Masonic Life-Boats.

the world , and especially a disgrace to the wealthy city companies , which have such enormous revenues , that there should be no life-boat identified with it or them ; and we have resolved to wipe away the disgrace , so

far as the Masonic body is concerned , by doing what the wealthy Corporation and the wealthy companies have omitted to do . In this we hope for the goodwill and cooperation of a sufficient number of our

brethren , and others , to ensure our success . As you justly remark , " without unduly taxing the resources of the brethren , not

only one , but two , or even three life-boats might be provided and presented to the institution , as a practical example of that benevolence which is denominated the

highest and purest characteristic of genuine Freemasonry . " Let each committee , then , steadily and energetically pursue its own course . " Let no jealousies nor discord impede the fulfilment of our resolve , " and

we shall each achieve our object . We work not in hostile rivalry , but in brotherly emulation ; and we shall have to rejoice

together , at no distant time , in the floating of at least two life-boats identified with Freemasonry . What may we not hope to hear of when we put these boats

Down on thc shore , the stormy shore , Beset by a growling sea , Whose mad waves leap on the rocky steep Like wolves on a traveller ' s tree ; Where the foam flies wide , and an angry blast

Blows the curlew off , with a screech ; Where the brown seawrack , torn up by the roots , Is flung out of fishes' reach ; Where the tall ship rolls on the hidden shoals , And scatters her planks on the beach . " WILLIAM CARPENTER .

Origin Of Masonry.

ORIGIN OF MASONRY .

BY BUO . W . P . BUCHAN . ( Concluded from page 637 . ) At page 65 we perceive a repetition of the usual childish story about " numerous magnificent

buildings being erected by German Masons in Italy , France , and England , " but as Bro . Steinbrenner himself suggests at page 29 we will relegate this little "nursery tale " to the uurscrv .

The following , at page 71 , appears to me either to contain a good deal of the imaginary , or at least to require some further explanation , viz ., " So also in the course of time , tlie ceremonial forms and usages now no longer

understood , gradually assumed the form ot" those of the other trades , and lost their peculiar significance ; the more so , as in many places the stonemasons abandoned their lodges and affiliated with the guilds of ordinary masons . "

The idea , at page 72 , of a whole squad of men stopping work on the approach of a stranger mason , and "forming themselves into a half circle , a square , or some other geometrical figure with their master at their head , " is a little curious .

And as to the Apron b ? mg alluded to and worn as " the distinguishing badge of our order , " I am not , as yet , aware of its being so used before A . D . 1717 . I am not aware that Elias Ashmole , in the seventeenth century wore an apron , tlie

same as we now do , at every Masonic meeting at which he was present ; or that Sir Christopher Wren did so after his adoption in 1691 . All craftsmen wore aprons and just as it suited them and their work , and until last century 1 am not ,

as yet , aware of any peculiar significance attaching to a " mason ' s " apron any more than to a smith ' s . The giving the credit of the allegorical symbolisms which are so often seen depicted in Gothic Cathedrals to the masons is a pure

mistake . It is to the clergy of thc Roman Catholic Church that we are indebted for these allegories ; nay more , it is to them also we are indebted I ' or the rise and progress of the Gothic Architecture

of the twelfth anil thirteenth centuries . As to the two pillars " J ACIII . M " and " Boo / , " depicted at page 76 , I should like to know something more reliable about them before saying pinch ; possibly they may be examples of the

Origin Of Masonry.

vagaries of late German work , the date of "J ACHIM ' S" base , e . g ., looking as if it were nearer the fourteenth century than the eleventh . However , this is perhaps a case for the exercise of the Masonic virtue " caution , " in case one should drop his hand into a " mare ' s nest . " I

lately got a wonderful account of the so-called " Prentice pillar " ( more properly Prince ' s pillar ) at Roslin , which I was told contained three beautiful wreaths or garland' ; entwined around it , and which were cut in reference to our " three degrees , " and so on—very good so far , onlv it

so happens that there are four wreaths round the pillar !—so much for fancy . At page 81 we are told that the masons " were far ahead of their contemporaries in general knowledge and education ! " I suppose we must admit this at least to the extent that the

masons of former times were equally as far ahead of their contemporaries as are the masons of the present day ? Only it is a little curious that a Mason in Glasgow never managed to get on for Deacon-Convener during the last two centuries and a half until a few years ago , and in a list of

Deacon-Conveners of Edinburgh beginning at 1578 and up to the middle of the last century we only find two Masons , viz ., John Milne and Andrew Wardrop , their earliest date being 1653 ; while the hammermen , tailors ( and we must not forget that King Edward III . of England became

a speculative tailor , or at least was made an honorary "Linen Armourer , " see pages 312 and 319 of Toulmin Smith ' s "English Gilds , " upon the ordinanances , customs , oaths , & c , of the tailors gilds at Exeter ) , goldsmiths , skinners , & c , are again and again elected .

It strikes me a mason several centuries ago was simply a stone-cutter or a builder , while in some statutes we find him classed as a labourer , and as to taking tlie leading part in burghal affairs , we must look to some of the other crafts for that , generally speaking .

