Old Antiquity.

and maintain its exceptional place among Masonic societies . The pretensions of enthusiasts about the great age of Masomy may not unreasonably excite the scorn of unimaginative critics . The stories which tell how St . Alban introduced the Order into Britain are in keeping with other fables in the legendary annals of this country . Extravagant claims naturally excite scepticism , and almost justify the rejection of any story as pure fiction . While no person

competent to form a decision can soberly uphold the statements concerning the ancient , if not prehistoric , character of Freemasonry , yet it is quite as rash to argue , as is frequently done , that the whole system is but a thing of yesterday , and was the invention of some clever men in the eighteenth century . That Freemasonry , substantially the same in kind as that which now exists , was practised in this , country as far back as the time of Henry VI . is by no means

improbable . It has been surmised that the King himself was a member of the Order , though nothing more is proved in support of this than that he left behind him a manuscript containing certain parts of Masonic ritual . In his reign the operative Masons were very unpopular , and an Act , was passed forbidding them to hold their ' chapiters and congregations . ' It is possible that , about this time , the change may have begun which eventually transformed the

operative into- speculative Masons , substituting for the forms and rules under which buildings were actually constructed the mere theoretic Masonry of the present clay , in which a peculiar system of morality is veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols . The several steps of the process have never been clearly traced . There is no doubt , however , the result may have been achieved , it is a noteworthone . The existence of such a lodge as that of Antiquit

y y , working under an immemorial constitution , and over which Sir Christopher Wren presided as Master , carries back the Order in this country to a period sufficiently remote to satisfy any reasonable person , and even to endow it with an archaeological status . However well-founded the doubts may be as to the

right of Freemasons to claim an ancient origin for their Order , it is indisputable that the Order itself is widely diffused over the earth and wields an extended power . Not long ago we published some statistics on this subject , and these figures could not fail to produce a strong impression . There is no civilised country in which many Masonic lodges cannot be found , and the more civilised the country the greater the number of these lodges . Russia is the only nation concerning which no Masonic statistics are forthcomingthe reason

, being that in Russia Freemasons have long shared with Jews the antipathy and condemnation of those in authority . Nowhere do Freemasons abound more than in the United States , and nowhere are they now held in hi gher honour , yet there was a time when they were the opprobrium of citizens of the North American Republic . When Miss Martineau visited the United States and w rote her ' Society in America , ' she found the Masonic order the object

of general denunciation and antipathy . Commenting on what she heard , she wrote that " abaci institution is overthrown . " It is obvious that the Order must subserve some practical end , otherwise . it would not have survived the overthrow of fort y years since . Across the Atlantic it can make no pretensions to a long traditionary past ; its introduction on North American soil dates from the middle of the eighteenth century . Washington and Franklin are

numbered amongst the earliest as well as the most notable American Freemasons . Indeed , when Washington died at Mount Vernon his funeral was conducted by his Masonic brethren in the Virginian Lodge , of which he had long been a member . It is no unusual thing in the United States to see an important personage take part in a Masonic demonstration ; President Johnsonfor instancewalked in the procession at the opening of the Temple in

, , Boston , and , simply because he was a Freemason , was heartily welcomed by thousands who detested his politics . In the great cities of the Union , such as Boston , New York , and Philadel phia , the Masonic temples are the most striking architectural structures . Perhaps the love of parade which predominates in D 2