Sketch Of The History Of The Mark Masters' Degree, &C.

self a member of the Craft . He adds that the wall of the north aisle of Canterbury Cathedral ( as well as the crypt , & c ) , is covered with Masons ' marks , " and here the stones are seen in many cases to have two marks , perhaps that of the

overseer , in addition to that of the Mason , as the former appears in connection with various other marks in other places . " - Double marks of a similar character have also been found in Strasburgh Cathedral and

elsewhere , and those who are Mark Masters will know why it should be so—and how accurate was Mr . Godwin ' s supposition . Some years ago I paid a good deal of attention to the subject of Masons ' marks , and collected some hundreds of them .

To resume however : such being- the position of the degrees of Freemasonry 150 years ago , and the Master of an ordinary lodge being simply a F . C , although of a superior class , a Menatzcliim or overseer , or , in reality , a Mark Master ; the

second degree was , in fact , although not in name , divided into two parts , the ordinary one of F . C , and that conferred on the superior class of F . O . ' s —the Mark Master's .

In like manner the degree of Master Mason ( which , as I have already stated , was conferred only in Grand Lodge ) , was , it is said , also divided into two portions—that of the ordinary third degree , and that now known as the Order

of the Holy Royal Arch , which was then in reality , as it is still stated to be , the completion of the third degree ; aud which was not known under its present designation and form until about thirty years later , and it is believed that the master

builders only had this part of the degree conferred upon them ; and , indeed , up to a comparatively recent period , no one was eligible for admission to the Royal Arch degree unless he had actually

ruled a Craft lodge as W . M ., or at least had gone through a preliminary ceremony , sometimes termed the degree of Master of Arts ancl Sciences , and analagous to that of installation , termed " Passing the Chair , " but which did not , of course , confer

the rank of a P . M . There is , however , much in the early history of the Order , and the changes effected in the practice of its rites at the revival of Masonry , which requires further elucidation . From that period Masonry became speculative

instead of operative ; aud this movement so progressed , ancl the ranks were swelled b y the admission of so many not connected with architecture and building that the original object of the loclo-es

has , in the present day , been entirely superseded , with the exception , I believe , of Scotland , where many of the old operative lodges still flourish under the Grand Lodge of that country , and have existed for several centuries , one of them , that of

St . John's Lodge at Glasgow , it is asserted had a royal charter granted to it as early as the year 1057 . The authenticity of this charter is , however , disputed by some writers , whilst its genuineness is as boldly maintained by others .

Up to the commencement of the last century we hear of no Grand Lodge in London , and only of the old Grand Lodge at York , which is said to

have been established there by a charter from King Athelstane , A . D . 926 ( whether susceptible of proof I cannot say ) , but in the year 1717 au independent Grand Lodge was established by a small body of Masons in London—the Mark degreo

continuing , it is believed , to be worked under both jurisdictions ; at all events , in all lodges working under the old York rite . Some years " afterwards a schism occurred amongst the London Masons ; those who seceded from the authority of

the Grand Lodge there , termed themselves " Ancient Masons , " in contradistinction to those who remained faithful in their allegiance , whom they designated " Modern Masons . "

The so-called ancient Masons were for manyyears ruled by the Duke of Athole as G . M ., and were hence known also as " Athole Masons , " and their lodges as "Athole Lodges , " and many of the oldest lodges now on the register of the Grand

Lodge of England were of this origin . Amongthese maybe mentioned the Newstead Lodge , No .. 47 , at Nottingham , which from time immemorial has continued uninterruptedly to the present day to confer the Mark degree , and in which I and

the other founders of the Fowke and Howe Lodg-es- " O were advanced ; and in our own province the-Knights of Malta Lodge , No . 50 , Hinckley , in which it was regularly conferred up to a few years ago , several of the present Past Masters of

thelodge having received it ; but since the death of Bro . Needham the working of the degree has been lost . The marks of the old members areregistered in the volume of the Sacred Law . It was also conferred in the old Athole lodge , No .

90 , in this town , the seals of which for Craft , Royal Arch , and Templar Masonry are in my possession , including one for the degree of Ark Mariner , not now worked in England ; and aftermy initiation in St . John's Lodge thirty years ago ,.