At page no he reiterates the idea of a "freemason , " meaning a mason " who works in freestone ; " but that that is a mistake , I have only to say that all masons worked in freestone , both those who received " 4 den " and those who got " x den . " " Freemason " simnlv meant a " 3 den . "Freemason" simply meant a

mason who was free of his gild . And as a corroboration of this we find , that in Scotland they were called Freemenmasons or Freemen of Mason ' s society . Free-. r / 7 w-masons is a mistake . At page 121 , he reiterates the usual

mistakes of Thomas Boswell in 1600 being a Warden , and Robert Moray in 1641 being a Master Mason of the Lodgeof Edinburgh Mary ' s Chapel . As at page 126 , Sir Christopher Wren was not "adopted" until 1691 , he could hardly

be " Grand Master" in 1685 , more especiall y also as there was none such until 1717 . At page 425 of the Freemasons' Magazine for November 1869 , Bro . VI . J . Hughan says that Sir Christopher Wren was " initiated" in 16 91 , but if he received none of our " secrets" or

ceremonies , then I would respectfully suggest that it is much better to use the word " adopted " as by so doing a more correct view of the matter is apt to be given and taken . As to the imaginary remarks at page 139 , about tlie "initiation" of " Fellows , " the writer might do well to read

Schaw ' s 1599 , Statutes which show that two apprentices were bound to be present at the legal admission of all Masters and Fellows then . At page 151 we are told that " The square and compass conjoined was tlie peculiar mark of the ( Masonic ) Fraternity ; " but that is not true . In a

work on Edinburgh , 1 havo it shows the arms of the wrights as " Az . a square and compass or " , and the masons have " Az . on a cheveron betwixt three towers , embattled sab ., a compass or . " So that we here see the wrights carrying the square anti compasses proper . " The united

companies of wrights and masons , commonly known by the name of thc United Incorporation of Mary ' s Chapel , was so erected by a seal of cause from tlie Town Council of Edinburgh , dated Oct . 15 th , 1475 > > t sends a double

representative to the Town Council , namely , one deacon for the wrights and another for the masons . " The engraving of their arms in the work I have shows the shield of the wrights to the dexter , and the masons to the sinister , so

Origin Of Masonry.

that it is the wrights which is here placed first . Ergo , how does that agree with Masonic pretentions ? There is also another point here to which I wish to draw particular attention , viz . : As above stated , the Edinburgh masons only formed part

of the " United Incorporation of Mary ' s Chapel , " consequently the query rises in my mind—What effect would that have upon the minutes of the Edinburgh masons' " lodge ? " These minutes go back to 1598 , but the minutes of the Glasgow "Incorporation" of masons go back to 1600

( only two years between them ) j and as the Glasgow masons after 1600 were an incorporation without the wrights , I would like to know what particular differences or resemblances exist between the minutes of the Edinburgh masons ' lodge and the Glasgow masons' incorporation during the seventeenth century ?

In studying the relative status which the masons held with other crafts in the community , we ought to examine properly what effect the Reformation had upon them specially , so as to understand whether or not it lowered their standing ? If it did not do so in any

essential degree , then all the pretentious stories we have heard about the high standing and abilities of the old operative masons are pure manufactured myths . So far as I have yet been able to make out , the operative mason and the operative

carpenter in Britain appear to have been very much on a par , and certainly I do not remember of any thing which would lead me to put the former above the latter . At page clvi . of Toulmin Smith ' s " English Gilds , " we find a specimen of the power of the smiths at Magdeburg , which ,

with others elsewhere , shows what independence of spirit some of the olcl crafts possessed in Germany ,, and which possibly had considerable weight in enabling the Reformation there to take firmer root . At pages 156 and 158 , a very fanciful and far-fetched comparison is drawn

between Solomon ' s Temple and a Gothic cathedral ! The author should know that there is a great similarity in the description of much of Solomon ' s work and the style of the Assyrian architecture of the period . From a perusal of the description of the lately-discovered Assyrian

palaces , as per Layard's " Nineveh , " & c , we can discover many points of resemblance . Solomon ' s Temple was finished about 2 , 000 years before our Pointed Gothic style arose , and even at the best , as a specimen of architecture , it was but a paltry erection after all , with a good

deal of gingerbread work about it . The Jews were not a nation of builders , hence all that was done in Solomon ' s time was a bit of copying , and that , too , by the help of foreigners . There was nothing new in the style of Solomon ' s little Temple , and certainly if its grand architectural

features consisted in the two brass pillars which stood in front of it , there is hardly much left to boast of in the way of masonry . Besides , among the surrounding nations there were many temples and palaces a hundredfold more magnificent works of architecture than Solomon ' s Temple . Its

great glory—in which it shone supremely conspicuous above all the others—consisted in something else than its ornaments of gold , brass , or precious stones ; and even the circumstance of no tool of iron being used on thc building—the stones

being all cut to order in the quarries—which is made so much of , was nothing extraordinary , but common enough among the Egyptians , and from the description of Solomon ' s Temple given in the Bible , its stonework seems to have been very simple indeed .

Another thought strikes me , viz ., that Bro . Steinbrennncr may have derived his ideas anent Solomon ' s Temple from some of the wonderful fancies of Dr . Mackey , who , in reference to it , says : " This famous fabric was supported by fourteen hundred and fifty-three columns ( he is extremely precise !) and two thousand nine

hundred anti six pilasters , all hewn from the finest Parian marble " ! I was not aware that there was even one marble column in tlie case . Had it been Herod ' s Temple , erected about a thousand years after , which he was treating upon , we might have felt sonic excuse for tlie Doctor , as the following will show , but to manufacture and