"And therefore what I throw of is ideal --
Lower'd, leaven'd, like a history of Freemasons,
Which bears the same relation to the real,
As Captain Parry's voyage may do to "Jason's."
The Grand Arcanum's not for men to see all;
My music has some mystic diapasons;
And there is much which could not be appreciated
In any manner by the uninitiated."
Byron's "Don Juan." "Canto" xiv., Stanza xxii.
The Guild Assembly is supposed to have been revived as the Grand Lodge of London in 1717, and according to the account of Dr. James Anderson, by four old Lodges, which met for that purpose at the Apple-tree tavern; but another account, of 1764, states that six old Lodges took part in the proceeding but gives no evidence.
The first Grand Master may be considered a member of the old operative body, namely Brother Anthony Sayer, of whom a very excellently executed portrait has recently been published by Brother Henry Sadler; the election of this first Grand Master took place at the Goose and Gridiron on St. John's Day, 1717; he was followed by George Payne, a gentleman of antiquarian tastes, who was elected G.M. on the 24th June, 1718. In the year 1719 Bro. J. T. Desaguliers was elected Grand Master, he was a man of some scientific eminence, and visited Lodge Mary's Chapel, Edinburgh, where he was received, "after due examination;" it has been suggested that he may have exemplified the London working, but the facts are such that it is much more probable that he went to learn and not to teach, moreover, the Grand Lodge terms, "Cowan" and "Fellow-Craft" are Scottisms. {495}
Of late years the more critical historians have expressed themselves as very dissatisfied with the account which Anderson has given of himself and of the establishment of his Grand Lodge in 1717, and if the statements which appear in our pages are unassailable, -- as we believe them to be, -- he had every reason for prevarication and reticence. He says that the Grand Lodge was established because Wren neglected the Lodges, that is the Lodges which were established by the dissidents who left the operative Guilds in 1715. Under the circumstances whatever legitimacy the Grand Lodge of London had it derived it from the old operative Lodges, chiefly in the North of England, which united with it. The Guilds assert that it was Anderson who abrogated the seven years' Apprenticeship and changed the seat of the Master from West to East.
In 1720 Brother George Payne was elected for a second time, and compiled a code of regulations for the Grand Lodge which was passed on the 24th June 1721, and forms the first Constitution. Several old MSS. were burnt in London by scrupulous brethren in 1720, one of them being by Nicholas Stone, who is said to have been a Grand Warden of Inigo Jones. The office of Deputy Grand Master was instituted.
In 1721 the antiquary Dr. William Stukely was made a Mason and records the circumstance thus in his "Diary:" -- "6th January 1721, I was made a Free-mason at the Salutation Tav., Tavistock Street, with Mr. Collins and Captain Rowe who made the famous diving engine." In his "Common-place" Book he records; that: -- "I was the first person made a Free-mason in London for many years. We had great difficulty to find members enough to perform the ceremony. Immediately after that it took a run, and ran itself out of breath through the folly of the members." In his "Autobiography" he again refers to the matter: "his curiosity led him to be initiated into the mysteries of Masonry, suspecting them to be the remains of the Mysteries of the antients." These {496} references are very valuable in the inferences to be drawn from them. As there were few members in 1721, it is clear that under Anderson and his friends much progress had not been made, but from some old members, he must have received the impression of the great antiquity of Masonic Rites. On the 10th March, 1721, he says -- "I waited on Sir C. Wren." At a meeting of the 24th June 1721, at which were present the Duke of Montague, Lords Herbert and Stanhope, and Sir Andrew Fountain, Stukely saw the "Cooke M.S.," which he says Grand Master Payne had obtained in the West of England, and Brother Speth points out that Stukely made a copy of the first and last page. There exist two other copies of it made at this period; Stukely considered the MS. 500 years old. Grand Master Payne read over a new set of Articles and Dr. Desaguliers pronounced an Oration.<<Vide Gould's "Hist. Frem.">> From this we gather that Speculative Masonry was rising into importance.
On the 24th June, 1721, at the Grand Lodge held by G. M. Payne at the Queen's Arms, St. Paul's Churchyard, at the request of the Duke of Montague, Philip Lord Stanhope (afterwards Earl of Chesterfield), and several gentlemen attended; after usual proceedings the Brethren adjourned to Stationers' Hall, and in the presence of 150 brethren the Duke of Montague was proclaimed Grand Master and Brother Beale, Deputy. Dr. J. T. Desaguliers delivered "an eloquent oration about Masons and Masonry," which is said to have been printed.
Stukely records that on the 25th May, 1722, he met the Duke of Queensboro, Lords Dunbarton and Hinchinbroke at the Fountain's Tavern Lodge to consider the Festival of St. John's. Philip Duke of Wharton was elected G.M. 25th June, 1722, and Brother J. T. Desaguliers Deputy. Brother Gould has given good reasons for believing that Anderson's statements of 1738 on this point, as well as upon others, are unreliable.<<"Ars Quat. Cor." viii.>> Brother William Cowper was appointed Grand Secretary, {497} and G.M. Wharton approved a Ceremony for Installing the Master of a Lodge. Wharton at this time was much embarrassed having inherited an impoverished estate, and was himself a man reckless in his expenses. Stukely records that on the 3rd November the Duke of Wharton and Lord Dalkeith visited the Lodge of which Stukely was Master. In this year J. Roberts printed the version of a MS., in which are the "New Regulations," as to one Master and Assembly which his copy says was passed 8th December, 1663; it contains the Clause that a Freemason must be fully 21 years of age. At this time the Grand Lodge claimed the sole right to confer the grade, or grades, of Fellow and Master; it is thought that one grade is implied, if it is two it indicates the sense in which they regarded the rights of Assembly given in the "Cooke MS."
In 1723 Francis Earl of Dalkeith was Grand Master, and in this year Brother James Anderson, a presbyterian divine, and a genealogist, published the first "Book of Constitutions," which he had compiled from the old MSS., and other sources, by order of the Grand Lodge. It was dedicated to the Duke of Montague by J. T. Desaguliers the Deputy Grand Master, and Brother Gould is of opinion that Anderson, as an Aberdeen Man introduced Scottish terminology into the English Craft. As a Scottish Antiquary the author would be well acquainted with the Customs of the Lodges and the Masters' Incorporations, and whilst the early years of Grand Lodge resembles the Scottish Lodges, the grant of "Fellowcraft and Master," to the private Lodges, and the sending of Masters and Wardens to Grand Lodge brings it into line with the Incorporations, but Desaguliers had also visited the Edinburgh Lodge. This year an engraved list of Lodges was begun by Brother John Payne, in a small volume; the "Freemason an Hudibrastic Poem," appeared, and attacks on the Society began in the Press.
In 1724, 1725, 1726,the Grand Masters were Charles Lennox Duke of Richmond; James Hamilton Lord {498} Paisley; and William O'Brian Earl of Inchiquin.In 1724 the office of Grand Treasurer was instituted. We gave particulars, in our last Chapter of a considerable Lodge at Chester of which Randle Holme was a member, and it is probable that admissions were continued, for in the year 1724 three Lodges were accepted at Chester and Brother F. Columbine was appointed the Provincial Grand Master. On the 27th November, 1725, Grand Lodge passed a Resolution granting the privilege of Masters to Private Lodges, -- "the majority of the members being Masters may make Masters at their discretion." No doubt Grand Lodge found its time fully occupied with affairs of the government; and this led, a little later, to the sanction of "Masters Lodges," or meetings for the sole purpose of making Masters.<<"Ars Quat. Cor." -- Lane.>> The lampoon on the Freemasons and Gormogons appeared, and in 1726 the "Freemasons' Accusation and Defence." Anderson seems to have withdrawn from the Grand Lodge until 1730. A copy of the old Constitutional Charges appeared in 1726 which contains many additions and the name of Hermes is substituted for Euclid.<<Spencer's "Reprints," 1870.>> In June 1726 Dr. Stukely removed to Grantham and established a Lodge there.
In Ireland Masonry, as we have seen, was known at the University in 1688, and there was a Grand Lodge of Dublin in 1725, having six subordinate Lodges of "gentlemen Freemasons." The first Grand Master was the Earl of Rosse who was Installed in the Great Hall of King's Inn 26th June, 1725. There was also a Grand Lodge at Munster in 1726, of which Brother James O'Brian was Grand Master, and also member of the Horn Lodge in London. At Cork a Lodge is known to have existed in 1728. The custom of issuing Charters to Lodges began with the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1729, and they were the first to Charter military Lodges, the earliest of which is 7th November, 1732, to the "First Battalion Royal."<<"Cem. Hiber." -- Crawley.>> {499} A copy of the English Constitutions edited by J. Pennell, with some slight additions, was printed by J. Watts of Dublin in 1730; and in 1734 Bro. Wm. Smith issued a "Pocket Companion," of which later versions appeared in England.
