THE BUILDER AUGUST 1917

THE GILD AND YORK RITES
By Bro. Charles Hope Merz, Ohio

Charles Hope Merz, A.M., M.D., Sandusky, Ohio. Born at Oxford,
Ohio, father was Master of the Masonic Lodge there for a number of
years; received his education at Miami University, Oxford,
afterward graduating from Wooster, Ohio, University in 1883;
graduated from the Medical Department of Western Reserve University
in 1885; has practiced his profession in Sandusky since that time,
his son Charles Merz is Washington correspondent of the New
Republic and one of its Editors; Past Master of Science Lodge No.
50; member of Sandusky City Chapter R. A. M., Sandusky City Council
R. & S. M., and Erie Commandery K. T.; has written for Masonic
Journals for a number of years; author of two brochures that have
attracted wide attention--"The House of Solomon" and "The
Transition in Masonry"; has lectured extensively before Lodges in
various parts of the country; active in Masonic Research, Charter
Member of the National Masonic Research Society; Honorary Life
Member of the Cincinnati Masonic Library; was Associate Editor of
the Bibliophile, Member of the Magian Society of New York; First
Master for life of Lodge No. 24, Free Masons, Rough Masons,
Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers, Leicester,
England, he is the American Secretary of this Society; Member of
the Lodge of Research Leicester, England; President of the Masonic
Library Association and of the Society for Masonic Research,
Sandusky, Ohio. Dr. Merz's greatest activity has been along the
line of lectures on Masonic Symbolism which have called forth
favorable comment wherever they have been heard. He has in
preparation two works on Masonic subjects that will appear during
the coming winter.

THOSE who claim that "Freemasonry, as we know it, is in no wise
derived from Operative Free Masonry," are indulging in a belief not
only contrary to that of the most advanced Masonic authorities of
the day, but one presenting many points insufficiently attested and
uncorroborated by documentary or other evidence.

To accept for one moment the suggestion that a system so complex
and curious and embracing so many have phrases and customs, so many
impressive symbols, and ceremonials, cleverly regulated and reduced
to system, was framed by a number of individuals met rather to
originate such a wondrous system, imposes our credulity. The traces
of antiquity are too numerous to be overlooked or ignored.

Speculative Freemasonry is defined as "a beautiful item of morals,
veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." Operative Free
Masonry is the practice, by the Craft, of tectonic art--the science
of building terms and other important structures, a working in
stone, accordance with "the ancient usages and established customs
of the Gild or Company." Beyond doubt Operative Free Masonry was
originally a Religion and Trade combined--and there was and is a
great deal more in Operative Free Masonry than mere work in stone.


Condel, in his "Hole Craft and Fellowship of Mary" throws a great
deal of light on Operative Freemasonry. He states that the
Worshipful Company of Masons of London was the connecting link
between the thic Monastic Architects and the present Society of the
alld Accepted Masons. That the Traditional and Oral teachings
existing in Britain in the 12th and 13th centuries were preserved
by this Company after the downfall of the church in 1530 until
1717. That it is the only demonstrable source by which the old
Constitutions of the middle ages reached the Speculative Masons,
and that it is only in connection with this Company that any
mention of Speculative Masonry is made in London in the 17th
century or of any Society meeting for the fostering of Symbolic
Masonry.

This Worshipful Company of Masons in 1646 underwent an esoteric
division into a body of "Accepted" Masons--persons in no way
connected with the Craft and Operative or Free Masons. Later the
words became synonymous, to distinguish strictly Speculative from
Operative Masons. So the Mason's Company may be said to have been
in a dual condition--Speculatives and Operatives.

