Literature.

Literature .

B 3 TIEWS . Tiie Ilislorg of Freemasonry and of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , , V <\ , S / c . By WILLIAM ALEXANDER LAURIE , Secretary to thc Grand Lodge of Scotland , F . R . S . A .. & c ,. & c . [ Third Notice ] . TifE brethren who built the ancient abbey of Kilwinning are

considered by Bro . Laurie to have sown thc first seeds of Masonry in Scotland ; and in this conclusion we think he is justified by the existing evidence . It must also be allowed that there is great probability in his surmise that the English brethren owe their knowledge of thc Craft to emissaries from the Kilwinning source , from-which the li ght of Masonry quickly spread over the length aucL breadth of the island . Eut ivhether this be reallthe fact

y , or'ivhether refugees from the continent brought the great secrets to England , can only be matter of surmise at present , and must remain so until some future discoveries shall set the question at rest . Our author alludes half respectfully , half satirically to the presumed antiquity of the Grand Lodge of England , and quotes the legend about St . Alban bringing Masonry to this country iu the third century , whichwith some other absurdities about King

, Athelstanc and Prince Edwin are still permitted year after year to disgrace our "Calendar" committee , by appearing as authentic "Remarkable Occurrences in Masonry . " If there arc no real facts knoivn about the history of the Order in those distant times , do not let ns either invent "historical" occurrences , nor countenance those ivho transmit misstatements or ^ conjectures as genuine incidents . Rather let us say with Bro . Laurie : —

"If the antiquity of Freemasonry in Britain can bo defended only by tho invention of silly and uninteresting stories , it does not deserve to be defended at all . Those who invent aud propagate such tales do not surely consider that they bring discredit upon their Order by the warmth of their zeal ; and that , by supporting what is false , they deter thinking men from believing what is true . " From thc two Grand Lodges of York and Kilwinning doubtless

emanated the various Lodges of England and Scotland , which though not rising into great and recognized importance until the sixteenth century , ivere still maintained in unbroken succession although few in number . Bro . Laurie accepts as genuine the celebrated manuscript attributed ' to Henry VI ., and said to have been examined by the philosopher Locke in the Bodleian Library ( though we have heard it asserted that no such document exists

at present in tiie Bodleian , nor does there remain any record of it ); and therefore , of course , considers it to be correctly stated that the monarch ivas initiated into our Order , and became a staunch patron of it . Contemporary with Henry VI . was thc patronage of the royal art hy James " ! ., of Scotland , who granted important privileges and ri ghts to the Grand JIaster Mason of his dominions-, and this office ivas b y his successor , . James IL , made hereditary in the family of St . Clair of Roslyn . the head of which , at that period , was William' St . Clair , " Earl of Orkney ancl Caithness .

^ ' The Barons of Roslin , as hereditary Grand Masters of Scotland , held their principal annual meetings at Kilwinning , the birth-place of Scotch 3 Iiisoiiry , while the Loilge of that village granted constitutions and charter .- of erection to those bre'hren who were , anxious that regular Lodges should lie formed in different parts of the kingdom . ' These Lodges sill held of the Lod ge of Kilwinning , and in token of their respect and submission joined to their own name that of their mother Lodge , from whom they derived their existence as a corporation . "

_ The most ancient Lodge in Edinburgh is that- of " Mary's Chapel , " the minutes of which are still in existence , extendi ™* as far back as tiie year 1598 ; and we can hardly doubt that in these records many circumstances of great historical value and interest may be traced . One fact , ivhieh proves the anti quity of speculative Masonry , is shown by these minutes—in the year 1 GQQ Thomas BoswellLaird of Auckinleck ivas made a Warden of the

, Lodge . As it is well known that the ancestors of Dr . Johnson's biographer ivere men of noble blood and considerable territorial influence , the absurdity , of Robison ' s assertion that Masonic Lodges at that time consisted merely of operative Masons becomes evident ; indeed a few years later the Hon . Robert Moray , Quarter Master General of the army , was made a Master Mason in the same Lodge .

