A Concise History Of Freemasonry.

Similar remarks follow as to the corps d'Elat , the Companionage of France , & c , the remarkable traditions of the latter having " a possible derivation from the same sources of origin as our own Freemasonry . " Commendable caution is exercised as to the Rosicrucians ,

the author being content rather to ask the question than to reply- — " Were the brethren of the Rosy Cross or their immediate precursors , the Hermetic Philosophers , the last link in an invisible chain connecting early Freemasonry with some of the now almost forgotten learning of antiquity ?"

Undoubtedly some of our foremost students answer the query in the affirmative , for there is much to favour the supposition . " Nothing stands alone ,

The chain holds on , and where it ends unknown . " On mediaeval operative Masonry , Bro . Gould is especially interesting and instructive , this second chapter being one of the most important of the ten , his opinions on many controverted points are emphatically expressed , and no portion is likely to be more read , because of its masterly presentation of

facts . He believes that the English word " Freemason " has been inherited from a similar or , in part , identical class to the London Company ( the first known to use the term in 1376 ) , and not from the Masons who worked freestone ; in which opinion I concur . He insists on the fact that the

pure and ancient Freemasonry of Britain is siti generis , and possesses few points of affinity with the old Masonic customs of France and Germany . The following conclusion will be welcome to those who fear the result of a rational treatment of the question" The symbolism we now possess as Freemasonry has come down to us in all its main features from

early times , and originated during the splendour of mediaeval operative Masonry , and not in its decline . " Chapter III . is devoted to a learned and laborious disquisition on the " English Laws of the Middle Ages and

the Freemasons . " I doubt if it will be valued as it deserves to be , save by a few of a legal turn of mind ; but " the Story of Hix Guild " which follows will be greatly appreciated , and so also the able analysis and description of the Legends of the Cra // , in which the grand " old charges" are treated to my

complete satisfaction , and as no one else in this country is likely to do in my lifetime . MASONS MARKS receive due consideration , and the opinions of recognised experts are noted and generally adopted .

Chapter VI ., relating to the early Scottish Craft , the period of transition and the formation of Grand Lodges , is a model of conciseness and condensation , without the absence of a single important fact . The special interest , however , will centre in the section entitled " A DIGRESSION ON

DEGREES , " wherein the author states it is " settled beyond dispute , not only that what we now call the Third Degree existed before the era of Grand Lodges , but that having passed through a long decline , its symbols had become corrupted . " I do not take this view myself , thus confirming Bro . Gould's

frank admission that " what he may deem legitimate inferences will not be regarded in a precisely similar light by other students in the same branch of research . "

Personally it gratifies me much to find myself in full accord with my friend , save as to this moot point , and all the more so as I have taken such an interest in the preparation of the work . In fact , we were practically daily correspondents for many months , and no one knows better than myself his anxiety to make the work equal to the high standard of

excellence and thoroughness he had set before him . We discussed the degree question frequently , and finally " agreed to differ" thereon . His readers will be able to form their own conclusions on the evidence submitted , which is most fairly and fully stated from first to last .

The subsequent chapters cannot possibly be improved upon in view of the handy size of the work , and the decision to present the information and arguments thereon in a

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