Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 2.

existed , " between the mediaeval guilds and the Roman colleges , he goes on to ask , whether the former be a " direct continuation " of the latterwhether " there exists sufficient historical proof to justify the tracing back the Fraternity of Masons

to tho building corporation of Rome " ? And though he has thought well to answer both these questions iu the negative , and to say , that " attempts to trace the history of Freemasonry further back than the middle ages , have been up

to the present time most decided failures / ' I think he has allowed his preference of his own view , to blind him somewhat to the result of the

researches of those able brethren who advocate the connection between the mediaeval guilds and the Roman Collegia , and that he has not given sufficient weight to the evidence which may be adduced in support of this larger theory of

Masonic history . It is impossible to hope to find to-day , historical evidence of a perfect uniformity of ritual and ceremony , of customs and usages , in which some set so much store , between the present and the

past . Indeed if that be requisite , Bro . Kndel ' s argument in respect of the German Steinmetzen utterly breaks down , for he himself admits that a " complete insight into the customs in use among the Fraternity of stonemasons , into their ori gin and

progress , will most likely never be vouchsafed to us . " * Nevertheless he goes on to contend , that they were the forefathers of modern German Speculative Masons , aud in all essential particulars identical .

I would only adopt my learned brothers ' own admission and argument , and apply it to the view I am now advocating . hi common with those who maintain the same view of Masonic bistoryf I contend , that the

evidence we are already in possession of , to link us on to the building colleges of the Romans , and thence to Grecian communities and E gyptian mysteries , is very clear and very striking , and cannot any longer be disputed or cavilled at .

Ifc amounts simply to this , that colleges of architects and sodalities of architecture existed amo ; . g the Romans , Greeks and Egyptians , that the science of architecture was carefully guarded as a mystery , and so handed on to later times , that

Illustrations Of The History Of The Craft.—No. 2.

the Masonic symbols , and Masonic usages and customs were the same in successive ages . There is abundance of evidence to shew , that these institutions and brotherhoods and communities resembled our Masonic Order in many

striking particulars , that the same tokens are to be met with as used by the ancients and by ourselves , alike in coins and mural paintings , alike in classic inscription and architectural remains , and that the counterpart of our Speculative

Masonic teaching and symbolism , may be found in many old legends and manuscripts , and may he traced in many early writers . Surely all this amounts to a very great body of evidence , which requires to be carefully considered and respectfully treated , and cannot , as it ought

not to be hastily dismissed , without due weight being given , to what may be incontestably proved , in favour -of any favourite hypothesis or preconceived opinion of what the History of Preemasonry can safely be supposed to be .

That there are many difficulties in the way of a perfect developement of this last theory , no one can deny , but they are not really greater than attend on Bro . Findel ' s more limited view , and such a difficulty , after the lapse of centuries , must

be reasonably expected , as well as from the peculiar condition of the Masonic system ! I hope in the next chapter , to put before my brethren what is really the amount of reasonable evidence , or even any view at all of Masonic history , as regards the ancient building colleges and sodaifcies , up to the fall of the Roman Empire .

The Red Cross Of Rome And Constantine.

THE RED CROSS OF ROME AND CONSTANTINE .

By Bno . > £ t 0 . FITZGERALD MATIEU , 30 ° , a Grand Steward , G . L ., Scotland . I have been exceedingly amused by the notes " hastily compiled for the forthcoming- edition " of Bro . Macoy's "Cyclopedia and Dictionary of Preemasonry , " published in a contemporary as

emanating from Bro . R . W . Little . Had this gentleman , the historian , and , if I am correctly informed , the author and founder , or at least the chief corner stone of the Masonic Order which has usurped the title it assumes , simply confined his remarks and

notes to a chronicle of what constituted a Conclave of his Order , or to what class of meetings , the terms Senate and College were to be applied , and the duties of the various office bearers , we could have passed it by with a smile at the ridiculous