As early as 1620, and perhaps earlier, certain members of the
Mason's Company met to form a Lodge for Speculative Masonry, and
this act, given by the records of the Company, concerning its
"accepted members," is the earliest record of 17th century Masonry
in England. In 1472, the Company was granted a Coat of Arms, which
has served as the foundation for all subsequent corporations
connected with Masonry, whether Operative or Speculative. The motto
on the Coat of Arms is of the greatest importance. In the original
grant, no mention is made of the motto, but since early in 1700 it
has been "In the Lord is all our trust"--the motto in use today by
the Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers,
Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers. The first Company
was known as The Fellowship of Masons, and to this Fellowship the
grant was made in 1472, but about 1530 the title was changed to the
Company of Free Masons. The Company of Masons of the City of
London, in its early days, practiced and was acquainted with all
the moral teachings of the Fraternity, and when the Monastic Gilds
fell into chaos, the London Company of Masons preserved the ancient
traditions of the Gild, and amongst its documents a copy of those
MS. traditions, with the object of keeping the old order of things
alive, and thus assisted in handing them down to the 17th century
Society of Free and Accepted Masons, which revived the old order
some time between 1680 and 1700. One thing is very certain; up to
about 1700, the Company and Society were hand in hand, but after
that date, the connection ended; and there is nothing show that
Speculative Masonry had a place in the thought of the members of
the Company.

For thousands of years Trade Gilds, Castes, Societies, Companies
and similar Institutions have been in existence, and in London
alone there are some eighty existence at the present day. To carry
out its system, each Trade Gild divided its members and also its
methods into grades or degrees, and the officers and workmen were
instructed in that particular portion of the Art or Craft which
belonged to the respective degree of which they were members.
Consequently it will be evident that to obtain the full knowledge
of any trade, a person must begin as an Apprentice in the low grade
and, by skill and attention to duty, gradually work up to be a
Master or chief ruler of his Gild. The number of grades or degrees
varied according to the practical requirements of the trade; but in
each instance, it followed that if a young man desired to work in
any of the trades, he must belong to the Trade Gild, as the
members, would neither teach nor work with an outsider.

An analysis of the "Compositions" of fifteen trades, ranging from
the year 1400 to 1700, including the Weavers, Glovers, Brewers,
Tailors, Joiners, Carpenters, Goldsmiths, Smiths, Pewterers,
Plumbers, Glaziers, Painters, Cutlers, Musicians, Stationers,
Bookbinders, Basket-makers, and the Bricklayers, Tilers, Wallers,
Plaisterers and Paviors, shows that an Aprenticeship was common to
all. Many of them had an obligation binding the members to the
"Society, Brotherhood, Fraternity and Company," and protecting the
trade and esoteric secrets. A number of them used Apprentice
Indenture papers, and had chests with three locks and keys. They
were not to disclose the secrets of the Company nor were they to
slander or misuse one another. These fraternities that met at
various places, when the plate was brought out of the three locked
chest, and the clerk sat at the table with the books of the Gild,
all sworn men to do loyally and honorably and keep the secrets of
the fraternity--there was something more than the spirit of a trade
protection Society to animate their doings. None had repaired to
tavern or tippling house on Sunday or holiday during the time to
divine service: none said to another "Thou lyest" or "Art false."
A Gild of Operative Free Masons still exists, as does the Mason's
Company of London.

In all the Ancient Charges there is evidence of the commencement of
moral teachings and of secret signs. The Regius MS. (1390)
recommends implicit truth. The Harleian MS. (1670) mentions
"several words and signs of a Free Mason to be Revealed," which may
be communicated to no one "except to the Masters and Fellows of the
said Society of Free Masons, so help me God." Here followeth the
worthy and godly oath of Masons. The MS. by King Henry VI says,
"some Maconnes are not so virtuous as some other menne, but for the
moste parte they be more gude than they would be if they were not
Maconnes."

In the 17th century or earlier, private gentlemen and Army Officers
began to be admitted as members of the Society of Free Masons in
England and Scotland-- John Boswell, Esq., was a member of St.
Mary's Chapel Lodge, Edinburgh, in 1600. Robert Morey, Quarter
Master General of the Scottish Army, was made a Mason at Newcastle
in 1641. Elias Ashmole, the Antiquarian, and Col. Henry Mainwaring
were made Masons at Warrington in 1646. Morey was a Scotch
Covenanter, Ashmole was a Royalist and Mainwaring was a
Parliamentarian. In 1647 Dr. Wm. Maxwell joined the Lodge at
Edinburgh. The minutes of St. Mary's Chapel Lodge record that
Boswell attested his "mark" at the meeting on June 8, 1600. The
Earls of Cassilis and Eglington were initiated in the Lodge of
Kilwinning in 1670.

