I.
WHEN e'er we are alone,
And ev'ry Stranger gone,
In Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring,
Begin to play, begin to sing,
The mighty Genius of the lofty Lodge,
In ev'ry Age
That did engage
And well inspir'd the Prince, the Priest, the Judge,
The Noble and the Wise to join
In rearing Masons Grand Design.

II.
The Grand Design to rear,
Was ever Mason's Care,
From Adam down before the Flood,
Whose Art old Noah understood,
And did impart to Japhet, Shem and Ham,
Who taught their Race
To build apace
Proud Babel's Town and Tow'r, until it came
To be admir'd too much, and then
Dispersed were the Sons of Men.

III.
But tho' their Tongues confus'd
In distant Climes they us'd,
They brought from Shinar Orders good,
To rear the Art they understood :
Therefore sing first the Princes of the Isles ;
Next Belus great,
Who fixt his Seat
In old Assyria, building stately Piles ;
And Mitzraim's Pyramids among
The other Subjects of our Song.

IV.
And Shem, who did instil
The useful wondrous Skill
Into the Minds of Nations great :
And Abram next, who did relate
Th' Assyrian Learning to his Sons, that when
In Egypt's Land
By Pharoah's Hand,
Were roughly taught to be most skilful Men;
Till their Grand-Master Moses rose
And them deliver'd from their Foes. [86]

[87] V.
But who can sing his Praise,
Who did the Tent upraise ?
Then sing his Workmen true as Steel,
Aholiab and Bezaleel ;
Sing Tyre and Sydon, and Phenicians old.
But Samson's Blot
Is ne'er forgot :
He blabb'd his Secrets to his Wife, that sold
Her Husband, who at last pull'd down
The House on all in Gaza Town.

VI.
But Solomon the King
With solemn Note we sing,
Who rear'd at length the Grand Design,
By Wealth, and Pow'r, and Art divine;
Helpt by the learned Hiram Tyrian Prince,
By Craftsmen good,
That understood
Wise Hiram Abif's charming Influence :
He aided Jewish Masters bright,
Whose curious Works none can recite.

VII.
These glorious Mason Kings
Each thankful Brother sings,
Who to its Zenith rais'd the Art,
And to all Nations did impart
The useful Skill: For from the Temple fine,
To ev'ry Land,
And foreign Strand,
The Craftsmen march'd, and taught the Grand Design ;
Of which the Kings, with mighty Peers,
And learned Men, were Overseers.

VIII.
Diana's Temple next,
In Lesser Asia fixt ;
And Babylon's proud Walls, the Seat
Of Nebuchadnezar the Great ;
The Tomb of Mausolus, the Carian King ;
With many a Pile
Of lofty Style
In Africa and Greater Asia, sing,
In Greece, in Sicily, and Rome,
That had those Nations overcome.

IX.
Then sing Augustus too,
The Gen'ral Master true,
Who by Vitruvius did refine
And spread the Masons Grand Design
Thro' North and West ; till ancient Britons chose
The Royal Art In ev'ry Part,
And Roman Architecture could disclose;
Until the Saxons warlike Rage
Destroy'd the Skill of many an Age.

X.
At length the Gothick Style
Prevail'd in Britain's Isle,
When Masons Grand Design reviv'd,
And in their well form'd Lodges thriv'd,
Tho' not as formerly in Roman Days :
Yet sing the Fanes
Of Saxons, Danes,
Of Scots, Welch, Irish ; but sing first the Praise
Of Athelstan and Edwin Prince,
Our Master of great Influence.

[88] XI.
And eke the Norman Kings
The British Mason sings :
Till Roman Style revived there,
And British Crowns united were
In learned James, a Mason King, who rais'd
Fine Heaps of Stones
By Inigo Jones,
That rival'd wise Palladio, justly prais'd
In Italy, and Britain too,
For Architecture firm and true.

XII.
And thence in ev'ry Reign
Did Masonry obtain
With Kings, the Noble and the Wise,
Whose Fame resounding to the Skies,
Excites the present Age in Lodge to join,
And Aprons wear,
With Skill and Care,
To raise the Masons ancient Grand Design,
And to revive th' Augustan Style
In many an artful glorious Pile.

XIII.
From henceforth ever sing
The Craftsman and the King,
With Poetry and Musick sweet
Resound their Harmony compleat ;
And with Geometry in skilful Hand,
Due Homage pay,
Without Delay,
To Wharton's noble Duke our Master Grand
He rules the Free-born Sons of Art,
By Love and Friendship, Hand and Heart.

CHORUS.
Who can rehearse the Praise,
In soft Poetick Lays,
Or solid Prose, of Masons true,
Whose Art transcends the common View?
Their Secrets, ne'er to Strangers yet expos'd,
Preserv'd shall be
By Masons Free,
And only to the ancient Lodge disclos'd ;
Because they're kept in Masons Heart
By Brethren of the Royal Art.

To fill up this Page, it is thought not amiss to insert here a Paragraph from an old Record of Masons, viz. The Company of Masons, being otherwise termed Free Masons, of auncient Staunding and good Reckoning, by means of affable and kind Meetings diverse Tymes, and as a loving Brotherhood should use to doe, did frequent this mutual Assembly in the Tyme of King Henry V. the 12th Year of his most gracious Reign. And the said Record describing a Coat of Arms, much the same with That of the LONDON COMPANY of Freemen Masons, it is generally believ'd that the said Company is descended of the ancient Fraternity ; and that in former Times no Man was made Free of that Company until he was install'd in some Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, as a necessary Qualification. But that laudable Practice seems to have been long in Dissuetude.

The Brethren in foreign Parts have also discover'd that several noble and ancient Societies and Orders of Men have derived their Charges and Regulations from the Free-Masons, (which are now the most ancient Order upon Earth) and perhaps were originally all Members too of the said ancient and worshipful Fraternity. But this will more fully appear in due Time.

Back to The Constitutions Of Freemasons  [ Previous ] [ Next ]