Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry. Its Origin, Its History And Its Design.
rapidly , moving in the direction of thought that has been adopted by this latter school . The differences between these two schools are very strongly defined , and are , in somo respects , entirely antagonistic . The mythical school of Masonic history was inaugurated , about the beginning of tho last century , by James Anderson and Thcophilns
Desaguliers , both doctors of divinity , and who had been mainly instrumental in elaborating what has beon called the revival of Masonry by the establishment , in 1717 , of the Grand Lodge of England . Dr . Anderson was a man of acknowledged learning , the minister of a Scotch congregation in London , and a writer of some reputation . Dr . Desaguliers was recognised as a distinguished
scientist and a popular lecturer on experimental philosophy . But it is Anderson who is really to bo considered as the founder of the school , since he first promulgated its theories in the " Book of Constitutions , " which he published in 1723 , by order of the Grand Lodge . Unfortunately for the interests of truth , Anderson was of a very
imaginative turn of mind , and instead of writing an authentic history of Freemasonry , he accepted and incorporated into his narrative all the myths and legends which he found in the manuscript records of tho operative Masons . According to him Masonry began with Adam , and , extending through the Hue of antediluvian patriarchs to Noah , was by him communicated to Ms descondanto of
the new world . Being transmitted successively through Abraham , Moses , Joshua , and David , it at length reached Solomon , who , by the aid of the Freemasons , built the Temple at Jerusalem . After the death of Solomon the institution was patronised by his successors and by the Kings of Bablyon , Assyria , aud Egypt , until it was finall y transmitted into Enropo .
Tho Masonic writers of England who immediately succeeded Anderson , have not insisted on that part of his narrative which traces Freemasonry to the Garden of Eden . But they more fully developed his theory of the establishment of tho Order at the Temple of Jerusalem , the division of tho Craft iuto Lodges , with degrees and officers , and , iu short , au organisation precisely such as now exists .
'lhis scheme was accepted , aud continued to be acknowledged as the orthodox historical creed , by tho Fraternity during the whole of the last , and the greater part of tho present century . It was incorporated into the ritual , mneh of which is founded on the assumption that Freemasonry is to be traced , for its primitive source , to the Temple of Jerusalem . The investigations of tho more recent or authentic
school havo very nearly demolished this theory . Scholarly men , at least , among the Craft no longer concede even its plausibility . Yet the influence of its prevalence for so long a period is still felt , aud , perhaps , while tho organisation continues in its present form will never bo wholly overcome The Temple stills holds its place in tho Ritual as tho typo of every Masonic Lodge , and its Master is
recognised as the representative of tho King of Israel , whilo important events , transmitted , it is said , by oral tradition , are com . memorated as having occurred during the construction of the edifice , But all of this is now explained , not historically , bnt symbolically , And so important , and , indeed , essential to speculative Masonry is tho Temple of Solomon as a symbol , that to eradicate it from Masonic
symbolism would DO equivalent to destroying the identity of tho institution . The ground floor , the middle chamber , and the holy of holies are familiar places iu every Lodge , and tho brazen columns of Jachin aud Boaz , which stood at the porch of tho Solomonic Tomple , aro still indispensablo decorations to every room or building which is exclusively devoted to Masonic purposes .
The theory of the origin of Freemasonry that is now beginning to bo most generally accepted ^ by intelligent members of the Order is , that of the authentic school of Masonic history . This school mi ght rather be called the iconoclastic , and indeed its disciples havo not nnfrequently been denominated the iconoclasts of the Order , because of the sturdy and effectual blows they have inflicted on tho extravagant images of the legendary or mythical school .
