Occasional Papers.—No. Iii.

with such interest that after the installation , in 1870 , of our present Most Worshipful Grand Master his Roynl Hishness the Prince of Wales as Grand Patron of the

Order in Scotland , His Royal Highness was affiliated to St . Mary ' s Chnpol , aud these minntes wove submitted for his inspection . Wo give them verhatim et literatim- from Lyon ' s History : —

" The 3 day off Joulay , 1634 . The quhilk day the Right honorabell my lord Alexander is admitct folowe off the craffc bo Howe Forest rliken , and Alexander Nesbet Warden ; and the hell rest off tho mestoros off mesonosoff Edcnbroch

and fchcrto curie mester heath supscriuct with fcher liandes or set to ther markes . [ Deacon ' s and Wardens' marks . ] Jn . Watt , Thomas Patersone , Alexander , John Mylln . " The 3 day off Joulie 1634 . The quhilk day Antonio Alexander , Right Honirabell Mester off Work to bes

Magestie be admisiono oR Hewe Forest deken , and Alexander Nesbet warden , and the hell rest off tho Mesteres off Edenbroch ; and thorto euerio mester heath

supscriuct with their bans or eles pet to ther markes Thomas Ainslie , Thomas Patersone , Robert Gray . [ Dea con ' s and Wardens' marks . ] Jn . Watt , Alexander , An Alexander , Johne Mylln .

" At Edinburghe , the 3 of July 1634 . The quhilk day Sr . Alexander Strachan of Thorntoun is admitted fellowcraft be Hew Forest deaken , and Alexr . Nisbet warden , and the haile rest of the Masters Measons of Edinburghe ;

and in token tbereof the mesters underscryband havo sett to their hands and marks to thir prosnts . [ Deacon ' s and Wardens' marks . ]! Jn . Watt , Robert Gray , Thomas Ainslie , Thomas Paterson , Johne Mylln , Alexander , An . Alexander , A . Strachan . "

Among the minutes which arc quoted after the above is one dated 27 th December 1 G 36 , in which the words " Frie Mesones" occur , this , says Bro . Lyon , being " the earliest instance yet discovered of ' Free Mason ' being in Scotland applied to members of tho Mason Craft . It is

evidently used , " adds Bro . Lyon , " as an abbreviation of tbe term ' Freemen Masons '—Master Masons possessing the legal right to exercise their vocation as snch within the liberties or boundaries of the town or burgh of which they ¦ were burgesses , and cannot in any sense be held as

equivalent to ' Freemason , ' as now understood . " Close on 160 years occur before we meet with the expression again—namely , in the minute of 29 th January 1795 , where it is used in designating the Lodge as a " Society of Free

Masons . ' Bro . Lyon adds that " the adoption in January , 1735 , by the Lodge of Kilwinning , of the distinguishing title of Freemasons , and its reception of Symbolical Masonry , were of simultaneous occurrence . "

Three other records worth referring to are also given . The first of these mentions fche reception on the 16 th February , 1638 , of " The Right Worthie and honerabell Mr . off Work to his Maj ' stie , Herie Alexander , " afterwards Earl of Stirling ; the second , dated 20 th May 1640 , records

the admission of the " right honerabell Alexander Hamiltone , generall of the artelerie of this Kindom ; " and the third , dated 27 th day of July 1647 , mentions the admission of " William Maxwell , doctor of Fisek ordinare to his Maj'stie bines . "

The first record we have in England of a similar kind is from the diary of the celebrated antiquary , Elias Ashmole , who records that he and Colonel Henry Mainwaring , of Kermincham , in Cheshire , wero made Freemasons at Warrington , in Lancashire , on 16 th October 1646 .

