The Constitutions of the Free-Masons

THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREE-MASONS. CONTAINING THE History, Charges, Regulations, &c. of that moſt Ancient and Right Worſhipful FRATERNITY.

For the Uſe of the LODGES.

LONDON Printed; Anno 5723. Re-printed in Philadelphia by ſpecial Order, for the Uſe of the Brethren in NORTH-AMERICA. In the Year of Maſonry 5734, Anno Domini 1734.

TO His GRACE the DUKE of MONTAGU.

My Lord,

BY Order of his Grace the DUKE of WHARTON, the preſent Right Worſhipful GRAND-MASTER of the Free-Maſons; and, as his Deputy, 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 compar'd and made every thing agreeable to Hiſtory and Chronology, ſo as to render theſe NEW CONSTITUTIONS a juſt and exact Account of Maſonry from the Beginning of the World to your Grace's Maſterſhip, ſtill preſerving all that was truly ancient and authentick in the old ones: For every Brother will be pleas'd with the Performance, 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 approv'd by the Grand Lodge, when your Grace was GRAND-MASTER. All the Brother-hood will ever remember the Honour 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 oblig'd, and moſt obedient Servant, and Faithful Brother, J. T. 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:

ADAM, our firſt Parent, created after the Image of God, the great Architect of the Univerſe, muſt have had the Liberal Sciences, particularly Geometry, ^[1] 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, have been drawn forth into a convenient Method of Propoſitions, by obſerving the Laws of Proportion 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 Foundation 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 ſerveral 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.^[2]

Nor can we ſuppoſe that SETH was leſs inſtructed, who being the Prince of the other Half of Mankind, and alſo the prime Cultivator of Aſtronomy, would take equal care to teach Geometry and Maſonry to his Offspring, who had alſo the mighty Advantage of Adam's living among them.^[3]

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 Familles of Seth and Cain erected many curious Works, until at length NOAH, the ninth from Seth, was commanded and directed of God to build the great Ark, which, tho' of Wood, was certainly fabricated by Geometry, and according to the Rules of Maſonry.

NOAH, and his three Sons, JAPHET, SHEM, and HAM, all Maſons true, brought with them over the Flood the Traditions and Arts of the Ante-deluvians, ^[4] and amply communicated them to their growing Offspring; for about 101 Years after the Flood we find a vaſt Number of 'em, if not the whole Race of Noah, in the Vale of Shinar, employ'd in building a City and large Tower, in order to make to themſelves a Name, and to 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;^[5] yet their Skill in Maſonry is not the leſs to be celebrated, 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 ſound 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,^[6] the Founder of that Monarchy, after the Diſperſion, built many ſplendid Cities, as Ereck, Accad, and Calneh, in SHINAR; from whence afterwards he went forth into ASSYRIA, and built [•]iniveh, Rehoboth, Caleh, and Rheſin.

In theſe Parts, upon the Tygris and Euphrates, 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 expe[•••]ent 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 Conſuſion of Languages or Dialects, which tho' it might help to give Riſe to the Maſons Faculty and ancient univerſal Practice of converſing without ſpeaking, and of knowing each other at a Diſtance, 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 Ham, about ſix Years after the Confuſion at Babel, ^[7] and after the Flood 160 Years, when he led thither his Colony; (for Egypt is Mitzraim in Hebrew) becauſe we find the River Nile's overflowing its Banks, ſoon caus'd an Improvement in Geometry, which conſequently brought Maſonry much in requeſt: For the ancient noble Cities, with the other magnificent Edifices of that Country, and particularly the famous PYRAMIDS, demonſtrate the early Taſte and Genius of that ancient Kingdom. Nay, one of thoſe Egyptian PYRAMIDS^[8] is reckon'd the Firſt of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Account of 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 erecred moſt beautiful Temples and Manſions; for when the Iſraetites, 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. Cuſh, 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 travell'd 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 find they began to be moſt curious Architects.

The Poſterity of SHEM had alſo equal Opportunities of cultivating the uſeful Art, even thoſe of 'em that planted their Colonies in the South and Eaſt of 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; ^[9] for ABRAM, after the Confuſion at Babel about 268 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; out before the [•]30 Years of their Peregrination were expired,^[10] even about 86 Years before their Exodus, the Kings of Egypt forc'd moſt of them to lay down their Sheperds Inſtruments, and Warlike Accoutrements, and train'd them [〈◊〉] another ſort of Architecture in Stone and Brick, as holy Writ, and other Hiſtories, acquaint us; which God did wiſely over-rule, 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 BEZALEEL, of the Tribe of Judah, and AHOLIAB, of the Tribe of Dan, ^[11] with Wiſdom of Heart for erecting that moſt glorious Tent, or Tabernacle, 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 ſublime Knowledge in Maſonry.

So that the Iſraelites, at their leaving Egypt, were a whole Kingdom of Maſons, well inſtructed, under the Conduct of their GRAND MASTER MOSES, who often marſhall'd 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 mention'd.

And after they were poſſeſs'd of Canaan, the Iſraelites came not ſhort of the old Inhabitants in Maſonry, ^[12] 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 Architecture while the Tabernacle ſtood, but no longer; for the ſineſt ſacred Building of the Canaanites was the Temple of Dagon in Gaza of the Philiſtines, very magnificent, and capacious enough to receive 5000 People under its Roof, that was artfully ſupported by two main Columns ^[13]; and 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 finiſh'd, to the Amazement 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-mens Tools, though there were employ'd about it no leſs than 3600 Princes, ^[15] or Maſter-Maſons, to conduct the Work according to Solomon's Directions, with 80,000 Hewers of Stone in the Mountain, or Fellow Craftsmen, and 70,000 Labourers, in all 153,600 beſides the Levy under Adoniram, to work in the Mountains of Lebanon by turns with the Sidonians, viz. 30,000 — being in all 183,600 for which great Number of ingenious Maſons, Solomon was much oblig'd to HIRAM, or Huram, King of Type, who ſent his Maſons and Carpenters to Jeruſalem, and the Firs and Cedars of Lebanon to Joppa the next Sea-port.