The leaders of the authentic school in England are Hughan and Woodford , in Scotland Lyon , and in Germany Findel . If a prodigality of credulity has been the weakness of the mythical school , their rivals may be charged with having sometimes exercised an excess of the credulity . They decline to accept any statement whose authenticity is not supported by some written or printed record , and a few
or them havo gono so far as to circumscribe the history of Freemasonry within the narrow limits of that period which commences with the revival , or , as they prefer to call it , the foundation of the Grand Lodge of England , in the beginning of the eighteenth century . Others , however , have been more liberal , and now , as a general rule
then- theory of the origin of Masonry has been accepted by the more intelligent members of the Fraternity , while the fanciful and legendary speculations of tho old writers aro gradually giving place to tho well supported statements and tho logical deductions of the authentic school . By most of the leaders of this school tho complex question of the origin of Freemasonry is being solved in the
following way : There existed in Rome from tho first days of the kingdom , aud all through tho times of thj republic and of the empire , until its final decay , certain guilds or corporations of workmen , which are well known in history as the Roman colleges of artificers . Numa , who is said to have founded these guilds , established
only nine , but their number was subsequently greatly increased . From the Roman writers who have treated of the form and organization of these colleges we learn enough to show us that there was a great analogy in their government to that of the modern Masonic Lodges , and this especially in their character as a secret society and in the initiations and esoteric instructions to which candidates for
admission , aud the younger members were subjected . Of these guilds the ono to which Masous particularly refer is that which consisted of architects or builders . Tho authentic school of Masonry does not claim , as tho mythical most probably would have done , that the Roman colleges of architects were Lodges of Freemasons . They simply conteud that tho facta of { history exhibit a regular and . nam .
Freemasonry. Its Origin, Its History And Its Design.
terrnpted derivation of the Freemasonry of this day from these Roman guilds , although tho course of the succession was affected by various important changes . But these changes have not been sufficient to altogether obliterate the evidence of the relationship . This relationship is thus indicated . From a very early period , the Roman people were distinguished by an active spirit of colonization .
No sooner had the victorious legions subdued the semi-barbarous tribes of Spain , of Gaul , of Germany , and of Britain , than they began to establish colonies , and to build cities . To every legion which went forth to conquer and to colonize , was attached a guild or college of architects , whoso members , taken from the great body at Rome , marched and encamped with the legion , and when a colony
was founded , remained there to cultivate the seeds of Roman civilization , to inculcate the principles of Roman art , and to erect temples for worship , and houses for the accommodation of the inhabitants . When in time the corrupted empire was threatened with extinction by the invasion of its Northern enemies , tho legions were recalled to sustain and defend tho central power , but the guilds of architects
and builders most frequently remained in the towns and cities which they had assisted to erect , and where they had acquired a citizen , ship that they had probably lost at home . In the course of time the proud mistress of the world becamo extinct as a power of tho earth , and the colonies which sho had scattered over the continent became independent kingdoms and
principalities . The descendents of the Roman colleges of artificers established schools of architecture , and taught and practiced the art of building among the nowly enfranchised pooplo . A principal seat of this body of architects was at Como , a city of Lombardy , whero a school was founded , which acquired so much reputation that the Masons and bricklayers of that oity received the appellation of
Masters of Como , and architects of all nations flocked to the place to acquire tho correct principles of their profession . From this school of Lombard builders proceeded that Society of Architects who were known at that time by tho appellation of Freemasons , and who , from the tenth to the sixteenth century , traversed the continent of Europe , engaged almost exclusively in tho construction of religious
edifices , such as cathedrals , churches , aud monasteries . The monastic orders formed an alliance with them , so that the convents frequently becamo their domiciles , and they instructed tho monks in the secret principles of their art . Tho popes took them under their protection , and granted them charters of monopoly as ecclesiastical architects , and invested them with many important and exclusive privileges .
Dissevering the ties which bound them to the monks , these Froemasons ( so-called , to distinguish them from the rough masons who were of an inferior grade , and not members of the corporation ) subsequently established the guilds of stonemasons , which oxisted until tho end of tho seventeenth century in Germany , France , England , and Scotland .