The full title of the existing Society of Operative Free Masons is,
The Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers,
Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers. The Rough Masons and
Wallers are inferior Craftsmen, doing rougher work than that done
by Free Masons. They are not Fellows of the Lodges of Free Masons,
but may be regarded as Associates, having ceremonies of their own.
They are regarded as "scabblers" and their work is not "in course."
They are allowed to enter the First Degree or Apprentice stone
yard, but not the Second or Fellows yard.

The Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers (known as the
Tilers and Bricklayers), are also three separate and distinct
Companies. Lambert, in his "Two Thousand Years of Gild Life," gives
the history of the Fraternity of Bricklayers, Tilers, Wallers,
Plaisterers and Pavers of the City of Hull. The Ordinances held by
this Fraternity, 1598, are very interesting. They had One Warden
and two Searchers, to be chosen "yearlie, for ever upon mondaie
Sennitt after Sainte James daie the apostle." They were to show
reverence towards "the worshipfull of the towne." Secrets of the
town were not to be disclosed. Reverence to be shown toward the
Warden. The Warden and Searchers not to be misused in words or
deeds. One brother shall not "in anie wise misuse another in
words." Absence from meetings and at the "hower" appointed was
forbidden. Not to be absent from the election nor from the election
dinner. Not to "lawe out" with another. The Warden was not to
"forbeare any man offending." Servants were to learne good manners
and resorte to divine service. Secrets of the brotherhoode were not
to be opened or disclosed. No apprentice to be taken for less time
than seven years. Not allowed two apprentices at once. None to
"resorte to the; ale-house nor cardes in time of their worke." None
to do any "worke before he have ended his first worke." None to be
free unless serving seven yeares. To resort to the "buriall of anie
brother dieinge." Indentures to be inrolled.

The title, Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons,
Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers, composed of
so many distinct trades is at first sight surprising, but on
investigation it will be found that it was not an uncommon state of
affairs in the 17th century. In Kendall, in 1667, the 12th Trade
Company comprised Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Plaisterers,
Slaters and Carpenters. In Oxford a Company was incorporated in
1604 called "The Company of Free Masons, Carpenters, Joiners and
Slaters of the City of Oxford." In Gateshead a most curious
conglomeration of trades was incorporated by a Charter of Cosin,
Bishop of Durham, in 1671. The Trades enumerated are Free Masons,
Carvers, Stonecutters, Sculpturers, Brickmakers, Tilers,
Bricklayers, Glaysers, Penterstainers, Founders, Neilers,
Pewterers, Plumbers, Millwrights, Sadlers, Bridlers, Trunckmakers,
and Distillers."


At Edinburgh, the incorporation of St. Mary's Chapel at one time
embraced a great variety of Trades, such as Sievewrights, Coopers,
Upholsterers, Bowmakers, Slaters, Glaziers, Painters, Plumbers and
Wrights, as well as Masons. Later there were only two in the Union,
the Wrights and the Masons, and finally these separated, each
becoming a distinct Corporation.

The greatest interest centers in Durham, where we find the
combination of Trades to be the same as the one under discussion.
In 1594, Bishop Matthew Hutton incorporated the "Rough Masons,
Wallers and Slaters." In 1609 Bishop James confirmed their Bye Laws
and Ordinances, in which they are designated as "Rough Masons,
Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Tylers and Plaisterers." On April 16,
1638, Bishop Morton gave a new Charter to the "Company, Society and
Felowshipp of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors,
Plaisterers and Bricklayers." The Bishops of Durham were Counts
Palatinate, so Charters originated from them.

These Operatives became Free men of the City, which conferred many
rights and privileges upon them, and many of the gentry of the
country became honorary members, regarding it as a great
distinction, just as today, many members of the mercantile and
professional classes become Free men and Liverymen of the Trade
Companies of London.

