The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-06-03
FREEMASONRY.
Grand Mastership Of the Prince OF
WaIes-Origen and Tradition of the
CrAft-Present Condition.

Crdft-Present tOnuItiOn.
y. Y. Times.
The aspect of Freemasonry is just now
particularly refreshed, when a King o.
England that is to be becomes hero.
phant OF the craft in Great Britain and
its dependencies. On the 18th Of las
month, in the ROYAL Albert Hall of Lon
don, Albert Edward, Prince Of Wales
was chosen Grand Master of all tn,
lodges in his mothers dominion-th,
the second of that stille who has hclC
that peculiar office It's, indeed, some
what in "the eternal fitness of things,
that one whose function, under the jcal
Gus English system, is mainly thing o
ceremony. should be at the head Of ritu
alism which pretends to be the Oldest, Of
one of the Oldest, IN the world, and has ,
number of notable proofs to offer in sup
port OF the assertion. The reports o
that pas eantry are already more than
half-seas over. and will be with lis pres
emily.
But is that "craftr so very old a they
pretend? That is the question. And
Ia this one is disposed to answer with
"Yes or No." after the manner Of thu
BROOKLYN people under crosS-cXamina
ton. Some contend that Frcema-onry
/, a. old as the tower of Babel Other
argue that it originated in the reign o
Charles IL, when the famous antiQuary
Elias Ashmole, wrote Il book recon-
mending it. Both parties have reason
Every one of the traditions, crcedS OF
mvthologies has, as Il general rule that
will vet be recognized, its double mean
inc. viz: a natural meaning. which was
the original, and fancltul and >pecu!a'
tive meaning. which is usually the
latest. Masonry is in the category OF
these. 1t grew first from the necessity
of the shelterleSs human race, and III
time duplicated itself into scheme OF
tbouoht fashioned on the refncmcnts
of human speech. 1t has had IT. two
meanings--that of architecture and that
of science or learning. 1t is an unSuS-
pected truth that in all old languages the
term, for "edifying' meant teaching also.
We may see this easily in the Latin;
but it is plainly in the Greek and yIsI-
bic in other languages MS well. The
first knowledge or science of men was
article and mcchanici>m---th chlctc,t
that of making housesr-and the words
they used for "building' were words that
meant also "craft;;" or art, or trade. Read
ers of history remember that the build
cr- of walls and cities were the makers
OF civilization and the men of science
The early laborers had colleges. Mum,
Whose name is "luw-maker) had college
of workers and of 'artiticers,' and thc>,
men built houses, temples, bridges &c
Those terrible U,miuG, Harmadlns anl
Artist ogcnon, belonged to the race of the
Gcphw1, who, by name, We're "brldgc
builders, and who, in fact, brought let
tiers into Greece, rs Ilerodotus tells IL,
They were evidently the Cdbjre Of tn,
East, who were builders and also men
Of mysteries and crafts. In italy these
workers were called pontifceS, bridge
builders" and also priests or teachers.
In Egypt they built pyramids; and here
We find parallel between PWo"tis (,
buildingJ and the Greek prayma q Graf
or art. Pyrcmis Is found in .frccmGSon
Those who doubt will please to rcmcm
Der the modern Syrise word tramsOn
used to execrate sOrcerer or wizard
In Assvri. framassoun see Layard) j:
Il term for hereto or Ghebcr, and thi'
last word brings Us again to those ole
Gcphyrai and CabrI. Framasor
strongly disconcerts our notion of two
terms in ''frecmason.' At the same time
the old Irish word frbis had meaning
of learning and craft. to this may bC
added another iaCt---that the Kettle or
der of CaldecS were both builders and
li,anuadG or men of craft, and that tn,
word guild or gid is an ancient term fol
craft or society of cards. In truth, ",
do not yet half understand that word
freemasOn, called by the French franc
WAGON, ard by the Germans freimaurer,
Ii has its two meanings, one, Of the hand
and the other, of the head and both
have certain connection, like those two
parts of the human. body.
.FollowinJthe mechanical or first mean
lng Of the term, we find that in the Mid.
die Age the trade of mason or build
cr. in timber or stone, was the highest in
Europe. Kings wanted palaces, harons
wanted castles, bishops wanted churches
and monastcrIcs, and the maSOns built
them all Round every great building
the morkmcn were gathered from far and
near, and they had temporary lodges OF
nuts" rs the Germans called them, in
which they lived during the work, form
ing rules of instruction and degrees
adopting signs, watchwords, and pccu'
liar vocabulary, and making laws for the
craft, aS was very natural and neceS>a-
~. At the same time, as those journey
men travelled about from place to place,
they found it a matter of importance t.
use certain signs, grips, &c" in strange
places, to show that they were "gradu'
atrS" ofthe "cratt, and not falsecWt~tor
.scoIts"). At that time 600 years ago.
they had the name of "frecmaSou.' II wa
AN ancient name for GRAFT and they
rave it a now face writing it, rs fit was
\ compound word, with rrdi (or free
for Struc" and ''real,") and mason
,oqi>oa being the Celtic for building
or ubnilders," The double meaning q
thine dear to the men of old times, wa,
TIM. happilv preserved. Those mcdi"y"
nrrbit~t,s Knew the dignity OF labor com
bined with intellect as did the CaJg'
and pontifces before them and the
churthmcn encouraged craft when
gave to religion such grace OF orh"'
mcnt.
Then came change. Ii was found
that those united clubs and lodges OF the
Frccmasons Were too much'in advance
OF their age. Ataperiod of serfdom they
would use bold, free style of thought
and language, like the men of the Com
mune in our day, and were rebuked and
discouraged accordingly. Their order
faded away by degrees, though it wa.
still remembered by the antiquarians
One of these, in England, Ashmole. al
ready mentioned declared that it deser
we'd 10 BE- revived, and wrote a ritual