The Freemasons’ Guide and Compendium Dedicated in affection To my Mother Lodge, The PEN AND BRUSH No. 2909 First published in Great Britain 1950 By George. G. Harrap & Co. Ltd 182 High Holborn, London, W.C.1. Reprinted: 1950; 1951; 1953 New and revised Edition 1956 Reprinted 1957; 1959; 1963; 1965; 1967 This CD ROM Edition prepared by Michael Pells & Barry Mason and published by The Lintel Trust , Jersey, CI. 1999 Copyright Eric Dobby Publishing Foreword by the late JOHN HERON LEPPER, P.G.D. LIBRARIAN AND CURATOR TO THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND 1943-52 IT gives me great pleasure to introduce Brother Bernard Jones to what I am confident will prove an ever-increasing circle of those interested in the history and antiquities of the Craft of freemasonry. The aim of this book is to make available in a convenient form and size all those advances in our knowledge due to masonic historians and students of research during the past sixty years. That knowledge is scattered through a great variety of books and pamphlets, and no small amount of time and trouble has gone to the making of what might justly be termed a handbook of masonic lore. The book is unique in that it provides the man who has small leisure for extensive reading with the essence and marrow of what has been accomplished in two generations of masonic scholarship-generations, moreover, that have produced the greatest names in this field of study. While the contents of this book consist in the main of hard fact supported by appropriate evidence, the author in pursuing his design has had to refer to various theories, sometimes conflicting, that have at different times enjoyed popular support. To my mind he has approached this phase of his subject with admirable discretion, setting forth the hypotheses and then leaving the reader, after examination of the pros and cons, to form his own judgement about their credibility. He acts as an expositor, not as an iconoclast or partisan. That being the scheme of the book, it will be patent to every reader of intelligence that the writer of this foreword is in no sense responsible for any of the opinions to be found in it. I must, however, express the gratification I feel that Bernard Jones has joined the band of those who are trying with proper discretion and caution to spread more light among the collective members of the masonic Order. 5 AUTHOR'S NOTE TO NEW EDITION ALTHOUGH an individual preface to this revised edition is hardly called for, I am availing myself of the opportunity of expressing my gratitude for the generous reception so widely given to the first edition of my book by readers everywhere and in particular by masonic students whose kindly criticisms and suggestions I have found most helpful. This edition contains some minor corrections, certain revisions made in the light of recent research, and, in addition, numerous notes mostly devoted to useful points suggested in readers' letters. I record with sorrow the deaths, since the publication of my first edition, of the Rev. Herbert Poole and of a much older friend, J. Heron Lepper, both of them masons of fine quality, Past Masters of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, and of such high esteem in masonic authorship that the whole fraternity will long be under obligation to them; as for my own debt, I have no words in which to acknowledge all, that their help has meant to me. This new edition goes forth accompanied by my sincere wish that it will be of real help not only to many of my old readers but to an ever widening circle of new ones. B.E.J. 6 PREFACE THE addition of one more book on freemasonry to the many thousands already in existence must invite a very proper question. Is it wanted? If not, there can he no excuse for publishing it. Let the reader judge when 1 say that my real object in writing it has been to provide the young mason with a concise, simply worded, and comprehensive guide to the Craft, an explanation of everything in the growth and present practice of freemasonry that (with masonic propriety) can be discussed in print. This book is intended for the ordinary member of the ordinary lodge, who usually has neither time nor facilities for making a regular study of freemasonry yet feels a definite need of instruction, but I hope that the serious student will find in it a few things new to him and possibly some ideas that will provoke his thought. The lack of a book on the lines of this present one must have been felt by every young mason who wishes, for example, to assure himself as to the exact nature of freemasonry's claim to be an ancient system and who seeks a clear view of the rise and emergence of speculative masonry, a view not rose-coloured by romantic fictions or overlaid with hoary fallacies; who wants to know how the system of masonic government developed, how the appointments of his lodge were derived, how the rituals came to assume their form, and whence came the many curious masonic customs and how they have been influenced in the course of history. Robert Freke Gould, still the greatest name in masonic literature, said in 1885, "The few students of our [masonic] antiquities address themselves, not so much to the Craft at large, as to each other., They are sure of a select and appreciative audience, and they make no real effort to popularize truths. ." His words apply with nearly as much force to-day as when he wrote them, and the need to do what the older students have largely left undone is no small part of the inspiration that led me to my task and maintained me in the doing of it. Every mason has received the injunction to make a daily advancement in masonic knowledge, but he seldom or never has an easy means of doing so. 1 trust this book will provide that means, that it will serve to enlarge or even open up the young mason's interest and give him a 7 new joy in masonry, and that in hundreds of lodges lecturers will find in my pages material upon which they can base modest and plainly worded talks of a kind which I know, from my own personal experience, the brethren welcome and appreciate. I did not decide to write this book until I had assured myself that what I had in mind was what my brethren in the lodges did in fact need, and that I either had or could acquire the necessary qualifications for the task. Although I had been long aware that such a book was wanted, it was not until I had had heart-to-heart talks with Brother J. Heron Lepper that I determined to devote a few of my remaining years to the task of writing it. Brother Lepper did two things. He finally convinced me of the need for the book. As Librarian and Curator at Freemasons' Hall, as the Treasurer of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, as a masonic authority and historian, and as one to whom freemasons all over the world go for information, he had a unique qualification to advise as to the kind of book I should write. Of his rich store of advice he gave freely and gladly, and I well know that the thanks I now tender him must inevitably be inadequate. I particularly appreciate his kindness in writing a foreword to this book. The second thing he did was to assure me, from a personal knowledge based upon an editorial association a score of years back, that he believed I, was the man to attempt what both of us, as book craftsmen, knew to be a considerable task-one calling for hard work, steady application, wide yet critical reading, a flair for explanation, and ever a clear vision of the purpose that inspired the original intention. As to my qualifications, I was initiated in 1905 in a lodge consisting almost entirely of authors, journalists, and artists, and in due course passed to the chair and to the Royal Arch and Mark Degrees. I have had thirty years as Secretary of my mother lodge, a particularly rich and useful experience. As it so happens that I have spent fifty years in the editorial production of books and journals dealing with a variety of practical subjects, including architecture and building, all written from the one point of view of instructing the uninformed reader, it should follow that I ought to have some acquaintance with the art of teaching by the printed word. May it prove that my craftsmanship is equal to my high purpose! The point may fairly be stressed that this book presents in general an essentially modern treatment. The old-fashioned masonic books so often tell a story that is more romantic than factual, and repeat fallacies that should long ago have died a natural death. They have a way of mixing up fact and fiction so that only a well-versed student can safely pick his way through them and they tend to give new life to unreliable stories and ideas that were either invented or put into new dress by Anderson in his Constitutions of 1723. Fallacies die hard, very hard indeed. 8 This book, being based as far as possible on modern research, is believed to be as authentic as the present state of knowledge permits, and the fact that it has been read in manuscript by Brother the Rev.