The Mason's Company of London was incorporated in the second year
of Henry IV (1411) and was granted Arms in the 12th year of Edward
IV (1473), which Arms are still used by them. Conder gives the date
as 1472. The Slaters, though not a recognized Company, have their
Arms. The Paviors is a small London Company. The Plaisterers were
incorporated in 1501 and the Tilers and Bricklayers in 1508.
Various disputes have arisen among these Trades and others of a
kindred nature as to what was their respective work. In 1356, 1615
and 1632, these differences became very acute. In 1677 the
Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, etc., received a
Coat of Arms which still hangs in the Gild Hall at Durham, and
which is a combination of the Arms of the several Trades. In chief,
on the dexter side are those of the Masons: in the centre, those of
the Slaters: on the sinister side, those of the Paviors: below on
the dexter side, those of the Tilers and Bricklayers. The Arms in
each case are similar to, if not identical with, those of the
London Companies. In London, the use of the word "Free," in Free
Mason, was allowed to lapse toward the end of the 17th century.
This was because it had ceased to be a distinction when members of
all the other London Companies were equally free, and probably
because the Free Masons had ceased to include Rough Masons, etc.,
in their Corporation. About 1655-56, London and Westminster Free
Masons dropped their association with other Trades. On this point
accurate information is difficult to obtain. In 1871, after the
passage of the Trade Union Act, the Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters
and Paviors began to leave the Free Masons, and since 1883 have
held meetings of their own.

Operative Free Masons are divided into two classes, "Straight" or
"Square" Masons and "Round" or "Arch" Masons, and each class is
divided into seven Degrees or Grades. A man may belong to one of
these classes only, never to both, although he may be transferred
from one to the other, if the Masters so order it. When a man is
apprenticed, he selects the form he intends to follow. The square
is the symbol of the "Square" Mason, and the Compasses the symbol
of the "Arch" Mason. Blue is the color of the former, and red the
color of the latter. Each one of the seven Degrees has its own
special secrets, working rules and technical instruction.

The Degrees are: 1, Apprentice to the Craft of Free Mason. 2,
Fellow of the Craft of Free Mason. 3, Super Fellows who have their
Mark. 4, Super Fellows who are erectors on the Site. 5, Intendents
and Super Intendents or Menatzchim. 6, Passed Masters. Those who
have passed the technical examination for the position of Master.
Also known as Harodim. 7, The Grand Masters, of whom there are
three.

Space forbids anything more than an outline comparison of the
Rituals of the Worshipful Society of Free Masons (Gild) and the old
York Rite, taken from a Ritual that dates from 1726, and which,
from its Operative tendency and the apparent detachment of the
Third Degree, is evidently derived in the first place from such a
ceremony as the Annual Drama of the Operatives, and in the second
place from the Ritual on which the London Third Degree was founded
about 1728.

Worshipful Society of Free Masons (Gild).

1d Apprentice. Indentured for 7 years to a member of the Lodge.
When approved, receives a well known pass and is led to the porch
of the Lodge. Takes a short obligation of secrecy so that in case
he is "barred," his lips are sealed. Here the Treasurer sees that
he deposits his fee and the Doctor that he is sound. He bathes and
dons the toga. The Deacon prepares and refreshes him. The ceremony
does not differ greatly from our own, but an actual collection is
made for him, where ours is symbolic. He is taught how to hold the
chisel and hew the rough Ashlar. He is girded with an Apron on
which are the rule, chisel and maul. He is a Brother for seven
years but not a Free Mason.

2d. Fellow of the Craft. He gives a month's notice of the
expiration of his 7 years, and requests to be made a fellow of the
Craft. Upon which inquiries are made as to his character. If
accepted, he attends on a Saturday at High XII, and after his
Indentures are torn up, and his cord or bond taken away, he is
admitted with a pass, grip and word into a Lodge of the 2d. He
receives as his working tools, the plumb, level and square, in
addition to those of the 1d. The Master tests him with an Ashlar
Cube and the gauge and he is himself tested by it. It is an
exemplification of the ancient Oriental lines--"O, square thyself
for use, a stone fit for the building is not left in the way." The
obligation includes that of our 3d, and the old Charges prove that
this was the case in ancient times.

