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 FROM THE 
 
 BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY 
 
 COLLECTED BY 
 
 BENNO LOEWY 
 
 1854-1919 
 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 HS440 .A54 1723d 
 Constitution boo^^^^^^ 
 
 3 1924 030 299 451 ^^^^ 
 olin.anx — 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030299451 
 
Oi 
 
 KENNING'S 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION BOOK OF i723. 
 THE WILSON MS. CONSTITUTION. 
 
 EDITED 
 
 By the Rev. A. F. A. WOODFORD, M.A., P.G.C. 
 
 Published by GEORGE KENNING, 198, FLEET STREET. 
 
 WDCCCLXXVIII. 
 
 J3; v/ 
 
Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To BRO. WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN, P.G.D. 
 
 Dear Brother Hughan, 
 
 I am of opinion that to no one in the world can this first 
 volume of a Masonic Archaeological Library be more fitly dedicated 
 than to yourself, who have been one of the foremost pioneers in 
 England in this good and needful work. If ever we are able to 
 say that we have a satisfactory and historical account of English 
 Freemasonry, it will be very greatly owing to those unceasing labours 
 of -yours, which have been so important, so satisfactory in their 
 progress, and so striking in their results. 
 
 When, then, as to-day, under the auspices of our worthy 
 publisher, this our latest archaeological work is launched 6n the 
 roughish sea of contemporary Masonic sympathy and patronage, I am 
 rejoiced to be permitted to identify your well-known and respected 
 name with the earliest appearance of Kenning' s Masonic Archaeo- 
 logical Library. It is just possible that in this very Library you 
 and I may complete our " magnum opus'' ^ of all the known Masonic 
 Constitutions. I therefore dedicate this work to you, believing, as 
 I do, that you will approve of its general idea, and be glad to be 
 associated with an enterprise purely unselfish, — the spread of Masonic 
 literature and the study of Masonic archaeology. 
 
 I am, dear Brother Hughan, 
 
 Yours always fraternally, 
 
 A. F. A. WOODFORD. 
 
 London, February 20M, 1878. 
 
PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 I DO not need many words to introduce this book to the Fraternity. 
 It is the commencement of a series of works — supposing that the 
 Craft accords its sympathy and patronage to the undertaking — by 
 which our Publisher hopes eventually to present to the Order a 
 useful Archaeological Library, alike for passing study and habitual 
 reference. 
 
 I think it better, for several reasons, not to indicate here the 
 successive Masonic works it is proposed to edit, as each one will 
 be published at a due interval, and the present plan of publication 
 may be materially varied or modified. Suffice it to say, that it is 
 believed the reproduction of such old books, whether in MS. or 
 print, will be a source of pleasure and appreciative value to many 
 student Brethren, as well as to the Craft at large. 
 
 With regard to the Constitution Book of 1723, of which a 
 correct copy is now presented to the Craftsmen, it is the first com- 
 plete reprint in England of that memorable little book ; and it has 
 been thought advisable to reproduce it as the commencement of an 
 Archseological Library. It has been partially reproduced by Scott 
 in the last century, 1754-59, and at Dublin in 1730, as well as by 
 R. Spencer in his valuable edition of the Constitutions in this. But 
 
VI 
 
 this publication, excepting the American Facsimile Edition of 1855, 
 is the only English complete reproduction of the Constitutions of 
 1723. Some Masonic writers term it " Desaguliers' Constitutions." 
 In this I feel certain they are wrong, as Anderson has not only 
 properly always been credited with it until late years, but, he claims 
 it himself. No doubt Desaguliers helped him, both on the Consti- 
 tutions of 1723 and 1738, as he himself states; but nothing has 
 occurred to make me doubt that Anderson is rightly the compiler 
 of the 1723 Edition: at least, I have always failed to see the, 
 slightest possible ground for any claims of Desaguliers, more than 
 as a consultee. 
 
 I trust that the reappearance of the 1723 Edition, admirably 
 printed and illustrated, as it was first issued, will be a pleasure and 
 satisfaction to all who like still to pore over the ancient Records of 
 the Craft. 
 
 With regard to the Wilson MS., I must say a few words : — 
 
 It is first mentioned, I believe, in the manifesto of the " Lodge 
 of Antiquity," in 1778, and has since been often alluded to. It 
 escaped research, until the time I commenced a hunt for it, when, 
 having exhausted the British Museum and other places, it occurred 
 to me to find out whether Wilson of Broomhead had a " local 
 habitation" as well as a "name." The story I have already told 
 in the Freemason, and repeat here. 
 
 " I have always kept it in mind, and hunted for it everywhere ; 
 and a short time back it occurred to me to ascertain through Bro. 
 S. B. Ellis if there was any foundation for the statement in Preston. 
 Finding that there was, Bro. Ellis applied to Bro. Nixon, who 
 knew Mr. Rimington Wilson, of Broomhead, who informed him 
 
Vll 
 
 that the Wilson MSS, ' had been bought by Sir Thomas Phillips. I 
 then applied to. J. O. Halliwell, Esq., the editor of the " Masonic 
 Poem," now J. O. Phillips, Esq., who told me that all Sir T. Phillips' 
 MSS. were in the possession of my friend Mr. Fenwick, — and there, 
 sure enough, was the Wilson MS." 
 
 Hence the happy result of a Masonic search after this long- 
 wanted MS. I hope that we may yet find others — such as the 
 original of Dowland's MS., which, Stephen Jones says, was a "long 
 roll of parchment." 
 
 The following account of the Wilson MS. is given by the present 
 owner : — 
 
 "You asked me for any * indiciae ' respecting MS. Phillips 6351, 
 now being copied. 
 
 " I have asked an antiquary friend, and he says it is decidedly 
 not temp. Hen. VIII., but that it is very carefully written on vellum, 
 in a court hand, or one used by the officers of the law courts. It 
 is, no doubt, an old copy of one then existing. He thinks the MS. 
 we have is early in the seventeenth century, and he tells me it is 
 written in the law hand of the period, — that is, the * engrossing ' 
 hand of the period. 
 
 "You will see there are several blanks — evidence, I think, of its 
 having been copied from an older MS., which, no doubt, in the 
 places left blank was illegible. 
 
 " In Sir Thomas Phillips' catalogue it is called 'Book of Consti- 
 tutions (of Freemasonry), for Mr. Richard Ban, (our) the 'our' 
 being in italics, as if it was doubtful, perhaps could not be read, 
 "royal oct., fol. S. 19.' 
 
 "That is all I can tell'' you -about it." 
 
Vlll 
 
 The writer of this letter is the Rev. J. E. A. Fenwick, Thirl6stane 
 House, Cheltenham, in whose possession all the MS. collection of 
 his father-in-law remain under trust. It is but proper to observe 
 that, though Mr. Fenwick is full of kindness, a payment for the 
 " privilegium " of seeing the MS. has to be required, and Mr, 
 Fenwick has in a most friendly way made an exception in my case, 
 and allowed me to have not only a complete copy of the MS., but to 
 publish it in the Masonic Magazine, and now to reproduce it. To Mr. 
 Fenwick the best thanks of all Masonic students are most justly due. 
 
 In a recent letter Mr. Fenwick adds, — "I see the date of the 
 MS. is 1650, no doubt copied from a very much older one, 
 probably not now in existence." Any remarks as to its value as a 
 MS. must be reserved for a later work. 
 
 If this work shall lead to the discovery of other missing MSS., 
 and their publication, we shall be on the highroad to a clearer 
 conception of the real history of Freemasonry, and the true bearing 
 of its very curious and ancient MSS. I trust that this, our Archaeo- 
 logical Library, is indeed destined to be "auspicium melioris aevi " 
 for cultured Freemasonry in England. 
 
 A. F. A. W. 
 
 Ifebruary 2Qth, 1878. 
 
THE 
 
 CONSTITUTIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FREE-MASONS. 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 History^ Charges^ Regulations ^&cc. 
 
 of that most Ancient and Right 
 
 Worshipful FRATERNITT. 
 
 For the Use of the LODGES. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by W i L L I A M H u N T E R, for J o H N S E N E x, at the Gloh, 
 and T o H N H o o K E at the Flower-de-luce over-against St. BunstarCs 
 Church, in Fleet-street. 
 
 In the Year of Masonry 5723 
 
 Anno Domini 17^3 
 
T O 
 
 His Grace the DUKE of 
 
 MONTJGU. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 y Order of his Grace the 
 Duke of Wharton, 
 the present Right Wor- 
 shipful Grand-Master of the 
 
 Free-Masons; and, as his Deputy^ 
 
 I 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 I humbly dedicate this Book of 
 the Constitutions of our ancient 
 Fraternity to your Grace^ in 
 Testimony of your honourable, 
 prudent, and vigilant Discharge of 
 the Office of our Grand-Master 
 last year. 
 
 I need not tell your Grace what 
 Pains our learned Author has 
 taken in compiling and digesting 
 this Book from the old Records^ 
 and how accurately he has com- 
 pared and made every thing agree- 
 able to History and Chronology^ 
 so as to render these New Consti- 
 tutions 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TUTioNS a just and exact Account 
 of Masonry from the Beginning of 
 the World to your Grace's Master- 
 ship, still preserving all that was 
 truly ancient and authentick in 
 the old ones: For every Brother 
 will be pleas'd with the Perfor- 
 mance, that knows it had your 
 Grace's Perusal and Approbation, 
 and that it is now printed for the 
 Use of the Lodges^ after it was 
 approved by the Grand-Lodge, 
 when your Grace was Grand- 
 Master. All the Brotherhood 
 will ever remember the Honour 
 
 your 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 your Grace has done them, and 
 your Care for their Peace,Harmony, 
 and lasting Friendship: Which 
 none is more duly sensible of than, 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 Your Grace's 
 Most obliged, and 
 Most obedient Servant, 
 And Faithful Brother, 
 
 J. "P. Desaguliers 
 Deputy Grand-Master. 
 
THE 
 
 CONSTITUTION, 
 
 History, Laws, Charges, Orders, 
 Regulations, and Usages, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Right Worshipful FRATERNITY of 
 
 ACCEPTED FREE MASONS: 
 
 COLLECTED 
 
 From their general RECORDS^ and their 
 faithful TRADITIONS of many Ages. 
 
 TO BE READ 
 
 At the Admission of a New Brother, when the Master 
 or Warden shall begin, or order some other Brother 
 to read as follows : 
 
 SHI 
 
 DAM, our first Parent, created after Year of 
 the Image of God, the great Architect''^^^^^^ 
 of the Universe, must have had the4°°3 
 
 •^ . , . before 
 
 Liberal Sciences, particularly G^o-chnst. 
 
 metry, written on his Heart ; for even since the 
 Fall we find the Principles of it in the Hearts 
 of his Offspring, and which, in process of time, 
 
 A have 
 
(2) 
 
 have been drawn forth into a convenient Method 
 of Propositions, by observing the Laws of Pro- 
 portion taken from Mechanism : So that as the 
 Mechanical Arts gave Occasion to the Learned 
 to reduce the Elements of Geometry into Method, 
 this noble Science, thus reduc'd, is the Founda- 
 tion of all those Arts, (particularly of Masonry 
 and Architecture) and the Rule by which they 
 are conducted and perform'd. 
 
 No doubt Adam taught his Sons Geometry, 
 and the use of it, in the several Arts and Crafts 
 convenient, at least, for those early Times ; for 
 Cain, we find, built a City, which he call'd 
 Consecrated, or Dedicated, after the Name 
 of his eldest Son Enoch ; and becoming 
 the Prince of the one Half of Mankind, his 
 Posterity would imitate his royal Example in 
 improving both the noble Science and the 
 useful Art.* 
 
 Nor can we suppose that Seth was less in- 
 structed, who being the Prince of the other Half 
 
 of 
 
 * As other Arts were also improv'd by them, viz. working in Metal 
 by Tubal Cain, Music by Jubal, Pastorage and Tent-Making by 
 Jabal, which last is good Architecture. 
 
(3) 
 
 of Mankind, and also the prime Cultivator of 
 Astronomy, would take equal Care to t^ach 
 Geometry and Masonry to his Offspring, who 
 had also the mighty Advantage oi Adam's living 
 among them.* 
 
 But without regarding uncertain Accounts, 
 we may safely conclude the old World, that 
 lasted 1656 Years, could not be ignorant of 
 Masonry ; and that both the Families of Setk 
 and Cain erected many curious Works, until at 
 length Noah, the ninth from Seth, was com- 
 manded and directed of God, to build the great 
 Ark, which, tho' of Wood, was certainly fabri- 
 cated by Geometry, and according to the Rules 
 of Masonry. 
 
 Noah, and his three sons, Japhet, Shem, and 
 
 Ham 
 
 * For by some Vestiges of Antiquity we find one of 'em, godly 
 Enoch, (who dy'd not, but was translated alive to Heaven) pro- 
 phecying of the final Conflagration at the Day of Judgment (as St. 
 JuDE tells us) and like^vrise of the General Deluge for the Punishment 
 of the World : Upon which he erected his two large Pillars, (tho' 
 some ascribe them to 3eth) the one of Stone, and the other of Brick, 
 whereon were engravep the Liberal Sciences, &c. And that the 
 Stone Pillar remain'd in Syria until the Days of Vespasian the 
 Emperor. 
 
(4) 
 
 Ham, all Masons true, brought with them over 
 
 the Flood, the Traditions and Arts of the 
 
 Antedeluvians, and amply communicated them- to 
 
 their growing Offspring; for about loi Years 
 
 after the Flood, we find a vast Number of 'em, 
 
 Anno if not the whole Race of Noah, in the Vale of 
 
 fylt Shinar, employ'd in building a City and large 
 
 l^tt^ Tower, in order to make to themselves a Name, 
 
 Christum. ^^^ ^Q prevent their Dispersion. And tho' they 
 
 carry'd on the Work to a monstrous Height, 
 
 and by their Vanity provok'd God to confound 
 
 their Devices, by confounding their Speech, 
 
 which occasion'd their Dispersion; yet their 
 
 Skill in Masonry is not the less to be celebrated, 
 
 A.M. having spent above 53 Years in that prodigious 
 
 Work, and upon their Dispersion carry'd the 
 
 mighty Knowledge with them into distant Parts, 
 
 where they found the good use of it in the 
 
 Settlement of their Kingdoms, Commonwealths, 
 
 and Dynasties. And tho' afterwards it was lost 
 
 in most Parts of the Earth, it was especially 
 
 preserv'd in Shinar and Assyria, where Nimrod,* 
 
 the 
 
 * Nimrod, which signifies a Rebel, was the Name given him by the 
 holy Family, and by Moses ; but among his Friends in Chaldea, his 
 
 18 10. 
 2 I 94 
 Ante Ch. 
 
(5) 
 
 the Founder of that Monarchy, after the Dis- 
 persion, built many splendid Cities, as Ereck, 
 Accad, and Calneh, in Shinar; from whence 
 afterwards he went forth into Assyria, and built 
 Niniveh, Rehohoth, Caleh, and Rhesin. 
 
 In these Parts, upon the Tygris and Eu- 
 phrates, afterwards flourish'd many learned 
 Priests and Mathematicians, known by the Names 
 of Chaldees and Magi, who preserv'd the good 
 Science, Geometry, as the Kings and great Men 
 encourag'd the Royal Art. But it is not ex- 
 pedient to speak more plain of the premises, 
 except in a formed Lodge. 
 
 From hence, therefore, the Science and Art 
 were both transmitted to latter Ages and distant 
 Climes, notwithstanding the confusion of Lan- 
 guages or Dialects, which, tho' it might help to 
 give Rise to the Masons' Faculty and ancient 
 universal Practice of conversing without speak- 
 ing, and of knowing each other at a Distance, 
 
 yet 
 
 proper Name was Belus, which signifies Lord ; and afterwards was 
 worshipped as a God by many Nations, under the Name of Bel, or 
 Baal, and became the Bacchus of the Ancients, or Bar Chus, the Son 
 of Chus. 
 
(6) 
 
 - yet hinder'd not the Improvement of Masonry 
 in each Colony, and their Communication in their 
 distinct National Dialect. 
 
 And, no doubt, the Royal Art was brought 
 
 down to Egypt by Mitzraim, the second Son of 
 
 '^•M- Ham, about six Years after the Confusion at 
 
 i8i 6. ' 
 
 2188 Babel, and after the Flood 160 Years, when he 
 
 Ante Ch 
 
 led thither his Colony; (for Egypt is Mitzraim in 
 Hebrew) because we find the River Nile's over- 
 flowing its Banks soon caus'd an Improvement 
 in Geometry, which consequently brought Ma- 
 sonry much in request : For the ancient noble 
 Cities, with the other magnificent Edifices of 
 that Country, and particularly the famous Pyra- 
 mids, demonstrate the early Taste and Genius 
 of that ancient Kingdom. Nay, one of those 
 Egyptian Pyramids* is reckoned the First of the 
 Seven Wonders of the World, the Account of 
 
 which. 
 
 * The Marble Stones, brought a vast way from the Quarries of 
 Arabia, were most of 'em 30 Foot long; and its Foundation cover'd 
 the Ground of 700 Foot on eaph Side, or 2800 Foot in Compass, and 
 481 in perpendicular Height. And in perfecting it were employ'd 
 every Day, for 20 whole Years, 360,000 Men, by some ancient 
 Egyptian King, long before fhe Israelites were a People, for the 
 Honour of his Empire, and at last to become his Tomb. 
 
(7) 
 
 which, by Historians and Travellers, is almost 
 incredible. 
 
 The Sacred Records inform us well that the 
 eleven great Sons of Canaan (the youngest Son 
 of Ham) soon fortified themselves in strong 
 Holds, and stately walled Cities, and erected 
 most beautiful Temples and Mansions; for when 
 the Israelites, under the great Joshua, invaded 
 their Country, they found it so regularly fenc'd, 
 that without the immediate Intervention of God 
 in behalf of his peculiar People, the Canaanites 
 were impregnable and invincible. Nor can we 
 suppose less of the other Sons of Ham, viz. 
 Chush, his eldest, in South Arabia, and Phut, or 
 Phuts, (now called Fez) in West Africa. 
 
 And surely the fair and gallant Posterity of 
 Japhet, (the eldest Son of Noah) even such as 
 traveird into the Isles of the Gentiles, must have 
 been equally skill'd in Geometry and Masonry ; 
 tho' we know little of their Transactions and 
 mighty Works, until their original Knowledge 
 was almost lost by the Havock of War, and 
 by not maintaining a due Correspondence with 
 the polite and learned Nations ; for when that 
 Correspondence was open'd in After-Ages, 
 
 we 
 
(8) 
 
 We find they began to be most Curious Archi- 
 tects. 
 
 The Posterity of Shem had also equal Oppor- 
 tunities of cultivating the useful Art, even those 
 of 'em that planted their Colonies in the South 
 and East oi Asia; much -more those of 'em that, 
 in the great Assyrian Empire, liv'd in a separate 
 State, or were blended with other Families : 
 Nay, that holy Branch of Shem (of whom, as 
 concerning the Flesh, Christ came) could not 
 be unskilful in the learned Arts of Assyria ; for 
 A-M. Abram, after the Confusion at Babel about 268 
 
 2078. 
 
 1926 Years, was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, 
 where he learned Geometry, and the Arts that 
 are perform'd by it, which he would carefully 
 transmit to Ishmael, to Isaac, and to his Sons, 
 by Keturah ; and by Isaac, to Esau, and Jacob, 
 and the twelve Patriarchs : Nay, the Jews believe 
 that Abram also instructed the Egyptians in the 
 Assyrian Learning. 
 
 Indeed, the select Family long used Military 
 
 Architecture only, as they were Sojourners among 
 
 Strangers ; but before the 430 Years of their 
 
 2427- Peregrination were expired, even about 86 Years 
 
 Antech. before their Exodus, the Kings of Egypt forc'd 
 
 most 
 
(9) 
 
 most of them to lay down their Shepherds' 
 Instruments, and WarHke Accoutrements, and 
 train'd them to another sort of Architecture 
 in Stone and Brick, as Holy Writ, and other 
 Histories, acquaint us; which God did wisely 
 overrule, in order to make them good Masons 
 before they possess'd the promis'd Land, then 
 famous for most curious Masonry. 
 
 And while marching to Canaan, thro' Arabia, 
 under Moses, God was pleased to inspire Beza- 
 LEEL, of the Tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, of 
 the Tribe of Dan, with Wisdom of Heart for a.m. 
 erecting that most glorious Tent, or Tabernacle, \\\t 
 wherein the Shechinah resided; which, tho' not ^"'^<^''- 
 of Stone or Brick, was framed by Geometry, a 
 most beautiful Piece of Architecture, (and prov'd 
 afterwards the Model of Solomon's Temple) 
 according to the Pattern that God had shewn to 
 Moses in the Mount; who therefore became the 
 General Master-Mason, as well as King of 
 Jessurun, being well skill'd in all the Egyptian 
 Learning, and divinely inspir'd with more sub- 
 lime Knowledge in Masonry. 
 
 So that the Israelites, at their leaving Egypt, 
 were a whole Kingdom of Masons, well in- 
 h 9 B structed 
 
Ante Ch. 
 
 ( 10) 
 
 structed, under the Conduct of their Grand 
 Master Moses, who often marshalFd them 
 into a regular and general Lodge, while in 
 the Wilderness, and gave them wise Charges, 
 Orders, &c., had they been well observ'd ! But 
 no more of the Premises must be mentioh'd. 
 ^•^- And after they were possess'd of Canaan, the 
 
 i4so^ Israelites came not short of the old Inhabitants 
 in Masonry, but rather vastly improv'd it, by the 
 special Direction of Heaven; they fortify'd better, 
 and improv'd their City-Houses and the Palaces 
 of their Chiefs, and only fell short in sacred Archi- 
 tecture while the Tabernacle stood, but no longer ; 
 for the finest sacred Building of the Canaanites 
 was the Temple of Dagon in Gaza of the Philis- 
 tines, very magnificent, and capacious enough to 
 receive 5000 People under its Roof, that was 
 artfully supported by two main Columns;* and 
 
 was 
 
 * By which the glorious Sampson puU'd it down upon the Lords of 
 
 the Philistines, and was also intangled in the same Death which he 
 
 A. M. drew upon his Enemies for putting out his Eyes, after he had reveal'd 
 
 ^^9 3' his Secrets to his Wife, that betray'd him into their Hands j for 
 
 1 1 1 I ■' , ,j 
 
 Ante Ch. which Weakness he never had the Honour to be number d among 
 
 Masons : But it is not convenient to write more of this. 
 
(II) 
 
 was a wonderful Discovery of their mighty Skill 
 in true Masonry, as must be own'd. 
 
 But Dagon's Temple, and the finest Structures 
 of Tyre and Sidon, could not be compared with 
 the Eternal God's Temple at Jerusalem, begun 
 and finished, to the Amazemeiit of all the World, 
 in the short space of seven Years and six Months, 
 by that wisest Man and most glorious King of 
 Israel, the Prince of Peace and Architecture, 
 Solomon (the Son of David, who was refused 
 that Honour for being a Man of Blood) by 
 divine Direction, without the Noise of Work- 
 men's Tools, though there were employ'd about 
 it no less than 3,600 Princes,* or Master-Masons, 
 to conduct the Work according to Solomon's 
 
 Directions, 
 
 * In I Kings v. i6 they are call'd QmH Harodim, Rulers or 
 Provosts assisting King Solomon, who were set over the Work, and 
 their Number there is only 3,300: But, 2 Chron. ii. 18, they are called 
 D*nXJ Menatzchim, Overseers and Comforters of the People in Work- 
 ing, and in Number 3,600; because either 300 might be more curious 
 Artists, and the Overseers of the said 3,300, or rather, not so excellent 
 and only Deputy-Masters, to supply their Places in case of Death or 
 Absence, that so there might be always 3,300 acting Masters compleat; 
 or else they might be the Overseers of the 70,000 SiD B'^K Ish Sabbal, 
 Men of Burden, or Labourers, who were not Masons, but served the 
 80,000 ixn Sy^N I^h. Chotzeb, Men of Hewing, called also cSlJ Ghiblim, 
 
( 12) 
 
 Directions, with 80,000 Hewers of Stone in the 
 Mountain, or Fellow -Craftsmen, and 70,000 La- 
 bourers, in all 153*600 
 
 besides the Levy under Adoniram \ 
 
 to work in the Mountains of Leba- [ 30,000 
 
 non by turns with the Sidonians, viz. J 
 
 being in all 183,600 
 
 for which great Number of ingenious Masons, 
 Solomon was much oblig'd to Hiram, or Huram, 
 King of Tyre, who sent his Masons and Car- 
 penters to Jerusalem, and the Firs and Cedars 
 of Lebanon to Joppa, the next Seaport. 
 