These stonemasons , or , as they continued to call themselves , Freemasons , had one peculiarity iu their organisation , which is necessary to bo considered if wc would comprehend the relation that exists between them and the Freemasons of the present day . The society was necessarily an operative one , whoso members were actually engaged in the manual labour of building , as well as in the more
intellectual occupation of architectural designing . This , with tho fact of their previous connection with tho monks , who probably projected the plans which the Masons carried into execution , led to tho admission among them of persons who wero not operative Masons . These were high ecclesiastics , wealthy nobles , and men of scienco , who were encouragcrs and patrons of the art . These , not competent
to engage in the labour of building , wero supposed to confine themselves to philosophic speculations on the principles of the art , and to symbolising or spiritualising its labours and its implements . Hence there resulted a division of tho membership of the brotherhood into two classes , the practical and the theoretic , or , as they aro more commonly called , the operative aud tho speculative . Tho operative
Masons always held the ascendancy in numbers , but the speculative Masons exerted a greater influence by their higher culture , their wealth , and their social position . In time there came a total and permanent disseverance of the two elements . At what precise period this event occurred wo cannot say , but it was somewhere between the middlo and the close of tho
seventeenth centnry . At the beginning of the eighteenth contnry thero were several Lodges in England , but for a long time thero hid been no meeting of a general assembly . In the year 1717 Freemasonry was revived and the Grand Lodge of England established by tho four Lodges which then existed in London . This revival took place through tho influence and by the exortions of non-operative or
speculative Masons , and tho institution has ever since preserved that character . Lodges were speedily established all over the world—in Europe , America and Asia—by the Mother Grand Lodge at Loudon , who , for that purpose , issued provincial deputations or patents of authority to introduce the Order into foreign countries . No important change has taken place in the organization of the association since
that period . As soon as a competent number of Lodges had been established in any independent State a grand Lodge was at once constituted : and now in every kingdom of Europe , with two exceptions , in every State of tho American Union , in tho Dominion of Canada and other British provinces , and in each of the South American republics there is a Grand Lodgo exercising sovereign Masonic power ,
whilom some colonies , which have not attained political independence , provincial grand lodges have been invested with slightly inferior prerogatives . This brief sketch of the origin and progress of the Institution prepares us for a still briefer review of its design . It is evident from what has been said that tho Freemasonry of
the present day is a philosophic or speculative science , derived from and issuing out of an operative art . In denominating it a science , we should be mora precise were we to say that it is a science of symbolism . This science of symbolism , once so common as to have been deeply studied by the ancient philosophers and by the modern Gnostics , Rosicrucians and Alchemists , is now maintained and culti-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry. Its Origin, Its History And Its Design.
rapidly , moving in the direction of thought that has been adopted by this latter school . The differences between these two schools are very strongly defined , and are , in somo respects , entirely antagonistic . The mythical school of Masonic history was inaugurated , about the beginning of tho last century , by James Anderson and Thcophilns
Desaguliers , both doctors of divinity , and who had been mainly instrumental in elaborating what has beon called the revival of Masonry by the establishment , in 1717 , of the Grand Lodge of England . Dr . Anderson was a man of acknowledged learning , the minister of a Scotch congregation in London , and a writer of some reputation . Dr . Desaguliers was recognised as a distinguished
scientist and a popular lecturer on experimental philosophy . But it is Anderson who is really to bo considered as the founder of the school , since he first promulgated its theories in the " Book of Constitutions , " which he published in 1723 , by order of the Grand Lodge . Unfortunately for the interests of truth , Anderson was of a very
imaginative turn of mind , and instead of writing an authentic history of Freemasonry , he accepted and incorporated into his narrative all the myths and legends which he found in the manuscript records of tho operative Masons . According to him Masonry began with Adam , and , extending through the Hue of antediluvian patriarchs to Noah , was by him communicated to Ms descondanto of
the new world . Being transmitted successively through Abraham , Moses , Joshua , and David , it at length reached Solomon , who , by the aid of the Freemasons , built the Temple at Jerusalem . After the death of Solomon the institution was patronised by his successors and by the Kings of Bablyon , Assyria , aud Egypt , until it was finall y transmitted into Enropo .
Tho Masonic writers of England who immediately succeeded Anderson , have not insisted on that part of his narrative which traces Freemasonry to the Garden of Eden . But they more fully developed his theory of the establishment of tho Order at the Temple of Jerusalem , the division of tho Craft iuto Lodges , with degrees and officers , and , iu short , au organisation precisely such as now exists .
