Freemasonry In Spain.

ance , slavery—for those who are superstitious and ignorant are truly slaves . What is now only required to make our Order a still more potent instrument for good in grand old Spain , is that thc whole of our brethren of the Peninsula should—as one man—support Bro . Romero Ortiz . Let those who have hitherto kept aloof from the Grand Oriente de Espaiia at once give in their unqualified allegiance to their own legitimate Chief . Without unity and

harmony there is not , and cannot be , strengths and we would appeal to the patriotism , the pun d ' onor , of those of our Spanish brethren who still work under warrant oi foreign Orients , and to those vvho continue to " club together , " without any recognised head at all , not only for their own individual sakes , but for the good of Freemasonry in general , to take the initiative ,

without further hesitation , and seek recognition by , and admission into , the Gran Oriente of their own country—the potent , the prosperous , Gran Oriente de Espaiia ! Bro . Romero Ortiz will , we are sure , open wide the gates to allow all Freemasonic compatriots to place themselves under his protection ; and let us assure them ( but where is the need ?) that in Bro . Ortiz they have a Chief whom they should be proud to support and obey 1

Before Bro . Llano-Persi sat down he proposed a very cordial vote of thanks to Bro . Past Grand Master Sagasta , and to the retiring members of Ex . Grand Lodge , vvho had done their duty so well and so faithfully during their respective terms of office . Bro . Grand Master Romero Ortiz again addressed his brethren , to return his thanks to Bro . Llano-Persi for the warm terms of praise which he

had used . He assured them that this vvas one of the days of his life which would always be remembered vvith especial gratitude , as he felt that he now undertook responsibilities which it was indeed a high honour to assume , and he would henceforth devote heart and soul to a cause which was far above politics—in fact , the true cause of social progress and of humanity at large , whose best interests are those which Freemasonry has at heart . He assured

them again that he vvas firmly determined that the Grand Orient of Spain , under his Grand Mastership , should lose nothing of its prestige . " And if it be necessary "¦—continued our illustrious brother— " to purge our Order in Spain of men vvho ought never to have been allowed to enter , and whose presence amongst us is ' undesirable , then in the best interests of Freemasonry in general , I will expel such , without fear or favour ; for it is far preferable

to be few in number , with only upright and honourable men in our midst , than an aggroupation of many , amongst whom there shall be those whose influence and example tend to demoralise our Institution and disturb that harmony and brotherly love which should be our first care lo promote and protect . We only want amongst us men who are levers of progress and of true liberty , because Freemasonry has nothing in common with absolutism or

with religious intolerance , or with those who love moral and intellectual darkness rather than light ! " Thc Grand Orator Substitute ( Bro . Cabrera being absent ) III . Bro . Sergio Martinez del Bosch , next addressed Grand Lodge , and declared that this vvas indeed an auspicious occasion , met together as they were to witness the

installation in the Grand Master's chair of such a venerated brother as Grand Master Ortiz was so universally acknowledged to be . Hi * considered this event a most notable one in the annals of the Grand Orii iu of Spain . He also congratulated his brethren upon the fact that Bro . Ortiz had , as a coadjutor in the Deputy Grand Master ' s chair , such a thoroughly orthodox Mason as Bro . Llano-Persi .

Next followed Bro . General Corona , Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Mexico accredited to His Majesty Don Alfonso XII .,- and also the duly accredited Representative , of the Grand Orient of Mexico to the Grand Orient of Spain . He greeted the newly-installed Grand Master Ortiz in the name of his Mexican brethren , whilst also offering his most fraternal salutations to the retiring Grand Master , the distinguished Bro .

His Excellency Prime Minister Sagasta , whose services lo Freemasonry in Spain whilst he was Grand Master were well known and most gratefully appreciated by thc Transatlantic brethren . He congratulated the assembly present on the excellent choice that has been made of a successor to Bro . Sagasta , and on the notable progress which is being made by our brethren in Spain .

