CHAPTER II.

Mackey, in his extensive and useful treatise and work on Tree Masonry, says:

“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 Free Masonry, as it now exists, at the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Many years of subsequent research have led me greatly to modify the idea 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 the order a birth anterior to the beginning of the last century. I confess that I can not find any incontrovertable evidence that would trace Masonry, as now organized, beyond the Building Corporations of the Middle Ages.”

After theorizing and quoting from many authors of Modern and Ancient History, he concludes by saying: “And so, when I speak of the antiquity of Masonry, I must say, if I would respect the Axioms of Historical Science, that its body came out of the Middle Ages, but that its spirit is to be traced to a far remoter period. Pages 77 and 78, Mackey’s Work on Free Masonry.” Again, in a very extensive work on Free Masonry, styled “The Constitution of Free Masonry,” written and published in 1723, and dedicated to His Grace, the Duke of Montague, by order of His Grace the Duke of Wharton the present Eight Worshipful Grand Master of Free Masons, by J. T. Desaguliers, Deputy Grand Master, Thirty volumes in all, in the Fifteenth volume. Second Book on pages 3 and 4, he commences by relating what the qualifications of a candidate had to be in the following manner:

“Free Masonry is an ancient and respectable institution embracing individuals of every Nation, of every religion and of every condition in life. Wealth, power and talents are not necessary to the person of a Free Mason. An unblemished character and virtuous conduct are the only qualifications which are requisite for admission into the Order. In order to confirm this institution and attain the ends for which it was originally formed, every candidate must come under a solemn engagement never to divulge the mysteries and ceremonies of the Order, nor communicate to the uninitiated those important precepts with which he may be instructed, and those proceedings and plans in which the Fraternity may be engaged.

“After the candidate has undergone the necessary ceremonies and received the usual instructions, appropriate words and significant signs are imparted to him, that he may be enabled to distinguish his brethren of the Order from the uninitiated public, and convince others that he is entitled to the privileges of a brother, should he be visited by distress or want in a distant land.

“If the newly admitted member be found qualified for a high degree, he is promoted, after due intervals of probation, till he has received that Masonic knowledge which enables him to hold the highest offices of trust to which the Fraternity can raise its members. In all ages, it has been the object of Free Masonry, not only to inform the minds of its members, by instructing them in the sciences and useful arts, but to better their hearts by enforcing the precepts of religion and morality. In the course of the ceremonies of initiation, brotherly love, loyalty and other virtues are inculcated in hieroglyphic symbols and the candidate is often reminded that there is an eye above which observeth the workings of his heart, and is ever fixed upon the thoughts and the actions of men.

“At regular and appointed seasons, convivial meetings of the Fraternity are held in lodges constructed for this purpose. Temperance, harmony and joy characterize these mixed assemblies. All distinctions of rank seem to be laid aside, all differences in religions and political sentiments are forgotten and those petty quarrels, which disturb the quiet of private life, cease to agitate the mind. Every one strives to give happiness to his brother, and men seem to recollect, for once, that they spring from the same origin, that they are possessed of the same nature, and destined for the same end.”

I have quoted the above so that the reader may have some idea of Free Masonry before attempting to give his idea of its origin, and he says:

“Such are the general features of an institution, which has of late produced so great division in the sentiments of the learned, respecting its origin and tendency. While a certain class of men, a little over anxious for the dignity of their Order, have represented it as coeval with the world, others, influenced by an opposite motive, have maintained it to be the invention of English Jesuits, to promote the views of that intriguing and dangerous association. Some philosophers, among whom we may reckon the celebrated chevalier Ramsey, have labored to prove that Free Masonry arose during the crusades; that it was a secondary order of chivalry; that its forms originated from that warlike institution and were adapted to the peaceful habits of scientific men.

Mr. Clinch has attempted, with considerable ingenuity and learning, to deduce its origin from the institution of Pythagoras. M. Burrel supposes that it is a continuation of the Templars, while others, with a degree of audacity and malice rarely to be found in the character of ingenious men, have imputed the origin of Free Masonry to secret associations averse to the interest of true government, and pursuing the villainous and chimerical project of leveling the distinctions of society, and freeing the human mind from the sacred obligations of mortality and religion.

Without adopting any of these untenable opinions, or attempting to discover the precise period when Free Masonry arose, it may be sufficient to show that it can justly lay claim to an early origin, and that is has existed from that period to the present day under different forms and different appellations.

In the execution of this task, the candid inquirer will be satisfied with strong and numerous resemblances, as the nature of the subject excludes the possibility of rigid demonstrations. Every human institution is subject to great and numerous variations; the different aspects under which they appear, and the principles by which they are regulated, depend upon the progress of civilization, upon the nature of the government by which they are protected, and on the peculiar opinions and habits of their members. If, therefore, in comparing Free Masonry with other ancient associations, we shall find it coincide with them in every circumstance, there would be strong reasons for suspecting that the imagination of the writer had counterfeited resemblances when destitute of authentic information or that the Order had adopted the rites and ceremonies of antiquity to disprove the recency of their origin, to command the veneration and excite the notice of the public.

Against Free Masonry, however, this charge can not be preferred. We shall have occasion to consider it when connected with the idolatry of the heathens, when devoted to the Church of Rome and when flourishing under the milder influence of the reformed religion.

As men in the early ages of society were destitute of those methods of diffusing knowledge which we now enjoy, and even of those which were used in Greece and Rome, when the art of printing was unknown, the few discoveries in art and science which were then made, must have been confined to a small number of individuals. In those ages the pursuit of science must have been a secondary consideration, and those who did venture to explore the untrodden regions of knowledge, would overlook those unsubstantial speculations which gratify the curiosity of philosophic men and would fix their attention on those only which terminate in public utility and administer to the necessities of life.

As architecture could only be preceded by agriculture itself, it must have been in this science that the first efforts of human skill were tried, and in which man must have first experienced success in extending his dominions over the works of nature. They alone required the assistance of art and they alone would endeavor to obtain it. The information which was required individually would be imparted to others of the same profession, and an association would be formed for the mutual communication of knowledge and the mutual improvement of its members.

In order to preserve among themselves that information which they alone collected, in order to excite among others a higher degree of respect for their profession and prevent the intrusion of those who were ignorant of architecture and consequently could not promote the object of the institution, appropriate words and signs would be communicated to its members and significant ceremonies would be performed at their initiation that their engagement to secrecy might be impressed upon their minds and greater regard excited for the information they were to receive.

Nor is this mere speculation; there exist at this day, in the deserts of Egypt, such monuments of architecture as must have been reared in those early ages, which precede the records of authentic history, and the erection of those stupendous fabrics have required an acquaintance with the Mechanical Arts, which is not in possession of modern architects.

It is an undoubted fact, also, that there existed in those days a particular association of men, to whom scientific knowledge was confined and who resembled the society of Free Masons in every thing but the name. In Egypt, and those countries of Asia which lie contiguous to that...