Masonry At The Banquet Table.

importance of the question involved , have formulated a decision which is wholly opposed to the principles of Freemasonry , and which , we venture to think , will speedily be reversed .

Comments On " Facts And Fictions."

COMMENTS ON " FACTS AND FICTIONS . "

BY BROTHER JACOB NORTON . AS far as I know , Brother Hughan did not agree with Brother Sadler's Facts . This I learned from a communication of Bro . Sadler ' s , in the Freemason , some months ago ; but I do not know on what point they

disagreed . Previous to my last trip to England I read part of Brother Sadler ' s " Facts and Fictions , " and when I met my esteemed brother in London I frankly told him that I was not converted to his theory . Brother Sadler ,

however , urged me to give my opinion m print after I had read the whole book . Well ! I have now read the whole book , but my opinion is unchanged . I am sorry to find

fault with Brother Sadler s theory ; I hope , however , that he will not be offended , for I have reluctantly undertaken this task at his request .

An author of a History of the Popes ( whose name I do not remember ) began his book thus : " Tradition ( said he ) was a convicted liar , but as a liar may sometimes tell the truth , listen therefore to what he has to say , but do not

believe a word of his , unless it is supported by reliable evidence . " Now , I cannot say much in favour of the truthfulness of Masonic historians of the last century . They were all , indeed , more or less untruthful . But in my

opinion , Laurence Dermott was the most shameless , impudent , and unscrupulous story-teller of all of them . * First , the Ancients started in 1751 with five or six Lodges , numbering all together between seventy and

eighty members , that is , about a baker ' s dozen for each

Lodge , and these Lodges were dubbed " Time Immemorial . " Now , if those Lodges had been very old , or if they could have traced their pedigree , say to 1716 , Dermott would have furnished the histories of his Lodges ;

but as he did nothing of the kind , and dated them all 1752 , it is therefore highly probably that the said Lodges were organised just for the purpose of forming an

independent Grand Lodge , and that there was nothing " Immemorial " about them , and they had no right to pretend to antiquity , or to the name of " Ancients . "

I shall , however , endeavour to define the line of demarcation between Ancient and Modem Masons , thus : We all know the origin of the Masons' organisation in the Middle Ages was merely for the purpose of getting high

wages , the same as all other guilds did , and the same as our " trade unions " of to-day do . All the guilds used to take into their societies honorary members , that is , lords , gentlemen , or even mechanics of other trades , and the

Masons did the same . The Masons , however , were a secret society , who could recognise each other by a sign , a word , and a grip . They had but one ceremony or

degree ; there are over fifty of the old rituals still preserved , one of which will be found in " Appendix A " in Bro . Sadler ' s book .

In 1717 , some Lodges in London , while they retained the name " Freemasons , " and perhaps the old word and sign or grip too , discarded all the old laws , ceremonies , and usages ; thus , instead of one degree , they invented

three entire new ceremonies or degrees . In short , they turned everything topsy-turvy ; so much so , that if the author of the Halliwell Poem , or of Matthew Cooke ' s MS . had now been allowed to revisit this earth , and while here he had attempted to visit a Lodge constituted after

Comments On " Facts And Fictions."

1723 , he would be regarded as an impostor , and would be refused admission ; and the disappointed visitor , who was the greatest Masonic luminary in his day and generation , would denounce the members of the said Lodges as cmoans and humbugs .

The dividing line , therefore , between ancient and modern Masons should be between those who adhered to the old ritual and old laws , and those who after 1717 discarded everything that was old ( as explained above ) and adopted

entire new forms . Now , there is no doubt that such Lodges existed both in England and in Scotland after 1717 , and these migbt consistently have been called " Ancients , " but as soon as these Lodges enrolled themselves under the

new Constitution they ceased to be ancxents ; thus in 1721 Desaguliers visited the Edinburgh Lodge , then it was an ancient Lodge , but after he impregnated the said Lodge with the new forms , ceremonies and degrees , it ceased to

be ancient . In 1736 the Grand Lodge of Scotland was formed under the new Constitution , and a great many Scotch Lodges which joined the Grand Lodge became modems ; other Scotch . Lodges , however , retained the old

forms . These might consistently have been denominated as ancients . In England the Alnwick Lodge , whose records still exist from 1701 to 1757 , though it admitted outsiders of their trade as honorary members , still

it adhered to the old forms , Constitution , and usages , and it had but one degree , it was , therefore , really and truly a Lodge of ancients . But the six Lodges that formed a Grand Lodge in London in 1752 had not only three degrees

but had also a fourth degree , viz ., the Royal Arch , and its Constitution was entirely , or almost so , copied from the Constitution of the Moderns . It was , therefore , sheer impudence on the part of Dermott to palm them off as ancient Masons .

Second , it was impertinent on the part of Dermott to claim descent from the York Masons . Bro . Sadler indeed denies that such a claim was ever made ( see 7 th Chapter of " Facts and Fictions " ) . Bro . Sadler , however , never saw

a Warrant of the Ancients older than 1772 ; but Bro . Brennan , in his History , printed in 1875 , on page 368 , prints a copy of a Warrant from Dermott to Erasmus James Philips , at Halifax , Nova Scotia , which begins thus :

" We , the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted ( York ) Masons . " It is evident , therefore , that before the revival of the York Grand Lodge he claimed authority from York ,

but after the York Grand Lodge was revived he changed the phrase into " According to the old Constitutions granted by His Royal Highness Prince Edwin at York . "

Third , the dubbing of his Constitutions " Ahiman Rezon " was designed to impose on his dupes that he was a Hebrew scholar . The said words , however , are not Hebrew , and were a pure invention of Dermott . Fourth , Dermott says

that" Several eminent Craftsmen in Scotland , Ireland , America , and other parts abroad and at home , importuned me to give them some account of what is called Modern Masonry in London . "

And here follows a series of questions and answers , among which are the following , viz .: — " Whether there is any material difference between the Ancients and Moderns . "

Answer , " A great deal , because an Ancient Mason cannot only make himself known to his brother , but in case of necessity can discover his very thoughts to bim in the presence of a Modern without ( his ) being able to distinguish that either of them are Freemasons . " This is certainly a ivhopper , but here is something

equally good , — " The number of Antient Masons , compared with the Moderns being as ninety-nine to one , proves the universality of the old Order , and the utility thereof appears by the love and respect shown to the brethren in

consequence of their superior abilities m conversation with , and distinguishing the Masons of all countries and denominations , a circumstance peculiar to Ancient Masons . " And he follows up the above

thus" I am so well acquainted with the truth of what I have just now asserted that I am not in the least apprehensive of being contradicted . " The reader must doubtless be desirous to learn about the

precise period of the deterioration of the London Grand Lodge of 1717 , which produced such disastrous results , as described above . Here therefore is Bro . Dermott ' s answer ,

he says" The innovation was made in the reign of King George