
NOTE:
This material is a text-file – also containing the associated graphics - of
the 1902 book,
“MASONIC HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.”
Where found, the original book measures 12” X 14”, weighs 12 pounds,
containing over 600 now-fragile pages; typically the spines are discovered to
be broken – testimony to the value of the book, as the broken spines came from
having been read and studied! Beyond the geographic subject matter, this work
contains a fabulous and scholarly introductory history of the Craft; profusely
populated with illustrations.
The intent behind this project was to preserve
a great Masonic history book. The book has been scanned, edited and
copyrighted at Phoenixmasonry, Inc. by Ralph W, Omholt, Librarian with the
intent that it can be used for on-screen reading enjoyment. Certainly, it
serves as an electronic research treasure.
Accordingly, please enjoy!



MASONIC HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST
Graphic
Recital of the Organization and Growth of
Freemasonry in the Northwest States
Comprising an
Historical Review of the Institution
BY
JOHN
MILTON HODSON, P. G. M., Oregon
WILLIAM
H. UPTON, P. G. M., Washington
JONAS W. BROWN, P. G. M., Idaho
CORNELIUS HEDGES,
P. G. M. and O. Sec'y, Montana
To which is prefixed a Narrative of the Origin of Freemasonry and Its Growth
and Diffusion
throughout the World.
Also an Account of the Capitular, Cryptic, and Scottish Rites
and the
Knights Templar. Besides a Chronicle of the Rise and Progress
of
the Modern Orders of the Mystic Shrine and Eastern
Star. To which are Added
Brief Biographies
of Many of
the Founders and
Builders
of Masonry in
the Northwest
Entered According to Act of Congress In The
Year 1902.
By The History Publishing Company

The astounding diffusion and
marvelous growth of Freemasonry, not less than its wonderful vitality and
remarkable influence upon men and nations, have constantly excited amazement
among the peoples of the earth. It has seemed as if the Institution were not
only of divine origin but also under the fostering care and protection of the
Godhead, to such an extent has it been patronized apparently, by the Deity.
But whether the countenance which the Craft has received is resolvable to
celestial approval or merely to human favor, it is certain that its basic
principles have ever contained essential elements of the larger conduct of man
in his relations with his fellows; and from this Masonic seed has been
germinated the vital code of liberty of speech, action and conscience, which
is now recognized in all civilized countries as the birthright of every
individual.
Progressive, modern thought,
recent development of broadly free governments, and the constant advance of
the times in every direction - material, mental and spiritual - are all
directly traceable to the vitalizing system of postulates enunciated by the
Masonic Fraternity, which spread beyond the limits of the Society and its
devotees and unerringly pointed the course toward the consummation of the
greatest happiness and freedom of the individual conjoined to his highest duty
to Man and the State. The opposition of kings, priests and politicians was
unable to stem or overcome the ever - increasing power of the Masonic tenets.
The doctrines of equality, justice and liberty appealed too strongly to the
weak and oppressed to be eradicated by command, cajolery, sophistry or threat.
Hence the fulminations of temporal and religious sovereigns were fruitless.
Persecution of the members of this new Fraternity was the natural reward of
their temerity in setting up novel standards for the guidance of Man in his
worldly and spiritual walks, but even this failed of its purpose. The feeble
spark became the glowing flame which melted the shackles that Ignorance,
Superstition, Intolerance and illiberalism had forged, and the enlightening
conflagration from this fervent blaze is gradually consuming the remnants of
the fanaticism, bigotry, oppression and false gods which the past has covertly
and craftily attempted to transmit in their fullness to this period of light
and reason, but which happily have come down the ages more and more denuded of
their terror and power.
With the dethronement of the
monstrous kingly and priestly domination and its entailed debasement, wrongs
and harassments, and the installation in their stead of comprehensive freedom
of thought and action, extended views of the rights of the citizen and
enlarged mental and physical opportunities, was inaugurated the primal era of
that felicitous succession which has opened to humanity the great avenues of
knowledge and endeavor. Amid the advancement which followed the gradual
displacement of illiteracy, ignorance and prejudice, the all - controlling
factor in that remarkable work - the Masonic Organization - was preserved in
all its purity and power. Neither assaults, calumnies, oppressions nor
persecutions could swerve it from its purpose or stay its progress.
The fanatic, the bigot, the
ignorant and the intolerant were alike impotent to impede its advancement or
to destroy the force of its teachings. The inexorable laws of nature and the
fate of the times worked transmutation of its membership, but its principles
were external and immutable and their exploitation but added to its strength
and dignity. Silently and imperceptibly, yet with cynical certainty and
assurance and irresistible force, its persuasive and ameliorating dogmas were
diffused until they were beyond all repression. The establishment of the new
status softened the rigors and harshness of the old religious and political
doctrines and afforded unhampered opportunity for honorable endeavor and
purposeful effort.
Learning became widespread,
the fallacies and falsehoods of the political and religious systems were
uncovered, reason succeeded unthinking bias and nescience, the sects
intermingled freely, clement notions increased, Man's correlative duty to his
brother was now extensively cultivated and generous sufferance of divergent
opinions ruled. The past was a hideous dream and was soon forgotten in the
benign declarations of the new faith - the Brotherhood of Man and the
Fatherhood of GOD. Thenceforward the path led easily and resistlessly to the
ennobling triune of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
The Masonic Sodality then
began to enjoy the fruits of its humanizing labors, and in its development
penetrated the remotest portions of the globe. In the early years of the
American Colonies it indoctrinated liberal polities which conceived the
Revolution and produced the great Republic. And at that time it cast its spell
upon the expansive woods and plains, mountains and fields of the great
territory edging upon the North Pacific and claimed it for its own. In that
remote region, long isolated and undeveloped, the untutored savage and the
fearless adventurer practiced the elevating tenets of the Masonic Craft and
hewed the way to the later erection of the illuminating altars of this sublime
Fraternity.
The mighty secret of its wide
dispersion, significant growth and momentous power has ever been TRUTH. And
TRUTH now, as formerly, is the touchstone of its "landmarks," the basis of its
creed, its teachings and its action. Fortified with this trenchant enginery of
offense and defense, the Masonic Establishment has been invincible, and by
means of TRUTH has furthered, benefited and encouraged mankind in every
department of human affairs. It was the pursuit of TRUTH which led to the
early exploration and settlement of the Northwest country, and it was the
spirit of TRUTH which united the pioneer denizens of that far - off land for
the practice of all which ennobles and inspires. In all the vicissitudes of
life in that then border land the consuming attractiveness of TRUTH made for
endeavor, security and honor. The Red man alike with the White knew,
appreciated and respected its force; hence, all dwelt together in that concord
which nothing else could induce.
Under the beneficent rule of
TRUTH this vast territory was populated, developed and civilized. It is not
singular, therefore, that in the history of this region now distributed among
four imperial States of the American Federation, Freemasonry, the foster -
mother of TRUTH, should have played an important and controlling part. To
graphically depict the many varying but ever - fascinating phases of that
anomalous growth was alluring to both the publisher and the editorial corps.
