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Article BRO. SPETH'S COMMENTARY ON THE COOKE MANUSCRIPT ONCE MORE. ← Page 2 of 2 Article BRO. SPETH'S COMMENTARY ON THE COOKE MANUSCRIPT ONCE MORE. Page 2 of 2 Article IONIC HALL'S DECORATION. Page 1 of 2 →
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Bro. Speth's Commentary On The Cooke Manuscript Once More.
estimate as to the respective periods when the two MSS . in question weie written . Of course other peculiarities must be noted , and if there is no lensonahle room to doubt that neither author nor tho scribe purposely made the Cooke MS . appo * ' older than it . really is , the question will be settled .
I will now consider the qnestion from another standpoint . The poet referred to an " old boko" for evidence of his Euclid story , and abont tho Athelstan story all the reason he gave for its truth wa :, ' *» s y jinv say . " Now suppose that phrase stood for our phrase , " Tradition informs us , "
ifc would then bo a question as to whether that tradition did really exist before the poet became a Mason . That such inventions could he palmed off on Masons as old traditions , could be proved from the tradition ( so-called ) of the Masonry and Grand Mastership of the Saints John , and from fche
story of Hiram Abif ' s monument , both of which inventions were palmed off on Masons in the 19 th century , and what conld be done in the 19 fch century could havo been done in the 15 th century too . But , nevertheless , ifc is possible that , like other learned Masons , Bro . Speth may sincerely believe
that the Athelstan story is not only possible , bnt . also highly probable . The author of the Cooke MS . did not , however , insinuate that his new stories about Masonry were traditions , bufc , on tho contrary , bo pretended to havo found all his stories either in the Bible , the Father of History , the
Polycronycon , and in other works ho named . He tells us that David began to build the Temple , that he loved Masons and gave them charges , that Saint ; Alban loved Masons , and gave them charges and increased their pay , and other stories , " many more . " Now our good Brother
Speth should havo tried to find out whether tho said stories could be found in the Bible or in the Chronicles he ( fche author of the Cooke MS . ) referred to . This , however , Bro . Speth did nofc do , but contented himself with inferring this , and inferring thafc , and fchen jumped to the conclusion ( if I
understand rightly ) that the Athelstan legend may be hue , and that the legend may have existed before the time of Athelstan , and that tho Charges in the Cooke MS . wero copied from an older Code than the Charges found in the Eegius MS . or old poem . And now jusfc read Bro . Spefch ' s own words . He says : —
"If my arguments thus far have obtained fche concurrence of the reader , he will be by this time prepared for my next assertion , viz ., that the second portion of the Add . MS . 23198 [ which is a new name for the Cooke MS . ] ia neither more nor less than ' the Boke of Chargys' itself . Ifc agrees with the description contained in the
body of the document , it conforms in every particular to what we should expect such a manuscript to be , it is curt , business . like , to fche point ; no portion of ifc is missing in tho subsequent old Manuscript Constitntions , and finally , the most natural course for tho author to pursue was to make nse of ' the Boke of Chargys . ' I do nofc wish to
asfert that this MS . is the original book or a copy of it , faithful in ovory particular , or even very much older than the first portion of the manuscript . It is probably nofc moro than 50 or 60 years earlier than the author ' s time ; but I do affirm that it was evidently the book in uso among tho Masons of some particular part of tho Kingdom
when and where our author was associating wifch them . And further than this , it is undoubtedly tho purest , least altered copy of these Constitntions thafc has at jpreseufc come down to ns , and therefore fche most valuable , far exceeding in intrinsic value the metrical version of it preserved to us in the Begins MS ., becanse less altered by poetical
license . With two exceptions I believe it to be iu all probability the exact counterpart of the first original ' Constitutions . ' These aro , first , the outer garb of language , wbich say between tho 12 th and
15 th centuries altered very considerably ; aud secondly , it is possible that the original version began with King Athelstan , and that the legend of Euclid represents the first of a long aeries of embellishments applied through the ages to the laws of the Craft . "
A . nd now , wifch all due respect to my friend Bro . Speth , I will give here one reason why I believe that tho code of laws which existed at fcho time of the poet were older than the laws or Charges in the Cooke MS . Tho seventh point in the poem reads thus : —¦
" Thon shalt nob by thy Master ' s wife lie , " Nor by thy fellows in no manner wine , " Lest the Craft would tbe despise , " Nor by thy fellow ' s concubine , "No more than thon woldst he did by thine . " And here is tho seventh point in the Cooke MS . : —
" Tho 7 th Point—That ho covet not tho wife , nor the daughter of bis master , neither of his fellows , bufc if it be in marriage , nor hold concubines ,
for discord thafc might fall amongst them . " po ° ^ ems that at first , or when the poet wrote his Ma " * ' keeping of concubines was tolerated among sons , but as concubines are not apt to be over scrupulous ,
Bro. Speth's Commentary On The Cooke Manuscript Once More.
