Factotums And Teetotums.

ns if suii .- ; flic oonvepionoe of those who play with them r There is the vaeiiUiini ; ' brother , who will bo of half-a-dozen minds in the eoui ' .-e of one afternoon . There is the weakkneed brother , who is read y to modify his views at the mstar . ee of some one ; who is more urgent or more imperious .

There is the p liable brother , who will always be found to present the requisite face uppermost when he is manipulated with iho necessary skill and force . There arc the brethren who think it makes no difference whether they vote that white is white , or white is black ; who are ranged

on this or that side in a discussion , not because they have auy predilection for these or those views , hut because one moro imperious and self-important than themselves has pressed them to adopt this or that , in preference to that or this side ; who , without a moment's thought , cast aside all

sense of their own dignity , and accept the ruling or interpretation they are bidden to accept . This is certainl y not the kind of brother for whom one can feel any kind or degree of respect , and as between the Teetotum thus p ictured , and our second type of the Factotum who considers

or constitutes himself every body , we are hardly prepared to say which of the two is the most objectionable . It is better , perhaps , to be as it were inanimate , with no volition

of one ' s own ; hut then there is the alternative—a little energy , though misdirected invariably , is better than no energy at all . We will defer a settlement of the moot point till tbe weather is cooler .

Bro. Woodbury's Antiquity Of Laying Corner Stones, Reviewed.*

BRO . WOODBURY'S ANTIQUITY OF LAYING CORNER STONES , REVIEWED . *

BY BRO . JACOB NORTON .

JUDGE CHARLES L . WOODBURY is a scholar of a very high order , and he is without exception the best informed man among my Masonic acquaintances ; his conversation is always either entertaining or instructive . I am indebted to him for many valuable hints , and likewise for the loan of enrions books , and I shonld be very sorry to lose the friendship of so distinguished a brother . Bufc ,

nevertheless , 1 must proceed to point out his errors , let the con . sequences be what they may . Bro . Woodbury is a lawyer , bnfc his reasoning abont the antiquity of speculative Masonry resembles the mode of reasoning of the olcl fashioned Bible commentators , more than thafc of lawyers . His sophisms are not only apt to mislead others , but they also mislead himself . And , strange to say ,

while his theological orthodoxy ranges just above zero , his Masonic orthodoxy is up to white heat ; hence he opposed the removal of patron saints from the ritual , because he believed the Sfc . Johns to havo been brother Masons . I have combated his notions before , and mnsfc do so again , especially as Bro . Archaicus , who was loaded up to the muzzle with "Masonic antiquity , " discharged himself so terrifically

in this Journal of 26 th June . Bro . Archaicns is determined to " pile up tho agony " and to ont-woodbury Bro . Woodbury himself . It cannot bo denied that our Masonry differs entirely from the Masonry of the 15 th century , bnt Bro . Woodbury was very obscure as to whioh of thoso kinds of Masonry descended from the Egyptians . Thus our Masonic Craft is composed of all classes , from His Eoyal

Highness the Prince of Wales to humble mechanics . Its main object is ( or professes to bo ) to unite the good and true of all reli gions , nationalities , and races . This kind of Masonry bears no resemblance to any kind of Masonry preceding 1717 . But , " Ah ! " exclaim Masonic antiquity-sticklers , " our Society was derived from an Association of Builders , called Freemasons , of

the Middle Ages ; from them we inherit secrets and mysteries . The builders that lived in Egypt GOOD years ago must also have had mysteries . The Christian Masons in the Middle Ages opened their Lodges with prayer , and believed in the Holy Church . The Egyptian Masons were also pious after a fashion ; hence their speculative Masonry , somewhat modified , descended to the Masons of the fifteenth

century , from whom we receive our mysteries , " & r . And having thus proved that we ride a bowl / tele Egyptian Masonic goat , Bro . Woodbury proposed at the next Masonic banquet a new toast , viz ., "To the memory of Bro . Mantu-Hotep and other ancient Egyptian Grand Masters , " and the brethren doubtless looked very sad and melancholy while performing that new > . asonic farce .

Bro . Woodbury showed that the ancient Egyptian Architects were governors of provinces , princes , and even Icings . Now , as the then stone-cutters and operatives wero slaves , the Masonic fraternity , if there v : as such a fraternity , must have beeu composed exclusively a ? kings , princes , governors , sculptors , designers , mathematicians , & c . But the Masonic fraternity of the Middle Ages was composed exclusively of operatives , of whom scarcely one out of a hundred knew a letter of the

alphabet . Priests , as Chaplains , were imposed npon mediaeval fraternities by law ; but , judging from our Masonic MSS ., written by those Chaplains , it is evident they were ignorant of chronology , history , and even of the Bible . Ifc is absurd , therefore , to claim affinity between the Egyptian and Mcdircval Masons . Again , the main object of the supposed Egyptian fraternity was for studying th" sciences of architecture , & c . ; but tho wholo aim and object of tli" mediaeval associations was merely bread and butter .