Bro . Montejo-Robledo afterwards returned thanks , on behalf of Bro . Past Grand Master Sagasta , as well as on behalf of the Grand Officers who had just retired—including himself —( Bro . Robledo having been Grand Orator under Bro . Sagasta ) . Bro . Grand Master Ortiz then rose to reciprocate the complimentary phrases of the Representative of the Grand Lodge of Mexico . In conclusion

the " Purse of Charity " went round , and , with the usual formalities , the Grand Lodge was declared closed . The brethren subsequently adjourned to refreshment , an excellent repast having being served . Mutual congratulations were exchanged , and it was evidently the unanimous feeling of all who had been present at the ceremony that the interests of the Craft will be in safe keeping so long as they remain in the hands of the Grand Orient of Spain . ( To be continued . )

Masonic History And Historians.

MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS .

BY AIASONIC STUDENT . There is a point which requires grave attention by Masonic writers much more than it has hitherto received—that is , the influence of Hermeticism on Craft Masonry . The " Textus Receptus " of Masonic history just now seems to be this : that Craft Masonry as revived in 1717 was the continuance and sequence of an earlier Guild system , generally speaking , and that

High Grade and Hermetic Masonry is the result of a Jacobite adaptation of Freemasonry for political or religious purposes , in France , and in which even the Jesuits had a share . But is this view reall y maintainable ? Is there any evidence of a Jacobite Masonry at all , except in the imagination of subsequent writers , and the connection , for instance , of the well-known Chevalier Ramsay , the accredited father of the Hi gh

Grades , with the House of Stuart ? I know of none , though I have seen the statement frequently repeated both by German and Anglo-Saxon writers , and though I have searched carefully everywhere for evidence of thc "fact , " if a " fact . " As regards " Ramsay , " his whole Masonic career is summoned up , as far as we now know , in his two letters to Cardinal Fleury , the " Discours d'Un Grand Maistre , " and the work said to be published by a certain Patrice O'Donoko , at Dublin , and burnt at Rome .

I am now trying to find out when the first reference to Ramsay s oration , ( for , I think , vve may fairly assume it was his ) , was published . It has been asserted that its first mention appeared in a book issued at Frankfort in 1773 . But that is an error , as it is mentioned before that time , and is

Masonic History And Historians.

alluded to in some works I have seen , and now it is said to have been first mentioned in a work at the Hague in 1738 . It seems from Lemontey's , ( a non-Mason ) , " Histoire de la Regence , " that the address was really delivered on the 21 st cf March , 1737 , as appears from a letter from Ramsay to Cardinal Fleury . And then , in consequence of Louis the XV . 's objections to the Order , Ramsay seems , ( it is not quite

clear ) , to have left Freemasonry . He died at St . Germain in 1 743 . Hence his influence on the High Grades must have been very small , if not " nil ; " and it is much more probable that others worked out the idea of his famous address , which , undoubtedly , has in it an outline of the " Knightly theory , " rather than that-he did so himself . He certainly never came to England as

regards Masonry . Did he go to Dublin ? Are there any traces of him in Ireland ? The common statement that he set about in 1728 organizing the High Grades is utterly untenable , and even his " paternity" of the " Rite de Bouillon " is doubtful now , and it seems to be a later production altogether . But still though all this be so , a further question arises , Was there an Hermetic Society in existence at the end of the seventeenth century ?

We pass over the Rose Croix controversy and the Rose Croix treatises , or rather those of the " Fratres Rosje Crucis , " both English and foreign , which can undoubtedly be traced back within a year or so to the first decade of the 17 th century . Indeed the " Chemische Hochzeit " is said by some to have appeared in 1459 , Dut its first printed copy is 1616 , and from various non-Masonic writers vve gather the admission that there vvas an Hermetic Society in being , and of old standing , early in the 17 th century , to which alchemists

and adepts belonged . The common statement that about 1623 a Society of the Rose Croix was formed at Paris , a little earlier in Germany and at the Hague , and in 1650 in London , by Wm . Backouse , Elias Ashmole , Sir John Heydon , and others , has so far received no actual verification , much less Nicolais' theory , often repeated , that in Bacon ' s " Nova Atlantis " vve find the " type " of the Society , and that Freemasonry , as vve have it now , was really founded by Ashmole and a few loyalists in London between 1650 and 1660 .

