Masonic History And Historians.

MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS .

BY MASONIC STUDENT ,

There-is a " point " of some importance which wants clearing up . To what MS . or " endorsement" does Dr . Plot allude when he says , "Yet more improbable is it still that Henry the 6 th and his Council should ever peruse or approve these charges and manners , and so confirm their Right Worshipful Master , and Fellows as they are call'd in the scrole , " & c , & c . I am aware of no Masonic MS . Constitutions with such an "

endorsement , " the only Masonic distinct original reference , as far as I can remember , to Henry 6 th is in Anderson ' s Constitutions of 1723 and 173 S . There Anderson usesalmost the very same words , as existing in a " record , " but of that record nothing , so far , is known , and I am aware , though I shall be glad to found to be in error , of no reference to Henry 6 th in any of our extant Guild Constitutions . We have , therefore , probably , in Anderson a confirmation of

the " parchment roll" Dr . Plot saw—but where is it ? Some writers have fancied that these words refer to the so-called Locke MS ., but that does not appear to be the case . No doubt if Dr . Plot's words could refer in any sense to that MS ., it would certainly tend to support its antiquity and reality , which , however , are now generally given up . In Huddesford ' s Lives of the " Eminent Antiquaries , & c , " 1772 , the so-called

MS . is given at p . 96 , as in an appendix , but is stated in a foot note to be taken from the " Gentleman's Magazine" for September , 1753 , and that again from a German tract , printed at Frankfort in 174 S , of which nothing is now known . There is no mention of the " Council , " & c . In the so-called Locke Letter it is termed " an examination paper perhaps before the King . " At p . 67 , vol . 1 , Huddesford uses these peculiar words" " : " It also appears

that an ancient MS . of Leland ' s has long remained in the Bodleian Library , unnoticed in any account of an author yet published . The tract is entitled " Certayne Questyons wyth answercs to the same , concernynge the Mystery of Maconrye . " The original is said to be in the handwriting of King Henry 6 th , and copied by Leland , by order of his highness ( King Henry Sth ) .

Huddesford , who was keeper of thc Ashmolean Library , certainly appears to assume the existence of the MS ., as if he knew of it , though almost in the same breath he calls it a "tract , " and then adds , as if in doubt , "if the authenticity of this ancient monument of literature remains unquestioned , " as if he had not himself seen it , and then he prints in the appendix the copy from the " Gentleman ' s Magazine , " using these still more peculiar words , by

which he appears to endorse the authenticity of Mr . Locke's letter . " It will also be admitted acknowledgment is due to the learned Mr . Locke , who , amidst the closest studies , and thc most strict attention to human understanding , could unbend his mind in search of this ancient treatise , which he first brought from obscurity in the year 16 9 6 . This appears by his letter to a noble lord , which , with the treatise itself , will be here printed entire , together with the explanatory notes of that great and eminent philosopher . "

There is something very strange and unsatisfactory in the whole of these remarks . Why did not Huddesford " collate" thc printed tracts with the MS . ? Why does he not give us a quotation from the " MS . " itself , which , if existing , under his very hand , so to say , he passes over , and does not verify a line , and leaves everything to our imaginations and to his own uncertain words .

If the "MS . " ever existed it is not , we believe , extant now , as despite many searches it has never yet been discovered . But still Dr . Plot's words had a meaning , and to what do they refer ? We apprehend undoubtedly to the missing MS . of Anderson , which must have been a facsimile of the parchment roll seen by Dr . Plot . This is a

very striking fact in itself , that Anderson in 1723 should have seen a MS . from which " Dr . Plot's quotes almost the " ipsissima verba " in 16 S 6 , ancl probably as 1767 . Dr . Plot ' s evidence is very valuable , I may observe , in respect of pre-1717 Masonry , as though he alludes to operative works and customs , he as clearly refers to speculative Masons .

The Grand Lodge At York.

THE GRAND LODGE AT YORK .

T . B . WHYTEHEAD . I do not think any one can have been more astonished than myself at my own lapsus mentis , when my attention was directed to it by thc fraternal corrections of Bro . Hughan and " Masonic Student " on Saturday . I can only account for the meprise by the circumstance that my paper was hastil y compiled amidst many interruptions in the intervals of an unusually busy

week , and I am heartily glad that the error has been so promptly righted . No doubt , as Bro . Hughan says , the first experiment in the direction of a Grand Lodge at York was entertained in thc year when Charles Bathurst was elected Grand Master , before which period the lodge was not regarded as having authority over other lodges . " Masonic Student" refers to the term President as used at York . It

has always seemed to me that the use of this title adds probability to the story of the annual assemblies at York , which would naturally be controlled by a President . When these assemblies ceased to be held the title would probably still be retained b y the Masons of York , and given to the brother who ruled over their meetings . The term is not , as far as I know , to be found in other records than those of York .

In Ashmole ' s record of his initiation he speaks of a Warden , as if he were the ruler of the lodge at Warrington . The term " Master Mason " is common enough , but where is thej first mention made of Master of a lodge as signifying the presiding officer ? It has seemed to me not to be improbable , though there can be no proof at this time , that Speculative Freemasonry really had its rise at York . We

find in the York annals the earliest instances known in England ( except that of Warrington ) of men of good social position being received into the Order . There was far more probability at that date of Freemasonry having reached Warrington from York than from London , and we find West Yorkshire and the north-west country subsequently looking eastward to

York as the mother of Masonry . And just as now York is the centre of a maze of railways , so during all history it has been the principal halting place for travellers to and from all parts of the country , and so York Masonry would have unusual facilities for extension from this city as its basis ;

The Grand Lodge At York.

I have lately been reading a very interesting article in which York Masonry is referred to in the ninth number of the St . Andreas Grade , published at Berlin this year , and which I will try to find time to notice next week .

