THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

Among the learned men who agree with this judgment are Kugler of
Germany, Ramee of France, and Selvatico of Italy, as well as Quatremal
de Quincy, in his _Dictionary of Architecture_, who, in the article on
the Comacine, remarks that "to these men, who were both designers and
executors, architects, sculptors, and mosaicists, may be attributed
the renaissance of art, and its propagation in the southern countries,
where it marched with Christianity. Certain it is that we owe it to
them, that the heritage of antique ages was not entirely lost, and it
is only by their tradition and imitation that the art of building was
kept alive, producing works which we still admire, and which become
surprising when we think of the utter ignorance of all science in
those dark ages." The English writer, Hope, goes further and credits
the Comacine order with being the cradle of the associations of
Free-masons, who were, he adds, "the first after Roman times to enrich
architecture with a complete and well-ordinated system, which
dominated wherever the Latin Church extended its influence."[78] So
then, even if the early records of old Craft-masonry in England are
confused, and often confusing, we are not left to grope our way from
one dim tradition to another, having the history and monuments of this
great order which _spans the whole period_, and links the fraternity
of Free-masons with one of the noblest chapters in the annals of art.
Almost without exception the _Old Charges_ begin their account of
Masonry in England at the time of Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred
the Great; that is, between 925 and 940. Of this prince, or knight,
they record that he was a wise and pacific ruler; that "he brought the
land to rest and peace, and built many great buildings of castles and
abbeys, for he loved Masons well." He is also said to have called an
assembly of Masons at which laws, rules, and charges were adopted for
the regulation of the craft. Despite these specific details, the story
of Athelstan and St. Alban is hardly more than a legend, albeit dating
at no very remote epoch, and well within the reasonable limits of
tradition. Still, so many difficulties beset it that it has baffled
the acutest critics, most of whom throw it aside.[79] That is,
however, too summary a way of disposing of it, since the record,
though badly blurred, is obviously trying to preserve a fact of
importance to the order.
Usually the assembly in question is located at York, in the year 926,
of which, however, no slightest record remains. Whether at York or
elsewhere, some such assembly must have been convoked, either as a
civil function, or as a regular meeting of Masons authorized by legal
power for upholding the honor of the craft; and its articles became
the laws of the order. It was probably a civil assembly, a part of
whose legislation was a revised and approved code for the regulation
of Masons, and not unnaturally, by reason of its importance to the
order, it became known as a Masonic assembly. Moreover, the Charge
agreed upon was evidently no ordinary charge, for it is spoken of as
"_the_ Charge," called by one MS "a deep charge for the observation of
such articles as belong to Masonry," and by another MS "a rule to be
kept forever." Other assemblies were held afterwards, either annually
or semi-annually, until the time of Inigo Jones who, in 1607, became
superintendent general of royal buildings and at the same time head of
the Masonic order in England; and he it was who instituted quarterly
gatherings instead of the old annual assemblies.
Writers not familiar with the facts often speak of Freemasonry as an