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The History Of Freemasonry.

THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY .

( Continued from p 107 . ) IN dealing in his second chapter , with the " ¦ Old Charges of British Freemasons , " Bro . Gould , after noting " the only point of identity between the English and German Constitutions in the shape of legend or tradition , "

and that onr "British Constitutions , or 'Old Charges , ' have indeed neither predecessors nor rivals , " goes on to remark on the singularity of the fact that the Masons are the only Craft in Great Britain which can furnish documentary evidence " of its having

claimed , at any time , a legendary or traditional history . " tbe French compagnons , though not without legendary histories of their own , not now possessing any early writings which are comparable with our Masonic Charges . He then proceeds to an enumeration and

descnphon of the various MSS ., "the original or a certified transcript" of each of which has , except where otherwise stated , been collated by Bro . Hughan or himself . These MSS . which , as he justly remarks , are vastly more numerous now than they were but a few years since , are

arranged in three classes or groups , namely " ( A ) originals ; ( B ) late transcripts ; ( C ) printed copies , extracts , or references . " In the case of those which are undated , and whose age therefore is " perfectly a matter of conjecture , " he has " generally preferred the testimony , " as to their

probable periods of origin , " of such independent paleographical authorities as Mr . A . Bond ( the principal librarian of the British Museum ) , and other non-Masonic

experts , to the possibly interested opinions of those connected with the fraternity , " and has " carefully abstained from overstating the antiquity of these or any other documents relating to Freemasonry . "

Group A comprises thirty-one MSS ., and it will be as well , perhaps , that we shonld note the chief characteristics of each . No . 1 , in the British Museum , is known as the Halliwell MS ., and is assigned approximately to the fourteenth century . Its contents were not made known

till the year 1839 , in a paper read by Mr . Halliwell before the Society of Antiquaries " On the introduction of Freemasonry into England . " That gentleman considers it was written not later than the latter part of the fourteenth century . ' Mr . David Casley , a former deputy librarian of

the Cottonian Library , assigns it to the same century . Mr . Bond places it in the middle of the fifteenth century , and Dr . Kloss between 1427 and 1445 . In the opinion of Halliwell , it is " the earliest document yet brought to light connected with the progress of freemasonry in Great

Britain . " No . 2 , also in the British Museum , is the " Cooke" MS ., and is so named after its editor , Brother Matthew Cooke . Brother Gould agrees with Mr . Bond in considering it " early 15 th Century , " though others place it towards the latter part of that century , because it

" contains references to the Policronicon , " the earliest edition of which , however , it is pointed out , is believed to have appeared in 1342 . The " Lansdowne , " ascribed to the sixteenth century , and in the British Museum , comes next , and was among the MSS . purchased by Parliamentary

grant in 1807 , after the death of the Marquis of Lansdowne , and hence its name . Mr . Bond dates it at about 1600 , and Bro . Gould suggests it may have been of the middle of the latter half of the sixteenth century , " as these Free Masons Orders and Constitutions ' are believed

to have been part of the collection made by Lord Bursrhley ( Secretary of State , temp . Edward VI ., and Lord High Treasurer temp . Elizabeth ) , who died A . D . 1598 . " No . 4 , ' Grand Lodge , " bears date the 25 th December 1583 , and "was purchased in 1839 by Grand Lodge , for the sum of

£ 25 , " from Miss Siddall , the granddaughter of Mr . Thomas Dunkerley ' s second wife . " " York No . I ., " in possession of the Tork Lodge , No . 236 , comes next . Ifc was presented to the " Grand Lodge of all England" at Tork D y Bro . Drake , who was a native of Ponfcefract , of which

The History Of Freemasonry.

place his father and grandfather had been in turn the vicar . It is assigned to tlio seventeenth centnry , its date being " partly determined from internal evidence , and partly from a consideration of the dato when Pontefracfc Castle surrendered to the Parliamentary Forces ( March 25 , 1649 ) . "