But above all, he ſent his Nameſake HIRAM, or Huram, the moſt accompliſh'd Maſon upon Earth.^[16]

And the prodigious Expence of it alſo enhaunceth its Exeellency; 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 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 proportion'd 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 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 Pollaſters, both having glorious Capitals of ſeveral Orders, and about 2246 Windows, beſides thoſe in the Pavement, 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,^[17] and the chief Wonder of the World; and was dedicated, or conſecrated, in the moſt ſolemn manner, by King SOLOMON.

But leaving what muſt not, and indeed cannot, be communicated by Writing, we may warrantably 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 Tent, and in building at length this gorgeous Houſe, fit for the ſpecial Reſulgence 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 Dexterity of 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 Architecture of their own Country upon their Return.

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, under 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 Paris of Europe, where they taught this liberal Art to the free born Sons of eminent Perſons, by whoſe Dexterity the Kings, Princes, and Potentates, built many glorious Piles, and became the GRAND MASTERS, earch in his own Territory, and were emulous or excelling in this Royal Art; 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. ^[18]

Nay, the GRAND MONARCH NEBUCHADNEZAR could never, with all his unſpeakable Advantages, carry up his Maſonry to the Beautiful Strength and Magnificence of the Temple Work, which he had,^[20] in warlike Rage, burnt down, after it had remain'd in Splendor 416 Years from it 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 ingenious Artiſts of Judea, and other conquer'd Countries, he rais'd indeed the largeſt Work upon Earth, even the Walls^[21] and City, the 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 NEBUCHADNEZAR in his glorious Buildings, ſo being thus kept at work, they retain'd their great Skill in Maſonry, and continu'd very capable of rebuilding the holy Temple and City of SALEM upon its old Foundations,^[22] which was order'd by the Edict or Decree of the GRAND CYRUS, according 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 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;^[23] but at length they put on the Cape-Stone, in the 6th Year of DARIUS, the Perſian Monarch, when it was dedicated with Joy, and many great Sacrifices, by ZERUBBABEL the Prince 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 Shechina 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 acknowledg'd.

At length the ROYAL ART was carry'd into Greece, whoſe Inhabitants have left us no Evidence of ſuch Improvements in Maſonry, prior to Solomon's Temple; ^[24] for their moſt ancient Buildings, as the Cittadel of Athens, with the Parthenion, or Temple of Minerva, the Temples alſo of Theſeus, of Jupiter Olympius, &c. their Porticos alſo, and Forums, their Theatres and Gymnaſiums, their publick Halls, curious Bridges, regular Fortifications, ſtout Ships of War, and ſtately Palaces, were all erected after the Temple of Solomon, and moſt of them even after the Temple of Zerubbabel.

Nor do we find the GRECIANS arriv'd to any conſiderable Knowledge in Geometry, before the Great Thales Mileſius, ^[25] the Philoſopher, who dy'd in the Reign of Bellſhazzar, and the Time of the Jewiſh Captivity. But his Scholar, the Greater PYTAHGORAS, prov'd the Author of the 47th Propoſition of Euclid's firſt Book, which, if duly obſerv'd, is the Foundation of all Maſonry, ſa[••]ed, civil, and Military.^[26]

The People of Leſſer Aſia about this Time gave large Encouragement to Maſons for erecting 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 ARTEMISIA 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 the whole opened on all Sides, with Arches 73 Foot wide,^[29] 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.^[30] 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 Alexandria; ^[31] who gathering up the ſcatter'd 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 Alexander 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.

The next King of Egypt, PTOLOMEUS PHILADELPHUS, that great Improver of the liberal 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, ^[32] and GENERAL MASTER-MASON, having among his other great Buildings, erected the famous TOWER of PHAROS,^[33] the Fiſth 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 fails, and there are no Travellers encourag'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,^{[34] [35]} and was unhappily ſlain when Syracuſe was taken by Marcellus the 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 Profeſſors 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 CAESAR,^[36] (in whoſe Reign was born God's MESSIAH, the great 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 patronizing 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 expreſs 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, ab[•]orring Tyranny and Slavery, gave due Scope 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, ^[37] were always reckon'd good 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 ^[38] was duly cultivated, both before and after the Reign of Auguſtus, even till the Fifth Century of the Chriſtian Aera, 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 and weſtern Parts of Europe, which had grown barbarous before the Roman Conqueſt, though we known 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 the Celtic Edifices, erected by the ancient Gauls, and by the ancient Britains too, who were a Colony of the Celtes, long before the Romans invaded this Iſland.^[39]

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 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 cultivating the Arts and Sciences.

Thus, upon the Declenſion of the Roman Empire, ^[40] when the Britiſh Garriſons were drain'd, the ANGLES & 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 a-kin 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 Maſonry, they ſoon began^[41] to imitate the Aſiatics, 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 preſerv'd much from Gothic Ruins, particularly by CHARLES MARTELL King of France, ^[42] who according to the old Records of Maſons, ſent over ſeveral expert Craftſmen and learned Architects into England, at the Deſire of the Saxon Kings: So that during the Heptarchy, the Gothic Architecture was much encourag'd here as in other Chriſtian Lands.

And though the many Invaſions of the DANES occaſion'd the Loſs of many Records,^[43] yet in Times of Trace 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 Architecture.

And after the Saxons and Danes were conquer'd by the NORMANS,^[44] as ſoon as the Wars ended and Peace was proclaim'd, the Gothic Maſonry was encourag'd, even in the Reign of the Conqueror, ^[45] and of his Son King WILLIAM Rufus, who built Weſtminſter-Hall, minſter-Hall, the largeſt one Room perhaps in the Earth.

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 that King to build ſeveral Abbies,^[46] and St. STEPHEN's CHAPPEL at Weſtminſter, where the Houſe of Commons now ſit in Parliament.

But for the ſurther Inſtruction of Candidates and younger Brethren, a certain Record of Free-Maſons,^[47] written in the Reign of King EDWARD IV. of the Norman Line, gives the 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 ALFRED the Great, a mighty Arch[•]tect) the firſt anointed King of England,^[48] and who tranſlated the Holy Bible into the Saxon Tongue, when he had brought the Land into Reſt and Peace, built 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 Athelſtan his Father, for the Maſons having a Correction among themſelves, (as it was anciently expreſs'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 compoſed a General Lodge, of which he was GRAND 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 the 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, [〈◊〉] 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 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. ^[49]

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, confederated 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 Congregations ^[50]: Yet when the ſaid King Henry VI. 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 reaſonable 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.^[51]

The Kings of SCOTLAND very much encourag'd the Royal Art, from the earlieſt 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 honourable Fraternity, who gave always pregnant Evidence of their Love and Loyalty, from whence ſprung the old Toaſt among the Scots Maſons, viz. GOD BLESS THE KING AND THE CRAFT.

