The Masonic Lodge
September 13, 2012
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
As an outsider to the brotherhood, like Eliphas Levi, I am under no obligation to keep secrets that I believe I have discovered and, therefore, I am free to speculate. As it is easily confirmed, the lodge is dedicated to the Saints John. Unfortunately, it is never revealed to which Saints John are intended The following Johns are mentioned in the Bible:
John the Baptist
John the Evangelist John the beloved disciple John, the writer of epistles John, the author of Revelations |
There is no reason to consider any two of the Johns as more likely candidates than the others and we, gentle reader, have reached an impasse.
The Mother Church of Roman Catholics is not Saint Peters. I am certain the Popes prefer Saint Peter's because of the six foot letters found in the rotunda. However, the Mother Church is Saint John Lateran. This church is odd because it not dedicated to one, but two, saints. The Saints are John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
For the majority of my life, I thought that the effigy on the cross was suffering. It made sense from a dramatic perspective and I never questioned it. When I was told the guy on the cross was dead, I argued for days until, to my chagrin, I discovered I was wrong. I had reasoned in my mind that suffering was more appropriate for the one " to take away the Sin of the world" (Gospel of Saint John). Why the Roman Catholic Mass misstates Saint John and says "sins of the world", I don't know. We now know why the stations of the cross ends with Jesus' burial and not his Resurrection.
The Masonic candidates are explicitly told the lodge symbolizes the Temple of Solomon. The candidates are misled in all three degrees. I will now explain the difference between "misled" and "lied". Lying means to give incorrect information. Since the rituals are consistent and the lectures are consistent, there is no reason for the candidate to believe he has been misled. He has not been lied about the degrees or the explanations. Although the degrees and lectures are internally consistent, there may be an alternate and equally viable explanation that is not given, but must be discovered. Therefore, the candidates are misled, but not lied to concerning the explanations of the degrees.
The Mother Church of Roman Catholics is not Saint Peters. I am certain the Popes prefer Saint Peter's because of the six foot letters found in the rotunda. However, the Mother Church is Saint John Lateran. This church is odd because it not dedicated to one, but two, saints. The Saints are John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
For the majority of my life, I thought that the effigy on the cross was suffering. It made sense from a dramatic perspective and I never questioned it. When I was told the guy on the cross was dead, I argued for days until, to my chagrin, I discovered I was wrong. I had reasoned in my mind that suffering was more appropriate for the one " to take away the Sin of the world" (Gospel of Saint John). Why the Roman Catholic Mass misstates Saint John and says "sins of the world", I don't know. We now know why the stations of the cross ends with Jesus' burial and not his Resurrection.
The Masonic candidates are explicitly told the lodge symbolizes the Temple of Solomon. The candidates are misled in all three degrees. I will now explain the difference between "misled" and "lied". Lying means to give incorrect information. Since the rituals are consistent and the lectures are consistent, there is no reason for the candidate to believe he has been misled. He has not been lied about the degrees or the explanations. Although the degrees and lectures are internally consistent, there may be an alternate and equally viable explanation that is not given, but must be discovered. Therefore, the candidates are misled, but not lied to concerning the explanations of the degrees.
Freemasonry
Entered Apprentice Fellow Craft Master Mason |
Wording
Initiated Passed Raised |
Roman Church
Deacon Priest Bishop |
Wording
Ordained Consecrated Elevated |
We notice that in the third level the words used are "raised" and "elevated" and they are synonymous.
Saint Paul says he is a "fellow laborer" and he has "laid the foundation as a wise architect." Saint Paul says he is all things to all people so that some may come to the truth. "All people" could mean apprentices, fellow crafts, masters, deacons, priests and bishops. Saint Paul says to avoid endless genealogies which do not edify. When I hear "endless genealogies" I understandably think of the Mormons. However, Saint Paul may be referring to the Pope and his claim to Apostolic Succession from Saint Peter to the present. Three Master Masons must be present during the third degree, just as there is a primary and two additional bishops during the consecration of a new bishop.
Although there are additional degrees in Masonry, there is nothing higher than a Master Mason, the multiplication of Rites and degrees in the 19th century notwithstanding. Likewise in the Church- There are titles such as archbishop, Patriarch, Cardinal and Pope, but they are bishops with additional titles.
