Comments On "Facts And Fictions."

COMMENTS ON " FACTS AND FICTIONS . "

BY BROTHER JACOB NORTON . ( Continued from page 260 ) .

"TTP to about 1860 Masonic dreamers could with impunity < U palm oil' any stuff they pleased for Masonic history , and the most nbsurd Masonic scribblers wero most revered for their profound erudition . Bro . Lyon ' s sketches regarding

" Mother Kilwinning , which appeared about or near 1860 , gnvo vise , I believe , to what may bo called " Tho ago of Transition . " It doubtless convinced a few brethren that

true Masonic history was still unknown , and thus predisposed their minds to listen patiently to more truthful writers . Bro . Findel was the first to pierce a hole through tho wall of the dark Masonic chamber , which admitted

sufficient rays of lierht to prove clearly that Grand Lodges , Grand Masters , Masonic degrees , in short , speculative Masonry , with all thereunto belonging , did not begin before 1717 ; and that the Athelstan Charter , tho Henry

YI . MS ., Masonic Templarism , & c , wero all moonshine . Bro . Findel was of courso attacked by tho old luminaries , the high degrcers , the crafty , and ignorant scribblers ; but nevertheless , there wore some who had courage enough to defend bim .

Bro . Hughan ' s contributions to tho Masonic press , his History of Masonry in York , his publication of the old MSS . served to illumine further tho inside of tho long closed up Masonic chamber . In short , Bro . Hughau may

be said to have enlarged tho hole in the wall which Bro . Findel pierced through . Next came Bro . Buchan , who , among other thing !* , exposed tho claimed genuineness of the no-culled " Malcolm Charter . " Next appeared Bro . David

M . Lyon ' s History of Masonry in Scotland , which is even more sweeping to all kinds of Masonic moonshine than the History of Bro . Findel ; but , nevertheless , times woro so changed since Bro . Findel ' s History appeared , that even

the old luminaries and high degreers bad nothing to say against Bro . Lyon ' s exposures of the old fictions . These writers , which may bo called "Tbo new school , " prepared the minds of even tho sticklers for Masonic antiquity

to mid patiently in Bro . Goulds History that Sir Christopher Wren was not even an initated Freemason , & c . Unfortunately , however , Masons as a rule havo no taste for reading , and when any of them even feel thirsty or

hungry for more " Masonic light , they rush into what is called " The high Masonic degrees" for it , and hence there are even now tens of thousands of initiated Masons who havo never heard the names of Findel , Hughan , Lyon , or Gould .

I remember that immediately after my initiation , in 1842 , I asked a brother to tell me what Masonic History I was to read , and ho highly recommended Dr . Oliver ' s works , and the Freemasons' Magazine . Oliver ' s books were too dear

for my means . I borrowed , however , a book written by Dr . Ashe , and obtained the loan of the said Magazine from a " Lodge of Instruction , " but as the subject was new to me , 1 could not positively say tbat there were any

falsehoods in the above-named works . In short , I was puzzled , but when , in 1852 , a Reverend Grand Master of Massachusetts defended sectarianism iu Masonry , with

long quotations from Oliver ' s " Johannite Masonry , " and from his " Revelations of a Square , " I then became satisfied that Masonic writers of high reputation could be utterly unreliable .

In 18661 was invited to write for the "MasonicMonthly , " in Boston , and since then I havo read every Masonic book I could lay hands on ; and , as a rule , whenever I thought that the author had erred , I tried to demonstrate his error

in a Masonic paper . Now , among other matters , Dermott and his " Ancients " attracted my attention , and I have long since como to the conclusion that Dermott was very clever , very humourous and witty , very fond of Masonry

and was charitable too , but he was utterly unscrupulous as to lying , when ifc served his purpose . Nay , more ! he even seemed to enjoy it . I have already given some specimens of Dermott ' s inventions , but in the FKEEMASON '

CHRONICLE , of 27 th July 1878 , 1 called attention fco one of his stories , and as the reader can find the said story on pp 103-4 of Bro . Sadler ' s book , I shall here merely give the gist of it , thus : — Sir Christopher Wren , who served the King for upwards of fifty years , was dismissed by George I . from his office of

