, a Freemason of the
thirtieth degree, who deplores the small amount of interest taken in
this matter by Masons in general, observes:

Hitherto there have been so many contradictory opinions and theories in
the attempt to supply the origin and the reason whence, where, and why
the Brotherhood of Freemasonry came into existence, and all the
"different parts" and various rituals of the "different degrees." All
that has been written on this has hitherto been _theories_, without any
facts for their fundation.[267]

In the absence, therefore, of any origin universally recognized by the
Craft, it is surely open to the lay mind to speculate on the matter and
to draw conclusions from history as to which of the many explanations
put forward seems to supply the key to the mystery.

According to the _Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia_, no less than twelve
theories have been advanced as to the origins of the Order, namely, that
Masonry derived:

"(1) From the patriarchs. (2) From the mysteries of the pagans. (3) From
the construction of Solomon's Temple, (4) From the Crusades. (5) From
the Knights Templar. (6) From the Roman Collegia of Artificers. (7) From
the operative masons of the Middle Ages. (8) From the Rosicrucians of
the sixteenth century. (9) From Oliver Cromwell. (10) From Prince
Charles Stuart for political purposes. (11) From Sir Christopher Wren,
at the building of St. Paul's. (12) From Dr. Desaguliers and his friends
in 1717."

This enumeration is, however, misleading, for it implies that in _one_
of these various theories the true origin of Freemasonry may be found.
In reality modern Freemasonry is a dual system, a blend of two distinct
traditions--of operative masonry, that is to say the actual art of
building, and of speculative theory on the great truths of life and
death. As a well-known Freemason, the Count Goblet d'Alviella, has
expressed it: "Speculative Masonry" (that is to say, the dual system we
now know as Freemasonry) "is the legitimate offspring of a fruitful
union between the professional guild of mediaeval Masons and of a secret
group of philosophical Adepts, the first having furnished the form and
the second the spirit."[268] In studying the origins of the present
system we have therefore (1) to examine separately the history of each
of these two traditions, and (2) to discover their point of junction.

Operative Masonry

Beginning with the first of these two traditions, we find that guilds of