Notes For A History Of Freemasonry.

The initiator of Eleusis , of the Druidical ceremonies , etc ., could also have committed indiscretions , ancl , nevertheless , who can find described to-day the Druidical mysteries oi those of Eleusis ? The origin of Freemasonry , that of Masonry "Free , " independent , AvithdraAA'n from the arbitrariness of tyrants , giving their labour for a great salary—the origin being established , I shall pass rapidly over the first periods AA'hich ensued . I will not describe

the building of the cities of Egypt , disappeared to-day , or the pyramids , still to the fore ; I will not point out the construction of the works of the Kings of Assyria , or the eoA'ering of their sumptuous palaces AA'ith those statues AA'hich , the visage calm , and the hands on the knees , haA'e passed through so many ages to come to us ; I AA' 111 only indicate the labour of Masons at the Temple of Jerusalem , them porticoes among the Greeks , their temples and then- aqueducts among the Romans , the cathedrals AA'ith which they have covered Europe in the Middle Ages , all gigantic labours , and durable , in the greater part of Avhich Ave find the square and the compass , speaking arms AA'hich Ave still see on our Masonic blazon .

In the ninth century Athelstan , King of England , made a general Association of the Operative Masons in his kingdom , gave them a private constitution , ancl placed at then- head his eldest son , Avith the title of Grand Master . From this epoch , Freemasonry , such as Ave IOIOAV , commenced its development . The various lodges Avhich Avorked in the kingdom had a common link , the Masons' special sign of recognition . It is no longer a secret . It begins to admit into its bosom men strangers to the rule of Masonsbut it still distinguishes them from its ancient membersthey are only

, ; honorary members . Freemasonry includes Operative Masons and Accepted Masons , or strangers to the "Metier" of Masonry . It is only in 1703 that . this distinction disappears ; on July 14 th the Lodge of Saint Paul ' s , of London , UOAV the Lodge of Antiquity No . 2 , decrees that the " Privileges of Masonry shall no longer be restricted to Operative Masons , but entrusted to men of various professions , provided they are regularly approA'ed and initiated into the Order" ( Preston ' s "Illustration of Masonry" ) .

It is then from 1703 that the Freemasonry dates such as Ave know ancl practice to-day . It is in this epoch that the last stone has been laid of the foundation of the Order ; the modifications it will subsequently go through AA'hen spreading all over the land Avill only be modifications of detail , and of less importance . In 1721 English Masons founded at Dunkirk the Lodge " Amitie et Fraternite . " In 1725 Lord Derwentwaterthe Chancellor Maskel M . de Hegneltand some

, yne , y , English' noblemen , established another Lodge at Paris , at Nine ' s , Hotel Keeper , Rue des Boucheries , a lodge of Avhich the name is lost , but Avhich figures on the early list of English Lodges as No . 90 . In 1742 there were at Paris tiventy-tAA'D , and more than one hundred in the rest of France .

At this epoch , that is to say , at the commencement of the 10 th century , Freemasonry had assumed a IIOAV character . It AA'as no longer the Operative Society of former times , for persons of all conditions , strangers to the profession , noblemen , had hastened in great numbers to range themselves under its banners . And here Ave conclude Bro . Berton ' s Notes , the more so as we do not find any point of interest to us in the feAV concluding ones ! We give the Notes simply as a study of Masonry . We do not profess to admire their tone , their temper , or then- spirit . Indeed , Ave think the underlying theory most mistaken and mischievous , though Ave do not doubt the sincerity of the writer .