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ENTRANCE TO THE DUOMO OF FLORENCE. 
 
THE 
 
 EARLY HISTORY 
 
 AND 
 
 Antiquities of Freemasonry, 
 
 AS CONNECTED WITH ANCIENT NORSE GUILDS, AND THE ORIENTAL 
 AND MEDLEVAL BUILDING FRATERNITIES. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 THE LEGEND OF PRINCE EDWARD. 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE F. FORT. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 BRADLEY & COMPANY, 
 66 North Fourth Street. 
 1884. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by 
 
 GEORGE F. FORT, 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 V**^^ J. FAGAN k SON, 3a ^b^ fc 
 
 PRINTED BY FERGUSON BROS. A CO., PHILAD'A. 
 
 i 
 
HE following work has been written to supply a want 
 long felt by members of the Masonic fraternity, and 
 also, it is believed, by uninitiates. Innumerable 
 books have appeared from time to time, professedly 
 histories of the Craft, which, on examination, prove to be a mere 
 repetition of unreliable legends, whose only claim to attention is 
 undoubted age. During the past century, an unfortunate spirit 
 manifested itself among writers on the subject of Freemasonry, — 
 without critical examination of authorities considered reliable, the 
 sole purpose seems to have been to produce before the initiate and 
 profane, propositions of an antiquity whose proofs were essentially 
 silly and absurd. While Masonic authors have, in many instances, 
 carefully collected material which added to a fairer and more cor- 
 rect appreciation of Lodge ritualism, its general scope and purpose, 
 a too palpable reiteration of unsubstantial and flimsy traditions 
 has at length impressed the minds of members and others that no 
 other origin of the fraternity can be received than that which leads 
 back to the Solomonian Temple at Jerusalem ; and, indeed, until 
 within a few years past, it was gravely asserted that Masonry had 
 begun in the garden of Eden. As a consequence of such untimely 
 deductions, a well-defined scepticism naturally sprung up, which, 
 with every appearance of reason, doubted the remote antiquity of 
 the Society, and, as an ultimate concession, maintained its mediaeval 
 creation. 
 
 The present work is the result of years of labor, whose original 
 and persistent design has uniformly been to arrive at truth. Often- 
 times the author has attempted to verify the quaint assertion of 
 Masonic chronicles with undisputed historical evidence, and in no 
 instance are traditions resting on unsubstantiated ground adduced 
 as corroborative testimony of the line of research which, after 
 careful examination of facts, he has adopted. 
 
 iii 
 
iv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It may be added that mere legends or guildic tales do Dot appear 
 in this book, unless produced in that portion of the treatise aban- 
 doned expressly to the traditional history of the Fraternity. Fre- 
 quently, isolated parcels, embodied in gossiping manuscripts, have 
 been raised to the dignity of specific mention on account of 
 additional attestation furnished by unequivocal authorities. In a 
 word, the constant and invariable tendency of the author in the 
 ensuing pages is to bring the history and antiquities of the Craft 
 down to an undisputed historical basis ; and, in the pursuance of 
 this object, he was frequently compelled to abandon the usual track 
 followed by writers on this subject, and to rely upon authorities 
 whose testimony — found noted in the margin — will be accepted 
 without suspicion of intemperate or uncritical zeal. Finally, and 
 upon this point the author desires to be particularly understood, 
 this work aspires only to such reliability as is usually awarded to 
 carefully prepared histories. 
 
 The immediate argument and scope of the treatise may be briefly 
 stated as follows : To commence with a narrative of the state of 
 fine arts at the decline of the Roman empire, and also of the prop- 
 agation of architecture and its kindred sciences by bodies of 
 builders, who developed into the Middle- Age Freemasons, whose 
 history is carried down to the formal extinction of this society as 
 an operative brotherhood, in the year 1717. 
 
 The author candidly avows that the First Part of the present work 
 is purely an historical thread and preface to the subsequent or 
 archaeological portion, upon which especial care and research have 
 been bestowed. For the purpose of aiding in its preparation, many 
 of the principal libraries of Europe were visited by the writer, and 
 important material otherwise obtained while sojourning abroad. 
 
 Among the several Appendices will be found a Contribution to 
 the History of the Lost Word, together with other valuable docu- 
 mentary evidence, which is added to make the same more accessible 
 to the public and fraternity at large. 
 
 The author entertains a hope that his work will find its way into 
 the hands of those who are not members of the Fraternity, and begs 
 leave to say emphatically that the treatise has not been prepared 
 exclusively for Freemasons. 
 
 Geo. F. Fort. 
 
CHAPTER L 
 
 PAGE 
 
 State of Fine Arts in Europe from the Fall of Rome to Constantine the 
 Great — Architecture Revived in the West under Theoderich the 
 Goth — Byzantine Builders in Europe — They follow their own Laws, 
 and are allowed especial Franchises 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Secret Societies Forbidden by Roman Emperors — Guilds in Italy at an 
 Early Age — Papal Indulgences to Building Corporations — Masters 
 of Como in the Seventh Century 32 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Architecture and other Arts Patronized by Charlemagne — Establishes 
 Educational Institutions in his Empire — Iconoclastic War under Leo, 
 the Isaurian, in the Seventh Century — Greek Artists Flee to Europe 
 and receive Pontifical Protection — Image Worship Maintained by 
 Charlemagne — Byzantine Art Corporations Invited to Italy — Scho- 
 lastic Culture and the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences — Mechanical 
 Trades in Monasteries — Saint Eloi and the Craftsmen — Mosaic Work 
 — Apprentices and Masters 37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Advance of Art in the Monasteries — Clerical Architects — Skilled 
 Painters and Sculptors in Convents — Pupils Organized into Grades or 
 Degrees — Modification of Architectural Style in Tenth Century — 
 Continuation of Grecian Influence — Tendency to Symbolism — Pro- 
 gress in Art Stayed until the Eleventh Century 47 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Social Changes in the Eleventh Century — Individualizing Tendencies of 
 the Middle Ages — Feudal System — Struggle for Personal Liberty — 
 Freemasonry Preserves the Characteristics of this Epoch — Communal 
 
 v 
 
vi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 or Guildic Privileges Asserted — Kapid Spread of Mechanical Guilds or 
 Societies — First General Development in Towns and Cities — Corpo- 
 rations of Tradesmen and Immunities — Early Charter to Commune — 
 Laymen Acquire Knowledge of Building Art from Ecclesiastics — Lay 
 Artisans become closely United 54 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Propagation of Societies or Guilds for Mutual Protection — Concessions 
 to Guildic Tradesmen — Mediaeval Craftsmen Organized into Mutual- 
 Help Associations — Their Importance and Extent — Unsuccessful 
 Efforts to Destroy them — Right of Internal Government Recognized.. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Guilds of Freemasons in the Eleventh Century — Building Art passes 
 from the Church to Organized Craftsmen — Ecclesiastics still form Part 
 of Masonic Bodies — Vast Structures Erected in this and ensuing Cen- 
 turies — Skilled Workmen alone Admitted among Freemasons — They 
 Work on Uniform Plans and Preserve Traditional Types — Degrees of 
 Apprentice, Fellow or Companion, and Master — Religious Tendency 
 of Mediaeval Masons — Salutary Effect of these Craftsmen on Archi- 
 tecture — They go from Province to Province, Constructing Sacred and 
 other Edifices 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Uncertainty of Masonic History at this Epoch — John Moreau Builds 
 Melrose Abbey in the Twelfth Century — A French Mason — Great 
 Britain depends on Gallic Craftsmen for Builders — William of Sens 
 — Moreau, Master of Scottish Masons — Architecture Changes to 
 Lancet or Gothic Style — Building Art in Germany — Cathedrals of 
 Cologne and Strassburg — The Last begun by Greek Artists — Erwin 
 of Steinbach, the Master Builder — His Daughter, Sabina, a Skilled 
 Architect — Church of Saint Stephen at Vienna 75 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Constructive Art in Italy — Cathedral at Pisa Built by Eastern Architects 
 — Buschetto, Master Builder — Italian Craftsmen of this Epoch — Ec- 
 clesiastic or Dominican Masons — Teutonic Masters in Italy — Bridge- 
 Builders — Guilds of Freemasons or Stonecutters in Florence — Fra 
 Guilelmo Works in a Masonic Lodge at Santa Croce — German 
 Masters — Lodge of Masons at Orvieto in the Thirteenth Century — 
 Italian Mngistri Lapidum — General or Grand Master Architect of the 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 vii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Florentine Campanile — Italy Imitates the Architecture of Germanic 
 Masters Imported thither to Construct Cathedrals 83 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Spanish Builders — The Netherlands early Eeceive the Impetus of Teu- 
 tonic Art — Builders from Cologne and Strassburg Employed there — 
 German Masters in Scandinavia — Germany Radiates Gothic Types 
 into France — Notre Dame de Paris Built by Jean de Chelles, Master 
 Mason 97 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Early History of French Masons — Rules of Saint Eloi Preserved in the 
 Fifteenth Century — Duration of Apprenticeship — Boileau, by Royal 
 Authority, Digests Ancient Masonic Laws — Candidates must Conform 
 to Usages and Customs of the Craft — None of Equivocal Birth to be 
 Received — Grand Master Recognized in 1254 — Master Masons must 
 Swear before Him — Nature of Mediaeval Obligation — Grand Master's 
 Power to Forbid the Trade to a Delinquent Craftsman — Tools should 
 be Seized — Concessions alleged to be Granted by Charles Martel 103 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Authentic British Craft History first Met in Melrose Abbey — Free- 
 masons Organized in England in Thirteenth Century — Traditional As- 
 sembly of Masons at York not Reliable — Halliwell Manuscript; Its 
 Antiquity ; Copied from an Older Original — Naymus Graecus and 
 Charles Martel also Patrons of English Craftsmen — Masonic Legends 
 Indicate an Eastern Origin — Gallic Builders in Britain — When In- 
 troduced from France — German Masters Called to England — Legend 
 of the Four Martyrs 113 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 English Freemasons Possess no Unusual Privileges — Under William of 
 Wykeham, they Decline Statutory Wages — Act of 3 Henry VI., De- 
 claring Masonic Chapters and Convocations Void and Illegal, Termi- 
 nates the Fraternity as a Close Organization of Craftsmen — Ancient 
 Rites and Customs still Maintained in Lodges — Contract of a Lodge 
 for Tiling in Reign of Henry VI. — Manuscript of this Monarch — 
 Masons Obliged to Obey Royal Warrant — Signs and Tokens Forbidden 
 Guilds in Fifteenth Century — Lodges of the Freemasons — Persons 
 of High Position Initiated at an Early Period into Masonic Lodges — 
 Clergy Elected to Membership in Guilds 125 
 
 \ 
 
viii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Freemasonry in Britain in the Sixteenth Century — Elias Ashmole, the 
 Antiquarian, Initiated in the following Century — Plot's Narrative of 
 the Craft — Zeal among People of Rank to become Craftsmen and " Ac- 
 cepted" as Masons — Sir Christopher Wren as Grand Master — King 
 William Receives the Degrees in a Lodge at Hampton Court — Forma- 
 tion of a Grand Lodge in the Eighteenth Century 136 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Freemasonry in Germany — Cathedrals of Ulm and Nuremburg and their 
 Master Builders — German Grand Lodge of Masons and Erwin Von 
 Steinbach — Papal Confirmation — Jurisdiction of the several Grand 
 Bodies — Convention of Torgau — Ancient Stonecutters' Law — Old 
 Landmarks Reaffirmed at Torgau — The Craft continue as an Opera- 
 tive Society until the Eighteenth Century — Edict of 1731 — Grand 
 Lodge of Strassburg Destroyed by the French Revolution — Lodges on 
 the Continent Opened under English Charters — Causes Contributing 
 to the Overthrow of the Freemasons as a Body of Tradesmen 141 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Legendary History of the Masonic Fraternity — Arts and Sciences Con- 
 cealed in Columns — Tower of Babel — Euclid and the Egyptian 
 Princes — The Israelites obtain Masonic Knowledge from Egypt — 
 Solomon and Hiram the Chief Architects in Building the Jewish 
 Temple — Namus Graecus Introduces Masonry to the Frankish King 
 Charles Martel — Saint Alban, of England, Procures Masons from 
 France — Calls an Assembly of the Craft — King Athelstan Confirms 
 the Privileges of the Fraternity — Prince Edwin is Initiated, and 
 becomes Grand Master — Collects Traditions and Establishes Charges.. 157 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 German Legendary History of the Freemasons — Traced Back to Dio- 
 cletian's Time — Traditions of the Four Martyred Stonecutters — Re- 
 fuse to Obey Royal Order to Engrave an Idolatrous Image — Their 
 Terrible Death — Authentic Historical Relics of these Eminent Ma- 
 sonic Patron Saints — French Freemasons Trace their History to Saint 
 Blasius — This Saint Suffered Martyrdom under Diocletian — Very 
 Ancient Craft Documents make no Reference to the Solomonian Theory 
 of Masonic Origin — Earliest Traditions Assume merely to give the 
 Progress of Geometric Science 172 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ix 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Name of Freemason, whence Derived — Not from Unusual Immunities — 
 Mediaeval Lathomii — Early Use of word Mason — Freemason Traced 
 to Gallic Sources — Signifies Brother Craftsmen 187 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Initiatory Oaths and Lodge Meetings — Obligation of Secrecy — Ceremo- 
 nies in Formal Opening — Dedication of Lodges — Patron Saints — 
 Places of Convening the Craft — Crypts — Hills and Valleys — Skilled 
 Workmen at Master's Command — Called a " Nomadic Race" — Mo- 
 nastic Masons — Oblati — Masonic Dress in Middle Ages 193 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Building Corporations Eagerly Joined — Powers of Internal Govern- 
 ment—The Members are Armed — Guilds Assimilate to Church Dis- 
 cipline — Right of Corporate Burial — Qualifications of Membership 
 
 — Candidate must be Possessed of Intelligence and Property — Degrees 
 among Freemasons — The Apprentices — Craftsman or Companion — 
 Duration of an Apprenticeship — Initiate must Swear to Preserve Land- 
 marks 203 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Fellow-craftsmen may Travel and have a Mark — Preliminary Arrange- 
 ments for Initiation — Burlesque Ritualism — Preparation for the 
 Degree — Grip and Password Conferred — White Gloves and the 
 Banquet — Mediaeval Lodge : how Entered by a Travelling Brother — 
 The Warden, or Master, Wears a Hat — Masonic Greeting — Especial 
 Privileges of a Wandering Companion — To be Helped and Receive 
 Support — Cry for Assistance — The Secrets of Ancient Freemasons — 
 Moral Principles and Perfect Mechanical Skill — Liberal Arts and 
 Sciences — Masons shall Assist each other — The Master's Prerogatives 
 
 — Temperate Habits Inculcated — Christian Influence over the Frater- 
 nity — A Warden's Duties in the Master's Absence — His Oath of Office 
 on a Square and Gauge — Freemasons: how Organized when at Work 
 
 — System of a Craftsman's Labor 211 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Wages of Builders : what, and when Paid — Compensation by the Ordi- 
 nance of 1254 — The Warden Guards Lodge Records — Pays the Craft 
 at Sunset — The Master : his Relations to the Members — Is the Judge, 
 Custodian of Plans, and Lays out Work — A Master must be Tried and 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Approved by two Master Builders — Lodge to be Free from Discord, 
 and Typical of Perfect Purity — Treasurer — Charges against Delin- 
 quents — Several Lodges around Large Structures — Expulsion of a 
 Master — Confessional 229 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Relative Duties of Masonic Craftsmen — Shall be Upright and True to 
 each Other — Must Respect the Romish Church — Not Compelled to 
 be Affiliated — Certificate of Membership — Contracts Terminate on St. 
 John's Day — Dangerous Weapons Excluded from Lodge — Slander 
 Forbidden — General or Grand Master — Master of the Work ? — None 
 to leave Lodge without Permission — Sick Brethren Assisted 242 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Powers incident to the Master's Position — Prerogative as Supreme 
 Arbiter — Petty Justice Recognized — The Tools of a Rebellious Crafts- 
 man Liable to Seizure — Civil Authority Invoked — Masonic Tribunals 
 Imitated after Royal Courts — Jurisdiction of Grand and Subordinate 
 Bodies — Annual Convocations — Masonic Court: how Constituted — 
 Wardens Preside — Penalty for Disclosing Craft Arcana 252 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Close Identity between a Lodge of Masons and Gothic Courts — A Sacred 
 Place — Pagan Customs Untouched by Christianity — Northern Tribu- 
 nals Held on Hills and in the Open Air — Circular and Quadrangular 
 in Shape — Court Enclosed by Pales or Pfahl — A Pallirer, Paleman, 
 or Warden — Opening of both Bodies with a Colloquy — Convened at 
 Sunrise, Close at Sunset — Lunar Influence — Formal Symbolism and 
 Order for Silence — Proclamation of Obedience — Why Candidates of 
 Servile Birth are Excluded from Mediaeval Freemasons — Teutonic 
 Courts Close with Banquet 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The Master's Mallet or Gavel — Its Antiquity Derived from the Scandi- 
 navians — Symbol of Power — Type of Possessory Right — Hammer 
 Convened Germanic Court — Auctioneer's Implement — Originated from 
 Thor's Miolner — Mallet Used in Northern Funerals — Hammer Sign, 
 or Cross — Master's Authority Rests on the Gavel — Typical of Death 
 — A Mallet Actually Used by the Norse to Slay the Impotent — 
 Charles Martel and his Masonic Connection — Claimed as a Patron on 
 Account of Carrying a Hammer 273 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xi 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Three Symbolic Columns of a Lodge — Taken from Norse Temple 
 Furniture — Their Prototypes in Upsala — Pedestals of Principal 
 Deities of Northern Mythology — Odin, Thor, and Frey — These Sig- 
 nify Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty — Shibboleth, or Frey, Productive- 
 ness — Her Emblem — Three Emblematic Lights of Freemasons — 
 Their Pagan Origin and Keference to the Divinities Mentioned — North, 
 why a Place of Darkness — Exact Orientation of Gothic Court Repro- 
 duced in a Masonic Lodge — East, West, South — The North — Stars 
 in Lodge Derived from Open-air Assemblage 286 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 A Mediaeval Lodge: how Approached — Knocks — Master's Hat — Em- 
 blematic of Superiority and Acquisition — Gessler's Hat, Type of 
 Power — Worn by Teutonic Judges — Craft Convened by Distinct Raps 
 
 — Three Blows with a Gavel — The Judicial Mace — The Justice and 
 Master to be Seated — Significance of the Official Staff — Three Steps 
 to Master's Chair — Similar Gradation in Upsala Temple — Numerals 
 in Lodge Ritual — Three as a Fundamental Norm — Five and Seven 
 
 — Application to Legal Purposes 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Mediaeval and Masonic Obligations — Virtue Inherent in Material — 
 Scandinavian Fetichism — Square, Gauge, and Compass: why Used in 
 Ancient Oath — Right Hand in Swearing — Oath by the Jewish Jeho- 
 vah — Antiquity of the Word " Hail," or " Hale " — From a Teutonic 
 Root, Signifying Concealment — Its Use in Oath of Middle Ages — 
 Punishment for Temple Breaking — Other Penalties — Cord, its Sym- 
 bolism — The Shoe — Installation Procession 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Masons' Marks of the Early and Middle Ages — Their Practical Use — 
 Great Diversity — Their Style Oriental — Not always Symbolical — 
 The Cross Sign — Mallet, Shoe, and Trowel — Marks Used to Dis- 
 tinguish Property — Are of a Geometric Outline — Squares, Circles, 
 Compasses, and Triangles — Early Application by Byzantine Builders 
 — Memorial Square — Columns of Joachin and Boaz — Their Evident 
 Symbolism — Saint Marc's Cathedral and Marks — Builders' Signs in 
 Palestine Identical with European — Marks a Portion of Mediaeval 
 Lodge Ritual — When Conferred — Not to be Changed — Must be En- 
 roiled 323 
 
xii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Byzantine Art in Europe — The Translation of the Koman Capital to 
 Byzantium — The Centre of Fine Arts — Greek Architecture in 
 Foreign Lands — Introduced into Italy at an' Early Age — Grecian 
 Artists in Spain — Paganization of Christianity — Mosaic Pavement 
 and Star — The Christian Church Perpetuates Paganism — Byzantine 
 Builders are the Heirs of Ancient Craftsmen — Corporations of Greek 
 Artisans Reorganize on a Christian Basis — Geometricians Honored 
 
 — Ancient Colleges Destroyed — Guilds of Tradesmen Allowed by 
 Imperial Rome — Immunities to Corporations of Builders at By- 
 zantium — Old Traditions Assimilated to the New Faith 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Jewish Influence in Remodelling Eastern Colleges — Israelitish Scholars 
 and Mathematicians — Furore for Ancient Rites of the Hebrews — 
 Roman Emperors Borrow from Mosaic Legislation — King Solomon's 
 Temple — Legends of the Jews Substituted in Byzantine Corporations 
 for Pagan Traditions — Merged into Gothic Sodalities — Marvellous 
 Scientific and Mental Development of the Lombards — Papal Privi- 
 leges to the Freemasons — Political Troubles Drive Skilled Architects 
 to Italy — Received by, and Affiliate with, their Collegiate Brethren — 
 Junction of Byzantine Building Corporations with Gothic Guilds 368 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Christianity Retains Northern Superstitions— Teutonic Banquets Pre- 
 served by Freemasonry — Toasts to the Dead — Christian Saints Sub- 
 stituted for Heathen Divinities — Heathen Rites and Customs Un- 
 changed by Professors of the New Religion — Churches Erected on 
 Sites of Pagan Temples — Festival Days Continued by Christian 
 Priests — Guilds Maintain Ancient Usages 379 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Teutonic Sodalities Coeval with the German Races— Never Destroyed 
 
 — Guilds Instituted in Monasteries — Preserve Heathen Customs — 
 Dedicated to Christian Saints — Anglo-Saxon Associations — Members 
 Wear Badges, and Duly Obligated — Guilds in the Year 1389 — Ab- 
 juration Formula of 743 — Societies Celebrate the Worship of Heathen 
 Deities — Open to both Sexes — Joined by Nobility and Ecclesiastics 
 
 — The Practice of Charity — Mutual Help Enjoined — Chaplain — 
 Guilds in the Time of Charlemagne — Oath-Bound Societies — Col- 
 leges of Builders and Gothic Guilds — Ancient Formularies of Temple 
 Worship Preserved by these Bodies 389 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Jewish Traditions Contributed to Gothic Sodalities — The Hiramic Le- 
 gend — His Assassination — The Mallet — Identical with 1 the Norse 
 God Baldur — The Lost Word— The Search for the Slain — Twelve 
 Companions — Twelve Scandinavian Gods — Number for a Lodge — 
 The Legends Typify the Sun God — Hammer as an Emblem of Death — 
 Celebration of Life, Death, and Burial, in Guilds — Symbolism of Im- 
 mortality and Eesurrection — Teutonic Mysteries 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 The "Faculty of Abrac "— Genuineness of the Henry VI. MSS. — Deri- 
 vation of Abrac or Abraxas — Abracadabra: its Mystical Properties 
 — Abraxas Stones and Jehovah's Name — Type of Power — Used as a 
 Charm — Universal Belief in Magic during Middle Ages — Solomon's 
 Temple Built by the Omnific Word — Moses and the True Name — 
 Mediaeval Superstition of Name Potency — Powers of the Jehovah — 
 Cabala — Jah, or Yod, Creates Heaven, etc. — True Pronunciation 
 Lost — Substitute — Abrac : " Sacred Name " — Teutonic Notions of 
 Magic — Kunes — Norse Word Power — Identity with Jewish 417 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Derivation of Word " Mason " — Traced to Mace, or Hammer — Medi- 
 aeval Symbolical Uses of this Implement — Thor's Weapon — Spanish 
 Mazo — Tragic Powers of Mace — Emblem of Authority — The Mid- 
 dle-Age Mationes and Maceronii — Lapidicini, or Stone-Cutters — 
 Translated by Boileau as Maeons — Early English Mason — The Medi- 
 aeval Craft Known by this Name 431 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 The Legend of Prince Edwin — Edwin Unknown to the Craft till the 
 Fifteenth Century — Masons first Come into England in Benedict's 
 Time — He Brings Skilled Artificers in the Eighth Century — The 
 Holy Four Martyrs — Patrons of the Venetian Masons — Masonic 
 Hall in Venice in the Seventeenth Century Dedicated to these Saints... 438 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Contribution to the History of the Lost Word, by Rev. J. F. 
 Garrison, M.D. 
 
 History of the Lost Word — Anxiety of the Ancients to Know the True 
 Name — Its Presumed Powers — The Targums — The Sacred Word 
 to the Jews — Jehovah, or J. H. V. H. — Substitute — Pronunciation 
 of True Name Lost — How Received by the High-Priest — Scriptures 
 Eead in the Jewish Synagogues — Temple for the Name — Queen of 
 Sheba Visits Solomon to Obtain the "Word" — It is Concealed in a * 
 Eod — Its Potency — Hindoo Omnific Word — Tetragrammaton — 
 Essenes: how Constituted — Eagerness to Obtain the Divine Name — 
 Abraxas — The Gnostics — Cabala — Point Within a Circle — The 
 Yod — Light — Jewish Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty — Jehovahs in 
 Triangles — Three Lighted Candles — Importance of Careful Examina- 
 tion of the Subject 449 
 
 Reglements stjr ees Arts et Metiers de Paris. Redig6s au xiii 
 Siecle, Par Etienne Boileau 
 
 B. 
 
 Edictum Liutprandris Regis 
 
 477 
 
 c. 
 
 The Manuscript of Henry VI 
 
 483 
 
 E. 
 
 Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Jahre 1462, 
 
 486 
 
THE 
 
 EARLY HISTORY 
 
 OP 
 
 FREEMASONRY. 
 
xvi 
 
THE EARLY HISTORY 
 
 AND 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 State of Fine Arts in Europe from the Fall of Rome to Con- 
 stantine the great — architecture revived in the west under 
 Theoderich the Goth — Byzantine Builders in Europe — They 
 follow their own laws, and are allowed especial franchises.' 
 
 the later Roman emperors, fine arts 
 gradually declined. Notwithstanding Mar- 
 cus Aurelius, by government patronage and 
 personal example, 1 endeavored to stimulate archi- 
 tectural art into a healthy activity, his efforts 
 were futile. The few remnants of this and suc- 
 ceeding periods, which have survived the destruc- 
 tive energy of time and barbaric warfare, evince the rapid 
 decay of an accurate science, and, what is equally percep- 
 tible, a decided transformation of that characteristic of 
 architecture which was transplanted by Grecian artists to 
 
 1 Operam praetera pingendo sub magistro Diogneto dedit. Julius Capi- 
 tolinus, In vita M. Antonini Philos, c. iv. In order to restrain the vicious 
 tendencies of a deteriorating taste, this distinguished ruler applied himself 
 diligently to theatrical and philosophical studies, and in the pursuance of 
 his purpose for the social elevation of his subjects, frequently appeared as an 
 actor on the stage. 
 
 2* B 17 
 
1 8 THE EARL Y HIST OR Y A ND 
 
 Rome. Under Diocletian we may detect the introduction 
 of the perpendicular principle as opposed to the horizontal 
 of the ancient Greeks. 1 Here is the clearly defined transi- 
 tion to a style which prevailed during the Middle Ages, 
 and the aspiring columns, surmounted by arches of this 
 era, subsequently reached, in Gothic structures, to the full 
 development of the perpendicular idea. Although the 
 early Christians made no amends for the destruction of 
 antique monuments, 2 during the reign of Constantine the 
 Great a temporary zeal was manifested, by reason of his 
 profession of the Christian religion. The Christians 
 received at his hands a number of pagan temples, which, 
 being suitably altered, were used by them for their relig- 
 ious ceremonies. In the construction of churches, or 
 basilika, the remains of earlier works were used, 3 and 
 arranged in an uncouth, tasteless manner. 4 Not only is 
 this total disregard of sound principles of art perceptible 
 in the architecture of the age, but is more strongly evinced 
 in the freedom of enthusiastic Christian artists, who, in 
 order to display their servile subserviency to the will of a 
 powerful monarch, by a simple substitution of a head, 
 attributes or inscription, transformed, without scruple, a 
 Jupiter into a God the Father and a Venus into a Virgin. 5 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst vom fruhsten Alterlhume bis in die neueren 
 Zeiten, p. 411. 
 
 2 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 161. 
 
 3 Luebke, Vorschule zum Studium der kirchlichen Kunst, pp. 4-6, says the 
 Christian architects modelled the first churches of the new religion so closely 
 after the basilika, or ancient halls of judicature, that this characteristic thus 
 originally impressed upon these sacred edifices was perpetuated for many 
 centuries. 
 
 4 Die Form friiherer Werke nachgeahmt, aus Zeiten, in denen die Kunst 
 noch nicht ganz herab gesunken aber in einer rohen, geschmacklosen Zusam- 
 men-setzung. Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 414. 
 
 5 Pour servir les volontes du puissant empereur, des artistes se trouverent, 
 qui par de simples substitutions de tetes, d'attrilut ou d'inscription, faisaient 
 sans scrupule d'un Jupiter un Dieu le pere, et une Vierge d'une Venus. La- 
 croix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 352. How largely this principle of pagan- 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 19 
 
 Previous to the adoption of that Christian symbolism, 
 which began to be introduced into the rites of the new 
 religion about the period of the translation of the imperial 
 residence from Rome to Byzantium, nearly all works of 
 art were slavish imitations, by careless and incompetent 
 artists, of the remains of a classical antiquity. 1 The 
 gradual increase of elaboration and luxury of art finally, 
 under the Byzantines, at this period, ended in a lamentable 
 poverty of taste. From the third century to the time of 
 Constantine, the coins of the empire exhibit a constant 
 tendency to contract the busts of the emperors, in order to 
 bring more prominently forward the adventitious sur- 
 roundings. To such an extent was this carried, that these 
 effigies suddenly ceased to show any. relief — the outlines 
 also became meagre and singularly incorrect. The entire 
 representation is dull and without character, and so unskil- 
 fully drawn that the figures of different persons thus 
 moulded are alone distinguishable by means of the inscrip- 
 tions. At this time the lifeless style which characterizes 
 the Byzantine coins and plastic art had become permanent. 
 The elements of art had ceased to exist. 2 
 
 The Emperor Constantine, in transferring the capital 
 of the empire to Byzantium, or, as it was subsequently 
 denominated, Constantinople, endeavored, however, to 
 preserve the glorious traditions of ancient Rome. As a 
 concession to such of his subjects who still revered the 
 religion of antiquity, and persisted in burning incense 
 upon the rapidly diminishing altars of their gods, he 
 erected temples closely imitated after those of the aban- 
 
 ization, or substitution of pagan forms and ceremonies, by Christianity, entered 
 into the organization of the early church, will be adverted to in the progress 
 of this work. 
 
 1 Avant que l'art eut adopte on plutot cr£e" le symbolisme chretien, force 
 lui devoit §tre d'emprunter, etc. Lacroix, Ibid., p. 353. 
 
 2 Die Elemente der Kunst gehn auf merkwurdig schnelle Weise verloren. 
 O. Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 242. See also Hope, Essay on Archi- 
 tecture, Vol. I., p. 161. 
 
20 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 doned city, and decorated them with elegant pilasters 
 appropriated from ancient edifices. He built for the 
 professors of the new faith houses of worship in con- 
 formity with their present requirements, and embellished 
 them with the symbolic appliances essential for the per- 
 formance of the Christian rites. 1 In the newly-constructed 
 forum at Constantinople, he caused a metal statue of the 
 Good Shepherd to be erected, and set up brazen images of 
 a Hart in other places. Both the Good Shepherd and 
 Hart are among the most ancient of Christian symbols ; 
 the first named referred to Christ, the latter signified the 
 intense thirst of Christians for divine presence. 
 
 The early Christian world, at its inception, seemed but 
 little disposed to perpetuate the use of plastic art in 
 order to preserve a record of noteworthy events, 2 and for 
 long, excepting in some of the provinces of the Roman 
 empire and at Byzantium, it was suffered to languish into 
 a temporary obscurity. Wherever this art was used, even 
 by the Byzantine artists, more attention seems to have 
 been bestowed upon drawing, with greater or less accuracy, 
 minute distinctions of rank, through position and insignia, 
 than upon the representation of character and individual- 
 ity. In the preparation of tablets, whether for sacred use 
 or otherwise, from precious metal, or in the incisions upon 
 engraved gems, although great dexterity is visible, the 
 absence of that refined taste and elevated style, which 
 belong to ancient Greece and earlier Rome, is manifestly 
 
 1 Symbols adapted by Pagan converts to the Christian religion were largely 
 borrowed from the symbolic paraphernalia of their ancestors. Although 
 the Jewish proselytes rejected with devout horror all imagery which 
 represented the Trinity, the rapidly increasing neophytes directly withdrawn 
 from the worship of paganism, demanded and gained such concessions 
 from the evangelists. Hope, On Architecture, Vol. I., chap, xvi.; Stieglitz, 
 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 416 ; also Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 170. 
 
 2 Den Verfall der Kunst zeigen auch die Consecrations-Muenzen (unter 
 Gallien) so wie bei offentlichen spielen ausgetheilten Contormaten. Mueller, 
 Archceologie der Kunst, pp. 242-3; Hope, Ibid., p. 161. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 21 
 
 evident. One of the principal branches of plastic art, 
 which was pursued at Byzantium more assiduously, per- 
 haps, than architecture, was the production of ivory 
 memorandum plates, designated as diptychs. Upon these 
 much labor and skill were bestowed. This kind of han- 
 diwork was the peculiar property of the last days of 
 declining 1 Rome ; an art which was followed with zeal 
 under the first Christian emperors, and attained its highest 
 perfection during the Middle Ages. 2 Particular attention 
 was given by the artists of Byzantium to the engraving 
 of cameos from red jasper, many of which present a 
 variety of Christian objects. 3 
 
 The increased activity which the building of a new city, 
 involving the plans and construction of a metropolis for 
 the recently-professed religion of Rome, necessarily pro- 
 duced, caused a great influx of artists into Constantinople, 
 both from the outlying provinces of the empire and from 
 Rome itself, and with great probability from Greece. 4 
 Here, under Constantine the Great, were assembled the 
 most skilled artists, attracted by the inducements of regu- 
 
 1 Mueller, Archozologie der Kunst, p. 243. 
 
 2 The museums of Europe are rich in collections of Byzantine diptychs and 
 cameos. According to Codex XI., c. ii., of the Emperor Leo, there were 
 certain works of art which only the royal artists, Palatium artifices, were 
 allowed to prepare. A steady demand, both by aristocratic Eomans and 
 luxurious rulers, for elaborately cut gems, caused the vitality of this branch 
 of plastic art to be perpetuated. Heliogabalus was so much enraptured with 
 the cameo etchings of certain distinguished artificers, that he wore them on 
 his feet. Aeli Lampridius, Antonin. Heliogabal., c. xxiii. When Aurelius 
 entered the Temple of the Sun, after the capture of Zenobia, in order to 
 perform the sacred rites, he wore garments of beautiful purple, fastened with 
 elaborately-wrought jewels. Tunc Mae vestes quas in templo Solis videmus, 
 confertae gemmis — genuo purpurae. Flavius Vopisc, Vita Div. Aurelian., 
 c. xxviii. See Mongez, Plate 68, etc. 
 
 3 The cabinet of antiquities at Vienna, according to Mueller, in loco, ut 
 supra, possesses a rare collection of gems of the period of Constantine, or 
 later. 
 
 4 Hope, On Architecture, Vol. I., chap. xii. 
 
22 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 lar, unvarying labor, and the assurances of satisfactory 
 compensation. From this time until the full development 
 of the Romish church, Rome ceased to be the central point 
 of interest, and, consequently, seriously suffered in material 
 advantage as well as in architectural art. The Byzantine 
 remains of this age, or of such portions at least as have 
 escaped the wasting effects of a destructive zeal and the 
 action of time, indicate a change in the character and de- 
 tails of architecture. Under Diocletian, the artists strove 
 to rival and transcend earlier architects in the multiplicity 
 of ornamentation, and by this means the form was sacri- 
 ficed to tasteless artifice. 1 Each artist arrogated the lib- 
 erty to alter and substitute according as his caprice dic- 
 tated, and made use of all adventitious appliances to create 
 novelty in order to captivate a vitiated taste. Whatever 
 may have been the tendency to overloading edifices, dur- 
 ing this period, with a superabundance of elegance, under 
 Constantine the architects fell into the error of totally 
 ignoring all ornamentation. A style of architecture was 
 suddenly introduced which contemplated the barest out- 
 lines of art and complete simplicity. Cornices and chap- 
 ters were divested of embellishment, and, in consequence, 
 the entire structure presented an appearance of repulsive 
 poverty and dryest details. 2 By this indifference to even 
 a moderate finish, a loss of readiness in technical minute- 
 ness was superinduced. In order to remedy this glaring 
 defect, Rome and the provinces were robbed of their col- 
 umns and other works of art, that these might be used in 
 the construction of new buildings at Byzantium. 3 In this 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 417. 2 Stieglitz, Ibid. 
 
 s Ibid., Constantin fiihrt Bilder von Kom.,Griechenland, besonders aus Klein- 
 asien nach Byzanz. Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 255. The policy adopted 
 by this emperor denuded the other cities of the empire of their most valued 
 objects of art. On the piazza of St. Sophia, in Constantinople, before the time 
 of Justinian, four hundred and twenty-seven statues, the handicraft of much 
 older artists, were erected. Mueller, Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 23 
 
 way edifices thus constructed and finished exhibited the 
 most anomalous character. Frequently, elegantly-wrought 
 pilasters, brought from Greece or Asia Minor, were placed 
 by the side of other columns of unequal length and dimen- 
 sions ; and dissimilar parts of buildings, thus appropriated, 
 were conjoined without taste. These detached parcels, thus 
 combined with the productions of native artists, afforded 
 most glaring evidence of the degeneracy of art. 
 
 We have seen that, under Constantine the Great, an ele- 
 vated taste in the erection of public and other edifices no 
 longer prevailed. The same statement is equally true of 
 sculpture as a plastic art and of painting. In the age suc- 
 ceeding this century, no perceptible alteration occurred in 
 the relative condition of architecture. Other causes hin- 
 dered a full expansion of true elegance, and checked the 
 limited advance of artistic knowledge. The want of work- 
 men who could comprehend and adapt the principles of 
 genuine art began to be sadly felt. Unacquainted with 
 natural rules, the artisan of the period was content with 
 his labor if he were successful in satisfying the demands 
 of a nationality fast decaying. Unimpressed with the 
 grand relics of pagan antiquity, he wrought out the feeble 
 results of an imagination taken captive by the increasing 
 strength of a new religion, and struggled to mould the 
 constantly arising sacred structures upon the will and 
 direction of a religious sect, whose jubilant enthusiasm 
 urged them to deviate from all standard models of temple 
 architecture. 1 
 
 Such, then, was the situation of art knowledge during 
 the ages of Constantine and his successors until the fifth 
 
 1 At this epoch, which most jeopardized the fine arts, a species of temple 
 iconoclasm was inaugurated by the indiscreet zeal of the new converts to 
 Christianity, and suffered to continue without restraint from the Roman au- 
 thorities. But of all the houses of ancient religious culture, those which had 
 contained the rites of Mithras and other licentious ceremonials were especially 
 objects of zealous wrath. See Mueller. Archceologie der Kunst, p. 255, \ 2. 
 
24 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 century, when Theoderich, who had been educated at 
 Constantinople, ascended the throne of the Western em- 
 pire. Whatever remained of art, in the meantime, was 
 undoubtedly Byzantine, and the professors of the same, 
 whether at Constantinople or dispersed throughout the 
 provinces, were also of that nationality. The efforts of 
 Theoderich to repair the ruins of Rome and other cities 
 in Italy, caused by the inroads of the Northern nations, 
 in a measure contributed to preserve a general knowledge 
 of the principles of the tine arts. The emperor, in re- 
 building the several Italian cities, seems to have been 
 influenced by the best interests of his Roman subjects ; l 
 because, by the Goths, according to Procopius, 2 it was con- 
 sidered debasing to receive instruction in science which 
 tended to enervate and depress the mind — that he who 
 trembled with fear before the master's birch would never 
 look with an undaunted eye upon a sword or spear. The- 
 oderich 's exertions, apparently, were mainly directed to 
 repairing or replacing older edifices, under the direction 
 of Boethius, Symmachus, and Cassiodorus, the three lead- 
 ing spirits at his court. In all these efforts, the pure prin- 
 ciples of art were wanting : 3 they had vanished. According 
 to Stieglitz, 4 the architecture of the Goths, who, at this 
 
 1 Was Theoderich fiir die offentlichen Unterriehtsaustalten wirkte, die er 
 bereits erriehtet fand, erhielter nur zum Besten seiner Romischen Unterthanen. 
 Stieglitz, ubi supra, p. 424 ; Hope, On Architecture, Vol. I., chap. xii. This 
 monarch appointed a superintendent of public buildings, Comes nitium. Am. 
 Marcellinus, Lib. XXI., c. vi., and paid an architect for the preservation of 
 works of art. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, Vol. IV., pp. 24-5. With the ex- 
 ception of Charlemagne, no historical personage impressed his individuality 
 so deeply upon the romantic mind of the Middle Ages. In mediaeval tales 
 and heroic poems he is called Dietrich of Bern. For a detailed account of 
 tlie widely-extended renown of this Gothic ruler, see Ludlow's Popular Epics 
 of the Middle Ages, Vol. I., chap. vii. 
 
 2 De Bello Gothicorum, Lib. I., p. 4. Also Dr. Robertson's Historical Essay 
 on the State of Europe, in Life of Charles V., Vol. I., p. ]63. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 424. 
 
 * So wenig wie die Gothen, hatten sie (die Longobarden) eine eigene Bau- 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 25 
 
 period, were possessed of Italy, is the Graeco-Roman, 
 which was chiefly introduced and perfected by the Byzan- 
 tines. Semi-circular arches are numerous, but the work 
 lacks execution and finish of detail. Luebke says, 1 the 
 old Christian basilika preserved an existence from the 
 time of Constantine till the eleventh century, as well in 
 Italy as the remaining provinces of the West, which re- 
 ceived from Rome its religion, its priests, and modifica- 
 tions of its church architecture. But the leading charac- 
 teristics of architectural art of this period are such as were 
 contributed by eastern artists. 
 
 The Lombards, or primitive Longobards, who succeeded 
 to the Gothic empire, were possessed of building lore in 
 so limited a degree, that all public edifices erected in their 
 domains were executed by workmen from Constantinople. 2 
 During the continuance of their power in Northern Italy, 
 numerous structures were founded f among others, a church 
 dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, near Milan, where 
 the celebrated iron crown was preserved. All these were 
 the handiwork of Byzantine artists. 
 
 When the seat of the empire, in the year 328, was changed, 
 Rome had lost its greatness. The imperial family, who alone 
 were able to nurture the arts and sciences, made Constan- 
 tinople the metropolis, and resided there. In addition to 
 this, the frequent irruptions of a barbarous people mate- 
 rially added to the destruction of the finest works of 
 antiquity. It was alone in the Orient, especially at 
 Byzantium, where a total loss of art was stayed. Hither 
 gravitated artists who, robbed of their profession in Rome, 
 
 kunst, so wenig jene ebenfalls nur kriegerischen Unternehmung in sich 
 widmend, hatten sie Sinn fur die Kunst. Zu alien Bauen die in ihren Besit- 
 zungen angelegt wurden, bedienten sie sich Byzantinischer Kilnstler. Ibid., p. 425. 
 
 1 Vorschule zum Studivm der kirehlichen Kunst, p. 9. 
 
 2 Consult, however, Tiraboschi, Storia della Letleratura Italiana, Tomo III., 
 cap. vi. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 426. 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 by reason of translating the capital to Greece, so much 
 the more readily sought the new city as they were nearly 
 all Grecian by nativity, 1 in order to consecrate their talents 
 to the land of their birth. Thus it happened that the 
 capital of the Eastern empire became the place where every- 
 thing tending to a preservation and appreciation of art and 
 science was united. Here such knowledge was cultivated 
 as the political disasters in other countries would not 
 permit; and, again, light from the East v was destined to 
 flash forth to distant lands. Constantinople became an 
 emporium of master architects, painters, and other skilled 
 artificers. 2 Italy, whose deplorable condition required it, 
 was the first country whither the artists from the Byzan- 
 tine empire travelled. Theoderich, king of the Goths, 
 who had liberated Rome and the surrounding territory 
 from the oppressions of an uncivilized people, invited there 
 numerous artists of various kinds to assist him in execu- 
 ting the work of repair and restoration which he con- 
 templated. 3 Under his protection, architects, painters, and 
 sculptors re-established themselves in Italy, and particu- 
 larly artists skilled in mosaic work, which seems to have 
 been the invention of the Greeks, since it was for long 
 designated as opus Grcecanicium.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the earliest sentiment of the Christian 
 
 1 Hope, On Architecture, cap. xii. As is well known, upon the extinction of 
 Hellenic nationality, skilled artists from Greece sought Rome as the metropolis 
 for the display of their talents ; when the capital of the empire was translated 
 to Byzantium, the gravitation of accomplished artificers toward the new city 
 naturally began. See infra, p. 344, for additional information on this subject. 
 
 2 Hierhin (Byzantium) fliichteten sich die Kiinstler, die in Rom aller Be- 
 schaftigung beraubt, um so die lieber Griechenland aufsuchten, etc. Stieglitz, 
 ubi supra, p. 432. 
 
 3 Berington, Literary Hist, of the Middle Ages, p. 111. 
 
 4 Ihm folgeten dabei Kiinstler, mancherlei art .... Baukiinstler, Maler, 
 Bildner, etc. Auch die Mosaik wurde von Griechen betrieben und war viel- 
 leicht ihre Erfindung, da sie den Namen opus Grcecanicium erhielt. Stieglitz, 
 Ibid., p. 433 ; Mueller, Archozoloyie der Kunst, p. 256 ; Hope, On Architecture, 
 pp. 164-8 ; Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, Tomo II., p. 343. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 27 
 
 church, and particularly in the East, was opposed to the 
 introduction of images in religious service, it continued to 
 be tolerated until the iconoclastic spirit suddenly arose in 
 the eighth century. 1 In the meantime, a decided tendency 
 to the adoption of symbolic representations of sacred objects 
 beo-an to manifest itself. 2 As far back as the time of Con- 
 stantine, as has been previously remarked, Christ himself 
 was symbolically presented to His devout followers in the 
 metal statue of the Good Shepherd. He was sometimes 
 represented as a lamb, a thirsting Hart, or as a dove, and 
 by the olive branch. But the most noteworthy of all 
 emblems, perhaps, which disguised the secret significance 
 alone to the unbelieving Pagans, was in the fish-shaped 
 outlines. 3 This symbol is of especial importance to the 
 subject under consideration, on account of this figure 
 having been extensively used during the Middle Ages as a 
 mark by builders. According to Stieglitz, 4 the sculptured 
 or mosaic delineations of the Christian symbols in church 
 edifices were very early designed to refer to certain abstract 
 biblical signification. For instance, the lamb represented 
 the Lamb of God, that bore the sins of the world. He also 
 frequently appeared holding a cross, or was delineated 
 simply by a monogram. 5 Sometimes our Saviour appeared 
 surrounded by twelve lambs, the twelve disciples, who 
 stand six on a side. The lion, symbolical of the power of 
 Christ, — the lion of the tribe of Judah, David's offspring, 
 is also frequently visible ; the pelican feeding her young, 
 
 1 Baumgarten-Crusius, Dogmengeschichte, p. 384. 
 
 2 O. Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 213, § 2. This distinguished .arch- 
 aeologist, in the learned repository cited, has furnished numerous examples of 
 the gradual introduction of symbols, by the earlier Christians, into their ritual 
 and architecture, to some of which reference will hereafter be made. 
 
 3 Abbreviated thus : IX0YS, from I»;<r« Xptorot Gtov 'Yto$ Swr^p, which, contracted 
 to the above word, signifies a fish. Vide, en passant, Didron, Christian Icono- 
 graphy, p. 108. Upon the subject of builders' marks of this and later ages, 
 fully treated in Part II. of this work, see infra, p. 323, et seq. 
 
 4 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 446. 5 Didron, op. cit., pp. 55, 325. 
 
28 
 
 TEE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 symbolizing the atonement through the Saviour's death ; 
 and the phoenix arising from her ashes, as a portraiture of 
 the resurrected Christ. In like manner, the vine refers to 
 Him, who is saying to His disciples : I am the vine and ye 
 are the branches. The fruit of the vine is emblematical 
 of the blood of Christ. The cock 1 is a symbol of watch- 
 fulness ; the hart that panteth after the flowing stream, is 
 the desire of the Christian after the Saviour ; and the dove, 
 in addition to its significance of the Holy Ghost, is also a 
 type of virtue and innocence. 2 I mention these symbolic 
 references, which thus early became incorporated with 
 church architecture, on account of the frequent recurrence 
 of the same, or of others of identical signification, in the 
 cathedrals uf Europe, which may serve, with tolerable 
 accuracy, to trace the origin and gradual development of 
 this interesting subject in the hands of the Freemasons of 
 the Middle Ages. Such sculptured representations are to 
 be found in different portions of sacred edifices, but most 
 frequently in the principal entrance to Byzantine churches. 3 
 As access to these structures was obtained through a main 
 entrance, it was invested, in that early age, with mystical 
 importance. Christ says, in one of the Evangelists : 4 
 " Verily, I say unto you, he that entereth into the sheep- 
 fold by any other way than the door," etc., and, further: 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." 
 This seized the imagination of the Byzantine artists, and 
 induced them to represent Christ as the mystic portal. 
 
 1 It is more than a curious coincidence that the symbol of the cock, as stated 
 in the text, had also a singular representation under the hands of the Norman 
 craftsmen. See Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 184. The French Free- 
 masons, at the close of the last century, adopted this as an emblem of vigi- 
 lance, and was, among other symbols, delineated upon the side-walls of the 
 Chamber of Reflexion, in the First or E. A. Degree. Le Begulateur du Macon, 
 p. 13, a. d. 1801. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Baukunst, pp. 447-8 ; Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 253 ; 
 Hope, On Architecture, pp. 180-3. Abundant evidence in Didron, ubi supra, 
 p. 451, et seq. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 444. 4 Acts of the Apostles, etc. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 29 
 
 Everything, consequently, is directly pointed to our 
 Saviour. The holy mother of Grod, the evangelists, and 
 martyrs are at His side. And, as the apostles are fre- 
 quently regarded as the pillars of the church, so the col- 
 umns on each side of the doorway refer to them, although 
 oftentimes the columns which flanked the entrance to King 
 Solomon's Temple are substituted. 1 Externally, these edi- 
 fices present a singular appearance, but harmonize with the 
 symbolic nature of the jealously-guarded portals. Every 
 variety of animals, real or legendary, is sculptured upon 
 the outer walls. These are grouped in attitudes of deadly 
 conflict, some of which yield to matchless strength, and 
 are being devoured by the vanquishing combatant. Such 
 grotesque and strangely-weird figures signify the con- 
 stant and unflinching vigilance demanded to guard the 
 approaches to the sanctuary. The war- waging monsters 
 shadow forth the protecting or antagonistic, and the inim- 
 ical forces which the Church triumphant commands, and 
 leads forth as a militant body. So far as the interior of 
 Byzantine churches is concerned, the same mystical or 
 emblematic signification prevails, excepting, however, that 
 the sanctuary is entirely free from all appearances of con- 
 flict ; here all is peace, — Christ, the all-powerful, is here in 
 all the majesty of His divine character, and establishes the 
 Church triumphant over every adversary. These were the 
 symbols and the mystic appliances 2 which the Oriental 
 artificers contributed to the art-knowledge of the west of 
 Europe, when they were called to aid in rebuilding and 
 constructing the sacred buildings of Northern Italy. 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Ibid., p. 448. This custom of the mediaeval builders demands 
 and will receive further consideration. Vide Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, 
 p. 216 ; also, Luebke, Geschichte der Architectur, p. 253. 
 
 2 Luebke, Geschichte der Architectur, p. 312 ; Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, 
 p. 207; Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Theil I., 24; may be consulted 
 with advantage upon this subject and in this connection. How largely sym- 
 bolism entered into mediaeval cathedrals, see Luebke, Geschichte der Plastik, 
 pp. 272, 297, 325. 
 
 I 
 
30 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Byzantine architecture and the plastic arts retained their 
 several distinguishing features, as described, down to the 
 eighth century. From Constantinople, therefore, as the 
 centre of mechanical skill, radiated to distant countries a 
 knowledge of art. The devastations to which Britain and 
 8pain had been subjected, rendered it necessary that com- 
 petent workmen should be secured to rebuild cities whose 
 smouldering ruins marked the pathway of destroying 
 nations. The capital of the Byzantine empire furnished 
 artisans for this purpose. Mueller 1 asserts that there were 
 at this epoch corporations of builders in Europe of Grecian 
 birth, who maintained an uninterrupted intercourse with 
 their native land. What may have been the precise char- 
 acter of these organizations 2 is uncertain, but it can be 
 fairly presumed, I think, that outside of the limits of the 
 Byzantine empire they were permitted to live and exercise 
 a judicial government among themselves, according to the 
 laws of the country to which they owed allegiance. This 
 principle, or doctrine, of personal right to declare under 
 what law a citizen would elect to live, was publicly recog- 
 nized in all the legal codes of Europe from the fall of 
 Rome until late in the thirteenth century. 3 This was de- 
 
 1 Dieser fur neue Zwecke neu belebte (Vorgothische Byzantinische) Arch- 
 itectnrstyl, welcher sicli immer noch fast in alien einzelnen Formen an den 
 Spatromischen anschlieszt, herrscht in der ersten Hiilftedes Mittelalters, durch 
 die aus dem Komischen Alterthum fortbestehenden, auch wohl mit Griech- 
 enland fortwiihrend zusammen-hangenden Baucorporationen gepflegt und 
 ausgebildet ira ganzen Christlichen Europe. Archceologie der Kunst, p. 224. 
 
 2 Vide infra, Book II., p. 343, ct seq. 
 
 3 Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, Theil I., cap. iii, \ 41 : Die 
 Mannichfaltigkeit der zugleich geltenden person lichen Kechte in keinem 
 Lande groszer gewesen ist als in Italien. This privilege, as will be seen from 
 the reference quoted, applied with especial force to Italy. Each individual 
 declared his profession of law in a formal manner, thus: Legibus vivens Lan- 
 gobardorum; or, according to the more usual formula, as prescribed to be 
 acknowledged before a notary: Qui professus sum legibus Langobardorum. 
 Upon the marriage of a Longobardic woman to a Salic husband, the annexed 
 profession was made : Qui professa sum ego ipsa Ferlinda ex natione mea legem 
 vivere Langobardorum, sed nunc pro ipso viro meo legem vivere videor Salicam. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 31 
 
 nominated his profession of law. Savigny cites 1 numerous 
 instances where individuals declared their profession of the 
 Roman law, of the Salic, or the leges Alamanorum or Lan- 
 gobardorum. Therefore, the corporations of artists, in re- 
 taining their connection with Byzantium, no doubt carried 
 with them such privileges of Grecian citizenship, and the 
 usages and privileges incident to their corporate existence 
 at home, and, when in Italy or other foreign lands, lived 
 and governed themselves in accordance with the well- 
 established principles of Roman law ; one of which privi- 
 leges was, at the time such associations of builders were 
 introduced into Southern Europe, during the reigns of 
 Theoderich and Theodosius, the undoubted right of a cor- 
 porate recognition. 2 Consequently, wherever their labor 
 was demanded throughout Europe, they were recognized 
 as a distinct and privileged class of workmen, who, differ- 
 ing from the less skilled artists of other countries, neces- 
 sarily formed a separate society apart from that in which 
 they temporarily resided. This system possessed many 
 advantages. It presented a complete organization, whose 
 members in foreign lands were associated by mutual in- 
 terest, and whose delinquencies could be promptly corrected 
 without recourse being had to strange judicial interference. 
 That there were master architects among these Byzantine 
 workmen, who drafted the plans and directed their execu- 
 tion, is beyond doubt, because at the construction of the 
 church of Saint Sophia, in Constantinople, under the Em- 
 peror Justinian, Anthemius and Isidorus are mentioned as 
 superintending the artificers on the building. 
 
 Another, Landulfus et Petrus clericus germani .... qui professi sumus ex natione 
 nostra legem vivere Langobardorum, sed ego Petrus clericus per clericalem honorem 
 lege videor vivere Romana. See Muratori, Antiq., Tome I., pp. 345, 387. Roger 
 the Norman, after the conquest of Sicily, in the eleventh century, permitted the 
 Greeks and Sicilians to use the Justinian Code, and the Lombards and Sar- 
 acens to live in accordance with their respective laws. Bazancourt, Histoire 
 de La Sicilie sous la domination des Normands, Tome II., pp. 78-9. 
 
 1 Geschichte des R. R., Theil I., p. 147. 
 
 2 See Book II., p. 365, etc., for proofs of the above statement. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Secret Societies Forbidden by Roman Emperors — Guilds in Italy 
 at an Early Age — Papal Indulgences to Building Corpora- 
 tions — Masters of Como in the Seventh Century. 
 
 HEN" it is considered with what jealous surveil- 
 lance the rapidly declining governments of the 
 Eastern and Western empires watched every 
 change in internal polity, it can scarcely be 
 inferred that what was strictly forbidden under Trajan 
 would be tolerated by the Byzantine emperors. I refer to 
 the formation of secret societies, bound together by mutual 
 obligations. 1 The extent of this opposition by the Roman 
 empire to the establishing of oath-bound guilds is strik- 
 ingly exhibited in a letter from Trajan to Pliny, 2 in which 
 the emperor interdicted a fraternity of firemen, on the 
 ground that they would hold meetings which might be 
 used for political purposes. And the only exception of 
 the Roman emperors to their uniform objection to such 
 organizations, was made in favor of burial societies, or 
 associations of men who subscribed certain sums of money 
 to insure each member a decent burial in the ground 
 which was the corporation property. 3 Late in the sixth 
 century, societies, based simply upon nationality, appear 
 to have existed in Italy. Savigny says, 4 at Ravenna, in the 
 
 1 Lecky, Hist. European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, Vol. I., p. 438. 
 
 2 Quodcunque noraen ex quacunque causa dederimus iis, qui in idem con- 
 tracti fuerint, hetceriai, quamvis breves fient. Plinii, Episl., Lib. X., cap. xliii. 
 
 3 " The Roman legislators, however unfavorable to the formation of guilds 
 or associations, made an exception in the favor of burial societies," etc. 
 Lecky, History of Morals, etc-, Vol. I., p. 482. 
 
 * In Rom die Germanischen Fremden als besondere Corporationen er- 
 
 32 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 33 
 
 year 572, a guild of Greeks was already organized, and 
 at Rome, in 794, there existed a corporation of Angles 
 (English), who were supported with royal munificence by 
 King Offa. It would seem that these guilds were not 
 always confined to regularly domiciled citizens, but were 
 sometimes composed of strangers and travellers. 1 In the 
 tenth century there was an association of Saxons in Rome, 
 who lived in a particular quarter of the city set off to 
 them. The Tabelliones, or notaries, in the seventh century, 
 at Ravenna, and probably in other cities, had their own 
 guild, with a regular corporate government ; 2 and as late 
 as the year 1200 the official oath prescribed them on their 
 admission was still preserved. 3 There is a tradition, which 
 Stieglitz has substantially given in his valuable treatise on 
 Architecture, 4 that at the time the Lombards were in pos- 
 session of Northern Italy, from the sixth to the seventh cen- 
 tury, the Byzantine builders formed themselves into guilds 
 and associations, and that on account of having received 
 from the popes the privilege of living according to their own 
 laws and ordinances, 5 they were called Freemasons. Of 
 this latter assumption, nothing of a reliable nature remains 
 to prove its authenticity. So far as the first actual con- 
 tact of these guilds with the Eastern artisans is concerned, 
 I am disposed to place it at a time coeval with the return 
 of the Byzantine craftsmen to Italy, under ^the patronage 
 
 schienen; ganz eben so aber auch die Griechen, diese letze jedoch auch sclion 
 im Yahr 572 in Ravenna. Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, Theil I., p. 340. 
 
 1 Optimates et senatus cunctaque militia .... simul etiam et cunctae 
 Scholse (guilds) peregrin orum, videlicet Francorum, Frisonura, Saxonum 
 atque Langobardorum. Annates Fuldenses, anno 895, cited by Savigny, Ibid., 
 p. 341. Cibrario, Frammenti Storici, p. 212, says that towards the close of the 
 ninth century there existed sworn associations for mutual protection in Italy : 
 guire o gilde armate a difendersi. Perhaps at this period there were many 
 oath-bound organizations. 
 
 2 Savigny, Geschichte d. R. R., Theil I., p. 350. 8 Ibid., op. cit, p. 365. 
 4 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 425. 
 
 6 Hope, On Architecture, Vol. I., p. 229; Archceologia, Vol. IX., p. 120. 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 of Theoderich, as early as the fifth century. 1 As hereto- 
 fore stated, these corporations preserved a separate nation- 
 ality wheresoever dispersed, and rigidly adhered to their 
 own laws and regulations, such as they brought with them, 
 as individual citizens of the Eastern empire. 
 
 We have endeavored to show that the right to profess the 
 law of his land was the indisputable patrimony of a 
 denizen residing abroad. In this manner these builders, 
 who were Oriental subjects and from Byzantium, were 
 freed from and independent of the laws and ordinances 
 which affected the native Lombards or the half-civilized 
 Goth. The popes, besides, at this period had not the 
 unlimited power which they subsequently acquired, in 
 order to render such a system effective. 
 
 In addition to this, as Stieglitz justly observes, 2 no bull 
 exists which can at all satisfy the most credulous mind ; 
 for the library of the Vatican, in the year 1773, by order 
 of the Pope, at the request of Goveneur Pownall, was 
 subjected to the most vigilant search, and although the 
 archives were thoroughly examined by the chief librarian, 
 nothing of the kind could be found. 3 It is scarcely credi- 
 ble, as before suggested, that these organizations, whose 
 members were bound together by solemn oaths, and sworn 
 to keep sacred certain mystic secrets, could preserve their 
 integrity as a body. ~No doubt such oaths were shortly 
 introduced, when the conditions of social polity de- 
 manded it. But at the time the Byzantine corporators 
 
 1 For fuller details touching upon the merging of these Byzantine corpora- 
 tions into the Germanic guilds, at or about the epoch above noted, see Part II. 
 of this work, p. 374, etc. 2 Geschichie der Baukunst, p. 426. 
 
 3 Archozologia, Vol. IX., p. 123. The learned antiquarian, Ashmole, is ac- 
 credited with having inaugurated the papal indulgence theory, which is given 
 by many Masonic writers without judicious criticism, particularly Krause. 
 Kunsturkunden, Theil II., ab. 2, p. 282, and Preston, Illustrations of Masonry, 
 p. 133. I have examined the works of Ashmole, but failed to find proof of 
 the above assumption. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 35 
 
 arrived in the West, and for long after the process of 
 assimilation with the Teutonic guilds had begun, the pre- 
 caution of a sworn brotherhood was not essential to the 
 preservation of their art, nor necessary to protect them 
 from competitors. Throughout Western Europe the minds 
 of men were vastly unsettled by the threatening omens 
 presaging a dissolution of civil society. Outside of Italy, 
 perhaps, the whole of Europe was dependent upon Eastern 
 workmen for the limited degree of architectural refine- 
 ment which met the wants of the Latin empire. There 
 were no competitive artists, no native craftsmen, either in 
 architecture or the plastic arts, to require an oath-bound 
 society in order to constitute a closely organized trades' 
 union ; neither had that singular individualizing tendency, 
 which subsequently permeated the entire civil society of 
 the Middle Ages, so far developed as to impel the members 
 of these corporations into a closer relationship. The 
 details of art received from the Grecian builders were 
 also possessed by many monastic institutions in Northern 
 Italy, as the expression Magistri Comacini 1 may refer to 
 monkish masters, who had no doubt gladly acquired from 
 foreign artists a knowledge of mechanical science. Per- 
 haps the most satisfactory interpretation of Magistri 
 Comacini, is that upon some portion of the sloping shores 
 of Lake Como the Eastern corporations had already 
 merged with the Longobardic guilds, and by superior 
 excellence in architectural acquirements had obtained the 
 above appellation. 2 There can be no doubt, however, that 
 a vast amount of architectural skill and knowledge of 
 plastic arts was carried over into Europe about the 
 opening of the ninth century, by monk artificers from 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 416. For the original authority for 
 this citation, see Leges Langob. Lex, 144-5, or Leg. Rotharis, ibid, in Tome I., 
 Pars. 2, Script. Rev. Ital. Tiraboschi, Storia delta Letteratura Italiana, Tomo 
 III., p. 148, calls them simply Muratori, or Masons. 
 
 2 This view is supported by Tiraboschi, op. cit. ut supra. 
 
36 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 the Byzantine empire. That the builders' guilds or cor- 
 porations were brought frequently into a close contact 
 with the Western monks thus early in the construction of 
 houses of religious worship, or making extensive repairs, 
 is incontestable. It is fairly deducible, from the subse- 
 quent development of these artist corporations into the 
 skilled medieval Freemasons, that these bodies were more 
 or less intimately united with the monastic institutions 
 of the early and Middle Ages : and as the erection of 
 sacred edifices was exclusively under the direction of the 
 church, necessarily the architects were also under sacer- 
 dotal control. The monks or clerics, therefore, at an 
 early age, might be instructed, or rather initiated in the 
 sublime details of a strict science, and become a component 
 part of such bodies. 1 
 
 Whether the tradition 2 of the craft be true or other- 
 wise, that papal indulgences called into existence in 
 Lombardy these building associations, whose members 
 travelled through Europe as builders, the legend will 
 attest the long prevailing belief that, at that remote 
 period, the art interests of those artificers and the church 
 were identical, and as such they continued for many cen- 
 turies. 3 And the symbolic reference still in use in lodges 
 of Freemasons cannot be explained on other reasoning 
 than that these artists united with the Germanic guilds, 
 under ecclesiastical patronage, at that era, or subsequent 
 thereto; because the well-defined Gothic or Teutonic 
 elements, still in existence in lodge ritual, were, as we 
 shall hereafter see, derived directly from such a condition 
 of social life as presented itself in the north of Italy. 
 
 1 Vide Hope, On Architecture, Vol. I., p. 233; also, Krause, Kunsturkunden, 
 Th. I., ab. 2, p. 327 ; also, Ducange, Gloss. Med. et Infimi Lot., sub voce Magister. 
 i Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 425. 
 
 3 Wilda, Das Gildenwesen im Mittelalter, p. 34, has clearly demonstrated the 
 fact that in the development of ancient guilds, the clergy were essentially the 
 leaders, and that such associations at a very early age became a constituent 
 element in the conventual system. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Architecture and other Arts Patronized by Charlemagne — 
 Establishes Educational Institutions in his Empire — Icono- 
 clastic War under Leo, the Isaurian, in the Seventh Century 
 — Greek Artists Flee to Europe and receive Pontifical Pro- 
 tection — Image Worship Maintained by Charlemagne — 
 Byzantine Art Corporations Invited to Italy — Scholastic 
 Culture and the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences — Mechan- 
 ical Trades in Mon asteries — Saint Eloi and the Craftsmen — 
 Mosaic Work — Apprentices and Masters. 
 
 N the year 774, the Lombard kingdom in Italy was 
 extinguished by the irresistible power of Charles 
 the Great, 1 and the territory over which their sway 
 had extended for over two centuries became, in 
 
 consequence, subjected to the rule of the victorious Franks. 2 
 Shortly after the extinction of the Lombardic power, Char- 
 lemagne devoted the most assiduous attention to a complete 
 organization of the Christian church within his empire, in 
 order to effect a radical extermination of the heathen relig- 
 ion, which the unexampled resistance of the Saxons for the 
 preservation of their ancient customs proves to have had a 
 vigorous existence. 3 For this purpose, he laid the founda- 
 tion of a strict subordination among the clergy, and pro- 
 moted the establishment of numerous monasteries and 
 abbeys. In the pursuance of his plans to subjugate the 
 martial spirit of his ecclesiastics, he rigidly interdicted 
 
 4 
 
 1 Wirth, Geschichte der Deulschen, Theil I., p. 485. 
 
 2 Machiavelli, Istorie Florentine, Tomo L, p. 232. 
 
 3 Wirth, Geschichte der Deutachen, Theil L, p. 525. 
 
 37 
 
38 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 them the exciting pursuits of war or the chase. The em- 
 peror contributed, by his own personal example, very 
 largely to the internal development of the empire. Al- 
 though in early life his literary accomplishments were of 
 the most slender character, yet at a later period he acquired 
 the Latin tongue so thoroughly as to speak it fluently. 
 He had also learned to read Greek with ease. 1 In addition 
 to his other attainments, he cultivated agricultural science 
 and astronomy. The few monasteries which existed pre- 
 vious to the time of the Carlovingians, were places of the 
 grossest ignorance. 2 
 
 It was the great merit of the Emperor Charlemagne, that 
 regularly organized schools, both of fine arts and sciences, 
 were established in the cloisters, over which the most pro- 
 ficient abbots and monks were called to preside. A model 
 cloister school was first founded in his empire, under the 
 direction of a certain monk, named Hrabanus Maurus, at 
 Fulda, in the year 804, and upon this the emperor bestowed 
 the utmost attention. This educational institution was 
 soon, imitated by the convents of Saint Gall, Hirschau, 
 Eeichenau, Weiszenburg, Corvey, and others. 3 The atten- 
 tion given by Charlemagne to the development of agricul- 
 ture, was imitated by the ecclesiastics, who, with axe and 
 saw, boldly attacked the gloomy forests, and opened up to 
 cultivation vast areas of timber lands. 4 Following in the 
 wake of these improvements, came troops of builders, who 
 were attached to the missionaries, and under their direc- 
 tion, and perhaps a component part of such monastic insti- 
 tutions as were to be erected, together with other edifices, 
 upon the cleared ground. 5 Before the time of Charlemagne, 
 houses were mostly constructed of wood, — stone and tile 
 were rare. Inside, such buildings contained one spacious 
 
 1 Eginhard, in Vita Karl. Mag., cap. xxv. 
 
 2 Scherr, Deutsche Culiur, p. 70. 3 Scherr, Ibid., loc. cit. 
 * Scherr, Ibid., p. 72 ; Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Theil I., p. 534. 
 
 5 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 233. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 39 
 
 room, without partition walls. From the middle arose a 
 single column, which furnished a support for the roof. 
 Under Charlemagne, stone edifices began to be introduced. 
 Not only the celebrated imperial palaces of the emperor 
 at Aachen, Ingelheim, and elsewhere, but the residences 
 of the nobility also were constructed of stone. In one of 
 the emperor's dwellings there were three sleeping apart- 
 ments, eleven work rooms, and two for storage of material. 1 
 Towards the close of the seventh century, or about the 
 commencement of the eighth , two events occurred of much 
 importance for the examination of the subject under dis- 
 sertation. The first of these, in its relative effect upon the 
 translation of a style of art which subsequently became 
 current in the west of Europe, was a decree promulgated 
 by an ecclesiastical council held at Constantinople in the 
 year 692, interdicting the use of allegorical or symbolical 
 representations in the crucifixion of Christ and other 
 sacred objects, and ordering a stricter adherence to histori- 
 cal statuary. 2 Although this decree was never rigidly 
 enforced in Western Europe, it slightly modified an excess 
 which had become ridiculous. 3 At the time of this decree, 
 plastic and art compositions had become a kind of hiero- 
 glyphic, of which, in order to interpret correctly, it was 
 necessary to know the secret. For instance, the four 
 evangelists were represented by four running streams, 
 which spread their revivifying influences throughout the 
 universe ; 4 the converted gentiles, symbolically delineated 
 
 1 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 74. 
 
 2 Le decret du Concile de Constantinople, appele" le Concile Quinisexte ou in 
 Trullo et celebre en 692, qui ordonna de preferer la peinture historique aux 
 emblemes et notamment l'allegorie dans la representation du crucifiement 
 de Jesus Christ. Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 59. 
 The original decree, of which David has given in the foregoing citation the 
 substance, may be found in Act. ConciL, Tome III., Can. 82. 
 
 3 L'usage de l'allegorie, d'abord necessaire, ainsi que nous l'avons dit, pour 
 voiler les mysteres de la nouvelle religion, avait totalement egare les esprits. 
 David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 59. 
 
 4 Didron, Christian Iconography, p. 67, PI. 23. 
 
40 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 as thirsting deer which rambled towards a living fountain, — 
 or as a vine or a mountain ; the faithful, as trees, plants, or 
 as lambs. The second and most important event referred 
 to above, was the proscription of religious images, pro- 
 nounced by Leo the Isaurian in the year 726. The perse- 
 cutions suffered by the Greek artists, in consequence of 
 this edict, lasted for one hundred and twenty years. 1 This 
 decree, which banished from the Eastern churches every 
 description of statuary and painting without reserve, also 
 threatened, with severest penalties, any artist who ventured 
 to prepare an image of the saints, apostles, or of Christ. 
 Opposed to the emperor and his armed legions, were the 
 monks and the people of an humbler position. 2 In order 
 to render the emperor's edict more effective, the church, in 
 the year 754, confirmed his decree. 3 
 
 The Popes at Rome, profoundly interested in the result 
 of this contest, founded vast monasteries to receive the 
 monk artists who fled from Greece, and employed them 
 with the utmost zeal to continue the exercise of 
 that style of art proscribed them in their native land. 4 
 Upon their arrival in Italy and in Southern Europe, 
 they were quickly associated with the corporations of 
 builders, who perhaps at this epoch had a permanent 
 connection with the monastic institutions of the West ; 
 and as a steady and uninterrupted intercourse had been 
 maintained by their predecessors with Byzantium, affilia- 
 tions into established bodies of builders seem to have been 
 readily granted. 5 Through these artist refugees, an in- 
 creased knowledge of architectural and other arts was fur- 
 nished their western confreres. 
 
 1 David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, loc- cit. 
 
 2 Ihm gegenuber waren de Monche und das niedere Volk. Gorling, Ge- 
 schichte der Mahlerei, Theil I., p. 89. The artisans, no doubt, were largely 
 recruited from this class of persons. 
 
 3 Gorling, Ibid,, loc. cit. 
 
 * Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 65. 
 6 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 233. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 41 
 
 The glorious reign of Charlemagne was not less useful 
 to the maintenance of art and science. As we have already 
 seen, in the midst of the barbarism of many of his subjects, 
 he conceived the design of regenerating architectural 
 art, the sciences, painting, and even music. 1 Whether 
 Charles the Great was in a measure influenced to protect 
 the arts in his empire on account of his connection with 
 the Latin church, does not clearly appear ; but the canons 
 of the Council of Nice, urging the worship of images, were 
 submitted by him to a council of bishops at Frankfort, and 
 by his authority reenacted. In order that the character- 
 istics of religious culture, such as were used up to the 
 time of Leo the Iconoclast, might be perpetuated through- 
 out the Western empire, he issued an edict that all the 
 churches in his kingdom should be decorated with suit- 
 able imagery and statuary. 2 For this purpose envoys were 
 despatched several times a year through the provinces to 
 see that the emperor's orders were duly obeyed. 3 It seems 
 to have been the policy of Charlemagne, so far as possible, 
 to efface from the memory of his Saxon subjects, by means 
 of an elaborate ornamentation of sacred structures, the 
 attractions of their ancient altars. 4 The immense number 
 of edifices which were erected and thus embellished under 
 the fostering care of the emperor of the Franks, proves how 
 rapidly his active spirit had organized the forces at his 
 command for the work of architectural and plastic regen- 
 eration. The better to forward his schemes of material ad- 
 vancement, Byzantine workmen and other skilled builders 
 were invited from Italy, and perhaps from Greece, to assist 
 
 1 Au sein de la barbarie ou se plaisaient ses vassaux, ce grand homme concut 
 la pensee de regenerer a la fois les sciences, les lettres, Farchitecture, etc. 
 David, Histoire de la Peiniure, p. 66. 
 
 2 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Theil I., p. 200. 
 
 3 Volumus itaque ut missi nostri per singulos pagos praevideri studeant. 
 Carlo. Mag., De Imag., L. HI., cap. cxvi. 
 
 * Ut honorem habeant majorem et exccllentiorem quam fana idolorum. Cap- 
 ilai. de part Sax, an 789, c, 1 ; also, see Gorling, op. ciL, p. 201. 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 in and direct the construction of temples and other reli- 
 gious buildings. 1 By this introduction of Byzantine artists 
 into Germany, a great element was contributed to the Ger- 
 mans for the acquisition of architectural art, and awakened 
 in them capacities which subsequently developed to the 
 highest attainments. 2 A new emulation animated the im- 
 perial prelates, and the zeal for constructing and repairing 
 churches was intensified under the strict orders of the 
 emperor. 3 
 
 The principal causes of the astounding rapidity with 
 which the seeds of art -culture in Germany were scattered 
 so widely, is, I think, assignable to two things, — the first 
 of which was the introduction of corporations of Greek and 
 Gothic artists into the Latin empire, and their fusion with 
 the Longobardic guilds ; because, as before observed, these 
 associations preserved their existence down to the tenth 
 century at least. 4 The second of these, and not the least 
 insignificant, was the thorough organization which the 
 Carlovingian emperor effected in the cloisters, and by the 
 establishment of schools of art and sciences in the varied 
 monastic institutions of the empire. We have briefly 
 adverted to the royal encouragement of learning and the 
 sterner sciences taught in these cloistered schools. Scho- 
 lastic culture of that era was divided into seven liberal arts 
 and sciences, consisting of the famous Triuium, viz., gram- 
 mar, rhetoric, and logic, and the Quadrium, which included 
 arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. These col- 
 lectively constituted the basis of a finished education dur- 
 ing the Middle Ages, and still survive to the Freemasons. 
 Cassiodorus, 5 the eminent Grecian philosophical writer of 
 the time of Theoderich the Goth, was the author of these 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 471 ; Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 68. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Ibid., p. 470. 
 
 3 Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 70. 
 
 4 Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 226. 
 
 3 Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, Tomo III., p. 11. 
 
ANTIQ UITIES OF FREE MA S ONE Y. 
 
 43 
 
 divisions. They seem to have been brought from Italy at 
 a very early date, as Charlemagne, among his other accom- 
 plishments, according to Eginhard, 1 was proficient in 
 grammar, rhetoric, and logic. This monarch appears to have 
 been deeply interested in the seven liberal arts and sciences, 
 since he caused them to be suitably painted in fresco on a 
 wall. 2 The system of tuition in a monastery was under 
 the direction of an abbot ; he was the master, and the 
 monks the pupils, 3 who cultivated the sciences, letters, and 
 art. Each abbey had judicial powers, and administered 
 justice to its dependents. 4 It also had an extensive farm 
 attached, and possessed a manufactory and school. 5 Con- 
 vents and monasteries, therefore, became a species of fort- 
 ress where civilization, under the protection of some 
 sainted martyr, pursued its quiet way. Astronomy, arith- 
 metic, geometry, civil law, physics and medicine, the 
 study of profane authors, were sheltered within these 
 walls as within a sanctuary. It was particularly there 
 that architecture and its kindred arts were cultivated, 6 
 and bishops frequently presided as masters over the execu- 
 tion of plans, 7 submitted to these prelates by builders, per- 
 
 1 In vita Karoli Mag., cap. xxv. In discenda Grammatica Petrum Pisanira 
 audivit, in caeteris disciplinis Albinum, apnd quem et rhetoricae et dialectae. 
 One of the most important labors of this justly celebrated monarch has been 
 lost to the world, viz., a collection of German songs and heroic poems, which 
 were still recited and sung in his day. Although numerous searches have 
 been made for them, they yet remain undiscovered. 
 
 2 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 202. 
 
 3 Le pere abbe etoit le niaitre ; les moines, comme les affranchis de ce 
 maitre, cultivoient les sciences, les lettres et les arts. Chateaubriand, Etudes 
 Historiquts, Tome III., pp. 319, 320. See further on this subject, Fosbroke's 
 Bi^itish Monachism, p. 183. 
 
 4 Chateaubriand, ut supra, he. cit. 
 
 5 Fosbroke, British MonacMsm, p. 262. 
 
 6 Fosbroke, Ibid., p. 183. 
 
 7 Die Bischofe standen als Meister, dem Baue der Kirchen und Kloster vor, 
 und sie stellten, zur ausfuhrung, ihre Untergebenen an. Stieglitz, Geschichte 
 der Baukunst, p. 473. 
 
I 
 
 44 THE EARL Y HISTOR T AND 
 
 haps Byzantine, for approval, or worked out under episco- 
 pal instruction. Whatever details of art the foreign artists 
 possessed were rapidly acquired by the monks, who, with 
 these, also received and perpetuated the strange symbol- 
 ism in mediaeval architecture 1 which we have already seen 
 to have existed in the Greek church. 
 
 It would seem that, as early as the eighth century, a 
 regularly subordinated organization of masters and pupils 
 was established in the cloisters of Germany, 2 rendered 
 essential by the patronage of Charlemagne of the fine arts 
 and sciences, which were assiduously cultivated, under the 
 direction of masters thoroughly imbued with lofty senti- 
 ment, in order to add to the attractions of religious wor- 
 ship. 3 History has handed down from that remote age 
 (the seventh century) the name of Saint Eloi, who was a 
 goldsmith previous to his investiture with episcopal robes. 
 Among the numerous abbeys entrusted to the care of this 
 ecclesiastic, a selection was made of such monks as dis- 
 played an aptitude for mechanical skill. 4 At this period 
 (the eighth century) many Greek monks, and especially 
 the artists who had lied the persecutions resulting from 
 the edict against image-worship, were evidently employed 
 as principal workmen, in conjunction with their ecclesias- 
 tical brethren, on the Western churches. In many of the 
 edifices of that age, Greek inscriptions on the cathedral 
 walls sufficiently attest this. Moreover, numerous struc- 
 tures of a somewhat later date are described as having been 
 constructed more Grcecum, and ad consaetudinem GrcBcorum. 
 A chapel at Paderborn, repaired in the tenth century, is de- 
 clared to have been originally erected by one of the Carlo- 
 
 1 Luebke, Studium der kirchlichen Kunst, p. 27. 
 
 2 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 160. 
 
 3 Lacroix, Ibid., p. 28. 
 
 * Dans le septieme siecle Saint Eloi qui fut un orf&vre renomme avant de 
 devenir eveque, recrute parrai les Moines des divers convents, sonmis a son 
 autorite canonique, tous ceux qu'il croit aptes a ces travaux d'art. Ibid., loc. tit. 
 
A NTIQ UITIES OF FREEMA S ONE Y. 
 
 45 
 
 vingian dynasty, by Greek operatives — per Grcecos opera- 
 rios. 1 When at their labors, these artists were under the 
 control of an abbot or bishop, and by him supported and 
 paid. 2 The details of Byzantine architecture and plastic 
 art must necessarily have been derived from the earlier 
 Greek artisans and their su3cessors, or from the Oriental 
 monks who settled in the Latin empire about the year 
 774. Through these channels all useful rules and techni- 
 calities of art in possession of the East were gradually 
 transmitted to the monastic artificers, and by them in turn 
 abandoned to the lay corporations of the mediaeval Free- 
 masons. The determined energy of Charles the Great, who 
 had created schools of architecture in the various cloisters 
 of the empire, caused the monasteries to become nurseries 
 for the development of mechanical science. Such corpora- 
 tions of builders as were identified with and under the 
 control of the abbeys, readily furnished a source whence 
 an intimate knowledge of the principles of art were de- 
 rived, and, in consequence, as rapidly as the monkish 
 artists learned the rules and details of art, they communi- 
 cated them in turn to other monks, who constituted the 
 pupils in monastic schools. In the absence of reliable data, 
 we may safely infer, I think, that some of the more im- 
 portant art-knowledge which these Byzantine craftsmen 
 taught the monks consisted of the perpendicular principle 
 in architecture, the means by which material should be 
 prepared for buildings, a practical acquaintance with geo- 
 metrical science, and, what for our purpose is more inter- 
 esting, that style of art which, although far advanced in 
 the Eastern church, attained its full perfection in the 
 hands of European builders. I refer to the incorporating 
 of symbolic or allegorical details in the construction of 
 Middle Age edifices. 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, pp. 478-9. 
 
 2 Berington, Literary History of the Middle Ages, pp. 324-5. 
 
46 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 Schools of architecture originally worked in monasteries 
 in rooms set apart for labor ; and that such apartments 
 actually existed, may be inferred from the fact that the 
 great Carlovingian emperor built several of them in his 
 private residence. 1 These schools were subjected to the same 
 general regulations which governed various mechanical 
 trades in the cloisters. .Lacroix 2 asserts, on a chronicle of 
 the time of Dagobert, that Saint Eloi organized the jewel- 
 lers, whom he had selected from different monasteries, into 
 a society comprising three degrees of laborers — masters, 
 fellows, and apprentices. This celebrated bishop was prime 
 minister of the king, and notwithstanding the distin- 
 guished preferment accorded him by royal favor, he con- 
 tinued none the less uninterruptedly to prosecute his trade 
 at the forge. He manufactured for his regal patron a large 
 number of golden vases, elegantly mounted with precious 
 stones. He labored incessantly, having at his side Thil- 
 lon, of Saxon origin, who followed the instructions of his 
 master. 3 When Thillon, or Thean, the apprentice, had 
 served a suitable time and acquired sufficient skill to be 
 advanced to the degree of master in the trade of goldsmith, 
 he was inducted into the control of Salignac abbey. This 
 convent for several centuries preserved the traditions of 
 its founder, Saint Eloi, and subsequently furnished many 
 skilled workmen to numerous monastic workshops. 4 
 
 1 Vide, supra, p. 39. 
 
 2 Eloi, travaillait sans se lasser, 6tant assis et ayant a ses cot6s son serviteur 
 Thillon, d'origine saxonne, qui suivait les lecons de son maitre. Deja l'orfevrerie 
 &ait organise en corps d'etat et elle devait com prendre trois degres d' arti- 
 sans : les maitres, les compagnons et les apprentis. Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen 
 Age, pp. 160-1. 
 
 3 Lacroix, Ibid., p. 160. 
 
 4 Lacroix, Ibid., pp. 162-3. Perhaps this division of laborers into grades 
 or degrees may have been suggested by the internal organization existing 
 among the Byzantine builders. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Advance of Art in the Monasteries — Clerical Architects — 
 Skilled Painters and Sculptors in Convents — Pupils Or- 
 ganized into Grades or Degrees — Modification of Architec- 
 tural Style in the Tenth Century — Continuation of Gre- 
 cian Influence — Tendency to Symbolism — Progress in Art 
 Stayed until the Eleventh Century. 
 
 HIS system of dividing pupils into the three 
 degrees alluded to, materially assisted the spread 
 and rapid acquisition of a proricienc3 r in archi- 
 tecture. At this epoch, the monks of St. Gall 
 had become celebrated for their dexterity in the several 
 branches of plastic art. Among these, Tutilon 1 was dis- 
 tinguished for his knowledge of statuary and his skill in 
 sculpturing. To render himself the more thoroughly 
 conversant with the technicalities of art, he travelled 
 extensively into distant countries, and personally in- 
 spected the remains of ancient handiwork. In some 
 localities, he left behind him such specimens of his skill that 
 he became widely celebrated. 2 The architects of the church 
 attached to the abbey of Pfaltz were brethren of the 
 cloister, and subject to its discipline. 3 Ecclesiastical 
 
 1 In St. Gal] tritt (urn 850) ein Universalgeist auf, der Monch Tutilo ein 
 Mann von riesenhafter Starke, der sich als Baumeister, Toreut, u. s. w., gleich- 
 miissig auszeichnete. Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 205. 
 
 2 Multas propter artificia simul et doctrines peragraverat terras, etc. Eck- 
 erliard, Decan. S. Gall., c. xxii. ; also, Eraeric David, Histoire de la Peinture, 
 p. 79. 
 
 3 Les architectes etiient des moines de l'abbaye meuie, les peintres des moines 
 
 47 
 
48 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 artists of Reichenau decorated the new abbey of Saint Gall 
 with appropriate embellishments about the year 850. 1 
 
 Under the superintendence of monastic masters, the 
 arts and sciences, during the Middle Ages, were cultivated 
 and developed within the walls of cloisters ; there it was 
 that practical knowledge was preserved, which, consider- 
 ing the lamentable ignorance pervading the nations of 
 Europe, could receive no encouragement from the laity. 
 From these religious institutions, therefore, as a central 
 point, diverged the light of future ages. Wherever 
 churches were built, or other ecclesiastical edifices, it had 
 become essential that the cloister brethren should be 
 called to assist in furthering the work, and lend a helping 
 hand in executing details ; and having, in all lands, but 
 one religious faith, they accordingly propagated one style 
 of architecture, for which they persistently labored in 
 unison ; 2 and since the formation of the monastic schools, 
 as above related, the members worked conjointly in such 
 
 de Reichenau. David, Ibid., p. 78. There can be no doubt that at this epoch 
 nearly all of the guilds of builders or Byzantine corporations had so far sub- 
 jected themselves to church discipline as to be under complete ecclesiastical 
 control. At first, perhaps, secular artificers, from necessity, were received into 
 the monasteries or convents as the most available places for lodging during 
 the time they were occupied in the construction of buildings, and whatever 
 details or secrets of art were possessed by these travelling architects readily 
 passed into the possession of the monks. At all events, there is every prob- 
 ability that churchmen of those ages accepted the usual means of securing 
 such knowledge from the builders, by gradual advancement and strict sub- 
 ordination, which system thoroughly harmonized with the professed discipline 
 of monastic institutions. The members of ecclesiastical organizations, as we 
 shall presently see, were incorporated with these bodies and directed their 
 labors as master architects. See Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 233. 
 
 1 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 205. 
 
 2 Wo Kirchen und andere geistliche Gebaude von nothen, dahin wurden 
 Klosterbruder berufen,die Werke zu forderen und hulfreiche Hand zu leisten. 
 Und wie die Klosterbruder in alien Landen durch eine Religion fest vereint 
 waren, so hatten sie auch nur eine Kunst, u. s. w. Stieglitz, Geschichte der 
 Baukunst, p. 486. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 49 
 
 fraternities, 1 and executed all plans upon identical rules 
 and fixed principles, this may serve to explain the curious 
 fact that, except in few instances, the name of a single 
 master builder seldom appears : they all worked upon 
 enterprises which were simply an integral portion of a 
 vast and universal whole. 
 
 In the tenth century, art schools had assumed the 
 appearance of a widely extended association, whose sole 
 purpose, under ecclesiastical direction, was the construction 
 and ornamentation of religious houses. At Reichenau, 
 on Lake Constance, in Switzerland, Hadamor was distin- 
 guished for his artistic attainments, and as a proficient 
 and skilled patron of art, the Abbot Witigono, in the time 
 of Otto III., was unexcelled. At Regensburg existed a 
 celebrated school of art, where Archbishop Thumo exer- 
 cised his talents as an artist. Prague was the seat of an 
 institution of. this character ; and one also in the cloister 
 at Mur, which was especially prized on account of the 
 skill of its artificers. Bishop Sigismund, of Halberstadt, 
 at this period delineated on the walls of Merseburg 
 Castle the celebrated paintings which represented Henry 
 the Fowler in battle with the Hungarians. 2 In North 
 Germany, at Hildesheim, Bernward, bishop of the diocese, 
 was renowned for his architectural skill and knowledge 
 of plastic art. He constructed St. Michel's church, and 
 furnished it with doors which he cast from molten brass. 
 Bishop Meiswerk instituted an influential art school at 
 Paderborn, and strove to rival Bernward in his artistic 
 
 1 According to Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 233, the early refugee 
 Greek architects were admitted into the lodges and increasing circles of filia- 
 tions of the Byzantine builders. The gradual increase of art knowledge, 
 communicated as above mentioned to the clergy by these corporations, ulti- 
 mately allowed the church to have a dominant control over and in whatever 
 direction these guilds of artificers, whether composed in part or entirely of 
 monastic or lay members, were ordered by ecclesiastical authority. They con- 
 tributed powerfully both to the mechanical and moral improvement of new 
 localities. 2 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 205. 
 
 5 D 
 
50 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AXD 
 
 attainments. 1 Painting on glass, whose probable invention 
 Emeric David 2 assigns to the tenth century, seems to 
 have made rapid progress under the fostering care of the 
 monasteries ; and for this purpose the Dukes of Normandy 
 granted them important concessions. Guilliame, an abbe 
 at Dijon, in France, assumed the religious control of forty 
 cloisters in this century, and organized in each a school 
 for instruction in fine arts ; and for many years he had 
 under bis tuition a numerous body of monks, who, in 
 turn, became masters. 3 At Salerno, the Benedictine monks 
 erected a church to the Virgin. Jean, 4 chief of the abbey 
 at Farfa, superintended a chapel which was dedicated to 
 St. Peter. Towards the year 950, the illustrious Notker 
 lived in the cloister of St. Gall ; he excelled as a painter, 
 physician, and poet. Hugues, of the convent of Moutier- 
 en-Der, in the year 990, is described as a painter and sculp- 
 tor, whose skill reproduced the church decorations of 
 Salons-sur-Marnc, which time had rendered invisible. St. 
 Dunstan, 5 bishop of Canterbury, contemporary with these 
 ecclesiastics, had the reputation of being a skilful manu- 
 facturer of musical instruments, and a clever artist. 
 
 1 Hrabanus Maurus is especially mentioned by Gorling, Geschichte der MahU 
 erei, Bd. I., p. 205, not only on account of his great skill in general accom- 
 plishment, but also for the remarkable success which he attained in the use of 
 symbolic ornamentation. 
 
 2 Histoire de la Peinfure au Moyen Age, p. 79. See note (3), same page, for a 
 full and learned discussion of this subject. 
 
 3 Abbe Guillaume, qui, pendant de longues anne*es, dirigea une foule d'artistes 
 devenus chefs d'ecole a, leur tour. Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 360. 
 This distinguished artist Avas not only the head of a religious organization, 
 but also the master of an art school : et devint chef d'ecole d'art, aussi bien 
 que chef religieux. Lacroix, loc. cit. 
 
 4 In a citation by David, ut sup., pp. 82-3, from Aegid. De Gest. Pont If. 
 Leod., Tome VIII., p. 597, etc., Abbe Jean was a native of Italy : Italiae natu 
 pollens, and brought to Saint Gall by Otho III. 
 
 5 Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture, pp. 82-3. Berington, Literary History 
 of the Middle Ages, pp. 199, 242-3, adverts to the attainments of the last cleric, 
 but acknowledges the general sterility of culture in England at this epoch. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 51 
 
 The disastrous consequences which followed the Nor- 
 man invasions, in a measure checked the further advance- 
 ment of art in Europe. From the beginning of the ninth 
 until the commencement of the tenth century, with fre- 
 quent intervals, England and France, and large portions of 
 Germany, were devastated by uncivilized Northern in- 
 vaders. Abbeys and convents, on account of their wealth, 
 seem to have been special objects of destruction, 1 and, as 
 a result, an almost total suspension of architectural labor, 
 during that time, naturally eusued. 2 When, however, 
 these inroads had nearly ceased, the disasters caused by 
 such invasions indirectly served the progress of archi- 
 tecture and sculpture. A new and completer system of 
 constructions, demanded by the exigencies of public wor- 
 ship, and better adapted to the rising elegance of church 
 service, immediately came in vogue. 3 This epoch evinces 
 a decided tendency to depart from the simple ornamenta- 
 tion in church architecture which had obtained from the 
 time of Charlemagne ; and it was at this period that art 
 schools were organized on the extensive scale to which we 
 have ' adverted in the case of Guilliame, abbe of Saint 
 Benique, at Dijon, who became the master of such an insti- 
 tution as well as the religious head of an abbey. 4 
 
 The style of development in architecture or, painting, 
 which had begun to exhibit a growing tendency to trans- 
 formation, received a decided 'Bj^antine impulse in Ger- 
 many in the year 972, when Otto II. brought a spouse, the 
 Grecian princess Theophania, to share his throne. The 
 connection of the German empire with Byzantium, which 
 hitherto had been more or less remote, was now directly 
 established. This royal personage, who appeared unto the 
 astonished vision of her German subjects in all the splen- 
 
 1 Depping, Histoire des Expeditions maritimes des Normands, draws a ter- 
 rible picture of these barbarous devastations in Germany. 
 
 2 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 358. 
 
 3 Lacroix, I bid., pp. 359-60. 4 Lacroix, Ibid., p. 360. 
 
> 
 
 V* THE EARL Y IIISTOE Y AND 
 
 dor of Oriental trappings, was also accompanied by Greek 
 artists. Notwithstanding Byzantine influence in art is 
 perceptible at this late period in Germany, it does not 
 appear to have entirely subdued that tendency to the tran- 
 sitional style to which we referred above ; but the inclina- 
 tion to an increased symbolism in the elaboration of sacred 
 edifices prominently appears, and of a kind * which Gor- 
 ling 1 asserts to be radically unbyzantine, and which was es- 
 sentially an outgrowth of the social necessities of Northern 
 Europe. Other elements, deducible from gradually devel- 
 oped causes of action, — more recent symbolic allusions and 
 combinations, — now strike the attention. A steady effort 
 for the expression of new thought, elaborated upon such 
 principles as to bring out the individuality of the artist, 
 continually recurs. As this tendency to a Northern or 
 Gothic symbolism in architectural and plastic art made its 
 appearance at the close of the tenth century, and coming 
 so closely upon the time when the fraternity of builders 
 passed from the immediate control of the monasteries, it 
 is significant, and can serve some purpose in pointing out, 
 with tolerable accuracy, the period at which the well- 
 defined Teutonic symbolism, which has descended to our 
 day, became solidly and ineradicably incorporated with 
 the formal observances current among the Middle Age 
 lodges. 2 
 
 The opinion, that the expiration of the one thousandth 
 year of the Christian era was the time limited for the 
 
 1 Geschichte der Mahlerei, Theil I., p. 207. Durchans unbyzantinisch und 
 speciell dem Norden Europas angehorend ist das allenthalben sich vordriin- 
 gende Element neuer Bewegungsmotive, neuer symbolischen Bezuge und 
 Combinationen. 
 
 2 The junction of the Eastern and Western systems, which still exist in the 
 internal operations of lodge work, unquestionably occurred in Northern Italy 
 while under Gothic and Longobardic rule; and, as subsequent contact with 
 European society moulded the two elements conjointly, a homogeneous result, 
 as will be seen in Part II. of this book, was evolved by the substitution policy 
 of the Christian church. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 53 
 
 duration of the world, caused a temporary decline of art. 
 All Europe was preparing for this much-dreaded event, 
 which, however, was to attest the triumph of the religion 
 of Christ. Further progress in repairing churches was 
 stayed, and many edifices, in anticipation of the millennium, 
 were suffered to remain in ruins. 1 When this epoch passed 
 away without unusual incident, confidence in the unlim- 
 ited existence of the universe gradually returned, and 
 brought with it a rapid revival of the fine arts — a new 
 zeal animated princes and prelates ; they panted with an 
 earnest desire to signalize themselves by pious enterprises. 2 
 Each school of art labored diligently to aid in accomplish- 
 ing this purpose, and, at this time, the most remarkable 
 monuments of Roman architecture arose throughout Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 1 Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture, p. 107. 2 David, Ibid., p. 108. 
 5* 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Social Changes, in the Eleventh Century — Individualizing 
 Tendencies of the Middle Ages — Feudal System — Struggle 
 for Personal Liberty — Freemasonry Preserves the Charac- 
 teristics of this Epoch — Communal or Guildic Privileges As- 
 serted — Rapid Spread of Mechanical Guilds or Societies — 
 First General Development in Towns and Cities — Corpora- 
 tions of Tradesmen and Immunities — Early Charter to Com- 
 mune — Laymen Acquire Knowledge of Building Art from 
 Ecclesiastics — Lay Artisans become closely United. 
 
 LTHOUGH the Church still retained its influence, 
 and possessed unhounded power over the religious 
 belief of the people, a gradual change in the 
 social condition of European countries had taken 
 place, which, early in the eleventh century, began to 
 assume a definite form. In various portions of Europe, 
 particularly in the south of France, Northern Italy, and in 
 Germany, the municipal regulations, as established under 
 the Roman empire, had, in a measure, retained their effec- 
 tiveness. 1 These municipalities seem to have exerted a 
 mighty and preponderating influence in adding to the 
 material interests of those countries, and appear to have 
 been centres around which commerce and trades were first 
 developed into a vigorous activity. Early in the eleventh 
 century, the feudal system was firmly established, and the 
 possessor of a fief, large or small, assumed, within the 
 
 1 Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, Theil L, cap. iii., may be advan- 
 tageously consulted on this subject. 
 
 54 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 55 
 
 boundaries of his domain, all the rights and prerogatives 
 of a sovereign power. No external authority could dictate 
 laws, exact imposts, collect taxes, or administer justice in 
 his territory. The proprietorship alone carried with it all 
 these powers. 1 In the Middle Ages, the condition of 
 social life was, in many respects, deplorable ; and although 
 the morale of the people may have been decidedly inferior 
 to that of our own time, yet, in general, the individuality 
 of men was unlimited, and their will energetic. General 
 ideas, which exercise a dominion over the minds of man- 
 kind, and control the spirit without regard to time or 
 place, existed then in a limited degree. Each individual 
 employed his energies for himself exclusively, according 
 to personal inclination, — irregularly, without doubt, but 
 with bold confidence. 2 That central, supreme, and uniform 
 power which distinguished the governments of antiquity, 
 was destroyed by the Northern invaders. It is true, that 
 Charlemagne attempted to reproduce it, and, by the ex- 
 ercise of an audacious sovereignty, he temporarily suc- 
 ceeded ; after his death, it dissolved before the native 
 Germanic individuality, which reappeared in primitive 
 vigor. The imperial administration which the Carlovin- 
 gian king endeavored to create, still retained vitality, 
 upon a narrower scale, in the separate and individual 
 governments of petty sovereigns, who had divided their 
 territories into smaller miniature empires, in which, so far 
 as political authority was involved, they were absolute. 3 
 
 Ecclesiastical power, from the tenth century, struggled, 
 and with much success, to consummate the abdication of 
 the freedom of human intelligence and the unquestioned 
 recognition of spiritual interposition in temporal society. 4 
 
 1 Au XP sieele, la feodalite une fois etablie, le possesseur de fief grand on 
 petit, avait dans ses dominions tous les droits de la souverainte. Guizot, His- 
 toire de la Civilisation en France, Tome III., p. 262. 
 
 2 Guizot, Ibid., Tome III., p. 232. 
 
 3 Guizot, Ibid., Tome II., pp. 389, 391. * Guizot, Ibid., p. 398. 
 
56 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 The Church, in the eleventh century, passed to a condition 
 of theocratic and monastic government. This result was 
 mainly due to the energy and policy of Gregory VII. Co- 
 incident in point of time with his attempt to submit the 
 civil world to the Church and the Church to the papacy, 
 for the purpose of reform and progress, an effort of a simi- 
 lar nature was inaugurated in the very heart of the monas- 
 teries. The necessity of a more thorough discipline, of 
 greater order, and a stricter morality, had for a long time 
 been apparent. And while the clergy sought to crush out, 
 beneath the weight of ecclesiastical censure, all independence 
 of mind ; while it pressed with urgency to organize society, 
 both civil and clerical, upon uniform and unvarying prin- 
 ciples, whose application contemplated the undisputed au- 
 tocracy of the Holy Father and the submissive compliance 
 of church and people ; and while the monastic institutions 
 were reformed in their morals, there were bold and defiant 
 intellects, such as Abelard, John Erigena, and others, who 
 asserted the inherent right of human reason to pass judg- 
 ment upon ideas. The importance of this first attempt at 
 liberty, and to free the mind from the crushing influence 
 at work to trammel intelligence, within the limits of uni- 
 form church discipline, was quickly felt. The Bomish 
 church became alarmed, and declared an uncompromising 
 warfare at once against the new reformers whose doctrines 
 menaced the successful unifying of society. It was the 
 eleventh century which witnessed the explosion of eccle- 
 siastical wrath upon these free-thinkers. Although nu- 
 merous councils condemned them, still their principles 
 survived. 1 
 
 1 Guizot, Histoire Ginerale de la Civilisafion en Europe, pp. 184, 187. The 
 agitations which actively fermented both civil and ecclesiastical society at this 
 epoch, undoubtedly forced the builders, who, as yet, were simply associated, and 
 under sacerdotal control, into a closer organization. When these constructors 
 definitely withdrew from direct clerical authority, it was essential that they 
 should be united by mutual oa^hs, in order to strengthen their association. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 57 
 
 Another element which entered largely into the body 
 politic of medieval society, was a Teutonic contribution. 
 Although the subdivisions of territory, which were made 
 in the organization of the feudal system, created a dis- 
 tinction between the nobleman, who arrogated all the 
 powers of a sovereign prince, and the various descending 
 grades of subordinate officers down to the humble vassals, 
 still the aristocratic principle and the inequality which 
 accompanied these distinctions had not destroyed, as be- 
 tween the chief and his companions, all ancient relations 
 of right and liberty. In the tenth century, the Germanic 
 element of modern society still retained the doctrine of 
 national assemblies, the right of men to govern themselves, 
 and certain ideas, certain sentiments of personal indepen- 
 dence, ingrafted in the bosom of a system entirely aristo- 
 cratic. At the close of the tenth century, various combi- 
 nations, faint traditions of imperial authority, descended 
 from the disintegration of the Roman empire ; the efforts 
 of the Church to establish and perpetuate a society, each 
 member of which, whether lay or ecclesiastical, should be, 
 so to speak, run in the same mould ; and the individual- 
 ism characteristic of the German nations, preserving un- 
 altered, through varying changes, clearly-defined ideas of 
 personal right and liberty 1 — it is, we say, only at the ter- 
 mination of the tenth century, that the fermentation had 
 ceased, and that the amalgamated discordant elements have 
 united to form a well-regulated, in a word, modern society. 
 These great results, which the vast erudition of M. Guizot 
 has established, attest the authenticity of an important- 
 fact, which bears immediately upon the internal and or- 
 ganic functions of the fraternity of Freemasons. In its 
 
 1 Les elements fondamentaux, essentiels de la ^ civilisation moderne en gen- 
 eral, et en particulier de la civilisation francaise, se reduisent a trois : le monde 
 romain, le monde chretien, et le monde germanique ; Pantiquite, le chris- 
 tianisme et la barbaric Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tome II., 
 p. 388. 
 
58 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 organization, Freemasonry presents the indisputable evi- 
 dence of having existed at a period when the three prin- 
 cipal elements enumerated above were slowly amalgamat- 
 ing. It possesses the absolutism of a Roman autocrat in 
 the person of a Master clothed with the emblems of power ; 
 it has the unifying idea of a single religious belief, which 
 is essentially a fundamental principle, and has always con- 
 stituted an indispensable portion of Masonic government. 
 Finally, it retains the Germanic freedom and liberty of 
 action in the varied nature of its elective prerogatives. 
 
 At the same time that the component parts of modern 
 civilization, about the beginning of the eleventh century, 
 had become fairly fused, another movement, none the less 
 significant in its influence, began to assume formidable 
 proportions, viz., the movement of enfranchising com- 
 munes, or the authority of towns to regulate their internal 
 affairs without foreign interference ; and also tbe right of 
 freedom from many of the numerous imposts levied upon 
 tradespeople, who composed almost exclusively the mem- 
 bers of such corporations. When the feudal regime had 
 become settled, a new activity began to evince itself in the 
 small villages, which were either descended from the 
 Roman empire or developed originally around the walls 
 of a church or chateau, and a certain taste for progress 
 or amelioration displayed itself. In order to satisfy this in 
 a measure, commerce and industry reappeared in the towns 
 of the feudal domains — wealth and population returned 
 there again, slowly at first, but they returned. Among 
 the circumstances which materially increased their num- 
 bers, according to Guizot, 1 was the right of sanctuary or 
 security within ecclesiastical walls. Prior to the time that 
 safety in a commune could be afforded alone behind im- 
 penetrable butments and fortified stone, or by irresistible 
 force, an asylum to the refugee, whether of high or low 
 
 1 Histoire Generale de la Civilisation en Europe, p. 199. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 59 
 
 estate, nobleman or serf, was assured beneath the buckler 
 of religion. Extortions of the nobility from the burgesses 
 redoubled during the tenth century. 1 Against these ex- 
 actions the commons raised many complaints, which, how- 
 ever, passed unheeded, and made the lack of security more 
 keenly felt. The merchant who peddled his wares into 
 the territory of neighboring princes was not permitted to 
 reenter his own village without personal danger and 
 .heavy taxes. 2 At the very moment industry began to 
 thrive, was precisely the time when safety was most 
 wanted. During the course of this century the towns 
 gradually acquired more force, more wealth, and greater 
 interests to defend. In proportion to the increase of their 
 wealth, the exactions of the nobility were equally rapa- 
 cious ; and although at this period there does not appear 
 to have existed a regularly organized force, seeking to 
 check the grievous oppressions of their rulers, still the 
 ever-recurring spectacle of the individual will refusing to 
 submit presents itself. 3 
 
 Following in the wake of the quiet and unobtrusive 
 influences of time, almost unnoticed in Germany, the same 
 tendency to an emancipation from the control of aris- 
 tocratic noblemen manifests itself. As late as the year 
 1073, but little freedom existed in the rural districts ; 4 
 everywhere appeared the same squalid tillers of the soil, 
 who passed, with the grant of the freehold, as so much 
 cattle, while others dragged out a miserable livelihood. 
 Things were on a more favorable basis in the towns, 
 
 1 Guizot, Histoire Generate de la Civilisation en Europe, p. 201. 
 
 2 Les marchands, apres avoir fait leur tournee, ne pouvaient rentrer en paix 
 dans leur ville ; les routes, les avenues etaient sans cesse assiegees par le seign- 
 eur et ses hommes. Guizot, ubi supra, p. 201. 
 
 3 Guizot, Ibid., p. 213. With such dangers threatening civil and relig- 
 ious society, it is easy to infer for what purpose travelling builders should 
 ultimately desire to organize themselves into an oath-bound fraternity. 
 
 4 Auf dem Lande herrschte auch im Yahre 1073 noch keine Freiheit. Wirth, 
 Oeschichte der Deutschen, Bd. II., p. 92. 
 
60 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 because, by means of their mechanical occupation, the 
 tradespeople rendered themselves independent of agricul- 
 tural labors. Manual labor was especially contemned by 
 the owners of landed estates, particularly as, according to 
 the spirit of the old constitution, the ranks of artificers 
 must be recruited from the social grade of bondsmen. 
 Under such circumstances, it cannot be presumed that 
 tradesmen had much influence in public affairs. On the 
 contrary, for the purpose of reminding them of their 
 servile descent, grinding taxes and heavy imposts were 
 exacted, which, moreover, preserved the identity between 
 them and the agrarian serf. 1 Portions of land encom- 
 passed by the town walls were the property of either 
 princes, bishop, or the emperor, and whenever an artisan 
 erected his dwelling there, such residence brought with it 
 a milder form of service. To all outward appearances, the 
 tradesman's condition in the town was but little removed 
 from that of the provincial serf on his owner's lands, yet, 
 in fact, it was far preferable. Opportunities for greater 
 service abundantly offered themselves, and, by a persistent 
 zeal, steady industry, and scrupulous economy, such persons 
 were ultimately able to become independent of these bur- 
 dens, or in some manner cease to be subject to them. In 
 the provinces, the serf was in reality the artisan for his 
 lord ; but the community of interests, which welded the 
 
 1 Die Handarbeit wurde auch damals von den Grundherren noch tief ver- 
 achtet, und die Geschlechter in den Stiidten konnten ihren Adel nur durch 
 strenge Vermeidung eines biirgerlichen Gewerbes bewahren. Nach dem Geiste 
 der alten Verfassung muszten die Handwerker aus dem Stande der Leibeignen 
 hervorgehen. Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Bd. II., pp. 92-3. According 
 to this author, op. cit., p. 93, the class of laborers indicated in the text were 
 not authorized to adjudicate difficulties arising among themselves, nor per- 
 mitted to select officers or judges from their caste. The character of the 
 handicraft performed by monastic builders, and their connection with church 
 government, no doubt afforded opportunities of extending their privileges, 
 and secured greater concessions than the more servile craftsmen, whose limited 
 skill necessarily made them less desirable workmen. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 61 
 
 tradespeople together in towns or cities, afforded an oppor- 
 tunity for a mutual protection, and also, by a free inter- 
 change of thought and constant contact, the advantages of 
 increasing in artistic cleverness. As a result, the city 
 artist, who had reached a degree of skill in his trade 
 which was impossible with the rural workman, secured 
 the patronage 1 of nobility, whose increasing demands for 
 fine goods and skilled workmanship in ornate garments, 
 elegant armor, weapons, etc., materially advanced his in- 
 terests. 2 Following the example of his illustrious father, 
 Otto I. had encouraged commerce in addition to granting 
 numerous concessions, freeing the trades from many local 
 imposts. 
 
 During the tenth and eleventh centuries, commerce had 
 increased to such extent that a lively trade sprung up on 
 the Elbe and Rhine. Wirth 3 alleges that in the year 979, 
 by a law of King Ethelred II., certain privileges were con- 
 ceded to German merchants. Through the agencies of 
 these various causes, a gradual accumulation of wealth by 
 the citizens of towns and cities made the extortions of the 
 nobility more irritating, and led to frequent insurrections, 
 which ended in granting communal charters. 4 Previous 
 to the investiture of citizenship in a chartered community, 
 each person was obliged to swear faithfully to preserve 
 the commune. Magistrates were nominated in a public 
 assembly convoked by^ sound of a bell. After the election 
 had taken place, the convocation dissolved, not to meet 
 again until new elections were called. The magistrate 
 
 1 So wollten Bischofe und Edelleute ihren Schmuck von den biirgerlichen 
 Arbeitern beziehen, wodnrch denn diesen ein betrachtlicher Verdienst zuging. 
 Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Theil II., p. 94. 
 
 2 Les possesseurs des domaines, an milieu desquels elles e*taient situees re- 
 connurent qu'ils profitaient de leur prosperite et avaient interet a en seconder 
 le developpement. Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tome IV., 
 p. 214. 
 
 3 Geschichte der Deutschen, Bd. II., p. 94. 
 
 * Guizot, Histoire Generale de la Civilisation en Europe, p. 203. 
 6 
 
62 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 governed almost alone, and without responsibility, until 
 his term of office expired, or was checked by a popular 
 entente, which constituted the grand corrective of those 
 ages. 1 Guizot 2 gives in full a charter granted to the city 
 of Orleans, which is, perhaps, the earliest document pre- 
 served, wherein certain concessions are made, some of 
 which relieve the citizens for the future from an exaction 
 of wine tollage during vintage season. This charter was 
 issued in the year 1057. 
 
 Two causes powerfully cooperated at this epoch to 
 wrest the exclusive possession of architectural and plastic 
 art from the monasteries and cloister brethren, who hith- 
 erto had retained the entire control of it, the first of 
 which was the acquisition of enormous wealth by the con- 
 vents and abbeys. Consequently, religious service had 
 become, in the hands of the clergy, a mere mummery, and 
 an instrument whereby the laity could be held in sub- 
 jugation. Luxury and dissipation crept within walls 
 which, for centuries, were regarded by credulous minds as 
 invested with the odor of sanctity. 3 Dissolute hahits 
 sapped the nervous energy with which the ecclesiastics 
 had labored to attract the popular mind by the elegance 
 of churches and chapels, and nearly all spiritual knowl- 
 edge was ignored. Notwithstanding there were many 
 monks withal, who continued to prosecute the construc- 
 tion of sacred edifices, and adorn them with an intense 
 and zealous assiduity, the alteration of monastic discipline 
 and the new social condition of laymen of this age per- 
 mitted the exclusive possession of art to pass from their 
 control. 4 The second of the causes to which we have 
 
 1 Guizot, Histoire Generate de la Civilisation en Europe, p. 217. 
 
 2 Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tome IV., p. 388. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 520. 
 
 4 Da traten Ktinstler auszerhalb der Kloster auf, und das ganze Wesen der 
 Kunst nahm eine andere Gestalt an. Stieglitz, in he. cit. Lay brethren were 
 regularly accepted into such fraternal relations upon petition presented to a 
 chapter of monks. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 191. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 63 
 
 alluded was the gradual, change which had taken place 
 in the regulation of conventual institutions early in the 
 eleventh century. At first none were admitted to fellow- 
 ship with the monks except such as consecrated them- 
 selves to the practical duties of priesthood. By the alter- 
 ation referred to, any one might foe received as a bro- 
 ther, without being compelled to assume monkish attire, 
 or to take the usual vows. These neophytes performed 
 the domestic duties incident to monasteries, and in their 
 hands was entrusted all manual labor. 1 It will be seen 
 that in this way laymen could acquire a thorough and 
 practical knowledge of the various arts and mechanical 
 trades taught in the abbeys ; and through these lay brethren, 
 the general principles of art which were obtained within 
 the wails of monasteries, extended to persons not imme- 
 diately connected with the cloisters. 
 
 The progress which the industrial arts had made in 
 the cities of Germany, was assisted by the establishment 
 of free communes, where branches of trade were more 
 securely followed. However, the constant warfare waged 
 between the artisans and nobility, which ended in the 
 several concessions as previously stated, demanded a closer 
 union of the citizens, both to successfully terminate their 
 struggles for individual freedom, and to maintain the 
 privileges wrung from determined oppressors with so 
 great labor. And at a time when, amidst the almost 
 
 1 Da gab es erstlich Laienbriider, die in alien Stiicken mit den Monchen 
 sicli nach der eingefiihrten Zuchtordnung richteten nnd nur nicht zu Priestern 
 geweiht wurden. Endlich Geschenkle oder Geopferte, welche ohne Monchs- 
 rock und ohne Geliibde im Kloster mitlebten, ihm ihre Habe zubrachten unci 
 nachlieszen, auch anstatt der Monche, die nothigen Handarbeiten und wirth- 
 schaftlichen Dienste verrichteten. Henke, Kirchengeschichte, Bd. II., p. 177. 
 Vide Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et Infim. hat., sub voce, Oblati. The Oblati, in 
 token of submission, bound a bell-rope about their necks. Fosbroke, British 
 Monachism, chap, xxx., gives much valuable information touching the regu- 
 lations enjoined upon these lay brethren while at work within the monastic 
 shops. 
 
6i 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 total disregard of personal rights and the unnumbered 
 acts of violence ; when royal authority was openly defied, 
 and was confessedly powerless to repress outrages to 
 which people were daily subjected, then it was that citi- 
 zens were compelled to associate themselves into more 
 intimate organizations, driven by instinct of self-preser- 
 vation, in order to maintain their property and preserve 
 their personal security. 1 
 
 1 Als nilmlich in den Zeiten allgemeiner Umgriffe und Gewaltthatigkeiten, 
 wo es den Konigen an nachdriicklichen Zwangs-und Vollstreckungsmitteln 
 zur Selbsthulfe genothigt waren, behaupteten diese ihr Eigenthum und ihre 
 Sicherheit mit dem Waffen. Ungewitter, Geschichte des Handels und der In- 
 dustrie, p. 233. So far as the origin of guilds is concerned, there can be no 
 question that their existence is coeval with the Teutonic constitution. Wilda, 
 Das GildenWesen, pp. 3, 212; Lacroix, Moeurs el Usages, p. 52; also, Toulman 
 Smith, English Guilds, pp. 73-79. See, also, chapter on Guilds in the subse- 
 quent part of this work. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Propagation of Societies or Guilds for Mutual Protection — 
 Concessions to Guildic Tradesmen — Mediaeval Craftsmen Or- 
 ganized into Mutual-Help Associations — Their Importance 
 and Extent — Unsuccessful Efforts to Destroy them — Right 
 of Internal Government Recognized. 
 
 HE eleventh century was the epoch at which, as 
 previously stated, the various elements of modern 
 society had amalgamated and assumed their rela- 
 tive proportions in the universal mass of the 
 
 body politic. Among, the prominent features of this 
 transformation, that individualizing tendency, already 
 mentioned, is noticeably apparent, and nowhere does this 
 characteristic betray itself so strikingly as in the rapid 
 spread of guilds or associations of artificers and others, 
 voluntarily formed for purposes of mutual protection ; and 
 nothing, perhaps, has so largely contributed to the in- 
 crease of power and significance, to the foundation of the 
 freedom and importance of mechanical labor, as these 
 societies or fraternities. Divested of the many abuses 
 which resulted from the development of these guilds, in 
 their relation to public affairs, inestimable advantage was 
 derived from the intimate connection which necessarily 
 existed between the apprentices and their masters. The 
 apprentice was received into the bosom of his master's 
 family upon a footing of equality, and the mistress of the 
 house regarded him as a son. 1 What a vast distinction is 
 
 Friedrich von Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. V., p. 309. 
 6* E 65 
 
66 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 here between the servile labor of the Roman tradesman ; 
 the hopeless task of the land-bound artist prior to the 
 eleventh century, and the ennobled apprentice, who, on 
 equal terms, worked under the parental guidance of a free 
 master ! 1 N 
 
 In the year 1061, Philip I. of France instituted a 
 guild of tallow-chandlers, which, according to Yon 
 Raumer, 2 is the earliest of record. It was established 
 four years after the charter 3 enfranchising the city of 
 Orleans, in 1057, was granted by Henry I., and, in a 
 measure, confirms the assumption that the same spirit of 
 personal liberty which wrung this warrant from the royal 
 prerogatives, also compelled a recognition of the declared 
 rights of these humble tallow-chandlers ! In the twelfth 
 century, guilds had spread with marvellous rapidity 4 
 throughout Europe, and were ' composed of nearly every 
 trade or occupation. In the year 1106, the fishmongers 
 associated at Worms, and were permitted the exercise of 
 certain privileges. 5 Among the leading occupations in- 
 corporated into guilds 6 of this age, in Italy, were mer- 
 
 1 A cant expression, much used during the Middle Ages. 
 
 2 Im Yahr 1061 (die selteste) fur Lichtzieher von Philip I. Von Eauraer, 
 loc. cit. n. (5). Winzer, Die deutschen Bruderschaften des Miitelalters, p. 42, says 
 a charter was in the possession of a guild of fishermen, at Kavenna, about the 
 commencement of the tenth century. He does not, however, properly au- 
 thenticate the assertion. It appears that Otto III., at the request of the Bishop 
 of Pisa, conceded to the merchants of Asti greater facilities for their business, 
 but nothing of a charter is mentioned. Gia nel 992 Ottore III. avea conce- 
 duto ai mercatanti d'Asti ampia facolta, etc. Cibrario, Frammenti Storici, pp. 
 216-17. 
 
 8 As this charter of Henri I., in the year 1057, possesses an interest on 
 account of its remote antiquity, and is, perhaps, the earliest royal concession 
 preserved, I refer the reader to Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, 
 Tome IV., p. 307, where it may be found. 
 
 * Von Kaumer, Geschichte der Hokenstaufen, Bd. V., p. 309. 
 
 5 Im Yahre 1106, Fischerinnung in Worms; 1134, Tuchmacher und 
 Kuschner in Quedlenburg. Von Kaumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. 
 V., p. 309, n. (5). 
 
 6 Ungewitter, Geschichte des Handels und der Industrie, pp. 234-5. This 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 67 
 
 chants, money-changers, woollen weavers, tailors, surgeons, 
 apothecaries, silk workers, coachmakers, steel workers, 
 goldsmiths, carpenters, stonecutters and masons. 1 These 
 guilds or trades' unions, uniting the several branches of 
 business or industry, exercised almost unlimited control 
 over the political concerns of various European cities. 
 Combined originally for mutual aid and protection, these 
 societies ultimately developed into closely organized cor- 
 porations. 2 To such an extreme were their presumptions 
 carried, that, in the year 1273, in the city of Pistoja, 
 their privileges were revoked, and the associations opened 
 to the public. In Perugia, on account of their vast 
 political influence having been unduly exerted in favor 
 of his opponent, Pope Innocence IV., for whose cause 
 contributions of money were made by them, they were 
 suppressed by Gregory IX. 3 In Denmark, in the time of 
 Canute, these brotherhoods had the power to elect a pre- 
 siding officer : they had also a secretary, halls to meet in, 
 independent judicial powers, and formal processes for 
 compulsory attendance. 4 Von Raumer asserts 5 that this 
 right of election was universal among the guilds, and 
 sometimes a protector, usually a person of high standing 
 and noble birth, 6 was selected to represent their interests 
 
 author uses the words Steinmetzen and Maurer to signify the same profession. 
 Vide Machiavelli, Istorie Florentine, Tomo I., pp. 402-3, etc. 
 
