I. An old manuscript, which was destroyed with many others in 1720, said to have been in the possession of Nicholas Stone, a curious sculptor under Inigo Jones, contains the following particulars: St. Albans loved Masons well, and cherished them much, and made their pay right good; for he gave them 2 shillings per week, and 3d. to their cheer; whereas, before that time, in all the land, a Mason had but a penny a day and his meat, until St. Albans mended it, and he got them a charter from the king and his counsel for to hold a general counsel, and gave it to name assembly. Thereat he was himself, and did help to make Masons, and gave them good charges."
II. A record of the society, written in the reign of Edward IV, formerly in possession of the famous [20] Elias Ashmole, the founder of the Museum of Oxford, England: "Though the ancient records of the Brotherhood in England were many of them destroyed or lost in the wars of the Saxons and Danes, yet King Athelstane, (the grandson of King Alfred the Great, a mighty architect,) the first anointed King of England, and who translated the Sacred Scriptures into the Saxon tongue, (A. D. 930,) when he had brought the land into rest and peace, built many great works, and encouraged many Masons from France, who were appointed overseers thereof, and brought with them the charges and regulations of the Lodges, preserved since the Roman times; who also prevailed with the king to improve the Constitution of the English Lodges according to the foreign model, and to increase the wages of the English Masons. The said king's brother, 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 honorable principles whereon it is grounded, purchased a free charter of King Athelstane, for the Masons having a correction among themselves, (as it was anciently expressed,) or a freedom and power to regulate themselves, to amend what might happen amiss, and to hold a yearly communication and General Assembly.
III. Accordingly, Prince Edwin summoned all the Masons in the realm to meet him in a congregation at York,* who calmed and composed a general Lodge, of which he was Grand Master; and having brought with him all the writings and records extant, some in Greek, some in Latin, some in French, and other languages, from the contents thereof the assembly did frame the Constitution and charges of the Ancient English Lodge; they made a law to preserve and observe the same in all time coming, and ordained good pay for working Masons, &c. And he made a book thereof, how the Craft was founded; and he himself ordered and commanded that it should be read, and told when any Mason should be made, and for to give him his charges. And from that day until this time, manners of Masons have been kept in that form, as well as men might govern.
"Furthermore, however, at diverse assemblies certain charges have been made and ordained by the best advice of Masters and fellows, as the exigencies of the Craft made necessaries."
*Hence the origin of Ancient York Masonry.
[21] In the reign of King Edward the Third, 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,) ordained as follows: That for the future, at the making or admission of a Brother, the Constitution and the ancient charges should be read by the Master or Wardens.* "That such as were to be admitted Master Masons, or Masters of the Work, should be examined whether they be able to serve their respective lords, as well the lowest as the highest, to the honor and worship of the aforesaid art, and to the profit of their Lord or Master, for they be their Lords or Masters that employ and pay them for their service and travel."
IV. The following particulars are also contained in a very old manuscript, of which a copy was in the possession of the Right Worshipful George Payne, Grand Master, in 1718: "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 aldermen of the town, in which the congregation is held, should be made fellow and associate to the Master, in help of him against rebels, and for up bearing the rights of the realm. That entered prentices, at their making, were charged not to be thieves, or thieves' maintainers; that they should travel honestly for their pay, and love their fellows as them-selves, be true to the King of England, to the realm and to the Lodge. "That at such congregations it shall be required, whether any Master or fellow has broken any of the articles agreed to; and if the offender, being dully 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
* This good rule ought to be always enforced.
[22] Craft, the which if he presume for to do, the sheriff of tile county shall prison him, and shall take all his goods into the king's hands, until his grace be granted him and issued. For this cause principally have these congregations been ordained, that as well the lowest as the highest should be well and truly served in the aforesaid art, throughout all the Kingdom of England. Amen -so mote it be."
V. The Latin register of William Molart, Prior of Canterbury, in manuscript paper 88, dated 1429, informs us, that in the year 1429, during the minority of Henry the Sixth, a respectable Lodge was held at Canterbury, under the patronage of Henry Chicheley, the Archbishop, at which were present Thomas Stapyton, the Master, John Morris, Custos de la Loge Lathomorum, or Warden of the Lodge of Masons, with fifteen fellow-crafts, and three entered apprentices, all of whom are particularly named. A record of' the same period says: "The Company of Masons. being otherwise termed Free Masons, of ancient standing, and guide reckoning, by means of affable and kind meetings diverse times, and as a loving brotherhood used to do, did frequent this mutual assembly in the time of Henry the 4th, in the 12th year of his reign, A. D. 1434.* The same record in another part says: That the charges and laws of the Free Masons have been seen and perused by our late sovereign, King Henry the 6th, and by the lords of his most honorable council, who have allowed them and declared, that they be right good and reasonable to be holden, as they have been drawn out and collected from the records of ancient times, &c. &c."
VI. Ancient Charges. Ye shall be true to the King, and the master you serve, and to the fellowship whereof you are admitted.
