Gossip About Freemasonry; Its History And Traditions.

commit adultery , " and " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife . " That it continued later , even to the days of Ezekiel , is probable , for wo find him reproaching tho men of Jerusalem , saying ( clmp . xxxiii . 26 ) "Ye work abominations , and ye defile every one his n * ighbour ' s wife . "

A few words a * . * to tfu * iid . Ho wns a Tyrian by birth , and Tyre had doubtless from before tho time of King Solomon become remarkable for its grandeur and luxury . ( In Ezekiel , chap , xxvii ., there is n in-i *' . lr ; , nt , 'fal example of word painting , woll deserving your miking yourself acquainted

with ) . Surrounded , as Euclid must have been , by so many admirable types of architectural skill there can bo bnt little doubt bar . tin- * , impressed by their beauty , ho made himself a master in geometrical science and the arts kindred to it , and it is quite within probability that he

may have been invited by the Egyptians to dwell among them . Indeed it is said that Ptolemy Sotor was tho sovereign at whose request he came to Egypt , bat it is probable that Pythagoras , evidently a wanderer , was there long before Euclid , there being about 250 years between the

periods in which they respectively moved . Pythagoras is said to have been in Jerusalem some time about the building of the second Temple . We are told he was a Freemason , having been initiated by tho Prophet Daniel , with whom he

studied 12 years , and on his return to Crotona introduced the celebrated 47 th Problem , generally received as | the work of Euclid . This Problem has by tradition been also given to Hiram Abif .

Some sensation was created during the last century among Masons by the publication of a letter purporting to have been written by the " learned John Locke to the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Pembroke , with an old MS . on the subject of Freemasonry . " It commences : —

•• I have at length , by the help of Mr . Collins , procured a copy of that MS . in the Bodleian Library which you were so curious to see , and in obedience to yonr Lordship ' s commands I herewith send it to you . Most of the notes annexed to it are what I made yesterday for the reading of

Lady Masham , who is become so fond of Masonry as to say she now more than ever wishes she was a man that she might become capable of admission into the Fraternity . The MS . of which this is a copy appears to be about 160 years old . "

I omit such portions of it as do not immediately bear on the subject I have more particularly in view . The MS . is headed , " Certayne questyons , with answers to the same ,

concerning the mystery of Maconrye , writtene by the hande of Kynge Heurye the Sixthe of the name , and faithfullye copied by me , Johan Leylande , antiqnarius , by the commande of his highnesse . "

Two notes by Locke are here introduced . ( 1 ) John Leland was appointed by Henry Sth , at the dissolution of the monasteries , to search for and save such books and records as were valuable among them . He was a man of great labour and industry . ( 2 ) His highnesse , meaning the said Henry Sth . Our King had not then the title of Maiestv .

Question . Who dyd brynge ytt ( Freemasonry ) Westlye ? ¦ Answer . The "Venetians who beynge greate merchandes , corned ffyrst ffromme the este ynn Venetia , for the commodytye of marchaundysynge beith este and west , bey the redde and myddleonde sees .

Note . In the times of monkish ignorance , it is no wonder that the Phoenicians should be mistaken for the Venetians , or perhaps if the people were not taken one for the other , similitude of sound might deceive the clerk who first took

down tho examination . The Phoenicians were the greatest voyagers among the ancients , and were in Europe thought to be the inventors of letters , which perhaps they brought from the east with other arts .

Question . Howe comede ytt yn Engelonde r Answer . Peter Gower , a Grecian , journeyedde ffor kunnynge in Egypte and yn Syria and yn everyohe londe , whereas the Venetiations hadde plauntedde maconrye and wynninge entraunce yn al lodges of maconnes , he lerned

much and retournedde , and woned yn Grecia Magna wachsynge , and becommyngo a myghtye wyseaore and greatlyehe renowned , and her he framed a grate Lodge at Groton and maked many maconnes , some whereoffe dyd jeurneye yn Frauuce , and maked many maconnes

wherefromme , yn processe of tyme , the arte passed in Engelonde-. Note . This must bo another mistake of the writer . I was puzzled at first to guess who Peter Gower should be , the name being perectly English , or how a Greek shonld come by such a name ; but as soon as I thought of

Gossip About Freemasonry; Its History And Traditions.

