Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

Footsteps of Freemasonry i . V Freemasonry and Isralitism 13 ~ Presentation of the Robert Wcntworth Little Testimonial i ? i-Presentation of Testimonial toBro . J . Rowe , Sec . 105 t . S 4 Masonic Ball at Torquay 1 , i 4 CoRllKSl'O . vnEXCB

The Agression of the Grand Chapter of Scotland on English Mark Masonry 135 Masonic Tidings—British , Colonial and Foreign i . l . i Poet Masons i , 1 <> Freemasonry J 3 6 CnAFT MASONRY : —

Metropolitan 1 . 1 8 Provincial ] , 38 ROYAI . ARCH : — Provincial 1 ,, S Mark Masonry ' 139 Onnr . ns OR CHIVALRY : —

Red Cross of Constantino 139 Annual Festival of the Royal Arch Chapter of Improvement 1 •, ' ) Masonic Meetings for next week 141 Advertisements 129 , 130 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144

The Footsteps Of Masonry;

THE FOOTSTEPS OF MASONRY ;

OR , FREEMASONRY IN RELATION - TO AUTHENTIC

HISTORY . By \ V . VISER BUDOI . FI :, M . D ., J . ., 1329 . Hon ' Secretary Sphynx Lodge of Instruction .

Before recommencing the explanation of the . remaining "fragwonts , " we may in passing remark that several points would have been brought more prominently forward , but from a desire to

avoid opening out the interior of Masonry , for from what lias been already said it is evident that the externals of our calling do not necessarily convey any knowledge of the inner manifestations .

It might for instance have been more dramatic to have imagined an F . C . presenting himself to the S . W ., or his deputy , sitting beneath the depicted emblem of the " Ear of Corn and Fall of

Water , " at the foot of the winding staircase which lead to the "Tablinum or Inner Chamber . " In this position , as he demanded of him Quid Velis ? ( What do you want ?) wc mi ght curiously listen

to the reply "Tribesthai . "—( I desire ) to be winnowed or tried , and there seems little doubt but that the modern word is derived from this ancient form .

J remark here that I . [ shall shortly have to call attention to a sign in common use amongst the Romans , and holding a precisely similar signification amongst ourselves . This sign , in my

opinion forms definitely anil logicall y an indisputable link between Roman times and our own , —between us and them—and could by no other means have got into Masonry except by actual tradition .

Although most important , it will , on the above mentioned principle , be merely simply referred to iu due course , and without other remark .

We have alread y referred to the " Cowan , " who prowls without , and to the "Ty ler " who guards our gates ; the next personage to be explained should be the

INNER GUARD . There is , however , no record of any such officer in the ancient collegium or lodge . The one who nearest seems to approach to

that oihee was the Precon , Herald , or Crier , and who still exists in the College of Can . finals—the undoubted " analogue" of the College o ! Augurs .

The Footsteps Of Masonry;

The ancient Precon had to announce the ceremonial entry of the person admitted , whether candidate or otherwise , and to proclaim the edicts of the W . Master , ml urh . m el orlem , or

as St . Paul , hath it , not merely " to those within , " but " to those without . " We may state that it is very remarkable how this sentiment of " those within" and "those without" pervaded the

ancient Roman world . At the present day a R . C . Bishop , however appointed or elected , cannot enter canonically into office until he has been invested and

officially proclaimed or pra-conised by command ] of the Pope , the Pontifex Maximus , the W . Master of the College of Cardinals , where the ancient term of Pr . T . con is still retained .

As , however , Masons do not proclaim their acts to the external world , but only amongst themselves , the Inner Guard may be considered as the modified Torm in which the ancient " precon " has come down to our days . DEACONS .

The office bearers of this name , in Greek , rW ;< oi / o , are not difficult of identification . It is , however , although ancient , an ecclesiastical term , the

root KOI' / W , being an old Ionian or Italian word , and signified those who served the table at meals . Thus at the feast of Cana of Galilee , the

SMKOI ' , or Deacons , are especially mentioned , we must bear in mind that at this epoch the Jews had become Romanised in their manners ,

for instead of eating the Passover with staff' in hand and shoes on feet , the beloved disciple reclined "wore Romano " on the bosom of his

master . ] n this case we may infer that , as it is distinctly stated , that the " Deacons " obeyed the ApxirpucXwos , or Worshi p ful Master of the

feast , so evidently the custom of the Romans was that a Deacon was one who obeyed in private , or semi-private , or social assemblies , the commands of the Worshipful Master , as now with us .

