Note: This material was scanned into text files for the sole purpose of convenient electronic research. This material is NOT intended as a reproduction of the original volumes. However close the material is to becoming a reproduced work, it should ONLY be regarded as a textual reference. Scanned at Phoenixmasonry by Ralph W. Omholt, PM in May 2007.
HISTORY
OF THE
ANCIENT AND HONORABLE FRATERNITY OF
FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS,
AND CONCORDANT ORDERS.
Volume 1
Illustrated.
WRITTEN BY A BOARD OF EDITORS:
HENRY LEONARD STILLSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, EUROPEAN EDITOR.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK, U.S.A.:
THE FRATERNITY PUBLISHING COMPANY.
LONDON, ENGLAND:
GEORGE KENNING, 16 GREAT QUEEN STREET, EUROPEAN PUBLISHER,
1906
COPYRIGHT, 1890,
BY LEE C. HASCALL.
COPYRIGHT, REVISED EDITION, 1898,
BY LEE C. HASCALL.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.
Northwood Press
J.S.Cushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
BOARD OF EDITORS.
HENRY LEONARD STILL.SON, P.M., EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, P.S.G.D., EUROPEAN
WILLIAM R. SINGLETON, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.
WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, 32nd Degree, D.D., Oxon., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Iowa.
CHARLES E. MEYER, P.M., Melita Lodge, No. 295, of Pennsylvania.
SERENo D. NICKERSON, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
FREDERIC SPEED, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Past Grand Commander, K.T., of Mississippi.
WILLIAM JAMES B. MACLEOD MOORE (Lieut.Col.), Supreme Grand Master ("Ad Vitam Sovereign Great Priory of Canada, etc.)
JOSIAH H. DRUMMOND, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., Maine.
ALFRED F. CHAPMAN, P.G.G.H.P. of G.G.C. of R.A. Masons, U.S.A 2
EUGENE GRISSOM, M.D.,LL.D., 33rd Degree, P.D.G.M., P.G.H.P., P.G.C., of North Carolina.
J. Ross ROBERTSON, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Canada.
ADDITIONAL
MYLES JEFFERSON GREENE, M.D., P.G.M., P.G.H.P., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Alabama.$
GEORGE JAMES ROSKRUGE, 33rd Degree, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Arizona
FAY HEMPSTEAD, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
HY. BROWN, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of British Columbia.
ALEXANDER GURDON ABELL, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary; Grand Lodge of California
JOHN JAMES MASON, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Canada, Member-elect Supreme Council, 33rd Degree.
ED. C. PARMELEE, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in Colorado.
JOSEPH KELLOGG WHEELER, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in Connecticut
CHARLES T. MCCLENACHAN, 33rd Degree, Historian, Grand Lodge, State of New York
JOHN LANE, P.M., P.Z., Masonic Statistician, etc.
JOHN H. GRAHAM, LL.D., P.G.M., Granc Lodge of Quebec.
JESSE B. ANTHONY, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., of New York.
ALFRED A. HALL, P.G.M., etc., of Vermont.
CHARLES E. GILLETT, 33rd Degree, P.E.C., Commandery, No. r r, K.T., of California.
EDWIN A. $HERMAN, 33rd Degree, Hon. Ins. General of the Supreme Council, S.J., U.S.A., and Secretary of the Masonic Veteran Assoc., Pacific Coast, etc., etc.
EDWARD T. SCHULTZ, 32nd Degree, P.G.C.G., G.E., U.S.A., Historian, Grand Lodge of Mary land.
REV. WILLIS D. ENGLE, P.G.P., Past Gen. Grand Secretary, General Grand Chapter, Order Eastern Star.
CONTRIBUTORS.
W. H. HOLT, Secretary of Masonic Bodies in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
WILLIAM BLATT, 33rd Degree, P.G.M., of Dakota.
WILLIAM S. HAYES, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Delaware
GEORGE W. MARSHALL, Delaware. M.D., P.G.M., of
DEWITT C. DAWKINS, K.T., 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and P.G.M., Grand Lodge of Florida.
ANDREW MARTEN WOLIHIN, 33rd Degree, Secretary, Grand Lodge of Georgia.
J. H. WICKERSHAM, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Idaho.
LOYAL L. MUNN, 33rd Degree, P.G. Com., P.G.H.P., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Illinois.
WILLIAM H. SMYTHE, 33rd Degree, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Qrand Bodies in Indiana.
EDITOR.
Grand
t Deceased. Vide " Introduction," and " Publishers' Note," introductory to Division XVII.
2 Deceased since this volume went to press. Died March 2o, x891, IEt. 62. $ Deceased since this work was completed.
iv
.4DDITION4L CONTRIBUTORS.
WILLIAM HACKER, 33rd, P.G.M., of Indiana
T. S. MURROW, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory.
T. S. PARVIN, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Iowa.
JOHN H. BROWN, 33rd, P.G.M., Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in Kansas?
HENRY BANNISTER GRANT, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Kentucky; Author K.T.'I'actics, U.S.A.
JAMES CUNNINGHAM BATCHELOR, M.D., 330. Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Louisiana.2
WILLIAM GEORGE SCOTT, P,D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Manitoba.
J. H. MEDAIRY, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Maryland.
SERENO D. NICKERSON, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, etc.
WILLIAM POWER INNES, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Michigan.
THOMAS MONTGOMERY, P.G. Com., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Minnesota, Deputy Inspector-General, A.*. A.-. S.*. R.
A. T. C. PIERSON, 33rd, Masonic Author and Historian?
J. L. POWER, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Mississippi.
CORNELIUS HEDGES, P.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Montana.
ARTHUR HENRY BRAY, Grand Secretary, United Grand Lodge of New South Wales.
WILLIAM R. BRWEN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nebraska.
CHAUNCEY N. NOTEWARE, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nevada.
EDWIN J. WETMORE, P.D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New Brunswick.
JOSEPH H. HOUGH, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New Jersey.2
HENRY R. CANNON, P.G.M., of New Jersey. ALPHEUS A. KEEN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New Mexico.
EDWARD M. L. EHLERS, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of New York.
D. W. BAIN, 32nd, P.G. Com., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of North Carolina, etc.2
WILLIAM Ross, P.D.G.M., Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.
Rev. DAVID C. MOORE, P.G.M., of Nova Scotia.
J. H. BROMWELL, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Ohio.
F. J. BABCOCK, Past Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Oregon.
MICHAEL NISBET, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
B. WILSON HIGGS, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island.
JOHN HELDER ISAACSON, 32nd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Quebec.
EDWIN BAKER, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.
CHARLES INGLESBY, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of South Carolina.
JOHN FRIZZELL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Tennessee.
W. F. SWAIN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Texas.
CHRISTOPHER DIEHL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Utah.
WARREN G. REYNOLDS, 33rd, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in Vermont.
Rev. S. F. CALHOUN, D.D., 32nd, Past Grand Chaplain ; Member Correspondence Circle, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, England.
WILLIAM BRYAN ISAACS, P.G. Cam., Grand Recorder, Grand Encampment, K.T., U.S.A.
THOMAS MILBURNE REED, 33rd, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Washington.
JOHN W. LAFLIN, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Wisconsin
W. L. KUYKENDALL, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Wyoming.
HENRY W. MORDHURST, 32nd, General Grand Recorder, General Grand Council, R. and S.M., U_S:A.
GEORGE P. CLEAVES, 33rd, Grand Secretary and Grand Recorder, Masonic Grand Bodies in New Hampshire.
t Deceased since this work was begun. Brother Pierson had consented to become the author of an important Division of this volume.
2 Deceased since this work was completed.
Dedication.
To the memory-of the long line of noble Brethren in the Grand Lodge
above, who handed down unimpaired the tenets of the Fraternity
of Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons, and to the living
Craftsmen who are emulating their illustrious example
- all of whom posterity will rise up and call
blessed - this volume is Fraternally and
sincerely dedicated by the Board
of Editors and Publishers.
PREFACE.
THE purpose of this work is to furnish an outline History of Freemasonry, including many facts not before published. Our effort has been to make an attractive and comprehensive volume, presenting many practical matters not generally known to the Fraternity. While we have no desire to underestimate other historic works on Freemasonry, we still claim that there was need for an entirely new and popular work, which should strictly adhere to the well-known axiom: "In things essential, unity; in things doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity." The first step was to secure the services of well-known and acknowledged specialists, each of whom should give to his work the greatest care. This has been successfully accomplished, and the facsimile signatures of the leading writers bear testimony to their willingness to stand sponsors for the work which they have done.
We feel that the book merits the commendation received from a prominent American, who is himself a Masonic historian of eminence, and whose words we here quote; 111 am glad that you are about to furnish the Fraternity with a History of Freemasonry in one volume, the cost of which will enable a large number of the Craft to possess themselves of it. The old Histories, of any and everything save Masonry, = of the days of Anderson and Oliver, - have led the Brethren astray for, lo, these many years, and worked an infinite amount of harm." He then refers to a work in four volumes, and adds "This work is so high in price as to preclude the larger number of our Brethren from getting it. With the data now accessible and at hand, you may furnish, in a single octavo 'volume, the cream of history,-all that is needed by the majority." Brother William James Hughan, the eminent Masonic Historian of England, says that this book is °1 the American Masonic work of the nineteenth century." These quotations are simply types of many commendations which might be given.
It is not necessary to give any analysis accompanying Table of Contents will show how many and varied are the of the subjects treated, as the
Vlll
PREFACE.
topics discussed, and how thorough has been the work expended upon them Myth here gives up its underlying truth. Research clears away the rubbish, and discloses the sure foundations and majestic arches of a noble structure. In this work some idols are destroyed, but, in their destruction, nothing is lost but the fables with which degenerate men have sought to embellish a truth, the beauty of whose simplicity they could not discern. Under the leadership of these writers we ascend the rugged steeps, until we stand above all clouds and look forth upon a majestic landscape of history, whose varied lights and shades blend to make one grand picture of God-loving, man-serving fraternity.
The several writers have endeavored to make this book absolutely accurate in its statements. One of them, speaking of the " Capitular Rite," says: " 1 hold this, the second half of Division XIII., to be the foundation for an enlarged history of every Grand Chapter in the United States."' Another, writing of the Grand Lodge Divisions, remarks, "I have herein given you the best work of my life."
These words give expression to the motive actuating each one of the entire Board of Editors.
The numerous and beautiful engravings which adorn this work, and its mechanical excellence, bear testimony to the earnest desire of the Publishers to spare no effort or expense necessary to the production of a book which should prove in every way satisfactory to those interested in the subject treated.
It would be absurd to claim that the work is without faults; yet we believe that with this volume in hand, the Masonic student has at his command the best thoughts of the largest corps of contributors ever engaged upon such a work. He certainly has full Statistical Tables never before compiled. The book as a whole is a vast mine of information, indispensable to every Mason who desires to be well informed upon the history of this the oldest and most honorable of all secret fraternities, and the basis of all that have follgwed it.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION. SUPPLEMENTAL OF THE DIVISIONS IN THIS WORK................................... 15
PART I.
ANCIENT MASONRY.-THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, COGNATE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY, AND THE "OLD CHARGES" OF FREEMASONS. (Introductory to the Perfected Organi zation of Modern Times.) Complete in three Divisions.
INTRODUCTION.
THE SIX THEORIES OF THE MYSTERIES ............................................... 37
DIVISION I.
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.
A Treatise on the Eastern European, African, and Asiatic Mysteries; the Occultism of the Orient; the Western European Architects and Operative Masons in Britain, commonly called the Antiquities and Legendary Traditions of the Craft to the close of the Operative Period in 1717.Complete in four chapters........................................... 41
DIVISION II.
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
A comprehensive History of the Knights Templars and the Crusades; their patronage by the,See of Rome and subsequent anathema; the connection of these, if any, with the present Degrees of Knights Templar in the United States and Great Britain; the Execution of Jacques de Molai, Grand Master, and Supplemental Historic Notes. Complete in two chapters..................................................................... 11g
DIVISION III.
THE DOCUMENTARY EARLY HISTORY OF THE FRATERNITY.
The Ancient British MSS,; Kalendar of " Old Charges," and comments thereon; the Regius MS., or Halliwell Poem; Legend of "The Four Crowned Martyrs"; the Cooke MS., as annotated by G. W. Speth ; the Grand Lodge MS. Of 1583, with various readings of "Old Charges"; the"Additional Articles,' etc. Complete in three chapters........... 157
PART II.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.-CRAFT, CAPITULAR, CRYPTIC. ("Masonry without Respect to Creed, Clime, or Color.") Complete in twelve Divisions.
INTRODUCTION.
THE AMERICAN RITE OF FREEMASONRY........ .................................. 197 ix
CONTENTS.
PAGE
DIVISION IV. NORTH, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA. Lodges in America under the English Constitution, x733-1889. Complete in three chapters, 199
DIVISION V.
FIRST MERIDIAN.
History of the Colonial and Revolutionary Period and Atlantic Slope: The Grand Lodges of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Souih Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Complete in two chapters ........................................................................... 217
DIVISION VI.
SECOND MERIDIAN.
I. History of the Eastern Mississippi Valley and the Lakes: The Grand Lodges of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana................................................................... 307
II. History of the Western Mississippi Valley: The Grand Lodges of Texas, Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory ... , ..... .. ............................................. 341
Each part complete in one chapter.
DIVISION VII.
THIRD MERIDIAN.
History of the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains to Mexico: The Grand Lodges of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico; Freemasonry in the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Mexico, and Central America. Complete in one chapter ........................................... 385
DIVISION VIII.
EARLY AMERICAN MASONIC HISTORY.
The First Glimpses of Freemasonry in North America. Complete in one chapter .......... 439
DIVISION IX. BRITISH AMERICA.
Outline history of the Grand Lodge of Canada, in the Province of Ontario. Freemasonry in the North,-the Grand Lodges of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Complete in two chapters.................... 457
DIVISION X.
OTHER COUNTRIES.
Outline History of Freemasonry in Continental Europe. Freemasonry in Australasia and New Zealand,-Grand Lodges of the Southern Sun. Complete in two chapters.. ...... 489
DIVISION XI.
THE MORGAN EXCITEMENT.
An exhaustive Account of that Historic Affair in the United States, treating of its Civil, Social, Political, and Masonic Aspects, as well as of the Deportation of William Morgan ; written from a Masonic stand-point. Complete in two chapters ............................... 507
CONTENTS.
DIVISION XII.
MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE.
- A comprehensive History of the Origin and Development of Masonic Law: The relation of Governing Bodies to one another; the relation of Grand Lodges to their Constituent Lodges, and to individual members of the Craft; the relation of Lodges to one another, to their members, and of Masons to one another; the Origin and Use of public Masonic Forms and Ceremonies; and the customs and peculiarities of the Craft in general. Complete in one chapter............................................. . ................ 537
DIVISION XIII.
THE CAPITULAR DEGREES.
The Royal Arch as a Separate Degree in England and other parts of the British Empire. The Mark Master Mason's Degree as evolved in the United Kingdom. The several Grand Chapters, and the Royal Arch systems of England, Ireland, and Scotland, including Mark Masonry, Mason's Marks, and Past Master's Degree. The Grand Chapters of Canada, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and New Brunswick. The General Grand Royal Arch Chapter, its
origin, powers, and jurisdiction. State Grand Chapters, including the Independent Grand Chapters of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia; separately considered, and in alphabetical order, together with all Chapters holding charters from the General Grand Chapter. The Order of High Priesthood. Complete to three chapters................. 553
DIVISION XIV.
THE CRYPTIC DEGREES.
The Council of Royal, and Select, and Super-Excellent Masters; together with a comprehensive sketch of its rise and organization; Government by a General Grand Council, Grand Councils, and Councils; including the Independent Grand Councils, and those of Canada and England. Complete in two chapters..................................... 643
DIVISION XV.
EULOGIUM OF THE ANCIENT CRAFT.
The relation of the Symbolic, Capitular, and Cryptic Degrees to one another and to Ancient Craft Masonry; comprising the Foundation, the Superstructure, and Ornaments of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons.
L The Physical, the Spiritual, the Celestial, these three intertwining, ever-blending in per
kct harmony.................................................................... 673 I3. Freemasonry, the Conservator o. Liberty and of the Universal Brotherhood of Man.. 692 Each part complete in one chapter.
PART III.
CONCORDANT ORDERS.-THE CHIVALRIC DEGREES.
Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XVI.
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AND ALLIED ORDERS.
The Knights Templar of the United States of America, and Government by a Grand Encampment, Grand Commanderies, and Commanderies. The Ethics and Ritual of American Templary. Complete in three chapters; to which is added "In Memoriam," MacLeod Moore................................................................... 699
DIVISION XVII.
BRITISH TEMPLARY.
A history of the Modern or Masonic Templar Systems, with a Concise Account of the Origin of Speculative Freemasonry, and its Evolution since the Revival, A.D. 1717. Complete in seven chapters...................................................................... 741
PAGE,
CONTLN= PART IV.
PAGE
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY, AND THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND. Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XVIII.
SCOTTISH DEGREES, 4° TO 330, INCLUSIVE.
History of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry; its Government by Supreme Councils, Consistories, Chapters of Rose Croix, Councils of Princes of Jerusalem, and Lodges of Perfection. Complete in one chapter................................... 795
DIVISION XIX.
THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND,
I. The History and Government of the Society in Europe and America; copies of Patents, and other particulars.. ... ..... ................................................. 829 II. The Royal Order of Heredom of Kilwinning ........................................ 85r Each part complete in one chapter.,
PART V.
MISCELLANEOUS RITES AND ORDERS, AND STATISTICAL DIVISION.
Complete in two Divisions.
DIVISION XX.
OTHER RITES AND ORDERS.
I. The Order of the Eastern Star, comprising a sketch of its origin, rise, teachings, and present condition................................................... ............. 8857
II. The Rosicrucian Society.......................................................... 9 Each part complete in one chapter.
III. Masonic Dates, and Abbreviations, used in this work................................ 874
DIVISION XXI.
STATISTICS OF FREEMASONRY.
These are shown in the Craft Department by tables, as full as it has been possible to compile them. In some cases the Gfand Lodge records have been lost by fire and war, and in
others the books were not kept with tables like these in view. The'Capitular Statistics are
all of late date, the records prior to r86o having been destroyed..... ; ................... 875
MASONIC RECORD .................................................................... 897
INDEX.................................. .. .......................................... 899
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
• PHIL& ISLANDS, EGYPT
TEMPLE OF KARNAK, THEBES, EGYPT
ILi.USTRATIONS OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, PLATES I. AND II.
WINS OF THE TEMPLE OF ISIS AND OSIRIS
ORIGINAL SITE OF CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE, EGYPT (Central Park, New York City, Obelisk)
ARMS OF NCIENTS," AND "MODERNS," GRAND-LODGE OF ENGLAND CIIRONOLOG L TABLE
MAP OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, FOLLOWING THE NOACHIAN PERIOD MONTAGUE CHARTER, A.D. 1732 .
RRGIUS MS., OR HALLIWELL POEM
HUGHAN'S ENGRAVED LIST OF LODGES, A.D. 1734
DERMOTT'S ROYAL ARCH . . 6LLECTION OF MASONS' MARKS
,C+RAND LODGE AND GRAND CHAPTER SEALS
,SCOTTISH RITE PATENT, A.D. 1789 (reduced fac-simile)
PATENT OF PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND
61URCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE . CRUSADE TOWER, RAMLEH .
SAINT JEAN D'ACRE, LAST STRONGHOLD, KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARS IN HOLY LAND .
SAINT LOUIS AT JERUSALEM
- CITY WALLS AND TOWERS, RHODES (erected by Knights of St. ,john, A.D. r3rorS23)
ENTRANCE TO "THE MURISTAN," A.D. 1892
T 4~IE MURISTAN : HOSPICE, KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN, RHODES, AND MALTA
THE CHANCEL, MELROSE ABBEY, SCOTLAND SAINT PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON, ENGLAND, ARCHITECT
AND
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN,
PAGE
Frontispiece
36 61
59-6o 118 167-173 211 • 557
569 672 719 847
51
519
125
129 137
355 777 856
141 153
Xiv
LIST OR ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
YORK MINSTER, YORK, ENGLAND 191
THE 'PRENTICE PILLAR, ROSLIN CHAPEL, SCOTLAND, A.D. 1895 . 321
ROSLIN CHAPEL, SCOTLAND 351
ROSLIN CHAPEL (Chancel View), EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND 797
MELROSE ABBEY (Exterior, showing, Chancel Window), MELROSE, SCOTLAND . 831
OLD "GREEN DRAGON" TAVERN, BOSTON, MASS. 245
MASONIC TEMPLE, NEW YORK, N.Y. . 263
MASONIC TEMPLE, PHILADELPHIA, PENN. . 279
MASONIC TEMPLE, DETROIT, MICH. . . 317
MASONIC TEMPLE, CHICAGO, ILL. 325
MASONIC TEMPLE, DENVER, COLO. 427
NEW MASONIC TEMPLE, BOSTON, MASS. 438
EGYPTIAN ROOM, MASONIC TEMPLE, PHILADELPHIA, PENN. • 287
FREEMASON' HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND . • 456
"GENIUS OF SNQUET ONRY" (by Bartolozzi), A.D. 1784-86 687
INTERIOR OF TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON, ENGLAND . • 787
MASONIC HOME, UTICA, N.Y. 267
MASONIC HOME, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO . • 309
PIONEER MASONIC HOME, LOUISVILLE, KY. • 329
MASONIC LIBRARY, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . • 367
UNITED STATES CAPITOL 198
MOUNT VERNON: HOME OF PAST MASTER GEORGE WASHINGTON • 299
FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. . • 304
"THE HERMITAGE," NEAR NASHVILLE, TENN. • 333
INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, PENN. . 340
MOUNT DAVIDSON,,VIRGINIA CITY, NEY. 411
RICHARD I. (CMUR DE LION) AND GODFREY (DE BOUILLON) . 133
ANTONY SAYRE, GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1717 156
DANIEL COXE, PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1730 219
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (" POOR RICHARD") 283
MARQUIS DE LAFAYET7TE (MAJOR-GENERAL) 361
HENRY PRICE, PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, A.D. 1733 451
COLONEL W. J. B. MACLEOD MOORE, G. C. T. 740
GENERAL ALBERT PIKE . . e 794
xv
INTRODUCTION.
THERE is no Society so widely known, and yet really so little known, as that of the Free and Accepted Masons. Even many of the members of that Ancient and Honorable Fraternity are strangely uninformed respecting its eventful past, and although proficiency is attained in regard to what may be termed the ritualistic portion of its deeply interesting ceremonies,‑nowhere more so than in the United States, ‑ yet, somehow or other, the actual history of the Craft, extending over a period of some six centuries, and that of its grand structures, which eloquently speak of its greatness during ages now fittingly described by the term 1| time immemorial," appears to have been relegated to a back seat, and frequently entirely overlooked.
Now this unfortunate result has been due as much to the lack of suitable material for study as to the absence of interest in the matter; for I am fully persuaded that a work brought down to the present time, dealing critically and impartially with the traditions, records, and degrees,‑not too bulky, and yet sufficiently large to treat of all subjects which would naturally be looked for in such a volume, ‑could not fail to be extensively read and become most useful to the Brotherhood.
Such a book is herewith available, through the spirited action of " The Fraternity Publishing Company"; for, in the following pages, our ideal of a handy, condensed history of the Society is fully realized, and all that any wishful Masonic student could reasonably desire in one volume, ‑ covering the whole period of Masonic activity,‑is amply, clearly, and accurately set forth, by eminent, zealous, and competent Craftsmen, who have signed the chapters for which they are alone responsible.
It has been their constant aim, as with the painstaking and indefatigable Editor‑in‑Chief, Brother H. L. Stillson, to secure accuracy, variety, and brevity, without sacrificing aught of general importance to the Fraternity, for whom they have all so ardently and so conscientiously labored. No work was so popular, 1772‑1846, as William Preston's "Illustrations of Masonry," because rigidly condensed and published in a handy form.
It is the confident anticipation of the Editors and Publishers of this, "The History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders," that its reception by the Craft will be equally hearty, sustained, and still more wide‑spread; and its conspicuous merits, as they become known and appreciated, should make it the most popular book relating to the Craft throughout the continent.
Xvi
INTRODUCTION.
Neither is the work necessarily for Freemasons alone; for not a few of the chapters furnish excellent and suggestive reading for those who would like to know somewhat of the Brotherhood, either prior to seeking to join its ranks, or because of this eligible opportunity to peruse a reliable account of so venerable and preeminently respectable an Organization, whose name and fame have been the common property of all enlightened communities for so many generations.
It seems to me impossible for any one, free from prejudice, and possessing the necessary intelligence, to rise from the study of this volume without becoming desirous to still farther investigate the history of this wonderful Society, which has been so loved and cherished by millions of the human race, and which increases in vitality and usefulness, as the years come and go, throughout the civilized world.
Some, however, object to secret societies, and maintain that if they are what they claim to be, they should not thus be restricted as to membership and thus narrow their influence. At the outset, therefore, it is well to point out that the Masonic Fraternity is not, strictly speaking, a secret society, for it has neither secret aims nor constitutions. Everywhere its laws may be perused by " friend and foe " alike, and its objects are exclusively those which are, and always have been, published to. the world.
It is private rather than secret;*for, unless it be our esoteric customs, which relate, directly or indirectly, to our universal and special modes of recognition, we have no secrets, and even as to these needful ceremonies, all “good men and true" are welcome to participate in them, on petitioning for initiation, followed by an approved ballot.
But while a few object to the Fraternity wholly (and unreasonably), because of its secrecy, others deny its claim to antiquity, and assert that the Freemasons of to‑day date from the second decade of the last century, thus having no connection whatever with the old Society which was entirely Operative. This second objection, urged against the continuity of the Organization, particularly from the sixteenth, throughout, to early in the eighteenth century, is one that must be met by the production of facts which can be authenticated by competent critics, whether members of the "Mystic‑tie," or otherwise.
During the last twenty or thirty years, special attention has been directed to this point by a few of us, in Great Britain and Germany, particularly, the result being that we have accumulated an immense mass of evidence, which had hitherto either eluded detection or had not been investigated ; enabling us to demonstrate the continuity of the Fraternity, Speculative as well as Operative, throughout the period in question, and entirely overlapping what is known as the "Revival," or reconstruction period of A.D. 1717.
We can now take our stand on actual minutes of lodges, beginning as early as the year 1599, and presenting an unbroken series of records to the present year of Grace; supported on the one hand by copies of the 11 Old Charges,"
INTRODUCTION.
Xvii
and laws, dating from the fourteenth century, and on the other, by special regulations of the Craft of some two centuries later. Reproductions and fac‑similes of many of these invaluable and venerable documents will be found herewith, or in certain works specified in this volume, and which can be examined and tested by those interested in tracing the intimate connection existing between Operative and Speculative Freemasonry, especially during the seventeenth century, which has been the real crux to elucidate. Practically, therefore, our readers are placed in the same position, and share the advantages, of those of us who have seen and copied the precious originals, about which a few brief words will now be said, so far as the limited space will permit.
It will be no part of my duty to exhaustively treat of the "Ancient Mysteries," though Freemasonry, undoubtedly, has adopted and absorbed not a few of the usages and customs of antiquity. For this reason many have looked upon the two as continuous developments of one and the same society, but erroneously so.
Unless we are prepared to admit that imitation and adaptation necessarily involve continuity, it must be conceded that the ancient mysteries are so far removed in point of time from all that is known of Freemasonry, that it is simply impossible to construct or discover a bridge of history or theory that can unite the two.
Still, so much have they in common that Brother W. R. Singleton's ably condensed and, withal, exhaustive summary will be welcomed by all Masonic students, because containing all that is essential to the subject, culled from reliable sources and originally and carefully treated. His views as to degrees, however, may require some slight modification in view of recent pronouncements by some of the prominent Craftsmen alluded to, but substantially we are in full agreement with him as to their modern character, comparatively speaking.
As respects age and value, the most important documents relating to our Society are what are known by the title of the "Old Charges," ranging, as regards date, over some five centuries; and are peculiar to the Fraternity. For years they lay neglected in Masonic chests and muniment rooms, and it was only on the advent of the realistic school of Masonic investigators that they were brought out from their hiding‑places and their contents made public.
Thirty years ago not a dozen of these invaluable scrolls had been traced, so little had their evidence been esteemed; whereas now, over fifty are known, through the well‑directed efforts of diligent Craftsmen, and many of these have been published by myself and others.
Their testimony varies in regard to trivial matters, but the oldest version, of the fourteenth century, placed side by side with a roll used by a Lodge one hundred and fifty years ago, exhibit together so many points of resemblance as to demonstrate their common origin and purpose, and prove that they are practically one and the same.
INTRODUCTION.
I have fully explained my position in relation to these extraordinary MSS. in my '| Old Charges of the British Freemasons" (1872); and Brother H. L. Stillson has devoted so much time and attention to their careful study and description in Part I. (Division III.), that a very brief reference to them now is all that can be permitted. Brother Stillson's most interesting and accurate observations and particulars, so usefully abridged and epitomized from the latest works on the subject, cannot fail to prove exceedingly helpful to our readers, especially when it is noted that nothing of vital consequence to a right and comprehensive glance at the subject has been omitted by the indefatigable Editor‑in‑Chief; and the particulars given are down to date of publication.
Now, the precise value of these Rolls lies in the fact that they were employed, generally, by our Masonic ancestors of some two to five and more centuries ago, during the Ceremony of Initiation. In fact, their being read to the apprentices, together with what esoteric information may have been afforded, constituted then the whole ceremony of reception, which was simple though, withal, impressive in character. All known copies are directly or indirectly of English origin, even those used in Scotland apparently being derived from that source.
They are likewise of a markedly Christian type, and of themselves are powerful witnesses in favor of the earliest versions being derived from a prototype, arranged and promulgated under ecclesiastical supervision and composition.
As time went on, it will be seen that while the legendary portion was virtually fossilized, the part which recited the Rules for the government of the Fraternity was gradually added to, until, in like manner, the Regulations became fixed and practically traditional also. Then they were simply read as according to ancient usage, but not for present‑day practice; as, for example, in the lodges of early last century, whose members, while unable to accept these " Old Charges " as their every‑day guides, nevertheless, sought to understand their significance as moral standards, and " time immemorial " indications of the spirit which should animate them in all their transactions, as trade and fraternal organizations.
Their influence thus remained, even long after they ceased to provide the current laws and regulations of the Brotherhood.
They do not throw much light on the inner workings of the old lodges, but without their evidence, all would be veritable darkness down to the sixteenth century; and hence Brother Stillson has acted wisely in devoting so much space to their examination, and discreetly in choosing as aids such trusty authorities as Brothers Robert Freke Gould, George William Speth, and others.
It does not appear to me that the text of the oldest of these MSS. warrants the belief that, at the period of its usage, the Fraternity was in the habit of employing certain " signs, tokens, and words," such as was the custom later on, to secure due recognition as a body wherever its members might travel. It
INTRODUCTION.
XiX ,,
may have been so, but apprentices in any trade were just as much obligated o keep its mysteries, or privitfes, within their own circle, as was the Masonic ization. It is only as we come down to more modern times that we can itively affirm that esoteric privileges and customs were connected with Masonic initiation, wholly distinct and different from that of all other trades. The "Melrose MSS.," however, of A.D. 1581, or earlier (known to us in the transcript of 1674), contains clear intimation of secrets confined to the Free masons, such
as
"Ve privilegee
of
ye
compass, square, level', and
ye plum‑rule."
( Vide Kalendar of MSS., No. 17.) That the Lodge from the first was exclusively used by the brethren seems equally clear, and undoubtedly was kept sacred to the Fraternity, because all the members were bound to preserve the art of building as a monopoly among themselves. The secret then mainly, if not exclusively, was the way io build;' and the tyled lodges contributed to the preservation of such trade mysteries, while and wherever the monopolizing tendencies of the " Old Charges" were respected and followed. So long as their injunctions were obeyed, cowans were unknown; but, as the regulations became relaxed and less stringent laws were permitted, there gradually grew up, side by side with the regularly obligated Brotherhood, another body of operatives, who, in spite of bitter opposition and lack of prestige, without " Old Charges " or || Mason's Word," contrived to hold their own, and eventually broke down the monopoly, thus paving the way for the purely Speculative Society of modern days.
That Speculative Freemasonry existed as far back as the oldest "Charges" preserved, is abundantly confirmed by reference to their text, especially that of the second oldest MS. ; but it is not likely that the gentlemen and tradesmen who were initiated then, and subsequently, contributed to the overthrow of the Masonic monopoly. To my mind, they were among its strongest supporters, and became the means of providing funds for the promotion of strictly lodge work and customs, by payment of increased initiation fees.
Had it not been for the introduction of `| Speculative " membership, that is, the initiation of gentlemen and others who were not Freemasons, or those who had no intention of becoming such, as a means of livelihood, ‑during the seventeenth century, especially, ‑ it looks as if the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons would have ceased to exist long ere this, and its tory, generally, would well‑nigh have been forgotten.
The preservation, therefore, of our time‑honored Institution, at a period r,‑when the " Old Charges " almost wholly ceased to be influential as trade rules and authoritative guides, is due more to the Speculative than to the Operative portion of the Fraternity, and proves the wisdom of our Masonic forefathers, in providing for the introduction of other elements than those 1 "We may conclude that the Craft or mystery of architects and Operative Masons was involved ht secrecy, by which a knowledge of their practice was carefully excluded from the acquirement of all whotvere not enrolled in their Fraternity,"‑Rev. Yames Dallaway, 1833.
XX INTROD UCTION.
originally contemplated, by which the permanency and continuity of the Fraternity have been secured to this day.
Unfortunately there are extant no records of actual lodge meetings prior to the year 1599, so that the exact proportion that the Speculative bore to the Operative element, in such assemblies, before that period, is more or less a matter of conjecture, though of its Speculative character, in part, there is no doubt.
It has long been the fashion the honor of designing works erected in England during the period under consideration, but that opinion has received its quietus from the hands of Mr. Wyatt Papworth, who, in his 1| Notes on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the Middle Ages" (1887), has demonstrated that "The Master Masons were, generally, the architects during the mediaeval period in England," and that it is to them we owe those noble structures which are the admiration of the world.
The Reverend James Dallaway enforced a similar view in 1833, in his remarkable "Historical Account of Master and Free Masons," wherein he notes that " The honor, due to the original founders of these edifices, is almost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics, under whose patronage they rose, rather than to the skill and design of the Master Mason, or professional architect, because the only historians were monks." Any remarks of mine, about the importance and spread of Speculative Freemasonry, are not intended to detract in the slightest degree from the high estimation in which we should hold the original patrons and preservers of the art, while it was, to all intents and purposes, an exclusively operative combination of builders, composed of apprentices, journeymen (or Fellow Crafts), and Master Masons.
The name or title "FREE‑MASON" is met with so far back as the fourteenth century, its precise import at that period being a matter of discussion even at the present time. The original statute, of A.D. 135o, reads "Mestre de franche teer," and thus points to the conclusion that a Freemason then was one who worked in free‑stone, and assuredly a superior artisan to another class, who, as less skilled masons, were employed on rough work only.
It may fairly be assumed that such interpretation applied to the name at that period, whenever used, and soon became the favored term, in lieu of the older designations "cementarius," or "lathomus," etc.
During the following century the Freemasons are frequently referred to in contracts, statutes, *etc. ; and indeed, as Mr. Papworth states (who cites numerous instances), " No later examples need be given, for thereafter Mason and Freemason are terms in constant use down to the present time." The purely fanciful, though ingenious suggestion, that Free‑mason is derived from frere mason (i.e., Brother Mason), does not commend itself to my judgment, for there is not an old record or minute of any lodge which supports to credit certain Church dignitaries with INTRODUCTION.
XXi such a derivation or illustrates such a usage, and so it is wholly destitute of confirmation.
It will be manifest, as the evidence of the lodge‑records is unfolded, that though Freemason originally signified a worker on free‑stone, it became the custom, farther on, to apply the term to all Craftsmen who had obtained their freedom as Masons to work in lodges with the Fraternity, after due apprenticeship and passing as Fellow Crafts. "Cowans," no matter how skilful they may have become, were not Free‑masons, and the Scottish Crafts, especially, were most particular in defining the differences that existed between "freemen " and '| un‑freemen," in regard to all the trades then under stringent regulations.
The "Schaw Statutes," Scotland, of A.D. 1599, provided that "Na Cowains" work with the Masons; the Masters and Fellows being sworn, annually, to respect that exclusive rule. Many of the meetings of the old lodges, in the seventeenth century, were mostly taken up with resisting the gradual but persistent encroachments of these cowans, who, though the civil guilds and Masonic authorities were all in league against them, managed to live amid their foes, and, though not free‑Masons were still Masons.
The earliest known minute of the Lodge of Edinburgh notes an apology for employing a cowan (July 31, 1599) The merchant tailors of Exeter, A.D. 1466, had a regulation in force, that no one was to have a " board," or shop, unless free of the city, and in the ordinances they are called "Free Saweres," and, likewise, "free Brotherys." There were three classes, viz. : master tailors, free sewers (or journeymen), and apprentices.
The "Freemen of the Mystery of Carpenters," in the city of London obliged all non‑Freemen of their Craft to take up their freedom, or fines were imposed. On November 5, 1666, we meet with the suggestive term "Free Carpenters," and in 1651 "Free Sawiers," and, on June 24, 1668, a female was "made free" of the guild or mystery. On September 5, 1442, the " Unfree as ffreemen " were called upon to defend the || town of Aberdeen." The '| Seal of Cause " of the |` Hammermen " of the same city, April 12, 1496, recited that no one should "sett up Buth.to wyrk within the said Burgh quhill he be maid an Freeman thairof," and the " Chirurgeons " and other professions and trades "received frie‑men" as approved candidates, who were thus "Frie‑Burgesses " accordingly.
The venerable Melrose Lodge, in its first preserved minute, of December 28, 16 74, enacted: "yt wn ever a prentice is mad frie Mason he must pay four pund Scotts"; hence we subsequently frequently read in the records that various men were |` entered and received fr[free] to ye trade," and "past frie to ye trade," and similar entries.
No matter what the trade, provision was made in olden time " That every man that is to be made frie‑man be eitamined and provet on their Points," etc., as illustrated in the 11 Regius MS.," and other 11 Old Charges " re Masons.
Xxll
INTRODUCTION.
So that, whether they were the 11 Masownys of the luge " (as noted on June z 7, 1483, at Aberdeen), or members of other guilds, "the great aithe sworne" in those days induced them alike most carefully to provide that their Crafts be exclusively confined to free‑men and brothers, and "to be leile trew on all pontis" (Aberdeen, November
, 1498).
It would be tedious to detail at more length the available evidence respecting the application of the prefix free to the purposes aforesaid, but certainly the explanation offered as to free Mason' free Carpenter, free Sewer, etc., has the merit of being an easy and rational solution confirmed by ancient records. Suffice it to state that even down so late as the year 1763, the "Rules and Orders of the Lodge of Free‑Masons in the Town of Alnwick," provide that " if any Fellows of the Lodge shall, without the cognizance and approbation of the Master and Wardens, presume to hold private Lodges or Assemblies with an Intent to make any Person free of this honourable Lodge, they shall each forfets to the Box the sum of 3Z 6s. 8a:" This lodge, long extinct, has records preserved from the year 1701, and never joined the Grand Lodge of England. (Kalendar of MSS., No. a7.) From the year i6oo (June 8), when a non‑operative) or Speculative Freemason was present as a member, and attested the minutes of the meeting by his mark (as the operatives), the records are so voluminous and important of the " Lodge of Edinburgh " (Mary's Chapel), and of other old Ateliers in Scotland, that it is with extreme difficulty a brief selection can be made with any satisfaction, the wealth of minutes being quite embarrassing. Brother D. Murray Lyon's great work, and numerous volumes besides by other brethren,‑especially the Transactions of the "Quatuor Coronati" Lodge, London, ‑are brimful of invaluable and trustworthy accounts of the Fraternity, extending back nearly three centuries.
The Lodge of Edinburgh, No. 1, was regulated in part by the statutes of 1598, promulgated by William Schaw, " Principal Warden and Chief Master of Masons" to King James VI. of Scotland, who succeeded Sir Robert Drummond as Master of Works, in 1583, and died in 16oa. There are twenty‑two "Items" or clauses, and, being given in full by Brother Lyon, 187r, and |` Constitutions" Grand Lodge of 1848, mention now need only be made of one or two of the more remarkable.
The rules are based on the "Old Charges," but altered to suit that period. They were for all Scotland, and received the consent of the " Maisteris efter specifeit." Apprentices were to serve seven years at the least, and their being || maid fallows in Craft " was dependent on passing an examination as to their operative skill, and Masters were created in like manner, save as to honorary members. It was enacted: " That na maister or fallow of craft be ressauit nor admittit wtout the names of sex maisteris and twa enterit prenteissis, the wardene of that ludge being ane of the said sex, and that the day of 1 John Boswell, Esq., of Auchinleck.
% INTRODUCTION.
xxiii the ressavyng of the said fallow of craft or maister be orderlie buikit and his name and mark insert in the said buik wt the names of his sex admitteris and enterit prenteissis, and the names of the intendaris that salbe chosin." An " assay and sufficient tryall of skill " was a sine qua non of promotion; just as in modern days, the examinations in open lodge, preparatory to a higher degree being conferred, are obligatory, and are the counterparts of the operative essays of by‑gone days. The Masters were " sworne be thair grit aith " [great oath] to truly respect the statutes which were officially issued.
From 16oo to 1634, the records of No. i are silent as to the admission of speculatives, but contain entries of apprentices, and admissions of Fellow Crafts by the 11 friemen and burgesses " of the lodge.
Apprentices were members, and exercised their privileges as such, just as the Craftsmen and Masters; and even attested the elections of members, being present in lodge, and thus consenting to and acknowledging the receptions of Craftsmen and Masters. This proves that the passing to superior grades could not have required any esoteric ceremonies that apprentices were ineligible to witness.
Special care was exercised in registering the names of the proposers or "admitters," and of the "intendaris" or instructors.
An officer called "Eldest Entered Prentice," even officiated at the passing of Fellow Crafts.
The Deacon of the lodge was President (called "Preses," in 1710), and the Warden was Treasurer; but the officers were not uniform in lodges, as in some the Master is mentioned from 1670.
On July 3, 1634, the Right Honorable Lord Alexander was " admitit folowe off the Craft," and also Sir Alexander Strachan. On December 27, 1636, an apprentice was duly made, `| with the heall consent of the heall masters, frie mesones of Ednr"; there being but this one lodge in the city at that time.
Lord Alexander, Viscount Canada, so Brother Lyon tells us, "was a young man of great expectations; but he dissipated a fortune, and endured great personal hardships, in establishing a colony on the River St. Lawrence." He and his brother, admitted on the same day (July 3, 1634), were sons of the first Earl of Stirling; Sir Anthony Alexander being Master of Work to King Charles I., and so noted in the minutes.
Another brother, Henrie Alexander, was "admittet ane falowe" on February 16, 1638, and succeeded to the office of General Warden and Master of Work.
He became third Earl of Stirling in 1640, and died ten years later.
General Hamilton was initiated on May 20, 1640, as 1| fellow and Mr‑ off the forsed Craft," and Dr. William Maxwell was received July 27, 1647. A remarkable entry of March z, 1653, calls for mention, as it concerns the election of a '| Joining member." " The qlk day, in presence of Johne Milln deacon, Quentein Thomsone, wardeine, and remnant brethrene of maisones of the Lodge of Ednr., compeired James Neilsone, maister Sklaitter to his majestie, being entered and past in the Lodge of Linlithgow, the said James Neilsone humblie
xxiv INTRODUCTION.
desyring to be receiued in to be a member of our Lodg off Edn., which desire the wholl companie did grant and received him as brother and fellow of our companie ; in witness qrof we the wholl freemen have set our hands or marks." Doubtless this application was to enable Brother Neilsone to work for his living in the city, fortified with the good will and fellowship of the lodge.
Sir Patrick Hume, Bart., |` was admited in as fellow of craft (and Master) of this lodg," on December 27, 1667; and, three years later, the Right Honorable William Morray [Murray], Justice Depute of Scotland, Walter Pringle, Advocate, and Sir John Harper were admitted " Brothers and fellow crafts." The Scottish army, having defeated the Royalists at Newburn, in 1640, advanced and took possession of Newcastle (England), where it remained for some months, during the deliberations of the Commissioners. In the army were several members of this Lodge of Edinburgh, who, on May 20, 1641, convened an emergency meeting and admitted or initiated General Quartermaster Robert Moray [Murray]. On returning to the city some time afterward, the extraordinary circumstance was duly reported, and as duly entered on the records, being attested by General Hamilton aforesaid, James Hamilton, and "Johne Mylnn." The John Mylne thus noted represented a family of Craftsmen whose connection with this lodge extended over two hundred years. The third John Mylne (of Masonic fame), came to Edinburgh in 1616, and belonged to the lodge.
He was Master Mason to Charles I., and resigned that office in favor of his eldest son, John, who was || made a Fellow craft" in the lodge in October, r633, and was with the Scottish army 1640‑1641.
He was Deacon of the lodge, and Warden in 1636, and frequently reelected to the former office. His brother Alexander was "passed fellow craft " in 1635, and his nephew, Robert, was || entered prentice " to him December 27, 1653, and passed as a Fellow Craft on September 23, 166o.
Robert's eldest son, William, was a member from December 27, 1681, "passed" in 1685, and died in 1728. His eldest son, Thomas, was admitted an apprentice December 27, 1721, and was""crafted" in 1729, being the Master of No. i, on the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in 1736. William Mylne, second son of this brother, was "receaved and entred apprentice in the ordinary forme " on December 27, 175o, and was "passed and raised operative master," after exhibiting his due qualifications, on December 20, 1758.
He died in 1790.
Thomas, his brother and eldest son to the Thomas Mylne before noted, became an "apprentice as honorary member," on January 14, 1754. He died in 181 r, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, having been its surveyor for some fifty years.
Thus terminated that family's connection with this venerable lodge, which had extended through five generations, beginning early in the seventeenth century through the representative of the third generation of that famous family, whose distinguished Masonic career is recited in the Perth charter of A.D. 1658.
INTRODUCTION.
XXv
In1688 a schism occurred in No. 1, by a number of members starting a separate lodge for themselves in the ôCanongate and Leith," by which name since been known, and is now No. 5 on the Scottish Roll. The ôMother" was most indignant at such conduct, and tried every means in her power to thwart the movement, but in vain.
Another swarm, but involving much more serious consequences, occurred in .1709, and was still more objectionable to No. 1, because the seceders, generally, were not Masters, but "journeymen." This peculiarity led to the second offshoot being so named, now well known by that title, as No. 8 on the Register.
Two of its members were imprisoned (who had been admitted as apprentices in 1694), and all that officialism could do to crush the recalcitrants was cruelly employed, but utterly failed.
Arbitration eventually led to a 'suspension of hostilities, and on January 8, 1715, the " Decreet Arbitral " was made known and certified.
By this award the journeymen were empow.ered "to meet together by themselves as a society for giving the Mason's word"; and thus was forever broken down the monoply of the |1 Incorporation of Wrights and Masons " of Edinburgh, of A.D. 1475, origin, whose Master Masons had so long claimed the exclusive right to thus admit Apprentices, pass Fellow Crafts, and elect Masters in the ancient Lodge of that city.
"Mother Lodge Kilwinning, No. 0," is universally known and respected .throughout the Masonic world. Unfortunately its earliest records are lost, stud have been so for many years, the oldest preserved ranging from Decem ber 20, 1642, to December 5, 1758‑
Its meetings were held in Kilwinning, Scotland, the jurisdiction of the lodge extending even so far as Glasgow, in the year 1599.
(Kalendar of MSS., No. 14 .) Schaw's Supplementary Code of 1599 (only discovered in quite recent times), refers to three " heid Ludges " in Scotland, '| the first and principal " being that of Edinburgh, the second Kilwinning, and the third Stirling; so that notwithstanding the present position of 1| Mother Lodge Kilwinning " as head of the Scottish Roll as No. o, some three hundred years ago, it was the second as respects seniority, according to the decision of Schaw. Moreover, his official award is declared to have been based on evidence '| notourlie xanifest in our awld ancient writers." The Earl of Cassilis was Master of the Lodge of Kilwinning in 1670, though only an apprentice, and was succeeded by Sir Alexander Cunninghame. After him, the Earl of Eglintoune occupied the Chair, but was simply an apprenice, and, in 1678, Lord William Cochrane (son of the Earl of Dundonald), was a Warden.
No surprise need be felt at apprentices being thus raised to, the highest position in the lodge, seeing that members of the first grade had to be present at the passing or making of Craftsmen and Masters, a rule also enforced and minuted in this lodge December 20, 1643, when the brethren assembled "in the upper chamber of the dwelling house of Hugh Smithe." This most significant fact appears to me to be a permanent barrier against the
7CXV1 INTRODUCTION.
notion that there were separate and independent Masonic degrees in the seventeenth century, as there were, say, from A.D. 1717. Three grades or classes are clearly exhibited, just as with other trades, then and now, but not esoteric degrees at the reception of Craftsmen (or journeymen), and Masters, as some excellent authorities confidently claim.
The phraseology of the records of each lodge is peculiar to itself, though having much in common. Lodge No. o, for example, December ig, 1646, minute, states that certain Masons were accepted as 1| fellow‑brethren to ye said tred quha bes sworne to ye standart of the said ludge ad vitam."
The Warden is mentioned first on the list of officers present, and the Deacon next, whereas the reverse is the case in the records of No. 1.
Great care was exercised in the appointment of officers, and even the Clerk, in 1643, took his " oath of office," and others were obligated in like manner.
The popularity of this organization, designated "The Ancient Lodge of Scotland," in 1643, has been wide‑spread and continuous, consequent mainly upon its granting so many charters for subordinates. Its earliest child, still vigorous and healthy, is the |` Canongate Kilwinning," No. z, which originated from the permission given by the venerable parent, December zo, 1677, for certain of its members, resident in Edinburgh, "To enter recevve and pase any qualified persons that they think fitt in name and behalf of the Ludge of Kilwinning." According to custom, the pendicles of this old lodge in Ayrshire, generally added the name " Kilwinning " to their designations or titles, and hence the description " St. John's Kilwinning," which lodge was started by the same authority in 1678, and is now No. 6, " Old Kilwinning St. John," Inverness. The Hon. William McIntosh was the first Master, and the lodge, on December az, 1737, received a warrant of confirmation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in which it is asserted (respecting Master Masons), without any evidence whatever, that the members from 1678 "received and entered apprentices, past Fellow Crafts, and raised Master Masons." The petition of 1737 is extant, as agreed to by the lodge, and, I need scarcely state, no such preposterous claim was made by the brethren at that time, or since, for there was in 1678, no Third degree.
In 1737 there were some fifty members, mostly Speculative, so we are informed by Brother Alexander Ross, in 1877.
Brother Robert Wylie gives a list of the charters he has been able to trace (and copies thereof as far as possible), in his " History of Mother Kilwinning Lodge," some thirty‑five in number, ‑ without exhausting the roll, ‑ down to 1807 (for during a portion of its career my esteemed Scottish "Mother" acted as a Grand Lodge, and rival to that at Edinburgh), including Tap pahannock Kilwinning Lodge, Virginia (A.D. 1758), and Falmouth Kilwinning Lodge (A.D. 1775), Virginia, America; as also, the "High Knights Templars" Lodge, Dublin, A.D. 1779.1 1 Colonel Moore's remarks as to this Irish lodge (Division XVII.), should be carefully noted.
INTRODUCTION.
XXV11
Other Old Lodges in Scotland, all of pre‑Grand Lodge origin, that ought `to be noted are : ‑ (a) No‑ 3, " Scone and Perth " (its oldest preserved document being of date December 24, 1658, subscribed to by the |` Maisters, Friemen and Fellow Crafts off Perth, " the lodge being the " prin'e [principal] within the Shyre ") . (b) No‑ 3 bis, St. John's, Glasgow (which is noted in the Incorporation ‑ Records so early as 1613, but did not join the Grand Lodge until 1849‑1850), the lodge possibly being active in 1551 when no Craftsman was allowed to work in that city unless entered as a Burgess and Freeman, and membership of the lodge was conditional on entering the Incorporation, its exclusively Operative character remaining intact until some fifty years ago.
(c) No. 9, Dunblane, is credited with having originated in 1696, according to the Scottish Register, but it certainly existed prior to that year, though that is the date of its oldest minute preserved.. It was chiefly Speculative from the first. Viscount Strathalane was the Master in 1696, Alexander Drummond, Esq., was Warden; an |' Eldest Fellow Craft;" Clerk, Treasurer, and an " Officer ", were also elected.
(d) Some lodges lower down on the Scottish Roll go much farther back than No. 9 ; e.g., Haddington ("St. John's Kilwinning "), No. 5 7, dating from 1599, but the evidence for that claim is not apparent, the oldest MS. extant being of the year 1682, and another is of 1697, both referring to the lodge of that town.
(e) One of the most noteworthy and most ancient, with no lack of documentary testimony in its favor, is the old lodge at Aberdeen, No. 34, with its "Mark Book" of A.D. 167o, and a profusion of actual minutes and records from that year. Its comparatively low position on the register says more for the unselfish spirit of its members, last century, than for the justice of the authorities in settling the numeration.
Out of forty‑nine members, whose names are enrolled in the "Mark Book," only eight are known to have been Operative Masons, and for certain, the great majority were Speculative Freemasons.
Four noblemen and several clergymen and other gentlemen were members.
Harrie Elphingston, "Tutor," and a '| Collector of the King's Customs," was the Master when these extraordinary records were begun, and, save as to two, all have their marks regularly registered.'
The " names of the successors " are also duly noted, and a list of the "Entered Prenteises," with their marks, is also inserted, dating from 167o. The Earl of Errol, one of the members, died at an advanced age, in 1674.
The three classes of Apprentices, Fellow Crafts and Master Masons were recognized, the statutes of December 27, 167o, being compiled on the customary lines, only that the Code is more than usually comprehensive and interesting.
Provision was made for || Gentlemen 1Yleasions," as well as "Handie Craftes prenteises" being initiated, in these old 1 Vide plates of Marks from old lodge registers, etc.
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
rules, and special care for the ,due communication of the "Mason‑word." "Fees of Honour," on the assumption of office, were also payable in some of the old lodges.
(f) "Peebles Kilwinning," No. 24, seems to have started on October 18, 1716, by its own act and deed, for, who was to say nay 7 The minute of the event begins with the declaration that, in consequence of the great loss `| the honorable company of Masons ... have hitherto sustained by the want of a lodge, and finding a sufficient number of brethren in this burgh, did this day erect a lodge among themselves." A Deacon, Warden, and other officers were then elected, and, on December 27, "afterprayer," the several members present were duly examined.
It was Speculative as well as Operative in its constitution.
(g) "Dumfries Kilwinning," No. 53, though only dated 1750, in the Official Register, possesses records back to 1687, and was not, even then, wholly Operative. Different fees were payable by mechanics, and by "no mechanicks," on initiation, in the seventeenth century.
A noteworthy title occurs in an "Indenture betwix Dunde and its 1Ylasoun," of the year 1536, which is the earliest known instance of a Scottish lodge being named after a Saint, viz. : || Our Lady [i.e., St. Mary's] Loge of Dunde." The document is exceedingly curious and valuable, as illustrating the "ald vss of our luge," and another of March i 1, 1659, is of still more interest, as it contains the rules then agreed to by the "Frie‑Masters" (with the concurrence of the town authorities), which are mostly in accordance with the older laws of the Craft, and framed with due regard to the privileges of the sons of Freemen.
(h) Other old lodges might be enumerated of the seventeenth century, such as Atcheson‑Haven, with its valuable MS. Of A.D. 1666. (Kalendar of MSS, No. 15 .) (i) Banf, with many important minutes of early last century.
(j) Brechin, with rules and records from 1714.
(No. 6 enacts that men not freemen, who desire to work in the lodge, shall pay a fee; No. 8 arranges for "joining members " ; No. 9, Marks to be registered; and " Frie‑Masters " are noted as well as free apprentices.)
These all (though of a most interesting character), must be passed over, but the following should be briefly described, because of their relevancy to the subject under consideration : (k) The Lodge of Kelso, No. 58, was resuscitated in 1878, after many years of dormancy. When it was originally formed cannot now be decided, but the earliest preserved minutes begin December 27, 17or, when "the Honorable Lodge assembled under the protection of Saint John."
The Master, in 1702, was George Faa, his death as such being then noted, who was succeeded by " Sir John Pringall," an ancestor of the present Sir Norman Pringle, Bart., who is a Past Master of No. 92, London.
Brother Vernon's History contains many gems well worth reproduction herein, if feasible, but not being practicable, I can only hope they will be care‑ INTRODUCTION.
Xxlx fully studied when opportunities arise. This lodge, Speculative as well as Operative from the year 1701, continued its eventful career down to some fifty years since, when it fell through for some time. The members obtained a charter from the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1754, in which year (June 18), it was discovered "That this lodge had attained only to the two degrees of Apprentice and Fellow Craft, and know nothing of the Master's part."
This defect was there and then remedied by the formation of a Master's lodge, but it is curious to note the fact.
(Z) The ancient lodges at Metrose and Haughfoot are the last of the Scottish series to be referred to now, the preserved records of the former dating from January j3, 167o ! The members have remained independent of the Grand Lodge of Scotland down to this year, but arrangements are in progress for its union with that body as No. 1 bis, being the third in reality, as it will be preceded by No. o, and No. 1, already described. This happy event was consummated February 225th, of this year (r8gr), the Grand Lodge ind the lodge being agreed.
In none of the records are there to be found any references to three ,degrees, until very recent times, the only secret ceremony being at the initiation. The lodge was chiefly, if not exclusively, Operative, and its records are mainly taken up with the entering of Apprentices, and "Receiving Free to the Tread" all eligible members accepted by the brethren.
(m) The lodge at Haughfoot described by the Provincial Grand Secretary (Brother R. Sanderson); though not of the age bf some of the previous lodges, possesses records
from
1'702, the first of which,
at page
r 1
of December 22, 1702, has given rise to much discussion.
It reads exactly as follows, so Brother Sanderson certifies to me : ‑ Of entrie as the apprentice did leaving out (the Common Judge).
Then they whisper the word as before, and the Master Mason grips his hand after the.ordinary way." I fail to find in this excerpt any proof that two or more degrees were worked at that time; and if the minute refers to the reception or "passing' of a Fellow Craft, or Master (then simply official or complimentary positions), assuredly Apprentices might have been and possibly were present, for the "entrie" was not ‑different to what theirs had been, the word being |` as before," and the grap was in the " ordinary way." On the same day Sir James Scott and five others were |' orderly admitted Apprentices and Fellow Craft," in what was termed " the said Society of Masons and Fellow Craft." No references occur to two or more degrees in any of the old records.
ENGLAND is far behind SCOTLAND as respects minutes of old lodges, and IRELAND possesses none before the last century, but the former country is very rich in its collection of the "Old Charges." Of actual lodges in South Britain, we have to come down to 1701 (save the one already noted at Newcastle of the former century), before we meet with XXX INTROD UCTION.
any minute‑books. We are not, however, without information concerning English lodge meetings so far back as 1646. Elias Ashmole "was made a Freemason at Warrington, in Lancashire, with Coll Henry Mainwaring, of Karnicham, in Cheshire," as he states in his Diary (on October 16, 1646), which was printed and published in 1717, and again in 1774.
Brother W. H. Rylands declares that, so far as he is able to judge, "there is not a scrap of evidence that there was a single Operative Mason present," and, after a thorough examination of the entry, that able writer considers " the whole of the evidence seems to point quite in the opposite direction." It is remarkable that the " Sloane MS. No. 3848 " (which is a copy of the || Old Charges "), bears the same date as this meeting, and it is just possible was used on that occasion. (Kalendar of MSS., No. lo.) On March io, 1682, Ashmole received '| a Sumons to app| at a Lodge to be held the next day, at Masons' Hall, London." This noted antiquary duly attended and witnessed the admission " into the Fellowship of Free Masons " of Sir William Wilson, Knt., and five other gentlemen.
He was the |` Senior Fellow among them," and they all |` dyned at the charge of the new‑accepted Masons." These are the only entries relating to the Craft in this gossipy journal, but they are of great value and interest, as will be seen.
In the " Harleian MS., No. 2054," which contains another copy of the "Old Charges" (at pp. 33‑34), is an extraordinary lodge entry (apparently) of 050 circa, beginning with "William Wade w` give for to be a free mason," and likewise, what is evidently a reproduction of the oath used at that period, to keep secret "the words and signes of a free mason." (No. q, in Kalendar.) Over a score of names are noted on one of these folios, and according to Brother Ryland's researches (confirmed by my own), it seems certain that very few of them were connected with the Craft as operatives, if any.
The papers on this subject (A.D. 1882), by the brother just mentioned, are of his best work in behalf of historical Freemasonry, and cannot be surpassed. Randle Holme (the third), was the author of the "Academie of Armory," 1688, and as a Herald, Deputy to Garter King of Arms for Chester, etc. His name is one of the twenty‑six noted in this unique MS.; and he (Brother Rylands points out for the first time), in the work aforesaid, speaks of the antiquity of " the Fellowship of the Masons," and acknowledged his member ship of the Society so late as 1688.
The references are too numerous to be mentioned now, but they are all of a.most important character.
Although Bacon (Lord Verulam), died in 1626, and Ashmole was not initiated until twenty years later, it has long been a favorite notion with many that to the "Rosicrucians" of 16r4, etc., and Bacon's "New Atlantis," the Freemasons are mainly indebted for many portions of their modern rituals. There is certainly much more to be said in support of this view than in regard to any connection with the Knights Templars down to the early part of last century.
The latter fancy is really not worth consideration; but two works by INTRODUCTION.
p:W. F. C. Wigston, published recently, on '1 Bacon, Shakespeare, and the tians," etc., and " Francis Bacon, Poet, Prophet, and Philosopher," a mass of facts and arguments, all tending in the direction of Rosi and Baconian ideas influencing the Masonic Revivalists of 1717.
The is not one that can be settled off‑hand, or in the limits of a few pages; it strikes me that there is still light to be thrown on the origin Of modern nic degrees, by a careful study of the evidence accumulated by such gent investigators as Mr. Wigston and others, whose labors surely need not discredited simply because of the Shakespearian controversy in relation to cis Bacon, about which there is, naturally, a difference of opinion.
An this point I have ventured so far as to declare that the || New 14tlantis Seems to be, and probably is, the key to the modern rituals of Freemasonry." ',:There for the present the question must be left, so far as the writer is concerned.
It opens up a very suggestive field of inquiry.
To whom we owe modern Freemasonry of |' three degrees " and their additlons, such as the Royal Arch, we know not. I am inclined to credit Drs. liers and Anderson with the honor of the first trio, but Brother Gould is not, and certainly evidence is lacking as to the point.
The transactions at the inauguration of the premier Grand Lodge of the rld, at London, in 1717, were not, unfortunately, duly recorded at the time, hence the "Book of Constitutions," A,D. 1723, and the earliest minutes the Grand Lodge of that year, with Anderson's account of the meeting in second edition of 1738, are practically all we have to guide us.
Your Old Lodges" for certain, and probably more, took part in the prods of that eventful gathering, and from that body, so formed, has ig, directly or indirectly, every Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted , working three degrees, in the universe.
When these lodges originated Aot known, but some of them, possibly, during the seventeenth century. were several other old lodges working, in their own prescriptive right, 'land during the second decade of last century, though they took no in the new organization at first.
Of these; one in particular may be noted, which assembled at Alnwick .an early date, and whose preserved rules and records begin 1701I gave a sketch of this ancient lodge in the Freemason (London), 21, 1871, as its regulations of 1701 are of considerable value, its copy "Old Charges" is still treasured, and its minutes were kept down to enth decade of last century, as already noted. (N0. 2 7, in Kalendar.) e Grand Lodge was also petitioned to constitute or regularize many in London and in the country, but as these all took date from their ition, we know lamentably little of their previous career.
The one at like its fellow at Alnwick, never joined the new body, but preferred ndence, even if it involved isolation.
The records of this old lodge m the year 1712, but a roll from 1705 was noted in the inventory of INTRODUCTION.
11779. When it was inaugurated it is impossible to say, but it maybe a descendant of the lodge which we know was active at York Minster in the fourteenth century.
The York brethren started a "Grand Lodge of all England," in 11725, and kept it alive for some twenty years.
After a short interval it was revived, in 117611, and continued to work until 11792, when it collapsed.
Prior to this date, several subordinates were chartered.
One, possibly, at Scarborough, of 11705, was held under its auspices, and much work was done, but all confined to England.
The serious error of calling the "Atholl" brethren of America " York Masons," has, it is to be hoped, long ceased to be used or tolerated in the United States.
‑ The Grand Lodge of Ireland, at Dublin, was formed 11728‑11729 ; but there was one held previously at Cork, as the " Grand Lodge for Munster," certainly as early as 11725. The Scottish brethren did not follow the example set by England until 11736, and then managed. to secure Brother William St. Clair, of Roslin, as their Grand Master, whose ancestors by deeds of A.D. 116oo‑11628 circa, had been patrons of the Craft but never Grand Masters, though that distinction has been long claimed as hereditary in that Masonic family. Brother E. Macbean is now writing as to these points.
From this Trio of Grand Lodges, situated in Great Britain, and Ireland, have sprung all the thousands of lodges, wherever distributed, throughout the "wide, wide world." Through their agency, and particularly that of the " Military lodges " of last century, the Craft has been planted far and wide. Though there is. evidence to prove that brethren assembled in America, and probably elsewhere, in lodges, prior to the formation of either of these Grand Lodges, or quite apart from such influence, as in Philadelphia in 117311, or earlier, and in New Hampshire, soon afterward (the latter apparently having their manuscript copy of the " Old Charges "), nothing has ever been discovered, to my knowledge, which connects such meetings with the working of the historic " three degrees" of last century origin, and post‑Grand Lodge era. There were, however, some connecting links between the old regime and the new, to enable visitations and reciprocal changes of membership to be indulged in.
Some seven years after the premier Grand Lodge was launched, authorities to constitute Lodges were issued for Bath and other cities and towns, and a few, later, for abroad ; especially through the medium of Provincial Grand Masters, first appointed in 11725 circa, as at Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 11733ò On this most interesting topic, as respects America, I dare not dwell, and am unable to offer any opinion on the manner in which it is treated (owing to the exigencies of printing), by doubtless most competent Craftsmen, in Divisions V. to X.
My able coadjutor, Brother John Lane, the authority on all such matters, has, in Division IV., presented an excellent summary and table of all the INTRODUCTION.
XXX111 ges constituted in America, by either the regular Grand Lodge of England sometimes known as the " Moderns "), or the rival Grand Lodge, also held in London (of 1751 origin, and frequently but absurdly styled " Ancients "), From 1733 to the formation of the United Grand Lodge, in December, 1813, from that period down to the year 1889. The Grand Lodges of Ireland d Scotland likewise participated in the honor of making Freemasonry known bn the great continent of America, but only slightly so compared with either of the two rival Grand Lodges in England.
The cosmopolitan basis of the Society thus inaugurated in 1717 does not appear to have wholly satisfied the Brotherhood. Initiation and membership, without regard to creed, color, or clime, was an extraordinary departure from the previous Christian foundation of the Society.
Even at the present time some Grand Lodges select all their members from professing Christians only (though no such condition was laid down on their origin), and many are the differences between the several governing bodies, while they have sufficient in common to permit of reciprocal visitation.
I am very much oú the opinion of Brother E. T. Carson (of Cincinnati), that to the dislike of the unsectarian character of the Fraternity from 1717, is due the origination and spread of Masonic degrees for professing Christians pnly, from about 1735, or before. The Knights Templars, the "Royal Order of Scotland," and some of the degrees of the " Ancient and Accepted Rite," owe much of their vitality to their rituals being wholly based on the New Testament, and thus exclusively Christian.
I regret my inability, from the cause previously mentioned, to offer at this time any opinion on Divisions XII. to XV., but the names of the writers are a complete guarantee of their excellence, value, and reliability.
The comprehensive " History of the Knights Templars and the Crusades," by Bishop Perry, will be eagerly welcomed by the many thousands of brethren who patronize the "additional degrees," and forms a most attractive feature of Division II. His deliverance respecting the connection existing between the modern and ancient Knights Templars should be carefully studied by those who, like myself, believe it is impossible to bridge over the `| Interregnum " referred to.
Division XVIL, by my lamented friend, Colonel McLeod Moore (his last essay and his best), is an able treatise on |1 British Templary," by a brother whose knowledge of Chivalric Masonry was unsurpassed; and, with the preceding division by Brother Frederic Speed, is of absorbing interest to the tens of thousands of Masonic Knights Templars in the United States and Canada, where that degree is so extremely popular.
So far as my experience has gone, I have not found that the attention paid to these extra degrees has, in any way, diminished the interest taken in the foundation‑ceremonies of the Craft ; but, on the contrary, the most zealous in the one class is generally seen to be the most devoted in the other; though xxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
I much wish the number of degrees was lessened, and the cost of the special regalia and jewels considerably reduced in price. How far it has been desirable to add to the number of Masonic degrees (so‑called) of late years, opens up a most important question, and one about which some of us hold very strong opinions.
The Editor‑in‑Chief has thought it necessary to admit a chapter on "The Eastern Star."
Assuredly if this Order is admitted it is in safe hands when entrusted to Brother Willis D. Engle ; and so also as to the article on "The Rosicrucian Society," by the gifted writer, Brother McClenachan, which is found in rather strange company (Division XX.).
The " Cryptic Degrees " (Division XIV.), by Dr. E. Grissom, has been perused by me with considerable pleasure, and of that treatise, as with the others, generally, I can affirm without hesitation that the most reliable authorities have been consulted, the result being the presentation of able digests, written with great pains and scrupulous fidelity, relating to the Fraternity in one form or other, ‑ legendary, ritualistic, historic, ‑ which cannot fail to be invaluable to the American Brotherhood in particular, and wherever the Society is rightly appreciated and duly valued.
Not the least important contributions to the tout ensemble, are Brother Stillson's preliminary observations to many of the Divisions, which should be diligently perused, as effective introductions and aids to their critical study.
Three questions naturally fall to be answered by inquirers anxious to know somewhat of our great beneficent Society.
r. Whence came Freemasonry? z. What is it?
3. What is it doing?
This splendid volume furnishes replies to the first and second of these queries, but the third must be laved to be effective.
Theories prevail, more or less, as to the first two, but in relation to the last of the trio, right or wrong conduct is involved; and according to the one or the other, the world will judge as to what Freemasonry is, and care much or little as to its origin.
If the votaries of the Craft seek to become living, loving, and loyal embodiments of the humanly perfect Ideal set before them, and each individual member acts as if the honor of the Fraternity was specially entrusted to his keeping, the continued prosperity of our Brotherhood is assured, and wide‑spread and popular as are its influence and philanthropic work of to‑day, we are as yet far from reaching the limits of this organization, either as respects numbers or usefulness.
PART I.
ANCIENT MASONRY. ‑THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, COGNATE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY, AND THE "OLD CHARGES" OF FREEMASONS.
(Introductory to the Perfected Organization of Modern Times.) INTRODUCTION.
THE SIX THEORIES OF 11 THE MYSTERIES." PROFESSOR FISHER, of Yale University, says : '1 The subject of history is man. History has for its object to record his doings and experiences. It ‑may then be concisely defined as a narrative of past events in which men have been concerned. . . .
History has been called ` the biography of a society.'
Biography has to do with the career of an individual.
History is concerned with the successive actions and fortunes of a community; in its broadest extent, with the experiences of the human family.
It is only when men are connected by the social bond, and remain so united for a greater or less period, that there is room for history." This is emphatically true of Freemasonry, defined by Brother Rudolph Seydel (quoted by Findel), as a union of all unions, an association of men, bound together in their struggles to attain all that is noble, who desire only what is true and beautiful, who love and practise virtue for its own sake, this is Freemasonry, the most comprehensive of all human confederacies. From whence came this unique society? It is one of the purposes of this work to give an intelligent reply to the question ; and yet the way is beset with difficulty, because the truth of its history, the story of its growth to the present acknowledged grand proportions, is so mixed with legend, with dubious and contradictory statements, that even Chevalier de Bonneville contended that the lives of ten men were none too long a period in which to accomplish the undertaking.
The labors of many talented authors, to which reference is made in the body of this book, have now paved the way so that in this evening of the nineteenth century it is possible to give a reasonable assurance of the truth of the facts quoted; in other words, the rich materials 37 38 ANCIENT MASONRY.
accumulated by the earlier historians of Freemasonry have been so reduced to order as to bear the test of sound and sober criticism.
The relation which the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons bears to the Ancient Mysteries has been classified by Dr: Mackey, in his Encyclopaedia, into five principal theories, viz. : ‑ " The
first
[to quote his words] is that embraced and taught by Dr. Oliver, that they are but derivations from that common source, both of them and of Freemasonry, the Patriarchal mode of worship established by God himself.
With this pure system of truth, he supposes the science of Freemasonry to have been coeval and identified.
But the truths thus revealed by divinity came at length to be doubted or rejected through the imperfection of human reason ; and, though the visible symbols were retained in the mysteries of the Pagan world, their true interpretation was lost.
"There is a second theory, which, leaving the origin of the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal doctrines, where Oliver has placed it, finds the connection between them and Freemasonry commencing at the building of King Solomon's Temple.
Over the construction of this building, Hiram, the architect of Tyre, presided.
At Tyre the mysteries of Bacchus had been introduced by the Dionysian Artificers, and into their fraternity, Hiram, in all probability, had, it is necessarily suggested, been admitted.
Freemasonry, whose tenets had always existed in purity among the immediate descendants of the Patriarchs, added now to its doctrines the guard of secrecy, which, as Dr. Oliver remarks, was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution.
"A third theory has been advanced by the Abb6 Robin, in which he connects Freemasonry indirectly with the mysteries, through the intervention of the Crusaders. In the work already cited, he attempts to deduce, from the ancient initiations, the orders of chivalry, whose branches, he says, produced the institution of Freemasonry.
"A fourth theory, and this has been recently [1873] advanced by the Rev. Mr. King in his treatise ` On the Agnostics,' is that as some of them, especially those of Mythras, were extended beyond the advent of Christianity, and even to the commencement of the Middle Ages, they were seized upon by the secret societies of that period as a model for their organization, and that through these latter they are to be traced to Freemasonry.
"But perhaps," continues Dr. Mackey, " after all, the truest theory is that which would discard all successive links in a supposed chain of descent from the mysteries to Freemasonry, and would attribute their close resemblance to a natural coincidence of human thought. The legend of the Third degree, and the legends of the Eleusinian, the Cabiric, the Dionysian, the Adonic, and all the other mysteries, are identical in their object to teach the reality of a future life ; and this lesson is taught in all by the use of the same symbolism, and substantially the same scenic representation. And this, not because INTRODUCTION.
39 Masonic Rites are a lineal succession from the Ancient Mysteries, but se there has been at all times a proneness of the human heart to nourish belief in a future life, and the proneness of the human mind is to clothe this ief in a symbolic dress.
And if there is any other more direct connection between them, it must be sought for in the Roman Colleges of Artificers, who did, most probably, exercise some influence over the rising Freemasons of the early ages, and who, as the contemporaries of the mysteries, were, we may well suppose,_imbued with something of their organization." To these five theories we would add a sixth, unless, indeed, it may be said that ours is but an enlargement of Dr. Mackey's.
Concisely stated it is this The fundamental principle of Freemasonry is a belief in God.
Those who believe in the Supreme Architect of heaven and earth, the Dispenser of all good gifts, and the judge of the quick and the dead (as denominated in Masonic Monitors), trace, from the creation, a Divine Providence directing the destiny of man, both in the spiritual and secular domain.
From a study of history, written as well as legendary, we are led to believe that in the latter, taking on the form of fraternity, this agency has exercised a most potent influence‑following in temporal matters the guidance of the divine government in the spiritual affairs of the universe.
The changes that have taken ;place since the creation of the world, whether we reckon time by the eras iarchal, the Jewish and the Christian, or by periods Prehistoric, Ancient, e Medimval and Modern, have all been under the direction of a Divine ispensation working out for humanity its noblest attainments, as well for "the life that now is, as for that which is to come."
This great conservational force is well expressed as a recognition of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
It was not the sole motive of mail, in ages past, to seek the future life ; there was brotherhood here, whether it existed as mysteries," "societies," or, as later, fraternal organizations among men.
In support of this theory, the late Dean Stanley said : " Whatever tended to break down the barriers of national and race antipathy, and to produce unity, snd a sense of unity among men, paved the way for a just appreciation of ightened civilization, and a highly cultured state of society, when they uld appear, and would serve to help on their progress." It is evident, erefore, that in some form the fundamentals which we call fraternity have ‑ays existed in a more or less imperative organism.
If this is true, we account for or explain the theories of Anderson, Oliver, other early historians, who claim Freemasonry to have been coeval with lion, and afford at the same time a reconciliatory foundation upon which plant the Fraternity of modern times ; for, this principle once admitted, evolution of degrees in the English, American, Scottish, and other rites, es that the mind of the Craft was in a transitionary stage until a very late tie. Transitional, indeed, but natural and following the Divine impulse; to repeat, the Ancient Mysteries were aids to progress and civilization, 40 ANCIENT MASONRY.
and sources of moral life.'
The ideal became actual, and, in process of time, the inception of the equality of man, his dignity and destiny, became incarnate and fixed and permanent institutions. The social idea, connected with religious ideas, became embodied in organisms, established for human instruction, for growth and development.
The governments of nations have passed through all these phases until we now possess the English Constitutional Monarchy (placed first, because the oldest), and the American Republic, as examples of the most advanced and beneficent systems.
An ethnological point of view will divide this subject into " Eastern " and '| Western," ‑ the Orient and the Occident, ‑ and the chronological arrangement will coincide with the epochs when extraordinary changes took place, by turning‑points in the course of events, rather than to any definite quantities of time, to determine the dividing lines.
THE EDTTOR‑IN‑CHIEF.
1 It will be seen that many of their customs are ours to‑day in Church, State, and society.
DIVISION L THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES A Treatise on the Eastern European, African, and Asiatic Mysteries; the Occultism of the Orient; the Western European Architects and Operative Masons in Britain, commonly called the Antiquities, and Legendary Tradiions of the Craft to the Close of the Operative Period in z7z7.
BY WM. R. SINGLETON, 330, Grand Secretary, M.‑. W.‑. Grand Lodge, District of Columbia.
CHAPTER I.
THE DIvm PLAN. ‑ MYTHOLOGY.
Preface. ‑ The compiler of the following pages on the 11 Mysteries " has made free use of notes accumulated by him in the past twenty‑five years, in connection with extracts from such authors as were within his reach for the last four months. Many extracts from his notes are not credited to their proper authors, because the writers consulted had neglected to mention the original authors, and, in many instances, their information had been derived from very ancient sources.
There is, therefore, no claim made for originality in these chapters ; for, as has been well said by another, in archaeology, `| what is new is not true, and what is true is not new." The compiler has endeavored to condense as much as possible all that is essential in the treatment of this subject, and yet he has far exceeded the limit assigned to him, and much valuable matter had to be omitted.
Our main purpose in complying with the invitation to write on the subject of the Ancient Mysteries has been to communicate such information as the writer had accumulated for himself, in the many years which he had devoted to this study; and to collate, as it were, the thoughts and conclusions of those who were best qualified to write upon the subject, and who had published many volumes, which are to be found in all of our public libraries.
41 42 The Divine Plan. ‑ ANCIENT MASONRY.
"A survey of Nature, and the observation of her beautiful proportions, first determined man to imitate the Divine plan and study symmetry and order. This gave rise to societies, and birth to every useful art."‑Masonic Monitor.
The survey or observation of Nature shows us that all objocts within our immediate knowledge belong to one or other of the three natural hingdoms, ‑ mineral, vegetable, and animal.
When, in the beginning, by the fiat of the great Creator, matter was called into existence, the elements of these three kingdoms were then created, or they had existed from all eternity.
To us it is evident that they do exist now.
The student "may curiously trace Nature through her various windings to her most concealed recesses, and may discover the power, the wisdom, and the beneficence (wisdom, power, and harmony), of the Grand Artificer of the Universe, and view with delight the proportions which connect this vast machine ; he may demonstrate how the planets move in their different orbits and perform their various revolutions."
All those worlds around us which can be seen by the naked eye, as also the myriads of others only to be discovered by the most powerful telescopes, " were framed by the same Divine Artist, which roll through the vast expanse, and are all conducted by the same unerring law of Nature." By the revelations of science, the student has learned that the bodies which give us their light are composed of the same primitive elements as the one on which we dwell, the component parts of which can be subjected to analysis, and by which we have been enabled to reduce all known matter to about sixty‑four elementary substances.
These, when thus reduced, belong to the mineral kingdom, and are inert of themselves. From them are derived all the varieties of the vegetable kingdom by the forces of natural laws operating upon them.
From the substances thus produced in the vegetable kingdom are derived all those elements that enter into the matter which constitutes the animal kingdom.
These substances,‑viz.: the mineral, vegetable, and animal,‑when in a primary condition, are all inert matter, and can be acted upon integrally by forces differing from themselves in very essential particulars.
To certain, if not all, mineral substances the laws of affinity and repulsion can be applied, whereby the very nature of each can be diametrically altered. An acid substance and an alkali, when combined, at cnce change their conditions and form a third substance differing from either; and so on in all chemical analyses and syntheses.
In the vegetable world there is a force of Nature by vyhich the mineral substances are converted into vegetable fibre.
The substances which constitute animal tissues would never be thus converted without the force of vitality.
THE DIVINE PLAN.
43 The vegetable product, after living and growing, ceases to grow and to live when the vital force decays and leaves it, and it becomes resolved into its original mineral element.
The body of an animal when deprived of its vitality soon dissolves, becomes disintegrated, and these particles pass into the air or earth, and as minerals enter into new combinations.
Has any scientist ever discovered the uliima ratio of the chemical law of affinity in the mineral, or of the law of vitality in the vegetable and animal worlds? Yet they are there, acting, and have been ever since these several substances were created or existed.
Man belongs to the animal kingdom; is said to be at the summit of that kingdom, and the most perfect in his structure of all created or existing things.
A. He is composed of a series of dualisms:a. He is an organized being.
b. He has vitaliti, whereby his organisms may perform their proper functions, and without which they could not.
B.
a. He is a being having vital organs in full operation. b. He has a spiritual nature.
C. His spiritual nature is divided into:a. Reason.
b. Sentiment.
a. He has reasoning faculties whereby he is able to judge as to facts, and draw legitimate conclusions therefrom for his guidance in all matters of moment to his e::istence. b. He has an instinctive sense of social relations, whereby he manifests certain qualities distinct from his reason, which govern him in his conduct toward his fellows, and also in regard to himself, which all writers on ethics divide into 1 r'r. To his Creator. Duties:‑{ 2. To his neighbor. 11ll 3. To himself.
It is a self‑evident proposition, that within man there are two positive forces stimulating him to action, viz.: the physical and the spiritual. The spiritual is manifestly separable into intellectual or reasoning faculties, and the moral or sentimental faculties.
If we admit, as we most certainly must, that there was a Creator of all things, that Creator must be the governor of all, and consequently infinite in all the attributes necessary for the administration of his government. This implies his spirituality, and with it the supervision of both branches of the spirituality of man, ‑ his reason and his sentiment.
Consequently, we have no right to atrophy either one of these.
In the exercise of our faculties we are naturally obligated to conserve the one as well as the other.
When we consider the laws by which each set of these is governed, we discover them to be opposite to each other, or antinomian in character, yet not necessarily antagonistic. They appertain to the same axis, but are at opposite poles; so that when any one shall attempt to occupy his mind upon 44 spiritual matters, and confine himself to the purely argumentative questions, and deny every proposition, unless logically proven, he atrophies all the sentimental or moral phases, which necessarily must enter into every spiritual question. On the other hand, this is also true of those who confine their examination entirely to the sentimental or moral end of such investigation.
The following arrangement will demonstrate more clearly what has just been stated as a proposition: ‑
MAN To Acknowledge GOD an Act of WILL
I
To Love GOD an Act of SENTIMENT All of these ANTINOMIES are Conciliated The different positions of Points of Compasses give LIGHT, MORE LIGHT, PERFECT LIGHT. UNION of the Compasses of FAITH, above the Square of REASON, on the HOLY BIBLE, GENERATES ANCIENT MASONRY.
ANTINOMIES OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF MAN.
IN IN Square of REASON and Virtue LIBERTY GOD ABSOLUTE Immutable, Immultipliable UNITY Invariable, not Engendered JUSTICE REASON MONAD Integrity The Compasses of Mercy above SQUARE of JUSTICE FAITH Controlled by AUTHORITY MAN CONTINGENT DIVERSITY VARIABILITY Expansion Engendered Compasses of MERCY and FAITH GOOD, BEAUTIFUL, TRUE, represent GOD Who is the FOCUS of ALL PERFECTIONS.
DEDUCTIVE The junction of the MONAD with the DUAD
constitutes UNION, and GENERATION results.
INDUCTIVE Demonstrate The Promises of GOD to all who TRUST in HIM.
REASON
SENTIMENT
WISDOM
SUPERSTITION
PHILOSOPHY
RELIGION
POWER
SERVITUDE DEMONSTRATION
SUPERNATURAL
HARMONY
DIVERSITY
FINITE
INDEFINITE
INFINITE THE DIVINE PLAN.
be not Codrdinated AGNOSTICISM or { Superstition 45 The Square, Compasses, and the Holy Bible may be said to represent the Three Revelacions, viz.: of Nature, of the Old Dispensation, and of the New. The Square indicates the religion of Nature, wherein the justice of the Almighty Creator, without respect of persons, required the fulfilment of every duty, and is represented by the Square covering the Compasses, and indicates the natural law. The Square covering only one point shows the Mosaic dispensation, wherein the law given at Sinai provided for a partial atonement; whereas, the two points being above the Square, indicates that the Compasses of Mercy have been extended to the perfect angle; and by the revelation in full, contained in the Bible, we discover perfect light, in the great ATONEMENT made for all MANKIND, and the MERCY of GOD prevailing over and satisfying his JUSTICE, indicates the full accomplishment of his promises to ADAM.
The following sentiments from J. B. Gould have been arranged in a tabular form for convenience: ‑
RELIGION, SYNTHESIS OF THOUGHT AND SENTIMENT.
Representation of a Philosophic Idea; Reposes on some Hypothesis First, full of vigor, and is on the alert to win converts.
The Hypothesis is acquiesced in, and received as final. The signification evaporates. Priests were anciently Philosophers; Philosophy alone is not Religion; Sentiment alone is not Religion. Religion is based on intelligible principle. It teaches that principle as Dogma, and exhibits it in Worship, applies it in Discipline: MIND SPIRIT BODY OF RELIGION.
The Philosophers were not always capable of preserving their intellectual superiority; their doctrine became meaningless and a pure speculation, which gradually cut its way out of religion and left it an empty shell of ritual observances, void of vital principles.
RELIGION.
"Expression of an idea"; "Notion of a great cause." Man conceives an IDEAL, which becomes an object of devotion; hence, Originally El‑Elohim, GOD, Javeh or Jehovah.
If REASON (Thought) and AFFECTION (Sentiment) RELIGION becomes PHILOSOPHY or MYSTICISM (Speculation) or Emotionalism Sentimentalism sometimes Extravagant Mysticism or Abject Terrorism when all reason is atrophied Idealism Positivism Any other Ism to atrophy personal responsibility The Aspirations of the HEART must be controlled by Reason and Intelligence HUMANIZED by the Affections.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
From the known history of mankind, extending back into the earliest ages, when man was yet in a semi‑barbarous state, there are evidences that he was constantly reaching out of himself, if happily he could find a SOMEWHAT upon which he could rely, to relieve him of the oppressive load he was constantly bearing in this life, however happily situated he might be in his worldly and social relations. From the daily observation of himself and his fellow‑man he was confident that there must be somewhere some one, or a something, vastly superior in all particulars to himself or his race.
Primal man formed an idolon, predicated upon the best qualities of mankind as demonstrated to him, and magnified those qualities to the pith power, and then he made a god and bowed down to him or to it This was fetishism‑a very natural religion. It prevails extensively at the present day throughout the world ; and, in the Christian church now, in the nineteenth century, Christians are constantly engaged in fetish worship, unwittingly indeed, but nevertheless too true. It is not confined to any one church, as it was at one time, but its influence has so spread abroad that every church is more or less tinctured with it.
Accepting the " Great Light," which all Masons do, as the revealed will of God to man, and his INESTIMABLE gift, it i,, a legitimate reference, in any history which may be written, to trace the connection of the Masonic Association of the modern era with those institutions from the earliest ages, which were of a secret character, and which were designed, as modern Masonry is, not only for the benefit of the immediate members thereof, but mediately for all mankind.
Therefore, considering the first five books of the Old Testament as having been written by the authority of the G.‑.A.‑.0.‑.T.‑.U.‑., the account therein given of the disobedience of the first pair, commonly known as the parents of the human race, must be received as correct. This disobedience was brought about at the solicitation of the serpent, as it is translated in all the versions of the Bible.
The curse, so‑called, against all parties was then pronounced, as found in Genesis, chapter iii., verses 14 to rq, inclusive.
In the fifteenth verse God said: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." From the incidents thus graphically, though briefly, stated in chapter iii. of Genesis have sprung all the religions and mysteries of the world; and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and also the Tree of Life, with the Serpent, have been the foundation of the Tree and Serpent worship which have prevailed more extensively over every part of the world than any other form of false worship.
The fall of man and his reinstatement are the germs of all the religious THE DIVINE PLAN.
47 superstitions in every part of the earth, and the object of this treatise is to demonstrate the following propositions: ‑ FIRST. " Man lost his first estate, and it was necessary that a Divine Mediator and Saviour should come on earth, and, by his death, restore man to his pristine condition, and reconcile him to his Creator." SECOND. No other possible plan could reconcile man to God than by a Mediator of DIVINE AND HUMAN NATURE COMBINED, who is represented in all the ancient religious rites, as well as in Christianity, by the name of Christos, the Anointed One, in some form or other.
From the genealogy of the fifth chapter of Genesis we learn the following emphatic statement in the Hebrew names of the first ten patriarchs, whose names we translate into English.
Adam ............................. Man Seth ............................... Placed Enos................ (in a)......... Wretched Cainan ............................. Condition Ma‑ha‑la‑le‑el......... (the)......... Blessed God Jared ............ (descending or).... Fhall descend Enoch............................. Teaching Methuselah .......... (that)......... His death produces Lamech............. (to the)........ Poor, debased or stricken Noah ............................. Rest and c...solation.
It will be our effort to demonstrate the above two propositions from the history of initiation of all the ancient nations in every part of the world, and that Christianity, established by the coming of Christ, his death, and his resurrection, were the perfection of the Divine Plan, an!. culmination of all the mysteries which had preceded the ADVENT, DEATH, and RESTORATION of the PERFECT CHRISTOS, promised in the Garden of Eden, and which had been attempted to be represented in all of those preceding mysteries; and which, in the case of the true CHRISTOS, was a fulfilment of the promise, and a verification of the successive names of the Patriarchs from Adam to Noah.
The arrange ment of these names we dare not consider as being fortuitous. Max Muffler in his '| Chips" says (VOL II. PP. 4, 5) : ‑ " What then gives life to the study of antiquity?
What compels men, in the midst of these busy times, to sacrifice their leisure to studies apparently so unattractive and useless, if not the conviction that in order to obey t'3e Delphic commandment (know thyself), in order to know what man is, we ought to know what man has been? "This is a view as foreign to the mind of Socrates as any of the principles of inductive philosophy by which men like Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, and Gallileo regenerated and invigorated the intellectual life of modern Europe. If we grant to Socrates, that the chizf object of philosophy is, that man should know himself, we should hardly consider his means of arriving at this knowledge adequate to so high an aim.
To his mind, man was preeminently the individual, without any reference to its being but one manifestation of a power, or as he might have s. "d, of an idea, realized in, and through, an endless variety of human souls.
"He is ever seeking to solve the history of human nature by brooding over his own mind, by watching the secret.workings of the soul, by analyzing the organs of knowledge, and by trying to determine their proper li‑nits; and, thus the last result of his philosophy was, that he knew but one thing, and this was, that he knew nothing. To us man is no longer this solitary being, complete in itself and self‑sufficient; man, to us, is a brother among brothers, a member of a class, of a genus, or a kind, and therefore intelligible only with reference to his equals.
"Where the Greek saw barbarians, we see brethren; where the Greek saw heroes and demigods, we see our parents and ancestors; where the Greek saw nations (Ov l), we see mankind, 48 ANCIENT MASONRY.
toiling and suffering, separated by oceans, divided by language, and severed by natural enmity,‑yet evermore tending, under a divine control, towards the fulfilment of that inscrutable purpose for which the world was created, and man placed in it, bearing the image of GOD. History, therefore, with its dusty and moldering pages, is to us as sacred a volume as the book of nature. In both we read, or we try to read, the reflex of the laws and thoughts of a Divine Wisdom:' According to Wilkinson, th Monad or Single Deity was placed above and apart from the Triads, and the great gods of the Egyptian Pantheon were the deified attributes of the " ONE." The same idea of a Monad, even of a triple Deity, was admitted by some of the Greeks into their system of philosophy; and Amelius says: The Demiurge (or Creator), is triple, and the three || Intellects " are the three kings ; he who exists, he who possesses, and he who beholds. These three Intellects, therefore, he supposes to be the Demiurge, the same with the three kings of Plato, and with the three whom Orpheus celebrates under the names of Phanes, Ouranus, and Cronus, though according to him the Demiurge is more particularly Phanes.
The Orphic trinity consisted of Metis, Phanes or Eros, Ericapwus. Life
Will or
Light or Life Giving
Counsel
Love From Acusilaus, Metis
Eros
Ether From Hesiod, Earth
Eros
Tartarus From Pherecydes of Lyros, Fire
Water
Spirit or air From Sidonians, Cronus
Love
Cloudy‑darkness From Phoenicians, Ulomus
Chusorus
The Egg From Chaldean and Persian,‑Oracles of Zoroaster, Fire
Sun
Ether Fire
Light
Ether From Later Platonists, Power
Intellect
Father, Soul, or Spirit By ancient theologists, according to Macrobius, the sun was invoked in the mysteries as Power of
Light of
Spirit of the World
the World
the World And to this may be added, from Sanconiatho, the three sons of
Fire Light
Flame Plutarch gives
Kosmos, Beauty, Order, or World
Intelligence Matter
The FIRST being the same as Plato's
SECOND THIRD
IDEA
Mother
Exemplar
Nurse Offspring
or
Receptacle of Production
Father
Generation THE DIVINE PLAN.
49 Of these three, Intelligence, Matter, and Kosmos, he says: Universal nature may be considered to be made up, and there is reason to conclude that the Egyptians were wont to liken this nature to what they called the most beautiful and perfect triangle,
the same as Plato himself does in the nuptial diagram he has intro‑
duced into his `1 Commonwealth." Now in this triangle, which is
s
rectangular, the perpendicular is imagined equal to 4, the base to
s
be 3, and hypothenuse to be 5. In which scheme the perpendicular represents the masculine nature, the base the feminine, and the hypothenuse the offspring of both.
Accordingly the first will apply to OSIRIS, or prime cause; the second to Isis, the receptive power; and the last to ORUS, or effect
f the other two.
For three is the base number composed of even and odd; four is a square, whose side is equal to the even number two; but five, being generated as it were out of both the preceding numbers, two and three, may be said to bear an equal relation to both, as to its common parents.
So again, the mere word which signifies the "Universe of Being" is f a similar sound with this number, 7rav7a, 7rEvTE, as to count five is made use of for counting in general.
Hence the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the squares of the others added together.
The word " ae,uaaa‑aQ9at " is taken for counting by the five fingers.
The Egyptians sometimes represented the number five by a star having five rays, because Horopollo pretends that it is the number of the planets.
This star represents GOD, all that is pure, virtuous, and good, when represented with one point upward: but when turned with one point down it represents EviL, all that is opposed to the good, pure, and virtuous; in fine, it represents the GOAT of MENDFS.
Philosophy and Religion.‑The belief in a Supreme Power is inherent in every human being; and, so thoroughly interwoven with our nature is this sentiment, that it is impossible for any one, at any period of life, wholly to divest himself of it.
When the reflecting man looks around upon all the objects about him, the question naturally arises: "What has called this world into existence? Why does it exist, and what is its ultimate destiny? Nay, why do I exist, and what will become of me after death?" The answers to these questions, if possible, can only be given by, and through, a long course of philosophical investigation. These questions have been the study of the ablest men from the earliest ages, and have given rise to all the various systems of philosophy and religion, which have prevailed in all time, beginning with the first man, and coming down to our own day and generation.
As soon as mankind recognized the relations between themselves and a Systems of 50 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Creator, and acknowledged moral responsibility to a Supreme Moral Governor, then Religion became a pertinent fact, and systems of religion were introduced, whereby, in an objective form, their subjectivity could be outwardly made manifest.
These systems are divided into Monotheism and Polytheism: the latter includes Dualism and Tritheism. The.lowest grade of Polytheism is Fetichism, or idolatry, which teaches the worship of inanimate nature, stocks and stones, and the work of the hands of men.
Next is Pyrolatry, or worship of fire; and Sabxism, or worship of the stars and other heavenly bodies.
The first step of the legislator would be to pretend a mission and revelation from some God: thus ‑Amasis and Mneves, lawgivers of the Egyptians, pretended to receive their laws from Mercury (Thoth) ; Zoroaster of the Bactrians, and Zamolxis, lawgiver of the Getes, from Vesta ; Zathraustes of the Aramaspi, from a good Spirit or Genius : and all propagated the doctrine of future rewards and punishments.
Rhadamanthus and Minos, Lawgivers of Crete, and Lycaoa of Arcadia, pretended to an intercourse with Jupiter ; Triptolemus of Athens affected to be inspired by Ceres ; Pythagoras and Zaleucus, for the Crotonians and Locrians, ascribed their institutions to Minerva; Lycurgus of Sparta acted by direction of Apollo; and Romulus and Numa of Rome put themselves under the guidance of Consus and the goddess Egeria. The same method was followed in' the great outlying empires.
The first of the Chinese monarchs was called " Fag‑Four " ‑" The Son of Heaven." The Royal Commentaries of Peru inform us that the founders of that empire were Manco Copac and his wife and sister, " Coya Mama," who proclaimed themselves to be the son and daughter of the Sun, sent to, reduce mankind from their savage and bestial life to one of order and society.
(How like the myths of Osiris and Isis‑Sun and Moon.)
Tuesco, the founder of the German nations, pretended to be sent upon the same message, as appears from his name, which signifies the "interpreter of the gods."
Thor and Odin, the lawgivers' of the Western Goths, laid claim to inspiration and even to divinity, and they have given the names to two of the days of the week.
The revelations of Mahomet are well known.
The race of inspired lawgivers seems to have ended with Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mogul Empire, until, in our day, the Nauvoo prophet, Joseph Smith, found his plates and started the Latter Day Saints.' Such was the universal custom of the ancient world, ‑ to make prophets, arid then gods, of their first leaders.
Plato makes legislation to have been derived from God; and the constant epithets to kings in Homer are Diogeneis, "born of the gods," and Diotrepheis, " bred or tutored by the gods." 1 It may be of interest in a work on the history of Masonry to state that he became a Mason, and with others obtained a charter from the Grand Lodge of Illinois, and at Nauvoo initiated nearly all of the Mormons;‑ and it became necessary for the Grand Lodge to arrest the charter in consequence of the great irregularities in that lodge.
THE DIVINE PLAN.
SI Plutarch, in '| Isis and Osiris," says: || It was a most ancient opinion, derived as well by lawgivers as divines, that the world was not made by chance, neither did one cause govern all things without opposition." This was the doctrine of Zoroaster, in which were taught the two opposite principles by which the world was governed. In the " Oriental Religions," by Samuel Johnson, volume devoted to Persia, the author gives a thorough examination of this particular subject.
Zeleucus of Locria says, in the preface to his laws, that " Every one should be firmly persuaded of the being and existence of the gods, which he will be readily induced to entertain when he contemplates the heavens, regards the world, and observes the disposition, order, and harmony of the universe, which can neither be the work of blind chance or man; and these gods are to be worshipped as the cause of all the real good we enjoy." Charondas, Plato, and Cicero introduced their laws with the sanction of religion.
The Ancient Sages, as well as lawgivers, were unanimous that the doctrine of rewards and punishments was necessary to the well‑being of society.
The Atheists, from the vastness of the social use of religion, concluded it to be an invention of State ; and the Theist, from that confessed utility, labored to prove it of divine origin.
"To give a detail of the discourses would be to transcribe antiquity; for with this begins and ends everything they teach and explain, of morals, government, human nature, and civil policy." It is supposed by most authors that the First and Original Mysteries were those of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. Zoroaster brought them into Persia; Cadmus and Inachus, into Greece at large; Orpheus, into Thrace ; Melampsus, into Athens.
As these Mysteries were to Isis and Osiris in Egypt, so they were to Mythras in Asia ; in Samothrace, to the Mother of the Gods ; in Beeotia to Bacchus ; in Cyprus to Venus ; in Crete to Jupiter; in Athens to Ceres and Proserpine ; in Amphura to Castor and Pollux ; in Lemnos to Vulcan, etc.
The most noted were the Orphic, Bacchic, Eleusinian, Samothracian, Cabiric, and Mithriac.
It was agreed by Origen and Celsus that the Mysteries taught the future life, as also the Christian doctrine of the eternal punishment of the wicked.
It was taught that the initiated would be happier than other mortals.
Their souls winged their flight directly to the happy islands and the habitations of the gods.
This doctrine was necessary for the support of the Mysteries, as they were for the doctrine.
Plato says it was the design of initiation to restore the soul to that state from whence all fell, as from its native seat of perfection.
Epictetus said: "Thus the Mysteries become useful; thus we seize the true spirit of them, when we begin to apprehend that everything therein was instituted by the ancients for instruction and amendment of life." 52 ANCIENT MASONRY.
All persons who were candidates for initiation into any of these Mysteries were required to produce evidence of their fitness by due inquiry into their previous life and character, the same as the Roman Catholic Confessional, which was derived from it.
The Eleusinian stood open to none who did not approach the gods with a pure and holy worship, which was originally an indispensable condition observed in common by all the Mysteries, and instituted by Bacchus or Osiris, himself the inventor of them, who initiated none but virtuous and pious men; and it was required to have a prepared purity of mind and disposition, as previously ordered in the sacrifices, or in prayers, in approaching the Mysteries.
Proclus says that " The Mysteries drew the souls from a sensual life, and joined thetas in communion with the gods." Pythagoras had been initiated into the Cretan Mysteries ued in the "Idean cave three times nine days." material and and had contin " The wisest and best of the Pagan world invariably held that the Mysteries were instituted pure, and proposed the noblest end by the worthiest means." We now refer to Isaiah xlv. 15 : "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." This was said with great propriety of the Creator of the Universe, the subject of the Aporrheta or " Secret " in all the Mysteries throughout the Gentile world, and particularly of those of Mythras in that country which was the scene of the prophecy.
God addresses himself to the Jewish people: "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain." He was taught among them in a different manner from participation of his nature to a few select Gentiles, in the Mysteries celebrated in secret and dark subterranean places.
Eusebius says that for the Hebrew people alone was reserved the honor of being initiated into the knowledge of God, the Creator of all things, and of being instructed in the practice of true piety towards him.
This leads to the explanation of those oracles of Apollo, quoted by Eusebius from Porphyry: "The way to the knowledge of the Divine Nature is extremely rugged, and of difficult ascent; the entrance is secured by brazen gates, opening to the adventurer, and the winding roads to be passed through, impossible to be described.
These to the vast benefit of mankind were first marked out by the Egyptians."
(We here discover the rough and rugged road of the R. A.) The Second: True Wisdom was the lot of the Chaldeans and Hebrews, who worshipped the Governor of the World, the self‑existent Deity, with pure and holy rites. He who proclaims himself to be " Existence Absolute," which is the Infinite itself, is incomprehensible to the finite mind.
THE TxtrrH : 11 Truth and general Utility coincide; i.e., Truth is productive MYTHOLOGY.
53 of Utility, and Utility is indicative of Truth, and this from the nature of the case. The observing of Truth is acting as things are; disappointments proceed from acting as things are not. Whenever we find general Utility, we may know it for the product of Truth, which it indicates.
The consequence is that Religion, or the idea of relation between the Creature and the Creator, is true." "There is in heaven a light Whose goodly shine makes the Creator visible to all created, That in seeing him alone Have peace; and in a circle Spread so far that the Circumference were too loose A zone to girdle in the Sun." ‑DANTE.
Advent of Mythology.‑In the earliest ages, men were accustomed to speak of the phenomena of nature as they appeared to them; and, as their language in common conversation was almost invariably tropical,' the figures used by them, having a well‑known allusion to common events, in process of time became the myths and fables which prevailed among all the peoples who derived their descent from the original stock, and finally spread over the whole race of man.
We are indebted to the students of philology and ethnology for present knowledge of the philosophy in the mythologies of all the Eastern nations of antiquity; and, from the great originals in the countries which were occupied by the descendants of the three sons of Noah, we have been enabled to explain most of the myths which 'gave rise to the names so well known and recognized in classic Greece and Rome. Nearly all. of the principal names can be traced back, philologically, to the first inhabitants of that country, now designated as Arya Varta, and which has given rise to the term Aryan as applied to one of the three principal races into which ethnologists now divide all the descendants of Noah.
At the present day we say the sun rises and the sun sets, although we well know that these are terms only and not true. Those ancient men said, " Our friend the sun is dead ; will he come back again? " and when the next day they saw him, "they rejoiced because he brought back their light and their life with him."
Knowing very little about themselves, and nothing at all of the things which they saw in the world around, them, they fancied that everything had the same kind of life which they had themselves.
In this way they came to think that the sun and stars, the rivers and streams, could see and feel and think, and that they shone and moved of their own accord.
Hence, everything around them was alive, and instead of saying, "The morning comes before the rising of the sun ; and evening twilight follows sunset ; " they said, "The sun is the lover of the dawn, and was longing to overtake her; and is killing her with his bright rays, which shone like spears." Tropos, a figure.
our 54 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Of the clouds, which move along the sky, they said "they were the cows of the sun, which were driven by the children every morning to their pastures in the blue fields of heaven." At sunset they said " the dawn, with its soft and tender light, had come to soothe her son, or her husband, in his dying hour."
The sun to them " was the child of darkness, and in the morning he wove for his bride in the heavens a fairy net‑work of clouds, which reappeared when she came back to him in the evening."
They spoke of him as a " friend of man," when he shone with a pleasant warmth ; when, by his great heat, he brought a drought, " the sun was slaying his children," or that some one else "was driving his chariot."
When dark clouds rested over the earth without giving rain, the terrible being called " the serpent or dragon was confining the waters in a prison house."
When they heard the thunder roll, this "hateful monster was uttering his hard riddles" ; and when the rain came, the bright sun had slain his enemy, and brought a stream of life for the thirsty earth. For the purpose of illustrating what we have above written, a few examples will be produced.
.
Mythology. ‑ A collection of the various tales, referred to gods, heroes, demons, and other beings down from generation to generation, and passed called mythology.
Every nation has had its myths and legends, even down to the present day in various parts of the earth, and a very close resemblance is found among them in their principal gods and heroes. As.stated above, our best scholars have traced out by philology the principal names in all of these myths, and have located their origin in the land where the various nations of Europe, the North of Africa, and Western, Middle, and Southern Asia, were once congregated under the roof‑trees in Arya Varta, and from which centre the various waves of emigration started to people all those countries.
It is not surprising, therefore, that even in the nineteenth century and in America we find in our English and other modern languages the identical household words which were used in that distant land thousands of years ago. Max Muller tells us in his Preface to the Lectures on the Vedas: ‑ or properly legends, which whose names were handed from tribes to nations, is " In the language of mankind, in which everything new is old, and everything old is new, an inexhaustible mine has been discovered for researches of this kind. Language still bears the impress of the earliest thoughts of man; obliterated, it may be, buried under new thoughts, yet here and there still recoverable in their sharp original outline.
The growth of language is continuous, and by continuing our researches backward from the most modern to the most ancient strata, the very elements and roots of human speech have been reached, and with them the elements and roots of human thought. What lies beyond the beginnings of language, however interesting it may be to the physiologist, does not yet belong to the history of man, in the true and original sense of that word.
MAN means the thinker, and the first manifestation of thought is speech.
"But more surprising than the continuity of the growth of language is the continuity in the growth of religion. Of religion, too, as of language, it may be said that in it everything new is old, and everything old is new, and that there has been no entirely new religion since the beginning of the world.
The elements and roots of religion were there as far back as we can trace the history MYTHOLOGY.
55 of man; and the history of religion, like the history of language, shows us throughout a succession of new combinations of the same radical elements. An intuition of God, a sense of human weakness and dependence, a belief in the divine government of the world, a distinction between good and evil, and a hope of a better life,‑these are some of the radical elements of all religions. Though sometimes hidden, they rise again and again to the surface.
Though frequently distorted, they tend again and again to their perfect form." St. Augustine himself, in accordance with this idea, said: '.'What is now called the Christian religion has existed among the ancients, and was not absent from the beginning of the human race, until Christ came in the flesh ; from which time the true religion, which existed already, began to be called Christian."
[August. Retr. r. r3.] Christ himself said to the Centurion of Capernaum : "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." By the recovery of the canonical books of three of the principal religions of the ancient world‑vii. : the Veda, the Zend‑Avesta, and Tripitika‑access has been gained to the most authentic documents, whereby to study the religions of the Brahmans, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists, and a discovery made of the real origin of the Greek, Roman, Teutonic, Slavonic, and Celtic mythology ; and, as Muller says, " It has become possible to separate the truly religious elements in the sacred traditions of these nations from the mythological crust by which they are surrounded, and thus to gain a clearer insight into the real faith of the Aryan world." In the proper study of comparative mythology we are forcibly impressed with the close resemblance, in all the most important features, in the various nations of Greece, Rome, India, Persia, Scandinavia, Germany, etc., and we must conclude that they were derived from one common, original source, and that it was their habit of speaking of all the natural phenomena in the words and phrases used by these ancient tribes ; and, in course of time, from generation' to generation, the meanings of these words and phrases which were common nouns being entirely lost, they came to represent persons supposed to have existed and acted as described, and this has been proved by the fact that many names in Greek and Latin have no meaning, but are perfectly intelligible in the languages originally used. Such names as Argynnis, Phoroneus, Erinys, have no meaning in Greek. In India they are explained: Erinys means the dawn as it creeps along the sky; Argynnis, the morning brilliance; and Phoroneus, the god of fire, Bhuranyu.
In the myth where Selene visits Endymion, Selene is the moon, which appears in the west just at sunset, Endymion being the name of the sun as he plunges into the sea. It was said Endymion was a young man on whom the moon looked down lovingly.
Phcebus is lord of h,‑ht or of life; Delos, where he is said to have been born, means the brzghtland. He is called Lykegenes, sprungfrom light. His mother was Leto, which means the night, from which the sun appears to come as it rises.
Endymion, setting sun, sleeps in Latmos, the land of forgetfulness. Telephassa, mother of Cadmus and Europa, means she who shines from far. Telephus is a child of Auge, the light.
Europa, Eurytus, Eurymedon, Euryanassa, Euryphassa, with many others, all denote a broad, spreading light, like the dawn as it spreads across the morning sky.
In a large number of legends the incidents resemble each other as closely as the names, as in the cases of Perseus, (Edipus, Cyrus, Romulus, Paris. The parents of these having been warned that they will be destroyed by their sons, expose them, and they are saved by wild beasts, and are discovered by the dignity of their bearing and splendor of their countenances.
"Perseus kills Acrisius, (Edipus kills Laios, Cyrus slays Astyages, Romulus kills Amulius and Paris brings about the ruin of Priam and the city of Troy." These heroes have a short but brilliant life, and have to labor for others, not for themselves. Hercules is a slave to F.urystheus ; Achilles goes to Troy for no quarrel of his own ; and Perseus has to toil at the bidding of Polydectes.
They are all of them slayers of monsters, and in other ways help men. Bellerophon kills Belleros and Chimxra; Perseus destroys the Gorgon Medusa; Theseus kills the Minotaur; tEdipus slays the Sphinx; and Phoebus Apollo, the serpent Python. "In other countries these stories are repeated.
In the Indian tales, Indra kills the dragon Vritra; and in the Old Norse legend, Sigurd kills the great snake Fafnir.
In the Persian story, Rustem is as brave and mighty as Hercules, and his exploits are of the same kind. All of them have invisible spears or swords, and can be wounded only in one spot, or by one kind of weapon. They all have fair faces, and golden locks flowing over their shoulders; they all sacrifice their own ease for the good of others, and, yet are all tempted to forsake or leave the brides of their youth.
Hercules goes away from Iol8; Paris forsakes tEnone; Theseus leaves Ariadne; and Sigurd deserts Brynhild." The Ancient Mysteries. ‑ It is to be presumed that, when the minds of men were directed to the subject of the mysterious things of nature which they could not apprehend, they were forced to conceal their ignorance of the ultimate causes for all the phenomena by which they were constantly surrounded, and as constantly called upon to explain, that then, as well as at present, their inventive talents were exercised to conceal their ignorance by systems of terminology : all the writers upon this subject concur in the opinion that wherever and whenever the first ceremonies were introduced, they were very few and unostentatious.
It has been conceded that the rites and ceremonies were originally of a pure character and had a tendency to impress the minds of the initiates with a suitable feeling of awe and reverence for the society, and to benefit their lives in all particulars.
It is impossible to definitely assert in what country the Mysteries were first introduced. Authors differ very materially upon that question. It is, however, very certain that while there are various changes to be found in the Mysteries of the different nations of the Orient, it is also as certain that there was a great similarity in them all; so much so that we may conclude that either they were all independent copies from a great original system, or that ANCIENT MYSTERIES.
57 they were propagated one from another, until they were spread over the whole of Asia, Europe, and that part of Africa peopled from Asia and in constant intercourse therewith.
For a proper review of this important subject we must refer to the spread of that branch of the human race descended from Japheth, from the great centre, after the Noachian flood, when it became necessary for the numerous population to find subsistence for themselves, owing to the fact that they were increasing so rapidly that they could not find the necessary food for so great a multitude.
The first wave from that region, now known as Arya Varta, was to the south‑east, and across the great rivers, and into that part of India where they found a people descended from the Turanian families, who had come from the north and north‑east. We are informed that, where the Aryans entered the country of India, they carried with them their traditions, manners, and customs, and religious ideas, which differed very materially from those possessed by the first inhabitants, who were, no doubt, of Turanian descent.
We are not to suppose that mankind at that remote period of time was by any means in a savage or a barbarous stage. While there are no positive remains of an advanced state of civilization, yet we are confidently advised, by our best and most impartial investigators, that the works which are extant, and which can be traced back to a very remote period prior to the commencement of the Christian era, give evidence of a perfect language, older than the Sanskrit, in which those works were written; which original language is the mother of nearly all that we should call. grammatical languages, and which have been known to scholars familiar with the science of phirology, by which the important science of ethnology has been so improved that, with almost certainty, the various nationalities and their intimate relationships have been traced out, and their emigrations from certain countries, and immigrations into others, have been clearly defined.
From the various authors, who have pursued these subjects in a scientific manner, we are enabled to give a map showing the movements of the various emigrations, and also a chronological table to indicate approximately the synchronism of all the principal nations of antiquity, and trace them down to the present century.
Those writers who very recently have undertaken to prove the development of the human race from the ape, and claim that when the ape became man the man was a savage, and has gradually developed into a high state of civilization, have been completely answered by reference to the intellectual development of mankind in the very remotest period prior to written history, as shown in the remains of those ancient days, which our limits do not permit us to specify. "The Origin of Nations," a recent work by George Rawlinson, M.A., will answer all arguments, or assertions rather, as to the original savagery of prehistoric man.
By reference, first, to the map of the ancient world from the 78th meridian 58 ANCIENT MASONRY.
east of London to the Atlantic io| west, and from the 25th parallel to the 58th north, we have the ancient world, which was supposed to be all there was of it, and was calculated to have been east and west, just double the distance north and south, and in accordance with the Ptolemaic system.
The great diversity of authorities in chronology is such that the student of history finds himself in doubt, in the centuries beyond 1500 B.C., and when he endeavors to trace the history of any nation prior to 2000 B.C., he is entirely lost in the mists of legends and myths. Hence, in the accompanying chronological table, we have not gone beyond 2300 B.C.
EXPLANATION OF THE MAP.
The map shows the distribution of the descendants of Noah as they have been located by recent authors, and as being in strict accord with the various passages of Scripture in which reference is made to them, and which will demonstrate the ethnic affinities of the human races. The genealogies of Scripture are not only of "great importance historically, as marking strongly the vital truth that the entire framework and narrative of Scripture is in every case real, not ideal; plain and simple matter of fact, not fanciful allegory evolved out of the author's consciousness"; but, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, we find the object of the author was to give, "not a personal genealogy, but a sketch of the interconnection of races.
Shem, Ham, Japheth, are no doubt persons, the actual sons of the patriarch Noah; but it may be doubted whether there is another name in the series which is other than ethnic.
The document is in fact the earliest ethnographical essay that has come down to our time." The marks beneath the names in the map denote the family to which the same belong: ‑ SHEM‑‑‑‑‑ JAPHETH Lud ..................... Mesopotamia. Asshur.................. Assyria. Elam ...................Persia. Eber.................... Amalekites (Egypt). Huz.................... Arabia (Deserta). Jerah................... South‑cast Arabia. Hazarmaveth............ S. Arabia Felix. Sheleph................. South‑West Arabia. Uzal.................... South‑west Arabia. Ophir................... South‑west Arabia.
HAM ‑‑‑‑ Hamath ................ Ccelesyria. Sidon................... Sidon, N. Canaan ................. Palestina. Philistim................ Palestina, S.W. Nimrod................. Chaldea. Lehabim ................ Libya, N. Africa. Naphtuhim ............. Mareotic Nome. Mizraim ................Goshen. Caphtorim .............. Middle Egypt. Pathrusim............... Memphis. Ludim Phut Seba ............. ~ Upper Egypt.
t Meroe Ethiopia.
Sabtah.................. S. Arabia Sea‑coast. Sabtechah ..............S.E.
Dedan .................. Havilah on Per. Gulf.
Gomer ....... Western Scythia, spread
over Northern Europe and Isles of Britain.
Magog....... Eastern Scythia, Georgia, and Circassia.
Tiras ........Thracia, Bithynia. Iavan........ Macedonia, Asia Minor. Elishah ...... Greece and Isles. Rodanim .....Isles of Greece. Tarshish ..... Cilicia.
Kittim ....... Cypress. Tubal ....... Pontus.
P shkenaz .... Cappadocia. Togarmah ... Armenia. Madai ....... Media.
MIXED‑ JAPHETH AND SHEM.
Meshech..... Bithynia, Paplagonia, Galatia MIXED ‑SHEM AND HAM.
Havilah ...... N.W. part of Yemen, Arab. Felix. Sheba .......
,S.E. Arabia, on the coast.
62 ANCIENT MASONRY.
From all that we can gather, the " Iranic civilization, or that of the Medes, the Persians (perhaps we should add the Bactrians), is supposed by some moderns to have originated as early as B.C. 3784. Others assign it to the comparatively modern date of B.C. z6oo‑2500. . . . Dr. Martin Haug does not think it necessary to postulate for the Iranians nearly so great an antiquity.
Haug suggests the fifteenth century B.C. as that of the most primitive Iranic compositions, which form the chief, if not the sole, evidence of Iranic cultivation prior to B.C. 700 " The question is one rather of linguistic criticism than of historic testimony.
The historic statements that have come down to us on the subject of the age of Zoroaster, with whose name the origin of Iranic cultivation is by general consent regarded as intimately connected, are so absolutely conflicting that they must be pronounced valueless.
I:udoxns and Aristotle said that Zoroaster lived six thousand years before the death of Plato, or B.C. 6348.
Hermippus placed him five thousand years before the Trojan war, or B.C. 6184.
Berosus declared of him that he reigned at Babylon towards the beginning of the twenty‑third century B.C., having ascended the throne, according to his chronological views, about B.C. 2286.
Xanthus Lydus, contemporary of Herodotus, and the first Greek writer who treats of the subject, made him live six hundred years only before the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, B.C. 1o8o.
The later Greeks and Romans declared that he was contemporary with Darius Hystaspis, B.C. 520‑485. Between the earliest and the latest dates assigned by these authorities the difference is nearly six thousand years." Modern criticism doubts whether Zoroaster ever lived at all, and regards his name as designating a period rather than a person. We have been thus particular in copying the above statements from Rawlinson's " Origin of Nations," because we wish to trace " Zoroastrianism " from the great centre was in our opinion the starting‑point and period of the of civilization, as it Ancient Mysteries.
When we refer to the mysteries of India, we find that after the initiate had passed through all the trials, dangers, lustrations by fire, water, air, and earth, he was accepted as being worthy of the completion of these ceremonies, which was accomplished by the Hierophant himself communicating to him, in a mysterious manner, the letters A. U. M., which, we are informed by the best scholars, was pronounced otn. Several explanations have bean advanced to give an idea of the meaning of this which is not a word, but more than a word.
Whatever meaning may be now given to it, we must conclude that it was a very important secret, and not to be communicated to every one of those initiated, but was a subject of deep contemplation to all those who were entitled to be put in possession thereof.
In the mysteries of Egypt, the word otn held the same relation thereto, and was as sacred to the Egyptian priests. Passage after passage of the Jewish Scriptures indicate that a " name " of God, very peculiar in itself, was placed first in the "Tabernacle of Congregating," and afterward in the Temple at Jerusalem. God said in various passages that he would "place his name there." To Moses he communicated his "name " at the Burning Bush, as he who had sent him to the children of Israel as I AM; and again when Moses told him that Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go, he declares that by his "name"
JEId0VAH he was not known, but by his name "God Almighty" [El‑shadai] was he known.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
63 We, of course, have no certain data whereby we may be guided as to these peculiar "names," which were held so sacred. We must only conjecture that, as in all these Sacred Mysteries, the final rite was to communicate a particular word, and as that word in Hebrew was the "name" given by the Lord Almighty to Moses, the word must have been, in all cases, such a sacred word as to command the reverence and respect of all; and we have always interpreted the third commandment, "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," to refer to the "Tetragrammaton," because the Jews became so much afraid of violating that commandment that none but the high priest ever dared to use it, until at last the very pronunciation became unknown to all except the high priest, and he only used it once in each year, when, on the day of expiation, he entered the Sanctum Sanctorum, and there . pronounced it aloud, to keep it in his memory.
We think, therefore, that all the Mysteries led up to, and were completed in learning the "name," which became to each postulant a "sacred treasure." We shall next enter into a history of each of the prominent characters who formed the bases of all the primitive rites.
CHAPTER II.
PERSONAL AND NATIONAL.
Ormuzd (Ahura‑Mazda).‑The supreme deity of the ancient Persians. He is the god of the firmament; the representative of goodness and truth, and the creator of the universe and of the beneficent spirits who have charge of the well‑being of man and all created things. According to Zoroaster an incomprehensible being called Zeruane Akerene (or Zrvan Akarana), existed from all eternity.
From him emanated primal light, and from the latter sprung Ordauzd and Ahriman.
Ahriman became jealous of his elder brother, and was condemned by the eternal one to pass three thousand years in a region of utter darkness.
On his release, he created a number of evil spirits to oppose the spirits created by Ormuzd ; and when the latter made an egg containing good genii, Ahriman produced another, full of evil demons, and broke the two together; so that good and evil'became mixed in the new creation.
The two great opposing principles are called the " King of Light " and the " Prince of Darkness."
Ormuzd is described as " sitting on the throne of the good and the perfect, in the regions of pure light," or as a venerable man seated on a bull, the emblem of creation.
A later doctrine, still professed by the Guebres and Parsees, reduces Ormuzd from a great creator to a mere demiurge, or organizer of a universe previously created.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
Syrian Ashtaroth. ‑ No. 6 shows this goddess with the long cross in her hand, and the sacred calathus, or bushel, on her head.
Astarte was the same as Venus.
This is a medal of Sidon, the antiquity of which city is well known, and it agrees well with the antiquity and history attributed to Askelon it agrees also with the opinion of St. Ambrose, who said that Venus is the Mitram of Persia.
Although worshipped under different names, she is constantly the same power.
Venus and her dove have been referred to Askelon, and yet in No. 5 we have a proof that Egypt had her Venus and dove. This medal was from Tentyra in Egypt. Strabo mentions a temple of Venus at Tentyra. This is a reverse of a medal of Adrian; it represents Venus holding the dove in one hand and a staff in the other.
Venus is represented, on various medals, in a car or chariot, drawn by tritons, one male, the other female : the male holds a branch of palm, perhaps, in one hand; with the other he embraces his consort, who returns the embrace with one arm: in the other she holds a pipe, which she sounds in honor of the goddess. The goddess herself is in the attitude of triumph, and holds in her hand the famous apple which she won from her rivals on Mount Ida,‑a story which has not been interpreted according to what perhaps is its true signification. All these instances strongly connect the goddess with maritime affairs:
These are Corinthian medals, and show that the idea of Derketos was not abandoned when her worship was transferred from Syria into Greece.
Astarte or Ashtaroth (Aural).‑In Scripture this word is often plural, which signifies flocks of sheep or goats (Deut. xii. 13) ; sometimes Asera, the grove, Aseroth or Aserim, woods, because she was goddess of woods and groves ; where, in her temples in groves, consecrated to her, such lasciviousness was committed as rendered her worship infamous. She was also called " queen of heaven," and sometimes her worship is described by that of the " host of heaven."
She is almost always joined with Baal, and is called "gods " ; Scripture having no particular word for expressing "goddess."
It is believed that the moon was thus adored.
Her temples generally accompanied those of the sun; and while bloody sacrifices and human victims were offered to Baal, bread, liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarte.
Tables were prepared for her on the flat terrace roofs of houses, near gates, in porches, and at cross‑ways, on the first day of every month, which the Greeks called " Hecate's supper." St. Jerome translates the name Astarte by Priapus, as if to denote the licentiousness committed in her groves. The Eastern people, in many places, worshipped the moon as a god, representing its figure with a beard and in armor.
The statue in the temple at Heliopolis, in Syria, was that of a woman clothed like a man (Plin. lib. v. cap. z3).
Solomon introduced her worship in Israel; but Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre, wife to Ahab, principally established her worship.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
65 St. Austin assures us that the Africans (descendants from the Phoenicians), maintained Astarte to be Juno ; but Herodian says the Carthaginians call the heavenly goddess, the moon, Astroarche (Chief Star).
The Phoenicians asserted confidently, says Cicero, that their Astarte was the Syrian Venus, born at Tyre, and wife to Adonis; very different from the Venus of Cyprus. Lucian, who wrote particularly concerning the goddess of Syria (Astarte), says expressly that she is the moon, and no other ; and it is indubitable that this luminary was worshipped under different names in the East.
On the medals she is sometimes represented in a long habit; at other times in a short habit; sometimes holding a long staff with a cross on its top (No. 6) ; sometimes she has a crown of rays; sometimes she is crowned with battlements, or by a Victory. In a medal of Cxsarea Palestinae she is in a short dress, crowned with battlements, with a man's head in her right hand, and a staff in her left.
This is believed to be the man's head mentioned by Lucian, which was every year brought from Egypt to Byblus, a city of Phoenicia. [We refer to our comments on Adonis in connection with this.] Sanconiathon says she was represented with a cow's head, the horns describing royalty, and the lunar rays.
Maerobius says the moon was both male and female; and adds one particular from Philocurus, that the male sex sacrificed to him in the female habit, and the female sex in the male habit. Though Spartian speaks of Carhm as a place famous for the worship of Lunus, the worship was not confined to that place and to Mesopotamia, for it was spread over all the East. The god Malach‑belus is represented on a marble, with all the marks of the god Lunus, so as to make it appear unquestionable that it is Lunus (No. 3).
Baal. ‑ As this personage is so often mentioned in Scripture, and the name, as a part of compound names, is so repeatedly used, we must give some account of him as one of the principal gods in the western part of Asia, accompanied by representations of him copied from ancient medals.
The word Baal or Bel, in Hebrew, means he that rules and subdues; master, lord, or husband (governor, ruler).
As before stated, Baal and Ashtaroth being commonly mentioned together, and as it is believed Ashtaroth denotes the moon, it is concluded that Baal represents the sun (see Nos. r and z). The name Baal is generically used for the superior god of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, Moabites, and other parts of Western Asia.
No doubt, under the different names peculiar to their different languages, as for instance, Chamosh or Shemesh (Heb.), for the sun in the immediate neighborhood of Jerusalem and elsewhere in Palestine, Baal is certainly the most ancient god of ‑the Canaanites, and perhaps of the East.
It has been asserted by some learned men that Baal was the Saturn of Greece and Rome; and there was a great conformity between the rites and sacrifices offered to Saturn and what the Scriptures relate of the sacrifices offered to Baal.
66 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Others are of the opinion that he corresponded with Hercules, who was an original god of Phoenicia. Now, when at this day we fully comprehend why certain names were given to certain gods, ‑ and in changing the countries where they were worshipped they were considered different individualities,‑just so many more gods were added as so many countries adopted the worship.
Also the name was compounded with other names and constituted thereby other gods, but evidently the one only, in fact: as Baal‑Peor, Baal‑Zebub, Baal‑Gad, Baal‑Zephon, Baal‑Berith ; and the Hebrews called the sun Baal‑Shemesh (Baal the Sun).
The Persian Mithra was the same as Baal.
The Scriptures call the temples of the sun Chamanim.
They were places enclosed with walls, wherein a perpetual fire was maintained.
They were frequent all over the East, particularly in that region afterwards called Persia :
the Greeks called them pyreia, or pyralheia, from pyr, fire, or pyra, a funeral pile. Strabo mentions them as having in them an altar, abundance of ashes, and a perpetual fire.
From this, no doubt, arises the fire‑worship of the Parsecs, which continues to the present day.
Adonis.‑In connection with the worship and mysteries of Venus we must refer to those of Adonis. From Ezekiel viii. 14 we learn that that prophet saw women sitting in the temple weeping for Adonis; but the Hebrew reads for Tammuz, or the hidden one.
In Egypt, Adonis was called Osiris.
The Greeks worshipped Isis and Osiris under other names, viz. : under that of Bacchus : the Arabians called him Adonis.
Ogygia me Bacchum canit ; Osyrin EEgyptus vocat; Arabicus gens, Adoneum.
He was called Ammuz, or Tammuz, the concealed, to denote the manner of his death or place of burial. The Hebrews sometimes, in derision, called him the dead, because they wept for him and represented him as dead in his coffin; sometimes they call him the image of ftalousy, because he was the object of the jealousy of the god Mars. The Syrians, Phoenicians, and Cyprians called him Adonis.
In Ammon and Moab he was np doubt called Baal‑Peor.
The Mysteries of Adonis were no doubt derived from the East. The Rabbins say that Tammuz was an idolatrous prophet.
He having been put to death by the king of Babylon, all the idols of the country flocked together about a statue of the sun, which this prophet, who was a magician, had suspended between heaven and earth; there they deplored his death; for which reason a festival was instituted every year to renew the memory of this ceremony, at the beginning of the month Tammuz.
In this temple a statue was erected to Tammuz.
The statue was hollow, the eyes were of lead.
Below, a gentle fire was kindled, which insensibly heated the statue, melted the lead, and caused the people to believe that the idol wept. During all this time the Babylonish women who were in the temple fell shrieking, and made strange lamentations.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
67 Adonis is said to have been born at Byblus in Phoenicia, and is supposed to have been killed by a wild boar in the mountains of Libanus, from which the river Adonis descends.
This river once a year changes the color of its waters, and appears as red as blood.
At this signal the feasts of Adonia commenced, and imitated all the ceremonies of a most serious mourning for a dead person.
The next day it was reported that Adonis was alive and had ascended into the air.
To show the connection of Adonis with Osiris we have this account: ‑ The common people were persuaded to believe that the Egyptians at the feast of Adonis sent by sea a box made of rushes and fashioned in the form of a figure, in which a letter was inclosed, informing the inhabitants of Byblus that their god Adonis, whom they apprehended to be lost, had been discovered. The vessel always arrived safe at Byblus at the end of seven days.
Lucian says he was a witness of this event.
It is thought by some of the Ancient Fathers that this is referred to by Isaiah xviii. r : "Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the river of Ethiopia, that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even vessels of bulrushes upon the waters."
Some, as Bochart, translate `| that sendeth images or idols by sea," but the Hebrew signifies properly ambassadors.
The question has been asked, To what did this worship of Adonis refer? Various opinions have been given. Many have supposed that the death of Adonis referred to the diminution of the solar influence during the winter months ; but as the time of the year, viz. : August and September, i.e., fifth day of the sixth month, is not remarkable for any lessening of the solar light and warmth, this cannot be the reason.
Second, the worship of the sun was accidental and not primary.
Third, other ceremonies may give light on this subject, and lead to a different opinion.
Julius Firmicus tells us that on a certain night, while the solemnity in honor of Adonis lasted, an image was laid in a bed or on a bier, as if it were a dead body, and great lamentation was made over it; but after a time a light was brought in, and the priests anointed the mouths of the assistants, whispered to them in a soft voice, 1| Trust ye in God ; for out of pain [distress] we have received salvation [deliverance]." These rites appear to be the same as those described in the Orphic Argonautica, where it is said that these awful meetings began first of all by an oath of secrecy, administered to all who were to be initiated. Then the ceremonies commenced by a description of the Chaos, or Abyss, and the attending confusion. The poet describes a person as a man of justice, and mentions the orgies, or funeral lamentations on account of this just person, and those of Arkite Athene, i.e., Divine Providence. These were celebrated by night. After the attendants had for a long while bewailed the 'death of this just person, he was at length understood to be restored to life, to have experi enced a resurrection, signified by a readmission of light.
On this, the priest 68 ANCIENT MASONRY.
addressed the company, saying, `| Comfort yourselves, all ye who have been partakers of the Mysteries of the Deity thus preserved, for we shall now enjoy some respite from our labors."
To which were added these words, " I have escaped a sad calamity, and my lot is greatly mended."
The people answered, " Hail to the Dove ! Restorer of light ! " Let us now consider what character of ancient times would answer to the "just and upright person" (Gen. vi. q), and "who shall comfort us concerning our work, and the toil of our hands " (Gen. v. 2q), and "who was entombed for a time." We shall find Noah to have been that person, who was restored from a bad to a better condition; to life and light, from his floating grave; and a " dove " appears in his history as a restorer of hope and expectation of returning prosperity.
Noah, therefore, must have been the original of all these ceremonials, in which the person dies; mourning and lamentations for his death follow, and upon his restoration follow their rejoicings.
IVdithras. ‑The highest of the twenty‑eight second‑class divinities of the Ancient Persian Pantheon, the Izea (Zend. Yazata), or genius of the sun and ruler of the universe. Protector and supporter of this life, he watches over his soul in the next, defending it against the impure spirits, and transferring it into the realms of eternal bliss.
He is all‑seeing and all‑hearing, and, armed with a club, his weapon against Ahriman and the evil Devs, he unceasingly "runs his course " between heaven and earth. The ancient monuments represent him as a be
youth dressed in Phrygian garb, kneeling upon an ox, into whose neck he plunges a knife; several varying minor allegorical emblems of the sun and his course surrounding the group.
At times, he is also represented as a lion or the head of a lion.
The most important of his many festivals was his birthday, celebrated on the 25th of December, the day subsequently fixed ‑ against all evidence ‑ as the birthday of Christ.
The worship of Mithras (Hierocoracica, Coracica, Sacra), which fell in the spring equinox, was famous even among the many Roman festivals.
The ceremonies observed in the initiation to these 'mysteries ‑ symbolical of the struggle between Ahriman and Ormuzd (the Good and the Evil) ‑ were of the most extraordinary, and to a certain degree, even dangerous character.
Baptism and the partaking of a mystical liquid, consisting of flour and water, to be drank with the utterance of sacred formulas, were among the inaugurative acts. The seven degrees ‑according to the number of the planets‑were: r. Soldiers; 2. Lions (in the case of men), or Hyenas (in that of women) ; 3. Ravens; 4. Degree of Perses; 5. of Oromios; 6. of Helios; q. of Fathers,‑the highest,‑who were also called Eagles and Hawks. At first, of a merry character, ‑ thus the king of Persia was allowed to get drunk only on the Feast of the Mysteries, ‑the solemnities gradually assumed a severe and rigorous aspect.
From Persia, the cultus of Mithras and the Mysteries were imported into Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, etc., and it is not unlikely that in some parts human sacrifices were connected with this worship.
PRIMITIVE RITES.
69 Through Rome, where this worship was finally suppressed, A.D. 3 78, it may be presumed it found its way into the West and North of Europe; and many tokens of its former existence in Germany, for instance, are still to be found, such as the monuments at Hedernheim, near Frankfort‑on‑the‑Main, and at other places. Among the chief authorities on this subject are Anquetil du Perron, Creuzer, Silvestre de Sacy, Lajard, O. Miiller.
Osiris, Asiris, or Hysiris (Many‑eyed).‑The worship of Osiris was universal throughout Egypt. This name appears as early as the fourth dynasty, in the hieroglyphic texts, and is expressed by a throne and an eye. At a later period (nineteenth), a palanquin is substituted for the throne; and under the Romans the pupil of the eye, for the eye itself. In the ritual and other inscriptions he is said to be the son of Seb, or Saturn, and Nu, or Rhea ; to be the father of Horns by Isis, who is also called sister of Osiris. The mystic notions connected with Osiris seem to connect him with Bacchus, or they both were derived from some original god, who benefited mankind by travelling over the various countries and teaching them the arts of life.
Osiris was said to be the son of Ra (the sun), or of Atum (the setting sun), and the Bennu or Phcenix; also to be uncreated or self‑engendered, and is sometimes identified with the sun, or the creator, and Pluto, or judge of hades. When born, Chronos (Saturn) gave him in charge to Pamyles. When he became king of Egypt, he is said to have civilized the Egyptians, and to have taught them agriculture, the cultivation of the vine, and the art of making beer. He afterwards travelled over the earth, and, by his persuasion, overcame the people everywhere and induced them to practise agriculture. Compare this with the sketch of Bacchus.
The myth of his destruction by his brother, Typhon, ii so well known that we will not repeat it here. Typhon and Osiris represent the evil and good principles by which mankind are governed, and correspond with Ahriman and Ormuzd of the Persian system,‑with the two principles in India.
The pentalpha, or five‑pointed star, with the one point upward, and in its middle the face of the sun or an eye, represents Osiris.
There existed amongst the ancients great diversity of opinion as to the real intention or meaning of the myth of Osiris. Plutarch says he represented the inundation of the Nile ; Isis, the irrigated land ; Horus, the vapors ; Buto, the marshes; Nephthys, the edge of the desert; Anubis, the barren soil; Typhon was the sea; the conspirators, the drought; the chest, the bank of the river. The Tanaitic branch of the river was the one, which overflowed unprofitably; the twenty‑eight years, the number of cubits which the Nile rose at Elephantine ; Harpocrates, the first shootings of the corn.
Such were the interpretations of Plutarch.
There appear, however, to be in it the dualistic principles of good and evil, represented by the benefits derived from the influence of the daily sun, and the opposition, by night, which hides the sun.
This, as it is said by some, no doubt was the original significance of the myth; but time 70
ANCIENT MASONRY.
caused additions to the first elements, and hence the blending of Osiris with other deities, especially Ptah‑Socharis, the pigmy of Memphis, and the bull Hapis, or Apis, the Aratar of Plato. Osiris was the head of a tetrad of deities, whose local worship was at Abydos, where his coffin floated and was recovered.
In form, Osiris is represented swathed, in allusion to his embalmment ; a net‑work, suggestive of the net by which his remains were fished out of the Nile, covers this dress ; on his head he wears the cap, Alf, having at each side the feathers of truth, of which he was the lord.
This is placed on the horns of a goat.
His hands hold the crook and whip, to indicate his governing power; and his feet are based on the cubit of truth.
A panther's skin on a pole is often placed before him, and festoons of grapes hang over his shrine, connecting him with Dionysos.
He wears the white or upper crown as the `| good being," or Ounophris, the meek‑hearted, the celestial king.
