Freemasonry, Being a Sketch of Its Origin, Spread, and Object

CUMMINS.

PROLOGUE.

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THIS BOOK IS SUBMITTED TO the Fraternity throughout the world, knowing as the writer does, that many books have been written on the subject of Free Masonry and that many writers have tried to explore the past and ascertain the time and place where the mysteries of Free Masonry originated, and if possible, to trace its origin to some particular person. This will never be fully accomplished. Each writer tries with all the research at his command, and produces historical facts or evidence to establish the position that he takes. Not one of these writers so far has been able to convince himself that he is absolutely correct, and the public will permit the writer to give his view of the origin of Free Masonry and hear the witnesses and reasoning that the writer may produce. We hope with the same patience and allowance that has been given to others.

In writing this book, we shall avoid the use of all the latin phrases that usually occur in most all books that have been written on any subject, and we shall attempt to use plain and concise language so that all who read may understand it and we hope that long after the writer has gone, some one may be brought to search this and other books on this great subject, and be brought from darkness to light, not only in the Ritualistic book of Free and Accepted Masonry, but that he may be brought to the Kingdom of Christ the Son of God, through the Lion of the tribe of Judea.

"The morning light is breaking,

The darkness disappears,

Sinners ought to be quaking

With penitential tears.

"Let all true Masons be making,

Their peace with God while here,

That when by death they are parting.

That it may be without fear.

"Oh! land of wondrous story,

Thy Masonic Mysteries hangs oe’r thee.

Let us ponder them over

While around us they hover."

THE ORIGIN, SPREAD AND OBJECT OF FREE MASONRY.

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CHAPTER I.

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THE ORIGIN OF FREE MASONRY is one of the subjects that has been talked about by generation after generation and has attracted the attention of the best men and minds of each generation for thousands of years.

Writers have explored the Holy Land and have gone down deep into the bowels of the earth for the purpose of discovering types, symbols, and relics of Free Masonry. For what purpose has so much time and money been spent? There can be but one answer to this question.

But before entering upon the argument of this subject, permit me to make an observation. Free Masonry. All of it is contained in the Holy Bible, which Book I believe to be divine. Precious Treasure, thou art mine.

Masonry first existed in a very crude form and was confined principally to men engaged in erecting and constructing buildings of various kinds and structures. Men who worked in building houses of stone and brick with lime and mortar, and no doubt that extended in a limited degree to every person that engaged in building houses and edifices of all descriptions, for the word mason, as described by Webster and Worcester is a person or man whose occupation is laying stone or bricks in walls or structures of any kind, and they are known as builders.

We are informed by Montague, in his Universal History of Masonry. Vol. 15, Page 7, That in Egypt and those countries of Asia which surround it. Free Masonry flourished when the arts and sciences flourished. That other nations were involved in ignorance; it is in Egypt only we discover marks of its existence in the remotest ages of the world.

Says the author, "Let us consider this matter. Egypt in its early history was talked about and many writers wrote about it and spent time and money exploring the country and the country adjacent to it. In fact civilization first existed in Egypt. Egypt was the mother and home of civilization. Profane and Sacred History establishes this fact beyond dispute.

The civilization which grew up on the banks of the Nile is uncertain as to the time; some writers say it was about 2700 B. C., others 2080 B. C. Minis, the half mythical founder of the Nation, captured Lower Egypt and built Memphis, which he made his Capital. Succeeding him down to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians and Cambyses, 529 B. C., there were (26,) Twenty-six dynasties of Pharoahs or Kings.

The history of this long period of over 2000 years is divided into that of the Old, Middle and New Empires. About this time the great Pyramids were built at Ghezeh; the best known of these Kings was Khufer, termed Cheops, (Keeps), by Heroditus. But without following this further, which is a matter of General History, we will say that all historians agree that civilization and its history commences on the banks of the Nile, Tigres and Euphrates.

There the rich alluvial soil, the genial climate and the abundant natural products of the earth offered every inducement to a Nomadic People to settle and commence a National life. Accordingly, amid the obscurity of antiquity we catch sight of Memphis, Thebes, Ninevah and Babylon, the earliest cities of the world.

This was 2700 years B. C.; we have 1300 years from the creation of the world of which we have very little account and concerning this time we are left almost to discoveries made by recent historians in their search to establish Free Masonry as one of the first organizations among the children of men, which all well informed Masons claim, that it has existed from time immemorial.

CHAPTER II.

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Mackey, in his extensive and useful treatise and work on Tree Masonry, says:

Years ago in writing an article on this subject, under the impressions made upon me by the fascinating theories of Dr. Oliver, though I never completely accepted his views, I was led to place the organization of Free Masonry, as it now exists, at the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Many years of subsequent research have led me greatly to modify the idea I had previously held, although I do not rank myself among those modern Iconoclasts who refuse credence to every document, whose authenticity, if admitted, would give the order a birth anterior to the beginning of the last century. I confess that I can not find any incontrovertable evidence that would trace Masonry, as now organized, beyond the Building Corporations of the Middle Ages.