In the constant reception of noble brethren, changes in the Constitutions, and in the qualifications, coupled with the elimination of Christian references which had obtained admission in the course of ages we probably see, it is supposed in the first named case especially, the cause of the attacks made by the press between the years 1723-26, by a class socially inferior, but equally zealous for Masonry, of whom the old Speculative and Operative body had been previously composed. There are allusions in the "Praise of Drunkenness" by Robert Samber to catechisms then known in 1723; another appeared in that year; the "Grand Mystery" and praise of the Gormogons 1724, and a second edition in 1725; to this a short reply was printed by Dublin Masons, 1725, in which the Society is held to be of great antiquity and supported by superior persons. Some years ago the late Brother Matthew Cooke brought to light a very curious and important MS. book of this period which is now lying in the British Museum, being Add. MSS. 23002.<<"Frem. Mag." v, 1861. -- Old Lodges. Now facsimiled by Quat. Cor. Lodge.>> It is a minute book of the "Philo Musicae et Architecturae Societas" established at the Queen's Head, near Temple Bar, by seven members of whom two were made Masons by Mr. Thomas Bradbury and three by the Duke of Richmond. Other Initiates were afterwards made by the Society and we read under date 1724, -- "Mr. William Goulston, Court Nevit, Esq., Mr. William Jones, and Mr. Edmund Squire were regularly pass'd Masters, in the beforementioned Lodge of Hollis Street, and before we founded this Society a Lodge was held consisting of Masters sufficient for that purpose, in order to pass Charles Cotton, Esq., Mr. Papillon Ball, and Mr. Thomas Marshall, Fellow Crafts; in the performance of which Mr. {500} William Goulson acted as Senior Warden. Immediately after which, viz. the 18th day of February A.D. 1724, the said Mr. William Goulson was chosen President of the said Society." These brethren, were visited amongst others by Past Gd. Master Payne, and the S. Gd. Warden Wm. Sorrel. As there are no minutes in Grand Lodge of any one being made Masters after 1723, and as it never had an actual body of "Passed" Masters the ancient Guild ceremony is in evidence. It is probable that the regulation of passing existed only on paper, for we see that officers of Grand Lodge were visiting and acting in private Lodges.
In the North of England, following a meeting evidently operative at Scarborough in 1705, and therefore unminuted; at Bradford in 1713; there are records of meetings in 1721, 1723, 1725, 1726, of Private Lodges at York, that mode being used to distinguish the Lodge from the General Assemblies on St. John's day. At a meeting in 1725 Francis Drake, the historian was made a Mason by Brother William Scourfield. A Code of regulations for their meetings was agreed upon and the Society now took the title of "Grand Lodge of All England." In 1726 Charles Bathurst was appointed President, and Francis Drake, Warden, and the latter at the Annual Assembly on St. John's day, 27th December, 1726, gave an address, which has often been printed, and always held to be of great interest; he speaks of the efforts to revive the Society in London; addresses the operative Masons, other trades, and gentlemen, and claims for York the undeniable Mastership of "All England." Brother Wm. Scourfield in 1726 was suspended for calling an unauthorised meeting, and making masons, and was probably acting with the operatives. The old body met till 1744, and then fell into abeyance until the year 1761, when Drake revived it. Besides York other bodies of an operative and independent nature existed in the North as at Swalwell, Alnwick, Hexham, Ford, Newcastle, etc. {501}
At London in 1727, 1728, 1729-30, the Grand Masters were Henry Clare Lord Coleraine; James King Lord Kingston; Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk who held the position for two years. On the 27th May, 1727, Hugh Warburton was appointed Prov. Gd. Master for North Wales; and on 27th December, 1728, George Pomfret opened a Lodge in Bengal. A copper plate of the "Mystery of Free Masons," was printed by Andrew White -- "Taken from the papers of a deceased Brother"; and we find Bro. Oakley quoting largely from Samber's Preface to Long Livers, 1721. Benjamin Cole published in 1728, from copper-plate, the Constitution of 1726. It is noteworthy as illustrating the state of things now existing that Past Gd. Master Sayer was censured for "behaving irregularly," and what he did was probably to attend his old Guild as he was an operative. Brother Gould thinks he may have been visiting the Gormogons. In August and September 1730 the "Daily Journal" printed certain spurious rituals, and the "Grand Whimsey" of Masonry, by F. G., and these were followed in the same year by a broadsheet reprint entitled, "The Mystery and Motions of Free-masonry discovered." In this year also Samuel Prichard published his "Masonry Dissected" (12mo. pp. 31, London, 1730) which led to an able "Defence," which Brother Gould has proved, from the Minutes of the Lodge at Lincoln, was written by Brother Martin Clare. Also the censure of Grand Lodge fell upon a Society of Honorary Freemasons. Also appeared in 1730 "The Perjured Freemason Detected." In all this there was probably a Jacobite undercurrent coupled with High grade dissatisfaction, for the sympathies of Grand Lodge was Hanoverian while York was essentially Jacobite. On the 29th January, 1731, the Duke of Norfolk presented Grand Lodge with the old sword of Gustavus Adolphus, to be used as the Sword of State. It is worthy of note that in the few preserved minutes of Lodge meetings, at this period as in those of Lincoln, there is but little mention, {502} and sometimes none, of the degree of Fellow, now termed Fellow-craft, the minutes confining themselves to record the making of Apprentices and Masters.
Faulkner of Dublin printed in 1731, Swift's "Letter from the Grand Mistress of Female Freemasons."
There appears in the "Daily Advertiser" of 16th August, 1731, an advertisement to the public, that there was on view a fine model of King Solomon's Temple, with 2,000 chambers and windows, 7,000 pillars, and models of the Ark and all the holy utensils; further stating that a printed description, with 12 fine cuts, might be had. This would be a model prepared by Councillor Schott of Hamburg between 1718-25 and on exhibition 1725-31. There is mention 22nd September, 1732, of the admission of Jews in the Rose Tavern in Cheapside, and the "Grub Street Journal" printed letters attacking Freemasonry.
There are several interesting notices of meetings at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which we should suppose from "Border Table Talk," to have had a succession from 1581, a tolerable antiquity for an English Lodge, if the links were shewn. The Northumberland Calendar states that 1st July, 1674, the Society met in the White Friar's tower; and no doubt the "Watson MS." written in 1687 by Edward Thompson was their Lodge document. On the 29th May, 1730, a Lodge of the "Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons" was held at Mr. Barth. Pratt's "at which abundance of gentlemen assisted, wearing white leathern aprons and gloves." On 28th December, 1734, the "anniversary of the Most Honourable and Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons," was held at widow Grey's, "the Society consisting of the principal inhabitants of the town and country;" after this they attended church to hear a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Robinson, Vicar of Byewell, "their chaplain." On 27th December, 1737, Walter Blackett, Esq., was W.M.; Mr. Thoresby, Deputy W.M., Messrs. Newton and Graham, Wardens, for the ensuing year.<<Gould's "Hist. Freem." ii, p. 261; also "Trans. Newcastle Coll. Ros." pt. I.>> Richardson says that {503} in, "1742, the Company obtained from the Corporation a grant of the Cutler's tower in Carliol Croft (now Croft Street), which they repaired, and fit up in a handsome manner."
We have seen an old Craft certificate form used in the old Newcastle Lodge, under the Grand Lodge, which represented two pillars on one of which was engraved "Isk Chotzeb, Isb Sabhal, Giblim;" and on the other (facing right), "Bonai, Menatzckhim, Harods."
The Lodge of Alnwick preserved its minutes from 1700-55, and these have been handsomely printed by the Newcastle College of Rosicrucians. We find mention of the Entering of Apprentices; making of Free-brothers; of Brothers and Fellows; the annual elections of the Masters and Wardens; yet no word as to Rites and secrets. But the only inference we can draw from this is that the brethren were real Masons, not pretenders, innoculated with the new doctrines of 1717, and knew that such things could not be written about. Hence in the case of similar omissions in the minutes of York, Durham, Scotland, etc., no reliance can be placed, or arguments drawn from obscure allusions to matters of this nature. There was also, at this period a Lodge at Hexham, which would seem to have died out without at any time coming under the Grand Lodge of England. There was another at Swalwell, which will be referred to when it comes under the Grand Lodge in 1735.
We may add a few lines here in regard to Masonry in Scotland, which had many ancient Lodges at work; and which were societies sanctioned by law for mutual assistance and the regulation of business, and over which the Clare family had an hereditary jurisdiction, and had to be in possession of the "Masons' Word." From early times they had admitted traders unconnected with building, and gentlemen of position; the one termed "Domatic" or operative Masons, the other "Geomatic," or Speculative Masons. These bodies met together in 1736, and established a Grand Lodge upon the London {504} system, and consolidated it by the election as Grand Master of Brother William St. Clair, who then resigned the rights if such still existed which he had from his ancestors who had been appointed in the 16th century Lord Wardens General, and patrons of the Masonic Craft; with the consent of Lodges, and sanction of the Kings, Judges of all matters in dispute.<<Vide the "Schaw Constitution," or rules, also previous chapter.>> From this period, Scotland gradually conformed to the ritualistic system of England, but as proved by the "Dumfries MS.," quoted in our last chapter, for a long period retained its Christian character.
In this condensed account it is unnecessary to repeat the mere names of the Grand Masters of England; these are found in any modern Cyclopaedia, or in the Grand Lodge calendars. Various old Lodges must have united themselves with the Grand Lodge, but as the entries are made from the date of admission, it is impossible in all cases to trace their origin by the Grand Lodge Register; one notable exception is Lodge 65, of St. Rook's hill, Chichester, which is registered as dating from the time of Julius Caesar. An old Lodge of Swalwell, nr. Gateshead, with minutes from 1725, accepted a Deputation, or joined the Grand Lodge, 21st March, 1735, and the Earl of Crawford appointed one of its members, namely Brother Joseph Laycock of Winlaton, as Prov. Grand Master at the same date with a second Lodge at Gateshead, 3rd March, 1736, No. 256. The Lodge was frequented by "brethren from all the surrounding country as the Grand Master conferred the Harodim at his residence."<<"Freem. Mag." 1794, also "Kneph.">> That these Lodges had the Harodim is proved by an Address which he gave the Lodge in 1735, and which is printed in "The Book M, or Masonry Triumphant," Newcastle, 1736, and which contains subscribers from this Lodge at Swalwell, from Hexham, and Gateshead; but the minutes do not confirm the statement that Laycock continued the Harodim. It is the "Pocket Companion" of Brother Smith {505} of Dublin adapted to English use; its full title being: "The Book M: or Masonry Triumphant. In two parts. Part I. containing the History, Charges, and Regulations of FREE MASONS, with an account of Stately Fabrics erected by the Illustrious Society. Part II. containing the Songs usually sung in LODGES, Prologues and Epilogues spoken at the Theatres in LONDON in honour of the Craft, with an account of all the places where Regular Lodges are held. "Be wise as Serpents, yet innocent as Doves." Newcastle upon Tyne. Printed by Leonard Umfreville and Company. MDDCCXXXVI." It is dedicated to the Brethren and Fellows, "assembling in Lodges in the Northern Counties of England." In 1735 Anderson complained to Grand Lodge in evident allusion to it.
