Ar00800

NOTICE .

The Subscription to THE FREEMASON is now 10 s . per annum , post-free , payable

in advance . Vol . I ., bound in clotli 4 s . Gel . Vol . II ., ditto 7 s . Od . Vol . III ., ditto 15 s . od . Vol . IV ., ditto 15 s . od . Vol . V ., ditto l . ^ s . od . Reading Cases to hold 5 2 numbers ... 25 . fid . Ditto ditto 4 tlo . ... is . Od .

United States of America . THE FREEMASON is delivered free in any part of the United States for 13 s . per annum , payable in advance . The FTecmnsem is published on Saturday Mornings in time' for tlic early trains .

The price of the Free-mason is Twopence per week ; annual subscription , los . ( payable in advance . ) All communications , letters , & c , to be addressed to the Editor , toS , Fleet-street , E . C . The Editorwill paycarcnilnttcntion to all MSS . entrusted to him , butcaunot undertake lo return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

Ar00801

NOTICE . All Communications , Advertisements , &' c , intended for insertion in the Number of the following

Saturday , must reach the OJjice not later titan 6 o ' clock on Wednesday evening .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

A . B . M . —( Calcutta ) . —lulitructions to send your " The Freemason" were received from Mr . G . He wished us , to send it for 12 months , the first copy to be accompanied with the hill , on receipt of which you would forward post ollice orelcr . ExeELslort . —We do not publish anonymous communications .

Liverpool Theatres, &C.

LIVERPOOL THEATRES , & c .

Week coding August lO . ROYAl . ALEXANDRA TliKATRK , Lime-street . —Lessee , Ilro . K . . Saker . Mr . Richard Young's (' omcily Company . R ~ OYAL AMI'HTTHEATRE , Great CTinrlotic-slreet . —Lessee , llro . II . Leslie , Mr . I ' meel ! ami ICmier-triau Dramas .

PRLNCE OF WALES THEATRE , Clavlon-srniare . —Lessee . Mr . Selton Tarry . Mr . Dan Drynnt in Irish Dramas . T " ~ ~ ilEATRE " ROYAL \ VMli 7 imsoivsmiare . —Lessee , ilro . I ) L Freece . Uurlcsipie of " The Forty Thieves , " * ' ( makers Hud Shaker .-, " and Miscellaneous Entertainment .

ST . JAMES'S HALL , Lime-street . —1 'roprielor , llro . S . Hague . Special Artistes and Programme . NEW STAR MUSIC HALL , Wiilian-. stm . s-j-qic .-Mannucr , Ilro . Saundeis . Opera and Special Attractions . K "" OTUNI ) A THEATRIC and MUSIC 1 ! . \ l . ! .. —Proprietor , Mr . I ) , ' oannctl , Miscellaneous Emcruuuuieuts .

NEW'SCi . ME'S CIRCUS , Whitecbapvl .-Scenes or the Circle ami other EntcrtainnuT . t . ^ ^ TMcN'sTiAn ^ - 'iireViiioVfr

Ar00807

T h e F r e e in a son , SATURDAY , AUGUST 9 , 1 S 7 . 3 .

Compagnonage Of The French Handicrafts.

COMPAGNONAGE OF THE FRENCH HANDICRAFTS .

l ! Y ALBKRT < i . MACK . ICY , M . D . Compagtionage , or companionship , is the name which is given in France to certain myitical associations formed between workmen of the ?

sam- ' or an analogous handicraft , whoso object is to afford mntunl assistance to the members . It was at onetime consiJeicd among handicraftsmen as the second decree of the noviiiatM be-fore

arriving at the mailrise or mask-rbhip , the first being of course that of apprentice ; and woikmen were atliiiitlecl into it only after five years

of apprenticeship , and on the production of a skillfull y constructed piece of work , which was called their chef d ' wuvre .

Tradition gives to cqmpngnon . age n Hebraic origin , which to some extent assimilates it to the traditional hiitory of Freemasonry as spring-

Compagnonage Of The French Handicrafts.

ing out of the Solomonic Temple . It is , however , certain that it arose in the twelfth century , out of a part of the corporations of workmen . These , who prosecuted the labours of their Craft

from province to province , could not shut their t ; yes to the narrow policy of the Guilds or corporations , which the Masters were constantly seeking to make more exclusive . Thence they

perceived the necessity of forming for themselves associations or confraternities , whose protection should accompany them in all their laborious wanderings , and secure to them employment and fraternal intercourse when arriving

in strange towns . The Compagnons de la Tour , which is the title assumed by those who are the members of the biotherhoods of Compagnonage , have legends

which have been traditionally transmitted from age to . ige , by which , like the Freemasons , they trace the origin of their association to the

Temple of King Solomon . These legends arc three in number ; for the different societies in Compagnonage recognise three different founders , and hence make three different associations , which

are : — 1 . The Children of Solomon . 2 . The Children of Maitre Jacques . 3 . The Children of Pure Soubise .