 But above all, he sent his Namesake Hiram, 
 or Huram, the most accomplish'd Mason upon 
 Earth.* 
 
 And 
 
 Stone-Cutters and Sculpturers ; and also Bonai, ''J3 Builders in Stone, 
 part of which belong' d to Solomon, and part to Hiram, King of Tyre. 
 I Kings V. 1 8. 
 
 * We read (2 Chron. ii. 13), Hiram, King of Tyre, (called there 
 Huram) in his Letter to King Solomon, says, / have sent a cunning 
 Man, OX tDlinS l& Huram Abhi, not to be translated according to the 
 vulgar Greek and Latin, Huram my Father, as if this Architect was 
 King Hiram's Father; for his Description, ver. 14, refutes it, and the 
 Original plainly imports, Huram of my Father'' s, viz. the Chief Master- 
 Mason of my Father, King Abibalus ; (who enlarg'd and beautify'd 
 
( 13) 
 
 And the prodigious Expence of it also en- 
 hauncethits Excellency; for besides King David's 
 vast Preparations, his richer Son Solomon, and 
 all the wealthy Israelites, and the Nobles of all 
 the neighbouring Kingdoms, largely contributed 
 towards it in Gold, Silver, and rich Jewels, that 
 amounted to a Sum almost incredible. 
 
 Nor 
 
 the City of Tyre, as ancient Histories inform us, whereby the Tyrians 
 at this time were most expert in Masonry) tho' some think Hiram the 
 King might call Hiram the Architect Father, as learned and skillful 
 Men were wont to be call'd of old Times, or as Joseph was called the 
 Father of Pharaoh; and as the same Hiram is call'd Solomon's 
 Father, (2 Chron. iv. 16,) where 'tis said 
 
 Shelomoh lammekch Abhif Churam ghnasah, 
 Did Huram, his Father, make to King Solomon. 
 
 But the Difficulty is over at once, by allowing the Word Abif to be 
 the Surname of Hiram the Mason, called also {Chap. i. 13) Hiram 
 Abi, as here Hiram Abif; for being so amply describ'd, {Chap. ii. 14,) 
 we may easily suppose his Surname would not be conceal' d : And 
 this Reading makes the Sense plain and compleat, viz. that Hiram, 
 King of Tyre, sent to King Solomon his Namesake Hiram Abif, the 
 Prince of Architects^ describ'd (i Kings vii. 14) to be a Widow's 
 Son of the Tribe o/" Naphthali ; and (in 2 Chron. ii. 14) the said King of 
 Tyre calls him the Son of a Woman of the Daughters of Dan ; and in 
 both Places, that his Father was a Man of Tyre ; which Difficulty is 
 
( 14) 
 
 Nor do we read of any thing in Canaan so 
 large — the Wall that inclos'd it being 7700 Foot 
 in Compass; far less any holy Structure fit to be 
 nam'd with it, for exactly proportioned and 
 beautiful Dimensions, from the magnificent Porch 
 on the East, to the glorious and reverend Sanctum 
 Sanctorum on the West, with most lovely and 
 
 convenient 
 
 remov'd, by supposing his Mother was either of the Tribe of Dan, or 
 of the Daughters of the City called Dan in the Tribe of Naphthali, 
 and his deceased Father had been a Naphthalite, whence his Mother 
 was call'd a Widow o/Naphthali ; for his Father is not call'd a Tyrian 
 by Descent, but a Man of Tyre by Habitation ; as Obed Edom the 
 Levite is call'd a Gittite by living among the Gittites, and the Apostle 
 Paul a Man of Tarsus. But supposing a Mistake in Transcribers, 
 and that his Father was really a Tyrian by Blood, and his Mother 
 only of the Tribe either of Dan or of Naphthali, that can be no Bar 
 against allowing of his vast Capacity; for as his Father was a 
 Worker in Brass, so he himself was fill'd with Wisdom and Under- 
 standing, and Cunning to work all Works in Brass: And as King 
 Solomon sent for him, so King Hiram, in his Letter to Solomon, says, 
 And now I have sent a. cunning Man, endued with Understanding, 
 skillful to Work in Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, Stone, Timber, Purple, 
 Blue, fine Linnen, and Crimson ; also to grave any manner of 
 Graving, and to find out every Device which shall be put to him, with 
 thy cunning Men, and with the cunning Men of my Lord David thy 
 Father. This divinely inspired Workman maintain' d this Character 
 in erecting the Temple, and in working the Utensils thereof, far 
 beyond the Performances of Aholiab and Bezaleel, being also uni- 
 versally capable of all sorts of Masonry. 
 
(15) 
 
 convenient Apartments for the Kings and Princes, 
 Priests and Levites, Israelites, and Gentiles also ; 
 it being an House of Prayer for all Nations, and 
 capable of receiving in the Temple proper, and in 
 all its Courts and Apartments together, no less 
 than 300,000 People, by a modest Calculation, 
 allowing a square Cubit to each Person. 
 
 And if we consider the 1453 Columns of Parian 
 Marble, with twice as many Pillasters, both 
 having glorious Capitals of several Orders, and 
 about 2246 Windows, besides those in the Pave- 
 ment, with the unspeakable and costly Decorations 
 of it within ; {and much more might be said) we 
 must conclude its Prospect to transcend our 
 Imagination ; and that it was justly esteem'd by 
 far the finest Piece of Masonry upon Earth 
 before or since, and the chief Wonder of the ^ ^ 
 
 World: and was dedicated, or consecrated, in 3000- 
 
 1004 
 
 the most solemn manner, by King Solomon. Antech. 
 
 But leaving what must not, and indeed cannot, 
 be communicated by Writing, we may warrant- 
 ably affirm, that however ambitious the Heathen 
 were in cultivating of the Royal Art, it was never 
 perfected, until God condescended to instruct his 
 peculiar People in rearing the above-mention'd 
 
 stately 
 
( i6) 
 
 stately Tent, and in building at length this 
 gorgeous House, fit for the special Refulgence of 
 his Glory, where he dwelt between the Cherubims 
 on the Mercy-Seat, and from thence gave them 
 frequent oraculous Responses. 
 
 This most sumptuous, splendid, beautiful, and 
 glorious Edifice, attracted soon the inquisitive 
 Artists of all Nations to spend some time at 
 Jerusalem, and survey its, peculiar Excellencies, 
 as much as was allow'd to the Gentiles ; whereby 
 they soon discover'd, that all the World, with 
 their joint Skill, came far short of the Israelites, in 
 the Wisdom and D^xt^vity oi Architecture, when 
 the wise King Solomon was Grand Master of 
 the Lodge at Jerusalem, and the learned King 
 Hiram was Grand Master of the Lodge at 
 Tyre, and the inspired Hiram Abif was Master 
 of Work, and Masonry was under the immediate 
 Care and Direction of Heaven, when the Noble 
 and the Wise thought it their Honour to be 
 assisting to the ingenious Masters and Craftsmen, 
 and when the Temple of the True God became 
 the Wonder of all Travellers, by which, as by the 
 most perfect Pattern, they corrected the Archi- 
 tecture of their own Country upon their return. 
 
 So 
 
( 17), 
 
 So that after the Erection of Solomon's Temple, 
 Masonry was improv'd in all the neighbouring 
 Nations; for the many Artists employ'd about it, 
 und^v Hiram Abif, after it was finish'd, dispers'd 
 themselves into Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, 
 Chaldea, Babylonia, Media, Persia, Arabia, Africa, 
 Lesser Asia, Greece, and other Parts of Europe, 
 where they taught this liberal Art to the free 
 horn Sons of eminent Persons, by whose Dex- 
 terity the Kings, Princes, and Potentates, built 
 many glorious Piles, and became the Grand 
 Masters, each in his own Territory, and were 
 emulous of excelling in this Royal A rt ; nay, 
 even in India, where the Correspondence was 
 open, we may conclude the same : But none of 
 the Nations, nor all together, could rival the 
 Israelites, far less excel them, in Masonry ; and 
 their Temple remain'd the constant Pattern.* 
 
 C Nay, 
 
 * For tho' the Temple of Diana at Ephe^us is suppos'd to have been 
 first built by some of J^aphefs Posterity, that made a settlement in 
 yonia about the Time oi Moses ; yet it was often demolish'd, and then 
 rebuilt for the sake of Improvements in Masonry; and we cannot 
 compute the Period of its last glorious Erection (that became another 
 of the Seven Wonders of the World) to be prior to that of SolomorC s 
 Temple; but that long afterwards the Kings oi Lesser Asia ]ova' di, for 
 
 2 
 
Ante Ch, 
 
 ( i8) 
 
 Nay, the Grand Monarch Nebuchadnezzar 
 could never, with all his unspeakable Advantages, 
 carry up his Masonry to the beautiful Strength 
 and Magnificence of the Temple Work, which 
 AM. Jh,e had, in warlike Rage, burnt down, after it 
 588 had remain'd in Splendor 416 Years from its 
 Consecration. For after his Wars were over, 
 and general Peace proclaim'd, he set his Heart 
 on Architecture, and became the Grand Master- 
 Mason ; and having before led captive the in- 
 genious Artists of Judea, and other conquer'd 
 Countries, he rais'd indeed the largest Work 
 upon Earth, even the Walls* and City, the 
 
 Palaces 
 
 220 Years, in finishing it, with 107 Columns of the finest Marble, and 
 
 many of 'em with most exquisite Sculpture (each at the expence of a 
 
 King, by the Master-Masons Dresiphon and Archiphron) to support 
 
 the planked Cieling- and Roof of pure Cedar, as the Doors and Linings 
 
 were of Cypress: Whereby it became the Mistress of Lesser Asia, in 
 
 Length 425 Foot, and in Breadth 220 Foot: Nay, so admirable a 
 
 Fabrick, that Xerxes left it standing when he burnt all the other 
 
 A.M. Temples in his Way to Greece; tho' at last it was set on Fire and 
 
 ^ ^ ' burnt down by a vile Fellow, only for the Lust of being talk'd of, on the 
 
 Ante Ch. very Day that Alexander the Great was born. 
 
 * In Thickness 87 Foot, in Height 350 Foot, and in Compass 480 
 Furlongs, or 60 British Miles in an exact Square of 15 Miles a Side, 
 built of large Bricks, cemented with the hard Bitumen of that old Vale 
 
( 19) 
 
 Palaces and Hanging-Gardens, the Bridge and 
 Temple of Babylon, the Third of the Seven 
 Wonders of the World, tho' vastly inferior, in 
 the sublime Perfection of Masonry, to the holy, 
 charming, lovely Temple of God. But as the 
 Jewish Captives were of special use to Nebu- 
 chadnezzar in his glorious Buildings, so being 
 thus kept at work, they retain'd their great Skill 
 
 in 
 
 of Shinar, with loo Gates of Brass, or 25 a-slde, and 250 Towers ten 
 Foot higher than the Walls. 
 
 From the said 25 Gates in each Side went 25 Streets in strait Lines, 
 or in all 50 Streets, each 15 Miles long, with four half Streets next the 
 Walls, each 200 Foot broad, as the entire Streets were 150 Foot 
 broad : And so the whole City was thus cut out into 676 Squares, each 
 being 2 miles and \ in Compass ; round which were the Houses built 
 three or four Stories high, well adorn 'd, and accommodated with Yards, 
 Gardens, &c. A Branch of the Euphrates ran thro' the Middle of it, 
 from North to South, over which, in the Heart of the City, was built a 
 stately Bridge, in Length a Furlong, and thirty Foot in Breadth, by 
 wonderful Art, for supplying the Want of a Foundation in the River. 
 At the two Ends of this Bridge were two magnificent Palaces : the Old 
 Palace, the Seat of ancient Kings, at the East End, upon the Ground of 
 four Squares ; and the New Palace at the West End, built by Nebu^ 
 chadnezzar, upon the Ground of nine Squares, with Hanging- Gardens 
 (so much celebrated by the Greeks) where the loftiest Trees could 
 grow as in the, Fields, erected in a Square of 400 Foot on each Side, 
 carried up by Terraces, and sustain' d by vast Arches built upon Arches, 
 until the highest Terrace equal'd the Height of the City- Walls, with a 
 
Ante Ch. 
 
 (30) 
 
 in Masonry, and continued very capable of re- 
 building the holy Temple and City of Salem upon 
 its old Foundations, which was order'd by the 
 A.M. Edict or Decree of the Grand Cyrus, according 
 ^536 to God's Word, that had foretold his Exaltation 
 and this Decree : And Cyrus having constituted 
 Zerubbabel, the Son of Salathiel, (of the Seed 
 of David, by Nathan, the Brother of Solomon, 
 whose Royal Family was now extinct) the Head, 
 
 or 
 
 curious Aqueduct to water the whole Gardens. Old Babel improv'd, 
 stood on the East Side of the River, and the New Town on the West 
 Side, much larger than the Old, and built in order to make this 
 Capital exceed old Niniveh, tho' it never had so many Inhabitants by- 
 one Half. The River was begirt with Banks of Brick, as thick as the 
 City Walls, in Length twenty Miles, viz. fifteen Miles within the City, 
 and two Miles and a half above and below it, to keep the Water 
 within its Channel; and each Street that cross'd the River had a brazen 
 Gate leading down to the Water on both Banks ; and West of the City 
 was a prodigious Lake, in Compass 160 Miles, with a Canal kom the 
 River into it, to prevent Inundations in the Summer. 
 
 In the Old Town, was the Old Tower of Babel, at the Foundation a 
 Square of half a Mile in Compass, consisting of eight Square Towers 
 built over each other, with Stairs on the outside round it, going up to 
 the Observatory on the Top, 600 Foot high (which is 19 Foot higher 
 than the highest Pyramid) whereby they became the first Astronomers. 
 And in the Rooms of the Grand Tower, with arched Roofs, supported 
 by Pillars 75 Foot high, the idolatrous Worship of their God Belus 
 was perform'd, till now, that this mighty Mason and Monarch erected 
 
(21 ) 
 
 or Prince of the Captivity, and the Leader of the 
 Jews and Israelites returning to Jerusalem, they 
 began to lay the Foundation of the Second 
 Temple, and would have soon finish'd it, if 
 Cyrus had liv'd ; but at length they put on the 
 Cape-stone, in the 6th Year of Darius, the Persian a.m. 
 Monarch, when it was dedicated with Joy, and 515' 
 many great Sacrifices, by ^erubbabel, the Prince ^^^ ^^' 
 
 and 
 
 round this ancient Pile a Temple of two Furlongs on every Side, or a 
 Mile in Compass; where he lodg'd the sacred Trophies of Solomon's 
 Temple, and the golden Image go Foot high, that he had consecrated 
 in the Plains oi .Dura, as were formerly in the Tower lodg'd many 
 other golden Images, and many precious things, that were after- 
 wards all seiz'd by Xerxes, and amounted to above 21 Millions 
 Sterling. 
 
 And when all was finish'd, King Nebuchadnezzar walking in 
 State in his Hanging-Gardens, and from thence taking a Review of 
 the whole City, proudly boasted of this his mighty Work ; saying, Is 
 not this Great Babylon, that I have built for the House of the King- 
 dom, by the Might of my Power, and for the Honour of my Majesty ? 
 but had his Pride immediately rebuk'd by a Voice from Heaven, and 
 punish' d by brutal Madness for seven Years, until he gave Glory to 
 the God of Heaven, the Omnipotent Architect of the Universe, which he 
 publish'd by a Decree thro' all his Empire, and dy'd next Year, 
 before his Great Babylon was little more than half inhabited (tho' he 
 had led many Nations captive for that purpose) ; nor was it ever fully 
 peopled ; for in 25 Years after his Death, the Grand Cyrus conquer' d 
 it, and remov'd the Throne to Shuskan in Persia. 
 
(22) 
 
 and General Master-Mason of the Jews, about 
 20 Years after the Decree of the Grand Cyrus. 
 And tho' this Temple of Zerubbabel came far 
 short of Solomon's Temple, was not so richly 
 adorn'd with Gold and Diamonds, and all manner 
 of precious Stones, nor had the Shechinah and 
 the holy Relicks of Moses in it, &c., yet being 
 rais'd exactly upon Solomon's Foundation, and 
 according to his Model, it was still the most 
 regular, symmetrical, and glorious Edifice in the 
 whole World, as the Enemies of the Jews have 
 often testify' d and acknowledged. 
 
 At length the Royal Art was carry'd into 
 Greece, whose Inhabitants have left us no Evi- 
 dence of such Improvements in Masonry, prior 
 to Solomon's Temple;* for their most ancient 
 Buildings, as the Cittadel of Athens, with the 
 Parthenion, or Temple of Minerva, the Temples 
 
 also 
 
 * The Grecians having been long degenerated into Barbarity, 
 forgetting their original skill in Masonry, (which their Fore-fathers 
 brought from Assyria) by their frequent Mixtures with other bar- 
 barous Nations, their mutual Invasions, and wasting bloody Wars; 
 until by travelling and corresponding with the Asiaticks and Egyptians, 
 they reviv'd their Knowledge in Geometry and Masonry both, though 
 few of the Grecians had the Honour to own it. 
 
(23) 
 
 also of Theseus, of Jupiter Olympius, &c., their 
 Porticos also, and Forums, their Theatres and 
 Gymnasiums, their public Halls, curious Bridges, 
 regular Fortifications, stout Ships of War, and 
 stately Palaces, were all erected after the Temple 
 of Solomon, and most of them after the Temple 
 of ZerubbabeL 
 
 Nor do we find the Grecians arriv'd to any 
 considerable Knowledge in Geometry, before the 
 Great Thales Milesius, the Philosopher, who 
 dy'd in the Reign of Bellshazzar, and the Time a. m 
 of the Jewish Captivity. But his Scholar, the 547 
 Greater Pythagoras, prov'd the Author of the 
 47th Proposition of Euclid's first Book, which, 
 if duly observed, is the Foundation of all 
 Masonry, sacred, civil, and military.* 
 
 The 
 
 * Pythagoras travell'd into Egypt the Year that Thales dy'd, and 
 living there among the Priests 22 Years, became expert in Geometry, 
 and in all the Egyptian Learning, until he was captivated by Cambyses . ^ 
 King of Persia, and sent to Babylon, where he was much con- 3479. 
 versant with the Chaldean Magi, and the learned Babylonish Tews, S 2 5 
 from whom he borrow' d great Knowledge, that render'd him very 
 famous in Greece and Italy, where afterwards he flourish' d and dy'd ; A. M. 
 when Mordecai was the prime Minister of State to Ahaskuerus King of ^^^(^ ' 
 Persia, and ten Years after Zerubbabel's Temple was finish' d. Ante Ch> 
 
 3 45 7- 
 547 
 Ante Ch. 
 
(24) 
 
 The People of Lesser Asia about this Time 
 gave large Encouragement to Masons for erect- 
 ing all sorts of sumptuous Buildings, one of 
 which must not be forgot, being usually reckon'd 
 the Fourth of the Seven Wonders of the World 
 — viz. the Mausoleum, or Tomb of Mausolus 
 King of Caria, between Lycia and Jonia, at 
 Halicarnassus, . on the side of Mount Taurus 
 in that Kingdom, at the Command of Arte- 
 misia his mournful Widow, as the splendid 
 Testimony of her Love to him, built of the 
 most curious Marble, in Circuit 411 Foot, 
 in Height 25 Cubits, surrounded with 26 
 Columns of the most famous Sculpture, and 
 A. M. the whole open on all Sides, with Arches 
 73 Foot wide, perform'd by the four principal 
 Master-Masons and Engravers of those Times 
 —viz. the East Side by Scopas, the West by 
 Leochares, the North by Briax, and the South 
 by Timotheus. 
 
 But after Pythagoras, Geometry became the 
 darling study of Greece, where many learned 
 Philosophers arose, some of whom invented 
 sundry Propositions, or Elements of Geometry, 
 and reduc'd them to the use of the mechanical 
 
 Arts. 
 
 3652- 
 352 
 
 Ante Ch 
 
(25) 
 
 Arts.* Nor need we doubt that Masonry kept 
 pace with Geometry ; or rather, always follow'd 
 it in proportion'd gradual Improvements, until 
 the wonderful Euclid of Tyre flourish'd at a.m. 
 Alexandria) who gathering up the scatter'd 304 
 Elements of Geometry, digested them into a ""^ 
 Method that was never yet mended, (and for 
 which his Name will be ever celebrated) under 
 the Patronage of Ptolomeus, the Son of Lagus 
 King of Egypt, one of the immediate Successors 
 of A lexander the Great. 
 
 And as the noble Science came to be more 
 methodically taught, the Royal Art was the 
 more generally esteem'd and improv'd among 
 the Grecians, who at length arriv'd to the same 
 Skill and Magnificence in it with their Teachers 
 the Asiatics and Egyptians. 
 
 D The 
 
 * Or borrow'd from other Nations their pretended Inventions, as 
 Anaxagoras, Oenopides, Briso, Antipho, Democritus, Hippocrates, and 
 Theodorus Cyrenceus, the Master of the divine Plato, who amplify' d 
 Geometry, and publish'd the Art Analytic ; from whose Academy came 
 forth a vast Number, that soon dispers'd their Knowledge to distant 
 Parts, as Leodamus, Theeetetus, Archytas, Leon, Eudoxtis, Menaichmus, 
 and Xenocrates, the Master of Aristotle, from whose Academy also 
 came forth Eudemus, Theophrastus, Aristaus, Isidorus, Hypsicles, and 
 niany others. 
 
Ante Ch. 
 
 (36) 
 
 The next King of Egypt, Ptolomeus Phila- 
 DELPHUS, that great Improver of the Hberal Arts, 
 and of all useful Knowledge, who gather'd the 
 greatest Library upon Earth, and had the Old 
 Testament (at least the Pentateuch) first translated 
 into Greek, became an excellent Architect, and 
 A.M. General Master-Mason, having, among his 
 2 5 6 other great Buildings, erected the famous Tower 
 of Pharos,* the fifth of the Seven Wonders of the 
 World. . 
 
 We may readily believe that the African 
 Nations, even to the Atlantick Shore, did soon 
 imitate Egypt in such Improvements, though 
 
 History 
 
 * On an Island near Alexandria, at one of the Mouths of the Nile, 
 of wonderful Height and most cunning Workmanship, and all of the 
 finest Marble ; and it cost 800 Talents, or about 480,000 Crowns. 
 The Master of Work, under the King, was Sistratus, a most ingenious 
 Mason ; and it was afterwards much admir'd by Julius Cossar, who 
 was a good Judge of most Things, though chiefly conversant in War 
 and Politicks. It was intended as a Light-House for the Harbour of 
 Alexandria, from which the Light-Houses in the Mediterranean were 
 often call'd Pharos. Though some, instead of this, mention, as the 
 Fifth Wonder, the great Obelisk of Semiramis, 150 Foot high, and 
 24 Foot Square at Bottom, or 90 Foot in Circuit at the Ground, all 
 one intire Stone, rising pyramidically, brought from Armenia to 
 Babylon about the Time of the Siege of Troy, if we may believe the 
 History of Semiramis. 
 
