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The History Of Freemasonry.
however , he was made a homiletes , or finally admitted into close fellowship , he had to bind himself by a most solemn oath ( this being the only occasion on which the Essenes used an oath ) , to observe three things : 1 . Love to God ; 2 . Merciful justice towards all men—to be faithful to every
man , and especially to rulers ; and 3 . Purity of character , which implied inter alia strict seeresy towards outsiders , so as not to divulge the secret doctrines ( musteria ) to any one , and perfect openness with the members of the Order . " It is needless to say that so holy a brotherhood has
commanded respect from innumerable writers—Jewish , Greek , Roman , Christian Church , and heathen . That they had anything in common with the Pythagoreans , as some , taking a remark of Josephus for the justification of this view , have been led to believe , is shown to be out of the
question by Dr . Ginsburg , certain of those differences between the Essenes and the disciples of Pythagoras as noted by that writer being reproduced by Bro . Gould . Thus the Pythagoreans were polytheists , the Essenes were monotheists ; the former believed in the metempsychosis ,
while the latter did not . Pythagoras taught that man could control his fortune , but Essenism held that fate governed all things . The last difference quoted is that , while the Pythagoreans were aristocratic and exclusive , the Essenes were meek and lowly , and beloved even by
other sects . There were , however , strong points of resemblance both in doctrine and practice between the Essenes and the Pharisees . " In both systems there were four classes of Levitical purity , a novitiate of twelve months , an apron was bestowed in the first year , and the
mysteries of the cosmogony and cosmology were only revealed to members of the society . Stewards supplied the needy strangers of either order with clothing and food . Both regarded office as coming from God , and their meal as a sacrament . Both bathed before meals , and wore
symbolical garments on the lower parfc of their body while so doing . Each meal began and ended with prayer . Both regarded ten persons as constituting a complete nnmber for Divine worship , " and oaths were forbidden in both . On the other hand , the Essenes differed from the Pharisees
in that they were an isolated order and celibates , did not frequent the temple or offer sacrifices , and though they believed in the immortality of the soul , did not accept the doctrine of the resurrection of the body . Passing over what relates to their origin , antiquity , aud
disappearance from the field of history , we come to the mention of the theory of Krause who , from his point of view , finds in whathe considers the earliest Masonic ritual , " which he dates at A . D . 926 , " evidence of " customs ' obviously taken from the usages of the Roman Colleges and other
sources , that individually ao'ree with the customs and doctrines of the Essenes , Stoics , and Soofees of Persia . ' This writer draws especial attention to the ' agreement of the brotherhood of the Essenes with the chief doctrines which the Culdees associated with the three great lights of the
Lodge . He then observes ' that though coincidences , without any actual connection , are of little value , yet , if it can be historically proved that the one society knew of the other , tbe case is altered . ' Having , then , clearly established ( at least , to his own satisfaction ) that the Culdees were the
authors of the 926 constitutions , he next argues thafc they knew of and copied in many respects the Essenes and Therapeuta *); after which he cites Philo in order to establish thafc tbe three fundamental doctrines of the Essenes were Love of God , Love of Virtue ; and Love of Mankind ;"
and " these he compares with the moral phases of moral conduct , symbolised in our Lodges by the Bible , square , and compasses . " "We next come to " the Roman Collegia , " and Bro . Gould quotes Coote ' s contention " that the Romans of
Britain survived all the barbarian conquests , and that they retained their own law with its procedure and police ; their own lands , with the tenures and obligations appertaining to tbem ; their own cities and municipal government ; their Christianity and private Colleges . " And he continues quoting from the same writer thus : —
All Roman cities were the foster-mothers of those especially Roman institutions—the Colleges . The Anglo-Saxons found these institutions in full play when they came over here ; and , with the cities in which they flourished , they left them to the Romans to make such use of them as they pleased ; possibly ignoring them , certainly
not interfering in their practice , nor controlling their principles . These Colleges were very dear to the Romans . They were native to the great mother city . They were nearly as old as municipality itself , and it was as easy to imagine a Roman without a city as to conceive his existence without a college . The two made up that part
The History Of Freemasonry.