His worship extended over Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, and at an early day had penetrated into Phoenicia, traces of it being found on coins of Malta and other places.
Orpheus. ‑ Supposed to be the Vedic Ribhu, or Arbhu, an epithet both of Indra and the Sun. This is a semi‑mythic name, of frequent occurrence in ancient Greek lore.
The early legends call him a Oleagrus and Clio or Polymnia. different localities were pointed of Olympus and Pangracus, the river Erupeus, the promontory of Serrhium, and several cities. Apollo bestows upon him the lyre which Hermes invented, and by its aid Orpheus moves men and beasts, the birds in the air, the fishes in the deep, the trees and the rocks.
He accompanies the Argonauts in their expedition, and the power of his music wards off all mishaps and disasters, rocking monsters to sleep, and stopping cliffs in their downward rush.
His wife, Eurydice (? = Sanskrit Uru, Dawn), is bitten by a serpent ( ? = night) and dies.
Orpheus follows her into the infernal regions, and so powerful are his "golden tones " that even stern Pluto and Proserpina are moved to pity, while Tantalus forgets his thirst, Ixion's wheel ceases to revolve, and the Danaides stop in their wearisome task.
He is allowed to take her back into the " light of heaven," but he must not look around while they ascend.
Love, or doubt, however, draw his eyes towards her, and she is lost to him forever (? = first rays of the sun gleaming at the dawn makes it disappear or melt into day). His death is sudden and violent. According to some accounts, it is the thunderbolt of Zeus that cuts him off, because he reveals the Divine Mysteries; according to others, it is Dionysus, who, angry at his refusing to worship him, causes the Menades to tear him to pieces, which pieces are collected and buried by the Muses in tearful piety at Leibethra, at the foot of Mount Olympus, where a nightingale sings over his grave.
Others, again, make the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope, or of His native country is Thracia, where many out as his birthplace, ‑such as the mounts PRIMITIVE RITES.
71 Thracian women divide his limbs between them, either from excessive madness of unrequited love, or from anger at his drawing their husbands away from them.
The faint glimmer of historic truth hidden beneath these myths becomes clearer in those records which speak of Orpheus as a divine bard or priest in the service of Zagreus, the Thracian Dionysus, and founder of the Mysteries. As the first musician, he was the inaugurator of the rites of expiation and of the mantic art, the inventor of letters and the heroic metre, of everything, in fact, that was supposed to have contributed to the civilization and initiation into a more humane worship of the deity among the primitive inhabitants of Thracia and all Greece,‑ a task to which he was supposed to have devoted his life after his return with the Argonauts. A kind of monastic order sprang up in later times, calling itself after him, which combined a sort of enthusiastic creed about the migration of souls and other mystic doctrines with a semi‑ascetic life. Abstinence from meat (not from wine), frequent purifications, the wearing of white garments and similar things,‑not unlike some of the Essenic manners and customs, ‑ were among their fundamental rules and ceremonies.
But after a brief duration, the brotherhood having first, during the last days of the Roman Empire, passed through the stage of conscious and very profitable jugglery, sank into oblivion, together with their Orpheotelistic formulas and sacrifices, and together with the joys of the upper, and the never‑ending punishments of the infernal regions, which they held out to their rich dupes, according to the sums they grudged or bestowed upon them.
The Orphic literature and mysteries are derived from Orpheus, the real origin of which, however, according to O. Muller, is like his own history, " unquestionably the darkest point in the entire history of early Greek poetry." Orpheus is supposed to have been the pupil of Apollo, as was Olen, Linus, Philammon, Eumolpus, Musaeus, and other legendary singers of prehistoric Greece, and to have composed certain hymns and songs used in the worship of a Dionysus, dwelling in the infernal regions, and in the initiations into the Eleusinian Mysteries.
He was placed anterior to Homer and Hesiod.
Herodotus and Aristotle combated the supposed antiquity of the so‑called Orphic myths and songs of their day, yet the entire, enormous Orphic literature, which had resulted from them, retained its ancient authority, not only with both the Hellenists and the Church Fathers of the third and fourth centuries A.D. (who for their individual, albeit opposite purposes, referred to it as the most authentic primitive source of Greek religion, from which Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Plato, had drawn their theological philosophy), but down almost to'the last generation, when it is irrefutably proved to be in its main bulk, as far as it has survived the production of those very centuries, raised upon a few scanty primitive snatches. The theogony is mainly based upon that of Hesiod, with allegorizing and symbolizing tendencies, and to simplify the Olympic population by compressing several deities into a single one.
72 ANCIENT MASONR Y.
Bacchus. ‑The God of wine; ‑in Greek Bakchos, Dionysos; and in the Mysteries, Iakchos, the son of Zeus and Semele.
When young he was carried to Nysa in Thrace, and given in charge to the Nymphs.
Here he taught the cultivation of the vine and other products of horticulture.
Intoxicating drinks are attributed to his invention.
In consequence of being smitten with madness by Here, he wandered through many countries attended by the Nymphs, who were crowned with ivy and vine leaves and bore in their hands the thyrsus, a pole bound round with leaves and fruit.
Wherever he came, in his wide progress, there is a Nysa.
His worship, coming originally from the East, was introduced into Greece by Malampus, and spread over the whole known earth, and was modified by each people, among whom it was practised, to suit, perhaps, their own former ideas of religious rites and mysteries ; consequently he received a great many surnames.
He was called Lenxos, from the wine‑vat, lenos; Bromius, from the shouting in his worship, bromos; Euios (Latin Eviais), from the exclamation Euoi, etc.
The worship of Bacchus was accompanied with noisy rites, games, and dramatic entertainments, wherein there were excessive, joyful manifestations and merriment; in fact, they degenerated in time into noisy, drunken orgies of the most extravagant character. The festivals deserving notice were : i. The Attic Dionysia ; the Minor or Country Dionysia were celebrated in the coun try, in the month Poseideon, at the time of the grape‑gathering.
This was followed, in the month Gametion, by the Lenaea, which was peculiar to Athens. After the Lenwa came the Anthesterion, when the new wine was first drunk. Last came the Great Dionysia, which were celebrated in the month Elaphebolion. 2. The Triateric Dionysia‑celebrated every third year in midwinter. These were celebrated by women and girls, and the orgies were held at night on the mountains, with torches and wildest enthusiasm.
This mystic solem nity came from Thrace, and its institution is referred to Orpheus.
It cannot be determined when it was adopted in Greece.
3. The Bacchanalia, whose foundation was laid in Athens, during the Peloponnesian War, by the introduction of foreign rites.
From Greece they went to Italy.
As early as 496 B.C. the Greek worship of Bacchus was carried to Rome with that of Ceres ; Ceres, Liber, and Libera were worshipped in the same temple. The Liberalia were celebrated on the 1 7th of March, and were of a simpler and ruder kind than the Dionysia of Athens.
These rites finally were accompanied with such licentiousness as to threaten the destruction of morality, and even of society itself. Celebrated at firstly women only, men were afterward admitted, and were made the occasion of most unnatural excesses.
About B.C. 186, the government instituted an inquiry into these rites, and finally suppressed the Bacchanalia.
After the vintage a poem was acted at the festival of Bacchus, to whom a goat was then sacrificed as being the destroyer of the vines, and therefore it was called tragodia, the goat's song (Serv. ad Verg. G. II. 381). Hence the derivation of "tragedy" : tragos, a goat; and oda, song.
HISTORY OF INITIATION.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF INITIATION BY COUNTRIES AND SYSTEMS.
Origin of Initiation. ‑Dr. Oliver, in his history of initiation, says: ‑ "The universal deluge would produce a tremendous effect on the minds of the survivors, and, as a knowledge of this terrible event was propagated amongst their posterity, it would naturally be accompanied by a veneration for the piety, and afterward for the persons of the favored few who were preserved from destruction by the visible interference of the Divinity. This veneration increasing with the march of time, and with the increasing oblivion of the peculiar manner in which their salvation was accomplished, at length assumed the form of an idolatrous worship, and Nimrod, the first open apostate, instituted a service of divine honors to Noah and his triple offspring, who were identified with the Sabian worship and gave the original impulse to the helioarkite superstition.
"Hence the sun and Noah were worshipped in conjunction with the moon and the ark, which latter subsequently represented the female principle, and was acknowledged in different nations, under the various appellations of Isis, Venus, Astarte, Ceres, Proserpine, Rhea, Sita, Ceridwen, Frea, etc.; while the former, or male principle, assumed the name of Osiris, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Bacchus, Adonis, Hu, Brahma, Odin, etc., which by degrees introduced the abominations of the phallic worship. When Venus represented the ark itself, Minerva the divine Wisdom and justice, which produced the deluge and preserved the ark upon its waters, Iris was the rainbow, and Juno the arkite dove.
"On these rude beginnings the whole complicated machinery of the Mysteries was formed, which completely banished, from the political horizon of idolatry, the true knowledge of God and of a superintending providence. Each of these deities had legitimate and appropriate symbols which ultimately became substituted for the antitype, and introduced among mankind the worship of animals and the inanimate objects of creation." Faber said: "The ancient mythologists considered the whole frame of the heavens in the light of an enormous shi~. In it they placed the sun, as the fountain of light and heat, and assigned to him, as the acknowledged representative of the Great Father, the office of pilot" (Pag. Idol., Vol. I. 36).
In the several systems of initiation there were involved all the confused and complicated mechanism of their mythologies. After the candidate had passed through all preliminary rites and ceremonies, he was subjected to a representation of a mystical death ; thereby signifying an oblivion of all the stains and imperfections of a corrupted and an evil life ; as also a descent into hades, where every pollution was to be purged by the lustrations, by purifications of fire, water, and air, after which the Epopt, considered to have been regenerated, or new born, was restored to a renovated existence of life, light, and purity, and placed under divine protection.
The intelligent Mason will, from this, discover the origin of the rites in the 3d degree of Symbolic Masonry, and the 5th and 3rst degrees, A.‑.A.‑.S.‑.R.‑. The ceremony of the Taurobolium and Criobolium, or the bloody baptism of the Bull and Ram, are said to have originated from this regeneration.
The Mysteries, in all their forms, were funereal.
They celebrated the 73 74 ANCIENT MASONRY.
mystical death and revivification of some individual, by the use of emblems, symbols, and allegorical representations.
It is said by some that the original legend of initiation was as follows Osiris, who was the king of Egypt, left the government of his kingdom to his wife Isis, while he travelled among the nations around him, to confer benefits upon then by instructing them in the arts and agriculture. Upon his return he was invited to a grand entertainment given by his brother Typhon, in November, when the sun appears in Scorpio.
Typhon produced a valuable chest inlaid with gold, and promised it to any one present whose body it would most conveniently contain. Osiris was induced to get into it, and immediately the cover was closed, and he was fastened in it, and it was thrown into the river.
This represented the Aphanisna of the Mysteries.
The chest containing the body of Osiris floated into the sea and was carried to Byblus, in Phoenicia, and was cast up at the foot of a tamarind tree.
[The tamarind tree is a species of acacia, and hence the use of the acacia in the burial of a Mason.] Isis, going in search of Osiris, passed through many adventures, which are very much varied by different authors, succeeded in obtaining the body of Osiris, and returned to Egypt, designing to give it a splendid interment. Typhon, however, again got possession of it, and severed it into fourteen parts and secreted them in as many different parts of the country. Isis again set out in search of these several parts, and succeeded in finding the scattered fragments, and buried them in the places where they were found, except one part.
It was then, proclaimed that Osiris was risen from the dead;
this was the Eui esis.
These rites were celebrated in Greece, in honor of Bacchus and Rhea; at Byblus, of Adonis and Venus; in India, of Mahadeva and Sita; in Britain, of Hu and Ceridwen ; in Scandinavia, of Woden and Frea ; etc.
In every moon, the sources of light instance, these and heat.
Bryant describes the emblems by which Rhea was designated as follows: ‑ divinities represented the sun and " She is figured as a beautiful female personage, and has a chaplet, in which are seen ears of corn, like rays.
Her right hand reclines on a pillar of stone, in her left are spikes of corn, and on each side a pomegranate.
Close by her side stands the beehive, out of the top of which there arise corn and flowers, to denote the renewal of seasons and promise of plenty.
In the centre of these fruits the favorite emblem, the pomegranate, appears again, and crowns the whole." COUNTRIES.
Hindoostan. ‑It is perhaps possible that in this very ancient country may be found the origin of these religious rites which spread far and wide among all the nations of the Orient.
From the annals of India we learn that it was derived from the seven Rishis, or "penitents," whose virtues raised them to the heavens and placed them where they have ever since represented the constellation of the Great Bear, two of which seven stars constantly point to the North Star.
HINDOOSTAN.
75 The word " Rishis " means the "Shiners," and it also means a Bear, because his coat of hair shines.
These seven are supposed to represent the seven sons of Japheth.
From Maurice, Hist. Hind. (Vol. II. P. 45), we learn " It is related in Padmapooraun that Satyavrata, whose miraculous preservation from a general deluge is told at large in the Matsya, had three sons, the eldest of whom was named Jyapeti, or Lord of the Earth; the others were Charma and Sharma, which last words are in the vulgar dialects usually pronounced Cham and Sham, as we frequently hear Kishn for Chrisna. The royal patriarch‑for such is his character in the Pooraun‑was particularly fond of Jyapeti, to whom he gave all the regions to the north of Himalaya, or the snowy mountains, which extend from sea to sea, and of which Caucasus is a part; to Sharma he allotted the countries to the south of these mountains; but he cursed Charma, because when the old monarch was accidentally inebriated with strong liquor made of fermented rice, Charma laughed; and it was in consequence of his father's execration that he became a slave to the slaves of his brothers." It is supposed that originally the primitive inhabitants practised a patriarchal religion; i.e., the patriarch or chief of a family or tribe was king, priest, and prophet.
He ruled the commune, offered all the sacriXces, and instructed his people in all religious matters.
Subsequently, when conquered by the Cuthites under Rama, the son of Cush, referred to in Genesis x. z, q,1 the Mysteries of the deluge were introduced. The worship soon became divided into two sects. We are not fully apprised when was first introduced the Bramanic system, ‑composed of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, constituting the Trimurti, ‑nor do our limits permit us to elaborate on this point; hence we simply introduce this feature to show that, in the division referred to above, one branch was mild and benevolent, and addressed to Vishnu, the second person of the "Trinity," who was represented in the system as the " Preserver," and who appeared on earth in the flesh‑and is supposed to have, in the nine successive "Avatars," represented that number of animal forms, and accomplished as many miraculous events for the benefit of mankind.
Compare this feature with the subsequent acts of all the heroes, represented in all the myths as the sun.
The other system proclaimed the superiority of Siva, whe was called the " Destroyer," and the representative of terror and penance: barbarity and blood; in Egypt, represented by Typhon.
These Mysteries, whatever may have been their origin, or for what purposes they were then instituted, were certainly a corruption of the original worship of the one Deity. They bore a direct reference to the happiness of Man in Paradise, where he was first placed; his subsequent deviations and transgressions, and the destruction of the race by the general deluge. They used subterranean caverns and grottos, formed in the solid rocks or in secret 1 "And the sons of Cush, Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha; and the sons of Raamah, Theba, and Dedan."
(See Explanation of Map.) 76
' ANCIENT MASONRY.
recesses of their structures, erected for the purpose.
The most of these Mysteries are unknown to us.
Bryant says that the earliest religious dance was a wild and frantic movement, accompanied with the clashing of swords and shields, and called Bertarmus, symbolic of the confusion which occurred when the Noachian family left the ark. The great cavern of Elephanta, perhaps the most ancient temple in the world made by man, in which these rites were performed, and remaining to the present day, is an evidence of the magnitude of that system. This cavern, cut out of the solid rock, is one hundred and thirty‑five feet square and eighteen feet high, and is supported by four massive columns. The walls are covered with statues and emblems. Maurice (Ind. Ant.), says: ‑ "Some of the figures have on their heads a kind of helmet of a pyramidal form; others wear crowns, rich with devices, and splendidly decorated with jewels; while others display only large bushy ringlets of curled or flowing hair. Many of them have four hands, many have six, and in these hands they grasp sceptres and shields, the symbols of justice and ensigns of religion, the weapons of war and trophies of peace." The caverns of Salsette, of which there are three hundred, all have within them carved and emblematic characters. The different ranges of apartments are connected by open galleries, and only by private entrances could the most secret caverns, which contained the ineffable symbols, be approached, and so curiously contrived as to give the highest effect upon the neophytes when in the ceremonial of initiation.
A cubical cista, used for the periodical sepulture of the aspirant, was located in the most secret recesses of the cavern.
The consecrated water of absolution was held in a carved basin in every cavern, and on the surface floated the flowers of the lotus.
The Linga or Phallus appeared everywhere most conspicuous, and oftentimes in situations too disgusting to be mentioned.
Dr. Buchanan (Res. in Asia), says, "The tower of juggernaut is covered with indecent emblems, which are newly painted when it is exhibited in public, and are objects of sensual gaze by both sexes." The increase and decrease of the moon were the periods by which initiations were governed. The Mysteries were divided into four degrees. The Hitopadesa says, " Let even the wretched man practise virtue whenever he enjoys one of the three or four religious degrees: let him be even‑minded with all created things, and that disposition will be the source of virtue." Candidates were admitted to the lesser Mysteries at the early age of eight years. This consisted in the investiture of the Zennar, a sacred cord of three threads, supposed to'refer to the three modes of purification; viz. : earth, fire, and air: water with them was air in a condensed form.
Sacrifices to the sun, to the planets, and to household gods, were made, accompanied with ablutions of water, purifications with dung and urine of the cow. This last was because the dung was the medium by which the soil was made fertile, and reminded them of the doctrine of " corruption and reproduction" taught in the worship of Siva, that it was necessary for man to die, HINDOOST.4N.
77 his body to suffer corruption before it could be clothed with immortality by a resurrection. It is possible that their observation of nature taught them that the seed must die or suffer fermentation in the ground before the plant could be produced.
Christ said the same to his disciples : " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." After the completion of the ceremonies, a lecture was given‑much too difficult for the juvenile comprehension‑which principally related to the Unity and Trinity of the Godhead, the manner of using the consecrated fire, and the rites of morning, noon, and evening. A linen garment without seam was put on him, a cord put over the right ear as a means of purification, and he was then placed in charge of a Brahmin to be instructed for advancement. After enduring many hardships, trials, and rigid penances, restricted from all indulgences, he passed his time mostly in prayer and ablutions until the age of twenty.
He was to preserve the purity of his body, which was termed the city with nine gates, in which his soul was a prisoner; he must eat properly; was instructed in all the minute ceremonies which were adapted to every act of his future life, and by which he was to be distinguished from the uninitiated. He was to study the sacred books, that he might have a competent knowledge of the institution, ceremonies, and traditions of religion, which would qualify him for the next degree.
Having attained the suitable age, if, upon due examination, he was found to be qualified by proper progress in all the essentials of the first degree, he was permitted to enter upon the probationary ceremonies of the second.
His austerities were increased.
He supported himself by begging charity.
Prayer, ablutions, and sacrifices occupied his days, and the study of the heavens his nights; and, for the necessary rest and repose from his arduous and almost exhausting duties, the first tree afforded him shelter; and, after a short sleep, he arose to contemplate the constellations in the skies, which were thought to resemble various monsters.
Sir William Jones in his works tells us " In the hot season he sat exposed to five fires, four blazing around him, with the sun above ; in the rain he stood uncovered, without even a mantle, when the clouds poured the heaviest showers ; in the cold season he wore wet clothing, and went on increasing by degrees the austerity of his devotion." Having finished this probation, he was initiated into the privileges of the Mysteries.
The cross was marked on every part of his body, and he passed the probation of the Pastos or Coffin, ‑ which was called the door of Patala or hell, ‑the Tartarus of the Grecian Mysteries.
Having finished all his purifications, at the dead hour of night he was conducted to the mysterious cavern of gloom, duly prepared for his reception, which shone with. light almost equal to that of the sun, proceeding from an immense number of lamps. In rich and costly robes, the three hierophants occupied the east, west, and south, representing Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.
78 ANCIENT MASONRY.
When the sun rises in the east, he is called Brahma; when in the meridian, he is Vishnu; and at his setting, he is Siva. The Mystagogues were seated around. The aspirant was conducted to the centre of this august assembly. An anthem was sung to the God of Nature, as the Creator, Preserver, or Destroyer, and an apostrophe was addressed to the sun, viz. : ‑ " O mighty being, greater than Brahma, we bow down before thee as the prime Creator! Eternal God of gods!
The world's mansion!
Thou art the uncorruptible Being, distinct from all things transient!
Thou art before all gods, the ancient Pooroosh, and the supreme supporter of the universe!
Thou art the supreme mansion 1
And by thee, O infinite form, the universe was spread abroad!" The aspirant is then called upon to declare that he will be obedient to his superiors, that he will keep his body pure, keep a tongue of good report, passively obey and receive the doctrines and traditions, and maintain the strictest secrecy as to the abstruse Mysteries. Having assented to this declaration, he was sprinkled with water, an incantation was pronounced over him or whispered in his right ear, he was then divested of his shoes and was made to circumambulate the cavern three times, and was made to exclaim, || I copy the example of the sun, and follow his benevolent course." He was again placed in the centre, and enjoined to practise the religious austerities, to prepare his soul for ultimate absorption.
He was informed that the merit of such works deserved a splendor which makes man superior to the gods, and renders them subservient to his wishes.
He was then given in charge to a spiritual guide, and required to maintain a profound silence during the succeeding ceremonies, and should he violate this injunction the presiding Brahmin could instantly strike him dead.
The bewailings for the loss of Sita then began.
The aspirant was conducted through seven rafiges of gloomy caverns, amidst the dismal lamentations, cries, and shrieks, to represent the bewailings of Mahadeva, who, it is said, circumambulated the world seven times, carrying the remains of his murdered consort upon his shoulders.
To show the coincidences between this rite of India and Egypt, we give another account, which states that when Mahadeva received the curse of some devotees, whom he had disturbed at their devotions, he was deprived of his lingam, which in the end proved fatal to his life.
His consort wandered over the earth and filled the world with her bewailings.
Mahadeva was at length restored under the form of Iswara, and united once more to his beloved Sita.
Amidst all the confusion a sudden explosion was heard, which was followed by a dead silence. Flashes of brilliant light were succeeded by darkness. Phantoms and shadows of various forms, surrounded by rays of light, flitted across the gloom.
Some with many hands, arms, and legs ; others without them; sometimes a shapeless trunk, then a human body with the head of a bird, or beast, or a fish; all manner of incongruous forms and bodies were seen, and all calculated to excite terror in the mind of the postulant.
HIA'DOOSTAN.
Among these he saw a terrible figure who had "A gorgeous appearance, with unnumbered heads, each having a crown set with resplendent jewels, one of which excelled the others; his eyes gleamed like flaming torches, but his neck, his tongues, and his body were black; the skirts of his garments were yellow, and sparkling jewels hung in all of his cars; his arms were extended, and adorned with bracelets, and his hands bore the holy shell, the radiated weapon, the war mace, and the sacred lotus. This image represented Mahadeva himself, in his character of the Destroyer.
"It is said in explanation, that these appearances were designed as a type of the original generation of the gods; for it was figured, that as Sita was carried by Mahadeva, her body burst open, and the gods contained in her womb were scattered over the whole earth, and the places where they fell were called sacred.
"In the legend of Osiris, when his body had been cut in pieces, and afterward each part buried where found by Isis, that particular locality was deemed sacred. The introduction of the lingam, in each of these legends, no doubt refers to the same original myth.
"Succeeding to this, the candidate was made to represent the god Vishnu, and imitate his several Avatars; and, following Dr. Oliver's conjecture, he was first plunged into the waters to represent the fish‑god, who descended to the bottom of the ocean to recover the stolen Vedas. This was called the Matse Avatar, and gives an account of the general deluge. The Vedas were stolen by the demon Hayagriva, who swallowed them, and retired to a secret place at the bottom of the sea; these books being lost, mankind fell into vice and wickedness, the world was destroyed by a flood of waters, except a pious monarch with his family of seven persons, who were preserved in a vessel built under the direction of Vishnu.
"When the waters had attained their greatest elevation this god plunged into the ocean, attacked and slew the giant, who was the cause of this great calamity, and recovered three of the books from the monster's abdomen, the fourth having been digested. Then emerging from the waves, half man, half fish, he presented the Vedas to Brahma; and the earth, resuming its former state, was repeopled by the eight persons who had been miraculously preserved."
(Maur., Ind. Ant., Vol. II., p. 353.)
(Fig 7.) "Another Avatar was also a figurative account of the deluge.
Satyavrata, a king of India, was instructed by a fish, that in seven days the world would be inundated; but that a ship would be sent in which himself and seven holy companions would be preserved.
These persons entered the vessel, and the waters prevailed so extensively as to destroy all created matter.
The Soors then held a consultation on the summit of Mount Mera to discover the Amreeta, or water of immortality, allusive to the reanimation of nature; and learned that it could be produced only by the violent revolution of the Mountain Mandar, which the Dewtahs found themselves unable to move.
In despair, they solicited the aid of Brahma and Vishnu, who instructed them how to proceed; the Serpent Vasooke wound the folds of his enormous body round the mountain like a cable, and Vishnu becoming incarnate in the form of a tortoise, took the mountain on his back. Thus loosened from its foundation, Indra began to whirl the mountain about with incessant motion with the assistance of the Assoors, who were employed at the serpent's head, and the Soors who were at the tail (see Fig. r7).
Soon the violence of the motion produced a stream of smoke, fire, and wind, which ascending in thick clouds, replete with lightning, it began to rain furiously, while the roaring of the Ocean was tremendous.
The various productions of the waters were torn to pieces; the fi uits of the earth were annihilated, and a raging fire spread destruction all around. At length a stream of the concocted juice of the dissolved matter ran down the mountain mixed with molten gold, from whence the Soors obtained the water of immortality, or, in other words, the restoration of nature from the power of the triumphant waters."
(Maur., Ind. Ant., Vol. II., P. 343.) "Then the Soors and Assoors commenced a dreadful battle for the possession of this glorious water, which at length was decided in favor of the Seers, and their opponents fled; some rushing headlong into the ocean, and others hiding themselves in the bowels of the earth. The Mountain Mander was then carefully replaced in its former station and the waters restored to their primitive caverns and recesses.
"The candidate was directed to descend into a lower cavern on hands and feet, through a passage barely large enough to admit him.
Here he met an antagonist, and a mimic battle 79 80 ANCIENT MASONRY.
followed, and the aspirant was victorious.
Elated with his conquest, the gigantic monster attacked him and he was again the conqueror.
He was then taught to take three steps at right angles, which referred to the fifth manifestation [which are now used in 3d degree, French rite].
As a diminutive Brahmin, Vishnu demanded of the impious tyrant Bali as much ground for sacrifice as would suffice to place three feet upon.
The tyrant granted this.
Vishnu, resuming his own form, with one foot covered the earth, with the other he filled all space between earth and heaven, and with a third, which sprang from his belly, he crushed the monsters head, and hurled him down to the infernal regions.
"In the remaining Avatars he passed through a series of furious conflicts, not without wounds and bruises.
In the sixth Avatar, in the human form, Vishnu encountered and overcame hosts of giants and tyrants.
The seventh Avatar is a complete and voluminous romance; under the name of Rama, he is represented as a valiant and successful warrior.
With a vast army of monkeys and satyrs, in battle array, he accomplished many wonderful adventures.
In the eighth Avatar he slew a host of giants, armed only with an enormous serpent, and in the ninth he transformed himself into a tree to gratify a criminal passion for a king's daughter.
The Hindoos still expect the tenth Avatar with the same impatience which the Jews manifest for their Messiah. Sir William Jones says, that in this Avatar 'lie is expected to appear mounted (like the crowned conquerors in the Apocalypse), on a white horse, with a cimeter, blazing like a comet, to cut down all incorrigible and impenitent offenders who shall then be on the earth."'
(Asiatic Rev., Vol. I., p. 236.) It was necessary that the candidate should undergo all these dangers and trials to make him equal to the gods.
Having passed through the seven mystic caverns, a cheerful sound of bells was heard, which he was told would expel the evil demons who might be inclined to disturb the sacred ceremonies in which they were engaged.
Prior to his introduction into the presence of the holy altar, he was informed that " whatever is performed without faith, whatever it might be, is not for this world, or that which is above." IIe was admonished not to commit five crimes, under heavy penalties in this life, and to be punished with eternal vengeance in the next. These particulars formed a part of the oath under which he was now solemnly bound, and he sealed it by a ablution.
The seven caverns bore seven places of reward and into their creeds.
The crisis of the ceremony of initiation summit of interest; the Mystical conch was sounded, the folding doors were thrown open, and the candidate was ushered into Callasa or Paradise (this was the actual name of one of the grottos in the subterranean temple of Elora, and Faber supposed it to have been the illuminated sacellum into which the aspirants were introduced).
This spacious apartment was lighted by a thousand brilliant lamps.
It was ornamented with statues and emblems, scented with the rich fragrance of odorous flowers, aromatics, and drugs, decorated profusely with valuable gems and jewels. The figures of the inhabitants of unknown worlds were carved in the ceiling; and the splendid sacellum thronged with priests, arrayed in gorgeous vestments and crowned with mitres and tiaras of burnished gold. He was taught to expect the sacred an allusion to the metempsychosis as well as to the punishment which different nations have admitted had now arrived,‑and reached the HINDOOSTAN.
gI descent of the deity in the bright pyramids of fire that blazed upon the altar, to which he was to direct his eyes.
, " The sudden sound` of the shell or trumpet, the expansion of the folding doors, the brilliant display, the instantaneous prostration of the priests, and the profound silence which ensued, were designed to fill the mind of the aspirant with admiration, and inspire him with the holy fervor of adoration; and, in the enthusiasm which followed, he could almost persuade himself that he saw the great Brahma seated on the lotus, with his four heads, and having in his hands the emblems of eternity and omnipotence, the circle and fire." The circle or ring is the symbol of the Ark; and as the great Father was hidden within its enclosure during the flood of waters, many fables sprang out of this connection; one of which was the " Ring of Gyges," which was reputed to render the wearer invisible.
"Gyges," Said Plato, " found a brazen horse in a cavern.
Within the horse was hid the body of a man of gigantic stature, having a brazen ring on his finger.
This ring Gyges took, and found that it rendered him invisible."
The cavern, the ring, and the giant show pretty evidently whence this fable originated. The mare was a form of Ceres or Hippa, the Mystic nurse of the ark‑exposed Bacchus or Noah. The man, therefore, was the ark; the dead giant was the gigantic Buddha, or the great Father, during the period of his death‑like slumber while enclosed witYiin the ark; and the cavern was one of those sacred grottos, within which the Mysteries were perpetually celebrated; and from which both he and his initiated votaries were feigned to be born again.
(Fab., Pag. Idol.).
We cannot see clearly the above explanation, but give it as we find it in Faber's " Pagan Idolatry." No explanation is given of the ring. The mystery connected with its power of concealment is not explained; yet the ring appears in the legends and myths of various countries, and is constantly used in the A.‑. A.‑. S.‑. R.‑., and no doubt was derived from the " Ring of Gyges," when first adopted in the rite.
In reference to the fire, we find in "Asia. Res." Vol. II, 355, that '| Suddenly a golden temple appeared, containing a chain of wrought gold.
On the summit of the temple Brahma alighted, and held a canopy over the head of Sacya; while Indra, with a fan in his hand, Naga, prince of serpents, and the four tutelary deities of the four corners of the universe, attended to do him reverence and service." The aspirant, who had become fatigued by all of these tedious ceremonies, was then given a potation of fermented liquor, from a human skull.' Being a regenerated being, a new name was bestowed upon him, which indicated his then purity, and was presented to the Chief Brahmin, and was received by him as a brother and companion.
He was then invested with a white robe and tiara, placed in an elevated seat, and instructed in the various tokens and signs, and also in the explanations of the Mysteries.
A cross, the sectarial mark called Tiluka, was placed on his forehead, and explained to be the symbol of the four cardinal points of the world.
The tau cross or inverted level was inscribed on his breast, the badge of innocence and the symbol of eternal life, to indicate his newly acquired dignity, which advanced him to the superior order of priesthood.
The sacred sash or belt was presented and placed upon him.
This cord could be woven only by a Brahmin, and by him with the utmost solemnity and by many mystic rites.
Three threads, each measuring ninety‑sir, hands, are first twisted together, then they are folded into three and 1 Old Simon.
twisted again, making nine, or three times three threads; this is folded again into three, but not twisted, and each end is secured by a knot. This is the Zennar, which is placed on the left shoulder, passes to the right side, and hangs down as low as the fingers can reach (Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 740).
In addition, he has the consecrated chaplet, the Kowsteke‑Men or Kowstooble, and the talismanic tablet for the left arm. An amulet was given to him, which was the '| Salagram " or magical black‑stone, which insured the protection of Vishnu, whose various forms he had represented emblematically. The serpent‑stone, as an antidote against the bite of serpents, which is an amulet similar to the anguinum of the Druids, was also given to him.
He was instructed in the art of composing amulets for his own safety, and incantations to injure, torture, or destroy his enemies, and finally, when all other things had been completed, he was solemnly and in a mysterious manner intrusted with the sublime NAME, known only to those initiated into the higher Mysteries. The NAME was pronounced OM, and was expressed by the letters A. U. M. Niebuhr, cited by Southey, Thalaba, says: "The Mahommedans, in common with the Jews and idolaters, attach to the knowledge of this Sacred Name the most wonderful powers.
They pretend that God is the Lock of Islam Allah, or science of the name of God, and Mohammed the King; that consequently none but Mohammedans can attain to it; that it discovers what passes in distant countries ; that it familiarizes the possessors with the genii, who are at the command of the initiated, and who instruct them ; that it places the winds and the seasons at their disposal ; that it heals the bite of serpents, the lame, the maimed, and the blind."
In the oracles ascribed to Zoroaster is a passage which pronounces the sacred Names used in the Mysteries to be ineffable, and not to be changed, because revealed by himself.
Wilkins, in his notes on Bhagvad‑Glta, says: "This mystic emblem of the deity, ' OM,' is forbidden to be pronounced but in silence."
The first letter stands for the Creator, the second for the Preserver, and the third for the Destroyer.
Maurice, || Indian Antiquities," says, || The perfections of God are thus described in the last book of the Ramayan, translated by Sir William Jones, ` Vishnu is the being of beings ; one substance in three forms ; without mode, without quality, without passion; immense, incomprehensible, infinite, indivisible, immutable, incorporeal, irre sistible.
His operations no mind can conceive, and his will moves all the inhabitants of the universe as puppets are moved by strings.'"
Mr. Faber says that this cypher graphically exhibits the divine triad, Batrama, Subhadra, and Jagannath.
In an old Purana, as we learn from the Abbe du Bois, the following passage is found, which shows the veneration displayed by the ancient Indians for this tremendous word : " All the rights ordained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to the fire, and all other solemn purifications shall pass away, but that which shall never pass away is the word OM, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things."
After the communication of this word, the aspirant, now a priest, was instructed that he must meditate upon it, " with the following HINDOOST.4N.
83 associations, which are the mysterious names of the seven worlds, or manifestations of the power of OM, the solar fire. OM ! earth, sky, heaven, middle region, place of births, mansion of the blessed, abode Of TRUTH." The various emblems were then explained to him by the Chief Brahmin, with the arcana of the hidden science enfolded under the holy gloom of their mysterious veil, the names and attributes of all the deities whose symbols were sculptured on the walls, and the mythological figures were elucidated." The system of symbolic instruction used in the Mysteries was very extensive and highly philosophic, and none but the initiated could comprehend them.
Stukely says the first learning in the world consisted chiefly in symbols. The wisdom of the Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, of Zoroaster, Sanconiathon, Pherecydes, Syrus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, of all the ancients that is come to our hand, is symbolic. "It was the mode," says Sacranus on Plato's symposium, "of the ancient philosophers to represent truth by certain symbols and hidden images." In the method explaining the various symbols, religion and philosophy were veiled in allegoric representations. To the profane unintelligible, and which were calculated to lead them erroneously, these symbols were displayed openly in the temples; and to the profane altogether obscure, but streaming with beams of light to the initiated.
The principles, taught in the lecture to the initiated, were : ‑ " The first element and cause of all things was water, which existed amidst primordial darkness.
Brahma was the creator of this globe, and by his spirit invigorates the seventy‑four powers of nature; but the universe is without beginning and without end.
He is the being who was, and is, and is to come; and his emblem was a perfect sphere, endowed with the attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, and was designated; 'The great God, the great Omnipotent and Omniscient ONE; the greatest in the world, the LORD.'" Captain Seely, " Wonders of Elora," says "there is no idol in front of the great altar in the temple of Ekverah, or at Elora; the umbrella covering rises from a wooden pedestal out of the convexity of the altar. A Brahmin, whom I questioned on the subject of the altar, exclaimed, in nearly the words of our own poet, `Him first, Hint last, Him midst, Him without egad.' "
In alluding to the Almighty, he nearly spoke as above described, placing his hand on this circular solid mass.
He rejected all idea of assimilating Buddha or Brahma with the eternal God, who, he said, was One alone, from beginning to end; and that the circular altar was his emblem.
Colebrooke, " Asiatic Researches," tells us this Being was identified with LIGHT; for the Brahmins say: " Because the Being who shines with seven rays, assuming the forms of time and fire, matures productions, is resplendent, illuminates, and finally destroys the universe, therefore he who shines naturally with seven rays is called Light, or the effulgent power."
Thus Brahm is Light; and light is the principle of life in every created thing.
11 Light and darkness 84 ANCIENT MASONRY.
are esteemed the world's eternal ways.
He who walketh in the former path returneth not; i.e., he goeth immediately to bliss; while he who walketh in the latter cometh back again upon the earth." We have devoted much space to Hindooism because, in the country of India, the ideas concerning the creation of all things, the deity, and religious observances, originated; and from these the Mysteries sprang which were disseminated throughout the entire world. The coincidences are so manifest that we must conclude that from these Hindoo Mysteries were propagated all those in China and Persia, and that they spread towards the west of Asia, and were carried into Egypt, and from thence, as the Mysteries of Osiris and Isis, were imported into Greece.
A few facts of great prominence may be adduced as sufficient to prove that, in those several countries, the rites were derived from the same original sources.
Avatars of Vishnu.‑First. Matsaya‑which is fabled to have assumed the form of a fish, to restore the lost Veda which had been stolen from Brahma in his sleep by the demon Hayagriva. This, and the second and third Avatars, seem to refer to the universal deluge; and the present would appear as the announcement of it to a pious king, Satyavrata, who is considered by some to have been Noah. He appeared first in the shape of a minute fish to the devout monarch to try his piety and benevolence, then gradually expanding himself he became one of immense magnitude. He subsequently disclosed himself and finally announced the flood.
"In seven days from the present time the three worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death; but, in the midst of the destroying waves, a large vessel sent by me for thy use shall stand before thee.
Then shalt thou take all medicinal herbs, all variety of seeds, and accompanied by seven saints, encircled by pairs of all brute animals, thou shalt enter the spacious ark, and continue in it, secure from the flood, on an immense ocean, without light, except the radiance of thy holy companions.
When the ship shall be agitated by an impetuous wind thou shalt fasten it with a large sea‑serpent to myòhorn, for I will be near thee, drawing the vessel with thee and thy attendants.
I will remain on the ocean until a day of Brahma [a year] shall be completely ended." (Maurice).
When the deluge was abated and mankind destroyed, except Satyavrata and his companions, Vishnu slew the demon Hayagriva and recovered the lost Veda, or in other words, when the wicked were destroyed by the deluge, sin no longer prevailed, and virtue was restored to the world.
Second. Vishnu assumed the form of an immense tortoise, to support the earth while the gods and genii churned with it the ocean. He is represented as a tortoise, sustaining a circular pillar which is crowned by the lotus throne, on which sits the semblance of Vishnu in all his attributes. A huge serpent encircles the pillar, one end is held by the gods and the other by the daityas or demons.
By this churning the sea was converted into milk, and then into butter, from which, among other things, was produced the Antrita or water of life drank by the Immortals.
An extraordinary belief prevailed among the Iroquois Indians, in which the tortoise is imagined to have acted an equally important part in the formation of the globe. They believed that before that period there were six male beings who existed in the regions of the air, but were nevertheless subjected to mortality.
Among them there was no female to perpetuate their race, but they learned that there was one in heaven, and it was agreed that one of them should undertake the dangerous task of endeavoring to bring her away.
The difficulty was how he should get there; for although he floated in oether, it appears he could not soar to the celestial realms.
A bird, therefore (but whether the eagle of Jove, or the Garuda of Vishnu, or of what other kind we are not told), became his vehicle, and conveyed him thither on his back.
He saw the female and seduced her by (what too many ladies at the present day are led astray by), flattery and presents, but of what kind we are also unfortunately left in ignorance.
The Supreme Deity knowing what had taken place immediately turned her, like another Eve, out of Paradise, and she was received by a tortoise on its back, when the otter (a most important party in North American legends), and the fishes disturbed the mud at the bottom of the ocean, and drawing it up around the tortoise, formed a small island, which gradually increasing became the earth. The female had, at first, two sons (one of whom slew the other), and afterwards, several children from whom sprung the rest of mankind.
China. ‑ In Maurice, " Indian Antiquities," we learn that " the Chinese practised Buddhism in its simple form, and worshipped an invisible God, until a few centuries B.c., after which visible objects were adored. 600 B.c. a system was introduced similar to that of Epicurus, and its followers were called `Immortals'; while the Chinese were materialists, they were nevertheless worshippers of idols. In a very short period of time the Chinese became as noted for the multiplicity of the objects of adoration as any other nation." Confucius endeavored to introduce a reformation of the abuses ; licentiousness however, long continued, would not submit to his system of mortifications and an austere virtue. His admonitions were not regarded; he was despised by the Mandarins for instituting a reformation in their Mysteries, which were then, as practised, the main source of all their wealth and of their power; and an attempt was made to put him out of the way, and he was forced to flee from their society to avoid their machinations to destroy him.
He then, in his retirement, organized a school of philosophy ; and all who were in any manner inspired with a love of virtue and science, were induced to follow him. The effects of his system were reserved for posterity.
He made a prediction on his death‑bed that there would come in the West a GREAT PROPHET, who should deliver mankind from the bondage of error and superstition, and set up an universal religion to be ultimately embraced by all the nations of . the earth.
His followers supposed that this was no other than Buddha or Fo himself, and he was accordingly, with solemn pomp, installed into their temples as the chief deity of the Chinese empire : ‑ "Other idolatrous customs were introduced, and ideal objects of worship, attended with indecent and unnatural rites, accumulated so rapidly that China soon became celebrated for the practice of every impurity and abomination.
"The initiations were performed in a cavern; after which, processions were made around the Tan or altar, and sacrifices made to the celestial gods. The chief end of initiation was a fictitious immortality or absorption into the Deity; and, to secure this admirable state of supreme and never changing felicity, amulets were as usual delivered to the initiates, accompanied by the magic words, O‑MI‑To Fo, which denoted the omnipotence of the divinity, and was considered as a most complete purification and remission of every sin.
Sir William Jones says, ' Omito was derived from the Sanskrit Armida, immeasurable, and Fo was a name for Buddha.' " Much merit was attached to the possession of a consecrated symbol representing the great triad of the Gentile world.
This was an equilateral triangle, said to afford protection in all cases of personal danger and adversity.
The mystical symbol Y was also much esteemed from its allusion to the same Triune‑God, the three distinct lines of which it is composed forming one, and the one is three.
This was in effect the ineffable name of the deity, the Tetractys 'of Pythagoras, and the Tetragrammaton of the Jews.
"A ring, supported by two serpents, was emblematic of the world protected by the wisdom and power of the Creator, and referred to the diluvian patriarch and his symbolic consort, the ark; and the ark itself was represented by a boat, a mouth, and number $. 'Tao, or reason, has produced one; one hath produced two; two hath produced three; and three hath produced all things."' 86
ANCIENT MASONRY.
There was a superstition for odd numbers as containing divine properties. Thus, while the sum of the even numbers, a + 4 ‑h 6 + 8 ‑f‑ 10 = 30, the number of earth, the sum of the odd numbers, r ‑}‑ 3 + 5 + 7 ‑{‑ 9 = 25, was called the number of heaven.
This we presume gave rise to the name of "mystic" to the odd numbers. The rainbow was the universal symbol in all the systems of which we have any knowledge, and demonstrates that these Mysteries must have referred to the deluge. The aspirant represented Noah; the ark, which was called his mother, as well as his wife, was surrounded by a rainbow at the time of his deliverance or new birth; hence he was figuratively said to be the offspring of the rainbow.
Japan.‑"The Japanese believed that the world was enclosed in an egg before the creation, which floated on the surface of the waters. At this period a prickle appeared among the waves which became spirit, from which sprang six other spirits, who, with their wives, were the parents of a race of heroes, from whom proceeded the original inhabitants of Japan.
They worshipped a deity who was styled the son of the unknown god, and considered as the creator of the two great lights of heaven.
"The egg was always esteemed an emblem of the earth.
"There is a pagoda at Micoa consecrated to a hieroglyphic bull, which is placed on a large square altar and composed of solid gold. His neck is adorned with a very costly collar. The most remarkable thing is the egg, which he pushes with his horns, and he grips it with his forefeet. This bull is placed on the summit of a rock, and the egg floats in water which is enclosed in a hollow space in it.
The egg represents the chaos; and what follows is the illustration which the doctors of Japan have given of this hieroglyphic.
The whole world at the time of the chaos was enclosed within this egg, which floated on the surface of the waters.
The moon, by virtue of her light and other influences, attracted from the bottom of these waters a terrestrial substance which was insensibly converted into a rock, and by that means the egg rested upon it.
The bull observing this egg, broke the shell of it by goring it with his horns, and so created the world, and by his breath formed the human species." This fable may in some measure be reconciled with truth, by supposing that an ancient tradition had preserved among the Japanese some idea of the world, but that being led into an error, in process of time, by an ambiguous meaning of the name of the bull, which in the Hebrew language is attributed to the Deity, they ascribed the creation of the world, to this animal and not to the Supreme Being.
To the prickle among the waves " May be referred the Gothic idol Seater, which is thus described by Verstegan from Johannes Pomarius ('Restitution of Decayed Intelligence').
First on a pillar was placed a perch on the sharp prickled back whereofstood this idol.
He was lean of visage, having long hair and a long beard, and was bare‑headed and bare‑footed.
In his left hand he held up a wheel; and in his right he carried a pail of water, wherein were flowers and fruits.
His long coat was girded on him with a towel of white linen.
His standing on the sharp fins of this fish was to signify that the Saxons, for serving him, should pass steadfastly and without harm in dangerous and difficult places.
"The caverns of initiation were in the immediate vicinity of the temples, and generally in the midst of a grove, and near a stream of water. They had mirrors, which were to signify that the imperfections of the heart were as plainly displayed to the sight of the gods, as the worshippers behold their own image in the mirror.
Hence it became a significant emblem of the all‑observing eye of the god, Tensio Dai Sin.
"The term of probation for the highest degrees was twenty years;
and even the hierophant was not competent to perform the ceremony until he himself had been initiated the same period; and his five assistants must have had ten years' experience from the date of their admission before they were considered competent to take this subordinate part of initiation. The aspirant was taught to subdue his passions, and devote himself to the practice of austerities, and studiously abstain from every carnal indulgence.
"In the closing ceremony of preparation, ha was entombed within the pastas, or place of penance, the door of which was said to be guarded by a terrible divinity, armed with a drawn‑sword, as the vindictive fury or god of punishment. During the course of his probation the aspirant sometimes acquired such a high degree of enthusiasm as induced him to refuse to quit his confinement in the pastos; and to remain there until he literally perished with famine. To this voluntary martyrdom was attached a promise of never‑ending happiness in the paradise of Amidas. Indeed, the merit of such a sacrifice was boundless. His memory was celebrated with unusual rejoicings.
The initiations, however, were dignified with an assurance of a happy immortality to all, who passed through the rites honorably and with becoming fortitude.
"Rings or circles of gold as amulets were worn as emblems of eternity, virtually consecrated, and were supposed to convey the blessing of a long and prosperous life; and a chaplet of consecrated flowers or sacred plants and boughs of trees, which, being suspended about the doors o. their apartments, prevented the ingress of impure spirits; and hence their dwellings were exempted from the visitations of disease or calamity." Persia. ‑To Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, were the mysteries of Persia indebted for their celebrity.
Hyde and Prideaux, in this connection, state that Zoro aster was of Jewish birth.
Such a person did live in Persia some time about the latter end of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon.
The period is very uncertain, but all authorities agree as to the fact of his existence in that region of the East, and his great work in the 1| reformation," or change made in the religious worship of the people in and around Persia.
Sir John Malcolm, "History of Persia," says: ‑ " A Persian author has declared that the religious among the followers of Zoroaster believed that the soul of that holy person was created by God, and hung upon that tree from which all that is celestial has been produced. . . . I have heard the wise and holy Mobud Seeroosh declare that the father of Zoroaster had a cow, which after tasting some withered leaves that had fallen from the tree, never ate of any other; these leaves being her sole food, all the milk she pro duced was from them.
The father of Zoroaster (Poorshasp) was entirely supported by this milk; and to it, in consequence, they refer the pregnancy of his mother, whose name was Daghda." Another account is that the cow ate the soul of Zoroaster as it hung on the tree, and that it passed through her milk to the father of that prophet. The apparent object of this statement is to prove that Zoroaster was born in innocence, and that not even vegetable life was destroyed to give him existence.
When he was born he burst into a loud laugh, like the prince of necromancers, Merlin, and such a light shone from his body as illumined the whole room.
Pliny mentions this ancient tradition respecting Zoroaster.
It is said by some that, being a Jew, he was educated in the elements of the true worship among his countrymen in Babylon, and afterwards became an attendant upon the prophet Daniel, and received from him initiation into all the mysteries of the Jewish doctrine and practice.
He also studied magic under the Chaldean philosophers, who initiated him into their mysteries.
This account is from Hyde and Prideaux, but Dr. Oliver expresses much doubt as to its probability.
Indeed, from the great uncertainty as to the date of his $$
ANCIENT MASONRY.
appearance among men, some authors placed him as a contemporary with Abraham, and others again made him to appear long after the captivity had ceased. With this uncertainty as to Zoroaster's true date, we must receive all accounts of his marvellous acts, or matters connected with him, with many grains, if not ounces, of allowance.
He is after this found at Ecbatana, and, making himself appear as a prophet, set about the task of reforming the religion of Persia, which, like all other religions, had become subverted from the original object, and by a series of gradual and imperceptible changes its character had degenerated from the Magian form to the Sabian system.
As a professed Magian, he was soon surrounded by followers of every rank, who joined with him and gave support to all his designs of reformation. Darius Hystaspis accompanied hire into Cashmere, to aid in completing his preparatory studies, by instruction from the Brahmins, from whom he had received the rites of initiation.
Cashmere has been called the terrestrial para dise and the holy land of superstition.
In the Ayeen Akbery forty‑five places are said to be dedicated to Mahadeo; sixty‑four to Vishnu; twenty‑two to Durga; and only three to Brahma (Maur. Ind. Ant.).
Before the time of Zoroaster the Persians, like the early Egyptians, worshipped in the open air, long after other nations had constructed temples, as they considered the broad expanse of heaven as the sublime covering of temples devoted to the worship of Deity. Their places of sacrifice were much like those of the northern nations of Europe, composed of circles of upright stones, rough and unhewn. They abominated images, and worshipped the Sun and Fire, as representatives of the omnipresent Deity.
The Jews were not exempt from the superstitious worship of fire, saying, God appeared in the Cherubim, over the gate of Eden, as a flaming sword; and to Abraham as a fame of fire; to Moses as a fire in the bush at Horeb; and to the whole assembly of the people at Sinai, when he descended upon the mountain in fire.
Moses himself told them that their God was a consuming fire, which was reechoed more than once; and thence the Jews were weak enough to worship the material substance, in lieu of the invisible and eternal God. Zoroaster succeeded in persuading them to enclose their sacred fire altars in covered towers; because, being on elevated and exposed hills, the fire was liable to be extinguished by storms.
These were circular buildings, covered with domes, having small openings at the top to let out the smoke.
God was supposed to reside in the sacred flame, and it was never permitted to be extinguished. We may here pause in our description of the Persian worship of the flame to recite the following: ‑ "A Jew entered a Parsee temple and beheld the sacred fire.
'What l' said he to the priest, 'do you worship the fire ?'
' Not the fire, answered the priest, 'it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his genial heat'
' Do you then worship the sun as your God ?' asked the Jew.
' Kpow PERSIA.
89 ye not that this luminary also is but a work of the Almighty Creator?'
'We know it, replied the priest, 'but the uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a conception of the Most High, and is not the sun, the incomprehensible source of light, an image of that invisible being who blesses and preserves all things?'
' Do your people, then, rejoined the Israelite, 'distinguish the type from the original ?
They call the sun their God, and, descending even from this to a baser object, they kneel before an earthly flame!
Ye amuse the outward but blind the inward eye; and while ye hold to them the earthly, ye draw from them the heavenly light!
Thou shalt not make unto thyself any image or likeness.
'How do you designate the Supreme Being?' asked the Parsee.
'We call him Jehovah Adonai; that is, the Lord who is, who was, and who will be,' answered the Jew.
'Your appellation is grand and sublime,' said the Parsee, 'but it is awful too.'
A Christian then drew nigh and said,' We call him Father!'
The Pagan and the Jew looked at each other and said, ' Here is at once an image and a reality; it is a word of the heart.
Therefore they all raised their eyes to Heaven, and said, with reverence and love, ' Our Father,' and they took each other by the hand, and all three called one another ' brother.'" This is Freemasonry! We now resume our sketch of the Mysteries.
The building, in which was placed the sacred fire, represented the universe, and the fire which perpetually burned in the centre was the symbol of the sun. Pococke, " Specimen Historiae Arabicze," informs us that Zoroaster remodelled the Mysteries ; and to accomplish this, he retired to a circular cave or grotto in the mountains of Bokhara.
This cave he ornamented with a profusion of symbols and astronomical decorations, and dedicated it to the Mediator Mithr‑As, sometimes denominated the invisible Deity.
That the knowledge of astronomy, in that region and early date, was very extensive is well known to authors generally.
Pliny says that "Belus," who was grandson of Ham, `| inventor fuit sideralis scientue." That Mithras was considered by the Persians to be the Supreme Deity, we have, " Mithras, the first god among the Persians "‑ from Hesychius in Greek (according to Cudworth's Intel. Sys.). "They were so deeply impressed," says Plu. Isid. et Osir, " with this amiable characteristic of their god, that they denominated every person who acted as a mediator between contending parties, 1Mitlzras." They said he was born or produced from a rock‑hewn cave.
A splendid gem of great lustre, which represented the sun, was placed in the centre of the roof of the cavern; the planets were also placed in order around this gem in settings of gold on a ground of azure.
The zodiac was chased in gold, having the constellations Leo and Taurus, with a sun and moon emerging from their backs, in beaten gold.
We are told by Diodorus Siculus that " the tomb of Osymandyas in Egypt was surrounded with a broad circle of beaten gold, three hundred and sixty‑five cubits in circumference, which represented the days in the year."
(Note this, and the "starry decked heaven" of the Masonic lodge room.) The bull and sun were emblematic of the great father, or Noah, riding in safety in the ark ; for Noah was the sun, and the bull was the acknowledged symbol of the ark.
Hyde (de Rel. vet. Pers.) says that the Mogul emperors use this device on their coins; sometimes Leo is used for the Bull.
9o ANCIENT MASONRY.
Our limits forbid any farther description of this cave or grotto, which had every appliance for the workings necessary for initiation, with the most elaborate machinery imaginable.
To give himself the proper credit with the people, Zoroaster professed to have been favored with a celestial vision, taken up into the abode of the Most High, ‑which was evidently assumed by him in imitation of the interview between Moses and the Almighty in the Mount Sinai, ‑ and permitted to hold converse with the Awful Being face to face, who, he said, was encircled by a bright and perpetual fire; that a system of pure worship had been revealed to him, which was ordered to be communicated only to those who possessed the virtue to resist the allurements of the world, and would devote their lives to the study of philosophy and contemplation of the Deity and his works.
The fame of Zoroaster spread throughout the world.
All those who desired to obtain a knowledge of the philosophy taught by him resorted to this Mithratic grotto to be initiated.
From the most distant regions came many who wished to learn of Zoroaster.
Pythagoras, who travelled into all countries to learn philosophy, is said to have gone to Persia to be initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras.
"To prepare the candidate for initiation, many,lustrations were required, with water, fire, and honey.
He passed forty days‑some say eighty days‑of probation, and ended with a fifty days' fast.
These were all endured in the recesses of a cavern, in perpetual silence, secluded from all society, and confined in cold and nakedness, in hanger and stripes, and with cruel tortures. We may be sure that in some instances these were attended with fatal effects.
When one died under these cruel inflictions and rigid penances, his body was thrown into a deeper cavern and he was never more heard of.
According to a Christian writer, in the fifth century A.D.,'the Christians of Alexandria, having discovered a cavern that had been consecrated to Mithras, resolved to explore it; when, to their astonishment, the principal thing they found in it was a great quantity of human skulls and other bones of men who had been thus sacrificed.
"Those who survived these severe tests of endurance became eligible to the highest honors and dignities, and received a degree of veneration equal to that which was paid to the supernal deities. The successful probationer was brought forth into the cavern of initiation, where he entered on the point of a sword presented to his naked left breast, by which he was slightly wounded, and then he was virtually prepared for the approaching ceremony.
He was crowned with olive branches.
The olive, in the Mysteries, commemorative of the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah, was the propitious omen that the patriarch and family would speedily emerge from the gloom of the ark to the light of day; so to the candidate, that he would be able to exclaim,' I have escaped from an evil; I have found deliverance.'
The priests of Mithras, by a like allusion, were called Hierocoraces, or sacred Ravens, and the oracular priestesses of Hammon, Peleiades, or Doves; while, in consequence of the close connection of the dove and olive, a particular species of the olive was called Columbas.
"He was anointed with oil of ban, which is the balsam of Bezoin, and clothed with enchanted armor by his guide, who represented Simorgh, a monstrous griffin; whose name indicates that it is of the size of thirty birds, and appears to have been a species of eagle, and said to correspond in some respects with the idea of the phoenix. The candidate was introduced into an inner chamber, where he was purified with fire and water, and then passed through the SEVEN STAGES of Initia tion, which is represented as a high ladder, with seven steps or gates.
From the top of this ladder be bebeld a deep and dangerous vault, and a single false step might dash him down to instant destruction, which was an emblem of those infernal regions through which he was about to pass. As he passed through the gloomy cavern he saw the sacred fire, which at intervals would flash into its recesses and illuminate his path, sometimes from beneath his feet, and again, descending PERSIA.
91 from above upon his head in a broad sheet.
Amidst all this, distant yelling of beasts of prey, the roaring of lions, howling of wolves, and barking of dogs, would greet his ears.
Then being enveloped in darkness profound, he would not know whither to turn for safety, his attendant would rush him forward, maintaining an unbroken silence, towards the place whence the sounds proceeded, and suddenly a door would be opened and he would find himself in this den of wild beasts lighted only by a single lamp.
Being exhorted to have courage by his conductor, he would be immediately attacked by the initiated, who, in the forms of the several animals, and amidst great uproars and howlings, would endeavor to overwhelm him with alarm, and he would seldom escape unhurt, however bravely he might defend himself.
"Hurried from this scene into another cell, he was again shrouded in darkness.
Silence profound succeeded, and with cautious step he was conducted onward to encounter other danger_ ‑ A rumbling noise is heard in a distant cavern, which became louder as he advanced, when the thunder appeared to rend the solid rocks, and the continued flashes of lightning enabled him to observe the flitting shades of avenging genii, who appeared to threaten with summary destruction those who invaded the privacy of their peculiar abode.
These scenes continued until the strength and endurance of the candidate being nearly exhausted, he was conveyed into another apartment, where a great illumination was suddenly introduced, and his strength permitted to recruit, and melodious music soothed his outraged feelings.
"Resting for a time in this apartment, the elements of those secrets were explained, and all of which were more fully developed when his initiation was completed. When sufficiently prepared to proceed, a signal was given by his guide, and three priests immediately appeared; one of them cast a serpent into his bosom, as a symbol of regeneration.
A private door being now opened, howlings and lamentations were heard, and he beheld in every revolting form the torments of the damned in hades.
He was then conducted through other dark passages, and after having successfully passed the labyrinth of six spacious vaults, connected by tortuous galleries, each having a narrow portal, and having been triumphantly borne through all these difficulties and dangers by the exercise of fortitude and perseverance, the doors of the Sacellum, or seventh vault, were thrown open, and the darkness changed to light.
"In conformity with these seven subterranean caverns, the Persians held the doctrine of seven classes of demons. First, Ahriman, the chief; second, the spirits who inhabit the most distant regions of the air; third, those who traverse the dense and stormy regions which are nearest the earth, but still at an immeasurable distance; fourth, the malignant and unclean spirits, who hover over the surface of the earth; fifth, the spirits of the ' vasty deep,' which they agitate with storms and tempests; sixth, the subterranean demons who dwell in charnel vaults and caverns, termed Z.houls, who devour the corrupted tenants of the grave, and excite earthquakes and convulsions in the globe; and seventh, the spirits who hold a solemn reign of darkness in the centre of the earth (vide Maur. Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 642).
From this doctrine probably emanated the Mohammedan belief in seven hells, or stages of punishment, in the infernal regions; and seven heavens, in the highest of which the Table of Fate is suspended and guarded from demons, lest they should change or corrupt anything thereon.
Its length is so great, as is the space between heaven and earth; its breadth equal to the distance from the east to the west; and it is made of one pearl. The divine pen was created by the finger of God; that is also of pearls, and of such length and breadth that a swift horse could scarcely gallop round it in five hundred years.
It is so endowed that self‑moved, it writes all things, past, present, and to come.
Light is its ink; and the language which it uses only the angels can understand.".
The seven hells of the' Jewish Rabbies were founded on the seven namer, of hell contained in their Scriptures.
"The progress of the candidate through the seven stages of initiation was in h circle, referring to the course of the planets round the sun; or more probably, the apparent motion of the sun himself, which is accomplished by a movement from east to west by the south; " in which course every candidate in Masonry should be conducted.
The candidate was then admitted into the spacious cavern already described, which was the grotto of Elysium, which was brilliantly illuminated and shone with gold and precious ston|.s.
Here was seated the Archimagus on the east, on 92
ANCIENT MASONRY.
a throne of gold, having a crown decorated with myrtle‑boughs and clothed in a tunic of cerulean color, and around him were arranged the Presules and dispensers of the Mysteries. He was received with congratulations, and having vowed to keep secret the sacred rites of Mithras, the sacred WORDS were given to him, of which the ineffable TETRACTYS, or name of God, was the chief." He was now entitled to investiture and to receive instruction. Amulets and talismans were presented to him, and he was taught how to construct them, that he might be exempt from all dangers to his person and his property. Explanations were made to him of every emblem which had been displayed, every incident by which he had been surprised; and all were turned to a moral purpose by means of disquisitions, which tended to inspire him with a strong attachment to the Mysteries and to those from whom he had received them. He learned that the benign influence of the superior light which was imparted by initiation irradiates the mind with rays of the Divinity and inspires it with a knowledge which can be given in no other manner.
He was taught to adore the consecrated fire, which was the gift of the Deity, as his visible residence.
The throne of the Deity was believed to be in the sun, which was the Persian Paradise ; but was equally supposed ‑to be in the fire. In the Bhagavad‑GItA, Krishna says, " God is in the fire of the altar."
He was taught the existence of two independent and equally powerful principles, the one essentially good, the other irreclaimably evil; and this was the cosmogony: Ormisda, the supreme source of light and truth, created the world at six different periods.
First, he made the heavens; second, the waters; third, the earth ; fourth, trees and plants ; fifth, animals ; sixth, man, or rather a being compounded of a man and a bull.
This newly created being lived in a state of purity and happiness for many ages, but was at last poisoned by the temptations of a subtle serpent‑genius named Ahriman, who inhabited the regions of darkness, and was the author of evil; and his ascendency on earth at length became so great as to create a powerful rebellion against the creator, Ortnisda, by whom, however, he was at length subdued.
To counteract the effect of this renunciation of virtue, another pure being was created, compounded, as before, of a man and a bull, called Taschter, or Mithras, by whose intervention, with the assistance of three associates, a flood of waters was produced to purify the earth, by prodigious showers of rain, each drop as large as the head of an ox,‑which produced a general lustration. A tempestuous wind, which blew for three days in succession from the same quarter, dried the waters; and when they were completely subsided, a new germ was introduced, from which sprang the present race of mankind.
SYSTEMS.
Therapeutae. ‑A pious " Jewish " sect, who lived chiefly on the Lake Mareotis, near Alexandria, but had numerous colonies in other places. Like the Essenes, they lived unmarried, in monasteries, and were very moderate with regard to dress and food ; they prayed at sunrise, having their faces turned to the east; studied the Scriptures‑which they explained ANCIENT SYSTEMS.
93 allegorically.
They differed from the Essenes in this: they lived a contemplative life, while the Essenes followed many occupations, such as agriculture, arts, etc. ; the Essenes lived together in common; the Therapeutx lived separately in cells. The Therapeutee knew none of the divisions which marked the several degrees of initiation of the Essenes. They held the Temple at Jerusalem in much higher veneration than did the Essenes.
They resembled somewhat the Pythagoreans.
Neither used animal food, and both admitted women to their assemblies.
They were, perhaps, the first to introduce monasticism and asceticism into Christianity.
Essenes. ‑ A religious sect among the Jews, whose name, origin, character, and history are involved in obscurity.
They bore a very important part in the development of Judaism.
It has been asserted that John the Baptist, as well as Jesus Christ, originally issued from their ranks.
More surprising than this, out of Essenism, in the stage of Sabxism, has sprung Islam itself, and in this last development of its tenets and practices are still preserved some of its principal rites.
Notwithstanding that many writers, since the days of the Fathers, have endeavored to throw light on this association or brotherhood, nevertheless it has been far from satisfactory. Josephus, Philo, Pliny, Solinus, Eusebius, and most of the Church Fathers were the only sources from which the real history of this fraternity could be derived.
But from strict examination into this subject it has been found that only from the supposed writings of Philo and the statements of Josephus is there any reliable information to be derived. Of the two books of Philo, in which the Essenes are referred to, one (De Vita Contempladva), it has been proved, was written three centuries after the death of Philo.
The other (Quod Omnis) is of doubtful genuineness, and is at variance with Josephus, in whose account it is generally allowed that the Essenes stand in about the same relation to the real Essenes as the ideal inhabitants of the Germania of Tacitus stand to the real Germans of his times.
There were in Palestine, after the return from Babylon, three different || sects,"‑the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. The Sadducees were a political party, and in religious matters did not accept the views of their opponents, the Pharisees.
The Essenes appear to have been similar to the Pharisees, but of stronger convictions, and more rigid in all their observances. They were not known by the name of Essenes, which was a late designation. The Mishna, Beraitha, and Talmud speak of them as Chasidim (pious men), Nazarini (abstinents), Toble Shacharith (hemero‑baptists), Banai (builders), and Chaberim (friends).
The Arabic book of Maccabees calls them Assidaioi. It has been thought by some writers that during the captivity in Babylonia, the Jews imbibed the notions of the Orient on all religious and mysterious subjects; and also that they became strongly tinctured in their philosophical speculations, with the then prevailing Maaism of the Zoroastrians.
Also, that the asceticism which prevailed so extensively among the religionists of the 94 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Orient was adopted by the more rigid adherents of the Levitical law, and ou their return to Jerusalem, that these views were propagated among the more zealous adherents of that law. Those who followed this course led an ascetic life, and what more natural than that they should by degrees become mystical enthusiasts and fanatics?
They allegorized and symbolized, and finally culminated in seeing the unseen.
In their attempts to fathom the mysteries of the nature of God, they occupied themselves in the study of the name of God; of that ineffable name which the High Priest only was permitted to pronounce once every year, in the Sanctum Sanctorum, on the great Day of Atonement.
"They thought that the knowledge of that name in four, in twelve, and in twenty‑four letters would give them the power of prophecy and of receiving the Holy Ghost." They derived from the Magi their ideas of angelology.
They were sup posed by the common people to be saints and workers of miracles.
A book of cures ascribed to Solomon they had, and with it and various roots and stones, and by imposition of hands, they healed the sick and cast out devils.
It is said that John the Baptist lived among them, and that his habits were similar to theirs.
Eleusinian.‑The Eleusinian Mysteries were celebrated annually as a festival of Ceres, at Eleusis. Many traditions were given in ancient times, to account for their origin. The most generally accepted was that Ceres, wandering over the earth in search of her daughter Proserpine, arrived at Eleusis and rested on the sorrowful stone near the well Callichorus. In return for some act of kindness she taught Triptolemus the use of corn, and there instituted the mystic rites peculiarly known as hers. The outward form of these Mysteries was well known, but their inner meaning has been variously interpreted.
Modern speculation has run wild in attempts to explain them. Bishop Thirlwall finds in them " The remains of a worship which preceded the rise of the Hellenic mythology and its attendant rites, grounded on a view of nature, less fanciful, more earnest, and better fitted to awaken both philosophical thought and religious feeling." There were two parts in this festival,‑the lesser and the greater Mysteries ; the less important served as a preparation for the greater and was held at Agrx, on the Ilissus.
The celebration of the Great Mysteries began at Eleusis, on the 15th of Boedromion, and lasted over nine days.
On the first day those initiated at the preparatory festival were instructed in their sacred duties. On the second day they purified themselves.
On the third, sacrifices were offered.
The fourth day was devoted to the processions of the sacred basket of Ceres, containing pomegranates, salt, poppy seed, etc., drawn in a consecrated cart, and followed by bands of women with smaller baskets, similarly filled. The fifth day was known as `1 the day of the torches," which symbolized the wanderings of Ceres in search of her daughter.
On this day the Mystm, led by the 11 daduchos " (torch‑bearer), walked two and two to the temple ANCIENT SYSTEMS.
95 of the goddess. The sixth day was the great day of the feast, in honor of Iacchus, the son of Ceres, whose statue was borne along the sacred way from the Ceramichus at Athens to Eleusis, where the votaries spent the night and were admitted to the last Mysteries. Thus far they had been only Mystce, but on this night they were admitted to the innermost sanctuary of the temple, and were then called "EpoptV " or " Ephori"; i.e., spectators or contemplators.
They were again purified, and repeated the oath of secrecy.
On the seventh day they returned to Athens with mirth and music. The eighth day was called Epidauria, and was added to the original number of days for the convenience of those who were unable to attend the grand ceremonial of the sixth day.
It was named in honor of ,Esculapius, who arrived from his native city of Epidaurus too late for the solemn rites, and being unwilling to disappoint so distinguished a visitor and benefactor of mankind, this day was added. On the ninth day the ceremony of the " Plemochow " took place, in which two earthen vessels filled with wine were turned, one towards the east, and the other towards the west.
The priest, uttering some mystic words, then upset both vessels, and the spilt wine was thus offered as a libation.
The Ethics of the Mysteries. ‑" The origin as well as the real purport of the' Mysteries, which took no unimportant place among the religious festivals of the classical period, and which, in their ever‑changing nature, designate various phases of religious development in the antique world, is all but unknown. It does seem, indeed, as if the vague speculations of modern times on the subject were an echo of the manifold interpretations of the various acts of the Mysteries given by the priest to the inquiring disciple, according to the light of the former or the latter.
Some investigators, themselves not entirely free from certain mystic influences (like Creuzer and others), have held them to have been a kind of misty orb around a kernel of pure light, the bright rays of which were too strong for the eyes of the multitude; that, in fact, they hid under an outward garb of mummery a certain portion of the real and eternal truth of religion, the knowledge of which had been derived from some primeval, or perhaps the Mosaic, revelation; if it could not be traced to certain (or uncertain), Egyptian, Indian, or generally Eastern sources.
"To this kind of hazy talk, however (which we only mention because it is still repeated every now and then), the real and thorough investigations begun by Lobeck, and still pursued by many competent scholars in our own day, have, or ought to have, put an end. There cannot be anything more alien to the whole spirit of Greek and Roman antiquity than a hiding of abstract truths and occult wisdom under rites and formulas, songs and dances; and, in fact, the Mysteries were anything but exclusive, either with respect to sex, age, or rank, in point of initiation.
It was only the speculative tendency of later times, when Polytheists was on the wane, that tried to symbolize and allegorize these obscure and partly imported ceremonies, the bulk of which had undoubtedly sprung from the midst of the Pelasgian tribes themselves in prehistoric times, and which were intended to represent and to celebrate certain natural phenomena in the visible creation.
There is certainly no reason to deny that some more refined minds may at a very early period have endeavored to impart a higher sense to these wondrous performances; but these can only be considered as solitary instances.
The very fact of their having been put down in later days as public nuisances in Rome herself, speaks volumes against the occult wisdom inculcated in secret assemblies of men and women.
"The Mysteries, as such, consisted of purifications, sacrificial offerings, processions, songs, dances, dramatic performances, and the like. The mystic formulas (Deiknumena, Dromena, Legomena, the latter including the liturgies, etc.), were held as deep secrets, and could only be communicated to those who had passed the last stage of preparation in the Mystagogue's hands. The hold which the nightly secrecy of these meetings, together with their extraordinary worship, 96 ANCIENT MASONRY.
must naturally have taken upon minds more fresh and childlike than our advanced ages can boast of, was increased by all the mechanical contrivances of the effects of light and sound which the priests could command. Mysterious voices were heard singing, whispering, and sighing all around; lights gleamed in manifold colors from above and below; figures appeared and disappeared. The mimic, the tonic, the plastic,‑all the arts, in fact,‑were tasked to their very utmost, to make these performances (the nearest approach to which, in this country, is furnished by transformation scenes, or sensation dramas in general), as attractive and profitable (for the priests), as could be. As far as we have any knowledge of the Mysteries as scenic representations, they generally brought the stories of the special gods or goddesses before the spectator, their births, their sufferings, deaths, and resurrections.
Many were the outward symbols used, of which such as the phallus, the thyrsus, flower baskets, mystic boxes, in connection with special deities, told more or less their own tale, although the meanings supplied by later ages, from the Neo‑Platonists to our own day, are various, and often very amazing.
The most important Mysteries were, in historic times, those of Eleusis and the Thesmophorian, both representing,‑each from a different point of view,‑the rape of Proserpina, and Ceres's search for her; the Thesmophorian Mysteries being also in a manner connected with the Dionysian worship.
There were further those of Zeus at Crete,‑derived from a very remote period,‑of Bacchus himself, of Cybele, and Aphrodite,‑the two latter with reference to the Mystery of Propagation, but celebrated in diametrically opposed ways,‑the former culminating in the self‑mutilation of the worshipper; the latter, in prostitution.
Further, the Mysteries of Orpheus, who in a certain degree was considered the founder of all Mysteries.
Nor were the other gods and goddesses forgotten Hera, Minerva, Diana, Hecate,‑nay, foreign gods, like Mithras, and the like,‑had their due secret solemnities all over the classical soil, and whithersoever Greek (and partly Roman), colonists took their Lares and Penates all over the antique world.
"The beginning of the reaction in the minds of thinking men against their mostly gross and degenerated kind of veneration of natural powers and instincts, is marked by the per:od of the Hesiodic poems; and when, towards the end of the classical periods, the Mysteries were no longer secret, but public orgies of the most shameless kind, their days were numbered. The most subtle metaphysicians, allegorize and symbolize as they might, failed in reviving them, and restoring them to whatever primeval dignity there might have once been inherent in them." CHAPTER IV.
OCCULTISM OF THE ORIENT ‑AND OCCIDENT.
Occultism.‑ When the Mysteries of the Orient became degenerated, and the priests for the maintenance of their order perverted them so that their original purity was corrupted, the ceremonies were so changed that the people at large were led to look upon them as of divine origin. Hierarchal governments were soon established, and, to complete the subjugation of the people, no individual, in Egypt especially, could be made a monarch unless he belonged to the priestly caste.
To keep up this system, magical performances were introduced, whereby the populace were deceived into a firm belief that the gods were realities, and that the archi‑magus was in direct communication with the celestial, mundane, and infernal deities.
As we have shown in a former part of this treatise, the Mysteries progressed from the simple names for the various phenomena manifested in nature to that of a complete system of a Pantheon, predicated upon the various myths which had been handed down traditionally as realities. To show that the OCCULTISM.
97 priests were not at all deceived, it is said one haruspex could not meet another without bursting into a loud laugh.
The most abominable, disgusting, and lascivious practices were introduced, and submitted to by the people, because they were informed that it was by the order of the gods.
We believe, by all that we can learn from various ancient writers, that magical rites, incantations, and deceptive practices were introduced earlier than the days of Zoroaster, and that they spread far and wide from the main centre in Chaldea, into which country they had been introduced from the northern Turanian tribes, who, in all probability, originated them from their natural fetichism. As that was prior to all historic times, and those Turanians never had any records which have ever been discovered, we are mainly dependent upon the remains of the civilization of the Aryan races, who succeeded the Turanians, by the incursions of the Medes and Persians.
We have not the space to examine this point as we would wish, that our reasons for this conclusion might be apparent to all. We must take for granted that, in the progress of these magical practices ascending to a more cultivated and higher civilization, the priests naturally improved upon the "magic" of an earlier day, and gradually acquired such arts as to astonish all beholders, and made themselves to be considered as in immediate communication with higher powers, and enabled to control the laws of nature to a very considerable extent.
The Scriptures plainly indicate that in of soothsayers and magicians. In Egypt formed miracles in the presence of Pharaoh, he did the same things.
From these remote days down to our Era magical performances have been kept up in India and in Egypt.
Prior to our Era the learned men were in the practice of some form of "occultism."
What that was we are now ignorant. There have, however, come down to us works written by learned Hebraists, who tell us of the Kabala, and we have, to some extent, gained a partial knowledge of what Kabalism was designed to effect.
At the present day there are no Kabalists.
Succeeding to them were learned scholars, who devoted nearly all of their lives to the study of occultism, without producing, directly, one atom of usefulness in the world.
Like the astrologers, who were to cast the nativities of all men, their studies led, however, indirectly, to a better comprehension of the valuable science of astronomy.
The alchemists also were the product of occultism.
The search originally for those things thought so'valuable by the alchemists, developed into the most useful science of chemistry; nevertheless, the physicists were in search of that which would convert all metals into gold, and failed to find it; for that which would prolong life indefinitely, and failed; yet they were succeeded by men who became philosophers, and no doubt, under cover of astrological and alchem Babylon itself there were colleges also, when Moses and Aaron percalled for his magicians, who 98 ANCIENT MASONRY: ical researches, were endeavoring to study out the ways of life here, and immortality, or a future state.
We do not doubt that, during the Middle Ages, when all the learning in Europe was confined to the monasteries, and all the manuscripts of the ancient world were to be found only within those monastic walls, the works of the ancients were closely studied, and literature was kept alive by monkish students and antiquaries.
Whewell (" History of Inductive Sciences," P. zi r), on the "Mysticism of the Middle Ages," says: ‑ ' "The examination of this feature in the history of the human mind is important for us, in consequence of its influence upon the employments and the thoughts of the times now under our notice.
This tendency materially affected both men's speculations and their labors in the pursuit of knowledge.
By its direct operation it gave rise to the newer Platonic philosophy among the Greeks, and to corresponding doctrines among the Arabians; and, by calling into a prominent place astrology, alchemy, and magic, it long occupied most of the real observers of the material world.
In this manner it delayed and impeded the progress of true science; for we shall see reason to believe that human knowledge lost more by the perversion of men's minds and the misdirection of their efforts than is gained by any increase of zeal arising from the peculiar hopes and objects of the mystics." Upon the revival of letters, and when the printing‑press was set in motion, books were printed, and so multiplied that others besides the monks could gratify their tastes for research ; then knowledge spread abroad, the mind of man was lifted from its serfdom and servile attachment to old superstitions, and gradually there came about a great release, larger liberty, and independent inquiry into the causes of things. As each succeeding generation improved mentally, intellectually, and morally upon its predecessor, so the laity became lifted up to a level with the most advanced of those who had preceded them.
The Crusades and Freemasonry.‑This progress was greatly accelerated by the thirst for knowledge which followed the crusades. The great wealth of the Orientals, their manners and customs, were adopted by the upper‑classes of the pilgrims, and brought back with those who returned, so that Western Europe was taught the arts and the sciences of life.
Immediately after the close of the last crusade the great advancement of the nations in the west of Europe in civilization required great improvements in all the arts, especially in architecture. The monks had preserved the works on architecture, and became the architects under whose supervision the building art was revived; and hence resulted the magnificent structures which have been the admiration of every succeeding generation. The societies of builders, to whom the names of Masons and Freemasons have been given, then arose, and became the successors of the old Roman " colleges," which had become extinct during the " dark ages," as, in the rude manners and rough, uncouth structures which followed the decline of the Roman Empire, there was no demand for any other than the ignorant laborer for such structures as answered the purposes of northern hordes, who overran the middle and south of Europe.
OCCULTISM.
99 We here present a sample of occultism in the following extracts, for which we are indebted to General Albert Pike, 33|, Grand Commander of the Supreme Council A.‑.A.‑.S.‑.R.‑., Southern jurisdiction, who many years since loaned the writer the manuscript from which it is a copy: ." There are in nature two forces producing an equilibrium, and the three are but a single law. Behold the Ternary summing itself up in Unity; and adding the idea of Unity to that of Ternary, we arrive at the Quarternary, the first squared and perfect number, source of all numerical combinations and principal of all forms.
"Affirmation, negation, discussion, solution,‑such are the four philosophic operations of the human mind; the discussion reconciles the affirmation with the negative by making them necessary the one to the other. So it is that the philosophic Ternary producing itself from the antagonistic Binary completed by the Quarternary, squared basis of all truth.
"In God, according to the consecrated dogma, there are three Persons, and these Persons are but a single God.
Three and one give the idea of four, because the Unity is necessary to explain the three.
"Therefore in almost all languages the name of God is of four letters [Jed, He repeated, and Vav], since one of them is repeated; and that expresses the WORD and the creation of the WORD.
"Two affirmations make possible or necessary two corresponding negations. _ Existence Is," means Notkin;ness Is NOT. The affirmative, as Word, produces the affirmative as realization or Incarnation of the Word, and each of these affirmations corresponds to the negation of its contrary.
"So it is that, according to the expression of the Kabalists, the name of the Devil as Evil is composed of the letters upside down of the very name of the Deity, or the Good "This Evil is the lost reflection, or imperfect mirage of the Light in the Shadow.
"But all that exists, whether in the Good or in the Evil, in the Light or in the Shadow; exists and is revealed by the Quarternary.
"The Affirmative of the Unity supposes the number four, if this Affirmative does not resolve in the Unity itself, as in the vicious circle; wherefore the Ternary, as we have already remarked, is explained by the Binary, and is resolved by the Quarternary, which is the squared Unity of the equal members and the quadrangular base of the Cube, Unit of Construction, Solidity, and Measure.
"The Kabalistic Tetragram YODHEVA expresses God in Humanity, and Humanity in God " The four cardinal astronomical points are relatively to us the Yes and No of Light, the East and the West; and the Yes and No of HEAT, the South and North.
"What is in visible nature reveals, as we already know, by the single dogma of the Kabala, that which is in the domain of invisible nature, or second causes at all points proportioned and analogous to the manifestations of the First Cause.
"Wherefore this First Cause has always revealed itself by the Cross, the Cross, that unit composed of two, each of the two divided to form four; the Cross, that key of the mysteries of India and Egypt, the Tau of the Patriarchs, the divine Sign of Osiris, the Stanros of the Gnostics, the Key‑Stone of the Temple, the Symbol of Occult Masonry; the Cross, that central point of junction of the right angles
‑
‑1 of two infinite Triangles; the Cross, which in the French language seems to be the first root of the verb croitre (to believe, and to grow or increase), thus uniting the ideas of Science, Religion, and Progress.
"(It is an apt emblem and symbol of Infinity; because its four arms, each infinitely prolonged, would infinitely diverge, the distance between them infinitely increasing). The incommunicable axiom is Kabalistically contained in the four letters of the Tetragram, thus arranged: in the letters of the words AZOTH and INRI, written Kabalistically, and in the Monogram of Christ, as it was embroidered on the Labarum, and which the Kabalist Postel interpreted by the word ROTA, from which the Adepts have formed their TARO, or TAROT, repeating the first letter to indicate the circle, and to give it to be understood that the word has returned.
"The whole magical science consists in the knowledge of this secret.
To know it and to dare without serving is Human Omnipotence; but to reveal it to a profane is to lose it; to reveal it even to a disciple is to abdicate in favor of that disciple.
I00 ANCIENT MASONRY.
"The perfect word, that which is adequate to the thought which it expresses, always virtually contains or supposes a Quarternary: the idea and its three necessary and correlative forms; and then also the image of the thing expressed, with the three terms of the judgment which qualifies it. When I say Being exists, I impliedly affirm that Nothingness does not exist.
"A Height, a Length, which the Height geometrically cuts in two; a Depth separated from the Height by the intersection of the Length,‑this is the natural Quarternary, composed of two lines crossing each other; there are also in nature four movements produced by two forces, which sustain each other by their tendencies in opposite directions.
"But the law which rules bodies is analogous and proportioned to that which governs spirits; and that which governs spirits is the very manifestation of the secret of God.
That is to say, of the mystery of the creation."
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. I. pp. 66‑97.) From the Book, ='fJiUM
or Porta Ccelorum of Rabbi Abraham Cohen Sura, of Portugal, Dissertation VII. cap. a : ‑ 1 r. Jod ['ti or 'I], because simple is a one and first, somewhat, and is like unto the Unit, which is prime to all other numbers, and to a point, which is the first of all bodies; a point moved lengthwise produces a line, or Vav, 1 or j, and this moved sideways produces a supevfacies, and so from Vav becomes Daleth, 7 ; formation tends from the right toward the left, and communication is from the higher to the lower, and this is the full expression [plenitude] of this letter, Jod, thus: '11', Jod, Vav, Daleth, i.e., I or J or Y, V or U, and D, making IUD, YOD, or JOD.
But Vav and Daleth are numerically ro, as Jod, their principle, is.
Moreover, if Daleth becomes more dense, and to it is added depth, then we have a body wherein are all the dimensions; thus ,1, He, which is the symbol of profundity [depth].
Thus Yod is the point or unity, Vav the perpendicular line, Daleth a super/icies, and He represents a square.
3. Thence, one corresponds to the point; two to the line, because a line is extension between two points; three to a superficies, because the first of plain figures is a triangle formed by lines connecting three points.
Four points constitute the first body, which is a cube.
But in the Quarter nary [4] ro are contained, thus r, a, 3, 4 = ro, and thus the Tetragrammaton is in itself Unity, but contains in itself z; that is, the two letter " He" contains also 3 (i.e., its three different letters, Yod, He, and Vav) ; and contains also 4 (i.e., the four several letters,', 7, 1, 'T). It also contains in itself 5, of which figure, He is the cypher, 6, of which Vav is the cypher, 7, in the mode of writing called J=, 52, whose lesser number is (5 + z) 7 ; 8, because the number of the NAME is 26, whose lesser number is z+6=8; q, in the modes of writing, w, qa; MPG, 63; 7t, 45, and ~=; the final Nun denoting boo, and Beth z ; and the lesser number of 702 being (7 + o + o + z) q ; and io, because in the said Plentitude [YOD‑HE‑VAV‑HE] are ten letters. So that the Tetragrammaton contains all the numbers; and as in ro all the numbers are contained, so in the Quarternary are all bodies contained; and these numbers are the two symbols of Universal Perfection, and by them all things are measured and numbered, they being the similitudes of the Ten Sephiroth of the zEnsophic World, which is the cause of the other four worlds [AZILUTH, BRIAH, JEZIRAH, and AsIAH], ordinarily expressed by the word V'SX, ABIA, formed by their initials.
The Magic Triangle of the Pagan Theosophites is the celebrated ABRACADABRA A B R A C A D A B R A B R A C A D A B A B R A C A D A A B R A C A D ABRACA A B R A C
Denary of Pythagoras. A B R A ABR A B A
. . . .
to which they ascribed extraordinary virtues, and which they figured in an equilateral triangle as above.
OCCULTISM.
Numberofletters 66=6+6=12=3X4‑6‑1‑6‑{‑6=18=9
, 666.
This combination of letters is the Key of the Pentagram. The initial A is repeated in the single word five times, and reproduced in the whole figure thirty times, which gives the elements and numbers of the two figures No. 5 and No. 6.
The isolated A represents the Unity of the first principle, or of the Intellectual or Active Agent.
The A united with the B represents the fecundation of the Binary by Unity. The R is the sign of the Ternary, because it hierographically represents the effusion that results from the union of the two principles.
The number of letters in the single word (ii) adds one (Unity) of the Initiate to the denary of Pythagoras; and the whole number of all the letters added together is 66.
Kabalistically 6+6 forms the number 12, the number of a square whereof each side is the ternary 3, and consequently the mystic quadrature of the Circle.
The author of the Apocalypse that
of the Christian Kabala has made up the number of the Beast, that is to say of Idolatry, by adding a 6 to the double senary (66‑making 666) of the Abracadabra, which Kabalistically (6+6+6) gives 18, the number assigned in the Jarot to the hieroglyphic sign of Night and of the Profane.
The Moon with the towers, the Dog, the Wolf, and the Crab, ‑a mysterious and obscure number, the Kabalistic Key of which is 9, the. number of initiation.
On this subject the sacred Kabalist says: " Let him who has understanding [that is to say, the Key of the Kabalistic numbers] calculate the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a Man, and this number is 666." [Rev.,xiii. r8.] This is in fact the decade of Pythagoras multiplied by itself, and added to the sum of the triangular Pentacle of Abracadabra; it is therefore the summary of all the magic of the ancient world; the entire programme of the human genius, which the divine genius of the Gospel wished to absorb or supplant.
These hieroglyphical combinations of letters and numbers belong to the practical part of the Kabala, which, in this point of view, is divided into Gematria and Temurah. These calculations, which now seem to us arbitrary and uninteresting, then belonged to the philosophic symbolism of the Orient, and were of the greatest importance in the teaching of the holy things which emanated from the occult sciences. The absolute Kabalistic alphabet, which connected the first ideas with allegories, allegories with letters, and letters with numbers, was what was then called the Keys of Solomon. We have already seen that these keys, preserved unto our day, but completely unknown, are nothing else than the game of JAROT, whose ancient allegories have been remarked and appreciated for the first time in our days by the learned antiquary, Count de Gebelin.
The double triangle of Solomon is explained by Saint John in a remarkable manner: "There are," he says, "three witnesses in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and three witnesses in earth, the breath, the water, and the Word." He thus agrees with the masters of the Hermetic philosophy, who give their sulphur the name of ether; their mercury the name of philosophical water; and style their salt dragon's blood, or menstruum of the earth; the blood or the salt corresponding by apposition with the Father,' the aortic or mercurial water with the Word or Logos, and the breath with the Holy Spirit.
But matters of lofty symbolism can only be well understood by the true condition of science.
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. II. PP‑ 3r‑35.) The Holy and Mysterious Pentagram, called in the Gnostic schools the Blazing Star (L'Etoile flamboyante), is the sign of Intellectual Omnipotence and Autocracy.
It is the star of the Magi; it is the sign of THE WORD MADE FLESH, and according to the direction of its rays, this absolute symbol 24 represents Good or Evil, Order or Disorder, the blessed Lamb of Ormuzd (Ahur6‑Mazda6), and Saint John, or the accursed Goat of Mendes (see p. 49).
It is initiation or profanation; it is Lucifer or Vesper, the morning or the evening star It is Mary or Lilith, victory or death, light (day) or darkness (night).
When the Pentagram elevates two of its points, it represents Satan, or the goat of the Mysteries; and when it elevates one of its points only, it represents the Saviour, goodness, virtue.
101
102 ANCIENT MASONRY.
The Pentagram is the figure of the human body, with four limbs and a single point, which should represent the head.
A human figure, with the head downward, naturally represents a demon; that is to say, intellectual overturning, disorder, or insanity. But if magic is a reality, if this occult science is the veritable law of the three worlds, this absolute sign, old as history, and more than history, should exercise, and does in fact exercise, an incalculable influence over spirits freed from their material envelopes.
The sign of the Pentagram is also called the sign of the Microcosm, and it represents what the Kabalists of the book Sohar call Microprosopos.
The complete understanding of the Pentagram is the key of the two worlds.
It is absolute natural philosophy and science.
The sign of the Pentagram should be composed of seven metals, or at least be traced in pure gold on white marble.
We may also draw it with vermilion on a lamb‑skin without spot or blemish, symbol of integrity and light.
The ancient magicians drew the sign of the Pentagram on their doorsteps, to prevent evil spirits from entering and good ones from going out.
This constraint resulted from the direction of the rays of the star.
Two points directed outwardly repelled the evil spirits; two directed inwardly retained them prisoners; a single point within captivated the good spirits.
The G which Freemasons place in the centre of the blazing star signifies GNOSIS and GENERATION, the two sacred words of the ancient Kabala.
It also means the GRAND ARCHITECT, for the Pentagram, on whatever side we view it, represents an A.
All the Mysteries of Magic, all the symbols of the Gnosis, all the figures of Occultism, all the Kabalistic keys of prophecy, are summed up in the sign of the Pentagram, which Paracelsus pronounces the greatest and most potent of all signs.
Those who heed not the sign of the Cross, tremble at the sight of the Star of the Microcosm.
The Magus, on the contrary, when he feels his will grown feeble, turns his eyes toward this symbol, takes it in his right hand, and feels himself armed with intellectual omnipotence, provided he is really a King worthy to be led by the Star to the cradle of the divine. realization; provided he Knows, Dares, Wills, and is SILENT . . . ; provided, in fine, that the intrepid gaze of his soul corresponds with the two eyes which the upper point of the Pentagram always presents to him open.
(De la Haute Magic, Vol. II. PP. 55‑62.) The whole revolutionary work of modern times was symbolically summed up by the Napoleontc substitution of the Star of Honor for the Cross of Saint Louis. It was the Pentagram substituted for the Labarum, the reinstatement of the symbol of light, the Masonic resurrection of Adon‑hiram.
It is said that Napoleon believed in his star, and if he could have been persuaded to say what he understood by this star, it would have been found that it was his own genius; and therefore he was in the right to adopt for his sign the Pentagram, that symbol of human sovereignty by the intelligent initiative.
(Id., Vol. II. pp. 83, 84.) One of these medals has become popular in our times, so that even those who have no religion hang it on the necks of their children.
The figures on it are so perfectly Kabalistic that the medal is really a double and admirable Pentacle.
On one side we see the Grand Initiation, the Celestial Mother of the Sohar, the Isis of Egypt, the Venus Urania of the Platonists, the Mary of Christianity, standing upon the world and setting one foot on the head of the Magic Serpent.
She extends her two hands so that they form a triangle, whereof the head of the woman is the apex; her hands are open, and emitting rays, which make of them a double Pentagram when the rays are all directed towards the earth, which evidently represents the emancipation of the intelligence of labor.
On the other side we see the double Tau of the Hierophants, the Lingam in the double cteis or in the triple Phallus supported with the interlacing and double insertion of the Kabalistic and Masonic M, representing the square between the two columns, Iachin and Boaz. Above are placed on a level two hearts, loving and suffering, and around twelve Pentagrams. (Id. Vol. II. PP‑ 84. 85ò) The culmination of all the Mysteries of the Orient was accomplished in the coming of the "MEss1AH"; Hebrew, Afdshiah from Hashah, to Anoint; OCCULTISM.
103 hence the ANOINTED ONE; Christos, Latin; Christos, Greek; Krishna, Sanscrit.
The whole world of man had come under the domination of Rome, the empire of which had extended beyond the utmost limits of the known world of the Greek Empire, which had followed that of Persian kings. These several empires had been prophesied by Daniel when the Jewish nation was in captivity under the king of Babylon.
The Rev. Dr. Nelson, who was at one time disposed to become an infidel, took up, scientifically, the examination of the prophecies to prove their falsity, and he became convinced from the known history of all of those empires and the succeeding events, since the commencement of the present Era, that the book of Daniel did, most assuredly and incontestably, foretell the events connected with the world's history from his day down to the present century. This is well shown in his work, "The Cause and Cure of Infidelity." In the preceding pages it has been clearly set forth that, from the very earliest records of the past ages, and from all the sources of our knowledge of the " Spirit History of Man," it is palpably evident that mankind acknowledged their "lost estate " and were relying upon the promise made, that a "restoration" should come in and through a" Divine Redeemer," who should be known as the ANOINTED ONE, Christos.
When it was noised abroad over the Roman Empire that 11 Christ " had been born in Judea, heathen sacrifices generally ceased, and all the learned men and philosophers hailed his Advent. What has subsequently occurred is a matter of history, well known to all intelligent men everywhere.
When the " Middle Ages " became dark, and, through the all‑prevailing religious and superstitious practices of the hierarchy of Rome, learning was driven from the homes of the people and strictly confined to the clergy, and, as has been previously stated, all the writings of the ancients were collected into the recesses of the monasteries, the monks and priests were the only persons who possessed a knowledge of the history of man. To thetas we are largely, if not wholly, indebted for our knowledge of the Mysteries of the various ancient nations; and when we compare the philosophy of the " religious idea," as it existed during the middle centuries, and the forms and ceremonies of the Roman rituals, we are convinced that they were almost entirely derived from the practices of Oriental religious observances. A French historian of mathematics says: " It is impossible not to reflect that all those men who, if they did not augment the treasure of the sciences, at least served to transmit it, were monks, or had been such originally.
Convents were during these stormy ages the asylum of the sciences and letters." A recent clergyman of the Church of England says: "Christianity is, in fact, the reintegration of all scattered religious convictions, and this accounts for the adoption by the Church of so many usages belonging primarily to Paganism, and for the doctrines of the creed resembling in so many points 104
ANCIENT MASONRY.
the traditions of heathenism."
This is said of the Christianity of man‑not of that of the Gospel and the Apostles ! M. Gilliot says: "The use of the temple, of churches dedicated to saints and adorned with branches of trees on certain occasions ; incense, lamps, tapers, votive offerings made upon convalescence, holy water, asylum festivals, and ember seasons ; calendars, processions, the benediction of land, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the marriage ring, turning to the East, devotion to images, even, may be, the strains of the Church, the ` Kyrie eleison,' ‑ all of these customs and many others are of Oriental origin, sanctified by the adoption of, the Church." (Gilliot, L'Orient, 1'Occident, etc.) This is essentially the fetichism of the heathen world transferred to the Church.
It has been the custom of modern writers on Masonry to claim that our Speculative or Philosophical Masonry is the outgrowth of the Operative lodges which existed partially down to the early part of the eighteenth century, and that the Speculative system was completed in r 717, by the organization of the first Grand Lodge. It has been the opinion of the writer, that at that convention in St. Paul's Church Yard, June 24, 1717, " Speculative Masonry " was revived out of the almost " moribund " Operative guilds of " Masons " and " Free Masons," who, with all the other guilds, and the "Twelve Great Corporations " of London, and all similar associations in Scotland and Ireland, and also in France, Germany, and Italy, derived their existence originally from the permission or charters granted by the Church of Rome for the purpose of erecting religious houses of every character.
There is a possibility that the idea of such associations originated in the " Colleges of Architects " and " Colleges of Artisans," which had been instituted in the time of Numa Pompilius, 715 B.C. ; and hence it has been the hypothesis of writers that modern Masonic lodges are derived from these colleges. It is only hypothetical, and has not been proven. These colleges were probably organized upon the plan of the ancient mystic associations which we have described.
That |` learning" or a knowledge of the sciences, both natural and applied, was kept alive by the clergy, we refer to Whewell's "History of Philosophy," pp. x86‑207 The history of the guilds and great corporations has been repeatedly published, and our limits forbid any extended reference thereto. That our present Masonic lodge system is due to these corporations is perhaps correct, but that Speculative or Philosophical Masonry, as it has been developed since 1723, when ritualism commenced, derived any of its principles from Operative Masonry, we cannot admit. It has never been demonstrated that in all the guilds, corporations, and other associations of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was anything whatever that could serve as a foundation for the philosophy of Masonry, as it has since been understood.
When we critically examine the rituals of all the degrees, from the Entered Apprentice to the :Master in " Blue Masonry," and all the succeeding degrees OCCULTISM.
105 from whatever rite they may have been derived, we discover in the forms, the language, and the secret words, everything has been taken from the Hebrew. Every word is KABALisTIc. What, then, is the inference? The Kabalists were the inventors of the rituals of the original degrees, and Kabalistic scholars in France and Germany have multiplied the degrees by elaborating upon the || legends " of the first three.
We have no space to devote to a proper critical examination of this subject, and must leave it for future explorers to fully demonstrate. Our own conclusion was long since made: that there was originally in Speculative Masonry but one ritual, which was very simple; out of that one trunk have grown all the branches, and the fruit from these bears the resemblance of Hermeticism and the Kabala.
Every Mason who has advanced beyond the Third degree, if he has paid any attention to Masonry as a true system, a science, or a philosophy, must have discovered that those who invented the succeeding degrees were endeavoring to teach, by emblems, symbols, and allegories, the most important truths which could engage the attention of intelligent minds.
It has been well settled by our recent writers on Masonry, such as W. J. Hughan, A. F. A. Woodford, R. F. Gould, in England, and D. Murray Lyon in Scotland, that as early as 1723 a ritual was in use, but no reliable evidence, that prior to A.D. 1717, there was more than one ceremony, with a word, or words, and signs. The Master Mason was so called after he became the presiding officer of his lodge;' and when an apprentice was to be " Crafted," two apprentices should be present to witness the ceremony. Apprentices, then as now, in all countries but the United States, constituted the membership of lodges, and in that degree all business was, and is yet, transacted. About the middle of the last century, upon the introduction of the Royal Arch degree into England from France by Chevalier Ramsay, the ritual of the Third degree was changed, and the most important secrets were placed in the Royal Arch; and hence, since then, a Mason who has only received the Third degree is not a Master until he has been elected to preside, and not even then is he a Master Mason proper, until he shall have received the secrets of the Royal Arch, which can only be given to a Past Master.
Now the loss sustained in the Third degree represents the "Aphanisvn " of the Ancient Mysteries, and the " recovery " in the Royal Arch represents the "Euresis." "Aphanizo" means to "conceal"; "Euresis" means a " discovery." The Third degree, the Royal Arch, and the Select of 2 7, are all designed to imitate the Ancient Mysteries, and from the Hebrew character manifested in them we have thought they were the result of the Kabalistic works which 1 Extract from " Constitutions " of Grand Lodge of England, 1847.
"Ancient Charges," p. 7. " N.B. In ancient times no brother, however skilled in the craft, was called a Master Mason until he had been elected into the chair of a lodge." io6 ANCIENT MASONRY.
were much studied during the last century in Europe, from the middle to the close of which there were invented and introduced many hundred degrees to elaborate the legends. Of all these degrees none have survived except such as could contribute to the advancement, intellectually and morally, of the Fraternity.
The various degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite consisted of twentyfive degrees, or Rite of Perfection, until the organization of the Supreme Council at Charleston, S.C., in 1802, after which that rite was called the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, from the Latin Constitutions, "Antiquus Scoticus Ritus Acceplus," which were divided into Ineffable, Knightly, and Philosophic, all of which, we presume, will be succinctly described in the division of this volume devoted to that rite.
Inasmuch as the building art, at its revival in the latter part of the Middle Ages, was due to the progress of scientific ideas, and which was the prelude to the period of discovery, we may refer to their practical architecture and to the treatises of that period : ‑ " The indistinctness of ideas which attended the decline of the Roman Empire appears in the forms of their architecture, in the disregard which the decorative construction exhibits of the necessary mechanical conditions of support.
"The original scheme of Greek ornamental architecture had been horizontal masses resting on vertical columns; when the arch was introduced by the Romans, it was concealed or kept in a state of subordination, and the lateral support which it required was supplied latently, marked by some artifice. But the struggle between the mechanical and decorative construction ended in the complete disorganization of the classical style (order), 'the inconsistencies and extravagancies of which were the results and indications of the fall of good architecture.
The elements of the ancient system had lost all principle of connection and regard to rule. Building became not only a mere art, but an art exercised by masters without skill and without feeling for real beauty." When, in the twelfth and succeeding centuries, architecture was revived in the beautiful and skilful forms of the Gothic style, " the true idea of mechanical relations in an edifice had been revived in men's minds, as far as was requisite for the purposes of art and beauty." Willis, in his " Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages," says that much of the Mason‑craft of those ages consisted in the geometrical methods by which the artists wrought out of the blocks of stone the complex forms of their decorative system.
In view of what has been said upon the Mysteries, and the Mystic associations, we must not be surprised to find among the earliest treatises on Architecture, "besides the superstition and mistaken erudition which thus choked the growth of real architectural doctrines, another of the peculiar element‑. of the Middle Ages comes into view, ‑its mysticism. The dimensions and positions of the various parts of edific|_s and of their members are determined by drawing triangles, squares, circles, and other figures in such a manner as to bound them; and to these geometrical figures were assigned many abstruse significations.
The plan and front of the Cathedral at Milan are thus repre‑ OCCULTISM.
107 sented in Cesariano's work, bounded and subdivided by various equilateral triangles; and it is easy to see, in the earnestness with which he points out these relations, the evidence of a fanciful and mysterious turn of thought." This work of Cesariano was translated into German and published in 1548. Stuart (Arch. Dic.) says: ‑ "Those who have seen the exact accounts in records of the charge of fabrics of some of our cathedrals, near four hundred years old, cannot but have a great esteem for their economy, and admire how soon they erected such lofty structures. Indeed, great height they thought the greatest magnificence; few stones were used, but what a man might carry up a ladder, on his back, from scaffold to scaffold, though they had pulleys and spoked wheels upon occasion; but having rejected cornices,they had no need of great engines; stone upon stone was easily piled up to great heights; therefore, the pride of their works was in pinnacles and steeples.
In this they essentially differed from the Roman mode, which laid all the mouldings horizontally, in order to make the best perspective; and they made their pillars of a bundle of little toruses, which divided when they came to the roof; and then these toruses split into many smaller ones, and, traversing one another, gave occasion to the tracery work (as it is called) of which this society were the inventors (Freemasons).
They used the sharp‑pointed arch, which would rise with little centring, required lighter key‑stones, and less butment, and yet would bear another row of double arches rising from the key‑stone; by diversifying of which, they erected structures of eminence, such as the steeples of Vienna, Strasburg, and others in different countries." Sir Christopher Wren, who was the last General Superintendent, sometimes called the Grand Master, of that wreck of Freemasonry which had survived to his day, in his " Parentalia," says that the practice of the pointed arch exclusively belonged to the Fraternity of the Freemasons; and yet there is no evidence that he had ever been initiated into the Order, until long after he had ceased to superintend the great works of that day. ( Vide Gould's History of Masonry, Vol. III. pp. 5 et seq.) From all the examinations which we have been enabled to make, we have come to the conclusion that until the organization of lodges, under the revival in 1717, what were called the " Mysteries of the Craft " were the peculiar methods or rules employed in the special Art, and by which the Craft was enabled to construct such magnificent buildings, which have survived for hundreds of years, and have been the admiration of succeeding centuries, and have also been the models for subsequent architects to the present day.
Stuart says of Sir C. Wren : " His distaste towards the attractive style used by this skilful association is sufficiently known. It would appear that he could not fathom the rules of art by which their work were governed, and politicly affected to despise that which he lacked invention to imitate."
Yet he also says of Wren, whom he calls " Surveyor General," and quoting from Mr. Hooke, || that since the time of Archimides, there scarcely ever have met in one man, in so great a perfection, such a mechanical hand and so philosophic a mind." Conclusion.‑This treatise upon the Ancient Mysteries would not be complete without some reference to the MYSTERIES, involved in the MOSAIC Dispensation, which was established by the Authority of God, at Mount Sinai, 108 ANCIENT MASONRY.
and continued until the ADVENT of the promised MESSIAH, as believed by all of the Christian faith, and which PERSONAGE IS yet looked for by the Jews, scattered as they are among all the nations of the earth at the present day. Also, that special reference should be made to CHRISTIANITY, which was established immediately after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, as a distinct form of Religion by his Apostles who had received their instructions from him while they were his DISCIPLES, including all necessary instructions for the proper establishment of his CHURCH in every region of the earth.
It was stated in the introduction that there was a remarkable coincidence in the names of the first ten patriarchs from Adam to Noah, which, being interpreted consecutively from the first to the tenth, enunciated the very foundation of what is called the Christian dogma.
The entire system of the Mosaic Dispensation was designed to prepare the peculiar people of God, the descendants of Abraham, with whom God made the Solemn Covenant that through his SEED " the whole world should be blessed," which was to be the fulfilment of the promise to Adam, that the " SEED Of the Woman should bruise the head of the Serpent," but that the `| Serpent should bite his heel."
And all of these promises were completed in the Crucifixion of the CHRIST.
Herein lie all Mysteries of both dispensations, in completion of the " type " and " anti‑type " which had been imitated in all Gentile Mysteries which have been detailed in the preceding pages, under each distinctive head.
It is impossible, in the space left in this treatise, to enter upon a comparison ; suffice it that the suggestion be thrown out for each one to take up the subject for his own examination.
We cannot, however, close without stating that the Crucifixion of the CHRISTOS was a realization of the figurative promise to Adam. Let us notice the Antithesis in that promise ‑ the Serpent, the symbol of all Evil; the Seed of the Woman, the symbol of all Good.
The Good should bruise the HEAD Of the EVIL; but the EVIL, should BITE the HEEL of the GOOD.
The Evil was not destroyed, only bruised; the HEEL or lowest extremity of Good was simply bitten.
The CHRIST was sacrificed, but rose again from the dead, triumphing over all the EVIL; and in and through HIM, by FAITH, shall all the world be made whole and cured from the bite of the Serpent; as he, although bitten by the death of the Cross, survived and ascended to his original place, so shall all the world, by the act of FAITH, arise again from the death of sin, and ascend to the state of innocence, from which Man fell when he disobeyed the commands of God in Eden; and each man has since fallen by constant disobedience, which is figuratively represented by " biting of the heel." To those who wish to proceed in such an examination into the Mysteries involved in the Christianity which followed the Jewish Dispensation, we append the following passages in the New Testament, that they may read the context in each reference, and discover the pertinence thereof, viz. : ‑ CONCL USION.
1:09 Mark iv. ix: Mystery of the kingdom.
Rom. xi. 25: Not to be ignorant of this Mystery; xvi. 25 : According to the revelation of the Mystery.
I Cor. ii. 7: Speak of the wisdom of God in a Mystery; iv. r : Stewards of the Mystery of God; xiii.2: Prophesy and understand all Mysteries; xiv. 2: In the Spirit he speaketh Mystery; xv. 51: I shew you a Mystery.
We shall not all.
Eph. i. q: Make known Mysteries of his will; iii. g, 4: My knowledge in Mystery; 9 : Fellowship of Mystery; v. 32: This is a great Mystery of Christ and the Church; v. rq : Make known the Mysteries of the Gospel.
Col. i. 26: Mysteries which have been hid, but; 27: Glory in this Mystery among Gentiles; ii. 2: To acknowledge the Mystery of God; iv, g: Open a door to speak the Mysteries of Christ. I Tim. iii. q: Holding the Mysteries of the faith; 16: Great is the, Mystery of godliness. Rev. i. 20: Write the Mystery of the Seven Stars; x. 7 : The Mystery of God should be finished.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
Baal.‑Numbers : and 2 are human heads, with symbols derived from the ox added to them. Some of the Fathers thought the head only of the idol Baal had the bestial form.
These figures prove that they reasoned from what was common in the forms of idols in their days.
In No. r the stars show how the Israelites might " take up the star of their god "; i.e., portrayed on medals, etc., carried about with them, as amulets for protection, as we have shown was the custom in all the Mysteries of the Orient.
The garland of vine leaves and grapes in No. 2 shows that it is allied to Bacchus, with two apples on the head, whereby it is allied to Ceres or to Pomona; i.e., it indicates a fruit‑bearing divinity, perhaps Isis fructifera.
No. 3 is from Montfaucon, and the Greek inscription accompanying it says that this has been offered and consecrated, at his own expense, by Titus Aurelius Heliodorus Hadrian, to Aglibolos and to Malachbelus, the gods of Palmyra, with a symbol [or small statue] of silver, for the preser vation of himself, of his wife, and of his children in the year 547, in the month Peritus [February], A.D. 234.
These two figures no doubt represent Baal and Moloch.
No. 4 represents the head of a four‑horned goat, and shows the "Pentalpha" reversed.
No. 5 is the Venus of Egypt, with the dove in the right hand and a staff in the other.
The dove was always the insignia of Venus.
This medal is from Tentyra, Egypt; Strabo mentions a temple of Venus at Tentyra.
No. 6 is also a medal of Venus, represented as Astarte, having a long cross in her hand and the sacred calathus, or bushel, on her head.
Dag‑on, or aun (Fig. y).‑The Hebrew word dag, may be translated as a "preserver of any kind from the dangers of the waters," as in the cases of Noah and Jonah.
From "Asiatic Researches," Vol. VI. p. 480: "The Buddhists say that it is Budd'ha Nar'ayana, or Budd'ha dwelling in the waters; but the Hindoos, who live in that country, call him Mach'odar Nath, or the sovereign prince in the belly of the fish. The title of Mach'odar Natha properly belongs to Noah, for by the belly of the fish they understand the cavity, or inside, ofthe Ark.
From Jonah ii. x, we make this extract: "And Jehovah prepared a great dag to include Jonah ; and Jonah was in the internal parts of the dag, and Jonah prayed from the internal parts of this dagah "; viz.: He dag ah, where he is emphatic and demonstrative, THIS dagah.
In David Levi's Lingua Sacra we find besides his first definition of dag, a fish, the second, which says, " a small ship, a fishing‑smack." Amos iv. 2 says, " and your posterity in fishing‑vessels."
"Dr. Taylor, in his 'Concordance, renders it navicula, a small ship, dagah.
Targ. Jona. makes it, 'and your daughters in the fisher man's ship.'
The Talmudical Hebrew makes it, ' a cock‑boat, a skiff.'
The Chaldee makes it, a small ship." From the root, dg, dag, dig, dug, thus variously spelled, there are two senses, each of which signifies to preserve from water: rst, a fish, because it is preserved under water; 2d, a ship, because preserved on the water. Query, Could our words dig and dug be original words 1 Our first canoes were dug out of logs.
Of the figure of Dagon there is an ancient fable.
The Oannes, who was half a man and half a fish, came to Babylon and taught several arts, and afterward returned to the sea. . ..
"There were several of these Cannes: the name of one was Odacon, i.e., O'Dagon [the Dagon].
Berosus said of him, 'he had the body and head of a fish, and above the head of the fish he had a human head, and below the tail of the fish he had human feet.
This is the true figure of Dagon.
Etymologically, Dagon is composed of dag, and aun.
Ammon is also composed of ham and aun, which may refer to Noah, or Nau, and was originally ham‑nay, ‑a transposition which is common in antiquity." Any means the generative power of Deity, Divine potency or energy, the originai creative principle of the Almighty.
"If Ham‑nau was in sense equivalent to Ham of Natt or Noah, Dag‑nau might be equivalent to the Dag of Nau, or Noah, i.e., the fish, as the Hebrew word dag imports, of Nau." If aun be taken as generative power, as it means thus in Hebrew, Gen. Aix. 3; Dent. xxi. 17,
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
113
it will equally lead, personally understood, to the great second progenitor of the human race, i.e., Noah. Masons may hence find a correct meaning of the "Substitute," if they will remove the initial of the last word to the end of the second, and prefix the second with H', instead of H alone; it will then be " of the Father."
The meaning then will be the same identically with the " TRUE." Aun is translated Aven when applied to Beth‑el, where one of the " calves " of Jeroboam was set up‑" House of Idols or Vanity." As Oannes came on shore, and after teaching returned to the sea at night, to what did he return but to some vessel out of which he came in the morning?
Berosus represents Oannes as coming out of the fish.
As the word dog implies a preservation from water, so Oannes coming out and returning to something which swam upon the waters, symbolized by a fish, whose constant residence is in or upon the waters, and passes in safety and is secure amid storms and tempests, so the idea of a structure containing persons who were preserved from the boisterous and perilous waves became connected with the idea of a fish, which emblematically denoted safety from the waters.
"Properly to understand the import of the figure of Dag‑aun, we must separate into two parts the ideas which compose it. rst. We must consider the human part, aun or nau, as' issuing out of,' and in itself entirely independent of, zd., his protection, means of preservation, dwelling, residence; that which had safely carried him through the waters; that from which he could 'come out,' and to which he could'retire'; that which was symbolized by the form of a fish, and was denoted by the word dog.
For it follows evidently, that this dad was no part of the real person of Wait'; as a man's house, which he quits in the morning, . . . and to which he returns in the evening, is no part of that man's person. . . .
Accept, therefore, the idea of 'the preserver of Nau,' as implied in the compound word Dag‑aun, which word in Hebrew signifies a fish, say the etymologists, from its fertility; and corn, from its increase.
Dagon may also allude to preservation, as a fish is preserved in the waters; to preservation, as corn is preserved in the earth; both in reference to newness of life; for, indeed, Dagon is called Siton, the god of corn.
By some Dagon was said to be Saturn; others say he was Jupiter.
Represented as part woman and part fish, Venus was indicated, whom the Egyptians worshipped under the form of a fish, because in the war of Typhon against the gods, Venus concealed herself under this shape.
Ovid and Diod. Sic. say, that at Askelon the goddess Derketo, or Atergatis, was worshipped under the figure of a woman, with the lower parts of a fish; Lucian, de Dea. Syr., also thus describes her under this form." The Scriptures show that the statue of Dagon was human in the upper part, as when that image fell down before the Ark of the Covenant, in x Sam. v. 4, 5.
Sanchoniathon, apud Euse bius, says that Dagon means Siton, the god of wheat.
Dagon in Hebrew also means wheat.
Probably Ceres, the goddess of plenty, was meant.
Elain says that among the names of Ceres, Sito was one. She is represented in some medals, as those of Syracuse, delineated with fish around her.
Ceres is sometimes described with the attributes of Isis, who was the goddess of fertility among the Egyptians.
We can arrive at no other conclusion than this.
Originally the Sun was the great central object of worship.
He was considered the beneficent creator of all things earthly; because from his light and heat were produced all vegetables and animals.
He arose from the SEA in the morning; continued, during the day, shining and warming all things, producing the beneficial results experienced by man, and at night retiring again to the sea.
Now the ideas of men, at the earliest dawn of civilization, were childlike.
The theory of Cosmos was very simple.
The earth itself was an extended plain, much longer east and west than north and south; it was surrounded by the sea, so that the sun came from the sea in the morning and returned to it at night.
In time the Dag‑aun was the result, manifested in some form or other in all the Eastern lands.
No. 8 is from an Indian picture, is said to represent Bramah sitting on a lotus after the deluge. It is supposed by Calmet to be Noah and his three sons.
Nos. q, ro, and ii represent Nergal, who was worshipped under figure of a cock; and, to make a pair of the species, Succoth Benoth, say they, was worshipped as hen and chicken.
Ner is light, gal signifies to revolve, a revolution, a circuit; the title, then, implies "the revolve
ANCIENT MASOLAR Y.
ink or returning light." Hence the cock, which always announces the returning light, is emblematic of the morning.
It is supposed that, as the ancients did not confine themselves to one meaning in these symbols, but had more remote, recondite, or esoteric explanations, this symbol may have referred to some latent principle, and "expected to produce effects beyond what hitherto it had done or was doing; i.e., they usually looked backward on history, but sometimes looked forward in expectation." In Fig. q the cock is holding in his bill two ears of corn; he is attended by Mercury, carrying his caduceus in one hand and a bag of money in the other. Montfaucon, Vol. I. p. 128, says: "To see Mercury with a cock is common enough; but to see him walking before a cock much larger than himself is what I have never noticed except in this representation.
It may denote that the greatest of the qualities of Mercury is vigilance."
"The cock holding the corn in his bill we think has reference to the fact that proper care and vigilance only can produce the products of the earth.
However, it may be that there is a more recondite meaning, unknown to us.
We have no space to examine this very interesting question in reference to the revivifcation which may be implied in the term Nergal, 'returning light,' and which may refer to our resurrection after death." In Fig. 1o, a gem of the Florentine Gallery, two cocks are yoked to the car of Cupid, and it is found by other instances that Cupid and a cock are no strangers to each other.
Montfaucon shows Cupid victorious over a cock; he overcomes the cock as he does all other animals.
"Imo et S,allus plus cxteris avibus est amori addictus." Another Cupid leads the cocks, as if they had been running in the race and were victorious, for the driving Cupid carries a palm branch as the reward of victory obtained by these his emblematic coursers.
Fig. 1r represents the "light "strongly connected with the cock.
The car is drawn by two cocks, as in Fig. ro, with a cock standing upon it in the attitude of crowing and flapping his wings; the star is the star of Venus, making the car the consecrated vehicle of that goddess of love and beauty; Hymen, the god of marriage and conjugality, with his torch, and at his feet is another cock, crowing, etc., like the former.
This symbol, or allegorical representation, no doubt, "imports the influence of Venus and Hymen, the genial powers of vitality, on the renovation of life in human posterity."
Socrates, before his death, said to Crito : " We owe a sacrifice of a cock."
Did he hereby refer to a hope of a future existence, to a: revivification?
This would have been coincident with his expectation of a converse with the illustrious dead.
Christ compared himself to a corn of wheat falling into the ground, but which afterward sprang up and produced much fruit (John xii. 24).
Succoth Benoth (Fig. 12).‑This deity was companion to Nergal, and was the favorite object of worship by the Babylonians. 2 Kings xvii. 30, " And the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima." Ash, fire, Shima, laid up; "the station of fire‑worship "
The Rabbins describe Succoth Benoth as being typified by hen and chicken.
(See description of Nergal.) Succoth signifies a tent or booth or temporary residence; Benoth is a Hebrew word, and the Greek word is Benos. Oth is a Hebrew female termination; Os is the Greek. On a medal of the Emperor Gordian, from Hierapolis, Syria, on one side is his profile, and on the other is Cybele feeding the serpent of Hygeia.
The inscription around the emperor's head is Adir Ben os.
"The word Adir is evidently derived from the Chaldee dialect (of which the Syriac was a branch), in which ader or adur signifies the inhabited, the dwelling, the residence."
Dan. iv. 312, " And the fowls of the heaven dwelt in iderun; i.e., inhabited its branches."
Verse 18, " The beasts of the field, tidur, dwelt under it." "The Benos of the Syrians was the Venus of the Greeks and Latins, as it was also the Banu or Benu of Eastern Asia; so that if the Indian Banu is the original, then the name may be traced Banu, Benu, Benoth, Benos, Venus, and together with the name the worship may be traced also; i.e., originally, perhaps, that of a person, but afterward of the prolific powers. The full translation of the Adir Benos, or Succoth Benoth, would be, 'the Venus of the temporary residence. " No. 13 is inserted to show how the figure of a woman was combined with a fish, and to repre. sent the Syrian goddess; and in No. 12 we see the representation of Venus rising from the sea, attended by Tritons.
This is not the original Venus; it is the story poetically represented and
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
varied by the imagination of the Greeks from the ancient emblem, retaining the idea but changing the figure, as they did in Dagon and many other idols.
No. 14 represents the Tyrian Neptune with a trident, a medal of Phoenicia, an old man with a long beard, clothed from head to foot, having on his head a bonnet with a high crown, not unlike the calathus in Fig. 6. The head is Alexander 11. of Syria. The trident in his hand is the proper sceptre of Neptune, the god of the sea, who is always represented naked, neither bonneted nor clothed. It is certainly a Syrian deity, but how can it be Neptune? Who was the original Neptune ?
Some suppose that this character may be attributed to Japheth, who as Neptune had a right to wield the trident.
The trident was a symbol appropriated to Siva in India.
Can you trace any resemblance between the attributes of Siva and those of Neptune ?
As a venerable patriarch, his bonnet of honor, his ample clothing, and his long beard bespeak his dignity.
Fig. 15 represents Ashtaroth, having the horns well developed, and two "lightnings," and around her are the seven stars, implying her authority as regent of the night.
(See text, p. 64.) No. r6. This is a medal from Sinope, which represents a man with a Phrygian bonnet on his head, clothed in a short dress, a sword in his right hand, in his left a man's head, which he has just severed from the body, the blood from which spirts upward.
"Macrobius says the moon was both male and female, and adds one particular, which we have referred to in the text; viz., that the male sex sacrificed to him in the female habit, and the females in the male habit, etc." (p. 65.) No. r7. Vishnu in second Avatar.
(See text, p. 84.) No. i8 is an " Abraxas "; it represents a man with two faces, on his head the sacred calathus, or bushel, as in Fig. 6, two wings on his shoulders, and two on his hips, having a scorpion's tail, in each hand a staff.
Significance unknown.
No. rq. Vishnu in the eighth Avatar, referred to in the text, (p. 8o).
No. 20 is another Abraxas, which is represented with more emblems than No. 18.
On the head is the immortal lotus; there are four wings, and with each wing is an arm; in each of its four hands are different destructive implements which will be readily recognized by scholars.
In his two upper hands weapons of injury,‑a whip with thongs and a double battle‑axe in one band; in the other an axe, a dagger, and a hammer, or another axe.
In his lower hands he holds a rod and a pair of scales, to denote that he is not to exceed the just weight and measure of the evils he may inflict.
It is supposed that this is the ANGEL OF PUNISHMENT, the agent of retributive punishment, whose office it is to distribute battle and murder and sudden death among the sons of men.
In fine, it may possibly be the representation of SATAN.
DIVISION IT.
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
e4 Comprehensive History of the Knights Templars and the Crusades; their patronage by the See of Rome and subsequent anathema; the connection of these, if any, with the present Degrees of Knights Templar in the United States and Great Britain; the Execution of Jacques de Molai, Grand Master, and Supplemental Historic Notes.
BY WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY, 32|, D.D. OXON., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Iowa.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT TEMPLARS AND ORDERS OF CHIVALRY.
The Ethics of Christian Knighthood. ‑True chivalry has it source and spring of being at the foot of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The study of the lessons of the great biography‑the tracing of the foot‑prints of Him, the Son of God, who in loving lowliness went about doing good when He was incarnate upon the earth‑won from a quaint old English writer the acknowledgment that "Jesus Christ was the first true gentleman." We, mindful of the fact that chivalry is self‑sacrifice ; that true knighthood is consecration, the glad and willing service of God and man, founded on faith in God, designed for the service of the weak, the oppressed, ‑ may reverently recognize in the Christ, the mirror of chivalry, the pattern of all ;rue knightly, valiant, and magnanimous life. In the exhibition of ineffable love, shown in the taking of our flesh, the living our life, the bearing our guilt, the dying our death,‑all for us and for our salvation,‑there was breathed into our manhood a new breath of life ; there was given to us the high and holy purpose of living the life of this Son of God, our Exemplar, our Saviour, the source of our strength.
From this period ‑ the coming of the Christ into the world‑we date anew the history of humanity.
Gladly did the noble, the valiant, the magnanimous of our race hail this exhibition of all that was winning, true, and inspiring in the perfect manhood of the Incarnate Son of II9 120
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
God.
In the life of loving service, in the cross‑bearing, in the willing selfsacrifice, in the bringing of life and immortality to light by His rising from the dead; in the triumphing over all that was low and base, mean and guilty, and hateful to God or hurtful to man in our erring, sinful nature, men found new strength for purity, perfectness, and self‑devotion ; new motives for selfforgetfulness and living for others' good; new incentives to elevate and improve themselves ; new strength in their efforts to attain and realize the highest good. It is thus that chivalry is Christian; that knighthood was never known till the Church and faith of Christ were paramount on the earth. Inspired by longings for holiness, recognizing its true example, adoring its divine Founder, the chivalric heart, the valiant soul, the knightly man, enlisted, with a burning enthusiasm, under the banner bf the Cross, to combat all kinds of evil, to conquer all opposing forms of sin.
The knightly life was a religious life.
The oath of utter and complete self‑immolation was prefaced by the vigil of prayer.
In the dimly lighted chamber of reflection, in silence and solitude, the neophyte was brought face to face with the dread realities of life and death, of time and eternity.
The rough and rugged pathway, trod ere the candidate was dubbed and created a knight, was meant to be a faint transcript of that via rlolorosa over which the Lord of life and glory passed on His way to Golgotha, that place of a skull, where He, our Immanuel, suffered and died for us.
The willing service, pledged and promised ere the Christian knight was admitted as a pilgrim‑warrior to share the toils, the trials, and the triumphs of those who fought with their good swords to recover the Holy Sepulchre, where the dear Lord had lain, from Infidel or Moslem hands; was a perfect and entire devotion of mind and heart, of will and purpose, of soul and body, to Christ and God.
"Half priest, half soldier," was the Templar's acknowledged characteristic.
"Holiness to the Lord " was the rule and motive of his actions.
The defence of the right, the punishment of the wrong, were his bounden duties as a true, leal knight. With an unfaltering trust in God, with humility and lowliness of heart, and the outward expression of that self‑abasement in which the sinful soul cannot but' appear beneath the all‑searching Eye, there was still careful trial made ere the applicant might wield his sword in defence of the unprotected and assailed, and fight valiantly in the holy cause of Christ's religion.
The old‑time precept each candidate heard sounding in his ears was this: "You who desire to become a knight must pursue a new course of life.
Devoutly you must watch in prayer, avoid sins of pride and idleness.
You must defend the Church, widows, and orphans, and with noble boldness you must protect the people." The first lesson impressed upon the applicant's heart was the love and fear of God.
It was thus that the full acceptance of the Christian religion became the very soul, the inspiration of chivalry; and chivalry, true Christian knighthood, became faith, fidelity, probity, mercy, love to God, gentleness to man, valor before the world, ‑everything, in short, that was pure, lovely, and of CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD.
123 good report.
It was the consecration of the whole man to the discharge of Christian duty, the practice of Christian virtue, the crucifying of every evil thought, or word, or deed.
There was, there could be, no keeping back part of the price.
"It is the will of God, it is the will of God," had been the impassioned cry of one and all at the first assumption of the cross.
The bearing of that cross‑ the wearing of the blood‑red symbol of our redemption ‑implied the entire surrender of the will to God's will and the giving up of all things‑home, friends, wealth, country, life ‑ for the cause of Christ.
Faith inspired works. Devotion was enkindled at the sight of the sacred sign.
There was victory in the cross ; victory over self, over sin, and over the enemies of the faith of Christ.
This love and service of God which characterized the Christian chivalrythe old‑time knighthood of history‑ was, _for its day and generation, a true exhibition of the spirit of Christianity. The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ deals rather with the motive than the action, ‑ the thought rather than the deed, ‑though it would have each and all alike instinct with the love and fear of God.
The religion of the days of chivalry, of Christian knighthood, was a religion of motives, a religion of the heart, the affections, the emotions, the feelings, rather than the intellectual acceptance of a system of doctrines, ‑ the adherence to a logical and carefully defined dogmatic belief.
Without doubtings or questionings of heart, did the old‑time knights accept and practise the teachings of the faith.
Passionately did they profess their love for their Lord and Saviour.
"Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam " was the Templar song or shout of triumph when victorious in the fray. The love and fear of God, the recognition of Him as the source of every earthly good, the Giver of every grace, were fundamental principles of Christian knighthood.
Life was consecrated by prayer and service.
Death was welcomed for the cause and cross of Christ.
The world had known nothing like this disciplined, this resistless enthusiasm. 'The cross of Christ was no sooner raised on high as a standard, ‑ that blood‑red cross telling of the saving, cleansing blood of Calvary, was no sooner placed on the breast and shoulder than the valiant and magnanimous soldiers of all Europe became a band of brothers, bound by a single purpose, animated by a common and absorbing devotion.
It was the 1| truce of God " between rival and contending powers, ‑between man and man,‑that the Holy Sepulchre might be redeemed from " Moslem caitiffs and Infidel hounds."
Influenced by no hope of fee or reward, with no selfish expectations or care for personal aggrandizement, the flower of chivalry went forth to defend and uplift this cross, and wield, in the service of the Christian faith, the swords that had been belted round each neophyte when the vows of knighthood were first uttered by lips sanctified by their reception of the Sacrament of Redemption.
Inspired by this pure and holy devotion, the annals of Christian knighthood abound in instances of 124 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
heroic constancy even unto death.
It is with pride that we recall the heroism of that illustrious, valiant, and magnanimous knight, Renaud de Chatillon, Grand Master of the Templars, who scorned when in captivity to purchase life on condition of apostasy from the Christian faith, and was beheaded by the hand of Saladin.
We cannot forget the constancy and devotion of the crowd of knights of the two Orders, Templars and St. John, who joyously accepted martyrdom at the executioner's hands in prison, rather than renounce their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gladly do we record the daring of Jakeline de Mailliacus, that heroic Knight Templar, who, on the advance of Saladin into Palestine, in a battle near Tiberiad rushed boldly into the midst of the Saracens, one against a thousand, because, as the old chronicler is proud to tell us, 1| mori pro Christo non fimuit,"‑he feared not to die for Christ. Such was the religious enthusiasm of these valiant men, whose proudest boast was to be " a true knight and servant of Jesus Christ." The Religion of Chivalry. ‑ The religion of chivalry was not merely a blind and superstitious acceptance of priestly teachings and ecclesiastical rites.
There was then, as now, symbolism in the ritual and observances of knighthood.
There were then, as now, dogmatic teachings breathed into the strained, listening ear, by prelate or priest, amidst the solemn accessories of initiation and adoption into the brotherhood of Christian knights. This symbolism, then as now, centred in the cross of Christ; these teachings, then as now, brought out in startling clearness and with no uncertain sound, the great historic truths relating to the life and life‑work of the Son of God when here on earth.
The religion of chivalry was founded on the teachings of the Incarnation, and the atoning death upon the cross, of Christ. In the words of the Introit for the Tuesday in Holy‑week, sung in sweet and solemn cadences in every preceptory or chapel of the Templars, as the commemoration of the great day of atonement‑the Good Friday of the Church Universal of Christ drew nigh, prelate, priest, and knight united with consenting voice: ‑ " We ought to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection; by whom we have been saved and delivered." These knights of old may not have been familiar with the folios of patristic theology burdening the shelves of the scanty libraries of their day; but they 'knew and believed and lived the‑ legend, "Non est sales animae, nee sees aeternae vitae, nisi in Cruce,"‑there is no health to the soul nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. They may have known or cared little for the theories of the philosophers or the teachings of the schoolmen; but they wore the blood‑red cross upon their hearts ; it entered into their very life and soul; they fought and died under the blazonry of the symbol of our redemption.
Their legend was that of the Church's earlier days of triumph, " In hoe nkno vinces."
As Spenser, the poet‑laureate of chivalry, in his 11 Fairy Queen," describes it: ‑ ORDER OF THE TEMPLE.
127 "A gentle knight was pricking o'er the plain, Clad in mighty arms and silver shield; And on his breast a bloody cross he bore, In dear remembrance of his dying Lord, For Whose sweet sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, or living, ever Him adored; Upon his shield the like was also scored, For sovereign hope which in His help he had." The Order of the Temple, and History of the Crusades.‑The Order of the Temple was established to protect pilgrims to the sacred places of Holy Land, when on their way to Jerusalem.
It differed from the Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights in being, from its very beginning, a military order.
`| Pauperes commilitones Christi templi Salomonici "‑poor soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon‑were they at the start; and their original purpose of affording protection to the pilgrims who sought, after the first crusade, to visit the sacred sites of Palestine, was kept prominently in view for many years. That which in its origin was somewhat of the nature of a rural police, became, at length, through fortuitous circumstances and from the nature and needs of the society of the age, one of the most powerful organizations the world has ever known.
The names of the founders of the Order have descended to us with as much authority as could fairly be asked.
In the
year
r r r 8 a knight of Burgundy, Hugo de Paganis (Payens), bound himself and eight companions to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to guard the approaches to the Holy City; so that pilgrims to the sacred places might have easy access ; to live as regular canons of the Church, under the Benedictine rule; and to fight for the King of Heaven and the Bride of Christ, in chastity, obedience, and self‑denial. The names of these comrades of Hugo de Paganis were Godefroi de St. Aldemar (St. Omer), Roral, Gundemar, Godefroi Bisol, Paganus (Pagen) de Montdidier, Archibald de St. Aman, Andrew de Montbar, and the Count of Provence.'
The number of these knights is significant, a triple trinity, banded together for the service of the Triune‑God. Of these original members of the Order, the founder, Hugo de Paganis, became the first Master ‑Magister‑of the Order of the Temple, in irrg. Quarters were assigned them in the palace of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem, which had, before the Christian occupation of the Holy City, been the Mosque of Mount Moriah.
This palace was also known as Solomon's Temple; and it was from this templum Salomonis that the Templars took their name. The founders of the Order had all fought under Godefroi de Bouillon, and from this circumstance commanded respect and influence among the hardy veterans of these holy wars.
This was increased by the efficient and valiant manner in which the services they rendered, first to pilgrims and then to others in need, were performed.
It was not long before the fame of these new 1 A Concise History of the Order of the Temple, with some mention of those Bodies which claim to be derived from it.
By Sir P. Colquhoun, M.A., LL.D., Q.C.
8vo.
Bedford, England, 1878.
p. 23.
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
allies of the cross and Church of Christ had spread over Europe.
The junior scions of noble houses in all parts of Christendom soon sought incorporation into so distinguished an order, which, from its start, received none but those whose social standing entitled them to consideration.
The King of Jerusalem, who had assigned to the Templars their abode on the site of the Temple of Solomon, commended the new Order to the notice of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, who issued a pastoral, in which the saint praises the valor and extols the merits of the Templars.
Under the patronage of this holy man, the Papal legate, Matthew, Bishop of St. Alban's, presided at the Council of Troyes, which assembled early in the year 1128, for the purpose of determining the statutes of thop new Order. The rules of discipline and obligation, numbering seventy‑two, then adopted, met with the sanction of Pope Honorius II. and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and became at a later date the groundwork of the more elaborate and complete " Regle du Temple."
Ere the death of their saintly patron, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Templars had been established in every kingdom, of Latin Christendom. Henry I. of France granted them domains in Normandy. They are found established in Castile in 1129 ; in Rochelle in 1131 ; in Languedoc in 1136 ; at Rome in T138; and in Brittany in 1141. Manors, castles, and treasure were lavished upon them.
Louis VIII. of France bestowed upon the Order a marshy field outside the limits of the city of Paris, known in later, days as the Temple, and recognized for years as the headquarters of the Templar Order in Europe.
Pope Honorius II. appointed the white mantle as the garb of the Order, in contradistinction to the black robe of the Hospitallers. In the year 1146 Pope Eugenius III. added to this distinctive garment a red cross, to be worn on the breast as a symbol of the martyrdom the Order was understood to court.
In the following year this Pope, with King Louis VII. of France, met one hundred and thirty of the brethren at a chapter held with great pomp in Paris, within the precincts of the " Temple." After the Council of Troyes, Hugo de Paganis, the Master of the Templars, visited England and induced a number of English . knights to follow him to the Holy Land as members of the Order. Among these recruits was Fulk, Count of Anjou, who was made King of Jerusalem in 1131. The founder and first master of the Templar Order died about the year 1136.
He was succeeded by Robert de Craon, who is said to have been a nephew of the celebrated Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The third master, Everard de Barris, won great renown for deeds of valor in the second crusade.
In the disastrous retreat of the Christians from Laodicea to Attalia, the Templars alone maintained any appearance of order and discipline, and their display of military prowess and their fortitude under the most trying and adverse circumstances, led Louis VII. of France to re‑organize his entire army after the pattern set by the Knights Templars.
THE CRUSADES.
The Emperor of Germany, Conrad III., spent Easter of the year 1148 at the palace of the Templars on Mount Moriah, and in the summer of that year the knights of the Order took part with him in the unsuccessful siege of Damascus. The phenomenal growth of the Order had already excited jealousy on every side, and there were those who attributed the failure of this expedition of Conrad to the treachery of the Templars. Conrad repelled these accusations as unfounded, but suspicions and slanders were ever afterward of constant recurrence.
The Crusades. ‑ From this time the history of the Knights Templars is the history of the Crusades, and of chivalry itself. Bred to the profession of arms, recruited from the noblest and bravest knights of the time, the Order speedily attained a standing and importance only rivalled by the Hospitallers ; while the two organizations became the mainstay and support of the crusading army, the right wing being the recognized position of the Templars, "and the left that of the Hospitallers.