Some Masonic writers like to state that Masonry is the worlds oldest religion. Other writers say that Sun worship is the oldest religion. Understandably, some people will write that Masons are pagan and worship the sun. However, I am convinced of the New Chronology and understand that Christianity is the oldest religion and Paganism came later, in the 1400 and 1500's. That Christ is associated with the sun (Sunday, the day of the resurrection) is lost on those who want to make Masonry into a Phallic worshiping sun cult that takes direction form Talmud studying Jewish bankers.
The point in the circle represents the Deity, we are told. The point in a circle is the Egyptian symbol for the sun. The sun rules Sunday and we return to Christianity. The candidate is told the parallel lines represent the two Saint Johns. The two Saint Johns are the Baptist and the Evangelist, per the name of the Mother Church of the world. Located in London, the main lodge of Masonry is called the Mother Lodge.
Perhaps we can now understand why the Popes have forbidden their members to become Freemasons.
Masonry is the brotherhood and idealism of Christianity in action without Papal Dogma.
Saint Paul says he is a "fellow laborer" and he has "laid the foundation as a wise architect." Saint Paul says he is all things to all people so that some may come to the truth. "All people" could mean apprentices, fellow crafts, masters, deacons, priests and bishops. Saint Paul says to avoid endless genealogies which do not edify. When I hear "endless genealogies" I understandably think of the Mormons. However, Saint Paul may be referring to the Pope and his claim to Apostolic Succession from Saint Peter to the present. Three Master Masons must be present during the third degree, just as there is a primary and two additional bishops during the consecration of a new bishop.
Although there are additional degrees in Masonry, there is nothing higher than a Master Mason, the multiplication of Rites and degrees in the 19th century notwithstanding. Likewise in the Church- There are titles such as archbishop, Patriarch, Cardinal and Pope, but they are bishops with additional titles.
Some Masonic writers like to state that Masonry is the worlds oldest religion. Other writers say that Sun worship is the oldest religion. Understandably, some people will write that Masons are pagan and worship the sun. However, I am convinced of the New Chronology and understand that Christianity is the oldest religion and Paganism came later, in the 1400 and 1500's. That Christ is associated with the sun (Sunday, the day of the resurrection) is lost on those who want to make Masonry into a Phallic worshiping sun cult that takes direction form Talmud studying Jewish bankers.
The point in the circle represents the Deity, we are told. The point in a circle is the Egyptian symbol for the sun. The sun rules Sunday and we return to Christianity. The candidate is told the parallel lines represent the two Saint Johns. The two Saint Johns are the Baptist and the Evangelist, per the name of the Mother Church of the world. Located in London, the main lodge of Masonry is called the Mother Lodge.
Perhaps we can now understand why the Popes have forbidden their members to become Freemasons.
Masonry is the brotherhood and idealism of Christianity in action without Papal Dogma.
addendum
The following are courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary and citations after 1800 have been omitted:
Etymology: < free adj. + mason n.1, probably originally after freestone n. Compare post-classical Latin
sculptores lapidum liberorum carvers of free stones (1212 in a British source)
mazoni... ad eligendum et scapliendum liberam petram masons to select and trim free stone
(1256 in a British source)
caementarius libere petre mason of free stone (1341 in a British source)
liber caementarius free mason (1438 in a British source)
Anglo-Norman une mesoun..de pere fraunche a mason of free stone (1313)
mestre mason de franche peer master mason of free stone (1350)
Compare later freestone mason n. at freestone n. and adj. Compounds 2. Compare also roughmason n. Attested earlier as a surname: Nicholas le Fremason (1325), John le Fremassoun (1332).
1. A member of a certain class of skilled workers in stone. Now hist. except as merged in sense 2. In the late medieval and early modern period the term is often mentioned in contradistinction to other types of mason, as rough mason, layer, etc., evidently to denote masons who specialized in the carving of freestone. It survived in non-historical use until the late 18th cent., but in later contexts it seems often to be used merely as a more complimentary synonym of ‘mason’, implying that the workman so designated belonged to a superior grade.
1376 in D. Knoop & G. P. Jones Genesis of Freemasonry (1947) i. 12
Fre masons [written against two names in Letter-Book H of the City of London; the entry has been struck through and replaced by another in which ‘masons’ alone is used].
