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Shakespeare A Freemason.

SHAKESPEARE A FREEMASON .

REFRINTED FROM THE "WELSHMAN . IT is said , and evidences of the truth of the statement are not wanting , that elaborate essays have been written , and most satis , factory proof given that Shakespeare most have been a lawyer , a doctor , a soldier , a sailor , an actor , a gardener , a woolstapler , a horseboy , a glover , a schoolmaster , a publican , a poaoher , a tanner , a

gravedigger—indeed , if a tithe of the statements made respecting him be true , he mnat verily have " played many parts , " and his " acts" must have numbered considerably over " seven ages !" We have in our time listened to grave attempts , made with more or less success , to show that he must have been " a Papist , " " a Jew , " " a spleeny Lutheran , " " an ambitious Churchman , " " a dissentious

rogue , " " a heathen philosopher , " " a pagan rascal "—in brief he has been trotted out in more characters than we " have thoughts to put them in , " or " imagination to give them shape . " Passing all these in . quiries by , however , not as " unconsidered trifles " but rather as "deserving of high commendation and applause , " we propose to consider within the present limits if there is a fair ground for the

oftasserted statement that Shakespeare was a Freemason!—premising , for general information , that we have it not in intention to rake up and produce , as evidence , any " special word , " " set phrase , " or " certain marks" whereby his brotherhood might unquestionably be established after a fashion and in a manner unfitting for profane ears , but more by reference to such " covert illusions , " " hidden meanings , " " veiled

teachings , " and " symbolic illustrations" as may be sufficiently well understood by the initiated , if not by the general reader . An eminent Freemason , upon the ocoasion of his installation as W . M . of the " Bard of Avon" Lodge in Jane 1872 , in the course of an admirable address , delivered to a singularly appreciative audience , quoted several passages from the plays of the great dramatist , which ,

according to his judgment , had not merely a Masonic bearing , bnt also indicated the possession by the author of very special Masonic knowledge . It was not to be expected that " cabin'd , cribb'd , confined" within the narrow bounds of an after-dinner speech , any more could be done in this direction than simply to offer for acceptance a few illustrations ; the aptness and the force of which , and the

skill exhibited in their selection , produce in our mind a profound regret that one so gifted , so competent , so thorongthly qualified to deal exhaustively with such an interesting inquiry , should have permitted the handsome volume entitled Shakespeare a Freemason to be printed and published , without having given himself the trouble—nay , the gratification—of collecting and accumulating further proofs from

the vast stores at his disposal : stores of wealth , which his skilled hand would have found no difficulty in arranging " in order , " and with his ready pen , presenting his brethren "in dne form" and " cunning manner" with much additional evidence : for " in faith he is a worthy gentleman , exceedingly well read !" The inquiry is one in which , in our " salad days " when we were

" green in judgment , " some thirty years ago , we took an absorbing interest—an interest which " age has not withered nor cnstom staled" ; it possessed for us an attractive charm which has not yet entirely left ns ; for it is , so to speak , the lingering perfume laden with the pleasant influences of the past—alieni temporis flores—which has aroused us from the drowsiness engendered by years of apathy and neglect , to accept the ohallenge of the distinguished brother aforesaid

as conveyed by him in his most instructive and interesting book , to wit—that others should aid this inquiry with their own researches , should lend brotherly assistance to strengthen the evidences and proofs , so as to make them not merely acceptable , but also conclusive . It is , however , not because we would attribute the fewness of the illustrations in the volume to which we refer , to the

Modesty that has not craft to colour , or that we have any lurking feeling "in our heart of heart" that the quotations therein given bear somewhat the same comparison with the other subject-matter therein contained , as did Sir John Falstafl ' s " half penny-worth of bread" to the " intolerable deal of sack" therewith associated ; but because we have ventured humbly to think " our ancient skill may beguile m" into contributing some small

measure of information to the researches of those who have gone before us in the inquiry , and thus it may bo " thoughts speculative their unseen hopes relate" " in passages of proof . " It is in such a spirit that we have collated and now offer a few illustrations and comments as simply evidences " within the scope of our opinion , " in trustful confidence that no dire consequences may ensue between ns and our illustrious brother , because it may be said of us in the present

instance—In one line two crafts directly meet . There can be very little doubt , we think , that the Great Master was intimately acquainted with , and moreover learned in , " the traditions , forms , and ceremonies" which we are accustomed to associate with " Brotherhoods in Cities "; but we desire to avow at starting that we are not among those who insist and declare that he