Surveyor General when he wasjninety years of age , and a

Comments On "Facts And Fictions."

man by the name of B—ns—n , was appointed in his place , and as the London Masons would have been compelled to elect the said B—ns—n for their Grand Master , and as they were disgusted with the insult given to Sir Christopher ,

they , in order to avoid electing B—ns—n , ceased to hold meetings for a nnmber of years , during which time they had forgotten an important Masonic something ; but the country Lodges and tho Scotch Lodges , who never

suspended their regular meetings , retained that important Masonic something ; therefore , tho Scotch and country Masons were Ancients , while London Masons became Modems .

Now , putting aside the facts that Sir Christopher was never a Grand Master , and that there was no law to compel tho London Masons to elect a Grand Master , I pointed out , first , that George I . did not begin his reign before 1714 ,

if , therefore , he had even dismissed Sir Christopher in 1714 , it is not likely that anything could have been forgotten by the London Masons when they formed their Grand Lodge in 1717 ; and second , as Sir Christopher was

born in 1 G 32 , and was dismissed from his office when he

was " ninety years of age , " the dismissal must have taken place in 1722 , or five years after the Grand Lodge of England was formed . Now , after reading the above , I

think that no one can blame xae for disbelieving anything and everything that was written by Dermott , and even his Grand Lodge records are , in my opinion , utterly unworthy of credence .

Again , m the "Masonic Magazine , London , of May 1874 , in a Paper headed " Puzzles , " I pointed out , not only that in his Warrants sent to Nova Scotia in 1757 , Dermott styled his Grand Lodge as " York Masons , " but also that

tho said Warrants were headed with ** BLESINTON GRAND MASTER . " I was of course puzzled , and I asked whether the Ancients wero doubly blessed , viz ., with a Grand Master Blessington ancl a Grand Master Blesinton ?

Now , on page 84 , & c , in Bro . Sadler ' s book , I find letters of correspondence between Dermott and the above referred-to nobleman , and I was surprised to find that his lordship ' s letter was signed " Blesinton . " In short

" Blessington " is not found in the said correspondence . That Dermott knew how to spell the said namo or title is evident , from his dedication of the 1756 edition of the Ahiman Eezon to the "Earl of Blessington . " And as no

one can suppose that the said Earl did not know how to spell his own title correctly tho question therefore is , did not Dermott manufacture the whole correspondence , and alter the spelling of his lordship ' s title for the purpose of

shielding himself from legal prosecution ? Bro . Gould furnished a case which raised my suspicion about Dermott ' s capability of manufacturing letters of correspondence ; thus , in the fourth volume of his History , page 442 , I find as follows : —

"In the following year , March 1 st , 1758 , a letter was read from the Grand Lodge of Ireland , announcing strict union with the Ancient Grand Lodge in London . "

The brethren of Dermott ' s Grand Lodge must have been overjoyed with the above announcement . But on page 446 of the same volume Bro . Gould , says as follows : —

"At a Grand Lodge held Sept . 2 nd ( 1762 ) , a letter was read from Bro . J . Corker , Deputy Grand Secretary of Ireland , stating that * he cannot find any traces of the

agreement which was made between the two Grand Lodges in 1757 , ' and also that nothing would have been more advantageous to our poor Fraternity than a strict adherence to such a resolution . "

Now , is it not strange that an agreement entered into with the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1757 or 1758 should have been unknown to a Deputy Grand Secretary in 1762 ? For my part , I cannot believe that , the letter read in the

Grand Lodge of Ancients in 1758 was genuine , and I doubt very much whether the second letter in 1762 was genuine ; or at least , whether it had not been altered , or additions made thereto .

Bufc that is not all . Among the correspondence between the Ancients and Lord Blessington one of the letters was from Bro . Holford to the Grand Master , in which he said : —

" The number of Warrants signed by your Worship is convincing proof of the prosperity of the Craft under your Lordship ' s sanction . "

Now , all the Warrants given by the Ancients during the Grand Mastership of the Earl of Blessington have somehow disappeared . In Halifax , Nova Scotia , however , there is a Warrant as well as a Deputation to Erasmus James