Freemasonry—Past And Present.

teoture . " Its real founders were Elias Ashmole , and some of his literary friends . " ( Vide letter to Bro . Hughan from Bro . Charles Purton Cooper . ) We know of neither records of lodges nor facts of history to confirm this statement , however

plausible the theory may appear . The severance of modern Freemasonry from its original operative connections can only tend to destroy the link that binds the present form of Freemasonry with the Masonry of the past , and is in direct opposition to

the evidence hitherto accumulated on the subject . The various manuscripts still in existence , extending over a period of four centuries , directly favour —i ? i fact state—the connection of Freemasonry with operative masonry , and certain it is that the

brethren who assisted in the change of organization and partly of character , of the Order A . D . 1717 , were anxious to avow and prove their descent from their operative parent . We cannot go over the ground again that we examined in our " Analysis of Ancient and Modern

Freemasonry , " but when time permits we are always ready to defend our position that the " Ashmole " theory is based upon insufficient evidence , and is opposed to existing documents dating before and since the initiation of Elias Ashmole ,

16 th October 1646 . The Sir Christopher Wren Theory is equally untenable , for according to a MS . in the library ofthe Royal Society , this great architect was not initiated until A . D . 1691 , although Dr . Anderson asserts he was appointed a Grand

Warden about thirty years before ! It seems to us then that facts so far warrant us in assuming that the present system of modern Freemasonry consisting of Grand Masters , Grand Lodges , and three degrees , & c , had its origin in the second

¦ decade of the last century , and was a continuation in an improved form of the operative guilds or fraternities of the middle ages , which were descendants of still earlier secret societies .

Masonic Celestial Mysteries.

MASONIC CELESTIAL MYSTERIES .

By Bro . HENRY MELVILLE . LABOB OMNIA YINCIT . - PAPEB V . The celestial claim of Britannia having been

adjusted , the grand palladium of Britons—the Magna Charta—deserves consideration and an enquiry as to whether the charter is , or is not , celestially recorded . The document preserved

with such veneration in the British Museum , purporting to be the original Charta signed by John , is a disreputable hoax , because anyone that can read may be convinced that John had nothing to do with the charter , that is , if the laws of England

can be relied upon . John , is mixed up with Masonic matters . Saint John formerly patronised Masonry ; now , the Masons on a certain occasion patronised St . John . ( Rev . iii ., 20 ) . John ' s celestial position is iu Taurus , and Taurus , as shown ,

laps on the Gemini , therefore , at 106 ° is John and the Bull , and there let him remain for the present . To arrive at a fair conclusion respecting Magna Charta , history should be first examined , and then the Charta itself . After doing so , it may become

questionable whether the Charta is of celestial application , and whether the history thereof is , or is not , celestial Masonry . Probably " Rastell ' s Pastime of People , " bearing date 1529 , may be reckoned as the first historical work that refers to

the Charta , but Rasfcell is no authority . However he informs us that King John was no saint , on the contrary , for that "he disinherited many men without assent of his lordes or any other counsel , and also would have disinherited the Earl of

Chester because he rebuked him of his wickedness , for that he hyled his owne brother ' s wyfe , and lay by many other great lorde ' s daughters , and spared no woman that hym lifted" This John and "his lordes met besyde Stauys , at a place called Rumney

Mede : and there agreement was made , and a char-ter made thereupon called Magna Carta which charter anone after the kynge brake . " ( p , 178 ) . Then come authentic historians , such as : Grafton ' s chronicle of 1558 but he ives no

satis-, g faction about Magna Charta . He has , however , a . graphical version of John ' s death : — " A monk went secretly into a garden upon the back side , and finding there a most venomous toad , he so pricked him with his penknife that he made him vomit all the poison that was within him . This clone , he conveyed

it into a cup of wine , and with a smiling and flattering countenance , he said thus to the king . ' If it shall like your princely Majesty , here is such a cup of wine as ye never drank before in all your lifetime . I trust this wassail shall make all England glad , ' and with that he drank a great draught , the king pledging him . " The monk dies , his intestines gushing out , and

then the king dies . ( p . 116 ) , Fabian ' s Chronicle of 1559 , has it , " The King and Lords met with great strength on either side at Beream-downe , where a charter or writiug was devised and made , and there sealed by the King , so that the barony was with it , contented and departed in peaceable wise every man into his country . " ( 2 nd vol ., p . 35 ) . Holinshed ' s Chronicles of 1577 , tells us that John ' s