and must therefore have frequently yielded to temptations of other fellows , it naturally caused rows and fights among the brethren ; it was therefore prohibited to keep concubines , "for the discord that might fall amongst them . " The poet ' s code of laws must therefore have existed before tbe code fchafc was copied by the author of the Cooke MS .
I may hen * add , that m 1387 a religions service was instituted in Switzerland io commemorate the patriotism of William Tell , and in the next year a chapel was built ou the spot where Tell landed . In the 15 th centnry the well known William Tell story found its way into a
chronicle , which story was repeated afterwards in another chronicle , and of course every one believed in tho Tell story . But in the end of the 16 fch century a book was printed in which the William Tell story was denied . Another and another book subsequently came
out which disputed the Toll story . This enraged the Switzerlanders so much that they ordered ono of these books to ho burned by the hangman . This burning argument silenced for a time all doubters , nntil
Voltaire came out against the Toll story , which sot tho world a-blaze , and enough books to fill a library has since then been printed upon the William Tell question . But only within a week I have seen in the newspapers that the authorities of Switzerland ordered that the William Tell
story should be wiped out from their school books , and I beg respectively to advise the Grand Lodge of England to imitate the Switzerland authorities bv wiping out also
from its " school books" all allusion to pre-1717 Grand Masters , fco fche antiquity of Speculative Masonry , to tho antiquity of Masonic degrees , and all the fables that havo beon palmed off upon Masonry from first io last . BOSTON , U . S ., 22 nd August 1890 .
Ionic Hall's Decoration.
IONIC HALL'S DECORATION .
THE completion and presentation of tho symbolic decorations of Ionic Hall , Masonic Temple , Philadelphia , to the R . W . Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , makes it appropriate to refer at this time to the artistic and Masonic character of these decorations , and their value to the Craft .
Eighteen months ago , through the liberality of Bro . Wm . J . Kelly , Egyptian Hall was decorated , and now , through the enterprise of the Art Association , and the generosity of its members , a kindred work has been performed for Ionic Hall .
Although so apparently different in their architectural characteristics , the Ionic and Egyptian styles aro closely related . Both were derived from the same region of country , and the same peoples . Egyptian architecture vvas
the oldest , but the Doric and the Ionic were its descendants —first the Doric , then the Ionic . All came out of the Orient—the seat of the " first families , " the first civilization , fche first religion . We always must look to the East for light .
We may readily trace the paternity of Ionic architecture , through its columns . These are light and graceful , and have been apbly compared , from the time of Vitruvius , to the figure of woman , while the Doric columns , more stately
and heavy , have been compared to fche form of man . Heaviest of all were the Egyptian columns , which became lighter in the Doric , and still lighter in the Ionic . But
the Egyptian column , massive and stately , was tbe parent of both . Ionic architecture is a Grecian refinement on tho architecture of Egypfc , Nineveh and Persopolis .
Ionic architecture had its origin in Ionia , Asia Minoras its name implies , and both the country and fche art wero named in honour of King Ion . Ionia was peopled by
emigrants from Greece , and became famous in ancient times not only for its architecture , but also for its confederation or league of twelve cities , which were centres of civilization and art .