of his disengaged life whioh was not claimed by home and the domestic avocations . No sooner was the Roman conquest of Britain begun , and a modicum of territory was obtained , than we find a collegium in our own eivitas Uegnorum—a collegium fdbrorum . And this was while Claudius was still emperor . The colleges of course
multiplied and spread throughout our island , remaining during the whole of tho imperial rule , and surviving , with our provincial an . cestors , the various barbarian contests . When these conquests were completed , the Anglo-Saxons , who , unlike their brethren of Germany , did not interfere with the habits
of the vanquished , left their new subjects to the possession and en joyment of this most powerful means of self protection . Aa the German conquerors of Gaul and Italy , who feared and hated the colleges , prohibited their very existence undei- the harshest penalties , because they knew them to be seminaries of free Rom an thought , we must
suppose that this leniency of the Anglo-Saxon arose either out of ignorance of their tendency , or contempt of their effect . Bufc whatever was the ground of this toleration , it is quite clear that the colleges , though under another name , continued to exist and maintain themselves .
They are masqned , it is true , under the barbarous name of gild when our historic writers begin to tell ns of them . This trivial word , due to the contributions upon which the colleges had from all timo subsisted , betrays their constitution ; and we find them also , where we ought to expect them—in the Roman cities of Britain .
He also quotes , by way of contrast , from an historical sketch by Mr . Ereeman , who , in comparing the English settlement in Britain with the -Teutonic settlements in the continental provinces of Rome , says : " Elsewhere the conquerors and tbe conquered mingled ; the fabric of Roman
society was not wholly overthrown ; the laws , the speech , the religion of the elder time went on , modified , doubtless , but never utterly destroyed . In Britain a great gulf divides us from everything before our coming . Our laws and language have in later times been greatly modified ,
not at the hands of the conquered Britons , but at the hands of the conquering Normans . Elsewhere , in a word , the old heritage , the old traditions of Rome still survive ; here they are things of the dead past , objects only of antiquarian curiosity . "
There is likewise a long quotation from Mr . Pikes " History of Crime , " with the first portion of which we shall content ourselves . He ( Mr . Pike ) observes "that the priority of any of the three forms of guild becomes a mere matter of conjecture , and the source of the whole
system must necessarily remain doubtful . Regarded from one point of view , the guild has a strong resemblance to the family tie of the Teutonic and other barbarous tribes ; regarded from another , it is a species of bail , which involves a principle too universally applied to be
considered characteristic of any one people ; regarded from a third , it is strikingly like that institution of colleges or companies which was always familiar to the Romans , and which we know from inscriptions to have existed in Britain during the Roman occupation , both in the form of the religious guild and in the form of tbe craft guild . "
Having laid these different opinions before his readers , Brother Gould goes on to consider , firstly , the forms in which tho Collegia appeared ; then , their general or common features ; and thirdly , their character when disseminated thoughoufc the Empire . As regards the first
point , he groups them in four principal divisions , namely , religious bodies , such as the Colleges of the Priests and Vestal Virgins ; associations of official persons , such as the corpus or collegium Scribarum ; corporations for tradecommerce , such as the Fabri , Pistores , & o .: and
associations , somewhat resembling the modern club and known as Sodalitates , Sodalitia , Collegia Sodalitia . These lasfc were originally leagues for feasting together , though at times of civil commotion they frequently became centres of political intrigue . Among the characteristics of the Collegium may be noted that ifc could not consist of less than three
members ; that it was divided into decimal and centuriai and governed by a rnagister and decuriones — the " decuriones " being , for the sake of Masonic convenience we presume , translated into " Wardens ; " that among the other officers were a Treasurer , Secretary , and Archivis ; that
to each candidate on his admission was administered an oath ; that the expenses were defrayed out of the dues and subscriptions imposed on the members ; that the sodales supported their poor and buried their deceased brethren ; that each college celebrated its anniversary
or natal day ; and , on the authority of a single instance cited by Mr . Coote , that they called and regarded each other as brethren . As to the character of these Colleges when distributed throughout the Roman empire , it is worth while to note thafc the Masons' College is nofc mentioned , it being probable that this body of craftsmen was
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The History Of Freemasonry.
