So comprehensive a title as the one selected for the present work would be a vain assumption if the author's object was not really to embrace in a series of studies the whole cycle of Masonic history and science. Anything short of this would not entitle the work to be called THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
Freemasonry as a society of long standing, has of course its history, and the age of the institution has necessarily led to the mixing in this history of authentic facts and of mere traditions or legends. We are thus led in the very beginning of our labors to divide our historical studies into two classes. The one embraces the Legendary History of Freemasonry, and the other its authentic annals.
The Legendary History of Freemasonry will constitute the subject of the first of the five parts into which this work is divided. It embraces all that narrative of the rise and progress of the institution, which beginning with the connection with it of the antediluvian patriarchs, ends in ascribing its modern condition to the patronage of Prince Edwin and the assembly at York. This narrative, which in the 15th and up to the end of the 17th century, claimed and received the implicit faith of the Craft, which in the 18th century was repeated and emendated by the leading writers of the institution, and which even in the 19th century has had its advocates among the learned and its credence among the un learned of the Craft, has only recently and by a new school been placed in its true position of an apocryphal story. And yet though apocryphal, this traditionary story of Freemasonry which has been called the Legend of the Craft, or by some the Legend of the Guild, is not to be rejected as an idle fable. On the contrary, the object of the present work has been to show that these Masonic legends contain the germs of an historical, mingled often with a symbolic, idea, and that divested of certain evanescences in the shape of anachronisms, or of unauthenticated statements, these Masonic legends often, nay almost always, present in their simple form a true philosophic spirit. To establish this principle in the literature of Freemasonry, to divest the legends of the Craft of the false value given to them as portions of authentic history by blind credulity, and to protect them from the equally false estimate that has been bestowed upon them by the excessive incredulity of un-philosophic sceptics, who view them only as idle fables without more meaning than what they attach to monkish legends—in one word, to place the Legendary History of Freemasonry in the just position which it should occupy but has never yet occupied, is the object of the labors expended in the composition of the first part of this work. The second part of the work will pass out of the field of myth and legend and be devoted to the authentic or recorded history of Freemasonry.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER LV
History Of The Introduction Of Freemasonry Into Each State And Territory Of The United States
THE FIRST LODGES AND THE GRAND LODGES (CONTINUED).
Ohio.
Louisiana.
Tennessee.
Mississippi.
Illinois.
Missouri.
Indiana.
Alabama.
Arkansas.
Wisconsin.
Texas.
Iowa.
Oregon.
California.
Minnesota.
New Mexico.
Washington.
Kansas.
Nebraska.
Indian Territory.
Colorado.
Nevada.
Dakota.
North Dakota.
Idaho.
Montana.
West Virginia.
Utah.
Arizona.
Wyoming.
Oklahoma.
Alaska.
CHAPTER LVI
History Of The Introduction Of Freemasonry Into Each State And Territory Of The United States ROYAL ARCH MASONRY.
Alabama.
Arizona.
Arkansas.
California.
Colorado.
Connecticut.
Dakota.
Delaware.
District of Columbia.
Florida.
Georgia.
Idaho.
Illinois.
Indian Territory.
Indiana.
Iowa.
Kansas.
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maine.
Maryland.
Massachusetts.
Michigan.
Minnesota.
Mississippi.
Missouri.
Montana.
Nebraska.
Nevada.
New Hampshire.
New Jersey.
New York.
North Carolina.
North Dakota.
Ohio.
Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island.
South Carolina.
South Dakota.
Tennessee.
Texas.
Utah.
Vermont.
Virginia.
Washington.
West Virginia.
Wisconsin.
Wyoming.
CHAPTER LVII
History Of The Introduction Of Freemasonry Into Each State And Territory Of The United States
THE CRYPTIC DEGREES
Alabama.
Arizona.
Arkansas.
California.
Colorado.
Connecticut.
Delaware.
District of Columbia.
Florida.
Georgia.
Idaho.
Illinois.
Indiana.
Iowa.
Kansas.
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maine.
Maryland.
Massachusetts.
Michigan.
Minnesota.
Mississippi.
Missouri.
Montana.
Nevada.
New Mexico.
Nebraska.
New Hampshire.
New Jersey.
New York.
North Carolina.
Ohio.
North Dakota.
Oregon.
Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island.
South Carolina.
South Dakota.
Tennessee.
Texas.
Utah.
Vermont.
Virginia.
Washington.
Wisconsin.
Wyoming.
CHAPTER LVIII
History Of The Grand And Subordinate Commanderies In The Several States And Territories Of The United States
TEMPLAR.
Alabama.
Arizona.
Arkansas.
California.
Colorado.
Connecticut.
Dakota Territory.
Delaware.
District of Columbia.
Florida.
Georgia.
Idaho.
Illinois.
Indiana.
Indian Territory.
Iowa.
Kansas.
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maine.
Maryland.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Mexico.
Michigan.
Minnesota.
Mississippi.
Missouri.
Montana.
Nebraska.
Nevada.
New Hampshire.
New Jersey.
New Mexico.
New York.
North Carolina.
North Dakota.
Ohio.
Oklahoma.
Oregon.
Pennsylvania.
South Carolina.
South Dakota.
Tennessee.
Texas.
Utah.
Vermont.
Virginia.
Washington Territory.
West Virginia.
Wisconsin.
Wyoming.
CHAPTER LIX
History Of Colored Masonry In The United States
CHAPTER LX
The Anti-Masonic Excitement
Symbolism Of Freemasonry
PART FOUR SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY
CHAPTER I
Symbolism Of Freemasonry
Introduction.
Light.
CHAPTER II
Three Revelations
First Subject.—Revelation in External Nature.
Second Subject.—Revelation in Man's Nature. "Good and Evil."—Distinction.
Third Subject.—The Written Revelation is the Perfect Form of the Supreme Rule; it is the clearest expression of the Divine Will.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of our cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy: Cookie Policy
