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

ANCIENT
ANDERSON 57
to the body from which they had separated,
and were unknown to the rest of the Masonic
world . We hale, then, the evidence that
they had two sets of marks ; viz . : those which
they had brought with them from the original
body, and those which they had, we must suppose,
themselves devised .' (P . 192 .)
Dermott, in his Ahiman Rezon, confirms
this statement of Daicho, if, indeed, it needs
confirmation . He says that " a Modern
Mason may with safety communicate all his
secrets to an Ancient Mason, but that an
Ancient Mason cannot, with like safety, communicate
all his secrets to a Modern Mason
without further ceremony ." And he assigns
as a reason for this, that "as a science comprehends
an art (though an art cannot comprehend
a science), even so Ancient Masonry
contains everything valuable among the Moderns,
as well as many other things that cannot
be revealed without additional ceremonies ."
Now, what were these "other things"
known by the Ancients, and not known by
the Moderns? What were these distinctive
marks, which precluded the latter from visiting
the Lodges of the former? Written history
is of course silent as to these esoteric
matters . But tradition, confirmed by, and at
the same time explaining, the hints and casual
intimations of contemporary writers, leads us
to the almost irresistible inference that they
were to be found in the different constructions
of the Third, or Master's Degree, and the introduction
into it of the Royal Arch element ; for,
as Dr . Oliver (Hist. Eng. R. A ., p . 21) says,
" the division of the third degree and the fabrication
of the English Royal Arch appear, on
their own showing, to have been the work of
the Ancients." And hence the Grand Secretary
of the regular Grand Lodge, or that of the
Moderns, replying to the application of an
Ancient Mason from Ireland for relief, says :
" Our society (i . e ., the Moderns) is neither
Arch, Royal Arch, nor Ancient, so that you
have no right to partake of our charity ."
This, then, is the solution of the difficulty .
The Ancients, besides preserving the regular
order of the words in the First and Second Degrees,
which the Moderns had transposed (a
transposition which has been retained in the
Lodges of Britain and America, but which
has never been observed by the continental
Lodges of Europe, who continue the usage of
the Ancients), also finished the otherwise imperfect
Third Degree with its natural complement,
the Royal Arch, a complement with
which the Moderns were unacquainted, or
which they, if they knew it once, had lost .
The following is a list of t e Grand Masters
of the Grand Lodge of Ancients from its organization
to its dissolution : 1753, Robert
Turner ; 1754-55, Edward Vaughan ; 1756-59,
Earl of Blessington ; 1760-65, Earl of Kelly ;
1766-70, The Hon . Thomas Matthew ; 1771-
74, third Duke of Atholl ; 1775-81, fourth
Duke of Atholl • 1782-90, Earl of Antrim ;
1791-1813, fourth Duke of Atholl ; 1813, Duke
of Kent, under whom the reconciliation of the
two Grand Lodges was accomplished .
The Grand Lodge of Ancient Masons was,
shortly after its organization, recognized by
the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland,
and, through the ability and energy of its
officers, but especially Laurence Dermott, at
one time its Grand Secretary, and afterward
its Deputy Grand Master, and the author of
its Ahiman Rezon, or Book of Constitutions,
it extended its influence and authority into
foreign countries and into the British Colonies
of America, where it became exceedingly popular,
and where it organized several Provincial
Grand Lodges, as, for instance, in Massachusetts,
New York, Pennsylvania Virginia,
and South Carolina, where the Loiges working
under this authority were generally known
as " Ancient York Lodges ."
In consequence of this, dissensions existed,
not only in the mother country, but also in
America, for many years, between the Lodges
which derived their warrants from the Grand
Lodge of Ancients and those-which derived
theirs from the regular or so-called Grand
Lodge of Moderns . But the Duke of Kent
having been elected, in 1813, the Grand Master
of the Ancients, while his brother the
Duke of Sussex, was Grand Master o1 the
Moderns, a permanent reconciliation was
effected between the rival bodies, and by mutual
compromises the present "United Grand
Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England "
was established .
Similar unions were consummated in America,
the last being that of the two Grand
Lodges of South Carolina, in 1817, and the
distinction between the Ancients and the
Moderns was forever abolished or remains
only as a melancholy page in tune history of
Masonic controversies . From their connection
with the Dukes of Atholl, the "Ancient "
Masons are sometimes known as "Atholl"
Masons . [E . L. H .)
Ancient Reformed Rite. A Rite differing
very slightly from the French Rite, or Rite
Modern, of which, indeed, it is said to be only
a modification. It is practised by the Grand
Lodge of Holland and the Grand Orient of
Belgium . It was established in 1783 as one
of the results of the Congress of Wilheimsbad .
Ancient of Days. A title applied, in the
visions of Daniel, to Jehovah, to signify that
his days are beyond reckoning . Used by
Webb in the Most Excellent Master's song.
"Fulfilled is the promise
By the ANCIENT of DAYS,
To bring forth the cape-stone
With shouting and praise."
Ancients . See Ancient Masons .
Ancient, The. The Third Degree of the
German Union of Twenty-two .
Ancient York Masons . One of the names
assumed by the Lodges of Ancient Masons,
which see.
Anderson, James . The Rev. James Anderson,
D .D ., is well known to all Masons
as the compiler of the celebrated Book of Constitutions
. The date and place of his birth
have not yet been discovered with certainty,