After theorizing and quoting from many authors of Modern and Ancient History, he concludes by saying: And so, when I speak of the antiquity of Masonry, I must say, if I would respect the Axioms of Historical Science, that its body came out of the Middle Ages, but that its spirit is to be traced to a far remoter period. Pages 77 and 78, Mackey’s Work on Free Masonry. Again, in a very extensive work on Free Masonry, styled The Constitution of Free Masonry, written and published in 1723, and dedicated to His Grace, the Duke of Montague, by order of His Grace the Duke of Wharton the present Eight Worshipful Grand Master of Free Masons, by J. T. Desaguliers, Deputy Grand Master, Thirty volumes in all, in the Fifteenth volume. Second Book on pages 3 and 4, he commences by relating what the qualifications of a candidate had to be in the following manner:

"Free Masonry is an ancient and respectable institution embracing individuals of every Nation, of every religion and of every condition in life. Wealth, power and talents are not necessary to the person of a Free Mason. An unblemished character and virtuous conduct are the only qualifications which are requisite for admission into the Order. In order to confirm this institution and attain the ends for which it was originally formed, every candidate must come under a solemn engagement never to divulge the mysteries and ceremonies of the Order, nor communicate to the uninitiated those important precepts with which he may be instructed, and those proceedings and plans in which the Fraternity may be engaged.

"After the candidate has undergone the necessary ceremonies and received the usual instructions, appropriate words and significant signs are imparted to him, that he may be enabled to distinguish his brethren of the Order from the uninitiated public, and convince others that he is entitled to the privileges of a brother, should he be visited by distress or want in a distant land.

"If the newly admitted member be found qualified for a high degree, he is promoted, after due intervals of probation, till he has received that Masonic knowledge which enables him to hold the highest offices of trust to which the Fraternity can raise its members. In all ages, it has been the object of Free Masonry, not only to inform the minds of its members, by instructing them in the sciences and useful arts, but to better their hearts by enforcing the precepts of religion and morality. In the course of the ceremonies of initiation, brotherly love, loyalty and other virtues are inculcated in hieroglyphic symbols and the candidate is often reminded that there is an eye above which observeth the workings of his heart, and is ever fixed upon the thoughts and the actions of men.

At regular and appointed seasons, convivial meetings of the Fraternity are held in lodges constructed for this purpose. Temperance, harmony and joy characterize these mixed assemblies. All distinctions of rank seem to be laid aside, all differences in religions and political sentiments are forgotten and those petty quarrels, which disturb the quiet of private life, cease to agitate the mind. Every one strives to give happiness to his brother, and men seem to recollect, for once, that they spring from the same origin, that they are possessed of the same nature, and destined for the same end.

I have quoted the above so that the reader may have some idea of Free Masonry before attempting to give his idea of its origin, and he says:

"Such are the general features of an institution, which has of late produced so great division in the sentiments of the learned, respecting its origin and tendency. While a certain class of men, a little over anxious for the dignity of their Order, have represented it as coeval with the world, others, influenced by an opposite motive, have maintained it to be the invention of English Jesuits, to promote the views of that intriguing and dangerous association. Some philosophers, among whom we may reckon the celebrated chevalier Ramsey, have labored to prove that Free Masonry arose during the crusades; that it was a secondary order of chivalry; that its forms originated from that warlike institution and were adapted to the peaceful habits of scientific men.

Mr. Clinch has attempted, with considerable ingenuity and learning, to deduce its origin from the institution of Pythagoras. M. Burrel supposes that it is a continuation of the Templars, while others, with a degree of audacity and malice rarely to be found in the character of ingenious men, have imputed the origin of Free Masonry to secret associations averse to the interest of true government, and pursuing the villainous and chimerical project of leveling the distinctions of society, and freeing the human mind from the sacred obligations of mortality and religion.

Without adopting any of these untenable opinions, or attempting to discover the precise period when Free Masonry arose, it may be sufficient to show that it can justly lay claim to an early origin, and that is has existed from that period to the present day under different forms and different appellations.

In the execution of this task, the candid inquirer will be satisfied with strong and numerous resemblances, as the nature of the subject excludes the possibility of rigid demonstrations. Every human institution is subject to great and numerous variations; the different aspects under which they appear, and the principles by which they are regulated, depend upon the progress of civilization, upon the nature of the government by which they are protected, and on the peculiar opinions and habits of their members. If, therefore, in comparing Free Masonry with other ancient associations, we shall find it coincide with them in every circumstance, there would be strong reasons for suspecting that the imagination of the writer had counterfeited resemblances when destitute of authentic information or that the Order had adopted the rites and ceremonies of antiquity to disprove the recency of their origin, to command the veneration and excite the notice of the public.

Against Free Masonry, however, this charge can not be preferred. We shall have occasion to consider it when connected with the idolatry of the heathens, when devoted to the Church of Rome and when flourishing under the milder influence of the reformed religion.