The Grand Lodge of London had now achieved high prestige, for in 1733 eighteen new Lodges were constituted in the London district alone, and the powers of the Committee of Charity were extended. In 1734 Prov. Gd.. Masters were appointed for Lancashire and Durham, Northumberland we have already named. This would not be likely to give much satisfaction to the Grand Lodge of All England at York, and may have contributed to its later relapse, and even in the South, 1735-8, dissatisfaction was spreading; Freemasons were being admitted in unchartered "St. John's Lodges," members dropped off, and Lodges began to be erased.
On the 15th April, 1736, the Earl of Loudan had Garter and Lyon, the Kings of Arms of England and Scotland, besides many titled persons, to attend his Installation as Grand Master, but his appointment of officers seems to have given dissatisfaction. In 1737 the Prince of Wales was made a Mason, at a private Lodge held at the palace of Kew. Under the Marquis of Carnarvon the Gd. Master in 1737 a Prov. Gd. Master was appointed for the West Riding of Yorkshire. A Papal Bull excommunicating the members of the Society made its appearance in 1738. In the same year Anderson issued a second {506} edition of the "Book of Constitutions" in which the history of architecture is much extended, but some changes were made in the wording of the Charges which were not altogether received with favour. In the same year the "Gentlemens' Magazine" printed a pretended description of the ceremonies, and J. Wilford, the printer of Prichard's 7th edition,issued a 6d. pamphlet entitled, "Masonry further Dissected; or more SECRETS Of that Mysterious "Society" Reveal'd. Faithfully Englished from the French Original, just publish'd at Paris, by the Permission and Privilege of M. de Harrant, Lieutenant General of Police" (pp.xvi. and 32, London, 1738). This work of Heraut is given in "Masonry Trahi." 1745. In 1739, the Holy Roman Inquisition ordered to be burnt a work, written in French, entitled, -- "The History of, and Apology for the Society of Freemasons, by J.G.D.M.F.M. Printed at Dublin by Patrick Odonoko, 1730." Oliver gives a professed translation in Volume III. of the "Remains;" and it has been erroneously attributed to the Chevalier Ramsay.
On the 30th June, 1739, Lord Raymond, G.M., there are complaints of irregular makings, and the laws are ordered to be enforced; and on the 23rd July, 1740, Earl of Kintore, G.M., there are complaints of brethren "being present and assisting at irregular meetings." In the year 1741 the Grand Lodge prohibited the publishing of anything concerning Freemasonry; and in the following year a mock procession was got up by people calling themselves Scald Miserable Masons, in imitation of that of the Grand Lodge which led to the abolition of the annual procession of Freemasons. A plate of this ridiculous procession was published 27th April, 1742, but this must not be confounded with Hogarth's embodiment of the Gormogon's slanders which had a third edition about the same year, and mentioned in our last chapter. On the 24th June, 1742, three Lodges were erased for not answering summonses to appear; and between 1743-7 there were 34 more Lodges erased, but No. 9 restored; {506} next there were five Lodges erased, but two restored. Thus the basis was laid for the prosperous advent of a rival. A new "Book of Constitutions," the third edition, appeared in 1746, but Brother Hughan points out that it is but that of 1738, with a new title.
In 1736 "Le Franc Macon," appeared at Frankfort and Leipzic, and was dedicated to Count Bruhl. (Scott gives it in his Pocket Companion of 1757).
In 1737 "The Mysterious Receptions of the Celebrated Society of Freemasons." Also, in the same year, "The Society of Masonry made known to all men," by S.P.
In 1738, "Masonry further Dissected."
In 1745, The Testament of a Freemason or "Le Testament de Chevalier Graf."
In 1747, "L'Adept Macon, or the True Secret of Freemasonry."
In a work entitled "Magistracy settled upon its only True Basis," by Thomas Nairn, Minister of the Gospel at Abbotshall, printed in the year MDCCXLVII., for which I am indebted to my Publisher, there is a peculiar "Protestation" in the Appendix. At Kirknewton, on December 27th, 1739, James Chrystie, James Aikman, Andrew Purdie, and John Chrystie renounce the Mason-Word, to which John Miller, at Dalkeith, July 27th, 1747, adds his adhesion. All repudiate their oaths as members of "The Society of Operative Masons in the Lodge at Torphicen to meet at Livingston Kirk." They declare "When I was young at my admission amongst you, both as an Apprentice and Fellow Craft, wherein (upon very solemn penalties) I was bound to Secrecy and also to admit none but operative Masons into the Society." . . . "Kneeling upon their bare knee with the Bible upon the same, and the naked arm upon the Bible." . . . "Most of the secrets being idle stuff and lies." . . . "And as a further aggravation the idle and excessive misspending of precious time and money in superstitious observation of St. John's Day in idleness, drunkenness and profane jests and songs." Several particulars {508} of the old Operative Charges are quoted and they withdraw from the Society in favour of the "Oaths of our National and Solemn League and Covenant."
In 1750, December 27th, A Sermon was preached at Gloucester, by F.M.: printed and dedicated to "Henry Toy Bridgeman, of Prinknach, Esq.," High Sheriff of the County of Gloucester, Master Mason, and Master of the Lodge of the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, regularly constituted in the City of Gloucester.
In 1751, "An Answer to the Pope's Bull, with a Vindication of the Real Principles of Freemasonry." Published by the assent and approbation of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. "Magna est veritas et proevalebit." Dublin, printed by John Butler on Cork Hill, for the author, 1751. Small 8vo., 64 pp. Dedicated -- "To the Right Worshipful and Right Honourable Lord George Sackville, Grand Master of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in Ireland." (Arms plate -- R. Close, Sculp.)
In the same year, "La Macon Demasque." By T.W. initiated at the Swan, in the Strand, thro' his friend Mons. Cowen, a Mr. Fielding being the Venerable or Master. London 1751. (In Berlin 1757).
It is not difficult to see where the shoe pinched the "Modern Mason." An old broadsheet of 1755 says that, "the Moderns leave out at least one half of the Lectures" -- and this is confirmed, later, by a pamphlet of 1765 entitled, -- "A Defence of Freemasonry," the writer of which states that he visited a Lodge of the "Ancients," and he condemns their prolixity, and defends the abridged form of Modern ceremonies. In our days the Guild Free Masons have spoken, to some extent, and we know their process. What the founders of the G. L. of 1717 did was to do away with all technic, and revise what was left to make a new system; the Dermott body had Guild Masons to help them.
The general dissatisfaction thus shewn to exist, was {509} taken advantage of in the establishment at London of a rival Grand Lodge of which Brother Lawrence Dermott, an old Irish Mason, became the Grand Secretary. Their ceremonies were undoubtedly, as he states, remodelled by Ancient Guild Masons. Their affairs from 1751 were managed by a Committee of the Lodges until 1753 when Robert Turner, Esq., became Grand Master, and was succeeded by Robert Vaughan in 1754. In 1755 a Manifesto entitled "the Masons' Creed" was issued. In 1756 Dermott issued their first Book of Constitutions under the title of "Ahiman Rezon," and certain rules are entitled, "Regulations for Charity in Ireland and by York Masons in England." The Earl of Blessington became Grand Master in 1757. Brother Henry Sadler in his work entitled "Facts and Fictions" has done much to disentangle the confused history of the period and he has shewn that this body was established by Irish Masons, reinforced by dissidents who had been Initiated in the unchartered "St. John's Lodges," and by members of the Lodges which had been struck from the Roll of the Grand Lodge of 1717. They claimed to have retained the full ancient work of York which had been curtailed by the Grand Lodge which they dubbed Modern.
The "Ancient," or the "York Masonry," by which the new Grand Lodge distinguished itself, was an old Arch-Templar body, and the same system was worked by the London Grand Lodge of 1751. By their Charters the Arch was worked under Lodge authority, and though no prominence was given to the Templar, it was usually conferred with the Arch degree. At York itself, when a revival took place under Grand Master Drake, in 1761, the Arch was recognised by the Grand Lodge and the Templar also, continuing in active operation until 1792, when they silently expired.
In 1764 Dermott published a second edition of the "Ahiman Rezon," in which comments are made upon three pamphlets of the period, namely: "Hiram, or the Master Key to Masonry; The three Distinct Knocks;" and "Boaz" {510} "and Jachin;" these works seem to have given Dermott much annoyance, and he brings the author of the two last to untimely ends on the 23rd August, 1762, and 8th September, 1763. The Charity regulations of this new edition give in parallel columns the Dublin and London rules in force since 1738, and those of 1751 for his own Grand Lodge. In 1772 the Duke of Athol became Grand Master, after which they were usually designated "Athol Masons," and had formal recognition from the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland. A third and enlarged edition of the "Ahiman Rezon" appeared in 1778.
