This Is Freemasonry*

with a secret password and a sign , and bound , under oath , not to divulge the secrets of his art , or the rites and practices of his lodge . This method of secret recognition was a necessity in tbe absence of indentures and diplomas , and could be more safely guarded , Further credentials were also provided in the form of a set of questions ancl answers , forming a sort of catechism which was orally communicatedancl by which the brothers , as they now called one

, another , could identif y themselves when they might travel in search of employment . The German Masons seem to have been the first to travel in foreign countries , work and receive Masters' wages , etc . These catechisms are , in all essential points , preserved in the lectures of the three degrees of modern Freemasonry . At first , the lodges worked entirely independently of each otherunder the direction of the clergyin the building of churches and

, , cathedrals . In the fifteenth century , however , the necessity of further union began to be felt , and the Masons of Southern ancl Central Germany met , revised and codified their regulations , united themselves into a single brotherhood , and declared the Chief of the Lodge at Strasburg Perpetual Grand Master , which seems to be the origin of Grand Lodges and Grand Masters . As the Masons became stronger and more unitedthey were enabled to throw off the

, yoke of the Catholic clergy and to assume the title of Freemasons , distinguished as companies of skilled artificers working under their own Masters , and lending theirservices upon their own terms to their clerical employers . At an early period the German Masons , in their travels and work in foreign countries , introduced Free , Operative Masonry into England . In England , the name Freemason first occurs in a statute of Edward III ., A . D . 1350 , In

the Constitution of the Court of Common Council of the City of London , A . D . 1376 , we find , among tbe several trade guilds , the Masons sending four members and the Freemasons two , thus proving their mutual independence at that early period . Nothing further appears to change the general character of

Freemasonry until after the period of the Reformation , when the impulse for church ancl cathedral building was on the wane , Avhen Operative Masonry began to decline for ivant of work for the Craft . About the year A . D . 1600 Operative Freemasonry found a new held of labour , a new trestleboard of work laid out before it in England , in tho revival of a general taste for art and architecture , ivhich resulted in giving to the world the Free and Accepted Masonry as worked by the Craft of Nevada to-day upon this mountainand by

, the Craft upon every mountain and plain upon the face of the civilized earth . At this time the English nobility aud men of wealth began to vie with each other in their encouragement of architecture , and naturall y became the patrons of Freemasonry , ancl noble , learned , ancl wealth y men were admitted into the Fraternity as a sort of associates or honorary members , or , as they were called by Avay of distinction , " Accepted Masons . " Here began Speculative Masonry

upon English soil , less than three hundred years ago . About A . D . 1700 Freemasonry declined in England , until , to prevent its total extinction , it was resolved " That the principles of Masonry should no longer be restricted to Operative Masons , but extended to men of every profession , provided they were regularly approved and admitted into the Order . " " Here , then , " to quote the words of Dr . Finclelthe great historian of the Craft " we are at the

, , end of Ancient Masonry . The Operative Masons , who for a long time past had been decreasing in number , now acknowledged , by this resolution , that it was out of their power , as Operative Masons , to continue the existence of their fraternity any longer . They had fulfilled their mission b y carefully preserving their ancient laws , traditions , and ceremonies , ancl transmitting them as a heritage to the Grand Lodge of England .- .... The long-contemplated

separation of Freemasons from the OperatiA'e Guilds was now speedily carried into effect , ancl the institution made rapid strides towards a complete ancl perfect transformation . From this material , sloAvly , surely , and regularly , prepared far back in the dim twilight of the Middle Ages , carefully cherished