The election of a chevalier of the Temple to the Crown of Jerusalem conferred on the Order a greater consideration than ever before, while their unflinching fidelity to their self‑assumed trust, and the reckless daring of their feats at arms, and their willing sacrifice of life for success, placed the Templars at the very head of the military orders of the age and won for them undying fame.
In the year 1149 the Knights Templars were appointed to defend the fortress of Gaza, the last Christian stronghold on the southern frontier of Palestine. Four years later Bernard de Tremelai, but recently made Master of the Order, with forty of the knights, made an incursion into Ascalon, and having been surrounded by the Saracens, all were cut off to a man.
A chronicler of the age, William of Tyre, records the current scandal that these knights merited their fate by their eagerness to secure the spoils of conquest, but the greed of gold did not militate against their bravery.
The following year the charge was made that the Templars had surrendered to slavery and certain death a captive, an Egyptian prince, who was well inclined to profess the Christian faith.
In 1166, less than fifty years from the founding of the Order, Amalric, the Latin King of Jerusalem, ignominiously hanged twelve Templars, on the charge of betraying to an emir of Nfir al‑Din of Damascus, a stronghold beyond the Jordan.
In the year 1169 the chivalrous Saladin succeeded to the leadership of the Saracens. The year following his ascension to power he was compelled by the Templars to raise the siege of their frontier fortress of Gaza, and seven years later the Templar Knights shared in the victory of King Baldwin IV. at Ascalon.
The building of the Templar stronghold at Jacob's ford, two years afterward, was followed by an irruption of the Saracens, and the defeat of the Christians at Paneas. In this disastrous engagement, the youthful King escaped with his life, but Odo de St. Armand, the Grand Master of the Tem 132 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
plars, was captured and never redeemed.
Odo was succeeded by Arnold de Torroge, who died at Verona when on a mission to arouse at the West a fresh interest in the succor of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The rule of the Order was now committed to Gerard de Riderfort.
In 1187 the rash valor of the Templars provoked a conflict with an overwhelming force of Saracens. Defeated and dispersed, Gerard, with three companion knights, escaped to Nazareth. Again the Templars' rashness brought defeat and disaster, at Hittin. Gerard and the newly crowned successor of Baldwin IV. on the throne of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, were taken prisoners by Saladin, while upwards of two hundred Templars fell on the field of battle, or at the close of the strife ; for the fight was scarcely over when Saladin ordered the slaughter of all the Templars or Hospitallers in his hands.
The Holy City, now utterly defenceless, was surrendered to the victorious Saladin, early in October, 1187, and the treasures in the coffers of the Templars were freely used to redeem the poorer Christian captives. The Templars, mindful of their early obligations, guarded a part of these poor wretches on their mournful journey from Jerusalem to Tripoli.
On the release of Guy de Lusignan from captivity, both Templars and Hospitallers flocked to his standard and accompanied him to the siege of Acre. Under his banner the Templars took part in the two years' investure of the stronghold, and shared in the horrors of the famine of the years 119o91. The Grand Master, Gerard, perished in the fearful battle of October, 1189, refusing to survive the terrible slaughter of his brethren of the Order.
In the strifes for the Latin Kingdom of the East which followed, the Knights Templars supported the claims of Guy de Lusignan, and, in common with King Richard Coeur de Lion, were accused of participation in the death of the rival claimant, Conrad of Montferrat, which occurred in April, 1192. It was in the guise of a Templar, and in a galley belonging to the Order, that King Richard of England left Palestine. On the recovery of Acre, the headquarters of the Order were established in this city, and a few years later they began the erection, on a rocky promontory washed on every side but the east by the waters of the Mediterranean, not far from Acre, of their stronghold of " Castle Pilgrim," the ruins of which may still be seen.
Early in the thirteenth century the fifth crusade started from this fortress for the conquest of Egypt. At the siege of Damietta, though the Grand Master, William de Chartres, was killed, the Templars performed deeds of surpassing valor. True to their jnotto, " first to attack and last to retreat," their dauntless bravery saved the army of the crusaders from utter destruction at the fierce struggle on August 29, 1219 ; and when the city capitulated, November 5, the only one of its twenty‑eight towers that showed any signs of giving way had been undermined by the Templars' enginery.
Frederick II. found the Templars opposed to him and to his plans of Eastern conquest, from the moment of his entrance upon Holy Land.
On THE CRUSADES, 135 his landing at Acre, September 7, 1228, the King found the Knights Templars unwilling to ally themselves to the fortunes, or march under the banners, of one excommunicated by Holy Church. The Templars are accused of giving information to the Sultan of the King's intended pilgrimage to the Jordan, and they are known to have opposed the ten years' peace agreed upon by Frederick and Al‑Kdmil, the Sultan of Egypt.
They carried their opposition to such an extent as to refuse to be present at Frederick's coronation at Jerusalem.
The indignation of Frederick was aroused.
Leaving the Holy City abruptly, he publicly insulted the Grand Master, and made a demand for the surrender of the Templars' strongholds.
He even laid siege to Castle Pilgrim, the Templars' impregnable fortress.
Leaving Acre in May, 1229, on his return, he despatched orders from Apulia to confiscate the estates of the Order in his domains ‑and to drive all Templars from the land. Again the tide of war turned towards the East.
Theobald of Navarre and an army of crusaders reached Palestine late in the summer of 1239.
On the 13th of November of that‑year the Templars shared in the disastrous defeat near Jaffa, after a bloody encounter their reckless daring had done much to bring about.
A ten years' truce was now concluded by Theobald with Silih of Egypt, before the King of Navarre left the Holy Land the following September. On the coming of Richard of Cornwall, the following month, a treaty was concluded with the Sultan of Egypt, in spite of the opposition of the Knights Templars.
Open hostilities now broke out between the three Christian Orders: the Templars, Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights. Victory attended the efforts of the Templars. Negotiations were opened with SAllh of Damascus for the restoration of the holy places to the Christians, and in the year 1244 the Grand Master, Hermann of Perigod, announced to the Christian princes of Europe that after a "silence of fifty‑six years the Divine Mysteries would once more be celebrated in the Holy City." The anger of the Moslem hordes was now thoroughly aroused.
The Sultan of Babylon availed Himself, at this moment of supreme need, of the K'hirizmans, a savage people driven from their homes by the Mongolian invasions. These barbarians, sweeping down from the north in multitudes, left behind them unassailed the impregnable stronghold of Safed, lately built by the Templars to guard the frontier; and, on St. Luke's day, October 18, 1244, annihilated the Christian forces in the bloody battle of Gaza.
Of the three hundred Templars present at this fight, but eighteen survived.
Out of two hundred Hospitallers who engaged in this battle, but sixteen escaped alive. The Grand Masters of the two Orders were killed or captured.
The Latin Kingdom of the East never recovered from this wholesale slaughter of its knightly defenders. The Holy City was lost to Christendom. The Holy Sepulchre and the sacred sites were again in the possession of the‑Moslems. The prodigies of valor performed by the Templars were all in vain.
The " Beauseant," the symbol of success, was dragged in the dust.
The foes of 136
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
Christ were victorious over all opposition.
The gains of years of battle of diplomacy were lost on the issue of this single defeat. The conquests of Theobald and the Lion‑hearted Richard were swept away forever.
Disaster followed disaster.
In Egypt, where the Grand Master, William de Sonnac, with his companions of the Temple, sought to further the military operations of the saintly Louis IX. of France, the bloody struggle at Manstira left alive at its close but three Templars of all who entered fearlessly into the fray.
The end was drawing near.
In June, 1266, the fortress of the Templars at Safed was forced to surrender, and of its six hundred Templar defenders, all, without a single exception, chose death rather than apostasy. Other reverses followed in swift succession, internal dissensions arose, and near the close of the thirteenth century Acre was lost; the Grand Master, William de Beaujeu was slain, and the few remaining knights, after forcing a passage to the coast, took refuge in Cyprus and reestablished there the headquarters of the Order.
Attempts to regain a foothold in Palestine were futile, and the beginning of the fourteenth century found the Knights Templars driven for all time from the soil oú Asia.
The Templar Endowments and Possessions. ‑ Misfortunes at the East had not stripped the Order of its wealth and power in Western Europe. In rank and influence they had become second to none. They were the almoners of monarchs ; their preceptories were the storehouses of the national treasure ; their gifts were enormous; their possessions yielded revenues that exceeded the incomes of kings.
De Molai, the last Grand Master, when summoned to his fate, entered France in the year 1306, with 150,000 gold florins and ten horse‑loads of silver.
Persecution and Dispersion. ‑ For years there had been rumors in circulation affecting the orthodoxy, the purity, and the loyalty of the Order. The charge received credence that, on initiation, the neophyte was forced to disavow his belief in God and Christ, to spit upon the crucifix, and to swear unquestioning obedience to the Grand Master's behests. It was asserted that the words of consecration in the Canon of the Mass, "Hoc est Corpus," were omitted in the Templar celebrations of the Eucharist; that the cross was trampled under foot on Good Friday, and that the avowed chastity of the Order had given place to the most infamous practices.
The worship of a hideous idol I was attributed to the Templars, and blasphemous and shameless deeds were ascribed to an order whose sole raison d'etre was the practice and the support of the faith of Christ.
The alliance between Philip IV. of France, who was under obligations for his life to the shelter from the Paris mob, afforded him by the Templars, and Pope Clement V., who owed to the French King's gold or influence his posses i Baphemet (Baffomet, Baphemet, or Baffomelus).
Vide De Quinceys Inquiry, etc., Works Edinburgh, 1879. XIV. 439.
PERSECUTION AND DISPERSION.
139 sion of the Papal tiara, brought about the overthrow of the Order of the Temple.
Philip the Fair coveted the possessions of the Order.
The Pope distrusted its power and its fidelity to the Papacy.
An imprisoned Templar ,it Toulouse offered to betray the secrets of his brethren.
His words were poured into ears greedy for every possible accusation which would foment popular indignation and further the schemes of King and Pope for the Templars' overthrow.
On the 14th of September, 1307, orders were issued by the King for the arrest of all Templars in the kingdom on the night of Friday, October 13th. The Grand Master and sixty of his brethren were seized in Paris.
The following day they were brought before the representatives of the University of the city to listen to the enumeration of their alleged crimes.
On the next day, Sunday, popular indignation was stirred up against the Templars, in the mind of the Parisian mob, by the invectives of preachers who accused the prisoners of the grossest iniquities.
The tortures of the Inquisition were at once resorted to, and in the confessions wrung out of the very agonies of death, every charge was easily sustained.
The inquisitors had all the evidence they desired.
The suppression of the Order, thus undertaken in France, was followed throughout Western Christendom. The alliance of the Pope and the King of France gave the highest possible sanction to the robbery of the Templars' possessions everywhere, and to the spoiling of their goods was added the defamation of their characters, acid the loss of life itself under the most agonizing tortures.
In Paris the trial began on the 11th of April, 1310.
Its manifest unfairness called forth indignant protests, but in vain. On Tuesday, May 12th, fifty‑four Templars were burned at the stake by order of the Archbishop of Sens.
At the Council of Vienne, which met in October, 1311, the Templars asked for a hearing.
The Pope, it is charged, prorogued the assembly to prevent this proffered defence, and the seven knights who presented themselves as deputies for this purpose, were cast into prison. Early in March the King visited Vienne, and on the 3d of April, 1312, occupied a place at the right hand of Clement, when the Pope delivered a discourse against the Order, which had been formally abolished, not in the general session of the Council, but at a private consistory, held the 22d of March.
On May 2d Clement issued his Bull Ad Providam.
This instrument transferred the estates of the Templars, except those in Spain and Portugal, to the Knights of St. John.
It is an interesting fact that, although robbed and despoiled of all its possessions, though slandered, persecuted, and proscribed, the Order of Templars was never formally pronounced by the Papal authorities guilty of the fearful crimes laid to its charge; the language of the Bull, Considerantes Dudum, providing fqr the suppression of the Order, distinctly stating that this was done " non per modum definifiv&e sententi&e, cum eam super hoc secundum inquisitiones et processus super his habitos non possemus fere de jure sed per viam provisionis et ordinationis apostolic&,." 140 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
It is conceded by modern scholars that the charges brought againso the Templars were false, and that the alleged confessions drawn from the wretched victims of the inquisitors' power are unworthy of belief. Safed, with its martyred host, might well countervail countless charges made ‑by renegade knights, and accepted by those who were the willing tools of the interested King and his creature, the Pope.
It is indeed p,‑ ssible that abuses had crept into the Order in France, which did not exist elsewhere.
It is a matter of history that on the election of De Molai over his rival for its Grand Mastership, Hugh de Peraud the visitor of the Order for France, which took place on the death of the Grand Master William de Beaujeu, in 1291, De Molai announced in general chapter his purpose of eradicating certain practices of the Templars, which he did not approve.
This would possibly explain the circumstance that in nearly all the councils outside of France, the Templars were acquitted of the infamous charges brought against them. If corrupt practices had crept into the Order in France subsequent to the death of William de Beaujeu, and the spuitio super crucein and the oscula inhonesta were features of the French initiation, the fact would go far to account both for the confession of De Molai, under torture, and his subsequent denial of complicity in their slanderous acts.
It is certain that this great man not only sought to purify the Order of which he was so distinguished a member, but that his martyr‑death for his principles and his professions of innocence should give him an honored place among "the immortal names that were not born to die." Connection with the Present Degrees of Knights Templar.‑The theory that the Order of Knights Templars, on their dispersion and suppression by the united power of Church and State, took refuge in the Masonic body, is pronounced by high authority as without " the slightest historic foundation."
We do not question this statement as it stands.
History fails to record much that actually occurs; much that subsequent ages would gladly know.
We see no reason, however, for the assertion, so often made of late years, that any connection between a chivalric order, such as the Knights Templars, and a fraternity of Operative Masons, such as certainly existed in mediaeval times, is out of the range of possibility. The antiquity and the general prevalence of associations or guilds for the practice of operative masonry is undoubted. That these bodies of workmen were known to the Knights Teinplars and employed by them cannot be questioned. The erection of their strongholds in Holy Land, the building of their preceptories, priories, and round churches all over Europe, the evident importance and value of skilled mechanics in all the operations of the Order, whether offensive or defensive, afford evident proofs of interdependence between the one and the other. What could then be more natural than that the Knights Templars, proscribed, persecuted, despoiled of all things, should, in their attachment to their old usages and organization, seek their perpetuation among the affiliated bodies with which they had already a certain connection, and of whose universality MODERN TEMPLZR Y.
143 and antiquity they had abundant evidence, arising from their business relations ? Besides, the thirst for vengeance on their unjust and cruel oppressors could only be appeased by such an effort to perpetuate the calumniated and proscribed Order, to which they were bound by most solemn oaths and the closest ties. All this, and more, is surely possible ; and we cannot but claim that even if a direct descent from the Templar Order after its suppression by the Pope of Rome and King of France, in the fourteenth century, cannot be proved by historic documents, still there is reason to admit the existence of a continuous connection, a practical succession, making the modern Templary, where it is truly understood and exemplified among us, the representative of the old chivalric Order; perpetuating its doctrinal teaching of the Catholic faith, and preserving and appropriating the general features of its ceremonies, its obligations, its usages ; modified only as to the changes in belief, practice, and social life, which the requirements of the age demand.
In other words, Templary in our day and generation is a revival of the old Order, the old organization, the old‑time chivalry.
It seeks to reproduce, as nothing else does, or even claims to do, the knightly virtues, the chivalrous spirit, the valiant and virtuous life, the holy teachings of the historic days of the Templar's pristine practice. The modern Templar's warfare is, indeed, spiritual, but the true Templar will recognize his duty to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Striving to reproduce, represent, and perpetuate in an avowedly Christian society or organization, the principles, the usages, the ceremonial of the great religious and knightly organization of mediaeval days, we best exhibit true Templarism; and we establish most fully our connection with the heroic Order, whose name we bear, by personal holiness, Christian profession, and the exercise of every grace and virtue of the faith of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.
The Interregnum of Four Centuries. ‑To establish the historic connection between medixval and modern Templarism it becomes requisite to bridge over the period between the year 1209 when Walter de Clifton, Preceptor of the Scottish Knights Teinplars, admitted the dispersion of his brethren; and the year 1745, when modern Templary appears in the light. The tracing of the traditional existence of the old Knights Templars during this term of four hundred and thirty‑eight years is historically impossible.
It may, or it may not be true, that the expelled Templars of Scotland, few in number and dispossessed of the little wealth ever pertaining to the Order in a land of poverty, united in entering the service of Robert the Bruce.
The war between King Edward of England and the Bruce was raging at the time of this dispossession of the Templars, and it is not impossible‑in fact, it is highly probable‑that the army of the Bruce contained a few veteran quondam Templars.
That a preceptory or priory was established at Kilwinning rests on no authority other than late tradition. The estates of the Templars having passed into the 144 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
hands of the Hospitallers at the period of the " Reformation," the possessions of the Hospitallers, both those originally theirs and those acquired from the Templars, were declared forfeited to the Crown, on the ground that the services required by the Preceptor or Prior were to defend and maintain the faith of the Church of Rome. In the case of the Priory of Torpichen in Midlothian, where, as some traditions have it, modern Scottish Templary took its origin, the last Grand Prior, Sir John Sandilands, embracing the reformed faith, surrendered the estates of the Priory to the government, and then received a grant of them to himself with the title of Lord Torpichen, in 1564, thus founding the existing Scottish family of that name. A tradition that, after the dispersion of the brethren who made up the Priory of Torpichen, a number of thetas united with a Masonic lodge or guild at Stirling, and thus incorporated the mediaeval knighthood with the Masonic body, has no historic foundation.
Like other ingenious theories framed to, account for resemblances and correspondences between the old chivalric Order and the Speculative Masonry of modern times, the tradition is possibly true, but its truth cannot be proved by documentary evidence.
Roman Catholic Admissions. ‑ In a Roman Catholic authority, bearing the imprimatur of " Henricus Eduardus Card. Archiep. Westmonast,"‑ Henry Edward Manning, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster,‑in treating of the subject of Freemasonry, we find the following admissions: ‑ " The South of France, where a large Jewish and Saracenic element remained, was a hotbed of heresies, and that region was also a favorite one with the guild of Masons. It is asserted, too, that as far back as the twelfth century, the lodges of the guild enjoyed the special protection of the Knights Templars.
It is easy in this way to understand how the symbolical allusion to Solomon and his Temple might have passed from the Knights into the Masonic formulary.
In this way, too, might be explained how, after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, some of the recalcitrant. knights, maintaining their influence over the Freemasons, would be able to pervert what hitherto had been a harmless ceremony into an elaborate ritual that should impart some of the errors of the Templars to the initiated.
A document was long ago published, which purports to be a charter granted to a lodge of Freemasons in England, in the time of Henry VIL, and it bears the marks in its religious indifference of a suspicious likeness between Freemasonry then and now. , In Germany the guild was numerous, and was formally recognized by a diploma granted, in 1489, by the Emperor Maximilian. But this sanction was finally revoked by the Imperial Diet in 1707 " So far, however, the Freemasons were really working Stone‑masons; but the so‑called Cologne charter‑the genuineness of which seems certain‑drawn up in 1535 at a reunion of Freemasons gathered at Cologne to celebrate the opening of the Cathedral edifice, is signed by Melanchthon, Coligny, and other similar ill‑omened names. Nothing certain is known of the Freemasons‑now evidently become a sect‑during the seventeenth century, except that in 1646, Elias Ashmole, an Englishman, founded the Order of Rose Croix, Rosicrucians, or Hermetic Freemasons, a society which mingled in a fantastic manner the jargon of alchemy and other occult sciences, with Pantheism. This Order soon became affiliated to some of the Masonic lodges in Germany, where from the time of the Reformation there was a constant founding of societies, secret or open, which undertook to formulate a philosophy or a religion of their own.
"As we know it now, however, Freemasonry first appeared in 1925, when Lord Derwentwater, a supporter of the expelled Stuart dynasty, introduced the Order into France, professing to have his authority from a lodge at Kilwinning, Scotland.
This formed the basis of that variety of Freemasonry called the Scotch Rite. Rival organizations soon sprang up.
Charters were MODERN TEf7PLAR Y.
145 obtained from a lodge at York, which was said to have been of a very ancient foundation," 1 etc., etc.
We have quoted at length from this work, on the principle laid down in Holy Scripture, viz. : " Our enemies themselves being judges." We recognize, besides, the possibility of members of the Roman Catholic communion having access to documents and papers unknown to others, and we are confident that the evidently frank admissions of these Romanist authors afford us a warrant for our conjectural connection of the mediaeval and the modern Tem plary.
No one can doubt that the Romanists have access to documents on this subject unknown to all the world besides.
We claim that this connection exists just so far as the Templary of our own day clings to its ‑knightly practices, and is true to its Templar dogmas of the Christian faith and teaching.
What is called Templary on the continent of Europe is clearly traced to the " High Grade System of Masonry."
Absolutely no evidence exists of its being in any sense a direct continuance of the mediaeval Order.
The pretence that De Molai granted a charter to Larmenius rests alone on a clumsy forgery, and the claim of Swedish Templars that the Order was‑introduced into their country by a relative of the last Grand Master, De Molai, who had become a member of the "Order of Christ" in Portugal, on the dissolution of the Templars, is equally unhistoric.
Even in our own country there is need of ritual revision, and a closer copying of the usages, the habits, the traditions of the Order as it existed in its early, purer days; to make the connection between the old and the new Templary the more apparent to all men.
Any departure from the great doctrines of the Catholic faith, and failure to conform to the usages and ceremonial, the life and life‑work of the old Knights Templars ; any idea of creating a system of degrees and teachings bearing only the name and not reproducing the reality of the original Templarism, will, we believe, be fatal to our modern Templary, and expose our claims to knighthood to the suspicion, if not to the contempt, of all men.
Never may the true Templar of this age forget that of old it was the highest glory of each belted knight to be called and known as " a true knight and servant of Jesus Christ." The Dogmatic Teachings of Templary.‑The dogmatic teachings of true Templary are squared with the words of that Ancient Landmark, God's Holy Word. These lessons of duty are in our modern Templarism to be symbolized in language and carried out in life. The Templar must be a Christian, initiated in Holy Baptism into the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if consistent, he should remember the words of His Master: "This do" ‑ "Take and eat My Body and drink My Blood"‑"in remembrance of Me." " Founded on the Christian religion " is our oft‑repeated profession, and, if 1 A Catholic Dictionary containing some account of the Doctrine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils, and Religious Orders of the Catholic Church. By William E. Addis, Secular Priest, sometime Fellow of the University of Ireland, and Thomas Arnold, M.A., Fellow of the same University. Second edition, London. Large 8vo. 1884. In loco.
146 Christlike, nothing Christian is foreign to it.
"For the practice of the Chris tian virtues " is our avowed object in affiliating.
How pure, how holy, how upright, how consistent, should be our lives !
Reverence and humility should be ours when engaged in Templar duty.
Our vows and professions should have a deep meaning, for they are made with prayer to the unseen God, ‑ they are vowed and pledged with every accompaniment of reverent looking unto Him who is invisible.
"Non nobis, Domine," as of old, is our motto. "In hoc signo vinces" is our legend, as it was in the early ages of the faith. Our psalm and song of victory is that which was heard on every field of strife where Templars fought for the faith of Christ, ‑" Exsurgat Deus." " Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; let them also that hate Him, flee before Him.
"Like as the smoke vanisheth away, so shalt Thou drive them away; and like as wax melted at the fire, so let the ungodly perish at the presence of God. . . .
"O sing unto God, and sing praises unto His Name; magnify Him that rideth upon the heavens, as it were upon an horse; praise Him in His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him. . . . " For thy Temple's sake at Jerusalem; so shall kings bring presents unto thee I " THE OVERTHROW OF THE TFmPLARS, AND THE EXECUTION OF JACQUES DE THE COGNATE ORDERS.
CHAPTER II.
Prefatory Note.‑It has seemed best, even at the risk of some unavoidable repetitions, to give by itself and without interruption the story of the Templars' last days and the record of Jacques de Molai's martyrdom. It is of interest to note in this connection that the latest researches of the late distinguished ecclesiastical historian, Dr. Ignatius von Dollinger, were devoted to clearing the Templars from the aspersions cast upon their lives and practices.
THE accession of Clement V. to the Papal chair was the result of a bargain and a sale. It was not only the headship of the Church that was thus traded off to one unworthy of any spiritual preferment whatsoever, but there was included in this shameless trafficking of ecclesiastical supremacy, the fate of the Templars, whose possessions had aroused the greed of Philip the Fair.
In securing the Popedom for Bertrand de Goth, Archbishop of Bordeaux, after a prolonged and stormy session of the Conclave of Cardinals at P6rouse, the King demanded in return the Pope's promise to accede to six requests. "The sixth, which is important and secret, I keep for the present to myself," said the King to his creature, Clement V.
"It shall be made known to you," continued the crafty monarch, "in due time and place."
It is the conviction of all students of the history of this period that the secret demand, withheld for a time, but afterward communicated to the Pope, was the overthrow and abolition of the Order of the Knights Templars.
Well knew the wily and unscrupulous Clement how to persecute and destroy MOLm, GRAND MASTER.
OVERTHROW OF THE TEMPL.4RS.
147 those whom he chose to regard as foes.
The pitiless King suffered neither innocence nor excellence to stand between him and the vengeance he was purposing to wreak.
There was no pretence that he had just cause of complaint against the Order of the Temple.
He had from time to time courted the favor of its members ; he had borrowed from their treasures ; he had even applied to be affiliated with their organization.
During an outbreak of the populace at Paris, in the year 13o6, occasioned by the imposition of a new and especially distasteful tax, the King had sought and found a refuge in the palace of the Templars, where the chapters‑general were held, and where the treasures of the Order were kept.
It is asserted that the monarch's avaricious thirst for gold was stimulated by the sight of his protectors' wealth, and that the purpose of their overthrow was strengthened then and there.
In the year 1305 the King and Pope simultaneously summoned from the Isle of Cyprus to France the Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molai. For twice seven years had De Molai held the Grand Mastership of the Order. By birth a Burgundian of noble family, though poor, De Molai had entered the Order in extreme youth, and had won his spurs and gained his preeminence among his. brethren and companions by the display of distinguished bravery in contests with the Infidels in the East.
The sinister designs of King and Pope were at first studiously concealed ; Philip, with characteristic hypocrisy, professed that he desired the Grand Master's presence at Court to discuss with him the plans of a new crusade. He asked his intended victim to stand as godfather to one of his children, and showed him marks of distinguished favor. On the I zth of October Jacques de Molai had been a pall‑bearer at the interment of the King's sister‑in‑law. On the following day he was arrested by the monarch's order, and thrown into prison.
Meanwhile the most horrible reports were bruited abroad against the Templars. They were accused by popular clamor, incited apparently by emissaries of the Court, of deeds impossible even to mention.'
They were charged with betraying Christendom for the advantage of the Infidels, of spitting upon the Cross at their initiation, of abandoning themselves to idolatrous practices, and of living the most licentious lives.
Philip and Clement had just met at Poitiers. The King besought the Pontiff to authorize an inquiry into the truth of the accusations now raised on every side against the Templars' lives and practices.
In connection with the arrest of De Molai, one hundred and forty of his brethren were committed to prison.
Three score members of the Order met the same fate at Beaucaire.
Many others were imprisoned all over France. Their great possessions were placed in the King's keeping, and held at his disposal, ostensibly for the service of Christians in the Holy Land.
On the 12 th of August, in the year 1308, Clement V. issued a Bull, instituting 1 " Une chose am8re, une chose d6plorable, une chose horrible, A penser, terrible A entendre; chose ex6crable de scdleratasse, d6testable, d'infame."‑Michelet, Histoire de Francs, III. p. lay.
148 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
a grand Commission of inquiry, charged with the conduct of an examination at Paris, of the charges now rife against the Order. Two recreant Knights Templars, ‑ the one a Gascon, the other an Italian, ‑ already in prison for their misdeeds, professed their readiness to reveal the secrets of the Order, and to attest the enormities with which the Templars were charged. The Archbishops of Canterbury, Mayence, Cologne, and Trtsves were named Commissioners in the Papal Bull, and the Pope announced that he would deliver his judgment respecting the accused within two years, at a general Council to be held at Vienne in Dauphiny. Twenty‑six princes and laic lords, the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, the Counts of Flanders, Nevers, and Auxerre, and the Count of Talleyrand de Ptsrigord offered themselves as the accusers of the Templars.
On the 22d of November, 1309, De Molai was called before the Commissioners.
We are told that, at the first, he stoutly denied the charges brought against the Order.
Afterward, it is said, that he became confused and embarrassed. He pleaded, we are assured, that he lacked the ability to undertake the defence of the Order at such odds,with the Pope, the King, the nobles, the populace, all openly arrayed against him.
He claimed that he was a poor, unlettered knight, wholly unable to cope with the learning, the skill, the might of his open and avowed foes. It appeared later that his acknowledged ignorance of Latin had been made the occasion of a wholesale falsification of his professions of innocence and his explanations of the charges brought against, him.
Tried, tortured, tormented, he was, in his helplessness and friendlessness, the sport of his enemies.
On the 28th of March, 1310, five hundred and forty‑six Knights Templars, who had announced their readiness and desire to repel the charges against their Order, appeared in a body before the Commission.
They were called upon to choose proctors to speak in their behalf.
"We ought also then," was their reply, " to have been tortured by proxy only." 1
It was not the purpose of the Commission to establish the innocence of the accused.
The prisoners were treated with the utmost rigor. 'Deprived of their possessions, they were reduced to the most wretched plight.
Fees were exacted from them in their absolute penury for the commonest offices; while they were made at charges for the very necessaries of life.
The evident object of their persecutors was to break their resolution and spirit by constant annoyance, as they hesitated not to break their worn and enfeebled bodies upon the rack of torture.
In October, 1310, after a tedious examination, a few of the accused were acquitted ; others were subjected to special penance, while more than fifty were condemned to the stake as heretics. The burning of these victims of the monarch's jealousy, and the Pope's willing complicity in the King's mur derous beliests, followed close on their conviction.
They met their cruel fate on the evening of the day of their condemnation, in a field close to the Abbey 1 Guizot's History of France.
Translated by Robert Black.
Large 8vo.
London, 1872, I. p. 6o5.
MARTYRDOM OF DE MOLAL 149 of St. Anthony, in Paris.
The same punishment was meted out to a number of Templars convicted by the Council at Senlis the same year.
"They confessed under tortures," says Bossuet, "but they denied at their execution."1 Still the business of extermination dragged slowly on.
The decisions of the several councils, convened to consider the question of the Templars' innocence or guilt, were by no means uniform.
At Ravenna, on the 17th of June, 1310, the Templars were pronounced free from guilt. The same decision was reached at Mayence the 1st of July. Later, on the 21st of October, the Bishops convened at Salamanca rendered judgment in the Templars' favor .2 A similar result was reached in Aragon.
There was a prospect of a reaction of feeling in favor of the persecuted and despoiled Order.
Europe wearied at the conflicting judgments of the various councils of inquiry, and all men tired of the sight of the ignominious execution of these brave defenders of the Cross.
Even the servile Pope appears to have felt some compunction at this pitiless persecution of men‑half priests, half soldiers‑who had so often and so valiantly fought against the common foes of civilization and Christianity in the East.
But Philip the Fair attained his desire.
On the 11th of June, 1311, the Commission of inquiry closed its protracted sittings.
The report of its procedure, " drawn up by notaries in authentic form in the Treasury of Notre Dame at Paris," was forwarded to the Pope.
It was not to be shown to any one without special order from his Holiness; and the fact that it was thus studiously concealed affords reason for the inference that the torture‑gained testimony against the Templars it detailed, failed, even in the minds of those interested in its acceptance, of establishing the guilt of the Order.
The Council‑general, announced by the Pope in 13o8 as to be convened to decide definitely upon this cause celebre, was opened at Vienne in October of the year 1311.
More than three hundred Bishops assembled in response to the Papal summons.
Nine Templars presented themselves for the defence of the Order.
They professed to represent a large body of their brethren gath ered in the vicinity of Lyons, who awaited the decision of the Council.
The Pope, perfidious to the last, caused the arrest of these brave representatives of the Order.
It was evident, however, that the temper of the Council was adverse to the schemes of Pope and King.
Clement therefore postponed the final decision of the Council, and on the 22d of March, 1312, in a secret consistory made up of the most docile, or rather servile, of the Bishops, and a few Cardinals, creatures of the Pontiff, pronounced solely on his own pontifical authority the condemnation and abolition of the Order of the Temple.
This sentence, or rather mandate, was proclaimed officially on the 3d of April, 1312, 1 Quoted by Guizot in his History of France, 1. p. 6o6.
2 " Les pr6lats d'Italie, moins un seul ; ceux d'Espagne, ceux d'Allemagne et de Danemarck ; ceux d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse et d'Irlande; les Frangais meme sujets de Philippe (sauf les archev~que de Reims; de Sens et de Rouen), d6larbrent qu'ils ne pouvaient condamner sans entendre." ‑Histoire de Francs, par J. Michelet.
8vo.
Paris, 1861.
III. p. 167.
150 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
in the presence of the King and the Council.
No protest was raised from the cowed and subservient prelates.
The Grand Master, Jacques de 1Vlolai, in rigorous confinement at Gisors, survived the downfall of the Order of which he was the head. The Pope had reserved for himself the task of trying him, evidently with the purpose of blackening the reputation of the Order by the pretended admissions and con fessions of its chief official.
Disappointed or disgusted with his lack of success, Clement committed the further examination of De Molai and the three surviving grand dignitaries of the Templars ‑ Gui, Commander of Normandy, son of the Count of Auvergne, the Commander of Aquitaine, and the Visitor of France‑to the ecclesiastical Commissioners at Paris, under the presidency of the Cardinal Bishop of Albano, assisted by two other Cardinal‑legates. Brought before the Commissioners, there was read over to these unhappy survivors of their nobie Order the record of the confessions they had made but lately when under torture.
It was on the 11th of March, in the year 13 14.
The scene was the court in front of the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
Ere the predetermined sentence of perpetual imprisonment could be pronounced by Albano, Jacques de Molai and the Commander of Normandy broke in upon the Cardinal's address by indignant protestations of innocence.'
The charges contained in the accusation were vehemently repelled. It appeared that advantage had been taken of the ignorance of the accused of the Latin tongue to falsify the ".proces‑verbaux."
This document, they asserted, did not correctly represent the statements that had been wrung from them in the agonies of the torture chamber.
Proudly did these two noble men defy the wrath of their persecutors.
The knowledge of the wiles of his foes restored to the enfeebled and emaciated De Molai all his early courage.
The agony of the rack alone had made him speak ill of his brethren.
Stoutly he now maintained that " Of his grand Order naught he wist, 'Gainst honor and the laws of Christ." The astonished and embarrassed judges remanded the two recalcitrant Templars to the care of the Provost of Paris, and adjourned their further hearing till the following day. But the King was not so easily balked in his purpose of vengeance. Without consulting the ecclesiastical Commissioners, Philip the Fair at once adjudged Jacques de Molai and the Commander of Normandy relapsed heretics, and ordered that they should be burned at the stake ere the close of day. At the hour of vespers, in the Ile‑de‑la‑Cit6, on the site of the present Place Dauphine, in Paris, this brutal mandate was executed. It was indeed an assassination? Godfrey of Paris, a rhyming chronicler of the time, thus describes the final scene of the tragedy.
"The 1 We have chiefly followed in this part of our narrative the full account found in the Histoire des Franpaise, par .j. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi.
Paris, 1826.
8vo.
Vol. IX.
2 " Cette execution, A finsu des juges, fut evidement un assassinat."‑Histoire de Francs, par J. Michelet.
8vo.
Paris, 1861.
II. p. 167.
HISTORIC NOTES.
Grand Master, seeing the fire prepared, stripped himself briskly; ‑ I tell just ' as I saw; ‑ he bared himself to his shirt, light‑heartedly and with a good grace, without a whit of trembling, though he was dragged and shaken mightily. They took hold of him to ti., him to the stake, and they were binding his hands with a cord, but he said to them, ` Sirs, suffer me to fold my hands awhile and make my prayer to God, for verily it is time.
I am pres ently to die; but wrongfully, God wot.
Wherefore woe will come, ere long, to those who condemn us without a cause.
God will avenge our death.' "1 It was doubtless in consequence of these last words, uttered in the face of an agonizing death, that there arose the popular impression that Jacques de Molai, from amidst the flames, cited Pope and King to appear with him before the bar of God, the Pope at the end of forty days, the King within a year.
Clement V. died on the loth of April, 1314; the King on the 29th of November of the same year.
Philip on his death‑bed acknowledged his consciousness of the hurt he suffered from the curses which followed him. "There will be no fine tales to be told of me," were among his last words.
Years have passed.
Both King and Pope are now regarded as infamous. The martyred De Molai is held in honored remembrance.
The latest investigations of historical students confirm our belief in the Grand Master's innocence of the charges alleged against him, and free the Order from the slanders concocted to bring about its downfall.
Verily, " Truth is mighty and shall prevail." SUPPLEMENTAL AND HISTORIC NOTES.
The Templar Organization into Ranks, etc.‑The Order of the Knights Templars consisted of three ranks, or classes, the knights, the clergy, and the serving brethren.
The Knights were required to be men of gentle or noble birth, no person of low degree being admissible. The priests were the chaplains of the Order, whose duty it was to conduct the services in the churches belonging to its convents, and to follow the camp and minister to the members when they were in the field. The serving brethren acted as esquires to the Knights, both in the field and at home.
The Grand Master ranked as a sovereign prince, and had precedence of all ambassadors and peers in the councils of the Church.
Each country had its Grand Prior, and these together formed a chapter whom the Master called together, generally in Paris, when any great business required deliberation and counsel, and local chapters were held in different districts under the care of its Preceptor.
Besides these serving brethren, the Knights had in their pay, and under their command, a large number of troops, both cavalry and infantry. The government of the Order was vested in the hands of the Grand Master, who resided at the Mother house in Jerusalem.
The next in rank to him was the Marshal, who was the Master's lieutenant, the acting general in the field, and the Commander of the Order, during a vacancy in the office of Grand Master.
The Prior or Preceptor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was the Grand Treas urer of the Order, and the guardian of the chief house in Jerusalem.
The Draper had charge of the clothing of all the brethren.
The Standard‑Bearer carried the banner, Beauseant, to the field of battle.
The Turcopiler was the commander of a body of light horse, called Turcopilers, mostly native Christians of Syria, or half‑castes, who were clothed and armed in Asiatic style, Guizot.
Black's Translation.
I. p. 6a7.
1,52 THE COGNATE ORDERS.
and were enrolled, drilled, and officered by the Templars, and being accustomed to the climate, and acquainted with the country and the Eastern method of warfare, were valuable as light cavalry.
The Guardian of the chapel had the charge of the portable chapel, which the Templars always carried with them in their campaigns. It was around tent, which was pitched always in the centre of the camp, the quarters of the brethren being disposed around it.
There were also Grand Preceptors of Antioch and Tripoli, and Preceptors of the houses in Syria and elsewhere, all of whom commanded in the field.
William of 'Pyre says of the Order in his day, when in the zenith of its prosperity: " They have in their convent at Jerusalem more than three hundred Knights, besides serving brethren innumerable. Their possessions are so vast that there cannot now be a province in Christendom which does not contribute to their support, and their wealth is said to equal that of sovereign princes." In Palestine, besides their great house at Jerusalem, they had many strongholds in different parts of the country.
Gaza, the southern frontier town; Saphet on the north; the castle of the Pilgrims near Mount Carmel; the fortress of Jaffa, and that of Nere.
Indeed, the greater part of the Holy Land was in their hands, or in those of the Hospitallers.
They had houses at Aleppo, Laodicea, Beyrout, and many other places.
In Apulia and Sicily they held estates, castles, and other property.
They had establishments in Lucca, Milan, Perugia, Placentia, Bologna, and in other cities of Italy.
In Portugal they had estates and castles, and were constantly in conflict with the Moois.
In Spain they had large possessions, and in the Balearic Islands.
In Germany they were settled at Mayence, and other cities on the Rhine.
They had a footing in Bavaria, Hungary, Bohemia, and Moravia.
They had a house at Constantinople, and then in Greece.
In France their possessions were so large, and their establishments so numerous, that it would occupy too much space to enumerate them.
Holland and the Netherlands also had con vents of the Order.
In England there were a great many Templar houses, some of which are still traceable by the'names of the villages; e.g., Temple‑combe, Temple Rothley, Temple Newsom, etc.
In almost every country they had either Preceptories or estates, and in Scotland and Ireland also they had both.
Besides actual property and convents, they received from kings and princes many privileges, immunities from taxation, tithes, etc. The right of sanctuary was granted to their establishments.
The Master of the Temple in England had a seat in Parliament as a baron.
The first English convent of the Order was near Southampton Buildings, in Chancery Lane, where some remains of the ruins of the chapel were found some years ago. When the Order increased, they purchased an estate just outside the city gate, and adjacent to the Thames, where a magnificent convent was built; of this nothing remains but the circular part of the church, which was consecrated by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in A.D. 1184, in the reign of King " Henry II., shortly after the murder of Thomas A Becket, at Canterbury? The King often held his court at the Temple, and it was sometimes used as a depository of treasure. The same may be said of the Temple in Paris, which was also a very extensive and magnificent building, all trace of which, however, is gone, except in the names of the streets which occupy its site.
Before its destruction it was used as a prison, and there the unfortunate Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were confined till released by death, and here the still more miserable Dauphin, their son, and the heir to the throne of France, endured the cruelties of the inhuman cobbler, Simon, to break his spirit and wear out his young life by a system of revolting and degrading barbarities which slowly tortured him to death. ‑WOODHOUSE'S Military Religious Orders, pp. 217‑221.
The Suppression of the Order in England.‑ It would be tedious to follow the long and wearisome questionings, and to record the replies given by the several brethren of the Temple during their trial in London. One and all agreed in denying the existence of the horrible and ridiculous rites which were said to be used at the reception of new members; and whether they had been received in England or abroad, detailed the ceremonies that were used, and showed 1 The body of the Church, as it now stands, was not consecrated till A.D. 124o, in the reign of Henry III., who was present at the ceremony.
HISTORIC NOTES.
155 that they were substantially the same everywhere.
The candidate was asked what he desired, and on replying that he desired admission to the Order of the Knights of the Temple, he was warned of the strict and severe life that was demanded of members of the Order; of the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; and, moreover, that he must be ready to go and fight the enemies of Christ even to the death.
Others related details of the interior discipline and regulations of the Order, which were stern and rigorous, as became a body that added to the strictness of the convent, the order and system of a military organization. Many of the brethren had been nearly all their lives in the Order; some more than forty years, a great part of which had been spent in active service in the East. The witnesses who were summoned were not members of the Order, and had only hearsay evidence to give.
They had heard this and that report; they suspected something else; they had been told that certain things had been said or done.
Nothing definite could be obtained, and there was no proof whatever of any of the extravagant and incredible charges.
Similar proceedings tools place in Lincoln, and York, and also in Scotland, and Ireland; and in all places the results were the same.
And the matter dragged on till October, A.D. 1311. Hitherto torture had not been resorted to; but now, in accordance with the repeated solicitations of the Pope, King Edward gave orders that the imprisoned Templars should be subjected to the rack, in order that they might be forced to give evidence of their guilt. . . .
The Templars having been now three years in prison, chained, half‑starved, threatened with greater miseries here, and with eternal damnation hereafter, separated from one another, without friend, adviser, or legal defence, were now removed to the various gaols in London and elsewhere, and submitted to torture. We have no particular record of the horrible details; but some evidence was afterwards adduced, which was said to have been obtained from the unhappy victims during their agony. . . .
In April, A.D. 1311, these depositions were read in the court, in the presence of the Templars, who were required to say what they could allege in their defence. They replied that they were ignorant of the processes of law, and that they were not permitted to have the aid of those whom they trusted and who could advise them, but that they would gladly make a statement of their faith and of the principles of the Order.
This they were permitted to do, and a very simple and touching paper was produced and signed by all the brethren. They declared themselves, one and all, good Christians and faithful members of the Church, and they claimed to be treated as such, and openly and fairly tried, if there were any just cause of complaint against them.
But their persecutors were by no means satisfied.
Fresh tortures and cruelties were resorted to to force confessions of guilt from these worn‑out and dying men.
A few gave way, and said what they were told to say; and these unhappy men were produced in St. Paul's Cathedral shortly afterward, and made to recant their errors, and were then reconciled to the Church.
A similar scene was enacted at York.
The property of the Templars in England was placed under the charge of a Commission at the time that proceedings were commenced against them, and the King very soon treated it as if it were his own, giving away manors and convents at his pleasure.
A great part of the posses sions of the Order was subsequently made over to the Hospitallers.
The convent and church of the Temple in London were granted, in A.D. 1313, to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, whose monument is in Westminster Abbey.
Other property was pawned by the King to his creditors as security for payment of his debts; but constant litigation and disputes seem to have pursued the holders of the ill‑gotten goods.
Some of the surviving Templars retired to monasteries, others returned to the world and assumed secular habits, for which they incurred the censure of the Pope.‑ WOODHOUSES Military Religious Orders, pp. 252‑255ò In view of the " pilgrimages " now made from time to time to the Templar localities in the Mother‑land, we give the following list of the Preceptories in England: Cambridgeshire : Wilbraham. Essex: Temple Crossing, Hampshire: South Badesley. Hertfordshire: Temple Dynnesly.
' Kent: Swingfield.
Leicestershire: Temple Rothley.
Lincolnshire: Aslackby, Temple Brewer, Eagle, Maltby, Mere Wilketon, Witham.
156
THE COGNATE ORDERS.
Norfolk: Haddiscoe. ihropshire : Halston. Suffolk: Gislingham, Dunwich. Sussex: Saddlescombe. Warwickshire: Balsall, Warwick. Yorkshire: North Ferriby, Temple Hurst, Temple Newsome, Pafflete, Flaxflete, Ribston.
The Order also possessed many manors and estates where they had no Preceptories.
An eye‑witness of the exploits of the Templars, Cardinal de Vitry, Bishop of Acre, gives the following description of the courage and heroism of the Order: " When summoned to arms, they never demand the number of the enemy, but only where they are; fierce soldiers they are in war, monks in religion; to the enemies of Christ inexorable, to Christians kind and gracious. They carry before them to battle a banner half black and half white, which they call I3eauseant, because they are fair and favorable to the friends of Christ, but black and terrible to his enemies."‑ The Military Religious Orders of the .'Middle Ages, by F. C. WOODHOUSE, M.A. London, 1879, pp. 215, 2i6.
The usual mediaeval expedient was resorted to, and torture was used to extort acknowledgments of guilt.
The unhappy Templars in Paris were handed over to the tender mercies of the tormentors with the usual results.
One hundred and forty were subjected to trial by fire.
The details preserved are almost too horrible to be related.
The feet of some were fastened close to a hot fire till the very flesh and even the bones were consumed.
Others were suspended by their limbs, and heavy weights were attached to them to make the agony more intense.
Others were deprived of their teeth; and every cruelty that a horrible ingenuity could invent was used. While this was going on questions were asked, and offers of pardon were made, if they would acknowledge themselves or others guilty of the monstrous wickednesses which were detailed to them.
At the same time forged letters were read, purporting to come from the Grand Master himself, exhorting them to make a _all confession, and declarations were made of the confessions which were said to have been already freely given by other members of the Order. ‑WOODHOUSE's Military Religious Orders, pp. zoo, 241.
The Knights of the Temple ever maintained their fearless and fanatic character; if they neglected to live, they were prepared to die, in the service of Christ. ‑ GIBBON.
A carefully drawn and accurately colored print of a " Templier, en habit de Guerre," is prefixed to the rare and valuable " Histoire Critique et Apolog6tique de 1'Ordre des Chevaliers du Temple de J6rusalem, dits Templiers, Par feu le R. P. M. J. Chanoine, R6gulier de l'Ordre de Pr6montr6, Docteur en Th6ologie, Prieur de 1'Abbaye d' Ltival.
A Paris, MDCCLxxxix.
Avec Approbation et Privilege du Roi."
This work is in two volumes, quarto, PP. xx. gqo, xv. 354, and is in the library of the writer.
"A glorious company, the flower of men, To serve as model for the mighty world, I make them lay their hands in mine, and swear To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, To ride abroad, redressing human wrongs, To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, To lead sweet lives in purest chastity." ‑ TENNYSON.
DIVISION III.
THE DOCUMENTARY EARLY HISTORY OF THE FRATERNITY.
COMPILED BY THE EDITOR‑IN‑CHIEF.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT BRITISH MSS. ON FREEMASONRY.
Introductory. ‑ A late historian has well said: ‑ " History must depend for credence on creditable evidence.
In order to justify belief, one must either himself have seen or heard the facts related, or have the testimony, direct or indirect, of witnesses or well informed contemporaries.
The original sources of historic knowledge are mainly comprised in oral traditions, or in some form of well‑written records." Applied to Freemasonry, these remarks meet at the outset with various difficulties. The antiquity of the society forbids the test of personal witness to the facts attested, and the written traditions, as they come down, partake so much of the legendary element that their evidential value is greatly impaired, if not wholly discredited by scholars outside the pale of the Order.
The Early Historians. ‑ In the search after oral traditions to establish a history of Freemasonry prior to A.D. 1717, one is at once met by the fact that the early Craftsmen did not, usually, place on paper the customs and usages pertaining to the ceremonies of their guild, and if, in some cases, they did do so, all those papers of evidential value have long since been destroyed. Absolutely nothing remains but the writings of the early historians of Speculative Masonry, among whom, as the first, we place the Rev. James Anderson, D.D., and the |1 Old Charges " of British Freemasons, together with those of the Stone‑masons of Germany.
The Mythical Assembly A.D. 926. ‑ In one of the apocryphal treatises of the Fraternity, we read that Prince Edwin of England called a congvegation at York, in June A.D. 926, "And composed a general or grand Lodge of which he was Grand Master.
And having brought with them all the old writings, and records of the craft extant, some in Greek, some in 158 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Latin, some in French and other languages, from the contents thereof, that Assembly framed the constitutions and charges of an English Lodge, made a law to preserve and observe the same in all time coming, and ordained good pay for working Masons." These "Constitutions" of A.D. 926 are said by the same authority to have been revised at two subsequent periods, the last one of which is of a date late enough to possess authenticity had such an assembly actually been held. We refer to it in this connection as contributory to the traditions which lurk about the " Old Charges."
Several of these bear internal evidence of having been copied from documents of a much earlier time ‑ from originals now wholly lost.
Acknowledgment.‑In compiling the documents and historic data following, the author has had the assistance of Brother Wm. Tames Hughan, European Editor, and access to the publications and "Masonic Reprints," of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, No. 2076, London. He has, also, freely availed himself of material from the " History of Freemasonry," by Brother Gould, the Masonic Publications of Brother Hughan, the treatises on this subject by Brother G. W. Speth, secretary of the lodge above mentioned, and others.
The First Book of Constitutions. ‑ The first " Book of Constitutions " was published in 1723, and the author of it was the Rev. James Anderson, D.D., a minister of the Scottish Presbyterian Church.
The title‑page read as follows: "The Constitutions of the Free‑Masons.
Containing the History, Charges, Regulations, Sc., of that Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity.
For the use of Lodges."
The sub‑title was in these words : "The Constitution, History, Laws, Charges, Orders, Regulations, and usages, of Accepted Free Masons; Collected from their General Records, and their Faithful Traditions of Many Ages. To be read at the Admission of a New Brother, when the Master or Warden shall begin, or order some other Brother to read as follows: " Then follows the first version of the "Charges," which is familiar to all Craftsmen.
It will be noted that Dr. Anderson gives the society the name of "Right Worshipful Fraternity of Accepted Free Masons," but later on, in the same edition, the more lengthy and appropriate title of "The Right Worshipful and most ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons," the name by which it is frequently called to‑day.
The Second Book. ‑In the edition of 1738 Dr. Anderson had added the words: "Antient and Honourable."
This edition, called the "New Book of Constitutions," was approved by the Grand Lodge, January 25, 1738.
In the work, the author is supposed to have reprinted the 11 Old Regulations," these being "The Charges of a Free Mason, ordered to be printed in the first edition of the Book of Constitutions on 25th March, 1722," and added thereto the "New Regulations" in parallel columns.
".But again the insatiable desire of Anderson," says Brother Hughan, "to modernize and alter is conspicuous." Other criticisms have been freely made, but we incline to the opinion of our European Editor that " Whatever may be its merits or demerits, according as we look at the volume leniently or critically, the fact remains that to it, and to it alone, are we indebted for a history of the Grand DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
159 Lodge of England from its inauguration in A.D. 1717 to 1723, when the official Records begin, and from that period for an able extract of the Proceedings; hence the work has been described as the ' basis of Masonic History,' by Prof. Robinson, and its author is termed by the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford 'the Father of English Masonic History,' both titles being fairly earned in respect to the sketch of the premier Grand Lodge." What were the " General Records " and " Faithful Traditions," examined by Dr. Anderson, upon which he based the " Constitutions " of the Craft? What became of them?
The reader is referred to the || Masonic Reprints," before noted, for reply.
Dr. Anderson, no doubt, had in his possession several copies of the " Old Charges," while preparing the first and second editions of his celebrated "Book of Constitutions"; the remainder of our opinion is largely that of speculation.
Experts say that one of these must have been the " Matthew Cooke MS.," which we give herein, and others, the titles of which are not essential to our purpose.
The " Book of Constitutions " has passed through various revisions, since its author's famous revision in A.D. 1735‑38, the twenty‑two editions dating as follows :
I. 1723, II. 1738, 111. 1756, Iv. 1767, V. 1784, V1. 1815, VII. 1819, V1II. 1,927, IX. 1841, X. 1847, XI. 1853, XII. 1855, XIII. 1858, XIv. 1861, XV. 1863, XVI. 1865, XVII. 1866, XVIn. 1867, XIX. 1871, xx. 1873, XXI. 1884, XXII. 1888.
Many of these editions are extremely rare, and the last two are entirely new works, having been thoroughly revised and rearranged.
The Ahiman Rezon. ‑ It may be of interest to state that the ‑Regulations published by the "Ancient " Grand Lodge, called by the English the 11 Atholl Masons," and known as the " Ahiman Rezon," were eight in number, viz. I. 1756, II. 1764, III. 1778, IT. 1787, v. 18oo, vi. I8or, VII. 1807, vin. 1813, the last two having " Lists of Lodges." Probably one of the most complete collections of these editions of the `1 Ahiman Rezon," in America, is in the Masonic Library, Philadelphia, Pa.
As the "Book of Constitutions" became the model or standard for the government of Freemasonry by the " Moderns," so the " Ahiman Rezon " was the law of the "Ancients." The history of these rival Grand Lodges and subsequent union is given in another place in this volume.
Destruction of the Ancient MSS. ‑ The legendary writings called apocryphal, as well as those more authentic, are said to have been destroyed after they were collated into a volume variously called : "The Masonic Constitutions," " Constitutions," `1 The Legend of the Guild," the `| History of Freemasonry," "The Constitutions of the Craft," etc., etc. ; all of which were designated by Dr. Anderson, in these words: ‑ "The Free‑Masons had always a Book in Manuscript called the Book of Constitutions (of which they have several very antient Copies remaining),, containing not only their Charges and Regulations, but also a History of Architecture from the Beginning of Time; in order to show the Antiquity and Excellency of the Craft or Art." These writings have, by Hughan's suggestion, been called the "Old Charges of British Freemasons," of which an increasing number are still in 16o
ANCIENT Mf4SONRY.
existence, and an exact copy of every known version, together with the references which have been made, from time to time, by writers to " forms " now missing are to be given to the world by the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, from whose publications we quote, in part, what follows herewith.
Brother Gould in his History, Vol. L, p. 56, claims that " By no other craft in Great Britain has documentary evidence been furnished of its having inherited at any time a legendary and traditional history. Oral testimony of any real antiquity is also wanting when it is sought to maintain that the British Freemasons are not singular in the preservation of their old legends." That there is something not written in history, below the surface of all statements made as to the " Old Charges," is evident from what has been read into these Manuscripts, |` between the lines," so to speak. With one or two possible exceptions, the MSS. consulted by Dr. Anderson are not to be found, and this is true also of the documents collected and said to have figured at the mythical convention A.D. 926.
It is only within a comparatively recent period that any considerable number of " Old Charges " were known to be in existence.
The table we give, and which constitutes a collection revised by our European Editor down to date, has several entries not included in a similar Kalendar, published in England in 1886.
It follows, therefore, as Brother Gould says, we may consistently presume, "The fact that the MS. Constitutions are not elsewhere referred to in any literature that has come down to us of the XIVth and XVth centuries, than in the Regius and Cooke MSS., is no proof that but few copies were in existence at those periods." Not to speak of the natural destruction of manuscripts by dampness and other auxiliaries, through which MSS. were being constantly destroyed, there was an immense consumption of them following the invention of the art of printing. Vast numbers of manuscript volumes and rolls, beautiful and ancient in their time, were ruthlessly used by book‑binders for backs and bands, and even for fly‑leaves.
Says Maitland in " The Dark Ages," p. 231 : ‑ "Whole libraries were destroyed, or made waste paper of, or consumed for the vilest uses. The splendid and magnificent Abbey of Malmsbury, which possessed some of the finest manuscripts in the Kingdom, was ransacked, and its treasures either sold or burned to serve the commonest purposes of life. An antiquary who travelled through that town, many years after the dissolution, relates that he saw broken windows patched up with remnants of the most valuable MSS. on vellum, and that the bakers had not even then consumed the stores they had accumulated, in heating the ovens." Palgrave, also, in his '| History of Normandy and England," says of the destruction of MS. libraries in France, that || the only knowledge we possess concerning this spoliation in the six Episcopal sees of Gascony, arises from an incidental allusion in a charter." In the light of these revelations, the wonder is not so much that we have few Masonic MSS. remaining, but that any escaped the printers, book‑binders, and bakers of the first century of printing ! What an irreparable loss to the world was the destruction by fire of the Alexandrian library!
May not the same be equally true, of this wholesale DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
destruction of valuable manuscripts, to the Masonic Fraternity? Whether our traditions had their origin in early times or not; whether they were handed down from mouth to mouth, or in writing, it is exceedingly probable that some satisfactory explanation could be found of the origin of Freemasonry had it not been for the destruction of written evidence, both secular and Masonic, that " escaped not the unsparing ravages of barbarous force." The Kalendar of " Old Charges." ‑The " Old Charges " generally consist of three parts : I., The Introductory Prayer, Declaration, or Invocation ; ii., The History of the Order, or the Legend of the Guild, which usually ends with the era of Athelstan, or about A.D. (926 ; III., The peculiar statutes and duties, the regulations and observances, which Masons in general, or the Craft in particular, are bound carefully to uphold and inviolably to maintain.
The following Kalendar of Old Charges is a complete list of the various " forms " of MSS. and printed Constitutions that are in actual existence, or to which there is any known reference to the present time ; together with their " custody," and other important particulars.
KALENDAR OF MASONIC "OLD CHARGES," 1891.
I. MANUSCRIPT VERSIONS.
NO.
NAME. DATE.
CUSTODY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
A.
Regius, or Hal1390 (9)
British Museum................
Qtiatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, and
ltwell Poem..
H. J. Whymper, x8qo
B.
Cooke ......... Be gtnning of
Idem ..........................
Ibid., and Spencer & Co.
C.
x 5th Century
West Yorkshire Library ........
Freemason, x891. [prints, Vol. II.
Wm. Watson... x68,
Lansdowne .. 16th Century
Idem ..........................
Hughan's Old Charges, and Mas. Re
Grand Lodge... x983
Grand Lodge of England.... ....
Old Charges, and Sadler.
3
York, No. 1.... 17th Century
York Lodge, No. 236............
O. C., and Masonic Magazine, Aug.,
x873.
4
Phillipps, No. i. Idem
Rev. J. E. A. Fenwick, Chelten
ham .........................
Masonic Magazine, April, 1876.
,6
Phtllip ,
Idem ..........................
Virtually a copy of No. 4.
ones.... No. 2. Idem
of
Provincial Grand Lodge Wor
Inigo x607 (?)
Masonic Magazine, July, 188x.
cestershire...................
Wood.......... :6to (?)
Idem ..........................
Ibid., June, x881.
8
Harleian, x942.. 17th Century
British Museum ................
Freemason's Quarterly Review, x8g6,
and Old Charges, also M, R., Vol. II.
9
Harleian, 2054.. Idem
Idem ..........................
Masonic Sketches, and Masonic Maga.
zine, 1873.
to
Sloane, 3848.... x646
Idem ..........................
Old Charges, and Masonic Magazine,
11
Sloane, 3323.... 1659
Idem ..........................
Ma omit Sketches (Hughan).
12
Lechmere ...... 17th Century
Sir E. A. Lechmere, Bart. ......
Masonic Monthly, Dec., 1882.
13
Buchanan...... Idem
Grand Lodge of England........
Gould's History, Vol. I., chap. 2.
14
Kilwinning..... Idem
Mother Kilwinning Lodge.......
Lyon's History, Lodge of Edinburgh;
and Masonic Sketches.
15
Atcheson‑Haven x666
Grand Lodge of Scotland........
Laurie, 1859; and Lyon, 1873
s6
Aberdeen....... 1670
Aberdeen Lodge, No. 34 ........
Voice of Masonry, Dec" 1174,
17
Melrose, No. 2. 1674
Lodge of Melrose...............
Masonic Magazine, Jan., x880.
18
Hope .......... 17th Century
Hope Lodge, No. 302...........
Old Charges , (Hughan.)
19
York, No. 5.... Idem
York Lodge, No. 236............
Masonic Magazine, Aug., x881.
20
York, No. 6.... Idem
Idem ..........................
Ibid., IIlarch, x88..
21
Colne, No. 1 ... Idem
Royal Lancashire Lodge, No. x16
Christmas Number of Freemason,
21
(a) Tew........ 1680
West Yorkshire Library ..
Ibid., 1888.
21
(b) Watson..... 1693
'rhos. M. Watson, Sunderland...
Freemason, Oct. 5, 1889.
21
(c) Clapham.... 17th Century
West Yorkshire Library ........
Freemason, Mar. 2q, :8go.
21
(d) The Hub... x677
City of Boston .................
Masonic Review, U.S.A., July, x8go;
Freemason's Chronicle, Aug. 23, 1890.
22
Antiquity....... x686
Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2 ......
Hughan's Old Charges.
23
Clerke ......... x686
Col. S. H. Clerke, Gr. Sec.
Freemason, Feb. 4, x888.
24
Dauntesy...... x690
R. Dauntesy, Agecroft Hall,
Key‑stone, Phila., Pa., March 2o, x886
Manchester.
. 162 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 3 378 3 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 NOTE.‑Three MSS. in this table appear under new titles from those of former compilations, although their position in the first numerical list has not been varied. These are the Phillipps, numbered 4 and 5, formerly " Wilson," and the " Clerke," formerly Supreme Council, No. 2.
II. PRINTED VERSIONS,‑ORIGINALS NOT KNOWN.
NOTE.‑NO. 50 is an Apocryphal Latin MS., sent to Schneider, of Altenburg, by a German then travelling in England, and certified to be a " true translation of an Anglo‑Saxon document existing at York."
NAME.
DATE.
CUSTODY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
York, No. 4....
York Lodge, NO. 236............ Masonic Sketches.
Colne, No. 2...
:8th Century
Royal Lancashire Lodge, No. 1x6 A copy of No. 2t.
Alnwick........
1701
Alderman Robertson, Alnwick .. Hughan's Old Charges, and American
Edition, Masonic Sketches.
York, No. 2....
1704
York Lodge, No. 236 ........... Masonic Sketches.
Scarborough ...
1705
Grand Lodge of Canada......... Canadian Craftsman, Feb., 1874, and
Masonic Magazine, Sept., 1879.
Stanley ........
1677 & 1713
Fred. Stanley, Margate ......... Not Published.
Papworth ......
1714
Wyatt Papworth, London....... Hughan's Old Charges.
Spencer........
1726
E. T. Carson, Cincinnati ....... Spencer's Old Constitutions, 1871.
Woodford ......
1728
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, NO. 2076 Copied from Cooke MS.
Supreme Council
Idem
33 Golden Square, London...... Ditto.
Gateshead .....
1 731
Lodge of Industry, No. 48 ...... Masonic Magazine, Sept., x875.
Rawlinson .....
Idem
Bodleian Library............... Freemason's Magazine, 1855, and Ma
sonic Magazine, Sept., 1876.
Harris .........
18th Century
Bedford Lodge, No. T57......... Freemason's Chronicle, April, 1882.
Probity ........
Idem
Lodge of Probity, No. 6x........ Freemason, Jan. and Feb., 1886.
Cama..........
Idem
Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 Not Yet Published.
Phillipps, No. 3.
Idem
Rev. J. E. A. Fenwick, Chelten
ham ......................... Not Published.
Melrose, No. 3.
1762
Lodge of Melrose.... .......... A copy of No. 17.
Crane..........
1781
Cestrian Lodge, No. 425 ........ Freemason, Oct. and Nov., 1884.
Harris, No. 2...
Idem
British Museum ............... Not Published.
Tunnah........
18x8
W. J. Hughan, Torquay........ Idem.
Wren..........
1852
[Woodford] .................... Masonic Magazine, 1879.
NO.
NAME.
DATE. FIRST PUBLISHED.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
46 Roberts........
1722
Pamphlet.......................
Spencer's Old Constitutions, 1871
47 Briscoe ........I
1724
Idem...........................
Masonic Magazine, Oct., 1873, and
Freemason's Chronicle, 1876.
48 Cole ...........
1728‑9
Idem...........................
Hughan's Freemason's Constitutions,
1869.
49 Dodd...........
1739
Idem...........................
Carson's Rituals of Freemasonry, No.
III., x876.
5o Krause.........
x808
Dreialtesten Urk ...............
Englished in Hughan's Old Charges.
51 Dowland.......
1815
Gentleman's Magazine..........
Hughan s Old Charges.
III. MISSING VERSIONS,‑USED AND
REFERRED TO.
NO.
I NAME.
USED OR
FORMER CUSTODY.
REMARKS.
CITED.
52
Melrose, No. x.
x581‑1674
Lodge of Melrose...............
Original of Nos. 17 and 41.
53
Plot............
x636
Masons of Staffordshire.........
Natural History of Staffordshire, p. 3x6.
54
Anderson.......
1723‑38
Dr. Anderson ..................
Forms used in the Constitutions, 1723
and 1738.
55
Baker .........
x730‑40
A London Carpenter............
A roll seen by Dr. Rawlinson.
5
Langley........
1738
Batty Langley, London.........
"
Builder's Compleat Assistant."
57
Morgan........
1752
John Morgan, Gr. See....... ....
Named in (Schismatic) Grand Lodge
Records.
58
Dermott........
Idem
L. Dermott. Gr. See..... ........
Ibid.
59
Wilson ........
1778
Mr. Wilson of Bromhead .......
Manifesto of the Lodge of Antiquity.
6o
York, NO‑3 ....
x630‑1779
Grand Lodge, York.............
Inventory of the Grand Lodge (York).
61
Hargrove ..... .
x818
Idem ..........................
Hargrove's History of York.
62
Mason's Com
pany ........
1839
Mason's Company.............. Edinburgh Review, April, 1839
NOTE. ‑The Wilson MS., No. 59, now scheduled in this class, is a Inat form, of which the present Phillipps Documents, numbered 4 and 5 (above), were supposed, until lately, to be the representatives [Gould].
ANCIENT MASONRY.
164 ANCIENT MASONRY.
The " Old Charges " Grouped as Families. ‑ Brother Gould says of this disposal of the |' Old Charges " : ‑ "The division of the Manuscript Constitutions into groups or families, was long looked upon as chimerical, by the limited number of students who had alone attempted to penetrate beneath the somewhat unforbidding husk of their actual meaning and intent. But a learned GermanDr. Begemann, of Rostock ‑ whom nature has bountifully endowed with ability, and untiring industry, with a vast armory of research, shows us very clearly‑like Brother John Lane in another branch of our antiquities‑that specialists in Masonic study, as in other pursuits of knowledge unconnected with the Fraternity, by a concentration of thought on a single topic, may achieve results that are quite impossible, where either the field of the enquiry is too large, or the versatility of the enquirer is not kept under subjection." The "Old Charges" partake of the same general characteristics, and are diverse, incidentally, in secondary details.
This will be more apparent in our analysis of these MSS., using the ` Grand Lodge of 1583 " as a model.
The processes by which the " family " idea is reasoned out are admirably and ingeniously stated by the brother, quoted above, in these words : ‑ " By showing that, in each case, the various readings have come down to us in a single line of transmission, the plurality of forms, through which it meets the reader's eye, becomes of comparatively little importance. Thus, in their prima facie character, documents present themselves as so many independent and rival texts of greater or less purity. But, as a matter of fact, they are not independent;. by the nature of the case they are all fragments‑usually casual and scattered fragments‑of a genealogical tree of transmission, sometimes of vast extent and intricacy.
The more exactly we are able to trace the chief ramifications of the tree and to determine the places of the several records among the branches, the more secure will be the foundation laid for a criticism capable of distinguishing the original text from its successive corruptions.
The introduction of the factor of genealogy at once lessens the power of mere numbers.
If there is sufficient evidence, external or internal, for believing that often MSS. the first nine were all copied, directly or indirectly, from the tenth, it will be known that all the variations from the tenth can be only corruptions, and that for documentary evidence we have only to follow the tenth.
If, however, the result of the enquiry is to find that all the nine MSS. were derived, not from the tenth, but from a lost MS., the ten documents resolve themselves virtually into two witnesses: the tenth MS., which can be known directly and completely, and the lost MS., which must be restored through the readings of its nine descendants, exactly and by simple transcription where they agree, approximately and by critical processes where they disagree." In the light of this process of reasoning the MSS. in the above tables become of infinite value to the student of Freemasonry.
CHAPTER II.
THE REGIUS MS., OR HALLIWELL POEM, LEGEND OF 11 THE FOUR CROWNED MARTYRS," THE COOKE MS., AS ANNOTATED BY G. W. SPETH, SECRETARY, LODGE Q. C.
The First Known Copy of Masonic Constitutions.‑The Regius MS., or Halliwell Poem, is the most ancient of the documents that have come down to us.
It includes seven hundred and ninety‑four lines of Old English verse ; ninety‑six lines of Urbanitatis, and seventy lines of " Directions for a Parish Priest" are added.
Findel says: ‑ "The concluding portion [of the Regius MS.] is the 'Legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs, and some moral instruction to those to whom the Manuscript should be read. This appeal to the saints,‑in the German Guild the 'vier Gekrbnten,' also to be found in the German Constitutions,‑ must be regarded as a most decided proof of the identity of the German and English Stone‑masons, and of their having one common parentage.
But the English document is superior to the German one, and in Article 15 the pure moral element, 'implicit truth,' is commanded, which is not mentioned in the German one." Brother Woodford, however, does not agree with his learned German brother, and says, "That a religious legend common then to both countries, cannot be held to be a proof of special antiquity to one form of national organization." Dr. Oliver held the Regius MS. to be the actual Constitution agreed to at the Great Assembly, said to have been held at York A.D. 926. Brother Woodford, referring to this in connection with the allusion to Findel, says that the absence of any reference to York in the Poem, is fatal to Dr. Oliver's theory.
As showing the nature of this invaluable document, we quote from. the Quatuor Coronatorum Anti,;rapha (Vol. I.), as follows: "The MS. conveys the idea, at first view, of being separated into two great divisions, one terminating at line four hundred and ninety‑six, and the other going on to the end of the poem."
This is Brother Speth's view of the Cooke MS., as will be seen below.
"But when you look more closely into the matter, the absence of either continuity or connection snakes itself felt, and it is at once apparent that the compiler has both collected and transcribed from many sources, but without taking the trouble to attach any real thread of union to the collections or transcripts, of which his verses are made up."
This would appear to substantiate our opinion that many other MSS., now lost, existed before the art of printing came into general use, as shown in the preceding chapter.
Our European Editor places the date of the Regius MS. at A.D. 13901 (approximately).
He says : ‑ "This curious Poem, containing the Constitutions of Masonry (small quarto on vellum), written about the latter part of the fourteenth century, was first made known by Mr. James O. Halliwell, F.R.S., in a paper on 'The early History of Freemasonry in England, read before the Society of Antiquaries during the session of 1838‑9." The Evolution Theory. ‑Before reproducing a portion of this interesting Masonic Manuscript, and giving the reader a translation thereof in modern English, a remark or two more seems to be pertinent. How came this document to be recorded in verse in A.D. 1390, and the Cooke MS., its supposed counterpart in prose, existing in another form as early as the century imme diately following?
The reader will note, further on, that we give in full the 1 Woodford says it was transcribed by a Monk or other Ecclesiastic, apparently from an earlier copy.
166 ANCIENT MASONRY.
Grand Lodge MS., of A.D. 1583, the first to which a definite date can be assigned, and that it partakes of similar divisions, and many of the general characteristics that appear in the two earlier ones which we are now considering.
Brother Gould's theory, in the An6grapha, that the maxims and laws of the Masonic guild followed the lines of national usage, is reasonable ; and he adds, explanatory: "The minstrel‑poets of the Anglo‑Saxons had, by degrees, composed a large mass of national poetry, which formed collectively one grand mythic circle. Their education," like the Scandinavians to which he refers in this connection, he says, " consisted chiefly in committing this poetry to memory, and it was thus preserved from age to age."
Suggesting a thought as to the fragmentary character of the `| Old Charges," he further says: "They rehearsed such portions of it as might be asked for by their hearers, or as the circumstances of the moment might require, for it seems certain that they were in the habit of singing detached scenes even, of particular poems, just as we are told was done with the works of Homer in the earlier times of Greece." Law maxims were also originally framed in verse; oaths were couched in a kind of alliterative rhythm‑prose flowing into irregular verse; enough to aid the memory and to guide the ear, though not circumscribed by any regular metre.
Sweet, in his " History of Anglo‑Saxon Poetry," says, it is probable that the earliest poetry of the Anglo‑Saxons consisted of single strophes, each narrating, or rather alluding to, some exploit of a hero or god, or expressing some single sentiment, generally of a proverbial or gnomic character.
Such is the poetry of savage nations.
The next stage is to combine these strophes into connected groups. The third is to abandon the strophic arrangement altogether.
These theories will assist to suggest, if they do not account for, the changes that have taken place from the metrical poem of our analysis, its later form' of the Cooke MS., and the Grand Lodge MS., down to the "Charges of a Freemason," as they are rehearsed to‑day.
The Masonic Poem. ‑The reader's attention is now turned to the Poem itself, first saying, by way of explanation, that the translator [W. B. W.] of the "Constitutions," of "The Four Crowned Martyrs," and of the "Instructions for a Parish Priest," has endeavored to preserve the archaic form of the original as faithfully as possible, changing only such words and phrases as would be unintelligible to the ordinary reader. These necessary alterations have unavoidably entailed the loss of the rhythm and rhyme of the Poem in several places.
1 This remark is based upon Brother Could's writings.
Secretary Speth, however, says: "The Matthew Cooke MS., taken as a whole, consists of a commentary, preceding a version of the ' Old Charges.'
Subsequent rolls of the Constitutions make this commentary a part of the' Book,' itself. Brother Gould is therefore right in placingthis MS. apart from the others, hecause it is, as it were, an example of the transition state of this class of documents, and yet not their forerunner; but he is wrong in classing the Cooke MS. with the Regius MS., from which it differs much more widely." In this connection the reader is referred to the version of the Cooke MS. which is given in another place in this chapter.
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
THE MASONIC POEM.
[ORIGINAL MS.] cc‑ I.umptunt cvnRtituctone 8 Artis gemetrte' ( itt <EucVzt. IV We toot Dove 1bef‑t‑C& aWO_I0te be maY findó ‑ tbykm yn AM Goi‑t .6f grew IOZDy9‑ anb ó1=.t WPM,,‑‑‑s yat 4 ate stony cbelD yti‑ 2' fótòey tby dno 11atc n0 C"‑tof?ntAt.4óm wre1 a4y ptt totbne‑ nv felte tty f+`yth ,1m
nfet Ng+td|'~~ev autt3Vó a otFeYuó‑ fatye(e t1~ 1
i)OU k~a (V A ~ott3 yeo myjt6 kp. tart t1ttK i IO ~~otttegret i~ fe(e‑,cute auD I~~ ò ~, Am MOR fog VC mukyk4bi. r twi coium~ pn* yeatte. A frgt4tc derlyis X76 ttchxt 1f ern lttntcosow %Verl,'s [TRANSLATION.] HERE BEGIN THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE OF GEOMETRY ACCORDING TO EUCLID.
Whoso will both well read and look, He may find writ in olden book Of great lords,. and likewise ladies, That had many children, I confess; And had no income to find them with, Neither in town, nor field, nor woodA counsel together they could take To ordain for these children's sake, How they might best lead their life, Without great dis‑ease, care, and strife; And most for the multitude that was coming Of their children, after their death.
They send then after great clerks, To teach them then good works; ART 168
ANCIENT MASONRY.
[ORIGINAL MS.] yIehetu..fotoa ~a$ oeu.òe
uta~tò‑6 ~Y Y(Y=Yi
e|ha‑e taut
|yezt2 ove dL;4aua Onept~ "'c9e./tit. G'ctwlY. rn y
ep c`|fgt~gooagóatórtt‑ ‑ ~~$ onq cra(~t‑0600 marou1l ides oik~~ ana maró‑r% yes mAn4vir ‑ CO
tttfQ't~1D o f PAS clct ty$ f ~l e" ~‑~~e fó tozay8~ayótsò~~eYroc~~ +agQmtt~t' ~.n.A la f t)yt‑Yó name‑ of tnaponrp ‑ {"I An ~'c m oft‑ 0‑now CrA~ of fe~o0p8 d~Ywu"Yes to for f A1L o ~Ltt`tie 0 f ~~1~tò ~ CL
' O f,~QiliQfCYò Y e vkr)ett,e, ale wize fut turyri " [TRANSLATION.] And pray we them, for our lord's sake, For our children some work to make, That they might get their learning thereby, Both well and honestly, full securely.
In that time, through good geometry, This honest craft of good masonry Was ordained and made in this manner, Counterfeited of these clerks together; At these lords' prayers they counterfeited geometry, And gave it the naive of masonry, For the most honest craft of all. These lords' children thereto did hap To learn of him the craft of geometry, The which he made full curiously; 20 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
[ORIGINAL MS.] o
fWmvs fr#óra| W tnOOVSdlPò.
s one( WaOWile futtt 4eM to d rb
30 e~At~rnóD~6ó~|,RuaL~eróo~ onó~a~ go flub Pigs fero~las. fu cur?‑" . J Q f ~ jar n|*‑/1)a we YY"t f 44C he~ ~l~auómozeet~ot(H)ó~|~e"pa~(alfe~ is name 17 pt
, f ul 0oubar wpb ~ótpp$~gr~et~a dót~ó‑ motó .oti~?~at ~ó ~`o l~at t~As 1~órró~ pn
s ró,~gre‑‑~ va yat.
n‑ftFt~ta ~ó arfyct~ 40 fo Nehon‑0j0taWn oyutò Atca toue tom‑Or p astir
u<< . , [TRANSLATION.] Through fathers' prayers and mothers' also, This honest craft he put them to.
He that learned best, and was of honesty, And passed his fellows in skill; If in that craft he did him pass, He should have more honor than the less. This great clerk's name was called Euclid, His name was spread full far and wide. Yet this great clerk ordained still more To him that was higher in this degree, That he should teach the simplest of wit, In that honest craft to be perfect; And so each one should teach the other, And love together as sister and brother.
30 40 LC9 170 ANCIENT MASONRY [ORIGINAL MS.] f
I "e lam"‑ VRr uzD(~nt' 40Ay
ca1tttd. fo Atf bebo ~d y l~c.bó~‑eò tttv~ ~;
oz yennepu.t& 1i 4‑De fo _y c1epQ$ a3ttr ma dn (1) u1Ze‑ nó su ‑`Oon orskòy~ *~ynnc ye cr*‑omougtt8 Tjóm atló'~b ~iY ('o~2tò nY `~'rutlnbòtnp 2~ót‑Q bzoy~ò'‑f bid r" 11e hr nvr‑ ('o ~1~ta3 YaI anoyN d)on f‑tltheAtteo,15AIAS ky! WdICò, c~ttf~ ~,aycomeòof taaycs ~~ttòy~‑: ~n yi~?~ maii. ~n=oi.gvv8~ ~bytt~ ofgptaietrr $p ggn f u r(‑ e crtt t. o f rns four' . ‑~ re det‑tzeudyw‑on pys %Wl fe tjffonac~ps~‑sfrofgprttsrtY~'>ncg~z~tte Ions'.
. [TRANSLATION.] Furthermore yet this he ordained That Master he should be called; So that he was most worshipped, Then should he be so named; But masons should never one another call, Within the craft among them all, Nor subject, nor servant, but my dear brother, Though he be not so perfect as another;
$o Each one shall call his fellows by friendship, Because they come of ladies' birth.
In this manner, through good knowledge of geometry, Began first the craft of masonry.
The clerk Euclid in this wise founded This craft of geometry in Egyptian land racg ‑IYto IIW.Wtfutb r' 4~fin tiuet‑S lMtar‑,ln ettet~i r5W.. ~lon2' ergs ~~~0en~~p Nn~~~ttaó ‑ .
6o ptYv 1~ó ci
t cotta‑ pnto yys Cot1 Yig cra*com‑~n to angloto a8' 14la fa~ hw a Rott~ a 9e t
Yo b
e‑'t)atta.40 ear booze t~~ó tetit~~lu$, of area t) onoozi~ MPotqnbYnjwIvVt lap anbnyjt~. An to Ooz(K)tpt l#sgoa.Otollcbye q;d1 383'00 ó L0 2M touaD.
92
`
r ~NV :i Yr n fu ‑4V C
'.
t
.(put ‑ r n#ydCr*wO'*. 40 It loinó ‑
71 Mnght it full wide, 11eaft on every side; yanra afterward, I understand, `d14 haft came into this land. ;
wane into England, as I now say, of good King Athelstan's day; bt then both hall and likewise bower, tnxopies of great honor, Nits in both day and night, ,':‑wonthip. his God with all his might f laid loved this craft full well, to strengthen it in every part, ;,Avers defects that in the craft he found; tiant about into the land,
70 171 ANCIENT MASONRY.
[ORIGINAL MS.] alfa VC in~on~~of ~ó' n a f tQ'r c comd to t~~3~ri ò ~, Quónó (~ò~ ~~ fot to ttmenzt‑tróft,ZófAUi~iB Rut. 4P.8000 tva fCl ‑4ef i)f tn" fall,/ a (~Ial+irvóunz~Cló nn~ye tet~u~t~ó.‑f aifa~~u.etò3Io:ats~~m.I~er~t . ~u~y''8òctòl~sòana ~atòttóS a~~'o AnD Yógzòrtt IrulVB~ o f Vf Owe yeraile‑fl, tyóra zVqre;.
80 re~'c c~ztòó yer~Nclwn .aY9
=ò o2~aó./ fvi Yepó: utt;~'on~a(
r ~ótYvYf~
'~~'llcc~t ~1xt~.
~o00Y`~ mym)pri'Prtc I)ytKò [TRANSLATION.] After all the masons of the craft, To come to him at once, without delay, For to amend these defects all By good counsel, if it might befall. An assembly then he let them make Of divers lords, in their state, Dukes, earls, and barons also, Knights, squires, and many more, And the great burgesses of that city, They were there all in their degree; These were there each one always To ordain for these masons' estate. There they sought by their wit, How they might govern it: 80 [ORIGINAL MS.] 00itteartimag‑VO,va fAftori‑/ ~
yerrp lwo LTRANSLATI ON.] Fifteen articles they there sought, And fifteen points there they wrought.
These "articles "and"points " are summarized in Vol. I. of the Antigrabha. We quote them as the connecting link between where our reproduction of the original manuscript ends and the balance of the Poem quoted begins, as follows: ‑ [The cases where similarities will be found in the German Ordinances, are distinguished by the letters A, B, and C, within parentheses, which denote the codes of 1459, 1462, and 1563 respectively.] Fifteen Articles for the Master.‑t1. He must be steadfast, trusty, and true; pay his fellows truly; take no bribe; and as a " Jugge " stand upright (C).
2. Every Master (that is a Mason), must be at the general congregation, provided he be told where the Assembly shall be held; except he have a reasonable excuse; is disobedient to the Craft; is with falsehood overtaken; or sickness disable him from attendance.
3. The Master must take no apprentice, without good assurance he will dwell seven years with ‑him, in order to learn his craft, as within a less period his service might be unprofitable (A B, t:).
4. The Master must be careful not to make a bondsman his apprentice, or to take him out of covetousness, as the lord he is bound to may fetch him wheresoever he goes, and if captured in the Lodge 1 much inconvenience might result, since all the Masons that were there would stand together as companions. For more ease, then, the apprentice taken should be of higher degree, and it was in old time written that he should be of gentle birth (A, B).
5. The Apprentice must be of lawful blood, and the Master shall for no advantage make one that is not perfect, which means that he must have his limbs whole, for " To the Craft it were great shame, To make a halt man and a lame. A maimed man he bath no might, You may it know long ere night" (A, B).
6. The Master shall do the lord no prejudice, to take of him for his apprentice as much as for the fellows, who in their Craft are quite perfect, which he is not. But the apprentice shall be informed that his pay may soon increase: ‑ " And ere his term come to an end, His hire may full well amend: ' 2 1 Mr. Halliwell remarks : " It is curious to observe that the same term, lodge, is still in universal, use among the Masons. See also the third Point for the enjoinment of secrecy at whatever was done at the lodges, which exactly corresponds with the present custom." 1
2 i.e., become larger in amount.
173 174 No Master, out of fear or favor, shall either clothe or feed a thief, neither shall he harbor thieves, nor him that hath killed a man, ‑ 8. The Master may change any man of Craft, who is not so perfect as he ought to be, and take in his place a more perfect, that is, skilled man, as the former, through recklessness, might do the craft little honor (C).
g. The Master ought to be wise and discreet, and should undertake no work that he cannot both perform and complate. Also it should be equally to the profit of the lord and the Craft, while the ground ought to be well taken, so that it may neither " fle " nor crack (A, B, C).
io. No Master shall supplant another, or any other man that hath taken a work upon him, under a penalty of not less than ten pounds (on being found guilty), to him who first took the work in hand. For no man in Masonry shall supplant another, except the execution be such that it turn the work to naught, in which case only, for the man who begins a work, if " he be a Mason good and sound," has the right to bring it to an end (A, B, C).
ii. The Master shall be both fair and liberal, and must prohibit any Mason from working at night, unless in the pursuit of knowledge, which shall be a sufficient excuse.
12. No Mason shall deprave his fellow's work, but recommend it with honest words, and assist him in improving it (A, B, C).
rg. If the Master have an apprentice, he must instruct him fully in all points, so that he may have fully learned his craft, whithersoever he may go (B).
14. A Master shall take no apprentice without making proper provision that he shall learn of him, within his term of servitude, " divers points " (B).
15. The Master shall take upon himself no false maintenance, nor for any reward maintain his fellows in their sin.
Neither must he suffer them to swear any false oaths (C).
Fifteen Points for the Craftsmen.‑I. The worthy Craftsman must love well God and the holy Church, the Master he is with, and his fellows also (A, B, C).
II. The Mason must work truly on the work day, so as to deserve his pay for the holy day. III. The apprentice must keep his Master's counsel, and also that of his fellows, closely.
The privities (prevetyse) of the chamber, he must not lay bare, nor tell to any man, whatsoever he hears, or sees done, in the Lodge.
The counsel of hall and likewise of bower he must also keep inviolably (B).
IV. No man shall be false to his Craft, or maintain any error against it, neither shall he do any act to the prejudice of his Master or fellows. The same injunctions apply to the apprentice, though "under awe" (B, C).
V. The Mason must take the pay ordered to him weekly, but the Master, before the ninth hour‑i.e., 3 p. m.‑must warn those for whom he hath no further employment, and to this direction they must submit without strife (A, B, C).
VI. Love‑day shall only be celebrated on a holiday, or when the work‑day has come to an end (B, C).
VII. No man shall lie with his Master's wife, or with the wife or concubine of any of his fellows VIII. The Mason must be faithful to his Master; a true mediator between his Master and his fellows; and to act fairly by both parties (C).
IX. The Stewards of the Hall are lovingly to serve each one the others; to see that every man is charged alike; to pay for all victuals consumed; and to keep good and full accounts.
X. If a Mason lead a bad life, and slander his fellows without cause, he shall be cited to appear at the next Assembly, and unless he attend must forswear the Craft, and shall be punished according to the law established in old days (A, B, C).
ANCIENT MASONRY.
"Ny thylke that hath a febul name, Lest it would turn the Craft to shame " (C).
"Then may a Mason that work crave To the lord's profit it for to save," " The penalty thereof let it be sure That he be 'prentice full seven year" (A, B, C).
DOCUME2VTARY HISTORY.
175 XI. A Mason who is well skilled in the Craft, and sees his fellow hewing'a stone, which he is in a fair way to spoil, should help him without loss of time, if able so to do, and also instruct him how to do better, so that the whole work be not ruined (A, B, C).
XI I. At the Assembly there shall be, besides the Masters and fellows, many great Lords, the Sheriff of the County, the Mayor of the City, Knights, Squires, and Aldermen. The ordinances then made shall be put into effect by them against any man belonging to the Craft, who, if he dispute the laws so enacted, will be taken into their keeping.
XIII. Each Mason shall swear not to be a thief, nor to succour anyone in his false craft (C). XIV. Each Mason must swear a good true oath to his Master and fellows present at the Assembly.
He must also be steadfast and true to all the ordinances; to his liege lord the King; and to all the points herebefore cited.
All shall swear the same oath of the Masons, be they willing or unwilling, to these Points that have been ordained by good authority.
And if any man be found guilty in either one of them, he is to be sought for and brought before the Assembly (A, B).
XV. Should those that shall be sworn to observe the ordinances made at the Assembly before the great Lords and Masters before named, be disobedient to the resolutions there passed, and the same be. proved openly at the Assembly,‑except they be willing to make amends for their faults,‑then must they forsake the craft, refuse to work in it, and swear never more to use it. Nor unless they subsequently make amends will they be allowed to resume their craft; and if they will not do so, the Sheriff shall arrest them and put their bodies into prison, and take their goods and chattels, holding themselves and their property at the King's will (A, B).
Attention will be called to these "Articles"' and "Points" again, in connection with the Cooke MS.
. The Four Crowned Martyrs. ‑ Dr. Mackey remarks concerning these : ‑ "The legend of the ' Four Crowned Martyrs' should be interesting to Masonic students, because it is one of the few instances, perhaps the only one, in which the Church has been willing to do honor to those old workers in stone, whose services it readily secured in the Medieeval ages, but with whom, as with their successors, the modern Freemasons, it has always appeared to be in a greater or less degree of antagonism.
Besides, these humble but true‑hearted Confessors of the Faith of Christianity were adopted by the Stone‑masons of Germany as the patron saints of Operative Masonry, just as the two Saints John have been since selected as the patrons of the Speculative branch of the Institution." The reference in the Regius MS., under the Latin caption of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum,' is in these words: ‑ ART OF THE FOUR CROWNED.
Pray we now to God Almighty, And to His Mother Mary bright, That we may keep these articles here, And these points well altogether,
soo As did these holy martyrs four, That in this craft were of great honor; They were as good masons as on earth shall go, Gravers and image‑makers they were also.
For they were workmen of the best. The emperor bad to them great liking; He desired them an image to make, That might be worshipped for his sake; Such idols he had in his day, To turn the people from Christ's law. But they were steadfast in Christ's law, And to their craft, without denial; src 1 Of the Articles, x‑5 appear to have their analogues in the various Orders and Regulations with which we meet in the " Old Charges." Art. 6, however, I do not find in them; y is expanded in the Cooke MS., and also particularly referred to in what Dr. Begemann [see Kalendarl classifies as the fourth (or Spencer) "family"; 8 is not found in the prose forms; q and lo are given substantially; ii is not; neither are 12 [see, however, the Hope MS.] ; 13; 14; [see Antiquity MS.] or *‑Anhkrapha.
2 We retain in what follows, as we did in the translation of the " Reproduction," the notation of the lines, for the convenience of those who may have access to a copy of the original.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
They loved well God and all His lore, And were in His service evermore. True men they were in that day, And loved well God's law; They thought no idols for to make, For no good that they might take, To believe on that idol for their god, Thev would not do so, tho' he were mad;
520 For they would not forsake their true faith, And believe in his false law.
The emperor had them at once taken, And put them into a deep prison; The more sorely he punished them in that place, The more joy was to them of Christ's grace. Then when he saw no other way, To death he let them then be taken; Whoso will of their life yet more know, By the book he may learn, In the legend of the saints, The names of the Four Crowned. Their feast will be, without gainsay, After All Hallow E'en the eighth day. Ye may hear as I do read That many years after, for great dread That Noah's flood might return, The tower of Babylon was begun, Also plain work of lime and stone, As any man should look upon; So long and broad it was begun, Seven miles the height shadoweth the sun. King Nebuchadne
ar let it make, To great strength for man's sake, Though such a flood again should come, Over the work it should not foam; For they had so high pride, with strong boast, All that work therefor was lost; 530 540 Code of Etiquette.‑The U,banitatis and the last part [one hundred lines] of the Poem is similar, and deals with conduct at meals and before superiors, and enjoins strict habits of propriety and cleanliness. The portion we give last is the " fifth division " of the six as usually numbered, and is in great part extracted from " Mirk's Instructions for Parish Priests " : ‑ An angel smote them so with divers speech, That no one wist what the other should teach. Many years after, the good clerk Euclid
551 Taught the craft of geometry wonder‑wide, So also did he at that time Of divers crafts teach many more. Through high grace of CHRIST in Heaven, He commenced in the sciences seven; Grammar is the first science without doubt, The second certainly is Logic stout, Rhetoric the third without gainsay, Music the fourth,‑heed me I prayAstronomy is the fifth, by my fate, Arithmetic the sixth, without debate, Geometry the seventh maketh an end, For it is both meek and gentle. Grammar forsooth is the root, Whoso will learn from the book; But Art surpasseth in its degree, As the fruit doth the root of the tree; Rhetoric measureth with ornate speech, And Music, it is a sweet song; Astronomy numbereth, my dear brother, Arithmetic showeth one thing that is another, Geometry the seventh science, I show, That can separate falsehood from truth, I know. These are the sciences seven, Whoso useth them well, he may have Heaven. r ~ r r ~ Christ then of His high grace, Give you both wit and time Well this book to con and read. Heaven you shall have for your meed. Amen! Amen! so mote it be! So say we all for charity.
570 790
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR
A PARISH PRIEST.
God saith Himself, as written we find,
To stand in Church no man shall,
That when the blind leadeth the blind,
Nor lean to pillar nor to wall,
Into the ditch they both shall fall,
But fairly get on knees alone
For neither see where to go at all.
Kneeling down on the flag‑stone.
Yet thou must teach them more
264
And pray to GOD, with a meek heart,
That when they come to Church's door,
Both grace and mercy to them impart.
Then bid them lay aside many words,
Suffer them no noise to make,
Idle speech, and jest that mirth affords,
But in the prayers their part to take;
And put away all vanity,
And when the Gospel shall be read,
And say here Pater Noster, and here Ave.
To stand up all, make them give heed.
270 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
280 1 2130 177 That when they walk along the way, And see the priest towards them coming, GOD's Sacred Body with him bringing, Then with great devotion Teach them to kneel in adoration. Fair nor foul, let them spare naught To worship Him that all had wrought; For glad indeed may that man be That once in the day may Him see; For so much good doth that sight, (As Saint Austin teacheth aright,) The day that thou seest GOD's Body, These benefices shalt thou have most surely; Meat and drink at thy need, Nor shall they that day lack indeed; Idle words and also oath GOD forgiveth them both; Sudden death that same day Thou need not dread, without gainsay; Also that day I thee plight Thou shalt not lose thine eyesight; And every foot that thou goest then, To see that holy sight for men, Shall one day stand thee in stead, When thou for them bast sore need.
3143 320 329 And bless fairly as they know, When Gloria Patri is begun, And when the Gospel is all done, Teach them after to kneel down soon; And when they hear the bell ring, To the Sacrament, that holy thing, Teach them to kneel both young and old, And both their hands upstretched to hold, And say then in manner thus, Fair and soft, without noise or fuss, JESU, Lord, welcome Thou be, In form of bread as I Thee see; JESU, for Thy Holy Name, Shield me to day from sin and shame; Shrift and Eucharist, LORD, impart Ere I shall from hence depart, And true contrition of my sin, That, LORD, I never die therein; As Thou wert of a Maiden born, Suffer me ne'er to be forlorn,t But when I shall my way hence wend, Grant me the Bliss without end.
Amen. Teach them thus, or some other thing, To say at Sacrament's Holy Offering; Teach them, also, I Thee pray, The Regius MS. occupies a position in the Masonic world unique even for an old document. The latest phase of its discussion is interesting, and the conclusions of the European Editor are given to close this brief outline, as follows: ‑ The "Begius MS." and Masonic Symbolism.‑Two most suggestive" open letters " have lately been issued by my good friend, General Albert Pike, one being on " The Regius Manuscript," 2 and the other, " Touching Masonic Symbolism." The first mentioned, addressed to Brother Gould, refers particularly to the able Commentary 'on the oldest document of the Craft by that distinguished Craftsman.
As General Pike accepts the conclusions arrived at by the author, it is as well to clearly understand what these are:
1. "That the Regius MS. points to the existence of a Symbolic or Speculative Masonry at the date from which it speaks"; 2. "That it would appear that at the date from which the MS. speaks there was a Guild or Fraternity, commemorating the science, but without practising the art, of Masonry "; 3. " That the Poem was in possession of a Guild, and that the Guild was not composed of Operative Masons "; 4. " That the persons to whom the text of the MS. was sung or recited were a Guild or Fraternity, from whom all but the memory or tradition of its ancient trade had departed"; and, 5. "'That by some readers certain passages may be held to point rather to the absorption of the Craft legend by a social guild than to a gradual transition from Operative to Speculative or Symbolic Masonry, by a Craft or Fraternity composed in the first instance of members of the building art." These five points‑in the words of General Pike‑are c;rtainly both comprehensive and suggestive, and, if justified by the MS. itself, cannot fail to introduce a new and valuable factor into the evidence in favor of independent Speculative Freemasonry long before the seventeenth century. I am unable to agree with Brothers Gould and Pike, but wish much that I could. However, their position in the Craft is such as to entitle their views to extra study, respect and consideration, and doubtless many will be i‑clinedto follow their lead without any more thought on the subject.
This is the MS. " supposed to have been completed in the time of Athelstan, ' according to Dr. Oliver,$ but possibly dates about four centuries later, if safer and more critical guides are preferred. It appears to me that if the concluding portion of the MS., referring to conduct generally, had not been attached to the document, the main evidence in testimony of its supposed exclusively speculative character would be gone; and, as this addendum is really not a necessary and dependent part of the original MS., I fail to see why its text should be quoted in favor of the 1 Lost.
2 Voice of Masonry, Feb., x89o, pages 94‑99. 8 Revelations of a Square, 1855, p. 69.
178
,4NCIENT MASONRY.
sole object aimed at by the compiler.
The. chief points of the " Regius MS." would be utterly unsuitable for a Social guild, and quite as much inappropriate then as now, for any but Operative Masons, I do not think that it would be fair to assume no more intelligence for the Master Masons of the fourteenth century, as to their knowledge of the architectural division of their labors, than is manifest in such Craftsmen at the present time, seeing that to such an extent then they were both Masons and architects combined.
Symbolism in some operative " Old Charges " is not absent even in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and there is no reason to be surprised that various figurative references are to be found in documents of an earlier date, particularly those of a religious character, when so much of the time and skill of the Craftsmen were devoted to the building of cathedrals, in which Ecclesiastics would naturally take a deep interest, and be present in force and influence.
General Pike considers that the Masons summoned to attend the assembly of dukes, earls, and other nobles, etc., " were not the poor, rude, unlettered, uncultivated working Stone‑masons." My belief is they were some of the numerous Master Masons responsible for the building of the cathedrals and other large structures of the period, over whom the magistracy and other authorities held power; and, for my part, I fail to see how it would be possible, for these architects and builders to be other than brethren who revelled in the symbolism of eometrical science. To suppose that such men did not, but that those of no practical knowledge of the building art did, at the period in question, is sure to assume more than the facts warrant.
Neither does it appear to me there is evidence that the Freemasons of the fourteenth century were any more secret as respects their trade mysteries than those of other organizations, for all were bound to preserve their " mysteries" from cowans and intruders of all kinds, simply as a means of their own self‑preservation as the members of particular handicrafts.
The "letter touching Masonic Symbolism," also addressed to Brother Gould, is another important contribution to the subject. Brother Pike is of the opinion that to the men of intelligence who belonged to one of the four old lodges in 1717 " is to be ascribed the authorship of the Third degree and the introduction of Hermetic and other symbols into Masonry; that they framed the three degrees for the purpose of communicating their doctrines, veiled by their symbols, to those fitted to receive them, and gave to all others trite moral explanations of them which they could comprehend."
Now, there is so much to confirm this view, that it seems to me of all the most probable and reasonable; and this being so, the notions as to the solely Speculative character of the " Regius MS." are not supported; the changes from the mainly Operative to the wholly Speculative basis of the Society being much later than the fourteenth century.
General Pike emphatically states that we cannot be warranted in assuming that among Masons generally‑in the body of Masonry‑the symbolism of Freemasonry is of earlier date than 1717, but he, however, admits that " among Freemasons of a certain class and limited number, the same symbolism, or a larger part of the same, afterward placed in the degrees, did exist long before, perhaps some centuries before 1717.ä The following deliverance by the same gifted brother exactly describes my opinion, only better expressed than I could have worded it, relative to the period of the " Regius MS":"The art of building then stood above all other arts, and made all others subservient to it. It commanded the services of the most brilliant intellects and of the greatest artists.
The old symbolism was embodied in the churches and cathedrals, and some of these were adorned by figures and devices, which would never have been tolerated there if the priesthood had known what they meant to the adepts." Why not believe then that the " Regius MS." was addressed to such intellectual and brilliant artists, and not to speculatives exclusively?
To my mind the second letter suggests such to have been the case.
Anyway, without more evidence, it seems to me better to wait than to accept the first mentioned theory, though it is so ably introduced by Brother Gould, and as ably defended by General Pike.
THE MATTHEW COOKE MS.' (DATE: BEGINNING OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
For the "free rendering of this Manuscript" we are indebted to Brother G. W. Speth, P. M., Secretary, in Vol. II. of the Quatuor Coronatorum Antfgrapha : ‑ Thanked be God, our glorious Father, the founder and creator of heaven and earth, and of all things that therein are, for that he has vouchsafed, of his glorious Godhead, to make so many things of manifold virtue for the use of‑mankind.
For he made all things to be subject and 1 There can be but little doubt that this was one of the manuscripts known to and utilized by Dr. Anderson, when he compiled the first Book of the Constitutions in 1723; it certainly was known to prominent members of the Grand Lodge in 1728, or five years later.‑Commentary in Antigrapha.
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
179 obedient to man.
All things eatable of a wholesome nature he ordained for man's sustenance And moreover, he hath given to man wit and the knowledge of divers things and handicrafts, by the which we may labor in this world, in order to therewith get our livelihood, and fashion many objects pleasant in the sight of God, to our own ease and profit.
To rehearse all these matters here were too long in the writing or telling, I will therefore refrain; but I will nevertheless tell you some; for instance, how and in what manner the Science of Geometry was first invented, and who were the founders both thereof and of several other crafts, as is declared in the Bible and other histories.
How and in what manner this worthy Science of Geometry took its rise, I will tell you, as I said before. You must know that there are seven liberal sciences, from which seven all other sciences and crafts in the world sprung; but especially is Geometry the first cause of all the other sciences, whatsoever they be.
These seven sciences are as follows: ‑ The first, which is called the foundation of all sciences, is grammar, which teacheth to write and speak correctly.
The second is rhetoric, which teaches us to speak elegantly.
The third is dialetic, which teaches us to discern the true from the false, and it is usually called art or sophistry (logic).
The fourth is arithmetic, which instructs us in the science of numbers, to reckon, and to make accounts.
The fifth is Geometry, which teaches us all about mensuration, measures and weights, of all kinds of handicrafts.
The sixth is music, and that teaches the art of singing by notation for the voice, on the organ, trumpet, and harp, and. of all things pertaining thereto.
The seventh is astronomy, which teaches us the course of the sun and of the moon and of the order stars' and planets of heaven.
Our intent is to treat chiefly of the first foundation of Geometry, and who were the founders tbereoL As I said before, there are seven liberal sciences, that is to say, seven sciences or crafts that are free in themselves, the which seven exist only through Geometry. And Geometry may be described as earth‑mensuration, for Geometry is derived from gee, which is in Greek " earth," and wetroaa, or ameasure. Thus is the word Geometry compounded, and signifies the measure of the earth.
Marvel not because I said that all sciences exist only through the science of Geometry.
For there is no art or handicraft wrought by arian s hands that is not wrought by Geometry, which is a chief factor (notabulla cause) thereof.
For if a man work with his hands, he employs some sort of tool, and there is no instrument of any material in this world which is not formed of some sort of earth (ore), and to earth it will return.
And there is no instrument or tool to work with that has not some proportion, more or less.
And proportion is measure, and the instrument or tool is earth. And Geometry is earth‑mensuration, therefore I affirm that all men live by Geometry.
For all men here in this world live by the labor of their hands.
Many more proofs could I give you that Geometry is the science by which all reasoning men live, but I refrain at this time, because the writing of it were a long process.
And now I will enter further into the matter. You must know that among all the crafts followed by man in this world, Masonry has the greatest renown and the largest share of this science of Geometry, as is stated in history, such as the Bible, and the Master of History [Herodotus],and in the Polychronicon?a well authenticated (or trustworthy) chronicle, and in the history called Beda de Imagine Mundi, and Isidorus Ethomolegiarum Methodius Episcopus & Martiris. And many others say that Masonry is the chief part of Geometry, and so methinks it may well'be said, for it was first founded, as is stated in the Bible in the first book of Genesis and the fourth chapter. And moreover all the learned authors above cited agree thereto.
And some of them affirm it more openly and plainly, precisely as in Genesis in the Bible.
1 Findel was led to doubt the date placed upon this MS. (early in the fifteenth century), sup. posing this an allusion to Caxton's celebrated work A.D. 1482; but Gould in Hist. Vol. L, p. 6o, says it refers to a Universal History by a Benedictine Monk, that was afterward enlarged by Ranulph Higden ofthe same monastry (St. Werburgh's Abbey, in Chester), styled" Polychromcon.' This author died about A.D. i36o.
So that the earlier date assigned is not improbable.
ISO ANCIENT MASONRY.
Before Noah's Flood, by direct male descent from Adam, in the seventh generation, there lived a man called Lamech, who had two wives, called Adah and Zillah.
By the first wife, Adah, he begat two sons, Jabal and Jubal.
The elder son Jabal was the first man that ever discovered geometry and masonry, and he made houses, and is called in the Bible the father of all men who dwell in tents or dwelling houses.
And he was Cain's master mason and governor of the works when he built the city of Enoch, which was the first city ever made, and was built by Cain, Adam's son, who gave it to his own son Enoch, and gave the city the name of his son, and called it Enoch, and now it is known as Ephraim.
And at that place was the Science of Geometry and Masonry first prosecuted and contrived as a science and as a handicraft.
And so we may well say that it is the first cause and foundation of all crafts and sciences.
And also this man Jabal was called the father of shepherds.
The Master of History says, and Beda De Imagine Mundi, and the Polychronicon, and many others more say, that he was the first that made partition of lands, in order that every man might know his own land and labor thereon for himself. And also he divided flocks of sheep, that every man might know his own sheep, and so we may say that he was the inventor of that science.
And his brother Jubal or Tubal was the inventor of music and song, as Pythagoras states in the Polychronicon, and the same says Isidorus. In his Ethemolegies in the 6th book, he says that he was the first founder of music and song, and of the organ and trumpet, and he discovered that science by the sound of the weights of his brother's, Tubal Cain's, hammers.
And of a truth, as the Bible says, that is to say, in the fourth Chapter of Genesis, Lamech begat by his other wife Zillah a son and a daughter, and their names Tubal Cain, that was the son, and the daughter was called Naamah. And according to the Polychronicon, some men say she was Noah's wife; but whether this be so or not, we will not affirm.
Ye must know that this son Tubal Cain was the founder of the smith's craft and of other handicrafts dealing with metals, such as iron, brass, gold and silver, as some learned writers say; and his sister Naamah discovered the craft of weaving, for before her time no cloth was woven, but they span yarn and knit it and made such clothing as they could. And as this woman Naamah invented the craft of weaving, it was called woman's‑craft.
And these four brethren knew that God would take vengeance for sin, either by fire or water. And they were much concerned how to save the sciences they had discovered, and they took counsel together, and exercised all their wits. And they said there were two kinds of stone of such virtue that the one would not burn, called marble, and the other named "Lacerus" would not sink in water.
And so they devised to write all the sciences they had found on these two stones, so that if God took vengeance by fire the marble would not burn, and if by water the other would not drown, and they besought their elder brother Jabal to make two pillars of these two stones, that is of marble and of " Lacerus," and to write on the two pillars all the sciences and crafts which they had found and he did so.
And therefore we might say that he was the wisest in science, for he first began and carried out their purpose before Noah's flood.
Fortunately knowing of the vengeance that God would send, the brethren knew not whether it would be by fire or water.
They knew by a sort of prophecy that God would send one or the other, and therefore they wrote their sciences on the two pillars of stone.
And some men say that they wrote on the stones all the seven sciences, but [this I affirm not].
As they had it in mind that a vengeance would come, so it befell that God did send vengeance, and there came such a flood that all the world was drowned and all men died save only eight persons.
These were Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives, of which sons all the world is descended, and they were named in this wise, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
And this flood is called Noah's Flood. for he and his children were saved therein.
And many years after the flood, according to the chronicle, these two pillars were found, and the chronicle says that a great clerk, Pythagoras, found the one, and Hermes the philosopher found the other, and they taught the sciences that they found written thereon.
Every chronicle and history and many other writers and the Bible especially relate the building of the tower of Babel; and it is written in the Bible, Genesis, chap. x. how that Ham, Noah's son, begat Nimrod, who grew a mighty man upon the earth and waxed strong, like unto a giant. He was a great king and the beginning of his kingdom was the kingdom of Babylon proper, and Arach and Archad and Calneh and the land of Shinar.
And this same Ham began the tower DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
of Babel and taught his workmen the Craft of Masonry [mensuration], and he had with him many masons, more than go,ooo, and he loved and cherished them well. And it is written in Polychronicon, and in the Master of History, and in other histories, and beyond this the Bible witnesses in the same roth chapter, as it is written, that Ashur who was of near kindred to Nimrod went forth from the land of Shinar and built the City of Nineveh and Plateas (sic) and many more. For it is written " De terra ills" [etc.] It is but reasonable that we should plainly say how and in what manner the Charges of the Masons Craft were first founded, and who first gave it the name of Masonry. And you must know that it is stated and written in the Polychronicon, and in Methodus Episcopus and Martiris that Ashur who was a worthy lord of Shinar sent to Nimrod the king to send him Masons and workmen of the Craft that they might help him make his city which he was minded to make, And Nimrod sent him 3000 masons.
And as they were about to depart and go forth, he called them before him and said to them, "Ye must go to my cousin Ashur to help him build a city, but see to it, that ye be well governed, and I will give you a Charge that shall be to your and my profit.
"When you come to that lord, look that you be true to him, even as you would be to me; labor at your Craft honestly, and take a reasonable payment for it, such as you may deserve. Love each other as though you were brothers and hold together staunchly. Let him that hath most skill teach his fellow, and be careful that your conduct among yourselves and towards your lord may be to my credit, that I may have thanks for sending you and teaching you the Craft." And they received the charge from him, being their lord and master, and went forth to Ashur and built the city of Nineveh in the country of Plateas (sic) and other cities also that are called Calah and Resen, which is a great city between Calah and Nineveh.
And in this manner the Craft of Masonry was first instituted and charged as a science.
Elders [Masters] of Masons before our times had these charges in writing, as we have them now in our Charges of the story of Euclid, and as we have seen them written both in Latin and French .1 But it is only reasonable that we should tell you how Euclid came to the knowledge of Geometry, as stated in the Bible and other histories. In the xii. chapter of Genesis it is told how Abraham came to the land of Canaan and our Lord appeared unto him and said, " I will give this land to thy seed."
But a great famine reigned in that land and Abraham took Sarah, his wife, with him and made a journey into Egypt to abide there while the famine lasted. And Abraham, so says the chronicle, was a wise man and a learned.
And he knew all the seven .‑‑
m sad taught the Egyptians the science of Geometry.
And this worthy clerk Euclid was his pupil and learned of him.
And he first gave it the name of Geometry; although it was practised before his time, it had not acquired the name of Geometry.
But it is said by Isidorus in the gth Book and first Chapter of Ethomoligiarum that Euclid was one of the first founders of Geometry, and gave it that name.
For in his time, the river of Egypt which is called the Nile so overflowed the land that no man could dwell therein. Then the worthy clerk Euclid taught them to make great walls and ditches to keep back the water, and by Geometry he measured the land and parcelled it out into sections and caused every man to enclose his own portion with walls and ditches and thus it became a country abounding in all kinds of produce and of young people and of men and women so that the youthful population [Myche pepulle of younge frute] increased so much as to render earning a living difficult.
And the lords of the country drew together and took counsel how they might help their children who had no competent livelihood in order to provide for themselves and their children, for they had so many. And at the council among them was the worthy Clerk Euplid, and when he saw that all of them could devise no remedy in the matter he said to them, "Lay your orders upon your sons and I will teach them a science by which they may live as gentlemen, under the condition that they shall be sworn to me to uphold the regulations that I shall lay upon them."
And both they and the king of the country and all the lords agreed thereto with one consent.
It is but reasonable that every man should agree to that which tended to profit himself; and so they took their sons to Euclid to be ruled by him and he taught them the Craft of Masonry 1 This would seem to substantiate the speculation of Dr. Oliver as to the Assembly A.D. gab.
ANCIENT MASONRY.
and gave it the name of Geometry, on account of the parcelling out of the ground which he had taught the people at the time of making the walls and ditches, as aforesaid, to keep out the water; And Isidorus says in Ethomologies that Euclid called the craft Geometry.
And there this worthy clerk Euclid gave it a name and taught it to the lords' sons of that land whom he had as pupils.
And he gave them a charge, that they should call each other Fellow and no otherwise, they being all of one craft and of the same gentle birth, lords' sons.
And also that the most skilful should be governor of the work and should be called master; and other charges besides, which are written in the Book of Charges.
And so they worked for the lords of the land and built cities and towns, castles and temples, and lords' palaces.
During the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt they learned the craft of Masonry. And after they were driven out of Egypt they came into the promised land, which is now called Jerusalem, and they occupied that land and the charges were observed there. And [at] the making of Solomon's Temple which King David began, King David loved masons well, and gave them [wages] nearly as they are now. And at the making of the Temple in Solomon's time, as stated in the Bible in the third book of Kings and the fifth chapter, Solomon had four‑score thousand masons at work.
And the son of the king of Tyre was his master mason.
And in other chronicles and in old books of masonry, it is said that Solomon confirmed the charges that David his father had given to masons.
And Solomon himself taught them their usages [manners], differing but slightly from the customs now in use.
And from thence this worthy science was brought into France and into many other regions.
And at one time there was a worthy king in France called Carolus Secundus, that is to say Charles the Second.
And this Charles was elected king of France by the grace of God and also by right of descent [lynage].
And some men say he was elected by good fortune, which is false, as by the chronicles he was of the blood royal.
And this same king Charles was a mason before he became king.
And after he was king he loved masons and cherished them and gave them charges and usages of his devising,,of which some are yet in force in France; and he ordained that they should have an assembly once a year and come and speak together in order that the masters and fellows might regulate all things [which were] amiss.
And soon after that came St. Adhabellel into England and he converted St. Alban to Christianity.
And St. Alban loved masons well and he was the first to give them charges and customs in England.
And he ordained [wages] adequate to pay for their toil.
And after that there was a worthy king in England, called Athelstan, and his youngest son loved well the science of Geometry; and he knew well, as well as the masons themselves, that their handicraft was the practice of the science of Geometry. Therefore he drew to their councils (or took counsel, or lessons, of them), and learned the 'practical part of that science in addition to his theoretical (or book) knowledge [speculatif].
For of the speculative part he was master.
And he loved well masonry and masons. And he became a mason himself. And he gave them charges and usages such as are now customary in England and in other countries.
And he ordained that they should have reasonable pay.
And he purchased a free patent of the king that they might hold an assembly at what time they thought reasonable and come together to consult.
Of the which charges, usages and assembly it is written and taught in our Book of Charges; wherefore I leave it for the present.
Good men! 2 for this cause and in this way Masonry first arose.
It befell, once upon a time, that great lords had so many free‑begotten [legitimate] children that their possessions were not extensive enough to provide for their future.
Therefore they took counsel how to provide for their children and find them an honest livelihood.
And they sent for wise masters of the worthy science of Geometry, that through their wisdom they might provide them with some honest living.
Then one of them that was called Euclid, a most subtil and wise inventor regulated [that science] and art and called it Masonry.
And so in this art of his he honestly taught the children of great lords 1 This Saint is quite unknown.
Dr. Plot laughs at Masons for their legend of St. Amphibalus, so some MS. or other must have contained the latter name. Are these two saints connected? The transcriber might possibly be answerable for the confusion. ‑Anti~,rapha.
2 Here the transcriber begins afresh the Euclid legend (omitting all previous history), and in a condensed narrative carries us over the former ground to the point at which he left off, and then redeems his promise by reciting in full the charges. This point is the division where two MSS. are referred to further on.
according to the desire of the fathers and the free consent of their children.
And having taught them with great care for a certain time, they were not all alike capable of exercising the said art, wherefore the said master Euclid ordained that those that surpassed the others in skill should be honored above the others.
And [common] ded to call the more skilful " Master " and for [him] to instruct the less skilful.
The which masters were called masters of nobility, of knowledge and skill in that art.
Nevertheless they commanded that they that were of less knowledge should not be called servants or subjects, but fellows, on account of the 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 spread from country to country and from kingdom to kingdom.
Many years after, in the time of king Athelstan? sometime king of England, by common consent of his Council and other great lords of the land, on account of great defects found among masons, a certain rule was ordained for them: ‑ Once a year, or every three years, as might appear needful to the king and great lords of the land and all the community, congregations should be called by the masters from country to country and from province to province of all masters, masons and fellows in the said art. And at such congregations those that are made masters shall be examined in the articles hereafter written and be ransacked whether they be able and skilful in order to serve the lords to their profit and to the honor of the aforesaid art.
And moreover they shall be charged to well and truly expend the goods of their lords, as well of the lowest as of the highest; for those are their lords, for the time being of whom they take their pay in recompense of their service and toil.
The first 2 article is this:‑That every master of this art should be wise, and true to the lord who employs him, expending his goods carefully as he would his own were expended; and not give more pay to any mason than he knows him to have earned, according to the dearth (or scarcity, and therefore price), of corn and victuals in the country, and this without favoritism, for every man is to be rewarded according to his work.
The second article is this: ‑That every master of the art shall be warned beforehand to come to his congregation, in order that he may duly come. there, unless he may [be] excused for some cause or other. But if he be found [i.e., accused of being] rebellious at such congregation, or at fault in any way to his employers harm or the reproach of his art, he shall not be excused unless he be sick unto [in peril of] death.
And though he be in peril of death, yet he must give notice of his illness to the master who is the president [pryncipalle] of the gathering.
The [third] article is this: ‑That no master take [an] apprentice for a shorter term than seven dears at least, for the reason that such as have been bound a shorter time can not adequately lass their aft, nor be able to truly serve their employer and earn the pay that a mason should.
The fourth ‑article is this: =That no master shall for any reward take an apprentice a bondsman "bore, beeausehis lord to whom he is a bondsman might take him, as he is entitled to, from his art and Carry him away with him from out the Lodge, or out of the. place he is working in. And because his fellows peradventure might help him and take his part, and thence manslaughter might arise; therefore it is forbidden.
And there is another reason; because his art was begun by the freely‑begotten children of great lords, as aforesaid.
The fifth article is this:‑That no master shall pay more to his apprentice during the time of his apprenticeship, whatever profit he may take thereby, than he well knows him to have deserved of the lord that employs him; and not even quite so much, in order that the lord' of the works where he is taught may have some profit by his being taught there.
The sixth article is this:‑That no master from covetousness or for gain shall accept an t In this and the succeeding paragraphs, nowhere does it state that the masters assisted to formulate these articles; on the contrary it states that the rule (or rules) was made for them by the king and his lords. The articles were therefore a legal enactment, and the preamble and original nine probably contain the original clauses of Athelstan's charter, or, at least, of the charter which the masons, rightly or wrongly, ascribed to him.
That these might be extended at future assemblies (as the Poem would lead us to suppose was done), is probable, because the chief representative of the king, in the province in which the assembly was held, was to be associated with the presiding officer. ‑Speth in the Antigrapha.
This would look to an organization similar to that of England to‑dav, with the Prince of‑Wales, Grand Master, and Pro Grand Masters; at the head of the Masonic Fraternity.
' 2 It will be noticed that whereas in the Masonic Poem there are is "Articles" and rs ' " Points," in this, the earlier Prose Constitution, there are only 9 " Articles " and 9 " Points." ‑ ‑?Are Rez1. A. F. A. 14,oodford, M.A.
184 ANCIENT MASONRY.
apprentice that is unprofitable; that is, having any maim (or defect) by reason of which he is incapable of doing a mason's proper work.
The seventh article is this:‑That no master shall knowingly help or cause to be maintained and sustained any common nightwalker robber, by which nightwalking they may be rendered incapable [through want of rest] of doing a fair day's work, and toil: a condition of things by which their fellows might be made wrath.
The eighth article is this:‑Should it befall that a perfect and skilful mason come and apply for work and find one working who is incompetent and unskilful, the master of the place shall discharge the incompetent and engage the skilful one, to the advantage of the employer.
The ninth article is this:‑That no master shall supplant another.
For it is said in the art of masonry that no man can so well complete a work, to the advantage of the lord, begun by another, as he who began it intending to end it in accordance with his own plans, or [he] to whom he shows his plans.
These regulations following were made by the lords (emploòlers) and masters of divers provinces and divers congregations of masonry; [First point] To wit: Whosoever desires to become a mason [to come to the state of the forseyd art], it behooves him before all things to [love] God and the holy Church and all the Saints; and his master and fellows as his own brothers.
The second point:‑He must give a fair day's work for his pay.
The third [point]:‑He shall hele [guard] the counsel of his fellows in lodge and in chamber, and wherever masons meet.
The fourth point:‑He shall be no traitor to the art and do it no harm, nor conform to any enactments against the art, nor against the members thereof; but he shall maintain it in all honor, to the best of his ability.
The fifth point: ‑When he receives his pay he shall take it without murmuring, as may be arranged at the time by the master; and he shall fulfil the agreement regarding the hours of work and rest, as ordained and set by the master.
The sixth point:‑In case of disagreement between him and his fellows, he shall unquestioningly obey the master and be silent thereon at the bidding of his master, or of his master's warden in his masters absence, until the next following holiday and shall then settle the matter according to the verdict of his fellows; and not upon a work day because of the hindrance to the work and to the lord's interests.
The seventh point: ‑ He shall not covet the wife, nor the daughter of his master, or of his fellows unless it be in marriage; neither shall he hold concubines, on account of the discord this might create among them.
The eighth point: ‑Should it befall him to be his masters warden, he shall be a true mediator [mene] between his master and his fellows: and he shall be active in his masters absence, to the honor of his master and the profit of the lord who employs him.
The ninth point:‑If he be more wise and skilful than his fellow working with him in the Lodge, or in any other place, and he perceive that for want of skill [defawte of connynge] he is about to spoil the stone upon which he is working, and can teach him to improve the stone, he shall instruct and help him: so that love may increase the more among them and the work of the employer be not lost.
When the master and fellows, being forewarned, are come to such congregations, the sheriff of the country, or the mayor of the city, or alderman of the town in which the congregation is held, shall, if need be; be fellow and associate of the master of the congregation, to help him against disobedient [rebelle] members to maintain the rights of the realm.
And at the commencement of the proceedings, new men who have never been charged before are to be charged in this manner: ‑Ye shall never be thieves nor thieves' maintainers, and shall do a fair day's work and toil for your pay that you take of the lord, and shall render true accounts to your fellows in all matters which should be accounted for to them, and love them as yourselves.
And ye shall be true to the king of England and to the realm: and that ye keep with all your might and [power] all the aforesaid articles.
[Notice that, the sheriff being present, thus constituting it a legal meeting, the " articles " only, and not the " points," are mentioned.] After that an enquiry shall be held whether any master or fellow summoned to the meeting, have broken any of the aforesaid articles, which, if they have done, it shall then and there he adjudicated upon.
DOCUMENTARY HISTORY.
195 Therefore be it known; if any master or fellow being forewarned to come to the congregation be contumacious and appear not; or having trespassed against any of the aforesaid articles shall be convicted; he shall forswear his masonry and shall no longer exercise the craft. And if he presume so to do, the sheriff of the country in which he may be found at work shall put him in prison and take all his goods for the use of the king, until his (the king's) grace shall be granted and showed him.
For this cause chiefly were these congregations ordained; that the lowest as well as the highest might be well and truly served in the aforesaid art throughout all the kingdom of England. AMEN, so mote it be.
Characteristics of the Two MSS.‑Brother Speth remarks that the Cooke document bears evidence of being parts of two distinct versions. Those who are well acquainted with the |1 Old Charges," will discover, that down to a certain place, the author or transcriber does not vary from the beaten track of all the others. But at the point where would naturally begin the rehearsal of the Athelstan charges, the words: " Of' the whiche Charges manors & semble as is write and taught in the boke of oure charges wher for I leue hit at this' tyme," imply that not here but at some future time he will rehearse them. The evidence of two distinct MSS. is further shown by the duplication of a part of the traditional history which cannot fail to arrest the reader's attention. The two parts are not. of the same style.
The first is diffused; the latter, curt, even meagre.
The former is copiously interlarded with quotations and references to profane and sacred history, revealing a cultured mind; the last is the very opposite.
The learned pedantry observable in the first writer is er absent in the second portion of the MS., not one allusion to the Brother Speth makes these points in summafirst .calling attention to the resemblances. of the of both the Regius and ‑Cooke MSS. to each other,, MS. "Old Charges," which the reader can readily see . They are: ‑ L The Cooke MS. is a copy of a preexisting document; ‑a transcript. 9: The compiler was himself a fellow‑mason.
,.
9. The compilation consists of two distinct documents, (a) The compiler's commentary; (b) apr+eMsting document, tacked on in its integrity to the former, by the compiler himself, ` ' 4. The‑second ‑par is the oldest and purest version yet come to light of the Book of Charges,'A Manuscript Constitutions of Masonry." This Book of Charges had already been enlarged and commented upon by previous am4 ourauthor, to certain extent, copied these.
F6 ‑further adds illustrations of his own.
on has not served as the original of any other manuscript known to us.
4recua, some of the particulars connected with St, Alban, Edwin's authorship of goFk,legend, are of more recent origin.
of the word " speculative," in its present Masonic use, is to be ascribed alone: MS. there were several copies of the Book of Charges, identical with legal enactments and had force as such.
186
ANCIENT MASONRY.
z2. The points are mere integral arrangements, of no strict legal value, yet enforced on all Masons by the ordinary laws of guild life.
13. There was no one general assembly for the whole kingdom, but " congregations " were held when and where required.
14. That a Grand Master existed in fact, though not by that name, and for the duration of each assembly only.
1s. That the freedom of the Craft was conferred at these meetings only; and 16. That many of our present usages may be traced in their original form in this Manuscript.
CHAPTER III.
VARIOUS READINGS OF || OLD CHARGES," THE "ADDITIONAL ARTICLES," ETC, The Grand Lodge MS.‑It is after mature deliberation that the text of the " Grand Lodge MS.," Of 1583, has been selected as a basis of comparison. For this copy of the document we are indebted to our European Editor in his "Old Charges of British Freemasons," edition of IS 72, London. He says `| This Roll of parchment (nine feet in length and five inches in breadth), is preserved in the archives of the Grand Lodge of England (Freemasons' Hall, London).
On the reverse of the Scroll in more modern writings is the following: ‑ In the beginning was the Word And the Word was with God And the Word was God Whose sacred and universal Law I will endeavor to observe So help me God." Dowland's MS. is very much like the 1| Grand Lodge MS.," and so is ones of the Scottish versions.
Manifestly a great deal could be said upon the subject of the agreements and disagreements of the various versions of the " Old Charges " ; 3 and a notice of these in detail will no doubt some time be given; but as some of the MSS. mentioned in our Kalendar are not accessible, we do not undertake the task at this time. It is enough that reference is made to a few of the most singular differences, like a marginal commentary to the Bible MSS.,' so 1 Said to be Dunckerlev's.
2 The " Edinburgh‑Kilwinning MS.," which so well agrees with the text of the Grand Lodge document that it would readily pass for an indifferent copy of it.‑ Hughan in " Old Charges," Cage it.
3 The Constitutions seem, in fact, to be clearly derived from the Masonic Poem, though naturally altered in their prose form, and expanded and modified through transmission, and oral tradition, as well as by the lapse of time, and the change of ‑‑ircumstances.‑ Woodford.
4 It is well known that there are two kinds of Bible MSS., the one the cursives and the other the uncials.
Of the first there are an enormous number, and they are all in almost absolute agree ment; of the uncials there are only a few, and all disagreeing among themselves.
The cursives are later in date, and therefore it has been suppo,ed that the uncials must be a purer text.
What has been done?
Scholars have made up texts differing from all existing MSS., according to what they think must have been the original text.‑ The leev. H. R. Percival.
The compiler of this Division observes that this is the exact description of what has been done with the Masonic MSS.
DOCUAfENTARY HISTORY.
187 as to give the reader a glimpse of the fact.
With these preliminary remarks, we pass immediately to the subject in hand.
|` GRAND LODGE MS." (F) A.D. 1583.
The mighte Of the Father of Heaven and ye wysdome of ye glorious Soonne through ye grace & ye goodnes of ye holly ghoste yt bee three psons & one God, be wh vs at or beginning and give vs grace so to govrne us here in of lyving that wee maye come to his blisse that nevr shall have ending.
AMEN.
[Note i (a) (b) (c) (d) (e).] (food bretheren and fellowes our purpose is to tell you hove & in what mann wise this woorthy erafti of massonrie l ~,as begnn & afterwards how yt was kept by woorthy Kings & Prynces & by many other woorshipfull men and also to those that bee heire we will chardge ye by the chardges that longith to evy trewe mason to kepte, for in good faithe, and they take good heed to yt, yt is woorthy to iie well kepte, For yt is a woorthy Crafte & a curious science, for their bee seavin liberall sciences of ye wh seavin yt is one of them, and ye names of ye seavin ben these.
First is Grammr and that teacheth a man to speake trewly and to wryte trewly. The second is Rhetoricque that teacheth a man to speake faier in subtill tearmes.
And the third is Dialecticke and that teacheth a man to deserne or knowe trueth from falsell oode.
And the fourth is Arithmeteicke, and that teaches a man to reken & to compt all maim pf numbers.
And fyfte is Geometrey and that teacheth a man the mett and measure of earth and all other things.
The NOTE s (a). ‑ In the name of the Great and holv God Fear
The wisdom of the Son and
For God and
The goodness of the holy
This is the Keep His
Ghost Three Persons & one
Whole Duty Commandments
God be with us now 8r
of Man.
ever. Amen. = Ths Axtufuity MS, A.D. r686.
Aq‑_Agl`aime upon the name of Masonrie 4ViiJ>Iam
to bis friend Rob't Preston 6On his Artt of Masonrie as followeth.
be said of the noble Artt . vmhestiieming in each part Noobles & their Kings also Sought its worth to know
t Masonrie. lomon the wisest of men to love this Science then nop more lest my shallow verses I cvormg to praise should blemish Masonrie, ‑ Opening of York MS No. r, about A.D. rboo.
'; (e).‑The omnipotence of the eternal God, Father and Creator of the heavens and dw esrdi; tdta wisdom of his divine Word, and the influence of his given Spirit, be with our beginwng and grant us grace so to govern ourselves in this life, that we may obtain his approval here, and everlasting life after death, ‑ The Prince Edwin Conslitutions.
(Apocryphal.) NOTE r (d).‑The other variations are verbal, to a great degree, several, like the Lansdowne Of A.D. r56o, ending, "One God be with vs now and ever, Amen." In the Watson MS., the invocation begins: "The Mighty God, Father of heaven," followed by: "that bath been three persons." The Buchanan MS. reads: " O Lord God Father of Heaven," etc.
NOTE i (e).‑In nearly all the 6o or more copies of the " Old Charges," the Invocation in some form is to be found, and was doubtless so read to the Masonic neophytes during the mainly operative period of the Craft, down to early last century. Mr. Toulmin Smith draws attention to the faet that generally, in the " Dedication" portion in the ordinances of most Guilds, " the Father Almighty would seem to have been forgotten.
No doubt what must strike every reader as so stmage an oversight was not intentionally so, but grew out of the habit and form of prayers of Jittrroession."
It is singular‑under these circumstances‑that, without exception, all the" Invocations"or" Dedications" in the Masonic MSS., from the sixteenth to the last century, refer most dipinetly and individually to the " Three Persons in one Godhead," and represent much older Is. The"Aberdeen MS." describes this part as "A Prayer before the Meeting" in A.D. ‑‑Hughan's review ofthe Watson MS.
1 The variations are mainlv of omission, several not being as full, and others designating :yborth erafti of massonrie," as"noble and worthy" (Lansdowne, Antiquity et al.) ; "Ghost `‑‑‑=‑~' (as in Watson) ; " Venerable art of architecture;' (Krause's), etc.
188
ANCIENT MASONRY.
which science is called Geometrey.
And the sixth science is called Musicke, and that teacheth a man the crafte of song and voice of tongue and organe, harpe & trompe. And the seavinth science is called Astronomic, and that teacheth a man to knowe the course of the Soonne & of the Mone and of the Starrs.
These be the vii liberall Sciences, the wh vii be all found by one Science, that is to saye Geometrey. And this maye a marine prove that the Science of the worlde is formed by Geometrey, for Geometrey teaches a span to measure, ponderacdn, & weight of all mann of things on earthe, for there is no mann that woorketh any crafte but lie woorks by some mett or by some measure. Nor no man buyeth or sellith but by some measure or some weight, and all this is Geometrey, and all these marchents and all Crafts men, and all other of the vi Sciences, and especially the ploweman and the tillers of all mann of graine and seeds vyneplanters, and setters of other fruits, for by Grammr nor Arithmeteicke nor Astronomy nor none of all the vi Sciences can no man fynde mett nor measure whout Geometrey.
Wherfore we thinketh that the Science of Geometrey is moste woorthve that findeth all others.
How this woorthye Science was fyrste begun I shall tellyu.
Before Noe's fludd their was a man that was called Lamech, as yt was wrytten in the Byble in the fourth chap. of genesis. And this Lamech had two wyves, the one wyfe height [called] Adaa, and the other height Sella. By his first wyfe Adaa he gat twoe Soonnes, and the one heighte jahell and the other juball, and by the other wyfe Sella, he begat a soonne & a daughter, and theise iiij children found the beginning of all the Crafts in the worlde. And this elder soonne jabell found the Crafte of Geometrey and he deptd flocke of sheepe and lande in the field, & firste wraught houses of stone and tree (as yt is noted in the chapter abovesaid).
And his broother Juball founde the Craft of Musicke, Song of tongue, harp and organe. And the third brother Tubalcain found Smights Crafte of golde silvr and copper, yron & steele.
And there daughter found the Craft of Weaving.
And these Children knewe well that God woulde take vengeance for synne ether by fyre or water, wherfor they wrytten their Sciences yt they had found in ij pyllers of stone that they might be found after Noe's fludd.
And the one stone was marble, for that will not burne with any fyre, and the other stone was called Laterno t for that woulde not drown in any water.
Our intent is to tell you treuly howe and in what rhann these stones were found that these Sciences were wrytten in. The great Hermarines that was Cubys Soonne the wh Cubye was Serums Soonne, that was Noe's soonne. This same Hermarines was afterward called Hermes the father of Wisdome, he found one of the ij pyllers of stone and found the Science wrytten thereon, and he taught yt to other men.
And at the snaking of the tower of Babilon their was Massonry made muche of. And the Kyng of Babylon that heighte Nemroth was a Masson himself and loved well the Crafte as yt was said with maisters of stories.
And when the Citte of Nynyvie & other cities of the Est should be made Nemroth Kyng of Babylon sent thither fortie Massons at the vogacon of the Kyng of Nynyvie his cossin, and when he sent them forth he gave them a chardge in this mann.
That they should be true one to another, and that they should live truely togither, and that they should serue their Lorde truely for their paye so that their Mr. may have woorship and all yt long to him, and other moe chardges he gave them and this was the first tyme that evr any Masson had any chardge of his Crafte.
Moreover when Abraham and Sara his wyfe went into Egipt and there taught the vij Sciences unto the Egiptians and he had a woorthy scholler that height Ewcled and he learned right well and was a Mr. of all the vij Sciences.
And in his daies yt befell that the Lords and the Estats of the realme had so many soonnes that they had gotten, some by their wyves and some by other ladies of the Realme, for that land ys a hott land and plenteous of genaracon.
And they had no competent lyvelyhood to find their children, wherefore they made muche care. And then the Kyng of the land made a Greate Counsell and a Parleament, viz.: howe might fynde their children honestly as gentlemen, and they could find no mann good wages, and then did they throughe all the realme that yf there weare any mann that could enforme them that he should come vnto them, and he should be so rewarded for his travell that yt should holde him well pleased.
After that this crye was made then came this worthy Clarke Ewkled and said to the 1 " Laterno " in " Tew MS." Later, a brick. The legend in Whiston's josephus gives this word accordingly, and is doubtless the correct rendering. It is spelt in many ways in the old Masonic MSS.‑ Ilu; han.
189 Kyng and to all his greate Lords, if ye will take me yor children to govrn and to teach them one of the vij Sciences wherewith they maye lyve honestly as gentlemen should, under a condition that you will grant me and them that I maye have power to rule them after the mann that the Scyence ought to be ruled.
And that the Kynge and all his Counsell granted anon, and seayled the commicon.
And then this woorthy tooke to him these Lordes Soonnes and taught them this Science of Geometrey in practicke for to woorke in stones all mann of woorthy woorke that longith to buylding Churches, Temples, Castles, Towers, and Mannors and all other mann of buylding, and he gave them a charge on this manna The first ys that they shoulde be trewe to the Kyng and to the Lords that they serve, and that they should love well together, and be thee eche one to other and that they should calle eche other his Fellowe or els his Broother and not his servant nor his knave nor none other foule name.
And that thei should truly deserue their pay of the Lorde or the Mr. that they serue, and that they should ordeinge the request of them to be Mr. of the woorke, and neither for love nor lynage nor riches nor favour, to sett another that has little conning to be Mr. of the Lordes woorke wherby the lorde should be evile served and they ashamed. And also that they should call ye Govner of the woorke Mr. in the tyme that they woorke wh him. And other many mo Chardgs that are long to tell.
And to all theise chardges he made them swear a greate othe that men used in that tyme, and ordeyned for them reasonable paye that they might lyve honestly by. And also that they should come and assemble togither evy yere once, howe they might woorke best to serve their Lorde for his profitt and to their owne woorshipe, and to correct whin themselves him that had trespassed against the Crafte.
And thus was the Crafte governed there.
And that woorthy Clarke Ewkled gaue yt the name of Geometrie, and nowe it is called throughe all this land Massonrey.
Sythen long after when the children of Israele weare come into the land of Behest, that is nowe =called among us the Countrie of Jerusalem, King David began the Temple that is called Templi lcmi, and is named with us the Temple of Jerusalem.
And this same King David loved well Massons, and churisshed muche, and gave them good page, and he gave the chardges and the mannrs as he had learned in Egipt given by Ewckled, and other chardges nice that ye shall heare afterward.
