Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 3.
to invest with the solemn character of an impenetrable secrecy and a mysterious lore . When we turn to Greece , if the evidence be still not all that we could wish for , the light seems gradually growing clearer .
That the sumptuous temples in which ancient Greece abounded , were the works of architects in combination with a Fraternity of Masons KOIVUVM , no reasonable doubt can be entertained says Dallaway , in his History of Architecture . *
Other writers have said , f that the priests of Dionysius having devoted themselves to architectural pursuits , established , about one thousand years before the Christian era , a society of builders
m Asia Minor who are styled by ancient writers , the Fraternity of Dionysian architects , unto which society was exclusively confined the privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings . Now there is a considerable amount of striking
evidence , which has been collected , in support of the previous statements . For though it may no doubt be contended successfully , that the Greeks were at a very early period divided into handicraft corporations , yet it
is also clearly demonstrable that the society of architects or community of builders enjoyed great privileges , and stood higher than all the others , in social importance .
Whether we call them , ™ KOIVOV , or ermpta , whether we accept the account of the Dionysian architects , or that of the DajdalidteJ deriving their name from Dasdalus , the famous artist and builder of Crete , there is so much identity between the genera }
organisation and particular customs of these building lyceums , and our modern Freemasonry , that we are led to the inevitable conclusion , that these Grecian building communities were the forerunners of the Roman collegia , and thereby linked
on to these mediasval guilds , from which we ourselves clearly and continuously descend . There are decrees still extant § conferring the special honours of these communities on members and non-members , and so striking is the similarity
between their customs and ours , that one writer declares , the organisation of the building sodality in Teos , 300 years before Christ , offers a striking resemblance to that of the Freemasons at the close of the XVIII century . \\
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 3.
These communities had a secret and distinct organization they called each other Qparopes 0 r brethren ; they had words and signs of recognition , and were divided into separate communities or lodges , which had local titles , as ° » " > "" » v nrra \ is
™ w , community of Attalus , mow "jr ex """> »»/ "" , community of the division of Echinos . * Their presidents and officers were elected annually , and persons non-operative were made patrons and honorary members .
In the exercise of charity the more opulent were sacredly bound to provide for the exigencies of the poorer brethren . We have also the fact that priests were attached specially to these communities , as we hear of Kpanvos lepers rau rfx «™" , Cratinos , priest of the builders or artificers .
They employed in their ceremonial observances many of the symbols which are still found among Freemasons , particularly , says Schauberg , the cubical stone , and the smooth and rough ashlar , and their signs of recognition enabled them to
distinguish one another " in the dai-k as well as in the light , " f and united the " members scattered over India , Persia , and Syria , into one common brotherhood . " J 3 ro . Findel has said , J that all that has been
stated has only " confirmed anew , what it must be conceded that no one doubted , that these institutions and confederations resembled those of the Freemasons , " and has " furnished fresh material for a more perfect recognition of this , and has
shown that everywhere certain tokens are to be met with , the counterparts of which may be found in Freemasonry , " yet " it is very evident , that the borrowing and appropriation of these is something nearer the truth , than the reception of the
improbable presumption of a propagation of some mystic order or other . '" And he goes on to say , if " Freemasonry were really a continuation of these ancient confederacies , we must of necessity know more of their method
of instructing and their internal arrangements , than the rest of mankind , which is by no mean s the case . "
But in saying this , Bro . Findel begs the whole question , as regards what is the real origin and meaning of our Masonic symbolism and teaching , and oral traditions .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 3.
to invest with the solemn character of an impenetrable secrecy and a mysterious lore . When we turn to Greece , if the evidence be still not all that we could wish for , the light seems gradually growing clearer .
That the sumptuous temples in which ancient Greece abounded , were the works of architects in combination with a Fraternity of Masons KOIVUVM , no reasonable doubt can be entertained says Dallaway , in his History of Architecture . *
Other writers have said , f that the priests of Dionysius having devoted themselves to architectural pursuits , established , about one thousand years before the Christian era , a society of builders
m Asia Minor who are styled by ancient writers , the Fraternity of Dionysian architects , unto which society was exclusively confined the privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings . Now there is a considerable amount of striking
evidence , which has been collected , in support of the previous statements . For though it may no doubt be contended successfully , that the Greeks were at a very early period divided into handicraft corporations , yet it
is also clearly demonstrable that the society of architects or community of builders enjoyed great privileges , and stood higher than all the others , in social importance .
Whether we call them , ™ KOIVOV , or ermpta , whether we accept the account of the Dionysian architects , or that of the DajdalidteJ deriving their name from Dasdalus , the famous artist and builder of Crete , there is so much identity between the genera }
organisation and particular customs of these building lyceums , and our modern Freemasonry , that we are led to the inevitable conclusion , that these Grecian building communities were the forerunners of the Roman collegia , and thereby linked
on to these mediasval guilds , from which we ourselves clearly and continuously descend . There are decrees still extant § conferring the special honours of these communities on members and non-members , and so striking is the similarity
between their customs and ours , that one writer declares , the organisation of the building sodality in Teos , 300 years before Christ , offers a striking resemblance to that of the Freemasons at the close of the XVIII century . \\
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 3.
These communities had a secret and distinct organization they called each other Qparopes 0 r brethren ; they had words and signs of recognition , and were divided into separate communities or lodges , which had local titles , as ° » " > "" » v nrra \ is
™ w , community of Attalus , mow "jr ex """> »»/ "" , community of the division of Echinos . * Their presidents and officers were elected annually , and persons non-operative were made patrons and honorary members .
In the exercise of charity the more opulent were sacredly bound to provide for the exigencies of the poorer brethren . We have also the fact that priests were attached specially to these communities , as we hear of Kpanvos lepers rau rfx «™" , Cratinos , priest of the builders or artificers .
They employed in their ceremonial observances many of the symbols which are still found among Freemasons , particularly , says Schauberg , the cubical stone , and the smooth and rough ashlar , and their signs of recognition enabled them to
distinguish one another " in the dai-k as well as in the light , " f and united the " members scattered over India , Persia , and Syria , into one common brotherhood . " J 3 ro . Findel has said , J that all that has been
stated has only " confirmed anew , what it must be conceded that no one doubted , that these institutions and confederations resembled those of the Freemasons , " and has " furnished fresh material for a more perfect recognition of this , and has
shown that everywhere certain tokens are to be met with , the counterparts of which may be found in Freemasonry , " yet " it is very evident , that the borrowing and appropriation of these is something nearer the truth , than the reception of the
improbable presumption of a propagation of some mystic order or other . '" And he goes on to say , if " Freemasonry were really a continuation of these ancient confederacies , we must of necessity know more of their method
of instructing and their internal arrangements , than the rest of mankind , which is by no mean s the case . "
But in saying this , Bro . Findel begs the whole question , as regards what is the real origin and meaning of our Masonic symbolism and teaching , and oral traditions .