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Article ANCIENT MASONS' MARKS. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Ancient Masons' Marks.
spreading themselves over the continent ) at the time when the Abbeys of Kilwinning , Kelso , and Melrose were about to be built , —with the first and last-named of which the history of Freemasonry in that country is intimately connected ; while at page 13 Introduction to G . L . Laws of Scotland ,
, it is stated that it is on account of the patronage extended to Freemasonry by the Hospitallers , that " it is usually denominated St . John ' s Masonry , and has been long dedicated to that Patron Saint . " On referring to another
military order , that of the Temple , it is much to be feared that the knowledge , which many of that order obtained in the East , was at least part of the reason why ridiculous and unfounded charges ( so ably disposed of by Addison ) , Math persecution , and almost annihilation of a once-powerful body , were heaped upon the heads of men , many of whom
had grown grey in Eastern wars , to preserve the Holy Land and Sepulchre from desecration . Reverting to Malta , it would be expected , a priori , that an island possessed in turn by Phoenician , Roman , Arab , and Norman , would show some vestiges , small it might be , of the presence of one or other of these nations :
accordingly , we find ruins ascribed to the first-named mysterious people , which agree closely with buildings found in Ireland ; while the remains of marble columns , friezes , and statues , show that operative masonry had at one time reached some splendour in the island . At present many columns are sunk at the corners of streets , to prevent carriages injuring
the houses ; others are thrown into dark corners ; you may in some places meet with a statue forming part of a wall , and decorated capitals may be seen in courtyards , supporting water-buckets , more remarkable for strength than elegant design . What we have ourselves seen of pointed architecture in the island has not been much , and that little not
remarkable for purity . The old residence of the G . M . in the Castle of St . Angelo is , indeed , a strange melange ; of oblong form , with flat roof and Grecian cornice , the pointed arches of its staircase , and the stern gloomy portal behind , with the sloping buttressed-base wall for defence , and square-headed windows , —all betoken a time when rapid changes were going on , and the revived study of the classics had assisted in the revival of the forms , at . least , of classic
art . We shall now pass on to the military buildings , and first those of the sixteenth century , e . g ., fortifications of Valetta .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ancient Masons' Marks.
spreading themselves over the continent ) at the time when the Abbeys of Kilwinning , Kelso , and Melrose were about to be built , —with the first and last-named of which the history of Freemasonry in that country is intimately connected ; while at page 13 Introduction to G . L . Laws of Scotland ,
, it is stated that it is on account of the patronage extended to Freemasonry by the Hospitallers , that " it is usually denominated St . John ' s Masonry , and has been long dedicated to that Patron Saint . " On referring to another
military order , that of the Temple , it is much to be feared that the knowledge , which many of that order obtained in the East , was at least part of the reason why ridiculous and unfounded charges ( so ably disposed of by Addison ) , Math persecution , and almost annihilation of a once-powerful body , were heaped upon the heads of men , many of whom
had grown grey in Eastern wars , to preserve the Holy Land and Sepulchre from desecration . Reverting to Malta , it would be expected , a priori , that an island possessed in turn by Phoenician , Roman , Arab , and Norman , would show some vestiges , small it might be , of the presence of one or other of these nations :
accordingly , we find ruins ascribed to the first-named mysterious people , which agree closely with buildings found in Ireland ; while the remains of marble columns , friezes , and statues , show that operative masonry had at one time reached some splendour in the island . At present many columns are sunk at the corners of streets , to prevent carriages injuring
the houses ; others are thrown into dark corners ; you may in some places meet with a statue forming part of a wall , and decorated capitals may be seen in courtyards , supporting water-buckets , more remarkable for strength than elegant design . What we have ourselves seen of pointed architecture in the island has not been much , and that little not
remarkable for purity . The old residence of the G . M . in the Castle of St . Angelo is , indeed , a strange melange ; of oblong form , with flat roof and Grecian cornice , the pointed arches of its staircase , and the stern gloomy portal behind , with the sloping buttressed-base wall for defence , and square-headed windows , —all betoken a time when rapid changes were going on , and the revived study of the classics had assisted in the revival of the forms , at . least , of classic
art . We shall now pass on to the military buildings , and first those of the sixteenth century , e . g ., fortifications of Valetta .