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A Short Masonic History: Being an Account of the Growth of Freemasonry, and Some of the Earlier Secret Societies, Volume 1
A Short Masonic History: Being an Account of the Growth of Freemasonry, and Some of the Earlier Secret Societies, Volume 1
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A Short Masonic History: Being an Account of the Growth of Freemasonry, and Some of the Earlier Secret Societies, Volume 1, written by Frederick Armitage, Solicitor Member of the Law Society, Member of Correspondence Circle of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, Member of St. Paul's Ecclesiological Society, &c. With illustrations. Published in London in 1909, A very good history behind the Masons, Knights Templar, Essenes etc. and many other secret societies. (206 pages)
FOREWORD.
THERE is probably no topic of more elusive nature to discourse upon than that of the secret societies which were the ancestors of modern Freemasonry, for the early ones are enshrouded in mystery, and their records have to be dug up from various writers and pieced together like a Mosaic, while with later ones there has always been a striving to find an early original amongst their historians, who frequently gave free rein to their fancies. Succeeding authors, awed by the glamour of their topic, have gravely repeated in solemn tones the lighter fancies of their predecessors, and thus the ultimate harvest has been one of mixed grain and cornflowers. From such stories it is the duty of the present-day writer to try to pick out the real from the fanciful, and to tell the tale as it should be told. Whether the author has succeeded or not must be left to his readers to judge, but here he desires to acknowledge the valuable aid he has obtained from the transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, which is now well known as the learned Society of Freemasonry, and whose endeavours, it is hoped, may in course of time throw light on many of the present obscure pages of the history of the Craft, and of other secret societies.
Fred. Armitage, P.M.
CONTENTS:
Foreword — Chapter I. The Origins of Secret Societies — Chapter II. The Persians — Chapter III. The Egyptians — Chapter IV. The Pythagoreans — Chapter V. The Eleusinians — Chapter VI. The Temple Builders — Chapter VII. The Essenes — Chapter VIII. The Roman Builders — Chapter lX. The Knights Templars — Chapter X. The Vehmegerichte — Chapter XI. The Rosicrucians — Chapter XII. The Woodcutters — Chapter XIII. The Italian and Spanish Societies — Chapter XIV. The Illuminati — Chapter XV. Freemasonry: The Operative Masons — Chapter XVI. Freemasonry: The Ancient Charges — Chapter XVII. Freemasonry: The Masonic Poem — Chapter XVIII. Freemasonry: The Transition From Operative To Speculative Freemasonry — Chapter XIX. Freemasonry: The Grand Lodge — Chapter XX. Freemasonry outside England — Chapter XXI. The Gregorians — Chapter XXII. The Gormogons — Chapter XXIII. The Orange Society — Chapter XXIV. The United Irishman's Society — Chapter XXV. The Friendly Societies — Chapter XXVI. Freemasonry in Literature & Art — Chapter XXVII. Freemasonry and the Law — Conclusion
The Publisher has copy-edited this book to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the text to make it readable. This did not involve changing the substance of the text. Some books, due to age and other factors may contain imperfections. Since there are many books such as this one that are important and beneficial to literary interests, we have made it digitally available and have brought it back into print for the preservation of printed works of the past.
EXCERPT:
...The history of civilization is permeated with such societies which have sprung up from time to time, have lived their life, and died out, till in later days another society has risen and used the ashes of a former body to light its own fire of existence. In this way it is probable that, although such societies had different objects, they frequently had similarities of ideas and similarities of ritual, which were originated by, if not lavishly copied from, their predecessors. One point of resemblance runs through all of them, and that is the use of symbols, or a picture language, from which moral lessons were drawn and enshrined in a ritual of a more or less religious character, which formed a fitting frame for the sanction of a solemn oath by the members not improperly to divulge the sign and pass words to outsiders. The idea of symbols was doubtless drawn from the religion they professed. The rites of the ancient Egyptians, the heathen worship of the Greeks, and the ritual of the Christians teemed with pictorial and other illustrations of their truths. The figures of the Iamb and the eagle were familiar to all as symbols, while the key, the anchor, and the ship form another class, and each had their own moral lesson to convey. In the same way the coats of arms worn by knights in mediaeval days were all symbolic of the virtues supposed to be possessed by those who bore them.