Pythagoras , I could scarce forbear smiling to find that philosopher had undergone a metempsychosis he had never dreamed of ; we need only consider the French pronunciation of his name , Pythagore , that is Petagore , to conceive how easily such a mistake might be made by an unlearned

clerk . That Py thagoras travelled for knowledge into Egypt , & c , is known to all the learned , and that he was admitted into several orders of Priest , who in those days kept all their learning secret from the vulgar , is as well known . Pythagoras also made every geometrical theorem a secret ,

and admitted only such to a knowledge of them as'had first undergone a five years silence . He is supposed to be the inventor of the 47 th proposition of the first book of Euclid , for which , in the joy of his heart , he sacrificed a hecatomb . Grecia Magna is a part of Italy , so called , in which the Greeks had settled a colony .

Question Dothe all Maconnes kunne more than odher menne ? Answer . Not so , they onlyehe haveth vecht arid occasyonne more than odher menne , to kume but manye doeth thatt is capacity , and manye more doth want industrye ,

fale in pernecessarye for the gaynynge all kunnynge . Question , Are Maconnes gudder men than odhers ? Answer . Some Maconnes are not so vertuous as some other menne ; but yn the moste parte may be more gudo than they woulde be yf they were not Maconnes ?

Question . Doth Maconnes love eidther odher myghty lye as beeth sayde ? Answer . Tea , veryliehe , and yt may not otherwise be . For gude menne and true kennynge eidher odher to be soche , doeth always love the more as they be more gude .

Locke concludes : —I know not what effect the sight of this MS . may have upon your Lordship , but for my own part I cannot deny that it has so much raised my curiosity as to induce me to enter myself into the Fraternity , which I am determined to do , if I may be admitted , the next time

I go to London , and that will be shortly . Grave doubts have been raised as to the authenticity of this production , and although it was apparently received with full belief by Masonic writers of the last century , many of the most prominent and eminent authorities of tbe Masonic literature of tbe present day look on it with something more than doubt .

One objection ia certainly of importance . No such MS . is now to be found in the Bodleian Library . Grant this , it does not of necessity follow that such MS . never was there , though it renders the defence of its genuineness somewhat more difficult . That Masonic documents were not

looked upon as of very high importance , even as late as the early part of the 18 th century , their destruction by those who should have been their conservators proves , and it might not have been possible tbat the Bodleian Library may have been deprived of some of its then little valued

possessions by loss or by careless exchange . Tne date of the Locke-Leland MS . is 1696 . Dr . Plot , author of the " History of Staffordshire , " & c , states that in 1686 Staffordshire Masons had a roll of charges and mariners perused

and approved by Henry 6 tb . Surely tbat roll should be now in existence , or did it form a part of the fuel helping the blaze of the Masonic bon-fire . Dr . Plot , I should mention , was a violent anti-Mason and keeper of the Ash . molean Museum . The Mrs . Masham of the letter was said

to have been a mutual friend of Lord Pembroke and of Locke , and Locke is said to have been in London abont the date given as that of the letter . If it be a forgery ifc is assuredly a clever one , but I cannot see what object was to be gained by its publication . In the cases of

the Chatterton and Ireland forgeries , these unfortunate youths aimed with mistaken ambition to become famous among that large section of the learned in the literature of ancient times . In the case of the MS ., the Masonic public which would notice it was very limited , and little

cither of profit or fame was to be gained by its publication . In my humble opinion I think it to be genuine , that is to say , at least as genuine as those Masonic MS .

that have been accepted as such , all of which , including that of Leland and one known as the " Krause MS . " I take to have been originally copied from some important original now lost .

Ths old MSS ., and that of Leland , each contain a statement respecting the introduction of Freemasonry into France ridiculously impossible . Those acknowledged state , as I have placed before you , that Freemasonry was first introduced into France by one Magnus Greens , who had been at the making of Solomon ! s Temple , and