We will now return to the Grand Lodge of 1717; and may mention that in 1746 a brother of the name of John Coustos published an account of the sufferings he had undergone by the Roman Inquisition for the crime of Freemasonry, and expressing his grateful thanks to the British Government for claiming his release from his abominable torturers. Complaints of irregular meetings reappear in 1749, and again in 1752. In 1754-5 there are proceedings against the members of a Lodge held at the Ben Johnson's Head in Spitalfields as "Ancient" Masons and the Lodge was ordered to be erased; Dermott says that some of its members had been abroad, where they received much favour from the fact of their following the traditional rites of the "Ancients," and therefore they resolved to practise "Ancient" Masonry every third Lodge night, to which meetings the ordinary Craft Mason was not admitted. The matter was not mended by Brother Spenser, who replied to a letter from an Irish petitioner for his relief that their Grand Lodge was "neither Royal Arch nor Ancient," and Dermott prints his letter in 1764. The progress of the "Ancients" has been attributed to the general mismanagement of the affairs of Grand Lodge and to the absence from England of Lord Byron the Grand Master, 1747-52, and a proposal was on foot to supersede him in 1751, but Brother Thomas Manningham interposed so judiciously that the proposal fell through, and he himself was promoted to the office of Deputy {511} Grand Master in 1752; various Lectures and Sermons, given between 1735-52, are printed by Oliver in his "Remains," and Brother Thomas Dunckerley delivered a Lecture "On Masonic Truth and Charity" at Plymouth in 1757.
A new edition of the "Book of Constitutions," edited by Brother John Entick, was published in 1756. In 1757 a list of 14 irregular Masons meeting at the Marlboro's Head in Pelham Street, Spitalfields, was ordered to be sent to each Lodge; and Brother Henry Sadler points out that they were working independently of any Grand Lodge. In 1760 J. Burd published a translation of
"Les Ordre des Franc Macons Trahi" under the title of "'A Master Key to Freemasonry;" by which all the Secrets of the Society are laid open, and their pretended Mysteries exposed to the Publick."<<"Ars Quat. Cor." 1896, p. 85; J. Bird, opposite St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet St., MDCCLX. 6d. viii and 48pp. 8vo.>> This led in the same year to the publication of "The Freemasons' Advocate, or Falsehood Detected." In spite of this untoward state of affairs Freemasonry made progress. In 1764 appeared a work entitled "Multa Paucis for Lovers of Secrets," which is the basis on which is grounded the charge of negligence by Lord Byron. In Scotland Joseph Galbraith, of Glasgow, in 1765, issued the "Free Masons' Pocket Companion." It contains an account of the "Acts of the Associate Synod concerning the Masons' Oath," at Stirling in 1745, September 26th, and at Edinburgh in 1755, March 6th, and appended is an "Impartial Examination of the Associate Synod against Free-masons," reprinted from the "Edinburgh Magazine" of October, 1759. In 1763 a Lodge at Durham which had met since 1738 went under the Grand Lodge.
The office of Grand Chaplain was instituted in 1765, and in this year a Lodge at Ford in Northumberland, consisting of 40 members, petitioned Grand Lodge for a Charter, "it being of old standing"; and between 1764-7 seventy-one new Lodges were established. Prince Edward Duke of York having been made a Mason at Berlin in {512} 1765 was constituted a Past Grand Master in 1766. The Steward's Lodge this year printed an "Address" of 16th November, 1763. Entick issued a new edition of the "Constitutions" in 1767. On the 16th May, 1766, William Henry Duke of Gloucester received the three degrees in a Lodge held at the Horn Tavern; on the 9th February, 1767, Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland at the Thatched House Tavern. Thus the three princes, as Masons, attended a meeting of Grand Lodge 15th April, 1767, and were presented with their clothing, and the Duke of Cumberland was elected a Past Grand Master. Brother Thomas Dunckerley, who claimed to be an illegitimate connection of these princes, was present at the meeting, and from this period was a most active promoter of Freemasonry. The registration of Initiates commenced in 1768. In the year 1769 Brother Wellins Calcott, P.M., published "A Candid Disquisition of the Principles and Practises of the Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons;" he dedicated the work to the Duke of Beaufort, and had the large number of 1,200 subscribers for the edition.
In these years, 1759-70, the opposition to the Grand Lodge, which had never ceased from the time that they broke away from the Operative Guild in 1715, was in constant evidence, as witness the following publications:
In 1759 appeared in jocular evidence, "The Secrets of Freemasonry Revealed, by a Disgusted Brother."
In 1760 "The Three Distinct Knocks," by W.O.V.-N., member of a Lodge in England. Also a "Wou'd Be's Reason," for and against; followed by a "Willingly Wou'd Be," believed to refer to Dermott's Ahiman Rezon.
In 1762, "Jachin and Boaz," followed by "A Freemason's Answer to the Suspected Author of Jachin and Boaz."
In 1764, "Hiram, or the Grand Master Key, by a member of the Royal Arch." And in the same year, "An Institute of Red Masonry."
In 1765, "Shibboleth, or every man a Freemason." {513} Also, in the same year, "Mahabone, or the Grand Lodge Door Opened."
Also, "The Way to Things by Words." McClelland.
"Solomon in All his Glory" professes to be "Translated from the French original published at Berlin, and burnt by order of the King of Prussia, at the intercession of the Freemasons." London: Printed for G. Robinson and J. Roberts, at Addison's Head in Paternoster Row, 22nd April, 1766. 2s. 0d. viii. and 61 p. A second edition appeared in 1768.
In 1766, "Solomon in All his Glory, by T. W., an Officer in the Army, and late Member of the Swan Tavern Lodge in the Strand."
In 1767, a second edition of "The Three Distinct Knocks" appeared at London, Sargeant; the previous edition being "Printed by and for A. Cleugh, Radcliffe Highway; T. Hughes, 35 Ludgate St.; B. Crosby, Stationers' Court. Price one shilling." N.D.
In 1769, "The Freemason Stripped Naked." Isaac Fell.
We may also mention here six valuable plates by Lanbert de Lintot: 1, Grand Lodge of England. 2, Chapter and Grand Lodge. 3, Foundation of the Royal Order. 4, Fourth and Last Stone. 5, Old and New Jerusalem. 6, Night; and also in 1770 appeared in London a Ritual in French, of the Rose Croix as the 7th degree, the 6th degree being Knight of the East.
An effort was made at this time to Incorporate the Society by Act of Parliament and to build a Hall; and, in reply to a circular letter, 168 Lodges expressed themselves in favour of the proposal and 48 opposed it. A bill was accordingly promoted in 1771, but the scheme was finally abandoned. In 1772 under Lord Petrie, G.M., a Committee was appointed for the purpose of erecting a Hall, and Preston's "Illustrations of Masonry" received the sanction of Grand Lodge. In 1775, "The Spirit of Masonry" was published by Brother William Hutchinson, F.A.S., of Barnard Castle; it bears the sanction of the {514} Grand Officers of England, and is dedicated to the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and the Craft in general. He is said to have revised the Old York Lectures and his system was used in Manchester. The foundation of Masonic Hall was laid 1st May, 1775, and was dedicated on the 23rd May, 1776. On 10th April, 1777, the first "Freemasons' Calendar" appeared.
In 1778 a dispute occurred between the time immemorial Lodge of Antiquity and the Grand Lodge. This resulted in an application from Brother William Preston addressed to the Grand Lodge of All England at York, which had met regularly since 1761, for the grant of a Charter to establish a third Grand Lodge in London. This was accomplished on the 19th April, 1780, and a Grand Lodge on the Ancient system was constituted, with jurisdiction south of the Trent, and Preston mentions it briefly in the 1781 edition of his "Illustrations." Now we have three Grand Lodges in London and one in York.
During the ten years' existence of this new Grand Lodge it established only two subordinate Lodges in addition to the "Antiquity," and the authority came to an end with the readmission of Brother Preston in 1790 by the premier Grand Lodge. In 1783 Brother Captain George Smith published a work entitled, "The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry." The death of the Grand Lodge at York following shortly upon that of Brother Wm. Preston left only the two London rivals of "Ancients" and "Moderns," and efforts began to be set on foot to unite them. It is asserted by the Rev. Brother A. F. A. Woodford, on the authority of Mr. Walbran, the editor of the Chartulary of Fountain's Abbey, that the York Brothers were in possession of a Charter, now missing, which was supposed to be that of Athelstan; other brethren say the same, but assert that it was almost illegible.
On the 1st May, 1782, Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland was nominated Grand Master, with the Earl of Effingham as his Deputy. In 1784 a new edition of the "Constitutions" was issued by Brother John Northouck; the {515} chief change is that the word "Order" is often used for the customary titles of "Society," or "Brotherhood." On the 9th March, 1786, Prince William Henry, afterwards Duke of Clarence, was initiated in Lodge No. 86 at Plymouth; and on the 6th February, 1787, the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George IV., was initiated by the Duke of Cumberland in a Lodge held at the Star and Garter, Pall Mall, London; and on the 21st November, 1788, Frederick Duke, of York was initiated by the same Grand Master, at the same place, the Prince of Wales, his brother, assisting at the ceremony. Sir Peter Parker, Admiral of the Fleet, had been appointed Deputy G.M. in November, 1786. The "Freemasons' School for Girls" was founded 25th March, 1788, mainly by the exertions of the Chevalier Ruspini; it now bears the title of the "Royal Masonic Institution for Girls."
In 1790 the Grand Lodge met under the auspices of the Duke of Cumberland, when Edward Duke of Kent and Augustus Frederick Duke of Sussex, both of whom had been made Masons abroad, were constituted Past Grand Masters. It was on this occasion that the old Lodge of "Antiquity" was reinstated. On the death of the Duke of Cumberland, G.M., the Prince of Wales was elected to the vacant throne, and was Installed Grand Master 2nd May, 1792, when he appointed Lord Rawdon as Acting Grand Master, and Sir Peter Parker as Deputy. The great extension of Freemasonry under the patronage of all these Princes is shewn by the fact that the number of Prov. Gd. Masters had increased, from eleven in 1770, to twenty-four in 1795, when Prince William of Gloucester was initiated, and Earl Moira appears as Acting Grand Master in 1795. A Masonic publication entitled, "The Freemasons' Magazine" was begun in 1793, and continued for some years with a change of title in 1798. In this year Bro. Stephen Jones published his "Masonic Miscellanies."