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 Craſt 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 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 the Union of the Kingdoms.

Yet the great Care that the SCOTS took of true Maſonry, prov'd afterwards very uſeful to ENGLAND; for the learned and magnanimous 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. ^[52]

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 Gothic 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 Impropriety of the Gothick Buildings; and in the Fiſteenth and Sixteenth Centuries the AUGUSTAN STILE was rais'd from its Rubbiſh in Italy, by PRAMANTE, BARBARO, SANSOVINO, SANGALLO, 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, is 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 employ'd 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 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.^[53] After the Wars were over, and the Royal Family reſtor'd, true Maſonry was likewiſe reſtor'd; eſpecially upon the unhappy Occaſion of the Burning of LONDON, An. 1666; for then the City-Houſes were rebuilt more after the Roman Stile, when King CHARLES II. ſounded 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 ſounded 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 turn'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^[54]: 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 II. was an Accepted Free-Maſon, as every one allows he was a great Encourager of the Craftſmen.

But in the Reign of his Brother King JAMES II. 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.^[55] But after the Revolution, Anno 1688, KING WILLIAM, though a warlike Prince, having a good Taſte of Achitecture, carried on the aforeſaid two famous 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 Example of that glorious Prince, (who by moſt is reckon'd a 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, Weſiminſter, 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 and 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 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. ^[56]

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 of ancient, large, curious, and magnificent Colonading, have been diſcover'd by the Inquiſitive, that they can't enough lament the general Devaſtations of the Goths and Mahometans; and muſt conclude, that no Art was ever ſo much encourag'd as this; as indeed none other is ſo extenſively uſeful to Mankind.^[57] 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 inſtall'd, 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 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 Languages.

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 indulg'd their happy Genius 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 preſerved; ſo that the whole Body reſembles a well built Arch; 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 RECORDS 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 New Brethren, or when the Maſter ſhall order it.

The GENERAL HEADS, viz.

I. OF GOD and RELIGION. II. Of the CIVIL MAGISTRATE ſupreme and ſubordinate. III. Of LODGES. IV. Of MASTERS, Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices. 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. 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 diſtinguiſh'd; whereby Maſonry becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendſhip among Perſons that muſt elſe have remain'd at a perpetual Diſtance.

II. Of the CIVIL MAGISTRATE ſupreme and Jubordinate.

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 Conſpiracies againſt the Peace and Welfare of the Nation, nor to behave himſelf undutiful 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 countenanc'd in his Rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy Man; and if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brotherhood muſt and ought to diſown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage or Ground of political Jealouſy to the Government for the time being; they cannot expel him from the Lodge, and his Relation to it remains indeſeaſible.

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 LODGE, 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 undeſtood 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 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, WARDENS, Fellows, and Apprentices.

All Preſerment 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 deſ[••]'d: Therefore no Maſter or Warden i[•] choſen by [•]e[•]ority, but for his Merit. It [〈◊〉] impoſing [〈…〉] theſe things in writing, and every Brother muſt attend in his Place, and learn them in a way pecullar to this Fraternity: Only Candidates may 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 learning the Art, of ſerving his Maſter's 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 Fellow-Craſt; 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 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 undertake 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 accuſtomed 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 Deſign and Draughts of him that began it.

When a Fellow-Craftſman 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 Murmuring 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.

VI. Of BEHAVIOUR, viz.

1. 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. Therefore 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 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 in 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 Brotherhood, who muſt give Honour to whom it is due, and avoid ill Manners.

4. BEHAVIOUR in the 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 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 Quarelling, 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 liſtning 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 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 SO MOTE IT BE.

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. Chap. I. which is Printed in this Book, Page 34, and which Quotation the Author has compar'd with the Original, viz.

COKE's Inſtitutes, third Part, Fol. 99.

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 (ſays 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. Chap. 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 of Felony upon this Statute muſt contain, that thoſe Chaprers 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 repeal'd. Therefore this would be put out of the Charge of Juſtices of Peace, written by Maſter LAMBERT, pag. 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.

GENERAL REGULATIONS, 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 Stationer's-Hall, LONDON; when the moſt noble PRINCE John Duke of MONTAGU was unanimouſly choſen our GRAND-MASTER for the Year enſuing; who choſe JOHN BEAL, M. D. his Deputy Grand-Maſter; and Mr. Joſiah Villeneau Mr. Tho. 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 about London and Weſtminſter.

I. THE GRAND-MASTER, or his DEPUTY, hath Authority and Right, not only to be preſent in any true Lodge, but alſo to preſide where-ever 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 particular Lodges as Wardens, but in his Preſence, and at 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 [••]ep 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 as 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 unonimous Conſent of all the Members of that Lodge then preſent when the Candidate is propos'd, and their Coment is formally ask'd by the Maſter; and they are to ſignify their Conſent or Diſſent in their own prudent way, either virtually or in form, but with Unanimity: Nor is this inherent Privilege ſubject to a Diſpenſation; becauſe the Members of a particular 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 ſhall 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.

VIII. 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 immediately 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 ſorming 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. 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 may be 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 hereafter mention'd, and of the Annual Grand Lodge too; becauſe their Maſter and Wardens are their Repreſentatives, 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 Underſtanding 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 Wardens 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 ask'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 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 Grand-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 ir be 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 Relief of 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 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 chuſing 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; provided 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. 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, then 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, an[•] [•]he 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-Maſter ſhould receive no Intimation of Buſineſs concerning 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, who 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, and the Grand-Wardens too, cannot be diſcharg'd 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 purpoſe 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; or 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. 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 Evangeliſt'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 baying the Materials on 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 of Appointment.

XXIV. The Wardens 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 Lodgea 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-Craſt of his Lodge, to compoſe a Committee, conſiſting of one from every Lodge, who ſhall meet to receive, in a convenient A pactment, every Perſon that brings a Ticket, and ſhall have Power to diſcourſe him, if they think fit, in orde[•] 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 B[•]other may be debarr'd, nor a falſe Brother or meer 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 a[••] to be at the Command of the Committee.