And aft r the deceass of the King David Sallomon that was King Davids Soonne p'formed '.diat W Falher bad begun. And he sent for Massons into dyvrs countries and 4|tham' together, so that he had ilij xxth thousand workmen that were named Massons, and he chose of them three thousand that weare Goyoars of his woorke.
And further more theare was a Kinge Tram and he loved well King Sallomon and he gave him C he had a scone that height Aynom I and he was a Mn of Geometrey ~a$ his Massons and was Mn of all his Graving and Carving and all other ,
: sf
L that belongeth to the Temple.
And this is wymessed in the Byble in the !H],of Kyoga and thirde chapter.
And the Sallomon confirmed both Chardges and. Mann that his Father had given to Massons. And thus was that woorthy Crafte of Massonry confirmed in the countrey of Jerusalem, and in many other Kyngdoms.
'Curious Craftes men walked about full wyde in dyuers countries, some to learne more Crafte and conninge, and some to teache them that had bvt little conning and so yt befell that their was a curious Masson that height Naymus Grecus that had byn at the making of Sallomon's Temple, & he came into Fraunce, and there he taught the science of Massonrey to men of Fraunce. And there was one of the Royall line of Fraunce that height Charles Martell, and he was a man that loved Bell suche a Crafte and drewe to this Naymus Greens and learned of him the Crafte and to upon him the Chardges and the Maims.
And afterwards by the grace of God he was elect to be Kyng of'Fraunce.
And when he was in his estate be tooke Massons and did healp to make men Massons weare non, & sett them to woorke, and gave them bothe the Chardgs & main and gave them good paye that he had learned of other Massons, and confirmed them a chapter from yere kAfter it [the Temple] was finished, they kept a general feast, and the joy over the happy tetton,was only dimmed by the death soon after, of the excellent Master Hiram Abu. ‑ u i: Afs.‑ ANCIENT MASONRY.
to yeare to holde their Assembly where they woulde, and Churisshed them right muche and thus came the Crafte into Fraunce.
Inglande in all this season stode voyde of any chargee of Massonrie untill St. Albon's tyme, and in his dayes the Kyng of Ingland that was a pagnyn he did wall thee toune aboute that is called St. Albons. And St. Albons was a woorthy Knyghte & Stewarde to the Kyngs householde and had the goument of thee Realme & also of thee toune walls, and loved Massons well and cherished them muche and he made their paye right good (standing as the Realme did) for gave them ijs and vid a weeke & three pence to their cheire, for before that tyme through all the Land a Mason toke but a peny a daye and his meate untill St. Albone amended yt.1 And he gave them a Charter of thee Kynge & his Counsell for to houlde a Genrall Counsell and gaue yt the name of an Assemblye, and was there at him selfe and healped for to make Massons, and gave the Chardges as yee shall heare afterwards.
Right soon AFTER THE DECEASE OF SAYNTE Albon thre came dyvers warres into England of dyvers nations, so that the good rule of Massonry was destroyed vntill the tyme of Knigte Athelstone that was a woorthy King of England, & brought all this Land into rest and peace, and buylded many greate workes of abeys and Toweres and many other buyldings. And he loved well Massons, and had a soonne that height Edwin, and he loved Massons muche more then his Father did, and he was a greate practyser of Geometry, and he drew him muche to talke and comen wh massons to learne of them the Craft, and afterwards for love that he had to Massons and to the Crafte he was made a Masson. And he got of the Kyng his father a Charter and a Comission to houlde evy yere Assembly once a yere where they woulde whin thee Realme of lngland, and to correct within them faults and trespasses that weare done whin the Craft.
And he held himselfe an Assembly at Yorke, & there he made Massons and gave them charges and taught them, and commanded that rule to be kept for evr after, and gave them the Charter and the Comission to keepe and made an ordynance that yt should be renewed from Kyng to Kyng. and when the Assembly was gathered togither he made a crye that all olde Massons or yong that had any wryting or understanding of the Chardges and the Mannrs, that were made before in this Land or in any other yt they should bring and shewe them forth.
And when yt was proved, there was founde some in Freanche, some in Greeke and. some in English, and some in other langages, and they weare all to one intent.
And he made a booke thereof howe ye Craft was founde, and he himselfe bade and commanded that yt should be redd or told when any Masson should be made, and for to give his Chardges.
[Note 2 (a) (b) (c).] t ijs. vjd. a weeke, and iijd to their nonesynches.‑Dowland's MS.
Ibid. ‑Landsdowne MS. ijs., Vld. a week, & iijd. for their nonfinch.‑ York MS., No. r.
"Every weeke iijs. vjd. to there double wages." ‑Sloane MS., No.3848. Ibid. ‑Harleian MS., No. 1942. Ibid.‑Lodge of Hope MS.
"Gave them good pay."‑Antiquity MS.
"Three shillings sixpence, to their double wages." ‑Alawick MS.
"He gave them 2 Shillings & Six pence a week & three pence for their nuncions." ‑Papworth MS.
"Wages Weekly, which was gs, 6d. the Week."‑Roberts MS.
NOTE 2 (a).‑When the ancient Mysterie of Masonrie had been depressed in England by reason of the great warrs, through diverse nations, then Athelston, our worthve King did bring the land to rest and peace, and though the ancient records of the Brotherhood were manve of them destroyed or lost, yet did the Craft a great Protector find, in the Royal Edwin : who being teached masonrie and taking upon him the Charges of a Maister, was full of practice, and for the love he bare it, caused a charter to be issued, with a commission to hould every yeare an assembly where they would, within the Realme of England, and to correct within themselves Statutes and trespasses done within the Crafts. And he held an Assembly at York and made masons, and gave them their charges, and taught them the manners of masons, and commanded that rule be holden ever after: and made ordinances that it should be ruled from Kings to Kings, etc., etc.‑Possibly the York MS., No‑ 3, A.D. 163o, missing since 1779. Hughau's O.C.
NOTE 2 (b).‑The city of York, in the north of England, is celebrated for its traditional connection with Masonry in that kingdom. No topic in the history of Freemasonry has so much engaged the attention of modern Masonic scholars, or given occasion to more discussion, than the alleged fact of the existence of Masonry in the tenth century at the city of York as a prominent point, of the calling of a congregation of the Craft there in the year A.D. 926, of the organization of a General Assembly and the adoption of a Constitution.
During the whole of the last and the greater part of the present century, the Fraternity in general have accepted all of these statements as genuine portions of authentic history; and the adversaries of the Order have, with the same want of discrimination, rejected them all as myths; while a few earnest seekers after truth have been at a loss to determine what part was historical and what part legendary. Recently, the discovery of many old manuscripts has directed the labors of such scholars as Hughan, Woodford, Lyon, and others, to the critical examination of the early history of Masonry, and that of York has particularly engaged their attention.‑Dr. Mackey, Ency. page goa.
And from that daie vntill this tyme Mann of Massons haue'byn kept in that forme as well as men might gouern yt. Furthar more at dyrs Assemblies certain Chardges have byn made and ordeyned by the best advice of Mrs. and Fellowes.
Tune units ex senioribus tenent librum, et ille vel illi opponunt manut sub libri, et tune precepta deberent legi &.
Every man that is a Masson take right good heede to these Chardgs yf that any mann fynde himselfe gyltye of any of these Chardges that he may amend himself agaynste Gode.
And especially ye that are to be chardged take good heede that yee maye keepe these Chardges right well for yt is great perill, a mann to forsware himselfe upon a booke.
[Note 3 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h).] THE YORK LEGEND.
"Out of olde fieldes, as men saithe, Cometh all this new corne from yere to yere; And out of old bookes, in good faithe, Cometh all this new science that men lere." The "Old Charges" or " Manuscript Constitutions," concur with the Regius MS., in tracing the establishment of Masonry, as a science, to an Egyptian origin, though they bring it into England by a more circuitous route. The discrepancy, however, is immaterial, for whether we regard the prose and metrical versions of the Craft Legend as based upon one and the same original, or as derived from distinct and separate sources, the vast preponderance of our written traditions, and the whisper of tradition, unitedly assure us that‑throughout Britain‑York was long regarded as the earliest legendary centre of the Building Art.
In that ancient city all the lines of way seem to converge, and in connection with it, a tradition has grown up, wherein are associated the names of Athelstan and Edwin as patrons of Masonry. . . . The Edwin of the Poem, I do not think . by any process of induction, can be identified with Edwin the Atheling, whose death occurred 933ò It is extremely improbable that he ever visited York. From Egbert to Edward the tt=tr`onfessor, Winchester was the undoubted metropolis of the kingdom. Here Athelstan principally rWded, and held his court, as did his (and Edwin's) father previously.
‑Indeed the only scrap of evidence That can be tortured into the semblance of a proof that the Atheling is referred to in &e Old Charges, is to be found in the Grand Lodge family ‑Landsdowne branch‑of these ‑documents, where, if we regard the passage, "Edwin was made Mason at Windsor," as containing as error of transcription, and consider that for " Windsor " should be read " Winchester," the supposition may, perhaps, become entertainable.‑ Autigratha, Vol. I., Pages i8 and zr.
NOTE 3 (a).‑Tune anus ex senioribus teneat librum ut ille vel illi ponat vel ponant mi mum vel manes sup'ifbram, et sane precepta delevent legi. Then one of the Elders shall hold *s *Oak dw4 be orthey may lay his or. their. hand or hands upon the Book, and the charges =1A1bw*jw‑Rd.‑‑Reyt.W‑BVat Walker.
oop of the elders takeing the Booke ai#. Acs or rkee that is to be made a mason ftl~k hands thereon si>iuge shall bee given." E woe admitted as members of the old masonic Guilds (when their toe~d
if they were in a position to carry on their Trade.
We are ny evidence, confirmatoryof their participation in the "mysterie" or ‑York MS., No. ó, and comments thereon by Hughan, O.C. age iS.
Our Is'
e w` h h).s review [x889] of the Watson MS., speaking of the "cunous blunder"' Alfa for ills says it has caused "some hasty readers, to assume that females were eligible for membership iii the Lodge at the period [A.D. 169g], just as in most of the Social Guilds for oenttn'fes,
There is not, however, the slightest justification for such an absurd fancy, the singular icdWtkB'1lifl~ in question being due to misapprehension or some other cause." NOM' 3 (c).‑"There are severall words & signes of a free mason to be revelled to yu * we as p will answer before Ood at the Great & terrible day of Judgmt yu keep secret & not to t**He the same in the heares of any person or to any but to the Mre. & fellows of the said society office masons.so helpe me God, &c."
Endorsement on Harleian MS. folio 33, written about A:D.165M‑7 Hughau's O. C. page 9.
,
.
NOTE 3 (d).‑ Then shall one of the most ancient of them all hold a Book that he or they sissy lay his or their hands upon the said Book, and these precepts following ought then to be AMA ‑Ahnulch MS.
NOTE 3 (e).‑Then one comes after (or from) the Master and returns (gives) the Bible to those who have not sworn, and he places the hand on the book, or the fingers, above, while they read the exhortation (prayers) to ahem (for themselves).‑Paraphrase of Roberts' version of 7'axc riacr," eic., br F. E. S.
NOTE.y (
ò=.Referring to female membership, Dr. Mackey says: The truth is that the str4teotx was a translation of the same clause written in the other Old Constitutions in Latin. ae YOrlt. X& No, z,.. the sentence is thus: Tune units ex senioribus teneat librum et ille vet 4f., ",is or ;her."
The writer.of. No. 4 copied, most probably., from No. ‑%, and his ; 194 ANCIENT MASONRY.
The fyrste Chardge ys this.
That ye shall be trewy men to God and holly Churche, and that yen use nor errour nor heresye by yt vnderstanding or discretion, but be ye discreet men or wyse men in eache thing.
And also that ye should be true leidge men to the King of England, without treason or any other falshoode, and, that ye knowe no treason nor treechery but yt ye amend preevyie if you maye, or else warne the Kyng or his Counsell thereof.
And also ye shall be true cache one to another, that is to saye to euy Mason of the Craft of Masonry that be Massons allowed ye shall doe unto them as ye would that they should do unto you.
And also that you kepe all the Counsells of yr Fellowes truely, be yt in Lodge or in Cham ber, and all other councells that ought to be kept by the waye of Masonhoode.
And also that no Masson shall be a thiefe in compayne so far forth as he maye witt or knowe, and that he shall be true cache one to other, and to the Lord or Mr. that he serve, and truely to see to his profits & to his vantadge.
And also you shall call Massons yr Fellowes or Brythren and none other foule names.
And also you shall not take yr Fellowes weif in vyllany nor desyre ungodly his daughter, nor his servant nor put him to no diswoorship.
And also that ye pay trewly for his meate and drynke there wheare you gee to boorde, and also ye shall doe no vyllany in that place where you goe to boorde, wherby the Crafte might be slaundred.
These be the Chardges in generallthat length to evy True mason to keepe both Mrs. and Fellowes.
Rehearse, I will other Chardges singular for Mrs. & Fellowes.
First that no Mr. or Fellowe take upon him any Lordes woorke, nor any other mans woorke vnless he know himselfe able and sufficient of conning to performe the same, so that their Crafte have no slaunder or disworshippe thereby but that the Lord maye be well and truely served.
And that no Mr. take no worke, but yt he take yt reasonable, so that the Lorde maye be well served wh his owne good, and the Mr. to lyve honestly, and to paye his Fellowes trewly their paye as the mann is.
And also that no Mr. nor Fellow shall not supplant any other of their woorke, that is to saye yf he have taken a worke in hand, or els stand Mr. of the Lordes worke.
He shall put him out, except he shall be unable of conning to end the worke.
And also that no Mr. or Fellowe take no prentice but for thee terme of vij yeres, and the apprentice be able of byrthe, that is to saye free borne & hole of lymes as a man ought to be.
And also that no Mr. nor Fellowes take no allowaunce to be made Masson, without Counsell of his Fellowes, and that he take hinr for no less tyme than vi or vij yeres, and that he wch shall be made a Masson be able in all the mann degrees, that is to saye free born, come of good kyndred, true and no bond man.
And also that he have his right lymes as a man ought to haue. Also that no man take any prentice vnless he have sufficient occupacon for to sett him on, or to sett iii of his Fellowes, or ii at least on worke.
And also that no Mr. nor Fellowe shall take no mans woorke to taske that was woont to goe on jorney. Also that every Mr. shall give paye to his Fellowes, but as they deserve, so that bee be not deceived with false woorkemen.
Also that nee mason sclander any other behynde his backe to make him lose his god name or his worldly goods.
Also that no Fellowe within the Lodge or without mys answer another vngodly nor reprochefully without reasonable cause.
Also that euy shall Mason reuerence his elder and put him to woorship.
And also that no masson shall be comon player at hassard or at dyce, nor at non other unlawfull playes whereby the Craft might be slandered.
translation of "hen or shee" from ille vel illi, instead of he or they, was either the result of ignorance in mistaking illi they, for illa she, or in carelessness in writing shee for they. ‑Ency., page gob.
NOTE g (,g).‑Then one (some one) (certain one) takes the Bible from the old man (Worshipful Master) and they (or he) (the candidate or candidates) place (or places) the hand on the Bible and then they are m duty bound to give (or go on to) the charge.‑Paraphrase of Grand Lodge MS.; contributed.
NOTE g (h).‑From the time of Athelstan down to the Norman Conquest, and from the Conqueror to Edward L, and later, the oath of allegiance was annually administered to every freeman of the age of fourteen, and was called the Frank pledge, It read as follows: " You shall swear, that from this day forward you shall be true and faithfull to our Soveraign Lord the King and his heiress, and truth and faith shall bear of life, and member, and terrene honour.
And you shall neither know, nor hear of any ill or dammage intended unto him, that you shall not defend: ‑ so help you God." ‑Antig rapha, Vol. I.
The way this was carried out was to organize these youth into families often in which every member was responsible for the orderly behavior of the other nine.
They assembled at stated periods at a common table, where they ate and drank together.
This sort of an assembly dates from the seventh century or earlier, and may account for many usages of societies existing now and since that time.
And also that no Masson shall use no leacbery nor be no baude whereby the Crafte might be slandered. And also that no Fellowe goe into the toune a nighte tymes without there is a Lodge of Fellowes, without he have a fellowe with him that he might beare him wytness that he was in an honest place.
Also that evy Mr. and Fellowe shall come to the Assembly, that if it be within fyftie mylles 1 about him, yf he haue any warning.
And if he bane trespassed against the Crafte then he to abyde the award of the Mrs. & Fellowes.
Also that euy Mr. & Fellowe that bane trespassed against the Crafte shall stand then to the award of the Mrs. and Fellowes, to make them accord if they can, and if they may not accorde then to goe to the comon lawe, Also that no Mr‑ nor Fellowe make no moulde nor square, nor rule to no layr, nor sett no Iayr within the Lodge nor without it to hew no moulde stones. And also that euy Mason receive & cherrishe strange Fellowes when they come over the countreyes, and sett them a worke, if they will, as the mannr. is, that is to saye if they have mould stones in his place, or els bee shall refreshe him with moony unto the next lodging.
Also that every Mason shall truely serve the Lorde for his paye, and evy Mr. truely to make ane end of his woorke be yt takee or journey, if he have his commands, and that they ought for to have.
These Charges that we have now rehearsed unto yu all, and all others that belong jo Masons, ye shall keepe, so healpe you God, and your hallydome, and by this booke in yor hande unto yr power.
Amen.
So be it.
Scripture Anno Domini 15830 Die Decembris 250.
The " New Articles." ‑ These, and the " Apprentice Charges " which follow, are very curious and unique, says our European Editor, and are also special, very few MSS. having them.
The Articles appear in the Harleian No. 1942, and in the Roberts MS., which is a copy.
The "Apprentice Charges," however, are in a few others, among which we may name the Watson and Tew MSS., lately discovered.
The Roberts Version.‑Additional Orders and Constitutions made and agreed upon at a General Assembly held at ‑‑‑, on the Eighth Day of December, 1663.2 1. That no Person, of what Degree soever, be accepted a Free‑iVason unless he shall have a Lodge of five Free‑Masons at the least, whereof one to be a Master or Warden of that Limit or Division where such Lodge shail be kept, and another to be a Workman of the Trade of FreeMasonry.
11. That no Person hereafter shall be accepted a Free‑lhlason, but such as are of able Body, honest Parentage, good Reputation, and Observers of the Laws of the Land.
III. That no Person hereafter, which shall be accepted a Free‑Mason, shall be admitted into any Lodge, or Assembly, until he hath brought a Certificate of the Time and Place of his Acceptation, from the Lodge that accepted him, unto the Master of that Limit and Division, where such Lodge was kept, which said Master shall enroll the same on Parchment in a Roll to be kept for that Purpose, and give an Account of all such Acceptations, at every General Assembly.
IV. That every Person, who is now a Free‑Mason, shall bring to the Master a Note of the Time of his Acceptation, to the end the same may be enrolled in such Priority of Place, as the Person deserves, and to the end the whole Company and Fellows may the better know each other.
V, That for the future the said Society, Company, and Fraternity of Free‑Masons, shall be regulated and governed by one Master, and as many Wardens as the said Company shall think fit to chuse at every Yearly General Assembly.
VI. That no Person shall be accepted a Free‑Mason, unless he be One and Twenty Years Old, or more.
VII. That no person hereafter be accepted a Free‑Mason, or know the Secrets of the said Society, until he shall have first taken the Oath of Secrecy here following, viz.: I, A. B., do here in the presence of God Almighty, and of my Fellows and Brethren here present, promise and declare, That I will not at any Time hereafter by any Act or Circumstance whatsoever, directly or indirectly, publish, discover, reveal or make known any of these Secrets, Privities or Councils of the Fraternity or Fellowship of Free‑Masons, which at this time, or at any time hereafter shall be made known unto me. So help me God, and the true and holy Contents of this Book.
1 Watson's MS. says 40 miles; The Thos. W. Tew MS., " seven miles " ; Hope. MS., five miles; as also the Harleian 2054 and Mr. Papworth's MS. ‑the " fifty miles " being the generally accepted distance, beyond which brethren were not required to attend the annual assembly.‑ HU.,han.
2 NOTE.‑The date is added by some former Editor, and is not (and ought not to be), in the Harletan MS., 1942, of which this is a copy.] 196
ANCIENT MASONRY.
The "Apprentice Charges." This Charge belongeth to Apprentices. Imprimis. You shall truly honour God, and his holy Church, the King, your Master, and Dame; you shall not absent yourself, but with the Licence of one or both of them, from their service, by Day or Night.
II. You shall not Purloyn or Steal, or be Privy or accessory to the Value of Six‑pence from them or either of them.
III. You shall not commit Adultery or Fornication in the House of your Master, with his Wife, Daughter or Maid.
IV. You shall not disclose your Master's or Dame's Secrets or Councils, which they have reported unto you, or what is to be concealed, spoken or done within the Privities of their House, by them, or either of them, or by any Free‑Mason.
V. You shall not maintain any disobedient Argument with your Master, Dame, or any FreeMason.
VI. You shall reverently behave yourself towards all Free‑Masons, using neither Cards, Dice, or any unlawful Games, Christmas Time excepted.
VII. You shall not haunt, or frequent any Taverns or Ale‑houses, or so much as go into any of them, except it he upon your Master or your Dame, their or any of their Affairs, or with their or the one of their Consents.
VIII. You shall not commit Adultery or Fornication in any Man's House,where you shall be at a Table or at Work.
IX. You shall not marry, or contract yourself to any Woman during your Apprenticeship.
X. You shall not steal any Man's Goods, but especially your Master's, or any of his Fellow Masons, nor suffer any to steal their Goods, but shall hinder the Felon, if you can; and if you cannot, then you shall acquaint the said Master and his Fellows presently The Watson Version.‑"The Watson MS? ends as follows: Here Followeth the Prentices Charge First that he shall be true to God and the holy Church, the peace r.prince], And to his Master or Dame whom he shall serve, he shall not steal the Goods of his Master or Dame, nor Absent himselfe from his service, nor goe from them about his owns pleasure by day or by Night, without the Lycence of one of them, And that he doe not Committ Adultery or fornication in his Masters house, with the Wife, Daughter, or Servant of his said Master, and that he shall keep Councell in all things that shall be said or done in the Lodge or Chamber by Master or fellow, Being Master or Free‑Mason, And that he shall not Hold a Disobedient Argument against any of them, or Disclose any secreets, Whereby any Dissention may arise amongst any Masons their Fellows or Prentices, but Reverently behave themselves to all Free‑Masons, being Sworn Brethren to his said Master, and not to use Carding or Diceing, or Any other unlawfull Gameing, Nor to Haunt any Tavern or Alehouses there to Wast any mans Goods, without Lycence of his Master or some other Free‑Mason, and shall not Committ Adultery or Fornication in any mans House where he shall works or be Tabled, And that he shall not purloyn nor Steal the Goods of any person, nor willingly suffer any Harm or Shame to be Done, or Consent thereunto During his Apprentishipp ; Butt to withstand the same to the utmost of his power, and thereof to Inform his said Master or some other Free‑Mason with all Convenient possible Speed.
1 The additional strip of the "'Prentice Charge" removes it from the ordinary series of some score or more of original MSS. and places it in the special class with seven others only. These are " Harleian, No. 1942," " Melrose, No. 2," " Hope," " Colne, No. r," " York, No. 4," " Gateshead," and the" Wren" MSS.‑Hugkan's comments, See Kalendar of" Old Charges." PART II. COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY. ‑CRAFT, CAPITULAR, CRYPTIC.
(`| Masonry'without respect to Creed, Clime, or Color.") INTRODUCTION.
THE AMERICAN RITE OF FREEMASONRY.
THE organization or constitution of the several M. W. Grand Lodges in the United States of America has followed certain advancing meridianal lines, which have kept pace with the tides of emigration westward, receiving their impulse from recognized political and military forces. The successful war for independence was waged by the colonies of the Atlantic Slope, assisted by the prudent state of Vermont.
It is also an acknowledged fact that many who, shaped the destiny of the young Republic were equally in khe: establikhment of Freemasonry, the Institution that has ftpity‑of the American Rite of that Order.
American Free.properly dates from the Revolution, when all allegiance to the `C*other Country" was thrown oft.
Like the British Colonies in civil affairs, prior to 1776‑83, the lodges owned an allegiance to Britain as the fountain‑head of government.
The numbers of these lodges, together with their names and locations, on every part of the Continent, are placed in this work, introductory to a history 'of their successors, the constituents of the Grand jurisdictions of to‑day.
The Nation's history, its political and military achievem(nts, directed the course of the Fraternity's progress towards the Pacific. Especially is this noticeable of a portion of the area east and south‑east of the Rocky Mountains. In the words of one of our Editorial Corps, ||' The Louisiana Purchase" by the United States Government, extending westward to the eastern boundary of Spanish territory (which afterward became Mexican by reason of the successful war for independence in 1820), prepared the way for the events h rapidly followed; and the war between Mexico and the United States, ?1 15‑7‑8, settled by treaty, obliterated all foreign claims and titles from base, of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean." 197 It is not our purpose to repeat here the civil and political history involved in the settlement of the United States westward, from the Atlantic Slope to the Pacific Coast. The progress of the Fraternity, in its march abreast of the advancing lines of civilization, will appear in the history of The American Rite. This is also true of the Order in British America, fostered by its own progressive influences of English, Scottish, and other parentage, flanking us on the north, which has measurably kept step to the " Star of Empire." Moreover, in the United States, following the establishment of independence, the ritual of the Fraternity was made distinctively American by the blending of the " work " of the " Ancients " and " Moderns " of England with that of Scotland, and as then revised and pruned of its surplusage, it gave us the " work " or ritual as it is now generally practised throughout the country.
These fundamental principles of Freemasonry's growth on this Continent, combined, suggest "Three Meridians " of four longitudinal departments in the United States, and a fifth comprising British America. The Grand Lodge history will, therefore, be arranged under proper Divisions, and will follow, numbered IV., V., VI., VIL, VIII., and IX., respectively.
In the preparation of these Divisions the Grand Secretaries of the world were taken into council. The distinguished European Editor took in charge his portion of the work, and with his able assistant has placed us under many obligations, which the reader will appreciate. There being no supreme Grand Lodge known to the government of the Fraternity, it became evident that the writers of the Grand Lodge Divisions must depend upon the archives, in the custody of the Grand Secretaries, for the chronological and skeleton sketches upon which to build a correct history of the Order.
These data have been cheerfully furnished, and to such assistance posterity will ascribe much of the value of this volume. The names of these brethren appear in the proper place, each contributor responsible for his own part. Other distinguished Masons have also assisted in the preparation of the histories of Grand Lodges, to whom we give the honor of a place in the List of Contributors.
The desire of all concerned has been to make the work absolutely and historically correct; and to this end those having the closest knowledge of the important events in each Grand jurisdiction, of its public and private charities, etc., etc., have been freely consulted. The aim has been to make this part of the work full of facts never before printed ; in short, one of the most valuable histories of Freemasonry, from its introduction into America to the present time.
THE EDITOR‑IN‑CHIEF.
DIVISION IV.
LODGES IN AMERICA ‑UNDER THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, 1733‑r889.
By JOHN LANE, F.C.A., P.M., P.Z., etc., Past Senior Grand Warden of Iowa, Past Provincial Grand Registrar of Devonshire (England), Author of "Masonic Records, 1717‑1886," etc.
INTRODUCTION.
Explanatory.‑In presenting a List of all Lodges warranted by the Grand Lodges of England for the Continent of America, it may not be unnecessary to state that such Warrants emanated from two distinct Bodies (I) The Premier Grand Lodge, formed in the year 1717, and subsequently designated ‑ though erroneously ‑ " Moderns " ; and (2) the rival Grand Lodge, formed in 175 r, which arrogated to itself the title " Ancients," later on being known as the " Athol " Grand Lodge.
For convenience, the lodges comprised in the subjoined List, warranted by the junior organization, will be distinguished by the letter (A) ; and it should not be forgotten that the claim made by members of this rival Grand Lodge to the appellation " York Masons " ‑ as indicative of any descent from, or connection with, the " Grand Lodge of all England " at York ‑ has been over and over again proved to be groundless ; consequently the designation Ancient York Masons (" A.Y.M."), as applied to members of any Lodge warranted by the "Ancients," is altogether misleading.
The subject of the Introduction of Freemasonry into America will doubtless be carefully treated by competent brethren. I shall therefore proceed simply to enumerate the lodges warranted by the two Grand Lodges of England for that great continent, upon geographical lines, premising at the outset that although proofs exist of the constitution or authorization of many other lodges in America by English Provincial Grand Masters, yet inasmuch as they were never registered in the books of the Mother Grand Lodge, they are not included in this List.
A considerable portion of the following information is taken from my "Masonic Records, 1717‑1886," but the arrangement, as well as the notes, is now for the first time presented in the following form.
199 200 Canada East, formerly Lower Canada (now Quebec).
CALDSWELL MANOR (Montreal).
1824, March 29.
No. 783. Nelson Lodge. Numbered 515 in 1832: was removed to Clarenceville in 1858 [which see]. CLARENCEVILLE (Iberville). Nelson Lodge. No. 515. Removed from Caldswell Manor [which see].
Erased in 1863.
DUNHAM (Missisquoi).
1846, August 8.
No. 776. Prevost Lodge.
Worked under Dispensation July 8, 1844.
Erased June 4, 1862.
FRELIGSBURG (Missisquoi). 1824, March 29. No. 781. Prevost Lodge. Numbered 513 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
HULL (Ottawa).
1824, March 29.
No. 787.
Columbia Lodge.
Numbered 519 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
LA COLLE (St. Johns).
1855, June 28.
No. 938.
Hoyle Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
MONTREAL (Montreal).
1762.
No. 223.
St. Peter's Lodge. Not on English Regis ter until 1770.
Named in 1788.
Numbered 179 in 1780, ISO in 1781, and 154 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
MONTREAL.
1787.
No. 515.
St. Paul's Lodge.
Numbered 424 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
MONTREAL.
1787. , No. 519.
Select Lodge.
Numbered 428 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
MONTREAL.
1793.
No. 522.
St. John's Lodge of Friendship.
Erased in 1813. MONTREAL.
1824, March 29.
NO. 78o.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 512 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
MONTREAL. 1824, March 29. No. 782. St. Paul's Lodge. Numbered 514 in 1832, and 374 in 1863. Warrant of Confirmation, March 21, 1846, and is still on English Register.
MONTREAL.
1824, March 29.
No. 786.
Wellington Persevering Lodge.
Num bered 518 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
MONTREAL. 1836, October 20. No. 643. St. George's Lodge. Numbered 440 in 1863.
Warrant of Confirmation, September I1, 1870, the old Charter having been retained by some members who joined the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
Is still on English Register.
MONTREAL.
x844, April 2o.
No. 731.
Zetland Lodge.
Warrant of Confirmation in 1854.
Erased June 4, 1862.
MONTREAL.
1854, September 5.
No. 923.
St. Lawrence Lodge.
Numbered 640 in 1863.
Still on English Register.
ODELL TOWN (St. John's).
1824, March 29.
No. 788.
Odell Lodge.
Named in 1826.
Numbered 520 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
QUEBEC (Quebec).
1762, March 2r. NO. 277.
Merchants' Lodge. Numbered 220 in 1770, 176 in I 78o, 177 in 1781, and 151 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1762.
No. 221.
St. Andrew's Lodge.
Not in List until 1770. Num bered 177 in 1780, 178 in 1781, and 152 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEd7ASONRY.
CHAPTER I.
BRITISH AMERICA.
LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER.
QUEBEC.
1762.' No. 222.
St. Patrick's Lodge. Not in List until 1770. Num bered 178 in 1780, 179 in 1781, and 153 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1762.
No. 224.
On board His Majesty's Ship '| Canceaux."
Not in List until 1770.
Numbered 180 in 1780, and 181 in 1781.
Erased April 18, 1792.
QUEBEC.
1762.
No. 225.
Select Lodge.
Not in List until 1770.
Numbered 181 in 1780, 182 in 1781, and 155 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1762.
No. 226.
In the 52d Regiment of Foot.
Not in List until 1770.
Numbered 182 in 1780, 183 in 1781, and 156 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1781, July 3.
(A) No. 213.
4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Artillery, New York [which see].
Purchased (A) No. 9 on December 20, 1787, for 65 5s.
Appears at Quebec in 1793.
Renewal Warrant as a Civil Lodge, January 27, 1829.
Special Centenary Warrant, April 3, 1862.
Numbered 17 in 1814, and so continued on the English Register until 1870.
Is now |` Albion Lodge," No. 2, of the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
QUEBEC.
1784, November 15.
No. 466.
Barry Lodge.
In the 34th Regiment.
Numbered 377 in 1792.
Erased in .1813.
QUEBEC.
1784, November 15. No. 467.
Rainsford Lodge.
In the 44th Regiment.
Numbered 378 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1787.
No. 516.
In the Regiment of Anhalt‑Zerbst.
Numbered 425 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
QUEBEC.
1787, October 22.
(A) NO. 241.
St. John's Lodge.
In Royal Regiment of Artillery.
Numbered 302 in 1814, 214 in 1832, and 182 in 1863.
Erased in 1870.
QUEBEC.
17go, December. (A) No. 265. At Merchants' Coffee House.
Purchased (A) No. 40 in December, 1791, for .65 5s.
Was known as the ',Merchants' Lodge."
Numbered 77 in 1814, and 68 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
QUEBEC.
1792, March 7.
(A) No. 273.
Provincial Grand Warrant for H. R. H.
Prince Edward (His Majesty's fourth son) for Lower Canada.
Numbered 343 in 1814, in which year it was erased.
[Not a subordinate Lodge.] QUEBEC. 1825, March 23. No. 801. Sussex Lodge. Numbered 531 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
ST. ANDREW'S (Argentueil). 1824, March 29.
No. 784.
St. Andrew's Lodge. Numbered 516 in 1832.
Erased in 1863.
ST. JOHN'S (St. John's).
1846, August i.
No. 775.
Dorchester Lodge.
Under Dispensation April 4, 1843.
Numbered 532 in 1863.
Erased March 29, 1881.
STANSTEAD (Stanstead).
1824, March 29.
No. 785.
Golden Rule Lodge.
Num bered 517 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
WATERLOO (Shefford).
1855, April 23. No. 934.
Shefford Lodge. Erased June 4; 1862.
Canada West, formerly Upper Canada (now Ontario).
AMHERSTBERG (Essex). 1850, August 7. NO. 849. Thistle Lodge. Erased in 1857. ANCASTER (Wentworth).
1822, September 23. No. 770. Union Lodge. Num bered 503 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
BELVILLE (Hastings).‑ 1822, September 23. NO. 763. Belville Lodge. Numbered 496 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
BOLTON (Peel). ‑ 1822, September 23. No. 771. Western Light Lodge, at King (York) [which see]. Numbered 504 in 1832.
Transferred to Bolton, Albion County, in 1856. Erased in 1857.
20I
202 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
BORELIA (Ontario).
1853, March 22.
No. 891.
Mount Zion Lodge (Township of Reach).
Erased in 1857.
BOUMANVILLE (Durham).
1850, August 7.
No. 850.
Jerusalem Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
BROCKVILLE (Leeds).
1822, September 23. No. 756.
Sussex Lodge. Numbered 489 in 1832.
Erased in 1863.
BYTOWN. See OTTAWA.
CARLETON PLACE (Lanark).
1847, August 31.
No. 796.
St. John's Lodge. Num bered 544 in 1863.
Erased June 12, 1872.
CATARAQUI.
See KINGSTON.
CHATHAM (Kent).
1855, August 20.
No. 943.
Wellington Lodge.
Under Dis pensation January 27, 1853.
Erased in 1857.
CHIPPEWA (Welland).
1853, April 9.
No. 894. Welland Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
COBOURG (Northumberland).
1822, September 23. No. 764.
St. John's Lodge, at Haldimand [which see].
Numbered 497 in 1832.
Transferred to Cobourg in 1845.
Erased in 1857.
CONSECON (Prince Edward). 1855, August 2o. No. 947. Consecon Lodge. Under Dispensation May 15, 1854.
Erased in 1857.
CORNWALL (Stormont).
1793.
No. 521.
Union Lodge.
Erased in 1813.
DUNVILLE (Monck).
i85o, August 7.
No. 851.
Amity Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
EARNEST TOWN (Addington).
1822, September 23.
No. 76o.
Addington Lodge.
Numbered 493 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
FRIDSBURGH [? Freiburgh, Waterloo].
1822, September 23.
No. 759.
Numbered 492 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
GODERICH (Huron).
1843, June 6. No. 72o. Goderich Union Lodge. Numbered 49o in 1863.
Erased in 1870.
GOSFIELD (Essex).
1853, March 22.
No. 892.
Lodge of St. George.
Erased in 1857.
GRIMSBY (Lincoln).
1822, September 23.
No. 761.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 494 in 1832.
Erased in 1863.
GUELPH (Wellington).
185o, August 7.
No. 848. Wellington Lodge.
Erased in 1861.
HALDIMAND (Northumberland).
1822, September 23.
No. 764.
St. John's Lodge.
Numbered 497 in 1832.
Transferred to Cobourg in 1845 [which see].
HALLOWELL (Prince Edward).
1822, September 23.
No. 772.
Prince Edward's Lodge.
Numbered 505 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
HAMILTON (Wentworth).
1844, August 28. No. 733. Barton Lodge. Under Dis pensation November 20, 1795.
Erased in 1861.
HAMILTON.
1855, August 2o.
No. 954. Acacia Lodge.
Under Dispensation July 11, 1855.
Erased in 1857.
HAMILTON GORE (Wentworth). 1850, January 14. No. 833. Lodge of Strict Observance.
Under Dispensation August 19, 1847.
Erased in 1857.
KING (York).
1822, September 23.
No. 771.
Western Light Lodge.
Numbered 504 in 1832.
Transferred to Bolton (Peel) in 1856 [which see].
KINGSTON (Frontenac).
1787.
No. 518.
St. James's Lodge at Cataraqui, the ancient name of Kingston.
Numbered 427 in 1792.
Erased in 1813. KINGSTON.
1822, September 23.
No. 758.
St. John's Lodge.
Numbered 491 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER.
203 LONDON (Middlesex).
1853, April 9.
No. 895. 857 MADOC (Hastings).
1855, August 20.
No. 945.
sation April 24, 1854.
Erased in 1857. MERICKVILLE (Grenville). 1855, August 2o.
Under Dispensation July 17, 1854.
Erased in MORPETH (Kent). 1855, August 20. No. 946.
tion April 24, 1854.
Erased in 1857.
MURRAY (Northumberland). 1822, September 23. Numbered 502 in 1832.
Erased in 1857. NEWCASTLE (Durham). 1856, May io. No. 1857.
NIAGARA (Lincoln). Erased in 1813. NIAGARA.
1792, March 7. (A) No. 274. Upper Canada. Numbered 345 in 1814, subordinate Lodge.] NIAGARA.
1822, September 23.
1832.
Erased June 4, 1862. NIAGARA. 1822, September 23. 1832.
Erased in 1863.
NORTH GOWER CORNERS (Carleton).
1855, August 2o.
No. 951.
Lodge.
Under Dispensation August 29, 1854.
Erased in 1857. OTTAWA (Carleton). 1850, January 14. No. 835. Dalhousie Lodge at Bytown (the former name of Ottawa). Under Dispensation May 16, 1848. Numbered 571 in 1863. Erased in 1872.
OTTAWA.
1855, August 2o. No. 952.
ruary 17, 1855.
Erased in 1857. OTTAWA. 1855, August 2o. No. 953. May 1, 1855.
Erased in 1857.
OXFORD (Essex).
1822, September 23.
No. 765.
King Hiram's bered 498 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
OXFORD. 1850, January 14. No. 836, Kemptville Lodge. August 27, 1848.
Erased in 1857.
PERTH (Lanark).
1822, September 23.
507 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
PETERBOROUGH (Peterborough).
1850, January 14.
No. 834.
Under Dispensation April 3, 1848.
Erased in 1861.
PORT HOPE (Durham).
1847, August 31.
No. Boo.
Ontario Lodge of Port Hope (Newcastle District).
Erased in 1857.
PORT SARNIA (Lambton).
1855, August 2o.
No. 950.
Victoria Lodge.
Under Dispensation July 19, 1854.
Erased in 1857.
RICHMOND (Carleton).
1822, September 23.
No. 766.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 499 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
RICHMOND HILL (York). 1847, May 17. No. 790. Richmond Lodge. Erased June 4, 1862.
ST. CATHAINES.
1847, May 17.
No. 79I.
St. George's Lodge, St. Cathaines, C. W.
Erased in 1857.
[Probably an error for '| St. Catherine's."] 1787.
No. 521.
St. John's Lodge.
Numbered 430 in 1792.
No. 755.
No. 757.
St. George's Lodge.
Erased in Madoc Lodge.
Under Dispen No. 949. Merickville Lodge. 1857.
Erie Lodge. Under Dispensa 978.
No. 769. United Lodge.
Durham Lodge. Erased in Provincial Grand Lodge Warrant for in which year it was erased.
[Not a Dalhousie Lodge. Numbered 488 in Niagara Lodge. Numbered 490 in North Gower Doric Lodge. Under Dispensation FebCorinthian Lodge. Under Dispensation Lodge. Num. Under Dispensation No. 774. True Briton Lodge. Numbered Corinthian Lodge.
204 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
ST. CATHERINE'S (Lincoln).. 1822, September 23.
No. 768.
St. George's Lodge.
Numbered 501 in 1832.
[St. Katherine's after 1838.]
Erased June 4, 1862. SANDWICH (Essex).
1851, December 2. No. 870. Rose Lodge. Erased in 1857.
SIMcoE (Norfolk). 1822, September 23. No. 767 at Townshend [which see]. Numbered 5oo in 1832. Transferred to Simcoe in 1851 ; then named St. John's Lodge. Warrant of Confirmation, November 14, 1853; and named Norfolk Lodge in 1854. Erased in 1857.
SIMCOE.
1856, May io.
No. 977.
Simcoe Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
SMITH'S‑FALLS (Lanark).
1847, August 31.
No. 797.
St. Francis Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
STANLEY MILLS (Peel).
1855, August 20.
No. 948.
Corinthian Lodge.
Under Dispensation June i9, 1854.
Erased in 1857.
STIRLING (Hastings).
1857, April 16.
No. tool.
Stirling Lodge.
Erased in 1857. TORONTO (York).
1792, June 15.
No. 498.
Rawdon Lodge between the Lakes in Upper Canada.
Erased in 1813.
TORONTO (York).
1822, September 23.
No. 754.
St. Andrew's Lodge.
York, the old name of Toronto.
Numbered 487 in 1832.
Erased in 1857.
TORONTO.
1822, September 23.
No. 762 [then York].
Numbered 495 in 1832, Erased June 4, 1862.
TORONTO.
1847, May 17.
No. 789.
Zetland Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
TORONTO.
1847, August 31.
No. 798.
Ionic Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
TOWNSHEND (Norfolk).
1822, September 23.
No. 767.
Numbered 5oo in 1832. Transferred to Simcoe in 1851 [which see].
TRENT (? Northumberland and Hastings). 1853, March 22.
No. 89o.
Trent Lodge, Village of River Trent.
Erased in 1857.
WESTMINSTER (Middlesex).
1822, September 23. No. 773.
Mount Moriah Lodge.
Numbered 5o6 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
WHITBY (Ontario).
1847, August 31.
No. 799.
Unity Lodge, Township of Whitby. Erased June 4, 1862.
WHITBY.
1853, March 22. No. 893. Composite Lodge, Scripture's Hotel, Whitby. Erased in 1857.
WINDSOR (Essex).
1855, August 20.
No. 944.
Great Western Lodge.
Under Dispensation April 24, 1854.
Erased in 1857.
WOODSTOCK (Oxford).
1853, April 9.
No. 896.
King Solomon's Lodge.
Erased in 1857.
YORK.
See TORONTO.
YORK GRAND RIVER.
1846, September 28.
No. 779.
St. John's Lodge.
Under Dispensation May 17, 1845.
Erased June 4, 1862.
Columbia, British.
NANAIMO.
1866, January 16.
No. logo.
Nanaimo Lodge.
Erased May 1, 1873. NEW WESTMINSTER.
1861, December 16.
No. 1201.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 899 in 1863.
Erased May 1, 1873.
VICTORIA.
1859, March i9.
No. 1085,
Victoria Lodge.
Numbered 783 in 1863. Erased in 1872.
VICTORIA.
1867, July 26.
No. 1 187.
British Columbia Lodge.
Erased December 9, 1871.
LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER.
205 New Brunswick.
CARLETON (Carleton).
1848, April 18. No. 8ri. Woodstock Lodge.
Transferred to Woodstock in 1857 [which see].
CHATHAM (Northumberland).
i859,,January 23.
No. 1077.
Miramichi Lodge. Numbered 775 in 1863. Erased April 9, 1869.
DORCHESTER (Westmoreland).
1842, March 5. No. 705.
Sussex Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
Reinstated in 1863 ; then numbered 480.
Erased again in 1869. FREDERICTON (York).
1789, April 2.
No. 541.
Numbered 450 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
FREDERICTON.
1846, January I.
No. 764.
Solomon's Lodge.
Numbered 522 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
HAMPTON (King's).
1854, July I I.
No. 918.
Corinthian Lodge, at Norton [which see].
Transferred to Hampton in 1862.
Numbered 635 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
HILLSBOROUGH [Hilsboro'] (Albert).
1856, April 4.
No. 966.
Howard Lodge.
Numbered 668 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
KINGSTON (King's).
1846, May 18.
NO. 77o.
Midian Lodge.
Numbered 527 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
MONCTON (Westmoreland). 1855, February.
No. 927.
Keith Lodge.
Numbered 644 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
NEWCASTLE (Northumberland). 1857, April 16. No. 1003. Northumberland Lodge. Numbered 701 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
NORTON (King's).
1854, July 1i.
No. 918.
Corinthian Lodge.
Transferred to Hampton in 1862 [which see].
PORTLAND (St. John).
1846, November 3.
No. 780.
Union Lodge Numbered 535 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
QUEEN COUNTY (Queen's).
1855, April 23.
No. 932. June 4, 1862.
ST. ANDREW'S (Charlotte).
1845, August 9.
No. 759.
bered 518 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
ST. GEORGE (
).
1854, February 7.
No. 912.
bered 629 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
ST. JOHN (St. John).
1829.
No. 841.
Albion Lodge.
and 400 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
ST. JOHN.
1836, April 23.
No. 632.
St. John's Lodge. Erased in 1869.
ST. JOHN.
1846, March 21.
No. 767 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
ST. JOHN.
1865, December 5.
No. zo84. 9, 1869.
ST. STEPHEN'S (Charlotte).
1851, August 29. January i9, 1863.
SALISBURY (
).
186o, February 7.
bered 8o8 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
SHEDIAC (Westmoreland).
1861, October 30.
bered 886 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
SUSSEX (King's).
1863, April 30. No. 1267. Zion Lodge.
1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
of Portland.
Queen's Lodge. Erased St. Mark's Lodge. NumSt. George's Lodge. NumNumbered 570 in 1832, Numbered 436 in x863. Carleton Union Lodge.
Numbered 524 in New Brunswick Lodge.
Erased April No. 866.
Union Lodge.
Erased No. IIIo. Salisbury Lodge. Num No. 1188.
Zetland Lodge.
NumNumbered. 965 in 206 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONR Y.
UPPER MILLS (St. Stephen's).
1856, February 26.
No. 962.
Alley Lodge.
Num bered 664 in 1863.
Erased April 9, 1869.
WOODSTOCK (Carleton).
1848, April I8.
No. 811.
Woodstock Lodge, at Carleton. Transferred to Woodstock in 1857. Numbered 553 in 1863. Erased April 9, 1869.
Newfoundland,
BETT'S COVE. 1881, April 22. No. 1907. Notre Dame Lodge.
Transferred to
Nipper's Harbour in 1886 [which see].
BURIN BAY. 1869, September 7. No. 1281.
Hiram Lodge.
Still on English
Register.
FORTUNE BAY. 1871, November 27. No. 1378.
Victoria Lodge.
Still on Register.
GRAND BANK. 1876, December 13. No. 1659.
Fidelity Lodge.
Still on Register.
HARBOUR GRACE (Conception).
1785, April 30.
No. 470.
Numbered 381 in 1792. Erased in I8I3.
HARBOUR GRACE.
1824, November 15.
No. 796.
Lodge of Order and Harmony. Erased in 1832.
NIPPER'S HARBOUR. 1881, April 22. No. 1907. Notre Dame Lodge at Bett's Cove.
Transferred to Nipper's Harbour in 1886.
Still on Register.
PLACENTIA (Placentia).
1784.
No. 455.
Lodge of Placentia.
Numbered 367 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
PLACENTIA.
1788, May 2.
(A) No. 250.
Named Placentia Lodge in 1806.
Numbered 317 in 1814.
Erased in 1815.
ST. JOHN'S (St. John's).
1774, March 24.
(A) No. 186.
St. John's Lodge.
Num bered 226 in 1814, and 159 in 1832.
Erased in 1859.
ST. JOHN'S.
1788, March.
(A) No. 247.
Named Benevolent Lodge in 1804.
Numbered 312 in 1814, and 220 in 1832.
Erased in 1853.
ST. JOHN'S.
1788, March 31.
(A) No. 249.
Town or Garrison of St. John's. Lapsed about 1804.
ST. JOHN'S.
1850, June tq.
No. 844.
St. John's Lodge. Numbered 579 in 1863. Still on Register.
ST. JOHN'S.
1859, January 28.
No. 1078.
Avalon Lodge.
Numbered 776 in 1863. Still on Register.
TRINITY (Conception). 1817, September 21. No. 698. Union Lodge. Numbered 451 in 1832.
Erased in 1859.
Nova Scotia.
ALBION MINES (PiCtOU). 1861, June 14. No. 1172. Keith Lodge. Numbered 870 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
AMHERST (Cumberland).
1829. No. 840. Cumberland Harmony Lodge. Num bered 569 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
ANNAPOLIS ROYAL (Annapolis).
1864, December 22.
No. 1047.
Annapolis Royal Lodge.
Erased in 1869.
BRIDGETOWN (Annapolis). 1868, December 8. No. 1245. Rothsay Lodge. Erased in 1869.
CANNING (King's).
1863, April 24.
No. 1263.
Scotia Lodge.
Numbered 961 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
COLCHESTER (Colchester).
1829.
No. 839.
Colchester Union Lodge.
Numbered 568 in 1832.
Transferred to Rawdon in 1850 [which see].
LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER.
207 CORNWALLIS (King's).
1829.
No. 832.
St. George's Lodge.
Numbered 561 in 1832.
Transferred to Lower Horton in 1858 [which see].
Cow BAY (Cape Breton).
1866, April 25.
No. i iog.
Thistle Lodge, Block House Mines.
Erased December 27, 1869.
DIGBY (Digby).
1829.
No. 843.
St. Mary's Lodge.
Numbered .572 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
GRANVILLE (
).
1856, August 4.
No. 982.
Mariner's Lodge.
Numbered 682 in 1863.
Erased in 1868.
GUYSBOROUGH (Guysborough).
1829.
No. 830.
Temple Lodge. Numbered 559 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
[" Grigsborough" on English Register.] HALIFAX (Halifax). 1749. No. log. Not on List until 1770. Called No. I at Halifax.
Numbered 88 in 178o, 89 in 1781, and 82 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
HALIFAX.
1757, December 27.
(A) No. 65.
No. I of Nova Scotia.
Provincial Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia held at Pontacs.
Warrant renewed June 2, 1784.
Lapsed before 1813.
[Not a subordinate Lodge.] HALIFAX.
1757, December 27.
(A) No. 66.
No. 2 of Nova Scotia, Rowe Barge, George Street.
Lapsed before 1813.
HALIFAX.
1757, December 27.
(A) No. 67.
No. 3 of Nova Scotia, King's Arms, George Street.
Lapsed before 1813.
HALIFAX.
1768, March 26.
(A) No. 155.
No. 4 in Halifax.
St. Andrew's Lodge in 1804.
Numbered 188 in 1814, 137 in x832, and 118 in 1863.
Granted Cen tenary Warrant February 9, 1871.
Erased in 1869.
Is now No. I of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.
HALIFAX.
1768.
(A) No. 156.
General Amherst's, Halifax.
Lapsed before 1813.
HALIFAX.
178o, June 13.
(A) No. 211.
St. John's Lodge. Golden Ball; was called || No. I, Ancient York Masons"; also Provincial Grand Lodge in 1804.
Num bered 265 in x814, 187 in 1832, and 161 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
Is now No. 2 of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.
HALIFAX.
18oo, February 5.
No. 587.
In Regiment of Loyal Surrey Rangers. Erased in 1813.
HALIFAX.
1829.
No. 828*.
Union Lodge.
Not in List until 1831 (hence the'). Numbered 557 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
HALIFAX.
1829.
No. 829.
Virgin Lodge.
Formerly under the Provincial Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia, February 18, 1782.
Numbered 558 in 1832, and 396 in 1863.
Erased in 1862.
Is now No. 3 of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.
HALIFAX.
1829.
No. 835.
Royal Standard Lodge.
Numbered 564 in 1832, and 398 in 1863.
Still on English Register.
HALIFAX.
1829.
No. 842.
Royal Albion Lodge.
Numbered 571 in 1832.
Trans ferred to 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, 1839.
Erased June 4, 1862.
HALIFAX.
1841, September 22.
No. 704.
Royal Sussex Lodge.
Numbered 479 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
HALIFAX.
1856, December 3.
No. 994.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 693 in x863. Erased in x869.
HILLSBURGH (
).
1854, January 30.
No. 911.
Keith Lodge.
Numbered 628 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
LITTLE GLACE BAY (Cape Breton).
1868, September 15. No. 1234.
Tyrian Youth Lodge. Kept on English Register until 1883, but was No. 45 of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia from x869.
208 COSMOPOLIT4N FREEMX SOLAR Y.
LIVERPOOL (Queen's).
1849, March 22. No. 821. Zetland Lodge. Numbered 562 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
LIVERPOOL.
1863, April 3o.
No. 1266.
Prince of Wales's Lodge.
Numbered 964 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
LONDONDERRY(
). 1829. No. 844. Rising Sun Lodge. Numbered 573 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
LOWER HORTON (King's).
1829. No. 832. St. George's Lodge, at Cornwallis. Num bered 561 to 1832.
Transferred to Lower Horton in 1858.
Erased June 4, 1862. LOWER HORTON.
r86o, December II. No. 1151. St. George's Lodge. Numbered 849 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
LUNENBERG (Lunenberg).
1829. No. 836. Unity Lodge. Numbered 565 in 1832, and 399 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
NEW GLASGOW (PiCtOU).
1840, April 30 470 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
NEWPORT (Hants).
1829. No. 834. Erased June 4, 1862.
PICTOU (PictOU). 1849, October 15. NO. tiered, 565 in 1863.
Erased in 1869. PUGWASH (Cumberland).
1853, February 28.
612 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
RAWDON (Hants).
1829.
No. 838.
Moira Lodge. June 4, 1862.
RAWDON.
1829.
No. 839.
Colchester Union Lodge, at Colchester.
568 in 1832.
Transferred to Rawdon in 1850.
Erased June 4, 1862.
SHELBURNE (Shelburne).
1829. No. 831. Hiram Lodge.
Numbered 56o in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
SIDNEY ISLAND (Cape Breton).
r8oi, October I.
(A) No. 326.
In Garrison, Sid ney Island.
Numbered 415 in 1814.
Erased in 1832.
SYDNEY (Cape Breton).
1844, August 28.
No. 732.
St. Andrew's Lodge of Cape Breton.
Numbered 499 in 1863.
Erased in 1883.
TRURO (Colchester).
1867, August 14. No. irgo. Cobequid Lodge.
Erased in 1869.
WESTPORT (Digby).
1862; August 23.
No. 1225.
Westport Lodge.
Under Dis pensation February 26, 1861.
Numbered 923 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
1255. Widows' Friend Lodge. Num Sussex 826. No.
WEYMOUTH (Digby).
1863, March 3o. No.
bered 953 in 1863.
Erased in 1869.
WINDSOR (Hants).
1829.
No. 837.
1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
WINDSOR. 1862, August 23. No. 1226. 1863.
Erased in 1869.
YARMOUTH (Yarmouth). 185r, September mouth.
Numbered 596 in 1863.
Erased No. 692. Albion Lodge. Numbered Lodge. Numbered 563 in 1832. New Caledonian Lodge. Num 888. Acadia Lodge. Numbered Numbered 567 in 1832. Erased Numbered Fort Edward Lodge.
Numbered 566 in Welsford Lodge. Numbered 924 in 4. No. 868. Hiram Lodge of Yarin 1869.
Prince Edward Island.
).
1867, November 6.
No. 1200.
Zetland Lodge.
Erased ALBERTON ( June 24, 1875. CHARLOTTE TOWN (Queen's). 1828. No. 821. in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
Sussex Lodge. Numbered 549 LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER. .
tog St. John's Lodge.
Numbered 562 in 1832, CHARLOTTE TOWN.
1829.
No. 833.
and 397 in 1863.
Erased in 1877, GEORGE TowN (King's).
1861, May 17.
No. I168.
bered 866 in 1863.
Erased June 24, 1875.
PORT HILL (
).
1863, August 21.
No. 983. June 24, 1875.
ST. ELEANOR'S (Prince's).
186o, June 4.
No. 1123.
bered 821 in 1863.
Erased June 24, 1875. SUMMERSIDE (Prince's).
1863, September 2. Erased June 24, 1875.
TRYON (Queen's).
1869, January 28.
No. 1251. June 24, 1875.
St. George's Lodge. NumAlexandria Lodge.
Erased King Hiram Lodge.
Num No. 984.
Mount Lebanon Lodge.
True Brothers' Lodge.
Erased CHAPTER II.
THE UNITED STATES AND CENTRAL AMERICA.
Connecticut.
NEw HAVEN (New Haven Bay). 175o, November 12. No. 143. New Haven Lodge.
Not in List until 1768.
Numbered 113 in 1770, 92 in I 78o, 93 in 1781, and 85 in 1792.
Kept on English Register until 1813, but had new Warrant from Grand Lodge of Connecticut August 17, 1796, and is "Hiram Lodge, No. I." Florida.
1778, January 3.
(A) No. 204.
The Warrant does not appear to have ever reached St. Augustine, and so the fees for same, advanced by the Grand Secretary, were repaid to him in 1780.
ST. AUGUSTINE.
Georgia.
SAVANNAH.
1735.
No. 139.
Numbered 124 in 1740, 75 in 1755, 63 in 1770, 50 in I78o, and 46 in 1792.
Named "Solomon's Lodge, No. I," in 1776.
Kept on Register until 1813, although No. I on the Roll of the Grand Lodge of Georgia. SAVANNAH.
1774.
No. 465.
"Unity Lodge, No. 2."
Numbered 371 in 1780, 372 in 1781, and 302 in 1792.
Kept on Register until 1813.
SAVANNAH.
1775.
No. 481.
Grenadier's Lodge.
Numbered 386 in 1780, 387 in 1781, and 315 in 1792.
Kept on Register until 1813 Maryland.
JOPPA.
1765, August 8.
No. 346, at Joppa, in Baltimore County.
Numbered 286 in 1770, 228 in 1780, 229 in 1781, and 195 in 1792.
Retained on List until 1813. Called ‑No. I, Maryland," and took a new Warrant (No. 35) from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, February 1, 1782, and subsequently had another Charter from the Grand Lodge of Maryland.
Massachusetts.
BOSTON.
1733, July 30.
No. 126.
Constituted, August 31, at Bunch of Grapes Tavern, State Street, Boston.
Numbered iio in 174o, 65 in 1755, 54 in 1770, 210
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
42 in I78o, and 39 in 1792.
United with 2d Lodge in Boston (No. 88) on February 7, 1783, obtaining a new Warrant from the English Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
Passed from English jurisdiction wheel the St. John's Provincial Grand Lodge joined the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, on March 5, 1792, and since known as St. John's Lodge.
BOSTON.
1749‑5o, February 15 [i.e..1750].
No. 141.
Not in List until 1768, and then as 2d Lodge in Boston, at the British Coffee House in King Street. Numbered zo8 in 1770,.87 in 1780, 88 in 1781, and 81 in 1792. Retaiged on Register until 1813, although it united with St. John's Lodge, No. 1, on February 7, 1783, BOSTON.
1771, July 13.
(A) No. 169.
Called Ancient York Lodge, at Mr. Alex ander's Battery.
Remained at Boston down to 1774, perhaps later, but appears at New York in 1781.
[See NEW YORK.] BOSTON.
1784, September 29.
No. 459.
African Lodge.
Numbered 370 in 1792. Erased in 1813.
MARBLE HEAD.
176o, March 25.
No. 142.
Not in List until 1768.
Numbered III in 1770, 90 in 1780, 91 in 1781, and 83 in 1792.
Date on Engraved List, May 25, 175o, but a Renewal of Constitution of January 14, 1778, refers to the original Charter of '| March 25, 176o."
Was retained on English Register until 1813, notwithstanding it had joined the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts on March 5, 1792.
DETROIT.
1764, April 24.
No. 448.
Not in List until 1773.
Numbered 355 in 1780, 356 in 1781, and 289 in 1792.
Designated "Lodge at Detroit in Canada," from 1773 to 1813, when it was erased from the English Register.
The territory was ceded to the United States in 1796. The Lodge surrendered its English Warrant, taking a new one from the Grand Lodge of New York, on December 3, z8o6.
DETROIT.
1775.
No. 488.
Union Lodge.
Warranted for Cura9oa in the West Indies.
Appears at Detroit in Canada in 1778.
Numbered 393 in 1780, 394 in 1781, and 320 in 1792.
Kept on Register until 1813.
MICHILIMACINAC, subsequently known as MACKINAW. 1784, November I5. No‑465St. John's Lodge. Numbered 376 in 1792, and kept on List until 1813. Was constituted by the Provincial Grand Master of Canada on territory now in the State of Michigan.
New York.
NEW YORK.
1756; May 19.
(A) No. 52.
General Stuart's Regiment.
Is said to have severed its connection from the Grand Lodge of New York in 1783.
NEW YORK.
1757, December 27.
No. 272.
St. John's Lodge, Ann Street, No. 2.
Numbered 187 in 1770, 151 in I78o, 152 in 1781, and 135 in 1792.
Was kept on English Register until 1813.
It however surrendered its Warrant to the Grand Lodge of New York on March 3, 1784, taking a new one from that Body, and on June 3, 1784, became and still is No. I of that Grand Lodge.
NEW YORK.
1771, July 13.
(A) No. 169.
Warranted for Boston, Mass [which see].
Was at New York in 1781, and took part in forming the Grand Lodge
LODGES OF ENGLISH REGISTER.
for that State in December, 1782.
It retained the No. 169 until June 3, 1789, when it was changed to No. 3, and was named St. Andrew's Lodge in 1786.
NEW YORK.
1779, February 20. (A) No. 210. Surrendered Warrant to Grand Lodge of New York, June 3, 1789, taking a new Warrant as Temple ‑Lodge.
On December 2, 1789, No. 210 was dissolved, a new Charter bearing the same number being granted to some of the members, and another Warrant to other members of the old Lodge.
NEW YORK. 178o, November I. (A) No. 212. (Constituted March 1, 1782.) Solomon's Lodge, Royal Exchange, New York.
On June 4, 1788, surrendered its Warrant to the Grand Lodge of New York.
A new Warrant was granted by that authority on October 21, 1788, to some members of the old Lodge as St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 212, which afterward became No. 5 of the Grand Lodge of New York.
NEW YORK.
1781, July 3.
(A) No. 213.
In 4th Battalion of Royal Regiment of Artillery.
Constituted at New York, October 18, 1781.
Severed its connection with the Grand Lodge of New York in 1783.
Was at St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1785.
Purchased the vacant No. 9 on December 20, 1787, for ú5 5s.
Was at Quebec in 1793.
[See QUEBEC.] NEW YORK.
1781, September 5.
(A) No. 219.
Provincial Grand Lodge of New York. Was merged in the Grand Lodge of New York in September, 1783. [Not a subordinate Lodge.] NEW YORK.
1781, October io.
(A) No. 215.
(Constituted February 21, 1782.) 2d Regiment of Anspack Berauth.
Severed its connection with the Grand Lodge of New York in 1783, and retired with the English Army on the evacuation of the city.
NEW YORK.
[1783.]
(A) No. 9o. In 33d Regiment of Foot. Was at New York on August 5, 1783, and presented Warrant to the Grand Lodge of New York, acknowledging its jurisdiction.
NEW YORK. 1786. (A) No. 232. In Recton's Hanoverian Brigade. Lapsed before 1813.
FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 1787. No. 517. Lodge of Unity. Numbered 426 in 1792. Erased in 1813. Constituted by the Provincial Grand Master of Canada on Territory then in possession of British forces, but which ceased to belong to Canada about 1796.
NEW OSWEGATCHIE.
1787.
No. 520.
New Oswegatchie Lodge.
Numbered 429 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
Constituted by the Provincial Grand Master of Can ada.
Oswegatchie was a town on the bank of the river of same name, now in State of New York.
Fort Oswegatchie was likewise on the south or American side of the River St. Lawrence.
North Carolina.
\ HALIFAX. 1767, August 21. No. 403. Royal White Hart Lodge. Numbered 338 in 1770, 264 in 1780, 265 in 1781, and 223 in 1792.
Erased from English Roll in 1813.
No. 2 Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
WILMINGTON. 1754 or 1755. [Date in Calendar, 1755; Constitution paid for, June 27, 1754.]
No. 213.
At Wilmington, on Cape Fear River.
Not in List until 1756.
Numbered 158 in 1770, 126 in 178o, 127 in 1781, and 114 in 1792. Kept on List until 18 13 ; but was (and is) No. I Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA.
1758, June 7.
(A) No. 69.
Surrendered its Warrant and took a new one from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, February 10, 178o. Is now No. 2 of that Grand Lodge.
PHILADELPHIA.
1761, July 15.
(A) No. 89.
No. I, Provincial Grand Lodge oú Philadelphia. Joined the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, September 25, 1786. [Nat a subordinate Lodge.] Rhode Island.
PROVIDENCE.
1757, January 18.
No. 224.
Not in List until 1769.
Providence Lodge. Numbered 178 in 1770, 144 in 1780, 145 in 1781, and 130 in 1792. Retained on List until 1813, but joined with others in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island in 1791. Is now called "St. John's Lodge, No. I, Providence," but really No. 2 of that Grand Lodge.
South Carolina.
BEAUFORT (Port Royal). 1756, September 15. No. 250. Port Royal Lodge. Not in List until 176o. ‑ Numbered 174 in 1770, 140 in 178o, 141 in 1781, and 126 in 1792.
Kept on List until 1813.
CHARLES TOWN. 1735. No. 251. Solomon's Lodge. Not in List until 176o. In 1762 was moved up to No. 74.
Numbered 62 in 1770, 49 in 178o, and 45 in 1792.
Retained on Register until I8I3.
Is now No. I of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina.
CHARLEs TOWN.
1755, May 3.
No. 248.
Union Lodge..
Not on List until 176o. Numbered 161 in 1770, 128 in 178o, 129 in 1781, and 116 in 1792.
Retained on List until 1813.
CHARLEs TOWN. 1756, March 22. No. 249. A Masters' Lodge. Not on List until 176o. Numbered 173 in 1770, 139 in 178o, 140 in 1781, and 125 in 1792. Kept on List until 1813.
CHARLEs TOWN.
1761, October 1o.
(A) No. 92.
Made no returns after 1765.
CHARLEs TOWN.
1774, September 30.
(A) No. 19o.
No entries after 1782.
CHARLES TOWN:
1786, May 26.
(A) No. 236.
No returns made.
COLUMBIA (formerly Saxe‑Gotha).
1763, February 8.
No. 299.
St. Mark's Lodge.
Numbered 237 in 1770, 189 in 178o, 190 in 1781, and 163 in 1792.
Kept on List until 1813.
The location of this Lodge was recently discovered by me [vide my |' Handy Book," 1889, p. 63].
GEORGE TOWN (Winyaw).
1743. No. 146. Prince George Lodge. Not in List until 176o.
Numbered lot in 1770,82 in 178o, and 75 in 1792.
Erased in 1813. SAXE‑GOTHA.
See COLUMBIA.
Virginia.
BOTETOURT.
1773, November 6.
No. 458.
Botetourt Lodge in Botetourt Town. Numbered 365 in 1780, 366 in 1781, and 297 in 1792.
Kept on Register until 1813 NORFOLK.
1753, December 22. No. 236. The Royal Exchange in the Borough of Norfolk.
Numbered 173 in 1755, 137 in 1770, 111 in 178o, 112 in 1781, and 102 in 1792. Kept on Register until 1813, although No. 1, Grand Lodge of Virginia.
LODGES OF EA7GLISK REGISTER.
215 WILLIAMSBURG.
1773, November 6.
No. 457.
Williamsburg Lodge.
Numbered 364 in 178o, 365 in 1781, and 296 in 1792. Kept on Register until 1813[? No. 6, G. L. of V.] YORK TOWN.
1755, August I.
No. 205.
At Swan Tavern, York Town.
Num bered 167 in 1770, 133 in 178o, 134 in 1781, and I1g in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
Central America.
BLACK RIVER, MUSQUETA SHORE (Nicaragua).
1763, March 8.
No. 300.
Lodge of Regularity at St. John's Hall. Numbered 240 in 1770, 191 in 1780, 192 in 1781, and 164 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
BELIZE.
1783, September 21.
NO. 309.
Lodge of Amity at the Haul‑over‑up‑the River Belize, in the Bay of Honduras.
Numbered 246 in 1770, 195 in 1780, 196 in 1781, and 167 in 1792.
Erased in 1813.
BELIZE.
1831, June 17.
No. 86o.
Royal Sussex Lodge.
Numbered 589 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
HONDURAS.
1820, June ig.
No. 723.
British Constitutional Lodge, Bay of Hon duras.
Numbered 470 in 1832.
Erased June 4, 1862.
CHAPTER III.
SOUTH AMERICA.
Argentine Republic.
BUENOS AYRES.
1853, June io.
No. goo.
Excelsior Lodge.
Numbered 617 in 1863.
Still on English Register.
BUENOS AYRES.
1859, May 16.
No. 1092.
Teutonia Lodge.
Numbered 790 in 1863.
Erased October 11, 1872.
BUENOS AYRES.
1864, August 6.
No. 1025.
Lodge Star of the South.
Still on Register.
CORDOBA (or Cordova).
1878, February 22.
No. 1740.
Southern Cross Lodge. Still on Register.
ROSARIO DE SANTA FE. 1875, July 5. No. 1553. Light of the South Lodge. Still on Register.
Brazil.
PERNAMBUCO.
1856, April 25.
No. 970.
Southern Cross Lodge.
Numbered 672 in 1863.
Still on Register.
RIO DE JANEIRO.
1834, December 17. No. 616.
Orphan Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
RIO DE JANEIRO.
1841, July 6.
No. 703.
St. John's Lodge.
Erased June 4, 1862.
British Guiana.
GEORGE TOWN.
1813, July 28.
(A) No. 358.
Union Lodge.
Numbered 462 in 1813, 3o8 in 1832, and 247 in 1863.
Still on Register.
GEORGE TOWN.
1827.
No. 812. , Mount Olive Lodge.
Numbered 541 in 1832, and 385 in 1863.
Still on Register.
216
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
NEw AMSTERDAM. 1839, August 5. No. 682. Lodge of Fellowship. Erased June 4, 1862.
NEw AMSTERDAM.
1867, July 2.
No. 1183.
Phoenix Lodge.
Still on Register.
Columbia (United States of), formerly New Granada.
SANTA MARTA.
1848, February 3.
No. 8o8.
Lodge Amistad Unida.
Numbered 550 in 1863.
Still on Register.
Chili.
VALPARAISO.
1872, June 28.
No. 1411.
Lodge of Harmony.
Still on Register.
Uruguay.
MONTE VIDEO. 1861, September 5. No. 1178. Acacia Lodge. Numbered 876 in 1863.
Still on Register.
Venezuela.
ANGOSTURA. 1824. No. 792. Logia de la Concordia Venezolana. Numbered 524 in 1832. Erased June 4, 1862.
DIVISION V.
FIRST MERIDIAN.
jlisiory of the Colonial and Revolutionary Period and Atlantic Slope: The Grand Lodges of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
BY CHARLES E. MEYER, P.M., Afelita Lodge, No. 295, of Pennsylvania.
INTRODUCTION.
Early Organization of the Craft.‑The difficulty of writing a history of Freemasonry lies in the secrecy with which Freemasonry has, in a great measure, enshrined itself. No man can tell whence it originally came, nor can any man trace accurately the manner in which it was transmitted from one to the other, until it has reached all parts of the civilized world.
How came it to America?
Who brought it here?
The brother who did must have found here, or brought with him, a kindred spirit ready to give and receive.
We shall not repeat or reiterate what has already been written as to its early history in the old country.
There were no doubt many Freemasons among the early immigrants from England.
Prior to the formation of the first Grand Lodge at London, in 17 17, Masons assembled annually, at least, at some central point, and met in lodge, selecting the oldest Master present as Chief Master to preside over their deliberations.
There were different classes of Masons, ‑the Operative Mason, the Speculative Mason who was free of the Craft, the Apprentice, the Fellow or Craftsman, the Masters, the Wardens, and the Masters of the Work.
Each one had his allotted work to do, and all disputes were settled, intricate problems solved, and the designs on the trestle‑board were studied with advantage to all.
History is silent as to what led to the coming together of the Masons of the four lodges or assemblies in London, at the Apple Tree Tavern.
It may have been that the Operative brethren were ar7 218
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
tired of their wandering life, and wanted a fixed place of meeting.
It may have been that the erection of the old minsters, cathedrals, and abbeys was ended, and that a period of idleness was upon the Craft.
Or it may have been that the sun shone brightly on the fame of the great architect, Sir Christopher Wren, whose sole monument is St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and like our hero‑worshippers of the present time, they hailed hirer as the Grand Master of the Craft.
Suffice it to say that a wonderful change came over Freemasonry in 17 17, and the spinning‑wheel of time then began the gathering together of the fibres of old Masonic history ; and as it turned slowly at first, these fibres were wound and twisted together, making a homely thread, and these, gathered by cunning hands and constantly expanding minds, in time formed that which now forms the basis of a beautiful piece of work,‑the Masonic history of the nineteenth century.
These old Masons were not warranted to meet by any legal paper; they were never duly constituted into a lodge. They were, when assembled, sovereign and independent of one another, yet governed by the "Ancient Charges of Freemasons."
We can imagine them meeting on the highest hill or in the deepest valley; where cowans or eavesdroppers could not intrude, and the crude work of the Master, with the roll of the Old Charges of Freemasons in his hand, reading therefrom to the candidate, and his affirmation thereto, and the vow, " So help me God and halidom," which made him a Freemason.
It was years before the authority or prerogative of a Grand Lodge was understood or recognized.
How all is now changed !
A lodge cannot be lawful now unless duly warranted and constituted.
At first, the brethren met and agreed to form a lodge, then the power of assembling the brethren as a lodge was vested in a Grand Master, who authorized the meeting; afterward, the Grand Master deputed this power to his Deputy or Provincial Grand Master, and he authorized or recognized the meeting of a lodge. First a deputation, afterward a warrant; this was followed by the solemn ceremonies of constituting into a regular lodge.
CHAPTER I.
THE COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Freemasonry's Introduction into the American Colonies. ‑ In 168o there came to South Carolina one John Moore, a native of England, who before the close of the century removed to Philadelphia, and in 1703 was commissioned by the king as Collector of the Port.
In a letter I written by him in 1715, 1 This letter is in the possession of Horace W. Smith, of Philadelphia.
John Moore was the father of William Moore, whose daughter became the wife of Provost Smith, who was a Modern Mason in 1775, and afterward Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients), and whose son was Grand Master of Masons of Pennsylvania in 1796 and 1797.
he mentions having "spent a few evenings in festivity with my Masonic brethren." This is the earliest mention we have of there being members of the Craft residing in Pennsylvania or elsewhere.
The intention of King James and Queen Anne to unite the American Colonies into three or four separate governments, make them vice‑royalties and dependants on the Lords and Commons of England, formed a basis no doubt for the issuing of deputations for establishing Freemasonry in America. Pennsylvania (Delaware, or the lower counties), New Jersey, and New York were to form one province ; New England, a second province; Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, the third province. That this intention was known in London by the Grand Masters is evidenced in the issuing of deputations to Daniel Coxe, of Burlington, for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; Henry Price, of Boston, for New England; James Graeme, of Charleston, for the Carolinas.
Provincial Grand Masters. ‑On the fifth day of June, 1730, the first authority for the assembling of Freemasons in America was issued by the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons of England, to Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, appointing him Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. On April 30, 1733, Lord Viscount Montague issued a deputation to Henry Price, of Boston, appointing him Provincial Grand Master of the Craft in New England. A these two deputations will show wherein they differ, and also conferred and jurisdiction involved, as follows: ‑ Deputations. ‑ comparison of of the powers Copy of the Deputation to Daniel Coxe, Esquire, to be Provincial Grand Master of the Provinces of New fork, New Mersey and Pensilvania, in America.
Sic Subscribitur.
[L.s]
NORFOLK, G.,. M .,.
To all and every our Right Worshipful, Worshipful and loving Brethren now residing or who may hereafter reside in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania, His Grace, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Hereditarv Marshal of England, Earl of Arundel, Surrey, Norfolk and Norwich, Baron Mowbray, Howard Seagrave, Brewse of Gower, Fitz Allan, Warren, Clau Oswald, estre Maltravers, Greystock, Furnival Verdon, Lovelot, Straugo of Blackmere, and Howard of Castle Rising, after the Princes of the Royal Blood, first Duke Earl and Baron of England, Chief of the illustrious family of the Howards, Grand Master of the free and accepted Masons of England,
Sendeth Greeting: Whereas application has been made unto us by our Rt. Worshipful and well beloved Brother, Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, Esqr., and by several other Brethren, free and accepted Masons, residing and about to reside in the said Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania, that we would be pleased to nominate and appoint a Provincial Grand Master of the said Provinces: THE AMERICAN RITE.
Copy of Deputation to Henry Price.
MONTAGUE, [L.s.] G.. M..
To all and every Our R| Worsht Worshipful and Loving Brethren now Residing or who may hereafter Reside in New England, The R| Hon", and RI Worsht Anthony Lord Viscount Montague Grand Master of the Free and Accepted Masons of England, .Yendeth Greeting: Whereas Application has been made unto us by Our R'‑ Worsht and well beloved Bro. M`ò Henry Price in behalf of himself and several other Brethren now Residing in New England aforesaid Free and Accepted Masons, that We would be pleas'd to Nominate and Appoint a Provincial Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons in N. England aforesaid.
219 220 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Now Know Ye, that we have nominated, ordained, constituted and appointed, and do by these Presents nominate, ordain, constitute and appoint, our Right Worshipful and well beloved Brother, the said Daniel Coxe, Provincial Grand Master of the said Provinces, of New York, New Jersey and Pensilvania, with full Power and Authority to nominate: and appoint his Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens for the space of two years from. the feast of St. John the Baptist now next ensuig, after which time it is our Will and Pleasure, and we do hereby ordain that the Brethren who do now reside, or who may hereafter reside, in all or anv of the said Provinces, shall and they are hereby empowered every other vear on the feast of St. john the Baptist to elect a Provincial Grand t4 aster, who shall have the power of nominating and appointing his Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens.
And we do hereby empower our said Provincial Grand Master and the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens for the time being, for us and in our place and stead to constitute the Brethren (free and accepted Masons), now residing or who shall hereafter reside in those parts into one or more regular Lodge or Lodges, as he shall think fit, and as often as occasion shall require.
He, the said Daniel Coxe, and the Provincial Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens for the time being taking special care that all and every member of any Lodge or Lodges so to be constituted have or shall be made regular Masons, and that they do cause all and every the Regulations contained in the printed Book of Constitutions, except so far as they have been altered by the Grand Lodge at their Quarterly Meetings, to be kept and observed, and also all such other Rules and Instructions as shall from time to time be transmitted to him or them by us, or Nath'I Blackerly, Esq., our Deputy Grand Master, or the Grand Master or his Deputy for the time being, and that he, the said Daniel Coxe, our Provincial Grand Master of the said Provinces, and the Provincial Grand Master for the time being, or his Deputy, do send to us or our Deputy Grand Master, and to the Grand Master of England or his Deputy for the time being, annually an account in writing of the number of Lodges so constituted, with the names of the several members of each particular Lodge, together with such other matters and things as he or they shall think fit to be communicated for the prosperity of the Craft.
And lastly, we will and require that our said Provincial Grand Master for the time being or his Deputy, do annually cause the Brethren to keep the feast of St. John the Evangelist, and dine together on that day, or (in case any accident should happen to prevent their dining together on that day), on anv other day near that time, as the Provincial Grand Master for the time being shall judge most fit, as is done here, and at that time more particularly; and at all Quarterly Communications he do recommend a General Charity to be established for the Relief of poor Brethren of the said Province.
Now Know Ye That we have Nominated, Ordained, Constituted and appointed and do by these Presents Nominate, Ordain, Constitute and appoint Our said Worsht and well Beloved Bro. Mr. Henry Price, Provincial Grand Master of New England aforesaid and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging with full power and authority to Nominate and appoint his Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens.
And we do also hereby Impower the said Mr‑ Henry Price for us and in Our place and Stead to Constitute the Brethren (Free and Accepted Masons), now Residing or shall hereafter reside in those parts, into One or more Regular Lodge or Lodges, as he shall think fit, and as often as Occasion shall require.
He the said M^ Henry Price, taking especial care that all and every Member of any Lodge or Lodges so to be Constituted have been or shall be made Regular Masons, and that they do cause all and every the Regulations Contain'd in the Printed Book of Constitutions (except so far as they have been altered by the Grand Lodge at their Quarterly meetings), to be kept and Observ'd, and also all such other Rules and Instructions as shall from time to time be Transmitted to him by us or by Thomas Batson, Esq Our Deputy Grand Master, or the Grand Master or his Deputy for the time being, and that He the said Ml‑ Henry Price or his Deputy do send to us or Our Deputy Grand Master and to the Grand Master of England or his Deputy for the time being Annually, an Arc' in Writing of the number of Lodges so Constituted with the Names of the several Members of each Particular Lodge, together with such other Matter & things as he or they shall think fit to Communicate for the Prosperity of the Craft.
And Lastly we Will and Require that our said Provincial Grand Master of New England do Annually cause the Brethren to keep the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, and Dine together on that Day, or (in case any Accident should happen to prevent their Dining together on that Day), on any other day near that time as he shall judge most fit as is done here; and that at all Quarterly Communications, he do recommend a General Charity to be Establisha for the Relief of Poor Brethren in these parts.
THE f4AfERICAN RITE.
221 Given under our hand and seal of office at
Given under our Hand and Seal of Office at London, this fifth day of June, 173o, and of
London the Thirtieth Day of April 1733. & of Masonry 5730.
Masonry 5733ò By the Grand Master's Command True Copy:
THos. BATSON, D. G. M.
WM. GRAY CLARKS, G.S.
G. ROOKS, S. G. W.
Freemasons' Hall, London, April io, 1863,
J. SMYTHE, Y. G. W.
Masonic Acts and Evidences. ‑ That Coxe acted on the authority given him in his deputation may be safely assumed, although no positive evidence of the same has yet been presented as emanating from him. The Pennsylvania Gazette, published by Benjamin Franklin, contains many references to Masonic occurrences as early as July 2‑q, 1730. Whether Franklin was a Mason at this time is not positively known, but the probability is that he was made a Mason about that time.
He was the leader, at that day, in everything that would advance the interests of his adopted city; and the " Junto " formed about 1726‑1727, which was sometimes, though erroneously, styled the '| Leathern‑Apron Club," owed its origin to him.
As an editor and publisher, he was always looking for news to publish in his newspaper. In the issue December 3‑8, 1730, there appeared the following: ‑ "As there are several lodges of Freemasons erected in this Province [Pennsylvania], and people have lately been much amused with conjectures concerning them, we think the following account of Freemasonry from London will not be unacceptable to our readers." Now, while there are several lodges spoken of, we know of one which was in existence about this time, viz. : the St. John's Lodge, the ledger of which, known as Libre B, is in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and it contains the ledger accounts of forty‑eight members. We are also told, in the address of Grand Master Lamberton, of Pennsylvania, to be found in the " Dedication Memorial " of the Masonic Temple of Philadelphia, that a letter was written November 17, 1754, by a Brother Henry Bell, of Lancaster, to a Brother T. Cadwallader in Philadelphia, in which Brother Bell states : ‑ "As you well know, I was one of the originators of the first Masonic lodge in Philadelphia. A party of us used to meet at the Sun Tavern, in Water Street, and sometimes opened a lodge there. Once, in the fall of 1730, we formed a design of obtaining a charter for a regular lodge and made application to the Grand Lodge of England for one; but before receiving it, we heard that Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
We therefore made application to him, and our request was granted." What became of this Lodge, or who were its members, is not at present known. In conformity with the limit of Coxe's deputation, on St. John's Day, June 24, 1732, his successor was elected, as will appear by the following advertisement in the Pennyslvania Gazette, No. 187, June 1q to June 26, 1732 : ‑ " PHILADELPHIA, June 26th.
"Saturday last being St. John's Day, a Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honorable Society of FREE and ACCEPTED MASONS was held at the Sun Tavern, in Water street, when, after. a handsome entertainment, the Worshipful W. ALLEN, Esq., was unanimously chosen Grand 222 COSMOPOLII AN FREEMASONRY.
Master of this province for the year ensuing; who was pleased to appoint M‑. William Pringle Deputy Master. Wardens chosen for the ensuing year were Thomas Boucle and Benjamin Franklin." From this time, for a number of years, the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge on St. John the Baptist's Day and the election of officers were announced in the Gazette. In 1734 Franklin was elected Grand Master, and wrote as early as possible to Henry Price, of Boston, with whom he had previously been in correspondence, and who he had heard was appointed Provincial Grand Master of all America, for a recognition of his rank as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Prior to Franklin's election as Grand Master, and his letter to Price, he published the first Masonic book printed in America. The advertisement thereof is to be found in the Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 284, May q to May 16, 1734: ‑ ".7ust published. The CONSTITUTIONS ofthe FREEMASONS: Containing the History, Charges, Regulations, &e., of that most ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity.
London printed.
Reprinted by B. Franklin, in the year of Masonry 5734ò
Price, Stich'd 2s. 6, bound 4s." On November 28, 1734, Grand Master Franklin wrote to Price as follows: ‑ " Copies of Letters Written by Benjamin Franklin to Henry Price.
"RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER AND MOST WORTHY AND DEAR BRETHREN,We acknowledge your favor of the 23a of October past, and rejoice that the Grand Master (whom God bless), hath so happily recovered from his late indisposition: and we now, glass in hand, drink to the establishment of his health, and the prosperity of your whole Lodge.
"We have seen in the Boston prints an article of news from London, importing that at a Grand Lodge held there in August last, Mr. Price's deputation and power was extended over all America, which advice we hope is true, and we heartily congratulate him thereupon, and though this has not been as yet regularly signified to us by you, yet, giving credit thereto, we think it our duty to lay before your Lodge what we apprehend needful to be done for us, in order to promote and strengthen the interest of Masonry in this Province (which seems to want the sanction of some authority` derived from home, to give the proceedings and determinations of our Lodge their due weight), to wit: a Deputation or Charter granted by the Right Worshipful Mr. Price, by virtue of his commission from Britain, confirming the Brethren of Pennsylvania in the privileges they at present enjoy of holding annually their Grand Lodge, choosing their Grand Master, Wardens and other officers, who may manage all affairs relating to the Brethren here with full power and authority, according to the customs and usages of Masons, the said Grand Master of Pennsylvania only yielding his chair, when the Grand Master of all America shall be in place. This, if it seem good and reasonable to you to grant, will not only be extremely agreeable to us, but will also, we are confident, conduce much to the welfare, establishment, and reputation of Masonry in these parts. We therefore submit it for your consideration, and, as we hope our request will be complied with, we desire that it may be done as soon as possible, and also accompanied with a copy of the R. W. Grand Master's first Deputation, and of the instrument by which it appears to be enlarged as above‑mentioned, witnessed by your Wardens, and signed by the Secretary; for which favors this Lodge doubt not of being able to behave as not to be thought ungrateful.
"We are, Right Worshipful Grand Master and Most Worthy Brethren, "Your Affectionate Brethren and obliged humble Servts, " Signed at the request of the Lodge,
"B. FRANKLIN, G. M. "PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 28, 5734." The foregoing was followed by the following personal and friendly letter: ‑ "DEAR BROTHER PRICE,‑ I am glad to hear of your recovery.
I hoped to have seen you here this Fall, agreeable to the expectation you were so good as to give me; but since sickness has THE AAIERICAN RITE.
223 prevented your coming while the weather was moderate, I have no room to flatter myself with a visit from you before the Spring, when a deputation of the Brethren here will have an opportunity of showing how much they est6em you. I beg leave to recommend their request to you, and to inform you, that some false and rebel Brethren, who are foreigners, being about to set up a distinct Lodge in opposition to the old and true Brethren here, pretending to make Masons for a bowl of punch, and the Craft is like to come into disesteem among us unless the true Brethren are countenanced and distinguished by some such special authority as herein desired. I entreat, therefore, that whatever you shall think proper to do therein may be sent by the next post, if possible, or the next following.
"I am, Your Affectionate Brother 4 humb Servt, "B. FRANKLIN, G. M.
"Pennsylvania.
"PHILADELPHIA, NOV. 28, 1734, "P. S.‑If more of the Constitutions are wanted among you, please hint it to me.
[Address upon said letters:] To MR. HENRY PRICE At the Brazen Head Boston, N.E." This is proof conclusive that the St. John's Lodge, of which Franklin was a member, was a legitimate lodge in every particular, enjoying all the Masonic privileges, namely, that of " holding annually their Grand Lodge, choosing their Grand Master, Wardens and other officers"; the peer of all lodges, the Grand Master only yielding the chair when the Grand Master of America shall be in place. That there was a doubt in Franklin's mind as to the authority of Price to comply with their request, is manifest when he asks for a copy of the first deputation, and " of the instrument by which it appears to be enlarged, as above mentioned." It was not a deputation or a charter to constitute a new lodge that was asked for, but simply one of confirmation or recognition.
That there was a recognition of Masonic rights there is no doubt, ‑p(Sssibly a correspondence on Masonic matters; for the letter speaks of a communication received from the brethren at Boston, announcing the recovery of their Grand Master Price. There is another point to be observed: Franklin's letter was signed at the request of the lodge and as Grand Master, and the letter leads us to the conclusion that the brethren were closely and Masonically united, for they, |` glass
in hand," drank to the establishment of his health and the prosperity of "your whole Lodge."
In June, 1734, Franklin was in Boston, ‑ what date is not known, ‑ where, it is said, he met Price, who "further instructed him in the Royal Art."
These letters and this meeting do not look as if the Masons of Philadelphia at that time were an illegitimate body of men, unauthorized and clandestine ; but it proves beyond a doubt that they were as regular in every particular as the Boston brethren, with the records, as far as publication in the newspapers is concerned, and the Lihre B of St. John's Lodge, showing a priority of some four years. , It has been said that Daniel Coxe never acted under his deputation, nor authorized or recognized any lodges, because the, records of the Grand Lodge of England are silent on the subject.
They are as silent as to what Henry Price did under his deputation as to what Daniel Coxe did.
Coxe reported no lodges as being' formed, 224 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
neither did Price until some time later, and Brother Clarke, Grand Secretary of England, says: 11 At the period when he was appointed it was a rare thing for any reports to be made by the Provincial Grand Masters abroad of their doings." Again, Price was Grand Master for New England only.
Coxe was Grand Master for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Neither had authority to go into the other's territory and establish lodges.
At that period, Philadelphia was one of, if not the leading city in the Colonies, and had Price warranted a lodge in that city, it can safely be assumed that it would have been communicated to London in the shortest possible time. Had Price complied with Franklin's request, and furnished the copies of his deputation, and " the instrument by which it was enlarged," or if the St. John's Lodge had received a charter or recognition, as asked for, the Pennsylvania Gazette would have published at once everything in connection therewith, for the information of the " several lodges of Freemasons," of which Franklin speaks in his paper of December 3‑8, 1730.
The deputations of Coxe and Price establish the fact that there were Masons in the Colonies prior to 173o, and that they were in the habit of meeting as Masons in lodges according to the Old Regulations, and it is proven beyond a doubt that St. John's Lodge at Philadelphia presents the first positive proof of the existence of a lodge of Masons in America, as far as known at present. We know it was formerly believed, and in Pennsylvania too, that Henry Price was the father of Freemasonry in America, but then the past had not been critically examined.
It has never been claimed that the St. John's Lodge of Philadelphia, of 1730, was authorized by Coxe.
It is likely it was, because Coxe was a prominent man, residing at Burlington, New Jersey, then an older settlement than Philadelphia ; and the men associated together as St. John's Lodge were the leading citizens of the day,‑leaders in everything, in the arts, sciences, physics, jurisprudence ; in fact, in all that tended to advance mankind, and just such a company as Coxe would be pleased to affiliate with.
Legitimacy recognized in England.‑On January 29, 1731, Daniel Coxe visited the Grand Lodge at London, and the records of the Grand Lodge of England say that "his health was drank as Provincial Grand Master of North America." This antedates Price's 1734‑1735 title, and might raise the question as to whether the title having been given him in Grand Lodge assembled, it should not be conclusive.
Provincial Grand Masters.‑The advancement of Freemasonry in England, in the year 1726, resulted in the creation of the office of Provincial Grand Master.
This was done "To meet the desires of those brethren who, travelling into distant parts, desired to convene as lodges, and required an immediate head to whom to apply in all cases where it was not possible to wait the decision of the authorities at home." THE AMERICAIV RITE.
225 The appointment was a prerogative of the Grand Master, or, in his absence, of his deputy, who was authorized to deputize some brother, of eminence and ability in the Craft, to serve during his pleasure. They were invested with just such powers as their deputation recited ; some were authorized to create lodges, others to form Provincial Grand Lodges with powers of continuance, while others contained almost the ample powers of a Grand Master.
They were required to make returns of their actions, and send the charity dues or fees to the home authority. There seemed to be no rule governing the Grand Masters, or their deputies, as to the location of these deputies ; in fact, there appeared to be a great lack of knowledge as to localities in America, for there are instances of appointments by Grand Masters, during the same year, that conflict in jurisdictional authorities.
A partial list of these Provincial Grand Masters may not prove uninteresting ‑ taken from official lists: ‑ " 17‑‑9‑3o. Thomas Howard, Lord Norfolk, Grand Master, appointed Mr. Daniel Coxe of New Jersey, in America, Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. " 1736. John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, appointed Robert Tomlinson Provincial Grand Master of New England, and John Hamilton, Esq., for South Carolina.
"1737. Edward Blight, Earl Darnley, appointed Richard Riggs for New York.
"1742. Thomas Ward, Lord Ward, appointed Thomas Oxnard for North America.
1747‑51. William Byron, Lord Byron, appointed William Allen Recorder of Philadelphia for Pennsylvania, and Francis Goelet of New York, instead of Richard Riggs, now in England.
'1 1752‑53. Lord Carysfort, Sir Richard Wortlesley, Btä appointed George Hamson, Esq., for New York in room of Francis Goelet, who desired to resign.
111754 55. The Marquis of Carnarvon appointed Hon. Egerton Leigh, Chief Justice of South Carolina, for South Carolina.
"Jeremiah Gridley, Grand Master for all North America where no Provincial is appointed. " 1757‑62, Lord Aberdeen appointed Grey Ellicott for the Province of Georgia.
"1768. Duke of Beaufort appointed John Rowe, Provincial Grand Master for North America (his name, however, does not appear in any of the Grand Lodge Calendars).
"1770‑74. Lord Petre, Grand Master, appointed John Collins of Quebec, for Canada; Hon. Noble Jones for Georgia; Hon. Peyton Randolph for Virginia." Nowhere can it be found on the English records that a deputation was granted Henry Price by Lord Petre, or any other Grand Master. We believe, however, that such a deputation as heretofore recited was granted by Lord Montague ; but it will require authentic documents to satisfy an impartial reader that any further and different deputation was subsequently granted, increasing his territorial jurisdiction.
From the time of the Coxe deputation until about 1755‑175 7, but little was done by the Provincial Grand Masters aforementioned. The troubles of 1735, which resulted in the secession and expulsion of a large number of active brethren in 1751, and the changes brought about by that secession, had probably reached but few of the brethren in this country; they were prospering and at peace with one another.
In the
year
1758
the
Rival
Grand
Lodge,
or the
"Seceders " or '~ Ancients," as they were called or styled themselves, established the first 226 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
lodge of "Ancient" Masons in Philadelphia. This was followed shortly by the Grand Lodge of Scotland establishing a lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston, and by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in New York and Long Island. The Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland were not "Ancient" Lodges in any sense of the term, although they were in close correspondence with the London Grand Lodge of " Ancients." They were independent and sovereign Grand Lodges, entering a territory which was then considered common property.
Under the heads of the several States, we shall refer to these again and more fully.
The adherents of these four Grand Lodges, viz. : England, " Modern " and "Ancient," Scotland and Ireland, were active workers, not only in Masonry, but in the various questions then agitating the Colonies, which brought with them unrest and discord.
The Craft was divided between their loyalty to the king, and their sympathy for and fidelity to the Colonies.
The suggestions made by Daniel Coxe, in his plan for a union of the Colonies, which were advocated afterward by Franklin, and which finally led to the Declaration of Independence in 1776, were gradually permeating the Craft. The feelings of the Fraternity had never been taken on this subject, but it is safe to say that the Colonies' friends were found in the greatest numbers in the lodges under the "Ancients" and the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland, while a large percentage of the Royalists or Tories were to be found in the adherents of the old Grand Lodge or " Moderns." The war of the Revolution came with all its bitterness, its devastation, its bloodshed, its sufferings, its sorrows. Brother was truly in arms against brother; but, amid the most horrid and terrible scenes of the strife, the touch of Masonry was felt to penetrate through the picket‑line, past the sentinels, the guards, the camps of the privates, to the marque‑tents of the commanding officers, and the exemplification of Masonic teachings was the one bright and redeeming feature of the war. In adversity, in sorrow, in distress, it was Masonry; in prosperity, in happiness, in joy, it was Masonry still.
With the ending of the war and the return of peace came the longing for independence in other matters.
The independence of the Colonies must be followed closely by that of the Masonic Fraternity.
In this the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts took the lead, followed closely by Pennsylvania and others. Then came the attempt, which was repeated more than once, to make Freemasonry like unto the government, a union of States and a union of Grand Lodges. Brother General George Washington was the first and only one suggested for Grand Master; but the action taken, by the several Grand Lodges, adverse thereto, resulted in its abandonment before much progress had been made. With the death of Washington the proposed General Grand Lodge fell through, only to be revived a few years later, with still less chance of success, and Grand Lodges became more jealous of their jurisdictional rights, which are now, happily, so strong that they are respected over the length and breadth of our THE AMERICAN RITE.
227 land.
A Grand Lodge territory is sacred from invasion.
Within its limits it is supreme.
The State can do no wrong, neither can a Grand Lodge.
Its authority, is respected by political power, and civil law finds no cause for interference.
It judges it by its own Constitution and Landmarks, which are unchangeable, and which are founded on equal justice to all.
Freemasonry contains within itself the divine law of doing unto others as they would that others do unto them.
In peace it is prosperous, in strife it is sympathetic, in adversity it is submissive.
In this country it has had its times of prosperity and adversity.
The ending of the Revolution marked a period of thankfulness for delivery from bondage and an almost worship for the deliverer, General George Washington, whose death was mourned as no other man has been mourned in this country. Then followed the disgraceful attack upon the Institution by a set of fanatics, mad in politics, who desired to make a "Morgan" of Freemasonry.
Then followed the cruel Civil War, or that of the Rebellion, the most unfortunate and sorrowful of all, in which attempts were made to involve Masonry; but the wise counsel of the leaders of the Craft in the several States prevented the mixing up of Masonry and the State, and while Masonry did not go forth in the advance with the flag to avert the blow, yet it was found among the sick and wounded, the suffering and the dying, and planted the Sprig of Acacia at the head of many a brother's grave, on both sides of the lines.
Then came another era, purely Masonic, that in which we are now living. The care of the aged brother, his wife, widow, and orphans, enlists the sympathies of the Craft everywhere. Throughout the land there are springing up the homes, the asylums, and Masonic establishments for the care of our poor and needy.
This may be termed the golden era of Freemasonry, and it is now reaching upward to the throne of the Mason's God.
We shall now proceed to briefly review the several Grand Lodges in the order laid down in the outline, beginning with the Grand Lodge of Maine.
CHAPTER II.
GRAND LODGES OF THE ATLANTIC SLOPE.
Maine.‑On the loth day of March, 1762, Jeremy Gridley, Provincial Grand Master of New England, for Massachusetts (St. John's Grand Lodge), granted authority to Alexander Ross to constitute a lodge at Falmouth, afterward Portland. This authority was never acted upon, and Ross dying November 24, 1768, a petition signed by eleven brethren was forwarded to John Rowe, the successor of Jeremy Gridley, who granted a charter and depu tized William Tyng to act as Master.
This authority was dated March 30, 228 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
1769, and the first meeting thereunder was held May 8, 1769.
In 1772 this lodge resolved for harmony's sake to work the "Modern" and "Ancient" systems alternately every other evening. An application (which, however, lacked the requisite number of petitioners), was made June 5, 1778, to the Massachusetts Grand Lodge (acting under authority derived from the Grand Lodge of Scotland), for a lodge at Machias, to be called Warren Lodge.
The application was returned and presented in proper form on September 4, 1778, and granted September 10, 1778.
A third lodge was warranted at Wiscasset, called Lincoln Lodge, on June 1, 1‑792, by the (united) Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
In i8o6 a charter was issued by the latter for a second lodge in Portland, which resulted in the adoption of a rule by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts requiring thereafter the recommendation of the nearest lodge.
The action of the Congress of the United States in 1819, admitting Maine into the Union, led to the issuing of a call prepared by Simon Greenleaf for a convention to be held on October 14, 1819, to consider the subject of organizing a Grand Lodge for the new State.
At this convention twenty‑nine of the then thirty‑one lodges, all deriving their warrants from Massachusetts, agreed, unanimously, that the good of Masonry would be greatly promoted by constituting a Grand Lodge in Maine.
The committee appointed by the convention stated that the late " Massachusetts Grand Lodge," in 178o, determined " That all charters granted without the limits of this [Massachusetts] State shall be understood to remain in force until a Grand Lodge is formed in the government where such lodges are held." They accordingly request that their connection with the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts may be dissolved ; that all measures proper for the Grand Lodge to adopt may be adopted preparatory to the formation of a Grand Lodge of Maine; and that said Grand Lodge, when duly constituted, may receive its just proportion of the moneys and other Masonic property owned by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts referred the petition to a committee, who reported in favor of the formation of the new Grand Lodge, donating one thousand dollars, as the foundation of a charity fund, and directing District Deputy Grand Masters in Maine to their hands, belonging to the Grand formed Grand Lodge of Maine. June 1, 1820, the representatives Grand Officers, the governor of the first Grand Master.
June 16, 1820, the legislature of Maine Master, Wardens, and members of the Grand Lodge of Maine.
On June 24, 1824, the Grand Officers were installed by the Grand Master of New Hampshire, at Rev. Mr. Payson's meeting‑house, to which the Grand pay such moneys as they might have in Lodge of Massachusetts, to the newly of twenty‑four lodges met, chose their State, William King, being elected the passed an act to incorporate the THE AMERICAN RITE.
229 Lodge and brethren marched in procession.
The new Grand Lodge recog nized all the lodges within its territory.
The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts paid over the one thousand dollars, which were placed in the hands of trustees, and from the small additions made to it annually it now amounts to over $22,500, the income, some $15oo, being annually appropriated for the relief of indigent Masons, their widows, and orphans.
On June 27, 1820, it was proposed : ‑ "That the translation of the Holy Bible into the various languages of the earth, and distributing the same without note or comment, is a truly Masonic work, and claims the cooperation of every friend of the human race " . . . " to dedicate to this great work " . . . " one‑tenth of all moneys hereafter to be received for charters to subordinate lodges and for candidates initiated into the mysteries of our Order." The Grand Lodge decided that, ‑ "As the funds of this Grand Lodge are devoted to other objects of charity,‑to supply the temporal wants of the needy, and smooth the rugged path of their weary pilgrimage through life, ‑no part of those funds can therefore now be applied in aid of the great and glorious work." Grand Master King was succeeded by Simon Greenleaf, one of the ablest jurists in Maine. It was during his Grand Mastership that one of the Landmarks of Freemasonry was removed and thrown aside. July 1o, 1823, on motion, a committee was appointed "To consider whether a person who is conscientiously scrupulous against taking an oath can be admitted to the benefits of Masonry by solemn affirmation." That the matter was fully considered is evidenced by the report of the committee, on January 8, 1824, and which was adopted by the Grand Lodge, in which they say: ‑ "Your committee deem this a question of no little importance, as it bears on the interests of the Craft. On the one hand, if decided in the negative, there will necessarily be excluded from a participation of all the mysteries, and very many of the benefits and advantages of Masonry, a large class of men, among the most respectable of our fellow citizens, on account of their integrity, their conscientious regard for all those great moral principles which dignify human nature, and certainly not among the most backward in deeds of mercy and charity.
On the other hand, if decided in the affirmative, it would seem at least to sanction a departure from what, for ages, has been deemed a form of sacred words, and what has not hitherto failed to bind the consciences of otherwise the most hardened offenders. . . . It is impossible that your committee should not examine with mistrust a principle which should shut out from the Masonic Fraternity such men as Clarkson ; and they cannot close their eyes to the bad effect which sanctioning such principles must have on the moral sense of the community. . . .
On the whole, your committee conceive that no Masonic principle is violated in adapting the form of the obligations to consciences of men equally good and true, but on the contrary, that serious hurt would grow to the Institution of Masonry, by an adherence to the technical form of words, heretofore used for the purpose of securing that fidelity in the Craftsmen, which has never yet been violated, even when all other principles have been wrecked, in the vortex of unhallowed appetites, or the whirlwind of ungoverned passions." That such action should be most severely commented upon by the Grand Lodges of the United States need not be wondered at.
Missouri, Tennessee, 230
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Kentucky, Delaware, Virginia, and Pennsylvania protested at once, the latter Grand Lodge passing the following: ‑ "Resolved, That the Grand Lodge of Maine be respectfully requested to reconsider the resolution adopted by them on the 8th of January, 1824, proposing a new mode in which the degrees of Masonry can be conferred.
"Resolved, That this Grand Lodge feel themselves bound to refuse to recognize any person. as a Mason, known to be initiated in the mode proposed by the Grand Lodge of Maine." The Grand Lodge took strong grounds against a General Grand Lodge. The records of the Grand Lodge show the depressing effect that AntiMasonry had upon the Fraternity.
In 1829 there were 58 lodges ; soon very many of these suspended their labors, maintaining, however, their existence under the fostering care of the Grand Lodge.
At the annual meeting in 183 7, but one lodge (the oldest one at Portland), was represented. At the annual meeting in 1844, 16 lodges were represented, and Masonry began to revive, the lodges resuming their meetings; and, in 1849, a new lodge named Mount Hope was organized, the first in twenty years.
In 1856 the number of lodges had increased to 70, with 2750 members. During the next ten years, the number had increased to 124, with 8084 members; at the expiration of 1876, 174 lodges, and 18,837 members; in ‑1886, 184 lodges, and 20,039 members; in 1888, 187 lodges, 20,370 members.
The Grand Lodge of Maine, in 1820, adopted the by‑laws of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, as far as possible, and until new ones were formed. Changes have been made, from time to time, until its present code of laws presents the experience of years in the government of the Craft.
New Hampshire.‑As early as 1735 there were Freemasons living within the then Colony of New Hampshire. Where these brethren received their Masonic light, history is silent; but this much is known, that at least six brethren residing at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, claiming to be of the " Holy and exquisite Lodge of St. John," applied to Henry Price, as Grand Master of the Society of Free and Accepted Masons, held at Boston (having heard that there was a superior lodge held in Boston), and asked for the necessary authority to hold a lodge " according to order as is and has been granted to faithful brothers in all parts of the world." They further declared that they had their " Constitutions, both in print and manuscript, as good and as ancient as any that England can afford."
Gould, in his " History of Freemasonry," gives the date of the application to Price as February 5, 1736 ; while Drummond, in the American Addenda of the same, gives another date, June 24, 1735 There is evidently a mistake, possibly in the year 1736, which, if conceded and made to read 1735, would make it appear that on February 5, 1735, these brethren applied to Price, and on June 24, 1735, Price presented the petition to St. John's Grand Lodge, and it was granted.
There arises a doubt, however, in even conceding this; for the warrant of confirmation subsequently given by the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire recites that: ‑ THE AMERICAN RITE.
231 " Robert Tomlinson, by virtue of a deputation from the Earl of Loudon, Grand Master of Masons in England, did, in the year 1736, erect and constitute a regular lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by the name of St. John's Lodge." If the petition of the New Hampshire brethren was presented to Henry Price, then the date June 4, 1735, as stated by Drummond, is correct, the date as given by Gould as February 5, 1736, does not agree with the warrant of confirmation granted in 179o, by the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, which gives the year, but no date, yet speaks of Tomlinson as Provincial Grand Master, while he only became Provincial Grand Master on December 7, 1736, and received his deputation about April 20, 1737. Gould expresses himself, in view of the conflicting opinions as to the early history of Freemasonry in New England, in these words : ‑ "As the more we rely upon the early Boston records as independent authorities, the greater becomes the necessity of critically appraising the weight and thereby the value of their testimony." This lodge was organized, and is said to have had a continuous existence to the present.
In 1837 it celebrated its centennial anniversary, thereby giv ing us another date later than 1736.
While Richards, writing in 1804, says it was constituted immediately on the appointment of Tomlinson in 1736, it has no records prior to 1739.
For nearly forty‑five years it was the only lodge of Masons in New Hampshire, when, on March 17, 1780, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge granted a charter for St. Patrick's Lodge at Portsmouth. It continued work until 1790, when it ceased, most of its members affiliating with St. John's Lodge.
The lodge then became extinct.
The Massachusetts Grand Lodge granted a warrant November 7, 1781, for a lodge at Springfield, Vermont, on the Connecticut River, but the lodge was actually held for some seven years at Charlestown, New Hampshire. On February 22, 1788, the members of the lodge petitioned that their charter be altered, permitting the meeting in both places.
This petition the Grand Lodge refused, but healed such irregularities as had occurred, and then granted a charter for Faithful Lodge at Charlestown.
A third charter was granted by the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, on March 5, 1784, for a lodge at Keene, to be called Rising Star Lodge.
It also granted a fourth charter for a lodge at Hanover, to be called Dartmouth Lodge.
A meeting of the deputies from the several lodges (five) was held at Portsmouth on July 8, 1789, at which there were present five brethren, representing St. John's Lodge at Providence and Rising Sun Lodge at Keene. They resolved: ‑ "That there be a Grand Lodge established in the State of New Hampshire, upon principles consistent with and subordinate to the General Regulations and Ancient Constitutions of Freemasonry." The Grand Lodge was to be composed of all Grand Masters, Deputy Grand Masters, Grand Wardens, after the expiration of their term of office, the 232 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY: Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary for the time being, and the Masters, Past Masters, and Wardens of particular lodges. John Sullivan, president of the State of New Hampshire, was, by ballot, elected Grand Master of Masons.
At the second meeting, held July 16, 1789, in addition to the two lodges then represented, there were present the Wardens of St. Patrick's Lodge at Portsmouth. The "Masons' Arms," with an inscription, was adopted as the seal of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire. The new Grand Master was not installed into office until April 8, 179o, nine months later, when the Grand Lodge became a fact.
The lodges formerly under the St. John's and Massachusetts Grand Lodges were directed to have their charters renewed by the new Grand Lodge.
Accordingly, on April 28, 1790, St. John's Lodge of Portsmouth applied for a charter of confirmation of their former rights; while " Federal " at Dover, and " Columbia" at Nottingham, applied to be constituted into regular lodges.
The formation of this Grand Lodge presents the curious fact that, at the preliminary meeting of July 8, 1789, when it was resolved to form a Grand Lodge and the Grand Master was chosen, two lodges, only, were represented,‑Portsmouth and Keene.
At the second preliminary meeting, July 36, 1789, in addition to the two lodges above‑mentioned, there were present the Wardens of St. Patrick's Lodge at Portsmouth; at the third preliminary meeting, January 27, 179o, but one lodge, St. John's of Portsmouth, was present; and at the meeting when the Grand Lodge officers were installed, April 8, 179o, but two lodges, St. John's and Rising Sun, were represented.
There were thirty‑one brethren present at the first installation of the Grand Master and Grand Officers in open lodge, when the oldest Master of a lodge, Brother Hall Jackson, took the chair, the election of the Grand Master was confirmed, a procession was formed, and the Grand Master, invested and installed, received due homage, affectionate congratulations, and other signs of joy. June 25, 1792, the Grand Lodge met and was formed in procession and marched to St. John's church, where the festival of St. John's Day was celebrated.
This was continued for a number of years.
On August 10, 1797, the Grand Lodge Officers constituted Benevolent Lodge at Amherst, and installed the officers in the meeting‑house at that place.
June 24, 18o1, the Grand Master and officers were installed in public in Jefferson Hall, the Grand Lodge presenting each lady who assisted in the musical portion of the programme with a pair of elegant gloves.
July 22, 18oi, Washington Lodge at Exeter was constituted with novel ceremonies. Lodge was opened; the Grand Master ordered the Grand Marshal to summon the officers of the lodge to be constituted.
They were examined and found to be Master Masons, well skilled and worthy.
Grand Lodge then, preceded by a band of music, proceeded to the lodge‑room, where Washington Lodge was opened.
The Grand Officers then took their official stations.
The brethren who were not Past Masters retired while the THE AMERICAN RITE.
233 new Master was obligated and placed in Solomon's chair. The brethren returned, procession re‑formed, and marched to Rev. Mr. Rowland's meetinghouse, where they were welcomed by music from a select choir of young ladies and gentlemen. The house was crowded. The " Lodge " was solemnly consecrated ; the new Master invested ; the Marshal made the proclamation; then followed prayer.
The procession re‑formed, and marched to a tavern, where the Stewards had prepared a banquet, after which the lodge closed.
April 14, 1793, a query was forwarded to the Grand Lodge, by Columbian Lodge, as to " Whether the charter granted to Columbian Lodge will entitle them to hold a lodge for the purpose of making, passing and raising Masons in a parish taken from and within the boundaries of the original township of Nottingham, previous to the granting of said charter," When it was voted that Columbian Lodge, by its charter, can be holden at Nottingham and nowhere else.
June 24, 1797, Grand Lodge adopted, as a g2neral regulation, that no charter or dispensation be granted outside of the jurisdiction, unless the Grand Lodge where the petitioners reside acquiesce in writing, if there be a Grand Lodge in said State or Territory. It was also resolved to number the lodges according to the date of their charters.
The term of office of Thomas Thompson, as Grand Master, was marked by some important acts of legislation. Among others, on June 24, 1802, Grand Lodge adopted a form of petition or declaration (the first to our knowledge), for admission into the Fraternity, as follows: ‑ "I‑of‑ of lawful age, declare upon honor that uninfluenced by unworthy motives I freely and voluntarily offer myself a candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry, being solely prompted by a favorable opinion conceived of the institution, and a sincere wish to be serviceable to mankind." . . . [This was to be accompanied by the following recommendations.] "We the subscribers, members of ‑ Lodge, No. ‑, beg leave to recommend Mr. ‑to be made a Mason in this lodge the next regular lodge night.
We are induced to make this recommendation from a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. ‑; knowing him to be a virtuous and moral man, dealing upon honor; not of a doubtful character, but naturally benevolent, industrious, temperate, and economical; a supporter of government and lover of the useful arts an d sciences; a gentleman with whom we should be proud to associate, who from personal knowledge we believe will cheerfully conform to our rules and make a useful and honorable member of the Fraternity." The applicant was to be recommended by two members, and vouched for by two members of the lodge.
In 1803 District Deputy Grand Masters were first appointed with the powers of a Deputy Grand Master, to visit and preside in lodges, examine their proceedings, to constitute lodges, etc. There were also inaugurated what are known as official Grand Visitors to subordinate lodges. These officers proved of great value in bringing the lodges under strict discipline, and in more than one instance their reports to the Grand Lodge resulted in the closing of the lodge.
December 30, i8o5, the legislature passed an act incorporating the Grand Lodge of the State of New Hampshire for the term of twenty years, 234 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
but, singular to say, the act does not mention that it was Masonic, or referred to Freemasonry, or for what purpose it was incorporated. January 27, i8o8, it appearing evident that no benefits could be derived by the subordinate lodges from the act of incorporation, its further consideration was postponed.
The Rev. George Richards, formerly Grand Secretary of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, was admitted a member of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire about December 12, 1804, and became one of its most active workers. He added to and published the first American edition of"Preston's Illustrations of Masonry." His skill as a ritualist was recognized by the issuing, in 1806, of letters of Masonic credence and authority for him to teach the " Prestonian system" in New Hampshire.
June 24, 1807, by request, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of St. John's church in Portsmouth.
Grand Master Thompson delivered his 1808, in which he remarked that : ‑ valedictory address on April 27, " The harmony of his Grand Lodge was in danger of being disturbed by the introduction of Royal Arch Masonry and other fanciful degrees, assuming power independent of the Grand Lodge. . . .
Others, attracted by the pomp and show of these fanciful degrees, have joined them to the prejudice and neglect of true Masonry.
But of all the Masonic titles there is none so truly ridiculous in America as that of Knights Templars, a compound of enthusiasm and folly, generated in the brains of pilgrims and military madmen, as opposite to the benevolent spirit of true Masonry as black aprons are to pure white ones." May 1, 1807, a delegate was appointed to represent the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire in a Grand Masonic convention in Washington, District of Columbia, with authority to propose and agree to a regular and systematic mode of working and lecturing in the United States, but to oppose any plan calculated to establish a supreme superintending, or National Grand Lodge for America, which the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire "holds inexpedient, impracticable, and a thing totally unnecessary." June 9, 1824, $200 were appropriated for the erection of a monument by the Masonic Fraternity over the remains of Washington, at Mt. Vernon, "as soon as the sum of $1o,ooo shall be appropri ated in common by the other Grand Lodges."
In 1833, $200 was appropriated to the Bunker Hill Monument.
In 1827 the Anti‑Masonic excitement was briefly noted by the Grand Master.
The progress of the Grand Lodge up to this time had been more or less satisfactory.
In 1828, 44 lodges were represented in the Grand Lodge; in 1829, 41 lodges ; 1830, 40 lodges; 1831, 25 lodges; 1832, 29 lodges; 1833, 23 lodges; 1834,24 lodges; 1835,13 lodges ; 1836, 17 lodges ; 1837, 13 lodges ; 1838, 18 lodges; 1839, 17 lodges; 1840, 13 lodges ; during this year 26 lodges were stricken from the Grand Lodge books for failure to make returns; 1841, 15 lodges were represented. From this time the interest began to revive, and at present the Grand Lodge is in a highly satisfactory condition. ‑ Vermont. ‑ It will be interesting, and of some service in understanding the early history of Masonry in Vermont, to bring to mind the political history of THE AMERICAN RITE.
235 this State, about the time of the establishment of the first lodges in that jurisdiction. In 1778 a number of towns in New Hampshire, bordering on the Connecticut River, presented a petition to the legislature of Vermont request ing that they be received into union and confederation.
At the next session of the legislature an act was passed authorizing sixteen towns to elect and send members to the legislature of Vermont, at its next session.
The result of this action occasioned so much trouble and danger that an act was passed in February, 1779, dissolving this union.
In 1780 Western New Hampshire and a large part of the North‑eastern section of New York were annexed to Vermont; and, in 1781, delegates from at least seventeen towns in New Hampshire, and nine towns in New York were represented in the General Assembly of Vermont.
This union was not satisfactory to the political powers of New Hampshire, and the serving of a civil process almost brought on a civil war, and resulted in the repeal of the union of the New York and New Hampshire towns with Vermont.
On November 8, 1781, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge received a petition, dated at Cornish, Vermont, praying for the establishment of a lodge at that place.
On November 1o, 1781, a charter was granted, locating the lodge at Springfield, Vermont.
On November 29, 1781, its first meeting was held in Charlestown, New Hampshire, four members and one visitor being present, the officers being pro tempore.
November 29, 1781, seven petitions were received and referred.
December 18, 1781, the officers were elected for the first time. May 17, 1787, doubts arose as to the propriety of meeting at Charlestown, New Hampshire, instead of at Springfield, Vermont.
March 6, 1788, the lodge voted the expense of a new charter, to be procured in Boston, for Faithful Lodge, at Charlestown, New Hampshire, which was granted February z, 1788, and the lodge funds and furniture were equally divided.
It is supposed that the removal of Vermont Lodge took place about the beginning of the year 1789.
May 14, 1705, Vermont Lodge removed from Springfield to Windsor, where it met until September 19, 1831, when it suspended work, owing to the Anti‑Masonic excitement.
. On January 20, 1785, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge granted a charter for a lodge at Manchester, being the second lodge established in the State.
It was called " North Star," and was organized February 3, 1785 ; at which meet ing two candidates were initiated and two brethren were crafted.
The officers were not installed until December 4, 1787.
In this lodge each meeting was opened on the First step of Masonry, its business transacted, and closed on that degree, and opened on the Second or Third.
On May 5, 1791, Sir John Johnson, Bart., Grand Master of the Province of Quebec, granted a charter to Dorchester Lodge, at Vergennes.
May 18, 1793, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut chartered Temple Lodge, at Bennington.
236 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
May 15, 1794, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut chartered Union Lodge, at Middlebury.
August 6, 1794, representatives of North Star, Dorchester, and Temple Lodges met in convention' at Manchester, for the purpose of forming a Grand Lodge in the State of Vermont.
Subsequent meetings were held, at which committees were appointed to select a form of constitution.
Several adjourned meetings were held, at which business relating to the formation of a Grand Lodge was transacted, until finally, on October 13th, a constitution was reported to and adopted by a convention of several lodges (5). The constitution required that before the convention is dissolved, ‑ " It shall meet and choose officers of Grand Lodge, who shall, when elected, possess all the powers of officers of Grand Lodge until next meeting of this Grand Lodge as by the constitution established, and until new officers are chosen in their stead." Accordingly, the Grand Officers were chosen, and the committee dissolved, but no record can be found of their having been installed.
Many charters were granted to lodges in different parts of the State.
The applications became so numerous that Grand Lodge adopted regulations in a measure requiring additional safeguards: ‑ "No charter could be granted except to five known and approved Master Masons." . . . The Master and Wardens shall be examined with regard to their knowledge in the Masonic art." . . .
"That it has the approbation of the two nearest lodges." . . .
"That the place where the new lodge is to be holden shall be at least twenty miles from any other lodge under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, unless in cases where the petitioning brethren at certain seasons of the year are obliged to travel round creeks or bays to get to the lodge to which they belong, in which case the Grand Lodge may dispense with the rule precluding distance." January 21, 1802, Grand Lodge was specially convened for the purpose of adopting a 11 standard work," and a Lecture Master was appointed. January 18, 1804, Grand Lodge met in Grand Convocation, and among the other business transacted it was " Ordered, That the chisel shall not in future be given as the working‑tool of an Entered Apprentice Mason in any lodge under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge.;' 1 The first Grand Master was the first orator at the first celebration of Bennington Battle. Under date of Monday, November 28, 1889, The Banner (a local newspaper), reporting the laying of the cap‑stone of the Bennington monument (the corner‑stone of which was laid by the Grand Lodge of Vermont, August 16, 1887), said: " This monument commemorates more than a local engagement of embattled farmers' with the trained troops of proud Britain.
We have alluded to it as the' turning point' in the Revolution.
The orator of the first celebration of the Battle of Bennington, Noah Smith, Esq., said on August 16th,1778 : 'To the effects ofthis action must be attributed in a considerable degree the series of successes which have attended our arms.'
How truthful were his prophetic words [1778] : 'This establishes our independence, and must soon put a period to the calamities of war.'
Standing, then, in the immediate presence of the fruits of that engagement, he fully recognized the debt of gratitude due to those who had accomplished such a victory; and, commenting further, says: 'Are these the effects of the Battle of Bennington ?
Are these the prospects which attend the Republic of America ?
Then what laurels are due to General Stark and those bold assertors of libertv whose determined resolution and undaunted courage effected the salvation of our country?'
Brother Smith was then fresh from collegiate honors at Yale.
A few years later, after having ascended the ladder of judicial fame in this State, he assisted in forming the Grand Lodge of Vermont, and was its first Grand Master, holding the office and discharging its duties with credit to himself and honor to the Fraternity, from 1794 to 1797.
It was eminently fitting, therefore, that his fraternal successor, Colonel Alfred A. Hall, Grand Master of Freemasons, should lay the corner‑stone on the battle anniversary in 1887, and that the flag of that society should float from the cap‑stone on Monday." THE AMERICAN RITE.
237 The Grand Lodge adjourned to October following, when the State was divided into ten districts, and Deputy Grand Masters appointed.
In 1805 it was " Ordered, That in future no member of any lodge, under the jurisdiction, shall be allowed to vote in said body unless he be a Master Mason," And full power was given to secular lodges to hear and determine all disputes between its own members and to suspend, expel, and restore them with the concurrence of two‑thirds of the members present, and from which decisions there shall be no appeal.
In i806 it was deemed expedient to appoint a committee to petition the legislature for an act of incorporation, but nothing was accomplished in the matter at that time. November 22, 1884, "Bill No. io6," being an act to amend section 3664, subdivision io, Revised Laws, was passed by the General Assembly of Vermont, and approved by the governor.
This, although not originating with the Grand Lodge, admits of its incorporation.
In 1807 Grand Lodge ordered that the expulsion of any member of the lodge shall be published in some newspaper in the State, with a request to the printers in the United States to insert the same in their respective papers. In 1818 Grand Lodge voted that the name of the party who had been restored to former standing be published in the newspapers.
In i8og a Grand Visitor was appointed, with power to preside in lodges, call on the members for regular attendance, etc. He was to tarry two days, and longer if necessary, at each lodge he visited, and he was to be paid the sum of two dollars per day and all necessary expenses, by the several lodges where he visited. The Grand Lodge also agreed to give him fifty dollars extra. October, 1813, the office of Grand Visitor was abolished.
In 1812 Grand Lodge appropriated "$75 for the gratuitous distribution of the Bible without note or comment " ; also, " to promote the constitution of a Bible society." In 1816 the further sum of one hundred dollars was ordered to be presented to the Vermont Bible Society, and further sums were appropriated from time to time.
In 1821 a difficulty arose between two of the lodges, located upon or near the border line between New York and Vermont. It appears that, in 1793, a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of New York to sundry brethren in Hampton and Poultney in Vermont, by the name of Aurora Lodge.
In 1807 the brethren of Aurora Lodge agreed to give up their charter from the Grand Lodge of New York, and take one under Grand Lodge of Vermont, changing the name to Morning Star Lodge.
The lodge worked harmoniously_ for about eleven years, when the brethren living in Hampton applied to, and received from, the Grand Lodge of New York authority to revive Aurora Lodge; upon which they demanded the jewels and funds from Morning Star Lodge.
The feeling engendered by this became most unfraternal, and the Grand Lodge aid was invoked.
Finally the matter was compromised, about 1827, by Morn‑ 238 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
ing Star Lodge of Vermont paying eighty dollars, in full, to Aurora Lodge of New York, and thus was amicably settled, what, at one time, promised to become a serious controversy between the two Grand Lodges.
In 1824 Grand Lodge expressed sympathy for, and donated a sum of money to, a brother who was an elder in a Christian church, who had been " excluded from his desk " in the church and " his temporal support as a public teacher withdrawn," because he became a member of the Masonic family.
October 13, 1824, a committee reported upon the petition of a blind man for initiation in Cement Lodge that, in "Their opinion, the loss of this sense does not Masonically bar the applicant from being made a Mason, and that, if the lodge, to which he has made application, was satisfied that he is worthy of admission, they may proceed with him as in all other cases." The vote was taken, and resulted in yeas 47, nays 52.
So a majority of five decided to maintain the Landmarks of Fremasonry.
October 11, 1826, by a vote of yeas 8o, nays 28, a resolution was adopted " That no ardent spirits or public dinner shall hereafter be furnished this Grand Lodge at any of its communications"; and, October q, 1827, Grand Lodge recommended to all subordinate lodges to dispense with the use of ardent spirits on all public occasions.
October q, 1827, a communication received from John L. Hart of Philadelphia, addressed to the Grand Secretary, inquiring " whether a charter for an independent lodge of colored Masons, to be located in said city, would be granted by this Grand Lodge," was referred to a committee, who reported, and their report was concurred in : ‑ "That the Grand Lodge of Vermont does not possess the constitutional power to charter a lodge in Pennsylvania; and, if such power existed, its exercise in this case would be inexpedient as this Grand Lodge would have no control over such lodge, and could not enforce the rules and regulations prescribed for the government of subordinate lodges under its jurisdiction." The brethren of Vermont, in fact of the New England States, do not appear in those early days to have had a correct conception of the Masonic Institution. They seemed to cater more to the popular sentiment of the times, and so we find their sympathy going out for, and money contributed to, purposes belonging to the "profane " world exclusively,‑such as the African Colony at Liberia, the American Colonization Society, North‑western Branch of the American Education Society, American Bible Society, etc., and which, if . they desired to aid, they should have done so personally as citizens.
Coming thus before the world, they attracted attention and early brought themselves face to face with the opponents of Masonry.
The Anti‑Masonic trouble commenced here as early as 1824, and continued with the most unrelenting and bitter fiery for years : lodges surrendered their charters, the brethren deserted the Fraternity as a demoralized army flees before the enemy.
Appeals were made by the Grand Lodge and the 11 secular " lodges to the public, and 11 in return THE AMERICAN RITE.
239 we have been met with reproaches and persecution, our honest intentions misrepresented, our rights as Masons, our rights as freemen, abridged, and our characters traduced "‑ so said Grand Master Haswell in 1831 ; and he continued: ‑ "What shall now be done?
Will you permit me to answer the question?
Breast the storm! and when a calm succeeds and the moral ruins shall be made bare, an injured public will reinstate us in our rights and visit the despoilers with infamy and disgrace." Verily was Vermont a " Frontier Post in Masonry."
In the Grand Lodge a proposition "to dissolve the Institution" was rejected by a vote of 19 ayes to 9o nays.
Every indulgence was granted the lodges by Grand Lodge : " only keep alive the fires on the altars" was the end desired.
In 1833, when the excite ment was at its highest, thirty‑five lodges were represented.
The Grand Lodge declared itself: ‑ " Ready to receive and revoke charters of such lodges as are desirous of surrendering them at the present time, and representatives requested to deposit said charters with Grand Secretary,all funds, etc., to be left under the control of lodges to appropriate as they deem proper,‑the Grand Lodge recommending the appropriation to the common school fund of this State." Under this authority only eight lodges surrendered their charters.
In 1834 but seven lodges were represented, when the Grand Lodge took notice of, and denounced "The assemblies, in different counties of the State, of Masons called together by a notice or authority new and unknown to the usages of the Craft, and in opposition to the constitution of the Order." In reply to the action of the legislature, which had made it illegal to administer a so‑called " extra‑judicial oath," the Grand Lodge said: ‑ " We disclaim the right of Masons to inflict corporeal punishment, and acknowledge no other right to enforce obedience from our members but reprimand, suspension, and expulsion." The formation of the Grand Lodge was kept up until January 14, 1846, at which time the Grand Master, with all the Grand Officers (except the Senior Grand Warden), and the representatives of ten lodges met, and from that day the progress of Masonry in Vermont has been onward, slowly at times, but always forward, until in 1889, when there were loo lodges and 8524 members.
Massachusetts.‑To trace the early history of Freemasonry in this jurisdiction is like a person walking in the dark, who is carefully feeling his way. Brother R. F. Gould, in his " History of Freemasonry," recognizes "The very precarious foundation of authority on which the early Masonic history of Massachusetts reposes. The actual records of the Provincial Grand Lodge‑by which I mean a contemporaneous account of its proceedings‑date from x751. There are also what appear to be trar,cripts of brief memoranda describing the important incidents in the history of that body between 1733‑1750; or they may have been made up from the recollection of brethren who had hccr. active among the Craft during these seventeen years." The newspapers in Boston of that time contain very few references, or advertisements, of Freemasonry.
Brother Sereno D. Nickerson says there is 240 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
a tradition of a regularly warranted lodge in Boston as early as 172o, but as yet positive proof of the existence of such a lodge has not been discovered. That there were Freemasons in Boston prior to 1733, there can be no doubt. Where they received the degrees of Masonry is not known ; but that they were lawfully made is witnessed by the fact of Provincial Grand Master Price's convening them, for a Masonic purpose at that time, "at ye sign of the Bunch of Grapes."
Henry Price, the appointed Provincial Grand Master, was born in London in 1697.
He removed to Boston about 1723.
If he continued to reside there is not at present known, but in January, 1733, his name is found in the records of the Court of Common Pleas of Boston, in a suit brought by him. Judging from Price's letter, written to England on August 6, 1755, he must have been in London on April 30, 1733, at which time he claims to have personally received a deputation as " Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging," from Anthony, Lord Viscount Montague, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England.
There is no record in the archives of the Grand Lodge of England at London of the deputation, of which we have previously given the text. Nor were the terms thereof complied with, which required annual returns of lodges constituted, names of members, etc., to be forwarded to London.
Henry Price is supposed to have been a member of Lodge No. 73, meeting at the Rainbow Coffee House, in York buildings, London, which was constituted July 17, 173o, and of which he was the fifty‑third out of a total of sixty‑three members. On Monday, July 30, 1733, Henry Price called to his assistance ten brethren, " at the house of Edward Lutwith at ' ye sign of the Bunch of Grapes,' in King Street, in Boston, Massachusetts," when the deputation of Viscount Montague was read, appointing Henry Price Provincial Grand Master of New England and authorizing him to form a Provincial Grand Lodge, appoint his Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens, and to constitute lodges.
By virtue of this deputation, Price opened a Provincial Grand Lodge, commonly known as St. John's Grand Lodge, appointed Andrew Belcher Deputy Grand Master, Thomas Kennelly and John Quane Grand Wardens, pro tempore, after which he caused his commission to be read.
Then followed the making as Masons of eight candidates.
Where the authority for conferring the degrees was derived is not stated.
Certainly his deputation did not give him that right.
It authorized him to constitute " Brethren, who had been regularly made, into lodges." It contained no authority to make Masons, as that was the special prerogative of lodges.
However, these eighteen brethren petitioned the Provincial Grand Lodge for a warrant, which was granted, and the lodge was at once constituted into a regular lodge with nineteen members, Henry Price heading the list.
Henry Hope was chosen Master, and he nominated Fred erick Hamilton and James Gordon his Wardens.
They were duly examined, found well qualified, approved, and invested.
In the proceedings of Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1871, a fac‑sintile of the original petition for this THE AMERICAN RITE.
241 lodge will be found, and if it is authentic, then the date of Price's deputation is not correct. The petition recites the date of Price's deputation from Viscount Montague as 13th day of April, Anno Dom. 1733, the last figure 3 in the year being altered from a 2, while the deputation itself is dated the 30th day of April, 1733.
As the reading of the deputation and the presentation of the petition occurred within a few minutes of each other, the difference of seventeen days and the changingof the last 3 (1733) from a 2 (1732) would naturally raise a doubt as to accuracy.
Gould gives the date of constituting the lodge as August 31, 1733.
The following lodges in Massachusetts will be found registered in the Lane's " Masonic Records," 1717‑1886, viz. : ‑ 1. " St. john's Lodge, No. r.
Meeting at Bunch of Grapes Tavern, State Street, Boston, in New England, America; instituted, 1733, as No. 126, England; changed to fro, in 1740; No. 65,in 1755; No. 54. in 1770; No. 42, 1781; No. 39, 1792; met at Brother Andrew Halliburton's, Boston, 1738; Assembly House, Oring (Orange) Tree Lane, Boston, 1792.
United with No. 88, 2d Lodge in Boston, on February 7, 1783, obtaining a new warrant from the English Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
Was kept on our register until 1813, but passed from English jurisdiction when the St. John's Provincial Grand Lodge joined the Massachusetts Grand Lodge (formed March 8, 1777), on March 5, 1792." " Royal Fxclza
; e Lori; e.
Instituted, 1735, at Royal Exchange Tavern, King Street, Boston, 1735 (kept by Brother Luke Hardy)." 2. " St. john's Lodge, No 2.
Royal Exchange, Boston, America, February 15, 1749.
Not in list until 1768, and then designated 2d Lodge in Boston, New England, at the British Coffee House, in King Street, 1768.
United with St. John's Lodge, No. r, on February 7, 1783, and was kept on register until 1813. In 1755 it was No. 141b; on register, 1770, No. 108; 1780, No. 87; 1781, No. 88; 1792, No. 81." 3. "Boston, Massachusetts, America, Ancients, 1771.
Ancient York Lodge, No. 169.
Boston, at Mr. Alexander's, Battery, 1772.
It must have shortly afterward removed, as it took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of New York, in December, 1782." 4. " African Lodge. Boston, New England, America, 1784; September 29th it was 459 on register; in 1792 it was 370; last payment, 1797; erased in I8I3." 1 5. " Marble Head Lodge.
At Massachusetts Bay, New England, America, March 25, 1760, as 142b.
Not in list until 1768.
Date in list is stated to be May 25, 1750, but the later date appears to be correct, according to American records.
A renewal of the constitution, dated January 14, 1778, refers to 'Original Charter' of March 25, 1760. Was kept in that register until 1813, but had become part of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts on March 5, 1792.
111 1770 the lodge number was No. iii; in 1780, No. 9o; in 1781, No. 91; in 1792, No. 83." December 7, 1736, Robert Tomlinson was appointed by the Grand Master of England as Provincial Grand Master, in place of Price, who, it is said, had resigned. This commission was received on April 20, 1737. The deputation is addressed "To all our Right Worshipful, Worshipful and Loving Brethren now residing, or who may hereafter reside, in the Province of New England." Tomlinson died about 1740.
On September 23, 1743, the Grand Master of England, on the application of several brethren, deputized Thomas Oxnard as Provincial Grand Master of North America, " of which no Provincial Grand Master is already appointed." Oxnard died in 1754, and Price 1 African Lodge had no inherent rights, had no authority to grant dispensations or warrants to others, and its erasure wiped it and all its so‑called offspring out of existence; and, from the time of the union of the two Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, if it was then in existence, it became clandestine.
242 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
succeeded him by the election of the brethren.
On April 4, 1755, Jeremy Gridley was appointed Provincial Grand Master of North America and Terri tories thereof, with authority to make Masons and constitute lodges.
Gridley was succeeded, May 12, 1768, by John Rowe, as Provincial Grand Master of all North America and the territory thereunto belonging, where no other Provincial Grand Master is in being.
He was vested with like powers to Gridley. The Rowe deputation speaks of Henry Price having been appointed Provincial Grand Master for North America by Viscount Montague, April 13, 1733. The error of date 13 is here repeated, and his appointment for " North America" by Viscount Montague is more than Price ever claimed, he claiming that the Earl of Crawford was the one who appointed him.
Prior to the time (1751), when the regular minutes of the Grand Lodge were begun to be recorded as they occurred, the transactions are based upon the information prepared by the then Secretary Charles Pelham, and it is during this period, 1733 to 1751, ‑nearly twenty years, ‑ that all the matters in dispute as to the early history of Freemasonry in America occur.
We have, in a previous chapter, briefly referred to the deputations of Daniel Coxe and of Henry Price, and given in full the letters of Franklin to Henry Price, of the authenticity of which there can be no question. Massachusetts claims that Price issued a warrant for a lodge at Philadelphia, of which Frank lin was the Master.
There is not one jot of evidence that any such warrant was ever issued, nor was it ever asked for. , Franklin simply asked for a recognition or confirmation of the rights they were then enjoying, of meeting as a regular lodge.
That the authority of Grand Mast|r Franklin was recognized is apparent by the Masonic intercourse between vPrice and Franklin.
On February 5, 1'735‑1736, a number of brethren in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, applied for a deputation and power to hold a lodge once a quarter " at that place."