In 1798 the Boys' School was founded, and continues to the present day. On the 12th July, 1799, an Act was {516} passed for the better suppression of treasonable Societies, special exemption being made of the Freemasons' Lodges then existing. Under the favourable influence of the Prince of Wales and Earl Moira, Freemasonry made progress, and the possibility of uniting the two rival Grand Lodges began to be seriously contemplated. On the 10th April, 1799, an Address was received from the Duke of Sundermania, Chief of the Order in Sweden, and a brotherly reply was reported by the Earl of Moira to Grand Lodge 9th May, 1799.
The first step towards uniting the "Ancient" and "Modern" Masons was made at a meeting of the latter body 20th November, 1801, when a complaint was made against Brother Thomas Harper and others for frequenting Lodges of the "Athol Masons." Harper then requested a delay of three months, promising to use the time in exerting himself to promote a union of the two Grand Lodges, and this delay was conceded. On the 4th May, 1802, the complaint against Harper was rescinded, and a Committee appointed, of which Lord Moira was a member, to pave the way for a union. From some cause or other Harper turned his back on this arrangement; the Duke of Athol's name was used in opposition to the scheme, and no progress resulted. On the 9th February, 1803, Grand Lodge passed a resolution condemnatory of the "meetings of persons calling themselves Ancient Masons," and threatening to enforce the laws against their own members attending such meetings. In 1805 the Duke of Sussex was elected a Past Grand Master. A pamphlet dated 9th February, 1804, by an anonymous author was issued entitled, "Masonic Union: An Address to His Grace the Duke of Athol, on the subject of an Union, etc." Although the writer was a member of the Grand Lodge of 17I7, he closes his title with a quotation from the ritual of Templar Priest. He overruns Masonry from the time of Carausius to the period when Harper was expelled by his Grand Lodge.
Other steps were being taken in the meantime, and {517} on the 12th February, 1806, the Earl Of Moira reported that he had exerted his influence with the Grand Lodge of Scotland in favour of the union of the two bodies; the same course was followed with the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and a similar report was made on the 23rd November, 1808. On the 12th April, 1809, a resolution was passed that it was "necessary no longer to continue in force those measures which were resorted to, in or about the year 1739, respecting irregular Masons; and do therefore enjoin the several lodges to revert to the ancient landmarks of the Society." This refers to a change which the Grand Lodge of 1717 had made, during the period, of what they were pleased to term the advent of "irregular Lodges," and which is referred to in the pamphlet of 1804, by reversing the words of the Ist degree and 2nd degree, and which the pamphleteer alludes to as a dispute whether "Gog" and "Magog" were on the right hand or left, according to the position of the beholder. The reversal yet continues with many bodies of foreign Masons. This step was followed by the appointment of a "Lodge of Promulgation" as preparatory to the desired union. Generally it is considered that this change had given the Athol Masons the first handle for terming the Grand Lodge "Modern," but the distinction between the two sects had much wider grounds, as shewn in our last chapter.
On the death of Admiral Sir Peter Parker, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales appointed his brother, the Duke of Sussex, 11th December, 1811, as Acting Grand-Master, and when the former became Regent of the Kingdom, the Duke of Sussex was elected Grand Master, and the Regent Grand Patron.
At a meeting of the Grand Lodge on the 27th January, 1813, there were present six Royal Dukes -- Sussex, York, Clarence, Kent, Cumberland, Gloucester; on this occasion Earl Moira, now Marquis of Hastings, was presented with a magnificent chain and jewel of office, as he was about to depart for India. The Duke of Sussex was installed {518} Grand Master on 12th May, 1813; and as Edward Duke of Kent had already become a member of the Athol Grand Lodge, their Grand Master the Duke of Athol, with the union in view, resigned his office and recommended as his successor H.R.H. the Duke of Kent, who was accordingly Installed as Grand Master on the 1st December, 1813, at Willis' Rooms, St. James' Square.
There now remained no obstacle to the union of the whole Craft, and the formal "Articles of Union" were drawn up at Kensington Palace on the 25th November, 1813, and ratified at meetings of the two Grand Lodges held on 1st December, 1813; these Articles were signed on behalf of the Grand Lodge of 1717, by Augustus Frederick, G.M.; Waller Rodwell Wright, P.G.M. of the Ionian Islands; Arthur Tegart, P.G.W.; James Deans, P.G.W.; William H. White, Gd. Secretary; and on behalf of the Grand Lodge of 1751, by Edward, G.M.; Thomas Harper, D.G.M.; James Perry, P.D.G.M.; James Agar, P.D.G.M.; Robert Leslie, Gd. Secretary.
In accordance with this the two parties met at the Crown and Anchor tavern in Strand, when the Articles were accepted with Masonic acclamation and unanimously confirmed. A "Lodge of Reconciliation," composed of nine members of the Constitution of England, with Brother White as Secretary, and nine members of the old Institution, with Brother Edward Harper as Secretary, was then constituted with the object of mutually obligating each other, and affording the necessary instruction for amalgamating the two usages into one uniform ritual.
Although the 1717, or "Modern" Masons, had become zealous members of the Royal Arch and Chivalric degrees, yet such degrees were held to be outside their Grand Lodge. On the other hand the 1751, "Ancient" Masons, had from the first treated the Arch degree as an essential part of Masonry to be conferred on Past Masters under Craft Charters, and to meet this the following was made part of the "Articles:" -- "11. It is declared and pronounced {519} that pure ancient Masonry consists of three degrees, and no more; viz., those of the Entered Apprentice; the Fellow Craft; and the Master Mason (including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch). But this Article is not intended to prevent any Lodge or Chapter from holding a meeting in any of the Orders of Chivalry, according to the Constitutions of the said Orders."
By this Article, which is obligatory upon the Grand Lodge in all time, the Royal Arch is the completion of the third degree, yet worked as a High-grade, and though all other grades are excluded from the new Rite, they are not prohibited but they are allowed to be practised.
At the period of this Chapter the official Catechisms had become elaborate, the Harodim of Brother Preston being of some note. They still continued to retain a considerable amount of Christian symbolism, confined chiefly to the spiritualisation of Solomon's temple, and the furniture and utensils.
{520}
CHAPTER XIII.
FREEMASONRY UNDER THE UNITED GRAND LODGE.
A MEETING of the "United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England" was held at Freemasons' Hall on the 27th December, 1813, to formally consummate the Union. The Masters, Wardens, and Past Masters of the two bodies composing this united Assembly had been obligated by the "Lodge of Reconciliation" on a uniform plan, and were admitted by tickets, signed and countersigned by the two Secretaries whose names appear to the Articles of Union mentioned in our last chapter, Brothers White and Leslie. The two Grand Masters, namely, the Dukes of Sussex and Kent, occupied equal thrones. The Rev. Brother Coglin, D.D., Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of 1717, proclaimed the confirmation of the Articles to which the brethren signified their assent; then the Rev. Brother Barry, D.D., Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of 1751, proclaimed the Union; after which Brother Wesley performed a symphony on the organ. Other symbolic ceremonies were gone through and the tests were pronounced pure and correct.
The Grand Officers of both bodies now divested themselves of their Insignia. The Duke of Kent proposed his brother the Duke of Sussex as Grand Master of the United Fraternity. The latter was then obligated, placed upon the throne and proclaimed; after which the Grand Master proceeded to appoint his officers, the Rev. Bro. Samuel Hemming, D.D., and Bro. Isaac Lindo, Grand Wardens, and the two Grand Secretaries being those of the former Grand Lodges. {521}
The Register of the united List of Lodges was settled by drawing lots for precedence, and as that resulted in favour of the 1751 body its Charters obtained a rank in numerical order over those of the other, which still perpetuates a muddle in the chronological position of the Lodges. A reference to Brother John Lane's valuable "Masonic Records" indicates that the revised list of the United Grand Lodge included 388 Lodges of the 1717 Constitution, and 260 Lodges of the 1751 Constitution, or a total on the new Register of 648 Lodges. A new edition of the "Constitutions" was edited by Brother William Williams and issued in 1815, and which inserts the declaration as to degrees with which we closed our last chapter.
The Arms adopted by the United Grand Lodge were a quartering of those of the Grand Lodge of 1717, and those of the Grand Lodge of 1751; the first being a differenced coat of those granted to the London Company of Masons in 1472, and the latter being derived from the standards of the four principal tribes of Israel, adapted by Christians to the four Evangelists, and forming the seal of the Grand Chapter of York, the Grand Lodge Seal being the three crowns attributed to Prince Edwin of Deira. Motto: Aude vide tace (Hear, see, and be silent.)
A revision of the Lectures of the three degrees of the Craft was committed to the Rev. Bro. Samuel Hemming, D.D., Chaplain to the Duke of Sussex, who made some progress therein, but is said to have been completed by the Rev. Bro. Williams. The system, though exhibiting no great amount of genius, has continued in use to the present day, and though preserving the main features of the older systems all Christian references were expunged, in order to adapt them, in an antiquarian sense, to the supposed constitution of the Society by King Solomon, whose throne every Worshipful Master is fabled to occupy.
For some years the United Grand Lodge continued the even tenor of its way, without much worthy of notice for the historian. On the death of Brother William Preston {522} in 1810 he left 300 Pounds in Consols the interest of which was to be devoted to an annual rehearsal of his own system of Lectures. On the 8th March, 1820, the Grand Master called the attention of Grand Lodge to the death of George III., who had occupied the throne since 1760, and an address of Condolence was voted to the Grand Patron of United Freemasonry, now King George IV.; this address was presented by the Duke of Sussex on the 10th May, 1820, and the Royal Arms were hereafter engraved on the head of the certificates. A similar address was presented to His Majesty, the Grand Patron upon the death of H.R.H. the Duke of Kent, Past G.M.
