Random Notes On Freemasonry.

added much that may interest . It would be difficult , nay almost impossible , to say all that T could say on our beloved Masonry in the brief hour to which I must limit myself on this

occasion , but 1 trust I may suggest , tor 1 can do no more than suggest , sufficient to enable sonic brother better qualified than myself , lo treat at greater length on the subject of my lecture ,

" Random Notes on freemasonry . I must ask your indulgence too , for the somewhat discursive character of my address , and beg yon to it member that it scarcely aspires to the

dignity of a lecture , but merely to what I have called it—random notes—sketches by the way . I do not pretend to preach any new doctrine .

to have discovered any fresh secret , but J only aim at leading my younger brethren into the same road 1 have travelled , to follow ihe same channels of information to which I have obtained

access , and to come back with greater love and reverence for the great Fraternity of which wc are members , a greater regard for and sympathy witli the brethren of the mystic tie , wheresoever

dispersed over land or water . I do not profess to be a teacher , 1 am only a student , and there may be many before me bitter qualified than myself to speak to you on this subject , but J am

sure you will listen with a kindly indulgence to what 1 advance , and forgive my zeal if you should have cause to doubt my discretion . In the first place then as to ( he antiquity of Masonry , 1 am

quite aware that there are those , even amon g the . initiated , who think it is a creature of to-day , and that 1717 is the year from which we must date our venerable Institution . I am quite willing to

admit , that almost all our information is based upon tradition ; that absolute historical evidence as to its remote origin is not to be found : that being a Secret Society , with but few written

documents as evidences of its antiquity in the possession of the Fraternity , there is a greater difficulty in proving its immemorial constitution , and that much must be taken on faith as

to its objects and origin . Hut on the other hand 1 would ask , arc- not the Church of England and the Churches of Greece and Rome , founded on tradition , and are we to set aside , as fables ,

all that lias been brought forward to illustrate the early history of the Church in tin- dark ages , simply because it cannot all be proven ? As a Secret Society its aims and history must , from

all time , have been locked up in tradition . I am of opinion that there were points of similarity between the antient mysteries of Egypt and Greece , to warrant us in the belief that they

were in fact , a kind of spurious Freemasonry , as Dr . Oliver teaches . I will even go further , and say , that tliere is a strong resemblance to a true Freemasonry in some of them , though

veiled and obscured with much that was false and impure . The Kassideans , and the Essenes , were also thought to be Masonic bodies . I will call your attention to the Lexicon of Masonry

on this subject . The author , Dr . Mackey , 33 ° , says , that the Essenes were a sect amongst the Jews , supposed by Masonic writers to have been the descendents of the Freemasons of the

Temple , and through whom the Order was propagated to modern times . They were divided into two classes . Speculative and Operative , the former devoting themselves to a life of contemplation

Random Notes On Freemasonry.

and the . latter daily engaging in the practice of some handicraft . They abolished all distinctions of rank , " meeting on the level , " and as a means

of recognition , they adopted signs and othei modes similar to those of die Freemasons . 'When a candidate applied for admission his cliaracier was scrutinised with the greatest severity .

He was I hen presented with a girdle , a hatchet , and a white garment . The Order was divided into three degrees which could be taken only after the interval of one year , between the first

and second , and two years between the second and third . Philo of Alexandria , who , in two books written expressly on the subject of the

PIssenes , has given a copious account of their doctrines and manners , says that when Ihey were listening to the secret instructions of their chiefs

thev stood with " the right hand on the breast a little below the chin , and the left hand placed along the . side . '' A similar position is attributed by Macrobius to Venus when deploring the death of Adonis in those Rites which were

celebrated at Tyre , the birth place of Hiram the Builder . In the Popular Cyclopaedia there is a long article on Freemasonry—in which the writer denies that it has , or ever had , anything to do

with the Eletisinian or Egyptian mysteries—but traces it to the Roman Collegium Artilieum founded by Numa Pompilius in 714 , B . C . I would , with your peimission , did time permit

read yon some portion of this article , . since it contains much that is interesting and valuable and since it accepts for truth much that lias been condemned as false by certain would-be wise

brethren of a sceptical turn of mind . There is no doubt however that we are descended from the Operative Masons of the middle ages—and

it is to my mind a matter ol great regret that operative Masonry should have ceased to have any connection with us in England . Of course voti are all well aware thai it still exists in

Scotland , when . ' operative lodges are found side b y side with speculative . Masonry abroad has changed its character very considerably—and there is now , I suspect but little trace of its descent from the Architects of the Middle Ayes .