Tho two most famous temples constructed by tho Ionians in the Ionic style , were the world-renowned Temple of Diana at Ephesus , and thc Temple of Apollo near Miletus
—tho two matchless shrines of Asia . Indeed , Vitruvius docs not hesitate to say thafc Ionic architecture was invented to be applied specially to fcho construction of the Temple of Diana . The Ionians received their civilization and art from Egypt- and the neighbouring East , through the Phoanicians ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. Speth's Commentary On The Cooke Manuscript Once More.
estimate as to the respective periods when the two MSS . in question weie written . Of course other peculiarities must be noted , and if there is no lensonahle room to doubt that neither author nor tho scribe purposely made the Cooke MS . appo * ' older than it . really is , the question will be settled .
I will now consider the qnestion from another standpoint . The poet referred to an " old boko" for evidence of his Euclid story , and abont tho Athelstan story all the reason he gave for its truth wa :, ' *» s y jinv say . " Now suppose that phrase stood for our phrase , " Tradition informs us , "
ifc would then bo a question as to whether that tradition did really exist before the poet became a Mason . That such inventions could he palmed off on Masons as old traditions , could be proved from the tradition ( so-called ) of the Masonry and Grand Mastership of the Saints John , and from fche
story of Hiram Abif ' s monument , both of which inventions were palmed off on Masons in the 19 th century , and what conld be done in the 19 fch century could havo been done in the 15 th century too . But , nevertheless , ifc is possible that , like other learned Masons , Bro . Speth may sincerely believe
that the Athelstan story is not only possible , bnt . also highly probable . The author of the Cooke MS . did not , however , insinuate that his new stories about Masonry were traditions , bufc , on tho contrary , bo pretended to havo found all his stories either in the Bible , the Father of History , the
Polycronycon , and in other works ho named . He tells us that David began to build the Temple , that he loved Masons and gave them charges , that Saint ; Alban loved Masons , and gave them charges and increased their pay , and other stories , " many more . " Now our good Brother
Speth should havo tried to find out whether tho said stories could be found in the Bible or in the Chronicles he ( fche author of the Cooke MS . ) referred to . This , however , Bro . Speth did nofc do , but contented himself with inferring this , and inferring thafc , and fchen jumped to the conclusion ( if I
understand rightly ) that the Athelstan legend may be hue , and that the legend may have existed before the time of Athelstan , and that tho Charges in the Cooke MS . wero copied from an older Code than the Charges found in the Eegius MS . or old poem . And now jusfc read Bro . Spefch ' s own words . He says : —
"If my arguments thus far have obtained fche concurrence of the reader , he will be by this time prepared for my next assertion , viz ., that the second portion of the Add . MS . 23198 [ which is a new name for the Cooke MS . ] ia neither more nor less than ' the Boke of Chargys' itself . Ifc agrees with the description contained in the
body of the document , it conforms in every particular to what we should expect such a manuscript to be , it is curt , business . like , to fche point ; no portion of ifc is missing in tho subsequent old Manuscript Constitntions , and finally , the most natural course for tho author to pursue was to make nse of ' the Boke of Chargys . ' I do nofc wish to
asfert that this MS . is the original book or a copy of it , faithful in ovory particular , or even very much older than the first portion of the manuscript . It is probably nofc moro than 50 or 60 years earlier than the author ' s time ; but I do affirm that it was evidently the book in uso among tho Masons of some particular part of tho Kingdom
when and where our author was associating wifch them . And further than this , it is undoubtedly tho purest , least altered copy of these Constitntions thafc has at jpreseufc come down to ns , and therefore fche most valuable , far exceeding in intrinsic value the metrical version of it preserved to us in the Begins MS ., becanse less altered by poetical
license . With two exceptions I believe it to be iu all probability the exact counterpart of the first original ' Constitutions . ' These aro , first , the outer garb of language , wbich say between tho 12 th and
15 th centuries altered very considerably ; aud secondly , it is possible that the original version began with King Athelstan , and that the legend of Euclid represents the first of a long aeries of embellishments applied through the ages to the laws of the Craft . "
A . nd now , wifch all due respect to my friend Bro . Speth , I will give here one reason why I believe that tho code of laws which existed at fcho time of the poet were older than the laws or Charges in the Cooke MS . Tho seventh point in the poem reads thus : —¦
" Thon shalt nob by thy Master ' s wife lie , " Nor by thy fellows in no manner wine , " Lest the Craft would tbe despise , " Nor by thy fellow ' s concubine , "No more than thon woldst he did by thine . " And here is tho seventh point in the Cooke MS . : —
" Tho 7 th Point—That ho covet not tho wife , nor the daughter of bis master , neither of his fellows , bufc if it be in marriage , nor hold concubines ,
for discord thafc might fall amongst them . " po ° ^ ems that at first , or when the poet wrote his Ma " * ' keeping of concubines was tolerated among sons , but as concubines are not apt to be over scrupulous ,
Bro. Speth's Commentary On The Cooke Manuscript Once More.