'lhis scheme was accepted , aud continued to be acknowledged as the orthodox historical creed , by tho Fraternity during the whole of the last , and the greater part of tho present century . It was incorporated into the ritual , mneh of which is founded on the assumption that Freemasonry is to be traced , for its primitive source , to the Temple of Jerusalem . The investigations of tho more recent or authentic
school havo very nearly demolished this theory . Scholarly men , at least , among the Craft no longer concede even its plausibility . Yet the influence of its prevalence for so long a period is still felt , aud , perhaps , while tho organisation continues in its present form will never bo wholly overcome The Temple stills holds its place in tho Ritual as tho typo of every Masonic Lodge , and its Master is
recognised as the representative of tho King of Israel , whilo important events , transmitted , it is said , by oral tradition , are com . memorated as having occurred during the construction of the edifice , But all of this is now explained , not historically , bnt symbolically , And so important , and , indeed , essential to speculative Masonry is tho Temple of Solomon as a symbol , that to eradicate it from Masonic
symbolism would DO equivalent to destroying the identity of tho institution . The ground floor , the middle chamber , and the holy of holies are familiar places iu every Lodge , and tho brazen columns of Jachin aud Boaz , which stood at the porch of tho Solomonic Tomple , aro still indispensablo decorations to every room or building which is exclusively devoted to Masonic purposes .
The theory of the origin of Freemasonry that is now beginning to bo most generally accepted ^ by intelligent members of the Order is , that of the authentic school of Masonic history . This school mi ght rather be called the iconoclastic , and indeed its disciples havo not nnfrequently been denominated the iconoclasts of the Order , because of the sturdy and effectual blows they have inflicted on tho extravagant images of the legendary or mythical school .
The leaders of the authentic school in England are Hughan and Woodford , in Scotland Lyon , and in Germany Findel . If a prodigality of credulity has been the weakness of the mythical school , their rivals may be charged with having sometimes exercised an excess of the credulity . They decline to accept any statement whose authenticity is not supported by some written or printed record , and a few
or them havo gono so far as to circumscribe the history of Freemasonry within the narrow limits of that period which commences with the revival , or , as they prefer to call it , the foundation of the Grand Lodge of England , in the beginning of the eighteenth century . Others , however , have been more liberal , and now , as a general rule
then- theory of the origin of Masonry has been accepted by the more intelligent members of the Fraternity , while the fanciful and legendary speculations of tho old writers aro gradually giving place to tho well supported statements and tho logical deductions of the authentic school . By most of the leaders of this school tho complex question of the origin of Freemasonry is being solved in the
following way : There existed in Rome from tho first days of the kingdom , aud all through tho times of thj republic and of the empire , until its final decay , certain guilds or corporations of workmen , which are well known in history as the Roman colleges of artificers . Numa , who is said to have founded these guilds , established
only nine , but their number was subsequently greatly increased . From the Roman writers who have treated of the form and organization of these colleges we learn enough to show us that there was a great analogy in their government to that of the modern Masonic Lodges , and this especially in their character as a secret society and in the initiations and esoteric instructions to which candidates for
admission , aud the younger members were subjected . Of these guilds the ono to which Masous particularly refer is that which consisted of architects or builders . Tho authentic school of Masonry does not claim , as tho mythical most probably would have done , that the Roman colleges of architects were Lodges of Freemasons . They simply conteud that tho facta of { history exhibit a regular and . nam .
Freemasonry. Its Origin, Its History And Its Design.
terrnpted derivation of the Freemasonry of this day from these Roman guilds , although tho course of the succession was affected by various important changes . But these changes have not been sufficient to altogether obliterate the evidence of the relationship . This relationship is thus indicated . From a very early period , the Roman people were distinguished by an active spirit of colonization .
