Agents.

Agents .

—•—AMERICA : Bro . J . FLETCHEB BUENNAN , 114 , Mainstreet , Cincinnati , Ohio . CANADA : Messrs . DEVRIE & SON , Ottawa . < 3 EYL 0 N : Messrs . W . L . SKBENE & Co ., Golumbo . CONSTANTINOPLE : Bro . J . L . HANLT , Levant Times '

EAST INDIES : Allahabad : Messrs . WTMAK BROS . . Byculla : Bro . GEO . BEASE . Central Provinces : Bro . F . J . JORDAN . Kurrachee : Bro . G . C . BRAYSON . Madras : Mr . CALEB FOSTER . Mhow : Bro . COWASJEE NUSSERWANJEE .

Poona : Bro . W . W ELLIS . GALATA : IPSICK K AHN , Perehembe ' -Bajar . PARIS : M . D ECHEVAUX-DUMESNIL , Rue de Harlay-du-Palais , 20 , near the Pont Neuf ; Editor Le Franc-Macon . And all Booksellers and Newsagents in Great Britain and Ireland .

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NOW READY , Cases to hold i copies of " The Freemason , " 1 / G . Cases to hold 52 copies of ''The Freemason , " 2 / 6 . With THE FREEMASON emblematically depicted , and other Masonic emblems in gold . To be bad at the Offices , 3 & 4 , Little Britain .

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All communications for TUB FREEMASON should be written legibly , on one side ofthe 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 of every writer must be sent to us in confidence

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C|cjfreenutsmt, SATURDAY , JULY 24 , 1869 . THB FUKSMASOX is published on Saturday Mornings in timo for tho early trains . The price of Tan F UBSMHSOS is Twopence per week ; quarterly subscription ( including postage ) 3 s . 3 d . Annual Sutis <; vi \ iUau , l 2 s . Subscriptions ! pay ablo in advance . All communications , letters , Jtc ., to bo addressed to the EDITOR , 3 & 1 , Little Britain , K . C . The Editor will pay careful attention to allMSS . entrusted to him , but cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by postage stamps .

Masonic History.

MASONIC HISTORY .

ON one occasion it was our lot to be present at cortain excavations undertaken , with the view of disinterring the foundations of a very ancient edifice , supposed to have been erected in the . ante-Christian era .

The antiquity of the structure was clearly demonstrated to tho satisfaction of antiquarian and archaeological observers , and tho tradition which ascribed its orig in to the Romans was fully borne out . Upon the solid Roman

masonry appeared evidences of the less skilful handiwork of the early Saxon age , whilo later additions and developments were plainly attributable to tho Norman and mediaeval periods . However , notwithstanding the irrefragable proofs

afforded by tho architecture of the building , doubts and denials began to prevail , when , upon laying bare tho foundation stone , one of the workmen discovered a human skeleton , the cranium of which was at once pronounced to bo

neither Roman nor pure Saxon . How came the bones in that particular spot ! was the universal enquiry . They could not have been placed there more than four hundred years it was alleged , and yet they wero found in the debris

of the Roman base , at a considerable distance below the surface . At length it was ascertained that an eccentric nobleman , who died in tho fifteenth century , had ordered his body to be

buried without coffin or shroud , many feet deep in tho earth , where no other human remains wero likely to bo deposited . Upon this tho doubts of the sceptical vanished , and the ancient character of tho edifice was no longer disputed .

Masonic History.

JNow , we propose to apply the moral of the above narration to Freemasonry . As far as written records are concerned , we should be puzzled to prove that the Order existed as a speculative institution much before the days of

Elias Ashmole , who was initiated at Warrington in 1646 , and who attended a Lodge in London nearly forty years later . The admission of the famous Sir Christopher Wren took place in

1691 , and by an easy transition we are brought down to the Georgian era , when the Grand Lodge of England was constituted in 1717 , since which period the history of Freemasonry is clear , continuous , and regular .

We want more light as to the transactions of the Fraternity during the reigns of the Stuarts , and we desire to find traces of its existence in England at a still earlier stage of our national history .

What has been called the guild theory directs our attention to the sodalities of operative masons and builders which flourished during the middle ages , and by whose exquisite skill and workmanship the many beautiful cathedrals and

castles of Europe were constructed . The perfection of their work , its harmony with the laws of proportion and geometry—its solidity and strength—are marvellous when we consider the ignorance and darkness which

prevailed m their days , and it has bean well observed that the architectural art must have been handed down as a sacred tradition from father to son , and from master to apprentice in those renowned societies .

