THE COMPANIONAGE.
252
one; it appears more than probable, but Perdiguier does not
hint or declare that the giving of hands in this ceremony is performed in any special manner.
The
(juilhi-ettc
may
include
As we ponder over
the evidence which has been unfolded, the question naturally arises,
that
If this striking similitude to English Freemasonry existed in France as late as 1841
is, for more than a century after the first lodge in France was warranted by the Grand Lodge
of England
—why
—
did the two societies never intermingle
Why
?
should Frenchmen have
accepted warrants at English hands, when they might as weU have applied to the Enfants de
Salomon'? The difficulty is, I believe, more apparent than real. Whatever may have been
must be evident that it had long ceased to possess
The ceremonies were still worked and preserved with that
any speculative character.
which characterises all popular usages, and of which many remarkable instances
obstinacy
the primary object of the Companionage,
it
might be cited. They served their purpose in fostering amongst the workmen an esprit dc corps,
In England, however,
thej' had become part and parcel of a system of mutual assistance.
they had attained, or perhaps retained, a higher significance and, though alike in outward
The supporters of Freemasonry, in
form, were wide as the poles asunder in moral tendency.
;
France at
least,
from the lower.
were chosen from amongst the higher classes those of the Companionage
If we admit, with Perdiguier, that Companions were received into
;
we need
not be surprised at their faili