No sooner had the victorious legions subdued the semi-barbarous tribes of Spain , of Gaul , of Germany , and of Britain , than they began to establish colonies , and to build cities . To every legion which went forth to conquer and to colonize , was attached a guild or college of architects , whoso members , taken from the great body at Rome , marched and encamped with the legion , and when a colony
was founded , remained there to cultivate the seeds of Roman civilization , to inculcate the principles of Roman art , and to erect temples for worship , and houses for the accommodation of the inhabitants . When in time the corrupted empire was threatened with extinction by the invasion of its Northern enemies , tho legions were recalled to sustain and defend tho central power , but the guilds of architects
and builders most frequently remained in the towns and cities which they had assisted to erect , and where they had acquired a citizen , ship that they had probably lost at home . In the course of time the proud mistress of the world becamo extinct as a power of tho earth , and the colonies which sho had scattered over the continent became independent kingdoms and
principalities . The descendents of the Roman colleges of artificers established schools of architecture , and taught and practiced the art of building among the nowly enfranchised pooplo . A principal seat of this body of architects was at Como , a city of Lombardy , whero a school was founded , which acquired so much reputation that the Masons and bricklayers of that oity received the appellation of
Masters of Como , and architects of all nations flocked to the place to acquire tho correct principles of their profession . From this school of Lombard builders proceeded that Society of Architects who were known at that time by tho appellation of Freemasons , and who , from the tenth to the sixteenth century , traversed the continent of Europe , engaged almost exclusively in tho construction of religious
edifices , such as cathedrals , churches , aud monasteries . The monastic orders formed an alliance with them , so that the convents frequently becamo their domiciles , and they instructed tho monks in the secret principles of their art . Tho popes took them under their protection , and granted them charters of monopoly as ecclesiastical architects , and invested them with many important and exclusive privileges .
Dissevering the ties which bound them to the monks , these Froemasons ( so-called , to distinguish them from the rough masons who were of an inferior grade , and not members of the corporation ) subsequently established the guilds of stonemasons , which oxisted until tho end of tho seventeenth century in Germany , France , England , and Scotland .
These stonemasons , or , as they continued to call themselves , Freemasons , had one peculiarity iu their organisation , which is necessary to bo considered if wc would comprehend the relation that exists between them and the Freemasons of the present day . The society was necessarily an operative one , whoso members were actually engaged in the manual labour of building , as well as in the more
intellectual occupation of architectural designing . This , with tho fact of their previous connection with tho monks , who probably projected the plans which the Masons carried into execution , led to tho admission among them of persons who wero not operative Masons . These were high ecclesiastics , wealthy nobles , and men of scienco , who were encouragcrs and patrons of the art . These , not competent
to engage in the labour of building , wero supposed to confine themselves to philosophic speculations on the principles of the art , and to symbolising or spiritualising its labours and its implements . Hence there resulted a division of tho membership of the brotherhood into two classes , the practical and the theoretic , or , as they aro more commonly called , the operative aud tho speculative . Tho operative
Masons always held the ascendancy in numbers , but the speculative Masons exerted a greater influence by their higher culture , their wealth , and their social position . In time there came a total and permanent disseverance of the two elements . At what precise period this event occurred wo cannot say , but it was somewhere between the middlo and the close of tho
seventeenth centnry . At the beginning of the eighteenth contnry thero were several Lodges in England , but for a long time thero hid been no meeting of a general assembly . In the year 1717 Freemasonry was revived and the Grand Lodge of England established by tho four Lodges which then existed in London . This revival took place through tho influence and by the exortions of non-operative or
speculative Masons , and tho institution has ever since preserved that character . Lodges were speedily established all over the world—in Europe , America and Asia—by the Mother Grand Lodge at Loudon , who , for that purpose , issued provincial deputations or patents of authority to introduce the Order into foreign countries . No important change has taken place in the organization of the association since
that period . As soon as a competent number of Lodges had been established in any independent State a grand Lodge was at once constituted : and now in every kingdom of Europe , with two exceptions , in every State of tho American Union , in tho Dominion of Canada and other British provinces , and in each of the South American republics there is a Grand Lodgo exercising sovereign Masonic power ,
whilom some colonies , which have not attained political independence , provincial grand lodges have been invested with slightly inferior prerogatives . This brief sketch of the origin and progress of the Institution prepares us for a still briefer review of its design . It is evident from what has been said that tho Freemasonry of
the present day is a philosophic or speculative science , derived from and issuing out of an operative art . In denominating it a science , we should be mora precise were we to say that it is a science of symbolism . This science of symbolism , once so common as to have been deeply studied by the ancient philosophers and by the modern Gnostics , Rosicrucians and Alchemists , is now maintained and culti-