Between the years 1819-23 a regrettable misunderstanding occurred between the Prov. Gd. Master of Lancashire and some of the Lodges under his sway; the misunderstanding arising in Lodge No. 31, meeting at Liverpool. Blame seems to be attributable to all sides alike, and the Lodge was erased in 1822; it was followed in 1823 by the erasure of the Sea Captain's Lodge, No. 140 which had resolved to stand or fall by No. 31.<<Preston's "Illus.," Oliver's ed.; also "Hist. Harmonic Lo.," 163, Jos. Hawkins.>>
The death of the celebrated traveller Brother Belzoni in 1825, left his widow in straightened circumstances, and the Grand Lodge voted her the sum, of 50 Pounds, and has placed it on record that this Brother was made a Mason in the "Lodge of the Pyramids" at Cairo, and whilst resident at Cambridge had joined the "School of Plato Lodge," No. 549. Belzoni left behind him some little memento of his Masonic theories, in which he refers to the triangular and the serpent aprons of the Egyptian Kings, and their Initiations; he also expresses an opinion that the invention of the Level and Plumb, are due to Nimrod and Ashur.
In the year 1829 past Grand Stewards had permission to wear a Jewel. The death of the Grand Patron George IV. in 1830 was reported to Grand Lodge 17th July, 1830 by his brother the Grand Master, who then read the draft of an Address to be presented to King William IV. {523} condoling with him upon the loss of his brother, and soliciting that he would extend his Patronage to the Craft. To this a reply was received from Sir Robert Peel, dated the 28th July, 1830, signifying the King's consent to become Grand Patron.
At the beginning of the year 1832 Sir John Soane, the Grand Superintendent of Works, reported the completion of alterations which had been in progress to adapt the new Masonic Hall as a Temple exclusively devoted to Masonry, and as the expense of the alterations had been great he enclosed a draft for 500 Poounds towards the cost. In this year 1832 a renumbering of the Lodges took place to fill up the vacancies occasioned by Lodges which had become extinct. In March 1833 Lord Dundas, the Deputy G.M. presented to Grand Lodge on behalf of the Duke of Sussex, G.M., a bust of King William IV. the Grand Patron; also three gilt trowels which had been used on the occasions of laying the foundation stones of the London University; the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum; and the Charing Cross Hospital.
In the year 1834 the "Freemasons' Quarterly Review" was commenced and continued its labours down to 1850 when a "New Series" was begun, since which time the Craft has never been without one or more periodicals. The learned Brother George Oliver, D.D., whose father, the Rev. Samuel Oliver, had been a Mason of the "Ancient" school, since 1823 had published a number of Masonic works; he may be considered the father of Masonic literature, though his works, for want of critical attention, have fallen into much undeserved neglect.
Several new Lodges were constituted in the Provinces in 1834, when the Earl of Durham was Deputy G.M., and new Masonic Halls were opened at Dorchester and Tiverton.In the month of June 1835 a resolution was passed at a meeting of brothers favourable to the scheme in view, -- "that it is expedient to provide for the wants of the meritorious, but aged and decayed Freemasons, by {524} the erection of an Asylum to receive them within its Sanctuary."
In December 1835 the Grand Stewards' Lodge celebrated the Centenary of its foundation in June 1735, at Freemasons' Hall. Also the Grand Lodge of Scotland celebrated the Centenary of its foundation by a Festival on St. Andrew's day 1836. In this year 1836 several foundation stones were laid in England with Masonic ritual and solemnities. The Duke of Sussex, G.M., had been for some time in bad health, and the loss of his eyesight was feared, but on the 27th Jany., 1837, he was so far recovered as to make his appearance in Grand Lodge, when he received a most cordial and hearty welcome. The Grand Lodge at this period conceived the idea of forming a Library.
In the year 1838 a magnificent Candelabrum, the funds to purchase which had been raised by subscription, was presented to the Grand Master. The "Asylum for Aged and Decayed Freemasons," celebrated a festival in June of this year, but later on, in the same year, an opposition to the scheme was raised by the Grand Master, who had formed the impression that it would injure the other charities, but the opposition was withdrawn, after some very unpleasant scenes, which for a time affected the Masonic standing of Brother R. T. Crucifex, one of its supporters and the Editor of the "Freemasons Quarterly Review." This Asylum was brought into actual operation in 1839; and the Earl of Durham was appointed Pro-Grand Master in the same year. In 1842 the Male Annuity Fund of the Royal Benevolent Institution was established, the Grand Lodge voting it an annual sum of 400 Pounds.
The Duke of Sussex, G.M., died on the 21st April, 1843, and it then became necessary for the Grand Lodge to elect a Grand Master. Bro. Thomas Dundas Earl of Zetland was selected for that office, and his Installation took place in March 1844. In the same year a handsome testimonial was presented to Dr. George Oliver. Also the {525} Duchess of Inverness presented to Grand Lodge the Candelabrum which had been given to her husband in 1838. Between the years 1944-7, a certain amount of friction occurred between the Grand Lodges of England and the Royal York of Berlin, owing to the refusal of the latter to acknowledge any other than Christian Freemasons; the difficulty was finally arranged by the Royal York, acceding, in a limited measure, to the liberal views of this country. Previous to 1847 it was, from olden time, a necessity that a Candidate should be "free-born," but in this year it was resolved to substitute the qualification of "free-man." In 1849 the Masonic Widow's Annuity fund was established; and the Queen became Grand Patroness of the Boy's School in 1852.
On the 7th December, 1853, the Grand Master reported to Grand Lodge that he had been under the necessity of suspending Bro. William Tucker, the Prov. Gd. Master of Dorsetshire; the offence being that he had made his appearance in his Prov. Gd. Lodge wearing, in addition to his Craft clothing, the insignia of the Christian orders of Masonry. It is also on record<<"Freem Quart. Review.">> that Brother. Tucker had made a point in his Address of recommending those higher degrees of Masonry found in the Ancient and Accepted Rite of 33 degrees, which after having met with disfavour from the late Grand Master had been introduced into England from America within two years of the death of the Duke of Sussex.
On the 4th June, 1856, an attempt was made to foist the ceremonial of the Mark degree into the Craft series, but was rejected as an impossibility, as the "Articles of Union" state that pure Freemasonry consists of three degrees and no more; on this occasion Brother John Henderson, the Grand Registrar, said that, -- "no man, nor body of men, could make such innovation as that proposed, without endangering the whole fabric of the Institution." The Earl of Dalhousie was appointed Deputy G.M. in 1857. {526}
Between October 1855 and September 1857, many of the Canadian Craftsmen withdrew themselves from under our banner alleging neglect by the officials of Grand Lodge, and thereupon erected a Grand Lodge of their own. This led to the formation of a "Colonial Board" in 1856 by the Grand Lodge of England, and the establishment of a second Grand Lodge in Canada. On this occasion England lost the Canadian Lodges, save a few Masons who remained faithful to their old allegiance. The two Grand Lodges, thus formed in Canada united 14th July, 1858 under the designation of "The Grand Lodge of Canada." These troubles led to the resignation of Bro. Wm. Hy. White, who had been Gd. Secretary since the union of 1813, and to the appointment in 1857 of Brother William Gray Clarke.
The nucleus of a Masonic Hall was begun in Manchester 27th,June, 1857, by taking the upper floor of rooms over the shops with an opening at 78 Cross Street, and dividing the same into Refreshment room supplied by a back staircase, a Lodge Room and a Tyler's Room; a club also was established. The Liverpool Masonic Temple was commenced in 1858 by the purchase of a building for 1,600 Pounds.
In April 1861 the Earl de Grey and Ripon was appointed Deputy G.M. On the 8th January, 1862, the Grand Lodge voted an Address of Condolence to the Queen on the death of her Consort on 14th December, 1861. In July, 1862, the Prov. Gd. Master of East Lancashire Brother Stephen Blair, laid the foundation of a Masonic Hall at Manchester, the necessary funds being raised by a Company of Shareholders. On the 3rd December, 1862, it was resolved to revise the numbering of the Lodges, thus eliminating the vacancies occurring since 1832. The Masonic Hall at Manchester was opened by the Prov. Gd. Master 3rd November, 1864. It had been in contemplation to improve the Masonic Hall, London, by separating the Tavern entirely from that portion used for Grand Lodge purposes, and on the 27th April, 1864, the Earl of Zetland, G.M., laid the {527} foundation stone of the new building which was completed for Masonic purposes in 1866.
In 1865 a revision of the "Book of Constitutions" was made and it was directed that the term Prov. Grand Master in England, should be District Grand Master in the Colonies and foreign parts. On the 7th June, 1865, the subject of the Mark degree was again brought under discussion and it was resolved to refuse recognition to the Mark Grand Lodge which had been established in 1856, the ceremonial being treated as comparatively modern. The learned brother Dr. George Oliver was interred with Masonic honours in 1867; and on the death of Brother William Gray Clarke in 1868, Brother John Hervey became Grand Secretary.
On the 2nd June 1869 the Earl of Zetland, G.M., informed the Grand Lodge that H.R.H. the Prince of Wales had been received into Freemasonry by the King of Sweden; and in September of the same year he was elected a Past Gd. Master of England, and the Prince attended Grand Lodge in December 1869. The number of Lodges on the Roll had increased from 723 in 1844, to 1299 in the year 1869. Freemasons' Hall had now been separated from the tavern, and was formally inaugurated on the 14th April 1869.
On the voluntary resignation of the Earl of Zetland as Grand Master in 1870, a handsome testimonial was arranged and subscriptions obtained; the Earl accepted a silver inkstand, and directed that the remainder of the contribution, which amounted to 2,730 Pounds should form a fund for the relief of distinguished brethren who might be in distress and to be named the "Zetland Fund."
