A New Masonic History.*

Division I . of this " History" is a Treatise on the Eastern , European , African and Asiatic Mysteries ; the Occultism of the Orient ; the Western European Architects and Operative Masons in Britain , commonly called the Antiquities and Legendary Traditions of the Craft , to the

close of the Operative Period , in 1717 , by Brother William R . Singleton , 33 ° , Grand Secretary of tho Grand Lodge District of Columbia . This treatise , in four chapters , occupies seventy-seven pages of the entire work , with two single page engravings illustrative of the

Ancient Mysteries , and abundant explanatory notes ; a map of the Ancient world following tho Noaohian Period ; and a Chronological chart . It is a very clever compilation by the author , of notes accumulated by him in the past twenty-five years in connection with extracts from other

authors' opinions on tbe same subject . Bro . Singleton modestly disclaims originality in this treatise , remarking that , " as haa been well said by another , in archaeology ' what is new is not true , and what is true is not new . '" His work is , therefore , " the thoughts and conclusions of

those who were best qualified to write upon tho subject , and who had published many volumes , which are to bo found in all of our public libraries . " Such being the case it would be supererogatory on our part to review the text . The conclusion arrived at from the examinations which

Bro . Singleton has been enabled to make is , " that until the organisation of Lodges , under the revival in 1717 , what wero called the 'Mysteries of the Craft' wore the peculiar methods or rules employed in the special art , and by which the Graft was enabled to construct magnificent buildings ,

which have survived for hundreds of years , and have been the admiration of succeeding centuries ; which have also been thc models for subsequent architects to the present day . There can be no doubt as to tho merits of tho treatise , as a compilation which affords to the student of

mystic lore a summary of no mean value . In the third Chapter there is an anecdote connecting Sun worship with Freemasonry which will probably interest our readers , and with whioh we will close our notice of Bro . Singleton ' s contribution to the " History " : —

A Jew entered a Farsee temple and beheld the saored fire . " What ! " said he to the priest , " do yon worship the fire ? " " Not the fire , " answered the priest , " it is to us an emblem of tho sun and of his genial heat . " " Do you then worship the sun as your God ?" asked the Jew , " know ye not that this luminary also is but a

work of the Almighty Creator ? " Wo know it , " replied the priest , " but tho uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a conception of the Most High , and is not the sun , the incomprehensible source of light , an image of that invisible being who blesses and preserves all things ? " "Do yonr people , then , "

rejoined tho Israelite , " distinguish the type from the original ? They call the sun their God , and descending even from this to a basor object , they kneel before an earthly flame ' . Ye amuse the outward , but blind the inward eye ; aud while ye hold to them tho earthly ye draw from them the heavenly light ! Thon shalt not make unto

thyself any image or likeness . " " How do yon designate the Supreme Being ? " asked the Parsee . "We call him Jehovah Adonai ; that is the Lord who is , who was , and who will be , " answered the Jew . " Your appellation is grand and sublime , " said the Parsee , " but it is awful too . " A Christian then drew nigh , and said , " We call him

Father ! " The Pagan and the Jew looked at each other and said , " Here ia at once an image and a reality ; it is a word of the heart . " Therefore they all raised their eyes to Heaven , and said , with reverence and love , " Our Father , " and they took each other by the hand , and all the three called one another brother . "

This is Freemasonry . Division II . under the generic title of " The Cognate

Orders" is a Comprehensive History of the Knigbts Templars and the Crusades , and their connection with the present Degrees of Knights Templar in the United States and Great Britain , & a ., by Bro . William Stevens Perry , 32 ° , D . D . Oxon ., LL . D ., D . C . L ., Bishop of Iowa . In two

chapters , extending over twenty . four pages , and with seven fine full page illustrations , by Gustav Dore , the Ethics of Christian Knighthood and the history of the Crusades , and their adaptation and connection with the present Masonic

degrees of Knights Templar , are lucidly set forth by the author , the information supplied having much interest for the general reader , and in particular for those who are enrolled under the banners of this chivalric Order . We are

precluded from a critical analysis of this essay having ourselves no connection with the Order , and can say no more on this particular portion of the entire work .

