Freemasonry.

the view of internal evidence much may be said in favour of a later arrangement , yet I cannot accept Bro . Fnidel ' s theory , the more so , as the argument be bases on the " Ars Quatuor , " etc ., is clearly a chimera of chimeras . III . The writer of the Eeview has not , I think , quite fully realized what I say about Henry VI . and Chichely . The old story of the Lodge at Canterbury , under Chicbety , has been exploded by the discovery of Molash ' s Eegister among the Tanner MSS . in

the Bodleian , Oxford , where the ori gin of the story is found , ancl is a mistake . IV . The Locke MS . being also abandoned as connected with Henry VI ., the only evidence of his connection with Freemasonry is that lie was given up to " Hermetic Studies . " The Eeviewer has not attended to my distinction of historical and prehisfcorical Grand Masters , as both Henry VIII . and Wolsey are among the latter , not the formercategory .

, V . I also place in that list , Charles I ., Charles IL , and William IH ., the last especially , as we have no evidence whatever ( though often asserted ) of his initiation at Hampton Court Palace . The able writer sees the difference between tho " Ante-Ecvival " aud "Post-Eevival" Grand Masters , but does not sufficiently discriminate between the historic and prehistoric list of the same eminent persons . VI . The Eeviewer concludes with the remark that "Mr . Woodford does not

seem to be acquainted with Wren ' s ' Parentalia , ' at any rate , we do not find that be refers to it in his Cyclopaedia . " But the truth is , that for our purposes the ' . . ' Parentalia" is less than no authority . It professes to give an account of Masons and Masonry by a non-Mason , which was held partly to have the authority of Sir Christopher Wren , but really has none of his . Such as it is , it rests on the greater authority of Sir William Dugdale , who in all probability hit the mark when he stated that the original guilds of Masons worked under letters ' and charters of the Pope . The Glasgow Charter ancUhe Confraternity of Lucy , Bishop of AVinchester , and the "illos arte approbates" of William of Wykeham ' s all refer to the same Confraternities . No doubt there is

a certain amount of accuracy in the account of the " Parentalia , " which , as I said before , is in all probability founded simply on Dugdale ' s statement , but yet it cannot be altogether relied upon . _ So far as we have been able to detect the existence and proceedings of the Masonic Guilds , after the lapse of centuries , aud from the dimness of any contemporary or nearly contemporary accounts , they were attached to monasteries ancl directed by the Ecclesiastics . Findel is probably correct when he ascribes to monastic

supervision ancl organization the early proceedings of the German " Bauhiitton , " and in this respect , what was good of Germany was good of England , ancl France , and Italy . Kb doubt our old traditions point to Eoyal immunities ancl special charters , ancl the earliest evidence of the French operative guilds alludes ( like as in our Anglican guild legends ) to prerogatives ancl immunities conceded by King Charles Martel . But still , on the wholethe evidence preponderates as to au oriinal ecclesiastical connection and control .

, g As regards Sir Christopher Wren , his connection with Masonry is still in obscurity . The earlier statements place him hi gh in office in 1 G 63 . Aubrey gives the contemporary date of his initiation as 1691 , and the very fact of his Grand Mastership rests on no known historical evidence , —simply tradition . The Lodge of Antiquity possesses the "Mallet " and Candlesticks presented ( ut dicitur ) to the Lodge , ancl his portrait but as the records of the Lodof Antiquit not yet searched through

; ge y are , it is impossible to say what is the earl y history of that most ancient Lodge . And here stop to-day . I must once more express my hope and belief that this courteous and lucid Eeview of the Pall Mall Gazette of "Kenning ' s Cyclopaedia" and this non-masonic recognition of its merits , as a carefully prepared work , may be a new era in the history of Masonic criticism and investigation .