I do not , however , think that vve can get over the fact of a * Rosicruciaii Society existing in the 17 th century ; how it affected Freemasonry is another and 3 "very difficult question . But vve must not " shirk " the point in our consideration of Masonic History to-day , as we have hitherto done , as it is quite clear now that the commonly received explanation of the High Grade origin is untenable . It

has been pointed out before , that as regards the " Marks , " for instance , many of the so-called Hermetic , Alchemical , Rose Croix Alphabets are found among them , as any one who has " Barrett ' s Magus " can see for himself , and it is just possible that vve have in our speculative Freemasonry to-day a sort of meeting ground and conjunction of the carefully preserved legends and secrets of the old Operative Guilds , mainly confined to the "Master Masons , " all men of intelligence and education , and of the temains

of an occult and Hermetic association , which goes back , under various forms and under different names , to very remote ages . So far the earliest traces I have lighted upon of the "Rose Croix of Herodom " in London is in 176 S , but that depends on the journal of some German Masons vvho visited London in that year and found a chapter under Robert Lintot and Daniel Hintze there working . If vve could li ght upon the minutes o ! that body , we should find how and when it was established in England .

Despite doubts and depreciations , I am , for one , persuaded , if there be any evidence or reality in words , that an Hermetic Society existed in London in 1721 , to which Robert Samber points and partially describes in his preface to " Long Livers , " as the language he uses is entirely alchemical . I trust I have made good my " thesis , " and perhaps other " Masonic Students , " [ ike myself , will contribute a " stone" to the building .

We are all interested in having a correct and reliable history of Freemasonry , free from the " vanities" of the " enthusiast " and the "dreamer , " and which , above all , avoids the tempting , but useless , habit ol ••sheepwalking . " "Realism" is the order of the day ; let us import it into Masonic history .

Masonic Odes And Poems.

MASONIC ODES AND POEMS .

Beyond a few fugitive efforts of more or less merit , principally parodies on well known poems , which have from time to time appeared in the pages of Masonic publications , I am afraid we must admit that the muse has not been kind in regard to the Royal Art . The earlier efforts of our rhyming brethren , beginning with the worthy Birkhcad ' s well-known song , are fearfully and wonderfully made , and for the most part utterly destitute of the

smallest approach to poetry . Not seldom they were profane , oftener they were maudlin , and still more frequently their tone was dissolute . If the character of a nation may be formed by its ballad writers , certainly the character of a society may be discovered by the songs in which it takes delight , and it is to be feared that our brethren of the last century too frequently partook of the loose tone of the society which surrounded them . We are

aware from their old records that the consumption of fluids and tobacco during the hours of labour was very considerable , and when the wine was in , of course the wit vvas out , which accounts in a great measure for trie cordial receptions , vve are told , given to the awful drivel often served up in the shape of songs and odes . That the older of these songs were approved by our brethren is shown by the fact that they appear in all the " companions , "

" handbooks , " and such like of Freemasonry , right away from the first edition of the Constitutions to the end of the 18 th and beginning of the 19 th centuries . About this time there appears to have been some elevation of tone , and from time to time appear in the pages of the several Masonic magazines and reviews , isolated poems unexceptionable in sentiment and sometimes bearing marks of some poetic genius . I believe , however , that I

am correct in saying that the first Masonic poet whose works are of a sufficiently extensive character and of such ability as to justify their appearance in acollected form is Bro . Robert Morris , LL . D . This brother , whose name seems to be a household word in America , may be regarded as the most prolific writer of Masonic poetry the Craft has ever seen , but if he had never written anything beyond his world-known lines , "The Level and the Square , " he would have thereby founded his reputation . But he has done much more

than this , and the revised edition of his Masonic Odes and Poems , published last year , contains some real Masonic gems . I am not going to quote from the volume , because the editor would not thank me for filling up his valuable space by any such performance , but I will ask permission to recommend all brethren who desire to possess a collection of Masonic songs and poems suitable for almost every possible occasion to secure a copy of Bro . Morris ' s unpretentious but neatly-printed volume . T . B . W .