It inspired the former to engage in the responsible undertaking, while the
task of portraying, the romantic era of this famed land at first interested,
then absorbed, and at last completely enthralled the latter.
Their combined
labors, pursued with ever - increasing enthusiasm, have produced the present
work, in the preparation of which nothing, has been spared that might
contribute to a correct, pleasing and permanent picture of the rise of the
Masonic Edifice in the Pacific Northwest Distinguished Craftsmen, of
pronounced literary ability and with personal knowledge of the times of which
they write, have chronicled the local annals of the Fraternity.
Their work has been a labor of
love, and in its execution they have evidenced profound reverence, affection
and erudition. To this has been added the abilities of other notable authors
whose pens have sketched generally the history and achievements of the Masonic
Foundation. With pictorial embellishment and dress commensurate to its worth
and with a confidence born of earnest and honest effort this historical
narrative, dedicated, to TRUTH, is sent forth in the hope that its pages will,
in some measure at least, serve to enlighten and entertain, as well as guide
to a fuller appreciation of the goodness, nobility and magnificent of the
Masonic Guild.
THE HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHAPTER I.
The Origin of Freemasonry
Its
History and Works from the Building of Solomon's Temple to the Beginning of
the New Era of Masonry.

Science was the
Father of Freemasonry and Religion its Mother; it was born in the early dawn
of Creation, when the SUPREME GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE commanded, "LET
THERE BE LIGHT," AND THERE WAS LIGHT; it was rocked in the cradle of
PHILOSOPHY, taught to walk and read Nature by REASON, and fed by TRUTH. From
the day of its birth it had to contend against the darkness of Ignorance, the
persecutions of Superstition, and the deadly assaults of Fanaticism, in
defense of its life, and maintenance of its existence, a struggle which will
continue in one form or another as long as the Sun will shine or the Earth
move in the plane of its orbit.
Said our late and
beloved distinguished Brother, ALBERT G. MACKEY:
"The true history of
Freemasonry is much in its character like the history of a nation. It has
historic and prehistoric era. In its historic era, the institution can be
regularly traced through various antecedent associations, similar in design
and organization, to a comparatively remote period. Its connection with these
associations can be rationally established by authentic documents, and by
other evidence which no historian would reject. Thus dispassionately and
philosophically treated, as though was the history of an empire that was under
investigation - no claim being advanced that cannot be substantiated, no
assertion made that cannot be proved - FREEMASONRY - the word so used,
meaning, without evasion or reservation, precisely what everybody supposes it
to mean - can be invested with an antiquity sufficient for the pride of the
most exacting admirer of the society.
"And then for the prehistoric
era - that which connects it with the mysteries of the Pagan world, and with
the old priests of Eleusis, of Samothrace, or of Syria - let us honestly say
that we now no longer treat of Freemasonry under its present organization,
which we know did not exist in those days, but of a science peculiar, and
peculiar only to the Mysteries and to Freemasonry - a science which we may
call Masonic symbolism, and which constituted the very heart blood of the
ancient and modern institutions, and gave to them, while presenting a
dissimilarity of form, an identity of spirit. And then, in showing the
connection and in tracing the germ of Freemasonry in those prehistoric days,
although we shall be guided by no documents, and shall have no authentic
spoken or written narratives on which to rely, we shall find fossils embalmed
in those ancient intellects precisely like the living ones which crop out in
Modern Masonry, and which, like the fossil shells of the fishes of the old
physical formations of the earth, show, by their resemblance to living
specimens, the graduated connection of the past with the present. "No greater
honor could accrue to any man than that of having been the founder of a new
school of Masonic history, in which the fictions and loose statements of
former writers would be rejected, and in which the rule would, be adopted that
has been laid down as a vital maxim of all inductive science - in words that
have been chosen as his motto by a recent powerful investigator of historical
truth.

"Not to exceed and not to fall
short of facts - not to add and not to take away. To state the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the truth."
Our late Brother, ALBERT G.
MACKEY, has thus clearly presented a true statement of the prehistoric and
historic continuity of our Ancient and Honorable Fraternity. Tradition and
symbolism have come down to us through the ages, as well as being recorded in
hieroglyphics upon the monolithic monuments and in the temples of that most
ancient land of mysteries and knowledge, Egypt, the land of the Pyramids and
the Sphinx, watered by the River Nile, from whose bosom was recovered the
infant MOSES, and with him in after times the knowledge and mysteries, in the
Arcana of the past and the present Masonic world.
PHILO - JUDEUS says that "Moses was instructed by the Egyptian
priests in the philosophy of symbols and hieroglyphics as well as in the
mysteries of the sacred animals." The sacred historian also say's "he was
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." MANETHO and other traditionary
writers inform us that "he was educated at Heliopolis (the City of the Sun) as
a priest, under his Egyptian name, OSARSIPH, and that there he was taught the
whole range of literature and science which it was customary to impart to the
priesthood of Egypt. When, then, at the head of his people, he passed away
from the servitude of Egyptian taskmasters, and began in the wilderness to
establish his new religion, it is not strange that he should have given a holy
use to the symbols whose meaning he had learned on the banks of the Nile."
Karnak is the name of a
village in Upper Egypt, occupying a portion of the site of ancient, Thebes.
The Great Temple of Amon, commonly known as the Temple of Karnak, is located
on the east side of the Nile, about two miles northeast of Luxor. An avenue of
sphinxes led to the Water. Besides the Great Temple there are some twenty
smaller edifices dedicated to Mut, Khonsu, Mentu, Ptah and other deities.
These ruins combine to make the most extensive collection in the world. The
whole is a wonderful aggregation of buildings of temples, colonnades, courts
and the inner sanctuary. It is constructed with a unity of design, and is
different in that respect from the temple at Luxor. The roof was supported by
one hundred and thirty-four columns eighty feet in height, and upon them the
hieroglyphics may still be read of the histories of the various dynasties of
the race of PHARAOHS or kings. Here, was where MOSES was initiated and
graduated in the Ancient Mysteries, and from his knowledge gained in this
school or academy he was able to found and organize the Jewish religion with
civil and military government and the worship of the true GOD.
It is reasonable also to suppose that when he was for so many
years an exile in the wilderness to the eastward, that his superior knowledge
and attainments enabled him to communicate readily and have intercourse with
those persons of like character on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, and
even from farther India, from whence the Egyptians originally derived in part
and in a modified form the religion and mysteries they practiced, and which
formed the curriculum of the hierarchy of Egypt.
REGHELLINI, in his work, "Masonry considered as the result of the
Egyptian, Jewish and Christian Religions," published at Paris in 1833, says:
"MOSES, in his mysteries, and after him, SOLOMON, adopted a great part of the
Egyptian symbols, which, after them, we Masons have preserved in our own.

