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Article WAS SHAKESPEARE A FREEMASON ? ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Was Shakespeare A Freemason ?
In the same play we learn how the brethren should dwell together in unity-Should square between themselves , And cement their divisions . Again , in The Winter ' s Tale , observe how Leontes evidently attaches the same meaning to the word when he says ,
Oh that I had over squared me to thy counsel . And in Measure for Measure occurs the beautiful reproof given by the Duke to Barnadine , as one who Apprehends no further than this world , And squarest thy life according .
We could almost be content to rest our claim to consider the Great Magician one of our Brotherhood upon these evidences ; but we proceed , even although in our next illustration we find ourselves sadly admonished by learning that even Masons are sometimes not above taking advantage of each other , for does not Trinculo , in The Tempest , pleasantly justify theft by his droll remark—We steal by line and level .
But let us endeavour to deal with the vexed question of oaths , about which we have heard and read so much of late . How striking are the words of Suffolk in Henry VI .: A dreadful oath , sworn with a solemn tongue . A nd again , in the Comedy of Errors , where we read : It is a branch and parcel of my oath , A charitable duty of my order .
In Measure for Measure we not only obtain the following brief reference to the secret!— It is a mystery ! but we are darkly and impressively warned : 'Tis a secret must be locked between the teeth and the lips .
And in King John occur the following lines , which we are satisfied to quote without comment or remark of any kind—And whisper one another in the ear , And he that speaks doth grasp the hearer ' s wrist . Let us ask next if we can learn aught respecting the different grades and steps
in the Order . Take two quotations . In Henry VI . we read : Thou wast installed in that high degree . Again , in Twelfth Night : He ' s in the third degree . In Henry V . we find a quaint passage :
Singing Masons , building roofs of gold . from which it would seem that our ancient Brethren were accustomed to sing while at labour . Times are changed somewhat in this respect also . Our modern Brethren take to their work sadly and decorously , and reserve their singing for refreshment . But once more . Shall we make the attempt to discover any idea as to what the Brotherhood was , then as now ? Is it our desire that the world
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Was Shakespeare A Freemason ?
In the same play we learn how the brethren should dwell together in unity-Should square between themselves , And cement their divisions . Again , in The Winter ' s Tale , observe how Leontes evidently attaches the same meaning to the word when he says ,
Oh that I had over squared me to thy counsel . And in Measure for Measure occurs the beautiful reproof given by the Duke to Barnadine , as one who Apprehends no further than this world , And squarest thy life according .
We could almost be content to rest our claim to consider the Great Magician one of our Brotherhood upon these evidences ; but we proceed , even although in our next illustration we find ourselves sadly admonished by learning that even Masons are sometimes not above taking advantage of each other , for does not Trinculo , in The Tempest , pleasantly justify theft by his droll remark—We steal by line and level .
But let us endeavour to deal with the vexed question of oaths , about which we have heard and read so much of late . How striking are the words of Suffolk in Henry VI .: A dreadful oath , sworn with a solemn tongue . A nd again , in the Comedy of Errors , where we read : It is a branch and parcel of my oath , A charitable duty of my order .
In Measure for Measure we not only obtain the following brief reference to the secret!— It is a mystery ! but we are darkly and impressively warned : 'Tis a secret must be locked between the teeth and the lips .
And in King John occur the following lines , which we are satisfied to quote without comment or remark of any kind—And whisper one another in the ear , And he that speaks doth grasp the hearer ' s wrist . Let us ask next if we can learn aught respecting the different grades and steps
in the Order . Take two quotations . In Henry VI . we read : Thou wast installed in that high degree . Again , in Twelfth Night : He ' s in the third degree . In Henry V . we find a quaint passage :
Singing Masons , building roofs of gold . from which it would seem that our ancient Brethren were accustomed to sing while at labour . Times are changed somewhat in this respect also . Our modern Brethren take to their work sadly and decorously , and reserve their singing for refreshment . But once more . Shall we make the attempt to discover any idea as to what the Brotherhood was , then as now ? Is it our desire that the world