-
Articles/Ads
Article ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HISTORY OF THE CRAFT. ← Page 5 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.
for the first time satisfactory evidence of their existence ancl proceedings and purpose . And though it must be ever most interesting to all Freemasons , thus to be able to trace the history of tho Gorman
operative " Bauliiitten" or lodges , through several centuries , yet it would be , I venture to tliinkj most unsafe , as it is in truth impossible to contend , or seriously for one moment to suppose , that Freemasonry could have thus sprung up all of a sudden in the
history of the Avorld—could AA'ith all its old legends ancl time-honoured traditions and mysterious symbolism , have been alone the product of the ingenuity and sltill of German stonemasons , and transplanted from Germany to England .
Our learned brother ' s argument , that because he finds the legend of the " Four CroAATiod Martyrs" in our earliest knoAA'n Masonic MS . and traces , as he thinks , of " Yehmic" usages in the Sloano MS . 3329 * therefore our English Freemasonry Avas
introduced by German operative Masons , is , though ingenious and very creditable to his patriotic sympathies , utterly opposed to all the knoAA'n facts of the case , and completely irreconcilable Avith the evidence of liistory , and the Avitness of our OAVII English Masonic traditions .
No doubt Bro . Findel ' s theory is hi itself a very interesting one , and in some respects an easy Avay of surmounting many of the difficulties and peculiarities of on Masonic annals . It may servo also to dispel some of the doubts and remove some of tho objections of hostile criticismbut it
, does by no means clear the Avay perfectly for the Masonic or un-Masonie enquirer , and stdl leaves unaccounted for , on any safe and satisfactory authority , the origin , existence , pirogress , and perpetuation of one of the most remarkable institutions the
world has ever seen . To say notMng now of other patent objections to it , how are Ave to deal , if Ave accept it , -with that very important subject of Masons ' Marks ? Our learned brother E . W . SIMAV
contended some years back , and I have never seen any satisfactory reply to his assertions , that one great principle pervaded all the known Masons' marks in the world , namely ,
that they were outward symbols of an inner meaning or teaching . From the almost innumerable fac-similes ho had collected after many years' arduous labour , Avliich I have myself seen , from all epiarters of the Avorld , he found the same
unity of design and actual identity of form in all the marks he had so carefully gathered together , Avhether they had been found on Egyptian pyramids or Roman Avails , on Hindoo or on Mexican temples , on early or on medteval ecclesiastical buddings , on the stones of Tyre , on tho very buildings of Jerusalem . '
His argument , then , AA'hicli always appeared to my mind irresistible , that Ave have in these Masons' marks a strong proof of the anticpiity of our Order , and of its AA'ide diffusion at a very early period , has recently received a striking confirmation by the underground discoA'ories of
Bro . Lieut . Warren in the Holy City itself , AVIIO has brought to light the long-buried marks of Tyrian and JeAvish Masons . If , liOAvever , Ave accept our learned Bro . Findel ' s theory , Ave must surrender this valuable eA'idenco of the great and real antiquity of Freemasonry .
Believing , then , in common Avith all Avho have had the opportunity of studying Ms most interesting Avork , that a debt of gratitude is OAving to Mm for his careful ancl accurate investigations , and regarding Ms history as a most valuable aid and addition to Masonic literature in generalI still
, think that Ave cannot safely adopt his limited vieAv of the anti quity of the Craft , the late origin he assigns to the operative guilds , or find in his skilfully-developed theory a satisfactory solution of the true and full history of Freemasonry .
