How Curiously Some Masons Reason.

first place , the Acts of Parliament from the year 1350 , These laws must have tended to disparage the social status of the Masonic fraternity , and hence , while the Tailors ' Guild , and other guilds beside , could boast of having been

visited and patronised by kings , dukes , lords , bishops , and deans , there is not a spark of evidence that the Masons have ever been honoured by association with a single " upper-ten" during that period . The second source of

information about the old Mason we can learn from the Halliwell poem and the Matthew Cooke MS . These were written by priests , and they certainly indicate no great scholarship ; and as there is nowhere to be found a solitary

scrap of a Lodge record of a date prior to the Reformation , we may reasonably conclude that our " Ancient Brethren " coidd not write . Nor is there anything surprising in the above supposition , when it is well known that De Molay ,

the Grand Master , could not read nor write , •tbat some fifty or more years later Dr . Gueseline , the greatest man in France , could not read nor write ; and it is even stated that later on Henry 6 th of England could nofc read nor write .

I may , therefore , presume that the Masonic fraternity were equally ignorant . Since the Reformation the " Old Charges , " or pre-1717 ritual , prove conclusively the lack of

information among the Masonic brethren of the 17 th cen tury , and as tbe English Masons , before 1700 , kept no re cords , the inference is that very few of them could write .

In Scotland , however , schools for the poor were introduced long before they were introduced in England , and hence we find the Edinburgh Lodge began to keep a record as early as 1598 ; and about thirty or more years later

other Scotch Lodges began to keep records . Bufc even then a large number of Scotch Masons could not write . Thus , in Bro . Lyon ' s History there are fac similes of two MSS ., one is about 1600 , and the other is of 1628 .

These MSS . wore signed by delegates ( in a Masonic Assembly ) from Edinburgh , St . Andrew ' s , Hadington , Achenson , Haven and Dumfries , aud out of eighteeeu signatures appended to the 1600 document to nine of the

names is appended : " With our hands led in the pen of fche Notaries underwritten afc our command , because we cannot write . " Aud to about half of the signatures attached to the document of 1628 a similar finish is given .

viz ., ' because I cannot write myself . Now , if in 1600 and 1628 half of the Scotch Masonic dignitaries could not write their own names , we may naturally suppose that a much larger per centage of the rank and file of the Scotch Masons

were equally ignorant ; and if such was the case in Scotland after the Reformation , after the Bible was printed and widely taught , after Bacon , Shakespeare , and a host of English writers have passed away , and near about two hundred

years after the invention of printing , we may therefore reasonably believe that before printing was invented not one out of a hundred Masons could distinguish the top of a book from the bottom ; and as there is not a particle

of evidence to prove that either architect , scholars , or high cultured individuals had associated with Masons in their Assemblies or Lodges , the then Masons could not havo knovvn anything about high degrees , nor were they ruled

by Bosses of tho New York " Tammany Hall" pattern . BOSTON , U . S ., 9 th April 1889 . APPENDIX .

Among memorandums copied some years ago I found the following , taken from Stow ' s Survey , printed in 1812 , p 68 , aud as it confirms in a measure Anthony Muuday ' s exalted opinion of his Bro . Tailors , ifc therefore will not be out of place as an Appendix fco the above . Stow says : —

The Merchant Tailor s Hall , pertaining to tho guild and fraternity of St . John tho Baptist , timo out of mind called tho Tailors and Linen Armourers of Loudon ; for I find that Ed ' . yard I . iu tho twenty - eighth of hia reign confirmed thia guild by tho name of Tailors ar , r ? Linen Arm oarers , and also gave to tho brethren their authority every

year afc Midsummer to hold a feaate ; u : d choos unto them agovernour , or master , with warden ? , whereupon tho samo year 1300 , on thojeast day o £ fcho nativity of St . John tho Iiaptui * , they clwao Uenvy tie llyall to I'o thoir pilgrim for tho mi'ster ot' thu myitei-io ( aa ono tlii ' . t travelled for tho wholo company v / au thc-u eallo'j ) *'•* * *¦ - La tho

21 sfc ot Ldvvard IV ., Holmes , alias Clarenciaulrr . king afc anna for the south part of England , granted by hia patent to tho fraternity aud guild of St . John Baptist of tailor J and liucu aruiourers , to bear in a shield of silver a puvilliou between two mantled imperial purple garnished with gold , in a chief tunrc aud holy Laiab , uot within

a sun , & c . In tho 2 nd of Henry IV . tho company received a now confirmatory charter by the name of " the Scissors and fraternity of St . John tho Bapfciafc in London" * * * H « ury VLL ., r , Lru ' -hoi - uf ihj i ' rateruifcy of tii © Tailors , iu tho ISch of aia ryigu , 1 , 503 , reincu ^ orAiecl tfw same

by tho name of the ' * - Masters and Wardens of the Merchant Tailors of tho fraternity of St . John tho Bapisfc in fche City of Loudon . " I shull only add that Anthony Munday was so proud of being a Brother Tailor that ho had it printed on the

titlep-ige- * of some of his books . And second , from a History of London 1773 , written by Bro . John Noorthouck ( who edited the Masonic Constitutions of 1784 ) I learn thafc the Weevers ancl Bakers were fche mosfc early fellowships and guilds in London ( see page 27 note ) . —J . N ,

Gleanings.