3d and 4d. Super Fellows. These are Marked and taught fitting and
marking, so that the stones can be erected on the Site which has
been consecrated holy ground.

Tools, Chisel and Maul.

Drama. The Wor. Soc. of Free Masons (Gild) has its annual
ceremonials of several sections. (1) It begins with the
organization of the entire levy at the erection of the Temple, and
there is an examination of all the duties and details from the 7d
down to the 1d. (2) Next we have the method of fixing the centre
and four corner stones with a symbolic sacrifice. (3) The chief
rite is a Passion-play on Oct. 2nd annually. It follows very
closely all the details of the old York Rite, but there is no
Concealment. The three traitors also relate to K. S. all the
details of their acts, which come more appropriately than when
related by the Master. Sentence is passed on the three and the mob
deals with the 12. At the end, the members beg K. S. to appoint a
new G. M. M. and he appoints Adoniram, and he, as in the old York
Rite, establishes a new lodge of "Passed Masters," a body of men
who are examined and found competent in the ordinary duties of an
architect. (4) An example against negligence--a lost corner stone.
(5) The Dedication. (6) A search for the vault which contains the
centre. When building he 2nd Temple, they find the column and the
plans, carry away same, also a certain scroll .

5, 6, 7d. Superintendents (3300) Passed Masters (15) Grand Masters
(3). The name of H. A. occurs only in the 7d. The annual drama,
when the Charges are brought out and read, is an entire history of
the construction of Solomon's Temple.


York Rite
In opening an Apprentice Lodge, there are the tools of a working
Apprentice, ladder, etc., and the rough Ashlar is placed before
those of the 1d. There is an obligation of secrecy before
preparation, a part of which is that he carries some papers to
prove that the "tongue of good report" has been heard in his favor.
Ceremony proceeds much like that of the Gild, and the obligation is
equally strict in both. The Master actually sets him to hew the
rough Ashlar, though no doubt it was mainly symbolical. He is
invested with a plain lamb-skin apron, the bib covering the breast
with "the flesh side inwards." He gets his 2d in a month by this
Rite.

All signs of an Apprentice are removed, and the square, level and
plumb take their place, also the Perfect Ashlar Cube. He makes
three rounds that his skill (as a supposed Operative) might be
tested. At the 1st round the J. W. hands him the plumb rule to test
the uprightness of his column. The 2nd time, the S. W. hands him
the level to try the horizontal position. The 3d round, the Master
hands him the square and tells him to examine and test the Perfect
Ashlar and prove its cubical dimensions. The investiture is turning
down the bib of the apron. Thus it represents the one now in use.
Some old lines on the letter G and the noble science of Geometry
conclude the reception.

These have no relation with Grand Lodge Masonry: they are Mark Man,
and Master, of old, two Degrees, now one degree in two parts. All
the old Operative Lodges conferred a Mark. It was struck out as
useless in 1717.

3d. Casual Master. The Lodge is opened in the F.C. Degree and the
Candidate takes the Gild 2d O; B., our 3d. The last part of the
ceremony then proceeds somewhat abruptly. A clock or bell strikes
XII to represent certain things related in the Modern and Ancient
Gild Rites. The relation does not differ materially from that now
used, but is full of much dramatic action. The ritual corresponds
very closely to the rites used by Aeneas to the Manes of his
defunct friend. At the close, Solomon, to reward 3 of the F. C.,
appoints the Officers of a "Casual Lodge of Masters" (a sham lodge
of 12) to be held in permanence. J.J.J. are tried and sentenced
with their three penalties. Then Adoniram is appointed successor
and founds a new Lodge of Perfect Masters. The Casual signs which
occurred at the "cause," are worked up to close the Lodge.

Royal Arch Degree of the Ancients. Contains same details, and is
unquestionably a degree of dissidents and extends to the
Installation of the three Principals.

