Masonic Reprints Of No. 2076.

oVery of the Masonic character of . the MS . This gentleman , as we know , 11 ' shed a reproduction of the valuable Poem in 1840 , with a facsimile of four ? s and a second edition in 1844 , with a facsimile of the first page , only not bri ' cated . Bro . Whymper , by his permission , makes use of Mr . Halliwell ' s rl ssary and Transcript , giving about 20 corrections , and one word omitted , a « being of importance , such as "hole" instead of "lordys , " iiiordes for < u rdes ' " and lame for " fame . " Bro . Lane also tells me he has detected a few °

n .. ... . .. . ,, , _ . . _ . , _ . L _ . » re e . g . line 4 , " y-wyse" is given as " y-wisse , " ben is made to read "be fl 733 ) vvorththyor is represented by " worththyur " 1 . 737 . ' Bro . Speth supplies a most copious Glossary , which will be found of great istance to most readers , and all the more so ,. because though he has probably nsulted the first Glossary made , his compilation ismuch fuller and more accurate , d moreover includes an explanation of all the obselete words in the other two

poems . Bro . Gould , like Mr . Halliwell-Phillips speaks very favourably of the German translation by Dr . Asher , published in 1842 , but typographically it is a poor

snecimen by the side of the English editions of 1840-4 , and ( which appears to have been overlooked by both authorities ) goes no farther than line 49 6 . Lines , to the end ( 794 ) being only briefly described in that wee pamphlet . W . J . HUGHAN . ( To be continued . )

Bygones.

BYGONES .

" Antiquity after a time has the grace of novelty . "—HAZLITT . FREEMASONRY AMONG THE SAXONS . A great many archaeologists have from time to time tried to pierce through the darkness which surrouds the history of Freemasonry , and more particularly as regards the true relations of the Craft to architecture . It is a subject which affords afield for imagination , and there is no doubt men have taken advantage of the opportunity . But an archaeologist who feels that the rules of evidence should guide his conclusions deals with the subject in a different manner . He seeks for data that cannot be disputed , and is chary about drawing conclusions until he feels that sufficient evidence is forthcoming :.

The late James Orchard Halliwell or Halliwell-Phillips was a man of the new school . For most readers of newspapers he was a specialist who had devoted himself to one of the most difficult of subjects , the life of Shakespeare , and if he was unable to make it clear that the player was a poet , he at least revealed much about English life in the Elizabethan days .

Earlier , however , in his career , Mr . Halliwell-Phillips's researches vvere not confined to the works of one man . He was eager to write the history of English poetry , as seen in its earliest attempts , and he was at pains to master the archaicisms of the language in order that he might become an interpreter . It was in that way he hit upon the remarkable discovery that a century prior to the Norman conquest there vvas a recognition of an organisation in connection with building

which appears to have corresponded with Freemasonry , as it was believed to exist at a later period of the Middle Ages . It is time , however , the author should be allowed to be his own interpreter . Writing in 1839 , he said : We possess no series of documents , nor even an approach to a series , sufficiently extensive to enable us to form any connected history of the ancient institutions of Masons and Freemasons : we have , in fact , no materials by which we can form any

definite idea of the precise nature of those early societies . We must , therefore , rest contented with the light which a few incidental notices and accidental accounts , far from being altogether capable of unsuspected reliance , afford us . These , as far as I have been able to collect , I have arranged in the following few pages , with a nope that some fresh evidences may before long be discovered to eluciate a subject not , by any means , devoid of all interest . During some late researches among the manuscripts in the British Museum for

the illustration of the early history of English poetry , I chanced on one in the Old Royal Library , said in the catalogue by Casley to be a " Poem of Moral Duties , " and marked 17 A . I . Upon a further examination , however , I found that it was a very singular and curious poem on the Constitutions of Masonry , and a history and laws of the Society of Masons , stated to have been established by King Athelstan . this MS . consists of a small square duodecimo volume , on vellum , of the fourteenth century , on thirty-three leaves . It is thus entitled in an old rubric : Hie incipiunt constituciones artis gemetrie secundum Euclidem .

