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Article THE PRESENT POSITION OF MASONIC HISTORY AND CRITICISM. ← Page 3 of 3 Article CURIOUS LIST OF LODGES, A.D. 1736. Page 1 of 5 →
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The Present Position Of Masonic History And Criticism.
" degree" in 1738 , as applied to the " apprentice degree " as the " lowest degree , " clearly assumes that this "triplicate form " was of "ancient standing" and " direct difference , " and not merely a titular or technical distinction , which is a modern theory . Curiousl y enough , from the earliest time , even before the Masonic poem , which also contains the threefold division , Master , Fellows , and Apprentices are the Masonic division . Even in Scotlandwhere Bro . D . M .
, Lyon thinks that the " fallows " and Masters are identical , so only forming two degrees with one ceremony , there is evidence that the Masters had meetings of their own . In England the whole evidence runs on the presumption and assumption that the three degrees were of old standing . To assume , then , that the three degrees were unknown in . England before 1717 , and that then Desaguliers and others expanded the one degree into threeis contrary to all
, proper dealing with available evidence or known facts . I am now discussing printed evidence ; the ritual evidence , or manuscript evidence , I propose to deal with in another paper . We can , no doubt , reject Anderson ' s evidence ; the evidence ( such as it is ) of Pritchard , and "The Grand Mystery "; but where then , in the name of common sense , did the Freemasons of 1721 obtain their ritual from ? Was it arranged then ? put together then ?
and if so , by whom ? I might say a good deal as regards the " archaisms " of our ceremonial , despite successive changes , as proving an existence before 1717 ; but I forbear , because I cannot fairly do so in a public print . It will suffice for me to repeat to-day that all the printed evidence we have proves that Desaguliers and Anderson were sincere when they looked on the Craft system as long anterior to 1717 , and in my humble opinion , as I hope to show before I end these papers , they are fully justified in the contentions they clearly made , and the conclusions they carefully arrived at .
Curious List Of Lodges, A.D. 1736.
CURIOUS LIST OF LODGES , A . D . 1736 .
BY BRO . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . ANY List of Lodges prior to 1750 is valuable for reference , and especiall y if " engraved " by John Pine , etc . As Bro . Gould , S . G . D ., and I have often pointed out , there are several of the series from 1723-1778 missing from
the unique collection of the Grand Lodge of England , viz .: —1724 , 1726 to 1728 , 1730 to 1735 , 1737 , 1742 , 1743 , 1746 to 1749 , 1751 , 1759 , 1771 , and 1774 . Brethren knowing of any of these should procure them for the Grand Lodge . Only lately one of 1729 has been presented , and it is to be hoped others will follow . The earlier issues particularly are wanted . In other libraries are engraved lists for 1734 , 1737 , 1738 , 1763 , 1769 , 1770 , and 1774 ,
to which we have had access and possess exact copies of . In Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges and their Descendants " is an accurate transcript of Pine ' s List of 1736 , and also one to 1739 . The former is numbered from 1 to 152 , and contains one hundred and fifty-one lodges , number 13 being omitted . In looking over the " Freemason ' s Pocket Companion , " published at Ayr , in 1792 , 1 was surprised to find " An Exact List of Regular English Lodges , "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Present Position Of Masonic History And Criticism.
" degree" in 1738 , as applied to the " apprentice degree " as the " lowest degree , " clearly assumes that this "triplicate form " was of "ancient standing" and " direct difference , " and not merely a titular or technical distinction , which is a modern theory . Curiousl y enough , from the earliest time , even before the Masonic poem , which also contains the threefold division , Master , Fellows , and Apprentices are the Masonic division . Even in Scotlandwhere Bro . D . M .
, Lyon thinks that the " fallows " and Masters are identical , so only forming two degrees with one ceremony , there is evidence that the Masters had meetings of their own . In England the whole evidence runs on the presumption and assumption that the three degrees were of old standing . To assume , then , that the three degrees were unknown in . England before 1717 , and that then Desaguliers and others expanded the one degree into threeis contrary to all
, proper dealing with available evidence or known facts . I am now discussing printed evidence ; the ritual evidence , or manuscript evidence , I propose to deal with in another paper . We can , no doubt , reject Anderson ' s evidence ; the evidence ( such as it is ) of Pritchard , and "The Grand Mystery "; but where then , in the name of common sense , did the Freemasons of 1721 obtain their ritual from ? Was it arranged then ? put together then ?
and if so , by whom ? I might say a good deal as regards the " archaisms " of our ceremonial , despite successive changes , as proving an existence before 1717 ; but I forbear , because I cannot fairly do so in a public print . It will suffice for me to repeat to-day that all the printed evidence we have proves that Desaguliers and Anderson were sincere when they looked on the Craft system as long anterior to 1717 , and in my humble opinion , as I hope to show before I end these papers , they are fully justified in the contentions they clearly made , and the conclusions they carefully arrived at .
Curious List Of Lodges, A.D. 1736.
CURIOUS LIST OF LODGES , A . D . 1736 .
BY BRO . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . ANY List of Lodges prior to 1750 is valuable for reference , and especiall y if " engraved " by John Pine , etc . As Bro . Gould , S . G . D ., and I have often pointed out , there are several of the series from 1723-1778 missing from
the unique collection of the Grand Lodge of England , viz .: —1724 , 1726 to 1728 , 1730 to 1735 , 1737 , 1742 , 1743 , 1746 to 1749 , 1751 , 1759 , 1771 , and 1774 . Brethren knowing of any of these should procure them for the Grand Lodge . Only lately one of 1729 has been presented , and it is to be hoped others will follow . The earlier issues particularly are wanted . In other libraries are engraved lists for 1734 , 1737 , 1738 , 1763 , 1769 , 1770 , and 1774 ,
to which we have had access and possess exact copies of . In Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges and their Descendants " is an accurate transcript of Pine ' s List of 1736 , and also one to 1739 . The former is numbered from 1 to 152 , and contains one hundred and fifty-one lodges , number 13 being omitted . In looking over the " Freemason ' s Pocket Companion , " published at Ayr , in 1792 , 1 was surprised to find " An Exact List of Regular English Lodges , "