Gilbert Scolt , I believes talks of the fables of the Freemasons , but other worthy successors of " the Gothic Architects admit the pretensions of the Freemasons lo be the ori ginators of Gothic Architecture . 'Phe followimr extract from Poole ' s

"History ol Ecclesiastical Architecture" w ill prove of interest , as coming from a man who is not prejudiced too much in favour of

Freemasonry . Even 111 England , he says , " as late as the reign of Henry VI ., in an indenture ol covenants made between the churchwardens of a

parish in Suffolk and a company of Freemasons , the latter stipulate that every man should be provided with a pair of white leather gloves , a white apron , and that a lodge properly tiled

should be erected at tlie expense of the parish in which to hold their meeting ' s . " Freemasonry to-day is in fact little more than a skeleton , a relic of a bygone age—with secrets valuable to

the brethren only—but with something about it which must recommend itself to the searcher after truth and the lover of his kind . Probably

many of you , who are accustomed to look upon the Grand Lodge of England as at once the supreme head and pattern of Masonry , will be

Random Notes On Freemasonry.

surprised to find that it stands per se in the recognition of what is and what is not pure and antient Masonry- —for it recognises the Royal Arch as part of its system and the completion of

the third degree , and refuses to acknowled ge the Mark degree , whilst the Grand Lodge of Scotland accepts the Mark and rejects the Arch , and the Grand Lodge of Ireland acknowledges both .

Ihen again the Grand Lodge of England , in its corporate capacity , does not recognise the higher degrees , though many of its most distinguished members belong to them ,

notably thc Prince of Wales , Knight of the Masonic Order of Charles the XIII . of Sweden ; and Lord Carnarvon , 33 ° Deputy Grand Master , whilst almost every other Grand body in the

world admits them . The most widel y spread and generally adopted system is the Antient . and Accepted Rite of 33 degrees , some of which are of undoubted antiquity , and which has a Supreme

Council m almost every country in the world . Time will not admit of mv enlartrins : on this Rite , suffice it to say that in a Christian country it seems to me difficult to eliminate the Christian

character from Masonry , and the object of the higher degrees , as I daresay you know , is to maintain the Christian characteristics and to admit Masons of high social character and standing- to

the privileges of these necessaril y more exclusive degrees . For my own part I have always felt that there was not enough in the Craft to interest the Masonic student , and there is no

doubt that many estimable Masons after passing the chair have lapsed as it were or lost there interest in the Royal Art , because thev thought tliere

was nothing more to learn . To sueli I would say , " go on , you have only ascended three steps of the Masonic ladder , there are thirty three to climb . '

You are doubtless well aware that in the Articles of Union between the two Grand Lodges in 181 . 3 , it was expressly added to the declaration that pure Antient Masonty consisted of three degrees and no more .

" hut ibis article is not intended to prevent my lodge or chapter Iron . ) holding a meeting in my of the degrees of the Order of Chivalry , lccording to the constitutions of the said orders , "

which was nothing more nor less than a recognition of thc hi gher degrees , and no doubt was admitted because the Duke of Sussex , and the Duke of Kent were both Grand Masters of the

1 emplars as well as of the Craft . No doubt you are aware that the A . . V A . Rite is governed b y a Supreme Grand Council of nine members wdio are elected for life . It was established ,

says Mackey , in 1786 , by PYederick the Great of Prussia , for the purpose of exercising after his death the Masonic prerogatives which lie personally possessed as the acknowledged head

of the rite . In 1761 the lodges and councils of the Superior degrees being extended throughout the continent of Europe , Frederick IL , King

of Prussia as Grand Commander of the Order of Princes of the Royal Secret , was acknowledged as head of the Scotch Rite . The Duke of

Sudermania was his deputy in Sweden , and Louis of Bourbon in France . On tlie 25 th October 1762 , the Grand Masonic Constitutions were finall y ratified in Berlin , and proclaimed for the government of all Masonic Orders working in the Scotch