^ The account commences with a fabulous history of the invention of the art by fte grete clerke Euclyde . " It then proceeds to state that—Thys craft com ynto England as y zow say , Yn tyme of good Kyng Adelstones day ; He made tho bothe , halle and eke bowre ,

And hye templus cf gret honovvre , To sportyn hym yn bothe day and nyzth , And to worschepe hys God , with alle hys myzht . , " nd we then have a full transcript of all the articles in verse . I do not think necessary to give more than one specimen—Articulus primus . The furst artycul of thys gemetry , The mayster mason most be full securly—Bothe stedefast , trusty , and trewe ; Hyt schal hymn never thenne arewe . And pay thy felows after the coste , As vytayljs goth thenne wille than woste , And pay them trewly upon thy fay , What that they deserven may . And to here hure take no more . But what that they nriowe serve fore . And spare nowther for love ny drede , Of nowther partys to take no mede . Of lord my felow , whether he be , Of hem thou take no manner of fe .

And as a jugge stonde up-rigzth , And thenne thou dost to bothe good ryzth , And trwly do thi ? , wheresever thou gost , Thy worschep , thy profyt , hyt schall be most . nink that the foundation of such a Society , by King Athelstan , has every junct of external probability . le most refined principles of the art were kept concealed among the more

Bygones.

ingenious members of the Fraternity—the Freemasons—in imitation , perhaps , of a law which , according to Vitruvius , the ancient architects had established amoncr themselves—" non erudibent nisi suous liberos aut cognatos , et eos vires

bonos instituebant , quibus tantarum rerum fidei pecuniae sine dubitatione permitterentur . " So studiously did they conceal their secrets , that it may be fairly questioned whether even some of those who vvere admitted into the Society of Freemasons vvere wholly skilled in all the mysterious portions of the art .

That industrious antiquary , John Leland , has preserved , in his collections in the Bodleian Library , " certayne questyons , with answers to the same , concernynge the mystery of maconrye , wryttene by the hand of Kynge Henrye the Sixthe . " * The answer to the question , " How comede ytt yn Englonde ? " is as follows : " Peter Gower , a Greacian , journeyedde ffor cunnynge yn Egypte , and yn Syria ,

and yn everyche lond whereas the Venetians hadde plauntedde moconry , and wynnynge entraunce yn al Lodges of Maconnes , he lernede muche , and retournedde , and woned yn Grecia Magna , wacksynge and becommynge a myghtye vvyseacre , and ratelyche renowned , and her he framed a grate lodge at Groton , and maked many masonnes , some whereoffe dyd journye yn Fraunce , and maked many maconnes , wherefromme , yn processe of tyme , the arte passed yn Engelonde . "

This refers to the well-known story about Pythagoras . Groton is the name of a place in England , but the one here meant is Crotona , a city of Grecia Magna , which , in the time of Pythagoras , was in a very flourishing condition . The answers to the eighth and ninth questions are also exceedingly curious . Henry VI . vvas the great patron of the societies of Masons , aud shielded them

from a great deal of persecution , which had begun to assail them . The strenuous enthusiasm of WickclifFe maintained that beautiful churches savoured of hypocrisyj and , therefore , vvere pernicious . This opinion , directed against the very foundation and origin and upholds of the different lodges , was not likely to render their