(27) 
 
 History fails, and there are no Travellers en- 
 courag'd to discover the valuable Remains in 
 Masonry of those once renowned Nations. 
 
 Nor should we forget the learned Island 
 of Sicily, where the prodigious Geometrician 
 Archimedes did flourish,* and was unhappily a.m. 
 slain when Syracuse was taken by Marcellus, the 212' 
 Roman General: For from Sicily, as well as from ^°'^*^^* 
 Greece, Egypt, and Asia, the ancient Romans 
 learnt both the Science and the ART~what 
 they knew before being either mean or irregular ; 
 but as they subdu'd the Nations, they made 
 mighty Discoveries in both ; and, like wise Men, 
 led captive, not the Body of the People, but the 
 Arts and Sciences, with the most eminent Pro- 
 fessors and Practitioners, to Rome ; which thus 
 became the Center of Learning, as well as of 
 imperial Power, until they advanc'd to their 
 Zenith of Glory, under Augustus C^sar, (in a.m. 
 whose Reign was born God's Messiah, the great '^°°'*' 
 
 Architect 
 
 * While Eratosthenes and Conon flourisli'd in Greece, who were 
 succeeded by the excellent Apollonius of Perga, and many more 
 before the Birth of Christ, who, though not working Masons, yet 
 were good Surveyors ; or, at least, cultivated Geometry, which is the 
 solid Basis of true Masonry, and its Rule. 
 
(28) 
 
 Architect of the Church) who having laid the 
 World quiet, by proclaiming universal Peace, 
 highly encourag'd those dexterous Artists that 
 had been bred in the Roman Liberty, and their 
 learned Scholars and Pupils ; but particularly 
 the great VitruviuS, the Father of all true 
 Architects to this Day. 
 
 Therefore it is rationally believ'd, that the 
 glorious Augustus became the Grand-Master of 
 the Lodge at Rome, having, besides his patro- 
 nizing Vitruvius, much promoted the Welfare of 
 the Fellow-Craftsmen, as appears by the many 
 magnificent Buildings of his Reign, the Remains 
 of which are the Pattern and Standard of true 
 Masonry in all future Times, as they are indeed 
 an Epitome of the Asiatic, Egyptian, Grecian, 
 and Sicilian Architecture, which we often ex- 
 press by the Name of the Augustan Stile, and 
 which we are now only endeavouring to imitate, 
 and have not yet arriv'd to its Perfection. 
 
 The old Records of Masons afford large 
 Hints of their Lodges, from the Beginning of 
 the World, in the Polite Nations, especially in 
 Times of Peace, and when the Civil Powers, 
 abhorring Tyranny and Slavery, gave due Scope 
 
 to 
 
(-29) 
 
 to the bright and free Genius of their happy 
 Subjects ; for then always Masons, above all 
 other Artists, were the Favourites of the 
 Eminent, and became necessary for their grand 
 Undertakings in any sort of Materials, not only 
 in Stone, Brick, Timber, Plaister; but even in 
 Cloth Or Skins, or whatever was us'd for Tents, 
 and for the various sorts of Architecture. 
 
 Nor should it be forgot, that Painters also, 
 and Statuaries * were always reckon'd good 
 
 Masons, 
 
 * For it was not without good Reason, the Ancients thought that 
 the Rules of the beautiful Proportions in Building were copied, or 
 taken from the Proportions of the Body natural : Hence Phidias is 
 reckon'd in the Number of ancient Masons, for erecting the Statue of 
 the Goddess Nemesis zX Rhamnus, lo Cubits. high ; and that oi Minerva 
 at Athens, 26 Cubits high ; and that of Jupiter Olympius, sitting 
 in his Temple in Achaia, between the Cities of Elis and Pisa, made 
 of innumerable small Pieces of Porphyry, so exceeding grand and 
 proportion' d, that it was reckon'd one of the Seven Wonders, as the 
 famous Colossus at Rhodes was another, and the greatest Statue that 
 ever was erected, made of Metal, and dedicated to the Sun, 70 Cubits 
 high, like a great Tower at a Distance, at the Entry of an Harbour, 
 striding wide enough for the largest Ships under sail, built in 12 
 Years by Cares, a famous Mason and Statuary of Sicyon, and Scholar 
 to the great Lysippus of the same Fraternity. This mighty Colossus, 
 after standing 56 Years, fell by an Earthquake, and lay in Ruines, the 
 Wonder of" the World, till Anno Dam. 600, when the Soldan of Egypt 
 carry'd off its Relicks, which loaded 900 Camels. 
 
(30) 
 
 Masons, as much as Builders, Stone-cutters, 
 Bricklayers, Carpenters, Joiners, Upholders or 
 Tent-Makers, and a vast many other Craftsmen 
 that could be nam'd, who perform according to 
 Geometry, and the Rules of Building ; though 
 none since Hiram Abif has been renown'd for 
 Cunning in all parts of Masonry : And of this 
 enough. 
 
 But among the Heathen, while the noble 
 Science Geometry* was duly cultivated, both 
 before and after the Reign of Augustus, even till 
 the Fifth Century of the Christian Mr a. Masonry 
 was had in great Esteem and Veneration : And 
 while the Roman Empire continu'd in its Glory, 
 the Royal Art was carefully propagated, even to 
 the Ultima Thule, and a Lodge erected in 
 almost every Roman Garrison ; whereby they 
 generously communicated their Cunning to the 
 
 northern 
 
 * By Menelaus, Claudius, Ptolomeus, (who was also the Prince cl 
 Astronomers) Plutarch, Eutocins (who recites the Inventions of Philo, 
 Diodes, Nicomedes, Sphorus, di.nd Heron the learned Mechanick); Ktesibius 
 also, the Inventer of Pumps (celebrated by Vitruvius, Proclus, Pliny, 
 and AthencBus) and Geminus, also equall'd by some to Euclid; so 
 Diophantus, Nicomachus, Serenus, Proclus, Pappus, Thcon, &c. — all 
 Geometricians, and the illustrious Cultivators of the mechanical Arts. 
 
(31 ) 
 
 northern and western Parts of Europe, which 
 had grown barbarous before the Roman Conquest, 
 though we know not certainly how long ; because 
 some think there are a few Remains of good 
 Masonry before that Period in some Parts of 
 Europe, raised by the original Skill that the first 
 Colonies brought with them, as iho, Celtic Edifices, 
 erected by the ancient Gauls, and by the ancient 
 Britons too, who were a Colony of the Celtes, 
 long before the Romans invaded this Island.* 
 
 But when the Goths and Vandals, that had 
 never been conquer'd by the Romans, like a 
 general Deluge, over-ran the Roman Empire, 
 with warlike Rage and gross Ignorance they 
 utterly destroy'd many of the finest Edifices, 
 
 and 
 
 * The Natives within the Roman Colonies might be first instructed 
 in building of Citadels and Bridges, and other Fortifications necessary ; 
 and afterwards, when their Settlement produc'd Peace, and Liberty, 
 and Plenty, the Aborigines did soon imitate their learned and polite 
 Conquerors in Masonry, having then Leisure and a Disposition to 
 raise magnificent Structures. Nay, even the Ingenious of the neigh- 
 bouring Nations not conquer'd, learnt much from the Roman Garrisons 
 in Times of Peace and open Correspondence, when they became 
 emulous of the Roman Glory, and thankful that their being conquer'd 
 was the means of recovering them from ancient Ignorance and Preju- 
 dices, when they began to delight in the Royal Art. 
 
An. Dom. 
 448. 
 
 (32) 
 
 and defac'd others, very few escaping; as the 
 Asiatic and African Nations fell under the same 
 Calamity by the Conquests of the Mahometans, 
 whose grand Design is only to convert the 
 World by Fire and Sword, instead of culti- 
 vating the Arts and Sciences, 
 
 Thus, upon the Declension of the Roman 
 Empire, when the British Garrisons were drained, 
 the Angles and other lower Saxons, invited by 
 the ancient Britons to come over and help them 
 against the Scots and PicTs, at length subdu'd 
 the South Part of this Island, which they call'd 
 England, or Land of the Angles ; who- being 
 akin to the Goths, or rather a sort of Vandals, 
 of the same warlike Disposition, and as ignorant 
 Heathens, encourag'd nothing but War, till they 
 became Christians ; and then too late lamented 
 the Ignorance of their Fathers in the great Loss 
 of Roman Masonry, but knew not how to repair it. 
 
 Yet becoming a free People (as the old Saxon 
 Laws testify) and having a Disposition for Ma- 
 sonry, they soon began* to imitate the Asiatics, 
 
 Grecians, 
 
 * No doubt several Saxon and Scotish Kings, with many of the 
 Nobility, great Gentry, and eminent Clergy, became the Grand 
 
(33 ) 
 
 Grecians, and Romans, in erecting of Lodges 
 and encouraging of Masons ; being taught, not 
 only from the faithful Traditions and valuable 
 Remains of the Britons, but even by foreign 
 Princes, in whose Dominions the Royal Art had 
 been preserved much from Gothic Ruins, parti- 
 cularly by Charles Martell, King of France, An. Dom. 
 who, according to the old Records of Masons, nloy'd. 
 sent over several expert Crafts-men and learned 
 Architects into England, at the Desire of the 
 Saxon Kings: So that during the Heptarchy, 
 the Gothic Architecture was as much encourag'd 
 herCj as in other Christian Lands. 
 
 E And 
 
 Masters of those early Lodges, from a mighty Zeal then prevalent for 
 building magnificent Christian Temples ; which would also prompt 
 them to enquire after the Laws, Charges, Regulations, Customs, and 
 Usages, of the ancient Lodges, many of which might be preserv'd by 
 Tradition, and all of them very likely in those Parts of the British 
 Islands that were not subdu'd by the Saxons, from whence in time they 
 might be brought, and which the Saxons were more fond of, than 
 careful to revive Geometry and Roman Maso?iry ; as many in all Ages 
 have been more curious and careful about the Laws, Forms, and 
 Usages of their respective Societies, than about the Arts and Sciences 
 thereof. 
 
 But neither what was convey' d, nor the Manner how, can be 
 communicated by writing ; as no man can indeed understand it 
 without the Key of a Fellow- Craft. 
 
(34) 
 
 An. Dom. ^nd though the many Invasions of the Danes 
 
 occasioned the Loss of many Records, yet in 
 
 Times of Truce or Peace they did not hinder 
 
 much the good Work, though not perform'd 
 
 according to the Augustan Stile; nay, the vast 
 
 Expence laid out upon it, with the curious 
 
 Inventions of the Artists to supply the Roman 
 
 Skill, doing the best they could, demonstrate 
 
 their Esteem and Love for the Royal Art, and 
 
 have render'd the Gothic Buildings venerable, 
 
 tho' not imitable by those that relish the ancient 
 
 A rchitecture. 
 
 An. Dom. ^j^d aftcr the Saxons and Danes were con- 
 1066. 
 
 quer'd by the Normans, as soon as the Wars 
 ended and Peace was proclaim'd, the Gothic 
 Masonry was encourag'd, even in the Reign of 
 the Conqueror* and of his Son King William 
 RuFUS, who built Westminster-Hall, the largest 
 one Room perhaps in the Earth. 
 
 Nor 
 
 * William the Conqueror built the Tower of London, and many 
 strong Castles in the Country, with several religious Edifices, whose 
 Example was follow' d by the Nobility and Clergy, particularly by 
 Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel, the Archbishop of York, the 
 Bishop of Durham, and Gundulph^ Bishop of Rochester, a mighty 
 Architect. 
 
An. Doni. 
 
 (35 ) 
 
 Nor did the Barons' Wars, nor the many 
 bloody Wars of the subsequent Norman Kings, 
 and their contending Branches, much hinder 
 the most sumptuous and lofty Buildings of those 
 Times, rais'd by the great Clergy, (who enjoying 
 large Revenues, could well bear the Expence) 
 and even by the Crown too ; for we read King 
 Edward III. had an Officer call'd the King's 
 Free-Mason, or General-Surveyor of his Buildings, 
 whose name was Henry Yevele, employ'd by About 
 that King to build several Abbies, and St. 1362" 
 Stephen's Chappel at Westminster, where the 
 House of Commons now sit in Parliament. 
 
 But for the further Instruction of Candi- 
 dates and younger Brethren, a certain Record 
 of Free-Masons, written in the Reign of King About 
 Edward IV. of the Norman Line, gives the 1475°'"' 
 following Account, viz. — 
 
 '' That though the ancient Records of the 
 Brotherhood in England were many of them 
 destroy'd or lost in the Wars of the Saxons and 
 Danes, yet King Athelstan, (the Grandson of 
 King Alfrede the Great, a mighty Architect) 
 the first anointed King of England, and who ^""^ 
 translated the Holy Bible into the Saxon Tongue, 93° 
 
 when 
 
(36) 
 
 when he had brought the Land into Rest and 
 Peace, buih many great Works, and encourag'd 
 many Masons from France, who were appointed 
 Overseers thereof, and brought with them the 
 Charges and Regulations of the Lodges preserv'd 
 since the Roman Times, who also prevail'd with 
 the King to improve the Constitution of the 
 English Lodges according to the foreign Model, 
 and to increase the Wages of working Masons. 
 
 '' That the said King's youngest Son, Prince 
 Edwin, being taught Masonry, and taking upon 
 him the Charges of a Master-Mason, for the 
 Love he had to the said Craft, and the 
 honourable Principles whereon it is grounded, 
 purchased a free Charter of King A thelstan his 
 Father, for the Masons having a Correction 
 among themselves, (as it was anciently ex- 
 press'd) or a Freedom and Power to regulate 
 themselves, to amend what might happen amiss, 
 and to hold a yearly Communication and General 
 Assembly. 
 
 " That accordingly Prince Edwin summoned 
 all the Masons in the Realm to meet him in 
 a Congregation at York, who came and com- 
 posed a General Lodge, of which he was Grand 
 
 Master ; 
 
(37) 
 
 Master ; and having brought with them all the 
 Writings and Records extant, some in Greek, 
 some in Latin, some in French, and other 
 Languages, from the Contents thereof that 
 Assembly did frame the Constitution and 
 Charges of an English Lodge, made a Law to 
 preserve and observe the same in all time 
 coming, and ordain'd good Pay, for working 
 Masons, &c. 
 
 '' That in process of time, when Lodges were 
 more frequent, the Right Worshipful the Master 
 and Fellows, with Consent of the Lords of the 
 Realm, (for most great Men were then Masons) 
 ordain'd, that for the future, at the Making or 
 Admission of a Brother, the Constitution 
 should be read, and the Charges hereunto 
 annex'd, by the Master or Warden ; and that 
 such as were to be admitted Master-Masons, or 
 Masters of Work, should be examin'd whether 
 they be able of Cunning to serve their respective 
 Lords, as well the Lowest as the Highest, to 
 the Honour and Worship of the aforesaid Art, 
 and to the Profit of their Lords ; for they be 
 their Lords that employ and pay them for their 
 Service and Travel." 
 
 And 
 
(38) 
 
 And besides many other things, the said 
 Record adds, '' That those Charges and Laws of 
 Free-Masons have been seen and perused by 
 our late Sovereign King Henry VI. and by the 
 Lords of his honourable Council, who have 
 allow'd them, and said that they be right good 
 and reasonable to be holden, as they have been 
 drawn out and collected from the Records of 
 ancient Times." * 
 
 Now 
 
 * In another Manuscript more ancient, we read: "That when the 
 " Master and Wardens meet in a Lodge, if need be, the Sheriff oi the 
 " County, or the Mayor of the City, or Alderman of the Town, in 
 " which the Congregation is held, should be made Fellow and Sociate 
 " to the Master, in help of him against Rebels, and for upbearing- the 
 " Rights of the Realm. 
 
 " That enter' d Prentices at their making were charg'd not to be 
 " Thieves, or Thieves-Maintainers ; that they should travel honestly 
 " for their Pay, and love their Fellows as themselves, and be true to 
 " the King oi England, and to the Realm, and to the Lodge. 
 
 " That at such Congregations it shall be enquir'd, whether any 
 " Master or Fellow has broke any of the Articles agreed to. And if 
 " the Offender, being duly cited to appear, prove Rebel, and will not 
 "attend, then the Lodge shall determine against him that he shall 
 " forswear (or renounce) his Masonry, and shall no more use this 
 " Craft; the which if he presume for to do, the Sheriff of the County 
 " shall prison him, and take all his Goods into the King's Hands, till 
 " his Grace be granted him and issued : For this Cause principally 
 " have these Congregations been ordain' d, that as well the lowest as 
 
(39) 
 
 Now though in the Third Year of the said 
 King Henry VI. while an Infant of about four 
 Years old, the Parliament made an Act, that 
 affected only the working Masons, who had, 
 contrary to the Statutes for Labourers, con- 
 federated not to work but at their own Price 
 and Wages ; and because such Agreements 
 were suppos'd to be made at the General Lodges, 
 call'd in the Act Chapters and Congregations 
 of Masons, it was then thought expedient to 
 level the said Act against the said Congre- 
 gations ;* Yet when the said King Henry VI. 
 
 arriv'd 
 
 " the highest should be well and truly served in this Art foresaid 
 " throughout all the Kingdom oi England. 
 
 " Amen, so mote it be.^'' 
 
 * Tertio Henrici Sexti, Cap. I. An. Dom. 1425. 
 
 Title. — " Masons shall not confederate themselves in Chapters and 
 
 Congregations." 
 "Whereas by yearly Congregations and Confederacies, made by the 
 " Masons in their General Assemblies, the good Course and Effect of 
 " the Statutes for Labourers be openly violated and broken, in Sub- 
 " version of the Law, and to the great Damage of all the Commons, 
 "our said Sovereign Lord the King, willing in this Case to provide a 
 " Remedy, by the Advice and Assent aforesaid, and at the special 
 " Request of the Commons, hath ordained and established, that such 
 " Chapters and Congregations shall not be hereafter holden ; and if any 
 " such be made, they that cause such Chapters and Congregations to 
 
(40) 
 
 arriv'd to Man's Estate, the Masons laid before 
 him and his Lords the above-mention'd Records 
 and Charges, who, 'tis plain, review'd them, and 
 solemnly approv'd of them as good and reason- 
 able to be holden : Nay, the said King and his 
 Lords must have been incorporated with the 
 Free-Masons, before they could make such 
 Review of the Records; and in this Reign, 
 before King Henry's Troubles, Masons were 
 much encourag'd. Nor is there any Instance 
 of executing that Act in that, or in any other 
 Reign since, and the Masons never neglected 
 their Lodges for it, nor ever thought it worth 
 while to employ their noble and eminent Brethren 
 to have it repeal'd ; because the working Masons, 
 that are free of the Lodge, scorn to be guilty of 
 such Combinations ; and the other free Masons 
 have no Concern in Trespasses against the 
 
 Statutes for Labourers.* 
 
 The 
 
 " be assembled and holden, if they thereof be convict, shall be judged 
 
 " for Felons, and that the other Masons that come to such Chapters and 
 
 " Congregations be punish' d by Imprisonment of their Bodies, and 
 
 " make Fine and Ransome at the King's Will. 
 
 Co. Inst. iii. p. 99. 
 
 * That Act was made in ignorant Times, when true Learning was 
 a Crime, and Geometry condemn'd for Conjuration; but it cannot 
 
(41) 
 
 The Kings of Scotland very much encourag'd 
 the Royal Art, from the earHest Times down to 
 the Union of the Crowns, as appears by the 
 Remains of glorious Buildings in that ancient 
 Kingdom, and by the Lodges there kept up 
 without Interruption many hundred Years, the 
 Records and Traditions of which testify the 
 great Respect of those Kings to this honour- 
 able Fraternity, who gave always pregnant Evi- 
 dence of their Love and Loyalty, from whence 
 sprung the old Toast among Scots Masons, viz. 
 God bless the King and the Craft ! 
 
 F Nor 
 
 derogate from the Honour of the ancient Fraternity, who to be sure 
 would never encourage any such Confederacy of their working 
 Brethren. But by Tradition it is believ'd, that the Parliament-Men 
 were then too much influenc'd by the illiterate Clergy, who were not 
 accepted Masons, nor understood Architecture (as the Clergy of some 
 former Ages) and generally thought unworthy of this Brotherhood ; 
 yet thinking they had an indefeasible Right to know all Secrets, by 
 vertue of auricular Confession, and the Masons never confessing any 
 thing thereof, the said Clergy were highly offended, and at first 
 suspecting them of Wickedness, represented them as dangerous to 
 the State during that Minority, and soon influenc'd the Parliament- 
 Men to lay hold of such supposed Agreements of the working Masons, 
 for making an Act that might seem to reflect Dishonour upon even 
 the whole worshipful Fraternity, in whose Favour several Acts had 
 been both before and after that Period made. 
 
(43) 
 
 Nor was the royal Example neglected by the 
 Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy of Scotland, who 
 join'd in every thing for the good of the Craft 
 and Brotherhood, the Kings being often the 
 Grand Masters, until, among other things, the 
 Masons of Scotland were impower'd to have 
 a certain and fix'd Grand Master and Grand 
 Warden, who had a Salary from the Crown, and 
 also an Acknowledgment from every New Brother 
 in the Kingdom at Entrance, whose Business 
 was not only to regulate what might happen 
 amiss in the Brotherhood, but also to hear 
 and finally determine all Controversies between 
 Mason and Lord, to punish the Mason, if he 
 deserv'd it, and to oblige both to equitable 
 Terms : At which Hearings, if the Grand Master 
 was absent (who was always nobly born), the 
 Grand Warden presided. This Privilege remain'd 
 
 1640. till the Civil Wars, but is now obsolete; nor 
 can it well be reviv'd until the King becomes 
 a Mason, because it was not actually exerted at 
 
 1707. the Union of the Kingdoms. 
 
 Yet the great Care that the Scots took of 
 true Masonry, proved afterwards very useful to 
 England ; for the learned and magnanimous 
 
 Queen 
 
(43) 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, who encourag'd other Arts, 
 discourag'd this ; because, being a Woman, she 
 could not be made a Mason, tho', as other great 
 Women, she might have much employ'd Masons, 
 like Semiramis and Artemisia* 
 
 But upon her Demise, King James VI. of 
 Scotland succeeding to the Crown of England, 
 being a Mason King, reviv'd the English Lodges; 
 and as he was the First King of Great Britain, 
 he was also the First Prince in the World 
 that recover'd the Roman Architecture from the 
 Ruins of Gothick Ignorance: For after many dark 
 or illiterate Ages, as soon as all Parts of Learning 
 reviv'd, and Geometry recover'd its Ground, the 
 polite Nations began to discover the Confusion 
 
 and 
 
 * Elizabeth being jealous of any Assemblies of her Subjects, 
 whose Business she was not duly appriz'd of, attempted to break up 
 the annual Communication of Masons, as dangerous to her Govern- 
 ment : But, as old Masons have transmitted it by Tradition, when the 
 noble Persons her Majesty had commissioned, and brought a sufficient 
 Posse with them at York on St.- John's Day, were once admitted into the 
 Lodge, they made no use of Arms, and return'd the Queen a most 
 honourable Account of the ancient Fraternity, whereby her political 
 Fears and Doubts were dispell' d, and she let them alone, as a People 
 much respected by the Noble and the Wise of all the polite Nations, 
 but neglected the Art all her Reign. 
 
