse of

in itself true,

by the Operative Brotherhood under Edwin in

(Ibid.).

627,

which links Masonry to the Church building at York " and to a guild charter under Athelstan in 927

Warden

Speech delivered at a Grand Lodge in the City of York, Dec. 27, 1726, by the Junior Grand [Francis Drake]. This oration has been reprinted by Hughan in his " History of Freeat York,"

masonry

Appendix

C.

'

'

EA RL y BRITISH FREEMA SONR Y~ENGLA ND.

drawn, namely, " that
in tlie

373

year 637

King Edwin could not

at

liave

been Grand Master of a

body of skilled Cruftstiien, because there was at that time no such assembly around the
walls of this rude edifice of stone

and mortar

York, and for the additional reason that an

artificers

uncivilized ruler

had no recognition as the head of

whose science represented

centuries of exalted periods of civilization."

Not, however, to pursue to any greater length the purely architectural portion of this tradition, which, so carefully scrutinized by Fort, has been further dealt with by

Kylands
that
I

'

in a series of articles to

which

it

will

be sufficient to refer, I

may

shortly state

cannot agree with the former as regards the period of

origin which he assigns to

the legend.'

Before terminating this chapter,

has
its

it

may

not be out of place

if

mention that heraldry

been pre-

myths

as well as Masonry,

and

in the opinion of its earlier votaries, has

sumed

to exist, not merely in the first ages of the world,

but at a period

" Ere Nature was, or Adam's dust

Was

fashioned to a

man

!"

We
The
iastic

are gravely assured

by a writer of the

fifteenth century, that

" heraldic ensigns were

and by an enthus-

primarily borne by the hierarchy of the skies.

"

gentility of the great ancestor of our race is stoutly maintained,

armorist of the seventeenth century, two coats of arms were assigned to him.
in

One

Eden, and another suitable to his condition after the fall.' as borne This antediluvian heraldry is expatiated upon by Sir John Feme, in a manner far too
prolix for us to follow

him through

all

his grave statements

and learned

proofs.

shall
all

therefore only observe en passant, that arms are assigned to the following personages,
of

whom we meet

with in the legend of the Craft,

viz., Jabal,

the inventor of tents, vert,

(a white tent in a green field); Jubal, the primeval musician, azure, a harp, on a chief argent three rests gules; Tubal-Cain, sable, a hammer argent, crowned or; and Naamah, his sister, the inventress of weaving. In a lozenge gules, a carding-comb

a tent argent
or,

argent."

"
was.

knight was made before any cote armour, whereof Olibion was the

first

that ever

Asteriall his father,

came

of the line of that woorthie

gentleman lapheth and sawe

the people multiplie hauing no gouernor, and that the cursed people of

them.

Olibion being a mightie

man and

strong, the people cryed on

gouernor.

thousand

men were then mustered

of laphetes line.

Sem warred against him to be their Asteriall made to his

Sonne a garland of nine diuerse precious stones in token of Cheualrie, to bee the Gouernor
of a thousand

men.

Olibion kneeled io Asteriall his Father, and asked his blessing: As-

The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, p. 443. The Legend of the Introduction of Masons into England (Masonic Magazine, April, 1883; Ma,;onic Montlily, August, November, and December, 1882). 'Ante, p. 344 Cf. Chap. Xn., pp. 181, 183; and Woodford, The connection of York with the History of Freemasonrj' in England (Hughan, JIasonic Sketches and Reprints, Part ii. Appendix A),
'

Fort,

'

'Cited by M. A. Lower,
' '

The

Curiosities of Heraldry, l4o, p.

p. 99.

2.

Ibid., citing

Morgan, Adam's Shield, Feme, Blazon of Gentrie, ISSB.

'

374
teriaJI

EA RL V BRITISH FREEMA SONR YENGL A ND.

tooke laphetes Fauclien [Falchion] that T'M&aZmade before the fludde, and smote flatupon the right shoulder of Olibion, in token of the nine vertues of the fore-

ling nine times

said precious stones, with a charge to keepe the nine Vertues of Cheualrie."

'

Gerard Leigh, Accedence of Armorie,

1597, pp. 23,

24

THE END OF SECOND TOLTJME.

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