The Anti-Masonic Candidate In America.

THE ANTI-MASONIC CANDIDATE IN AMERICA .

Our contemporary the Mystic Tie thus speaks of our article on the candidature of General Phelps , the anti-Masonic candidate at the last Presidential election : " Our esteemed contemporary seems to be in error in the above article , and will pardon us for the liberty we take in correcting it , particularly in its historical authenticity , but , more especially , to demonstrate to our brethren

' across the water that the American people do not take up very readily with ' monomaniacs . ' To set the matter in a clear li ght , and to put it for ever at rest , we give the full number of votes that each candidate received in the late election , which we have copied from a compilation made by the . SA : Almanac , which is , by the way , good authority on the subject—James R . Garfield , Rep . -- - - - 4437981

, , Winficld S . Hancock , Dem . - 4 , 444 , 313 Jas . B . Weaver , Greenbacker - 307 , 063 Ncal Dow , Prohibition - - - - 9644 Scattering - - - - - . ^ g " So that out of a vote of over nine millions , this man Phelps and his right bower

, 'Old Subsidy' Pomeroy , received but seventeen hundred and ninetythree votes , which is not so bad after all , Bro . Kenning . He does not seem to have many followers from the above statement , but we sincerel y hope that those remaining will take charge of him , and , instead of the White House , place him where all such characters should be—in a hospital for the insane . " This ' General' Phelps did not command the Union arm } ' in Virginia in

1 S 61 , nor at any other time , and we have our most serious doubts of his ever having been in any army or within hearing of the musical sound of bullets . If he was , there are very few who know it , as he was not known for any prominent part he took in the late war . Perhaps he may have been a militia general and distinguished himself in a successful charge on a flock of geese , for which he gained less notoriety than as a Presidential candidate . "The anti-Masonic sentiment does not amount to anything on this side

of the Atlantic , and our trans-Atlantic brethren can rest in perfect security , and need have no cause for alarm . All the efforts that party has latterly made have ended in utter failure and discomfiture . The people , as a general thing , understand the principles of our Institution , and the great cardinal virtues underlying it , and are fully cognizantof its universal benevolence ; in fact , so much so , that it is an insult lo their intelligence to intimate that they can be led astray by this man Phelps .

"There was a time when the anti-Masonic party wielded considerable power in the politics of the United States , but that is past and gone , we hope , never to return . It numbered among its leaders such men as Millard Fillmore , who was at one time President of the United States , and Wm . H . Seward , of New York . It is a striking illustration " of the fallen condition of the Antics that in the latter State , where these men then had a considerable

following in their warfare on Masonry , at the last election they received the enormous vote of seventy-five , out of over one million votes cast forthe other candidates . But fifty years make considerable changes in the political affairs and power of a government . In 18 32 the anti-Masonic craze had considerable sway in many of the Northern States , notably Vermont , where this 'General' Phelps hails from , which cast its seven electoral votes for Wm .

Wirt , thc anti-Masonic candidate for President . A few years later in Pennsylvania , the same party , under the leadership of Thaddeus Stevens , elected Joseph Riter , Governor of that great Commonwealth , to say nothing of the Congressmen and other important officers elected in other States . This occurred during the Morgan excitement , and a great many unscrupulous men took advantage of the then prevailing sentiment , and used it as a

means of riding into power , thereby accomplishing their selfish and dishonourable purposes through the instrumentality of the anti-Masonic party . " But we of the South have been going on in the even tenor of our way . We have never been cursed with this " ism " although we may havc been b y others , to some extent . We have yet to record an instance where the

anti-Masonic candidate received a single vote in the South . In fact , a greafer portion of the people were not aware that the anti-Masons had a ticket in the field , and those who were looked upon the matter as a huge joke . So , you can take fresh courage , Bro . Kenning , and we assure you that ' General ' Phe ] ps' friends will look after him . "

NON-AFFILIATES . — " Two applications were made to me during the year for dispensations to bury with Masonic honours non-affiliates , which I refused . There is no subject which occupies the attention of the Fraternity , and occasions so much anxious solicitude , as this class of Masons , who are alike lost to all shame , and dead to the binding force of their obligations . It was estimated by Bro . Speed , four years ago , that there were about 3 ^ 00

non-affiliates in this state at that time . I ask you , in all candour , what does this vast multitude do for the benefit , honour , or advancement of Masonry ? ' There is none that doeth good , no , not one . ' The time , in my judgment , has arrived when all Masons , who have the good of the Institution at heart , should unite in shaking of these drones and idlers , who are sapping the foundation of our Order . "— " From Address of William French , " G . M . of Mississippi .

KOPPEN , C . F . —A Prussian official , born at Berlin 1734 , and died there in 1797 , according to Schroder , and in 1798 , according to Findel . As the " Handbuch " says , he is best known in Freemasonry as the founder , or great supporter at any rate , of the Afrikanische Bauherren , or African Builders , to which order he devoted , as the " Handbuch " also points out , a greater portion of his time and property . In 1766 he issued " Les plus secrets Mysteres des hauts grades de la Maconnerie devoiles , ou le Vrai Rose croix

, ot WHICH several editions appeared , and together with Hymmen published in 1770 the work Grata Repoa . He wrote some other controversial tracts with reference to the Strict Observance ; and Kioss seems lo think that he is the author of the " Essai sur les M ysteres et le Veritable Objct de la Confrene des F . M . " A la Haye ( Paris ) , 1776 . Second edition , Amster , 1776 . 1 he same work appears in the Abrege de la Franche Maconnerie , " & c .: a Londres , et se trouve k Lausanne , Grasset , 1779 , Londres et Lausanne , Grasset , 1783 . —Kenning '' sMasonic Cyclopcadia .