Earl de Grey and Ripon was now nominated to the office of Grand Master, and was installed as such on the 14th May 1870. The Masonic career of this Grand Master, who was made a Marquis for diplomatic services in the United States, was not closed in a manner equally distinguished, as upon his embracing the Roman Catholic faith he resigned his office of Grand Master 2nd September, {528} 1874. Arthur Duke of Connaught and Leopold Duke of Albany were initiated in 1874, the former in the "Prince of Wales Lodge," and the latter in the "Apollo University Lodge."
The Prince of Wales having already the rank of a Past Grand Master of England, a deputation was appointed to interview him upon the acceptance of the office vacated by the Marquis of Ripon. At the meeting of Grand Lodge in December, 1874, it was reported that the Prince would accept the Grand Mastership, and would appoint the Earl of Carnarvon as pro-Grand Master, and Lord Skelmersdale as Deputy G.M. Accordingly the Prince of Wales was Installed Grand Master, with great pomp, at the Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, on the 28th April, 1875, which was duly commemorated by a painting in oil, and an engraved copy of the same. In May of the same year the Prince was Installed G.Z. of the Supreme Grand Chapter. His brother Leopold Duke of Albany was Installed Provincial Gd. Master of Oxfordshire in February 1876.
At the meeting of Grand Lodge, April, 1877, the Prince of Wales, G.M., appointed his brothers the Dukes of Connaught and of Albany as his two Grand Wardens; and 4,000 Pounds was voted by Grand Lodge to the Royal National Life Boat Institution. On the 5th December in this year a Committee was appointed to consider the action of the Grand Orient of France in reference to the abolition of the requirement of any special religious belief from candidates for Initiation, or as the Grand Lodge preferred to put it, the removal of the name of God from their Constitution, and in March 1878 the Committee gave in a report denying recognition as "true and genuine" brethren to those so Initiated.
In 1879 Brother John Hervey, whose death took place the following year, resigned the office of Grand Secretary, and Colonel Shadwell H. Clerke was appointed. On the 1st June, 1881, the list Of Grand Officers was increased by adding a Deputy Master of Ceremonies and two Grand {529} Sword Bearers. In 1882 the Prince of Wales, G.M., was present at Grand Lodge, with his two brothers, when a congratulatory Address was voted to the Queen on her escape from the danger of assassination. In 1883 a new edition of the "Book of Constitutions" was issued; the great Hall at Freemasons' Hall in London was destroyed by fire; and the Society lost the Duke of Albany by death, 28th March, 1884.
On the 28th November, 1884, a Charter was granted for the "Quatuor Coronati Lodge," 2076, Brother Sir Charles Warren being the first W.M.; the object of the Lodge, besides the ordinary routine of such bodies, being the increase of Masonic knowledge by competent Lectures at each meeting, the publication of the same in a journal entitled "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum," and the reprint of our ancient MSS., and other works in volumes designated "Quatuor Coronatorum Antigraphia." One of their first developments was the establishment, by the late Brother G. W. Speth, the Secretary of the Lodge, of a "Correspondence Circle" which now numbers over three thousand members.
In the year 1884 Grand Lodge passed a resolution of Remonstrance against the Pope's Encyclical denouncing Freemasonry; and a new edition of the Arch Regulations was prepared. At a meeting of "Royal Alpha Lodge," London, on the 17th March, 1885, the Prince of Wales, G.M., himself Initiated his eldest son Prince Albert Victor, and in 1887 conferred upon him the office of Senior Grand Warden. The new Great Hall was completed in 1885; and on the 22nd June, 1886, the Prince of Wales, G.M., Installed his brother the Duke of Connaught as Prov. Gd. Master of Sussex.
On the 1st June, 1887, Brother Henry Sadler was appointed Sub-librarian of Grand Lodge, which was a poor affair for so wealthy a body, but which Brother Sadler has done much to improve and is himself the author of some valuable works, as "Masonic Facts and Fictions; Life of Thomas Dunckerley; Notes on the Ceremony of Installation;" {530} Portrait of G. M. Sayer; Catalogue of Gd. Lodge Library, etc. In this year, 1887, Brother R. F. Gould completed the last volume of his well-known "History of Freemasonry."
On the 13th June, 1887, a grand Masonic Celebration of Her Majesty's Jubilee was held at the Royal Albert Hall, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales as Grand Master, when an Address, handsomely illuminated on vellum, for presentation to her Majesty the Queen, was read to the Assembly and a special Jewel was presented to the Grand Master, such as might be worn by all Masons who were subscribing members of any Lodge at the time. At a meeting of Grand Lodge, 6th June, 1888, the rank of Past Grand Master was conferred upon Oscar II. King of Sweden and Norway, Grand Master or Vicarius Salamonis in those countries. Between the 4th and 7th of June in this year the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Girls celebrated its centenary at the Royal Albert Hall; the 4th was the prize distribution day, at which were present the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Princesses Louise, Victoria, and Maud. On the 7th the Prince of Wales presided, and was supported by the King of Sweden, and various notables of the English Craft.
In December 1890 the Prince of Wales, G.M., Installed his eldest son Prince Albert Victor Duke of Clarence and Avondale as Prov. Grand Master of Berkshire; unfortunately his tenure of that office was very short as he died on the 14th January, 1892. The death of Brother Shadwell H. Clerke, the Grand Secretary, on the 25th December, 1891, led to the appointment to that office of Brother Edward Letchworth.
On the 27th January, 1892, the Grand Lodge voted an Address of Condolence to the Queen, and to the Prince of Wales, G.M., on the lamented death of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and the whole Craft followed this example. The Jubilee of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution was celebrated the 24th February of this year at the Covent Garden Theatre, with the Earl of {531} Mount Edgecombe as President, when the unprecedented sum of 59,593 Pounds 15s. 0d. was contributed. In December, 1892, Grand Lodge again agreed to enlarge the number of Grand Officers by the addition of a Deputy Grand Registrar, a Deputy Grand Sword Bearer, additional Grand Deacons, and Grand Directors of Ceremonies; the like appointments to extend to Provincial Grand Lodges, according to their numerical strength. During this year the question of admitting Jews as Freemasons was agitated in Prussia, and a new Lodge was established for the special purpose of such Initiations. It is, however, outside a work of this nature to print the ordinary and recent outline of the routine of Freemasonry, which must give the world the idea that all is pomp, parade, man millinery, and banqueting. Matters of this sort can be gathered from the ordinary Freemasons' Journals, which make it their business to report every detail for the edification of the members of Lodges. With the great increase that is constantly taking place in the numbers of Lodges, innovations are constantly being introduced of a doubtful character, not calculated for the good of the Society. We will, however, mention a few more items of general interest.
At a meeting of Grand Lodge, 19th April, 1896, the rank of Past Grand Officer was conferred upon 21 distinguished Masons, in commemoration of the 21 years during which the Prince of Wales had filled the Grand Mastership. A commemoration festival was held on the 14th June 1897 at the Royal Albert Hall, in honour of her Majesty the Queen having attained the 60th year of her reign, and which was one of the finest spectacles on record. Another, worthy of record, was the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, on the 10th July, 1898, under the Presidency of the Grand Master at the Royal Albert Hall, London, when the unprecedented sum of 141,000 Pounds was reported as subscribed for the purpose of erecting new school buildings, and removing the School to Bushey, near Watford. At the meeting of Grand Lodge on the {532} 7th September, 1898, terms were proposed and passed for the recognition of the sometime established Grand Lodge of New Zealand.
On the 12th May, 1900, the foundation-stone was laid at Bushey of the New Royal Masonic Institution for Boys; the inscription upon the plate deposited was as follows: -- "This stone was laid on the 12th May, A.D. 1900, with Masonic ceremonial, by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, K.G., &c., &c., Grand Master, President of the Institution."
The death of H.M. Queen Victoria occurring on the 22nd January, 1901, With the accession of the Prince of Wales as Edward VII., caused his resignation as Grand Master, on the 15th February, upon which the Duke of Connaught was nominated as Grand Master and was Installed 17th July, 1901, in the Royal Albert Hall.
The prosperity of the Craft, for many years, has been progressive and uninterrupted in its numerical accessions, and since 1869, when the Lodges were renumbered, to the day we write, some 1,500 Lodges are added to the Roll. The advance in its literary efforts has kept pace with the numerical increase in its Lodges, though Freemasons as a body are very indifferent to its literature. The "Quatuor Coronati Lodge" has distinguished itself by the issue of numerous facsimiles of ancient MSS. reproduced with great care, and in the most beautiful style; it has completed twenty volumes of its "Transactions," Lectures and papers distinguished by the accuracy and soundness of their information, and the excellence of the workmanship, and it has thus been the means of spreading sound and reliable Masonic literature over all the world; and we have been much indebted to its papers in compiling this book. In equally good style the Newcastle College of Rosicrucians has produced facsimiles of ancient MSS. besides their ordinary "Transactions." The Rosicrucian College of London has also published valuable papers. The West Yorkshire Provincial Library, established by the exertions of Brother Wm. Watson, the Prov. Gd. Secretary {533} and Librarian, has reproduced nine copies of the Constitutional Charges at the cost of the Prov. Gd. Master, the late Brother Thos. Wm. Tew. The York brothers have published a similar volume of the old Charges by subscription. Other valuable works have proceeded from the pens of Brothers Wm. James Hughan, Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, Robert Freke Gould, W. Wynn Westcott, M.B., G. W. Speth, John Strachan, Q.C., Henry Sadler, John Lane, W. J. C. Crawley, LL.D., G. W. Bain, and many others too numerous to mention; also some reprints of old plates, books, and documents. The Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 2076, however, has had the great misfortune to lose one of its most valued pillars, Bro. G. W. Speth, 19th April, 1901, in his 54th year, and the Lodge erected, by subscription, a monument. The death of the Treasurer followed on the 4th June 1901, viz., Sir Walter Besant in his 65th year. In 1905 Bro. R. F. Gould published his "Concise History of Freemasonry."
