le
another which commenced in the middle of the century assumed the title
of "The Ancients," and dubbed the older and parent Grand Lodge "The
Moderns." Besides, there are traces of an unrecorded Grand body
calling itself "The Supreme Grand Lodge,"[143] as if each were trying
to make up in name what was lacking in numbers. Strict search and due
inquiry into the causes of these divisions would seem to show the
following results:

First, there was a fear, not unjustified by facts, that the ancient
democracy of the order had been infringed upon by certain acts of the
Grand Lodge of 1717--as, for example, giving to the Grand Master power
to appoint the Wardens.[144] Second, there was a tendency, due to the
influence of some clergymen active in the order, to give a
distinctively Christian tinge to Masonry, first in their
interpretations of its symbols, and later to the ritual itself. This
fact has not been enough emphasized by our historians, for it explains
much. Third, there was the further fact that Masonry in Scotland
differed from Masonry in England, in details at least, and the two did
not all at once harmonize, each being rather tenacious of its usage
and tradition. Fourth, in one instance, if no more, pride of locality
and historic memories led to independent organization. Fifth, there
was the ever-present element of personal ambition with which all human
societies, of whatever kind, must reckon at all times and places this
side of heaven. Altogether, the situation was amply conducive to
division, if not to explosion, and the wonder is that the schisms were
so few.

III

Time out of mind the ancient city of York had been a seat of the
Masonic Craft, tradition tracing it back to the days of Athelstan, in
926 A.D. Be that as it may, the Lodge minutes of York are the oldest
in the country, and the relics of the Craft now preserved in that city
entitle it to be called the Mecca of Masonry. Whether the old society
was a Private or a Grand Lodge is not plain; but in 1725 it assumed
the title of the "Grand Lodge of All England,"--feeling, it would
seem, that its inherent right by virtue of antiquity had in some way
been usurped by the Grand Lodge of London. After ten or fifteen years
the minutes cease, but the records of other grand bodies speak of it
as still working. In 1761 six of its surviving members revived the
Grand Lodge, which continued with varying success until its final
extinction in 1791, having only a fe