and must therefore have frequently yielded to temptations of other fellows , it naturally caused rows and fights among the brethren ; it was therefore prohibited to keep concubines , "for the discord that might fall amongst them . " The poet ' s code of laws must therefore have existed before tbe code fchafc was copied by the author of the Cooke MS .
I may hen * add , that m 1387 a religions service was instituted in Switzerland io commemorate the patriotism of William Tell , and in the next year a chapel was built ou the spot where Tell landed . In the 15 th centnry the well known William Tell story found its way into a
chronicle , which story was repeated afterwards in another chronicle , and of course every one believed in tho Tell story . But in the end of the 16 fch century a book was printed in which the William Tell story was denied . Another and another book subsequently came
out which disputed the Toll story . This enraged the Switzerlanders so much that they ordered ono of these books to ho burned by the hangman . This burning argument silenced for a time all doubters , nntil
Voltaire came out against the Toll story , which sot tho world a-blaze , and enough books to fill a library has since then been printed upon the William Tell question . But only within a week I have seen in the newspapers that the authorities of Switzerland ordered that the William Tell
story should be wiped out from their school books , and I beg respectively to advise the Grand Lodge of England to imitate the Switzerland authorities bv wiping out also
from its " school books" all allusion to pre-1717 Grand Masters , fco fche antiquity of Speculative Masonry , to tho antiquity of Masonic degrees , and all the fables that havo beon palmed off upon Masonry from first io last . BOSTON , U . S ., 22 nd August 1890 .
Ionic Hall's Decoration.
IONIC HALL'S DECORATION .
THE completion and presentation of tho symbolic decorations of Ionic Hall , Masonic Temple , Philadelphia , to the R . W . Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , makes it appropriate to refer at this time to the artistic and Masonic character of these decorations , and their value to the Craft .
Eighteen months ago , through the liberality of Bro . Wm . J . Kelly , Egyptian Hall was decorated , and now , through the enterprise of the Art Association , and the generosity of its members , a kindred work has been performed for Ionic Hall .
Although so apparently different in their architectural characteristics , the Ionic and Egyptian styles aro closely related . Both were derived from the same region of country , and the same peoples . Egyptian architecture vvas
the oldest , but the Doric and the Ionic were its descendants —first the Doric , then the Ionic . All came out of the Orient—the seat of the " first families , " the first civilization , fche first religion . We always must look to the East for light .
We may readily trace the paternity of Ionic architecture , through its columns . These are light and graceful , and have been apbly compared , from the time of Vitruvius , to the figure of woman , while the Doric columns , more stately
and heavy , have been compared to fche form of man . Heaviest of all were the Egyptian columns , which became lighter in the Doric , and still lighter in the Ionic . But
the Egyptian column , massive and stately , was tbe parent of both . Ionic architecture is a Grecian refinement on tho architecture of Egypfc , Nineveh and Persopolis .
Ionic architecture had its origin in Ionia , Asia Minoras its name implies , and both the country and fche art wero named in honour of King Ion . Ionia was peopled by
emigrants from Greece , and became famous in ancient times not only for its architecture , but also for its confederation or league of twelve cities , which were centres of civilization and art .
Tho two most famous temples constructed by tho Ionians in the Ionic style , were the world-renowned Temple of Diana at Ephesus , and thc Temple of Apollo near Miletus
—tho two matchless shrines of Asia . Indeed , Vitruvius docs not hesitate to say thafc Ionic architecture was invented to be applied specially to fcho construction of the Temple of Diana . The Ionians received their civilization and art from Egypt- and the neighbouring East , through the Phoanicians ,