The
direct traditional and historic base of our Craft rests upon the construction
of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, itself a compendium of architecture,
religion, science and philosophy, and the focus to which was directed the
vision of all the learned of the ancient world, as well as the principal
architects and builders, who came from Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, from the
West, along the shores of the Mediterranean to the far East, beyond the
Euphrates and Tigris to India, and even far off Cathay, to construct the first
and the most splendid Temple ever erected to the worship of the true GOD, and
built by that ancient " Parliament of Religions," the Masonic Builders of the
World. To be sure, the inner Temple or Sanctum Sanclorum, was to be sacredly
and secretly used by the Levitical Priesthood, in accordance with the Mosaic
ritual of the Tabernacle set up in the Wilderness, yet the knowledge of its
purposes, and for what it was designed, was fully understood by the Architect
Masons who constructed it and all the secret recesses and chambers of that
wonderful edifice. The great porch or tower of 20 cubits or 39 77/100, feet
square, and 120 cubits or 238 1/2, feet high in front of the Temple, before
which stood the two great brazen pillars, was for astronomical as well as
military purposes; to study the heavens, as did the Shepherd Kings centuries
before on the plains of Chaldea, as also to serve as a watchtower to look over
the City of Jerusalem, and watch the approach of invading enemies.
The great purpose of SOLOMON was to maintain peace, magnify his
influence and power and to control the then great highway of overland commerce
from India to the Mediterranean having unlimited resources and power, and
having for his chief ally the friend of DAVID, his father, HIRAM, King of Tyre,
with whom he divided the revenue of imports and exportation. Therefore, he
cultivated the friendship of all surrounding countries and their governments,
from whence came so many Craftsmen of all kinds and of all shades of religious
beliefs, but having a central fundamental principle of the worship, each in
his own way, of the one only and true GOD, for which the Great Temple was to
be erected; and for the Deity Himself, each according to his nation and
tongue, gave Him a name, accordingly, which was compounded and three names
that were chosen by the chiefs of the architects at last became one for their
own private recognition, according to legend and tradition.
When the time came for the dedication of the Temple, it was to be
done out of doors in sight of everybody, and not in the Temple itself; nor was
it done by the Jewish priesthood, but by King SOLOMON himself, as king and
sovereign of the people, the representative of the people and for the people,
not of the Israelites alone, but for everybody under his protection who might
desire to come there and worship GOD in his own way and of his own free will;
for in the midst of his memorable prayer he said:
“Moreover, concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people,
Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy
mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling - place, and do
according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the people of
the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people, Israel, and
may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."
This part of his prayer was chiefly intended for the foreign
Masons who had helped to build the Temple, for we read, "And DAVID commanded
to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel, and he set
Masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of GOD." "And SOLOMON numbered
all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering
wherewith DAVID, his father, had numbered them, and they were found an hundred
and fifty thousand, and three thousand and six hundred. And he set threescore
and ten thousand to be bearers of burdens, fourscore thousand to be hewers in
the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people
at work."
Thus it will be seen came the first systematic organization of
Freemasons of which we have any historic account, and to be directly employed
upon government and religious work, under the immediate direction of one HIRAM
ABIF, the chief architect of the work, who was sent by HIRAM, King of Tyre, in
compliance with the expressed desire of King SOLOMON. It is upon the
knowledge, education, skill, life, and tragic death of this most distinguished
Mason of which there is any account, either historical, traditional, or
legendary, that is formed the structure of our philosophic, semireligious,
speculative, and symbolic Freemasonry of today, which has come down to us
through the ages for a period of over twenty-nine centuries and carrying with
it the history, tradition, and mysteries of as many centuries before. He is
the central figure of all recorded time and the Master Builder of the Masonic
World. He had the highest recommendation that could possibly be given to him
at the time. HIRAM, King of Tyre, said of him in his letter to King SOLOMON:
"And now I have sent a cunning (wise) man, endued with
understanding of HIRAM, my father's. The son of a woman of the daughters of
DAN, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold and in silver,
in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine
linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out
every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the
cunning men of my lord DAVID, thy father."
He was relieved, however, from having to originate the plans for
the Temple, for DAVID, it seems, was the original designer who drew the plans
of the Temple, in accordance with divine direction, for everything in and
about this wonderful edifice then to be built, and had given them to his son,
King SOLOMON, for the account given of it is as follows:
"Then DAVID gave to SOLOMON, his son, the pattern of the porch and
of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper
chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the
mercy seat; and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of
the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries
of the house of GOD, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things. * * * * *
All this, said DAVID, the LORD made me understand in writing, by His hand upon
me, even all the works of this pattern," etc.
There is a secret tradition that King SOLOMON, when the Temple was
nearly completed, had tired of HIRAM ABIF, the Chief Architect of the Temple,
who was the representative of the people and who had risen from their level to
become the companion of kings. The necessity of personal intercourse during
the construction of the Temple had made his architect familiar with that
royalty which was but recent and in the second generation only; and the Tyrian
architect regarded SOLOMON as but a man and the son of a shepherd of
fortuitous circumstances, who by causing the death of his elder brother
ADONIJAH, the next in line to DAVID, had succeeded the first occupants of the
throne upon the change of the autonomy and form of government of the people of
Israel. King SOLOMON, being jealous of his power and glory, and determined
that no other monarch should erect a similar temple of equal magnificence and
splendor, is said to have himself, secretly and surreptitiously, secured the
plans and the last designs drawn upon the trestleboard of the Temple, and
secretly contrived to plot whereby his chief architect might be removed, that
no other king or nation should have them or be able to secure his services.
The unconscious instruments of his purpose performed the part they were
incited to enact, not knowing who was the actual chief conspirator whose will
they had carried out, when they supposed that they were only executing their
own; and yet received the decision of their fate at his hands, the chief
conspirator and criminal acting as their judge - his grief and indignation
simulated and hypocritical and from whose royal decree there was no appeal.
Through the long line of martyrs whose lives have been sacrificed
on the altars of Truth, Science, and Philosophy and for Civil and Religious
Liberty, Freemasonry has come down to the
present age brighter in its effulgence, and like the sun in its course, will
forever shine, giving life and light wherever the unfettered intellect and the
freed soul of man can measure the distance and the courses of the stars and
find repose in the bosom of its divine Creator, the All Father and the
ALMIGHTY GOD.
