Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM . *

In our article of the 14 th May , in which we passed in review the proceedings of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 2076 , as recorded in Vol . XL Part I . ol their Transactions , we found it , lo our great regret , impossible , having regard to the then

demands upon our time , to offer such remarks as we were desirous of making on the very important paper which Hro . G . W . SiM-TH , P . \ . G . D . C , read at the March meeting , on " The Two Degrees Theory , " and which was intended b y him as an answer

to Hro . W . J . Ilrc . lIAN'S paper of June , 1897 , entitled "The Three Degrees of Freemasonry , especially in relation to the oldest known Records of the Master Mason ' s Ceremony . " Those of our readers who have studied or even contented

themselves with a hastv consideration of the Question ol Degrees are aware lhat there are two principal theories concerning them , of which one is in favour of there having been only one Degree prior lo the Grand Lodge era ; of tliis liro . HlXllAN is far and

away the leading exponent ; while the other , which is held by Bros . R . F . Gori . D , G . W . SPETH , and others favours the existence of mon ; than one . In the course of the discussion which followed the reading of Hro . IIUCIIAN ' essay , Hro . SPETH

remarked it would be impossible for him at short notice fairly to contest the arguments on which lhat brother relied for the demonstration of his theory , and , therefore , that he should take an early opporlunify of marshalling his forces and then joining

issue with him , " with some prospect of doing justice to both points of view . " lie has now done this in his paper on " The Two Degrees Theory , " and in order that the reader may be in a position lo judge between the rival theories , we content

ourselves , for the present , with a recapitulation of the arguments set forth by Hro . UrGIIAN , as described in our article on '•The Question of Degrees" in the Free unison of the 23 rd October , 1 X 07 , and then g ive the leading grounds on which Hro . SpETil

rests his theory as to there having been two Degrees . Briell y summarised Bro . IIUGII AN ' s arguments are as follows ( 1 ) Tliere is no evidence cither in the " Old Charges " or in ' any other MSS . or printed works , during the period specified "

--that is , prior to the i . Xih century— "either connected with Lodges , or partaking of a historical character" that is " suggestive or indicative of a plurality of Degrees ; " (_>) as regards "the earliest extant minutes of initiation in Kngland , " and

in similar records including the case of Kl . l . VS ASHMOLE , he remarks " I think it mig ht fairl y be taken for granted that had 1 wo or more Degrees been then worked , some entries or allusions thereto would be discovered in these invaluable Records , hit I

Ihe re are none , and a similar silence is observed in ' Plot ' s Sliil j ' o ) ilsliiie' of if > Sf ) , AUBREY ' note of iboi respecting Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN ' ' adoption , ' and in all other books and documents of the 17 th century ; such unilorm testimony

being wholly confirmatory of the only single , simple esoteric ceremony of reception . " ( 3 ) Lodge minutes ol the earliest years of thr lSlh century point to the same conclusion as to there having been " but one

form or ceremony ; " Ihe records specified being those of ( lie " Company and Fellowshi p of Freemasons of a Lodge held alt Alnwick , " extending from 1 703 ( 0 1 757 , which , during the whole of that long period , furnish not " even a solitary reference

to Masonic Degrees ; " those of a " Private Lodge held alt Scarbr . lotli July 1705 , " before " William Thompson , Ksq ., P ' sident ; " ( hose of ihe old Lodgeof York , which afterwards stvled itself ( he "Grand Lodge of nil Kngland , " and ils Old

Rules of 1 725 . Kven those records , in which any rcten-nces are made an- of later date , and carry us no further back than 1 724-5 , his actual words being— ' * So far f actual minutes ol Lodges are l ' iinerriu : i ) , uf which we have anv particulars , sefarale Decrees

cannot be dated furlher back than 1724-5 or omitting the Records of the I'liilo-Miisiae organisation not earlier than 1 725 . " So too , as regards Lodge live-Laws and Regulations and tin ;

Hook ol Constitutions , there is ihe same absence of mention in ihe former of the existence ol a p lurality ol Degrees belorc 1729 , while the latter show * that Ihev were known in 1725 , but " ( he uniform silence as to lite trio ol an earlier dale "

