The Historian Of Freemasonry.

THE HISTORIAN OF FREEMASONRY .

An Eminent Torquay Mason . —Talk with Mr . W . J . Hughan . By " The Bard . " FIEEE MASONRY—the cult of the square aud compass—is popularly associated with banqueting and benevolence , with mystic rites aud mysterious genuflexions . Its devotees are

generally regarded as hearty good fellows , who love a little mystery , who delight iu good dinners and complex ceremonies , and who , withal , are capital comrades—trusty , loyal , and faithful to their Brethren in any calamity which may befall them . It is a fraternity strongly impregnated with a sturdy " espirit de

corps . " The members are supposed to be ever ready to help lame comrades over a stile . The Craft is , moreover , supposed to confer a hall mark of respectability upon its members—a subtle hint of a solid balance at the bank , and the suggestion of any easy it' not brilliant position in life . In the popular imagination

its peculiar hand-shake is more powerful than a Prime Minister ' s passport for foreign travel ; it is a kind of " open sesame , " which secures open hospitality and friendship , and the belief in the protection it affords is second ouly to the Briton ' s trust in the flag of his Queen and country . Conviviality , comradeship , and

charity are not , however , the be-all and ond-all of the venerable and ancient Craft . It has higher ends and nobler purposes . It inculcates the principles of virtue aud morality , and breathes the spirit of universal benevolence , which recognises not ouly the " fatherhood of God" but the " brotherhood of man . " Of recent

years there has been a most marked revival of interest in the more strictly historical and scholastic aspects of Freemasonry . The ranks of Masonic students have been recruited by enthusiasts whose . researches into the rich realms of the Masonic past have been rewarded by the discovery of documents of incalculable

value . These students have thrown the bull's-eye light of their knowledge upon the obscurity and darkness of the mediaeval ages in which Freemasonry had its birth and origin ; their antiquarian research and literary lore have enabled them to reveal , as in a glass darkly , the beliefs and doings of Masons in

the twilight of the dead and dusky past . To a Torquay gentleman belongs the primary honour for imparting this impetus to the study of Masonic lore . His researches and discoveries have made it possible for others to enter into the rich inheritance of documents which the Masons of the Middle Ages have bequeathed

to us . Mr . W . J . Hughan , of Dunseore , Torquay , is known throughout the Masonic world as the highest living authority on matters relating to the history of English Freemasonry . He is practically the pioneer of the present day enthusiasm for the study of Masonic literature . By his erudition and his iuspiring

ardour , he has rescued scoies of valuable records from oblivion , and perhaps from destruction . The list of works by him is itself a small pamphlet , and a perusal of it reveals what can only be called his titanic labours on the literary side of Freemasonry . Under the title of "Chief Masonic Works , " Mr . Hughan has

published eleven volumes of various shapes and sizes . His pamphlets , dealing with all sorts aud conditions of questions relating to Masonic history and literature , are legion , whilst , judging from the number of introductions to histories of Lodges he has written , it would seem as if every historian of local Lodgea

from John O'Groat ' s to Land ' s End had secured Mr . Hughan as a sponsor to his works . " Introductions" to other Masonic works Mr . Hughan has written by the score , and as these deal with questions of a most diverse nature , requiring intimate local knowledge , it will be seen that the versatility and extent of

knowledge displayed by Mr . Hughan must be truly encyclopaedic . Whenever any intricate or doubtful question of Masonic history arises , in some stage or other of its discussion it is sure to be sent to Mr . Hughan for his opinion . Generally , he is the final court of appeal , and his dictum is law .

Iu recognition of his great services to Freemasonry , Mr . Hughan has had bestowed upon him almost all the highest degrees which are in the power of the Fraternity to give . Holding , therefore , as he does so important a position in the world of the Craft , I bethought me that your readers would be

grateful if I could secure a few minutes' conversation with Mr . Hughan on his own career and ou matters pertaining to the Craft . With that object , I called at his residence in Castle Road , where , with characteristic courtesy , Mr . Hughan allowed himself to be cross-examined with somewhat remorseless minuteness .

As we sat in the twilight of his library , surrounded by photographs of Masonic magnates aud tomes and volumes of Masonic lore , neatly and methodically arranged , it needed some strength of imagination to grasp the fact that in that room , time and again , Mr . Hughan bad evolved light and order out of the misty chaos of mediaeval history , and had- grappled with the complexities of dust-begrimed Masonic manuscripts .