As a Brotherhood, traveling from one country to another in camps
or lodges, ready to undertake the reconstruction of buildings, destroyed by
the ravages of war or of the elements, from their ruins, or to build new ones
- whether churches, cathedrals, public or private edifices or fortresses -
the banded Craftsmen pursued their calling in every country of Western Asia,
Northern Africa, and throughout all the countries of Continental Europe and
the British Isles. While temporarily sojourning in huts or lodges themselves,
they were ever ready to contract to build a most gorgeous, sumptuous palace, a
costly cathedral, a lordly castle, or a plain citizen's dwelling. The science
of construction in Grecian, Roman, Moorish, or Gothic architecture was as
familiar to them as the curriculum of the most noted universities of today to
the scholarly professors who occupy the chairs at Oxford, Harvard, Princeton,
or Yale. Whether in Athens or in Rome, Grenada, Seville, or in Paris, at
Dresden, Munich, Cologne, or Rheims, at London, Edinburgh, Stirling, or
Melrose, these journeying Craftsmen, with their masters schooled in the
learning of the old Colleges of Architecture at Rome, traveled with freedom
from toll over the face of Europe, carrying the secrets and mysteries of their
Craft with them, fully understanding the purposes and nature or character of
the buildings to be constructed, and their handiwork still remains to be seen
commanding the admiration of the beholders for centuries since the last
finishing strokes were given and the scaffolding removed.
The ancient mysteries and knowledge of all the religions were
known to them, for they had to erect the temples and edifices for them, and
thus they learned the symbolism, faith, and philosophy of each, and were
always well prepared to digest and analyze all shades of doctrines and beliefs
while inwardly committed to none but their own independent thoughts, studying
Nature and reading her mysteries by the God - given Light of Reason, and
worshiping their Creator in the starlighted Cathedral of the Universe, the
mountains for their altars and the plains and valleys for the checkered
pavement of their temple and kneeling floor. Their working tools furnished
them symbols for teaching moral lessons and guides for their conduct, while
the blade of the trowel of the Master Mason reminded him of the form of his
coffin, upon which in the lines from the points at right angles, if a
Christian, he could discern the symbol of his faith, and, in its handle, he
grasped the everliving acacia, which again placed in the ground at the head of
his grave, like AARON's rod, would take root and bud and bloom anew in full
strength and fragrance, the symbol and type of his own immortality.
These scattered lodges were at last mostly found in England, and
after the Great London Black Plague and Fire of 1666. The four lodges that
were engaged in the finishing of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1717, having admitted
to their fellowship the scholars and philosophers and scientific men of that
day as "Accepted Masons," instructed them in the allegories, legends, and
symbols of the Craft, and Freemasonry, thus augmented, expanded and widened to
a larger sphere and became stronger in its growth, while the floor of its
temples became neutral ground, where political disputations ceased and
polemical discussion of sectarian religious beliefs were rigorously hushed and
barred, and Nature's humanity and loving kindness were given a chance to bring
good men of opposite opinions together, “who might have forever remained at
perpetual distance from each other."
Such was the origin of Freemasonry in the beginning until the
so-called "Revival of Freemasonry " in 1717, and which has come down to us
with but few modified changes from that date for a period of one hundred and
seventy-nine years. ESTO PERPETUA.

CHAPTER II.
The Objects of Freemasonry:

LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY, BROTHERLY LOVE, TRUTH, RELIEF TO THE WIDOW, THE
ORPHAN AND THE DISTRESSED.
In stating the objects of Freemasonry at the head of this chapter
as the cardinal tenets of our "Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity," and
which we desire to illustrate, it may truthfully and logically be said that
there must be LIBERTY to maintain EQUALITY and FRATERNITY as the natural
result of the two which compose the first triad of Masonic principles which
forms the base of our institution and the second triad is the living, force
and natural outflow in activity of the former; for there could be no BROTHERLY
LOVE without FRATERNITY, no RELIEF without the active principle of EQUALITY in
HUMANITY, and no LIVING TRUTH without the exercise of LIBERTY to declare and
maintain it. This double triad forms the double interlaced triangular symbol
of the cardinal tenets of our beloved Order; and the hexagon in the center
formed by the crossing of the lines of these two equilateral triangles shows
the outlines of the foundation stone of our Temple in perspective, upon which
is inscribed the Trinity of every true Mason's religion, regardless of any
particular creed: FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY.
A sublime FAITH in the ALL FATHER and Creator of the Universe
without superstition, for otherwise no man could be free or fit to become a
Mason. A well grounded HOPE of IMMORTALITY, like that of JOB: "For I know that
my Redeemer liveth"; or like that of PAUL: "For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of GOD, an house
not made with hands eternal in the heavens." And CHARITY, which crowneth all,
so well described and systematized by MOSES, the lawgiver of Israel: "When
thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the
field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for
the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy GOD may bless thee in all
the works of thy hands. When thou beatest thine olive trees thou shalt not go
over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and
for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vinevard, thou shall not
glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for
the widow. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the
fatherless, nor take a widow's raiment to pledge. Thou shalt not oppress an
hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy
strangers that are in thy land within thy gates. At his day thou shall give
him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor and
setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be
sin unto thee." Or as PAUL and PETER have said: "Even the mystery which hath
been hid from ages and from generations; for brethren ye have been called unto
liberty; but by love serve one another. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having
compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; fear
GOD, love the brotherhood; honor all men. And now abideth FAITH, HOPE,
CHARITY; but the greatest of these is CHARITY"; all of which latter is summed
up in the Golden Rule, " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do
ye even so unto them," as laid down by the Most Wise Master who ever appeared
among men. These are the fundamental principles upon which the universal
religion of Freemasonry is founded. In this connection we may revert to the
Ancient Charges of a Freemason:

I.
CONCERNING GOD AND RELIGION.
A Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he
rightly understands the art, he will never be stupid atheist nor an
irreligious libertine. But though in ancient times, Masons were charged in
every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it
was, it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in
which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves that is,
to be good men and true, or men of honor and honesty, by whatever
denominations or persuasions they may be distinguished, whereby Masonry
becomes the center of union and the means of conciliating true
friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance."
II.
OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE, SUPREME AND SUBORDINATE.
"A
Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers wherever he resides or works,
and is never to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the peace and
welfare of the Nation, nor to behave himself undutifully to inferior
magistrates; for as Masonry hath always been injured by war, bloodshed, and
confusion, so ancient kings and princes have been much disposed to encourage
the Craftsmen, because of their peaceableness and loyalty, whereby they
practically answered the cavils of their adversaries, and promoted the honor
of the fraternity, who ever flourish in times of peace. So that if a Brother
should be a rebel against the State, he is not to be countenanced in his
rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy man; and if convicted of
no other crime, though the loyal brotherhood must and ought to disown
his rebellion, and give no umbrage or ground of political jealousy to the
government for the time being, they cannot expel him
from the Lodge, and his relation to it remains indefeasible."
FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM THE ANCIENT CHARGES OF A FREEMASON.
"The
persons admitted members of a Lodge must be good and true men, free born, and
of mature and discreet, age; no bondsmen, no women, no immoral or scandalous
men, but of good report."
"All Masons shall work honestly on working days, that they may
live creditably on holy days; and the time appointed by the law of the land,
or by custom, shall be observed."
"The Craftsmen are to avoid all ill language and to call each
other by no disobliging name, but Brother or Fellow; and to behave themselves
courteously within and without the Lodge."