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 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 fear'd 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 ill 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 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 it ſelf.

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 deſired and allow'd.

XXXII. If the GRAND-MASTER of laſt Year has conſented with the Maſters 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, &c. 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 Kindneſs) 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 Satisfaction, 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 congratulated the New Grand Maſter as above hinted, and immediately inſtall'd by the laſt Grand-Maſter, according to Uſage.

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 proclaimed, ſaluted, and congratulated, as above hinted, and forthwith 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 Nomination.

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 can 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; 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 Communication, 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 Communication 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.

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 Lodge 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 diſpers'd over the Face of the Earth.

Then the GRAND-MASTER, placing the Candidate on his leſt Hand, having ask'd and obtain'd the unanimous Conſent of all the Brethren, ſhail ſay, I 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.

Upon this the Deputy ſhall rehearſe the Charges of a Maſter, and 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 Inſtruments 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 Acknowledgements 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 the new Lodge for their Conſent. And that being granted,

The ſenior or junior Grand-Warden, or ſome other 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 notified to the other Lodges.

APPROBATION.

WHEREAS by the Confuſions occaſioned in the Saxon, Daniſh, and Norman Wars, the Records of Maſons have been much vitiated, the Free-Maſons of England twice thought it neceſſary to correct their Conſtitutions, Charges, and Regulations; firſt in the Reign of king 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 been 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, and 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, tho' they were not quite ready for the Preſs during his Maſterſhip.

THEREFORE We, the preſent Graud-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 Weſt minſter) 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 we ordain that theſe be received 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, Grand-Maſter,
• J. T. DESAGULIERS, L. L. D. and F. R. S. DEPUTY Grand-Maſter,
• JOSHUA TIMSON, Grand-Warden.
• WILLIAM HAWKINS, Grand-Warden.

And the Maſters and Wardens of particular Lodges, viz.

• I. THOMAS MORRIS, ſen. Maſter
  • John Briſlow Warden.
  • Abrabam Abbot Warden.
• II RICHARD HALL, Maſter.
  • Philip Wolverſton Warden
  • John Doyer Warden.
• III. JOHN TURNER, Maſter.
  • Anthony Sayer Warden.
  • Edward Cale Warden.
• IV. Mr. GEORGE PAYNE, Maſſ.
  • Stephen Hall, M. D. Warden.
  • Francis Sorell, Eſq Warden.
• V. Mr. M[•]BIRKHEAD Maſter.
  • Francis Bayly Warden.
  • Ni[•]holas Abraham Warden.
• VI. WILLIAM READ, Maſter.
  • John Gloo[••] Warden.
  • Robert Cordell Warden.
• VII. HENRY BRANSON, Maſter.
  • Henry [•]ug Warden.
  • John Townſend Warden.
• VIII. [〈…〉] Maſter.
  • Jonat[•]an Siſſon Warden.
  • John Skipton Warden.
• IX. GEO[•]OWEN, M. D. Maſter.
  • Eman Bowen Warden.
  • John Heath Warden.
• X. [〈…〉] Maſter.
  • John Lubton Warden.
  • Richard Smith Warden.
• XI. FRANCIS Earl of Dalkeith, Mr.
  • Capt. Andrew Robinſon ‡Warden.
  • Col. Thomas Inwood ‡Warden.
• XII. JOHN BEAL, M. D. and F. R. S. Maſter.
  • Edward Pawlet; Eſq ‡Warden.
  • Charles Moro, Eſq ‡Warden.
• XIII. THO MORRIS, jun, Maſter.
  • Joſeph Ridler ‡Warden.
  • John. Clark ‡Warden.
• XIV. THO ROBBE, Eſq Maſter.
  • Thomas Gra[••] ‡Warden.
  • Bray Lane ‡Warden.
• XV. JOHN SHEPHERD, Maſter.
  • John Senex ‡Warden.
  • John Bucler ‡Warden.
• XVI. J. GEORGES, Eſq Maſter.
  • Robert Gray, Eſq ‡Warden.
  • Charles Grymes, Eſq ‡Warden.
• XVII. JA. ANDEKSON, A. M. and Author of this Book, Maſter
  • Gwin Vaughan, Eſq ‡Warden
  • Walter Greenwood, Eſq ‡Warden
• XVIII. THO HARBIN, Maſter.
  • William Attley ‡Warden.
  • John Saxon ‡Warden.
• XIX. ROBERT CAPELL, Maſter.
  • Iſaac Mansfield ‡Warden.
  • William Bly ‡Warden.
• XX. JOHN GORMAN, Maſter.
  • Charles Garey ‡Warden.
  • Edward Morphey ‡Warden.

THE Maſter's SONG. OR THE HISTORY of MASONRY.

To be ſung with a Chorus, when the MASTER ſhall give Leave (no Brother being preſent to whom Singing is diſagreeable) either one Part only, or all together, as he pleaſes.

PART I.

[Stop here to drink the preſent GRAND MASTER's Health.

PART II.

[Stop here to drink the Health of the Maſter and Wardens of this particular Lodge.

PART III.

[Stop here to drink to the glorious Memory of Emperors, Kings, Princes, Nobles, Gentry, Clergy, and learned Scholars that ever propagated the Art.

PART IV.

[Stop here to drink to the happy Memory of all the Revivers of the ancient Auguſtan Style.

PART V.

THE Warden's Song; OR ANOTHER HISTORY of MASONRY. COMPOS'D Since the moſt noble Prince PHILIP Duke of WHARTON was choſen GRAND-MASTER.

To be ſung and play'd at the Quarterly Communication.

To fill up this Page, it is thought not amiſs to inſert here a Paragraph from an old Record of Ma[••]ns, viz. The Company of Maſons, being otherwiſe termed Free Maſons, of an[••]ent Staunding and cood Reckoning, by means of affable and kind Meetings diverſe Tym[••], and as a loving Brotherhood ſhould uſe to doe, did frequent this mutual Aſſembly in the Tym[•] of King Henry V. the 12th Year of his moſt gracious Reign And the ſaid Record deſcribing a Cont 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 Qualification. But that laudable Practiſs ſeems to have been long in Diſſuetude. The Brethren in foreign Parts have alſo diſ[•]over'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.

