THE STONEMASONS OF GERMANY.
152
and possibly he may have been partially unclothed in token of humility, and to
"
"
remind him of his distressed brethren. But wherefore the cord about his neck and the rest
(Art. 93)
;
of the ceremony
The whole account
?
that no record exists of the
is
palpably absurd.
ceremony of
affiliation
It
may
amongst
be frankly avowed
stonemasons, and even
at once
the
It is
according to Fallou, their present descendants have preserved none of any kind.
that we shall ever know whether one existed ; but
therefore in the highest degree improbable
we have means
at hand, if
we concede
its
possible existence, of forming an imperfect idea of its
nature, in the recorded ceremonies of other
journeyman fraternities. Some of these usages
and may perhaps even now be more
certainly survived until the early part of this century,
or less practised.
We find, then, that the first thing necessary to render a meeting of the fraternities legal,
was the opened chest of the society. This contained their documents, minute-books, registers,
and treasury, and was usually secured by three locks and keys, which keys were in possession of
The presidthree different officials hence their joint presence must also have been necessary.
;
ing
then knocked with some symbol of authority (usually a staff or hammer), to procure
The periodical contributions of the members were then collected. Complaints were
officer
silence.
strife adjusted.
The locksmiths^ (and possibly other crafts) closed their
three formal inquiries, whether anything for the good of the craft or of the
next heard and
meetings by
fraternity offered itself
between the
officials.
All ceremonial operations were conducted in the form of a dialogue
Now let us note the ceremony of affiliating a journeyman joiner.^ He
was ushered into the assembly, and placed before the president in an upright position, his heels
joined, and his feet at right angles, which was insured by the square being placed between
them. His posture was proved by the level, and he was required to stand erect, elbows
on his
hips,
and hands spread out sideways, so as to represent an equilateral triangle, of
He was denominated throughout " rough wood." He was then
which his head was the apex.
directed to listen to a lecture.
The
first
part of this lecture treats of the origin of the joiner's
and includes remarks on architecture in general, couched in rude verse, the phraseology of
which (according to Stock) denotes an early eighteenth century origin, and much of it is based
art,
In the generality of crafts he underwent a rude symbolical ceremony called
hdnscln^ that is, handling or manipulation. In the case of the joiners this consisted of being
stretched on a bench, and rather roughly planed and shaped with various tools, in fact treated as
upon Vitruvius.
rough wood under the joiner's hands. The locksmiths turned a key round three times in the
mouth of the candidate.* After this ceremony the joiner was called in future " smooth wood,"
and the proceedings being ended was once more placed under the level. We then are treated to
a reminiscence of knightly installations for the master having asked his name and received for
an answer, say " Martin," exhorts him thus " Until now you were Martin under the bench,
;
—
"
he then slaps his face, and continues, " Suffer this, this
once from me, henceforth from no man."^ The joiners' ceremony has been selected for
now you
are Martin above the
quotation, being
the
most
bench
;
symbolic
that
I
have
met
with,
and
therefore
the least
inimical to the theory of there being at this period any species of speculative
masonry and
because, as might be expected from their intimacy with the masons, it shows traces of a
;
'
Beilejisch,
'
*
Chronik der Gewerbe,
vol. vii., pp.
17317C;
also
Stock
Stock, Grundzuge der Verfassung, p. 24.
3
Stock, Grundziige der Verfassung, p. 29.
^
(p.
87),
from
Bcrlopsch, vol.
mj^
p
28.
whom
iv., p.
lie lias
C6
;
probably copied.
vol. vi., p. 113.