THE OLD CHARGES OF BRITISH FREEMASONS.
86
be so rash as to afTirm that some such story does not lie liidden iu the eighty-three MSS.
relating to St Alban, enumerated by Sir T. D. Hardy in his catalogue; but as those
in print are all in accord, and as such narratives are ^ordinarily copied (more or less)
cue from another, the preservation of a legend, analogous to that of the Freemasons, iu
a manuscript form, is highly improbable. It is possible that the Abbey Church, having
been built in early Norman times, almost entirely with Eoman bricks from Verulamium,
plastered over, and bearing, as
square columns, and
seen at the present day, in the plain round arches,
may be
Eoman
a very curious resemblance to the old
flat pilasters,
architecture, certain mediaeval writers
may
style of
have concluded that St Alban actually built
the existing church, and that he was therefore a great mason or patron of masons.
By
a similar course of reasoning the erection of the White Tower was attributed to Julius
Csesar.
He had been in England Londinium was a colony, and the Eomans had a castellum
;
on or near the
histories that of the
There were, however, two other St Albans, with whose
A St Alban of
proto-martjT may have become entangled.
Tower!
of the
site
British
Mentz founded a monastery there
relics
a.d.
804, and Papebrochius
^
informs us of another, whose
The latter being an Italian, and
were honourably buried at Burano near Venice.
(it is said) with Burano, now, and from time immemorial reputed for the excellence
church mosaic, may have been prominently associated with church building and
connected
of
its
architecture, but I
am
not aware of anything being
known
of either, beyond
what
I
have
already stated.
The
of
"
"
Edwin legend "
Kyng
not very clearly presented, as it is mixed up with the account
Athelstane and his yougest sone," the latter not being distinguished by a name.
is
"
However, this son, whoever he may have been, lernyd practyke of y* sciens to his speculatyf.
For of speculatyfe he was a mast, and he lovyd well masonry and masons. And he became
a mason hymselfe.
And ye yaf hem chargis and names as hit is now usyd in Englond."
The congregations
of the
masons were
to
"
be held annually or triennially
as nede were,"
examination of masters respecting their knowledge of the art, and their obedience to
the laws. The articles and points are in each case numbered from one to nine, many being
for the
almost verbally identical with those of the earlier version.
regulations
and the declaration
—
Following these are additional
" Wlian the mast and
y<^ felawes be for warned ben y come to such co'gregacons if nede he y^ schereffe of
countre or the Mayer of y" Cyte or Alderman of y"^ towne in wyche the co'gregacons ys hokle schall be felaw
y^
and sociat to y« Mast, of the co'gregacion in helpe of h'y ayenst rebelles and upheryng y« rygt of the reme."
The numerous
"
new men," who had not been
"
"
before, to some
charged
extent complete the code of laws to be found in later versions, which are not in the eighteen
clauses herein noted, and provision is made for the jurisdiction of the sheriff over malcontents,
so that
"
instructions for
the lowist as the hiest scliuld be well and trewely y seruyd in his art biforesayd
thorowowt
all the kyngdom of Englond.
In confirmation of the statements
Amen
so
mote
hit be."
the
and
of
masonry,
"
abundant testimony is offered, such as
stories y'
y" bybill and in othur stories," in the
"
is named Beda and Isodor,"
and especially the " Policronico, a cronycle p'nyd
(penned).
respecting
origin
progress
"
'
Acta Sanctorum, Die 21 Junii,
^
vol. iv., p.
92 (mdcovii.).
Isidore, a Spanish Christian of the seventh century, who wrote a
Rerum " also a larger work, " Etymologise," or " Origines."
;
manual of
science under the title of
"
De Natuiis