Origin Of Freemasonry In Ireland.

Edwin , at York , from whom the Masons received them in tho tenth century of the Chistian era . Now , the twelfth " Point" reads as follows : " The twelfth point is of great royalty . There , as the assembly holden shall be . There shall be Masons and fellows also ,

Aud other great Lords many more . There shall be the Sheriff of the County , And also the Mayor of the City . Knights and Squires there shall be , And other Aldermen , as you shall see .

Such ordinance as they make thero , They shall maintain whole together . " The above quotation indicates that it refers to a Masonic Grand Lodge , at which wero present great Lords , Squires , Mayors , Sheriffs , & c . And further on , the poet says :

" The fourteenth point is full of good law , To him that would be under awe , A good and true oath he must swear there » « * And all these points hero before , To them thou must need be sworn .

And all shall swear the same oath , Of Masons , be they willing , or be they loth . The fifteenth point is full of good lore ,-For them that shall be sworn there . Such ordinance at th' assembly was lay'd , Of great Lords and Masters before said , " & c , & c

AU the above quotations imply ( as already remarked ) to Masonic assemblies or Grand Lodges . But in 1875 I happened to examine the Acts of Parliament relating to labourers and wages , and I found that up to the year 1378 the law was that a freestone mason ' s wages was four pence a day , a wrought-stone mason ' s wages was threo pence or two pence a day , and an

apprentice had one penny a day . Now , I must here add , that Edward III . debased the currency to a considerable extent , and we in America know by or from experience , that we can buy more goods for a sound dollar than we can for a debased dollar ; the labourer could not , therefore , buy as much bread for his penny after the coin was debased as he could before it was

debased . Again , in years of scarcity the loaf of bread advanced to a higher price , while wages of workmen continued the same . This injustice to the working mon was not discovered by the rulers of England until after the Wat Tyler riot was suppressed , and in 1378 it was ordained that in each city , town , and county some magistrates should meet twice a year , who were to

decide the amount of wages to be paid to working men , m accordance with the price of food in the said districts . And to this kind of assembly the poet refers in his twelfth Point , the presiding officers of which in a city were the Mayor , Sheriff , and Aldermen . In county meetings a Lord or Squire presided , who ordained how much wages to workmen were to be paid in his county .

In 1406 a law was made that the working people should be present at the biennial meeting of the Mayor , Aldermen , and Sheriffs in cities , and at the assemblies in counties , and the working people should swear to abide by the decision of the presiding officers of the said assemblies ; and this new law is referred to in the fourteenth and fifteenth points , viz .: " A good and true

oath he must swear . " And again : " And all shall swear the same oath . " * * "Be they willing , or be they loth . " Now , as the last law was not enacted by Parliament before 1406 , it must have been inserted into the Masonic code after 1406 ; and as the poet ascribed all the " Articles " and " Points " to King Athelstan , he must have written his Masonic poem many

years after those laws wero inserted by Masons into their co de , when no one remembered the reason as to when or why the Masons adopted the said regulations , and hence , tho poet ascribed , with impunity , all the laws in the

Masonic Constitution that he got hold of to King Athelstan . I , therefore , think that the custodian of the manuscripts in the British Museum was right in saying that the Halliwell poem was not written before the middle of the fifteenth century .

I will now call attention to another fact , which I think will prove that the Halliwell poem is not as old as some claim it to be . Thus , Mr . Halliwell naturally supposed that tho Masonic poem , consisting of seven hundred and ninety-four verses , was the composition of ono and the same poet ; and as the 629 th vewe of tho said poem contains the following words , viz .: " And

when Gospel we redo ( read ) schal , " Mr . Halliwell supposed that the poem was written by a priest . Since then , however , a poem was discovered , called " Myre ' s Instruction to Parish Priests , " and the Early English Text Society fixed the date of Myre ' s MS . to 1420 ( see Masonic Magazine , London , Vol .

2 nd , page 130 ) , where Bro . Woodford called attention to the fact that part of Myre's MS . is incorporated into Halliwell ' s poem . Thus , from line 620 , which reads , " And put away all vanity , " to the line 695 , was transcribed into the Masonic poem from Myre's poem : and as Myre's poem was not written before 1420 , Halliwell ' s poem must have been written after 1420 .

But that is not all , for Bro . Woodford calls attention , in thc same volume , page 163 , to another poem , which is called " Urbanitatis . " The said poem is devoted to teaching good manners , and has nothing whatever to do with Masonry . Now , from line 695 , which reads , " When thou comest before a lord , " to tho last line in Halliwell ' s poem , was transcribed from the last

named poem , and as the said poem , according to authorities given by Bro . Woodford , was not written till about 1460 , hence , Halliwell ' s poem , containing 794 lines , could not have been written before 1460 . Looking , therefore , at the question about the age of the Halliwell MS ., from the various above given authorities , I cannot see any reason for Bro . Crawley ' s opinion that the Halliwell poem was written about A . D . 1400 .

Origin Of Freemasonry In Ireland.

I notice some other points in which Bro . Crawley and I disagree . Thus , he believes in Masonic ancient landmarks . He also believes that Dennett ' s Masonry was ancient , and that the Eoyal Arch degree is ancient , but as I havo already discussed these questions with Bro . Sadler , there is , therefore , no need to say moro about them now . I must , however , add : that if Bro .

Crawley really prefers the modern system of Masonic criticism to the criticisms of Anderson , Oliver , and other Masonic writers of the old school , he will have to abandon his belief in " ancient landmarks , " in Dermott's " Ancient Masonry , " in the age of the old Masonic manuscripts , and his belief about the origin of the phrase , " St . John ' s Masonry . " That is , if he can give no better reason for his belief than he did .

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