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Article EARLY HAUNTS OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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Early Haunts Of Freemasonry.
This distinguished numismatist , antiquary , and mathematician well deserves some notice in the columns of a Masonic Magazine , having himself been also a distinguished member of the fraternity . His father , Martin Ffolkes , Avas a barrister-at-laAV and bencher of Gray ' s Inn , and young Martin , during the seven years—from nine
to sixteen years of age—he spent under the tuition of Mr . Cappel , formerly Hebreiv professor at Saumur , in France , acquired very considerable proficiency in the Greek and Latin classics . In 1707 he matriculated at Clare Hall , Cambridge , and made such rapid progress in all branches of learning , but especially in mathematics and
philosophy , that in 1714 , when still only a little over twenty-three years of age , he was admitted a FCIIOAV of the Royal Society , and tAvo years later was chosen a member of the Council . About this time he made his first communication to the society on the eclipse of a fixed star in Gemini by the body of Jupiter , and several papers , published in the
Philosophical Transactions followed . In December , 1718 , he was , for a second time , chosen member of the Council , and was re-chosen annuallv till 1727 , having the additional distinction , conferred upon
him in 1723 by the illustrious Sir Isaac Newton , of being appointed one of his vice-presidents . On the death of that eminent philosopher in 1727 , Bro . Ffolkes was a candidate with Sir Hans Sloane for the vacant presidency , and though the latter was preferred , Bro . Ffolkes was supported by a large number of the members . In 1729 he once
again was appointed to a seat at the Council board , and so remained till 1741 , when , on the resignation , through advanced age and infirmities , of Sir Hans Sloane , he Avas elected president , having in the interim once again filled the office of vice-president . In 1720 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries , and on the death of its president ,
the Duke of Somerset , in 1750 , Bro . Ffolkes , at the time , one of the vice-presidents , was chosen his successor , being continued in the office by the charter of incorporation of 2 nd November , 1751 . In a feAV months , however , he was incapacitated , by a stroke of palsy , from taking an active part in the fulfilment of his presidential duties in behalf
of either society , and a second stroke put an end to his life in June , 1754 . In 1756 , his library , prints , coins , & c , were sold at a public auction , extending over fifty-six days , and realised not far short of £ 3100 . In 1792 a monument was erected to his memory in
Westminster Abbey . Sir Martin Ffolkes has already been spoken of as a great numismatist , and in 1736 , after a sojourn of some two years in Italy , during which he had excellent opportunities of consulting the best furnished cabinets in that country , he composed and read before the Society of Antiquaries a " Dissertation on the Weights and Values of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Early Haunts Of Freemasonry.
This distinguished numismatist , antiquary , and mathematician well deserves some notice in the columns of a Masonic Magazine , having himself been also a distinguished member of the fraternity . His father , Martin Ffolkes , Avas a barrister-at-laAV and bencher of Gray ' s Inn , and young Martin , during the seven years—from nine
to sixteen years of age—he spent under the tuition of Mr . Cappel , formerly Hebreiv professor at Saumur , in France , acquired very considerable proficiency in the Greek and Latin classics . In 1707 he matriculated at Clare Hall , Cambridge , and made such rapid progress in all branches of learning , but especially in mathematics and
philosophy , that in 1714 , when still only a little over twenty-three years of age , he was admitted a FCIIOAV of the Royal Society , and tAvo years later was chosen a member of the Council . About this time he made his first communication to the society on the eclipse of a fixed star in Gemini by the body of Jupiter , and several papers , published in the
Philosophical Transactions followed . In December , 1718 , he was , for a second time , chosen member of the Council , and was re-chosen annuallv till 1727 , having the additional distinction , conferred upon
him in 1723 by the illustrious Sir Isaac Newton , of being appointed one of his vice-presidents . On the death of that eminent philosopher in 1727 , Bro . Ffolkes was a candidate with Sir Hans Sloane for the vacant presidency , and though the latter was preferred , Bro . Ffolkes was supported by a large number of the members . In 1729 he once
again was appointed to a seat at the Council board , and so remained till 1741 , when , on the resignation , through advanced age and infirmities , of Sir Hans Sloane , he Avas elected president , having in the interim once again filled the office of vice-president . In 1720 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries , and on the death of its president ,
the Duke of Somerset , in 1750 , Bro . Ffolkes , at the time , one of the vice-presidents , was chosen his successor , being continued in the office by the charter of incorporation of 2 nd November , 1751 . In a feAV months , however , he was incapacitated , by a stroke of palsy , from taking an active part in the fulfilment of his presidential duties in behalf
of either society , and a second stroke put an end to his life in June , 1754 . In 1756 , his library , prints , coins , & c , were sold at a public auction , extending over fifty-six days , and realised not far short of £ 3100 . In 1792 a monument was erected to his memory in
Westminster Abbey . Sir Martin Ffolkes has already been spoken of as a great numismatist , and in 1736 , after a sojourn of some two years in Italy , during which he had excellent opportunities of consulting the best furnished cabinets in that country , he composed and read before the Society of Antiquaries a " Dissertation on the Weights and Values of