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Article "THE ALBURY MS."AN ANALYSIS. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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"The Albury Ms."An Analysis.
companies were merged in others—for instance , the Freemasons in the Masons . " For the latter no evidence is vouchsafed , nor any particulars given , so we must leave it where we find it—though as it is the object of the author ( according to the
editor ) to " trace the origin of the Freemasonic Guild , or society , from the trade associations existing previously to Edward 111—when many became partially , and subsequently fully , incorporated by charter —and of the more modern societiesbased
, on , initiated from or arising out of the amalgamated Guild of Freemasons and Masons , " surely a little information about the amalgamation mentioned would not have beeu amiss , especially as it is opposed to all the published facts .
The next chapter is headed "English Lodges , " aud commences with the startling assertion , " James I , who was Grand Master of Masons and Patron of Inigo Jones between 1603 and 1625 , encouraged architecture . " Whatever may have been
the object of the writer of this " Albury MS ., " it is clear that the one professed to be the motive actuating him is a signal failure , for his great mistake , as with ,
some other writers on the subject , " is an ignorance of history . " In 1673 Lord Rivers is spoken of as Grand Master , and Christopher Wren as -Deputy Grand Master , and in the few lines before , Lord St . Albans is declared
to have been tho President at a general meeting , at which certain laws were passed —which are given in the " Harleian MSS ., No . 1942 " ( British Museum ) though theh origin is riot noted in the pamphlet . We know that similar random
statements have been made in times gone by , and which are now looked upon as the essentiall y credulous period of the craft , but we were not anticipating their reproduction in a professedly historical work on the Masonic Guilds .
But to continue the narrative ( which would be interesting if not calaulated to delude the neophyte ) , at page 32 we are informed that" George I . made his solemn Mifcry ^ into London on September 20 , 1 1 * which disconnected h
' , , as a paragrap , ^ ay pass muster . The next sentence , however , with respect to the Grand Master , ^ open to question—and in fact is , accordlng to all particulars known , contrary to the
evidence accumulated ; "Wren , born in 1631 , was then in his eighty-fourth year , and opportunity was then seized to render the Grand Master the centre of combination and harmony . " Not a particle of evidence has been presented in proof of the
foregoing , and yet it is given as aulhentie On the next page ah unfortunate typographical error occurs , which we mention not by way of complaint , but simply of correction—1825 being evidently intended for 1725 up to which period it is said
, , " Grand Lodge could alone make Masons " By the latter we presume Master Masons is meant—and which , though generally believed to be true , is not iii reality , as records exist before that year of the degree being worked by a Lodge .
An incorrect sketch of the secession of 1738-1813 is given at page 38 , and the different questions involved in the consideration of so important a subject are so jumbled together that even a " Philadelphia lawyer , " with all his keenness , could not manage to make sense out of the confusion . We present a portion of the sketch in confirmation of our statement .
"Thefeud continued until 1790 , when , by arrangement , the Duke of Kent became Grand Master of the excommunicate Masons and the , Duke of Sussex of the legitimate branch . Articles of imion were drawn up , the two royal Grand Masters
sitting on either side of the throne . The articles were then signed by either , on behalf of the bodies they respectively re-presented , and being received by acclamcdion , the Duke of Kent resigned the Grand Mastership of the Ancient Masonsand the
, Duke of Sussex was installed Grand Master of the united body . This was termed the Lodge of Reconciliation . " To remodel and correct the foregoing would require a similar transformation to the Hih glanders gun—which needed
" a new lock , a new stock , and a new barrel . " The Earl of Antrim was Grand Master of the "Ancients" A . D . 1790 , having occupied that post from 1782 . He died in 1791 and was succeeded by the Duke of
, Athol , who was re-elected annually until Nov . 8 , 1813 , when a letter being read from His Grace resigning the office , H . R . H . the Duke of Kent was elected in his place , and installed as Grand Master on s 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
"The Albury Ms."An Analysis.
companies were merged in others—for instance , the Freemasons in the Masons . " For the latter no evidence is vouchsafed , nor any particulars given , so we must leave it where we find it—though as it is the object of the author ( according to the
editor ) to " trace the origin of the Freemasonic Guild , or society , from the trade associations existing previously to Edward 111—when many became partially , and subsequently fully , incorporated by charter —and of the more modern societiesbased
, on , initiated from or arising out of the amalgamated Guild of Freemasons and Masons , " surely a little information about the amalgamation mentioned would not have beeu amiss , especially as it is opposed to all the published facts .
The next chapter is headed "English Lodges , " aud commences with the startling assertion , " James I , who was Grand Master of Masons and Patron of Inigo Jones between 1603 and 1625 , encouraged architecture . " Whatever may have been
the object of the writer of this " Albury MS ., " it is clear that the one professed to be the motive actuating him is a signal failure , for his great mistake , as with ,
some other writers on the subject , " is an ignorance of history . " In 1673 Lord Rivers is spoken of as Grand Master , and Christopher Wren as -Deputy Grand Master , and in the few lines before , Lord St . Albans is declared
to have been tho President at a general meeting , at which certain laws were passed —which are given in the " Harleian MSS ., No . 1942 " ( British Museum ) though theh origin is riot noted in the pamphlet . We know that similar random
statements have been made in times gone by , and which are now looked upon as the essentiall y credulous period of the craft , but we were not anticipating their reproduction in a professedly historical work on the Masonic Guilds .
But to continue the narrative ( which would be interesting if not calaulated to delude the neophyte ) , at page 32 we are informed that" George I . made his solemn Mifcry ^ into London on September 20 , 1 1 * which disconnected h
' , , as a paragrap , ^ ay pass muster . The next sentence , however , with respect to the Grand Master , ^ open to question—and in fact is , accordlng to all particulars known , contrary to the
evidence accumulated ; "Wren , born in 1631 , was then in his eighty-fourth year , and opportunity was then seized to render the Grand Master the centre of combination and harmony . " Not a particle of evidence has been presented in proof of the
foregoing , and yet it is given as aulhentie On the next page ah unfortunate typographical error occurs , which we mention not by way of complaint , but simply of correction—1825 being evidently intended for 1725 up to which period it is said
, , " Grand Lodge could alone make Masons " By the latter we presume Master Masons is meant—and which , though generally believed to be true , is not iii reality , as records exist before that year of the degree being worked by a Lodge .
An incorrect sketch of the secession of 1738-1813 is given at page 38 , and the different questions involved in the consideration of so important a subject are so jumbled together that even a " Philadelphia lawyer , " with all his keenness , could not manage to make sense out of the confusion . We present a portion of the sketch in confirmation of our statement .
"Thefeud continued until 1790 , when , by arrangement , the Duke of Kent became Grand Master of the excommunicate Masons and the , Duke of Sussex of the legitimate branch . Articles of imion were drawn up , the two royal Grand Masters
sitting on either side of the throne . The articles were then signed by either , on behalf of the bodies they respectively re-presented , and being received by acclamcdion , the Duke of Kent resigned the Grand Mastership of the Ancient Masonsand the
, Duke of Sussex was installed Grand Master of the united body . This was termed the Lodge of Reconciliation . " To remodel and correct the foregoing would require a similar transformation to the Hih glanders gun—which needed
" a new lock , a new stock , and a new barrel . " The Earl of Antrim was Grand Master of the "Ancients" A . D . 1790 , having occupied that post from 1782 . He died in 1791 and was succeeded by the Duke of
, Athol , who was re-elected annually until Nov . 8 , 1813 , when a letter being read from His Grace resigning the office , H . R . H . the Duke of Kent was elected in his place , and installed as Grand Master on s 2