 1 For additional information on the subject of Italian guilds, see Von 
 Eaumer, ut supra, Bd. IV., p. 336. 
 
 2 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 227. 
 
 8 Von Eaumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. V., p. 98, and Wilda, Das 
 Gilden Wesen im Mittelalter, pp. 40, 174-5, for government measures against 
 guilds ; also Unger, Die Altdeutsche Gerichts-verfassung, p. 68. 
 
 4 Dahlmann, Geschichte von Ddnnemark, Bd. IIT., p. 13. 
 
 5 Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, V., p. 311. The majority of voices under the 
 master's rulings usually decided questions which came before these bodies. 
 In der Zunft entschied gewohnlich die Mehrheit der Stimmen unter dem 
 Vorsitz eines Altmeisters. Ibid. 
 
 6 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 279, says Masonic 
 guilds had no patrons. He is clearly in error, as we shall presently see. Con- 
 
THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 in the councils of the cities. In the year 1155, Louis VII., 
 king of France, issued his royal warrant to the butchers 
 at Etampes, revoking certain imposts and contributions 
 which had been levied upon them by the sergeants of the 
 city, the prevot, and others. A few years later, among 
 the concessions made to the tradesmen of the same city, 
 it was set forth in a charter of Louis VII. that, in future, 
 the wax merchants should only be assessed a denier (less 
 than a penny) on their wares, and this but once a year. 
 At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Philip Augus- 
 tus made an important concession to the weavers of the 
 same place. 1 "We shall have occasion hereafter to refer 
 more at length to this charter. 
 
 suit upon this Wilda, Gilden Wesen, p. 333, and Krause, Kunsturkunden, Theil 
 II., Abt. 1, p. 107, and Winzer, Die deutschen Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, 
 p. 30. 
 
 1 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tome IV., pp. 327-322. This 
 charter conceded the right of duelling among the members. If the combat 
 occurred in consequence of some grave infraction of the law, the victor was 
 entitled to a pecuniary reward : le champion vainqueur ne recevra pas plus de 
 trente-deux sous, etc. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Guilds of Freemasons in the Eleventh Century — Building Art 
 passes from the church to organized craftsmen — ecclesiastics 
 still form part of masonic bodies — vast structures erected 
 in this and ensuing centuries — skilled workmen alone ad- 
 MITTED among Freemasons — They Work on Uniform Plans and 
 Preserve Traditional Types — Degrees of Apprentice, Fellow, 
 or Companion, and Master — Religious Tendency of Mediaeval 
 Masons — Salutary Effect of these Craftsmen on Architec- 
 ture — They go from Province to Province, Constructing Sa- 
 cred AND OTHER EDIFICES. 
 
 EFERE^TCE has already been made to the manner 
 in which the laity acquired a general familiarity 
 with the principles of art during the eleventh 
 century. It was at this epoch that the guilds, 
 or associations of constructors or Freemasons, assumed a 
 definite position in mediaeval society. 1 Architectural art, 
 which previously had remained the exclusive property of 
 the cloisters, passed from the possession of monastic work- 
 men into the control of artists outside of conventual walls. 2 
 
 1 Cest a cette epoque, c'est-a-dire au onzieme siecle .... que se formerent 
 les premieres associations de constructeurs, dont les abbes et les prelats fai- 
 saient eux-memes partie. Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 390. 
 
 * Datraten auszerhalb der Kloster auf, und das ganze Wesen der Kunst nahm 
 eine andere Gestalt an. Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 520. Luebke, 
 Oeschichte der Architectur, p. 340, says that this transition occurred about the 
 twelfth century, and from this time henceforth art knowledge was preserved 
 in close organizations of Freemasons. Ibid., 464. The frequent mention of 
 monk workmen among the Middle Age Freemasons leads Krause to the conclu- 
 sion that a union occurred after the change above adverted to. It is not proba- 
 ble, however. Vide Die drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Theil I., Abt. 2, p. 307. 
 
 69 
 
70 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 The entire characteristics of art, in consequence of this move- 
 ment, assumed another form. Architecture, no longer ex- 
 clusively cultivated in secluded monasteries and wrought 
 out with a greater or lesser degree of skill in proportion to 
 the standard of excellence attained by clerical workmen, had 
 now become the property of artificers, who, closely joined 
 together in guilds, worked in strict accordance with gener- 
 ally-established and well-understood principles, and with a 
 rigid adherence to certain rules which had descended to 
 them from remoter ages. 1 Of these associations, the abbes 
 and prelates necessarily formed a part. These guilds of 
 builders were essentially composed of men bound together 
 by a religious vow. 2 Consequently, when the insecurity 
 of those ages demanded a closer association of skilled 
 labor, these fraternities of constructors or masons were 
 reorganized under the influence and direction of church dis- 
 cipline. 3 At this period the increasing demand for the 
 erection and decoration of cathedrals and other houses of 
 religious worship necessitated the employment of work- 
 men both practical and conversant with the details of art. 
 The enthusiasm^ for the construction of churches and 
 abbeys which surged up during the eleventh century, ren- 
 dered it essential that a larger number of artisans should 
 be employed than at any time prior to this era. When 
 the opening year of the eleventh century had reassured 
 the superstitious spirit of those who previously expected 
 a dissolution of the Universe, zealous impulses for the build- 
 ing of sacred edifices moved the entire Latin church. This 
 enthusiasm developed into a mania. In every direction 
 old churches were razed to the ground ; everywhere arose 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 520. 
 
 2 Qui etaient essentiellement composees d'hommes lies par un voeu reli- 
 gieux. Lacroix, ut supra, p. 390. 
 
 3 Church exigencies, which demanded the constant exercise of the Free- 
 masons' art knowledge, will readily suggest a valid reason for the continuance 
 of these corporations under ecclesiastical influence. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 71 
 
 new edifices, vaster and more elegant than those preceding 
 them. In the year 1001 the church of St. Benigne and 
 the rotunda, still preserved at Dijon, were constructed. 
 At Rheims, in the year 1005 ; Tours, in 1012 ; Cambrai, 
 in 1020 ; Orleans, Limoges, and in many other towns 
 in France, numerous cathedrals were erected. 1 Robert, 
 king of France, alone built twenty-one churches, the 
 remains of which have descended to our day. Clugny 
 Abbey still possesses a curiously-wrought structure, 
 dating back to the year 1088. Thiemon, a German artist, 
 towards the close of the eleventh century, had signal- 
 ized himself as an operative mason or stonecutter. 
 After having enriched several convents with his handi- 
 craft, he was inducted into the archepiscopal see of Salz- 
 burg in the year 1090. 2 Fiue arts were still fostered in 
 the convents of Europe ; and, as no church could be erected 
 without the consent and under the superintendence of 
 the diocesan bishop, none but the most skilled laborers 
 were accepted as workmen, nor were ordinary artisans 
 admitted to the highly-prized rights and privileges of 
 these religious associations of builders. 3 
 
 From the closeness of their organizations, the guilds 
 were suffered, by the terms of their charters, when actually 
 granted, or in accordance with immemorial usage, 4 to reject 
 all who were, from ignorance or inability to learn, not 
 duly qualified to become members. 5 The earlier statuesque 
 
 1 Eraeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 108. 
 
 2 Thiemon, peintre, sculpteur, professeur de belles lettres, qui, apres avoir 
 enrich! de ses ouvrages plusieurs convents, fut nomme en 1090 Archeveque de 
 Salzbourg. David, Ibid., p. 112. On the subject of distinguished persons 
 being proficient in the above art, and for an amusing reference to James I., 
 see Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, p. 116. 
 
 3 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 390. 
 
 * It has been clearly demonstrated, by the best authorities on the subject of 
 guilds, that there were no original charters calling such bodies into existence. 
 Toulman Smith, English Guilds, p. 128 ; Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen im MitteJlr 
 alter, p. 96. 
 
 6 Pour qu'il sache fere le mestier. Boileau, RZglements des Arts el Metiers, 
 
72 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 productions of this epoch frequently betray a want of skill, 
 and from this Stieglitz 1 is led to conclude that, until the 
 guilds of Freemasons had become more widely extended, 
 there was only a limited intercourse existing between the 
 more remote cloisters where plastic art, as we have seen, 
 continued to be cultivated, and that the religious artist, 
 thus isolated, worked according to his own models. How- 
 ever elevated, therefore, the artistic standard may have 
 been in a certain monastery, it could scarcely have exer- 
 cised sufficient influence to be felt upon similar institutions 
 situated at a remote distance. Moreover, that there were 
 artisans of great merit in this age, is proven by such relics 
 as have descended to us, and that the general character 
 of their productions was the result of personal study and 
 application, cannot be denied. It has been conjectured, 2 
 from the figures of our Saviour in the chancel of the church 
 at Wechselberg, that the Byzantine artists were the pre- 
 cursors of mediaeval artists — an assumption which, I 
 think, is fully corroborated by the ever-recurring Greek 
 types and symbols in church architecture. We have 
 endeavored to show how, in the early age of the Latin 
 •church, almost all works of art were executed by these 
 workmen, and when the convents became possessed of 
 architectural and plastic arts, they mainly derived them 
 from the Byzantine operatives. When, therefore, this art 
 passed from the hands of monastic laborers into the custody 
 of a society of lay constructors, it carried with it all the 
 
 Manche Gewerbe waren daselbst gesehlossen oder die Aufnalime hing docli 
 von Koniglicher und stadischer Genehmigung ab ; anders durfte man treiben 
 sobald man nur die nothigen Kentnisse nachwies. Von Raumer, Geschichte 
 der Hohenstaufen, Bd. V., p. 311. Sometimes a property qualification was 
 essential for admission to gnildic membership : et il ait coi. Boileau, ut supra. 
 A multiplicity of guilds was considered highly beneficial, both for the finan- 
 cial and political condition of the mediaeval cities. Grimm, Meistergesang, 
 p. 10. 
 
 1 Geschichte der Baukumt, p. 513. 2 Stieglitz, Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 traditional types and symbols with which the ecclesiastics 
 invested their sacred edifices. 
 
 These guilds, in their organized form, so far at least as 
 was essential to their cohesion, introduced naturally such 
 elements, eliminated from civil society of that age, as tended 
 to direct their establishment to practical purposes. For 
 instance, Freemasonry borrowed, as before suggested, the 
 outlines of its constitution from the three amalgamated 
 principles which were fundamental in the early Middle 
 Ages : the autocratic, personal independence, and ecclesias- 
 tical. It was necessarily tinctured with the mythological 
 superstitions, which still retained at this period a vigorous 
 hold on the people of Northern Europe. As the guilds 
 traced their origin back into the twilight of time, and were 
 coeval with the first forms of Germanic society, 1 conse- 
 quently many fragments of heathen rites and observances 
 passed with them into succeeding mediaeval fraternities. 
 It may therefore be safely alleged that Teutonic mythology, 
 from its earliest contact with the Eastern builders in the 
 fifth century, and through the line of centuries following, 
 has contributed very largely to Masonic symbolism. The 
 guilds of constructors or Freemasons appropriated the 
 several degrees which, as we have already seen, existed in 
 the monasteries at a very early age, viz. : Apprentice, 
 Fellow, and Master. As these fraternities were reorganized 
 under church patronage, they imbibed at their inception a 
 strong religious sentiment, — a characteristic which has 
 come down with Masonic lodges from past ages. 
 
 During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the society of 
 constructors or Freemasons had become established on a 
 solid basis, and began to exercise a widespread and salutary 
 influence upon the architecture of Europe. Towards the 
 termination of the eleventh century, this brotherhood of 
 
 1 Wilda, Dos Gilden Wesen im Mittelaller, p. 3 ; Toulman Smith, English 
 Guilds, pp. 86, 73 ; Rogge, Das Gerichtswesen der Germanen, p. 61 ; and Unger, 
 Die Altdeutsche Gerichts-verfassung, pp. 47, 50. 
 7 
 
74 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 artists executed in Alsace many prodigious works of art. 1 
 In Normandy, at the commencement of the twelfth century, 
 the same zeal and same extent of artistic labor are ex- 
 hibited. A few of the names of these ancient builders 
 have been transmitted to us : Otho, who built the cathe- 
 dral of Seez ; Gamier, that of Fecamp, and Auquetil, 
 who erected the minster of Petit Ville. 2 At this epoch 
 the Freemasons formed a numerous and powerful corpora- 
 tion, 3 and architecture, together with many other arts, at 
 this time passed from the monasteries into the possession 
 of lay architects, organized into fraternities of Masons. 4 
 These travelled from country to country, transmitting 
 the traditional types of workmanship, and from this cir- 
 cumstance resulted that monuments of their skill, erected 
 at the remotest distance from each other, offered % a strik- 
 ing analogy, and frequently a complete similitude. 
 
 1 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 364. 
 
 2 Lacroix, Ibid., pp. 364-5. 
 
 3 Les maeons et sculpteurs formaient a cette epoque une nombreuse et puis- 
 sante corporation. Lacroix, loc. ext. f 
 
 4 C'est d'ailleurs a cette epoque que 1' architecture, comme tous les autres 
 arts, sort des monasteres pour passer aux mains des architectes laiques, organ- 
 ises en confr&ries, voyageant d'un pays a l'autre, et transmettant ainsi les 
 types traditonnels. Lacroix, ut supra, p. 401. Also, Stieglitz, Geschichte der 
 Bmikunst, p. 528. So bildeten sich auch aus den Handwerken, welche im 
 Klosterverband lebend, den Monchen bei der ausfuhrung der Bauten dienten, 
 gen ossen sch aftlichen Verbruederungen aus denen sin der Folge ohne Zweifel 
 die Bauhtitten hervor gingen. Luebke, Geschichte der Architectur, pp. 302-340 
 and 464, where this distinguished archaeologist asserts that, at the period above 
 noted, the arts passed into secret organizations, controlled by weltliche Meister 
 — lay masters. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Uncertainty op Masonic History at this Epoch — John Moreau 
 Builds Melrose Abbey in the Twelfth Century — A French 
 Mason — Great Britain depends on Gallic Craftsmen for Build- 
 ers — William of Sens — Moreau, Master of Scottish Masons — 
 Architecture Changes to Lancet or Gothic Style — Building 
 Art in Germany — Cathedrals of Cologne and Strassburg — 
 The Last begun by Greek Artists — Erwin of Steinbach, the 
 Master Builder — His Daughter, Sabina, a Skilled Architect 
 — Church of Saint Stephen at Vienna. 
 
 ^T]HE external history of Freemasonry of this age is 
 |Ig involved in gloom and uncertainty. In a few 
 instances the master architect has engraved upon 
 lasting walls the visible signs of his superintend- 
 ence, and with these rare exceptions further traces have 
 escaped the vigilant searches of the most enthusiastic 
 writers. The accounts, which were certainly kept by the 
 cloisters and churches in the erection of sacred edifices, 
 would undoubtedly furnish valuable information, but such 
 records cannot be found. 1 The earliest authentic mural in- 
 scription which I have seen, is still in existence at Melrose. 
 According to the following lines on a foundation stone, 
 the abbey was built in the year 1136 : 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 512. Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, 
 Appendices T. and II., presents two documents relating to an indenture between 
 the Masons and church authorities, for the construction of an abbey, etc., 
 about the fourteenth century; also, Krause, Kunsturhunden, Thiel II., Abt. 
 2, for additional information and authors cited. 
 
 75 
 
76 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Anno milleno, centeno, ter quoque deno, 
 Et sexto Christi Melross fundata fuisti. 
 
 The structure was ten years in process of construction, 
 having been finished in the year 1146. Above the door, 
 on the west side of the transept, is an inscription, to which 
 the name of John Muruo is attached. Another record is 
 hewn on a block of stone, in raised letters, on the south 
 side of the doorway, evidently referring to the same indi- 
 vidual, who was the architect, or Master Mason, of the 
 edifice. 1 These tablets are highly interesting, and especially 
 important as a historical monument, showing that as far 
 back as the year 1136, at least, the craft was already 
 organized, under the direction of lay masters. A few of 
 these letters are now almost effaced, but may still be de- 
 ciphered. From an accurate copy in my possession, I quote 
 a portion of it : 
 
 John : Morow : sum : tyme : callyt : 
 Was : I : and : born : in : Parysse : 
 Certainly : 
 
 It is evident from the foregoing that John Morow, or 
 Muruo, the superintending architect, was a foreigner and 
 a Frenchman, born at Paris. It has hitherto received cur- 
 rency among architectural writers, 2 that William of Sens 
 was the first Master Mason whose works are still extant in 
 Britain. This artist was also a native of France, and is 
 described as ariifex siibtilissimus, — a very skilful artificer. 
 He went to England in the year 1176, in order to recon- 
 struct the cathedral of Canterbury. 3 Lacroix says 4 that 
 
 1 See Part II., chap, xxx., p. 323, on Mason's Marks. 
 
 2 Among others, Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 211. 
 
 3 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 368. 
 
 4 L'Angleterre, des le septitime siecle, avait appele* chez elle nos maitres de 
 pierre, nos meilleurs ouvriers et elle continua depuis a en faire autant pour 
 la construction et 1' ornamentation de ses plus beaux Edifices religieux. La- 
 croix, Ibid., p. 368. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 77 
 
 Great Britain, thus early in the history of Freemasonry, 
 seems to have depended upon foreign artisans to erect 
 churches and abbeys. 1 Gorman and French master builders 
 restored the cloisters of Croyland, Warmouth, and York, 
 already rich in Byzantine and French sculpture. 2 
 
 Foreigners conducted the principal architectural works 
 of England at this and later periods ; and the first known 
 Master of Masons there was John Morow, a Parisian, who^ 
 according to the indisputable attestation of the partially 
 decayed inscription, which I have transcribed, had already 
 laid the foundations of Melrose Abbey in the year 1136, 
 and completed that building, now in melancholy ruins, in 
 1146, just thirty years prior to the arrival of William of 
 Sens, in the year 1176. Of Master John Morow we possess 
 little additional information. From the same partially 
 obliterated tablet it appears that he was the Master, per- 
 haps General or Grand Master, of all the Masonic work 
 or lodges at Saint Andrew's, around the cathedral of 
 Glasgow, and at the churches of Paslay, Niddisdale, and 
 Galway. 3 Now it is equally clear that at these several 
 edifices there were Masons at work, who, according to the 
 united evidence of trustworthy historians, 4 usually, when 
 in great numbers, labored in lodges ; therefore the de- 
 duction is rational and direct, that there were lodges of 
 
 1 Vide Hope, Essay on Architecture, chap, xxxvii., where it is candidly stated 
 that England was deluged with French architects from the period of the 
 Norman conquest till ages after. 
 
 2 Lacroix, ut supra, loc. ext. 
 
 3 John : Morow : sum : tyme : callyt : 
 
 : and : had : in : keeping : al : 
 
 mason : werk : of : Santan drays : 
 ye : hye : kirk : of : Glasgow : Melrose : 
 and : Paslay : of Nyddysdayll : 
 and : of : Galway : I : pray : to : God : 
 and : Mary : baith and : sweet : st : 
 John : keep : this : haly : Kirk : 
 fra : skaith : 
 4 More of this subject hereafter. 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Masons employed upon the above buildings. If, then, 
 John Morow were the master of all this work, or of these 
 lodges, he was possessed of a jurisdiction over an indefinite 
 number of subordinate bodies, and was, in a word, the 
 General or Grand Master. I should infer that his name, 
 correctly written, was Moreau, from the circumstance that 
 it is once engraved Muruo, which is nearly an English 
 corruption of the first ; and in addition to this, he informs 
 us that "he was sometimes called Morow" signifying that 
 this name was merely accorded him by the people among 
 whom he was domiciled, whose accentuation had modified 
 Moreau into Murow or Muruo. 
 
 The fine arts in England were much indebted to William 
 of Sens, He first introduced the chisel at the rebuilding 
 of the Canterbury cathedral. 1 In the preparation of free- 
 stone for building purposes, up to this time, the adze had 
 been used. His inventive talent constructed the turning- 
 machine and modelled planes. 2 An accident terminated 
 the active life of this great artist, in a most tragical 
 manner. A scaffolding, which had been erected in the 
 progress of the repairs to the cathedral, yielded to the 
 pressure upon it, and precipitated William of Sens to the 
 ground, with stones and timber accompanying his fall. 3 Al- 
 though seriously injured, and confined to his bed, he was 
 enabled, by the assistance of another Master of Masons, to 
 have his plans duly executed. Failing, however, to regain 
 his former health, he returned to his home in France, for 
 better medical facilities. 4 
 
 About the close of the twelfth century, the style of 
 architecture which has received the appellation of the 
 pointed or lancet style, and which ultimately developed 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. IX., p. 112. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 113 ; also, Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, p. 257. 
 
 3 Archceologia, Vol. IX., p. 114. 
 
 4 Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 159. Both Poole and the Archceologia, 
 loc. cit., have used Prof. Willis's translation of Giraldus Cambrenesis, Hist, of 
 the Cathedral at Canterbury. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 79 
 
 into the Gothic, became prominent, and every form which 
 could recall the Byzantine was abandoned. The character 
 of this art betrayed itself in the infinite variety of section- 
 work elaborated upon geometrical outlines. Of strictly 
 floriated ornamentation, but little appears. Among the 
 churches of this style, the minster at Magdeburg still 
 remains to attest the purity of art in the beginning of the 
 thirteenth century. This edifice was begun under the 
 auspices of Bishop Adalbert, in the year 1208. History 
 has preserved the name of Bausak, who was the master 
 builder of the work. 1 One of the most notable structures 
 of this epoch is the cathedral at Cologne. This city seems 
 to have possessed a minster as early as the time of Charle- 
 magne. In the year 1162, Frederick L, in order to 
 signalize his victory over the Milanese, presented to this 
 church a costly sarcophagus, containing the relics of the 
 three holy canonized kings of the East. This sacred 
 object attracted many noblemen and rich princes, who, 
 together with others equally pious, greatly enriched the 
 cathedral with large sums of money. In order that these 
 gifts might be suitably appropriated, it was decided to 
 erect a minster, which should correspond to the dignity 
 and importance of such a monument. Engelbrecht, arch- 
 bishop of Cologne, desired to undertake the construction, 
 but his death, in the year 1225, rendered nugatory the 
 design. A conflagration in 1228 destroyed the old cathe- 
 dral, and in the same year the archbishop, Count of Hoch- 
 steben, began a new edifice, the construction of which 
 progressed slowly until the year 1322, when the choir was 
 consecrated. This choir is the only finished portion of 
 the structure. At various intervals the work upon it was 
 resumed, until the sixteenth century, when it ceased. 2 
 
 1 Bischoff Adalbert unternahm, im Yahr 1208, einen neuen Bau, dessen 
 Baumeister Bausak heisz. Stieglitz, Geschichte der Bauhunst, p. 547. 
 
 2 In the year 1872, when the author was at Cologne, the work of completing 
 the minster was again proceeding. 
 
80 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Few names of the artists who labored at the building of 
 the cathedral have come down to our time — even the 
 architect who planned this mighty fabric is unknown. 
 The name of Gebhard, who was a master of the workmen, 
 has, however, been rescued from oblivion. 1 
 
 No structure of this age has been the subject of so 
 many eulogistic praises as the Strassburg cathedral. Ac- 
 cording to Stieglitz, 2 the original foundation of the 
 minster dates back to the time of Chlovis L, who caused 
 a small edifice of timber, in the year 504, to be erected. 
 Through the influence of Charlemagne, in 798, the choir 
 was constructed of stone. But this structure was subse- 
 quently destroyed, and Bishop Werner was the first who 
 summoned experienced operatives to draught the plans 
 for a new building. The foundation was laid in the year 
 1015, no doubt by Grecian architects, 3 and the choir was 
 erected in 1028. After the bishop's demise, for a time, 
 further work ceased. It subsequently progressed slowly 
 to a completion of the nave in the year 1275. The 
 names of various masters who hitherto conducted the 
 plans and directed the artificers upon this cathedral are 
 not known, but the image of one builder, who presided 
 over the work on the nave, is still visible in the interior 
 of the building on the transept wall. 4 This edifice is un- 
 derstood to present the finest specimens of Gothic or Ger- 
 manic architecture, which attained its fullest perfection 
 towards the close of the thirteenth century. At this 
 period, in the year 1277, Erwin, of Steinbach, in conjunc- 
 tion with other master builders, laid the foundation for 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 567. 2 Ibid., p. 572. 
 
 3 Luebke, Geschichte der Architectur, p. 253, is authority for the statement 
 that Greek architects were brought to Germany in the eleventh century, by 
 Bishop Meinwerk. 
 
 4 Das Bildniss des einen, der der Arbeit am Langhause vorstand, hat sich 
 im Innern des Munsters an der Mauer des einen Kreuz Kreuzfliigels, erhalten. 
 Stieglitz, ut supra, p. 573. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 81 
 
 further additions to the cathedral, and resumed the com- 
 pletion of unfinished portions of the work. Erwin beau- 
 tified some parts of the older building, among others, 
 the portal on the south side. What, however, is most 
 singular and deeply interesting in reference to its connec- 
 tion with the history of Freemasonry, is the undoubted 
 authenticity of the allegation that Sabina, 1 a daughter of 
 Erwin von Steinbach, rendered her father valuable assist- 
 ance in preparing, with her own hands, several columns, - 
 which constitute the chief ornament of the doorway re- 
 ferred to. 2 It would seem, from this fact, that the fair 
 architect had received instruction in the secret arts, which 
 at this time in Germany were the almost exclusive prop- 
 erty of a fraternity of builders obligated to profound 
 secresy, and subject to severe penalties in case of disobedi- 
 ence. If this be correct, a woman, so early as the thir- 
 teenth century, "had been made a Freemason." After 
 Erwin's death, in the year 1318, his son John proceeded 
 with the work, and faithfully adhered to his father's plans, 
 as evidenced by a portion of the same still preserved on 
 parchment in the archives of the minster. On the de- 
 cease of this master builder, his successors abandoned the 
 original designs of Erwin, which a want of harmony be- 
 tween the two sections of architecture manifestly shows. 
 
 1 The curious reader may find some additional facts in Krause, Die D.ei 
 celtesten Kunsterkunden, Bd. II., Abt. 2, p. 241, and authorities cited. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 573. A majority of mediaeval guilds 
 freely admitted women to share the privileges of membership. In case of 
 the admission of a member's wife, the fees of entrance were reduced, but an 
 unmarried woman paid the same price as the men. See Return of the Guild of 
 Gallkhith, made in the year 1389, published in Smith's English Guilds, No. 1. 
 York Lodge, Eng., possesses a manuscript of the year 1693 containing regu- 
 lations for the craft, in which the following appears : 
 
 " Thee one of the elders takeing the Booke 
 And that Jiee or shee that is to be made Mason," etc. 
 
 I have seen this manuscript, and believe it correctly printed by Hughan, Old 
 Masonic Charges, p. 15. 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 Steinbach's son John was succeeded by other masters, 
 who pushed the work with great activity, until John 
 Hiiltz, a master of Cologne Masons, about the year 1439, 
 brought the south tower to completion. In the year 
 1494, the minster received a new portal on the north side, 
 wrought out by John of Landshut, which is justly cele- 
 brated on account of its delicate workmanship. 1 
 
 Another masterpiece of Gothic or Teutonic art, the 
 work of medieval Freemasons, is visible in the church of 
 Saint Stephen at Vienna. Originally founded in 1144, 
 about the middle of the thirteenth century it was par- 
 tially destroyed by fire. In the year 1359 the founda- 
 tions of the principal towers which adorn the cathedral 
 were laid, under the superintendence of a master builder 
 by the name of Winzla. Hans Buchsbaum, as supervising 
 architect, completed one of these in 1433. This master 
 carried forward the construction of other portions of the 
 edifice. At his death, in the year 1459, Anton Pilgram 
 assumed his duties. On one of the columns to the rear of 
 the chancel, a sculptured portraiture of Master Buchsbaum 
 is still visible. This dexterous artist furnished the work- 
 manship for this chancel, and presided over a lodge of 
 skilled operatives, who worked out the details in accord- 
 ance with his plans. 2 The church of Saint Lawrence, 
 at Nurnburg, is preeminently the handiwork of German 
 architects. Founded in 1274, it was successively enlarged 
 by additions until the year 1419, when the choir founda- 
 tions were laid, and in 1422 it was completed. Conrad 
 Wintzer, of Regensburg, furnished the diagrams, and his 
 cousin, Hans Bauer, of Ochsenfurt, as master of the 
 builders, executed the plans. 3 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschickte der Baukunst, p. 574. 
 8 Ibid., p. 581. ' 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 576. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Constructive Art in Italy — Cathedral at Pisa Built by Eastern 
 Architects — Buschetto, Master Builder — Italian Craftsmen 
 of this Epoch — Ecclesiastic or Dominican Masons — Teutonic 
 Masters in Italy — Bridge- Builders — Guilds of Freemasons 
 or Stonecutters in Florence — Fra Guilelmo Works in a Ma«- 
 sonic Lodge at Santa Croce — German Masters — Lodge of 
 Masons at Orvieto in the Thirteenth Century — Italian 
 Magistri Lapidum — General or Grand Master Architect oP 
 the Florentine Campanile — Italy Imitates the Architecture 
 of Germanic Masters, Imported thither to Construct Cathe- 
 drals. 
 
 T the close of the tenth century, Italy was so* fair 
 behind the nations of the North that when, iA 
 the year 976, Venice, or rather Pierre Orseola, 
 conceived the project of rebuilding Saint Marc's, 
 Grecian artists were imported to lay the foundations. 1 
 Scarcely had Venice finished its cathedral, when Pis& 
 desired to have one also. Several Tuscan vessels, launched 
 upon the sea for other conquests than those of war, brought 
 from Greece an infinite number of monuments, statuettes', 
 bas-reliefs, chapters, columns, and divers fragments of 
 Oriental workmanship. The enthusiasm became genera^. 
 
 1 En 977 Venise, jetait les fondaraents de la basilique de Saint Marc, bati^e 
 par des architectes qu'elle avait appeles de la Grece. Emeric David, Histoire 
 de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 85. Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 360, 
 says this cathedral was begun in 976, by Pierre Orseols, doge de Venise, qui 
 se vit oblige" de faire venir des architectes et des artistes de Constantinople. 
 According to Daru, Histoirede Venise, St. Marco was erected upon the founda- 
 tions of a church previously destroyed. 
 
 S3 
 
84 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 In the year 1016, or 1063, according to David, 1 Buschetto, 
 who had accompanied this precious cargo, superintended 
 the construction of the cathedral. 2 This artist, nobly 
 encouraged, formed, it is alleged, an institution or lodge 
 of sculpture, which was perpetuated during one hundred 
 and fifty years, and which ultimately produced the dis- 
 tinguished artisan, Nicholas Pisano, who had the honor, 
 by his influence, to reestablish in Italy the more essential 
 rules of art. 3 
 
 The disciples of Buschetto, accepting the commanding 
 impulses of their master, transfused his ideas into build- 
 ing art, which rapidly spread throughout the peninsula. 
 Under their active zeal, the cathedrals of Amain, of Pis- 
 toja, Sienna, and Lucca, were constructed in a style which 
 betrays a Byzantine influence totally opposed to the semi- 
 Gothic minster of Milan. 4 Nicholas Pisano, towards the 
 close of the twelfth century, had, by an assiduous study 
 of the remnants of antique sculpture, opened the surest 
 way to a full development of sound principles and the 
 perfecting of an accurate taste. Nicholas attained to a 
 high degree of skill as a plastic artist. Marchione, who 
 
 , 1 Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 115; Vasari, Proem, delle Vite del 
 Pittori e Architetti, Tomo I., p. lxxij., etc., says the foundations of the Pisan 
 cathedral were laid in 1016, but the time assigned by David, in the text above, 
 is supported by Von Raumer, Geschickte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. VI., p. 491. 
 Milizia, Memorie degli Architetti antichi e moderni, Tomo IV., p. 134, has fol- 
 lowed Vasari's date. Also so assigned by Lacroix, Les Arts, etc., p. 366. David, 
 ut supra, p. 115, says that Buschetto etait un des artistes grecs les plus habiles 
 de son temps, but, Von Raumer, loc. cit., denies the Byzantine nativity of that 
 architect. Milizia, Ibid., maintains the Grecian birth of the Pisan church- 
 builder. As we have already shown from Mueller, Archceologie der Kunst, p. 
 224, Greek artists were in constant intercourse with their native land until a 
 late period of the Middle Ages. There is, therefore, every reason to assume that 
 Buschetto, as many other Eastern architects at this epoch, found, in the grow- 
 ing state of Western art, a readier and more lucrative employment for his 
 artistic talents than was offered in the rapidly declining empire of Byzantium. 
 
 8 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 366. 
 
 8 Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 115. 
 
 * Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 366. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 85 
 
 was his rival, has left his name hewn upon the portal of 
 the church at Arezzo, erected in the year 1216. 1 Giovanni, 3 
 a son of Nicholas Pisano, was also distinguished as a master 
 builder, and in abandoning the stilted types which had 
 prevailed for many ages, elevated architectural art above 
 a dry, mechanical execution, and, by imparting that indi- 
 viduality and idealistic expression which, already obtained 
 among the German stonecutters, indicated the way to sub- 
 lime conceptions in accordance with natural rules. Among 
 the more distinguished pupils who worked under the in- 
 struction of this celebrated master, are enumerated Agos- 
 tino of Sienna and Giotto, the latter of surpassing dex- 
 terity both as architect and sculptor, whose name and 
 works Dante has consigned to undying immortality. 3 
 Florence, as a city of fine arts, became one of the central 
 points of architecture and statuary. 4 
 
 The earliest cultivators of the fine arts of whom the 
 history of the preacher monks 5 makes mention, were two 
 religious brethren, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, members of 
 the convent of Santa Maria Novella ; the former was a 
 native of Florence, the latter was born seven miles distant 
 from that city. According to the conjecture of Marchese,* 
 founded upon the necrologium of the cloister, they were 
 born between the years 1220 and 1225, fifteen or twenty 
 years prior to Cimabue. From whom they obtained their 
 instruction in architectural art is uncertain. It is sup- 
 
 1 Lacroix, Ibid., p. 370; Tirabosch i, Storia della Lett. Ital.,Tomo IV., p. 491. 
 
 2 Vasari, Vile dei Pittori e Architetti, Torao I., p. 262, awards unusual praise 
 to this master builder ; also Tiraboschi, ut supra, p. 492. 
 
 3 Ed ora ha Giotto il grido, 
 Si che farua di colui oscura. 
 
 Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XI., st. 96. 
 
 4 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 371 ; Machiavelli, Istorie Florentine, 
 Torao I., pp. 402-3. Further in this connection, Maffei, Storia Lefteratura 
 Italiana, Lib. I., cap. i., and Balbo, Vita di Dante, Lib. L, cap. i. and ii. 
 
 5 The Dominicans were justly renowned as architects. Luebke, Geschichte 
 der Plastik, p. 451. 
 
 6 Vie dei Pittori Scultori e Architetti Domenicani, Tomo I., p. 31. 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 posed, however, that Nicholas Pisano contributed, in some 
 degree, to their artistic knowledge. The two most cele- 
 brated architects, who divided the highest attainments in 
 this art at that period, were Nicholas of Pisa and a master 
 builder named Jacopo. 1 The latter of these was a Ger- 
 man, 2 and, early in the thirteenth century, constructed the 
 church and convent of San Francisco, at Assisi, and 
 erected, according to his own diagrams, the church of San 
 Salvadore. If we may give credence to the assertion of 
 Marchese, 3 Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro profited by the ex- 
 ample and counsels of the German stonemason, Jacopo. 
 The earliest essay of these young master architects was 
 in the rebuilding of certain bridges, which had been de- 
 stroyed in consequence of heavy inundations caused by 
 the Arno overflowing its banks. 4 It is stated that the 
 stone columns used in the construction of these bridges, 
 were placed into position with such mathematical skill, 
 that they resisted the deluging rainstorms of 1282-4-8. 
 In the year 1256, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, with whom 
 a third monk was associated, Fra Domenico by name, in 
 connection, it is said, with other operative masons or 
 stonecutters, assisted in erecting the cathedral of Santa 
 Novella. 5 In the construction of this second edifice, 
 Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro were selected as masters of the 
 work. Under the superintendence of these brethren, other 
 excellent Masons aided in the building, who, as assistant 
 
 1 Marchese, Ibid., p. 31. 
 
 2 Vasari, Vite dei Pittori e Architetti, Tomo I., p. 251, boldly asserts the 
 German nativity of Jacopo, and designates the style of architecture employe^ 
 in building the above church as Opus Theutonicum. Tiraboschi, Sloria della 
 Letleratura Italiana, Tomo IV., p. 490, does not, however, accede willingly to 
 this statement. 
 
 s 8 Vie dei Architetti, etc., Tomo I., p. 32. 
 
 ] 4 This fact is also mentioned by Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, 
 Tomo IV., p. 491, who also says that subsequently they constructed the in- 
 ferior vault of the Vatican palace at Rome. 
 
 8 Parecchi altri loro confratelli, excellenti muratori e scarpelini, condussero 
 la fabbrica. Marchese, ut supra, p. 44, 
 
ANTIQ UITIES OF FREEMA SONR Y. 87 
 
 supervisors of the work and directors of the details of 
 labor, exhibited great proficiency in architecture. These 
 belonged to the same convent, and were ecclesiastics. We 
 are informed by the writer, 1 whom we have closely fol- 
 lowed, that the building was so exclusively the handicraft 
 of ecclesiastical operatives, that but one other instance is 
 on record, viz., the church and monastery of Dunes, which 
 the Cistercian fathers constructed entirely with their own 
 hands. 2 The church of Santa Novella, in a striking de- 
 gree, is the embodiment of perspective art. The building 
 is in the form of a Latin cross — a favorite plan in those 
 ages — and by the successful combination of diminishing 
 and contracting arches, which support the roof, tapering 
 to the ends, presents a deceptive vista. These monks were 
 regarded, by their Italian contemporaries, among the most 
 proficient artists of that era. 3 
 
 The religious fervor which swept through Italy early in 
 the thirteenth century, under the dexterous manipulation 
 of the Dominican monks assumed the form of a pious 
 frenzy for building and consecrating sacred edifices. Men 
 and women were inspired by a zeal to promote this object 
 to such extent, that they transported with their own hands 
 much material for the construction of a church and con- 
 vent at Bologna, in the year 1233. Of the work itself, Fra 
 
 1 Marchese, Ibid., loc. cit., senza 1' inter vento di alcun artifice secolare. This 
 will serve to show how thoroughly skilled the monastic brethren became, and 
 how completely the building art was known to the clerics even so late as the 
 opening of the thirteenth century, at a period when builders were organized 
 into lay corporations and had left the monasteries. 
 
 2 I Padri Cicerstensi fiamminghi ce ne porgono un consimile esempio, i 
 quali nella fabbrica della chiesa e monastero di Dunes non adoperarano che 
 artifici propri. Milizia, Memorie degli Architetti antichi e moderni. Lib. II., 
 cap. 2 ; also, Marchese, Vie dei Architetti, Tomo I., p. 44. 
 
 3 In the conventual necrologue cited by Marchese, ubi supra, p. 52, Fra 
 Ristoro is thus spoken of : "hie fuit maximus architectus," and "una cum 
 fratre Sixto, fecerunt nostram ecclesiam tanto siquidem artificio, ut usque hodie 
 sit in admirationem." Two of the Florentine churches, the Duomo and Santa 
 Croce, have well-defined Masonic marks, to which reference will be made here- 
 after. Vide Part II., cap. 30, etc. 
 
88 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Jacopino, a Dominican by profession, was selected as master 
 builder. 1 The enthusiasm displayed for the erection of 
 houses of divine worship at this time in Terugia, drew 
 together a vast number of master architects, stonecutters, 
 and others, who were thoroughly qualified to preside over 
 the operatives. It would appear, however, that the great 
 mass of labor was performed by the Dominicans themselves. 
 Three lay architects are designated by Marchese 2 as re- 
 markably skilled in Masonic labors at this period in Tus- 
 cany, viz., Mazzetto, Borghese, and Albertino Mazzanto, 
 the second of whom was an apprentice under the master- 
 ship of Fra Sisto and Fra Eistoro. Borghese, who was 
 born in Florence, in the year 1250, also received instruction 
 in the mysteries of Masonic art under the direction of a 
 master architect named Ugolino. And when, in the year 
 1284 or thereabouts, the master builders at the church of 
 Santa Maria Novella were ordered to Rome to labor in the 
 construction of the Vatican, 3 Master Borghese was found 
 competent to assume the direction of the workmen, in con- 
 junction with Albertino, another master mason. 4 Accord- 
 ing to Lacroix, 5 numerous guilds of Masons were assembled 
 at Florence towards the close of the thirteenth century, 
 
 1 Et tunc frater Jacobinus superstabat ad laboreia praedicta facienda. 
 Muratori, Rer. Ital. Script., Tomo VIII., p. 1108. Also Marchese, ubi supra, 
 p. 54, etc. 
 
 2 Con l'opera di tre laici architetti di quello stesso convento. Vie dei Archi- 
 telti, etc., Tomo I., p. 54. The preceding citation is of great significance, as 
 showing that in Italy, in 1233, there were lay architects or Master Masons 
 Ptill domiciled under the control of particular church organizations. Of 
 Borghese, the author quoted, says : Dei quali soltanto il seconde, pote essere 
 allievo di Fra Sisto e Fra Eistoro. Ibid., p. 55. 
 
 3 Tiraboschi, Storia delta Letteratura Italiana, Tomo IV., p. 491. 
 
 4 Marchese, Vie dei Architetti, Tomo L, p. 59. From the convent necro- 
 logue we learn that this artist was the son of a celebrated architect: filius 
 olim magistri Ugolini Carpentaria 
 
 6 Vers la fin du treizieme siecle an Florence se rennissaient les confreries, 
 etc. Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 371. See Machiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine, Tomo I. t 
 p. 402, etc. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 89 
 
 and were employed in the construction of churches and 
 other public edifices. At this period Fra Guilelmo, who 
 had received the rudiments of artistic knowledge from his 
 distinguished master, Nicholas Pisano, was not only re- 
 nowned as an architect, but attained to an exalted celebrity 
 by reason of the exquisite workmanship which he displayed 
 as a stonecutter on the arch of San Dominico, at Bologna. 1 
 On the 13th of November, in the year 1290, the foundation 
 stone of the cathedral at Orvieto was laid, amid imposing 
 and solemn rites, conducted by his holiness the Pope, Nich- 
 olas IV. Lorenzo Maitani, a native of Sienna, draughted 
 the designs, and was declared master architect of the work. 
 It being desired that this temple should shine with all the 
 resplendent effulgence of art, from all parts of Italy the 
 most efficient artists were invited to assist in its construc- 
 tion. In obedience to the mandate, skilled artificers to 
 the number of forty assembled in Orvieto ; among those 
 whose names are mentioned as unusually expert, are Arnolfo 2 
 and Fra Guilelmo ; the name of the latter stands registered 
 in the cathedral memorial of the year 1293. Arnolfo, early 
 in the year 1294, abandoned Orvieto in order to assist in lay- 
 ing the corner-stone of the Santa Croce 3 church in Florence, 
 the plans and design of which he had prepared. Guilelmo, 
 according to the record of the operatives quoted by Mar- 
 chese, 4 worked in a lodge designed for sculptors and stone- 
 
 1 Guilelmo Pisano, in addition to his Masonic excellence, distinguished him- 
 self by the secret theft of one of St. Dominic's ribs, which, by mediaeval re- 
 ligious superstition, was invested with supernal powers. This petty crime. 
 Marchese, Vie dei Archiletti, Tomo I., p. 87, dignifies as a pious fraud, — pio 
 furto. 
 
 2 Vasari, Vite dei Architetti e Piltori, Tomo I., p. 254, says it was believed 
 that Arnolfo was the son of the celebrated Master Mason Jacopo, above 
 mentioned. See Tiraboschi, Storia delta Letteratura, Tomo IV-, pp. 489-491. 
 
 3 Tiraboschi, ut supra, p. 491. In the niches on one of the facades of the 
 minstei", are life-size figures in Masonic attitudes. 
 
 4 Sotto Panno 1293, egli lavorava nella loggia destinata agli scultori e egli 
 scarpellini. Vie dei Architetti, etc., Tomo T., p. 90. 
 
90 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 cutters. Among the artificers employed in other lodges of 
 workmen who labored in the erection of the temple at 
 Orvieto, were a German and a Flemish artist. 1 Fazio, an 
 apprentice of Guilelmo, named in the conventual roll of 
 Santa Caterina, of Pisa, is referred to as a layman and 
 magister sculpture. By the assiduous labors of the Dominican 
 artisans and master architects, the church of Saints John 
 and Paul, at Venice, which was commenced in 1246, ad- 
 vanced rapidly to completion during a few years ; but the 
 necessary contributions failing, labor ceased until the year 
 1395, when, moved by an extraordinary zeal, twenty thou- 
 sand florins were donated by an enthusiastic people, and this 
 structure, one of the most elegant in Venice, was finished. 
 Late in the thirteenth century the foundations were laid for 
 a Dominican church in Milan, the construction of which was 
 superintended by . masters of that order. It was completed 
 in 1309. As a noteworthy fact, it is stated that the first 
 clock for public use in Italy was placed in the bell-tower 
 of Saint Eustorgis, in this city (Milan), in the year 1306. 
 
 There is every reason to assume that guilds of Masons 
 were already established in Italy, on a solid basis, during 
 the thirteenth century. The first modern building frater- 
 nities 2 in Italy of which history has preserved a notice, were 
 in existence at Sienna and Orvieto. At Orvieto, as we have 
 already shown, a builders' lodge was held, while work was 
 in progress on the cathedral there, in the year 1290. Stieg- 
 litz 3 asserts that a lodge of Masons existed in this place 4 
 while at labor on the minster, and that they were under 
 
 1 March ese, Vie dei Architetti, loc. ext. 
 
 2 I use the word " modern " in the above connection in order to distinguish 
 between the mediaeval builders and the Byzantine corporations. 
 
 3 Oeschichte der Baukumt, p. 607. He refers to Cicagnara, Storia della Scul- 
 tura, Tomo I., p. 363, as authority for the statement that building corporations 
 are first mentioned in the thirteenth century. 
 
 * An dem letzeren Orte (Orvieto) bildete sich eine Bauloge bei dem Baue 
 des Domes, deren Haupt im Anfange des dreizehnten Yahrhunderts, ein 
 Deutscher war, Peter Johannes. Stieglitz, Ibid. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 the jurisdiction of a German master named Peter Johannes, 
 and moreover that there were other Germans in this Lodge. 1 
 Upon what authority this is asserted, I know not. 2 Mar- 
 chese, who, so far as the history of architecture in Italy in 
 the Middle Ages is concerned, is incontestably entitled to 
 greater weight, informs us that the foundation of the 
 Orvieto cathedral was laid in the year 1290. He mentions 
 the name of a Giovanni (Johannes) Pisano, who worked 
 there, but asserts that Lorenzo Maitani was the master who 
 had jurisdiction, and the only foreign artificers employed 
 were of German and Flemish nativity — one of eaph. 3 
 
 1 The word Lodge is, perhaps, immediately derived from the Norman- 
 French, and was apparently imported into England by French artists 
 shortly after the conquest. Loggia, Italian, is evidently closely allied to the 
 French loge. Vitruvius uses the word logeum to signify the small enclosed 
 space where actors stood to repeat their roles, and is identical with our modern 
 pulpitum. Du Cange, Glossarium Med. et Infi. Lat. sub voce logium, gives it 
 the same meaning as aedes, habitalo, domicilium, or dwellings, and says the 
 houses of the ancient Gauls were called logia. Fecit logias, magnae habilitatis 
 ad aulas in capellam. And eorum logice quando dormient seu quiescent. Ibid. 
 Merchants designated the place where their wares were exposed for sale as 
 logia. In the mediaeval metrical romance of Kyng Alisander, the word occurs 
 to describe a tent or temporary resting-place, which was, no doubt, its signi- 
 fication among the nomadic Freemasons: 
 
 " Alisaunder doth crye wyde, 
 His logges set on the water syde," 
 
 V. 4925. Chaucer uses this word in Canterbury Tales : " Full sikerer was his 
 crowing in his loge." The Anglo-Saxon /oca, whence lock signifies an en- 
 closure as a guard or preserve. Beowulf, V. 1106 ed. Thorpe, Glossary, sub 
 voce. Hutte, the Teutonic word for lodge, possesses ne'arly the same meaning 
 as the Saxon loca, and is a derivative of hiiten, to guard, to surround for pres- 
 ervation. Hat, German hut, head-guard or protector, and hutte, an enclosed 
 space for protection, a building to guard or preserve against, and loca, loge, 
 are identical in signification. Hughan, Constitutions, p. xxiii., for early Eng- 
 lish word loge of A. D. 1370. 
 
 2 Perhaps on the authority of Vasari, Vile degli Architetti, Tomo I., pp. 
 244-251. 
 
 3 Marchese, Vie dei Architetti, Tomo I., p. 90. Di tutti qui tedeschi recordati 
 dal Vasari come occupati en scolpire marmi per quella basilica, non fu travato 
 memoria nell 'archivo della fabbrica, che di solo allemano e di un fiam- 
 mingo. See Tiraboschi, Storia della Letter. Ital., Tomo IV., p. 492, note (a), 
 for some remarks touching German artists in Italy at this period. 
 
92 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the work on 
 the Santa Maria Novella church, in Florence, which had 
 steadily progressed up to that time, was pushed on with 
 great rapidity by two lay architects, Giovanni da Campo 
 and Jacopo Talenti, the first of whom was educated in the 
 fine arts by Arnolfo, one of the masters, as we have seen, 
 working with Fra Guilelmo in Orvieto. Jacopo Talenti 
 appears to have labored at the building of the Orvieto tem- 
 ple, as mention is made of a certain Francesco Talenti, a 
 Florentine, who, in the year 1327, was enrolled among the 
 recorded lists of stonecutters and sculptors, with the pay 
 of a master mason, and who was in fact denominated as one 
 of the masters of the architects employed in the lodges. 
 The usual alteration made in assuming monastic vows will 
 account for such change of names. In the convent necro- 
 logue of the Dominicans, Jacopo is designated as magister 
 lapidum, master mason, a title which was generally assigned 
 to sculptors and stonecutters of that age. A brother or 
 nephew of Jacopo, who worked in the construction of the 
 library of Santa Maria Novella, is also called master mason. 1 
 The floriated and exquisitely chiselled chapters of the col- 
 umns, together with the ornamentation on the antique 
 portals and windows of this church, are the undoubted 
 handiwork of Jacopo. On the death of Albertino, Giovanni 
 da Campo assumed the entire mastership of the work, with 
 the aid and counsel of Jacopo. Under their united direction 
 this edifice was completed in 1357. Master Giovanni super- 
 intended the Dominican masons and stonecutters at Florence 
 in the erection of public buildings in that city. Perhaps 
 the finest effort of this celebrated architect was the stone 
 bridge over the river Arno, which he constructed with 
 consummate skill. While Giovanni directed the work on 
 the structures of the republic, Jacopo Talenti and other 
 
 1 In qualita di muratore un maestro Giovanni Talenti. Marchese, Vie dei 
 Architetti, etc., Tomo I., p. 119, note (1). 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 93 
 
 Dominican artists, were intently engaged on the churches 
 and convents. 1 In accordance with the designs of Fra 
 Sisto and Fra Ristoro, they finished, in the year 1330, the 
 great campanile or bell-tower of Florence. These artists, the 
 year following, brought to a termination the erection of 
 the marvellous chapel of Saint Nicholas, and its classical 
 sacristan, which was elaborately frescoed with scenes by 
 Spinello di Arezza, representative of the life of Christ. 
 Ottaviano Rustici, who was the chief or general master 
 architect of the work, is especially mentioned as deeply 
 versed in architectural art. Under the direction of Talent i, 
 two operatives, members of the same convent, labored as 
 master masons, viz., Laopo Bruschi and Francesco da 
 Carmignano. 
 
 By an unexpected inundation of the river Arno, on the 
 12th of April, 1334, the foundation walls of the old Do- 
 minican convent were rendered unsafe, and the building, 
 in consequence, became uninhabitable. Among those who 
 materially assisted to erect a larger and more elegant 
 cloister for the unfortunate monks, Giovanni Infangati 
 signalized himself, both by voluntary contributions to- 
 wards the expenses involved in its construction, and by 
 the inestimable service afforded by a fraternity of builders, 
 who, under his supervision, built the south wing. Amid 
 the fervent zeal which distinguished the progress of the 
 erection of this monastery, the renowned master builder, 
 Giovanni da Campi, full of years and honors, in the 
 year 1339, ceased to exist. A pupil, or rather apprentice, 
 of Giovanni, is referred to in the conventual roll 2 of the 
 dead brethren, as skilled in architectural workmanship. 
 He labored as a builder with the craftsmen in the con- 
 struction of Santa Maria Novella, under the management 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 135. Designated as " Altri architetti e muratori Domenicani." 
 
 2 Necrologium, No. 321, from Marchese, ut supra, p. 143: nam cum esset op- 
 timum lignorum faber et carpentarius perutilis multa et magna edificiorum 
 perfecit in diversis conventibus, etc. 
 
94 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 of Talenti, and, like this illustrious artist, he fell a victim 
 before the great pestilence which, according to Boccaccio, 1 
 made its appearance and raged with great violence in 1340. 
 This terrible disorder, which destroyed so many lives in 
 Tuscany, also ravaged the Dominican cloister. Among the 
 number, amounting to eighty, who succumbed to the dis- 
 ease in this convent, a large proportion were already noted 
 as skilled builders. Of these, Master Fillipo had attained 
 to a high degree of dexterity as a mason ; Matteo Guiducci 
 is praised for his ability and industry in architectural 
 handicraft, and Giacoma di Andrea had already made 
 himself illustrious by his skill in the liner details of 
 stonecutting, wood-carving, and glass work. 2 
 
 German or Gothic architecture in the thirteenth century 
 had extended throughout nearly all the countries of 
 Europe, with the exception of Italy, and even there a 
 mixed style, involving the Teutonic, seems to have largely 
 prevailed. This admixture of Gothic and Byzantine is 
 clearly visible in the church of San Francisco, at Assisi ; 
 the exchange building at Bologna ; in the Domes of Sienna, 
 Orvieto and Spoleto, and also in the Fontaine Branda, of 
 Sienna. As we have previously seen, in a majority of the 
 places mentioned, German artificers were employed in the 
 lodges engaged upon the several edifices. The most strik- 
 ing example of this strange intermingling of the lofty and 
 sublime with the humble and diminutive, is to be seen in 
 the cathedral of Milan, in which, however, the Gothic 
 style generally prevails. Although there is a redundancy 
 
 1 II Decameron, Tomo I., p. 6. The Introduzione to Boccaccio's Novels con- 
 tains a vivid account of this epidemic. It was during the height of the 
 terrible pestilence that the tales which compose the Decameron were supposed 
 to be related by a party of ladies and gentlemen, who fled the city to avoid 
 the plague. This work is said to be the earliest of modern novels. See 
 Tiraboschi, Storia della Lett. Italiana, Tomo V., p. 563. 
 
 2 Fra Giacoma di Andrea fiorentino, converso, ha lode di perito nei lavori 
 in pietra, in legno e in vetro. Fra Laopo Bruschi operato nella fabbrica del 
 cappellone di San Niccold. Marchese, Vie dei Arcliitetti, Tomo I., pp. 144-6. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 95 
 
 of painted arches, tapering pilasters, and sloping turrets, 
 yet the Italian forms everywhere obtrude themselves upon 
 the notice. Italy has servilely imitated the delicate elabo- 
 ration of details of German architecture, without catching 
 an inspiration from the genuine spirit which produced it. 
 Everywhere throughout this country the entire category 
 of sacred edifices displays but the simple horizontal prin- 
 ciple of building science. Towards the close of the four- 
 teenth century, in the year 1386, Duke Galeazzo Visconti 
 laid the foundation of the Milan cathedral. The original 
 diagrams, which are said to be still preserved in Milan, 
 are uniformly ascribed to a German artist. Heinrich 
 Arler, of Germuenden, to whom the Italians give the 
 nomenclature of Gamodeo, was, it is alleged, 1 the master 
 builder who drafted the plans. Other German artists 
 were called by Visconti to Milan to assist in building the 
 dome and its arches. The first who came were J ohannes 
 Fernach, of Freiburg, and Ulrich of Freisingen. In the 
 year 1486, the Duke stipulated with a master workman, 
 named Hammerer, of Strassburg, to construct the cupola 
 crowning the tower. 2 In Rome there are some tabernacles 
 in Gothic style, particularly in the basilika of Saint Paul, 
 Saint Clemens, the churches of Saint Nereus and Saint 
 Achilles. The first of these is the most distinguished for 
 its excellent workmanship. The master builder superin- 
 tending it is claimed to have been a German, Jacob by 
 
 1 The author of 11 Duomo di Milano, which is a critical history of the 
 cathedral, published at Milan in 1813, concedes the German nativity of the 
 artist. Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 194, says the 
 architect's name is unknown, and supposes him to beCasaOmedea — perhaps 
 the same as Gamodeo — because there is a portrait of this artist in bas-relief 
 over the choir, with his name beneath it. 
 
 2 Hammerer was selected as master builder of the work : Werkmeister 
 zur Erbanung der Gewolbe. Stieglitz, GeschichU der Baukunst, p. 599. Hans 
 Hammerer appears to have been at this period a distinguished Mason among 
 the craft in Germany. 
 
96 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 name, whom the Italians designate as Arnolpho Lope. 1 
 Naples, also, appears to have been indebted to master 
 builders conversant with the Gothic art, as some edifices 
 in this city possess the pointed Germanic arch. 2 
 
 1 This is the Arnolfo referred to above, who, it is claimed, was a son of the 
 German builder Jacopo. Tiraboschi, Storia della Letter atura ltd., Tomo IV., 
 p. 491, note (a), denies his foreign birth. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Gesch. der Baukunst, p. 599. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Spanish Builders — The Netherlands early Receive the Impetus 
 of Teutonic Art — Builders from Cologne and Strassburg 
 Employed there — German Masters in Scandinavia — Germany 
 Radiates Gothic Types into France — Notre Dame de Paris 
 Built by Jean de Chelles, Master Mason. 
 
 PAIN, in the beginning of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, received the impetus of German art. 1 The 
 cathedrals at Segovia, Toledo, and Burgos are 
 the principal structures of this style — the last 
 is especially distinguished as a master-piece. The founda- 
 tions of this church were laid in the thirteenth century, 
 and at a later period it was finished by German masons 2 
 in the Gothic style. These artists were Master Johannes 
 and his son, Simon of Cologne, whom the bishop of Bur- 
 gos, Alphons, on his return from the ecclesiastical council 
 at Basel, convened in the year 1442, invited to follow him, 
 in order that they might complete the cathedral. This 
 edifice presents a striking similarity with the Cologne 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, cap. xli. 
 
 2 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 457, is authority for this assertion. 
 It appears, however, that at the close of the eleventh century (1090-9), French 
 artists were called to Spain to assist in rebuilding church edifices. Luebke, 
 Geschichte der Architectur, p. 442. It is probable that the Spanish archbishops 
 were brought in contact with the fraternities of Freemasons through their 
 attendance upon the great church convocations in foreign lands. See Hawkins, 
 History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 148. 
 
 9 G 97 
 
98 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 minster, and, in many of its details and plans, is iden- 
 tical with the cathedral of Strassburg. 1 These master 
 builders are said to have drafted the diagrams in accord- 
 ance with which the Carthusian cloister was constructed 
 in the city of Burgos, and, from the similitude 2 in its 
 execution, attests a close unity existing between the Free- 
 masons of Germany and other countries at this epoch. Por- 
 tugal also possesses a notable specimen of Gothic art in 
 the church of Batalha. It is alleged that this building 
 was founded, towards the close of the fourteenth century, 
 by King John L, who summoned thither a great number 
 of builders 3 to aid in its construction, together with a 
 cloister united to it. Among the architects employed 
 upon this building about the year 1378, the records show 
 the name of one Hacket, a native of Ireland, who was 
 undoubtedly a member of a travelling fraternity of Free- 
 masons, and certainly had not, at that epoch, derived his 
 designs from the land of his birth. 4 Notwithstanding 
 this church, in its details, has an entire Germanic archi- 
 tectural type, there is a singular paucity of ornament. 5 
 About the middle of the thirteenth century, Portugal 8 
 seems to have possessed a few religious artificers, who 
 have been handed down to posterity as notably skilled in 
 the fine arts, whose chief works of merit, however, are 
 limited to the construction of stone bridges. Pietro Gon- 
 zales, according to whose models a bridge was erected, 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 594. 
 
 2 Hope, On Architecture, p. 463, speaking of the unity of plans existing 
 among the Middle-Age craftsmen, says: "The designs discovered in the 
 archives of German monasteries show the deep science, and the long foresight, 
 and the complicated calculations employed at their execution." 
 
 8 Hope, Essay, etc., p. 457. 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 457. 
 
 6 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 594. 
 
 6 Milizia, Memorie degli Architetti antichi e modemi. Tomo I., Lib. I., cap. 
 2. This author, loc. cit. f apostrophizes three cleric artisans as sainted archi- 
 tects : tre santi architetti. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 99 
 
 labored and assisted himself at the work, furnishing much 
 elaborate handiwork. 1 
 
 Among the structures in Holland and in the Nether- 
 lands which betray their Gothic origin and the work of 
 ancient master builders, the city halls at Antwerp, Brus- 
 sels, Leuven, and Vlissingen may be mentioned as the 
 most distinguished. 2 Other cities, besides those enumer- 
 ated, in the Low Countries, possess Gothic edifices. The 
 cathedral at Antwerp, which has been frequently highly 
 eulogized for its rich and elaborate architecture, was 
 founded in the year 1422, by Master Johann Aurelius, and 
 completed in 1518. Another important work, carried for- 
 ward with much zeal by the people of the Low Countries, 
 is the Mechlin cathedral, dedicated to St. Rumoldus. 
 This edifice was begun about the close of the twelfth cen- 
 tury ; the choir was built during the earlier part of the 
 ensuing century, and the entire church was completed 
 about two hundred years afterwards. A bell-tower was 
 added to this cathedral in the year 1453, but not finished. 
 Gothic churches were also erected in Holland, 3 one of 
 which, at Brussels, of an earlier date than above men- 
 tioned, deserves especial reference on account of its ele- 
 gance. It was commenced in 1226, by the Duke of Bra- 
 bant, and brought to a conclusion in 1273. 
 
 Even as far north as the Scandinavian provinces, and in 
 Northern Europe, German master builders 4 seem to have 
 travelled, creating with their mystical diagrams and 
 models, obtained within closely-tiled lodges of the craft, 
 the airy and elegant fabrics of Gothic architecture. At 
 
 1 Lavorando ei stesso e assistendo come se fosse un manuale. Marchese, 
 Vie dei Architetti e Pittori Domenici, Tomo I., p. 63. 
 
 2 Hope, Historical Essay, etc., Vol. I., p. 456, awards a just tribute of praise 
 to the edifices indicated above, and at the expense of his own country. 
 
 3 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 447. 
 
 4 In the year 1287, Etienne de Bonn, a foreign and perhaps German Master 
 Mason, was called to Scandinavia for the purpose of superintending some con- 
 structions. Luebke, Geschichte der Architecture, p. 543. 
 
100 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 an earlier age, however, Byzantine workmanship was in- 
 voked there, to rear sober temples to the living God, as 
 in other portions of the Northern countries. The finest 
 edifice in the Gothic type is at Upsala, in Sweden, which 
 was begun in 1258, and ended in the year 1453, by Erich 
 of Pomerania, master architect. 1 
 
 France yielded to the influence of German art early in the 
 thirteenth century. At the commencement of this epoch, 
 the Roman style, which had gradually merged into the 
 Gothic or Germanic, being liberated from the restraints 
 of primitive types, under the zeal of master builders, 
 approximated to a definitive Christian art. 2 The grand 
 relics of the florid Roman, austere in their greatness and 
 elaborate in their fantastic ornamentation, attest the 
 approaching dawn of individualism in modern architec- 
 ture. From the twelfth to the thirteenth century — de- 
 nominated the transitional era — the Roman style, which 
 is distinguished by the fulness of the circular arch, gradu- 
 ally merges into the Gothic or German, the most striking 
 evidence of which is the ogive form, and is its original 
 characteristic. A mixed style of architecture seems, 
 however, to have prevailed in France at this period, 'n 
 which the Gothic predominates. The churches of Saint 
 Remy, at Rheims, the abbey of Saint Denis, Saint Nicho- 
 las, at Blois, the abbey of Jumieges, and the cathedral of 
 Chalons-sur-Marne, are the principal models of this style. 3 
 It is noteworthy that, for a long period, the ogive tri- 
 umphed over the circular arch in Northern France, while 
 in the meridional, Roman traditional types, allied to the 
 Byzantine, still continued to inspire the construction of 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 598. 
 
 * Vide Luebke, Vorschule zum Studium der kirchlichen Kunst, sec. v. This 
 writer awards the credit of having created the Gothic style to Northern France. 
 Ibid., p. 56. 
 
 8 Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 134 ; Lacroix, Les 
 Arts au Moyen Age, pp. 398-401. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 101 
 
 sacred edifices. There remains but little doubt that Ger- 
 many, with its earliest corps of building fraternities, was 
 the country whose vital forces produced that style of 
 architectural art which we call pointed. 1 Germany, at 
 the epoch under notice, comprehended such portions of 
 France as Alsace and Lorraine, while Franche-Compte, 
 as much appurtenant to Germany as France, formed an. 
 independent dukedom in the Low Countries. As we have 
 previously remarked, at this period the arts and sciences 
 had almost entirely passed from the control of the monas- 
 tic institutions, and were in the possession of builders or 
 Freemasons, 2 regularly organized into oath-bound guilds. 
 To this fact can be ascribed the rapid transmission 
 throughout France of the ogive or pointed arch, which 
 now had become the prevailing style of architecture. 3 A 
 century sufficed to bring the ogival to its highest perfec- 
 tion. 
 
 Of the Gallic structures which betray their Gothic 
 origin, the most noticeable are the cathedrals of Rheims, 
 dedicated about 1215, of Bourges, and Amiens. As a speci- 
 men cathedral, constructed in the fuller details of German 
 style, that of Notre Dame, of Rouen, affords, perhaps, the 
 finest example. 4 The church of Saint Owen, also of Rouen, 
 was completed in 1318, and may be cited as an edifice 
 erected upon a model of art which, at this era, had per- 
 meated Europe. The foundations of the cathedral at 
 Amiens were originally laid in the seventh century, but 
 having been frequently destroyed by fire, it was com- 
 menced anew in the year 1220, 5 and finally completed in 
 
 1 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 450. 
 
 2 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 450, states, with much vigor and 
 clearness, the causes of the lamentable decay of English architecture at this 
 time, as arising from the unjust discriminations against the Freemasons: "ita 
 chief parents and propagators." 
 
 3 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 402. 
 
 4 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 593. 
 
 6 Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 142. 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 1288. Notre Dame, of Paris, finished 1 in 1275, by Jean 
 de Chelles as master builder, and Sainte Ohapelle, built 
 under Louis IX., by Pierre de Montereau, in the year 
 1248, as master of the masons, are of peculiar significance 
 in their historical connection with the Parisian Free- 
 masons and stonecutters, whose associations, as we shall 
 presently see, were recognized by law in 1254, and evi- 
 dently furnished the work upon the foregoing buildings. 
 
 1 Hope, Essay, ut supra, p. 478. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Early History of French Masons — Rules of Saint Eloi Pre- 
 served in the Fifteenth Century — Duration of Apprentice- 
 ship — Boileau, by Royal Authority, Digests Ancient Masonic 
 Laws — Candidates must Conform to Usages and Customs of 
 the Craft — None of Equivocal Birth to be Received — Grand 
 Master Recognized in 1254 — Master Masons must Swear be- 
 fore Him — Nature of Mediaeval Obligation — Grand Master's 
 Power to Forbid the Trade to a Delinquent Craftsman — 
 Tools should be Seized — Concessions alleged to be Granted 
 by Charles Martel. 
 
 RA^nTCE unqualifiedly possesses the earliest authen- 
 tic record touching the fraternity of Masons. I 
 have previously stated, upon the authority of 
 Lacroix, 1 that Saint Eloi, whose efforts in behalf 
 of the mechanical trades procured for him the honor of 
 patronage to the guild of smiths in the fifteenth century, 
 had, in the eighth century, organized the monks of his 
 abbey into a society of tradesmen. According to the 
 same author, it would appear that this celebrated bishop 
 established two distinct corporations — one for clerical 
 workmen, the other in which laymen were admitted to 
 membership. When the laws relating to trades were 
 revised, under Louis IX., the statutes promulgated by 
 Saint Eloi, during his lifetime, were merely transcribed 
 and reenacted. 2 So far as the rules affected the admission 
 
 1 Les Arts au Moyen Age, pp. 160-162. 
 
 2 Lorsque Etienne Boileau, preVot de Paris, redigea son fameux Livre den 
 metiers, il n'eut guere qu'a transcrire les statuts des orfevres a peu pres tels que 
 les avait institues Saint Eloi. Lacroix, Ibid., p. 163. 
 
 103 
 
104 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 of members into the guild of jewellers or goldsmiths, we 
 learn from these laws that an apprentice could not be 
 advanced to the degree of Master until he had duly 
 qualified by an apprenticeship of ten years. 1 At that 
 distant period, the fraternity of goldsmiths w T as possessed 
 of a seal, in order to attest its authorized works of charity. 
 In the year 1254, Etienne Boileau, who was provost of 
 Paris under the direction of Louis IX., king of France, 
 collected the rules and regulations affecting the various 
 trades of that city, and digested them into manuscript 
 form, entitled, " Reglemens sur Les Arts et Metiers de 
 Paris ; " by royal authority they were ordained to be the 
 law, to which all guilds or mechanical occupations in Paris 
 should be henceforth subjected. 2 
 
 These ordinances, in reference to many trades, presup- 
 pose an existence long anterior to the time when the 
 statutes referred to were proclaimed by the king as bind- 
 ing upon the citizens of Paris. The forty-eighth chapter 
 of the Boileau manuscript contains the law relating to 
 masons, stonecutters, plasterers, and mortar-mixers, and is, 
 in the highest degree, important as the oldest unquestioned 
 and earliest written record touching the mediseval opera- 
 tive masons and stonecutters. All these were governed 
 by identical regulations, with some important exceptions 
 in favor of the stonemasons, and to which reference will 
 be hereafter made. Among other things referring to these 
 artificers, it is conceded that any one can exercise the 
 occupation of an operative mason in the French capital, 
 provided he may be skilled in the trade, and will unquali- 
 fiedly conform to the ancient usages and customs of the 
 fraternity. 3 Then follows the explanation as to the ele- 
 
 1 It will be seen hereafter that the duration of an apprenticeship was usually 
 less than the time mentioned above. Vide Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages, p. 
 316 ; Krause, Die Drei altesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., 2 Ab., pp. 277-300. 
 
 2 Pardessus, Essai Historique sur V Organization Judiciaire, p. 251. 
 
 3 II puet macon a Paris qui veut, pour tant que il sache le mestier, et qu'il 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 105 
 
 merits involved in such customs, which are narrated to be, 
 that no master mason shall have in his employ. more than 
 one apprentice at the same time, and that such apprentice- 
 ship, in no case, can endure longer than six years. 1 An 
 exception, however, is reserved in favor of the master's 
 legitimate children ; in that case, he was permitted to 
 have all of them entered as apprentices. 2 On the other 
 hand, he was allowed, at the expiration of the fifth year's 
 service of his pupil, to engage another, in order that he 
 might have the benefit of a more or less skilled workman 
 whenever a full apprenticeship ended. If he violated 
 these rules, or, to speak more in harmony with this digest, 
 the usages and customs of the fraternity, the master of 
 masons was obliged to compensate by an amend of twenty 
 Parisian solidi. 3 This applied to all cases where the term 
 of service was limited to a shorter period of time than 
 six years, or when the master employed more than one 
 apprentice, with the reservation of legitimate issue, as 
 above noted. 
 
 So early as the year 1254, the practice seems to have 
 prevailed of appointing a general or Grand Master over the 
 guilds of Masons in Paris. Steinbrenner 4 has taken An- 
 derson to task for asserting that a Grand Master nobly 
 born 5 was frequently selected by royal favor to have au- 
 thority of the mediaeval craftsmen. In addition to the 
 
 oevre as us et aus coustumes du mestier qui tel sunt. Boileau, Livre des Me- 
 tiers, Tit. xlviii. In citing these ordinances, I have followed, for conveni- 
 ence, the edition of Depping, a. d. 1837. 
 
 1 Nus ne puet avoir en leur mestier que j apprentis, et se il a apprentis il 
 ne le puet prendre a moins de vj ans de service. Ibid., op. tit. In other 
 jurisdictions the master might possess three. Krause, Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., 
 Abt. 2, pp. 277-300. 
 
 2 Ses fils tout seulement nez de loial marriage. Ibid., ut supra. Thus early, 
 it would seem, no bastard could become a Mason. 
 
 3 Boileau, Reglemens sur Metiers, cap. xlviii. 4 Origin of Masonry, p. 112. 
 
 5 Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 37, makes use of the following phrase- 
 ology : " The Grand Master, who was always nobly born, presided at hearings," 
 etc. 
 
106 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 case already cited of Morow 1 as grand supervisor of the 
 various lodges under his jurisdiction, Depping, in his in- 
 troductory essay to the edition of Boileau, 2 asserts that it 
 was in strict accordance with established usage for the 
 French kings, at this period, to confer the patronage or 
 general mastership of Parisian guilds upon the nobility, 
 and as a natural consequence of such privileges, these gen- 
 tlemen were entitled to all taxes levied upon the associa- 
 tions. Moreover, it is stated, in the most explicit terms, 
 . by the compiler of these ordinances, Boileau, 3 that his 
 majesty, Louis IX., had given the mastership of the Ma- 
 sons to Master William de Saint Patre, so long as such 
 appointment should please the royal grantor. It was fur- 
 thermore enacted that Master William should exercise the 
 mastership of the Masons and stonecutters, within a lodge 
 to be opened inside the palace enclosure, where all matters 
 pertaining to Masonic jurisdiction should be considered 
 and determined by this nobleman. By these regulations, 
 each Grand or General Master was obliged to make oath 
 before the provost of the city, that well and truly, to the 
 best of his ability, both as regarded the rich and poor, the 
 weak and the strong, he would preserve the ordinances 
 thus promulged as long as the king should be satisfied to 
 retain him in the above-mentioned general mastership. 
 This obligation, Boileau says, 4 William de Saint Patre 
 took before the provost of Paris, and within the enclosed 
 
 1 Supra, p. 76, etc. 
 
 2 Vide Introductory Essay, by Depping, p. lvii., prefixed to his edition of 
 Boileau's Livre des Metiers; also, p. 419. There were Grand Masters of forests 
 and waters, according to Pardessus, U Organization Judiciaire, p. 267. 
 
 3 Li Rois qui ore est, cui Deux donist bone vie a done la mestrise des 
 macons a mestre Guill. de Saint-Patre tant come il li plaira. Livre des Me- 
 tiers, Tit. xlviii. I should infer, from the tenor of the ordinance regu- 
 lating the number of apprentices to be allowed a Grand Master, that a noble- 
 man was not invariably inducted in this responsible position ; but, on the con- 
 trary, such officer may have been equally skilled in the science of architecture 
 with other master builders. 
 
 * Ibid., cap. 48. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 107 
 
 space around the palace. 1 According to this authority, 
 every Grand Master who had jurisdiction of the Parisian 
 operative Masons, by virtue of the royal concession, was 
 allowed two apprentices, upon exactly the same terms and 
 conditions as a master stonecutter, and in case of trans- 
 gression of any rules or regulations affecting such appren- 
 ticeship, he was subjected to similar penalties. 
 
 At this point of my work, I mention a remarkable fact, 
 although it properly belongs to the internal history of the 
 subject. It was permitted, by the ordinance of 1254, that 
 each mason, stonecutter, etc., should have as many assist- 
 ants and aids in their work as suited them, but it was 
 rigidly forbidden to communicate to such laborers or 
 others any of the secret arts of the trade, however slight 
 the disclosure might be. 2 Each Master of Masons was 
 obliged to swear that he would, with loyalty and in good 
 faith, guard his trade from breaches and innovations, and 
 would faithfully perform all its requirements so far as he 
 might be concerned as an individual Mason ; and also, if 
 he should at any time become cognizant of the infringe- 
 ment upon a rule, or that the usages and customs of the 
 fraternity were violated, he would reveal such infraction 
 to the Master whenever it occurred, by the binding force 
 of his obligation. 3 
 
 When apprentices had completed the term of appren- 
 ticeship, their masters were obliged to produce them be- 
 fore the General or Grand Master of the craft, and to testify 
 that they had truly and lawfully served the required term ; 
 
 l Ibid., he. eit. 
 
 2 Tuit li ma9on, tuit li mortelier, doivent jurer seur sains que il le mestier 
 devant dit garderont et feront bien et loiauraent, chascun endroit soi, et que 
 se il scevent que nul il mesprenge en aucuire chose del mestier devant dit, etc. 
 Boileau, Ibid., cap. 48. 
 
 . 3 This feature incident to the Middle- Age Freemasons was also well recog- 
 nized at a later period. Plat, Natural History of Staffordshire, § 86, ed. 1686, 
 says the craftsmen of his day were sworn to acquaint the master with the 
 " goodness or badness of the materials — that Masonry be not dishonored." 
 
108 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 thereupon the grand officer caused the apprentices to swear 
 that they would for all time, and on every occasion, yield 
 obedience to the established usages and customs 1 of the 
 trade. ~No mason was at liberty to labor on any work when 
 the hour of nine sounded from Notre Dame, during cer- 
 tain religious observances, or when vespers were chanted 
 in the same cathedral, unless it might be necessary to stay 
 an arch or to securely fasten a stone step in a stairway. 2 
 In case any operative pursued his avocation after the hours 
 designated, except for the foregoing purposes, he should 
 pay a money penalty to the Grand Master of the trade, and 
 this officer was also empowered to seize the working tools 
 of a recalcitrant artificer until satisfaction was rendered. 3 
 It was, moreover, the duty of the French mason, under his 
 obligation, whenever, in the exercise of his trade, he was 
 brought into contact with plasterers, to inspect their work 
 and to see that the measure of material to be used was in 
 accordance with the proper standard, and if at all suspi- 
 cious as to the requisite quantity, the plasterer was forced 
 to measure it in his presence. For any deficiency in the 
 amount, a fine was exacted. 4 
 
 Plasterers, who, we have already remarked, were sub- 
 jected to exactly the same conditions, and under a master, 
 as masons and stonecutters, were obliged, before being 
 admitted to follow their vocations, to pay a license of five 
 solidi to the Master for such privilege, and immediately 
 after payment he took a prescribed oath not to make any 
 deleterious admixture with the plaster, but would use the 
 
 1 Le raestier doit fere jurer a I'aprentis seur sains que il se contendra aus 
 us et as coustumes du mestier bien et leaument. Boileau, ut supra. 
 
 2 Boileau, Reglemens sur Metiers, cap. xlviii. 
 
 3 Et en puet prendre li mestre les ostieuz at cetui que seroit reprins par 
 1' amende. Ibid., he. cit. Here is an explicit acknowledging of the right to 
 "ratten" a workman's tools for disobedience. Vide Brentano, On the History 
 and Development of Guilds, p. exxvii., for further information connected with 
 this subject. 
 
 * Boileau, Livre des Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 \ 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 109 
 
 same grade of material and always deliver good and suffi- 
 cient measure. 1 Whenever it occurred that an artisan 
 disregarded the solemnity of his obligation, it became the 
 Master's duty to suitably chastise him, and to enjoin him 
 from the further prosecution of the trade. Upon the con- 
 tumacious or contemptuous conduct of any master work- 
 man being known to the Grand Master of Masons, he was 
 required by these ordinances to produce the offender before 
 the provost of Paris, whose duty it was to compel him to 
 forswear the trade forever. 2 
 
 The hours of labor seemed to have been regularly fixed 
 for these craftsmen ; and it was provided that no operative 
 should abandon his work before the master who directed 
 the same. It was also ordained that any workman failing 
 to present himself at the morning hour, should be fined the 
 sum of four denari? In case of failure to pay the amercement 
 before the time of recommencing work, or if he returned 
 to his labor without having liquidated his fine, he was 
 compelled to pay four denari additional for the master. 
 Although legislation, as to the hours of commencing work 
 and of its duration, had been regularly digested by Boileau, 
 in his compilation of so remote a date as 1254, there is a 
 still earlier record that other guilds were also required to 
 pay proper attention to the opening and closing of their 
 daily labors. In a charter conceded by Philip Augustus, 
 in the year 1204, to the corporation of weavers at Etampes, 4 
 
 1 Ibid., ut supra. 
 
 2 Doit celui faire forjurer le mestier devant dit. Boileau, Ibid. The Eng- 
 lish Freemasons of the time of Edward III. were also amenable to the law 
 of the land ; the officer who executed the necessary decrees against these 
 craftsmen was the sheriff, answering, perhaps, to the prevot of Paris. Preston, 
 Illustrations of Masonry, p. 113. 
 
 3 Boileau, Ibid. 
 
 4 Tous les tisserands commenceront et quitteront leur travail a I'heure due. 
 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tome IV., p. 331. This associa- 
 tion was permitted by law to elect prudhommes, who were invested with the 
 power of petty justice over the weavers. Prior to entering upon the duties of 
 office, an obligation of fairness and fidelity was exacted of them. 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 it was ordered, among other things, that all laborers should 
 begin and cease work at a certain time. 
 
 At Paris, the General Master of the Masons was em- 
 powered, by virtue of his office, to compel a compensation 
 to be paid for each and every quarrel which arose between 
 the members of the guild, and in case the operative, by 
 whom such payment was adjudged to be made, proved 
 rebellious and resisted the due execution of the award, the 
 Master could forbid him the future exercise of his trade. 
 If he, nevertheless, persisted in his contumacy, the master 
 of the work was privileged to seize his tools ; and as a final 
 resort, other punishment being unavailable, complaint was 
 made to the provost of the city. Material force was then 
 used to subjugate the rebel, and compel submission to legal 
 authority. 1 
 
 In so far as the plasterers were concerned, they were 
 required to perform watch duty, and pay taxes assessed 
 upon them. But the stonecutters were exempted from 
 guard-mount. This concession was made them on the 
 ground, which we shall hereafter critically examine, that 
 such exemption had descended to them from the time of 
 Charles Martel 1 2 The Grand Master who controlled the 
 tradesmen, by authority of the king was also exempt from 
 watch duty, as an equivalent for his official services. Each 
 craftsman, of whatever profession, in Paris, over fifty years 
 of age, was not liable for such municipal duty ; but in order 
 to be legally exempted, it was necessary to bring that fact 
 
 1 Boileau, Livre des Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 2 Li Mortelliers sont quites du gueit, et tout taileur de pierre, tres le tans 
 Charles Martel si come li prendome Pen oi dire de pere a fils. Ibid., loc. cit. 
 Depping, note (5) to chap. 48, ed. 1837, says, in this connection, that the 
 allegation of the prudhommes is curious as a tradition current among the 
 stonemasons, that their corporation ascended to the time of this celebrated 
 warrior. Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 26, says painters, carpenters, and 
 joiners were also considered masons. The authority cited above shows con- 
 clusively, that plasterers and mortar-mixers were considered as masons, and 
 partially proves Anderson's allegation. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 officially to the notice of the commandant of the guard. 1 
 This collection of the statutes, digested in the middle of 
 the thirteenth century, and affecting all the Parisian trades, 
 makes especial arrangements for settling disputes arising 
 between the brethren and their employers. Some masons 
 and carpenters were selected to arbitrate the differences, 
 and were allowed a per diem compensation for each day's 
 view, when required, of the subject-matter in question. 2 
 
 From the preceding narration it appears, I think, that 
 the fraternity of Freemasons, in the year 1254, was estab- 
 lished by law in Paris on a solid foundation. The chapter, 
 from which copious citations have been made, is of ines- 
 timable value to the Masonic historian. It is incontestably 
 the oldest written record of the craft yet discovered, and 
 as such is entitled to an unbounded confidence. So far as 
 the external history of Freemasonry at that remote period 
 is concerned, it is, in my judgment, the only authentic 
 document now extant. The most ancient roll which has 
 yet appeared in other countries, does not claim a higher 
 antiquity than the close of the fourteenth century ; conse- 
 quently this charter of Boileau, for it bears sufficient evi- 
 dence that it was designed to answer the purpose of such 
 concession to the Parisian trades-people, recognizing, under 
 imperial revision, their right of internal government, 
 presents claims to consideration superior to the manuscript 
 of Halliwell, 3 which he has assigned to the year 1390 — a 
 difference of one hundred and thirty-six years between the 
 two written documents. 4 I purposely say assigned, because 
 
 1 Boileau, Reglemens sur les Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 2 Depping, Ordonnances relatives aux Metiers de Paris, p. 373. 
 
 3 This manuscript is numbered on the manuscript list of the British 
 Museum as Royal 17 A 1. 
 
 4 There is a bare possibility that this manuscript may have been copied 
 from the return by some guild of Masons, made, as other guilds in England were 
 required to make, to the king's council, in pursuance of an order of Parliament 
 in the twelfth year of Richard II., A. D. 1389. The records of these returns 
 from numerous guilds have been collected and published by Toulman 
 
112 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 there are grave doubts as to the genuineness of its alleged 
 antiquity. 1 This we shall presently proceed to examine. 
 If a charter, whose date in 1254 is unquestioned, states that 
 certain privileges had existed from the time of the illus- 
 trious Charles Martel, who had conceded the same to the 
 stonemasons' guild, why should not a similar line of 
 reasoning apply to establish the original foundation of 
 European Masonry about the year 774, as well as to accept 
 unqualifiedly the assertion of a gossiping poem, claimed to 
 be drawn up in 1390, which alleges the Masons were first 
 chartered by King Athelstan, in the year 926 ? 2 As a point 
 of singular identity, it may be mentioned that early 
 Masonic MSS. also say that the Emperor Charles Martel 
 was distinguished for his patronage of the Masons. I 
 think the connection of this valiant soldier with the earlier 
 history of the building fraternity can be satisfactorily 
 explained, and for this explanation the reader is referred 
 to the Second Part of this work. 
 
 « 
 
 Smith, in his English Guilds, but there is among them nothing having a direct 
 reference to the fraternity of Masons. 
 
 1 Kloss, Die Freirnaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 283, etc., furnishes an 
 unsatisfactory criticism upon the age of Halliwell's manuscripts. 
 
 2 This date is purely conjectural, and without historical basis to confirm it. 
 
f 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Authentic British Craft History first Met in Melrose Abbey — 
 Freemasons Organized in England in Thirteenth Century — 
 Traditional Assembly of Masons at York not Keliable — 
 Halliwell Manuscript; Its Antiquity; Copied from an Older 
 Original — Naymus Graecus and Charles Martel also Patrons 
 of English Craftsmen — Masonic Legends Indicate an Eastern 
 Origin — Gallic Builders in Britain — When Introduced from 
 France — German Masters Called to England — Legend of the 
 Four Martyrs. 
 
 N" Britain, as we have previously seen, the first 
 reliable account touching Masons, historically 
 considered, is to be found engraved, in nearly 
 obliterated characters, on the walls of Melrose 
 abbey church, and establishes the fact that, as early as the 
 year 1136, this portion of the United Kingdom depended 
 on master masons imported from abroad. John Morow, 
 or Moreau, as he was sometimes called, maintains, in the 
 inscription alluded to, that be was born in Paris : 
 
 And : had : in : keeping : 
 al : mason : werk : of : Santan 
 droys : ye : hye : kirk : of : Glas 
 gow : Melrose : and : Paslay : of 
 Nyddysdayll : and : of : Galway : 
 
 From this, it sufficiently appears that John Moreau, a 
 Parisian, at the construction of Melrose abbey, and the 
 churches and cathedral mentioned in his quaint verses, 
 10* H 113 
 
114 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 was the master builder among all the masons employed 
 in building these several sacred edifices. As before noted, 
 William of Sens, a French master, forty years subsequent 
 to the time of his compatriot predecessor, arrived on Eng- 
 lish soil, to rebuild the rapidly-decaying cathedral of Can- 
 terbury and several abbeys. For many years after William 
 of Sens, whose tragical fate has already been noticed, the 
 Master Masons of England were usually foreigners, 1 and 
 incorporated by royal authority. 2 According to a con- 
 tributor to the Archceologia? they were not regularly 
 organized into corporations under the law, as a society 
 of Freemasons, until the thirteenth century. It is gen- 
 erally believed that a grand assembly of the craft was 
 held at the city of York in the year 926, and that they 
 were chartered as a corporation, with Edwin as Grand 
 Master. It is said that, at this time, all the records of 
 the fraternity, in Greek, French, and English, were col- 
 lected, and from them were framed the Constitution and 
 Charges for English Freemasons still in use. 4 The state- 
 ment of the existence of these original articles, in the 
 Greek and French languages, at that period, induces 
 serious objections to the correctness of the information 
 through which a knowledge of this mythical convention 
 has descended to us. That there were corporations of 
 Grecian builders in the tenth and eleventh centuries in 
 
 1 Preston, whose writings possess little historical value until immediately 
 preceding his own age, concedes that French masons were employed in Eng- 
 land at this period. Illustrations of Masonry, sec. iii. See, also, Hutchinson, 
 Spirit of Masonry, p. 32. 
 
 2 " The Master Masons were generally foreigners, incorporated by royal 
 authority." Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 211. 
 
 3 Vol. XXIII., p. 403 ; vide Dallaway, Historical Account of Master and Free- 
 mason, pp. 403-407 ; and Paly, Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 4 Perhaps the earliest historical authority that a record of the craft was pre- 
 served in lodges, and that the traditions of the fraternity were rehearsed, as 
 now, to initiates, is Plot's Natural Hist, of Staffordshire, § 85. He refers to this 
 ancient roll as of parchment: ex rotulo membraneceo penes Caementariorum 
 societatem. 
 
ANTIQ U1TIES OF FREE MA S ONR Y. 115 
 
 Europe, we have already shown to he heyond controversy, 
 as a close connection was maintained between the early 
 transitional style of architecture and the late Roman, by 
 means of the uninterrupted intercourse existing between 
 these architects and their native land. 1 The foundation 
 of the tradition concerning the Masonic convocation at 
 York rests upon the assertion of Anderson, 2 that a history 
 of this event was written in the time of Edward IV., 
 towards the termination of the fifteenth century (1475), 
 and also upon copies, or rather one copy, of the Gothic 
 articles alleged to have been made in the reign of Rich- 
 ard EL, between the years 1367 and 1399 — nearly five 
 hundred years subsequent to the time assigned for this 
 legendary assembly. 
 
 The very general decline of literature and classical 
 knowledge which ensued after the terrible devastations 
 to which the whole of England was exposed, is the subject 
 of a letter by Alfred the Great to a friend, lamenting the 
 almost total extinction of learning in his kingdom, and 
 that, although at the close of the eighth century a knowl- 
 edge of Greek was so universal that women wrote and 
 spoke it fluently, yet in his day, about fifty years before 
 the alleged assembling of Masons at York, " there were 
 comparatively few persons who were able to understand 
 the church service in the English tongue, or translate a 
 Latin epistle into their own language." 3 We may, at 
 
 1 Ottfried Mueller, Archazologie der Kunst, p. 224. See, also, note (2), on 
 the same page, where the traditional assembly alluded to is stated by this 
 learned author with extreme caution. . 
 
 2 Ancient Constitutions, p. 31. No authority for lateral search is cited — 
 simply the bare narrative. 
 
 3 Lingard, Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, pp. 224-5. According to 
 Pauli, Life of Alfred the Great, p. 192, King Alfred endeavored to reorganize 
 an efficient corps of architects ; with what success does not appear. This great 
 monarch seems to have made strenuous efforts to rebuild the churches burned 
 during the Danish invasions, with the aid of foreign artists, imported from 
 abroad : ex multis gentibus collectos et in omni terreneo aedificis edoctos. 
 
116 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 least, assert it to be highly improbable that any of those 
 who are said to have framed these ancient charges and 
 regulations for the government of the craft in the tenth 
 century were, at this epoch, able to comprehend Greek, 
 when, as Mr. Hallam 1 says, England was sunk into a 
 lamentable state of barbarism and intellectual darkness. 
 So far as relates to the French language, in which a por- 
 tion of these famous records are claimed to have been 
 drawn up, it will suffice to say that, in the year 926, no 
 French idiom existed as a written language. 2 The time 
 fixed as the date of the York assembly, in the year 926, is 
 purely and entirely conjectural. ~No portion of the manu- 
 script contains the slightest allusion to that or any other 
 period, but merely states Masonry was introduced in the 
 time of Athelstan, 3 who, according to more recent written 
 legends, held a grand convocation at York, and that he 
 made proclamation at that time for all records pertaining 
 to the craft to be produced before him. Upon what 
 
 Asser., p. 495. At a much earlier period, an English bishop procured masons 
 from Gaul to construct for him a stone church. Misit legatarios Galliam qui 
 vitri factores (artifices videlicet) Britanniis eateus incognitos, etc. Beda, Ecc. 
 Hist. From this, it seems the process of erecting stone edifices was entirely 
 unknown to the British people. It is probable that these foreign artificers 
 were Greeks, and members of the Byzantine corporations, to whose hands almost 
 the whole work of such constructions was, in those remote times, committed. 
 
 1 Introduction to the Literature of Europe, Vol. I., p. 6. 
 
 2 Hallam, Literature of Europe, Vol. I., p. 6. For a complete and compre- 
 hensive description of the dialectic corruption of the Latin language existing 
 in France at this period, see Villemain, Tableau de la Litterature au Moyen 
 Age, Tome I., \\ 1 and 2; also, Maffei, Storia delta Letter. Ital., Torao I., p. 19. 
 Although no well-founded belief can be accorded to the assertion that Masonic 
 records in the French language existed in the tenth century, the allegation 
 will serve to indicate that, at whatever epoch the manuscript under exam- 
 ination was first framed, it was well understood, and currently accepted, that 
 French Masons had, at some time, brought into England sufficient Masonic arts 
 to entitle them to specific mention. Unity of traditions between the mediaeval 
 English and French craftsmen points to France as the earliest and nearest 
 source where Masonic knowledge was procured. 
 
 *Boyal MSS., 17, Al, folio 5. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 117 
 
 authority this assemblage of Masons has been referred to 
 a definite year is unknown, hut, it is to be presumed, from 
 the fact that Edwin, an English prince, lived about the 
 year 926. As to the style, orthography, or lettering of the 
 manuscript in question, nothing attests Mr. Halliwell's as- 
 sumption that it was written in the year 1390. The same 
 reasoning which ascribes it to the close of the fourteenth 
 century will admit of assigning an origin much later, per- 
 haps to the middle of the fifteenth century. However 
 this may be, I am clearly of the opinion that this MSS., 
 which is lettered and numbered in the library of the 
 British Museum as Royal 17, Al, has been copied from 
 an older and more ancient parchment, or transcribed from 
 fragmentary traditions. My opinion is based upon the in- 
 ternal evidence which certain portions of the manuscript 
 present, having an evident reference to a remote antiquity. 
 Among other ancient charges, it is ordained that no mas- 
 ter or fellow shall set any layer, within or without the 
 lodge, to hew or mould stone. 1 In the eleventh article of 
 these Constitutions, one of the reciprocal duties prescribed 
 to a Mason is : 
 
 " That seeth his fellow hewen on a stone, 
 And this then pointeth to spoil that stone, 
 Amend that stone, and help him," etc. 2 
 
 In this connection, I quote from the Cooke MSS., JSTo. 
 23,198, that the copyist had before him an older parchment, 
 which contained the following remarkable phraseology : 
 " And it is said, in old books of Masonry, that Solomon con- 
 firmed the charges," etc. According to the Archceologia, 3 until 
 
 1 Halliwell MSS., 17, Al. The quotations and references which follow are 
 copied from my book of notes, and were drawn directly from the several 
 manuscripts cited. Hughan. in his Old Masonic Charges, has given to the 
 public and fraternity nearly the entire collection of Masonic manuscripts, 
 which, until recently, remained unpublished in the British Museum Library 
 and elsewhere in England. 
 
 2 Halliwell MSS. 3 Vol. IX., pp. 112, 113. 
 
118 THE EARL Y HISVOR Y AND 
 
 the close of the twelfth century, stones were hewn out 
 with an adze. About this time the chisel was introduced, 
 and superseded the hewing of stone. Thus we see that 
 the words " hew a stone," had descended from the twelfth 
 century, at least, to the period when the manuscript first 
 quoted was copied, and, being found in the roll before the 
 copyist, were also transcribed. Moreover, the occurrence 
 of Charles Martel's name in the MSS. so early as that of 
 Cooke, indicates that the tradition of his connection with 
 the masons or stonecutters had long obtained among; the 
 fraternity in England. It is highly probable that this 
 legend was carried there by foreign workmen from the 
 Continent, where, as we have seen, this tradition was 
 extant as early as the year 1254. 
 
 No mention is made, in the French ordinances of Louis 
 IX., of a certain Namus Graecus, who, as stated in the older 
 manuscripts, 1 was a curious man, and had been at the build- 
 ing of King Solomon's temple. From thence he passed, 
 in bold defiance of all chronology, after a mighty slumber, 
 into France, and there taught the stout-hearted Charles 
 Martel, or Marshall 2 — the latter, no doubt, an error of the 
 transcriber — the science of masonry. I merely advert to 
 this strange statement of Namus Graecus as furnishing 
 additional, but conjectural, evidence that Masonic guilds 
 recognized a Grecian origin of many things perpetuated 
 in their lodges, and that when they were actually organ- 
 ized, in the eleventh or twelfth century, the same Byzan- 
 tine traditions which had prevailed among the lay cor- 
 porations and monastic workmen of an early age passed 
 to the medieval Freemasons. The name of Namus, or, as 
 the old York MSS. style him, Naymus Graecus, simply 
 signifies Naymus the Grecian. To what age his original 
 
 1 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198, and Dowland's MSS., in Hughan, Old Masonic 
 Charges, p. 26. 
 
 2 From whatever source Anderson obtained the knowledge for his Ancient 
 Constitutions, it also furnished the tradition of Charles Martel. Ibid., p. 30. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 119 
 
 connection with the legends of the craft should be assigned, 
 is beyond recovery. But this name, attesting thus its own 
 derivation, seems to assume that he was a Byzantine 
 artificer, or that he belonged to one of the Greek corpora- 
 tions of builders, whose existence was clearly maintained 
 throughout Europe from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. 
 
 I have enlarged upon the traditional relations of Tamils ' 
 the Grecian with the earlier building associations, deem- 
 ing that legend so far trustworthy as developing a clew 
 to the route by which such portions of Freemasonry as 
 can be fairly traceable to Oriental influence, came to be 
 incorporated into the legendary lore of Middle Age fra- 
 ternities,, and, subsequently, constituting an essential part 
 of lodge ritual. That this was the accepted view by the 
 ancient craftsmen in early ages, is palpable, and that the 
 assumption was a correct one, is clearly proven by the 
 uniformity and unvarying constancy with which the an- 
 cient manuscripts 1 assert that Eamus the Grecian brought 
 masonry, or the building art, from the East. This name 
 has descended to our day through all the intervening 
 changes of time. It is not to be found in the writings of 
 secular or profane authors, nor does it appear in the event- 
 ful periods of ecclesiastical history. It is the only name 
 mentioned in these venerable Masonic records whose sig- 
 nificance tends towards a solution of the difficult problem, 
 at what remote period of European history the details of 
 art were translated from the Orient by Greek builders, 
 and also implies the original belief among mediaeval Free- 
 masons that, through Grecian operatives, the secrets of 
 architectural construction had come down to their time. 
 In addition to this, the manuscripts assert that at the 
 mythical Masonic convocation at York there were records 2 
 
 1 Lansdowne MSS., No. 98; Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
 2 Ibid. ; also, Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, pp. 28, etc. The Lansdowne 
 MSS., No. 98, say there were some in Hebrew. Anderson, Constitutions, 
 p. 33. 
 
120 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 written in Greek, showing, conclusively, to what extent 
 these early English masons acknowledged themselves in- 
 debted to the Grecian or Byzantine artificers. 
 
 The old chronicles of the craft further relate, that 
 Masonry was introduced into France by ^N"amus the Gre- 
 cian, who instructed Charles Martel in the science. As 
 we have already stated, the first known master masons 
 on British soil were foreigners and Frenchmen, — John 
 Moreau, a Parisian, and William, a native of Sens — the 
 former of whom, early in the twelfth century, was master 
 of Scottish masons: the latter, in 1176, rebuilt the cathe- 
 dral of Canterbury. It is well known that William the 
 Conqueror deluged the whole of England 1 with foreign 
 artificers, whom he brought with him or ordered from 
 France, and the almost utter extinction of the Anglo- 
 Saxon social element, 2 either by proscription or gradual 
 merging into the Norman, rendered it necessary that 
 public edifices, if constructed at all, should be erected by 
 competent workmen imported from abroad. France, at 
 this time, possessed such artisans, because, according to the 
 admission of the quaint chronicles hitherto quoted, long 
 prior to this epoch, Naymus, a Grecian, had carried the 
 science of masonry into France and taught it to Charles 
 Martel, conceding, upon the force of tradition, that masonic 
 art, or the rules of architecture, were also produced upon 
 French soil by a Grecian or Byzantine operative. And it 
 is none the less singular or significant, that the Parisian 
 stonecutters, in the year 1254, asserted their independence 
 of certain civil duties, by reason of an exemption or pre- 
 
 1 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 407 ; Hawkins, History 
 of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, pp. 115-16 ; also, Stieglitz, Geschichte der 
 Bauknnst, 3 Ab., cap. 34. 
 
 2 Thierry, Histoire de la Oonquete de VAngleterre par les Normans, Tome I., p. 
 110, etc. This author presents an incident of a Norman king, who was unable 
 tp comprehend the Anglo-Saxon dialect when addressed by one of his sub- 
 jects. Consult Poole, Ecclesiastical Arch, in England, chap. viL 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 121 
 
 scriptive right, which they traced, through all the interme- 
 diate changes of time, directly to the same Charles Martel ! 1 
 When the demands of the Norman conquerors made it 
 essential to have skilled laborers for the construction of 
 sacred and other edifices, such workmen were procured 
 from France in great numbers. 2 
 
 Forty-nine years after the death 3 of William, the Nor- 
 man king, John Moreau, a Frenchman, had lain the foun- 
 dation walls of that gorgeous fabric, Melrose Abbey, and, 
 in a lasting record, alleged himself to be the master of all 
 masonic work along the river Tweed, on the south border 
 of Scotland, and in Glasgow. Whatever traditions and 
 usages the French stonemasons possessed at this epoch, 
 without doubt, passed over with them into England, and, 
 through them, obtained currency in that kingdom. I am 
 inclined to place the translation of the legend of Charles 
 Martel, and a knowledge of Naymus Graecus, into Great 
 Britain at this era, together with such usages and customs 
 of the fraternity as were practised by the Freemasons of 
 France. This view of the subject under consideration 
 has an undoubted weight of reason and evidence, both 
 legendary and historical, over the visionary assumption 
 that all, or nearly all, Masonic rites and ceremonies, besides 
 the mediaeval art knowledge of the craft, are the lineal 
 descendants of the ancient Roman building colleges ; 
 especially when it is stated that the relentless power of 
 the early emperors of Rome crushed out the vital forces 
 of these associations, and actually forbade them corporate 
 existence. 4 When, however, the emergencies involved in 
 the construction of a new capital for the Roman empire 
 demanded organized bodies of builders, such corporations 
 were formed at Byzantium, under permission and patron- 
 
 1 Boileau, Reglemens sur Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 2 Hope, On Architecture, chap, xxxviii. 8 A. D. 1087. 
 
 4 Suetonius, Vif. Jul., c. 42. This subject, in its bearing upon the internal 
 history of Freemasonry, will be resumed in Part II. of this work. 
 11 
 
122 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 age of imperial authority. The reference to Charles Mar- 
 tel, in Boileau's digest of laws affecting the trades, and 
 confirmed by the English records, seems to point to the 
 age of the Carlovingian dynasty 1 as the period when Gallic 
 stonecutters or masons recognized the concession made 
 them, which had been perpetuated to the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. Taken collectively with the tradition of Naymus 
 Graecus, this allusion to so remote a period might allow us 
 to infer that, under the patronage of early German kings, 
 the Byzantine stonecutters exercised a widespread and 
 salutary influence in architectural and plastic art in Ger- 
 many, and as foreigners, sojourning distant from the land 
 of their birth, they were permitted, by royal mandate, to 
 live in accordance with such laws as they elected, 2 and, in 
 consequence, received exemption from many duties to 
 which the citizens of the empire were subjected. Among 
 these privileges, it is fairly inferable that freedom from 
 municipal watch duty would be the most natural, and as 
 such, the Grecian corporations at labor in Germany ob- 
 tained this concession, and transmitted the same unim- 
 paired to their successors, the stonecutters of Paris, where 
 we find it in existence as an old established custom in the 
 year 1254. 
 
 Among other French master masons, in addition to 
 those already cited, who followed the tide of travel toward 
 England, mention is made 3 of Masericius, a Lanfranc, 
 Robert de Blois, R£mi de Fecamp, and Robert de Losenge. 
 Foreign architects conducted the erection of the most im- 
 portant cathedrals on British soil, and continued to do so 
 
 1 Cooke's manuscript, No. 23,198, says Charles II., instead of Martel. All 
 others, I believe, agree. 
 
 2 See supra, p. 30, et seq., where this doctrine of a personal profession of law 
 is fully discussed. 
 
 3 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., pp. 406, 407 ; Poole, Eccles. Archit. in 
 England, pp. 92, 124, 126 ; also Hawkins, Hist, of Origin of Gothic Architec- 
 ture, pp. 115-16. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 123 
 
 until the total extinction of the knowledge involved in 
 the Gothic arch. German Freemasons also aided in the 
 construction of English churches and abbeys and other 
 public edifices. A German Master Mason, by the name of 
 Klaus or Kloos, built King's College chapel at Cambridge, 
 the finest Gothic structure in England. 1 
 
 That the German Masonic fraternity exercised a decided 
 influence upon architecture in Great Britain at an early 
 age, is undeniable, and, in addition to the fact that many 
 elegant cathedrals were erected there in Gothic style, as in 
 the case of King's College chapel, just cited, of which the 
 plans and designs were prepared by a German master, this 
 assumption is based upon other ground than the preceding. 
 The earliest records now extant relating to the stonecut- 
 ters of Germany, allude to four Christian engravers, 2 who 
 had received the crown of martyrdom under Diocletian for 
 refusing to perform certain work to be used in the decora- 
 tion of a heathen temple. They are denominated, in direct 
 allusion to the sacred cause of their death, quator coronati. 
 
 When the German masons arrived in England, they 
 brought with them a thorough and practical knowledge 
 of the secret details of that art which constitutes the chief 
 attractions of Gothic architecture. They also naturally 
 carried over the usages, customs, and traditions which 
 were current among the fraternity in their native country. 
 The most convincing proof that this allegation is a correct 
 one, is the acceptation of the tradition touching these four 
 martyrs by the English Middle- Age Freemasons. It is in- 
 corporated in Halli well's manuscript as a portion of the 
 legendary history of the craft, and is referred to in such a 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 407 ; Stieglitz, Geschichte der 
 Baukunst, p. 528 ; Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 118, refers to one John 
 Wastel as the master mason of this building, perhaps at a subsequent period. 
 
 2 Oi'dnunge der Steinmetzen zu Strassburg ; Krause, Die Drei azllest. Kunstur- 
 kunden, Bd. II., Abt. 2, 69. There designated " Diener der Heiligen vier ge- 
 kronten." 
 
124 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 manner as to warrant the conclusion that the tradition 
 had long obtained with British Masons. The following 
 constitutes the whole of this legend, which was transcribed 
 directly from the manuscript itself: 
 
 " Pray we now to God Almyght, 
 And to his swete modr Mary bryglit, 
 Yat me mowe kepe yese articulus here, 
 And yese poyntes well al yfere, 
 As dede yese holy martyres fowre, 
 Yat in yys craft were of gret honoure, 
 Yey were as god masons as on erthe shul go, 
 Gravers and image makers yey were also, 
 For they were werkmen of ye beste, 
 Ye Empo r hade to hem gret luste, 
 He wylned of hem a ymage to make, 
 Yt mowt be worshiped for hys sake, 
 Such mawmetys he hade yu hys dawe, 
 To turne ye pepal from Crysti's lawe, 
 But yey were stedfast yn Cstis lay, 
 And to their craft wtouten nay." 1 
 
 The quaint chronicle further proceeds to narrate that 
 these stonecutters, or gravers, as they are called, persist- 
 ing in their refusal to carve out the emperor's image for 
 public reverence, were first imprisoned, and subsequently, 
 by the enraged ruler's order, put to death. This estab- 
 lishes a more or less remote connection between the tradi- 
 tions of the German craftsmen and those of the English 
 Freemasons. 2 No doubt many things still practised within 
 the tiled recesses of Masonic lodges, at all traceable to 
 German or Teutonic sources, are evidently the contribu- 
 tions of both the Gallic and German Masons, who, thus early 
 in the history of Freemasonry, had imparted their several 
 legends to their British brethren. 
 
 1 Kloss, Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 257, et seq., gives complete 
 details touching these martyrs. Also Krause, Die Drei celtest. Kunsturkunden, 
 Bd. I., Ab. 2, p. 405 ; II., Ab. 2, p. 287. 
 
 2 Kloss, ut supra, p. 315. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 English Freemasons Possess no Unusual Privileges — Under Wil- 
 liam of Wykeham, they Decline Statutory Wages — Act of 3 
 Henry VI., Declaring Masonic Chapters and Convocations 
 Void and Illegal, Terminates the Fraternity as a Close Or- 
 ganization of Craftsmen — Ancient Kites and Customs still 
 Maintained in Lodges — Contract of a Lodge for Tiling in 
 Reign of Henry VI. — Manuscript of this Monarch — Masons 
 Obliged to Obey Royal Warrant — Signs and Tokens Forbidden 
 Guilds in Fifteenth Century — Lodges of the FreExMASons — 
 Persons of High Position Initiated at an Early Period into 
 Masonic Lodges — Clergy Elected to Membership in Guilds. 
 
 CCORDDsG to Dallawaj, 1 the Master Masons of 
 England were frequently employed in govern- 
 ment service, by applying the practical knowl- 
 edge of which they were possessed to the in- 
 vention of military stratagems. English guilds of Free- 
 masons do not appear to have been privileged beyond 
 other craft associations. In the year 1351, a number of 
 operative masons, employed in the construction of Windsor 
 Castle, under the direction of William of Wykeham as 
 master of the work — magister 2 operum — declined accepting 
 the wages 3 due them as regulated by an act of Par- 
 
 1 Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 420. 
 
 2 This was the nomenclature bestowed upon the superintending builder, but 
 by no means confined to Masonic fraternities. See Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et 
 Infim. Lat., sub voce. 
 
 3 It might be a subject of curious speculation to know the causes which in- 
 
 11* 125 
 
126 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 liament, abandoned the work, and refused to proceed 
 further. In order that these contumacious masons might 
 be adequately punished and held in check for the future, 
 the statute of 24 Edward III. was enacted, giving 
 requisite authority to compel the recalcitrants to resume 
 their labors, under the penalty, after due notice, of being 
 branded. Statutes regulating the prices of mechanical 
 handicraft were frequently passed, and as repeatedly 
 broken by the masons. 1 
 
 The act of 1356, passed in the thirtieth year of the reign 
 of Edward III., forbid certain combinations or congrega- 
 tions of laborers, whereby, it was alleged, the mechanics 
 and artificers were incited to unjust and illegal demands, 
 contrary to the spirit of the English Constitution. This 
 law proving, in a measure, inoperative, 2 the power of the 
 British Parliament was again invoked, and the following 
 famous statute was enacted in the year 1424, and styled 
 8 Henry VI., cap. i. : 
 
 " En primis come par les annuels congregations et 
 confederacies faite par les masons en leur Generalz Chapi- 
 ters 3 assemblez, le bon cours et effect des statutes de 
 
 duced these operatives to rebel ; at all events, it is noteworthy that after this 
 era, almost all mason work in England was done by contract, under seal. In 
 these indentures, everything touching the character of materials and wages 
 of master masons was specified with legal accuracy, so that there could 
 thenceforth be no misunderstanding. Kymer, Fcedera, etc., Tome III., P. IV., 
 p. 104, et seq., gives one of these indentures in Norman-French, in which the 
 king contracts with Eichard Washbourn and John Swalwe, masons, to con- 
 struct Westminster Hall, and is dated 1395. Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, 
 p. 383, publishes a Latin indenture of the year 1398, between a prior and 
 John Middleton, mason, cementarium ; this word was used for mason in 
 France exclusively. Hawkins, Hist, of Orig. Goth. Arch., p. 107. 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. IX., pp. 119 and 120. 
 
 2 Dallaway, Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 425. 
 
 3 From this phraseology — en leur generalz chapitres assemblez — there is 
 no doubt the Freemasons had long been accustomed to meet in a general or 
 grand body each year, to legislate upon all matters pertinent to the well-being 
 of the craft. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 127 
 
 labourers sont publiquement violez et desrompez en sub 
 version de la loye et grevouse damage de la commune, 
 nostre seigneur le roi voullant en ees cas pourvoir le 
 remedie, par advis et assent susditz et a l'especial request 
 de ditz communes ait ordine et establi que tieux cbapitres 
 et congregations, ne soient desore tenez ; et si ascuns 
 tielz soient faitz, soient ceux qui soient convictz, adjugez 
 pour felons ; et que tous les autres masons qui veignent as 
 tielz chapitres et congregations soient punitz par em- 
 presonement de le corps et facent fyn et rauncisn a la 
 volonte du roi." 
 
 It would seem that the process issued against the 
 masons for an alleged violation of this law, or for any 
 infraction of contracts solemnly entered into, was the 
 capias corpus — a writ still familiar in legal practice. 
 Gouveneur Po^iall 1 asserts, in the most positive manner, 
 that "this statute ended these bodies in England," so far 
 as the closeness of their organization permitted them to 
 control the various branches of architectural art or other 
 mechanical trades appurtenant to this science. In other 
 words, this act of Henry VI., under the penalties men- 
 tioned, forbid the masons assembling as a body of opera- 
 tive workmen, in order to regulate wages or to arrange 
 upon what terms apprentices should be received into the 
 lodges. This authority, which, no doubt, in early ages 
 was conceded them from necessity, was revoked by the 
 foregoing statute ; and thereafter all matters appertaining 
 to wages and apprentices were legislated upon by Parlia- 
 ment. 2 Although, from the year 1424, Masonic convoca- 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. IX., p. 120. 
 
 2 Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 36, note (*), thinks this act was an out- 
 growth of ignorance and clerical illiteracy — that all learning, etc., was the 
 special property of the Masons of that age. Preston, Illustrations of Masonry, 
 p. 118, however, does not agree entirely with this view, but attempts to ground 
 the passage of the above law on political troubles. The oft-quoted opinion 
 of Lord Coke, III. Institute, folio 19, touching the effect of subsequent enact- 
 ments upon this statute, fails to touch the point in question. 
 
128 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tions, composed of operatives who claimed the powers 
 hitherto assumed, ceased to exist, nevertheless these arti- 
 ficers still met in their lodges and practised the original 
 rites and ceremonies of initiation. 1 These guilds continued 
 to survive merely as cluhs, which were instituted in lieu 
 of the chapters, and directed their attention almost exclu- 
 sively to benevolence. 2 
 
 During the reign of Henry VI., a body of Freemasons 
 entered into contract with the churchwardens of a parish 
 in Suffolk to undertake certain work for them, but ex- 
 pressly stipulated that a lodge, properly tiled, should be 
 erected for them at the expense of the church, in which to 
 hold their meetings. 3 It has been alleged 4 that this 
 monarch granted the masons many concessions, which 
 distinguished them from other craft guilds and fraterni- 
 ties, as a particular object of his royal favor. Dallaway, 
 whose treatise on the Matter and Freemason 5 indicates a 
 careful and rigid scrutiny of authorities, asserts that this 
 assumption is unwarranted, and that, on the contrary, this 
 king, instead of singling out the Masonic fraternity for 
 especial esteem, permitted them no exclusive privileges as 
 a society. 6 The researches of this writer develop the incon- 
 testable fact that certain concessions were granted to other 
 corporations of tradespeople which were denied the Masons. 7 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. IX., p. 120. 2 Ibid., p. 121. 
 
 3 Hope, Hist. Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 238. It was usual to stipu- 
 late for lodges, which, perhaps, were anciently used as sleeping apartments. 
 In an indenture, dated 1395, the king agrees to lodge the Masons: le Hoy 
 trouvera Herbergage pur les ditz Masons et lour compaignons — for the Masons 
 and fellows. Rymer, Fozdera, Tome III., P. IV., p. 104, etc. 
 
 4 "In 1442, he was initiated into Masonry, and from that time spared no 
 pains to obtain a complete knowledge of the art, .... and honored them 
 with his sanction." Preston, Illustrations of Masonry, p. 124; Anderson's 
 Ancient Constitutions, p. 36. 
 
 5 Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 426. 
 
 6 Dallaway, Ibid., p. 425. A candid examination of the customs and pre- 
 rogatives enjoyed by other guilds will lead the inquirer to the same conclusion. 
 
 7 Ibid., p. 426. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 129 
 
 The attempt has often "been made to prove that Henry 
 VI. was a zealous patron of the Freemasons. 1 A curious 
 manuscript, 2 purporting to have been drawn up in the 
 king's own handwriting, is frequently cited to attest his 
 affection for the craft. The weakness of Henry VI. 's 
 intellect is well known, and also his disposition to pry 
 into the mysteries of that strange science of alchemy. It 
 is possible that his attention may have been directed to 
 the mystic rites which were practised in the initiation 
 into the secrets of Masonry, as furnishing him a probable 
 solution of the problem involved in the pursuit of the 
 Philosopher's stone. However, the original manuscript, of 
 which a copy 3 is said to have been found in the year 1748 
 in Germany, has never been produced. It is claimed that 
 a transcript of the same, with the royal autograph attached, 
 was made by the antiquarian, John Ley land ; but on com- 
 parison with other signatures of the king, according to 
 Dallaway, 4 it has been pronounced spurious. 
 
 Whenever the services of the Freemasons were required 
 in the erection of edifices, they were obliged to obey the 
 royal mandate or letters patent. 5 This order was usually 
 drawn in favor of the person who designed building, and 
 
 1 Preston, ut supra, p. 124; Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 36. 
 
 2 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Ab. 1, p. 20. 
 
 3 See Introductory Essay to Hutchinson's Spirit of Masonry, p. 13, etc., for full 
 information touching this manuscript. Also, infra, Part II., Faculty of Abrac. 
 
 4 Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 429. 
 
 5 Ibid., p. 426. Halliwell's MBS. contains the following regulation for the 
 punishment of disobedient members : 
 
 " The scheref schal come hem sone to, 
 And putte here bodyes yn deeppe prison, 
 For the trespass that they hav y-don, 
 And take here goodes and here cattell 
 Ynto the kynges hand, every delle, 
 And let hem dwelle here ful stylle, 
 Tyl hyt be our lege kynge's wylle." 12th P. 
 
 This confirms Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 34, note (*) ; also, Brentano. 
 Prefatory Essay to Hist, of Guilds, p. cxxvii. 
 
 I 
 
130 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 commanded the craft to proceed forthwith, under the penalty 
 of fine and imprisonment, to render such services as were 
 named in the warrant, and by it they were bound to accept 
 the wages prescribed by law. 1 In the year 1495, a statute 
 was enacted by Parliament forbidding artisans of every 
 description the use of " signs and tokens." About the 
 middle of the ensuing century, the statutes which pro- 
 hibited the craft of builders from freely practising their 
 trade according to ancient usage and custom, were repealed ; 
 but this license was speedily revoked, excepting so far as 
 the same related to the city of London. 2 Whenever infrac- 
 tions were proven to have been made by the tradesmen of 
 the royal ordinances, such offences were cognizable before 
 a justice of the peace, who was also empowered temporarily 
 to suspend their corporate privileges, or to revoke them 
 absolutely. 3 
 
 On the 28th of April, in the year 1610, the justices of 
 the peace established the following legal schedule of wages 
 which should be paid this class of artificers : 4 
 
 With Meat. Without Meat. 
 s. d. d. 
 
 A freemason which can draw his plot and set accord 8 12 
 
 A rough mason which can take charge over others 5 10 
 
 A bricklayer 4 8 
 
 " * prentice 3 7 
 
 The following rates were also adopted 5 by the same 
 authorities, in accordance with the provisions of the statute 
 quoted, at a subsequent period, perhaps, to the foregoing: 
 
 1 Brentano, Hist, of the Origin and Development of Guilds, p. cxlv. 
 
 2 Consult Toulman Smith, English Guilds, and Brentano's Essay, prefixed, 
 \ iv., where the general tenor of the laws enacted at this period sufficiently 
 attests the text. 
 
 3 This authority was given by virtue of a statute, passed in the fifteenth 
 year of the reign of Henry VI., 1437. See Brentano, Hist, and Development 
 of Guilds, p. cxl. 
 
 * 36 Charles II. 
 
 6 Archceoiogia, Vol. XL, pp. 203, 208-9. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 131 
 
 With Meat and Drink. Without Meat. 
 
 A freemason 
 
 A master bricklayer 
 
 Servants and apprentices above 18 years old. 
 
 8. d. s. d. 
 
 ,6 14 
 
 6 10 
 
 4 8 
 
 In the year 1689 the wages of Freemasons were pre- 
 scribed to be one shilling and four pence per diem. To 
 receive more subjected them to a penalty of twenty-one 
 days' imprisonment. 1 From these several enactments it 
 would appear that the corporations of builders, after the 
 law of 3 Henry VI., 1424, had ceased to have an existence, 
 other than that which was tolerated upon the basis simply 
 •as a class of tradesmen, without any special prerogatives, 
 and whose compensation for work was regulated by a relent- 
 less law. They could exercise no discretion as against the 
 royal warrant commanding them to labor for an employer 
 therein named ; neither were they allowed to assemble in 
 secret convocation, only for the purpose of performing the 
 harmless ceremonies of initiation, and were, under the 
 severest penalties, interdicted from combining to subvert 
 any law, or to interfere in matters of civil polity. As we 
 have before remarked, from the time of the promulgation 
 of this act, the Masonic fraternity was perpetuated almost 
 entirely as a beneficial club, whose principal object, in a 
 mysterious manner, was devoted to mutual assistance and 
 benevolence. It is in the highest degree probable, that 
 the year 1424 is the proper date to assign for the cessation 
 of English Freemasonry as a strictly operative association, 
 and the epoch of its decided tendency towards a specula- 
 tive science, such as we now find it. The rites and cere- 
 monies, together with the moral instruction which had 
 hitherto been in vogue in the lodges, were undoubtedly 
 continued under the new regime. It is equally true, I 
 apprehend, that a knowledge of the building art was also 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 208; Dal la way, Historical Account of Master and Freemason, pp. 
 426-7. 
 
