The Early Organisation Of The "Ancient" Masons.

a Proper Manner . Nor to hold any Private Committees during theSitting of the Lodge , nor depart the Lodge without leave from the Grand Master under Penalty of being F n e'd at the discretion of the Grand . Mth . THAT if any Member of a Private Lodge shall be desierous of leaveing the Lodge

be belongs to to join another , he must have a proper Certificate from the Mastr . of that Lodge and Notice to be given to the Secrety . of the Grand Lodge of his leaving the same , and the Mastr . of Lodge the sd . Brother shall join shall report him to the Grand Lodge in Order to have him Register'd in the Grand Lodge Book to ye Number of the Lodge he is then removed to and to pay for the same the Sum of Sixpence .

15 th . THAT the following be the Charges and Paid for the Constitution of a New Lodge Vizt . £ s . d . FOR the Warrant ... ... ... ... ... o 10 6 Register for each Member ... ... ... o 1 o each . Pursevanf ) of ye Grand Lodge ... ... 036 Tyler ) ••• - ... o 2 C

AND that all Warrants Constitutions Registers and Petitions for Constitutions be the Fees of ye Grand Secretary , and that no Petitions be receiv'd but such as are wrote by the sd . Secrety . and he paid for the same . *

16 th . THAT the Grand Master have Power to Call a Committee at Pleasure or Deputy G . M . or G . W . or whoever shall be in the Chair in their Absence ; and such Committee to consist of Masters of Lodges only , and their Resolutions to be laid before the Grand Lodge , the Next insuring Night after such Committee held and that the sd . Committee have Power to Adjourn from time to time not exceeding three Grand Lodge Nights .

17 th . THAT each officer , viz ., Masters and Wardens of all Regular Lodges under the Constitution of this Grand Lodge , who thro : Negligence or Omission will be , absent on a Grand Lodge Meeting ( he or they having a proper Summons sent him or them ) shall be fin'd as the Grand Rules Specify , and that all such fines shall be paid by the Body such Absenttee belongs to ... . and that if any of the Members refuse paying his or their Devidend of said fines , such Member upon such his Refusal shall be Excluded , t

rSth . THAT upon the death of any of our Worthy Brethren whose names are or may be hereafter Recorded in the Grand Registry , & c , the Master of such Lodge as he then belonged to Shall immadiately inform the Grand Secretary of his Death and the intended time for his funeral , and upon this notice the Grand Secretary shall summon all the

Lodges to attend the funeral in proper Order , And that Each Member shall pay One Shilling towards Defraying the expences of said funeral or otherwise to his Widow or nearest friend provided the Deceased or his friends Realy want and Require the same . . . . otherwise the money so raised to be put to some other Charitable use , or as the Committee shall think proper , & c .

It is further Agree'd ( To support the Dignityof this VV . G . Lodge ) that no Memr . hereof ( on any Grand Lodge Meeting ) be admited to sit herein without his proper Cloathing and Jewell , Sic , Except upon some great Emmergency , in which case the Transgressor shall give sufficient Reason for so doing . X

The first sixteen of the above Rules constitute the code of Laws compiled by the Committee as appointed , Nos . 17 and 18 , which are in a different handwriting , having been added— -no doubt by Lau . Dermottat the dates mentioned in the marginal notes respectively inserted . The earlier marginal notes would seem to ' be likewise in his handwriting . Then

in addition to the above , there comes on the page immediately following , and with the inscription "Sep . 14 , 1752 , N . Stile . Geo . Hebden , Mastr . No . 4 , in the Chair , " entered in the margin , the following important Regulation passed at an Emergency meeting of the Grand Committee on the day specified , and here introduced in accordance with the terms of the Resolution at the time agreed to :

WHEREAS it is highly expedient for the Universal Benefit of the Ancient Craft that a GRAND MASTER and Grand Lodge shou'd govern and direct the proceedings of the several Ancient Lodges held in and about the Cities of London and Westminster . And as the present low condition of the Ancient Society of Free and Accepted Masons renders the hope of obtaining a Noble Personage to preside over us at this time very

precarious . In Order to preserve the present remains of the true Ancient Craft , & c . We , the under Named , being the Masters and Wardens of the Several Masonicai Meetings called Lodges of true Ancient Masonry aforesaid , do agree ( pursuant to the powers vested in us by our Respective Brethren of the several lodges ) to form a Grand Committee ( we mean such a Committee ) as may supply the deficiency of a Grand Master untill an Opportunitv offers for the Choice of a Noble Personage to govern our

