An Important Find!

Dr . Fearon Ranking ; and Jas . Smith , 8 3 , all from Edinburgh ; W . Neilson , Z . 79 ; J . Foulds , Z . 6 7 ; J . McNaught Campbell , Z . 6 9 ; Rev . A . T . Pullin , P . J . 50 ; Geo . Muir , P . Z . 8 7 ; J . Roper Paton , P . Z . 50 ; T . W . Brownlie , P . Z . 50 ; R . Morrison , P . Z . 50 ; T . M . Morrison , H . 50 ; J . Gardner McLean , J . 50 ; John Mclnnes , P . Z . 6 9 ; J . M . Oliver , P . H . 73 ; J . Fraser , P . Z . 73 ; and T Paterson , Z . 122 ; as well as a very numerous gathering of " well-kent faces" which filled the spacious and comfortable hall , named after its proprietors , St . Mark ' s Lodge , No . 102 ( S . C . ) . When introducing- Bro . Gould to the first Scotch audience who

have had the privilege of hearing him , the M . E . Z ., Comp . Edw . Macbean , took the opportunity thus afforded to enlighten his hearers on a few' of the salient features of the lecturer ' s career . He remarked that Bro . Gould ' s celebrity as a Masonic student seemed , unfairly , to have dwarfed his services in other directions ,

and his claims to distinction as a military officer were seldom thought of by the Craft for whom he had laboured so assiduously . His ability in the China War of i 860 , and during the operations

against the Taepings in 1862 , attracted the attention , and eventually the warm friendship , of ^ one of the most remarkable men of this century . The character of Chinese Gordon , whose untimel y fate at Khartoum had caused a thrill of horror and universal

regret to pass over the civilised world , was so high that to be the recip ient of his unflagging regard , as was the case with Bro . Gould , must be considered the most satisfactory certificate of tactical skill and private worth that anyone could be honoured with . Bro . Gould was brought to light in 1855 , and exalted in

Malta in 1857 ; had sat as W . M . of five Craft lodges—London , Military , Gibraltar , and Shanghai ; M . E . Z . of two Royal Arch chapters : and at different times had been the recipient of numerous recognitions of his excellence , in the shape of honorary memberships and other tokens , such as the jewel of the

Pennsylvania Veterans , so eagerly coveted and highly prized by those on whom bestowed "honoris causa . " His literary efforts for the dissemination of correct Masonic knowledge dated from the early part of 1858 , and still , with increased fervour and riper

judgment , book after book came from his busy pen . The latest contribution , "A Commentary on the Begins MS . "—by competent critics esteemed the most scho ' arl y of all his writings—is , of itself , ampl y sufficient to stamp Bro . Gould as the most profound inquirer into our mysteries that this age has yet produced .

Bro . R . F . Gould , after briefly acknowledging the highly complimentary manner in which he had both been introduced to , and received by , the Chapter , then delivered an address , of which the following is an epitome : The lecturer said that the period of time , 1717-23 , had been

termed " The epoch of transition , " because , in the opinion of many leading authorities , the system of Masonry now possessed ( or , in other words , the Three Degrees of the Craft , as they were commonly styled ) , was then manufactured or concocted . Against this , however , was arrayed the conviction of another set of

authorities , who were firm believers in the antiquity of Masonic Degrees , and discredited the notion that any alterations had been made by the Grand Lodge of England in the secrets of Masonry , except in what mi g ht be termed non-essentials—or , to use words of greater precision , in the method adopted of imparting them .

Thus there were two theories , or schools of thought , with regard to the Degrees , or , as he preferred to call it , the S ymbolism of Freemasonry , a wider term , and one which would

cover everything done or practised in the lodges , from 1723 onwards , for which , it was alleged , no equivalent was to be found "i the doings and practices of the lodges in existence prior to i m-

Each of those views , or theories , had its supporters , and to whichever side the argument might for the moment seem to preponderate , he ( Bro . Gould ) thought they could not be too careful '" recollecting that there was evidence to the contrary . The time at their disposal would only admit of one side of the question being discussed at that sitting , and he could , there'ore , merel y put before them one branch of the case—viz ., the ; ir guments that mi ght be adduced in favour of the antiquity of Masonic Symbolism . The point for their consideration was the following one :

Was the symbolism of Masonry an inheritance derived from the old Masons who flourished before the era of Grand Lodges , 0 r had it been borrowed from the Rosicrucians or others , after * mi Or , to illustrate still more clearly the line of argument he should

pursue—Was there ground for supposing that the symbolism of our P'esent Freemasonry existed in mediaeval times , and that it had l & yed , pari passu with the operative Masonry of that period , ' "d come clown to them divested of much of its real sianiricancv . a legacy or inheritance from the working Masons of those ear ' y times ?

