Masonic Ritual: Its Purpose And Treatment.

ing a " disposition to envy their preferment ? It can hardly be termed a high compliment to our boasted Fraternity , and it certainly does not assume a high staudard of brotherly love . These are but few instances

of a want of conformity with modern demands , and I havo no doubt that after I have finished several brethren will bo prepared to multiply such similar defects .

And now , Right Worshipful Bro . President , I am prepared to conclude my efforts . Such as they are , I commend them to the consideration of my brother Masons . Of the spirit in which they have been originated I can but say that they are intended to bear the impress of a strong desire to porfect our rendition of Ritual , and to enhanco the valuo and effect of our ceremonials . I am not alone in this gathering in my deep and sincere regard for

tho Craft of Masonry , nor am I more than ordinarily fired with the enthusiasm which forms part of a Masonic character . Here we meet on the common ground of high Masonic aspirations , fired with resolves to win for our Order those emphatic encomiums which are the reward of all true and noble efforts . One and all are we pledged to tho laudable purpose of doing all that lies within our

powers to make our noble Institution worthy of the great principles on which it is founded . Let us not fail in our performance , therefore , and whilst persevering with our

own individual efforts , let us seo to it that these efforts are rightly conceived—in fine , that they are initiated in that Wisdom which should be the sure and unshaken foundation of all our aspirations ; that they are pursued with that

strength of purpose and steady perseverance which justifies tho good opinion of our fellow-workers ; and above all , that they are accompanied with the comely beauty of a disinterested and generous spirit . —Soiith Australian Freemason .

Old Undated Masonic Manuscripts.

OLD UNDATED MASONIC MANUSCRIPTS .

Bv BRO . JACOB NORTON . ( Oontinned from page 101 ) . I SHALL now endeavour to describe tho three facsimile MS . poems printed by tho Quatuor Coronatomm or Quatuor Coronati Lodgo . Tho Masonic poem , the oldest Masonic JifS . known , begins thus :

" Whose wol bothe rodo and loke , Ito may fyndo wryte yn oldo boke . " ( namely ) That tho Egyptian nobles had more boys than their income could maintain . Tho King of Egypt thoreupon advertised

for advico , when Euclid proposed to take chargo of the boys , to organiso them into a brotherhood , and teach them geometry , which is tho same as Masonry , which would enable thorn to earn a respcctablo livelihood ; and this was tho beginning of Masonry . Now , Euclid is said to havo

been born about three hundred years before Christ , and the poem was written about seventeen hundred years after Euclid died , the question is , suppose the poet had read tho Btory in an old hole , how old was the bolce ? And , on the other hand , it is evident that our oldest author had never heard about either Solomon ' s or Zerubbabel ' s Masonic doings , nor about Scottish Rite , nor Knight Tomplar Rite , nor of any other Masonic Rite . Yea , not even " York Rite . "

From three hundred years before Christ , our poet all at onco comes down to King Athelstan , who reigned from about A . D . 924 or 926 , to about 940 or 941 . This King Athelstan was pleased to call together all the Masons

( when , and where that meeting was held , is unknown ) , he also summoned to that meeting Lords , Dukes , Knights , Squires and " great burghers of that City" ( of what City ?) , and he gave the Masons a code of laws , containing " Fifteen Articles , " and " Fifteen Points , " which the poet

put into verse . " The said Fifteen Articles" and "Fifteen Points" are followed by a supplement , headed " Alia Oulinacio artis

f jemetriae , meaning " Another ordination of the art of geometry . " Next comes " Ars quatuor coronatomm , " meaning " Art of the four crowned , " or the four crowned martyrs . The legend informs us that the said martyrs

" were masons and gravers of images . " And being of the stone-cutting trade , they were chosen by the English and German Masons for their patron saints . Their annual Feast Day was held " After Hallows the eighth clay , " or

Old Undated Masonic Manuscripts.