1"32 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 still procurable from the masters who composed these bodies 
 of Masons, until the gradually changing current of civiliza- 
 tion, and the general advancement of intelligence deeper 
 down among the people at large, combined with the more 
 rapid introduction of men of social position into these 
 lodges, attracted perhaps by the novelty presented in the 
 initiatory rites and conviviality, ultimately extinguished 
 their operative character. That many details of archi- 
 tectural art have been lost by the extinction of this feature 
 ' of Freemasonry is not denied, but acknowledged on all 
 sides as a lamentable fact. 1 Since the Freemasons were 
 forbidden to convene as a body of artificers, who performed, 
 their work in the secret recesses of the lodge, strongly tiled, 
 to prevent any but the initiated from entering, they turned 
 their attention to preserving the original framework of 
 Masonry as a moralistic organization. By the crushing 
 power of the statute of 3 Henry VI., the Masons were not 
 allowed to exercise their mechanical handicraft within 
 guarded doors ; neither were they permitted to arrogate the 
 liberty of regulating the price of their labor, nor the legisla- 
 tive prerogative of establishing ordinances affecting appren- 
 tices, and upon what they should be accepted as such. 2 
 Heretofore these corporations had assumed the right, and 
 had been permitted the authority, to control their own 
 members, which privilege was, perhaps, an outgrowth of 
 the foreign bodies originally incorporated by royal warrant. 
 They had claimed the powers of petty justice, 3 which was 
 
 1 Only so late as the time of Sir Christopher Wren, himself a distinguished 
 Freemason, this architect was obliged to confess his inability to understand 
 all their mysteries. Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 527 ; Poole, 
 Eccles. Architecture, p. 118. 
 
 : 2 "In 1536, it became necessary to pass a law (28 Henry VIII.) forbidding 
 the Masters of the several corporations to take an oath from their apprentices 
 that they should not carry on the trade on their own account, without their 
 master's consent." Brentano, Hist, and Development of Guilds, p. cxlix. 
 
 3 Brentano, Ibid., pp. cxxvi., cxl., and Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen im Mittcl- 
 olter, p. 319, etc. 
 
t 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 133 
 
 final; they had presumed to establish the duration of 
 apprenticeship, and arrogated the prescriptive right, after 
 such term of service expired, to arrest the apprentice in his 
 advancement to a degree which would materially increase 
 his profits as a workman. Through the agency of signs 
 and passwords, they rigidly excluded from their companion- 
 ship all uninitiates, 1 and forbid, under severe penalties, the 
 communication of the slightest details of art to the profane. 
 All this constituted a monopoly of trade of the closest 
 organization, and the result could be prophesied. 2 
 
 In the advancing strides of English civilization, when 
 the British mind was rapidly crystallizing around a free- 
 dom from the restraints superinduced by feudal monop- 
 oly ; 3 when the full and complete relations of regal sov- 
 ereignty were settling solidly down upon a basis of law, 
 and the reciprocal duties of Parliament and royalty were 
 understood to signify that all legislation affecting the 
 commonwealth must emanate from their combined voli- 
 tion — then it was that these closely organized trades- 
 unions among the builders were remorsely opened to the 
 public, and all prerogatives hitherto assumed by them 
 were solemnly abrogated, as detrimental to the common 
 welfare, and in subversion of legal authority ; or, as this 
 salutary enactment reads : " Sont publiquement violez et 
 desrompez en subversion de la loye et greviese damage de 
 la commune." That this statute was earnestly demanded, 
 and sadly needed, in England, cannot be denied. Such a 
 law should be found upon the statute-book of every coun- 
 try, that when any guild or corporation of men assemble 
 in secret conclave, under whatever name or pretext, 
 whether it be of trades-union, or to exclude any skilled 
 
 1 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsterkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 2, p. 276. 
 
 2 The struggles between the craft-guilds and the law-making powers in this 
 connection are carefully narrated by Brentano, Hist, and Develop, of Guilds, 
 \ iv. 
 
 3 See Buckle, Hist, of Civilization in England, Vol. I., chap, vii, 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 labor, native or foreign, from a full and free participation 
 in the privileges incident to mechanical trades, or arro- 
 gate the right to legislate what shall be the duration of 
 apprenticeship, and what number of apprentices may, in 
 their wisdom, be allowed to each master mechanic — then 
 this, or similar legislative enactment, should be rigidly 
 enforced, to crush a tendency which is as dangerous to 
 constitutional liberty as it is injurious to healthy trade 
 and social morals. 
 
 As previously stated, the opening of these fraternities 
 to the public caused the members to direct their atten- 
 tion to the perpetuation of secret initiatory rites. During 
 the course of ensuing centuries, persons who had no im- 
 mediate connection with any mechanical trade were appa- 
 rently initiated into the mystic ceremonies of Freemasonry, 
 and were received or accepted as Masons. At what period 
 such persons, not tradespeople, were thus accepted, is un- 
 certain. I am inclined to the belief that this initiation 
 was conferred upon men of high position or wealth from a 
 very early age. In the thirteenth century, as we have 
 seen, in the case of the Parisian stonecutters, a nobleman 
 was appointed by Louis IX. as general, or grand master, 
 of the craft. 1 According to Ungewitter, 2 from the time the 
 guilds in Italy acquired a positive status, and obtained a 
 legal corporate recognition, all citizens admitted under 
 oath became, ipse facto, full members, notwithstanding they 
 made no profession of the trade of which the fraternity 
 was composed. He also asserts, 3 in Pisa the nobility were 
 frequently accepted into membership in various guilds, in 
 
 1 Boileau, Reglemens sur Les Metiers de Paris, Tit. xlviii. 
 
 2 Seitdem die Zuenfte zu bevorrichteten Korperschaften geworden brachte 
 diese ihre Eigenschaft mit sich, dasz Jeder der sich in eine davon aufnehmen 
 liess, vollig als Mitglied gait, wenn er gleich nicht von dem Gewerbe war, 
 von welchera sie den Namen fiihrte. Geschichte des Handels u. der Industrie, p. 
 235. 
 
 * Selbst Adlige konnten in Pisa auf diesem Wege zu den offentlichen Aem- 
 tern gelangen. Ibid., ut supra. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 135 
 
 order to secure the influence afforded by these corpora- 
 tions, and thus render advancement to public offices less 
 difficult. 1 As a rule, the guilds were endowed with in- 
 herent power to elect their masters from the fraternity, or 
 from men of high rank. 2 They also were privileged to 
 select, by ballot, any reputable citizen, and accept him as a 
 member. One guild in England, whose origin was trace- 
 able beyond the Norman conquest, elected the clergy to 
 membership. 3 King Edward III. became a member of a 
 guild of linen armorers in London, and his example was 
 frequently followed by his successors, and the nobility of 
 the kingdom. 4 Preston 5 says, upon the authority of an 
 old manuscript, in the time of this monarch the sheriff, 
 mayor, or aldermen .of the city in which the lodge of 
 Masons was opened, might be made a Fellow, and asso- 
 ciated with the Master, in order to preserve order and 
 decorum among the craftsmen. There is no reason to doubt 
 the assertion of the record referred to by Preston, that, at 
 the time alleged, persons of social standing, as sheriff 
 and other civil officers, were accepted as members of the 
 Masonic fraternity, especially when it is considered such 
 usage was current among other craft guilds, and that Ed- 
 ward III. himself was accepted as a member of the linen 
 armorers' association. 
 
 1 Machiavelli, Istorie Florentine, Tomo I., p. 304, says that Giano della 
 Bella, deeply interested in the political condition of Florence, associated him- 
 self with the craft guilds in order to promote the welfare of the city: "dette 
 animo ai capi delle Arti a riformare la citta." 
 
 2 Brentano, History and Origin of Guilds, p. cxxv. In the year 1258, there 
 was a contest at Cologne over the election of the archbishop to an office in a 
 craft-guild. See Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen im Mittelalter> p. 324. 
 
 3 Toulman Smith, English Guilds, p. 287. From the return of this guild it 
 seems to have come within the purview of its institution to found a school 
 for Jews. Ibid., p. 288. 
 
 4 Brentano, ut supra, p. cxxii. 
 
 5 Illustrations of Masonry, p. 113. In this statement he is followed by Ander- 
 son, Ancient Constitutions, p. 34, note (*), who is soundly berated by Stein- 
 brenner, Origin and Early History of Masonry, p. 118, for so doing. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 Freemasonry in Britain in the Seventeenth Century — Eli as Ash- 
 mole, the Antiquarian, Initiated in the following Century — 
 Plot's Narrative of the Craft — Zeal among People of Kank 
 to become Craftsmen and "Accepted" as Masons — Sir Chris- 
 topher Wren as Grand Master — King William Receives the 
 Degrees in a Lodge at Hampton Court — Formation of a Grand 
 Lodge in the Eighteenth Century. 
 
 T is perhaps impossible to assign an accurate date 
 for the admission of non-professional men into 
 the lodges of Freemasons, prior to the close of 
 the sixteenth century. The earliest authentic 
 
 record is to be found on the rolls of Saint Mary's Lodge, 
 at Edinburgh, where it is registered that John Boswell, of 
 Auchinleck, was present at an assembly of the Lodge in 
 1600, 1 and that Robert Moray, a Quartermaster-General of 
 the Scottish army, was admitted as Mr. (Master ? 2 ) in the year 
 1641. Elias Ashmole, the learned antiquary, and author of 
 an elaborate history of the Knight Templars, made the follow- 
 ing memorandum in his gossiping memoirs, on the 16th of 
 October, 1646 : " 4 hor. 30 minutes past meridem, I was 
 made a Freemason at Warrington, in Lancashire, with 
 Colonel Henry Mainwaring, of Kerticham, in Cheshire. 
 The names of those that were at the Lodge : Mr. Richard 
 Penkert, warden, Mr. Jas. Collier, Mr. Richard Sankey, 
 Henry Lettler, J ohn El lam, and Hugh Brewer." From this 
 
 1 Lyon, History of Mary Chapel Lodge, pp. 96-7. 2 "Indefinite in a Masonic 
 sense." Hughan, in Masonic Magazine, p. 212, anno. 1875. 
 
 136 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 137 
 
 citation, it appears that one Col. Henry Mainwaring, an 
 English officer, was initiated with Ashmole, in the year 
 1646. It is not improbable that Elias Ashmole may have 
 sought a knowledge of the mysteries of Freemasonry, pre- 
 suming, perhaps, upon the service it might afford him in 
 preparing his history of chivalry. Under the date of 1682, 
 an additional entry was made in his diary : " March 10. 
 Received a summons to appear before a lodge at Masons' 
 Hall, London. 11th. Went, and was admitted into the 
 fellowship of Freemasons by Sir William Wilson, Knt. 
 Was senior Fellow, being thirty-five years since making. 
 Dined at dinner, at expense of the new accepted Mason." 
 In this connection, it is a subject of curious speculation as 
 to the identity of Richard Sankey, a member of the above 
 lodge. Sloane's MSS., 1 No. 3848, was transcribed and 
 finished by one Edward Sankey, on the 16th day of 
 October, 1646, the day Elias Ashmole was initiated into 
 the secrets of the craft ! It is clearly deducible, I think, 
 from the foregoing citations, that, during the seventeenth 
 century, Freemasonry had practically ceased to be a society 
 composed of operative masons, and that, from the opening 
 to the close of this century, no artistic or mechanical 
 knowledge was a qualification necessary for admission 
 into the fraternity, and that the guarded doors of lodges 
 were freely opened to unprofessional citizens. 
 
 In the year 1686, Plot says, 2 in the most emphatic terms, 
 that although the Freemasons were still a body of opera- 
 
 1 The terminal page bears the following attestation : 
 
 " Finis p me Eduardu Sankey 
 decimo sexto die Octobris Anno Domini 1646." 
 
 Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 47, et seq., has given this manuscript to the 
 public. 
 
 2 Natural History of Staffordshire, \\ 85, 86. "Customs, etc., whereof they 
 have one of admitting men into the society of Freemasons, that in the moor- 
 lands of the country be of great request, than anywhere else, though I find 
 the custom spread more or less all over the nation, for here I found persons of 
 the most exalted estates that did not disdain to be of the fellowship," etc. 
 
 • 12* 
 
138 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tive workmen, actually employed in the construction of 
 public edifices, there was much zeal manifested among the 
 people of the most exalted positions to be admitted as 
 members of these bodies, and who were accordingly intro- 
 duced into the mystic rites practised in the lodges, and 
 designated as " accepted Masons." The earliest use of these 
 last words is to be found in Ashmole's Memoirs, where he 
 states that, in the year 1682, on the 10th of March, he 
 dined at the expense of the new " accepted Mason." This 
 or analogous phraseology had already begun to prevail in 
 a different form. In the year 1670, according to the Har- 
 leian manuscript, 1 the words "accepted a Freemason," 
 were used to distinguish a Mason so received and taken 
 by the fraternity without professional apprenticeship, from 
 one who was initiated because of his vocation, and this 
 signification is corroborated by Dr. Plot. 2 
 
 A rapid change in the character of Masonic membership 
 in England was effected during the seventeenth century. 
 Although the non-operative Masons who were initiated 
 into the mysteries of the order, at the opening of this cen- 
 tury, no doubt constituted a greater or less minority, a 
 decided transformation was brought about in the class of 
 initiates towards the close of the seventeenth and the 
 opening of the eighteenth century. By this fundamental 
 alteration touching essential qualifications for membership 
 without reserve, gentlemen, the learned of all professions, 
 and noblemen, began to unite freely with the Freemasons, 
 who had gradually ceased to exist as a strictly mechanical 
 guild, by legal interdiction, in the year 1424. During the 
 revolution of 1688, Freemasonry had a precarious exist- 
 ence ; so much so, that seven lodges alone could be mustered 
 on the rolls in London. 3 Preston alleges 4 that Sir Christ o- 
 
 1 No. 1942; also Hugh an, Old Masonic Charges, p. 52, et. seq. 
 
 2 Natural. History of Staffordshire, he. cit. 
 
 3 Preston, Must, of Masonry, p. 148 ; Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 41. 
 * Rlustrations, etc., p. 148. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 139 
 
 pher Wren was appointed Grand Master of Masons in the 
 year 1685, and that this distinguished architect, during the 
 construction of St. Paul's, presided over St. Paul's Lodge 
 of Freemasons. Halliwell, in his Early History of Free- 
 masonry in England, quoting Aubrey, Natural History of 
 Wiltshire, page 277, says: " Memorandum. — This May the 
 18th, being Monday, 1691, after Rogation Sunday, is a 
 great convention at Saint Paul's church of the fraternity 
 of the adopted Masons, where Sir Christopher "Wren is to 
 be adopted a brother, and Sir Henry Goodric of the Tower, 
 and divers others." This statement, which has all the 
 appearance of being authentic, is in direct antagonism to 
 Preston's assertion, and is, historically considered, entitled 
 to greater weight. The date assigned in the foregoing 
 quotation is, no doubt, accurate, and establishes the time 
 when this illustrious builder was initiated into the myste- 
 ries of the craft. 
 
 Under Queen Anne, Masonry seems to have been in a 
 measure devitalized and notoriously languishing. With 
 the exception of the old Saint Paul Lodge and a few others, 
 the Freemasons in London do not appear to have met regu- 
 larly for work ; 1 and to such extremes was the fraternity 
 reduced, that a formal proclamation was promulgated, 
 announcing that henceforth the privileges of Freemasonry 
 and right of initiation into the mysteries of the order 
 should no longer, even in theory, be limited to architects 
 or operative masons, but that all men, of whatsoever pro- 
 fession, after having been regularly approved and elected , 
 should be entitled to the degrees 2 and become members of 
 the order. Whatever may have been the predisposing 
 cause which induced this new regulation to be thus pub- 
 lished, is only subject of conjecture. 3 Although, from the 
 
 1 Preston, Illustrations of Masonry, p. 148 ; Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, 
 p. 47. 
 
 2 Preston, Illustrations, etc., p. 149. 
 
 3 See Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 145, etc. 
 
140 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 date 1 of this announcement, Freemasonry was publicly 
 recognized as resting from its. operative labors, in order 
 more generally to cultivate the social and speculative, 
 however such result had been practically attained long 
 prior to this edict It is said 2 that in the year 1695, King 
 William was privately initiated into a lodge at Hampton 
 Court, which ever afterwards was the special object of his 
 fraternal attentions, and in 1697, a General Assembly of 
 Masons was convened to elect Charles, Duke of Richmond 
 and Lenox, as Grand Master. On the 24th day of June, 
 1717, a Grand Lodge of Freemasons was formed on the 
 express basis that old and immemorial usages and land- 
 marks should be sacredly perpetuated. 3 And thus Free- 
 masonry, after the gradual extinction of its operative 
 features, consummated the speculative details by rigidly 
 clinging to past traditions ; and by the continuation of 
 venerable symbols, rites, and ceremonies which, with slight 
 modifications, still exist. 
 
 1 Sometime after 1702, and evidently before 1717. Preston, ut supra. 
 
 2 Preston, Ibid., p. 148 ; Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 43. 
 
 3 At the time referred to, it was enacted by the Grand Lodge: " That every 
 privilege which the lodges enjoyed by virtue of their immemorial rights,' they 
 should still continue to enjoy, and that no law, rule, or regulation, to be there- 
 after made or passed by the Grand Lodge, should ever deprive them of such 
 privilege, or encroach on any landmark which was at that time established as 
 the standard of Masonic government." Preston, Illustrations of Masonry, p. 151. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Freemasonry in Germany — Cathedrals of Ulm and Nuremburg 
 and their master builders — german grand lodge of masons 
 and Erwin Von Steinbach — Papal Confirmation — Jurisdiction 
 of the several Grand Bodies — Convention of Torgau— An- 
 cient Stonecutters' Law — Old Landmarks Reaffirmed at 
 Torgau — The Craft Continue as an Operative Society until the 
 Eighteenth Century — Edict of 1731 — Grand Lodge of Strass- 
 burg Destroyed by the French Revolution — Lodges on the 
 Continent Opened under English Charters — Causes Contribu- 
 ting to the Overthrow of the Freemasons as a Body of Trades- 
 men. 
 
 OWARDS the close of the fourteenth century, 
 many new and splendid works of art were exe- 
 cuted in Germany. The foundation walls of the 
 Ulm cathedral were laid in the year 1377, and 
 the edifice itself was completed in 1494, by Ulrich of Em- 
 singen, who is said to have been the master architect and 
 superintendent of the work. The choir slabs, wrought by 
 the hands of Jorg Sirlen, a distinguished Master Mason of 
 the fifteenth century, are especially noteworthy on account 
 of a half life-sized figure which that artist has carved upon 
 them. Over the upper entrance on the south side of this 
 edifice, a sketch of the minster, hewn in stone, is still 
 visible. 1 During the latter portion of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, Charles IY. caused the church of St. Stephen, at 
 Tangernmnde, to be constructed, of which Heinrich Bruns- 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 584. 
 
 141 
 
142 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 berg was master builder. The Laidies' Chapel, at Nurem- 
 burg, built during the reign of the above monarch, between 
 the years 1361 and 1365, was erected by the joint labor of 
 George and Fritz Ruprecht, Master Masons, assisted by 
 one Selbald Schonhofer, noted as a skilled stonecutter. 
 To this church an addition was made in the year 1462, 
 under the direction of Adam Kraft, superintending Master 
 Mason. The elegant baptisteries in the interior of the 
 chapel, may be mentioned as the undoubted handicraft of 
 the artisans who labored in the stonecutters' lodge near 
 this building. During the period extending from 1361 to 
 1377, a new choir was added to the church of St. Sebald, 
 whose principal attraction consists of the chaste and elabo- 
 rate pilasters in the edifice, hewn by the skilful hands of 
 ancient masters. Among the more notable objects pos- 
 sessed by this church, are some pieces of statuary by Adam 
 Kraft, to whom reference has been made, who seems to 
 have received material assistance from Master Peter 
 Vischer, whose celebrated work, Sebald's grave, 1 is a 
 permanent attraction to all lovers of the fine arts. Saint 
 Mary's chapel, at Wiirzberg, commenced about the year 
 1377 and completed in 1414, and the work of the mediaeval 
 Masonic fraternity, merits especial attention for its curious 
 carved statuesque imagery above the main entrance. The 
 relief figures seem to have been placed there with direct 
 and significant allusions to the corrupt condition of the 
 Romish church. 
 
 At what period the Freemasons of Germany first insti- 
 tuted a Grand Lodge, or acknowledged the authority of a 
 Grand Master, is uncertain. Stieglitz 2 says the building 
 corporations in different parts of the empire stood in close 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 587. 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 610-611. Die Bauvereine der verschiedenen Reiche in Deutsch- 
 land standen mit einander in genauer Verbindung, und sie erheilten, un- 
 terstutzt von Konigen und Papsten immer mehr Festigkeit und groszeres 
 Ansehen. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 143 
 
 connection with each other, and that they had, at an early 
 date, received from various emperors and petty powers 
 many substantial tokens of their approval and favor. The 
 lodge of Strassburg, at its institution under Erwin of 
 Steinbach, obtained from Rudolph I. 1 of Habsburg, espe- 
 cial privileges, in order to facilitate the procuration of 
 skilled stonecutters. 2 In addition to these concessions, it 
 also acquired independent jurisdiction, in accordance, per- 
 haps, with usages and practices which had existed forages, 
 for the purpose of facilitating the uninterrupted progress 
 of labor on the cathedral, and in order that strict order 
 might be preserved. 3 In the year 1278, Pope Nicholas III. 
 issued to this lodge a letter of indulgence, which was occa- 
 sionally renewed by his successors, and ultimately con- 
 firmed by Benedict XII. 4 Evidently, therefore, at that 
 time this fraternity of builders was established on a solid 
 foundation. Whether the regulations of the society, in 
 earlier ages, were preserved in a written form, cannot be 
 ascertained with certainty ; it is probable that they were 
 propagated by oral proclamation. We know, however, that 
 thirteen years after the completion of the Strassburg 
 minster turret, Jacob Dotzinger, as master of masons 
 employed on the cathedral, in the year 1452, succeeded in 
 uniting the existing lodges of Germany in a general or 
 grand body, and in the year 1459, at Regensburg, the 
 statutes and general regulations of the stonecutters or 
 
 1 Die Strassburger Haupthiitte, welche, bei ihrem Entstehen unter dem 
 groszen Baumeister Erwin von Steinbach, von Kaiser .Rudolf von Habsburg 
 rait bedentenden Privilegien bedacht worden. Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 
 162. 
 
 ' l Um die Zuziehung geschichter Steinmetzen zu erleichteren. Stieglitz, 
 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 611. 
 
 3 Delinquent Masons were rigidly punished by a regularly constituted court 
 of the fraternity, which in 1275 was held in the open air at Strassburg. Bren- 
 tano, Hist, of Orig. and Develop, of Guilds, p. cxxvi. 
 
 * Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 611 ; Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer 
 wahren Bedeutung, p. 9. 
 
144 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AXD 
 
 masons were reduced to writing. 1 In this constitution 
 the authority of four Grand Lodges is recognized, viz. : 
 Strassburg, Cologne, Vienna, and Zurich, under whose 
 several jurisdictions various subordinate lodges were re- 
 organized. Twenty-two lodges 2 were dependent on the 
 Grand Lodge of Strassburg, and were dispersed throughout 
 Swabia, Hesse, Bavaria, Franconia, Westphalia, Thuringia, 
 the provincial territories bordering upon the Moselle, and 
 as far as Italy. The Grand Lodge of Cologne exercised 
 jurisdiction over cities along the Rhine. The territory 
 of the Vienna grand body extended throughout Austria, 
 Hungary, Steyermark, and the country on the confines of 
 the Donau. Switzerland, and the lodges at Berne, Luzern, 
 Scafhausen, St. Gale, and other cantons, were subject to the 
 authority of the Zurich Grand Lodge. Among all the 
 Grand Lodges of this age, that of Strassburg was pre- 
 eminent, and was recognized as having supreme authority, 
 and taking precedence over all Masonic bodies in the em- 
 pire. Moreover, the master builder then at work on the 
 minster at Strassburg was declared the Grand Master of the 
 fraternity in Grermany. 3 Several subsequent convocations, 
 held at Speyer in the years 1464 and 1469, maintained the 
 integrity of this compact. 4 During a period of thirty -four 
 years, the fraternity of Freemasons preserved a languid 
 existence, until the Emperor Maximilian, in the year 1498, 
 while at Strassburg, vitalized the society by granting to 
 the several regulations his imperial sanction and recogni- 
 tion. 5 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Ibid., loc. cit. ; Keller, Kurzgefasste Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 
 8 ; also Brentano, ubi supra, p. cxxxiv. 
 
 2 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Abt. 1, p. 286. 
 
 3 "Der werkmeister Jost Dotzinger oberster Kichter sin sol, etc.," from the 
 text, published by Krause, ubi supra ; also Brentano, Hist, and Dev&l. of Guilds, 
 p. cxxxiv. 
 
 4 I shall have occasion to refer to the ordinance of 1462 hereafter. 
 
 5 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in Hirer wahren Bedeutung, p. 250. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 145 
 
 A general assembly of the Masons, at Basel and Strass- 
 burg, 1 in the year 1563, reduced the preceding ordinances, 
 which had gradually increased, in volume and number, 
 into convenient form by compilation, which received the 
 name of " Steinmetz Recht," — stonecutters' law, — other- 
 wise known as Brothers' Book. 2 The constitutions of 
 1563 were subsequently printed, and copies of the same 
 distributed among the several Masonic lodges. 3 In this 
 manner there exist two separate and distinct general 
 regulations — the older of 1459, and the later of 1563, 
 confirmatory of the first. There is another Masonic or 
 stonecutters' ordinance, drawn up in the year 1462, which 
 is of the highest importance. It far transcends in value 
 all other German constitutions extant of that remote 
 period, either in print or manuscript. Although these 
 regulations never received that imperial sanction which 
 made those of 1459 and 1563 of binding force upon the 
 fraternity throughout Germany, yet, by solemn compact 
 between the master builders of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, 
 Hildesheim, Mullburg, Merseburg, Meissen, Voightland, 
 and by the Masons of Thuringia and Hartzland, these 
 statutes were enacted at Torgau during the days of Saint 
 Bartholemew and Michelmas, 4 and deliberately agreed to 
 as the law which should, in future, regulate and determine 
 all matters pertaining to the craft residing upon the terri- 
 tory mentioned. 5 The introductory clause 6 of this valua- 
 
 1 See prefatory clause of this ordinance in Krause, ut supra, p. 294. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, pp. 610-612 ; Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in 
 ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 251, etc. 
 
 3 Scherr, Deutsche Caltur, p. 163. 
 
 4 Proem, of Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, and Stieglitz, supra, 
 p. 613. 
 
 5 Ordnung, etc. For convenience I have used the edition of Stieglitz, pub- 
 lished in his Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde, p. 59, et seq. 
 
 6 " Auf die Jieilige eide, die wir Steinwerck gethan haben, soliche ordnunge 
 auffzunemen und zu bestettigen Inn diesem Lande nach gewonheit. Grossen 
 Schaden und Unordnunge der werke, u. s. w." Ordnung 1462, p. 59. 
 
 13 K 
 
146 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 ble constitution asserts that important changes 1 had crept 
 into the Masonic organization, and abuses, unchecked, 
 had begun to prevail in the lodges where the fraternity 
 assembled. The professed object of the convocation at 
 Torgau, in 1462, was to remedy the defects asserted to 
 have obtained with the ordinances of Regensburg and 
 Strassburg in 1459, and for the purpose of bringing the 
 internal organization of Freemasonry back to its original 
 consistency. 2 From this it will readily appear what ines- 
 timable assistance this regulation offers for investigating 
 the landmarks of Masonry as they existed among the 
 mediaeval stonecutters in their ancient purity. The view 
 afforded of the internal mechanism of lodge work and 
 strange customs of that and preceding ages, can alone be 
 found in this document, so solemnly and diligently pre- 
 pared by the dissenting brethren of Torgau, who, as a 
 society of conservators, sternly discarding all innovations, 3 
 tolerated no infringements upon established usages, but 
 adhered rigidly to immemorial customs, such as their 
 predecessors had practised from a remote period. In fact, 
 the full details which are presented to us in this constitu- 
 tion, add many links to the subtle chain which carries 
 Masonic symbolism far back to the opening dawn of 
 Germanic civilization, long anterior to the introduction 
 of Judaic or adventitious ritualism — back to a time when 
 the refining influences of the Christian religion were 
 unknown, when the Scandinavian warrior still appealed 
 to his God of Battles, and the Norse priest celebrated the 
 
 1 It is a singular coincidence that the Grand Orient of France, in 1801, ordered 
 the publication of a standard ritual work in order to correct such infringe- 
 ments, and is styled Regulateur du Ma$on. A copy of this book is in my 
 possession. 
 
 2 " Inn diesem Lande nach gewonheit, als disz Buch Clerlich auszweist das 
 haben wir, etc." Ordnung vom Yahre 1462, p. 59. 
 
 3 Ein solches zu Kegiren und zu halden Inwirden nach der lande gewonheit 
 und noth. Darnrnb haben wir etzliche aufl' das Beste ausgezogen aus dem 
 Buche, etc. Ibid. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 147 
 
 dread ceremonies of a mystic faith, amidst the revolting 
 cruelties of human sacrifice. 
 
 There is no doubt that the framers of these regulations 
 drew largely from older and authentic ordinances of the 
 craft — older even than those which were used in the 
 preparation of the constitutions 1 of 1459 at Regensburg 
 and Strassburg. As a satisfactory attestation of this 
 assumption, it will suffice to refer to the indignant pro- 
 test of the Torgau dissenters against the changes which 
 were made in the work, implying a grave variation from 
 established usages, in order to harmonize with the newer 
 phases of society. 2 Notwithstanding this later ordinance, 
 the earlier one of 1459, and that of the year 1563, continued 
 to exist as binding upon the Masons residing under the 
 several jurisdictions as previously designated, and were 
 regarded as the law for the lodges within their territorial 
 limits. The constitution thus passed upon in 1462 was 
 publicly read at each annual communication of masters 
 and the brethren, and a strict conformity to it enjoined. 3 
 Many points of absorbing interest appear in these regula- 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst. p. 613. The following is the phrase- 
 ology : " Anch alle diese artigkel sindt gemacht worden ausz dem Texte des 
 alden Haubtenrechtes." Ordnuny, Proem, p. 60. The holy martyrs, there 
 denominated as Christorius, Singnificamus, and Claudius, are asserted to be 
 the original compilers of the stonemasons' law. 
 
 2 " Und sie haben angesehen solichenn Schaden und Unordnunge der werke 
 und Verseumnisse, ist geschehen en alien landen von den werkmeistern, pal- 
 lirer und gesellen." Ordnuny 1462, Proem, p. 59. 
 
 3 Etzliehe Stiicke, die da not sein alien obern werkmeistern und gesellen 
 auf das Kiirtzte das das rechte Buch sol In ein bleyben und nicht geleseiv 
 werden den dess Yars, etc." Ibid., p. 60. Perhaps the real design in their 
 bringing these parts of the ordinance before the general or grand body was to 
 give the Fellow craftsmen, who were there made Masters, an impressive oppor- 
 tunity to know the regulations. These general chapters, held each year, con- 
 ferred the degree of Master on the Fellows. Vide Krause, Die Drei wllesten 
 Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 314, and names given of such as had been 
 thus made, in the year 1563, and appended to this charter. Also, Kloss, Die 
 Frcimaurerei, etc., pp. 210-14. 
 
148 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tions which the former do not possess. It affords the 
 means by which the history of lodge life can be traced 
 with sufficient accuracy, and furnishes us an outline of 
 such symbolic references as had continued uninterrupt- 
 edly from times of the remotest antiquity down to the 
 date of this curious document. It also teaches us the 
 relative and reciprocal conduct of master and wardens 
 towards the craft, and to each other. As a mere contri- 
 bution to the history of morals of that age, the ordinance 
 of 1462 is of the highest value ; l but when the detached 
 parcels of the same, disjointed though they be, are viewed 
 with a critical eye, and examined from an archaeological 
 stand-point, the several details are of the most inestimable 
 aid in establishing beyond controversy the absolute existence 
 of the Gothic or Teutonic derivation of many mediaeval 
 Masonic symbols, which have been perpetuated to our day. 
 Numerous facts are here brought to light, touching the 
 internal government and the general regulations, which 
 prevailed within the closed recesses of the lodge — facts 
 which the constitutions of 1459 and 1563 utterly ignore, 
 and exist alone in this invaluable Torgau ordinance of 
 1462. 2 
 
 For a long time, the building corporations continued in 
 active vitality in Germany, and with great benefit to 
 architectural art. 3 Sufficiently fortunate in evading the 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde, p. 34. 
 
 2 A document alleged to have been written in the year 1535, at Cologne, 
 has recently attracted an undeserved attention from the German Masons. 
 There is no doubt that the so-called Cologne manuscript was prepared between 
 the years 1778 and 1786, for the especial object of directing the fraternity in 
 strong antagonism against the Romish church. Keller, Kurzgefasste Geschichte 
 der Freimaurerei, p. 100, very justly observes, " to accept the genuineness of this 
 Cologne document, would totally change the entire front of Freemasonry." 
 It was evidently drawn up by strong partisan Masons, about the time men- 
 tioned, to counteract the* edict of Clement XII., in 1738, against the Free- 
 masons. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Baukunst, p. 625. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 149 
 
 fate to which the English fraternity had succumbed early 
 in the fifteenth century, German Freemasonry still existed 
 as an operative science. It cooperated with princes and 
 ecclesiastics to construct churches and many other impor- 
 tant buildings of public worth. It also assisted in the 
 moralistic education 1 of its members with equal success. 
 Notwithstanding that, during the closing years of the 
 mediaeval era, fine arts had in a measure degenerated, 
 and that the artistic, delicately-wrought workmanship no 
 longer appears, yet, withal, a fair knowledge of the prac- 
 tical details, especially in the constructive principles of 
 the arch, was as yet retained. 2 And although the frater- 
 nities of stonecutters had descended from the high and 
 noble ideality of more ancient times, and gradually assimi- 
 lated to a mere craft guild or union — and for this conjec- 
 ture the Constitution of 1563 affords a reasonable ground ; 
 and although the artist no longer strove to imbue him- 
 self with the wonderful properties of abstruse and abstract 
 geometry, but, with apparent indifference, hesitated upon 
 the threshold of a higher and nobler science, practising 
 his profession simply by gauge admeasurement ; notwith- 
 standing these flagrant departures from old and established 
 methods, there still permeated the fraternity that activity 
 and life which a struggle for the good and perfect engen- 
 dered. 3 
 
 Political dissensions and troubles — which have ever 
 been the enemies of art — contributed materially to ac- 
 celerate the destruction of German Freemasonry as an 
 operative body. The capture of Strassburg, in the seven- 
 teenth century, by the French, remorselessly removed the 
 keystone from the arch of Masonry in the German em- 
 
 1 Numerous proofs of this attempt clearly appear in nearly all the German 
 ordinances, particularly in that of 1462. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, ut supra, p. 626. 
 
 3 Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 118, pays the Middle- Age Freemasons 
 a flattering compliment at the expense of modern Masonry. 
 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 pire. 1 In the year 1707, 2 an imperial Diet promulgated a 
 decree interdicting the lodges of the empire from a fur- 
 ther recognition of the authority, hitherto acknowledged, 
 due the Grand Lodge of Strassburg. This statute was a 
 severe blow to the unity of the German Freemasons, and 
 from this time the fraternity, as a body of operatives, 
 rapidly advanced to a dissolution. 3 However, to effect a 
 total and complete extinction of closely-organized asso- 
 ciations of the stonecutters or Freemasons, an additional 
 imperial decree was published in the year 1731, which, 
 under severe penalties, forbid all lodges in Germany from 
 obligating any initiate to silence touching the craft secrets 
 imparted him. 4 By the crushing weight of this edict, 
 Freemasonry, in the year 1731, ceased to exist in the 
 empire as an operative body. 5 In many localities, it 
 was divided into different branches of mechanical trades. 
 The masons and carpenters usually fraternized in the same 
 guild. 6 The preparation of finer ornamentation for edifices 
 was abandoned to sculptors, and everywhere corporations 
 of these artificers sprung into existence, who wrought out 
 
 1 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihr. w. Bedeutung, p. 255. 
 
 2 Steiglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 626. 
 
 8 In order to give greater effectiveness to his reasoning touching the claims 
 of Germany to the pointed arch, Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 526, 
 asserts that the Freemasons preserved their footing and credit longest in that 
 country. 
 
 * " Ein anderer Reichstagschluss, vom Yahre 1731, alien damals in Deutsch- 
 land betstehenden Hutten verbot, die aufzunehmenden Mitglieder zum Ver- 
 schweigen der Kunstheimlichkeiten zu vereiden." Stieglitz, Geschichte der 
 Baukunst, p. 626. 
 
 6 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer ivahren Bedeutung, p. 256. This imperial 
 interdiction not only extended to forbid such secret communication to newly- 
 initiated members, but solemnly declared such as had been thus obligated 
 freed and relieved from their oaths : " so seynd sie von solchem eid hiermit 
 vollig losgesprochen." Ibid., p. 269. 
 
 6 As previously noted, the mediaeval carpenters were affiliated with the 
 bodies of architects, according to Marchese, Vie dei Architette, etc., Tomo I., p. 
 143. Carpentarius, usata sempre dal necrologio a significazione di architetto. 
 Ibid., p. 144. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 151 
 
 the same character of handiwork as the stonecutters ; 
 while the latter, from the abrupt dissolution of their fra- 
 ternal privileges, merely pursued the humbler avocation 
 of chiselling piece-work, and the master builders labored 
 in future for their individual gain, without social relations 
 with each other or with the guilds. Stonecutters' corpo- 
 rations, scattered and remote from one another, main- 
 tained a shadowy resemblance of former Masonic associa- 
 tions, upon the groundwork of the statute of 1563 — as, 
 for example, the several lodges of Basel, Zurich, Ham- 
 burg, and Dantzig 1 ; but the vital spirit which had ani- / 
 mated architectural art was gone, and the living principle 
 which, in earlier and more favorable times, had quickened 
 and unified distant and widespread fraternities, barely 
 survived, while the mere shell, shrivelled into a caricature 
 of healthy growth, alone remained. 
 
 At the close of the seventeenth century, the conquest 
 of Strassburg and Alsace, by the French, changed the in- 
 timate relations of the remaining lodges of Germany. 2 
 Upon the incorporation of Alsace with France, the Im- 
 perial Diet, held in Germany, in 1707, as alluded to, 
 enacted the decree interdicting further obedience by sub- 
 ordinate lodges to the Grand Lodge of Strassburg, by 
 reason of that city having become an integral portion of a 
 foreign empire. This ordinance, however, was not vigor- 
 ously enforced, because, so late as the year 1725, a lodge 
 of stonecutters at Rochlitz still maintained fraternal 
 intercourse with the original grand body in the above- 
 named city, and recognized it as absolutely essential to 
 procure the sanction of the Strassburg Grand Lodge, in 
 order to render authoritative the regulations which Fer- 
 dinand II. had confirmed. 3 It is, at all events, fairly pre- 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 627. 
 
 2 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 255. Both the 
 authors cited have drawn their material apparently from the Theatmm Euro- 
 pceum, Tome XVIII., p. 45. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der hciligen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 23. 
 
152 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 sumable, that the Dresden lodges acknowledged a depen- 
 dence on this body, otherwise it cannot be inferred that 
 the Rochlitz Masons could have sustained such subjective 
 relations with a foreign jurisdiction. And in order that 
 this principle of traditional, or, rather, immemorial, 
 obedience might be perpetuated, the Grand Lodge of 
 Strassburg yielded to the demands of the lodge at Roch- 
 litz, upon conditions which would, for all time, render 
 requisite the recognition of this grand jurisdiction as the 
 highest tribunal of justice for Masons, and also to remain 
 true and faithful to their allegiance. It was furthermore 
 stipulated, as a symbol of obedience, that each year a 
 Bohemian groschen should be tendered. 1 
 
 That the stonecutters' lodge at Rochlitz remained in 
 strict union with the Masonic filiations of Strassburg, 
 admits of no doubt. As late as the sixth decade 2 of the 
 last century, that grand body communicated officially with 
 the Rochlitz lodge, reminding the members of the annual 
 tribute of groschen. The letters adverting to this service 
 are still preserved in the archives of this last-mentioned 
 fraternity. 3 These admonitions, moreover, attest the 
 melancholy fact that the fraternal bonds which had ex- 
 isted for successive ages between these bodies of Masons 
 were gradually loosening, and, to all appearances, had 
 nearly ceased to manifest themselves by a reciprocal regard. 
 When the Grand Lodge of Strassburg was totally extin- 
 guished, through the agencies provoked by the French 
 revolution, the last ties of jurisdiction, which had been 
 maintained uninterruptedly through five centuries, were 
 relentlessly severed. 4 It is, therefore, manifest that Free- 
 masonry in the German empire, at so late a period at least 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichie der Baukuvst, p. 627 ; Ibid., Ueber die Kirche der heil- 
 igen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 24. 
 
 2 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 257. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde, p. 24. 
 * Stieglitz, Baukunst, p. 628. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 153 
 
 as the close of the eighteenth century, retained much of 
 an operative character. 1 In the year 1823, the Masonic 
 lod°;e at Rochlitz obtained from the Saxon o-overnment a 
 new class of regulations, which, according to Stieglitz, 2 
 had but little in common with the old rules, and, with the 
 single exception of the duration of apprenticeship, which 
 was reenacted, preserved nothing of their mediaeval char- 
 acteristics. At all events, it is worthy of note, that al- 
 though the final and absolute cessation of operative ma- 
 sonry has hitherto been assigned to the year 1717 in 
 England, and in Germany to the period of the capture of 
 Strassburg, yet there are unmistakable indications that 
 English Freemasonry had, early in the fifteenth century, 
 assumed a speculative type, while in the German empire, 
 the original operative nature of the ancient building cor- 
 porations was certainly continued to the termination 
 of the eighteenth century, with a strong probability 
 of having perpetuated itself distinctly to the present 
 century. Dr. Scherr 3 has justly remarked that the shat- 
 tered fragments of English Middle- Age Freemasonry fur- 
 nished largely the material for the speculative or modern 
 society of Masons, and that it was upon the basis of ancient 
 religious and social ideas, as embodied in these fraternities, 
 that the present organization has been propagated. Free- 
 masonry, therefore, in its new attire, rapidly extended to 
 the Continent, and especially in France and Germany, 
 where numerous lodges were opened. 4 It can scarcely be 
 
 1 See Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 526. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Ibid., p. 628. 
 
 3 Deutsche Cultur, p. 163. "In England wurde namlich im Yalir 1717 auf 
 Grund der religiosen und sozialen Idee der Mittelaterichen Bauhutte die 
 Genossenschaft der Freimaurer gegrundet, welche sich rasch auch auf dem 
 Continent verbreitete und namentlich in Frankreich und Deutschland zahl- 
 reiche Hutten eroffnete." 
 
 * Findel, Geschichle der Freimaurerei, pp. 274, 282. I take pleasure in recom- 
 mending this work to all who desire an accurate history of Freemasonry in 
 its modern extension. 
 
I 
 
 154 THE EA RLY HIS TORY A KD 
 
 presumed that the ritual work thus introduced into Ger- 
 many was accepted without modification, or that many 
 symbolic appliances, preserving a vigorous vitality in 
 the Masonic craft guilds, were not merged into, and made 
 an integral portion of, the forms and initiatory ceremo- 
 nies. 1 
 
 In its early history, Freemasonry everywhere applied 
 the unlimited resources of architectural skill to develop- 
 ing divine ideas through symbolized stone. Operative 
 Masonry erected to God the grandest temples of earth, 
 and filled them with aspiring pilasters and mystic arches. 
 Freemasonry worked out in granite blocks the thoughts 
 and aspirations of the Middle Ages. Popular imagination 
 found its correct exponent, and religion conveyed its most 
 impressive lessons of faith and submission, in these works 
 of art. No other means could so accurately evoke that 
 Christian emotional element underlying the rude and 
 rugged character of social life at this period. The single 
 object which presented itself to the Masonic architect was 
 to find suitable expression for the heart-yearnings and moral 
 aspirations of the people. This purpose was pursued with 
 a persistent zeal, 2 which resulted in art productions of won- 
 drous beauty and uniformity. So long as architecture real- 
 ized the anticipations of the Middle Ages ; so long, as Free- 
 masonry, through the erection of superb edifices, furnished 
 an adequate outlet for national ideas, just that long Ma- 
 sonry continued to create exquisite temples of worship, 
 and preserved a vigorous existence as an operative science. 
 When, however, popular thought found expression by 
 
 1 Perhaps/ in various localities, the emblematic uses of numerous things 
 connected with operative Masonry may have suggested their incorporation 
 with the English symbols; at all events, there are ritualistic or symbolic dif- 
 ferences existing between the German work as now practised and that trans- 
 mitted through the older English craftsmen. 
 
 2 Luebke, Geschichte der Plastik, p. 442. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 155 
 
 means of printing-presses, church architecture began im- 
 mediately to retrograde, and, with it, operative Masonry 
 rapidly declined. 1 
 
 A remarkable fact connected with mediaeval architecture 
 is its invariably progressive character; but what is even 
 more striking, has been alluded to previously — the unceas- 
 ing and unchanging uniformity of Gothic architectural art 
 which prevailed throughout Europe. 2 During the Middle 
 Ages, when Freemasonry was a craft in the hands of a 
 corporate ecclesiastical fraternity, the members were bound 
 down to certain rules, and yet possessed unlimited license in 
 carrying those rules into effect. For instance, precisely in 
 the same way as if the alphabet of a language were given 
 to any one, and he were allowed to form whatever combi- 
 nation of which the letters were susceptible, but not to 
 introduce new forms and symbols. 3 The great glory of the 
 Gothic or Teutonic style 4 is its perfect unity, combined 
 with almost infinite variety. In order to preserve that 
 striking similitude existing between the productions of 
 operative Masonry, constructed at remote distances from 
 each other, constant communication was kept up with all 
 the members of the numerous and widely-extended body 
 of Masonic craftsmen ; and when we consider the unvary- 
 ing uniformity of style displayed in the construction of 
 
 1 Le livre va tuer Fedifice. L'invention de l'imprimerie est le plus grand 
 evenement de l'histoire. C'est le mode de l'expression de l'humanitie qui se 
 renouvelle totalement, c'est la pensee humaine qui depouille line forme et qui 
 en revit une autre. C'est le complet et definitif changement de peau de ce 
 serpent symbolique. L' architecture est detronee. Victor Hugo, Notre Dame 
 de Paris, Livr. 5 ieme , chap. 11. 
 
 2 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 241. 
 
 3 Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, pp. 206-207. See, however, Poole, 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, p. 119, where doubts are expressed 
 touching the uniformity alleged. 
 
 * Hope, ubi supra, cap. xxxvi., gives the invention, no doubt justly, of this 
 feature of mediaeval architecture to the Germans. See Hawkins, Hist, of the 
 Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 143. 
 
15$ 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 churches and cathedrals, and the immense number erected 
 in every country till the overthrow of the ancient religion, 
 we shall perceive how complete the intercourse among the 
 Masons, of necessity, must have been. 1 With the extinc- 
 tion of mediaeval Freemasonry, many of the abstruse and 
 abstract principles of the building art were totally lost. 2 
 
 1 Paly, ubi supra, pp. 202, 220 ; Hope, ut supra, Vol. I., p. 238. 
 
 2 Touching this, see Poole, ubi supra, p. 118, and Hope, Ibid., p. 527. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Legendary History of the Masonic Fraternity — Arts and 
 Sciences Concealed in Columns — Tower of Babel — Euclid 
 and the Egyptian Princes — The Israelites obtain Masonic 
 Knowledge from Egypt — Solomon and Hiram the Chief Archi- 
 tects in Building the Jewish Temple — Namus Graecus Intro- 
 duces Masonry to the Frankish King Charles Martel — Saint 
 Alban, of England, Procures Masons from France — Calls an 
 Assembly of the Craft — King Athelstan Confirms the Privi- 
 leges of the Fraternity — Prince Edwin is Initiated, and 
 becomes Grand Master — Collects Traditions and Establishes 
 Charges. 
 
 1ST order to suitably terminate this portion of my 
 work, I shall now proceed to give a detailed nar- 
 ration of the legendary history of the craft ; of 
 such portions, at least, as were current among the 
 
 mediaeval Freemasons, and, contrary to the usual method of 
 transcribing the traditions, I give them divested of their 
 antique phraseology, which, when necessary, will be found 
 noted in the margin. The operative Masons of the Middle 
 Ages had accepted the division of all knowledge into 
 seven liberal arts and sciences, of which, as previously 
 stated, Cassiodorus 1 was the author, and were thus specified : 
 first, Grammar, which inculcated proper use of orthogra- 
 phy and correct speech ; second, Rhetoric, by the skilful 
 application of which the Mason could argue in subtle 
 
 1 This septenary arrangement was adopted so early as the fifth century, by 
 Marcianus Capella. Alcuinus, in the eighth century, did the same, with no 
 other difference than including arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy 
 under the general term of mathematics. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 247. 
 14 . 157 
 
158 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 terms. The third was Dialectics, by which he was enabled 
 to distinguish truth from falsehood ; fourth, Arithmetic 
 aided him in accurate reckoning, and provided established 
 principles for scientific accounts. To the practical work- 
 man of this age, the fifth, Geometry, was most highly 
 prized, because, according to his article of belief, this 
 science yielded him the greatest assistance in bounda- 
 ries and measurement of the earth and of all things. To 
 express adequately the high appreciation of this science, he 
 denominated it Masonry. The sixth was Music, which 
 regulated and attuned the voice of man to song, and 
 taught him the harmonies of tongue and organ, of harp 
 and trumpet. Astronomy, the seventh and last division, 
 delineated the course of the sun, moon, and stars. 
 
 All these scholastic sciences the mediaeval craftsman 
 assumed to be the outgrowth of one unchangeable princi- 
 ple, which was geometry. 1 After having demonstrated 
 the vast obligation which all classes of workmen, and the 
 craft in general, are under to geometry, the manuscripts pro- 
 ceed to define the descent of Masonry, or geometry, from 
 times of the highest antiquity. They allege that before 
 the flood there was a man named Lamech, whose children, 
 among whom were Jabell, Jubell, and Tuball Cain, framed 
 many universal sciences ; but Jabell, the elder son, 
 invented geometry, 2 and by its strict rules divided the 
 flocks of sheep and lambs -in the fields, and first wrought 
 stones and timber for dwellings. Jubell, his brother, estab- 
 lished musical science, the basis of song, of the harp and 
 organ. The third son, Tuball Cain, was distinguished as 
 the inventor of the art of working gold, silver, copper, iron, 
 and steel. These artists, well knowing that the crimes and 
 sins of mankind would ultimately be avenged by a univer- 
 
 1 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
 2 " He was name mast mason and governor of all Adam's wsrkes when he 
 made ye eitie of Enoch," Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 159 
 
 sal deluge, drew up their several sciences and committed 
 them to the silent but safe custody of two pillars of stone, 1 
 in order that, after the subsidence of Noah's flood, future 
 generations might possess what they had discovered. One 
 of these was hewn from marble, to resist the ravages of 
 fire ; the other was constructed of laterns, in order to with- 
 stand inundation. 2 After the deluge, Sem's grandson, 
 Hermarynes, subsequently called Hermes the Father of 
 Wise Men, found one of these stone columns, with the 
 written tablets contained in it. 3 Through this discovery 
 other men were made acquainted with the science. 4 
 
 At the building of the Tower of Babel, Masonry was 
 first regularly organized into a corporate body. Accord- 
 ing to the Cooke MSS., one of Noah's sons constructed this 
 famous fabric, and for services rendered by masons in the 
 work, " he loved and cherished them well." The legends 
 naively assert 5 that Nimrod, king of Babylon, was a 
 Mason himself, and deeply interested in the science. And 
 when Nineveh and other Oriental cities were built, Nim- 
 rod, at the request of his cousin, king of Nineveh, pro- 
 vided him with threescore masons to assist in these con- 
 structions. Upon their departure, Nimrod gave them 
 strictly in charge to remain steadfastly true to one another, 
 avoid dissensions and live in harmony, and that they 
 should serve their lord truly for pay, in order that the 
 Master might always have proper worship. This was the 
 
 1 Dowland MSS. "And wherefore they writt their science that they had 
 found in two pillars of stone, that they might be found after Noyes flood." 
 Vide Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 26. 
 
 2 Dowland MSS ; Hughan, Ibid. " And that one stone was marble, for that 
 would not burn with fire ; and that other stone was laterns, and would not 
 drown in water." 
 
 3 The discovery of these records is thus mentioned by Dowland MSS. : 
 "Hermarynes afterwards found one of the two pillars of stone, and found 
 the science written there." Also Hughan, ut supra. 
 
 * Dowland' s MSS. ; Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 26. 
 5 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
160 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 earliest recorded instance of Masons having had charges 
 given them. Abraham went into Egypt and there taught 
 the seven liberal sciences to the people of that country, 
 and among others, Euclid was his disciple. 1 Euclid readily 
 mastered Masonry, and became a learned master of the 
 whole seven sciences. 2 It so happened in his day, that 
 lords and the estates of the Egyptian kingdom had so 
 largely increased their families, legitimately and other- 
 wise, that there was not sufficient sustenance for them. 
 The tradition further recites that Egypt was of plenteous 
 generation on account of extreme heat. In order to 
 remedy the serious difficulty caused by this vast mul- 
 tiplicity of inhabitants, the royal predecessor of the 
 Pharaohs summoned a grand council to suggest some 
 means by which the children of Egypt might live as 
 gentlemen ; but this illustrious body of wise Egyptians 
 was unable to meet the emergency, and were compelled 
 to make proclamation for some one wiser than themselves 
 of an expedient, for which he should receive a suitable 
 reward. 3 
 
 In consequence of this solemn edict, Euclid appeared, and 
 said to the king and his great lords, substantially as fol- 
 lows : " If you will permit me to govern your children, 
 and to teach them one of the liberal sciences, they shall 
 cease in future to be a burden to your lordships, and for 
 this purpose I demand a commission or charter that will 
 enable me effectually to rule them in such manner as is 
 consistent with the regulations of science." This sage 
 suggestion was forthwith acted upon, and Euclid, possessed 
 of his royal warrant, to which no doubt the broad seal of 
 Egypt was attached, immediately proceeded to inculcate 
 
 1 " Ye clerke euclyde on yys wyse hyt founde, 
 Yys crafte of geometry yn egypt londe." 
 
 Halliwell MkSS., 17 Al, folio 4. 
 2 Dowland MSS. ; Hughan, op. et loc. cit. 
 8 Dowland MSS. ; Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 26. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 161 
 
 into these genteel sons the principles of geometry. 1 He 
 instructed them in the art of hewing stone, and to adapt it 
 to the building of churches, castles, towers, temples, etc. 
 Others say 2 that this distinguished scientist signalized him- 
 self in constructing ditches or canals to irrigate land along 
 the river !N"ile. That his services might be more complete, 
 and deserving of the encomiums of these perplexed aristo- 
 crats, he gave them charges, and ordained that they should 
 be true to the king and their lord for whom they worked. 
 They should also love one another, and live harmoniously 
 together; and should call each other fellow or brother, 
 not servant or knave, nor other scurrilous name. They 
 should, by diligent labor, fairly deserve and earn their pay 
 of the master. The wisest among them should be selected 
 as master, not on account of his lineage, riches, or favor, 
 but for his merit and cunning in the work, and all this in 
 order that the lord or employer might be served with 
 fidelity and zeal. The governor or superintendent of the 
 works should be called master. Euclid compelled them to 
 swear a solemn oath, such as men used in his day, that 
 they would faithfully preserve these regulations. He also 
 decreed reasonable wages sufficient to provide for an honest 
 livelihood. 3 Furthermore, that each year thereafter they 
 should assemble in general convocation to discuss such 
 measures as would best serve their employers' interests 
 and reflect honor upon themselves. He granted them the 
 power to correct any irregularities arising in the craft, 
 and call to account all who trespassed against the seieace 
 of masonry. 4 In this manner Euclid established geometry 
 in Egypt, and thenceforth in that land it was denominated 
 Masonry. 
 
 1 Then Euclid : 
 
 "Yn Egypt, he taught hyt ful wyde, 
 Yn dyvers londe on every syde." 
 
 Halliwell MSS., 17 Al,. folio 4L 
 
 1 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
 » Dowland MSS. ; Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 27. 4 Ibid. 
 
 14* L 
 
162 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 A long time afterwards the children of Israel, during a 
 sojourn in Egypt, acquired the science of Masonry, and 
 when they were driven out of the land of the Egyptians, 
 carried their Masonic knowledge into the land of Behest, 
 or Jerusalem. 1 King David began the temple, called Tern- 
 plum Domini, now designated as the temple of Jerusalem. 
 Tli is monarch constituted himself a patron of the Masons, 
 and by every means in his power endeavored to show how 
 highly he prized them. Although he adhered to the charges 
 of Euclid, the Masons received from him enlarged powers 
 for the internal government of the craft, and an increase 
 of wages. Upon the accession of Solomon to the Israelitish 
 throne, he pushed forward with vigor the projects of his 
 father, and hastened the completion of the temple. This 
 king collected from various countries of the world a larger 
 class of skilled workmen, who numbered fourscore thousand 
 hewers of stone. Among other changes made by Solomon, 
 he selected three thousand 2 of the most expert operatives, 
 and placed them as governors or superintendents of the 
 work. 3 All these were classed under the general term of 
 Masons. At this time Solomon received many nattering 
 indications of the friendly spirit of neighboring rulers, and 
 among others, Hiram, king of Tyre, 4 who offered him the 
 resources of the Tyrian kingdom. By this means the king 
 of Israel was enabled to procure such timber as was essential 
 in the construction of the temple. A son of Hiram, Aynon, 5 
 
 1 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198; Dowland MSS. ; Hughan, loc. cit. See Part II. 
 of this work, on Faculty of Abrac. 
 
 2 Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 27. The Lansdowne MSS., Plut. lxxv., 
 E, also fixes the number of master craftsmen at three thousand. This manu- 
 script is said to have been written in the year 1560. 
 
 3 See Regulateur du Macon, 1801 (Grade de Maitre), p. 17, where the exact 
 figures furnished by Anderson in his Ancient Constitutions, 1723, p. 10, also 
 appear, and lead to the presumption that the same source of information was 
 accessible to both compilations. 
 
 * Lansdowne MSS., ut supra, and Hughan, ubi supra. 
 
 6 Dowland MSS.; Hughan, Ibid.; Harleian MSS., No. 2054, folio 34. 
 The Sloane MSS., No. 3323, says Dynoi, both evidently corrupted from Hiram. 
 
ANTIQ UITIES OF FREEMA SONR Y. 3 6 3 
 
 by name, was appointed master mason of this great work, 
 and was especially distinguished for his geometric knowl- 
 edge. He was chief master of all the masons engaged in 
 the erection of the Jewish temple, and was a proficient 
 master of engraving and carving, and all manner of masonry 
 required for the sacred edifice. Solomon, according to old 
 books of the craft, confirmed the ancient charges, and 
 sanctioned the customs which had prevailed during his 
 father's reign, which the chronicles affirm to be but little 
 different from those then practised. 1 In this manner the 
 worthy science of masonry was introduced into the country 
 of Jerusalem, and thence propagated throughout many 
 kingdoms. 
 
 In those distant times, as well as in our age, it would seem 
 that intelligent workmen were inspired with a laudable 
 desire to render themselves more proficient, and to obtain 
 from more skilled operatives that art knowledge which 
 they possessed not. This inducement influenced the illus- 
 trious Kaymus Graecus, or Naymus the Grecian, to whom 
 reference at length has been made heretofore. Naymus, 
 incited by a zealous impulse to acquire a thorough and 
 complete mastery of Masonic science, had repaired to the 
 Jewish metropolis, and placed himself under the instruction 
 of Hiram, chief master at the building of Solomon's tem- 
 ple. Having amassed a sufficient fund of geometric informa- 
 tion, or Masonry, the adventurous Greek abandoned the 
 Orient, and, weighted with Masonic knowledge, arrived 
 in France. Here he was right royally received by his 
 majesty, Charles Martel. 2 This renowned and warlike 
 nobleman of high degree, being likewise influenced by a 
 sincere wish to learn the arts and points of Masonry, 
 selected Naymus Graecus for his master, who taught him 
 this science. The Carlovingian monarch voluntarily took 
 upon himself the charges and customs of the Masons ; and 
 
 1 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198. 
 
 2 Or, according to Cooke's MSS., Charles IL 
 
164 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 subsequently, as our chroniclers inform us, he ascended the 
 throne of France. 1 In this way Masonry was established 
 in that kingdom. 
 
 During the successive epochs to which we have alluded, 
 the English realm, as our traditions inform us, was desti- 
 tute of the science of Masonry. This state of lamentable 
 ignorance continued down to the age of Saint Alban. 2 
 In his day the kings of England were still accustomed to 
 practise the heathenish rites of their ancient religion, and, 
 although the ruling monarch appears to have detested the 
 principles of the Christian creed, nevertheless, urged by 
 the necessities of barbaric warfare, and desirous of having 
 a more complete system of fortifications, the king induced 
 Saint Alban to wall the town, which subsequently bore 
 the ecclesiastic's name, and strengthened its natural de- 
 fences. This worthy saint received the honors of knight- 
 hood, from whom is uncertain, and was the trusted 
 steward of the royal household. As a member of the 
 king's council, he governed the English kingdom with all 
 the powers of a prime minister, and also superintended 
 all building operations which were carried on to fortify 
 various cities in the land. Saint Alban cherished the 
 Masons with much zeal, and, in addition to other substan- 
 tial tokens of his love for the fraternity, he gave them a 
 practical evidence of such regard, by enhancing the price 
 
 1 There is a germinal truth in the quaint assertion of these Masonic chron- 
 icles, and for an examination of the probahle relation of Charles Martel to 
 Masons, see Part II., p. 282, etc. 
 
 2 Plot, Natural History of Staffordshire, § 85, says the history of the craft in 
 his day was contained " in a parchment volume, which is there deduced not 
 from sacred writ but profane story, and particularly, that it was brought into 
 England by St. Amphibal and communicated to St. Alban." In this point 
 the constitution quoted by Krause, Die Drei celtesten Urkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, 
 p. 84, agrees with the foregoing : " Amfiabalus hiess und deiser wurde Lehrer 
 (doctor) des heiligen Albanns." See Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 84, for 
 translation of the entire text. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 165 
 
 of labor and regulating their wages. 1 He enacted that the 
 following schedule of pay should thenceforth be observed 
 throughout the realm, viz. : 
 
 For a Mason, lis. vi. a week. 
 
 For other than a Mason, \\\d. a week. 
 
 Up to the time of Saint Alban, an English mason 
 received only a penny, with his meat, for each day's labor. 
 Through his influence the king and council were induced 
 to grant the Masons a charter for better government, 
 which furthermore empowered them to assemble in gen- 
 eral convention. To this convocation the name of assem- 
 bly was given. Saint Alban attended the assembly, and 
 personally assisted in making Masons. But the most 
 valued contribution of this distinguished prelate, con- 
 sisted in the presentation to the craft thus convened a 
 set of charges. 2 
 
 After the death of St. Alban, the kingdom of England 
 was rent with internal dissensions and foreign invasions 
 to such extent that the beneficent rule of Masonry was 
 suspended until King Athelstane became king. This 
 worthy ruler succeeded, after infinite labor, in pacifying 
 the turbulence of his subjects, and finally reduced the 
 country to a condition of peace and quietude. Athelstane 
 erected a number of important public edifices, and among 
 these were many abbeys and numerous towns. It is 
 particularly mentioned that the English king loved the 
 
 1 Nearly all the ancient manuscripts are agreed as to the benefactions of 
 this saint, and that he first brought Masonry into England during Athelstane' s 
 time. The Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, folio 5, is very brief upon this question : 
 
 " Yys crafte come yn to England as yu yode say 
 Yn tyme of good Kynge Aedelstand." 
 
 2 Cooke MSS., No. 23,198 ; Dowland MSS. and Hughan, Old Masonk 
 Charges, p. 28 ; Lansdowne MSS., No. 98, Plut. lxxv., E. The York MSS. 
 also awards praise to St. Alban in this behalf. Preston, Illustrations of 
 Masonry, p. 103, note (5), says, in this connection, that many of the records con- 
 taining the history of St. Alban and the craft were purposely destroyed in 
 the year 1720, by a misguided zeal. 
 
166 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Masons ; but, according to the assertion of our gossiping 
 records, not nearly so much as his son Edwin, " for he 
 loved the Masons more than his father did." Edwin 
 seems to have possessed a decided genius for geometry, 
 and yielded to the attractions of Masonic science, which 
 he practised with intense zeal. And in order to make 
 himself more proficient in the details of this art, he 
 gathered around him the craft, and communed with them. 
 Subsequently, as it would appear, from pure affection, he 
 was initiated into their secret mysteries, and became an 
 ardent Mason. 1 By virtue of his royal patronage, he 
 procured for the Masons a charter and commission to hold 
 once in each year a general assembly, in whatever locality 
 they might be directed to convene within the realm. 
 Among other concessions enumerated in this warrant, was 
 the power to correct defaults and trespasses which would 
 impair the success of Masonic science. Prince Edwin 
 called an assembly of the fraternity at York, and " there 
 made some Masons." He enacted a system of charges, 
 and established certain usages, which he strictly enjoined 
 upon the craft evermore to obey. The prince retained 
 the charter in his own custody, and ordained that the 
 same should be renewed under succeeding reigns. When 
 this famous assemblage of Masons, with Edwin as Presi- 
 dent or Grand Master, bad convened at York, he caused a 
 proclamation to be made, that every Mason, old or young, 
 having in his possession anything touching charges or 
 usages, as hitherto practised in that or other countries, 
 whether in writing or merely oral, should forthwith pro- 
 duce them. After the publication of this announcement, 
 numerous charges were brought forward and delivered to 
 the royal Master. Many of them were found to have 
 been written in French, some in English, others in Greek, 
 and, according to the Lansdowne manuscript, some were 
 
 1 See the manuscripts cited, supra ; and Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 28. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 167 
 
 in Hebrew and in other languages. 1 The spirit of these, 
 upon examination, was discovered to be identical. Edwin 
 caused them to be drawn up in book-form, and prefaced 
 them with a narrative of the origin of geometry or 
 Masonic science. He also commanded for the future, at 
 the making of a Mason, these charges should be read or 
 recited to the initiate. And thenceforth, as the sage 
 chronicler observes, Masonic usages have rigidly conformed 
 to this order, so far as men might control the same. Since 
 the time of Edwin, frequent assemblies have been held, 
 and certain charges added and enjoined, which, in the 
 opinion of able Masters and Fellows, were essential to the 
 interests of the fraternity. Here the legendary narrative 
 terminates ; then one of the wardens shall hold the Book, 
 so that he or they, who are to be accepted as Masons, 
 should place their hands in position upon it, and then the 
 charges must be read : 2 
 
 Every man who shall be made a Mason will take heed 
 of these charges, 3 and if any one find himself guilty of * 
 violating them, or any of them, he must make humble 
 amends to God. The most important of all is, for him 
 who has taken upon himself these charges, to have pre- 
 caution to keep the same, because it is a great peril if a 
 man forswear or perjure himself upon the book (Bible). 
 The first charge is that a Mason shall be true to God and 
 the Holy Church, and shall countenance neither error nor 
 
 1 Halliwell and the Cooke MSS. say nothing of Hebrew or Greek. 
 
 2 "Tunc unus ex senioribus teneat Librum ut ille vel illi poniat vel poniant 
 manus super Librum et tunc precepta deberent legi." This formal direction 
 is to be found in nearly all the old manuscripts. The foregoing is, however, 
 copied from one of the York craft records and the Harleian manuscript, No. 
 2054. 
 
 3 Although the following portions of the history of the fraternity cited in 
 the text belong more properly to its antiquities, and should perhaps be treated 
 of in Part II. of this work, nevertheless, for the purpose of presenting in a 
 connected form these charges preserved by tradition, I have decided to add 
 them here. 
 
168 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 heresy, deduced from his own understanding or from the 
 teachings of learned men. 1 He was also obliged by his 
 oath to be a true and liege man to the kings of England, 
 without treason or falsehood, and in case he became privy 
 to such treason or treachery, it was his duty to make suit- 
 able amend, if possible, or warn his sovereign or council 
 of such designs. Masons should be true and faithful to 
 one another : that is, every Mason regularly initiated into 
 the science of Masonry or so accepted, should do unto other 
 Masons as he would they should do unto him. Each crafts- 
 man was compelled to preserve with zealous care lodge 
 deliberations or secrets of the chamber, and all other coun- 
 cils which, so far as affected Masonry, ought to be con- 
 cealed. It was also charged upon the fraternity that no 
 member should be addicted to thieving, but must restrain 
 his brethren by every means within his power; that he 
 should be true to the lord or master whom he served, or 
 for whom he worked, and labor honestly for his employer's 
 profit and advantage. Masons shall call one another as 
 brothers or fellows, and avoid objectionable names ; nor 
 shall they take their brother's wife in villany. No Mason 
 should tolerate an unchaste desire for his fellow's daughter 
 or servant, nor put his master to shame. Wherever the 
 craft lodged, they should pay in all fairness for their meat 
 and drink, and were carefully enjoined against the com- 
 mission of any villanous acts in that place which might 
 bring discredit or slander upon the science of Masonry. 2 
 These were the charges which affected all Masons in general, 
 but were also to be observed by Masters and Fellows. 
 Other rules, particularly designed for the Masters and 
 Fellows, are substantially as follows : That no master should 
 assume any lord's work unless he knew himself qualified 
 
 1 " lie must love God and holy church always." Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, 
 folio 11 ; Lansdowne MSS., No. 98 Plut. L., xxv. E. 
 
 2 The several manuscripts already referred to have been used in preparing 
 the regulations given in the text. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 169 
 
 to complete the same, in order that the craft and science 
 might not be brought into disrepute, and in order that 
 the lord might be well and truly served. It was enjoined 
 that each master builder should avoid contracting for 
 specific labor, but was required to take it at reasonable 
 rates, so that his employer might be abundantly aided 
 with his own goods, that the Master could live honestly 
 and pay the Fellows justly the wages due them, according 
 to a proper schedule. Neither a Master Mason nor a Fellow 
 was permitted to supplant one another in individual work ; 
 that is to say, if any one had agreed to superintend a lord's 
 work, no one should undermine him, particularly if he 
 were able to finish the job as undertaken. All appren- 
 tices must be taken for a period of seven years, at least, 
 and such apprentice was required to be able, free-born, his 
 limbs and members sound, without blemish, as a man 
 should be. 1 No Mason could be made a Master or Fellow, 
 without the assent and counsel of his fellows, before six or 
 seven years had elapsed ; and whoever would be made a 
 Mason, in order to receive his degrees, must be a free-born 
 citizen of good repute, and having a reputation for fidelity, 
 and not a bondsman. No Mason should receive an appren- 
 tice unless he had occupation for two Fellows, or perhaps 
 three. When any work had hitherto been accustomed to 
 be done as task or contract labor, no master should be 
 allowed to take a lord's work by the day, or, as it was 
 designated, by the journey. Every Master Mason was 
 necessitated to provide suitable compensation for his fel- 
 lows, for such at least as were deserving of it, and especial 
 care was to be taken that false workmen did not deceive 
 
 1 It will suffice to quote here Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, as containing the 
 most ancient traditional foundations upon which speculative Freemasonry 
 rests. 
 
 " Yat he no bondsman prentys make." folio 7. 
 
 " So yat ye prentes be of lawful blod, 
 Make no prentys yat ys outrage, 
 Yat he have hys lymes hoi all fere." Art. 5. 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 the craft. No regulation was more rigorously insisted upon 
 than that which prohibited the craftsmen from slandering 
 or speaking evil of a brother behind his back, to cause him 
 to lose a good name and his worldly goods ; nor should a 
 Fellow, within or without the lodge, give an ungodly or 
 reproachful answer to one of the fraternity without just 
 cause. Every Mason must reverence his elder and put him 
 to worship. 1 Games of hazard or dice, or other unlawful 
 plays, were forbidden, lest the science of Masonry should 
 be unjustly slandered; and no Mason should be guilty of 
 lecherous conduct, nor a frequenter of bawdy houses, 
 whereby the craft might suffer for the delinquencies of a 
 few. And in order that every contingency of evil habits 
 and associations might be provided for, whenever a Fellow 
 went into town at night to attend a lodge of Masons, a 
 brother must accompany him, to attest as an eye-witness that 
 he was in an honest place. 2 All Masons, whether Masters 
 or Fellows, were obligated to be present at every assembly, 3 
 upon due notice, if convenient and within ten or fifty 
 miles of the place where the same was convened. Any 
 Master infringing upon Masonic rules must abide the 
 award of his brethren, upon his conscience ; but if he felt 
 aggrieved at the arbitration of the Masters and Fellows, he 
 was at liberty to prosecute his suit at common law. No 
 Master or Fellow should make a mould or square or rule 
 for a layer, nor was he permitted to set a layer within or 
 without the lodge to hew or mould stones. Strange 
 Fellows were to be received and cherished by each Mason 
 whenever they came over the country. They were to be 
 
 1 Dowland's MSS. ; Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 30 ; Harleian MSS., 
 No. 2054. The Harleian manuscript distinctly says the master shall be ad- 
 dressed as " worshipful." " Yat ordeynt he maystr ycalled so schulde he be so 
 y* he were, most y worshiped, yonne schilde he be so ycleped." 
 
 2 Harleian MSS., No. 2054, Art. 12 ; Dowland MSS. ; Hughan, vi supra. 
 
 3 " Every maystr yat fa a mason 
 
 Most ben at ye general congregation." 
 
 Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, Art. 2. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 171 
 
 given work if desired, or, as the usage was, in case the 
 Master of the lodge had no mould stone at hand where- 
 with to provide the strange brother work, he should con- 
 tribute to his refreshment with money to assist him to the 
 next lodge. A Master Mason, under covenant to finish 
 his work, whether it might be by journey or task work, 
 was bound to complete such undertaking according to 
 contract, in order that he might earn his pay and serve his 
 lord well. The charges recited were binding upon each 
 and every member of the Masonic fraternity, and were 
 sworn to be observed to the utmost, under the sanction of 
 God, the holy-dome, 1 and upon the Book. 
 
 1 Evidently derived from a very old form of administering an oath, upon 
 the shrine in which the sacred relics of some martyred saint were enclosed. 
 The chest or box in which these bones were contained was usually constructed 
 in imitation of a small house. Hence holy, with direct reference to the sanc- 
 tity of relics, and domus, Lat. for house, by gradual elision into holidomus, 
 later holy-dome. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 German Legendary History of the Freemasons — Traced Bac*k 
 to Diocletian's Time — Traditions of the Four Martyred Stone- 
 cutters — Refuse to Obey Royal Order to Engrave an Idola- 
 trous Image — Their Terrible Death — Authentic Historical 
 Relics of these Eminent Masonic Patron Saints — French 
 Freemasons Trace their History to Saint Blasius — This Saint 
 Suffered Martyrdom under Diocletian — Very Ancient Craft 
 Documents make no Reference to the Solomonian Theory of 
 Masonic Origin — Earliest Traditions Assume merely to Give 
 the Progress of Geometric Science. 
 
 NGrLISH Freemasonry possesses a more complete 
 legendary history of the craft than that of any 
 other nation. The German Masons traced their 
 origin to a much later period. In all authentic 
 enactments, or articles of constitution, which contain the 
 few meagre details of early Teutonic Masonry, no higher 
 date is assigned for its inception than about the time of 
 Diocletian. The ordinance of the year 1462, to which fre- 
 quent allusion has been made, as furnishing information 
 not procurable elsewhere, in the prefatory clauses, recites, 1 
 "that the Masters in Oberland and Regensburg, having 
 associated for the purpose of drawing up in book-form the 
 edicts and regulations appertaining to the craft, had now 
 prepared the same in strict accordance with ancient tradi- 
 tions accepted by the fraternity." They assert that the 
 several articles were transcribed from the text of old stand- 
 
 1 Vide Proem, sup. Ordnung der Steinmetzen v. Yahre 1462 : " Inn diesem 
 Lande nach gewonheit als disz Bueh clerlich ausweist, " u. 8. w. 
 
 172 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY 
 
 173 
 
 ard customs, such as had been established by those vener- 
 able artificers Claudius, Christorius, and Signifieamus, 
 crowned as sainted martyrs for the glory of Mary, the 
 celestial queen, and the praise of the holy Trinity. Some- 
 times four martyrs are specified as Christian stonecutters, 
 and denominated the Crowned, because, according to the 
 legend, they refused to obey an order of the Eoman 
 emperor Diocletian — others say Tiberius — to build a 
 heathen temple, and, in consequence of their disobedience, 
 were thrown into the river Tiber, whereupon four radi- 
 ant crowns appeared before the startled vision of their 
 persecutors, and hovered above the drowning saints. 
 These martyrs are frequently designated in the stone- 
 cutters' constitutions, 1 but in none, excepting that of 
 1462, is the number limited to three. There is a variety 
 of traditions relating to this portion of German Masonic 
 history. 2 In addition to the tradition referred to above, 
 the four martyrs, whose names are given as Severus, 
 Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus, were Christians 
 under Diocletian. He ordered them to sacrifice to heathen 
 gods, and, on their refusal, caused them to be executed. 3 
 After the lapse of time, as the legend runs, — about two 
 years subsequent to the martyrdom mentioned, — five 
 craftsmen, deeply skilled in statuary, viz., Claudius, Cas- 
 torius, Nicostratus, Simplicius, and Symphorianus, were 
 instructed to prepare for him an image of his tutelary 
 deity. They declined to obey the imperial mandate, and, 
 by order of the emperor, these staunch sculptors were 
 enclosed in separate lead coffins, and quietly sunk into the 
 
 1 Als sie weigerten einen heidnischen Tempel zu bauen in die Tiber gestiirzt 
 wurden, worauf ueber ihnen in Himmel vier Kronen erschienen. Stieglitz, 
 Ueber die Kirche der h. Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 29 ; Ibid., Geschichie der Bau- 
 kunst, p. 618. 
 
 2 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer vxihren Bedeutung, p. 257 (Anlage 1), el. seq., 
 gives the fullest details and information touching the interesting history of 
 these patron saints of German Masons. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukumt, p. 617. 
 
 15* 
 
 i 
 
174 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 sea. As a memorial of their illustrious death, the pope 
 ultimately raised them to the dignity of saints. In Rome, 
 on Coelius Hill, a small church is still preserved, dedicated 
 to the Quattro Santi Coronati. 1 In the year 847, when Pope 
 Leo IV. restored this chapel, the remains of the four 
 sainted martyrs, Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and 
 Victorinus, were buried there and received holy adoration, 
 and were called the four crowned. The same pope also 
 caused the bodies of the five other canonized saints to be 
 placed there — Claudius, Nicostratus, Sinforiamus, Casto- 
 rus, and Simplicius, who, as sculptors, suffered death 
 rather than chisel out the image of a heathen divinity. 
 Cardinal Mellino, vicar of Pope Urban VIII., beautified 
 the church, and Paschal II. caused it to be repaired. The 
 truth of the preceding narrative is attested by an old 
 work cited' by Stieglitz, 2 and it is a noticeable fact that 
 this compilation of Roman antiquities specifically refers 
 to the four crowned as soldiers, while the five martyrs are 
 designated as sculptors. This need occasion no confusion, 
 when it is considered that the ancient stonecutters prac- 
 tised the art of statuary. 
 
 A contributor to the Archceologia 3 relates that two work- 
 men of porphyry were put to death by Diocletian, on ac- 
 count of their refusing to assist in rebuilding a heathen 
 temple. In support of his assertion, he cites a Latin 
 author, who gives it as a historical fact. It is not im- 
 probable that the subsequent traditions touching the 
 ancient founders of German Masonry may have developed 
 from these martyred artificers. The crowned saints appear 
 
 ' Stieglitz, Die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 30. Ibid., Ges- 
 chichte der Baukunst, p. 618. 
 
 2 Baukunst, p. 618, Roma antica e moderna, etc., Roma, 1677, p. 398. See 
 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche zu Rochlitz, ut supra. Seroux d'Agincourt, Hist, de 
 VArt, PI. lxix, fig. 31, furnishes an illustration of a column standing in front 
 of the church de Qnattro Santi Coronati. 
 
 3 Vol. XXX., p. 118. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 175 
 
 to have obtained a high degree of popularity during the 
 Middle Ages, not only among operative Masons, but also 
 with religious bodies. As a suitable attestation of the 
 favorable opinion conceived of them by the Romish 
 church, reference may be made to the paintings of the 
 celebrated Giovanni di San Giovanni, representing the 
 terrible martyrdom of the sacred four, which was por- 
 trayed in an oratory adjoining the church of the Quattro 
 Santi. These pictures are in fresco, of rare merit, deline- 
 ated on the side of the altar-piece, and are representative 
 of scenes from the martyrs' death. The saints are inserted 
 between planks or stone slabs, ready to be cast into the 
 river. Other frescoes descriptive of these martyrs' lives 
 are visible in the same edifice — one of which shows a 
 death by lapidation, and a subsequent enclosure between 
 slabs. The last mentioned pictures, Stieglitz 1 believes to 
 be of a more recent date, and are of less merit than the 
 former. Another portraiture of the four crowned is to be 
 seen in the cathedral at Pavia, back of the memorial to 
 Saint Augustine. They are elaborately cut in bas-relievo, 
 and individually designated by name — Claudius, Nicos- 
 tratus, Symforiamus, 'and Simplicius. Each of them is 
 possessed of the attributes of a stonemason's art, viz., a 
 hammer (mallet), circle, chisel, and other working tools. 
 Simplicius holds in his hand a partially unrolled parch- 
 ment scroll, upon which the following words are hewn : 
 Martuor. Coronatorum. This method of delineating these 
 ancient patrons of German Masonry was not confined to 
 Italy, nor to ecclesiastical patronage. 
 
 A painting, by an unknown and very old German artist, 
 still extant in 1829, 2 in a collection of Dr. Campe at Nurem- 
 burg, contains the half-length figures of Claudius, Castorius, 
 and Simblicius, whose heads are surrounded by the glorious 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 619. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 30. 
 
176 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 halo of martyrdom ; and beneath them the word " Ge- 
 krontn,"or crowned. Whatever trifling deviation there is 
 of names here mentioned from those which head the articles 
 of 1462, has no doubt originated by careless copying. This 
 painting, a copy of which prefaces the edition of the Torgau 
 ordinances by Stieglitz, depicts Claudius as busily engaged 
 in drawing out designs on a trestle-board, with gauge and 
 square. Castorius stands behind him, apparently directing 
 the plans as master of the work, while Simblicius, with a 
 pick-hammer under his left arm, is awaiting to execute the 
 diagram. Although the names of these saints, in some 
 slight degree, are variously written, yet they appear to be 
 so substantially identical as to admit of no other rational 
 conjecture. When it is considered that the traditions 
 growing out of the historical martyrdom mentioned, had 
 been handed down through a long line of succeeding cen- 
 turies, it will sufficiently explain the variations occurring 
 in the nomenclature of the holy four or five crowned ; and 
 from the same cause would naturally arise changes in tra- 
 ditional versions of a legend originally uniform, whether 
 the canonized saints might have attained terrestial adora- 
 tion and a celestial crown, by reason of a refusal to assist 
 in constructing temples in which the devout pagan was to 
 celebrate the religious rites under whose observance his 
 country had subjugated and conquered all ; or because, as 
 Christian converts, they had declined the offer of imperial 
 patronage to prostitute the consecrated mallet and chisel 
 to carving out of pallid marble the material type of decay- 
 ing divinity. This view is, perhaps, more in harmony with 
 the dictates of sound judgment, since, as already urged, the 
 early and later mediaeval stonecutters prepared the imagery 
 which diversifies the grand cathedrals of Europe. Moreover, 
 the ordinance of the year 1462 expressly states that three of 
 the above saints were the originators of such ancient usages 
 and laws as had descended to that epoch. 1 From the 
 
 Proem, Ordnung der Sieinmetzen v. Yahre 1462. In the introductory 
 

 
 ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 177 
 
 accepted fact that the era of the martyrdom of these worthy- 
 artificers is assigned to so remote a time as the age of 
 Diocletian, it may be inferred that the Byzantine artists 
 transmitted this legend to Germany, and introduced it into 
 that country as a part of corporate traditions. As pre- 
 viously stated, a reference is made to the four martyrs 1 in 
 the legendary history of English Freemasonry, and occurs 
 in but one ancient manuscript extant in England, viz., the 
 Codex Hal li well, which is certainly the earliest record of 
 the kind in the kingdom. Erom this it would seem that 
 at some period, however remote, the Masonic traditions of 
 these countries were identical. 2 
 
 The Master Masons who assembled at Torgau, in the 
 year 1462, in order to prepare a solemn protest against the 
 violation of established landmarks, were guided in their 
 deliberations by older documents than those drawn up at 
 Strassburg in 1459, because the ordinance of 1462 directly 
 asserts that the good customs and ancient usages, such as 
 had obtained among the earlier Masons, had fallen into 
 disuse, and it was there asserted to be the determination to 
 restore such ancient customs for the general welfare of the 
 fraternity ; in order to accomplish this design, the several 
 articles compiled at that time are solemnly pronounced to 
 be copied from the text of an older supreme law. 3 It 
 clearly appears from the phraseology in which this regula- 
 tion is written, that many portions of the same had been 
 hitherto transmitted orally, from time immemorial to the 
 period of the convocation, and these parts especially furnish 
 
 clause of the Strassburg articles of 1459, the regulations are declared to be 
 prepared in eternal remembrance of the four martyrs : " Der Heiligen vier 
 gekronten zu ewiges Gedechtnisse angesehen." Vide Krause, Die Drei celtesten 
 Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 269. 
 
 1 Supra, p. 124; Halliwell MSS., 17 Al. 
 
 2 Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 85 ; Keller, Kurzgefasste Geschichte 
 der Freimaurerei, p. 7. 
 
 3 Auch alle diese artigkel sindt gemacht worden ausz dem Texte des alden 
 Haubtenrechtes. Proem, Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, Stieglitz's ed., p. 60. 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 ■ 
 
 a key for further investigation into internal usages as 
 observed by the mediaeval builders, not to be found in any 
 Masonic document of that age. A careful examination of 
 this ordinance, will verify the allegation that the Masters 
 convened in Torgau purposely drew up the articles con- 
 tained in it from such rules as had prevailed for lodge 
 government during many preceding centuries, and more- 
 over, transcribed with zealous accuracy those ancient pre- 
 scriptions which, according to old tradition, were instituted 
 by the holy martyrs, in order, apparently, to give their 
 enactment a greater degree of authority, and render it 
 more binding upon the craft. A close and dispassionate 
 comparison of the Strassburg ordinance of 1459 with the 
 one under consideration, will convince a candid inquirer 
 that ancient and traditional usages are the foundations 
 upon which both rest ; each of them claiming, in the pre- 
 fatory clauses, to have descended from the holy crowned 
 saints. 1 Notwithstanding the evident identity of legendary 
 origin, the regulations of Torgau evince a more rigid ad- 
 herence to old landmarks, and manifest an undoubted con- 
 servatism. In the former, the relative duties of Masters, 
 Pallirer (Wardens), and Fellows, are noted, and particular 
 reference is made to apprentices ; while the latter ordinance 
 betrays an intentional disregard of apprentices, as the fol- 
 lowing direct assertion from the preface sufficiently attests : 
 " We Masters, Pallirer, and Fellows, have copied out of the 
 book several portions which are necessary to all operative 
 masters in chief, and to the fellows ;" 2 consequently, by the 
 
 1 i7u'd,pp.59, 60 ; also, Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Strassburg, 1459, in Krause, 
 Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 269. 
 
 2 Auch haben wir vorgennante meister, pallirer und gesellen aus dem buche 
 gezogen und genoraen Etzliche Stucke, etc. The ordinance of 1462, from 
 which the foregoing quotation is taken, designates the wardens as Pallirer, 
 but the Strassburg regulations, published by Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunstur- 
 kunden, Theil II., Ab. 1, p. 263, et seq., call these officers, Parlirer. My edition, 
 published by Stieglitz, 1829, is a sworn transcript of the Torgau Constitution 
 verbatim et literatim, as copied directly from the manuscript, still extant in the 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 179 
 
 law of both convocations, whether express or implied, the 
 older regulations affecting apprentices were still considered 
 in force. It was also ordered that the craft should meet 
 each year at a designated time, and that the laws as enacted, 
 together with any amendments, should be either publicly 
 proclaimed or remain open to the inspection of all during 
 the session of this grand body. 
 
 In treating of Masonic legendary history, it is worthy 
 of consideration that the French Masons of the Middle 
 Ages, and earlier, claimed for their corporation a high 
 antiquity. They declared Saint Blase, or Blaise, to be 
 their patron saint, but for what reason does not satisfac- 
 torily appear. Singularly enough, in point of time, the 
 Teutonic and Gallic traditions perfectly coincide. Blaise, 
 according to the author of Eccentricities of Literature* 
 suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Diocletian, in the 
 year 289, for what cause, independent of his Christian 
 profession, is not stated. This martyred proselyte was 
 invoked by such persons as were afflicted with infirmities 
 of body or mind, and, if the legendary records may be 
 accredited, with extraordinary success. People kindled 
 fires upon high places in his honor, on the 2d of February, 
 a day fixed in old almanacs as very cold. The Masonic 
 fraternity of Paris, in the thirteenth century, donated all 
 fines arising from an infraction of their rules to the chapel 
 of Saint Blase. 2 So late as the year 1476, the corporation 
 of Masons instituted a confraternity with the carpenters 
 under the name of this saint, at a chapel in Rue Garland 
 in Paris. 3 Boileau's regulations of the year 1254 afford no 
 
 Lodge of Kochlitz. My reasons for preferring the word as given above, are 
 Bet forth in the Second Part of this work. 
 
 1 Edition 1822, p. 348. 
 
 2 Et se il le prenoit a mains de vj ans, il est a xx S de par d'amende, a paier 
 a la chapele Monseigneur Saint-Blesve. Boileau, Reglemens sur les Metiers, 
 cap. xlviii. 
 
 3 Depping, Reglements sur les Metiers de Paris, cap. 48, note (1). 
 
180 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 clue by which the stonecutters of that or earlier ages were 
 induced to select this martyr for their patron. It may be 
 conjectured, however, that this class of artisans, being 
 particularly exposed to corporeal injury, accepted the 
 patronage of Saint Blaise for his presumed efficacy in 
 the healing art. Another point of startling coincidence 
 in remoteness of tradition between the English and French 
 craftsmen of that period, is the occurrence of Charles 
 Martel's name in the record of 1254. The Parisian Masons 
 declared that all stonecutters were exempt from watch 
 duty, an exemption which, they asserted, was conceded to 
 them by Charles Martel, and that this privilege had de- 
 scended to them by immemorial prescription from the 
 time of that valiant soldier; — a concession acknowledged 
 dependent upon no grant or written document, but, as they 
 avowed, they had heard say " from father to son." 1 Conse- 
 quently, the belief prevailed so early as the middle of the 
 thirteenth century, that the fraternity of stonemasons 
 was as ancient, at least, as the Carlovingian dynasty. I 
 have already noted my reasons for the belief that this tra- 
 dition relating to this monarch was carried into England 
 by numerous bodies of French Masons who followed in the 
 pathway of William the Gorman, or subsequently arrived 
 there. 
 
 It is a notable fact that the oldest and most authentic 
 document, which is historical of the year 1254, as well as 
 the most ancient records of German Masonry, about the mid- 
 dle of the fifteenth century, and confessedly drawn up from 
 much older traditions, neither mention, nor in the remotest 
 manner indicate, that the fraternity of Masons was put 
 upon a substantial basis at the building of Solomon's Tem- 
 ple. Nor is the faintest allusion made to a period prior to 
 the age of Diocletian, in the third century. It is impossi- 
 ble to presuppose the existence of such legends among the 
 
 Si come li prudhommes Ten oi" dire de pere a fils. Boileau, loc, cit. 
 
ANTIQ UITIES OF FREE MA S ONR Y. 181: 
 
 French and Teutonic mediaeval Masons, without some por- 
 tions at least, and in some shape, however intangible, find- 
 ing their way into the written records of those craftsmen. 
 The operative Mason of the Middle Ages in France and 
 Germany knew nothing of a Jewish origin of his craft. 
 In case the traditions current in the thirteenth century, or 
 later, had pointed back to the time of Solomon, in prepar- 
 ing the regulations for corporate government, and in order 
 to obtain valuable exemptions, the prestige of the Israel- 
 ii sh king would have by far transcended that of the 
 holy martyrs, or Charles the Hammer-Bearer ! On the 
 contrary, the most striking elements, perhaps, of the inter- 
 nal polity and work of a lodge were directly derived from 
 nearer sources, although equally venerable, than those 
 whose streams ascended to the Jewish temple builders ; 
 nor were the initiatory rites and emblems the entire contri- 
 bution of Judaism. In this connection it stands forth as 
 highly significant, that Halliwell's Codex makes no men- 
 tion of Masons during the time of Solomon, nor does that 
 ancient document pretend to trace Masonic history prior 
 to the time of Athelstane and Prince Edwin. Evidently, 
 the compiler simply followed tradition touching the intro- 
 duction of Masonry into England at the period stated, aa 
 may be gleaned from the versifier himself : 
 
 14 This craft came into England, as it is heard said." 1 
 
 No effort is apparently made to impress the reader with 
 an idea that Masonic history is being unfolded back to the 
 time of Egyptian kings ; for the chronicler expressly 
 asserts his intention merely to narrate the origin and pro- 
 gress of geometric science, which he says was the inven- 
 tion of Euclid : 
 
 1 " Yys crafte come yn to England as y" yode say." Halliwell MSS., 17 
 Al, folio 5. 
 16 
 
182 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 " The clerk 1 Euclid in this wise it found, 
 This craft of Geometry in Egypt land ; " 
 
 and further : 
 
 " In Egypt land he taught it full wide, 
 In divers lands on every side." 2 
 
 The manuscripts subsequent, in point of time, to 
 Halliwell's, have added largely to the simple and naive 
 narrative of this ancient English chronicle. From such 
 written records as are still accessible, it would seem that 
 their several authors or compilers had no fixed purpose to 
 trace the history of the fraternity, as a corporate body in 
 England, beyond the time of the mythical York assembly 
 under Prince Edwin ; while the traditions existing among 
 the craft concerning the origin, preservation, and perpetua- 
 tion of an exact science are also detailed with zealous and 
 laudable minuteness. In other words, the legends of 
 Masonry previous to Athelstane are, collectively, a mere 
 compilation of the traditional history of geometry, which 
 was accepted without question by the mediaeval operatives, 
 and which, no doubt, in its essential properties, was brought 
 into Europe at an early age, either by the Byzantine corpo- 
 rations or introduced among the ancient Britons through 
 their Roman conquerors, who, it appears, numbered colleges 
 of builders among the legions. Dallaway says 3 the first 
 notice which occurs in England of a body of Roman arti- 
 ficers is a votive tablet, upon which a college of operatives 
 allude to the dedication of a temple to Neptune and 
 Minerva, and also to the safety of Claudius Caesar's family. 
 The learned antiquary, Roger Gale, decided this stone to 
 
 1 From cleric or priest originally, but signifies here learned or wise, because 
 during the Middle Ages nearly all learning was possessed by ecclesiastics. It 
 is used in this sense in one of the songs in Das fcleine Helden Buck. 
 
 a Ye clerke Euclyde on yys wyse hyt founde 
 Yys crafte of geometry yn Egypte land . . . 
 In Egypte he taughte hyt ful wyde, 
 
 In divers land on every syde. Halliwell, Ibid., folio 5. 
 
 * Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 401. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 183 
 
 be the earliest memorial of the Romans hitherto discovered 
 in Great Britain. From this it may therefore be gleaned 
 that in the time of Emperor Claudius Caesar an associated 
 body of architects was established in England, and appa- 
 rently much of the knowledge which subsequently ob- 
 tained in that kingdom, touching the early history of 
 architectural art, was taught by these Roman corporations. 
 There are, however, excellent reasons upon which to 
 ground the belief that the great mass of information con- 
 cerning the spread of geometric science was derived from 
 Greek artists, and when the gradual merging of the Byzan- 
 tine associations with Germanic guilds had been effected, 
 the historic and traditional details of art were preserved 
 as a part of the oral, or perhaps written, narrative ex- 
 planatory of geometric history, rehearsed to the neophyte 
 with the initiatory lessons incident to the degree. There 
 is nothing in the external or internal constitutions of the 
 fraternity that can lead to an assumption that the Roman 
 collegia were the source whence Masonry, either directly 
 or indirectly, obtained its lodge appointments or ritualistic 
 ceremonies. ~No vestige admitting of such interpretation 
 appears in either the written or unwritten records of the 
 craft. In all the legends of Freemasonry, the line of 
 ascent leads with unerring accuracy through Grecian cor- 
 porations back to the Orient ; and in all lodge constituent 
 elements and appointments, the track is broad and direct 
 to a Gothic origin. So far as the traditional history of the 
 German and French patron saints determines the institu- 
 tion of the society, it is referred to Diocletian's time, with 
 a strong probability that this legend was also the contribu- 
 tion of Eastern artists. Reference has been made to the 
 route by which much of the internal or esoteric teachings 
 of Freemasonry was transmitted to the mediaeval Masonic 
 guilds ; for a detailed statement of the argument adduced, 
 both to support this proposition and to substantiate the 
 Teutonic or Norse nature of lodge work and government, 
 the reader is directed to the Second Part of this treatise. 
 
184 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 We here terminate the first portion of this History. If 
 we cast our eyes backward over the several pathways 
 travelled, we find, amid the varied circumstances of local 
 and national life, much that points to an association held 
 in check and regulated by secret rules, which vitalized the 
 most distant and distinct branches. These points, which 
 scattered bodies of mediaeval Masons present in common, 
 are not the result of accident or the work of chance. 
 Everywhere we have seen, or shall hereafter see, a strange 
 uniformity, spreading regularly and with an unalterable 
 consistency, through the ancient Masonic corporations of 
 Europe. This unity could not have preserved an uninter- 
 rupted existence, had it depended upon the transient 
 requirements of any age or nation. Other guilds and 
 associations, established for purposes of temporary and 
 local interest, have long since passed away. Unnumbered 
 corporations, nurtured into vitality by the troubled times 
 of the Middle Ages, whose duration was the result of fleet- 
 ing necessity, have vanished, while the mediaeval guilds of 
 Masons still survive in speculative Freemasonry. With a 
 consistent harmony, the formularies of internal govern- 
 ment, and a rigid adherence to prescriptive usage, such as 
 guided ancient lodges in hewing out of polished stone the 
 elegant designs of the master builder, are preserved with 
 jealous vigilance by their successors. Speculative Masonry 
 has perpetuated intact for centuries that which has come 
 down from the very twilight of time. In passing through 
 the various nationalities which have successively fallen to 
 decay, this brotherhood has survived, and, through the long 
 line of ages, continued to guard the relics of a remote 
 antiquity. 
 
 It is the design of the subsequent pages to note with 
 care such portions of Freemasonry as have descended un- 
 impaired and unchanged from Gothic sources, and at what 
 probable epoch Judaistic rites began to be introduced into 
 lodge or guildic observances. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Name of Freemason, whence Derived — Not from Unusual Immuni- 
 ties — Mediaeval Lathomii — Early use of word Mason — Freema- 
 son Traced to Gallic Sources — Signifies Brother Craftsmen. 
 
 DIVERSITY of opinion exists touching the 
 origin of the name Freemason. The majority 
 of writers incline to the belief that this title 
 of Freemason was bestowed upon the craft on 
 account of unlimited exemptions, 1 which, it is 
 alleged, were conceded the fraternity at the 
 hands of royalty, or powerful protectors. It can, 
 we think, be easily demonstrated that this view is 
 not well grounded, and, moreover, that the craft of Masons 
 in their corporate franchises were not the recipients of any 
 supposed universal political freedom 2 which would entitle 
 them to be designated as free, par excellence, as contrasted 
 with the immunities of other guilds or societies of work- 
 men. Nor does it appear that this corporation of opera- 
 tives was possessed of unusual privileges in the internal 
 management of their widespread lodges, because this free- 
 dom was not only shared, but frequently exceeded, by con- 
 temporaneous fraternities. 
 
 The earliest approach to the use of the word Freemason 
 
 1 Hutchinson, Spirit of Masonry, p. 138, says they assumed this appellation 
 in order to distinguish them from ordinary masons, a privilege incident to a 
 grant to this corporation by the city of London, carrying with it extraordinary 
 freedom. 
 
 2 Dallaway, Historical Account of Master and Freemason, p. 425. 
 
 187 
 
188 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 is in the statute of 24 Edward II., of the year 1350, which, 
 similar to all English laws of that epoch, are published in 
 the French language, and is styled Le Statut d' Artificers 
 et Servants. In the third chapter of this enactment, 
 regulating the price of wages, the following reference is 
 made : 
 
 Item. — Carpenters, 1 masons, and tilers, and some others, 
 shall receive no other pay than that fixed by the law of 
 
 1346, viz. : 
 
 A master carpenter 3 den. 
 
 Another (joiner) 2 " 
 
 Master of freestone 4 " 
 
 Other masons ,....3 u 
 
 Their servants 1 " 
 
 A tiler 2 3 " 
 
 Their knaves 
 
 The original text contains the words " mestre de franche 
 
 1 During the Middle Ages a close union existed between the carpenters and 
 masons. Marchese, Vie dei Architetti, Tomo L, p. 144. In a return made by 
 the carpenters' guild of Norwich, established in 1376, mention is made of 
 Robert of Elyngham and other Masons, who, in conjunction with this guild, 
 agreed to share the expense of burning tapers before an altar in the church. 
 And "besyden all these ordinaunces, Robert of Elyngham, Masoun,and others 
 serteyn Masouns of Norwich, fynden in Criste's Churche at Norwiche twye 
 torches brennyngge atte heye auter as it is by for seyd." Smith, English 
 Guilds, p. 39 ; Anderson's Constitutions, p. 26. 
 
 2 The modern signification of this word is a guard or sentinel, and applies 
 to an officer who stands with a sword before the door of a Masonic lodge. 
 To give an exact derivation of Tiler or Tyler is encompassed with much diffi- 
 culty and uncertainty. Krause, Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Ab. 1, p. 147, translates 
 it as u Ziegeldecker," or a tile coverer, and in this sense it seems to be used 
 above. Perhaps the most satisfactory explanation can be found in the cor- 
 ruption of " Tailleur de pierre," which, by an English tongue, would be 
 pronounced " Tyler de peer," as attested by the phrase " franche peer. " 
 Whoever was designated to guard the Anglo-French lodges in England, could 
 not be otherwise than a "Tailleur de pierre," and which, to strange ears, 
 would be sounded Tyler or Tiler. See Boileau, Reglemens sur les Metiers de 
 Paris, cap. 48, where the expression alluded to frequently occurs. Tile cover- 
 ers had their own guilds during the Middle Ages. Toulman Smith, English 
 Guilds, p. 399. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 189 
 
 peer," 44 et outre Mason," " et leurs servants." The literal 
 signification of mestre de tranche peer, is master of free- 
 stone, that is, one who works in such stone, or is evidently 
 used here to distinguish a mason adept in preparing free- 
 stone from an ordinary rough-stone mason. 
 
 Caementarius appears to have been the earliest form 
 synonymous with mason, and is used as early as the 
 seventh century at least. 1 It was used in the years 1077 2 
 and 1078 3 to designate builders of the class under consid- 
 eration. At a later period, 1212, caementarii and sculptores 
 lapidum liberorum, — cutters of freestones, — are written as 
 identical in sense. In the year 1217, caementarius signifies 
 an equivalent for massun.* Numerous indentures of the 
 Middle Ages between builders and employers, make use 
 of the words caementarius and lathomii to specify masons. 
 
 About the close of the fourteenth century, 1396, the fol- 
 lowing phraseology occurs : Lathomos vocatos fremaceons, 5 
 which, fairly interpreted, means freemasons. Lathomos, 
 in this connection, corresponds to a hewer of stone, and is 
 identical in signification with Gertnan Steinmetz and the 
 French Tailleur de pierre, or stonecutters. 
 
 The earliest authentic and direct application of the word 
 " mason," 6 to particularize a body of artificers, of which I 
 am aware, is to be» found in almost obliterated characters 
 
 1 Caenientarios, qui lapidem sibi ecclesiam juxta Komanorum, . . . postula- 
 vit, etc. Bedae, Ecclesiastica Historia Gentis Anglorum, Lib. V., cap. 22. For 
 further authority, see Poole, Eccles. Archit. of England, p. 99. The earliest 
 mention of the word ashlar, which I have seen, is as follows, from an inden- 
 ture dated 1389, and quoted by Poole, Ibid., p. 384: Erunt de puro achiler 
 et plana inciso, tarn exterius quam interius. 
 
 2 Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 57, Anm. (1). 
 
 3 " The church of St. Lucien at Beauvais, rebuilt in 1078, by two workmen, 
 who, in an ancient obituary, are described as 'caementarii,' or masons." 
 Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 107. 
 
 4 Findel, ut supra. 5 Ibid., loc. tit. 
 
 6 Krause, Die Drei altesten Kunslurkunden, Bd. II., Abt. 2, p. 398, et seq., 
 has amassed an undigested amount of information touching this word. See 
 Du Cange, Glos. Med. et Inf. Lat., sub vocibus, Macio Machio, Macon (Gallic). 
 
190 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 on the walls of Melrose abbey, and cannot be later than 
 the twelfth century ; and the next and undoubted use of it 
 occurs in Boileau's Reglemens sur les Metiers, prepared in the 
 year 1254, where these artisans are denominated " macons," 
 and meant to signify precisely the same operative as " Tail- 
 leur de pierre." The deduction from the foregoing then, 
 perhaps, would be that towards the termination of the 
 fourteenth century, this class of builders, in England, was 
 called Freemasons. 
 
 The ordinance of 1254, which, as before stated, makes no 
 especial reference to any but a mason and cutters of stone, 
 so that, in the middle of the thirteenth century, the French 
 craftsmen, as then organized, were simply " macons," 
 "tailleurs de pierre," who correspond to the mediaeval 
 English lathomii, masons, and the German steinmetzen, 
 all of which possess one signification, — hewers of stone, 
 of a higher skill than an uninitiated operative. The 
 Norman-French word frernaceons, warrants the assumption 
 that English stonecutters were the first to be denominated 
 Freemasons ; and, according to Boileau's Ordinances, as 
 hitherto cited, it would seem that, in his day, the craft 
 was not known by any other name than tailleurs de 
 pierre, macons, precisely as the German masons continued 
 their avocation as steinmetzen, until the society in Ger- 
 many finally ceased as an operative body. 
 
 The name Freemason, thus bestowed upon early British 
 stonecutters, was evidently given on account of the uni- 
 versal custom of the fraternity, without exception in 
 England, and to some extent elsewhere on the Continent 
 and in France, at this epoch, to call each other brother, 
 or, in Old French, frere magon, from which this nomen- 
 clature is derived. 
 
 The Norman conquest introduced the French language 
 into England, to the temporary seclusion of the native 
 idiom, so that, when the English Masons were incorpo- 
 rated, the Normans had indelibly impressed their dialect 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 191 
 
 upon the kingdom, and used it to write the laws and 
 royal charters. 1 From this circumstance, apparently, the 
 name of Frlre Magon, elided by corrupt pronunciation, has 
 been merged and made to reappear in the modern word 
 Freemason. 2 
 
 That it was a custom among English Masons, at an 
 early date, to address each other as " brother," admits of 
 no doubt. Such usage is carefully enjoined by the manu- 
 script charges in the following quaint and naive form : 
 " That ye one another call brother or fellow, and by no 
 other foul name." 3 Whether this custom prevailed out- 
 side of lodge precincts is uncertain ; but it seems to have 
 obtained among the mediaeval Freemasons, in their mutual 
 Masonic intercourse, wheresoever dispersed. It was unques- 
 tionably adhered to, rigidly, by the operatives, when craft- 
 work, within the lodge, was being performed, because the 
 moment a visiting brother entered the portal of the sacred 
 conclave, he saluted the members and assembled brethren 
 with endearing words of fellowship and fraternal regard. 4 
 
 1 Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Vol. III., p. 318, gives 
 a succinct and comprehensive narrative of the universal application of 
 Norman-French in the preparation of legal and other documents. In the 
 reign of Edward III., an act of Parliament was passed requiring the records 
 to be made up in Latin, but extending the use of the English tongue to court 
 practice. See infra, chap, xxxvii. 
 
 2 It might, indeed, be made the subject of curious speculation as to how far 
 Freemasonry, in connection with the word frere, depended upon the old Saxon 
 " Frith-borh," peace or frank pledge, for its name. Frith-borh was the en- 
 rolment of all inhabitants of a commercial guild for maintenance of peace. 
 See Introduction to Smith's English Guilds, p. xxi. Frith-macon, or massun, 
 might, with much propriety, be developed into Free-mason. 
 
 3 Also, you shall call all Masons yo r fiellows or yo r brethren and noe other 
 names. Lansdowne MSS., Plut. lxxv, E.; also, Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, 
 p. 34. 
 
 * Gott griisse euch, Gott weyse euch, Gott lone euch, euch uebermeister. Pal- 
 lirer und euch hubschen gesellen. Torgau, Ordnung der Steinmetzen v. Yahre 
 1462, $ 107 ; Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der h. Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 73 ; 
 Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, p. 71. 
 
192 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 This practice has descended to the present time, among 
 other ancient observances transmitted to speculative Ma- 
 sonry. The constant use, by the Masons of the Middle Ages, 
 in England, and perhaps elsewhere, so late as the closing 
 years of the fourteenth century, of the word brother, or 
 frere in French, in addressing their fellows, ultimately 
 caused them to be designated as "brother or freres Masons," 
 in order to distinguish them from ordinary laborers, who 
 were apparently less privileged, and not bound together 
 by such strong fraternal ties. When it is considered that, 
 from the eleventh until the end of the fourteenth century, 
 the majority of masons or architects in England were 
 French, who constantly spoke their own language, — which, 
 as previously stated, was the legal idiom of the realm, — and 
 were closely united in a secret organization, whose leading 
 characteristic was its intimate brotherhood, with a stand- 
 ing ordinance to hail each other as "brother " or "fellow," 
 it will, we think, furnish the most reasonable explanation 
 of the origin of Freemason. To assume that this name 
 originated from the unquestioned fact that, to a great 
 degree, the mediaeval Masons worked in freestone, presents 
 a chasm which no elision can fill. For instance, in the 
 statute 1 quoted, a master is described as mestre de franche 
 peer. This is the only direct connection in which these 
 words are used, and signify, not a freestone mason, as 
 sometimes asserted, 2 but a master of freestone ; and no 
 ingenuity can torture this expression into such shape as to 
 mean Freemason. 
 
 In the word fremaceons, used in the year 1396, there 
 is a sufficient indication that the two French words, frbre 
 and magon, have been merged, and thus elided are, fairly 
 interpreted, not a freestone mason, but an artificer, regu- 
 larly initiated into a fraternity recognized by law — in a 
 word, a brother Mason. 3 
 
 1 24 Edward III., A. d. 1350, entitled Le Statut d? Artificers et Servants. 
 3 Among others Steinbrenner, Origin of Masonry, p. 111. 
 5 Vide infra, chap, xxxvii. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Initiatory Oaths and Lodge Meetings — Obligation of Secrecy — 
 Ceremonies in Formal Opening — Dedication of Lodges — Patron 
 Saints — Places of Convening the Craft — Crypts — Hills and 
 Valleys — Skilled Workmen at Master's Command — Called a 
 "Nomadic Race" — Monastic Masons — Oblati — Masonic Dress 
 in Middle Ages. 
 
 N oath of secrecy was administered to all initi- 
 ates, 1 and their secret conclaves were held at cer- 
 tain times and places. After the candidate had 
 been properly instructed in the elements of the 
 craft, the old manuscripts inform us, then one of the 
 Seniors or Wardens held the book, or holy-dome, and the 
 initiate, placing his hand upon 2 it, took upon himself a 
 
 1 Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 211 ; Dallaway, Historical Account 
 of Master and Freemason, p. 407. " And only initiated into them those in- 
 tended to be aggregated into their body, and under oaths of the most profound 
 secrecy." Hope, Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 243. 
 
 2 Lansdowne MSS., ubi supra ; Hughan, Old Masonic Oliarges, p. 34. 
 
 A good trewe oye (oath) he most yen sware 
 To hys Mayster and hys felows yt been yere 
 
 To keep these poyntes, etc. Halliwell, 17 Al, Const., Art. 14. 
 
 Other guilds were oath-bound besides the Masons, but the penalties for a 
 disclosure of corporation secrets were limited to pecuniary fines or wax 
 amercements. Smith, English Guilds, pp. 92, 93, 65-76, etc. In the conclud- 
 ing part of an oath administered to an initiate into St. Katherine guild, in 
 the fifteenth century, the obligated brother is directed " then kys the Boke." 
 Ibid., p. 189. A close identity existed between the mediaeval Freemasons and 
 the secular guilds prior to 1389. For instance, it is ordered that no one shall 
 " bewreie ye conseil of yys gilde to any straunge man." Ibid., p. 95. This will 
 17 N 193 
 
194 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 solemn obligation to conceal all that he had previously 
 been instructed in, and that he would endeavor to preserve 
 the charges of a Mason which were recited to him. 
 
 How exclusively the details of art were in keeping of 
 these Freemasons, and how carefully these vows were kept, 
 may be learned from the grossly inaccurate copies of archi- 
 tecture which have been preserved in the illuminated manu- 
 scripts of the Middle Ages, particularly during the eleventh 
 and twelfth centuries. 1 Lodges — in the German language 
 Bau-hiitte — originally signified a place of meeting, and per- 
 haps lodging, 2 for Masters and Fellows ; but this significa- 
 tion soon enlarged, and under the name of lodge came to 
 be understood an association of artists and workmen who 
 were united for the purpose of erecting churches, cathe- 
 drals, and other edifices. 3 
 
 These lodges, originally, were convened at sunrise, and 
 the Master having invested himself with the insignia of 
 office, took his station in the east, 4 while the brethren 
 grouped before him in the form of a semi-circle 5 or oblong 
 square. Prayer was an essential point in the opening of a 
 
 serve as a specimen how rigidly other associated bodies insisted on an un- 
 qualified secrecy of chapter mysteries. In Halliwell's Constitutions, Art. 3, it 
 is enjoined : 
 
 Ye prentis to keep his master's counseil close, 
 And not even tell hyt in ye Logge. 
 
 The Lansdowne and York MSS. order, in precisely similar terms as contained 
 in the returns of 1389: "That ye shall well and truly keep the council of 
 the lodge." Vide Hughan, Masonic Charges, pp. 34-39. Der Aufgenommene 
 muszte eidlich geloben die Pflichten eines Gildebruders und die Ordnungen 
 der Gesellschaft wie sie in den Statuten verzeichnet waren treulich zu erfullen. 
 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen irn Mittelalter, p. 118. This obligation was to be 
 sworn under the light of a taper, super candelam, Stat. Conv. St. Eric, § 44, 
 cited by Wilda, ut supra. Vide infra, p. 317. 
 
 1 Whoever has had occasion to examine the drawings of that period, still 
 preserved on parchment in the libraries of Europe, will readily recognize the 
 justice of this statement. 
 
 2 Vide supra, p. 91. 3 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 161. 
 * Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 58. 5 Jeder, Die Allotrien, p. 139. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 195 
 
 lodge, and harmony, while assembled, was especially in- 
 sisted on among the members. 1 This custom of invocation 
 was by no means confined to the Masonic fraternity, 
 although Freemasonry, being under the general super- 
 vision of the church at its inception, imbibed a strong 
 religious spirit. 
 
 In obedience to the prevailing usage of the Middle Ages 
 to place all organizations under the patronage of saints, 
 Masonry also dedicated its lodges to a variety of martyrs. 
 German Masons dedicated their fraternity to the holy 
 crowned saints, as before adverted to, 2 and the Masonic 
 brotherhood in Paris declared themselves under the patron- 
 age of Saint Blase. 3 
 
 At a very early age, Saint John was invoked as the 
 patron of British Masons. 4 In Italy, the fraternity of 
 painters held the patronage and protection of the invisible 
 Saint Luke in the highest esteem. 5 This corporation of 
 artists incorporated in their laws that no work should be 
 commenced without first appealing to God for his aid, 6 — a 
 
 1 Fallou, Ibid., p. 58. 
 
 2 Vide supra, p. 173 ; also, Proem, Ordinances of 1462, 1459. 
 
 3 Monseigneur Saint Blesve or Blase. Boileau, Reglemens sur Metiers de Paris, 
 cap. 48 ; Depping, note (1), op. cit., says the patronage of this saint was still 
 recognized by the Masons in 1476. No custom appears to have been better 
 established than that of placing guilds under the protection of patron saints. 
 Toulman Smith, English Guilds, p. 168, note (*), says in this connection : 
 " Among the records of at least six hundred early English guilds that have 
 come under my careful review, I have very rarely found this absence save 
 in some of the guild merchants." 
 
 * On the ruined walls of Melrose abbey is the following prayer, carved by 
 the master of the masons who constructed the edifice : 
 
 " I : pray : to : God : and : Mary : baith 
 And : sweet : St. : John : keep : this : holy : kirk : fra : skaith : " 
 
 5 Derunsichtbare Beschutzer der Malerei ist der heilige Lukas. Von Raumer, 
 Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. VII., p. 503. 
 
 6 Aller Anfang ist zu machen mitt Gott und gottlichen Dingen da ohne 
 Macht, Wissen und Liebe, nichts vollbracbt werden kann. Von Raumer, 
 loc. cit. Many guilds had chaplains, who conducted religious services an4 
 
196 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 practice which, as we have previously noted, was in vogue 
 among the operative Masons of past ages, and is still 
 adhered to in modern Freemasonry. So firmly did the 
 foregoing association of artists adhere to this regulation, 
 that the distinguished painter architect, Fra Angelica, 
 never began any great or important work of art without 
 first invoking the assistance and inspiration of Deity. 1 
 
 After prayer at the opening of a mediaeval lodge was 
 finished, each workman had his daily labor assigned him, 
 and received the necessary instruction to complete the work 
 in detail. The craft again assembled at close of day, or at 
 sunset, and the same formal arrangement of the operatives, 
 with prayer, was repeated. The craft then received their 
 wages. 2 Places where lodges were opened seem to have 
 varied with circumstances, and apparently there were two 
 classes of lodges, one of which was the ordinary Bau-hutte 
 of the German stonecutter, where the usual lodge work and 
 daily labor were performed under the scrutinizing eye of 
 the Master or his Pallirer ; 3 and the other where initiatory 
 rites were practised upon candidates. 
 
 The meetings of the first mentioned lodges were gen- 
 erally held at any convenient place where the building hut 
 of the craftsmen was erected, and to this enclosure the 
 brethren were called both for labor and refreshment. 
 Without going into details touching the exterior and 
 internal appointments of a mediaeval lodge, it will suffice 
 in this connection to say that the Bau-hutte were regularly 
 furnished with all the appliances of a mechanical trade, 
 such, for instance, as benches, working-tools, etc., and the 
 
 prayer. In the return made by a guild in 1389, the following appears: 
 divinique cultus augmentum ac dicte ecclesie cathedralis et sustentationis 
 duorum capellanorum, etc. Smith, ut supra, 29; also, Ibid., p. 139. 
 
 1 Non arebbe messo mano ai pennelli se prima non avesse fatto orazione. 
 Marchese, Vie dei Architetli et Pittori, Tomo I., p. 306. 
 
 2 Jeder, Die Allotrien, p. 139. 
 
 3 Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, p. 65 ; Fallou, Mys- 
 terien der Freimaurer, passim. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 197 
 
 windows of the lodge were provided with shutters, which 
 it was the operatives' duty to see properly closed and 
 securely fastened. 1 Here it was that labor was performed 
 and technical work done during the day, and even the 
 builders' huts do not seem to have been always so com- 
 pletely guarded as to prevent surprise. 2 
 
 The question now arises, where were the rites and cere- 
 monies of initiation celebrated ?. To this the answer can 
 be made with tolerable historical certainty. An investi- 
 ture with Masonic secrets was, perhaps, originally conferred 
 in one of the abbey rooms, near which the cathedral or 
 other sacred edifice was being erected, until the super- 
 structure had so far advanced as to cover the church crypt, 
 and afforded a safe asylum for the craft to congregate in, for 
 the purpose of working the rites appurtenant to the several 
 Masonic degrees. 
 
 It has long been traditional among the ecclesiastics of 
 York minster, that the Freemasons during the Middle 
 Ages convened the craft for secret meetings in the crypt 
 of that grand old edifice. To this day the astute vergers 
 reiterate the legend of centuries, and designate Masons' 
 marks on tiles leading to subterranean chambers. Recent 
 and indefatigable research has brought to light an ancient 
 lodge minute book, 3 dating far back in the past century. 
 A record is made up in this manuscript, noting the last 
 
 1 Were die fenster bey seiner Bank nicht zuthut, der soil geben iii., Kr. 
 allemal zu pusse. Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Y. 1462, § 69 ; Stieglitz, Ueber 
 die Kirche zu Rochlilz, p. 69. 
 
 2 A painting in the Louvre, representing St. Barbara as patron saint of a 
 cathedral in process of construction, painted by Jean Van Eyck about the 
 year 1437, contains a builder's lodge roofed over, with unenclosed sides ; within, 
 the masons are actively engaged with hammer, compass and square, preparing 
 material to be worked up in the edifice to which the lodge is attached. Around 
 the building the craft are systematically at work. Gorling, Gesehichte der 
 Mahkrei, Bd. I., p. 248, etc., gives a wood-cut illustration of the above. 
 
 3 For a view of this unique record, I am indebted to William Cowling, Esq., 
 through whose labors the same was unearthed. 
 
 17* 
 
198 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 convocation called by a York lodge, and described as a 
 sacred recess opened in the cathedral crypt. Among other 
 treasures still preserved with jealous vigilance by the 
 lodge in York, is a venerable painting of this spacious hall, 
 formerly used by the fraternity, which is represented as 
 decorated with Masonic symbols. These sombre vaults, 
 too gloomy for ordinary mechanical lodge work, were 
 peculiarly adapted for the display of lights, and to render 
 initiatory rites solemn and impressive. It was indeed a 
 sacred place, with the vast enclosure of confined space, and 
 massive supporting columns encompassing the mystic gloom 
 of side aisles and heavy arches above I 1 
 
 An eminence, or high hill, of itself afforded no sufficient 
 security for secret ceremonies against the approach of the 
 uninitiated, nor were the lowest valleys, for the same 
 reason, satisfactory places to confer degrees. The notion 
 that ancient Freemasons usually held their lodges on the 
 highest hills and in deep valleys, is no doubt traditionally 
 correct, because, among the Northern nations, hills and 
 valleys were invested with especial religious veneration, 
 and for this reason churches were erected on lofty emi- 
 nences by early Christian evangelists as a substitute for 
 those dedicated there to the worship of heathen divinities. 
 Wherever churches were being constructed, lodges natu- 
 rally met and performed their regular work, and from this 
 fact the tradition touching such gatherings on elevated 
 places has descended to modern Masonry. To this pro- 
 pensity of the Gothic nations to erect temples upon high 
 places, a further reference will be made. 
 
 These Masonic societies which held their existence — and 
 in no other way could they have preserved it — by the 
 process of erecting vast edifices, lasting through centuries, 
 
 1 Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 205, says these crypts were frequently used 
 " for clandestine drinking and things of that kind." For which candid ad- 
 mission, the clerical antiquary has been most unmercifully berated by Poole, 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 150. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 199 
 
 constituted, like the mediaeval universities of learning, 
 small states within regularly organized governments. 
 Their meetings, as before remarked, were secret, and were 
 held in lodges where the busy craftsman plied his technical 
 avocation, and practised the mystic ceremonies of a sym- 
 bolical ritualism. 
 
 When any large building was in contemplation, the 
 masons removed in large numbers to the spot, 1 and hence 
 they have been described as a " nomadic race." 2 Every 
 master had at his command the services of workmen well 
 acquainted with and accustomed to the working of his 
 plans. 
 
 These operatives, denominated confreres (freres-macons), 
 or associated brother masons, no doubt accompanied their 
 master from place to place, as occasion demanded, and 
 certainly they must have devoted their lives to such work : 
 for the exquisite chisellings and floriated capitals, with 
 which many of the chapels of Europe abound, were never 
 produced without intense and zealous application, aided by 
 great taste, artistic feeling, and long practice. 3 That such 
 workmen did anciently exist in great numbers, is suffi- 
 ciently proven by the works of art which they have left 
 behind them as monuments of their skill. It is probable 
 that the masters wrought out the designs in conjunction 
 with powerful and munificent ecclesiastics, and, as pre- 
 viously shown, the churchmen of those ages materially aided 
 in successfully prosecuting the plans. 
 
 1 Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 211. 
 