Another notable event of the time was the establishment, by Mrs. Besant, of a S.G.C. 33rd Degree, in London, under authority from India, which received it from a dissension which occurred in the S.G.C. 33rd Degree of France. It confers all its degrees indiscriminately upon males and females, and works the Craft degrees under the Ritual of the Grand Lodge of England, and at the present time has numerous adherents and Lodges. It has added only to the Ritual a "Dharma" Lecture which compares Masonry with secret societies of India, and takes the name of Co-Masonry.
Even this may aid in rousing amongst Freemasons a more intellectual standard of labour. Possibly, if Masonry was less of a political machine, officered from the Court, and its high officials elected by the Craft for "Merit" alone, we should see a better state of things than now exists. A section of the Press is now agitating against Freemasonry, assigning as grounds that the worst men are employed by our Municipal Councils to the detriment of non-Masons. On the other hand, a very worthy brother, {534} who was initiated in the same Lodge as myself, was complaining against the carelessness in inquiry into the character of candidates. I replied that this was so, but although I had been fifty-five years a Mason, and had been deluged from every part of the world with unsolicited Honours, I was pleased to say that, in all these years, I never, in a single instance, met with any one Mason with an eye to my worldly interests, hence I utterly disbelieved those assertions that good men were ousted in the interests of Masons.
In all these years the old Operative Guilds of Free Masons have continued their work without changing the secrecy of their proceedings. They have their Lodges in London, Leicester, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Holyhead, York, Durham, Berwick, and elsewhere. Some of these are in a languishing condition, but they exist, and are in course of galvanisation. Of late years they seem to have become disgusted with the vain pretensions of Modern Speculative Freemasonry, and under authority of the three coequal G.M.M.'s of the South and North have to some little extent relaxed the secrecy of their proceedings; and though the greater part of their members are utterly averse to anything whatever being made public, possibly in time these restrictions will be further modified, to the advantage of the Speculative system of 1813, for many parts are quite incomprehensible, even to learned Freemasons, without the technical part which only the Guilds of the Free Masons can supply.
F I N I S.
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{536}
A P P E N D I X.
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PREFACE.
IT has been thought advisable to add here copies of the ancient MSS. referred to in the foregoing pages, reduced into somewhat more modern English for the comfort of the reader. No injury can arise from this procedure, as those who are interested in the exact verbiage will consult the facsimiles issued by Lodge 2076, and other printed copies. We have made use of certain emendations which have been shewn to be necessary by the best critics.
Attention was first directed to these MSS. by Brother William James Hughan, who printed, in 1872, a volume of the "Old Charges." For some years his efforts to direct attention to these MSS. met with slight success, as the bearing of them upon the present state of Freemasonry was not fully recognised; but to Brother Hughan belongs the credit of bringing these documents into prominent notice.
A few zealous brethren, amongst whom may be mentioned the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, R. F. Gould, G. W. Speth, Dr. William Begemann of Rostock, C. C. Howard of Picton, N.Z., Wm. Watson, Henry Sadler, F. F. Schnitger, and others, have laboured to develop the work thus begun by Brother Hughan, and we must express indebtedness to their unselfish labours.
It is noteworthy that, with the exception of those MSS. which refer to Henry VI., all these documents close their Masonic history with the reign of Athelstan. Practically the "Regius MS." and the "'Book of Charges'" of the "Cooke MS." are identical, except that the versifier has lengthened the former MS. by his own comments, and we have therefore taken the prose copy, as probably nearer the Athelstan original; for most of the emendations (in brackets) we are indebted to Brother C. C. Howard. Brother G. W. Speth considered it likely that the nine ARTICLES were the legal enactments of the King, whilst the nine POINTS were those of the employers.
JOHN YARKER.
West Didsbury,
near Manchester, 1909.
{537}
INTRODUCTION.
I.
ANGLO-SAXON CHARGES.
This MS. as we have before stated is the "Book of Charges" attached to the "Cooke MS.," and agrees with the "Regius MS.," being complete in itself; and (our oldest MS.) is actually, with some additions, a rhythmical version of No. 1. When we come to the mention of "New Men," it is possible that the 9 Points may have been substituted for them by "Divers Congregations"; in later times they were read as the Charge of an Apprentice. It is even so to-day by Masons.
II.
ANGLO-NORMAN CHARGES.
There seems no reason to doubt that No. 1 is the original Saxon Charge, but as there was a constant influx of French Masons from the time of the conquest, a pure French Charge must at one time have existed, and which has clearly been added to the older English documents.
The 1316 document is extracted from Brother R. F. Gould's History of Freemasonry (Vol. ii. p. 341). It is of equal value with any that we have, and illustrates the old MSS. in an interesting way. In the first place the Laws are decreed by the very authorities which the Charges themselves appeal to, and "six or four ancient men of the trade" are required to testify on a Master taking on work. It settles the dispute between the Mason-hewers and the Light masons or setters, and places them both under sworn Elders or Ancients of the trade. It admits that there was no Court, and orders one to be sworn, which thus became the London Company of Masons, uniting Masons and Freemasons, of which the former had 4 representatives and the latter 2, but became now a United Company.
III.
The text of the "Cooke" preface, as far as the same is complete, has been used for this document, the remainder being taken from the "Watson MS.," which is a document complete in itself, but with many errors of the copyist. The author speaks of "old books of Charges," existing before his time, and he has possibly mistaken "Martellus" for "Secundus," inasmuch as Charles Martel was not King but Regent, and only "came to his {538} kingdom" in his children, Charlemagne being his grandson, who had a grandson Charles Il.
IV.
MODERN CHARGES.
These modern Charges, of which there are about 70 copies, of which no two are exactly alike, are an abridgement of the "Watson MS." series, which had become too lengthy for use in Lodge work. The version given is a fair representative of all the others and is a York MS. circa 1600. The portion in brackets [ ], and Charges 19-25 are found in the "Tew MS.," West Riding of Yorkshire.
V.
The Southern Variation of No. 5 is peculiar and found in a few MSS. The evidence of causing Edwin to be made a Mason at Windsor shews that it was compiled in the South, though Winchester is probably meant, as King Athelstan had his royal residence in that city. The version is a late 16th century view found in the "Lansdowne MS.," the "Probity MS.," and the "Antiquity MS."
VI.
The "Apprentice Charge" attached to a MS. which contains the "New Regulations," are found in many MSS., and are those used in the written Indentures of an Apprentice. The "New Regulations" are found in the "Harleian MS.," which is the one we give; (2{1?}) the "Grand Lodge MS. 2," numbered 29 c. 33; (2) the "Roberts MS.," numbered 1 to 7; (3) the "McNab MS."; (4) a MS. seen by Dr. James Anderson, number 1 to 7; but there must have been an older original. The Harleian, Grand Lodge, and McNab MSS. give no date of the Assembly; Roberts and Anderson give 1663; probably there was no date in the oldest original. The British Museum officials consider the "Harleian MS." to be early 17th century; it forms a species of Grand Lodge, and inaugurates a Charge for Apprentices.
VII.
The Addition of 1663 to the "New Articles," and numbered 6, is given by Anderson in the copy he saw, and also in the copy printed by Roberts in 1722. But as it appears in "Grand Lodge MS. 2," as Article 32, it may have been omitted by accident from VI. version.
{539}
I.
THE ANGLO-SAXON CONSTITUTION.
GOOD MEN for this cause and in this manner Masonry took its first beginning. It befell sometimes that great Lords had no such large possessions that they could well advance their free-begotten children for they had so many; therefore they took counsel how they might advance their children and ordain for them an honest livelihood. And they sent after wise Masters of the worthy science of Geometry, that through their wisdom they might ordain them some honest living. Then one of them that had the name of Euclid was the subtle and wise founder, and ordained an Art and called it Masonry, and so with this honest art he taught the children of the great Lords, by the prayer of the fathers and the free-will of their children; the which, when they were taught with high care, by a certain time they were not all alike able to take of the aforesaid Art, wherefore Euclid ordained that they who were passing of cunning should be passing honoured, and ordained to call the more cunning Master, to inform the less cunning, Masters of the which were called Masters of Nobility of wit and cunning of that Art. Nevertheless they commanded that they who were less of wit should not be called servant, nor subject, but fellow for nobility of their gentle blood. In this manner was the aforesaid Art begun in the land of Egypt, by the aforesaid Master Euclid, and so it went from land to land, and from kingdom to kingdom.
After that many years, in the time of Athelstan King of England, by his Councillors and other great Lords of the land, by common assent, for great defects found amongst Masons, they ordained a certain Rule amongst them, once in the year, or in three years, as the need were, the King and great Lords of the land, and all the commonality, from province to province, and from country to country, Congregations should be made by Masters, of all Master Masons and Fellows in the aforesaid Art, and so at such Congregations they that be made Masters should be examined of the "Articles" after written, and be ransacked whether they be able and cunning to the profit of the Lords (having) them to serve, and to the honour of the aforesaid Art.
And moreover (that) they should receive their "Charge" that they should well and truly dispend the goods of their Lords, as well the lowest as the highest, for they be their Lords for the time of whom they take pay for their service, and for their travail.
The first "Article" is this, -- That every Master of this Art should be wise and true to the lord that he serveth, dispensing his goods truly as he would have his own were dispensed, and not give more pay to a Mason than he wot he may deserve, after the dearth of corn and victual in the country, no favour withstanding for every man to be rewarded after his travail.
The second "Article" is this, -- That every Master of this Art should be warned beforehand to come to his congregation, but they be excused by some cause. But nevertheless if they be found rebellious at such Congregations, or faulty in any manner {540