situation more safe . It is said that Henry actually joined the society , and , whether the piece copied by Leland be really in his handwriting or not , it is certain that in his will he left to his college in Cambridge the annual sum of ^ 117 6 s . iod . for the wages of officers belonging to the works then in operation— £ s . d . For the master ... ... ... ... ... 50 o o For the clarke ... ... ... ... ... 13 6 8 For the chief-mason ... ... ... ... ... 16 13 4 For the chief-carpenter ... ... ... ... 12 iS o For the chief-smith ... ... ... ... ... 6 13 4 For two perveours , either of them at sixpence per day ... 18 5 6 £ 11 7 6 10 No mean sum in those days for one of a body to inspect the works ; and , it must be remembered , a Freemason . According to Bede , Bennet abbat of Wirral first brought Masons and workers in stone into this country . The company of Freemasons had their arms granted them by William Hunckeslow , Clarencieux King-at-Arms , 13 tdw . IV . ; and , two years previously , a company of under Masons was formed in London . The first company was incorporated by charter , in the year 1677 , by King Charles II .

In the 3 Hen . VI . an edict was passed against the societies of Masons , which has never , I believe , been repealed : " Whereas by the yearly congregations and confederacies made by the masons in their general chapiters and assemblies , the good course and effect of the statutes of labourers be openly violated and broken , in subversion of the law , and to the great damage of all the Commons : Our said Lord the King , willing in this case

to provide remedy , by the advice and assent aforesaid , and at the special request of the said Commons , hath ordained and established that such chapitres and congregations shall not be hereafter holden ; if they thereof be convict , shall be judged for felons ; and that all the other masons that come to such chapiters and congregations be punished by imprisonment of their bodies , and make fine and ransom at the king ' s will . "

Thus I leave the matter , with hardly a perceptible hint as to the manner of degeneration from bodies of skilled architects to iriendship societies , the only remaining connecting link of their origin being a few signs and marks emblematic of their early efforts . Their separation from the Roman Catholic Church doubtless contributed , in a great measure , to further the distinction ; and , when we take into consideration the extreme privacy of their proceedings , it is not much a matter for wonder that no satisfactory record should remain explanatory of the transactions of the primary assemblies . —The Architect .

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Norths And Hunts.

PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF NORTHS AND HUNTS .

The annual Provincial Grand Lodge of Norths and Hunts was held on Thursday , the 13 th inst ., under the banner of the Socrates Lodge , No . 373 , Huntingdon . The Right Hon . the Earl of Euston , D . L ., P . G . M ., assisted by Bro . Butler Wilkins , P . G . M ., P . G . Std . Br ., presided , The Grand Ledge was opened at the Town Hall , at 145 , for the dis *

patch of business and the appointment of the several officers , Bro . H . T . Smith , W . M . 374 , being appointed P . G . S . W . for the ensuing year . Several members of the Socrates Lodge were present , including Bros , John Smith , P . M . ; Burgess Allen , P . M ., Sec ; W . H . Smith , P . M . ; Geo .

Hawley , P . M . ; Arthur Bunting , P . M . ; J . G . Hankin , P . M . ; Thos . Coote , jun ., P . M . ; J . G . Green , P . M . ; C . B . Margetts , J . W . Ingram , P . M ., D . C . ; Rev . T . Hodgson , E . H . Fisher , Algernon Margetts , W . Conney , and several other officers and brethren of the Iodge . The number attending the lodge vvas about 80 ,

After this the brethren formed in procession , ar . d , preceded by the P . G . Sword Bearers with the Masonic emblems and symbols , proceeded to All Saints' Church , where Bro . the Rev . F . S . Thornton , Prov . G . C , had been

announced to preach . An interesting feature in the procession vvas that of four boys ( Lewises—sons of Bros . Thackray , Hodgson , and Davis ) , dressed in white serge , carrying a Bible resting on a prepared bier elegantly decorated with choice white flowers and acacia leaves .

The first portion of the church service vvas read by the Rev . J . PYCOCK , the Rev . T . HODGSON reading the lesson . Mr . A . A . Mackintosh presided at the organ for the greater part of the service , Bro . Vialls , P . G . O ., Org , of the Eleanor Cross Lodge , playing the voluntaries . The sermon was preached by Bro . the Rev . S . WATHEN WIGO , P . P . G . C . The reverend