At this time, and for several years thereafter, the lodges met in the First degree and conferred the Second occasionally, but on the 2d day of January, 1738 (N. S.), a separate Master's lodge was founded in Boston, of which Henry Price was Master, and the authority was no doubt obtained from Provincial Grand Master Tomlinson, prior to his departure for Europe.
It has also been claimed that Price granted a deputation for a lodge at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, about 1738.
If that was so, it was done without any authority whatever from Tomlinson, who was Grand Master.
It is claimed that, while Tomlinson was on his journey to Europe, he stopped at Antigua and made the governor and other gentlemen Masons, the same being an exercise of his powers as Grand Master, but no warrant was granted.
In 1754 (January) a regulation was adopted that no brother was eligible to be Master of a lodge unless he was thirty years old. In the same year a request was sent to the Grand Master at London that, in future, the commission of a Provincial Grand Master should continue in force for no longer than three years.
In 1756 a committee was appointed to raise a fund for charity, THE AMERICAN RITE.
and on March 20, 176o, several brethren, sufferers by the great fire at Boston at that time, were relieved. The " Grand Charity Fund " is now kept up by annual appropriations from the surplus receipts of the Grand Lodge, and is in charge of a " Board of Masters," who are incorporated.
On January 31, 1757, the Grand Lodge agreed to the making " a Mason " of five gentlemen from Marblehead, and by authority of the Grand Master, Richard Gridley, one of the Grand Wardens, was authorized to make and pass them. A lodge was warranted on March 25, 176o, at this place. Warrants were granted to so‑called Army lodges on May 13, 1756, for a lodge in "the expedition to Crown Point"; on January 18, 1759, for one "in the present expedition against Canada"; on November 13, 1758, to the brethren at Louisburg for a lodge in the 28th Regiment of Foot, stationed at that place.
Up to 1752 the Provincial Grand Lodge, and its subordinates, enjoyed fully their rights and prerogatives, within the territory assigned them, viz. : "North America where no other Grand Master had been appointed." In this year some brethren (acting, no doubt, under the ancient usage of a number of brethren meeting together and forming a lodge), met at the Green Dragon, a tavern in Boston, and opened a lodge, known afterward as St. Andrew's. This was the beginning of a strife which lasted until 1792, a period of. forty years.
It is said the new lodge was opened 1| under ancient usage."
Drummond says: ‑ " It does not appear where the brethren who organized this lodge were made Masons, and while the regularity of those who were made Masons in this lodge was afterward denied, it does not appear that any question was raised as to the regularity of its founders. They were probably made under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and had adopted the polity and work of the Ancient Masons." We do not fully agree with so much of the above as refers to "Ancient Masons," for the Grand Lodge of England, according to the Old Constitutions or Institutions known as the "Ancients "or "Ancient York Masons," was not formed until 1751, and it was not until June 30, 1772, || that brotherly intercourse and correspondence was fully established " between the Grand Lodge of the Ancients and the,Grand Lodge of Scotland.
In 1754 it is stated that application was presented to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a charter by these Boston brethren, they having the support and approval of the Falkirk Lodge in Scotland. The Grand Lodge of Scotland, for various reasons, questioning possibly the Masonic legitimacy of the petitioners, delayed consideration and action thereon until May 21, 1759, but it failed to reach the lodge until September 4, 176o.
In the meantime, on January 13, 1758, in order to, obtain all the advantages of Freemasonry, Isaac Decoster, who had been Master in 1756, applied to the St. John's Grand Lodge for recognition for himself and others ; no action was taken thereon beyond referring the petition to a committee and its report in favor of their making, at the cost of the charges of entertainment.
This failure of action 243 244 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
seemed to stimulate the new lodge; for, in 176o, they admitted four members who had been made Masons in the first lodge. The St. John's Grand Lodge, at its meeting in 1761, forbade its members visiting the so‑called "Scots " Lodge, as it had not been regularly constituted.
The rivalry between the two resulted in the prosperity of both.
The St. Andrew's Lodge admitted as visitors and to membership, and even to official rank, members of all other lodges, there being no law at that time prohibiting dual membership.
This courtesy, however, was not reciprocated.
When the charter for St. Andrew's Lodge was received, William Busted, who had been made in the first lodge, and was at one time its Senior Warden, was named as Master.
Its second Master was Joseph Webb, who was afterward Grand Master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge ; he was also a member of the first lodge, and served at one time as its junior Warden.
The contention between the lodges became at times bitter, and again there was intercourse of the most friendly character.
In September, 1767, the St. Andrew's Lodge requested the St. John's Grand Lodge, in open lodge, for permission to attend the funeral of Grand Master Gridley, which was granted, after which the doors of St. John's lodges were again closed. On January 29, 1773, the St. John's lodges were authorized to admit as visitors (after examination), the members of the Scotch lodges.
This shows that the work of the latter lodges was not what is known as the "Ancient York work," as the latter's mode of recognition was different.
Colonel John Young was appointed Provincial Grand Master of all lodges in North America under the Grand Lodge of Scotland, on November 14, 1757.
What was done by him under that authority is not known.
On November 30, 1768, a committee of St. Andrew's Lodge, with its Master, Joseph Warren, at its head, was appointed to confer with other || Ancient " lodges in the town as to the expediency of applying to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a Grand Master of Ancient Masons in America. There were three British regiments stationed in Boston at that time, each with a Military lodge attached, but working under different Constitutions,‑English, Irish, and Scotch.
The petition was granted on May 30, 1769, by Scotland, and Joseph Warren was appointed " Grand Master of Masons in Boston, New England, and within one hundred miles of the same."
The new Grand Lodge was duly organized on December z 7, 1769, and the officers publicly installed. It was thenceforth known as Massachusetts Grand Lodge.
In a short time the Military lodges ceased to be connected with this Grand Lodge.
Great care seemed to be exercised by it in the granting of warrants, and the laws of Masonry seemed to be strictly observed.
The subject of what made a quorum was no doubt discussed, and resulted in the Grand Lodge declaring that whenever a summons was issued for convening a Grand Lodge by the Grand Master, or under his direction, and the Grand Lodge is in consequence congregated, the same is to all intents and purposes a legal Grand Lodge, no matter how few in number.
Grand Master Warren was appointed on March a Z O O m z w H z O 0 a 0 z w w O THE AMERICAN RITE.
247 3, 1772, by the Grand Master of Scotland, Grand Master of Masons for the Continent of America; and, on December 27, 1773, he caused his commission to be read in open Grand Lodge, and appointed Joseph Webb his Deputy Grand Master. The St. John's Grand Lodge, up to this date, had granted charters or warrants for lodges as follows : ‑ In Massachusetts..................................................
3 New Hampshire................................................
t South Carolina.................................................
i West Indies.................................................... 3 Nova Scotia....................................................
3 Newfoundland.................................................. z Rhode Island...................................................
3 Maryland ......................................................
i Connecticut:................................................... 8 New York......................................................
3 Maine......................................................... 2 New Jersey ....................................................
2 Canada........................................................ North Carolina.................................................
i Dutch Guiana.................................................. Virginia ....................................................... x Total.................................................... 40 The first bears date of 1733; the last, July 24, 1772. In 1775 this Grand Lodge suspended its meetings for some twelve years, on account of the Revolutionary War, its Grand Master Rowe being 1| under suspicion." Massachusetts Grand Lodge, however, continued to meet regularly.
Tradition says that the " Mohawks," the " High Sons of Liberty," met at the lodge at the " Green Dragon Tavern " (vide the two upper right‑hand windows in illustration), which was denounced by the Tories as a "nest of traitors." General Joseph Warren and other leading Masons made it the headquarters of the Revolution. On November 30, 1773, the Lodge of St. Andrew's was closed without the transaction of any business, in consequence of the fewness of the brethren present, the consignees of tea having broken up the brethren's nerve.
On the 16th of December, following, it is said the line to destroy the tea on the then of march was taken from the lodge‑room arriving ships.
On April 8, 1776, the Grand Lodge was convened for the performance of a sad and solemn duty, that of attending the funeral of Grand Master Warren, who was killed at Bunker Hill. The death of General Warren resulted in the organization, on March 8, 1777, of the first independent Grand Lodge on this continent, with Joseph Webb as Grand Master. All the lodges under the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, with the exception of St. Andrew's, joined in the action for the independence of Grand Lodge.
The refusal of St. Andrew's may be accounted for by the fact that its Master and several members were members also of the St. John's Grand Lodge.
After much discussion, "committeeing," resolving, etc., on March 5, 1792, the two Grand Lodges united 248 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
and formed the "Grand Lodge of the most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," with John Cutler of St. John's Grand Lodge as Grand Master, the rest of the Grand Officers, with the exception of the Deputy Grand Master, being from St. John's, the deputy coming from Massachusetts Grand Lodge. The union resulted in the dissolution of Massachusetts Grand Lodge, and the closing in due form of St. John's Grand Lodge.
St. Andrew's Lodge refused to become a party to the union until December, 1807, when it was received into the United Grand Lodge, and one of its members elected Grand Treasurer. During the existence of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, it chartered lodges as follows: ‑ In Massachusetts.................................................. 16 Maine ......................................................... i United States Army............................................. i New Hampshire................................................ 4 Connecticut.................................................... Vermont....................................................... 2 New York......................................................
i Total.................................................... go If the lodges under the Massachusetts Grand Lodge were truly "Ancients," then this union of the two Grand Lodges was the first, and antedates by twenty‑two years the union in England of 1813. The union restored harmony, encouraged work, and brought prosperity, as is evidenced by the number of charters issued from 1792 to 1830.
One hundred and five lodges were formed in Massachusetts, 28 in Maine, 2 in Ohio, and 2 in the West Indies.
The first act of the United Grand Lodge was to publish the "Book of Constitutions," prepared by Thaddeus Mason Harris, published by Isaiah Thomas, and now known as "Thomas's Constitutions," ‑its foundation was Anderson's Constitutions, and it was dedicated to General Washington.
In presenting a copy of the " Book of Constitutions " to General Washington, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts said : ‑ " Desirous of enlarging the boundaries of social happiness and to indicate the Ceremonies of their Institution, this Grand Lodge has published' A Book of Constitutions' (and a copy for your acceptance accompanies this), which, by discovering the principles which actuate, will speak the eulogy of the society," etc.
In 1796 a second and enlarged edition of the same was published.
On June 27, 1835, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the Bunker Hill Monument.
General Lafayette was present, and assisted at the special convocation of Grand Lodge and the ceremonies of laying the corner‑stone.
The Monument was dedicated with Masonic ceremonies, in 1845.
The Anti‑Masonic excitement raged long and bitterly in Massachusetts. Many of the smaller lodges suspended work until the storm was spent, while a few surrendered their warrants.
In the midst of the excitement, the Grand Lodge, finding itself without. a THE AMERICAN RITE.
249 home, purchased, in 183o, a lot of ground, and arranged to lay the cornerstone of a new hall to be erected thereon. Amid the hooting and yelling of a crowd of fanatics, the Grand Lodge and brethren, to the number of two thousand, with Boston Encampment of Knights Templars at their head, marched from Faneuil Hall to the place where the corner‑stone was duly and truly laid.
On December 31, 1831, the Masons of Boston published the famous "Declaration" [see Division XI.] prepared by Charles W. Moore, which did more to cause a halt in the public excitement, cool off the hot‑headed ones, and restore reason to the doubting, than any other document issued in this country.
This declaration was affirmed and re‑affirmed by the Grand Lodges of the New England States.
The legislature, in 1831, led by the Anti‑Masons, notified Grand Lodge to appear and show cause why the act of incorporation granted in 1817 should not be repealed. The Grand Lodge, on December 2 7, 1833, placed all its property in the hands of trustees, and then, in a formal and legal manner, surrendered, through its committee, the said act of incorporation to the legislature, together with a " Memorial " setting forth their action in surrendering their charter.
The Grand Lodge was incorporated a second time by the legislature, in 185o. This act allows the holding of real estate not exceeding the value of $5oo,ooo, and personal estate not exceeding the value of ,$50,000.
The legislature of Massachusetts has also incorporated the " Masonic Education and Charity Trust," the whole amount of funds and property authorized to be held by the corporation not to exceed $1,ooo,ooo. While the Grand Lodge is itself incorporated, it has prohibited its subordinate lodges accepting a charter, under an act of incorporation, from "any legislature or political government." Before locating in the present beautiful Masonic Temple the lodges of Boston have met at various places, as follows: . Bunch of Grapes Tavern, King Street (now State Street) ; Royal Exchange Tavern, corner of State and Exchange streets ; Grey Hound Tavern, in Roxbury (pulled down by a mob about the time of the Revolution) ; George Tavern, on Boston Neck; British Coffee House, Concert Hall; Green Dragon Tavern, next to the north‑west corner of Hanover and Union streets; Faneuil Hall (one meeting, Feast of St. John, June 24, 1782) ; James Vilas Hotel, 17 Court Street; Exchange Coffee House; Masons' Hall, Ann Street (now North‑street) ; Old State House, State Street; Washington Hall, Washington Street, opposite Isabella Street; Temple, Tremont Street, sold to United States for Court House, 1858 ; Nassau Hall, corner of Washington and Common streets; Winthrop House, corner of Tremont and Boylston streets, burned in 1864.
After the fire, the foundation of the present Temple was built with the money received from insurance and other available funds of the Grand Lodge.
The corner‑stone was laid October 14, 1864, and'the building dedicated June 24, 1867.
The founda 250 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
tion, with ten thousand feet of land on which it stood, and $2000 in cash, constituted the entire possessions of the Grand Lodge at that time, and the erection of the Temple created a large debt which was not fully paid until December, 1883. The Temple, of which we give an illustration, is large and commodious, built of granite, and has ample accommodations for the Grand and subordinate lodges, the officers of Grand Lodge, and the library of the Grand Lodge.
The property is valued at about half a million dollars.
The Grand Charity Fund amounts to about $6o,ooo.
A temporary appropriation of $2000 annually is made from the general funds of the Grand Lodge, until the income of the Grand Charity Fund shall be available.
Relief is granted by a committee of three, to worthy brethren, their widows and orphans in distress.
This Grand Lodge retains in activity many of its oldest lodges.
The first lodge, St. John's, July 30, 1733, is the oldest lodge on this continent; St. Andrew's Lodge, 1756, Boston, is the oldest lodge under Scottish Constitution, and there are thirty‑three others, all dating prior to 1799 The minimum fee for the degrees is $25 ; the annual dues generally from $2 to $3, with some lodges at $1o and $15.
It has a fine and most valuable library, rich in rare Masonic books, proceedings, and magazines. It has been fortunate in those who have been called to preside over it, many of whom have been distinguished above their brethren, in public and political life, local, State, and National.
It has ever maintained the absolute supremacy of Grand Lodge and Grand Master, and has resisted all attempts at innovations that would destroy the secrecy and harmony of the Craft.
Rhode Island.‑Among the very many traditions related about the introduction of Freemasonry into the New England States, is one told by the Rev. Edward Peterson, in his history of Rhode Island and Newport, that in the spring of 1658, Mordecai Campannell, Moses Peckeckoe Levi, and others, in all fifteen families, arrived at Newport from Holland. They brought with them the first three degrees of Masonry and worked them at the house of Campannell, and continued to do so, they and their successors, to the year 1742. Documents substantiating the above are said to have been in the possession of Brother Nathaniel H. Gould, formerly of Providence, now of Texas.
The language used in the document is said to be : ‑ " Ths ye (day and month obliterated) 1656 (the last figure possibly an 8), Wee mett att y House off Mordecai Campanell and after synagog Wee gave Abm Moses the degrees of Maconrie." How much reliance should be placed on this, depends on the imagination of the reader. As far as is known at present, Thomas Oxnard, Provincial Grand Master of St. John's Grand Lodge, at Boston, on December 24, 1749, granted a charter for a lodge at Newport, appointing Caleb Phillips as Master.
In 1759 complaint was made that this lodge was conferring the Master's degree. The Grand Lodge demanded information as to why they conferred the Master's degree, as it was never intended they should possess powers to "raise" THE AMERICAN RITE.
251 brethren to the Third degree, but were to only exercise the inherent authority of an " ordinary lodge."
They replied that it was an error, and a misunder standing upon the part of the brethren of the lodge.
The St. John's Grand Lodge, Jeremy Gridley Provincial Grand Master, on March 20, 1759, however, granted a warrant expressly authorizing the Third degree, to be conferred in a separate Master's lodge.
On January 18, 1757, Jeremy Gridley granted a warrant for a lodge at Providence.
There are no records of any meetings being held from July, 1764, to December, 1768.
After June 7, 1769, it became dormant, but was revived July 15, 1778, under a warrant granted by Grand Master Rowe. These two lodges, on June 25, 1791, agreed "upon a plan for constituting a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, within the United States of America."
A constitution was adopted, making the annual meetings, on June 24th, alternately at Newport and Providence.
At this time Newport Lodge had 113 members, and Providence Lodge 121.
In 1792 certificates were issued by Grand Lodge which defined their powers and were equivalent to a warrant. One who received the Entered Apprentice degree in the lodge did not become a member thereof.
A Fellow Craft must apply by petition for advancement, as an Entered Apprentice could not be a member of the lodge.
In 1797 a brief memorial service was adopted.
Charters were not granted directly, and lodges were required to work under dispensations for several years before a charter was issued.
They were, however, allowed representation in Grand Lodge.
In 18oo the Grand Lodge began the numbering of its lodges.
The new lodges were constituted and the officers installed in public. Lodges were given jurisdictional control of petitioners in 18oo.
The proposition of other Grand Lodges to form a General Grand Lodge received the support of this Grand Lodge, in 1791 and 1793, but subsequently, in 1802, its views changed and it was strong in its opposition to the same.
In 1804, in violation of the constitution of the Grand Lodge, Thomas Smith Webb, who was a member but not a Past Master of St. John's Lodge in Providence, was elected Senior Grand Warden and served two years. The constitution, which limited the offices of Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master to Past Masters of Rhode Island lodges, was amended in i8o8, by making Past Masters of any lodge eligible to these two offices, and Webb, in 1813‑1814, was elected and served as Grand Master.
Webb, in 1796, before he came to Providence, published the " Freemason's Monitor," and during his term of service in Grand Lodge he published four editions of the same. He died suddenly of apoplexy, in Cleveland, Ohio, in July, 1819.
In 1811 Grand Lodge declined to grant a warrant for a lodge on the Island of St. Bartholomew, for want of jurisdiction. October 3, 1814, Grand Lodge met, formed in procession headed by Grand Master Thomas Smith
s 252 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Webb, marched to Fox Point, and went to work at the erection of a fort for the defence of the harbor of Providence.
After its completion the Grand Master named it Fort Hiram.
The effects of Anti‑Masonry were felt severely, although but few of the lodges closed.
The legislature, in 1831, appointed a committee to investigate Masonry.
The Grand Lodge appeared before the committee which reported, exonerating the Fraternity from the charges brought against it, yet recommending its discontinuance.
The Grand and subordinate lodges were summoned to show cause why their civil charter should not be revoked. In 1834 six charters were repealed, and the legislature passed a bill prohibiting,the administering of extra‑judicial oaths. Grand Lodge surrendered its civil charter March 17, 1834, but it was restored January, 1861. It is said during the excitement only twelve members renounced Masonry, and of this number four were clergymen.
A new constitution was adopted in 1826, and also in 1848.
In 1863 Grand Lodge revised the work, which was generally accepted, except by Mt. Moriall Lodge.
This lodge refused to accept the same, and was suspended.
Several members, among them the Master, were‑ expelled, and it was years before the lodge accepted and worked the adopted work.
Masonic halls are found in all the leading cities and towns.
The minimum fee for the degrees is $25 ; the highest $200 ; annual dues from $4 to $25. Connecticut. ‑ Like the other New England States, Connecticut derived its Masonic life from Massachusetts; not only from the St. John's (of whicA Paul Revere was afterward Grand Master), but also from the Massachusetts Grand Lodge.
The former granted charters as follows : " Hiram," at New Haven, August 12, 1750, with David Wooster as Master; one at New London, January 12, 1753, which ceased to exist before 1789 ; " St. John's," at Middletown, February 4, 1754; "St. John's," at Hartford, 1762; "Compass," at Wallingford, April 28, 1769; "St. Alban's," at Guilford, July 1o, 1771, it became dormant in 1776, and was revived May 17, 1787; and "Union," at Danbury, March 23, 1780.
The Provincial Grand Master of New York, George Harrison, acting under the Grand Lodge of England, chartered " St. John's," in Fairfield (afterward at Bridgeport), in 1762 ; "St. John's," in Norwalk, May 23, 1765 ; "Union," at Greenwich, November 18, 1764; and "St. John's," at Stratford, April 22, 1766.
The Massachusetts Grand Lodge (Scotland) chartered " Wooster," in Colchester, January 12, 1781; "St. Paul's," at Litchfield, May 27, 1781, its charter dated June 21, 1781 ; " King Hiram," at Derby, January 3, 173, ; " Montgomery," at Salisbury, March 5, 783 ; (no record is found in Grand Lodge record of this charter being granted), "Columbia," at Norwich, June 24, 1785 ; and " Frederick," at Farmington, September 18, 178 7 : 17 lodges in all. In addition, there was meeting in the State the Army lodge "American Union," THE AMERICAN RITE.
253 chartered by St. John's Grand Lodge in Boston, February 13, ,1776, and attached to a Connecticut regiment.
These lodges, working under different regulations, continued harmonious as far as was possible.
It was the custom among Masons and lodges in those early days to hold conventions, at which any important legislation was considered.
Such a convention of lodges met on Friday, April 29, 1783, in pursuance to the action of a convention held the 13th of March preceding, at which thirteen lodges were represented.
The feasibility of the formation of a Grand Lodge was considered, which made it comparatively easy to effect an organization of the Grand Lodge at a later date.
On January 14, 1784, a Grand Master and other officers were chosen, but no further progress was made until May 14, 1789, when another convention was called.
An adjournment was had, until July 8, 1789, when a constitution was adopted, officers elected, and the present Grand Lodge of Connecticut formed.
There were twelve lodges represented, and it is remarkable that these lodges are all working at the present time, and all were present at the Centennial of the Grand Lodge in 1889.
The lodges at Stamford, Norwalk, Derby, New London, Guilford, and Waterbury were not represented at the formation of the Grand Lodge, but Norwalk, Derby, and Stamford subsequently joined the Grand Lodge.
The first lodge chartered by the new Grand Lodge was " Moriah," No. 15, at Windham, October 15, 1790, now located at Danielsonville.
The first eleven years showed the growth and popularity of the Fraternity, and the lodges had increased to 44, with about 3000 members. About 18oo, spurious and clandestine lodges were established by one Joash Hall,‑one being in Middletown, one in New London, and one in Wallingford. Hall was an arch‑deceiver and impostor.
His lodges soon died out.
In 1802 Connecticut deemed the establishing of a supreme Grand Lodge for the United States inexpedient.
In 1803 two charters were granted for lodges in Ohio,, most of the petitioners having received their Masonic light in Connecticut, but who had removed to New Connecticut, on the Western Reserve.
One was "Erie," No. 47, now " Old Erie," No. 3, at Warren; the other, "New England," No. 45, now " New England," No. 4, at Worthington.
These two lodges, acting with the Army lodge "American Union," assisted in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Ohio in 1808, and are still in existence.
In 1816 Jeremy L. Cross was appointed Grand Lecturer, to instruct the lodges in the correct and uniform work.
He was the author of a " Masonic Chart, or Hiero glyphic Monitor."
He also instituted councils of the Cryptic Rite.
In 1821 Grand Lodge was incorporated by the Legislature. In 1823 Grand Lodge refused to divide the State into Masonic districts and to appoint District Deputies. In 1826 Grand Lodge appropriated $500 for the erection of a monument to General George Washington. The Anti‑Masonic excitement commenced in Connecticut about this time, and the strength and influence of the Craft began to wane : lodges failed in their duties, and charters were revoked or surrendered at each session of Grand Lodge. The Fraternity 254 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
were so demoralized that, at the annual session of 1831, every officer of the Grand Lodge, except the Grand Treasurer, declined further service ; finally new officers, except the Grand Treasurer, were elected; but at the next annual session the Grand Master and Grand Treasurer alone reported for duty. Then was adopted the famous Declaration of Masonic principles, which tended in a measure to allay the Anti‑Masonic feeling. In 1841 but twenty‑five lodges were represented. In 1845 an improvement was noted, which has continued up to the present time.
The unfortunate Civil War, beginning in 1861, was the cause for applications being made for a revival of the Army lodges.
On June 6, 1861, a dispensation was granted to twelve brethren belonging to the 4th Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers, then about to leave for the seat of hostilities, for a lodge to be called " Connecticut Union," No. 9o.
No returns were ever made nor records of it found on the minutes of Grand Lodge.
The Greater Lights, gavel, jewels, and collars, and minute. book are now in the archives of the Grand Lodge.
A dispensation for a lodge in the 5th Connecticut Regiment, to be known as "Ensign," No. 9i, was refused.
The great fire of 1872, in Chicago, while it called for the sympathies of the people, and their liberal contributions in aid, was the means of laying the foundation of what will be in time a great Masonic charity.
When the needy there had been relieved, and no more want ‑was found, there remained in the hands of the Chicago Committee of Masonic Relief considerable money, which was divided among the contributors. The amount returned to Connecticut led to the incorporation of " The Masonic Charity Foundation," for the " assistance or support of aged, indigent, sick or infirm Freemasons and their widows, and to maintain and educate the orphans of deceased and children of living Freemasons, as may not be otherwise properly provided for." This fund amounted, in 1889, to the sum of $1o,o82.53. There is a lodge room still in existence at Woodbury, of 1775‑1797, and many of the lodges own the halls in which they meet.
The Grand Lodge has not been disturbed by any dissensions until within a few years, when, for disobedience, the warrant of one of the oldest lodges was suspended, and its meetings declared clandestine. The lodge, notwithstanding, continued to meet for some time, but finally yielded as it should have done at first.
The Grand Lodge forgave magnanimously, and now the Grand Lodge of Connecticut is stronger, and is doing better Masonic work than ever.
New York.‑To Daniel Coxe, by virtue of deputation as Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, were confided the interests of Freemasonry in this the largest jurisdiction in the United States. What acts were done by Coxe under the terms of the deputation is not known at present. Occupying the position geographically that this metropolitan city does, on the highway between Philadelphia and Boston, it may be safely supposed that something must have been done by him. History, however, is silent, and we can only abide with patience, until future investigation has unveiled THE AMERICAN RITE.
255 the past. Captain Richard Riggs was appointed Provincial Grand Master for New York, by the Earl of Darnley, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, on November 13, 1737: he served for fourteen years. Riggs was followed by Francis Goelet, appointed by Lord Byron, Grand Master in 1751, who served two years, and he by George Harrison, appointed by the Baron of Carysfort, on June 9, 1753, who served for eighteen years, when Sir John Johnson was appointed, in 1771, by Lord Blaney, and he served for ten years. The New York Gazette, the first newspaper published in New York, in its issue of November 28, 1737, comments on the "New and unusual sect or society of persons of late appeared in our native country, and at last has extended to these parts of America," complaining that "this society, called Freemasons, meet with their doors shut and a guard at the outside," etc.
The same newspaper, June 26, 1738, published a song for the Freemasons, and a parody on the same for the ladies.
On January 22, 1739, the Gazette contains a notice that "The Brethren of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons are desired to take notice that the lodge for the future will be held at the Montgomery Arms Tavern, on the first and third Wednesdays in every month." It is not known if Provincial Grand Masters Riggs and Goelet authorized the formation of any lodges. Harrison was the first active Grand Master, and he granted the following warrants : St. John's, No. 2 (now No. 1) ; Independent Royal Arch, No. 8 (now No. 2) ; St. Patrick's, No. 8 (now No. 4) ; King Solomon's, No. 7 (extinct) ; Master's, No. 2 (now No. 5) ; King David's (moved to Newport, Rhode Island, and now extinct).
Also five others not yet satisfactorily accounted for. Warrants were also granted to St. John's, No. 1, Fairfield; St. John's, No. 1, Norwalk; St. John's, No. I, Stratford‑all of Connecticut; Zion, No. 1, of Detroit, Michigan; and St. John's, No. 1, at Newark, New Jersey, still in existence.
He also confirmed the warrant of Union Lodge, No. 1, at Albany.
He also warranted St. Patrick's Lodge at Caughnawaga, an English and German settlement on the banks of the Mohawk. No records are to be had of the official acts of Sir John Johnson, who succeeded Harrison, except the chartering of a lodge at Schenectady in 1774, and two Military lodges, one in 1775 and the other in 1776.
Johnson was one of the adherents of the royal cause, and sought protection of the British army during the troubles of the Revolutionary War.
He had for his Indian ally Brandt, the war‑chief, who is stated to have been a Mason.
History respects Brandt for his remembrance of his Masonic vows during the bloody scenes of war, but of Johnson it says that "his eyes had become blind to the Mason's sign, and his ears deaf to the Mason's word." When the British army occupied New York City, in 1776, the lodges there, with but a single exception, ‑Lodge No. 399, 1763, granted by the Grand Lodge of Ireland, ‑were working under authority of the Grand Lodge of England (Moderns). They all ceased work, together with lodges in other 256 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
parts of the State, during the war, St. Patrick's Lodge, at Johnstown, alone keeping active.
Attached to the British regiments stationed in New York City were the following Army lodges: No. 169 (afterward St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 3), chartered in 1771, at Boston, Massachusetts, by the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, but transferred to New York in 1776; No. 21 o, by the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients), chartered in 1779, afterward Temple Lodge, No. 4 (June 3, 1789), and then Jerusalem, N6. 4, December 2, 1789 ; and Solomon's Lodge, No. 212, chartered in November, 178o, by the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients), constituted March 1, 1782, granted as St. Patrick's Lodge in 1788. No. 169 was the lodge whose papers were seized as a prize by the vessel belonging to Brother Henderson, handed to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, October 18, 1781, and directed by that Grand Lodge to be returned, by permission of the Council of Safety at Philadelphia, to the lodge at New York.
Among the papers thus seized and forwarded was the warrant to hold a new lodge, No. 212, in New York City, etc.
The forwarding of the papers was delayed until December 17, 1781, in order that the Grand Master might obtain information as to the treatment of some brethren who had been prisoners in New York.
The answer being satisfactory, the papers were ordered to be forwarded under care of a brother who was Commissary General. This lodge had a record most favorable, which continued until 1827, when its warrant was surrendered.
In response to an application, the Duke of Athol, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, "Ancients," granted, on September 5, 1781, a warrant to open a Provincial Grand Lodge in New York City. During the interval between the granting of the warrant and the first meeting of the Grand Lodge, December 5, 1782, the Grand Lodge of England was opened on American soil for the first and possibly the only time.
The extract, which we give in full, has been duly authenticated by Colonel 'Shadwell H. Clerke, Grand Secretary of England, as follows : ‑ "Extract from the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, according to the Old Institutions,' at present in the Archives of the United Grand Lodge of England, Freemasons' Hall, London." "'Grand Lodge opened at 4 o'clock in the City of New York, North America, on the list February, An. Do. 1782, An. Lap. 5782. * The R.‑. W.% & Rev'd Br. William Walter P. G. M. Elect as D. G. M.; the R.,. W.*. Br. John St. Browning, Esq., P. S. G. W. Elect as S. G. W.; the R.‑. W.‑. & Rev'd Br. John Barkley, P. J. G. W. Elect as J. G. W.; the R.*. W.% Br. Isaac Callins, P. M. of 169 as Gd. Secy. ; Present, Br. Cunningham, Mr. of No. 16q; Warden, S.W. of No. 16q; Lounds, J. W. of No. 169; Barclay, P. M. of 169; McEwen, P. M. of No. 169; Collins, Mr. of No. 210; Watson, S. W. of No. 210; Grigg, J. W. of No. 210; Br. Cock, Mr. of No. 212; Courtney, S. W. of No. 212; Harrison, J. W. of No. 212; Hodson, P. M. of No. 212; Crowell, P. M. of No. 212; Drew, Mr. of No. 213; Fife, S. W. of No. 213; Geddes, J. W. of No. 213; Stokes, P. M. of No. 213. Installed according to Ancient usage: Maximilian de Strait, Master. The Rev'd John Phillip Erb, S. W. Vice David Schoeph, absent. George Dorg, J. W. Vice Ferd'd Foester, dead. All matters relative to this Constitution being complaited the Gd. Officers aforesaid, in the name of the Most Noble Prince John, Duke of Athol, G. M., proclaimed the New Lodge duly constituted THE AMERICAN RITE.
257 No. 215, registered in Grand Lodge Book, volume 8, letter H., to be held in the Second Reg't of Anspack Berauth.
Closed before 7 o'clock, adjourned to the Grand Lodge in London.'" "' * N. B. The Rev'd Will'm Walter was empowered to act as D. G. Mr. (for three hours only) by an authority from Wm Dickey, Esqr., D. G. M.
"Certified as a true extract, " (Signed) SHADWELL H. CLERKS, G. S.
[Sea].] " N. B. The name 'Browning' above given is a mistake.
It should be ' Brownrigg.' S. H. C." The Lodges, Nos. 169, 210, "Ancient"; 212, "Ancient"; No. 52, in her Majesty's 37th Regiment of Foot; "Moriah," No. 133, in her Majesty's 22d Regiment of Foot; No. 213, "Ancient," in 44th Battalion of Royal Artillery; No. 215, "Ancient," in 2d Regiment of Anspack Berauth ; No. 441, "Irish," held in her Majesty's 38th Regiment; "Sion's," held by dispensation in her Majesty's 57th Regiment, were present and assisted at the formation of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, December 5, 1;82, of which Reverend William Walter, A. M., was Grand Master. The principal business of the Grand Lodge in the early days was the healing of " Modern " Master Masons (in one case St. John's Lodge, " Moderns," made application, and the Master and Wardens were admitted in the Grand Lodge and initiated in the " Ancient " mysteries).
The purchase and acceptance of presents of lottery tickets also received favorable attention.
March 13, 1783, the Grand Lodge granted its first warrant, in New York City, to Concordia, No. 6.
The Grand Lodge was at this titre controlled by the Army lodges.
In the lodge, during the turmoil of war, the Royalists and the Federalists were wont to meet upon the square, ‑ both sides meeting upon the level.
When the time came for the evacuation of New York by the British troops, the Grand Lodge, September 19, 1783, "Resolved, That the Grand Warrant shall be left, and remain in the use of such brethren as may hereafter be appointed to succeed the present Grand Officers, the most of whom being under the necessity of leaving New York upon the removal of his Majesty's troops," etc.
Grand Master Walter resigned, and Brother William Cock was elected and installed Grand Master.
February 4, 1784, the three oldest Masters of differ ent lodges were appointed a committee on charity.
Grand Master William Cock resigned, and Robert R. Livingston was elected Grand Master, and installed by proxy.
March 3, 1784, Livingston was personally installed and inducted into the Chair as Grand Master.
It is said he was a " Modern " Mason, and his being elected Grand Master of an " Ancient " Grand Lodge caused many of the " Modern " lodges to come forward and seek admission into the Grand Lodge, and to apply for new warrants, which were accordingly granted.
December 23, 1786, it was ordered that all the lodges in the State hand in their respective warrants, so that the rank and precedency of the whole might be determined.
On March 7, 1786, a committee was appointed, "To consider the propriety of holding the Grand Lodge under the present warrant, and that proper measures be taken to effect a change, if it should be thought constitutional and expedient" 258 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The committee subsequently reported that no change was necessary, except in the draft of the style of warrant to be hereafter granted by the Grand Lodge.
As soon as the precedency of the lodges was established, then all the lodges were to take out new warrants, and deliver up the old ones.
On June 3, 1789, the question of precedency was settled.
The Grand Lodge celebrated, with much pomp, the annual recurrence of SS. Johns' Days, at one of which, December 21, 1785, the Knights Templars, properly clothed, were at the head and tail of the procession.
The same ceremony was repeated June 24, 1789, at which time the Grand Master of Georgia was present.
S2ptember 2, 1789, the Deputy Grand Master reported that there was considerable dissension in Lodge No. 210, on account of the Master's absence, and his taking with him the warrant. The Deputy Grand Master, on petition of the officers and brethren, had issued a dispensation authorizing the lodge to meet. The dispensation expired, and the Master sent to that officer the original warrant, which was then in the hands of the Grand Secretary.
The Master also sent a petition that the Grand Lodge should cancel the old warrant, and issue a new one in the name of the persons mentioned in the petition.
The Grand Lodge referred the matter to a committee composed of the Masters of the city lodges.
The Grand Lodge, on report of committee, granted a warrant to each of the two parties in the dispute.
Various kinds of petitions were also presented the Grand Lodge.
One was from a theatrical brother, asking Grand Lodge to appear in regalia at his benefit; another from a dancing‑master, asking Grand Lodge to recommend him for employment. The trouble in Lodge No. 210 was deeper than appeared on the surface.
After the Grand Lodge had granted the two warrants to Lodge No. 210, some, possibly left out in the cold, obtained from the Tyler of Lodge No. 169 the old warrant of that lodge, and held a lodge thereunder.
Realizing, no doubt, their false position, they petitioned the Grand Lodge, December 23, 1789, acknowledging the impropriety of their conduct and praying forgiveness, and asking for a new warrant. At the subsequent meeting of Grand Lodge a warrant was refused them, and they given permission to withdraw their petition.
August 13, 1790, the Grand Lodge concurred with the Grand Lodge of Georgia in the calling of a convention for the establishment of a Supreme Federal Grand Lodge.
On October 22, 179 r, a letter was read from American Union Lodge, No. 1, " North‑west of the River Ohio," enclosing a copy of the warrant under which they worked, with by‑laws and list of officers.
December 4, 1793, a dispensation for the term of six months was granted to a number of French refugees from the Island of San Domingo, who had with them the proper vouchers of their establishment there by the Grand Orient of France, authorizing them to work under them here. Dissensions soon arose among the brethren of this lodge, and the dispensation was surrendered before it expired.
The difficulties were settled by the Grand Lodge conferring the first three degrees of Masonry, in the THE AMERICAN RITE.
259 French language, on Mr. John Baptist Couret.
Why the conferring of the degrees upon a '1 profane " was done is not known.
The dissensions between the " Moderns " and || Ancients " and a number of clandestine Masons led to the Grand Lodge, in 1793, adopting a " Grand Lodge cheque‑word," which was used for a number of years, but changed December 3, 1794. St. John's Lodge, No. 6, was for a number of years a source of trouble to the Grand Lodge : scarcely a meeting was held but that their dissensions were ventilated in Grand Lodge.
On March 4, 1795, a complaint was received from the Master and Wardens of St. John's Mark Lodge, against the Master and Wardens of St. John's, No. 6.
December 7, 1796, the Grand Lodge resolved || that no charter or dispensation for holding a lodge of Masons be ever granted to any person or persons whatsoever residing out of this State, and within the jurisdiction of any other Grand Lodge." The French refugees, who had formerly received a dispensation to work in the French language, were originally under the Grand Orient of France.
They applied for a warrant as "L'Unite 4mericaine," No. 12, which was granted.
Their life as a lodge was one continued series of disputes among the officers and members, which led, in 1797, to their expelling their Worshipful Master.
The Grand Lodge, on appeal, reinstated the Master.
The lodge then appointed a committee to return the warrant to the Grand Lodge of New York, and voted to resume allegiance to the authority of the Grand Orient of France. The warrant was restored by the Grand Lodge to the former Master, after having been endorsed, by the direction of the Grand Lodge, " as continued in force notwithstanding its surrender."
December 6, 1797, a letter was read from a person styling himself Huet Lachelle, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France, requesting permission to visit Grand Lodge, either officially, or as a Master Mason; but, it appearing that he had granted a warrant for a lodge, "L'Union Fran(aise," in the city of New York, he was refused admission. Lachelle subsequently, when before a committee of Grand Lodge, refused to recall the warrant, and claimed he had the right to establish lodges wherever he pleased.
Paine's Lodge, No. 2 7, asked for and received permission to change its name || to Hiram," because " it was the name of a man who since has rendered himself generally odious by his indecent attacks on Christianity." The brethren of L' Unite Americaine, No. 12, apologized for their action in surrendering their warrant and returning to the Grand Orient, which was taken under a misunderstanding of the action of the Grand Lodge in their case. A dispensation was granted to these brethren to continue for the space of six months, but the minutes were to be kept in the English as well as the French language.
A most singular dispensation was granted on December 25, 1797, to a number of brethren confined in the jail of the city and county for debt, permitting them to cgngregate on the ensuing Festival of St. John the Baptist, and celebrate that day as a lodge.
A like dispensation was granted in 1804.
26o COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Master, Robert R. Livingston, having been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Republic, declined a reelection on June 3, 18o1, after having served since 1784. He was succeeded by Jacob Morton, who was installed into office on June 25, 18o1, with ceremonies at that time no doubt considered "grand," the Installing Officer, Grand Master'‑elect, and Grand Master of Georgia being received at the entrance to the building by a body of Knights Templars, dressed with the Insignia of the Order, and with drawn‑swords; the Grand Master, after installation, delivering a fraternal address.
On December 25, 18o1, Union, Master's, and Temple lodges of Albany, issued a circular to the country lodges advocating the Grand Lodge meeting in Albany instead of New York City, and for the formation of another Grand Lodge. This proposition was opposed as strongly by some of the country as by the city lodges, and finally action was delayed until 1823, when it was discussed with the greatest bitterness.
It was a contention between the city and country, and very unfortunate for the Fraternity.
While the Grand Lodge claimed to do the "Ancient" work, on June 1o, 1807, it was decided that the loss of one eye by a candidate was not such a defect as to preclude his initiation into our mysteries.
September 1, 1814, a Grand Lodge of Emergency was called, when seventeen lodges were represented. The brethren formed in procession and gave a day's labor towards the erection of Fort Masonic (on Brooklyn Heights), for the defence of the city.
After a day's work the procession re‑formed and returned to the city.
On September 7, 1814, a second day's labor was con tributed.
On June 5, 1816, the use of distilled spirits in lodge‑rooms was expressly forbidden.
September 2, 1818, permission was granted by the legislature to raise money by a lottery, for the erection of a Masonic hall. July 5, 182o, a special communication of the Grand Lodge was held to confer the degree of the Chair upon the Grand Master, Daniel D. Tompkins, and on September 12, 1820, the offices of Grand Standard Bearer, Grand Marshal, and Grand Sword Bearer were created. ' March q, 1821, the lodges in the ten western counties, through a convention, petitioned the Grand Lodge that a Grand Lodge be organized in the western part of the State. This was followed by various amendments and additions to the constitution of the Grand Lodge, and resolutions adopted in regard to proxy rights and voting, also for paying the mileage and expenses of representatives. June 12, 1822, a second proposition to establish a new Grand Lodge outside of New York City was offered. It was found that there was an unwillingness to surrender old original charters, received from England, to the Grand Lodge of New York, and the manner of establishing and maintaining Grand Visitors of lodges, as well as the system of representation of country lodges by proxies 1)~ the Grand Lodge, slowly but surely THE AMERICAN RITE.
261 were estranging the country lodges from the Grand Lodge organization, which was solely a city institution, so far as office‑bearers and many local matters were concerned. The proxy power was specially claimed as an abuse by the Grand Lodge; for in March, 1823, it "Resolved, That the name of every person appointed a proxy shall be filled up in open lodge 2t the time of his appointment, and at a regular meeting." In June the clash came.
The day before the Grand Lodge session, the country delegates caucused for Grand Officers, excluding every city member as an officer.
The examining committee of credentials were instructed to consider as regular only those holding under the above resolution.
This was vehemently opposed. An appeal was taken from the decision of the Chair upon a question of order: the Chair declared there was no appeal, and adjourned Grand Lodge till next morning, when the city lodges could not attend.
The Grand Lodge, however, on the demand of at least one‑half of the members present, was immediately convened by the junior Grand Warden, reopened and proceeded to business, elected Grand Officers, adopted a resolution, June, 1822, which declared that it was expedient that two Grand Lodges be formed in the State of New York, viz. : the one already in the city, and the other out of the city, as a majority of the, lodges consenting to form a part thereof should designate, the one to be known as the St. John's Grand Lodge, New York.
The city and country Grand Lodges compromised under a "Compact" in 1827, and united on June 7th, agreeing that there should be one Grand Lodge; that the records should remain in New York City; that the Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary should be chosen from the city; that the Grand Master or the Deputy should be chosen from the city, the other from the country; the two Wardens from outside the city; that the number of lodges which one Master, or Past Master, might represent should not exceed three; that Past Masters should not be represented by proxies.
Just prior to the Anti‑Masonic excitement, there were sot lodges in New York, of which number, 430, owing to the excitement, surrendered their warrants. The persecution was greatest in the western part of the State. Very little, if any, work was done during the years 1827 to 1834. Anti‑Masonic and political affairs had scarcely become settled when a new schism occurred.
It may be stated that, subsequent to the "Compact of 1827," and as the " Morgan Excitement " was dying away, a few Masons were anxious to show' their courage by a public parade, which did not meet with the approval of the Grand Lodge, and it decreed that there should be no street parading even on the occasion of a funeral ; so that, about 1835, all public processions were inhibited.
In 1837 York Lodge, No. 367, passed a resolution that it would appear in public on the occasion of the coming St. John's celebration.
It was joined by Hibernia, Benevolent, and Silentia Lodges; but they were notified 262 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
at Warren Hall, corner of Oliver and Henry streets, by the Deputy Grand Master and the Grand Secretary, that their proceedings were contrary to the regulations of Grand Lodge.
Henry C. Atwood became the leading spirit of those who were about to set the decree of the Grand Lodge at defiance. A committee was appointed to wait on the Grand Officers and inquire if there was anything in the constitution which directly prohibited public parade, and were of course informed that there was nothing in the constitution which directly prohibited parades, but that there was a decree of the Grand Lodge forbidding it.
H. C. Atwood was again notified, the night before, not to parade, and the Deputy Grand Master, Van Benschoten, and the Grand Secretary, James Herring, went to the place of rendezvous, Union Hall, and warned those present. Three hundred voted to parade and did parade. On the succeeding July 12th, 1837, H. C. Atwood and William F. Piatt were expelled for disobedience to the lawful mandate of the Deputy Grand Master. The recreant lodges which formed St. John's Grand Lodge, September 12, 1837, were declared clandestine, and so remained for thirteen years. All Masonic intercourse was refused this " Union " by the Grand Lodges of Europe and America, until December, 1850, when, with great ceremony, St. John's Grand Lodge was merged in the Grand Lodge of New York.
It was the Grand Master of this organization, the St. John's Grand Lodge, that granted authority to Masonic bodies to confer the degrees of the so‑called " York Rite," under the assumed authority of what is now known as the " Cerneau Rite." The fact is singular that the Grand Lodge, in 185o, reversed by its action the decisions given in 1837 against the " St. John's Grand Lodge of the State of New York," and recognized as regular that which it had before pronounced illegitimate and clandestine, without any submission on the part of the latter body. This union left two Grand Lodges in the State of New York, ‑ the St. John's Grand Lodge, of which Henry C. Atwood was Grand Master, and the Grand Lodge of the State of New York: of the latter John D. Willard was Grand Master (he was, in 184x, Master of Apollo Lodge of Troy) ; John S. Perry, a Past Master and Grand Visitor in the County of Rensselaer ; Robert R. Boyd was Grand Secretary.
The country and city representatives clashed on the old question of Past Masters, and their rights in the Grand Lodge. One faction claimed that, in accordance with ancient usage, according to the Ahiman Rezon, Past Masters were not members of the Grand Lodge.
The other side pointed to the solemn "Compact of 1827," and held to it as a "sacred right," when, on June 5th, at the Howard House in Broadway, the culmination of the difficulties took place: and there were, as dividing Grand Lodges, that over which John D. Willard presided, and the other that over which Isaac Phillips presided. This latter was claimed to be the seceding body, and its Grand Secretary was James Herring, and was known as the 11 Phillips " or Grand Lodge of the State of New York.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
265 In due course and under peculiar circumstances, which had been warily brought about, the Grand Lodge (formerly the Phillips body), was proclaimed closed by the Grand Master, James Jenkinson, under the seal and signature of James Herring as Grand Secretary. The articles of union were dated June 7, 1858, which left John L. Lewis, Jr., Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge.
It was the Phillips Grand Lodge of which Greenfield Pote was Grand Tyler, and who was awarded $5oo. When that Grand Lodge was merged, also, $i,ooo was given to James Herring, and $250 to Frederick W. Herring as Assistant Grand Secretary.
It is not necessary to repeat the differences; "the old and the new difficulties were precisely parallel," and the contention was that the " conclusion was inevitable that the membership of Past Masters was a part of the compact, and the country lodges were to receive mileage and per diem as the consideration." On June 24, 1853, the new schism of St. John's Grand Lodge occurred. There were four grievances set forth for this new outbreak : ‑ "First.
Because of the election of Reuben H. Walworth, formerly Chancellor of the State, to the office of Grand Master.
The objections against him were claimed to be the position he occupied, and the opinions he entertained concerning Masonry from 1827 up to about 1852; that for nearly twenty‑five years he was a non‑contributing member; and furthermore, it was alleged that it was intended to make him Grand Master for life.
"Second.
That large amounts of money had been shamefully squandered.
"Third.
That lodges had been inordinately taxed by the Grand Lodge.
"Fourth.
The inquisitorial exercise of power by the Grand Lodge over subordinate lodges and individual members." The strength of the Grand Lodge at this time was about 250 lodges, qo being in the city. This included the St. John's Grand Lodge subordinates, having about looo members.
Upon the expiration of the term of service of Grand Master Walworth, the St. John's Grand Lodge subordinates returned to the bosom of the regular Grand Lodge, after a separation of about three years.
About 1851 the Grand Lodge of Hamburg granted a warrant to one of the lodges of the Grand Lodge of New York (Pythagoras, No. 86), which was the source of annoyance for some time.
From the earliest date the charity of the Grand Lodge has been liberally bestowed, and through its entire proceedings there are evidences of kindly consideration of the wants of the needy and unfortunate, not only to those of their. own household, but to the poor of the world. In the War of 1812, the lodges of New York City relieved the destitution and suffering of the people of Buffalo.
March 7, 181o, the Grand Lodge had fifty poor and orphan children under instruction in New York.
December 15, 1815, funds were raised to procure a pair of shoes, one pair of stockings, an overcoat, and a hat for each scholar in the free‑school under charge of the Fraternity.
On June 7, 1843, a memorial was read from Phoenix Lodge, No. 58, signed by ioo 266 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
brethren, subscribing $3oo in cash, and agreeing to pay an annual sum for the erection of a Grand Lodge hall in the city of New York, and the founding of an "Asylum for worthy decayed Masons, their widows and orphans." This was the beginning of the Hall and Asylum Fund, which, by careful, and judicious, and able management has caused a magnificent Temple to be erected at the corner of Twenty‑third Street and Sixth Avenue.
The corner‑stone was laid June, 187o, and the building was dedicated June, 1875, the total expense being $1,75o,ooo.
For years the Grand Lodge struggled to free itself from an indebtedness of $5oo,ooo, so as to use the income from the building for the establishment and maintenance of an asylum.
The hall they were occupying, the asylum, the home for the poor brother, his widow and orphan, seemed in the dim future; but now the time had come, the man was here, the deliverer was at hand, and he had the Masonic fortitude to work with earnestness, and with warm, earnest friends to stand by him and to follow in his lead.
Right Worshipful Brother Frank R. Lawrence, Grand Master of Masons of New York in 1889, freed the temple of all debt, and the preliminaries to the erection of the Home and Asylum were begun in earnest.'
It is to be erected in Utica, on a plateau, overlooking the city, and containing 175 acres.
It will be supported by revenues derived from the rental of Masonic Hall, and by voluntary contributions.
We give an engraving of this Hall, and proposed Home; the latter from Architect William H. Hume's plans.
The distressed brethren, their widows and orphans, are now being relieved with a liberal hand by the subordinate lodges.
A number of subordinate lodges in different parts of the jurisdiction have halls of their own, while the bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, of New York City and Brooklyn, are owners of magnificent and valuable halls.
In 1864 the Grand Lodge was incorporated ‑ by the legislature, under the title, |` An Act to Incorporate the Trustees of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund." The act was amended in 1877, by providing for the election of three instead of five trustees, to be selected from other than those holding office in Grand Lodge. The legislature has also exempted Grand Lodge property from taxation.
The Grand Lodge possesses a valuable library on which it expends annually about $1500 for purchase of books, salary of Librarian, etc.
Of the original lodges, six survive, viz. : St. John's, No. 1, 1757 ; Independent Royal Arch, No. 2, 1760 ; Mt. Vernon, No. 3, 1765 ; St. Patrick's, No. 4, 1766 ; Master's, No. 5, 1768 ; St. George's, No. 6, 1774.
1 More than $roo,ooo was in hand to commence the erection of the " Home."
Of this sum, $75,ooo was the avails of a fair, held by the ladies, in New York, in 1887.
The building will be of brick and stone, three stories and a basement.
It will have a frontage of igo feet, from which will extend backward three irregular wings, from so feet to 125 feet deep, the general outline of the ground‑plan being like a capital F, with the upper part completed so as to make a rectangle, enclosing a court 36 feet by 64 feet; the perpendicular line. of the letter representing the northern and front side of the building, while the upper horizontal line represents the western side, facing one of the approaches.
This form is adapted to admit readily of enlargement.
The present building will accommodate 150 people.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
269 This Grand Lodge is the largest in number of lodges and membership in America, and wields an immense influence in the Masonic world.
New Jersey. ‑ The deputation of the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of England, granted June 5, 173o, appointing Daniel Coxe of New Jersey, is addressed ‑ " To all and every our Right Worshipful, Worshipful and loving brethren now residing or who may hereafter reside in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey or Pennsilvania." And was issued ‑ " On application of Daniel Coxe and by several other brethren, free and accepted Masons in said Provinces." Whatever doubt there may arise as to what Coxe did under his deputation, it cannot be denied that there were recognized Masons residing in the Provinces assigned to him.
The first warrant known to be issued to a lodge in New Jersey was granted by Provincial Grand Master George Harrison of New York, on May 13, 1761, for a lodge at Newark.
The lodge met first at the "Rising Sun Tavern," afterward at the private residences of its members.
From 1764 until January, 1768, and during a portion of 1769, the meetings were suspended.
In 1769 the lodge was reopened, and continued until January, 1772 ; then it ceased to work during the American Revolution.
This lodge, as St. John's Lodge, No. i, is still in active operation.
June 24, 1762, Jeremy Gridley, Provincial Grand Master of the St. John's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, granted a warrant for a lodge at Elizabethtown, by the name of Temple Lodge, No. 1.
December 27, 1763, the salve Grand Master granted a warrant for a lodge at Princeton, by the name of St. John's Lodge.
Nothing is known of the work done by these lodges.
The three latter were " Modern" lodges.
During 1767 William Ball, Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania ["Ancients "], granted a warrant for a lodge at Baskinridge, which was known as No. xo. It has been stated that the warrant for this lodge emanated from Royal Arch Lodge, No. 3, at Philadelphia, but this cannot be, for there was a Grand Lodge in existence in Philadelphia, at that time, which . granted all warrants applied for.
It has also been called the " Lodge at Bed minster, No. i."
It was also known as Somerset Lodge, No. 1, and afterward as Solomon's Lodge, No. i.
It soon became extinct.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania also granted a warrant, on December 20, 1779, for a lodge at Middleton, Monmouth County, to be known as Lodge No. 23, and on March 27, 1781, granted a warrant at Burlington for Lodge No. 32.
Pursuant to notice, a convention of Free and Accepted Masons was held at New Brunswick on December 18, 1786, for the purpose of establishing a Grand Lodge in the State of New Jersey.
It was organized by the aforementioned lodges. Those present at the formation had nearly all seen service in the army.
New Jersey, during the American Revolution, was the headquarters of both contending armies, and here, during the resting and recuperating of the armies 270 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
in the winter months, the soldiers who were Masons enjoyed Masonic privileges to the fullest extent. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania issued several warrants: among others, to No. i9, a "Regimental warrant for the Pennsylvania Artillery in the service of the United States," which was granted May 18, 1779, this lodge surrendered its warrant, and it is said to have been later taken up by Montgomery Lodge, No. i9, of Philadelphia, but of this there is no evidence, except in the names of one or more of the members being connected with both lodges ; to No. 31, a travelling warrant of the Jersey Line, granted June 17, 1784 ; to No. 36, " a travelling lodge
to be held in the respective cantonments of the New Jersey Brigade," granted September 2, 1782, but surrendered December 20, 1784.
This warrant "strictly enjoins and requires that no citizens be initiated under said travelling warrant while in the vicinity of any lodge of Free and Accepted Masons within the United States, except when special dispensation shall be granted by the Grand Master of Pennsylvania or his Deputy."
The Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, under date of May 18, 1782, granted a warrant for a Lodge No. 2, to be held in the 3d Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers ; the name was changed in February 5, 1783 to St. George's.
It was a lodge composed of loyalists connected with the British Military Line, and afterward, it is supposed, went to Nova Scotia.
In 1784 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania called in all the Army warrants. At the close of 1779 the headquarters of the Continental army was at Morristown, New Jersey. The American Union Lodge attached to the Connecticut Line was at that time at the same place. At the festival of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1779, there were sixty‑eight brethren present, one of whom was George Washington.
At this meeting a committee was appointed to consider the appointing of a Grand Master of the United States.
The committee met Monday, January 7, 178o, and an address was prepared and ordered sent out to the several Grand Lodges favoring the movement; and while the name of Washington was not mentioned in the address as a suitable person for Grand Master, yet it was formally signified to the Grand Lodges that he was the choice of the convention.
At the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge five dispensations for lodges were issued. No action was taken by the Grand Lodge towards framing a constitution or establishing general regulations and by‑laws, until January 5, 1790, when a form was submitted for the consideration of lodges. The Grand Lodge adopted the same on July 6, 1790.
The Grand Lodge of New Jersey was always opposed to, and declined any overtures for, the formation of a General Grand Lodge.
The Anti‑Masonic excitement troubled this Grand Lodge, but not to such an extent as in the neighboring jurisdictions. One lodge after another was forced to yield, until there remained only five or six working lodges, the rep resentatives of which met in Grand Lodge and perpetuated its existence.
Up THE AMERICAN RITE.
to the year 1855, the Grand Lodge held its meetings in the lodge‑room of Trenton Lodge, No. 5, at Trenton, under an agreement with that lodge, for moneys advanced in building their lodge building in 1793‑1794. Prior to that time it used, by invitation, the lodge‑room of No. 5. The Grand Lodge released Trenton Lodge, No. 5, from the agreement, in 1888, and now meets in the Masonic Temple at Trenton, owned by a private association of Masons. Prior to 185o, a number of the lodges owned their own buildings, but they lost control of them after that time, with the exception of Washington, No. 9, formerly No. 34, at Shrewsbury, and Union, No. 11, formerly No. 11, at Orange, the latter at present owning a building that cost about $6o,ooo.
The charity of the Grand Lodge was dispensed by a committee of the Grand Lodge until 1842.
Since that time the subordinate lodges have acted individually.
An effort is now being made to establish a home for aged and indigent Masons.
The Grand Lodge has been singularly free from any schisms or dissensions.
Some of the subordinate lodges had been at one time incorporated by the State legislature, but they subsequently surrendered their corporate privileges.
Pennsylvania.‑Freemasonry presents earlier evidences of its existence in Pennsylvania than anywhere else in the United States. The traveller coming to an unknown land looks carefully around for any traces of human beings existing, or having existed there before his arrival, and when he discovers the impression of the foot or hand, upon anything movable or immovable, he safely recognizes the fact that he stood there follower.
It matters not if the man was a a Christian or heathen, a slave or a free man, a a rich or poor man, a naked or clothed man. cannot be disputed' or controverted in any recognition of his manhood by his fellows is an evidence of the fact that he is endowed with the same rights and privileges as the one who associates with him. That is precisely the case of Pennsylvania and Freemasonry's earlier history.
In the Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1o8, December 8, 1730, printed by Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, will be found the following: ‑ not as the first man, but as a black, yellow, or white man, cultured or an ignorant man, The fact that he was a man manner whatsoever, and the "As there are several lodges of Freemasons erected in this Province, and people have lately been much amused with conjectures concerning them, we think the following account of Freemasonry from London will not be unacceptable to our readers." This was followed by an extract from a writing on Masonry, found in the desk of a London gentleman. The next reference is published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 187, Monday, June i9, to Monday, June 26, 1732, which contains the following : ‑ " PHILADELPHIA, June 26th.
"Saturday last being St. John's Day, a Grand Lodge of the Ancient and Honorable Society of FREE and ACCEPTED MASONS was held at the Sun Tavern in Water street, when, after a COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
handsome entertainment, the Worshipful W. ALLEN, Esq., was unanimously chosen Grand Master of this province for the year ensuing; who was pleased to appoint Mr. William Pringle Deputy Master. Wardens chosen for the ensuing year were Thomas Boude and Benjamin Franklin." February 27, 1884, there was brought to light and photographed an old account book of St. John's Lodge, containing the accounts of St. John's Lodge. The book is known by the written title in text on its parchment or vellum side " Philadelphia City," " St. John's Lodge, Libi‑e B." This lodge record begins June 24, 1731, with the account of William Button, late Master, and closes June 24, 1738. On June 24, 1732, it had nineteen members, from whom were selected the Grand Master, his Deputy and Wardens. The Gazette contains the notices of the annual meetings of this Grand Lodge, up to 1741.
On June 24, 1734, Benjamin Franklin was elected Grand Master, at which time St. John's Lodge had thirty‑seven members.
Brother Clifford P. MacCalla, in an editorial published in the Key‑Sfone, gives the status of the membership of this St. John's Lodge as follows: ‑ " Eight of them were members of the American Philosophical Society, viz.: Brothers Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Thomas Bond, Dr. Thomas Cadwallader, William Allen, Thomas Hopkinson, Philip Syng, Joseph Shippen, and James Hamilton. Eight scientists out of a possible twenty‑three is a large proportion. Now let us examine the list in other relations.
"Nine of the twenty‑three members were lawyers, viz.: Brothers William Allen, John Emerson, Thomas Hopkinson, James Hamilton, John Robinson, William Plumsted, Septimus Robinson, Josiah Rolf, and John Jones.
"Seven were judges, viz.: Brothers Wm. Allen,. Dr. Franklin, Thomas Hopkinson, Wm. Plumsted, Septimus Robinson, Josiah Rolfe, and John Jones.
"Four were Mayors of Philadelphia, viz.: Brothers William Allen, Humphrey Murray, James Hamilton, and William Plumsted.
"Two were High Sheriffs, viz.: Brothers Owen Owen and Joseph Breintnall. "Two were Physicians, viz.: Dr. Thos. Bond and Dr. Thos. Cadwallader. " Two were Coroners, viz.: Thomas Boude and Henry Pratt.
"Two were Governors of Pennsylvania, viz.: Brother James Hamilton and Dr. Franklin.... " Eleven of the members, viz.: William Pringle, Thomas Boude, Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Thompson, Thomas Hart, David Parry, John Emerson, Lawrence Reynolds, John Hobart, Henry Pratt, and Samuel Nicholas, on June 5, 1732, rendered a remarkable and valuable Report to St. John's Lodge, in the handwriting of Dr. Franklin (the original of which is in the possession of George T. Ingham, Esq., of Atlantic City. N.J.), and which reads as follows:‑1 "'GENTLEMEN OF THE LODGE, The Cotumittee you have been pleased to appoint to consider of the present State of the Lodge, and of the properest Methods to improve it, in obedience to your commands have met, and, after much and mature Deliberation, have come to the following Resolutions: "' r. That since the excellent Science of Geometry and Architecture is so much recommended in our ancient Constitutions, Masonry being first instituted with this Design, among others, to distinguish the true and skilful Architect from unskilful Pretenders; total Ignorance of this Art is very unbecoming a Man who bears the worthy Name and Character of MASON; We therefore conclude, that it is the Duty of every Member to make himself, in some Measure, acquainted therewith, as he would honor the Society he belongs to, and conform to the Constitutions.
"' 2. That every Member may have an Opportunity of so doing, the present Cash be laid out in the best Books on Architecture, suitable Mathematical Instruments, &c.
"' 3. That since the present whole Stock is not too large for that purpose, every Member indebted to the Lodge pay what is from him respectively due on Monday night, the nineteenth 1 Proceedings Grand Lodge Pennsylvania, for 1885, pp. 37‑39ò THE AMERICAN RITE.
273 Instant, so that the whole being ready by the 24th of June, may be sent away by the first Opportunity. And that every one not paying that Night, be suspended till he do pay: For without Care be taken that Rules are punctually observed, no Society can be long upheld in good Order and Regularity.
"' 4. That since Love and Good Will are the best Cement of any Society, we endeavour to encrease it among ourselves by a kind and friendly conversation, so as to make us of ourselves desire to meet, but that all Compulsion, by fining any Person for not Meeting, be utterly taken away and abolished, except only Persons in Office, and others when a Meeting is call'd upon Extraordinary Occasions.
"' 5. That the use of the Balls be established in its full Force and Vigour; and that no new Member be admitted against the will of any present Member; because certainly more Regard ought to be had in this way to a Brother who is already a Mason, than to any Person who is not one, and we should never in such cases disoblige a Brother, to oblige a Stranger.
"' b. That any Member of this Lodge having a complaint against any other Member, shall first apply to the Wardens, who shall bring the Cause before the Lodge, where it shall be consider'd and made up, if possible, before the Complainant be allowed to make that Complaint publick to the World: the Offender against this Rule to be expell'd.
"'JUNE 5, 1732.
"' The Members whose names are underwritten, being a Majority, agree unanimously to the within Proposals of the Committee (except the fourth, which is cross'd out), and accordingly have hereunto set their hands.'" On June 5, 1730, the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of England, granted a deputation to Daniel Coxe of Burlington, New Jersey, as Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. We have previously given the full text of this deputation. From the contents of a letter (exhibited, in 1872, at the Masonic Hall, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia), written by one Henry Bell, a taxpayer of Derry Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on November 17, 1754, to Dr. Thomas Cadwallader of Philadelphia, he says : ‑ "As you well know, I was one of the originators of the first Masonic Lodge in Philadelphia. A party of us used to meet at the Inn Tavern on Water Street, and sometimes opened a lodge there. Once, in the fall of 1730, we formed a design of obtaining a charter for a regular lodge., and made application to the Grand Lodge of England for one, but before receiving it we heard that Daniel Coxe of New Jersey, had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Masier of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
We, therefore, made application to him, and our request was granted." The deputation of Daniel Coxe, the notice in Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazelle, of December 8, 1730, referring to " several lodges of Freemasons erected in this Province," the letter of Henry Bell, all bear evidence, and corroborative evidence, that there were Freemasons in the habit of meeting in Philadelphia, about 1730. The lodges in which these brethren were wont to meet were officered, as at present, by Masters and Wardens ; the language used to describe the work and ceremonies was as Masonic as the language used now. Under what authority they worked is not known at present,‑doubtless, as lodges outside of the radius of the Grand Lodge of England, they worked under the inherent right of Masons to assemble and elect their Master.
Under whatever authority they did meet, they considered themselves lawful, Free, and Accepted Masons, and as such held Masonic correspondence and intercourse 274 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
with lodges and brethren wherever they found any they deemed as legitimate as themselves.
In 1734 Benjamin Franklin reprinted "Anderson's Constitu tions of 1723," and advertised its sale.
In publishing this work Franklin gave testimony, indirectly though it may be, of the source from whence they derived their authority, or patterned after.
June 24th of the same year he was elected Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. November 28th of the same year he wrote, as Grand Master, to Henry Price as Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, asking for a deputation confirming the brethren of Pennsylvania in the privileges they then enjoyed, etc.
He appears to have been uncertain of the power of Price to comply with the request of his (Franklin's) Grand Lodge ; for he asks for a copy of the R.‑. W.‑. Grand Master's first deputation, and of the instrument by which it appears to be enlarged, etc.
The copies of these deputations were never furnished, as far as is known.
Nor is there a single instance known of any further intercourse or communication between Grand Master Franklin and Price, or with the Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, except where Franklin visited that Grand Lodge on October 11, 1754, when he was received and warmly welcomed.
It is not to be supposed that Price and his Grand Lodge would for one moment have held correspondence, communication, or intercourse, Masonically, with Franklin and his Grand Lodge, unless they were as genuine brethren as Price and his Grand Lodge were themselves.
The Grand Masters of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania have been as follows: 1733, Humphrey Murray; 1734, Benjamin Franklin; 1735, James Hamilton; 1736, Thomas Hopkinson ;
1737, William
Plumsted ;
1738, Joseph Shippen; 1741, Philip Syng. In 1743 Lord John Ward, Grand Master of England, appointed Thomas Oxnard of Boston Provincial Grand Master of all North America (the first duly authenticated appointment for America).
Oxnard, on July 1o, 1749, appointed Benjamin Franklin Provincial Grand Master of Pennyslvania, with authority to appoint other Grand Officers, hold a Grand Lodge, issue warrants, etc.
It appears that the intimacy between Franklin and William Allen was not very close at this time.
Accordingly we find, on March 13, 1750, less than a year after Franklin was appointed, Allen presented a commission from the Grand Lodge of England, conferring on him the prerogative of Provincial Grand Master, and he was accordingly recognized.
Franklin, in 1749, while acting under Oxnard's deputation, granted a warrant for a lodge in Philadelphia.
There was a third lodge in Philadelphia, warranted by Provincial Grand Lodge. These three lodges celebrated St.. John the Baptist's Day, 1755, by a procession from the lodge‑room to Christ Church, where Brother William Smith, Provost of the University, preached a sermon, one hundred and thirty brethren participating in the ceremonies of the day.
The lodge‑room, from which the brethren marched, was erected in 1754 by the Grand and First Lodges (this shows that there was a distinction between the Grand and other lodges), on Lodge Alley, near Second and THE AMERICAN RITE.
275 Chestnut streets, and it was the first Masonic hall erected in America.
This building was used in common by the " Ancients " and " Moderns."
It was used as a place of confinement for the Free Quakers, during the Revolutionary War.
June 24, 176o, Tun Lodge, or Lodge No. 3, met and celebrated St. John's Day.
March '1, 1782, the subscribers of the first lodge met, and on July 23, 1793, the trustees appointed by Act of Assembly, September 6, 1785, for selling the Freemasons' Lodge, etc., having called a meeting of members of the first lodge of Freemasons, and they agreeing to the distribution of onethird of the proceeds of the sale, ‑ $1533‑5 7, ‑forwarded the same to the mayor of the city ; who was a member of the first lodge), "to be applied towards a fund for supplying, out of the interest thereof, the necessitous inhabitants of said city with fuel in the winter season." This closes, as far as is known, the affairs of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, whose Grand Master, William Allen, was elected in 1732, and of St. John's Lodge, whose first Master, 1730, was William Button.
A reference to the history of the Craft in England, from 1738, will be necessary to understand the changes in the system of Masonry in this country. The secession of a number of brethren from the Grand Lodge of England, at that time, resulted in the forming, in 175 r, of the " Grand Lodge of England According to the Old Institutions " (or " Constitutions "). This Grand Lodge was also known as the " Grand Lodge of the Four Degrees," on account of conferring the Royal Arch.
They were also known as the " Ancients," to distinguish them from the original Grand Lodge, who were styled " Moderns." Then they assumed for a short time the name of " Ancient York," under the impression that the " Grand Lodge of all England," at York, had ceased to exist.
Learning this was not so, they dropped the term " York," but con tinued the use of the word "Ancient."
The use of the term "Ancient York Mason " is therefore misleading, and without the slightest foundation.
Pennsylvania has in times past boasted of its superiority, on account of its "Ancient York Masonry."
There never was a term used with less authority than this. What the Masonry of York and its ritual were, no man or Mason can tell.
Its prestige came from " Prince Edwin of York," and the habit of the Operative Masons coming together annually at York, and there it all ends.
There never was legally constituted a Lodge of Ancient " York " Masons, ‑ and by this we mean where the constitution, rules, and regulations of the Grand Lodge directed the use of that term.
It came into use without due consideration, and is now going out of use because of its misuse.
About 1757, several persons in Philadelphia, prominent in public, political, and private life, were made Masons according to the work of the " Ancients." Application was made to the " Grand Lodge of England, according to the Old Institutions," or "Ancients," for a warrant for a lodge at Pennsylvania, which was granted, June 7, 1758, and it was numbered 69.
It afterward became No. 2 in Pennsylvania.
This is the first warrant granted by the 11 Ancients " in 276 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
the United States. About the same time another warrant was granted to Philadelphia, which became No. 3. It is to be regretted that the Master of this lodge did not present his warrant to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in 178o, to have it affirmed and a new one issued, as did No. z.
The introduction of the " Ancients " seemed to be a popular movement.
The brethren in Philadelphia, composing the old Grand Lodge, were mostly persons holding official positions, while those composing the new lodge, or the " Ancients," were principally (as stated by Laurence Dermott, Grand Secretary of the Ancients in London), "very poor mechanicks (though honest men)."
In other words, they were of the people.
Measures were taken to establish a Provincial Grand Lodge under the "Ancients," which, after considerable delay, and, as Grand Secretary Laurence Dermott wrote in 1765, the writing of " Three warrants, the first delivered to the then Grand Officers in the presence of Joseph Read (of the Lodge No. 2), who was the person that made application for it, and am told the ship and warrant was taken by the French. The second warrant I delivered to the Sen'r Grand Warden (now Deputy), and he to his servant and from whence God knows, all the account I can give o1 it is, that I suppose it was mislaid and consequently lost." On June 20, 1764, the Grand Lodge of England (Ancients) granted a warrant, No. 89 in England, No. 1 in Pennsylvania, to the "Trusty and well beloved brethren in the Province of Pennsylvania to form and hold a Grand Lodge, in the city of Philadelphia, in the said Province, independent of any former dispensation, warrant or constitution granted (by us or our predecessors), to any part of America." William Ball, Esq., was appointed Provincial Grand Master in Pennsylvania, aforesaid, and the territories thereunto belonging ; Captain Blaithwaite Jones, Deputy Grand Master; Mr. Dana Hall, Senior Grand Warden; Mr. Hugh Lennox, Junior Grand Warden. The warrant was registered in the Grand Lodge in London, Vol. HL, Letter C, and bears date July 15, 1761. This is the first Grand Lodge warrant issued by the "Ancients " in America.
Owing to the troubles incident to the war of the Revolution, the records of this Grand Lodge were lost, mislaid, or destroyed by some enemies to the Royal Art, and very little is known, except by tradition, of its doings until July 29, 1779, when the present records of the Grand Lodge begin, and have been continued without intermission to the present day. We can form an idea of what was done, by an examination of the old minute‑books of the= Lodges Nos. 2, and 3.
The oldest minute‑book known at present in Philadelphia is that of Lodge No. 3, which is complete from November i9, 1767, to the present.
This lodge was known at first as Royal Arch Lodge, No. 3.
Its first minutes speak of the reading of the minutes of the last lodge night, thus showing there was an older book in existence at that time.
The minutes [November 19, 1767] speak of a petition from Fort Detroit. December 3, 1767, a brother was proposed for membership who had been made at Fort Pitt, in the year 1759, by three brethren, all Royal Arch Masons.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
December q, 1767, the lodge decided not to admit the brother, ‑ ''A member of this Lodge or to enter, pass, & raise any person belonging to the Army in this Lodge, as there is a lawfull warranted Body of Good and Able Masons in the Royal Irish Regiment, and also as a promise to that purpose has been made to that body by our own Deputy Grand Master & ourselves." April 6,1770, the regulations of the Grand Lodge were presented, but the eighth article did not suit them. We have no knowledge of what this eighth article was, or of the constitution itself, but the Masters and Wardens were directed to attend Grand Lodge and ask for explanation of the same.
May 3, 177o, a "Modern" Mason was entered and passed. November 1o, 1774, there were three "Ancient" lodges in Philadelphia.
The dissensions of the brethren in 1778, caused the placing of all the effects of Lodge No. 2, and its warrant from England, in the custody of Lodge No. 3.
In 1778 the lodge saw troublous times, owing to several of the members, notably the junior Warden and Secretary, having gone to the enemy.
The Master‑elect of the Lodge declined to be installed until he had been discharged, by the High Court of Justice of the State, from charges of being a person inimical to the States. He was afterward discharged with full confidence of his innocence.
September 7, 1778, Captain Stephen Girard was initiated.
At the celebration of St. John's Day, Monday, December 28, 1778, the Grand Lodge and brethren, all new clothed, formed in procession (some three hundred brethren being present), and marched to Christ Church, where William Smith, D.D., preached a sermon. In the procession marched "His Excellency, our illustrious Brother George Washington, Esq., supported by the Grand Master and his Deputy."
A collection was taken up and a committee appointed to distribute the same to objects of charity.
Under the warrant of the Lodges Nos. 2, and 3, the Knight Templar degree was conferred in 1783‑1787.
November 22, 1781, the Ahiman Rezon, as abridged and digested by Brother Rev. Dr. Smith, was adopted, but it was not printed until 1782‑1783.
It was dedicated : ‑ "To his Excellency George Washington, Esq., General and Commander‑in‑Chief of the Armies of the United States America: In Testimony, as well of his exalted Services to his Country, as of that noble Philanthropy which distinguishes Him among Masons, the following Constitutions of the most ancient and honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, by Order and in Behalf of the Grand Lodge of Pennsvlvania, &e., is dedicated, by his Excellency's most humble Servant, and faithful Brother, William Smith, G. Secretary.
Yune 24, 1782." The independence of the Colonies led to the consideration of the propriety of severing the official relations subsisting between the Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodge of England, and at the quarterly communication of Grand Lodge held September 25, 1786, it was ‑ " Resolved, That this Grand Lodge is, and ought to be, a Grand Lodge independent of Great Britain or any other authority whatever, and that they are not under any ties to any other Grand Lodge except those of brotherly love and affection, which they will always be happy to cultivate and preserve with all lodges throughout the globe." 278 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Lodge, acting by virtue of a warrant from the Grand Lodge of England, was then closed forever.
"At a Grand Convention held, Philadelphia, September 26, 1786, of Thirteen different Lodges, working by virtue of warrants from the late Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, with full power from their Constituents to decide upon the Question, Whether the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania should establish themselves as a Grand Lodge independent of Great Britain or any other authority, and with the concurrence of other Lodges, signified by letter, It was unanimously "' Resolved,That the Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, lately held under the authority of the Grand Lodge of England, will, and do now, form themselves into a Grand Lodge, to be called the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and Masonic jurisdiction thereunto belonging, to be held in Philadelphia; and that the late Grand Officers continue to be the Grand Officers of Pennsylvania, invested with all the powers, jurisdictions, preeminence, and authority thereunto belonging, till the usual time of the next election; and that the Grand Lodge and the particular Lodges govern themselves by the Rules and Regulations heretofore established, till other Rules and Regulations shall be adopted.' " The Independent and Sovereign Grand Lodge having been formed, it continued on with its business as if there had never taken place the most important movement in its existence.
Up to 1832 it had granted 217 warrants, and from these have sprung a number of Grand Lodges.
To show how far its influence had reached, we find the following lodges were warranted: ‑ In Delaware.‑NO. 5, Cantwell's Bridge; No. 14, Christiana Ferry, afterward Wilmington; No. 18, Dover; NO. 33, New Castle and Christiana Bridge, alternating each year; No. 44, Duck Creek Cross‑roads; No. 63, Lewistown; No. 96, New Castle.
Maryland.‑No. 6, Georgetown on the Sassafras; No. 7, Charlestown; No. 15, Falls Point; No. 16, Baltimore; No. 17, Chester Mills, Queenstown; No. 29, Cambridge.
New Yersey.‑No. 1o, Baskinridge; No. 23, Middleton; No. 32, Burlington Virginia.‑No. 12, Winchester; No. 39, Alexandria; No. 41, Portsmouth. South Carolina.‑NO. 27, No. 38, No. 40, No. 47, Charleston. Georgia.‑No. 42, Savannah.
North‑western Territory. ‑No.77, Old Mingotown. Louisiana. ‑ No. go, No. 93, No. 112, No. 117, Orleans.
Ohio.‑No. 1o5, Zanesville.
Indiana Territory.‑No. 1a7, Kaskaskia.
Missouri.‑ No. log, St, Genevieve ; No. 111, St. Louis, Louisiana Territory.
Cape F~ancois.‑NO.46, St. Domingo; No. 47, Port an Prince; No. 87, Cape; No. 88, St. Mark; No. 89, Provincial Grand Lodge of St. Domingo, which granted warrants No. 95, Sus6 a Veau; No. 97, No. 98, Alricots; No. 99, Arcahaye.
Trinidad.‑No. 77, Port d'Espagne.
Cuba.‑Nos. 103, 157, 161, 166, 167 at Havannah; No. 175, 181, St. Iago. Mexico.‑No. 191, Alvarado.
South America. ‑ No. 205, Buenos Ayres; 217, Montevideo, Uruguay (this was granted in 1832, the last foreign lodge warrant issued).
Army Lod,; es. ‑ No
18, in 17th British Regiment of Foot, called Unity Lodge; No. 1g, Pennsylvania Artillery; No. 20, a regimental warrant, North Carolina; No. 27, Military Lodge, Maryland Line; No. 28, Pennsylvania Line; No. 29, Military Line, Pennsylvania; NO. 36, Travelling Lodge in the respective cantonments of New Jersey Brigade; No. 58, in the Army of United States (it is said nearly all the members were killed in the Indian War) ; No. 14o, in 1814, in Army of the United States, wherever the Worshipful Master might at the time be.
No. 118, No. 122, No. 129, New While at first the Grand Lodge looked favorably on the election of Wash ington as General Grand Master, it afterward opposed any movement looking.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
281 to the establishment of a General Grand Lodge, or the holding of a National Convention. There was a peculiar affection felt in Pennsylvania for Washington; and, while he was living, the Grand Lodge, on public occasions, was several times honored with his presence, and it is now in possession of one of his few Masonic letters, also one of his aprons, which was presented to the Grand Lodge by his legatees.
In 1873, $iooo was appropriated towards the erection of a monument over his remains at Mount Vernon. In 1852 a block of marble was presented for the Washington Monument, at Washington City.
With Washington, united in the affections of the Craft, was Lafayette. On his visit to the United States, in 1824, his journey through the States was one continual series of Masonic receptions.
In Philadelphia he was made a member of the Grand Lodge, and he was royally banqueted.
Loyalty to one's country should ever go with Masonry, and in 1812‑1814 the Grand Lodge tendered its services to the Committee of Defence of the city, in the war with England at that time.
Upon a call of the committee, 510 members of the Grand and subordinate lodges reported for duty.
Again, in 1862‑1863, the Freemason's Soldiers' Relief Association was recognized and approved by the Grand Lodge; and, during the unhappy Civil War, the hospitals in Philadelphia were the scene of many evidences of a brother's affection for a brother. At the beginning of the present century the Grand Lodge received presents of, purchased chances themselves, and raised money in lotteries.
It was then the custom of the day.
In 1815 the Grand Officers were appointed a committee to open a Sunday‑school in the Masonic hall, for the teaching of the Holy Scriptures to adults.
This was the first adult Sunday‑school established in the city.
June 24, 1834, was celebrated, with becoming ceremonies, " the Centennial anniversary of the establishment of the first lodge in Pennsylvania, of which lodge Brother Benjamin Franklin was the first Master." This could not be a celebration of any |` establishment " by Price, as it antedates any claims that Massachusetts may have since made.
The Grand Lodge was evidently mistaken as to the time of this celebration; for on June 24, 1734, Franklin was elected Grand Master, and in November, 1734, he wrote a letter to Price, asking for a copy of his deputation, and the enlargement of his powers, and for a recognition of the privileges they were then enjoying. Again, the celebration was right in the midst of the Anti‑Masonic excitement, and the brethren no doubt desired some excuse to show the antiquity and universality of Freemasonry in Philadelphia.
There was no place where the vindictiveness of politicians was exerted to a greater extent than in Pennsylvania.
The Grand Master and other officers were dragged from their homes, even from their beds, and hurried before the Inquisitorial Commission of the legislature at Harrisburg; but as each one was brought to the bar of the legislature to take the oath, each one REFUSED TO BE SWORN.
From 1828 to 1836 the storm raged with bitterness, but it finally died out, leaving Masonry purged of its 282 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONR 3 weak members, but more strongly established than ever.
The Grand Lodge; in 1804, most truly " Declared its settled conviction that charters of incorporation engrafted on Masonic establishments are by far the most serious and alarming innovations that have ever threatened their secrecy, harmony, good order, and perpetuity." Prior to 1816 the lodges held semi‑annual elections for officers, and always when opened in the First degree. After that time the elections were ordered to be held annually, and on December 4, 1843, it was ordered that all business of the lodge, and the opening and closing, must be in the Master's degree. The " ancient " system of working authorized brethren who were duly qualified, and in possession of the higher degrees, to open and confer them under the " Blue " lodge warrant.
Under such authority, Lodges Nos. 3, 21, 43, 52, and others, worked the Royal Arch degree.
In November, 1795, the first Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in the United States was opened in the city of Philadelphia.
The Grand Chapter worked in harmony with Grand Lodge until 1824, when it became independent, and then incorporated the Mark and Most Excellent Master degrees into the Capitular system.
The Past Master is only conferred by Grand Lodge authority. In 1849 the Grand Lodge authorized Franklin Lodge, No. 134, to loan its warrant for the conferring of the Order of the Temple in Encampment No. 2, of Philadelphia.
Afterward Union Lodge, No. 121, loaned its warrant to form Union Encampment, No. 6. February 15, 1857, the Grand Lodge rescinded the resolution, granting this authority, to take effect after May 1, 1857.
In 1799 the Grand Lodge set aside one‑third of its receipts for the purposes of charity. This fund slowly accumulated until, in 1826, it amounted to $1428.10, in 1843, $3842, at which time, forty‑four years after its beginning, the interest was directed to be distributed to either sex. The fund was increased by donations from lodges, chapters, etc., and in 1850 from the receipts of a Masonic ball.
In 1847 the fund amounted to $4498.55 when it was set apart for the sole use of the widows and children of deceased brethren.
This fund, known as the GRAND LODGE CHARITY FUND, is dispensed by Almoners, and now amounts to about $73,000.
Stephen Girard, who was initiated in Lodge No. 2, in 1798, died on December 21, 1831, and bequeathed the sum of $20,000, to be invested and reinvested until it reached the sum of $30,000, when the interest therefrom was to be used for the assistance of poor and respectable brethren. The sum reached, in 1844, $31,ooo, and the distribution was begun thirteen years after its bequest.
This fund is distributed by the Stewards of the STEPHEN GIRARD BEQUEST, and it now amounts to about $62,200.
On December 27, 1889, Right Worshipful Brother Thomas R. Patton, Grand Treasurer of Grand Lodge, who had been for seventeen years the treasurer of the GRAND LODGE CHARITY FUND and the STEPHEN GIRARD BEQUEST, desiring to leave a memorial of sacred affection to the memory of his lamented wife, Ellen $. Graham THE AMERICAN RITE.
285 Patton, handed to the Grand Lodge $25,000 || for the relief of poor but respectable widows of forty‑five years of age and over, who have reached that period of life when they cannot sufficiently provide for themselves, and whose husband was a Master Mason in good standing in this Masonic jurisdiction within three years of his death." The sum was placed in the hands of five trustees appointed for life by Brother Patton, and $5oo annually of the interest was to be distributed to the worthy applicants, the balance of interest to be reinvested until it reaches the sum of $5o,ooo, when $ I5oo was to be annually appropriated from the interest, to be distributed by the Bursars of the THOMAS R. PATTON MEMORIAL CHARITY FUND.
Within one year from the date of this donation, relief had been given to a worthy applicant, and the fund was increased to $26,ooo. On December 27, 1890, Right Worshipful Brother Thomas R. Patton added to his previous bequest a second donation of $25,000, thus making the fund $5o,ooo, allowing the annual distribution of $15oo.
These three funds amount to over $186,200.
The Masonic Home of Pennsylvania was organized under act of the legislature, in 1871. The Home for Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania was incorporated in 1885, and in 1889 the latter was merged into the former, under the title of "The Masonic Home of Pennsylvania."
It has received in donations and bequests, up to December, 1889, $68,ooo ; has a fine property, located in the city of Philadelphia.
The encouragement given by the Craft to the practical exhibition of Freemasonry, and its strong hold on the sympathies and support of those who are able, is not better exemplified than in the various Masonic homes and asylums springing up here and there in America.
It is the new day, the new duty.
In Pennsylvania it was not a new idea; the seed was planted in the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Pennsylvania years before it showed any signs of life, but when it did spring up, in Girard Mark Lodge of Philadelphia, it found careful nurture, and to‑day the Home shelters some twenty‑five brethren, who, having wrought their Mason's work, are now resting and waiting for their wages.
It will not require a very vivid imagination to sketch this home (of which we give a view) as it will appear in a few years if it only receives the support it should. A vast building, surrounded by ample grounds, sheltering the old Mason, his wife or his widow, his children
or his
orphans, the
sick, the
decrepit ;
the helpless brother cheered, supported, and comforted by his more fortunate "companion."
God help the poor Mason, God bless the poor Mason, God favor those who favor him and those near and dear to him.
The present Grand Lodge has been governed: first, by the Ahiman Rezon, by Dr. William Smith, 1783, based upon the Dermott Ahiman,Rezon of 1756; second, the Ahiman Rezon of April 11, 1824, in which the Anderson Constitutions of 1723 is substituted for Dermott's ; third, the Ahiman Rezon of 1857 ; fourth, the Ahiman Rezon of 1868; fifth, the Ahiman Rezon of 1877.
This Grand Lodge has met in eleven different halls: first, in 1784, in 286 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Freemasons' Lodge, the home of the "Moderns "; second, in 1786, in LodgeRoom, Videll's Alley; third, 1790, in Free Quaker Meeting‑House, Fifth and Arch streets; fourth, in 1799, in Independence Hall; fifth, 1802, in Pennsylvania Freemasons' Hall, 814 Filbert Street, the first hall of the "Ancients"; ‑ sixth, 1810, in Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street, near Sixth, destroyed by fire in 1819; seventh, again in Pennsylvania Freemasons' Hall; eighth, 1820, in Masonic Hall, Chestnut Street, rebuilt; ninth, 1835, in Washington Hall, Third and Spruce streets; tenth, 1855, in New Masonic Hall, Chestnut Street; eleventh, in Masonic Temple, Broad and Filbert streets, dedicated 1873, the cost of which was about $1,750,000. Many of the lodges throughout the State have their own halls, the finest being at Pittsburgh, erected at a cost of about $425,ooo. The library of the Grand Lodge is one of the most valuable ones in the country.
The Masonic Temple in Philadelphia is the finest and largest Masonic building in the world; it is devoted exclusively to Freemasonry. One of its halls, the Egyptian Hall, lately decorated by " the Art Association of the Masonic Temple," is unique in decoration and is said to be the finest speci men of Egyptian decoration outside of Egypt.
This room is known as the " William J. Kelly testimonial, to his brother, Thomas R. Patton," and was paid for by Brother Kelly as a testimony of a brother's regard for a brother. We give an engraving of this hall; also of the Temple.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania maintains" that Freemasonry is a law unto itself;" that "A Grand Lodge is created by lodges.
When three or more lawfully warranted and duly constituted lodges of Free and Accepted Masons constitute and establish a Grand Lodge, these lodges confer on this Grand Lodge those powers which are necessary to make it a controlling Masonic power. The territorial jurisdiction then attaches. The Grand Lodge having been organized, its jurisdiction declared, and the Grand Lodge, out of whose former jurisdiction the new Grand Lodge has claimed jurisdiction, recognizing it, then and there such Grand Lodge has breathed into it the breath of sovereign and supreme Masonic life and powers." . . .
"There is but one example of a creation of life like unto it, and that was the creation of man. The body was first made, shaped, formed, endowed with its functions, and then there was breathed into it the vital principle which constituted it a living body with an immortal spirit.
So it is with the creation of a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.
It is the recognition, the acknowledgment, of its vital powers that consummates the fulness, completeness, the entirety of a Supreme Grand Lodge of the Craft." It has defined its understanding of the word "clandestine" as follows: "The true meaning, the Masonic interpretation of clandestine is, that it is unlawful.
Whatever is without the seal of lawful Masonic authority is clandestine. Whatever act or proceedings, claiming to be Masonic, and tried and tested from inception to conclusion, must be Masonically lawful or lawfully Masonic, or they are clandestine." Delaware.‑There is an uncertainty as to which was the first lodge instituted in Delaware. It is said that the Grand Lodge of Scotland, in 1764, warranted Union Lodge, No. 121, at Middletown, for General Marjoribank's Regiment. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted warrants to Lodge No. S, at Cantwell's Bridge, on June 24, 1765.
This warrant was surrendered THE AMERICAN RITE.
289 and renewed March 5, 1 798 ; and was surrendered January 30, 1816, in order to unite in forming the Grand Lodge of Delaware: to Lodge No. ró, at Christiana Ferry, afterward Wilmington, granted December 27, 1769; surrendered and renewed January 22, 1789 ; was vacated September 15, 1806, for un‑Masonic proceedings taken by it in the establishment of the Grand Lodge of Delaware: to Lodge No. r8, at Dover, Kent County, granted August 26, 1775 ; surrendered and renewed, May 31, 1787: to Lodge No. 33, at New Castle and at Christiana Bridge, " one year at one place and the ensuing year at the other" ; granted April 3, 1780 ; surrendered and renewed, March 1, 1790 ; vacated September 15, 1806, for un‑Masonic conduct taken by it in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Maryland: to Lodge No. óó, at Duck Creek Cross Roads ; granted June 24, 1785 ; surrendered and renewed, September 6, 1790; had ceased long since: to Lodge No. 6,7, at Lewistown ; granted May 28, 1794 ; vacated April 7, 1806 : to Lodge No. 96, the Delaware Hiram Lodge, at Newark; granted December 6, 1802 ; vacated September 15, 1806, for un‑Masonic conduct taken by it in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Delaware.
The Grand Lodge of Maryland granted a warrant to St. John's Lodge in Laureltown, Sussex County, on September 18, 1792.
It became delinquent to Grand Lodge, and its warrant was forfeited, June 13, 1800.
June 6, 1806, it petitioned to be revived, but was refused, and Grand Lodge warranted a new lodge named " Hope," on the same day and at the same place.
Nine brethren, said to represent Lodges No. 31, Grand Lodge of Maryland, Nos. 33, 96, and 14, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; met at the town hall in Wilmington, and resolved that, as a matter of right, and for the general benefit of Masonry, they ought to form a Grand Lodge within said State, and did then proceed to form the Grand Lodge of Delaware. A committee of five was appointed to prepare a set of regulations.
The meeting adjourned to June 7, 1806, when twelve brethren were present. They proceeded to the appointment of Grand Officers, pro tenipore, and thereupon, opened the Grand Lodge of Delaware, without any previous installation.
Warrants were granted without any charge except the Secretary's fees for executing them, etc.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, to whom the proceedings had been referred, refused to recognize them, for the reason that five lodges at least were indispensably necessary to form a Grand Lodge (it will be noted there were only four lodges at the formation of Grand Lodge); and that three of the lodges were indebted to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for fees and dues. Accordingly, these warrants were vacated.
The Grand Lodge of Maryland also refused to recognize the new Grand Lodge, and in 1808 the charter of Hope Lodge was annulled.
The action taken by Pennsylvania and Maryland did not seem to affect the new Grand Lodge, and in 1816 the Lodge No. 5, Cantwell's Bridge, under the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, joined the new Grand Lodge, by permission of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, thus making five.
290 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Lodge was not much affected by the Anti‑Masonic excitement, and held its annual meetings with regularity during that and to this time. Maryland. ‑ In the Maryland Gazelle of Annapolis, of 175 o, appears the following, which furnishes the earliest reference to Freemasonry in this jurisdiction, as far as is at the present known: ‑ " On Wednesday, the 27th day of December, 1749, the Festival of St. John, the Evangelist, and the anniversary of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, the gentlemen of the Brotherhood connected with the Lodge in Annapolis, with several of the Order from the country, celebrated the day. At 12 o'clock, the whole company, about Bo in number, went in procession with white gloves and aprons, from the house of their Brother Middleton, being preceded by their Master, Wardens, and Grand Stewards, to the Church, where an excellent sermon, adapted to the occasion, was preached by their Brother, Rev. Mr. Brogden ; after sermon they returned in the same manner from Church to the Indian King [hotel] where, having dined elegantly, they elected their Master and other officers for the year, and then proceeded in the above order to the Great Council Room (of the State House), where they made a ball for the entertainment of the ladies, and the evening was spent with innocent mirth and gaiety." Eight months after this celebration of December 27, 1749, on August 12, 175o, Thomas Oxnard of Boston, Provincial Grand Master of North America, granted a warrant for a lodge at Annapolis. By what authority (except the 'inherent right" to meet), these brethren met at Annapolis so many months prior to the Oxnard warrant being granted is not known.
The Maryland Gazelle notices that this lodge was existing in 1761, 1763, and 1764, after which dates nothing whatever regarding it is known.
The Grand Lodge of Maryland has the record‑book of a lodge held at Leonardtown, St. Mary's County. The first record, dated June 6, 1759, refers to money received for the use of the lodge, "at a lodge formerly held at this place." The records extend over a period of three years, and although they appear to be full and complete, there is nothing in them to indicate the authority under which the lodge was held.
' On August 8, 1765, Lord Blaney, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, granted a warrant for a lodge at Joppa, Baltimore, now Hartford, County. The minutes commence November 1, 1765, and close July 18, 1766, at which time the lodge adjourned until the 22d May, 1767, because of 1| the room where the present lodge is held being unfit."
It was thought that, by the date named, "there will be a house convenient to hold the said lodge."
This lodge had a regular existence until February 21, 1782, when it obtained a warrant from the Grand Lodge (Ancients) of Pennsylvania.
It had previously supposed itself to be an || Ancient " lodge, having adopted a by‑law that no one who had been admitted in a "Modern" lodge should be admitted a member without taking the obligations of an |~ Ancient " Mason; but in May, 1781, one of its members who made application to visit Lodge No. 15, at Baltimore (which had been chartered by the Grand Lodge, of Pennsylvania, "Ancients," in 1770), was refused for being a '| Modern " Mason.
The lodge deputed one of the members to take the warrant to the Grand THE AMERICAN RITE.
291 Lodge at Philadelphia, "to have their important opinion" whether it was Ancient or Modern. That body decided that it was a "Modern" warrant, but informed the brethren that if five of their members would go to Baltimore and be "initiated in Lodge No. 16,"' they would become truly "Ancient," and a warrant would be granted to them.
This course was followed, and a warrant was issued February 1, 1782, as Lodge No. 35.
The lodge was requested to send delegates to the convention that was held April 17, 1787, at Talbot CourtHouse, which reorganized or revived the Grand Lodge of Maryland; but although a committee was appointed to wait on Lodge No. 15, at Baltimore, with " Full power to assent or dissent to any matter laid before them respecting the formation of a Grand Lodge," it was not represented at any meeting of the Grand Lodge until May, 1794, when it came under its jurisdiction as Belle Air Lodge, No. 14, its meetings being held alternately at Joppa and Belle Air, and subsequently at Slate Ridge. In a few years it became dormant, but in 1811 it was revived as Mount Ararat Lodge, No. 44, and is still active.
The Provincial Grand Lodge (Ancients) of Pennsylvania granted warrants for nine lodges in Maryland, as follows: Lodge No. 6, at Georgetown, Kent County, in 1766 ; No. 7, at Chestertown, in the same county, in the same year; Nos. 15 and 16, at Baltimore, in 1770; No. 17, at Queenstown, Queen Anne County, in 1773; No. 29, at Cambridge, Dorchester County, in 178o; No. 34, at Talbot Court‑House (Easton), in 1781 ; No. 35, at Joppa, Baltimore County, in 1782 ; and No. 37, at Princess Anne, Somerset County, in 1782. An Army or Travelling Lodge, No. 27, was warranted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 178o, for the benefit of the "Maryland Line " of the Revolutionary army.
Six of these lodges were located on the Eastern Shore, then the most important part of the State. On the 17th June, 1783, two months after Congress had issued the peace proclamation, the lodges on the Eastern Shore convened at Talbot Court‑House (Easton), for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Eastern Shore of Mary land.
There were five lodges represented by deputies, one lodge more than participated in the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, in 1717.
The convention had no precedent to guide its proceedings, for just such a condition had never occurred in the history of Masonry before.
These lodges had all been "warranted" by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and that Grand Lodge itself owed allegiance to the Grand Lodge (Ancients) q: England.
There were present at this convention, as a deputy from Lodge No. 7, of Chestertown, the Rev. Dr. William Smith, who was at the time Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, although residing in Maryland, and Dr. John Coats, Past Deputy Grand Master of Pennsylvania, then a resident of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. A Master Mason's lodge was opened, when it was unanimously 292 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"Resolved, That the several lodges on the Eastern Shore of Maryland consider it as a matter of right, and that they ought to form a Grand Lodge independent of the Grand Lodge at Philadelphia." But when the convention proposed to go into an election of officers for a Grand Lodge, Brother Smith, Deputy from Lodge No. 7, stated that " he was not authorized to elect such officers." It was determined to petition the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia for a warrant for a Grand Lodge to be held on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, when the convention adjourned until the 31st day of July, following.
The convention reassembled agreeably to adjournment.
"The Rev. Dr. Smith, being a Grand Officer, took the chair."
The same lodges were in attendance as at the former session, with the exception of No. 37, of Somerset County, which was not represented; but No. 6, of Georgetown, was in attendance, and was represented, as were all the other lodges, by its Master and Wardens, and not by deputies, as at the former session. The resolution adopted at the previous session, regarding the right to form a Grand Lodge "independent of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania," was unanimously reaffirmed.
It was further determined that the Grand Lodge should be a moving lodge ; " that is to say, it shall sit at different places at different times ; " also, that " said Grand Lodge shall have quarterly communications."
The convention then proceeded to ballot for Grand Officers, when Dr. Coats was elected Grand Master, and Charles Gardiner, Grand Secretary.
Grand Master Coats addressed a letter, dated August 18, 1783, to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in which he expressed his strong attachment to the brethren from Pennsylvania, but from particular circumstances he found it most convenient to reside in Maryland. After stating that he was not the proposer of the movement, he gave his reason for concurring in the views of Brother Dr. Smith, " and every member of the different lodges," as to the necessity for their course of action.
To this communication no reply appears to have been received, and he addressed another communication to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, dated October 16, 1783, in which he refers to the former letter, and gives notice that the next meeting of the Grand Lodge would be held at Chestertown, December 18th.
To these communications the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, through its Deputy Grand Secretary, Joseph Howell, Jr., replied under date December 5, 1783. In his letter Brother Howell stated that the delay in returning an answer to the communication was " in consequence of a sense of doubt and delicacy they felt respecting their determination." While they were in a great measure obliged to differ in sentiment with the brethren in Maryland, yet they frankly acknowledged their ignorance as "from what authority a warrant could be issued." In conclusion he intimated that it is the opinion of his Grand Lodge that the dues of the several lodges "should be paid to the time of your forming." THE AMERICAN RITE.
The Grand Lodge assembled, according to adjournment, December 18th; but, on account of the severe weather, a number of the brethren were prevented from attending, and the meeting was not organized until the next day, when Grand Master Coats delivered an address, in which he gives an account of his visit to the Grand Lodge at Philadelphia. He stated that as he was a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and being on the spot, he requested a meeting be convened that the whole matter might be investi gated.
"To this lodge of emergency," he addressed himself, "making a full statement of the rights which the Maryland lodges claimed that they possessed of establishing an independent Grand Lodge for the State, and of the reasons which impelled them to the formation of such a body." It would seem that his arguments were satisfactory to the Grand Master of Pennsylvania, and met with approval, but there were many members who made objections which had weight. The result, therefore, was the appointment of a committee to meet Grand Master Coats, and any members of the Maryland lodges then in the city, for conference ; also, to inquire whether the Grand Lodge had power and authority to grant a warrant to form another Grand Lodge, and to report at the next quarterly communication.
As far as the records in possession of the Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania and Maryland show, no report was made by the committee.
At the same session of the Grand Lodge it was resolved that, in case the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania refused to give a charter, "we think we have power to form a Grand Lodge within ourselves." After resolving that the next meeting should be held at Cambridge, June 17, 1784, the Grand Lodge adjourned.
Summonses were issued by the Grand Secretary, Brother Charles Gardiner, "to the Masters of the different lodges in the State of Maryland," to meet with their Wardens, the Grand Master, and the Grand Lodge of Maryland, at the time designated. But " from accident and other causes," there was no meeting on that day; nor was there any meeting held, as far as the records show, until three years subsequently.
What this "accident" was, and what were the "other causes " that prevented the brethren from assembling, it would be of much interest to know. Although the Grand Lodge failed to meet according to " agreement," the subordinate lodges considered their allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania severed, as they were not thenceforth represented in that body.
April rq, 1787, by a concert of action, and in compliance with the summons issued by the Grand Secretary, the officers of the several lodges on the Eastern Shore met at Talbot Court‑House, when, having reviewed the proceedings of the former convention, and in order "to give efficacy to what was heretofore transacted upon this subject, and still observing the propriety and necessity of so important a measure," they agreed to establish a Grand Lodge and appoint Grand Officers for the purpose. Brother Coats was reelected 294
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Grand Master, and Charles Gardiner reelected Grand Secretary. It would seem that the brethren, in order to avoid any possible difficulty that might arise in the future as to the regularity or legality of their former proceedings, thus reorganizerd the Grand Lodge. And from this date, April 17, 1787, the Grand Lodge of Maryland dates its formation.
The three lodges on the Western Shore, Nos. 15 and 16 at Baltimore and No. 35 at Joppa, did not participate in the organization of the Grand Lodge, although No. 15 authorized a member of No. 7, of Chestertown, to represent it in the convention, but the letter of authorization did not reach the brother in time.
It was, however, represented at the meeting held August, 1787, and subsequently received a charter as Washington Lodge, No. 3.
This lodge is still existing.
Lodge No. 16 came under the jurisdiction in 1795, as St. John's Lodge, No. 2o, but it was short‑lived, never being represented afterward; while No. 35, as stated, came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge in 1794, as Belle Air Lodge, No. 14, and is now existing as Mount Ararat Lodge, No. 44.
It would seem that there was a difference in sentiment in Lodge 15, regarding the formation of the Grand Lodge, in consequence of which some of the members refused to sanction the action of the lodge in that respect, and, in concert with some of the members of No. 16, applied to the Grand Lodge of Virginia for a dispensation to open a new lodge, which was granted April 28, 1788, as Baltimore Union Lodge, No. 21.
This action of the Grand Lodge of Virginia was clearly irregular.
But little of this lodge is known, except that it was represented in the Grand Lodge of Virginia, generally by proxy, until 1793.
It was certainly existing as late as March 6th of that year; for the distinguished Mason, Philip P. Eckel, held a dimit from it bearing that date. After the reorganization of the Grand Lodge, April 17, 1787, the increase in the establishment of new lodges became rapid; no less than twenty warrants were issued during the first thirteen years of its existence, for lodges in various parts of the State.
But it is evident this increase was too rapid ; more lodges were organized than could be sustained, for seven of the twenty new lodges became dormant before the year 18oo.
In 1794 the communications of the Grand Lodge were removed to Baltimore, where they have since been continuously held, except the communication of i8o6, which was held at Easton.
In addition to the lodges of which mention has been made, there are traces of seven others in the State in the early days, viz. : St. Andrew's at Georgetown, now in the District of Columbia, 1737 ; at Joppa, 1750; at Port Tobacco, Charles County, prior to 1759 ; at Talbot Court‑House, 1763 ; near Libertytown, Frederick County, prior to the Revolution; at Fleecy Dale, in same county, prior to 1790 ; and a " Hibernian " Lodge at Baltimore, held under authority of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, about 1797. But nothing whatever is known of either of these lodges except the fact that they existed.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
295 Four lodges were warranted by this Grand Lodge in the District of Columbia, and one in the State of Delaware; these, however, afterward withdrew for the purpose of forming the Grand Lodges in their respective jurisdictions.
The spread of Masonry in the State was quite rapid between 1820 and 183o, eighteen charters having been issued for the formation of new or the revival of dormant lodges. But shortly after the date last named one lodge after another surrendered or forfeited its charter, so that by the year 1840 there were but thirteen active lodges in the State, and they with a member ship of less than three hundred.
This decline in Masonry in Maryland,‑and it was equally as great in other jurisdictions,‑was caused by the Anti‑Masonic excitement which swept over the entire country.
But about the year 1845 a decided change for the better took place.
The lodges were aroused from the torpid inactivity into which they had fallen, into activity and vigor, and by the year 1850 ten new lodges were formed and a number of the dormant lodges revived.
In 1822 they occupied the Masonic Hall on St. Paul Street, but in the year 1857 the increase in the number of lodges in the city of Baltimore was so great that the inadequacy of this hall was acknowledged by all. It was finally determined to sell it and build the present new Temple on Charles Street, which was completed in 1869, at a cost of nearly $500,000.1 The hall on St. Paul Street was built in great part by funds raised by lottery, at a cost of $35,ooo, and was in its day considered a handsome and commodious building.
In 1797 a petition was made to the legislature for an act of incorporation, but from some cause it was not obtained until 1822. In 1866 the act was amended, giving enlarged property‑holding qualifications, and changing the title from "Free and Accepted" to "Ancient Free and Accepted Masons." In 1797 the trustees of the Grand Charity Fund were constituted "The Grand Stewards' Lodge," which was first composed of eight brethren appointed annually, and presided over by the Deputy Grand Master. It afterward was composed of the Masters of the lodges of the city of Baltimore and a Past Master from each lodge in the State.
This body grew in influence and power, and gradually became the manager of the general business of the Grand Lodge. Jurisdiction was given to it in matters of discipline, and it was constituted an intermediate court of appeals.
It continued in existence until 1872, when the Grand Stewards' Lodge was legislated out of existence.
In 1845 steps were taken for the founding of a " Beneficial Society among the brethren of Maryland," and a committee termed the " Trustees of the Grand Charity Fund" was appointed to take charge of the same. Appropriations to this fund were made by the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter and lodges, which was so judiciously managed that by the year 1865 it amounted to 1 Destroyed by fire December 25 (Christmas), 18go, together with valuable Masonic papers and records contained therein.
296 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
$54,000, when the entire sum was invested in the new Temple.
Until 1872 the interest was annually credited to the fund, when it amounted to $80,402.82. Since which no report has been made by the trustees, and until the resumption of the payment of dividends upon the stock debt, the Grand Charity Fund exists only in name.
September 18, 1793, the Grand Lodge and several of its subordinates, in concert with Lodge No. 22, of Alexandria, Virginia, laid the corner‑stone of the Capitol at Washington, Brother President Washington presiding and conducting the ceremonies by request. May 16, 1814, the corner‑stone of the Masonic hall on St. Paul Street was laid by the Grand Master.
On July 4, 1815, by request of the legislature, the Grand Master laid the corner‑stone of the Washington Monument in the city of Baltimore, which was the first monument ever erected to the memory of our illustrious Brother Washington.
On the 4th of July, 1828, by request of the Directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Grand Lodge laid the first or foundation‑stone of that great enterprise, Grand Master Benjamin C. Howard, assisted by Grand Master Thomas Kittefa, of Pennsylvania, and Grand Master D. W. Patterson, of Virginia, officiating.
August 8, 1829, the Grand Lodge, by request of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad Company (now the Northern Central), laid the first or foundation‑stone of that important work.
On Tuesday, October 12, 1880, during the week of festivities held to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the City of Baltimore, the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, and the Grand Commandery, with a number of Templars from the adjoining jurisdictions, held a grand parade. But the largest, and perhaps the most imposing, Masonic procession ever held in the jurisdiction, was that held on the occasion of the celebration of the Centennial of the organization of the Grand Lodge, May 12, 1887, there being over 5000 Master Masons in line.
The Grand Lodge has been called upon to lay the corner‑stone of many churches and other public buildings. Among the most important were, the Antietam National Cemetery, September 17, 1867; the new City Hall, Baltimore, October 17, 1867 ; the new Post‑office, Baltimore, November 21, 1882 ; and the 'Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Frederick, May 31, 1871.
It also participated in the ceremonies of unveiling the De Kalb Statue at Annapolis, August 16, 1886.
The Fraternity in Maryland has ever been noted for its conservatism, and as a consequence its increase in membership has not kept pace with that of other jurisdictions. Another cause for this has been the heavy burden of debt under which the Grand Lodge has labored for more than twenty years past, growing out of the building of. the new Temple.
This debt, however, has been steadily decreasing for a number of years past.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
297 District of Columbia.‑What is known as the District of Columbia, in 1789 embraced territory ceded by the States of Maryland and Virginia.
The first lodge of Freemasons therein was formed under warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. The petition for this lodge was presented from some brethren in Alexandria to Grand Lodge, on September 2, 1782, and ordered to lie over.
On February 3, 1783, the petition presented on September 2d, last, from several brethren of Alexandria in Virginia for a warrant to hold a lodge there, was ordered to lie over to the next communication: ‑ " In consequence of Brother Adam, the proposed Master thereof, being found to possess his knowledge of Masonry in a clandestine manner, since which the said Brother Adam having gone through the several steps of Ancient Masonry in lodge No. 2 of Philadelphia; It was ordered that the said petition be complied with, and that the Secretary present Brother Adam with a warrant to hold a lodge of Ancient Masons in Alexandria, in Virginia, to be numbered 39. Brother Robert Adam was then duly recommended, and presented in form to the Right W orshipful Grand Master in the chair for installation as Master of Lodge No. 39, to be held in the borough of Alexandria, in Fairfax County, Virginia, and was accordingly installed as such." After the formation of the Grand Lodge of Virginia this lodge surrendered its Pennsylvania warrant, and, on April 28, 1788, received a warrant from Grand Lodge of Virginia. In 1789 it asked to have its old warrant returned ; but the latter Grand Lodge decided it was improper to comply with the request. December 12, 1804, a request to have its name changed to Alexandria‑Washington Lodge was presented to Grand Lodge, which ordered a new warrant to be issued with the new name.
This did not meet the approval of the lodge, as George Washington was named in the warrant as Master.
An authenticated copy of the resolution authorizing the change of name was ordered to be attached to the original.
This lodge did not take any part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.
The Grand Lodge of Maryland issued warrants to lodges as follows : April 21, 1789, to Potomac Lodge, at Georgetown; some of its members moved to Port Tobacco, and opened a branch lodge there, which was soon superseded by a charter for St. Columba, No. 1o; the old lodge ceased May, 1794: was revived October 22, 1795, as Columbia Lodge ; it first met November 7, 1795, and ceased December 12, 1796: November 1o, 1806, it was again revived as Potomac Lodge, No. 43: September 12, 1793, to Federal Lodge, at Washington; November 8, 1802, to Columbia Lodge, at Washington; and May 14, 1805, to Washington‑Naval Lodge, at Washington. The Grand Lodge of Virginia, on November 29, 1796, issued a warrant to Brooke Lodge, which was afterward called Alexandria‑Brooke Lodge, at Alexandria. . December 11, 1810, these five lodges decided that it was right and expedient to form a Grand Lodge for the District of Columbia, and the Grand Lodge was duly formed February rg, 1811. Alexandria‑Washington Lodge did not join in the movement, and refused to leave the Grand Lodge of Virginia, under which it continued by common consent. The formation of the Grand Lodge met the hearty approval of the 298 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Grand Lodges of Maryland and Virginia. The new Grand Lodge, being located at the seat of the National Government, could not help but keep up an active existence. On September 18, 1793, the lodge assisted in the ceremony of laying the corner‑stone of the Capitol of the United States, with Masonic ceremonies by President Washington.
As a Grand Lodge it laid the corner‑stone of the new Capitol, on July 4, 1851, and the dedication and placing of the pinnacle of the Washington Monument, and its dedication within the last few years.
It was the centre of the movement to form a National Grand Lodge, which never met the approval of the several Grand Lodges.
In 1846, when the territory south‑westerly of the Potomac River was retroceded to Virginia, the Grand Lodge of Virginia assumed the Masonic jurisdiction of Alexandria.
The Anti‑Masonic excitement caused but little discomfort, and soon passed away. The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia has always been, and is now, in a highly prosperous condition.
Virginia. ‑In 1741 the Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a warrant to St. John's Lodge, at Norfolk, Virginia, and this may be said to be the first lodge organized in that jurisdiction. On April 15, 1775, the Lodge of Kilwinning, Scotland, warranted Calvin Point Royal Arch Lodge, at Falmouth. March 9, 1756, Blandford Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scot land.
On July 21, 1758, the Grand Lodge of Scotland chartered the Lodge of Fredericksburg, the warrant being still preserved.
But it is probable that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts granted this lodge a dispensation earlier, as records exist from September 1, 1752.
This is the lodge in which Washò ington was made a Mason, on November 4, 1752.
On December 22, 1753, the Grand Lodge of England, "Moderns," granted a warrant to the Royal Exchange Lodge, No. 173, in the borough of Norfolk, in Virginia; this lodge was kept on the English Register until 1813.
August 1, 1755, the same Grand Lodge granted a warrant to "Lodge at the Swan Tavern," Yorktown ; it was numbered 205 : it was not erased from the English Register until 1813. November 6, 1773, the same Grand Lodge granted a warrant to Lodge at Williamsburg, numbered 364; also same day to Lodge at Botecourt, No. 365 : this was also retained on English Register until the year 1813.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted warrants October 4, 1768, to Lodge No. 12, Winchester, which was surrendered and renewed March 17, 1787, and surrendered January 5, 1807, to join Grand Lodge of Virginia; February 3, 1783, to Lodge No. 39, Alexandria, Fairfax County, joined the Grand Lodge of Virginia; June 26, 1784, to Lodge No. 41, Portsmouth, surrendered and renewed June 24, 1790; vacated April 7, i 8o6. The Grand Orient of France granted warrants, in 1785, for a lodge at Portsmouth, and in 1849 for a lodge at Richmond.
Cornelius Hamet of Norfolk, while in name Provincial Grand Master, THE AMERICAN RITE.
299 exercised none of the prerogatives of that high office.
Representing as he did the Grand Lodge of England, lodges were petitioned for and warranted without a word of reference, or recommendation, to or from him.
A convention of the delegates from five lodges, from five different jurisdictions in Virginia, met, on May 6, 1777, at the city of Williamsburg, and then adjourned to May 13, 1777, when a so‑called Grand Lodge was formed.
On April 28, 1788, Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, sent a communication that they desired to surrender their present warrant to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and obtain one from the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
A warrant was granted as Alexandria ,Lodge, No. 22.
December 12, 1804, the lodge petitioned that it might be known thereafter as the "Alexandria‑Washington Lodge, No. 22."
The petition was granted, for which the lodge paid úio.
April 29, 1791, the Grand Lodge adopted and ordered to be printed the " Book of Constitutions," approved by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and known as " Smith's Ahiman Rezon."
The work was so imperfectly done, typographically, that it was rejected, and the book ordered to be burnt.
A brother offered to print a new edition of the Ahiman Rezon.
Permission was granted, and a motion in the Grand Lodge to purchase 250 copies was rejected. It is known as " Read's Ahiman Rezon."
The Grand Lodge adopted the work as taught by Jeremy L. Cross, who taught the Thomas Smith Webb work. In 1798 the Grand Lodge prohibited, under the penalty of expulsion, the visiting by any member of a lodge in Virginia of the lodges of the " Ancients." The Anti‑Masonic excitement considerably affected the lodges, and weakened many of the members, but, when it passed over, Masonry was stronger than ever. On February 22, 1858, the Grand Lodge dedicated the monument erected at Richmond to the memory of Brother George Washington. The ceremonies were said to be grand and inspiring.
They also laid, with full Masonic ceremonies, the corner‑stone of the monument erected by the United States Government to commemorate the surrender of Yorktown.
The Craft are building, and have nearly completed, an imposing hall or Temple for Masonic purposes, to cost nearly $150,000.
West Virginia. ‑ The Civil War of 186 r, and years following, resulted in the division of the State of Virginia and the formation of a portion thereof, in June, 1863, into the separate State of West Virginia. All communication, between the subordinate lodges in the northern and western parts of the State forming West Virginia, and the Grand Lodge of Virginia, had been suspended for nearly three years, and the meetings held were irregular in more particulars than one.
The vicissitudes of war and the failure to meet regularly raised a doubt of the right of renewing the meetings without the direct authority of a Grand Lodge. Counsel and advice were solicited from the neighboring jurisdictions ; and the favorable suggestions made by them led to the issuing of a circular by Fairmont Lodge, No. 9, addressed to the lodges in what is now known as West Virginia, for a convention to meet on December 28, 1863.
300 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The meeting adjourned to February 22, 1864, and again to June 24, 1864, when, eight lodges being represented, it was resolved to form a Grand Lodge. Grand Officers were elected, and a day fixed for the installation of the Grand Officers. At the time designated for the performance of this duty, it was learned that there had been some irregularity in the action of the convention, and the Grand Officers refused to be installed. A new convention was called for April 12, 1865, when new Grand Officers were elected; and on April 12, 1865, the Grand Lodge of West Virginia was formed, and the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Virginia was directed to be used until there was one adopted by the new Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge has performed many official public duties, such as the laying of corner‑stones for churches, monuments, schools, town halls, and libraries. The following lodges, all warranted by Grand Lodge of Virginia, took part in the formation of the Grand Lodge of West Virginia: Fairmont, No. g, Fairmont ; Marshall Union, No. 37, Moundville ; Morgantown, No. 93, Morgantown ; Ohio, No. zoz, Wheeling; Wellsburg, No. zo8, Wellsburg; Fetterman, No. zo8, Grafton; Cameron, No. z8o, Cameron.
With the closing of the war the lodges became prosperous and Masonry popular.
North Carolina.‑The earliest knowledge we have of Freemasonry in North Carolina is the warranting of a lodge at Wilmington, on Cape River, in the Province of North Carolina, in March, 1754, being No. 213 on the Register, Grand Lodge of England. It was not put on the list till 1756, and was continued on it until 1813.
On August 21, 1767, a warrant was granted to the Royal White Hart Lodge, at Halifax, North Carolina, No. 338, and it was also kept on the English Register until 1813.
Cornelius Harnett, Provincial Grand Master for Virginia, who had resided for a number of years at Wilmington, is supposed to have been the promoter of the lodge at Wilmington.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts granted a warrant for "the First Lodge at Crown Point, in Pitt County." The records of the registering of this lodge are missing, but it was on the rolls in 1766 and 1767, it making its returns to the Grand Lodge up to the latter year.
December 30, 1767, Thomas Cooper was appointed by Acting Grand Master Henry Price, Deputy Grand Master of North Carolina, with power to establish lodges there.
What was done under this deputation is not known. January 14, 1771, Joseph Montfort was appointed Provincial Grand Master of, and for, America, by the Duke of Beaufort ; and he, it is said, issued the warrant to the Royal White Hart Lodge at Halifax. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania also issued a Regimental warrant for North Carolina, as No. 2o.
The date of its granting is not known.
It was subsequently vacated.
In 1771 a Grand Lodge was formed which met at Newbern and Edenton.
The records were deposited, previous to the Revolutionary War, at the latter place, which were subse‑ THE AMERICAN RITE.
quently destroyed by the enemy, and the labors of Grand Lodge suspended. In 1787, December 9th, an attempt was made to reorganize the Grand Lodge. There were present the following lodges: Unanimity; St. john's, No. 2, Royal Edwin, No. ó; Royal White Hart, ZVO. ó0,3; Royal William, No. 8; Union, at Fayetteville ; Blandford; Bute; and Old Cone.
Grand Officers were elected and duly installed. The numbering of the lodges first claimed the attention of Grand Lodge ; and, on June 25, 179 r, the lodges were all renumbered, and new charters ordered to be issued. In 1797 the Grand Lodge was incorporated by the General Assembly of North Carolina.
Many of the subordinate lodges were also incorporated.
In 1842 the question of establishing a Masonic seminary of learning was broached, and the discussion continued to 1856, and finally resulted in St. John's College being established at Oxford.
In 1872 the Grand Lodge converted it into an orphan asylum.
It is now doing a vast amount of good, being assisted finan cially by the State and by benevolent citizens.
The storm of Anti‑Masonry did not interfere materially with the working of the lodges.
The Grand Lodge, by resolution, sympathized with the Grand Lodges of Rhode Isly nd, New York, and Vermont, and assured them of their support for the efficient and consistent course they pursued in the contest.
The first hall erected for Masonic purposes in North Carolina was at Raleigh, in 1812.
A hall was also early built in Wilmington.
The Grand Lodge owns a library valued at $6oo.
South Carolina.‑The first Masonic lodge in South Carolina was warranted in 1735, by Lord Weymouth, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, and was granted to Solomon's Lodge at Charleston.
Its first meet ing was held Thursday, October 28, 1736,.
In this year, 1736, the Earl of Loudoun, then Grand Master of England, issued a deputation to John Hammerton (who was the first Master of Solomon's Lodge as above), appointing him Provincial Grand Master of South Carolina. Hammerton, acting under this authority, organized a Provincial Grand Lodge on December 27, 1737, which continued until 1777.
At the same time (1735) that the warrant was granted to the Charleston Solomon's Lodge, a warrant was granted for a lodge of the same name at Wilmington, North Carolina.
By some mistake the Charleston lodge was not entered on the Register, while the Wilmington one was.
The former was put on the Register in 176o, with precedence allowed to 1735. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in 1735, granted a warrant to a number of brethren from Boston to open a lodge at Charleston.
This lodge met at the " Harp and Crown," but probably existed only for a few years. Hammerton resigned after a few months' service, and James Graeme was appointed to serve to the end of the year, after which the Provincial Grand Lodge was authorized to elect their Grand Master.
Graeme was elected and reelected Grand Master until 1740, when John Houghton was elected. Hammerton was elected again in 1741, and Benjamin Smith in 1742.
The THE AMERICAN RITE.
301
302 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
foregoing information is obtained from the current public newspapers, and it has been suggested that the publications were stopped in 1742, and until 1751, on account of the law of the Grand Lodge of England forbidding the printing of the proceedings of any lodge. Solomon's Lodge worked uninterruptedly until 1811, when it suspended work until 18 117 ; it was then revived, and continued active until 1838 ; it was then dormant until 1841, when it was again revived, and continues until the present.
The following additional lodges were warranted by Grand Lodge of England: 1743, "Prince George," at George town, Virginia;
May 3, 1755, " Union," Charleston;
March 22, 1756, " A Master's Lodge " at Charleston (these lodges were not put on the Register until 176o) ; February 8, 1763, " St. Mark's."
There were also lodges at Port Royal, at Beaufort, and St. George's, at Dorchester, said to have existence about 1756 ; but nothing is known of their history.
These were all what are known as " Modern " lodges.
In 1787 the Provincial Grand Lodge declared itself independent of England, and took the title of " The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Caro lina."
In 175 q the Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a warrant to " Union Kilwinning," but the members being members of Union Lodge, which was warranted in 1755, did not accept the warrant, but did adopt the name.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland continued it on its Registry for years, although no returns were ever made.
The Grand Lodge of England (" Ancients ") warranted lodges as follows October ro, 1764, at Charleston, No. q2; September 30, 1774, at Charleston, No. 1qo; May 26, 1786, at Charleston, No. 236. The members of the latter, No. 236, had been warranted by the "Moderns," but one of the members went to Philadelphia and was made an "Ancient" Mason. On his return he caused the others to follow his example, and applied to the Grand Lodge of Ancients, at London, for a warrant ; hence the warrant No. 236.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ("Ancients ") warranted lodges: December 23, 1872, at Charleston, No. 38; July 12, 1783, "St. 4nddrew's" Lodge, Charleston, No. 40, surrendered and renewed May 25, 1787, surrendered September 24, 1787; November 22, 1786, at Charleston, No. ó7, sur rendered.
On December 27, 1785, a petition for a warrant to hold a lodge at Winnsburgh, South Carolina, was granted by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
No record is made of this lodge on the Register of Pennsylvania, but it coming at the same time as the application for a lodge at Reading, and also one at Cape Francois, possibly it was the same lodge as No. 47, as above.
These lodges united, March 24, 1787, in forming the "Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina."
The rivalry between the two Grand Lodges was most bitter, and led to the most unfraternal actions.
The 11 Ancients " were said to be everywhere zealous, aggressive, and intolerant towards the so‑called " Moderns."
The latter seemed to hold strictly to the principle that "profanes" must seek them, while the rapid growth of their rivals been in THE AMERICAN RITE.
gave indications of " proselyting."
The Ancients increased much more rapidly than the Moderns.
Both Grand Lodges were incorporated by the legislature. The records of neither were printed, and, singularly, both have been lost. On December 31, 18o8, the two Grand Lodges were united, as the " Grand Lodge of South Carolina."
This union was of short duration ; one of the Ancient lodges, " St. John's," claimed that the formation of the United Grand Lodge was irregular and illegal, because no " Modern " Mason could become "Ancient" without going through the Ancient ceremonies.
By its persistent action and the assistance of a number of the country lodges, the attention of the Grand Lodges of the United States was called to the irregularities, and a number of these denounced the United Grand Lodge and interdicted its members.
A convention was called by the dissatisfied "Ancients," and on May 15, i8o9, the former Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons was revived. This increased the bitterness, and the matter was carried into the courts.
The revived Grand Lodge received the strong support of the other Grand Lodges. Finally, after mutual concessions, on December 27, 1817, the two Grand Lodges, viz. : the "United" Grand Lodge of South Carolina and "The Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons " of South Carolina, again united under the title of " The Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of South Carolina." August z and 3, 1837, the corner‑stone of a Masonic hall was laid in Charleston.
On April 27, 1838, a fire which devastated Charleston destroyed this new hall, together with all the furniture and records of the Grand and subordinate lodges.
A new hall was built and dedicated in 1841, which was torn down and replaced by the present Masonic Temple, which was dedicated December 1o, 1872.
Its cost was $5o,ooo.
The Grand Lodge continued its meetings during the Anti‑Masonic excitement.
The Grand Lodge has always been opposed to the formation of a National Grand Lodge.
Of the old lodges there exist at present: "Solomon, No. 1 "; " Clinton, No. 3 " ; " Union Kilwinning, No. 4 " ;
"Washington, No. 5 " ; "Friendship, No. 9"; " Winnsboro, No. 11 "; "Orange, No. 14."
Of these, Orange, No. 14, is the only one that has never suspended work since its constitution, May 28, 1789.
Georgia. ‑ Freemasonry was introduced into Georgia by those brethren who were sent out to the "new Colony of Georgia" by the Grand Lodge of England.
Many of the Grand Officers were named in the charter of the Colony of Georgia, by the king's letters‑patent.
In 1735 Lord Viscount Weymouth, Grand Master of England, warranted Solomon's, No. 139, at Savannah, in the Province of Georgia.
Prior to 1799 this lodge, sometimes called the Arms Lodge, met at the tavern kept by Mr. Clark, Whittaker Street, Savannah. After 1799 it met at the Masonic Hall, Whittaker Street.
The other lodges were: in 1774, Unity, No. 2, Savannah, No. 371 on the Registry of England; in 1775, the Grenadiers' Lodge, Savannah, No. 386.
Solomon's Lodge was reorganized in 1784. The two latter lodges have disappeared, leaving no 304 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
trace of their existence.
October 29, 1784, a warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, as No. 42, at Savannah.
December 16, 1786, the lodges above‑mentioned organized "The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons according to the Old Institution of the State of Georgia," electing William Stephens as Grand Master.
June 4, 1799, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the City Exchange.
December 4, 1819, the office of Grand Lecturer was established, and the following year his compensation was fixed at $30, to be paid by each lodge he might visit.
In 1821 the office was abolished.
March 21, 1824, the corner‑stones of the monuments to Greene and Pulaski were laid, the Marquis de Lafayette presiding at the ceremonies.
While Masonry flourished in Savannah, it was not so in the lodges outside of that city, and by 1818, it is said, Masonry had almost disappeared.
In 182o a new constitution was adopted, by which the quarterly meetings of March and June were to be held in Savannah, and those in September and December in the capital of the State, Milledgeville ; the annual election for Grand Officers to be held in March, at Savannah.
While this was intended to meet the wants of the conflicting interests of the upper and lower portions of the State, and thereby better the condition of affairs, it virtually made two Grand Lodges, only one of which, that at Savannah, had authority to elect Grand Officers.
There was a strong feeling by the country members against those of Savannah, and at the meetings one body would undo what the other had done.
A convention was held, with the approval of the Grand Lodge, in December, 1826, and adopted a new constitution, abolished quarterly communications, and fixed the place of meeting at Milledgeville.
The Grand Lodge in Savannah refused to recognize the new order of things, and elected the Grand Officers at the usual time, in March, 1827.
The Milledgeville Grand Lodge met December 3, 182 7, as provided in the new constitution, and elected their Grand Master. The committees were appointed to take charge of the Grand Lodge property in Savannah, and the election in March was declared null and void.
The members of the lodges adhering to the Savannah Grand Lodge were expelled.
The feeling between the adherents of the two Grand Lodges became most bitter, the more so as one of the Savannah lodges, No. 8, continued with the "up country," or Milledgeville Grand Lodge, while the rest of the Savannah lodges remained with the "low country," or Savannah Grand Lodge.
Among these was Union, No. 3, in which Royal Arch Masonry first made its appearance in Georgia.
This lodge had an elegant room in Bull Street, corner of Bay Lane, in which the old Grand Lodge held its meetings.
In the course of time, Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, was the sole adherent of the Savannah Grand Lodge.
In the midst of these troubles among themselves came the Anti‑Masonic excitement, and it had its effect on the Fraternity.
January 5, 1837, efforts looking to a reconciliation were begun which ended on November 6, 1889, in the removal of the THE AMERICAN RITE.
305 sentence of expulsion of Solomon's Lodge, No. i ; the Master of it was admitted to the Grand Lodge and apologized for its action, and its old number and rank were restored to it, and Masonry resumed a united front, demonstrating fully that 11 Masonry has more to fear from those who are within its portals than from those who are without." Masonic halls have been erected: in Augusta, by Social Lodge, No. 1 ; in Savannah, by Solomon's Lodge, No. 1 ; in Macon, by Macon Lodge, No. 5, in 1850; in Milledgeville, by Benevolent Lodge, in 1856; in Rome, in 1866; and in Macon, by the Grand Lodge, in 1872. The Grand Lodge supported the Masonic Female College at Covington up to 1874, when it gave it up, and in 1878 returned the property to the city. The Grand Lodge is incorporated by the legislature, which act, according to the Supreme Court decisions, incorporates the subordinate lodges. The Civil War severely checked the growth of the Fraternity. It is, however, now most prosperous.
Florida.‑As early as 1768 the Grand Lodge of Scotland granted a warrant to a lodge in East Florida, at St. Augustine, of which James Grant, the provisional governor of Florida, was Master, and he was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Southern District of North America. On January 17, 1759, the Grand Lodge of England ("Ancients ") warranted a lodge, to the 14th Regiment of Foot, which was nu.noered 58b. The lodge became dormant, and on March 6, 1776, "a renewal of the warrant, No. 58, to 14th Regiment of Foot, whenever they should require it, at present at St. Augustine," was ordered. The warrant was renewed March 20, 17 January 3, 1788, the Grand Lodge of England, "Ancients," granted a warrant to No. 204, St. Augustine, in East Florida; but, on January 17, 1780, the fee of warrant No. 204 was ordered, " Returned to the late Grand Secretary, it not being recorded." There was a St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 1, in West Florida, but of its origin or history nothing is known except that a memorial from the brethren of that lodge was read in Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ("Ancients ") on July 8, 1783.
What the memorial recited is not known, but Grand Lodge ordered warrant No. 40, to be placed at the discretion of the Master of Lodge No. 38, of Charleston, South Carolina.
The Grand Lodge of South Carolina ("Ancients ") issued a warrant, No. 30, for a lodge at St. Augustine, which " became extinct in consequence of a decree by the King of Spain." The same Grand Lodge granted a warrant for Lodge No. 56 at Pensacola.
Nothing is known of this lodge.
June 3o, 1820, the Grand Lodge of South Carolina issued a warrant in place of No. 3o at St. Augustine, called "Floridian Virtues"; and, on June 29, 1821, renewed the Lodge No. 56 at Pensacola, under the name of "Good Intention." The same Grand Lodge granted a warrant to Esperanza, No. 47, at St. Augustine.
These lodges became extinct or were suspended.
The Grand Lodge of Georgia also granted a warrant to "San Fernando, No. 28," at St. Augustine.
The Grand Lodge of Alabama, on December 19, 1825, warranted Jackson Lodge, at Tallahassee.
It was suspended, charter forfeited, and restored.
3o6 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Lodge of Georgia, December 2, 1828, warranted Washington Lodge, at Quincy, and December 8, 1829, Harmony Lodge at Marianna. July 6, 1830, three of these lodges organized the " | Grand
Lodge for the Territory of Florida."
This was the first territorial Grand. Lodge organized in America.
The Anti‑Masonic excitement had nearly spent its fury when this Grand Lodge was organized, and so it experienced little trouble therefrom. This Grand Lodge organized Lodge No. 8, which was located about twenty miles from Tallahassee, and before the State line was determined. It was soon found that it was within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Georgia. The matter was settled by the Grand Lodge of Florida surrendering jurisdiction, as soon as the Grand Lodge of Georgia accepted the lodge, and the Master and Wardens were elected, ex officio, honorary members of Grand Lodge of Florida, and it was declared that its number should never be assigned to any other lodge. The three original lodges are still active working lodges. The Grand Lodge was incorporated under the Territorial government. The subordinate lodges are not incorporated, but hold their properties under trustees. There is a project under consideration for the erection of an asylum or home for Masons.
It has a fund of nearly $50"00 for this purpose.
A fire in 1888 destroyed the archives and library of the Grand Lodge.
Halls have been built at Tallahassee, Quincy, Pensacola, Key West, and elsewhere, and the brethren are now raising a fund for a hall at Jacksonville.
History of the Eastern Mississippi Valley, and the Lakes : The Grand Lodges of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
BY CHARLES E. MEYER, P.M., Melita Lodge, No. 295, ?f Pennsylvania.
CHAPTER III.
GRAND LODGES OF THE EASTERN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, AND THE LAKES.
Ohio.‑Jeremy Gridley, Deputy Grand Master of the St. John's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, issued a charter, February 15, 1776, to Captain Joel Clark and Lieutenant Jonathan Heart, and other officers of the army, for an Army lodge, to be known as "American Union," "for the benefit of the brethren in the Connecticut Line of the army."
The lodge was duly organ ized at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in the month of March following.
During seven years of the war this lodge followed the army, holding its meetings at the various points where it was encamped, and making Masons of many prominent and distinguished army officers. At the conclusion of the war, the lodge "was closed," "to stand closed until the Master should call them together." Among the pioneers to the Muskingum River, in North‑west Territory, were Jonathan Heart and Rufus Putnam, the Master and a Past Master of this lodge. There were, likewise, a number of brethren who had been members of the Military Lodge, No. ro, also warranted by the St. John's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
Ten of these brethren assembled in the village of Marietta, Ohio, and prepared a petition to Jonathan Heart, Master of the American Union Lodge, who resided at Fort Harman, on the opposite side of the river, asking for his protection and recognition.
307 308 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Brother Heart in reply expressed a doubt whether the warrant in his possession 1| affords protection," as there are only two who were actually enrolled members.
But to remove this objection he stated: ‑ "There are two others who are members and residents in this county, but at too great a distance to attend. There are also two of the petitioners who were constant visitors of this lodge during the war, one of them a Past Master (Brother Benjamin '1 'upper), who by custom is a member of all lodges.
There are also others of the petitioners who have frequently visited the lodge." He waived, however, any scruples he might have entertained as to the regularity of his proceedings in the matter, and consented to the request of the brethren, and, on June 28, 179o, he opened American Union Lodge, No. i, in due form, of which he was elected Master, and Colonel Benjamin Tupper and General Rufus Putnam, Wardens. In the address forwarded to the Grand Lodges at Philadelphia, New York, and the New England States, asking recognition, the hope is expressed, if errors have been committed, || that their steps may be guided into the paths they ought to take." September, 1791, a short time, previous to the fatal battle on the Miami River, known as St. Clair's defeat, the Grand Lodge of New Jersey issued a warrant to Governor Arthur St. Clair and General Josiah Harmer to hold a lodge at the village of Cincinnati, to be known as Nova Cesarea, No. 1o, of which Dr. William Burnet was Master. The disastrous campaigns with the Indians gave no opportunity to open this lodge, and it was not organized until December z 7, 1794.