THE FELLOW-CRAFTS SONG:

By our Brother CHARLES DELAFAYE, Eſq To be ſung and play'd at the GRAND FEAST.

THE Enter'd 'PRENTICES SONG.

By our late BROTHER Mr. MATTHEW BIRKHEAD, deceas'd. To be ſung when all grave Buſineſs is over, and with the MASTER's Leave.

A New SONG.

LONDON, this 17th Day of January, 1722, 3.

AT the Quarterly Communication, This Book, which was undertaken at the Command of His GRACE the DUKE of MONTAGU, our late Grand-Maſter, having been regularly approved in Manuſcript by the Grand-Lodge, was this Day produced here in Print, and approved by the SOCIETY: Wherefore we do hereby Order the ſame to be Publiſhed, and recommend it for the Uſe of the LODGES.

• PHILIP DUKE of WHARTON, Grand-Maſter.
• J. T. DESAGULIERS, Deputy Grand-Maſter.

FINIS.

Marginal notes

1. Year of the World 1. 4003 before Chriſt ↩
2. As other Arts were alſo improved by them, viz. working in Metal by TUBAL CAIN, Muſic by JUBAL, Paſtorage and Tent-Making by JABAL; which laſt is good Architecture. ↩
3. For by ſome Veſtices of Antiquity c[••] fird one of 'em, godly ENOCH (who [••]d[•]ot, bu[•] was tranſlated alive to Heaven, proph[•]e[•]ing of the final Conflagration at the Day of Judgment as St Jude tells us) and likewiſe of the General Deluge for the Puniſhment of the World: Upon which he erected his two large Pillars, the ſome eſ[•]ribe them to Seth) the one of Stone, and the other of Brick, whereon were engraven the Liberal Sciences, &c. And that the Stone Pillar remain'd in S[••]la until the [〈◊〉] Veſpaſian the Emperor. ↩
4. Anno Mundi 1757. 2247. Ante Chr. ↩
5. A. M 1810. 2194. Ante Chr. ↩
6. NIMROD, which ſignifies a Rebel, was the Name given him by the holy Family[•] and by Moſes; but among his Friends in Chaldea, his 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. ↩
7. A. M. 1816. 2188. Ante Chr. ↩
8. 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 700 Foot on each Side, or 2800 Foot in Compaſs, and 481 in perpendecular Height. And in porjecting it were employ'd every Day, for 20 whole Years, 360,000 Men, by ſome ancient Egyptian King long before the Iſraelites were a People, for the Honour of his Empire, and at laſt to become his Tomb. ↩
9. A. M. 2078. 1926. Ante Chr. ↩
10. A. M. 2427. 1577. Ante Chr. ↩
11. A. M. 2514. 1490. Ante Chr. ↩
12. A. M. 25[••]. 1[•]50. Ante Chr. ↩
13. By which the glorious SAMPSON pull'd it down upon the Lords of the Philiſtines,^[14] and was alſo intangled in the ſame Death which he drew upon his Enenues for putting out his Eyes, after he had reveal'd his Secrets to his Wife, that betray'd him into their Hands; for which Weakneſs he never had the Honour to be number'd among Maſons: But it is not convenient to write more of this. ↩
14. A. M. 2893. 1111 Ante Chr. ↩
15. In: Kings v. 16. they are call'd 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 Menatzchim, Overſeers and Comforters of the People in Working, and in Number 3,600; becauſe either 300 might be more curions Ar[••]ſts, and the Overſeers of the ſaid 3,300; or rather, not ſo excellent, and only Deputy Mathers, 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 Overſee[•] of the 70,000 Iſh Sabbal, Men of Burden or Labourers, who were not Maſons but ſerved the 80,000 Iſh Chotzeb, Alen of Hewing, called alſo Ghiblim, Stone Cutters and Soulpturers; and alſo Bonai, Builders in Stone, part of which [••••]ng'd to Solomon, and part to Hiram, King of Tyre, 1 Kings v. 18. ↩

16. We read (2 Chron. ii. 13.) HIRAM King of Tyre (called there Huram) in his Letter to King SOLOMON, ſays, I have ſent a cunning Man, le 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 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 Archttect Father, as learned and skilful Men were wont to be call'd of old Times, or as Joſeph was call'd the Father of Pharaoh; and as the ſame Hiram is call'd Solomon's FATHER, (2 Chron. iv. 16.) where 'tis ſaid Shelomoh lammelech Abhif Churam ghuaſah, 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. ii. 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 (1 Kings vii. 14.) to he a Widow's Son of the Tribe of Naphthali; and in 1 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 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 called a Widow of Naphthali; for his Fathers is not called a Tytia[•] by Deſoent, but a Man of Tyre by Habitation; as Obed Edom the Levite [〈◊〉] c[•]ll'd a Gittite by living among the Gittites, and the Apoſtle Paul a Man of T[••]us. But ſuppoſing a Miſtake in Tranſcrihers, and that his Father was really [〈◊〉] T[•]rian by Blood, and his Mother only of the Tribe either of Dan or of Naphthali, that can be no Bar agai[•]ſt [••]lo[••]ing of his vaſt Capacity; for as his Father was a Worker a Braſs, ſo he h[••]ſelf was fill'd with Wiſdom and Underſtanding, 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, skilful 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 univerſaily capable of all ſorts of Maſonry.

