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Article THE YORK CHARTER. Page 1 of 1
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The York Charter.
THE YORK CHARTER .
To the Editor ofthe Freemasons' Quarterly Review . SIR AND BROTHER , —Masonic tradition and the Book of Constitutions assert , as an undoubted fact , that the ancient charges for Freemasons were drawn up and accepted in the year 926 , during the reign of King Athelstan . As these ancient charges form the groundwork of every edition the Constitutions have gone through , it must be an object of the most livelinterest to the scientific Mason to become acquainted with
y the precise form in which they originally appeared . As far as we have been able to ascertain . it seems doubtful whether there be a faithful copy of the old charges alluded to now to be found in the whole kingdom . AVe were , therefore , much surprised lately to find in a German work , ( Die drei iiltesten Kunsturkunden der Freimaurer-Biudershaft , von K . Gr . F . Krause , 1810 , " ) a translation of the York Charter , the original of which , an ancient MS . upon parchment , is said to have been , in the
beginning of the present century , still preserved in the archives of a Loclge in York . Krause ' s story is , that a Scotchman , Colonel AV . Erskine , had caused the MS . to be translated into Latin , and that the translation , attested by a Mr . Stonehouse , found its way to Germany , in the year 1808 . Mr . Stonehouse ' s attestation is in the following words : "Codex ille membranaceus , lingua patria antiqua conscriptus , qui apud Rev . Summam societatem architectonicam nostra in civitate asservatur , eadem <* mE htec translatio in latinum habet . Tester htec Eboraci , 1806 , Prid . Non . Januar . I . Stonehouse . " The accuracy of Krause ' s assertion might be tested by an answer to
tlie following short questions ; and we apply with confidence to the learned Editor of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review for information upon this interesting subject . 1 . Does there exist any where iu the united kingdom a faithful and authentic copy of the York Charter , as it was drawn up in the year 926 ? 2 . Is there , or was there , about the beginning of the present century , particularl y in the year 180 < 5 , a parchment MS . containing the genuine
York Charter , still in preservation in the city of York ? 3 . Are the language and characters of this MS . those of the period at ivhich it was drawn up ? Is it signed and sealed ? What signatures and date are affixed thereto ? 1 . Does any one know who ancl what was this Mr . Stonehouse , the translator , in all likelihood , as well as the attestor of the MS . ? 0 . In the above-mentioned translation , the introductory prayer , as well the first
as and third charges , differ essentially from those found in other ancient constitutions or -charters . Could a faithful copy of these three sections be obtained ? An answer to the above questions , Sir , would be of great assistance in the investigation of the earl y history of the Craft . We therefore venture to recommend this subject to your especial notice ; and b y the insertion of a lin an early number of valuable Eeview
repy your , you will greatly oblige many of our Fraternity . Yours fraternally , January , 1845 . jn rj , ^ pf [ We court the attention of our learned readers to the above letter , and hope to solve the questions in our next , —ED . "j
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The York Charter.
THE YORK CHARTER .
To the Editor ofthe Freemasons' Quarterly Review . SIR AND BROTHER , —Masonic tradition and the Book of Constitutions assert , as an undoubted fact , that the ancient charges for Freemasons were drawn up and accepted in the year 926 , during the reign of King Athelstan . As these ancient charges form the groundwork of every edition the Constitutions have gone through , it must be an object of the most livelinterest to the scientific Mason to become acquainted with
y the precise form in which they originally appeared . As far as we have been able to ascertain . it seems doubtful whether there be a faithful copy of the old charges alluded to now to be found in the whole kingdom . AVe were , therefore , much surprised lately to find in a German work , ( Die drei iiltesten Kunsturkunden der Freimaurer-Biudershaft , von K . Gr . F . Krause , 1810 , " ) a translation of the York Charter , the original of which , an ancient MS . upon parchment , is said to have been , in the
beginning of the present century , still preserved in the archives of a Loclge in York . Krause ' s story is , that a Scotchman , Colonel AV . Erskine , had caused the MS . to be translated into Latin , and that the translation , attested by a Mr . Stonehouse , found its way to Germany , in the year 1808 . Mr . Stonehouse ' s attestation is in the following words : "Codex ille membranaceus , lingua patria antiqua conscriptus , qui apud Rev . Summam societatem architectonicam nostra in civitate asservatur , eadem <* mE htec translatio in latinum habet . Tester htec Eboraci , 1806 , Prid . Non . Januar . I . Stonehouse . " The accuracy of Krause ' s assertion might be tested by an answer to
tlie following short questions ; and we apply with confidence to the learned Editor of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review for information upon this interesting subject . 1 . Does there exist any where iu the united kingdom a faithful and authentic copy of the York Charter , as it was drawn up in the year 926 ? 2 . Is there , or was there , about the beginning of the present century , particularl y in the year 180 < 5 , a parchment MS . containing the genuine
York Charter , still in preservation in the city of York ? 3 . Are the language and characters of this MS . those of the period at ivhich it was drawn up ? Is it signed and sealed ? What signatures and date are affixed thereto ? 1 . Does any one know who ancl what was this Mr . Stonehouse , the translator , in all likelihood , as well as the attestor of the MS . ? 0 . In the above-mentioned translation , the introductory prayer , as well the first
as and third charges , differ essentially from those found in other ancient constitutions or -charters . Could a faithful copy of these three sections be obtained ? An answer to the above questions , Sir , would be of great assistance in the investigation of the earl y history of the Craft . We therefore venture to recommend this subject to your especial notice ; and b y the insertion of a lin an early number of valuable Eeview
repy your , you will greatly oblige many of our Fraternity . Yours fraternally , January , 1845 . jn rj , ^ pf [ We court the attention of our learned readers to the above letter , and hope to solve the questions in our next , —ED . "j