however , he was made a homiletes , or finally admitted into close fellowship , he had to bind himself by a most solemn oath ( this being the only occasion on which the Essenes used an oath ) , to observe three things : 1 . Love to God ; 2 . Merciful justice towards all men—to be faithful to every
man , and especially to rulers ; and 3 . Purity of character , which implied inter alia strict seeresy towards outsiders , so as not to divulge the secret doctrines ( musteria ) to any one , and perfect openness with the members of the Order . " It is needless to say that so holy a brotherhood has
commanded respect from innumerable writers—Jewish , Greek , Roman , Christian Church , and heathen . That they had anything in common with the Pythagoreans , as some , taking a remark of Josephus for the justification of this view , have been led to believe , is shown to be out of the
question by Dr . Ginsburg , certain of those differences between the Essenes and the disciples of Pythagoras as noted by that writer being reproduced by Bro . Gould . Thus the Pythagoreans were polytheists , the Essenes were monotheists ; the former believed in the metempsychosis ,
while the latter did not . Pythagoras taught that man could control his fortune , but Essenism held that fate governed all things . The last difference quoted is that , while the Pythagoreans were aristocratic and exclusive , the Essenes were meek and lowly , and beloved even by
other sects . There were , however , strong points of resemblance both in doctrine and practice between the Essenes and the Pharisees . " In both systems there were four classes of Levitical purity , a novitiate of twelve months , an apron was bestowed in the first year , and the
mysteries of the cosmogony and cosmology were only revealed to members of the society . Stewards supplied the needy strangers of either order with clothing and food . Both regarded office as coming from God , and their meal as a sacrament . Both bathed before meals , and wore
symbolical garments on the lower parfc of their body while so doing . Each meal began and ended with prayer . Both regarded ten persons as constituting a complete nnmber for Divine worship , " and oaths were forbidden in both . On the other hand , the Essenes differed from the Pharisees
in that they were an isolated order and celibates , did not frequent the temple or offer sacrifices , and though they believed in the immortality of the soul , did not accept the doctrine of the resurrection of the body . Passing over what relates to their origin , antiquity , aud
disappearance from the field of history , we come to the mention of the theory of Krause who , from his point of view , finds in whathe considers the earliest Masonic ritual , " which he dates at A . D . 926 , " evidence of " customs ' obviously taken from the usages of the Roman Colleges and other
sources , that individually ao'ree with the customs and doctrines of the Essenes , Stoics , and Soofees of Persia . ' This writer draws especial attention to the ' agreement of the brotherhood of the Essenes with the chief doctrines which the Culdees associated with the three great lights of the
Lodge . He then observes ' that though coincidences , without any actual connection , are of little value , yet , if it can be historically proved that the one society knew of the other , tbe case is altered . ' Having , then , clearly established ( at least , to his own satisfaction ) that the Culdees were the
authors of the 926 constitutions , he next argues thafc they knew of and copied in many respects the Essenes and Therapeuta *); after which he cites Philo in order to establish thafc tbe three fundamental doctrines of the Essenes were Love of God , Love of Virtue ; and Love of Mankind ;"
and " these he compares with the moral phases of moral conduct , symbolised in our Lodges by the Bible , square , and compasses . " "We next come to " the Roman Collegia , " and Bro . Gould quotes Coote ' s contention " that the Romans of
Britain survived all the barbarian conquests , and that they retained their own law with its procedure and police ; their own lands , with the tenures and obligations appertaining to tbem ; their own cities and municipal government ; their Christianity and private Colleges . " And he continues quoting from the same writer thus : —
All Roman cities were the foster-mothers of those especially Roman institutions—the Colleges . The Anglo-Saxons found these institutions in full play when they came over here ; and , with the cities in which they flourished , they left them to the Romans to make such use of them as they pleased ; possibly ignoring them , certainly
not interfering in their practice , nor controlling their principles . These Colleges were very dear to the Romans . They were native to the great mother city . They were nearly as old as municipality itself , and it was as easy to imagine a Roman without a city as to conceive his existence without a college . The two made up that part
The History Of Freemasonry.
