Notes For A History Of Freemasonry.

NOTES FOR A HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY .

BY A . EERTOF . Translated from the " Cltaine d'Union" for the " Masonic Magazine . " give these eloquent "Notes" though we need hardly say that AVO do not profess

WE , to agree with their sentiments or be bound by their conclusions . But our brethren may well see the product of thought and ability , though they are not likely to accept Bro . Berton ' s facts Avithout a large " grano sails . " The origin of Freemasonry is lost in the night of time . I do not Avish to speak more specially of Freemasonry such as Ave see it to-day , with its institutions clearl y definedits unity under governmentsunder different forms , its regidar performance ,

, , but of the companies of unknown Masons or others from which it is derived . In all times the feeble and the humble have felt the need of union and of alliance amongst themselves to resist the powerful , the oppressors ; they haA'e had to league together to defend the right against poAver . And no one is ignorant that the struggle of right ' against power is the history of humanity since its origin to our own days . Scarcely had the earth germinated Avith men , AA'hen the combat commenced ; the strongest killed the

weakest , or made him his slaA'e . For thousands of years slavery , like a leprosy , covered the Avorld , and generations came and Avent , the one making , the other leading as a part on earth , a miserable existence , for the happiness ancl easy life of some tyrants . Nei'ertheless revolt appeared . The slaves formed two great classes—labourers ancl artisans . The labourers kept in the fields , far from the eye and the hand of the master , enjoyed a greater liberty ancl a better lot . It AA'as the artisans specially that the yoke

pressed upon most heavily , charged to supply the pleasures of the tyrant , to build aud to adorn the palace—in one word , to approach and to seiwe him neaiest of all . It is therefore among these last , that the first ideas of liberty germinated . Individually too feeble , they formed unions , and gai'e birth to those great associations with Avhich kings have had more than once to reckon . Witness the contract entered intothree or four thousand years agofor the construction of a tombbetween Ramses

, , , , King of Egypt , and a tribe of independent Masons , a contract engraved on stone , sealed in the tomb , and re-discovered about twenty years ago , in the ruins of the monument , by our illustrious Champollion . Witness again the convention made between tlie King of the JCAVS , S . olomon , and the Tyrian Masons of Hiram , a convention ireel y made , and after discussion on one side and the other , as Ave can see in the Bible .

Before proceeding , I AA'ish to answer two objections Avhich present themselves , quite naturall y , Avhen Ave study the origin of Freemasonry . The first is this : Why is it that Masons have alone favoured these associations ? It is probable—nay , it is certain—that the Masons hai'e not been in antiquity the onl y ones to league themselves to recover liberty . The rebellion of the Helots among the Greeks , the revolts of the slaves among the Romans , and their retreat to the Aventine Mount

, are sufficient proofs of this . But if AA'e consider that it is by those of their works Avhich have tiwersed the ages that the Egyptian , Assyrian , and other Masons haA'e left us their monuments and their associations , AA'e shall easily understand that all 'race is lost of the associations of other artisans . Except some pottery , some jewels , round here and there in the tombs , Avhat monument remains to us of those distant epochs besides the labours of Operative Masons ? The second objection is the folloAving

: How is it that the historians of those times do not speak of the Masonic associations , do '' ot describe their practices , their mysteries , etc . We must not forget that these associations were necessarily secret ; the members had too great an interest in silence to c lA'id ge the secrets , ancl even if they had spoken , that would not be a sufficient reason .