(44) 
 
 and Impropriety of the Gothick Buildings ; and 
 in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries the 
 Augustan Stile was rais'd from its Rubbish in 
 Italy, by Bramante, Barbaro, Sansovino, San- 
 GALLO, Michael Angelo, Raphael Urbin, Julio 
 Romano, Serglio, Labaco, Scamozi, Vignola, 
 and many other bright Architects ; but above all, 
 by the Great Palladio, who has not yet been 
 duly imitated in Italy^ though justly rival'd 
 in England by our great Master-Mason Inigo 
 Jones. 
 
 But though all true Masons honour the 
 Memories of those Italian Architects, it must be 
 own'd that the Augustan Stile was not reviv'd 
 by any crown'd Head, before King James 
 the Sixth of Scotland and First of England 
 patroniz'd the said glorious Inigo Jones, whom 
 he employed to build his Royal Palace of White- 
 Hall ; and in his Reign over all Great. Britain, 
 the Banqueting-House, as the first piece of it, 
 was only rais'd, which is the finest one Room 
 upon Earth ; and the ingenious Mr. Nicholas 
 Stone perform'd as Master-Mason under the 
 Architect Jones. 
 
 Upon his Demise, his Son King Charles I. 
 
 being 
 
i6 66. 
 
 (45) 
 
 being also a Mason, patroniz'd Mr. Jones too, 
 and firmly intended to have carried on his Royal 
 Father's Design of White-Hall, according to 
 Mr. Jones's Stile ; but was unhappily diverted 
 by the Civil Wars.* After the Wars were over, a. p. 
 and the Royal Family restor'd, true Masonry 
 was likewise restor'd; especially upon the un- 
 happy Occasion of the Burning o{ London, Anno 
 1666; for then the City- Houses were rebuilt more 
 
 after 
 
 * The Plan and Prospect of that glorious Design being still pre- 
 serv'd, it is esteem' d by skillful Architects to excel that of any other 
 Palace in the known Earth, for the Symmetry, Firmness, Beauty, and 
 Conveniency of Architecture ; as indeed all Master Jones's Designs 
 and Erections are Originals, and at first View discover him to be 
 the Architect : Nay, his mighty Genius prevail'd with the Nobility and 
 Gentry of all Britain, (for he was as much honour'd in Scotland as in 
 England) to affect and revive the ancient Stile of Masonry, too long 
 neglected ; as appears by the many curious Fabricks of those Times, 
 one' of which shall be now mention'd — the least, and perhaps one of the 
 finest — the famous Gate of the Physic Garden at Oxford, rais'd by 
 Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, which cost his Lordship many 
 hundred Pounds, and is as curious a little piece of Masonry as ever 
 was built there before or since,^ with the following Inscription on the 
 Front of it, viz. — 
 
 GLORIA DEI OPTIMI MAXIMI, HONORI CAROLI REGIS, 
 IN USUM ACADEMIC ET RE I PUBLICO, ANNO 1632. 
 
 HENRICUS COMES DANBY. 
 
(46) 
 
 after the Roman Stile, when King Charles II. 
 founded the present St. Paul's Cathedral in 
 London, (the old Gothick Fabrick being burnt 
 down) much after the Style of St. Peter's at 
 Rome, conducted by the ingenious Architect, 
 Sir Christopher Wren. That King founded 
 also his royal Palace at Greenwich, according 
 to Mr. Inigo Jones's Design, (which he drew 
 before he dy'd) conducted by his Son-in-Law 
 Mr. Web : It is now t-urn'd into an Hospital 
 for Seamen. He founded also Chelsea-College, an 
 Hospital for Soldiers ; and at Edinburgh he 
 both founded and finish'd his royal Palace of 
 Haly -Rood-House, by the Design and Conduct 
 of Sir William Bruce, Bart., the Master of the 
 Royal Works in Scotland :* So that besides the 
 Tradition of old Masons now alive, which may 
 be rely'd on, we have much reason to believe 
 that King Charles H. was an Accepted Free- 
 Mason, 
 
 * It was an ancient Royal Palace, and rebuilt after the Augustan 
 Style, so neat that, by competent Judges, it has been esteem' d the 
 finest House belonging to the Crown : And though it is not very large, 
 it is both magnificent and convenient, both Inside and Outside, with 
 good Gardens, and a very large Park; and all other adjacent Accommo- 
 dations. 
 
(47) 
 
 Mason, as every one allows he was a great 
 Encourager of the Craftsmen. 
 
 But in the Reign of his Brother i^m^ James 1 1, 
 though some Roman Buildings were carried on, 
 the Lodges of Free-Masons in London much 
 dwindled into Ignorance, by not being duly 
 frequented and cultivated. But* after the Re- 
 volution, Anno 1688, King William, though a 
 warlike Prince, having a good Taste of Archi- 
 tecture, carried on the aforesaid two famous 
 
 Hospitals 
 
 * But by the royal Example of his Brother King Charles ll. the 
 City of London erected the famous Monument, where the Great Fire 
 beg-an, all of solid Stone, 202 foot high from the Ground, a Pillar of 
 the Dorick Order, 15 Foot Diameter, with a curious Stair-Case in 
 the Middle of black Marble, and an iron Balcony on the Top (not 
 unlike those of Trajan and Antoninus at Rome) from whence the City 
 and Suburbs may be view'd ; and it is the highest Column we know 
 upon Earth. Its Pedestal is 2 1 Foot square, and 40 Foot high, the 
 Front of which is adorn'd with most ingenious Emblems in Basso 
 Relievo, wrought by that famous Sculptor, Mr. Gabriel Cibber, with 
 large Latin Inscriptions on the Sides of it; founded Anno 1671, and 
 finish' d Anno 1677. 
 
 In his Time also the Society of Merchant Adventurers rebuilt the 
 Royal Exchange oi London (the old one being destroy' d by the Fire) 
 all of Stone, after the Roman Style, the finest Structure of that use in 
 Europe, with the King's Statue to the Life, of white Marble, in the 
 Middle of the Square (wrought by the famous Master-Carver and 
 Statuary, Mr. Grinlin Gibbons, who was justly admir'd all over 
 
(48) 
 
 Hospitals of Greenwich and Chelsea, built the 
 fine part of his royal Palace of Hampton Court, 
 and founded and finish'd his incomparable Palace 
 at Loo in Holland, &c. And the bright Ex- 
 ample of that glorious Prince, (who by most is 
 
 reckon'd 
 
 Europe, for his rivalling, if not surpassing-, the most fam'd Italian 
 Masters) on the Pedestal of which is the following- Inscription, viz. — 
 
 Carolo II. Casari Britannico To Charles II. Emperor of Britain 
 
 Patriae Patri Father or his Country 
 
 Regum Optimo Clementissimo Augustissimo Best most Merciful and August of Kings 
 Generis Humani DeliciJS Delight of Mankind 
 
 Utriusque Fortune Victori In Adversity and Prosperity unmov'd 
 
 PACIS EUROPiE ARBITRO UMPIRE OF EUROPE'S PEACE 
 
 Marium Domino ac Vindici Commander and Sovereign of the Seas 
 
 SOCIETAS MERCATORUM ADVENTUR. AnGLI^ THE SOCIETY OF MERCHANT ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND 
 
 qu^ per cccc jam prope annos which for near cccc years 
 
 Regia Benignitate floret By Royal Favour Flourisheth 
 
 FiDEi Intemerat^ et Gratitudinis .(Etern^ Of unshaken Loyalty and eternal Gratitude 
 Hoc Testimonium This Testimony 
 
 Venerabunda Posuit Has in Veneration- erected 
 
 Anno Salutis Human^e MDCLXXXlV. In the Year of Salvation MDCLXXXIV. 
 
 Nor should we forget the famous Theatre of Oxford, built by 
 Archbishop Sheldon, at his sole Cost, in that King's Time, which, 
 among his othei* fine Works, was design' d and conducted also by- 
 Sir Christopher Wren the King's Architect ; for it is justly admir'd by 
 the Curious; And the Museum adjoining to it, a fine Building rais'd 
 at the Charge of that illustrious University, where there have been 
 since erected several more Roman Buildings, as Trinity- College- Chappel, 
 All Hallows Church in High Street, Peckwater Square in Christ- Church 
 College, the new Printing- House, and the whole of Queen's- College 
 rebuilt, &c., by the liberal Donations of some eminent Benefactors, 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 reckon' da. Free-Mason) did influence the Nobility, 
 the Gentry, the Wealthy and the Learned of 
 Great Britain, to affect much the Augustan 
 Style; as appears by a vast Number of most 
 curious Edifices erected since throughout the 
 Kingdom: For when in the Ninth Year of the 
 Reign of our late Sovereign Queen Anne, her 
 Majesty and the Parliament concurr'd in an Act 
 for erecting 50 new Parish-Churches in London, 
 Westminster, and Suburbs; and the Queen had 
 granted a Commission to several of the Ministers 
 of State, the principal Nobility, great Gentry, and 
 eminent Citizens, the two Archbishops, with 
 several other Bishops arid dignify'd Clergymen, 
 to put the Act in execution ; they order'd the 
 said New Churches to be rais'd according to the 
 ancient Roman Style, as appears by those that 
 
 G are 
 
 and by the publick Spirit, Vigilancy, and Fidelity of the Heads of 
 Colleges, who generally have had a true Taste of Roman Architecture. 
 
 The learned University of Cambridge not having had the Manage- 
 ment of such liberal Donations, have not so many fine Structures ; 
 but they have two of the most curious and excellent in Great Britain 
 of their kind, — the one a Gothick Building, King's-College Chappel 
 (unless ydu eyjce^t King Henry VH.'s Chappel in West minster- Abbey) ; 
 and the other a Roman Building, Trinity-College Library. 
 
(50) 
 
 are already rais'd; and the present honourable 
 Commissioners having the same good Judgment 
 of Architecture, are carrying on the same 
 laudable grand Design, and are reviving the 
 ancient Style, by the Order, Countenance, and 
 Encouragement of his present Majesty King 
 George, who was also graciously pleas'd to lay 
 the first Stone in the Foundation of his Parish 
 Church of St. Martin's in Campis, on the 
 South-East Corner (by his Majesty's Proxy for 
 the time, the present Bishop of Salisbury), which 
 is now rebuilding, strong, large, and beautiful, 
 at the Cost of the Parishioners. 
 
 In short, it would require many large Volumes 
 to contain the many splendid Instances of the 
 mighty Influence of Masonry from the Creation, 
 in every Age, and in every Nation, as could be 
 collected from Historians and Travellers : But 
 especially in those Parts of the World where 
 the Europeans correspond and trade, such 
 
 Remains 
 
 * The Bishop of Salisbury went in an orderly Procession, duly 
 attended, and having levell'd the Jirst Stone, gave it two or three 
 Knocks with a Mallet, upon which the Trumpets sounded, and a vast 
 Multitude made loud Acclamations of Joy ; when his Lordship laid 
 upon the Stone a Purse of loo Guineas, as a Present from his Majestj 
 
(51 ) 
 
 Remains of ancient, large, curious, and magni- 
 ficent Colonading, have been discover'd by the 
 Inquisitive, that they can't enough lament the 
 general Devastations of the Goths and Mahome- 
 tans ; and must conclude, that no Art was ever 
 so much encourag'd as this; as indeed none 
 other is so extensively useful to Mankind. 
 
 Nay, 
 
 for the use of the Craftsmen. The following Inscription was cut in the 
 Foundation Stone, and a sheet of Lead put upon it, viz. — 
 
 D. S. Sacred to God. 
 
 Serenissimus Rex Georgius His most Excellent Majesty King George 
 
 Per Deputatum suum By his Proxy 
 
 Reverendum admodum in Christo Patrem The Right Reverend Father in Christ 
 
 RlCHARDUM EPISCOPUM SARISBURIENSEM RICHARD LORD BiSHOP OF SALISBURY 
 
 SUMMUM SUUM ELEEMOSYNARIUM HIS MAJESTY'S CHIEF ALMONER 
 
 Adsistente (Regis Jusstr) Assisted (at His Majesty's Command) 
 
 Domino Tho. Hewet Equ. Aur. By Sir Thomas Hewet Knight 
 
 .(Edificiorum Regiorum Curatore Of His Majesty's Royal Buildings 
 
 Principali Principal Surveyor 
 
 Primum hujus Ecclesi^ Lapidem The First Stone of this Church 
 
 PosuiT Laid 
 
 Martij 190 Anno Dom. 1721 This 19th of March Anno Domini 1721 
 
 Annoque Regni sui octavo. And the Eighth Year of his Reign. 
 
 * It were endless to recount and describe the many curious Roman 
 Buildings in Great Britain- alone, erected since the Revival of Roman 
 Masonry ; of which a few may be here mentioned, besides those 
 already spoken of, viz. — 
 
 The Queen's House at Greenwich, Belonging to the Crown. 
 
 The great Gallery in Somerset-Gardens, The Crown. 
 
 f Possessed bv thfi Dukp 
 Gunnersbury-House near Brentford, Middlesex, ... \ ^^ QuEEN,gBURY. 
 
(52) 
 
 Nay, if it were expedient, it could be made 
 appear, that from this ancient Fraternity, the 
 Societies or Orders of the Warlike Knights, 
 and of the Religious too, in process of time, did 
 borrow many solemn Usages ; for none of them 
 were better instituted, more decently installed, 
 or did more sacredly observe their Laws and 
 Charges than the Accepted Masons have done, 
 who in all Ages, and in every Nation, have 
 maintain'd and propagated their Concernments 
 
 in 
 
 LiNDSAY-HousK, in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, 
 
 York-Stairs at the Thames in York-Buildings. 
 
 St. Paul's Church in Covent-Garden, with its glorious 
 
 Portico. 
 The Building and Piazza of Covent-Garden, 
 
 Wilton-Castle in Wiltshire, 
 
 Castle- AsHBY in Northamptonshire, 
 
 Stoke-Park in ditto, 
 
 Wing-House in Bedfordshire, 
 
 Chevening-House in Kent, 
 
 Ambrose-Bury in Wiltshire, 
 
 Duke of Ancaster. 
 
 Duke of Bedford. 
 Earl of Pembroke. 
 Earl of Strafford. 
 
 Arundel Esq ; 
 Hon. Wm. Stanhope Esq 
 Earl Stanhope. 
 Lord Carleton. 
 
 All design' d by the incomparable Inigo Jones, and most of them 
 conducted by him, or by his Son-in-Law Mr. Web, according to Mr. 
 Jones's Designs. 
 
 Besides many more conducted by other Architects, influenc'd by 
 the same happy Genius ; such as — 
 
 Bow-Church Steeple in Cheapside, 
 HoTHAM-HousE in Beverley, Yorkshire, 
 
 Melvin-House in Fife, 
 
 Longleate-House in Wiltshire 
 
 Chesterlee-sj-reet-House in Durham County, 
 
 Built by Sir Chri. Wren. 
 Sir Charles Hotham Bart. 
 Earl of Levin. 
 Viscount Weymouth. 
 John Hedworth Esq ; 
 
(53) 
 
 in a way peculiar to themselves, which the most 
 Cunning and the most Learned cannot penetrate 
 into, though it has been often attempted; while 
 They know and love one another, even without 
 the Help of Speech, or when of different Lan- 
 guages. 
 
 And now the Freeborn British Nations, 
 disintangled from foreign and civil Wars, and 
 enjoying the good Fruits of Peace and Liberty, 
 having of late much indulged their happy Genius 
 
 for 
 
 Montague-House in Bloomsbury, London 
 Drumlanrig-Castle in Nithisdaleshire, 
 Castle-Howard in Yorkshire, 
 
 STAINBOROUGH-HOUSE in DITTO, 
 
 Hopton-Castle in Linlithgowshire, 
 
 B L E N H E I M-CaST LE at WOODSTOCK, OXFORDSHIRE, 
 
 Chatsworth-Castle in Derbyshire, 
 
 Palace of Hammilton, in Clydsdaleshire 
 Wanstead-House in Epping-Forest, Essex, 
 Duncomb-Park in Yorkshire, 
 Mereworth-Castle in Kent, 
 Sterling-House near Sterling-Castle, 
 Kinross-House in Kinross-shire, ... 
 Stourton-Castle in Wiltshire, ... 
 
 Willbury-House in Ditto, 
 
 Bute Castle in Isle of Bute, 
 
 Walpole House near Lin Regis, Norfolk, 
 
 Burlington-House in Pickadilly, St. James's, 
 
 Westminster, 
 
 Dormitory of King's-School, Westminster, . 
 Tottenham-Park in Wiltshire, 
 
 These three last are design 'd and conducted 
 lington, who bids fair to be the best Architect of 
 
 } 
 
 Duke of Montagu. 
 
 Duke of Queensbury. 
 
 Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 Earl of Strafford. 
 
 Earl of Hopton. 
 
 Duke of Marlborough. 
 
 Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 Duke of Hammilton. 
 
 Lord Castlemain. 
 
 Thomas Duncomb Esq ; 
 
 Hon. John Fane Esq ; 
 
 Duke of Argyle. 
 
 Sir William Bruce Bart. 
 
 Henry Hoar Esq; 
 
 William Benson Esq ; 
 
 Earl of Bute. 
 
 Hon. Rob. Walpole Esq ; 
 
 Earl of Burlington. 
 
 The Crown. 
 Lord Bruce. 
 
 by the Earl of Bur- 
 Britain, (if he is not 
 
(54) 
 
 for Masonry of every sort, and reviv'd the 
 drooping Lodges of London, this fair Metropolis 
 flourisheth, as well as other Parts, with several 
 worthy particular Lodges, that have a quarterly 
 Communication, and an annual grand Assembly, 
 wherein the Forms and Usages of the most 
 ancient and worshipful Fraternity are wisely 
 propagated, and the Royal Art duly cultivated, 
 and the Cement of the Brotherhood preserv'd ; 
 
 so 
 
 so already) and we hear his Lordship intends to publish the valuable 
 Remains of Mr. Inigo Jones , for the Improvement of other Architects. 
 Besides more of the same Roman Style, and yet many more in 
 Imitation of it, which, though they cannot be reduc'd to any certain 
 Style, are stately, beautiful, and convenient Structures, notwith- 
 standing the Mistakes of their several Architects : And besides the 
 sumptuous and venerable Goihick Buildings, past reckoning, as Cathe- 
 drals, Parish- Churches, Chappels, Bridges, old Palaces of the Kings, of 
 the Nobility, of the Bishops, and the Gentry, known well to Travellers, 
 and to such as peruse the Histories of Counties, and the ancient 
 Monuments of great Families, &c., as many Erections of the Roman 
 Style may be review'd in Mr. Campbell the Architect's ingenious Book, 
 call'd ViTRUvius Britannicus ; And if the Disposition for true 
 ancient Masonry prevails, for some time, with Noblemen, Gentlemen, 
 and learned Men, (as it is likely it will) this Islakd will become the 
 Mistress of the Earth, for Designing, Drawing, and Conducting, and 
 capable to instruct all other Nations in all things relating to the 
 Royal Art. 
 
(55) 
 
 SO that the whole Body resembles a well built 
 A rch ; several Noblemen and Gentlemen of the 
 best Rank, with Clergymen and learned Scholars 
 of most Professions and Denominations, having 
 frankly join'd and submitted to take the Charges, 
 and to wear the Badges of a Free and Accepted 
 Mason, under our present worthy Grand-Master, 
 the most noble Prince John Duke of Montague. 
 
THE 
 
 CHARGES 
 
 OF A 
 
 FREE-MASON, 
 
 EXTRACTED FROM 
 
 The ancient i5l6C£)iEl2D^ of Lodges 
 
 beyond Sea, and of those in England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, for the Use of the Lodges in London: 
 
 TO BE read 
 
 At the Making of N e w B rethre n, or when the 
 MASTER shall order it. 
 
 The (Btntval ^tahs, viz.— 
 
 !F God and RELtGioN. 
 
 II. Of the Civil Magistrate supreme and sub- 
 ordinate. 
 
 III. Of Lodges. 
 
 IV. Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows, and Appren- 
 tices. 
 
 V. Of the Management of the Craft in working. 
 VI. Of Behaviour, viz. — 
 
 1 . In the Lodge while constituted. 
 
 2. After the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone. 
 
 3. When Brethren meet without Strangers, but not in a Lodge. 
 
 4. In Presence of Strangers not Masons. 
 
 5. At Home, and in the Neighbourhood. 
 
 6. Towards a strange Brother. 
 
 I. Con- 
 
(58) 
 
 I. Concerning God and Religion. 
 
 A Mason is oblig'd, by his Tenure, to obey the moral Law ; and If 
 he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist, 
 nor an irreligious Libertine. But though in ancient Times Masons 
 were charg'd in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country 
 or Nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient 
 only to oblige them to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving 
 their particular Opinions to themselves ; that is, to be good Men and 
 true, or Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or 
 Persuasions they may be distinguish'd ; whereby Masonry becomes 
 the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship 
 among Persons that must have remain'd at a perpetual Distance. 
 
 II. Of the Civil Magistrate supreme and 
 
 subordinate. 
 
 A Mason is a peaceable Subject to the Civil Powers, wherever he 
 resides or works, and is never to be concern'd in Plots and Con- 
 spiracies against the Peace and Welfare of the Nation, nor to behave 
 himself undutifuUy to inferior Magistrates ; for as Masonry hath been 
 always injured by War, Bloodshed, and Confusion, so ancient Kings 
 and Princes have been much dispos'd to encourage the Craftsmen, 
 because of their Peaceableness and Loyalty, whereby they practically 
 answer' d the Cavils of their Adversaries, and promoted the Honour of 
 the Fraternity, who ever flourish' d in Times of Peace. So that if a ' 
 Brother should be a Rebel against the State, he is not to be coun 
 tenanc'd in his Rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy 
 Man ; and, if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brother- 
 hood must and ought to disown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage 
 or Ground of political Jealousy to the Government for the time being; 
 
 they 
 
(59) 
 
 they cannot expel him from the Lodge, and his Relation to it remains 
 indefeasible. 
 
 III. Of Lodges. 
 
 A Lodge is a Place where Masons assemble and work : Hence that 
 Assembly, or duly organiz'd Society of Masons, is call'd a Lodg^, 
 and every Brother ought to belong to one, and to be subject to its 
 By-Laws and the General Regulations. It is either particular or 
 general, and will be best understood by attending it, and by the 
 Regulations of the General or Grand Lodge hereunto annex' d. In 
 ancient Times, no Master or Fellow could be absent from it, especially 
 when warn'd to appear at it, without incurring a severe Censure, 
 until it appear'd to the Master and Wardens, that pure Necessity 
 hinder'd him. 
 
 The Persons admitted Members of a Lodge must be good and true 
 Men, free-born, and of mature and discreet Age, no Bondmen, no 
 Women, no immoral or scandalous Men, but of good Report. 
 
 IV. Of Masters, KHartieniS, Fellows, and 
 
 Apprentices. 
 
 All Preferment among Masons is grounded upon real Worth and 
 personal Merit only ; that so the Lords may be well served, the 
 Brethren not put to Shame, nor the Royal Craft despis'd : Therefore 
 no Master or Warderi is chosen by Seniority, but for his Merit. It is 
 impossible to describe these things in writing, and every Brother 
 must attend in his Place, and learn them in a way peculiar to this 
 Fraternity : Only Candidates rnay know, that no Master should take an 
 Apprentice, unless he has sufficient Imployment for him, and unless he 
 be a perfect Youth, having no Maim or Defect in his Body, that may 
 render him uncapable of learniij^ the Art, of serving his Master's 
 
 Lord 
 
(60) 
 
 Lord, and of being made a Brother, and then a Fellow-Craft in due 
 time, even after he has served such a Term of Years as the Custom 
 of the Country directs ; and that he should be descended of honest 
 Parents; that so, when otherwise qualify'd, he may arrive to the 
 Honour of being the Warden, and then the Master of the Lodge, the 
 Grand Warden, and at length the Grand-Master of all the Lodges, 
 according to his Merit. 
 