    ↩
17. A. M. 3000. 1004. Ante Chr.. ↩
18. For tho' the Temple of Diana at Epheſus is ſuppos'd to have been firſt built by ſome of Japhet's Poſterity, that made a Settlement in Jonia about the Time of 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 Solomon's Temple; but that long afterwards the Kings of Leſſer Aſia join'd, for 220 Years, in finiſhing it, with 107 Columns of the fineſt Marble, and many of 'em with moſt exquiſite Sculpture (each at the Expense 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: ^[19] Whereby it became the Miſtreſs of Leſſer Aſia, in Lengch 425 Foot, and in Breadth 220 Foot; Nay, ſo admirable a Fabrick, that XERXES left it ſtanding when be burnt all the other 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 very Day that ALEXANDER the Great was born. ↩
19. A. M. 3648. 356. Ante Chr. ↩
20. A. M. 3416. 588. Ante Chr. ↩
21. In Thickneſs 87 Foot, in Height; 50 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 of Shinar, with 100 Gates of Braſs, or 25 a-ſide, 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: And ſo the whole City was thus cut out into 676 Squares, each being 2 Miles and quarter 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 run thro' the Middle of it, from North to South [••]er 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 Nebuchadnezzar, 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 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 Ninivch, 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 [〈◊〉] Water within its Channel; and each Street that croſs'd the River had a braſe[•] [〈◊〉] reading down to the Water on both Banks; and Weſt of the City was a prodigious Lake, in Compaſs 160 Miles, with a C[•]nal from 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 out-ſide 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 Ro[•]ſs, ſupported [〈◊〉] Pillars 75 Foot high, the idolatrous Worſhip of their God BELUS was perform'd till now, that this mighty Maſon and Monarch erected round this ancient Pile a Temple of two Furlongs on every Side, or a Mile in compaſs; where he lodg'd the ſo[••]d Troph[••]s of SOLOMON's Temple, and the golden Image 90 Foot high, that he had conſecrated in the Plains of Lura, as were formerly in the Tower lodg'd man, other golden Images, and many precious things, that were afterwards 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 Kingdom, by the Might of my Power, and for the Honour of my Majeſty? but had his Pride immediately rebuk'd a Voice from Heaven, and puniſh'd by brutal Madneſ's 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 GRANDCYRUS conquer'd it, and remov'd the Throne to Shuſhan in PERSIA.

    ↩
22. A. M. 3468. 536. Ante Chr. ↩
23. A. M. 3489. 515. Aute Chr. ↩
24. 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 barbarouswith other barbarous 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. ↩
25. A. M. 3457. 547. Ante Chr. ↩
26. 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, ^[27] until he was captivated by Cambyſes King of Perſia, and ſent to Babylon, where he was much converſant with the Chaldean MAGI, and the learned Babyloniſh JEWS, from whom he borrow'd great Knowledge,^[28] that render'd him very famous in Greece and Italy, where afterwards he flouriſh'd and dy'd; when Mordecai was the prime Miniſter of State to Ahaſuerus King of Perſia, and ten Years after ZERUBBABEL's Temple was finiſh'd. ↩
27. A. M. 3479. 525. Ante Chr. ↩
28. A. M. 3498. 506. Ante Chr. ↩
29. A. M. 3652. 352. Ante Chr. ↩
30. Or borrow'd from other Nations their pretended Inventions, as Anaxagoras, Oenopides, Briſo, Antipho, Democritus, Hippocrates, and Theodorus Cyrenaeus, 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, Theaetetus, Archyras, Leon, Eudoxus, Menaichmus, and Xenocrates, the Maſter of Ariſtotle, from whoſe Academy alſo came forth Eudemus, Theophraſtus, Artſtaeus, Iſidorus, Hypſicles, and many others. ↩
31. A. M. 3700. 304. Ante Chr. ↩
32. A. M. 3748. 256. Ante Chr. ↩
33. 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 Caeſar, who was a good Judge of moſt Things, though chiefly converſant in Wars 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 [〈◊〉] 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 S[•]ore, riſing pyramidically, brought from Armenia to Babylon about the Time of the S[•]ege of Troy, if we may believe the Hiſtory of SEMIRAMIS. ↩
34. A. M. 3792. 212. Ante Chr. ↩
35. While ERATOSTHENES and CONON flouriſh'd in Greece who were ſucceeded by the exellent 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. ↩
36. A. M. 4004. ↩
37. 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 at Rhamnus, 10 Cubits high; and that of 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 Ruins, the Wonder of the World, till Anno Dom. 600, when the Soldan of Egypt carry'd off its Relicks, which loaded 900 Camels. ↩
38. By Menelaus, Claudius, Ptolomeus, (who was alſo the Prince of Aſtronomers) Plutarch, Eutocius (who recites the Inventions of Philo, Diocles, Nicomedes, Sphorus, and Heron the learned Mechanick) Kreſibius alſo, the Inventer of Pumps (celebrated by Vitruvius, Proclus, Pliny, and Athenaeus) and Geminus, alſo equall'd by ſome to Euclid; ſo Diophantus, Nicomachus, Serenus, Proclus, Pappus, Theon, &c. all Geometricians, and the illuſtrious Cultivaters of the mechanical Arts. ↩
39. 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 learaed and polite Conquerors in Maſonry, having then Leiſure and a Diſpoſition to raiſe magnificent Structures. Nay, even the Ingenious of the Neighbouring 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 Prejud[•]es, when they began to delight in the Royal Art. ↩
40. Ann. D. 448 ↩

41. No doubt ſeveral Saxon and Scotiſh Kings with many of the Nobility, great Gentry, and eminent Clergy, became the Grand 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 Maſonry; as many in all Ages have been more curious a 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 waiting; as no Man indeed can underſtand it without the Key of a Fellow Craft.

    ↩
42. An. Dom. 141. He dy'd. ↩
43. An. Dom. 832. ↩
44. An. Dom. 1066. ↩
45. 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. ↩
46. About An. Dom. 1362. ↩
47. About An. Dom. 1475. ↩
48. About An. Dom. 930. ↩

49. In another Manuſcript more ancient, we read: That when the Maſter and Wardens meet in a Lodge, if need be, the Sheriff of 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 of 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 the higheſt ſhould be well and truly ſerved in this Art foreſaid throughout all the Kingdom of England.

    Amen, ſo more it be.

    ↩

50. Tertio Henrici Sexti, Chap. I. An Dem. 1425.

    Title. Maſons ſhall not cofederate themſelves in Chapters and Congregations.

    WHEREAS by yearly Congregations and Confederacies, made by the Maſons in their General Aſſemblies, the good Courſe & Effect of the Statutes for Labourers be openly violated and broken, in Subverſion 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 Requeſi of the Commons, hath ordained and eſtabliſhed, that ſuch Chapters and Congregations ſhall not be heveafter holden; and if any ſuch be made, they that cauſe ſuch Chapters & Congregations to be aſſembled & 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 [•]ine and Ranſom at the King's Will.