1380 Patent Roll, 3 Richard II 6 Apr. (P.R.O.: C 66/306) m. 6,
Tot latomos tam latomos vocatos fremasons quam latomos positores.
1396 Charter Rich. II (Sloane 4595) in Masonic Mag. (1882) 341
Concessimus..archiepiscopo Cantuar. quod..viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ffre Maceons et viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ligiers..capere..possit.
a1400 (▸c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Egerton) 656 (MED),
Take on þy honde squyer and scantlon As þou were a free mason [c1300 Cambr. gud Mascun].
?c1430 (▸?1383) Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 333 (MED),
Men of sutel craft, as fre masons..conspiren togidere þat no man of here craft..schal do ouȝt but only hewe stone.
1445 Rolls of Parl. (2005) V. 112/2
Þe wages of eny free mason or maister carpenter, excede not by the day .iiij. d. with mete and drynk..rough mason and meen carpenter..by the day .iij. d. with mete and drynk.
1484 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Mary at Hill, London in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 80
Paide to Will'm Whelpdale fremason for makyng of the crosse in ye chirchrth.
1495 Rolls of Parl. (2005) VI. 508
A freemason, maister carpenter, rough mason, brickleyer [etc.].
1504 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 104
To John Dealtry, fremason, xs.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CCCiii,
The free mason setteth his prentyse firste long tyme to lerne to hewe stones.
1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI c. 15 §3
No Person..shall..lett or disturbe any Fre mason, rough mason, carpenter, bricklayer.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises sig. A4,
In free Masons craft, in Ioyners craft.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 81
Who seeth not, that it were farre better the Maister Worke men, free Masons, and Carpenters might bee spared, then the true labouring Husbandman?
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 97
Encountring the difficulties of the Free-Mason.
1723 London Gaz. No. 6195/6
John Lane..Free-Mason.
1781 Bristol Poll-bk. 4
Dymock William free-mason and carver.
2. A member of a (now international) society established for mutual help and fellowship, whose traditions and rituals make symbolic use of or reference to the tools of medieval stonemasons (notably the square and compasses). Like other craft organizations of the period, many medieval associations of masons, whose members included freemasons, had developed elaborate secret rituals for imparting the knowledge of their craft and for the initiation of new members; these continued to evolve during the early modern period, and in 16th-cent. Scotland app. began to incorporate elements of contemporary Hermetic thought.
From the early 17th cent. some societies or ‘lodges’ (lodge n. 7) began to admit members who were not connected with the building trades. In some English societies from about the same time certain members could undergo a particular form of initiation, thereby becoming accepted masons (see accepted mason n. at accepted adj. Special uses); all members of such a society might be referred to loosely as free masons, or more explicitly as free and accepted masons; the latter phrase occurs in the names of many lodges founded from the early 18th cent. onwards. In 1717 four of these lodges in London united to form a ‘grand lodge’ (grand lodge at lodge n. 7), which in turn became the parent of other lodges in England and elsewhere.
1646 E. Ashmole Mem. (1717) 15 [At] 4 Hor. 30
Minutes post merid., I was made a Free-Mason at Warrington in Lancashire, with Colonel Henry Mainwaring.
1674 Minute Bk. in W. F. Vernon Hist. Freemasonry (1893) i. 12
Mair the forsd day it was condescendet on yt wn ever a prentice is mad frie mason he must pay four pund Scotts.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. viii. 316
Admitting Men into the Society of Free-masons, that in the moorelands of this County seems to be of greater request, than any where else.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 393/2,
I cannot but Honor..the Masons..the more as being a Member of that Society called Free-Masons.
1691 J. Aubrey Memorandums 18 May in C. R. Conder Hole Craft (1894) 4
This day is a great convention at St. Pauls church of the fraternity of the free [erased, and accepted written above] Masons; where Sir Christopher Wren is to be adopted a Brother.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 26. ⁋3
They have their Signs and Tokens like Free-Masons.
[1723 J. Anderson Constit. Accepted Free Masons 67
None are to serve that Day, but free and accepted Masons, that the Communication may be free and harmonious.]
