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Article MASONS' MARKS. Page 1 of 3 →
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Masons' Marks.
MASONS' MARKS .
BY BROTHER THOMAS PRVBR , OB' THE OAK LODGE . THE subject of Masons' Marks on the ecclesiastical buildings of the middle age , has recently engaged the attention of several members of the British Arch ecological Association . They were first brought into notice by Mr . Godwin , who discovered these marks on the walls of several abbeys and cathedralsand other
, structures of the medieval period , and was struck by the fact that , although found in different countries , and on works of very different age , they were , in numerous cases , the same ; ancl that many were religious and symbolical , and still used in modern Freemasonry . He was , therefore , led to infer , that they were used by system , and that the system was the same in England , Germany , and France . The subject is one of peculiar interest , and particularly so to the Free
and Accepted Brother , inasmuch as it forms the connecting link between operative and speculative Masonry , and furnishes additional proof of the fact that all the magnificent cathedrals , abbeys , ancl ancient monasteries , remaining in this and other countries were fashioned by the hands of our ancient Brethren , who wrought together in perfect harmony , and under the influence of a complete and most comprehensive system . ' ¦ :
Those Brethren who have been initiated into the degrees of Mark-Man and Mark-Master , perfectly well understand , that the mark which was conferred upon the ancient craftsman was not arbitrary , but selected from a defined' and well-understood series *—that the craftsman was not entitled to use any mark until his fitness had been tried , and he had proved himself well-skilled in the use of the plumb , the level , and the square . That the distinction of the mark was
conferred with peculiar solemnities ; and tbat the subsequent obligation to use the particular mark so conferred , and to affix it to every " perfect ashlar , " was not discretionary , but imperative . A knowledge of these facts , combined with a careful examination of the ancient marks , will , no doubt , throw much additional light upon the history of ecclesiastical architecture , as well as prove the firmer connectionand show the union existing in past ages between practical
, architecture and symbolical or spiritual Masonry . It will , also , tend still further to show , that the Masonic craft has ever existetl as a peculiar fraternity ; and that the erection of all the religious edifices and sacred structures throughout Christendom , up to a period not very remote , was exclusively entrusted to the descendants of the " Builders of the Temple . " The perfection they attained in this description of building , where piety and zeal directed and assisted science , anil all
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masons' Marks.
MASONS' MARKS .
BY BROTHER THOMAS PRVBR , OB' THE OAK LODGE . THE subject of Masons' Marks on the ecclesiastical buildings of the middle age , has recently engaged the attention of several members of the British Arch ecological Association . They were first brought into notice by Mr . Godwin , who discovered these marks on the walls of several abbeys and cathedralsand other
, structures of the medieval period , and was struck by the fact that , although found in different countries , and on works of very different age , they were , in numerous cases , the same ; ancl that many were religious and symbolical , and still used in modern Freemasonry . He was , therefore , led to infer , that they were used by system , and that the system was the same in England , Germany , and France . The subject is one of peculiar interest , and particularly so to the Free
and Accepted Brother , inasmuch as it forms the connecting link between operative and speculative Masonry , and furnishes additional proof of the fact that all the magnificent cathedrals , abbeys , ancl ancient monasteries , remaining in this and other countries were fashioned by the hands of our ancient Brethren , who wrought together in perfect harmony , and under the influence of a complete and most comprehensive system . ' ¦ :
Those Brethren who have been initiated into the degrees of Mark-Man and Mark-Master , perfectly well understand , that the mark which was conferred upon the ancient craftsman was not arbitrary , but selected from a defined' and well-understood series *—that the craftsman was not entitled to use any mark until his fitness had been tried , and he had proved himself well-skilled in the use of the plumb , the level , and the square . That the distinction of the mark was
conferred with peculiar solemnities ; and tbat the subsequent obligation to use the particular mark so conferred , and to affix it to every " perfect ashlar , " was not discretionary , but imperative . A knowledge of these facts , combined with a careful examination of the ancient marks , will , no doubt , throw much additional light upon the history of ecclesiastical architecture , as well as prove the firmer connectionand show the union existing in past ages between practical
, architecture and symbolical or spiritual Masonry . It will , also , tend still further to show , that the Masonic craft has ever existetl as a peculiar fraternity ; and that the erection of all the religious edifices and sacred structures throughout Christendom , up to a period not very remote , was exclusively entrusted to the descendants of the " Builders of the Temple . " The perfection they attained in this description of building , where piety and zeal directed and assisted science , anil all