Installation. As modern Freemasonry has no Art to rule, these exist
only in name, as Wardens, Chair Masters and Grand Masters. In the
North Country (England) Lodges, which were of Operative character
and origin, were ruled by the Harodim or Passed Masters.


In every Degree of Operative Masonry, the Candidate is admitted in
the toga candida of the old Romans, a white cloak open at the
breast to show the wounds received in battle by the applicant who
sought a post. In all the Degrees the Candidate is treated as a
Living Stone. He is rough dressed in the 1d, polished as a cube in
the 2d, perfected in the 3d, and erected as a stone in the Living
Temple in the 4d. The three remaining Degrees have their Rituals,
but as their names imply, they are rulers of the work, and their
Ritual deals with abstruse geometrical problems and the details
necessary to construct important buildings. As bearing on the
Operative phase of the question, I desire to submit an Apprentice
Indenture Paper, which explains itself. This paper is exactly
similar to one submitted to the readers of the Ars Quatuor
Coronati, Vol. III, by Brother John Yarker.

The Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers,
Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and
Bricklayers.

Lodge "Leicester," No. 91. Established at Leicester, England, 1761.


THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH, That Charles Hope Merz, M. D., of
Sandusky, Ohio, U. S. America, doth put himself Apprentice to the
Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters,
Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers (York Division), to learn
their Art and with them, after the manner of an Apprentice, to
serve from the day of the date hereof until the full term of SEVEN
YEARS, from thence next ensuing and fully to be completed and
ended: during which said term, the said Apprentice his said Masters
faithfully shall and will serve, their secrets keep, their lawful
commands everywhere gladly do: he shall do no damage to his said
Masters nor see it to be done of others: but to his power shall
let, or forthwith give notice to his said Masters of the same: the
goods of his said Masters he shall not waste, nor lend them
unlawfully to any, hurt to his said Masters he shall not do, cause
or procure to be done: he shall neither buy or sell without his
said Master's leave.

Taverns, Inns or Ale-houses he shall not haunt: at Cards, Dice or
Table or any unlawful game he shall not play: nor from the service
of his said Masters day or night shall absent himself, but in all
things as an honest and faithful Apprentice shall and will demean
and behave himself toward his said Masters and all things during
the said term. And the said Masters (and their successors from time
to time), the said Apprentice in the Art and Mystery of a Mason
which they now use shall teach and instruct or cause to be taught
and instructed in the best way and manner that they can, finding
and allowing unto their said Apprentice sufficient meat, drink,
washing, lodging and all other necessaries during the said term and
one pair of New Shoes yearly and aprons.

AND for the true performance of all and every the covenants and
agreements aforesaid, either of the said parties bindeth himself
and themselves unto the other firmly by these presents.

IN WITNESS whereof the parties above said to this Indenture,
interchangeably have set their hands and seals this twelfth day of
August, one thousand nine hundred and twelve.

Charles Hope Melz, Apprentice.
Clement E. Stretton, 1st Master Mason.
Edward Peacock Male, 2nd Master Mason. 
R. Ogden, 3rd Master Mason.
Harry Smith, Clerk to the above said Lodge. 
(Seal)
Harry C. Bauer, Registrar.

Signed and Delivered by the above named
in the presence of John Yarker.

There is no question but that originally Masonic Degrees were
applicable to any nationality, as is the case in the Operative
ceremony today, but after Christian times and the acceptance of the
Jewish Scriptures, Solomon was adopted as the type of the highest
builder and wisest of men, and therefore a Judaic Commemoration
ceremony was added outside of or as an explanation of the Degrees.

The Grand Lodge of England in 1911 published an historical note by
W. Bro. John P. Simpson, B. A. P. A. G. Reg., which said: "The
ritual of Freemasonry as far as the First and Second Degrees are
concerned, is in part, no doubt, derived from the ceremony of the
early Operative Gilds."