Brother Edward Day, who was made a Mason in Lodge No. 35, Joppa, Maryland, acted as Master at its formation.
October i9, i8o3, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut granted warrants for Erie Lodge, No. 47, at Warren, Trumbull County, and New England Lodge, No. 49, at Worthington, to be in force one year after the formation of a Grand Lodge in Ohio.
On St. John's Day, June 24, 1805, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a warrant for the Lodge of Amity, No. 105, to be held at Zanesville, of which Brother Lewis Cass, who afterward became distinguished as a soldier and statesman, was the first Master. Permission was given to the lodge to meet either at Zanesville or at Springfield [Putnam], on the opposite side of the river.
In consideration of the situation of the lodge in a new country, and the difficulties to be overcome by it, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania presented this lodge with a set of jewels, which are still in the possession of the lodge.
On March 18, i8o6, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky granted a warrant to Cincinnati Lodge, No. 13, of which Brother William Goforth was the first Master. At a meeting of delegates from the six lodges above named (all in the State at the time), held at Chillicothe, Monday, January 4, i8o8, Brother Robert Olivar, of American Union Lodge, was called to the chair and George THE AMERICAN RITE.
Todd appointed Secretary. For unknown reasons the representatives from New England Lodge, No. 48, were excluded from the convention, which continued its sessions during four days.
It was then "Resolved, That it is expedient to form a Grand Lodge in the State of Ohio," When General Rufus Putnam was elected first Grand Master.
After determining that the first communication of the Grand Lodge should be held at Chillicothe, January z, 18o9, the convention adjourned.
Brother Putnam, the Grand Master‑elect, not attending at the time appointed, the Deputy Grand Master, Brother Thomas Henderson, took the chair and opened the Lodge in due form and according to ancient usage.
American Union Lodge not being represented, and New England Lodge excluded, there were but four lodges represented.
It was considered doubtful if four lodges could form a Grand Lodge.
A committee was appointed to determine if the Grand Lodge could transact business with representatives of four lodges only.
The Grand Lodge agreed to the report of this committee, which was in favor of proceeding.
The constitution of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky was adopted, pro tempore, for the government of the Grand Lodge. The Deputy Grand Master was installed by the Senior Grand Warden, who then installed the remaining officers elected by the convention January 7, i8o8. The Grand Masterelect, Brother Putnam, on account of age and infirmity having declined the office, the annual election being held, the Deputy, Brother Samuel Hunting, was elected Grand Master and Brother Lewis Cass, Deputy Grand Master. The regularity of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, was never questioned by the several Grand Lodges.
Dermott's Ahiman Rezon, the Constitution of the 1| Ancients," was understood to require five lodges to form a Grand Lodge.
It was like many of the laws of Masonry at that time, not, strictly followed even by the Grand Lodges (Pennsylvania excepted), who claimed to practise this system of Masonry.
American Union Lodge was not represented after the first convention, but refused to become a member of the new Grand Lodge, claiming to have inherent rights of priority of the Grand Lodge. After considerable controversy, it was declared clandestine, and Masonic intercourse prohibited.
In. 1816 a petition was received from some of its members, praying for a charter, and a new one was granted by the name of American Union Lodge, No. 1, in which reference was made to the former charter and showing that it was a revival of the former lodge. This lodge was represented in Grand Lodge until about 1829, when it became dormant, but was revived in 1842, and has since been an active and thriving lodge. ' The lodge, Nova Cesarea, did not participate in the organization of the Grand Lodge. It surrendered its charter from Grand Lodge of New Jersey on December 1o, 1805. Twenty of its former members applied for a restoration of the charter, stating that it had been illegally surrendered. The Grand 312 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Lodge of New Jersey found that the surrender was illegal, but inasmuch as a Grand Lodge had been formed, it could not restore the charter and could only commend the petitioners to that Grand Lodge for redress. Application was made in 1812 to the Grand Lodge of Ohio for a charter, which was granted upon condition that all dues should first be paid to the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.
The lodge is now one of the most active and thriving in the State, and is known as Cesarea‑Harmony Lodge, No. 2.
All the lodges that participated in the formation of the Grand Lodge, , except Cincinnati, are now at work and in a prosperous condition.
In 1830 there were ninety‑four chartered lodges and seven under dispensation.
Shortly after this date, owing to the Anti‑Masonic excitement, the representation in Grand Lodge began to fall off, which continued (notwithstanding some new lodges were formed), until 1837, when the lowest point was reached, there being but seventeen lodges represented that year.
In the following year, however, there was an improvement which continued and to such an extent that at the 1842 communication thirty‑five lodges were represented, and from this time forth the growth of the Grand Lodge of Ohio has been highly satisfactory.
The Grand Lodge has no local Masonic dwelling‑place, meeting at such different places in the jurisdiction as may have been agreed upon at the previous annual session. Many of the lodges and other Masonic bodies have halls of their own, some of which are beautiful and well adapted to the wants of the Fraternity.
The Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, Grand Council, and Grand Commandery of Ohio are now digesting plans for the raising of funds, preparing plans and estimates for the formation of a Masonic Home in Ohio; nothing, however, will be done in the way of building until the fund in hand amounts to $100,000.
Indiana. ‑ Freemasonry was introduced into the Territory now known as the State of Indiana as early as 1795, by those connected with Army lodges on the north‑west frontier. August 31, 18o8, Vincennes Lodge, No. 15, located at the village of Vincennes, then the seat of government of the Territory, was , the first lodge organized, by virtue of a dispensation issued by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Its first work was the conferring of the Third degree upon Colonel John Gibson, at the time Secretary of the Territorial government and a prominent officer in the army, from Revolutionary times.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky also warranted the following lodges Union, No. 29, at Madison, August 31, 1815 ; Blazing Star, No. 36, at Charlestown, August 25, 1816 ; Melchisedec, No. 43, at Salem; Lawrenceburg, No. 44, at Lawrenceburg, and Pisgah, No. 45, at Corydon, August 25, 1817. Dispensations were issued shortly after 1817 by the Grand Master of Kentucky for two other lodges : Switzerland, at Switzerland; and Rising Sun, at Rising Sun.
The Grand Master of Ohio issued, in 1816 or 1817, a dispensation for Brookville‑Harmony Lodge; No. 41, at Brookville.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
315 These nine lodges (all that were then in the State of Indiana), assembled in general convention at Corydon, on December 3, 1817, when it was deemed advisable to form a Grand Lodge.
The reasons assigned for the formation of a Grand Lodge were similar in character to those used by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, and which were patterned from those used by the brethren of Maryland in their communications to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. The convention met at Madison, January 12, 1818, at which time the chartered lodges, six in number, separated from those under dispensation, three in number, and proceeded to organize a Grand Lodge for the State of Indiana.
At the conclusion of the election for Grand Master, and Deputy Grand Master, all but Master Masons retired; the Master's lodge was closed, and the Grand Lodge opened in the Past Master's degree, when the Grand Master and the Deputy were installed in ample form, and received the customary salutations and congratulations. The Past Master's lodge was closed, and a Master Mason's lodge was opened, and the remaining officers were installed.
On January 15th a constitution of twenty‑four sections was adopted, and the " Illustrations of Masonry," by Thomas Smith Webb, were adopted for the work and government of the Grand Lodge and its subordinates.
New charters were issued to the lodges upon surrender of the old ones. The representatives of Melchisedec Lodge surrendered its charter, but by instruction of their lodge declined to receive a new one. Four of the lodges organized by the Grand Lodge are now in existence, viz. : Vincennes,. No. 1 ; Union, No. a ; Lawrenceburg, No. 4 ; Rising Sun, No. 6.
There is no reference made in the records of the Grand Lodge to the Anti‑Masonic excitement as in any manner affecting the Fraternity in Indiana.
Prior to 18 2 8 the Grand Lodge met at various towns and cities.
In that year, however, the Grand Lodge removed to Indianapolis, where it has since been located.'
In 1848 the Grand Lodge erected a Masonic hall at Indianapolis, which was torn down in 1875, and a Temple erected at a cost of $200,000.
The rental received from this building is $6ooo yearly. About \one‑fourth of the lodges in the State have their own halls or temples.
A Grand Charity Fund was started some years ago, to which were priated the amounts received for charters and dispensations ; but discontinued some time ago, and each lodge was left to collect and distribute its own charity funds.
Michigan. ‑ April z 7, 1764, George Harrison, Provincial Grand Master of New. York, granted a warrant to open a lodge at Detroit, to be known as Zion Lodge, No. 1, to a number of brethren belonging to the 60th Royal American Regiment. It was intended to be a Military lodge; but evidently became local, for the warrant was used long after the regiment left. Its records are supposed to have been destroyed in the fire that consumed Detroit in 1805.
approit was 316 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
It is not known how long the lodge continued active, nor can anything connected with its history be learned. The original warrant, however, is in the archives of the Grand Lodge of New York.
Warrants were issued by the Grand Lodge of England (Moderns) for two lodges at Detroit, No. 289, in 1773, and No. Sao, in 1783, also for St. John's Lodge, No. 373, at Mackinaw in 1785. These were purely '| Military lodges," having been issued to British regiments; and when England, in 1796, surrendered Michigan soil to the United States, the warrants went with the regiments.
Two years prior to this date, September 7, 1794, a warrant was issued by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada for Zion Lodge, No. io. Whether this was a revival of the Zion Lodge, No. 1, of 1764, or an amalgamation with it, is not known. In i8o6 the members applied to the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York for a warrant, at the same time surrendering the original warrant received in 1764, but not the one received from the Canadian Grand Lodge. The warrant was granted September 3, 18o6, under the original name and number, Zion Lodge, No. 1.
The records of this lodge have fortunately been. preserved ; and from them it is learned that, in consequence of the capture of Detroit by the British forces, August 16, 1812, it was resolved to close the lodge until September 12th; but at that date, finding that the military conflict continued longer than was anticipated, it was agreed that the charter, jewels, and implements of the lodge should be deposited with a certain brother for safe keeping, and the lodge then adjourned for one year. Owing to the stirring events of the war in the neighborhood, the lodge did not resume work until some time after the conclusion of peace, when, the charter having lapsed, application was made to the Grand Lodge of New York for its renewal.
This request was granted, but the lodge was to be known in future as Zion Lodge, No. 62 ; and on April 15, 1816, Brother General Lewis Cass, formerly of Ohio, but now governor of the Territory of Michigan, was elected its Master.
In 1819, the original warrant of 1764 having been found, its number was changed by the Grand Lodge of New York from No.. 62 to No. 3, because it was regarded as the third lodge in4 oint of date on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of New York.
Until the year 1821, this lodge was the sole representative of Freemasonry on the soil of Michigan.
On September 5th of that year the Grand Lodge of New York granted a warrant for Detroit Lodge, No. 337.
Three other lodges were soon after organized in the Territory by the same authority, as follows: Oakland Lodge, No. 343, at Pontiac, Oakland County, March 7, z822; Menominee, No. 374, in the town of Green Bay (now in Wisconsin), September 1,'1824; and Monroe Lodge, No. 375, in Monroe, December i, 1824.
On June 24, 1826, these four lodges, all in the Territory, except Oakland, No. 343, met in convention in the city of Detroit for the purpose of forming THE AMERICAN RITE.
319 a Grand Lodge.
A constitution was agreed upon, and at an adjourned meeting held July 31st, Grand Officers were elected, Brother Lewis Cass being elected Grand Master.
There are no minutes of this body known to exist; the only knowledge there is regarding its brief career has been derived from the records and documents in the possession of the Grand Lodge of New York.
The new Grand Lodge was incorporated by an act of the Territorial Council of Michigan, April 27, 1827, and four new lodges were organized under its authority, viz.: Stony Creek, Western Star, St. Cloud, and Friendship. As stated, little of the doings of this body are known, but in a letter written by four brethren who had been connected with it, to the Grand Lodge of New York, January io, 1844, it is said that, sometime in 1829, because of the political bitterness and private animosity of the Anti‑Masons of that day, a regular meeting of the Grand Lodge was held in which a resolution was passed to suspend labor for the time being, and recommending the subordinate lodges to do the same. All the subordinate lodges in the Territory, except Stony Creek, complied with the advice of the Grand Lodge. For eleven years, with the exception of this one lodge, Masonic silence prevailed in this jurisdiction, and until the flood of political Anti‑Masonry had spent its fury.
It was not until Zion, Detroit, and Oakland Lodges applied to the Grand Lodge of New York for warrants, which were granted, June 8, 1844, that the attempts to form a Grand Lodge were successful. Two years prior to this, the brethren at Niles, Berrien County, received a charter for St. Joseph Lodge, No. 93 ; the legal representatives of these four assembled in convention at Detroit, September 17, 1844, adopted a constitution, and elected Grand Officers. And thus was organized the present Grand Lodge of Michigan. Recognition was at once and cordially extended to it by all the Grand Lodges in the country. The illegal Grand body which had been acting during the four years was dissolved, and all its property transferred to the new Grand Lodge, which has since had a most prosperous existence.
Three of the lodges forming the Grand Lodge are existing, viz.: Zion, No. 1 ; Detroit, No. 2 ; St. Joseph Valley, No. 3 The , Grand Lodge owns no building or temple in its own right, but many of its lodges own halls or temples.
The present Grand Lodge was incorporated April 2, 1864, but the incorporation of subordinate lodges is forbidden. It is a movable Grand Lodge, holding its communications at different places. The office of the Grand Secretary is located at Grand Rapids.
The Masonic Home Association of Michigan was formed a few years since, for the purpose of providing a home for indigent Master Masons, their widows and orphans. The work has been carried on by voluntary contributions from the various Masonic bodies in Michigan, and from members and friends of the Fraternity. The Grand Lodge voted $3000 to the Association, but assumes no Sao COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
responsibility for its control or management.,
The corner‑stone was laid by the Grand Lodge, May 1, 1889. The sie selected contains thirty‑three acres of land within two miles of the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and within easy access to several railroads.
The building is now completed, and was dedicated, January 28, 1891. It will have accommodations for one hundred inmates (that is, for Michigan Masons, their widows and orphans) its cost, including grounds, was $8o,ooo.
Illinois. ‑On September 24, 1805, Israel Israel, Grand Master of Pennsylvania, granted a dispensation for the space of six months for Western Star Lodge, No. 107, at Kaskaskie, an ancient town, and then gAite flourishing, in the Indian Territory.
A warrant was granted, June z, 18o6, and the lodge was duly constituted, September 13th, following.
This was the first lodge known to have been established in that extensive territory, now comprising the States of Illinois and Wisconsin and a portion of Minnesota.
August 28, 1815, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky granted a charter for Lawrence Lodge, at Shawneetown ; and on October 6, 1819, the Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted a charter for Libanus Lodge, at Edwardsville. A dispensation for Temple Lodge, at Belleville, was issued by the Grand Master of Tennessee, June 20, 182o, but was surrendered in 1821.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri also issued warrants in Illinois, as follows Olive Branch, October 3, 1822 ; Vandalia, at Vandalia, October 8, 1822; Sangamon, at Springfield, October 9, 1822 ; Union, at Jonesboro, October 24, 1822 ; and Edon, at Covington, October 8, 1822: Albion Lodge was organized at Albion, under a dispensation issued by the Grand Master of Indiana, March 12, 1822.
A convention of delegates from the foregoing lodges, except Sangamon, met at Vandalia on December 9, 1822, and adopted a constitution, and forwarded it to the lodges for their consideration. December 1, 1823, :eight lodges being represented, the Grand Lodge was formally organized, and the Grand Master was installed by the Deputy Grand Master of Missouri.
This Grand Lodge ceased to exist about 1827, and with its demise every lodge in the State was so effectually blotted out that no trace of any of them, after June 24, 1827, has been found.
The reason for this may possibly be that the AntiMasonic excitement was just beginning to run its race.
October 13, 182 7, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky " ordered a dispensation for Bodley Lodge, No. 97, at Quincy, Illinois, there being no lodge in the State." A warrant was granted, August 30, 1836. It also warranted Equality, No. 102, at Equality, August 29, 1837 ; and Ottawa, No. 114, at Ottawa, September 1, 1840; and a dispensation was issued by the Grand Master of Kentucky for Friendship Lodge, at Dixon, in 1840.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri again warranted. the following lodges Franklin, at Alton, in 1827; Harmony, at Jacksonville, in 1838; Springfield, at Springfield, Temperance, at Vandalia, and Far West, at Galena, in 1839; THE AMERICAN RITE.
323 Mount Moriah, at Hillsboro, and Clinton, at Carlisle, in r84o.
A dispensation was also issued for Columbus Lodge, No. 2o, at Columbus, in 1839.
A convocation of Masons composed of delegates from several of the subordinate lodges in Illinois was held in the town of Jacksonville, on January 30, 184o, at which it was resolved to form a Grand Lodge.
A committee was appointed to correspond with the several lodges in the State and to ask their cooperation and assistance, and request their attendance, by representatives or proxy, at a convocation to be held at Jacksonville, April 6, 1840.
In compliance with this call, a convention assembled at Jacksonville, April 6, 1840.
Six of the eight chartered, and one of the three lodges under dispensation, were represented, and the Grand Lodge of Illinois was formed.
On April 28th, following, on motion, all but Past Masters having retired, a convocation of Past Masters was declared open, and the Grand Master was installed by "proxy," and the Grand Honors paid him agreeably to ancient form and usage. Warrants were issued to the lodges represented and they were numbered according to the date of their institution, but some of the lodges did not take new warrants until 1844.
The Grand Secretary was directed to make inquiry of the officers of the late Grand Lodge of Illinois, what disposition was made of the jewels and furniture of said body. This is the only reference found on the records to the old Grand Lodge.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri not only continued to maintain lodges in Illinois, but it granted charters for several new lodges after the Grand Lodge of Illinois was fully organized. It was not until 1845, and after a continued and earnest discussion by correspondence, that Missouri relinquished jurisdiction.
On February 1o, 185o, a fire occurred in the city of Peoria, which destroyed the office of the Grand Secretary, and all the books, papers, and records of the Grand Lodge, including the manuscript proceedings of the last communication. The Grand Lodge was convened at Springfield, April 8, 1850, when a committee was appointed to restore the records and proceedings as far as possible.
Neither of the lodges participating in the first Grand Lodge are existing, but four of those participating in the organization of the present Grand Lodge in 184o are at work, viz. : Bodley, No. 1 ; Equality, No. 2 ; Harmony, No. 3 ; and Springfield, No. 4.
October i, and 2, 1889, the semi‑centennial anniversary of the organization of the Grand Lodge of Illinois was celebrated.
This Grand Lodge was incorporated in 1855, and is one of the largest Grand Lodges in the United States.
An association, under the name of the Illinois Masonic Orphans' Home, was organized under an act of incorporation, on April 2o, 1885, " To provide and maintain a home for the nurture, and intellectual, moral, and physical culture of indigent children of deceased Freemasons of the State of Illinois, and a temporary shelter and asylum for sick or indigent widows of such deceased Freemasons." COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
This home is now in active ‑operation, ably managed and carefully caring for the orphans of the Craft; it occupies its own building, which is large and roomy and every way creditable to the Craft.
The Grand Lodge does not own temple or hall.
Many of the subordinates own halls.
In 1890 there was laid the foundation‑stone in Chicago of an immense building of eighteen stories high, the upper portion of which (the seventeenth and eighteenth stories), is to be used by the Fraternity.
The grounds cost $i,roo,ooo, and the structure when completed, not less than ,$2,000,000, It is to be fire‑proof throughout and finished in marble, alabaster, and onyx, with mosaic floors.
The principal entrance to the building will be through an archway opening [see illustration] 42 feet high and 28 feet wide. The main rotunda will occupy 3700 square feet.
This court will be supplied with fourteen elevators in a semicircle facing the entrance on State Street. These will have facilities for lifting between 3o,ooo and 36,ooo people per day. Instead of numbering the different stories 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., they will be called by names as of streets.
This order of affairs continues until the seventeenth story, when the Masonic apartments are reached.
The roof is to be laid out like a garden, with plants and flowers during the summer.
The view from this point will be the finest in Chicago.
The faces of the walls will be of brownstone and terra cotta.
Wisconsin.‑December 27, 1823, there was an informal meeting of brethren held at the house of a brother, a farmer, at or near Fort Howard or Green Bay, in Wisconsin, then a part of Michigan Territory, when it was determined to apply to the Grand Lodge of New York for a dispensation to open a lodge of Freemasons. This in due time was granted to ten brethren, seven of whom were officers in the United States army, and three citizens of the neighborhood. A warrant was granted to Menominee Lodge, No. 374, on December 3, 1824.
This lodge participated in the organization of the old Grand Lodge of Michigan in 1826, and remained under its jurisdiction until the demise of that body in 1829.
It continued to work until 1830, when it became dormant.
October 11, 1842, twelve years after the extinction of Menominee Lodge, a warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge of Missouri for Mineral Point Lodge, at Mineral Point, and on October 12, 1843, the same body granted a warrant for Melody Lodge, at Platteville.
The Grand Lodge of Illinois issued a warrant under date October 2, 1843, for Milwaukee Lodge, at Milwaukee.
Very soon after the organization of these three lodges, their representatives assembled in convention at Madison, December 18, 1843, and organized the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin.
The precedent of organizing a Grand Lodge by so small a number as three lodges was established in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, in 1818.
Since that period the following Grand Lodges have been organized THE AMERICAN RITE.
327 by the representatives of three lodges, viz. : California, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and Indian Territory.
Mineral Point Lodge, No. i, and Melody Lodge, No. z, are still at work.
Rentuoky.‑The Grand Lodge of Kentucky was organized, October 16, i 8oo, and was the first Grand Lodge formed in the Mississippi Valley.
While Kentucky was still a part of Virginia, the Freemasons, residing in, the town and vicinity of Lexington; applied to the Grand Lodge of Virginia for authority to open and hold a lodge.
The application being granted, a war rant was issued, November 17, 1788, for Lexington Lodge, No. 25.
This lodge, so far as known, was the first lodge organized west of the Alleghany Mountains.
Three other lodges were organized in Kentucky under the same authority, as follows: Paris Lodge, No. 35, at Paris, Bourbon County, November 25, 179 1 ; Georgetown Lodge, No. 46, at Georgetown, November 29, 1796 ; and Frankfort Hiram Lodge, No. 57, at Frankfort, December 11, 1799. Early in 18oo a dispensation was issued for Abraham, afterward Solomon's Lodge, at Shelbyville.
On September 8, I8oo, delegates from five lodges assembled at Masons' Hall, in Lexington, for the purpose of forming a Grand Lodge.
A committee was appointed to draft an address to the Grand Lodge of Virginia, giving the reasons that induced the lodges to separate from its jurisdiction, among others that : ‑ "The Grand Charity Fund, an important object of the Institution, cannot be extended to any brother or family in Kentucky, by reason of the distance from the Grand Lodge of Virginia. "The difficulty, from the same cause, of being represented in the Grand Lodge and from receiving the visits of the Grand Master and other visitors." In accordance with the resolution of the convention, the representatives of the five lodges assembled at Lexington, October 16, r8oo. A Master Mason's lodge was opened in due form, and the Masters of the several lodges produced their charters, also the authorities under which they represented their respective lodges, and a Grand Lodge was regularly formed.
The seal of Lexington Lodge was adopted as the seal of the Grand Lodge until a proper one could be prepared. The lodges surrendered their charters and received new ones, which were numbered according to the date of their institution, upon the payment of a small fee each, Abraham Lodge under dispensation paying double.
The Grand Lodges of the country soon extended fraternal recognition, and thus most happily and harmoniously was a Grand Lodge of Freemasons established in the land that had been known as "Kain‑tuck‑ee,"‑"The Dark and Bloody Ground." It issued warrants for lodges in the following Territories and States: Tenn., Mo., Ind., Ohio, Miss., Ill., La., and Ark.
A Grand Charity Fund was started as early as 1802, levying a tax of $1 328 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
on every initiation into a subordinate lodge, and for every initiation in the Grand Lodge, $5.
In 1858 this fund had increased to $22,029.57. Delegates from the several lodges assembled at Lexington, October 6, i8o6. for the purpose of drafting constitutional rules and regulations.
After due consideration, regulations, consisting of twenty‑six articles, were adopted. These were published under a modified form in i808. As these regulations were predicated upon the Virginia Ahiman Rezon, which was mainly a revision of Smith's "Ahiman Rezon of Pennsylvania," and which in turn was an adaptation of Dermott's, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky may, therefore, be said to have been organized under the system of the " Ancients." In 1814 the bearer of a challenge, that passed between two Master Masons, to fight a duel, was tried and suspended for one year by his lodge. Upon appeal to the Grand Lodge, on the recommendation of the committee, to whom the matter was referred, the sentence was set aside, and that of repri mandwas substituted.
Some few years later the Grand Master, William H. Richardson, emboldened, doubtless, by this leniency, fought a duel with a member of his own lodge.
At the 18i8 communication, the Grand Master and his opponent, Benjamin W. Dudley, were cited to appear before the Grand Lodge for having engaged in a duel.
It was then
, " Resolved, That the Grand Lodge have jurisdiction to inquire into the charge," etc.
On motion of Brother Henry Clay, a committee was appointed '| to produce a reconciliation between them." The next day the committee reported, recommending, as a substitute for the resolution of expulsion then pending, suspension from the privileges of Masonry for one year.
The recommendation was adopted.
September 1, 18ig, funeral rites were held by the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, in respect for the memory of Thomas Smith Webb, who died in July, previously.
A novel feature of the procession, on the occasion, was the presence of nine boys, sons of Master Masons, three bearing the banners of Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, and six carrying baskets of flowers: In 1824 the corner‑stone of a Masonic hall was laid in Lexington.
Two years afterward, the building that was erected thereon was consecrated by the Grand Chapter.
A large part of the funds used in the erection of this building were raised by lottery, authorized by an act of the legislature.
At La Grange there is a monument to the Masonic Poet‑Laureate, Rob Morris, LL.D.
In 1867 the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home was incorporated.
The Grand Lodge, when it' was necessary to raise means for the extension of the building and its maintenance, authorized a tax upon its members. Several discouraging circumstances interfered with the work.
The Home is now occupied, and many orphans are cared for who otherwise would have been thrown on a cold world.
We give an illustration of this, the pioneer Home. Tennessee. ‑ The Grand Lodge of North Carolina issued warrants for the THE AMERICAN RITE.
331 following lodges in Tennessee, which was formerly a part of North Carolina St. Tammany, No. 29, at Nashville, December 17, 1796 ; Tennessee, No. 41, at Knoxville, November 30, 18oo ; Greenville, No. 43, at Greenville, December 11, 18oi ; Newport, No. 5o, at Newport. December 5, 1805 ; Overton, No. 51, at Rogersville, November 21, 180 7 ; Hiram, No. 55, December 11, 18o9, at Franklin; King Solomon, No. 52, at Gallatin, December 9, i8o8; and two lodges organized under dispensation, as follows : Rhea, afterward Western Star, at Port Royal, May 1, 18 12 ; and Cumberland, No. 6o, at the town of Nashville, June 24, 1812.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky granted a warrant, September 18, 1805, for Philanthropic Lodge at Clover Bottom, Davidson County. This was regarded by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina as an invasion of its jurisdiction, and led to considerable controversy and correspondence. The Grand Lodge of Kentucky finally, on August 25, 1812, becoming sensible that it "had encroached upon the Masonic geographic limits of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina and Tennessee," revoked the charter it had granted, but requesting permission for the lodge to work until June 24, 1813, which was accorded.
A convention was held at Knoxville, December 2, 1811, for the purpose of establishing a Grand Lodge in the State of Tennessee. The assent of the Grand Lodge and the Grand Master of North Carolina was solicited for the formation of the Grand Lodge.
The convention then adjourned to meet, August 10, 1812, when at the request of the Grand Master of North Carolina, it was agreed to postpone the further consideration of the organization of a Grand Lodge until after the next annual communication of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
In October, 1813, a communication was received from Grand Master Williams, directing the lodges in the State to assemble by their representatives, in the town of Knoxville, on December 27, 1813, to constitute the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. In compliance therewith delegates from the eight active lodges in the State assembled at the time and place designated. A warrant from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, bearing date September 30, 1813, was read, in which the lodges, either by themselves or by their representatives, were authorized and empowered to constitute a Grand Lodge for the State of Tennessee ; the Convention then proceeded to the choice of a Grand Master, when Brother Thomas Claborne, attorney‑at‑law and member of the general assembly, was unanimously chosen and installed according to the ancient Rites and Landmarks.
The other officers were then elected, when the Grand Lodge was opened in the Third degree and adopted a constitution. This constitution provided for four communications in each year at the place where the legislature shall sit, but, in 1819, this was changed to yearly communications.
Past Masters of regular lodges were members of the Grand Lodge.
Lodges were forbidden COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
to confer the Past Master's degree upon any brother unless elected to preside . over a lodge, or as preparatory, for a higher degree : in the latter case, a dispensation from the Grand Master was required.
The Grand Lodge of Tennessee is the only Independent Grand Lodge in the United States that was organized by authority of a warrant; for the instrument issued by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina does not simply permit the lodges to withdraw their allegiance from it, but it prescribed conditions; in fact, it was almost identical in phraseology with the warrants or deputations issued by the Grand Lodges of England, for Provincial Grand Lodges in the Colonies and Provinces.
It was held by some of the brethren that by the formation of the Grand Lodge, the charters of the lodges were dissolved; accordingly several of the lodges applied for and received dispensations. The Grand Lodge decided that, until a seal and other materials necessary for issuing warrants could be procured, the lodges warranted by North Carolina could work under their old warrants, and those who had received dispensations could work under the same.
In 1816 it was declared that "The Supreme Masonic jurisdiction over all lodges of Ancient York Masons held in Tennessee, is duly vested in the Grand Lodge, and that it is the acknowledged right of all regular warranted lodges so far as they have ability and numbers to make Masons in the higher degrees." Authority, therefore, was given for a Royal Arch chapter to be held in Nashville, by the name of Cumberland Chapter, to open lodges and work in the several degrees of Past Master, Mark Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch Mason, under the sanction of the Grand Lodge ; the Grand Master to have authority to grant dispensations to work said degrees, provided the applicants for such dispensation should pay the sutra of $20 to the Grand Charity Fund.
May 4, 1825, Brother General Lafayette and his son, Brother George Washington Lafayette, visited the Grand Lodge. Brother Lafayette was introduced by Brother Andrew Jackson and received with Grand Honors. Grand Master Tannehill made him an address of welcome, to which Brother Lafayette feelingly responded. Previous to his admission he had been elected an honorary member of the Grand Lodge.
The annual contribution of $i o from each of the subordinate lodges was constituted a Grand Charity Fund.
From about 1825 to 1838, political party strife, added to the Anti‑Masonic excitement, ran very high in Tennessee, and political differences bred private controversies, which unfortunately found their way into the lodges.
Tennessee, during the Civil War, was the theatre of great and important military operations, in consequence of which many of the lodges suspended labor. The Grand Lodge did not hold its communications in 1861 and 1862; but after the close of the war, in 1865, Masonry revived, and its growth for a few years was quite rapid.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
333 The Grand Lodge does not own any property in its own right, but occupies and uses the Masonic hall at Nashville, which is the property of Cumberland Lodge, No. 8. This building stands on the ground upon which was erected, about 1820, the first Masonic hall in Tennessee.
Of the eight lodges participating in the organization of the Grand Lodge, four are still existing, viz. : Overton, No. 5 ; Hiram, No. 7 ; Cumberland, No. 8 ; and Western Star, No. 9.
An effort was started during 1889 to found a "Masonic Widow and Orphans' Home."
The sum of $ro,ooo has been raised by voluntary contributions and donations.
It is estimated that $8ooo more will be required to complete the main building.
Alabama. ‑The history of Freemasonry in Alabama is so closely interwoven with the history of the Fraternity in the Mississippi Valley, ‑ in which is included Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi,‑that to speak of it would be but a repetition of what has been said elsewhere. Therefore, only the lodges at present located in the State of Alabama will be noted. The Grand Lodge of Alabama was formed by the following lodges, the representatives of which signed the printed copy of the constitution on June 15, 1821, viz. : Madison Lodge, No. 21, at Huntsville, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, on August 28, 1812 ; Alabama Lodge, No. 21, of Huntsville, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, October 6, 18 18 ; Alabama Lodge, No. 51, at Claiborne, warranted by the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, in 1819 ; Rising Virtue Lodge, at Tuskaloosa, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, October 5, 18i g ; Halo Lodge, originally granted a dispensation by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, at Cahawba, April 4, 1820 (this lodge worked under the dispensation which was not surrendered until October, 1821); the Grand Lodge of Georgia, January 24, 1821, warranted Halo Lodge, No. 21 ; Moulton Lodge, at Moulton, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, October 3, 1820; Russellville Lodge, U. D., at Russellville, dispensation issued by the Grand Master of Tennessee, October 3, 1820; Farrar Lodge, U. D., at Elyton, granted dispensation by the Grand Master of Tennessee, March 5, 1821 ; and St. Stephen's Lodge, at St. Stephens, warranted by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, December 14, 1816. There were two lodges in the extreme northern part of the State, Washington and Tuscumbia, both warranted by the Grand_ Lodge of Tennessee.
On investigation it was found that Tuscumbia had been working without reporting to any Grand Lodge, but it soon became extinct; and Washington Lodge soon surrendered its warrant.
The name of Madison Lodge was soon after changed to Helion, and Alabama Lodge at Huntsville was changed to Bethsaida.
These two lodges subsequently consolidated under the name, Helion, No. r, and still exists.
Rising Virtue, No. 4, Moulton, No. 6, and Farrar, No. 8, are also existing; while the others named have long gone out of existence.
The constitution provided for three Deputy Grand Masters.
December 6, COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
1836, there not being a quorum present, and after waiting for three days, those who were present, no doubt influenced by the Anti‑Masonic excitement, declared the Grand Lodge extinct. The Grand Lodge was then formally reorganized, a new constitution adopted, Grand Officers elected, old warrants re‑granted and confirmed. The greatest, drawback the Grand Lodge thereafter experienced was the regulation which declared forfeited the warrants of any lodge that failed to be represented at Grand Lodge for two successive years. There was no reserving clause; it was absolute. Of the original lodges, there are but three working at present: Rising Virtue, No. 4 ; Moulton, No. 6 ; Farrar, No. 8.
The Grand Lodge is incorporated by the legislature.
Mississippi. ‑ Masonry was introduced into Mississippi by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, which warranted Harmony Lodge, No. 7, at Natchez, on October 16, 1
This lodge continued until August 30, 1814, when it surren dered its warrant and property to the Grand Lodge.
On August 31, 1815, a dispensation was granted to several of the old members for a new lodge by the same name, and a warrant was granted on August 27, 18 16.
August 13, 1816, the Grand Master of Tennessee issued a dispensation to Jackson Lodge, at Natchez, and on October 8, 1816, the Grand Lodge warranted the same under the name of Andrew Jackson Lodge. October 16, 1817, the same Grand Lodge granted a warrant to Washington Lodge, No. 17, at Port Gibson.
July 27, 1818, these three lodges, by their representatives, met in Natchez and formed the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, and elected and installed its Grand Officers. February 3, 1819, an emergent communication of Grand Lodge was held to take action in relation to forming a lottery to raise money to pur chase a site and erect thereon a Masonic edifice.
The legislature granted the privilege asked for.
In 1824 it was reported that the lottery‑scheme had not proved a financial success, and the lodges were recommended to open books to receive subscriptions to build the new hall.
September 30, 1826, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the Methodist Episcopal church at Fort Gibson; June 25, 1827, the corner‑stone of a Masonic hall was laid in Natchez, and the hall was dedicated, June 24, 1829.
In 1845 the Grand Lodge began the investigation of the workings of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, the result of which was, that, from 1846 to 1852, the Grand Lodge of Mississippi granted five warrants for New Orleans, two for Lafayette, and one for Franklin, in the State of Louisiana. In 1852 these warrants had all been returned or ceased, and all edicts against Louisiana were recalled and annulled.
Louisiana.‑April 28, 1793, Laurent Sigur holding a Rose Croix patent from Nancy, France, assisted by several French refugees from the West Indies, held a preliminary meeting in New Orleans. Presuming that the Rose Croix patent authorized the working of a lodge, they initiated two candidates in June, and admitted two in September and November, 1793. They applied to the THE AMERICAN RITE.
335 Grand Lodge of South Carolina "Ancients," for a warrant, under which they opened "Parfait Union Lodge," No. 29. In 1794 a member of this lodge, who had been expelled for cheating and gambling, with other brethren of the French Rite, applied to the Provincial Grand Lodge at Marseilles, France, which granted provisional privileges December 27, 1798, to Polar Star Lodge.
The history of these lodges, both now in existence, is remarkable.
In 1803 the Grand Orient of France granted a full charter to this lodge as No. 4263, under which it was re‑constituted November I I, 1804.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted the following warrants to Louisiana: May 18, 18oI, to No. go, Lodge La Candeur, New Orleans, surrendered March I, 1802, at the same time a warrant was granted to No. 93, Lodge La Charitie, New Orleans, which joined the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; to No. 112, September 15, 18o8, the Desired Reunion Lodge, New Orleans; to No. 117, October 27, 181 o, Lodge La Concorde, New Orleans, surrendered April 1g, 1813, joined the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; to No. 118, October 27, I8IO, Perseverance Lodge, surrendered March 19, I8I3, joined the Grand Lodge of Louisiana; to No. 122, November rg, 181o, Harmony Lodge, New Orleans.
This lodge kept its minutes in English.
To No. 129, June 3, 1811, Lodge L'Etoile Polaire, New Orleans, surrendered April 19, 1813, joined Grand Lodge of Louisiana.
These lodges all had Royal Arch chapters attached to them and working under their warrants.
September 22, 18o7, the Grand Lodge of New York warranted Louisiana Lodge, No. 1, at New Orleans, the first lodge there to work in the English language.
October 13, 1811, the Master of Polar Star Lodge, No. 4263, which worked the Modern or French Rite under Grand Orient of France, stated that in consequence of the difference " That had always existed and continues to exist between the Masons of the Modern or French Rite and those of the York Rite, the Master Masons composing the lodge had applied to and obtained from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania a charter for the York Rite (No. x29), when the lodge unanimously decreed that the workings of Polar Star Lodge, No. 4263, shall be postponed indefinitely." Articles of agreement were entered into between Polar Star, No. 4263, under the Grand Orient of France, and Polar,Star, No. 129, under the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, without, however, any authority from that Grand Lodge, and the lodge was thenceforth known as Polar Star, No. 129.
At the time Polar Star Lodge ceased to work the French Rite, a number of Masons from San Domingo, and who had recently arrived from Jamaica, were actively engaged in organizing a lodge of the Scottish Rite. They received a charter from the Grand Consistory of Jamaica for Bienfaisance Lodge, No. z, June 22, 181 r. Owing to financial embarrassments and other circumstances, it was unanimously resolved to ask Concord Lodge, No. IT 7, under Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, to receive, by one general affiliation, all the members of Bienfaisance Lodge, No. z.
A favorable response being received, the next day Bienfaisance ceased to exist.
336 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Up to this date (1812) all the lodges that had been established in Louisiana (twelve) were located in New Orleans. Of these, but seven were in full activity, and all were working what is known as the "York Rite," viz. : Perfect Union, Charity, Louisiana, Concord, Perseverance, Harmony, and Polar Star. Three delegates from each of these lodges assembled as a " Grand Committee," April 18, 1812, in the hall of Perfect Union Lodge, to provide for the establishment of a Grand Lodge for the State of Louisiana.
Louisiana Lodge, No. 1, declared, " It would be inexpedient at present to join in the formation of a Grand Lodge." Harmony Lodge, No. 122, under Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, withdrew from the convention called for the purpose of organizing the Grand Lodge. The withdrawal of this and Louisiana Lodge, the only two English‑speaking lodges, was deeply regretted ; but it did not interrupt the labors of the convention.
Saturday, June 20, 1812, was appointed as the time for the election of officers.
Accordingly, on that day, the Grand convention assembled in the hall of Perfect Union Lodge, and elected officers. The installation took place on July 11, 1812, at which time the Grand Lodge of Louisiana was formed.
A constitution and general regulations were adopted, August 15th. Charters were delivered to the five lodges according to seniority: Parfait Union, Charity, Concord, Perseverance, and Polar Star. In the charters issued to the lodges, as well as in the constitution, the claim of the Grand Lodge to exclusive jurisdiction is clearly asserted.
Circular‑letters were addressed to the other Grand Lodges, requesting recognition and fraternal correspondence. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania at first hesitated to extend recognition, but when placed in possession of all the facts, extended its recognition, April 13, 1813.
In 18 18 complications growing out of the many questions of the claims of the " York." and " Scottish " Rites previously raised, again manifested themselves, producing discord and confusion that was not entirely settled and healed until 186o.
The Grand Orient of France granted a warrant for a lodge to work in the French Rite in New Orleans, April 21, 1818, under the name "La Triple Bienfaisance, loo. 73zg " to which was attached a chapter of Rose Croix. Some of the members of Concord and Perseverance Lodges affiliated with this lodge, and their example was not without its effect upon some of the others. Polar Star Lodge, which ceased to work in 1811 under its charter received from the Grand Orient, and had obtained a charter from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, resolved to reorganize the old Polar Star Lodge, No. 4263 ; accordingly, on February 14, 18rq, officers were elected under directions received from the Grand Orient, from which body a charter was obtained, in 182o, empowering the lodge to cumulate the French and Scotch Rites. All the members of the French Rite lodge, Polar Star, No. 4263, were members of the York Rite Polar Star Lodge, No. 5.
The system of dual membership thus inaugurated was soon imitated by others ; the Grand Lodge granting a THE AMERICAN RITE.
337 charter to a number of members of the French lodge, Triple Bienfaisance, No. 73zg, under the name of Triple Bienfaisance, No. 20.
The French Rite now became popular in New Orleans, and many life members of the Grand Lodge belonged to it; but, as it had not been recognized by the Grand Lodge, its lodges were considered clandestine organizations.
To obtain recognition it was necessary to amend the constitution.
'1 'o thus amend, it was necessary to submit the proposed amendment to all the lodges ; but as it was feared the country lodges, who worked the "York Rite," would not favor the amendment, it was determined by the city lodges to act without consulting them.
At a special meeting of the Grand Lodge, held November 16, 182 1, resolutions were adopted, recognizing as regular the three rites, and authorizing the lodges to receive as visitors, or as candidates for affiliation, members of the French and Scotch Rites.
At this time there was one lodge cumulating the French and Scotch Rites and two of the French Rite in New Orleans, working under charters from the Grand Orient of France, and at same time holding charters from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana.
The life members, or Past Masters, or Past Grand Officers, who were members of the lodges in New Orleans, had obtained complete control of the Grand Lodge. Almost all the Grand Officers and many of the life members belonged to the French Rite, and were actively engaged in advancing its interests. , The French Rite was, however, confined to New Orleans. The seven lodges in the country parishes, with the exception of two, worked in the English language, and were composed chiefly of Americans, many of whom had been initiated in other jurisdictions in the United States. For them the French Rite possessed no attractions, and the Grand Lodge, as long as they paid their dues, exercised little or no supervision over them.
On November 7, 1824, the Grand Lodge granted a charter for Lafayette Lodge, No. 25. Shortly after this date, April 14, 1825, the distinguished brother, after whom this lodge was named, visited New Orleans, and was received and welcomed by the Grand Lodge with great enthusiasm. Among the large number of brethren present were a number of the members of Harmony Lodge, warranted by Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, which had never come under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge, and had been for a long time in a dormant condition.
As this was the only lodge that worked in the English language (Louisiana Lodge having ceased in 18ig), its dormant condition left the American Masons without a common centre of reunion.
To supply this want, a number of its former members resolved to apply to the Grand Lodge of Louisiana for a charter. The request was granted, and a new lodge, Harmony, No. 26, was constitued, March 4, 1826.
The creation of this lodge led to important results.
Being the only lodge working in English, in New Orleans, it rapidly increased in membership; but 338 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
the old prejudices were carried into the new lodge, and, in 1828, a number of the members withdrew from it, and formed Louisiana Lodge, No. 32. The prejudices of the remaining members of Harmony Lodge now found vent in declaring war against the French Rite.
It had long been a custom of the lodges in New Orleans to celebrate the anniversary of the two SS. John. Each lodge appointed a committee to visit the sister lodges, to whom they carried letters of credence and congratulation.
The lodge‑room was arrayed in holiday attire and decked with flowers, and after the lodge was opened the deputations were admitted, congratulations exchanged, and the feast closed with a banquet, to which brethren from other lodges were invited.
The anniversary of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1828, was selected by Harmony Lodge as the proper time to declare war on the French Rite lodges. Accordingly, when the deputation from || Trtple Kenfaisance, No. 7319," was announced, it was refused admittance ; they were informed that " Harmony Lodge, No. 26, only recognized as Masons those who were members of the `York Rite.' " The Grand Lodge was appealed to for redress for the "deliberate insult," but that body did not deem it prudent to press the complaint against Harmony Lodge, resolving to await further developments.
On the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the same year, deputations from all three of the French Rite lodges separately applied to Harmony Lodge for admission, which was refused, each being informed that the lodge only recognized as Masons tl}ose belonging to the "York Rite." Formal complaint was made against Harmony Lodge by the three lodges, to the Grand Lodge, which body postponed the consideration of the subject from time to time; but on July 2, 1831, resolutions censuring Harmony Lodge were proposed in the Grand Lodge, but the Grand Master refused to submit them to the Grand Lodge. Two weeks afterward, however, Harmony Lodge receded from the position it had taken, alleging that its opposition to the French Rite lodges arose from their owing allegiance to a " Foreign Masonic Power," and promising to conform to whatever the Grand Lodge might decree in the matter. At a subsequent quarterly communication of the Grand Lodge, the three French Rite and the three Scotch Rite lodges were recognized as regular, by which the reconciliation of the contending factions was consummated and fraternal intercourse restored.
On October 15, 1832, a new code of general regulations was adopted by the Grand Lodge; in which the system of Masonic government that had existed since its formation was subverted, and numerous innovations introduced from the Scotch and French Rites. The Grand Lodge was declared to be the " only lawgiver of Symbolic lodges " in the State, but the government of the Craft was entrusted to three Symbolic Chambers, one for each Rite, and each composed of fifteen members, whose acts were subject to the approval or disapproval of the Grand Lodge.
The old system of representation was retained, but only life members were entitled to vote and hold THE AMERICAN RITE.
339 office in the Grand Lodge; and in order to give this class supreme control over its deliberations, the authority of the Grand Master was circumscribed. The code was not only complicated and contradictory, but in all essential particulars conflicted with the constitution of 1819, which was not repealed.
This code of regulations, which was patterned after that of the Grand Orient of France, led to great confusion and many irregularities. The lodges working the "York Rite " denounced the Grand Lodge of Louisiana as an illegal organization because it sanctioned the cumulation of Rites, but for a time they were powerless to correct the code.
Among the unaffiliated Masons in New Orleans were several Mississippians, who determined to seek the intervention of the Grand Lodge of their State, in which, after a time, they. were so successful that the Grand Lodge of Mississippi declared, by resolution, that "The Grand Lodge of Louisiana being composed of a cumulation of Rites, cannot be recognized as a Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons." It therefore expressed its willingness to grant dispensations and charters to any legal number of "Ancient York" Masons in Louisiana, who would make application for the same. This action becoming known in New Orleans; a number of the Masons, who had secretly sympathized with the movementä renounced their allegiance to the Grand Lodge, and during the, year 1847 seven dispensations for new lodges were issued by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, in New Orleans and suburbs.
These subsequently having received charters, met in convention, March 8, 1848, and organized the " Louisiana Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons."
A constitution was adopted, officers elected and installed, and new charters issued to the lodges.
This body continued in existence for two years, during which time it granted charters for eighteen lodges, but failed to obtain recognition from any Grand Lodge, except Mississippi.
In January, 1849, an effort was begun to heal the existing dissensions. This was happily consummated, March 4, i85o, by the adoption and ratification of "articles of union" by the contending Grand Lodges, and a committee was appointed to draft a constitution which was submitted to a convention of all the lodges (fifty‑six) in the State, held at Baton Rouge, June, 1850, and almost unanimously adopted.
This peaceful condition of affairs was not destined to be of long duration. The Scottish Rite bodies, which were introduced into New Orleans as early as 1813, and which tended no little to the complication of affairs in the jurisdiction, contended that the Grand Lodge had violated a " concordat " entered into in 1833, by renouncing jurisdiction over all Symbolic lodges, except those of the "York Rite," resolved to 11 resume authority over Symbolic lodges of the Scottish Rite under a Supreme Council." Three of such lodges surrendered their charters to the Grand Lodge and passed under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council, in which body dissensions soon after arose, which resulted 340 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
in the formation of an illegal Supreme Council by Joseph Foulhouze, who, in 1856, commenced making Masons at sight, and succeeded in causing two lodges to withdraw their allegiance from the Grand Lodge. This Supreme Council of Foulhouze was recognized by the Grand Orient of France, in consequence of which nearly all the Grand Lodges of the world declared non‑intercourse with the Grand Orient of France.
Failing in the attempt any longer to create dissensions among the Fraternity, this so‑called Supreme Council, about 1870, ceased to become a disturbing element of any account.
From 1850 to 1873 (embracing years of war, pestilence, and famine), there was an increase of membership. From 1873 to 1887 there was a continuous decline, ‑ from 7700 to 3500 members,‑ since which time there has been a decidedly healthy increase.
The Anti‑Masonic excitement was not felt in Louisiana.
The Grand Lodge has owned its hall on St. Charles Street since 1853.
It has also a lot, and has laid the foundation for a new hall on St. Charles Avenue, worth $6o,ooo.
Its present hall is worth $50,000. Masonic charity has been most liberally bestowed by La Rela'ef Lodge, No. z, of New Orleans.
The Grand Lodge has been incorporated since 1816.
The Grand Lodge library is valuable, and consists of over 3000 volumes.
Three of the lodges organized prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge are existing: Perfect Union, No. 1 ; Perseverance, No. 4 ; and Polar Star, No. 1.
Acknowledgment.‑In concluding the brief history of the Grand Lodges, in the Division and part of a Division assigned me, I desire to make my acknowledgments, for valuable information rendered, to Brothers Henry L. Stillson, of Vermont; L. C. Hascall, of Boston; Sereno D. Nickerson, Grand Secretary of Massachusetts; Henrv R. Cannon, Past Grand Master of New Jersey; Joseph K. Wheeler, Grand Secretary of Connecticut; Edwin Baker, Grand Secretary of Rhode Island; Warren G. Reynolds, Grand Secretary of Vermont; D. W. Bain, Grand Secretary of North Carolina; Charles Inglesbv, Grand Secretary of South Carolina; Andrew M. Wolihin, Grand Secretary of Georgia; Myles J. Greene, M.D., Grand Secretary of Alabama; DeWitt C. Dawkins, Grand Secretary of Florida; James C. Batchelor, M.D., Grand Secretary of Louisiana; E. H. M. Ehlers, Grand Secretary of New York; E. T. Schultz, author of History of the Grand Lodge of Maryland; and to the four great Masonic works: "The History of Freemasonry," by Robert Freke Gould, the English and American editions, with Drummond's Addenda, Lane's " List of Lodges, or Masonic Records, 1717‑1886"; " The History of Freemasonry in New York," by Charles 'I'. McClenachan ; and the " Early Records of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania," by the Library Committee.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
SECOND MERIDIAN, II.
History of the Western Mississippi Valley: The Grand Lodges of Texas, Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory.
By C. E. GILLETr, 33|, P.E.C., Commandery No. zr, K. T. ; Grand Almoner, Grand Lodge of California.
Preface.‑ In the first half of the eighteenth century the seeds of Masonic truth were planted in American soil, and its principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity commenced bearing fruit; so that when, in 1776, the ever‑memorable " Declaration of Independence " was to be signed by those who pledged their " lives, fortunes, and sacred honor," to advance and sustain the principles of Free Government, fifty‑two out of the fifty‑six, who signed that Charter of Liberty and Equality, were Free and Accepted Masons.
We know that Masonic lodges have been the staunch friends and supporters of free speech, free thought, and freedom to worship God in accordance with the Divine Light that shines upon their altars, and the dictates of an enlightened conscience; but whence these lodges originated, when and where located, and who were the men who gave direction to the movements to secure to the people their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are historic matters, which are not readily obtained by a majority of the brethren.
But to present these facts, and give even an epitomized history of the formation of the early lodges and Grand Lodges in the States and Territories in the great valley west of the Mississippi River, in the limited space which has been allotted, is a task difficult to perform.
I can, therefore, give only a few of the facts and figures connected with its early Masonic history.
The great difficulty is to know, when looking over the great mass of such available matter, what to retain 1 and what to cast aside.
Wherever dates are given in this work, great care has been exercised to have them correct. I have had what I consider good authority for the dates given, though they do not always agree with those now in general use.
I should have been glad to give my authority for such changes, but limited space forbids.
I will add, however, that to aid me in this work, I have had the Proceedings of all the Grand Lodges of the United States and British North America; historic data furnished by the several Grand Secretaries, and other prominent brethren; many of the Freemason's Monitors and Registers published from 18oo to 1826; Macoy's"Masonic Directory" and "Cyclopxdia of History"; and the "Masonic Records (1717 to 1886) of the Four Grand Lodges and the 'United Grand Lodge' of England," by John Lane, F. C. A., P.M.; also the hearty cooperation and assistance of the Grand Secretaries of the various Grand Lodges, whose history has been reviewed; and for which courtesies and favors, the writer desires now to express due acknowledgment and thanks.
C. E. G.
OAKLAND, CAL., August, 1890.
[1 It is but fair to state that the MSS. of the histories of the Grand Lodges located west of the Mississippi River, written by Brothers Gillett and Sherman, were necessarily condensed in order to bring the subject‑matter within the space at our command, and the limits assigned to " Second Meridian, II., of Division VI.," and the "Third Meridian," comprising Division VIL‑ED.] 341 342 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
CHAPTER IV.
GRAND LODGES OF THE WESTERN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
Texas. ‑In 1683 La Salle landed at the mouth of the Guadaloupe, and explored the adjacent country; this laid the foundation of the French claims. The Spaniards, in 1692, formed the first settlement at San Antonio, under the name of New Philippines.
After France relinquished her claim to Louisiana, in 1803, the Province of Texas became disputed territory. In 1828, eight years before Texas achieved her independence upon the battle‑field of San Jacinto, Stephen F. Austin (the father of Texas), H. H. League, Eli Mitchell, Joseph White, and Thomas M. Duke met at the little village of San Felipe, on the Brazos River, and formed the first Masonic convention ever held upon the soil of Texas, the record of which, having recently been " brought to light," I give for the benefit of the Craft.
"At a meeting of ancient York Masons, held in the town of San Felipe de Austin, on the 11th day of February, 1828, for the purpose of taking into consideration the expediency of petitioning the Grand York Lodge of Mexico for granting a charter or dispensation for organizing a subordinate lodge at this place, the following brethren were present: Brothers H. H. League, Stephen F. Austin, Ira Ingram, Eli Mitchell, Joseph White, G. B. Hall, and Thomas M. Duke.
"On motion of Brother Ira Ingram, and seconded, Brother H. H. League was appointed Chairman, and Thomas M. Duke, Secretary.
"On motion of Brother Stephen F. Austin, and seconded, it was unanimously agreed that we petition to the Grand York Lodge of Mexico for a charter or dispensation to organize a lodge at this place, to be called the Lodge of Union.
"On balloting for officers of the lodge, the following brothers were duly elected: Brother S. F. Austin, Master; Brother Ira Ingram, Senior Warden; and Brother H. H. League, Junior Warden.
"(Signed)
H. H. LEAGUE, Chairman.
"Attest: THOMAS M. DUKE, Secretary." Brother Stephen F. Austin, before he removed from St. Louis to Texas, was a member of St. Louis Lodge, No. 3, holding a charter from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, at the town of St. Louis, in the then unoccupied Masonic Territory of Missouri.
About this time intense excitement existed in Mexico on the subject of suppressing the Masonic societies, in obedience to a Bull fulminated against them by the reigning Pope. Indeed, in a short time, all men of influence in the country were upon the side of one or the other of the political factions, which were said to be under the guidance of the several Scotch and English lodges. , The " Ecossais " (or Scotch) lodges were composed of large proprietors and persons of distinction, who were men of moderate and conservative principles.
The "Yorkonas " (or York Masons) were opposed to the Central or Royal THE AMERICAN RITE.
343 Government, and were in favor of the entire expulsion of the Spanish from Mexico. Towards the close of 1827, Don Jose Montano published his plan for the forcible reform of the government, in order to counteract the growing influence of the "Yorkonas."
Civil war soon after raged, and in the struggle that followed, the rival Masonic bodies lost their power and prestige, and were rent into fragments.
Owing to this distracted state of affairs, the enterprise of forming a lodge at San Felipe was permitted to die out.
In the winter of 1834‑1835, five Master Masons, having made themselves known as such to one another, after consultation and much deliberation, resolved to take measures to establish a lodge in Texas. This was at a time when every movement in Texas was watched with jealousy and distrust by the Mexican government ; hence this resolution was not formed without a full appreciation of its responsibilities and consequences to the individuals concerned. It was well known that Freemasonry was particularly odious to the Roman Catholic priesthood, whose political influence in the country at that time was all‑powerful.
The dangers, therefore, attendant upon an organi zation of Masons at this time were neither few nor unimportant.
The five brethren whose " fervency and zeal " for our beloved Institution induced them to throw aside all fears of personal consequences, and resolve to establish a lodge, were: John H. Wharton, Asa Brigham, James A. E. Phelps, Alexander Russell, and Anson Jones, and they appointed a time and place of meeting to concert measures to carry their resolutions into effect.
In the meantime another Master Mason, Brother J. P. Caldwell, united with them.
The place of meeting was back of the town of Brazoria, near General John Austin's place, in a little grove of wild peach, or laurel, ‑ a spot which had been selected by that distinguished soldier and citizen as a family buryingground. Here, in this secluded spot, out of the way of "cowans and eavesdroppers," the brethren felt secure and alone ; and, under such circumstances, at ten o'clock in the morning of a day in March, 1835, was held the first formal Masonic meeting in the Republic of Texas.
The six brethren above named were present at the meeting "at the grove," and it was decided to petition the Grand Lodge of Louisiana for a dispensation to form and open a lodge. Funds were raised, and in due time a petition was signed and forwarded to New Orleans, having been previously signed by another Master Mason, Brother W. D. C. Hall.
The officers named in the petition were : for Worshipful Master, Anson Jones ; Senior Warden, Asa Brigham ; Junior Warden, J. P. Caldwell ; who respectively filled these offices until the close of 1837.
After some delay a dispensation was granted to Holland Lodge, No. 36, U. D., which was instituted, and opened at Brazoria on the 27th day of December, 1835. The lodge held its meetings at Brazoria, in the second story of the old court‑house, which room was afterward occupied by St. John's Lodge, No. 5.
344 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
About this time the difficulties with Mexico broke out into open hostilities, and Masonic work was very much retarded.
The last meeting of Holland Lodge at Brazoria was held in February, 1836, for in the following month (March) the town was abandoned. Soon after URREA, at the head of a detachment of the Mexican army, took possession of the place, and the records, books, jewels, and everything belonging to the lodge were destroyed by them, and the brethren scattered in every direction. In the meantime a charter for Holland Lodge, No. 36, had been issued by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, and was taken to Texas by Brother John M. Allen, which, together with some letters from the Grand Secretary, was delivered to Brother Anson Jones by Brother Allen, while on the march on the prairie between Groce's and San Jacinto. These documents were "safely deposited " by Brother Jones in his saddle‑bags, and by him carried to the encampment of the army on Buffalo Bayou, at Lynchburg. Afterward, the charter and papers were taken safely to Brazoria; but no attempt was ever made to revive the work of the lodge at that place.
In October, 1837, however, it was reopened at the city of Houston.
In the meantime the Grand Lodge of Louisiana issued charters for Milam Lodge, No. 4o, at Nacogdoches, and McFarlane Lodge, No. 41, at St. Augustine.
Holland Lodge, No. 36, was the only one established in Texas prior to its separation from Mexico.
In pursuance of an invitation from Holland Lodge, No. 36, A. F. and A. M., held at the city of Houston, by virtue of a charter from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, and addressed to the different lodges in the Republic of Texas, a convention of Masons was held in the city of Houston, December zo, 1837. "The convention organized with Brother Sam Houston as chairman and Brother Anson Jones as secretary. Delegates were present from Holland Lodge, No. 36, held at the city of Houston; from Milam Lodge, No. 40, held at the town of Nacogdoches.
At their request, Brother G. H. Winchell was appointed to represent McFarlane Lodge, No. 41, held at the town of St. Augustine.
On motion, it was " Resolved, That the several Lodges of A. F. and A. M., now represented, organize themselves into a Grand Lodge by the name of the 'Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, and the Masonic Jurisdiction thereunto belonging."' The Grand Officers were chosen, and Anson Jones was elected Grand Master.
For the present, the constitution and regulations of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana were adopted, and a committee of two from each of the lodges represented in the convention was appointed to draft a form of constitution for the Grand Lodge.
The time for holding the first meeting of the Grand Lodge was the third Monday in April, 1838, and the place at the city of Houston.
An extract of THE AMERICAN RITE.
345 the proceedings of the convention was ordered to be printed in the Telegraph, and the convention adjourned sine die.
On April 16 (third Monday), 1838, the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas met and was opened in ample form.
The committee on constitution, etc., not being ready to report, the Grand Lodge was called from labor to refreshment from time to time, until May 7, 1838, when the committee presented a constitution, which was read, discussed, and laid over until the next day at 7 P.M., at which time the discussion was continued, and a new committee of five appointed to examine the constitution as amended, prepare a code of by‑laws, and " report on the evening of the loth inst.," at which time a constitution was adopted.
At this session of the Grand Lodge a charter was granted to Temple Lodge, No. 4, in the city of Houston,‑warrants having been issued to Holland Lodge, No. 1, Houston; Milam Lodge, No. 2, Nacogdoches; and McFarlane Lodge, No. 3, St. Augustine.
By this constitution the Grand Lodge was authorized to collect $So for each dispensation, and $70 for each charter granted, $2 for each degree conferred and each affiliation, $2 annually for each member, and $5 for each diploma.
These fees were reduced when the constitution was revised in December, 1841, and again in January, 1848, at which time Anderson's Ancient Charges were published with the constitution.
The constitution provided. "That ten percent of all the revenues accruing to this Grand Lodge be appropriated to the purposes of education, and the same shall not be drawn from the treasury for any other purpose." February 2, 1840, the Grand Master was authorized to employ Brother Walton as Grand Lecturer, and they established the fees for the degrees and affiliation in subordinate lodges as follows: E. A. degree, $20 ; passing, $15 ; rais ing, $15 ; affiliation, $5.
These were reduced at the annual communication, in 1841, to the following rates: initiation, $15; passing, $lo; raising, $lo; affiliation, $3.
The Grand Secretary was allowed for his services for the year 1841, $125, Texas treasury notes; and the Treasurer was authorized to pay the same. Texas money, at that time, was worth only about twenty‑five cents on the dollar, so that the salary of the Grand Secretary amounted to about $31, par funds.
He was authorized, in 1843, " to receive exchequer bills, at par, in payment of all Grand Lodge dues for the past year."
Charters, dispensations, etc., to be paid for in par funds, or equivalent.
January 12, 1846, Texas having been received into the family and sisterhood of the United States of America, the necessary changes in its constitution were made by dropping the word " Republic," and it became the " Grand Lodge of Texas." At the communication of the Grand Lodge of Texas, held January 12, 1847, it was 346 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"Resolved, That the intemperate use of ardent spirits, profane swearing, and gambling are derogatory to the vital principles of Ancient Freemasonry, and that any brother being guilty of either of these baneful vices, shall by the lodge be first admonished, then reprimanded, and if he still persist, it shall be the duty of the lodge to suspend or expel him.
"Resolved, further, That any lodge neglecting or refusing to attend to the above duties shall be subject to the censure of the Grand Lodge." At the same communication a resolution was adopted requesting the subordinate lodges to solicit, receive, and report the names of individuals who are willing to donate and convey lands to the Grand Lodge, the annual proceeds of which are to be applied to establishing a college.
From the tone and spirit of the foregoing resolutions, it is evident that the tenets and principles of Freemasonry were understood by a majority of the members of the Grand Lodge of Texas, even in that isolated country and early day, and that the Masonic pioneer carried his 1Ylasonry with him when he migrated there, and it was now bringing forth good fruit.
During 1846 a portion of the archives, blank charters, certificates, etc., of the Grand Lodge was destroyed by fire in the city of Austin.
In October, 185o, a dispensation was granted to George Fisher, W.M.; Louis C. Mertens, S. W. ; Julian Pezenty, J. W. ; and eight others, to open "Union Lodge," at Panama, New Grenada, which, in January, 1851, was continued for another year. Panama at that time was crowded to overflowing with people from all parts of the world, on their way to or from the golden shores of California; and the brethren of the " Mystic‑tie " residing there had a herculean work to do, which they nobly performed, although their own ranks were continually changing and thinning out. A charter was granted to Union Lodge, No. 82, on January z1, 185 a.
In 1855 Grand Secretary A. S. Ruthven reported that Union Lodge, No. 82, at Panama, had surrendered its charter; but why it had done so, he had not been fully informed.
The Grand Charity and Educational Fund of the Grand Lodge of Texas, in 1857, amounted to $3354‑30.
In 1889 it amounted to $21,000.
All the lodges that were represented at the convention which organized the Grand Lodge of Texas, in December, 1837, are now in existence, strong and vigorous. They are: Holland Lodge, No. 1, Houston; Milam Lodge, No. z, Nacogdoches; McFarlane, now Redland, No. 3, St. Augustine.
The minimum fee for the degrees is $3o.
The amount of dues charged in the subordinate lodges is fixed and regulated by the lodges themselves, without any action of the Grand Lodge.
The legislature of Texas has ever been in sympathy with, and friendly to, the Masonic Fraternity, as was the Congress of the Republic of Texas, they having, on the 30th of January, 1845, granted articles of incorporation. The legislature of the State again incorporated them, April 28, 1846 ; and on March 19, 1879, the articles of incorporation were amended and renewed by the legislature.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
347 Notwithstanding that, in 1835, there were no buildings in Texas for lodge purposes, and the first meetings of the Fraternity were held under a tree, there are now hundreds of Masonic halls where the brethren can securely meet for the practice of brotherly love, relief, and truth. Notable among these is the Grand Lodge Temple in the city of Houston, completed, about 1873, at a cost of ,$130,000.
The jurisdiction is divided into fifty‑two Masonic districts, each under the care and supervision of a District Deputy Grand Master, thirty‑eight of whom made their reports to the Grand Master before the last annual communication.
Arkansas. ‑There is a tradition, though vague and uncertain, that Masonry was first introduced into Arkansas by the Spanish, nearly one hundred and twenty years ago, and that the " Post of Arkansas " was the place where they established a lodge. How long it existed, or what it did, there is neither voice to answer nor record to show.
In the year 1818 Brother Andrew Scott received the appointment of Superior Judge of the Territory of Arkansas. At that time Brother Scott was acting as Worshipful Master of a Masonic lodge at Potosi, Washington County, Missouri, working under a dispensation.
As Brother Scott was about to leave Potosi, the officers and brethren of the lodge thought it advisable to surrender their letters of dispensation, and accordingly did so, Brother Scott at the same time praying the Grand Lodge for permission to retain the lodge jewels to present to the first Masonic lodge in Arkansas, which was granted.
Brother Scott settled at the Post of Arkansas, the then seat of government of the Territory. November 29, 1819, a number of brethren petitioned the Grand Lodge of Kentucky for a dispensation for "Arkansas Lodge," at the Post of Arkansas.
A charter was granted, and on the first day of December Brother Robert Johnson was installed Worshipful Master of Arkansas Lodge, U. D., and the aforesaid jewels were presented to said lodge by Brother Scott.
When the seat of government was removed to Little Rock, many of the brethren dimitted, and the lodge surrendered the dispensation. Brother Scott again obtained permission to retain the jewels, to be presented to the next oldest lodge of Arkansas Territory.
For a period of fifteen years there seems to have been no movement in Arkansas towards establishing a Masonic lodge. During this period the AntiMasonic excitement raged with intense fury; but, in the year 1836, a number of brethren petitioned the Grand Lodge of Tennessee for a dispensation for a new lodge at Fayetteville, Washington County, to be called |` Washington Lodge."
The petition was granted, and Brother Scott presented said lodge with the aforesaid jewels.
In 1839 Brothers A. Scott, A. Lewis, and others, upon recommendation of Washington Lodge, No. 1, obtained from William Gilchrist, Most Worshipful Grand Master of Arkansas, a dispensation for Clarksville Lodge (afterward 348 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
No. 57), at Clarksville.
Washington Lodge, No. i, having obtained a charter and a new set of jewels, presented the aforesaid jewels, through the District Deputy Grand Master, for the use and benefit of Clarksville Lodge.
In 1845 Clarksville Lodge surrendered its charter; and the Grand Lodge appointed John H. Strong, Worshipful Master of Franklin Lodge, No. 9, to take possession of all money, books, papers, and furniture belonging to said lodge, and send the same to the Grand Lodge, granting permission to Franklin Lodge, No. 9, to retain the historic jewels for its own use and benefit; in whose possession they remained until October 27, 1857, when Franklin Lodge, No. 9, by resolution, presented the aforesaid jewels to the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
On the 2d day of November, 1838, the following lodges met in convention at Little Rock, to wit: Washington Lodge, No. 82, Fayetteville; Western Star Lodge, No. 43, Little Rock; Morning Star Lodge, No. 42, Post of Arkansas; Mt. Horeb, U. D., Washington.
Washington Lodge, No. 82, working under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, was also represented. The convention, by unanimous consent of all the delegates, adopted a constitution for the government of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas; whereupon a Grand Lodge was opened in due and ancient form, the officers thereof were elected and installed according to the most ancient usages and customs of the Fraternity; and, on the z 7th day of November, aforesaid, the convention adjourned sine die.
The charter of Washington Lodge, No. 82, dated at Nashville, Tennessee, October 3, 1837, was found in a deserted store, in Fayetteville, by Brother B. F. Little, of Pioneer Lodge, No. 22, of Des Moines, Iowa, and a member of an Iowa Regiment, in October, 1862, and was sent by him to A. O. Sullivan, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. On October 5, 1866, Brother G. F. Gouley, the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, sent the charter to Brother W. D. Blocker, at that time Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, who, on November 14, 1866, gave it to Brother J. H. Van Hoose ; he returned it to Washington Lodge, No. 1, December 7, 1866, and the lodge on November 27, 1879 (by Brother Van Hoose), presented it to the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, to be kept among its archives.
Of the old lodges, Washington, No. r (formerly No. 82), Fayetteville, and Western Star, No. 2 (formerly No. 43), at Little Rock, still survive and give promise of a long and useful future.
Morning Star Lodge, No. 3, died many years ago.
The principal cause of its decay is attributable to the removal of the seat of government from the " Post of Arkansas " to Little Rock.
The names selected by the brethren for Lodges No. 2 and No. 3, were singularly appropriate : Morning Star, No. 3, was chosen for the lodge at " Arkansas Post," being near the eastern border of the territory, while Little Rock, the location of Western Star, No. 2, was on. the western border of civilization.
What a constellation has since clustered around these 11 Stars " ! THE AMERICAN RITE.
349 Mount Horeb Lodge, No. 4, at Washington, struggled along until 188o, when it stopped making its report to the Grand Lodge, and, in 1884, the charter was withdrawn.
The formation of the Grand Lodge, in 1838, firmly fixed and established Freemasonry in Arkansas, although its progress was not rapid for several year's. The first charters granted by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas were to Clarksville, No. 5, in 1839; Van Buren, No. 6 ; Napoleon, No. 7 ; and Golden Square, No. 8, in 1840; Franklin, No. 9, in 1843; and Mount Zion, No. 1o, in 1844.
None were granted in 1845.
On November 25, 1846, the Grand Lodge of Arkansas was duly incorporated by an act of legislature of the State, by which every subordinate lodge in the State was fairly and legally protected.
In his address to the Grand Lodge, in 1850, Most Worshipful E. H English, G. M., strongly recommended the establishment of an educational institution by the Grand Lodge, to be known as St. John's College.
Seven years later the corner‑stone was laid.
In 1873 the committee on‑ education reported that a wing to the main college had been erected at a cost of $16,ooo, and that 103 students were in attendance, 38 of whom were beneficiaries.
In 1877 Colonel L. Baier arranged with the Grand Lodge to take the building, conduct the school, and pay all expenses. In 1881 Colonel Baier was stricken with meningitis and resigned, and Colonel W. J. Alexander succeeded to his place.
In 1883 Colonel Alexander abandoned his contract, and the school was closed, and has remained closed.
Nor has the Grand Lodge been able to effect a lease or sale of the property.
On the 19th day of December, 1876, the building in which the Masonic lodges were held, and in which was the Grand Secretary's office, in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, was destroyed by fire.
[See note accompanying statistics of Arkansas.]
So quickly did the fire progress that neither the lodge‑room nor Grand Secretary's office were opened. Hence all of the records, books, papers, etc., pertaining to the Grand Secretary's office were destroyed.
In 1883 a resolution was adopted to establish a Masonic and general library, and an appropriation of ,$loo was made from the funds of the Grand Lodge for library purposes.
After the annual communication was closed, on November 28, 1888, the Grand Lodge celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The hall was opened to the public, and the gathering was presided over by the Grand Master.
The exercises were opened with prayer.
After the proceedings of the convention held at Little Rock, November 2T, 1838, which formed the Grand Lodge, had been read, and a brief histcry of the lodges represented at its formation, he introduced Brother John P. Karns, a member of Western Star Lodge, No. 43, who was present at the formation of the Grand Lodge, he being, so far as known, the only person then living who was present on that occasion.
Brother 350 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Karns, in an impromptu way, gave some very interesting and entertaining incidents connected with the history and progress of the Grand Lodge, after which Past Grand Master Williams delivered a short address appropriate to the occasion.
At the conclusion of the address, the brethren, ladies, and visitors repaired to Concordia Hall, where an elegant banquet was served to over five hundred persons, and toasts were given and appropriate responses made by Past Grand Masters Van Hoose, Bell, and others of Arkansas, and by Most Worshipfuls J. Eichbaum and Nisbet of Pennsylvania. At the conclusion of the response to the twelfth toast, the company arose and joined in singing "Auld Lang Syne," and dispersed.
In 1887 the Masonic Fraternity at Fort Smith, having in 187o become the owners of a lot, made a move towards the erection of a temple in which they could hold their meetings, and be " at home." As it was the desire of the sisters and brothers of Brother Barnard Baier, who died September 24, 1886, that some suitable and durable monument should be erected to his memory, the heirs above named selected a committee, requesting them to formulate a plan to carry out their designs and wishes, pledging them $1o,ooo towards its accomplishment.
The committee decided to erect a memorial edifice, to be known as the " Baier Memorial Temple," which, with the help of Brother J. H. T. Main (who contributed $4000), and the Fraternity at Fort Smith, provided for the erection of a fine three‑story building, which was dedicated to the uses and purposes of Freemasonry in due and ancient form, on December z, 1889, by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge.
The constitution of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, adopted in 1873, fixes the following rates for fees and dues, to wit: for every dispensation, $3o, and for the charter, $zo additional. Each lodge to pay the Grand Lodge $5 annually, also ,$I for each degree conferred, and zs cents for each member on the roll at the date of the returns.
The minimum fee for the degrees is $zs, and the dues are fixed and regulated by the subordinate lodges.
Minnesota.‑The act organizing the Territory of Minnesota was passed March 3, 1S49.
The Territorial governor arrived in May, following, and other Territorial officers soon thereafter.
In the seventh number of the Minnesota Chronicle, issued July 12, 1849, appeared the following notice : ‑ " MASONIC.‑All members of the Order who may be in St. Paul on Monday next (the 16th inst.), are fraternally invited to attend a convention to be held at the American House at half‑past seven o'clock, P.M.
Punctual attendance is requested.‑B." In response to the call, a goodly number assembled, not at the American House, but at the school‑house, and resolved to apply to the Grand Lodge of Ohio for a dispensation for a lodge of Masons. A petition was drawn up, and it was signed by twelve brethren.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
353 The dispensation was granted August 8, 1849, for St. Paul Lodge, appointing C. K. Smith, W. M.; Jer. Hughes, S. W.; and D. F. Brawley, J. W.
The lodge met regularly, and they did considerable work.
Owing, however, to local troubles in the lodge, a charter was not granted them until January 24, 1853.
On October 12, 1850, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin issued a dispensation to St. John's Lodge, No. 59, at Stillwater, and appointed F. K. Bartlett, W. M.; Benjamin Allen, S. W.; and William Holcomb, J. W. On June 9, 1852, a charter was granted. Though St. Paul Lodge received its dispensation one year before St. John's Lodge, the brethren of St. John's Lodge received their charter over seven months before the brethren at St. Paul.
During 1852 the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois issued a dispensation to Alfred E. Ames, W. M.; William Smith, S. W.; Isaac Brown, J. W. ; for Cataract Lodge, No. 121, at St. Anthony's Falls, and on October 5, 1852, a charter was granted.
Delegates from these three lodges met at the lodge‑room of St. Paul Lodge, No. 1, on Wednesday, February 23, 1853, to take measures to form a Grand Lodge.
Of this convention Alfred E. Ames was president, and A. T. C. Pierson, secretary.
These resolutions were adopted: " That it is the deliberate opinion of this convention that the permanent good of Masonry demands the formation of a Grand Lodge for Minnesota.
"That we proceed to the preliminaries for the formation of a Grand Lodge, by the appointment of a committee to draft a constitution and regulations for the government thereof." The next day a constitution was unanimously adopted, and the following Grand Officers were elected: Alfred E. Ames, M. W. G. M.; A. Goodrich, D. G. M.; D. F. Brawley, G. S. W.; A. Van Vorhes, G. J. W.
The Grand Lodge was opened, the officers duly installed, and the Grand Lodge of Minnesota legally organized.
Charters were granted: to St. John's Lodge, No. 1 ; Cataract Lodge, No. 2 ; and St. Paul Lodge, No. 3.
March 5, 1853, the legislative assembly of the Territory granted a charter of incorporation to the Grand Lodge.
The charter was amended February 28, 1885, and is still in force.
June 21, 1853, a dispensation was issued to Brother D. M. Coolbaugh, W. M.; J. N. Barbur, S. W.; E. A. Hodsdon, J. W.; for Hennepin Lodge, No. 4, at Minneapolis.
A charter was granted January 2, 1854, on which day a charter to open a new lodge at St. Paul, by the name of "Ancient Landmark, No. 5," was granted.
January 1, 1855, a charter was granted to Shakopee Lodge, No. 6.
January 9, 1856, charters were granted to Dakota Lodge, No. 7, and Red Wing Lodge, No. 8.
The charter of St. Paul Lodge was surrendered to the Grand Lodge, 354 and upon the petition of fourteen Master Masons, of St. Paul, praying for a charter, one was granted to St. Paul, No. 3, and the furniture and jewels of the late St. Paul Lodge were donated to the new lodge.
January 11, 1856, the revised constitution and general regulations were adopted, by which the fee for a charter was $45 ; dispensation, $20 ; charter afterward, $25 ; for every degree conferred, $1 ; and for every member of one year's standing in the lodge, $1 January 6, 185 7, charters were granted: to Faribault Lodge, No. 9 ; Pacific Lodge, No. 1o ; Mantorville Lodge, No. 11 ; Mankato Lodge, No. 12; Henderson Lodge, No. 13; Wapahasa Lodge, No. 14; St. Cloud Lodge, No. 15 ; Monticello Lodge, No. 16; Hokah Lodge, No. 17; and Winona Lodge, No. 18.
January, 1858, charters were granted: to Minneapolis Lodge, No. 19 ; Caledonia Lodge, No. 20; Rochester Lodge, No. 21 ; Pleasant Grove Lodge, No. 22 ; North Star Lodge, No. 23; and Wilton Lodge, No. 24.
At the ninth annual communication, Right Worshipful John Penman presented to the Grand Lodge a venerable copy of "The Bishop's Bible," imprinted at London, by Robert Baker, A.D. 16oo.
No communication of the Grand Lodge was held in 1862.
Most Worshipful A. T. C. Pierson served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from January, 1856, to October, 1863.
April 21, 1868, the entire property of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota was destroyed by fire, including the Grand Lodge library, in which were the proceedings of its sister Grand Lodges and all of its own, prior to that date.
In January, 1869, the Grand Lodge dedicated the lodge‑room of the new Masonic hall at St. Paul.
The three original lodges which formed the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, except that of St. Paul, No. 3, which was reorganized in 1856, are still on the roll of the Grand Lodge, and are in a flourishing condition. The Grand Lodge adopted the "Anderson Constitutions" as the basis of their constitution. The minimum fee for the degrees is $15, though most city lodges charge $5o, and elsewhere, usually, $30.
Each lodge regulates its own dues; but they are required to pay to the Grand Lodge $1 for each degree conferred, and 40 cents, annually, for each member.
The dues in subordinate lodges vary from $2 to $4.
June 24, 1856, was laid the corner‑stone of the State Historical Society building, and also the proposed Masonic Temple at St. Paul. The following corner‑stones of public buildings in Minnesota have been laid by the Grand Lodge: ‑ COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Aug. 11, 1974.............. Masonic Hall at East Minneapolis.
Oct.
13, 1885.............. Court‑House and City Hall, St. Paul‑2000 Masons in line. May 29, 1886.............. Exposition Building, Minneapolis.
Aug.
9, 1887.............. State School for Dependent Children at Owatonna. June 20, 1888.............. new City Hall, Winona.
Sept. 4, 1888.............. Masonic Temple, Minneapolis‑cost $350,000. June
9, 1889.............. Public School, Worthington‑cost $30,000.
my
4, 1889.............. Masonic Temple, Litchfield. Aug. 28, 1889.............. Masonic Temple, Duluth.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
357 Owing to the financial depression of 185 7, the Masonic Hall, the erection of which was commenced in 1856 at St. Paul, passed into other hands, and was completed for other uses.
Cataract Lodge, No. a, at Minneapolis, in 1874 erected a Masonic hall, which they still occupy. This was the first one built in the State, of which there are now quite a number, notably at Litchfield, Mankato, Red Wood Falls, Winona, Minneapolis, and Duluth.
The Minneapolis Temple at Minneapolis is just completed at a cost of over $300,000.
Its dimensions are 88 feet on Hennepin Avenue by 153 feet on Sixth‑street, and it is eight stories high.
It contains three " | Blue " Lodge halls, a Chapter, Council, and Commandery hall, a Consistory hall, armory and drill room, 8o by 114 feet, and is without doubt the most complete and elegant Masonic edifice in the North‑West, and of which (by the courtesy of Brother John A. Schlener), we give an illustration.' The Masonic Temple at Duluth, now in process of erection, will, when completed, be as well adapted for the uses of the various Masonic bodies, and fully as comfortable and convenient, as the Temple at Minneapolis, though not as large or imposing a structure.
At the time of the fire, in 1868, the Grand Lodge had quite a Masonic library, and there were therein several very rare and valuable works, which cannot be replaced. Within the past year provisions have been made for building up the Grand Lodge library. Recently the widow of the late Grand Secretary, Mrs. Pierson, has presented the Grand Lodge with his fine library.
Missouri. ‑ To those who are familiar with the early history of the Mississippi Valley, it is well known that the first settlers of Upper Louisiana (as Missouri was formerly called), were French, who came by the way of Canada.
To facilitate and protect communication between Canada and her possessions in the Mississippi Valley was a favorite scheme with France; and, in order to effect this, she caused a chain of military posts to be established along the lakes, and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Settlements rapidly sprang up between these posts, one of which, St. Genevieve, was of some importance as early as 1763.
Here was concentrated the lead trade, as also a trade in furs and peltries. In November, 1763, Pierre Liguiste Laclede, who had received from the Director General the exclusive privilege to trade with the Indians of Missouri and those west of the Mississippi, arrived at St. Genevieve ; but finding no place suitable for the storage of his goods, and being still too far from the mouth of the Missouri River, proximity to which was an object of great 1 It is built of Ohio white sand‑stone, and, architecturally speaking, is of Romanesque design. The Hennepin Avenue front is interspersed with numerous striking features, emblematic of the Masonic Order, always welcome to the eye of the Craft. The building is thoroughly fire‑proof in construction, and its interior arrangements for light, heat, ventilation, and access are the very best known to modern science and experience. The corner‑stone was laid (1888) by the Grand Master of Minnesota, Hon. John H. Brown, assisted by the officers of theGrand Lodge, and on that memorable occasion, able and interesting addresses were also made by Hon. William Lochren and the Rev. Robert Forbes.
358 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
importance to him, he started on a reconnoitring trip up the Mississippi River.
On the 15th of February, 1764, Laclede and his party landed at the spot where the city of St. Louis now stands..
Here they proceeded to cut down the trees and draw the lines of a town, which, in honor of Louis XV. of France, he named St. Louis, a town which afterward became the capital of Upper Louisiana, and is now the commercial capital of the State of Missouri. In those days Philadelphia was the leading commercial city of the United States ; and it was from Philadelphia that the merchants of St. Genevieve and St. Louis procured their goods, and thither they went once in every year for that purpose.
Several of them, while in that city, on one of these occasions, were initiated into our mysteries in the old French Lodge, No. 73 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania; in process of time there were numbers to warrant them in taking the necessary steps to form a lodge. Accordingly, on proper application, in the year 1807‑8, a warrant of constitution was granted, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, for Louisiana Lodge, No. 1o9, to be held in the town of St. Genevieve, Territory of Louisiana, Otho Strader being its first Master, Dr. Aaron Elliott and Joseph Hertick, Wardens.
It included Pierre Chouteau and Bartholomew Berthold, the founders of the great fur company, and many of those who were subsequently prominent merchants of St. Louis, and others, became members of this lodge.
This was the first lodge established in what is now the State of Missouri.
During the War of 1812 affairs in this Territory were much disturbed and unsettled, resulting in the decline of work in the lodge, until, finally, about the year 1825, it entirely ceased its work.
In the year 18o9‑io the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted a charter to St. Louis Lodge, No. 111. When this lodge commenced its labors, who were its officers, or when it ceased to exist, I have not been able to procure information.
A dispensation for a lodge at the town of Jackson, now in the county of Cape Girardeau, was granted by the Grand Lodge of Indiana, in 182o; and, subsequently, was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
The Grand Lodge of Tennessee, on October 3, 1815, granted a dispensation to Missouri Lodge, No. 12, in St. Louis, in the Missouri Territory; and, on October 8, 1816, they granted a charter for the same. A dispensation was granted by the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Tennessee, on November 28, 1818, to Elkton Lodge, No. 24, at or near Elkton; and the Grand Lodge granted a charter thereto, October 3, 1819.
The Grand Master of Tennessee also issued a dispensation, November 28, 1818, to " Joachim " Lodge, No. 25, at Herculaneum, Missouri Territory. On October 5, 1819, the Grand Lodge of Tennessee granted a charter to the same. The Grand Lodge of Tennessee, on July 5, 1819, granted a dispensation to St. Charles Lodge, No. 28, at St. Charles.
On October 5, 1819, THE AMERICAN RITE.
359 a charter was granted to the same.
The name was changed, February, 1821, to "Hiram," under a new charter.
The annual returns of these lodges, to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, together with many valuable records and papers of interest to the Masonic student and historian, were destroyed in Tennessee during the late Civil War, and it is not possible now to obtain a roll of their membership between 1816 and 1820.
On the 22d day of February, 1821, in pursuance of an invitation sent by Missouri Lodge, No. 12, to the several lodges in the State, the representatives of these lodges assembled in the hall of Missouri Lodge, No. 12, in St. Louis, and resolved to organize a Grand Lodge for the State of Missouri. They adjourned to meet at the same place, April 23, 1821, and organized the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
The lodges represented were: Missouri, No. 12 ; Joachim, No. 26 ; and St. Charles, No. 28.
Joachim Lodge, No. 2, ceased to work April 7, 1825, when its charter was arrested; and, on April 4, 1826, Hiram Lodge, No. 3, at St. Charles, surrendered its charter, leaving Missouri Lodge, No. i, the only survivor of the lodges which organized the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
The last of the original members of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, in 1821, was Brother John D. Daggett of Missouri Lodge, No. i, P. D. G. M., P. G. Treas., and P. G. Sec., who died in St. Louis, May io, 1874, in the eighty‑first year of his age.
At the meeting held April 21, 1821, the proceedings of convention, held February 22, 1821, were read, and the convention adjourned until the next day, at 3 o'clock P.M. ; at which time they met, pursuant to adjournment, and the representative from St. Charles Lodge, No. 28, having arrived and taken his seat, made the constitutional number of subordinate lodges necessary to organize a Grand Lodge.
All Past Masters present were allowed to vote at this meeting.
An election of officers for the ensuing year was then held, and the Grand Officers were elected, Brother T. F. Reddick having been chosen as Most Worshipful Grand Master.
The first semi‑annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Missouri was held at St. Louis, May 4, 1821. A procession was formed and proceeded to the Baptist church, where the ceremony of the installation of the Grand Officers was performed, in conformity with the ancient customs of the Fraternity. The procession was again formed and the brethren returned to the lodge‑room. A committee of three was appointed to draft a code of by‑laws, and the Grand Lodge adjourned until "to‑morrow evening at 6 o'clock; " at which time the committee on by‑laws reported a code, consisting of twenty sections, which were severally read and adopted.
Provisions were made for granting new charters to the subordinate lodges, within the jurisdiction, and for sending a copy of the proceedings to each of such lodges; when the Grand Lodge adjourned until 4 o'clock P.M., May 6, 18 The Grand Lodge of Missouri met pursuant to adjournment.
The Most Worshipful Grand Master was authorized to open communication with the 36o COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
different Grand Lodges in the United States, and the Grand Secretary was authorized to print fifty copies of the by‑laws, constitution and proceedings of the Grand Lodge, for the use of Grand Lodges. On the Loth day of August, 1821, the Most Worshipful Grand Master granted letters of dispensation to Harmony Lodge, No. 4, at Louisiana.
The first annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, A. F. and A. M., was held at St. Louis, October 1, 182 1.
A communication was received from Brother Samuel A. January, of Harmony Lodge, No. 4, that by virtue of an authority given by the Most Worshipful Grand Master he, on the 25th day of September, 1821, proceeded to constitute and consecrate said lodge, and to install the officers thereof in form ; and it being represented that the letter of dispensation granted to said lodge had been considered by them as a charter, it was,‑on motion, "Resolved, That the charter granted to Harmony Lodge, No. 4, by the Most Worshipful Grand Master' in Vacation; be recognized and confirmed." A petition for a charter was received from Unity Lodge, Jackson, Missouri. It was granted, on condition that the petitioners procure a recommendation from the Grand Lodge of Indiana, "by whose authority they had worked under dispensation." It appears that $19.75 was collected at this meeting for the. charity fund of the Grand Lodge, which dates from the first communication. The receipts were $96.5o.
A charter was granted to Olive Branch Lodge, No. 5, at Alton, Illinois, and to Franklin Union Lodge, No. 7 ; also letters of dispensation for a lodge at Vandalia, Illinois, at the semi‑annual communication, held in St. Louis, April 822.
The Grand Lecturer reported that he had visited nearly every lodge in the State, having been engaged fifty‑six days in visiting and lecturing, with marked success. At this communication charters were granted: for Vandalia Lodge, No. 8 ; Sangamon Lodge, No. 9 ; and Eden Lodge, No. 1o.
At the semi‑annual communication April 7, 1823, the question of forming a General Grand Lodge of the United States was introduced and discussed, and while in favor of a general convention of delegates from the several Grand Lodges in the United States, the Grand Lodge thought it " impolitic and unnecessary " to establish a General Grand Lodge.
August 31, 1828, the foundation‑stone of a Presbyterian church, about to be erected at St. Louis, was laid.
' April 29. 1825, a special meeting of the Grand Lodge was held at St. Louis. The Chair stated that General Lafayette, a Brother Mason and an Officer of the Revolution, had arrived in the city, and, on motion, he was duly elected an honorary member of the Grand Lodge. A committee was appointed to wait upon Brother Lafayette, inform him of his election as an honorary member, and to solicit his attendance at the present meeting.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
363 After a short absence the committee returned, accompanied by Brother Lafayette and his son, George Washington Lafayette, who were received by the Lodge standing, and an address delivered, to which Brother Lafayette replied, and was then conducted to a chair in the Grand East.
On motion, a ballot was taken and Brother George Washington Lafayette was duly elected an honorary member of the Grand Lodge. Brother Lafayette again addressed the Lodge, and with his son withdrew.
The communications were regularly held in April and October, of every year during the Anti‑Masonic excitement, until October, 1832, when,‑in accordance with a resolution passed on April 3, 1832, "that hereafter this Grand Lodge shall hold one communication in the year, which shall be on the first Monday of October," ‑the Grand Lodge convened October 9, 1833, and, after a two days' session, adjourned to meet at Columbia, on Monday, December 2, 1833, where a session lasting two days was held. The annual communication of 1834 was held at the same place, November 13th, and 14th.
No communication of the Grand Lodge was held in 1835, and the Grand Officers elected in 1834 held over until 1836.
The communication of 1836 was held at Columbia.
October 3d, 4th, and 5th, the officers of the Grand Lodge were elected and installed, the Grand Treasurer ordered to transmit the records and effects of the Grand Lodge to St. Louis within a reasonable time, and the Grand Lodge was duly closed.
The annual communications for 1837‑38‑39 and 40, were held in the city of St. Louis, in October of each year. In 184o a revised code of by‑laws was submitted and adopted, Article I. of which provided, that "The annual meetings of the Grand Lodge shall be held in the city of St. Louis, on the second Monday of October in each and every year," etc.
Section io fixed the fee for warrants of dispensation, $20; charter or constitution, $io, with an additional fee of $3 to be paid to the Grand Secretary. Subordinate lodges' were required to pay 75 cents annually to the Grand Lodge, for each member belonging to their lodge at the time of making their annual reports; and also, 25 cents, annually, for each member thereof, as a Grand Charity Fund.
In 1881 a committee was appointed to consider the advisability of estab 1 The fine illustration is that of a Temple, in course of construction at Kansas City, to cost $500,ooo. The expense of the site was $165,ooo. The Kansas City Yournal of January 25, 18g1, says: "According to the plans the Temple will be nine stories in height above the basement, and will have a frontage of 14o feet on Baltimore Avenue, 142 feet on Tenth‑street, and it will extend back to the alleys on the north and east side of the site.
The main entrance of the building will be twenty‑five feet wide, and it will be on Tenth‑street, on a level with the sidewalk.
The distance from the sidewalk on the Tenth‑street front to the top of the cornice will be 124 feet.
In the centre of the building will be a tower or belfry 224 feet in height above the sidewalk. . . .
The main halls above the first story of the building will be fourteen feet wide, and the side halls eight feet wide.
They will be finished with tesselated marble floors and marble wainscoting, and the Masonic lodge‑rooms, halls, and apartments will be finished in hard wood, and embellished with beautiful decorations and hangings.
In all the different Masonic departments new features for conferring degrees will be introduced, which will not be found in any other secret society temple in the United States."‑En.
364 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
lishing an || Indigent Home " for the widows and orphans of deceased members.
This committee was continued until the annual communication of the Grand Lodge in 1884, when they made a report favoring the enterprise.
In 1885 the committee submitted a printed report; a Board of Directors was elected and organized, and the Grand Lodge pledged $1o,ooo to the "Masonic Home."
In 1887 the Directors reported that the proceeds from " Charity Day," during the Knights Templar conclave week, in September, 1886, was $32,ooo, and that they held pledges from Masonic bodies or individuals amounting to $37,442 Noah M. Given, the President of the Board of Directors, made a comprehensive report to the Grand Lodge at its session in 1888, who said it was the unanimous opinion of the Board that the Home should be located near St. Louis.
Soon after the close of the Grand Lodge in 1888, the Board of Directors selected and purchased a tract of fifteen acres of ground, on Delmar Avenue, West St. Louis, on which was a two‑story brick building with mansard roof, containing twenty rooms, with out‑buildings and improvements, for $40,000.
A superintendent and a matron were selected, and took possession of the " Home " April 1, 1889. It was dedicated by the Grand Lodge June 15, 1889; and on July 31, 1889, the report shows that the assets of the Home were nearly $1oo,ooo more than their liabilities. Certainly a most creditable showing.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri has always been a most zealous opponent of intemperance, gambling, and kindred vices, and, in 1887, declared saloonkeeping to be a Masonic offence.
Iowa. ‑A dispensation was granted by the Right Worshipful Joab Bernard, of St. Louis, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, to Hiram C. Bennett, M. ; William Thompson, S. W.; and Evan Evans, J. W. ; to constitute Des Moines Lodge, at Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa. It was duly constituted, November 20, 1840 ; and, on October 20, 1841, a charter was granted, by the name of Des Moines Lodge, No. 41.
Iowa Lodge, at Bloomington (afterwards Muscatine), in Muscatine County, was constituted February 4, 1841, by dispensation granted by the same authority. On the loth of October, 1841, a charter was granted this lodge, by the name of Iowa Lodge, No. 42.
Dubuque Lodge, at Dubuque, county of Dubuque, was constituted October 1o, 1842, by dispensation; and on the loth of October, 1843, Dubuque Lodge, No. 62, was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
On October 1o, 1842, Iowa City Lodge, at Iowa City, was constituted by dispensation; and the Grand Lodge of Missouri granted a charter to Iowa Lodge, No. 63, October 1o, 1843.
.
A Masonic convention was held at Iowa City, Iowa Territory, on the loth day of May, 1843, composed of delegates from Iowa, Dubuque, and Iowa City lodges.
In pursuance of a resolution, the representatives of the several lodges,, THE AMERICAN RITE.
365 above named met at the hall of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, on the i ith day of October, 1843, and recommended that the chartered lodges of the Territory meet in convention at Iowa City, on the first Tuesday (zd day) of January, 1844; and further, that they take with them the charter and by‑laws .of their several lodges, and deposit the same with the Grand Lodge at its formation.
A meeting of delegates from the four chartered lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in the Territory of Iowa, working under charters from the Grand Lodge of Missouri, assembled at the hall of Iowa City Lodge, No. 63, in Iowa City, Iowa Territory, on the ad day of January, 1844, in pursuance of a recommendation of the convention of the representatives from the lodges aforesaid, held at the hall of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, at its annual communication, in October, 1843.
It was "Resolved, That delegates in attendance from lodges in the Territory working under dispensation [Keokuk and Clinton], in good standing with their Grand Lodges, be permitted to take seats in this body, and participate in its discussions." The delegates from lodges under dispensation, however, did not avail themselves of the privileges extended to them by the resolution.
The officers of the Grand Lodge of Iowa were elected, as follows : Oliver Cock, M. W. G. M. ; Timothy Fanning, G. S. W. ; William Reynolds, G. J. W. ; B. S. Olds, G. T. ; Theodore S. Parvin, G. S. The convention, on motion, adjourned sine die.
Right Worshipful Ansel Humphreys, D. D. G. M., of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, as Grand Master, pro tempore, thereof, assisted by Brothers Stephen Whicher and Isaac Magoon, of Bloomington, as Grand Junior and Senior Wardens, pro tempore, Brother T. S. Wilson of Dubuque, as Deputy Grand Master, pro tempore, and Brother Joseph Williams of Bloomington, as Grand Secretary,pro tempore, opened the Grand Lodge of Missouri in the Third degree, in due and ancient form, for the purpose of constituting the Grand Lodge of Iowa and installing the Grand Officers‑elect of the same; when the Grand Officers‑elect, and brothers, under the direction of Brother H. T. Hugins of Burlington, Grand Marshal,pro tempore, marched in procession to the Methodist Episcopal church, where an oration was delivered by the Honorable Brother Joseph Williams, the Grand Officers‑elect of the Grand Lodge of Iowa were installed, and the Grand Lodge constituted in due and ancient form. The procession returned to the hall of Iowa City Lodge, and the Grand Lodge of Missouri was closed. Then Brother Humphreys inducted Most Worshipful Oliver Cock, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, into the Oriental Chair, who ordered the Grand Secretary to summon the Grand Lodge of Iowa. This was accordingly done, and the Most Worshipful Grand Master proceeded to open the same in due and ancient form, in the Third degree.
Charters were granted as follows: Des Moines Lodge, No. r, at Burlington; Iowa Lodge, No. a, at Bloomington; Dubuque Lodge, No. 3, at Dubuque; and Iowa City Lodge, No. 4, at Iowa City.
366 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The movement thus inaugurated was ordered continued: it was "Resolved, That the next installation of Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge be in public, and the Most Worshipful Grand Master procure some brother to deliver an address on the occasion." The Grand Lodge was then called from labor to refreshment.
On Tuesday morning, the Grand Lodge was called to labor again. Clinton Lodge at Davenport, Keokuk Lodge at Keokuk, and Rising Sun Lodge at Montrose, surrendered their dispensations and charters, and took charters from the Grand Lodge of Iowa.
In 1847 the Most Worshipful Oliver Cock, G. M., in his opening address, among other matters called the attention of the Grand Lodge to the subject of a Masonic library; to which he alludes as follows: ‑ " It has been suggested to me that, if a certain amount of the funds of the Grand Lodge should be set apart each year for the purpose of procuring books for the Grand Lodge, a very respectable library might thus be collected without the amount expended being felt by the Grand Lodge. This seems to me a matter worthy of your consideration." The matter was referred to a committee, who reported as follows: ‑ "The subject appears to be one of very great importance to the interests of Masonry, more so to us, perhaps, in the far West, where the means of obtaining Masonic information is much more limited than in older settled countries." The committee admitted that the finances of the Grand Lodge would not then allow the expenditure of money, even for so desirable an object, yet believed that something should be done, and a commencement made; and recommended that an appropriation of five dollars be voted, to be expended under the direction of the Grand Secretary, for procuring such information in furtherance of this object as he may see proper. With this "fund" the Grand Secretary procured a copy of the "Trestle Board" ; one of the 1| Masonic Melodies," by Brother Powers of Massachusetts; a copy of the || Book of the Masonic Constitutions," published under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and subscribed for the fourth volume of the Freemason's Monthly Magazine. This was the beginning of the Masonic library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. To this, through the zeal and exertion of Most Worshipful Theodore S. Parvin, have been added year by year such works . of Masonic literature as could be found, until, in 1883, the Grand Lodge purchased the entire "Bower Collection," for the sum of $4000; a collection that Most Worshipful Robert F. Bower, late of Keokuk, had been years in collecting, and which could not be duplicated for twice the amount the Grand Lodge paid therefor. . This collection contained over z7oo bound volumes of miscellaneous works, besides a very large number of Masonic periodicals, proceedings, pamphlets, addresses, medals, etc.
In 1883 the Grand Lodge appointed a committee on construction of a library building. The corner‑stone was laid May 7, 1884, and one year later the library was moved into the building, and the rooms opened to the public.
The building erected for the library and Grand Lodge purposes is THE AMERICAN RITE.
369 located at Cedar Rapids.
It was intended to be fire‑proof, so that to‑day the Grand Lodge of Iowa has, without doubt, the best Masonic library in the United States, if not in the world.
Of this building we give an illustration. The value of the real estate owned by the Grand Lodge of Iowa, for the Grand Lodge Masonic Library, is $5000; value of building, $35,000; of library, ,$35,000 ; of its archaeological and miscellaneous collection, ,$5000 ; making a total of $8o,ooo.
A catalogue of the library was published with the proceedings in 1858, and one published separately in 1873 and 1883 the last included the "Bower Collection." The Grand Lodge of Iowa was formed under the "Anderson Constitutions," and uses the " Webb work." The Grand Lodge, as well as its subordinates, has always responded promptly and nobly when called upon for aid and assistance by the unfortunate, either at home or abroad.
The Fraternity has erected Masonic Temples, or halls, at Muscatine, Oscaloosa, Council Bluffs, Davenport, and Lyons. The one at Lyons was erected by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, in 1871, and is still occupied by them, in connection with the bodies of the "York Rite." The ininimum fee for the degrees is ,$2o, and the dues ,$2.
Dakota. ‑ It can truthfully be said that, Masonically, Dakota is Iowa's daughter; for, on the 27th day of April, 1862, Most Worshipful Thomas H. Benton, Jr., issued a dispensation to T. J. Dewitt, W. M.; A. G. Fuller, S. W.; M. R. Luse, J. W., and seven others, to open Dakota Lodge at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory; and at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, held at Keokuk June 4, 1862, this dispensation was referred to the Grand Master to renew, if he deemed it for the interests of the Craft.
On August 1o, 1862, Thomas H. Benton, Jr., was appointed Colonel of the 29th Regiment, Iowa Infantry,‑hence he had very little time to devote to his duties as Grand Master, which devolved upon E. A. Guilbert, D. G. M. In his address to the Grand Lodge of Iowa, June 2, 1862, Deputy Grand Master Guilbert makes no allusion to Dakota Lodge, or its dispensation,hence I judge it was not renewed,‑but he reports that, on December 5, 1862, he issued to the Rev. Melancthon Hoyt, and the requisite number of brethren, a dispensation to form a lodge at Yankton, Dakota Territory.
A charter was granted to this lodge by the Grand Lodge of Iowa, on June 3, x863, as St. John's Lodge, No. 166. The original petition for this lodge was presented to the Grand Lodge of Dakota May 2, 1889.
January 14, 1869, the Grand Master of Iowa granted a dispensation to organize Incense Lodge, at Vermillion, Dakota, and on June 2, 1869, a charter was granted to Incense Lodge, No. 257.
Most Worshipful John Scott, Grand Master of Iowa, on March 23, 1870, issued a dispensation to open a lodge at Elk Point, Union County, Dakota, which in June, 1870, was conditionally continued for one year; and on June 8, 1871, a charter was granted to Elk Point Lodge, No. 288, located at Elk Point, Dakota.
370 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Master of Iowa, on July 13, 1873, issued a dispensation to open Minnehaha Lodge, at Sioux Falls, Dakota. And on June 4, 1874, the Grand Lodge of Iowa granted a charter to the same, numbered 328.
On February 6, 1875, the Grand Master of Iowa granted a dispensation to form and open Silver Star Lodge at Canton, Lincoln County, Dakota, and also, on February 16, 1875, to open Mount Zion Lodge at Springfield, Bon Homme County: the Grand Lodge of Iowa granted charters to Silver Star Lodge, No. 345, and Mount Zion Lodge, No. 346, on June 3, 1875.
This comprises all the lodges in Dakota, chartered prior to the organization of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, in 1875 ; and, as the dispensations and charters were all issued by the Grand Lodge of Iowa, the Grand Lodge of Dakota is her legitimate offspring.
A convention of delegates, from St. John's Lodge, No. 166; Incense Lodge, No. 257; Elk Point Lodge, No. 288; Silver Star Lodge, No. 345; Minnehaha Lodge, No. 328, assembled at the hall of Elk Point Lodge, No. 288, in the city of Elk Point, Dakota, June 22, 1875. A committee on credentials was appointed. It was decided that a Grand Lodge should be organized for Dakota.
On the following day a constitution and code of by‑laws were adopted, and officers of the Grand Lodge elected, Brother T. H. Brown of No. 328, being elected Grand Master.
The Grand Officers and brethren marched in procession to the Baptist church, where an oration was delivered by Rev. Brother J. H. Magoffin, and the officers of the Grand Lodge of Dakota were installed by Past Grand Master Theodore S. Parvin, of Iowa. The Grand Lodge was constituted in due and ancient form ; the procession returned to the hall of Incense Lodge, and the officers of the Grand Lodge entered upon the discharge of their respective duties.
On motion, the charters of St. John's Lodge, No. 06; Incense Lodge, No. 257 ; Elk Point Lodge, No. 288 ; Silver Star Lodge, No. 345 ; Mimnehaha Lodge, No. 328; and Mount Zion Lodge, No. 346, were deposited with the Grand Lodge: and new charters were reissued to said lodges, numbered from one to six, consecutively, duly signed and attested.
Shiloh Lodge, No. 105, at Fargo, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, January 14, 1874; and Bismarck Lodge, at Bismarck, U. D., and afterward (June 12, 1876), chartered by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, did not unite with the lodges chartered by the Grand Lodge of Iowa, who composed the convention that organized the Grand Lodge of Dakota, June 21, 1875 ; and as the Grand Lodge of Minnesota claimed jurisdiction over them, it caused a good deal of correspondence between the two Grand Lodges. Shiloh Lodge surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge of Dakota, in June, 1879, and Bismarck did the same in June, i 88o ; and the Grand Lodge of Dakota reissued charters to both, free of charge.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
371 A charter was granted on June 13, 1877, to form and open a lodge at Deadwood, Dakota, as Deadwood Lodge, No. 7. On May 7, 1878, a dispensation was granted for a lodge to be held at Pembina, in Northern Dakota. This dispensation was renewed by the Grand Lodge, at its annual communication in June, 1878 A dispensation was granted, on the 25th day of November, 1878, to form and open a lodge at Flandreau, to‑be known as Flandreau Lodge. At the annual communication of the Grand Lodge in June, 1879, both of these dispensations were renewed for another year.
On June 12, 1879, a charter was granted to form and open a lodge at Lead City, Dakota, to be known as Golden Star Lodge, No. 9.
June 9, 1880, charters were granted: to Pembina Lodge, No. 1o, at Pembina ; Flandreau Lodge, No. 11, at Flandreau ; Casselton Lodge, No. 12, at Casselton ; Kampseka Lodge, No. 13, at Watertown ; Gate City Lodge, No. 14, at Gary; Acacia Lodge, No. 15, at Grand Forks.
June 11, 1889, the Grand Master not being present, his address to the Grand Lodge was read by the Grand Secretary. In referring to the division of the Territory of Dakota, he says: ‑ "Congress at its recent session provided for the division of the Territory and its admission into the Union as the States of South and North Dakota. The people of South Dakota have already practically adopted a constitution, and there is no doubt but each of the proposed States will become such in fact, in a few months." He commended the subject to the consideration of the Grand Lodge.
It was referred to a special committee of seven, to prepare and present special resolutions upon that subject. The committee, after presenting a preamble, reciting the causes that rendered a division of the Grand Lodge desirable and proper, offered the following resolutions, which were adopted: ‑ " 1st. Resolved, That in response to the unanimously expressed desire of the representatives from the lodges existing in Dakota north of the seventh standard parallel, this GrandtLodge does hereby accord to the representatives from what is known as North Dakota, with fraternal regard and kind wishes, full, free, and cordial consent to withdraw from this Grand Lodge for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge, to be known as the ` Grand Lodge of North Dakota, A. F. & A. M.,' to occupy and hold exclusive Masonic jurisdiction in all that portion of Dakota north of the seventh standard parallel.
"2d. Resolved, That a committee often be at once appointed to report a just and equitable division of all moneys and other Grand Lodge property." The following report was adopted: ‑ " From the best information at hand, we have appraised the property of this Grand Lodge as follows: ‑ Grand Lodge Jewels...............................................
,$135.00 Binding Library..
...............................................
375.00 One Wooden Desk.......ä .......................................
82.00 Seven Bookcases..................................................
x79.00 One Table..
...........................................
10.00 Grand Secretary's Seal.............................................
12.00 Grand Master's Seal...............................................
6.oo Library, independent of the amount paid out for binding.............
8oo.oo Cash on hand in excess of accrued obligations.......................
2991.79 Total........................................................$4590ò79 372 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"There are seventy‑three constituent lodges in South Dakota, and twenty‑six in North Dakota, not including those to whom charters have been granted at this communication.
"But your committee have agreed to recommend the division of the property and funds in the proportion of one‑third to the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, and two‑thirds to be retained by the present Grand Lodge.
"This will give to the new Grand Lodge of North Dakota the sum of $1530.26.
"Your committee are pleased to state that their work has been characterized by the most perfect harmony and good feeling.
"We recommend that an order be drawn on the Grand Treasurer, in favor of the Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, for the sum of $1530.26." Article II., of the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, was amended to read as follows: ‑ "Article II. The Grand Lodge so to be organized shall be styled and known by the name of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of South Dakota." Past Grand Master George H. Hand then duly installed Most Worshipful George V. Ayers, Grand Master, and the other elected and appointed officers of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota; also, Most Worshipful James W. Cloes, Grand Master, and the elected and appointed officers of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, for the ensuing year. Most Worshipful T. H. Brown offered the following resolution, which was adopted: ‑ " Be it resolved, that each Past Elective Grand Officer of this Grand Lodge, being a member of a lodge in North Dakota, as well as each Elective Grand Officer of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, be, and is hereby constituted an honorary member of this Grand Lodge." Most Worshipful Brother Blatt, on behalf of the Grand Lodge, presented the Grand Lodge of North Dakota with the Grand Lodge jewels; and the Grand Lodge of South Dakota was then closed in ample form.
North Dakota.‑On the 12th day of June, 1889, the representatives of the lodges north of the seventh standard parallel in the Territory of Dakota, who were in attendance at the fifteenth session of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, held at the city of Mitchell, having been previously instructed by their respective lodges, met in convention to take action to form a Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons for North Dakota.
The convention was called to order by Most Worshipful Brother H. M. Wheeler.
The following lodges were represented: Shiloh, No. 8 ; Pembina, No. ro ;
Casselton, No. 12 ;
Acacia, No. 15 ; Bismarck, No. 16 ;
Jamestown, No. 19 ; Valley City, No. 21 ; Cereal, No. 29; Hillsboro, No. 32; Crescent, No. 36; Cheyenne Valley, No. 41 ; Ellendale, No. 49 ; Sanborn, No. 51 ; Mackey, No. 63; Hiram, No. 74; Minnewaukan, No. 75 ; Tongue River, No. 78; Bathgate, No. 8o; Euclid, No 84; and Golden Valley, No. 9o.
It was unanimously " Resolved, That this convention deem it expedient, and for the good of Masonry, that a Grand Lodge be organized for North Dakota." After due consideration, the convention adopted a constitution and code THE AMERICAN RITE.
373 of by‑laws for the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, and proceeded to elect, by ballot, the Elective Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge; and the convention adjourned to 9 o'clock A.M. June 13, 1889, at which hour the convention met. On motion, it was "Resolved, That the first annual communication of this Grand Lodge be held in the city of Grand Forks, commencing on the third Tuesday of June, A.L. 5890, A.D. x890." An invitation having been extended to the members of the convention to take part in the installation of the officers of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and that the officers of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota be installed at the same time and place, on motion, the invitation was accepted, and the convention adjourned.
, Past Grand Master Hand, on invitation, assumed the Grand East, and appointed Leonard A. Rose, Grand Marshal, pro tempore. He then duly installed the Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota for the ensuing year, James W. Cloes, Jamestown, being the first Grand Master.
Immediately upon the adjournment of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, and at the hour of 12 M., the Grand Lodge of North Dakota met at the hall of Resurgam Lodge, No. 31, in the city of Mitchell, and was opened in ample form. All of the officers of the Grand Lodge were present, except the Grand Chaplain; and the representatives of twenty chartered lodges responded. Right Worshipful Charles T. McCoy, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, presented the Grand Lodge of North Dakota a Masonic work entitled, "The General History of Freemasonry," as a nucleus for a Grand Lodge library.
The action taken by the members present, in convention assembled, prior to the opening of this Grand Lodge, was confirmed and adopted, as a part of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota.
It was also "Resolved, That the subordinate lodges under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, shall be, numbered according to the dateof their respective charters, and that the said charters be called in, properly indorsed, and reissued to said lodges forthwith, bearing the numbers from one to twenty‑seven, consecutively, signed by the Most Worshipful Grand Master, and attested in due form by the Grand Secretary." On motion of Brother T. J. Wilder, the right hand of fellowship was extended to the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Dakota; and all Past Elective Grand Officers, as well as all the Present Elective Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, were made honorary members of the Grand Lodge.
The Most Worshipful Grand Master appointed the various committees, and the committee on resolutions offered the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : ‑ " Whereas, In the division of the Grand Lodge property, our brethren residing in South Dakota have beautifully exemplified the tenet of brotherly love, and exhibited a spirit of benevolence, not equalled heretofore in the history of Masonry; and, " Whereas, In the presentation to this Grand Lodge of the jewels of the Grand Lodge of Dakota, our brethren have added another golden‑link to the indissoluble chain of sincere affection which joins the Grand Lodges of North and South Dakota; Therefore, be it 374 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"Resolved, That the thanks of this Grand Lodge are hereby gratefully tendered to the Grand, Lodge of Dakota for the kindness, consideration, and generosity which they have shown towards us in the division of the Grand Lodge property.
"Resolved, That in the Grand Lodge jewels we recognize and acknowledge a lasting memorial of our past fraternal relations, an offering of love and affection that shall forever unite and cement us to our brethren of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, our appreciation of which was best spoken in tears of gratitude and thoughts expressed in silence." The first communication of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota was then closed in ample form, having at that time 30 chartered lodges and 1322 members. The fee for dispensation is ,$2o, and $3 fee to Grand Secretary; for every charter, $30 ; for a charter to a lodge that has not worked under dispensation, the fee is $5o : the minimum fee for the degrees is 25.
Brother Theodore S. Parvin, Past Grand Master of Iowa, presented to the Grand Lodge 881 bound volumes, as the beginning of a library, on condition that he should be reimbursed for the binding, which, after consultation, was accepted.
On May 14, 18go, a consignment of three boxes of books was received, being a donation of the valuable Masonic library of Most Worshipful Brother William Blatt, of Yankton, South Dakota, to the Grand Lodge of North Dakota. This munificent gift was appropriately acknowledged by the Grand Lodge.
There has never been a Grand Lodge in the United States, or North America, which, at the close of the first year of its existence, could make a like favorable showing, as the Grand Lodge of North Dakota at its first annual communication in June, 18go.
Nebraska. ‑Among the early settlers in the vicinity of Bellevue, in Sarpy County, Nebraska Territory, were several members of the Craft, who, in 1854, after due deliberation, resolved to petition the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois for a dispensation, authorizing them to form and open t a lodge at Bellevue. The petition was signed by L. B. Kinney, A. R. Gilmore, P. G. McMahan, George Hepner, A. W. Hollister, A. H. Burtch, and A. Lockwood, and was forwarded to T. O. Wilson, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, in the fall of 1854, and he notified James L. Anderson, Grand Master of Illinois; but receiving no reply, Deputy Grand Master T. O. Wilson, early in February, 1855, granted a dispensation to open and form Nebraska Lodge, at Bellevue, Nebraska Territory.
This was the first dispensation granted for a lodge in the Territory of Nebraska.
The first meeting of the lodge was held April 3, 1855, in the second story of the old tradingpost, then owned by Brother Peter A. Sarpy.
In order to elude observation from the natives, " the Omahas," and preserve the secrets of the Craft, large Mackinaw blankets were hung around the room until the desired end was accomplished. The first lodge of Master Masons was regularly opened by the following officers: L. B. Kinney, W. M. ; L. L. Bowen, S. W. ; A. Lockwood, J. W. ; A. W. Hollister, Sec.; and W. Barnum, THE AMERICAN RITE.
375 Treas.
The altar used on this occasion was a bale of Indian blankets.
At this meeting Isaiah H. Bennett petitioned for the degrees; but he died before the next meeting of the lodge (May 29, 1855).
The first degree conferred by this lodge was the Entered Apprentice upon General Peter A. Sarpy, in the hall of Council Bluffs Lodge, Iowa, in the fall of 1855.
A charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Illinois, October 3, 1855, to Nebraska Lodge, No. 184, at Bellevue, Nebraska Territory; and on September 23, 185 7, it was granted a charter by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, as Nebraska Lodge, No. i. A dispensation was granted May 1o, 1855, by the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, to Charles A. Goshen, Lewis Hax, William Anderson, William D. Gage, John H. Hight, A. B. Woolston, and N. B. Giddings, to open a lodge at Nebraska City, by the name of Giddings Lodge, which dispensation was continued by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, May 28, 1855. The lodge was organized under its dispensation May 29, 1855, N. P. Giddings being its first Worshipful Master; C. A. Goshen, Senior Warden; and Lewis Hax, Junior Warden.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri, on May 28, 1856, granted a charter for Giddings Lodge, No. 156, and appointed Brother S. Redfield, Past Master of Jerusalem Lodge, No. 99, of Indiana, special deputy to constitute the lodge and install its officers, which was done on the 8th day of June, 1856. After several preliminary meetings of the Masonic Fraternity, living at Omaha, in the fall and winter of 1856‑57, a petition, signed by John H. Sahler, Robert Shields, William R. Demarest, A. R. Gilmore, George Armstrong, and fourteen others, was sent to the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, John F. Sanford, M. D., who, on January q, 1857, granted a dispensation to form and open Capital Lodge, at Omaha, by authority of which, on January 26, 1857, the brethren assembled in an upper room of the " Pioneer Block," and opened a lodge of Master Masons. On June 3, 1857, the Grand Lodge of Iowa granted a charter for Capital Lodge, No. 1o1, at Omaha, Nebraska.
The chartez was received at Omaha, June 29, 1857 ; and on the evening of that day, Ira A. W. Buck, Deputy Grand Master of Illinois, having been deputized for that, purpose, constituted Capital Lodge, No. 1o1, and installed its officers in due form.
In September, 1857, a call appeared in the Nebraska Advertiser, inviting all Masons in good standing, in the county of Nebraska, to meet at the residence of Brother Jesse Noel, in Brownville, on the 26th day of September, to consider the propriety of forming a lodge in Brownville.
In pursuance of said invitation, fifteen brethren met, and organized.
It was "Resolved, That it is expedient, and for the good of Masonry, that we form a permanent Masonic organization, and apply to the Grand Lodge of Missouri for a dispensation for Nemaha Valley Lodge." While these preparations were being made, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska was instituted; and the application was made to that body for a dispensation. A convention was held September 23, 1857, at Omaha City, Nebraska, at 376 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
which it was "Deemed highly expedient to organize a Grand Lodge for this Territory." A lodge of Master Masons was opened. A committee on credentials was appointed, who reported that the representatives of Nebraska Lodge, No. 184; Giddings Lodge, No. 156; Capital Lodge, No. io1; were entitled to seats in the Grand Lodge there to be formed.
The Grand Officers were elected, among whom was R. C. Jordan, of Omaha City, Grand Master. The Grand Officers were duly installed by Most Worshipful I. A. W. Buck, of Illinois, and the Grand Lodge of Nebraska was then declared regularly organized.
A committee to report a constitution, by‑laws, and rules of order for the government of the Grand Lodge, was appointed. The name of " Giddings " Lodge was changed to "Western Star" Lodge ; and charters were granted to Nebraska Lodge, No. i, at Bellevue; Western Star Lodge, No. 2, at Nebraska City; and Capital Lodge, No. 3, at Omaha City.
A committee was appointed to draft and procure the passage of an act of incorporation for the Grand Lodge, at the ensuing session of the general assembly of Nebraska.
The first annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska was convened at Nebraska City, June 2, 1858.
The Grand Master reported that, on October 20, 185 7, he granted a dispensation to form and open Nemaha Lodge, No. 4, at the city of Brownville; on January 18, 1858, to form and open Temple Lodge, No. 5, at Omadi; and on the same date to form and open Plattsmouth Lodge, No. 6, at the city of Plattsmouth.
Cornelius Moore's "Craftsman" was adopted as the Monitor for use by the lodges in the jurisdiction.
Charters were granted, June 5, 1861, to Summit Lodge, No. 7, Parkville, Colorado; and Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 8, ~t Gold Hill, Colorado. Decatur Lodge, No. 7, at Decatur, was granted a charter, June 3, 1862. On August 24, 1863, a dispensation was granted to open "Loup Fork" Lodge, at Columbus, Nebraska Territory; and a charter was granted to Columbus Lodge, No. 8, at Columbus, June 24, 1864. On November 17, 1863, a dispensation was granted to open " Idaho Lodge," at Nevada City, Idaho.
June, 1863, a dispensation was granted to open "Bannock Lodge," at Bannock City, Idaho; and on July 30, 1863, a dispensation to open '1 Monitor Lodge," in the 1st Nebraska Regiment, Infantry, located in the field.
This dispensation was surrendered to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, June 22, 1866.
The dispensation to Bannock Lodge was renewed June 24, 1864.
"The Webb‑Preston Work," as taught by Barney, Cross, and others, was adopted as the work of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, in June, 1864. Columbus Lodge, No. 8, located at Columbus, Nebraska Territory, was chartered June 24, 1864.
A charter was granted to Falls City Lodge, No. 9, at Falls City, on June 23, 1865.
On June 22, 1866, Solomon Lodge, No. 1o, at Fort Calhoun; Convert Lodge, No. i1, at Omaha; and Nebraska City THE A117ERICAN RITE.
377 Lodge, No. 12, at Nebraska City, were granted charters by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. In pursuance of a resolution adopted by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, the Grand Master appointed a standing committee on " Orphan Schools," of one from each subordinate lodge.
A dispensation was granted by the Grand Lodge, June 22, 1866, to open " Cedar Lodge," at Rulo ; and on June i9, 1867, a charter was granted to the lodge, under the name of " Orient Lodge, No. 13."
The Grand Master of Nebraska, on July 3, 1866, granted a dispensation for Fremont Lodge, No. 15, at Fremont, Douglass County; and, on June 20, 1867, it was granted a charter.
Also on May 23, 1867, a dispensation was granted to open a lodge at Peru, in Nemaha County, Nebraska Territory ; a dispensation having been granted in 1862, for a lodge to be located at that place, which, owing to the vicissitudes of war, was surrendered with its property to the Grand Lodge.
A charter was granted Peru Lodge, No. 14, June 19, 1867, and the furniture formerly belonging to Peru Lodge, U. D., was returned to Peru Lodge, No. 14.
In 1867‑68 dispensations were granted as follows: July, 1867, Rising Star Lodge, Rock Bluffs, Cass County; December 7, 1867, Tecumseh Lodge, Tecumseh, Johnson County; January 29, 1868, Eureka Lodge, Arago, Richardson County; January‑, 1868, Cumming City Lodge, Cumming City, Washington County; January‑, 1868, Ashland Lodge, Ashland; May 4, 1868, Lincoln Lodge, Lincoln, Lancaster County. Charters were granted as follows : June 24, 1868, to Eureka Lodge, No. 16 ; Tecumseh Lodge, No. 17 ; Ashland Lodge, No. 18: on June 25, 1868, to Lincoln Lodge, No. 19; Rock Bluff Lodge, No. 2o; and Cumming City Lodge, No. 21 (name changed to "Washington Lodge," No. 21, October 27, 1869).
In April, 1868, Grand Secretary J. N. Wise inaugurated the project of a Grand Lodge library, issuing circulars to the several Grand Lodges in the United States, asking for donations of such books as were suitable, and the brethren might be pleased to favor them with; and at the annual communication in June, 1868, he reported that he, had received about ninety volumes. The Grand Secretary was appointed, ex officio, librarian of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska.
On October 28, 1869, charters were granted: to Tecumseh Lodge, No. 17, in place of one destroyed by fire, Macon Lodge, No. 22, at Plattsmouth; Pawnee Lodge, No. 23, at Pawnee City; St. John's Lodge, No. 24, at Omaha; and Lafayette Lodge, No. 25, at Lafayette, Nemaha County.
June 22, 1870, charters were granted : to Beatrice Lodge, No. 26 ; and, on June 23, 1870, to Jordan Lodge, No. 2 7, at West Point; Wyoming Lodge, No. 28, at South Pass, Wyoming; Hope Lodge, No. 29, at Hillsdale, Nemaha County, Nebraska; and to Blue River Lodge, No. 30, located at Milford, Seward County, Nebraska.
At the annual communication held at Nebraska City, June, 1866, Brother O. H. Irish offered the following resolution, which was adopted: ‑ 378 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"That a standing committee of one from each subordinate lodge b8 appointed, of which the Grand Master shall be chairman, to take measures to form an institution for the education of the orphans of deceased Masons," The committee to report in detail at the next annual communication.
In 1867 the committee reported that the object met with favor and general approbation with the brethren of the subordinate lodges, and, in accordance with their recommendation, an annual tax of one dollar,‑upon every member of each subordinate lodge in the State, and of two dollars upon each nonaffiliated Mason in the State, ‑ was levied, for the " Orphan Educational Fund " ; and, also, that each lodge hold, annually, a festival or fair, and that the proceeds should be appropriated to said fund. In 1868 it was reported that the non‑affiliated had paid ,$86 into the " Orphan Educational Fund," and the members of subordinate lodges $596.
At the communication held October, 1869, the standing resolution, requiring an annual fair or festival to be held by each subordinate lodge, was repealed. In 1870 the annual tax, upon each member of a subordinate lodge, was reduced from $1 to 5o cents; and on non‑affiliates, from ,$2 to $1.50; and, in 1872, the tax of 5o cents upon each member was repealed.
The trustees of the " Orphan School Fund " reported $7,011.41, on hand June 1, 1875 ; and, on May 31, 1889, the fund amounted to $16,914.
At the annual communication, in 1888, a committee was appointed to organize a " Masonic Horne " for Nebraska. In June, 1889, the incorporation of the " Nebraska Masonic Home " was fully completed, with a capital stock not exceeding $5oo,ooo, with shares of the par value of $ioo; the "Home" to be managed by a board of twelve trustees.
At that date the amount of the "Masonic Home Fund" was $5ooo, and accrued interest $279‑17; total, $5,279.17.
Kansas. ‑ Originally forming a portion of the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, Kansas was organized a separate Territory in 1854. Immigration from the North and South set in, and two parties, imbued with antagonistic doctrines, were formed.
A struggle, incessant and bitter, ensued, resulting in serious conflicts of arms and much loss of life and property, so that the country was known for years as " Bleeding Kansas."
Between the years 1855 and 1859, four different constitutions were framed and voted on; October 4, 1859, one prohibiting slavery was adopted ; and, in January, 1861, Kansas was admitted as the thirty‑fourth State of the Federal Union.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the early settlers in Kansas were imbued with the principles of liberty and equality, the foundation‑principles of Freemasonry, as will be more fully demonstrated by the history of the Fraternity in that State.
Among the early settlers of Kansas were brethren of the `| Mystic‑tie," who, being actuated by a sincere love of the Order and a desire to extend its benign principles, began to lay the foundation upon which has since been THE AMERICAN RITE.
379 erected the now prosperous Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Kansas.
Whenever a sufficient number of the Craft were found in any community to warrant the organization of a lodge, all differences of opinion, political or otherwise, so bitterly and determinedly contested, were laid aside, and the brethren at once engaged in the great and glorious work, as drawn upon the trestle‑board for their guidance.
The first lodges were organized and set at work by authority of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri.
A dispensation was issued, August 4, 1854, to John W. Chivington and others, to." Open a lodge at the house of Matthew R. Walker, in Wyandotte Territory, to be called Kansas Lodge"; a charter was granted this lodge October 30, 1855.
On October 6, 1854, a dispensation was granted to John W. Smith and others, to open a lodge at Smithfield, Kansas, to be called Smithfield Lodge; this lodge was also granted a charter October 30, 1855A dispensation was issued to Richard R. Rees and others, December 30, 1854, to open a lodge at Leavenworth, Kansas, to be called Leavenworth Lodge; for which a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, November z, 1855.
These were the three lodges that organized the Grand Lodge of Kansas.
On September 24, 1855, a dispensation was issued to Joseph S. Cowan and others, to open a lodge at Lawrence, Kansas; and a dispensation was issued, October 20, 1855, to John H. Sahler and others, to open a lodge at Kickapoo, Kansas, to be called Kickapoo Lodge.
On May 29, 1856, the Grand Lodge of Missouri recommended that the Grand Lodge of Kansas grant charters to these last two lodges, which was done.
On November 14, 1855, delegates from Smithton Lodge, No. 14o, and Leavenworth Lodge, No. 150, met at Leavenworth. Brother W. P. Richardson was elected chairman, and R. R. Rees acted as secretary; and, as there was no delegate present from Wyandotte Lodge, No. 153, the convention adjourned to December zq, 1855.
Tke convention met December aq, 1855, pursuant to adjournment.
No representative being present from Wyandotte Lodge, it was decided to organize a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Kansas, and send a copy of the proceedings of the convention to Wyandotte Lodge for their approval and cooperation; and when that was done, the Grand Officers were to be installed, and proclamation made that the Grand Lodge was fully organized.
A committee was appointed to report a constitution and by‑laws for the government of the Grand Lodge, who made a report which was adopted. The proceedings were ordered published in the Kansas Herald, and the convention adjourned, to meet at the Masonic hall at `If early candle‑light." The Grand Officers were elected, among them being Most Worshipful Richard R. Rees, Grand Master.
Delegates from all the chartered lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted 3So COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Masons, in Kansas Territory, assembled at the Masonic hall, March, 1866, in the city of Leavenworth. A committee on credentials was appointed, who reported delegates present as follows: from Kansas Lodge, No. 153; from Smithton Lodge, No. 140; from Leavenworth Lodge, No. 160.
The action of the convention, held December 27, 1866, was approved, but as a doubt existed as to the entire regularity and legality of the proceedings of that convention, they proceeded to again organize a Grand Lodge of Kansas, and Most Worshipful R. R. Rees, Grand Master, with the assistance of the brethren present, opened a Grand Lodge.
The committee on constitution and by‑laws read a report which was accepted ; the constitution was read, and unanimously adopted as the constitution of the Grard Lodge, and an election of Grand Officers was held. The three present Masters of the chartered lodges under the jurisdiction installed Most Worshipful Richard R. Rees as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas.
July 14, 1866, charters were granted: to Kickapoo Lodge, No. 4, at Kickapoo ; Washington Lodge, No. 6, at Atchison ; and Lawrence Lodge, No. 6, at Lawrence.
By resolution, on October zo, 1866, " Kansas Lodge, No. 3," was hereafter to be known as " Wyandotte Lodge," No. 3, and a charter was issued. October 19, 186 7, charters were granted : to Union Lodge, No. 7, at Fort Riley; Bourbon Lodge, No. 8, at Fort Scott; Shawnee Lodge, No. 9, at Big Springs; and one, conditionally, to Geary Lodge.
The dispensations to Tecumseh, Delaware, and Topeka Lodges, U. D., were continued until the next annual communication. The Grand Master reported, October 18, 1868, the demise of Geary Lodge, U. D., at Lecompton, and that he had granted a dispensation for Lecompton Lodge at that place; also for lodges at Leavenworth, Manhattan, Emporia, Oskaloosa, Elk City, Paris, and Ottumewa.
r At this communication of the Grand Lodge, charters were granted: to King Solomon Lodge, No. 1o, at Leavenworth; Ottumewa Lodge, No. 11, at Ottumewa; Emporia Lodge, No. 12, at Emporia; Lecompton Lodge, No. 13, at Lecompton ; Oskaloosa Lodge, No. 14, at Oskaloosa ; Tecumseh; Lodge, No. 16, at Tecumseh.
The Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, and Grand Secretary were reelected, officers were duly installed, an appropriation of $50 made for a jewel for the Most Worshipful Grand Master, to be presented at next annual communication, a vote of thanks was tendered the Right Worshipful Charles Mundee for his services as Grand Secretary for the last three years, and the Grand Lodge closed in ample form.
October 18, 1869, charters were granted as follows: Lafayette Lodge, No 16, at the city of Manhattan; Topeka Lodge, No. 17, at the town of Topeka Stanton Lodge, No. 18, at the town of Stanton; Olathe Lodge, No. i9, at the to THE AMERICAN RITE.
381 of Olathe ; Elk Creek Lodge, No. zo, at Elk City; Grasshopper Falls Lodge, No. 21, at the town of Grasshopper Falls; Paris Lodge, No. az, at the town of Paris; Palmyra. Lodge, No. 23, at the town of Palmyra; Osage Valley Lodge, No. 24, at the town of Osawatomie ; High Prairie Lodge, No. 25, in Leavenworth County; St. John's Lodge, No. z 6, at the city of Atchison ; Neosho Lodge, No. zq, at the town of Leroy.
At the election of Grand Officers, October 19th, the Grand Master and Grand Secretary were reelected. The dispensations to Oskaloosa, Auraria, and Pacific Lodges were continued until next annual communication; Delaware Lodge, U. D., not having complied with the requirements of the Grand Lodge, was declared extinct.
The fee for a charter was raised from $1o to $20.
On October 18, 1859, the Grand Lodge opened in the Entered Apprentice degree, and proceeded to lay the corner‑stone of a university about to be erected in the city of Lawrence.
The dispensation for the lodge at Denver City had been returned, as that lodge and Auraria were situated so near together that the interests of the Fraternity were fully supplied by the older lodge. Deputy Grand Master Fairchild reported that he had granted a dispensation for a lodge at Hiawatha, Brown County; and had renewed the dispensation of Arcana Lodge, at Doniphan, Doniphan County. Charters were granted : to Eldora Lodge, No. 28, at Eldora ; Pacific Lodge, No. 29, at Humboldt; Aubry Lodge, No. 30, at Aubry; Arcana Lodge, No. 31, at Doniphan; Auburn Lodge, No. 32, at Auburn; Mound City Lodge, No. 33, at Mound City; also, to Golden City Lodge, No. 34, at Golden City, Colorado, when said lodge returns to the Grand Secretary its dispensation.
October 15, 1861, charters were granted: to Hiawatha Lodge, No. 35, at Hiawatha, Brown County; Nevada Lodge, No. 36, at Nevada City, Colorado Territory; and Auraria Lodge, No. 37, at Denver City, Colorado Territory.
The Grand Lodge of Kansas was organized under the || Anderson Constitutions," and continues its allegiance thereto.
The three lodges that participated in the organization of the Grand Lodge of Kansas, in 1885, are all in a healthy and prosperous condition to‑day. The Craft in Kansas, as a rule, have never looked upon the incorporation of the Grand Lodge, or its subordinate lodges, with any great degree of favor, for there seem to be many, and some very serious, objections to the incorporation of either body, though several of the subordinate lodges have incorporated under the general statutes of Kansas, and thus far nothing has occurred, by reason of such incorporation, to disturb the harmony of said lodges.
Although the early history of the Territory of Kansas was one of strife and discord, peace and harmony have ever reigned in the Grand Lodge of Kansas, 382
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
there having been no schism or internal disturbance of any nature, to unsettle or disturb the craft.
The finances of the Grand Lodge are in an excellent condition, and have been so since its organization. This is what may be truthfully said of nearly all of the subordinate lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge.
The plan adopted by the framers and codifiers of the laws of the Grand Lodge, from time to time, has been such as to prevent the raising of an amount of funds much in excess of what was absolutely necessary to defray the ordinary expenses of the Grand body, and the setting aside of a reasonable amount for charitable purposes, hence there has not been accumulated any great amount of funds for investment.
They have not yet in Kansas organized any charity, such as may be found in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and some other States, the Grand Lodge providing for special cases only; and the subordinate lodges have adopted the same rule. Each year a certain amount is set aside to be used in the way of aiding a needy brother, his widow and orphans: this they deem the best plan for helping the destitute.
The fee for the three degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, in the jurisdiction of Kansas, is $3o, and the dues in the lodges vary from $3 to $5 per annum. The Grand Lodge of Kansas has a very complete file of the proceedings of the several Masonic Grand bodies, and various other Masonic works in its library, but there is no public library under its fostering care.
As yet, the Grand Lodge of Kansas has never deemed it wise for them to engage in building a Masonic temple, though several attempts have been made in that direction, but without success. Quite a number of the subordinate lodes in the jurisdiction, however, have provided themselves with neat and very comfortable homes, many of which would do credit to lodges in older jurisdictions.
Indian Territory.‑Freemasonry was first introduced into the Indian Territory about forty years ago, by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas instituting Cherokee Lodge, No. 21, at 'I'ahlequah.
The Grand Lodge of Arkansas granted charters for other lodges in Indian Territory, as follows: On November 4, 1852, to Choctaw Lodge, No. 52, at Doaksville; on November q, 1853, to Flint Lodge, No. 74, at Flint, Cherokee Nation; on November q, 1855, to Muscogee Lodge, No. 93, at Old Creek Agency.
These lodges continued working until the Civil War broke out in 1861, when work was suspended.
Muscogee Lodge lost its hall and furniture, and in 1867 its charter was withdrawn by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
It was restored to them in 1874, but the number was changed to go, and the location to Eufaula.