 2 Blunt, History of the Reformation, p. 83, in adverting to the universality of 
 the Latin language during the Middle Ages, and particularly as a medium 
 of intercourse between distinct nationalities, says : " And Freemasons, a kind of 
 nomadic race, pitched their tents wherever they found occupation, and having 
 reared the cathedral or church with admirable art, journeyed on in search of 
 other employers." 
 
 3 Poole's idea of the " rule of thumb, " without intelligent skill among the 
 mediaeval masons, must provoke a smile at the expense of the clerical histo- 
 rian of architectural art. Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, p. 118. 
 
200 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 When the society of Freemasons passed from monastic 
 control, great numbers of the monks continued their mem- 
 bership with the lodges, and many of them, as Gun- 
 delandus, abbot of Lauresheim, wielded the compass and 
 gavel with almost as much utility as the cross, 1 and, un- 
 questionably, a good deal of actual handiwork was done by 
 the monastic brethren themselves. 2 This will, in a measure, 
 satisfactorily explain many of those touches of satire, in 
 the way of droll and ludicrous portraiture, visible in 
 European churches, and seem to be directly pointed against 
 rival clerical sects. 3 While in the employ of these religious 
 bodies, the masons frequently made journeys from one 
 monastery to another, and these detachments were usually 
 under the guidance of a monk architect. Like other guilds, 
 they travelled well armed. In the centre of the convoy 
 was a pack-horse or mule, which carried the tools and 
 implements of the workmen, together with their pro- 
 visions. 
 
 The particular class of laborers who seem to have 
 assisted the masons at their work, were called oblati* or 
 those consecrated to religious service among the Benedic- 
 tines, after having undergone the usual preliminary proofs. 
 The duty assigned these youths was, principally, to bring 
 water, carry mortar, stone, and sand, and to attend invalid 
 workmen in the conventual infirmary. 5 
 
 1 Architectes et sculpteurs, qui semblables au moine Gundelandus, abbe de 
 Lauresheim, tenaient le compas et le maillet avec non moins d'autorite que la 
 crosse. Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 358. 
 
 2 Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 212. Dallaway, Historical Account 
 of Master and Freemason, p. 418, thinks many of the details of architectural 
 plans were the suggestion of ecclesiastics. 
 
 3 Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 276. 
 
 * Du Cange, V. Culati, for ample discussion and information. Also, Fos- 
 broke, British Monaehism, p. 191. 
 
 5 Heidelhoff, Die Eauhiitte der Mittelalter. For proofs of a close intimacy 
 between the Benedictines and Freemasons, see Fallou, Mysterien der Frei- 
 maurer, p. 243, etc. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 201 
 
 A Masonic dress for the mediaeval operative was care- 
 fully prescribed, and consisted of a short tunic, which, in 
 winter, was made of woollen stuffs, and in summer of 
 linen. This garment was fastened around the waist by a 
 girdle, from which sometimes hung a small satchel, and 
 when travelling, perhaps a sword. This tunic seems to 
 have preserved an existence from the eleventh century 
 down at least to the time of Van Eyck, in the year 1437. 
 Craftsmen at large covered their heads with a tight-fitting 
 scull-cap without a visor ; close-cut breeches completed the 
 Masonic attire. 
 
 In the painting of the year noted, by Jean Van Eyck, 
 preserved in the Louvre, delineating the erection of a 
 Gothic tower by the Masons, and from which the descrip- 
 tions above were taken mainly, these peculiarities of dress 
 prominently appear. 1 Two of the operatives, who are 
 
 1 Vide Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 248, etc. Uniformity of 
 dress was by no means restricted to Freemasons. Nearly every class of civil 
 society was distinguished by peculiarities of attire. All guilds prescribed 
 certain suits or livery to be worn by members when present at the meetings. 
 The Saddlers' and Spurriers' Guild of Norwich, established in 1385, ordered 
 that " all ye brethern and system hav a ly vere of sute to kennen ye bretheren 
 an systeryn and for no oyer enchesoun." Toulman Smith, English Guilds, p. 
 43. A curious regulation of St. Edmund's Guild, Bishops Lynn, enacts: 
 " Noman ne come in time of drinke beforn ye alderman and ye gild breth- 
 ern in tabbard, in cloke, ne barlege, ne barfoote," under a penalty of Id. 
 Smith, Ibid., p. 95. This ordinance was strenuously insisted on by all guilds 
 or sworn brotherhoods, in order to distinguish the members. In the year 
 1326, an edict was issued by an ecclesiastical council against these conjurationes 
 or societies united by oaths, and, among other charges, it was alleged that the 
 members of these organizations were uniformly attired : et interdum se omnes 
 vesti consimile inducentes. Condi. Vaurensi., Tome XX., p. 857. Also, Wilda, 
 Das Gilden Wesen im Mittelalter, pp. 52-224. Mediaeval minstrels were also 
 distinguished by a peculiar costume. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, pp. 189, 190. 
 Percy, Reliques of Ancient Poetry, note v. 3. It will be seen from the foregoing 
 references that guilds and professions assumed a certain style or characteristic 
 of dress, and, in this respect, were closely followed by the Freemasons, who 
 adopted one best suited to the necessities of their vocation, a portion of which 
 — the apron — is still worn. 
 
202 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 evidently directing the labors of the craft, stand forth as 
 noticeable exceptions in style of costume. Each of the 
 figures is clothed with a long gown, reaching to the knees, 
 tightly bound about the middle, with a heavy turban on 
 his head. These are either a Master or Pallirer (Warden), 
 in charge of the work. ]STo unchangeable usage touching 
 the cap or hat for the fraternity, it is believed, prevailed 
 exclusively. 
 
 An engraving, copied from an ancient painting, prefaces 
 Stieglitz's 1 edition of the Torgau ordinance, in which the 
 three crowned martyrs are illustrated as clothed in tunics 
 opening in front. Two of the saints have covering for 
 the head : one is a close fitting, unvisored cap, loosely tied 
 with straps in front, which are evidently designed to 
 adjust it to a proper size. I believe this to have been, so 
 to speak, the regulation cap. The other figure has merely 
 a hat, with a long sloping visor in front, and the back 
 portion turned up from the base of the eye. 
 
 1 Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kimigunde zu Rochiitz. 
 
CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 Building Corporations Eagerly Joined — Powers of Internal 
 Government — The Members are Armed — Guilds Assimilate 
 to Church Discipline — Right of Corporate Burial — Qualifi- 
 cations of Membership — Candidate must be Possessed of Intel- 
 ligence and Property — Degrees among Freemasons — The 
 Apprentices — Craftsman or Companion — Duration of an 
 Apprenticeship — Initiate must Swear to Preserve Land- 
 marks. 
 
 ROM the valuable privileges accorded to mediaeval 
 guilds, it is reasonable to infer that admission to 
 the Masonic corporation was not unattended 
 with conditions more or less difficult for candi- 
 dates. At an early age in German history, these brother- 
 hoods or craft guilds had widely extended, and each 
 society, having its existence recognized by municipal 
 authority, was possessed substantially of identical powers 
 of internal government. 
 
 All laws, rules, and regulations affecting these organic 
 bodies, whether commercial or mechanical, were very early 
 digested, and constituted a large portion of the private 
 laws of the empire. 1 To such extent did these corpora- 
 
 1 Usually designated as " Zunftordnungen," or " Innungsgesetzen," and com- 
 piled, probably, near the commencement of the thirteenth century. See Fr. 
 Schulte, Lehrbuch der Deutschen Reichs-und-Rechtsgeschichte, p. 127. Whether 
 the laws regulating English guilds were regularly enrolled upon the statute- 
 book, or simply developed from immemorial usage, is uncertain. Wilda, Das 
 Gild.Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 376, cites the statute of a guild enacted about the 
 year 1283. For what purpose the order of Parliament in 1389 was issued to 
 
 203 
 
204 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tions increase about the thirteenth century, that they were 
 sufficiently powerful to defy imperial authority. 1 Not un- 
 frequently it happened that these societies, by the terms of 
 their charters, were allowed to arm the members for defence, 
 and went out to battle with their masters in command. 2 
 
 In their general scope and design, these guilds almost 
 universally had the outline of a church brotherhood — 
 the duty of caring for their sick and infirm being strongly 
 impressed upon each member of the fraternity. Society 
 funds were used to bury deceased brethren, and on such 
 occasions the funeral procession was terminated by a 
 banquet. 3 
 
 While on this point, it may not be uninteresting to 
 mention the fact that, in Germany, guilds were estab- 
 lished whose express and only purpose was the humane 
 treatment of those afflicted with leprosy — a disease 
 alleged to have been introduced into Europe from the 
 East by Crusaders. 4 That membership in organizations, 
 privileged to regulate their affairs independent of royal 
 or ecclesiastical interposition, was highly prized, may be 
 readily inferred, and that such admission was eagerly 
 sought will admit of little doubt, when it is stated that 
 whenever a brother, in certain instances, was summoned 
 before the civil judiciary, all the members of his guild 
 accompanied him, and none but those connected with the 
 
 the guilds in England for a certified return of their condition, does not appear ; 
 but the earliest governmental legislation touching guilds, including the Masons, 
 is the ordinance of the year 1254, under Louis XI. of France. 
 
 1 By act of Parliament, in the thirty-seventh year of Henry VIII.'s reign, 
 the entire estate of craft guilds was confiscated. Brentano, Essay on the 
 Origin and Development of Guilds, clxiii. 
 
 2 Ungewitter, Geschichte des Handels und der Industrie, p. 234. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 233. With rare exceptions, the guildic returns collected by 
 Smith, in his English Guilds, show the obligatory relation of the living towards 
 the burial of deceased brothers, and that under a penalty. Starb er, geleiteten 
 ihn alle zu Grabe, brachte Opfer, etc. Wilda, Gilden Wesev, p. 123. 
 
 * Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 212. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 205 
 
 brotherhood were fully competent witnesses. In such 
 cases, the oath of the accused was valued as three to one 
 of a stranger. 1 
 
 What qualifications were necessary for initiation or 
 membership, cannot be definitely mentioned. In many 
 guilds of the Middle Ages, an initiation fee was required, 2 
 and in others the applicant must exhibit satisfactory evi- 
 dence of his knowledge and capacity to acquire the craft. 
 From a digest of laws, which Boileau compiled in the 
 year 1254, it would seem that a property qualification for 
 membership in these close corporations was requisite. 3 
 
 So far as relates to the Masonic brotherhood, the old 
 regulations which have descended to us sufficiently attest 
 that the requirements still in vogue were substantially the 
 same among the mediaeval Masons. To be received as an 
 apprentice, it was absolutely essential that the applicant 
 should be free-born, and of a prescribed age. What was 
 the minimum of years is uncertain. It is, at all events, 
 very clear that the proposed apprentice need not be one 
 and twenty ; but, on the contrary, at any reasonable time 
 during his minority he was eligible to the degree of an 
 Entered Apprentice. 4 That this was a degree by itself, and 
 the first towards advancement, can, I think, admit of but 
 
 1 Dahlmann, Geschichte von Ddnnemark. Bd. III., p. 13. 
 
 2 In English fraternities, the price of admission varied. St. Katherine's 
 Guild ordained, " Quat brothyr or systyr schal comyn into this fraternite he 
 shal payen to the sustentacion of this guide v 8 ." Toulman Smith, English 
 Guilds, p. 67. Others usually demanded wax payments. The early Teutonic 
 or Scandinavian associations exacted an entrance fee. Wilda, ut supra, pp. 
 108-216. Oftentimes the initiate was obliged to pay money and a certain 
 quantity of wax : " 4 Mark und 1 Pfund Wachs." Ibid., p. 274 ; also, Lacroix, 
 Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 316 ; Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer 
 wahren Bedeutung, p. 220 ; and, Fr. Von Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, 
 Bd. V., p. 311. 
 
 3 Pour qu'il sache fere le mestier et il ait de coi. Boileau, Reglemens sur 
 Metiers. 
 
 * Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen, p. 274, says, in some of these corporations the 
 candidates were accepted if fifteen years old. 
 18 
 
206 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 little controversy, and, as such, existed in the contempla- 
 tion of early Masons. The Germans designated this class 
 of workmen as " Diener," or servants ; the French stone- 
 cutters called them " Apprentis " (learners), or, as the 
 English craftsmen learned it from their Gallic brethren, 
 " Apprentices." "We have already referred to the three 
 distinct classes of operatives into which Saint Eloi, at that 
 distant epoch, divided the jewellers, and equally denned 
 grades or degrees existed during the Middle Ages among 
 the fraternity of masons and carpenters. The young work- 
 man ceased to be an apprentice on attaining the degree 
 of Fellow ; and this advancement carried with it higher 
 powers, additional preferment, and greater privileges, as 
 we shall presently discover, than the preceding degree, 
 and, in like manner, the Fellow-craftsman terminated 
 that connection upon becoming a Master. How far appren- 
 tices were initiated into the mysteries of the order at that 
 time is, at the present day, involved in obscurity ; that 
 they received sufficient information to gain admittance 
 into lodges of Apprentices is beyond question, and that 
 such lodges were opened, to which these operatives were 
 called, is equally true. All instruction essential to the 
 apprentice in order to become a Fellow was imparted him, 
 together with such grips and passwords as prevented im- 
 position from the uninitiated. He must also have received 
 a thorough drilling in the elements of geometric science, 
 and an explanation of the symbolic appliances necessary 
 to his degree. 
 
 It was an unvarying qualification, and one not restricted 
 to Masonic fraternities, that the candidate should be of 
 sound body and mind, and unqualifiedly of legitimate 
 parentage. This last stipulation was insisted upon, in the 
 thirteenth century, by the French stonecutters, 1 under pen- 
 alty of a heavy fine. 2 
 
 1 Tant seulement nez de loial marriage. Boileau, Livre des Metiers de Paris, 
 cap. 48. 
 
 2 Halliwell's MSS., Art. 4 and 5, is explicit upon these points : 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 207 
 
 An apprenticeship varied ; in some trades it endured for 
 ten years, in others, five or six. It may be said here, to 
 the honor of the law-making powers of that period, that 
 statutes regulating trades were so framed as to make 
 thoroughly skilled workmen, and no advancement was 
 permitted until apprentices had exhibited suitable pro- 
 ficiency 1 in the details of work assigned them. French 
 masters were allowed one apprentice for the definite term 
 of six years. 2 At the end of the fifth year they were per- 
 mitted to accept another. Under specific circumstances, 
 the Master of Royal Masons in Paris was indulged the 
 privilege of two workmen of this degree. An exception 
 in favor of masters' sons, curtailing apprenticeship, if of 
 legitimate birth, 3 was also conceded. Any infringement 
 upon the regulations cited was punished by a fine, which 
 should be immediately paid to the chapel of Saint Blase, 
 who, as already noted, was the patron saint of French 
 masons. 
 
 The prevailing law affecting the duration of apprentice- 
 
 " Yat he no bondsman prentys make." 
 
 " So yat ye prentys be of lawful blod." Fol. 7. 
 
 Saint Canute's Guild, one of the oldest Scandinavian fraternities, made it a 
 condition precedent to initiation that the applicant should be without reproach : 
 " idonea sit persona et sine infamia." De Personis Intrantibus, in Wilda, Gil- 
 den Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 117. This, according to Wilda, loc. cit., was the 
 unvarying requirement of membership, confirmed by Toulman Smith, English 
 Guilds, pp. 190-229. See Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, 
 p. 28, and Ordnung der Strassburger Steinmetzen, in Krause, Die Drei celtesten 
 Kunsturkunden, Bd. II.. Ab. 1, p. 284. 
 
 1 This, during the Middle Ages, was by no means an empty formulary, but 
 rigidly insisted upon, that an Apprentice or Companion (Fellow) should execute 
 such work as would entitle him to advancement. Lorsque l'apprenti ou le 
 compagnon sollicitait la maitrise, Pun et 1' autre prenaient le titre d' aspirants 
 et des lors ils se trouvaient soumis a des examens succesif. Lacroix, Les 
 Moenrs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 316. Such aspirant was required to ex- 
 hibit his proficiency by producing a masterpiece of the craft which he fol- 
 lowed. Ibid. 
 
 2 Boileau, Reglemens sur les Metiers de Paris, cap. 48. 3 Ibid, 
 
208 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 ship among the Germans, directed 1 that no apprentice 
 (Diener) should be accepted for a less period than five 
 years, and in this respect the ordinances drawn up at 
 Torgau, 2 in 1462, perfectly agree. Notwithstanding this 
 limitation was universal in Germany so early as 1459 and 
 1462, yet, in the year 1518, Jacob von Schweinfurt, 3 desir- 
 ing to render the Saxon lodges independent of the Grand 
 Lodge of Magdeburg and Strassburg, enunciated the here- 
 tic doctrine that four years was the ancient term for an 
 apprenticeship. This difficulty was finally adjusted be- 
 tween the conflicting bodies, and the original five years 
 were again accepted by the master builders who had 
 acknowledged the pretensions of Schweinfurt. 
 
 In England a more extended duration of service was 
 demanded of an apprentice mason, namely, seven years, 4 
 and with this regulation the statute law of England en- 
 tirely coincided. 5 The German Masons conscientiously 
 attended to the principles which underlaid their society ; 
 and, so great was the respect maintained towards the 
 term of apprenticeship, that the confraternity of sculptors, 
 whose limit of servitude was three years, was relentlessly 
 excluded from a participation in the stonecutters' lodges, 
 nor were they permitted to be associated with them in 
 mutual handiwork, as previously. 6 According to Stieg- 
 litz, 7 this antipathy was perpetuated down to a recent 
 
 1 Ordnung der Strassburger Haupthiitte v. Yahre 1459 ; Krause, Die Drei cel- 
 testen Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 284. 
 
 2 Ordnung der Steinmelzen, Anno 1462. 
 
 3 Stieglitz, Ue&er die Kirche und Steinmetz-Hutte zu Rochlitz, p. 15. 
 
 * All the English manuscripts, I believe, are identical in this particular. 
 
 5 " To exercise a trade in any town, without having previously served as an 
 apprentice for seven years .... is punished by statute, 5 Elizabeth, c. 4, with 
 forfeiture of forty shillings by the month." Blackstone, Commentaries on the 
 Laws of England, Vol. IV., p. 160. 
 
 6 Stieglitz, Ueber die Steinmetz-Hutte zu Rochlitz, p. 25. 
 
 7 Ibid. By the Strassburg regulation, an applicant, who had served a legal 
 term of years with unprivileged masons, — murer, maurer, perhaps bricklayers, 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 209 
 
 date in Germany ; and, even at the time he wrote (1829), 
 both corporations, still clinging to the shadow of organ- 
 ized bodies, failed to fraternize. 
 
 When the term of apprenticeship had expired, 1 the 
 craftsman was entitled to ask and receive advancement to 
 the degree of Fellow, or Companion, 2 which grade in the 
 line of promotion seems to have been exclusively recognized 
 by the mediaeval Masons and their associates, the carpen- 
 ters. 3 In the regulations of 1254, it is ordered as follows : 4 
 The master with whom the apprentice has served the 
 requisite time, shall go before the Master of Masons and 
 testify that his artisan has well and truly fulfilled his 
 term. Whereupon the General Master, who has control of 
 the craft, shall cause the apprentice to swear upon the 
 Scriptures 5 that he will not deviate from the established 
 usages and customs of the fraternity, but maintain them 
 for all time. It does not, however, appear whether or not 
 ' the French apprentice passed directly to the degree of 
 Master, or whether, upon obligating himself in the pre- 
 
 — and desired to be instructed in true masonic art, was compelled to apprentice 
 himself in order to complete the necessary term of years. Vide Krause, Die 
 Drei adtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 285. 
 
 1 The lapse of time now required in modern Freemasonry to intervene 
 between degrees has so obviously descended from the above noted custom as to 
 render comment unnecessary. Additional proof may be found in the limi- 
 tation as established by the Grand Orient of France, at the close of the last 
 century. No Apprentice could be advanced to the grade of Fellow before 
 attaining to twenty-three years, nor to that of a Master till he was twenty-five, 
 and an interval of three and a half months must elapse between the two last 
 degrees. Regulateur du Magon, anno 1801 ; p. 4, Grade du Compag., and p. 3, 
 Gr. du Ma'itre. 
 
 2 Sous le nom de gargons ou compagnons du devoir, les compagnons, quoique 
 relevant aussi de la communaute du metier auquel ils appartenaient, compo- 
 saient egalement des affiliations distinctes. Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au 
 Moyen Age, p. 323. 
 
 3 Le surnom (garcon ou compagnon) fut d'abord exclusivement applique 
 aux charpentiers et aux macons. Ibid., loc. cit. This dictum, from so illus- 
 trious an antiquary as Lacroix, should be final. 
 
 4 Boileau, Les Metiers de Paris, cap. 48. 
 
 5 Le mestrier doit fere jurer a l'apprentis seur sains. Ibid. 
 
 18* . O 
 
210 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 scribed form, he became a Fellow, and remained in that 
 position until, according to the custom of the craft, he 
 was advanced to a Mastership. The latter opinion would 
 seem to be the more accurate one, as the context of this 
 venerable document fairly warrants such assumption. For 
 instance, the Master was specifically sworn to preserve the 
 trade with fidelity and zeal, and in strict accordance with 
 ancient landmarks ; and in case he should be led to suspect 
 anything detrimental to the fraternity, it was his duty to 
 reveal it at once to the General Master. 
 
 English apprentices, upon the advancement to the degree 
 of Fellow, took the prescribed oath upon the Scriptures or 
 holy-dome, which were held by a senior (warden). 1 
 
 It is uncertain how long the obligated candidate re- 
 mained a Fellow, 2 but it is inferable that when initiated 
 into the secrets of this degree, he received the essential 
 parts of the mystic rites of the brotherhood, and the fullest 
 details of architectural art. Whenever circumstances per- 
 mitted him to assume the superintendence of masons, then 
 the final grade of Master was conferred upon him. He 
 was also instructed in the powers and duties incident to 
 that station, together with the secret symbols which con- 
 stituted the groundwork of his authority. 
 
 All the mystical and geometrical secrets of Freemasonry 
 were certainly given in this degree, so that when the 
 Fellow-craftsman was appointed or selected to direct a 
 lodge of builders, he was instructed in nothing further, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of the emblems incident to a 
 Master's power and the legend of the builder. 
 
 1 Lansdowne MSS. 
 
 2 The custom in the vast majority of craft guilds, was for a Fellow who desired 
 to become a Master, to prepare an unexeeptionably fine piece of his handicraft. 
 This was produced before a syndic of sworn tradesmen, who, after a lively dis- 
 cussion, decided upon the work and the Fellow's capacity, and if favorable, he 
 was obliged to take an oath of allegiance to the king, etc. Lacroix, Les 
 Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 316. There was a sworn syndicate in Paris, 
 in 1254, of masons and carpenters, no doubt for this very purpose. Boileau, 
 Reglemens sur Metiers, cap. cxii. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Fellow-craftsmen may Travel and have a Mark — Preliminary 
 Arrangements for Initiation — Burlesque Ritualism — Prepara- 
 tion for the Degree — Grip and Password Conferred — White 
 Gloves and the Banquet — Mediaeval Lodge : how Entered by a 
 Travelling Brother — The Warden, or Master, Wears a Hat — 
 Masonic Greeting — Especial Privileges of a Wandering Com- 
 panion — To be Helped and Receive Support — Cry for Assist- 
 ance — The Secrets of Ancient Freemasons — Moral Principles 
 and Perfect Mechanical Skill — Liberal Arts and Sciences — 
 Masons shall Assist each other — The Master's Prerogatives 
 -Temperate Habits Inculcated — Christian Influence over 
 the Fraternity — A Warden's Duties in the Master's Absence 
 — His Oath of Office on a Square and Gauge — Freemasons: 
 how Organized when at Work — System of a Craftsman's 
 Labor. 
 
 HE apprentice having honorably terminated, and 
 with conceded proficiency, the term of years 
 during which he was held subject to his master's 
 control, he was entitled to be received and recog- 
 nized as a Fellow-craft Mason. 1 This degree carried with 
 it immunities and privileges which belonged in no wise to 
 the former. As a Fellow or Companion, the operative was 
 at liberty to wander whither he pleased in search of work. 
 This facility was denied the apprentice, unless the master 
 were unable to furnish him with employment ; in that case 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, Art. 26. 
 
 211 
 
212 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 he could loan his apprentice a mark, in order that he might 
 travel in quest of labor. 1 
 
 Each Entered Apprentice Mason, upon his initiation into 
 the mysteries of a Fellow-craft's grade, received* a distin- 
 guishing mark, 2 and took his membership ipso facto in the 
 lodge where the degree was conferred upon him ! The 
 initiation was substantially as follows : After the candi- 
 date had passed a successful examination touching his 
 skill before older Fellows of the craft, 3 a report was made 
 to the lodge in due form, and was vouched for by the 
 Master who had a thorough knowledge of his craftsman's 
 morals and attainments. In addition to this, as already 
 shown, upon the conclusion of the apprentice's six years 
 in France, the master produced him before the General 
 Master, and attested his proficiency. 4 
 
 Oftentimes a burlesque initiation 5 was performed upon 
 the applicant, in order to render the genuine mysteries 
 more solemn and impressive. The brethren divested them- 
 selves of their implements and short swords in entering 
 the mystic lodge (perhaps in a crypt), for the reason that 
 the highest symbolism of harmony and sanctity was to be 
 impressed upon the suppliant. 6 The lodge being opened 
 in suitable form, the Master presiding directed a brother 
 Mason to prepare the candidate. His weapons, and all 
 
 1 Do mag ein Meister seinen Diener ein Zeichen verleihen irri sein Leryaren 
 tm wandern, warm der meister nicht forderunge hatte. Ibid., Art. 30. 
 
 2 Ein Meyster soil seinen Diener sein Zeichen, nicht lenger vorhalten den 
 xiv. Tag. Ibid., Art. 26. See Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 223. 
 
 3 Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 59. This agrees with Lacroix, Leu 
 Arts au Moyen Age, p. 316. 
 
 * Li mestres a cui li apprentis ait fet et par accompli son term, doit venir 
 pardevant le mestre du mestier et tesmoigner que son apprentis a feit son 
 terme. Boileau, Livre des Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 5 Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 60. In this ludicrous ceremony the in- 
 itiate was obliged to carry a staff ; for what purpose does not appear. 
 
 6 Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 58, evidently followed by Findel, Ge- 
 schichte der Freimaurerei, p. 71, etc. Winzer, Die Deutschen B ruder schaf ten des 
 Mittelalters, p. 67. The sanctity of a mediaeval lodge mounts up to the opening 
 of Teutonic judicial organizations. See infra. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 213 
 
 substances of like material, were taken from him ; a por- 
 tion of his clothing was removed, so as to bare his breast, 1 
 and with bandaged eyes and left foot unshod he sounded 
 three distinct blows upon the lodge door. 2 Upon his 
 entrance, a Warden received him and conducted him 
 before the Master, who stood in the East. The candidate 
 knelt, and a short prayer was offered, after which he was 
 led thrice around the room and back to the door, where, 
 with his feet at a right angle, he was ordered to advance by 
 three upright, measured steps. The candidate was then 
 placed in position to take the prescribed obligation, which 
 involved the contact of his right hand with the sacred 
 Scriptures — holy-dome — and the square and compasses. 3 
 He swore to be true and loyal, and faithfully adhere to all 
 the charges and regulations of a Mason, and to conceal 
 with care and fidelity the secrets of the fraternity. The 
 bandage was then removed, and the three great lights 
 explained. An apron was presented to him, and having 
 received the password, " Wortzeichen," and grip, " Hand- 
 schenck," he took his seat as a member of the lodge. 4 
 - It is said that white gloves 5 were presented to the 
 initiate at the termination of the degree ; such usage was 
 still practised at the close of the eighteenth century. 6 
 
 1 Fallou, ut supra, p. 108, says the left knee and breast were both bared in 
 initiation during the Middle Ages. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 243. This custom seems to have come from the Benedictines. 
 Vide Du Cange, Glos. Med. ~et Infim. Lat^ sub voce, oblati. Winzer, ut supra; 
 Krause, Die Drei ozltesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Ab. 1, pp. 139, 140. 
 
 3 Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 71, and Fallou, Ibid. The wardens, 
 at all events, were sworn upon the square and compass, " die Eid strebe mit 
 maszstabe unnd winkelmas zu den Heyligen." Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 
 1462, Art. 18. This explicitly declares that the patron saints of the order were 
 invoked during the obligation. 
 
 4 Findel, ut supra, p. 72 ; also, Winzer, Die B ruder schaften des Mittelalters, pp. 
 67, 68. Unless noted, the above details have been taken mainly from Fallou. 
 
 5 Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. Ill, inclines to the opinion that this 
 usage began about the year 1688. In 1686, it was obligatory to present such 
 gloves prior to the initiation. Plot, History of Staffordshire, $ 86. 
 
 6 White gloves were used in the mystic ceremonies of French lodges, at the 
 
214 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 A custom, in vogue among European Masons at present, 
 prevailed with the mediaeval craftsmen, to conclude the 
 initiatory rites with a banquet, 1 — a custom not confined 
 to stonecutters' corporations, but was a common practice 
 with all fraternities of the Middle Ages. Prayer on such 
 occasions opened and closed the festivities. According to 
 the universal precedent in those distant ages, the Master 
 drank to the health and honor of the newly-made brother, 
 out of a lodge drinking horn, called " willkommen," or 
 welcome cup. 2 To this toast the initiate responded by 
 emptying the horn in prosperity of the craft. Ancient 
 usage required that this toasting should be performed in 
 three cadences or motions. A glove or handkerchief covered 
 the hand which grasped the bowl ; the lid was then raised 
 and finally carried to the lips and drank in three regu- 
 larly-timed draughts ; 3 after which it was replaced on the 
 banqueting table with similar movements. Oftentimes 
 the festivities were prepared by the initiate himself, and, 
 not unfrequently, the expenses incident were mutually 
 borne between the lodge and Fellow-craft. 
 
 By the ordinance of 1462, 4 the corporation's share of reck- 
 oning is definitely fixed, and beyond this it must become 
 the brother's private expenditure. 
 
 opening of the present century, in order to symbolize purity; after conferring 
 the degree, they were to be donated to the aspirant's wife. Regulateur du Macon, 
 p. 33 (grade d'apprenti). 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen v. Yahre 1462, Art. 27. 
 
 2 This custom, as noted in the text, is clearly derived from the ancient Ger- 
 mans. At Scandinavian feasts, the principal person at the table took the cup 
 first, and rising, saluted courteously by name either him who sat nearest or 
 who was highest in rank. He then drank the toast, and having filled the 
 bowl, presented it to the person who had been toasted. Mallet, Northern An- 
 tiquities, p. 196. See Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 489, for a full and 
 lucid explanation of the substitution of Christian saints in place of heathen 
 gods, to whom these toasts were anciently given. The Regulateur du Macon, 
 p. 40, et seq. (grade d'apprenti), gives minute details for such banquets. 
 
 3 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 271. 
 
 * Art. 27, and Stieglitz, Ueber die Kircheund Steinmelz-Hiitte zu Rochlitz y p. 63. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 215 
 
 When the degree of Fellow was conferred upon the 
 Apprentice, the craftsman was in a position to travel 
 whither he pleased. Whenever a travelling brother in 
 search of employment or assistance approached a lodge and 
 desired to gain admission, he gave three distinct knocks 
 upon the door. 1 The brethren within immediately ceased 
 their work, laid down their tools, and formed themselves 
 in regular, probably, geometrical order, but the Master or 
 Pallirer (warden) occupied no distinctive position, as has 
 been erroneously asserted. Upon entering the lodge, the 
 visiting craftsman advanced by three upright measured 
 steps, and gave the salute, "Grass," or hailing sign. 2 
 After having saluted the congregated lodge, the wandering 
 brother, in formal manner, 3 thus addressed them : " May 
 God greet you, may God direct you, may God reward you, 
 president Master, Pallirer (warden), and you good Fel- 
 lows." Thereupon the Master, or if absent, the Pallirer, was 
 obliged to respond with thanks, in order that the visitor 
 might discern who was the Master of the lodge.* Then the 
 stranger craftsman resumed the fraternal colloquy, and 
 said : " My Master " — calling him by name — " sends you 
 cordial greeting." 5 After this he passed around the lodge 
 before all the craftsmen, for the purpose of saluting them 
 in the same friendly way as he had greeted the Master, 
 and in return for his salutation, the Master, Warden, and 
 Fellows gave a courteous response. 6 And this was the 
 custom for travelling Masons to go around the lodge, from 
 one to another, thanking each brother, in case he received 
 favors at his hands. In case a Fellow-craft, thus wander- 
 
 1 Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 72 ; Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruder- 
 schaffen des Mittelalters, p. 70. Consult Fallou, ut supra. 
 
 2 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, 1462, Art. 107. 
 
 3 Gott griisse euch. Gott weyse euch. Gott lone euch, euch Obermeister 
 erwiderung, Pallirer und euch hiibschen gesellen. Ibid., loc. tit. 
 
 * So sol In der meister oder pallirer danken das er sieht welcher der oberst 
 ist in der Hiitten. Ibid. 
 
 5 Compare Sloane MSS. 3329, Ed. by Woodford, p. xix. 
 
 6 Ordnung, et loc. cit. Stieglitz, Ueber der Steinmetz -Eutte zu Rochlitz, p. 73. 
 
216 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 ing, arrived before the lodge was convened for labor, he 
 was entitled to receive a per diem compensation. 
 
 After the mutual salutes, in accordance with the pre- 
 scribed regulation, had been finished, if it happened that 
 the visiting operative desired material assistance, he was 
 at liberty to demand it of the Master, who, by virtue of 
 his obligation, was necessitated to aid him to the extent 
 of his financial ability, 1 and was also required to expend 
 his wages for the distressed brother's comfort, if it were 
 demanded. 2 If, perchance, the master builder had so little 
 work as to be comparatively idle, upon demand, he was 
 compelled to go with the applicant, and aid him with the 
 other brethren. 3 Also, when a travelling Mason petitioned 
 for a chisel and piece of stone, in order to carve his mark 
 upon it, his request was immediately complied with. 4 As 
 a last resort, to render his urgent appeal for help effective, 
 he exclaimed, " Help me, that God may help you." 5 Assist- 
 ance was then given, and thereupon he removed his hat, and 
 said very humbly : " May God thank (reward) you, Wor- 
 shipful Master, Pallirer (wardens), and worthy Fellows." 
 
 The custom of taking the hat off, during the reception 
 ceremonies, will be further discussed. It was by means of 
 signs, grips, and passwords, that members of different 
 Masonic lodges recognized one another, 6 and any profa- 
 nation of them was impressively guarded against and 
 severely punished. 
 
 1 It was this mutual obligation among Masons that highly offended Dr. 
 Plot, History of Staffordshire, \ 86, who charges the fraternity in his day (1686) 
 with obtaining maintenance by means of signs, etc. 
 
 2 So sol In der meister fordern auff das nechste lohn und nit versagen. 
 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, Art. 108. 
 
 3 Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 * Ein Itzlicher wandergeselle soil bithen umb eine biicke, darnach umb ein 
 Ktiik steins, darauf darnach umb gezeugk, das soil man In williglichen leihen. 
 Ibid., Art. 109. 
 
 5 Helffet mir auff oder In das euch Gott helffe. Ibid., Art. 110. 
 
 6 Scherr, Deutsche Oultur, p. 162. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 217 
 
 The secrets of a mediaeval lodge consisted of a thorough 
 and profound knoAvledge of the rudiments of those arts and 
 sciences by a successful combination of which superb edi- 
 fices were erected to the honor of the living God ! These 
 principles were preserved in symbolic form, as no written 
 draughts were allowed. 
 
 The symbols were composed principally of geometric 
 elements ; for instance, of the right angle, triangle, quad- 
 rangle, pentagon, sexagon, octagon, and circle. Sometimes 
 they were borrowed from the implements used in building, 
 such as the square, gauge, level, plumb, etc. The first 
 cited symbols had a direct reference to art, and were 
 designed to serve both as a perpetual reminder of the 
 rules of construction, and to portray, in a tangible form, 
 various types of proportion. In their emblematic relations, 
 these figures unfolded to the brethren a more profound 
 wisdom ; to the Master, an immutable clue ; and to the 
 Fellows and Apprentices, a finger-board in the ever-length- 
 ening route of knowledge. In nearly every instance, per- 
 haps, the symbols contained valuable moral instructions to 
 the humble and pious artisan, 1 and were typified to 
 impress the Mason's heart with the beauties of an upright 
 life, in all business and professional transactions, — a mean- 
 ing which lay concealed in the angle of the square, the 
 perfect circle, and reliable level. 2 
 
 In the document which is asserted to have been written 
 by King Henry VI., of England, is contained a valuable 
 summary of such secrets as were claimed by mediaeval 
 lodges. There is no reason to assume, however, that this 
 famous treatise was the production of its alleged author, 
 although it bears all the internal evidence of having been 
 prepared by a Masonic writer, towards the close of the 
 fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. Masonic 
 mysteries are there stated to be a knowledge of natural 
 
 1 Luebke, Geschichte der Plastik, p. 442. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, pp. 609, 610. 
 
 19 
 
218 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 sciences and their inherent powers, together with the 
 ability to interpret the varied operations of nature. — 
 Especial claim is made to skill in the science of numbers ; 
 to mechanical and mathematical learning ; to admeasure- 
 ments, and the entire understanding of moulding and fash- 
 ioning all things for man's use, chiefly the constructive art 
 involved in the erection of dwellings and edifices of every 
 description ; and also — attesting the moralistic tone of the 
 fraternity — to an acquaintance with those things which 
 make good wen. 1 Instruction was given the members in the 
 seven liberal arts and sciences, which the monasteries con- 
 tributed, but, according to the treatise from which we are 
 quoting, religion was made a prominent portion of lodge 
 secrets. 
 
 Mediaeval craftsmen declared they possessed the proper 
 method of teaching the arts, and, judging from the monu- 
 ments of skill which they have transmitted, it is necessary 
 to concede the correctness of this assumption. 
 
 It was also recited to be among the mysteries of Masonry, 
 the science of attaining a degree of moral perfection, and 
 becoming good men without the fluctuating influences of 
 hope and fear. 2 However, of all Masonic secrets claimed 
 by this ancient record, the most significant is " the way of 
 winning the faculty of Abrac." 3 This faculty of Abrac is 
 of such transcendent importance for the internal history of 
 lodge Arcana, that a detailed dissertation of the same will 
 be given hereafter. It will materially assist in tracing 
 mystical references of Masonry to a very remote antiquity, 
 and furnish the thread by which Oriental influence can be 
 connected with the Gothic symbolism of the fraternity. 
 
 Lodges, during the Middle Ages, paid close attention to 
 
 1 This curious manuscript lias been frequently published ; my edition is 
 the reprint by Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsterkunden, Bd. L, Ab. 1, p. 20. 
 
 2 " The skylle of becommynge gude and parfyghte wythouten the Holpynges 
 of Fere and Hope." Krause, ut supra, p. 26. 
 
 3 Krause, loc. cit. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 219 
 
 their members' morals, and instructions having a devotional 
 and spiritualistic tendency constituted a large part of lodge 
 discipline ; all trifling subjects were rigidly excluded, and 
 every infringement upon the rules of order and general 
 regulations was severely punished. 1 
 
 The prescriptions, which required an implicit obedience 
 by the members, were calculated to ennoble the heart, and 
 dignify humanity. It was ordered that the Master should 
 hold his authority with equal justice towards his Wardens 
 and Fellows ; 2 and dishonor attached to that Master who vil- 
 lified and assailed the character of a brother craftsman. 3 
 Any Mason who borrowed aught from his brethren, and by 
 his indifferent conduct evinced a disinclination to adjust 
 the loan, or lacked the will to return in kind, or belied, or 
 betrayed, and endeavored to supplant another in his work, 4 
 or scorned and injured him while in the faithful prosecu- 
 tion of his Masonic vocations, — such brother was held 
 unworthy of fraternal association, and was relentlessly 
 expelled. 5 No Pallirer (warden) or Fellow should further 
 his individual interests by a present or bribe to the 
 Master, — such attempt being strictly enjoined by lodge 
 regulations. 6 
 
 Pallirer were obliged to manifest a steady and unwaver- 
 ing kindness towards the Fellows and Apprentices, and on 
 every occasion show, by unequivocal conduct, to what extent 
 such professions were genuine. 7 These officers were pro- 
 hibited from underminino; the Master in his legitimate 
 labors ; neither should he be slandered by false and mali- 
 
 1 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 162. 
 
 2 Ordnung der Steinmttzen, 1462, Art. 9, 10, 19. 
 
 3 Ibid., Art 17. 
 
 * Yet shall no mayster supplant oyer. Halliweirs MSS., 17 Al, ars. 11. 
 The English manuscripts contain similar injunctions. See Kloss, Die Frei- 
 maurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 122, and Findel, Geschichie der Frei- 
 maurerei, p. 99. 
 
 5 Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 34, 37. 
 
 « Ibid., Art. 21. » Ibid., Art. 49. 
 
220 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 cious reports ; if the Wardens were at any time detected in 
 thus backbiting, they stood before the craft as dishonored. 1 
 
 It was the Pallirer's duty to assist the Master in his 
 management and control of the Fellows, to carefully scru- 
 tinize their workmanship, in order that the building or 
 the Master might suffer no loss. 2 A portion of his powers 
 enabled him to clear the lodge from all tippling, except 
 in quiet vespers, when a little relaxation was allowed ; but 
 he was charged with the duty of restricting the craft from 
 an indulgence in excessive drinking. 3 In this respect a 
 mediaeval Warden exactly corresponds with a junior of 
 the present time, whose station and duties require him to 
 superintend the craft during the hdurs of refreshment, and 
 to guard them against converting the intermission of labor 
 into intemperance or excesses. ~No Master was at liberty 
 to advance a Fellow who slandered or did an injury to his 
 brother, or associated with lewd women, and lived in a 
 licentious manner ; — if he failed to confess, he should be 
 expelled as an evil-doer. 
 
 No Fellow-craftsman was permitted to drive usurious 
 bargains between the Master and other persons ; neither 
 
 1 Ibid., Art. 53. In many craft guilds the master lost his privileges to pre- 
 side over a trade, if he served as journeyman under a master. Lacroix, Les 
 Moeurs el Usages au Moyen Age, p. 317. 
 
 2 Ordinance of Torgau, 1462, Art. 57. 
 
 3 Ibid., Art. 58, 59. This salutary regulation was enforced by the guilds of 
 England, and constituted an essential element of internal discipline. It was 
 a standing order, that " whoso make any noyse in tyme of drynking where 
 throw ye breyere and sisteren shul be greyd he shal pay to amendment of the 
 lyzth (lights) di. pound of wax." Toulman Smith, English Guilds, p. 61. 
 Another ordinance apparently incorporated into guildic government, was a 
 rigid prohibition, under penalty of xii d (a large sum in those days), for any 
 member to enter the ale chamber without leave. In addition to the honor of 
 presiding over the guild, there was a substantial emolument appurtenant to 
 the office, in the nature of a more liberal supply of ale than was allowed the 
 congregated brothers and sisters. Ibid., pp. 90-92, 95. The master or alder- 
 man " seal hav evere nith wilis ye drinken ij galoun of ale " — two gallons 
 of ale for a master in one drinking bout ! I fancy this would transcend the 
 carrying capacity of our modern worshipfuls. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 221 
 
 should he speak evil of the brethren, nor gibe them. Over- 
 eating and intemperate drinking were interdicted this 
 grade of operatives. 1 A constant tendency, on the part of 
 the mediaeval Masons, is perceptible, to impress the mind 
 with the great fundamental principles of truth and mo- 
 rality. 
 
 A cursory examination of the Strassburg ordinance of 
 1459, will make manifest the profound religious feeling 
 which evidently inspired the master builders to frame, in 
 a Christian spirit, the following concluding clause: " Since 
 God, the Almighty, has graciously favored us, masters and 
 workmen, in devoting our talents and labor in a praise- 
 worthy manner, for the erection of His sacred edifices and 
 other artistic works, and by such handicraft are enabled to 
 earn an honest living, therefore, in humble imitation of 
 Christian people, will we for the future, with pure thank- 
 fulness, continue, moved by our hearts' impulses, to serve 
 God, and in that way deserve our souls' salvation." 2 Such 
 principles, with which the Masonic life and conduct were 
 in harmony, necessarily contributed to elevate the brethren, 
 and developed a high honor and sincere regard for the 
 lodge as a consecrated place. 3 
 
 Among the multifarious duties incident to the Pallirer's 
 office, was that of testing the accuracy of the gauges and 
 squares ; and in order that no false proportions might 
 vitiate the exactitude of measurements, he was obliged to 
 see these implements properly adjusted. 4 The "Warden 
 placed each block of stone in position before the appren- 
 
 1 Ordnung, til, Art. 33-8, 71-76. Like regulation among the early English 
 masons. Vide Halliwell MSS., Lansdowne MSS., Art. 6. " Also, that none 
 slander another behind his back to make him lose his good name." Hughan, 
 Old Masonic Charges, p. 35. 
 
 2 Vide Ordnung der Steinmetzen v. Yahre 1459, in Krause, Die Drei adlesten 
 Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Abt. 1, p. 288. 
 
 3 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, 1462, Art. 11-13. 
 
 4 Ein Pallirer soil allweg Richtscheyt und Kolmasz und alles was zu den 
 gehort rechtfertigen. 1 bid.. Art. 49. 
 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tices and Fellows, and drew out suitable designs upon it ; 
 he was compelled to inspect with care the preparation of 
 all material, and have it perfected up to the submitted 
 diagrams. 1 If the Pallirer fractured any material to such 
 extent as to render it useless, he was not allowed com- 
 pensation for the work, and, moreover, must pay for the 
 stone. 2 
 
 Equally minute regulations were enforced upon the Fel- 
 lows while at labor. The craftsman was strictly enjoined 
 to replace the measuring board (gauge) after necessary use, 
 nor was he permitted to take it d^wn again until the 
 Master or Warden had examined his workmanship. He 
 was also instructed never to leave the square hanging upon 
 the stone. The gauge must be returned to its proper place, 
 and the level hung up. 3 
 
 It was zealously inculcated as a lodge duty to render 
 requisite assistance to a brother applying for help, not 
 only in matter of charity, but to aid him in the artistic 
 preparation of work, if the brother were unable to do it 
 himself. 4 If the craftsman could not change the position 
 of the stone on which he was at work, or having moved 
 it, found himself unable to properly replace the same, 
 upon a call for aid to a brother within hailing distance, 
 assistance was immediately rendered. 5 Without permis- 
 sion expressly given, he was not at liberty to take addi- 
 tional working tools. 6 And any operative violating these 
 rules was subject to a payment of certain fines for each 
 infraction. Every Fellow-craft was punished with pre- 
 
 1 Der Pallirer soil dera Gesellen und dem Diener williglichen stein wol 
 besehen ob er recht und wol gemacht ist. Ibid., Art. 50. 
 
 2 Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 51. 8 Ibid., Art. 69. 
 
 4 " Yat sygth hys fellow he wen on a stone, 
 And ys yn point to spylle yat stone, 
 Shall amend yat stone and help him." , 
 
 HalliwellMSS., Art. 11. 
 5 Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 72. 6 Ibid., Art. 68. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 223 
 
 scribed penalties, in case the material before him fell from 
 the bench, or carelessly suffered the handle of an imple- 
 ment to slip or become loose, particularly if such working 
 tool were essential to the fine preparation of the stone ; 
 because in this way the work might be injured or rendered 
 less accurate. If the artist failed to close and properly 
 secure the window which opened upon his bench, a fine 
 was assessed against him. 1 
 
 It was ordered that the Pallirer (Wardens) and Fellows, 
 every Monday afternoon at one o'clock, during quiet ves- 
 pers, should repair to the Master, 2 in order to learn what 
 work was to be prepared, and to be properly set at labor 
 for the ensuing week. 
 
 The German craftsmen appear to have been under the 
 direct superintendence of a " pallirer," who answered to 
 the English "warden." 3 He was the assistant of the 
 Master, and, under certain circumstances, assumed his 
 station and duties. In case the Master was absent from 
 the lodge, or distant from the building in process of con- 
 struction, or died during its erection, the Pallirer had 
 plenary powers to act, and do what the exigencies de- 
 manded. 4 When the Master was called away, it devolved 
 upon his representative to dismiss the craft, to assist 
 travelling Fellows, and also to allow the craftsmen and 
 apprentices a suitable time for refreshment and repose. 5 
 
 1 Ibid., Art. 69. 
 
 2 " Welcher pallirer nith bey seinem meyster und verhore, was er den 
 montag thun soli," u. s. w. Ibid., Art. 86. This is the groundwork of the 
 present absolute power of a master to lay out and execute lodge work. 
 
 3 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 162. Sometimes written Polirer. Krause, Die 
 Drei adtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 2, p. 262. For duties of Pallirer, see 
 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, p. 140, et seq. 
 
 * Wenn ein meyster nicht bey dem werk ist, oder von hinnen were so hat 
 der Pallirer gantze vole macht zu them oder zu lassen das recht ist und in 
 abscheid dess Meisters. Ordinance of 1462, Art. 55. The principle involved 
 in this regulation still subsists as a landmark of the Freemasons. 
 
 5 Ibid., Art. 60, 61. 
 
224 THE EARL Y HISTOR Y AND 
 
 One of the prevailing usages which has descended to 
 our time, was that, in the Master's absence, the lodge and 
 its government were entrusted to his care, for which he 
 was answerable to his superior officer ; and during such 
 temporary authority, the Pallirer or Warden was obliged 
 to regulate everything in accordance with strict justice. 1 
 Upon him also rested the responsible duty of guarding 
 the freedom of the lodge, 2 and to preserve the old land- 
 marks and Masonic privileges according to ancient cus- 
 tom, as sanctioned by the "book of Masons' law." 3 He 
 was required to be the first at lodge in the morning, and 
 also at midday, after refreshment, as soon as the lodge 
 was called on for work, so that the Fellows, by virtue of 
 his example, should go to labor at the proper time. 
 
 In case the Master suffered damage through the delay 
 or dereliction of his warden in these duties, the loss must 
 be indemnified. The high importance attending the 
 administration of the Pallirer's office caused his election 
 and obligation to be singularly impressive. 4 In such 
 selection, particular care was taken to secure a suitable 
 and efficient officer, and the choice was only made in the 
 presence of Masters and Wardens. No apprentice was 
 eligible to this position ; nor could a Warden be inducted 
 into office until his competency was vouched for by the 
 Master, who, with the other Masters of lodges, was obliged 
 to attest his fitness, and, in a measure, be responsible for 
 the faithful performance of his duties. 5 
 
 1 Oidinance of 1462, Art. 48, 65. 2 Ibid., Art. 60. 
 
 3 Also die Pallirer und halten das also das altherkomen der Huttenrecht 
 nach Inhaldunge der alten Gewonheit und nach dem Buch und Ordnunge der 
 Eide. Ibid., Art. 47. The section cited is suggestive of two facts : the one, 
 that the regulations above referred to are here plainly declared to have been 
 drawn from older lodge rituals (Huttenrecht). The other, that the Master and 
 Pallirer unquestionably assumed an obligation specifically different from that 
 administered to the initiate Apprentice or Fellow: "ordnunge der Eid," ac- 
 cording to the direction of the oath. 
 
 4 Ordnuncj der Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 18-19. 
 
 5 Und keinen setzen er konne es denn verhegen das die leute und er damit 
 versorgt sein. Ibid., Art. 18. 
 
A NTIQ UITIES OF FREEMA SONR Y. 225 
 
 Upon the election of a Pallirer or Warden, and accept- 
 ance of the position being signified, he was clothed with 
 the prerogatives of that office. Previous to investiture, 
 lie took the prescribed oath in due form, which was with 
 his hand on the gauge and square ; and in this significant 
 attitude he obligated himself, under the invocation of the 
 patron saints, to protect the building and preserve his 
 Master from loss. 1 He was then placed before the Fellow- 
 craftsmen, who were compelled to promise him faithful 
 obedience; in his installation, the same submission was 
 exacted as was demanded during the ceremony of induct- 
 ing a Master into office. 2 
 
 These rites, in conformity to the usages of that age, 
 were concluded with a banquet. 3 
 
 The earliest authentic documents indicate that, as far 
 back as the eleventh century, the craftsmen were regularly 
 organized while at labor. In a celebrated manuscript in 
 the Imperial Library at Paris, 4 and of which a copy is now 
 before me, seven masons, clothed with tunic aprons, are 
 delineated at work on a wall being laid over two arches, 
 supported by three columns. Two artisans, one between 
 each of the pilasters, are manipulating a newly-finished 
 block of marble, while two others, apparently apprentices, 
 standing erect, have severally handed a perfect ashlar 
 stone to three workmen behind the wall above, one of 
 whom is busily engaged in cementing a block to the 
 building with a trowel. Another is employed in knock- 
 ing the stone which he has just received from the crafts- 
 men below with a stroke-hammer ; and the third operative 
 
 1 So soli In die Pallirschaft befehlen und die eid strebe mit ruaszstabe und 
 winkelmas zu den Heyligen die Gebeude und dess meisters schaden zu be- 
 wahren. Ibid., Art. 18. 
 
 2 Wenn ein meister einen Pallirer hat gesetzt so sollen In die Gesellen 
 geloben gehorsam zu sein als dem Meyster. Ibid., Art. 20. 
 
 3 Ordnuny der Steinmelzen, 1462, Art. 20. 
 
 4 Designated as Bible de Noialles. Vide Lacroix, Les Arts et Sciences aw 
 Moyen Age, p. 465. 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 is casting an antique plumb-line, in order to test the 
 « perpendicular accuracy of the rising superstructure. It 
 may be added that the plumb seems to be composed of an 
 elongated bar of lead or iron attached to a cord, at the 
 extreme end of which is a hook, evidently designed to be 
 fastened to the outer edge of the wall, so that when the 
 oscillating motion of the line ceased, the wall itself was a 
 resting board. 
 
 In their earliest workmanship, the apprentices, no doubt, 
 performed the more unimportant parts of labor ; as, for 
 example, familiarizing themselves with the use of masonic 
 tools, by pounding off the angles and corners of rough 
 stones with a stroke-hammer, and using the gauge or 
 measuring board to shape edges into true and perfect lines. 
 I think it more in harmony with the dictates of sound 
 reason to presume that the fullest instruction in all the 
 details of art was vouchsafed the apprentice, in an exact 
 proportion as he evinced his adaptitude to acquire the^ 
 rudiments of a strict science. 
 
 ~No doubt a secret meaning was attached to many things 
 which he beheld, but the precise signification of which 
 was only comprehended when he had mastered the theory 
 upon which the practice was grounded — the occasional 
 gleam of light that flashed before his inquiring eye, con- 
 veyed no fixed idea to a mind untaught, as yet, to interpret 
 the mystic symbolism of its brightness. For instance, as 
 though the apprentice were given the bones of a human 
 frame and directed to conjoin them into a skeleton, he 
 was equally ignorant of that occult combination by which 
 the synthesis of the cathedral or abbey was completed. 
 Precisely as though an anatomist should be compelled to 
 learn disjointed bones and scattered fragments of the body, 
 he would gradually acquire such proficiency as to be able 
 to tell at a glance the bones of the fingers, hands, legs, 
 arms ; that wondrous casket of the brain — the skull, and 
 shoulders ; bones of arms and the feet ; the several detached 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 227 
 
 parcels of the vertebra?, together with varied minuter 
 bones ; or, in other words, his skill as an anatomical artist 
 might permit him to fashion and mould each and all of 
 the unnumbered parts of the human frame into an exact 
 similitude with the samples before him ; but until he had 
 been taught how to unite the multitudinous particles of 
 this disjointed body, no inherent genius, no innate in- 
 genuity could assist him in the perplexing task. This, I 
 apprehend, will sufficiently illustrate the principle which 
 prevailed among mediaeval Masons, touching instruction 
 to apprentice stonecutters. 
 
 It is not to be supposed for a moment that this class of 
 artificers, during the continuance of their long term of 
 service, was simply burdened with the mere drudgery 
 of hammering rude and jagged stones, or wielding the 
 gauge with no higher ambition than to make straight and 
 perfect corners. His teacher was his master, and as such 
 practically progressive ; and all the instruction essential 
 to render the apprentice a thorough and proficient work- 
 man was bestowed upon him during this tutelage. 
 
 And in the pursuance of this purpose he advanced 
 gradually, with a greater or lesser degree of proficiency, 
 to a high standard of mechanical skill ; so that, at the 
 time the grade of Fellow was conferred on him, he was 
 in full possession already of the necessary knowledge 
 which made him a master of the details of architectural art. 
 By details of art, are to be understood that the apprentice 
 mason, during his period of service, as in the case cited 
 of the anatomist, had become thoroughly skilled in the 
 several parts of his trade. For example, he could work 
 out with exquisite elaborateness a floriated capital, and 
 chisel into natural semblance the niched figures with which 
 the church militant was delineated upon airy towers and 
 cathedral walls ; he could dress, with accuracy, the polished 
 stones suitable for elegant pilasters, and contributed his 
 share of arches upon which the superstructure was raised 
 
228 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 with infinite skill, — all this he had acquired during his 
 apprenticeship ; but the key by which these multitudinous 
 and detached portions were conjoined, the combination by 
 which foundation stones, pilasters and columns, shining 
 walls, chapters gracefully wreathed with flowers, arches 
 and mullions, canopies and ribbed tracery, flying buttresses 
 and rosette finials, were put together to form the cathedral, 
 was one of the secrets which he obtained on being ad- 
 vanced to the degree of Fellow-craft, and with this he 
 received- the interpretation of symbolic allusions with 
 which each church was filled ; and, likewise, the emblem- 
 atical lodge treasures were explained to the extent that, in 
 future, he could read with ease the mystic references which 
 hitherto had guided him as a finger-board on the high- 
 ways, with no other signification than a necessary orna- 
 mentation applied to sacred edifices, or as an inexplicable 
 appurtenance of lodge furniture. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Wages of Builders : What, and when Paid — Compensation by the 
 Ordinance of 1254 — The Warden Guards Lodge Records — Pays 
 the Craft at Sunset — The Master: His Relations to the 
 Members — Is the Judge, Custodian of Plans, and Lays out 
 Work — A Master must be Tried and Approved by two Master 
 Builders — Lodge to be Free from Discord, and Typical of 
 Perfect Purity — Treasurer — Charges against Delinquents — 
 Several Lodges around Large Structures — Expulsion of a 
 Master — Confessional. 
 
 interesting question arises at this point, as to 
 how the Freemasons of the Middle Ages were 
 paid or maintained during their sojourn in and 
 about their work. The erudition of Von Rau- 
 mer 1 has furnished a partial solution of what Paly, in his 
 Manual of Architecture, 2 confessed to be uncertai n. 
 
 In the erection of the cathedral at Pisa, in the year 1063, 
 by Buschette, who is claimed to have been master builder 
 of the work, and a Greek or Byzantine architect — an allega- 
 tion which the distinguished historian first cited thinks 
 by no means proven 3 — the operatives were supported by 
 
 1 Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, Bd. VL, p. 490. 
 
 2 A Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 211. 
 
 3 Vide Emeric David, Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, p. 115. Mi- 
 lizia, Memorie degli Architetti, Tomo IV., p- 134, asserts the Grecian nativity 
 of the artist referred to, but following Vasari, Vie dei Architetti, etc., Tomo I., 
 p. 216, too closely, falls into an error of date, and also assigns the foundations 
 of the Pisan cathedral to the year 1016. See Hawkins, History of the Origin 
 of Gothic Architecture, p. 88. 
 
 20 229 
 
230 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 contributions. Each family was expected to make volun- 
 tary donations, until the structure was completed, of a sum 
 equivalent to twenty English shillings. The city at that 
 time numbered about thirty-four thousand families, who, 
 at the foregoing rate, rendered a yearly revenue to the 
 construction of the church of £34,000 sterling. Some of 
 the contributors made very slow payments, and proved 
 quite refractory ; and others threw many obstacles in the 
 way of collections, in order that the workmen might be 
 hindered ; but these suffered adequate punishment at the 
 Archbishop's hands, by being banished from the city. 1 
 In addition to the above taxations and exactments, the 
 structure received substantial presents of personal property, 
 and occasionally grants of land. The donors usually ob- 
 tained from the ecclesiastics a gold ring, foxes' skins, etc., 
 as a memorial for their gifts. 
 
 Oftentimes public funds were liberally appropriated for 
 the purpose mentioned, and also powerful monarchs, as, for 
 instance, the kings of Sicily and the Byzantine emperors, 
 who had close commercial relations with Pisa, frequently 
 made the cathedral rich and valuable presents. This 
 building, whose construction is specially cited in order to 
 indicate the means by which the great cathedrals of this 
 and subsequent epochs were, erected, had an intendant of 
 the possessions which it acquired in Constantinople ; and 
 in Western Europe, Frederick I. had these donations under 
 his own particular care. According to the terms of a con- 
 tract made a hundred years later, in the year 1165, it was 
 stipulated that on important festival days certain gifts of 
 money, wine, and provisions should be furnished, and in 
 case of sickness of the craftsmen, certain deductions were 
 to be allowed. 2 
 
 As late as the year 1265, during the construction of St. 
 
 1 Von Raumer, Geschtchte der Hohenstaufen, op. et loc. cit. 
 
 2 Von Raumer, Ibid., Theil VI., p. 491. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 231 
 
 Antoninus' church, at Padua, 4000 lire were stipulated as 
 a yearly sum for the building and embellishment of the edi- 
 fice. This sum of money was regularly paid until the work 
 was completed. The accounts involved in this business 
 transaction were under the direction of a Minorite monk and 
 two citizens of the place. 1 For the purpose of successfully 
 terminating the labors of the fraternity, the ecclesiastical 
 authorities, during the Middle Ages, granted indulgences 
 to those who offered voluntary contributions to provide 
 the means wherewith to construct sacred edifices. It fre- 
 quently occurred that clerics were directed to traverse 
 foreign countries, endowed with such plenary powers, in 
 order to accumulate money and material to be used in 
 building churches. 2 Noblemen and their ladies generously 
 aided in these enterprises, sometimes through a liberal 
 expenditure of finances, or goods and chattels, and at 
 others by actually contracting for the sustenance and sup- 
 port of one or more operative masons. 3 In the year 1192> 
 the artificers employed in building for the Bishop of 
 Chester, were paid out of the personal property belonging 
 to the monastery there. 4 
 
 The earliest authentic account of the pay which a master 
 mason received for daily labor, is contained in the regula- 
 tions digested by Boileau. Whenever a master builder 
 was called upon, and sworn, to decide any question arising 
 in the progress of a work, or selected to arbitrate any matter 
 connected with his trade, he was entitled to receive as 
 wages two sous from each party in the case. 5 At a later 
 
 1 Worueber ein Minorit und zwei Burger Rechnung fiihrten und ablegten. 
 Von Raumer, op. et loc. cit. 
 
 2 Berington, Literary History of the Middle Ages, p. 324. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 325. 
 
 4 Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture of England, p. 44. 
 
 6 Ordinnances relatives aux Metiers de Paris, cxii., p. 373, Depping ed., 1837. 
 At the period designated, a sou was, according to Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages, 
 p. 91, equivalent to twenty francs. 
 
£32 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 period, viz., in the year 1267 v when Niccola Pisano labored 
 as a master stonecutter on the cathedral at Sienna, he re- 
 ceived for his day's wages eight Tison solidi. 1 
 
 In the year 1293, each master builder who worked in a 
 lodge erected near the cathedral in process of construction 
 at Orvieto, according to a document cited by Marchese, 2 
 was paid the sum of two solidi for his work. It does not, 
 however, appear from the early German or English Ma- 
 sonic records, what rate of wages was fixed for the masons, 
 unless the statement made in the Lansdowne MSS., 3 that 
 Saint Alban gave the fraternity three shillings and six- 
 pence a week, be understood to signify that during the 
 year 1560, when, it is alleged, the manuscript was drawn 
 up, this was accepted as regular pay. It is, perhaps, reason- 
 able to assume that, prior to the year mentioned, these 
 wages were fixed rates at the time a document of an earlier 
 date had been written, from which the MSS. quoted was 
 transcribed. At all events, neither the Halliwell MSS. 
 nor that discovered by Cooke — both more ancient — speci- 
 fies a sum which was ordered by Saint Alban to be the 
 future schedule of compensation. 
 
 At the close of the fifteenth or opening of the sixteenth 
 century, an English master mason received for two days' 
 labor, sixteen pence, and two shillings for a period of four 
 days' work. 4 It is not unlikely that a pay-table, in early 
 times, was established between the Master and his lodge 
 members, independent of local legislation ; and after such 
 rate had been agreed upon, neither the master nor his 
 workmen were at liberty to change it. In the ordinance 
 of 1462, the principle is recognized in the most unequivocal 
 terms. The master is expressly forbidden to vary or climin- 
 
 1 Marchese, Vie dei ArcliiteUi Pittori, Tomo I., p. 90. 
 
 * I capi scultori avevano poco piu di sei soldi il giorno, i garzoni (Fellows) 
 due. Marchese, Ibid., p. 90, note (2). 
 
 8 See Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 33; 
 
 * Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 362. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY 
 
 233 
 
 ish the daily stipend. 1 As previously stated in the pre- 
 ceding part of this work, the increasing demands and 
 exclusive assumptions of the English Freemasons, who, 
 about the year 1424, refused to accept wages as prescribed 
 by law, caused the statute hitherto cited to be passed, which 
 modified the operative nature of the guild. 
 
 In the year 1610, the following wages, apportioned by 
 the justices, were made binding upon the Freemasons: 2 
 
 With Meat. Without Meat. 
 
 A freemason who can draw his own plans 8 d. 12 d. 
 
 A rough mason who can take charge of others 5 " 10 " 
 
 A bricklayer 4 " 8 " 
 
 " " apprentice 3 « 7 " 
 
 Subsequently it was enacted that they should be paid in 
 accordance with the subjoined schedule : 3 
 
 With Meat and Drink. Without. 
 
 A freemason ,6 d. 1 s. 4 d. 
 
 A master brickmason 6 " 1 " " 
 
 Servants and apprentices over 18 years 4 " " 8 " 
 
 In the year 1684, the Freemasons were obliged to take 
 one shilling and four pence per diem, and the penalty 
 attached to accepting more was an imprisonment for 
 twent}^-one days. 4 The operatives' wages were usually paid 
 them each day at sunset," in the lodge, by the Pallirer or 
 Warden, although the phraseology used in the Lansdowne 
 
 1 Kein meister sol den lohn absprechen oder geringer machen. Art. 9. 
 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, pp. 115, 116. 
 
 2 36 Charles II. 3 Archceologia, Vol. XI., p. 203. 
 
 4 Ibid,, Vol. XL, p. 208. 
 
 5 Biograph. Brit., Vol. X., p. 590 ; Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 83. 
 This custom was evidently transmitted to the mediaeval Masons by their By- 
 zantine predecessors. At the building of Saint Sophia, under Justinian, the 
 workmen were paid each evening. Gibbon, Hist, of the Decl. and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire, Vol. IV., p. 86. This is a very noteworthy coincidence, and 
 an additional attestation by undisputed history of the antiquity of many old 
 Masonic formularies. 
 
 20* 
 
231 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 MSS., 1 seems to be susceptible of an interpretation that 
 such payment was made at the close of the week. 
 
 From the importance attached to the duties of a Warden, 
 or Pallirer, and the solemnity with which he was invested 
 with his official authority, I am inclined to the opinion 
 that, by the Master's direction, he was the custodian of the 
 lodge membership roll, and perhaps combined the powers 
 of a secretary 2 and disbursing treasurer, by preparing a pay- 
 list for the workmen, and, in the prosecution of the pre- 
 rogatives incident to his station, paid the craftsmen their 
 wages at close of day, which, during the Middle Ages, was 
 at sunset. 
 
 Of all the relations which existed among the medieval 
 craftsmen, that relation of the Master to the members of 
 his lodge was unqualifiedly the most important. These 
 lodges, created originally for convenience of operatives 
 employed upon buildings in process of construction, were 
 under the jurisdiction of an officer denominated as Master, 
 who, not only in all matters appertaining to the techni- 
 calities and outlines of art, was the arbiter, but, in the 
 decision of everything affecting the morals of his lodge 
 and its members, was absolute. 3 He was the trusted custo- 
 dian of all plans and diagrams, in accordance with which 
 buildings were erected. It was his duty and privilege to 
 select workmen necessary to execute details, and to deter- 
 mine the number of craftsmen required for certain work, 4 
 and these were guided in their labors by designs drawn 
 out by the Master's hand, as occasion demanded, in the pro- 
 gress of labor, sketched, perhaps, on the smooth surface of 
 a convenient block, — of which many diagrams frequently 
 
 1 u Ii. s. and vj. d. a week." Hughan, Masonic Charges, p. 33. 
 
 2 The guild of St. Leonard, Lynn, established in 1376, had a secretary or 
 clerk, whose duty it was to register members' names, — this office was by no 
 means a common one. Smith, English Guilds, p. 50. 
 
 3 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 161 ; Fallou, Myslerien der Freimaurer, p 47. 
 * Scherr, ut supra. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 235 
 
 found on disjointed stones, loosened from ruined walls, 
 may be taken as examples. 1 As an officer of such trans- 
 cendent authority, approaching an autocracy, especial care 
 was had to make the proper selection for a Master. It 
 was specifically ordered that no one should be elected to 
 this position unless he had previously given satisfactory 
 proof by his workmanship that he was competent to pre- 
 serve his employers from loss. 2 And in case a candidate 
 offered himself to the builders who had never assumed the 
 duties of the mastership, he was compelled to procure the 
 avouchal of two tried Masters touching his competency to 
 conduct architectural operations, and thereupon he was 
 installed. 3 But when contracting parties designed the 
 erection of a new and stately edifice, they selected a master, 
 and in order to ascertain his proficiency by the ancient 
 regulations, they were authorized to summon to their aid 
 not less than two nor more than four master builders, who 
 were sworn to declare, upon their solemn oaths, whether 
 the aspirant was sufficiently skilled to be a Master. 4 When 
 patrons of the lodge selected a builder, who had hitherto 
 never acted in that capacity, to carry on a work of impor- 
 tance, in case skilled masters disapproved the choice, and 
 any damage resulted from his inefficiency, neither the 
 Master nor Fellows were obliged to indemnify the patrons. 5 
 If, under usual circumstances, a Master regularly inducted 
 displayed inability to consummate a contract for labor, 
 according to lodge justice, he was mulcted in twenty-one 
 pounds of wax, in order to redress the injury sustained. 
 
 The Master was obligated to rule and regulate the affairs 
 of his lodge in strict harmony with ancient usage, nor was 
 
 1 Paly, Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 218. 
 
 * Ordnung der Steinmetzen, A rt. 3. 3 Ibid., Art. 4. 
 
 4 Ibid., Art. 5. This enactment fully coincides with the sworn syndic of 
 masters who passed upon the skill of Fellow-craftsmen aspiring to the position 
 of Master. Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 314. 
 
 6 Ordinance of 1462, Art. 5, 6. 
 
236 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 he suffered to deviate from the landmarks of Masonry ; 
 although the text of the ordinance from which we quote 
 is very obscure*, 1 it would seem to bear the interpretation, 
 whenever the law of the land clashed with established 
 Masonic customs, he was at liberty to modify the same in 
 order to accord with legislative enactments. 
 
 It was a solemn duty to be just and upright in all secu- 
 lar transactions ; neither should he injure a Warden or 
 Fellow, nor oppress him by weight of authority. 2 This 
 regulation has descended to the present time, and a Master 
 of a lodge of Freemasons is impressively warned to divest 
 his decisions and conduct of every appearance of haughty 
 pride or tyranny. Another important point touching 
 guild government, was also carefully insisted upon. 
 
 By the eleventh article of this valuable document, every 
 Master should preserve his lodge free from discord ; and, 
 what is of greater significance for purposes of deeper 
 research, it was expressly enjoined that a lodge should be 
 as sacred as a court of justice. 3 He was not allowed to 
 introduce into his lodge a lewd woman, and if it happened 
 that a craftsman had aught to say to her, he must go as far 
 from the lodge as a stroke-hammer or mallet could be 
 hurled. 4 This latter clause of the article cited, contains 
 the substance of a custom hoary with age, which had come 
 down directly and without change from the twilight of 
 Teutonic civilization to the fifteenth century. I shall 
 treat of this subject at length in connection with the 
 emblem of the Master's gavel or mallet. 
 
 In order that his lodge might typify sanctity and purity, 
 
 1 Aber ein Itzlicher soil sein zeyt halden nach alt herkomen gewonheit des 
 landes. Ordinance of 1462, Art. 8. 
 
 2 Ibid., Art. 9. 
 
 3 Ein Itzlicher Meister soil seine Hiitten frey halten als das darinne kein 
 Zweytracht geschehe, und soil die Hiitten also frey halten als ein gerichts- 
 stadt. Ibid., Art. 11. 
 
 4 Als man raocht gewerffen mit einem scholhamer von der werckstatt. 
 Ibid., Art. 13. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 237 
 
 the Master was forbidden to falsify or commit an equivocal 
 action. 1 When strange Masters entered a lodge, they were 
 forced to pay for such admission, each time, five pounds 
 of wax. The Fellows, however, were not compelled to 
 indemnify the Master for such breach of Masonic etiquette, 
 but were expected to withdraw and forbid other craftsmen 
 to obey intruders until purged from dereliction. If this 
 officer committed theft, or defrauded a lodge, to the injury 
 of any member, he was forthwith expelled the fraternity, 
 and was, thenceforth, Masonically dead. 2 
 
 A severe caution was impressed upon Masters against 
 instituting suit before civil tribunals, or causing it to be 
 done, where a brother Mason was defendant ; neither was 
 it permitted to injure or slander their members, — all such 
 were promptly excluded from fraternal association. 3 Any 
 Pallirer or Fellow-craft convicted of offering bribes or 
 presents to his superior officer, in order to be more rapidly 
 advanced, forfeited his wages and was subject to dismissal 
 on Saturday night ensuing. 4 Neither could the Master con- 
 fer the grade of Fellow upon an apprentice to the trade, 
 before he had properly won and deserved such advance- 
 ment, because, according to the emphatic expression of 
 this venerable record, there shall be no power conceded a 
 Master to shorten such term of service by one week. 5 
 
 Another official position still recognized by the frater- 
 
 1 Ordnung 1462, Art. 12. 2 Ibid,, Art. 16. 
 
 3 Ibid., Art. 17. Xo regulation was more carefully adhered to than the one 
 above noted. In England, nearly all returns made by craft guilds of the year 
 1389, or earlier, contain an explicit direction how personal difficulties should 
 be adjusted by arbitration and award ; in no case was a member allowed an 
 action at law under penalty of expulsion from the guild. Toulman Smith, 
 English Guilds, p. 4 ; Krause, Die Drei celtexten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Abt. 2, 
 p. 278. Wilda affirms the same custom among the Germans, Das GildenWesen 
 im Mittelalter, p. 338. The English Masonic rules permitted the parties to go 
 to common law only when no settlement could be had by arbitration. Vide 
 Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 35. 
 
 4 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, 1462, Art. 20. 
 
 5 Das steht dem meyster cine wpche nicht zuvor. Ibid., Art. 22. 
 
238 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 nity of Freemasons, ascends to a high antiquity, viz., 
 that of treasurer. Each lodge selected a Fellow-craftsman 
 to administer the finances. This station was filled by an 
 appointment of the Master weekly. It was a part of the 
 duties incident to the office, to keep an accurate account 
 of all receipts and expenditures. The treasurer evidently 
 collected all fines and dues, the first of which were, no 
 doubt, numerous. After his term of office expired, upon 
 transferring the accounts to his successor, he was obliged 
 to state the amount of treasure which he had received, 
 and hand that over also in the money-box. 1 
 
 It appears to have been at the Master's option whether 
 labor in lodge should be suspended during vesper service. 2 
 
 The authority of a Master was admitted to extend so 
 far as to select a Pallirer from the apprentices whose term 
 was yet unexpired, provided no damage would be inflicted 
 upon the patrons during the process of construction by 
 such choice. This usage is not inconsistent with the 
 view which has been previously urged as the status of 
 apprentices ; and, presuming that they were thoroughly 
 instructed in art knowledge, it is probable that, after the 
 lapse of several years, an operative of this degree could be 
 found among the artificers perfectly qualified to assume 
 the duties of a Warden. From this standpoint it is equally 
 clear that chances for preferment were occasionally opened 
 to apprentices, and not entirely limited to Fellows, and 
 consequently, if an apprentice were eligible to a Pallirer's 
 station during his term of service, it is not to be supposed 
 that his apprenticeship obliged him to remain a silent 
 spectator of an active profession, or to be confined to bare 
 rudiments of architecture or plastic art. Moreover, under 
 emergent circumstances, one of the few distinguishing 
 privileges between him and a Fellow-craftsman was 
 removed — the possession of a mark, which he was entitled 
 
 1 Ordnung 1462, Art. 23. 
 
 2 Ibid., Art. 24. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 239 
 
 to receive, although the term of years for which he was 
 indentured still continued. If it be, therefore, conceded 
 that he became the custodian of a mark, as an Entered 
 Apprentice, he was at liberty to travel, and to do this it 
 was absolutely necessary that he should have sufficient 
 information to prove his claim to enter strange lodges. 
 
 As before noted, it seems conclusive that the important 
 distinction between these humbler artisans and their Fel- 
 lows rested mainly upon the presumption that the latter, 
 in attaining to the degree of Craftsman, was invested with 
 the mystic key which unlocked the symbols of construc- 
 tion, and endowed him with secret appliances by which he 
 could combine the disjointed fragments of his skill into a 
 homogeneous whole. A Master was earnestly enjoined not 
 to underrate the work of another, nor act unjustly towards 
 the brethren contrary to the spirit of the law. 1 No one 
 should be assisted by him officially who evinced a roguish 
 disposition, or was an impostor in word or action ; and in 
 case the persons in question betrayed a brutish character, 
 the Master was empowered to dispose of them as with 
 delinquent Fellows. 2 
 
 "Whenever a Master, in private business, borrowed money, 
 and failed to refund the loan upon request, he was held to 
 be degraded, and adjudged refractory, which usually en- 
 tailed a loss of mastership. 3 In cases of this nature the 
 creditor might proceed to have the matter investigated 
 upon charges or complaint, and the Master, or Pallirer, 
 neglecting, within a stated period, to liquidate his debt, 
 was immediately declared guilty of unmasonic conduct, 
 and thenceforth debarred from fraternal intercourse or 
 assistance. 4 
 
 1 Ordnung vom Y. 1462, Art. 32 ; Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Be- 
 deutung, p. 122. 
 
 2 Ordnung, ut supra, Art. 33. 
 
 3 The consequences of this were serious, and effectually severed his con- 
 nection from the craft. See Wilda, Das GildenWesen im Mittelalter, p. 336 ; and 
 Lacroix, Lcs Moeurs et Usages an Moyen Age, p. 317. 
 
 4 Ordnung der Steinmetzen zu Torgau, Art. 34. 
 
240 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Masters were rigidly forbidden to defraud or supplant 
 each other in their work j 1 if, however, the builder deserted 
 or abandoned his labor in favor of another, in such case it 
 was considered a subrogation without fraud ; but all re- 
 linquishment of lodge work, in defiance of ordinances or 
 accepted landmarks, subjected the Master to expulsion from 
 the craft by his associate builders. 2 
 
 The section cited in the margin, and taken from the 
 Torgau enactment, opens a question touching the number 
 of master architects presiding over lodges erected in the 
 vicinity of sacred edifices in the process of construction. 
 The inference is clear and direct, from the articles quoted, 
 that each cathedral, or other large structure, during the 
 Middle Ages, was surrounded by several lodges of Masons, 
 over which a separate and independent Master and Pallirer 
 possessed an undisputed and exclusive jurisdiction. Docu- 
 mentary evidence of this position is furnished by Marchese, 3 
 who states that Fra Guglielmo Pisano worked in a lodge 
 of stonecutters and sculptors, — assuming that other lodges 
 were regularly organized around the minster. The general 
 import of the regulations of 1254 also warrants this con- 
 clusion. 
 
 It was well established by immemorial custom, if one 
 Master vilified or injured another by word or act, which, 
 
 1 Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, Art. 10. In this the English manuscripts agree 
 with the German regulations. Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeu- 
 tung, p. 122. 
 
 2 Ordnung, ut supra, Art. 35. The phraseology used is as follows : " So sollen 
 In die anderen meister verwerffen." In all cases wherein a Master was put 
 to his proofs, it was an absolute necessity that two other Masters should be 
 present. When complaint was made that such officer had transgressed his 
 obligations to the craft, according to Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 47, 
 a sort of Deputy General or Grand Master, designated ein Zirkelmeister, 
 summoned two Masters of lodges to adjudicate upon the grievances charged. 
 See Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. II., Ab. 2, pp. 280-281. 
 
 3 Vie dei Piltori e Architetti, Tomo L, p. 90 : Loggi destinata agli scultori e 
 agli scarpellini. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 241 
 
 upon investigation, proved to be unwarranted, he was forth- 
 with expelled the fraternity. 1 And whenever his incom- 
 petency to continue or complete a work on which he was 
 engaged, manifested itself, and outside assistance became 
 essential to terminate the contract, this was sufficient cause 
 for dismissal. 2 
 
 A Mastership carried with it almost unlimited powers 
 as incident to the station ; and it was in strict harmony 
 with prerogative to withhold advancement or assistance 
 from members or brethren of the lodges whose private 
 lives were not above reproach. The Master was at liberty 
 to refuse the customary craft privileges to a Fellow who 
 belied or assailed the character of tiis brother, or who 
 associated with public women, and addressed improper 
 language to the maidens at taverns, or in the house where 
 he happened to be, or otherwise deported himself inde- 
 cently. A craftsman failing to attend confessional should 
 be discharged, and branded as an evil-doer. 3 Other duties 
 devolved on the Master upon his accession to office, and, in 
 addition to those noted, he had the authority of petty 
 justice in the lodge. 
 
 * 1 It will be understood, before such penalty could be enforced, it was indis- 
 pensable that judgment should have been rendered by two Masters, in con- 
 junction with the District Deputy, making three in all. 
 2 Ordnung. cit, Art. 37. 3 Ibid., Art. 38. 
 
 21 Q 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Relative Duties of Masonic Craftsmen — Shall be Upright and 
 True to each Other — Must Respect the Romish Church — Not 
 Compelled to be Affiliated — Certificate of Membership — 
 Contracts Terminate on St. John's Day — Dangerous Weapons 
 Excluded from Lodge — Slander Forbidden — General or Grand 
 Master — Master of the Work ? — None to Leave Lodge with- 
 out Permission — Sick Brethren Assisted. 
 
 HE old Torgau ordinances contain many minute 
 regulations for the general and specific conduct of 
 the Fellows, which clearly illustrate the source 
 whence were drawn those powers still recognized 
 to be inherent in organized bodies of modern Freemasons. 
 A craftsman who slandered a brother Mason with contu- 
 melious words while in lodge, was compelled to make 
 satisfaction by a fine of twelve kreutzers. 1 The members 
 were carefully enjoined against the introduction of dis- 
 reputable women into their lodges or workshops, nor should 
 they produce such characters before a convocation of Mas- 
 ters, under a penalty of four pounds of wax. 2 If an opera- 
 tive labored on days regarded as sacred, especially if it 
 were deemed his duty to attend prayers, he was placed 
 under the ban of ecclesiastical censure, and, as a punish- 
 ment, forfeited his right to receive further Masonic instruc- 
 tion from the Master. 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen, cit. } Art. 70. 
 
 2 Ibid., Art. 82. 
 242 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 243 
 
 The old adage, that " he who works not shall not eat," 
 was strikingly exemplified among the mediaeval Masons, 
 because, by the ancient rule, 1 a stonecutter absenting him- 
 self, without leave, from labor in the lodge, after breakfast, 
 was allowed no wages for that part of the day ; and in case 
 of absence during the entire hours of work, although he 
 appeared at the sunset roll-call, and before the evening 
 meal, his wages for that day were refused. 
 
 According to a charter 2 granting the weavers 3 at Etampes, 
 in France, certain immunities, among other concessions it 
 was agreed that the guild should have authority to regulate 
 the duration of daily labor, and for this purpose an enact- 
 ment required that this class of artisans should commence 
 and quit work at regular stated hours. This harmonizes 
 with the article cited, refusing compensation to indolent 
 or negligent craftsmen, and an additional attestation that, 
 in conformity to usual custom, a specific time was fixed for 
 operative stonemasons to begin and close their daily avo- 
 cation. 
 
 Whatever may have been the underlying and modifying 
 religious principles of a mediaeval lodge, there can be no 
 controversy upon the assumption that, so far as external 
 appearances went, each member was compelled to show his 
 subjection to the established church, and to adhere to its 
 usages. It is a noticeable fact, that it devolved upon the 
 Master to excuse the delinquency of his craftsman in failing 
 to respect the craft ordinances which regulated this phase 
 of fraternal association, and any Fellow remaining away 
 from high mass on Sunday, or other great festival days, 
 without leave, was required to redress such negligence by 
 a payment of four kreutzers for divine service. 4 
 
 1 Ibid., Art. 84. 
 
 2 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilization en France, Tome IV., p. 331. 
 
 3 There was a very old guild of this trade established in Florence, which 
 seems to have had like powers. Depping, Histoire du Commerce au Moyen Age, 
 Tome I., p. 227 ; also, Tome II., p. 324. 
 
 * Ordnung vom Y. 1462, Art. 85. It is absolutely impossible to conceive 
 
244 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 "No Fellow-craftsman was compelled to continue his mem- 
 bership in a designated lodge of Masons, longer than his 
 convenience or profit demanded ; he could at any moment 
 withdraw from his assembled brethren, and the edifice on 
 which they were employed, in order to travel elsewhere, 
 with the permission of his Master, and it was specifically 
 regulated that such severance might be at night or even- 
 ing when wages were paid ; but no operative, applying to 
 the Master for his demission, should obtain it unless he 
 parted without anger towards the officers, and freed from 
 fraternal obligations which precluded departure. 1 He was 
 also entitled to demand and receive a certificate of mem- 
 bership, so that his travelling and acceptance among 
 strange brethren might be facilitated. 2 
 
 All contracts for labor entered into by the Fellows with 
 a Master for winter service should not terminate until 
 Saint John's day ensuing, at which time, however, if ill 
 feelings threatened to destroy that thorough peace and 
 harmony among the craft which were essential to healthy 
 trade, he was at liberty to go. If a companion Mason 
 became at any time cognizant of aught dishonorable to 
 his Master, and failed to divulge it, during winter and 
 
 that the Freemasons of the Middle Ages were untinctured by the Romish 
 church. No doubt, the appliances and symbols of lodge ritual were used 
 without hindrance from the ecclesiastics, but, so far as religious influence and 
 clerical authority were concerned, this guild of artificers was subjected to 
 church discipline. In many countries, fraternities were perpetuated solely 
 depending upon mediaeval Christian ideas, as, for instance, saying masses for 
 the souls of deceased brethren, Smith, English Guilds, p. 74, or to provide 
 lights for church altars, Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen, p. 346. 
 
 1 Ordinance, ut supra, Art. 87, 88. 
 
 2 This was a practice common to many guilds. These certificates were 
 usually prepared by the clerk or secretary, and signed by the Master and 
 Wardens, and attested by the communal seal. Wilda, op. cit., p. 119. So 
 late as the year 1801, such testimonials of membership were expected to be 
 produced by visitors to French lodges. Regulateur du Magon, p. 18 (grade 
 d'Apprenti). See, further, Fallou, Die Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 121, and 
 Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeutung, pp. 71-73. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 245 
 
 summer, he was branded as a faithless and unworthy 
 brother. 1 All members were forbidden to work with a 
 craftsman who had procured work by bribing a Pallirer or 
 Master ; nor could a Fellow-craft render aid to another for 
 money, but the person receiving the assistance might 
 donate him a trilling gift as a mark of appreciation. In 
 every respect lodge regulations must be enforced, to secure 
 steady and uninterrupted progress of building operations, 
 and no craftsman was tolerated who opposed the Master 
 or Warden's orders. 2 
 
 Reference has been made to the duty of these officers, to 
 maintain harmony among the operatives while at work in 
 lodge. In accordance with this idea, all useless and dan- 
 gerous implements were rigidly excluded, or, if admitted 
 at all, should conform to specified rules. This regulation 
 alone furnishes a valuable appendix to the history of 
 morals and customs of the Middle Ages. It was enacted 
 that no companion Mason should carry a knife, or other 
 weapon, over half an ell in length, with him into the lodge, 
 nor wear the same at banquets. This will afford satis- 
 factory evidence of the restrictive morality of mediaeval 
 Masons. If, however, the implements were longer than 
 the prescribed measurement, he was compelled to pay a 
 penalty of seven kreutzers, and divest himself of it at 
 once. 3 
 
 The essential characteristic of lodge government, peace 
 and quiet, is well represented in the rigid exclusion of all 
 
 1 Bey dem soil kein gesell stehen. Ordnung, cit., 1462, Art. 89. 
 
 2 It was obligatory upon the fraternity to inform the officers of all things 
 affecting their characters, or that of the work. Plot, Natural History of Staf- 
 fordshire, $ 85-8. Like rule among secular guilds. Smith, English Guilds, 
 p. 317. 
 
 3 Do soli kein gesell messer oder andere were bey Im trogen in werkstatten 
 oder in Zechen, den ein messer der halben ellen long sey, was es langer ist so 
 soil er vii. kr. geben zu pusse und ist gleichwol ablegen. Ord. } cit, Art. 93 ; 
 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche zu Rochlitz, p. 48. 
 
 21* 
 
246 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 weapons that might disturb the uniform harmony neces- 
 sary to good workmanship. 1 
 
 The old German constitutions agree with the English 
 charges in a decided prohibition to the Fellows from back- 
 biting their Masters or Wardens, and under all circum- 
 stances it was the duty of a craftsman to reveal that which 
 jeopardized his superior's honor. 2 
 
 A curious insight into the practical operations of lodge 
 work during the presiding officer's absence, is afforded by 
 the Torgau ordinance. The craft were enjoined against 
 slandering or speaking evil of the master superintending 
 the edifice ; but in case both Master and Pallirer were 
 absent, the Fellows should cheerfully obey his directions. 
 From this clause it would seem that every important work 
 had the supervisory attention of a Master of more enlarged 
 powers, and who had undisputed control of the fraternity 
 whenever the regular officers were not present, but the 
 nature of his functions does not clearly appear. " Bau- 
 meister " is the word designating such person, and corre- 
 
 1 This element was an integral portion of the internal structure of all guilds, 
 but especially that of Freemasons or Steinmetzen. Frith-borh was an associ- 
 ation organized at an early period of Saxon government, upon the basis of 
 peace and harmony. Lucy Toulman Smith, Preface to English Guilds, p. xxi. 
 Already, in Anglo-Saxon times, such corporations are mentioned in and 
 around Canterbury. Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. II., p. 107. 
 According to a citation by Wilda, Has G Helen Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 245, 
 from Wilkins, Legg. Angl.-Sax., p. 67, the spirit and purpose of these guilds 
 were the maintenance of peace and concord among the members, and also to 
 protect each other by mutual friendships which involved mutual enmities : 
 "on annen freondscype oththe feondscipe." Particular care was taken that 
 no unseemly quarrels should interfere with social enjoyment at banquets held 
 after the performance of initiatory rites. Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 
 60. 
 
 2 Under the English regulations, the apprentice was sworn to be true to his 
 Master in all things. Harl. MSS., No. 2054, charge 1 ; Halliwell MSS., Pars. 
 14. The York manuscript directs that: "ye shall be true to ye Lord or 
 Master yu serve, and truly see his pfitt and advantage." Vide Hughan, Old 
 Masonic Charges, p. 36, et seq.; Ordinance of 1462, Art. 95. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 247 
 
 sponds to an architect. 1 It is by no means improbable, that 
 this artist may have possessed a general superintendence 
 of the work as applied to construction of buildings ; for 
 instance, to see that material, when wrought out in the 
 various lodges surrounding the edifice, was adjusted in 
 conformity to architectural plans. When it is considered 
 that operative Masons labored in lodges under the direc- 
 tion of a Master or Warden, who was necessarily entrusted 
 with a critical scrutiny of each fragment of material, and 
 expected to give suitable instruction touching its artistic 
 preparation, sound judgment would seem to dictate that 
 the structure itself would require the superintendence of 
 a general architect, deeply skilled in the traditions of 
 Masonic government, and equally accomplished in abstruse 
 geometric problems, who could quickly determine ques- 
 tions, in conjunction with two other builders, affecting a 
 Master's prerogative, and also be able to properly adjust 
 elegantly-wrought stones according to architectural dia- 
 grams. But this supervising artist under no other circum- 
 stances than those noted, came directly in contact with 
 the craft ; on the contrary, it was ordered, whenever the 
 Master or Pallirer was present and governing his lodge, that 
 all communications and complaints, or demands for assist- 
 ance from the workmen, should be made to either of the 
 foregoing officers. 2 Stieglitz has adopted a system of 
 numbering the articles of the Torgau ordinance which 
 renders unintelligible an important fact. For example, in 
 the first clause of No. 96, the Master and Warden being 
 absent, lodge details devolved upon the Baumeister, or 
 General Master ; while in section 97 of the edition noted, 
 the following regulation occurs, which, taken separately, is 
 obscure and meaningless : " Eo Fellow shall enter a com- 
 
 1 " Baumeister" was freely used during the early Middle Ages to signify 
 both an architect or building master, and an officer who took precedence in 
 many fraternities. Wilda, ut supra, pp. 214-216 ; vide Ordnung 1462, Art. 96. 
 
 2 Ordnung, cit, 1462, Art. 96. 
 
248 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 plaint to the architect ( Baumeister ) against another 
 craftsman, but such charge shall be made to the master of 
 the work (Werkmeister)." We shall hereafter explain, 
 when a Master's judicial prerogatives are examined, that 
 all cases of accusation arising among the fraternity must 
 be adjudicated by him. Here, therefore, seems to be a 
 collision of authority between the Master of a lodge and 
 a master of the work. When, however, the sections under 
 discussion are collated and read together in a connected 
 form, the idea intended to be conveyed, is : in case both 
 Master and Warden were absent, and a just cause of accusa- 
 tion made it imperative that the matter should be imme- 
 diately investigated, the Fellow aggrieved was obliged to 
 prefer his charge, not to the Baumeister or architect, but 
 to the master of the work ( Werkmeister ) . The same 
 intention manifests in an injunction against the Baumeis- 
 ter attempting to settle difficulties among the craft, of a 
 less grave character, in the absence of their officers, who 
 were to adjust all such inharmonious clashing upon resum- 
 ing the lodge mallet or gavel. 1 
 
 A question now confronts us touching the Werkmeister, 
 or workmaster, and what was his position in this craft 
 guild toward subordinate Masters, and what were the 
 duties and powers appurtenant to his station? To this 
 the answer is by no means an easy one, inasmuch as it is 
 barely inferable that the Werkmeister stood to the fra- 
 ternity of builders an acknowledged local Grand Master, 
 having jurisdiction over the several lodges of Masons at 
 work upon large edifices ; although the authority which 
 he seems to have wielded makes it credible that he was 
 endowed with higher powers than those of a " Bauherr," 
 Baumeister, or architect, or the Master of a lodge. From 
 the palpable signification conveyed by the ordinance con- 
 stituting Masonic tribunals, it is clear that the Werk- 
 
 1 Ordhung, cit, Art. 98. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 249 
 
 meister possessed prerogatives usually attributed to a 
 Grand Master. It will be seen, presently, that all troubles 
 demanding an adjustment between Masters of various 
 lodges were, in the first instance, submitted to him by the 
 Bauherr, architect ; but whether he had the recognized 
 authority, conceded hj enactment or immemorial usage, 
 to proceed at once to decide such difficulties, does not 
 clearly appear, although it is presumable that such was 
 his power. As previously urged, when the lodge officers 
 were detained elsewhere, and any grievance arose among 
 the Fellows, the injured parties were forbidden to produce 
 their complaint before the Bauherr, or Baumeister, but 
 were necessitated to bring the same to the Werkmeister's 
 attention. 
 
 In this regulation alone, a higher power is recognized, 
 as vested in the person designated, than belonged to either 
 the supervising architect or to Masters of lodges, where 
 the cause of complaint did not arise. No architect was at 
 liberty to use a craftsman for any work, unless with his 
 Master's consent ; l neither could the Fellows engage in 
 labor, which other operatives were detailed to perform, 
 under the superintendent's orders. 
 
 For a craftsman, or Pallirer, to receive wages not his 
 due, secretly, or, as the ordinance rigorously expresses it, 
 " behind the Master's back," was a grave offence, and the 
 Master could immediately punish the misdemeanor, because 
 his authority to regulate and control all matters pertain- 
 ing to a Fellow's pay was specifically recognized. 2 The 
 ensuing regulation evinces the thoroughly practical nature 
 of the mediaeval Masonic lodges. No craftsman should go 
 to the Latrina in company with another, but seriatim? in 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, Art. 99. 2 Ibid., Art. 102. 
 
 3 Auch soli kein gesell rait dem anderen auff das perfeten gehen sondern 
 einer nach dem andern. Ibid., Art. 103. See Brentano, History of the Origin 
 and Development of Guilds, p. cxliv., for some excellent suggestions concerning 
 this constitution. 
 
250 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 order " that the lodge might not be wanting in workmen, " 
 and in case he found another operative there, he was 
 obliged to produce him in the lodge during such tempo- 
 rary absence, under a fine of two kreutzers. 
 
 One peculiar custom touching craft regulations during 
 the hours of labor has descended to our day in its original 
 force. It is usual, at the present time, to permit members, 
 when within the tiled recesses of a lodge, to depart only 
 with the Master's expressed consent. This rule was 
 adopted, with stringency, by the mediseval Freemasons ; 
 by the Torgau ordinance, no Fellow was allowed to leave the 
 lodge without permission of his Master. 1 Craftsmen were 
 enjoined against applying their skill to anything not imme- 
 diately connected with regular lodge work ; neither were 
 they allowed to use material for other purposes than those 
 sanctioned by the presiding officers ; otherwise, whatever 
 damage was sustained, the Master became responsible, 2 and 
 must make good. 
 
 Like all mediaeval guilds, whenever a member, through 
 sickness or other circumstances, was unable to support him- 
 self, he was entitled to relief from lodge funds, and upon 
 the return of health or fortune, he could be compelled to 
 refund the expenditures. 3 
 
 1 Kein gesell was machen oder aus der Hiitten gehen ane laube des meisters. 
 Ordnung der Sleinmetzen, cit, Art. 104. 
 
 2 Ibid. " Every Mason shall truly serve the lodge for his pay." Grand 
 Lodge MSS., in Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 46. 
 
 3 Ibid., 105. By a regulation of the Garlekhith Guild, London, instituted 
 in 1375, any brother in necessitous circumstances, by old age, poverty, etc., 
 who had been a member of the fraternity for seven years, was to receive 14f/. 
 a week during "terme of his lyfe, but he be recouvered of his mischief." St. 
 Katherine's Guild allowed lid. weekly to each member who, " throw fur or 
 water, theves or sykness, or any other happes, " was unable to assist himself. 
 Smith, English Guilds, pp. 5, 6. The statutes of St. Canute, \ 25, quoted by 
 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen, p. 123, directed members to watch at the bedside 
 of a sick or infirm brother, and, in case of death, should follow his body to 
 the grave. Loss of goods by fire or shipwreck was indemnified. An integral 
 element of the ancient Icelandic constitution also compensated for such loss 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 251 
 
 All operative stonemasons were solemnly urged to 
 adhere closely to these rules, so that the profession might 
 not be injured. If, however, grave, infractions occurred, 
 whereby losses were incurred, such fines as were assessed 
 for delinquencies went into the corporation treasury. 
 
 — a guarantee in the nature of a fire or marine insurance. An association of 
 citizens, not less than twenty, — designated a Repp, — upon complaint of a 
 member that he had been injured by the foregoing casualties, assembled and 
 heard the proofs of damage. If the allegations of loss were substantiated, an 
 assessment of six per cent, ad valorem was made on the associate members' 
 property to redress the damage sustained. Dahlmann, Geschichte von Ddnne- 
 mark, Bd. II., pp. 276-282. Si quis confratorum nostrorum gildae, in de- 
 crepitam aetatem aut paupertatem inciderti, seu in morbum incurabilem, de 
 proprio non habuerit, unde possit sustineri, seu sustentari ; relevetur secundum 
 aestimationem, et dispositionem Aldermanni, etc. Houard, Traites sur les 
 (Joutumes Anglo-Normandes, Tome II., pp. 467, 487, cap. ix. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Powers Incident to the Master's Position — Prerogative as 
 Supreme Arbiter — Petty Justice Recognized — The Tools op 
 a Rebellious Craftsman Liable to Seizure — Civil Authority 
 Invoked — Masonic Tribunals Imitated after Royal Courts — 
 Jurisdiction of Grand and Subordinate Bodies — Annual Con- 
 vocations — Masonic Court: how Constituted — Wardens Pre- 
 side — Penalty for Disclosing Craft Arcana. 
 
 ~N the numerous articles which have been cited 
 from the ordinance of 1462, a strong moralistic 
 tendency, underlying lodge mechanism, is clearly 
 visible. A constant effort was made to infuse 
 
 the daily life and vocation of the Masonic fraternity with 
 principles of rectitude towards each other and to all men, 
 so that by carefully acting upon these instructions the 
 moral dignity of the craft should be elevated. 
 
 A lodge, during the Middle Ages, possessed the necessary 
 appliances to render this object effective, both through 
 wondrous and venerable symbols, and by means of the 
 stern powers inherent in the Master's station. His posi- 
 tion was one of great authority, as previously stated, and 
 in order, satisfactorily, to execute the plans which were to 
 typify the magnitude of divinity and the grandeur of the liv- 
 ing God, such prerogatives were conceded, both by tangible 
 written law and by immemorial usage. In the practical 
 operations of lodge work, he was invested with high judi- 
 cial power to adjust and settle promptly all disputes arising 
 
 252 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 253 
 
 among the artificers, and the more readily to accomplish 
 this, bailiffs were oftentimes selected to assist the Master. 1 
 
 The ordinance of the year 1254, by royal concession, 
 recognized in the Master of Masons a power of petty 
 justice, including a limited penal authority over the craft, 
 Fellows, and apprentices 2 — subject to revocation by the 
 king. It was specified that a Master's jurisdiction in 
 France should extend merely to expulsion from the society, 
 and to corporeal punishment where no blood was drawn. 3 
 
 The judicial right of clameur was conceded him, provided, 
 however, the judgment did not extend to deprivation of 
 property. 4 The Master possessing jurisdiction over the fra- 
 ternity of stonecutters, could demand an amendment for set- 
 tlement of each quarrel between the workmen ; and in case 
 the craftsman, upon whom devolved the usual payment as 
 a penalty for the transgression, failed to comply, or was 
 recalcitrant, the Master was empowered to suspend him 
 from the trade. 5 If the artificer still maintained his 
 haughty and insubordinate disposition, after having been 
 interdicted from a use of the handicraft, and continued to 
 pursue his usual vocation, as a severer punishment his 
 working tools were seized and retained until satisfaction 
 was made. When a Mason openly defied, and with vio- 
 lence resisted, this levy, the Master was authorized to 
 lodge information with the city provost. This officer 
 then brought the civic forces to execute the Masonic 
 award. 6 Parisian craftsmen, in the year 1254, were fre- 
 
 1 Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 161. 
 
 2 Boileau, Reglemens des Metiers, cap. xlviii. 
 
 3 Le mestre du mestier a la petite justice . . . . et de bateurs sanz sane. 
 Ibid. See Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, pp. 314-5. 
 
 * Joustice de clameur hors raise la clameur de propriete. Boileau, Sur les 
 Metiers de Paris, cap. 48. For a learned dissertation of powers involved in this 
 clameur, see Depping, Histoire des Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, p. 427, 
 note xi. 
 
 5 Boileau, Reglemens des Metiers, cap. xlviii. 
 
 6 Ibid., loc. cit. In nearly every instance the weight of civil authority con- 
 
 22 
 
254 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 qucntly organized into syndics or sworn courts, to deter- 
 mine appraisements of taxation values affixed to craft 
 property. 1 
 
 A few years later, about 1275, Rudolph I., emperor of 
 Germany, conceded the lodges of Strassburg, for the first 
 time apparently, then organized into a grand body, among 
 other privileges, the right of administering to their mem- 
 bers such justice as was requisite for good government. 
 
 In order that work upon large edifices might proceed 
 uninterruptedly, it was essential that extraordinary 
 authority should be delegated to the Master's discretion, 
 and, as a consequence of this investiture, his lodge was 
 controlled with powers incident to a judge presiding in a 
 court of justice. Order and submission, peace and har- 
 mony, were the cohesive elements uniting the fraternity 
 of mediaeval builders, and gave solidity and consistency to 
 their architecture, and effectiveness to their plans. As 
 we shall presently see, a lodge in its details presented 
 numerous points of exact similitude with a civil tribunal. 
 
 With the powers alluded to, it was not difficult for a 
 Master to restrain diversified individual opinions, and 
 pacify occasional irritations incident to all social inter- 
 course. Little information can be gleaned touching the 
 constituent parts of the stonecutters' courts, from other 
 sources than the Ordinance of 1462. This document fur- 
 nishes us with a detailed description of their construction. 
 
 Two systems of judicature were in vogue among the 
 Masons of the Middle Ages, subsequent, it appears, to the 
 
 firmed the official decisions of guilds. See Brentano, Hist, and Development 
 of Guilds, p. cxxvi., and Toulman Smith, English Guilds, pp. 416-420. Wilda, 
 Das Gilden Wesen, p. 318, says no principle of government was better recog- 
 nized than that which admitted secular penal powers to interfere for the 
 purpose of enforcing guildic judgments, with exemplary punishment. This 
 is most unequivocally conceded by HalliwelPs MSS., Royal 17 Al, Punctus 
 15, as follows: 
 
 " The scheref schal come hem sone to, 
 And putte here bodyes yn deeppe prison," etc. 
 
 1 Boileau, Reglemens sur les Metiers, cap. cxii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 255 
 
 time of Erwin Yon Steinbach, and may be appropriately 
 distinguished as the greater and lesser. 
 
 The smaller tribunal was a court having jurisdiction 
 over petty causes continually arising between Masters, 
 Pallirer (wardens), and members at large. It was pre- 
 sided over by the Master himself, and held within the 
 lodge enclosure. The principles and method which guided 
 decisions were such as had prevailed for long in the 
 Masonic fraternity, and with every indication that the 
 formularies adopted by this court in its ordinary proced- 
 ure, in accordance with which justice was administered, 
 were descended from a remote antiquity, and of Teutonic 
 origin. 
 
 Larger courts possessed final jurisdiction over matters 
 of greater importance, emanating from unsettled disagree- 
 ments between Masters, in their official relations, and the 
 architects. Charges of this magnitude came properly 
 before the yearly convention, or, to speak with precision, 
 the Grand Lodge, at such time and place as the book of 
 written law, from time to time, designated, and there the 
 allegations of parties concerned were heard and deter- 
 mined. 1 This grand tribunal embodied within its con- 
 struction elements of a distant epoch, whose original 
 characteristics were modified by the ceaseless changes of 
 a civilization evolved from the Middle Ages. In so far as 
 
 1 Vide Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 47. Perhaps, for expediency 
 and in emergent cases, petty charges against a Master were adjudged instanter, 
 by two or three Masters of other lodges. This view is adopted by the author 
 cited. Three such officers — including the accused — must be present. Here 
 is, perhaps, the foundation for Past Masters' authority. This office, at least 
 in name, is entitled to the merit of antiquity. In a return made by a guild 
 established in the year 1218, the phraseology "past alderman" is used to 
 designate an officer who passed through that station by service. Smith, Eng- 
 lish Guilds, p. 166. See note (*), p. 324, of the work quoted, where the com- 
 piler asserts that a grade of officiary, styled " Past Masters," was clearly rec- 
 ognized by an ordinance of a guild, in the nineteenth year of Edward IV.'s 
 reign. 
 
256 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 the smaller courts were regulated, it was prescribed that a 
 Master should exercise usual judicial powers in his lodge 
 over the members, and should administer the law without 
 hatred, the bias of friendship or enmity, but according to 
 the pledges of his solemn oath. 1 
 
 Masters and Fellow-craftsmen had the right to mutually 
 adjust their personal altercations, in order that employers 
 might not accuse them with violating the obligations, 2 — 
 under no circumstances, were the Fellows allowed to call 
 the Master to an account before his lodge. They were 
 privileged to withdraw, and forbid other brethren from 
 yielding obedience to him, until he made satisfactory 
 reparation. 3 
 
 No Fellow-craft possessed the power to chastise an 
 apprentice, but was compelled to lay his grievance before 
 the Master, whereupon that officer was authorized to in- 
 vestigate the alleged delinquency, and if the apprentice 
 were unable to exculpate himself, the Master punished 
 him. 4 Craftsmen were strictly forbidden to constitute 
 themselves judges of personal quarrels, thus ignoring their 
 Master or Pallirer. 5 Neither could a Pallirer, Fellow, nor 
 Apprentice adjudicate upon suitable adjustment of open 
 ruptures between each other; and in case an operative 
 assumed to render a decision, he was required to make 
 amends at the Master's option. The ordinance, as con- 
 nected with this subject, expressly states that the Master 
 alone, and no other, shall be judge. 6 When, however, an 
 
 1 Ordnung, 1462, Art. 39. 2 Ibid., Art. 44. 
 
 3 Aber die gesellen haben keinen Meister zu bussen. Ibid., Art. 15. This 
 right was also maintained by operatives and members of many guilds. Wilda, 
 Das Gilden Wesen im MiltelaUer, p. 336. 
 
 4 Ordnung, cit., Art. 78. 
 
 5 Ibid., Art. 80 ; Kloss, Die Freimaurerei in ihrer wahren Bedeulung, p. 144. 
 
 6 Der Meister soil richter sein und niemand anders ; Ordnung, cit., 1462, Art. 
 81. Vide Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, p. 41. 
 Judicial powers were an incident to guildic associations in nearly every in- 
 stance, and for obvious reasons. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen, pp. 16, 17. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 257 
 
 accusation, if proven, affected honor and reputation, three 
 other Masters were to be associated with him, and thus 
 organized, they passed sentence. 1 
 
 In conformity to the obligation taken previous to in- 
 stallation as presiding officer of the lodge, that dignitary 
 was necessitated four times 2 each year to propound the 
 question to his craftsmen, whether envy or hatred existed 
 among them, which might prejudice building interests 
 where they were employed. If, upon careful inquiry, the 
 lodge was found not entirely free from these uncharitable 
 feelings, it was a duty devolving on the Mastership to 
 settle the difficulties in a summary manner ; and any 
 Fellow refusing obedience to his superior's order was 
 forthwith discharged, so that no discord might interrupt 
 the general peace and harmony of the craft. 
 
 The Torgau text 3 seems to warrant the inference that 
 the Master was solemnly sworn to fearlessly wield the 
 authority of his office ; or, as the law enjoined, " should 
 do right and let alone what was not right," even though 
 employers or architects were opposed to him. Every 
 quarter-day he propounded the question to patrons and 
 superintendents of the building, whether they knew of a 
 Fellow having failed to faithfully perform his task, or had 
 indulged in trivial amusements detrimental to the interest 
 of the work, or had otherwise conducted himself with 
 impropriety ; and such delinquent actions charged having 
 been duly attested, a punishment commensurate with the 
 offence was promptly administered. 4 When an employer, 
 with full knowledge, concealed any overt acts, or refused 
 to make a disclosure to the Master, whatever loss the 
 
 1 Ordnung, cit., Art. 40. 
 
 2 This was a close imitation of the ancient German Morgenspreche, perpetu- 
 ated in England and called " mornspeches," and were quarterly interchanges 
 for mutual benefit. Smith, English Guilds, p. 47. 
 
 3 Ut supra, Art. 41. 
 
 * Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, Art. 42. 
 22* E 
 
258 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 edifice sustained in consequence, could not be indemnified. 
 Baumeister — master builders — were allowed no juris- 
 diction over the craftsmen independent of the lodge Mas- 
 ter, as hitherto stated, excepting in the absence of both 
 officers ; and any grievances arising in the meanwhile, 
 must be referred to the Master or Pallirer on his return ; 
 nor was wrangling or chaffering tolerated touching the 
 troubles, but all discussion should cease, and a dignified 
 silence be observed until the matters were examined into 
 by the proper officer. 1 
 
 Touching the powers inherent or delegated the larger 
 court, the Torgau regulations ordain that the Masters of 
 lodges and others shall be convoked each year, at such place 
 as shall be proclaimed, in accordance with the book of 
 Masonic law, for the purpose of adjusting all unsettled 
 controversies during the past twelve months. These annual 
 convocations 2 assumed the appearance and powers of an 
 appellate tribunal, exercising the authority to hear and 
 decide, although not finally, because an appeal lay thence to 
 the Grand Lodge at Strassburg. All infringements upon 
 old established customs and violations of law, whether by 
 the supervisory architect, Masters, or Fellows, were here 
 adjudicated. 3 
 
 The subject-matter for consideration in this yearly as- 
 sembly, was mainly composed of accusations by one lodge 
 Master against another ; charges affecting the moral and 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, Art. 101. 
 
 2 Annual assemblages of Masons, or Grand Lodges, are mentioned in the 
 Halliwell MSS., 17 Al, Art. 2 : 
 
 " Every may st yat ys a mason 
 Most ben at ye general congregation." 
 
 In their construction, these bodies bore a striking analogy to the German 
 grand bodies, which also were composed of Masters and Fellows. Ibid., Artic- 
 ulus 12. Vide Statute 3, Hen. VI., cap. 7, an. 1424, where the words "annuels 
 congregations et confederacies," frequently occur. 
 
 3 Ordnung, cit. sup., Art. 43. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 259 
 
 Masonic character of the accused ; complaint of one Master 
 against a brother Master, that he had supplanted him in 
 his contract labor ; and allegations by architects that Mas- 
 ters on large buildings — designated year work — had 
 manifestly proved incompetent. 1 
 
 For the purpose of a more formal trial of the latter allega- 
 tion, the architect was required to submit his charges in 
 writing, or deliver them orally to the Werkmeister, who 
 certainly corresponds to a Grand Master. Others entitled 
 to a voice in the convention, were selected to assist that 
 officer, and having been duly obligated, proceeded to 
 investigate, according to Masonic usage, the preferred com- 
 plaint, carefully noted the defendant's excuses or disclaimer, 
 and ultimately rendered a decision upon the merits of the 
 cause. 2 If the accused failed to appear and answer, judg- 
 ment passed against him, of expulsion from the fraternity, 
 as a worthless craftsman. Whenever emergencies demanded, 
 the authority of a higher tribunal was invoked to finally 
 determine all difficulties not adjustable in the court below. 3 
 
 The form or constitution of this superior court was as 
 follows : the Masters of lodges, by a majority vote, elected 
 a chief justice; the Pallirer or Wardens selected, in con- 
 junction with the Fellows, associate judges. 4 These judi- 
 cial officers began at once the adjudication of the accusation 
 and defence before them. An oath was apparently taken 
 prior to entering upon the duties of their office, which 
 admonished them to hold the scales of justice with an exact 
 equipoise. In case of disagreement, the entire matter was 
 referred to a deciding judge, who reviewed the testimony 
 adduced by the suitors, and gave judgment upon equitable 
 principles involved in the controversy. No allusion is 
 
 1 Ordnung der Sleinmelzen, 1462, Art. 43. 2 Ibid., Art. 43. 
 
 3 This is clearly recognizable in the proem to the ordinance quoted. See 
 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kuniyunde zu Rochlitz, pp. 59, 60. 
 
 * Denominated " scheffen," or " schoffen." Consult Savigny, Gesch. d. R. R. t 
 Vol. I., pp. 197, 198. 
 
260 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 made in the ordinance of Torgan to the tribunal of the 
 Grand Lodge at Strassburg, which possessed ultimate ap- 
 pellate power over all subordinate lodges and convocations 
 of Masons in Germany, although this authority seems to 
 be tacitly conceded. To this superior tribunal, therefore, 
 all parties feeling themselves aggrieved by adverse decisions 
 elsewhere, were at liberty to apply for further relief. 
 
 That the Strassburg Grand Lodge was recognized as a 
 court of final resort, and as such obtained undoubted recoo*- 
 nition from the Germanic craftsmen, is evidenced, among 
 other attestations, by a confirmatory letter issued by Em- 
 peror Matthias, in the year 1613, in which more ancient 
 imperial concessions to that effect are cited : " That when- 
 ever any one in the order fails to receive justice at the fra- 
 ternity's hands, he shall appeal to no other tribunal than 
 that at Strassburg, in the Grand Lodge, where the work- 
 master or Master of the craft, as supreme judge, shall hear 
 the subject matter in dispute, and shall decide the same, 
 conjointly with the Fellows and associate brethren, in 
 strict harmony with ancient craft regulations." 1 As far 
 back as the year 1275, a court of this prerogative was con- 
 vened in that city, with the chief warden sitting beneath 
 a canopy. 2 
 
 Strenuous efforts were made by the mediaeval Masons to 
 preserve the established privilege of judging society affairs 
 within the consecrated precincts of their own petty courtr. 
 And whenever a Master or Fellow evinced an insubordi- 
 nate character, and acted in opposition to lawful direction, 
 
 1 So sollen die doch einander nit weiter dreiben, dann gelin Strassburg uff 
 die Haubthiitten, da soli der werkhmeister als ein oberster Eichter des Stein- 
 werkbs, die sache anhdren undt saenibt seinen Gesellen und Mitbriidern uwlt 
 handeln darinen nach ordnung unseres Handwerkhs desz ini Buch liegt zu 
 Strassburg uff der Hiitten. Ordnung der Steinmetzen, bestdtigt vom Kayser 
 Matthias, 1613. 
 
 2 Brentano, History of the Origin and Development of Guilds, p. cxxvi. For 
 antiquity of judicial powers asserted by guilds, see Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen 
 des MUtelalters, pp. 10, 17. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 261 
 
 it was the custom to present such conduct before munici- 
 palities and noblemen,' and appeal to them not to harbor 
 or protect the delinquent, but to cooperate in executing 
 Masonic law. This provision of the ordinance seems to 
 have been designed for desperate cases, when a Master or 
 Fellow endeavored to evade the force of lodge legislation, 
 and sought protection from cities and feudatories of the 
 empire. When, however, the affair assumed this form, the 
 persons thus protecting an absconding Mason were sol- 
 emnly requested to return him to his proper tribunal. 2 A 
 curious intimation is thrown out at the close of the 
 forty-fifth article : whenever a recalcitrant craftsman was 
 shielded by secular authorities from craft punishment, or 
 lodge justice, the fraternity was at liberty to inflict upon 
 the delinquent stonecutter a severer castigation, well 
 defined in the brotherhood of Masons. 3 This refers, in 
 an unequivocal manner, to the oath-bound penalties to 
 which he should be subjected, if apprehended. 
 
 Disclosure of the secret mysteries of Freemasonry , during 
 the Middle Ages, was atoned for by terrible reparation. 
 
 It is related, upon Masonic tradition, that a citizen of 
 Utrecht, in the year 1099, killed the resident bishop on 
 account of the ecclesiastic having wrung from the civil- 
 ian's child the secret principles of the craft. 4 We shall 
 presently observe that lodge formularies shared many ele- 
 ments with mediaeval courts of justice, and consequently, 
 in emergencies, visited similar penalties upon convicted 
 brethren. 
 
 The selection of judges, in the manner above prescribed, 
 was a German custom, venerable with antiquity and of 
 
 1 Perhaps the civil authorities compelled an abjuration of the handicraft. 
 Anderson, Ancient Constitutions, p. 34, note (*) ; likewise, Boileau, Reglemens 
 mr Metiers, cap. 48. 
 
 2 Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 45, 46. 
 
 3 So wissen wir wol noch lautte der Ordnunge wie wir darinne halden 
 pollen. Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 * I give this from Heboid, Hist. Generate de la Franc Mag., but no authority 
 is cited for lateral research. 
 
262 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 general usage. A provision of the nature alluded to was 
 essentially necessary, inasmuch as the law of superior force, 
 during those ages and prior thereto, was the only recog- 
 nized civil authority. According to a Limburg Chronique, 
 quoted by Stieglitz, 1 there existed, towards the close of the 
 thirteenth century, no universally accepted conditions for 
 maintaining social peace and harmony, no imperial cham- 
 ber of justice — not even a Concordata Germanice — but the 
 strongest boldly appropriated the property of the weak. 
 In order, however, to preserve the appearance of a judic- 
 ature which would be recognized as a place wherein a 
 semblance of law prevailed, each of the parties interested 
 in adjusting mutual disputations, selected a judge to arbi- 
 trate ; these, in turn, chose another, who rendered the 
 decision, which was final, and from which no appeal was 
 tolerated. In concluding his judgment, the superior justice 
 used the following formula : " This say I, arbiter in chief, 
 on my honor, to be right and just ; and in making up my 
 decision, have inquired diligently of lords, knights, and 
 serfs, and many other good people." 2 
 
 1 Ueber die Kirche zu Rochlitz, p. 43. 
 
 2 Dieses sagen Ich obman bey meinem Ehren, recht sein und haben michs 
 befraget bey Herren, Rittern, und Knechten und bey vielen gutten Leuten. 
 Stieglitz, Ueber der Kirche zu Rochlitz, p. 43 ; Unger, Die Altdeutsche Gerichts- 
 verfassung, p. 114. The Germanic constitutions more carefully circum- 
 scribed the guild within fraternal jurisdiction than the English charges. 
 In the latter case, the principal limitation was confined to an attempted 
 settlement of troubles by craft interference first, before going to common 
 law. The guilds of Germany generally incorporated in their regula- 
 tions a power to settle all grades of offences arising within the guild hall, 
 when the crime did not pass beyond " drawing blood." Wilda, Das Gilden 
 Wesen des Mittelallers, p. 217. See Boileau, Reglemens sur Metiers, cap. xlviii. 
 In many cases criminal jurisdiction was exercised by these corporations: 
 " une juridiction de police et meme criminelle sur tous leurs membres." 
 Lacroix, Les Moeurs el Usages an Moyen Age, p. 314 ; Fallou, Mysterien der 
 Freimaurer, p. 47. So deeply had this spirit of independent judicial assump- 
 tion descended in the people of those ages, that love courts were regularly organ- 
 ized, with a full officiary and executive, to decide such cases of broken hearts ana* 
 wounded sensibilities as came before her majesty, the queen-justice. Lacroix, 
 ui supra, pp. 71, 257 ; Moratin, Origines del Teatro Espanol, Discorso Historico. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Close Identity between a Lodge of Masons and Gothic Courts — 
 A Sacred Place — Pagan Customs Untouched by Christianity- 
 Northern Tribunals Held on Hills and in the Open Air — 
 Circular and Quadrangular in Shape — Court Enclosed by 
 Pales or Pfahl — A Pallirer, Paleman, or Warden — Opening 
 of both Bodies with a Colloquy — Convened at Sunrise, Close 
 at Sunset — Lunar Influence — Formal Symbolism and Order 
 for Silence — Proclamation of Obedience — Why Candidates of 
 Servile Birth are Excluded from Medleval Freemasons^ 
 Teutonic Courts Close with Banquet. 
 
 HAT a lodge of Masons, constituted for regular 
 work, or as a court of investigation, with the 
 Master endowed with high power, presented a 
 close analogy to an early mediaeval court, cannot 
 
 be denied. The place where ancient Teutonic and Norse 
 nations convened their law tribunals, was regarded and 
 vigilantly maintained as sacred, and among the Scandina- 
 vians, ceremonies preliminary to the transaction of judi- 
 cial business were conducted by the priesthood. To this 
 custom many allusions, symbolic or otherwise, prevailing 
 in the later courts of the Middle Ages, and transmitted 
 to our day by the Freemasons, can be traced with reason- 
 able accuracy. 
 
 The court precinct was invested with attributes of 
 sanctity and undisturbed peace. 1 Originally, courts were 
 
 1 Dem Gericht wurde heiligkeit nnd ein besonderer friede beigelegt. Grimm, 
 Deutsches Bechtes Alterthumer, p. 745. 
 
 263 
 
264 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 held under the broad expanse of heaven, in the open air ; 
 and, in the belief of the ancient Germans, according to 
 Tacitus, 1 the places where they were called to administer 
 justice maintained a high degree of holiness. It was there, 
 moreover, that sacerdotal offerings ascended to heathen 
 divinities as an invocation to assist the judges in solving 
 the perplexities of law which they promulged and decided. 
 