Ancient Fraternity . And that We will therein ( by the Authority Aforesaid ) make Statutes or laws for the better government and well Ordering the said Fraternity , Receive petitions , hear Appeals , and Transact Business ( that is to say such Business as ought to be peculiar to a Grand Lodge ) with Equity and Impartiality . —Dated in our Grand Committee Room on Thursday , the fourteenth day of September , New stile , 1752 , And in the year of Masonry 5752 . In the presence of

No . 1 John Doughty , Master Rich . Cofly Sen . Warden Petr . liritarn Junr . \ V „ 4 Ceo . Hebden" Do , Honble . Edwd . Vaughan Do . Chr . Pidgeon junr . W „ 5 Rich . Stringer Do . Owen Tudor Do . liarth Scully Do . ,, <> Kdwd . Rvah Do . | ohn Dally Do . | ohn Wilson Do . „ 8 Thos . Blower Do . ' Alex , Fife Do . John Smith Do . „ 11 Andw . Francis Do . Wm . Turner Do . William Weir Do . „ 13 John Cartviright Do . James Ryan Do . llarnaby Fox Do .

James Hagarthy and Henry Lewis , Past Masters of No . 4 , and Thomas Kelly , Past Master of No . 6 . Lau . Dermott , G . S . And whereas several of the lodges have congregated and made Masons without any Warrant ( not with a desire of Acting wrong , but thro : the Necessity above mentioned ) , In order to Rectify such irregular proceedings ( as far as in our power ) It is hereby Order'd That the Grand Secretary shall write Warrants ( on Parchment ) for the

Unwarranted Lodges , viz ., The Lodges known by the Title of No . 2 , 3 , 4 , s , 6 , and that all the said Warrants shall bare date July the Seventeenth One thousand seven hundred fifty and One , being the day on which the said lodges met ( at the Turk ' s Head Tavern , in Greek-street , Soho ) to revive the Ancient Craft . That the Secretary shall leave proper spaces for the Grand Mastr ., Deputy G . M ., and Grandl Wardens to sign all the said Warrants according to Ancient Custom .

That as soon as we shall arrive at the Great happiness of installing proper Grand Officers , the possessors of the Unsigned Warrants shall present them to the Grand Master for his Worship's Signature or Renewal , Until which time the said Warrants , as well as those which have or may be ( thro : necessity ) granted in the like manner , shall be deem'd good and lawful ! . Lastly , this our Regulation shall be Recorded in our Registry , to show posterity how much we desire to revive the Ancient Craft upon true Masxmical principles . Signed , by Order , Lau . Dermott , G . S .

* In Margin : "This Rule was farther Confirm'd July 13 , 1753 . Vide Transactions . " f Note in Margin : " Apr . 6 th , 1752 , Jno . Morris in the Chair . " I Note in Margin : "July 1 st , 1752 , Jno . Doughty in the Chair . "

Review.

REVIEW .

FOU R T H NO T I C E . THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . Vol . V . By ROBERT FREKE GOULD , P . G . S . D . London : Thomas C . Jack , 45 , Ludgate-hill , E . C . iSS 6 . ' The account of Ramsay , his connection with , and influence on , the Craft , to which we briefly referred at the close of our last article , is undoubtedly among the most valuable studies in the volume . With his public

Review.

career we need not concern ourselves much , beyond noticing what Bro . Gculd makes tolerably clear , namely , that the Chevalier ' s Jacobite proclivities were not quite of that pronounced character they have ordinarily been supposed to be . As to his Masonic career , Bro . Gould inclines to the belief that he " was initiated in London , circa 172 S-29 , " and for this he gives the following reason : " Among his " ( Ramsay ' s ) "fellow members of

the Gentlemen ' s Society of Spalding , "—of which he was made a member on the 29 th March , 1729— " were no less than seven very prominent Freemasons , and among his brother Fellows of the Royal Society , "—of which he was elected a Fellow on the nth December , 1729—" were Martin Folkes , Rawlinson , Desaguliers , Lord Paisley , Stukeley , the Duke of Montagu , Richard Manningham , the Earl of Dalkeith , Lord Coleraine , the Duke of

Lorraine ( afterwards Emperor of Germany ) , the Earls Strathmore , Crawford , and Aberdour , Martin Clare , and Francis Drake . In such a company of distinguished Freemasons , we can scarcely doubt that Ramsay soon became a prey to the fashion of the hour , and solicited admission to the Fraternity , also that the lodge to which he is most likely to have applied was the 'Old Horn , ' of which Desaguliers and Richard