 No Brother can be a Warden until he has pass'd the part of a 
 Fellot'i- Craft ; nor a Master until he has acted as a Warden, nor 
 Grand-Warden until he has been Master of a Lodge, nor Grand- 
 Master unless he has been a Fellow- Craft before his Election, who is 
 also to be nobly born, or a Gentleman of the best Fashion, or some 
 eminent Scholar, or some curious Architect, or other Artist, descended 
 of honest Parents, and who is of singular great Merit in the Opinion 
 of the Lodges. And for the better, and easier, and more honourable 
 Discharge of his Office, the Grand-Master has a Power to chuse his 
 own Deputy Grand-Master, who must be then, or must have been 
 formerly, the Master of a particular Lodge, and has the Privilege of 
 acting whatever the Grand-Master, his Principal, should act, unless 
 the said Principal be present, or interpose his Authority by a Letter. 
 
 These Rulers and Governors, supreme and subordinate, of the 
 ancient Lodge, are to be obey'd in their respective Stations by all 
 the Brethren, according to the old Charges and Regulations, with all 
 Humility, Reverence, Love, and Alacrity. 
 
 V. Of the Management of the Craft in 
 
 Working. 
 
 All Masons shall work honestly on working Days, that they may 
 live creditably on holy Days ; and the time appointed by the Law of 
 the Land, or confirm'd by Custom, shall be observ'd. 
 
 The most expert of the Fellow-Craftsmen shall be chosen or 
 
 appointed 
 
(6i ) 
 
 appointed the Master, or Overseer of the Lord's Work ; who is to 
 be call'd Master by those that work under him. The Craftsmen 
 are to avoid all ill Language, and to call each other by no disobliging 
 Name, but Brother or Fellow; and to behave themselves courteously 
 within and without the Lodge. 
 
 The Master, knowing himself to be able of Cunning, shall under- 
 take the Lord's Work as reasonably as possible, and truly dispend his 
 Goods as if they were his own ; nor to give more Wages to any 
 Brother or Apprentice than he really may deserve. 
 
 Both the Master and the Masons receiving their Wages justly, 
 shall be faithful to the Lord, and honestly finish their Work, whether 
 Task or Journey ; nor put the Work to Task that hath been accustom'd 
 to Journey. 
 
 None shall discover Envy at the Prosperity of a Brother, nor 
 supplant him, or put him out of his Work, if he be capable to finish 
 the same ; for no Man can finish another's Work so much to the 
 Lord's Profit, unless he be thoroughly acquainted with the Designs 
 and Draughts of him that began it. 
 
 When a Fellow-Cra/tsman is chosen Warden of the Work under the 
 Master, he shall be true both to Master and Fellows, shall carefully 
 oversee the Work in the Master's Absence to the Lord's Profit ; and 
 his Brethren shall obey him. 
 
 All Masons employ'd, shall meekly receive their Wages without Mur- 
 muring or Mutiny, and not desert the Master till the Work is finish' d. 
 
 A younger Brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent 
 spoiling the Materials for want of Judgment, and for encreasing and 
 continuing of Brotherly Love. 
 
 All the Tools used in working shall be approved by the Grand 
 Lodge. 
 
 No Labourer shall be employ'd in the proper Work of Masonry ; nor 
 shall Free Masons work with those that are not free, without an 
 urgent Necessity; nor shall they teach Labourers and unaccepted 
 Masons, as they should teach a Brother or Fellow. 
 
 VL 
 
(62) 
 
 VI. Of Behaviour, viz.— 
 
 I. In the Lodge while constituted. 
 
 You are not to hold private Committees, or separate Conversation, 
 without Leave from the Master, nor to talk of any thing impertinent 
 or unseemly, nor interrupt the Master or Wardens, or any Brother 
 speaking to the Master : Nor behave yourself ludicrously or jestingly 
 while the Lodge is engaged in what is serious and solemn ; nor use 
 any unbecoming Language upon any Pretence whatsoever; but to pay 
 due reverence to your Master, Wardens, and Fellows, and put them to 
 worship. 
 
 If any Complaint be brought, the Brother found guilty shall stand 
 to the Award and Determination of the Lodge, who are the proper 
 and competent Judges of all such controversies, (unless you carry it 
 by Appeal to the Grand Lodge) and to whom they ought to be 
 referr'd, unless a Lord's Work be hinder'd the mean while, in which 
 Case a particular Reference may be made ; but you must never go to 
 Law about what concerneth Masonry, without an absolute Necessity 
 apparent to the Lodge. 
 
 2. Behaviour after the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone. 
 
 You may enjoy yourselves with innocent Mirth, treating one 
 another according to Ability, but avoiding all Excess, or forcing any 
 Brother to eat or drink beyond his Inclination, or hindering him from 
 going when his Occasions call him, or doing or saying any thing 
 offensive, or that may forbid an easy and free Conversation ; for that 
 would blast our Harmony and defeat our laudable Purposes. There- 
 fore no private Piques or Quarrels must be brought within the Door 
 of the Lodge, far less any Quarrels about Religion, or Nations, or 
 State Policy, we being only, as Masons, of the Catholick Religion above- 
 mention'd ; we are also of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds, and 
 Languages, and are resolv'd against all Politicks, as what never yet 
 
 conduc'd 
 
(63) 
 
 conduc'd to the welfare of the Lodge, nor ever will. This Charge has 
 been always strictly enjoin' d and observ'd ; but especially ever since 
 the Reformation va. Britain, or the Dissent and Secession of these 
 Nations from the Communion of Rome. 
 
 3. Behaviour when Brethren meet without Strangers, but not in a 
 
 Lodge form'd. 
 
 You are to salute one another in a courteous manner, as you 
 will be instructed, calling each other Brother, freely giving mutual 
 Instruction as shall be thought expedient, without being overseen or 
 overheard, and without encroaching upon each other, or derogating 
 from that Respect which is due to any Brother, were he not a Mason : 
 For though all Masons are as Brethren upon the same Level, yet 
 Masonry takes no Honour from a Man that he had before ; nay, rather 
 it adds to his Honour, especially if he has deserv'd well of the Brother- 
 hood, who must give Honour to whom it is due, and avoid ill Manners. 
 
 4. Behaviour in Presence of Strangers not Masons. 
 
 You shall be cautious in your Words and Carriage, that the most 
 penetrating Stranger shall not be able to discover or find out what is 
 not proper to be intimated ; and sometimes you shall divert a discourse, 
 and manage it prudently for the Honour of the worshipful Fraternity. 
 
 5. Behaviour at Home, and in your Neighbourhood. 
 
 You are to act as becomes a moral and wise Man ; particularly, 
 not to let your Family, Friends, and Neighbours know the Concerns of 
 the Lodge, &c., but wisely to consult your own Honour, and that of the 
 ancient Brotherhood, for Reasons not to be mention'd here. You must 
 also consult your Health, by not continuing together too late, or too 
 long from home, after Lodge Hours are past ; and by avoiding of 
 Gluttony or Drunkenness, that your Families be not neglected or 
 injured, nor you disabled from working. 
 
 6. Behaviour 
 
(64) 
 
 6. Behaviour towards a strange Brother. 
 
 You are cautiously to examine him, in such a Method as Prudence 
 shall direct you, that you may not be impos'd upon by an ignorant 
 false Pretender, whom you are to reject with Contempt and Derision, 
 and beware of giving him any Hints of Knowledge. 
 
 But if you discover him to be a true and genuine Brother, you are 
 to respect him accordingly ; and if he is in want, you must relieve 
 him if you can, or else direct him how he may be reliev'd; You must 
 employ him some Days, or else recommend him to be employ' d. 
 But you are not charged to do beyond your Ability, only to prefer a 
 poor Brother, that is a good Man and true, before any other poor 
 People in the same Circumstances. 
 
 Finally, All these Charges you are to observe, and also those that 
 shall be communicated to you in another way ; cultivating Brotherly 
 Love, the Foundation and Cape-stone, the Cement and Glory of this 
 ancient Fraternity, avoiding all Wrangling and Quarrelling, all Slander 
 and Backbiting, nor permitting others to slander^ any honest Brother, 
 but defending his Character, and doing him all good Offices, as far as 
 is consistent with your Honour and Safety, and no farther. And if 
 any of them do you' Injury, you must apply to your own or his Lodge ; 
 and from thence you may appeal to the Grand Lodge at the Quarterly 
 Communication, and from thence to the annual Grand Lodge, as has 
 been the ancient laudable Conduct of our Fore-fathers in every 
 Nation ; never taking a legal Course but when the Case cannot be 
 otherwise decided, and patiently listening to the honest and friendly 
 Advice of Master and Fellows, when they would prevent your going 
 to Law with Strangers, or would excite you to put a speedy Period to 
 all Law-Suits, that so you may mind the Affair of Masonry with the 
 more Alacrity and Success ; but with respect to Brothers or Fellows 
 at Law, the Master and Brethren should kindly offer their Mediation, 
 which ought to be thankfully submitted to by the contending Brethren; 
 
 and 
 
(65) 
 
 and if that Submission is impracticable, they must however carry on 
 their Process, or Law- Suit, without Wrath and Rancor (not in the 
 common way), saying or doing nothing which may hinder Brotherly 
 Love, and good Offices to be renew' d and continu'd ; that all may see 
 the benign Influence of Masonry, as all true Masons have done from 
 the Beginning of the World, and will do to the End of Time. 
 
 amen 00 mote it fie. 
 
 POST- 
 
(66) 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 A Worthy Brother, learned in the Law, has communicated to the 
 
 Author (while this Sheet was printing) the Opinion of the Great 
 
 Judge Coke upon the Act against Masons, 3 Hen,. VI. Cap. I. which is 
 
 Printed in this Book, Page 35, and which Quotation the Author has 
 
 compar'd with the Original, viz, — 
 
 Coke's Institutes, third Part, Fol. gg. 
 
 The Cause wherefore this offence was made Felony, is for that the 
 good Course and effect of the Statutes of Labourers were thereby violated and 
 broken. Now (sais my Lord Coke) all the Statutes concerning 
 Labourers, before this Act, and whereunto this Act doth, refer, are 
 repeal' d by the Statute of 5 Eliz. Cap. 4, whereby the Cause and End 
 of the Making of this Act is taken away ; and consequently this Act 
 is become of no Force or Effect ; for cessante ratione Legis, cessat ipsa 
 Lex: And the Indictment oi Felony Vi'pon this Statute must contain, 
 that those Chapters and Congregations were to the violating and breaking 
 of the good Course and Effect of the Statutes of Labourers ; which now 
 cannot be so alledg'd, because these Statutes be repealed. Therefore 
 this would be put out of the Charge of Justices of Peace, written by 
 Master Lambert, page. 227. 
 
 This Quotation confirms the Tradition of old Masons, that this 
 most learned Judge really belong' d to the ancient Lodge, and was a 
 faithful Brother. 
 
(67) 
 
 ([general iaegulations;. 
 
 Compiled first by Mr. George Payne, 
 Anno 1720, when he was Grand-Master, and 
 approv'd by the Grand-Lodge on St. John 
 Baptist's Day, Anno 1721, at Stationers' Hall, 
 London ; when the most noble Prince John 
 Duke 0/ Montagu was unanimously chosen our 
 Grand-Master for the Year ensuing; who 
 chose John Beal M.D. his Deputy Grand- 
 Master- and [^^' ^^^^^^ Vtlleneau^ ) 
 ' (Mr. Thomas Morris, jun. ) 
 
 were chosen by the Lodge Grand-Wardens. 
 And now, by the Command of our said Right 
 Worshipful Grand -Master Montagu, the 
 Author of this Book has compar'd them with, 
 and reduc'd them to the ancient Records and 
 immemorial Usages of the Fraternity, and 
 digested them into this new Method, with 
 several proper Explications, for the Use of 
 the Lodges in and ^bout London and West- 
 ' minster. 
 
 HE Grand-Master, or his Deputy, hath Authority 
 and Right, not only to be present in any true Lodge, 
 but also to preside wherever he is, with the Master of 
 the Lodge on his Left-hand, and to order his Grand- 
 Wardens to attend him, who are not to act in parti- 
 cular Lodges as Wardens, but in his Presence, and et 
 
 his 
 
(68) 
 
 his Command ; because there the Grand-Master may command the 
 Wardens of that Lodge, or any other Brethren he pleaseth, to attend 
 and act as his. Wardens pro tempore. 
 
 II. The Master of a particular Lodge has the Right and Authority 
 of congregating the Members of his Lodge into a Chapter at pleasure 
 upon any Emergency or Occurrence, as well as to appoint the time 
 and place of their usual forming : And in case of Sickness, Death,- 
 or necessary Absence of the Master, the senior Warden shall act as 
 Master pro tempore, if no Brother is present who has been Master of 
 that Lodge before; for in that Case the absent Master's Authority 
 reverts to the last Master then present ; though he cannot act until 
 the said senior Warden has once congregated the Lodge, or in his 
 Absence the junior Warden. 
 
 III. The Master of each particular Lodge, or one of the Wardens, 
 or some other Brother by his Order, shall keep a Book containing 
 their By-Laws, the Names of their Members, with a List of all the 
 Lodges in Town, and the usual Times and Places of their forming, and 
 all their Transactions that are proper to be written. 
 
 IV. No Lodge shall make more than Five new Brethren at one 
 Time, nor any Man under the Age of Twenty-five, who must be also 
 his own Master ; unless by a Dispensation from the Grand-Master or 
 his Deputy. 
 
 V. No Man can be made or admitted a Member of a particular 
 Lodge, without previous notice one Month before given to the said 
 Lodge, in order to make due Enquiry into the Reputation and Capacity 
 of the Candidate ; unless by the Dispensation aforesaid. 
 
 VI. But no Man can be enter' d a Brother in any particular Lodge, or 
 admitted to be a Member thereof, without the unanimous Consent of all 
 the Members of that Lodge then present when the Candidate is propos'd, 
 and their Consent is formally ask'd by the Master; and they are 
 to signify their Consent or Dissent in their own prudent way, either 
 
 virtually 
 
(69) 
 
 virtually or in form, but with Unanimity : Nor is this inherent 
 Privilege subject to a Dispensation ; because the Members of a parti- 
 cular Lodge are the best Judges of it; and if a fractious Member 
 should be impos'd on them, it might spoil their Harmony, or hinder 
 their Freedom ; or even break and disperse the Lodge ; which ought to 
 be avoided by all good and true Brethren. 
 
 VII. Every new Brother at his making is decently to cloath the 
 Lodge — that is, all the Brethren present — and to deposite something 
 for the Relief of indigent and decay'd Brethren, as the Candidate shall 
 think fit to bestow, over and above the small Allowance stated by the 
 By-Laws, of that particular Lodge ; which Charity sha;ll be lodg'd with 
 the Master or Wardens, or the Cashier, if the Members think fit to 
 chuse one. 
 
 And the Candidate shall also solemnly promise to submit to the 
 Constitutions, the Charges, and Regulations, and to such other good 
 Usages as shall be intimated to them in Time and Place convenient. 
 
 VIIL No Set or Number of Brethren shall withdraw or separate 
 themselves from the Lodge in which they were made Brethren, or were 
 afterwards admitted Members, unless the Lodge becomes too numerous ; 
 nor even then, without a Dispensation from the Grand-Master or his 
 Deputy : And when they are thus separated, they must either immedi- 
 ately join themselves to such other Lodge as they shall like best, with 
 the unanimous Consent of that other Lodge to. which they go {as above 
 regulated') or else they must obtain the Grand- Master'' s Warrant to 
 join in forming a new Lodge. 
 
 If any Set or Number of Masons shall take upon themselves to form 
 a Lodge without the Grand-Master" s Warrant, the regular Lodges are 
 not to countenance them, nor own them as fair Brethren, and duly 
 form'd, nor approve of their Acts and Deeds ; but must treat them as 
 Rebels.^ until they humble themselves, as the Grand-Master shall in his 
 Prudence direct, and until he approve of them by his Warrant, which 
 must -be signify'd to the other Lodges, as the Custom is when a new 
 Lodge is to be register'd in the List of Lodges. 
 
 IX. 
 
(70) 
 
 IX. But if any Brother so far misbehave himself as to render his 
 Lodge uneasy, he shall be twice duly admonish' d by the Master or 
 Wardens in a form'd Lodge ; and if he will not refrain his Imprudence, 
 and obediently submit to the Advice of the Brethren, and reform what 
 gives them Offence, he shall be dealt with according to the By-Laws 
 of that particular Lodge, or else in such a manner as the Quarterly 
 Communication shall in their great Prudence think fit; for which a 
 new Regulation maybe afterwards made, 
 
 X. The Majority of every particular Lodge, when congregated, 
 shall have the Privilege of giving Instructions to their Master and 
 Wardens, before the assembling of the Grand Chapter, or Lodge, at the 
 three Quarterly Communications }\erea.iter mention' d, and of the Annual 
 Grand Lodge too ; because their Master and Wardens are their Repre- 
 sentatives, and are supposed to speak their Mind. 
 
 XI. All particular Lodges are to observe the same Usages as much 
 as possible ; in order to which, and for cultivating a good Under- 
 standing among Free-Masons, some Members out of every Lodge shall 
 be deputed to visit the other Lodges as often as shall be thought 
 convenient. 
 
 XII. The Grand-Lodge consists of, and is form'd by the Masters 
 and Wardefts of all the regular particular Lodges upon Record, with 
 the Grand-Master at their Head, and his Deputy on his Left-hand, 
 and the Grand- Wardens in their proper Places ; and must have a 
 Quarterly Communication about Michaelmas, Christmas, and Lady- 
 Day, in some convenient Place, as the Grand-Master shall appoint, 
 where no Brother shall be present, who is not at that time a Member 
 thereof, without a Dispensation; and while he stays, he shall not be 
 allow'd to vote, nor even give his Opinion, without Leave of the 
 Grand-Lodge ask'd and given, or unless it be duly a-sk'd by the said 
 Lodge. 
 
 All Matters are to be determin'd in the Grand-Lodge by a Majority 
 of votes, each Member having one Vote, and the Grand-Master having 
 
 two 
 
(71 ) 
 
 two Votes, unless the said Lodge leave any particular thing to the 
 Determination of the Grand-Master, for the sake of Expedition. 
 
 XIII. At the said Quarterly Communication, all Matters that concern 
 the Fraternity in general, or particular Lodges, or single Brethren, are 
 quietly, sedately, and maturely to be discours'd of and transacted: 
 Apprentices must be admitted Masters and Fellow-Craft only here, 
 unless by a Dispensation. Here also all Differences, that cannot be 
 made up and accommodated privately, nor by a particular Lodge, are 
 to be seriously -considered and decided : And if any Brother thinks 
 himself aggrieved by the Decision of this Board, he may appeal to the 
 annual Grand-Lodge next ensuing, and leave his Appeal in Writing, 
 with the Grand-Master, or his Deputy, or the Grand- Wardens. 
 
 Here also the Master or the Wardens of each particular Lodge shall 
 bring and produce a List of such Members as have been made, or 
 even admitted in their particular Lodges since the last Communication, 
 of the Grand- Lodge : And there shall be a Book kept by the Grand- 
 Master, or his Deputy, or rather by some Brother whom the Grand- 
 Lodge shall appoint for Secretary, wherein shall be recorded all the 
 Lodges, with their usual Times and Places of forming, and the Names 
 of all the Members of each Lodge; and all the Affairs of the Gran^d- 
 Lodge that are proper to be written. 
 
 They shall also consider of the most prudent and effectual Methods 
 of collecting and disposing of what Money shall be given to, or lodged 
 with them in Charity, towards the Relief only of any true Brother fallen 
 into Poverty or Decay, but of none else : But every particular Lodge 
 shall dispose of their own Charity for poor Brethren, according to their 
 own By-Laws, until itbe agreed by all the Lodges (in a new Regulation) 
 to carry in the Charity collected by them to the Grand-Lodge, at the 
 Quarterly or Annual Communication, in order to make a common 
 Stock of it, for the more handsome Kdiei oi poor Brethren. 
 
 They shall also appoint a Treasurer, a Brother of good worldly 
 Substance, who shall be a Member of the Grand-Lodge by virtue of 
 
 his 
 
(72) 
 
 his Office, and shall be always present, and have Power to move to the 
 Grand-Lodge any thing, especially what concerns his Office. To him 
 shall be committed all Money rais'd for Charity, or for any other Use 
 of the Grand-Lodge, which he shall write down in a Book, with the 
 respective Ends and Uses for which the several Sums are intended ; 
 and shall expend or disburse the same by such a certain Order, sign'd, 
 as the Grand-Lodge shall afterwards agree to in a new Regulation : But 
 he shall not vote in cb using a Grand- Master or Wardens, though in 
 every other Transaction. As in like manner the Secretary shall be a 
 Member of the Grand-Lodge by virtue of his Office, and vote in every 
 thing except in chusing a Grand- Master or Wardens. 
 
 The Treasurer and Secretary shall have each a Clerk, who must be 
 a Brother and Fellow-Craft, but never must be a Member of the 
 Grand- Lodge, nor speak without being allow' d or desir'd. 
 
 The Grand-Master, or his Deputy, shall always command the 
 Treasurer and Secretary, with their Clerks and Books, in order to see 
 "how Matters go on, and to know what is expedient to be done upon 
 any emergent Occasion. 
 
 Another Brother (who must be a Fellow-Craft) should be appointed 
 to look after the Door of the Grand-Lodge ; but shall be no Member 
 of it. 
 
 But these Offices may be farther explain' d by a new Regulation, 
 when the Necessity and Expediency of them may more appear than at 
 present to the Fraternity. 
 
 XIV. if at any Grand-Lodge, stated or occasional, quarterly or 
 annual, the Grand- Master and his Deputy should be both absent, 
 then the present Master of a Lodge, that has been the longest a Free- 
 Mason, shall take the Chair, and preside as Grand- Master pro tempore; 
 and shall be vested with all his Power and Honour for the time ; pro- 
 vided there is no Brother present that has been Grand-Master formerly , 
 or Deputy Grand-Master ; for the last Grand-Master present, or else 
 the last Deputy present, should always of right take place in the 
 Absence of the present Grand-Master and his Deputy. 
 
 XV. 
 
(73) 
 
 XV. In the Grand-Lodge none can act as Wardens but the Grand- 
 Wardens themselves, if present ; and if absent, the Grand-Master, 
 or the Person who presides in his Place, shall order private Wardens 
 to act as Grand-Wardens pro tempore, whose Places are to be supply'd 
 by two Fellow-Craft of the same Lodge, call'd forth to act, or sent 
 thither by the particular Master thereof; or if by him omitted, they 
 shall be call'd by the Grand-Master, that so the Grand- Lodge may be 
 always compleat. 
 
 XVI. The Grand-Wardens, or any others, are first to advise with 
 the Deputy about the Affairs of the Lodge or of the Brethren, and not 
 to apply to the Grand-Master without the Knowledge of the Deputy, 
 unless he refuse his Concurrence in any certain necessary Affair ; in 
 which Case, or in case of any Difference between the Deputy and the 
 Grand- Wardens, or other Brethren, both Parties are to go by Concert 
 to the Grand-Master, who can easily decide the Controversy and 
 make up the Difference by virtue of his great Authority. 
 
 The Grand-Masttr should receive no Intimation of Business con- 
 cerning Masonry, but from his Deputy first, except in such certain 
 Cases as his Worship can well judge of; for If the Application to 
 the Grand-Master- be irregular, he can easily order the Grand- Wardens, 
 or any other Brethren thus applying, to wait upon his Deputy, jvho is 
 to prepare the Business speedily, and to lay it orderly before his 
 Worship. 
 