1737 S.-Carolina Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/2
Some People pretending to be Free Masons, got together in a Cellar with a young Man who was desirous of being made one.
1788 Gentleman's Mag. 58 i. 83/1
[He] was escorted to the grave by upwards of 200 Free-masons, dressed in all their regalia.
C1. General attrib. with reference to secrets, distinctive signals, etc., of the kind popularly associated with Freemasons (sense 2).
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts 33
The true free-mason secret of the profession of soucaring.
C2. † freemasonwork n. Obs. masonry executed by a freemason (sense 1).
1480 W. Worcester Itineraries 332
De fremasonwork operata.
Freemaˈsonic adj. of or relating to Freemasons (sense 2); = masonic adj. 1.
1788 T. Johnson No. 1: Summer Productions 16
Blest is the Man who free Masonic Rules Has learn'd betimes, and well employ'd his Tools.
The citations in chronological order:
1376 in D. Knoop & G. P. Jones Genesis of Freemasonry (1947) i. 12 Fre masons...
1380 Patent Roll, 3 Richard II 6 Apr. (P.R.O.: C 66/306) m. 6, ... vocatos fremasons quam ...
1396 Charter Rich. II (Sloane 4595) in Masonic Mag. (1882) 341 ... lathomos vocatos ffre Maceons...
1400a (▸c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur 656 (MED), ... were a free mason [c1300 Cambr. gud Mascun].
1430?c (▸?1383) Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 333 (MED), Men of sutel craft, as fre masons...
1445 Rolls of Parl. (2005) V. 112/2 Þe wages of eny free mason or maister carpenter....
1480 W. Worcester Itineraries 332 De fremasonwork operata.
1484 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Mary at Hill, London (1797) 80 Paide to Will'm Whelpdale fremason...
1495 Rolls of Parl. (2005) VI. 508 A freemason, maister carpenter, rough mason, brickleyer [etc.].
1504 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 104 To John Dealtry, fremason, xs.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CCCiii, The free mason setteth his prentyse firste...
1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI c. 15 §3 No Person..shall..lett or disturbe any Fre mason, rough mason...
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises sig. A4, In free Masons craft, in Ioyners craft.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 81 ... the Maister Worke men, free Masons, and Carpenters ...
1646 E. Ashmole Mem. (1717) 15 [At] 4 Hor. 30 Minutes post merid., I was made a Free-Mason ...
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 97 Encountring the difficulties of the Free-Mason.
1674 Minute Bk. in W. F. Vernon Hist. Freemasonry (1893) i. 12 ... a prentice is mad frie mason he ...
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. viii. 316 Admitting Men into the Society of Free-masons,...
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 393/2, ..the Masons...a Member of that Society called Free-Masons.
1691 C. R. Conder Hole Craft (1894) 4 ... of the free [erased, and accepted written above] Masons;...
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 26. ⁋3 They have their Signs and Tokens like Free-Masons.
1717 FOUNDING OF THE GRAND LODGE
1723 J. Anderson Constit. Accepted Free Masons 67 ... but free and accepted Masons...
1723 London Gaz. No. 6195/6 John Lane..Free-Mason.
1737 S.-Carolina Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/2 Some People pretending to be Free Masons,...
1781 Bristol Poll-bk. 4 Dymock William free-mason and carver.
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts 33 The true free-mason secret of the profession of soucaring.
1788 Gentleman's Mag. 58 i. 83/1 ... by upwards of 200 Free-masons, dressed in all their regalia.
1788 T. Johnson No. 1: Summer Productions 16 Blest is the Man who free Masonic Rules ...
Etymology: < free adj. + mason n.1, probably originally after freestone n. Compare post-classical Latin
sculptores lapidum liberorum carvers of free stones (1212 in a British source)
mazoni... ad eligendum et scapliendum liberam petram masons to select and trim free stone
(1256 in a British source)
caementarius libere petre mason of free stone (1341 in a British source)
liber caementarius free mason (1438 in a British source)
Anglo-Norman une mesoun..de pere fraunche a mason of free stone (1313)
mestre mason de franche peer master mason of free stone (1350)
Compare later freestone mason n. at freestone n. and adj. Compounds 2. Compare also roughmason n. Attested earlier as a surname: Nicholas le Fremason (1325), John le Fremassoun (1332).
