Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

FOUR
FOUR 275
Roman art, but in the old sculpture and
stained glass of Germany . Their e i, _.'es, she
tells us, are easily distinguished by tee fact,
that they stand in a row, bearing palms, with
crowns upon their heads and various Masonic
implements at their feet-such as the rule,
the square, the mallet, and the chisel .
They suffered death on the 8th of November,
287, and hence in the Roman Catholic missal
that day is dedicated to their commemoration .
From their profession as Stonemasons and
from the pious firmness with which they refused,
at the cost of their lives, to consecrate
their skill in their art to the construction of
Pagan temples, they have been adopted by
the Stonemasons of Germany as the Patron
Saints of Operative Masonry . Thus the oldest
regulation of the Stonemasons of Strasburg,
which has the date of the year 1459, commences
with the following invocation : "In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, and of our gracious Mother
Mary and also of her Blessed Servants,
the Pour Crowned Martyrs of everlasting
memory."
Such allusions are common in the German
Masonic documents of the Middle Ages . It
is true, however, that the English Masons
ceased at a later period to refer in their Constitutions
to those martyrs, although they undoubtedly
borrowed many of their usages
from Germany. Yet the Regius Manuscript
of the Constitutions of Masonry, the oldest of
the English Records, which is supposed to
have been written about the year 1390, under
the title of "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum," gives
a rather copious detail of the legend, which is
here inserted with only those slight alterations
of its antiquated phraseology which are necessary
to render it intelligible to modern readers,
although in doing so the rhyme of the original
is somewhat destroyed :
"Pray we now to God Almighty,
And to His Mother, Mary bright,
That we may keep these articles here
And these points well altogether,
As did those holy martyrs four
That in this Craft were of great honour .
They were as good Mason as on earth shall go,
Gravers and image makers they were also,
For they were workmen of the best,
The emperor had them in great liking ;
He willed of them an image to make,
That might be worshiped for his sake ;
Such idols he had in his day
To turn the people from Christ's law,
But they were steadfast in Christ's law
And to their Craft, without denial ;
They loved well God and all his lore,
And were in his service evermore.
True men they were, in that day,
And lived well in God's law ;
They thought no idols for to make,
For no good that they might take ;
To believe on that idol for their god,
They would not do so, though he were mad,
For they would not forsake their true faith,
And believe on his false law .
The emperor caused to take them at once
And put them in a deep prison .
The sorer he punished them in that place,
The more joy was to them of Christ's grace .
Then when he saw no other one,
To death he let them then go .
Who so will of their life more know,
By the book he may it show,
In the legends of the saints,
The names of the four crowned ones .
Their feast will be, without denial,
After All Hallows, the eighth day."
(vv. 497-534 .)
The devotion of these saints, which led to
the introduction of their legend into an ancient
Constitution of Masonry, shows how
much they were reverenced by the Craft .
In fact., the Four Crowned Martyrs were to
the Stone-cutters of Germany and to the
earlier Operative Masons of England what
St . John the Baptist and St . John the Evangelist
became to their successors, the Speculative
Freemasons of the eighteenth century .
[From them the famous literary Lodge-the
Quatuor Coronati, of London, England-has
been so named .]
Fourfold Cord. In the ritual of the Past
Master's Degree in America we find the following
expression : "A twofold cord is strong,
a threefold cord is stronger, but a fourfold
cord is not easily broken ." The expression is
taken from a Hebrew proverb which is to be
found in the Book of Ecclesiastes (iv. 12) :
"And if one prevail against him, two shall
withstand him ; and a threefold cord is not
quickly broken ." The form of the Hebrew
proverb has been necessarily changed to suit
the symbolism of the degree .
Four New Years. According to the Talmud
there were four New Years . The first of .
Nisan was the new year for kings and festivals ;
the reign of a king was calculated from this
date. The first of Elul was a new year for the
tithing of cattle . The first of Tishri was a
new year for civil years, for years of release,
jubilees, and planting . The first of Shebat
was a new year for the tithing of trees .
"Four Old Lodges." Of the four old
Lodges which constituted the Grand Lodge of
England, on St . John the Baptist's day, 1717,
the "Lodge of Antiquity," No . 2, London, was
the first . The Lodge meets by "Time Immemorial
Constitution," having no warrant,
and, until the "Union," was first on the
roll ; a decision, however, by ballot, lost it its
numerical priority . As Lodges were known
by the house in which they met, Antiquity
Lodge was designated "The West India and
American."
"The Royal Somerset House and Inverness,"
No . 4, London, is the junior of the four
Lodges which constituted the Grand Lodge .
At that time it met at the "Rummer and
Grapes" Tavern, Westminster, and subsequently
at the "Horn," which latter gave the
Lodge a name for many years. This Lodge
now represents three united Lodges, the names
of two of which are to be found in its present
designation .
Of the four "original" Lodges, two only
have been on the roll from 1740 as of "Time
Immemorial Constitution ." The original
"No. 2" ceased working about 1736 and