 XVII. No Grand-Master, Deputy Grand-Master, Grand- Wardens, 
 Treasurer, Secretary, or whoever acts for them, or in their stead pro 
 tempore, can at the same time be the Master or Warden of a particular 
 Lodge; but as soon as any of them has honourably discharg'd his 
 Grand Office, he returns to that Post or Station in his particular 
 Lodge, from which he was call'd to officiate above. 
 
 XVIII. If the Deputy Grand-Master be sick, or necessarily 
 absent, the Grand-Master may chuse any Fellow-Craft he pleases to 
 be his Deputy pro tempore: But he that is chosen Deputy at the Grand- 
 Lodge, 
 
 K 
 
(74) 
 
 Lodge, and the Grand- Wardens too, cannot be discharged without 
 the Cause fairly appear to the Majority of the Grand-Lodge ; and ■ the 
 Grand-Master, if he is uneasy, may call a Grand-Lodge on pur- 
 pose to lay the Cause before them, and to have their Advice and 
 Concurrence ; In which case, the Majority of the Grand-Lodge, if they 
 cannot reconcile the Master and his Deputy or his Wardens, are to 
 concur in allowing the Master to discharge his said Deputy or his 
 said Wardens, and to chuse another Deputy immediately ; and the said 
 Grand-Lodge shall chuse other Wardens in that Case, that Harmony 
 and Peace may be preserv'd. 
 
 XIX. If the Grand-Master should abuse his Power, and render 
 himself unworthy of the Obedience and Subjection of the Lodges, he 
 shall be treated in a way and manner to be agreed upon in a new 
 Regulation ; because hitherto the ancient Fraternity have had no 
 occasion for it, their former Grand-Masters having all behaved 
 themselves worthy of that honourable Office. 
 
 XX. The Grand-Master, with his Deputy and Wardens, shall (at 
 least once) go round and visit all the Lodges about Town during his 
 Mastership. 
 
 XXI. If the Grand-Master die during his Mastership, or by 
 Sickness, or by being beyond Sea, or any other way should be 
 render'd uncapable of discharging his Office, the Deputy, or in his 
 Absence, the Senior Grand-Warden, or in his Absence the Junior, 
 or in his Absence any three present Masters of Lodges, shall join to 
 congregate the Grand-Lodge immediately, to advise together upon 
 that Emergency, and to send two of their Number to invite the last 
 Grand-Master to resume his Office, which now in course reverts to 
 him ; but if he refuse, then the next last, and so backward : But if 
 no former Grand-Master can be found, then the Deputy shall act as 
 Principal, until another is chosen ; or if there be no Deputy, then the 
 oldest Master. 
 
 XXII. 
 
('75) 
 
 XXII. The Brethren of all the Lodges in and about London and 
 Westminster, shall meet at an Annual Communication and Feast, 
 in some convenient Place, on St. John Baptist's Day, or else on St. 
 John Evangelisf s Day, as the Grand-Lodge shall think fit by a new 
 Regulation, having of late Years met on St. John Baptist's Day: 
 Provided, 
 
 The Majority of the Masters and Wardens, with the Grand-Master, 
 his Deputy and Wardens, agree at their Quarterly Communication, 
 three Months before, that there shall be a Feast, and a General 
 Communication of all the Brethren : For if either the Grand-Master, 
 or the Majority of the particular Masters, are against it, it must be 
 dropt for that Time. 
 
 But whether there shall be a Feast for all the Brethren, or not, yet 
 the Grand Lodge must meet in some convenient Place annually on 
 St. John's Day ; or if it be Sunday, then on the next day, in order to 
 chuse every Year a new Grand- Master, Deputy, and Wardens. 
 
 XXIII. If it be thought expedient, and the Grand-Master, with 
 the Majority of the Masters and Wardens, agree to hold a Grand 
 Feast, according to the ancient laudable Custom of Masons, then the 
 Grand- Wardens shall have the care of preparing the Tickets, seal'd 
 with the Grand-Master's Seal, of disposing of the Tickets, of receiving 
 the Money for the Tickets, of buying the Materials of the Feast, of 
 finding out a proper and convenient Place to feast in ; and of every 
 other thing that concerns the Entertainment, 
 
 But that the Work may not be too burthensome to the two Grand- 
 Wardens, and that all Matters may be expeditiously and safely 
 managed, the Grand-Master, or his Deputy, shall have power to 
 nominate and appoint a certain Number of Stewards, as his Worship 
 shall think fit, to act in concert with the two Grand- Wardens ; all 
 things relating to the Feast being decided amongst them by a 
 Majority of Voices ; except the Grand- Master or his Deputy interpose 
 by a particular Direction or Appointment. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
(76) 
 
 XXIV. The IVardms and Stewards shall, in due time, wait upon 
 the Grand-Master, or his Deputy, for Directions and Orders about the 
 Premisses ; but if his Worship and his Deputy are sick, or necessarily- 
 absent, they shall call together the Masters and Wardens of Lodges to 
 meet on purpose for their Advice and Orders ; or else they may take 
 the Matter wholly upon themselves, and do the best they can. 
 
 The Grand-Wardens and the Stewards are to account for all the 
 Money they receive, or expend, to the Grand-Lodge, after Dinner, or 
 when the Grand-Lodge shall think fit to receive their Accounts. 
 
 If the Grand-Master pleases, he may in due time summon all the 
 Masters and Wardens of Lodges to consult with them about ordering 
 the Grand Feast, and about any Emergency or accidental thing 
 relating thereunto, that may require Advice ; or else to take it upon 
 himself altogether. 
 
 XXV. The Masters of Lodges shall each appoint one experienc'd 
 and discreet Fellow-Cra/t of his Lodge, to compose a Committee, 
 consisting of one from every Lodge, who shall meet to receive, in a 
 convenient Apartment, every Person that brings a Ticket, and shall 
 have Power to discourse him, if they think fit, in order to admit him, 
 or debar him, as they shall see cause : Provided they send no Man 
 away before they have acquainted all the Brethren within Doors with 
 the Reasons thereof, to avoid Mistakes ; that so no true Brother may 
 be debarr'd, nor a false Brother, or mere Pretender, admitted. This 
 Committee must meet very early on St, John's Day at the Place, even 
 before any Persons come with Tickets. 
 
 XXVI. The Grand- Master shall appoint two or more trusty 
 Brethren to be Porters, or Door-keepers, who are also to be early 
 at the Place, for some good Reasons ; and who are to be at the 
 Command of the Co7timittee. 
 
 XXVII. The Grand- Wardens, or the Stewards, shall appoint before- 
 hand such a Number of Brethren to serve at Table as they think fit 
 and proper for that Work ; and they may advise with the Masters and 
 
 Wardens 
 
{77) 
 
 Wardens of Lodges about the most proper Persons, if they please, or 
 may take in such by their Recommendation ; for none are to serve 
 that Day, but free and accepted Masons, that the Communication may 
 be free and harmonious. 
 
 XXVIII. All the Members of the Grand-Lodge must be at the 
 Place long before Dinner, with the Grand-Master, or his Deputy, at 
 their Head, who shall retire, and form themselves. And this is done 
 in order, — 
 
 1. To receive any Appeals duly lodg'd, as above regulated, that the 
 Appellant may be heard, and the Affair may be amicably decided 
 before Dinner, if possible; but if it cannot, it must be delay' d till 
 after the new Grand-Master is elected ; and if it cannot be decided 
 after Dinner, it may be delay'd, and referr'd to a particular Committee, 
 that shall quietly adjust it, and make report to the next Quarterly 
 Communication, that Brotherly-Love may be preserv'd. 
 
 2. To prevent any Difference or Disgust which may be feared to 
 arise that Day ; that no Interruption may be given to the Harmony 
 and Pleasure of the Grand Feast, 
 
 3. To consult about whatever concerns the Decency and Decorum 
 of the Grand- Assembly, and to prevent all Indecency and III Manners, 
 the Assembly being promiscuous. 
 
 4. To receive and consider of any good Motion, or any momentous 
 and important Affair, that shall be brought from the particular Lodges, 
 by their Representatives, the several Masters and Wardens. 
 
 XXIX. After these things are discuss'd, the Grand-Master and 
 his Deputy, the Grand' Wardens, or the Stewards, the Secretary, . the 
 Treasurer, the Clerks^ and every other Person, shall withdraw, and 
 leave the Masters and Wardens of the particular Lodges alone, in order 
 to consult amicably about electing a New Grand-Master, or continuing 
 the present, if they have not done it the Day before ; and if they are 
 unanimous for continuing the present Grand-Master, his Worship shall 
 be call'd in, and humbly desir'd to do the Fraternity the .Honour of 
 
 ruling 
 
(78) 
 
 ruling them for the Year ensuing : And after dinner it will be known 
 whether he accepts of it or not ; For it should not be discover' d but 
 by the Election itself. 
 
 XXX. Then the Masters and Wardens, and all the Brethren, may 
 converse promiscuously, or as they please to sort together, until the 
 Dinner is coming in, when every Brother takes his Seat at Table. 
 
 XXXI. Some time after Dinner the Grand-Lodge is form'd, not in 
 Retirement, but in the Presence of all the Brethren, who yet are not 
 Members of it, and must not therefore speak until they are desir'd 
 and allow' d. 
 
 XXXII. If the Grand-Master of last Year has consented with the 
 Master and Wardens in private, before Dinner, to continue for the 
 Year ensuing ; then one of the Grand-Lodge, deputed for that purpose, 
 shall represent to all the Brethren his Worship's good Government, &€., 
 and turning to him, shall, in the Name of the Grand-Lodge, humbly 
 request him to do the Fraternity the great Honour (if nobly born, if 
 not the great Kitidness) of continuing to be their Grand-Master for the 
 Year ensuing. And his Worship declaring his Consent by a Bow or 
 a Speech, as he pleases, the said deputed Member of the Grand-Lodge 
 shall proclaim him Grand-Master, and all the Members of the 
 Lodge shall salute him in due Form. And all the Brethren shall for 
 a few Minutes have leave to declare their Sq.tisfaction, Pleasure, and 
 Congratulation. 
 
 XXXIII. But if either the Master and Wardens have not in private, 
 this Day before Dinner, nor the Day before, desir'd the last Grand- 
 Master to continue in the Mastership another Year ; or if he, when 
 desir'd, has not consented: Then, 
 
 The last Grand-Master shall nominate his Successor for the Year 
 ensuing, who, if unanimously approv'd by the Grand-Lodge, and if 
 there present, shall be proclaim'd, saluted, and congr'atulated the 
 new Grand-Master as above hinted, and immediately install'd by 
 the last Grand-Master, according to Usage. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
(79) 
 
 XXXIV. But if that Nomination is not unanimously approv'd, the 
 new Grand-Master shall be chosen immediately by Ballot, every Master 
 and Warden writing- his Man's Name, and the last Grand-Master 
 writing his Man's Name too ; and the Man, whose Name the last 
 Grand-Master shall first take out, casually or by chance, shall be 
 Grand-Master for the Year ensuing ; and if present, he shall be 
 proclaim'd, saluted, and congratulated, as above hinted, and forth- 
 with install'd by the last Grand-Master, according to Usage. 
 
 XXXV. The last Grand-Master thus continued, or the new 
 Grand-Master thus install'd, shall next nominate and appoint his 
 Deputy Grand-Master, either the last or a new one, who shall be also 
 declar'd, saluted and congratulated as above hinted. 
 
 The Grand-Master shall also nominate the new Grand-Wardens, 
 and if unanimously approv'd by the Grand-Lodge, shall be declar'd, 
 saluted, and congratulated, as above hinted ; but if not, they shall be 
 chosen by Ballot, in the same way as the Grand- Master : As the 
 Wardens of private Lodges are also to be chosen by Ballot in each 
 Lodge, if the Members thereof do not agree to their Master's Nomi- 
 nation. 
 
 XXXVI. But if the Brother, whom the present Grand-Master shall 
 nominate for his Successor, or whom the Majority of the Grand-Lodge 
 shall happen to chuse by Ballot, is, by Sickness or other necessary 
 Occasion, absent from the Grand Feast, he cannot be proclaim'd the 
 New Grand Master, unless the old Grand-Master, or some of the 
 Masters and Wardens of the Grand-Lodge, caa vouch, upon the 
 Honour of a Brother, that the said Person, so nominated or chosen, 
 will readily accept of the said Office ; in which case the old Grand- 
 Master shall act as Proxy, and shall nominate the Deputy and 
 Wardens in his Name, and in his Name also receive the usual 
 Honours, Homage, and Congratulation. 
 
 XXXVII. Then the Grand-Master shall allow any Brother, 
 Fellow-Craft, or Apprentice to speak, directing his Discourse to his 
 
 Worship ; 
 
(80) 
 
 Worship; or to make any Motion for the good of the Fraternity, 
 which shall be either immediately consider' d and finish'd, or else 
 referr'd to the Consideration of the Grand-Lodge at their next Com- 
 munication, stated or occasional. When that is over, 
 
 XXXVIII. The Grand-Master or his Deputy, or some Brother 
 appointed by him, shall harangue all the Brethren, and give them 
 good Advice : And lastly, after some other Transactions, that cannot 
 be written in any Language, the Brethren may go away or stay 
 longer, as they please. 
 
 XXXIX. Every Annual Grand-Lodge has an inherent Power and 
 Authority to make new Regulations, or to alter these, for the real 
 Benefit of this ancient Fraternity : Provided always that the old 
 Landmarks be carefully preserv'd, and that such Alterations and new 
 Regulations be proposed and agreed to at the third Quarterly Com?nuni- 
 cation preceding the Annual Grand Feast ; and that they be offered also 
 to the Perusal of all the Brethren before Dinner, in writing, even of 
 the youngest Apprentice; the Approbation and Consent of the Majority 
 of all the Brethren present being absolutely necessary to make the 
 same binding and obligatory ; which must, after Dinner, and after the 
 new Grand-Master is install'd, be solemnly desir'd ; as it was desir'd 
 and obtain' d for these Regulations, when propos'd by the Grand- 
 Lodge, to about 150 Brethren, on St. John Baptist'' s Day, 1721. 
 
 POST 
 
(8i ) 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Here follows the Manner of constituting a New 
 Lodge, as practis'd by his Grace the Duke 
 of Wharton, the present Right Worshipful 
 Grand- Master, according to the ancient 
 Usages of Masons. 
 
 A New Lodge, for avoiding many Irregularities, should be 
 solemnly constituted by the Grand- Master, with his Deputy and 
 Wardens ; or in the Grand-Master's Absence, the Deputy shall act for 
 his Worship, and shall chuse some Master of a Lodge to assist him ; or 
 in case the Deputy is absent, the Grand-Master shall call forth some 
 Master of a Ledge to act as Deputy pro tempore. 
 
 The Candidates, or the new Master and Wardens,, being yet among 
 the Fellow-Craft, the Grand- Master shall ask his Deputy if he has 
 examin'd them, and finds the Candidate Master well skill'd in the noble 
 Science and the royal Art, and duly instructed in our Mysteries, &c. 
 
 And the Deputy answering in the affirmative, he shall (by the 
 Grand- Master* s Order) take, the Candidate from among his- Fellows, 
 and present him to the Grand-Master; saying, Right worshipful 
 Grand-Master, the Brethren here desire to be form! d into a new Lodge; 
 and I present this my worthy Brother to be their Master, whom I know to 
 be of good Morals and great Skill, true and trusty, and a Lover of the 
 whole Fraternity, wheresoever dispersed over the Face of the Barth. 
 
 Then the Grand-Master, placing the Candidate on his left Hand, 
 having ask'd and obtain^ the unanimous Consent of all the Brethren, 
 shall say : / constitute and form these good Brethren into a new Lodge, 
 and appoint you the Master of it, not doubting of your Capacity and Care to 
 preserve the Cement of the Lodge, &c., with some other Expressions that 
 are proper and usual on that Occasion, but not proper to be written. 
 
 L Upon 
 
(82) 
 
 Upon this the Deputy shall rehearse the Ckurgis of a Master, attd 
 the Grand-Master shall ask the Candidate, saying, Do you submit to 
 these Charges, as Masters have done in all Ages ? And the Candidate 
 signifying his cordial Submission thereunto, the Grand-Master shall, 
 by certain significant Ceremonies and ancient Usages, install him, and 
 present him with the Constitutions, the Lodge-Book, and the Instru- 
 ments of his Office, not all together, but one after another ; and after 
 each of them, the Grand-Master, or his Deputy, shall rehearse the 
 short and pithy Charge that is suitable to the thing presented. 
 
 After this, the Members of this new Lodge, bowing all together to 
 the Grand-Master, shall return his Worship Thanks, and immediately 
 do their Homage to their new Master, and signify their Promise of 
 Subjection and Obedience to him by the usual Congratulation. 
 
 The Deputy and the Grand- Wardens, and any other Brethren present, 
 that are not Members of this new Lodge, shall next congratulate the 
 new Master ; and he shall return his becoming Acknowledgments to 
 the Grand-Master first, and to the rest in their Order. 
 
 Then the Grand-Master desires the new Master to enter immediately 
 upon the Exercise of his Office, in chusing his Wardens: And the 
 New Master calling forth two Fellow-Craft, presents them to the 
 Grand-Master for his Approbation, and to \}a.e new Lodge for their 
 Consent. And that being granted, 
 
 The senior or junior Grand-Warden, or some Brother for him, 
 shall rehearse the Charges of Wardens; and the Candidates being 
 solemnly ask'd by the new Master, shall signify their Submission 
 thereunto. 
 
 Upon which the New Master, presenting them with the Instruments 
 of their Office, shall, in due Form, install them in their proper Places; 
 and the Brethren of that new Lodge shall signify their Obedience to 
 the new Wardens by the usual Congratulation. 
 
 And this Lodge being thus compleatly constituted, shall be 
 register'd in the Grand- Master" s Book, and by his Order 
 notify'd to the other Lodges. 
 
(83) 
 
 APPROBATION. 
 
 \ 7[ /HEREAS by the Confusions occasion'd in the Saxon, Danish, and Norman 
 V V Wars, the Records of Masons have been much vitiated, the Free Masons of 
 England twice thought it necessary to correct their Constitutions, Charges, and Regu- 
 lations: first in the Reign of .^/«^ Athelstan the Saxon, and long after in the Reign 
 of King Edward IV. the Norman : And Whereas the old Constitutions in England 
 have been much interpolated, mangled, and miserably corrupted, not only with false 
 Spelling, but even with many false Facts and gross Errors in History and Chronology, 
 through Length of Time, and the Ignorance of Transcribers, in the dark, illiterate Ages, 
 before the Revival of Geometry and ancient Architecture, to the great Offence of all the 
 learned and judicious Brethren, whereby also the Ignorant have be'en deceiv'd : 
 
 And our late Worthy Grand- Master, his Grace the Duke of Montagu, having 
 order'd the Author to peruse, correct, and digest into a new and better Method, the 
 History, Charges, and Regulations, of the ancient Fraternity; He has accordingly 
 examin'd several Copies from Italy and Scotland, and sundry Parts of England, and 
 from thence, (tho' in many things erroneous) and from' several other ancient Records 
 of Masons, he has drawn forth the above-written new Constitutions, with the Charges 
 and General Regulations : And the Author having submitted the whole to the 
 Perusal and Corrections of the late and present Deputy Grand-Masters, aud of other 
 learned Brethren ; and also of the Masters and Wardens of particular Lodges at their 
 Quarterly Communication : He did regularly deliver them to the late Grand-Master: 
 himself, the said Duke of Montagu, for his Examination, Correction, and Approbation ; 
 and his Grace, by the Advice of several Brethren, order'd the same to be handsomely 
 printed for the use of the Lodges, though they were not quite ready for the Press during 
 his Mastet ship : 
 
 Therefore We, the present Grand-Master of the Right Worshipful and most 
 ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, the Deputy Grand-Master, the Grand- 
 Wardens, the Masters and Wardens of particular Lodges (with the Consent of the 
 Brethren and Fellows in and about the Cities of London and Westminster) having also 
 perused this Performance, Do join our laudable Predecessors in our solemn Approbation 
 thereof, as what We believe will fully answer the End proposed ; all the valuable Things 
 of the old Records being retain'd, the Errors in History and Chronology corrected, the 
 false Facts and the improper Words omitted, and the whole digested in a new and 
 better Method. 
 
 And 
 
(84) 
 
 And we ordain That these be receiv'd in every particular Lodge under our Cognizance, 
 as the Only Constitutions of Free and Accepted Masons amongst us, to be read at the 
 making of new Brethren, or when the Master shall think fit ; and which the new Brethren 
 should peruse before they are made. 
 
 Philip Duke of Wharton, (SranD^^aster. 
 J. T. Desaguliers, LL.D. and F. R.S., 
 
 Deputy Grand-Master. 
 IP.^?"^ ^J"^,^"" } Grand-Wardens. 
 
 I. Thomas Morris sen. Master, 
 John Bristow } „, , 
 Abraham Abbot / Wardens. 
 
 ^iHiam J^atofeins ) 
 
 And the Masters and Wardens of particular Lodges, viz. — 
 
 XI. Francis Earl of Dalkeith Master. 
 Capt. Andrew Robinson 1 „, , 
 Col. Thomas Inwood / Wardens. 
 
 XII. John Beal M.D. andF.R.S. Master. 
 Edward Pawlet Esq ; 1 ,-,7 ■. 
 Charles More Esq ; I wardens. 
 
 XIII. Thomas Morris jun. Master. 
 Joseph Ridler 1 ,,r , 
 John Clark } Wardens. 
 
 XIV. Thomas Robbe Esq ; Master. 
 
 !■ Wardens. 
 
 II. Richard Hail Master. 
 Philip Wolverston 
 John Dover 
 
 III. John Turner Master. 
 Anthony Sayer ) •iTr„,j„„„ 
 Edward Cale | Wardens. 
 
 IV. Mr. George Payne Master. 
 
 Stephen Hall, M.D. \ wardens 
 Francis Sorell Esq; J ^^'^"^'^s. 
 
 V. Mr. Math. Birkhead Master. 
 Francis Baily \ w..^„„. 
 Nicholas Abraham J vvaruens. 
 
 VI. William Read Master. 
 John Glover 1 ,,, , 
 Robert Cordell | Wardens. 
 
 VII. Henry Branson Master. 
 Henry Lug ) ,,, , 
 John Townshend | Wardens. 
 
 VIII. Master. 
 \Z^l'^J^r ] wardens. 
 
 IX. George Owen M.D. Master. 
 
 Eman Bowen 1 Wardens 
 John Heath / waraens. 
 
 X. Master. 
 John Lubton \ ,,r ,•,„„, 
 Richard Smith / Wardens. 
 
 Thomas Grave 1 ,„ , 
 BRAY Lane / Wardens. 
 
 XV. Mr. John Shepherd Master. 
 
 John Senex | w-rden^ 
 John Bucler J wardens. 
 
 XVL John Georges Esq; Master. 
 Robert Gray Esq; 1 „, , 
 Charles Grymes Esq ; | Wardens. 
 
 XVII. James Anderson A.M. I ,, 
 The Author of this Book. / faster. 
 GwiNN Vaughan Esq ; ) 
 
 Walter Greenwood Esq ; | 
 
 XVIIL Thomas Harbin Master. 
 William Attley 
 John Saxon 
 
 XIX. Robert Capell Master. 
 Isaac Mansfield 1 ^.-.j , 
 William Bly j Wardens. 
 
 XX. John Gorman Master. 
 Charles Garey I -ur j 
 Edward Morphey J wardens. 
 
 Wardens. 
 
 1- Wardens. 
 
(85) 
 
 THE 
 
 M A S T E R'S SONG: 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 HISTORY OF MASONRY. 
 
 By the aut&Ot. 
 
 To be sung with a Chorus, when the Master shall give leave, either one Part only, or all 
 
 together, as he pleases. 
 