FOREWORD.
THERE is probably no topic of more elusive nature to discourse upon than that of the secret societies which were the ancestors of modern Freemasonry, for the early ones are enshrouded in mystery, and their records have to be dug up from various writers and pieced together like a Mosaic, while with later ones there has always been a striving to find an early original amongst their historians, who frequently gave free rein to their fancies. Succeeding authors, awed by the glamour of their topic, have gravely repeated in solemn tones the lighter fancies of their predecessors, and thus the ultimate harvest has been one of mixed grain and cornflowers. From such stories it is the duty of the present-day writer to try to pick out the real from the fanciful, and to tell the tale as it should be told. Whether the author has succeeded or not must be left to his readers to judge, but here he desires to acknowledge the valuable aid he has obtained from the transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, which is now well known as the learned Society of Freemasonry, and whose endeavours, it is hoped, may in course of time throw light on many of the present obscure pages of the history of the Craft, and of other secret societies.
Fred. Armitage, P.M.
CONTENTS:
Foreword — Chapter I. The Origins of Secret Societies — Chapter II. The Persians — Chapter III. The Egyptians — Chapter IV. The Pythagoreans — Chapter V. The Eleusinians — Chapter VI. The Temple Builders — Chapter VII. The Essenes — Chapter VIII. The Roman Builders — Chapter lX. The Knights Templars — Chapter X. The Vehmegerichte — Chapter XI. The Rosicrucians — Chapter XII. The Woodcutters — Chapter XIII. The Italian and Spanish Societies — Chapter XIV. The Illuminati — Chapter XV. Freemasonry: The Operative Masons — Chapter XVI. Freemasonry: The Ancient Charges — Chapter XVII. Freemasonry: The Masonic Poem — Chapter XVIII. Freemasonry: The Transition From Operative To Speculative Freemasonry — Chapter XIX. Freemasonry: The Grand Lodge — Chapter XX. Freemasonry outside England — Chapter XXI. The Gregorians — Chapter XXII. The Gormogons — Chapter XXIII. The Orange Society — Chapter XXIV. The United Irishman's Society — Chapter XXV. The Friendly Societies — Chapter XXVI. Freemasonry in Literature & Art — Chapter XXVII. Freemasonry and the Law — Conclusion
The Publisher has copy-edited this book to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the text to make it readable. This did not involve changing the substance of the text. Some books, due to age and other factors may contain imperfections. Since there are many books such as this one that are important and beneficial to literary interests, we have made it digitally available and have brought it back into print for the preservation of printed works of the past.
EXCERPT:
...The history of civilization is permeated with such societies which have sprung up from time to time, have lived their life, and died out, till in later days another society has risen and used the ashes of a former body to light its own fire of existence. In this way it is probable that, although such societies had different objects, they frequently had similarities of ideas and similarities of ritual, which were originated by, if not lavishly copied from, their predecessors. One point of resemblance runs through all of them, and that is the use of symbols, or a picture language, from which moral lessons were drawn and enshrined in a ritual of a more or less religious character, which formed a fitting frame for the sanction of a solemn oath by the members not improperly to divulge the sign and pass words to outsiders. The idea of symbols was doubtless drawn from the religion they professed. The rites of the ancient Egyptians, the heathen worship of the Greeks, and the ritual of the Christians teemed with pictorial and other illustrations of their truths. The figures of the Iamb and the eagle were familiar to all as symbols, while the key, the anchor, and the ship form another class, and each had their own moral lesson to convey. In the same way the coats of arms worn by knights in mediaeval days were all symbolic of the virtues supposed to be possessed by those who bore them.
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