the eighth of November . Tho Quatuor Coronati Lodge is named after the four saints . But instead of feasting on their Saint ' s Day , that is 8 th November ,. as the old Masons probably did , the members of the Coronati Lodgo

keop St . John ' s Day , —and why ? After tho four crowned martyr legend , comes the " Seven Sciences . " And next , a bit of Bible history , viz ., that Nebuchadnezzar built the " Tower of Babylon , " seven miles high , that in case of another flood the people might

go up to tho higher stories and be saved from drowning , Next comes a long Roman Catholic sermon about religion , and our poem winds up with lessons for behaviour when visiting a nobleman or a gentleman , how to behave in his hall , or at his table , & c . Hero is a specimen of Jthe religious lesson , viz .:

—" To the churoh doar when thou doest come , Of that holy water there take some , And say thy paternoster and thy ave . And when the Gospel men read shall , Fairly thou stand from the wall ;

And when the Gospel is done , Again thou mightest kneel down ; On both thy knees down thon fall . For his love that bought ns all . And say then , in this manner ,

Fair soft without bere , [ without noise Jhesu , Lord , welcome thou be , In form of bread , as I thee see . Amen , amen , so mote it be , Now , sweet lady , pray for me . "

Mr . Halliwell inferred from the above that the poet wa 8 a priest , and such may havo been the case . But , without any intermission , the poet next flies to another subject . He continues thus : —

" Furthermore , yet , I will have to preach To yonr fellowB it for to teach : When thon oomest before a Lord , In hall , in bower , or at board , Hood or cap that those off do [ remove ^ Ere thon comesfc him entirely to . " & c .

In 1874 the late lamented Bro . Woodford discovered in the publications of tho Early English Text Society two poems . One is headed " Instructions to Parish Priests " which is said to have been written alout 1420 . Tho other is headed " Urlanitatis , and on placing the first named poem beside the religious sermon in our Masonic Poem , and on placing the second named poem side by side with that portion of the Masonic Poem which teaches good manners , they wero found to be , with a few slight variations , identical . ( See pp 130 and 163 , 2 nd Vol ., of the Masonio Magazine ) . The last named poem is said to have been written about A . D . 1460 , and fac similes of tho said two poems wore also printed by tho Quatuor Coronati Lodge . Now , as tho last named poems wero appropriated by

the author of the Masonic Poem , they must havo existed beforo our Masonic Poom waa written , and as the year of " Urbanitatis" is fixed to abont 1460 , our Masonio

Poem must havo been written after 14 G 0 . This reduces it 3 age about seventy or moro yoars , to what Mr . Wallbran made it , for according to his dictum it was written in 1390 . I have here the first volume of tho Early English Text Society publication , and I notice that it contains a number of poems of the 15 th century which teach good behaviour . There is one for teaching babies , covering eight pages . Another is called " Learn or be Lewde . " Next follows

" T 7 rba ? iitatis . " " The little children ' s Boke . " " The young children ' s Boke . " " The book of Curtesie . " In short

there are in it hundreds of pages of poetry containing advice and lessons upon numerous subjects . On the margin of each page brief explanations are given in modern English of the meaning of the lines . Thus , on the margin

to " UrMnitatis " I find When you come before a lord take off your cap or hood , and fall on your knee twice or thrice . Keep yonr cap off till yon are told to put it on . Hold up your chin . Look the lord in the face . Keep

hands and feet still . Don't spit or snot . Break wind quietly . Behave welt when you go into the hall .... See that your hands are clean and your knife sharp . Don't clutch the best bit . Keep yonr hands from dirtying the table cloth , and don't wipe yonr noBe on it .

Now as the " Vrbinitatis" poem was joined unto the Masonic poem our Bro . Gould somehow " got out of his reckoning , " and came to the conclusion that whereas tho lessons therein were designed for what is called " the upper ten , " and not for mere operative Masons , hence ho concluded that the members of a Masonic guild in 1390 , or at least in the first half of tho 15 th century , muBt have