1. A member of a certain class of skilled workers in stone. Now hist. except as merged in sense 2. In the late medieval and early modern period the term is often mentioned in contradistinction to other types of mason, as rough mason, layer, etc., evidently to denote masons who specialized in the carving of freestone. It survived in non-historical use until the late 18th cent., but in later contexts it seems often to be used merely as a more complimentary synonym of ‘mason’, implying that the workman so designated belonged to a superior grade.
1376 in D. Knoop & G. P. Jones Genesis of Freemasonry (1947) i. 12
Fre masons [written against two names in Letter-Book H of the City of London; the entry has been struck through and replaced by another in which ‘masons’ alone is used].
1380 Patent Roll, 3 Richard II 6 Apr. (P.R.O.: C 66/306) m. 6,
Tot latomos tam latomos vocatos fremasons quam latomos positores.
1396 Charter Rich. II (Sloane 4595) in Masonic Mag. (1882) 341
Concessimus..archiepiscopo Cantuar. quod..viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ffre Maceons et viginti et quatuor lathomos vocatos ligiers..capere..possit.
a1400 (▸c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Egerton) 656 (MED),
Take on þy honde squyer and scantlon As þou were a free mason [c1300 Cambr. gud Mascun].
?c1430 (▸?1383) Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 333 (MED),
Men of sutel craft, as fre masons..conspiren togidere þat no man of here craft..schal do ouȝt but only hewe stone.
1445 Rolls of Parl. (2005) V. 112/2
Þe wages of eny free mason or maister carpenter, excede not by the day .iiij. d. with mete and drynk..rough mason and meen carpenter..by the day .iij. d. with mete and drynk.
1484 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Mary at Hill, London in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 80
Paide to Will'm Whelpdale fremason for makyng of the crosse in ye chirchrth.
1495 Rolls of Parl. (2005) VI. 508
A freemason, maister carpenter, rough mason, brickleyer [etc.].
1504 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 104
To John Dealtry, fremason, xs.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CCCiii,
The free mason setteth his prentyse firste long tyme to lerne to hewe stones.
1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI c. 15 §3
No Person..shall..lett or disturbe any Fre mason, rough mason, carpenter, bricklayer.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises sig. A4,
In free Masons craft, in Ioyners craft.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 81
Who seeth not, that it were farre better the Maister Worke men, free Masons, and Carpenters might bee spared, then the true labouring Husbandman?
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 97
Encountring the difficulties of the Free-Mason.
1723 London Gaz. No. 6195/6
John Lane..Free-Mason.
1781 Bristol Poll-bk. 4
Dymock William free-mason and carver.
2. A member of a (now international) society established for mutual help and fellowship, whose traditions and rituals make symbolic use of or reference to the tools of medieval stonemasons (notably the square and compasses). Like other craft organizations of the period, many medieval associations of masons, whose members included freemasons, had developed elaborate secret rituals for imparting the knowledge of their craft and for the initiation of new members; these continued to evolve during the early modern period, and in 16th-cent. Scotland app. began to incorporate elements of contemporary Hermetic thought.
From the early 17th cent. some societies or ‘lodges’ (lodge n. 7) began to admit members who were not connected with the building trades. In some English societies from about the same time certain members could undergo a particular form of initiation, thereby becoming accepted masons (see accepted mason n. at accepted adj. Special uses); all members of such a society might be referred to loosely as free masons, or more explicitly as free and accepted masons; the latter phrase occurs in the names of many lodges founded from the early 18th cent. onwards. In 1717 four of these lodges in London united to form a ‘grand lodge’ (grand lodge at lodge n. 7), which in turn became the parent of other lodges in England and elsewhere.
1646 E. Ashmole Mem. (1717) 15 [At] 4 Hor. 30
Minutes post merid., I was made a Free-Mason at Warrington in Lancashire, with Colonel Henry Mainwaring.
1674 Minute Bk. in W. F. Vernon Hist. Freemasonry (1893) i. 12
Mair the forsd day it was condescendet on yt wn ever a prentice is mad frie mason he must pay four pund Scotts.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. viii. 316
Admitting Men into the Society of Free-masons, that in the moorelands of this County seems to be of greater request, than any where else.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 393/2,
I cannot but Honor..the Masons..the more as being a Member of that Society called Free-Masons.