July 22, 1868, a dispensation was granted by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, to Brother J. S. Murrow and others, for a lodge at Boggy Depot, Choctaw Nation, to be called Ok‑la‑ho‑ma, and a charter THE AMERICAN RITE.
383 (No. 217) was granted by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, November 17, 1868. November 27, 187o, a dispensation was granted for Doaksville Lodge; and November 7, 1871, the Grand Lodge of Arkansas issued a charter for Doaksville Lodge, No. 279.
August 26, 1873, a dispensation was granted for a lodge at Caddo, in the Choctaw Nation, to be called Caddo; and on October 14, 1873, the Grand Lodge of Arkansas granted a charter for Caddo Lodge, No. 311. A convention for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Indian Territory met at Caddo, October 5, 1874. The following lodges were represented Muscogee, No. go; Doaksville Lodge, No. 279; Caddo Lodge, No. 311 A constitution was read, considered section by section, and adopted as a whole.
Most Worshipful Granville McPherson was elected Grand Master. On Tuesday, October 6, 1874, the Grand Officers, elect and appointed, were duly installed.
The Grand Lodge then adopted its by‑laws and a code of by‑laws for subordinate lodges.
A resolution passed authorizing the Grand Master and Grand Secretary to make the proper indorsement on the charters of the lodges now members of the Grand Lodge, and to number them according to their respective dates. Grand Representatives were appointed near the Grand Lodges of Arkansas, Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky, and Maryland.
The lodges which were represented in the convention which organized the Grand Lodge were: Muscogee, Doaksville, and Caddo, and were renumbered 1, z, and 3. There were three other chartered lodges in the Territory at the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge: Flint, No. 74, and Ok‑la‑ho‑ma, No. 217, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas; and Alpha Lodge, No. 122, chartered October 17, 1872, by the Grand Lodge of Kansas. Before the next annual communication of the Grand Lodge (September 1875), Ok‑la‑ho‑ma Lodge sent its charter to the Grand Secretary, for indorsement, etc., and became No. 4 of the lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory.
This saved the life of the Grand Lodge, and made it a legal Grand body.
Charters were granted to Vinita Lodge, No. 5, at Vinita, Cherokee Nation; and to Valley Lodge, No. 6, at Paul's Valley, Chickasaw Nation, September 7, 1875. September 6, 1876, the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory granted charters to Elm Springs Lodge. No. 7, at Erin Springs, Chickasaw Nation; and to Colbert Lodge, No. 8, at Colbert Station, Chickasaw Nation.
September 4, 1877, charters were granted to McAlester Lodge, No. q, at McAlester, Choctaw Nation; and to Cherokee Lodge, No. To, at Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation.
Brothers J. S. Murrow and R. J. Hogue, of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence, presented the first report to the Grand Lodge, which was printed with its proceedings.
Before the close of 1877, Flint Lodge, No. 74, the last of the lodges in this jurisdiction chartered by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, sent its charter to the Grand Secretary for indorsement, and was placed on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Indian Territory, as Flint Lodge, No. IT.
November, 1878, COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Alpha Lodge surrendered its charter (granted by the Grand Lodge of Kansas), into the hands of the Grand Master.
The first Masonic hall erected in Indian Territory was built by Ok‑la‑ho‑ma Lodge, No. 217, at Boggy Depot, in 1869, and cost $2000. In 1872, when the first railroad built in the Territory passed twelve miles away from the town, it killed the place, and the hall had to be abandoned.
The lodge then spent a like amount on a hall at A‑to‑ka; and just as it was completed, in December, 1876, it was destroyed by fire.
They then bought a garret over a store for $Soo, and that was burned.
Nothing daunted, the plucky little lodge then built a brick hall costing $2ooo, and furnished it completely and beautifully.
Cherokee Lodge, No. 12, has recently erected a large and handsome hall at Tahlequah. The Grand Lodge has no " abiding place," and by vote at each annual communication elects where the next one shall be held. The Grand Lodge of Indian Territory had to borrow the funds to pay its expenses for seal, stationery, and printing, the first year after it was organized, and for the first five years had to exercise the strictest economy in all its expenditures. The Grand Lodge is not incorporated, and works under the "Anderson fee for the degrees is $3o. The yearly dues regulated by the lodges themselves, and are Constitutions." The minimum for the subordinate lodges are usually about $3 a year.
In 1881 the Grand Secretary commenced gathering books, magazines, and proceedings, for a Grand Lodge library, and has met with marked success. A proposition was made at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge, in 1888, to found a " Masonic Orphanage."
A committee was appointed, and $soo was pledged by the brethren present, in aid of that object.
In 1889 the committee made an encouraging report, which gives assurance that the orphans are not to be left uncared for, and that the brethren will exemplify the Masonic virtues, in caring for these helpless and dependent wards.
DIVISION VII.
THIRD MERIDIAN.
History of the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains to Mexico.. The Grand Lodges of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico; Freemasonry in the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Mexico, and Central America.
BY EDWIN A. SHERMAN, 33', Vice‑President of the Pacific Division of the National Convention of Masonic Veteran Associations of the United States ; Secretary of the Masonic Veteran Association of the PaciXac Coast, etc., etc., eic.1 INTRODUCTION.
THE territory embraced in the Grand Third Meridian, or the Grand Division of the Pacific, was a half a century ago comparatively a terra incognita, the greater portion of which was marked on the maps as " Regions Unexplored." Along the frontier line of civilization, and advancing with it as it advanced, was Freemasonry, erecting its altars here and there as the desire of social intercourse marked its way. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1807 and i8og chartered two lodges in Missouri, as did the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, which chartered other's, and these uniting and agreeing in convention on April 23, 1821, formed the Grand Lodge of Missouri.
On November 20, 1840, the Grand Lodge of Missouri chartered a lodge in Burlington, Iowa, and within four years this lodge was one of those which formed the Grand Lodge of Iowa. From the Grand Lodges of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama the Grand Lodge of Arkansas was formed.
The war between the United States and Mexico in 1846, 1847, and 1848,in which the writer participated,‑resulted in the cession, by treaty, of what is now known as California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, equal in extent to the whole of the United States east of the Missis 1 Assisted by C. E. Gillett.
The histories of the several Grand Lodges, written by them, are designated by the initials, at the end of each: " E. A. S.," and " C. E. G." 385 386 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
sippi River, excepting the State of Wisconsin.
Before the United States army had a chance to withdraw or even the treaty was drawn, the Grand Lodge of Missouri granted a charter to Multnomah Lodge, at Oregon City, Oregon, in what is known as the Willamette Valley, which was the first lodge of Masons on the Pacific Coast.
The discovery of gold in California, on January r9, 1848, created an unparalleled excitement throughout the world, and thousands upon thousands of all conditions of men rushed to San Francisco and other noted places. Among this host were, no doubt, many Masons, who sought the privileges and pleasures of fraternal intercourse. May 1o, 1848, the Grand Lodge of Missouri chartered Western Star, No. 98, at Benton City, near the head‑waters of the Sacramento River.
November 9, 1848, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia chartered California Lodge, No. 13, but the lodge was not ready for work until a year later. January 31, 1849, the Grand Lodge of Connecticut chartered Connecticut Lodge, No. 76, at Sacramento City, which was not organized for work until January 8, 1850.
Subsequent to the organization of the Grand Lodge of California it was discovered that a lodge had been working at Nevada City, under the name of Lafayette Lodge, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, but it had lost its charter and property by the burning of its hall. A new charter was granted to it under the name of Nevada Lodge, No. 13, by the Grand Lodge of California, May 7, 185 It was also discovered afterward that a dispensation had been granted by the Grand Lodge of Illinois, in March, 1849, for a lodge, as prescribed by the Constitutions of Masonry, in any State or Territory where no Grand Lodge existed.
In the spring of 1850 it commenced its labors at Marysville under said dispensation, and the lodge continued work until after the organization of the Grand Lodge of California, when, on November 27, 1850, it received its charter as Marysville, No. 9.
The Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey had granted a dispensation for New Jersey Lodge, which also found a lodgement at Sacramento City, and was opened December 4, 1849 A dispensation had been issued in 1849 by the Grand Master of the spurious and clandestine Grand Lodge of Louisiana, to " | Davy Crockett Lodge," which had found a lodgement at San Francisco, but which, on discovery of its illegality, was promptly ignored by genuine brethren and soon ceased to have an existence.
The same clandestine authority had also granted a dispensation to a lodge in blank which was located at last in Benicia, and the name afterward inserted. This lodge was more fortunate than " Crockett Lodge," for its representative concealed its true origin and managed to secure personal recognition, and became the secretary of the convention which framed the constitution of the Grand Lodge of California, April 17 and 18, 1850, at Sacramento.‑E. A. S.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
CHAPTER V.
GRAND LODGES OF THE PACIFIC COAST AND ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC.
California. ‑ In our Introduction, immediately preceding this chapter, we incidentally referred to several lodges constituted by charter or by dispensation, but of two, " Western Star " had a distinct locality designated for it, which did not then exist, ‑ and the lodge had to lay out a town and give it the name mentioned in the charter, that of " Benton City," but it soon after removed to Shasta, where it has ever since remained, for a period of nearly forty‑two years, ‑and California Lodge, No. 13, at San Francisco.
Never was there such a sudden confusion of tongues as occurred on the soil of California in the latter part of the year of 1848, and the year of 1849. Freemasonry moved among the sick, attending to their wants, smoothed the pillows of the dying, and tenderly buried the dead, though there were no lodges known to be in existence in California at that time. But Masonic Relief Associations were formed, contributions freely given, hospitals were constructed of tents and such other material as could be procured, but at enormous expense. Cemeteries were hastily located in close proximity to the " Canvas Cities," Masonic funeral ceremonies were performed impromptu, and the acacia was dropped into the grave ; the last fraternal honors and tributes were paid to the stranger dead, by brethren unknown to them when living, and this, too, without a Master of a lodge or any duly authorized body of Masonry to perform the ceremonies.
It is said that the first Masonic funeral in California took place in San Francisco, early in 1849, before a lodge was opened in that city, and was held over the remains of a brother found drowned in the Bay of San Francisco. Who he was or whence he came was never known. On the body of the deceased was found a silver mark of a Royal Arch Mason, upon which were engraved the initials of his name. His person was literally pictured with tattooed designs, embracing all the emblems of }Freemasonry.
The deceased and unknown brother, who had been a living chart of the emblems of Freemasonry, was buried with Masonic honors in what was known as "Yerba Buena Cemetery," since known as the " Sand Lot," in front of the City Hall.
Early in the fall of 1849 rumors were afloat in San Francisco that sundry persons were in possession of documents purporting to be warrants or dispensations for lodges, but nothing definite could be learned for a time.
Colonel Jonathan Drake Stevenson, who had commanded a regiment of New York volunteers during the war with Mexico, and who arrived in California on the 6th of March, 1847, with his command, had returned from the mines and taken up his residence in San Francisco. Brother Stevenson, being a Mason of the true and tried school, did not propose to have the Order 387 388 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
he so much loved compromised or represented by unworthy characters, so he set about examining the credentials of those who claimed to have authority to open lodges. He soon met with the late distinguished Brother Levi Stowell, whom he found in possession of a genuine authority; and, after consultation with others of like pure motives, he assisted in organizing what is now California Lodge, No. i, of San Francisco, which held its first meeting, November 9, 1849 On the 9th day of November, 1848, a charter was issued by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, to open and hold a lodge at San Francisco, California, to be called " California Lodge, No. 13, F. and A. M." upon its Register. It afterward became No. i under the Grand Lodge of California.
The charter of Western Star Lodge, No. 98, was granted by the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri, May io, 1848, for a lodge in |` Benton City," Upper California. This lodge became No. z, under the Grand Lodge of California.
The charter of Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, was granted by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, on January 31, 1849, to open and continue a lodge in the Territory of California.
In connection with the history of the organization and first meeting of this lodge, the following incidents are necessary to be related: ‑ About the last of August, or first of September, in 1849, Dr. R. H. McDonald, now President of the Pacific Bank of San Francisco, opened an office in a canvas‑covered shanty on K Street, near Sixth‑street, in the immediate vicinity of the Horse Market Exchange, at Sacramento. A friend of his from the State of Illinois, a rattling sort of a fellow, who had a good heart within him, came to Brother McDonald, and said: ‑ " Doctor, I am going to the mines.
When I was coming across the Plains and along the Humboldt Valley [now in the State of Nevada], I saw piled up in the sand by the side of the road a lot of books; and on a card fastened to a stick, this notice, 'Help yourself.'
There were a great many fine books in the heap, and among them this large, red morocco‑covered Bible, with gilt edges.
As I could not pack more than one book along with me, I took this Bible and brought it through; as I am going to the mines and cannot take it with me, and as you are sort of religious, I'll give it to you." So Brother McDonald took it.
A day or two afterward, in the early part of September, 1849, several written notices were found posted up on trees near the horse market, calling a meeting of all Master Masons in good standing, to meet in the upper part of a building on the north side of K Street, about a hundred feet westerly of Sixth‑street.
The little garret was packed with brethren, who were nearly all strangers to one another.
The meeting was called to order by Brother John A. Tutt.
Some brother made a motion that Dr. R. H. McDonald take the chair, which was carried.
To the surprise of Brother McDonald,‑for he did not know a soul present,‑as he approached the box which was used as a chair, another individual stepped forward also to THE AMERICAN RITE.
389 take it.
Then there occurred an amusing scene, as two tall men, six‑footers, stood looking each other in the face.
"Are you Dr. R. H. McDonald? and have you any monopoly of the name of McDonald?" said he of the Pacific Bank.
"I am Dr. R. H. McDaniel, but generally known as Dr. R. H. McDonald, by mistake of calling my name," said the latter.
Mutual explanations followed, when Brother R. H. McDonald gave way to Brother R. H. McDaniel, the man really nominated, who at once took the chair, and the meeting was duly organized.
When it became necessary to ascertain who were Masons, it was discovered that there was no Bible present, and nothing could be done without one.
Dr. R. H. McDonald then said, " Please wait a few moments, and I will get one."
He then went out and brought in this pioneer Bible, that had been thrown away on the Humboldt desert. The meeting then organized a Masonic association for the relief of the sick and distressed brethren who were constantly arriving from across the Plains. Soon after, it was discovered that a charter for a Masonic lodge was in existence in the hands of a brother, issued to " Connecticut Lodge, No. 75."
The brethren composing the association then dissolved that body, and on January 8, 1850, organized under the charter of Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, and Brother R. H. McDonald presented that lodge with the pioneer Bible before mentioned.
The lodge secured the grant of the " Red House," on the south‑east corner of J and Fifth streets, in which to hold its meetings, which was then the best building for that purpose in Sacramento. Scarcely, however, had the lodge moved into its quarters, when the proprietor rented the stories below for other purposes not satisfactory to the lodge. So "Connecticut Lodge, No. 75," gathered up its altar, Bible, furniture, and jewels, and removed farther down J Street, between Front and Second streets, on the north side of the street, where the old Masonic hall, known as the " English Block," was afterward erected; and there the lodge met, until the convention was called to organize the Grand Lodge of California, in April following.
"Connecticut Lodge, No. 75," surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge of California when constituted, and received a new charter under the name of "Tehama Lodge, No. 3." The Bible which Brother McDonald presented to that lodge was the one used when the Grand Lodge of California was organized, April 1q, 1850.
The Deputy Grand Master of New Jersey, on March 1, 1849, issued a dispensation to open a lodge in the Territory of California, etc. It seemed to have been a sort of a roving commission, with the power of the Worshipful Master, or the brethren, to appoint his successors until the next regular com munication of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.
The lodge seemed to exist continuously, and assumed the functions and privileges of an independent chartered lodge. It seems to have been recognized by both Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, at Sacramento, and by " Western Star, No. 98," in the preliminary action taken early in March, 1850, to have delegates appointed or elected 390 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
to a convention to form a Grand Lodge.
It had even gone so far as to appoint a committee to draft a constitution and by‑laws for a Grand Lodge of California, and on March 12, 1850, sent an invitation to California Lodge, No. 13, at San Francisco, to unite with them, the members of which were justly indignant at not having been consulted in the beginning.
On March 18th, a brother of New Jersey Lodge, U. D., visited California Lodge and proposed, in behalf of the Sacramento lodges, to rescind all action taken, if California Lodge would join them in the formation of a Grand body. The latter body appointed a committee, who reported on March 21st, recommending the lodge to join their sister lodges in the formation of a Grand Lodge, provided there were three regularly organized lodges within the Territory, which report was adopted by the lodge, and New Jersey Lodge, U. D., remained in statu quo, until the assembling of the convention to form the Grand Lodge of California.
Benicia Lodge, U. D., from the spurious organization in Louisiana, concealing its true paternity, appointed its delegates to the convention to form the Grand Lodge of California.
A convention of Free and Accepted Masons assembled at the Masonic hall, in Sacramento City, State of California, on the 17th day of April, 1850, and was duly organized at 1o o'clock A.M., by the appointment of Past Grand Master of Maryland, Brother, Charles Gilman, of San Francisco, chairman, and Brother B. D. Hyam, of spurious Benicia Lodge, secretary. It was then on motion " Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to examine the credentials of delegates from the several lodges in this State to this convention, and to ascertain, if possible, the authority in them vested, to organize and constitute a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of California." The following were found represented: California Lodge, No. 13, located at San Francisco; New Jersey Lodge, located at Sacramento City; Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, located at Sacramento City; Western Star Lodge, No. 98, located at Benton ; Benicia Lodge, located at Benicia.
The committee 1| appointed for the purpose of examining the credentials of representatives to this convention, respectfully report " : ‑ "That they have examined the charters of California Lodge, No. 13, Connecticut Lodge, No‑ 75, and Western Star Lodge, No. 98, the dispensation of New Jersey Lodge, and the credentials of the representatives of said lodges, and of the representative of Benicia Lodge, and have ascertained the following facts, viz.: "' The dispensation of New Jersey Lodge bears the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of New Jersey, and the signature of Edward Stewart, Deputy Grand Master of that State, and is dated March r, A.D. 1849, A.L. 5849. This dispensation authorizes Brother Thomas Youngs and others to open a lodge in the Territory of California, with power to continue the same through themselves, or their successors, until the next regular communication of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, or until their charter is granted. Brother Thomas Youngs, named in said dispensation as the first Worshipful Master of the lodge authorized thereby to be opened, conveyed the same to Brother John E. Crockett, and certifies this fact on the back of the dispensation.
With THE AMERICAN RITE.
391 the authority thus granted, Brother Crockett opened New Jersey Lodge in Sacramento City, on the 4th day of December, 1849, and said lodge is now in active and successful operation.
"' The charter of Western Star Lodge was granted by the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri.
It bears date May 10, A.D. 1848, A.L. 5848, and has the signatures of the Grand Officers and the seal of the Grand Lodge of Missouri affixed.
This charter authorizes the brethren named to open and hold a lodge in Benton City, Upper California, to be called " Western Star Lodge, No. 98:'
Brother S. Woods accordingly opened said lodge in Benton City, on Both of October, A.D. 1849, which is now performing Masonic work.
"' The charter of Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, is dated January 31, A.D. 1849, A.L. 5849, and bears the signatures of the Grand Officers and the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of Connecticut. It grants full power to open and continue a lodge in the Territory of California. Connecticut Lodge was therefore opened in Sacramento City, by Brother Fenner, on the 8th day of January last, and continues in successful operation.
"' The charter of California Lodge, No. 18, authorizes the brethren named therein to open and hold a lodge in San Francisco. This charter bears date November 9, 1848, A.L. 5848, and has affixed the seal of the Grand Lodge, and the signatures of the Grand Officers of the District of Columbia. In conformity with the authority thus derived, Brother Stowell opened California Lodge, in the city of San Francisco, in October, 1849, and was reelected Worshipful Master on St. John's Day last, which office he still retains.
This lodge is also in successful operation, and is duly represented in this convention.
"' Your committee have also examined the credentials, properly drawn and certified, of Brother B. D. Hyam, from Benicia Lodge, located at Benicia; but they have not received either a dispensation or a charter, or any other Masonic information of the existence of said Benicia Lodge."' The foregoing report having been read, it was, on motion, " Resolved, That the report of the committee on credentials be received and considered in sections." After a due examination of the same, it was "Resolved, That, in the judgment of this convention, California Lodge, No. 13, Connecticut Lodge, No. 75, and Western Star Lodge, No. 98, are legally constituted and chartered lodges of Free and Accepted Masons, and that the representatives of said lodges here present are duly authorized and qualified to organize and constitute a Grand Lodge for the State of California." On motion of Brother J. D. Stevenson, it was "Resolved, That the representative from Benicia Lodge and all other Master Masons in good standing, now present, be invited to take part in the deliberations of this convention." April rq, i85o, the convention adopted a constitution.
A lodge of Master Masons was opened for the purpose of organizing and opening, in Masonic form, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of California. Brother Charles Gilman was appointed Worshipful Master. The lodge was opened in ancient Masonic form.
It was then, on motion, "Resolved, That an election for Grand Officers be held forthwith." The election being had, agreeable to the requisitions of the constitution, the Worshipful Master announced, as being duly elected, Most Worshipful Grand Master, Brother Jonathan D. Stevenson, and the other Grand Officers.
Charters were granted to several lodges participating in the formation of Grand Lodge, except New Jersey and Benicia Lodges, on which the committee reported as follows : ‑ 392 "The special committee, to whom was referred the petitions from New Jersey and Benicia Lodges, Report, That they have had before them the dispensation and books of proceedings of New Jersey Lodge, and are of opinion that the prayer of the petitioners should be granted, under the name of Berryman Lodge. And as respects Benicia Lodge,1 that not having had either the dispensation or books of proceedings before them for their inspection, they recommend that, upon the submission of those documents to the Most Worshipful Grand Master, if he should find their work to be in accordance with the usages of the Order, he cause a charter to issue in accordance with their petition;" Thus the Grand Lodge of California commenced its great work upon the Pacific Coast.
Of those who constituted the Grand Lodge of California, April 19, 1850, only two are now living : Past Grand Masters Jonathan Drake Stevenson (the first Grand Master, aged ninety and one‑half years), and John Ashby Tutt (the first Deputy Grand Master). Of those who were visitors at that time, only four are now living: Brother R. H. McDonald, who is the only charter member now borne on the rolls of Tehama Lodge, No. 3 ; Brother and Honorable Lansing B. Mizner, charter member of Benicia Lodge, No. 5, now United States Minister to Guatemala; Brother William S. Moses, the first Master of Golden Gate Lodge, No. 30, of San Francisco, and now President of the Masonic Veteran Association of the Pacific Coast; and Most Worshipful Benjamin D. Hyam, Past Grand Master, who was secretary to the convention, but not a member of the Grand Lodge when constituted.
The Grand Lodge of California has granted dispensations and charters to lodges outside California, as follows : ‑ COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Willamette Lodge,
No.
xi........ Portland,
Oregon ........ NOV. 27, 1850 Lafayette Lodge,
15........ Lafayette,
11
........ May 6,
1851 Carson Lodge,
"
154........ Carson City, Nevada........
"
15, 1862 Virginia City Lodge,
"
162........ Virginia City,
........
"
14, 1863 Silver City Lodge,
"
163........ Silver City,
........May 15, 1863 1 (In 1888 the compiler, in examining the foregoing record, and that which subsequently followed, found that there never had been exhibited to the Grand Master or Grand Secretary, the original dispensation granted to Benicia Lodge by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, though a charter was issued to that lodge by the first Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of California. Brother James C. Batchelor, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, upon being written to, informed the writer that there was no record of any dispensation granted to Benicia Lodge to be found in his office.
The fact is, that the dispensation was granted by the Grand Master of the clandestine Grand Lodge of Louisiana, that was created by lodges originally constituted by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi,which had invaded the jurisdiction of that of Louisiana. In the same year (1849) that spurious Grand Lodge, through its Grand Master, had granted also a dispensation to Davy Crockett Lodge, in San Francisco, before mentioned; and in the same year the spurious Grand Lodge of Louisiana had its building burned down in New Orleans, by which all of its records were destroyed ; and the Grand Lodge went out of existence, its subordinate lodges being healed and received under the government of the regular Grand Lodge of Louisiana. Hence the reason that nothing of record concerning the dispensation granted to Benicia Lodge could be found in the Grand Secretary's office.
It is evident that Hyam was aware of the fact at the time of the convention, that Benicia Lodge was not regular, and hence the reason of his not producing the dispensation at that time, which is still in the possession of that lodge.
He hoped that the irregularity would not be discovered, and that, in obtaining a charter from the Grand Lodge of California, it would regularize the lodge.
The charter obtained healed all former irregularities; but only the books of record of the lodge were exhibited to the then Grand Master, Brother Jonathan D. Stevenson, who ordered the charter to be issued.
By recommendation of California Lodge, No. 1, the Grand Master issued a dispensation to Davy Crockett Lodge, which also regularized that, and it received its charter, November 28, 1850, the same year.] THE AHERICA2V RITE.
393
Silver Star Lodge,
No.
165........ Gold Hill, Nevada ........ Oct.
13, 1864
Esmeralda Lodge,
òò
170........ Aurora, "
I3, 1864
........
Escurial Lodge,
"
171........ Virginia City, "
13,x864
........
Lander Lodge,
"
172........ Austin, " "
14, 1864
........
Aztlan Lodge,
"
x77........ Prescott, Arizona........ "
u, 1866
Arizona Lodge,
..
257........ Phoenix, ..
16, 1879
........ .
In addition to these, beyond her own geographical limits, she has granted charters to two lodges in the Hawaiian Islands: Hawaiian Lodge, No. 21, at Honolulu, chartered May 5, 1852; and Maui Lodge, No. 223, at Wailuku, October 18, 1873, the former being still under its jurisdiction, with nearly a hundred members, but the latter has surrendered its charter : also, a dispensation was granted, May 6, 1853, for Pacific Lodge, at Valparaiso, Chili, making fourteen lodges in all created by the Grand Lodge of California, beyond the limits of the State.
Although a State government had been set up in California, with its governor, legislature, and judiciary in perfect working order, and in activity, acknowledged and obeyed as such by all within its borders, yet the Grand Lodge of California was organized and in full operation four months and twenty‑one days before the State of California was admitted into the Union.
Of the five lodges chartered at the dates of its organization, four are still in existence : California Lodge, No. i, then had 33 members, and it now numbers 432 ; Western Star, No. 2, which had but 9, now numbers 52 ; Tehama, No. 3, which had but 22, now numbers 102 ; and Benicia, No. 5, which had but 22, now numbers 58; all are in healthy condition, and are efficient for good works.
The other 47 lodges, which have gone out of existence, were chiefly located in the mining regions, which have to a great extent become abandoned by the miners, and the brethren who remained united with other lodges, near their respective localities.
The Grand Lodge of California has never failed to contribute largely, by thousands of dollars at a time, to the relief of sufferers by fires, floods, earthquakes, and pestilence, beyond its own borders.
Through its well‑organized boards of relief,' during the past thirty‑four years, it has disbursed the following gross amount for relief: ‑ Masons of California..................................... ,$39,591.95 Masons of Other jurisdictions ............................
98,040.85 Widows and Orphans of California........................
28,156.85 Widows and Orphans of Other jurisdictions ...............
77,o16.46 Incidental Expenses......................................
2o,876.81 Total ............................................. $263,682.92 1 By the way of parenthesis, showing the value of money in the early times in California: a brother loaned a lodge the sum of $3949, upon a note given by the lodge, at the rate of ten per cent per month interest.
The money was borrowed for charitable purposes.
Subsequently, the lodge surrendered its charter, books, and furniture.
The brother had moved from the State.
Six years afterward, he made a demand upon the Grand Lodge of California to pay this note, with principal and interest.
The interest alone amounted to the " delicate little sum" of ,$28,432.80, and with the principal, to $32,381.80.
The committee reported upon the claim, and among other things, said,‑ 394 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Or an average amount of $7755‑38 per annum, expended by the Grand Lodge of California for relief, of which $195,934.12, or 74_1X per cent, has been paid out for the relief of brethren, their widows and orphans, of other jurisdiefons; and all of this relief independent of that bestowed by the subordinate lodges on their own members, their widows and orphans; or that voted direct by the Grand Lodge, in times of sudden calamity, and contributions by the brethren.
The Grand Lodge has laid the corner‑stones of the State capitol, the courthouses, government buildings, universities, colleges, school‑houses, churches, historic and scientific societies, throughout the broad domain of the Golden State.‑E. A. S.
Oregon.‑This magnificent State, whose chief northern boundary is the beautiful Columbia River, the mighty stream of the North‑west ; the eastern, bordered by Idaho ; the southern, by the State of California; and the western, by the broad Pacific Ocean, and which originally as a Territory embraced the whole of that of Washington, was the first upon the Pacific Coast to be consecrated to Freemasonry, and the distinguished honor of erecting the first Masonic altar on the Pacific Coast was conferred upon Brother Joseph Hull, who was made a Mason, July 19, 1834, in Milford Lodge, No. 54, at Milford, Ohio.
On December 8, 1845, he arrived at Oregon City, Oregon, then but a little hamlet by the Falls of the Willamette.
In the winter of 1845‑46 he interested several other brethren, also residing there, to petition the Grand Lodge of Missouri for a charter for a lodge, to be called " Multnomah Lodge."
A charter was granted, but did not reach the petitioners until September 11, 1848, the day before he and the others were about starting for the gold mines of California.
Prior to leaving he opened the lodge, which received several petitioners during his brief absence.
He returned to Oregon City in February, 1849, but permanently removed to California in May, 1849. He dimitted from Multnomah Lodge, February, 1851.
As related in the review of the history of the Grand Lodge of California, it chartered two lodges, one at Portland in 185o, and the other at Lafayette in 1851, in the then Territory of Oregon. We will proceed at once with the history of the organization of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A. F. and A. M. of Oregon.
"It is an immemorial principle of our Order, which required any and all lodges that could not maintain themselves to surrender their charter, furniture, books, etc., to the Grand Lodge from which those charters were obtained', and we doubt much if this is not the first instance in which constructive ingenuity ever attempted to make a Grand Lodge legally responsible for the debts of its subordinates.
"We find from the records of this Grand Lodge, and those of ‑ Lodge, that the sum of $3594.25 has been paid to the aforesaid brother, not including the amounts paid him by ‑ Lodge itself, nor by individuals, whose memory justifies the inference that he has received in addition to the above amount, as much as ten or fifteen hundred dollars more.
"In consideration of these circumstances, your committee recommend the adoption of the following resolution: ‑ "' Resolved, That this Grand Lodge is under no obligation to Brother ‑, and that it will not make any further donations to said brother on account of past difficulties.' 11 The resolution was unanimously adopted." THE AMERICAN RITE.
395 An assembly of Free and Accepted Masons convened in the Masonic hall at Oregon City, Territory of Oregon, on the 16th day of August, 1851. It was " Resolved, First, That this Convention of F. and A. Masons deem it proper and expedient to organize a Worshipful Grand Lodge for the Territory of Oregon.
"Second, That the secretary of this convention be authorized to address to the Worshipful Master, Wardens, and brethren of the several lodges in this Territory a communication suggesting the propriety of organizing a Worshipful Grand Lodge for the Territory of Oregon; and that if deemed by them wise and expedient, the second Saturday in September next, at 9 o'clock A.M., be selected as the day, and Oregon City be selected as the place for the assembly of delegates duly authorized to organize a Worshipful Grand Lodge." A convention of Free and Accepted Masons assembled in the Masonic hall at Oregon City, Oregon Territory, on the 13th day of September, 185 1. It was
' "Voted, That the Worshipful Masters of lodges in this Territory, now present, constitute a committee to examine the credentials of delegates to this convention, and to ascertain and report the authority in them vested to organize a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Territory of Oregon." The committee on credentials submitted the following report: " The committee appointed to examine the credentials of delegates respectfully report, "'That they have examined the charter of Multnomah Lodge, No. 84; Willamette Lodge, No. 11; and Lafayette Lodge, No. 15, and the credentials of the Representatives of said lodges, and have ascertained the following facts, viz.: "' The charter of Multnomah Lodge, No. 84, bears the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri and the signatures of the Grand Officers of said lodge. This charter authorizes the opening of a lodge in Oregon City, Oregon Territory, to be called Multnomah Lodge, No. 84. Brother Joseph Hull accordingly opened this lodge in Oregon City, on the 11th day of September, A.L. 5848, which is now performing Masonic work.
"' The charter of Willamette Lodge, No. 11, is dated November 27, 185o, and bears the signatures of the Grand Officers and the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of California. It granted full power to open and continue a lodge in the town of Portland, Oregon Territory. Willamette Lodge was, therefore, opened, in Portland, Oregon Territory, the 4th day of January, 1851, and it continues in successful operation.
"' The charter of Lafayette Lodge, No. 15, authorizes the opening and holding of a lodge in Lafayette, in Oregon Territory.
This charter bears date May 9, 1851, and has affixed the seal and the signatures of the officers of the Grand Lodge of the State of California.
In conformity with the authority thus derived, Brother William J. Berry, having been elected and installed as Worshipful Master, opened said lodge in the town of Lafayette, in Oregon Territory, on the Both day of July, 1851.
This lodge is also in successful operation, and is duly represented in this convention.' " A committee was appointed to draft a form of constitution, with instructions to report a section to the effect that the Past Masters, members of the Grand Lodge of the Territory of Oregon, be collectively entitled to one vote. On motion, adjourned.
On September 15, 1851, the constitution was adopted.
A lodge of Master Masons opened.
An election for Grand Officers was held, at which Berryman Jennings was elected Grand Master. The other Grand Officers were also elected and installed.
The lodge of Master Masons was closed.
396 September 15, 1851, the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Territory of Oregon, was opened. The charters of the several lodges were ordered to be indorsed as recognized by the Grand Lodge.
On motion, it was "Resolved, That the Most Worshipful Grand Master take such measures, during the recess, as lie may deem proper, to establish uniformity of Masonic work under this jurisdiction." And thus the second Grand Lodge upon the Pacific Coast was organized at the place where the first lodge of Freemasons, in the extreme Occident, was erected.
One of the principal things for which the Grand Lodge of Oregon is to be distinguished and commended in its earlier years was its action taken upon the subject of education. A committee on education was appointed June 12, 1854, to receive subscriptions. It is remarkable that every member of Multnomah Lodge, No. 1, the first lodge to be established on the Pacific Coast at that early date, contributed the sum of $5 to this cause, whether he was married or single, and whether he had any children of his own or not, contributing in the aggregate the sum of $16o. The Grand Lodge appro priated $15o.
Some of the brethren of the other lodges also contributed $5 each, while some of the lodges made an appropriation direct, the whole amount placed in the Educational Fund at the commencement being $525‑97 Scarcely had the Grand Lodge of Oregon been constituted and under way when, on November 25, 1852, it established a lodge under dispensation at Olympia, Washington Territory; and in June, following, granted it a charter.
In 1854 a dispensation was granted to a lodge established at Steilacoom, and a charter was granted June 13th, of that year.
In 1858 a dispensation was granted to a lodge established at Grand Mound, Thurston County, and on July 15th of that year a charter followed under the name of Grand Mound Lodge, No. 21 ; also a dispensation to Washington Lodge at Wisconsin, and a charter following on the above date to be known as Washington Lodge, No. 22, in that Territory.
The four lodges above mentioned, having elected their representatives to a convention which formed the Grand Lodge of Washington that year, severed their connection from the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. Its Educational Fund, from the small sum of $525.97, has increased to the amount of $67,967.95, which has been invested in real estate of the Masonic Building Association.‑E. A. S.
Washington.‑This jurisdiction originally formed a part of that of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. But when the Territory of Oregon was divided by act of Congress, and that of Washington created, the political division was speedily followed by the Masonic authority.
The emigration from Missouri and other States of the Mississippi Valley, carried with it the light of Freemasonry, which first found a lodgement at the COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
397 falls of the Willamette in Oregon, while the lumbermen from Maine and other Eastern States, with the gold‑seeking prospectors of California, soon occupied the shores of Puget Sound and penetrated far into the interior even of British Columbia, following up the Frazer River to its source, in search of the glittering treasure.
In all of these expeditions Freemasonry accompanied the armies of the enterprising prospectors.
Scarcely had the Grand Lodge of Oregon been constituted and its altars planted, the columns of Freemasonry set up north of the Columbia River, at Vancouver, Olympia, and the village near the United States military post of Fort Steilacoom, ere the decree of Congress was issued dividing the Territory of Oregon, and that of Washington was created.
On November 25, 1852, the Grand Master of Oregon granted a dispensation for a lodge to be known as Olympia Lodge, U. D., to be located at Olympia, at the head of Puget Sound. This lodge was chartered, June 14, 1873, as Olympia Lodge, No. 5.
Early in the year 1854 the Deputy Grand Master, and acting, ex ojFcio, as Grand Master of Oregon Territory, granted a dispensation to open a lodge at Steilacoom, to be known as Steilacoom Lodge, U. D., near the head‑waters of Puget Sound. This lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Oregon as Steilacoom Lodge, No. 7.
Early in the year 1858 the Grand Master of Oregon granted dispensations to two lodges in the Territory of Washington, as follows: first, to " Grand Mound Lodge, U. D.," to be located at Grand Mound, Thurston County; which was duly chartered by the Grand Lodge of Oregon, July 14, 1858, as "Grand Mound Lodge, No. 21." The dispensation granted at the same time, and by the same authority, was for a lodge to be known as " Washington Lodge, U. D.," to be located at Vancouver, Washington Territory. This was chartered as "Washington Lodge, No. 22." This lodge being located at Vancouver, which was a large military post of the United States army, had a great number of Masons enrolled upon its register at the time of its charter.
A convention of Free and Accepted Masons, delegated by the several lodges in this Territory, assembled at Masonic hall, in Olympia, Washington Territory, on the 6th day of December, 1858, for the purpose of considering the propriety of establishing a Grand Lodge for said Territory. The committee appointed to examine the credentials of delegates to this convention reported that they had examined the credentials of delegates: from Olympia Lodge, No. 5 ; Steilacoom Lodge, No. 8 ; Grand Mound Lodge, No. 21 ; and Washington Lodge, No. 22, the said‑several lodges being regularly constituted and holding charters granted by authority of the Grand Lodge of Oregon. The following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted: ‑ "WHEREAS, It has been made known to this convention that there are in operation in this 398 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Territory the requisite number of just and legally constituted lodges of Free and Accepted Masons to authorize the formation and organization of a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Washington, and " WHEREAS, It appears that a sufficient number of delegates from the several lodges are now present, invested with ample authority to organize and constitute said Grand Lodge; therefore, be it "Resolved, That the delegates and representatives of the several duly constituted lodges now in successful operation in this Territory, and who are now present at this convention, proceed to the formation and organization of a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Territory of Washington." A committee of five was appointed to draft and report a constitution for the government of the Grand Lodge.
It was "Resolved, That the constitution as now reported be hereby adopted as the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Territory of Washington." The following preamble and resolutions were also adopted: "WHEREAS, This convention has adopted a constitution for a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Territory of Washington; therefore, " Resolved, That an election be now held for officers of the Grand Lodge, who shall hold their offices until the annual communication, to be held in Olympia, commencing on the first Monday in September, A. L. 5859 " Resolved, That a lodge of Master Masons be opened in due and ancient form, for the purpose of organizing and opening in AMPLE FORM the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Territory of Washington." The lodge was opened in ancient Masonic form.
On motion, it was "Resolved, That the lodge proceed forthwith to the election of Grand Officers by ballot, and for each separately." The lodge then proceeded to the election by ballot, and the brethren were duly elected for the ensuing Masonic year, Brother T. F. McElroy being elected Most Worshipful Grand Master. The Grand Officers were then installed.
On December 9, 1858, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Territory of Washington was opened in due and ancient form.
The following was adopted: ‑ " Resolved, That the charters of the several subordinate lodges represented in and composing this Grand Lodge shall be indorsed, and each numbered consecutively, according to the date thereof." At this communication, it was unanimously " Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Grand Lodge, no Mason has a right to withdraw from a lodge, except for the purpose of becoming immediately a member of some other lodge, or for some of the reasons named in the Ancient Charges and Regulations; and that any Mason who does so, acts in direct contravention to the spirit of Freemasonry, and is totally unworthy the regard of all well‑disposed Masons, and therefore is not entitled to any of the benefits and privileges of the Fraternity." Thus the third Grand Lodge of Master Masons was formed on the Pacific Coast when Washington Territory (now a State) was in its infancy. Of the four lodges which formed the Grand Lodge, one has ceased to exist. The THE AMERIC.4N RITE.
399 N Grand Lodge of Washington almost immediately after its organization began to erect altars of Freemasonry, not only along the shores of Puget Sound, but across the Cascade Range to the western slope of the Blue Mountains, to the eastward of the Columbia River, and at the junction of the Clearwater and Snake rivers (at Lewiston, now in Idaho), its great tributaries, and there planted its lodges and ignited the holy fire. Scarcely had the act of transfer of Alaska from the Russian government to that of the United States taken place,and the American flag raised upon its soil, when the Grand Lodge of Washington at once occupied it, and under the Stars and Stripes organized the most western lodge of Freemasonry on the American continent, still thousands of miles to the westward, and meridionally the Grand East of the Grand Lodge of Washington is fixed in the centre of this magnificent domain of the American Republic.
But ten years ago, where now stands the beautiful and flourishing inland city of Spokane Falls, a lodge which had been working under dispensation was patiently waiting for its charter, which the Grand Lodge of Washington had recently granted. Its then Worshipful Master, who subsequently became Grand Master of that jurisdiction, convened his lodge on St. John the Baptist's Day, and marched to a beautiful grove to celebrate it in an agreeable and appropriate manner.
Masons were there with their families to enjoy the day in feasting, and to listen to the addresses of their Worshipful Master and others, including the writer of this sketch.
Not a weapon had the brethren there assembled, although surrounded by Indians, some of whose hands were yet moist with the blood of the white man.
Scarcely had the echoes of the last speaker among the brotherhood died away, when was heard that of the red man in council, assembled by a United States army officer, the representative of his government, requiring that each Indian should take up his own homestead upon the public lands in severalty and go to work, or else be gathered with all the others of their tribes upon the reservations. The strangeness of holding a Masonic celebration under such conditions and surroundings was one long to be remembered, and we believe to be without a parallel.
Such, in brief, is the history, incidentally connected with the establishing of Freemasonry in the Territory, but now the State, of Washington. ‑ E. A. S. Idaho. ‑ Idaho is generally supposed to be a corruption of an Indian word, meaning " Gem of the Mountains." Idaho was created a Territory by act of Congress, March 3, 1863, from parts of Dakota, Nebraska, and Washington Territories.
On July 7, 1863, John McCracken, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Oregon, upon the recommendation of Wasco Lodge, No. 15, granted a dispensation to form a lodge at Bannock City, Idaho Territory, to be called Idaho Lodge.
This act raised the question of jurisdiction between the Grand Lodge of Washington Territory and the Grand Lodge of Oregon.
Special, COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
committees were appointed by the respective Grand Lodges upon the matters at issue between their jurisdictions, and finally the matter was amicably set tled. A charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Oregon on June az, 1864, to Idaho Lodge, No. 35.
On April 1, 1865, the Grand Master of Oregon issued a dispensation to open a lodge at Boise City, Idaho, and at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge, on June zo, 1865, a charter was granted to Boise City Lodge, No. 37, Boise City; also, to Placer Lodge, No.
38, at Placerville, Idaho. At this session of the Grand Lodge of Oregon, Idaho Lodge submitted a communication stating that by the recent fire at Idaho City they had lost their lodge‑room and all their records and furniture except their Bible and charter.
They say they have provided shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, and clothing for the naked ; and they now respectfully solicit any assistance the Grand Lodge might see fit to bestow.
The Grand Lodge remitted the dues of Idaho Lodge for 1864 and 1865.
On July 21, 1866, the Grand Master of Oregon issued a dispensation to form a lodge at Silver City, Idaho, to be known as " Owyhee Lodge."
On June 7, 1867, the Grand Master of Washington granted a dispensation to Pioneer Lodge, U. D., at Pioneer City, Idaho.
A charter was granted Pioneer Lodge, No. 12, by the Grand Lodge of Washington on September 21, 1867.
A convention of delegates from the four chartered lodges: Idaho, No.
35 ; Boise, No. 37; Placer, No. 38; and Pioneer, No. 12, in Idaho Territory, assembled in Idaho City, December 16, 1367.
A seat in the convention was, out of courtesy, extended to Owyhee Lodge, U. D., in the preliminary organi zation. On December 17th the convention was called to order, and the committee on credentials reported representatives from the several chartered lodges as follows: Idaho Lodge, No. 35 ; Boise, No. 37; Placer, No. 38; and Pioneer, No. 12.
It was " Resolved, That the representatives present are fully authorized and empowered to organize a Grand Lodge in Idaho." A lodge of Master Masons was then opened in due form, and an election of Grand Officers for the ensuing year held, and Brother George H. Coe was elected Grand Master.
A committee was appointed to draft a constitution for the government of the Grand Lodge. Worshipful P. E. Edmondson installed Brother George H. Coe, Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the Grand Master installed the other Grand Officers, the lodge of Master Masons was closed in due form, and the convention was dissolved.
The Grand Lodge of Idaho was then opened in ample form, and the various standing committees appointed. On December 18th charters were granted to Idaho Lodge, No. 1 ; Boise Lodge, No. a ; Placer Lodge, No. 3 ; Pioneer Lodge, No. 4 ; and Owyhee Lodge, No. 5.
The first annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Idaho was convened at Idaho City, on Monday, June az, 1868, when a resolution was adopted THE AMERICAN RITE.
401 requiring the Most Worshipful Grand Masters of this body to have, as soon as practicable after their installation, a life‑sized photograph taken of themselves for this Grand Lodge, and the Grand Secretary was authorized to draw an order on the Grand Treasurer to pay for the same.
On June 23, 1868, a charter was granted to War Eagle Lodge, No. 6, at Silver City.
A dispensation was granted: on April 5, 1869, to Shoshone Lodge, at Boise City; and, on July 21, 1869, to Summit Lodge, at Leesburg, Lemhi County on October 6, 1869, charters were granted : to Shoshone Lodge, No. 7, at Boise City; and Coe Lodge, No. 8, at Centreville, Boise County. On December 17, 1874, Coe Lodge, No. 8, surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge, who took charge of the same and the effects of Coe Lodge, as the lodge had become insolvent.
Alturas Lodge, No. 12, was chartered on December 15, 1875; and, on September 10, 1879, the charter of Pioneer Lodge, No. 4, was arrested, and the Grand Lodge issued dimits to its members, so that on September 14, 188o, there were only ten working lodges in this jurisdiction.
On September 14, 1881, Owyhee Lodge, No 5, and War Eagle, No. 6, consolidated and organized Silver City Lodge, No. 13, to which a charter was granted, September 15, 1881.
The first Masonic hall built in Idaho was at Idaho City, the lumber for which was whip‑sawed by hand exclusively, and cost $2000. It was constructed over the first story of the store of Messrs. McC. & Clark, commission merchants, and $20 per month rental was paid for the privilege. The size was 18 by 40 feet, and the height at the sides was only seven feet, and arched overhead.
The cost of erecting this hall was $4000.
The square and compasses were made of tin, and used until a set of silver ones could be obtained. At that time everything coming into the "Great Boise Basin" came exclusively by pack trains.
Eighteen halls have been constructed by the Fraternity in Idaho, three of which are of brick, the one at Salmon City, Lemhi County, being three stories high and a magnificent building. Essene Lodge, No. aa, is constructing a three‑story Temple, which when completed will be the finest building in the State.
The Grand Lodge "Orphan Fund" was created, October 7, 1869.
Brother Lafayette Cartee introduced the resolution, which was unanimously adopted. The Grand Master, Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, were constituted a Board of Trustees, to have and exercise full control of the money belonging to that fund.
To this fund each Master Mason and each contributing member pay annually $1.
This is an irreducible fund, and from the interest derived therefrom the charities of the Grand Lodge are paid, which amount to about $6oo annually.
In 1889 this fund and the accumulated interest amounted to $14,303‑10
401
402
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The revenue of Grand Lodge is derived as follows: $r for each degree conferred ; $1 for each Master Mason on the annual returns, and $1 for each contributing member for Grand Lodge dues. To the representative fund $1.25 for each Master Mason; from fees for dispensation, $6o; charter, $20; Grand Lodge certificate, $2; and certificate to dispensation, $r. The minimum fee for the three degrees is $5o, though some lodges charge from $75 to $go, and the dues in subordinate lodges range from $6 to $12 per annum, and $i for the Orphan Fund.
In 1874 the legislature of Idaho passed an act incorporating the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, but for good reasons the Grand Lodge have not yet complied with its provisions.
Only one of the constituted lodges has been incorporated. ‑ C. E. G.
Montana. ‑ Montana was originally a portion of Idaho Territory, but on May 20, 1864, was taken therefrom and made an independent Territory of the Federal Union.
One who was a participant in the introduction of Freemasonry into Montana said, in 1867: "Masonry was almost an outburst of the soil of our new Territory.
With an existence of scarcely five years, we yet cannot tell when it first came here, who brought it, or at what particular moment of our brief history it did not exist here.
It came with us, but we found it here upon our arrival.
Few as were the members who had drank of its sacred fount, they were yet here; and as soon as they became known to each other, obedient to the teachings they had received, they were ready to cooperate for the purpose of protection and improvement.
Finding themselves among a reckless people, whose trade was robbery and murder, who were unrestrained by law, superior in numbers, criminally organized, constantly tempted to ply their vocation,‑the few who felt the force of Masonic influence united with the few who were prepared in their hearts to receive that influence, and formed here a truly Masonic association.
When the company of which I was one entered what is now Montana (then Dakota), a single settlement, known by the name of Grasshopper (now Bannock), was the only abode of the white man in the southern part of the Territory. Our journey from Minnesota, of fourteen hundred miles, by a route never before travelled, and with the slow conveyance of ox‑trains, was of long duration and tedious.
It was a clear September twilight when we camped on the western side of the range of the Rocky Mountains where they are crossed by the Mullan road.
The labors of the day over, three of our number, a brother named Charlton, another whose name I have forgotten, and myself, the only three Master Masons in the company, impressed by the grandeur of the mountain scenery, and the wild beauty of the evening, ascended the mountain to its summit, and there, in imitation of our ancient brethren, opened and closed an informal lodge of Master Masons.
Soon after my arrival in the Territory, one of the early emigrants from the East, Brother William H. Bell, of St. Louis, fell a victim to an attack of mountain fever.
He was a Mason in good standing, and desired, if possible, to be buried with Masonic honors.
"All the Masons in the settlement were requested to meet on the evening of the day of his death, at the cabin of Brother C. J. Miller, on Yankee Flat, for the purpose of making preparations for the funeral. At this time the numerical power of Masonry in the Territory was unknown. Judge of our surprise after the brethren had assembled, to find that the cabin would not contain one‑half of the persons in attendance. We adjourned to a larger cabin. The usual examinations` were conducted, and though not unmindful of the solemn purposes for which we had assembled, the great and no less agreeable surprise occasioned by the meeting in such large numbers led us, even then, to contemplate the expediency of obtaining from the nearest Masonic jurisdiction authority to organize a regular working lodge.
The following day the funeral services were held, the ceremonies conducted by myself; and the first man who had died in any settlement of the, Territory was consigned to the grave by as generous and warm‑hearted a band of brethren as e congregated upon alike solemn occasion.
Seventy‑six good men and true dropped the evergr THE AMERICAN RITE.
403 into the grave of our departed brother; and as they stood around the grave with uncovered heads, and listened in reverential silence to the impressive language of our beautiful ritual, I felt more than on any former occasion, how excellent a thing it was for a man to be a Mason.
"When the Masons of Bannock departed from the burial of their brother, every man of them was prepared to present a bold and decided front against the crime and recklessness which threatened their destruction. From this moment Masonic history commenced its lofty career in Montana. Other law‑abiding people who, though not members of the Order, possessed the first and highest preparations to become so, united with the brethren in organizing force to vanquish crime, and drive it from our borders.
It is worthy of comment that every Mason in these trying hours of our history adhered steadfastly to his principles." The Grand Master of Nebraska, on April 27, 1863, granted a dispensation to form and open Bannock City Lodge, Idaho (afterward in Montana) Territory. This was renewed by the Grand Lodge on June 23, 1863, and again, June 24, 1864. Before the dispensation was received at Bannock, a large majority of the Masons who were there, attracted by the golden promises of other portions of the Territory, became scattered, and the lodge never met under this authority.
On November 17, 1863, the Grand Master of Nebraska issued a dispensation to " Idaho Lodge " at Nevada City, (then) Idaho Territory. This dispensation was renewed, November 24, 1864 ; and a charter was granted, June 23, 1865, to Idaho Lodge, No. 1o, at Nevada City, Idaho Territory. But I presume the charter was never issued or sent, for the dispensation issued to Idaho Lodge was lost on its way back to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, the mails having been destroyed by Indians, and this probably is why Solomon Lodge, at Fort Calhoun, was chartered on June 22, 1866, as Lodge No. io.
The Grand Master of Kansas, in December, 1864, granted a dispensation to Virginia City Lodge, at Virginia City, Montana; and on December z, 1864, it was granted a charter as Virginia City Lodge, No. 43 The Deputy Grand Master of Colorado, on April 4, 1865, granted a dispensation to Montana Lodge, at Virginia City, Montana. This lodge was granted a charter by the Grand Lodge of Colorado, November 7, 1865, as Montana Lodge, No. 9.
The Grand Master of Colorado also granted a dispensation on July io, 1865, to Helena Lodge, at Helena, Montana; and to it was granted a charter, November 7, 1865, as Helena Lodge, No. 1o.
A convention of delegates from the three chartered lodges in the Territory of Montana assembled at the Masonic hall in Virginia City, on the 24th day of January, 1866. These lodges were: Virginia City Lodge, No. 43 ; Montana Lodge, No. 9 ; Helena Lodge, No. io.
A resolution was adopted to organize a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, to be known by the name of " The Grand Lodge of Montana." John J. Hull was elected as temporary Grand Master.
The Grand Lodge proceeded to consider and adopt a constitution, also a code of by‑laws for the government of the Grand Lodge and its subordinates, and rules of order, and the Grand Lodge was '1 called off " until 9 o'clock A.M., January 26, 1866, when an election was held, and John J. Hull was 404
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
elected Most Worshipful Grand Master; and charters were granted: to Virginia City Lodge, No. 1 ; Montana Lodge, No. 2 ; and Helena Lodge, No. 3‑ On January 29, 1866, a charter was granted to Nevada Lodge, No. 4, at Nevada.
At the formation of the Grand Lodge of Montana there were but three chartered lodges, with a membership not exceeding one hundred, within their jurisdiction, and with this small membership they commenced paying mileage and per them to the representatives of their subordinate lodges, from the organization of the Grand Lodge.
In the first constitution adopted by the Grand Lodge of Montana, the fee for a dispensation to open a new lodge was $So, and $5 additional for the charter; and the fee for the three degrees was $75. The fee for the degrees was reduced to $6o in 1875, and is now reduced to $50.
The Grand Master granted dispensations as follows: to Gallatin Lodge, February 17, 1866; to Morning Star Lodge and Diamond City Lodge, on February 24, 1866 : on October 2, 1866, charters were granted Morning Star Lodge, No. 5, at Helena; Gallatin Lodge, No. 6, at Bozeman City; and Diamond City Lodge, No. 7, at Diamond City. The Grand Master, on October 22, 1866, granted a dispensation to Wasatch Lodge, at Salt Lake City; on October 29, 1866, to Summit Lodge, at Summit District, Madison County, Montana Territory; on December 11, 1866, to Red Mountain Lodge, at Red Mountain City, Deer Lodge County; and on July 12, 1867, to King Solomon's Lodge, at Helena, Montana Territory.
On October 7, 1867, a lengthy petition was received from the brethren, formerly composing Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., at Salt Lake City,.asking for a charter, which was referred to the committee on the returns and work of lodges, U. D., who, on the afternoon of October 11th, reported adversely to granting a charter, and referred the petitioners to the Grand Lodge of Neveda for a redress of their alleged grievances. At this session of the Grand Lodge, on October 12, 1867, charters were granted: to Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, Salt Lake, Utah; King Solomon's Lodge, No. 9, at Helena; Summit Lodge, No. 1o, at Summit District; Flint Creek Lodge, No. 11, at Phillipsburg ; and Red Mountain Lodge, No. 12, at Red Mountain City.
Section nine of the by‑laws for the government of the Grand Lodge was amended, Yeducing the mileage pay of representatives to the Grand Lodge from twenty‑five cents per mile to ten cents per mile, and in no case to exceed the amount of the dues paid, by the representative lodge, to the Grand Lodge at that communication.
On the 27th day of December, 1867, the Grand Lodge of Montana consecrated and dedicated the Masonic Temple at Virginia City with appropriate ceremonies. On March 20, 1868, a dispensation was granted to Missoula Lodge, U. D., at Missoula, and a charter was granted to this lodge, October 5, 1868, as Missoula Lodge, No. 13 ; on the 29th day of August, 187o, a dis‑ THE AMERICAN RITE.
405 pensation was granted to Jefferson Lodge, U. D., at Radersburg ; on the following day a charter was granted to Deer Lodge, No. 14, at Deer Lodge City, Montana Territory; on November z, 187o, a charter was granted to Jefferson Lodge, No. 15, at Radersburg; October z, 1871, a dispensation was granted for a lodge at Bannoclc City (the oldest city in Montana), and for a lodge at Silver Star, Madison County; on October 3, 1871, charters were granted to Bannock Lodge, No. 16, and to Silver Star Lodge, No. 17. October 7, 1872, a communication was read from Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, Salt Lake City, stating that a Grand Lodge had been organized in Utah, and they returned the charter issued to them by the Grand Lodge of Montana, with the request that it be cancelled or abrogated and returned to Wasatch Lodge to be placed among the archives of the lodge.
This request was unanimously granted.
On October 8, 1872, the Grand Master reported that he had granted a dispensation to Bozeman Lodge, at Bozeman.
On June 24, 1872, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the Masonic Temple at Helena. A charter was granted to Bozeman Lodge, No. 18.
On March 3, 1873, a dispensation was granted to Washington Lodge, at Gallatin City.
October 6, 1873, the Grand Lodge dedicated with appropriate ceremonies the Temple at Helena.
A charter was granted Washington Lodge, No. 18, at Gallatin City.
Bozeman was the place where the tenth annual communication of the Grand Lodge was held, commencing October 5, 1874. On June 9, 1874, all the property of the Grand Lodge of Montana was destroyed by fire.
The charter of Summit Lodge, No. Io, was surrendered, and received, June 7, 1874.
On the 23d day of September, 1874, a dispensation was granted for a lodge at Sheridan, and on October 7th it was continued for another year.
A special communication of the Grand Lodge of Montana was convened at Helena, October 1, 1875, for the purpose of laying, with Masonic ceremonies, the corner‑stone of the United States Assay Office, which was appropriately done.
On October 6, 1875, charters were granted to Sheridan Lodge, No. 2o, at Sheridan, and to Valley Lodge, No. 21, at Centreville, Meagher County. On May io, 1876, the Deputy Grand Master issued a dispensation for a lodge at Butte City; and a charter was granted, October 3, 1876, to Butte City Lodge, No. 22.
The brethren of Washington Lodge, No. 19, surrendered their charter to the Grand Lodge, October 7, 1877.
On May 3, 1879, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of St. Peter's Episcopal church at Helena with appropriate Masonic ceremonies.
A dispensation was issued to the Gllndale Lodge, January 9, 188o ; on March 29th, to Mt. Moriah Lodge at Butte ; and in June to the brethren at Fort Benton for a lodge. These lodges were granted charters on September 16, 188o, as Glendale Lodge, No. 23; Mt. 1Vtoriah Lodge, No. 24; and Benton Lodge, No. 25.
September 30, 1882, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑ COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
stone of the Masonic Temple then being erected at Butte City.
On October 4, 1881, the Grand Master granted a dispensation to open a lodge at Miles City; and on October 5th the dispensation was renewed for a year; on October 4, 1882, they were conditionally chartered as Yellow Stone Lodge, No. 26.
A special communication of the Grand Lodge of Montana was held at Helena, September 19, 1883, and laid the corner‑stone of the first Baptist church of Helena ; also, on June 16, 1885, to lay the corner‑stone of the new Masonic Temple at Helena. On October 2, 1884, the system of districting the jurisdiction and appointing District Deputy Grand Masters was perfected and established.
On July 27, 1888, the corner‑stone of the Masonic Temple, under process of erection, at the city of Dillon, was laid in due form.
The three original constituents are still in existence, strong and vigorous lodges. Lodges NOS. 4, 10, 12, 15, and 19, have shared in the collapse of the camps and settlements where they were located. Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, joined in constituting the Grand Lodge of Utah.
The Grand Lodge has never aspired to build a temple : she meets with her daughters, and always finds a hearty welcome.
The Craft at Virginia City, Helena, Bozeman, Deer Lodge, White Sulphur Springs, Livingstone, and Dillon have erected halls for their own uses and purposes. The Craft have not established any "homes" or asylums in Montana, but are ever ready to dispense their charities to the needy whenever called upon, having disbursed nearly $ioo,ooo for charity since the Grand Lodge was organized.
The library of the Grand Lodge consists chiefly in the bound volumes of the proceedings of other jurisdictions. They appropriate a small amount annually to be expended in binding proceedings, and for the current Masonic literature of the day. ‑ C. E. G.
Nevada.‑For a decade after the discovery of gold in California, "Western Utah," as Nevada was then termed, was a land that seemed to be cursed of God, as it was by any man destined to cross its borders ; and among the, victims who poured out their life current upon the wastes of Nevada was one who, nearly eleven years before, had safely carried the flrst charter of a Masonic lodge to be located at Benton City, California, which was chartered under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, as Western Star, and who was its first Master, ‑ Brother Peter Lassen, murdered by the Indians in March, 1859. A peak of the Sierra Nevada named for him is his eternal monument.
Masonically, Nevada is the second child of California, as shown by the historic record following: ‑ Carson City Lodge, No. 154 (California jurisdiction), now Carson Lodge, No. i (Nevada jurisdiction), was the first lodge of Masons to be established between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
407 On the 3d day of February, 1862, the Grand Master of California granted a dispensation to organize a lodge at Carson City. The first meeting under the dispensation was held February 13, 1862, subordinate officers appointed, and by‑laws adopted. At its second communication, February 20th, ten petitions were received from candidates, and prosperity has attended it from the beginning.
Washoe Lodge, No. 15 7 (California jurisdiction), now Washoe Lodge, No. 2 (Nevada jurisdiction), was authorized by dispensation from the Grand Master of California, on the 25th of July, 1862, to be located at Washoe City, in the valley and county of the same name, in the western part of the State, at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada range. On the 14th of May, 1863, a charter was granted to it by the Grand Lodge of California, as Washoe Lodge, No. 157.
On the 15th day of January, 1863, the Grand Master of California granted a dispensation authorizing Virginia City Lodge, No. 152 (California jurisdiction), now Virginia Lodge, No. 3 (Nevada jurisdiction) ; and, on the 14th of May following, the Grand Lodge of California granted a charter for Virginia City Lodge, No. 162.
The Grand Master of California, on March 20, 1863, granted a dispensation for Silver City Lodge, No. 163 (California jurisdiction), now Amity Lodge, No. 4 (Nevada jurisdiction), which was, on the 15th of May following, duly chartered as Silver City Lodge, No. 163.
On the 11th of July, 1863, the Grand Master of California granted a dispensation for Silver Star Lodge, No. 165 (California jurisdiction), now Silver Star Lodge, No. 5. It was situated at Gold Hill, adjoining Virginia City. The Grand Lodge of California granted a charter, on the 13th of October, 1864.
The Grand Master of California granted a dispensation on the 28th of September, 1863, for Esmeralda Lodge, No. 170 (California jurisdiction), now Esmeralda Lodge, No. 6 (Nevada jurisdiction), at the town of Aurora in the south‑western portion of Nevada, which was followed by a charter from the Grand Lodge of California on the 15th of October, 1863.
On the 22d day of January, 1864, the Grand Master of California granted a dispensation for a second lodge, Escurial Lodge, No. 171 (California Jurisdiction), now Escurial Lodge, No. 7 (Nevada jurisdiction), at Virginia City, Nevada, which was followed by a charter from the Grand Lodge of California on the 13th of October, 1864.
Why this lodge should have been given such a name we have been unable to learn. There is no scoria or volcanic cinders about Virginia City; and if named after the Escurial of Spain, built by Philip IL, in the shape of a gridiron, as a tomb and chapel for the kings of Spain, there is no warrant, either Masonically or otherwise, or good reason for its being so named.
The Grand Master of California granted a dispensation for Lander Lodge, 408
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No. 172 (California jurisdiction), now Lander Lodge, No. 8 (Nevada Jurisò diction), on the 25th of March, 1864; and on the 3d of June following, it commenced work. A charter was granted it by the Grand Lodge of the State of California, October 14, 1864. This was the last charter issued by that Grand Lodge within the Territory, and afterward the State, of Nevada.
Washoe Lodge, No. 157, located in Washoe City, Washoe County, at its stated communication in July, 1863, appointed a committee to confer with the other lodges in the State as to the expediency of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Nevada. From some cause the subject was dropped at that time.
In November, 1864, Virginia City Lodge, No. 162, and Escurial Lodge, No. 171, located in the city of Virginia, Storey County, appointed a joint committee to correspond with the lodges in the State as to the expediency of organizing a Grand Lodge for the State.
This appointment was responded to by the appointment of like committees from all the lodges.
After a careful and deliberate consideration of the subject, the following resolutions were reported and adopted by five lodges, there being eight chartered lodges in the State : ‑ "Whereas, The subject of organizing a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, in the State of Nevada, has been agitated: "Resolved, That it is the opinion of this lodge, that it is expedient, advisable, and desirable that a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons be at once organized in the State of Nevada. " Resolved, That if five chartered lodges within the State adopt similar resolutions to the foregoing, that a convention of the lodges of Free and Accepted Masons within the State of Nevada convene at the Masonic hall, in Virginia, on Monday, the 16th day of January, 1865, at 1i o'clock A.M., for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the State of Nevada, each lodge to be represented by its Master and Wardens, whose charter shall be their credentials." The convention assembled on the 16th' day of January, 1865, at Masonic hall, Virginia; and after prayer by Rev. Brother F. S. Rising, on motion of Brother Alfred A. Green, it was " Resolved, That a committee of one from each lodge represented be appointed to examine the credentials of the representatives of the lodges in this State, to this convention, and report the names of those entitled to seats." On motion, a committee of three, on permanent organization, was ordered. The lodges represented at the convention were: Carson Lodge, No. 154; Washoe Lodge, No. 157; Virginia City Lodge, No. 162 ; Silver Star Lodge, No. 165 ; Esmeralda Lodge, No. 170; Escurial Lodge, No. 171 ; Silver City Lodge, No. 163.
The following resolutions, and recommendations, were adopted: ‑ " Resolved, That, in the judgment of this convention, Carson Lodge, No. 154; Washoe Lodge, No. 157; Virginia City Lodge, No. 162; Silver Star Lodge, No. 165; Esmeralda Lodge, No. 170; and Escurial Lodge, No. 171, are legally constituted lodges of Free and Accepted Masons, and that the officers of said lodges here present are duly authorized and qualified to organize and constitute a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Nevada.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
409 "Resolved, That the representatives of the several duly constituted lodges of Free and Accepted Masons, now working in the State of Nevada, and present in this convention, proceed to the organization of a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Nevada.
"Resolved, That each lodge represented be entitled to three votes, ‑ the votes of absent officers to be cast according to the rule of the Grand Lodge of California.
"Resolved, That all Past Masters and Master Masons present be invited to seats and to participate in the debates of this convention." January 17, 1865, the constitution having been read by sections, and adopted as read or amended, it was then unanimously "Resolved, That the constitution, as reported by the committee and amended by this convention, be adopted as the constitution of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Nevada.
"Resolved, That at the hour of two o'clock, this day, a lodge of Master Masons be opened in this hall, for the purpose of organizing and constituting in Masonic form the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Nevada." In the afternoon the Master of the oldest lodge represented by its Master then opened a lodge of Master Masons in form.
The convention then proceeded to the election of Grand Officers to serve until the first annual communication, and Most Worshipful Joseph de Bell was elected Grand Master, and the other Grand Officers were also duly elected. The Grand Officers were then installed by the Deputy Grand Master‑elect.
The Master's lodge was then closed in ample form.
On motion, it was "Resolved, That, whereas this convention has accomplished the work for which it convened, that it now adjourn sine die." The convention was then declared adjourned sine die.
The Grand Lodge of Nevada, having been duly organized, proceeded at once to perfect its machinery of legislation and government by regularizing the charters of the subordinate lodges, and the appointment of the standing committees.
Lander Lodge, No. 172, of Austin, Lander County, in the eastern part of the State, was not represented in the convention, but concurred in its action, making eight chartered lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Nevada at the date of its organization. Of these eight lodges, one has ceased to exist, ‑Washoe, No. z,‑while the Grand Lodge of Nevada has chartered twenty‑four lodges, including the original eight, of which there are now nineteen on its rolls.
Outside of the State of Nevada, the Grand Lodge has chartered no new lodges, though a dispensation was granted in January, 1866, to Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., to be located at Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, under restrictions not to make, affiliate, or grant the right of visitation to Mormons, which as a sect, ‑ "Living in the daily violation of what is known as the proprieties and decencies of life, setting at naught the moral law, as laid down in that Great Light that is ever open upon our altars,should by the same rule, be excluded from our assemblies." 410 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The most interesting event of Freemasonry in the 11 Silver State " of Nevada, and on the Pacific Coast, if not in the world, since the Craft assembled on Mt. Moriah to erect the Temple of Solomon, occurred on the 9th of September, 1875.
The burning of the Masonic hall and that of the Odd Fellows' hall in Virginia City, a few days previous, left the lodges without any place of meeting, either for business or work. In this dilemma, and upon due consultation, the Worshipful Master of Virginia Lodge, No. 3, decided to call the regular meeting of his lodge in accordance with the custom of our ancient brethren " on the highest hills or in the lowest valleys; " and, accordingly, by proclamation he called his lodge to meet upon the top of Mt. Davidson, on the eastern slope of which, and over the " Great Comstock Lode," stands Virginia City.
The summit of the mountain rises to a height of 1622 feet above the main business street of Virginia City, at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, and is 7827 feet above the level of the sea. On the apex was raised a flag‑staff, and there floated from its top the white flag of Masonry, upon which were the square and compasses with the letter G in the centre.
The writer, with the assistance of others, surveyed the boundaries of the lodge‑room and built the altar of rough stones, upon which was placed the Great Light of Masonry, after having been duly consecrated with corn, wine, and oil.
The three lesser lights were not placed in position, for the sun was in zenith, the moon high in the West, while the Worshipful Master was in the East, ruling and governing his lodge and setting the Craft to work whereby they might pursue their labors. Ninety‑two members of the lodge were present, as well as the Grand Master and 286 visitors from other lodges, representing twenty‑five States and Territories of the Union, besides England, Scotland, Ontario, and New Zealand.
As the lodge was opened, the white emblem of the Order was thrown to the breeze from the flag‑staff on the summit, and the cheers that greeted it were heard in the valleys below. The regular business of the lodge was transacted, when the gavel was placed in the hands of Grand Master Bollen, who then presided. Speeches and songs appropriate to the occasion followed. At the close the Craft was called from labor to refreshment, of which there was a bountiful supply, and all were satisfied when the lodge was closed. In the history of the Order in the United States or elsewhere no account is given of a lodge being held, or a Masonic altar erected, at so high an elevation since the day that Noah made his exit with his family from the ark, on the top of Mt. Ararat, and set up his altar to worship God and return thanks for his preservation.
The memory of that interesting event will live until the last survivor of those present shall have been called to eternal refreshment in the Grand Lodge above; and Mt. Davidson shall be known among the Craft as the " Mountain of the Lord," the grandest altar of Freemasonry built by the Supreme Architect of the Universe Himself, its solid base girdled with bands THE AMERICs4N RITE.
413 of gold and silver, and sparkling with its gems of crystal quartz; its altar cloth in winter, the purest snowy mantle spread over it by heaven itself, while the blazing sun, the silvery moon, and the glittering stars shall be its greater and lesser lights to shine upon it, as long as the earth shall be used as a trestleboard by the Craft.
From the bosom of the Fraternity in Nevada there have flowed the streams of charity in their fulness. During the Civil War, our late Brother Reuel C. Gridley, of Lander Lodge, with his sack of flour, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the sanitary fund, which alleviated the sufferings of thousands of the sick and wounded in the army hospitals.
It has been the destiny of the writer to have been Masonically connected with lodges in California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, during the thirtyseven years of his Masonic life. Officially and otherwise he was connected with lodges in both the eastern and western portions of Nevada, as well as being the President of a Masonic Relief Association where no lodge existed, at White Pine, in 1869.
Upon the mountains or in the valleys, by the cooling streams or on the parched, sandy and alkaline deserts of that portion of the Great Basin, he has fully tested, by personal experience, and witnessed the strength of the " Mystic‑tie," and beheld the beauty and sublimity of the teaching and workings of Freemasonry.
The aroma and fragrance of the acacia is as sweet upon the mountains and desert plains of Nevada as were the perfumes that arose from the Garden of Eden.
Though twelve years have elapsed since we severed our lodge relationship in the"Silver State" of Nevada, and re‑transferred our local allegiance to the parent jurisdiction of California, yet the mystic chord of brotherhood is the same. ‑ E. A. S.
Utah. ‑ Before proceeding to give the sketch of the establishing of a regular lodge of Freemasons in Utah, it may be well to give a short account of Freemasonry among the Mormons.
On the 3d of October, 1842, the Grand Master of Illinois announced to the Grand Lodge of that State that he had granted a dispensation to several brethren to organize a lodge at Nauvoo. It commenced work on March 15, 1842, and by the 11th of August of the same year, in a period of one hundred and forty‑nine days, it had initiated, passed, and raised no less than two hundred and eighty‑six candidates, averaging six degrees per them in that time !
They were advised by the committee of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, when sent to examine their work, not to go so fast, and to divide their labors.
While a charter was not granted to " Nauvoo Lodge," U. D., the dispensation was continued.
Dispensations were issued to two more Lodges, |1 Helm " and " Nye," the former of which, " Helm," received and acted upon four petitions in one day, and || Nye " Lodge received and acted upon petitions on one day, and initiated the next.
From the records, it appears these three lodges in Nauvoo made in one year fifteen hundred Masons, and at the same ratio in. two years they must have made an army of about four thousand; all while 4‑14 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMJSONRY.
under dispensation.
This sort of work was speedily brought to an end by the Grand Lodge of Illinois, which adopted the following resolutions: ‑ " That in the opinion of this Grand Lodge, it is inexpedient and prejudicial to the interests of Freemasonry longer to sustain a lodge in Nauvoo, and for the disrespect and contempt that Nauvoo, Helm, and Nye lodges have shown, in refusing to present the records of their work to this Grand Lodge; " That their dispensations be and are hereby revoked and charters refused." They still continued to make Masons by wholesale, and cared nothing for the edicts of the Grand Lodge, which, at a communication, October 7, 1844, held at Jacksonville, adopted the following resolutions: ‑ "Whereas, The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Illinois, at its last annual communication, thought proper to withdraw from Nauvoo, Helm, and Nye lodges the dispensations which had been granted them, for gross un‑Masonic conduct; and "Whereas, The Most Worshipful Grand Master did, during vacation, send a special messenger to Nauvoo, and demand the dispensations aforesaid, which demand was treated with contempt, and not a positive refusal given to this Grand Lodge, but a determination expressed to continue work; " Resolved, By this Grand Lodge, that all fellowship with said lodges, and the members thereof be withdrawn, and the association of Masons working these lodges is hereby declared clandestine ; and all members hailing therefrom, suspended from all rights of Masonry within the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, and that our Sister Grand Lodges be requested to deny them any Masonic privileges.
"Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be directed to address a circular on this subject to all the Grand Lodges in correspondence with this Grand Lodge, and request the same to be published in all the Masonic periodicals." In 1846 the Mormon hegira took place, when Nauvoo and other places in Illinois and Camp Far West, and other towns in Missouri were evacuated, and that strange community took its departure from the borders of a land of civilization and enlightenment, to seek an asylum in the Great Basin by the Great Salt Sea of the Desert. , For a period of nearly twenty years, by alliances with hostile tribes of Indians, and their own armed bands of murderers and marauders, the Danites, they plundered and murdered the emigrants on their way to the Pacific Coast, and massacred whole trains of both men and women, and, in successful armed defiance, fortified the national highways to prevent the passage of United States troops over the rightful territory of the government. Hatred to the United States government, to the people and their laws, was taught and inculcated, open rebellion incited and encouraged, while armed aliens seized upon and occupied the public lands which they had invaded, and held in violation of law and the decrees of the various departments of the National Government.
But this now brings us to the history of regular and duly constituted Freemasonry in Utah, and we quote from Grand Secretary Diehl : ‑ " Among the United States army stationed at Camp Floyd were a few brothers who had been made Masons in various parts of our country,. and in order to practise in their leisure the teachings of Masonry, resolved to organize a lodge. They petitioned the Grand Master of Missouri for a' dispensation, which was granted to the first regular Masonic lodge in Utah.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
4I5 "On March 6, 1859, the Grand Lodge of Missouri issued a dispensation to open 'Rocky Mountain Lodge,' in Utah Territory, at Camp Floyd. This dispensation was used until a charter was issued, dated June 1, 186o, to the same named officers and brethren, as applied for the dispensation, and said lodge was named,' Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 205, to be held at Camp Floyd, Utah Territory.
"Among the papers returned to the Grand Lodge of Missouri, the late Brother George Frank Gouley, Right Worshipful Grand Secretary, said : ' I find a letter from Brother Richard Wilson of the 4th Artillery, the Secretary, dated March 27, 1861, enclosing annual returns to December 27, 186o, and announcing that the name of the Post had been changed from Camp Floyd to Fort Crittenden.
"'The membership was composed principally of officers and soldiers of the United States army then quartered there; and when the location was changed to New Mexico, the charter, jewels, records, etc., were all returned to this office, more perfectly arranged, and the accounts, etc., more correctly completed, than that ever received from any surrendered lodge under the jurisdiction of this Grand body since its organization.
"' The jewels and working tools were of the very best quality; in fact, everything received by this office from that lodge bore evidence of more than ordinary refinement and culture. The relationship between this Grand Lodge and her daughter lodge, in the then " Great Far West," was of a very affectionate character, and the same spirit has ever been manifest between her and the former members of that lodge.'" Thus ended the first attempt to plant Masonry on Utah soil.
During the late Civil War the Mormons were in a state of rebellion against the United States government, and in 1863 General E. P. Connor, with two regiments of California volunteers, marched through Salt Lake City, and taking a commanding position, established Camp Douglas, overlooking the town, and holding the turbulent and treacherous Mormons in awe. Security of life and property being thus measurably assured, miners and business men from Nevada immigrated thither, some of whom were Masons.
They considered the advisability of establishing a lodge in Salt Lake City, and, for the purpose of organizing, assembled on November 11, 1865, at the Odd Fellows' hall.
A resolution was passed to organize a lodge, and to petition the Grand Master of Nevada for a dispensation. Lander Lodge, No. 8, at Austin, Nevada, recommended the petition. The then Grand Master of Masons of Nevada responded immediately to the request, and issued his letters of dis pensation for Mt. Moriah Lodge, to be located at Salt Lake City, Utah.
But remembering the treachery and rebellion of the Mormon Masons at Nauvoo to the Grand Lodge of Illinois, and the action taken by that Grand body, and fearful of contamination and of similar evils which might result in establishing a Masonic lodge in the heart of the capital of Mormondom, he attached to this dispensation an edict requiring the lodge to be careful and " exclude all who were of the Mormon faith." The first meeting of Mt. Moriah Lodge was held, February 5, 1866, and soon afterward the following question was sent to Grand Master de Bell from said lodge for a decision: " How are Mormons to be treated, who claim to be Masons, present themselves for examination, and ask the privilege of visiting? 11 416 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
To this request Grand Master de Bell sent the following official reply: ‑ "The right to visit is not an inalienable right, but it may be temporarily lost or impaired. For instance, a suspended or expelled Mason loses that right until he is restored. Again, one that has been convicted of crime, although no charges may have been preferred against him, should not be permitted to sit with 'the just and true.
And why?
Simply because the peace and harmony of the lodge would be disturbed.
So one known to be living in the daily violation of what are known as the proprieties and decencies of life, setting at naught the moral law, as laid down in that Great Light that is ever open upon our altars, should by the same rule be excluded from our assemblies.
Therefore you will take notice, that Mormons claiming to be Masons be excluded from the right of visiting, and also that petitions for the degrees of Masonry shall not be received from any person who is known to be a Mormon.
"It is difficult to discriminate, and we must take the general character of the people, and decide for the permanent good of the Craft in general, and of your lodge in particular. As a people, it is well known that they are polygamists, living in direct violation of the law of God, as given to us in the Decalogue, and also in contempt of the laws of the land, and consequently not good Masons; for I hold that a violation of the laws of the land is a Masonic offence," etc., etc.
In this decision the Grand Lodge of Nevada unanimously adopted the report of the committee on jurisprudence, sustaining the Grand Master, at its annual communication, held September zo, 1866, and the petition for a charter was denied, but the dispensation was continued.
At the next annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Nevada, held September 18, 186'7, Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., again applied for a charter, which was denied, and the dispensation was revoked.
The committee on charters reported as follows: ‑ " The committee have carefully examined the records and papers of the lodge and find them satisfactory and neatly kept, and would have taken pleasure in recommending that a charter be granted, had it not been for the spirit of insubordination manifested in the lengthy communication from the officers of the lodge, which accompanies the petition, in which, after a great amount of special pleading, they attempt to dictate terms to this Grand Lodge, by declining a charter unless the edict of the last grand communication concerning Mormon Masons be repealed, and the lodge allowed to be its own judge as to who shall or shall not be admitted.
"Brother Joseph de Bell, P.% G.*. M.*., in his letter of instruction which accompanied the dispensation, in view of the facts that the laws of the land have declared polygamy a crime, and that the Mormons of Utah Territory have openly and defiantly declared their intention to resist the enforcement of the law whenever the government shall make the attempt, and that polygamy is a moral and social sore, which it is the duty of Masonry to discountenance, forbids the admission of Mormons to the lodge.
The Grand Lodge, at its last annual grand communication, approved of the instructions....
Therefore, to repeal the edict would be an acknowledgment that immor, ality and disloyalty were not offences of which Masonry should take any notice.
"The Committee, therefore, report the following resolution, and recommend its adoption:"' Resolved, That this Grand Lodge, in view of the unsatisfactory state of society in Great Salt Lake City, and the improper spirit manifested in the communication from the officers of Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., does not deem it expedient or for the good of Masonry to grant a charter to the brethren of Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., as prayed for."' By resolution the Grand Secretary was directed to prepare and forward to the Master of Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., without fee, to be by him delivered to each member of his lodge, the proper certificates of their good standing, as provided for in the constitution; and it was also "Resolved, That this Grand Lodge does hereby donate to the brethren of the late Mt.
Moriah Lodge, U. D., its furniture and jewels." THE AMERICAN RITE.
417 Very few instances can be found where a subordinate lodge under dispensation, or even a chartered lodge, was so leniently and charitably dealt with by a Grand Master or a Grand Lodge as this lodge, whose officers needed discipline for contempt and insubordination. As a lodge, it was dissolved without the suspension of a single officer or member from the rights and privileges of Freemasonry.
They seemed to have the idea that their lodge was located at Constantinople, the capital of the Sultan of Turkey, rather than in the United States, where the laws of morality and an enlightened civilization prevailed.
They received their dimits, but as a body would not disband.
They then applied to the Grand Master of Montana for a dispensation, which was refused, while all the Grand Lodges of the United States approved the action of the Grand Lodge of Nevada and that of the Grand Master of Montana.
Another and successful effort was made to obtain a dispensation from the Grand Master of Kansas, who, on the 25th day of November, 1867, granted a dispensation to open Mt. Moriah Lodge in Salt Lake City. Under this dispensation the lodge held its first meeting, December 18, 1867.
Not much work was done under this dispensation.
They sent a delegate to the Grand Lodge at Leavenworth, Kansas, with a petition for a charter, which, with great difficulty and in the face of great opposition, was secured; and the delegate received the charter for Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 70, granted October 21, 1868. This lodge held its first meeting under the charter, November 9, 1868.
Reuben Howard Robertson, afterward Past Grand Master of Utah, came to Salt Lake City from Montana. While in Montana, lie assisted in the formation of Nevada Lodge, No. 4, and presided over it as Master. A glance at Salt Lake City convinced him that she had a bright future before her: he concluded to make it his home.
He was agreeably surprised to find a Masonic lodge in operation, and paid it a fraternal visit.
His far‑seeing eye soon discovered that another lodge could be easiiy built up. His knowledge of Masonry in all its branches soon gathered around him the sojourning Masons in this city and Camp Douglas, who passed resolutions to petition the. Grand Master of Montana for a dispensation to open Wasatch Lodge.
The petition being recommended by Mt. Moriah Lodge, U. D., the Grand Master of Montana issued a dispensation, October 22, 1866, to Wasatch Lodge, at Great Salt Lake City. The first meeting of the lodge was held Friday evening, November 30, 1866.
In September, 1867, Brother Robertson started for Montana, to be present at the second annual communication of the Grand Lodge. On his return he brought with him a charter for Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, dated October 7, 1867. Under this charter the lodge held its first meeting, November 4, 1867.
In 187o a change for the better took place in Utah.
The great Pacific Railroad had laid its last rail in October, 1869, near Promontory Point, and 418 Utah was in daily communication with the large and populous cities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Utah was no longer isolated. A fresh activity soon showed itself in the lodges of Salt Lake City; and the formation of a third lodge was talked of, the main point being to establish at an early day a Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Utah, and with it frustrate the notions of some men then high in power, to obtain dispensations and charters for Masonic lodges in Utah from foreign countries.
The Grand Master of Masons of Colorado, Most Worshipful Henry M. Teller, was in Salt Lake City in 1871, and he, being advised in the matter, promised a dispensation for a new lodge, if the proper application should be made. This being done, Grand Master Teller issued a letter of dispensation dated at the Grand East of Colorado, April 8, 1871, to open 11 Argenta Lodge," U. D., at Salt Lake City.
Under this dispensation Argenta Lodge held its first meeting, May q, 1871.
At the eleventh annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, a petition for a charter was received from Argenta Lodge. The petition was granted, and the charter to Argenta Lodge, No. 21, issued on the 26th day of September, 1871.
The first meeting of the lodge under this charter was held November 7, 1871.
According to previous agreement, the Masters and Wardens of the Masonic lodges of Salt Lake City met in convention, January 16, 1872, at Masonic hall, for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Utah. The following lodges were represented: Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, Salt Lake City, chartered by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Montana, on the 7th day of October, 1867 ; Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 70, Salt Lake City, chartered by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Kansas, on the 21st day of October, 1868; Argenta Lodge, No. 21, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, chartered by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Colorado, on the 26th day of September, 1871 A lodge of Master Masons was opened in due form.
The lodge then proceeded to elect officers for the Grand Lodge, and Brother O. F. Strickland was elected Grand Master, and the other Grand Officers were duly elected and installed, on January 17, 1872.
The Grand Marshal then proclaimed the Grand Lodge of Utah duly organized and its officers installed for the ensuing year in due form, after which a constitution was adopted and new charters issued.
A circulating library was established under the auspices of the Granfl Lodge of Utah, shortly after its organization, and which has been successfully maintained for more than seventeen years, and now has nearly 1o,ooo volumes. This has grown up under the special fostering care of Brother Christopher Diehl, the Grand Secretary, who has taken it specially in his charge. ‑ E. A. S.
Wyoming. ‑ Wyoming, an Indian name, signifying 11 Large Plains," was COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
419 created a Territory by act of Congress, July 25, 1868.
About that time a dispensation was granted by the Grand Lodge of Colorado for a lodge at Cheyenne; and a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Colorado for Cheyenne Lodge, No. 16, October 7, 1868.
The Grand Master of Nebraska on November 20, 1869, granted (as recommended by Wasatch Lodge, No. 8, Utah), a dispensation to establish a lodge at South Pass City, Wyoming Territory, to be known as Wyoming Lodge; and the Grand Lodge of Nebraska granted a charter to Wyoming Lodge, No. 28, on the the aid day of June, 1870.
Upon the recommendation of Cheyenne Lodge, No. 16, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, on the 31st day of January, 1870, issued a dispensation for a lodge at Laramie City, Wyoming, to be called Laramie Lodge, and on September 28, 1870, the Grand Lodge of Colorado granted a charter to Laramie Lodge, No. 18. Also, upon the recommendation of Laramie Lodge, No. 18, the Grand Master granted a dispensation to the brethren at Evanston, Wyoming Territory, to form Evanston Lodge at that place; and, on October 1, 1872, the Grand Lodge of Colorado continued the dispensation for another year. A charter was granted this lodge on September 30, 1874, as Evanston Lodge, No. 24.
These were all of the chartered lodges of Free and Accepted Masons in Wyoming Territory on December r5, 1874, at which date, in accordance with a published call, delegates therefrom met at Laramie City for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of Wyoming. Upon consultation it was resolved that it was " Highly expedient to organize a Grand Lodge for this Territory." A lodge of Master Masons was then duly opened, and the Grand Officers were elected, Edgar P. Snow being Grand Master.
December 16, 1874, a constitution was adopted; and by resolution the subordinate lodges were re‑numbered as follows: Cheyenne Lodge, No. 1, at Cheyenne; Wyoming Lodge, No. 2, at South Pass City; Laramie Lodge, No. 3, at Laramie City; Evanston Lodge, No. 4, at Evanston.
October 12, 1875, the fee for a dispensation for a lodge was fixed at $40; and for a charter $5o additional.
The minimum fee for the three degrees was $3o, and afterward changed to $5o.
At this session of the Grand Lodge the " Webb‑Preston work " was adopted as the work of the Grand Lodge of Wyoming.
October io, 1876, the Grand Master reported having granted a dispensation to form Rawlins Lodge, at Rawlins, Carbon County, the petition for which had been signed by twenty‑three Master Masons, and recommended by Laramie Lodge, No. 3.
On the 9th day of October, 1877, it was ordered that a Grand Lodge library be established; and the Grand Secretary was designated as librarian, ex officio.
Rawlins, in Carbon County, was selected as the place for holding 420 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
the annual communication of 1878, and I have no doubt but that a charter was granted to Rawlins Lodge, as No. 5, but I fail to find a record of any action having been taken upon that matter at this communication of the Grand Lodge.
At Rawlins, October 8, 1878, Past Grand Master Edgar P. Snow read a communication from Asa L. Brown, a Past Grand Master of Washington Territory, from which I will make a few extracts, which will show that a Masonic lodge was opened in the Territory of Wyoming several years before the one established at Cheyenne, in 1868.
The communication states that " On July 4, 1862, several trains of emigrants laid over at Independence Rock, which, I believe, is embraced within the geographical limits of your Territory. We had just concluded our arrangement for a celebration on the rock, when Captain Kennedy's train from Oskaloosa, Iowa, came in, bringing the body of a man who had been accidentally shot and killed that morning.
Of course we all turned out to the burial, deferring our celebration until 4 P.M., at which time we were visited by one of those short, severe storms, peculiar to that locality, which, in the language of some of the boys, 'busted the celebration.'
But some of us determined on having some sort of recognition, as well as remembrance of the day and place, and so about the time when the' sun sets in the west to close the day,' about twenty, who could mutually vouch, and, so to speak, intervouch for each other, wended their way to the summit of the rock, and soon discovered a recess, or rather depression, in the rock, the form and situation of which seemed prepared by nature for our special use.
"An altar of twelve stones was improvised, to which a more thoughtful or patriotic brother added the thirteenth, as emblematical of the original Colonies, and being elected to the East by acclamation, I was duly installed, i.e., led to the Oriental granitic seat.
The several stations and places were filled, and the Tyler, a venerable brother, with flowing hair and beard of almost snowy whiteness, took his place without the Western Gate, on a little pinnacle which gave him a perfect command of view over the entire summit of the rock, so he could easily guard us against the approach of all, either 'ascending or descending.' I then informally opened ' Independence Lodge, No. 1,' on the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, when several of the brethren made short, appropriate addresses, and our venerable Tyler gave us reminiscences of his Masonic history, extending from 1821 to 1862.
It was a meeting which is no doubt remembered by all the participants who are yet living, and some of those who there became acquainted have kept up fraternal intercourse ever since." The square and compass, made from a paper‑box cover, and the Holy Bible used upon this occasion, were appropriately presented to the Grand Lodge of Wyoming, October 8, 1878, to be laid up among their "archives." Seventy‑five dollars was appropriated from the funds of the Grand Lodge for the benefit of the Masonic library.
On July 26, 1882, a special communication of the Grand Lodge was called for the purpose of laying the corner‑stone of the Morris Presbyterian church, at Rawlins.
On June 30, 1883, upon the recommendation of Evanston Lodge, No. 4, the Grand Master granted a dispensation for the formation of a new lodge at Green River, to be known as Mt. Moriah Lodge.
At the annual communication, October 9th, the dispensation to Mt. Moriah Lodge, at Green River, was continued another year.
On October 14, 1884, a charter was granted to Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 6, at Green River.
E. F. Cheney was elected Most Worshipful Grand Master, THE AMERICAN RITE.
421 J. H. Goddard Deputy Grand Master, and the Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary were reelected.
The place for holding the annual communications of the Grand Lodge of Wyoming was permanently located at the city of Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming Territory, and the time changed to the first Tuesday in December in each year.
On November 8, i88r, a dispensation was granted, recommended by Rawlins Lodge, No. 5, to form "Anchor Lodge" at Buffalo, Johnson County, Wyoming. December, 1885, $loo was sent to the Masonic Relief Committee at Galveston, Texas, and the Grand Officers were duly installed. The dispensation to Anchor Lodge, at Buffalo, Johnston County, was continued in December, 1885, and a charter granted, December 7, 1886, as Anchor Lodge, No. 7 A dispensation was granted, May, 1886, to form a lodge at Sheridan, to be called Sheridan Lodge. It was chartered as Sheridan Lodge, No. 8, December 7, 1886.
On September 25, 1886, a dispensation was granted to Sundance Lodge, at Sundance, Crook County; and on December 6, 1887, a charter was granted for the same, as Sundance Lodge, No. 9.
A dispensation was granted on March 7, 1887, to Ashler Lodge, at Douglas, Albany County, and a charter was granted to Ashler Lodge, No. io, December 6, 1887.
On October 21, 1887, a dispensation was granted to Acacia Lodge, at Cheyenne, and on December 4, 1888, it was chartered as Acacia Lodge, No. 11. A dispensation was granted, June 1, 1889, on the recommendation of Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 6, to Rock Springs Lodge, at Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
On July 19, 1886, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the Union Pacific Railroad depot at Cheyenne. On September 14, 1886, they laid, with appropriate ceremonies, the corner‑stone of the Episcopal church at Cheyenne, and on September 23, 1886, laid the corner‑stone of the University building at Laramie City.
A Masonic hall was erected at Cheyenne, in 1878.
All of the lodges instituted in the jurisdiction have continuously been working lodges under the Anderson Constitutions.
The Grand Lodge has not a large amount of surplus funds, nor any " homes " or " asylums " to support, but grants its charities to the needy, liberally, when called upon.
Neither the Grand Lodge nor any of its subordinates have been incorporated. Nothing has occurred since the organization of the Grand Lodge of Wyoming, either from within or from without, to disturb that peace and harmony which should ever reign within a body of Free and Accepted Masons.‑ C. E. G.
Arizona. ‑ The first lodge of Masons in Arizona was established at Prescott, the capital of the Territory, udder dispensation, by the Grand Master of 422 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
California, to which a charter was granted on October 11; 1886, as Aztlan Lodge, No. rqq.
A convention of Free and Accepted Masons, delegated by several lodges in the Territory of Arizona, assembled in the Masonic hall, in the city of Tucson, Territory of Arizona, on the 23d day of March, 1882, for the purpose of considering the propriety of establishipg a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for said Territory, when it was "Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to examine the credentials of delegates from the several lodges in the Territory to this convention, and to ascertain, if possible, the authority in them vested to organize and constitute a Grand Lodge." The following lodges were represented : Arizona Lodge, No. 257, Phmnix; Tucson Lodge, No. 263, Tucson; White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, of Globe City ; Solomon Lodge, U. D., Tombstone ; [Aztlan Lodge, No. 177, of Prescott, the oldest in the Territory, was not represented.] The committee reported : ‑ "The charter of Arizona Lodge, No. 257, in Phoenix, bears date the 16th day of October, A.L. 5879, and has affixed the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of California, and was opened in Phoenix during that year.
"The charter of Tucson Lodge, No. 263, of Tucson, bears date the 15th day of October, A.L. 5881, and has affixed the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of California. It was opened in Tucson on the 31st day of October, 1881.
"The charter of White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, in Globe City, in the county of Pinal, bears date the 18th day of January, A.D. 1881, A.L. 5881, and has affixed the seal of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico.
It was opened in Globe City on the 22d day of February, A.L. 5881.
"The dispensation of Solomon Lodge bears the seal of the Grand Lodge of the State of Cali fornia, and was dated June q, 1881. This dispensation authorizes the opening of a lodge in Tombstone, under the name of Solomon Lodge, and it was continued to October 1, 1882, the petition for a charter having been denied." After the adoption of a constitution, the following was adopted : ‑ " Resolved, That a lodge of Master Masons be opened for the purpose of organizing and opening, in Masonic form, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Territory of Arizona." Officers were appointed to fill the stations and places, and a lodge of Master Masons was opened in ancient Masonic form, March 24, 1882. Brother Ansel Mellen Bragg was elected Most Worshipful Grand Master, and the other Grand Officers were also elected and installed.
The Master Mason's lodge was then closed in ancient Masonic form; and the convention, having completed the business for which it had assembled, adjourned sine die, after which the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Territory of Arizona was opened in ample form, with music by the choir and prayer by the Grand Chaplain, in the Masonic hall, at one o'clock P.m., March 25, 1882.
The following was adopted: ‑ " Resolved, The Grand Lodge claimed as the boundaries of its jurisdiction the whole of the Territory of Arizona." THE AMERICAN RITE.
423 On the 6th day of June following, a petition for a charter was received from the Master and Wardens of Aztlan Lodge, No. 177, under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of California, located at Prescott, Arizona Territory, praying that a charter be granted them as Aztlan Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons of Arizona, which on the 14th of the same month was granted in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Grand Lodge of Arizona at its first communication, and it received the proper indorsement upon its charter. The lodges were duly numbered in accordance with their Masonic age at that date, as follows : Aztlan Lodge, No. i, at Prescott, Yavapai County; Arizona Lodge, No. z, at Phoenix, Maricopa County; White Mountain Lodge, No. 3, at Globe City, Gila County; Tucson Lodge, No. 4, at Tucson, Pima County; and King Solomon's Lodge, No. 5, at Tombstone, Cochise County. There have been three lodges since created, viz. : Chalcedony Lodge, No. 6, at Holbrook, Apache County; Flagstaff Lodge, No. 7, at Flagstaff, Yavapai County; and Coronado Lodge, No. 8, at Cliftor., Graham County.
The records of the Grand Lodge of Arizona will compare most favorably with those of even the oldest Grand Lodges of the United States, which have existed and prospered under more favorable conditions. Unlike other Grand Lodges, no mileage has been allowed or per them paid to the representatives in the Grand Lodge of Arizona, for in one sense in some instances it would have been " blood money " indeed.
At immense expense, and risk of being massacred by the ever‑hostile Apache Indians, lurking behind rocks and bushes, or nearly like a snake, half buried in sand, ready to strike at the unfortunate traveller, these brethren have traversed the deserts under burning sun as hot as Africa, for no other purpose but to attend the Grand Lodge and to transact business for the benefit of the Craft ; to replenish the charity fund, and provide for the widows and orphans who have been made such at the hands of the cruel and murderous Apaches. Words are inadequate to do those brave, self‑sacrificing, intrepid, and heroic brethren justice. ‑ E. A. S.
Colorado. ‑ Embracing within its limits the " backbone " of the continent, Colorado has some of the most picturesque and majestic scenic views to be obtained in the world. With its Castle, Long's, and Pike's Peaks, its Mount Lincoln, and the Mountain of the Holy Cross, crowned with perpetual snow, its elevated plateaus or "parks," its celebrated mineral springs, and its fertile valleys, it possesses a variety of climate, soil, and surroundings that ought to satisfy the most fastidious and exacting.
After the discovery of gold in the Territory, immigration rapidly increased, and in 1858 a settlement was made where Denver now stands; and, before October 1, 1859, a dispensation was granted, by the Grand Master of Kansas, for a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the town of Auraria (afterward Denver), Colorado. This dispensation was committed to the care of R.‑.W.‑. D. P. Wallingford, Past Deputy Grand Master of Missouri, to institute the 424 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
lodge and set the brethren at work.
On October 17, 186o, the Grand Lodge continued this dispensation for another year, and on October 15, 1861, granted them a charter as Auraria Lodge, No. 37.
This was after the formation of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, of which it is presumed the Grand Lodge of Kansas had not been informed.
On October 16, 186o, the Grand Master of Kansas reported that he had granted dispensations to organize Denver Lodge, at Denver City, in the gold regions, and to Golden City Lodge, at Golden City; that the brethren at Denver had returned their dispensation, as that lodge and " Auraria " were situated so near together that the interest of the Fraternity could be fully served by the older lodge.
A charter was granted on October 16, 186o, to Golden City Lodge, No. 34, Golden City, Colorado. On June 5, 1861, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska granted a charter to Summit Lodge, No. 7, at Parkville, Colorado; and on the same day, a charter to Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 8, at Gold Hill, Colorado. It does not appear that any dispensation was granted either of these lodges.
October 15, 1861, the Grand Master of Kansas reported that he had granted a dispensation to the brethren at Nevada City, Colorado, for a lodge at that place, to be called Nevada Lodge; and on October 15, 1861, the Grand Lodge granted a charter to Nevada Lodge, No. 36, at Nevada City, Colorado Territory. The representatives of the three chartered lodges of Colorado met in convention at Golden City, on August 2, 1861, and a lodge of Master Masons duly opened. A committee on credentials and charters was appointed, who reported the following lodges represented: Golden City Lodge, No. 34; Summit Lodge, No. 7, Parkville ; Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 8, Gold Hill.
It was resolved to form a Grand Lodge.
Grand Officers were accordingly elected and installed, J. M. Chivington, Gold Hill, being elected Grand Master. Constitution, by‑laws, and rules were adopted, and charters were granted to the lodges, and numbered as follows: Golden City, No. 1 ; Sum mit, No. 2 ; and Rocky Mountain, No. 3.
The Grand Master, on September 1q, 1861, granted a dispensation to a lodge at Central City, to be called Chivington Lodge.
On October 24, 1861, however, the Grand Lodge of Kansas granted to the members of Auraria Lodge, U. D., a dispensation to form and open a lodge at Denver City, to be called Denver Lodge.
At the first annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, charters were granted, December 11, 1861 : to Nevada Lodge, No. 4, at ' Nevada City; Denver Lodge, No. 5, at Denver City; and Chivington Lodge, No. 6, at Central City.
The fee for a dispensation to form a new lodge was fixed at $25, and $3.0 additional for a charter. The by‑laws of the Grand Lodge required each subordinate lodge to pay the Grand Lodge $5 for each initiation, and X1.50 THE AMERICAN RITE.
425 for each member, except those initiated during the year.
The minimum fee for the three degrees was fixed at 830, to be paid in advance.
November 3, 1862, the Secretary of Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 3, reported that all the brethren of that lodge had left for other localities, and the Grand Lodge ordered the charter and property of the lodge returned. A charter was granted, November 3, 1863, to Union Lodge, No. 7, at Denver City. November 7, 1864, the establishing of a Masonic library was approved, and the donation (8105) given to the Fraternity by Brother John G. Brandley, of Company C, 1st Colorado Cavalry, who was mortally wounded the previous sumuier in a fight with the Indians, was set apart for that object. Dispensations for a lodge at Empire City, Clear Creek County, Colorado, and another at Helena, Adgerton County, Montana, were reported as having been issued by the Grand Master.
The Deputy Grand Master reported that, in the absence of the Grand Master from the jurisdiction, he granted on April 4, 1865, a dispensation to a lodge at Virginia City, Montana, to be called Montana Lodge; the petition was recommended by Virginia City Lodge, No. 43, and also Union Lodge, No. 7. The Grand Secretary reported that Summit Lodge, No. 2, had surrendered its charter and effects to the Grand Lodge. A charter was granted Empire Lodgc, No. 8, November 6, 1865.
Charters were granted, November 7, 1865, to Montana Lodge, No. 9, and Helena City Lodge, No. i o.
On January 27, 1866, the Grand Master issued a dispensation to El Paso Lodge at Colorado City, and on February 15, 1866, Black Hawk Lodge, at Black Hawk, Colorado.
A charter was granted this lodge, October 1, 1866, as Black Hawk Lodge, No. 1 r ; and the dispensation to El Paso Lodge was continued.
( December, 1866, a dispensation was granted to a lodge at Columbia City. At the communication of the Grand Lodge, October 7, 1867, a petition was received from fourteen brethren at Georgetown for a charter for a lodge; and a charter was granted to Washington Lodge, No. 12, at Georgetown. The Grand Secretary reported that, a Grand Lodge having been formed in Montana, the charters of Montana, No. 9, and Helena Lodge, No. 1o, had been returned to him.
On October 8, 1867, charters were granted El Paso Lodge, No. 13, and Columbia Lodge, No. 14.
November 8, 1867, dispensations were granted for a lodge at Canon City; on June 27, 1868, for a lodge at Valmont.
The Deputy Grand Master, during the absence of the Grand Master, in the early part of 1868, granted a dispensation to the brethren at Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, to open a lodge ; also a 'dispensation to the brethren of Pueblo and vicinity; also to the brethren at Denver, to open a new.lodge, to be called Germania Lodge.
On October 7, 1868, the location of Columbia Lodge, No. r4, was changed. from Columbia City to Boulder City, and the name of Chivington Lodge, No. 6, was changed to Central Lodge, No. 6. Charters were granted to Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 15, at Canon City; to Cheyenne Lodge, No. 16, at 426 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Cheyenne, Dakota Territory; and to Pueblo Lodge, No. 17, at Pueblo, Colorado. On January 31, 1870, the Grand Master issued a dispensation for Laramie Lodge, at Laramie City, Wyoming Territory, and on May q, 1870, to Fidelity Lodge, at Fort Collins, Colorado. On September 28, 1870, charters were granted Laramie Lodge, No. 18, at Laramie City, and to Collins Lodge (instead of Fidelity), No. 1q.
On November 29, 1870, a dispensation was granted to open a lodge at Greeley, to be called Occidental Lodge.
On April 8, 1871, a dispensation was granted to the brethren at Salt Lake City to form a lodge, to be known as Argenta Lodge.
A charter was granted, September 26, 1871, to Occidental Lodge, No. 2o, at Greeley, Colorado, and also to Argenta Lodge, No. 21, at Salt Lake City.
In March, 1872, a dispensation was granted to form a lodge at Littleton, Arapahoe County; and, on June 22, 1872, to the brethren residing at Longmont, Boulder County. On September 24, 1872, the Grand Lodge granted a charter to Weston Lodge, No. 22, at Littleton, and to St. Vrain Lodge, No. 23, at Longmont; and a dispensation was issued to the brethren at Colorado Springs, to form Ashlar Lodge, to have concurrent jurisdiction with El Paso Lodge, No. 15, at Colorado City.
Grand Master Teller, on September 8, 1873, granted a dispensation to form a lodge at Evanston, Wyoming Territory. The dispensation to Ashlar Lodge was returned, by order of the Most Worshipful Grand Master.
El Paso Lodge, No. 13, was by edict of the Grand Lodge removed from Colorado City to Colorado Springs. On January io, 1874, a dispensation was issued to organize Doric Lodge, at Fairplay, Park County, Colorado; also, on July 14, 1874, to organize Idaho Springs Lodge, U. D., at Idaho Springs; and, on August 27, 1874, to organize Huerfano Lodge, U. D., at Walsenburg, Huerfano County, Colorado.
On September 30, 1874, charters were granted to Evanston Lodge, No. 24, and to Doric Lodge, No. 25.
The. dispensations to Idaho Springs Lodge and Huerfano Lodge were continued another year. On March 15, 1875, a dispensation was granted to organize Las Animas Lodge, U. D., at Trinidad, Las Animas County.
On September 20, 1875, the Grand Lodge laid the corner‑stone of the Territorial University in due form, at Boulder.
On September 22, 1875, charters were granted to Idaho Springs Lodge, No. 26, to Huerfano Lodge, No. 27, and Las Animas Lodge, No. 28. Dispensations were issued, September 24, 1875, to form Del Norte Lodge, at Del Norte ; February 7, 1876, to form King Solomon Lodge, at West Las Animas; March 15, 1876, to form Olive Branch Lodge, at Saguache (another dispensation was granted Olive Branch Lodge, March io, 1877) ; and on March 17, 1876, to form South Pueblo Lodge, at South Pueblo.
The Grand Lodge appointed a committee of three, to procure a suitable granite slab, four feet long and two feet square, of Colorado rock, and place upon‑ its polished face this inscription: "From Grand Lodge of Masons of Colorado, the Centennial State, A.D. 1876," and when completed, to ship the THE AMERICAN RITE.
429 same to the "Washington National Monument Society," Washington, District of Columbia.
The Grand Lodge also appropriated $500, to aid in completing this monument.
Charters were granted, September 20, 1876: to Del Norte Lodge, No. 29; to King Solomon Lodge, No. 3o, at West Las Animas; and to South Pueblo Lodge, No. 31.
A charter was granted Olive Branch Lodge, No. 32, September 18, 1877.
As Colorado is no longer a Territory, but a free and independent State, admitted into the Federal Union as the thirty‑eighth State, on the 2d day of August, 1876, a |` Centennial State," we feel that she is safe, and that the history of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the "State" of Colorado will be one of harmony, progress, and noble achievements.
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Colorado has laid the corner‑stones of public buildings, as follows : ‑ June 24, 1872........................ Public School Building, at Denver. June 24, 1874........................ Building, Public Water Works, Pueblo. Sept. 20, x875......................... Territorial University, Boulder.
Dec.
9, x875........................ Ladies' Relief Society Building, Denver. June 22, x877........................ Jefferson County Court‑House, Golden. July
27, x878........................ State Agricultural College, Fort Collins. Aug. 11, 1880........................ Lake County Court‑House, Leadville. Sept. 21, 188o........................ Episcopal Cathedral, Denver.
Oct.
9, x88o........................ Public School Building, Lake City. June 24, 1881........................ Arapahoe County Court‑House, Denver. Nov. 12, x881........................ City Hall, Denver.
April 15, 1882........................ Chaffee County Court‑House, Buena Vista. Nov.
2, 1882........................ Episcopal Church, Fort Collins.
Aug.
7, x883........................ Weld County Court‑House, Greeley.
Nov.
3, 1883........................ Masonic Temple, Longmont.
Aug. 11, 1884........................ Rio Grande County Court‑House, Del Norte. Aug. 10, 1885........................ San Miguel County Court‑House, Telluride. Sept. 23, x885........................ Public School Building, Idaho Springs. May 17, x886........................ Longmont College, Longmont.
Oct.
16, x886........................ Presbyterian Academy, Salida.
June 14, x887........................ Methodist College Building, South Pueblo. June 2o, x887........................ Court‑House and City Hall, Las Animas. July
13, x887........................ Haish Manual Training School, Denver. Aug. 11, 1887........................ Larimer County Court‑House, Fort Collins. Sept. 14, x887........................ Masonic Temple, Alamosa.
Aug. 22, x888........................ Ouray County Court‑House, Ouray. April
8, 1889........................ Masonic Temple, Denver.
.... .................... Hebrew Temple, Trinidad.
The Masonic Temple at Denver, the corner‑stone of which was appropriately laid April 8, 1889, was completed in June, r89o, at a cost of over $300,000 ; and was dedicated on July 3, 189o, in 1| due and ancient " form. The accompanying illustration is a striking object‑lesson of the growth of the Craft in this the Empire State of the "Far West." Of the three lodges which organized the Grand Lodge of Colorado, Golden City Lodge, No. r, is the only one now in existence, Summit Lodge, at Parkville, and Rocky Mountain Lodge, at Gold Hill, having become extinct.
Twenty‑five per cent of the revenue of the Grand Lodge is set apart 430 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
annually, with the view of founding a " Masonic Home."
As yet, they have no organized Masonic charity, and the revenue of the Grand Lodge has been regulated by fixing the dues from subordinate lodges, so that there has been very little accumulation of funds over and above the current expenses of the Grand Lodge. ‑ C. E. G.
New Mexico.‑This Territory was explored by the Spaniards as early as 1537, who opened mines, established missions, and made some progress in civilizing the natives. General Kearney captured Santa F6, its capital, in 1846 ; aad at the close of the war, in 1848, it was ceded to the United States, and erected into a Territory in 185o.
Not later than this, the brethren in the vicinity of Santa F6 must have petitioned for a dispensation to form and open' a lodge at that place ; for, on May 8, 1851, a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, to form and open Montezuma Lodge, No. io9, at Santa F8.
Bent Lodge, No. 204, at Taos, was chartered, June i, 186o, and surrendered its charter in 1865. There is no record of the time that a dispensation was granted for Chapman Lodge at Las Vegas; but in the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, in 1863, we find that it held a communication, May 29, 186z, and as there appeared some irregularities in the work done, a charter was not granted at that session of the Grand Lodge.
At the session in 1864,. other irregularities appearing in the work of Chapman Lodge, U. D., the Grand Secretary was instructed to strike the name of Chapman Lodge, U. D., from the rolls of this Grand Lodge.
On May 25, 1865, it was ordered that the dispensation to Chapman Lodge, U. D., at Fort Union be returned to the District Deputy Grand Master for that district, with instructions to set the Craft at work, as soon as the Master and Wardens were qualified to discharge their several duties.
A charter was granted, June 1, 1866, as Chapman Lodge, No. 95, which was the number of Acacia Lodge, at Cape Girardeau, in 1848, and which ceased during the war in 1861‑65.
Aztec Lodge, at Las Cruses, was granted a dispensation by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, June 4, 1866; and on October i9, 1867, a charter was granted, as Aztec Lodge, No. 1o8, giving them the number formerly given to New Madrid Lodge, at New Madrid, Missouri, which was chartered in 1849, and ceased during the war.
The Grand Lodge of Missouri also granted the following charters: On October 12, 1869, to Kit Carson Lodge, No. 326, at Elizabethtown, New Mexico (the charter was arrested in 1878, by the Grand Master) ; to Cimarron Lodge, No. 348, at Cimarron, October 14, 1875, which was surrendered in 1878: a dispensation to Silver City Lodge, at Silver City, May 1, 1873 ; and, on October 16, 1873, it was chartered as Silver City Lodge, No. 465: on May 30, 1874, a dispensation to form and open Union Lodge, at Fort Union; this lodge was granted a charter as Union Lodge, No. 48o, at Fort Union (Tiptonville), October 15, 1874.
Pursuant to call, a convention of delegates from several lodges in the THE AMERICAN RITE.
431 Territory of New Mexico, met at the hall of Montezuma Lodge, in Santa Fts, on August 6, 1877, for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge for the Territory of New Mexico, when the following lodges were represented: Aztec Lodge, No. 1o8; Chapman Lodge, No. 95 ; Montezuma Lodge, No. 1o9. A committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by‑laws for the government of the Grand Lodge, who submitted a draft of same, which was adopted. August 7, 1877, the convention elected the officers of the Grand Lodge for the ensuing term, with William AV. Griffin as Grand Master.
In the evening Brother John H. Thomson, Past Master of Golden Square Lodge, No. 107, of Missouri, appointed Samuel B. Axtell, Master of Ceremonies, who presented William AV. Griffin, Grand Master‑elect, for installation, who was duly installed. The Grand Master then proceeded to install the elected and appointed officers, after which the Grand Lodge of New Mexico was opened in ample form, and declared duly organized.
On the following day a committee was appointed to prepare an address to the various lodges in New Mexico not represented, inviting and requesting them to recognize and come under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge. The lodges here represented were re‑numbered, the oldest lodge being No. 1, the next oldest, No. z, and so on.
In the evening, after a four hours' discussion upon the adoption of the work of the Grand Lodge, they were called to refreshment " till to‑morrow at 3 P.m.," when the discussion upon the work was resumed, the work approved and adopted. At 7.30 P.M., August 9th, the Grand Lodge was again called to labor, and at the request of Montezuma Lodge, No. 1, Frederick F. Whitehead, a Fellow Craft of that lodge, was introduced, and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in ample form.
On the following evening, Max Frost, a Fellow Craft of Montezuma Lodge, was introduced, and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in ample form; and the Grand Lodge was closed.
The constitution and by‑laws adopted at this time fixed the fee for a dispensation to form and open a lodge at ,$3o, and for a charter $20 more; and the fee for the three degrees of Masonry was ,$50.
The first annual communication of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of New Mexico convened at the Masonic hall in the city of Santa F6, on Monday, January 6, 1879, Most Worshipful William W. Griffin, G.‑. M.‑., presiding; and the Grand Lodge was opened in ample form.
The Grand Master, at the opening of his address, announced the death of George W. Stebbins, G. J. W., who died at his home in Las Vegas, April 17, 1878, aged forty‑four years.
In alluding to the recognition that had been accorded to the Grand Lodge of New Mexico by the sister Grand Lodges, Grand Master Griffin said: " While we most highly appreciate the recognition that has been extended to us by the eighteen 432 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
sister Grand Lodges mentioned, that of our mother, Missouri, has been, in some respects, the most gratifying and encouraging. She is the mother of every lodge in New Mexico; and at her communication, held two months after her children in this distant land of the ancient Montezumas had, after long and mature deliberation, determined to assume the responsibilities and cares of independent existence, she, with words of great maternal affection, took her daughter of New Mexico by the hand, and honored her by an introduction to the world." On July 5, 188o, a dispensation was granted to White Mountain Lodge, at Globe City, Arizona; also on the 11th day of November, r 88o, one to a new lodge at Albuquerque, New Mexico, to be called Temple Lodge. On April 22, r88o, an edict was issued, arresting the charter of Silver City Lodge, No. 465.
This edict was published in the local papers in Silver City.
In reply thereto, the Worshipful Master of Silver City Lodge, No. 465, published a few days after, in the Grant County Herald, at Silver City, a very vindictive and un‑Masonic article.
On January 18th charters were granted to White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, at Globe City, Arizona, and to Temple Lodge, No. 6, at Albuquerque, New Mexico. All Masonic intercourse between Masons of this jurisdiction and that of the Grand Lodge of Missouri was interdicted and forbidden; and Masters of lodges were required to have the resolutions read in open lodges, and also posted in the ante‑rooms of their lodges.
On January 2T, 1881, the Grand Lodge constituted Temple Lodge, No. 6, at Albuquerque, and installed its officers. On February 22, r88r, the hall of White Mountain Lodge, No. 5, at Globe City,. Arizona, was dedicated and its officers installed.
On March 3, 1881, the new hall of Temple Lodge, No. 6, at Albuquerque, was dedicated and consecrated to Freemasonry and to Masonic uses and purposes.
On October 6, 1881, the Grand Lodge laid the cornerstone of a Masonic hall at New Albuquerque.
On December 1q, 1881, Grand Master Newcomb delivered his annual address, giving a full account of the proclamation, edicts, and correspondence relating to Silver City Lodge, No. 465 ; and the Grand Lodge of Missouri expressed the earnest hope that such action would be taken as would restore fraternal relations and intercourse with the mother Grand Lodge, and harmony in its own jurisdiction. He reported that, on August 8, 1881, a dispensation was granted to form Alpha Lodge, at Silver City. A charter was granted Alpha Lodge, No. 7, at Silver City, and the special committee on the Grand Master's address submitted their report, with preamble and resolutions, which harmonized the differences, and healed the breach that had existed between the Grand Lodge of Missouri and Silver City Lodge, No. 465, and the Grand Lodge of New Mexico.
The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and peace and harmony were restored.
On March 20, 1882, a charter was issued (in pursuance of a resolution adopted by the Grand Lodge at its last annual communication), to Silver City Lodge, No. 8, who forwarded their last charter as Silver City Lodge, No. 465, of Missouri, to the Grand Secretary, who transmitted the same THE AMERICAN RITE.
433 by mail to the Grand Secretary of Missouri, the receipt of which was duly acknowledged.
In 1882 the Grand Master reported having refused the request to lay, with appropriate Masonic ceremonies, the corner‑stone of an Episcopal church, and of a female seminary, on account of having grave doubts whether, literally, they would be classed as "public edifices." The Grand Secretary reported that on January 11, 1882, the hall of Alpha Lodge, No. 7, at Silver City, was consecrated and dedicated ; also, on January 19, 1882, a like service was performed for Temple Lodge, No. 6, at Albuquerque.
A dispensation was granted, March 25, 1882, to form and open Socorro Lodge, at Socorro; on July io, 1882, for Mimbres Lodge at Georgetown, in Grant County. On December 20, 1882, charters were granted to Socorro Lodge, No. 9, and to Mimbres Lodge, No. io.
A dispensation was issued, January 1o, 1883, to form and open Gate City Lodge at Raton ; and on September 25, 1883, to form Deming Lodge at Deming. The charter of Alpha Lodge, No 7, at Silver City was surrendered on May 19, 1883.
On December 12, 1883, charters were granted to Gate City Lodge, No. 11, at Raton, and to Deming Lodge, No. 12, at Deming. On March 18, 1885, a dispensation was issued to Hiram Lodge at San Marcial ; and a charter was granted on November 11, 1885, to Hiram Lodge, No. 13, at San Marcial.
On May 21, 1887, in company with the Grand Lecturer, the Grand Master proceeded to the town of Chloride in Sierra County, and organized Western Star Lodge, U. D.
On August 16, 1887, a dispensation was granted to open Animas Lodge at Farmington, in San Juan County.
On November 14, 1887, charters were granted to Western Star Lodge, No. 14, and Animas Lodge, No. 15.
Dispensations were granted for two new lodges : one at Kingston, Sierra County, and one at Chama, Rio Arriba County. On January 15, 1889, the Grand Lodge granted charters to Kingston Lodge, No. 16, and Chama Lodge, No. 17. ‑ C. E. G.
Hawaiian Islands. ‑ In the year 1843 a brother named Le Tellier, then commanding a French whale‑ship in the Pacific Ocean, was duly empowered by the Supreme Council of the 33|, of France, to institute Masonic lodges in places over which no other jurisdiction had previously been extended, granted a warrant to certain brethren to open a lodge at Honolulu under the name of "Le Progres de L' Oteanfe." For some years this lodge prospered, and added to its list of members the names of the best citizens of that place.
In the years 1850 or 1851 the sudden rush to the gold fields of California interfered with the progress of this lodge, resulting in the members leaving the Island; and the lodge was without members to work. The warrant lay neglected in the lodge chest, and the lodge was considered extinct. This state of things continued for nearly two years, when, in 1852, a number of the 434 old members of the Lodge || Le Progres," together with a few other brethren recently arrived, asked for a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the State of California, which would give it control over these Islands.
On the 12th of January, 1852, the Grand Master of California received an application from thirteen brethren residing in Honolulu, asking for a dispensation to open a lodge at that place, which was accompanied by a letter from the Honorable Secretary of State of that government, a well‑known brother, which he granted. In May, 1852, the Grand Master recommended that a charter be granted them at that session. A charter was duly granted on the 8th day of May, as Hawaiian Lodge, No. 21.
This lodge has continued in active work to the present time, still under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California. Some three years after the charter had been granted to Hawaiian Lodge, several members withdrew from it, and revived the old " Le Tellier " warrant, under the old name of " Le Progres de L' Oceanie."
They did no work at first, but gave out that they had applied for a new charter from the French authority.
Subsequently they commenced work, and conferred degrees upon persons who would not have been admitted into Hawaiian Lodge. Then the question of the legality of " Le Progres "
Lodge arose, which resulted in Masonic non‑intercourse between the brethren of the two lodges.
Hawaiian Lodge appointed a committee to secure all the evidence on the subject necessary and present the same to the Grand Lodge of California, asking for instructions.
The latter body approved the action of Hawaiian Lodge, No. 21, and all Masonic intercourse and recognition was directed to be interdicted with " Le Progres de L' Oceanie " and its members, in May, 1856.
In 185 7 the Grand Lodge of California decided : ‑ "That whenever Hawaiian Lodge is satisfied that' Le Progres de L'Oceanie' is acting under 'lawful Masonic authority,' communication with it may be established; and they may satisfy themselves of this fact in whatever way to them may seem proper." This was done in 186o.
The Supreme Council of France recognizing the legitimacy of the charter of |` Le Progres de L' Oceanie " Lodge, and the fact that the original members had not dimitted therefrom, nor surrendered the charter when they ceased work and went over in a body to form "Hawaiian" Lodge with others organized under dispensation and subsequent charter from the Grand Lodge of California; and that those members in returning to renew their allegiance to the Supreme Council of France, from which they had not been released, had a legal and just right to resume labor under their old charter.
By this action peace and harmony were restored between these two lodges, which has continued to the present day.
On July lo, 1872, the Grand Master of California granted a dispensation to " Maui Lodge," to be located at Wailuku, on the Island of Maui, Hawaiian Islands.
This lodge was chartered, October 18, 1873, by the Grand Lodge of COSMOPOLITAN FREEf1.4SONRY.
THE AMERICAN RITE.
435 California, as Maui Lodge, No. 223. For the first three years it got along very well, but at last began to drag for the want of material to sustain it, and several of the brethren having left, the lodge finally surrendered its charter, and the remaining members sold the property and turned over the funds to the Grand Secretary, which amounted to $417. This was ordered by the Grand Lodge of California to be paid over to Hawaiian Lodge, No. 21, for its charity fund.
In 1886 Most Worshipful Edmund C. Atkinson, then Grand Master of California, paid an official visit to the Hawaiian Islands, accompanied by some of his officers and other distinguished Masons, where they were most hospitably received and royally entertained by King Kalakaua and Prince Dominis, both members of the Craft, as well as by the Fraternity in general. ‑ E. A. S.
Alaska. ‑ On April 14, 1868, Most Worshipful James Beles, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of (then) Washington Territory, granted a dispensation to Alaska Lodge, U. D., to be located at Sitka. At the session of the Grand Lodge of Washington held September 17, 1868, the dispensation was con tinued.
In September, 1869, Brother William H. Woods, Master of Alaska Lodge, U. D., was appointed Deputy Grand Master for Alaska.
October 18, 1872, the charter was revoked, and among its property turned over to the Grand Lodge at Washington was a school‑house, upper story and ante‑room, which was leased in 1869 for the term of ninety‑nine years, with power to sublet and rebuild in case of destruction by fire ; also a note signed Patrick Burns for $356.15, without interest, secured by mortgage on a lot with a building containing a whiskey‑saloon and restaurant.‑E. A. S.
Mexico. ‑When Freemasonry first was introduced into Mexico is unknown. There is some evidence that it secretly existed among the high officers of the Spanish troops and resident foreigners prior to the successful revolution for independence, in 182o; but it was of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite only. When the independence of Mexico was secured and its nationality established, in 1820, the Freemasons among the volunteers in the Mexican army dispersed without any organized bodies anywhere. The Scottish Rite, introduced through French channels by the diplomatic corps and foreign representatives, was mainly confined to Europeans and their descendants, as well as to the few Americans established in that Republic.
In 1825 Joel R. Poinsett, who was resident minister of the United States, caused a considerable number of the Mexican brethren to withdraw from the Scottish Rite and obtain authority from the Grand Lodge of New York for the establishment of three lodges of the " York Rite " in the city of Mexico.
In one year there were no less than twenty‑five lodges established, with at least one lodge in the capital of each state of the nation.
A Grand Lodge was established in the city of Mexico, and Jose Ignacio Esteva elected the first Grand Master. Contention soon arose between the bodies of the Scottish and those of the 1|York " rites, which finally resulted 436 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
in the formation of two political parties consisting of the || Ecossais " and 11 Yorkonas." For a period of over thirty years Masonry was practically dead in Mexico.
A spurious Supreme Council was in existence in the city of Mexico in 1859, established by spurious authority of the Foulhouze type, that had been spuriously constituted in Louisiana.
By authority of the Supreme Council of the 33| Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, Brother Laffon was sent to Mexico to heal and regularize Brother Manuel de la Concerdia and others; and on the 21St of December, 186o, he duly created, in accordance with the Constitution of 1786, the Supreme Council of Mexico and the States of Central America, being himself by those constitutions the first Grand Commander.
Central America. ‑Freemasonry was organized in this country by the constituting of the Supreme Council of the 33| of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for Central America, at the capital of Guatemala, by the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, May 27, 1870. Its jurisdiction embraced Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras.
DIVISION VIII.
THE FIRST GLIMPSES OF FREEMASONRY ,IN NORTH AMERICA.
BY SERENo D. NICKERSON, 33|, P.G.M., Recording Grand Secretary of Massachusetts.
CHAPTER VI.
EARLY AMERICAN MASONIC HISTORY.
THE earliest trace of the existence of Masons or Masonry on this continent, so far as we are now aware, is afforded by a letter now in the possession of the New England Historic‑Genealogical Society, written by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, the celebrated chemist and geologist. It is in the following words: ‑ " June 2d, 1856.
"DEAR SIR: When Francis Alger and myself made a mineralogical survey of Nova Scotia in 1827, we discovered, upon the shore of Goat Island, in Annapolis Basin, a grave‑stone, partly covered with sand and lying on the shore.
It bore the Masonic emblems, square and compass, and had the figures i6o6 cut in it.
The rock was a flat slab of trap rock, common in the vicinity. "At the ferry from Annapolis to Granville we saw a large rounded rock with this inscription I LA BELLE 1649.' "These inscriptions were undoubtedly intended to commemorate the place of burial of French soldiers, who came to Nova Scotia 'Annapolis Royal 1'Acadie' in 1603.
"Coins, buttons and other articles, originally belonging to these early French settlers, are found in the soil of Goat Island in Annapolis Basin.
"The slab, bearing date i6o6, I bad brought over by the ferryman to Annapolis, and ordered it to be packed up in a box, to be sent to the O. C. Pilgrim Socy [of Plymouth, Mass.] ; but judge Haliburton, then Thomas Haliburton, Esq., prevailed on me to abandon it to him, and he now has it carefully preserved. On a late visit to Nova Scotia, I found that the judge had forgotten how he came by it, and so I told him all about it.
"[Addressed] "J. W. THORNTON,
Yours truly, "Present,
C. T. JACKSON:' The letter is accompanied by a photograph of the stone, showing the square and compasses and the figures 16o6, rudely cut and much worn by time and weather, but still quite distinct.
439 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Thomas C. Haliburton, better known to Americans as "Sam Slick," was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1796.
He became Chief Justice of Common Pleas in 1829, and judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1840.
In 1842 he removed to England, became a Member of Parliament, and died in office in 1865.
In 1829 he published Accounts of Nova Scotia." the following account of the a volume, entitled 11 Historical and
Statistical In Vol. II. of that work, pp. 155‑157, he gives stones described by Dr. Jackson : ‑ "About six miles below the ferry is situated Goat Island, which separates the Annapolis Basin from that of Digby, and forms two entrances to the former; the western channel though narrow is deep, and generally preferred to others.
A small peninsula extending from the Granville shore forms one of its sides.
On this point of land the first piece of ground was cleared for cultivation in Nova Scotia, by the French.
They were induced to make this selection on account of the beauty of its situation, the good anchorage opposite to it, the command which it gave them of the channel, and the facility it afforded of giving the earliest notice to the garrison at Port Royal of the entrance of an enemy into the Lower Basin.
In the year 1827 the stone was discovered' upon which they had engraved the date of their first cultivation of the soil, in memorial of their formal possession of the country.
It is about two feet and a half long, and two feet broad, and of the same kind as that which forms the substratum of Granville Mountain.
On the upper part are engraved the square and compass of the Free Mason, and in the centre, in large and deep Arabic figures, the date r6o6.
It does not appear to have been dressed by a mason, but the inscription has been cut on its natural surface.
The stone itself has yielded to the power of the climate, and both the external front and the interior parts of the letters have alike suffered from exposure to the weather; the seams on the back part of it have opened, and from their capacity to hold water, and the operation of frost upon it when thus confined, it is probable in a few years it would have crumbled to pieces. The date is distinctly visible, and although the figure o is worn down to one‑half of its original depth, and the upper part of the latter 6 nearly as much, yet no part of them is obliterated; they are plainly discernible to the eye, and easily traced by the finger.
At a subsequent period, when the country was conquered by the English, some Scotch emigrants were sent out by Sir William Alexander, who erected a fort on the site of the French cornfields, previous to the treaty of St. Germain's.
The remains of this fort may be traced with great ease; the old parade, the embankment and ditch have not been disturbed, and preserve their original form. It was occupied by the French for many years after the peace of 1632, and, near the eastern parapet, a large stone has been found, with the following monumental inscription: ' LEBEL, 1643.'" found it; while judge Haliburton's It will be observed that Dr. Jackson assumes the stone, bearing the square and compasses and the date 1606, to have been "a grave‑stone"; but judge Haliburton describes it as the stone upon which the French "had engraved the date of their first cultivation of the soil, in memorial of their formal possession of the country." Dr. Jackson, however, described the stone from recollection only, nearly thirty years after he account was written on the spot, at the FIRST GLIBIPSES IN NORTH AMERICA.
4.41 very time of the discovery, and by one who had made a study of the locality and of the history of the inhabitants.
Certain it is that the stone bears a date very near the earliest named by any authority for the settlement of that region, so celebrated by historians and poets. Aside from the fact that it affords the earliest footprint of Masonry upon the continent, the locality has other claims upon the attention of the Fraternity.
Sir William Alexander, of Menstrie, received charters for the whole of Nova Scotia, in 1621‑1625‑1628, and settled a Scotch colony at Port Royal, which his people, under David Kirk, captured in 1628 from the French. The son, Sir William Alexander, Jr., was left in command of the Colony. He remained until the peace of 1632 compelled him to return the possession to France, whereupon this son returned with most of his settlers to England.
Lyon's " History of Freemasonry," p. 79, shows that this son, Sir William, known as " Lord Alexander," was, July 3, 1634, admitted a Fellow of the Craft in the Edinburgh Lodge, and gives his autograph as of such title.
He did not return to America after that date, but his connection increased. He and his father were both made members of the Great Council of Plymouth for the affairs of New England on the 29th January, 1634‑5, and were active members of it afterward. April 22, 1635, the Great Council set off to Lord Alexander, as his share in their lands, all the coast from the St. Croix River to Pemaquid, and up the Pemaquid River to its head, then across to the Kennebec . and up to its head, and northward to Canada Great River.
Thus it will be observed there was a " Scotch " 'Freemason, not only in the Great Council, but an active owner and grantee, through his agents, of lands in these regions near us, in the early period of our history.
Also, he was one of the earliest gentlemen, or Speculative Masons, as we call them, on record in Scotland. It is not improbable that he was initiated by some of the brethren whom he found at Annapolis, and was afterward "admitted a Fellow of the Craft" at Edinburgh.
Our Fraternity may well unite with the historian in the opinion that "There are few localities in America around which the memories of the shadowy past more interestingly cluster than around the ancient town of Annapolis." Notwithstanding the various fortunes and misfortunes which befell this locality, the Masonic fire seems to have smouldered there with singular persistency. The records of the St. John's Grand Lodge, of Massachusetts, have the following entry under date of 1740: ‑.
"Omitted in place That Our Rt Worshl Grand Master Mr Price Granted a Deputation at ye Petition of sundry Brethren, at Annapolis in Nova Scotaia to hold a Lodge there, and Appointed Majr Erasms Jas Philipps D. G. M. who has since at ye Request of sundry Brethren at Halifax, Granted a Constitution to hold a Lodge there, and appointed The Rt Worshl His Excellency Edwd Cornwallis, Esqr their First Master." Erasmus James Philipps was made in "The First Lodge" of Free and 442 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Accepted Masons in Boston, New England, November 14, 1737 (O.S.).
He was probably a relative of Richard Philipps, Governor of Nova Scotia from 1719 until 1749.
When Erasmus settled in Nova Scotia is uncertain. He was present at a meeting of the Governor's Council held in Annapolis on the 22d of March, 1740 (O.S.).
He is named, under date of September 4, 1740, as a member of a royal commission to settle the boundaries between the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the Colony of Rhode Island.
There is now in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts a document, believed to be in the handwriting of Brother Philipps, of which the following is a copy: ‑ " HALIFAX the 12th June 1750 Sir: "
‑At a meeting of true and Lawfull brothers and Master Masons Assembled at Halifax in order to Consult on proper measures for holding and Establishing a Lodge at this Place It was unanimously resolved on that a Petition should be sent to You who we are informed is Grand Master for the Province of Nova Scotia in Order to obtain Your Warrant or Deputation to hold and Establish a Lodge at this Place according to the Antient Laws & Customs of Masonry & that said Petition should be signed by any five of the Brethren then Assembled.
"We therefore the undernamed Subscribers pursuant to the above resolution do most humbly Crave and desire Your Warrant to hold and Establish a Lodge as aforesaid according to the Antient Laws and Customs of Masonry as practised among true and Lawfull Brethren and this we Crave with the utmost dispatch and beg leave to subscribe ourselves Your true and Loving Brethren.
"ED CORNWALLIS " Wm STEELE " Copy P
"ROBERT CAMPBELL " ERAS. Jag PHILIPPS
"WILLm NESBITT "P. G. M."
"DAVID HALDANE" Hon. Edward Cornwallis, son of Charles, the third Baron Cornwallis, was born in 1712 ‑twin brother of Frederick, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, and uncle of Lord Cornwallis of Yorktown fame.
He was gazetted as Governor of Nova Scotia, May 9, 1749.
He sailed in the Sphinx, sloop of war, May 14th, and arrived at Chebucto, now Halifax harbor, on the 21st of June (O.S.). The settlers, 2576 in number, embarked some time after, and arrived off the harbor on the 27th of June, 1749 (O.S.).
Of the signers of the above petition, William Steele is described as a brewer and merchant.
Robert Campbell and David Haldane were lieutenants in the army.
William Nesbitt was one of the clerks of the governor.
The library of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts contains a work, now very rarely to be found, entitled (in brief) " AHIMAN REzoN of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia." It opens with " A concise Account of the Rise and Progress of Free Masonry in Nova‑Scotia, from the first Settlement of it to this Time," ‑1786.
As strongly confirming what we have herein set forth, we make the following extract from this interesting " Account " : ‑ " From Europe the Royal Art crossed the Atlantic with the first Emigrants and settled in various parts of America.
It is said to have been known in Nova Scotia, while in the hands of the French.
But however this may be, it is certain that as soon as the English took possession of it, they took care to encourage this charitable institution.
They saw that it had a tendency to FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA.
443 relieve distress and to promote good order.
By this early attention to it, discovered in the first planters, it had the happiness to rise into repute with the rising Province, as the ivy climbs around the oak, contributing to its beauty, shade and magnificence.
"As early as the year 1750, which was as soon almost as there were any houses erected in Halifax, we find a number of the Brethren met together with Governor Cornwallis at their head, 'Deeming it, as they expressed it, 'for the good of the fraternity that Masonry should be propagated in the province, and that there was a necessity of encouraging it in this place.' "Erasmus James Philips, Esq., of Annapolis Royal, was Provincial Grand Master at that time.
And they agreed to petition him for a Warrant to hold a Lodge at Halifax, and that his Excellency might be Master of it.
This warrant was received on the 19th of July; and on the same evening Lord Colvil and a number of Navy Gentlemen were entered Apprentices in this Lodge.
It had also the honour of making many of the principal inhabitants and most of the Gentlemen holding considerable offices in the Province; and it was in this Lodge that our present Senior Grand Warden, the Right Worshipful and Honorable Richard Bulkeley, Esq., was made a Master Mason.
"Governor Cornwallis, indeed while he resided in the Province was Master of this Lodge, and governed it by a Deputy, according to the custom prevailing in Scotland. He was succeeded in the Government and in the Chair by Governor Lawrence, who enjoyed both till his Death. . . .
"On March the 18th, 1751, the second Lodge was formed at Halifax. On this occasion Brother Murray acted as Deputy Grand Master, and Brother Nesbitt, the late Attorney‑General, as Senior Grand Warden, in installing the officers. . . .
