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Collectanea
COLLECTANEA
— <¦ — EXTRACT FF . OM THE LIFE OF THE CELEBRATED MR . ELIAS ASHMOLE , An eminent Philosopher , Chemist , ami Antiquary ; Grand Muster of Masons in the Seventeenth Century , aud Founder of the notile Museum at Oxford which still bears his name . ON 16 th of October 1616 Mr . Ashmole was elected a Brother of
, , the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free ancl 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 MSS . there are very valuable collections relating to the history of the-Freemasons , as may be collected from the letters of Dr . Knipe , of Christchurch , to the publisher of his Life , in one of which is the following passage : —
" As to the ancient society of Freemasons , concerning- whom yon are desirous of knowing what may be known with certainly , I shall only tell you , that if our worthy Brother , E . Ashmole , Esq ., had executed his intended design , our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter . I ° would not have you surprised at this expression , or think it at all too assuming . The sovereigns of that Order have not disdained our fellowshi p , and there have been times when
emperors were also Freemasons . What from Mr . E . Ashmole ' s collection I could gather , was , tbat 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
Europe , to erect chapels , was ill-founded ; such a Bull there was , aud those architects were Masons ; but this Bull , iu 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 aud manner of that establishment , something I shall relate from the same collections . St . Alban , tbe Proto-Martyr of England , established Masonry here , and from his time it flourished
more or less , according ^ as the world went , down to the days of King Athelstaue , 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 , which was always transcendent even in the most barbarous times , their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other , how different soever in condition , and their iu reli
inviolable fidelity keeping giously their secret , must expose them in ignorant , troublesome , and suspicious times , to a vast variety of adventures , according to the different fate of parties and other alterations in government . By the way I shall note , that the Masons were always loyal , which exposed them to great severities , when power wore the trappings of justice , aud those who committed treason , punished true men as traitors . Thus in the third year of the reign of Actof Parliament
Henry VI ., an passed to abolish the society of Masons aud to hinder , under grievous penalties , the holding chapters , lodo-es ' or other regular assemblies . Yet this Act was afterwards repealed , and ' even before that King Henry VI . and several of the principal lords of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Collectanea
COLLECTANEA
— <¦ — EXTRACT FF . OM THE LIFE OF THE CELEBRATED MR . ELIAS ASHMOLE , An eminent Philosopher , Chemist , ami Antiquary ; Grand Muster of Masons in the Seventeenth Century , aud Founder of the notile Museum at Oxford which still bears his name . ON 16 th of October 1616 Mr . Ashmole was elected a Brother of
, , the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free ancl 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 MSS . there are very valuable collections relating to the history of the-Freemasons , as may be collected from the letters of Dr . Knipe , of Christchurch , to the publisher of his Life , in one of which is the following passage : —
" As to the ancient society of Freemasons , concerning- whom yon are desirous of knowing what may be known with certainly , I shall only tell you , that if our worthy Brother , E . Ashmole , Esq ., had executed his intended design , our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter . I ° would not have you surprised at this expression , or think it at all too assuming . The sovereigns of that Order have not disdained our fellowshi p , and there have been times when
emperors were also Freemasons . What from Mr . E . Ashmole ' s collection I could gather , was , tbat 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
Europe , to erect chapels , was ill-founded ; such a Bull there was , aud those architects were Masons ; but this Bull , iu 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 aud manner of that establishment , something I shall relate from the same collections . St . Alban , tbe Proto-Martyr of England , established Masonry here , and from his time it flourished
more or less , according ^ as the world went , down to the days of King Athelstaue , 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 , which was always transcendent even in the most barbarous times , their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other , how different soever in condition , and their iu reli
inviolable fidelity keeping giously their secret , must expose them in ignorant , troublesome , and suspicious times , to a vast variety of adventures , according to the different fate of parties and other alterations in government . By the way I shall note , that the Masons were always loyal , which exposed them to great severities , when power wore the trappings of justice , aud those who committed treason , punished true men as traitors . Thus in the third year of the reign of Actof Parliament
Henry VI ., an passed to abolish the society of Masons aud to hinder , under grievous penalties , the holding chapters , lodo-es ' or other regular assemblies . Yet this Act was afterwards repealed , and ' even before that King Henry VI . and several of the principal lords of