Wilson , Nos . 1 and 2 , likewise of the seventeenth century , stand six and seven on the list . They were sold to Sir Thomas Phillips by Mr . Wilson , and are now in the possession of his son-in-law , the Rev . J . E . A . Fenwick , of Cheltenham , by whom permission was given to make a

transcript of it . Some assign it to the sixteenth century . No . 1 , the " Inigo Jones , " of the year 1607 , is in the possession of Bro . Woodford , who describes it as " a curious and valuable MS . per se , not only on account of its special verbiage , but because it possesses a frontispiece of Masons

at work , with the words ' Inigo Jones deun . at the bottom . It is also highly ornamented throughout , both in the capital letters and with ' finials . ' It is , we apprehend , pretty certain that it did belong to Inigo Jones . It is of date 1607 . " Its owner further considers it " a peculiarly

interesting MS . in that it differs from all known transcripts in many points , and agrees with no one copy extant . " No . 9 , the " Wood " MS ., of the year 1610 , also in the possession of Bro . Woodford , is described by him as " written on parchment ( or vellum ) , with partially illuminated

letters here and there . . . . The ' Finis de Tabula , ' at the end of the index ( for it has also an index ) , is , according to some authorities , most archaic , and may refer to an original two hundred years older . It therefore deserves careful noting and perusal . " Its title is " The

Constitution of Masonry . Wherein is briefly declared the first foundation of divers Sciences , and principally the Science of Masonrye . With divers good Rules , Orders , and Precepts , necessary to be observed of all Masons . " The declaration is " Newlye Translated by J . Whifcesfcones for

John Sargensonne , 1610 , " and if , as Bro . Woodford suggests , it is copied from another MS . of the fifteenth century , in that case Bro . Gould considers " translated " as equivalent to " modernised . " No . 10 in order is " Tork No . 3 , " of A . D . 1630 , and has not been traced of late years ,

though it is known , from its description in the Tork mventory of 1779 , as " No . 3 , A parchment Roll of Charges on Masonry , 1630 , " to have been a version of the Constitutions . Nos . 11 and 12 in the Harleian Collection , at the British Museum , are ascribed by Mr . Bond , the former to

the beginning of the seventeenth , and the latter to a period more modern by some lialf a century , though . Bro . Gould thinks there cannot have been much difference in the dates of transcription . However , he considers it probable No . 12 is the copy of an older text . No . 11 , he says , is of great

importance , as it contains the " New Articles ( 26 to 31 ) , which are " not in any other known MS . " and the "Apprentice Charge , " peculiar " to a few versions only . " No . 12 is believed to be in the handwriting of the third Randle Holme , who , like his father and grandfather

before him , was deputy to the College of Arms for Cheshire and other counties , " and may have been transcribed about 1650 . It contains copy of a remarkable obligation " to ' keep secret' certain ' words and signes of a free mason , ' & c , and likewise a register of the fees paid ( varying from

five shillings to twenty ) ' for to be a free mason by twentyseven persons whose names appear , " this being the earliest mention of " words and signes . " Nos . 13 and 14 are among the Sloane MSS . in the British Museum . The former concludes " Finis p . me Edwardu Sankey , decimo sexto

die Octobris Anno Domini 1646 , " the 16 th October of that year being the date of the initiation of Elias Ashmole and Colonel Mainwaring at Warrington , in which town the Sankey family were landowners for several generations . The latter is signed and dated " Heec scripta fueruut p . me

Thomam Martin 1659 . " No . 15 was presented to our G . L . in March 1880 by Bro . George Buchanan of Whitby , who considers , and Bro . Gould thinks he is right , it belongs to the " latter part of the seventeenth century—say from 1660

to 1680 . " It was found among the papers of the late Mr . Henry Belcher , an antiquary , and partner of Brother Buchanan ' s father , and Bro . Gould is informed that Mr . Belcher was a friend of Bro . Blanchard , the G . Sec .

of the Grand Lodge of all England at Tork . No . 16 is in the possession of Mother Kilwinning Lodge , Scotland , and is assigned to the seventeenth century . With respect to

this and other Scottish MSS . Bro . Gould remarks that " all tlie Scottish versions are evidently of English origin . " No . 17 , the "Atchesou Haven" and the property of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , is described as " Ane Narratione