Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
men of high rank could Avrite at all legibly , that being the work of regular scribes . This singular treatise is entitled" * Certayne Questions wyth AnsAveres to the same , concernynge the Mystery of MaconryeAvrittenne by the hande of
, Kynge Henrye the sixthe of the name , and faythfully copped by me Johan Leylande , Antiquarius , by commaunde of His Highnesse . "t
There is proof that the mind of the imbecile monarch Avas , in early life , directed to the discovery of " hidden things . " He was a dupe to the possibility of the philosopher ' s stone , ( as his Aviser predecessor , EdAvard III , had been before , !) and gave
a patent to the alchemists , having summoned them to display their art before him . || No wonder that he should entertain a similar curiosity to learn the secrets of the craft , and it is more than probable that this examination of them took place
before him in council , 1445 . It commences Avith a question— " What mote it be ]"—AnsAver : " Yt beith the skylle of nature ; the understandinge of the myghte that ys hernnye , and itssondrye werkyngssonderlychethe skill of
reckonn-, , ynges ; of wayghts and metynges ; and the true manere of fagonynge all thinges for mannys use , headlie , dwellings and buildynges of all kindes , and all odther thynges that make goode to manne . " § Farther
extracts are unnecessarj * , as the whole is published , and may be readily examined by the more curious reader . The first publications dealt principally in tradition : Boaz , and Jacbiu ancl tbe original lodge as established at YorkU in Saxon times . Of those which are more
modern , two are entitled to notice . Preston ' s Illustrations are held in high estimation . As the history only is important to the present inquiry , it must be observed , that no recital is made of the penalities of either statute above-quoted ;
and that in the chapter assigned to an examination of Locke ' s notes upon Leland ' s transcripts , such opinions as impugn the high credit of masonry are omitted . It offers an elaborate vindication ot the system of Freemasonry upon its general
principles and analogies , Avith feAv and imperfect references to genuine history ; the first compulsory act of Edward III . is not even alluded to . In the "Encyclopedia Britannica , " vol . xii . 4 to . pages 639 to 669 are occupied by
" An Essay on Freemasonry , " which is an apologetical digest of all that has been written by previous authors , but % vitb a dereliction of several of the more popular traditions . Of this essay the main object is a vindication of Freemasonry from the charge urged against it by Bariiel and Robinson , HoAvever it may have applied
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
men of high rank could Avrite at all legibly , that being the work of regular scribes . This singular treatise is entitled" * Certayne Questions wyth AnsAveres to the same , concernynge the Mystery of MaconryeAvrittenne by the hande of
, Kynge Henrye the sixthe of the name , and faythfully copped by me Johan Leylande , Antiquarius , by commaunde of His Highnesse . "t
There is proof that the mind of the imbecile monarch Avas , in early life , directed to the discovery of " hidden things . " He was a dupe to the possibility of the philosopher ' s stone , ( as his Aviser predecessor , EdAvard III , had been before , !) and gave
a patent to the alchemists , having summoned them to display their art before him . || No wonder that he should entertain a similar curiosity to learn the secrets of the craft , and it is more than probable that this examination of them took place
before him in council , 1445 . It commences Avith a question— " What mote it be ]"—AnsAver : " Yt beith the skylle of nature ; the understandinge of the myghte that ys hernnye , and itssondrye werkyngssonderlychethe skill of
reckonn-, , ynges ; of wayghts and metynges ; and the true manere of fagonynge all thinges for mannys use , headlie , dwellings and buildynges of all kindes , and all odther thynges that make goode to manne . " § Farther
extracts are unnecessarj * , as the whole is published , and may be readily examined by the more curious reader . The first publications dealt principally in tradition : Boaz , and Jacbiu ancl tbe original lodge as established at YorkU in Saxon times . Of those which are more
modern , two are entitled to notice . Preston ' s Illustrations are held in high estimation . As the history only is important to the present inquiry , it must be observed , that no recital is made of the penalities of either statute above-quoted ;
and that in the chapter assigned to an examination of Locke ' s notes upon Leland ' s transcripts , such opinions as impugn the high credit of masonry are omitted . It offers an elaborate vindication ot the system of Freemasonry upon its general
principles and analogies , Avith feAv and imperfect references to genuine history ; the first compulsory act of Edward III . is not even alluded to . In the "Encyclopedia Britannica , " vol . xii . 4 to . pages 639 to 669 are occupied by
" An Essay on Freemasonry , " which is an apologetical digest of all that has been written by previous authors , but % vitb a dereliction of several of the more popular traditions . Of this essay the main object is a vindication of Freemasonry from the charge urged against it by Bariiel and Robinson , HoAvever it may have applied