An Important Find!

The period of origin assigned by common repute to the institution of Freemasonry was the thirteenth century , which synchronised with that of the rise of Gothic architecture . The latter .

indeed , was for a long time considered as being under the exclusive charge of the Freemasons , though latterly the tide had turned , and the old and popular belief , in any connection between the two , was regarded as the high water mark of credulity .

But a paper by Professor Hayter Lewis— " Scottish Masons ' marks compared with those of other countries "—read before the British Archaeological Association at its recent session in Glasgow , would be deemed by many persons to have gone a long way towards reinstating the old belief or tradition .

Among the conclusions formulated by the Professor were the following ; : 1 st . That certain definite methods of marking the general surfaces of the stones characterised the Masonry of the styles which we call Norman , and that this had apparently a Western

origin . 2 nd . That in the thirteenth century there was introduced , with the Early Pointed Style ( a phase of Gothic ) , an entirel y different method of finishing the surface , and that the source of this method was apparently from the East .

3 rd . That Masons' marks do not appear to have been commonly used in Europe until late in the twelfth century . 4 th . That some of the most prominent of these marks appear to have been used continuously , from very early times , in Eastern countries .

It was not too much to say that Masons' marks , which had long been regarded by advanced students as possessing a sentimental value , out of all proportion to their serviceable worth , were now , owing to the research of Bro . Hayter Lewis , shown to be a very important factor in the complicated problem of Masonic history .

•After the Earl y Pointed , came the Middle or'Perfect Pointed Style , known in England b y the name of Decorated . After this , the finest age of Gothic architecture was at an end , and it mi ght be said to have gone out in a blaze of glory under the Tudors .

There was , he thought , a greater probability of the present Masonic symbolism having existed during the splendour of mediaeval operative Masonry , than of its having been introduced at any period after its decline .

This was borne out to some extent by the written traditions of the Society , the earliest of which—Regius MS . —dating from about 1425 , contained inculcations which were very far removed from the mental range of the operative brethren , to whom the manuscript Constitutions were rehearsed at a later era .

Between the Regius MS . and the earliest of the MS . Constitutions there was a gap of a century and a half , and both before and during this period there were influences at work which left their mark on the civilisation of the era .

In England , owing to the War of the Roses , the hand of the English sculptor had grown still , and the arts had lost their vigour and beauty . But in Scotland the relapse into comparative anarch y was even greater , owing to the War of Independence .

It was therefore a plausible conjecture , and mi ght account to some extent for the simplicity of the old Scottish ceremonial that , while in the one instance—Scotland—the ancient symbolism of Masonry had descended to the level of the ordinary artisan ; in the other instance—England— -more of the old framework still existed .

It was contended by those waiters who opposed the view which he ( Bro . Gould ) was supporting , that virtually the symbolism of Masonry as they then had it was the invention of the " new

comers" into Masonry , circa 1721-30 . But it was a curious fact that not only did the actual ceremonial of those earl y days bear witness to its own antiquity , but the fact in question was so accepted by all contemporary critics of the Society .

That point , indeed , he would not labour , but left each brother to determine for himself .

It was clear , however , that if the symbolism which prevailed during the first decade of the Grand Lodge of England could be carried back beyond or behind the so-called revival of 1717 , an important point—to those who believed in its great antiquity—¦ would have been attained .

Upon the whole , he thought it was very far removed from being an arbitrary hypothesis , that the existing symbolism of Masonry had come down in all its main features from very ancient times , and that it originated during the splendour of Mediaeval Operative Masonry , and not in its decline . Also

I hat in a period ot time , now very remote from our own , much knowledge of all kinds was embodied in mystical figures and schemes , such as were deemed appropriate emblems for its preservation ; and that many of these figures and schemes are preserved in Masonry , though their meaning is no longer understood b y the Fraternity .