EDITORIAL NOTE.
The Double Interlaced Triangle illustrated above was the device on DAVID'S
shield and on SOLOMON'S seal. The twelve angles within and without each point
had reference to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Each angle being of sixty
degrees, it is for this reason that in the jewel of a Past Master the
compasses are extended to sixty degrees upon the segment or arc of a circle,
the angle being that on which the bee forms its cell in the honeycomb within
the hive, and which contains also a geometric problem and a key as well as
moral lessons to be drawn therefrom.
"No private piques or quarrels must be brought within the door of
the Lodge, far less quarrels about religion or Nations or State policy, we
being only as Masons of the Universal religion above mentioned; we are also of
all Nations, tongues, kindreds, and languages, and are resolved against all
Politics, as what never conduced to the welfare of the Lodge or ever will.
This CHARGE has always been strictly enjoined and observed; BUT ESPECIALLY
EVER SINCE THE REFORMATION IN BRITAIN, OR THE DISSENT AND SECESSION OF THESE
NATIONS FROM THE COMMUNION OF ROME."
We have cited these extracts from the "Ancient Charges of a
Freemason " because within them is contained, preserved, and to be for all
time perpetuated, the principles and doctrines of absolute civil and religious
liberty to each individual member of the fraternity admitted within the sacred
walls of its Temple; and, while its tessellated floor is neutral ground and no
discussions of a debatable character upon matters of either religion or
politics are permitted within the Sanctum Sanctorum, yet at the same time the
good seed is sown. When the prejudices and passions of men are subdued to a
peaceful tranquility, toleration prevails, the right of private choice and
judgment is recognized, and the result is that, being honest, good men and
true, pure in intentions, peaceably disposed, mutual respect and esteem is
cultivated and a fraternal spirit of brotherly love and affection cements the
Mystic bond of Brotherhood. Freemasonry has no punishment for sectarian
religious heresy nor for political rebellion, excepting there be heinous crime
connected therewith; for what may be considered treason today may by success
be loyalty tomorrow, and by revolution the position of political parties be
reversed in holding the reins of government.
These principles and maxims and the policy of our honored
institution were well laid down for the government of the Craft by the Grand
Lodge of England chiefly composed of those who had suffered as victims of
persecution, Huguenots and Scotchmen when it was first organized by the four
London Lodges on St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24, 1717, at the Apple Tree
Tavern, London, when ANTONY SAYRE, the son of a French Huguenot, was elected
Grand Master, at the time of the so called "Revival of Freemasonry," when
speculative or philosophic Freemasonry became more general, and adopted or
accepted by the operative guild or craft, which, continually traveling to and
fro and in foreign countries, disseminated these principles whithersoever they
journeyed in plying their vocation. As a distinguished writer has said, "The
Grand Kabalistic Association known in Europe under the name of 'Freemasonry'
appeared all at once in the world at the period when the Protest against the
Papal Power came to break the Christian unity." As has also been well said by
our late and lamented Brother, ALBERT G. MACKEY: "The design of Freemasonry is
neither charity or almsgiving, nor the cultivation of the social sentiment,
for both are merely incidental to its organization; but it is Ike search after
truth, and that truth is the unity of GOD and the immortality of the soul. The
various degrees or grades of initiation represent the various stages through
which the human mind passes, and the many difficulties which men individually
or collectively must encounter in their progress from ignorance to the
acquisition of this truth."
It was this idea which generally prevailed in the seventeenth
century among the operative Freemasons, who were called upon to construct
religious and other edifices for the various sects which had divided the
Christian Church, and that called forth a more general spirit of inquiry among
them into religious and philosophical truths, and the calling to their aid the
scientific, philosophic, and learned scholars of the age, who were welcomed
into the Operative Guild as auxiliaries and were received and made Adopted or
Accepted Freemasons, as had been their custom from time immemorial; and among
those admitted was the learned antiquarian, ELIAS ASHMOLE, who also has left
the impress of his work upon the drama in that portion of the ritual which now
relates to the Fellow Craft Degree in particular and before Freemasonry was
divided into three degrees. He was made a Freemason October 16, 1646, two
centuries and a half ago and seventy-one years before the Grand Lodge of
England was formed. Some thirty-six years after his admission into the
fraternity, March 10, 1682, he was summoned to attend a Lodge of Masons the
next day at Masons' Hall, London, an account of which he has left in his
diary, in his collection in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Among other
things, he says:
"There is no doubt to be made that the skill of Masons, which was
always transcendent even in the most barbarous times - their wonderful
kindness and attachment to each other, how different soever in condition, and
their inviolable fidelity in religiously keeping their secret - must expose
them in ignorant, troublesome, and superstitious times to a vast variety of
adventures, according, to the different fate of parties and alterations in
government. By the way, I shall note that the Masons were always loyal, which
exposed them to great severities when power wore the trappings of justice, and
those who committed treason Punished true men as traitors. Thus in the third
year of the reign of HENRY VI (1432), an Act of Parliament was passed to
abolish the society of Masons and to hinder, under grievous penalties, the
holding of Chapters, Lodges, or other regular assemblies. Yet this act was
afterward repealed, and even before that, King HENRY VI and: several of the
principal lords of his court became Fellows of the Craft."
Thus the principles of Freemasonry were those of absolute civil
and religious liberty and equality of all men who were honest, good, and true,
and worthy of admission to the Brotherhood, which were being fostered and
strengthened within the sacred precincts of their Lodges, where they grew in
strength and expanded and spread beyond their walls, and permeated society of
every rank and degree, effectually but silently like the growth of the forest,
doing their perfect work, and which in the course of events has proven
irresistible; and all free government everywhere at the present day owes its
existence primarily or indirectly to the influence of our beloved institution.
The great mistake of many writers of Masonic history is the utter ignoring of
the political and religious conditions of the times of which they write, of
the controversies and conflicts of sects and parties of both Church and State,
of the actors therein, who have directed the current of events of rival
intolerant, superstitious, and persecuting religions, and of the antagonisms
of contending political parties and armed adherents of ambitious kings and
prelates.
Speculative Freemasonry itself is the child of both rational
religion and liberal politics, but not of fanaticism and partisanship; it was
begotten during a truce and born during an armistice; its clothing, the Master
Mason's apron, is a flag of truce and at once commands, "Peace, be still!" for
the place over which it flies is holy and neutral ground. The fugitive
Huguenots driven from France upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in
1685, the despoiled Scottish noblemen, adherents of the House of the Stuarts,
and liberalminded Englishmen who were scholars, fused with the operative
Masons of the four Lodges that were engaged in the building of St. Paul's
Cathedral in London, and became Accepted Masons and Brethren of the Craft.