As men in the early ages of society were destitute of those methods of diffusing knowledge which we now enjoy, and even of those which were used in Greece and Rome, when the art of printing was unknown, the few discoveries in art and science which were then made, must have been confined to a small number of individuals. In those ages the pursuit of science must have been a secondary consideration, and those who did venture to explore the untrodden regions of knowledge, would overlook those unsubstantial speculations which gratify the curiosity of philosophic men and would fix their attention on those only which terminate in public utility and administer to the necessities of life.

As architecture could only be preceded by agriculture itself, it must have been in this science that the first efforts of human skill were tried, and in which man must have first experienced success in extending his dominions over the works of nature. They alone required the assistance of art and they alone would endeavor to obtain it. The information which was required individually would be imparted to others of the same profession, and an association would be formed for the mutual communication of knowledge and the mutual improvement of its members.

In order to preserve among themselves that information which they alone collected, in order to excite among others a higher degree of respect for their profession and prevent the intrusion of those who were ignorant of architecture and consequently could not promote the object of the institution, appropriate words and signs would be communicated to its members and significant ceremonies would be performed at their initiation that their engagement to secrecy might be impressed upon their minds and greater regard excited for the information they were to receive.

Nor is this mere speculation; there exist at this day, in the deserts of Egypt, such monuments of architecture as must have been reared in those early ages, which precede the records of authentic history, and the erection of those stupendous fabrics have required an acquaintance with the Mechanical Arts, which is not in possession of modern architects.

It is an undoubted fact, also, that there existed in those days a particular association of men, to whom scientific knowledge was confined and who resembled the society of Free Masons in every thing but the name. In Egypt, and those countries of Asia which lie contiguous to that favored kingdom, the arts and sciences were cultivated with success while other nations were involved in ignorance. It is here, therefore, that Free Masonry would flourish and here only can we discover marks of its existence in the remotest ages.

It is extremely probable, that the first and the only object of the society of Masons was the mutual communication of knowledge connected with their profession, and that those only would gain admittance into their Order whose labors were subsidiary to those of the architect, but the ambition or vanity of the Egyptian priests prompted them to erect huge and expensive fabrics for celebrating the worship of the gods, or perpetuating the memory of their kings. They would naturally desire to participate in the scientific knowledge, which was possessed by the architects they employed, and as the sacradotal order seldom fail, among a superstitious people, to gain the objects of their ambitions, they would, in this case, succeed in their attempts and be initiated into the mysteries, as well as instructed in the science of Free Masonry.

These remarks will not only assist us in discovering the source from which the Egyptian priests derive that knowledge for which they have been so highly celebrated, they will aid us also in accounting for these changes which were superinduced on the forms of Free Masonry and for the admission of men into the Order whose profession had no connection with the royal art.

CHAPTER III.

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WHEN THE EGYPTIAN PRIESTS HAD in this manner procured admission into the society of Free Masons, they connected the mythology of their country and their metaphysical speculations concerning the nature of God and the condition of man, with an association founded for the exclusive purpose of scientific improvement, and produced that combination of science and theology, which, in after ages, formed such a conspicuous part of the principles of Free Masonry.

The knowledge of the Egyptians was carefully concealed from the vulgar, and when the priests did condescend to communicate them to the learned men of other nations, it was conferred in symbals and hieroglyphics, accompanied with particular rites and ceremonies, marking the value of the gift thus bestowed. What these ceremonies were, which were performed at initiation into the Egyptian mysteries, we are unable at this distance of time, to determine, but as the Eleusinian and other mysteries had their origin in Egypt, we may be able, perhaps, to discover the qualities of the fountain by examining the nature of the stream.

The immense population of Egypt, conjoined with other causes, occasioned frequent emigrations from that enlightened country. In this manner it became the center of civilization and introduced into the most distant and savage climes, the sublime mysteries of its religion, and those important discoveries and useful inventions, which originated in the ingenuity of its inhabitants.

The first colony of Egyptians that arrived in Greece, was conducted by Inachus about Nineteen Hundred and Seventy years before the Christian Era, and, about three centuries afterwards, he was followed by Cecrops, Cadmus and Danans. The savage inhabitants of Greece beheld with astonishment the magical tricks of the Egyptians, and regarded as gods those skillful adventurers, who communicated to them the arts and sciences of their native land. In this manner were sown those seeds of improvement which in future ages exalted Greece to such preeminence among the Nations.

After the Egyptian colonies had obtained a secure settlement in their new territories, and were freed from those uneasy apprehensions which generally trouble the invaders of a foreign land, they instituted, after the manner of their ancesters, particular festivals or mysteries in honor of those who had benefitted their country by arts or by arms.

In the reign of Ericthonius, about Fifteen Hundred years before the commencement of our Era, the Eleusinian mysteries were instituted in honor of Ceres, who having come to Greece in quest of his