 PART L 
 
 ADAM, the first of humane Kind, 
 Created with Geometry 
 Imprinted on his Royal Mind, 
 Instructed soon his Progeny 
 Cain and Seth, who then improv'd 
 
 The lib'ral Science in the Art 
 Of Architecture, which they lov'd, 
 And to their Offspring did impart. 
 
 Cain a City fair and strong 
 
 First built, and call'd it Consecrate, 
 From Enoch's, Name, his eldest Son, 
 
 Which all his Race did imitate : 
 But godly Enoch, of Seth's Loins, 
 
 Two Columns rais'd with mighty Skill : 
 And all his Family enjoins 
 
 True Colonading to fulfil. 
 
 III. 
 Our Father Noah next appear'd, 
 
 A Mason too divinely taught ; 
 And by divine Command uprear'd 
 
 The Ark, that held a goodly Fraught ; 
 'Twas built by true Geometry, 
 
 A piece of Architecture fine ; 
 Helpt by his Sons, in number Threk, 
 
 Concurring in the grand Design. 
 
 IV. 
 
 So from the gen'ral Deluge none 
 
 Were sav'd, but Masons and their Wives , 
 And all Mankind from them alone 
 
 Descending, Architecture thrives ; 
 For they, when multiply'd amain, 
 
 Fit to disperse and fill the Earth, 
 In Shinar's large and lovely Plain 
 
 To Masonry gave second Birth. 
 
 V. 
 For most of Mankind were employ'd, 
 
 To build the City and the Tow'r ; 
 The Gen'ral Lodge was overjoy'd. 
 
 In such Effects of Masons Pow'r ; 
 'Till vain Ambition did provoke 
 
 Their Maker to confound their Plot ; 
 Yet tho' with Tongues confus'd they spoke, 
 
 The learned Art they ne'er forgot. 
 
 Who can unfold the Poyal Art f 
 
 Or sing its Secrets in a Song ? 
 They're safely kept in Mason's Heart, 
 
 And to the ancient Lodge belong. 
 
 [Stop here to drink the present Grahd' 
 Master's Health. 
 
 PART 
 
(86) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THUS when from Babel they disperse 
 In Colonies to distant Climes, 
 All Masons true, who could rehearse 
 
 Their Works to those of after Times ; 
 King NiMROD fortify'd his Realm, 
 
 By Castles, Towr's, and Cities fair : 
 Mitzra'm, who rul'd at Egypt's Helm, 
 Built Pyramids stupendous there. 
 
 II. 
 
 Nor Japhet, and his gallant Breed, 
 
 Did less in Masonry prevail ; 
 Nor Shem, and those that did succeed 
 
 To promis'd Blessings by Entail ; 
 For Father Abram brought from Ur 
 
 Geometry, the Science good ; 
 Which he reveal'd, without demur, 
 
 To all descending from his Blood. 
 
 III. 
 
 Nay, Jacob's Race at length were taught 
 
 To lay aside the Shepherd's Crook, 
 To use Geometry were brought. 
 
 Whilst under Fhafoh's cruel Yoke ; 
 'Till Moses Master-Mason rose. 
 
 And led the Holy Lodge from thence, 
 All Masons train'd, to whom he chose 
 
 His curious Learning to dispense. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Aholiab and Bezaleel, 
 
 Inspired Men, the Tent uprear'd ; 
 Where the Shechinah chose to dwell. 
 
 And Geometrick Skill appear'd : 
 
 And when these valiant Masons fill'd 
 Canaan, the learn'd Phenicians knew 
 
 The Tribes of Isra'l better skill'd 
 In Architecture firm and true. 
 
 V. 
 
 For Dagon's House in Gaza Town, 
 
 Artfully propt by Columns two ; 
 By Samson's mighty Arms puU'd down 
 
 On I^rds Philistian, whom it slew ; 
 Tho' 'twas the finest Fabrick rais'd 
 
 By Canaan's Sons, could not compare 
 With the Creator's Temple prais'd, 
 
 For glorious Strength and Structure fair. 
 
 VI. 
 
 But here we stop a while to toast 
 
 Our Master's Health and Wardens both ; 
 And warn you all to shun the Coast 
 
 Of Samson's Shipwrackt Fame and Troth ; 
 His Secrets once to Wife disclos'd. 
 
 His Strength was fled, his Courage tam'd, 
 To cruel Foes he was expos'd. 
 
 And never was a Mason nam'd. 
 
 Who can unfold the Royal Art ? 
 
 Or sing its Secrets in a Song ? 
 They're safely kept in Masons Heart, 
 
 And to the ancient Lodge belong. 
 
 [Stop here to drink the health of the 
 Master and Wardens of this particular 
 Lodge. 
 
 PART 
 
(87) 
 
 PART III. 
 
 I. 
 
 WE sing of Masons ancient Fame, 
 When fourscore Thousand Crafts- 
 [men stood, 
 Under the Masters of great Name, 
 
 Three Thousand and six Hundred good, 
 Employ'd by Solomon the Sire, 
 
 And GenWal Master-Mason too ; 
 As Hiram was in stately Tyre, 
 Like Salem built by Masons true. 
 
 II. 
 The Royal Art was then divine, 
 
 The Craftsmen counsell'd from above, 
 The Temple did all Works outshine. 
 
 The wond'ring World did all approve ; 
 Ingenious Men, from every Place, 
 
 Came to survey the glorious Pile ; 
 And, when retum'd, began to trace. 
 
 And imitate its lofty Style, 
 
 III. 
 
 At length the Grecians came to know 
 
 Geometry, and learnt the Art, 
 Which great Pythagoras did show. 
 
 And glorious Euclid did impart ; 
 Th' amazing Archimedes too. 
 
 And many other Scholars good ; 
 'Till ancient Romans did review 
 
 The Art, and Science understood. 
 
 IV. 
 
 But vilatn proud Asia they had quell'd. 
 And Greece and Egypt overcome. 
 
 In Architecture they excell'd. 
 And brought the Learning all, to Rome ; 
 
 Where wise Vitruvius, Master prime 
 
 Of Architects, the Art improv'd. 
 In Great Augustus' peaceful Time, 
 
 When Arts and Artists were belov'd. 
 
 V. 
 
 They brought the Knowledge from the East ; 
 
 And as they made the Nations yield. 
 They spread it thro' the North and West, 
 
 And taught the World the Art to build ; 
 Witness their Citadels and Toitfrs, 
 
 To fortify their Legions fine, 
 Their Temples, Palaces, and Bovfrs, 
 
 That spoke the Masons Grand Design. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Thus mighty Eastern King.', and some 
 
 Of Abram's Race, and Monarchs good. 
 Of Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome, 
 
 True Architecture understood : 
 No wonder, then, '\i Masons ]<yiX\. 
 
 To celebrate th(3se Mason-Kings, 
 With solemn Note and flowing Wine, 
 
 Whilst ev'ry Brother ]GvaAy sings. 
 
 C!)oru0. 
 
 Who can unfold the Royal Art 1 
 
 Or sing its Secrets in a Song ? 
 They're safely kept in Mason's Heart, 
 
 And to the ancient Lodge belong. 
 
 [Stop here to drink to the glorious Memory 
 of Emperors, Kings, Princes, Nobles, 
 Gentry, Clergy, and learned Scholars, 
 that ever propagated the Art. 
 
 PART 
 
(88) 
 
 PART IV- 
 
 OH ! glorious Days for Masons wise, 
 O'er all the Roman Empire, when 
 Their Fame, resounding to the Skies, 
 
 Proclaim'd them good and useful Men ; 
 For many Ages thus employ'd, 
 
 Until the Goths, with warlike Rage, 
 And brutal Ignorance, destroy'd 
 The Toil of many a learned Age. 
 
 II. 
 
 But when the conquering Goths were brought 
 
 T'embrace the Christian Faith, they found 
 The P'oUy that their Fathers wrought, 
 
 In loss of Architecture found. 
 At length their Zeal for stately Fanes, 
 
 And wealthy Grandeur, when at Peace, 
 Made them exert their utmost Pains, 
 
 Their Gothick Buildings to upraise. 
 
 III. 
 
 Thus many a sumptuous lofty Pile 
 
 Was rais'd in every Christian Land, 
 Tho' not conform to Roman Style, 
 
 Yet which did Reverence command : 
 The King and Craft agreeing still, 
 
 In well-form'd Lodges to supply 
 The mournful Want of Roman Skill 
 
 With their new sort of Masonry. 
 
 IV. 
 
 For many Ages this prevails. 
 
 Their Work is Architecture deem'd ; 
 
 In England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, 
 The Craftsmen highly are esteem'd, 
 
 By Kings, as Masters of the Lodge, 
 
 By many a wealthy noble Peer, 
 By Lord and Laird, by Priest and Judge, 
 
 By all the People everywhere. 
 
 V. 
 
 So Masons ancient Records tell, 
 
 King Athelstan, of Saxon Blood, 
 Gave them a Charter free to dwell 
 
 In Jj)fty Lodge, with Orders good. 
 Drawn from old Writings by his Son, 
 
 Prince Edwin, General- Master bright. 
 Who met at York the Brethren soon, 
 
 And to that Lodge did all recite. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Thence were their Laws and Charges fine 
 
 In ev'ry Reign observ'd with Care, 
 Of Saxon, Danish, Norman Line, 
 
 Till British Crowns united were : 
 The Monarch First of this whole Isle 
 
 Was learned James, a Mason King, 
 Who First of Kings reviv'd the Style 
 
 Of Great Augustus : Therefore sing. 
 
 Who can unfold the Royal Art ? 
 
 Or sing its Secrets in a Song ? 
 They're safely kept in Mason's Heart, 
 
 And to the ancient Lodge belong. 
 
 [Stop here to drink to the happy Memory 
 of all the Revivers of the ancient Au- 
 gustan Style, 
 
 PART 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 One Verfe of the Third Part of the Mafter's Song, with the 
 Chorus, fet to Mufic, by a Brother. 
 
 H U S mighty Eaflern Kings, and ibme Of Jbranis 
 
 Race, and Monirchs good, Of Sg^pt, Syria, Greece, and Rome, 
 
 ' True JrchiuBure under— ftood. No wonder then \f Mfons join To 
 
 gfe^ 
 
 celebrate thofeJfa/ort-Air«|fJ, Withfolemn Note and flow-ing Wine,Whilft 
 
 ev*— fy Bro^tber jointly fings. 
 ^ M 
 
( 8tf ) 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Who can un—fold He Rqy— al Art > or Ji 
 
 
 Who cm VOL — foU the Roy— al Art > or / ng its 
 
 
 Secrets in a Song> ibefre fdfety kept in Ma — fons 
 
 pDzrP— jcit— 4z*zf€ilztdr:^|if^— ii;==rztpfrz|Eizb^^ 
 
 Secrets in a Song ? Tbefre f<rfefy kept in Ma— fens 
 
 Heart, And to the ancient Lodge he^lm^^ 
 
 :l^zzr:zzrz;~ 
 
 Heart, 4^ to the ancient Lctdge de-^ 
 
( 87) 
 
 Tfte laft Verfe of the Wardens Song, with the Chorus, fet to Mufic' 
 by a Brother. * ' 
 
 Rom henceforth e— ver ling The Qntftfmen and the 
 I King,Vi\x\iVoe—try and Mu-Jick fWeet Refound their Har-mo-ny 
 Refound then- Har-mo-ny compleat , And with Ge — o—me-try 
 in slul— ful Hand, Due Homage Pay, Without De— lay. 
 
 
 Little Slower^ 
 
 Fttfter, 
 
 To Wharton's no-b|e Duke our Ma— fl^ Grand: He rules the 
 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 I Fr&s-bom Sons 
 
 hns of ^rf, By Love and Friendihip, by Love and 
 < Friendihip, by Love and Friendihip, Hand anjj^ Heart. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 
 Who can re~hearfe the Fraife, In loft Po-e-tick Lays, Or 
 
 Who "can re— hearfe the Fraife, In loft Po-e-tick Lays, ,0r 
 
 lb-lid Profe, of Melons true, Whofe Jrt tranfcends the common View ? 
 
 fo-lid Prole, o^ Mafons true, Whofe Art tranfcends the common View? 
 
 l^pspEppiij; 
 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 gliiiiiSiiiiiEliiiliil 
 
 Their Secrets, ne'er to Strangers yet expos'd, Preferv'd ihall 
 
 p=iiiillliliiiiiliiiii 
 
 Their Secrets, ne— vejr yet expos'd, Preferv'd (hall 
 
 
 
 Preferv'd Ihall be, fay Mafons Free^ And on— ly 
 
 be 
 
 be by Mafons Free^ 
 
 by Mafons Free, 
 
 H 
 
 -=13" 
 
 iiiiiiiliiiiii 
 
 
 fe 
 
 to the ancient Lodge difclos'd ; 
 
 — #-- 
 
 Becaufe they're 
 
 fli^iiSifellliiliiiElipii 
 
 and to the ancient Lodge difclos'd; Becaufe they're kept in 
 
 N 
 
(90) 
 
 ilpippiiiipiiiiiiiilirl 
 
 kept in MeforCs Heart, becaufe they're kept in Moforis Heart by 
 
 McfoTis Heeart^ 
 
 becaufe they're kept by 
 
 
 ■**e- 
 
 
 Brethren of the Roy-al ART. 
 
 ■r 
 
 Brethren. of the Roy-oL ART. 
 
 
 \—i 
 
 -U- 
 
 
 
 The Tune of the Enter'd Prentice's Song, Compos'd by its Author, 
 
 Mr. Birkhead, Deceas'd. 
 
 :_-p:i:__^it--— £— p.—p^-— -r|z^r^ziE_sif 
 
 -^— -4-i 
 
 Come let us prepare we Brothers that are met to — gether on 
 merry Oc— ca-fion, Let's Dri»^ Laugh and Sing, our Wine has a 
 
 ^■-—P-^szlzzt-~ZJ^rzt.-ZZ^ZS.~'^Z\~fL~Z- ^— lilH— — — -: 
 
 Spring, 'tis a Health to an Accepted MASON, 
 
 \t^ — 
 
( 89) 
 
 PART V. 
 
 THUS tho' in Italy the Art 
 From Gothick Rubbish first was rais'd ; 
 And Great Palladio did impart 
 
 A Style by Masons justly prais'd : 
 Yet here his mighty Rival Jones, 
 Of British Architects the Prime, 
 Did build such glorious Heaps of Stones, 
 As ne'er were match'd since CiESAR's Time. 
 
 II. 
 King Charles the First, z. Mason too. 
 
 With several Peers and wealthy Men, 
 Employ'd him and his Craftsmen true, 
 
 'Till wretched Civil Wars began. 
 But after Peace and Crown restor'd, 
 
 Tho' London was in ashes laid. 
 By Masons Art and good Accord, 
 
 A finer London rear'd its Head. 
 
 IIL 
 
 King Charles the Second raised then 
 
 The finest Column upon earth, 
 Founded St. Paul's, that stately Fane, 
 
 And RoyaV Change, with Joy and Mirth : 
 But afterwards the Lodges fail'd. 
 
 Till Great Nassau the Tast reviv'd. 
 Whose bright Example so prevail'd. 
 
 That ever since the Art has thriv'd. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Let other Nations boast at will. 
 
 Great Britain now will yield to none. 
 For true Geometry and Skill, 
 
 In building Timber, Brick, and Stone ; 
 For Architecture of each sort, 
 
 For curious Lodges, where we find 
 The Noble and the Wise resort. 
 
 And drink with Craftsmen true and kind. 
 
 V. 
 
 Then let good Brethren all rejoice. 
 
 And fill thfeir Glass with chearful heart ; 
 Let them express with grateful Voice 
 
 The Praises of the wond'rous Art : 
 Let ev'ry Brother's Health go round, 
 
 Not Fool or Knave, but Mason true ; 
 And let our Master's Fame resound, 
 
 The noble Duke of Montagu. 
 
 Who can unfold the Royal Art 1 
 Or sing its Secrets in a Song ? 
 
 They're safely kept in Mason's Heart, 
 And to the ancient Lodge belong. 
 
 M 
 
( go ) 
 
 THE 
 
 W A R D E N'S SONG 
 
 OR, ANOTHER 
 
 HISTORY OF MASONRY. 
 
 COMPOS'D 
 
 Since the most noble Prince Philip Duke of Wharton 
 was chosen Grand-Master. 
 
 By the Author. 
 
 To be sung and play'd at the Quarterly Communication. 
 
 WHEN e'er we are alone, 
 And ev'ry Stranger gone, 
 In Summer, AutuWin, Winter, Spring, 
 Begin to play, begin to sing, 
 The Mighty Genius of the lofty Lodge, 
 In ev'ry Age 
 
 That did engage \jFudge, 
 
 And well inspir'd the Prince, the Priest, the 
 The Noble and the Wise to join 
 In rearing Masons'' Grand Design. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Grand Design to rear. 
 Was ever Masons' Care, 
 From Adam down before the Flood, 
 Whose Art old Noah understood, 
 And did impart to yaphet, Shem, and Ham, 
 Who taught their Race 
 To build apace 
 Proud Babel's Town and Tow'r, until it came 
 To be admir'd too much, and then 
 Dispersed were the Sons of Men. 
 
 III. 
 
 But tho' their Tongues confus'd 
 In distant Climes they us'd, 
 They brought from Shinar Orders good, 
 To rear the Art they understood : 
 Therefore sing first the Princes of the Isles ; 
 Next Belus Great 
 Who fixt his Seat 
 In old Assyria, building stately Piles ; 
 And Mitzraim's Pyramids among 
 The other Subjects of our Song. 
 
 IV. 
 
 And Shem, who did instil 
 The useful wond'rous Skill 
 Into the Minds of Nations great : 
 And Abram next, who did relate 
 Th' Assyrian Learning to his Sons, that when 
 In Egypt's Land, 
 By Pharaoh's Hand, 
 Were roughly taught to be most skilful Men ; 
 Till their Grand-Master Moses rose, 
 And thern deliver'd from their Foes. 
 
 V. 
 
(91) 
 
 But who can sing his Praise, 
 Who did the Tent upraise ? 
 Then sing his Workmen true as Steel, 
 Aholiab and Bezakel ;, 
 Sing Tyre and Sydon, and Phenicians old. 
 But Samson's Blot 
 Is ne'er forgot : 
 He blabb'd his Secrets to his Wife, that sold 
 Her Husband, who at last pull'd down 
 The House on all in Gaza Town. 
 
 VI. 
 
 But Solomon the King 
 With solemn Note we sing, 
 'Who rear'd at length the Grand Design, 
 By Wealth, and Pow'r, and Art divine ; 
 Help'd by the learned Hiram Tyrian Prince, 
 By Craftsmen good. 
 That understood 
 Wise Hiram Abif's charming Influence : 
 He aided yewish Masters bright, 
 Whose curious Works none can recite. 
 
 VII. 
 
 These glorious Mason Kings 
 Each thankful Brother sings. 
 Who to its Zenith rais'd the Art, 
 And to all Nations did impart 
 The useful Skill : For from the Temple fine. 
 To ev'ry Land, 
 
 And foreign Strand, [Design ; 
 
 The Craftsmen march'd, and taught the Grand 
 Of which the Kings, with mighty Peers, 
 And learntdMen, were Overseers. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Diana's Temple next, 
 In Lesser Asia fixt ; 
 And Babylon's proud Walls, the Seat 
 Of Nebuchadnezzar the Great; 
 The Tomb of Mausolus, the Carian King ; 
 With many a Pile 
 Of lofty Style 
 In Africa and Greater Asia, sing, 
 In Greece, in Sicily, and Rome, 
 That had those Nations overcome. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Then sing Augustus too. 
 The Gen'ral Master true. 
 Who by Vitruvius did refine 
 And spread the Masons' Grand Design 
 Thro' North and West; till ancient Britons 
 The Royal Art [chose 
 
 In ev'ry Part, 
 And Roman Architecture could disclose ; 
 Until the Saxons' warlike Rage 
 Destroy'd the Skill of many an Age. 
 
 X. 
 
 At length the Gothick Style 
 Prevail'd in Britain's Isle, 
 When Masons' Grand Design reviv'd. 
 And in their well formed Lodges thriv'd, 
 Tho' not as formerly in Roman Days : 
 Yet sing the Fanes 
 
 Of Saxons, Danes, [Praise 
 
 Of Scots, Welch, Irish; but sing first the 
 Of Athelstan and Edwin Prince, 
 Our Master of great Influence. 
 
 XI. 
 
(92) 
 
 XI. 
 
 And eke the Norman King.s 
 The British Mason sings ; 
 Till Roman Style revived there, 
 And British Crowns united were 
 In learned James, a Mason King, who rais'd 
 Fine Heaps of Stones 
 By Inigo Jones, 
 That rival'd wise Palladio, justly prais'd 
 In Italy, and Britain too. 
 For Architecture firm and true. 
 
 XII. 
 
 And thence in ev'ry Reign 
 Did Masonry obtain 
 With Kings, the Noble and the Wise, 
 Whose Fame resounding to the Skies, 
 Excites the present Age in Lodge to join, 
 And Aprons wear 
 With Skill and Care, 
 To raise the Masons^ ancient Grand Design, 
 And to revive th' Augustan Style 
 In many an artfixl glorious Pile. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 JFrom henceforth ever sing 
 The Craftsman and the King, 
 With Poetry and Musick sweet 
 Resound their Harmony compleat ; 
 And with Geometry in skilful Hand, 
 Due Homage pay, 
 
 Without Delay, [Grand : 
 
 To Wharton's noble Duke our Mas^'er 
 He rules the Free-born Sons of Art, 
 By Love and Friendship, Hand and Heart. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Who can rehearse the Praise, 
 In soft Poetick Lays, 
 Or solid Prose, of Masons true, 
 Whose Art transcends the common View? 
 Their Secrets ne'er to Strangers yet expos'd, 
 Preserv'd shall be 
 By Masons Free, 
 And only to the ancient Lodge disclos'd ; 
 Because they're kept in Mason's Heart 
 By Brethren of the Royal Art. 
 
 To fill up this Page, it is thought not amiss to insert here a Paragraph from an old 
 Record of Masons, viz.— The Company of Masons, being otherwise termed Free Masons, 
 of auncient Staunding and good Reckonning, by means of affable and kind Meetings 
 diverse Tymes, and as a loving Brotherhood showld use to doe, did frequent this mutual 
 Assembly in the Tyme of King Henry V. the 12th Year of his most gracious Reign. And 
 the said Record describing a Coat of Arms, much the same with That of the London 
 Company of Freemen Masons, it is generally believ'd that the said Company is descended 
 of the ancient Fraternity; and that in former Times no Man was made Free of that Company 
 until he was' install'd in some Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, as a necessary Quali- 
 fication. But that laudable Practice seems to have been long in Dissuetude. The 
 Brethren in foreign Parts have also discover'd that several noble and ancient Societies and 
 Orders of men have derived their Charges and Regulations from the Free Masons, (which 
 are now the most ancient Order upon Earth) and perhaps were originally all Members too 
 of the said ancient and worshipful Fraternity. But this will more fully appear in due 
 time. 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 FELLOW-CRAFT'S SONG 
 
 By our Brother Charles Delafaye Esq ; 
 
 To be Sung and Play'd at the Grand-Feast. 
 
 I. 
 
 HAIL Masonry ! thou Craft divine ! 
 Gloryof Earth, from Heav'n reveal'd ; 
 Which dost with Jewels precious shine, 
 From all but Masons' Eyes conceal'd. 
 
 Thy praises due who can rehearse 
 In nervous Prose, or flowing Verse ? 
 
 II. 
 
 A§ Men from Brutes distinguisht are, 
 
 A Mason other Men excels, 
 For what's in Knowledge choice and rare 
 
 But in his Breast securely dwells ? 
 
