Gould's History of Freemasonry Around the World - Lodge Prudentia

28 FREEMASONRY IN THE DOMINIONhowever, the theory of Lord Alexander's Initiation in Nova Scotia has nothingto support it . It is dismissed by most trustworthy writers as being mythical .It is unnecessary here to follow the fortunes of the settlement at Port Royalthrough the vicissitudes of the next hundred years . Nevertheless, it shouldbe recalled that the main events of the century were the capture of the fortressby Colonel Sedgewick, in 1654 ; its cession to France by the Treaty of Breda, in1667 ; its capture by Sir William Phips in 169o ; the various other sieges of itfrom time to time, both before and after its capture by Colonel Nicholson in171o, at which time it was renamed Annapolis Royal ; and its cession to Britainby France according to the terms of the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 .Although it is unlikely that Freemasonry existed among the French orEnglish settlers in the Colony during this early period, there are some whoargue that it did . There is in the library of the Grand Lodge of Massachusettsa work entitled Ahiman ReZon : A Concise of Account of the Rise and Progressof Freemasonry in the Province of Nova Scotia from the First Settlement of It to ThisPresent Time-1786, in which the following statement is made : "From Europethe Royal Art crossed the Atlantic with the first emigrants and settledin various parts of America . It is said to have been known in Nova Scotia whilethat region was in the hands of the French . This statement could not have beenbased upon knowledge of the " Masonic Stone " of 16o6, or upon the theoryregarding Lord Alexander's Initiation, however, for the " Masonic Stone "was not discovered until 1827, and the evidence of Alexander's membershipwas not made public until long after 1786, the year in which the statement waspublished . In fact, research has so far failed to corroborate the statement thatFreemasonry was known among the French settlers . It is not impossible, however,that generations may discover and bring to light evidence to supportthe supposition of the author of Ahiman Rezon .In this same work, it is also stated that " it is certain that as soon as theEnglish took possession ' of the Colony ' they took care to encourage thischaritable institution (Freemasonry) ." Just what " certain " evidence insupport of this statement existed in 1786 is not known, but there is a sort ofcorroboration in a statement of M .- . W . • . Bro . Major-General J. Wimburn Laurie,Grand Master of Nova Scotia. In his address to the Grand Lodge of NovaScotia in 1884, Bro . Laurie referred to the receipt of a photographic copy ofthe Ledger of St . John's Lodge, at Philadelphia, dated 1731, which had beensent to him as evidence that the Lodge at Philadelphia was the first MasonicLodge to be organised in America during the Colonial period . But we knowthat Bro . Laurie was not completely convinced by the evidence, for in the sameaddress he went on to say that " from circumstances that have come to myknowledge, I believe it to be quite within the bounds of possibility that evidencewill in due time be forthcoming that a Masonic Lodge regularly metand transacted Masonic business at a much earlier date than 1731 in our ownProvince . I have been for some time promised the documents by a gentlemanwho is not a member of the Craft, and I trust his disinterested efforts to obtain