 Although the Christian religion extinguished the sacri- 
 ficial fires, the sacred character of the court was left un- 
 polluted. There can be no successful controversy upon 
 the assumption that it was . in view of this sanctity and 
 harmony pervading early mediseval tribunals, that a Master 
 was directed to preserve his lodge free from all discord 
 and as pure as a court. 2 According to Grimm, 3 the most 
 usual localities where ancient Gothic tribunals convened, 
 were on high hills or rising ground, and in support of his 
 opinion the learned archaeologist has collected a numerous 
 array of authorities. 
 
 In Germany, many places still terminate with the word 
 " berg," or eminence, which sufficiently indicate that 
 judges originally assembled there. Mountains were 
 generally invested with holiness, as emanating from 
 Northern divinities, under whose sanction the Teutonic 
 arbiters dispensed j ustice. 4 Donnersberg, or Thor's Mount, 
 
 1 Germamia, cap. 9 ; Maurer, Geschichte der Markenverfassung, p. 327. Also, 
 Marches' Courts were opened under a canopy. Ibid., p. 332, etc. In this con- 
 nection, it may be added that the Masons' court held in Strassburg, in the 
 year 1275, with the chief Warden sitting under a canopy, was an evident imi- 
 tation of remote Teutonic usages. Brentano, Hist. Develop, of Guilds, p. cxxvi. 
 
 2 Soli die Hiitten frey halten als ein Gerichtsstadt. Ordnung der Stein- 
 metzen, Y. 1462, Art. 11. The ordinances of English fraternities subjected all 
 who entered the ale chamber of the guild without leave to a fine. This was 
 evidently imposed in the interest of good morals, and as a safeguard to excesses. 
 Toulman Smith, English Guilds, pp. 84, 95, etc. In the regulation above cited, 
 the design to uphold and maintain the sacred character with which the lodge 
 was invested is manifest. 
 
 3 Deutsches Rechts Alterthiimer, pp. 800-1 ; Maurer, op. cit., p. 329. 
 * Unger, Altdeutsche Gerichle, p. 188. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 265 
 
 near Warburg, in Westphalia, was consecrated for this 
 purpose, and the Limburg Chronique 1 informs us that courts 
 were opened and held on the Tunner or Downs, upon ris- 
 ing ground. A custom of this kind had apparently ob- 
 tained m judicial matters among the Celts and Druids. 2 
 
 Valleys also claimed veneration as under the especial 
 safeguard of Norse deities, and courts of law were often- 
 times held within their solemn enclosure. One was con- 
 vened in a sloping dale, on the boundary line between 
 Braunschweig and Mainz. Other examples are frequent 
 where judicial assemblages were opened for the adminis- 
 tration of justice in a valley sheltered and encompassed 
 by ascending hills ; and this usage was unquestionably 
 continued during the Middle Ages in obedience to relig- 
 ious superstition — a relict of Northern antiquity. 3 As 
 previously urged, early Christian builders erected their 
 church edifices on high hills, in order to retain, with the 
 new doctrines of faith, as many of the popular notions as 
 the evangelical creed would tolerate. Collectively taken, 
 the facts alleged will, perhaps, clearly explain whence the 
 legend still extant among Freemasons drew its original 
 features : that " ancient brethren formerly met on elevated 
 places and in deep valleys." 
 
 It was during the Carlovingian age that the law courts 
 were ordered to discontinue their sessions in the open air, 
 and thenceforth to assemble within sheltered enclosures, 
 under the pretext that the wide-spreading branches of the 
 linden tree and perpendicular rock furnished but frail pro- 
 tection for judges and people. 4 Notwithstanding the effort 
 of Charlemagne to crush out, beneath the weight of impe- 
 
 1 Grimm, Deutsckes Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 802. 
 
 2 In the legendary contest of the Wartburg singers, the trial of voices was 
 held on high ground. Wilmar, Literatur Geschichte, p. 230. 
 
 3 Grimm, ut supra, p. 800. Hills were selected by preference, on account 
 of their sacred associations as burial places for the dead. Simrock, Deutsche 
 Mythologie, p. 319. 
 
 4 Baluz., Capitular, Karol. Mag., Tome I., p. 467. 
 
 23 
 
266 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 rial power, this form of venerable and popular judicature 
 in the rural districts, 1 these outdoor tribunals still perpet- 
 uated a vigorous existence ; nor was it until late, or 
 towards the close of the Middle Ages, that they were 
 extinguished. 2 
 
 The earliest form of a court was circular, because the 
 multitude surrounding their judges naturally collected in 
 the outline of a circle. Subsequently this shape gradually 
 changed to an oval, and finally to an oblong square. 3 
 
 It will be remembered that the earliest information 
 which we possess touching the formation of a mediaeval 
 lodge of Masons, asserts the brethren assembled around 
 the Master in a semi-circle. 4 Since then a lodge is described 
 to be an oblong square, and this ideal shape appears to have 
 been imitated from, and made to conform to, a court out- 
 line. This ultimate change can be satisfactorily attributed 
 to the fact that this circumference was necessarily altered 
 by surrounding obstacles where justices officially convened. 
 For instance, if they met in the streets of a town, the 
 lateral walls pushed the arc of the circle to a straight line ; 
 but there was uniformly more than an imaginary boundary 
 to these ancignt courts, in order to repress outlying crowds. 5 
 
 Scandinavian antiquities declare this method to have 
 consisted in staking off the circular form, or subsequently the 
 oblong square, with stout hazel twigs, fastened with strong- 
 cords. 6 Frequently, the excitement attendant uponanadju- 
 
 1 One was held as late as the year 1688. 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsche* Rechts Altertkumer, p. 806. 
 
 3 Fruhe kann sich aber audi aus dem ovalen ring ein liinglichs viereck 
 gebildet haben. Ibid., p. 809. Maurer, Markenverfassung, p. 332. 
 
 4 Hibernian judges arranged their courts in the shape of a half-moon. 
 Moore, History of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 42. Der meister des Baues stellte sich 
 in den Osten und die Briider ordneten sich im Halbkreis urn ihn. Findel, 
 Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 82. See Biograp. Brit., X., art. Wren. At the 
 close of the last century, lodge banquets were drawn up in the form of a semi- 
 circle. Regulateur du Macon, p. 40. 
 
 5 Grimm, ubi supra, p. 809. 
 
 6 Ibid. ; Dahlinann, Geschichte von Dannemark, Bd. II., pp. 207, 208 ; Mallet, 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 267 
 
 dication of disputes caused so great a pressure from behind, 
 that the cords were broken, although, as Grimm 1 states, 
 the reputation of sanctity accorded to this circumscribed 
 space was of itself sufficient to deter forcible entrance. 
 
 In the year 1283, the posts surrounding the allotted place 
 were called " pale " or u palings, extra septa judicialia, quae 
 teutonice richtpale nuncupantvu\"' 1 This word is common to 
 both the Saxon and German languages. In its oldest form 
 it is generic pal, and in the modern English paling, the 
 original pal has been retained, but the Germans have 
 changed it to pfahl. These words possessed an identical 
 signification, and meant a post or paling set up to guard 
 against approach from the outside. 
 
 There appear to have been two main entrances into the 
 enclosed court-yard, but from what cardinal points is un- 
 certain — perhaps from the south and west. It is very 
 clear, however, that these ingresses were under the charge 
 or guard of two persons, who, in admitting all duly author- 
 ized parties, removed the pale, or paling, and it is reason- 
 able to infer that the officers, from the duty they performed, 
 were denominated Pallirer ; the original meaning of which 
 was a guardian of the court pale, or post. 
 
 When the ordinances of the years 1459 and 1462 were 
 committed to writing, this word had obtained the well- 
 defined signification of warden, or one who guards, 3 and 
 in this sense it occurs in the Tor^au book of Masonic 
 law. A striking custom existed in opening a mediaeval 
 court of justice, which has descended to and is still prac- 
 tised in lodges of Freemasons, and which, in numerous and 
 
 Northern Antiquities, p. 291. The cords uniting the stakes were designated 
 vebond, consecrated threads, from ve, holy, and bond, cord or bands. 
 
 1 Grimm, ut supra, p. 809. 
 
 2 Grimm, Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 810. 
 
 3 The regulation of 1459 has the word both Parlirer and Palirer. In the 
 sworn transcript of the Torgau ordinance, procured by Stieglitz, it uniformly 
 occurs as Pallirer. 
 
268 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AXD 
 
 essential particulars, resembles the old Gothic tribunals. 
 I refer to the formal opening of the court with a colloquy. 
 The first question 1 which the justice propounded the 
 associate judges and bailiffs, was whether the court was 
 opened at the right time of day and in the proper place; or, 
 as a manuscript 2 of the year 1440 gives it, whether the year 
 and day, place and time, were correct. 3 
 
 The time within which judicial proceedings were al- 
 lowed, extended from the rising to the setting of the sun. 
 In imitation of this, the mediaeval lodges began work at 
 sunrise and closed at sunset. 4 
 
 An allusion to this custom is still preserved in the 
 formal opening and closing of Masonic labors. Day and 
 sunlight were regarded as essentially holy by the ancient 
 Teutons. 
 
 In obedience to a superstition which sanctified all diurnal 
 business, neither the Gothic courts nor lodges of Masons, 
 during the Middle Ages, were opened before the rising of the 
 
 1 Eine solche feierlichc Eroffnung des Gerichts durch Fragen andenFrohn- 
 boten oder die Schoffen um ein Urtheil darueber : ob es an reenter Zeit, 
 rechter Statte sei, u. p. w., wie auch die formelle Schliessung des Gerichts 
 erhielt sich so lang das offentleche miindliche Verfahren stattfand. Schulte, 
 Reiclis- und Rechtsgeschichte, pp. 356-7 ; Maurer, Markcnverfassung, p. 341. A 
 colloquy ensued, in a chapter of ecclesiastics, between the abbott and candi- 
 date for the novitate. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 179. 
 
 2 Ob es an jar und tag weil und zeit sei. Grimm, Deutsches'Rechts Alter- 
 th timer, p. 813. 
 
 3 During this dialogue, it was asked by the presiding justice how many 
 composed such a justiciary, to which the reply was, there should be at least 
 seven. Vide Unger, Altdeutsche Gerichten, p. 65. 
 
 " Graf: Ich froge dich frone, wie und mit wie viel schoppfen und fryen ich 
 den stul bestizen soil und bekleyden ? 
 
 "Bot : Ir soli zum myndesten siben freyen der grafschaft by euch sitzen, 
 u. s. w." Thiersch, Geschichte der Stadt Dortmund, cited by Winzer, Die 
 Deutscher Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, pp. 142-143. 
 
 4 Man versammelte sich frith vor Sonnenaufgang. Abends nach der Arbeit 
 versammelte sich wieder. Findel, Geschichte der Frcimaurerei, p. 82. Vide 
 Biograph. Brit., X., art. Wren. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 269 
 
 sun, but suspended work exactly at sunset. 1 The season 
 for convening early tribunals was, moreover, regulated in 
 strict harmony with religious faith. A like usage evi- 
 dently prevailed in the periodical meetings of the building- 
 fraternity when convened for important deliberations — 
 among these may be mentioned initiatory rites — and is 
 to this day closely adhered to by provincial lodges. 
 
 Heathen antiquity yielded due reverence to changes of 
 the moon — a new or full moomwas looked upon as espe- 
 cially favorable ; per contra, that orb, when waning, typified 
 the sinistrous and sombre. Tacitus 2 notes this singular 
 notion as existing in full vigor among the Germans of his 
 age. Civil courts were convoked, by an almost universal 
 usage, on or before the full moon. 3 
 
 The method of opening an ancient Gothic court was 
 symbolized by typical elements, similar in signification to 
 the inauguration of Masonic lodge work. For this pur- 
 pose the judicial appointments, or furniture, consisted of 
 benches set up with careful formality, and a sword, as an 
 emblem of justice, was invariably suspended. 4 
 
 A shield hung 5 near the judges' seat, and, perhaps, in 
 remote times, may have been affixed to a spear thrust into 
 the ground. Other symbols, such as an iron gauntlet, 
 sword, shears, axe, and a cord, lay exposed upon the bench 
 at the commencement of the court, and remained there 
 
 1 Grimm, ut supra, p. 813. Urtheilte musten bei scheinender Sonne werden ; 
 das Gericht heiszt Tageding. Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 517. 
 
 2 Germania, cap. 11. 
 
 3 Gericht und recht im weichbilde Ottendorf all monat auf den vollen 
 mond. Grimm, ut supra, p. 821. 
 
 * This symbol is still used in German lodges. It is typical of light and the 
 source of light. Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 36. Von 
 Tyr, dem leuchtend Himmelsgotte, dessen Symbol das Schwert ist mag es an 
 Odin uebertragen sein,dasz er bei Oegirs Bewirthung seine himmlische Halle 
 mit schwertlicht beleuchtete. Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 265. The sword, 
 in the lodges of Germany, is before the Master. 
 
 5 SchulUe, Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte, p. 357. 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 until it concluded the session. Upon the close of the 
 tribunal, benches were upended, the emblems of judicial 
 authority removed, and the justice stood up. 1 
 
 At the first ray of sunrise, a signal was given for silence. 
 It was the judge's duty immediately to perform the func- 
 tions of his office, in exactly the same manner as falls 
 within the authority of a Master of a lodge, by command- 
 ing attention and placing the sacred enclosure under the 
 ban of harmony and peace. In this respect, the powers 
 incident to a mediaeval court and congregated Masons may 
 be traced to a custom practised by the early Germans, 
 whose priesthood, in such assemblies, enjoined quiet and 
 silence. 2 When perfect stillness had been secured, the 
 chief judge caused proclamation, substantially as fol- 
 lows, to be made : That no one should depart the court 
 without license, nor enter without permission : no one 
 shall move from his place into another's seat without 
 leave from the proper authority, and the discussion of 
 private or other affairs was prohibited, unless permission 
 had been obtained. This order was thrice repeated, 3 but 
 whether it was transmitted through subordinate officers, 
 similar to the practice which prevails in formal lodge 
 
 1 Eroffnet wurde das Gericht durch feurliche Hegung des Rechters, bei- 
 stehend in der Aufhangung des Syrabole (Schild, Sehwert u. degl.) Aufstellung 
 der Banke, etc. Geschlossen wird es durch Abnahme der Symbole, Urn- 
 sturzen der Banke, Aufstehen des Richters. Schulte, loc. cit. Grimm, Rechls 
 Alterthiimer, pp. 851, 854. When the Alderman or Master of a guild arose, 
 silence must be observed. Smith, English Guilds, p. 280. Same effect in a 
 chapter of monks when the abbott stood up. Fosbroke, British Monachism, 
 pp. 88, 93. 
 
 2 Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus turn et coercendi jus est imperatur. 
 Tacit., Germania, cap. 11 ; Maurer, Markenverfassung, p. 267. 
 
 3 Bann und Fried gebieten das niemand ausgehe, er gehe mit urlaub, nie- 
 mand ingehe, er gehe mit urlaub, niemand das andern wort spreche sonder 
 urlaub ; und verbieten znm ersten, mm ziveiten, zum dritienmoL Grimm, Rtclds 
 Allertlaimer, p. 853. Prelntial authority was equally extensive in cloister 
 chapters, and a like rule existed touching conversation, departure, etc., without 
 license. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 88. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 271 
 
 openings, or was merely pronounced by the justice, does 
 not appear, although it is fairly inferable that this an- 
 nouncement was published, from varied quarters of the 
 court, by a regular transmission. 
 
 It was, moreover, incumbent on the mediaeval judges to 
 forbid the use of unkind or irritating phrases, or dishonor- 
 able imputations ; especially, that no private business should 
 be transacted, and, identical with the sterling injunction 
 of the old Torgau ordinance, 1 he should " compel the right 
 and forbid what was not right." 2 The command to main- 
 tain an uninterrupted silence, and preserve judicial peace 
 and harmony, was insisted upon without qualification, in 
 order, as an ancient citation in Grimm 3 avers, that no 
 hindrance shall be allowed to delay the 'proceedings. The 
 approach to the court enclosure was rigidly restricted 
 to the free-born ; no serf or bondman was allowed to 
 come within nine paces of the place where justice was 
 administered. 4 
 
 Probably this venerable usage may explain the secret 
 cause of the prohibition extant during the Middle Ages 
 among operative Masons, against the initiation of any one 
 not free-born. 
 
 All applicants for the mysteries of this craft must ex- 
 hibit unquestioned proofs touching their legitimacy and 
 freedom of birth. It was presumed that slavery or servi- 
 tude, in its mildest form, rendered a man less good and 
 pure, or that it debased or degraded him, and for this 
 reason he was enjoined from contaminating the hallowed 
 precincts of law courts by his presence. Lodges of Masons 
 likewise jealously guarded their doors against the serf. 
 
 1 Da soil ein Meister recht thun und unrecht lassen. Art. 41. 
 
 2 Recht sollet ihr gebieten und unrecht verbieten. Grimm, ubi supra, p. 854. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 853. 
 
 4 Blieben die Eingehorigen neun schritte von der Hutte stehen. Ibid., p. 
 854. From the word Hutte (Eng. lodge) it would seem that a mediaeval court 
 was frequently designated as a lodge. 
 
272 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 To have admitted him, would taint the sacred enclosure, 
 which was held to be as holy and free as a court of justice. 
 Points of identity between lodge operations and mediae- 
 val courts are of too frequent occurrence to be merely 
 accidental. 
 
 Far back in the distance of a remote antiquity, Teutonic 
 nations closed their judicial terms with a grand drinking 
 bout. 1 Freemasonry early imitated this usage, and ban- 
 quets largely prevailed among the craftsmen, who, as 
 hitherto narrated, concluded the investiture of degrees 
 upon candidates with toasts drank to the newly-made 
 brother's health, and the prosperity of the fraternity. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting to add that all fines col- 
 lected by order or judgment of Gothic tribunals from 
 delinquents, were expended for wine and beer — the prin- 
 cipal drink in these carousals. On such occasions, by a 
 commendable courtesy, the judges were allowed the pre- 
 liminary draught, after which the people at large indulged 
 ad libitum. 2 
 
 1 Tacitus, Germania, c. 22 ; Grimm, Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 869. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 871 ; Schulte, Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte, p. 356; Maurer, Ge- 
 schichte der Markenverfassung, p. 277. Consult Fallou, Mysterien der Frei- 
 maurer, pp. 28-36. Banquets were rigidly required at every initiation. Ibid., 
 p. 63. The mode of holding these festivals was regularly digested, with great 
 elaboration, by the Regulateur du Magon, p. 40, et seq. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The Master's Mallet or Gavel — Its Antiquity Derived from 
 the Scandinavians — Symbol of Power — Type of Possessory 
 Right — Hammer-convened Germanic Court— Auctioneer's Im- 
 plement — Originated from Thor's Miolner — Mallet Used in 
 Northern Funerals — Hammer Sign, or Cross — Master's 
 Authority Rests on the Gavel — Typical of Death — A Mallet 
 Actually Used by the Norse to Slay the Impotent — Charles 
 Martel and his Masonic Connection — Claimed as a Patron on 
 Account of Carrying a Hammer. 
 
 ERHAPS no lodge appliance or symbol is pos- 
 sessed of such deep and absorbing interest to the 
 craft as the Master's mallet or gavel. Nothing 
 in the entire range of Masonic paraphernalia and 
 formulary can boast of an antiquity so unequivocally 
 remote. At the installation of a Master, he is informed, 
 upon being tendered this implement, that it constitutes 
 the essential element of his authority over the assembled 
 brethren, without which his efforts to preserve order and 
 subordination must be ineffectual. He is further instructed 
 that the gavel is an emblem of power, and the governing 
 instrument of his office. It is also fairly interpreted to 
 be the symbol that inducts or establishes him into the 
 possession of a lodge of Masons. 1 
 
 1 The gavel or hammer is the gift or symbol of the tenure by which a 
 Master holds his office. It is derived from gabellum, census, iributum, red it us, 
 a gift or presentation used in the transfer or conveyance of possession from 
 hand to hand. Ex saxonice, gafel. Du Cange, Gloss. Med. el Inf. Lat., sub voce, 
 
 S 273 
 
274 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 As an emblem of extraordinary power, the mallet has 
 preserved its typical character during successive ages, and 
 as such has come down to our day. 
 
 So early as the year 1462, it was clearly recognized to be 
 a Masonic symbol, whose use regulated and defined terri- 
 tory surrounding a lodge. The ordinance 1 of that date 
 expressly declared that lewd women should remain as far 
 from the sacred enclosure as a hammer could be hurled. 
 This implement was a religious symbol in the Middle 
 Ages, and made use of to establish proprietary rights over 
 land and water. It was accomplished by throwing the mal- 
 let at full swing, and all ground traversed was acknowl- 
 edged as immediately reduced to the person's possession 
 casting the same. 2 
 
 In the fifteenth century, therefore, this custom was 
 practised by the Masonic fraternity, and symbolized pro- 
 prietorship. 
 
 In modern Freemasonry, it still survives as an emblem- 
 atic pledge of a Master's ownership over his lodge. It is 
 true, the gavel now is no longer hurled in order to limit 
 the outlying territory contiguous to the hallowed precincts, 
 but the use of that implement perpetuates the mediaeval 
 idea of possession. 
 
 The hammer was, in very early ages, used as a signal by 
 which Gothic courts were convened. In districts where 
 judges ordered tribunals to assemble, a mallet was carried 
 around among the inhabitants, who, upon seeing this 
 emblem of judicial authority, instantly collected at the 
 designated place. 3 
 
 Gabellum. See Glossary to Thorpe's edition of Beowulf, Anglo-Sax. Songs 
 v. gifan. 
 
 1 Hat jemandt mit Ir (unziichtige fraw) was zu reden, so soli man von der 
 Werckstatt geen, als man mochte gewerffen mit einem Scholhamer, von der 
 Werckstatt. Ordnung der Steinmelzen, 1462, Art. 13. 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsches Rechts Allerthumer, p. 64 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, 
 pp. 277-499. Vide, Maurer, Geschichle der Markenverfassung, pp. 161, 162. 
 
 3 Ubrigens war der hammer noch spater hin gerichtliches zeichen, durch 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 275 
 
 The gavel in the hand of the Master of a Masonic lodge, 
 directly alludes to this ancient usage, and when it sounds 
 the decision of a question submitted, that blow is merely 
 the reecho of a power current many centuries ago, in the 
 administration of justice. The judges of our modern 
 courts of law wield the gavel with a no less emblematic 
 power than a Master of Masons. Grimm 1 says that the 
 hammer-stroke which the auctioneer makes to conclude a 
 sale is derived from the custom referred to. But the 
 mallet, chiefly as a symbol of power, is of the remotest 
 antiquity, which I shall now proceed to trace. In Northern 
 mythology, Thor was always represented with a mallet, 2 
 called Miolner. 3 
 
 Its origin is as follows : Loki, one of the Norse deities, 
 made a wager with a dwarf that he could not forge certain 
 things which would compare with the mechanical skill of 
 other dwarfs. Certain conditions were agreed upon, and 
 the dwarf began to labor industriously at his forge. A 
 suitable time having elapsed, he took from the fire, among 
 other articles, a hammer, named Miolner. 4 The things 
 forged were produced before three principal gods of As- 
 gard, 5 — Odin, Thor, and Frey, — who were selected as 
 arbiters of their relative value. 
 
 After careful test, it was unanimously decided that the 
 hammer was superior to all. This implement possessed 
 
 herumsendung eines hammers pflegte in einigen gegenden der richter die 
 gemeinde zu berufen. Grimm, Rechts Alterihiimer, p. 65. 
 
 1 Ibid., loc. tit. 
 
 2 Thor der nord, donnergott fiihrt einen Hammer von selbst fleigt der ge- 
 worfen Miolner in seiner hand zuriick. Ibid., p. 64 ; Simrock, Deutsche Myth- 
 ologie, p. 232 ; Skaldskap, c. 35. 
 
 3 Skaldskap, c. 35 ; Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 417 ; Schauberg, Symbolik 
 der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p ; 250. 
 
 * The bruiser or crusher, from myla, milja, cognate with the German miihlen, 
 to grind, and muehle, Eng. mill. " Little the Fancy know of the high con- 
 nections of their phrase mill." Keightly, Fairy Mythology, p. 69, note (*). 
 
 5 Abodes of the Norse divinities. 
 
276 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 the virtue of striking with unerring certainty any object 
 at which it was thrown, and however severe a blow was 
 struck, no injury ensued to the person wielding the ham- 
 mer. 1 The Scandinavian divinities at this time were wag- 
 ing a bitter warfare against rebellious frost giants, and 
 hailed the acquisition of Miolner, as a powerful weapon of 
 defence, with unaffected delight. To Th«r was given the 
 mallet, a gift of especial applicability, as he was, according 
 to the prose Edda, 2 the strongest of Norse gods ; and when 
 belted with the girdle of prowess — meginjardir — with ham- 
 mer in hand, he was irresistible. Scaldic songs recite 
 numerous adventures in which Thor manifested Miolner's 
 divine attributes. 
 
 On one occasion, by a blow of this all-powerful imple- 
 ment, he shattered into fragments a rocky mountain ; and 
 in a trial of strength, nearly loosed the Medgard serpent, 
 which, in Northern or Teutonic mythology, was delineated 
 as encircling the earth and preserving it intact. 3 Medgard 
 was finally slain by this terrible weapon. 4 In the recov- 
 ery of his mallet, which lay eight miles beneath Jotun- 
 heim's congealed rocks, Thor slew, with a single blow of 
 redoubted Miolner, the giant Thrym and his followers. 5 
 In the struggle with Hrungir, the mallet's highest symbol 
 of power is set forth. When these gigantic rivals ap- 
 proached, Thor flashed in divine force, represented by the 
 hammer. Hrungir hurled his club at the Asgard god, 
 but the irresistible power of Miolner fell with crushing 
 weight upon his antagonist and killed him. 6 
 
 Thor's mallet was the resistless thunderbolt, emblem- 
 atically represented by this implement ; hence the deriva- 
 
 1 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 39 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologies 
 p. 251. 
 
 2 Gylfaginning, 21 ; Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 417. 
 
 8 Gylfaginning, 47 ; Mallet, ut supra, p. 443. 4 Gylfaginning, 48. 
 
 5 Thrymskvidha edr Hamarsheimt, cc. 8, 32. 
 
 6 Skalds/cap, c. 17 ; also, Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 71. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 277 
 
 tion of thunder, from Thor, Thonar, Donnar. Whenever 
 the god of thunder was not possessed of his terrible 
 weapon, he was not well matched with his opponents. It 
 was the marvellous property of Miolner, after having been 
 launched upon a voyage of destruction, that it invariably 
 returned to its owner. According to the traditions of 
 Scandinavian mythology, when this deity once lost that 
 emblem of power, his anxiety to regain it was extreme. 1 
 Baldur's funeral pile was consecrated by Thor with the 
 hammer Miolner. 2 
 
 This same symbolical mallet was used in the solemn 
 ceremonies of marriage, 3 and to this day the Finns, in their 
 nuptial rites, strike fire with flint and steel in humble 
 imitation of the terrible thunderbolt. 4 With the hammer 
 the banqueting cups of the ancient Norsemen were ren- 
 dered auspicious, 5 and, according to Giejer, 6 food and 
 drink were blessed with Thor's hammer-sign. The learned 
 Thorlacius asserts that the stone axes found in the graves 
 of Scandinavian warriors were merely simulacra armorum, 
 and that they were designed to typify the resistless power 
 of Thor's hammer, which fell with killing force upon his 
 demon adversaries ; or, in other words, they were emblems 
 of the irresistible might attributed to Miolner. 7 Thor's 
 mallet, laid upon the knee of the veiled bride, inaugurated 
 
 1 Thorpe, Ibid., p. 54. 
 
 " Wild ward Wing-Thor als er erwachte 
 Und seinen Hammer vorhanden nicht sari." 
 
 Thrymskvidha, Str. 1. 
 
 2 Gylfaginmng, 49 ; Thorpe, ut supra, p. 75 ; Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alter- 
 thumer, p. 64 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 227. 
 
 3 Grimm, loc. cit. ; Simrock, Ibid. ; Thrymskvidha, Str. 30. 
 
 4 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 171. There was much formality- 
 involved in this custom, performed in the presence of the relatives and parents 
 of the children fiancees. Praesentibus amicis et sanguine junctis, parentes 
 per ignem foederant conjungia natorum : et hoc ferro et silice per excusionem. 
 Olaui Magni, Historia Septentri. Condit, Lib. IV., cap. vii. 
 
 5 Geijer, History of Sweden, Vol. I., p. 33. 6 Ibid. 
 7 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 211. 
 
 24 
 
278 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 her into her new destiny, 1 and, as in the case of Baldur, 
 the same symbol consecrated the funebrial timber, on which 
 the lifeless corpse was burned, and with this sign the Norse 
 god restored the dead goats to life. 2 
 
 This deity's mace was symbolized by wedge-shaped peb- 
 bles, although the cuneiform figure does not 
 appear to have been exclusive, inasmuch *as it 
 sometimes assumes the form of a cross. 3 The 
 hammer is frequently found with an outline 
 sim ilar to a cross cramponee, thus : 
 
 Numerous specimens of Northern coins were discovered 
 in Denmark, in the year 1835, each of which shows an 
 effigy representing a four-footed horned beast, upon which 
 sits a head, intended evidently for the rider. 
 In front of this bust was the sign of Thor's 
 hammer, Miolner, a cross cramponee. Four, 
 of the collection noted, exhibit this symbol, 
 together with the valiant god's name, in 
 Runic characters. The rudest coin of the 
 number displayed no cruciform outline, but contained a 
 four pointed star. 
 
 Among the weapons belonging to the 
 stone period found in Denmark, are 
 many flint mallets, cross-shaped, having 
 a hole at the intersection for the haft to 
 to be inserted. 
 
 Baring Gould 4 conjectures, that as the 
 
 1 Geijer, History of Sweden, Vol. I., p. 31 ; Thrymskvidha, Str. 30. At the close 
 of the eighteenth century, the candidate for Masonic initiation was consecrated 
 into the mysteries with a mallet : " Le V. : frappe legerement trois coups de 
 maillet sur la t6te du compas, etc." Regulateur du Macon, p. 32. The hammer 
 and chisel were hoth symbolized in the Fellow-craft degree at that period. 
 
 2 Gylfaginning, Str. 44, in the younger Edda. Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, 
 p. 234. Thor's hammer, in this connection, has an important Masonic allusion. 
 
 3 Baring Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 86. Still called, by the 
 common people of Denmark and Sweden, Thor's wedges. Geijer, History of 
 Sweden, p. 31. 
 
 4 Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 86, 87. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 279 
 
 lateral arms of these implements could have served little 
 martial purpose, they were used in consecrating sacrificial 
 offerings in the mystic ceremonies of Thor's worship. One 
 of the Eddaic sagas 1 details an interesting interview be- 
 tween Earl Sigurd and King Hakon, who, it is asserted, 
 was Athelstane's foster son. The earl seized the drinking 
 horn, drank out of it, and returned it to the king, who 
 made the sign of a cross over the goblet. Kaare of Grey ting, 
 a spectator to all this, asked why he did thus. Sigurd 
 answered: The king is doing what all of you do who 
 trust in power and strength : he is invoking a blessing 
 upon the horn in Thor's name, by drawing a hammer-sign 
 over it before he drinks. 2 
 
 Early mediaeval cloisters possessed a wooden hammer, 
 which was always sounded when a monk was in dying 
 agony, and it was frequently symbolized during the con- 
 tinuation of monastic services. 3 German peasants make 
 the sign of a cross to dispel a thunderstorm, and is, no 
 doubt, used on account of the resemblance to Thor's mallet. 
 Bells, in the European cathedrals, were carefully marked 
 with the cruciform hammer, and were rung during severe 
 storms to avert the mighty thunderbolt. 
 
 Such crosses cramponies are still visible on the church 
 bells of Appleby, Wadingham, Bishop's Norton, Hather- 
 
 1 Hemiskringla Saga, TV., c. 18. 
 
 2 " O'er his drinking-horn the sign 
 He made of the cross divine, 
 
 As he drank and muttered his prayers: 
 But the Berserks evermore 
 Made the sign of the hammer of Thor, 
 
 Over their's." Longfellow, King Olaf. 
 
 3 Fosbroke, Br itish Monachism, pp. 31, 52-54 ; also, Du Cange, Glossa. Med. 
 et Infim. Latinit. sub vocibus Ferula and Tabula. The custom referred to in 
 the text noted is evidently an allusion to the hammer used to slay aged 
 Northmen, who esteemed it a favor to be thus sent to Odin. Kelics of similar 
 superstition apparently existed among the ancient Scythians. Plinii, Hist. 
 Natur., Lib. IV., c. 12 ; Pomponius Mela, De Situ Orbis, Lib. III., c. 5. 
 
280 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 sage in Derbyshire, and Wexborough in Yorkshire. 1 It 
 would seem that the custom of burying a hammer with 
 the dead was also practised by the ancient Celts. 2 The 
 same peculiar figure, the fylot or cross, was an emblem 
 in the Buddhist religion, and, curiously enough, it appears 
 upon the dress of a fossor, painted by early Christians on 
 the walls of the Roman catacombs. 3 
 
 It clearly appears from the preceding proofs, I think, 
 that the Master's mallet has descended to modern Freema- 
 sonry invested with the symbolism of Thor's hammer. 
 As previously stated, this implement, in the hand of the 
 presiding officer of a lodge, is an emblem of authority, 
 without which he is impotent to rule and govern the 
 assembled brethren. This virtue inherent in the gavel is 
 directly derived from the Norse Miblner, which was tne 
 highest type of power, and made its possessor irresistible. 
 Thus it is with the Master of a Masonic lodge ; grasping 
 his mallet, he is immediately clothed with the symbol of 
 resistless force and power over present emergencies. It is 
 typical of absolutism and authority ; 4 when wielded with 
 skill and energy, the Freemason within hearing of its 
 ceaseless shocks humbly bows to the emblem of might, with 
 the same alacrity as the Northern Troll trembled at Thor's 
 hammer. It convenes the lodge of Masons as it convened 
 a mediaeval court of justice, by a blow, which indicates that 
 the Master has assumed the symbol of his authority, and 
 calls, by virtue of the gavel, to order and submission. 
 When the Master divests himself of this implement his 
 power is at end, and is unable, without it, to govern the 
 lodge. So when Thor lost his mallet, a portion of divine 
 
 1 Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 89. 
 
 2 Scottish Gael, p. 479. 
 
 3 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 66. 
 
 4 Modern lodges are required to display a charter, emanating from some 
 recognized grand jurisdiction, for purposes of regularity; but, prior to the 
 year 1717, it is doubtful whether any subordinate body of Masons had warrants, 
 as we now understand them. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 281 
 
 strength was gone ; being dispossessed of Miolner, that re- 
 sistless force which made his adversaries tremble was dis- 
 sipated. We have already noted that in the year 1462 a 
 hammer hurled by a Mason's arm symbolized possession 
 of lodge territory. The gavel wielded now constitutes the 
 Master's possession of the sacred precincts of a lodge. No 
 part of Masonic appurtenances can claim an antiquity so 
 remote nor an origin so clear and indisputable. 
 
 In the Northern mythology, Thor's hammer was also an 
 emblem of destructive power, and, as such, typified the 
 instrument of death. The mallet, or setting maul, as a 
 Masonic symbol, is used for like purpose. It was with 
 this weapon that the redoubted god of strength crushed 
 the skull of Hrungnir, 1 and with Miolner he consecrated 
 Baldur's funeral pyre. As already mentioned, the mallet 
 was used by the Scandinavian priesthood to solemnize the 
 burial ceremonies or rites of cremation. From the simi- 
 larity existing between the Norse deity's weapon as an 
 implement of death, and the craft setting-maul, the line of 
 research leads with undeviating exactness back to an iden- 
 tical origin. 
 
 In many countries adhering to the terrible worship of 
 the Northern divinities, for ages a mallet or club, in imi- 
 tation of Miolner, was found behind the door at each 
 domestic fireside, to be used in slaying the old and infirm. 2 
 Thus was it doubly rendered typical of death ; and equally 
 symbolical has the hammer been transmitted, with its 
 
 1 Skaldskap, c. 17. 
 
 2 Geijer, History of Sweden, p. 32. Also symbol of resurrection. Simrock, 
 Deutsche Mythologie, p. 227. In Germany, a club was usually substituted for 
 Thor's hammer, and, in English churches, was hung up, with evident refer- 
 ence to its bloody uses. The following verse refers to the typical properties 
 of a club, always suspended on the portal of Siiesian city-gates : 
 
 Wer seinen Kindern giebt das Brot 
 
 Und leidet dabei selber Noth 
 
 Den schlage man mit dieser Keule todt. 
 
 Simrock, ut supra, p. 233. 
 
 17* 
 
282 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tragical attributes, from the hand of Thor, whose existence 
 is shrouded in the sombreness of legendary gloom, down 
 to modern Freemasonry, where the mysteries of Hiram are 
 celebrated with Miolner's murderous representative — the 
 setting maul. Too numerous are the points of unity pre- 
 sented in the systems — Teutonic and Masonic — for this 
 similitude to be casual ; in both, the instrument of death 
 and destruction was made an emblem of mortality, and as 
 such it has descended to our day. 
 
 In the legendary history of the English Freemasons, it 
 is asserted that Charles Martel 1 was a patron to the craft, 
 and was himself skilled in geometric science. I have pre- 
 viously stated my reasons for believing that this tradition 
 was brought into England by French craftsmen, at or about 
 the period of the Norman conquest. 
 
 In the regulations of 1254, the Parisian stonemasons 
 claimed exemption from watch duty on account of privi- 
 leges which, they alleged, had descended, as " they had 
 heard say," from father to son. Curiously enough, the 
 Gallic builders candidly avowed this concession rested upon 
 no written document, but was entirely legendary. 2 
 
 The connection of this valiant warrior with the mediaeval 
 fraternity can, I think, be satisfactorily explained, and 
 that it is grounded upon a usage immediately derived from 
 Germanic mythology. ' It will be remembered that the 
 recurring symbol of operative Masons was a mallet, and 
 invested with divine power. Among the Northern nations 
 of Pagan Europe, Thor was deified as the god of battles. 3 
 
 No astonishment should be excited that homage was 
 rendered to a divinity of such transcendent might, espe- 
 cially when it is considered that he was engaged in inces- 
 
 1 See the several Masonic manuscripts cited, and Hugh an, Old Masonic 
 Charges, passim. 
 
 2 Et tout tailleur de pierre, tres le tans Charles Martel si come li prudhome 
 l'en oi' dire de pere a fils. Boileau, Reglemens des Metiers de Paris, cap. xlviii. 
 
 3 Tacitus, Germania, c. 9; Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 469. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 283 
 
 sant and deadly struggle with frost giants, and other 
 beings who typified evil principles. The semi-christian- 
 ized Teutonic warrior, amid the din of battle and clash of 
 arms, turned his flashing eyes towards his imaginary deity, 
 as the ancient Goths had done before. Although, during 
 the ninth and tenth centuries, the Northern invaders of 
 France had gradually established themselves on a firm 
 footing in Normandy, the Romain language appears to have 
 superseded in a great measure the Norse dialect. Notwith- 
 standing this idiomatic transfusion, numerous supersti- 
 tions of the Norseman's mythology were still perpetuated. 
 
 According to Depping, 1 in the tenth century, the Gallic 
 clergy accorded to the Normans the just commendation 
 that they scarcely preserved the vestige of paganism. 
 Amid all the varying changes of religious creeds, the Nor- 
 man soldiers rigidly clung to their belief in the efficacy of 
 their ancient war-god. In the fight at Val-des-Dunes, one 
 of the Scandinavians sounded the war-cry of Teutonic 
 antiquity — Toraie — that is, Thor, help me ! while on the 
 contrary, William the Bastard yelled the Christian invo- 
 cation, Dex ciie, or, God ! aid me ! 2 In many cases, these 
 martial chevaliers of Normandy affected for a long time 
 to carry upon their weapons Pagan devices. 3 
 
 The Northern soldier, who made his sacrifices to Thor as 
 the war deity, endeavored to imitate him in the irresisti- 
 
 1 Expeditions Maritimes des Normands, p. 357. 
 
 2 Depping, Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 " Raoul Tesson — i " William crie, dex die, 
 
 Poinst li cheval criant turaie." I C'est l'enseigne de Normandie." 
 
 Wace, Roman du Rou, Tome II., v. 9059. 
 " Plusors distrient par verite, 
 Ke un deable aveit priv6 
 Ne sai s'estait lutin u nou 
 Torret se feseit apeler, etc." 
 
 Wace, Ibid., v. 9713. 
 
 8 Quelques-uns m£me affecterent longtemps de porter sur leurs armes des 
 devises paiennes. Thierry, Conquete de V Angleterre par les Normans, Tome 
 I, p. 172. 
 
284 
 
 / 
 
 TEE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 bility of divine power, and in order that the attempt might 
 have at least the sanction of resemblance, it was natural 
 that he should invest himself with the god's inimitable 
 weapon. 
 
 German priests, in the celebration of the mystic rites of 
 Odin, or other principal divinities of Asgard, wore the 
 symbols of their gods, 1 and this was no doubt a custom 
 uniformly practised by the leaders of Teutonic armies. 
 Grimm 2 conjectures that Charles Martel carried the little 
 hammer in imitation of Miolner, or Thor's mallet. Pos- 
 sessed of this implement, the bold warrior justly presumed 
 that he bore the symbol of a resistless might. It is more 
 in harmony with the origin and transmission, perhaps, of 
 traditional events, to assume that Charles Martel was thus 
 denominated on account of carrying a hammer as the 
 emblem of a battle god — Thor, the German Mars — than, 
 as Depping asserts, 3 by reason of the vigorous blows with 
 which he so successfully hammered his Moslem antagonists. 
 Martell is a diminutive form of the Latin word malleus, 
 and signifies a small hammer, 4 implying, in this connection, 
 that it was not so much a war weapon as a symbol of 
 power that the Carlovingian monarch wielded in battle. 
 
 It is highly probable that the rapid extension of Chris- 
 tianity, immediately after the decisive victory of Charles 
 Martel at Tours, 5 subsequently modified 6 this emblem, and 
 
 1 Tacitus, Germania, c. 7, and Histor., Lib. IV., c. 22 ; Simrock, Deutsche 
 Mythologie, p. 499. Pilgrims, during the Middle Ages, wore certain tokens, 
 called signacula, as symbols of martyrs, a custom derived, apparently, from 
 the Norse priesthood. Vide Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 359. 
 
 2 Carl Martell, wie der sonst anders gedeutete beiname zeigt, mag ihn noch 
 gefiihrt haben, sein enkel nicht mehr. Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 64. 
 
 3 Boileau, Litre des Metiers, cap. xlviii., note (5), in loco. 
 
 * Hamar, martel ; martellus mediocris malleus. Grimm, Deutsches Rechts 
 alterthumer, p. 64. 
 
 5 Mariana, Historia de Espana, Tomo I., p. 328. 
 
 6 Substituted by the sword, equally typical of power, or of the mace, whence 
 the name of mason. Vide infra, chap, xxxvii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 285 
 
 at his death ceased apparently to be used, as too Pagan in 
 its significance. However, popular tradition touching so 
 distinguished a warrior perpetuated his bearing the mallet, 
 and evidently the early corporations of builders in Ger- 
 many, or Byzantine stonecutters, in clinging to the typi- 
 cal powers attributed to this working tool, claimed and 
 received the favorable consideration of Carlovingian roy- 
 alty, on the ground that Charles Martel had wielded the 
 hammer endowed with identical symbolism. 
 
 It is, at all events, curious that the Gallic builders, in 
 the year 1254, boldly asserted and obtained their right to an 
 exemption from municipal regulations, as having existed 
 from the time of the semi-christianized Frank. The as- 
 sumption of a remote antiquity, ascending to the age of 
 that monarch, is definite and unequivocal, and thus early 
 in the thirteenth century the Masons of Paris traced their 
 corporate existence to an origin coeval, at least, with the 
 Carlovingian kings. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Three Symbolic Columns of a Lodge — Taken from Norse 
 Temple Furniture — Their Prototypes in Upsala —Pedestals 
 of Principal Deities of Northern Mythology — Odin, Thor, 
 and Frey — These Signify Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty — 
 Shibboleth, or Frey, Productiveness — Her Emblem — Three 
 Emblematic Lights of Freemasons — Their Pagan Origin and 
 Reference to the Divinities Mentioned — North, why a Place 
 of Darkness — Exact Orientation of Gothic Court Repro- 
 duced in a Masonic Lodge — East, West, South — The North — 
 Stars in Lodge Derived from Open-air Assemblage. 
 
 MODERN Masonic lodge, in its appointments, 
 possesses three symbolic columns — one of which 
 is situate in the east, one in the west, another 
 in the south. They represent the essential ele- 
 ments which constitute the support of the fraternity, and 
 in their idealist allusion, are the pillars of the universe. 
 NText to the symbolism of a Master's gavel, perhaps, no 
 lodge appliance is so plainly derived from a Northern 
 source as these columns, severally designated as Wisdom, 
 Strength, and Beauty. Whether the more ancient Scan- 
 dinavians performed sacred rites before their divinities in 
 enclosed edifices is uncertain ; but that they ultimately 
 erected houses of worship for them, is attested by undis- 
 puted history. 
 
 At the time Adam of Bremen 1 wrote his chronicles on 
 
 1 Vide Geijer, History of Sweden, p. 35. 
 
 286 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 287 
 
 the condition of Denmark, a magnificent temple still ex- 
 isted at Upsala. 1 
 
 In this temple the images of the three principal deities 
 of the Xorth were erected, each represented with an 
 appropriate symbol. 2 Odin held a sword ; Thor stood at 
 the left hand of Odin, grasping his mallet, and Frey, at 
 Thor's side, was invested with the emblem of a hermaph- 
 rodite, to typify productiveness or plenty. 3 
 
 The Erybygga Saga 4 relates that Thorolf, in migrating 
 to Iceland, carried with him Thor's throne, the image of 
 the mace-bearer, and the wood-work of the temple. Upon 
 approaching the island, the hardy mariner cast the columns 
 of his idol's sanctuary into the sea, and declared his in- 
 tention of settling wherever the current carried them. 
 Geijer 5 says the father of a family usually surrounded his 
 high seat with pillars, upon which were carved images of 
 the gods. An ordinary Scandinavian temple was a large 
 wooden banqueting hall, with a small recess at one end. 
 In the winter a lire was kindled exactly in the centre of 
 the edifice — the smoke arising from the burning wood 
 found its way out through apertures in the roof. On the 
 south side of the hall, directly opposite the fire, was an 
 elevated seat raised on steps, and flanked by two wooden 
 columns, carved with Runic inscriptions and ornamented 
 with figures of Odinic divinities. 6 
 
 1 Adam Bremen. De Situ Daniae, c. 233. 
 
 2 Quod adeo magnifico apparatu constructum venerabatur, ut nihil in ejus 
 parietibus, laqueariis, aut colurnnis, nisi auro splendidum videretur. Olaus 
 Magnus, Histor. Septentr. var. Condit,, Lib. III., cap. vi. 
 
 3 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 110; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 496. 
 According to Olaus Magnus, ut supra, p. 99, Thor was represented with a mace 
 in hand and twelve stars surrounding his head. Erat in capite ejus corona 
 et in manu scepterem atque in circuitu duodecim stellae. 
 
 4 Mallet, ut supra, printed verbatim from Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, 
 Vol. I., 4th ed., 1814. 
 
 6 History of Sweden, p. 31. 
 
 6 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 285. It was no unusual thing for guild 
 halls, following their original prototype — temples — to have three grades of 
 
288 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 The Saxon Irminsaul appears to have been a sacred 
 column surmounted by an image, 1 and this, Tacitus 2 
 declares, was sometimes brought out and carried in the 
 van of battle. Whether the deities in the temple of Upsala 
 were placed upon elevated pedestals, does not clearly ap- 
 pear ; that pillars were dedicated to the several gods 
 designated, is manifest. Therefore Odin, Thor, and Frey 
 each had a column, upon which an effigy was set, or the 
 pillar was in some manner associated with their worship, 
 and symbolized the divinity. 
 
 The word Odin, according to Grimm, 3 signifies the wise 
 or wisdom, and in this view Thorpe, 4 the learned philolo- 
 gist, entirely concurs. The latter traces the derivation to 
 the Brahmin god Budha, which also means the wise. 5 
 Consequently, the pillar consecrated to Odin became the 
 column of Wisdom. 
 
 So far as relates to Thor, one of the three deities men- 
 tioned, we have elaborated at length that he was the type 
 of power, and the column to him stands as the column of 
 Strength. 
 
 The derivation of Frey is equally satisfactory. Grimm 8 
 traces this word through the ancient Teutonic dialects, and 
 explains it to signify plenty and beauty. 7 Therefore the 
 
 seats in the ascending scale. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 216. 
 High seat in guild. Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 214. Members 
 also have regular seats. Item siquis frater vel sorer presumat capere scannum 
 alterius. Smith, English Guilds, p. 218. 
 
 1 Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Bd. I., p. 167 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythol- 
 ogie, p. 262. 
 
 2 Effigies et signa quaedam detracta lucis in proclium ferunt. Germania, 
 cap. 7. 
 
 3 Deutsche Mythologie, voce, Odin; also, Simrock, ubi sup-a, pp. 210, 212. 
 
 4 Ut supra, Vol. I., p. 166. 
 
 6 Ibid., loc. cit. King, The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 1 8. 
 
 6 Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 191, 279. 
 
 7 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., pp. 197, 198. Simulachru Frigge, 
 tertio loco, pulchrudinis, Dea credabatus. Olaus Magnus, Hist. Sept. var. Cond. } 
 Lib. III., c. vi. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 289 
 
 pillar of this goddess became the column of Beauty, or 
 plenteousness. These three divinities were the typical 
 supports of the universe — Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty ; 1 
 and the columns still existing in a lodge of Freemasons 
 symbolize the moralistic pillars of the world, represented 
 by the lodge itself. An additional significant fact con- 
 fronts us at this point : the column of Beauty or Plenty, 
 originally emblematic of Frey, is situate in the south of 
 the lodge. A Masonic symbol — sheaf of grain — always 
 suspended above that station, denotes plenteousness. 
 
 The allusion to the fructifying powers of this divinity 
 is explicit, and evidently symbolizes the maturing prop- 
 erties of the southern sun in hastening corn, etc., to ripe 
 perfection. The usual interpretation of this emblem is 
 deduced from the Hebraic word shabal, to flow, and alleged 
 to be synonymous with abundance or plenty. Shibboleth, 
 derived from that root, in the paraphrastic translation of 
 the Vulgate Testament made during the early Middle Ages, 
 is rendered an ear of corn. 
 
 Thorpe 2 has conclusively proved that the ear of corn 
 was a symbol of the Northern goddess Frey, and a type of 
 productive nature. 3 Evidently this symbolic reference has 
 been conjoined at some period with the Judaic significa- 
 tion, but at what epoch remains to be seen. Whenever 
 the fusion occurred it was apparently accepted as express- 
 ing accurately and entirely the secret meaning of Shibbo- 
 leth and Frey's symbol. This mutual interchange, if made 
 at all, was accomplished in an age when the traditions of 
 
 1 In Jewish philosophy, the Hebrew sephiroth stood forth in the form of a 
 circle, or other shape, including ten columns, three of which were designated 
 as Sapientia, Pulchrudito, and Fundamentum, synonymous with the three 
 pillars mentioned in the text. Buddeus, Inlroduct. ad Hist. Philoso. Ebraeor., 
 p. 277 ; Bruckerius, Instit. Hislor. Philosophiae, Part I., Lib. II., cap. iii. 
 
 2 Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 198. 
 
 3 As such Frey was sometimes represented ingenti priapo. Vide Simrock, 
 Deutsche Mythologie. Also afe goddess of love. Olaus Mag., op cit., p. 100. 
 
 25 T 
 
290 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 worship of that goddess were still preserved, and the 
 emblem fully comprehended in its allusions to Prey or 
 plenty. 
 
 It is well known that the early Christian missionaries 
 endeavored, so far as practicable, to harmonize the religious 
 observances of Christ and the heathen Teutons. In 
 numerous instances, old Norse customs which alluded 
 directly to Pagan mythology were altered only so far as 
 to furnish a slightly variant objective point, 1 and by this 
 means much that originally represented the fast fading 
 doctrines of the North maintained, under a Christian garb, 
 a vigorous vitality. It is fairly inferred that the similarity 
 which presents itself in Frey's ear of corn and Shibboleth, 
 a sheaf of wheat, can be assigned to this policy practised 
 by early Christian evangelists. 
 
 The symbolic lights of a lodge, respectively stationed in 
 the east, west, and south, are also traceable to the Pagan 
 superstitions of Teutonic mythology. Although this con- 
 nection cannot be established with historical precision, 
 sufficient evidence still extant may be gleaned from medi- 
 aeval court usages, which leads to the conclusion that these 
 ■flaming fires were originally associated with the temple 
 worship of Odin, Thor, and Frey. 
 
 The symbol of the last named divinity was the sun, and 
 typified the Seminator, the Fructifier, and Beauteous. 
 It would seem that the lights mentioned were placed 
 before the columns of these deities, and directly referred 
 to their several attributes. For instance, in the case of 
 Frey, 2 the sun delineated in the south was understood to 
 
 1 Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 191-279. 
 
 2 Perhaps the pillar of this goddess symbolized a decided priapic tendency, 
 as the setting up of columns was anciently a favorite means of invocation in 
 phallic worship. Westropp and Wake, Influence of the Phallic Idea in the Re- 
 ligions of Antiquity, p. 60. There was a secret society in France, as late as 
 the eleventh century, for the observance of priapic rites. Payne Knight, On 
 the Worship of Priapus, etc., p. 182. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 291 
 
 signify the potential means of producing plenty — em- 
 blematic of that divinity. 
 
 In the old Eddaic sagas, the moon, which is masculine, 
 symbolizes Odin, since it is said in Ragnerock, or Twilight 
 of the Gods, 1 that the wolf shall swallow up Odin, and at 
 the same time destroy the moon. 2 Scandinavian mythology 
 declared that light existed before the sun ; and that the 
 moon was created first, the sun afterwards. 3 But in what 
 respect the third light alluded to Thor is, perhaps, impos- 
 sible to elucidate. 4 I have previously mentioned this 
 deity's mallet as a symbol of power and authority in 
 the Master's hand, and that this officer, invested with his 
 gavel, typifies Thor. Without doubt a subrogation of 
 personality has occurred, so far as the present reference 
 goes, and, in consequence, the flame which, in its ancient 
 character, added additional pomp to the mystic ceremonies 
 of the divine Hammer-Bearer, by an unaccountable trans- 
 formation, now is the unwavering emblem of his substitute. 
 
 The early mediaeval custom of lighting three fires 5 in a 
 house, is apparently traceable to the symbolic lights of a 
 Norse temple. 
 
 In a Masonic lodge, no light appears on the north side. 
 The north was especially symbolized in judicial procedure 
 of the Middle Ages. Below the judges, on the right, 
 stood the accuser or complainant ; on the left was the 
 
 1 Gylfag tuning, Str. 51. 
 
 2 " Dasz der Wolf die Sonne verschlingt ; derandre Wolf den Mond packen." 
 Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 112; Gylfaginntng, loc. cit. 
 
 3 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 143. 
 
 4 Completing the usual trilogy, it would be the stars substituted by Thor's 
 burning taper. In the Upsala temple, he was delineated with twelve stars 
 encircling his head. In circuitu duodecim stellae. Olaus Mag., Hist. Sept. 
 vari. Oondid., Lib. III., cap. vi. Stars still stud the frescoed walls of lodges. 
 Symbolical in the eighteenth century. Regulateur du Macon (Grade du Com- 
 pagne), I., p. 6. Nine above master. Ibid. (Grade du Maitre), I., pp. 10-30. 
 Stars in lodge vault. Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 216. 
 
 6 Drei feuer im haus. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 209. 
 
292 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 V 
 
 accused or defendant ; the former in the south facing north, 
 the latter in the north looking to the south. 1 
 
 The earliest record of the old Teutonic tribunals 
 appointed these several positions for the suitors at law. 
 In the centre of the court, directly before the judge, stood 
 an altar-piece or shrine, 2 upon which an open Bible was 
 displayed. 3 The south, to the right 4 of the justiciaries, 
 was deemed honorable and worthy for a plaintiff; but the 
 north was typical of a frightful and diabolical sombreness. 5 
 When a party was put to his proofs in grievous criminal 
 accusations, and made a solemn oath of purgation, his face 
 turned towards the north ; and in other cases of a less 
 aggravated character, when obligated, he faced the east. 
 
 The judicial headsman, in executing the extreme penalty 
 of outraged justice, turned the convict's face northward, 
 or towards the place whence emanated the earliest, dismal 
 shades of night. 6 When Earl Hakon bowed a tremulous 
 knee before the deadly powers of Paganism, and sacrificed 
 his seven-year-old child, he gazed out upon the far-off, 
 gloomy north. 7 
 
 In Nastrond, or shores of death, stood a revolting 
 
 1 Unten vor richter und urtheilern, stand rechts der Klager, links der Be- 
 klagte oder schuldige ; jener mithin gegen suden, dieser gegen norden. Ibid., 
 p. 808. 
 
 2 This was usually designated as holy-dome, and contained relicts of a 
 patron saint. The earliest Christian oaths were evidently sworn upon the 
 sainted shrine, and without the sacred Scriptures. By a guildic statute, passed 
 in 1350, it is ordained that the new members be sworn on the holidome: and 
 therto havn yie sworon on the holidom. Return of Norwich Guild, No. XII. ; 
 Smith, English Guilds, p. 36. Later, in 1494, to the holidome is added : "and 
 by this boke." Ibid., p. 189. 
 
 3 Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au May en Age, p. 379. 
 
 4 Teutonic judges generally sat in the west, facing east. Vide infra. 
 
 5 Mitternacht und norden hatte aber insgemein den begriff des schauerlichen, 
 traurigen und bosen. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 808. 
 
 6 Der nachrichter kehrt den armen Sunder der enthauptet soil das gesicht 
 gegen die nachtseite. Ibid. 
 
 7 Ibid., loc. ciL 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 293 
 
 hall, whose portals opened towards the north — the 
 regions of night. 1 iSTorth, by the Jutes, was denomi- 
 nated black or sombre ; the Frisians called it fear-corner. 
 The gallows faced the north, and from these hyperborean 
 shores everything base and terrible proceeded. In conse- 
 quence of this belief, it was ordered that, in the adjudica- 
 tion of a crime, the accused should be on the north side of 
 the court enclosure. 2 And in harmony with the Scandina- 
 vian superstition, no lodge of Masons illuminates the 
 darkened north with a symbolic light, whose brightness 
 would be unable to dissipate the gloom of that cardinal 
 point with which was associated all that was sinstrous and 
 direful. 3 
 
 In its details, a Masonic lodge, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, imitated the ^orse tribunals ; and the superstitious 
 notions of ancient Scandinavians touching- the north — the 
 deadly night — were ingrafted into craft formularies. An 
 
 1 Einen Saal seh ich, der sonne fern, 
 In Nastrond ; die Thiiren sind nordwarts gekehrt. 
 Gifttropfen fallen durch die Fenster nieder; 
 Aus Schlangenriicken 1st der Saal gewunden 
 Im starrenden strome stehen da und waten 
 Meuchelmorder und meineidige. 
 Voluspd, Str. 42, Simrock's trans. ; also, the later Edda, Gylfaginning, Str. 52. 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 809. 
 
 3 Conformable to the idea involved in this symbolism, the early Christian 
 ecclesiastics assigned seats on the north side to new proselytes, and was em- 
 blematic of that darkness of unbelief from which they had barely escaped. 
 An old Apprentice's catechism, preserved by Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, 
 p. 243, presents the same conception : 
 
 "Wo haben die Lehrlinge ihrer Platz? 
 " A. In nor den. 
 
 " Waram werdet ihr Freimaurer? 
 
 " A. Weil ich in Finsterniss war, und das Licht sehen wollte." 
 
 At the close of the eighteenth century, the candidate for the degree of En- 
 tered Apprentice was stationed directly in the north, for the reason that he 
 was typically able to sustain but a feeble light: " Au septrion, parce qu'ils ne 
 peuvent soutenir qu'une faible lumiere." Regulateur du Macon (Grade d'Ap.), 
 pp. 36-39. 
 
 25 * 
 
294 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 impression obtains, that lodge lights are to be interpreted 
 to signify three windows, opening respectively in the south, 
 west, and east ; this assumption is unquestionably incor- 
 rect, and lacks the essential elements, as usually elucidated, 
 of symbolism. 
 
 If the foregoing illustrations, drawn from the Eddaic 
 songs, be accepted as correct, a far more sublime idea was 
 typified than isolated openings in an oblong workshop. 
 Moreover, J. Van Eyck's painting in the Louvre, still 
 extant, presents a stonecutters' lodge, of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, without three principal lights as outlooks for the 
 Master and his Wardens. In addition to this, the Torgau 
 ordinance of 1462 1 unequivocally enacts : " That any Fellow- 
 craftsman failing to close the shutters of the window at 
 his work-bench, after lodge has ceased labor, shall be pun- 
 ished." Lodges of mediaeval builders were too numerous 
 around large structures to permit a close attachment to the 
 south wall of the edifice, and thus render the north side 
 of the lodge " a place of darkness." 2 On the contrary, 
 that point of the compass embodied, among Masons, the 
 symbolism which originated in the burning lights conse- 
 crated to the Northern divinities. 
 
 The covering or canopy of a Masonic lodge is bedecked 
 with stars, and is, evidently, taken from the emblems used 
 in ancient Teutonic temples, which represented the uni- 
 verse supported by columns of Odin, Thor, or Frey. Civil 
 tribunals of the early Middle Ages, or at least of the 
 Christianized Germans, were convened under the open 
 heavens. 3 At a subsequent period, when courts assembled 
 
 1 Were die fenster bey seiner Bank nicht zuthut, der soil geben iii. kr. alle- 
 mal zu pusse. Ordnung der Steinmetzen, Art. 69. 
 
 2 The window theory and side-wall protection notion may be found in 
 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Ab. 2, p. 361. 
 
 8 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 793. That a close union existed 
 between Norse tribunals of justice and the temples, is beyond question. 
 Almost invariably, courts were convoked in the immediate vicinity of these 
 sacred edifices, and directly in front. Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 492. 
 
« 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 295 
 
 within doors, in order to perpetuate the Paganistic symbol- 
 ism, they appear to have been tinged with a blue sky 
 studded with golden stars. This coloring, which portrayed 
 the cerulean heaven, may yet be seen in Gothic cathedrals 
 over the main altar. It was the usual custom of mission- 
 ary Christian architects to erect edifices for the new wor- 
 ship upon the site of Pagan temples, and on ground where 
 holy trees grew, under whose wide-spreading branches 
 courts of justice were opened. 1 
 
 As already noted, the evangelists endeavored, and with 
 success, to harmonize the immemorial religious observ- 
 ances of the heathens with the religious usages of Christian 
 faith ; and, in consequence, earlier architecture betrayed 
 the cloudy, canopied heavens, typifying the expansive 
 vault of the universe. As a symbol of the world, still 
 idealized by a lodge of Masons, an azure-colored dome, 
 strewn with stars, accurately expresses the original design 
 of the Upsala temple — a signification which the lapse of 
 ages has not changed. 
 
 Blue has always been esteemed by the Teutonic races as 
 an emblem of fidelity and fortitude f in many German 
 provinces a blue banner was carried in processions as a 
 sign of faithfulness and friendship. 3 
 
 Not unfrequently this color was worn by mourners in 
 unfading remembrance of the dead. 4 The most solemn 
 oath known to the ancient Teuton was sworn on a blue 
 
 During the Middle Ages, justice was administered, in a summary way, in the 
 church porch. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 262. Same custom known to 
 the ancient Komans. Liv., Hist. Rom., Tome I., 30. The Scandinavian 
 priesthood, in Pagan times, assumed the duties of judicature as direct sub- 
 stitutes of the god of justice. Dahlmann, Geschichte von Dannemark, Bd. III., 
 p. 118. Preference was shown for the curtilage surrounding a mediaeval 
 church, on which" trials were called by proclamation. Simrock, ut supra; 
 also, p. 475. 
 
 1 Grimm, op. cit. f p. 805. 2 Grimm, Altdeutsche Walder, Bd. I. 
 
 3 Das Niebelungen Lied, Str. 1623. 
 
 * Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der Alten, Bd. IV., p. 597. 
 
296 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 stone. 1 This is evidently the derivative source whence 
 Masonic altars, covered with blue, have emanated. Equal 
 reverence appears to have been accorded by Druids to this 
 color. 2 The conception involved in this symbolism has 
 survived to modern Freemasons, who designate their 
 places of assembling by the name of " blue lodges" — typical 
 of that unalterable constancy and zeal expressed by the 
 ancient emblem. 
 
 A Masonic lodge is situate due east and west, and, in 
 this respect, it is said to resemble King Solomon's temple. 
 The Israelites, during the period of Egyptian bondage, 
 were in a greater or less degree tinctured with strange 
 doctrines ; and in view of this fact, Moses changed the 
 orientation of the tabernacle, in order that it might present 
 as few points in common as possible with the temples of 
 Egypt. 
 
 These edifices, according to Spencer, 3 were entered from 
 the west, and their most sacred furniture and ritualistic 
 utensils faced the east. Solomon's temple at Jerusalem, 
 as an exact counterpart of the Mosaic tabernacle, pos- 
 sessed no entrance at the west ; which end was perpetually 
 closed by a wall, to exclude the profane from the sanc- 
 tum sanctorum, 4 which, moreover, was turned westward. 
 Through portals in the east the Jews entered the edifice 
 for worship. 5 Immediately upon entering, the devout 
 Israelite advanced by the north side towards the west, the 
 objective point of his worship ; and in departing from the 
 building, if he retrograded with his face directed westward, 
 the south side was to the left. 6 From this, it sufficiently 
 
 1 Simrock, Deutsche Mythohgie, pp. 475-485. Vide Ind, pag. De his quae 
 faciunl super petras. Painted ceilings. See Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture in 
 England, p. 281. 
 
 2 " In all official acts, the bard wore his sky-colored robe." Turner, Hist. 
 AngL-Sax., Bk. II., ch. 3. 
 
 3 De Legib. Hebraor. Ritucdib., II., p. 308. 
 
 * Joseph. De Bello. Jud., Lib. VI., 916. 5 Spencer, op. cit., II., p. 309. 
 6 Ea via egredetur quod sinistram erat hoc est ad meridem. Spencer, De 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 297 
 
 appears that the Jewish temple was orientated directly the 
 reverse of a Masonic lodge. However, it is a rational con- 
 clusion that early Christian evangelists to Northern nations, 
 in attempting to reconcile the two religious systems, were 
 either ignorant of the exact orientation of the sacred edi- 
 fice at Jerusalem, which is possible, or adopted the Ger- 
 manic symbolism of east and west location, with which 
 the ground plans of Christian churches coincided. 1 Here 
 again the remarkable similitude, already traced, between 
 Gothic courts and a lodge, prominently appears. The 
 situation of these tribunals was due east and west. 
 
 Mediaeval courts were sometimes entered at the east ; 2 
 but the gate, or ingress, of the Welsh tribunal was in the 
 west. 3 Consequently, the holy enclosure of the last named 
 court presented a uniformity with Masonic lodges which 
 was not shared by the former; but this dissimilarity is 
 purely unsubstantial, since the idea of orientation in 
 both instances was identical, as will clearly appear. The 
 presiding judge, in a Gothic court, sat in the west, with 
 
 Leg. Hebraor. RUualib., II., p. 313. The Jews were not permitted to enter the 
 temple with either staff or sandal, nor allowed to leave the edifice except in 
 a prescribed form : " Ne tergum ant illae posterioris corporis partes sanctuaris 
 obverterentur." Ibid., p. 130. Vide Buddeus, Antiq. Veter. Hebraeorum., Lib. 
 I., cap. vii. 
 
 1 Spencer, op. cit., p. 308, notes the difference of orientation between the 
 Jewish and Christian temples: Contra quam Christanorum mos est in quorum 
 sacris aedibus altare versus orientem, vestibulum versus occidentum colocare 
 solent. The early churches were not directed towards a particular point of 
 the compass until about the fourth century, at which epoch every inconve- 
 nience was submitted to, in order to secure an exact east and west orientation. 
 Hope. Historical Essay on Architecture, p. 112. How closely sacred edifices 
 were made to conform to the precise orbit of the sun, even to a deviation 
 on the two days of the year when that luminary deviates from a straight line, 
 see Hope, op. cit., p. 442. Same design in Norman architecture. Poole, Ec- 
 clesiastical Architecture in England, p. 147. 
 
 2 Legenda Bonifacii, Lib. II., cap. 8. Quod judex cum assessoribus suis pos- 
 sint videri a capite usque ad scapula, introitus versus orientem apertus. 
 
 3 Grimm, Bechts Alterthumer, p. 809. 
 
298 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 his face directly towards the east. 1 As previously ob- 
 served, the passageway into the arena of the tribunal was 
 in the west end. 
 
 This entrance was placed under the custody or guard of 
 some person judicially appointed, 2 and was closed by a 
 hazel paling, before described, and answered to a gate. 
 Perhaps this fact may furnish a thread of research, which 
 might terminate in a solution of the phraseology, south, 
 west, and east gates, still current in modern Masonic 
 bodies. Whenever the judge opened his court, or engaged 
 in other impressive rites, his face must turn with unerring 
 directness toward that point of the compass whence ema- 
 nated the glittering rays of sunlight. At the conclusion 
 of the colloquy, which ensued between the arbiter and his 
 subordinates, he turned toward the rising orb of day, and 
 proclaimed a court duly organized, amid the flashing rays 
 of sunrise reflected from an unsheathed sword. 
 
 At the opening ceremonies the judge arose, and with a 
 naked sword in his right hand, pronounced the unvarying 
 formula that peace and harmony should prevail within the 
 consecrated area ; thereupon the court was declared opened 
 in due form. 3 In the Welsh tribunals, the judiciary sat in 
 the east, facing directly the reverse, in order, as was al- 
 leged, that the bright glowing light might not dazzle the 
 eye. But Grimm justly states that here, as in the Scandi- 
 navian courts, the details and symbolism of orientation 
 were uniform. 4 By the ancient Germans, property was 
 transferred under the rays of the rising sun, and involved 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 807. Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 409, touches 
 incidentally upon ancient court location, but fails to pursue the line of analogy. 
 
 2 Custoderi ejusmodi introitus debet per eum cui judicialiter adjudicatum 
 fuerit. Grimm, Deutsche Re. Alterth., p. 807. Illustration, in Lacroix, Les 
 Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 373, of Charlemagne, with drawn sword in 
 hand, as a judge; also (p. 375), seated on a throne, with Sapientia — wisdom 
 — surrounding his head. 
 
 3 Grimm, ut supra, pp. 807, 808. 4 Ibid., p. 809. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 299 
 
 the same conception permeating Gothic judicature — the 
 invocation of ^NTorse deities in legal proceedings. Transfer 
 of real estate was placed under the especial sanction and 
 patronage of the sun or Frey — typical of the ever-produc- 
 ing earth. 1 
 
 As connected with this system of tenure, it may be of 
 interest to add that the accession of nobility to power was 
 symbolized by the ancient Teutons. For instance, the 
 newly-installed possessor of a shire, between Helmstatt and 
 Wolfenbiittel, exactly at sunrise, with a naked poniard, 
 drew three strokes crosswise in the ascending light. How- 
 ever, for the history of the craft, it is of greater importance 
 to mention, whenever a Hungarian monarch was crowned 
 with his royal tiara, he wielded a sword to the north, 
 south, east, and west. 2 This custom is still practised upon 
 the induction of officers in Masonic bodies. 
 
 A judge's position in Gothic courts, as stated, was almost 
 uniformly in the west with face turned due east. The 
 change which has occurred in lodges, so far as the Master's 
 station is concerned, was evidently made in order to give 
 a more thorough idea of symbolism to initiates, whose eyes 
 should gaze uninterruptedly upon that cardinal point as a 
 source of light. Candor demands the confession that no 
 historical data, now known, warrants this opinion, but it is 
 evident the alteration referred to originated at a com- 
 paratively recent period, and with it the symbol of power, 
 the hammer, Thor's emblem, properly associated with the 
 west, the more ancient position, was also carried to the 
 east, and there remains. 
 
 l lbid., p. 278. 
 
 2 Die ungarischen Konige schwangen bei ihrer Kronung ein schwert nach 
 den vier welttheilen. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 279, note (***). 
 The usage alluded to in the text, concluding installation ceremonies, will 
 perhaps suggest itself to the Masonic mind. 
 
CHAPTER XXVm. 
 
 A Medieval Lodge : how Approached — Knocks — Master's Hat — 
 Emblematic of Superiority and Acquisition — Gessler's Hat, 
 Type of Power — Worn by Teutonic Judges — Craft Convened 
 by Distinct Raps — Three Blows with a Gavel — The Judicial 
 Mace — The Justice and Master to be Seated — Significance 
 of the Official Staff — Three Steps to Master's Chair — 
 Similar Gradation in Upsala Temple — Numerals in Lodge 
 Ritual — Three as a Fundamental Norm — Five and Seven — 
 Application to Legal Purposes. 
 
 USING the Middle Ages, when a travelling Fellow 
 approached a lodge of Masons in prescribed form, 
 he first exclaimed : " May God bless, direct, and 
 prosper you, Master, Pallirer (wardens), and dear 
 Fellows !" Whereupon the Master, or in his absence the 
 Pallirer, was instructed by the ordinance of Torgau 1 to 
 thank. him in reply, in order that the visiting brother 
 might see who was custodian of the lodge. And having 
 obtained suitable assistance, the wandering craftsman re- 
 moved his hat and thanked the brethren with an established 
 formula. 2 From the preceding ceremony, it is evident that 
 neither the Master nor Wardens of a mediaeval German 
 lodge were distinguishable by distinctive tokens while at 
 
 1 So soli In der Meister oder pallirer danken, das er sieht welcher der oberst 
 ist in der Hiitten. Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Y. 1462, Art. 107. Vide 
 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche zu Eochlitz, p. 48. 
 
 2 So soil er seinem Hut abthun und soil danken, u. s. w. Ordnung der 
 Steinmetzen, 1462, Art. 110. 
 
 300 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 301 
 
 mechanical labor ; otherwise, no regulation was essential or 
 obligatory upon the officers to make proper response to a 
 visitor for the purpose of determining the Master. 
 
 Curiously enough, the implication is direct and clear 
 that the Masons of ancient times, when regularly convened 
 for work, and during the formal reception of a traveller, 
 pursued their daily avocation and attended to usual Ma- 
 sonic demands, within closed portals, with covered heads. 
 At the present day the custom has materially changed, and, 
 with one exception, the members of a lodge at labor notice- 
 ably divest themselves of their hats. This is unquestion- 
 ably a transformation of recent origin, and with it the 
 instruction usually incident to the distinction has been 
 adapted to the innovation. 
 
 When the initiatory rites in a mediaeval lodge were per- 
 formed, the Master was not thus prominently contrasted 
 with his brethren. I speak with especial emphasis upon 
 this point, because the esoteric and sublime signification 
 involved in the Master's hat has been recklessly perverted 
 and destroyed. It was typical, during the Middle Ages, 
 of superiority, and was so interpreted in the ceremonies of 
 initiation by the Masons of France at the termination of 
 the eighteenth century, all of whom sat in open lodge 
 with covered heads. 1 Among the Germans, this article 
 was used as a symbol of transfer of chattels and landed 
 property. The judge held a hat in his hands ; the pur- 
 chaser must receive it from him, and with it the title passed. 
 Frequently the ceremony perfecting a sale was performed 
 
 1 At the conclusion of the rites in French lodges, the Master handed the 
 candidate his hat, and said: For the future, you shall be covered in a Master's 
 lodge. This very ancient usage is a sign of liberty and superiority : II lui 
 rend son chapeau, en disant. " Desormais vous serez couvert en Loge de 
 Maitre ; cet usage tres-ancien annonce la liberte" et la superiority." Regulateur 
 du Magon (Grad. du Mait.), p. 25. Consult, further, Winzer, Die Deutschen 
 Bruderschaften des MiUelalters, p. 68 ; Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurer, Bd. 
 I., p. 62 ; and Krause, Die Drei cdtesten Kunsturfcunden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 307. 
 23 
 
302 
 
 by the contract parties thrusting their hands into a hat, and 
 upon withdrawing them the estate changed owners. 
 
 By the expression " jtutting hands in a hat," was also 
 meant a mutual oath between persons to a confederation or 
 conspiracy. But the most important signification of this 
 covering for the head was its use as a symbol of power and 
 authority, and in such sense it was oftentimes set up as a 
 signal of compulsory assemblage. When thus elevated or 
 fixed upon a pedestal, it convened the people of the neigh- 
 borhood. Gessler's well-known emblem of subjection and 
 superiority, was a hat erected on a pole or column. 1 Ancient 
 Germans shared the symbolism of this article with the 
 Romans, who also regarded it as a type of freedom or as a 
 release from servitude. 2 Upon the death of Xero, so much 
 joy was manifested by the populace, that, in the excess of 
 their delight, they rushed about the eternal city with hats 
 on. 3 
 
 Gothic justices wore a cap or suitable head-dress when 
 presiding over court, as emblematic of authority, 4 and 
 manifestly the people wore their hats while attending the 
 tribunal as symbols of personal liberty. 5 And with this 
 typical allusion general acquiescence originally harmonized ; 
 but the distinctive and exceptional feature of a Master's 
 head-dress contains the secret symbolism of authority at 
 the present day, while mediaeval Masons worked with 
 covered heads as a sign of freedom. Both customs, de- 
 
 1 Auch des Gesslers aufgesteckter hut in der schweizersage ist symbol der 
 obergewalt zu gericht und feld. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 151. 
 
 2 It was thus symbolized by the Gallic craftsmen of the eighteenth century, 
 when the initiate was covered with his hat : cet usage tres-ancien annonce la 
 liberte. Regulaleur du Macon (Grad. du Mait.), p. 25. 
 
 3 "Tantumque gaudium publice praebuit, ut plebs pileata toto urbe dis- 
 curreret." Suetonius, In Vit. Nero., cap. 57. 
 
 * Swen der richter vregget umme ein orteil, tut her sinen hut abe. Grimm, 
 op. cit., p. 764. See Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages, Figs. 300-306. 
 
 5 In an engraving, dating from the fifteenth century, given in Lacroix, op. 
 ext., p. 379, all persons attendant upon court are presented with heads covered. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 303 
 
 scended from a remote Teutonic antiquity, have long since 
 dissipated their vital forces, while the ordinary interpreta- 
 tion possesses less significance than a dilapidated mile-post '. 
 
 Mediaeval Masonic lodges were opened with impressive 
 ceremonies, and observed a certain degree of careful 
 formality. When the craftsmen were called to labor, a 
 signal sounded. It was enacted by the Torgau law that 
 u the Master should give three knocks, a Pallirer two, 
 consecutively ; and in case the craft at large were impera- 
 tively demanded, one blow must be struck, morning, 
 midday, or at eventide." 1 This was claimed to be in 
 accordance with the ancient usages of the country. 2 
 Exactly similar signals were appropriately given when 
 the lodge closed. From this it is evident that, as early 
 as the year 1462, the operative Masons followed an old 
 custom in opening and closing their labors with distinc- 
 tive knocks. Three strokes, by a Master, convened all 
 members of that degree ; two strokes, in rapid succession, 
 by the Pallirer, called the Fellows together ; and by a 
 single blow each member, whether Master, Craftsman, or 
 Apprentice, was assembled in lodge. 
 
 If a Pallirer failed to sound the signal, or, for any cause, 3 
 neglected it, or if Fellows and Apprentices disregarded the 
 stroke, and were dilatory in commencing their daily 
 avocations, the Warden was forced to record each delin- 
 quency, and work it up against the offender upon the 
 stone ; 4 and any Warden allowing the assessed penalty to 
 go unsatisfied, was bound to pay it himself. In the open- 
 ing and closing of Teutonic tribunals of justice, the judge 
 carried a staff or mace as an emblem of jurisdiction ; nor 
 was he allowed to divest himself of this official badge 
 
 1 Ein Meister sol schlagen drey schlege, ein Pallirer zwein einfort, einen 
 wen man riigen sol morgen, mittags, abend. Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 1462, 
 Art. 28. 
 
 2 Nach des landes alter gewohnheit. Ibid. 3 Ordnung, eU., Art. 54. 
 * Evidently intended to be the block on which the operative was at work. 
 
304 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 without such dispossession being a constructive conclusion 
 of further proceedings. 1 Order was enjoined by the arbi- 
 ter with the mace which he held in his right hand, and 
 with which he struck a blow upon the pedestal before 
 him. He thereupon elevated it above his head until 
 silence had been obtained and the court formally opened. 
 As often as harmony was broken, a stroke of the staff 
 preserved it. When the court concluded, a blow was 
 given, and the following order pronounced : " Since no 
 further business offers, this court is now closed." 2 
 
 One custom prevailing in judicial procedure of the Mid- 
 dle Ages has descended to Masonic lodges unimpaired 
 and without variation : the judge was required to remain 
 seated in his station during regular business, and in case 
 he arose, all argument ceased, and further proceedings were 
 stayed until he resumed his seat. 3 
 
 A standing rule prescribes, when a Master of a lodge 
 rises, disputations and debates shall instantly cease and 
 silence be maintained. Grimm 4 also says the three blows 
 were of emblematic import, and were struck by judges 
 sitting in an official capacity. Amid joyous songs and 
 gay festivities a nail was driven into boundary posts by 
 Teutonic judges, who struck three blows with a hammer; 
 — the echo of those far-off signals is perpetuated in the 
 
 1 Des stabs konnte ein richter nicht entrathen, er gebot damit stille (durch 
 Klopfen) und hegte das gericht; so bald er ihm niederlegte war das gericht 
 geschlossen. Grimm, Deuts. Rechts Alt., p. 761. Krause, Die Drei cdtesten 
 Kunsturk unden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 304, publishes an old German lodge ritual, 
 according to which, the Master opened his lodge with a long staff in hand. 
 After the formal colloquy had ensued, the lodge was declared opened, amid 
 three strokes of a hammer. Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 58. 
 
 2 Eben so schliigt er nach beendigung des gerichts auf den tisch und spricht: 
 die wiel niemand mehr fiirzubringen hat, wird das gericht hiermit aufge- 
 schlagen. Grimm, op. cit., p. 832. 
 
 3 Muss sitzen sein aufstehen hindert den fortgang der verhandlung. Ibid., 
 p. 763. 
 
 4 Die richters sol to deme ersten male dre siege flan an ene burch. Ibid., 
 p. 209. 
 
A NTIQ UITIES OF FREE MA S ONE Y. 305 
 
 mystic labors of the modern craft l 1 The deacons, entrusted 
 to satisfy the officers of a lodge, before opening, that none 
 are present but those who have regularly passed the mys- 
 terious portals, carry staves in the performance of an 
 important duty. Mediaeval judicial formularies will satis- 
 factorily indicate the source whence this custom is derived. 
 The constabulary, or court messengers, of that distant 
 epoch were symbolically clothed with a staff as a badge 
 of authority to investigate all matters within their prov- 
 inces. 2 For a like purpose Masonic deacons are invested 
 with an official wand, as a distinctive mark that the 
 whispered word is entrusted to the ear of a proper officer. 3 
 The Master's chair is approached by three steps or 
 grades, — an arrangement apparently descended, with 
 numerous appointments, from Scandinavian antiquity. 
 In the Upsala temple the Norse gods — Odin, Thor, and 
 Frey — were presented sometimes as enthroned on high 
 seats, one elevated above the other.' Thor was placed on 
 a throne to the left of the principal divinity, while Frey 
 sat on the right side. 5 These thrones upon which the 
 
 1 In the tribunals alluded to were three judges, each of whom sounded a 
 blow with his hammer, in succession, one following the other. Einer noch 
 dem anderen that drei schldge auf den eingefleckten nagel. Grimm, Deutsche 
 Rechts Alterthiimer, pp. 832, 833. Three mystical blows with a staff or baton ; 
 Drei ruthenschlage. Ibid., p. 209. 
 
 2 Audi bei den handwerksumfragen wird von den gesellen ein stab gehalten. 
 Grimm, op. cit., p. 767, note (*). The Masonic custom described in the text 
 was, evidently, in the mind of the great German archaeologist when the note 
 was penned. Monastic constables carried staves. Fosbroke, British Monachism, 
 p. 262. Festival batons: bacula festiv. Ibid., p. 120. 
 
 3 Hibernian justices were tendered a staff* on being inducted into office. 
 Also delivered to newly-crowned kings. Moore, History of Ireland, Vol. I., 
 pp. 42-3. Vide Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruderschaften des Mittelalters, p. 5. 
 Kegulation of the year 1408 required guildic Masters to bear white wands. 
 Smith, English Guilds, p. 141. Rector chori, with white staff. Barclay, Ship 
 of Fooles, 182. 
 
 4 Adam Brem, Hist. Eccles., 1; Geijer, History of Sweden, p. 34; especially 
 Gylfaginning, Str. 2. 
 
 5 Olaus Magnus, Hist. Septen. vari. Condi, p. 100. 
 
 26* U 
 
306 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 deities were seated, according to the prose Edda, were 
 graduated by an intervening step. Odin's stood highest, 
 on three grades ; Thor's next, on two ; and Frey's seat 
 was the lowest, and numbered one. 
 
 It may be inferred that the location of the Carlovingian 
 and mediaeval justiciary accurately described the formal 
 orientation of a Teutonic temple ; therefore, the Northern 
 divinities sat in the west, and faced directly opposite. 
 Such arrangement places Frey in the south, and grouped 
 Thor to the north of Odin. Access was had, conse- 
 quently, to the sacred thrones 1 by an ascending gradation 
 of steps. 
 
 At what period of time the seat of Wisdom was trans- 
 lated to the east, and now filled by the Master of a lodge, 
 is perhaps beyond recovery, but the thrones of Thor, 
 Strength, and Frey, Beauty, remained in their present 
 cardinal positions. The type of superior elevation was 
 perpetuated in the transfer, and is still maintained by the 
 three steps arising to the oriental pedestal. In the west, 
 the Warden's chair is approached by the two steps of Thor, 
 while Frey's seat in the south is elevated one grade above 
 the floor. 
 
 Another conclusion, confirmatory of the preceding argu- 
 ment, may be deduced from the symbolical gradation 
 leading to the Master's chair. The usual explanation of 
 these steps declares them to be representative of the three 
 stages of human life — -youth, manhood, and age. 
 
 It is possible that the original significance has been lost 
 in the present application. The period of youth, with the 
 color and roseate freshness of health, symbolizes beauty, or 
 the type of Frey. Manhood, with its vigor and endurance, 
 is synonymous with Thor, the god of strength. Age, from 
 the accumulated experience of years, is a type of wisdom, 
 
 1 A manuscript copy of the Edda, still preserved in Upsal, portrays the 
 three Norse divinities appropriately seated. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 307 
 
 which, it will be remembered, was Odin's symbolism. 1 In 
 the Gothic tribunals the presiding judge occupied the 
 most elevated seat, while his associates were graduated 
 by higher or lower benches, to the right and left of the 
 supreme justice, 2 an arrangement evidently imitated after 
 the location of Scandinavian deities in Northern temples. 
 
 In the ordinary details of lodge ritual, numbers con- 
 stitute an important element. Although not especially 
 symbolized, they bear so significant relations as to arrest 
 attention. The fundamental numbers of Freemasonry are 
 3, 5, and 7, and of these by far the most essential is the 
 numeral 3. Northern mythology based the entire physical 
 world upon the three roots of the ash Yggdrasil, whose 
 branches covered earth's extensive surface and reached to 
 the highest heavens. 3 Also, a lodge of Masons is typically 
 supported by the three principal columns of Wisdom, 
 Strength, and Beauty, and, curiously enough, beneath one 
 of the roots of Yggdrasil was the fountain of wisdom, 4 
 from which the superior deity of the North, Odin, 
 replenished his vast intelligence. 5 Three norns or fates 
 
 1 Odin was frequently represented as an old, venerable, long-bearded man. 
 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 203. 
 
 2 Dem Richter zu beiden seiten sassen die vertheiler ; er etwas holier, sie tiefer. 
 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 808. 
 
 3 Edda, Str. 15. Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Vol. I., chap, xxix., 
 has collected, with industry and learning, the almost universal application of 
 the numeral 3 as a substantial norm, particularly in Teutonic mythology. In 
 the Grimnismal, Str. 31, Yggdrasil is thus described : 
 
 " Prei wurzeln strecken sich nach dreien seiten 
 Unter der Esche Yggdrasil, 
 
 Hel wohnt unter einer, Hrimthursen under der andrern, 
 Aber unter der dritten Menschen." 
 
 Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 33. 
 * Gylfaginning, c. 15 ; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 12. 
 5 Gylfag., c. 15 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 36. In the initiatory cere- 
 monies of the German Freemasons, a mirror is used to typify self-examination 
 and knowledge. Schauberg, op. cit., p. 104. This symbol is certainly trace- 
 able to a judicial custom, in imitation of Baldur, gazing in silent and solitary 
 contemplation upon the waters of a consecrated spring : Mirmir's fountain, the 
 source of wisdom. Simrock, ut supra, p. 300. Water was used by the French 
 
308 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 guarded the well of Urd. 1 The three lights, alluding to 
 Frey, Thor, and Odin, have been explained, together with 
 the steps delineated on the Master's carpet, and reference 
 has been made at length to the three cardinal points of 
 the compass — East, West, and South — and the striking 
 resemblance between Masonic orientation and that of a 
 mediaeval court. 
 
 The old ordinance of Torgau prescribes that two addi- 
 tional Masters shall be associated with a Master whose 
 qualifications are disputed, in order to arbitrate upon his 
 competency. 2 
 
 This number, three, constitutes the minimum of a 
 Masonic lodge, and seems to have been a derivative pro- 
 totype of the .deities at Upsala. During the early Middle 
 Ages no court was legally organized unless three judges 
 at least were present, and these tribunals, perpetuating 
 ancient temple worship, frequently, if not invariably, 
 convened under trees in imitation of the Scandinavian ash. 
 Seven trees were prescribed as the highest number. 3 Three 
 judges were absolutely required to open and regularly 
 hold a court of justice ; the maximum was seven. 4 In some 
 cases five were demanded to proceed in due form to adju- 
 dicate upon the matters brought before them. 
 
 This practice in mediaeval tribunals affords a solution of 
 the Masonic landmark, that three or more members are 
 necessary to open and close lodge work, which, being fairly 
 
 Masons as symbolical of purgation. Regulateur du Magon, p. 26 ; also, Krause, 
 Die Drei celtesten Kunstwkunden, Bd. IL, Ab. 2, p. 262. 
 
 1 Votuspd, Str. 20; GyJ/aginntng, c. 15; Thorpe, op. cit, Vol. I., p. 12. 
 
 2 Aber Kumpt ein Meister von Neues auff das er vor nicht Meysterey ge- 
 trieben hat, der sol zwehn bewerte Meister haben, die fiir In sprechen. Ord- » 
 nung, 1462, Art. 4. No Masonic tribunal, for the trial of an alleged delin- 
 quent, should be composed of less than three Masters. Fallou, Mysterien der 
 Freimaurer, p. 47. 
 
 3 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 794; Maurer, Geschichte der Mar- 
 kenverfassung, p. 328. 
 
 * Grimm, Ibid , p. 795; Unger, Die AUdeutsche Gerichtsverfassung, pp. 113, 181. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 309 
 
 interpreted, signifies any number from three, five, or seven 
 craftsmen, are essential to regular labor. It has been pre- 
 viously stated that three knocks 1 were of symbolic import 
 in a Gothic court, and still exists in Masonic bodies. 
 
 This norm, also signifying everything good and desira- 
 ble, 2 was a practical element of legal procedure of extensive 
 use. The ancient Germans reckoned three great national 
 lines : Herminones, Jugaevones, and Estsevones. 3 Tacitus 
 says 4 there were three social grades : nobiles, ingenui, and 
 servi. 
 
 The lex Alamania divided the nation into optimates, 
 medii, and servi. Also tres faciunt collegium, corporation 
 or guild. 5 Three men constituted a contubernium. By 
 law, each Germanic landed proprietor was compelled to 
 receive at least three guests. 6 Three bones, tria ossa, were 
 typified in the Salic law. A judge's chair must have three 
 legs, an evident reference to the Yggdrasil roots. 
 
 The sacred circle of a mediaeval court had three princi- 
 pal stakes of entrance, 7 but others might be added ad cap- 
 tandum. A branch of a tree having three twigs was used 
 as a symbol by the Germans in the transfer of property. 
 
 1 In the consecration of churches, the bishop rapped three times on the 
 door. Fallou, op. cit., p. 242. Three excuses allowed to members for non- 
 attendance on a guild, in the fourteenth century, viz. : "for ye Kyngges ser- 
 vise, er for stronge sekenesse er twenty myle dwellyng." Smith, English 
 Guilds, p. 30. 
 
 2 Grimm, op. cit, p. 208. 3 Plin. Hist. 4 Germania, cap. xxv. 
 
 5 Three make a guild. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 14. 
 
 6 Rogge, Das Gerichtswesen der Germanen, p. 1 05. " In the exercise of Northern 
 hospitality, the old Swedes surpassed every other people." Geijer, Hist, of 
 Sweden, p. 33. One of the early laws of Scandinavia enacted that no traveller 
 should leave a lodging-house without chopping as much wood as he had 
 burned, in order that fuel might be at hand for an emergency in that rigorous 
 clime. 
 
 7 Grimm, Rechts Alterthumer, p. 208. Three staves, possessed of a terrible 
 magical power, mentioned in Skirnisfaer, Str. 36. The three drinks referred 
 to in the Eragarcedhur, Str. 58, were of mystical import, and may be the origin 
 of the ancient Masonic custom, at banquets, to drink a toast in three distinct 
 times or motions. Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 65. 
 
310 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 A like number of trees planted in the soil had a similar 
 import. Three cords twisted into a rope possessed a mys- 
 tical meaning in the dreaded Vehmgericht. Three apples, 
 pears, turnips, etc., might be appropriated by the traveller 
 without fear of legal punishment. 
 
 In the old Northern cosmogony, three doors in a house 
 had a symbolic reference to Norse temple worship. 1 A 
 like number of tables was requisite in each royal mansion. 
 As already urged, three fires in a dwelling were typical of 
 the principal divinities of Upsala. In the legal transfer 
 of a house, the symbol of possession was performed by a 
 bailiff, who cut three chips from the door-post and passed 
 them to the purchaser. 2 
 
 Legal messengers from the mysterious Vehmgericht, 
 experiencing difficulty or danger in approaching the resi- 
 dence of an accused, served judicial notice upon the person 
 charged with crime at night, by affixing the summons to 
 the door-latch with a royal coin enclosed, and taking three 
 notches from a vine. A lawful service, among the early 
 Scandinavians, was made by the bailiff 1 cutting three incis- 
 ions in the door or posts, and placing the court symbol 
 above the transom. 3 A carter could feed three sheaves of 
 grain to his oxen from the shocks of any landowner, but 
 beyond that number the excess must be paid. Three oaks, 
 as previously stated, was the minimum number of trees 
 for the court enclosure. Three waves of the sea were also 
 symbolized by the Teutonic races as a possessory limit- 
 Three bites, three footsteps, and three blows with a wand or 
 staff were of mystical signification in legal deliberations. 
 
 Judges, in opening court, must strike three distinct 
 blows 4 — a number of raps still used in a lodge of Masons, and 
 has especial reference to the craft as a congregated body. 
 
 1 Drei thiiren im haus. Grimm, op. cit, p. 209. 2 Ibid. 
 
 8 Grimm, Deuts. Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 174 ; Maurer, Markenverfassung, p. 350. 
 4 Grimm, Ibid., p. 67. For judicial use of symbols, see Simrock, Deutsche 
 Mythologie, p. 517, and Schulte, Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte, pp. 18, 436, 456. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 311 
 
 In certain judicial ceremonies, three words must be pro- 
 nounced by a person making oath. Three cries were made 
 in tithing, and likewise in the clamor of murder. 1 When 
 a suitor at law was compelled to expurgate, three questions 
 were successively and formally propounded, and an oath 
 was frequently thrice repeated by one person upon a sword 
 thrust into the earth. 2 In legal attestation, three witnesses 
 were necessary, and three formal and three informal courts 
 were recognized by the Teutonic constitution. 
 
 Heinous crimes were divided into three, viz., robbery 
 with violence, arson, and theft. Upon conviction of an 
 accused, it was usual to concede him the chance of select- 
 ing one from three proffered penalties. Three years and 
 three days were of significance in Germanic tribunals. ISo 
 householder was obliged to entertain a guest gratuitously 
 longer than three days. 3 
 
 This numeral was always separated thus, 2 + 1, or two 
 to one, never 1 + 2, one to two. Masonic strokes with a 
 mallet are almost invariably sounded in this disjunctive 
 manner. In the Welsh tribunals, numerals were abun- 
 dantly used in a triadic formula. 
 
 The number 7 frequently appears as a fundamental norm 
 among the ancient Teutonic nations. Seven completed a 
 party or convivium. Seven scabinei 4 or justices were abso- 
 lutely essential to hear and decide certain pleas produced 
 
 1 Grimm, op. cit., p. 209. 
 
 2 " Do Sifride der Kuene diu maere reht vernam, 
 
 Sin swert stiesz er in die Erden und zuo dem steine kam, 
 Darauf swuor er dri eide." 
 Hitmen Sifriel, Str. 52. Vide Das Kleinen Heldenbuch, Simrock's ed., p. 201, 
 et seq. 
 
 3 Traceable to Norse mythology. See Gylfaginning, c. 42. For three nights 
 with mystic sense, see Skirnisjaer, Str. 42, and Rigsmdl, Str. 6. 
 
 * Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, Bd. I., p. 238, note (a) ; Unger, 
 Altdeutsche Gerichtsverfassung, p. 181. For the use of the numerals 3 and 7, 
 as applied, with symbolic import, to architectural art, see Poole, Ecclesiastical 
 Architecture in England, pp. 185-187. 
 
312 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 before them. In some cases seven witnesses were necessary 
 to substantiate an accusation. Every freeman possessor 
 of seven shoe-lengths of real property, before and behind 
 him, was entitled to be present before court. 1 The frequent 
 recurrence of seven oaks as an essential number for a place 
 of justice has been alluded to. Seven principal highways 
 and seven free hedges had official recognition during the 
 Middle Ages. A tax of seven pence was a proportionate 
 rate for the celestial, and three for the terrestrial king. 
 
 This numeral also appears to have been a usual norm in 
 military phraseology ; for instance, seven spears, and as in 
 the case of Alberich's scourge, seven knots hung from the 
 handle. 2 In the above connection, seven knives were often- 
 times designated in a mystical signification. Seven years 
 was the legal limit for absolutely establishing terminal 
 lines. The number was only resolvable into 4 -(- 3, and 
 rarely added otherwise. 3 
 
 Of all the numerals to which reference has been made as 
 claiming an undoubted integral combination in the sym- 
 bolism of lodge ritualism, the triadic is unqualifiedly 
 the most significant and certainly most archaic. As we 
 have seen, this norm had especial importance when applied 
 to the ordinary S3^mbols of court proceeding in matters 
 affecting the transfer of real estate. It has descended to 
 the Freemasons of our day with much of the original 
 characteristics with which it was invested. The same 
 may be said of the numeral 7, although this, as a funda- 
 mental norm, is not so prominently marked, neither does 
 it occur so frequently. In Masonic work, the triad retains 
 the mystical signification of an ancient religious culture, 
 celebrated by a Pagan priesthood amid the oppressive 
 gloom of primeval oaks or within the walls of a conse- 
 crated temple, illuminated by sacrificial fires, burning with 
 unextinguishable flame, before the heath en trinity of Asgard. 
 
 1 Grimm, Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 213. 
 
 2 Das Niebelungen Lied, Str. 464. 
 
 3 Grimm, op. cit, p. 214. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Mediaeval and Masonic Obligations — Virtue Inherent in Mate- 
 rial — Scandinavian Fetichism — Square, Gauge, and Compass: 
 why Used in Ancient Oath — Right Hand in Swearing — Oath 
 by the Jewish Jehovah — Antiquity of the Word "Hail," or 
 " Hale " — From a Teutonic Root, Signifying Concealment — Its 
 Use in Oath of Middle Ages — Punishment for Temple Break- 
 !xg — Other Penalties — Cord, its Symbolism — The Shoe — 
 Installation Procession. 
 
 PALLIRER or Warden elect, according to the 
 practice prevailing among the mediaeval Masons, 
 previous to his installation, obligated himself by 
 placing the hand upon a gauge and square, 1 which 
 were apparently conjoined. These implements, symbolized 
 at an early age to typify uprightness and moral rectitude, 2 
 were, in such solemnities, used in inducting the officers 
 mentioned into their duties. 
 
 The custom of touching an object with the hand, and 
 particularly the right hand, in formal swearing, was uni- 
 versally followed during the Middle Ages 3 — a usage which 
 has survived to modern times — and sometimes, by way of 
 additional attestation, the hand is placed upon the breast 
 or heart. 4 
 
 1 Er soli In die Pallirerschafft befehlen und die eid strebe mit maszstabe zu 
 der Heyligen. Ordnung der Steinmetzen torn Yahre 1462, Art. 18. 
 
 2 Vide p. 225, supra. 
 
 3 Der schworende muste indem er die eidesformel hersagte einen gegen- 
 stand benihnend. Grimm, D. R. A., p. 895. Imponant manus suas in epis- 
 tolas. Leg. Rachis Reg., c. 4; Rogge, Das Gerichtswesen der Germanen, p. 133. 
 For symbolical use of hand, see Jennings, The Rosicrucians, pp. 118, 166. 
 
 4 Heinecci, Antiquitates Germanicae, Tome III., p. 263. 
 
 97 313 
 
314 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 In the symbolic appliances of lodge ritual, the objects, 
 or at least the implements, which consecrate the usual 
 oaths, there is an unequivocal recognition of a hidden 
 power contained within them, which has descended from 
 Norse mythology, and savors of Fetichism. Baldur, the 
 good deity, par excellence, having dreamed that some evil 
 was about to befall him, communicated his fears to the 
 other divinities ; whereupon Frey exacted an oath from 
 all things, animate and inanimate, from stones, iron, and 
 other metals, that none of them would injure the divine 
 dreamer. 1 This, however, failed to meet the emergency, 
 for the mistletoe, being overlooked on account of its appa- 
 rent insignificance, was the cause of Baldur 's death. 2 In 
 order to secure his release from Hela, the gods dispatched 
 messengers throughout the universe to implore all things, 
 great and small, living or lifeless, to bewail and weep for 
 the martyred divinity. 3 Here, therefore, we find a direct 
 acknowledgment of an inherent power existing in matter, 
 animate or inanimate. This idea, originating with the 
 Scandinavian deities, was of especial importance for the 
 ^Norseman, and contributed, by the skilful manipulation of 
 the priesthood, to moulding oath-formularies, and invested 
 objects used, in consequence of the divine recognition, with 
 peculiar significance. Everything adopted for this purpose 
 was presumed to be endowed with a high degree of holi- 
 ness, and to such extreme was this conception carried, that 
 a slave or bondman was debarred from the oath in its 
 prescribed form. 4 
 
 1 Elder Edda, Vegtamskvidha, Str. 1, and Gylfaginmng, c. 49. 
 
 2 Gylfagmning, c. 49 ; Sirarock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 71 ; Mallet, Northern 
 Antiquities, p. 447. 
 
 3 Gylfaginning, c. 49 ; Simrock, op. cit., p. 73. 
 
 4 Bestimrate eide durften nur von freien, nicht von Knechten und nur von 
 rnaenner, nicht von frauen geschworen werden. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alter' 
 thumer, p. 894. No sufficient reason appears why women were rejected from 
 taking legal and formal oaths ; but the absolute exclusion of the sex from 
 lodges of Masons may, perhaps, rest upon this preemptory usage. However, 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 315 
 
 A germinal truth may be concealed beneath this mediaeval 
 usage, which, if developed, might materially assist in solv- 
 ing the cause of the landmark rejecting this class of candi- 
 dates for Masonic degrees, and ultimately lead to a solution 
 of their inability, in ancient times, to take the obligation 
 of a freeman. 
 
 It was an almost invariable practice among the Norse 
 nations to take the most sacred oaths with the face turned 
 towards the rising; sun, 1 and with the hand and fingers 
 upraised. In the Saemund Edda, an oath was taken with 
 the face to the southern sun. 2 As previously stated, these 
 obligations were assumed with the hand resting upon, or 
 touching, some material object. In nearly all cases this 
 substance was adapted to the particular custom of a 
 province, or was any animate or inanimate thing readily 
 procured. Pagans swore with the hand grasping a blood- 
 smeared ring ; Christians obligated themselves by the 
 cross, relicts of saints, by the book (missal) and bell ; the 
 latter was in consecrated use during ecclesiastic services. 3 
 Ancient Scandinavians swore upon their swords, frequently 
 by grass and trees, as appears from the following citation : 
 
 Glasgerion swore a full grete othe, 
 By oake and ashe and thorne. 4 
 
 Oaths were attested also by water, fountains, and streams, 
 by rocks, cliffs, and stones — the latter sometimes white; 5 
 but the most sacred and binding obligation was made upon 
 
 they were admitted to full membership in social and religious guilds of the 
 Middle Ages. 
 
 1 Gein der sunnen, juramentum versus orientem. Grimm, op. ext., p. 895. 
 
 2 Atlakvida, Str. 30. 
 
 3 Atlakvida, Str. 30. Uller's ring. Ibid. The formal use of relicts by 
 Christian Europe, in oaths, was evidently derived from the Egyptians, who 
 were also accustomed to swearing by the dead. Gyraldus, Devario Sepe- 
 lendi Ritu, p. 379. Also known to the Komans. Sueton., Vita Augusti, c. 98. 
 Hujus Masgabae ante annum defuncti, tumulum cum animadvertisset magna 
 turba, etc. Early Christians swore upon the relicts. Gyraldus, op. cit., p. 29. 
 
 * Percy, Reliques of Ancient Poetry. * GudrUnarkvidha thridhja, Str. 3. 
 
316 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 a blue stone altar. 1 Ancient Northmen swore upon Thor's 
 hammer. 2 
 
 It was no unusual thing for persons solemnly to attest 
 an oath by the beard, hair, and eyes, or with the hand 
 upon vestments. 3 A judicial obligation was administered 
 by touching the judge's staff of office. And for the same 
 reason that warriors swore by the sword, 4 also other people, 
 in the less exciting spheres of domestic life, used ordinary 
 house furniture. For example, travellers grasped the 
 wagon-wheel, and horsemen their stirrups ; sailors rested 
 the hand upon the ship's railing. 5 Operative masons, or 
 stonecutters, of the Middle Ages, perpetuated the Scandi- 
 navian custom of swearing upon common utensils, and 
 used their tools in the solemn formality of an obligation — 
 a usage still adhered to by the modern craft. 
 
 The right hand was considered indispensable, in mediae- 
 val oaths, to seize or touch the consecrated object. 6 Fre- 
 quently, the hand was upraised, in order to bring it in 
 contact with the material object sworn by, and at the 
 same time kneeling, divested of hat and weapons, was an 
 essential element in the ceremony of assuming an oath. 7 
 
 Ancient Jews called upon the holy name in attestation 
 of the solemnity of their obligation, with the hand placed 
 indifferently above or beneath the thigh. 8 But the most 
 
 1 Heiligen Steinen, gewohnlich blauen, wurden den Eide abgelegt, etc. Sim- 
 rock, Deutsche Mytholoyie, p. 475. In the midst of the court enclosure, a stone 
 — blue, usually — was erected, upon which sacrifices were offered. Ibid., p. 485' 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 897. 
 
 8 Rogge, Das Oerichtswesen der Germanen, p. 176. 
 
 4 Strictum gladium fidelitatis juramento praestito. Olaus Mag., Hist. Septr. ac 
 var. Condit, Lib. VIII., c. 10. Volundarkvidha, Str. 31. Rogge, op. cit., p. 175, etc. 
 
 5 Ship's rail, shield, horse's bit, etc. Vide Volundarkvidha, Str. 31 ; also, 
 Grimm, op. cit., p. 899. Heinecci, Antiquitaies Germanicae, Tome III., p. 263. 
 
 6 Niebelungen Lied, Sts. 562-3, 803. 
 
 ' Der schworende waffen, helm oder hut vorher nieder zu legen und zu 
 knien. Grimm, Dent. Rechts Alierth'dmer, p. 903. 
 
 8 Joseph, Antiq. Judae., Lib. I., cap. xv. In this oath there is the relict of 
 a well-defined priapic formula, viz., swearing upon the Lingam. Westropp 
 and Wake, Ancient Symbol Worship, pp. 30-35. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 317 
 
 impressive oath taken by the Israelites, was that in and by 
 the sacred name Jehovah. 1 
 
 In Masonic ritualism, the word " hail " is invariably 
 used. Hail, conceal, never reveal, form a triad. The 
 original signification of the first-named word has long 
 since passed away. With the exception, perhaps, of the 
 Master's mallet or gavel, no portion of regular lodge ap- 
 purtenances is so clearly and satisfactorily traceable to a 
 Saxon or Teutonic source. " Hail " occurs in an alliterative 
 form in medieval oaths, and meant concealment. In this 
 sense it is now to be understood. 
 
 The formula of judicial obligations during the Middle 
 Ages was as follows: "will beivaren, helen und halten" or 
 an older form : "Ik will helen und hoden." About the 
 ninth century, a phraseology similar to the one preceding 
 
 1 It was necessary to swear a Jew before court by this name. Praeceptum 
 est ut cuicunque praestandum fuerit in Foro juramentum, is juret per nonien 
 Dei. Selden, De Synedriis Veterum Ebraeorum, p. 829. Detached parts of the 
 word might be interchanged between persons and have the binding significa- 
 tion of an oath. Maimonides, More Nevochim, Part I., cap. 59. In a remote 
 epoch, the sacred word evidently constituted an important element in Ma- 
 sonic obligations. Its use now, however, is limited to lodges in the form of 
 an initial. Initiates into Norse guilds took the obligation under the light of 
 a taper. Qmnes qui entrant gildam jurent super candelam prout lex dicta- 
 verit. Stat. Conviv. St. Eric, $ 44. No doubt, the ancient Scandinavians at- 
 tested very solemn oaths under the invocation of light, and subsequently trans- 
 mitted the practice to the guild of Freemasons, — fire being cultivated as a 
 symbol of deity. Ignem, quia omni sacrificia praefertur. Olaus Magnus, Hist. 
 Septr. ac var. Cond., Lib. III., cap. 7. Vide Schauberg, Symbolik der Frei- 
 maurerei, Bd. I., p. 277. Frcm the numerous references to payment of penal- 
 ties incurred, by wax, both among the mediaeval Masons and secular guilds, it 
 is evident burning tapers were used in initiatory ceremonies and in the obli- 
 gations. Wild a, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 118. The guilds of the 
 Middle Ages followed closely the customs and perpetuated unchanged many 
 rites of their Pagan ancestors. In a return of St. John the Baptist's Guild, 
 it is ordered that, "ye Den shal gedren ye forseyde half penys and by wyhtal 
 bread and gyve hit for ye soule" — to the poor. Smith, English Guilds, pp. 
 110-112. The wyhtal or wastel is derived from the Teutonic veitsla, feast, 
 and wastel bread being that which was uniformly given away, in ancient 
 times, to the guests. 
 27* 
 
318 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 was in use: " ich schwere das ich will verivahren, hiiten und 
 helen." A judge swore : " das heilige geheimnisse zu hiiten 
 und zu helen." A very antique Frisian oath contained the 
 word hellen. 1 The lines cited signify : " I swear the secrets 
 to conceal (helen) hold and not reveal." 
 
 In the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf, 2 " helen " 
 is used in the sense of concealing: 
 
 Under heofenes h6dor 
 Beholcn weorded. 
 
 King Alfred's translation of Paul Orosius' history 3 con- 
 tains this word " helan," and is always adopted as a vigor- 
 ous expression for secrecy. In its present application, 
 " hail " or " helan" is totally divested of signification ; 
 hut taken collectively with the entire trilogy, the meaning 
 clearly asserts itself to he an intensive repetition of " con- 
 ceal and not reveal." 
 
 Penalties inflicted upon convicts of certain grades during 
 the Middle Ages, were terrible and inhuman. 
 
 The most cruel punishment awaited him who broke into 
 
 1 Schwur das heilige geheimniss zu helen, hiiten u. verwahren, vor mann, 
 vor weib, vor dorf, vor trael, vor stok, vor stein, vor grasz, vor klein, auch vor 
 queck. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterth'dmer, pp. 52, 53. Whoever will col- 
 late the foregoing triplets with the oath administered in the Entered Appren- 
 tice's Degree, cannot fail to avow that both have emanated from a high an- 
 tiquity, if not from an identical source. In some cases, the ancient Teutonic 
 obligation was "staved," that is, originally lettered upon a staff in poetic 
 form, and numbers of these constituted rhyme staves. On these, for greater 
 solemnity, the obligor was sworn. Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 517. 
 Much discussion has been had touching the age of the oath directly involved 
 in the text. Vide Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden der Freimaurer, 
 Bd. I., Ab. 1, p. 348, etc., who denies its venerable character. The phrase- 
 ology, and especially hail or hale, are too archaic and far too deeply rooted in 
 the past to admit of a rational controversy. 
 
 2 " Under heaven's serenity, 
 
 Is concealed — " Str. 831, 832. 
 
 3 Thorpe's Glossary, sub voce, helan. This word is cognate with verhehlen, 
 to conceal. A simple form of oath, prior to initiation, in Lansdowne MSS., 
 No. 1942, St. 31. Hughan, Old Masonic Charges, p. 57. 
 
A NTIQ UITIES OF FR EEMA SOKE Y. 319 
 
 and robbed a Pagan temple. According to a law of the 
 Frisians, such desecration was redressed by dragging the 
 criminal to the sea-shore and burying the body at a point 
 in the sands where the tide daily ebbed and flowed. 1 
 
 A creditor was privileged to subject his delinquent 
 debtor to the awful penalty of having the flesh torn from 
 his breast and fed to birds of prey. Convicts were fre- 
 quently adjudged by the ancient Norse code to have their 
 hearts torn out. 2 
 
 The oldest death penalties of the Scandinavians pre- 
 scribed that the body should be exposed to fowls of the 
 air to feed upon. 3 Sometimes it was decreed that the 
 victim be disembowelled, his body burnt to ashes and 
 scattered as dust to the winds. 4 Judges of the secret 
 Vehmgericht passed sentences of death as follows : " Your 
 body and flesh to the beasts of the field and to the birds 
 of the air, to the fishes in the stream." 5 The judicial 
 executioner, in carrying into effect this decree, severed the 
 body in twain, so that, to use the literal text, " the air 
 might strike together between the two parts." The 
 tongue was oftentimes torn out as a punishment. 6 A cord 7 
 
 1 Qui fanum effregerit et ibi aliquid de sacris tulerit, ducitur ad mare et in 
 sabulo quod accessus maris operire solet. Lex Frision. Add. Sap.. Tit. 12. Vide 
 "Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Bd. I., p. 193. 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 690. 3 Ibid., p. 693. 
 4 Sein fleisch und blut zu iischen und pulver brennen. Ibid., p. 700. 
 
 6 Dein leib und fleisch den thieren in den waldern, den vogelen in den liiften. 
 Ibid., p. 40, etc. ; Scherr, Deutsche Cultur, p. 189; Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages 
 au Moyen Age, p. 421. 
 
 6 Recisa prius lingua., quam in manu tenens barbarus. Anne. Flor., Rer. 
 Roman., Lib. IV., cap. xii. A law of the early Roman Empire, known as 
 ex Jure Orientis Cozsareo, ©nacted that any person, suitor at law or witness, 
 having sworn upon the evangelists, and proving to be a perjurer, should have 
 the tongue cut from its roots : Testi seu Litigatori, qui in Foro, tactis Sacro- 
 Bantis Dei Evangeliis juraverit et dein perjurus esse probatus fuerit, lingua 
 praeciditor. Selden, De Synedriis Veterum Ebraeorum, p. 843. Full text in 
 Ecloga Leonis et Constantini, Tit. 28, g 2. 
 
 7 In the Vehmgericht a cord was used as an emblem of chastisement. La- 
 croix, Les Moeurs et Usages, p. 420. 
 
320 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 about the neck was used symbolically, in criminal courts, 
 to denote that the accused was worthy of the extreme 
 penalty of law by hanging or decapitation. When used 
 upon the person of a freeman, it signified a slight degree 
 of subjection or servitude. 1 
 
 In the more ancient Northern legal code, a shoe was the 
 symbol of adoption and legitimation. It was sent by 
 powerful rulers to inferior princes as a sign of subjection. 2 
 Under some circumstances this article was carried on the 
 shoulder of a person, whose foot was bare, as typical of 
 humiliation. Formal divestiture of the shoe, amoiF Teu- 
 tonic nations of the Middle Ages, was a symbolical surren- 
 der of title and claim to property. 3 
 
 In this respect the Jewish, or rather Israelitish, and 
 Germanic emblem involved in the use of a shoe perfectly 
 agrees. For instance, in the fourth Book of Ruth, seventh 
 verse, it is said the owner of certain land " plucked off his 
 shoe and gave it to Boas," which was a legal attestation 
 in Israel of a valid transfer of property. In both nation- 
 alities the rite of discalceation, in its widest signification, 
 was symbolized to mean a total relinquishing of per- 
 sonal claim, and complete humiliation and subjection.* 
 Northern kings, immediately upon acceding to the throne, 
 
 1 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, pp. 184, 714. Thus symbolized, 
 perhaps, from the string holding in check the people surrounding the sacred 
 enclosure of courts. Ancient Teutons wore bands, as token of humiliation, 
 until an enemy's death released them. Tacitus, Germania, cap. 31. Con- 
 nected with the Norse vebbnd. Vide Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 492. 
 
 2 Murecardo regi Hiberniae misit calciamenta sua ut inde intelligent se 
 subjectum magno regi esse. Olaus Magnus. Also, Du Cange, sub v., calcea- 
 menta. Nudatum pedes e discalceatis suppliciter. Sax. Grammati, Lib. IX., 
 p. 175. Vide Du Cange, Glosso. Med. et Infim. Lat. voce Calcearnenta. 
 
 3 Grimm, op. cit., p. 156. 
 
 * Symbolical in the Eddas. Vide Harbardhsliodh, Str. 34; Gylfag., Str. 51. 
 Loki's shoes divest the Niflung of their blood-stained treasure. Skalda., cc. 
 35, 39, 42. Sign of humility, and, in marriage, perfected possession of the 
 bride. Simrock, ut supra, pp. 124, 571. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 321 
 
 made a " gait," or procession about their realms. 1 Accord- 
 ing to the Scandinavian laws, when real property was sold, 
 granted, or conveyed, the transfer of possession was incom- 
 plete until a circuit was made around the estate by the 
 buyer and vendor, in which tour all the inhabitants of 
 the nearest hamlet united. 2 Frequently this prescriptive 
 assumption of legal ownership of land was performed by a 
 procession marching in regular order around the boundary 
 of purchased limits or otherwise acquired property. 
 
 This usage was imitated from the royal gait, or Erik's 
 gait, referred to. With his usual accuracy, Grimm 3 traces 
 this word to rikisgata, synonymous with royal roads, and 
 thus called by reasor of the monarch confining his tour to 
 public highways. 
 
 During the installation ceremonies of the Master of a 
 Masonic lodge, a procession of all the craftsmen march 
 around the room before the Master, to whom an appro- 
 priate salute is tendered. This circuit is designed to 
 signify that the new incumbent reduces the lodge to his 
 possession in this symbolic manner. 
 
 Under the Gothic code, whenever a murder or assassina- 
 tion was committed, the dead body was usually brought 
 before open court, where a prescribed formula was carefully 
 observed in the accusation and defence. The legal com- 
 plaint was generally set forth by the deceased's blood kin. 
 When the tribunal had convened, the plaintiffs or prose- 
 cutors of the criminal charged with the crime strode into 
 the court enclosure and made three cries of lamentation, 
 
 1 Geijer, History of Sweden, Vol. I., p. 87. Also, custom of the Teutonic races. 
 Chlotharius, after the death of Theodovaldi, marched in procession around 
 his newly-acquired kingdom: cum regnum Franciae suscepisset circumiret, 
 Gregorius Turonesis, Lib. IV., c. 14. 
 
 2 Geijer, op. cit., p. 87. 
 
 3 Deutsche Rechts Alter thumer, p. 238. A procession was formed, and joined 
 by the people, when a church was consecrated, and marched around the 
 building three times. Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 243. 
 
 V 
 
322 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 each of which was accompanied with drawing forth a 
 sword and raising it above the head. 1 
 
 In Friesland the clameur was wraek, wraek, icraek, ven- 
 geance, vengeance, vengeance. Sometimes these solemn 
 and thrice-repeated agonizing cries were given at the 
 grave of the buried dead, surrounded by sorrowing kins- 
 men, amid the impressive flashing of uplifted swords. 2 
 
 1 Traten streitgeriistet auf, dreiraaliges wehgeschrei erhebend zogen sie drei- 
 mal die scliwerter aus. Grimm, D. R. A., p. 878. It was evidently in the 
 pursuance of this legal right that Kriemhild was induced to avenge the death 
 of Siegfried, slain by treachery. Hagan's approach to the bier upon which 
 the valiant warrior lay, in the majestic repose of an eternal slumber, accord- 
 ing to the legend, reopened the wounds, and thus detected the traitor. Das 
 Niebelunc/enlLied, Str. 1077. Vide Wilmar, IAteratur Gcschichte, p. C9. 
 
 2 Sondern ueber dem Grab des todten geschehen. Grimm, ut supra, pp. 
 878, 879. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Masons' Marks of the Early and Middle Ages — Their Practical 
 Use — Great Diversity — Their Style, Oriental — Not always 
 Symbolical — The Cross Sign — Mallet, Shoe, and Trowel — 
 Marks Used to Distinguish Property — Are of a Geometric Out- 
 line — Squares, Circles, Compasses, and Triangles — Early 
 Application by Byzantine Builders — Memorial Square — Col- 
 umns OF JOACHIN AND BOAZ — THEIR EVIDENT SYMBOLISM — SAINT 
 
 Marc's Cathedral and Marks — Builders' Signs in Palestine 
 Identical with European — Marks a Portion of Mediaeval 
 Loege Ritual — When Conferred — Not to be Changed — Must 
 be Enrolled. 
 
 HE mediaeval operative Masons have left behind 
 them lasting monuments of their skill and per- 
 severance. The vast structures which attest their 
 skill and architectural knowledge, with rare excep- 
 tions, as early as the tenth century, also contain the defini- 
 tive mementoes of a systematic labor. 
 
 Masons' marks are visible in an infinite variety on the 
 walls of nearly all the cathedrals of Europe, and are sug- 
 gestive of a connection which existed, immediately preced- 
 ing and during the Middle Ages, between the Eastern and 
 Western builders. A contribution to the Archceologia? in 
 commenting upon Didron, Sec. du Comite Historique des Arts 
 et Monuments, urges that these marks frequently betray a 
 symbolic character. This view is mainly, perhaps, a correct 
 one, although the geometric outlines used for this signifi- 
 cation should not be accepted without qualification. 
 
 1 Vol. XXX., p. 116. 
 
 323 
 
324 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 The primary object of a Masonic token was to afford a 
 reliable means of distinguishing the work of each artisan, 
 in order that he might receive just and suitable compen- 
 sation. 
 
 The earliest marks indicate a near connection with the 
 Orient at a period when the symbolizing tendencies of 
 Byzantine architects were carried from the Eastern to the 
 Western empire, and propagated there by those workmen 
 called to assist in erecting and rebuilding Christian 
 churches of Italy, almost continuously from the age of 
 Theoderich the Goth, 1 in the fifth century, to the close of 
 the eleventh. 
 