Many years later , under date of lOfch March 1682 , mention is again made in the same diary of Ashmole ' s being summoned to attend a Lodge to be held the next day afc Masons' Hall . He went accordingly , and found himself the senior fellow present . On this occasion ,

Sir William Wilson , Knight , Captain Richard Borthwick , and others were admitted . Other instances might be mentioned , but these will suffice for onr purpose , which is merely to show that some eighty years before the important ; year 1717 , non-Masons were mado members of Masonic

Lodges—as early as 1634 in Scotland , and twelve years later in England . It is clear then , I think , that the growth of what we call Speculative Freemasonry , if gradual , was sure , and I conceive there must have been , by the end of

the seventeenth century , a considerable number of Freemasons in Britain . Doubtless , too , the restoration of London after the Great Fire must havo created great interest in Masonry . Even more influential still was the

Occasional Papers.—No. Iii.

spread of that Speculative feeling which | we meet with so frequently in the course of this century . I do not for a moment lay it down dogmatically that Bacon , in his " New Atlantis , " in which ho describes a certain island of Bensale * . n , with its Solomon ' s House , or the College of the Six

Days' Works , the majority of which wero only known to fche initiated , had in his mind the Society of Freemasons . There is little doubt , however , as Findel points out , that Bacon ' s work , and those of Dupuy , " the author of tho Condemnation of tho Templars , " and Comenius ' s Opera Vtdaetiea

must have exercised a great influence over Freemasonry , and contributed in great measure to its transformation from an Operative into a Speculative body . In the lastmentioned work , indeed , Findel says there are whole passages which will be found word for word like those in

Anderson ' s Book of Constitutions . Then later in the century came the great intellectual movement known aa English Deism , and in the opinion of the historian I have just quoted , this movement contributed essentially to the change which took place in the earlier part of the eighteenth century .

But in order that it may be made clear what manner of rules and ordinances were in force about the close of fche seventeenth century in the government of the Society of Masons , I give the following from among the regulations said to have been made at the General Assembly of Masons ,

held on 27 th December 1663 , when Henry Earl of St . Albans was elected what wo now call Grand Master , who chose Sir John Denham as his Deputy , and Mr . ( afterwards Sir ) Christopher Wren and John Webb as his

Wardens . Thoy are quoted from Findel , but will be found likewise in Preston , who has evidently followed Anderson , as he uses Grand Master , while Findel confines himself to Master : —

" 1 . That noe person of what degree soever , be made or accepted a Freemason unless in a Lodge of five Members , whereof one to be a Master or Warden in thafc limit or division where such Lodge is kept , and another to be a Craftsman in the trade of Freemasonry .

" 2 . That noe person hereafter shall be accepted , a Freemason , but such as are of able body , honest parentage , good reputation , and observers of the Laws of the Land . " 3 . That noe person hereafter who shall be accepted a Freemason shall be admitted into any Lodge or assembly

until he hath brought a Certificate of the time and place of his acceptance , from the Lodge that accepted him , nnto the Master of that limit or Division , where such Lodge is

kept , which sayd Master shall enrol the same in a roll of parchment to be kept for that purpose , and shall give an account of all such acceptations at every General Assembly .

" 4 . That every person who now is a Freemason shall bring to the Master a note of fche time of his acceptation , to the end that the same may be enrolled in such priority of place as the Brother shall deserve , and to the end that the whole company of fellows may the better know each other .

" 5 . That for the future , the sayd Society , Company , or Fraternity of Freemasons shall be regulated and governed by one Master , and the assembly and Wardens , as the said Company shall think fit to appoint afc every yearly General Assembly .

" 6 . That noe person shall be accepted a Freemason , or know the secrets of the sayd Society , until he has at first taken tbe oath of secrecy following : — " I . A . B . doe , in the presence of Almighty God , and my Fellows and Brethren here present , promise and declare ,

that I will not at any time hereafter , by any Act or Circumstance whatsoever , directly or indirectly , publish , discover , reveal , or make known , any of the secrets ,

privileges , or Counsels of tho Fraternity of Fellowship of Freemasonry which at this time or any time hereafter shall be made known unto mo : so help me God aud the contents of this book . "

I have said already that after the Great Fire of London tho Lodges situated in the Metropolis were stirred into a momentary activity , it being said that Sir Christopher Wren was particularly zealous . Anderson , indeed , affirms

that Sir Christopher was appointed Grand Master in 1085 . Findel , howeier , thinks this cannot have beon the case , as Wren is said not to havo been initiated into Freemasonry till 8 th May 1691 , even