    Co. Inſt. 3. p. 99. ↩
51. That Act was made in ignorant Times, when true Learning was a Crime, and Geometry condem'd for Conjurnation; but it cannot derogate in the leaſt Degree 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 influen[•]'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 virtue of amicular Confeſſion, and the Maſons never confeſſing any thing thereof, the f[•]nd 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 [••]at Per[•]d. made. ↩
52. ELIZABETH being jealous of any Aſſemblies of her Subjects, whoſe Buſineſs ſhe was not duly appriz'd of, attempted to break up the unnual Communication of Maſons, as dangerous to her Government: But, as old Maſons have tranſmited 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 o[•••] admitted into the Hodge, they made no uſe of Arms, and return'd the Queen a moſt honourable Account of the ancient Fraternity, when by her poli[••]al Fears and Doubts were diſpe[••]d, and ſhe let [•]em alone, as a People much reſpected by the Noble and the Wiſe & all the polite Nations, but [••]glected the Art all her Reign. ↩

53. The Plan and Proſpect of that glorious Deſign being ſtill preſerv'd, it is eſtrem'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 [〈◊〉] 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 corious Fa[••••]ks of thoſe Times, on[•] of which ſhall be now mention'd, the leaſt, and perhaps one of the fin[•]ſt, the GATE of the Phyſic Garden at OXFORD, rais'd by HENRY DANVEKS EARL OF DANBY, which coſt his Lordſhip many hundred [•]ounds, and is as curious a little piece of Maſonry as ever was built there le[•]cre or ſince, with the following Inſcription on the Front of it, viz.

    GLORIE DEI OPTIMI MAXIMI, HONORI CAROLI REGIS, IN [••]UM ACADEMIAE E[•] REIPUBLICAE, ANNO 1632.

    HENRIOUS COMES DANBY.

    ↩
54. 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 [〈◊〉] and Outſide, with good Gardens, and a very large Park; and all other adjacent [•]ccomodations. ↩

55. But by the royal Example of his Brother King Charles II. the City of LONDON erected the famous Monument, where the Great Fire began, all of ſolid Stone, 202 foot high from the Ground, a Pillar of the Dorick Order, 15 Fo[•]t diameter, with a curious Stair Caſe in the Middle of black Marble, and an i[•••] 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 21 Foot ſquare, and 40 Foot high, the Fr[•••] of which is adorn'd with moſt ingenious Emblems in Baſſo Relieve, w[•••]ght by that famous Sculptor, Mr. Gabriel Cibber, with large La[•]in [•]nſcriptions on the Sed[•]s of it; founded Anno 16[••], [〈◊〉] finiſh'd Anno 1677.

    [〈◊〉] his Time alſo the Society [•••••]RCHANT ADVENTURER[•] re[••••••] [〈…〉] [•]O[•]AL EXCHANGE of London (the [〈…〉] deſire[•]'d by the [〈…〉] the [〈◊〉] Style, the [〈…〉] of that Uſe in Eu[••••], with the King's Statu[•] to the Life, of white Marble, [〈…〉] of the [〈…〉] the famous Moſter-Carv[••] and Statuary, [〈◊〉]. GRINLIN G[••]BONS, who [••]as juſtly ad[•••••] [•]il over Europe, [〈…〉] rivalling, of [〈◊〉] ſurpaſſing, [〈◊〉] moſt ſame Italian Maſters) on the Pedeſtal of which is the following Inſcription viz.

    CAROLO II. CAESARI BRITANNICO
    PATRIAE PATRI
    RECUM OFTIMO CLEMENTISSIMO AUGUSTISSIMO
    GENERIS HUMANI DE[•••••]S
    UTRIUSQUE FORTUNAE VICTORI
    PACIS EUROPAE ARBITRO.
    MARIUM DOMINO AC VINDICI
    [•]OCIET AS MERCATORUM ADVENTUR ANGLIAE
    QUAE PER CCCC JAM PROPE ANNOS
    REGIA BENIGNITATE FLORET
    [•]IDEI INTEMERATAE ET GRATITUDINIS AETERNAE
    HOC TESTIMONIUM
    VENER ABUNDA POSUIT
    ANNO SALUTIS HUMANAE MDCLXXXIV.

    TO CHARLES II EMPEROR OF BRITAIN
    FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY
    BEST MOST MERCIFUL AND AUGUST OF KINGS
    DELIGHT OF MANKIND
    IN ADVERSITY AND PROSPERITY UNMOV'D
    UMPIRE OF EUROPE'S PEACE
    COMMANDER AND SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS
    THE SOCIETY OF MERCHANT ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND
    WHICH FOR NEAR CCCC YEARS
    BY ROYAL FA[•]OUR FLOURISHETH
    OF UNSHAKEN LOYALTY AND ETERNAL GRATITUDE
    THIS TESTIMON[•]
    HAS IN VENERATION ERECTED
    IN THE YEAR OF SALEATION MDCLXXXII

    Nor ſhould we forget the famous THEATER of OXFORD, built by Archbiſhop SHELDON, at his ſole Coſt, in th[•••] King's Time, which, among [•]i[•] other 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 MUSAEUM adjoining to it, a fine Building raild at the Charge of that illuſtrious UNIVE[•]SITY, where there have been ſince erected ſeveral more Roman Buildings, as Trinity-College Chappel, Allhallows Church in High-ſtreet, Peckwater-Square in Chriſt-Church College, the n[•]w Printing-Houſe, and the whole of Queen's-College rebuilt, &c. by the liboral Donations of [〈◊〉] eminent Benefactors, and by the publick Spirit, Vigilaney, and Fidelity of the Heads of Colleges, who generally have had a true Taſte of Rom[••] Architecture.

    The learned UNIVERSITY of CAMBRIDGE [〈◊〉] having had the Management of ſuch liberal Donations, have not ſo many fin[•] Structures, but they have two of the moſt curious and excellent in Grea[•]-Britain of their kind, the one a Gothick Building, KING's COLLEGE CHAPPEL (unleſs you except King Henry VII's Chappel in Weſtminſter-Abbey); and the other a Roman Building, TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY.

    ↩

56. The Biſhop of Salisbury went in an orderly Proceſſion, duly attended, and having levell'd the firſt Stone, gave it two or three Knocks with a Mallet, upon which, the Trumpets ſounded, and a vaſt Multitude made loud Acolamations of Joy; when his Lordſhip laid upon the Stone a Purſe of 100 Guineas, as a Preſent from his Majeſty for the uſe of the Graftſmen. The following Inſcription was cut in the Foundation Stone, and a Sheet of Lead put upon it, viz.