 I have already noted the universal application of sym- 
 bolism by the early Grecian churches, where Christ was 
 represented in plastic art as a lamb, signifying the Good 
 Shepherd ; also the typical use »of the dove holding an 
 olive branch, a symbol of peace. But the most frequent 
 emblem was a fish, the ix^> 2 This figure was hewn 
 upon the sacred edifices of Greece, not so much, perhaps, 
 as a builder's token as a type of our Saviour. During the 
 Middle Ages a fish-shaped 3 character was frequently used 
 by operative Masons as a proprietary sign. 
 
 Little doubt seems to exist that the symbolical appli- 
 ances to ecclesiastical architecture in Europe, subsequent to 
 the introduction of Byzantine corporations, were mainly 
 derived from those artificers. It is equally true, I appre- 
 hend, that the Oriental builders distinguished individual 
 workmanship, at a remote period, by a system of distinc- 
 tive and personal tokens. 
 
 The earliest authentic attestation of this assumption is 
 to be found upon the cathedral walls of Saint Marc's, in 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 423. 
 
 2 Ottfried Mueller, Archceologie der Kunsl, p. 233 ; Didron, Christian Icono- 
 graphy, pp. 244, el seq. 
 
 3 Sometimes denominated vesica piscinum. See Hawkins, Origin and Hist, of 
 Gothic Architect, p. 244, for a singular notion of this figure in its relation to art. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 325 
 
 Venice, constructed towards the end of the tenth century. 
 From the position occupied by the geometric marks under 
 consideration, it may be correctly inferred they were 
 incised immediately after the building was begun, which 
 would evidently antedate them to a more ancient epoch. 
 The entire character of this structure is Byzantine, and 
 was built by corporations of Greek architects, brought 
 from Greece by the Venetian government for that purpose. 
 Builders' marks alluded to are carved upon columns lead- 
 ing to the main entrance, and, in essential particulars, are 
 identical with those abundantly used at a later period by 
 mediaeval Masonic guilds. 
 
 It has been asserted 1 that the Master or supervising 
 architect had one class of monogram characters, and the 
 craft at large another, but I apprehend this to be errone- 
 ous, because the tablets still extant preserving such signs 
 fail to disclose the distinction claimed. Occasionally, 
 many marks have a significance independent of their prac- 
 tical application. For instance, the cross was, as is well 
 known, adopted, at an early age, as a Christian emblem, 
 and was perpetuated as a Masonic symbol-mark 2 down to 
 the extinction of Freemasonry as an operative body. 
 
 Numerous geometric signs manifestly refer to their 
 mystical connection with lodge ritual. Of this class the 
 mallet, 3 shoe, trowel, interlaced compasses, 
 and five-pointed star, frequently appear in 
 an esoteric sense. The mallet had a more 
 profound symbolism attached to its use than the mere 
 definitive designation of artistic work. 4 
 
 In the preceding pages the symbol of the Master's gavel, 
 as typical of power and strength, has been elaborated at 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. XXX., p. 116. 2 Ibid., p. 118. 
 
 3 This sign was anciently used in guildic cup consecrations, as an invocation, 
 of Thor, and consequently its magical properties were shared by Masonic 
 guilds. Vide Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 9; Archceologia,. 
 Vol. XXX., p. 116. * Ibid., p. 118. 
 
 28 
 
326 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 length to be the legitimate successor of Miolner, or ham- 
 mer of Thor, the Scandinavian thunder god. This 
 hammer sign was of extensive and widespread applica- 
 tion as a potent charm to avert the mighty thunderbolt 
 of the Norse deity. As previously noted, it was placed 
 on church bells for similar purpose, and this was, perhaps, 
 the design in cutting the mallet token on cathedral walls, 
 — both unequivocal relics of Teutonic superstition. One of 
 these incisions — a cross cramponee (Fig. 1), or two inter- 
 
 secting straight lines with angled arms — is hewn on the 
 minster at Basel. A similar sign is visible on the Oschatz 
 city chapel, constructed in the sixteenth century. 1 The 
 church of St. Radigonde, in France, displays a like char- 
 acter, and is an evident allusion to Thor's sacrificial ham- 
 mer. It is noteworthy that the same formal indentation 
 presents itself in the Catacombs, on a fossor's dress, 2 — 
 and also upon a Roman altar discovered at Resingham, in 
 England, the cross cramponee has been found. 3 
 
 On one of the British monumental brasses, of so early a 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 615. Das Christen thum traf hier mit 
 dem Heidenthum in demselben Zeichen zusammen : es ist das Zeichen dea 
 Kreuzes, das auch den Hammer Thor's und die Rune Tyr, bedeutete. Sim- 
 rock, Deutsche Mytholoyie, p. 269 ; also, Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittel- 
 alters, p. 9. In an ancient conjuration formula, the potency of this token is 
 recognized: f Jesus Nazarenus f rex Judaeorum f non percuties eos qui sig- 
 nati sunt hoc signo Thau. Thor's hammer mark in Tower of London. Jen- 
 nings, The Rosicrucians, p. 243. 
 
 2 Gorling, Geschichte der Mahlerei, Bd. I., p. 66. 
 8 Archceoloyia, Vol. XXX., p. 119. 
 
 Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 327 
 
 date as the year 1235, a mallet is engraven, surmounting a 
 double triangle, on one side of which stands a star, and 
 on the other a half moon, the whole being surrounded by 
 a perfect circle (Fig. 2). According to the conjecture of a 
 contributor to English archaeology, 1 it was the badge of a 
 Masonic guild. The writer referred to 2 gives an engraving 
 of a circular seal, of remote date, used by the fraternity of 
 Masons, in which the gavel is flanked by a star and half 
 moon (Fig 3). 
 
 Marks of the craft usually consisted of a geometric 
 figure composed of straight lines, angles, and curvatures, 
 and, notwithstanding this apparent paucity of elements, 
 the combinations are of an infinite variety. The most 
 ancient are very simple, and arranged on pure geometrical 
 tracery. Stieglitz 3 suggests that the secret details of 
 Masonic art were concealed by these slight outlines ; but 
 this assumption gives an exalted importance to what was 
 clearly a means of assisting the Master of lodges to distin- 
 guish each craftsman's work. 
 
 It can scarcely be accredited that the vast art knowl- 
 edge made necessary in the progress of a highly skilled 
 and practical labor, was written out, so to speak, upon 
 granite walls, or incised upon chiselled pilasters, in these 
 characters. No doubt, the essential elements of archi- 
 tecture were inculcated by means of mathematical tracery, 
 upon the same principle that geometry itself is alone 
 demonstrable by figured outlines. 
 
 I am inclined to the belief that these marks .were for 
 the practical purpose of distinction, although in numerous 
 cases a hidden meaning, as, for instance, in the mallet, 
 shoe, and fish, was involved beyond the mere definitive 
 nature of the sign. It is barely possible that a Mason's 
 mark was invariably symbolized, and conveyed a secret 
 signification to the craft utterly unintelligible to the 
 uninitiated. 
 
 Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 615. 
 
328 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 These signs were by no means of the monogrammatic 
 •style similar to the initials adopted by artists or portrait 
 painters, nor were they, as Mr. Paly 1 erroneously asserts, 
 a resemblance to spurious heraldic badges called mer- 
 chants' marks, although occasionally the master architect 
 seems to have engraved his mark as builder on an escutch- 
 eon. One of this kind is in a tolerable state of preserva- 
 tion in Melrose abbey. Above the door leading to a 
 stairway a shield is carved in relief, displaying two pairs 
 
 Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 
 
 of compasses (Fig. 4), with an almost obliterated inscrip- 
 tion, in quaint Gothic letters, which may be read thus: 
 
 " So gays ye compass evene about, 
 So truth and laute do but doubte, 
 Beholde to ye hende quath, 
 
 John Muruo." 
 
 The only remaining instance of the use of a heraldic 
 badge by a builder, of which I am aware, is at Cologne. 
 This work is in the nature of double interlaced squares (Fig. 
 5), hewn on an embossed escutcheon, springing from one of 
 the columns which support the superstructure of the grand 
 old cathedral. However, the use of this architectural her- 
 aldry is rare, and does not properly belong to legitimate 
 Masonic works. Oftentimes sculptured human figures, in 
 
 1 Manual of Gothic Architecture, pp. 208, 209. Paly informs us, loc. cit., that 
 " he is assured, by a member of the present body which perpetuates the name, 
 that they (the marks) are identical with those still in use, though he may be 
 allowed to doubt whether his informant really ever saw an ancient one, for, in 
 England they are extremely rare." In the ensuing dissertation, frequent allusion 
 will be made to churches and cathedrals of Great Britain and Europe, from 
 which the author has transcribed many of the marks referred to in the text. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 329 
 
 their attitudes, refer directly to esoteric rites still current 
 among Freemasons. 
 
 In a representation of the Last Supper, in a church of 
 Lower Mecklinberg, Germany, the apostles are presented 
 in postures familiar to the craft. 1 Two full-sized images 
 over the main entrance to the York minster are grouped 
 in Masonic attitudes, one of which holds a rough ashlar, 
 the other a perfect ashlar. Above these figures two others 
 are visible, in a kneeling posture, with the right hands 
 resting on some material object, and the left arm, angled 
 at the elbow, upraised toward heaven. In each of the 
 three canopied niches, wrought with elegance and skill, in 
 the aspiring turrets surmounting the side entrance to the 
 Duomo of Florence, a martyred saint appears in a position 
 of unmistakable significance to the initiate eye. 2 
 
 As previously stated, Masons' marks consisted of a 
 geometric outline. The most usual are angles (Fig 6) and 
 
 Fig 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 
 
 squares, although the circle, with segmentary arcs inscribed, 
 is of frequent occurrence. In the Gloucester cathedral, in- 
 side the nave, a perfect triangle is carved ; the same char- 
 acter is visible in Furness' abbey. In the interior of St. 
 Pierre, at Poitiers, a triple triangle (Fig. 7), united at a 
 common centre, still exists in a fine state of preservation. 
 St. Eadigonde chapel possesses a double interwined triangle 
 
 Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei, p. 75. 
 Vide frontispiece. 
 28* 
 
330 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 (Fig. 8), resembling a six-pointed star. 1 The church of 
 St. Pierre, in Geneva, said to have been erected in the 
 eleventh century, contains an equilateral triangle and a 
 five-pointed star (Fig. 9) — the pentalpha. On the facade 
 of Santa Croce, Florence, two blazing stars are sculptured ; 
 but the most curious token in this cathedral is over the 
 main portal — it is the figure of Christ holding a perfect 
 square (Fig. 10) in his hand. In York minster, several 
 marks, composed of double triangles (Fig. 11) conjoined at 
 
 Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15. 
 
 the outer edges, are visible on the stone pavement leading to 
 the crypt. The author has in his possession a Masonic 
 mark taken from this cathedral, forming the letter M; 
 and also one, originally part of a mullion in Selby abbey 
 — a triangle (Fig. 12) with elongated lines. A pental- 
 pha (Fig. 13) occurs on the ruined walls of St. Mary's ab- 
 bey, at York ; also two interlaced squares. Fountain's 
 abbey presents an infinite diversity of these signs, display- 
 ing nearly every variety of lines and circles, which, com- 
 bined, form angles and squares, crosses and segments of arcs. 
 
 There is a curious triangle (Fig. 14) of frequent recur- 
 rence in the great cathedrals of Europe — strictly equilat- 
 eral, with a dot or point in the centre, equi-distant from 
 the sides. One of this style is carved on the interior of the 
 Cologne minster. Another of similar type, inside the 
 edifice, is surmounted with a figure 4 (Fig. 15). 
 
 Upon the pilasters flanking the entrance to St. Marc's 
 cathedral, at Venice, built, as before stated, by Byzantine 
 workmen, the marks exhibit the same unvarying characters 
 of angles and circles which so frequently present them- 
 
 1 Archceologia, Vol. XXX., PI. vi.-xi. In nearly every instance, the -writer 
 has verified the marks given in this volume by personal presence. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 331 
 
 selves in European churches. A double triangle (Fig. 16), 
 here visible, is mounted by a straight line, with intersecting 
 lines at the top, which give it the appearance of the feath- 
 ered end of an arrow. This Masonic indentation is wide- 
 spread and numerous. The church of St. Pierre, Geneva 
 (Fig. 17), has one engraved on an interior supporting col- 
 umn, lumbers of identical shape are found in Fountain's 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 Fig. 17. Fig. 18. Fig. 19. 
 
 abbey. The perfect circle (Fig. 18), with a segmentary 
 six-pointed star inscribed, is also chiselled on a pillar in 
 Saint Marc's. A three-pointed star (Fig. 19), of exactly 
 similar design, may be seen both at Fountain's and Selby 
 abbeys, and in the church of Saint Pierre. 
 
 Throughout Germany, from Dusseldorf to the Alps, the 
 churches and other sacred edifices bear unmistakable 
 evidence of the handicraft of our ancient builders. 1 A 
 curious memorial mark is still extant in the cathedral at 
 Gloucester. It consists of a perfect square, with battle- 
 ments, and springs horizontally from the side wall. The 
 dimensions are three feet two inches in length, by two 
 feet two inches in breadth. 
 
 Tradition says the master builder, being highly incensed 
 at an apprentice Mason who had failed to work conform- 
 ably to his instructions, hurled him from the scaffolding 
 to the marble pavement below. To commemorate this 
 
 1 Une compagnie de francs-niacons qui ont marqu£ de leurs signatures 
 hieroglyphiques les pierres, de ce monument ainsi, que toutes celles qu'ils ont 
 tallies dans la vallee du Khin dejmis Dusseldorf jusqu'aux Alpes. Lacroix, 
 Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 3G5. 
 
332 THE EARL Y HIST OR Y AND 
 
 terrible death, the Master caused this projecting square to 
 be built. On one of the columns supporting the principal 
 entrance to the Freiburg church, a life-sized statue of King 
 Solomon is elevated, with a mace in one hand and his 
 head covered with a mitred crown. 
 
 Saint Margaret's church, at York, presents curious 
 figures embossed in a concave circle in the arched door- 
 ways. One of these images apparently stands before an 
 altar with upraised arms. This personage, according to 
 the conjecture of a learned antiquary, 1 is most worshipful 
 King Solomon himself. His head-dress contains a triad 
 (Fig. 6), 2 or equilateral triangle, which the writer alluded 
 to interprets to signify the three attributes of that illus- 
 trious monarch, viz. : wisdom, strength, and beauty. This 
 portico, which is much older than the main building, was 
 constructed about the eleventh century. 
 
 Stieglitz 3 and Fallou 4 have furnished engravings of two 
 
 1 Browne, An Attempt to Ascertain the Age of the Porch of St. Margaret's 
 Church, p. 14. 
 
 2 This figure was known to the ancients and symbolized by the Pythago- 
 reans as a type of plenty. Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der Allen Voelker, 
 Bd. I., p. 277. Pythagoras divided the triangle into six parts, collectively 
 representing the elements. Ibid., Bd. III., p. 309. Among the Egyptians, 
 was emblematic of the incarnation of Osiris and Apis. Ibid., Bd. I., p. 423. 
 Creuzer, op. et hoc. cit, says the Mithraic mysteries were introduced into Ger- 
 many in the fourth century, by Roman legions. He also conjectures, from the 
 pentagon or five-pointed star being found on Gallic coins, that the doctrines 
 of Pythagoras, at an early date, were transmitted and adopted by the Druids : 
 Pythagorische Lehren zu den Druiden nach Gallien fortgepflanzt worden und 
 das Pentagon auf Gallischen Munzen eine religioese Bedeutung hat. Sym- 
 bolik und Mythologie, etc., Bd. IV., p. 402. Egyptians symbolized their deities 
 by a triangle, most usually by three lines or three human legs springing from 
 a centre — called a Trinacria. It is of Asiatic origin. Payne Knight, In- 
 quiry into the Symbolic Language of the Ancients, pp. 182, 183. Triangle basis 
 of Wildred's work on Architecture. Luebke, Geschichte der Plastik, p. 335. 
 Significance of triad. Vide Krause, Die Drei odtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., 
 Ab. 2, p. 419 (note). The double triad was of great potency among the early 
 mediaeval Jews. Ben Maimonides, More Nevochim, p. 119. 
 
 3 Beitrage zur Geschichte der Bnukunst, Bd. II., p. 112. 
 
 4 Mysierien der Freimaurer, Tafel. II., Fig. 19. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 333 
 
 symbolic columns, to which a remote antiquity is ascribed, 
 copied from originals in the Wurzburg cathedral, founded 
 by Bishop Henry, in the eleventh century. These pillars 
 were evidently wrought by Grecian artificers, who, as 
 previously stated, maintained in Germany a vigorous exist- 
 ence, in a corporate form, until the century just mentioned. 
 They stand isolated and support no superstructure — distant 
 from the main wall, at the side of a Gothic doorway. 
 Unpretentious in appearance, carved out of dark brown 
 stone, they afford a striking contrast with the bare, white 
 wall of the cathedral.. 
 
 That these columns did not originally belong to the 
 edifice, Stieglitz has clearly demonstrated. 1 The new min- 
 ster at Wurzburg, erected in place of one destroyed by a 
 conflagration, was constructed by Bishop Henry as master 
 builder of the work, in the early portion of the eleventh 
 century. This second structure bears the following 
 inscription : Henricas we fecit, and there is every reason to 
 believe that these columns were raised with a typical 
 design by that Master Mason. Henry was deeply skilled 
 in the secret geometric arts of the craft, and there is no 
 doubt that the pillars referred to were displayed to sym- 
 bolize the mystical union of the mediaeval builders. A 
 square entablature surmounts these columns ; on the outer 
 edge of one stands forth, in nearly obliterated letters, the 
 significant word, Jachin ; on the inner edge of the other, 
 is the name Boaz. It is noteworthy that the church 
 erected by Bishop Henricus, as architect, was dedicated to 
 Saint John, who thus early appears to have been a patron 
 saint of operative Masons. 2 
 
 The capitals or chapters of these columns were evidently 
 a close imitation of their prototypes flanking the aisle of 
 King Solomon's temple, and present the appearance of 
 embossed intertwining of wreaths, leaves, fruits, 3 etc. 
 
 1 Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 621. 
 
 2 Stieglitz, op. cit., p. 623. 
 
 8 Such columns were frequently found at the side of entrances to old 
 
334 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 The idea involved in these emblematic pillars seems to 
 have been to portray to initiates the necessity of strong 
 and enduring unity among the craftsmen ; the principal 
 element of cohesive power in the construction of edifices ; 
 the vertical and horizontal principles of geometric art, 
 and the ever-recurring use of the square and level, the 
 symbolism of which was rigidly preserved, as already 
 stated, in lodge ritual. In them a direct recognition is 
 made of the Judaistic elements in mediaeval Masonic 
 culture, — elements introduced apparently by Byzantine 
 workmen, and readily assimilated by the Gothic artificers. 
 
 After a careful consideration of the subject of Mason's 
 marks, I am strongly of the opinion that the system and 
 style of incisions engraved by the mediaeval craftsmen 
 upon their material, are the result of a combination of 
 proprietary regulations which" existed at a very early age 
 in both the Eastern and Latin empires ; also, that these 
 tokens were in use among the Byzantine corporations at 
 the close of the fifth century. Although these marks in 
 Europe do not with certainty appear earlier than the tenth 
 century — as in the case of the geometric tracery on the 
 columns of Saint Marc's — there is no reason to doubt a 
 more ancient application of them. When it is remem- 
 bered that few, if any, of the churches of Western Europe, 
 of the time of Charlemagne or the Carlovingian dynasty, 
 escaped the terrible devastations of barbaric warfare, 
 religious zeal, the destructive energy of time and natural 
 change, a satisfactory reason is furnished to solve the 
 
 churches. Fallon, Mi/sterien der Freimaurer, p. 216. Pillars for the Paderborn 
 dome were prepared at the instigation of Bishop Meinwerk, in the beginning 
 of the eleventh century, by Byzantine artisans, whom he imported for that 
 purpose. Luebke, Geschichte der Architectur, p. 253. During the last century, 
 in French lodges, these columns were placed due north and south, near the 
 west entrance. According to the lecture, apprentices received their wages at 
 the Column of Jachin, in the north, while Fellows were paid at the Pillar of 
 Boaz, in the south. Les apprentis recevaient leur salaire a la colonne J.'., 
 les compagnons a celle B.\, et les maitres, dans la chambre du Milieu. Regu- 
 lateur da Macon (Grade de Mait.), p. 17. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 335 
 
 problem why no authentic Masonic characters of a date 
 prior to the tenth century have descended to our day. At 
 all events, the earliest unquestioned Masonic marks are 
 coeval with the era when Eastern builders conducted the 
 principal architectural labors of Europe, and, as in the case 
 of the Venetian edifice, have left undoubted evidence of 
 their connection with the subsequently vast fraternity of 
 operative Masons. The carved outlines on the pillars of 
 Saint Marc's are, in all respects, analogous to the geometric 
 characters constantly recurring with unvarying uniformity 
 at a later period of the Middle Ages. 
 
 Similar marks, evidently for purposes of proprietary 
 distinction, were used by Oriental artificers in very remote 
 times. Those discovered in Palestine are an exact coun- 
 terpart of the carvings which mediaeval builders were 
 accustomed to cut upon blocks of stone, worked up in the 
 construction of great European cathedrals. At Sidon, in 
 the ruined walls of the citadel, peculiar marks are visible, 
 as, for instance, straight lines, angles, and crosses. Equi- 
 lateral triangles occur frequently, and are, in all points, a 
 prototype of those incised upon the churches of France 
 and Germany. 
 
 By a mere possibility, these might be an accidental 
 coincidence, but the steady recurrence of others of singular 
 shape and construction evinces a regular, direct, and sys- 
 tematic uniformity existing between builders' signs in the 
 East and those used in Western Europe. The intertwined 
 angle or compass (Fig. 20) has been found at Sidon, together 
 with a bisected triad (Fig. 21). Like combinations are 
 visible in Fountain's abbey. Three intersecting straight 
 lines are carved on a block in Sidon ; one of entire identity 
 presents itself in the abbey mentioned. A plain cross of 
 two intersecting lines appears, both on a fragmentary stone 
 at Sidon, and on a freestone block at Fountain's abbey. 
 The same indentation may be seen in Selby abbey. Three 
 intersected lines (Fig. 22), the bisected angle, simple cross 
 (Fig. 23), are also chiselled on the walls of Gloucester 
 
336 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 cathedral, St. Mary's, at Radcliffe, Malmsbury cathedral, 
 Furness abbey, and Cheetham college, Manchester. Inter- 
 laced compasses, precisely similar to those of Sidon, occur 
 in the- church of St. Pierre, France, and on an edifice in 
 Cologne. The splendid ruins of Baalbec display a peculiar 
 geometric mark, coinciding with the figure 4 (Fig. 24), 
 
 XX 4^ * + 
 
 Fig. 20. Fig. 21. Fig. 22. Fig. 23. 
 
 above alluded to, of which an exact counterpart is fur- 
 nished by the Cologne minster. Innumerable squares and 
 angles are hewn on separate stone blocks at Sidon, and 
 betray a wonderful similarity to such Masonic incisions as 
 are still to be seen in the cathedrals of Europe, — the un- 
 questioned distinctive signs of our ancient craftsmen. 
 
 One Sidonian, or Phenician, character consists of a 
 straight line, from the centre of which two lines diverge, 
 forming the two sides of a right angle (Fig. 25). This 
 mark is found at Cologne, and on the church walls of Saint 
 Agnes, in Avignon. Among the curious discoveries made 
 by the Palestine Exploration Company, are the foundations 
 of King Solomon's temple at Jerusalem. On the lowest 
 stones, upon which that structure was raised with Pheni- 
 cian skill, engraved tokens of peculiar shape and outline 
 may be seen. Contrary to the custom of mediaeval Free- 
 masons, the temple builders appear to have carved more 
 than one mark on each piece of work. 
 
 The system of multiplying the incisions on single blocks 
 leads to a rational doubt as to the original design contem- 
 plated in engraving these marks on the temple foundations. 
 That they should be classed generally under the denomi- 
 nation of builders' tokens, is a plausible inference, beyond 
 which it is unsafe to venture. Two of these characters, 
 however, resemble a Mason's mark at Fountain's abbey, 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 337 
 
 in shape similar to the letter H (Fig. 26). A simple cross, 
 such as has been adverted to, is cut on a stone adjoin- 
 ing the marks mentioned, and is a counterpart of the two 
 intersecting lines previously described. But one of these 
 geometric figures is of a combination which induces the 
 belief that its occurrence on the temple walls is far from 
 
 Fig, 24. Fig. 25. Fig. 26. Fig. 27. 
 
 accidental. It is composed of a single line (Fig. 27), with 
 one radiating from a central point, and at an oblique 
 angle. One of this kind has been discovered at Sidon. 
 Fountain's abbey contains numbers of a singularly exact 
 identity, and one of like construction may be seen on a 
 block of stone in St. Andrew's cathedral at Cologne. 
 
 It is in harmony with dispassionate judgment,divested of 
 equivocal zeal, to assume, upon the facts produced in the 
 preceding pages, that the signs found in distant and varied 
 localities of Palestine were perpetuated by Byzantine 
 architects, who, with art knowledge and Jewish traditions, 
 contributed the formal geometric outlines and indentations 
 to the substantial Teutonic system of proprietary marks. 
 
 The Sidonian incisions are of an infinite variety, and, 
 throughout, an unvarying type of those universally used 
 by operative Masons during the Middle Ages. When it 
 is considered that the earliest application of these charac- 
 ters in Europe antedates the eleventh century, for instance, 
 those of St. Marc's, and that this cathedral was erected by 
 Byzantine artificers imported from Greece, I think the 
 connecting chain will admit the rational assumption that 
 builders' tokens were in use in Solomon's time, — tokens 
 precisely identical with those carefully chiselled into pol- 
 ished stones by mediaeval Masons, at a period when indis- 
 putable history permits us to reaffirm the traditions of the 
 29 W 
 
338 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 craft. Masonic marks constituted an essential portion of 
 lodge ritual during the Middle Ages. 1 With these, each 
 stone delivered for inspection was indented, in order that 
 the workmanship of the artisans might be properly distin- 
 guished. They were also regarded as a testimonial of honor; 
 and each Entered Apprentice Mason was given a mark on 
 his admission to the degree of a Fellow. 2 There is no doubt 
 that the principle involved in a builder's mark of the Middle 
 Ages had existed almost coeval with the Teutonic races. 
 
 Under the oldest judicial system, among the Norse 
 nations, no rule was better established than the one which 
 required the possessor of certain chattels, — for instance, 
 horses, cattle, sheep, etc., — in order to become the indis- 
 putable owner of his property, to have a well-defined and 
 distinctive mark, which he must brand upon his goods, 
 and also, as it appears, keep the same sign of record. 
 Such characters were composed of lines and angles, and in 
 this respect corresponded with the craftsman's proprietary 
 incisions. 3 A rigid rule made it necessary that each Mason 
 should select his mark, grounded upon a geometric figure. 4 
 
 Regular tribunals had jurisdiction in all matters per- 
 taining to proprietary marks. 5 This system of personal 
 ownership was recognized at a very early age in England. 6 
 In the ancient Gothic legal code, recourse was had to sorti- 
 lege in the division of inherited property. Each heir 
 
 1 Diese Steinmetzzeichen waren ein wesentlicher Theil Hiitteneinrichtung. 
 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 614. Vide Luebke, Plastik, p. 442. 
 
 2 Es soil auch Keiner sein ehrenzeichen fur sich selbs und eignes gewalts, 
 nicht endern. Ordnung der Sleinmelzen v. Y. 1459, Art. 59 ; Stieglitz, op. cit., 
 p. 615. Designated " Ehrenzeichen," honor marks. 
 
 3 Schauberg, SymboWc der Freimaurerei, BJ. L, p. 96. 
 
 4 Fallou, Mysterien der Freimaurer, p. 69. 
 
 5 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 528, etseq., and Schulte, Reichs und 
 Rechtsgeschichte, pp. 231-435 ; Maurer, Geschichte der Markenverfassung, p. 132. 
 
 6 By the statute of 5 Henry III., enacted in the year 1266, bakers were com- 
 pelled to have a mark for their bread. The ordinances of the Worcester 
 Guild required that each Tyler should possess a distinctive mark: every 
 tyller makynge and sillynge it into the cite, sett his propre marke uppon his 
 tyle, etc. Smith, English Guilds, p. 399 ; also, p. 374, where he is forced to put 
 it on his tyle. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 339 
 
 selected a Runic character, after which the wooden pieces 
 on which these hieroglyphics were engraved were placed 
 in a house utensil, or thrown upon a white cloth. The 
 Runic mark decided the individual share, and subsequently 
 became the sign of proprietorship. These marks were 
 designated as " Hausmarke," — housemarks. 1 
 
 The regulation of the year 1459 throws no light upon 
 this interesting and important subject. One reference 
 alone is made, and that is, when a Fellow-craftsman re- 
 ceives his mark, he shall never change it, 2 except by 
 unanimous consent f but the venerable Torgau ordinance 
 of 1462, so frequently quoted in the progress of this work, 
 affords much valuable information touching the time when 
 this investiture was made, and what was the effect of it. 4 
 
 As hitherto stated, upon the termination of an appren- 
 ticeship, and upon the apprentice receiving the degree of a 
 Fellow, he was entitled to possess a separate and individual 
 mark, which he must thenceforth incise upon his work. 
 As a rule, these signs were confined to the Fellows, and no 
 apprentice could obtain one unless under peculiar circum- 
 stances. For instance, if the Master were unable to keep 
 
 1 Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 508. These were registered. The her- 
 aldic mark of the ancient fraternity consisted of three towers, and a pair of 
 compasses between. Edmondson, On Heraldry, sub voce Freemason. 
 
 2 Und eignes gewalts nicht endern. Ordnung der Steinmelzen vom Yahre 1459. 
 
 3 Ordnung der Strassburger Haupthiitie, 1563. Vide Krause, Die Drei Kun- 
 sturlcunden der Freimaurer, Bd. II., Ab. 1, p. 311. 
 
 4 Certain tokens were selected by members of mediaeval guilds and worn as 
 distinctive badges of their several orders. Among the acts of an ecclesiastical 
 council, held in the year 1368, attention was directed to the fact that many 
 societies, organized in those troublous times for purposes of protection, com- 
 pelled their members to display about their persons society marks and char- 
 acters: et interdum se omnes veste, consimili cum signis aliquibis exquisitis vel 
 characteribus inducentes. Concil. Vaurensi., Tome XV., c. 37. One guild, in- 
 stituted in the year 1379, mentioned by Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittel- 
 alters, p. 223, used a circle, with segments displayed within, both as a mark 
 of the fraternity, to be worn by the members, and as a symbol of trinity. 
 Corporations had banners and shields during the Middle Ages. Lacroix, Les 
 Moeurs et Usages, p. 295, 'etc. Also, shields under Roman emperors. Trebell. 
 Pollio, In Gallien., cap. 8. 
 
V 
 
 340 THE EARL Y HISTOR T AND 
 
 the young craftsman employed, on account of a scarcity of 
 work, he was allowed by the ordinance of the fraternity to 
 loan him his own, notwithstanding the apprenticeship had 
 not expired. This was permitted, in order that the work- 
 man might travel with a mark and obtain wages. 1 With 
 this exception, it was expressly forbidden a Master .to 
 invest his apprentice with a mark until he had faithfully 
 performed a lawful servitude to the trade. 2 When this 
 term of years had elapsed, the Master was compelled to 
 give the newly-initiated Fellow a token, within fourteen 
 days of his expired term, unless specific obligations inter- 
 fered ; in such case the craftsman must tender satisfaction 
 before receiving the mark. 3 
 
 The presentation of this honorable distinction was ac- 
 companied with ceremony, and always with a feast. When* 
 the time had been designated for this purpose, the Master 
 invited a few ecclesiastics, and not more than ten Fellows. 4 
 The banquet, which was at the lodge's expense, consisted 
 of a reasonable supply of wheat bread — a penny-worth ! 
 fifteen groschen worth of rye bread, fifteen groschen worth 
 of meat, and the inevitable casks of wine. 5 And in case 
 the new Fellow desired more guests, he was obliged to 
 pay the expense of increased numbers — a rule which, it is 
 apprehended, made these repasts still more frugal ! 
 
 Mediaeval Freemasons used their marks in place of seals. 6 
 This practice was also common to minsters and cathedrals, 
 as the seals of Strassburg and Freiburg, in Brisgau, clearly 
 attest. The Strassburg die was circular in shape, similar to 
 an escutcheon shield, and inscribed in it were a level, two 
 mallets, and a pair of compasses. But the most curious, 
 perhaps, excepting the intertwined compasses of Melrose 
 abbey, already described, is the ancient seal of a Dresden 
 
 1 Da mag ein Meister seinen Diener ein zeichen verleihen in sein Leryaren 
 zu wandern. Ordnung der Steinmetzen, 14(52, Art. 30. 2 Ibid., Art. 31. 
 
 3 Ibid., Art. 26. Kloss, Die Frcimaur. in ihrer wah. Bedeulung, p. 221, \ 76. 
 
 - Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, Art. 27. 5 Ibid. 
 
 6 Die Steinmetzen bedienten sich solcher Zeichen audi anstatt Siegel. Stieg- 
 litz, Geschichte der Biukunst, p. 615. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 341 
 
 lodge of Masons. This also is perfectly round. The in- 
 terior of the circle is filled with an uneven-edged heraldic 
 badge, on which are engraved a pair of compasses, with a 
 square displayed in position over both points ; from the 
 angle of the square a triangular level depends. 1 
 
 After presentation of the mark, it was transcribed, or 
 rather enrolled, upon the Master's tablet or book of tokens, 
 where these characters were preserved for each lodge. 2 A 
 record of this kind is still extant at Basle, dating back to 
 the sixteenth century. The use of such tablets is of the 
 highest antiquity. The goldsmiths of Gand, in the year 
 1470, in conformity to governmental direction, established 
 a system of registry for private proprietary marks, in the 
 interest of their trade. 3 The tablet alluded to is made of 
 copper, and contains the names of members of the corpo- 
 ration, with the distinctive mark prefixed to each name. 4 
 No resemblance whatever exists between the characters 
 used by the jewellers of the Middle Ages and the marks 
 of the ancient builders. As already stated, both the ordi- 
 nances of 1459 and 1462 prescribed certain rules for the 
 acquisition of marks and their preservation. 5 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Ueber die Kirche der heiligen Kunigunde zu Rochlitz, app. 4 and 5, 
 furnishes copies of these seals. 
 
 2 Meister Tafeln welche die Zeichen der Meister aufbewahren. Ibid., Ge- 
 schichte der Baukunst, p. 615. 
 
 3 Les maitres etaient tenus d'apposer sur leurs ouvrages une marque de 
 fabrique, un seing particulier qui devait servir de garantie pour l'acheteur. 
 Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 325. 
 
 * Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 325. It may be added 
 here, #s connected with the subject, that tokens were worn by members of 
 secret societies in Europe during the Middle Ages for superstitious purposes. 
 Payne Knight, History of the Worship of Priapus, p. 170 ; also, Westropp and 
 Wake, Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 31. Pilgrims to sainted shrines wore tokens 
 in the time of Giraldus Cambrenesis, which were called signacula, — small signs. 
 Anglia Sacra, Tome II., p. 481. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 359, inter- 
 prets them to be " Canterbury Bells." The whole of this custom is evidently 
 derived from remote Paganism, — especially the Norse, — when priests and 
 people carried about their persons the symbols of favorite deities. Simrock, 
 Deutsche Mythologie, p. 499. 
 
 5 Ord'nung der Steinmetzen, 1459, Art. 73 ; Ibid., 1462, Art. 26 ; also, Kloss, 
 Die Freirnaurerei in ihrer wahren Bcdeutung, pp. 219, 221-2. 
 29* 
 
342 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 It was rigidly prohibited a Fellow-craft securing such 
 distinctive token, except under the circumstances as pre- 
 viously narrated. In case it occurred that a craftsman, 
 failing to serve a regular apprenticeship, or for other 
 causes, was not possessed of a mark in accordance with 
 strict regulations, but had purchased one, lawful masons 
 could neither work nor hold Masonic intercourse with 
 him. 1 All work was inspected by a Pallirer or Warden, 
 and no mark could be hewn upon stone work until the 
 same had been submitted for examination, whether it had 
 been duly prepared and wrought out in harmony with the 
 architectural plans. 2 Any evasion of this rule was pun- 
 ished by a line of a half pound of wax. A like penalty 
 was imposed on all Fellows entering lodge during hours 
 of labor without permission or direction. 3 
 
 It sometimes happened that a regular craftsman, who 
 had learned the work, appeared in conclave and asked to 
 be invested with a mark. The Master, if satisfied with 
 the justice of his demand, was compelled to grant his 
 request. However, the strange brother was necessitated 
 to give unto God's holy service such assessment as the 
 lodge awarded, and in addition it was carefully insisted 
 upon he must set a banquet of double the usual size and 
 allowance for his considerate Fellows ! 4 From the forego- 
 ing it will, I trust, sufficiently appear that the points 
 adverted to were, so early as the years 1459 and 1462, an 
 undisputed part of symbolic or Blue Lodge Masonry, and 
 that they were the entire property of Fellow-craft Masons. 
 
 1 Ordnung, cit., 1462, Art. 94. 
 
 2 Welcher geselle sein zeichen anschlecht ob er recht gemacht sey. Ibid., 
 Art. 72. 3 Ibid., he. cit. 
 
 4 Ordnung der Steinmetzen vom Yahre 1462, Art, 25. In many guilds, it was 
 customary to keep a Black List, upon which the names of delinquent members 
 were entered, whether disfranchised or suspended from guildic privileges. 
 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 285 ; Smith, English Guilds, pp. 170, 
 156, 403 ; Cibrario, Frammenti Storici, p. 208. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Byzantine Art in Europe — The Translation of the Roman Capi- 
 tal to Byzantium — The Centre of Fine Arts — Greek Archi- 
 tecture in Foreign Lands — Introduced into Italy at an Early 
 Age — Grecian Artists in Spain — Paganization of Christianity 
 — Mosaic Pavement and Star — The Christian Church Perpet- 
 uates Paganism — Byzantine Butlders are the Heirs of Ancient 
 Craftsmen — Corporations of Greek Artisans Reorganize on 
 a Christian Basis — Geometricians Honored — Ancient Col- 
 leges Destroyed — Guilds of Tradesmen Allowed by Imperial 
 Rome — Immunities to Corporations of Builders at Byzantium — 
 Old Traditions Assimilated to the New Faith. 
 
 REQUENT allusion has been made in the pro- 
 gress of this work to the influence exercised by 
 Byzantine artificers upon architectural and other 
 arts in Western Europe. It has already been 
 narrated that the translation of the capital of the Roman 
 empire from the Eternal City to Byzantium, or Constan- 
 tinople, produced an important change in the condition of 
 fine arts. On the destruction of Grecian independence 
 and outlying colonies of that nation by absorption into 
 the imperial government, Greek architects 1 were imported 
 to Rome by Julius Csesar for the purpose of introducing a 
 style of art to which the Romans were strangers. 
 
 Under such royal- patronage these skilled artists con- 
 
 1 Stieglitz, Baukunst der Griechen und Roemer, Bd. L, p. 43. The people of 
 Rome depended, from very ancient times, for architectural art, upon foreigners, 
 because, according to Livy, Hist. Rom., Lib. I., c. 56, the Etruscans provided 
 their neighbors with fine buildings. Vide Tiraboschi, Storia della Leltera- 
 tura Itcdiana, Tomo I., p. 17, etc. 
 
 343 
 
344 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AXD 
 
 tinuecl to exert a permanent influence in architecture, 
 which had attained a high degree in the year 328, when 
 Constant ine removed the seat of government. Untram- 
 melled by the traditions of Pagan Rome, the Christian 
 proselyte artisans were at liberty to invent new modes of 
 architecture, or modify existing edifices and works of art 
 into an adaptation to the new religion. 
 
 The earliest churches of the Christians at Constanti- 
 nople and elsewhere, were closely imitated after the 
 basilica in which justice was judicially administered — 
 such changes only having been made as the exigencies of 
 the rites and ceremonies of the Christians required. 1 
 
 Before a century had elapsed, the most skilled workmen 
 of the empire were to be found in Greece. Among the 
 edifices erected at Constantinople by the Emperor Con- 
 stantine himself, was one dedicated to the suggestive name 
 of Divine Wisdom. 2 Besides this church of Saint Sophia, 
 rebuilt at a later period, others, also fallen into decay, 
 were repaired by the Emperor Justinian, who employed 
 more than five hundred architects for that purpose. For 
 centuries Byzantium continued to be the source whence all 
 the art knowledge of the civilized world was derived ; it 
 had become the centre of all the remaining arts and indus- 
 tries, and of literature, which the shattered governments 
 of the West were powerless to protect. The skilled Greeks 
 of Constantinople were the arbitri elegantiarum for the rest 
 of Europe and the Orient, similar to what Athens had 
 
 1 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, chap. ix. Touching the basilicas, 
 Pliny, Lib. VL, c. 83, may be consulted. 
 
 2 Hope, op. cit, p. 124. Upon the completion of this temple, dedicated to 
 St. Sophia, the emperor exclaimed : " I have completed a fabric far superior 
 to the one erected by Solomon at Jerusalem." Gibbon, Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire, Vol. IV., p. 86 ; Milizia, Vie dei pui celebri Architet.ti, p. 
 135. This dedication is a clear recognition of the influence of cabalistic 
 doctrines, prevalent in Constantine's time. Wisdom was the first in the crown 
 of Sephiroth, and most revered by the Jews. Vide Buddeus, Introd. ad Histor. 
 Philos. Ebraeor., p. 277. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 been in remote antiquity. 1 The arch, whose essential prin- 
 ciple had long been known to the ancients, 2 was propagated 
 to Western Europe from Byzantium. 
 
 The progress of Greek or Byzantine architecture can 
 be traced with accuracy into foreign lands. One of the 
 first edifices erected in this style was built at Ravenna, about 
 the middle of the fifth century, by Galla Placidea, daughter 
 of Theodora, widow of Antalphus, king of the Goths, and 
 is constructed in the form of a Grecian cross. Byzantine 
 architecture was thus early introduced into Italy, and in 
 the church of San Vitale, also erected in Justinian's time, 3 
 this style is plainly discernible. 
 
 Italian seaport towns obtained their artificers directly 
 from Constantinople, and a steady, uninterrupted inter- 
 course was maintained between the capital of the Eastern 
 empire and the leading cities of Italy. As early as the 
 reign of Justinian, great numbers of Greek artisans were 
 sent to Western Europe for the purpose of rebuilding 
 sacred edifices. This demand and supply, as has been pre- 
 viously stated, was continued with little change for many 
 centuries, and during this rapid interchange of distant 
 and partly homogeneous nationalities, the cathedral of 
 Saint Marc's, at Venice, was constructed by these nomadic 
 Byzantine artists. 4 
 
 On the eastern slope of the Alps, earlier churches, built 
 in the age of Charlemagne, 5 and later, were the handiwork 
 
 1 Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 29. 
 
 2 Hope, ut supra, p. 133. 
 
 3 For general activity in building, at home and abroad, under this ruler, see 
 Berington, Literary Hist, of the Middle Ages, pp. 533-4; Milizia, op. cit., p. 137. 
 
 4 The foundations of this city are said to have been laid in the year 420, by 
 a Candian Greek, named Entinopus. Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic 
 Architecture, p. 27. Vide Daru, Histoire de Venice, Tome I. 
 
 5 Willis, Architecture of the Middle Ages, p. 18, says Byzantine art was first 
 brought into Italy by the exarchs of Ravenna. He also suggests that an in- 
 terval in the progressive activity of these artisans occurred until the eleventh 
 century, when it revived. Continual and close relations between Italy and 
 Byzantium. Cibrario, Frammenti Storici, p. 334. 
 
346 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 of Eastern art corporations ; for instance, ISTotre Dame du 
 Don of Avignon, the cathedral of Angouleme, and in 
 Germany the cathedrals of Worms, Speyer, Mayence, and 
 Gelnhausen. The church of St. Castor, at Coblentz, 
 erected in the year 860, by Louis the Pious, and Santa 
 Maria, of Cologne, betray the singularly uniform char- 
 acteristics of Byzantine architecture. 1 
 
 Artists from Constantinojne, during the early and Mid- 
 dle Ages, were eagerly sought after by the old Asiatic 
 monarchs, and also by the newer sovereigns of the Occi- 
 dent. During the reign of the Sassanide dynasty, Greeks 
 of every description were in great demand at the Persian 
 court. A prince of this nyyal race, Xashervan by name, 
 although himself a professor of the Magi religion, made 
 the singular request of some Grecian philosophers to come 
 and instruct his subjects in their theology. 2 
 
 Byzantine architects first instructed the Persians to 
 turn an arch and to use and construct the cupola. Whether 
 this nation may have possessed an indigenous archi- 
 tecture is uncertain, but Metradorus, dissatisfied at home, 
 in the reign of Constantine established himself at Byzan- 
 tium as an architect. 3 This same builder travelled 
 through India, transmitting his art knowledge to the 
 people of the far East, and in return received numerous 
 jewels for his services. 4 Justinian the Second also em- 
 ployed a Persian architect to design a few of his more 
 elegant structures ; 5 but the style of art in vogue among 
 the Byzantines was propagated to the Christians of the 
 empire of Persia. 
 
 When the fiery zeal of Mahomet had waked the slum- 
 bering energies of the listless Arab, and diverted his 
 prowess into the, subjugation and invasion of other regions ; 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 142. 2 Ibid., chap. xiii. 
 
 3 Hawkins, On the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 26 ; Hope, Essay on Archi- 
 tecture, p. 144. 
 
 * Milizia, Vie dei pui celebri Architetti, p. 129. 5 Hope, op. cit., p. 145. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 347 
 
 when the successful conquests under the banners of Islam 
 had permitted the Abasside caliphs to rest from the ex- 
 citations of war, they also directed their attention to the 
 adornment of the conquered provinces, and for this pur- 
 pose recourse was had to Byzantium. 1 
 
 By the attraction of liberal offers, Grecian artisans, 
 mathematicians, physicians, linguists, and grammarians 
 were induced to seek preferment at the Saracenic court. 
 In the year 820, a son of Haroun-al-Raschid, the friend 
 of Charlemagne, 2 applied to the Greek empire for the best 
 works extant, in order to have them translated into Arabic, 
 and read in the Moslem colleges of Corfu, Borna, Cairo, 
 Tunis, and Tripoli. 3 Whenever the Saracens successfully 
 established themselves in any country, their attention was 
 immediately turned to beautifying the towns and villages 
 by the erection of sumptuous edifices ; and for this pur- 
 pose Abderham, the most magnificent Musselman ruler in 
 Spain, 4 procured for Cordova a Byzantine builder. That 
 race, cognate with the Tartars, whose moguls made Con- 
 stantinople tremble, and subsequently established their 
 empire in India, had no sooner begun to cultivate those 
 arts which develop into a vigorous growth under the foster- 
 
 1 " The Saracens and the Moors, like the Persians, not only copied Grecian 
 art, but employed Grecian artists." Ibid., p. 148 ; Berington, Literary History 
 of the Middle Ages, p. 322. 
 
 2 When Almamon applied to the court of Byzantium for Greek science 
 and art knowledge, an express recognition was given to Constantinople as con- 
 taining within itself all mechanical skill. Ibid., App. II. This caliph dili- 
 gently collected in the capital of the Eastern empire many valuable Greek 
 manuscripts, which were translated into the Arabic tongue, and became, in the 
 schools of Cordova and the Orient, reliable text-books. Humboldt, Kosmos, 
 p. 303, an. (1). 
 
 3 Hope, ut supra, p. 147. 
 
 4 Of this valiant warrior, Conde, Historia de la Domination de los Arabes en 
 Espana, p. 41, says that he was insatiable of glory, and deemed life only of 
 value in comparison to the gigantic enterprises he undertook and accom- 
 plished. It was he who established the capital of Spain at Cordova. Vide 
 Mariana, Historia de Espana, Tomo I., p. 334. 
 
348 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 ing protection of peace, than they drew their architectural 
 models from Grecian sources. Mr. Hope 1 thus elegantly 
 expresses the far-reaching power of this style of art : u On 
 the wings of Mohammed's spreading creed, wafted from 
 land to land by the boundless conquests of his followers, the 
 architecture of Constantinople, extending one way to the 
 farthest extremities of India, and the other, to the utmost 
 outskirts of Spain, provided throughout the whole of the 
 regions intervening between the. Ganges and the Guadal- 
 quivir — in all of them alike, on the very first settling in 
 them of the Mohammedans, we see the noble features imme- 
 diately appearing, from the application of Greek skill, in 
 full maturity of form they had attained among themselves." 
 
 The energizing power of Byzantine art not only extended 
 from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the surging waters 
 of the Atlantic, but its influence was felt in the dominions 
 of hyperborean Russia. In the year 955, a Russian princess, 
 named Elga, on her return from Constantinople, built at 
 KiefF a church in the form of a Greek cross. Towards the 
 close of the tenth century, Vladimir, the grand-duke, 
 having embraced the Christian religion, and with it 
 adopted the Greek ritual, immediately constructed at 
 Kieff, under the direction of Byzantine architects, a cathe- 
 dral, which was dedicated to the significant name of 
 Divine Wisdom. A church, similarly named, was erected 
 by a corporation of Greek builders, in the year 1041, at 
 Novgorod. All the sacred edifices built in Russia, until 
 the final extinction of the Byzantine empire, were the 
 handiwork of Grecian artificers. 2 
 
 The earliest Christians looked with abhorrence upon 
 everything relating to Pagan worship, and, influenced by 
 the rapid spread of the new religion, a decree was pro- 
 mulgated by Theodosius ordering all heathen rites to be 
 abandoned, Pagan temples to be destroyed, and the sub- 
 
 1 Essay on Architecture, p. 149, et seq. 
 
 2 Hope, Ibid., p. 157. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 349 
 
 stantial images of an extinct theology to be forthwith 
 destroyed. By this edict the works of classic antiquity, 
 in bronze or marble, painting or statuary, which embodied 
 the spirited conceptions of the highest type of art, were 
 mingled in an indiscriminate destruction. 
 
 In the time of Gregorius the Saint, all remains of idola- 
 trous Rome, still visible above ground, were directed to 
 be cast into the slimy bed of the Tiber. 1 As the early 
 Christians were chiefly composed of Jews and Gnostics, 
 no effort was made to use the pencil or chisel to delineate 
 or carve out of inanimate marble any images, because 
 such things invoked the especial abhorrence of those 
 devout fanatics. 
 
 The fourth century brought a modification of the in- 
 tense hatred to heathen imagery, as entertained by the 
 first church. Numerous converts having been added to 
 Christianity from the idolaters of Greece and Rome, it 
 was deemed prudential that some concessions should be 
 granted to image worship. From this time until the 
 relentless war of the iconoclast, Leo the Isaurian, this 
 species of ritualism advanced with marvellous rapidity. 
 Although the Romans, towards the termination of the 
 Augustan age, employed for ornamental purposes a style 
 of inlaid work resembling mosaic, 2 yet the higher degree 
 of development of this kind of art was exclusively due to 
 the Greeks of Byzantium. So much use was made of 
 mosaics wherever Grecian art extended, and so numerous 
 were the manufactories of them at Constantinople, that 
 they derived the distinctive name of opus graecum? At a 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 161. 
 
 2 Plinii, Lib. XXXVI., cap. 25. "Genus pavimenti graecanici." During 
 the excavations at Nimes, in the early part of the present century, many fine 
 specimens of this work were exhumed. Menard, Histoire des Antiquites de la 
 Ville de Nimes, p. 136. 
 
 3 Mueller, Archazologie der Kunst, pp. 458, 462; Poole, Ecclesiastical Archi- 
 tecture in England, p. 299. 
 
 30 
 
350 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 later period, when, on account of the final overthrow of 
 the Greek empire, this elegant production could not be 
 procured from Greece, the monks in the monasteries of 
 Italy directed their attention to the preparation of mosaics 
 for sacred edifices. 
 
 Those churches whose location was in the vicinity of 
 the Adriatic, and more immediately connected with the 
 Byzantine empire, were the first to show such inlaid 
 work ; as, for instance, the cathedral of Saint Mark, at 
 Venice. It would seem, however, that the Grecian artists 
 at work in foreign lands were accustomed to import this 
 species of embellishment from Byzantium, and thus dis- 
 seminated it throughout Italy and Northern Europe. 1 In 
 France, the oldest specimen of the mosaic art was pos- 
 sessed by the Benedictine convent of Clugny. In West- 
 minster abbey, on the shrine of Edward the Confessor, a 
 foreign artist was employed, in the year 1270, to inlay the 
 monumental architecture with this work. 2 
 
 Whatever excellence the Assyrians, or other nations of 
 a remote antiquity, may have attained in the preparation 
 of enamelled or glazed bricks for mosaic decoration, was 
 far transcended by their more modern successors, the 
 artificers of the Eastern empire. In the application of 
 stained glass to give subdued, though rich and varied, 
 hues to the brilliant sunlight, as it streamed through 
 manifold diamond squares, the Byzantines were unri- 
 valled. Through corporations of these artisans, this orna- 
 mental art was transmitted to artificers in the north of 
 Europe. The opus graecanicum, designed by the Greeks, was 
 under their exclusive control until the extinction of the 
 Eastern empire. And at the time of the persecutions of 
 the image-breakers, many Oriental monk artists, who 
 apparently did not possess the flexible religious scruples 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 166. 
 
 2 Henry III.'s tomb, who died in 1272, and was buried by the Knight 
 Templars, is exquisitely inlaid with gold and scarlet mosaic work. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 351 
 
 of their lay brethren, fled to Italy, and were readily 
 received by the Romish church. So late as the year 1066, 
 an abbot of Monte Cassino, for the construction of a church, 
 ordered workmen from Lombardy and Amain", but for 
 mosaic decoration employed Byzantine workmen. 1 There 
 are reasonable proofs that the mosaic art was in use early 
 in the fifth century by the builders of Saint Agatha, at 
 Ravenna ; 2 but notwithstanding that the primary design 
 of this kind of work was intended thus early for embellish- 
 ment and purposes of decoration, mosaics were frequently 
 made to subserve symbolical references. 3 Thus, for in- 
 stance, such work represented the chaotic confusion of the 
 Ptolemaic system, and the uncertainties of its existence. 
 In many instances, the mosaics were largely composed of 
 triangles, spheres, and circles, 4 — the double triangles, and, 
 perhaps, the pentalpha, surrounded by these curiously- 
 wrought blocks, were typical of divinity. 5 
 
 Although the original significance of the mosaic pave- 
 ment and blazing star, still appurtenant to Masonic lodges, 
 has been altered, enough historical data may be gleaned 
 from the foregoing to assert that this checkered inlaid 
 work was typical of the primordial state of uncreated 
 nature, and that the triangle or blazing star within it 
 symbolized Deity in his work of creation ; or, in other 
 words, this star is the glory radiated from the creative 
 Jehovah (*), the letter G. In the star emblem used by 
 French lodges at the close of the last century, the letter 
 G was invariably inserted, and was declared to be symbolic 
 of the Divine Architect. 6 
 
 1 Ciampini, Vet. Mon., Tomo II., p. 104. In the year 1178, Sebastian, doge 
 of Venice, procured an architect from Constantinople for the purpose, it is 
 presumed, of repairing the old church of St. Marc's. Milizia, Memorie degli 
 Architetti, Tomo IV., p. 148. 
 
 2 Hawkins, History of the Origin of Gothic Architecture, p. 33. 
 
 3 Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture of England, p. 301. 
 
 • * Ibid., loc. cit. s Ibid., p. 302. 
 
 6 L'Etoile flamboyante est l'embl£me du G. A. de l'U., qui brille d'une lu- 
 
352 THE EARL Y HISTOR T AND 
 
 In its turn, sculpture was doomed to follow a much 
 more rapid downfall and expatriation than other Grecian 
 arts. As above suggested, the early Christians having been 
 converted from the ranks of Jews and Gnostics, they 
 retained the utmost abhorrence for Pagan images designed 
 to perpetuate some fancied divine property of the proto- 
 type. After the lapse of time, Roman and Greek idola- 
 ters proselyted to the Christian faith, and gradually image 
 worship was introduced into religious culture. 
 
 The Iconoclastic war was directly levelled against sculp- 
 ture and statuary. Leo the Isaurian directed at plastic 
 art the whole power of the Byzantine government, and 
 was so far successful that, under his son Constantine, by a 
 decree of a council called to consider the subject, images 
 were, entirely abolished from Oriental churches. As already 
 narrated, the synod of the Latin church refused to accept 
 this edict, and, on the contrary, emphatically reaffirmed 
 image worship. The unremitting persecutions of the 
 Eastern empire compelled large numbers of Greek artisans 
 to abandon their native country, and ilee for safety and 
 sustenance to the West, where they were kindly received, 
 both by the Papal authorities and the Carlovingian kings. 
 That the Oriental artificers or art corporations of the East, 
 from the time of the translation of the imperial capital to 
 Constantinople until centuries afterwards, were possessed 
 of nearly all practical knowledge of fine arts, is apparently 
 beyond doubt. 
 
 So long was this precedence of skill and artistic repute 
 retained, that many persons from Western Europe had 
 recourse to the workshops of Antioch, in order to perfect 
 themselves in the preparation of brass and gold. Archi- 
 tects were procured from Alexandria for Italy even as 
 
 miere qu'il n'emprunte que de lui senl. Regulateur du Macon (Grade de 
 Compag.), pp. 18, 19. Didron, Christian Iconography, p. 114, gives an illus- 
 tration of the Deity sitting upon triangles, surrounded by a circle, with di- 
 verging rays of light emanating from a centre. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 353 
 
 late as the thirteenth century, and also from the learned 
 schools of Athens, in the belief that they were possessed 
 of secret knowledge unknown to the Latins. Conse- 
 quently, those distant countries were much frequented by 
 the eager Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans. 1 
 
 Allusion has been previously made to the fact that 
 architectural art, together with its handmaids, sculpture 
 and painting, and the opus graecanicum, was completely 
 absorbed by the dexterous Byzantines, and through them 
 propagated into Asia and the Latin empire. Notwith- 
 standing that Spain, under Musselman dominion, attained 
 to a high degree of academical and scholastic knowledge, 
 the erudite Arabs of that country were forced to return to 
 Byzantium in search of profounder learning. Constant 
 intercourse existed between the Oriental empire and the 
 Moslem dynasties of Spain. 2 Regular embassies were sent 
 by the Greek emperors to the Sassanide kings, in order 
 to perpetuate the amicable relations established between 
 those nations so widely separated. 3 
 
 With the extensive and far-reachino; ramifications of 
 the Grecian empire, the Byzantine artificers travelling in 
 India, Persia, Egypt, or Europe were brought into contact 
 with divers forms of national life, and necessarily sub- 
 jected to the adventitious circumstances attendant upon a 
 sojourn in distant lands. Whatever may have been the 
 form of union among the art associations in Constanti- 
 nople, it is evident they were more intimately connected 
 
 1 In den Werkstatten der Goldschmiede und Erzarbeitern von Antiochen 
 lemten auch Abenlander zierliche verfertigen. Findel, GeschicMe der Frei- 
 maurerei, pp. 16, 17. 
 
 2 En este tiempo (tenth century) vinieron a Cordoba enviados del rey de los 
 griegos al rey Abderahman. Conde, Historia de la Domination de losArabesen 
 Espana, p. 218. Greek embassadors direct to Cordova, received in the year 
 853. Ibid,, p. 131. 
 
 3 An elegant Grecian fountain was ordered from Constantinople by the Ara- 
 bians, to decorate their newly-built city of Medina : de meravillosa labor que 
 se habia trabejado en Constantina. Conde, op. ciL, p. 206. 
 
 30* 
 
 X 
 
354 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 during their continuance in foreign countries At all 
 events, it is a rational assumption that these corporations 
 maintained the integrity and general freedom accorded 
 them in Byzantium, and, as regularly organized bodies of 
 builders, they made their appearance in Europe. 1 
 
 A careful examination and comparison of the Pagan 
 ritualism of heathen Rome with that of the early Christian 
 church, will attest the close identity between them. It 
 will also furnish a satisfactory explanation of the causes 
 at work to perpetuate among the mediaeval Freemasons, 
 the successors of Byzantine operatives, numerous ritual- 
 istic and symbolical references undoubtedly derived from 
 Eoman idolatry. "Whether the original tenets of the 
 profession of Christ were embodied in symbols for the 
 purpose of concealing the faithful from the persecutions 
 of unbelievers, or to dist inguish them, by means of emblem- 
 atic figures, under circumstances of jeopardy and danger, 
 is uncertain. But no fact of ecclesiastical history can be 
 better demonstrated, than that the professors of the new 
 religion sought to harmonize the forms of Pagan Rome 
 with the developing ceremonies of the infant church. 2 
 
 To the cross 3 a special attribute of power was assigned, 
 and intrinsic property to guard against the assaults of evil 
 demons, to those who wore it or traced it in the air. 
 After Christianity had become the recognized creed of the 
 empire, these typical allusions to heathen deities, which, 
 previous to the fourth century, had invoked especial con- 
 demnation and horror, were suddenly transformed into 
 emblems suggestive of the new faith. 
 
 1 Mueller, Arcfweologie der Kunst, p. 240 ; Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, 
 p. 479. 
 
 2 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 182. 
 
 3 The cross was used at a very early age as a symbol of Christ. The pecu- 
 liar attributes of power with which this type was invested arose from the 
 superstitious notion that wherever the cross was, there Christ stood : " Ubi 
 crux est martyr ibi." For further virtues of the cross, see Didron, Christian 
 Iconography, p. 370, et seq. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 355 
 
 In whatever manner such emblems as alluded to par- 
 ticular Gentile divinities could be made to subserve the 
 true doctrine, they were quickly interpreted to signify for 
 Christ what originally referred to Pagan gods. 1 The alle- 
 gories of our Saviour seem to have furnished the means 
 to the introduction of this class of symbols ; because, 
 wherever an allusion was made in the parables to any 
 emblems which typified heathen deities, they became, by 
 an abrupt transition, especial objects of respect and ven- 
 eration for Christians. 2 The vine, with genii sporting 
 among its spreading branches, and the processes by which 
 the grape is converted into wine, collectively represented 
 to the heathen the Bacchic rite, and were, by the first 
 followers of Christ, made to symbolize laborers in the 
 vineyard of the new faith, or perhaps as emblematic of 
 the cup of wine with which our Saviour symbolized his 
 blood. Since the vine of Bacchus was employed as a type 
 of wine, for the same reason the ear of corn, dedicated to 
 the Pagan goddess Ceres, was brought into a symbolism 
 of that bread which Christ had distributed to his disciples 
 at the last supper. 3 
 
 Wherever it could be made practicable, and without 
 becoming too distasteful, the Christian evangelists trans- 
 ferred, bodily, into the rites and ceremonies of the new 
 church, large portions of Pagan symbols. Thus the palm 
 branch, which, among the Gentiles, denoted worldly victo- 
 ries, in the hands of proselytes became the emblem of the 
 triumph of the faith of Christ, and was, with oft-recurring 
 frequency, made to pass from the palsied hands of heathen 
 gods into those of a saint or martyr. Yenus's dove 4 was 
 
 1 The Komans accused the early Christians of using heathen symbols. 
 Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der alien Voelker, Bd. IV., p. 763. 
 
 2 Hope, Essay on Architect., p. 180. Vide Milman, Latin Christianity, passim. 
 
 3 Hope, op. tit., p. 181. 
 
 4 Abbeys and churches, during the Middle Ages, were erected to Saint Co- 
 lombe (sainted dove), or Holy Ghost thus symbolized. Didron, Christian 
 
356 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 typified as the Holy Ghost, and Diana's stag, as previously 
 stated, symbolized the Christian soul thirsting for the 
 water of life. Juno's peacock, under the name of phoenix, 
 represented the resurrection, and with this significance 
 frequently occurred in mediaeval architecture. 1 One of the 
 evangelists was endowed with Jupiter's eagle, and another, 
 gifted with Cybele's lion. Winged" genii and cupids, in 
 the Christian artist's hand, became angels and cherubs. 
 Many of the mythological creations, such as the sphinx, 
 supposed by the heathens to be possessed of supernatural 
 powers to avert impending evil, were perpetuated by the 
 enthusiastic proselytes for similar purposes. 
 
 The cross itself was invested with attributes of irresisti- 
 ble power, at a very early age of the church, and was made 
 to subserve such superstitious notions in the erection of 
 sacred edifices. The mediaeval myth of the sang real, 2 or 
 holy graal, can be traced to this symbolizing tendency of 
 the first Christian church. The allegorizing bias in the 
 Grecian church gradually diminished into real objects of 
 representation, and in the sixth century the body of Christ 
 on the cross was exhibited in houses of religious worship. 
 Towards the close of the ensuing century, the councils of 
 Constantinople forbade the introduction of the prototype of 
 the actual thing. 3 
 
 In order to allay the wrath of the zealous Christians, 
 which undisguised representation would create, other in- 
 signia was used to bring prominent features of the new 
 culture before the eyes of the faithful. In regular proces- 
 sion, our Saviour and the twelve apostles were symbolized 
 
 Iconography, p. 439 ; also, Creuzer, op. cit., Bd. IV., p. 363 ; and Westropp and 
 Wake, Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 70. Vide Dante, Purgalorio, c. xxix, Str. 
 105, and Didron, op. cit, p. 456, etc. 
 
 1 Luebke, Geschichte der Piastik, p. 272. Poole, Ecclesiastical Architecture of 
 England, chap, ix., may be consulted to advantage in this connection. 
 
 2 Wilmar, Literatur Geschichte, p. 127. 
 
 3 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 182. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 357 
 
 by twelve lambs. To designate the meek and loving Chris- 
 tian, a lamb was typically used. 1 A thirteenth, and more 
 exalted than his associates, whose head was surmounted 
 by a nimbus, 2 and sometimes holding a cross, symbolized 
 Christ. 3 
 
 Allusion has been hitherto made to the vesica pisces 
 suggested by the combined letters forming the Greek word 
 IX0T2, 4 and also to what extent it was adopted by the 
 Freemasons for builders' marks. Monograms were also 
 adopted by the early Christians, and expressed the above 
 mentioned emblems more directly, as, for instance, the 
 cross encircled with a ring or wreath. 5 These and other 
 symbols continually recur in the more ancient churches 
 erected by Byzantine corporations in Italy. In one of 
 these structures at Ravenna, nearly the entire class of 
 symbols, as borrowed from Pagan rites, is delineated, viz., 
 the vine and palm-tree branch, the dove of Diana, and the 
 paschal lamb, or peacock. Besides these, numerous ani- 
 mals consecrated to the mystic ceremonies of certain 
 divinities, such as the deer and the goose, are to be found 
 
 1 Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Voelker, Bd. IV., p. 363. 
 
 2 The nimbus, or glory, appears to have been used to symbolize the flashing 
 forth of divine light from the head, the centre of creative thought, of each 
 deity. In the Early Ages, illustrious rulers, as Charlemagne, were invested 
 with it. Didron, Christian Iconography, pp. 23, 75. 
 
 3 Didron, op. cit, p. 367, el seq. ' 
 
 * Perhaps the more correct opinion may be that the fish was typified by 
 ancient nations, and appropriated by the Christians with other Pagan symbols. 
 Didron, Christian Iconography, p. 347, gives full proofs of the use of this figure 
 as representing our Saviour. Among the Syrians, the fish was an emblem of 
 hate. Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Voelker, Bd. II., p. 398 ; 
 Lecky, History of Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, Vol. L, p. 400. 
 Among the Sindians — a people of ancient Sarmatia — as many fishes were 
 buried with the deceased as he had killed enemies. Gyraldus, De Vario Sepe- 
 liendi Ritu., p. 382. Fish surmounted Irmensaul. Lacroix, Les Moeurs et 
 Usages, p. 415. Also symbolized in German mythology. Simrock, Deutsche 
 Mythologie, pp. 326-7. 
 
 6 Didron, op. cit., p. 391, et seq. Hence, vignette, a small vine encircling the 
 capitals in illuminated mediaeval manuscripts. 
 
358 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 on the walls of the cathedral constructed in the above 
 named city during the fourth and fifth centuries. 1 
 
 Christ was also early typified by a lion, which was one 
 of the three principal symbols of our Saviour, and was 
 emblematical of the resurrection. 2 This figure, in the 
 hands of the zealous proselyte, symbolized the soul's im- 
 mortality ; and, from whatever source originally derived, 
 has become an integral portion of Masonic symbolism, and 
 is retained in this significance. 
 
 ~Eo sooner had the Christian religion attained to a 
 degree of strength and respectability among the idolatrous 
 Romans, than the rising sect began to adulterate its primi- 
 tive worship, by introducing into a simple ritualism the 
 cumbersome ceremonials and ideas of the Pagan religion. 
 Proselytes, who had imbued their minds from youth with 
 long-established rites and doctrines, whose faithful practice 
 had caused the clear-voiced trumpet of triumphant Rome to 
 sound throughout the universe, naturally, in the venerable 
 capital, retained a great number of Pagan customs incident 
 to their ancient worship, until finally the favorite heathen 
 usages of the great metropolis acquired a parallel in Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 According to Pliny, 3 the Romans were accustomed to 
 consecrate in such manner the ground upon which a sacred 
 edifice was about to be erected, that thenceforth, for all 
 time, the soil was divested of and withdrawn from the 
 contamination of secular pursuits. This custom was faith- 
 fully imitated by the Christians, 4 when the pressure of 
 imperial favor had widened the chasm between them and 
 the Pagan Romans, who still clung to the shadow of a 
 glorious past, in the simple hope that Jupiter Tonans 
 would, by a flash of his dread lightning, utterly extermi- 
 nate the unbelievers. When the Pagans began the rite of 
 consecration, the place and people were sprinkled with 
 
 1 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 183. 2 Didron, op. cit., p. 341, et seq. 
 3 Epistol. ad Trajan. 4 Kennett, Romae Antiquae Notitia, p. 65. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY 
 
 359 
 
 water, which was supposed to be endowed with specific 
 holy properties. 1 The Romans called this ceremony the 
 rite of lustration. In imitation of this observance, the 
 Christians also attributed a sanctity to water used for 
 similar purposes. This ceremonial had descended, to the 
 close of the last century, equally to the Freemasons and 
 Roman church. By the Gallic craftsmen this rite was 
 used for the purpose of lustration or purgation. 2 
 
 Among the idolatrous Pagans it was a custom to light 
 lamps and torches 3 in the temples of their gods, often- 
 times necessitated on account of the gloom of confined 
 space, in order that the place might be sufficiently illumi- 
 nated to perfornr sacrificial rites. In the same manner, 
 and to subserve a similar purpose, Christian proselytes, 
 even in those churches where the sun reflected bright and 
 clear, established, as a mark of excessive devotion, the 
 practice of lighting candles around the tomb of a sainted 
 martyr, 4 and in the splendor of the radiant sunlight, tapers 
 were borne in processional ceremonies. Pagan priests 
 lighted the fragrant frankincense, and burned sweet-smell- 
 ing odors in honor of their' deities, and in like manner 
 the Christian priesthood testified their adoration of rap- 
 idly increasing saints. 
 
 1 Quod templo dicabatur .... ingressi milites, etc. ; aqua e fontibus ara- 
 nibusque hausta perluere. Tacit,, Hisloriar., Lib. IV., cap. 53. 
 
 2 In the Chamber of Eeflection, where the candidate was left to his own 
 thoughts, stood a basin of water : un vase remplit d'eau claire. Regulateur du 
 Maqon, p. 13. During the progress of the initiation, he was told the water 
 typified purgation : Vous avez 6t4 purifie par l'eau. Ibid., p. 26. In mediaeval 
 times, the nuns formed a circle around the presiding officer, who sprinkled 
 them with holy water. Fosbroke, British Monachism, p. 310. If Boccaccio 
 may be accredited, this rite of purification was sadly needed by the conven- 
 tual sisters ! 
 
 3 Vide Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., cap. xvii. 
 
 * These lights were evidently used as symbols of deity, and substituted for 
 sacred fires. Ignis enim, suo splendore, calore, activitate et expressum est 
 symbolum Dei et divinitatis. Gyraldus, De Vario Sepeliendi Ritu, p. 399. Vestal 
 fires also of especial holiness. Kennett, Romae Antiquae Notitia, p. 100. 
 
360 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 It was a custom among idolatrous Romans afflicted with 
 certain evils, or who desired peculiar benefits, to visit the 
 shrine of their gods, and promise, upon the attainment of 
 vows, to consecrate some object in honor of the divine 
 donor. 1 In many heathen temples these votive offerings 
 were hung up around the altars. When Christianity ap- 
 propriated other Paganistic usages this was also adopted, 
 and continued in force through the Middle Ages. Our 
 Saviour, Virgin Mary, and the saints were merely sub- 
 stituted for Jupiter, Venus, and the divinities of lesser 
 notability, in order to captivate the wavering mind of the 
 vacillating heathen. 
 
 It is well known that the celebration of Christmas is 
 imitated after the ancient idolatrous festival 2 consecrated 
 to the goddess Strenna, accompanied with gifts and held 
 at the entrance of the winter solstice. The presents used 
 on such occasions have served as a token of Paganism in 
 the French name — etrennes. The Romans had, in com- 
 memoration of the ancient times of Saturn, when all men 
 were equal and the gods devoured their children, a fete, 
 which was called Saturnalia. During this uproarious 
 celebration of the Golden Age, all social distinctions were 
 obliterated. 3 In like manner, the carnival instituted by 
 Christianity was based upon the same conception of a 
 temporary equality among all men. This festival has per- 
 petuated idolatrous masks and the licentious revelries of 
 Pagan Rome. During the Lupercalia, about the fifteenth 
 of February, Roman youths, divested of clothing, ran 
 
 1 Votive amulets, expressive of the phallic idea, were numerous, both among 
 the ancient Pagans and during the Middle Ages. Westropp and Wake, An- 
 cient Symbol Worship, p. 85, and Payne Knight, Worship of Priapus, Pt. II., 
 passim. 
 
 2 Policy, no doubt, influenced this custom, to prevent neophytes relapsing 
 into Pagan worship. Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der alien Voelker, Bd. 
 IV., p. 775. 
 
 8 Kennett, Romae Antiquae Notitia, p. 117. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 361 
 
 about the city whipping with lashes every one whom they 
 met. 1 This custom survived to the mediaeval Flagellants. 
 
 On the first day of May, the return of spring was cele- 
 brated by the Pagans with much pomp and joyousness, as 
 a renewal of the forces of nature and reproduction. A 
 tall pole, hung with garlands, was erected, and around it 
 the gleeful youth of both sexes merrily danced, — the 
 Christians propagated this usage, and preserved the may- 
 pole, which has been perpetuated through succeeding cen- 
 turies to the present day in many European countries. 2 
 When the seasons entered into the summer solstice, Pagan 
 Rome commemorated it with different solemnities. At 
 this period their year began. 3 
 
 In order to justify the festivities of that day, the evan- 
 gelical priesthood simply changed the object of the fete 
 into a celebration of Saint John the Evangelist, and the 
 fires lighted under Pagan dispensation continued to burn 
 with undiminished brilliancy under Christian patronage. 
 Vestal virgins of ancient Rome, sworn to perpetuate vir- 
 ginity as servants of certain gods, unquestionably aided in 
 moulding the Christian conventual system. 4 Not only were 
 the observances of the idolatrous Romans followed with 
 servile imitation, but the ecclesiastics of the new faith 
 actually assumed the sacerdotal robes of the heathen 
 priesthood. The tunic of the priest, the lituus of the augur, 
 and cap of the flamen, became the dalmatic, the mitre, 
 the staff and crosier of a Christian bishop. 5 
 
 1 lb id., p. 114; Westropp and Wake, Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 95. 
 
 2 The Teutonic maypole is clearly derived from the Yggdrasil. Simrock, 
 Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 537, 539. 
 
 3 This period, usually designated St. John's day, completes to this day a 
 half Masonic year. 
 
 * Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 187. Vide Ancient Symbol Worship, cit., p. 
 94, for conclusive evidence touching this proposition. Also, King, The Gnos- 
 tics and their Remains, pp. 71, 72. 
 
 5 Draper, History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, p. 229, says : 
 " Such was the tendency of the times to adulterate Christianity with the spirit 
 31 
 
362 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 So far as doctrine is concerned, there was a large inter- 
 polation of polytheism into the original creed, such, at 
 least, as constituted the guide of faith for the first Chris- 
 tians, who were principally Jews and Gentiles. This was 
 introduced under the form of immaterial essence. Saints 
 and saintesses were adored as possessed of some especial 
 potency, which, it was thought by their devotees, would be 
 manifested upon intercession. Certain phases of the Roman 
 dogma were, beyond doubt, modified by the infusion of 
 mystical notions entertained by the more elevated and 
 erudite of Christian proselytes. The crescent, with which 
 the Virgin Mary was adorned, descended, with its repre- 
 sentation of fancied powers, directly from the Grecian 
 Diana and Isis of Egypt. 1 
 
 When it is considered that the Christian church bor- 
 rowed so largely the forms and ceremonies of Pagan cul- 
 ture, the inference is direct and tenable that civil or semi- 
 secular institutions existing at the full development of the 
 new faith, under the smile of imperial recognition, naturally 
 modified their organism to conform to the example of the 
 rising sect ; but the usages and customs, with necessary 
 changes, remained as before. As previously urged, the 
 Byzantine artificers were the lineal heirs of all that arose 
 from the wreck of Grecian or Roman art, from whatever 
 sources originally derived. The fragmentary relics of 
 Pagan observances which have descended to Masonic ritual- 
 ism were, by a parity of reasoning, in the possession of the 
 builders of Byzantium when they appeared in Western 
 Europe. 
 
 of Paganism, partly to conciliate the prejudice of worldly converts, partly in 
 the hope of securing its more rapid spread." Vide Westropp and Wake, 
 Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 94 ; King, op. cit. p. 72. For description of the 
 lituus, see Kennett, Romae Antiquae Noiitia, p. 213. 
 
 1 Ancient Symbol Worship, cit., p. 94. Vide Didron, Christian Iconography, 
 pp. 86, 87, Fig. 30, 31. The latter was a symbol among the Etruscans. The 
 sun and moon frequently appear in a mystical sense during the Middle Ages. 
 Didron, op. cit., p. 89. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 363 
 
 It has been argued, 1 with much force and apparent truth, 
 that the building art was, in times of remotest antiquity, 
 regarded as sacred, and existed under special concession 
 and care of the native priesthood where it was practised ; 
 but this allegation cannot be accepted without qualification. 
 Many of the most important edifices of ancient Sicily were 
 constructed with the aid of slaves. 2 It is evident that the 
 science of mathematics, and consequently of architecture, 
 possessed but little attraction for the luxurious Roman 
 towards the dissolution of the republic. 3 Cicero 4 adverted 
 with bitter satire to the geometrical knowledge of Epi- 
 curus, while grave philosophers, in the last days of their 
 scholastic exercises, affected to ridicule mathematics as a 
 tissue of absurdities. 5 Astrologers, even down to the 
 time of St. Augustine, 6 were distinguished by that name, 
 and flocked to Rome in great numbers ; but with the 
 changing tide of architectural requirements demanded by 
 the erection and adornment of a new city, the Roman 
 emperors carefully distinguished between the valuable 
 artificer at Constantinople and the meretricious show of 
 the impotent magician. 7 
 
 By a rescript of Theodosius, the honorable titles of specta- 
 biles and clarissimi were conferred on professors of geometry. 
 Diocletian and Maximian declared the cultivation of mathe- 
 matics to be an object of public concern. 8 Whatever may 
 have been the original constitution of the colleges of 
 
 1 Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., cap. 2. 
 
 2 Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, Tomo I., p. 92. " Grandiosi 
 e manifici edilici . . . . di molti schiari fatti impiegati a segar pietre." 
 
 3 Fenn, History of Mathematics, p. 18. 
 
 4 De Finib. Bon. et Mai., Lib. I., g 7. 5 Fenn, op. ext., p. 18. 
 
 6 Vide Homily, in Psalm, L. lxi., where it is a question of a mathematician 
 or astrologer professing the faith, and with doubts touching his sincerity. 
 
 7 Cod. Theod.,Tit. XVI., c. 7, and Ulpian, apud Collatio. Leg. Mosaicarum,Tit. 15. 
 
 8 Artem geometriae discere atque exercere publice interest. Especial im- 
 munities were granted geometricians and architects by Theodosius. Cod. 
 Theod,, XIII.; Tit. IV., c. 3, De Excusat. Artificium. 
 
364 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 builders, organized by Numa Pompilius 1 at an early period 
 in the history of Rome, and likewise preserved in a healthy 
 vitality by the frequent filiation of Greek artists arriving 
 from their vanquished country, great and important changes 
 necessarily occurred upon a reorganization of these corpo- 
 rations, in order to conform to the prevailing ecclesiastical 
 spirit rapidly extending throughout the Byzantine empire. 
 When the government of Rome had ceased to preserve the 
 appearance of a republic, many forms of civil administra- 
 tion were essentially modified, and with the exception of 
 such associations as claimed an undisputed antiquity, all 
 colleges were remorselessly opened by Julius Caesar. 2 
 
 While Augustus flattered the effeminate people of Rome 
 with curious histrionic performances, produced before the 
 delighted rabble in a multiplicity of languages, 3 his impe- 
 rial power dreaded the contact of close corporations. By 
 a royal edict he dissolved nearly all corporations within 
 the city. 4 Under Domitian, mention is made of a college, 
 evidently derived from ancient times, and of one newly 
 instituted to Minerva?. 5 At a later period these guilds 
 were regarded with such jealous solicitude that provincial 
 firemen were interdicted from corporate union. 6 
 
 The vital existence of these corporations was frequently 
 jeopardized by the fluctuating tide of imperial favor. 
 What Trajan had enjoined and crushed out beneath the 
 
 1 Livii, Hist. Rom., Lib. I., cc. 43, 44. 
 
 2 Cuncta Collegia, praeter antiquitus constituta, distraxit. Sueton., Vita 
 Jul. Caesar., cap. 42. 
 
 3 Ibid., In Vita Octav., cap. 43. 
 
 * Collegia, praeter antiqua et legitima, dissolvit. Ibid., loc. cil, cap. 32. Au- 
 gustus was evidently compelled to dissociate the members of these societies, on 
 account of a well-grounded apprehension that they might disturb public peace. 
 
 5 Collegium Fluvialium : Minervae cui collegium instituertt. Sueton., Vita 
 Domitian., cap. 4. 
 
 6 Plinii, EpiMol., Lib. X., c. 43. In a letter to Pliny, Trajan calls his atten- 
 tion to certain assemblies — corpora — which may require his authoritative 
 interference. Ibid., Ep., cxviii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 365 
 
 grinding force of governmental power, magnanimous Alex- 
 ander Severus endeavored to resuscitate. It may well be ac- 
 cepted that this emperor, who declared the empire consisted 
 in virtue and not in ornament, would be influenced by the 
 material interests of his dominions. He established guilds 
 of all the mechanical trades, 1 and placed them under royal 
 patronage. In the celebrated procession made by Gallienus, 
 up the Capitoline hill in Rome, the colleges or corporations, 2 
 still tolerated by personal favor, marched, with shields and 
 banners of the temples, between the sacerdotal hierarchy 
 and the simulated Goths, Franks, and barbarous Sarma- 
 tians. 3 
 
 Towards the close of the third century, the bannerets 
 of the Roman corporations, or, perhaps, of the army 
 sodalities, were carried in the triumphal march of Aure- 
 lian, in commemoration of his victory over Zenobia. 4 
 Early in the ensuing century, Constantine the Great 
 translated the capital of the empire to Byzantium, and 
 with it the demand for skilled labor naturally increased. 
 One of the first public concessions of this illustrious 
 emperor was made in favor of a body of architects, whom 
 he declared to be under the patronage of the empire, and, in 
 order that this vocation might be preserved in full vigor, a 
 competent salary was enacted for each professional architect. 5 
 
 In the year 337, three years after the foregoing edict, a 
 rescript was promulgated by Constantine, defining all pro- 
 
 1 Corpora omnium constituit vinariorum, lupinariorum, caligariorum et 
 omnino omnium artium. Lamprid., Vit. Alex. Sev., c. 32. 
 
 2 Et praeter ea quae Collegiorum erant, dracones et signa templorum om- 
 niumque legionum ibant. Trebellii Pollionis, In Vita Gallien. Duo., cap. viii. 
 
 3 Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 4 Jam vexilla Collegiorum atque Castrorum. Flav. Vopic., Vita Div. Au- 
 relian., cap. 34. 
 
 5 Architectis quamplurimis opus est: sed quia non sunt: Quibus ut hoc 
 gratum sit, tarn ipsos quam eorum parentes, ab his quae personis iniungi 
 solent volumus esse immunes: ipsisque qui discent solarium competens statui. 
 XIII., Cod. Tkeod. ; Tit. IV., c. 1. De Excusat. Artific. 
 
 31 * 
 
366 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 fessors of mechanical arts who should receive an entire 
 immunity from civil exactions, wheresoever these corpora- 
 tions might be dispersed. 1 Succeeding decrees maintained 
 the integrity . of associations of architects, geometricians, 
 stonecutters, and carpenters, 2 and it was expressly declared, 
 in the year 364, that corporate privileges conceded them 
 by the earlier government of the Eternal City should remain 
 intact in the Byzantine empire. 3 Therefore, these guilds 
 of builders, by imperial recognition, so early as the reign of 
 Constantine, were established on a solid basis in Byzantium. 
 
 In the time of Theodosius, the immunities of corpora- 
 tions of builders, legalized by royal rescripts of his prede- 
 cessors, were reaffirmed when the code was published in 
 the year 438. 4 In the Western empire, the digested laws 
 of Theodosius were more frequently used by the invading 
 Northmen and degraded native, especially of Italy, than 
 the codes of earlier or subsequent emperors. 5 Theoderich 
 the Goth, almost contemporaneous with the Byzantine 
 lawgiver, by an edict, ordered that the Roman law should 
 be equally binding upon the Goth and conquered Italians. 6 
 
 The architectural and building corporations of the East- 
 ern empire preserved, by virtue of governmental authority, 
 a well defined position in the Oriental body politic ; but 
 whatever may have been the legends and traditions of 
 their ancient fraternities, they were, by absolute necessity, 
 altered, in order to harmonize with the ecclesiastical 
 
 1 Artifices artium, per singulas Civitates, morantes, ab universis muneribus 
 vacare praecipimus. Ibid., loc. cit., c. 2. 
 
 2 Mechanicos et geometras, et architectos ; itaque immunitatibus gaudeant, 
 etc. I bid., loc. cit., c. 3. 
 
 3 Ea privilegia, quibus pro reverentia Urbis aeternae, varia corpora homi- 
 num vel confirmata esse arbitrio, etc. : vel, si in aliquo parte titubaverint, 
 restituta. XIV., Cod. Theod. ; Tit. II., c. 1, Be Privilegiis Corporatorum. 
 
 4 Ferriere, Hisloire du Droit Romain, p. 239. 
 
 6 In illis (provinciis Occidentis) quidera juris Romani usus superfuit, at non 
 Justinianei, verum Theodosiani, etc. Heineccins, Historia Juris Chilis Ro- 
 mani, Lib. I., p. 399. 
 
 6 Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, Bd. II., p. 173. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 367 
 
 policy of that authority which had permitted them to 
 reorganize on the foundation of venerable sodalities. 
 That this was required can admit of little doubt, espe- 
 cially when it is considered that already, under Constan- 
 tine the Great, severe restrictions began to be placed upon 
 a free celebration of Pagan rites and temple sacrifices. 1 
 If an unsatisfied doubt might suggest itself touching such 
 modification of heathen legends and culture descended to 
 the Byzantine guilds, the example set by the early Chris- 
 tian church, in appropriating the symbols and ritualism 
 of certain divinities, and rigidly discarding the material 
 essence of others, would of itself furnish a valid reason to 
 assume that, although the divine patronage of Pagan gods 
 and ceremonials, involving the recognition of a Jupiter, 
 Minerva, Apollo, or Adonis, were relentlessly destroyed, a 
 complete change of objective point and direct allusion sat- 
 isfied the Christian legislator and zealous evangelist. 
 
 It may also well be supposed that no association of 
 builders, still clinging to the mystical rites of Pagan 
 worship, whose initiation was a perpetual lesson to the 
 neophyte of the transcendent powers of a heathen deity, 
 would be permitted by the new sect to pollute, with 
 profane hands, the sacred material used in the construc- 
 tion of edifices for the religion of Christ. If, therefore, 
 these corporations were to maintain an existence recog- 
 nized by public law, it became necessary that their organic 
 frame should be remodelled to conform to the essential 
 principles of the Christian faith. Consequently, when 
 traditions, descended from sources identical with a religion 
 expanding and developing under royal favor, presented 
 themselves in the reconstruction of ancient Roman cor- 
 porations, the Byzantine builders naturally embodied these 
 conceptions as substitutes for heathen legends. Jewish 
 rites and ceremonials, combined with traditional lore, 
 largely aided in moulding the architectural guilds of 
 Byzantium into a harmony with Christian notions. 
 
 1 XV I., Cod. Theod.; Tit. X., De Paganw, Sacrificiis et Templis. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Jewish Influence in Remodelling Eastern Colleges — Israelitish 
 Scholars and Mathematicians — Furore for Ancient Rites of 
 the Hebrews — Roman Emperors Borrow from Mosaic Legis- 
 lation — King Solomon's Temple — Legends of the Jews Sub- 
 stituted in Byzantine Corporations for Pagan Traditions — 
 Merged into Gothic Sodalities — Marvellous Scientific and 
 Mental Development of the Lombards — Papal Privileges to 
 the Freemasons — Political Troubles Drive Skilled Archi- 
 tects to Italy — Received by, and Affiliate with, their Colle- 
 giate Brethren — Junction of Byzantine Building Corporations 
 with Gothic Guilds. 
 
 FTER the destruction of the Israelitish nation- 
 ality by the legions of Rome, the Jews were 
 widely scattered throughout Persia, Mesopota- 
 mia, and other portions of the Roman empire, 
 where they founded academies and institutions of learn- 
 ing. 1 In whatever provinces the Jews settled, they imme- 
 diately became famous as profoundly learned mathemati- 
 cians, astronomers, and geometricians. The Spanish Moors 
 were greatly indebted to their Jewish subjects for an 
 academy, instituted by rabbis from the East. The celebrity 
 of this scholastic institution extended so far, that many 
 scholars were attracted to it from other cities of Spain and 
 elsewhere. 2 History has preserved the names of several 
 distinguished Israelites who wrote learned treatises on 
 geometry. 3 Although the Jews of Western Europe, at a 
 
 1 Depping, Die Juden im Mittelalter, p. 64. 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 64, 66. 3 Ibid., pp. 73-81. 
 
 368 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 369 
 
 later period, were treated with great severity under 
 Charlemagne, their condition was a satisfactory one. 1 
 He commissioned a Jew to visit the East, on account of 
 his vast Oriental learning ; another Jew brought for him, 
 by sea, many costly fabrics, which the emperor highly 
 prized. 2 
 
 It is uncertain at what time this people arrived in 
 Northern Europe, 3 but it may be gathered from the edicts 
 of the earlier Gallic kings that the Jews were regularly 
 domiciled in the empire, and carried on mercantile trade 4 
 as early as the sixth century. In Alexandria this race was 
 constantly brought into contact with philosophers and 
 sophists of varied schools, and borrowed largely from Greek 
 philosophy. Many rabbis enumerated over twenty thou- 
 sand scholars, to whom nothing but Judaistic theology was 
 taught. 
 
 Learned Jews ultimately concluded that all the lore of 
 their fathers was not transmitted in writing by Moses, but 
 that much of it had been perpetuated by the Jewish law- 
 giver in an oral form. These traditions were recorded in 
 books with interpretations of erudite Jews. Rabbi Raf- 
 Asch, in his compilations of these cabalistic legends, laid the 
 foundation of a polemical spirit which subsequently served 
 as a pretext for persecution by the Christians. 5 Until the 
 dissolution of the Western empire, the Israelites were in an 
 advantageous social or civil condition, and their religion 
 respected. 6 They were apparently numerously domiciled in 
 
 1 They were certainly allowed to exercise civil rights, and evidently pos- 
 sessed much influence in the Carlo vingian dominions. Vide Baluz., Capitul. 
 Reg. Franc, Tome I., pp. 173, 219, 453. 
 
 2 Under the ban in Venice in the tenth century. Depping, Hisloire du 
 Commerce, Tome II., p. 231. 
 
 3 Heinecci, Antiquitates Germanicae, Tome II., p. 382. 
 
 4 A decree of Charlemagne forbid sacerdotal vessels being sold to merchant 
 Jews. Baluz., Capit. Reg. Franc, Capit. V. ; Carol. Mag., cap. 5. 
 
 5 Depping, Die Juden im Mittelalter, p. 10, el seq. 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 30. 
 
370 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Rome during the age of Julius Caesar, whose untimely 
 death was sincerely lamented by this people ; l and also 
 under Augustus, the Jews practised in the Roman capi- 
 tal their ancient cumbersome rites. 2 Their customs and 
 creed influenced very largely the residents and citizens of 
 the great metropolis. 3 On account of the frequent quarrels 
 between the followers of Christ and rigid adherents to 
 the Mosaic law, the Jews were expelled from Rome by 
 Claudius, only to return. 4 
 
 In the time of Saint Paul, many Jewish synagogues 
 existed in Greece, and a large population of Jews seems to 
 have been scattered throughout that portion of the empire. 5 
 St. Jerome candidly avowed his obligations to this people, 
 who taught him the Hebrew language. 6 Notwithstanding 
 the inhabitants of Judea, in the times of Christianity, were 
 not permitted to assume the robes of public office, they 
 were allowed full judicial power under private law. The 
 Mosaic digests constituted the invariable rule of right for 
 the nations of Palestine. This concession was not, how- 
 ever, uniformly tolerated in other provinces of the empire. 
 
 1 Praecipueque Judaei, qui etiam notibus continuis bustura frequentarunt. 
 Suetonius, Vita Jul. Cces., cap. 84. 
 
 2 Sueton., Vita August, cap. 76. Tiberius waged an uncompromising war- 
 fare against Egyptian and Jewish rites, with fire and perpetual expulsion from 
 Eome. Ibid., In viL Tiber., cap. 36. Vide Josephus, Antiqui. Judae., Lib. 
 XVIII., c. 5, and Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 
 Vol. IV., p. 30. 
 
 3 Leckv, History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, Vol. I., 
 pp. 248, 405. During this and subsequent times, the Jews were recognized by 
 the Christians themselves as superior exorcists. Ibid. This potency was sup- 
 posed to consist in the use of the name of Jehovah. They were apparently 
 classed as mathematici, and were under strict surveillance. Collatio Mosaic- 
 arum et Romanarum Legum, Tit. XV., De Mathematicis. These exorcists were 
 frequently expelled the city. Suet., August, cap. 94 ; Ibid., In vit Tiber., ut 
 supra. One of them prophesied the accession of Adrian to the royal purple. 
 Spartianus, Vit. Adrian, cap. 2. 
 
 4 Sueton., Vit. Claud., cap. 25. 
 
 6 Draper, Intellec. Develop. o f Europe, p. 203, et seq. 
 6 Depping, op. cit, pp. 26-30. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 371 
 
 After the formal declaration that Christianity should 
 thenceforth be the religion of Rome, the emperors bor- 
 rowed largely from the Books of Moses, for the purpose of 
 incorporating the divinely instituted principles of this wise 
 legislator in the Roman codes. 1 
 
 During the reign of Theodosius II., a compilation, or 
 rather collation, of the Roman and Mosaic laws was drawn 
 up and published, evidently by the Jews, in order to show 
 how largely Judaic law furnished material for the collec- 
 tions of the imperial Pandects. 2 The author of this digest is 
 unknown, but has been attributed to Rufinus. 3 It is cited 
 as Mosaicarum et Eomanarum legum collatio* and during the 
 Middle Ages attained to considerable repute under the 
 name of Lex Dei vel Pariator legum Mosaicarum et Roman- 
 arum. 5 
 
 Under the later Roman emperors the social and municipal 
 condition of the Jews was expressly recognized by equitable 
 laws. 6 From the imperial guarantee of Jewish rights and 
 privileges, conceded by Constantine the Great in the year 
 330, 7 and successively reaffirmed by ensuing rulers, it may 
 be gathered that numerous synagogues were established at 
 that period in Constantinople, and preserved a vigorous 
 existence there under the sanction of the several royal 
 rescripts down to the fifth century. 8 
 
 It will, therefore, sufficiently appear that Judaistic in- 
 
 1 GothofretL, Proleg. Cod. Theodos., p. cxc. ; Schweppe, Rbmiwhe Rechtsge- 
 schichte, p. 308. 
 
 2 Mackeldey, Romische Recht, Bd. I., p. 78. 
 
 3 Heinecci, Historia Juris Civilis Romani, Lib. I., p. 337. The learned his- 
 torian of the Roman law dissipates this obscure suggestion with a breath. 
 
 4 This spiritless digest is arranged in a tripartite form. The Mosaic propo- 
 sition leads the text, with analogous decisions of Paulus and Ulpian subjoined. 
 
 5 Mackeldey, op. cit, p. 78. 
 
 6 Heinecci, op. cit, Lib. I., p. 363. 
 
 7 ad. Theod., XVI. ; Tit. VIII., Be Judaeis, et seq. 
 
 8 Gothofred., Cvrnmenlar., in Cod. Theod., cap. ii. A large portion of the 
 Theodosian code is devoted to establishing a legal status for the Jews, and is 
 not the least interesting of the imperial rescripts. 
 
372 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 fluence, both as regards the vitality of its doctrines, the 
 concessions of legislation, and the wide extent of citizen- 
 ship in foreign lands, around the Mediterranean Sea and 
 Byzantium, vastly contributed to mould into shape many 
 phases of social life, ecclesiastical and lay, which were 
 rapidly imitating the Christian church in assuming such 
 form as appeared most politic and consistent with the new 
 order of things. 
 
 Jewish learning and traditions were undoubtedly known 
 to the Grecian architects of Constantinople. Mathematical 
 knowledge, for which the Jews at an early period of that 
 era were justly celebrated, was necessarily much sought 
 after by the Byzantine builders, and the intercourse which 
 the possession of a highly prized science opened between 
 these nationalities and denizens of the Roman capital, also 
 furnished the opportunity for an acquaintance with the 
 traditional lore of the Israelites. 
 
 Among the most important of these legends was that of 
 the temple builder, whose custody of the name of Jehovah 
 aided in constructing the Solomonian edifice at Jerusa- 
 lem. 1 At a -time when the ritualism of the new church 
 was being rapidly Paganized, little surprise will be awa- 
 kened that the Byzantine corporations, in deference to the 
 prevailing tendencies of a religion patronized by the pon- 
 derous favor of a great empire, modified their ceremonials 
 to conform to the Judaizing spirit of the age. 
 
 It is well known that the early Christians entertained 
 a profound veneration for Mosaic rites, 2 and a furore 
 for the cumbersome solemnities of Jewish observances 
 spread with startling rapidity, to such extent that Juvenal 
 
 1 Closely allied with the cabalistic Gematria, in which the secret of archi- 
 tectural science was supposed to lie. Ffeiffer, Critica Sacra de Sacri. (Jodie., 
 cap. vii. 
 
 2 Vide Draper, Hist, of the Tntellec. Develop, of Europe, chap, ix., for succinct 
 and comprehensive statement of the Judaizing proclivities of the first Chris- 
 tains. Also, Baumgarten-Crusius, Dogmengeschichte, pp. 126, 217. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 373 
 
 satirized them. The Empress Poppae, it is said, became 
 a convert to Israelitish customs. 1 The building of King 
 Solomon's temple at Jerusalem was deeply rooted in the 
 minds of Jewish exiles. Maimonides, a distinguished 
 sectarian of this people, early in the Middle Ages, wrote 
 a detailed treatise of this edifice, and Perrault attempted 
 to rebuild it from the description of the rabbi. 2 This 
 celebrated structure seems to have been to the Jew what 
 the Kebla was to the Arab. So far was this notion carried 
 among the Palestine refugees, that David Kimichi declared 
 the whole world divisible into six parts, and that Jerusa- 
 lem was situated exactly in the centre of the universe. 3 
 
 The conversion of Rome to Christianity gave a new 
 impetus to the study of Judaic writings, and to the exam- 
 ination of their doctrines. 4 Amid the active pressure 
 of such vital forces, it was impossible that a full knowl- 
 edge of Israelitish traditions and legendary lore should 
 not be made accessible to the artificers of Byzantium, and 
 quickly assimilated by them. So thoroughly imbued were 
 the Greek builders with the Judaistic element which sur- 
 rounded them in Constantinople, that it was largely in- 
 fused by these craftsmen into the formularies of Gothic 
 guilds existing in Northern Italy at the time of their 
 arrival in the fifth century. 
 
 It has been stated already that the earliest use of marks 
 by architects in Europe, is traceable to the Eastern corpo- 
 rations, and through them to the ancient Syrian and Jewish 
 builders, and that these proprietary tokens, at a subsequent 
 
 1 Lecky, Hist, of Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, Vol. I., p. 410. 
 
 2 Depping, Die Juden im Mittelalter, p. 81. 
 
 3 Commentar. in Psalm 87. Est Judea terrarum fere media. Sabellicua,: 
 Ennead., VII., Lib. I., in Leopardi, Saggio Sopra gli Errori popolari degli An- 
 tichi, p. 208. It may be added here that the temple at Jerusalem was acces- 
 sible to both Jews and Gentiles. Selden, De Synedriis Veter. Ebraeor., p. 157. 
 
 * How far the Mosaic doctrines affected the imperial rescripts may be gath- 
 ered from the learned treatise of Gothofred, prefixed to his edition of Theo- 
 dosius. Vide Proleg. Cod. Theod., cap. iii. 
 32 
 
374 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 period of the Middle Ages, constituted an important por- 
 tion of lodge ritual among operative Masons. In addition 
 to this, the more prominent traditions of the Hellenistic 
 Jews — such, for instance, as the legend of Hiram the 
 temple builder, and the efficacy of Jehovah's true name or 
 omnific word, together with points of lesser significance 
 — were transmitted by Byzantine workmen to Teutonic 
 sodalities. At what period of time the merging of this 
 Jewish legendary element into Germanic guilds occurred, 
 cannot be fixed with exactness, but it is a rational assump- 
 tion that such fusion began near the epoch when Theode- 
 rich the Goth ordered Greek builders from the East, and 
 was, perhaps, not fully perfected for some centuries after. 
 
 Whether the continuance of Gothic dominion in Italy 
 was of sufficient duration for a free interchange of ritual- 
 istic ceremonials between ancient Germanic guilds and 
 Grecian associations, cannot be definitely stated. The 
 junction of the two systems may have had its inception 
 under the Ostrogoths, but was more nearly completed dur- 
 ing Longobardic rule in Northern Italy. Scarcely had two 
 centuries elapsed before the Lombards had placed Europe 
 under great obligations for many new developments in 
 trade, finance, and legislation. The whole of that com- 
 plex and ingenious system of exchange, banking, insur- 
 ance, 1 book-keeping, commercial and marine law, either 
 originated or was developed into practical utility by this 
 people. The business of public loans was also invented, 
 and has since preserved a healthy existence. 2 
 
 When the edicts of Rotharis and Liutiprand, Longo- 
 bardic kings, were promulged, — the first in the year 643 
 and the latter in the early part of the eighth century, 3 — 
 
 1 The essential principle of insurance was practised by the ancient North- 
 men, and seems to have been an integral element in the original Icelandic 
 Constitution. Dahlmann, Geschibhte von Dannemark, Bd. II. 
 
 2 Hope, Essay on Architecture, p. 224. 
 
 8 In the year 729. Merkel, Die Geschichte des Longobardenrechts, p. 18. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 375 
 
 the inhabitants of Como had already attained to so high a 
 degree of skill as to be designated magistri comacini, or 
 masters of Como. 1 Minute and specific regulations were 
 enacted for the wages which these masons and architects 
 should receive for their labors. 2 
 
 It is clear that the Longobardi, without foreign instruc- 
 tion, could never have mastered the details of building art 
 within the period of one and a half centuries, when it is con- 
 sidered that the initial point was barbarism. As already 
 stated in this work, nearly the entire knowledge of fine 
 arts at this epoch, in Europe, was under the control of the 
 church, who obtained it from Byzantium. Greek archi- 
 tectural corporations, possessed of the exclusive details of 
 building churches, under ecclesiastical sanction, communi- 
 cated their art to the people of Northern Italy, where, by 
 the express decree of Theoderich, they were permitted to 
 preserve their right of association and immunities in 
 accordance with the laws of the Eastern empire, or to live 
 by such customs as they might elect. 3 
 
 The secret arts thus obtained by the Teutonic races were 
 perpetuated in fraternities or guilds, whose existence 
 ascends to the oldest forms of Germanic government. 
 "Whenever the Christian missionaries were sent from 
 Eome or elsewhere to teach the faith to the rude and 
 uncultured natives of Germany, they brought their build- 
 ers with them from Italy, and exercised a general super- 
 vision over the churches which their converts raised. 4 If 
 these corporations of builders, thus fraternizing with the 
 secret societies of Europe, existed at all, they must, in 
 
 1 Edictum Rotharis Reg., cap. cxliii. — iv., and Edictum Luitprandi Regis, cap. 
 clvii., et seq., Memorator. de Mercedes Comacinorum. This word master — 
 magister — is an evident perpetuation of the cumbersome imperial offices of 
 Byzantium. Vide VI., Cod. Theod., Tit. VII.-IX. 
 
 2 Each master should receive a certain quantity of corn, ten pounds of 
 lard, an urn of wine, a fixed quantity of vegetables and salt : Segale, lardo 
 libras decern, vino urna una, etc. Be Merced. Comae, loc. ext., cap. clviii. 
 
 3 Heinecci, Antiquit. Germanicae, Tome I., p. 346. 
 
 4 Hope, Historical Essay of Architecture, p. 214. 
 
376 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 an age which acknowledged the civil and ecclesiastical 
 supremacy of the Pope, preserve their integrity under 
 papal control. 1 Whether sacerdotal sanction was expressed 
 in the form of charters, 2 or hulls conceding these art- 
 guilds an exemption from local regulation in the countries 
 of Northern Europe, which is probable, 3 or whether it was 
 universally agreed that they were under the patronage of 
 the Pope, and, as such, absolved from territorial restric- 
 tions, is uncertain. At all events, no charters of the kind 
 adverted to have descended with traditions of the craft. 
 Under such special protection of the pontiff, the Romans 
 themselves joined these Masonic associations in great 
 numbers, especially in cases where they were destined to 
 accompany into unexplored regions of the North such 
 missionaries as were deputed by their chief. 
 
 The intimate relations, both as to trade and industry, ex- 
 isting between Constantinople and the cities of Lombardy, 
 brought, as we have hitherto narrated, large bodies of 
 Greek artists into Italy, and these, together with the 
 Byzantine artificers who had fled to escape the fury of the 
 iconoclastic war, were taken into the lodges and affiliated 
 with these new Masonic corporations. 4 Frequent conver- 
 
 1 1 bid., p. 231, and Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, p. 425. 
 
 2 Archozologia, Vol. IX., pp. 114, 120. According to Wilda, Das Gilden 
 Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 96, the earliest record of royal or statutory recog- 
 nition of any guild was merely confirmatory of existing usages and customs. 
 No charter was contemplated at the organization of these associations, which, 
 as we shall presently see, are coeval with the Teutonic constitution. Vide 
 Toulman Smith, English Guilds, Introduction, pertot. 
 
 3 It was barely possible for these early Masonic corporations to escape the 
 necessity of presenting themselves with an authority superior to local juris- 
 dictions. In many countries of Europe, numerous restrictions were placed 
 about forest timber, and none could be felled without a special permit from 
 proper officers, — a privilege conceded with extreme caution. Each piece 
 must also be marked with an official brand. Maurer, Geschichte der Marken- 
 verfassung, pp. 129, 132; Pardessus, U Organisation Judiciare, p. 267, etc. 
 
 * " The political factions of Constantinople, and, above all, the fury of the 
 iconoclasts, continued to cause a constant influx of Greek artists into Italy ; 
 many Greeks were likewise taken into the gradually-increasing circle of their 
 lodges and filiations." Hope, On Architecture, p. 233. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 377 
 
 sion of the natives of the North to the religion of Christ 
 caused a demand for the erection of sacred edifices, to 
 meet the wants of rapidly-increasing proselytes, and, in 
 consequence, it became necessary to have architects compe- 
 tent to design churches, monasteries, and convents. Cor- 
 porations of builders were dispatched from Northern Italy 
 to the Gallic and Germanic provinces, under the direction 
 of evangelists, to provide the inhabitants with suitable 
 places of worship. 1 
 
 In the year 774, Charlemagne terminated the Longobar- 
 dic empire by the defeat of Desiderius. From this time 
 the Masonic sodalities, under the patronage of the Carlo- 
 vingian dynasty, enjoyed a freer immunity in the vast do- 
 minions of the German emperor, who, as previously asserted, 
 earnestly cooperated with the ecclesiastical authorities of 
 the Latin church to advance the temporal interests of his 
 empire, the principal of which was architectural art. 
 
 The opportunity thus afforded for the introduction of 
 regularly-organized building corporations among the peo- 
 ple of Northern Europe was eagerly seized by the natives 
 to unite themselves with these bodies 2 — rendered more 
 feasible by the merging of traditions contributed by 
 Byzantine initiates into the superstitious and mythologi- 
 cal customs of Germanic guilds. Clerical influence cer- 
 tainly aided to secure the initiation of heathen converts 
 into the mystical rites of these fraternities, in order that 
 an additional means might be furnished for propagating 
 ecclesiastical authority, to establish a moral restraint over 
 the proselytes, and also that a supply of competent work- 
 men might be insured. Mr. Hope 3 conjectures that the 
 associations of Freemasons were first formed in Lombardy. 
 This is no doubt correct as to the locality, but their incep- 
 tion may be more accurately dated back to the period of 
 Gothic rule. It may be safely asserted that the junction 
 
 " r~ 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 236, etc. * Ibid., p. 233. 
 
 32* 
 
378 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 of Byzantine corporations with Teutonic guilds afforded 
 the substantial basis of subsequent lodge appointments and 
 ritualism, such as have descended to modern Freemasonry. 
 Actual contact with Roman civilization in Italy to some 
 extent modified and altered many of the essential parts 
 of ancient guildic observances, and materially assisted in 
 moulding into an acceptable form such elements of Free- 
 masonry as have been hitherto demonstrated to be descend- 
 ed from the ancient Teutons and Gothic courts, which were 
 a close imitation of heathen temples. 1 
 
 It has been clearly shown 2 that the Lombards used 
 largely the imperial codes and rescripts which they found 
 in the conquered provinces, and also essentially changed 
 their own judicial code in order to conform to what pre- 
 vailed among the vanquished Romans. 3 
 
 Prudence evidently dictated this change: because, in 
 the sanguinary conflicts between the Longobards and people 
 of Italy, many of the former were destroyed. 4 "Wben, at 
 length, a peace had been concluded between the belliger- 
 ents, each Roman ceded to the invading Lombard a third 
 part of his landed estate. Christian influence also tended 
 to gradually transform the ruder and more objectionable 
 features with which the early Oriental artificers were 
 brought in contact, and rendered a gradual assimilation of 
 Eastern usages with Northern customs and traditions easy 
 and practicable. In this way. it may be inferred, the 
 foundation of a junction between Eastern and Western 
 legends was laid, broad and deep, on the plains of Lom- 
 bards. The full and complete details of this union were 
 rounded up when the corporations of builders mingled 
 with the natives of Xorthern Europe, before civilization 
 or necessity had demanded important alterations of relig- 
 ious customs. 
 
 1 Sim rock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 517. 
 
 2 Savigny, Gesehichte des Rbmischen Rechls. Bd. I., pp. 239, 296, 402. 
 
 3 Ibid., Bd. II.. pp. 209, 273. and Mackeldey. Romische Rtcht, p. 81. 
 * Savignv, op. eit., Bd. L, p. 399. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Christianity Retains Northern Superstitions — Teutonic Ban- 
 quets Preserved by Freemasonry — Toasts to the Dead — 
 Christian Saints Substituted for Heathen Divinities — Heathen 
 Rites and Customs Unchanged by Professors of the New Reli- 
 gion — Churches Erected on Sites of Pagan Temples — Festival 
 Days Continued by Christian Priests — Guilds Maintain Ancient 
 Usages. 
 
 HATEVER may have been the immediate causes 
 which produced the rapid conversion of the Ger- 
 man nations to the doctrines of Christianity, it 
 is not within the scope of this work to determine. 
 
 The leading policy of the Roman church was to invest, as 
 far as practical, the tenets of the new faith with the garb 
 of the mythological observances and practices of their con- 
 verts. This design was expressly inculcated in a letter of 
 instruction which Gregory the Great sent to St. Augustine, 
 who had entered on his evangelical mission to the Anglo- 
 Saxons. 1 Strictly adhering to a policy pursued with such 
 illustrious results in the conversion of Pagan Rome, the 
 early Christian missionaries consecrated the temples of 
 Northern deities to the use of the church of Christ, 
 and national customs, in obedience to the prejudices of 
 new proselytes, were gradually adapted to celebrating the 
 religion of the cross. The heathens had been accustomed 
 to enliven the solemn rites of their superstitions by the 
 merriment of the table. 
 
 1 Lingard, Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 24. 
 
 379 
 
380 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 A universal practice among these Paganistic Northmen 
 permitted a participation in hilarious feasts, whose princi- 
 pal diet was furnished by victims offered up on the altars 
 of their divinities. At these banquets the heroic deeds of 
 distinguished warriors were sung, 1 and toasts drank, amid 
 uproarious glee, to the memory of deceased friends and in 
 honor of their gods. 2 Gregory directed that similar enter- 
 tainments should be allowed to new converts, and ordered, 
 on fete days of martyrs, after religious service had been 
 commemorated, that banquets should be spread in tents 
 adjoining the church, and the same customs continued 
 which prevailed with the heathens. 3 Here the toast to 
 Odin, Thor, or Frey, was substituted to the honor of our 
 Saviour and the saints. 4 ~No change was attempted in the 
 memorial bowl to departed friends. 5 When a distinguished 
 Scandinavian died, it was an usage freely observed that 
 his heir should, at the first convenient opportunity, invite 
 the retainers and associates of the deceased to a sumptuous 
 feast, during which it was expected of his legal representa- 
 tive to empty a cup to the memory of the defunct. After- 
 wards he ascended the high seat, always occupied by 
 the master of the house, placed between two columns. 
 This occupancy was regarded as a sign of assuming posses- 
 sion of the heritage. 6 The revelry which sometimes ensued 
 
 1 Ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 2 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 197 ; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., 
 p. 271 ; also, Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, pp. 793, 822. 
 
 3 Lingard, Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 24. 
 
 * Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 113; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., 
 p. 270. The toast proposed by Hagan, at the conclusion of the Burgundian 
 feast to Siegfried's memory, is a clear derivation of this usage. Vide Wilmar, 
 Liter atur Geschichte, p. 83, an. (*). 
 
 5 On the decease of a guild brother, memorial services were sometimes held 
 for three successive days, but on the third day toasts were drank to all dead 
 members. Tertiam vero in tertio die potationis pro omnibus fratribus de- 
 functis. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen im Mittlealter, p. 123, note (1). 
 
 6 Vide Wilda, op. cit., pp. 6, 8. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 381 
 
 in consequence of bacchanalian songs, although tolerated by 
 a prudent clergy, ultimately attained to such gross indecency 
 that a concerted effort was made by the more moderate 
 converts to check this tendency, and was partially suc- 
 cessful. 1 
 
 The custom of toasting the memory of departed members 
 of the Masonic fraternity on festal occasions has come 
 down from this semi-religious observance of the ancient 
 Germans. 2 At the feasts of the Northern people, a garland 
 of flowers, with a rose prominently in the centre, was sus- 
 pended from the ceiling above the table, as a symbol that 
 everything which might be done or spoken by the partici- 
 pants in the banquet should be held strictly secret. 3 This 
 is the origin of the phrase " sub-rosa." In the Gothic code 
 the rose was an emblem of secrecy, 4 and was thus considered 
 by the mediaeval operative Masons. Among the Masonic 
 symbols displayed on the chiselled walls and in the deli- 
 cate tracery of European cathedrals, the sculptured rose 
 frequently appears. 5 
 
 Many attributes previously assigned to subordinate 
 Northern deities survived to their Christian successors, the 
 saints and martyrs. In accordance with a usage prevailing 
 in olden times of superstition, when heathen gods were 
 called on in conjuration and magic spells, Christ and the 
 holy martyrs were subsequently invoked for like purposes. 
 
 1 Mallet, op. ext., p. 114. 
 
 2 Mediaeval Masonic toasts were drank in three cadences. Fallou, Mysterien 
 der Freimaurer, p. 65. These banquets were conducted according to ancient 
 custom, and developed into elaborate details. Regula{eur du Macon (Prem. 
 Grad.), p. 40, et seq. 
 
 3 Schauberg, Symbol ik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 203, and Grimm, Deutsche 
 Rechts Alterthumer, p. 203. 
 
 4 Die rose bezeichnet nicht sowohl das Urtheil als die heimlichkeit und stille 
 des Gerichts. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 911. 
 
 6 Stieglitz, Geschichte der Baukunst, cap. xl. There are some fine specimens 
 of this rose work in the Heidelberg castle. Mystical signification of the three 
 roses formerly on a Master's apron. ^ Vide Winzer, Die Deutschen Bruderschaften 
 des Mittelalters, p. 152, et seq. 
 
382 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Numerous religious rites, used in the formal celebration of 
 a fete clay sacred to a heathen divinity, maintained an un- 
 diminished vitality under the adoration of saints ; the only 
 alteration was merely an act of subrogation. Reverence 
 of shrines and martyred relicts perpetuated Teutonic 
 heathen worship of the dead. The manner in which 
 Clovis venerated Saint Martin attests that he regarded 
 him more as a mythological deity than a Christian saint. 
 In order to learn the issue of a war against the Wisigoths, 
 this Gallic king sent to the martyr's sepulchre, as to an 
 oracle, for information. 1 It was a custom among Pagan 
 Norsemen to carry the image or symbol of a goddess around 
 the fields, for the purpose of insuring fertility of soil. 
 This usage was propagated by converts to Christianity. 
 
 Superstitious observances, in honor or in fear of heathen 
 deities, continued, with slight alteration, under the new 
 religion. 2 Nerthus, a Teutonic deess, was drawn about in 
 a carriage, in festive procession, through several districts 
 of Germany. 3 In Christian times, especially on the open- 
 ing of spring, the same solemn ceremony was performed. 
 On such occasions a symbol, having a direct allusion to this 
 divinity, was also carried around, and received its share of 
 devotional adoration. 
 
 In the year 1133, a procession, entirely after this fashion, 
 took place, under the manipulation of a guild of weavers, 
 and was attended with great bacchanalian festivity. This 
 celebration prevailed so late as the year 1330, when further 
 indulgence was prohibited by a decree of an ecclesiastical 
 council held at ITlm. 4 To this day it is usual to kindle 
 bonfires in Germany on St. John's day, Christmas, and 
 Easter. These fires thus lighted at stated intervals are the 
 remnants of heathen mystical rites, whose observance con- 
 
 1 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 271. 2 Ibid., pp. 274-9. 
 
 3 Tacitus, Germania, cap. 40. 
 
 * Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. L, p. 283, etc. Full details in Grimm, 
 Deutsche Mythologie, p. 237, ei seq. ; also, Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 520. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 383 
 
 tinued in the Christian church under new names. It has 
 been clearly demonstrated 1 that the traditions of fairy 
 prowess and dwarf skill are directly descended from old 
 North sagas, and that no radical change was ever made in 
 the thought and popular belief of proselytes to the religion 
 of Christ, excepting in an external form. For instance, 
 the notions of people respecting their gods were altered to 
 render them diabolical and repulsive. Giants and Frost 
 deities still preserved an undisputed existence, but were 
 associated with evil and injury, of which they were made 
 the instruments. 2 
 
 The nursery tale of Jack and the Bean Stalk contains 
 unequivocal allusions to ancient Norse superstitions, per- 
 petuated, notwithstanding the changes necessarily effected 
 by the adoption of Christianity. One incident in the 
 romance corresponds exactly with the device of the giant 
 Skinner when Thor travelled to Utgord. 3 As previously 
 urged in the preceding pages, our Saviour and his saints 
 were substituted for heathen gods, and endowed with 
 their supernal attributes. A remarkable example of this 
 mythological vitality may be seen in the following poem, 
 discovered and published by Grimm : 4 
 
 " Phol endi Wodan, Phol and Wodan, 
 
 Vuoru zi holza: Went to the woods ; 
 
 Du wart demo Balderes volon, Then was of Balder's colt 
 
 Sin vuoz birenkit ; His foot wrenched ; 
 
 Thu biguolen Sinthgunt, Then charmed it Sinthgunt, 
 
 Sunna era Suister ; And Sunna her sister ; 
 
 Thu biguolen Frua, Then charmed it Frua 
 
 Volla era Suister ; And Volla her sister ; 
 
 Thu biguolen Wodan Then charmed it Wodan 
 
 So he wola conda, As well he could, 
 
 Sose bewrenki, As well the bone-wrench, 
 
 Sose bluotrenki, As well the blood-wrench, 
 Sose lidirenki ; , As well the joint-wrench. 
 
 1 Keightly, Fairy Mythology, p. 62, et seq. 
 
 2 Thorpe, op. tit., Vol. II., Introd., p. xix. 3 Edda, Gylfaginning, c. 46. 
 * Grimm, Ueber Zwei entdeckle Gedichle aus der Zeit des Dents. Heidenthums. 
 
384 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Ben zi ben a, Bone to bone, 
 
 Bluot zi bluoda, Blood to blood, 
 
 Lid zi geliden, Joint to joint, 
 
 Sose gelimida sin." As if glued together. 
 
 In its Christian form it reads in Norwegian verse: 1 
 
 "Jesus reed sig til Heede, Jesus rode to the heath, 
 
 Der reed han syndt sit Folebeen. There he rode the leg of his colt in two; 
 
 Jesus stgide af og laegte det; Jesus dismounted and healed it; 
 
 Jesus lagde Morv i Morv, Jesus laid marrow to marrow, 
 
 Ben i ben, Kjod i Kjod ; Bone to bone, flesh to flesh ; 
 
 Jesus lagde derpaa et Blad, Jesus laid thereon a leaf 
 
 At det skulde blive i samme stad." That it might remain in the same place. 
 
 The Christmas tree and Jack's bean-stalk are also imi- 
 tated after the ash or Yggdrasil 2 of the Scandinavian 
 mythology. 
 
 Whatever may have been the real wishes of the evan- 
 gelists w T ho introduced the Christian faith among the Ger- 
 manic races, it was utterly impossible to prevent the 
 perpetuation of Paganistic customs, and sometimes a total 
 relapse into heathen ceremonies. To render opposition 
 effective, a well informed clergy was indispensable ; but, 
 unfortunately, of such there were few, and too often, 
 indeed, they were men of profane and ungodly lives. . Not 
 unfrequently it occurred, as in the case mentioned in the 
 life of Saint Gall, 3 in an oratory dedicated to Saint Aure- 
 lia, idols, even after conversion, were worshipped with 
 sacrifices, and proselyted Franks, during their irruption 
 into Italy, still sacrificed human victims. 4 Oftentimes 
 
 1 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 23. 
 
 2 The vast resources offered to the mediaeval Freemasons by Northern sym- 
 bolism were freely used. Among other emblematic delineations drawn from 
 an unadulterated Paganism, were carved statuettes and embossed figures, the 
 sun and moon, and the Yggdrasil, with a wolf gnawing at its roots. Luebke, 
 Gesckichte der Plastik, pp. 298, 325. Mythology in church architecture. Sim- 
 rock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 496. 
 
 3 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 266. 
 