The St . Ola-u-s , m virtue of their office , occupy a prominent place in the records of the Graft through all its ' vicissitudes up to _ the year 17 . % ' , ivhen the Grand JIaster of that name being childless , resigned his hereditary right into the hands of the Scottish brethren . Thc Lodges having been convened , received the deed of resignation at the hands of Bro . St . Clair and

constituted themselves into the Grand Lodge of Scotland , paying their late ruler the merited honour of electing him to the office of Grand Master for thc ensuing year , after which he was succeeded by thc Earl of Cromarty . At the commencement of the seventeenth century the number and influence of the Freemasons in England began greatly to increase ; and indeed the civil wars between Charles I . and the

parliament do not appear to have had the effect of suspending the operations of tbe Order . Wc find in the works of eontemporary authors , Elias Ashmole , Colonel Maimraring and other eminent men , named as members of the fraternity : and our author adds that King Charles the Second was a brother and a frequent visitor at the Lodges . Bro . Laurie here notices at some length the extraordinary theories of Bobison and Pivati ; the former of

whom has asserted that Freemasonry was a political association established by the partisans of Charles I . ; Pivati on the other hand with equal truth abuses the institution as an engine of the republican party and g ives the credit of its invention to Oliver Cromwell ! Dr . Robison mingling a small scrap of fact with a large amount of fablesays that this royalist conspiracy was exported to France

, along with the other baggage of the exiled James JET . ; and thatdeposed prince ( the professor declares ) set up his machinery at St . Germain and speedily got his Masonico-political engine in full work . There is ample evidence to support Bro . Laurie ' s denial of this statement . It is doubtless true that Masonry was derived by the French from Scotland ; it is equally certain that JIasonie Lodges ivere in operation in France fifty j r ears before the flight

of James II . ; and indeed there is goocl reason to believe that so early as the commencement of the sixteenth century the French had received Masonic instruction from the Scottish Lodges . Masonry , however introduced , speedily took a firm hold upon French society , and continued to spread until the dawn of the great French revolution ; though unfortunately diminished in value by fhe corruptions which crept into the administration and practice of ' the brethren . Upon the causes of these abuses our author remarks , speaking of thc French : —

"The attachment of that people to innovation and external finery produced the most unwarrantable alterations upon its principles and ceremonial . A number of new degrees ivere created ; the office bearers were arrayed in tho most splendid and costly attire ; and tho Lodges were transformed into lecturing rooms , where the more learned of tho brethren propounded the most extravagant theories , discussed abtrnse questions in theology and political economy , ancl broached opinions which were certainly hostile to true religion and sound governrottit .

In the other countries of the continent similar innovations in a greater or less degree prevailed , while the British Lodges preserved the principles : of the Craft in their original simplicity ancl excellence . . Such clangorous innovations have not the slightest connection with the principles of Freemasonry ; they are the unnatural excrescences formed by heated imaginations , fostered by the interference of designing men . Those who . reprehend it therefore for the changes which it . underwent in the hands of foreignersmay throw equal blame upon reliion because it has been

, g a eloak for licentiousness and hypocrisy ; or upon science , because it has been converted into an instrument of iniquity . These changes arose altogether from the political condition of the countries where thoy were made . The meetings were frequented by men of philosophical habits , who eagerly embraced an opportunity of eiiunc ' ating their opinions , and discussing the favourite subjects of their study , without dreading tin . threats of government or the tortures of the inquisition . In this view ,

the Lodges ma } - be compared to little republics , enjoying tho rational liberties of human nature in the midst of an extensive empire enslaved by despotism and superstition . In the course of time , however , thailiberty was abused , and doctrines were propagated in the French and German Lodges which it is the duty and policy of every government to diseoyer and suppress . But these corruptions had by no means a necessary connection with Freemasonry , — they arose , as already remarked , out of the political condition of the continental kingdoms . In

Britain thc history of the Order is stained hy no glaring corruptions or offensive innovations , more attention being paid to intrinsic value than external observances , —the Lodges bearing a greater resemblance to charitable institutions than to pompous and splendid assemblies . Blesst-d with a- free constitution and allowed every innocent liberty , we can express our sentiments with the greatest freedom , ancl discuss the errors of administration without anyone to make us afraid . In such circumstances , British Masons are under no temptation to introduce into

their Lodges religious and political discussions . The liberty of the press enables them to give the widest circulation to their opinions , however neiv or ex travagant ; and they are liable to no punishment by publicly attacking -the established religion of their country . The British Lodges , therefore , have retained their primitive purity ; they have been employed in no sinister cause ; and have neither harboured in their bosom traitors nor . atheists . " Bro , Laurie carefully traces the causes of the schisms which broke out in tiie body of English Masons at the commencement