Having thus far completed the offices , before proceeding to the hi ghesth among them viz ., the Wardens or Tribunes , and the W . Master , let us , going from grave to gay , dally a short time longer

in the flowery mead of research , and discourse a little concerning our clothing . " Whose primitive tradition reaches As far as Adam ' s first green breeches . " for so says Butler .

We have hitherto considered Masonry in its political organization and philosophical tendencies , but wc must not forget that it has also a milder

and more social aspect ; a lively and festive character , dear to us all , and this we must associate with our garb , the emblem at once of labour , innocence , and joy . Let us then , at once come to

THE APRON . The gown makes the Monk , and the apron the Mason ; and it is not in modern times only that the question ol vestments has agitated the public

mind . The Romans were a gowned , or gens toga nation , and despised the Gauls , who , like the moderns , were a Iraeeala , breeched , or rnlolle

nation . We , as masons follow really and literally a more ancient custom than either ; for although we may look upon ( he Apron as the badge of a working mason , yet , like many other thing ., in

The Footsteps Of Masonry;

our mysterious Craft , it has a secondary or emblematic meaning , and there is little doubt that our curt habit had its origin in primeval innocence , and PandtciW- measures , when wild in woods the

naked savage ran . In studying a mixed institution like our own , a full solution of its origin is not to be obtained by looking at it in its purely civil character , and

a study of the " sodalities" of Rome , which although relig ious in their ori gin , had the elaiac element developed in , or associated with them ,

throws lig ht upon it . These associations were all accustomed to their festive meetings when the good brethren did not fail

"To mix frugality with wins And honest mirth with thoughts divine . " Cicero , Aldus , Gellius , and others refer to

hese associations , but Horace uses the term sada / es to signify a festive companion , an iiv eident of his finest odes .

As an example , let us take the Liiperccrlii , an association connected with the grand Roman festivals to the God Pan . This Sodality , or brotherhood , derived its orig in from the ancient

priests of Pan ; two of its lodges were very ancient , a third was established in the time of Caesar , and called hence the Julian . Marc Antony , the great Consul , the lover of Cleopatra , and for whose sweet sake he lost the world , was the

first master . Cicero in his "Oration for Coelius " speaks of them thus , " Nor am I startled at his saying , that Cu-lius was his mate at the Lupercal festivals , for the institution of those meetings is more

ancient limn that of goreriunenl and lairs . Its odge fellows not only mutually accuse each other , but in their accusations mention even their very bye-laws , as if they feared any one should not

discover that they belonged to this brotherhood . " I fear , indeed , we sometimes copy this orig inal a little to closely , for a quaint old author remarks , " they had , it seems , an odd and savage

custom of exposing one another s faults , and even professed that members of their societies acted consistently with the laws of their association when he endeavoured to blacken his brother

Lnpercus . " It was in his capacity as Master of a Lodge of the Liiperendii , that Mark Antony , at the head

of his brethren in grand procession , and , as it is expressely slated , wearing aprons of goat-skin offered the kingl y crown to Cesar .

" You all did see that in the Luercpal , I thrice presented liini a kingly , crown , Which he did thrice refuse . " Now this was not only a sodality or

brotherhood , partaking as such in our own characteristics , claiming and acknowledge to be ancient , governed by byc-iaws , and each member owing special duty to his fellows . But for us , their special

characteristic was that they were literally clothed with white aprons of goat skin , and that Mark Antony and his procession actually wore such on 011 this world-renowned occasion .

The Apron is the oposite to tht Chigultiin or g irdle of the soldier , the one being a millitary , the other a festive decoration .

This characteristic " ^! ' while [ aprons of goat-skin they bore from jthe period of | their introduction into Italy by Kvander 'before file building of Rome , and continued . untilj-hc ' brothu'hood was formally dissolved by the Emperor Anasiasiuii