Part 8 (1/2)
III
This brings us to one of the most hotly debated questions in Masonic history--the question as to the nurees es Hardly any other subject has so deeply engaged the veteran archaeologists of the order, and while it ill becolibly to decide such an issue, it is at least per all of value that has been written on both sides, to sum up what see as a written record of an ancient degree--aside froes_, which formed a part of the earliest rituals--is unthinkable, we are not left altogether to the mercy of conjecture in a matter so important Cesare Cantu tells us that the Corand-master to treat of affairs comrees on others_”[92] Evidence of a sort similar is abundant, but not a little confusion will be avoided if the following considerations be kept inits purely operative period the ritual of Masonry was naturally less formal and ornate than it afterwards became, from the fact that its very life was a kind of ritual and its symbols were always visibly present in its labor By the same token, as it ceased to be purely operative, and others not actually architects were admitted to its fellowshi+p, of necessity its rites becadale said in 1686,[93]--portraying in cere been present in its symbolism and practice
Second, that with the decline of the old religious art of building--for such it was in very truth--so but itsobscured, if not entirely faded Who knows, for example--even with the Klein essay on _The Great Syreater Tetractys? That they were more than mathematical theore In the saes are veiled, or else wear s hidden, or but direat emblems still speak in truths simple and eloquent, and remain to refine, instruct, and exalt
Third, that when Masonry finally becaer an order of practical builders, its cere--its old habit and custo enshrined in its ritual More than this, knowing how ”Tis holy, and what is old becoion,” it is no wonder that its tradition became every year more authoritative; so that the tendency was not, as , but to preserve and develop its rich deposit of symbolism, and to avoid any break hat had co in mind this order of evolution in the history of Masonry, we may now state the facts, so far as they are known, as to its early degrees; dividing it into two periods, the Operative and the Speculative[95] An Apprentice in the olden days was ”entered” as a novice of the craft, first, as a purely business proceeding, not unlike our modern indentures, or articles Then, or shortly afterwards--probably at the annual asse hiend as recorded in the _Old Charges_, instruction inof certain secrets At first this degree, although co secrets, does not seem to have been mystic at all, but a simple cereh moral life required of him Even Guild-masonry had such a rite of initiation, as Hallam remarks, and if wethe Gerree ashave it--though one has always the feeling that it was eht of later time[96]
So far there is no dispute, but the question is whether any other degree was known in the early lodges Both the probabilities of the case, together with such facts as we have, indicate that there was another and higher degree For, if all the secrets of the order were divulged to an Apprentice, he could, after working four years, and just when he was becoive hies as such If there was only one set of secrets, this deception ht be practiced to his own profit and the injury of the craft--unless, indeed, we revise all our ideas held hitherto, and say that his initiation did not take place until he was out of his articles This, however, would land us in worse difficulties later on Knowing the fondness of the es for ceremony, it is hardly conceivable that the day of all days when an Apprentice, having worked for seven long years, acquired the status of a Felloas allowed to go un was at once an art and an allegory So that, not only the exigences of his occupation, but the i man, and the spirit of the order, justify such a conclusion
Have we any evidence tending to confirm this inference? Most certainly; so iven in the _Old Charges_ upon any other theory For one thing, in nearly all the MSS, froius Poem_ doe are told of two rooe--soed to keep the ”counsells” proper to each place This would seem to imply that an Apprentice had access to the Chae itself--at least not at all tiued that the ”other counsells” referred to were ive the case away, since they were secrets held and communicated as such By natural process, as the order declined and actual building ceased, _its technical secrets becah they s Further, while we have record of only one oath--which does not ns, tokens, and words are nearly always spoken of in the plural; and if the secrets of a Fellowcraft were purely technical--which some of us do not believe--they were at least accons, tokens, and passwords From this it is clear that the advent of an Apprentice into the ranks of a Felloas in fact a degree, or contained the essentials of a degree, including a separate set of signs and secrets
When we pass to the second period, and an to enter the order--whether as patrons of the art or as students and e appear They, of course, were not required to serve a seven year apprenticeshi+p, and they would naturally be Fellows, not Masters, because they were in no sense masters of the craft Were these Fellows made acquainted with the secrets of an Apprentice? If so, then the two degrees were either conferred in one evening, or else--what seems to have been the fact--they elded into one; since we hear of [97] Custoes, some of which were chiefly operative, orMasons, with only a sprinkling of men not workmen who had been ades as far back as 1645 Naturally in Lodges of the first kind the two degrees were kept separate, and in the second they wereall the while more elaborate
Gradually the es--chiefly those of higher position, such as master builders, architects, and so on--until the order becaer any trade object in view
