Old Antiquity.

and preserved , and that under his distinguished presidency it may long retain its high character and its distinctive system , its prestige at home and its popularity abroad . " We also append to this a leader from the Freemason with respect to the interesting article in the Times , in order to render this little reference to an interesting subject complete : — " In a very able leadermainly with respect to

, the Lodge of Antiquity , the Times , on Thursday week , gave us a very remarkable and readable ' leader ' on Freemasonry . Not that the article professed to be very antiquarian , or very profound , or even , perhaps , very critical , but it skimmed over the ground easil y and pleasantly , and laid before a very large circle of readers a well-written and philosophically-conceived essay on certain features , salient and significant , which Freemasonry presented to the mind of

the writer , and -which deserves , therefore , respectful attention , and , above all , fraternal criticism . In a great deal which the writer there affirms we agree most heartily ; in some points , however , we are compelled honestl y to dissent from his views , most conscientious , no doubt , as they are , and certainly lucidly and eloquently expressed . We quite agree with the writer that in dealing with the antiquity of Freemasonry we must always

carefulldisy tinguish between the 'legends of guilds' and the 'facts of history . ' -But then , our good friend and probably brother , wdio is so clear a writer and so keen a critic himself , falls amusingly enough into the same very error he has just so characteristicall y reproved . Whatever maj ^ he the real antiquity of Masonry , it is probably co-eval with the Masonic guilds or sodalities , and

hence , no doubt , much of the doubt and obscurity , and the incorrect assertions and exaggerated claims which have arisen aud which marked most undoubtedl y the lucubrations of many Masonic writers , ancient and modern . But , as we said , if the writer of this interesting article complains of undue acceptance of ' legends , ' why has he fallen into the same mistake b y treating the so-called Locke MS . and the alleged endorsement or transcri pt of Henry VI . as a realitywhen that so-called MS . has long been abandoned bexperts as a

, y ' pious fraud ? ' And why , above all , does he suggest the absorption of the speculative element into the operative guilds as ' possible' in the 15 th century , when it is clear from countless evidences which might be adduced that such transformation could not and did not take place until about the middle of the 17 th century ? We are not quite sure either whether we can . accept as indisputable facts one or two statements in respect of the Lodof Antiquit

ge y itself , with all-due submission to the writer . There is in existence no evidence that King Charles II . laid the foundation-stone of St . Paul ' s ; all existing available evidence declares that Sir Christopher Wren laid it himself . But it is just possible that the tradition may allude to some special ceremony at St . Paul ' s with which King Charles II . was connected , and we do not know , except for historical truth ' s sakethat it matters much one or the other . The

, way gavel was undoubtedly given to the Lodge by Bro . Sir Christopher Wren . The statement of the initiation of King William III . is also only a ' tradition , ' and we are not aware of any document in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity which mentions the fact as a fact . We venture to say all this in order to point out that even in 1879 how difficult it is to separate ' tradition ' from ' history , ' and how that , as it has been said , how true it still is —•

Tradition , oh , tradition , thou of the seraph tongue , The ark which binds two ages , the ancient and the young . ' We thence learn a lesson of caution as to blaming older writers . We do not agree with the writer when he seems to contend that there is some truth after all in the favourite Ultramontane complaint that the ' French lodges were instrumental in fostering the French Revolution . ' We do not think that any evidence of such a tendency really exists , but much , very much , to the contrary may be adduced . That in some of the lodges extreme views of