Facts, Suggestions And Questions.

FACTS , SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS .

BY BRO . JACOB NORTON . Cr . ntinvedfrnm ' page 131 . WITH the limited means at my command for making fall search to unravel all the puzzles , I must content myself ivitli stringing together such facts as aro within my reach , and then draw from them tho most reasonable inferences . To do so with a view to bo dearly understood , I shall exhibit a bird ' s-oyo view of tho state ol

Masonry durincr the 17 th century , and up to about tho year 1738 . During the 17 th century , tho " Old Charges , " which Bro . Hughan has printed , were tho rituals of tho Craft . If any gentleman wanted to learn tho Masonio secrets ho had to pay about 6 s 6 d , he also had topre . sent a few brethren with white gloves , a » d treat them with a supper .

After which , ha mounted " tho Coat" in duo form , and the Master recited to him all tho cock and bnll stories , together with the laws , charges , & c , contained in a MS . ( for in those days , every Mason maker was famished with one of these MSS . ) , and ho wound up with " So helpe you God , " itc . After which tho word , signs , Seo . wero communicated .

Tho rituals wero originally designed for initiating operative Masons , and although in somo cases late in tho 17 th and beginning of the 18 th century tho non-operative members of Lodges outnumbered the operatives , yet no change was made in tho ritual to denote an advance from operative to speculative until after 1717 . During which period , the ceremony of initiation was all that was given , Bro . Hnghan says

" I havo carefully perused all the known Masonic MSS . from the 1-1 th century down to 1717 , . . . and havo not been able to find any reference to threo Degrees . " The Hopo MS ., written about tho year 1700 , sooner or later , has an " Apprentice Charge " not contained in tho other MSS ., but it was also designed for operative Apprentices only . The Harleian MS . 1948 .

seemingly written in tho 18 th century , has a new oath and new regulations , and hero ia tho first new regulation : " No person of whatever degree ( an outsider ) can be accepted a free Mason , unless he shall have a Lodge of five free Masons at least , whereof , one to bo a . Master or Warden of that limit , or division , wherein such a Lodgo shall bo kept and another of the trade of free

Masonry . Wo may infer from the above that previous to tho passing of that regulation that oven less than tiro bretbreu used to make Masons . Bro . D . M . Lyon proves conclusively that no Masters' secrets were known in Scotland before Bro . Desaguliers brought them there , and that several of tho Scotch Lodges wero without a Master Mason during many years after the Grand Lodge of Scotland was organized .

A few extracts from the Constitution of 1723 will reveal the state of Masonry in England until it was superseded by new Eegulations iu 1738 . 1 st . — " Then [ after the CM . was installed ] the G . M . shall allow any Brother , Fellow Craft , or Apprentice , to speak ; directing his discourse to his Worship , or to make any motion for the good of tho

fraternity . " Section XXXII . 2 nd . — "And thoy [ any now regulations ] be also offered to the pernsal of all tho Brethren before dinner , in writing , even the youngest Apprentice , the approbation and consent of a majority of all tho Brethren present being absolutely necessary to mako tho same binding and obligatory . " Section XXXIX . 3 rd . — "No Brother can be Warden until after he has passed the

part of a Fellow Craft , nor Master until he has acted as Warden , nor a Grand Warden until he has been Master of a Lodge , nor a Grand Master unless he has boon a Fellow Craft before his election . " Charge IV . ibid . 4 th . — " Tho Treasurer and Secretary shall each havo a clerk who must be a Brother and Fellow Craft . " Section XIIL 5 tli . — " Another Brother , who must be a Fellow Craft , shonld be ap . pointed to look after tho door of the Grand Lodge . " Section XIIL