GLEANINGS .

— : o : — MASONIC FELLOWSHIP . —Freemasonry pi'esents itself as a science to bo studied ancl applied j a philosophy to be unfolded ; a system of ethics binding the life to duty and to humanity , and a nystem of faith and devotion ututiua the heart to God . Regarded in thia light , it ia

nofc so very difficult to discover the fellowship it imposes , and the basis ou which it rests . That basis , most certainly , is nothing less than the principles , ideas and purposes which belong to Freemasonry and give ic character—a vital force without which it would have perished long ago . Men who stand together on a platform of noble

and grand ideas , who pledge themselves alike to beneficent services , and become interested in common studies and pursuits , musb of necessity be brought into friendly communion , and their souls must be knit together by a sweet and gracious fellowship . It is as a working body specially that the Masonic organization creates and develops this

truo , hearty fellowship . When we begin to do for othe'S our brotherly love warms and increases . The benevolent service thafc we render as Craftsmen—the charity we express by word or deed—all faithful dis . charge of the active duties of related life—will bring ua more and more into sympathetic accord and help to a realization of the lull

import of Masouic Brotherhood . Ifc is no cause for complaint thafc Freemasonry has this practical side , and thafc so much is required in tho way of mutual regard and helpfulness—rather a cause for rejoicing , for thus the spirit of brotherly love is deepened and quickened , and the best possible basis of a true Masonic fellowship established . So may we be glad

fco" Give each other pity , aid and strength , And consolation ; man was made for man . " freemason ' s Journal . Tun Til' ¦ . ¦ •;¦ . •: STEPS . —As delineated npou the Master ' s carper , the three stops point to tho three all-important periods in human

existence—Youth , Manhood , aud Age . Aside from the Master 3 lesson , or dissertation , when he explains the symbols to the Initiate , three others could bo added that would naturally incline the mind of a young Mason toward thoughts that are truly Masonic in character and form —Honour , Industry and Fidelity . In the every-day associations of

business aud social life , ive find these essentials of a true manhood held iu high valuation by all men , and by none are thoy more dearly prized than by those who have learned to treasure Masonic truths at their full valuation . Honour holds its votaries with a silken chord aa rich in texture as it is precious to its possessor . Hononr leadsmen to

tho palace of the king and exacts full homage from him to his subjects . Industry climbs mountains and subdues the most formidable fortress , it guides the traveller from poverty to riches ; ifc dispels gloom from sad places , aud ifc replaces thrones wiih flowers ; it unites oceans and seas across dry land , aud it brings lightning

subservient to the hand of man . Fidelity is a divine attribute . Without it honour and industry could not exist among men . Fidelity makes us true fco ourselves and to our Creator ; ifc makes life safe , and protects the rights of property . Combined , these three jewels aie

essentials to tbe three steps of Youth , Manhood , and Age . With them no Mason , no man , need fear to battle in the struggles of this life , or to accept a summ ma for that which is fco come in the unknown hereafter . —N . Y . Sunday Times .

SOLOMON ' S TEMPLE . —When Reginald Heber read his prose poem of " Palestine " to Bro . Sir Walter Scott , the latter observed that one striking circumstance had escaped him , namely , no tool of iron was used in its erection . Heber retired for a few minutes to the corner of the room , and returned with these beautiful Hues :

* ' No hammer foil , no ponderous axes rung j Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung . " The cornor-stouo of an old Masouic building in Georgia was found recently . Ifc had been laid in 1791 ) , and contained only au English half-penny and an American cent ,

WOMEN AT MASONIC ENTERTAINMENT ;* . —Wo have oftett fchoughfc that Freemasons should not be as chary as they are of granting fco their wives and daughters an opportunity to share iu reunions with their hnsb . 'u-ds and fathers who aro members of the Craft , upon occasions that aro nofc official . Tho least that Masonry can do is to

grant some pleasure of this description to those from whom they ask do much , We are all social beings , and bereft of the social feature uveu Freemasonry itself might find its quietus . Lefc us occasionally

allow tha partuera of our hearts and homes to share with ns our purely social enjoyments , for they will thereby gain none of onr secrets , -while they will learn to respect us as Freemasons , and love ua tho mo ; e aa husbands , fathers and brothers . —Keystone , Tho Craft at Napa , California , are constructing an elegant Masonio Temple , and tho corner atone has beeu laid ,

NO MOltE DEAF . —Nicholson's Patented Artificial Ear Drums euro Dciifucos and Noises iu tho Head in all stages . 153 [ a-re illustrated Book , v .-i . 'ii lull . . Lvsvi-i ^ rjiow rj *<} 9 , AtMs'll * -L H » ^ WiMMWi 31 Ug-ifordsquare , hawk / a , W , Q ,