Io initiate the conversation , I modestly pleaded for a few -tactis concuauij- Mi . Ha ^ han ' s beginnings with Freemasonry . " The first Lodge I joined , " Mr . Hughan remarked , " was the St . Aubyn , 954 , Devonport , iu 1863 . A well-known member

The Historian Of Freemasonry.

of your profession , Mr . William Hunt , of the " Western Morning News , " afterwards editor of the " Eastern Morning News , " Hull —a very active and zealous member of the Fraternity—was the instrument of my joining them . I subsequently left the Three Towns , and became member of Lodges at Truro and elsewhere .

In Truro I was W . M ; of the Fortitude Lodge , No . 131 , in 1868 and in 1878 . I was Provincial Grand Secretary of Cornwall for some time , with the late Mr . Augustus Smith as Provincial Grand Master . In 1883 I came to reside in Torquay . " " When did you begin to interest yourself in literary matters , Mr . Hughan ? "

" Oh , almost immediately . The subject of the old Charges had a great fascination for me from the very beginning of my connection with Freemasonry . When I began to study these old Charges some thirty years ago not a dozen were known to exist , but now there are more than seventy , about half of which I discovered and copied . My special success has been in that direction . "

I professed entire ignorance of what was meant by " Old Charges . " Mr . Hughan kindly explained that they were documents read to the Masons at their initiation in the old days when Masonry was something more than a cult—when the guild or Graft contained for the most part operative members , who

were engaged in building those glorious monuments of the Masonic art , the cathedrals . These Charges comprised ¦ the traditions of the Craft dating to remote antiquity , founded for the most part on Biblical history . Then followed a number of

historical statements of more or less credibility culled from early manuscripts , and , finally , the rules of the Craft which were in operation at the time when the Charge was composed and delivered . These old Charges invariably open with a solemn invocation which sounds strong and stately to modern ears :

" The mighte of the father of heaven with the wisdome of his glorious sonne through the goodness of the holy ghoste that bee three p'sons in one godhead bee wifch all afc o ' r beginninge and give VR grace soe fco gou ' ne in o ' r livinge thafc wee may come to his blisse that nev' shall have endinge . "

Some of fche Charges were written on long rolls of parchment , varying from twelve to fifteen feet long . The oldest known existing manuscript is the " Halliwell" or "Regius" MS ., now safely reposing in the British Museum . Ifc was presented to the nation in 1753 . Mr . Hughan has succeeded in tracing its history

to the fourteenth century—to the days when the cathedral builders were at their strongest and best . He showed me a venerable-looking fac simile of this precious document done in vellum , quarto sized—an exact reproduction ; and he was good enough to let me cast my eyes on several other fac similes—MS .

attributed to Inigo Jones , the great Welsh builder ; and the Cooke manuscript , which dates from the fifteenth century , and perhaps was written by some sturdy Mason engaged in his peaceful avocation while the din of the victory at Agincourt resounded through the country , or while the bitterness of the feud of the Boses envenomed fche life of the nation . Another of these fac

similes pertained to one read to members belonging to the Lodge which was held under the wing of the Masons' Company in Basinghall Street , London , transcribed in 1650 , but originally written in the . fifteenth century . " You must have some exciting tales to tell of the finding of these documents ? " I questioned .

" Yes , they were mostly found m old muniment rooms , and in the deed boxes of gentlemen ' s houses . A friend of mine was going to search for old manuscripts in Dumfries , and I told him to look out for old Charges , as there were bound to be some there . Within one week five copies were found , mostly of seventeenth century transcription . They must have been lying there for

scores of years . I heard of an old Warrant in charge- of the Lodge at Stirling . I wrote fco tell the Lodge there that I could not vouchsafe for its being a Warrant , because no such document was issued at the period to which this was attributed—the middle of the seventeenth century . I subsequently arranged to have the document sent to Torquay . I found that it was a copy of an old Charge , written on parchment , which had been framed . "

Mr . Hughan proceeded to sketch broadly the development of Freemasonry . After having existed for centuries as operative or mainly operative societies , the monopoly of the building element in them was broken , partly by the admission of gentlemen as speculative members , and partly because the rules of the society

were set at nought by outsiders — Masonically speaking , " cowans . " When the operative character of the society ceased , many of the Lodges united and formed Lodges on the present basis in the second decade of the last centurv . These bodies

still remain . One of them—the oldest of its kind at the present time—has considerably over 2 , 000 members on its roll . It is estimated that at present there are about 2 , 000 , 000 Freemasons in the world , and that the income from the Fraternity amounts to something like .-65 , 000 , 000 per annum . " How would you define the objects of Freemasonry , Mr , Hughan ? "