"At this time our R. W. Brother Philips probably acted only under a deputation: For we find a Grand Warrant dated seven years after this, from the Right Worshipful and Honorable William Stewart, Earl of Blessington, Grand Master of England, constituting Erasmus James Philips, Esq., Provincial Grand Master of Nova‑Scotia, and of the territories thereunto belonging. . . .
"Grand Master Philips was succeeded in his high office by his Honour Jonathan Belcher, Esq., Lieutenant Governor of the Province. But the Province being in its infancy, and having to struggle with many difficulties unfavourable to the cultivation of the Arts, the Grand Warrant, after the death [1776] of the R. W. Brother Belcher, lay dormant for many years; a misfortune severely felt by the Craft" What is called the " Deputation " under which Brother Philipps acted was issued by the Provincial Grand Master of Massachusetts, under authority of the " Modern " Grand Lodge of England. The Earl of Blessington was Grand Master of the " Ancients," and it is probable that the " Grand Warrant " named was thrust upon Brother Philipps by the recently organized Grand Lodge of "Ancients," without any request on his part, and probably never was used by him.
The Lord Colvill, who was " entered Apprentice " in the first lodge in Halifax, on the 19th of July, 1750, " on the same evening " when its " warrant " was received from Provincial Grand Master Philipps, was soon ordered to Boston, with the other " Navy Gentlemen." It appears by our records that he was " voted a member " of the || First Lodge" in Boston on the 24th of October, 1750, raised in the Masters' Lodge November 2d, and on the 11th of January following (1750 O.S.) he represented the "Second Lodge" in Grand' Lodge, as Master.
He was very constant in his attendance upon the meetings of all these bodies.
On the 24th of June, 1752, he was appointed Deputy Grand Master by Right Worshipful Thomas Oxnard, and held the Feast at the Grey Hound Tavern, in Roxbury.
This distinguished brother seems to have won the hearts of the profane, as 444 well as of his brethren.
On the 12th of May, 1752, the inhabitants of Boston, "in Publick Town Meeting Assembled at Faneuil Hall" passed a vote of thanks to him, as commander of His Majesty's ship Success, for "his Conduct and good Services," which had " given great satisfaction to the Town." At a meeting on the 22d, the selectmen returned his answer, in which he declared himself " extreamly sensible of the Honour done him by the Metropolis of America," and expressed the hope that the Commissioners of Admiralty might at some future time return him '| to a country which had already given him such marks of Esteem and Regard." At the quarterly communication of the Grand Lodge, held on the loth of July, Deputy Grand Master Colvill presided. On the 13th of October Grand Master Oxnard officiated, and " Presented our Right Worshipfull Bro. McDaniel with the D. G. M.'s Jewell in the Room of our Right Worshipfull Bro. Lord Colvill, who has gone for England." Before his departure he presented to the " Second Lodge " a copy of Field's Bible, printed in Cambridge, England, in 1683. When the" First and Second" lodges were united under the title of St. John's Lodge of Boston, this Bible became the property of that body, and is still carefully preserved in its archives.
A curious Masonic item appears in the " Plymouth Colony Records," Vol. X. p. 137.
Opposite p. viii of the Introduction, among sundry autographs, a strange hieroglyphic is represented, of which a cut is annexed.
All that is known of this strange device we gather from the following record: ‑ C COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
"[To the Colony at New Haven.] "A letter from the Corporation in England was presented and dyRead the contents whereof are as followeth : . . . wee desier that one psell of the goods now sent marked and numbred as in the margant, may be delivered unto Mr John Eliote and charged upon his account for the use of the Indian worke; . . .
,,by WILLAM STEELE Presedent.
"Coopers hall London " 21th March 1654." " [Answer.] "Among the goods sent this year wee find one [bale] No. i9 which cost there 34,C‑o9s‑osd and with the advance amounts to 45‑f‑I9s‑‑o3d directed to Mr Eliote for the use of the Indian worke but why it is severed from the Rest of the psell and consigned to him is not expressed; It seems different from the Course youer selves approved and may prove Inconvenient if it bee Continued; but this psell shal bee delivered according to youer desire; . . .
"Newhaven the 15th of September 1655." Why the square and compasses were attached to this curious mark is a mystery.
We never heard that the "Apostle to the Indians " was a Mason. Perhaps the sanctity was at the other end of the line.
It would be interesting to know whether it was the sight of this strange device that prompted the rather tart answer, which was signed by Theophilus Eaton, Simon Bradstreet, and six other godly men.
Some of our indefatigable English brethren may FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA 445 be able to tell us why the square and compasses were thus used at so early a period, and by whom.
The next vestige of Masonry in this country, of which we have any knowledge, is described in Peterson's "History of Rhode Island," p. 1o1. The author informs us that "In the spring of 1658, Mordecai Campannall, Moses Packeckoe, Levi, and others, in all fifteen families, arrived at Newport, from Holland. They brought with them the three first degrees of Masonry, and worked them in the house of Campannall, and continued to do so, they and their successors, to the year 1742...
This statement is said to be made on the authority of documents in the possession of N. H. Gould, Esq., at the tithe of the publication of the history. It came to the notice of Grand Master William S. Gardner, who was greatly astonished at the information, and immediately set about the investigation of it. He of course applied to Brother N. H. Gould, of Newport, Rhode Island, who was then an Active member of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.
Brother Gould replied that the statement was founded upon a dilapidated document found among the effects of a distant relative of his own.
It had been exposed to alternate wet and heat, and was so broken and brittle that it could not be daguerreotyped.
All that could be made out was that in 1656 or 1658 " Wee mett att ye House off Mordecai Campannall and after Synagog Wee gave Abm Moses the degrees of Maconrie." Grand Master Gardner was not satisfied with the evidence, and declared that it was "almost impossible to treat this story with the attention which the subject demands." Grand Master Doyle, of Rhode Island, commented thus on Brother Gould's letter : ‑ "It would seem that the only authority in his possession, for the assertion of Peterson, is a document showing that in 1656 or 1658, somebody met some other persons at some house in Newport, and 'gave Abm Moses the degrees of Maconrie.' This may have occurred then and there, just as it is stated; but, if so, it is no authority for the statement that a Lodge of Masons existed then in Newport, or that there was any legal Masonic authority for the work done, or that any other person was ever legally made a Mason in Newport, between 1658 and 1742," It must be confessed that both Grand Masters had good reason for dismissing with contempt the extravagant claim of the historian. The manufacture of documentary evidence to supply missing links in Masonic history is a department of belles lettres in which it seems especially dangerous to venture. It is certain, however, that the tradition has long been perpetuated that Masons made their appearance in Rhode Island about that time.
In Weeden's recently published || Economic and Social History of New England," under the date of 1658, the author says : ‑ The commerce of Newport was extending certainly.
The wealthy Jews, who contributed so much to it afterward, appear now.
It is said that fifteen families came in from Holland this year, bringing with their goods and mercantile skill the first three degrees of Freemasonry." 44.6 The records of the " First Lodge " in Boston introduce us to a distinguished brother, whose initiation took place at a date earlier than that of any American Mason, so far as we now have any positive knowledge. Under date of October 14, 1741, a committee reported that, in pursuance of a vote of the lodge, on the 25th of the previous month, they had waited on Governor Jonathan Belcher and expressed their gratitude for the many favors he had always shown (when in power), to Masonry in general, but in a more especial manner to the brethren of the lodge.
To their acknowledgments and good wishes the Governor replied as follows: ‑ " Worthy Brothers : I take very kindly this mark of your respect.
It is now thirty‑seven years since I was admitted into the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, to whom I have been a faithful Brother, and a well‑wisher to the Art of Masonry.
"I shall ever maintain a strict friendship for the whole Fraternity, and always be glad when it may fall in my power to do them any services.
"J. BELCHER." "The Honorable Mr. Belcher," thus highly complimented, was born in Boston in 1681, graduated at Harvard in 1699, visited Europe and had all the advantages of education and travel which the wealth of his father could give him. It was at this time that he was presented to the Princess Sophia and her son, afterward George IL, and made a Mason, as he says, about the year 1704,‑thirteen years before the reorganization of the Institution in England, in 1717.
He returned to Boston, and engaged in business as a merchant. He was chosen a member of the Council, and in 1729 again visited England, this time as the agent of the Colony.
While he was thus engaged, Governor Burnet died, and Mr. Belcher succeeded in obtaining the appointment of Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which he held from 1730 to 1741.
His administration was an almost constant struggle with the General Court to enforce the granting of a fixed and annual salary, as required by the king, and for the settlement of vexed financial questions.
The animosities excited by these latter subjects led to his removal, and the appointment of Governor Shirley. Another visit to England enabled him to vindicate his integrity, and to secure the appointment of Governor of New Jersey, which he held from 1747 until his death in 1757, aged seventy‑six.
The historian informs us that "Added to his excellent endowments of mind were a peculiar beauty and gracefulness of person, in which he was equalled by no man in his day; and there was a dignity in his mien and deportment which commanded respect." The date of his initiation is not the only fact in this distinguished brother's biography which marks him as a conspicuous figure in our Masonic history. His oldest son, Andrew, was appointed the first Provincial Deputy Grand Master of New England in 1733, and his second son, Jonathan, LieutenantGovernor of Nova Scotia, as we have seen, succeeded Erasmus James Philipps as Provincial Grand Master of that Province, about I 76o or 1765.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA.
447 The next spark of Masonic light which glimmers on our horizon is first brought to our notice in the Masonic Mirror and Mechanics' Intelligencer, published in Boston by Brother Charles W. Moore. In the issue of that paper for January 27, 1827, the editor makes the following statement: "A year or two since, a clergyman of the Church of England, who is probably more conversant with that church in America than any other individual now living, politely furnished us with a document wherein it appeared that the first regular lodge of Freemasons in America was holden in King's Chapel, Boston, by a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of England, somewhere about the year 1720. It produced great excitement at the time, and the Brethren considered it prudent to discontinue their meetings." This statement was twice repeated in Masonic publications edited by Brother Moore, the last time in April, 1844. It is greatly to be regretted that he did not furnish the full text of the 1| document," or the means of completely verifying so important an item. That a regularly warranted lodge existed in Boston, under authority of the Grand Lodge first organized in England only three years before, would be regarded as a most interesting and important discovery. Until further evidence is produced, we must rest content with this oft‑told tale. It is certain, however, that several of the most active Masons of the time of the First Provincial Grand Lodge in New England were prominent in the service of King's Chapel and Christ Church, both of which were of the Church of England.
We do not despair of being able to prove the existence of a regularly warranted lodge in Boston in 172o, but until we succeed we will rest content with ‑ " I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as 'twas said to me." In the Boston News‑Letter, the first newspaper printed in America, under date of September 18, 1721, among the vessels cleared for the West Indies, one called the Freemason is reported. There is no indication where the craft was built, when, or by whom, or who was the owner; but that the name should have been selected, only four years after the reorganization of Masonry in England, suggests that, even at that early day, Masonry had begun to cause "great speculation in New England." Next in point oú time in our series comes the Deputation of Daniel Coxe, to be Provincial Grand Master of New York. New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, granted by the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of England, dated June 5, 173o, and limited to the term of two years, from the Feast of St. John the Baptist, then next ensuing.
It is a singular fact that little or nothing seems to have been known of Coxe, or his Deputation, by the Craft of New Jersey, until 1864; although Coxe and his father were for years among the most conspicuous actors in New Jersey's affairs, and although the granting of the Deputation was reported in the various English Constitutions, and in many other Masonic publications scattered all 448 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
along through the previous century and a quarter.
But in 1864, a certified copy of that Deputation was obtained from the Right Worshipful Grand Secretary of England.
With it, however, came the declaration of the same high authority to the effect that " Brother Coxe did not make any report of the appointment of Deputy Grand Master or Grand Wardens; neither did he report the congregating of Masons into Lodges. He did not transmit any account of having constituted Lodges, and does not indeed appear to have established any." Six years later‑in 1870‑Past Grand Master Whitehead of New Jersey, declared that diligent research among the descendants of Brother Coxe had " Failed to disclose any testimony whatever of the exercise by him, or any one acting under his authority, of the prerogatives contained in the Deputation." In 1887, at the, celebration of the Centennial of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, Past Grand Master Cannon, the orator of the occasion, expressed the opinion that " There is no evidence, which can be considered entirely certain and reliable, that the powers conferred upon Brother Daniel Coxe by the warrant referred to were ever exercised by him in this country for the formation of Masonic lodges." At the time of his appointment as Provincial Grand Master, Brother Coxe was in England for the purpose of perfecting his title to a claim which he inherited from his father, Dr. Daniel Coxe, who was for a‑ time physician to Charles II.
Their claim covered half the continent of North America.
This territory they called " Carolina."
In 1722 the son published "| A Description of the English Province of Carolina," a volume of about zoo pages, accompanied by an elaborate map.
During the following twenty years several other editions of this work were issued in London.
We can readily understand how arduous and exacting must have been his labors in defending and perfecting his title, in publishing the different editions of '| Carolina," in pushing the settlement and sale of his lands, and in various public and private services, such as would devolve upon a man in his position.
It is believed that he was not in America during the period to which his Deputation was limited, and probably not for several years after its expiration.
He was present in the Grand Lodge of England on the 29th of January, 1730‑1731, nearly eight months after the date of the Deputation. In 1734 he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and his most considerate and generous biographer, Mr. Richard S. Field, of the New Jersey Historical Society, informs us that Brother Coxe "Remained upon the Bench of the Supreme Court until his death, which took place at Trenton, in the spring of 1739. His early career in New Jersey was clouded, by his connection with Lord Cornbury, and his differences with Governor Hunter; but he lived to enjoy the confidence and respect of the community; and his judicial duties appear to have been discharged with ability and integrity." For that time he appears to have been a fairly worthy character, but the FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA.
449 services rendered in the last five years of his life would seem to constitute his sole claim to our gratitude.
Benjamin Franklin must be admitted to be a competent witness in regard to these matters.
He was thoroughly familiar with the public affairs of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
For the last ten years of the life of Coxe he published the Pennsylvania Gazette, in Philadelphia, in which many items in regard to Masons and Masonry are to be found.
He was made a Mason in February, 1731, in a so‑called lodge, which Coxe ought to have chartered, and which maintained a feeble existence until a few months before the death of Coxe.
In November, 1734, the year of Coxe's appointment as Associate Justice, Franklin applied to Henry Price, commissioned that year as Provincial Grand Master of North America, for " a Deputation or Charter " for this so‑called lodge, in order that " the old and true brethren " might be " countenanced and distinguished " from the "false and rebel brethren "‑ a distinction which Coxe might have conferred upon Franklin's lodge at any time during the first two years of its existence ; namely, from June 5, 1730, to June 24, 1732. Notwithstanding all these facts, when Coxe died at Trenton, only twenty‑eight miles from Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Gazette announced the event in these words : ‑ "Yesterday morning, died at Trenton, the Hon. Daniel Coxe, Esq., one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the Province of New Jersey." Not another syllable can be found in the Gazette, before or afterward, in relation to the first‑appointed Provincial Grand Master in North America, although the editor and proprietor was, and had been for years, so deeply interested in Masonry that he had even styled himself Grand Master of the Province of Pennsylvania.
In this connection it seems proper that we should call attention to sundry other items in the Pennsylvania Gazette, the earliest appearing in 1730, before Franklin was made a Mason.
Under date of December 8th of that year he says: ‑ "As there are several lodges of Free Masons erected in this Province, and people have lately been much amused with conjectures concerning them, we think the following account of Freemasonry from London will not be unacceptable to our readers." Then follows a long article copied from a London paper, giving a pretended exposure of the secrets of Freemasonry.
It is quite evident, therefore, that he knew very little and cared less about the Royal Art.
In those days to print a real or pretended disclosure of the mysteries of Masonry would have been regarded as a most heinous offence.
His own curiosity was probably somewhat excited, for about fourteen months later, that is, in February, 1731 (O.S.), he applied to what he perhaps thought the best of the '1 several lodges," and was admitted.
From the best information we now have, it is generally believed that this lodge was composed of brethren who had been initiated in 450 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
various localities, more or less irregularly, some of them in London lodges and some in chance gatherings of Masons in different places in the Colonies, very much as 11Abm Moses" received the degrees of "Maconrie"in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1656 or 1658. These brethren, finding themselves in sufficient number in Philadelphia, concluded to start a lodge as nearly after the fashion of those they had seen and heard of in London as their combined recollections could construct.
The Constitutions adopted by the Grand Lodge in London, some seven or eight years before, expressly declared that thereafter it should not be regular to establish a lodge without a warrant.
But the Philadelphia brethren had the best intentions and acted to the best of their knowledge.
It is too late to find fault with them, or to accuse them of wilful violation of law.
No ,Dne has ever done it.
No one is disposed to do it now.
But there is no evidence that Franklin's lodge or any other of his " several lodges," had any warrant other than its own will and pleasure.
Franklin clearly intimates this in his letters to Henry Price, written in November, 1734, when he says: ‑ " We think it our duty to lay before your Lodge what we apprehend needful to be done for us, in order to promote and strengthen the interest in Masonry in this Province (which seems to want the sanction of some authority derived from home, to give the proceedings and determinations of our Lodge their due weight), to wit, a Deputation or Charter granted by the Right Worshipful Mr. Price, by virtue of his commission from Britain." He said further: "The Craft is like to come into disesteem among us, unless the true brethren are countenanced and distinguished by some such special authority as herein desired." Franklin could hardly have selected any words which would more distinctly indicate that the |' several lodges " were without any " authority derived from home." No one but Daniel Coxe could have given it. He was not in the country during the term of his Deputation‑June 5, 1730, to June 24, 1732. If he had given it, Franklin's statement would not have been true‑nothing more would have been needed.
To have asked from Price what Coxe had already granted, would have been merely a discrediting of their own godfather. It has been suggested that Franklin simply asked from Price a confirmation of privileges which the lodge already enjoyed by virtue of a previous warrant. This, however, was not within the scope of Price's authority, and furthermore, it is inconsistent with other expressions in Franklin's letters.
He distinctly asks for "a Deputation or Charter," which was to be the distinguishing char acteristic between the true and the false brethren.
It was natural and proper that he should ask that their self‑assumed rights and privileges might be ratified and confirmed by the " Deputation or Charter." Those rights and privileges were such as belonged to every duly constituted lodge, and what Franklin asked was simply a voucher of its regularity from one having authority.
An attempt has been made to torture Franklin's request for copies of Price's Deputation into an expression of doubt as to the genuineness of Price's commissions.
A far more reasonable and probable explanation is that Frank‑ FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA 451 lin desired those documents for the purpose of having them copied into the records of his lodge, as was the custom in those days. The records of the First Provincial Grand Lodge of New England, and also those of the " First Lodge " in Boston, commence with a copy of Henry Price's Deputation. Franklin was in Boston in 1733 or 1734, and probably satisfied himself as to the genuineness of Price's authority from an examination of the original document. No doubt or suspicion is indicated by his asking for copies with which other brethren might be satisfied, and also for the purpose above named.
The whole tone and spirit of Franklin's letters to Price are utterly inconsistent with the idea of doubt, suspicion, or fear of Price on the part of Franklin or his associates.
He says : ‑ " We rejoice that the Grand Master (whom God bless), hath so happily recovered"; "we drink to the establishment of his health and the prosperity of your whole Lodge "; " we hope the advice is true that his deputation and power has been extended over all America, and we heartily congratulate him thereupon"; the Deputation or Charter asked "will not only be extremely agreeable to us, but will also conduce much to the welfare, establishment, and reputation of Masonry in these parts"; "we desire that it may be done as soon as possible"; "for which favors this Lodge doubt not of being able to behave as not to be thought ungrateful "; he hopes for a visit in the spring, "when a deputation of the Brethren will have an opportunity of showing how much they esteem you." What could be more affectionate, respectful, confiding, more truly Masonic, than these expressions?
There is not about them one spark of doubt, suspi cion, jealousy, or fear.
The brethren rejoice that, after years of groping in the dark, a Grand Master has at last appeared who can, and will, diffuse the light and impart the knowledge which can come to the true brethren only through the medium of DULY CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY.
That this was what Franklin asked, and that his request was granted, is distinctly and positively asserted in the record of the First Provincial Grand Lodge of New England in the following words: ‑ 5734. June 24th.
About this time Our Worsht Bror Mr Benjn Franklin from Philadelphia became acquainted with Our Rt Worst Grand Master Mr Price, who further Instructed him in the Royal Art, and said Franklin on his Return to Philadelphia calls the Brethren there together, who petitions Our Rt Worsht Grand Master for a constitution to hold a Lodge, and Our Rt Worsht Grand Master having this year Recd Orders from the Grand Lodge in England to Establish Masonry in all North America did send a Deputation to Philadelphia, appointing the Rt Worshl Mr Benjn Franklin First Master; which is the beginning of Masonry there." The earliest records of the First Provincial Grand Lodge in New England are in the handwriting of Peter Pelham, and his son Charles.
Peter came to America, from London, probably, between 1724 and 1726.
He was the first portrait painter and engraver known in New England.
The earliest work yet traced to him is his engraved portrait of Rev. Cotton Mather, dated 1727. It is inscribed: t| P. Pelham ad vivum pinxit, ab origine fecit et excud."
We learn from his advertisements in the newspapers of the day that from 1734 to 1748, and perhaps later, he kept a school where "Young Gentlemen and
452 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Ladies may be Taught Dancing, Writing, Reading, painting upon Glass, and all sorts of needle work," the latter department probably being in charge of his wife. On the 22d of May, 1747, he married for his second wife, Mrs. Mary Singleton, widow of Richard Copley and mother of John Singleton Copley, the celebrated artist and father of Lord Lyndhurst, who was three times Lord Chancellor of England.
At the time of the marriage Copley was about ten years old.
At the age of sixteen he engraved a portrait of Rev. William Welsteed, of Boston.
One of Copley's 'biographers remarks, with evident reason and justice : ‑ " This first step in his artistic life bears so plainly the mark of Pelham's style, that we may be sure it was to his stepfather that Copley owed much valuable rudimentary instruction. So far as his initiation in the art, and very possibly the awakening of his taste is concerned, we may surely claim Pelham as Copley's master." Peter Pelham was made a Mason in the " First Lodge " in Boston on the 8th of November, 1738. On the 26th of December, 1739, he was elected Secretary, and the record of that meeting is entered in a new and beautiful handwriting, and the same style was continued for many years.
He served in that office until September 26, 1744, when he was succeeded by his son Charles.
On the 13th of April, 1750, the "Third Lodge" in Boston was represented in Grand Lodge by father and son as Master and Junior Warden respectively.
The records of Trinity Church, in Boston, where he had long worshipped, show that Peter Pelham was buried December 14, 175 Charles, the son of Peter and Martha Pelham, was baptized at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, London, on the 9th of December, 1722. He came to America, of course, with his parents, and is said to have been educated as a merchant, but in the Boston News‑Letter, of April 23, 1762, he advertises his intention "again to open a Dancing School," at Concert Hall. In April, 1765, he bought the homestead of the Rev. John Cotton, in Newton, with 103 acres of land, for 6735.
We are told that " He was represented by his neighbors to have been a very polite and intelligent man.
He opened an academy at his own house, and fitted scholars for College." " He was a stanch friend of the Colony, as will appear by the resolutions he prepared for the Town." In 1766 we find him teaching school in Medford, where, on the 6th of December, of that year, he married Mary, daughter of Andrew Tyler by his wife Miriam, a sister of the famous Sir William Pepperell. A daughter, Helen, married Thomas Curtis, and was the mother of Charles Pelham Curtis, the senior member of the firm of C. P. & B. R. Curtis, for many years leading members of the Boston Bar, the junior member of the firm serving during the latter portion of his life as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. His step‑mother died on the 29th of April, 1789, and her will appointed as her executor her "good friend, Charles Pelham, of Newton."
Late in life he removed to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he died December 13, FIRST GLIMPSES IN NORTH AMERICA.
18og.
A portrait, painted by his step‑brother, Copley, is in the possession of his great‑grandson, Charles Pelham Curtis, of Boston.
On the 8th of August, 1744, " Bro. Price proposed Mr. Charles Pelham as a candidate," in the " First Lodge " in Boston. He was accepted on the 22d of the same month, and on the 12th of September "was made a Mason in due Form." On the 26th it was " Voted, That our late Seer Bro. P. Pelham be paid Ten Pounds, with the Thanks of the Society for his past Services " ; also " Voted, That Bro. Charles Pelham be Secretary, in the Room of Our Late Seer, who has laid it down." He served the lodge in that capacity until July 24, 1754, when the volume ends, and perhaps longer.
This is the only volume of records of the " First Lodge " now known to exist.
Charles Pelham's service as Grand Secretary seems to have ended with the meeting of January 20, 175 2. His name appears first, in that capacity, in the record of June 24, 175 1.
Previously to the lastnamed date the whole of the record is in the handwriting of Peter or Charles. The first eleven pages of the record of the First Provincial Grand Lodge in America, now in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, consist of copies of Deputations and what appear to be transcripts of brief memoranda describing the important incidents in the history of the body between 1733 and 1750; or they may have been made up from the recollection of brethren who had been active among the Craft during those seventeen years. Our own opinion is in favor of the first‑named supposition, and that in this particular, as in most other points, the example of the Grand Lodge of England was followed. From April 13, 1750, the record is unquestionably contemporaneous.
In Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine for August, 1871, Past Grand Master John T. Heard describes the records of the Grand Lodge of England as exhibited to hits on the 6th of October, 187o, by Right Worshipful John Hervey, Grand Secretary. He gives a particular description of Vols. I. and II., by which it appears that the former is interspersed with lists of lodges and members, and also with blank pages, on which it was probably intended that other similar entries should be made. Brother Heard concludes as follows : ‑ "On and after the 24th June, 1735, the minutes of each meeting of the Grand Lodge are signed by the Grand boaster, which practice, as Bro. Hervey informed me, has been continued to the present time. Previous to that date, he thinks, the minutes were written on loose papers or small books, from which they were copied into the large books which I have here noticed." Thus it appears that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts possesses a record for the first twenty years of the existence of its First Provincial Grand Lodge, which is substantially in the same form as that of the Grand Lodge of England in its earliest days ; that it was made by brethren of high character, of excellent family, connections, and associations; that the memoranda comprised in the first few pages were either transcribed from contemporaneous minutes 453 454 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
or were entered within a short time after the occurrences described, and when the events and dates must have been quite fresh in the recollection of the principal actors, who were the intimate associates and friends of the scribes; that the few trifling errors, omissions, or supposed discrepancies that have been alleged by jealous and captious critic% are not more important or discrediting than are to be found in those after which these were modelled, or than may be found in almost any undoubted or unquestioned honest record since‑even to the present day; and lastly, that these trifling errors‑whether real or supposed ‑ should in no respect impair, but rather confirm, our faith in the general accuracy and reliability of the record. The handwriting is bold, clear, and beautiful, as distinct as when it was first written, and as well done as it could be to‑day.
The facts set forth receive confirmation from many other sources, and from this time forth the student of Masonic history in America is no longer pu
led by faint glimmerings of light here and there, but finds his path made plain and clear by the full radiance of the sacred fire kindled upon Massachusetts altars by Henry Price, and kept perpetually burning there until the present time.
DIVISION IX.
BRITISH AMERICA.
Outline History of The Grand Lodge of Canada, in the Province of Ontario.
BY J. Ross ROBERTSON, G.M., Author of "The Cryptic Rite," "The Knights Templars of Canada," 1| Talks with Craftsmen," and other Masonic Works.
CHAPTER I.
CRAFT MASONRY IN ONTARIO.
Prefatory. ‑ To give the reader a fair idea of Craft work in Ontario, ‑ this central and fruitful Province of the Canadian federation,‑and to thoroughly seize the mind with the contents of such records as we have, we must peer into the closing days of the eighteenth century, and, feeble as the tracings are, endeavor to build up,‑and not without tangible foundation, ‑a temple of antiquity for Craft work, of which we to‑day, with our roll of twenty thousand Craftsmen, should well be proud.
Infallible beings we think we are, and yet we ofttimes fail; so that if in the search for truth concerning our brethren of the olden time error should creep in, blame it not on the writer, but rather on our bygone brethren, who, without thought of the future, and regardless of wear of mind and body, have kept their records so illy preserved that the writer has journeyed over this vast Dominion to make up the history of their Masonic lives.
The Craft history of Upper Canada, now Ontario, must be considered in seven divisions or eras, some of brief duration, others covering a long period of years, and one, ‑ the present, ‑ is now making headway into its fourth decade on a basis that is, we feel assured, lasting, and which will exist until time shall be no more.
The First period is from about 1780 until 1792, when a few lodges, in different parts of the Province, worked without a local governing head, although it is true that one of these lodges at Cataraqui, now Kingston, was under the control of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lower Canada.
457 458 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Second period dates from 1792 until 1817, during which time the Provincial Grand Lodge, warranted by the Athol Grand Lodge, struggled for an existence at York (Toronto).
The Third period is from 1817 until 1822, when, under the care of the Grand Masonic Convention at Kingston, ‑practically a Provincial Grand Lodge,‑the Craft work was revived and kept well in hand.
The Fourth period is from 1822 until 1830, during which time the second Provincial Grand Lodge, under Right Worshipful Brother Simon McGillivray, and warranted by the United Grand Lodge of England, was organized and flourished.
The Fifth period is from 1830 until 1845, when the Provincial Grand Lodge became dormant, and the lodges led rather quiet lives.
The Sixth period, from 1845 until 1855, when the Provincial Grand Lodge of Upper Canada was revived, under Right Worshipful Brother Sir Allan Napier McNab and Right Worshipful Brother T. G. Ridout.
The Seventh period, which includes the formation of the Grand Lodge of Canada in 1855, the dissolution in 1857 of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada under England, the creation in the same year of the Ancient Grand Lodge of Canada and the union of both the organizations under the style and title of the Grand Lodge of Canada.
The First Period. ‑With this apologetic preamble, let us wander back to the days of the first period, in 1780, and; in our fancy, picture an evening within the shelter of the old fort at Niagara, when the brethren of the lodge, known as No. 156, in the King's or 8th Regiment of Foot, unfolded the volume of the Sacred Law, and the soldier Masons expounded the principles and teachings of our Craft, and gave an impetus to the work that to‑day is felt in what is now known as the Tenth Masonic District, the old Niagara District, ‑ the birthplace of Masonry, ‑ in this Province.
That the reader may fairly comprehend the situation in these early times, it should be pointed out that in Upper Canada there was no governing body of the Craft prior to 1792, and that all the lodges were either working under direct warrants granted by the Grand Lodge of England, or under warrants issued by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec, where the Craft Art had been practised as early as 1760, the year following the conquest of the ancient city.
The assertion is made by a distinguished authority that the earliest lodges in Canada were established by warrants from New England. While this statement is correct in the sense that some warrants were granted by American authority, the history of the lodges of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario shows, that, with the exception of three or four lodges,‑and those not of early creation,‑all received their authority from Provincial Grand bodies which had been erected by the Mother Grand Lodges across the sea. The purview of the writer of this chapter is limited to the jurisdiction within BRITISH AMERICA.
459 the limits of old Upper Canada, and in his quest, whatever claims other jurisdictions may make to the founding of Masonry in this Province, he feels honored that the first warrant he has record of is that of the 8th Regiment of Foot, working at Niagara under the maternal care of the Mother Grand Lodge of the world, the Grand Lodge of England. The entire Province of Canada was at this period, for Masonic purposes, one Provincial Grand jurisdiction. As early as 1737 William Douglas was appointed Provincial Grand Master for "Africa and the Islands of America," and in 1746 Robert Commins for Cape Breton and Louisburg, while in 176o‑1761 we had as Provincial Grand Master, Colonel Simon Fraser, with Milborne West in 17621766, John Collins in 1767‑1785, Colonel Carleton in 1786‑1787, and Sir John Johnson in 1788.
We also had a lodge known as St. John's Lodge of Friendship, No. 2, working at various places in the county of Lincoln, in the Niagara District, in 178o, and, in 1787, we find the new Oswegatchie Lodge, No. 7, working in 1787 in Elizabethtown, in the county of Leeds.
This lodge was No. 520 on the English Register.
Another lodge, known as St. James Lodge, No. 14, was working, in 1787, in Cataraqui, now Kingston, Ontario.
These three lodges probably came from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Quebec, under John Collins, although we have no direct proof as regards No. 7. Union Lodge, No. 521, on the English Register, was at work in Cornwall, Canada, in 1787, but whether originally warranted by the Provincial authority at Quebec or not is also a matter of doubt, for all records have been lost. These scattered lodges were the pioneers of Craft work, and, in the fortified city of Kingston we find the cradle of Masonry, in a section of country that was the gateway to the sleeping acres of the west, which in later days poured the golden grain, the staple production of the country, into the granaries of the world.
This brings us to the division of Canada into Upper and Lower Provinces and to the threshold of the second period.
The Second Period. ‑In 1792 William Jarvis was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Upper Canada, by the " Ancient " or " Athol " Grand Lodge of England, with his Grand East at Niagara, the capital of the Province. Between 1792 and 1804 he issued twenty warrants for lodges in various parts of the jurisdiction, and during this period a fair amount of Craft work was performed. In 1797 the Provincial capital was removed to York (Toronto) ; and although the brethren at Niagara and the vicinity were enthusiastic and anxious to strengthen the cause, a certain amount of dissatisfaction was evinced by the refusal of Jarvis to summon Grand Lodge at Niagara after his removal to York, or, for that matter, at York.
This led to the formation of an irregular and rival Grand Lodge at Niagara and the election of Brother George Forsyth as its Provincial Grand Master.
Seeing danger ahead, Jarvis summoned his Grand Lodge in 1804, at York, and complaint of the irregular proceedings at Niagara was formulated and sent to England. The English authorities, 460 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
01 however, were displeased with Jarvis's reign as a ruler of the Craft and pointed out to him that he had neglected to report any of his proceedings to the Grand Secretary at London. Jarvis suppressed this letter, kept its contents from his Grand Secretary, and the Craft‑ship for years was allowed to drift helmless at the mercy of the waves.
The Third Period.‑Death claimed Jarvis in 1817, and the third period opens with the calling of a Grand Masonic Convention at Kingston, in 1817. All the lodges came under its obedience except a few at Niagara and some in the western section of the jurisdiction. Reports as to the disorganized state of the Craft were framed and mailed to England, but no attention was paid by the Athol authorities to the communications. The convention met in 1817, 1818, 1820, 1821, and again in 1822.
After pleading for all these years, the Grand Lodge of England, in 1822, authorized Right Worshipful Brother Simon McGillivray to proceed to Canada, reorganize the Craft and unite the Craftsmen of the Province.
He did his work well, displaying energy and a thorough knowledge of the situation, smoothing all difficulties and bringing us to the fourth period, with the opening of a Provincial Grand Lodge at York, in October of 1822.
The Fourth Period.‑This Grand Lodge met regularly from 1822 until 1830, doing effective work under Right Worshipful Brother James Fitzgibbon, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, but the Morgan excitement unsettled Craft affairs, and while the subordinate lodges were active, the Provincial body became dormant and remained in this condition until another reorganization in 1845.
The Fifth Period. ‑The fifth period may be called the dormant period as far as a governing body was concerned in Upper Canada. It is worthy of remark that the vitality, which had prevailed in many of the private lodges in the early days, gained strength even in this period of inactivity.
The Sixth Period.‑The exertions, however, of Brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout and Brother Francis Richardson in 1845‑1847 had a magnetic effect, and Craft enthusiasm increased when the sixth period opened, with Sir Allan Napier McNab as the Provincial Grand Master of Canada, appointed by the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. This Provincial Grand Lodge had as the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout ; and under his guidance, ‑for he was an active worker, ‑Masonry flourished until 1853, when a number of the lodges in Canada, holding warrants from the Grand Lodge of Ireland, met and organized a Grand Lodge; but finding it difficult to carry on an independent organization alongside of the Provincial Grand Lodge of England, proposals were made by the Irish brethren to members of the English body for a union of forces and the establishment of an independent governing body; but the Provincial Grand Lodge of England, on a motion to discuss independence and the calling of a general Masonic convention for the establishment of a Grand Lodge of Canada, refused to BRITISH AMERICA.
461 sanction the proposal, which led to the secession of many of the lodges, and the seventh period opens with the formation, in October, 1855, of the Grand Lodge of Canada, with Most Worshipful Brother William Mercer Wilson as the first Grand Master.
The Seventh Period. ‑The Provincial Grand Lodge of England made many bitter assaults on the newly formed Grand Lodge. The golden opportunity of dissolving itself and instituting a new era in Craft work had passed away, much to the regret of many of its members.
In September of 185 7 the Provincial body met and dissolved, and formed the "Ancient Grand Lodge of Canada."
The brethren saw that union must come sooner or later, and that, when the time carne, it would be right that they should unite as peers of the Grand Lodge of Canada.
Negotiations were quietly carried on for months, and finally, on the 14th of July, 1858, a day to be remembered by every Canadian Mason, the two Grand Lodges united under the name of " The Grand Lodge of Canada."
This gives us a view of the seventh period of Canadian Craft work.
It would have been well if the Grand Lodge of Canada had been able to secure exclusive control of the jurisdiction, but England would only agree to recognize the Canadian brethren on the condition that all lodges of English obedience, then working in Canada, might be permitted to retain and continue work under their original warrants. This agreement, made by the Earl of Zetland and Most Worshipful Brother W. M. Wilson, has contributed to unrest; for, had the Grand Lodge of Canada secured absolute jurisdiction, the Quebec difficulty never would have darkened the pages of Canadian Craft history.
It should be stated, however, that the course taken was the only one open to the Canadian brethren, without creating a direct and perhaps permanent rupture with England.
The first annual communication was held at Hamilton, in July, 1856. Thirty‑three lodges were represented. In his address, the Grand Master suggested uniform work in the lodges, recommended lodges of instruction and the re‑numbering of lodges, and reported recognition by the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
He pointed out that the action taken by the Provincial Grand Lodge in opposing the formation of the Grand Lodge was unbrotherly, and expressed the hope that the Grand bodies of England and Scotland would recognize Canada before the next communication.
The receipts for the year were Z93, and the payments Z64.
The second annual communication was held at Montreal, in July, 1857Thirty‑six warranted lodges were represented.
This year the receipts increased to .6354, with disbursements of Z173.
The Grand Master gladdened the membership with the information that negotiations for union with the Provincial Grand Lodge might be hastened, and a committee was appointed to confer with a committee of that body.
Most Worshipful Brother Wilson was reelected Grand Master.
462 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The third annual communication was held at Toronto, in July, 1858. Sixty‑nine warranted lodges were represented. The Grand Master congratulated the Craft on its progress, and stated that, although the Grand Lodge of England had not extended the right hand of fellowship, he hoped it would not be long until it did so.
He urged strict discipline in the work of the lodges, and intimated that with regard to the projected union progress was being made. Terms of union had been drawn up and were being negotiated.
For a time these conferences, owing to certain difficulties, had been broken off, but in September the Provincial Grand Lodge met, dissolved, and declared itself an independent Grand Lodge, under the name of "The Ancient Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada," with Sir Allan McNab as the Grand Master, and Right Worshipful Brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout as the Deputy Provincial Grand Master.
A renewal of the negotiations was suggested by Brother Ridout, and, ultimately, a series of resolutions was adopted, which resulted in the union of the Craft, on the 14th of July, 185 8, under the title of "The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada," with Most Worshipful Brother W. M. Wilson as Grand Master, Brother Ridout as Deputy, and Brother Thomas B. Harris as Grand Secretary.
In January, 1859, a special communication was held to consider the re‑numbering of the lodges, the rank of the Grand officers, and also to receive correspondence in connection with the recognition of the Grand Lodge of England. The Mother Grand Lodge had considered the situation as presented by the Canadian authorities, and extended the right hand of fellowship to the Grand Lodge of " Canada West," asking, however, from Canada that those lodges, desirous of continuing their English connection, might do so, notwithstanding the occupation of Canada as a Grand jurisdiction by the Grand Lodge of Canada.
The Canadian Grand Lodge ordered that the fraternal courtesy be reciprocated, but directed that England be notified that the term " Canada West " was not applicable, as the Grand Lodge of Canada embraced both Provinces.
This was reported to the Grand Master of England.
The fourth annual communication was held at Kingston, in July, 1859Fifty‑five lodges were represented. The Grand Master congratulated the Craft on the success it was meeting with, and said that all difficulties with England had been amicably settled, and that the proper status had been accorded to the Grand Lodge of Canada. Most Worshipful Brother Wilson was reelected Grand Master.
The fifth annual communication was held at Ottawa, in July, 186o.
One hundred and seventeen lodges were represented. Interesting reports were read from all the districts.
Designs of a medal commemorative of the union of the Craft were exhibited.
Most Worshipful Brother Stephens, an Honorary Past Grand Master of Canada, was welcomed as the representative of the Grand Lodge of England.
Most Worshipful Brother A. Bernard was elected BRITISH AMERICA.
463 an Honorary Past Grand Master.
Most Worshipful Brother T. D. Harington was elected Grand Master.
The sixth annual communication was held at London, in July, 1861.
One hundred and sixteen lodges were represented.
The only matter of note during the year was a misunderstanding as to the laying of the foundationstone of the new Parliament buildings at Ottawa. It was understood that the government was favorable to the Craft taking part in the ceremony, on the occasion of the visit of H.'. R.‑. H.‑. the Prince of Wales; but Roman Catholic influence prevailed, and the services of the Grand Lodge, although duly summoned and assembled, were not made use of.
It was also determined that, in view of the difficulties which had arisen with foreign bodies having lodges in Canada, an official list of all these lodges be obtained from the representatives of the foreign jurisdictions.
A committee was appointed to collect subscriptions for an asylum fund, Grand Lodge pledging itself to subscribe $2o,ooo as soon as the Craft had raised a similar sum. Most Worshipful Brother Harington was reelected Grand Master.
The seventh annual communication was held at St. Catharines, in July, 1862. One hundred and nine lodges were represented. The death of Most Worshipful Brother Ridout, who, in 1859, had been honored with the rank of Past Grand Master, was referred to in fitting terms.
The Grand Master noted that there were one hundred and fifty‑five lodges on the roll, that a Board of General Purposes had been formed, and suggested that Grand Lodge should meet at two places alternately.
He regretted that the Grand Lodges of England and Ireland still insisted upon the good standing of certain lodges, which Canada had declared irregular, and that the Colonial Board in England was in error in accusing the Grand Lodge of Canada of studious hostility and aggression to England. Most Worshipful Brother Harington was reelected Grand Master.
The eighth annual communication was held in Montreal, in 1863. One hundred and two lodges were represented. The Grand Master reported that the difficulties with England arose from the fact that Lodge, No. 923, E. R., was believed by Canada to be working irregularly, but, on the case being discussed, Canada acknowledged it as a regular lodge. Most Worshipful Brother T. D. Harington was reelected Grand Master.
The ninth annual communication was held at Hamilton, in 1864. One hundred and nineteen lodges were represented. The Grand Master in his address referred to the anomalous condition of the Craft in Canada, consequent upon the fact that Canada had not exclusive control of all the lodges within the jurisdiction, by reason of the agreement with England.
The assets of Grand Lodge were reported as $12,gio.
The Board agreed with the Grand Master and trusted that soon all lodges would be of Canadian obedience. The system of nomination for elective officers was adopted.
It was ordered that ten per cent of the funds be placed to the credit of benevolence, that 464 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
unaffiliates should have no claim, and that no testimonials be presented, beyond ordinary jewels, as a mark of fraternal regard for distinguished services. Right Worshipful Brother W. B. Simpson was elected Grand Master.
The tenth annual communication was held at Toronto, in 1865. One hundred and twenty‑nine lodges were represented.
The assets showed favor ably, amounting to $14,875.
Most Worshipful Brother Simpson was reelected Grand Master.
The eleventh annual communication was held at Montreal, in 1866, and one hundred and thirty‑seven lodges were represented. A newly formed Grand Lodge in Nova Scotia had invited the Grand Master to install its officers ; but as that Grand Lodge had not been formed by a convention of all Masons in Nova Scotia, but by a section of the brethren, the Grand Master of Canada declined to take part. Most Worshipful Brother W. M. Wilson was elected Grand Master.
The twelfth annual communication was held at Kingston, in 1867.
One hundred and fifty‑three lodges were represented.
The Grand Master, in his address, submitted a suggestion for a General Grand Lodge of the Dominion. In connection with the Masonic Asylum, he thought the money collected could be better employed by prudent investment, the interest being devoted to charity.
He suggested a permanent place of meeting for Grand Lodge, called attention to the large number of unaffiliates, and gave the assets of the Craft at $22,759.
The Niagara Lodge, No. z, offered to donate $3ooo, a two‑story house, and two acres of land for a Masonic Asylum.
Most Worshipful Brother Wilson was reelected Grand Master.
The thirteenth annual communication was held at London, in July, 1868. One hundred and seventy‑one lodges were represented. The Grand Master, in his address, said that the formation of a General Grand Lodge for the Dominion was a subject that must be left for future consideration.
He urged that care should be taken in the selection of Worshipful Masters, and pointed out that rulers were sometimes selected from social considerations rather than from ability to work a lodge.
The funds of Grand Lodge amounted this year to $z8,o64.
The Right Honorable John A. Macdonald (now Sir John), as representative of England, was given the rank of Past Senior Grand Warden. Right Worshipful Brother A. A. Stevenson was elected Grand Master.
The fourteenth annual communication was held at Montreal, in July, 1869. One hundred and seventy‑nine lodges were represented.
The address of the Grand Master reviewed Masonry in general.
During the year he had installed the Grand Master of Nova Scotia.
The prospects of the Craft looked bright, and $37,811 was reported as the assets of Grand Lodge.
Most Worshipful Brother Stevenson was reelected Grand Master.
This year an important matter occurred in connection with the work of the Grand Lodge.
Many of the Craft in Quebec thought that the lodges in that ' Province should be under a separate governing body, and accordingly, on the BRITISH AMERICA.
465 loth of October, in Montreal, a convention was called, consisting of a majority of all the Craft lodges in Quebec, and in due course the Grand Lodge of the Province of Quebec was formed. Objection to the formation was made by the Grand Lodge of Canada, and a special meeting of that body was called and an edict of suspension issued against certain brethren concerned.
Most Worshipful Brother A. A. Stevenson was reelected Grand Master.
The fifteenth annual communication was held at Toronto, in 1870.
One hundred and ninety‑six lodges were represented.
The question of recognition of Quebec was taken up, and a report on the matter from a special committee of the Board of General Purposes was discussed.
The report of this committee was adverse to recognition, and an amendment by Most Worshipful Brother Wilson, which would have acknowledged Quebec, reserving rights over certain lodges of the Grand Lodge of Canada, was lost, and the report of the committee adopted. Most Worshipful Brother A. A. Stevenson was reelected Grand Master.
The sixteenth annual communication was held, in 1871, at Ottawa.
Two hundred and nine lodges were represented.
The Grand Master congratulated the Craft on its success.
He dealt with the question of dual membership, and said that it was a detrimental feature.
He left the Quebec matter in the hands of the members.
Grand Lodge declined to recognize a colored lodge in Canada, which claimed to hail from an American jurisdiction. After a lengthy discussion, the Grand Lodge of Quebec was recognized, with the provision that satisfactory arrangements be made with the Masons residing in Quebec, who are loyal to the Grand Lodge of Canada.
Dual membership was also abolished, and Most Worshipful Brother A. A. Stevenson was reelected Grand Master.
The seventeenth annual communication was held at Hamilton, in July, 1872. Two hundred and twenty‑one lodges were represented. The Grand Master regretted that the terms of recognition of Quebec had not been accepted. The reports showed great progress and $47,630 to the credit of Grand Lodge. Most Worshipful Brother W. M. Wilson was reelected Grand Master.
The eighteenth annual communication was held in Montreal, in July, 1873, Two hundred and thirty‑two lodges were represented. It was reported that the Grand Lodge of Vermont threatened to suspend intercourse with Canada if Quebec was not recognized.
This led to a severance of fraternal relations between Canada and Vermont.
The funds of Grand Lodge were reported as $53,518.
Most Worshipful Brother W. M. Wilson was elected Grand Master.
The nineteenth annual communication was held at Ottawa, in 1874.
Two hundred and eighty‑seven lodges were represented. The Grand Master reported that the joint committee on the Quebec difficulties had met in Montreal, in February, and had arranged matters between the lodges of the Grand Lodge of Quebec and those of the Grand Lodge of Canada in that Province. He also announced that edicts of non‑intercourse by Vermont and Illinois had 466 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
been revoked.
He suggested that at Masonic funerals no other societies be allowed to participate. The financial statement showed the funds to be $56,135. The committee on the Asylum Trust reported difficulties in the way of carrying out the original intention, and said that it .would be more economical and more acceptable if benevolence were distributed to benefi ciaries in different parts of the jurisdiction.
A resolution was passed, welcoming Quebec as a sister Grand Lodge.
Right Worshipful Brother Thomas White was, in consideration of services rendered, honored with the dignity of a Past Grand Master.
The sum of $4000 was voted to Quebec as its proportion of the accumulated funds. Most Worshipful Brother Wilson was reelected Grand Master.
On the aoth of January, 1875, a special communication was held, to pay the last sad offices of respect to the remains of Most Worshipful Brother Wilson, the Grand Master, who died a few days before. About one hundred and fifty lodges were represented, and Grand Lodge was ordered to be draped in mourning for ninety days.
Right Worshipful Brother T. B. Harris, the Grand Secretary, was also called away, and Right Worshipful Brother J. J. Mason was appointed in his place.
The twentieth annual communication was held at London, in 1875.
Two hundred and fifty‑two lodges were represented, Right Worshipful Brother J. K. Kerr, D. G. M., acting as Grand Master.
He alluded, in his address, in sympathetic terms, to the death of Most Worshipful Brother Wilson and Right Worshipful Brother Harris. He noted the formation of a Grand Lodge in Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island.
The benevolent report showed that $3ooo had been paid out for relief, with $56,893 to the credit of Grand Lodge. At this communication a matter of material moment came up, which for a long period engendered a certain amount of uneasiness in Craft circles.
A lodge, known as Eden Lodge, had been working under dispensation, and the committee on warrants, deeming it inadvisable to continue the dispensation or issue a warrant, recommended that the warrant be not granted, but that the Grand Master be requested to issue a dispensation, authorizing the Worshipful Master to pass and raise those already initiated.
This notification was sent to the District Deputy Grand Master of the district, and, as will be seen at a later date, considerable irritation resulted. The meeting closed with the election of Right Worshipful Brother J. K. Kerr as Grand Master.
The twenty‑first annual communication was held at Ottawa, in 1876.
Two hundred and sixty‑eight lodges were represented.
The Grand Master reported that, in the Eden Lodge matter, he had notified the District Deputy Grand Master of the London District that he was prepared to issue a dispensation, on condition that the dispensation held by Eden Lodge be returned. The officers of Eden Lodge were apparently not agreeable to the proposal of Grand Lodge and the Grand Master, and the latter, seeing that there was yet considerable doubt in the minds of the members of Eden Lodge, decided to wait and BRITISH AMERICA.
467 see whether harmony could not be restored.
In the meantime, Eden Lodge called a meeting for initiation, but the Grand Secretary notified the Worshipful Master that the dispensation had expired.
The meeting was, however, held, the candidate initiated, the Worshipful Master declaring that he had not received the letter until after the work had been done.
Various efforts were made to settle the difficulty, but the Grand Master would not recede from the position taken by Grand Lodge.
The determination on the part of the Grand Master was not received in a friendly spirit by the members, and they became so antagonistic that a number of them, with others, seceded and formed a schismatic body known as "The Grand Lodge of Ontario."
This action led to the expulsion of a large number of the seceding members, although some returned to the allegiance of the Grand Lodge of Canada and were healed. The so‑called Grand Lodge of Ontario had quite a following in some sections for a year or two, but gradually the membership saw that it had no status with recognized Masons, and at this writing there is scarcely one lodge in working order, and not a hundred members on its roll.
The event created considerable discussion, and occupied the attention of not only the Masonic press, but the newspaper press generally, for some months. The action of the Grand Master in the entire matter was indorsed by Grand Lodge.
Most Worshipful Brother J. K. Kerr was reelected Grand Master.
The twenty‑second communication was held at St. Catharines, in July, 1877, Most Worshipful Brother Seymour, P. G. M., acting in the absence of Most Worshipful Brother J. K. Kerr in England; consequently the meeting was purely formal, and was " called off " until the 12th of September, 1877.
Two hundred and thirty lodges were represented.
In his address, the Grand Master recommended that the amounts contributed by the lodges of Canada, now in the Grand Lodge of Quebec, be placed to their credit in Grand Lodge. He had assumed the responsibility of sending $iooo of Grand Lodge funds to the relief of sufferers by fire in St. John, New Brunswick.
Right Worshipful Brother W. H. Weller was elected Grand Master.
The twenty‑third annual communication was held at Toronto, in September, 1878. Two hundred and thirty‑seven lodges were represented. The events were routine. Fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France were severed on account of the non‑recognition of the Deity by that body.
Most Worshipful Brother W. H. Weller was reelected Grand Master.
The twenty‑fourth annual communication was held at Kingston, in 1879. Two hundred and twenty‑four lodges were represented. The Treasurer's report showed $58,177 to the credit of Grand Lodge. A code of model by‑laws by Right Worshipful Brother Hugh Murray was adopted by Grand Lodge.
It was resolved to hold the meetings of Grand Lodge in July, instead of September.
Right Worshipful Brother J. A. Henderson, of Kingston, was elected Grand Master.
The twenty‑fifth annual communication was held at Guelph, in July, 188o.
468 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Two hundred and forty lodges were represented.
The Grand Lodge indorsed the views of the Grand Master, in his address, which laid down as a rule that a candidate could not be initiated outside of the jurisdiction in which he resided, without the consent of the lodge to which the candidate of right belonged.
Masons were enjoined from attending, as Masons, funerals where ceremonials of an un‑Masonic society were given. The Craft was complimented on having acquired new halls in different parts of the jurisdiction. Assets were shown to be $6o,ooo.
Most Worshipful Brother James A. Henderson was reelected Grand Master.
The twenty‑sixth annual communication was held at Hamilton, in July, 1881. Two hundred and sixty‑three lodges were represented. During the year, Past Grand Master Weller had passed away. Certain difficulties which had existed between the Grand Lodges of Quebec and Scotland had been adjusted.
The roll showed three hundred and forty‑six lodges on the Register, with assets of $63,ooo, and 17,635 members in good standing. Right Worshipful Brother James Moffatt was elected Grand Master.
The twenty‑seventh annual communication was held at London, in July, 1882.
Two hundred and seventy lodges were represented.
The address of the Grand Master dealt with local matters.
He suggested that Masons who were in arrears for dues should be dealt with leniently by the lodges, and that brethren should be ineligible for office if in arrears.
He thought there were too many rites in Masonry.
The funds were reported as $65,1gq.
A special report of the Board, condemning lotteries in connection with the Craft, was adopted. Right Worshipful Brother Daniel Spry was elected Grand Master.
The twenty‑eighth annual communication was held in Ottawa, in July, 1883.
Two hundred and seventy‑four lodges were represented.
The Grand Master delivered an excellent address.
He called attention to the fact that the jurisdiction had been invaded, St. George's Lodge, No. 440, Montreal, initiating a candidate from Toronto. The Grand Master of England had been communicated with, and the action of the Montreal lodge pointed out; but the Grand Master of England did not agree with the views expressed by the Canadian Grand Master, although Most Worshipful Brother Spry pointed out that there could be no permanent harmony were such invasions permitted. Grand Lodge directed further communication with England, in order to effect an amicable settlement.
Most Worshipful Brother Spry was reelected Grand Master.
The twenty‑ninth annual communication was held at Toronto, in July, 1884. Two hundred and ninety‑two lodges were represented. The Grand Master stated that nothing further had been done in the English difficulty, but hoped matters would be arranged before next Grand Lodge.
An important resolution was passed, to the effect that, in the opinion of Grand Lodge, it was not desirable that intoxicating liquors be placed on refreshment tables of private lodges.
BRITISH AMERICA.
469 It was also resolved that the work be exemplified after all meetings of Grand Lodge.
Right Worshipful Brother Hugh Murray was elected Grand Master. The thirtieth annual communication of Grand Lodge was held at Hamil ton, in July, 1885.
Two hundred and fifty‑three lodges were represented.
On the subject of belief in the Deity, the Grand Master maintained the position of Grand Lodge in severing fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France. He alluded to the Quebec difficulty, and said that the Grand Lodge of that Province had issued an edict of non‑intercourse as regarded the English lodges in Montreal.
The rank of Past Grand Master was conferred on Right Worshipful Brother Otto Klotz, for distinguished services in connection with the Craft. At this meeting of Grand Lodge an important matter, affecting the entire jurisdiction, was dealt with.
A brother of a Toronto lodge was charged, tried, and disciplined for being an agnostic.
From this finding he appealed.
He explained to the Board of General Purposes that he was an agnostic only in the sense of the word used by Huxley, who, he said, defined the word " agnostic " to be "One who is honest enough to admit that he does not know what, under the present condition of human knowledge, is impossible to be known."
The brother also stated his belief in God, that God's will had been revealed, and that he would punish vice and reward virtue, and that he had no contempt for God or religion.
The Board reported, recommending that the suspension be removed; but, on the report being brought before Grand Lodge, it was ordered that the matter be referred to the Grand Master for inquiry and action. At this meeting of Grand Lodge, it was resolved that the entire Districts be re‑distributed by a committee, under the presidency of Right Worshipful Brother J. Ross Robertson and Right Worshipful Brothers J. S. Dewar, R. L. Patterson, William Forbes, R. Ramsay, and William Longmore. Most Worshipful Brother Murray was reelected Grand Master.
The thirty‑first annual communication was held, in July, 1886, at Windsor. Two hundred and seventy‑nine lodges were represented. With reference to the case of agnosticism, the Grand Master said that the brother had failed to convince him that his suspension should be removed. The Grand Master reviewed the case at length.
He referred to the excellent work of the committee on the re‑distribution of the Districts and the preparation of the Masonic map.
The constitution was revised and the words " In the Province of Ontario" added to the title of the Grand Lodge, making it "The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario." Right Worshipful Brother Henry Robertson, of Collingwood, was elected Grand Master.
The thirty‑second annual communication of Grand Lodge was held at Brockville, in 1887. Two hundred and thirty‑three lodges were represented. The Grand Master in his address rejoiced that the Craft was in a prosperous condition.
He referred to the General Masonic Relief Association of the United States and Canada, an organization formed for the purpose of protecting the Craft from tramp Masons and impostors.
He referred to the fact 470 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
that the territory of the Grand Lodge had been invaded by Quebec, but that the Grand Master of that jurisdiction had promptly suspended the Worshipful Master of the lodge for the infringement. Most Worshipful Brother Henry Robertson was reelected.
The thirty‑third annual communication was held at Toronto, in 1888. Harmony had been universal during the year. Two hundred and sixty lodges were represented. In this year Lodge No. 159, at Vankleek Hill, in the County of Prescott, the last of the lodges on the Irish Register working in Canada, asked for admission and was received into the Grand Lodge of Canada.
The funds of Grand Lodge were reported at $69,243.
Right Worshipful Brother R. T. Walkem was elected Grand Master.
The thirty‑fourth annual communication was held at Owen Sound, in 1889. Two hundred and fifty‑three lodges were represented.
The total vote repre sented at the meeting was io8o.
The Grand Master had, in accordance with the resolution of Grand Lodge in 1888, agreed to act as a friendly medium for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation between Quebec and England and that, acting on his suggestion, the edict issued by Quebec against England had been withdrawn.
He said that he would endeavor to arrange a satisfactory basis of settlement.
The Grand Master also pointed out that the invested funds were $6o,ooo, with about $1 o,ooo in the funds of Grand Lodge, and that from 1868 to 1888 the capital account had increased from $35,000 to $69,ooo, and that $171,139 had been paid for benevolence.
A proposal to have all work in private lodges performed in the Third degree was rejected, and a resolution, proposed by Right Worshipful Brother J. Ross Robertson, looking to the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of Masonry in Ontario, was carried.
Most Worshipful Brother Walkem was reelected Grand Master.
The thirty‑fifth annual communication of Grand Lodge was held in Kingston in July, 189o. Two hundred and seventy‑four lodges were represented. Five hundred and forty‑two names were registered, having a total vote of 1118. The Grand Master gave an instructive address. He referred to a visit paid to England and the cordial reception he had received from the English Craft.
Ninety‑two pages of the annual report contain most interest ing reports from the District Deputy Grand Masters.
The Grand Treasurer reported the invested funds as $70,564.o6.
Right Worshipful Brother J. Ross Robertson was elected Grand Master.
This review of Craft work in Canada brings the writer down to the days of i 89o‑1891. With a desire simply to record the actual work that has been done in the jurisdiction since the last communication of Grand Lodge, the writer has only to say that since his occupation of the Grand East he has visited one hundred and twenty‑five lodges of the jurisdiction; that the time occupied in these visits was between three and four months ; that, in order to cover the entire jurisdiction, it required ten thousand miles of journeying by road and BRITISH AMERICA.
471 rail ; and that, in the aggregate, nearly ten thousand brethren were present at these meetings, or nearly one‑half of those on the Register of Grand Lodge. The present year promises to be one of prosperity for the Canadian Craft. The indications are that the Fraternity will have a much greater meed of success in the future than it has had in the palmiest days of the past.
The merits of the Craft work are being appreciated by an ever‑growing number of the best and most intelligent men in the country, and the lodges are gradually attracting a class of brethren that will reflect credit not only upon the Masons of this land but upon the Fraternity at large.
This history of the Craft has been inspired by a wish to describe the activities of Craft life in Upper Canada during the past century.
He who reads will readily realize not only what Craft life was but what Craft life is.
Our records, to which it would be impossible to give more than a passing notice, show that the Craftsmen of the olden time did a great deal of good work, and, though we may not trace our antiquity to as early a date as is possible in a few other jurisdictions, we, at least, have the satisfaction of knowing that our history has not been an inglorious one.
Many may assert that our brethren of long ago heeded not the guide‑posts which marked the pathway, and that the pioneers, who, in the early days, carried the Craft flag, made many mistakes. Yet all must admit ‑ and especially we who have a direct knowledge of their work‑that in their mission they were earnest and sincere and did the right as God gave them to see the right. Their successes and reverses, their triumphs and tribulations come to the Masons of Canada as a lesson eloquent of instruction.
Profiting by their errors‑whatever they may have beenshould we not look with favor on the work of our forefathers and make the present an example for the rising generation of Masons, who, kneeling at our altars, and guided by the three Great Lights, shall have imprinted upon their hearts the truth of the story symbolized in the teachings of the Craft,‑teachings which are founded upon the truths we find in the volume of Holy Writ, that lies unfolded upon the Craft altars of every jurisdiction within the bounds of an empire whose drum‑beat encircles the world ? 472 History of the Grand Lodges of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Islam', Manitoba, and British Columbia.
The Grand Lodge of Quebec. ‑ || The Imperial Act, relating to the Confederation of the Dominion of Canada and of the various Provinces therein contained," and intitled the "British North America Act, 1867," came into force by royal proclamation, July 1, 1867.
By the aforesaid act the || Province of Canada," as then existing, was || severed and formed into two Provinces," called the " Province of Ontario," and the " Province of Quebec." Organization.‑On the loth day of October, 1869, the Grand Lodge of (the Province of) Quebec, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was _established by the representatives of twenty‑one lodges, three of which were of the Registry of England, one of the Registry of Scotland, seventeen of the Registry of Canada, and constituted a majority of all the lodges in the Province.
Lodges and Membership. ‑In the year 1870 one lodge, R. E., and six lodges, R. C., became of allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Quebec; in 1872 two lodges, R. C. ; in 1874 seventeen lodges, R. C. (some being of recent institution), united with the Grand Lodge of Quebec ; in 1881 three lodges, R. S. (two of recent institution), became of allegiance thereto; and new lodges have been warranted almost yearly by the Grand Lodge of Quebec. In 1889 there was a total of sixty‑three working lodges in its Registry.
At its organization, 1869, its membership was about one thousand; and in 1889 it was three thousand and fifty‑two. Hence it appears that during these twenty years the number of lodges increased threefold, and the total membership also trebled.
Finances. ‑ In 1889 the receipts from private lodges, for initiations, dues, etc., were $2193.75; the Grand Lodge appropriations for relief were ,$300; COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
FREEMASONRY IN THE NORTH.
By JOHN H. GRAHAM, LL.D., Past Grand Master of the M.‑. W.‑. Grand Lodge of Quebec.
CHAPTER II.
MASONRY IN THE BRITISH PROVINCES.
BRITISH AMERICA.
473 cash in hands of the treasurer, to the credit of the general fund, $1821.66; benevolent fund invested in city of Montreal bonds, $7083.96; and on deposit in name of trustees, towards proposed Masonic Home, $583.96; making a total of $9489.58, of general and benevolent funds invested at the close of the year 1889. This shows a modest average increase of cash accumulations, over and above expenditures for all purposes, of about $5oo annually, during the twenty years of its existence. Quebec does not pay travelling or per diem expenses of representatives of lodges, in attendance at the commu nications of Grand Lodge.
The mininium fee for initiation is $zo, and for lodge dues $3 per annum.
The library contains about two hundred volumes. It appears from the foregoing that in the increase of the number of its lodges, and of its membership, and in its finances and beneficent work, the steady domestic progress of the Grand Lodge of Quebec has been almost phenomenal, when it is borne in mind that about two‑thirds of the population of the Province are under a " home and foreign " influence, and domination hostile to Freemasonry.
Recognition by Other Grand Lodges. ‑ The establishment of the Grand Lodge of Quebec involved all the fundamental principles of jurisprudence and of procedure, pertaining to the rightful and regular formation of Grand Lodges of Freemasons (especially in dissevered territories) ; and, as every step taken therein was " challenged " by the Grand Lodge of Canada, it therefore awakened the deepest interest among the leaders of the Craft throughout the world; and hence the prompt, hearty, and thoroughly fraternal " recognition " of Quebec, as follows, by sister Grand Lodges, is one of the most significant and instructive Masonic events of modern times: ‑ In 1869‑1870 Quebec was duly recognized as a rightfully and regularly constituted Grand Lodge by nine sister Grand Lodges (first by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, on report of Most Worshipful Brother, the Hon. B. B. French; second by the Grand Lodge of Maine, on report of Most Worshipful Brother, the Hon. Josiah H. Drummond ; third by the Grand Lodge of the " Old Granite State," etc.) ; in 1871 Quebec had been recognized by twenty‑two Grand Lodges; in 1872 by thirty‑one; in 1873 by thirty‑six; in 1874 by the Grand Lodge of Canada and others; and in 1889 Quebec interchanges Grand Representatives with fifty‑nine regular Grand Lodges, including all in the Dominion of Canada, the United States of America, the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and others in foreign lands on both hemispheres. The exceptions existing (1889) are England and Scotland. The latter has now no private lodges in the Province of Quebec, but is seemingly awaiting the action in re of the former.
The Attitude of Canada.‑The Grand Lodge of Canada claimed continuous jurisdiction over the lodges of its institution, situate in the severed (1867) "Province of Quebec"; combated the right of the Craft therein to form an independent Grand Lodge; and affirmed that "there were no prece‑ 474 COSi110POLITAN FREEMASONRY.
dents therefor, as far as known, either in the old world or on this continent." Per contra, and in vindication of " Quebec," its Grand Master cited, among others, the following: ‑ Precedents.‑" Omitting the erection of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, and several other instances in the earliest history of Freemasonry in the United States, of the formation of Grand Lodges in Provinces, then lately severed from the territorial jurisdiction of existing Grand Lodges, such as resulted upon the dismemberment of the north‑west territory of Virginia, and the old Louisiana Territory, etc. ; it is deemed amply sufficient, in proof, to submit the following precedents, which are familiar to every well‑read and intelligent Mason : "The Territory of the (now) State of Maine, after a union of one hundred and sixty‑seven years, was severed from Massachusetts in 1819, and admitted into the Union early in the year 1820.
Shortly after the severance, the Grand Lodge of Maine was duly formed‑incorporated by the State, June 16, 1820, and consecrated on the Festival of St. John the Baptist, June 24th.
Most, if not all, of the lodges which united in forming it, retained, and are to this day working under their original warrants received from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
"In 1849‑i85o the Grand Lodge of the' Territory of Oregon' was regularly formed.
In 1857x858 the 'Territory of Oregon' was severed by the 'Federal Government,' and the northern portion erected into the' Territory of Washington, and in the same year (1858) the' Grand Lodge of the Territory of Washington' was duly formed by four of the lodges situated therein, and the Grand Master installed by Past Master, Worshipful Brother T. M. Reed.
"In the year 1862, the State of West Virginia was duly recognized as a separate State, by the Federal authority, erected out of the western portion of the State of Virginia; in which severed territory the Grand Lodge of the State of West Virginia, in 1865, was regularly formed by a minority of the lodges situated therein, and has been recognized by nearly all the Grand Lodges of the world as a sister Grand Lodge.
"In 1867 (the same year in which the territory of the 'Grand Lodge of Canada' was severed by the British Government), the 'Territory of Washington,'‑which had previously been severed from Oregon,‑was itself severed by the Federal Government of the United States, and its eastern portion erected into the' Territory of Idaho'; and in December of the same year, the lodges situated in the dissevered territory formed the ' Grand Lodge of the Territory of Idaho, which was duly recognized by the Grand Lodge of Washington Territory at its first subsequent communication.
"These precedents alone are deemed amply sufficient to show the general practice of the Fraternity in regard to the formation of new Grand Lodges in 'Territories' and ' States' dissevered by the supreme political authority of the land, from the territorial jurisdiction of existent Grand Lodges; and in all of these cases, with one or two unwise exceptions, the parent Grand Lodges peacefully and fraternally coincided, and bade their offspring God‑speed.
"Moreover, the Grand Lodge of Texas now exercises exclusive Masonic jurisdiction over that magnificent State; yet no one dreams that, should the increase of population and other circumstances cause its political disseverance into the four States contemplated by the original resolution of Annexation to the United States, the Grand Lodge of Texas would lay claim to perpetual Masonic jurisdiction over these new States, because they were formerly an integral portion of her territory; but she would regretfully, of course, yet peacefully, gracefully and proudly, recognize each Grand Lodge when formed, as her own offspring." In his address at an emergent communication, December i, 7869, the Grand Master of Canada, infer afa, asserted that the Grand Master of Quebec had not been " regularly " installed by Brother J. H. Isaacson, Past Master (the Senior Past lVlaster present).
The Grand Master of Quebec replied : ‑ " We affirm, without fear of successful contradiction, that from the installation of Brother Anthony Sayer as Grand Master of Masons of England, in 1717, to the installation of the Grand Master of Quebec, in 1869 (x52 years), that over one‑third of the first Grand Masters of all the regular Grand Lodges in the world have been installed by Past Masters." BRITISH AMERIC,1.
475 In his next subsequent report of foreign correspondence, Past Grand Master Drummond of Maine said : " If Quebec is ` irregular' in this, she is in good company." He then enumerates, among" others," seventeen United States and two Canadian precedents therefor, and adds : " We reckon this list of precedents settles the question." Attitude of England. ‑ In correspondence and otherwise the officials of the Grand Lodge of England raised objections to the claim of '| Quebec " to have and to exercise exclusive jurisdiction within its territorial limits. They expressed their willingness that the three lodges, R. E., in the city of Montreal, adhere to the Grand Lodge of Quebec, giving the assurance that no new English lodges would be established in the territory of Quebec; but they affirmed the right of these three lodges to a continuance at will of allegiance to " England."
(The Grand Lodge of England proffered recognition conditioned on the foregoing.
Quebec declined.)
It was, moreover, affirmed by leaders in England, that the right of " exclusive jurisdiction " claimed by '| Quebec " was an " American Masonic doctrine." In reply thereto, by citations from the constitutions and records of the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland (and by corroborative proof from the early declarations and procedure of the oldest Grand Lodges of the United States), the Grand Master of Quebec irrefutably demonstrated, as is generally conceded, the following propositions and conclusions therefrom : ‑ " The principle of coincidence or coterminousness, of political and Masonic boundaries, is an acknowledged law of the constitutions of the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and Scotland. "The jurisdiction of each of these Grand Lodges is exclusive within its geographical limits.
"Each of these Grand Lodges claims to be, and is, absolutely sovereign, and may and does enforce its territorial, exclusive, sovereign authority, by the most extreme Masonic penalties, against all lodges not of its registry, existing within its boundaries, in contravention thereto or in violation thereof, even if said lodge (or lodges) were of institution' anterior to that of said Grand Lodge.
"The doctrine of exclusive Grand Lodge jurisdiction cannot, therefore, with propriety, be called an American doctrine only; but it is a doctrine of the Ancient Constitutions of Freemasonry, as expressed in the constitutions of the premier of modern Grand Lodges.
"Moreover, the Province of Quebec is a federal Province of the Dominion of Canada, and has a political autonomy with legislative, judicial, and executive powers, which are not possessed by England, Scotland, or Ireland, as parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and hence the Grand Lodge of Quebec is as much (and, a fortiori more), entitled to have and to exercise exclusive Masonic authority within her territorial limits, as is either of the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom within its geographical boundaries." No official or other reply has ever been made to the foregoing; and, more recently, the difficulty in re with England is stated to be that she has not hitherto conceded the right of exclusive sovereignty to a Grand Lodge in any dependency of the empire.
The Grand Master of Quebec replied that the said "right" is inherent, inalienable, and imprescriptible, and not one of "concession," and that an "imperial Masonic policy" on the part of England which is not in accord with her own 11 Constitutions," and which is not, as has been so often manifest, 476 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
promotive of the peace, harmony, and prosperity of the Craft, ought to be changed without delay.
Seemingly in order to complete the vindication of his own Grand Lodge, and to submit to the Craft universal his |1 readings " of the constitution, the jurisprudence and procedure of the Fraternity in re, the first Grand Master of Quebec, in his ninth annual address (1883), made, inter alia, the following statement of laws governing the establishment and interjurisdictional relations and procedure of Grand Lodges: ‑ "The Twelve Tables."‑I. At least three duly represented private lodges must unite in the establishment of a Grand Lodge, and the number of lodges thus cooperating should constitute a majority of all the regular private lodges existing within the territory for which the sovereign Grand body is formed.
The union and cooperation of all the lodges so situated is supremely desirable, when practicable.
11.
It is the duty of every private lodge situated within the territorial jurisdiction of a regularly formed Grand Lodge, but which, through any cause, was not represented at its organization, to become, at an early day thereafter, of allegiance to the new Grand body, and be enrolled on its Registry; or, upon its refusal it may be deemed and declared to be an irregular lodge in not submitting to the lawfully constituted Masonic sovereignty of the country.
III.
At the formation of a Grand Lodge, it is not required to issue new warrants to the lodges which united in its establishment, or to those which subsequently become of its allegiance; but an endorsement of the transference of allegiance may be made on the margin of the charter of the adhering lodge or lodges.
IV. At the formation of a Grand Lodge, in the absence of a Grand Master or Past Grand Master of another Grand Lodge, the oldest Past Master of a private lodge present, may install the Grand Master‑elect.
V. From its formation, every regularly constituted Grand Lodge, as to its privileges, prerogatives, and duties, and as to whatever else of right appertains to a Grand Lodge of Freemasons, is the peer of every other regular Grand Lodge, and no other Grand body can lawfully exercise Masonic Craft authority within its territorial jurisdiction.
VI.
Upon the consensus of a majority of sister Grand. Lodges as to the right of existence, and the regularity of the formation of a new Grand Lodge, the remaining regular Grand Lodges should deem themselves to be bound by the award, duly pronounced, of their sister Masonic sovereignties, and seek the establishment of interjurisdictional relations with the new territorially supreme Grand body.
VII. Any Grand Lodge may charter private lodges in any territory unoccupied by a localsovereign Grand Lodge; but the exercise of this right is with propriety restricted to unoccupied territories belonging to the country within whose domain the chartering Grand Lodge is situated, or to exterior countries within whose limits a Grand Lodge does not exist.
VIII. A Grand Lodge cannot rightfully constitute a new lodge, or continue to exercise jurisdiction over any lodge formerly chartered by it, after the regular formation of a Grand Lodge within the territory in which said private lodge is situated.
IX. A Grand Lodge cannot rightfully extend to, or receive from, another Grand Lodge qualified or conditional recognition, or lawfully establish interjurisdictional relations based thereon. X. A Grand Lodge violating any of the essential Landmarks of the Order should be deemed and declared to be an irregular body as long as such violation of the Constitutions of the Fraternity is persisted in.
XI. Any order or organization allied to Ancient Craft Masonry, by requiring candidates for admission thereto to be Freemasons, should be deemed and' declared to have forfeited said alliance, should they wilfully violate, or endeavor to annul, the Lndmarks, Laws, and Constitutions of Ancient Freemasonry.
XII. The several federal Provinces constituting the Dominion of Canada, and the Colonies throughout the British Empire, having local constitutional governments, are severally as mach entitled to form and to have Grand Lodges, possessing and exercising exclusive sovereign jurisdiction within their respective geographical and legislative boundaries, as are England, Scotland, and Ireland, as component parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; or as are the several federal States and organized Territories of the United States of America; or as are any separate and distinct kingdoms, or the like.
Proclamations of Non‑Intercourse. ‑In 18 73 "Quebec" declared nonintercourse with " Canada " for invasion of her territory. Interjurisdictional harmony was fully restored, in 1874, upon the adhesion of the || Canada" lodges in Quebec to the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
In 18 78 11 Quebec " proclaimed non‑intercourse with 11 Scotland " for estab‑ BRITISH AMERICA.
477 lishing two new lodges in the city of Montreal, and the formation of a District Grand Lodge therein. In 1881 intercourse was resumed when Elgin Lodge, R. S., and the two lodges, R. S., of recent institution, became of allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
Grand Representatives (189o) have not been interchanged with Scotland.
In 1884 " Quebec " suspended fraternal intercourse with the three lodges, R. E., in Montreal; and in 1886 she declared non‑intercourse with the Grand Lodge of England. In 1889 both these edicts were withdrawn, pending mediatory negotiations between "England" and "Quebec" by the Grand Master of " Canada in Ontario," 1889‑18go.
Freemasonry in Canada, 1760‑1790.‑The French garrison at the city of Quebec capitulated to the British troops, September, 1759 ; and that of the city of Montreal, September, 176o. A number of military lodges came into Canada with the British and Colonial forces.
In 176o (circa), the Hon. Col. Simon Frazer was appointed Provincial Grand Master; in 1762 Milborne West, Esq., was appointed Provincial Grand Master for Canada (the Grand East at the city of Quebec), by Lord Blaney, Grand Master, England (|' Moderns "); in 1767 the Hon. John Collins, by the Duke of Beaufort, Grand Master; in 1786 Col. Chris. Carleton; and in 1788 Sir John Johnson, Bart., by the Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master. (Among the lodges chartered [1791] under the Provincial Grand Mastership of the latter, was Dorchester Lodge, Vergennes, Vermont, now No. 1 on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of that State. It was named from Sir Guy Carleton [Lord Dorchester], then Governor and Commander‑in‑Chief of the British forces in Canada.) Lower Canada, 1791‑1869. ‑By an Imperial Act (1791) Canada was divided into two provinces, called "Upper Canada" (now Ontario) and " Lower Canada" (now Quebec). During the above period there were two Provincial Grand Masters of England ("Ancients") for Lower Canada. H.‑.R.‑.H.‑. the Duke of Kent, father of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, was installed at the city of Quebec, June 22, 1792 ; and the Hon. Claude Denechau, in 1797, antedated from 1823, honoris causa.
On April 2, 1823, H.‑.R.‑.H.‑. the Duke of Sussex, Grand Master of the "United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England," divided Lower Canada into two districts, called the || District of Quebec and Three Rivers " (with its Grand East at the city of Quebec) ; and the " District of Montreal and William Henry" (now Sorel), (with its Grand East at the city of Montreal). The Hon. William McGillivray was appointed District Grand Master of the latter, and the Hon. Claude Denechau District Grand Master of the former.
In 1841 Upper and Lower Canada were reunited.
On May x, 1852, Thomas Douglas Harington was, by patent from the Earl of Zetland, appointed District Grand Master of " Quebec and Three Rivers." On September 14th, of the same year, he was, by "deputation," installed by 478 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Brother George Thompson of Albion Lodge, whom he appointed District Deputy Grand Master.
On December 12, 185 7, James Dean was appointed District Grand Master. He was installed by George Thompson as Provincial Grand Master, May 17, 1858. Brother Dean resigned a short time prior to the " formation " of the Grand Lodge of Quebec (1869), by which he was elected an Honorary Past Grand Master. He died November, 1870.
In 1826 the Hon. John Molson was appointed District ('wand Master of "Montreal and William Henry"; the Hon. Peter McGill, in 1846; and the Hon. William Badgely, in 1849.
The latter died in 1888.
A successor has not been appointed (1889‑1890) by the Grand Master of England. There are three lodges, R. E., in the city of Montreal. The Grand Lodge of Canada, now the Grand Lodge of Canada in Ontario, was formed in 1855 ; and, with the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland, exercised jurisdiction in Lower Canada, till the organization of the Grand Lodge of Quebec in 1869.
Reminiscences. ‑ Antiquity Lodge, city of Montreal, No. r, Q. R., was of Irish institution, No. 227, and was named the Lodge of Social and Military Virtues. It was warranted May 4, 1752, Lord Kingsborough, G. M., and was attached to the 46th Regiment of Light Infantry. For nearly a century its meetings were held in many countries throughout the world.
In 1756 meetings of the lodge were held at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
[See Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia.] In 1 760 it held its first meeting in Montreal, shortly after the || capitulation " of the city to the British.
In 1764‑1766 "the 46th" was in several of the American (U.S.A.) Colonies, and " tradition " indicates that it was during this period that Lodge No. 227 became possessed of the "famous old Bible" (of date 1712), which was used when George Washington received a degree in Freemasonry; but whether in lodge or chapter does not appear.
This " tradition " seems to have very considerable incidental documentary evidence in its support.
In 1767 the Regiment returned to Ireland ; and it landed at Staten Island, New York, in 1776.
In 1777‑1778 "the 46th" was stationed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and during this period its famous " bullock chest with brass mountings," containing the lodge warrant, working‑tools, regalia, etc., fell into the hands of the American troops ; but it was shortly thereafter returned to the Regiment by Brother General George Washington, under a flag of truce, and escorted by a guard of honor.
In 1803 while the Regiment was at Dominica, the "sacred old trunk" was captured by the French troops, but it was returned to the Regiment by Napoleon I.
In 1816 (‑r817) 11 the 46th," with its famous Lodge No. 227, I. R., arrived BRITISH AMERICA.
479 at Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales, Australia, where No. 221 held meetings. A warrant, No. 260, I.R., of date (?) August 12, 1820, was obtained by certain brethren at Sydney, for establishing the first lodge on '| the continent "
of Australasia, which was called, The Australian Social Mother Lodge.
In 1877 this lodge became No. r, on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of New South Wales, and designated Social Mother. At the happy "union," in 1888, it became No. r, on the Registry of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales.
At the "constitution" of No. 260, the " famous Bible," the working‑tools and regalia of the renowned No. 2 2 7 were used ; and the " work " on that memorable occasion was probably, in most part, done by its officers.
[See Division X., Grand Lodge of New South Wales.] In 1846 " the 46th " was at Kingston, Canada West, and the lodge property was then given to Brother Sergeant‑Major W. Sheppard, of the Royal Artillery, for the purpose of establishing a permanent military lodge at Montreal, Canada East. At this period (1847‑1848), the Grand Lodge of Ireland granted a renewal of the warrant.
In 185 7 the lodge became of allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Canada, its name being changed to " Antiquity."
It was the oldest lodge on that Registry, and it was authorized to wear |` gold."
It united with the Grand Lodge of Quebec in 1874.
Albion Lodge, city of Quebec, was originally attached to the Fourth Battalion Royal Regiment of Artillery. It was warranted as No. 9, June 22, 1751 ; Antrim, Grand Master; Laurence Dermott, Deputy Grand Master; Thomas Harper, Senior Grand Warden; James Perry, Junior Grand Warden; and John McCormick, Grand Secretary.
This warrant was renewed December 30, 17
In 1814 Albion was numbered 17, R. E., and in 1870 it became No. 2, Q. R.
It is but one month and eighteen days the junior of Antiquity, No. 1, Q. R., Montreal.
Albion received, from the Grand Lodge of England, an authorization to wear a " special centenary jewel," April 3, 1862.
It is the second on the list of such, Royal York Lodge of Perseverance, No. 7, London, England, being the first.
There is very much concerning these and other Quebec lodges, of unusual and absorbing historic interest.
Nova Scotia. ‑ On the loth day of February, 1866, the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of (the Province of) Nova Scotia was formed, at the city of Halifax, by the representatives of the nine following lodges: Burns' Lodge, 35 2, R. S. ; Athole, 361, R. S. ; Keith, 365, R. S. ; Scotia, 411, R. S., all of Halifax; Eldorado, 434, R. S., Wine Harbor; St. Mark's, R. S., Baddeck, Cape Breton; Acacia, 330, R. I., Amherst; and Ophier, Tangier, and Queen's, Sherbrooke, U. D.
W. H. Davies was elected Grand Master, 1866‑1867; J. R. Graham, Substitute Grand Master; W. Taylor, Deputy Grand Master; R. J. Romans, 48o COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Senior Grand Warden; A. K. MacKinlay, Grand Treasurer, 1866‑1868; and C. J. Macdonald, Grand Secretary, 1866‑1868. R. Sircom was elected Grand Master, 1868; and N. W. White, Substitute Grand Master. During 18661869 the number of lodges on the Registry had increased twelve, making a total of twenty‑five in the latter year.
Nova Scotia has nine District Deputy Grand Masters.
On June 23, 1869, the District Grand Lodge, R. E., with twenty‑five lodges on its Registry, one lodge, R. S., and the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia, with twenty‑five lodges on its Registry happily 1| united," under the designation of || The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Nova Scotia," and elected its Grand officers, who were installed the following day, June 24th, by A. A. Stevenson, Grand Master of Canada.
In 1889 there were sixty‑seven lodges on the Registry, with a membership of about 29oo.
The income of the Grand Lodge, 1888‑1889, from lodge dues, fees, etc., was $2717.05 ; from rents, Freemasons' Hall, $1822 ; total, $4539‑05. Cash balance in hands of Treasurer, ,$1436.21, with rents due, $642.25 ; making a total to credit of Grand Lodge, $2082.46.
The Grand Lodge has a fine Masonic Temple.
There is an indebtedness upon it, to liquidate which steps are being taken.
Some progress has been made in forming a Grand Lodge library.
This Grand Lodge interchanges Grand Representatives with most of the regular Grand Lodges throughout the world. The motto upon its seal is " SOLI DEo GLORIA." This is unhappily ambiguous. The Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia praiseworthily attends divine service just after the formal opening of its annual communication.' Its Book of Constitution and Forms, 18881889, is, in many respects, a model of excellence.
Reminiscences, 1756‑1880.‑In the year 1713 Acadia, which included Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island (St. John), was ceded by France to Great Britain, and during the same year British troops took possession of Annapolis Royal as "headquarters" for the whole of Acadia. Cape Breton Island was not ceded to Great Britain till 1763.
It appears from tradition, apparently somewhat supported by collateral documentary proof, that a lodge was instituted at Annapolis Royal, by virtue I On September 24, 1784, the "Grand Lodge" was opened by prayer by Rev. Brother Joshua Wingate Weeks, from which we make the following extract: ‑ " Pour down thy gifts and graces on the head and heart of thy servant, our Grand Masterelect, whom thy providence hath called to preside in Solomon's chair.
May he be enabled wisely to unfold the mysteries of Masonry, and to maintain the dignity of the Craft.
May his officers be, like pillars in the Temple, a support to his authority and the ornament of their profession, and may all the brethren be workers together with God in raising up the beautiful fabric of charity, which may afford them shelter and relief in the hour of distress.
Thou who hast called the faithful throughout the earth into one body, may they be of on8 heart and soul, that harmony, peace, and happiness may ever prevail, and that finally they may be admitted into that heavenly lodge which is made without hands, eternal in the heavens, and dwell therein for ever and ever. Amen." The Grand Master on that occasion was Most Worshipful John George Pyke.‑Hon. W. Ross, Grand Secretary.
BRITISH AMERICA.
481 of a " deputation " granted to Erasmus James Phillips, who was " made " at Boston, November 14, 1737, by the Henry Price Provincial Grand Lodge, Boston, Massachusetts, about 1737‑1738 1 On June 21, 1749, H.‑. M.‑. ship Beaufort arrived in Chebucto, now Halifax, harbor, in command of Edward Cornwallis, who was the first governor of Nova Scotia.
The city of Halifax was founded the following January, 1750.
There is a tradition, seemingly supported by documentary evidence, that a civil and military lodge, of which Governor Cornwallis was the first Worshipful Master, was instituted at Halifax, July 19, 175o, by warrant from Erasmus James Phillips, Provincial Grand Master at Annapolis Royal! In 1756 lodge meetings were held at Halifax by the Lodge of Social and Military Virtues, No. 227, Irish Registry (attached to the "46th Regiment of Light Infantry "), and now Antiquity Lodge, Montreal, and No. 1 on the Registry of the Grand Lodge of Quebec.
[See Grand Lodge of Quebec.] At Halifax, in the year 1'758 (about seven years after the formation at London, England, of the Grand Lodge of the "Ancients "; and also called the York, Atholl, and Dermott Grand Lodge), Erasmus James Phillips received a Provincial Grand warrant' (still in existence), written by Dermott, and 1 The Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia is in possession of a large amount of valuable and interesting Masonic documents, such as charter to form' a Provincial Grand Lodge, which is dated December 27, 1757.
Registered in Grand Lodge of England's records [Vol. 3, letter C].
We have a complete register of the members of the different lodges from 1784 up to the present time. From 1784 to 1820 there were thirty‑six lodges under the Provincial Grand Lodge. Of these four were in New Brunswick and one in Prince Edward Island, showing the strong and wide‑spread hold Freemasonry had obtained in the early history of Nova Scotia.
We also hold continuous copies of warrants from September, 1784, down to the present time, with the respective names of the honored Grand Masters who followed each other on the roll of time. These ancient warrants, with their old‑fashioned seals of wax stamped into a leaden mould, tell the early history of many a lodge which still exists in strength, love, and unity in the city of Halifax and throughout the Province.
The three oldest lodges now working in Halifax are: St. Andrew's, chartered March 26, 1768; St. John's, chartered June 30, 1780; Virgin, chartered February 18, 1782. The latter lodge has records and list of members complete from 1782 to 1890.
Among the members of these three lodges were several who were or afterward became generals, admirals, governors, and judges,‑men who served their country with distinction in their various professions,‑and many of them received well‑earned honors at the hands of their sovereign. Of these we name Captain, afterwards Gen. Sir John Moore, who was killed at the battle of Corunna, and who was a member of St. John's Lodge m 1787.
Edward, Duke of Kent (then in command of H.‑. M.*. troops in British North America), father of H.. M.. Queen Victoria, laid the corner‑stone of Freemasons' Hall, Halifax, on June , 18oo. This stone was removed in 1876, when the old building was taken down to make room for the present Freemasons' Hall, in which it now occupies a conspicuous place.
The inscription reads as follows:_ In the name of GOD In the Reign of GEORGE III His Royal Highness Prince EDWARD Duke of KENT Commander‑in‑Chief of British N. America G. M. of Lower Canada In behalf of RD. BULKELEY ` Member of His Majestys Council G. M. of N. Scotia Laid this Foundation Stone of FREE MASONS HALL 5th iune Anno Domini 18oo And of Masonry 58oo.
‑Hon. W. Ross, Grand Secretary.
482 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
designated No. 65 ( ! ), in England, and No. 1, in Nova Scotia, and bearing date December 27, 175 7. Blesinton, Grand Master; William Halford, Deputy Grand Master; Robert Goodman, Senior Grand Warden; William Osborn, Junior Grand Warden; and Laurence Dermott, Grand Secretary. There accompanied this, two lodge warrants of same date, numbered respec tively No. 2 ( ! ), and No. 3 ( ! ).
It does not appear that either of these three warrants was ever used.
On the 2d day of June, 1784, a warrant (renewal of " 175 7
No. 65 " ( ! ), was granted by the Dermott Grand Lodge for a Provincial Grand Lodge for Nova Scotia, which was established September 24, 1784: John George Pyke, Provincial Grand Master; Jo3eph Peters, Grand Secretary; and William Hall, Deputy Grand Secretary.
By this warrant the officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge, |1 together with their lawful assistants, that is to say, the regular Masters, Wardens, and Past Masters only," were '1 authorized and empowered to nominate, choose, and install their successors," etc., " upon or near every St. John the Evangelist's Day, forever " ( ! ) ;
thus making it a quasi‑Grand Lodge, by authority of " Grand Master Antrim; Deputy Grand Master Laurence Dermott ; James Read, Senior Grand Warden; Peter Fehr, Junior Grand Warden; Robert Leslie, Grand Secretary." During the years 1786‑1791, His Excellency John Parr, Governor‑in‑Chief of Nova Scotia, the Islands of St. John (P.E.I.), and Cape Breton, ViceAdmiral, etc., was Provincial Grand Master. In the former year, 1786, New Brunswick was formed into a separate Colony.
From 1791 to 1800, the Hon. Richard Bulkeley was Provincial Grand Master; Duncan Clark, Provincial Grand Master, I8oo‑18o1 ; LieutenantGovernor, the Hon. John Wentworth, LL.D., Provincial Grand Master, i8o1‑181o; and John George Pyke, i81o‑i82o. At the close of the preceding thirty‑six (1784‑1820), years of all but uninterrupted harmony and prosperity, there were thirty‑one lodges on the Provincial Registry.
A serious interruption of harmony occurred in 1820‑1821, regarding the "election" of a successor to Provincial Grand Master Right Worshipful Brother Pyke, which was much intensified during the year 1825‑1826, by the application for a warrant to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, by certain brethren in Halifax. The
latter caused the Provincial Grand Lodge to " resolve " that by its warrant, etc., " It possessed the sole and exclusive right to grant warrants," etc., in Nova Scotia ! Provincial Grand Master Pyke "continued" in office one year (182o1821) ; and, during the years 1821‑1829, John Albro was "elected" Provincial Grand Master.
As a result of representations, etc., to England, the Duke of Sussex, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England, on April 2, 1829, "appointed" John Albro Provincial Grand Master for Nova Scotia. At this period there appeared to be but sixteen lodges on the Registry.
BRITISH AMERICA.
483 Through varying fortunes this noted Provincial, or District Grand Lodge continued its work and governance till its auspicious "union" (twenty‑five lodges being on its Registry), with the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia, in 1869, after an honored and beneficent existence of eighty‑five years (1784‑1869).
New Brunswick.‑On the loth day of October, 1867, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of (the Province of) New Brunswick was organized at the city of St. John, by the representatives of the fourteen following lodges : Albion, No. 4oo, R. E. ; St. John's, 436, R. E. ; Carleton Union, 424, R. E‑.; Midian, 527, R. E.; Union of Portland, 535, R. E. ; Woodstock, 553, R. E. ; Alley, 664, R. E. ; Northumberland, 701, R. E. ; Miramichi, 775, R. E. ; New Brunswick, 1084, R. E. ; Hibernia,
301,
R. I. ;
Sussex,
327,
R. I. ;
Leinster, 347,
R. I. ;
and St.
Andrew's, 376, R. S. ;
and being a majority of the twenty‑six lodges then existing in the Province.
There were nineteen lodges represented at the convention, but the delegates from St. Andrew's Lodge, 364, R. S., being in favor of postponing action, " asked and obtained permission to retire from the convention " ; and the delegates from Howard Lodge, 668, R. E., and. from Zetland Lodge, 886, R. E., stated that although "personally in favor of I the resolution' for the immediate organization of a Grand Lodge for New Brunswick, they had no authority to record a vote for their respective lodges." The representatives of Solomon's Lodge, 522, R. E., and of St. George Lodge, 629, R. E.,. who favored memorializing the parent Grand Lodges in re, were not present` when the vote was taken by the preceding fourteen lodges.
"The Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England " mutandis, adopted pro tempore.
Robert T. Clinch, District Grand Master, R. E., was unanimously Grand Master.
To a delegation from Grand Lodge, proffering him the Grand Mastership~. Brother Clinch replied that he could not consistently accept the distinguished; position, as he had not resigned the office of District Grand Master; R. E'. ; and moreover that he had no desire to fill any office, although he fully appreciated the compliment paid him. Brother Clinch and Past Provincial Grand Master, R. E., Alexander Balloch, were afterward elected Honorary Past Grand Masters.
On report to Grand Lodge of Brother Clinch's declination, the following Grand Officers "were duly nominated and unanimously elected by acclamation" : B. Lester Peters, Grand Master; William Wedderburn, Deputy Grand Master; Hon. William Flewelling, Senior Grand Warden; David Brown, Junior Grand Warden; Rev. William Donald, D.D., Grand Chaplain; and William H. A. Keans, Grand Treasurer.
On January 22, 1868, the Grand Master‑elect was duly installed "in the presence of a large and influential gathering of the Craft," of the Registries of were, muotis, elected, 484 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
England, Ireland, and Scotland, "from all parts of the Province," by Worshipful Brother John Willis, Past Master of Hibernia Lodge, and the Senior Past Master of the jurisdiction. The Grand Lodge was thereupon '| consecrated and dedicated." A resolution was adopted proffering equal privileges to all outstanding lodges in the Province, which should adhere to the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick, on or before the 31st day of March following; and that any lodge not of allegiance to Grand Lodge, on or before the 31st of May succeeding, should be dealt with by the Grand Master as he may in his wisdom and discretion determine, until the next communication of Grand Lodge.
A resolution was passed favoring the early erection of a Masonic Temple in the city of St. John.
A constitution was also adopted.
During the year 1867‑1868, ten lodges, R. E., became of allegiance to the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick, making a total of twenty‑four lodges on the Registry September 23, 1868.
St. Andrew's Lodge, 364, R. S., Fredericton, became of obedience to the Grand Lodge September 20, 1872, as No. 29, Registry of New Brunswick. This rendered the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge complete within the Province.
New Brunswick is divided into five districts, in charge of District Deputy Grand Masters.
Something has been done towards a Grand Lodge library. The Grand Lodge of New Brunswick interchanges Grand Representatives with nearly all the regular Grand Lodges throughout the world.
In 1889 the number of lodges on its Registry was thirty‑two, with a membership of 1833 (1887‑1889).
In 1888‑1889 the income of Grand Lodges from all sources, including special subscriptions, was $2333.64. Outlays, $1968.17. Cash on deposit to credit of Grand Lodge, $1563.76.
Reminiscences, 1786‑1890.‑In the year 1786 the Province of New Brunswick was formed out of that portion of Nova Scotia (Acadia) west of the Bay of Fundy.
The (now) city of St. John was then named Parr Town, after " His Excellency John Parr, Captain‑General and Governor‑in‑Chief, in and over His Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia, the Islands of St. John (P.E.I.) and Cape Breton and their Dependencies; Vice‑Admiral of the same," etc., and who had been " elected " Provincial Grand Master of Ancient Masons of Nova Scotia, at Halifax, 1786‑1791 On March 6, 1784, application was made to John George Pyke, Provincial Grand Master‑elect, at Halifax, by Elias Hardy, Master of Lodge 169, for a dispensation to establish a lodge of Ancient York Masons at Parr Town; and that the Rev. John Beardsley, late junior Grand Warden to the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, be nominated Master; Captain Oliver Bourdell, Senior Warden; and John Grinley, Junior Warden.
In 17' 4 Hiram Lodge, Parr Town, was 11 warranted by dispensation " from BRITISH AMERICA.
485 lodges Nos. 155 and 21r, at Halifax.
In 1795 this lodge "rebelled " against the authority of the Provincial Grand Lodge, at Halifax, by which it had been warranted as No. 17.
On September 7, 1796, its warrant was withdrawn by the Provincial Grand Lodge, and all its members, twenty‑two in number, were "expelled for apostacy," etc.
On August 7, 1789, an authorization was given by s` J. Parr, Grand Master," and "signed" by " J. Peters, Grand Secretary," at Halifax, to Rev. Jchn Beardsley, as Deputy Grand Master and others, to "open and hold a Grand Lodge, within twenty‑one days " from the receipt of the said authorization, " between the hours of ten o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening; and to continue open during the space of three hours and no longer, and solemnly constitute and install Samuel Ryerse, Master; Abraham de Peyster, Senior Warden; and Caleb Mallery, Junior Warden, of St. George's Lodge, No. 19 ; at the house of Brother Nathaniel Underhill, in the township of Maugerville, in the County of Sunbury, New Brunswick." On August 22, 1792, a warrant was granted by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Halifax, to Ephraim Betts and others, at St. Ann's (now Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick), for Solomon's Lodge, No. 22 ; and now No. 6, Registry of New Brunswick. In 17$3 correspondence had passed between a Brother Jared Betts, of that town, and " J. Peters, Secretary, Master's Lodge, (211), Halifax."
Brother Betts said he had been Master of "Lodge No. 535 "i and that he had the old warrant thereof, 1| granted by Dermott, Grand Master of Ireland"" ( ! ) ; and also that he had been "installed in Lodge No. 512, in South Carolina, held in His Majesty's 63d Regiment of Foot." Ir 1792 Brother Joseph Peters, who had been Postmaster‑General of Nova Scotia, at Halifax, removed to St. John, to organize the postal department of New Brunswick. Brother Peters, as Secretary of Lodge No. 21r, Halifax, among others, signed a memorial to the Atholl Grand Lodge, England, praying for a warrant to constitute a Provincial Grand Lodge for Nova Scotia, on November 22, 178r ; and again, on November 27, 1792. This warrant was granted of date, June 2, 1784 (see Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia). Brother Peters was Provincial Grand Secretary, 1786‑1792 On June 7, 1826, J. Albro, Provincial Grand Master, Halifax, appointed Benjamin L. Peters, Deputy Grand Master for the city of St. John and the town of St. Andrew's, New Brunswick.
On November 29, 1826, certain |1 resolves " of "censure and threatenings " were passed by the Grand Lodge at Halifax, against some brethren in Halifax, who had applied for a warrant to the Grand Lodge of Scotland; but it was further "resolved" that the aforesaid "censures," etc., should not apply to the Royal Arch Chapter at St. John, in New Brunswick, under warrant from Scotland, provided its members, jointly and severally, pay due obedience to the Grand Lodge (at Halifax), and comply with the rules and regulations at present in force under it, or which it may at any time enact ! COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
On March io, 1829; a warrant, No. 52, was made out by the Provincial Grand Lodge at Halifax, for Albion Lodge, No. 841, R. E., St. John, New 'Brunswick: Thomas Leavitt, Worshipful Master; William Durant, Senior Warden; and Robert Ray, Junior Warden. This lodge, formerly, also, No. 4oo, R. E., is now No. 1, Registry of New Brunswick.
There is much concerning other early and later lodges in New Brunswick, of very great local and general interest and importance to the Craft.
Prince Edward Island. ‑On the 23d day of June, 1875, the Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was organized by the following eight lodges, being all then working in the Province : St. John's, King Hiram, St. George, Alexandra, Mount Lebanon, and True Brothers, all of the Registry of England; and Victoria, Registry of' Scotland.
The constitution of the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick was adopted mutatis mutandis. The Honorable John Yeo was elected Grand Master, and Brother B. Wilson Higgs, Grand Secretary. The Grand officers were installed on the following day, June 24th, by Most Worshipful Brother John V. Ellis, Grand Master of New Brunswic~.
The Grand Lodge of Prince Edward Island is in fraternal correspondence with all the Grand Lodges in Canada, the United States, and with some others abroad.
In 1882 a new constitution was adopted. In 1889 there were twelve lodges on its Registry, with a membership of about five hundred.
During 1888 the income from all sources was $294.7o.
The balance in the treasury was $218.47.
The fee for initiation in Charlottetown, the capital of the Province, is $20; in country lodges, $16.
In 1889‑r8go a beginning had been made towards the erection of a Masonic Temple in the city of Charlottetown.
Manitoba.‑On May 12, 1875, the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was formed at Fort Garry, now the city of Winnipeg, by the three following lodges : Prince Rupert, Lisgar, and Ancient Landmark, all of the Registry of Canada.
The Rev. W. C. Clarke, who had held the offices of Grand Chaplain, and Vice‑President of the Board of General Purposes, in the Grand Lodge of Quebec, was elected Grand Master, and John H. Bell, Grand Secretary.
Manitoba has nine District Deputy Grand Masters.
In 1889 there were forty lodges on the Registry, ‑ a thirteen‑fold increase in thirteen years, ‑ with a present membership of about seventeen hundred.
In the same year there was a cash balance in the treasury of $334.70.
Ten per cent of the total receipts of the Grand Lodge are set aside for a general Benevolent Fund. The minimum fee for initiation, passing, and raising, is $25.
The annual lodge dues are $3.
The library contains about one thousand volumes.
Two lodges own the halls in which they meet.
BRITISH AMERICA 48,E The Grand Lodge of Manitoba is in fraternal correspondence with nearly all the regular Grand Lodges throughout the world.
It was incorporated, in 1884, by the legislature of the Province.
Private lodges may become incorporated by filing the necessary papers with the Provincial Secretary.
In 1878 a schism occurred over the question of "ritual," and a rival Grand body was formed.
Peace was happily restored, 1879, on the following basis: ‑ " That each lodge in the jurisdiction, or that may hereafter be formed under the Grand Lodge, be accorded the pr'vilege of adopting the 'Ancient York work,' or the 'Canada work,' as they may deem most suitable." In 1874, one year prior to the organization of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, a dispensation was granted for a lodge at Fort Garry, by the Grand Master of Minnesota. It continued U. D. for about three years, when the Grand Lodge of Minnesota cancelled the dispensation.
Lodge No. 18, named "Al Moghreb Al Aksa" (signifying "The Far West was opened at Gibraltar, with the intention, after a time, of removing it to Morocco; but chiefly on account of the protests of the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland, and Ireland, it was shortly transferred to the city of Tangier, Morocco. Its "work" is done in the English, French, Spanish, and Arabic languages.
Its membership is upwards of fifty, and it is composed of English, French, Austrians, Belgians, Spaniards, Turks, Portuguese, and Brazil ians.
They are Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans.
This lodge was established by the efforts of Brother Rev. R. S. Patterson, Chaplain to Her Majesty's Forces at Gibraltar, but formerly a resident of the city of Winnipeg, having been the first Worshipful Master of Prince Rupert's Lodge, No. 1, M. R., and District Deputy Grand Master of Canada, for Manitoba. It appears that the way is being paved for an independent Grand Lodge for Morocco.
Peguonga Lodge, No. za, had been established by the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, in the district of Kuwatin, but a large portion of that territory having been adjudged by the Privy Council, England, to belong to the Province of Ontario, Lodge No. za, M. R., on the suggestion of the Grand Master of Manitoba, transferred its allegiance, 1887, to the Grand Lodge of Canada in Ontario.
The Grand Lodge of Manitoba continues to prosper, and gives promise of becoming the " mother " of two or more new Grand Lodges in the western and north‑western territories of Canada.
British Columbia. ‑ On the z 1 st day of October, 1871, the " Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of " (the Province of) " British Columbia " was organized by the representatives of the eight following lodges Victoria, Nanaimo, and British Columbia, of the Registry of the United Grand Lodge of England; and Vancouver, Caribou, Caledonia, Mount Hermon, and Quadra, of the Registry of Scotland. The District Grand Master of England and the Provincial Grand Master of Scotland happily cooperated in the 488 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
formation of an independent Grand Lodge.
The Grand officers were installed by R.‑. W.‑. Robert Burnaby, District Grand Master, R. E.
The first Grand Master was Israel Wood Powell.
In 1872 Union Lodge, R. E., the only one in the Province which was not represented at the convention which formed the Grand Lodge, became of obedience thereto.
In 1874‑1875 Caledonia and Nanaimo Lodges amalgamated as Ashlar Lodge; in 1878 British Columbia and Victoria Lodges united as VictoriaColumbia Lodge; in 1878 Quadra and Vancouver Lodges amalgamated as Vancouver‑ Quadra Lodge; and, in 1883, Cascade Lodge having been burned out at Yale surrendered its warrant, and its name was adopted by a new lodge formed at Vancouver.
The first lodge established, by the Grand Lodge of England, in the " Colony of Vancouver Island and British Columbia " was Victoria, 783, March 19, 1859 ; and the first chartered therein by the Grand Lodge of Scotland was the Vancouver Lodge, 1862.
In 1889 there were ten warranted lodges in the Province, with a membership of 587, being an increase of 91 during the preceding year.
The Grand Lodge owns twenty shares (,$4000) in the Masonic Temple, city of Victoria, and has about $6oo on deposit to its credit. It interchanges Grand Representatives with most sister Grand Lodges at home and abroad. The future holds out very considerable promise for the Craft in this "Ultima Thule " of the New World.
DIVISION X.
OTHER CO UIVTRIES.
Outline History of Freemasonry in Continental Europe.
BY ALFRED A. HALL, P.G.M., Of the M.‑. W.‑. Grand Lodge of Vermont.
CHAPTER I.
THE GRAND LODGES, THE GRAND ORIENTS, ETC.
Introductory. ‑ Dr. Albert G. Mackey, the ripe Masonic scholar and eminent writer, in speaking of the universality of Masonry, has well said: ‑ " It is not a fountain giving health and beauty to some single hamlet, and slaking the thirst of those only who dwell upon its humble banks; but it is a mighty stream penetrating through every hill and mountain and gliding through every field and valley of the earth, bearing on its beneficent bosom the abundant waters of Love and Charity for the poor, the widow, and the orphan of every land." No pleasanter study can be found for the Masonic student than the birth, growth, and development of Freemasonry in the various countries of the globe ; for truly, the verity of its ritual is proved, and to‑day its length is " from the East to the West," and its breadth |` from the North to the South." Masonry in Continental Europe may well be divided into two classes: that which embraced the Masonic Guilds, the Corporations of Builders, the travelling Freemasons, and other similar societies prior to the eighteenth century, and the Institution as it has stood since the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, upon a purely Speculative basis, in 1717; from this Grand Lodge may be traced, directly or indirectly, the organized lodges and Grand Lodges throughout all Europe. It will be the object of this article to treat of Freemasonry in Continental Europe as a Speculative organization merely, not for want of material or lack of interest in the earlier history, but because of tho limited space at my command.
489 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Austria.‑Francis I. was made a Mason in 1731, while Duke of Lorraine, and his patronage and protection were secured for the Institution in Austria. The first lodge was established at. Vienna, in 1742, under authority from some of the Masonic organizations at Berlin, and was known as the "Three Cannons." After a few years it met with such opposition and persecution, through Papal influences, that it was compelled to suspend its labors, but, later on, it resumed work and was prosperous.
The Grand Lodge of Austria was formed at Vienna, in 1784.
Under the reign of Joseph II. Freemasonry flourished, but by an imperial injunction the establishment of lodges was limited, and a record of members, times and places of meetings, and the names of Masters was required to be submitted to the Ministerial department.
His successor, Francis II., influenced by the members of an Anti‑Masonic society, caused all the lodges to be abolished; and, to make his work complete, by a special enactment in 1801, it was provided that every civil officer should bind himself not to belong to, and not to visit, any secret society: this was the death‑blow to Freemasonry in Austria.
Belgium. ‑In 1770 a lodge was established at Mons, under the name of " Perfect Union."
It received its warrant from the Grand Lodge of England, and had a slow and steady growth during the first few years.
In 1785 there were sixteen lodges in the kingdom; but it was compelled to pass through perilous times, and was interdicted during the French Revolution. Labor was resumed openly in 1798, under the protection of the Grand Orient of France; but in 1814, when French dominion ceased, the lodges declared themselves independent.
The Grand Lodge of Belgium and the Netherlands was formed in 1817, but in 1830 the lodges of the two kingdoms dissolved by mutual consent.
The Grand Orient of Belgium was formed in 1832.
In 1845 the members were declared to be excommunicated, by an edict of the Bishop of Luxemburg. This did not have the desired effect, and the matter was carried into politics,the Grand Orient becoming an important factor, attempting to justify its un‑Masonic course upon the ground of self‑defence.
The result was a protest from nearly all the Grand Lodges of Europe, and the Grand Orient lost recog‑, nition as a legitimate Masonic body. Since that time Masonry has been conducted upon different principles, and the Grand Lodge has at present sixteen subordinate lodges under its jurisdiction.
Bohemia. ‑Freemasonry was introduced into Bohemia in 1749, the Grand Lodge of Scotland having granted authority to establish a lodge at Prague. It prospered until the time of the French Revolution, when it was suppressed by the Austrian Government ; later, it was reestablished, but it has no Masonic standing at the present time.
Denmark. ‑In 1743 Freemasonry came to Denmark from Berlin, and in 1745 Lord Cranstoun, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, issued a warrant for a lodge at Copenhagen.
Others followed, and Lord Byron, when OTHER COUNTRIES.
491 Grand Master, established a Provincial Grand Lodge, and appointed Count Denneskiold Laurwig Provincial Grand Master for Denmark and Norway. The Grand Lodge of Denmark came into existence in 1792, when the Landgrave, Charles of Hesse, assumed the title of Grand Master.
Through his influence it received recognition from King Christian VIL, and after his death his successor, King Christian VIII., assumed the Protectorship. He was a zealous Mason, and under his reign the Institution was highly prosperous, and has so continued.
The Grand Lodge now has eighteen subordinates, and the Crown Prince holds the position of Grand Master.
FRANCE. ‑Various Masonic historians place the date of the introduction of Freemasonry into France from 1721 to 1732, but it is probable that a lodge was formed at Dunkirk at the earliest date. Lord Derwentwater and others founded the first lodge in Paris, in 1732, under authority from the Grand Lodge of England, and it was named St. Thomas.
Other lodges were formed under the same authority, but Masonry was conducted secretly until 1736.
Lord Harnouster was chosen Grand Master of the French Masons in 1736, but no name appears to have been given to the united lodges. In 1737 Louis XV. issued an edict prohibiting his loyal subjects from holding inter course with Freemasons.
Those belonging to the nobility were not permitted to appear at court, but meetings were held and the membership increased. From various causes Freemasonry degenerated to a thing of form and show; higher degrees were added, and the peculiar system was known as " French Freemasonry," notwithstanding it assumed the misnomer of Grand Lodge Anglaise de France.
The Grand Lodge of France was the outgrowth of this, in 1755.
A new Constitution was adopted, which partook strongly of Scottish Masonry, and higher degrees were conferred in the lodges.
The Grand Orient of France was the name finally adopted by the Grand Lodge National, that had been formed in 1773. The old Grand Lodge declared this unlawful, and a bitter quarrel ensued. The order of Strict Observance gained a foothold, and Freemasonry was again fast degenerating when, as Findel says, "The French Revolution put an end to all the disputes, but at the same time snapped the bands of the Fraternity in twain." In 1795 Alexander Louis Roettiers de Monteleau called a meeting of influential Masons to form a new centre of Freemasonry. Those who met were made members of the Grand Orient, and Roettiers was made Grand Master. He succeeded in uniting the two Grand bodies, and the Grand Orient was soon in a flourishing condition.
The Grande Loge Generale Ecossaise de France was formed, and threatened another disturbance, but a treaty of union was made in 1804. In 1805 Napoleon consented that his brother Joseph should be Grand Master, and a brilliant epoch in Freemasonry followed. In 1814 political disturbance caused an interruption in Masonic work; the office of Grand Master was abolished,, 492 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
and three Grand Conservators were chosen to discharge the duties. On Napoleon's return from Elba, the Grand Master was reinstated, only to be deposed after Waterloo.
A war of rites followed between the Grand Orient and the Supreme Counseil.
Amusing incidents connected with this difficulty are found in the feast given by the latter body in honor of Lafayette, Sov... Gr.‑. Ins.‑. Gen.‑., October io, 1830, followed by a similar demonstration on the part of the Grand Orient, October 16th, in honor of King Louis Philippe I.
In 1852 Murat was made Grand Master over five hundred lodges, but his administration was anything but successful, and from various causes, at the close of his official career, there were only two hundred and sixty‑nine.
Although the history of Freemasonry in France is exceedingly interesting, she has utterly failed to maintain the influence in the Masonic world to which her importance as a nation entitled her.
The principal reason has been an ambition to " add to the original plan of Freemasonry."
The Grand Orient of France is governed by a President and Grand Council, and although it has over three hundred subordinate lodges, is not recognized by the leading Grand Lodges of the world.
GERMANY.‑In 1733 Lord Strathmore, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, granted a dispensation to eleven German Masons, authorizing them to open a lodge at Hamburg, but whether such a lodge was ever formed is not known.
It appears to have been revived October 23, 1740, and soon afterward assumed the title of "Absalom."
On the 11th day of August, 1738, the Crown Prince, afterward Frederick the Great, was initiated at Brunswick, and soon after, ascending the throne of Prussia, became the founder of lodges and an active Masonic worker. This naturally attracted the German nobility, and Freemasonry became exceedingly popular.
On the 13th of September, 1740, he organized a new lodge at Berlin called "The Three Globes." The Grand National Mother Lodge of the Three Globes in Berlin (Grosse National Mutterloge "zu den drei Weltkugeln "), was the outgrowth of the Grand Mother Lodge, which title was assumed by the " Three Globes " in 1744, when the king became Grand Master. Although Freemasonry gained a strong hold in Germany during the first half of the eighteenth century, it lost much of its vantage in the decades following. Coming, as it did, from Protestant England, the Church was suspicious of it, and the Officers of State became enlisted against it.
As a natural result, it became somewhat demoralized, spurious degrees were adopted, and an Order known as the Strict Observance, claiming succession from the Templars, supplanted Freemasonry. Members of the Order associated themselves with the Illuminati, and its growth was arrested and its influence clouded; it rallied, however, and none of the Grand Lodges has been more prosperous than the Mother Lodge, which now has one hundred and thirty‑three subordinates, and is the first body in the German Grand Lodge Union.
OTHER COUNTRIES.
493 The National Grand Lodge of Germany (Grosse Landeloge der Freimaurer von Deuts,,hland).‑In 1770 twelve lodges at Berlin had adopted the Swedish ritual ; for the purpose of having an acknowledged head, they united June 24th of that year, under the name of the " Grand Lodge of all the Freemasons of Germany," and adopted regulations, as Nettlebladt says, "According to the principles of Freemasons in general, and after the pattern of the Grand Lodge of England." This, however, may be doubted, but it has grown and occupied an important position in the Masonic galaxy of Germany ever since.
It became a member of the Eclectic Union formed in 1783, and is now the second body in the Grand Lodge Union, having ninety‑, three subordinates and three Provincial Grand Masters.
The Grand Lodge York of Friendship (Grosse Loge v. Trussengen "Royal York zur Freundschaft").‑The Lodge Royal York of Friendship was originally known as Lodge de PAmite, but, in 1765, changed its name in honor of the Duke of York.
It was connected with the Grand Lodge of Germany for a time.
In 1783 the celebrated German Mason, Ignatius Aurelius Fessler, was made a member of the lodge, and through his labors many lodges were founded.
In 1788 it separated itself from the Grand Lodge of Germany and resumed work under its old French ritual, styling itself the Mother Lodge, and on the 11th day of June, 1798, the Grand Lodge bearing its present name was formed, with Fessler as Deputy Grand Master.
At the formation of the Eclectic Union of the Prussian Grand Lodges, the Royal York became a member, and it now ranks as third in the Grand Lodge Union, having sixtyfive subordinates and one Provincial Grand Master.
The Grand Lodge of Hamburg (Grosse Loge von Hamburg), was founded in 1740, as a Provincial Grand body to England, but lost its position. After the dissolution of the Strict Observance, the former alliance between the lodges of Hamburg and the Grand Lodge of England was renewed under the leadership of Schr6der, a co‑worker of Fessler's, and he was made Deputy of the Provincial Grand Master.
The " Old Charges " were adopted, and Freemasonry was brought back to its original purity; the result was a marked increase of lodges, and in 1811 the Provincial Grand Lodge declared itself separate and independent and has since maintained its sovereignty.
Schr6der was rewarded for his labors by being made chairman, on the death of his worthy chief, Dr. Beckmann, who was first Grand Master.
It was the first Grand Lodge of Germany to join the Prussian lodges in the Grand Lodge Union, and ranks as fourth, with thirty‑one subordinates.
The Grand Lodge of the Sun (zur Sonne) at Bayreuth. ‑The lodge zur Sonne, formed under the Strict Observance, joined the Grand Lodge "Royal York " in 18oo, and was made a Provincial Grand Lodge.
It adopted Fessler's Rite and his design of a Constitution.
In 1811 it became independent, and occupies the fifth position in the Grand Lodge Union, with twenty‑five subordinates.
494 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
The Grand Lodge of Saxony at Dresden. ‑In 1805, at the call of Brother von Band, an eminent attorney, a convention of Saxon lodges that had been previously formed was called; but little seems to have been accomplished towards establishing a union, until 1811, when a general meeting was held at Dresden, represented by twelve lodges. This resulted in the formation of a Grand Lodge, which was soon joined by nearly all the Saxon lodges; great liberty of ceremony and instruction was given, and the Grand Lodge became popular and prosperous.
It is the sixth body in the Grand Lodge Union, and has twenty subordinates.
The Grand Lodge of the Eclectic Union, Frankfort‑on‑Main (Grosse Mutterloge des Eklektischen Freimaurer‑Bundes). ‑In 1814 the Lodge zur aufgehenden Morgenrothe was compelled from political reasons to separate itself from the Grand Orient of France. Soon afterward it received a warrant from the Landgrave, Charles of Hesse, but as it contained a requirement that the Chairman should be a Christian, a division resulted, and a new lodge was formed composed of Christian members, under the name of Carl zum aufgehenden Lichte. The old lodge met with considerable opposition, but finally received a Constitution from the Grand Lodge of England.
Freemasonry was in an unsettled state for many years, until in 1823 the Provincial Grand Lodge of Frankfort declared its independence. While the Grand Lodge claims to have been founded in 1783, the date of its earliest chartered lodge, in fact, its Grand Lodge, did not become independent until 1823. Since the latter date it has been fairly prosperous.
It is the seventh member of the Grand Lodge Union, and has fourteen lodges.
The Grand Lodge zur Eintracht at Darmstadt.‑The Lodge Carl having expressed its decided disapproval of the statutes of the Eclectic Fraternity, the latter, in 1844, cut her off from membership by an arbitrary resolution, and while the Lodge Carl may have been in the wrong, it received the sympathy of many on account of the severity of the punishment. Soon after the lodges at Darmstadt and Mainz voluntarily left the " Fraternity," and, with the approval of the Grand Duke of Hesse, joined the Lodge Carl in a movement for a.union of the Freemasons in Southern Germany.
In March, 1846, the Grand Duke approved the constitution, accepted the patronage, and the Grand Lodge was formed. The Grand Duke is styled the Protector, and it now has eight subordinates, and ranks as the eighth body in the Grand Lodge Union.
Free Union of the Five Independent Lodges in Germany. ‑As the name indicates, five of the German lodges having maintained their independence from other Grand bodies, associated themselves in a Free Union for mutual benefit, and have a President, who is their executive head. This organization is of sufficient importance to occupy a position in the Grand Lodge Union, and while it ranks as ninth and last, has many prominent and influential members.
The Protectorship of Kaiser Wilhelm. ‑ At a conference of the Grand Masters' Union, May 18, 1840, it was stated that Prince William of Prussia was inclined to'join the Fraternity. The matter was submitted to his royal father, Frederick William III., who consented, upon condition that he should not belong to any one lodge, but to all the lodges in the Prussian States, and that he should assume Protectorship over them. On May 22, 1840, the Grand Masters' Union was specially convened, and, in the most solemn and impressive manner, the Crown Prince was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry, in the presence of the Grand Officers and the Chairmen of the fifteen Berlin lodges.
In recent years Freemasonry has been in a flourishing condition in Germany, and occupies a high moral, social and philanthropic position. In addition to its lodges, nearly every important city has a Masonic club or charitable society, and its influence is felt in every quarter of the Empire.
Greece. ‑ Prior to 186 7, the Grand Orient of Italy had established eight lodges in Greece, and a Constitutional assembly met in May of that year. A Deputy Grand Master was appointed by the Grand Orient of Italy, and it remained as a Provincial Grand Lodge until May az, 1876, when it became independent, and is known as the Grand Orient of Greece, being governed by a President and Council.
Holland. ‑By virtue of a special dispensation of Lord Lovel, Grand Master of England, the Earl of Chesterfield called an emergent lodge at Hague, in 1731, for the purpose of conferring the first two degrees upon the Duke of Lorraine, afterward Emperor Francis L, who subsequently received the Third degree in England.
A permanent lodge was established in 1735, and a Grand Lodge in 1756.
When Holland came under French rule, the Grand Orient of France sought to establish itself in that Province.
It is now known as the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, with headquarters at Hague. The higher degrees are conferred in the lodges without protest, and Masonry seems to be flourishing with upwards of ninety lodges under its obedience.
Hungary. ‑In 1760 a lodge was instituted at Presburg.
In 1783 there were several lodges, but it was not until 1870 that a Grand Lodge was formed. In 1886 its name was changed to the Grand Orient of Hungary, and it now has thirty‑nine subordinate lodges.
Italy. ‑ Freemasonry was carried to Italy by Lord Charles Sackville, in 1733. It was known as the "Company of the Trowel." In 1735 the Grand Duke Francis was initiated, and following that date the Institution flourished, but, later on, received a set‑back through Papal opposition.
Under French rule it received a new impetus, and a Grand Lodge was formed in 18og. After Napoleon's downfall persecutions were renewed. The secret society of Carbonari, a political organization, had a serious effect upon Freemasonry, and from 1814 until 1860 it was almost extinct. In 1861 Garibaldi formed a Grand Orient at Palermo, which was reconstructed in 496 COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
1872. It has several Honorary Grand Masters, a large Executive Council, and numerous lodges.
Luxemburg.‑The Supreme Ruling Council of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg was formed in 1849 ; and, while it has only one active lodge, has the honor of being presided over by a Grand Master, assisted by a Deputy.
Poland.‑In 1736 Freemasonry was introduced into Poland, but was soon suppressed through the influence of the Church.
From 1742 to 178o, the Institution grew rapidly, and a Provincial Grand Lodge was established.
In 1807 the Grand Orient of France issued warrants to a number of lodges; and the Grand Orient of Poland was formed and continued until 1823, when the Emperor Alexander prohibited all secret societies and the lodges were closed. A few lodges have sprung up from time to time since, but have been shortlived, and Freemasonry has no standing in Poland.
Portugal. ‑ Freemasonry reached Portugal in 1735.
The first lodge was naturally established at Lisbon, and under authority of the Grand Lodge of England.
An attempt was made by John Coustos to form a lodge in 1743, but the organization was arrested by the Inquisition and suppressed. The Rites continued to be practised, but the Institution met with great opposition from Church and State, during the eighteenth century.
In 1805 Freemasonry had gained sufficient strength to organize a Grand Lodge.
In 1818 John VI., although in exile, issued an edict against Masons, commanding that they be arrested, put to death, and their property confiscated.
This edict was not obeyed, but, in 1823, after his restoration, he issued another decree and Freemasonry was only practised secretly.
In 1834 it was revived, but remained in an unsettled state until 1869, when, by a solemn compact of union, the Grand United Lusitanian Orient was formed and has since continued.
Roumania and Bulgaria. ‑ The Grand National Lodge of Roumania was formed September 8, 188o ; it embraces higher degrees, and is similar to the Grand Orients.
Russia. ‑In 1771 a warrant was issued by the Grand Lodge of England to form a lodge at St. Petersburg.
Freemasonry flourished, and was patron ized by the nobility, the Emperor Peter III. acting as Master.
In 1783 a National Grand Lodge was organized.
Subsequently, influenced by the opposition of the Church and State, open meetings were dispensed with, and all communications were held in the most secret manner.
From 1808 to 1822, the order was prosperous, but in that year Alexander issued an unexpected order that all lodges should be closed.
An eminent writer has said: "This was like a flash of lightning in a serene sky"; but its effect was paralyzing, and since that date Freemasonry has slumbered in Russia.
Spain. ‑ In no country has Freemasonry been subject to greater persecutions than in Spain.
The first lodge was chartered in 1728, and the following year a Grand Lodge was formed.
In 1740, in consequence of a Papal bull, the members of the lodge at Madrid were arrested, thrown into prison, and O THER CO UNTRIES.
497 several were sent to the galleys.
In 1751 Joseph Torrubia was initiated, and afterward appeared before the Inquisition, charging that Freemasonry was dangerous to religion and good government.
There is no doubt but that he was a tool of the Inquisition, that his charges led the king to issue a decree forbidding the assemblies, and declaring that all violators would be held guilty of treason, and be punished accordingly.
In 1793 the Cardinal Vicar issued a decree of death against all Freemasons.
Several lodges continued to hold meetings, and under Joseph Napoleon all restrictions were removed.
In 1811 a National Grand Lodge was formed, called the Grand Orient of Spain.
The overthrow of French dominion restored the Spanish power, and the Inquisition was again reestablished; perilous times followed, but it is now firmly established with a large number of lodges.
Sweden and Norway. ‑ Freemasonry was carried to Sweden, through France, in 1735. A lodge was instituted, but little is known of its history. October 21, 1738, a royal decree was issued, forbidding members of the Order to meet, on pain of death ; but it was rescinded, two years later, and Masonry had a strong following in 1746.
In 1762 King Adolphus Frederick declared himself the Protector of Swedish lodges.
In later years Freemasonry has become connected with another order, and is hardly recognizable; but it maintains a Grand Lodge at Stockholm, has five Provincial Grand Lodges, twelve St. Andrew's Scottish lodges, and twenty‑five St. John's lodges.
Switzerland. ‑In 1737, under authority from the Grand Lodge of Eng. land, a Provincial Grand Lodge was established at Geneva.
The following year an order was issued by the magistrates to suppress all lodges.
Other similar orders were issued, from time to time, but the members were little daunted, and made vigorous replies in published articles. The Order of Strict Observance had its demoralizing effect upon Freemasonry in Switzerland.
In 1785 a conference of the Swiss lodges was called at Zurich, but nothing was accomplished.
The Grand Orient of France gained some power over the lodges, but seven Genevan lodges, remaining faithful to the English system, organized the Grand Orient of Geneva, and, in 1789, became subject to the Grand Lodge of England. The lodges were divided into so many governing heads and systems that a union seemed absolutely necessary; and, on June 22, 1884, a new Grand Lodge was organized, under the title of the Grand Lodge of Alpina.
It is located at Winterthur, and has over thirty subordinates.
Conclusion. ‑The conflict of authority, in many instances, the meagre data at command, and brief space allotted to this chapter, have combined to render a simple outline all that is practicable ; but from this it will readily be seen that Freemasonry has had a checkered history upon the Continent. In almost every country it was received with favor, met with opposition from Papal influences, rallied, and, unless menaced by political edicts or honeycombed by innovations, has grown and flourished until it stands at the head 498 of all moral and beneficial societies.
Among the noted rulers who have figured in this history may be mentioned Frederick the Great, Prince Jerome Bonaparte, William III., and Garibaldi; while Napoleon, though not a Mason, appears to have been its friend, for Freemasonry everywhere flourished under his rule.
As the Order of Strict Observance was the bete noir of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, so the introduction of the higher degrees, under the authority of the several Grand Orients, must seem, to the lover of Ancient Craft Masonry, to be the baneful influence of the present century.
When Freemasons all over the world leave the so‑called higher degrees to the higher bodies, and plant themselves, as far as lodges and Grand Lodges are concerned, upon the English Constitution and Ancient Landmarks, ‑ the basis of Speculative Masonry, ‑ the foundation cannot be shaken nor removed, but success like that of the grand old lodge of England, with its legion of subordinates and army of members, will surely follow.
FREEMASONRY IN AUSTRALASIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
BY WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, EUROPEAN EDITOR; AND JOHN H. GRAHAM, LL.D., P.G.M.
CHAPTER II.
GRAND LODGES OF THE SOUTHERN SUN.
AUSTRALASIK‑Much Masonic enthusiasm has been developed of late years in Australia, by the organization of Grand Lodges in several of the Colonies, and undoubtedly the movement which has been started in the direction of independence will not cease until all Australasia (wherever there are populations and Colonies of sufficient extent), is covered with a net‑work of OTHER COUNTRIES.
499 Grand Lodges, as in the United States, the boundaries of each jurisdiction being accepted as the limits wherein the several Grand Lodges are sovereign. For several years past, lodges in Australia, under the trio of British and Irish Grand Lodges, have not been easy in their subordination to bodies so far away; and, consequently, brethren hailing from England, Ireland, or Scotland, Masonically, ‑ sometimes from all three, ‑ have united to form Grand Lodges of their own, the first to be recognized by the Mother Grand Lodge being that of South Australia.
A "Grand Lodge" was formed in New South Wales in 1877, but did not receive the general support of the lodges in that Colony. Happily a better spirit prevailed as the years rolled onward, and this small body,‑composed mainly of Irish lodges,‑was regularized (so to speak), by joining with the larger number of English and Scottish lodges (that had previously held aloof), in forming the "United Grand Lodge of New South Wales," on August 16, 1888.
There were 8o lodges of the '| E. C.," 55 of the 'IS. C.," and 51 of the 11 N. S. W. C." (186 in all), which took part in this grand movement, which was duly recognized, by the Grand Lodge of England, on December 5th of the same year.
The Grand Master, elected and installed, was His Excellency Lord Carrington, Governor of the Colony, and the main contributing cause to this most Masonic result was the lamented Earl of Carnarvon, M. W. Pro G. M. of England, who died soon afterward, regretted by the universal Craft.' Another "Grand Lodge " was constituted at Melbourne, for Victoria, in 1883, but had even less support than that of a similar body, started a few years earlier in New South Wales. The three District Grand Lodges under England, Ireland, and Scotland went on their way all the same, and prospered, having Sir William J. Clarke, Bart., as District Grand Master for each of the districts, ‑a unique position.
It was felt ultimately, however, that a really || United Grand Lodge for Victoria " would be a great blessing for all concerned ;
and hence that very desirable event was consummated, on March 20, 1889, with Sir William Clarke as Grand Master.
One hundred and forty, out of a total of one hundred and forty‑two, gave their consent to this new organization ; and, since then, one of the two dissentients has given in its adherence, so that the union is practically unanimous.
Ere long, for the sake of complete harmony, it is not likely that any brethren will keep apart from such a powerful and truly fraternal body.
Most Worshipful Brother Lord Carrington was the installing officer, and recognition was granted by the Grand Lodge of England, on June 5, 1889, that of many other Grand Lodges being either agreed to, or will soon follow.
The third Grand Lodge was formed in and for South Australia, on April 16, 1884, and was the first of the three to obtain recognition from the senior of the parent Grand Lodges (viz. : June 3, 1885).
The Honorable Chief Justice 1 For a more extended account of this body, Dr. Graham's monograph, which follows this, should be carefully read.
COSMOPOLITAN FREEMASONRY.
Way was elected Grand Master, and continued to enjoy the unanimous suffrages of the members until he voluntarily resigned the honor, so as to clear the way for the nomination and choice of His Excellency the Earl of Kintore (Governor of South Australia), as his successor, who was installed in ample form by Most Worshipful Brother Lord Carrington, October 30, 1889, in the Freemasons' Hall, Adelaide. The Honorable S. J. Way accepted the position of Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master, the Chief Justice being always ready to render any service in his power for the Craft in South Australia, in particular, or Freemasonry in general.
There are now thirty‑eight lodges on the Roll, the last to be warranted being that of "St. Alban," which was consecrated in December, 1889, the aim of the members being to promote the study of Masonic history; and, mainly, to work on lines similar to the famous "Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076," England, but for local purposes only.
I wrote rather a long article on the origin of this Grand Lodge in the Freemason (England), for January 1o, 1885, drawing attention to the fact that Brother J. H. Cunningham, G. S., had promised that no obstacle would be placed in the way of any lodge desirous of continuing under their original Constitution, and also stated it as my conviction, that no Grand Lodge had ever been formed " in a fairer, or more Masonic manner."
Unfortunately one lodge still keeps out of the fold, viz. : the " Leinster, No. 363," Adelaide, dating from 1855 ; but this ought not to be any bar to a generous recognition of the Grand Lodge of South Australia.
Like the Grand Lodge of Scotland, South Australia recognizes the " Mark," and, moreover, has a Grand Chapter of its own, for the Royal Arch degree, also authorized by the Grand Lodge, the latter having been duly recognized by the Grand Chapter of England on November 7, 1888. The Grand Chapters for New South Wales and Victoria have likewise been acknowledged by the English authorities, and all the warrants of the latter are cancelled, it being a fundamental rule of the Grand Chapter of England that no charters are granted or permitted to continue working under its authority unless held under the wing of lodges under the same jurisdiction.
Hence, when the lodges in these three important Colonies withdrew from the Grand Lodge of England and formed their own Grand Lodges, the chapters previously connected with several of these bodies virtually ceased to exist, according to English rule and custom.
A pleasing and fraternal finish to the constitution of the three Grand Lodges has been furnished by the gracious consent of H .‑. R.‑. H.‑. the Prince of Wales, M. W. G. M., to become || Grand Patron " of each of the Grand Lodges thus formed, as well as by the permission so readily accorded, that lodges may preserve their old and now superseded warrants, as souvenirs of their former connection with the Grand Lodge of England.
Freemasonry in Queensland is represented by a total of 65 lodges, 33 being under the English Constitution, 16 under Ireland, and 16 under Scotland, These are duly grouped under their respective districts, having District Grand OTHER COUNTRIES.
5Or Masters appointed by the parent Grand Lodges or Grand Masters.
The senior lodge under each of the Grand Lodges is held in Brisbane, No. 796, "North Australian," E. C., dating from 1859, and NOS. 279 and 435 of the Irish and Scotch Constitutions having been chartered in the year 1864.
In Western Australia there are nine lodges, all under the rule of the District Grand Master, appointed by the Grand Lodge of England; and there is also a lodge at Albany, under the same Constitution, but no District Grand Lodge.
The senior lodge in the Colony is "St. John, No. 485," Perth, which was warranted in 1842. It is somewhat singular that neither Ireland nor Scotland has secured a footing in Western Australia, so that happily there are no rival jurisdictions, and peace and harmony prevail throughout the District Grand Lodge.
An extraordinary movement,‑united and enthusiastic,‑in favor of the formation of the Grand Lodge of Tasmania, which began a few years since, culminated in the establishment of that sovereign and independent body on June 26, 189o. The Rev. R. D. Poulett‑Harris, M. A., was installed as the Grand Master by the Most Worshipful Brother Lord Carrington (who has had a most unusual experience in such matters), the Board also consisting of the Most Worshipful Brother Sir W. J. Clarke, Bart., G. M. of Victoria; the Most Worshipful Brother His Excellency the Earl of Kintore, G. C. M. G., Grand Master of South Australia; His Honor Chief Justice Way, M. W. Pro G. M. of South Australia; and other Masonic notables.
An interesting account of this special communication, at Hobart, appeared in a supplement to the South Australian Freemason for July 7, 189o, and from it, it may be gathered that, throughout the preliminaries, the motto of our Tasmanian Craftsmen was, "Unity or Nothing," the result being that such a truly fraternal sentiment secured a unanimity of action almost unexampled, and thus conserved the self‑denying labors of the promoters. Hearty recognition was accorded by the Grand Lodge of England on December 3, 1890.
There were nine lodges hailing from England, having the Rev. Brother Harris, until recently, as their District Grand Master; the same number from Ireland, and five from Scotland, making twenty‑three in all. The Provincial Grand Master, representing the Grand Lodge of Scotland (Right Worshipful Brother P. Barrett), was appointed Most Worshipful Pro Grand Master of the new organization.
The senior lodge of the three Provinces, now united in one compact whole, is No. 345, Hobart Town, of the year 1834, the oldest of English origin being No. 536, A.D. 1846 ; and for Scotland, No. 591 his, Of A.D. 1876.
There are two lodges in the F~ji Islands (one English and another Scottish), and another in New Caledonia, chartered by the Grand Lodge of England June 1, r 88o.
Freemasonry was regularly planted in Australia by the Grand Lodge of Ireland, in the third decade of this century, vii. : at Hobart (1820‑23), though military brethren had, possibly, worked the ceremonies prior to that period.
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