Shakespeare A Freemason.

mnst have been a Freemason simply because of the oft-quoted lino in Love ' s Labour Lost—I will visit thee at the Lodge . To assume this would be to urge our claim unfairly , to build upon insecure foundation , for it should be remombered that the words thus

nsed were spoken hy Armado to Jaquenetta ; and , while we have not the slightest objection to admit it to be quite within the limits of possibility that a Freemason's Lodge might have been intendod or thought of , it must also be borne in mind there is not a particle of evidence to show that women were frequenters of , or even admitted

at all into , Masonic Lodges in those days any more than in our own . One feels more justified in calmly settling down in tho conviction that Armado had other intentions in visiting the Lodge than the study of the liberal arts , but this interpretation he might resent as an attempt on our part " to enquire too curiously , " so wo will say no

more about it . In precisely the same category is the passage in Titus Andronicus , where Saturninus , alluding to his brother Bassianus ,

says—He and his lady both are at the Lodge . But there are other references to Lodges which are not open to an objection of this nature , for example—The Lodge in a Warren ,

alluded to by Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing ; again , in The Merry Wives of Windsor , where Justice Shallow accuses Sir John Falstaff thus—Knight , you have beaten my men , Killed my deer , and broken open my Lodge .

And yet once again , in the same play , when Mistress Qmokly issues her directions—The several chairs of order look you soonr , it is by no means an unfair interpretation that she meant the chairs of the Master and Wardens of the Lodge , which , peradventure , might

have been holden at the sign of " The Garter !" Let ns pass on , however , to show how intimate must have been the acquaintance with the administration of a Lodge . In Taming of the Shreiv , Biondello , in a conversation with Vincentio , makes use of the expression " My old Worshipful Master ; " and scattered through

other plays are frequent references to " Worthy Masters , " " Potent Masters , " " Good Masters , " " Elder Masters of known honour , " and so on . The allusion " Wardens' Pies " in The Winter's Tale is suggestive of pleasant intimacy with the Junior Warden , if not during work , at

any rate in his call from labour to refreshment ! " Chaplains" are rather hardly dealt with in Henry VIII . as " Teachers of divers and dangerous opinions which are heresies . " The only reference to " a Treasurer " will be found in Antony and Cleopatra , but we are given " a Master-Secretary" in Henry VIII .,

and an allusion to those " who play the Scribe " in Titus Andronicus . Deacons , Masters of Ceremonies , and Organists do not appear to have earned for themselves the privilege of having their names enshrined in any play : perchance as Officers they did not exist . If they did , we feel assured they were not only " Officers fit for the

place , " but also " Officers of great worth . " We find in Pericles mention made of "A Sojourner ; " and in Henry VIII . we find "Pursuivants ; " while in Twelfth Night , King Lear , Tirmm 0 / Athens , and other plays we discover "A Steward . " In this last play we find also a passage which can only refer to Inner

Guards—Employed to guard sure their Master . And , to conclnde , the office of Tyler must of a surety be meant in Othello , for to whom but a Tyler could Montano speak when ho says—Guard the door without .

Touching Lodge observances , itc , it wonld be easy to multiply ili lustrations . Let us take two or three at random . For example , what more complimentary remark could be made to a skilled Master of a Lodge than

You have made good work , you and your apron men . Or . again , You have made fair hands , you and your crafts ,

both quotations being taken from Coriolanus . On the other hand , what can be more suggestive of an incompetent Master of a Lodge than the observation of Justice Shallow in Henry IV . —

He is not his craft's Master , he does not do right .

In Much Ado about Nothing there is a delicious snub to those who are given to the performance or non-performance of their duties " by virtue of their office ! " Are there no Dogberrys to be found in these

latter days ? What more natural and pertinent inquiry from a Master , say to an unpunctual , unprepared Junior Warden than we chance upon in Julixis Ccesar .

Where is thy leather apron and thy rule ? How widely different was the estimation in which Masons were held in tho old days as compared with our own times may be learned from a line in Henry VI . — The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons ,

Turn to The Tempest , and see how differently Prospero thought and spoke— Mark bnt the badge of these men , Then say if they be true .

And touching these same badges it is curious and extremely interesting to note how apt and correspondent is the description often given in Measure for Measure—