 C!)oru0* 
 
 His silent Breast and faithful Heart 
 Preserve the Secrets of the Art. 
 
 in. 
 
 From scorching Heat, and piercing Cold ; 
 
 From Beasts, whose Roar the Forest rends ; 
 From the Assaults of Warriours bold. 
 
 The Masons' Art Mankind defends. 
 
 C|)orw0> 
 
 Be to this Art due Honour paid. 
 
 From which Mankind receives such Aid. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ensigns of State, that feed our Pride, 
 Distinctions troublesome, and vain ! 
 
 By Masons true are laid aside : 
 
 Arfs free-born Sons such Toys disdain ; 
 
 C!)oru0* 
 
 Ennobled by the Name they bear, 
 Distinguish'd by the Badge they wear. 
 
 V. 
 
 Sweet Fellowship, from Envy free : 
 Friendly Converse of Brotherhood ; 
 
 The Lodges lasting Cement be ! 
 Which has for Ages firmly stood. 
 
 A Lodge, thus built, for Ages past 
 Has lasted, and will ever last. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Then in our Songs be Justice done 
 To those who have enrich'd the Art, 
 
 From Jabal down to Burlington, 
 And let each Brother bear a Part. 
 
 C^orugf, 
 
 Let noble Masons' Healths go round ; 
 Their Praise in lofty Lodge resound. 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 ENTER'D 'PRENTICE'S SONG- 
 
 By our late BROTHER 
 
 Mr. Matthew Birkhead, deceas'd. 
 
 To be sung when all gram Business is over, and with the 
 
 Master's Leave. 
 
 I. 
 
 COME let us prepare, 
 We Brothers that are 
 Assembled on merry Occasion ; 
 
 Let's drink, laugh, and sing ; 
 Our Wine has a Spring : 
 Here's a Health to an Accepted Mason. 
 
 II. 
 
 The World is in pain 
 
 Our Secrets to gain, 
 And stiU let them wonder and gaze on ; 
 
 They ne'er can divine 
 
 The Word or the Sign 
 Of a Free and an Accepted Mason. 
 
 III. 
 
 'Tis This, and 'tis That, 
 
 They cannot tell What, 
 Why so many Great Men of the Nation 
 
 Should Aprons put on, 
 
 To make themselves one 
 With a Free and an Accepted Mason. 
 
 IV, 
 
 Great Kings, Dukes, and Lords, 
 Have laid by their Swords, 
 
 Our Mysfry to put a good Grace on, 
 And ne'er been ashara'd 
 To hear themselves nam'd 
 
 With a Free and an Accepted Mason. 
 
 V. 
 
 Antiquity's Pride 
 
 We have on our side. 
 And it maketh Men just in their Station : 
 
 There's nought but what's good 
 
 To be understood 
 By a Free and an Accepted Mason. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Then join Hand in Hand, 
 
 T' each other firm stand. 
 Let's be merry, and put a bright Face on ; 
 
 What Mortal can boast 
 
 So Noble a Toast, 
 As a Free and an Accepted Mason ? 
 

 
 ^^rts- r0^A--tiT^Cy^t^^.ir-fe^(^1pfHfiWM 
 
 ntf ^ ^^rr^^ph^1t^ P z-itTii nicAu^ i^^ajH^ 
 
 ^TY^J/ytL T j^ S i ^ rti yin IM ^ LJ III! n iVTwrw — r v r rrr-> r 
 
 
 CDUA/^ y-L-lIrf-i^t^^AA^^rrS^^CA^^U^ Sf-^ 
 
 
 ^^ (^^^ {^AJhu^A ^AA 'fty^Af(^tr^^y7ru feg 
 
 4m4^ 
 
 FACS/M/IE OF W/LSO/V M. S. 
 
(95) 
 THE WILSON MS. 
 
 THE BOOKE OF CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Tff£ Might of the Father of Heaven, and the Wisdome of the glorious 
 Sone, through the Grace and Goodnes of the Holy Ghost, y* bene 
 three Psons and one God, be w*'^ us at our Begininge, and geve 
 us Grace soe to govern us heerein our Livinge, that wee may come 
 to his Blisse that never shall have Endinge. Amen. 
 
 |OOD BRETHREN, and Fellowes, our purpose Is to tell 
 you howe and in what Maner wyse this wortfiy Ci-aft of 
 Masonrye was begoon, and afterwardes how it was 
 kept by worthy Kings and Princes and by many other 
 Ij woorshipfull Men, And also to those that bee heere 
 wee win charge by the charges that longeth to every Free-Mason to 
 keepe. For in good faith and they take good heede to it, it is woorthy 
 to bee well kepte, for it is a woorthy Craft and a curious Science. For 
 theie by seaven Liberall Sciences, of which seaven it is one of them. 
 And the Names of the seaven Sciences be theis : — The first is 
 Grammar, and that teacheth a Man to speake trulie and to write 
 truelie. The second isRhetorick, and that teacheth a Man to speake 
 faire in softe Termes. The therde isDialectick, orLogique, and that 
 teacheth a Man for to deseme or knowe Truth from Falshood. And 
 the forth is Arithmetick, which teacheth a Man to recon and to 
 counte all Manner of Number. T he fifth is Geometrie, and that 
 teacheth a Man the Mete and Measure of Earth and of all other 
 Things, the w^ Science is called Masonrie. A nd the sixt Science 
 is called AJusicke, and that teacheth a Man the Craft of Songe, and 
 Voice of Tongue and Organ, Harpe and Trumpe. And the vii* 
 
 Science 
 
(96) 
 
 Science Is called Astronomy, and that teacheth a Man to knowe the 
 Course of the Sonne, of the Moone, and of the Starres. These bee 
 the seaven liborall Sciences. The w"'' seaven bee all found by one 
 Science, that is to say Geometrie. And this may a Man prove, that 
 all the Science of the World is founde by Geometrie, for Geometrie 
 teacheth a Man Measure, Ponderation, and Waight of all Manner of 
 Things on Earth, For there Is noe Man Ihat worketh any Craft but 
 he worketh by some Mete or Measure [nor noe Man.buyeth or selleth 
 but by some Measure] or some Waight. And all this is Geometrie - 
 And thelse Marchaunts, Craftsmen, and all other of the vir Sciences, 
 and especially the Plowman and the Tillers of all Manner of Graine 
 and Seedes, Vine-Planters and Setters of other Fruites, are hereby 
 
 directed for by Grammar, nor Astronomy, ne by any other 
 
 of all the vri Sciences noe Man findeth Mett or Measure without 
 Geometrie. Wherefore me thinketh that the Science of Geometrie Is 
 most woorthy y' findeth all other. 
 
 How this worthy Science was first begoone I shall tell you. Before 
 Noes Floude there was a Man that was called Lameth, as it is written 
 in the Bible In the iiii"' Chapiter of Genesis. And this Lameth had 
 two Wives — the one Wyfe hight Ada and the other Sella. By his 
 first Wyfe, Ada, hee gott twqe Sonnes — the one hight Jabell, the 
 other Juball ; and by the other Wyfe, Sella, hee gatt a Sonne and a 
 Daughter. And thels fower Children found the Beginninge of all the 
 Crafts in the World. And the elder Sonne, Jabell, found the Craft of 
 Geometry, and hee .... Flockes of Sheepe and Land in the Fielde, 
 and furst wrought a Houses of Stone and Tree, as It is noted in the 
 Chapter above said. And his Brother Juball found the Crafte of 
 Musick, Song of Tonge, Harpe, and Organ. And the thirde 
 Brother, Tuballcayn, found Smith's Crafte of Gould, Silver, Copper, 
 Yron, and Steele. And the Daghter found the Crafte of Weaving. 
 And theis Children knew well that God woulde doe Vengeance for 
 Sinne eyther by Fyer or Water. Wherefore they wrott their Sciences 
 
 that 
 
(97) 
 
 that they hadd found in two Fillers of Stone, that they might be 
 found after Noes Floude. And the one was Marble, for that woulde 
 not burne with anie Fire. And the other Stone was called Laternes, 
 for that woulde not drowne in any Water. Our intent is to tell you 
 truly how and in y' Maner theis Stones were found where in theis 
 Sciences were written. The greate Hermarines that was Cubies 
 Sonne, the which Cube was Sems Sonne that was Noes Sonne— 
 Theis same Hermarines was afterwards called Hermes the Father of 
 Wisdome— hee found one of the Fillers of Stone, and founde the 
 Sciences written thereiti, and he taught it to other Men. And att the 
 makeing of the Tower of Babilon there was M asonrie made much of 
 And the King of Babilon, y' hight Nemrod, was a Mason himselfe, as 
 it is said with Maisters of Histories. And when the Cittie of Ninivie 
 and other Citties of the East shoulde bee made, Nemrod the Kinge 
 of Babilon sente thither .... Masons at the Request of the Kinge of 
 Nynivie his Cozen. And when he sent them forth he gave them a 
 Charge in this Manner : That they shoulde bee true one to another^ 
 And that they shoulde love trulie togeather. And that they shoulde 
 serve the Lord truly for their Faye, so that y" M' may have Worshipp 
 and all that longe, to him. And othermoe Charges he gave them; 
 and this was the first time that ever any Mason had any Charge of his 
 
 Crafte. 
 
 Moreover when Abraham and Sara his Wife went into Egipt, and 
 there taught the seaven Sciences to the Egiptions, he had a woorthy 
 SchoUar that hight Euclide, and he learned right well and was a 
 Maister of the vii Sciences. And in his Dales it befell that the 
 Lordes and the Estates of the Realme had so many Sonnes that they 
 had gotten, some by their Wives and some by other Ladies of the 
 Realme, for that Land is a hot Land and plenteous of Generation. 
 And they had no competente Livelihode to finde their Children, 
 wherefore they tooke mutch Care. And then the Kinge of the Lande 
 made a greate Counsel! and a Farliam' to witt how they maight finde 
 
 N their 
 
(98) 
 
 Children honestly as Gentlemen, and they coulde finde noe good 
 Maiier of Waie. And then did they proclaime throghe all the Realme, 
 that if there were any Man that coulde enforme them, that he shoulde 
 come unto them and he shoulde bee soe rewarded for his Travell, that 
 hee shoulde hold him well pleased. After that this Crye was made, 
 then came this woorthy Clarke Euclide, and said to the Kinge and to 
 all his greate Lords, If ye will take mee your Children to governe, 
 will teache them one of the seaven Sciences wherewith they may live 
 honestly. as Gentlemen shoulde, under a Condicon that yee woulde 
 graunte me them that I may have Power to rule them after the Maiier 
 that the Science ought to bee ruled. And that the Kinge and all his 
 Counsell graunted anon and sealed the Commission. And then this 
 woorthy Clerke tooke to him theis Lordes Sonnes, and taught them 
 the Science of Geometrie in Practicke for to woorke in Stones all 
 Manner of woorthie Woorkers that belongeth to buildinge Churches, 
 Temples, Castles, Towers, and Mamcors, and all other Buildings ; and 
 he gave them a Charge in this Maner. 
 
 The first is that they should be true to the Kinge and to the Lorde 
 that they serve. And that they shoulde love well togather, and bee 
 true eache to other. And they shoulde call eache other his Fellowe or 
 else his Brother, and not his Servante, nor his Knave, nor none other 
 fowle Name, and that they shoulde trulie deserve their Pay of the 
 Lorde or the Maister of the Woorke that they serve, and that they 
 shoulde ordaine the wisest of them to bee Maister of the Woorke, and 
 neyther for Love nor Lynage, Riches or Favour, to sett another that 
 hath little Cunninge to be Maister of the Lordes Woorke, whereby the 
 Lorde should bee evill served and they ashamed. And alsoe that they 
 . should call the Gouvernor of the Woorke Maister in the Time that 
 they woorke with him. And other manie moe Charges which are to 
 longe to tell. And to all theis Charges he made them swere a greate 
 Oath that Men used in that Time ; and ordained for them reasonable 
 Paye whereby they might live honestly. And also that they should 
 
 come 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 come and assemble togeather every Yeare once, how they might 
 WQorke best to serve their Lorde for his Proffitt and to their owne 
 Woorship. And to correct within themselves him that had trespassed 
 against the Craft. And thus was the Craft grounded theare. And 
 that woorthy Clerk Euclide gave it the Name of Geometry, and now 
 It is called throughe all this Land, Masonrie. 
 
 Sithen longe after, when the Children of Israeli were come into the 
 Lande of Behest that is now called amongst us the Countrie of 
 Jerusalem, Klnge David began the Temple that is called Templum 
 Domini, and is named with us the Temple of j erusalem. A nd this 
 same Kinge David loved well Masons, and cherished them much, and 
 gave them good Pay. And he gave the Charges and the Maiiers as 
 he had learned in Agipte given by Euclide and other- Charges moe 
 which yee shall here afterwarde. And after the Decease of Kinge 
 David, Soloman, that was Kinge David's Soone, performed out the 
 Temple that his Father had begoone ; and hee sent for Masons into 
 divers Countries and Lands and gathered them togeather, soe that he 
 had fower score thousand Workemen that were Woorkers of Stones, 
 and were all named Masons: And hee chose of them three thousand 
 that were ordained to be Maisters and Governors of his Woorke. 
 
 And Furthermore there was a Kinge of another Region that Men 
 called Iram, and he loved well Kinge Soloman. And he gave him 
 Timber to his Woorke. A nd had a Sonne that hight Aynon, and he 
 was a Maister of Geometrie, and was chiefe Malster of all his Masons, 
 and was Malster of his Gravinge and Carvinge and all other Manner 
 of Masonrie that longeth to the Temple. A nd this is wittnessed In 
 the Bible, in theiiii* Booke of Kinges the thirde Chapter. And this 
 same Solomon confirmed both Charges and Manners that his Father 
 had given to Masons. And thus was that woorthy Craft of Masonrie 
 confirmed in the Countrie of Jerusalem and manle other Kingdomes. 
 
 Curious Craftesmen walk full wyde in divers Countries 
 
 for 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 for ... . more Craft and Cunninge and for ... . them that had but 
 
 little Cunninge befell that there was a curious Mason that hight 
 
 Grecus, that had been at the woorkinge of Solomon's Temple. 
 And he came into France, and theare he taught the Science of 
 M asonry to Men of France. And there was one of the regall Lyne of 
 France that hight Charles. Martell, and he was a Man that loved well 
 such a Crafte, and drewe to this Grecus, and he learned of him 
 
 the Crafte, and took uppon him the Charges' and the Maners. And 
 afterwards by the Grace of God he was electe to be Kinge of France. 
 And when he was in his Estate he tooke Masons, and did helpe to 
 make Men Masons that were none, and sett them a Worke and gave 
 
 them he had learned of other Masons. And con- 
 
 fermed them a Charter from Yeare *to Yeare to holde their Assemblie 
 where they woulde, and cherished them righte much.. And thus 
 came the Craft into France. 
 
 England in all this Season stoode voyde of any Charge of M asonrie 
 untill St. Albans Time. And in his Dayes the Kinge of England 
 that was a Paynim did wall the Towne aboute that was called 
 St Albans. A nd St. A Iban was a woorthie Knight and Steward of 
 the King's Householde and had the Government of the Realme, and 
 also Towne Walls, and loved Masons well and. cherished them much, 
 and he made their Pay right goode Standinge as the Realme did, for 
 he gave them 2'- a weeke and iii"^- to their Chearee, for before that 
 Time throwe all the Land a Mason had but a Penny a Dale and his 
 
 Meate untill St. A Iban amended itt. A nd them a Charter 
 
 of the Kinge and his Counsaile for to ... , . an. gave itt the Name 
 of an Assemblie, and was there att himselfe and helped for to make 
 Masons, and gave them Charges as yee shall here afterwards right soone. 
 
 After the Death of St. Alban there came into England of 
 
 divers Nations, soe that the good Rule of Masonrie was destroyed 
 until the Time of Kinge Athelstone that was a woorthie Kinge of 
 England, and brought all this Land into Rest and Peace; And 
 
 builded 
 
( loi ) 
 
 builded manie greate Workes of Abbies other Buildings. 
 
 And hee loved well Masons [and had a Sonne that hight Edwyn, and 
 he loved Masons] much more than his Father did. And he was a 
 greate Practizer of Geometrie. And he drue him much to commun 
 and talke with Masons to learne of them the Craft. And afterward 
 for love that hee had to Masons and to the Craft hee was made a 
 Mason. And he gatt of the Kinge his Father a Charter of Com- 
 mission to hold an Assembly where they would within the Realme 
 once a Yeare^ And to correct within themselves Faults and Trespasses 
 that were done within the Crafte. And he held an Assemblie him- 
 sealfe at Yorke, and there he made Masons and gave them Charges 
 and taught them, and commanded that Rule to be kept for ever 
 after. And gave them the Charter and Comission to keepe, and 
 made an Ordinance that it shoulde be renuved from Kinge to Ginge. 
 And when the Assemblie was geathered togeather he made a Crie 
 that all olde Masons and young that had any Writeing or Under- 
 standing of the Charges and Manners that was made before in this 
 Lande or in any other, that they shoulde bring and shewe them furth. 
 And when it was proved there were founde some in Frenck, some in 
 Greeke, and some in English, and some in other Languag&g, and they 
 were all to one Intente. And he made a Booke thereof howe the Craft 
 was founded, and hee himselfe bid and commanded it shoulde be read 
 or tolde when anie Mason shoulde be made and for to give him his 
 Charges. And from that Daye untill this Time Manners of Masons 
 have beene kept in that Forme as well as Men might governe it. 
 Furthermore att divers Assemblies certaine Charges have been made 
 and ordained by the best Advise of Maisters and Fellowes. 
 
 Tunc unus ex senioribz tenet Librii et ille vel illi apponunt Manus 
 sup. Libru, et tunc Precepta debent legi. 
 
 Everie Man that is a Mason take right good Heede to theis Charges, 
 and if any Man finde himselfe guiltie in any of theis Charges, That he 
 
 amend 
 
( I<32 ) 
 
 amend himselfe against God. And especially ye that are to be 
 charged' take good Heede that you male keepe theis Charges right well, 
 for it is a greate Perrill a Man to forsware himselfe upon a Booke. 
 The first Charge is this : y' yee shall bee true Men to God and Holy 
 Church. And that ye use noe Error nor Heresie by your Under- 
 standinge or Descretion, but bee ye discreate Men or wise Men in 
 each Thinge. And alsoe y* yee shoulde bee leige Men to the Kinge 
 of England without Treason or anie other Falshode, And that ye 
 knowe noe Treason nor Treachirie, but you amende itt iff you male, 
 or else warne y'= Kinge or his Councell thereof. A nd also yee shall 
 bee true eache onto other, that is to sale to every Mason of the Crafte 
 of Masonrie that be Masons allowed, yee shall doe unto them as you 
 woulde that they shoulde doe unto you. And also that you keepe all 
 the Councells of your Fellowes trulie, be it in Lodge or in Chamber, 
 and all other Councells that ought to be kepte by the way of Brother- 
 hood. And also that noe Mason shall be a Thiefe or farr forth 
 
 as he may witt or knowe. And alsoe that yee [shall bee true eache 
 unto other and to the Lorde or Maister] that ye serve, and truly 
 to see to his Profitts and his Advantage. A nd alsoe ye shall call 
 Masons your Fellowes or Bretheren and non other fowle Name. A nd 
 alsoe ye shall not take your Fellowes Wyfe in Villaine, nor desire 
 ungodlie his Daughter or his Servant, nor put him to noe Disworshipp. 
 And alsoe that you paye trulie for your Meate and Drinke theare 
 
 where you goe to borde whereby y^ Crafte might bee slandred. 
 
 T heis bee the Charges in generall that longeth to every true Mason 
 to keepe, both Maisters and Fellowes. 
 
 Reherse - I will other Charges in singuler for Maisters and Fellowes. 
 First that noe Maister or Fellowe shall take uppon him any Lord's 
 Woorke, nor any other Man's Woorke, unlesse he knowe himselfe 
 able and sufficient of Cunninge to performe the same soe that the 
 Crafte have. noe Slander or Diswoorshipp thereby, but that the Lord 
 male bee well and truly served. A Isoe y' noe Maister take noe 
 Woorke but that hee take itt reasonably soe that the Lord may bee 
 
 well 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 well served with his owne Good, and the Maister to live honestly and 
 to paie his Fellowes trulie theer Pay as the Manner is. Alsoe that 
 noe Maisters nor Fellowes shall not supplant anie other of their 
 Woorke— that is to say, if he have taken a Woorke in hand, or else 
 stand M"^ of the Lord's Woorke, he shall not putt him out except 
 hee bee unable of Cuninge to end the Woorke. And alsoe that noe 
 Maister or Fellowe take noe Prentice but for the Terme of vii Yeares ; 
 and that the Prentice bee able of Birth, (that is to say) free borne and 
 hole of Limmes as a Man ought to bee. And also that noe Maisters 
 nor Fellowes take noe Allowances to be made Mason w* the Asent 
 and Councell of his Fellowes. And that hee take him for noe less 
 
 time than Yeares, and that hee which shall bee made a 
 
 Mason bee able in all Maner of Degrees : that is- to say, free borne, 
 come of good Kindred, true and noe Bondman ; and alsoe that he 
 have his right Limmes as a Man ought to have. Also that noe Man 
 take any Aprentice unlesse hee have sufficient Occupacon for to sett 
 him on, or to sett three of his Fellowes, or twoe att the least, on 
 Woorke. And also that noe Maister or Fellowe shall take noe Man's 
 Woorke to Taske that was wont to goe to Jornie. Alsoe that every 
 Maister shall geve Pay to his Fellowes but as they deserve, soe that 
 hee be not deceived by false Woorkemen. Also that noe Mason 
 slander another behinde his Backe to make him losse his good Name 
 or his worldlie Goods. Also that noe Fellowe within the Lodge or 
 without misaunswere another ungodlie or reprochfuUy without some 
 reasonable Cause. Also that every [Mason shall reverence his Elder 
 and put him to woorshipp. And also that noe] Mason shall bee 
 
 common Player att Hazard or att Dice nor att any other 
 
 unlawfull Playes whereby the Crafte might bee slandered. And 
 alsoe that noe Mason shall use no Lechery nor bee noe Baude 
 whereby the Crafte might bee slandered. And alsoe that noe Fellowe 
 
 goe into the Towne night times of Fellowes withoute 
 
 hee have a Fellowe with him that male beare him wittnes that he 
 was in honest Places. Also that every M' and Fellowe shall come to 
 
 the 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 the Assemblie if that he be within fifty Myles about him if hee have 
 anie Warning. And if he have trespassed against the Crafte then for 
 to abide the Awai"d of the Maisters and Fellowes. Also that every 
 Maister and Fellowe that have trespassed against the ^ Crafte shall 
 stand to the Awarde of the Maisters and Fellowes to make theni 
 accorded if they cann, and if they male not accorde them, then to goe 
 to the common Lawe. Also that noe Maister nor Fellowe make noe 
 Moulde nor Square nor Rule to noe Layare, nor sett noe Layare 
 within the Lodge nor without to hewe noe moulde Stones. Also that 
 everie Mason receive and cherish straunge Fellowes when they come 
 over the Countries, and sett them a Woorke if they will, as the 
 Manner is — that is to say if they have moulde Stones in his Place — 
 or else hee shall refresh him with Money to the next Lodgeing. 
 Also that everie Mason shall trulie serve the Lord for his Paie. And 
 everie Maister truelie to make an Ende of his Woorke, bee it Taske 
 or lornie, if hee have his Demands and all that hee ought to have. 
 
 Theis Chargs that wee have nowe rehersed unto you and all other 
 that belonge to Masons yee shall keepe, soe helpe you God and your 
 Hallidome. 
 

 
 
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