The note would have been more accurate had it said mainly derived
from the Operative ceremony--also the Third and Mark Degrees. The
Third Degree was an afterthought as regards Speculative
Freemasonry. As formulated in 1717, and laid down in the First Book
of Constitutions, there was no Third Degree. A Mason became a
Master only when he became Master of a Lodge. The ancient Charges
in the present Book of Constitutions will suffice to make this
quite clear and this paragraph is the same today as it was in the
First Book of Constitutions in 1723, Sec. 4, Par. 2. "No brother
can be a warden until he has passed the part of a fellowcraft, nor
master until he has acted as warden, nor grand warden until he has
been master of a lodge."

And the present Book of Constitutions has a foot note added to this
section which does not appear in the Book of 1723 but was added in
1815: "N. B. In antient times no brother, however skilled in the
Craft, was called a master mason until he had been elected into the
chair of a lodge."

From the comparison of the Gild and York Rites previously shown, it
would appear that the Speculative Third Degree is based on the
Operative Rite, as it is an adaptation of the Annual Ceremony of
the Operatives on Oct. 2nd, when they commemorate the slaying of
the Third Master Hiram Abiff, a month before the dedication of the
Temple, celebrated on Oct. 30th.

It would make the present paper too long to discuss this question
farther. Speculative Freemasonry has a survival of Operative Free
Masonry in the Three Principals of the Royal Arch. In the English
Rite, the position of the Grand Master, the Pro Grand Master and
Deputy Grand Master in Grand Lodge, is a survival of an ancient
custom and they are seated very much in the same manner as K. S.,
H. K. of T. and H. A. were.

It is not a difficult matter to trace the origin of the Royal Arch
Degree. In laying the foundation of the Temple of Solomon, in the
Commemoration Ceremony of the Operative Gilds, a vault was
constructed, six cubits below the floor. Over the centre was
erected a Pedestal, in which were the plans and a Scroll, on which
were inscribed the first lines of Genesis. This foundation was laid
out on the "Five Point System" and the centre being fixed, it is
guarded by four men armed with swords in one hand and building
tools in the other. When the fugitives returned from Babylon, the
centre of Solomon had to be found, and the laborers were set to
find the vault and report to the Passed Masters who had to report
to the Three Grand Masters. When the vault was found, three Passed
Masters descended and brought forth the plans and Scroll, which
every Arch Mason brings away today. The reviewers of this Degree
could not understand why modern Masonry had only one Grand Master
while the Gilds had three. They therefore gave the three Principals
all the attributes of the original builders of the first Temple.
They held as their attributes, three rods, (3, 4, 5), by which they
could form a square building or a 3 to 1 Temple. The Royal Arch
Principals have sceptres instead of rods and the private reception
of these Principals and their secrets is almost identical with
those possessed by the representatives of S. K. I., H. K. T., and
H. A. Were the Pro Grand Master called H. of T. and the Deputy G.
M., Hiram Abiff, we should at once be correct.

The Drama of all the Mysteries has been of a spiritual nature,
calculated to teach man to conduct his earthly career in such a
manner as to attain eternal life, and the Candidate has always
personified a God, slain and risen from the dead.

A Rite that transformed into a Drama the career of our Saviour, was
practiced by the Monks and Masons at York, when Athelstan granted
them a Charter. There is no record of a Hiramic legend at that
time. The Greeks and Romans introduced into Britain from Egypt a
system of Trade Mysteries. These were later modified into orthodox
Christianity by the Culdees, a Monkish fraternity who occupied
Scotland, Ireland and Wales and who taught and governed the Gilds
during the Saxon period. As related previously, there was engrafted
upon the plain and simple Anglo-Saxon Constitution of Masonry a
series of Semitic legends that probably came direct from Palestine
through the French Masons, who traveled from France to England from
time to time. It is in France that we find the earliest allusions
to Solomonic legends.

