hy
was this? No doubt the Accepted Masons, or those who were
initiated into the esoteric aspect of the Company, did not
include the _whole_ Company, and this was a list of the
"enlightened ones," whose names were thus honored and kept on
record, probably long after their decease.... This we cannot
say for certain, but we can say that as early as 1620, and
inferentially very much earlier, there were certain members
of the Masons' Company and others who met from time to time
to form a Lodge for the purpose of Speculative Masonry.[111]
#/

Conder also mentions a copy of the _Old Charges_, or Gothic
Constitutions, in the chest of the London Masons' Company, known as
_The Book of the Constitutions of the Accepted Masons_; and this he
identifies with the _Regius MS_. Another witness during this period is
Randle Holme, of Chester, whose references to the Craft in his
_Acadamie Armory_, 1688, are of great value, for that he writes "as a
member of that society called Free-masons." The _Harleian MS_ is in
his handwriting, and on the next leaf there is a remarkable list of
twenty-six names, including his own. It is the only list of the kind
known in England, and a careful examination of all the sources of
information relative to the Chester men shows that nearly all of them
were Accepted Masons. Later on we come to the _Natural History of
Staffordshire_, by Dr. Plott, 1686, in which, though in an unfriendly
manner, we are told many things about Craft usages and regulations of
that day. Lodges had to be formed of at least five members to make a
quorum, gloves were presented to candidates, and a banquet following
initiations was a custom. He states that there were several signs and
passwords by which the members were able "to be known to one another
all over the nation," his faith in their effectiveness surpassing that
of the most credulous in our day.

Still another striking record is found in _The Natural History of
Wiltshire_, by John Aubrey, the MS of which in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, is dated 1686; and on the reverse side of folio 72 of this MS
is the following note by Aubrey: "This day [May 18, 1681] is a great
convention at St. Pauls Church of the fraternity, of the free [then he
crossed out the word Free and inserted Accepted] Masons; where Sir
Christopher Wren is to be adopted a Brother: and Sir Henry Goodric of
ye Tower and divers others."[112] From which we may infer that there