Ad00606

To ADA " ERTISERS . THE Circulation of THE FREEMASON being now at the rate of nearly Half-a-milUou per annum , offers peculiar facilities to all who advertise . It is well known that thc Fraternity of Freemasons is a large and constantly increasing body , mainly composed of the influential and educated classes of society ; and as The Freemason is now the accepted organ ofthe Brotherhood in the United Kingdom , and also enjoys an extensive sale in the colonies and foreign parts , its advantages as an advertising medium can scarcely be overrated . For terms apply to GEORGE KENNING , 2 , 3 , & 4 , LITTLE BRITAIN , LONDON , E . C .

Foreign And Colonial Agents.

Foreign and Colonial Agents .

AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHER BRENNAN , 114 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . ,, Messrs . AA ' OODRUI- ' F & BLOCIIER , Little Rock , Arkansas , U . S .

CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & SON , Ottawa . CAPE OF GOOD HOPE : Bro . GEORGE BRITTAIN , Cape Town . CEYLON : Messrs . AA' . L . SKEENE & Co ., Colombo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Pr . J . L . HANLY , Levant Times .

EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . AA ' vMAN" BROS . Bombay : Bro . M . B . COHEN . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . J ORDAN . Kurrachce : Bro . G . C . BRAYSON . Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER .

Mhow : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERWANJEE . Poena : Bro . AA ' . AVELLIS . GALATA : ITSICK KUAN , Perche-Bajar . LIBERIA : Bro . HENRY D . BROWN , Monrovia . PARIS : M . DECIIEVAUX-DU . MESNIL , Rue de Harlaydu-Palais , 20 , near the PonlNeuf ; Editor Le I- ' ranc-Ma ( on . AVEST INDIES :

Jamaica : Bro . J A . D . SOUZA , Falmouth . Trinidad : Bros . S . CARTER and J . LEWIS , 3 , Abercrombie-strcct , Port of Spain ; and Pro . AA ' . A . KERNAIIAN , San Fernando . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in England , Ireland , and Scotland .

Births, Marriages, And Deaths.

Births , Marriages , and Deaths .

DEA TILS . LAMERT . —On June 2 nd , suddenly , at his residence , Beaumont-strcet , Oxford , Pro . George Fead Lamert , P . A ., AV . M . of the Apollo University Lodge . Thc deceased AVorshipful Brother was a member of AVorcester College , and highly esteemed in University and Masonic circles .

WESCOMHE . — -On Monday , the 6 th in . it ., at Burton Cottage , Finchley , in the 54 th year of his age , Pro . Thomas AA ' escombe , P . M . 905 ; P . Z . 3 S 2 and 657 ; Past Provincial Assistant Grand Secretary Kent ; M . AA ' . No . I , Mark Masters ; Im . P . Sov . Premier Conclave ; Past G . Sword Bearer , Mark Grand Lodge ; Grand Standard Bearer of the Red Cru .-s Order ; Torch Bearer , Council K . U . S .

Ar00607

All communications for Tin : Fiurr . MAsu . s should be written legibly , on one side of ( lie paper only , and , if intended for insertion in the current number must be received not later than 10 o ' clock a . m . on Thursdays , unless in very special cases . The name and address ofevery writer must be sent to us in confidence .

Ar00602

The Freemason , SATURDAV , J 11 1870 .

Ar00608

Tin : 1 '' ; KI : MASON is published on Saturday Mornings in time lor the early train-, . The price of Tin ; l ' nr . ie . ie . sn :. - is Tv . i pence per week ; ijuartcrly subscription ( incbnlm ; , ' pristine ) 7 s . 3 d . Annual Sub cription , , ;• . S-. uV . cfirtion-, payable in advance . All communications , letters , & c , lu be addressed lo thc EDITO ;; , ? , , i , and . j , Lillie liritnin , E . C . The l-rditorw . il pay careful attention lo ali MSS . intrusted to him but cannot undertake to return them iinlc-.-. s accompanied by postage stamps . --

The Antiquity Of The Craft.

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CRAFT .

THERE can be little doubt that the incredible legends and Munchausen myths , gravely put forth as Masonic narratives by

certain writers have done more to arouse scepticism as to the real history of the Craft , than all thc attack's of its wittiest enemies

would have been able to achieve . Dermott , one of thc shrewdst Masons of his time , did not hesitate to ridicule these pretended his-

The Antiquity Of The Craft.

tories , and his satire is so applicable even at the present day , that we offer no excuse for quoting from his " Ahiman Rezon , " Avhich was first published in 1756 . Ahiman , we should premise , is one of four

brothers , the others being named Shallum , Akhab , and Talmon , who are supposed to have journeyed from the Holy City of Jerusalem , and in answer to the enquiries of Dermott , Ahiman gives his opinion as follows : —

" Certain it is that Freemasonry has been from the creation though not under that name ; that it was a divine gift from God ; that Cain ancl the builders of his city were strangers to the secret mystery of Masonry ; that there were but four

