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Article FOR THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Page 1 of 2 →
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For The Freemasons' Magazine.
FOR THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
EXTRACT ISOM THE LIFE OF THE CELEBRATED MR . ELIAS ASHMOLE , AN EMINENT PHILOSOPHER . CHEMIST AND ANTIQUARY , GRAND MASTER of MASONS in the last Century , and founder of tbe noble Musa ; um at Oxford , vehich still bears his name .
" ( f ~\ loth of October 16 4 6 , Mr . Ashmole was elected a Bro-\ J ) ther of the Ancient and Honourable Society of FREE and ACCEPTED MASONS , which he looked upon as a very distinguishing character , and has given a particular account of the Lodge , at Warrington , in Lancashire , where he was made a Brother : and in some of his MS . there are very valuable collections relating to the history of the Freemasons , as may be collected from the letters of Dr . Knipeof "
, Christ-church , to the publisher of his life , in one cf which is the following passage : ' As to the ancient society of Freemasons , concerning whom you are ' desirous of knowing what may be known with certainty , I shall only * tell you , that if our worthy brother , E . Ashmole , Esq . had executed 4 his intended design , our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him
' as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter . 1 would not ' have you surprised at this expression , or think it at ail too assuming . ' The sovereigns of that order have not disdained our fellowship , and * there have been times when emperors were also Freemasons . What ' from Mr . E . Ashmole's collection I could gather , was , that the report ' of our society ' s taking rise from a bull granted by the Pope , in the
' reign of Henry III . to some Italian architects to travel over all Eux rope , ' to erect chapels , was ill-founded , such a bull there was , and * those architects were Masons ; but this bull , in the opinion of the * learned Mr . Ashmole , was confirmative only , and did not by any * means create our Fraternity , or even establish them in this kingdom .-' But as to the time and manner of that establishmentsomething I
, * shall relate from the same collections . St . Alban , the Proto-Mar' tyr of England , established Masonry here , and from his time it flou-* rished more or less , according as the world went , down to the days ' of King Athelstane , who , for the sake of his brother Edwin granted ' the Masons a charter . Under our Norman princes , they frequently ' received extraordinary marks of royal favour . There is no doubt to
' be made , that the skill of Masons , whicli was always transcendent , ' even in the most barbarous limes , their wonderful kindness and at' tachment to each other , how different soever in condition , ancl their ' inviolable fidelity in keeping- reli g iously their secret , must expose
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
For The Freemasons' Magazine.
FOR THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE .
EXTRACT ISOM THE LIFE OF THE CELEBRATED MR . ELIAS ASHMOLE , AN EMINENT PHILOSOPHER . CHEMIST AND ANTIQUARY , GRAND MASTER of MASONS in the last Century , and founder of tbe noble Musa ; um at Oxford , vehich still bears his name .
" ( f ~\ loth of October 16 4 6 , Mr . Ashmole was elected a Bro-\ J ) ther of the Ancient and Honourable Society of FREE and ACCEPTED MASONS , which he looked upon as a very distinguishing character , and has given a particular account of the Lodge , at Warrington , in Lancashire , where he was made a Brother : and in some of his MS . there are very valuable collections relating to the history of the Freemasons , as may be collected from the letters of Dr . Knipeof "
, Christ-church , to the publisher of his life , in one cf which is the following passage : ' As to the ancient society of Freemasons , concerning whom you are ' desirous of knowing what may be known with certainty , I shall only * tell you , that if our worthy brother , E . Ashmole , Esq . had executed 4 his intended design , our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him
' as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter . 1 would not ' have you surprised at this expression , or think it at ail too assuming . ' The sovereigns of that order have not disdained our fellowship , and * there have been times when emperors were also Freemasons . What ' from Mr . E . Ashmole's collection I could gather , was , that the report ' of our society ' s taking rise from a bull granted by the Pope , in the
' reign of Henry III . to some Italian architects to travel over all Eux rope , ' to erect chapels , was ill-founded , such a bull there was , and * those architects were Masons ; but this bull , in the opinion of the * learned Mr . Ashmole , was confirmative only , and did not by any * means create our Fraternity , or even establish them in this kingdom .-' But as to the time and manner of that establishmentsomething I
, * shall relate from the same collections . St . Alban , the Proto-Mar' tyr of England , established Masonry here , and from his time it flou-* rished more or less , according as the world went , down to the days ' of King Athelstane , who , for the sake of his brother Edwin granted ' the Masons a charter . Under our Norman princes , they frequently ' received extraordinary marks of royal favour . There is no doubt to
' be made , that the skill of Masons , whicli was always transcendent , ' even in the most barbarous limes , their wonderful kindness and at' tachment to each other , how different soever in condition , ancl their ' inviolable fidelity in keeping- reli g iously their secret , must expose