So far as Scotland is concerned , thanks to the untiring industry and zeal of such brethren as David Murray Lyon and William James Hughan , we are enabled to obtain a valuable insi ght into the working of certain operative Lodges , which

existed long beforo the infusion of the speculative element into tho Masonic Order . The government of the Craft , in its sub-divisions or Lodges , appears to have been altered to a very

trifling extent since those days , and the same may be said with reference to the German associations of artizans in brick und stone , who were banded together for similar purposes and under similar laws .

There is , however , an absolute dearth of reliable information when we endeavour to investigate the history of those operative fraternities in England . ' All is mere guess-work , or simple conjecture on- this point , and it is

certainly strange that records should be so p lentiful in Scotland , and so rare , if not altogether unknown in England . Cannot something be done to ascertain if such documents still exist 1 Can wc not bridge over the period

which intervenes between the last of the Plantagenets and the first of the Stuarts , and so prove the connection of tho modern Craft with the travelling stonemasons of the mediaeval era 1 Let us try back , and perhaps , like the

example we have quoted , it will be found that speculative Freemasonry , as the offspring of the operative institution , may be traced back , step by step , to tho Dionysian artificers and the builders' colleges at Rome , and that the

antiquity assigned to tho Order by tradition may bo thus fully substantiated . Freemasonry is probably tho development , from ago to age , under different conditions of society , and varying phases

of thought , of the great idea of human fraternity , and every fact relating to its history and progress is precious . It is true that difficulties beset the ' path of investigation , and very in-

Masonic History.

genious theories have been demolished , owing to the appearance of discrepancies in the evidence , like the discovery of Norman cheek-bones in foundations dug by Caesar ' s soldiers . Easy solutions of those doubts , disregarded because they

are easy , may , we apprehend , be discovered in course of time , and at any rate we commend the consideration of the subject to those diligent students by whose exertions so much has been already achieved in the field of Masonic literature .

Tempora Mutantur.

TEMPORA MUTANTUR .

The Grand Orient de France , which so recentl y as last week was so peremptorily commanded by the Grand Master , General AJellinet , not to

discuss anything relating to the CEcumenical Council , is , nevertheless , the same philanthropic authority that was allowed to indite , two years ago , the following noble words to its brethren in Brazil : —

" The Supreme Council of the Grand Orient of France requests the Brazilian Freemasons not to keep slaves any longer for their own use , if they wish to be acknowledged as Masons by their brethren in France , as slavery is against the spirit

of the Brotherhood . The bupreme Council declares further , that the Grand Orient of France would break off all official connection with the

Grand Orient of Brazil , in case of the latter not taking immediate steps aud using its best efforts to bring about the abolition of that abominable institution , slavery . "

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

—«—" Domatic" Lodge . —Can any Brother give me the correct meaning of this name 1—R . T . - . i I am glad to see the able remarks of " Leo " on the " Labnrum , " in THE FREEMASON of 10 th inst . '' Leo" wields a trenchant blade for the

demolition of absurd legends , and is a veritable iconoclast in Freemasonvy , but what he says is evidently the result of thought , and however widely we may dissent from his conclusions every one must admit his sincerity , earnestness and ability . His interpretation of the word " Labarum " merits praise for its originality and

ingenuity . The XP , I may remark , was graven upon the tomb-stones or memorial slabs of many clergymen in the pre-Reformation period , as a symbol of priesthood , and it is at the present time used as a favorite monogram in the decoration of churches . I hope " Leo " will prosecutehis enquiries upon the subject , and communicate the result to your readers . —R . W . L .

Historical Commission . —Tho Historical Commissioners have appointed four travelling deputies , one each for England , Ireland , Scotland , and Wales , who will havo to visit country houses and report on the literary treasures that may be found in them . Such is the contents of a

paragraph going the round of the papers . A body so rich and important as the Grand Lodgo of England might take a hint from tho above , and employ and send a duly qualified deputy through the different seats of Masonry in England , in order to report on whatever literary Masonic treasures they may find . So also might

the Grand Lodge of Scotland do , there being a great deal of very valuable Masonic information scattered throughout different places of Scotland , which , if gathered together by some one who had the time and ability to do it , would be of great service in advancing our knowledge of Masonry . —LEO .

]) n . l ) or >» . —In an oration at the dedication of Freemasons' Hall , London , on . May 23 rd , 1776 , Dr . Doild thus addressed the Deity : — " Consummate Architect and wondrous Geometrician , direct us to make the Blessed Volume of Thy instructive wisdom the never-erring Square by which to regulate our conduct ; the Compass , within whose Circle wo shall ever walk with safety and peace ; tho infallible Plumb , line and criterion of rectitude and truth ! "