These three societies or classes of Compagnons are irreconcilable enemies , and reproach each other with the imaginary contests of their supposed founders .

The Children of Solomon pretend that King Solomon gave them their devoir or guild as a reward for their labours at the Temple , and that he hael there united them into a brotherhood .

The Children of Alaitre Jacques say that their founder , who was the son of a celebrated architect named Jacqnain or Jacques , was one of the chief masters of Solomon , and a colleague of

Hiram . He was born in a small city of Gaul , named Carte , and now St . Romille , but which we should in vain look for on the maps . From the age of fifteen he was employed in

stone-cutting . He travelled in Greece , where he learned sculpture and architecture ; afterwards went to Egypt , and thence to Jerusalem , where he constructed two pillars with so much skill ,

that he was immediately received as a Master of the Craft . Maitre Jacques and his colleague 1 ' ire Soubise , after the labours of the Temple were completed , resolved to go together to Gaul ,

swearing that they would never separate ; but the union did not last very long , in consequence of the jealousy excited in Pi-re Soubise by the ascendancy of Maitre Jacques over their disci p les .

7 hey parted , and the former landed at Hourdeaux , and the latter al Marseilles . One day Maitre J acques , being far away from his e ! i > : ei ples , was attacked by ten of those of

l ' cre Soubise . To save himself lie lied into a marsh , where he sustained himself from sinking by holding on to the reeds , and was evcnUia'l y rescued by his disciples . He then retired to

Samte Batime , but being sotm after betrayed by a disciple , named according to some Jerson , and according to others Jamais , he was assassinated

by five blows of a dagger , in the 47 th year of his age , four yeaij and nine days after his departure from Jerusalem . On his robe was subsequentl y found a reed , which he wore in

Compagnonage Of The French Handicrafts.

memory of his having been saved in the marsh , and thenceforth his disciples adopted the reed as the emblem of their Order . Pere Soubise is not generally accused of having

taken any part in the assassination . The tears which he shed over Ihe tomb of his colleague removed , in part , the suspicions which had at first rested on him . The traitor who committed

the crime subsequently , in a moment of deep contrition , cast himself into a well , which the disciples of Maitre Jacques filled up with stones . The relics of the martyr were long preserved

in a sacred chest , and when his disciples afterwards separated into different Crafts , his hat was g iven to the hatters , his tunic to the stone-cutters , his sandals to the locksmiths , his mantle to the

joiners , his g irdle to the carpenters , and his staff to the cartwrights . According to another tradition , Maitre Jacques way no other than Jacques de Molay , the last

Grand Master of the Templars , who had collected under his banner some of the Children of Solomon , who had separated from the parent society , and who , about 1268 , conferred upon them a new devoir or < ruild . Pere Soubise is

said , in the same legend , to have been a Benedictine Monk , who gave to the carpenters some special statutes . This second legend is generally recognised as more truthful than the first .

From this it follows , that the division of the society of Compagnonage into three classes dates from the 1 , 3 th century , and that the Children of Maitre Jacijues and of Pere Soubise arc

more modern than the Children of Solomon , from whom they were a dismemberment . The organisation of these associations of compagnonage reminds one very strongly of the

somewhat similar organisation of the stone * masons of Germany and of other countries in the middle ages . To one of these three classes every handicraftsman in France was expected to attach himself . There was an initiation and a

system of degrees , which were four in number : the Accepted Companion , the Finished Companion , the Initiated Companion , and lastly the Affiliated Companion . There were also signs ,

and words as modes of recognition , and decorations , which varied in the different devoirs , but to all the square and compasses was a common emblem .

As soon as a Craftsman had passed through his apprenticeship he joined one of the guilds , anel commenced his journey over France , which was called the Tour tie France , and in the course of

which he visited tlie principal cities , towns , and villages , stopping for a time wherever he could secure employment . In almost every town there was a house of call , presided over always by a

woman , who was affectionately called "la Mere , " or the Mother , and the same name was given to the house itself . Here the Compagnons held their meetings and annually elected their officers ,

a " . d travelling workmen repaired there : to obtain food and lodging , and the necessary information which might lead to employment . When two companions met on the road , one of

them addressed the other with the topagu ot challenge , being a formula of words , the conventional reply to which indicated that the other w ; is a member of the same devoir . If such was the case , friendly greetings ensued . But if the reply