Manningham were members . This is a most reasonable conjecture , but after all , even if the facts " are by no means as clear as mi ght be desired , " it is of secondary importance to know where he became a Freemason , when we have Ramsay ' s own statement that he was one in evidence . As to his famous speech , of which an English version is furnished , Bro . Gould seems to have fixed the date of its delivery , on the

authority of Daruty , on the 21 st March , 1737 , while as to its contents , he holds that he was guiltless of any deliberate intention to pervert Freemasonry , though he may have been unintentionally "the cause of the numerous inventions " which followed so soon after . " Given , " writes Bro . Gould , * ' a nation such as we know the French to be , volatile , imaginative , and decidedly not conservative in their instincts , suddenly introduced to

mysterious ceremonies unconnected with their past history , —given a ritual which appeals in no way to their peculiar love of glory and distinctionwhich fails to harmonise with their bent of mind—and it was almost inevitable that some improvements should have been attempted . Add to this a certain number of more or less clever men , ambitious to rise at once to an elevated position in the Craft , or perhaps to replenish their purses by the

sale of their own inventions . All these elements existed , as events have proved , and thus France was ready for the crop of high grades which sprang up . Finding in Ramsay ' s speech indications which they could twist to their own purpose , they cleverly made use of them as a sort of guarantee of the genuineness of their goods . " Those who read the speech and the reasons offered by Bro . Gould for the presence in it of those " indications , " which were so abundantly made use of by the degree inventors of those days will

accept the above passage as a sound common sense explanation of the circumstances , and will doubtless allow in future that to whomsoever may belong the questionable honour of having invented the numerous systems of degrees which found their way into the Craft from about 1740 , it is no longer just to ascribe that honour to Ramsay . He wrote the speech , and it is quite possible it may have " aided intending inventors" of systems " in their previously conceived designs , " but as is justly remarked , " his intentions were quite compatible with the most absolute innocence . "

The rest of Chapter XXIV . is occupied with short sketches of the more important "systems of Degrees that lrom about 1740 invaded the Craft , " the author having wisely grouped them together here , so that he might proceed with his " History of Freemasonry on the Continent of Europe " without having to break the continuity of his narrative in order to refer to or explain some rival system . Considering the numberless variety of these

systems , and the extent to which Bro . Gould must have carried his researches , he seems to have brought his accounts of them within reasonable and readable compass . He remarks , however , that it has been impossible for him "to enter into the reasons which have influenced "him "in preferring one account to another . " He gives in the case of each system " a list of the authorities consulted , " and leaves it to the reader to correct the

description given " by his own judgment . This is perhaps about the best thing Bro . Gould could have done . The array of systems with which he deals is almost appalling , and their intricacies , as every one who has attempted even a superficial study of continental Masonry from about 1740 onwards is well aware , are still more so . However , by the aid of the chart and the letterpress , the reader will probably be able to learn all he will care to know

about " Scots Masonry , the " Chapter of Clermont , " "Knights of the East , " " Emperors of the East and West , " the " Strict Observance , " Sec What , perhaps , will most interest him are the paragraphs atpp . 9 S-9 in " The English Lodge , No . 204 , Bordeaux , " the history of which is not a little singular , and which appears to have stuck boldly to the principles it owed to its English origin .

The Chapter that follows is devoted to " Freemasonry in France , as regards which the author is probably about right when he says that " the history of the first 50 years of French Freemasonry cannot be otherwise than a series of possibilities , probabilities , surmises , and traditions ; whereas in recording that of the last 100 years , we must steer very careiully between contending opinions . " What he says , too , as to the earlier lodges in France , as well as

in other continental countries—that " they were held in an informal and irregular , perhaps even spasmodic manner "—is true enough likewise . For this reason we are inclined to regard with composure the statements as to a lodge having been held in Paris as early as 1725 , seeing that Englishmen of fashion made a point of visiting that capital , and would certainly take with them their newly-created zeal lor the Society . Even the alleged Dunkirk

Lodge , of 1721 , though there is little or nothing to support its existence , need not excite much suspicion , if we remember that it would be in the capitals and commercial ports of continental States that our English brethren would have the best opportunities of meeting and practising their rites . Considering how much of mystery there is connected with our home lodges , there would naturally be still greater mystery connected with the earliest doings of the

Craft in continental cities . Such lodges , however , as may have been held in the years assigned to them were probably no more than occasional lodges , and it is not till some years subsequently that we get as far as a warranted lodge . As to Lord Harnouwester , like Bro . Gould , we have always wondered who could have been intended by this description , and we shall probably be not far wrong if we omit him altogether as being far too mythical

a personage ever to have had much to do with early Masonry the other side of the English Channel . However , with the Due d ' Antin as Grand Master , as Bro . Gould points out , we appear to touch really solid ground , and our course henceforth , if not as clear as might be wished , is brilliantly so by comparison with the obscure period which precedes the election of that nobleman to the Grand Mastership of the French lodges .