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Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Masonic Notes And Queries.
d ' artificers et servants , which ordains the rate of wages , as follows .- " Item—Carpenters , Masons , and Tilers , and other workmen on houses shall take no other days wages for their work , but as they were used to do before the year 1346 . That is to say a master carpenter 3 pence , and another ( namely a joiner ) 2 pence . A master mason 4 pence , and other masons 3 pence , and them servants 1
penny . " In the old French text , " mestre de franche peer , 4 den . et autre mason 3 den . et leur servants I den . " In the old English translation it is : " a master Freemason 4 den . and other masons 3 den ., and their servants -1 den . " The word Freemason here signifies a free = stonemason , one who works on free-stone ( in French franche peer ) as distinct from a rough-mason who works only
with rough stones . Both classes of workmen are frequently mentioned by name in the Parliamentary Statutes of England . Ben Jonson , in his entertainment , entitled Love ' s Welcome , ( 1634 ) uses the words "Master Maul our Freemason , " In Howell ' s Dondinoplis , published in 1657 , we meet with the following notice : — " The company of Masons , otherwise called Freemasons , were used to be a loving brotherhood for many ages ; yet were they not regulated as a society till Henry IV ., & c . "—LATOSIUS .
FREDERICK II AND THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . From the same source that I quoted before , I send another scrap upon the abovenamed subject . It will be seen that it is part of a reply to the articles inserted before at p . 128 and is commented on by the original writer . —Ex . Ex . The article on Frederick II .,- of Prussia , and tbe Scottish Kite , is , in my opinion , calculated to do much injury to those
brethren engaged in the promulgation of that Kite , as it seems to cast upon them the imputation of endeavouring to sustain and uphold a system based upon forgery and fraud , and as the whole article has evidently been written without a proper understanding of the authority under which the Kite in question works . You may perhaps be disposed to give a little space , that both sides may have the benefit of a fair hearing . Without entering into a review of the article itself , I will
content myself with a brief notice of the conclusions to which the article directs attention . "' 1 st That Frederick second , was not the founder , nor did the ' 33 rd degree exist during his times . ' " In noticing this , I will commence by admitting its entire truth . In the connection , however , in which it is stated , it is calculated to produce erroneous impressions which will be obviated when the truth of the case is better understood .
Tbe constitutions of 1786 , which , since their adoption , have governed the ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , were adopted by a convention or council of delegates , composed of the principal officers of the bodies conferring the degrees of which the Kite is now composed ; under that constitution Frederick the Second , was made the grand patron of the Order , and Commander of Princes of the Koyal Secret . " The same convention which laced this in
p supremo power his hands , also provided that at his decease , the power conferred upon him , should pass into the hands of a Council of nine brethren , to he styled Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the 33 rd degree . As this grade would not be needed until after the death of Frederick , it is fair to suppose that no S . G . I . G ., of the 33 rd degree were created until the occasion existed for them .
_ "It matters not whether the powers given by those constitutions to Frederick II ., were exercised by him during the very hrief period of his life after the form of the constitutions iato or not ; as they were adopted in 1786 , and he died in the same year , it is not to be presumed that he was very active in the duties of the office conferred upon , him most probably as a token of respect and a compliment to so distinguished a monarch and Mason . Whether he ever acted at all or not , is of no sort
of consequence , so far as the validity of the constitutions are concerned . "It will certainly be admitted , by those at all well informed upon the subject , that since 1786 the 32 degrees composing the Rite in question have been conferred under the authority of a supreme council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , as provided in those constitutions , which give to such supreme Council the powers which the same constitutions rave to
Frederick during his life , and that these constitutions are assacred and unalterable to the brethren who have taken the degrees in this rite as the Ancient Landmarks are to the Master Mason . Tbe object of the writer of the original article was to accuse , by imputation , the brethren of the Scottish Kite of upholding a forgery , because he docs not believe that Frederick the Great made the constitutions of 1786 , or can find no proof of his
having signed with his own hand those constitutions . " The assertion ' that all the credit of the creation of this ( so called ) highest grade in Masonry belongs to the present generation ' can only be admitted or refuted after a knowledge of what the writer considers a generation . As the constitutions establishing the 33 rd degree were not made until 1786 , it is probable that there are those still living who were born before there were any Sovereign Grand Inspectors General ; but does
this fact make their power any less , or does it prove that the degrees of the Kite are modern because the framers of its constitution chose to designate the nine brethren who govern it as members of the 33 rd degree ? " The third deduction named , that the 'highest officer in this work is mistaken in his data , & c ., ' cannot be drawn from the article , as that has failed to prove that Frederick the Second was not' the Grand Patron of the Orderand the Commander
, of Princes of the Koyal secret , ' the extracts from the writing and speeches of the distinguished Frenchmen and Germans to the contrary nothwithstanding . As none of these gentlemen were in the confidence of Frederick , and expressed then- opinion many years after his death , their testimony is of no more weight
than that of the equally respectable brethren who hold to the contrary opinion . " I presume that it is usually admitted that because one person cannot find evidence that a certain act was done , it is not positive proof that the act was never done . "The 'highest officer , ' therefore ., is just as plausible in this belief as your article , one assertion being of equal weight with the other , until some evidence is adduced to prove either the
truth or falsity of one or other of the two assertions . " On what ground the remark of the Great Philosopher to the brother of the Sun and Moon is made to apply , I am too obtuse to see , for I cannot discover that the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , are ' bound to any offense , ' or have offended against either the laws of Masonry or morality , by performing the duties of the offices to which they have been elevated in accordance with the constitutions which have governed their Kite
for the last three-quarters of a century . "Perhaps the article , in addition to its familiarity with celestial philosophy , may have a stock of knowledge that will enable ns to know how the Ancient and Accepted Rite should he governed , if not by its Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , and where its laws are to be fonnd otherwise than in the constitutions of 1786 , and by what authority the degrees should be conferred .