 4 In the year 554, Childbert, king of the Franks, issued a decree directing 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 385 
 
 when zealous missionaries fondly believed the natives 
 thoroughly converted to doctrines which they boldly pro- 
 fessed, the return of those seasons during which the new 
 converts were accustomed to celebrate with uproariousness 
 the joyous festivals of heathen times, caused a sudden 
 reaction to the idolatrous practices of their ancestors, but 
 in all such relapses a politic hierarchy, on a faint indica- 
 tion of penitence, grandly forgave the impetuous Pagan- 
 ized Christian by a " laying on of hands." 1 
 
 So long as the people confessed to the new faith and 
 were baptized, the reverend priests themselves performed 
 sacrifices to popular divinities. 2 Saint Boniface 3 bitterly 
 complained that many assumed the offices of priesthood 
 without being consecrated, and preached the doctrines of 
 Christ neither according to the Romish creed nor in 
 churches, but boldly proclaimed it in open fields or on the 
 hill-tops, in places where ancient worship was solemnized. 
 Crosses were also frequently erected there, and magic and 
 soothsaying freely practised. 4 Of this species of heathen- 
 ism maintaining a vigorous vitality, was the magical 
 potency attributed to certain Runic characters carved on 
 slender columns, which magicians carried around with 
 them and used in prognosticating. 5 
 
 Many things savoring strongly of Paganism were 
 allowed to continue undisturbed by the priests from abso- 
 
 the discontinuance of all idolatrous sacrifices, but with little effect, since a 
 more rigid edict of Charlemagne was published against idol worship by 
 human sacrifices. Baluz., Capitular. Regum Franco., Tome I., pp. 6, 849. 
 
 1 Per manus impositionem, absolutione precum sacerdotalium. Ibid., Tome 
 I., Lib. V., cap. cxxxiii. 
 
 2 Boniface, Epist., 25. Vide Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 266. 
 
 3 EpistoL, 87. 
 
 * Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 267. In the time of Charlemagne, 
 the potency of the cross was expressly recognized in judicial proceedings. 
 Baluz., Gapitul. Regum Francor., Tome I., p. 197. Also, in King Pepin's reign. 
 Ibid., Tome I., p. 164. See Addit. Legem Salicam, an. 3, cap. 1. 
 
 5 Olaus Magnus, Hist. Septri. ac vario Condit., p. 47. 
 33 Z 
 
386 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 lute necessity, otherwise the whole social fabric of the 
 Teutonic races must have been disintegrated. Political 
 institutions, particularly of a beneficial nature, were left 
 untouched. Heathen usages, venerable and inviolable, on 
 account of their high antiquity, survived ecclesiastical 
 changes, unless, perhaps, in the case of the Longobardi in 
 Italy, who apparently conformed to the Roman code. In 
 consequence of this policy of the church, the time and 
 place of judicial procedure, and the method of legal trans- 
 actions, maintained a steadfast connection with heathen 
 sacrificial and festive localities, 1 although the offerings 
 formerly made by the Pagans were discontinued. Even 
 so late as the age of Childeric, the high powers of ecclesi- 
 astical and imperial authority were invoked for the purpose 
 of extinguishing many of the grosser Paganistic practices. 2 
 Trial by ordeal, by fire or water, under a Christian garb, 
 withstood the altered necessities of religious worship. 3 
 
 In unnumbered instances, the clergy were powerless to 
 effect a radical transformation, as in matters of warfare 
 and the heathenism usually practised under the sanction 
 of the battle god ; consequently, many usages, the relics 
 of Northern mythology, were absorbed into the newly 
 developed Christian structure, or preserved their ground 
 by force of law and immemorial custom. Few attempts 
 were made by the earlier missionaries to interfere with 
 spiritual interdicts between the social relations of their 
 converts. One case may be specially cited, where an 
 over-zealous evangelist lost his life by censuring a Frank- 
 
 1 Vide Indicul. Superstit. et Pagan, cap. v.-xviii. 
 
 2 Baluz., op. ext., Tome I., p. 6, et seq. : De abolendis reliquiis idolatriae et de 
 sacror. dierum festivil., etc. 
 
 3 Opfer tilgte der Christenglaube, er liest aber die alten Gerichtsstatten 
 ungestort. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 793. The three court days 
 undisturbed. Ibid., p. 822. Heims et ver et aestas intellectum ac vocabula 
 habent. Tac, Germania, c. 26. The trials noted, substantially, are found to 
 be of Asiatic origin. Lea, Superstit. and Force, chap. iii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 387 
 
 ish prince, who had espoused a kinswoman within the 
 degree proscribed by canon law. 
 
 From sheer necessity, evangelizing ministers were com- 
 pelled to proceed with much precaution whenever they 
 were unable to extirpate integral portions of ancient 
 religious ceremonies. In the usual clerical policy, heathen 
 ideas and external representation were temporized with, 
 and invested with a Christian garb. 1 Such accommodation 
 appeared in the construction of churches, or the erection 
 of crosses on places esteemed sacred by the heathens, for 
 the purpose of excluding therefrom mythological worship, 
 and to accustom proselytes to adore these localities in a 
 Christian sense. 
 
 Gregory the Great instructed his missionaries to pre- 
 serve Pagan temples, but to relentlessly destroy all idols 
 contained in them. Wherever the edifice was suitably 
 constructed, he directed that the building should be 
 sprinkled with holy water, altars erected, and martyred 
 reliques deposited in them, in order that the structure, 
 within whose walls the frenzied rites of Odin or Frey had 
 been celebrated, might be reclaimed from diabolical ser- 
 vices unto the worship of the true God. 2 
 
 An additional reason was urged by the astute pontiff. 
 In strict harmony with the entire proselyting scheme, 
 which we have seen unswervingly pursued in paganizing 
 the early Christian church, so that no well-settled ten- 
 dencies might be shocked by great social or religious 
 changes of form, it was argued by the illustrious Pope 
 that the Germanic people, seeing their sacred structures 
 left untouched, would the more rapidly abjure their erro- 
 neous faith, and, recognizing the one Almighty, would 
 hasten to places rendered familiar by custom. 
 
 The wood of the oak, felled with such fiery zeal by 
 
 1 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 208. 
 
 2 Beda, Histor. Ecclesia., Lib. L, c. 30. 
 
388 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 Boniface, and the gold of the Longobardie snake, were 
 manufactured into an altar and sacred utensils, so that the 
 popular mind might be gradually familiarized with a 
 transmission from the old to the new faith. As already 
 narrated, the great festival days of the heathen Teutons 
 were celebrated under the names of canonized saints ; and 
 wherever it had been the custom, during these periodical 
 carousals, to sacrifice animals to mythical divinities, by 
 explicit instruction of Gregory 1 a like usage was to be 
 recognized under the new dispensation, "because it was 
 impossible to divest the mind instantaneously of long 
 continued habits ; for whoever would ascend a mountain, 
 could arrive only step by step, not at a single leap." 2 
 Here, therefore, was the most emphatic recognition of the 
 policy pursued by the Romish church in securing the 
 adherence of converts to the religion of Christ — a system 
 which opened a pathway for the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity, but rendered the complete extirpation of heathen- 
 ism impossible. To these circumstances, no doubt, can be 
 attributed the perpetuation of Pagan formularies used in 
 the Gothic courts, and the continuation of mythological 
 rites and ceremonies in mediaeval guilds, which conjointly 
 furnished to Freemasonry the skeleton of Norse customs, 
 upon which Judaistic ritualism was strung. 
 
 1 Beda, Historia Ecclesiast., Lib. I., c. 30. 
 
 * Nam duris mentibus simul omnia abscidere impossibile esse non dubium 
 est ; quia et is qui summum locum ascendere nititur gradibus vel passibus non 
 autem saltibus elevatur. Beda, op. tit., Epist. ad Melitum. The reverend 
 father closes his epistle to Melitus with an illustration drawn from Jewish 
 history. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Teutonic Sodalities Coeval with the German Races — Never 
 Destroyed — Guilds Instituted in Monasteries — Preserve 
 Heathen Customs — Dedicated to Christian Saints — Anglo- 
 Saxon Associations — Members Wear Badges, and Duly Obli- 
 gated — Guilds in the Year 1389 — Abjuration Formula of 743 
 — Societies Celebrate the Worship of Heathen Deities — Open 
 to both Sexes — Joined by Nobility and Ecclesiastics — The 
 Practice of Charity — Mutual Help Enjoined — Chaplain — 
 Guilds in the Time of Charlemagne — Oath-Bound Societies — 
 Colleges of Builders and Gothic Guilds — Ancient Formularies 
 of Temple Worship Preserved by these Bodies. 
 
 UILDS, or associations for mutual benefit, being 
 an important element constituting ancient Ger- 
 manic society, were never eradicated by Christian 
 evangelists. Instead of obliterating this remark- 
 
 able phase of heathenism, it 'was suffered to remain. In 
 this concession to popular necessity, a policy equally well- 
 defined with that previously noted manifests itself clearly. 
 As already stated, the introduction of Christianity among 
 the Northern nations involved the essential alteration of 
 the objective point of Pagan customs, by giving them 
 a slightly variant tendency without social revolution. 
 This was the carefully-pursued plan of the missionaries in 
 dealing with guilds. 
 
 The history of these associations leads far back into the 
 twilight of Teutonic antiquity, and by the almost 1 unani- 
 
 1 Heineccius, Antiquitates Germanicae f Tome II., cap. vi., p. 340, assigned 
 the origin of these societies to the Roman colleges, but more recent researches 
 have developed their existence as stated above. 
 
 33 * 389 
 
390 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 mous assertion of German and Scandinavian antiquaries 
 the substantial principles of guilds, which prominently 
 appeared in such diverse forms during the Middle Ages as 
 an accurately denned element, are firmly rooted in JSTorse or 
 Germanic antiquities. 1 They are coeval with the earliest 
 records of the Gothic race. As an energizing power for 
 the perpetuation of Christian religious tenets, the clergy, 
 at a very early age, favored the existence and development 
 of these unions. In fact, they imitated them within con- 
 ventual walls whenever a necessity arose for a more inti- 
 mate brotherhood, as, for instance, offering up mutual 
 prayers for the safety of souls, and to assist each other in 
 cases of distress. 2 
 
 According to a capitulary of Hincmar, archbishop of 
 Rheims, drawn up in the ninth century, these ecclesiastical 
 sodalities were directly derived from the Pagan brother- 
 hoods, and betrayed in a notable degree the strange mix- 
 ture of Christianity and heathenism. 3 Their assemblies 
 
 1 Die Geschichte des Gildenwesen fulirt uns in die fernste Germanische 
 vorzeit zuriick. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 3 ; Lacroix, Les 
 Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 295, et seq. Vide Unger, Die Altdeutsche 
 Gerichtsverfassung, \\ 6 and 7, for the elements of early political guilds. 
 
 * Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen, p. 34 ; Smith, English Guilds, p. 319. 
 
 3 Zusammenkiinfte ganz die Form der Gilden versammlungen angenommen 
 und Christliches und Ungermanisches sich audi hier verraischt hatte. Wilda, 
 Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 35. The original edict referred to is as 
 follows : Non quasi ad prandium ibi ad tabulam resideant et per tales incon- 
 venientes pastellos se invicem gravent quia inhonestum est et onerosum. Et 
 singulos biberes accipiant maxime autem ultra tertiam vicem poculum ibi 
 non contingant ad ecclesias suas reddeant. Labbaei. Concil., Tome X., p. 4, 
 from Wilda, ut supra. The convivialities of the banquet table seem to have 
 been the object of religious censure. Many attempts were made by the eccle- 
 siastical authorities to modify the excesses consequent upon such assemblages, 
 but with indifferent success. A standing regulation of numerous English 
 associations punished drunkenness with a fine. Smith, English Guilds, p. 81. 
 One of the charges urged against the Freemasons, at a comparatively recent 
 date, was grounded upon the hilarity of their drinking bouts, which followed 
 each initiation. Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Ab. 1, p. 
 291, et seq. See, in this connection, Plot, Nat. Hist, of Staffordshire, § 85, and 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 391 
 
 were held on the first day of each month, and banquets 
 were spread and songs indulged in, in imitation of the 
 heathen Germans. Ancient Pas:an festivals were also held 
 three times in each year, 1 at which periods the courts, 
 under the direction originally of the priesthood, opened 
 for the transaction of legal business. These fetes were 
 entirely religious in their character, and on such occasions 
 solemn sacrifices assisted in the pomp of sacerdotal cele- 
 bration. Besides the courts convened thus periodically, 
 and which each freeman was obliged to attend, 2 fairs and 
 markets were held, as an additional commemoration of 
 Northern worship. 3 
 
 After the politic substitution of our Saviour, Virgin 
 Mary, and the saints for heathen deities, an effort was 
 successfully made to bring these festivals on days sacred to 
 Christianity, and in consequence the ecclesiastical authori- 
 ties ordained that the solemnization of such festal days 
 should continue under a new restriction, and that the 
 health of Christ and the Virgin should be toasted, as a 
 thanksgiving for peace and plenty. Christmas, All Saints, 
 and Saint John's days, were designated for this purpose. 
 
 To the present time, among Freemasons, the custom sur- 
 vives of especial solemnities on Saint John's day. By an 
 ancient fundamental law of Norse fraternities, the smallest 
 number contemplated in the organization of a guild, quali- 
 fied to celebrate any festal day, was three 4 — an obsolete 
 
 Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 88. A statute of St. Olave's 
 Guild enacted: Quicunque potum suum effundit latius quam pede velare 
 poterit VI. Den. persolvit. Barthol., De Caus. Contempt, p. 133. 
 
 1 Grimm, D. R. A., p. 822. 
 
 2 Maurer, Geschichte der Markenverfassung, p. 338. 
 
 3 Wilda, op. cit., p. 10. 
 
 4 Mann und Frau eins veranstalten und wenigstens von drei Personen 
 sollte es zusammen gehalten werden. Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, 
 p. 14. 
 
 Mas. "Why do three make a lodge, brother? 
 Ans. Because there were three Grand Masters. 
 Krause, Die Drei celtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 196. 
 
392 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 landmark with modern Freemasonry to designate the 
 number necessary to form a lodge. How closely the ad- 
 ministration of justice among the people of the North was 
 related to these guild festivals, appears from the alteration 
 made by King Olaf affecting the courts, which hitherto had 
 been convened in the open air of rural districts. He or- 
 dained in future that popular festal assemblages should be 
 convened in guild-houses in the towns, and as the time 
 for holding courts was identical with that of religious 
 festivals, justice should thenceforth be administered within 
 enclosed halls. 1 
 
 Ancient Anglo-Saxon guilds contemplated local self- 
 help prior to the invention of poor laws, and were main- 
 tained in old times as beneficial societies. 2 As a system 
 of extensive and practical assistance to members, they are 
 of a higher autiquity than the kings of England. Mention 
 is made of them in the oldest records containing relics of 
 English law. 
 
 The legislation of Kings Alfred and Ina, of Athelstane 
 and Henry L, are merely a reproduction of older laws 
 on the subject of guilds. 3 As early as the years 688 and 
 725, by the decrees of King Ina, a thief having been slain 
 by guildic brethren, they were liable to a prescribed penalty. 
 Similar to the principles involved in administration of 
 Norse justice, every person was understood by the law to 
 belong to a guild in the time of Alfred the Great, and the 
 amercements to which these bodies were subjected for the 
 murder of a guildic member are defined with precision. 
 The famous Judicia Civitatis Londoniae, of Athelstane's 
 time, a. d. 924-940, contains, among other regulations, 
 certain ordinances for the maintenance of social duties 
 in these unions, or guildships, as they are called. Anglo- 
 
 1 Wilda, op. cit., p. 16. Charlemagne also enacted that the courts should 
 be held under canopy. Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer, p. 806 ; Baluz., 
 Capitular. Reg. Franc, Tome I., p. 472. 
 
 2 Lucy Toulman Smith, Introd. English Guilds, p. xiv. 3 Ibid., p. xv. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 393 
 
 Saxon guilds appear to have contemplated like purposes, for 
 which, as above stated, the clerical fraternities of the 
 Scandinavians were organized — to sing psalms and offer 
 up prayers for the souls of the dead. 1 There is also extant 
 a record, of the age of Ethelbert, granting land, in the year 
 860, to an association of young men — Chnighten gild. It 
 has been conjectured that protective guilds were trans- 
 planted from England to the North in Canute's reign, 2 and 
 that the most ancient knowledge of such institutions is of 
 decided English origin. 3 However, the essential elements 
 constituting these societies were an integral portion of the 
 Teutonic races. 4 
 
 We have seen that all the important events of Scandi- 
 navian social life, such as marriage, death, mutual assist- 
 ance in peace and war, were carefully attended to in 
 the guildic brotherhoods, and at the festivals, which, 
 according to Wilda, 5 were designated guilds. These con- 
 fraternities constituted a radical part of the religious 
 worship of heathenism, and were based on such customs 
 as appertained to sacerdotal rites. They prevailed in the 
 kingdom of England not only during the unsettled period 
 of Anglo-Saxon rule, but for ages subsequent to the Nor- 
 man conquest. By law they were distinguished as Band- 
 ships, and were under the patronage of illustrious men. 
 The members wore public badges, and were obligated to 
 support each other in all external quarrels and against 
 every species of outrage. 
 
 In the reign of Richard II., a statute was solemnly 
 
 1 Smith, English Guilds, Introd., by L. T. S., pp. xvi., xvii. 
 
 2 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 69. 
 
 3 Brentano, History of the Origin and Development of Guilds, p. lvii. 
 
 * Although the English records are more perfect in historical proofs touch- 
 ing this subject, a careful examination of the old Teutonic laws leads to the 
 conclusion that this institution was of indigenous growth, and not transplanted, 
 as alleged above, in Canute's time. Vide Unger, Die Altdeutsche Gerichtsver- 
 fassung, §g 6 and 7. 
 
 5 Op. cit., c. 1. 
 
394 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 enacted placing these societies under better regulations. 
 A formal bond, preserved by Hicks, in his Dissertatio 
 Upistolaris, 1 shows clearly the prevailing sentiment of 
 Anglo-Saxon times touching these reciprocal relations of 
 assistance, both aggressive and defensive. The original 
 design of many guilds was unquestionably largely modi- 
 lied from unadulterated purposes of religious worship into 
 the less commendable and undisguised object of social and 
 convivial associations. 
 
 In unnumbered cases they were perpetuated for no other 
 support than the maintenance of excessive hilarity and 
 intemperance; but the returns made under oath by the 
 vast number of guilds, in answer -to a statute of Richard 
 II., in the year 1389, 2 demand the just award that the 
 spirit and polity of their internal government at that 
 remote period were designed to subserve the most humane 
 instincts of humanity. 
 
 Strenuous efforts were made by the ecclesiastics of Char- 
 lemagne to withdraw abruptly the minds of wavering 
 Saxon converts from the indulgences and excitations of 
 their guilds, 3 which vitalized the decaying rites and cere- 
 monies celebrated in honor of Pagan deities. In the 
 abjuration formulas decreed in the year 743, by the 
 council of Lepintae, 4 the following questions were to be 
 appropriately enforced : 
 
 Q. Forsachistu diabolae ? 
 
 A. Ec forsacho diabolae. 
 
 Q. End allum diabol gelde.? (gild). 
 
 A. End ec forsacho allum diabol gelde. 
 
 1 P. 21. Vide Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 197, note (*). 
 
 2 Vide Preface to Smith's English Guilds, p. 123. 
 
 3 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Mittelalters, p. 21. 
 
 * This council which was convened in the reign of Childeric III., king of 
 the Franks, directed the preparation of several important decrees and formu- 
 laries for confession of faith and renunciation of Paganistic customs, so 
 rigidly adhered to by the new converts. See Baluz., Capitular Reg. Franc., 
 Tome I., pp. 149, 150, et seq. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 395 
 
 Q. End allum diaboles wereum? 
 
 A. End ec forsachq allum diaboles wercum eud wordum, 
 thunaer (Thor) ende woden (Odin) ende Saxnote (Frey) 
 ende allem dem unlioldum the hira genotas sind. 1 
 
 At the same time a schedule of Paganistic observances, 
 still practised in the recently converted empire of Ger- 
 many, was drawn up, and adequate punishment was to be 
 inflicted upon all who persisted in recognizing heathen 
 deities. 2 
 
 The citation given at length is of especial weight and 
 importance for the subject under dissertation. It attests, 
 with unequivocal certainty and directness, that in the 
 eighth century there still existed guilds whose expressed 
 object was the celebration of the mystical, and perhaps 
 repulsive, rites 3 of Thor, Odin, and Frey, and that as the 
 guilds and their ceremonies were left untouched by the 
 ecclesiastical authorities, the ancient symbolic ritualism 
 adapted to the worship of these three principal divinities 
 of Asgard was preserved in a fragmentary and altered 
 form by succeeding Teutonic sodalities, and among them 
 the mediaeval guild of Masons. The assembling of a 
 necessary number to constitute one of tbese ancient frater- 
 nities was oftentimes informal, and without preparatory 
 arrangement. The idea of a sworn and secret organ iza- 
 
 1 Q. Dost thou renounce the devil ? 
 A. I renounce the devil. 
 
 Q. And guilds of the devil ? 
 
 A. And I renounce all guilds of the devil. 
 
 Q. And all the works of the devil ? 
 
 A. And I renounce all the devil's works and words, of Thor and Odin and 
 Saxnote (Frey), and all those who are their associates. 
 
 See Eoskoff, Geschichte des Teufels, Bd. I., p. 292. Substantially a like ar- 
 ticle of abjuration is used by all evangelical denominations of the present day. 
 
 2 The forbidden heathen practices may be seen in the Indiculus Superstilio. 
 et Paganiar. Baluz., Capitular. Reg. Franc, Tome I., p. 150, etc. 
 
 3 Secret societies existed in France at a later period for the performance of 
 obscene rites. Payne Knight, Worship of Priapus, p. 182. 
 
396 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 tion of later epochs existed then only in a limited degree, 1 
 but the banquets, which formed so prominent a part of 
 these associations, existed under the Christian regime as 
 an integral element of civil society. Guilds of the Mid- 
 dle Ages were certainly developed from the conventions 
 of an earlier date, and since, in the one instance, women 
 were admitted to make up the sacred number essential to 
 a perfect organization, so in the later history of these 
 unions wives and sisters became members. 2 
 
 At what epoch the sentiment of a more thorough 
 fraternal sentiment began to be introduced into these 
 brotherhoods, is confessedly uncertain ; it is, however, in 
 harmony with the usual development of ecclesiastical 
 policy in this connection to assume that this modification 
 naturally followed the reorganization of old social life on 
 a Christian basis. 3 The clergy, as previously mentioned, 
 seized with much eagerness the opportunity afforded by 
 the guilds to weld the people and themselves into a closer 
 unity. In these unions, the fraternal spirit was the pre- 
 dominant one. 
 
 The first durable basis of mediaeval and modern associa- 
 tions was evidently prepared and carefully developed into 
 the solid growth of subsequent times within cloistered 
 walls, and finally transmitted to the outside world, refined 
 by the hallowed contact of Christianity. In the year 838, 
 the monks of two Gallic monasteries, St. Remigus and St. 
 Dionysius, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Lewis the 
 Pious, framed a guild, whose object was charity combined 
 with religious usages. At the conclusion of the document, 
 which sets forth with sufficient accuracy the design of 
 
 1 The Anglo-Saxons certainly pledged each other a mutual support by oath. 
 Kemble, Saxons in England, Vol. II., p. 310. 
 
 2 Wilda. Das Gilden Wesen des Milielalters, p. 29. A casual examination of 
 the collected returns in Smith's English Guilds will develop the oft-repeated 
 mention of feminine guildic members. 
 
 8 Wilda, op. cit., p. 30. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 397 
 
 such fraternization, the names of several bishops, abbots, 
 and many monks appear as solemnly united brethren. It 
 was usual, during the Middle Ages, for strangers or pro- 
 fane, emperors and kings in person, to be associated with 
 such fraternities. 1 
 
 Oftentimes individuals, an entire guildic brotherhood, 
 and lay corporations affiliated with cloisters or other 
 ecclesiastical orders. This was done in order that the 
 associate members might enjoy the conventual good works, 
 and also to have masses celebrated for the repose of souls 
 after death. 2 Such privilege was frequently purchased 
 with enormous sums of money. Another example recorded 
 of an ancient fraternity of the time of William L, attests 
 the close compact existing between seven English abbeys. 
 The parties to the agreement profess true faith and alle- 
 giance to the king and his queen, Matilda, and, in order 
 to define with precision, they assert their object to be the 
 advancement of mutual, temporal, and spiritual welfare. 
 Secular guilds quickly imitated the example of charity 
 and fraternal spirit exhibited by their conventual associ- 
 ates ; they also incorporated in their unions an element of 
 brotherly affection, harmony, and reciprocal assistance. 
 Thus, for instance, the statute of Saint John's guild, com- 
 posed mainly of goldsmiths, 3 began with the following 
 quotation: " The prophet David, in the Psalms, says, ' How 
 good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
 unity.' " This Scriptural quotation, in use many centuries 
 ago among a guild of gold-workers, has continued to be an 
 integral part of Masonic ritualism. 
 
 Under the pressure of Christianizing fervor, the com- 
 mingling of religious thought with ancient Germanic 
 social life evolved these closely-organized bodies of the 
 
 1 Unge witter, Geschichte des Handels u. der Industrie, p. 234 ; Machiavelli, 
 Istorie Fiorientine, Tomo I., pp. 402-3. 
 3 Wilda, op. ext., pp. 30-1. 
 
 9 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Miltelalters, p. 32. 
 34 
 
398 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Middle Ages. 1 The earliest and most practicable form 
 assumed by the mediaeval corporations, was based upon a 
 plan of mutual benefit, or the aid which each member was 
 obligated to render his brother member in emergent cir- 
 cumstances. All initiates into these leagues partook of 
 equal friendships and enmities. 2 On this scheme of mutual 
 assistance, guilds were created, and, in a modernized form, 
 were the prototypes of a well-defined element in the old' 
 Norse constitution. 3 
 
 The groundwork of the original fraternities was cer- 
 tainly the benefit each member derived from the organi- 
 zations, but the infusion of Christian tenets into them 
 largely developed humanitarian ideas. Although united 
 in many instances to advance the spiritual welfare under 
 monastic discipline, after the lapee of time these associa- 
 tions freely cultivated temporal prosperity. 4 To what 
 extent ecclesiastical influence reached in moulding these 
 associations into harmony with the faith that had sup- 
 planted heathenism, may be seen in the prefatory dedica- 
 tions to mediaeval written records, which, similar to the 
 initial clause of St. Olav's guild, begin with the words, 
 In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen. 5 In 
 almost all Masonic manuscripts thus far brought to light, 
 this Latin invocation invariably occurs. 6 The introductory 
 sentences of the guild just mentioned recount, with par- 
 ticular emphasis, that the convivium or sodality is not 
 instituted for a drinking bout, but with the more laudable 
 purpose of social benevolence. 
 
 1 Brentano, History of the Origin and Development of Guilds, p. lxxii. 
 
 2 Brentano, op. tit. 3 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 197. 
 
 * Necessitated at times, no doubt, by the uncertainties of civil government. 
 See Heinecci, Anliquitates Germanicae, Tome II., cap. vi., p. 372. 
 6 Wilda, Das Gilden Wesen des Miltelalters, p. 33. 
 
 6 With rare exceptions, all the older guildic returns made to the British 
 Parliament in the fourteenth century begin in the above formal way. Con- 
 sult Smith, English Guilds, and Hughan, Old Masonic Charges. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 399 
 
 It is impossible to deny that mediaeval guilds, and 
 among these the body of Freemasons, were not under the 
 direct patronage of the church, and also controlled, more 
 or less, arbitrarily by the clergy. Priestcraft and sacer- 
 dotal influence may be found in every guild ic document 
 which has escaped interpolation and the zeal of enthusi- 
 astic theorists. Until, in its ceaseless changes, the human 
 soul had boldly dared to eschew shocking dogmas, each 
 association of tradesmen, merchants, or artisans maintained 
 a salaried priest, 1 who sometimes accompanied the corpo- 
 rate brethren in distant lands. 2 By the decree of King 
 Olaf, the celebration and festivities of these bodies were 
 transferred from the rural provinces to larger towns of the 
 realm, and Henry, prince of the eastern march of Ger- 
 many, at an earlier period, ordered the same change from 
 country to the cities: In the city of Strassburg, the free- 
 men were able to trace a formal union as far back as the 
 ninth century, 3 as an organization to protect their existing 
 freedom from episcopal encroachments. 
 
 These sodalities, therefore, during the eighth, ninth, 
 and tenth centuries, had assumed a well-settled relation 
 to the municipal polity of various European governments. 
 According to the conjecture of Brentano, 4 their civil con- 
 stitutions were not only completed, but so widespread 
 had the guilds extended among the Anglo-Saxons, that 
 the ordinances of these corporations were sanctioned and 
 imitated in legislation. 
 
 In England and on the Continent, the guilds enjoyed 
 such favor that non-members were obligated to conform 
 to established customs, and communal constitutions were 
 
 1 Designated as chaplains. Smith, op. cit., pp. 29, 139. 
 
 2 By an ordinance of the twelfth century, professedly drawn up from one 
 more ancient, a priest travelled from the North German provinces, with a 
 mercantile guild, to Novgorod, twice each year. Behrmann, De Skra van 
 Nougarden, p. 92, Art. 8. 
 
 3 Wilda, op. cit., p. 205. * History of the Develop, of Guilds, lxxvi. 
 
400 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 developed from them. Associations thus early were 
 formed for mutual protection in case of robbery, confla- 
 grations, or shipwreck, and brethren united for such pur- 
 pose contributed annual dues at a certain period, usually 
 on a saint's day, when general consultations were held and 
 gorgeous celebration of divine services, joyous festivities, 
 and a grand feast prepared for the members. In order to 
 unite the associates more firmly among themselves, who, 
 it seems, sought to be relieved of reciprocal duties inci- 
 dent to the union, the usage was carefully maintained of 
 administering to each one an oath. Conjuratio, 1 appears to 
 have been the usual appellation for a guild so organized. 
 
 Whenever the initiate was sworn, in order to give addi- 
 tional solemnity to the obligation, the patron saint under 
 whose protection the fraternity existed was also invoked. 
 A like custom has come down to modern Freemasons, who 
 dedicate their sacred vows to the Saints John. 
 
 In a capitulary of Charlemagne, promulgated in the year 
 789, it was forbidden members of secret societies to 
 indulge in the vice of inebriety, and those conjurations in 
 which oaths were exacted, under the invocation of Saint 
 Stephen or others, were specifically interdicted. 2 The 
 juxtaposition of ebrietas and conjuratio in the original 
 decree, attests that the habits of intemperance charged to 
 their ancestors were followed with filial zeal by their 
 
 1 Juratorura conventus ; jurati enim et conjurati, diciunter civis unius op- 
 pidi. Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et Infi. Latinat. v. Conjuratus. Sometimes called 
 sworn brotherhoods, and expressly declared to be composed of clergy and 
 laymen. Fratres conjurati ; qui conjurati sodales diciuntur. Fratreia, sunt 
 quidem tarn clerici quam lai'ci, hujusmodi societatem ineuntes, ut de caetero 
 in quibuslibet causisvel negotiis mutum sibi praestant auxilium. Du Cange, 
 op. cit. y voce, Fratreia. 
 
 2 Omnino prohibendum est omnibus ebrietatis malum. Et istas conjura- 
 tiones quas faciunt per sanctum Stephanum aut per nos, aut per filios nostras, 
 prohibemus. Baluz., Capitular. Reg. Francor., Tome I., p. 244. Vide Du 
 Cange, op. cit., voce Conjuratio; also, Wilda, Das Oilden Wesen im Mittelalter, 
 p. 37. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 401 
 
 descendants. Towards the close of the eighth century, 
 oath-bound societies had become so numerous and extended 
 in the German empire, that a series of imperial edicts 
 was enacted by Charlemagne and his successors to extir- 
 pate or reduce them within less objectionable limitations. 
 Particular penalties were adjudged against those who 
 persisted in membership with sworn corporations — such 
 penalties, for instance, as nose-slitting, and banishment. 
 ^N~o unions were to be tolerated except those fo'r a strictly 
 beneficial object, and assistance in casualties by fire, loss 
 of property on land or by water, and under no circum- 
 stances should the beneficiaries be bound by oaths. 1 
 
 Under Louis le Debonnaire, guilds were even instituted 
 among the serfs of Flanders, Menpiscus, and other mari- 
 time towns, which the nobility were ordered to disband 
 under penalty of punishment themselves. 2 If it be con- 
 ceded that the Consilium Namnetense was held as early as 
 the year 658 or 660, and not in the year 800, it is manifest 
 that regularly organized sodalities were existing in the 
 Frankish kingdom for two centuries preceding the Em- 
 peror Charlemagne, because this council endeavored to 
 confine within more narrow limits these associations 
 which were thus denominated : collectae vel confratra- 
 triae quos consortia vocant." 3 This restraining eccle- 
 siastical statute was decreed in order to check the gluttony 
 which prevailed at these fraternal banquets, and also to 
 modify Paganistic customs transmitted to them by their 
 predecessors, the heathen guilds. 4 
 
 1 Published under the title : Ut sacramentum pro gildonia non fiat. Baluzius, 
 Capitular. Reg. Francor., Tome I., p. 198. 
 
 2 Brentano, Hist, of the Origin and Develop, of Guilds, p. lxxvi., and Wilda, 
 Oilden Wesen, p. 39. 
 
 3 Wilda, op. cit. 
 
 * " The forbiddance of guilds in the Frankish empire could also be justified 
 from religious motives, in consequence of the gluttony and Pagan customs 
 always associated with them,:' Brentano, op. cit., lxxix. 
 34* 2A 
 
402 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Charlemagne was necessitated to issue severe edicts 
 throughout the various provinces of his vast empire, in 
 order to change the excessive Pagan tendencies of newly 
 converted nations, and to mould them into such uniformity 
 as harmonized with the policy of the Romish church and 
 his own plans. In the year 773 the Longobardic dominion 
 in Italy was terminated by the victorious armies of 
 the Carlovingian king. To this victory the Pontiff of 
 Rome mainly contributed by ecclesiastical influence over 
 many districts through which the emperor passed with his 
 troops. 1 
 
 In conjunction with the pontifical authorities, Charle- 
 magne digested and published a code of laws for the con- 
 quered Longobards. This body of imperial and ecclesias- 
 tical legislation was issued six years after the events 
 narrated, viz., in the year 779. Among these laws the 
 following prohibition appears : De sacramentis pro 
 gildonia invicem conjurantibus, ut nemo facere praesumat. 
 Alio vero modo de eorum eleemosynis, aut de incendio, 
 aut de naufragis quamvis convenientiam faciant, nemo 
 in hoc jurare praesumat. 2 From this it is certain that 
 guilds for mutual assistance and protection had long 
 existed among the Longobards, and were in all respects 
 similar to those which the civil and ecclesiastical powers 
 were endeavoring to modify into such form as would 
 render them more controllable. The preceding quotation 
 clearly attests that the vanquished Lombards had perpet- 
 uated in the conquered Italian provinces, and under a new 
 social system, the elements of Paganism which belonged 
 to the old Germanic constitution, and also that these 
 guilds, closely united by oaths, had for their object mutual 
 aid arising from misfortune, poverty, and indigence, by 
 pious (eleemosynis) contributions, to the relief of which 
 
 1 Wirth, Geschichte der Deutschen, Bd. I., p. 485. 
 
 2 Baluzius, Capitular. Regum Francorurn, p. 198 ; also, Wilda, Das Gilden 
 Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 40. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 403 
 
 guildic members had bound themselves by solemn vows. 1 
 The direct object of the capitulary cited, was the evident 
 essential alteration within these associations of such 
 Pagan rites as were still celebrated in honor of the 
 divinities of Asgard, and the eradication from these fra- 
 ternities of those allusions which involved a corporate 
 recognition of Odin, Thor, and Frey. 2 
 
 This legislation appears to have succeeded so far as to 
 induce the clergy of that distant epoch to obtain control 
 of the element composing these societies, and affiliating 
 the laity with them, who became proportionate contrib- 
 utors for offerings, and assisted at the masses rehearsed 
 for the souls of deceased brethren. Lay members were 
 admitted to share in the monthly and annual festivals of 
 the guilds. This extension of the original purpose of 
 these fraternities arose from the numerous filiations by 
 the people of secular society into clerical brotherhoods. 3 
 Although subsequent religious principles of guilds indi- 
 cate sacerdotal influence in their creation or perpetuation, 
 the final development of the sodalities during the tenth 
 and twelfth centuries was so far completed that the control 
 of them passed from the church. 4 Hence the struggle 
 which arose between these bodies and the civil and eccle- 
 siastical authorities for supremacy, in order to repress them 
 within their original proportions. But the spirit had 
 gone forth and could no longer be restrained. A supineness 
 readily granted while the conditions of earlier society 
 remained unaltered, could not be expected w T hen the 
 
 1 Vide Wilda, op. eit. 
 
 2 The Indiculus Superstit. et Paganiar., decreed in the year 741, furnishes the 
 list of forbidden usages. 
 
 3 Wilda, Das Oilden Wesen im Mittelalter, p. 37. 
 
 4 Wilda, op. cit. } p. 42. Artificers of different kinds are frequently men- 
 tioned by the oldest Teutonic laws, which appear to have made certain ex- 
 emptions in their behalf. Heinecci, Antiquitates Germanicae, Tome II., Pars. 
 1, p. 372. Carpentaria in the Salic law. Lex. Salica., Tit. XI., § v. 
 
404 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 phases of civil life had changed to such extent as required 
 a persistent and earnest effort to resist the encroachments 
 of the feudal system, and the unifying tendencies of the 
 Romish church. At this epoch protective guilds developed 
 with marvellous rapidity. In England the conjuratio, the 
 most important form of association, can be traced to a 
 period anterior to the invasion, in the ninth and tenth 
 centuries. 1 The statute of such a guild at Cambridge 
 throws much light upon the internal construction of these 
 sodalities. 2 It is called thegna-gilde or granta-bryga. 
 The chief elements of this oath-bound society are as fol- 
 lows: Members shall swear on the reliques (holy-dome of 
 the mediaeval Masons) that they will help, aid, and assist 
 each other, both in spiritual and in secular matters, and 
 that the corporation itself shall sustain the personal diffi- 
 culties of brethren who have justice with them. 
 
 Tradespeople, or craftsmen, were associated together for 
 the purpose of protecting their labor, at a very early age. 
 In the fifth century the history of St. Ampelius, according 
 to Lacroix, 3 mentions master locksmiths. The corporation 
 of goldsmiths ascends to the first race of Frankish kings. 4 
 Guilds of bakers are named in the ordinances of Dagobert, 
 which indicates a regular organization in the year 630. 5 
 In Lombardy, on the 22d of November, in the year 643, 6 
 an edict of King Rotharis was promulgated, which ex- 
 pressly mentions the colleges of builders and their masters 
 as magistri comacini. 7 Luitprand, the Longobardic ruler, 
 in the year 729, 8 by his rescripts, recognized this corpora- 
 
 1 Wilda, ut supra, p. 43. ' 2 Hickesii, Thesaurus, Tome III., p. 21. 
 
 3 Les Moeurs et Usages au Moyen Age, p. 296. 
 
 4 Lacroix, Les Arts au Moyen Age, p. 161. 
 
 6 Les boulangers sont nommes collectivement en 630 dans les ordonnances 
 de Dagobert. Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages, p. 296. 
 6 Merkel, Die Geschichte des Longobardtnrecht, p. 17. 
 
 % Si magister comacinus cum collegantes suos cujuscumque domum restau- 
 randam vel fabrigandam super se, etc. Leg. Rothans., cap. cxliii. 
 8 Merkel, op. cit. f p. 18. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 405 
 
 tion of artificers, and regulated their wages of corn and 
 wine, etc. 1 
 
 Ravenna, in the year 943, presents historical evidence of 
 the existence of an association of fishermen, and ten years 
 afterwards the annals of that city show a regularly or- 
 ganized guild of merchants. 2 Oath-hound societies had 
 never disappeared from the Teutonic governments, but 
 preserved an unbroken integrity through the Middle Ages. 
 The orders of chivalry, with which the Romish hierarchy 
 endeavored unsuccessfully to propagate the doctrines of 
 Christ, were based upon ancient heathen guilds. 3 So largely 
 was this feature of the old Germanic constitution involved 
 in moulding the body politic of those remote times, that 
 hunters formed confraternities dedicated to Saint Hubert. 
 
 These associations had an accurately-defined rank in 
 public processions, initiated members into the mysteries 
 of a secret ritualism, and taught them the signification 
 of a mystic language. They also had lucky and unlucky 
 members, symbolic colors, etc., while the initiates used 
 particular signs of recognition. 4 
 
 The existence of guildic fraternities among Teutonic 
 victors of Northern Italy, and especially the Longobardi, 
 is sufficiently attested by the several capitularies of Charle- 
 magne, issued, evidently, to restrict their too universal 
 development with the conquered nations. From the edicts 
 of Rotharis, already quoted, it is manifest that colleges of 
 constructors were regularly organized nearly a century and 
 a half prior to the termination of the Lombardic rule by 
 the Carlovingian king, and that these artificers, as pre- 
 
 1 Edictum Luitpr. Reg., cap. clvii., Be Mercedes Comacinorum. Segale, vina, 
 lardo — corn, wine, and lard (oil ?). 
 
 2 Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages, p. 296. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 52. 
 
 * Les inities usaient entre eux des signes particuliers de reconnaissance, 
 lis avaient aussi des nombres heureux et malheureux, des couleurs symbol- 
 iques, etc. Lacroix, Les Moeurs et Usages an Moyen Ace, p. 201. 
 
406 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 viously stated, were introduced from Byzantium by Theo- 
 derich the Goth. Succeeding rulers preserved the corporate 
 privileges to which they were entitled under the Eoman 
 law, and when the Grecian architects arrived from Con- 
 stantinople they found these sodalities, particularly under 
 the Longobardi, possessed of a formal constitution involv- 
 ing reciprocal oaths of secrecy and assistance, existing by a 
 general ecclesiastical and municipal sanction, with certain 
 usages and customs descended from heathen temple worship. 
 Exercising the power of adjusting difficulties which arose 
 between the members, and endowed with judicial authority, 
 these guilds naturally imitated the constituent elements of 
 which Gothic courts were composed. Perhaps to this 
 cause may be attributed the striking identity between the 
 appointments of a Masonic lodge and the symbolic ap- 
 pliances of ancient court procedure. These legal bodies 
 preserved the formularies used by the Pagan Northmen in 
 the administration of justice. 
 
 Old Teutonic courts were a counterpart of such heathen 
 symbols and ceremonies as the priesthood manipulated in 
 the celebration of religious services. When, therefore, the 
 junction occurred which united the Gothic and Jewish 
 elements of Freemasonry, by the merging of the Byzantine 
 art corporations into the Germanic guilds in Italy, the 
 Norsemen contributed the name and orientation, oaths, 
 dedication of the lodge, opening and closing colloquies, 
 Master's mallet and columns, and the lights and installation 
 ceremonies. On the other hand, Judaistic admixture is 
 equally well denned. From this source Masonry received 
 the omnific word, or the faculty of Abrac and ritualism, 
 including the Hiramic legend. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Jewish Traditions Contributed to Gothic Sodalities — The Hi- 
 ramic Legend— His Assassination — The Mallet — Identical 
 with the Norse God Baldur — The Lost Word — The Search 
 for the Slain — Twelve Companions — Twelve Scandinavian 
 Gods — Number for a Lodge — The Legends Typify the Sun God 
 — Hammer as an Emblem of Death — Celebration of Life, 
 Death, and Burial, in Guilds — Symbolism of Immortality and 
 Resurrection — Teutonic Mysteries. 
 
 ANY points of identity existed between the 
 Teutonic symbolism and Israel itish emblems, 
 which powerfully aided to unite the two sys- 
 tems. The traditions of the Northern deity, 
 Baldur, seemingly furnished the substantial foundation 
 for the introduction of the legend of Hiram, the oldesfc 
 form of which is presented in an authentic shape by Ander- 
 son, 1 and is substantially as follows : 2 At the building of 
 King Solomon's temple Hiram was superintending archi- 
 tect. Three craftsmen, having determined to secure the 
 Master's word from him at all hazards, placed themselves 
 at the three principal entrances to the edifice, in order to 
 waylay the illustrious builder. His fidelity caused him 
 to be assassinated with a mallet. A search was made for 
 
 1 Lecture on the Third Degree. 
 
 2 With this tradition, as given by Anderson, the esoteric lecture on Hiram, 
 and prepared in strict accordance with ancient landmarks by the Grand Orient 
 of France, in 1801, agrees entirely. Begulateur du Macon (3 leme Grad.), p. 18, 
 et seq. 
 
 407 
 
408 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 his remains by a party traversing towards each of the 
 cardinal points, who discovered Hiram's tomb. It is then 
 added that this artisan was brought from his grave, " as all 
 other Masons when they receive the Master's word." 
 
 The twelve companions of Master Hiram correspond un- 
 questionably to the twelve zodiacal signs, or the twelve 
 months of the year. As we shall presently see, the ground- 
 work of this tradition is a fragment of ancient natural 
 religion, common to both Oriental and European nations, 
 or, more property, was derived from identical sources. The 
 three treacherous craftsmen of Hiram the Good are the 
 three winter months, which slew him. He is the sun, 
 surviving during the eleven consecutive months, but sub- 
 jected to the irresistible power of three ruffians, the winter 
 months ; in the twelfth and last month, that luminary, 
 Hiram, the good, the beauteous, the bright, the sun god, is 
 extinguished. 1 
 
 Baldur, the second son of Odin, occupies, in the North- 
 ern mythology, a place similar to Hiram the builder in 
 Masonic traditions. Of so fair aspect and so radiant, 
 he is a synonym of light and beauty. 2 On his life de- 
 pended the active vitality of the gods of Asgard, as 
 upon the existence of the master architect rested the 
 completion of Solomon's temple — a type of the universe. 
 Baldur was also named the great and good. 3 Hiram and 
 Baldur were equally slain by treachery and fraud. A 
 mallet was the instrument which killed the builder ; the 
 mistletoe caused the Northern deity's death. In both 
 catastrophes, sorrow and lamentation prevailed among 
 their associated brethren. A search was instituted to find 
 Baldur, the Norse god, similar to that made for the re- 
 covery of Hiram. 
 
 1 Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 153. 
 
 2 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 22 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologk, 
 p. 281. 
 
 3 Thorpe, op. tit., p. 185 ; Mallet, Northern Antiq., p. 446 ; Gylfaginning, c. 49. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 409 
 
 In the Northern mythology, the death of the loved deity 
 afflicted Odin the Wise most deeply, because he saw how 
 much the sesir or gods would lose by this misfortune. 1 
 Solomon the Wise also bewailed the loss of Hiram, because 
 he knew that the vital and principal support of his typical 
 universe had fallen by the master's assassination, and that, 
 in consequence of this event, the true word had been lost. 
 Baldur is, as almost all antiquaries have admitted, the 
 warm sunshine, the brightness of light, the joy of exist- 
 ence. Beauty and goodness are the fundamental ideas 
 contained in the uame. 2 By his death, the light of earth 
 is replaced by darkness. His mother, the fruitful soil, 
 like the companions of Hiram, mourns ; all beings shed 
 tears, and nature is filled with sighs, 3 typifying the three 
 last months of the year, or the assassins of the temple 
 builder. Although in each instance the heroic dead was 
 found, there existed no power sufficient to restore the de- 
 funct to life. 
 
 The lamentations of the Jewish king over the unresur- 
 rected body of his architect, the ineffectual attempts to 
 withdraw it from a temporary resting-place, and final 
 success by the symbolic use of Judah's lion, evinced that 
 one thing alone was wanting to revive the illustrious 
 Tyrian. Odin dispatched Hermod to Hela 4 in search of 
 Baldur, and found him. "The messenger besought the 
 inexorable goddess of hell to allow the assassinated deity 
 to return with him, and represented the grief of the gods 
 for his loss. Hela answered that it would now appear 
 how much the murdered hero was beloved, and promised 
 if everything in the world, both living and dead, would 
 bewail his loss, he should be restored to the celestial 
 
 1 Gylfaginning, loc. cit. 
 
 2 Ibid., loc. cit. ; Thorpe, op. cit., p. 185 ; Simrock, ut supra, \ 34, p. 281. 
 
 3 Thorpe, op. cit., p. 185. 
 
 4 Death or place of departed spirits ; hence English word hell. The ancient 
 curse was Far til Odhin, or Hela. 
 
 35 
 
410 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 divinities. Thereupon the Odinic deities sent messengers 
 throughout the universe to pray all things, animate and 
 inanimate, to weep for Baldur. One alone refused. 1 Thus, 
 as with Hiram Abif, one thing alone lacked to resurrect 
 the Norse god. 
 
 The glittering abodes of Asgard had twelve principal 
 deities, of whom Baldur was one 2 — Odin, or the father 
 of all, made the thirteenth, or, perhaps, the celestial 
 deities are the representatives of essential principles 
 which he possessed. The numeral twelve ramified exten- 
 sively through the Scandinavian mythology, and occurs 
 so frequently in the popular traditions of the Middle Ages 
 as to induce the belief that its mystical significance was 
 immediately derived from ancient Teutonic religious cul- 
 ture. Hiram's twelve associate craftsmen correspond in 
 numbers to the companion deities of Baldur in the bright 
 halls of Asgard. 3 The zodiacal signs, or the monthly 
 divisions of the year, are to be found in Scandinavian 
 cosmogony. 4 
 
 Germanic legends and heroic romances use this number 
 as a norm, so well distinguished as to leave no doubt 
 touching a mythological derivation. For instance, a Dane 
 received as a favor from an Elf the prowess and thirst of 
 twelve men. 
 
 In Norwegian sagas, a knight appears, whose horse, in 
 twelve strides, passes over the sun's course. Twelve 
 streams of cold or turbulent water flow out into the vacant 
 universe. A like number composed an ancient court of 
 marches ; 5 twelve boys are mentioned as a significant 
 
 1 Simrock. Deutsche Mythologie, \ 33 ; Gylfaginning, Str. 49. 
 
 2 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, p. 5 ; Simrock, op. cil., p. 281. 
 
 3 For legendary account of the twelve companions of Joseph of Ariraathea, 
 vide Poole, Ecclesiastical History of Architecture, p. 4. 
 
 4 Aliquis intra XII. menses nullus testatus, etc. Pactus Legis Salic, Tit. 
 XLVIIL, cap. 2. 
 
 5 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alter thiimer, p. 217. See, however, Maurer, (?e- 
 schichte der Markenver/assung, \ 11. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 411 
 
 number in the Ripariorum law. 1 By the laws of Rotharis. 
 a respite of twelve nights was accorded under certain cir- 
 cumstances. 2 In the Teutonic Red Rose Tales, twelve 
 fairies are beneficent, and the thirteenth malevolent. 3 
 Twelve cats of uncertain age are domiciled in the Hartz- 
 berg, and in Troutberg, in the palatinate, Charlemagne 
 sits surrounded with his twelve famous paladins. Wine 
 cellars, in a dilapidated edifice at Reichau, and at Trigtis 
 in Saxony, according to popular tradition, contain twelve 
 casks. 4 In the German Hero Book 5 of Rosen-Garden, 
 King Gibich placed his daughter Chrimhild at Worms, 
 under the surveillance of twelve knights, among whom 
 Siegfried was preeminent. Twelve Nuremberg masters 
 sing in rivalry within the radiant rose garden. 
 
 According to a Bavarian legend, twelve men sit around 
 a golden bowl in the castle of Hochberg. In the Windeck 
 fortress, a huntsman was obliged to play the music for a 
 company of twelve knights and their ladies to dance by. 
 A Hessian tale relates that a lad, with twelve virgins, 
 sailed at night to enchanted realms, where the maidens 
 merrily danced with an equal number of princes until 
 their shoes were worn through. 6 This legend is inter- 
 preted by Menzel 7 to signify the twelve months of the 
 expiring year. Illustrious Swabian families deduce their 
 origin from twelve deities. The Frisians in Zealand have 
 twelve judges, who administer justice in their courts. 
 
 1 Cum duodecim ad locum traditionis pueris. Lex Ripariorum, LX., cap. 1. 
 This evidently refers to the old custom of striking boys in the mouth or on 
 the ears, to impress their minds with certain legal formalities. 
 
 2 Edictum Rothar. Regis., cap. ccclxi. 
 
 3 Full information touching mystical use of numeral twelve in Simrock, op. 
 tit., pp. 150-4, 191, 364, 485. 
 
 * Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. L, p. 131. 
 
 5 Das Kleine Heldenbuch, 6 AbenL, and Ludlow, Popular Epics of the Middle 
 Ages, Vol. I., p. 282. 
 
 6 Schauberg, op. tit., p. 131. 
 " Odin, p. 204. 
 
412 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 British legends assign twelve invincible paladins to King 
 Arthur. 1 
 
 From the answer returned by an initiate craftsman to 
 the Master's question, propounded in the early part of the 
 last century, it is evident that monthly divisions of the 
 year suggested the response, which was as follows : 
 
 u 31as. Why should eleven make a lodge, Brother? 
 
 "Ans. There were eleven patriarchs when Joseph was 
 sold into Egypt and supposed to be lost. 
 
 "Mas. The second reason, Brother ? 
 
 "Ans. There were but eleven apostles when Judas had 
 betrayed Christ." 2 
 
 The eleven brethren who had sold Joseph, the twelfth, 
 into Egyptian bondage ; Judas, the twelfth apostle, who 
 treacherously delivered his Master, leaving eleven sorrow- 
 ing comrades behind him ; Balclur, the twelfth god of 
 Asgard, slain by treachery and fraud, lamented by his 
 eleven associate deities as an irreparable loss, and Hi- 
 ram the builder, assassinated by cowardly craftsmen, are 
 grounded upon one and the same mythological notion. They 
 are merely typical expressions of death, symbolized in the 
 Teutonic and Oriental cosmogony of very early ages by the 
 sun or light god. Also, the lost word and its recovery ; 
 the resurrected Hiram, as emblematized in the acacia ; 
 Joseph the unknown, when recognized by his brothers as 
 richly endowed ; Baldur the good, lost to the Odinic deities, 
 of whose tragical death the mistletoe was a symbol, are 
 substantially the ever-recurring prototypes of the changing 
 powers of the day luminary, and the resistless rejuvenation 
 of nature ; the immortality of divinity and of man ; the 
 
 1 Turner, History of the Anglo- Saxons, Bk. II., Appendix; Schauberg, Sym- 
 bolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 132. Vide Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alterthw- 
 mer, p. 217, for the legal significance of the number 12. In the Eddaic songs, 
 this numeral is often used in a mystical sense. Helreidh., Str. 6, and Gylfa- 
 ginning, cap. 20. 
 
 2 Krause, Die Drei cdtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 209. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 413 
 
 eternal perpetuation of divine-human spirituality and an 
 emblem of celestial strength and power. Besides this, 
 the signification extends further and deeper into a purely 
 mythological origin. An attestation of this can be gleaned 
 from the answer quoted above, which declares that eleven 
 members may compose a lodge ; these are the eleven 
 months during which the sun flashes forth in the brilliancy 
 of its vital forces, and at last, in the twelfth month, sinks 
 away and is extinguished they are also the eleven brothers 
 who first betrayed and then sold Joseph ; they are the 
 eleven disciples of Christ, or the eleven associate deities of 
 Baldur ; they are the companions of Hiram. In a word, 
 these portray the gradual decay of life, its final extinction 
 and essential immortality. There is another and important 
 point of identity between the legends of Baldur and Hiram. 
 
 The instrument which slew the Tyrian artificer was a 
 mallet or setting maul. In addition to the typical powers 
 with which it is invested in the Master's hand, it is also, in 
 lodge ritual, a symbol of death and associated with funereal 
 furniture. It has become emblematic of Hiram's death. 
 When the Scandinavian gods had borne the body of assassi- 
 nated Baldur to the funeral pyre on board his ship, lying 
 beside the sea-shore, 2 Thor arose and consecrated the burn- 
 ing pile with his hammer, the potent Miolner. 3 In heathen 
 times a hammer was always used to hallow the cremation 
 rites performed over the dead before being reduced to 
 ashes, 4 a custom which was suffered to exist by early 
 Christian evangelists. Frequently this emblem was buried 
 with the body. 5 The symbols, therefore, in both the Hira- 
 mic and Baldur traditions, are of an exact significance. 
 
 1 Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 133. 
 
 2 This singular custom of launching the corpse upon the uncertain waters 
 of a boundless sea is alluded to in Beowolf, Anglo-Saxon Poems, Str. 70, etseq. 
 
 3 Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, \ 33 ; Gylfaginning, Str. 49. 
 * Geijer, History of Sweden, p. 31. Vide supra, c. xxvi. 
 
 5 Geijer, op. tit., p. 31. 
 35* 
 
414 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 As the weapon which ended the life of the master builder, 
 the maul typifies death. 
 
 From the consecration by Thor of the Norse deity's pyre 
 with his mallet, the hammer has descended through suc- 
 ceeding epochs as a like mournful symbol, interwoven with 
 other customs transmitted by Teutonic mythology to medi- 
 aeval guilds, and by them transferred to Freemasonry. 
 
 The worship and veneration of Baldur among the North- 
 ern nations was widespread, and in many localities equalled 
 the reverence for other Norse divinities. Whether specific 
 ceremonials were practised by the ancient German priest- 
 hood in commemoration of his untimely death, including 
 a burial accompanied with lamentations and solemn rites, 
 symbolizing his recovery and ultimate resurrection into a 
 " world of light," and whether such solemnities, if cele- 
 brated at all, were adopted by the guilds, cannot be stated 
 with satisfactory precision. 
 
 As each guildic fraternity was a prototype, in numer- 
 ous particulars, of customs grounded on heathen temple 
 worship, and especially since many lodge appointments are 
 traceable to the Gothic courts, imitated after Teutonic 
 sanctuaries, it may be correctly inferred that the circum- 
 stances of Baldur's death and funeral, together with the 
 attempts to restore him to his previous condition, the 
 searches instituted for his recovery, and particularly that 
 portion of Norse mythology which portended a resurrec- 
 tion, were, on certain days of the year, made the subject 
 of a detailed ritualism. 
 
 The mediaeval guilds buried their deceased members, and 
 with them a mallet was evidently inhumed. In the con- 
 ventual system a coffin was always exposed to view near an 
 open grave to typify death. 1 At all events, as the early 
 brotherhoods were based upon the religious observances of 
 the Germanic race, there is every reason to assume that 
 
 1 Fosbroke, British Monachism, pp. 80-82. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 415 
 
 such ceremonies, involving the representation of death and 
 a resurrection, were practised on fitting occasions by these 
 societies. 
 
 Among the usages still existing in Germany, there is an 
 indisputable relict of an ancient death or burial service, 
 combined with an emblematic exhumation. This custom, 
 according to Schauberg, 1 is called a church consecration 
 burial and resurrection, and is celebrated late in the fall. 
 One of the village boys, attended by his companions, is 
 born with mock solemnity from house to house begging 
 contributions for their facetious rites. 
 
 Having collected sufficient for the purpose, a procession 
 is formed, which marches, amid simulated tears and lamen- 
 tations, to an unfrequented spot, where a deep opening has 
 been hastily prepared in the earth ; into this a male image, 
 with a quantity of refuse matter, is deposited. In the 
 vicinity of Hamburg, the mummied lad represents a person 
 in the agony of death. At the fancied burial place, the 
 straw with which the body is covered is fired, and the 
 strange drama endures amidst uninterrupted sorrowing of 
 assistants and spectators, while musicians play a funeral 
 march. The assemblage then disperses. It is evident that 
 this representation typifies the burial of divine life amid 
 tears and universal sadness. 
 
 The gifts bestowed upon the mourners and those who 
 conduct the funebrial services are imitated from the ancient 
 heathen priests, who, under similar circumstances, received 
 gift offerings for the dead. 2 After the lapse of a few days, 
 the buried rubbish is exhumed. Another procession then 
 marches to the locality, where old and young, the rich and 
 poor, join in a joyous toast that the earth-covered material 
 has been recovered, and that ancient joy — the lost word — - 
 Hiram and Baldur, are found again. 3 
 
 1 Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Bd. I., p. 615. 
 
 2 Vide Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, \\ 144, 145, for detailed proofs touch- 
 ing the continuance of heathen customs by Christianized Germany. 
 
 ic * ' ' % op. eit. p. 621. 
 
416 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 The entombed body typifies, in an unequivocal manner, 
 the indestructible and vital forces of divinity, or of the 
 Norse god Baldur and the Tyrian Hiram, whose innate 
 immortality shall resurrect them. 
 
 There is no doubt, moreover, that the sacred mysteries 
 and passion plays, so frequently acted by the ecclesiastics 
 of the Middle Ages on rude theatrical stages, are the 
 direct and lineal descendants of ancient Teutonic or Scan- 
 dinavian life, death, and burial representations of a 
 Northern deity, evidently Baldur. 
 
 From whatever standpoint the strange rites and ceremo- 
 nies above described may be regarded, there can be, it is 
 apprehended, but one interpretation — that, as practised by 
 the Northern priesthood or people in a guild ic form in 
 commemoration of Baldur or otherwise, they embody the 
 essential features strongly characteristic of the Hiramic 
 legend, viz., a symbol of life, inevitable death, and an 
 impressive inculcation of the immortality of that divine 
 vitality in man which survives earthly dissolution. 
 
 As hitherto urged, it was in harmony with clerical 
 policy, for the purpose of Christianizing the Pagan Teu- 
 tons, to substitute Biblical allusions and martyred saints 
 for mythological notions and Norse deities, and endow 
 them with all the attributes conceded to heathen gods. 
 
 It is also probable that the guilds originally introduced 
 by the destructive Goths in Northern Italy, and perpet- 
 uated by victorious Longobardi, commemorated the assas- 
 sination of Baldur with ceremonies similar to those men- 
 tioned, and, at the period of the merging of Byzantine 
 corporations into these sodalities, still retained so much 
 of their heathen rites as rendered the fusion of the two 
 legends a matter of little difficulty. 1 
 
 1 The Indiculus Paganiar. et Superslit., and abjuration formula, quoted above, 
 sufficiently attest the vigorous existence of Pagan rites performed in guilds 
 during the time that Eastern building associations were regularly domiciled 
 in Northern Italy. Vide Baluzius, Capitular Regum Francor., Tome I., p. 150. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The " Faculty of Abrac " — Genuineness of the Henry VI. MSS. 
 
 — Derivation of Abrac or Abraxas — Abracadabra : its Mys- 
 tical Properties — Abraxas Stones and Jehovah's Name — Type 
 of Power — Used as a Charm — Universal Belief in Magic 
 during Middle Ages — Solomon's Temple Built by the Omnific 
 Word — Moses and the True Name — Mediaeval Superstition of 
 Name Potency — Powers of the Jehovah — Cabala — Jah, or 
 Yod, Creates Heaven, etc. — True Pronunciation Lost — Substi- 
 tute — Abrac: "Sacred Name" — Teutonic Notions of Magic 
 
 — Runes — Norse Word Power — Identity with Jewish. 
 
 N the year 1748, a small pamphlet is said to have 
 been published at Frankfort, in Germany, which, 
 it is alleged, was written by the hand of Henry 
 VI., of England, 1 purporting to be the record of 
 an official investigation into the principles of Freemasonry 
 held by that monarch, or under his direction. Great 
 diversity of opinion obtains among modern Masonic 
 writers and authorities as to the authenticity of this docu- 
 ment ; the preponderance of authority, however, asserts its 
 spuriousness. 
 
 A careful examination of the pamphlet, republished by 
 Krause, 2 convinces me that it is genuine and entitled to 
 full credence. Who the author was is uncertain, but it 
 presents all the appearance, from the phraseology and 
 antique orthography at least, of having been written as 
 
 1 Proem to Manuscript Henry VI. 
 
 2 Die Drei cdtesten Kunsturkunden, Bd. I., Abt. 1, p. 23, et seq. 
 2B 417 
 
418 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 early as the middle of the fifteenth century. The tradi- 
 tions of the fraternity are also as accurately transmitted 
 by this manuscript as by those which Masonic historians 
 have accepted to be genuine. Among other legends which 
 it -contains, is one that Venetians brought Freemasonry 
 from the East. 1 How closely this corresponds with the 
 actual transmission of architectural art to the West 
 readily appears. Whoever wrote the document in question 
 was profoundly learned in the secrets possessed by the craft. 
 
 One of the mysteries the author asserted to be concealed 
 by the Freemasons is the " faculty of Abrac." This, 
 embodying a germinal truth, has been handed down 
 through ages, and in another form is still the central point 
 around which the organism revolves. It was, without 
 doubt, brought into Western Europe, and transmitted, 
 among other Oriental elements, to Germanic guilds by 
 Grecian artificers. 
 
 Abrac or Abraxas is a word used by the Basilidian 
 heretics to designate their supreme god. Mystical and 
 cabalistic powers were ascribed to it. Compounded of 
 the Greek letters, «. /3. P . «. £. «. g., it was early adopted as 
 a charm. Abracadabra, derived from this source, was also 
 endowed with magical potency. When written in the 
 
 form of a triangle, thus : 
 
 ABRACADABRA 
 ABRACADABR 
 ABR ACADAB 
 ABR ACADA 
 ABRAC AD 
 ABRAC A 
 ABRAC 
 A BR A 
 ABR 
 AB 
 A 
 
 1 Q. Who dyd brynge ytt Westlye? 
 
 A. The Venetians, whoo — corned ffyrste ffrome the Este ynn Venetia. 
 Krause, op. ctf., p. 22. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 419 
 
 and suspended about the neck with a linen thread, accord- 
 ing to Serenus Samonicus, it had the virtues of an 
 amulet. As such it was used by the Syrians for purposes 
 of invocation. Upon abraxas stones this word was 
 usually engraven, and with it the 
 name 1 of Jehovah, Jaw or Jao (Fig. 
 28), appears oftentimes as early as 
 the third century. 
 
 The characters used were almost 
 invariably Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, 
 or Hetrurian. 2 Magical studies 
 were eagerly pursued by the Ephe- 
 sians; to such an extent, indeed, 
 that their incantations became pro- 
 verbial, and in the second century 
 the Basilidian abraxas were con- 
 structed from Ephesian characters, to which especial and 
 irresistible magic was attributed. 3 
 
 The legends found on many of these gems are of Gnostic 
 origin, 4 and since the doctrines of this sect were mainly 
 drawn from Egypt, particularly as applied to symbolic 
 inscriptions, it is probable that the word abrax, or abrae, 
 is Egyptian also. 5 
 
 Irenaeus says 6 that the schismatics of his day invested 
 letters, combined in certain forms, with cabalistic proper- 
 ties. Frequent attempts were made to distort the name 
 
 1 King, The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 81. 
 
 2 Eacyclop&d. Britannic, v. Abracadabra. 
 
 3 Townsend, New Testament, Vol. I., pp. 285-6. 
 
 4 Milman, History of Christianity, Vol. II., pp. 116-7. 
 
 6 Vide Ennemoser, History of Magic, Vol. I., p. 262. King, op. cit., pp. 36, 
 37, whose authority is Bellermann, Drei Programmen ueber die Abraxas-gemmen, 
 Berlin, 1820. 
 
 6 Adversus Haereses, Lib. I., p. 93. " Aequra est autem. eos lugeri qui talem 
 Dei cultem vereq. ineffabilis potentiae magnitudinem totque ac tantas Dei 
 administrationas per Alpha et Beta," et seq. Ibid., p. 94, 
 
 M 
 
420 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 of Jesus into such magical uses. 1 By virtue of the com- 
 binations of which favorite letters or numerals were sus- 
 ceptible, some claimed to have an absolute control over 
 natural laws. 2 But of all words or formulas used by the 
 magicians, abraxas was the most exalted essence of power, 
 and strength and wisdom were ineradically interwoven 
 with it. 3 Abraxas, according to the ancient numeral sys- 
 tem, completed the number of 365, which, it was alleged, 
 corresponded with a like number of seons or angels, each 
 endowed with specific powerful attributes. 4 
 
 Some of the especial virtues assigned to abrac were its 
 irresistible charm to avert evil, cure fevers, and dispel 
 diseases, particularly if written in sbape of a triad. 5 
 
 During the Middle Ages, after the Saracen conquest of 
 Spain, amulet charms were much used in Europe. Magi- 
 cal instruction was taught in Northern schools of learning;, 
 to which the nobility sent their children. 
 
 One property ascribed to this word was the talismanic 
 power of discovering hidden things, and of subjugating 
 spirits to the human will. 6 Brand says 7 the word abraca- 
 dabra, in form of a triangle and worn about the person, 
 was regarded by the people of his day as an invincible pro- 
 tection. In former ages a duellist was compelled to swear 
 that this charm was not in his personal possession. 
 
 The belief in the magic power of certain letters com- 
 bined under an invocation, extended throughout Eastern 
 nations immediately before and after Christianity had 
 become the imperial religion. Although forbidden by the 
 
 1 Irenaeus, op. cit, Lib. L, p. 86. 2 Ibid., Lib. L, p. 112. 
 
 3 Esse autem principals illorum Abraxas et propter CCCLXV. numerorum 
 haberi in se. Irenaeus, op. cit., Lib. I., p. 120. Verbum, ex illo sapientia ex 
 ipsis Principatis et Potestatis. Ibid., op. et loc. cit. 
 
 * Mundem in honore abraxae cujus noraen hunc in se numerum compertuni. 
 Scbolia in Iren., ad Haereses, Lib. L, p. 121. Oftentimes designated "nomen 
 sanctum," or sacred name. Scholia in ibid., loc. cit. 
 
 6 Ennemoser, History of Magic, Vol. L, p. 94. 
 
 * Jbid., pp. 97, 99. * 7 Popular Antiquities, Vol. II., p. 579. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 421 
 
 Mosaic law, incantations were much in vogue among the 
 Jews and proselyte Christians. It was through the agency 
 of the omnific word that the Hebrews ascribed the success 
 achieved by Solomon in building the temple at Jerusalem. 1 
 The Egyptians freely practised magic science, and professed 
 to accomplish miracles by means of certain characters. 2 
 From whatever source derived, the Israelites were not 
 behind their masters alone; the Nile in investing resistless 
 potency to the name of their deity. 
 
 It was firmly believed by the Jews that peculiar arrange- 
 ment of the letters composing the word was all-powerful 
 and profound in mystical lore. 3 Moses, it was asserted, 
 could not have performed all the miracles which astounded 
 the wizards of Egypt without the name Schemhamphorasch, 
 or Jehovah. 4 
 
 Jews, in the time of Christ, boldly charged that the 
 wonder workings of our Saviour were accomplished by 
 means of the sacred word or name. 5 
 
 Josephus Gecatilias, a cabalistic writer, 6 says, in ex- 
 horting his readers against an illicit use of the divine 
 
 1 Townsend, New Testament, Vol. I., p. 285. 
 
 2 Imagunculis forte et characteribus jam tunc multa tributa sunt. Bruck- 
 erius, Instil. Historiae Philosophae, Lib. II., cap. vii., \ x. 
 
 3 Solent iidem Kabbalistae nomina divina ad decern Sephiroth accomodari. 
 Buddeus, lntrod. ad Hist. Philos. Ebraeor., p. 272. Nomen separatum dicitur, 
 quod cum magna illud veneratione prosequnti sint Ebraei. Ibid., p. 273. 
 
 4 Moses non est usus nisi nomine isto maximo et omnia miracula sua quae 
 fecit, fuerunt per Schemhamphorasch id est nomen expositum quod est ipsum 
 nomen Jehovah. Caphtor, f. 56, in Buddeus, lntrod. ad Hist. Philos. Ebraer., 
 p. 274. 
 
 5 Quod per nomen hocce expositum miracula sua (Christus) ediderit. Bud- 
 deus, op. cit., p. 274. 
 
 6 Quoted by Buddeus, p. 275 : " Mi fili, ausculta a voci meae et aures tuae 
 attentae sunto ad consilium meum: si seducere te conentur peccatores ne 
 acquiescito si dixerint tibi: veni nobiscum et trademus in manum tuam 
 nomina divina, quibus possis uti: mi fili ne abito in viam cum ipsis, con- 
 tine pedem tuum a semita ipsorum ; quia ilia nomina et usus illorum, nil 
 sane nisi retia et laquei ad capiendum animas et ducendas eas in perditionem." 
 
 36 
 
422 
 
 TEE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 name : " If sinners would entice thee by saying, ' Come with 
 us and we will deliver into thy hands the great or sacred 
 name, with which thou canst have power over all things/ 
 my son, go not in their way, but let thy steps be different 
 from theirs ; because those names, and the use of them, are 
 naught but a net to trap the unwary minds and lead them to 
 perdition.*' Moses Maimonides, the founder of an Israelit- 
 ish school, was deeply learned in the arts of the cabala, and 
 had acquired singular powers, according to Buddeus, 1 by 
 the use of certain letters, characters, and mystical num- 
 bers, or by true or spurious names. 
 
 Cabalistic rites, early in the thirteenth century, were 
 openly practised in France by the Jews. 2 Rabbinical 
 writers assert that Solomon secured the mighty Schamir 
 through the agency of the magic word Schemhamphorasch. 
 The property of this creature was an irresistible power to 
 cut the hardest stones. Since Solomon was instructed to 
 prepare his temple without the aid of a builder's tool, he 
 had recourse to the talismanic potency of the above word, 
 Jehovah, to possess Schamir. 3 
 
 Many cabalistic writers deduce the origin of their 
 teachings from Adam himself. 4 Others trace the system 
 back in an unbroken line to Moses. 5 It is conceded, 
 however, that from very remote times these traditions 
 have been a subject of superstitious reverence and zealous 
 study. 6 
 
 The Persian conquest, no doubt, gave a strong tendency 
 
 1 Introduct. ad Histor. Philosop. Ebracorum, p. 275. 
 
 * Buddeus, op. cit, p. 352. In these rites, the ceremonies of initiation seem 
 bo have been divided into degrees. Ibid., p. 355. 
 
 s Baring Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 125. 
 4 Roskoff, Geschichte des Teufels, Bd. I., p. 275. 
 
 * Moses accepit legem e monte Sinai, tradidit earn Josuae; Josua Seniori- 
 bus ; Seniores prophetis ; et prophetae tradiderunt earn viris synagogae mag- 
 nae. Pirke Abhoth., cap. 1, cited by Pritius, Introd. in Lect. Noid Testamenti, 
 p. 448. 
 
 e Pritius, op. cit., p. 448. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 423 
 
 to allegorizing mysticism among the Jews while in cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 In Egypt also, the land of mysteries and metaphysics, 
 whither many Jews had emigrated, either voluntarily or 
 by inducements, after the destruction of the first temple 
 at Jerusalem, Judaic culture found a fruitful soil, and 
 the lively phantasies of the Semites readily merged the 
 conglomeration of Egyptian, Persian, and Greek elements 
 into the sacred Scriptures. A steady and uninterrupted 
 intercourse of the Hebrews of Egypt with those of Pales- 
 tine, propagated the secret mysteries of the former among 
 the Israelites, and ultimately gained a well-defined status 
 in the creeds of both Egyptian and Palestine Jews. 1 
 
 It was claimed that the cabala was able to interpret 
 the mystic signification of the written law which God had 
 delivered to Moses, and especially of each letter and point 
 contained in the Divine commands communicated to Moses 
 upon Sinai. 2 According to the cabalists, this interpreta- 
 tion was accomplished by means of gematria, geometry or 
 arithmetic, which consisted in varied and formal combina- 
 tions of the Hebrew alphabet, and, although the letters 
 were totally different, produced exact numeral results. 3 
 
 Such combinations were also supposed to possess mys- 
 tical properties, and were oftentimes used as symbols. 4 
 
 1 In iEgypten, wohin nach der Zerstorung des ersten Terapels viele Juden 
 wiederholt eingewandert waren, fand der jiidische Mysticismus einen gedeih- 
 lichen Boden, u. s. w. BoskofF, op. cit, Bd. I., p. 247. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 248. 
 
 3 Gematria est arithmetica explicatio voeis e numeris, quos juxta valorem 
 literarum suarum arithmeticum, vel per aliam vocem quae in numeris toti- 
 dem continent. Pfeiffer, Critica Sacra de Sacri Codicis, etc., p. 209. 
 
 4 Buddeus, Introd. ad Hist. Philos. Ebraeor., p. 266. The Hebrew letter * 
 (Yod) was used by the Jews in early ages as typical of the all-pervading 
 essence of Deity : Dominum ilium aeturnem esse Deum unicum in quator 
 mundi partibus (cum lettera 1 quaternarii muneri nota sit) i. e., ubique et in 
 toto mundo praesentem. Ibid., loc. cit. This was apparently the idea which 
 suggested a place for the synonym of Jehovah in Masonic lodges. The 
 letter "G" is, without doubt, the initial "Yod," and is still visible in the 
 east of a lodge. 
 
424 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Gematria was subdivided into other attributes, one of 
 which w&s arehitectonica, in which essential words con- 
 tained the mathematical mystery of constructing edifices. 1 
 Another system of explaining hidden Scripture secrets was 
 designated notaricon. This was performed by extracting 
 one word from many, by using either the initial or termi- 
 nal letters of each syllable, and when thus collated, the 
 alphabetic word became endowed with especial powers. 2 
 
 Letters and other visible signs composing the sacred 
 writings are avowed by cabalistic commentators to stand 
 with celestial emanations of the Godhead, whose operations 
 they represent in the closest relations, and by the merest 
 expression of that visible sign in which concealed potency 
 lies, a spiritual being is set in motion. In consequence of 
 this connection existing between literal characters and 
 supernatural essence, whoever would exert transcendent 
 authority over nature and the world of spirits, must 
 acquire this power from the cabala. 3 According to this 
 scheme, the first manifestations of divinity are denomi- 
 nated Memra, the word (Logos) Chochma or wisdom, and 
 Jah as strength. 
 
 The cabal ists assert that by the word Jah, God created 
 the universe, 4 and during the Middle Ages the deity was 
 frequently represented by these letters, suspended or hewn 
 in the interior walls of churches. 5 Uninterrupted inter- 
 
 1 Buddeus, op. cit., p. 266. Arehitectonica, quae e dimensione mathematica 
 aedificiorum et structurarum mysteria captat. Pfeiffer, Critica Sacra, etc., p. 
 210. The Yod, or », was expressly declared to be of such magical potency. 
 Ibid. King Solomon, possessed of the secrets of this potential word, was con- 
 sequently enabled to construct his temple. 
 
 2 Buddeus, op. cit, p. 267 ; Pfeiffer, op. cit., pp. 213, 214. 
 
 3 Roskoff, Geschichte des Teufels, Bd. I., p. 248. 
 
 * Durch Jah ist Gott Schopfer der Welten. Roskoff, op. cit., p. 249. In 
 the frontispiece to The History of the Holy Bible, London, MDLII., the deity 
 is represented in the act of creating the universe, by the name of Jehovah 
 inscribed within a radiating triangle. 
 
 5 Poole, Ecclesiastical History of Architecture, p. 398 ; Didron, Christian Icon- 
 ography, p. 232. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 425 
 
 course with the Egyptians furnished the Palestine Jews 
 opportunities for obtaining a profound insight into the 
 mystical lore of the priesthood and their sacred rites. 
 
 After the correct pronunciation of the word, Jehovah, 
 had become lost, substitutes seem to have been employed 
 for purposes of magic and amulets. 1 As previously stated, 
 Schemhamphorasch was endowed with talismanic power, 
 and was used by Solomon. 
 
 Abrak, or abraksax, signifies also, according to Beller- 
 mann, 2 " the adorable, blessed name," 3 and designated the 
 Basilidian essence — the nameless and unutterable word. 
 And in this it corresponds exactly with the Schemham- 
 phorasch, the divine word, the blessed and eternal name, 
 or with the Haschschem Zithbareck, and the unspeakable, 
 omnific, and ineffable Tetragrammaton, the Jehovah of 
 the Jews, 4 both of which are engraven on abraxas stones 
 (Figs. 29, 30). The word abrak, abrach, or abrech, is also 
 to be found in the Bible as a salutation to Joseph by the 
 Egyptians upon his accession to royal power. 5 It will be 
 seen, therefore, that this word, through the intervening 
 changes of time, has descended as an elemental portion of 
 
 1 Zebaoth was oftentimes substituted, but Adonai was the most usual. Gro- 
 tius, Annotation, in Libr. Evangel., Tome II., p. 129. Adonai means lord or 
 master. Hiram Abif, in old Masonic catechisms, is called Adoniram, or 
 Master Hiram. Therefore, Mali ! Adonai 1 What ! our Master ! would be a 
 more fitting and significant exclamation than Mah ! Aboni ! What ! the Builder! 
 
 2 Die Drei Programmen ueber die Abraxas- Gemmen, l es Stiick, pp. 48-53; 
 also King, The Gnostics and their Remains, pp. 367. 
 
 3 Milman, Latin Christianitxj, Vol. II., p. 116, note {%). Vide Matter, His- 
 toire du Gnosticisme, Tom. II., pp. 47-50, who designates it "parole sacree." 
 
 * Selden, De Synedr. Veter. Ebraeor., p. 828, says the most solemn obliga- 
 tions were made under the invocation of the Tetragrammaton. 
 
 5 1 Moses, 41, 43. The Egyptian hierarchy evidently shared, with other 
 Eastern priesthood, accurate notions of one supreme God. This is attested 
 by the use of the word abrac, and also by the hieroglyph Anuk — pu — Anuk 
 — the " I am that I am," given in Eber, JEgypten und die Buecher Moses. For 
 this reference and authority, I am indebted to the kind courtesy of Mr. Bayard 
 Taylor. 
 
 36* 
 
426 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Freemasonry to the fifteenth century, and as representative 
 of a lost name. 
 
 The " way of winning the faculty of abrac," thus under- 
 stood, signifies the means by which the lost word may be 
 recovered, or, at least, substituted. Abrac was, perhaps, 
 used, in harmony with the times, as a charm to which, 
 when the faculty of acquiring the same had been gained 
 by an investiture with craft secrets, a specific magical 
 power was attributed. With such talismanic meaning, 
 this word evidently found ready admission among Teu- 
 tonic guild members, together with other Oriental tradi- 
 tions contributed by Byzantine corporations. 
 
 Fig. 29. Fig. 30. 
 
 Although the ancient Germans appear to have been 
 ignorant of the secrets of letters 1 for practical purposes, 
 they were thoroughly conversant with them for magical 
 uses. In this respect, the same virtues were accredited by 
 the Norsemen to runes as were ascribed by Eastern peo- 
 ple to their combinations of letters. 
 
 The Grimms, 2 with wonderful accuracy and with con- 
 clusive arguments, have traced the original Runic charac- 
 ters to a remote Asiatic source. 3 The name itself involved 
 the notion of mysticism, and the famous mandragora, or 
 
 1 Literarum secreta viri pariter ac feminae ignorant. Tacit., Germania, 
 cap. 19. 
 
 2 Wilhelm Grimm, Ueber Deutsche Runen, p. 67 ; Jacob Grimm, Deutsche 
 Mythologies p. 376. 
 
 3 Max Mueller, Survey of Languages, p. xvii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 427 
 
 rather the demon conj ured out of it, is accurately expressed 
 in old German by alraun. 1 It is possible that this word 
 is the root of the runes. Talismanic potency is inherent 
 in alraun, which is applied in the sense of a good or evil 
 substance. 2 For instance : 
 
 "Alraun, ich rufe dich an, 
 Das du meinen harten Man 
 Dringest darzu. 
 
 Das er mir kein leid nich thu." 3 
 
 Friday is also mentioned as a day when the Alraunen 
 will be domiciled upon Horselberg. 4 
 
 "Werder has translated one of the stanzas of Ariosto's 
 Orlando Furioso, with the word in the signification of an 
 all-powerful spell: 
 
 " Dagegen auch kein sanft und labsal wird gefunden, 
 Es ist kein alraun wort und murmeln dafur gut." 
 
 An essential thought in this derivative word is one of 
 supernal power, and that meaning was transferred to the 
 runes, which were endowed with cabalistic qualities. 
 
 In the Scandinavian mythology, Odin, the supreme 
 Norse divinity, is represented as the inventor of the Runic 
 alphabet, 5 and so far corresponds in tradition with Mer- 
 cury, to whom the invention of letters and dice was 
 assigned. 
 
 Runic characters, like the Roman dice, were used for 
 the purpose of invoking the fates by sortilege. No doubt 
 the ancient Teutons were familiar with this alphabet, but 
 disposed of it strictly for charms, soothsaying, and magic. 
 These letters, or, to speak more correctly, the runes, were 
 an important part in the religious observances of the 
 Northern nations. As mystical signs, they were under 
 
 1 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 231, note (*). 
 
 2 Grimm, Deutsche^ Worterbuch sub voce Alraun. 
 
 8 Grimm, Worterbuch v. cit. 4 Ibid., sub voce cit. 
 
 5 Sirarock, Deutsche Mythologu, p. 210. In the old Eddaic Runenlied, this 
 discovery is ascribed to Odin. 
 
428 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 the direct supervision of the priesthood. Simrock 1 argues, 
 with great force and justice, that the mythological con- 
 ception of Odin's discovery of the runes was intended to 
 signify that they emanated from him as the supreme deity 
 of the universe, and as such, being an integral portion 
 of himself, inherited divine or supernatural attributes. 
 Viewed in this light, the Oriental and Western traditions 
 of the potency of word combinations were apparently de- 
 rived from a common source. 
 
 It would seem that the irresistible powers of the name, 
 Jehovah of the Jews, or the sacred and ineffable word of 
 the other Semitic races, were so deeply impressed upon 
 those nationalities that the talismanic and magical influ- 
 ence of alphabetic collocation became a radical part of their 
 religious culture. Therefore, in this sense, the Mosaic 
 word, as an emanation of deity, may be regarded as the 
 historical prototype of Odinic runes. A specific super- 
 natural power was supposed to be inherent in Runic charac- 
 ters, 2 and consequently they were used for a diversity of 
 purposes by the ancient Germans. 
 
 According to Schlegel, 3 these letters were connected with 
 religious worship, and entirely appropriated to supersti- 
 tious practices of the priesthood. The alphabet, of wooden 
 blocks, was arranged in a certain mysterious order, as a 
 rubric to accompany a prophetic song or incantation. 
 Large letters were placed together in multifarious com- 
 binations, to each of which mystical properties were 
 ascribed. 4 They were divided into two classes, called 
 noxious and favorable runes ; the first were employed to 
 bring evil upon an enemy, the other averted misfortunes 
 and procured success in martial combats. Medical runes 
 served to dispel melancholy thoughts, and were an anti- 
 dote against poison and disease. 5 These differed only in 
 
 1 Deutsche Mythologie, p. 213. 2 Keightly, Fairy Mythology, p. 98. 
 
 3 History of Literature, p. 153. * Schlegel, Ibid., p. 154. 
 
 6 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 218, et seq. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 429 
 
 the manner of writing them, and with materials of which 
 they were written — in the place where exposed to view, 
 and in the ceremonies attending the preparation of the 
 lines. The most efficacious were drawn 'up in form of a 
 circle or serpent. Especial talismanic power was attributed 
 to runes written, as the Abracadabra, in shape of a triangle. 1 
 The art was still in use so late as the sixth century, 
 according to Venantius Fortunatius, bishop of Poitiers : 
 
 " Barbara fraxineis pingatur runa tabellis." 
 
 Simrock 2 has preserved an incantation sung over a Runic 
 inscription, the characters of which corresponded to the 
 initials of the song: 
 
 " Thur's riskt ek ther ok thria stofi." 
 
 The magical use of this alphabet was recognized by the 
 ancient Icelandic laws or gragas. Engraved on a nithing 
 post, these potent charms were of peculiar efficacy, and 
 their application to vengeful purposes was rigidly pro- 
 hibited by the Norse code. 3 In the Runic chapter, 4 it is 
 asserted that with certain Runes wizards could be dis- 
 comfited and life restored to the dead. Sometimes an 
 arrow-headed mark was adopted to designate a particular 
 rune dedicated to Thor, and was usually incised upon 
 swords. 5 
 
 Olaus Magnus 6 relates a curious legend concerning a 
 certain man named Gilbert, who had offended his pre- 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 227. With the Jews, the triangle had a peculiar talismanic power. 
 Maimonides, More Nevochim, p. 119. It was in this figure that the sacred 
 name usually appeared. Didron, Christian Iconography, p. 231, etc. ; West- 
 ropp and Wake, Ancient Symbol Worship, p. 96. 
 
 2 Deutsche Mythologie, p. 212. 
 
 3 Dahlmann, Geschichte von Da.nnema.rk, Bd. II., p. 243 ; Mallet, op. cit., p. 156. 
 
 4 Runenlied, Str. 20. 
 
 5 Worsaae, Primeval Antiq. of Denmark, p. 116. For Runic signs, vide 
 Brand, Popular Antiq., Vol. I., p. 299. 
 
 6 Ut exiquo fuste certis characteribus Gothicis, seu Euthenicis sculpto 
 atque a praeceptore protecto, et manibus apprehenso ipse Gilbertus immobilis 
 maneret. Hist. Septen., Lib. III., c. xx. 
 
430 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 ceptor in magic arts. In order to punish him, he was 
 incased in a double set of wooden strips, upon which Runic 
 characters were inscribed. By the irresistible prowess of 
 the runes, according to tradition, Gilbert is yet enthralled. 
 
 The Norse sodalities were evidently deeply interested in 
 incantations and soothsaying. 1 A Scandinavian sorceress 
 went from guild to guild telling fortunes and performing 
 magic for the benefit of guildic members. 2 Such concep- 
 tions of talismanic influence inherent in the runes, existing 
 among the Germanic fraternities, afforded a ready admis- 
 sion to Judaic or Gnostic notions, touching the mystical 
 power of combined letters contributed by Byzantine build- 
 ing corporations to the early mediaeval associations, at a 
 time when Teutonic legislation struggled to suppress 
 magic rites, 3 and welcomed Eastern artificers. 
 
 1 By the ordinance of a guild at Ludlow, established in the year 1284, the 
 members are specifically enjoined against "calling up ghosts after death." 
 Smith, English Guilds, p. 194. 
 
 2 When this conjurer made her appearance in the assembly, she was clothed 
 in a blue mantle, and escorted by the Master to the most elevated seat. 
 Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 215. 
 
 3 Penalties inflicted bylaw for soothsaying. Lex Salica, Tit. XXII., c. 4 j 
 Lex Sal. emend, a Carol. M., xxv. ; Edictum, Luitpr. Regis., lxxxiii. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Derivation of Word "Mason" — Traced to Mace, or Hammer — 
 Mediaeval Symbolical Uses of this Implement — Thor's Weap- 
 on — Spanish Mazo — Tragic Powers of Mace — Emblem of Au- 
 thority — The Middle- Age Mationes and Maceronii — Lapidi- 
 cini, or Stone-Cutters — Translated by Boileau as Maqons — 
 Early English Mason — The Medieval Craft Known by this 
 Name. 
 
 HE irresistible might attributed to the hammer of 
 the Norse deity, Thor, had so far survived the 
 practice of pagan rites among the Teutonic races, 
 ' that many of its symbolic uses were perpetuated 
 in the ordinary details of civil and ecclesiastical society 
 during the Middle Ages. 1 Perhaps the last historical ap- 
 plication of the redoubted mallet to typical purposes may 
 be found in the surname of the Frankish King, Charles 
 Martel, or Charles the Hammer-Bearer, who, until the 
 rising tide of Moslem conquest in Europe was checked at 
 Tours, 2 still maintained the custom of carrying the diminu- 
 tive hammer as a prototype of the all-powerful God of 
 Asgard. 3 
 
 Numerous and oft-recurring references in the Eddaic 
 songs to the manifold powers of this divine implement, 
 
 1 Grimm, Deutsche Iiechts Alterthiimer, Cap. iii. Vide supra, chap, xxvi., for 
 minute details touching this proposition. 
 
 2 Mariana, Historia de Espana, Tomo I., p. 328. 
 
 3 Grimm, op. cit. } p. 64. 
 
 431 
 
432 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 attest how profoundly the pagan mind of Northern Europe 
 was impressed with the absolute necessity of its presence, 
 not only in celebrating the battle-god's characteristic wor- 
 ship, but in the humbler spheres of civil and domestic life. 1 
 The most sacred duties of society were hallowed by the 
 mallet touch, when wielded with emblematic allusion to 
 the binding force inherent in Thor's celebrated weapon. 
 In the cumbersome and solemn ceremony of an ancient 
 Scandinavian marriage, this symbol must rest upon the 
 knee of the veiled bride, in direct allusion to that unques- 
 tioning renunciation of personal will which she surren- 
 dered unto marital authority. 2 
 
 When, amid imposing rites, the body of the cherished 3 
 dead was about to be reduced to ashes, or placed upon a 
 fragile bark to endure the merciless tossing of faithless 
 waters, 4 the priesthood, in imitation of the Norse divinity, 
 consecrated the funeral pile with a mallet. With this in- 
 strument those who had outlived the age of strength and 
 martial activity were remorselessly slaughtered and sent to 
 Thor. Behind the door in every Teutonic household such 
 a hammer was always hung in view. 5 Although Christi- 
 anity extinguished the more flagrant features of the ancient 
 paganism, the new religion suffered unnumbered symbolical 
 uses of this implement to continue, and in some instances 
 incorporated them with other religious practices. In this 
 way it survived to mediaeval judicial procedure; nor was 
 it restricted to actual court usage, but was oftentimes made 
 
 1 Geijer, History of Sweden, Vol. I., p. 31 ; Thrymskvidha, Str. 30. 
 
 2 Geijer, op. et loc. cit. Reference to the mighty bolt of Thor was vigorously 
 maintained for succeeding ages by the descendants of the ancient Norseman, 
 in the rite of Christian marriage. Olaus Magnus, Historia Septentri. Condit., 
 Lib. IV., cap. vii. 
 
 3 Gylfaginning, 49 ; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, Vol. I., p. 75 ; Grimm, 
 Deutsche Rechts Alterthiimer, p. 64 ; Simrock, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 227. 
 
 * Beowolf, Anglo-Saxon Songs, Str. 70, et seq. 
 
 6 Geijer, History of Sweden, Vol. I., p. 32 ; Sirarock, op. cit., p. 233 ; vide 
 supra, p. 279, note 3. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 433 
 
 to serve as an ensign or signal to rally the people of certain 
 districts, in order to congregate them as a united body at 
 a designated place. 1 
 
 Primarily, the suspension of a hammer in churches al- 
 luded to the original tragic purposes to which it was form- 
 erly applied. Subsequently it was substituted by a club 
 or mace, and in this form for centuries continued to be dis- 
 played in many sacred edifices, till towards the close of the 
 Middle Ages. 2 At the entrance of some provincial towns 
 in Germany a club was hung up, at the side of which a 
 doggerel verse portrayed its death-dealing properties, de- 
 scended from the Norse god's mallet. 3 Even in monas- 
 teries an implement of this kind was preserved as an em- 
 blem and as a symbol of union. 4 When the early Ger- 
 manic guilds, dating from the first forms of Teutonic so- 
 ciety, had so far developed into an accurately defined ele- 
 ment of later times, they still retained the ancient forms, 
 and certainly many of the symbols with which their pre- 
 cursors performed heathen-religious services. 5 
 
 Societies thus based upon the worship of Thor, the di- 
 
 1 Grimm, ut supra, p. 65. For additional information on the judicial con- 
 nection of the mediaeval hammer, see Simrock, op. cit., pp. 277-499, and, 
 Maurer, Geschichte der Markenverfassung, pp. 161, 162. 
 
 2 Frequently used in convents, and solemnly sounded when an ecclesiastical 
 inmate was expiring. Fosbroke, British Monachism, pp. 31, 52-54. 
 
 3 Simrock, Handbuch der Deutschen Mylhologie, p. 233. 
 
 4 Du Cange, Glossar. Med. et Infim. Latinit., sub v., Ferula and Tabula. 
 
 5 Christianity equally among the Egyptian symbols adopted their original 
 significance into the new religious usages. Matter, Histoire du Gnosticisme, 
 Tom. II., p. 24. From this source and from the unswerving custom noted, 
 the Craft of Freemasons has obtained the ancient gnostic Eye, which was 
 oftentimes engraven on a single stone, and portrayed to the initiate mind the 
 idea of sleepless vigilance. Au lieu de la pluralite des yeux, on n'en trouve 
 qu'un seul sur ses pierres. Matter, op. cit., Tom. I., p. 275. It may be added 
 that a mirror was used in the Eastern Mysteries for purposes identical with 
 those noted as current among the mediaeval craftsmen. Taylor, Eleusinian 
 and Bacchic Mysteries, IntroducL, p. xv. With an occasional exception, how- 
 ever, these ancient societies present no points in common with the mysteries 
 of Masonry. 
 
 37 2C 
 
434 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 vine Hammer-Bearer, rigidly maintained the unalterable 
 type of that divinity, the mallet or mace, as a symbol of 
 their closely-organized union. 1 After the victory of Charles 
 Martel at Tours, in France, and the rapid extension of 
 Christianity, consequent upon the defeat of the Moham- 
 medan forces, the hammer, which distinguished this illus- 
 trious monarch and procured for him the title of ancient 
 protector of Gallic Masons, 2 apparently ceased to be carried 
 by his successors, the Carlovingian kings, as referring too 
 directly to the Norse battle-god. It was therefore substi- 
 tuted by another implement, equally typical of power, the 
 mace, and still continues in royal ceremonials to be an en- 
 sign of authority and union. 
 
 From the mallet, club, or mace, of identical and exact 
 signification, the name of Mason has originated. The 
 symbolical attributes of Thor's mallet, or mace, are to this 
 day the groundwork of a Master's authority over a lodge 
 of Masons, and the strange vitality of this deity's symbol 
 still manifests itself in other details of lodge ritualism. 
 This word, traceable, perhaps, through old Teutonic dia- 
 lects from megin, might, to its present Italian form, mazza, 
 a hammer, embodies within itself that idea of strength 
 and power with which the irresistible weapon of the 
 Northern divinity was invested, and with the mallet, or 
 mace, Thor was indifferently represented. 3 
 
 The presence of this word as a fundamental one in the 
 original home of European Masons, viz., in Italy, shadows 
 forth that, as this corporation of builders diverged from 
 Northern Italy in order to perpetuate their art throughout 
 Europe, their name, also, originated in the corruption of 
 a word, signifying the implement not only constantly ap- 
 plied in their handiwork, but for a higher reason that the 
 
 1 Ordnung der Steinmetzen 1462, Art. 13, and supra, cap. xxvi., with authori- 
 ties annoted. 
 
 2 Boileau, Reglemens sur les Arts el Metiers de Paris, cap. xlviii. 
 
 3 Vide supra, p. 287. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 435 
 
 hammer or mace was the symbol of unity and confrater- 
 nity in the craft guild, and because, like the later mediaeval 
 judicial hammer, it was a type of authority requiring the 
 congregation of all who should behold it or be within 
 hearing of its significant blows. 1 Through the interven-' 
 ing changes of time, the adulterated dialect of Spain has 
 preserved the original derivation from mazo, hammer ; 
 hence, mazoneria, Masonry, or an art so intimately associ- 
 ated with both the practical and symbolical uses of this 
 implement, that the name is directly deduced from that 
 source. 
 
 With little labor it may be traced through corrupt medi- 
 aeval Latinity to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, at 
 which epoch the word, Mason, was fixed by law, and has 
 so continued, without other alteration than a prefix. Per- 
 haps the earliest generic form of this root may be found 
 in the Anglo-Saxon Glossary of ^Elfric, where Mationes is 
 re-rendered as Lapidium opcrarii, or Workers of Stone. At 
 a later period, it occurs in a monastic chronicle, 2 under the 
 form of Mactiones, in the following sentence : " Reversus 
 autem lapidicinos et mactiones, undecunque jussit aggregari." 
 The words mactiones and lapidicinos have here the same sig- 
 nification, and mean stone-cutters, or Masons. In the Ital- 
 ian, maeina, more ancient macigno? a stone lap-mill, can be 
 detected the root of mace, or hammer, referring to the 
 mace-shaped implement with which corn was in former 
 ages prepared for domestic use. Middle- Age records use 
 the words materio and macerio, to distinguish the class of 
 workmen alluded to thus : " Faber ferrarius conventionem 
 suam fecerat annuam, ut ibidem Suessione remanens, uten- 
 silia materonum (maceronum) reficeret." 4 That is, a skilled 
 
 1 Grimm, Deutsche Rechts Alter thiimer, pp. 832-833; see supra, p. 303; Ord~ 
 nung der Sieinmetzen 1462, Art. 28. 
 
 2 Odo Cluniae, In Vita S. Geraldi. Com. Aureliae, Lib. II., cap. 4. 
 
 3 Du Cange, Glossar. Infim. et Medi. Latinitas, sub. v. Macina. 
 
 4 Hugo Forsit, De Miraculis S. Mariae Suess., Lib. VI.. cap. 8. 
 
436 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 iron artificer made the usual contract to properly adjust 
 the tools of the Masons. 
 
 In the middle of the twelfth century the word appears 
 as now lettered, viz., Mason, and is evidently of Gallic 
 derivation. 1 At the commencement of the ensuing cen- 
 tury it was written Macon, 2 — still adopted by the Craft 
 in France ; and in the celebrated Ordinances of Boileau, 
 formally committed to writing in the year 1254, the jux- 
 taposition of this word is identical with those cited above. 
 For instance, in the preceding quotation, the words " lapi- 
 dicinos et mationes," appear conjoinedc In the ordinances 
 referred to they reappear as " taileur de pierre et macon," 
 and signify a stone-cutter and mason. 3 The close similarity 
 between the phraseology produced, is of so marked sig- 
 nificance as to lead to a well-grounded belief that the vul- 
 gar idiom used in Boileau's time was an exact translation 
 of lapidicini into taileur de pierre, and of mationes into 
 macons, which severally define the same class of operatives, 
 or to distinguish artificers whose principal working-tool 
 was the hammer, or mace, symbolizing oftentimes lodge 
 territory, and thus came to be regarded as a type of the 
 guild upon whose members the name of Macons, or Ma- 
 sons, was bestowed. 
 
 From the foregoing historic references, it will, perhaps, 
 clearly appear that down to the latter part of the thir- 
 teenth century the building fraternity in the metropolis 
 of the French Empire was recognized by law, and carefully 
 particularized as Macons, who, it may be added, furnished 
 the work for the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. 4 In 
 Britain, a century earlier, a Master of the Craft designated 
 himself simply Mason, and has so recorded the nomen- 
 
 1 See supra, chap. xii. 
 
 2 Du Cange, Gloss. Infim. et Med. Latinit., sub. v. Macio. 
 
 3 Boileau, Reglemens sur les Arts et Metiers, cap. xlviii. 
 
 4 Hope, Historical Essay on Architecture, Vol. I., p. 478. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 437 
 
 clature of his profession on a side wall in Melrose Abbey. 1 
 Early in the fourteenth century — 1334 circa — the English 
 versifier, of a more ancient metrical romance, 2 uses the 
 word mace to designate Masonry : 
 
 "He bysette the see and the lond, 
 With boteraay, and mace strong." 
 
 It may be safely asserted that the craft guild of Masons 
 at the epochs mentioned was unknown by any distinctive 
 name, either among themselves or by authoritative legis- 
 lation. About the commencement of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, however, these Craftsmen began to be termed frema- 
 ceons. This betrays, unquestionably, an elision and merg- 
 ing of Macon into some prefix, which, at the era under 
 notice, had so far distinguished this class of workmen in 
 England as to entitle them to be recognized by a specific 
 appellation. 3 The fundamental principle of fraternity and 
 brotherhood in the Guild, furnished with the name, the 
 prefix from Gallic sources. By the junction of Frere with 
 Macon, or Brother Mason, the modern word Freemason has 
 been formed. 
 
 1 See supra, chap. viii. 
 
 2 Weber, Metrical Romances, Vol. I., p. 258; Kyng Alisaunder, v. 6257. 
 
 3 This merging was rapidly facilitated by the deplorable neglect with which 
 the Anglo-Saxon dialect was treated by the Norman invaders. Ignorance of 
 the French language constituted a valid cause for rejecting candidates for 
 official position. Thierry, Hisloire de la Conquite de V Angleterre par les Nor- 
 mandy Tom. I., p. 219. A similar custom was practised in the Roman Em - 
 pire. Claudius disfranchised a distinguished Grecian on account of his igno- 
 rance of the Latin tongue, and expatriated him. Suetonius, In Vita Claud., 
 cap. 16. During the continuance of the Roman Republic the Latin idiom 
 was rigidly maintained in judicial and military administration of conquered 
 provinces, whether in Greece, Africa, or Asia. Valer. Maximus, Memorabil. 
 Lib. II., cap. 2, not. 2. In the year 1187, the King of England held inter- 
 course with the native element by means of an interpreter. Thierry, op. cit., 
 Tom. HI., p. 324. The earliest statute in English exclusively was not drawn 
 up until the year 1425, although permitted, but not ordered, as some writers 
 assert, by an act of Edward III. Thierry, op. cit., Tom. IV., pp. "362-363. 
 
 37* 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 The Legend of Prince Edwin — Edwin Unknown to the Craft 
 till the Fifteenth Century — Masons First Come into Eng- 
 land in Benedict's Time — He Brings Skilled Artificers in the 
 Eighth Century — The Holy Four Martyrs — Patrons of the 
 Venetian Masons — Masonic Hall in Venice in the Seventeenth 
 Century Dedicated to these Saints. 
 
 ASCXNTC traditions possess no such immunity as 
 to place them beyond that critical test to which 
 the assumed events of history are subjected. In- 
 dividual opinions resting exclusively upon the 
 apparent age of a legend, current among the Craft, must 
 necessarily be fallacious, and unless grounded on accepted 
 facts should be received with extreme reserve. When a 
 tradition stands in utter antagonism to historical records, 
 it cannot be defended, and should be abandoned to that 
 class of notions aptly termed myths. One obstruction — 
 perhaps the main one — with which Masonic investigations 
 are attended, arises from hasty suggestions, bearing an ex- 
 ternal appearance of truth, made by our writers without a 
 careful analysis. The distinguished scholar, Henry Hal- 
 lam, complained that the history of Freemasonry had been 
 made the object of such unbounded panegyrical essays that 
 it would be really refreshing to bring it down to a natural 
 or critical basis. 1 
 
 1 Middle Ages, Vol. II., p. 547, Note 1. 
 
 438 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 439 
 
 We propose to examine the probable character of the 
 Prince Edwin fiction, and its possible authenticity, and, so 
 far as may be, suggest a solution of this vexed question. 
 
 For several centuries the Craft of Masons were solemnly 
 informed that their ancient Brethren first appeared in 
 Britain in the time of Athelstan, an Anglo-Saxon king, 
 who reigned in the year 926, and that his son Edwin was 
 selected by that monarch himself to become their first 
 Grand Master, and that this prince called a convocation of 
 Masons at York and provided the Craft with a regular 
 organization. 1 At what exact period of time this tradi- 
 tion originated, is evidently beyond the possibility of 
 reason to determine. The first knowledge of the presumed 
 introduction of Masonic art into England by Athelstan 
 appears in the ancient manuscript poem discovered by 
 Halliwell, and is numbered among the treasures of the 
 British Museum as Royal A. 1. Great diversity of opinion 
 exists touching the antiquity of this manuscript. Mr. 
 Halliwell, who as a learned antiquarian assumes to speak 
 with authority upon this point, asserts it to have been 
 written not later than the year 1390, and his judgment 
 is unqualifiedly the most entitled to respect. From the 
 sweeping character of an act of Parliament enacted in 
 1389, during the reign of Richard II., 2 it was absolutely 
 impossible for the Craft guild of Masons to evade the law- 
 ful necessity to make a qualified return of the affairs and 
 regulations of their corporation. It is by no means im- 
 probable that this vellum chronicle may have been used 
 for the purpose above indicated. A singular uniformity 
 appears between the general statements and regulations of 
 this venerable document and the full returns of other 
 guilds made in accordance with the above statute, collected 
 and published by a recent editor. 
 
 At all events, the tradition relating to Athelstan and the 
 
 Vide supra, p. 166. 
 
 2 Smith, English Guilds, p. 123. 
 
440 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 Craft was known at whatever period the old manuscript 
 may have been drawn by the copyist, and is referred in the 
 folios as a matter "heard spoken of." Of the existence of 
 a legend concerning Edwin, not the slightest trace appears 
 in the chronicle under notice. This is a significant omis- 
 sion. Subsequent to the foregoing manuscript about one 
 hundred years (1480-90) the Cooke manuscript, No. 23,198, 
 contains the earliest allusion to a son of Athelstan, but 
 does not specify him by name. We will assume that 
 Edwin is here referred to. The Landsdowne manuscript, 
 JSTo. 98, Plut. lxxv. E., in the British Museum, and written 
 in the year 1560, makes the first direct and unique use of 
 Edwin's name as son of Athelstan. In nearly every par- 
 ticular the manuscript narratives of the Craft, excepting 
 the Halliwell parchment, may be said to agree upon Ed- 
 win's Masonic connection, and the York assembly. The 
 tradition, therefore, touching Athelstan and Prince Edwin, 
 had for an indefinite period of time the highest credit, and 
 was accepted by our precursors as an unquestioned fact. 
 
 So far as we know, Dr. Plot, who wrote and published 
 some interesting facts about the Freemasons in the year 
 1686, was the earliest to point out the lack of paternal 
 relationship between Athelstan and Edwin. He main- 
 tained that the Anglo-Saxon king had no son. 1 But the 
 blow which demolished this fragile fiction was dealt by a 
 no less personage than Sharon Turner, erudite historian 
 of the Anglo-Saxons. This scholar briefly stated that no 
 Grand Lodge could have been assembled at York in the 
 year 986 by Edwin, son of Athelstan, for the very best 
 reason, that this monarch had no son. 
 
 This legend of the time of Athelstan, so far as the same 
 relates to Edwin, has been abandoned by more accurate 
 Masonic writers, but in its stead the effort has been made 
 to refer the Craft tradition from the tenth century to the 
 
 1 History of Staffordshire, g 85. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 441 
 
 seventh — associating it still with the city of York. "Wood- 
 ford, the eminent critic, suggests 1 that "tradition some- 
 times gets confused, after the lapse of time, and that he 
 believes the tradition in itself is true which links Masonry 
 to the church building by the operative brotherhood under 
 Edwin in 627, and to a Guild Charter under Athelstane in 
 926." Prior to Woodford, and long before he had called 
 attention to this novel adjustment of craft legends, Francis 
 Drake, the archaeologist, in 1726, declared " Edwin about 
 the year 600 had laid the foundation of our (York) Cathe- 
 dral and sat as Grand Master." 2 
 
 By means of a pious fraud, so frequently resorted to by 
 the early evangelists, Edwin, King of Northumberland, in 
 the year 627, professed the faith of Christ, and with many 
 of his subjects was baptized on Easter day at York, in St. 
 Peter's Church, which he himself had constructed of timber, 
 during the time he was being catechised for baptismal 
 rites. 3 Edwin afterwards began the erection of a larger 
 church of stone 4 under the direction of Paulinus, intend- 
 ing to enclose the oratory within the walls, but a violent 
 death left the work unfinished. It will be observed from 
 the foregoing statement, which is drawn mainly from the 
 historians Bede and Henry Huntingdon, that the earliest 
 building referred to was composed of wood, and built by 
 the half-civilized king himself; the other, according to the 
 unequivocal expression of the venerable author, was also 
 personally conducted by the same king, and constructed 
 of stone, Paulinus teaching him. This, therefore, is the 
 total proof from which the theory has sprung that Edwin 
 
 1 This statement appears in a Masonic oration by the famed historian, a 
 copy of which the author examined in the Lodge library at York. 
 
 2 Hughan's Old Masonic Charges, Introduction, p. xiv. 
 
 3 Henrici Huntindoniensis Historiarum, Lib. III., p. 328, and Beda, Histo- 
 rica Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, Lib. II., cap. xiv. 
 
 * Majorem ip<o in loco et augustiorem de lapide fabricare basilicam. Beda, 
 Ibid., § 132. 
 
442 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 organized, in the year 627, the Masons into an operative 
 body, and sat as their first Grand Master at the building 
 of the ancient York Church ! We unhesitatingly assert 
 that at this period there were no artificers or builders, ac- 
 cording to the strict rules of art, in England, who were 
 sufficiently skilled to erect a stone church; and that the 
 building of stone alluded to was composed of rough rubble 
 or broken fragments rudely held together by cement — in 
 truth, just such an edifice as might be constructed in the 
 most primitive style out of unhewn stone and roughly 
 conjoined without higher skill than is required to form 
 fragmentary pieces into an unshapely mass, simply fastened 
 together by means of mortar. Manifestly under the tutor- 
 ship of Paulinus, the King of Northumberland, with the 
 aid of his people, was equal to the task of carrying broken 
 stone or cementing it with mortar, and this is the exact 
 significance of the passage in Bede's history. 
 
 Fortunately, the earliest introduction of artificers into 
 England competent to erect a stone church, according to 
 the rules of an exact science and mechanical skill, does not 
 depend upon conjecture. In the year 672, St. Benedict in- 
 troduced, from Gaul or France, into England the first body 
 of artificers who were skilled in the construction of stone 
 church edifices. 1 These builders were architects, and under 
 the privileges of their incorporation, reaffirmed by the 
 Theodosian edicts two centuries previous and the Gothic 
 rulers of Northern Italy, had a regular organization. 
 Twenty-nine years before their importation from Gaul by 
 St. Benedict, the Langobardic ruler Rothar had, in the 
 year 643, recognized these building colleges and specifically 
 designated them as Collegia Comacinorum. 2 I can interpret 
 the expression Comacinorum only as signifying associate 
 
 1 Quod artifices lapidearum sedium et vitreanum fenestrarum primus omnium 
 Angliam asciverit Will. Malmsburiensis. De Gestis Regum Anglior., Lib. I,, 
 cap. 3. 
 
 2 Edictum Rotharis Regis, cap. clvii. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 443 
 
 Masons, co-macinorum, instead of the meaning usually 
 given — Colleges of Como. At all events, when these ar- 
 tificers appeared in Great Britain, in the year 672, they 
 brought with them the highest skilled labor, a profound 
 knowledge of mechanical or technical art,— the most ab- 
 struse of all arts, — and an organization developed and per- 
 fected through centuries, possessing the undoubted right 
 to live and be governed wheresoever sojourning, in strict 
 accordance with corporate laws which had been successively 
 allowed and affirmed from the time of Constantine the 
 Great to Rothar, King of the Lombards, in the year 643, 
 or within thirty years of their appearance in England. 
 
 From this but one conclusion can be drawn : that in the 
 year 627 King Edwin could not have been Grand Master 
 of a body of skilled Craftsmen, because there was at that 
 time no such Assembly around the walls of his rude edifice 
 of stone and mortar at York, and for the additional reason 
 that an uncivilized ruler had no recognition as the head of 
 artificers whose science represented centuries of exalted 
 periods of civilization ! This legend is equally unfortu- 
 nate on the basis of undisputed history. Our venerable 
 authority expressly states that the object of Bishop Bene- 
 dict in introducing workmen from the Gallic provinces in 
 the year 710 was to have artificers who were competent to 
 build "a church in the style of the Romans," which signi- 
 fies an absolute dearth of skilled labor in England. 1 His- 
 tory, however, settles the question by declaring in the most 
 positive manner that " Saint Benedict first of all brought artifi- 
 cers into England who could build stone churches." 2 
 
 Halliwell's manuscript narrates that Masonic Craft came 
 into Europe in the time of King Athelstan, whose reign 
 began about the year 924, and continued several years. 
 
 1 Architectos sibi mitti petiit, qui juxta morem Romanorum ecclesiam de 
 lapide in gente ipsius facerent. Beda, Hist. Eccles., Lib, V., cap. 21. 
 
 2 Ibid., Lib. I, cap. 3. 
 
444 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY AND 
 
 "No other ancient document agrees with this assertion. 
 The majority of Masonic chronicles refer the period of the 
 appearance of Masonry into Britain to the age of Saint 
 Alban, one of the early evangelist martyrs, many centuries 
 prior to the time of Athelstan; hut they all agree that the 
 Craft came from abroad, and specify Athelstan's reign as 
 an interesting period of Masonic history. From the pre- 
 ceding statement it will be observed that the older Craft 
 chronicles are lacking in harmony upon vital points of 
 tradition, and in some respects, tested by their own records, 
 are totally antagonistic. From the historic facts already 
 adduced, it is very clear that, in case the ancient Craftsmen 
 were for the first time brought into England in the year 
 672, they were certainly not introduced prior, in St. 
 Alban's age, nor later, in the year 926, when Athelstan 
 was on the throne. 
 
 In the seventh century, A.D. 672, when these builders 
 made their earliest entrance into Britain, they brought 
 with them certain traditions, which had maintained an 
 uninterrupted existence down to the time when the oldest 
 English record was drawn up which professed to associate 
 with a more remote period of the fraternity the legend of 
 Holy Four Martyrs of the age of Diocletian. These sainted 
 personages were patrons to the Venetian Craftsmen until 
 the year 1652, when the guild of stonecutters erected an 
 imposing edifice, in which they assembled for Masonic 
 labors. This hall was surmounted by a bas-relief effigy of 
 the Four Saints. 1 This vitalized tradition connected the 
 Masons of England with their continental precursors in 
 Germany, who also possessed it. And curiously enough 
 the Halliwell chronicle makes no allusion to Charles Mar- 
 tel, who is invariably referred to in Craft records written 
 subsequent to the fourteenth century, but these in turn 
 eschew all mention of the martyrs crowned. The Carlo- 
 
 1 Mothes, Oeschiehte der Baukunst im Venedig, Theil II., p. 295. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF FREEMASONRY. 
 
 445 
 
 vingian monarch figures conspicuously as patron of the 
 Gallic Masons in the year 1254. 
 
 It may, we think, be asserted as within the limits of rea- 
 sonable certainty that, from the reign of Athelstan to the 
 Norman conquest, little over one hundred years, there is 
 no probability that a legend could have grown up which 
 claimed that the Craft first appeared in England in Athel- 
 stan's time. At no period during the stretch of years 
 alluded to was this possible, especially as the converse of 
 such assertion must have been known to the generation of 
 Craftsmen immediately preceding any supposed epoch of 
 the origin of the tradition. We may, therefore, safely say 
 that from the death of Athelstan to the Norman conquest, 
 in 1066, no tradition associated the English ruler with the 
 introduction of Masons into his kingdom. With the estab- 
 lishment of the Normans and large importation of French 
 Craftsmen into England, all references to any pre-eminence 
 of Anglo-Saxon patrons in the guilds of foreign builders 
 would for an extended period of time be carefully excluded. 
 It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the total and abrupt 
 change which ensued in the conquered country, in conse- 
 quence of the radical alteration in its ancient government 
 by the relentless exclusion of all Anglo-Saxon element by 
 the Norman invaders. This transformation necessarily af- 
 fected, if it did not completely eradicate, the native build- 
 ing corporations, which apparently were compelled to merge 
 their separate existence into the predominant bodies of their 
 confreres from France. 
 
 It may well be conceded that after the modifying influ- 
 ences of several centuries had permitted the Anglo-Saxon 
 admixture of the Masonic colleges to reappear, in exact 
 proportion as the different nationalities became less dis- 
 tinctly marked the gradual effort was begun to trace Craft 
 history through a line of native ascent to early English 
 sources. At the close of the fourteenth century the guild 
 of builders in England depending on oral transmission sug- 
 38 
 
446 THE EARLY HISTORY, ETC. 
 
 gested the origin of their Craft in Athelstan's day. Later 
 records, or perhaps chronicles copied in remote parts of the 
 realm, expanded the traditions of the Fraternity, and added 
 a more distant commencement in the age of Saint Alban, 
 introducing, moreover, the name of Prince Edwin, together 
 with the fabulous Assembly at York. It is perhaps im- 
 possible to fix a date for the legends of Edwin and Athel- 
 stan, but, adhering to the line of argument adduced in the 
 foregoing article, we assert that, so far as the same relates to 
 Athelstan, it is no earlier than the fourteenth century, 
 while the tradition of Edwin is clearly an enlargement of 
 Craft chronicles of the fifteenth. 
 
 \ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
9 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTOEY OF 
 THE LOST WORD. 
 
 By Rev. J. F. Garrison, M.D. 
 
 History of the Lost Word — Anxiety of the Ancients to Know 
 the True Name — Its Presumed Powers — The Targums — The 
 Sacred Word Traced to the Jews — Jehovah, or J. H. V. H. — 
 Substitute — Pronunciation of True Name Lost — How Ke- 
 
 CEIVED BY THE, HlGH-PRIEST — SCRIPTURES KEAD IN THE JEWISH 
 
 Synagogues — Temple for the Name — Queen of Sheba Visits 
 Solomon to Obtain the " Word " — It is Concealed in a Rod — 
 Its Potency — Hindoo Omnific Word — Tetragrammaton — 
 Essenes : how Constituted — Eagerness to Obtain the Divine 
 Name — Abraxas — The Gnostics — Cabala — Point Within a 
 Circle — The Yod — Light — Jewish Wisdom, Strength, and 
 Beauty — Jehovahs in Triangles — Three Lighted Candles — 
 Importance of Careful Examination of this Subject. 
 
 HERE can be no doubt in the mind of any student of 
 ancient philosophy or theology, of the great importance 
 attached, from a very early date, and among many nations, 
 "X ^i to the knowledge of the true name of God. 
 We see this very strongly marked in the Hebrew Scriptures, both 
 before and after the Divine utterance of this name to Moses at the 
 foot of Horeb (Ex. vi. 3). Jacob asks the name of the mysterious 
 being who wrestled with him, evidently impressed with the feeling 
 that it was a Divine visitant with whom he had to do (Gen. xxxii. 
 29, 30), for he says, " I have seen God face to face ; " so also Ma- 
 noah inquired of " the angel of Jehovah," " What is thy name ? " 
 38 * 2D 449 
 
450 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (Judges xiii. 17, 18), and receives for answer, "Why asketh thou 
 thus after my name, for it is secret?" or, as in the marginal render- 
 ing, " wonderful, " the Hebrew word being used in both senses ; and 
 this, with the appearance of " the angel," overwhelms him with 
 terror, because " we have seen God." 
 
 It was unquestionably the influence of this same desire to know 
 this "secret" or " wonderful" name (and indeed it was regarded 
 as both) that led Moses to make the same inquiry, when God 
 called to him from the " burning bush." 
 
 The origin of this feeling lies among the unsolved enigmas of 
 history ; although, if I were treating of its relation to theology, 
 I do not think it would be difficult to show that there was an inti- 
 mate and essential connection between the divine " word " in which 
 God expresses his own nature, and some of the deepest problems of 
 creation and theology. 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of the profound venera- 
 tion for this word, this wonderful name, to which I have referred, 
 it comes to us, from the very earliest point at which we meet with it 
 in history, invested with the character of a peculiar and most 
 potent charm and mystery. The importance attached to jt was 
 not merely from the desire, as a matter of simple knowledge, to be 
 possessed of the true name of God, but also, and in the later periods 
 mainly, from the belief that there were certain great powers belong- 
 ing to this name : that they who knew and uttered it, with the 
 fitting solemnities and accompaniments, were able, by these means, 
 to perforin great wonders ; had mastery over the elements ; could 
 evoke and control the demoniac powers of the unseen world, and 
 exercise a portion of the attributes of the Divine being, whose 
 nature and might it was supposed to embody and express ; and also, 
 that its trivial or blasphemous use, or indeed any use which was 
 not guarded by special solemnities and awe, would be visited by 
 instant death upon the " vain " trifler with this exalted and mighty 
 agency. 
 
 The danger of thus taking this " name in vain," is shown very 
 clearly in many of the Jewish traditions, and comments are con- 
 tained in their Targums, as the ancient translations and paraphrases 
 of the Hebrew Scriptures were called. 
 