Dr. James Anderson was Chaplain of St. Paul's Gild in 1710. In the
year 1714 he proposed that men of position should be admitted to a
sort of honorary membership, and the accounts of that and the
following year show seven fees of five guineas each. He was
expelled from the Worshipful Society of Free Masons for his
disloyalty. All the time St. Paul's work was in operation, the
Gilds met at High XII on a Saturday, but Anderson changed the time
of meeting to 7 o'clock on Wednesday evening, at the Goose and
Gridiron, and in 1715 the Operatives found that their old pass
would not admit them. They complained to Sir C. Wren and Edward
Strong and the dissidents were struck off the rolls. This is the
reason why Anderson states that Wren "neglected" the Lodges.

We can readily see what Anderson "digested." He made the Apprentice
in a month instead of seven years. He dropped everything of a
technical nature, including the ceremonies of Mark Mason. He built
a moral Institution on the Mystery Society of the Ancients-- not
Free Masonry, but an imitation of it--as he retained only so much
of the old Rites as suited his purpose.

There was no quarrel at York that separated the Operatives and
Speculatives. The former continued to hold their meetings at High
XII on a Saturday and the latter withdrew and met in the evening,
and their Ritual retained much of the Operative customs not found
in the Ritual of 1813.

Anderson never possessed the higher secrets of the Masters VIId. We
find this record: "At the Speculative Grand Lodge of England, held
Sept. 29th, 1721, The Duke of Montagu, as Grand Master presiding,
His Grace's Worship and the Lodge finding fault with all the copies
of the old Gothic Constitutions, ordered Bro. James Anderson, M.
A., to digest the same in a new and better method."

It is very certain that the present 3d or Master Mason was unknown
in London and unacknowledged by the Grand Lodge before 1730. London
undoubtedly derived it from York and there is strong evidence to
show that York had modelled it about 1726, adapting it from a
source outside of actual Degrees of work, hence London may have had
it in 1728 for there was no rivalry between the North and South of
England at that time and communication was friendly. This is
further confirmed by the fact that York has always been looked upon
as the seat from which modern Freemasonry emanated, and this all
over the world, for all Masons who lay claim to the Ancient Ritual
refer its origin to York.

In his "Arcane Schools," Yarker says: "In all these years the old
Operative Gilds of Free Masons have continued their work without
changing the secrecy of their proceedings. They have their Lodges
in London, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Holyhead, Leicester York, Durham
and elsewhere. Of late years they seen to have become disgusted
with the vain pretensions of modern Speculative Freemasons and
under authority of their co-equal Grand Masters of the South and
North, have, to some extent, relaxed the secrecy of their
proceedings." Again he says, in speaking of Speculative or modern
Freemasonry, "many parts are quite incomprehensible, even to
learned Freemasons without the technical part which only the Gilds
of the Free Masons can supply."

A careful and unprejudiced examination of the two Rituals will go
far toward convincing the Masonic student that Speculative
Freemasonry is irrefutablely based upon and has many close
resemblances to Operative Free Masonry. The Operative ceremonies
are actual and concrete and refer to realities, while the
Speculative ceremonies and allusions are symbolic and abstract and
refer to idealities. The actual must pre cede the symbolic, for the
latter to have reference an, meaning, and the concrete must exist
before the abstract can be conceived. The realistic must exist
before the idealistic can be built upon it. The reason for many of
the Speculative ceremonies can be found in the Operative Ritual,
but the Operative ceremonies get no elucidation from the
Speculative Ritual.

It would be a pleasure to go into this subject more fully were
space to permit. The writer hopes to publish at an early date the
Ritual of the Operative Free Masons. In the meantime, any
additional information will be gladly furnished upon request. Facts
have been given where they have been related as such, without any
desire to impose upon the reader's credulity.

THE DEWDROP

This brilliant sphere--
A fairy looking-glass Large as a tear--
Mirrors the things that pass, 
Or far or near. Small though it be,
It holds the sun and moon; 
Infinity
Of skies with stars o'erstrewn-- 
A mimic sea-- 
And, infinite
Itself, this magic orb 
Is inly lit
With secrets that absorb 
Man's utmost wit. 
Souls thus might shine
Ere vanishing like dew: 
O would that mine
Such transient glory drew 
From depths divine!
--Royland Thirlmere.

Both folly and wisdom come upon us with years.
