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Article THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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The History Of Freemasonry.
The points of similarity are so varied and distinct that if it he conceded that the legends of the two bodies have been faithfully transmitted from their ancestors of the Middle Ages , the inference is irresistible , either that the masons borrowed from the Compagnons or that the traditions of both associations are inherited from a common original . "
It may also be of importance to note that much of the legend of the origin of Masonry , as detailed in the Old Charges , is in conflict with the traditional history as handed down to us by the chroniclers , and that in no other place than in the Old Charges , so far as has yet been discovered , is this Masonic history to be found .
It must always be a matter of surprise that it has been left to an Englishman to put forth the history of the Craft Gilds in France as probably connected with Freemasonry , the moreso as we are told ( page 178 ) " by a judicious combination of the history of the French Trade Gilds with that of the Gompagnonage , a much better case might be
made out than the Steinmetz theory , requiring for its complete establishment no deliberate falsification of history , as in the former instance , but only a slight amount of faith in some very plausible conclusions and natural deductions from undoubted facts . " And again , " Although French historians could undoubtedly have made out a good and plausible case if they had wished to do so , it is not by any means probable that their theory would have been unassailable . "
In these two chapters Bro . Gould fulfils his promise to the letter , that he will " place the known facts plainly before the reader . " The history of the Craft Gilds leads up very well to the history of the Gompagnonage , and certainly the facts , references , and similarities they contain are most curious and interesting , particularly so to
Freemasons . It is needless here to go through the points of agreement , as they are all clearly and carefully summarised at the end of the volume . The documents produced , and of which translations are given , are of such a valuable character , and will require so much careful study ,
that it will be for the author and publisher alike to consider whether it would not be well to place the originals before us in the form of an appendix . It is true that probably there are iew readers who would ever take the trouble to go through a series of documents printed in crabbed German or old French ; but this few would , we feel
sure , be ever grateful were such a boon to be conferred upon them . The history of Freemasonry is not a subject capable of much emotion of utterance so as to fascinate , and at the same time keep up the interest of the general reader , and to have filled the book with long records would certainly not have been an improvement in the eyes of the greater number . By leaving them out of his text , although
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The History Of Freemasonry.
The points of similarity are so varied and distinct that if it he conceded that the legends of the two bodies have been faithfully transmitted from their ancestors of the Middle Ages , the inference is irresistible , either that the masons borrowed from the Compagnons or that the traditions of both associations are inherited from a common original . "
It may also be of importance to note that much of the legend of the origin of Masonry , as detailed in the Old Charges , is in conflict with the traditional history as handed down to us by the chroniclers , and that in no other place than in the Old Charges , so far as has yet been discovered , is this Masonic history to be found .
It must always be a matter of surprise that it has been left to an Englishman to put forth the history of the Craft Gilds in France as probably connected with Freemasonry , the moreso as we are told ( page 178 ) " by a judicious combination of the history of the French Trade Gilds with that of the Gompagnonage , a much better case might be
made out than the Steinmetz theory , requiring for its complete establishment no deliberate falsification of history , as in the former instance , but only a slight amount of faith in some very plausible conclusions and natural deductions from undoubted facts . " And again , " Although French historians could undoubtedly have made out a good and plausible case if they had wished to do so , it is not by any means probable that their theory would have been unassailable . "
In these two chapters Bro . Gould fulfils his promise to the letter , that he will " place the known facts plainly before the reader . " The history of the Craft Gilds leads up very well to the history of the Gompagnonage , and certainly the facts , references , and similarities they contain are most curious and interesting , particularly so to
Freemasons . It is needless here to go through the points of agreement , as they are all clearly and carefully summarised at the end of the volume . The documents produced , and of which translations are given , are of such a valuable character , and will require so much careful study ,
that it will be for the author and publisher alike to consider whether it would not be well to place the originals before us in the form of an appendix . It is true that probably there are iew readers who would ever take the trouble to go through a series of documents printed in crabbed German or old French ; but this few would , we feel
sure , be ever grateful were such a boon to be conferred upon them . The history of Freemasonry is not a subject capable of much emotion of utterance so as to fascinate , and at the same time keep up the interest of the general reader , and to have filled the book with long records would certainly not have been an improvement in the eyes of the greater number . By leaving them out of his text , although