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N A L G R
I O
G E AND LODGE
The Ashlar R Vol. XV Issue IV
into the Company not for its social common to all classes of the people, learned
advantages, but merely so that they might and unlearned, rich and poor. The religious
enter upon the 'Acception', Conder, an guilds and fraternities of the day might,
authority on the subject, goes so far as to therefore, have comprehended many
express his belief that with regard to persons centuries-old esoteries. Although their
who had become members by patrimony, affairs may have been carefully guarded
etc., their only hope of becoming liverymen from the public eye, they must have been
was that they should first of all become familiar to the privileged few of almost every
accepted masons – in other words, that they craft, profession, or even class. Supported
should be initiated in the lodge held in the by endowments and gifts, these esoteries
Company's Hall, but this, it seems, is mere flourished. From their very nature, and from
conjecture. We are on safer ground when we the secrecy with which they must have been
say that as the number of trade members fell promoted, our knowledge of them today is
away and consequently fewer of them negligible. Obviously, however, the very
entered upon the 'Acception' so the energetic suppression and disendowment
proportion of non-operatives 'accepted' of the religious guilds and fraternities by the
tended to increase. Crown must have been inspired by a real
fear that these 'conservative' and 'pious'
Freemasons vs. masons: In 1655-56, “the secret fraternities were hardly likely to be
Company of Freemasons of the City of well disposed to the King's new religious
London” saw it fit to change its name to “The policy of confronting the Pope and the
Company of Masons”. Why did the Company Roman catholic church.
drop the prefix 'free'? What had it to gain by Apparently, then, the old religious
so doing? One possible reason may be the fraternities disappeared. Many of them must
fact that the designation of 'freemason' as have ceased forthwith, but a number must
applied to the skilled operative mason was have gone underground, there to exist as
becoming obsolete, although it was still to secret cells during a decade or two, and
remain in use, but always declining use, for finally, in nearly all cases, to die a natural
another century or so. We can readily death. An extremely small number of such
suppose that the younger minds within the secret cells may have survived the
counsels of the Company might have persecution. One school of Masonic
insisted on the title being brought 'up to date'. historians believe that it was one such
We may as well imagine that if there was secret cell, which gained admission into the
within the Company an esoteric society London Company of Freemasons, and
growing in strength and claiming the word ultimately organized itself as the 'Acception'.
'freemason' for its own it was rather in the As a consequence we have in freemasonry
nature of things that the Company, no longer the only surviving medieval craft esotery!
sure of its standing, would see reason for There is, of course, a proportion of
relinquishing a name which it may have conjecture in the above line of reasoning,
thought it had outgrown and which was but certainly, a measure of plausibility as
steadily acquiring a special meaning. well!

Acception' - the only surviving medieval craft Who are the 'speculatives' “Not all operative
esotery: In the time of Henry VIII, belief in Masons, but rather free and accepted or
religion of a highly miraculous nature speculative'. This familiar passage, heard
admixed with crude superstition was in the English working of all three craft

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