Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-10-27
WAS sHAKEsPEARE A MASON !:

I wonder whether Shakespeare
| Charles Knight will have it to be
Shakespeare, and believe him to be
correct, for surely Shakespeare knew
best how to spell his OWL name-was a
Freemason. Two or three months ago
read that Mr.. Parkinson said he was,
and l have surmised a hundred times
since. off and on, whether the assertion
of the statement was right or not. Mr..
Parkinson is, I think, prominently con-
! uected with the London daily press.
At n rate he is the newly elected
master of lodge recently formed at no
great distance from the metropolis I'M
der somewhat peculiar circumstances.
AS well as l remember, a Bard Of Avon
Lodge, whose appropriate site would be
renowned Stratford, had been neglected
in its proper home, so some men of
taste, who love both Masonry and
Shakespeare, were authorized to rebuild
the lodge nearer London. 1t was at
its installation that Mr.. Parkinson as !
servated that England's greatest writer
was a Mason. He referred, in very
ehaste language, to Shakespeare quail
tiles as author, playwright, actor, and
man; but when be would have spoken
/ of his proofs that the immortal William
was a brother (had the newspaper re
port continued) the vail was drawn be-
tween the sons Oflight and the prOfane, /
and, as one Of the last, / have been
cropping about ever since.
II Shakespeare was o Freemason,
surely he would use the terms, the SYM
boIisms, Of his order. They are most
expressive. They seem to be cherished
bv every modern brother. He uses them
daily and hourly. Did Shakespeare EN-
ploy them? Upon this hint Looked.
Here is the result. Shakespeare never
wrote such a word as "Freemason.n l
thought l had him when l came to 1.-THE
singing Masons, building roofs of gold;'
but this beautiful phrase belongs to the
little honey-bees-instinctive M6sOns, |
whose association, loyalty, building
skill, industry and provision for the
future make them worthy u best study
and deepest admiration. The clowns, in
HaaIot who fun and joke in the church.
yard about Christian burial and crown
ers' quest law, ask "What is he that
builds stronger than the MasOn?1 The
"Count Of Rousillionn has to say with
the liking Of France lin ATS Wel9
muCh against his inclination; but his
complaint that he will be able to do
nothing nobler than "crack his shoes OF
the plain masonry" is not redolent Of
the tesselated pavement. A term much
used by MasOns in these times and in
some of their older documents is,
MASTER 1t was a favorite work of
Shakespeare's. He uses it no less
than five hundred and ninety-twO times.
The master of the vessel; the master of
the tiger; master doctor frequently;
master guest; master parson; master
tapster; master constable; master school
master; "my very noble and approved
good masters as addressed by OthellO to
the duke and senators sitting in the
Venetian Council chamber; but eve
does il come as Master Mason or as the
master of a lodge. All! LOdgei Shall
low accuses Falstaff; "You have beaten
my men, killed my deer, and broken my
lodge" That is not the lodge we want.
The fantastic Don says to the country
wench. Jaquenetta: al will take thee to
the lodge" but hardly means the place
where woman is not permitted. Indeed,
our author speaks of lodging as much as
lodge, and both words are used in the
same sense.
= Shakespeare never awaited
himself of the word architect How
often other writers employ it
the architect OF his W fortunes,
the Divine Architect of the Uni
verse, etc. He uses il but once, and
her it is as " an architect and plotter."
4" Cornerstone he refers to once; TO
copestone OF topstone, "Hond,
cornerstone is pointed at by u OF
the characters in Coliolanus as being rs
difficult to move as the heart of the ban
ished patriot. Arch he only uses nine
times. l can find no special meaning
in any phrase in which it ccurs Ban
ners he knows all about, but not as an
internal decoration; banneret he only
uses once; it was too Frenehified. He
makes the " banquet ready i the privy
chamber but that apartment was then
as now, of the State, and not Of any sec
ton of it. Shakespeare, however, gives
the Mystic Brethren a capital motto for
the entrance door Of their secret apart
ment: "All dedicated to closenessp' In
the Tempest, Prospero tells Miranda the
cause of their misfortunes. He had
been all dedicated TO closeness and the
lettering Of his mind, having previous
" said that he vas "wrapt in secret
studies.u The arts with which those
studies led to, sll readers Of the Temp
est well know.
Corn, wine and oil he does combine.
When GOnzalo, in the Tempest, would
reduce the islands Inhabitants to a state
Of idleness, he would have "nO use of
corn, or wine. or oil, - but the combina-
ton of these products Of the earth was
older than the days of Shakespeare, or
Of any English writer. When Dogberry
gave the charge to comprehend all va
grom men" or crook-backed Dick, on
the eve of bloody Bosworth, directed
Norfolk to HE him TO his charge, it was
hardly in the Masonic q Of the
word. So we may go on until all are
tried. Our great writer used language
such as MasOns and ali who speak al
times hguratively, mnst use. Darkness
for ignorance; light in the sense of
truth; darkness as symbolical of what
is untrue; and a thousand other sym
bolisms might be quoted, all apt and
beautiful in any system which aimed
at intoxicating the purest morality
and the highest b~eneficenee. But now
comes, probably, the most curious fact
of all. We know how Masons now,
and in times 50 remote that their history
is lost in mist, loved their Bible. Those
great cathedral and bridge builders OF
the middle ages loved unity and brother
hood, but they reverenced their Bible.
The divine may find prayerrecommend-
ed by Shakespeare. He mentions the
name Of God more than a thousand
times. But in not a single instance, in
all the tens of thousands Of phrases he
has penued, has Shakespeare used the
word Bible. So, putting 1t all together,
/ doubt, though Mr.. Parkinson has as
serted Il, the internal evidence Of the
great mans great works that he was q
Freemason.-R0gdl CornsodR (England) !
G0sette.l !
A fair comedy, by Mr.. w. s. Gilbert, {
win be produced at the Haymarkeb /
London, early in December. y