" Ars Ouatuor Contnatorum . " Heinjj the Transactions ol the ( juatuor Coronati l . od |/ i-, No . . ' - "Vi , London . Edited forthe Committee hy G . VV . Speth , P . A . G . D . C , SIJC . V ' o ' umc XI . —Part 1 . . Margate Printed at " Keble ' s Gazette " Ollice , i . SijS .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

suggests " that the ceremonies were arranged subsequent to the inauguration of the premier Grand Lodge . " We believe the above may be taken to represent fairl y the most important evidence which Bro . HUGHAN is able to adduce

in support of his theory . On thc other hand , Bro . SPETH , dividing the time he traverses into four periods , which he designates severall y as the Purel y Operative , the Mainly Operative , the

Mainl y Speculative , and the Purel y Speculative , is of opinion that in each of these periods or stages , there is to be found direct or indirect evidence of the existence of two Decrees .

During the Purely Operative Period , the first stage was that of the Apprentice , who on being entered was bound b y an oathadministered either at the time of his being bound or shortl y afterwards— " to obey the laws and preserve the secrets of the

fraternity . " On the completion of his apprenticeship , on giving proofs of his proficiency and presenting his masterpiece in evidence of his skill , lit ; was passed into the ranks of masters of the Craft , became entitled to claim admission as a fellow , and if

he desired and was favoured b y lorlunc mi g ht rise to the position ol Master Mason—corresponding with our Master of the lodge —between whom , however , and thc master or fellow , " there was no difference except an accidental one , they were both

masters and both fellows . " Bro . St'GTit argues that this passing from Apprentice into the ranks of Masters ( and fellows ) must have been attended b y a ceremony of greater or less solemnity , aud he adduces lrom our constitutional Rolls what he considers

evidence of the existence of this second ceremony , that is , of a second degree . During the Mainl y Operative Period when gentlemen were admitted b y the Craft in order to secure their patronage and support , Hro . Si'ETH argues that these gentlemen

were admitted at once to full membership or fellowship , it being in his opinion absurd to suppose that they were received as apprentices and required to serve as such for the usual period ; and he strengthens this view by what he says in respect of the

Mainl y Speculative Period , referring in particular to the case of AsilMOLE who " was made a Freemason at Warrington " in 1646 and found himself the " oldest fellow " present at the memorable meeting lie attended in London in 1682 , when six gentlemen

were received who are spoken of in the same entry in his Diary as " the new-accepted Masons , " and who , he records , " about noon were admitted into the Fellowship . " Hen ; , then , he points out , we have the Apprentice Degree restricted to the Operative

and the Fellow of Craft Degree , which was common to both Operatives and Speculatives , yet the onl y one taken b y the latter , though it is part of Hro . SPE'l'll ' . S argument that the secrets of the Apprentice were communicated to the Fellow .

lie also quotes from RANDI . E HOLME , AuilREY , and Pl . OT , with a view to showing that there was a " p lurality of modes of recognition , and then-fore of degrees , " and he strengthens this part of his contention by adducing passages from " The Prophecy

of ROGER BACON" and " Thc Fl ying Post" in support of his opinion , while the spurious rituals of the iSth century are not entirel y overlooked , it being , as he says , " a remarkable coincidence that , although they refer to three degrees , which , as all the world

must have known b y that time , was the practice of the Craft , they reveal at almost every Vine the former existence of two degrees only , " Lastly , during the " Purel y Speculative Period , " which dates from 1717 , Bro . SPKT'll , upon inquiring " what was

the number of degrees after this transformation , " declares " we shall lind no break of continuit y , they were the same two as before—no more , no less , " and he gives numerous quotations from ANDERSON ' " Book of Constitutions " in support of this statement .

1 here is , ol course , much else in Bro . SPETll ' s paper to which we should like to call attention , but , as regards the present article , we must content ourselves with giving , as briefl y as possible , the summary of liis case as sketched by himself .

Pirslly , as he says , there was the Apprentice , who cither at the time he was entered or bound or shortl y afterwards , had conferred upon him ( he degree which '' comprised thc administration of an oath , the communications of the Craft legend , and the

imparting of certain secrets , which are now divided between him and ( he Fellow-Craft . " Seven years later In * was " passed a Master alter due examination , '" and if he desired lo earn his living b y Masonry , it became necessary for him to join the