Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

350 FRANCIS BACON
There are certain accessories to the Baconian pitchers, one at
least being always present :
(1) A rising sun, formed by the
cover or round top of the pot; (2) five rays; (3) pearls; (4) fleur-delis;
(5) a four-petaled flower, or a Maltese cross; (G) a moon or
crescent; (7) the bull's horns in a crown; (8) grapes; (9) a diamond,
triangle, ellipse, or heart. Sometimes there are two handles
distinctly formed, as SS ;
often on the body of the pot are
letters — they maybe initials, asAB, and F B, often found in the
correspondence of the brothers; or S S, Sanctum Sanctorum,
etc.; R C, Rosy Cross ; F or F F, Frater or Fratres; G G, Grand
Geometrician— God, according to Freemason books.
Besp. In the midst of Solomon's Temple there stands a G,
A letter for all to read and see
But few there be that understand
What means the letter G.
Ex. My friend, if you pretend to be of this Fraternity
Tou can forthwith and rightly tell what means that letter G.
This letter was associated with the third sacred name
of God in Hebrew — Ghadol, Magnus; but also the Masonic
Cyclopaedia refers it to the Syriac Gad, the German Gott, the
English God, all derived from the Persian Goda, signifying
Himself. The reference to Geometry is to be seen in the concluding
lines of the above doggerel, which, says the encyclopaedist,
may go for what it is worth :
" By letters four and science five,
This G aright doth stand,
In a due art and proportion
You have your answer, friend."
The pot was one of the earliest paper-marks ; in examples as
old as 1352 we find it extremely rude in outline, like an ill-drawn
pint-pot of the present day, or of the same proportions, roundbodied.
1 Perhaps the original mark alluded to the pot of
manna said to have been laid up in the Ark of the Covenant by
Aaron. This pot of manna is mentioned in the " Royal Arch
1 See "Etudes sur les Filigraves des Papwrs," E. ilidioux et A. Matton, 1868.