The Antiquity Of Freemasonry.

techedde mankynde ? The Arts Agricnltnra , Astronomia , Geometria , Numeres , Musica , Poesie , Kymistrye , Governmente , and Eeligioune . " The king was evidently very

curious , and we can only wonder that he did not seek admission to tho Order . Leland ' s comments upon the treatise are , as we have shown , evidently from the pen of a man who was inclined to treat the Order with

contempt , although he fairly acknowledged its existence and its possession of a secret which he imagines may be no secret at all . The Rev . James Dal ] way , to whose work we are indebted for some facts relative to the past history of the

fraternity , has printed a list of Master Masons from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth centuries . William Anglus is the first Master Mason of English birth of whom we have any authentic record ; he assisted ( twelfth century ) at the restoration of Canterbury Cathedral . In the

thirteenth century we find Henricus de Ellerton mentioned as " Magister Operum . " In the next century , Richard de Stow was the Master Mason of Lincoln Cathedral , and Walter de Weston , of St . Stephen ' s , Westminster , and Windsor Castle , St . George ' s Hall . Robert de Skillington was Master

Mason at Kenilworth Castle , during the extensive alterations which that structure underwent at the period . Richard II ., in 1392 , by Royal Warrant , directed Skillington to impress twenty workmen , carpenters , & c , for the purpose of pushing on the work . Preston says that in the

computus of payments ( 1429 ) of the Cathedral of Canterbury , the names of the Masters , Wardens , and Masons , are all recited . In this century , William Harewood was Master Mason of the Chapel of the College of Fotheringay . John Wastell and Henry Semerk had the contract for the building

of King ' s College , and John Smyth was Master Mason of Eton College . Edward Leaman , of Sewark , Master Mason of St . George ' s Chapel at Windsor , 1480 and 1499 , received as wages one shilling per day , or about twelve shillings of

our currency . William Orcheyerde , towards the close of the century , was Master of Masomy of Magdalen College , Oxford , and in the sixteenth century , John Cole had the direction of the works connected with the tower aud spire of Louth , Lincolnshire .

Masonic Portraits (No. 11.) A Zealous Officer.

MASONIC PORTRAITS ( No . 11 . ) A ZEALOUS OFFICER .

"For Charity I'll prodigally spend myself , And speak away my spirit into air : For her I'll melt my brain into invention , Coin new conceits , and hang my richest words As polished jewels in her bounteous ears . "

THE poets and painters have alike exhausted the resources of their respective arts , for the purpose of illustrating the divine graces of simplicity . The greatest writers have told us that the highest refinement and the most perfect simplicity always go hand in hand , and if we wanted an appropriate Masonic illustration from

the arts , we might point to the Parthenon at Athens , which for ages has excited the wonder and admiration of the world . Even the ignorant tyro who gazes upon its severe , yet graceful outlines , is compelled to admire ; but to appreciate all its grand simplicity and refinement the spectator

requires an art education . It is only the artist , or the man of cultivated taste , who can fairl y estimate the intellectual rank which must have been attained by the people of Greece before this masterpiece could have been produced . The progress of a people is usually from barbarism to

vulgarity , and from vulgarity to refined feeling and a true estimate of what really constitutes elegance and dignity . Jn our social intercourse with each other we are sometimes inclined to forget the claims of simplicity . We are often willing to permit some foolish but pompous person

to push his way into our good opinion , while we ignore the claims to consideration of the man who is content to take _ the lowest seat at table , or to be accounted as nothing , if , by self abnegation , he may advance the interests of a good cause . Society , indeed , as it is at present

constituted , does not generally value quiet and unobtrusive persons . In the upper ranks of life it is no doubt true that men and women of the hi ghest polish are remarkable for their charming simplicity of manner . The middle classes , however , are prone to take individuals at their own

Masonic Portraits (No. 11.) A Zealous Officer.

estimate of value , and it is no uncommon thing to see a jewelled fop , who cannot clink two ideas together in his empty skull , strutting his little hour upon the stage of life , and throwing his evil shadow across the path of better and brighter men . Fortunately , the mental and moral qualities

which wear well , are usually in the end respected by persons who have been duped by empty bombast and insolent pretension . Many of us , who have still a lingering regard for some creature gifted by nature with the art of swaggering and talking big , are yet

compelled to confess that the homely person who has won our regard , because of his intrinsic worth , is of more value than all the ornamental persons it has ever been our

fate to know . The ultimate verdict of most people is just ; and possibly the greatest slave of fashion would , in his sane moments , confess his respect and admiration for plain honesty , ungarnished by any other grace than simplicity .

The brother whose portrait it is our ambition to transfer to the canvas , is undoubtedly remarkable for simplicity of manner . It is one of his prominent characteristics . The mind of the man is like a book , and he who runs may read the open page of his honest heart . His noble

enthusiasm for the cause of Masonry has inspired him with strength to perform Herculean labours , although , unlike Hercules , his tasks have somewhat impaired his once vigorous health . Every one speaks of his obliging disposition and uniform affability , but perhaps few remark that

the key note of the man ' s mind is politeness and charity . He is one of those men who really believe there is a vital force in the ethical princip les of Masonry . The watchwords of the Order are with him no mere symbols to hang upon the wall , like the arms of a warrior whose fight is

done ; he really believes that he is called upon to wear them on all occasions , and to fight against evil wherever he sees it . Brotherly love , for example , is with him something more than a mere sentiment ; all Masons he regards as truly his brothers , and his fine and noble reverence for

charity does not merely lead him to perform those tasks to which wo have alluded , but it teaches him to speak no evil of his neighbour . Truth , in its moral and scientific aspects , he holds in equal veneration , and possibly to his mind , as to all ardent souls , the grand lessons which are

drawn from the mathematics of Masonry , have helped to press home and enforce the still grander ethical lessons of which they are the fitting symbols . The man , indeed , is true to the core , and in any secular position of trust and confidence he might have made his way .

In the commercial world , the energy and forethought which he displays in the cause of charity , would have led him on to fortune . But we venture

to think that he was not conscious of his own powers until he found himself a responsible officer of the Order . His enthusiasm for Masonry , indeed , dates from the period when he was raised to the third degree . He then saw , as in a glass darkly , that there was something of

tangible worth in the Order , and he determined to pursue his Masonic studies with ardour . Those studies were indeed laborious , and consumed all his leisure hours . He attended Lodges of Instruction every night of the week , and , like Socrates of old , he astonished all the sages by his

insatiable thirst for knowledge . Here , indeed , was a man who , in the grand simplicity of his heart , believed that it was his duty to make himself acquainted with all the lore the Order could teach . No difficulties were too great for his zeal to conquer . He met , of course , with those rebuffs

which men of a cold and calculating nature are so ready to bestow upon an ardent novice ; but , like Socrates , he was always ready to confess his ignorance , aud always willing to learn from any one who could teach . It was impossible for such a man to remain in obscurity . We know not

whether our brother is ambitious , but if he be , his ambition is strictly held in subordination to the cause he has at heart . This , however , we do know , that his rise to eminence in Masonry was the result of no merely ambitious longings , but the outgrowth of that generous enthusiasm

which shines in all our hero says or does . After sixteen years of such a career as few Masons can boast of , he is at the present time an honorary member of fifty-three Lodges , and of twenty-two Chapters ; he has consecrated thirty

Lodges , and fourteen Chapters ; and for the last three years has held the arduous post of Secretary to one of the great Charities . In this responsible office our hero has given ample proof that he possesses the highest

qualificaions of an administrator and a man of business . Ha energetic labours have produced good fruit , and the annual