    D. S.
    SERENISSIMUS REX GEORGIUS
    PER DEPUTATUM SUUM
    REVERENDUM ADMODUM IN CHRISTO PATREM
    RICHARDUM EPISCOPUM SARISBURIENSEM
    SUMMUM SUUM ELEEMOSYNARIUM
    ADSISTENTE (REGIS JUSSU)
    DOMINO THO HEWET EQU AUR
    AEDIFIGIORUM REGIORUM CURATORE
    PRINCIPALI
    PRIMUM HUJUS ECCLESLAE LAPIDEM
    POSUIT
    MARTII 19 ANNO DOM. 1721.
    ANNOQUE REGNI SUI OCTAVO.

    SACRED TO GOD.
    HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY KING GEORGE
    BY HIS PROXY
    THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST
    RICHARD LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURY
    HIS MAJESTY'S CHIEF ALMONER
    ASSISTED (AT HIS MAJESTY'S COMMAND)
    BY SIR THOMAS HEWET KNIGHT
    OF HIS MAJESTY'S ROYAL BUILDINGS
    PRINCIPAL SURVEYOR
    THE FIRST STONE OF THIS CHURCH LAID
    THIS 19th OF MARCH ANNO DOMINI 1721
    AND THE EIGHTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN.

    ↩

57. 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 mention'd, beſides thoſe already ſpoken of, viz.

    • The QUEEN's Houſe at Greenwich, Belonging to the Crown.
    • The great Gallery in Somerſet-Gardens, The Crown.
    • Gunnersbury-Houſe near Brentford, Middleſex, Poſſeſs'd by the Duke of Queensbury.
    • Lindſay-Houſe in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, Duke of Auc. ſler.
    • York-Stairs at the Thames in York-Buildings.
    • St. Paul's-Church in Covent-Garden, with its glorious Porti[•]o.
    • The Building and Piazza of Covent-Garden, Duke of Bedford.
    • Wilton Caſtle in Wiltſhire, Earl of Pembroke.
    • Caſtle-Aſhby in Northamptonſhire, Earl of Straſſord.
    • Stoke-Park in ditto, Arundel Eſq
    • Wing-Houſe in Bedfordſhire, Hon. William Stanhope, Eſq
    • Chevening-Houſe in Kent, Earl Stanhope.
    • Ambroſe Bury in Wiltſhire, Lord Carleton.

    All deſign'd by the incomparble INIGO JONES, and moſt of them conducted by [•]irn, or by his Son-in-Law Mr. Web, according ot Mr. Jones's Deſigns.

    Beſides many more condncted by other Arebitocts, in fluendd by the ſame happy Gerins; ſuch as,

    • Bov. Church Steeple in Cheapſide. Built by Sir Chri Wren.
    • Hothim-Houſe in Beverly, Yorkſhire, Sir Chales Hothum Bart
    • Melvin Houle in Fief, Earl of Levin
    • Longleate-Houſe in Wiltſhire, Viſcount Weymouth.
    • Cheſterlee-ſtreet-Houſe in Durham Couunty John Hedworth, Eſq,
    • Montague-Houſe in Bloomsbury, London, Duke of Montagu.
    • Drumlanrig Caſtle in Nithiſdaleſhire, Dukeof Queensbury.
    • Caſtle-Howard in Yorkſhire, Earl of Carliſle.
    • Stainborough-Houſe in ditto, Earl of Strafford.
    • Hopton-Caſtle in Linlithgowſhire, Earl of Hopton.
    • Bleheim-caſtle at Woodſtlock, Oxfordſhire, Duke of Marlborough.
    • Chaſwoth-Caſtle in Derbyſhire, Duke of Devonſhire.
    • Palace of Hammilton in Clyſdaleſhire, Duke of Hammiltton.
    • Wanſtead Houſe in Epping-Foreſt, Eſſex, Lord Caſtlemain.
    • Duncomb-Park in Yorkſhire, Thomas Ducomb Eſq
    • Mereworth Caſtle in Kent, Hon. John Fane Eſq
    • Sterling-Houſe near Sterling-caſtle, Duke of Argyle.
    • Kinroſs-Houſe in Kinorſsſhire, Sir William Bruce Bart.
    • Stourton-caſtle in Wiltſhire, Henry Hoar Eſq
    • Willbury-Houſe in ditto, William Benſon Eſq
    • Bute Caſtle in Iſle of Bute, Earle of Bute.
    • Walpole-Houſe near Lin Regis, Norſolk, Hon. Rob. Walpole Eſq
    • Burlington-Houſe in Pickadilly, St. James's Weſtminſter, Earl of Burlington.
    • Dormitory of King's School, Weſtminſter, The Grown.
    • Tottenham-Park in Wiltſhire, Lord Bruce.

    Theſe three laſt are deſign'd and conducted by the Earl of BURLINGTON, alo bids fair to be the beſt Architect of Britain, [if be is not ſo aheady] and we tear his Lordſhip intends to publiſh the valuable Remains of Mr. inigo Jones, or the Improvement of other Architects.

    Beſides more of the ſame Roman Style, and yet many mere in Imitation of it, which though they cannot be teduc'd to any certain Style, are ſtately, beantiful, and convenient Strutlura notauaſo ſtavding the Miſtakes of their ſeveral Architects: And beſides the ſumptuons and venerable Gothick Enthings, paſt reckoning, as Cachedrals; P[•]ſiſh-Chuſhope, Chappels, Bridges, old Palaces of the Kings, of the Nobillry, pſithe Bjſhlops, [••]d the Gentry; known well to Travellers, and to ſuch as peruſe the Hiſtories of Counties, and the ancient Monuments of great Famdies, &c. as many Erection; of the Roman Style may be review'd in Mr. Campbell the Architect's ingenious Book, call'd VITRUVIUS BRTTANNICUS: And if the Diſpoſition for truee ancient Maſonry prevails, for ſome time, with N[•]lemn, [••]memen, and learned men, (as it is likely it will) this ISLANI) will beroms the MISTRESS of [•]the) Earth, Ifor Deſiening, Doawing, and Counductaw, and capable to inſtruct alb other Nations in all things reloting to the ROYALART.

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