6 th . — " If tho Deputy Grancl Master be sick , or necessarily absent , tho Grand Master may clinse any Fellow Craft he pleases , to be Deputy pro tempore . " Section XVIII . 7 th . — " If [ the Grand Wardens are ] absent , the Grand Master , or tho person who presides in his place , shall order private Wardens to act as Grand Wardens pro tempore , whoso places aro to bo supplied by

two Fellow Crafts of the same Locige . " Section XV . . Sth . —On St . John ' s Day , "Tho Masters of Lodges shall each appoint an experienced Fellow Craft of his Lodge , to compose a committee " in tho Grand Lodgo . Section XXV . 0 th . — " The Candidates , or tho new Masters ancl Wardens , being yot among tho Fellow Craft , the Grand Master shall ask his Deputy

if he has examined them . . . Then tho Grand Master desires the new Master to enter immediately upon the exercise of his office , in chnsing his Wardens , . . . And this Lodgo being thus completely constituted , shall bo registered in tho Grand Master ' s book . " ( Manner of constituting a new Lodge , page 71 . ) Wo seo now that a Fellow Craft could bo elected Grand Master

ancl he could bo installed as Master of a Lodge , and perform the functions of that office while yet a F . C . There was a law , as already stated , viz . " Apprentices must be admitted Masters and Fellow Craft only here" but there was no law to compel a Master to take the Master ' s Degree , and tho Grancl Locige was not compelled to confer that Degree upon evei'y Master of a Lodge . We have also seen that

a F . C . could preside pro tempore , as Grand Warden , or Deputy Grand Master , and could also be appointed as Grand Lodgo Tyler . Even as late as 26 th November 172 S it was enacted , that when any officer of a Lodge could not attend the Grand Locige , ho could transfer his jewel to a Fellow Craft to represent him there . Indeed , there are but

two intimations in tho whole 1723 Constitution that a Master ' s Degree existed , viz . : the law passed iu 1723 , that a Fellow Craft and Master conld only bo made in tho Grand Lodge , and " being yet among the Fellow Craft" ( see 9 th paragraph above ) . The phrase "Master Mason" I also could not find llioro . I have already said

Facts, Suggestions And Questions.

thafc pure Fellow Craffc Lodges existed in Scotland many years after the Grand Lodge of Scotland was established ; and to the best of my belief the Grand Lodge of York had no third degree until after 1761 . The fact is , tho Master's Degree was unnecessary for those who were desirous of holding an office in the Lodge , and barely so in the Grand Lodge , and it is therefore not improbable thafc while among the twenty

Lodges existing in 1723 there must have been afc least sixty Follow Crafts , yefc there may not have been afc that time twenty Master Masons in the whole fraternity . Dr . Oliver , in his preface to Hutchinson ' s " Spirit of Masonry , " says : " Our Brethren of the 18 th century seldom advanced beyond the first degree . Few were passed , and still fewer were raised from

their mossy beds . Tho Master ' s degree seoms to have been much less comprehensive than at present , and for some years after the revival the third degree was unapproachable to those who lived at a distance . " With Lodges composed wholly or mainly of Entered Apprentices and a few Fellow Crafts ; with no law to compel oven the Master to

bo more than a Fellow Craft , the Master ' s Degree was probably regarded by the fraternity at large as a mero " fifth wheel to a cart . " And I doubt very much whether , even in 1733 , half a dozen Lodges existed in London whose Masters and Wardens were all Master Masons . During that period a Master and Wardens could preside over Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craffc Lodges j besides which

the Fellow Craft degree was essential for aspirants for Lodge offices , and it was doubtless sought after by more or less of the Lodge members , henco , those degrees were never separated , and always conjointly formed parfc of the Lodge government , while , for reasons already given , the Master ' s degree , except by isolated individuals , was wholly neglected ; when , therefore , any ono was desirous of being

raised to tho Master's degree in thoso days , a kind of " dissolving view " Masters' Lodge was convened of brethren belonging to vnrions Lodges tho candidate doubtless paid a fee sufficient to cover the necessary expenses , such as a remuneration to the Tyler , & c , and may have treated the few assembled brethren with a supper , and when tho business was over the Lodge was dissolved , and the same