Masons in the world when thc deluge happened ; that one of thc four , even thc second son of Noah , was not master ofthe art ; that Nimrod , nor any of his bricklayers , knew anything of the matter ; and that there were but very few Masters of the art ,

even at Solomon's temple ; whereby it plainly appears , that the whole mystery was communicated to very few at that time ; that at Solomon's temple , and not before , it received the name of Freemasonry , because the Masons at Jerusalem and Tyre were

thc greatest chieftains then 111 the world ; that the mystery has been , for the most part , practised amongst builders since Solomon ' s time ; that there were some hundreds mentioned in histories of Masonry under thc titles of Grand Masters , & c ,

for no other reason than that of giving orders for the building of a house , tower , castle , or some other edifice , or perhaps for suffering thc Masons to erect such in their territories , & c , while thc memories of as many thousands of thc faithful Crafts arc buried

in oblivion : From whence he gave mc to understand , that such histories were of no use to the society at present ; and further added , tbat thc manner of constituting lodges , the old and new regulations , & c , were the only and most useful things concerning Freemasonry . "

The result of all this absurdity is , that doubt is thrown upon every statement which tends to elucidate thc mediteval origin of thc Fraternity , and we are coolly invited to believe that the present system of

Speculative Irreemasonry arose at once like a fullblown Minerva from thc brains of thc learned Frenchman , Desaguliers , in 1717 . This theory is as baseless as the alleged derivation from Adam is foolish ; because

Dr . Plot ' s evidence alone proves that thc Freemasons were an acknowledged secret society more than seventy years before the above-mentioned year , and that men of science and culture like Ashmole

were admitted into their fellowship . It is true that other trades besides the Operative Masons professed to have " mysteries , " but we rarely find that non-members of the particular trade or guild were received

amongst them , while the references made in contemporary works clearly demonstrate that the " signs and tokens" of the Freemasons were known in Ihe seventeenth century to gentlemen of high station who had been initiated as brothers of the Craft .

Who were the men that met at the Appletree Tavern in 1717 ? Were they not Speculative Masons , who desired to perpetuate thc knowledge conveyed by ancient svmbols , and to make known to all who

were worthy the sublime truths veiled in thc so-called " mysteries " of the Brotherhood . Unless it can be proved that Sayer , Desaguliers , Payne , Anderson , and the other

worthies of thc revival period were merely impostors , and that no such institution as Masonry existed before their time , wc hold that the inference is clear that each and all of these brethren were Craftsmen in the

The Antiquity Of The Craft.

year named ; and we maintain , moreover , that Anthony Sayer , and many others who took part in the proceedings , were Speculative Freemasons long before King George

I . ascended to the throne of England . The proof being positive that the revivalists Avere not simply Operatives , and that the Speculative clement had been infused into the

Masonic Order long prior to 1717 , it further follows that Speculative Masons were sufficiently numerous and influential in that year to take the management of the Craft

into their own hands and to remodel it , according to their own ideas . This seems to be the only rational conclusion to arrive at , and without doubt had proper minutes

been kept by the brethren in England during the seventeenth century , we should have been much wiser as to the true origin of the institution than we arc at present . Again

it is alleged that various old documents were destroyed in 1720 by scrupulous brethren , who feared that by their publication the arcana of the Craft would be exposed to

thc eyes of thc profane . This will naturally account for the paucity of evidence adduced in favour of the real history of Freemasonry ,

ancl we believe it is a fact , that even the records of the Lodge of Antiquity , previous to the revival , perished in this act of Vandalism . Thc connection of Sir

Christopher Wren with this lodge , ( then called the St . Paul ' s Lodge , ) is , however , unquestionable ; and the actual mallet used by King Charles II . at thc ceremony of laying

thc foundation-stone of thc great architect ' s cathedral , is still preserved by the lodge as one of thc most cherished relics of thc past . The " guild" theory , wc are

of opinion , is a very safc one to follow ; it gives us the germ of fellowship , of brotherhood and of charity , all of which have been so well ancl admirably

developed in Modern Speculative Masonry . With this reasonable antiquity wc are content , although we will not quarrel with thc views of many esteemed brethren who

delight in tracing points of resemblance between the ceremonies of Freemasonry , and the pagan rites practised in dim historic times by every nation under the sun . That

Freemasons have a pmlosophy we grant , and that it embodies precepts taught in many creeds we readily acknowledge , but to hold that such accidental coincidences prove

a common origin , is as logical as to assert that all animals arc alike because they have heads ancl feet . Freemasonry , in its present form , is thc result of many

modifications , ancl thc lesson of its progress can best be learned by a careful study of its own allegories and emblems . Like thc stone , " rude and unpolished , " which passes into

the hands of the expert workman , and finally receives thc polish of perfection from the master ' s skill , so our Order has been handed down to us ; good in its origin as a

friendly and brotherly association , but better in its expansion as a humanising principle and noble throughoutthe length ancl breadth of the earth . As we have said before , the true [ lower of Freemasonry is to be found in its