They enriched the ritual and drama of initiation with moral and
philosophic instruction, combined with scientific formula and symbols, and
clothed it with legendary tradition blended with both sacred and profane
history, and taught the most sublime truths that can be inculcated and
impressed upon the hearts of men. The so-called "Revival of Freemasonry" in
1717 was the spiritual rebuilding of King SOLOMON's Temple in which every
Mason to this day is engaged within himself, to be erected and dedicated to
ALMIGHTY GOD. No slave or bondman was permitted to work on, in or about the
Temple, not even to remove the rubbish. He therefore must be freeborn as well
as a freeman in whom the spirit of Freemasonry is to dwell free as a citizen,
morally free, and utterly free to worship GOD as he pleases, whose heart and
mind are illuminated by the Great Light of the Holy Bible, which ever lies an
open book, for all to read, upon every altar of Masonry, and erected to
ALMIGHTY GOD.
It was the French Huguenot Reformer, JOHN THEOPHILUS DESAGULIERS,
born March 12, 1683, at Rochelle, France, who having become a curate of the
Church of England and initiated in the "Lodge of Antiquity" in St. Paul's
Churchyard, secured the assistance of several older Masons to aid in the
formation of the Grand Lodge of England, in which he was eminently successful.
He was more of a scientist than a preacher, and PRIESTLEY styles him "an
indefatigable experimental philosopher." Said our lamented Brother, ALBERT G.
MACKEY: "To few Masons of the present day, except to those who have made
Freemasonry a subject of special study, is the name of DESAGULIERS very
familiar. But it is well they should know that to him, perhaps more than to
any other man, are we indebted to the Present existence of Freemasonry as a
living institution; for when in the beginning of the eighteenth century
Masonry had fallen into a state of decadence which threatened its extinction,
it was DESAGULIERS who, by his energy and enthusiasm, infused a spirit of zeal
into his contemporaries which culminated in the revival of the year 1717, and
it was his learning and social position that gave a standing to the
institution, which brought to its support noblemen and men of influence, so
that the insignificant assemblage of the four London Lodges at the Apple Tree
Tavern has expanded into an association which now overshadows the entire
civilized world. And the moving spirit of all this was JOHN THEOPHILUS
DESAGULIERS."
ANTONY SAYRE, the son of a French Huguenot, was elected the first
Grand Master. In 1718 he was succeeded by GEORGE PAYNE, and in 1719,
DESAGULIERS was elected Grand Master, followed by the DUKE OF WHARTON, the
EARL OF DALKEITH, LORD PAISLEY, and others. These three last named gentlemen,
eminent Masons and Grand Masters, had been attainted and forfeited their
titles in the British or rather Scotch peerages for their adherence to the
House of Stuart, as will be seen by reference to DE BRETT'S "Peerage of Great
Britain and Ireland." WHARTON forfeited his title in 1728. DALKEITH was a
descendant of the DUKE OF MONMOUTH, illegitimate son of CHARLES II. CHARLES
RADCLIFFE, who had married CHARLOTTE, Countess of Newburgh, a widow, was the
third son of EDWARD II, Earl of Derwentwater, and assumed that title upon the
death of his nephew, who was executed for rebellion against GEORGE II in 1716,
and, fleeing to France, assisted in the planting of Freemasonry in that
country and became the first Grand Master of Masons of France in 1725. His
mother was MARY TUDOR, the illegitimate daughter of Charles II. He also had
been attainted and convicted of treason before his flight. He left France in
1733 (sixteen years after the Grand Lodge of England was organized), and made
several visits to England in unsuccessful pursuit of pardon. The blood of the
Stuarts, though illegitimate, which flowed in his veins, operated as an
effective barrier to his hopes and prospects. Filled with hopeless
disappointment, he at last allied his fortunes with those of The Young
Pretender in 1745, and sailed from France to join him, but the vessel in which
he embarked was captured by an English man - of - war. He was taken prisoner
and beheaded on Tower Hill, London, December 8, 1746. Under the skillful
guidance of these eminent, learned and loyal craftsmen, the revivification of
the decadent society became complete, and a higher appreciation of its
principles and purposes attracted to its altar men of renown whose devotion
insured the stability and growth of the institution as a fraternity dedicated
to the uplifting of humanity.
The Grand Lodge of England, thus formed, made itself and its
subordinates a Universal Bible Society and the sworn custodians of the Great
Light of Freemasonry, and in the installation ceremonies of the Masters of
Lodges, DESAGULIERS, when he framed them, borrowed almost the exact language
in reference to it as used in the coronation ceremonies prescribed by King
JAMES I of England
21
(who
was also, at the same time, King JAMES VI of Scotland). For the information of
the Brethren and as matter of historic curiosity, we subjoin the charges in
parallel columns:
AT THE
CORONATION OF THE KING PRESENTATION OF THE BIBLE BY THE ARCHBISHOP.
"Then shall the Dean of Westminster take the Holy Bible that was
carried in the procession, from off the altar and deliver it to the
Archbishop, who, with the rest of the Bishops going along with him, shall
present it to the King, first saying these words to him:
"Archbishop
- Our gracious King, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing
that this world affords. Here is Wisdom. This is the Royal Law. These are the
Lively Oracles of GOD. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the
words of this Book, that keep and do the things contained in it, for these are
the words of eternal life, able to make you wise and happy in this world, nay
wise unto salvation, and so happy forevermore through faith, which is in
CHRIST JESUS, to whom be glory forever. Amen!"
"Then
the King delivers back the Bible to the DEAN OF WESTMINSTER, to be reverently
placed again upon the holy altar."
AT THE
INSTALLATION OF THE WORTHY MASTER -
PRESENTATION OF THE BIBLE TO THE MASTER ELECT.
"Then the Marshal of the Lodge, going to the altar and taking the
Holy Bible therefrom (or if for convenience sake using another), will deliver
it to the Past Master acting as the Installing Officer, who says:
"Installing Officer - My Brother, I now present you the
Book of Holy Writings. It is the Great Light in Masonry, and should ever be
the great law of the Brotherhood. It will guide you to all truth, it will
direct you to eternal happiness, and an attentive regard to the divine
precepts it contains will insure you success in the fulfillment of the duties
you are now about to assume. * * In short, by a diligent observance of the
bylaws of your Lodge and the constitutions of Masonry, and, above all, the
Holy Scriptures, which are given as the rule and the guide of your faith, you
will be enabled to acquit yourself with the highest honors here and lay up a
crown of rejoicing which shall continue when time shall be no more."
It is again placed upon the altar [or table].
