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Significant Developments and Changes in Masonry
​in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Significant Developments and Changes in 
Masonry in the 18th and 19th Centuries


Many of our practices today are believed to have emanated from ancient Masonic usages;  others can be traced after  the amalgamation of different independent lodges particularly in England, where the first Grand Lodge was organized in 1717.  Through the years, changes, modifications and regulations were made, and passed on from generation to generation of Lodges and Grand Lodges throughout the world.  

The Ancient Landmarks

Grand Lodges are bestowed with legislative power and can enact their own rules, sometimes peculiar to their jurisdictions; sometimes,  similar to others.  The question often asked is when  a particular enactment or a proposed change may be considered as Masonically lawful, and when it is not. 

In 1723 the Premier Grand Lodge of England published  its General Regulations which provided;  "Every Annual Grand Lodge has an inherent power and Authority to make new Regulations or to alter these, for the real benefits of this Ancient Fraternity; provided always that the old Land-Marks be carefully preserved." 
Picture
Albert G. Mackey
The problem was, these landmarks were not defined in any manner.  Dr Albert Mackey made the first attempt to do so in his Jurisprudence of Freemasonry of 1856, by laying down three requisite characteristics: notional immemorial antiquity, universality, and absolute "irrevocability". Mackey claimed there were 25 Landmarks, and they could not be changed, but other Masonic writers did not fully agree  that all these should be considered “Ancient Landmarks.” In 1863, George Oliver published the Freemason's Treasury in which he listed 40 Landmarks.  Still, others claimed different sets and  numbers.

For this reason, Grand Lodges around the world differ in their interpretation and adoption of landmarks.  There are Grand Lodges that acknowledge the existence of Landmarks but do not name them.

Mackey's 25 Landmarks may be summarized into four groups: 

1. Landmarks 1-3, 9, 11, 18-24 concern the Fraternity and the essence of the  
    Craft
2. Landmarks 4-8 refer to the Grand Master and his rights
3. Landmarks 12-15, 17  concern the rights of a Brother
4. Landmarks 10, 16 are those concerning the duties of a Lodge, including inter-
    relations among  Lodges

Since the validity of some of these Landmarks are in question,  Landmark 25 has become contentious.  It reads: Landmark 25: “The last and crowning Landmark of all is that these Landmarks can never be changed. Nothing can be subtracted from them-nothing can be added to them-not the slightest modification can be made in them. As they were received from our predecessors, we are bound by the most solemn obligations of duty to transmit them to our successors. Not one jot or one title of these unwritten laws can be repealed; for in respect to them, we are not only willing but compelled to adopt the language of the sturdy old barons of England.”

Roscoe Pound (1870-1964), former dean of Harvard Law School; HPGM, Grand Lodge of Nebraska, disagreed with Mackey.  He excluded among others, Mackey’s landmarks that deal with the Grand Lodge and the Grand Master, and listed down only seven:

1. Belief in a Supreme Being
2. Belief in a persistence of personality
3. A "book of law" as an indispensable part of the "furniture" (or furnishings) of 
    the Lodge
4. The Hiramic legend of the Third Degree
5. Secrecy (modes of recognition)
6. The symbolism of the operative art
7. That a Mason be a man, freeborn, and of age.

Pound cited John S. Simons who defined Landmarks as; “those principles of action which have existed from time immemorial, whether in the written or unwritten law; which are identified with the form and essence of the society; which the great majority agree, cannot be changed, and which every mason is bound to maintain intact under the most solemn and inviolable sanctions".

The interpretation of a landmark is crucial in the formulation of a grand lodge constitution; that is why some jurisdictions are careful not to name all these Landmarks.  RW Bro. Daniel Doron of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel, in 2002 advanced this opinion:

“When we examine the twenty-five Landmarks of Mackey, it becomes clear, which landmarks express the quintessence of Freemasonry and which express structural aspects only. If we accept Simons' definition of landmarks, it is quite obvious that those landmarks which deal only with Grand Master and Grand Lodge cannot be from time immemorial.  After all, these could not exist before 1717. Furthermore, they have nothing to do with a System of Morality. The same applies to any landmark concerning the third degree. Although the Hiramic legend is very old, the tri-gradal system was created only around 1730.”

Grand Lodge of England, 1717

Picture
James Anderson
It must be recalled that lodges already existed before the revival of Freemasonry in 1717 when the Grand Lodge of England was established.  According to Dr. James Anderson; “the members of four lodges, then existing in London, and some old Brothers, constituted themselves into a Grand Lodge, at an unknown date, prior to June 24, 1717, when at an Assembly and Feast held at the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse, St. Paul's Churchyard, the brethren then present, by a majority of hands elected Mr. Anthony Sayer, Gentleman, Grand Master of Masons."  By 1724, more than 50 lodges were listed in its roll.

Read more: The Third Degree...




Mackey's 25 Landmarks

  1. Modes of recognition
  2. Division of symbolic Masonry into three degrees
  3. Legend of the 3rd degree
  4. Government of the fraternity by a Grand Master
  5. Prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every assembly of the Craft
  6. Prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensations for conferring the degrees at irregular times
  7. Prerogative of the Grand Master to give dispensations for opening and holding Lodges
  8. Prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at sight
  9. Necessity for Masons to congregate in Lodges
10 . Government of lodges by a Master and   
      two  Wardens
11. Necessity of tiling lodges
12. Right of every Mason to be represented  

      in all general meetings of the Craft and  
      instruct representatives
13. Right of every Mason to appeal from his 
      Lodge to the Grand Lodge or General 
      Assembly of Masons
14. Right of every Mason to visit and sit in 
      every regular Lodge
15. No unknown visitor can enter a Lodge 
      without first passing an examination
16. No Lodge can interfere in the business 
     of another Lodge or give degrees to 
     brethren of other Lodges
17. Every Freemason is amenable to the 
      laws and regulations of the Masonic  
      jurisdiction in which he resides, even 
      though he may not be a member of any   
      Lodge
18. Candidates for initiation must be men, 
      unmutilated (not a cripple), free born, 
      and of mature age
19. Belief in the existence of God as the 
      Great Architect of the universe
20. Belief in a resurrection to a future life
21. A "Book of the Law" is indispensable in 
      every Lodge
22. Equality of all Masons
23. Secrecy of the institution
24. Foundation of a speculative science 
      upon an operative art, and symbolic 
      use and explanations for the purpose 
      of religious or moral teaching
25. These landmarks can never be changed


Roscoe Pound (1870-1964), former dean of Harvard Law School; HPGM, Grand Lodge of Nebraska, disagreed with Mackey.  He excluded among others, Mackey’s landmarks that deal with the Grand Lodge and the Grand Master, and listed down only seven.

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  • Home
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