company may never again have assembled together in a Masters Lodgo . At last , in 1733 , a Masonic genius obtained a charter for a Masters ' Lodge , viz .: No . 116 . Two other Masters' Lodges , viz . . * 117 and 120 , wero also granted soon after . The appearance of the officers of tho said Masters' Lodges in the Grand Lodge may have produced

a hubbub among the then grumblers . Tho representatives of the Grand Stewards' Lodgo , afterwards organized , had no votes in the Grand Lodge , bufc nevertheless , the then landmark sticklers made a noise about ifc ; it seems therefore highly probable thafc the representatives of the Masters' Lodges were objected to . During 1734

no Masters' Lodges were chartered , but as the Grand Lodge did not meet in that year the said threo Masters' Lodges must have beeu erased from the register in 1735 , by authority of either the Grand Master or Grand Lodge , and afc tho same time it must have been suggested thafc Masters' Lodges might be organized after some fashion which is yet inexplicable , as indicated in the Lodgo lists of 1736 and

1738 . And now comes the question , viz .: wore these new fashioned Masters' Lodges that met in 1736 at the Swan and Rummer , & c , subjected to tho Lodges that used to meet in the same Taverns ? To this I answer , not necessarily so . The organizers of these Masters ' Lodges were probably members of different Lodges , the subsequent recruiting for membership to thoso Masters' Lodges was also from the fraternity afc large , the necessary expenses for keeping up those

organizations was paid by tho Master Mason members . Ifc is nofc therefore likely that the honour of holding office in a Masters' Lodge should have been confined to the members of one Lodge only , and that the Masters' Locige could not even elect its own officers , bnt had to content themselves with such a choice as tho Apprentices and Follow Crafts at tho Swan and Rummer were pleased to make for them . Besides , suppose tho Swan and Rummer brethren had elected Fellow Crafts as officers who did nofc want to take the Master ' s

degree . Under these circumstances , it seems to me , that the connection ( if there was any ) between the Lodge and Masters' Lodge afc that period , must have been somewhafc like the connection between a Locige and Lodge of Instruction as at present existing . In 1735 , the Stewards' Lodge was chartered as a Masters' Lodge . Whether tho third degree was ever conferred in that Lodge I know

not , the members of the first Stewards' Lodge may probably have organized , in 1733 , the Masters' Lodge chartered as No . 117 , and henco the Lodge may have been suffered to hold that rank for a short time . Anderson , in 1738 , placed the Stewards' Lodge among the Lodges constitnted in 1735 as the second Lodge constituted in thafc year ; and in a Lodge list appended in 1760 to the bye-laws of the

"West India and American Lodge , now known as the "Lodge of Antiquity , " the Stewards' Lodge is also placed among the 1736 Lodges , and is also the second Lodgo constituted in thafc year , thus proving that all English Lodges were always ranked according to seniority of constitution . In 1738 , the Constitutions required Wardens to be Master Masons ,

tho Masters' Lodges must have afterwards increased rapidly , but the " Antiquity Lodge " Bye-laws of 1760 show , that even then the Masters' Lodge met on a different night to what the Lodge did , and an extra fee for raising , as well as an extra Tyler ' s fee , was charged . The question about the antiquity of the third degree has been often discussed in the Masonic press , but the origin of Masters' Lodges 1 believe has never been discussed before . To do full justice to the

various questions suggested in these papers , the Grand Lodge record and MSS . of 1735 must be searched , for information regarding the erasure of the three chartered Masters' Lodges , viz .: 116 , 117 and 120 . Smith's Pocket Companion of 1736 probably contains a copy of Pyne ' s List of 1735 , I am desirous of knowing whether any Masters ' Lodges are mentioned in that list , " and if so , what kind of Lodge they were , " and in which Taverns they held their meetings . Circulars might also be sent to all the pre 1738 Lodges to find out how early ,