The Scottish element at the time of the so-called " Revival of
Freemasonry" in 1717 in England prevailed, and the Masonic world is greatly
indebted to a man born August 5, 1684, at Edinburgh, Scotland - a Doctor of
Divinity of the Presbyterian faith, who removed to London and became the
Pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian Church in Swallow Street, Piccadilly - the
Rev.JAMES ANDERSON, who was commissioned by the Grand Lodge of England,
September 29, 1721, to collect and compile the history and charges of the
fraternity from the then existing constitutions of the Lodges. Those who then
composed the Grand Lodge of England were comparatively young men, DESAGULIERS
being only thirty-eight years and ANDERSON thirty-seven years of age. A French
Episcopalian and a Scotch Presbyterian working in harmony in drawing their
designs upon the Masonic trestleboard relegated sectarianism to where it
belonged. Both of them were away from their native land - both direct
descendants of those who had been persecuted for political and religious
conscience sake - and laboring in concord at a time when a century of
persecution had driven the best blood and the greatest intelligence out of the
United Kingdom to find a refuge in the then wilderness of America, where the
great lights of Freedom and of Freemasonry were to be soon established and in
time illumine the entire New World. "Anderson's Constitutions and Old Charges
and Regulations," compiled by him, have been the general standing regulations
of the fraternity for a century and three - quarters, since they were collated
and compiled. St. Paul's Cathedral in London had just been completed, its
great architect, Sir
22
CHRISTOPHER WREN, had shortly afterward died and been immured
within it when ANDERSON completed his important work for the Craft. The
Brotherhood was soon thereafter to be divided and scattered.
It was during these troublous times that Free and Accepted Masonry
had to be organized with a central authority placed within a representative
body to be known as the Grand Lodge of England, that the Great Lights might be
kept burning and send their refulgent rays around the globe and penetrate
every corner of the earth. England, where it was organized, may therefore
claim to have been the seat of WISDOM; Scotland, for having furnished the
compiler of its constitution and laws which gave it STRENGTH; and France, the
birthplace of the chief author and designer of its ritual, may claim its
BEAUTY. ASHMOLE, ANDERSON, and DESAGULIERS, the rose, the thistle, and the
lily, the floral symbols of light and power, of warning and protection, and of
purity and adornment, represented in these three great master builders, will
continue to bloom with the fragrant acacia, symbol of immortality, as long as
there are compasses and squares to draw designs upon the trestleboards of the
Craft, a trowel in the hands of a Master Mason to spread the cement, or the
gavel of a Master to sound and direct the work. Thus Free and Accepted
Masonry, at its revival in 1717, with a regularly constituted and organized
Grand Lodge of authority delegated to it, created amidst political and
religious strife of all parties, factions, and fanatics, started out on its
grand, but quiet and peaceful mission, to humanize and civilize the world,
with the silent but firm guaranty of the rights of conscience, bearing upon
its snow white banners its grand principles of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY,
BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, and TRUTH, and its standard planted upon its most
perfect ashlar and chief cornerstone of FAITH IN GOD, HOPE IN THE IMMORTALITY
OF THE SOUL, and CHARITY FOR ALL MANKIND, especially of the HOUSEHOLD OF THE
FAITHFUL.
“Slave to no sect, who takes no private road,
But
looks through Nature up to Nature's God;
Pursues that chain which links th' immense design,
Joins
heaven and earth, and mortal and divine;
Grasps
the whole world of Reason, Life, and Sense,
In one
close system of Benevolence:
Happier as kinder, in whate'er degree,
And
height of Bliss but height of Charity." - Pope.
CHAPTER III
Advent
of Freemasonry into America.

MASONRY PROVIDED THE LEADERS THAT INCITED THE COLONISTS AND LED THEM TO
VICTORY, LEAVING ITS IMPRESS UPON THE FREE INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Before entering upon the work of "The History of the Northwest"
proper, it is expedient and appropriate that an account of our Masonic
ancestry and descent in our own country of the American Republic should be
given; and as there were individual Masons on the Pacific Slope, before
American occupation, carrying the light within their own breasts, scattered
over the country and traversing its solitude, so there existed a similar
condition in the early settlement of the American Colonies upon the Atlantic
Coast.
It is said that there is evidence that "Freemasonry existed in the
then French Colony of Nova Scotia without the English language as early
as 1606," or fourteen years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock
in Massachusetts. The first Mason of whom there is any account in that state
or in America in colonial times was Governor Jonathan Belcher who was made in
a Lodge in London in 1704, or thirteen years before the so-called "Revival of
Freemasonry in 1717. SERNO D. NICKERSON, Past Grand Master and now Grand
Secretary and Historian of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, who is always
exact in his statements of facts of history, records the following: " In 1741
Governor JONATHAN BELCHER said to the first Lodge in Boston (St. John's), 'It
is now thirty-seven years since I was admitted into the Ancient and Honorable
Society of Free and Accepted Masons.' He was present and his health was drank
in the Grand Lodge of England, September 26, 1744. The Craft spread far and
wide, and whenever two or three of them were gathered together they made
merry, and they made Masons!"
Thus it will be seen that wherever there were three Master Masons
to come together, and thus have a quorum, they would open a Lodge of Master
Masons pro tempore, initiate, pass and raise candidates, close and disband
until another emergency should arise. There was no supreme authority to govern
and control, no warrants or charters issued, and this loose system generally
prevailed, though fortunately for Freemasonry the population at that time was
very limited and every man knew his neighbor before admitting him to the
fellowship of brotherhood. Even in 1733 the population of the city of Boston
was only about 18,000, Philadelphia about 12,000, and New York even in 1777
numbered only 21,767, so that in the selection of material there was not much
danger of going very far astray.
24
In the British Isles, however, Masonry had its Lodges which were
permanent, kept their records, and were separate, independent sovereignties,
amenable to no other regulations and laws but those established by themselves;
and their government in legislation was shared by the humblest Entered
Apprentice, who had both voice and vote in the administration of their
affairs, and each was a free republic with freemen and Freemasons in itself,
their Masters and other officers of their own choice, limited by their own
laws and landmarks of the Order and the terms for which they were chosen; but
when the Grand Lodge of England was organized at the Apple Tree Tavern in
London, in 1717, then a new order of things commenced by its declaring, "That
the privilege of assembling as Masons, which has been hitherto unlimitd, shall
be vested in certain Lodges or Assemblies of Masons convened in certain
places, and that every Lodge to be hereafter convened, except the four old
Lodges at this time existing, shall be legally authorized to act by a warrant
from the Grand Master for the time being, granted to certain individuals by
petition, with the consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in
Communication, and without such consent no Lodge shall be hereafter deemed
regular or constitutional." In "Anderson's Constitutions of 1723" we find
among the General Regulations, "compiled first by Mr. GEORGE PAYNE, Anno 1720,
when he was Grand Master, and approv'd by the Grand Lodge on St. John
Baptist's Day, Anno 1721," the following, being the second paragraph of
Article VIII:
"If any Set or Number of Masons shall take upon themselves to form
a Lodge without the Grand Master's Warrant, the regular Lodges are not to
countenance them, nor own them as fair Brethren and duly form'd nor approve of
their Acts and Deeds; but must treat them as Rebels, until they humble
themselves, as the Grand Master shall in his Prudence direct, and until he
approve of them by his Warrant, which must be signify'd to the other Lodges,
as the Custom is when a new Lodge is to be register'd in the List of Lodges."