1691 J. Aubrey Memorandums 18 May in C. R. Conder Hole Craft (1894) 4
This day is a great convention at St. Pauls church of the fraternity of the free [erased, and accepted written above] Masons; where Sir Christopher Wren is to be adopted a Brother.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 26. ⁋3
They have their Signs and Tokens like Free-Masons.
[1723 J. Anderson Constit. Accepted Free Masons 67
None are to serve that Day, but free and accepted Masons, that the Communication may be free and harmonious.]
1737 S.-Carolina Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/2
Some People pretending to be Free Masons, got together in a Cellar with a young Man who was desirous of being made one.
1788 Gentleman's Mag. 58 i. 83/1
[He] was escorted to the grave by upwards of 200 Free-masons, dressed in all their regalia.
C1. General attrib. with reference to secrets, distinctive signals, etc., of the kind popularly associated with Freemasons (sense 2).
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts 33
The true free-mason secret of the profession of soucaring.
C2. † freemasonwork n. Obs. masonry executed by a freemason (sense 1).
1480 W. Worcester Itineraries 332
De fremasonwork operata.
Freemaˈsonic adj. of or relating to Freemasons (sense 2); = masonic adj. 1.
1788 T. Johnson No. 1: Summer Productions 16
Blest is the Man who free Masonic Rules Has learn'd betimes, and well employ'd his Tools.
The citations in chronological order:
1376 in D. Knoop & G. P. Jones Genesis of Freemasonry (1947) i. 12 Fre masons...
1380 Patent Roll, 3 Richard II 6 Apr. (P.R.O.: C 66/306) m. 6, ... vocatos fremasons quam ...
1396 Charter Rich. II (Sloane 4595) in Masonic Mag. (1882) 341 ... lathomos vocatos ffre Maceons...
1400a (▸c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur 656 (MED), ... were a free mason [c1300 Cambr. gud Mascun].
1430?c (▸?1383) Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 333 (MED), Men of sutel craft, as fre masons...
1445 Rolls of Parl. (2005) V. 112/2 Þe wages of eny free mason or maister carpenter....
1480 W. Worcester Itineraries 332 De fremasonwork operata.
1484 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Mary at Hill, London (1797) 80 Paide to Will'm Whelpdale fremason...
1495 Rolls of Parl. (2005) VI. 508 A freemason, maister carpenter, rough mason, brickleyer [etc.].
1504 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 104 To John Dealtry, fremason, xs.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CCCiii, The free mason setteth his prentyse firste...
1548 Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI c. 15 §3 No Person..shall..lett or disturbe any Fre mason, rough mason...
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises sig. A4, In free Masons craft, in Ioyners craft.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 81 ... the Maister Worke men, free Masons, and Carpenters ...
1646 E. Ashmole Mem. (1717) 15 [At] 4 Hor. 30 Minutes post merid., I was made a Free-Mason ...
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 97 Encountring the difficulties of the Free-Mason.
1674 Minute Bk. in W. F. Vernon Hist. Freemasonry (1893) i. 12 ... a prentice is mad frie mason he ...
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. viii. 316 Admitting Men into the Society of Free-masons,...
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 393/2, ..the Masons...a Member of that Society called Free-Masons.
1691 C. R. Conder Hole Craft (1894) 4 ... of the free [erased, and accepted written above] Masons;...
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 26. ⁋3 They have their Signs and Tokens like Free-Masons.
1717 FOUNDING OF THE GRAND LODGE
1723 J. Anderson Constit. Accepted Free Masons 67 ... but free and accepted Masons...
1723 London Gaz. No. 6195/6 John Lane..Free-Mason.
1737 S.-Carolina Gaz. 20 Aug. 2/2 Some People pretending to be Free Masons,...
1781 Bristol Poll-bk. 4 Dymock William free-mason and carver.
1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts 33 The true free-mason secret of the profession of soucaring.
1788 Gentleman's Mag. 58 i. 83/1 ... by upwards of 200 Free-masons, dressed in all their regalia.
1788 T. Johnson No. 1: Summer Productions 16 Blest is the Man who free Masonic Rules ...