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

66 ANTIQUITY
ANTIQUITY
tion of the Grand Lodge of England . At that
time, the Lodge of Antiquity met at the Goose
and Gridiron, in St. Paul's Church-yard .
This Lodge and three others met on St . John
Baptist's Day (June 24), 1717, at the Goose
and Gridiron Tavern, and by a majority of
hands elected Mr . Anthony Sayer Grand
Master, he being the oldest Master present.
Capt. Joseph Elliot, and Mr . Jacob Lamball,
carpenter, he elected Grand Wardens . This
and the other three Lodges did not derive
their warrants from the Grand Lodge, but
" acted by immemorable Constitution ."
Antiquity Manuscript . This celebrated
MS . is now, and has long been, in the possession
of the Lodge of Antiquity, at London . It
is stated in the subscription to have been
written, in 1686, by " Robert Padgett, Clearke
to the Worshipful Society of the Freemasons
of the city of London." The whole manuscript
was first published by W . J. Hughan in
his Old Charges of British Freemasons (p . 64),
but a part had been previously inserted by
Preston in his Illustrations (b . ii ., sect. vi.) .
And here we have evidence of a criminal inaccuracy
of the Masonic writers of the last
century, who never hesitated to alter or interpolate
passages in old documents whenever
it was required to confirm a preconceived
theory. Thus, Preston had intimated
that there was before 1717 an Installation
ceremony for newly elected Masters of Lodges
(which is not true), and inserts what he calls
" the ancient Charges that were used on this
occasion," taken from the MS . of the Lodge
of Antiquity. To confirm the statement,
that they were used for this purpose, he cites
the conclusion of the MS . in the following
words : " These be all the charges and covenants
that ought to be read at the installment
of Master, or making of a Freemason or Freemasons
." The words in italics are not to be
found in the original MS ., but were inserted
by Preston . Bro . E. Jackson Barron had an
exact transcript made of this MS., which he
carefully collated, and which was published
by Bro. Hughan . Bro . Barron gives the followmg
description of the document :
" The MS . copy of the Charges of Freemasons
is on a roll of parchment nine feet
long by eleven inches wide, the roll being
formed of four pieces of parchment glued together
; and some few years ago it was partially
mounted (but not very skilfully) on a
backing of parchment for its better preservation.
"The' Rolls are headed by an engraving of
the Royal Arms, after the fashion usual in
deeds of the period ; the date of the engraving
in this case being fixed by the initials at the
top,
Under this engraving are emblazoned in
separate shields the Arms of the city of London,
which are two well known to require
description, and the Arms of the Masons
Company of London, Sable on a chevron between
three castles argent, a pair of compasses
of the first surrounded by appropriate mantling .
"The writing is a good specimen of the
ordinary law writing of the times, interspersed
with words in text . There is a margin
of about an inch on the left side, which is
marked by a continuous double red ink line
throughout, and there are similar double lines
down both edges of the parchment. The
letter U is used throughout the MS. for V,
with but two or three exceptions ." (Hughan's
Old Charges, 1872, p . 14.)
Antiquity of Freemasonry . Years ago
in writing an article on this subject under the
impressions made upon me by the fascinating
theories of Dr . Oliver, though I never completely
accepted his views, I was led to place
the organization of Freemasonry, as it now
exists, at the building of Solomon's Temple .
Many years of subsequent research have led
me greatly to modify the views I had previously
held . Although I do not rank myself
among those modern iconoclasts who refuse
credence to every document whose authenticity,
if admitted, would give to the Order a
birth anterior to the beginning of the last
century, I confess that I cannot find any incontrovertible
evidence that would trace Ma ;
sonry, as now organized, beyond the Building
Corporations of the Middle Ages . In this
point of view I speak of it only as an architectural
brotherhood, distinguished by signs,
by words, and by brotherly ties which have
not been essentially changed, and by symbols
and legends which have only been developed
and extended, while the association
has undergone a transformation from an
operative art to a speculative science .
But then these Building Corporations did
not spring up in all their peculiar organization
-different, as it was, from that of other
guilds-like Autochthones, from the soil .
They, too, must have had an origin and an
archetype, from which they derived their
peculiar character . And I am induced, for
that purpose, to look to the Roman Colleges
of Artificers, which were spread over Europe
by the invading forces of the empire. But
these have been traced to Numa, who gave
to them that mixed practical and religious
character which they are known to have
possessed, and in which they were imitated by
the medieval architects .
We must, therefore look at Freemasonry in
two distinct points ofview : First, as it is-a
society of Speculative Architects engaged in
the construction of spiritual temples, and in
this respect a development from the Operative
Architects of the tenth and succeeding centuries,
who were themselves offshoots from the
Traveling Freemasons of Como, who traced
their origin to the Roman Colleges of Builders .
In this direction, I think, the line of descent is
plain, without any demand upon our credulity
for assent to its credibility .
But Freemasonry must be looked at also
from another standpoint . Not only does it
present the appearance of a speculative
science, based on an operative art, but it also
very significantly exhibits itself as the symbolic
expression of a religious idea . In other and
plainer words, we see in it the important