Division III . treats of the Documentary early history of the Fraternity , and is a compilation by thc Editor in Chief of information already published in several Masonic works of recent date . It comprises three chapters , occupying forty pages , and the author courteously acknowledges the

A New Masonic History.*

assistance rendered by his co-editor , Bro . Hughan , and access to the publications and " Masonio reprints " of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , London ; Gould ' s " History of Freemasonry ; " and treatises on this subject by Bro . G . W . Speth , the Secretary of the above named Lodgo .

This division extends over thirty-eight pages , in three chapters , and completes the first part of the volume . The first chapter is a summary of all obtainable particulars relating to the Ancient British Manuscripts on Freemasonry , in respect of which Bro . Stillson states that

¦ ' absolutely nothing remains but the writings of the early historians of Specidative Masonry ( the italics are ours ) , among whom , as the first , we place tho Rev . James Anderson , D . D ., and the " Old Charges " of British Freemasons , together with those of the Stone-masons of Germany . "

This does not agree with Hughan , who , as we have noted , in his " Introduction" refers to "the actual minutes of Lodges beginning as early as 1599 , presenting an unbroken series of records overlapping that date and extending therefrom to the present day . " This diversity may ,

however , bo capable of explanation if the respective authors could but definitely settle the vexed question as to the date { circa ) at which the Operative work of the Ancient Guilds of Masons ceased , and the Speculative " System of Morality " was introduced for the edification of Free and

Accepted Masons . We are strongly of opinion that Freemasonry , as distinguished from Operative Masonry , is yet many years short of an existence of three centuries . If MSS . " written abont 1390 , or earlier , " as the lato Bro . tho Rev . A . F . A . Woodford supposed in respect of the

Halliwell MS ., " Constituciones Artis Gemetrioe Secundum Euclydem , " are still extant , and capable of re-production , it almost passes belief that " nothing remains" to testify to a most important change in tho Constitution of our Ancient Society . As it is , despite the staunchest endeavours of those who havo been concerned

in several recent Masonic Exhibitions in England—York 1882 and 1884 , Worcester 1884 , and Shanklin 1888—no emblem or token of any kind relating to Speculative Masonry , and bearing a date antecedent to the middle ofthe

seventeenth century , was obtainable . For all purposes of the Order as at present constituted that period is sufficiently distant , and has , moreover , the advantage of being outside the arena of doubt , or difficulty of proof . It would be a comfort to Modern Freemasons if the date of

the change Ave refer to could be ascertained and placed beyond controversy . By thoie who are interested iu " Old Charges , " a Kalendar of MS ., printed and missing versions , will be greatly appreciated . The list begins with the Regius , or

Halliwell poem , 1390 (?) , now m the British Museum , aud to which we haye just referred , and comprises 65 known versions , with their dates , present custodians , and

bibliographers . With the remarks of Bro . Gould on these " Charges , grouped in Families , " a chapter which should be , to quote the author's words " of infinite value tothe student of Freemasonry , " closes .

The second Chapter is chiefly devoted to the Regius MS . or Halliwell Poem above mentioned , with the Legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs , which , under the heading or title of "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum , " forms the last division of the poem itself . The great interest which bas

at all times been taken in this MS . by Masonic students has in recent years been considerably enhanced by the formation of the " Quatuor Coronati Lodge , " the members of which are devoted to the pursuit of antiquarian research in all matters relating to Freemasonry , and whose labours

in that regard amply merit , and we have reason to believe are receiving , the general appreciation of the Craft . This Lodge , warranted 28 th November 1884 , has regularly published , under the title of "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum , ' a record of its transactions , edited by its indefatigable

Secretary , Bro . W . G . Speth P . M ., himself a literateur of considerable ability . These records already form a most important series of volumes , which in days yet to come will be of the utmost value in connection with tho progress of the Order . In addition to the records of transactions , and

the reproduction of tho lectures and essays delivered and read in open Lodge , there is also published , at intervals , special Masonic Reprints , and it is to the very first of theso reprints * that the Craft is indebted for the reproduction of tbe Regius MS ., " the oldest genuine record of the Craft