 In Leviticus xxiv. 10, 11, an account is given of a broil between 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 451 
 
 " the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, 
 and a man of Israel ; " and as the English translation renders it, 
 " the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, 
 and cursed ; " and Moses, having inquired (v. 16) the name of the 
 Lord, received for answer, " he that blasphemeth the name of the 
 Lord, shall surely be put to death ; " and in accordance with this 
 command, they took him " without the camp, and stoned him with 
 stones." The Targums, 1 in their paraphrase, make the mere un- 
 warranted utterance of the word to have been the gravamen of the 
 offence : the Targum of Onkelos says, " he gave expression to the 
 name and execrated," "and that he uttered the name that is 
 alone," and it announces the reply of Jehovah to the inquiry of 
 Moses (v. 16) thus : " He who expresseth the name of the Lord, 
 dying he shall die." The Palestine Targum shows the pro- 
 found awe which was attached to the mere saying of the word, in 
 its comment on the opening words of the exquisite song of Moses 
 (Deut. xxxii. 3), " I will publish the name of the Lord ; " on 
 which it adds, "Mosheh, who was the doctor of Israel, could not 
 permit himself to pronounce the holy name until he had dedicated 
 his mouth, at the beginning of his hymn, with eighty and five 
 letters, making twenty and one words : " for, says the Jerusalem 
 Targum, " It is not possible, even to one of the highest angels, to 
 utter that name rightly, until they have said holy, holy, holy, thrice 
 [note here the three times three]. And from them Mosheh learned 
 not to utter that name openly, until he shall have dedicated his 
 mouth . . . and after that, he says, Hear ye heavens, it is the 
 name of the Lord." 
 
 This conviction of the transcendent eminence of " the word " 
 expressing the Divine name was not, however, by any means pecu- 
 liar to the Jews ; and I shall have occasion, later on, to trace some 
 of its relations to the theology and philosophy of other of the 
 ancient peoples. 
 
 Our fullest information regarding it comes from the Hebrew 
 literature; and, as our interest in it, as Masons, belongs almost 
 wholly to the characters with which it has been clothed in Jewish 
 history and tradition, I shall first examine these, in some detail, 
 and then, connecting this with the remains of the same thought, ,as 
 
 1 The references to the Targums are all taken from Etheridge's translations. 
 
452 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 they have been preserved by other nations, I shall endeavor to 
 point out the line by which it has been handed down to modern 
 times, and through which we, as Masons, have become the sole 
 inheritors of one of the most remarkable and beautiful of all the 
 truths or traditions of the world's primeval ages. 
 
 It is certainly a most curious fact in history, that the living 
 memory of this strange truth or speculation (whichever it may be 
 called), once so potent in its influence, so widely spread and 
 strictly guarded, should be retained for modern times in the mys- 
 terious order of successors to the ancient builders, and in this 
 shrine alone. 
 
 The writers of the Christian church make mention, in their com- 
 mentaries on the Bible and histories of the church, that there 
 was some great virtue thought, by the Jews, to belong to the 
 uttered name of the true God, but almost universally dismiss it 
 with only the passing sneer of " idle superstition." 
 
 The Jewish people still maintain a reverence for the holy name, 
 which makes those who are devout always write it with another 
 pen, and speak another word, with softened voice, instead of its too 
 solemn, venerated sounds. 
 
 It is only in the Masonic order that the " Divine Word " is 
 a living reality, and subject of interest to the thought of our 
 modern world. 
 
 The vast significance attached to the name of God among the 
 Jews, is shown by the very frequent, and often peculiar, use in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures of such expressions as, in " the Name," and by 
 " my Name," when referring to the actual presence and operation 
 of the Divine Being ; and very many times, where we would feel it 
 awkward to use such a phrase, and would think it far more natural 
 and fitting to say directly, " God was," or " God did," or " God 
 said," thus and so. 
 
 We are so accustomed to the expressions of the Bible in this 
 form, that we do not recognize how peculiar and remarkable they 
 are, nor how unlike the Bible is, in this respect (both the Old Tes- 
 tament and the New), to all our present style of thought, and even 
 to the ordinary usage of all the other writings on religion or 
 philosophy among the ancient nations. 
 
 To cite all the passages in which " the Name," or " His Name," or 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 453 
 
 " the Name of the Lord," is employed as equivalent to the Divine 
 power, or Divine self, would be to transcribe a large portion of the 
 Old Testament, and not a few extracts from the New. 
 
 The mere references to the word " Name " occupy five long and 
 closely-printed columns in Cruden's Concordance, and a very large 
 proportion of these show the use of the word in some of the forms 
 which I have indicated ; and I will only commend to those who are 
 interested in this matter, and especially in the Masonic relations to 
 " the Name," to note the frequency with which the phrase is thus 
 applied, and the significant allusions with which its employment is 
 very often accompanied. 
 
 It will be necessary here to state some facts concerning our 
 English version of the Bible, and the form in which it presents the 
 " Divine Word," for in this very form we have a marked illustra- 
 tion of the prevailing influence of just that profound reverence 
 and awe of the holy name of which I have been speaking ; 
 and it will be essential, to a correct study of the Bible, to go 
 behind the words which our translators, in certain cases, have 
 employed, and to insert the original and true Hebrew reading in 
 their stead. This is especially necessary for a right understanding 
 of the continually recurring phrase " the Lord," which meets us 
 on almost every page of the Old Testament. 
 
 You will find this, in every correctly printed English Bible, 
 occurring in two kinds of type ; one, the ordinary type of the 
 accompanying text, " the Lord " ; here it is simply a title of respect 
 or dignity, or an ordinary English form, " my Lord so and so." 
 
 It is very often found printed in small capitals, "the Lord." 
 In all these cases it indicates the original to be the Hebrew word, 
 J. H. V. H. — the original Hebrew letters being HUT, Yodh, He, 
 Vau, He. Hence, whenever you see the form "the Lord," let it 
 always be read as if, instead of this, it were the Hebrew word 
 J. H. V. H., for this is what it stands for. I will now proceed to 
 trace .the way in which this form came to be adopted. 
 
 The change itself is the result of the terror of expressing the 
 Divine name, to which I referred in the quotation from the Targum 
 upon Lev. xxiv. 10, 11 ; and also from a fear of incurring the 
 curse, thought to have the same import, in their understanding of 
 the third commandment, whose correct reading is, " Thou shalt not 
 
454 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 lift up (or utter) the name J. H. V. H., thy God, to vanity, " i. e., 
 idly, in a foolish or deceitful way. 
 
 In order to avoid the curse which they imagined was thus 
 threatened against any "vain" or unreverential uttering of the 
 sacred word, they carefully abstained from every use of it in com- 
 mon conversation, or their ordinary writing ; they generally used 
 instead of it, when speaking, the word " Adonah " or " Adonai," 
 which was a title of high dignity, like our English title of 
 " my lord," and also was one of the less sacred designations of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 When they came to the mystic J. H. V. H., in reading the 
 Hebrew Bible, they always said, in place of these, this same " sub- 
 stitute " Adonah ; and in the transcription of the manuscripts of 
 Holy Writ, their scribes, we are informed, were constantly accus- 
 tomed either to write these venerated letters with a pen especially 
 reserved for them, or else to cleanse the one they were employing, 
 with the utmost care, before they ventured to insert the sacred 
 name, which they so dreaded " to lift up in vanity." 
 
 The only person by whom the real word was ever uttered, with 
 its true pronunciation, was the Great High-Priest of the Jewish 
 worship: and their uniform tradition is, that he employed it only 
 in the most solemn form of benediction, at the close of certain of 
 the temple services, and when he went, once a year, on the great 
 day of atonement, into the awe-inspiring inner chamber of the 
 sanctuary, the Holiest of Holies, or Sanctum Sanctorum. 
 
 This latter occasion seems, after a time, to have become the only 
 condition under which it was pronounced at all — the "substi- 
 tute" Adonah being used, even in the solemn benediction, the 
 same as it was in all ordinary conversation when the name of God 
 was spoken of. 
 
 So that, for many generations, it is probable "the Divine Word" 
 was uttered only on one day of the year, and by one man, in all 
 the Jewish nation. 
 
 On that day, the grandest and most awful ceremonial of the 
 sublime temple service (the atoneinent for the sins of the whole 
 people) was performed. 
 
 The high-priest sanctified himself for days before by the most 
 careful preparation, in solitude and prayer, that no unholiness or 
 
HISTORY OF TEE LOST WORD. 
 
 455 
 
 impurity should bring on him the curse of death when he should 
 pass behind the mystic veil, and stand in the blazing presence of 
 the divine glory within the "holiest place of all." 
 
 When, therefore, the solemn hour arrives, in dread and wonder, 
 with smoking censer and basin of the fresh shed blood to sprinkle 
 on the mercy-seat, he goes alone into the awful sanctuary, and reads 
 there, by the light of the shekinah, the letters of the mighty name, 
 " put there" (1 Kings ix. 3) by the Divine command ; and by that 
 name calls on the one true God, who has revealed Himself in it ; 
 and by that name prays Him for the forgiveness and atonement 
 of his sinning, but repentant people Israel. 
 
 With our ideas of written language, all these precautions and 
 solemnities attached to any word would indicate great reverence 
 towards the being whom it named, and might inculcate a proper 
 sense of the veneration due to it and him, but could, in no way, 
 prevent our knowledge of the word itself, nor materially affect our 
 true pronunciation of it. 
 
 It was entirely different, however, under the mode in which the 
 Hebrew language, while a living. tongue, Avas written. 
 
 We now write out, or print, each word in full, inserting both 
 * the consonants and vowels ; hence we would write the name of our 
 Order thus, Masonic ; but in the Hebrew manuscripts, from the 
 earliest age down to a period probably long after Christ, they only 
 wrote the consonants, and left the vowels (by which these should 
 be sounded, and consequently the true pronunciation given to the 
 word) to be conveyed and handed down, from age to age, entirely 
 by the living teacher. In writing, the only letters of the title of 
 the Order would have been M. S. N. C. ; but whether these stood 
 really for Mu-so-nac, Mi-se-nuc, or Ma-son-ic, could be known 
 only to those who had actually heard the right pronunciation 
 from some one who had himself been rightly taught. If, there- 
 fore, the correct sounds had not been uttered openly for centuries, 
 the very word itself would have become unknown to the great body 
 of the people. If those who did know it should have failed to 
 preserve and hand it down for even a single generation, it would 
 become a "lost word;" and without some supernatural melhod 
 of recovery should intervene, would, in all probability, be lost 
 forever. 
 
456 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Now, just this was, in fact, the history of the sacred name 
 J. H. V. H. Little by little its use became less frequent ; it 
 never was heard in common conversation ; the readers of the 
 Scriptures in the synagogues, when they came to it, always said 
 its substitute, "Adonah, the Lord." After a time, it was never 
 uttered except by the Great High-Priest upon the solemn day of 
 the atonement. He used it as the word with which he drew 
 nigh to God, as he passed into the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holiest 
 of Holies ; and only when he stood within that solemn presence 
 was it audibly pronounced. 
 
 In the fear lest he should die without provision for its knowl- 
 edge when the same dread solemnity should again demand its 
 use, the officiating priest, so Hebrew tradition tells us, took his 
 next successor into the outer holy, and there, in whispered tones, 
 gave him the sacred " secret word," with binding oath never by 
 him to be repeated, except in the same way and manner in which 
 he had himself received it. 
 
 So, while the first temple stood, the true word passed on down 
 from age to age, although, for a long time perhaps, in the sole line 
 of the high-priests ; but in some of the after civil dissensions and 
 captivities of the Jews, some one of the high-priests failed to give 
 it to his successor, or the last one in possession of it perished ; 
 and thus, once " lost," there was no source from which it could be 
 again supplied, and nothing remained but, ever afterward, to 
 use the substitute "Adonah " when the Divine name was spoken 
 of, and to write the sacred four letters, HliT, J. H. V. H., without 
 the knowledge of the real word which they denoted. 
 
 So that from that time on the true name of the living God was a 
 " lost word " to men ; and the two forms under which we have it in 
 our English version, which are sometimes " the Lord," and some- 
 times JeHoVaH, are both derived from the employment of Adonah 
 as the substitute, and in the following ways : Ptolemy Philadel- 
 phus, one of the Greek dynasty of the kings of Egypt, desired, 
 about 280 b. c, to have among the books in a large library he 
 was collecting, a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. 
 The version, we are told, was made by seventy of the most learned 
 and pious Jews in Egypt, and hence is called the " Translation of 
 the LXX," or the Septuagint; and these translators, whenever 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 457 
 
 they came to the mystic letters J. H. V. H., always rendered them 
 by the Greek words 6 xvptoj, meaning exactly the same as Adonah, 
 "the Lord." 
 
 As this Greek version was of high authority with the trans- 
 lators of the English Bible, these followed its example, and mostly 
 rendered the Greek words 6 xupioj into their English form, " the 
 Lord ;" but as they wished to signify where this was used as only 
 a title of respect, and where as a substitute for the Holy Name, 
 they had it printed in small capitals, " the Lord," whenever it stood 
 for the word J. H. V. H. in Hebrew, and thus the form " the Lord" 
 came into our text. The English version sometimes, also, uses the 
 word JeHoVaH, as if this were the real Hebrew of the Holy Name 
 transferred directly to our Bible. But this is certainly not the true 
 form of the lost word. 
 
 Some time, we know not exactly when, after the Christian era, 
 the Jewish rabbis, fearing lest, in the dispersion of the nation, their 
 language would be entirely lost, began to insert little marks into 
 their manuscripts of holy w r rit, in order to signify the vowels 
 which belonged to every word, and by the aid of which it might be 
 read aright ; but when they came to the word J. H. V. H. they did 
 not know what its true vowels were, and if they had, most proba- 
 bly would not have put them in ; but following still their notion of 
 its substitute, gave to the sacred consonants the vowel sounds of 
 the word Adonah, and wrote the Holy Name as JeHoVaH, which 
 is thus formed by the insertion of vowels which do not belong to it ; 
 and it, consequently, is not the sacred word at all, but only the 
 rabbinical perversion of it, and leaves us as far from a knowledge 
 of the true Name as we were before. 
 
 This hurried outline of the mode in which the holy word was 
 lost, accords with the preeminence attached to the name of God in 
 all the Jewish Scriptures, and in all the remains of their traditions 
 and interpretations of the Scriptures. 
 
 The most important of these last are what are called " the Tar- 
 gums." These are the authorized translations and paraphrases 
 explanatory of the sacred text, which were read in the synagogues 
 after the Hebrew tongue had ceased to be a living language. The 
 reader of the day read in the Hebrew text the portion of the Scrip- 
 39 
 
\ 
 
 458 APPENDIX. 
 
 ture which was appointed for the service, paragraph by paragraph ; 
 and as he^closed each sentence, one standing by him read a trans- 
 lation of the paragraph into the common language. This, often- 
 times, was also a short explanation of the meaning of the text, as it 
 was then taken by the rabbis. These we have still preserved to us 
 in nearly, if not precisely, the very forms in which they were read 
 in the synagogues at the Christian era, and they are what I have 
 referred to by the name of Targums. Whether we take their ex- 
 planations as correct or not, they give us, as no other writings can, 
 the mode in which the Jewish scholars then, and for centuries 
 before, had understood their sacred Scriptures; and in these we 
 learn very fully how they regarded the Divine Name, even more 
 clearly than by its ordinary usage in the Bible. 
 
 The Bible employs " the Name," or " my Name," etc., very con- 
 stantly, and often as an equivalent of the Divine presence, or the 
 power of God ; but as its wont is, leaves the mere use of it to be its 
 own interpreter. Thus it says of the future tabernacle and temple 
 (Ex. xx. 24), " Where I record my Name, I will come unto thee ;" 
 of Solomon (2 Sam. vii. 13), "He shall build an house for My 
 Name." It calls the temple (1 Kings ix. 3), " The house thou hast 
 built to put My Name there." " Let us exalt His Name," saith 
 the Psalmist; " How excellent is Thy Name in all the earth," " The 
 Name of the God of Jacob defend thee," " Our help is in the Name 
 of the Lord." The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon " when she 
 (1 Kings x. 1) heard his fame concerning the Name J. H. V. H." (of 
 the Lord). Elijah brings fire down on his sacrifice upon Carmel, 
 by calling on "the Name J. H. V. H." (of the Lord) ; and Malachi 
 closes the Old Testament, " My Name shall be great among the 
 heathen" (Mai. i. 11), and "a book of remembrance was written 
 before him for them that feared J. H. V. H (the Lord), (Mai. iii. 
 16), and thought upon his Name." 
 
 So also in the New Testament, Jesus says of himself (John x. 25), 
 " the works that I do in my Father's Name, they bear witness of 
 me." He embodies his thought of his own life (John xvii. 6), 
 " I have manifested thy Name to the men whom thou gavest me." 
 His model prayer contains " Hallowed be thy Name." The formula 
 by which He orders his disciples to baptize the nations is, " Into 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 459 
 
 the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; " the 
 Seventy return to him exultant in the fact that " even the devils 
 are subject unto us through thy Name " (Luke x. 17). Peter and 
 John, after His resurrection, bid the same man, " in the Name of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (Acts iii. 6). When the 
 sanhedrin (Acts iv. 7) asked, "By what power or by what Name 
 have ye done this ? " Peter replied, " By the Name of Jesus Christ 
 of Nazareth doth this man stand here before you whole." 
 
 These passages are but a very few among the great number in 
 which the supremacy, and might, and presence of the Divine Being 
 are expressed by " the Name," or regarded as inherent in and be- 
 longing to it. And this is still more strikingly apparent in the 
 paraphrases of the Targums. 
 
 According to one of these (Ex. ii.), when Moses came to the 
 house of the priest of Midian, after his first flight from Egypt, he 
 there was " showed the rod which was created between the evenings, 
 and on which was engraven and set forth the great and glorious 
 Name with which he was to do the wonders in Mizraim." Pha- 
 raoh is represented (Ex. v. 2) as saying, " Who is Yeva (the Tar- 
 gum form of the Divine name), that I should obey His voice ? I 
 have not found the Name of the Lord in the book of the angels, 
 of Him I am not afraid, etc." The power of the Urim and Thum- 
 mim (Ex. xxviii.) was because " in them was engraven and ex- 
 pressed the great and holy Name by which were created the three 
 hundred and ten .worlds, and which was engraven and expressed in 
 the foundation stone wherewith the Lord of hosts sealed up the 
 mouth of the great deep at the beginning, whosoever remembereth 
 that word in the hour of necessity shall be delivered." " They shall 
 worship the Name Yeva only." (On Ex. xxii. 20). One especial 
 enormity, of the making of the golden calf at Sinai, was (Ex. xxx. 
 25) that it was made of the crowns upon the heads of the people, 
 given them at Horeb, and " which were inscribed and beautified 
 with the great and glorious Name," " which was set forth at Horeb." 
 
 I might multiply extracts to this same effect almost indefinitely, 
 both from the Bible and the various remains of ancient Hebrew tra- 
 dition, but the above establish, beyond question, the supreme import- 
 ance attached by the Jews to the possession and the use of this 
 once-revealed, but now lost, name of God. I now turn to mark 
 
460 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the traces of the same opinion among certain of the Gentile 
 nations. 
 
 The Vedas, the sacred hymns of the Hindus, always begin with 
 the word AUM, which 1 is, by some writers, explained to be com- 
 posed of the initial letters of the names of their three principal 
 gods ; by others, as an ancient form of the word meaning "that," 
 implying the undefined and indefinable nature of original source 
 of all existence. In either case, as a designation of the ineffable 
 Name of the supreme source of being, and a word of mystical 
 significance and power, and under the form of Om it is still so re- 
 garded by the Buddhists throughout all Eastern Asia. 
 
 Herodotus (450 b. c.) refers many times to a sacred name for 
 their deity among the Egyptians, which they were unable or unwill- 
 ing to alter. In the Book of the Dead, which was a roll deposited 
 with every dead body, to be the record of his hope in eternity, we find, 
 among other expressions about their gods, these, or similar ones, often 
 recurring : " I am the Great God, existing of myself, the creator of 
 his Name ;" " I know the Name of this Great God that is there." 
 
 Plato expresses the feelings of Socrates (in Philebus), "the 
 dread which I always feel as regards the names of the gods is 
 beyond even the greatest fear." Pythagoras, as is well known, 
 made the reverence for the " four-lettered word," or, as it is called 
 in Greek, the Tetragrammaton, or Tetractys, one of the essential 
 elements of his instruction : and this word was the Name of the 
 supreme deity. 2 It was the oath by which he always swore, as 
 the most solemn and binding of all. One of his disciples says, 
 " There is nothing in the whole world which does not depend upon 
 the Tetractys, as its root and principle, for it is the Maker of all 
 things, the intelligible God." 
 
 The source whence he derived this notion, and even the mystical 
 word itself, have been the subjects of much inquiry with scholars ; 
 but, seeing that he travelled twenty years in Egypt, Persia, Chal- 
 dea, Sidon, and Crete, I think it scarcely possible he should not 
 have come in contact with the Jews, and hence agree with Cud- 
 worth, " that the Tetractys was nothing else but the proper Name 
 of the Supreme God among the Hebrews." This, more espe- 
 cially, as the Greek word Iao and the Latin Jove, both which 
 
 1 Hardwicke, Christ and Other Masters, p. 125. 
 
 2 Oudworth, Vol. II., 14. 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 are evidently fragments of the Hebrew sacred name, were titles or 
 designations among each people of their chief deity ; and show that, 
 somehow or other, a partial knowledge of this holy word had, at a 
 very early date, extended to them as well as to the Jews. 
 
 The opinions of Pythagoras on this have an especial interest to 
 the Masonic student, from the high place he holds in the traditions 
 of the Order. It is more than probable that it was his teaching 
 about the "secret word" which brought his name and doctrines 
 into connection with certain of the later schools of Jewish specu- 
 lation ; and thus, about the period of the Christian era, combined 
 together, in a union which has been ever since maintained, these 
 similar, yet heretofore widely-separated, elements of Egyptian the- 
 ology, Greek speculation, and Hebrew tradition and Scriptures. 
 
 The first of the associations in which these elements are found 
 thus joined, was the mysterious order of the Essenes. 
 
 These are generally spoken of as merely a sect of the Jews ; but 
 neither in their tenets nor their locality were they exclusively 
 Jewish. Their doctrines were contained in certain mystical inter- 
 pretations of the Hebrew Scriptures, received from ancient tradi- 
 tion handed down from time immemorial by oral transmission, 
 and preserved with the most profound care and secrecy ; while in 
 their discipline of life, they were so nearly like the teachings of 
 Pythagoras, that Hippolytus (a. d. 250) says of them : 1 " They 
 were in Egypt in the time of Pythagoras, and most of his ideas 
 were derived from them." 
 
 So far were they from being merely a narrow Jewish sect, 
 we are told by Philo, the Jew, 2 that, although they were most 
 numerous in Egypt and Palestine, " they were dispersed through 
 many parts of the world, as they thought it requisite that both 
 Greeks and barbarians should partake of so excellent a benefit" 
 
 Their name Essene is interpreted, by Westcott, 3 as meaning " the 
 silent or mysterious," and all their discipline was in strict accord- 
 ance with their name. 
 
 In every city where they had a society, there was a president, by 
 whom all their affairs were regulated. When any one desired 
 initiation he was admitted on probation for a year, receiving, on 
 
 1 Hippolytus, Bk. IX., 22. 2 Prideaux Connexions, Vol. II., 232. 
 
 3 Smith's Bible Dictionary, " Essene." 
 
 39* 
 
462 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 his entrance, a white apron or girdle, and a small pick-axe. At 
 the end of this probation, if he had given satisfaction, he was 
 advanced to a higher degree, but still was not admitted to their 
 private meetings. In this second stage he continued for two years 
 longer, and, if then thought worthy, was raised to a full mem- 
 bership. 
 
 Before admission to the highest grade, he took most dreadful 
 oaths : to believe and worship God, to be just to all men, that he 
 will conceal the mysteries of the sect, and not communicate them 
 to any one not a member, and preserve with equal care the books 
 of the order, and the names of the angels. On this, Dollinger 1 
 remarks : " In their estimation, the sun was a living being, and 
 without doubt he had a Name to be kept secret." He is correct 
 about " the secret name ; " but it was undoubtedly the mystic name 
 of God, and there is no proof whatever that it had any reference 
 to the sun as a living being. 
 
 They furthermore vow not to deliver their doctrines, to any of 
 the brethren even, otherwise than as they have themselves received 
 them. 
 
 They were allowed to practise any of the peaceful arts, and did 
 their work, after certain prayers offered in certain ancient forms, 
 under the direction of the superiors of the society. About noon 
 they assemble in their private room, each with a white linen apron 
 on him, and while at their meal are exhorted by the elders to 
 moderation — not to pervert the purposes of refreshment to those of 
 intemperance or excess. No disorder or unbrotherly conduct was 
 allowed among them. Their three main topics of instruction were : 
 love to God, to virtue, and to their neighbor. They also divided 
 the day into three equal parts — eight hours for study, eight hours 
 for prayer and rest, and eight hours for labor. One of their main 
 doctrines was the resurrection of the body, and Enfield 2 says of 
 them, " they were a fraternity formed for the purpose of subduing 
 their passions." No women ever were admitted to any branches 
 of the society, and some of them forbid marriage to their mem- 
 bers, but in others they were left free to do as they should please 
 in this. 
 
 1 The Oentile and Jew, Vol II., 314. 
 
 2 History of Philosophy, 394. 
 
463 
 
 I have sketched only a bare outline of this " mysterious " order, 
 but enough, I am sure, to demonstrate to every Mason that, how- 
 ever we may account for it, it possesses many points of deepest 
 interest to every student of the history of Masonry ; and also that it 
 forms one of the links in the transmission of the lost word to the 
 Gentile nations. 
 
 With the introduction of Christianity, the interest in the Old 
 Testament was almost wholly centred in their study of its relations 
 to "the Christ," and from this came a corresponding neglect of all 
 the Jewish studies and traditions. 
 
 Hence, among the " orthodox " church writers there is not very 
 much said about " the sacred name." But the opinion that there 
 was some great mystery contained in it still held its place among 
 the accepted traditions of the church. 
 
 Clement, of Alexandria (in Egypt, a. d. 200), says : 1 " The 
 mystics say it was by this word that Moses slew the Egyptian, 
 and by speaking it Saint Peter destroyed those who appropriated 
 the land in the Acts of the Apostles, and lied about it," while he 
 adds also, that it was engraven on the pillars of the Holiest of 
 Holies, from which hung the sacred veil — one letter on each of 
 the four pillars — that it might thus be known only to those who 
 entered into the mysterious adytum. 
 
 Origen 2 attaches so much importance to the possession and use 
 of the true name of God, that he considers the having of it as an 
 especial privilege belonging to the worshippers of the true God 
 alone. 
 
 There are casual allusions also in patristic and other writers 
 which show thac it was a matter of general knowledge, and reck- 
 oned among the mysteries of Biblical interpretation in that period 
 of the church. 
 
 The chief tendency to speculative theology in the early church 
 was not in the orthodox communion, for its interests were almost 
 wholly practical, but in certain of the philosophical outgrowths of 
 Christianity, especially among those known as the Gnostic sects. 
 
 A very favorite theme with some of these was the relation of the 
 "sacred word" to God, whom it expressed, and its embodiment 
 
 1 Clem, of Alex., Stromata, Bk. V., c. 6 ; Bk. I., c. 23. 
 
 2 Against Celsus, Bk. I., c. 24. 
 
464 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and manifestation in Christ, whom they regarded as its true and 
 living realization in the sphere of actual creation. 
 
 There was an old Jewish canon 1 that the name of the divine and 
 the divine itself were one, " and these sects, adopting this as a 
 fundamental principle, transferred the ancient traditions about 
 mn* (J. H. V. H.) to the name Jesus, which being in Greek Iesus, 
 began with the letter I — iota corresponding to the Heb. ' (yodh) — 
 and endeavored in like manner to express in it all the divine 
 attributes, especially the relation of the divine nature to creation, 
 and its manifestation in the coming of Jesus (Iesus) as the living 
 ' word of God.' " 
 
 In the structure of this as their holy name, and its marvel- 
 lous properties, they, some in one mode, some in another, thought 
 that all these mysteries were contained, and could be solved. 
 
 One of them, Monoimus, 2 asserts that the eternal universe pro- 
 duced eternally a perfect son, a man, as fire produces li^ht; and 
 the representation of this son is " the jot, the tittle " of the letter * 
 (the yodh of the Hebrew, and the iota of the Greek), the first 
 letter of the sacred name, which also comprises in itself all things 
 that are, and from it all the creation has been unfolded. 
 
 Valentinus 8 advocated, " as the source of the evolution of the 
 universe," a quaternion or fourfold power, using the precise expres- 
 sion of Pythagoras in describing his mysterious tetractys, or four- 
 lettered word, who also says of it, that it " has the iota " (the the 
 yodh of the Hebrews), and " from it comes all natural and sensible 
 things : " i. e., it is the symbol of the Creator of all the actual 
 universe. 
 
 In the system of Basilides, the universe of living beings pro- 
 ceeded from the nameless eternal. The first of these living powers 
 or existences is " the Great Ruler," whom he calls Abraxas. The 
 meaning of this word has been much disputed ; but it certainly 
 represents the ineffable, sacred name, and was engraven on stones, 
 and worn as a charm (see Fort's Text, p. 426). I have no doubt 
 that it was an equivalent of the Hebrew holy name, both from the 
 place which it holds in his system, and from the inscription Iao, 
 
 1 Cudworth, Intellectual System, Vol. II., p. 18. 
 8 Hippolyt, Bk. VIII., c. 5, 6. 
 * Hippolyt, Bk. VI., passim. 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 465 
 
 the Greek form of the name of God, which was generally inscribed 
 upon the reverse of these abraxas stones. And this is also con- 
 firmed in the etymology of Matter in his work on Gnosticism, 1 
 who says that "abrac" is the Kopt (Egyptian) for "blessed, 
 sacred," and "sadsch" (the Greek form for which is "Sax") 
 means word : the compound thus signifying " blessed or sacred 
 word." This word " abrac " is also, I think, the same as that in 
 Gen. xli. 43, which the Egyptians cried before Joseph when he 
 rode in the king's chariot. This is translated in our Bible, " Bow 
 the knee ; " but in the original it is " abrech," which is certainly 
 very closely analogous to the one under consideration, while the 
 meaning " blessed " is quite as appropriate, and has the sanction 
 of several commentators and lexicons. There can, I think, be no 
 question that the possession of " the faculty of abrac," in the old 
 Masonic document, refers to this, and, as Fort, chap, xxxvi., has more 
 fully shown, means an acquaintance with the mysterious knowl- 
 edge and powers belonging to the Divine name under this form of 
 the word " abraxas," while it furnishes, at the same time, another 
 and very curious link in the history of the transmission of the 
 mysterious, or omnific, or ineffable, or sacred word, for it is known 
 by all these names, and shows the union of the double line of 
 Hebrew tradition and Egyptian speculation in these new schools 
 of Christian Gnostic theology. 
 
 This union once effected, the influence of its old elements seemed 
 all to revive again. The study of the deep problems concerning 
 the Divine " word " and nature engaged the thoughts, and formed 
 the basis of almost innumerable sects, all connected in some way 
 with these pregnant old ideas ; many of them were secret associa- 
 tions ; all of them were fond of expressing, or veiling, their specu- 
 lations in symbolic forms. 
 
 These systems are generally spoken of in bulk as "Gnostic 
 heresies," and so dismissed with the usual contempt of ignorance, 
 as thus properly disposed of, but which, in fact, are, many of them, 
 eminently worth the study of every philosophic or theologic student, 
 and are as profound and suggestive in their real thought as they 
 are alien to all modern ways of representing it. 
 
 1 Quoted in Mil man, History of Christianity, Vol. II., p. 70. 
 2E 
 
466 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 One by one the various sects which made the Omnific Name 
 thus the centre of their speculations pass out of notice as distinct 
 organizations or theologic schools; not so, however, with the im- 
 pulse of that great influence itself. 
 
 We find this, just before the Reformation, amplified into a 
 system more elaborate and complete than any, upon the same 
 theme, which had before existed ; and now not as a sect, but as a 
 scheme of thought, which seemed a sort of common ground (so far 
 as concerned the nature of God and his relations to the created 
 universe) for thinkers from the most different schools of the then 
 prevalent religions. 
 
 This is the system known to us as the cabala, and was the 
 accepted philosophical theology of many of the most distinguished 
 of the Reformers and English Protestants of a much later date, 
 having also advocates among the staunchest maintainers of the 
 papal faith, and being widely accepted as the current Biblical 
 interpretation of the Jewish scholars of that period, as it had been 
 for centuries before. 
 
 It is these speculations of the cabala, in which the tradi- 
 tions of the previous ages have come down to us, under the forms 
 in which we, as Masons, and especially in the Chapter Degrees, are 
 accustomed to receive them. 
 
 The points of identity are so many, so various, and so essential 
 in the very structure of the order, that I do not hesitate to infer 
 (and, I think, every competently-instructed Mason will agree with 
 me) that, at some period in their history (I am not here inquiring 
 when), the association of the great builders of Western Asia, and 
 which passed over, later, into the Masonic guilds of Latin and Teu- 
 tonic Europe, had made or found the mystery of the omnific word 
 an integral element of their secret science ; and that this (which, 
 in one of their old documents, is called " The Faculty of Abrac," 
 see Fort's Text, chap, xxxvi.), under substantially the same forms as 
 in the cabala, has been preserved, and still remains as an essential 
 portion of the traditions and symbols of the Masonic order in its 
 different degrees. 
 
 The word cabala (or cabballa, as it is spelled in several dif- 
 ferent ways) is indicative of the mode in which its doctrines were 
 for many centuries conveyed. It is from the Hebrew S^p> which 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 467 
 
 means " received : " because received and handed down from age 
 to age by oral transmission. 1 
 
 The exoteric portion of their doctrines was committed to writing, 
 in several books, not later than the fourteenth century. Some date 
 their earliest writings as far back as the eighth century. 
 
 Nearly all admit that the substance of their teachings had been 
 in existence, as an oral tradition, long centuries before the earliest 
 of these dates. 
 
 Their chief book was called * Sohar," or " Light," or, by an older 
 title, " Exposition — Let there be Light ; " because its principal 
 theme was the Divine light, and its expression in the Divine words 
 of Gen. i. 3. 
 
 In their conception, the supreme origin of the universe was being, 
 boundless, nameless, and whose nature was infinite light. 
 
 This was expressed by the Hebrew compound word Hor-Ha-En- 
 Soph, meaning, literally, " Ha-Hor, the light," and "En-Soph, 
 without limits ; " or, as very generally used, contracted into En- 
 Soph, the infinite, the limitless. And this is the term by which the 
 eternal origin of all things is indicated. In passing out to effect 
 creation, this " En-Soph " first produces from itself the simplest of 
 all things, which is a point,* a dot (•). This is, in theology, the 
 same truth expressed geometrically by Pythagoras, who said, " The 
 element of all existences is a point ; " extended out in length, it 
 forms a line ; expanded in every direction, it is a surface ; the line 
 curved round a centre becomes a circle ; and, hence, a point in a 
 circle represents the elements of all possible mathematic or created 
 figures in the universe and their origin. 
 
 This point being regarded in the cabala as the sign of the Divine 
 creative energy first passing into act, it was, in their symbolism, 
 most ger-erally represented in the form of the first letter of 
 the creative or omnific word, HIIT, Yodh-He-Vau-He, and hence 
 was written as (*), the letter Yodh of the Almighty name. Thia 
 is the same as our Y or J, for it is pronounced either way, accord- 
 ing to different circumstances. And it is (Fig. 31) this that we 
 should behold in the centre of the glory in " the East," instead of 
 the now universal, but far less significant letter (Fig. 32) which 
 occupies this high position in " the place of Light." 
 
 1 Most of these facts are derived from Ginsberg, On the Cabala, although 
 some of the details are from other sources. 
 
468 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 In the long ignorance, which at one time prevailed among the 
 Order, of the true riches of its own traditions and symbolic figures, 
 it had lost the deep meaning which formerly attached to this 
 mystic letter (*), and which it was intended always to recall 
 when seen Masonically. But, although the full import of its 
 meaning was for a time forgotten, the sound, as that of our letter 
 J, was still preserved and handed down, and with this, also, the 
 general knowledge that it referred to the Divine Name, so that it 
 came to be, at last, regarded as only an initial letter, and the 
 modern G then very easily assumed its place. 
 
 But many references in the preceding sketch, and especially to 
 the doctrines of the cabala, have shown that, whether as the dot 
 within the circle (Fig. 33), or as the Yodh surmounted by the light 
 (Fig. 31), this symbol was considered, not simply as a mathematic 
 point, or the commencing letter of an ordinary name of God, but 
 much rather as representing a part of the mysterious name mn\ 
 hence, as signifying God himself as the essential source and author 
 of all being and creation. And thus, also, it stands for the first 
 going forth of the eternal light as a creative power: the first 
 Divine act from which, as their true point and centre (Fig. 33), 
 all things must flow : the omnific word in its first utterance, from 
 which and by which the universe in all its parts was made. 
 
 In accordance with the high importance thus attached to it, we 
 find this first manifestation of the Divine called, among the cabal- 
 ists, by several most significant names ; some having reference to 
 it as represented by the dot (Fig. 33) ; others to the more suggestive 
 Yodh (Fig. 31) ; and others, again, to certain of its essential attri- 
 butes, as they understood them. Among these names are : The 
 Crown, the Ancient, the Primordial Point, the I Am, the Divine 
 Name, the Ineffable, etc. 
 
 It is also called, with reference both to its nature and its place, 
 
 Fig. 31. 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 469 
 
 "the chief Sephira, or Splendor," "sephira" meaning light or 
 splendor ; for they regarded it, although having a form yet, as 
 being in itself a " light," produced by, or emanating from, the in- 
 finite, eternal light; and "chief," as being the first of a series of 
 sephirse or lights (which are, at the same time, also high intelli- 
 gences) that have successively proceeded from the source of all 
 being, by and through the creative power of this, the " first Great 
 Light." 
 
 Hence, the Divine " word," — " the word of God," — occupied in 
 the cabala the preeminent position of being the essential means 
 whereby the power of the Divine was manifested, and a knowledge 
 of the Divine attributes and nature revealed to his created uni- 
 verse ; and thus rightly was held by them, whether regarded as 
 the spoken word, the living light of light, or the word of the written 
 revelation as their " first Great Light," God's most inestimable and 
 highest gift to man. 
 
 From this chief sephira, or light, there came forth, as they ex- 
 pressed it, nine other sephirse — a mysterious three times three. 
 Each one of these embodied one of the attributes of the Divine 
 nature, such as wisdom, beauty, strength, etc. ; and to each of them 
 was also given some one of the corresponding names of God in 
 Hebrew. Among these were El, Shaddai, Adonah, Elohim, etc 
 
 These emanations or lights, thus proceeding from the Infinite 
 Source of Light, are, further, always represented as being associ- 
 ated in groups of three. Each of these groups has one chief light, 
 or Divine attribute, from which the whole group takes its name. 
 The first triad, or group of three, consists of " the first great light," 
 or the ineffable, — the light of intellect, the light of wisdom, — and 
 is called Wisdom, representing the intellectual world proceeding 
 from and enlightened by the word of God. 
 
 The second group is composed of justice, mercy, and beauty, ex- 
 pressive of God's moral nature, and is called Beauty. 
 
 The third contains firmness, glory, and foundation, or establish- 
 ment, signifying the material world, and that by Strength it 
 should be established. 
 
 From the ninth of these sephirse, foundation, proceeds another, 
 being the tenth, called the kingdom, or the shekinah, and having 
 the Hebrew name Adonah, as the name of God, attached to it ; this, 
 40 
 
470 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 probably, signifying that the Divine kingdom on earth was the 
 result and final outcome, in this world, of all the various attributes 
 and manifestations of God. 
 
 In order to convey or to preserve their notions of the relations 
 of these various lights to one another, and to their Infinite Source, 
 the cabalists were accustomed to represent them in numerous sym- 
 bolic diagrams or figures. 
 
 Sometimes these are arranged in triangles, and each triangle is 
 composed of three lighted candles or lamps. These lights were called 
 by the name of the sephira, or attribute, whose place they occupied ; 
 
 EN SOPH 
 THE I N E FF ABLE 
 
 KINGDOM 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 and the whole was framed into a sort of rude shape of the human 
 figure, while each triad was designated, as we have seen, by the 
 name of the Divine attribute which it was intended most promi- 
 nently to express, these being Wisdom, Beauty, and Strength, for 
 their respective triangles. 
 
 There is another form in which they are arranged, which, though 
 preserving the same rough semblance to the form of man, disposes 
 the names of the sephirse, three on one side, three on the other, 
 and four down the middle. When arranged in this mode, they are 
 called the three pillars, or columns, of the universe. 
 
 These are sometimes called, from one of the chief attributes in 
 each line, the pillar of mercy, the pillar of judgment, and the 
 middle pillar ; but they may be named, and for the same reason, 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 471 
 
 the columns of Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, as in the arrange- 
 ment by triangles. And these are especially fitting to be selected 
 as the attributes of God, viewed in the aspect of Creator, for it was 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
472 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 through the exercise of these, preeminently, that God — called by 
 one of the fathers the Geometrician of the universe, and the De- 
 lineator of the heavenly temple — created, and must continually 
 support, the temple of universe, which He not only forms, but in 
 which He also dwells, as its eternal, all-pervading, ever-present spirit. 
 
 Thus, therefore, in forms and under symbols strange to our 
 modern thought, and yet most true and most suggestive, the 
 " Divine word " is presented to us as " the great Architect of the 
 universe," and, at the same time, as its source, light, and support — 
 its wisdom, strength, and beauty, — lost as a "word" for men to 
 speak, but immortal as the manifested power, nature, and truth 
 of the unfathomable yet ever-living and true God. 
 
 Nor are these the only modes in which they were accustomed to 
 convey the same great conceptions ; or, rather, they combined the 
 essential elements which have been now explained, in a great variety 
 of ways, according to the use they wished to make of them. 
 
 Fig. 36. Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 
 
 Among these was the simple figure of the triangle (Fig. 36), or 
 the triangle in a circle (Fig 37). Sometimes these were surrounded 
 with a circlet of rays of light shooting out in every direction all 
 
 Fig. 39. Fig. 40. 
 
 around. Very often the triangle contained the letter yodh (Fig. 38) ; 
 occasionally the whole Divine name, of which this was the signifi- 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 473 
 
 cant initial (Fig. 39) ; and, in another variety, the circle of light is 
 removed to some distance from the mystic centre. Whether this be 
 the single yodh or the inscribed triangle, thus forming a more sug- 
 gestive point and circle (Fig. 40) than the base geometric figure 
 usually seen, their significance is identical. 
 
 All these, and many others that might be given, are only dif- 
 ferent forms of the one old conception which we have been tracing 
 down, as the mystery of the omnific word, through the long track 
 of more than forty centuries, and which we have found everywhere, 
 throughout all that long stretch of ages, employing essentially the 
 same symbolism, setting forth essentially the same truths, and 
 always possessing an especial charm for those who have been occu- 
 pied with the study of its meaning, or given themselves to medi- 
 tation on the high themes which it suggests. 
 
 I know no other thought in human history which has had such 
 intense vitality ; none which can claim so continuous and unbro- 
 ken a succession of organic life. It forms the living centre of the 
 mightiest social organization of Christendom, except the Christian 
 church itself; and I think there can be no doubt, after the outline 
 given in the preceding pages, at least to any thoughtful Mason, 
 that the keynote to much of our symbolism, and the true spirit of 
 it all, are to be found in the traditions and meditations of the old 
 searchers after " the lost word." 
 
 I am sure that the more thoroughly any one enters into the 
 true import of their doctrines, even as imperfectly portrayed in 
 the bare sketch to which I have confined myself, the more he will 
 be able to comprehend the real truth and meaning of the work, 
 the symbols, the ritual, and the teachings of Freemasonry. 
 
 I have thus traced, as fully as our space allowed, the history of 
 the lost name, and the line of its traditions, from the remotest ages 
 to the Reformation, where its history as a living thought becomes 
 merged henceforth in that of the Masonic brotherhood. 
 
 It has not been my purpose to enter into any historical details 
 outside this single line. All this has been effected so completely 
 and satisfactorily in the body of the text by Fort, that it would be 
 presumption to attempt any elaborate excursions into a field which 
 he has reaped and gathered in so thoroughly. 
 
 Nor have I paused at every point to indicate the connection of 
 40 * 
 
474 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the various facts presented with the ritual and symbols of the 
 Order. Most of these are so obvious as to need no special mention 
 of the likeness. 
 
 The tenets of the Essen es, and the doctrines of Pythagoras and 
 the cabala are especially suggestive. 
 
 Studied, as they all should be, in their relations to the Bible 
 as the written word of God, and the traditions and teachings of the 
 lodge, they will, I am sure, furnish matter of continually increasing 
 interest and instruction to every thoughtful student of the Frater- 
 nity who may really desire more light. 
 
 I will here only refer to some of the more distinctive thoughts 
 of their fundamental symbolism in reference to the Omnific 
 word, which they regarded as the Divine representation of God 
 himself. 
 
 This was, as we have seen, the central idea of all these mystic 
 systems, and all their symbols were only different modes of teach- 
 ing different aspects of this vital principle. The underlying thought 
 of all these was, that the true divine word was God, in living 
 power and presence ; that it came forth from Him as light from 
 light, as word and thought are one ; that by it He made all things 
 that were made, and when the universe was formed, this was the 
 life and light of all that was created, the source whence all pro- 
 ceeded, and the strength by which all was sustained. 
 
 Hence, when the creation is regarded as the result of a Divine 
 geometric mechanism, this was represented by a point within a circle, 
 for from these all forms and figures of the universe must be derived. 
 
 When considered as the outgoing of a Divine power or word, 
 and from the Ineffable, they had the *> or the ("PIT, with rays of light 
 beaming out in every direction from this, or from its containing 
 triangle, or from their source and sun. 
 
 This also indicated that the word of God, whether the written 
 and revealed word — the Holy Bible — or the word as the living 
 manifestation of the nature and power of the Deity, — that this 
 word is the " first Great Light " of the universe, itself, at the same 
 time, containing and sending forth light to all creation. 
 
 The triangle around the holy word conveyed also a significant 
 representation of the Divine existing in a triune mode, as myste- 
 rious and unfathomable as the mystic name which was included by 
 
HISTORY OF THE LOST WORD. 
 
 475 
 
 its lines, and whose oninific power beamed out of the rays which 
 shot forth in a dazzling circle all around ; while the three burning 
 tapers standing at the corners each signified some one of the 
 modes in which God enlightens his moral or material universe — 
 all standing round His holy word, giving light to and receiving 
 light from it. 
 
 In the mystic three times three triangles, in which the sephirse 
 are grouped, or the corresponding three columns, with each their 
 three sephirse, of which the cabalistic man was formed, they 
 showed that Wisdom, Beauty, and Strength were the divine at- 
 tributes by which the universe (God's all-embracing temple) was 
 first established, and the divine supports on which, as on unbend- 
 ing columns, so long as it endureth, it must stand. 
 
 I have not space, nor if I had would it be necessary, to follow 
 out into detail the various points of interest which these old sym- 
 bols, and especially in their relation to the lost word, may open up 
 to the Masonic student. Those I have hinted at will be suffi- 
 cient to make the others readily apparent to any one who really 
 desires to trace them out. The history is, in itself, one of the most 
 curious chapters in the records of human thought. 
 
 Whenever or however they may have become associated with the 
 constitution of the societies of ancient builders, we have become 
 the sole inheritors in modern times of all that now survives of 
 these marvellous old traditions, and the symbols into which they 
 had been so elaborately and thoughtfully wrought. 
 
 In addition, I am certain that any attempt to understand the 
 principles of " Speculative Masonry," without some knowledge of 
 the history of the doctrines which have been connected with the 
 sacred name, will simply be waste effort, as the one rests on and 
 is at every point interwoven with the other. 
 
 While, however, indispensable to the understanding of the real 
 teachings of the Masonic order, yet the study of the lost word 
 should not be confined to them alone, for it is also a most wonderful 
 and suggestive theme for the investigation of any one who seeks to 
 know the records of the past, or comprehend anything of the spirit 
 of some of the most keen and subtle thinkers of the buried ages. 
 At the same time, it is so closely connected in many points 
 with the Hebrew Scriptures, both in their interpretation and their 
 
476 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 theology, that although little known, it is a most important subject 
 to the Bible student, and one that will shed new light on much 
 whose meaning can be only partially attained without such knowl- 
 edge as its study can afford. 
 
 There is thus an intrinsic value and interest in these ancient 
 speculations about the sacred name, and I can, with confidence, 
 commend the history of the lost word, its substitute, and its sym- 
 bols, as a matter of real interest and importance, not only to the 
 Masonic brotherhood, but also to the historian, the antiquary, the 
 philosopher, and the theologian. 
 
EDICTUM LIUTPRANDIS REGIS, 
 
 ANNO 729. 1 
 
 Item Memoratorio de Mercedes Comacinorum, oc. CL., VIII., IX., XI. (Ex 
 Monuinentis Historiae Patriae, p. 151 et seq.) 
 
 C. II. De Muruo. 
 
 I vero murum fecerit qui usque ad pedera unum sit gros- 
 sus, dupplicenter mercedes, et usque ad quinque pedes, 
 subquinetur ; et de ipso muro vadat per solidum uuum 
 pedes ducenti viginti quinque : si vero macinam mutave- 
 rit, det pedes centum octoginta in solidum unum, usque ad pedes 
 quinque sursum, in longitudinem vero ter quinos per tremisse. Si- 
 militer et si murum dealbaverit, sexcenti pedes vadat per solidum 
 unum. 
 
 Et si cum axes clauserit et opera gallica fecerit, mille quingenti 
 pedes in solido vestito vadant. Et si arcum volserit, pedes duo- 
 decim vadat in solido uno. 
 
 Si vero materias capelaverit majores minores, capita viginti per 
 tremisse ; armaturas vero et brachiolas quinque ponantur pro uno 
 materio. 
 
 C. III. De Annonam Comacinorum. 
 
 Tollat magistri annonam per tremisse uno segale modia tria, 
 lardo libras decern, vino urna una, legumen sextaria quattor, sale 
 sextario uno, et in mercedes suas repotet. 
 
 Merkel, Die Geschichte des Longobordenrechts, p. 18. 
 
 477 
 
478 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 C. V. De Caminata. 
 
 Si magistros caminatam fecerit, tollat per una tremisse uno. Et 
 si abietarii caucellas fecerit, per solidos uno vadat pedes duodecim. 
 Si vero peuma fecerit, quantos pedes habent tantas siliquas lebant. 
 Et si carolas fecerit cum gisso, det per tremisse carolas quattor : 
 annonas ei non repotetur. 
 
c. 
 
 REGLEMENTS SUR LES ARTS ET METIERS 
 DE PARIS. 
 
 REDIGES AU XIII« SIECLE, 
 Par Etienne Boileau. 
 
 Des Macons, des Tailleurs de pierre, des Plastriers et 
 des morteliers. 
 
 L puet macon a Paris qui veiit, pour tant que il sache 
 le mestriere, et qu'il oevre as us et aus coustumes un mes- 
 tier qui tel sunt : 
 Nus ne puet avoir en leur mestier que j apprentis, et se 
 il a apprentis, il ne puet prendre a mains de vj ans de service ; mes 
 a plus de service le puetril bien prendre et a argent, se avoir le puet, 
 Et se il le prenoit a mains de vj ans, il est a xxs de par d'amende, a 
 paier a la chapele monseign — Saint Blesve, se ce n' estoient ses filz 
 tant seulement nez de loial mariage. 
 
 Li Macon puent bien prendre j autre apprentiz si tost come li 
 autre aura acompli v ans, a quelque terme que il enst le premier 
 aprentis prins. 
 
 Li Rois qui ore est, cui Deux donist bone vie, a done la mestrise 
 des macons a, mestre Guill de Saint-Pater Sant come il li plaira. 
 Lequel mestre Guill e , jura a Paris es loges du Pales pardevant 
 dis que il le mestier desus dit garderoit bien et loiaument a son 
 povir ausi pour le poure come pour le riche, et pour le foible come 
 pour le fort, tant come il plairoit au Roy que il gardast le mestier 
 
 479 
 
480 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 devant dit, et puis celui raestre Guill e fist la forme du serement 
 devant dit pardevant le prevost de Paris en Chastelet. 
 
 Li mortilier et li plastrier sont de la miesme condicion et du 
 miesme establisements des macons en toutes choses. 
 
 Li mestres qui garde le raestrier des macons, des morteliers et 
 des plastriers de Paris de par le Roy, puet avoir ij aprentis tant 
 seulement en la mauriere desus dit, et se il en avoit plus des appren- 
 tis, il amenderoit en la maniere desus devisee. 
 
 Les macons, les morteliers et les plastriers puet avoir tant aides 
 et vallis a leur mestrier come il leur plaist, pour tant que il ne mo- 
 nestrent a nul de ens nul point de leur mestrier. 
 
 Tuit li inacon,tuit le mortelier, tuit li plastrier doivent jurer seur 
 sains que il le mestier devant dit garderont et feront bien et loiau- 
 ment, chascun endroit soi, et que se il scevent que nul il mespreng- 
 ne en aucune chose, quil ne face selonc les us et les coustumes del 
 mester devant dit, que il le feront a savoir au mestre toutes les fois 
 que il le sauront, et par leur serement. 
 
 Li mestres a cui li apprentis ait fet et par accompli son terme, 
 doit venir pardevant le mestre du mestrier, et tesmoigner que son 
 apprentis a fait son terme bien et loiaument ; et lois li mestres qui 
 garde le mestier doit fere jurer a l'aprentis seur sains que il se con- 
 tendra aus us et as coustumes du mestier bien et leaument. 
 
 Nus ne puet ouvrer el mestier devant diz, puis none sonee a Nostre- 
 Dame en charnage et en quaresme au semedi, puis que vespres soi- 
 ent chanties a Nostre-Dame, se ce nest a une arche on a un degre 
 fermer, on a une huisserie faire fermant assise seur rue. Et se 
 auncun ouvroit puis les eures devant dites, fors es ceuvraignes desus 
 devises on a besoing, il paieroit iiij den. d'amende au mestre qui 
 garde le mestier, et en puet prendre li mestre les ostieuz at cetui 
 qui seroit reprins par l'amende. 
 
 Li mortelier et li plastrier sont en la juridicion au mestre qui 
 garde le mestrier devant dit de par le Roy. 
 
 Se nus plastiers envoioit piastre pour metre en oevre chies 
 aucun hom, li macon qui oevre a celui a cui en envoit le piastre doit 
 prendre garde par son serement que la mesure del piastre soit bone 
 et loiax ; et se il en est en soupecon de la mesure, il doit le piastre 
 mesurer ou faire mesurer devant lui. Et se il treuve que la mesure 
 ne.soit bone, li plastrier en paiera vs, d'amende; c'est a savoir a la 
 
LES ARTS AND METIERS DE PARIS. 481 
 
 chapele Saint-Bleive devant dite ijs., au mestre que garde le mestre 
 ijs., et a celui qui le piastre aura mesure xj deu. Et cil a qui le 
 piastre aura este livre, rabastera de chascune asnee que il aura eue 
 en cela ouvrage autant come on aura trouve en cele qui'il aura este 
 mesuree de rechief; mes j sac tant seulement ne puet on pas 
 mesurer. 
 
 Nus ne puet estre plastrier a Paris se il ne paie vs, de Paris, au 
 mestre qui garde le mestier de par le Roy ; et quant il a paie les 
 vs., il doit jurer sur sains que il ne metra rien avec le piastre fors 
 du piastre, et que il levirra bone mesure et loial. 
 
 Se li plastrier met avec son piastre autre chase que il ne doive, il 
 est a vs., d'amende, a paier au mestre, toutes les fois qui'l en est 
 reprins. Et se li plastrier en est coustumiers, ne ne s'en voille 
 amender ne chastoier, li mestres li puet deffendre le mestier : et se li 
 plastier ne veut lessier le mestrier pour le mestre, le mestre le doit 
 faire savoir au prevost de Paris, et li prevoz doit celui plastrier faire 
 forjurer le mestier devant dit. 
 
 Li mortelier doivent jurer devant le mestre du mestier, et par 
 devant autres prudeshomes du mestier, qu'il ne feront nul mortier 
 fors que de bon liois et se il le feit d'autre pierre, ou li mortiers est 
 de liois et est perciez au foire, il doit estre despeciez, et le doit 
 amender au mestre du mestier de iiij den. 
 
 Li mortelier ne pueuent prendre leur apprentis a mains de vj 
 ans de service et cent. s. de Paris pour euz aprendre. 
 
 Le mestre du mestier a la petite joustice e les amendes des macons, 
 des plastriers et des morteliers, et de leur aydes et de leur aprentis, 
 tant come il pleura au Roy, si come des entrepresures de leurs mes- 
 triers, et de bateurs sanz sane et de clameur de propriete. 
 
 Se ancun des mestiers devant diz est adjournes devant le mestre 
 qui garde le mestier, se il est defaillans, il est a iiij den, d'amende 
 a paier au mestre ; et se il vient a son jour, et il cognoit, il doit 
 gagier ; et se il ne paie dedenz les nuiz, il est a iiij den d'amende a 
 paier au mestre ; et se il nie, et il a tort, il est a iiij den, a paier au 
 mestre. 
 
 Le mestre qui garde le mestier ne puet lever que une amende de 
 une querele ; et se cil qui d'amende a fait est si eroides et si foz 
 que il ne voille obeir au commendement (sic) le mestre, ou s'amende 
 paier, le mestre li puet deffendre le mestier. 
 41 2F 
 
482 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Se aucun du mestier devant dita, cui le mestier soit deffendeez de 
 par le mestre, ovre puis ladeffense le mestre, le mestre li puet oster 
 ses ostiz, et tenier — les tant que il soit paie de s'amende ; et se cil li 
 voloit efforcier, le mestre le devoit faire savoir au prevost de Paris, 
 et le prevost de Paris li devroit abatre la force. 
 
 Les macons et les plastriers doivent le gueit et la taille et les 
 autres redevances que li autre bourgois de Paris doivent au Roy. 
 
 Li raortelliers sont quite du gueit, et tout taileur de pierre, tres la 
 tans Charles Martel, si come li preudome Ten o'i dire de pere a fils. 
 
 Le mestre qui garde le mestier de par lou Roy est quite du 
 gueit pour le service que il li feit de garder sou mestier. 
 
 Cil qui out lx ans passe, ne cil a qui sa fame gist, tant come ele 
 ge, ne doivent point de gueit ; mes il le doivent faire savoir a celi 
 qui le gueit garde de par le Roi. 
 
THE MANUSCRIPT OF HENRY VI. 
 
 ERTAYNE Questyons, wyth Awnswers to the same, 
 concernynge the Mystery of Maconrye ; WrytteDne by the 
 Hande of Kinge Henrye, the Sixthe of the Name, and 
 faythfullye copyed by me, Johari Leylande, Antiqua- 
 rius, by the Commaunde of his Highnesse. 
 They be as folio wethe : 
 Q. What mote ytt be ? 
 
 A. Ytt beeth the skylle of nature, the understondynge of the 
 myghte that ys hereynne, and its sondrye werckynges ; sonderlyche, 
 the skylle of rectenyngs, of waightes, and metynges, and the treu 
 manere of faconnyuge all thynges for manne's use, headlye, dwell- 
 ynges, and buyldynges of alle kindes, and alle odher thynges that 
 make gudde to manne. 
 
 Q. Where dyd ytt begynne ? 
 
 A. Ytt dyd begynne with the ffyrste menne yn the este, 
 which were before the ffyrste manne of the weste, and comynge 
 westlye, ytt hathe brought herwythe alle comfortes to the wylde 
 and comfortlesse. 
 
 Q. Who did brynge ytt westlye ? 
 
 A. The Venetians, whoo, beynge grate merchaundes, corned 
 ffyrste ffromme the este ynn Venetia, ffor the commodytye of mar- 
 chaundysynge beithe easte and weste, by the Redde and Myddle- 
 londe sees. 
 
 Q. Howe commede ytt yn Engelonde ? 
 
 A. Peter Gower, a Grecian, journeyedde ffor kunnynge yn 
 
 483 
 
484 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Egypte, and yn Syria, and yn everyche land whereas the Venetians 
 hadde plauntedde Maconrye, and wynnage entraunce yn al lodges 
 of Maconnes, he lerned muche, and retournedde and woned yn 
 Greeia Magna wachsynge, and becommynge a myghtye wyseacre, 
 and gratelyche renowned, and her he framed a grate lodge at 
 Groton and raaked manye Maconnes, some whereoffe dyd journeye 
 yn Fraunce, and maked manye Maconnes, wherefromme, yn pro- 
 cesse of tyme, the arte passed yn Englelonde. 
 
 Q. Do the Maconnes descouer here artes unto odhers ? 
 
 A. Peter Gower, whenne he journeyedde to lernne, was ffyrste 
 made, and anonne techedde ; evenne so shulde all odhers beyn 
 recht. Natheless Maconnes hauethe alweys yn everyche tyme 
 from tyme to tyme communicatedde to mankynde soche of her se- 
 crettes as generallyche myghte be usefulle ; they haueth keped 
 backe soche allein as shulde be harmfulle yff they commed yn euylle 
 hanndes, oder soche as ne myghte be holpynge wythouten the 
 techynges to be joynedde herwythe in the lodge, oder soche as" do 
 bynde the freres more stronglyche together, bey the proffyte, and 
 commodytye commynge to the confrerie herfromme. 
 
 Q. Whatte artes haueth the Maconnes techedde mankynde? 
 
 A. The arts agricultura, architectura, astronomia, geometria, 
 nu meres, musica, poesie, kymistrye, governmente, and relygyonne. 
 
 Q. Howe commethe Maconnes more teachers than odher menne ? 
 
 A. The hemselfe haueth allein in arte of fyndynge neue artes, 
 whyche arte the ffyrste Maconnes receaued from Godde ; by the 
 whyche they fyndethe whatte artes hem plesethe, and the treu 
 way of techynge the same. Whatte odher menne doethe ffynde 
 out, ys onelyche bey chaunce, and herefore but lytel I tro. 
 
 Q. Whatte dothe the Maconnes concele and hyde? 
 
 A. They concelethe the art of ffyndynge neue artes and thatt 
 ys for here own proffyte, and preise ; they concelethe the art 
 of kepynge secrettes, thatt soe the worlde mayeth nothinge con- 
 cele from them. They concelethe the art of wunderwerckynge, 
 and of fore sayinge thynges to comme, that so thay same artes 
 may not be usedde of the wyckedde to an euylle end ; they also 
 concele the arte of chaunges, the wey of wynnynge the fac- 
 ultye of Abrac, the skylle of becommynge gude and parfyghte 
 wythouten the holpynges of fere and hope ; and the universelle 
 longage of Maconnes. 
 
THE MANUSCRIPT OF HENRY VI 
 
 485 
 
 Q. Wylle he teche me thay same artes ? 
 
 A. Ye shalle be techedde yff ye be werthye, and able to lerne. 
 
 Q. Dothe alle Maconnes kunne more then odher menne ? 
 
 A. Not so. Thay onlyche haueth recht, and occasyonne more 
 then odher menne to kunne, butt many doeth fale yn capacity, and 
 manye more doth want industrye, thatt ys pernecessarye for the 
 gaynynge all kunnynge. 
 
 Q. Are Maconnes gudder menne then odhers? 
 
 A. Some Maconnes are not so vertuous as some odher menne ; 
 but, yn the moste parte, they be more gude then thay would be yf 
 thay war not Maconnes. 
 
 Q. Doth Maconnes love eidher odher myghty lyas beeth sayde? 
 
 A. Yea verylyche, and yt may not odherwise be; for gude 
 menne, and true, kennynge eidher odher to be soche, doeth always 
 love the more as thay be more gude. 
 
 Here endethe the questyonnes and awnsweres. 
 41* 
 
ORDNUNG DER STEINMETZEN VOM 
 JAHRE 1462. 
 
 Von den Ersamen meistern, der Steinmetzen auff Irem Hantwerk, pallirer, 
 vnnd von den gesellen auff dem Hantwerk. Alle Artigkel vnnd gesetz, als 
 in dem Buch geschriben stehet, wie sichi ein Itzlicher, in seinem Standt 
 vnd wesen halten soil auf dem Hantwerck, Allhie zu Zwikau oder ander- 
 swoe in andern landen als in dem Buclie hernach geschriben stehet alle 
 Artigkel eigentlicher. 
 
 NN dem Nam en dess Vatters, dess Sohns, dess heiligen 
 Geistes. 
 
 Inn dem Namen dess Vatters, dess Sohns, dess heiligen 
 Geists, In dem Namen der Gebenedeyeten Junckfraw 
 
 Maria, vnnd inn der Ehre der viere gekronten Merterin, Wir 
 werckmeister der Steinmetzen thun kundt. Allenn Fiirsten 
 vnnd Herrn, Stethen, Burgeren, vnnd auch Bauern in welchem 
 stande er ist, Er sey geistlich oder weltlich, das die Etliche 
 Werkmeister inn dem Oberland hab, one zu Regenspurgk vnnd 
 zu Strasburgk zwene Tage gehabt, vnnd sie haben angesehen 
 solichenn grossen Schaden vnd Vnordnunge der werke vnd 
 verseumnisse, ist geschehen in alien landen von den werk- 
 meistern, palliren vnd gesellen, desz haben sie one muh ein Buch 
 der Ordnung vnnd Regirung inn dis Landt gesandt vnd vns dariu- 
 nen vermanen, Auf die heilige eide, die wir Steinwerck gethan 
 haben, soliche ordnunge auffzunemen vnd zu bestettigen, Inn die- 
 sem Lande nach gewonheit, als disz Buch Clerlich auszweist, das 
 haben Wir Werkmeister inn alien diesen Landen zu Meydeburgk 
 
 486 
 
ORDNUNG DER S TEINMETZEN VOM JAHRE 1402. 487 
 
 vnd Halberstat Hildesztieim vnnd Mullburgk, Merseburgk, vnnd 
 zu Meihssen, Voitlandt, Duringen, Hartzlandt, vnd das meyste 
 Theel beyeinander gewest, odder die Pallirer von vnsern wegen 
 gantz macht hatten vnnd auff zweye tagen gewest zu Torgau auff 
 Bartholomey vnd auff Michahely, als man schreybet, Nach Christi 
 vnsers lieben Herrn geburth Tausent Vierhundert vnnd in dem 
 zwey vnnd sechzigisten Jare Haben wir die ordnunge dess Buchs 
 vnnd Inhaldunge dess Lauts bestetiget vnd seinde dess gantz eins 
 worden, vnd darzu zu den Heiligen geschworen. 
 
 Soliche Artigkel zu halden in alien landen, weyt vnnd breyt, sie 
 seindt geistlich odder weltlich vnd haben das zu Richter vnnd 
 Vbermeister gesetzt, ein solches zu Regiren vnnd zu halden 
 Inwirden nach der lande gewonheit vnd noth, vnd seindt achte 
 uber alles die dis Steinwerk vnnd gebeude antrifft vnd nicht der 
 lande vnnd der Stetten, antrifft vnd gerichts Busse es were den 
 Sache das do Steinwerk antrifft, Noch soli man es mit laube thun 
 der Herren, die do sindt Erben zu dem lande vnd zu den rechten 
 helffen. Darumb haben wir etzliche Artigkel auff das Beste 
 ausgezogen aus dem Buche, Das Buch sol In wiirden bleyben an 
 solichen stetten, Das wir alle Jar hinlegen werden, do wir denn 
 alle Jar was gebrochens in den landen, an den Bauenmeistern 
 vnnd gesellen, ist das man sol rechtfertigen vnd hinlegen, Auch 
 ob die Herrn der Stette, sie sindt geistlich odder weltlich, an Iren 
 Beuden hetten, die fugen sich zu den Werkleutten, die zu ober- 
 meister gesatzt sindt, schreyben odder entbieten vnd horen ge der « 
 Gebrauch der gebeude, Do sollen die obermeister, die da zugehoren 
 vnd geschworen haben vnd gesetzt hinverpoten auff den Dag Jars, 
 wen es were, vnd sie verhoren, was der gebrauch ist, von des ge- 
 beudes wegen, das er den Herren schaden hat gethan, den schaden 
 wider zu legen nach erkentnisse der Meystern, So kompt er nicht 
 vnd veranthwortet sich nicht, so sol man In verwerfen, vnd alle 
 ordnunge legen mit den gesellen, vnnd sol In niemandt fur gutt 
 haben noch halten, oder gut sein. 
 
 Auch haben wir vorgenannte meister, pallirer vnd gesellen aus 
 dem buche gezogen vnd genomen Etzliche Stiicke, die da not sein 
 Allen obern Werckmeistern vnd gesellen auf das kiirtzte, das das 
 rechte Buch sol In ein bleyben vnd nicht gelesen werden den dess 
 Jars, wen wir eine Beruffunge haben. 
 
488 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Auch wen es die Herrn nicht haben wollen, das sol man In es 
 lasseu, vnd was die Herrn nicht haben wollen, das soil man abthun 
 von diesen Arthigkeln, vnd die Meister des landes sind derselben 
 Artigkeln seindt sie nicht pflichtig zu halten vnd der eide alsz 
 Inenhalt des Buchs der Ordnung, von diesen Artigkeln der nicht 
 not ist, zu verkiindigen was von gottesdinste, soil geschehen, vnd 
 auch zu zeringe, das alhie nicht not ist zu schreiben etzlichen 
 meistern, wissen das alles wol, die dis vormals gehort haben 
 lassen. 
 
 Auch alle diese Artigkel sindt gemacht worden ausz dem Texte 
 des alden Haubtenrechtes, das do haben gemacht die Heyligen 
 wirdigen gekronten Mertern, genannt Claudius, Christorius, Sing- 
 nificamus, der heiligen Dreyfaltigkeit vnd mariam der himlischeu 
 Konigin zu lobe vnd zu ehre. 
 
 Alsz haben wir eine ordenunge vnd statute darauf gemacht mit 
 der Hiilffe Gottes. 
 
 Aber sol ytzlicher Meyster alle geltfasten lassen vier mesze 
 halten. 
 
 Aber an Sant Petrus tage als er erhaben ward zu antiochia sol 
 man auch vier messe lassen lesen. 
 
 Aber die erste messe von der heiligen Dreyfaltigkeit, die ander 
 von vnser lieben Frauen, die dritte von den vier gekronten 
 Merteren, die virde vor alle die sollen die in der ordenung gestor- 
 ben sindt, vnd vor alle die Hiilffe vnd vnderm (unserm) Steinwerk 
 thun. 
 
 Aber die andern meister sollen auch messe lassen halden, alle 
 frauenfest, Eine vor alle die vorgenannten selen, das Gelt, do er 
 lest messe darmit halten, dasselbig geldt sol er aus der Biichssen 
 nemen, vnnd das vbrige gelt geben in die Hantbiichssen. 
 
 Aber zu gottesdinste soil Itzlicher Meister geben von igklichen 
 werk es sey gros oder klein einen alden groschen alle Frauenfast. 
 
 Aber sol ein Itzlicher geselle soli geben alle wochen einen 
 pfennig zu gottesdinste In die Biichssen. 
 
 Aber mehr, so sol kein Meister kein werk auffnehmen, er habe 
 den das vor beweyst an der Erbeyt, das die Leute bewart werden. 
 
 Aber kumpt ein Meister von neues auff das er vor nicht Meys- 
 terey getriben hatt, der sol zwehn bewerte meister haben, die fur 
 In sprechen, das er dem werk mag vorstan, so sol man In auff- 
 nehmen. 
 
OEDNUNG DER S TEINMETZEN VOM JAHRE 1462. 489 
 
 Wo man aber Neue treffenliche gebeude wil von neues anheben, 
 do sindt die Herren dess gebeudes einen Meyster zu nemen wen 
 sie wollen, vnd sindt darzu verheyschen zween oder viehr werk- 
 meister, vnd sollen sie fragen, von Irera eid, die sie der ordnunge 
 gethan haben, Ob der Meyster das werk verfiiren mag oder kan. 
 
 Dan nemen Herren vnd stete zu treffenlichen Wercken Imands 
 auff, der werk vor nicht verheget hatt, nicht werkleutte darzu 
 nemen, geschicht den Schaden dariiber, die haben die Meyster vnd 
 gesellen nicht vber zu richten, Noch dan nicht zu bussen. 
 
 Aber soil kein meister kein werck auffnemen, er konde denn 
 das verhegen, were es sache, das es Ime misserite, die Herren der 
 gebeude haben Ine zu weren, darumb vnd wir werkleutten. Das 
 musz er verpussen mit ein vnd zwantzig pfunt wachs vnd dem 
 Herrn den Schaden legen. 
 
 Aber ein Itzlicher soil sein Zeyt halden nach alt herkomen 
 gewonheyt des landes, als er das bericht, so ist er losz, vnd thete es 
 den nicht mit rathe noch komen des landes vnd des Hantwercks. 
 
 Aber das kein meister sol den lohn abprechen oder geringer 
 machen. 
 
 Vnnd ein Itzlicher njpister sol rechtfertig sein mit alien sachen. 
 Er soil keinen palirer vnd gesellen noch Diener auff Boszheyt 
 sterken oder auff etwas do schade von mochte kommen. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher Meyster soil seine Hiidtten frey halden als das 
 darinne kein zweytracht geschehe, vnd soil die Hiitten also frey 
 halten als ein gerichtsstadt. 
 
 Aber kein Meyster sol in der Hiitten ligen (liigen) vnd darinne 
 kein vnzucht treyben. 
 
 Aber so soil kein meister keine vnziichtige fraw lassen gehen In 
 die Hiitten, hat Imandt mit Ir was zu reden, so sol man von der 
 werckstat geen, als man mochte gewerffen mit einem scholhamer 
 von der werckstat. 
 
 Aber woe fremde meister hinden einkemen, die haben In zu 
 bussen Itliches stuck vor fiinff pfunt w r achs. 
 
 Aber die gesellen haben keinen Meister zu bussen, sondern.sie 
 ziehen vonn Im vnd verbiten andern gesellen die ordnung das 
 niemandt bey Im stehe, so lange bisz er gebusset werde. 
 
 Welcher meister raubt stete oder an werksteten was neme, das 
 Imandt schaden brocht, wo einer mordt todtschleger were vor echt 
 
490 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 vorechter, den soli man ausz der Ordnunge des Hantwerks gantz 
 verwerffen vnd In nirgent leiden. 
 
 Welcher meister einer den andern beredet vor gerichte odder 
 liesz es thun, oder In vnernst auszthete oder an In spreche, der ist 
 erlosz, vnd nicht gut keinem gesellen noch meister. 
 
 Ein Meyster soil seine Pallirer setzen, woe Meyster vnnd Pal- 
 lirer bey einander sindt vnnd keinen setzen er konne es denn verhe- 
 gen das die leute vnd er damit versorgt sein. Er soli In die 
 Pallirschafft befehlen, vnd die eid strebe mit maszstabe vnnd 
 winkelmas zu den Heyligen, die gebeude vnd dess Meisters schaden 
 zu bewaren. 
 
 So soil kein Meyster seine Pallirer nicht vber die gesellen sein 
 widerrecht. 
 
 Wenn ein meister einen Pallirer hat gesatzt, so sollen Im die 
 gesellen geloben gehorsam zu sein als dem Meyster, vnd der Pal- 
 lirer soil es meistern vnd gesellen verschenken. 
 
 Auch soil kein Meister von Pallirer oder gesellen handgeldt 
 nemen umb vorderunge willen, vnd kein Lipnus nicht, den kan er 
 sein lohn nicht verdinen, so soil man Im Vrlaub geben auff denn 
 Sonnabent. 
 
 Kein meister soli keinen Diener auffnemen vmb kunstwillen, der 
 vor sein Hantwerk verdient hatt vnd recht erworben, das stehet 
 dem Meyster eine woche nicht zuuor. 
 
 Es soil ein Meister alle Wochen ein wirt setzen, der do auszgibt 
 vnd berecht alle wochen dem neuen wirt, vnd soil Im anthworten, 
 was Inn Biichssen ist. 
 
 Ein Meyster hat macht ob er lust hett zu Ruhen inn der Hiitten 
 zu Vesperzeit. 
 
 Vnd ob ein Meister oder geselle kemen die das Hantwerck oder 
 die Kunst kunden vnd begert eines zeichens von einem Werk- 
 meister, dem soli er seinen willen darumb machen, vnd zu gottes- 
 dienst geben, was Meyster vnd gesellen erkennen. Vnd soli das 
 Zeichen zwiffelt verschenken Meystern vnd Gesellen. 
 
 Ein Meyster soil seinen Diener sein Zeichen nicht lenger vor- 
 halten den xiiij Tag, Es were den sache das er dem Meister 
 etliche Zeyt verseumet hette, do soli der Diener Im sein willen vor 
 darumb machen, vnd das verschenken. 
 
 Ein Meister sol auch keinen aufsatz machen einem Diener sein 
 
t 
 
 ORDNUNG DER S TEINMETZEN VOM JAIIRE 1462. 491 
 
 Zeichen zu verschenken, denn etzlichen geistliclien, denn er dazu 
 bith fur einen pfening semeln vor xv gr, ein Broten vor xv gr. 
 Fleisch zwey stiibichen weins, vnd soil nicht mehr bithen denn x 
 gesellen, bith er dariiber, so mag der Diener mer kauffen, so wirt 
 der meister darinne nicht gefert. 
 
 Ein Meister sol schlahen drey schlege, ein Pallirer zwen einfort, 
 einen wen man riigen sol morgen mittags abend nach dess landes 
 Alter gewonheit. 
 
 Do mag in meister einem Diener, der do vmb Kunst dinet zu 
 einem Pallirer setzen also fern er es verhegen kan, das die gebeude 
 bewart sindt. 
 
 Do mag ein meister seinen Diener ein Zeichen verleihen in sein 
 Lerjaren zu wandern, wenn der meister nicht forderunge hette das 
 er In must lassen wandern. 
 
 Es soil kein meister seinen Diener kein Zeichen lassen ver- 
 schenken, er habe den ausgedinet. 
 
 Es soil kein meister dem andern nachstellen vnd den Diener 
 apspenigen bey der Wahr nach laute des Briffs. 
 
 Do solle auch kein meister keinenn fordern nicht der sich ver- 
 schalket hat oder verkost hat, mit worten oder mit werken, er ist 
 also argk als ein Hunt, In sol der meyster also wol erlosz legen als 
 den gesellen. 
 
 Man soil auch keine meister vnd pallirer vor gutt halten der da 
 aufporget vnd bleibt schuldig vnd hat nicht willen zu bezalen. 
 Das man es an Im erkennet, so soil man in warnen vnd sagen, das 
 er eins wille mache auff eine Zeit, thut er das nicht vnd thut mit 
 dess willen nicht den er schuldig ist, so sol man In von aller Vor- 
 derunge verwerffen, er hett den deme seinen willen gemacht. 
 
 So soli auch kein meister den andern bewaschen oder beligen, 
 oder nach seinen werk stein, es sey den sach, das einer dauon lieffe 
 oder auffsagete oder Im erlaubete, oder Im darumb bethe, so thete 
 er es one wan. Aber thut er die stiicke also vorgesaget ist, so sollen 
 In die andern meister verwerffen. 
 
 Honnet oder schande ein meister dem andern thut mit worten 
 oder mit werken, vnd man konde es auf In nicht briugen, so soil 
 er verworfen werden von dem steinwerk. 
 
 Welich meister desz andern bau schent vnd er kan es selber 
 nicht, den Soil man verweysen. 
 
492 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Es soil audi kein raeister keinen gesellen fordern, der den andern 
 beleugt oder vnrecht thut vnd sich rait offenbarlichen frauen umb- 
 fiirt, die die in den Herbergen oder in Heusern da sie Erbeyten, 
 mit frawen oder rait meyden unziichtiglichen zusprechen oder vn- 
 zucht dariue treyben, der auch nicht beichtet, oder kein recht thut, 
 den soli man verweysen, vnd vor einen vbeltheter halten. 
 
 Do mag ein raeister ein geraeine recht halden in seiner Hiitten 
 vber seine eigene Gesellen, vnd soli auch recht richten vnd nicht 
 nach hasse, nach feindtschafft nach freindschafft bey seinem eide. 
 
 Auch soil kein meister alein nicht richten was ehre vnd leumunt 
 antriffe, sondern es sollen zusamen komen drey meister, die dan 
 vber solche sachen richten sollen. 
 
 Auch soil ein Itzlicher Meister seine gesellen bey seinem eyde, 
 alle vierteyl Jare fragen ob irgent Hasz oder neidt vnder In were 
 das den gepeuden schaden niocht brengen, das soil ein meister be- 
 richten vnd hinlegen, welcher geselle das nicht thut, dem soil 
 vrlaub gegeben werden, auff das kein Zwitracht vnder Ine sey, 
 auff das ob die Herren oder Baumeister wider weren, da soli ein 
 meister recht thun vnd unrecht lassen, auff das, das er sey eide 
 bewaret. 
 
 So soli alle quatember von Herren oder Bauleuten vorheeren, 
 obirgent gebruch were, ob sie Ire Zeit vorhinderten, topelten, spil- 
 ten oder andere vnordentliche sachen triben, das pallirer vnd raeister 
 schaden raochte dauon komen, Das sollen sie dem Meister sagen, 
 das er sie darumb straffe als recht ist, verschweigen ein solches 
 die Herren vnd offenbarens dem meister nicht vnd haldens den ge- 
 sellen zu gute, da ist der Mister nicht darumbe zu straffen, vnd 
 wen ein Bauherre wuste es, vnd ein meister nit darumb straffet, so 
 thut er seinem eide nicht genug. 
 
 Ob zu richten were vnder Meistern das orleumut antrifft oder 
 werk wurden vertriben, oder falsch Ding machen, das schaden 
 daraus mochte komen, das Jarwerke antreffe, oder grose gebeude, 
 das soli man richten, wo das Buch der ordnunge liget vnd die 
 meister alle Jar hinkomen auf den tagk als er ist vorberiirt ; So 
 sindt die Meister einen oberrichter zu kiszen, vnd die Pallirer vnd 
 gesellen sollen Schepffen kiszen zu dem Richter die sollen Richten 
 nach Clag vnd anthwort auf die Eide, do sie auff vermant werden, 
 ob sie sich in etzlichen sachen irgent erregten, so mogen dieselbigen 
 
ORDNUNG DER STEINMETZEN VOM JAHRE 1462. 493 
 
 aber schidleute zu In ruffen, vnd sich besagen, das den Jederme- 
 niglich recht geschihet. 
 
 Es mugen sich die Meister vnd gesellen selber vnder einander 
 pussen, das In die Herren nicht einreden aus eide brechen nach 
 redlichkeit zu bessten. 
 
 Ob die meister Iraands hetten vnder In, es were meister vnd ge- 
 sellen, vnd nicht In gehorsam wolden sein, vnd sich wider diese 
 ordnunge setzen, do bithen wir alle Herren das niemandt auff- 
 nemen noch verteydigen nach vordringen, wirt er dariiber wider 
 recht wider uns verteydingt, so wissen wir wol nach lautte der ord- 
 nunge, wie wir vus darinne halden sollen. 
 
 So ein Meister oder geselle were, der sich selber wolt verteydigen 
 wider recht, so soil man stette vnd Herren anruffen vnd In die 
 Sache fur legen vnd sie anruffen, das sie vnser recht helfen strecken 
 do sind wir In wiirden gehorsam vnd sein denselbigen die vns zu 
 rechte helffen, wen sie vnser begeren. 
 
 Also sindt die pallirer vnd halten das also das alt herkomen der 
 Hiittenrecht nach Inhaldunge der alten gewonheit vnd nach dem 
 Buch vnd ordnunge der eide. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher pallirer soil seinem meister seine Hiitten bewaren 
 vnd als er dazu geschworen hat, vnd alles das, das Ime die werck- 
 stat geantwortet wirdt, auch bewaren, vnd der gebeude gut halten. 
 
 Ein pallirer soil den gesellen gutten willen beweysen vnd sie 
 giitlichen vnd weysame ane Zorn, was sie fragen. Er soil vber 
 keinen gesellen noch Diener vber recht helfen, Er soil allweg Richt- 
 scheyt vnd Kolmasz, vnd alles was zu den gehbrt, recht fertigen, 
 das kein felschunge nicht darinne sey, woe es der meister selber 
 nicht recht fertigt oder zu mocht so geburt es dem pallirer, Als 
 dick der meister in den Artigkeln Eins hinder Im kerne do er solchs 
 verseumete, so ist er dem Meister verfallen xij kr. 
 
 Der Pallirer soil dem gesellen vud Diener williglichen stein fiir- 
 legen, abreissen, vnd wol besehen, ob er recht vnd wol gemacht ist, 
 den gesellen, die es nicht verschuldt haben, woe der meister falsch 
 Dingk fende, das etwas daran falsch were, das soil dem meister 
 verbussen mit acht kr vnd der geselle mit vj kr. 
 
 Ob ein pallirer einen Stein verschliige das er nicht tuchte, da 
 soil er seinen lohn verliessen den er an dem stein verdinet hat vnd 
 den stein bezalen, kompt er nicht zu nutze. 
 42 
 
494 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Welche pallirer pusse ,vornemen von seumnisse wegen oder 
 ander sache Bruch, vnd nicht minet vnd meldet, so sol er die Busse 
 zwiefechtig geben die verwiirkt hat derselbe. 
 
 Es soil kein pallirer seinen meister abdringen von seinem baw 
 mit worten oder mit werken, Er soil In nicht mit falschen Worten 
 hindernkosen alsz offt er das thut, so wirt er erlosz vnd nicht gut, 
 vnd so sol auch kein meister noch die gesellen bey In nicht dulden, 
 wer aber das einer bey Im stunde, der ist desselben gleichen auch 
 Ehrlosz. 
 
 Ein pallirer sol zu rechter zeyt anszschlahen vnd sol es durch 
 niemandes willen lassen. 
 
 Wenn ein meister nicht bey dem werk ist, oder von hiunen were, 
 so hat der pallirer gantze vole macht zu thun oder zu lassen das 
 recht ist vnd In Abschiede dess meisters. 
 
 Der pallirer sol dem gesellen vnd Dinern vnden auf die steine 
 malen, wenn die gesellen vnd Diener haben das anschlahen ver- 
 seumet, vnd nicht zu rechter Zeit komen, es sey am morgenbrott, 
 nimpt er nicht die Busse, so sol er sie selber geben. 
 
 Der pallirer sol keinen Hader machen aber keinen darzu sterken, 
 wider an Zeichen, noch In Werksteten, er soil alwegen Richt 
 fridsam vnd rechtfertig sein, er soil die gesellen dazu halten, das 
 sie irer stein vnd erbeyt warteu, Es sey welcherley es sey, das 
 den gebeuden vnd meistern nicht schaden dauon kommen. Die 
 Busse stehet auiF dem Meister, was er darumb zu schaden kumpt. 
 
 Es soil kein pallirer zustaten das man quos Zeche hilde in der 
 Hiitten vnder der Zeit, sondern in der Vesper Rue. 
 
 Er soil auch nicht gestaten, das man hoher zere zu dem vesper- 
 broth dem vmb einen pfenig, Es were den das man geschencke 
 hatte, das ein wander geselle komen were, so hat der pallirer ein 
 stunde macht freuehreen. 
 
 Ein pallirer hat macht zu fordern auff den nachsten lohn einen 
 itzlichen wander gesellen, vnd macht vrlaub zu geben auff den Ion 
 abent, wen er einem Gebeuen oder meister nicht eben ist. 
 
 Er hat macht einen itzlichen Gesellen oder Diener zu erlauben 
 eine bequemliche Zeyt ane schaden. 
 
 Ein itzlicher pallirer sol der erste sein des morgens vnd nach 
 essens sein in der Hiitten, wen man aufschleust, vnd der letzt 
 herausz es sey zu mitag oder abendt, Das sich alle gesellen sindt 
 
ORDNUNG DER S TEINMETZEN VOM JARRE 1462. 495 
 
 nach Im zu richten vnd dester eher koraen sollen in die arbeit, 
 Also dicke er seumnisse thut vnd der meister erfert es, was schaden 
 dauon komme soli der pallirer den schaden legen. 
 
 Der pallirer sol alle freyheit der Hiitten vnd werksteten helffen 
 verthedigen. 
 
 Der pallirer soil auch kein gebew nach wercksteten bussen, nach 
 iiberschlag raachen, dann nach der alt herkomenden gewonheit mit 
 dem lone, thut er anders, so ist er erlosz. 
 
 Err soil auch alle dingk der Werkstat behalden vnd zu rate 
 halden also wol als der meister. 
 
 VON DER ORDNUNGE 
 
 DER GESELLEN, WIE SIE SICH HALDTEN SOLLEN. 
 
 Welcher geselle bithet forderung zu einem andern meister Ehe er 
 vrlaub nimpt von dem Meister bey dem er steht, der sol geben ein 
 pfunt wachs vnd soil vrlaub haben. 
 
 Welcher geselle mere tragt oder wascherey treibet zwischen dem 
 meister oder ander leuten, dem soli man bussen mit einem halben 
 wochenlohn. 
 
 Wer eines andern gezeug nimpt ane vrlaub, soil geben ij kr. 
 
 Welche gesellen maszbret vnrecht aufflegt, oder das breth lest 
 ligen ee er habe gewert, het ane laube, oder abnimpt ehe der 
 meister oder pallirer die bereytunge sehen, wer winkelmasse lest 
 hangen an dem stein oder das richtscheyt die locher haben, lest 
 liegen vnd nicht auffhenget, oder den stein von der pank lest 
 fallen, oder die haken ausz dem Helm fert oder bomret, oder sein 
 mas lest anders den an der stat die dazu geordnet ist, were die 
 fenster bey seiner Bank nicht zuthut, vor alle diese vorgeschribene 
 Artigkel wer das thut, der soil geben iij kr allemal zu pusse. 
 
 Welcher geselle vbel spricht oder einer den andern ligen heiszt 
 in schimpff oder in ernst oder in oppeliche wort fint in der werck- 
 stat, der soil geben xij kr zu busse. 
 
 Welcher gesell des andern spott, stochert, oder In namet mit 
 hinderkosen, der soil xv kr geben zu busse. 
 
 Welcher geselle nicht hulfe bithet, seinen stein ausz oder ein zu 
 wenden, brengen oder vmbzuwenden wen es not ist, oder sein 
 Zeichen anschlecht ob er recht gemacht sey, aber es soli geschehen, 
 
496 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ehe man den stein besihet, das er in das Lager komt vngefraget, 
 oder verdiget vngefinget, der soli geben zu busse ein halb pfunt 
 wachs. 
 
 Welcher geselle sich vbertrincke oder vberisset vnd vndeut das 
 man es erfert, der soli geben einen wochen Ion vnd j pfundt wachs. 
 
 Welcher gesell hatt macht in werkstetten oder in Zechen, oder 
 bey erbaren frauen riichtigen frauen darein fiirt oder schenket, 
 den soli man vrlaub geben vnd denselbigen wochen Ion, den er die 
 selbige wochen verdinet hat behalten vnd in die biichsen legen. 
 
 Welcher geselle verschlecht huttengelt, oder stilet oder mordet 
 raubet, oder ander vner sitzt, und sich mit bosen frauen yn den 
 landen umbf iirth, vnd nicht peichtet vnd gotes rechte nicht thut, 
 die sol man aus dem Hantwergk verwerffen vnd Ewiglichen ver- 
 weisen. 
 
 Welcher den andern schendet oder enleimut ehre redet, der soli 
 es verbessern nach erkentnisse meister vnd gesellen, wen er es nicht 
 konde dazu bringen. 
 
 Wer dem andern was zusagt vnd kunde es nicht zu im bringen, 
 den soli man also hertiglich straffen, das er weysz, was er ein 
 andermal redet, bringet er es zu was denn die gesellen erkennen, 
 vnd was die sache ist, Darnach sol man richten vnd keinen gesellen 
 verkieszen vmb neides willen. 
 
 Do sol kein geselle die Diener vorhomuten, er sol es dem 
 meister clagen was Im der Diener getan hat, der soil in darumb 
 straffen. 
 
 Da soil kein pallirer noch geselle noch Diener selber richter 
 sein, wo sie das nicht thun, so sindt sie buszwirdig was in der 
 meister zusaget, vnd der meister soli richter sein vnd niemandt 
 anders. 
 
 Es sollen sich die gesellen nicht vnder einander bussen hinder 
 dem meister oder pallirer. 
 
 Es soil auch kein gesell bey keinen versprochen gesellen stein- 
 hauven, er habe sich den recht gefertigt auff dem tage des Jars 
 den die meister haben. 
 
 Es soli auch kein gesell keine versprochen Fraw In die Hiitten 
 oder werkstett fiiren oder zihen wo meister bey einander sein, 
 welcher das thut der soil geben iiij pfunt wachs. 
 
 Welcher geselle selber heilige tage machet in der wochen, wenn 
 
ORDNUNG DER STEINMETZEN VOM JAIIRE 1462. 497 
 
 er erbeten sol, dem sthat er nicht heilige vnd man sol Im nicht 
 lernen. 
 
 Welcher geselle ist auszen wen er erbeiten sol, das man das 
 Morgenbrot gegessen hat, dem sol man fur mitage nicht lonen, 
 bleibt er ausen den tagk vnd kompt auf das abentbrot, dem sol 
 man den ganzen tag nicht lonen. 
 
 Welcher gesell am Sonntag vnd am grossen Fasten zu der hohe 
 messe nicht mit seinem meister Ime selbst zu ehre in die Kirchen 
 gehet vnd bleibt ausz ane laube der sol zu Gottesdinst iiij kr geben. 
 
 Welcher pallirer oder geselle am montag nach mitag wen es 
 eins schlagt, nith bey seinem meister ist vnd halde ein Vesper Rue 
 mit Im vnd verhore, was er den Montag thun soil, der sol geben 
 alle Zechen, setzet er sich darwider, so soil er vrlaub haben auff 
 den Montag den vngehorsam bittet er laube das heftige mit antrit, 
 so darf er niches geben vnd ist losz. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher meister mag einem gesell en vrlaub geben von dem 
 Baw wen es im gotlich ist ane Zorn. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher gesell mag vrlaub nemen alle lohn Abent wen es 
 Ime nicht gefellet do ist niemandt zu dem andern gebunden. 
 
 Welcher geselle bey einem meister einen winter stehen derselbige 
 soil dem meister stehen bis auff Sanct Johannistag, wenn man die 
 kron hanget, Es were den sach, das den gesellen hefftige sachen zu 
 dem meister hette, das Im an seinem Hantwerk schatte, so mag er 
 wol abzihen. Auch weis der geselle was vnredliches auff den 
 meister vnd verschweiget das vnd truck sich den winter vnd auff 
 den Sumer vnd neinet, der geselle thut das als ein treuloser vnd 
 ist nicht gut keinen gesellen. 
 
 Es soil kein gesell libnis wider (weder) pallirer noch meister 
 geben vmb erbeit willen, bey dem soli kein gesell stehen, er sey 
 den gebust. 
 
 Es soil kein geselle den andrem kiinstlern vmb geldt ein itzlicher 
 soil ein stuck vmb das ander geben oder sol in damit ehren. 
 
 Kein geselle soil widersprechen were es an meister oder pallirer 
 sich verheist. 
 
 Do soil kein geselle messer oder andere were bey Im tragen in 
 w T erksteten oder in Zechen, den ein messer der halben elen lang 
 sey, was es langer ist so soil er vij kr geben zu pusse vnd ist 
 gleichwol ablegen. 
 
 42* 2 G 
 
498 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Wo ein geselle nicht auszgedinet hat, welcher geselle sein 
 Zeichen gekauft hat vnd nicht verdinet hat, wo ein mitler oder 
 heifer auffsetzet vnd lernet sie stein hauen, bey dem soil niemandt 
 stehen. 
 
 Do soil auch kein geselle seinem meister, oder pallirer hinder- 
 kosen, er wolde es denne bekennen das stehet bey dess raeisters war. 
 
 Es sollen keine gesellen die Baumeistern berupffen oder vbel 
 abrichten, do die gesellen williglichen thun was sie die Baumeister 
 heiszen, wen der meister oder pallirer nicht bey der arbeyt seint. 
 Sein sie aber dabey so sind sie da dem meister oder pallirer zu 
 sagen, wie In note ist zu sagen. 
 
 Auch soil kein geselle dem Baumeister clagen vber einen andern 
 gesellen, sondern den Werckmeister. 
 
 Es soil kein Baumeister sich keines haders vuder den gesellen 
 zu berichtigen, sie wiirden den von dem meister darumb gebeten. 
 
 Da soil auch kein geselle stehen bey den die da Baumeister 
 halden ane des meisters willen. 
 
 Welche gesellen die Baumeister zechen bey den soli auch kein 
 geselle mer stehen. 
 
 Was Baumeistern gebricht oder den pallirer oder gesellen das 
 sollen sie dem meister clagen vnd mit keinen zu hadern. 
 
 Auch soil (kein) pallirer oder geselle heimlich lone nemen 
 hinder dem meister, ob an das die Baumeister bussen wolden, das 
 stehet auff dem meister, wie er es mit den gesellen halden will. 
 
 Auch soil kein geselle mit dem andern auff das perfeten gehen 
 sondern einer nach dem andern, das die werkstete nicht ledig 
 stehen, oder einer soli den andern in die Hiitten tragen, oder ij kr 
 geben. 
 
 Da sol auch kein gesel was machen oder stein nemen zu etwas, 
 oder aus der Hiitten gehen ane laube des meisters, So stehet es auff 
 dem meister, was er ist verfallen. 
 
 Wen ein geselle wandert, so -sol er von dem meister in freund- 
 schaft vnd nicht im feindschafft von Im schiede wo er kumpt auff 
 ein ander Hiitten. 
 
 Kompt ein wander gesell Ee man ruhe anschlecht, der verdinet 
 das tag Ion. Ein Itzlich wander gesell, wen man Ime das geschenke 
 auff saget, so sol er umbher gehen von einem zu dem andern vnd 
 sol In der verdanken. 
 
ORDNUNG DER STEINMETZEN VOM JAHRE 1462. 
 
 Das ist ein Grusz, wie ein Itzlichcr geselle grlissen soil, wenu er 
 von erstcn zu der Hiitte eingehet, so soil er also sprechen : 
 
 Gott griisse euch, Gott weyse cuch, Gott lone euch, euch Oeber- 
 meister erwiderung, Pallirer vnd euch hiibschen gesellen, so sol In 
 der meister oder pallirer danken, das er sieht welcher der oberst ist 
 in der Hiitten. 
 
 Do soil der geselle an denselbigen anheben vnd sol sprechen, der 
 Meister, vnd nennt In bey namen, der enpeut euch seinen werden 
 grusz, so sol der geselle umbhergehn von einem zu dem andern, 
 Itzlichen freuntlich zu griiszen alsz er den obersten gegriisset hat. 
 
 So sint Ime alle meister vnd pallirer vnd gesellen erberglichen 
 schencken, wie die vorgeschriebene stiicke von des grusses vnd 
 geschenke wegen, nicht den sol man nicht vor gut halten, er sey 
 den gebust vmb ein pfundt wachs, xxiiij kr. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher Geselle, wen er gedanket wil er forderuug haben, so 
 sol er den meister darumb bethen so sol In der meister fbrdern auff 
 das nechste lolm vnd nit versagen, auff das der geselle Zerunge 
 verdinet, hette der meister nicht mehr den das er alein stunde, der 
 meister erledig gan vnd anfordern. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher wandergesell soli bithen vmb eine blicke, darnach 
 vmb ein stiik steins, darauf darnach vmb gezeugk, das sol man In 
 williglichen leihen. 
 
 Ein Itzlicher Gesell soli die andern Gesellen alle bithen vnd kein 
 sol es verhoren, sie soli en alle helffen, Helffet mir auff oder In das 
 euch Gott helffe, wen sie geholfen haben so soli er seinen Hut abe- 
 thunn vnd soli In danken vnd sprechen, Gott danke dem meister 
 vnd pallirer vnd den Erbarn gesellen. 
 
 Ob irgend einem gesellen was nott wiirde von Kranckheit wegen, 
 das er nicht Zerung hette, dieweyl er lage krank, so soli man Ime 
 aus der Biichsen helfen, wirdt er gesundt, so soil er's wider legen. 
 
 Ob irgend ein geselle auszziige von der Ordnung wegen das das 
 Hantwerk antrete, dem soil man auch die Zerunge legen ausz der 
 Buchssen. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABBOTS and clerics retain mem- 
 bership with Masonic guilds, 70. 
 Abjuration formula, ancient, 394, etc. 
 Abrac and Jao or Jehovah engraved 
 on stones, 419, 426. 
 equivalent to Jao, Jaw, or Jehovah, 
 425. 
 
 means "sacred" or "ineffable 
 
 name," 425. 
 mysteries of, 218. 
 
 or Abraxas, derived from Egypt, 
 456, etc. 
 
 or Abraxas, the Basilidian god, 418. 
 Abracadabra, magical property of, 418. 
 in form of triangle, 418. 
 traced to Abrac, 418. 
 Admission of craftsmen into mediaeval 
 
 lodges, 300. 
 Alban, St., zeal for Masons, 164. 
 Apprentices, nvmber of, allowed, 105, 
 200. 
 
 Apprenticeship, duration of, 105, 
 
 206-7. 
 age for, 205. 
 Arch, carried to the west, 345. 
 Architecture cultivated in convents, 
 
 43. 
 
 mediaeval, uniformity of, and why, 
 158. 
 
 passes from convents to lay guilds, 
 70. 
 
 schools of, in convents, 46. 
 Art, building, sacred, 363. 
 
 Art, decline of, in Roman Empire, 17, 
 23. , 
 in monasteries, 51. 
 in the tenth century, 49. 
 schools of, established by Charle- 
 magne, 38. 
 Artists, influx of, to Constantinople, 
 21, 344. 
 
 Ashlar, ancient use of word, 189. 
 Athelstane protects Masons, 165. 440. 
 
 BALDUR, his attributes of beauty 
 and goodness, 409. 
 lamentation over his death, and 
 
 search, 409. 
 legend of, identical with Hiramic, 
 408. 
 
 Basilica, altered to Christian temples, 
 18. 
 
 Bastards cannot be Masons, 105. 
 Bausak, master at Cologne, 79. 
 Blows or strokes with mallet^ etc., as- 
 semble the craft, 303. 
 three, two, and one, 303, 304. 
 Blue altar, oaths on, 296. 
 color of lodge, why, 295. 
 Masonic, derived from Norsemen, 
 295. 
 
 Boileau's ordinances, 104, 479. 
 Bondmen cannot be Masons, 105. 
 Bridge builders in Italy, 86. 
 Brother, Masons to call each other, 
 191. 
 
 501 
 
502 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Brothers' Book, 145. 
 
 Builders follow missionaries, 38. 
 
 monastic, 48. 
 Building fraternities in monasteries, 
 49. 
 
 Buildings in time of Charlemagne, 39. 
 Byzantine art in Europe, 343, etc. 
 
 builders forced into close union, 354. 
 
 builders in Italy, 40, 343. 
 
 builders in Persia, 346. 
 
 builders in Russia, 348. 
 
 builders in Spain, 347. 
 Byzantium, art at, 374, etc. 
 
 CAEMENTAEIUS, used for Mason, 
 189. 
 
 Candle, and oath under, 317, note (1). 
 Candles in triangular forms, 454. 
 Capital, Roman, changed, 19. 
 Cardinal points of lodge, 299. 
 Ceremonies, Pagan, continued by 
 
 Christianity, 3G0. 
 Ceremony of taking an oath, 313. 
 Chaplain in guilds, 399. 
 Charges of Prince Edwin, 166. 
 
 sworn to, 171. 
 Charles Martel and the Masons, 163, 
 
 282. 
 
 claimed on account of his hammer, 
 284. 
 
 Charters, papal, to Freemasons, 376. 
 
 to guilds of late date, 66. 
 
 to towns and cities, 61-2. 
 Christians, Judaized, 372. 
 Churches, symbolism of, 29. 
 
 and cathedrals built in eleventh 
 century by Freemasons, 70. 
 
 erected by Dominicans, 87. 
 Cities, development of, 61-2. 
 Clerics, skilled workmen, 36. 
 Coffin, conventual, symbol of death, 
 414. 
 
 Colleges of artificers, ancient, 364. 
 of artificers, ancient, destroyed, 364. 
 of artificers in the seventh century, 
 374. 
 
 Colloquy for visiting craftsmen, 215. 
 
 Colloquy in opening and closing lodge, 
 268. 
 
 Cologne, cathedral of, 79. 
 
 Columns, Jewish, wisdom, strength, and 
 
 beauty, 461. 
 of wisdom, strength, and beautv, 
 
 287, etc. 
 
 their originals in Norse temples, 289. 
 
 three symbolic, whence derived, 286. 
 Compasses as Masonic mark, 328. 
 Conservators of Torgau, 177. 
 Corporations of builders, Greek, 30. 
 
 building, immunites to, 366. 
 
 building, reorganized by Constan- 
 tine, 365. 
 
 cleric and lay, in France, 103. 
 
 in Rome have banners, 365. 
 Courts, Masonic, how composed, 254. 
 
 universality of, in Middle Ages, 262. 
 Craft, ecclesiastic, how managed, 45. 
 Craftsmen at labor, 225. 
 
 banished from Byzantium received 
 in Europe, 40. 
 Cross, reverence for the, 354. 
 Crypt used for Masonic rites, 198. 
 
 DEACON'S staff a badge of author- 
 ity, 305. 
 
 Degrees, three, at an early period, 46. 
 Dominican monks as Masons and 
 
 stonecutters, 94. 
 Dress of mediaeval Masons, 201. 
 Duties of craftsmen, 210. 
 
 EASTERN builders and saint 
 marks, 83, 325. 
 Egyptian and Jewish mysteries, 422, 
 424. 
 
 Elias Ashmole and Masonry in the 
 
 seventeenth century, 136. 
 England, Freemasonry in, in the seven- 
 teenth century, 136, 164. 
 German Masons in, 123. 
 no especial immunities to Masons 
 in, 128. 
 
 uses Gallic builders in the Middle 
 Ages, 77. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 503 
 
 Erwin of Steinbach, 80. 
 
 Essenes, a secret Jewish society, 401. 
 
 Euclid and geometry, 161. 
 
 and the Masons, 160. 
 Exemption to Masons, 110. 
 Expulsion from the craft, 237. 
 
 FELLOW-CRAFT, after appren- 
 ticeship, 209. 
 Fellow-craft, degree of, 20G. 
 has a mark, 212, 340. 
 privileges of, 211. 
 Feudal system, 55. 
 Fines, Masonic and guildic, 222. 
 Fish symbol and mark, 27, 324. 
 Five a Masonic numeral, 307-8. 
 France, German masters in, 100-1. 
 Free-born only eligible, why, 271. 
 Freemason, early use of naine,138,437. 
 
 name of, whence derived, 187, 435. 
 Freemasons a " nomadic race," 199. 
 how they travelled, 200. 
 papal indulgences to, uncertain, 33. 
 work by, in Alsace, 74. 
 Freemasonry as an architectural art 
 body, 154. 
 cause of its decline, 155, etc. 
 formally opened to all classes, 140. 
 in England a charitable club, 131. 
 in the thirteenth century, 101. 
 preserves mediaeval elements, 53. 
 French Masons in Britain, 77, 122. 
 Frere-macon, 192, 4371 
 
 letter, synonym for Hebrew Yod, 
 j 351,468. 
 Gavel, Master's, convened mediaeval 
 court, 274. 
 Master's, its judicial connection, 274. 
 Master's, or mallet, its antiquitv, 
 273. 
 
 Master's, or mallet, symbol of, 274. 
 Master's, or mallet, tvpe of power, 
 274, 434. 
 
 Master's, symbol of possession, 274. 
 means a gift ; type of tenure, 273. 
 symbol of death, 413. 
 
 Geometricians honored by Roman 
 law, 363. 
 
 General, or Grand Master, 78, 93, 106, 
 1 34. 
 
 German architects in Italy, 87. 
 
 Masters in Netherlands and Scan- 
 dinavia, 99-100. 
 Masters in Spain, 97. 
 Germany maintains Pagan supersti- 
 tions, 379-385. 
 Grand Lodge, annual, 258. 
 in Germany, when ended, 151. 
 jurisdiction of, confirmed by royalty, 
 
 143, 260. 
 when first in Germany, 142, 144. 
 Grand Master, vide General Maste.-, 
 
 78, 93, 106, 134. 
 Grave, open, in monasteries, 414„ 
 Greek art in Middle Ages, 51. 
 
 corporations of builders, 72. 
 Grip, secret, conferred on candidates, 
 213. 
 
 Guilds, antiquity of, 73, 339, etc. 
 at Florence, 89. 
 early, in Italy, 33. 
 for mutual protection, 65. 
 in Italy and Eastern corporations 
 
 unite, 33, 377, etc. 
 joined by noblemen, 134-5, 396, etc 
 laws of, early digested, 203. 
 of Freemasons, 69. 
 of Thor, etc., abjuration formula 
 
 of, 394, etc. 
 of trades reestablished in Rome, 365. 
 power of, 204. 
 
 rapid spread and power of, 66-7. , 
 secret arts in, 375. 
 
 HAIL, or Hale, its signification and 
 antiquity, 317-8. 
 Hailing sign, 215. 
 
 Hammer of Master, descended from 
 Thor, 276. 
 its origin and symbolism, 276. 
 sign, 279. 
 
 symbol of possession, 277. 
 type of death, 280-1, 413. 
 
 G- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Harmony, lodge a type of, 212. 
 Hat, emblem of liberty, 301. 
 
 off in lodge, 216. 
 
 significance of, 301. 
 
 typical of power and subjection, 302. 
 
 worn by Teutonic judges, 302. 
 Henry VI. and the Masons, 129. 
 
 manuscript of, 483. 
 Hills, lodges on, 198. 
 Hiram, legend of, and his death, 408. 
 
 legend of, prototype of Baldur, 408. 
 
 skilled Tyrian builder, 163. 
 History, legendary, of Masons, 157, etc. 
 
 of Freemasonry in England, 113. 
 
 of French Masons, 103. 
 Holidome, oath on, and meaning of, 
 171. 
 
 ICONOCLASM, influence of, on art, 
 352. 
 
 Image of master builder, 80. 
 
 worship forbidden, 39. 
 Initiation, burlesque, 213. 
 
 customs at, 214. 
 
 how prepared for, 213. 
 
 into mediseval Masonry, 213. 
 Installation by procession, 320-1. 
 Irish Master Mason, 98. 
 Italian monk architects, 85. 
 
 J for Yod, 464. 
 Jachin and Boaz, columns of, 333, 
 etc. 
 
 Jacob Dotzinger, 143. 
 Jah or Jao, creative power, 424. 
 Jehovah cut in mediseval churches, 
 424. 
 
 name of, only spoken by High- 
 Priest, 454. 
 
 pronunciation of lost, and how, 424, 
 455. 
 
 solemn oath by, 316. 
 Jerusalem typified during Middle 
 
 Ages, 373. 
 Jewish learning at an early age, 369. 
 legislation incorporated in Roman 
 code, 371, etc. 
 
 Jewish traditions in Roman corpora- 
 tions, 368. 
 
 Jews, condition of, under Charle- 
 magne, 369. 
 condition of, under Roman empe- 
 rors, 370-2. 
 learning of the, 370-2. 
 
 John Muruo, French Master of Ma- 
 sons, 113, etc. 
 
 Jurisdiction of Grand Master, 107. 
 
 Justice, Masonic, and rights involved 
 in, 253. 
 
 KINDNESS to craft enjoined on 
 Master, 239. 
 King Henry VI. and the Masons, 218. 
 
 and his manuscript, 483. 
 King William initiated in Masonic 
 mysteries, 140. 
 
 LABOR, Master sole judge of, 238. 
 Lathomii, i. e., Masons, 189. 
 Law, personal profession of, 30. 
 
 Roman, borrowed from the Jews, 371. 
 Lay brethren in monasteries, 63. 
 
 builders controlled by contract, 88. 
 Legendary history of Masonry, 157, etc. 
 Legends of ancient building corpora- 
 tions remodelled, 366. 
 of Baldur and Hiram, 408, etc. 
 of Baldur and Hiram typify the 
 
 sun, 413. 
 of Masonry, 173, 179, 182. 
 Letters, secrets of, among the Ger- 
 mans, 426. 
 Liberal arts and sciences, 44. 
 Lights, and Jewish Sohar, 459. 
 
 of lodge, none in north, why, 291. 
 used symbolically by Pagans, 359. 
 window, 223. 
 Linen, white, symbolized by Essenes, 
 462. 
 
 Lion, Christ as, 358. 
 
 symbol of, 27. 
 Lodge at Orvieto in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, 90. 
 
 convened at sunrise, 194. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 505 
 
 Lodge entered and left only with Mas- 
 ter's consent, 250. 
 
 how constituted, 298. 
 
 in form of semi-circle and oblong 
 square, 266. • 
 
 its signification, 91, note (1). 
 
 Master's position in, 194. 
 
 mediaeval, how formed, 193, 196. 
 
 morals, 219. 
 
 open air, 265. 
 
 similarity to Gothic courts, 263. 
 to be as pure as a law court, 236. 
 why on high hills and in valleys, 264. 
 windows or lights, 197. 
 
 MAGIC and soothsaying in guilds, 
 429. 
 
 Magister sculpture and lapidum, 90, 92. 
 Magistri Comacini, or masters of Como, 
 
 35, 374, 404. 
 Mark carved by a needy brother, 216. 
 Marks an honorable distinction, 340 ; 
 must be enrolled, 341. 
 enrolling of, common to other 
 
 guilds, 341. 
 given to Fellow-craftsmen, 339. 
 Masonic, of early ages, 323. 
 Masonic, property of Blue Lodge 
 
 Masons, 341. 
 mediaeval Masonic, how composed, 
 329, etc. 
 
 mediaeval Masonic, on St. Marc's, 
 
 Venice, 330. 
 of fish, 324 ; geometric figures, 327. 
 system of, common to the East and 
 
 West, 334. 
 system of, under Gothic code, 338. 
 trowel, mallet, and shoe, 325. 
 uniformity of, in European and 
 
 Oriental, 335, etc. 
 used for practical purpose, 327. 
 Mason, early use of name, 189, 435. 
 Masonic duties, 243, etc. 
 
 initiates from Byzantium, 376. 
 statues, 329. 
 Masonry, both operative and specula- 
 tive, in seventeenth century, 137. 
 43 
 
 Masonry brought from Egypt by Jews 
 (legendary), 162. 
 
 operative, when it ceased in Ger- 
 many, 150. 
 Masons and stonecutters under Gio- 
 vanni, 92. 
 
 in England shall obey laws, 129. 
 
 Master, figures of, 141. 
 
 must respect the Romish church, 
 243. 
 
 Master and Apprentices, 46. 
 of lodge keeps the plans, 234. 
 of the work, 235 ; names of, 74. 
 Mathematicians honored by Roman 
 
 emperors, 363. 
 Milan cathedral built by German 
 
 masters, 95. 
 Modelled planes invented by William 
 
 of Sens, 78. 
 Monasteries, art in, 47. 
 Monastic artists, 49, 50. 
 Monks architects of Italy, 85, etc. 
 erect buildings, 50. 
 learn art from Byzantines, 44. 
 Moon in monastic and legal connec- 
 tion, 269. 
 Morals of mediaeval lodges, 221. 
 Mosaic art, 349 ; significance of, 351. 
 Muruo, John, French Master of Ma- 
 sons, 113, etc. 
 Mutual aid in guilds, 392. 
 
 NAME, careful study of, enjoined, 
 476. 
 
 eagerness to obtain correct pronun- 
 ciation of, 450. 
 
 engraven on rod, 459. 
 
 house to be built for the, 458. 
 
 in the Targums, 451. 
 
 Moses and the, 421 ; and Solomon, 
 422. 
 
 strange perpetuation of, 473. 
 
 true and sacred, potency of, 421. 
 
 " wonderful " and " sacred " attri- 
 butes, 450. 
 Namus Grecus, 118, 163. 
 Norm, three as an especial, 307. 
 
506 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Norman conquest and French Masons, 
 120. 
 
 North in lodge place of darkness, why, 
 291-4. 
 
 Notre Dame de Paris built by Masons 
 
 in thirteenth century, 102. 
 Numbers in lodge ritual, 307. 
 3, 5, and 7, 307, 308. 
 
 OATH-BOUND societies forbidden 
 by Charlemagne, 402. 
 Oath in face of the sun, east or south, 
 315. 
 
 of secrecy, 193 ; of a freeman, 314. 
 
 on holy-dome, 210, 404. 
 
 on holy-dome and square and com- 
 pass, 213. 
 
 required at end of apprenticeship, 
 108. 
 
 taken before Grand Master, 209. 
 under light, 317 ; and invocation of 
 patron saint, 400. 
 Oblati assist Masons, 200. 
 Old books of Masonry, 147, 172. 
 Opening and closing lodge by colloquy, 
 208. 
 
 and closing lodge, formal, demanded, 
 109. 
 
 Operative Masonry, as an organized 
 
 body, ceases in 1424, 127. 
 Orientation of Gothic courts, 297. 
 of lodges, 194, 296, etc. 
 of Solomon's Temple, 296. 
 Orvieto temple and master builders, 
 89. 
 
 temple and lodge of Masons, 90. 
 
 PAGAN rites among Christian Ger- 
 mans, 380. 
 Pallirer, from what derived, 267. 
 keeps Jodge rolls, 234. 
 or Warden, duties of, 223, etc. 
 or Warden, how obligated, 225. 
 Password to initiates, 213. 
 Past-Masters, mediaeval, 255. 
 Patron, of guilds, of noble birth, 67. 
 saints, dedication of guilds to, 195. 
 
 Patron saints, German, 173, 175. 
 saints, German, recognized in Eng- 
 land, 124 ; in Venice, 444. 
 saints of French Masons, 179. 
 Pay of craftsmen, 232-4. 
 Penalties,ancientand Middle Age, 318. 
 
 for temple breaking. 319. 
 Penalty for violating landmarks, 261. 
 
 for violating usages, 108-9, 110, 127. 
 Pierre de Montereau, Master of French 
 
 Masons 1248, 102. 
 Pillars of Solomon's Temple, 29. 
 preserve Masonic and other arts, 
 159. 
 
 Plastic art in the Middle Ages, 21. 
 Point within a circle identical with 
 
 letter G, 468. 
 within a circle, meaning of, 467, 474. 
 Powers of a Master, 252. 
 Prayer enjoined on guildic brethren, 
 
 196. 
 
 Presents to contributors to architec- 
 tural work, 230. 
 
 Privileges, limited, of English Masons, 
 125. 
 
 Proclamation in lodge thrice repeated, 
 270. 
 
 Proficiency suitable for advancement, 
 207. 
 
 Pythagoras and the " word," 460. 
 
 QUADKIVIUM, 42. 
 Qualifications for advancement in 
 Masonic guilds, 71, 205. 
 for membership in guilds, 206. 
 to become a Mason in France, 104. 
 
 RECORDS of the craft, 114-16. 
 Regular Masons discountenance 
 clandestine craftsmen, 245. 
 Right hand in swearing, 313. 
 Rites, ancient Teutonic, maintained by 
 guilds, etc., 415. 
 furore for Jewish, 372. 
 of initiation, where practised, 197. 
 Runic letters, endowed with attributes 
 of the "Name," 427. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 507 
 
 Runic letters identical with Gnostic 
 A brae, 426. 
 incantations by, and Thor's sign, 
 429. 
 
 magic property of, 426. 
 used for sortilege, 427. 
 
 S A BIN A, Steinbach's daughter, 
 skilled in Masonic art, 81. 
 Saint Blaise, 179, etc. 
 Saint Eloi, patron of goldsmiths' 
 
 guild, 103. 
 Saint John, mediaeval Masonic patron, 
 195. 
 
 Saint John's day, 274, 361. 
 fires on, 382, 391. 
 
 Saint Mark's, Venice, built by East- 
 ern workmen, 83. 
 
 Saints, German patron, 173, 444. 
 
 Schemhamphorasch and the Name, 
 422. 
 
 Secret signs and passwords forbidden 
 in England, 139. 
 signs and symbols in secular guilds, 
 405. 
 
 Secrets, Masonic, mediaeval, 217. 
 
 Masonic, not to be divulged, 107. 
 Servile craftsmen, 60. 
 Seven a Masonic numeral, 308. 
 
 liberal arts, by whom invented, 156. 
 Shibboleth and Frcy's symbol, 289. 
 Shoe, sign of subjection, 320. 
 
 used in legal proceedings, 320. 
 Sick brethren to be cared for, 250. 
 Situation or orientation of lodges, 296. 
 Social conditions and changes in elev- 
 enth century, 54. 
 Societies, oath-bound, in eighth cen- 
 tury, 401, etc. 
 
 secret, forbidden in Rome, 32. 
 Society of constructors or Freema- 
 sons, 69, etc. 
 Solomon's temple and Masonry, 162. 
 Spain, Masons in, 97. 
 Speculative Masonry in fifteenth cen- 
 tury, 132-4. 
 Square as mark, 328. 
 
 Staff carried by deacons, and why, 305. 
 Stars of lodge descended from the 
 
 Norse, 294. 
 Statuary work of Masons, 176. 
 Statue of King Solomon, 332. 
 Statute of Henry VI. against Masons, 
 
 126-7. 
 
 Steps, the three, from Norse temple 
 
 worship, 306. 
 the three, on Master's carpet, whence 
 
 derived, 305-6. 
 Substitutes for the Name or Word, 
 
 424, 454, 456. 
 Sunlight in Gothic court and lodges, 
 
 298. 
 
 Sunset and sunrise in lodge ritual, 269. 
 Swearing by common utensils, 316. 
 
 by working tools, 316. 
 Symbolism adapted from Paganism, 
 
 358. 
 
 cultivated by builders, etc., 45. 
 introduced into Christian church, 
 19, 27. 
 
 Symbols, Masonic, 217, 269, etc. 
 
 Pagan, adopted by Christianity, 27, 
 355, 433, n. 5. 
 
 TABLET of a Master at Melrose, 
 76. 
 
 Tablets for enrolling marks, 341. 
 Tapers, three burning, 290, 470. 
 Temple built by the name or word, 
 422. 
 
 of Solomon, marks on, 335. 
 Theoderich the Goth, the services of, 
 24. 
 
 Thor's hammer mark, 326. 
 Three, a necessary norm in Gothic 
 court and lodges, 307-8. 
 cries over the dead, 322. 
 frequent application of, 308-12. 
 how made up, 311. 
 in a lodge, of deep significance, 309, 
 310. 
 
 Toasts at initiation, 214. 
 Tools of rebellious craftsmen to be 
 seized, 253. 
 
508 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tools, working, of Essenes, 4G2. 
 Traditions, Masonic, introduced into 
 
 Britain by Gallic builders, 121. 
 Travelling builders, 38, 47. 
 
 Fellow-craft, 215. 
 Treasurer, office of, ancient, 238. 
 Triangle, magic power in, 418, 428. 
 
 with enclosed dot and Yod, 330, 472. 
 Trivium, 42. 
 
 Twelve as connected with Hiram and 
 
 Baldur, 410, etc. 
 Tyler, how derived and signification 
 
 of, 188. 
 
 USAGES and customs of Essenes, 
 462. 
 
 Usages and customs to be preserved, 
 104. 
 
 still in Germany symbolizing Bal- 
 dur's death, 415, etc. 
 
 WAGES of builders, how raised, 
 231. 
 
 Wages of builders paid each night at 
 sunset, 233, note (5). 
 of corn, wine, etc., in eighth century, 
 405. 
 
 of craftsmen, 111, 130-1. 
 of Freemasons, 130-1. 
 Warden or Pallirer to act in Master's 
 absence, 223. 
 
 Werkmeister, i. e. Grand Master, 248. 
 White gloves in initiation, 213. 
 
 linen among Essenes, 462. 
 William of Sens, a French Mason, 
 76-8. 
 
 William of Wykeham and rebellious 
 
 craftsmen, 125. 
 Wisdom, Divine, churches dedicated 
 
 to, 344. 
 
 Wisdom, strength, and beauty, columns 
 
 of, 287, 469, etc. 
 Women in guilds, 396. 
 Word, eagerness to acquire possession 
 
 of, 449. 
 
 Gematria, essence of constructive 
 
 power, 423. 
 on sacred pillars, 463. 
 sacred, by it Solomon builds Temple, 
 
 420. 
 
 sacred, Egyptian origin of, 421. 
 sacred, only spoken bv High-Priest, 
 454. 
 
 sacred, power of, 420. 
 sacred, power of Christ by means of 
 421. 
 
 sacred, spoken by Moses to slay 
 Egyptian, 463. 
 Wren, Sir Christopher, when made a 
 Mason, 139. 
 
 r^EBAOTH, as a substitute, 424.