Not only so, but throughout this period of transition, and even earlier, we hear intimations of ”the Master's Part,” and those hints increase in number as the office of Master of the Work lost its practical aspect after the cathedral-building period What was the Master's Part? Unfortunately, while the nurees may be indicated, their nature and details cannot be discussed without grave indiscretion; but nothing is plainer than that _we need not go outside Masonry itself to find the rees, as they now exist, were developed_[98] Even the French Coend of the Third Degree long before 1717, when soine it to have been invented If little or no lish Masons before that date, that is no reason for thinking that it was unknown _Not until 1841 was it known to have been a secret of the Coe in France, so deeply and carefully was it hidden_[99] Where so matic, but what seems to have taken place in 1717 was, not the _addition_ of a third degree rees into three
That is to say, Masonry is too great an institution to have been made in a day,tirew Indeed, it was like one of its own cathedrals upon which one generation of builders wrought and vanished, and another followed, until, ae, of decline and revival, the order itself became a temple of Freedom and Fraternity--its history a disclosure of its innermost soul in the natural process of its transition frolorious purpose” For, since as evolved fro alien added to it fro to shoe need not go outside the order itself to learn what Masonry is, certainly not to discover itsonly an expansion and exposition of its inherent nature and teaching Upon this fact the present study insists with all e in every odd nook and corner to find whence Masonry carees
FOOTNOTES:
[83] Our present craft no; the old order was first Apprentice, then Master, then Fellowcraft--ree conferred, but a reward of skill as a workman and of merit as a man The confusion today is due, no doubt, to the custom of the German Guilds, where a Fellowcraft had to serve an additional two years as a journey a Master No such restriction was known in England Indeed, the reverse was true, and it was not the Fellowcraft but the Apprentice who prepared his masterpiece, and if it was accepted, he beca won his mastershi+p, he was entitled to become a Fellowcraft--that is, a peer and fellow of the fraternity which hitherto he had only served Also, we uish between a Master and the Master of the Work, now represented by the Master of the Lodge Between a Master and the Master of the Work there was no difference, of course, except an accidental one; they were both Masters and Fellows Any Master (or Fellow) could become a Master of the Work at any time, provided he was of sufficient skill and had the luck to be chosen as such either by the ee, or both
[84] The older MSS indicate that initiations took place, for the most part, at the annual assees of today, presided over by a President--a Grand Master in fact, though not in naovernment, as Masonry has always been, they received Apprentices, examined candidates for ulated the craft; but they were also occasions of festival and social good will At a later time they declined, and the functions of initiation es
[85] The subject of Mason's Marks is in and growth of Gothic architecture, but too intricate to be entered upon here As for example, an essay entitled ”Scottish Mason's Marks Compared with Those of Other Countries,” by Prof TH Lewis, _British Archaeological association_, 1888, and the theory there advanced that soreat unknown architect introduced Gothic architecture from the East, as shown by the difference in Mason's Marks as cos of _A Q C_, iii, 65-81)
[86] _History of Masonry_, Steinbrenner It consisted of a short black tunic--in summer orget to which a hood was attached; round the waist was a leathern girdle, from which depended a sword and a satchel Over the tunic was a black scapulary, siirdle when they orking, but on holydays allowed to hang down No doubt this garht, as was the custo luxuries enjoyed only by the rich and titled (_History of Agriculture and Prices in England_, T Rogers) On their heads they wore large felt or straw hats, and tight leather breeches and long boots coarb
[87] Gloves were more widely used in the olden ti them as presents was common in loves were distributed to the laborers who gathered it (_History of Prices in England_, Rogers), and richly eladly accepted by princes Indeed, the bare hand was regarded as a syoodwill For Masons, however, the white gloves and apron had uessed by others, and their symbolism remains to this day with its si and Regalia,” in _Things a Free article by Rylands, _A Q C_, vol v, and the delightful essay on ”Gloves,” by Dr Mackey, in his _Symbolism of Free, had
[88] _Tiler_--like the word _cable-tow_--is a word peculiar to the language of Masonry, and e to see that only Masons are within ear-shot It probably derives fro were also of ers), and accompanied the Free-s
Some tiler was appointed to act as sentinel to keep off intruders, and hence, in course of tiuarded the Lodge
[89] Much has been written of the derivation and in in a Greek ter Cowans,” by D Rain is still to seek, unless we accept it as an old Scotch word of contee_, Jamieson)
Sir Walter Scott uses it as such in Rob Roy, ”she doesna' value a Cawmil mair as a cowan” (chap xxix) Masons used the word to describe a ”dry-diker, one who built without cement,” or a Mason without the word Unfortunately, we still have cowans in this sense-- the cement of brotherly love If only they _could_ be kept out! Blackstone describes an eavesdropper as ”a coend says that the old-tiht to learn their signs and secrets, by holding them under the eaves until the water ran in at the neck and out at the heels What penalty was inflicted in dry weather, we are not informed At any rate, they had contens of the craft without knowing its art and ethics
[90] This subject is es there seee e widely separated tribes the signs were very siestures of greeting, of warning, or of distress There is intimation of this in the Bible, when the life of Ben-Hadad was saved by a sign given (I Kings, 20:30-35) Even an-code of like sort was known (_Indian Masonry_, RC Wright, chap
iii) ”Mr Ellis, by e as a Master Mason, actually passed himself into the sacred part or adytuins, vol i, 767) See also the experience of Haskett S the Druses, already referred to (_A