Freemasonry About One Hundred And Fifty-Two Tears Old.

monger ' s Society . Such admission had something to do in paving the way for the more easy adoption of the speculative Freemasonry that was afterwards manufactured by Desaguliers & Co . From what I have seen of Mary ' s Chapel records I am convinced

that this is ri ght , and that 1721 may be pointed to as the date of the formal inauguration ' in Scotland of the English system of Freemasonry as manufactured b y Desaguliers , Anderson , & Co . ' " Then let us hear what our talented Brother W . J . Hughau , of Truro , says , viz .: — ' The crafts were

provided for from the 15 th century , and afterwards , without any special distinctions for masons . " Wrichtes aud maisones" were often classed together , and certainl y there was nothing special in the latter , so far as may he gathered by the A . ets of Parliament . We read of the wardens and deaknes of craftsbut

, never as applied exclusivel y to Masonry . Why ? Surely because that as a bodv it contained nothing requiring different legislation " to the others . Some centuries ago it was provided that the sums of money "Imployed by any corporation , guild , fraternity , company ,, or fellowshi of mystery or craft

p any towards % he maintenance of any priest , anniversary , obit , lamp , light , or the like , " had to be paid yearly as a rent charge to the King , his heirs , ' & c . " From the foregoing we learn two things- First , that there is no documentary evidence yet discovered , nor , I fear , discoverable , of the existence of Free .

masonry previous to the last century ; but that the mass of documentary evidence extant points to the period , t ; f the rei gn of George I . ( 1714 to 1727 ) as the time when Freemasonry , its doctrines and rituals included , was instituted . Second , without going further back at present , the mass of documentary evidence extantfrom the 14 th to the 17 th centuries

, , proves that the mason ' s lodge , societv , corporation , or fraternity , was just the same as the other trades societies or fraternities ; ancl the ' luge' at first was simply the shed or erection in which the masons worked , as in the Aberdeen Burgh Records , fifteenth century , we read of a mason contracting ' to mak glide service in the

luge and vteuche to the bisin , ' & c . ( That is to say—that he engaged to work in a faithful and tradesmanlike manner , both in the lodge and out of it , towards the erection of a certain building then going on ) . And not only was the fraternity idea strong m the crafts , but even the whole communit

y of a town was sometimes taken as a brotherhood , as at page 448 of Aberdeen Burgh Records , Spalding Club , date 1530 , it speaks of ' brithers withm ane gude tonne dwelland . ' The whole of the extracts upon this page are of the utmost interest to the Masonic student as showing how ideas , & c , that openl in

were y practised the sixteenth century , were afterwards adopted by the Masons in the eighteenth century as part of their special secrets ancl private property . I might have copied it off , but I fear I am perhaps talcing up too much of your space as it is . * " Lastly , now a few words anent the Master Mason degree . In the old operative lodge there was the apprentice who came to learn his trade , then the

fellow-of-craft and master , who employed men to work for him . There was also the master of the lodge , which was an office not a degree . When admitted into the lodge the apprentice seems to have received a wordand any ceremony used in iving it was simple

, g indeed ; in fact , I am not prepared to say that the entry of an apprentice mason , in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries , say , was in any particular point different from that of an apprentice cordiner . However , being once admitted , our apprentices were now eligible to be present at all meetings , no matter what

business was transacting . Previous to the eighteenth century there was no such thing as a 'Master Mason ' s degree , ' at which none but those who had received that' degree ' were present ; for at the admission of all masters and fellows , apprentices were bound to be present by the rulesconsequentlyhad

, , any ' degree ' been worked , the apprentice would have seen it . It could not , therefore , be a secret or separate degree . In reference to this , Bro . Hughan says , 'No proof of the 3 rd degree having been worked as a degree , apart from any other degree , and confined to members only of that degreeanterior to the 18 th

, century has ever been given . Let those that say that such ever occurred before produce the necessary documentary evidence . Mere traditions and legends can be produced to prove the greatest absurdities , and the most palpable lies in creation . ' Then Bro . Lyon says , ' It has hitherto been pointed to in proof of

the antiquity of the 3 rd degree that Robert Moray , a soldier , was made a Master Mason in 1641 , iu Mary ' s Chapel . He was not made a Master Mason , but , like some other non-operatives , had an honorary connexion with that Mason ' s society . " Bro . Lyon also positively asserts that the ' Master Masons' of operative times were simply bona fide employers of

labour , and not until after 1717 , but in or before 1735 , was the ' degree ' of Master Mason ever worked in Mother Kilwinning Lodge . " I may here observe that Desaguliers visited Mary ' s Chapel Lodge in Edinburgh 1721 . He was Grand Master of England in 1719 . He was a great

mathematician , mechanic , and natural philosopher , ancl no doubt to his position and influence Freemasonry was greatly indebted at its start . In Buckle ' s ' History of Civilisation , ' Desaguliers is said to have been ' the first who popularized natural philosophy . ' All thisthereforebrings me to the conclusion I

, , started with , viz ., that the Reformation preceded Freemasonry , and that said Freemasonry is only about a century and a half old , and that there was no Master Mason ' degree , ' or anything like it , worked until after 1717 . I challenge all and sundry to bring forward the least substantial proof of the contrary . And as

for Royal Arch Masonry and the whole host of chivalric degrees , they are all based upon speculative Masonry , and sprang up after it , and are all less than a century and a half old . —I am , & c , " Glasgow , 12 th August , 1869 . " W . P . B . "

Bibles, &C., And Decapitation Of Bro. Melville (P. 129.)

BIBLES , & c ., AND DECAPITATION OF BRO . MELVILLE ( p . 129 . )

TO THE EDITOK 01- THE FI . EE 3 USO . rs' 2 TAGAZINE AND MASONIC SIIKEOE .

Dear Sir and Brother , — Our mystery-monger , adopter , and mudifier of other people ' s ideas is at