2 . There is a second vieAv of the guild theory , AA'hicli I may dismiss with a very short notice , for it is historicall y ancl archroologically untenable . It is that Avhich asserts that the history of Speculative Masonry is to be entirel
y severed from that of the operative guilds , and that though the guilds existed , certainly they had little or nothing in common without our modern Order , and that the revival in 1717 AA'as but the adaptation by Speculative MasonsAA'ithout warrant
, any or natural connection of the phraseology , usages , and legends of the operative guilds . ' In short , to repeat the Abb 6 Grandidier ' s words , Freemasonry , as ive have it to-day ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.
for the first time satisfactory evidence of their existence ancl proceedings and purpose . And though it must be ever most interesting to all Freemasons , thus to be able to trace the history of tho Gorman
operative " Bauliiitten" or lodges , through several centuries , yet it would be , I venture to tliinkj most unsafe , as it is in truth impossible to contend , or seriously for one moment to suppose , that Freemasonry could have thus sprung up all of a sudden in the
history of the Avorld—could AA'ith all its old legends ancl time-honoured traditions and mysterious symbolism , have been alone the product of the ingenuity and sltill of German stonemasons , and transplanted from Germany to England .
Our learned brother ' s argument , that because he finds the legend of the " Four CroAATiod Martyrs" in our earliest knoAA'n Masonic MS . and traces , as he thinks , of " Yehmic" usages in the Sloano MS . 3329 * therefore our English Freemasonry Avas
introduced by German operative Masons , is , though ingenious and very creditable to his patriotic sympathies , utterly opposed to all the knoAA'n facts of the case , and completely irreconcilable Avith the evidence of liistory , and the Avitness of our OAVII English Masonic traditions .
No doubt Bro . Findel ' s theory is hi itself a very interesting one , and in some respects an easy Avay of surmounting many of the difficulties and peculiarities of on Masonic annals . It may servo also to dispel some of the doubts and remove some of tho objections of hostile criticismbut it
, does by no means clear the Avay perfectly for the Masonic or un-Masonie enquirer , and stdl leaves unaccounted for , on any safe and satisfactory authority , the origin , existence , pirogress , and perpetuation of one of the most remarkable institutions the
world has ever seen . To say notMng now of other patent objections to it , how are Ave to deal , if Ave accept it , -with that very important subject of Masons ' Marks ? Our learned brother E . W . SIMAV
contended some years back , and I have never seen any satisfactory reply to his assertions , that one great principle pervaded all the known Masons' marks in the world , namely ,
that they were outward symbols of an inner meaning or teaching . From the almost innumerable fac-similes ho had collected after many years' arduous labour , Avliich I have myself seen , from all epiarters of the Avorld , he found the same
unity of design and actual identity of form in all the marks he had so carefully gathered together , Avhether they had been found on Egyptian pyramids or Roman Avails , on Hindoo or on Mexican temples , on early or on medteval ecclesiastical buddings , on the stones of Tyre , on tho very buildings of Jerusalem . '
His argument , then , AA'hicli always appeared to my mind irresistible , that Ave have in these Masons' marks a strong proof of the anticpiity of our Order , and of its AA'ide diffusion at a very early period , has recently received a striking confirmation by the underground discoA'ories of
Bro . Lieut . Warren in the Holy City itself , AVIIO has brought to light the long-buried marks of Tyrian and JeAvish Masons . If , liOAvever , Ave accept our learned Bro . Findel ' s theory , Ave must surrender this valuable eA'idenco of the great and real antiquity of Freemasonry .
Believing , then , in common Avith all Avho have had the opportunity of studying Ms most interesting Avork , that a debt of gratitude is OAving to Mm for his careful ancl accurate investigations , and regarding Ms history as a most valuable aid and addition to Masonic literature in generalI still
, think that Ave cannot safely adopt his limited vieAv of the anti quity of the Craft , the late origin he assigns to the operative guilds , or find in his skilfully-developed theory a satisfactory solution of the true and full history of Freemasonry .
2 . There is a second vieAv of the guild theory , AA'hicli I may dismiss with a very short notice , for it is historicall y ancl archroologically untenable . It is that Avhich asserts that the history of Speculative Masonry is to be entirel
y severed from that of the operative guilds , and that though the guilds existed , certainly they had little or nothing in common without our modern Order , and that the revival in 1717 AA'as but the adaptation by Speculative MasonsAA'ithout warrant
, any or natural connection of the phraseology , usages , and legends of the operative guilds . ' In short , to repeat the Abb 6 Grandidier ' s words , Freemasonry , as ive have it to-day ,