of his disengaged life whioh was not claimed by home and the domestic avocations . No sooner was the Roman conquest of Britain begun , and a modicum of territory was obtained , than we find a collegium in our own eivitas Uegnorum—a collegium fdbrorum . And this was while Claudius was still emperor . The colleges of course
multiplied and spread throughout our island , remaining during the whole of tho imperial rule , and surviving , with our provincial an . cestors , the various barbarian contests . When these conquests were completed , the Anglo-Saxons , who , unlike their brethren of Germany , did not interfere with the habits
of the vanquished , left their new subjects to the possession and en joyment of this most powerful means of self protection . Aa the German conquerors of Gaul and Italy , who feared and hated the colleges , prohibited their very existence undei- the harshest penalties , because they knew them to be seminaries of free Rom an thought , we must
suppose that this leniency of the Anglo-Saxon arose either out of ignorance of their tendency , or contempt of their effect . Bufc whatever was the ground of this toleration , it is quite clear that the colleges , though under another name , continued to exist and maintain themselves .
They are masqned , it is true , under the barbarous name of gild when our historic writers begin to tell ns of them . This trivial word , due to the contributions upon which the colleges had from all timo subsisted , betrays their constitution ; and we find them also , where we ought to expect them—in the Roman cities of Britain .
He also quotes , by way of contrast , from an historical sketch by Mr . Ereeman , who , in comparing the English settlement in Britain with the -Teutonic settlements in the continental provinces of Rome , says : " Elsewhere the conquerors and tbe conquered mingled ; the fabric of Roman
society was not wholly overthrown ; the laws , the speech , the religion of the elder time went on , modified , doubtless , but never utterly destroyed . In Britain a great gulf divides us from everything before our coming . Our laws and language have in later times been greatly modified ,
not at the hands of the conquered Britons , but at the hands of the conquering Normans . Elsewhere , in a word , the old heritage , the old traditions of Rome still survive ; here they are things of the dead past , objects only of antiquarian curiosity . "
There is likewise a long quotation from Mr . Pikes " History of Crime , " with the first portion of which we shall content ourselves . He ( Mr . Pike ) observes "that the priority of any of the three forms of guild becomes a mere matter of conjecture , and the source of the whole
system must necessarily remain doubtful . Regarded from one point of view , the guild has a strong resemblance to the family tie of the Teutonic and other barbarous tribes ; regarded from another , it is a species of bail , which involves a principle too universally applied to be
considered characteristic of any one people ; regarded from a third , it is strikingly like that institution of colleges or companies which was always familiar to the Romans , and which we know from inscriptions to have existed in Britain during the Roman occupation , both in the form of the religious guild and in the form of tbe craft guild . "
Having laid these different opinions before his readers , Brother Gould goes on to consider , firstly , the forms in which tho Collegia appeared ; then , their general or common features ; and thirdly , their character when disseminated thoughoufc the Empire . As regards the first
point , he groups them in four principal divisions , namely , religious bodies , such as the Colleges of the Priests and Vestal Virgins ; associations of official persons , such as the corpus or collegium Scribarum ; corporations for tradecommerce , such as the Fabri , Pistores , & o .: and
associations , somewhat resembling the modern club and known as Sodalitates , Sodalitia , Collegia Sodalitia . These lasfc were originally leagues for feasting together , though at times of civil commotion they frequently became centres of political intrigue . Among the characteristics of the Collegium may be noted that ifc could not consist of less than three
members ; that it was divided into decimal and centuriai and governed by a rnagister and decuriones — the " decuriones " being , for the sake of Masonic convenience we presume , translated into " Wardens ; " that among the other officers were a Treasurer , Secretary , and Archivis ; that
to each candidate on his admission was administered an oath ; that the expenses were defrayed out of the dues and subscriptions imposed on the members ; that the sodales supported their poor and buried their deceased brethren ; that each college celebrated its anniversary
or natal day ; and , on the authority of a single instance cited by Mr . Coote , that they called and regarded each other as brethren . As to the character of these Colleges when distributed throughout the Roman empire , it is worth while to note thafc the Masons' College is nofc mentioned , it being probable that this body of craftsmen was