" When this is done , there may be some good reason for considering the present officers who govern the Ancient and Accepted Rite impostors , and the brethren upholding it guilty of the crime of endeavouring to impose a fraud and a forgery upon the fraternity . —JUSTICE .
[ A few brief comments on this communication may not be out of place . Our Brother "Justice , " begins by admitting " the entire truth" of our first deduction , namely , " that Frederic II . was not the founder nor did the 33 rd degree exist during his times , " a conclusion to which we had arrived , by a cateful examination of the testimony of several " distinguished Frenchmen and Germans " who ,
although " not in the confidence of Frederick , " have ever been recognised by the Fraternity as fair and impartial masonic historians , and their statements are consequently entitled to due credit . " Justice " appears to bnild Ms whole faith upon the Grand Constitutions of 1786 ; which , he claims as the governing authority of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , adoptedas he says" by a Convention of
, , Delegates , composed of the principal officers of tho Rite , under which Constitutions Frederick II was made Grand Patron , & c . " Now these Constitutions commenced , " We , Frederic , by the Grace of God , King of Prussia ^ & c , " and yet " Justice " admits that Frederick was not the founder of the 33 rd degree . The Grand Constitution of 1786 enumerates the degrees ofthe Ancient Accepted
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
d ' artificers et servants , which ordains the rate of wages , as follows .- " Item—Carpenters , Masons , and Tilers , and other workmen on houses shall take no other days wages for their work , but as they were used to do before the year 1346 . That is to say a master carpenter 3 pence , and another ( namely a joiner ) 2 pence . A master mason 4 pence , and other masons 3 pence , and them servants 1
penny . " In the old French text , " mestre de franche peer , 4 den . et autre mason 3 den . et leur servants I den . " In the old English translation it is : " a master Freemason 4 den . and other masons 3 den ., and their servants -1 den . " The word Freemason here signifies a free = stonemason , one who works on free-stone ( in French franche peer ) as distinct from a rough-mason who works only
with rough stones . Both classes of workmen are frequently mentioned by name in the Parliamentary Statutes of England . Ben Jonson , in his entertainment , entitled Love ' s Welcome , ( 1634 ) uses the words "Master Maul our Freemason , " In Howell ' s Dondinoplis , published in 1657 , we meet with the following notice : — " The company of Masons , otherwise called Freemasons , were used to be a loving brotherhood for many ages ; yet were they not regulated as a society till Henry IV ., & c . "—LATOSIUS .
FREDERICK II AND THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . From the same source that I quoted before , I send another scrap upon the abovenamed subject . It will be seen that it is part of a reply to the articles inserted before at p . 128 and is commented on by the original writer . —Ex . Ex . The article on Frederick II .,- of Prussia , and tbe Scottish Kite , is , in my opinion , calculated to do much injury to those
brethren engaged in the promulgation of that Kite , as it seems to cast upon them the imputation of endeavouring to sustain and uphold a system based upon forgery and fraud , and as the whole article has evidently been written without a proper understanding of the authority under which the Kite in question works . You may perhaps be disposed to give a little space , that both sides may have the benefit of a fair hearing . Without entering into a review of the article itself , I will
content myself with a brief notice of the conclusions to which the article directs attention . "' 1 st That Frederick second , was not the founder , nor did the ' 33 rd degree exist during his times . ' " In noticing this , I will commence by admitting its entire truth . In the connection , however , in which it is stated , it is calculated to produce erroneous impressions which will be obviated when the truth of the case is better understood .
