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Article ON THE INSTITUTION OF FREEMASONRY.* ← Page 6 of 13 →
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On The Institution Of Freemasonry.*
himself again at Constantinople . ( " History of Architecture . ") Its minuter details may be found in nearly all the various states of Italy . Let us now turn for a brief space to England , where , according to the chroniclers , Freemasons w ere early to be found . One writer has ventured the opinion that the Druids
had a somewhat similar association , using like symbols , and practising architecture , into which they had been initiated by disciples of Pythagoras : and Preston , in his "Illustrations of Masonry , " ( though it appears , from his enthusiasm ou the subject , he might easily have been deceived himself , even if not desirous to deceive others ) mentions an old
, MS ., which said that St . Alban , who was beheaded A . D . 303 , " loved Masons well , and cherished them much ; " and that he used his influence to obtain a charter from the king , enabling them to hold an assembly . Of these , and many other assertions , we have no proof ; the authentic records , in most caseshaving been destroyed . Benedict Biscop
, , founder of the Abbey of Weremouth , several times journeyed to Rome at the end of the seventh century , to persuade artificers to come to England ; but I find nothing to identify these workmen with the fraternity under consideration .
Alfred , so truly termed the Great , among other admirable endeavours to ameliorate the condition of his people ( endeavours which , had the people been sufficiently advanced to co-operate with him , would have placed England a hundred years forward on her progress towards civilisation ) , strove to improve the domestic architecture of the country . At
that time , use was made of hardly anything for building but timber , a house of stone being regarded as a singularity : Alfred , however , invited the most noted architects from foreign countries to repair to Britain , with workmen eminent iu the arts , and raised his palaces of stone and brick ; an example whichbdegreeswas followed bthe nobility .
, y , y ( " Rapin's Hist , of England . " ) At the commencement of this same century , Charlemagne in like manner , on the Continent , had summoned men of all nations to build his celebrated church at Aix la Chapelle ; after which events the existence of the fraternity of Freemasons , under that title , is no longer doubtful ; and the results of that existence are
seen in a multiplicity of splendid structures , erected with amazing rapidity , and displaying the origin , progress , and perfection of an entirely new and exquisite style of archi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Institution Of Freemasonry.*
himself again at Constantinople . ( " History of Architecture . ") Its minuter details may be found in nearly all the various states of Italy . Let us now turn for a brief space to England , where , according to the chroniclers , Freemasons w ere early to be found . One writer has ventured the opinion that the Druids
had a somewhat similar association , using like symbols , and practising architecture , into which they had been initiated by disciples of Pythagoras : and Preston , in his "Illustrations of Masonry , " ( though it appears , from his enthusiasm ou the subject , he might easily have been deceived himself , even if not desirous to deceive others ) mentions an old
, MS ., which said that St . Alban , who was beheaded A . D . 303 , " loved Masons well , and cherished them much ; " and that he used his influence to obtain a charter from the king , enabling them to hold an assembly . Of these , and many other assertions , we have no proof ; the authentic records , in most caseshaving been destroyed . Benedict Biscop
, , founder of the Abbey of Weremouth , several times journeyed to Rome at the end of the seventh century , to persuade artificers to come to England ; but I find nothing to identify these workmen with the fraternity under consideration .
Alfred , so truly termed the Great , among other admirable endeavours to ameliorate the condition of his people ( endeavours which , had the people been sufficiently advanced to co-operate with him , would have placed England a hundred years forward on her progress towards civilisation ) , strove to improve the domestic architecture of the country . At
that time , use was made of hardly anything for building but timber , a house of stone being regarded as a singularity : Alfred , however , invited the most noted architects from foreign countries to repair to Britain , with workmen eminent iu the arts , and raised his palaces of stone and brick ; an example whichbdegreeswas followed bthe nobility .
, y , y ( " Rapin's Hist , of England . " ) At the commencement of this same century , Charlemagne in like manner , on the Continent , had summoned men of all nations to build his celebrated church at Aix la Chapelle ; after which events the existence of the fraternity of Freemasons , under that title , is no longer doubtful ; and the results of that existence are
seen in a multiplicity of splendid structures , erected with amazing rapidity , and displaying the origin , progress , and perfection of an entirely new and exquisite style of archi-