Mark Masonry.

in England abundantly is worthy of , and should require from its members . These are now more than 100 Mark Masons in Cornwall , whereas two years since there were scarcely a dozen .

Freemasonry In Brecknockshire.

FREEMASONRY IN BRECKNOCKSHIRE .

( By our own correspondent . ) Members of the Craft will rejoice to learn that Freemasonry is asserting its vitality in the provinces of AVales ^ as it is Avell knoAvn to have done for some time past in the West Midlands . In thus limiting our remarks to the provinces with which Ave are more intimately acquainted , we by no means ignore the fact that , nationally speaking , Masonry is of itself working silently ,

and for the most part unobservedly , a great social change—a change that is conferring and Avill continue to confer inestimable blessings upon the human family . Sceptics may laugh—those not admitted Avithin its pale may ridicule , and those whose intellect will only enable them to grasp its tangible benefits , may not see its beauty " Avithin the veil , " but these do ' not vitiate its worth , nor will they retard its progress amongst those ivho have the courage to throw off the bonds of prejudice and to

value good in A \* hatever guise it may he presented to them . The ends of Masonry are—the spread of-sympathy and good fellowship amongst its members until they shall , like the rays of the sun , radiate from them and be felt by all nations , and tongues , and peoples ; the alleviation of human suffering wherever it may be felt , but , according to fche scriptural doctrine , its charity beginneth at home ; and lastly the inculcation of the cardinal virtuesto the gloryhonourand adoration of our Fatherthe

, , , , Great Architect of tbe Universe . Its noble charities for the sustenance of aged aud needy brethren , and its magnificent Institutions for the support and education of the children of those whose earthly career has been run , stand out prominently as noble instances of that self-denial and largeness of heart , that delighteth and aboundeth in works of Christian charity , and attest the fact that Masons are not the stolid , gluttonous , Avine-bibbing , plotting , and mysterious

crew the ignorant and narroAV minded represent them to be . But at a time when Masonry is , in spite of its detractors , making such headway in this country , it may not be out of place to give a brief outline of its comparatively modern history .

Between the years 568 and 774 » the Longobards , a German race , overran the whole of Italy , and at last settled themselves in its northern plains , Avhich have since been called after them —Lombardy . They became Christians ; and until this day the kings of Lombardy are crowned with an iron crown , so called from a nail which is said to have been taken from the cross on which the Saviour was crucified being rivetted , into ifc . The Lombards grew into a clever and great nation after the fall of

Rome . The round-headed characters used in Avriting afc the present day were invented by the Lombards . Book-keeping , banks , bills of exchange , commercial ancl maritime laws , public loans , and many other things useful to industry and commerce , all originated in Lombardy . The kings , lords , and municipal bodies of the country , combined in promoting talent and industry . For this purpose it was enacted that everyone who

wished to become an artificer should stud y for a certain number of years—thafc is , serve an apprenticeship ; associations of artificers were formed , to viliich were given exclusive privileges in carrying on their trades , and these associations were culled free corporations and guilds . One of these guilds was formed by the Freemasons , who carried the architecture of their country throughout the whole of Europe . The Freemasonsifc is often assertedoriinated in the building

, , g of the Tower of Babel . Other persons , again , say that they are only so old as the building of Solomon's Temple . It is also asserted that there is nothing to support these notions , not even a tradition . Some historians have fancied that a peculiar Masonic language may be traced in the reigns of Charlemagne the Great , and have therefore maintained that Freemasonry existed in the seventh century in France and land

Eng . The _ masons of Lombard y having joined themselves into a guild in common with other trades , the better to enjoy the exclusive benefit of their *• art and mystery , " as indentures of apprenticeship even now say , they initiated only those Avho were to form members of their body ; they bound them to secrecy by imposing oaths ; they carefully concealed , and even

destroyed , documents Avhich might disclose their knoAvledge ; tiny formed a secret language , that they might describe their art to each other , Avithout uninitiated persons understanding tbem ; and they formed a code of secret signs that they might recognise each other as masons , though personally unknoAvn to each other , and keep strangers from getting into felloAvship with them . They became very skilful masons and bricklayers , especiallthe inhabitants of Comowho

Averethereforedisy , , , tinguished by the name of " Masters from Como ; " and the Lombard kings having been very zealous in spreading the Christian religion , the Freemasons Avere largely employed in filling their dominions with churches and monasteries . Lombardy having at length been covered with those edifices , the Freemasons spread into other countries in search of work . They became troops of labourers following in the tracks of the Christian

missionaries , and building the churches required for the converts ; in fact , no sooner did a missionary reach a remote place to convert the inhabitants than a troop of Freemasons appeared ready to raise a temple in which they might Avorship . The popes of Rome , under these circumstances , were induced to grant protection to the Freemasons in all countries under the Latin and Romanist Church ; they were furnished with papal bulls confirming the corporate powers given to them by the

kings of Lombardy ; granting them exemptions from the laws and taxes which affected the natives of the countries in which they Avorked ; empowering them to fix the price of their labour , and forbidding their native sovereigns from encouraging their own subjects to compete with the Freemasons in their trade , on pain of being treated as rebels . All workmen Avere in short , required to obey the authority given to the Freemasons , on pain of

excommunication ; and this Avas justified by the example of Hiram , king of Tyne , Avhen he sent architects to build the temple of Solomon . The Freemasons were divided into troops or lodges ; the ATVIOIB troop was governed by a surveyor , and each ten of its members were governed by a warden . They came organised in this maaner when required to erect an edifice . First , they builfc temporary huts for their own accommodation ; then the different departments set to work , each under its own Avarden . AVhilsfc each ten men had a particular duty assigned to them

they all laboured in carrying out one common design . One calculated the weight and pressure of the arches ; another fashioned the forms of the pillars , buttresses , and pinnacles ; another raised the Avails ; another carved the stonework ; and so on . The organization of the Freemasons thus lead to a subdivision of labour , and this to excellence and speed iu all partsof the works , as it does in making a pin or a watch . Hence ifc is that in the ancient Gothic structures which are the work of

the Freemasons , nothing has been done in a slovenly manner ; the crypt , which is always buried in darkness under ground , being often decorated with carving as beautiful as that of the nave which is exposed to the light of the day . As an edifice advanced they sent for more of their brethren ; and being authorised by the pope , backed by kings , and upheld in public opinion by tbe sanctity of their Avork , they demanded and

obtained materials , carriages , and manual assistance from the neighbouring gentry . They also imposed conditions on the parishes in which they laboured ; thus a covenant Avas entered into between a lodge of Freemasons and the churchwardens of a parish in Suffolk , during the reign of Henry VI ., amongst the stipulations of which is that every Freemason should be furnished Avith a pair of leather gloves and a white and

apron , that a lodge , properly tiled , should be built for their meetings at the expense of the parish . The privileges conferred upon the Freemasons , the usefulness of their services , and the great wealth which they obtained , tended to swell their numbers greatly . People in all countries sought admission into their ranks ; in fact , no man could Avork as a mason without being a member of these guilds . Thus a

knowledge of architecture was diffused from Italy Avherever the Latin Church Avas spread . As architecture gave dignity to the rites of religion also , the clergy joined the Freemasons thafc they might learn how to practice the arfc . Bishops , abbots , and simple priests gaA * e designs for churches and other ecclesiastical buildings , Avhile the inferior clergy executed the artificers' work , and by these many of the earliest structures were raised . Whilst war

was the pastime of kings and the employment of the people , the clergy in their monasteries were the industrious bees of the community . Often ivhen a new church was required the abbot or superior gave the plan , and while some of the monks raised the Avails , others amongst them wrought the sculptures .