Tbe constitutions of 1786 , which , since their adoption , have governed the ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , were adopted by a convention or council of delegates , composed of the principal officers of the bodies conferring the degrees of which the Kite is now composed ; under that constitution Frederick the Second , was made the grand patron of the Order , and Commander of Princes of the Koyal Secret . " The same convention which laced this in
p supremo power his hands , also provided that at his decease , the power conferred upon him , should pass into the hands of a Council of nine brethren , to he styled Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the 33 rd degree . As this grade would not be needed until after the death of Frederick , it is fair to suppose that no S . G . I . G ., of the 33 rd degree were created until the occasion existed for them .
_ "It matters not whether the powers given by those constitutions to Frederick II ., were exercised by him during the very hrief period of his life after the form of the constitutions iato or not ; as they were adopted in 1786 , and he died in the same year , it is not to be presumed that he was very active in the duties of the office conferred upon , him most probably as a token of respect and a compliment to so distinguished a monarch and Mason . Whether he ever acted at all or not , is of no sort
of consequence , so far as the validity of the constitutions are concerned . "It will certainly be admitted , by those at all well informed upon the subject , that since 1786 the 32 degrees composing the Rite in question have been conferred under the authority of a supreme council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , as provided in those constitutions , which give to such supreme Council the powers which the same constitutions rave to
Frederick during his life , and that these constitutions are assacred and unalterable to the brethren who have taken the degrees in this rite as the Ancient Landmarks are to the Master Mason . Tbe object of the writer of the original article was to accuse , by imputation , the brethren of the Scottish Kite of upholding a forgery , because he docs not believe that Frederick the Great made the constitutions of 1786 , or can find no proof of his
having signed with his own hand those constitutions . " The assertion ' that all the credit of the creation of this ( so called ) highest grade in Masonry belongs to the present generation ' can only be admitted or refuted after a knowledge of what the writer considers a generation . As the constitutions establishing the 33 rd degree were not made until 1786 , it is probable that there are those still living who were born before there were any Sovereign Grand Inspectors General ; but does
this fact make their power any less , or does it prove that the degrees of the Kite are modern because the framers of its constitution chose to designate the nine brethren who govern it as members of the 33 rd degree ? " The third deduction named , that the 'highest officer in this work is mistaken in his data , & c ., ' cannot be drawn from the article , as that has failed to prove that Frederick the Second was not' the Grand Patron of the Orderand the Commander
, of Princes of the Koyal secret , ' the extracts from the writing and speeches of the distinguished Frenchmen and Germans to the contrary nothwithstanding . As none of these gentlemen were in the confidence of Frederick , and expressed then- opinion many years after his death , their testimony is of no more weight
than that of the equally respectable brethren who hold to the contrary opinion . " I presume that it is usually admitted that because one person cannot find evidence that a certain act was done , it is not positive proof that the act was never done . "The 'highest officer , ' therefore ., is just as plausible in this belief as your article , one assertion being of equal weight with the other , until some evidence is adduced to prove either the
truth or falsity of one or other of the two assertions . " On what ground the remark of the Great Philosopher to the brother of the Sun and Moon is made to apply , I am too obtuse to see , for I cannot discover that the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , are ' bound to any offense , ' or have offended against either the laws of Masonry or morality , by performing the duties of the offices to which they have been elevated in accordance with the constitutions which have governed their Kite
for the last three-quarters of a century . "Perhaps the article , in addition to its familiarity with celestial philosophy , may have a stock of knowledge that will enable ns to know how the Ancient and Accepted Rite should he governed , if not by its Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , and where its laws are to be fonnd otherwise than in the constitutions of 1786 , and by what authority the degrees should be conferred .
" When this is done , there may be some good reason for considering the present officers who govern the Ancient and Accepted Rite impostors , and the brethren upholding it guilty of the crime of endeavouring to impose a fraud and a forgery upon the fraternity . —JUSTICE .
[ A few brief comments on this communication may not be out of place . Our Brother "Justice , " begins by admitting " the entire truth" of our first deduction , namely , " that Frederic II . was not the founder nor did the 33 rd degree exist during his times , " a conclusion to which we had arrived , by a cateful examination of the testimony of several " distinguished Frenchmen and Germans " who ,
although " not in the confidence of Frederick , " have ever been recognised by the Fraternity as fair and impartial masonic historians , and their statements are consequently entitled to due credit . " Justice " appears to bnild Ms whole faith upon the Grand Constitutions of 1786 ; which , he claims as the governing authority of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , adoptedas he says" by a Convention of
, , Delegates , composed of the principal officers of tho Rite , under which Constitutions Frederick II was made Grand Patron , & c . " Now these Constitutions commenced , " We , Frederic , by the Grace of God , King of Prussia ^ & c , " and yet " Justice " admits that Frederick was not the founder of the 33 rd degree . The Grand Constitution of 1786 enumerates the degrees ofthe Ancient Accepted