Bro. Woodbury's Antiquity Of Laying Corner Stones, Reviewed.*

Tho then Masonic organisation was a Trade Union organisation , aud wanes was its chief object . This may be seen in their own laws , in the Parliamentary Statutes ( which I shall give hereafter ) , and in tho records of the Edinburgh Lodgo , as given in Bro . Lyon ' s History of that Lodge . True , the Chaplain prayed in tho Tiodge , and the brethren had to believe in the Holy Church . The

y-amo thing may now bo dono in Trade Union Lodges . But surely , no ono claims that the present Trade Union mysteries descended from the Masons of the Middle Ages . So , looking upon the question from every point , it seems to mo simply absnrd to assume any connectiou between tho Egyptian and Mediaeval Masons . Referring- to the Masons of tho fourteenth and fifteenth centuries , Bro . W . says : —

" It is generally conceded thafc men of brains , priests , nobles and kings were attracted to , and admitted within , their Lodges . In no other way than by the aid of snch protection and fellowship can you account for the long and successful fight they maintained in England ngainsfc tho statutes prohibiting their annual assemblies and general

chapters , their oaths and agreements of initiation . It was only when farther violation was made felony , and modifications had enabled masters to avoid the statutes of wages by contracting in gross , or by piece , that local laws appear to have controlled these strong organisations ; and tradition makes it probable that this control was rather iu enforcing greater secrecy than in actual suppression . "

This assumption of Bro . Woodbury , that nobles and kings in tho fourteenth and fifteenth centuries hobnobbed with Masons in Masonio Lodges , is on a par with his notion about the St . Johns having been brother Freemasons . The fact of the matter was simply this . In 1348 the " black plague " killed off half of the labouring population

in England . In 1349 , owing to the scarcity of labourers , the price of labour rose j and to keep up the higher wages , a combination of carpenters and masons bound themselves by oaths not to work for less than tho amount stipulated by themselves . In 1350 , therefore , began a series of Parliamentary enactments about labourers and wages . Ifc was then ordained thafc wages for labour should nofc be higher than they

were in the 20 th year of Edward III . ' s reign , and fines and penalties were provided for those who should receive higher wages . In 1362 and 1363 penalties were provided for the giver , as well as the receiver , of higher wages than the law allowed . These laws were tinkered again and again without result . But in 1389 Parliament at last discovered that some injustice was done to the labourer by a fixed price of wages , and so here is the new law : —

" But forasmuch as man cannot put the price of corn and other victuals in certain , it is accorded and assented that Justices of the Peace in every county , in two of their sessions to be holden betwixt Easter and Sfc . Michael , shall make proclamation by their direction according to the dearth of victuals , how much every mason , carpenter , tyler , and

other craftsman , workman , and other labourers by the day , as well aa in the harvest as in other times of the year , after their degree , shall take by the day with meat and drink , between the two sessions before said , and that every man obey snch proclamation from time to time as a thing done by statute . "

This law was amended in 1406 . Instead of the Justices of the Peace making proclamations , artizans and labourers had to appear annually before the Justices of the Peace , and each had to swear to abide by the price of labour fixed by the Jnstices for said county . The amendment reads thus : —¦

" Once a yeai - , artizans and labourers shall be sworn to serve and take for their service after the said statute . " But even this law did not answer the purpose it was intended for . It must have been found out that the Masons by hook , or by crook ,

evaded the law ; hence in 1425 , ifc was made felony for Masons to hold their meetings in Lodges or chapters . It is evident , however , that the Masonic laws and regulations at that time conformed with the Parliamentary statutes . Thus , the Halliwell poem gives the following iawa : —

" The twelfth point is of great royalty , There as the assembly holden shall be ; There shall be masons and fellows also , And other great lords many moro ; There shall be the sheriff of the county ,

And also the mayor of that city . Knights and squires there shall be , And other aldermen as you shall seo . Such ordinances as they make there , They shall maintain it whole together . ^ 5 " ^ P "n * ^* F ***

The fifteenth point is full of good lore , For them that shall be there sworn . Such ordinance at th' assembly was laid Of great lords and masters before said ,

For every one that be disobedient for certain , Against the ordinance that there is , Of these articles that were made there , Of great lords and masters altogether . " *

Ifc is nofc necessary to quote more . The remainder of that 15 th Law refers to the punishment awarded to those who should violate tho agreement between tho masters and tho magistrates . Dr . Oliver thought that the above lines referred to the meetings of Grand Lodges , of which Lords , Squires , Mayors , and Sheriffs were

members . I confess that I once thought so too , but an examination of the Statutes dispelled thafc illusion . I saw afc a glance that these meetings of Masons with lords and sheriffs were simply in accordance with the law of 1406 . It is evident that the Jnstices of tho Peace of a city or county consulted the masters of each trade as to tho wages to be paid to the various classes of workmen for tho ensuing