Says Bro. SERENO D. NICKERSON: "The new system thus inaugurated
met with general approval and was adopted by common consent by the English
speaking portion of the Craft, from time to time, as it became known. In no
quarter was the new departure more cordially approved, or more cheerfully
conformed to than in the British North American Provinces."
In 1721 the Grand Lodge of Munster, Ireland, was formed, of which
SPRINGETT PENN (the oldest son of the celebrated WILLIAM PENN, the founder of
Pennsylvania) was the first Deputy Grand Master; but in 1730 the Grand Lodge
of Ireland was regularly organized.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland was constituted in 1736. The Grand
Master of Scotland, WILLIAM ST. CLAIR, Earl of Orkney, who then exercised
supreme power, declared: "Taking into consideration that his holding or
claiming any such jurisdiction, right or privilege might be prejudicial to the
Craft and vocation of Freemasonry, renounced his claims and empowered the
Freemasons to choose their Grand Master. The consequence of this act of
resignation was the immediate organization of the Grand Lodge of Scotland,
over whom, for obvious reasons, the late hereditary Grand Master or Patron was
unanimously called to preside." This act carried with it all of the Scottish
Lodges of one allegiance to the Grand Lodge of Scotland.
As all the duly constituted Masonic bodies in the American
Colonies derived their warrant of authority from the Grand Lodges of England,
Ireland and Scotland, it is necessary to briefly refer to the Grand Lodges in
England, for there were several. According to ANDERSON and PRESTON, the first
charter granted in England to the Masons as a body was bestowed by King
ATHELSTAN in 926, upon the application of his brother, Prince EDWIN.
"Accordingly," says a legend first cited by ANDERSON, "Prince EDWIN summoned
all the Masons in the realm to meet him in a congregation at York, who came
and composed a General Lodge, of which he was Grand Master; and having brought
25
with
them all the writings and records extant, some in Greek, some in Latin, and
some in French and other languages, from the contents thereof that assembly
did frame the Constitution and Charges of an English Lodge. From this assembly
at York the rise of Masonry in England is generally dated; from the statutes
there enacted are derived the English Masonic Constitutions, and from the
place of meeting the ritual of the English Lodges is designated as the
'Ancient York Rite.'"
For a long time the York Assembly exercised Masonic jurisdiction
over all England, but in 1567 it was split in twain. The Masons of the
southern part of the island elected Sir THOMAS GRESHAM, the celebrated
merchant, their Grand Master. He was succeeded by the illustrious architect,
INIGO JONES. There were then two Grand Masters in England who assumed
distinctive titles: the Grand Master of the north being called "Grand Master
of all England," while he who presided in the southern portion of England was
called "Grand Master of England."
The political disturbances, civil wars, and conflicts of parties
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries played havoc with Masonry, and
the General Assemblies had ceased altogether. In 1715 there were but four
Lodges in the south of England, all working in the city of London, and it was
these four Lodges which came together on St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24,
1717, and formed the Grand Lodge of England and adopted the regulations, as
already stated. This Grand Lodge and that at York maintained friendly
relations until 1725, when the former invaded the jurisdiction of the latter,
and again in 1735, when it repeated the offense by the EARL OF CRAWFORD, Grand
Master of England, constituting two Lodges and appointing deputies for
Lancashire, Durham, and Northumberland. Total non - intercourse and
interdiction was the result between these two bodies. In 1738, or three years
afterward, several Brethren seceded from the Grand Lodge of England, took
advantage of this breach, and called themselves "York Masons," and when the
latter body took action against them they then adopted the name of "Ancient
York Masons," charged the Grand Lodge of England with making innovations,
branding them with the name of "Modern Masons," and they then in 1739
established a new Grand Lodge in London under the name of the "Grand Lodge of
Ancient York Masons." Thus these Masons not only seceded from their own
regular Grand Lodge but appropriated the name of the other at York and affixed
an amendment to it in the word "Ancient." The York Grand Lodge may have winked
at or encouraged this revolt on account of the invasion of its own
jurisdiction by repeated unfriendly acts of the Grand Lodge of England at
London.
For some years the Ancient Lodges in several instances appear to
have worked on an independent system, claiming the original right, which every
body of Masons had, to assemble and work without a warrant; but finally in
1751 they changed the title again to "The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons of England, according to the old Constitutions," while the regular body
was known as " The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons under the
Constitution of England." This latter body soon after its organization was
recognized by the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland, and these four, Grand
Lodges granted warrants to subordinate Lodges in the American Colonies, and
the seeds of rivalry and jealousy took root in a virgin soil, which bore fruit
for nearly three quarters of a century.
The first regular authority or appointment to constitute Masonic
Lodges in the American Colonies was issued by the DUKE OF NORFOLK, Grand
Master of Free and Accepted Masons of England, on June 5, 1730, to DANIEL,
COXE, of New Jersey, appointing him Provincial Grand Master of New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This was followed by Lord Viscount MONTACUTE, the
succeeding Grand Master, on April 30, 1733, appointing HENRY PRICE, of Boston,
Provincial Grand Master of New England. There are no official records or
accounts of Provincial Grand Master COXE having
26
created any Lodges or issued any warrants for Lodges while he held his
appointment. There were independent Lodges within his jurisdiction which met
semi - occasionally and did as they pleased, while he was in London the most
of the time, looking after his own private interests. These independent single
Lodges assumed each for itself the title of "Grand Lodge," and its Master that
of "Grand Master.
On July 30, 1733, just three months from the date of his
appointment, R\W\ HENRY PRICE, as Provincial Grand Master of New England, at
the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, in Boston, was duly invested and congratulated,
and St. John's Grand Lodge was then formed, the first regularly constituted
Lodge of Masons in America, and the recognition of Freemasonry and of Lodges
by the granting of warrants of authority was put in motion by his granting a
warrant to eighteen Master Masons and their Brethren to form a subordinate
Lodge known as First Lodge, in Boston, and installing their officers. In 1783
it took the name of St. John's Lodge, by which it has ever since been known.
Among the first to recognize the authority of HENRY PRICE, who had been
appointed Provincial Grand Master for all of North America, was BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN, the so called Grand Master of the self - constituted "Grand Lodge of
St. John's," in Philadelphia, in which he was made in February, 1731. The
records of St. John's Grand Lodge of Boston recite that, "About this time
(June 24, 1734) Our Worshl. Bro. Mr. BENJN. FRANKLIN from Philadelphia became
acquainted with Our Rt. Worshl. Grand Master Mr. Price, who further instructed
him in the Royal Art, and said FRANKLIN on his Return to Philadelphia called
the Brethren there together, who petitioned Our Rt. Worshl. Grand Master,
having this year Recd. Orders from the Grand Lodge in England to Establish
Masonry in all North America, did send a Deputation to Philadelphia,
appointing the Rt. Worshl. Mr. BENJN. FRANKLIN first Master; which is the
beginning of Masonry there." This last sentence refers to regularly
constituted Masonry by lawful authority.
Du