The Antiquity Of Masonic Degrees.

ture iu its place , and what may be termed the romamce of Masonry . One writer , whose work came into my hands , derives the word ' Mason ' from- the Hebrew word Qspa—makom , place , ( Genesis 1 , 9)—rather far-fetched . Many have tried to trace the growth of Masonry as a secret societhut of coursethis

iny , , quiry must involve more of romance than the other ; and when Masons have found something corresponding to their own system , in any other association , they have not been slow to claim it as a proof of the antiquity and universality of Masonry as now understood , or ( more correctl ) professed . The terms of

architecy ture have always been found admirably adapted to the subjects of theologians and moralists , aud their adoption by them , would soon lead the speculative Mason in the modern sense of the term , to construct a complete system , ' veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols . ' When was itI wonderthat the Bible ,

, , the square , and the compasses were first called ' the three greater lights , ' and the sun , the moon , and the Master Mason , ' the three lesser lights ' of Masonry ? I have heard the Knights Templar ceremonial called ' ¦ Outside Masonry . ' One writer takes it for granted that all the heathen secret societies originated in

Masonry , and that their systems were a corrupted form of Masonry . It has struck me that the very fact of real Masonry being the science and practice of building has kept the Masonic traditions clear from the mixture of Alchemy—though not altogether from Astrology—because astrology required calculation and was a quasi astronomy . There is much in Moslemisn which would accord well

with the romance of Masonry , and hence I was not surprised to find in Caboula Effendi a zealous Mason , Turk as he is . The Jew has contributed abundantly from the Cabala , and has much to tell of Tubal Cain . The Knights Templar , too , gathered much , during the crusades , from many sources , which certainly finds a

place in Modern Masonry , though it led to their overthrow , when the church of Rome found the fraternity likel y to be troublesome , as furnishing a ground for accusing the Templars of pagan practices . There is a curious examination , in Llorente's History of the Spanish Inquisitionof an unfortunate Mason

, who fell into the hands of the Inquisitors . You have , no doubt , read Sorrow ' s account of the Spanish gipsies who seem to have a very Masonic sort of system , and so also have the Moorish families , who preserve a kind of incognito , in Spain . It is curious that the continental Masons declare that they got

Masonry ori g inally from Scotland , whilst tlie Masons here attribute its orig in to the eastern nations . There was a schism to ^ o between the old and new lodges . I was much struck with the eagerness with which Mr . Cooke seizes upon the word ' speculative' and the importance he attaches to the discovery . Surely

a discovery some time ago , of arched passages in the pools of Solomon , will he hailed as equally important , as it will bolster up the myth connected with the Royal Arch ceremonial I suppose that for hunting up these things , and the laws of harmonic progressionthe . writer of the old work on

, Masonry would apply to me the word' speculative , ' in the sense he used it to Masons , for I neither compose music nor play upon any instrument , but I like to know why one note is termed natural and the semitones , flats and sharps , as the case may be . "

Before I had well read the letter , from which the above extracts are taken , another note from the Rev . B . B ., reached me through the kindness of the Rev . A . A ., the former says , in writing to the latter : — " I have read Mr . Cooke ' s book over again , and , lest they should slip out of my memory , jot down a few

observations . " I . T > jj—a city—aresiclence for himself andfamily . In some countries a single habitation is , by the common people , still called a town . " Note on Genesis iv , xvii , by Dr . J . M . Raphall . " II . The context explains the word ' speculative .

And after that was a worthy king in England , that was called Athelstan , and his youngest son loved well the science of Geometry , and he wist well that hand-craft had the practice of the science of Geometry so well as Masons , wherefore he drew him to council aud learned [ the ] practice of that science to his

speculative , for of speculative he was a Master . The practice of that science , what science ? clearly , Geometry . This ' speculative' was a knowledge of geometry . I conceive that the word ' no' should be inserted to make sense before hand-craft . 'He wist well that [ no ] hand-craft had the practice of the

science of geometry so well as Masons , ' It also appears that the writer of the book did not consider L . speculative knowledge as making the possessor aMason , for he writes , ' and he became a Mason himself , ' i . e .,

when he had added the practice of that science to his speculative . He was , clearly , not a Mason when only in possession of the speculative science . " " III . Masons are divided , p . 103 , into ' Masters , Masons , and Fellows , ' not , as now , into Masters , Fellow-Crafts and Apprentices . The reason for admittiug none but free-born is givenand evidently

, relates simply to operatives that no other master might have authority over an . apprentice . At p . 27 , we read , ' the elder sou , Jabal , he was the first , man that ever found geometry and Masonry , and he made houses and [ is ] named in the bible , Pater habitancium in tentoris atque pastorum , that is dwelling houses ;

and he was Cain's Master Mason and governor of all his works , when he made the city of Enock , that was the first city . ' The assumptions here are ' pretty considerable . ' In p . 29 , we are told that at the building of this city , Enock , — ' and there was the science of geometry and Masonry first occupied and

contrened for a science and for a craft , '—another proof that' speculative' was intended to apply to the ' science of geometry , ' apart from handy craft . In p . 61 , speaking of the building of Nineveh and the charge g iven to the Masons , the writer says , — ' And in this manner the craft of Masonry was first preferred

and charged it for a science . ' to me there appears a contradiction to what was said before , but , I suppose , Masons will say that ' in this manner ' must be referred to all that was said before . Their Homer

nnnquam clormitat . In p . 75 , ' Euclid calleth the craft geometry ; ' another proof that ' speculative' and ' handcraft' both are applied to geometry—the speculative and the operative—the science aud the art , p . 81 , ' and the making of Solomon ' s temple that King David began . ' Did King David begin the temple ? It appears that 'the sheriff' ofthe country might be associated in the government of a body of Masons Sonne a garland of nyne diverse preciouse stones , in token of Chivalrye , to be governour of a thousande