* Extract of Stowe's Survey, chap. v. p. 215.
[23] Ye shall be true to and love eidher odher. Ye shall call eidher other Brother or Fellow, not slave, nor any unkind name.
"Ye shall ordain the wisest to be master of the work; and neither for love nor lineage, riches nor favor, set one over the, work who hath but little knowledge; whereby the master would be evil served, and ye ashamed, and also ye shall call the governor of the work master in the time of working with him; and ye shall truly deserve your reward of the master ye serve."
All the Freres* shall treat the peculiarities of eidher odher with the gentleness, decency, and forbearance he thinks due to his own.
"Ye shall have a reasonable pay, and live honestly."
Once a year ye are to come and assemble together, to consult how ye may best work to serve the-craft, and to your own profit and credit."
VII. A manuscript copy of an examination of some of the Brotherhood, taken before King Henry the 6th, was found by the learned John Locke, Esq., in the Bodleian library. This dialogue possesses a double claim to our regard: first for its antiquity, and next for the ingenious notes and conjectures of Mr. Locke upon it; some of which we have retained. The approbation of a philosopher of as great merit and penetration as the English nation ever produced, added to the real value of the piece itself, must give it a sanction, and render it deserving a serious and candid examination. This ancient manuscript is as follows:
"A certayne questyons, with answeres to the saime, concernynge the mysterye of Maconrye: wryttene by the hande of King Henry, the Sixth of the name, and faythfullye copyed by mue Johann Leylande,** Antiquarius, by the command of his Higihnesse.***
*Ftreres. French, signifying Brethren.
** " John Leylande was appointed by King Henry the eighth, at the dissolution of the monasteries, to search for, and save such books and records as were valuable among them he was a man of great labor and industry."
*** "His Highness, meaning he said King Henry the eighth. Our Kings had not then the title of Majesty."
[24] "They be as followethe:
"Question - What mote ytt be?
"Answer - Ytt beeth the Skylle of nature, the undcerstondynge
of the myghte that is hereynne, and its soncirye werckynges; sonderlyche,
the Skylle of rectenyngs, of waightes, and inetynges, and the
tren manere of faconnynge al thynges for mannes use, headlye,
dwellynges, and buylcynges of alle kindes, and al odher thynges
that make gudde to manne.
"Question - Where did ytt begyne?
"Answer - Ytt clyd begynne with the fyrste menne yn the este,
whych were before the ffyrste manne of the weste, and comynge
westlye, ytt hath broulghte herwyth alle comforts to the wyllde
and comfortlesse.
"Question - Who dycd brynge ytt westlye?
"Answer - The Venetianls,* whoo begynge grate merchaundces,
comed ffyrste ifromume the este ynn Venetia, ifor tle coimmoclytye
of marchaundysynge beithe este and weste, bey the Rledce and Myddlelonde
Sees.
"Question - Ho-Lwe comede ytt yn Engelonde?
"Answer - Peter Gower,** a Grlecian, journeyedde ffor kunnynge
yn Egypte, and yn Syria, and in everyche londe whereat the Venetians
hadde plaunltedde Maconrye, and wynnynge entrance yn al Lodges
of Macconnes, he lernecl iuche, ancl retournedde, and worked yn
* The Venetious, &c. "In times of ignorance, it is no wonder that the Phencians should be mistaken for the Venetians. Or, perhaps, if the people were not taken one for the other, similitude of sound might deceive the clerk who first took down the examination. The Phenecians were the greatest voyagers among the ancients, and were in Europe thought to be the inventors of letters, which perhaps they brought from the east with other arts."
** Peter Gower. "This must be another mistake of the writer. I was puzzled at first td guess who Peter Gower should be, the name being perfectly English; or how a Greek should come by such a name; but as soon as I thought of Pythagoras, I could scarce forbear smiling to find that philosopher had undergone a metempsychosis he never dreamt of. We need only consider the French pronunciation of this name Pythagore, that is, Petegore, to conceive how easily such a mistake might be made by an unlearned clerk. That Pythagoras traveled for knowledge into Egypt, &c., is known to all the learned, aid that he was initiated into several different orders of Priests, who in those days kept all their learning secret from the vulgar, is as well known. Pythagoras, also, made every geometrical theorem a secret, and admitted only such to the knowledge of them, as had first undergone a five years' silence. He is supposed to be the inventor of the xiviith of the first book of Euclid, for which, in the joy of his heart, it is said he sacrificed a hecatomb. He also knew the true system of the world lately revived by Copernicus, and was certainly a most wonderful man. See his life by Dion Hal."
[25] Grecia Magna,* wachsyncge, and becommynge
a myghtye wyseacre,** and gratelyche renowned and here he framed
a great Lodge at Groton,*** and makes manye Maconnes, some whereoffe
dyd journnye yn Fraunce, and maked manye Maconnes, wherefromme,
in processe of tyme, the arte passed yn Engelonlde.
"Question - Dothe AIaconnes descouer here arts mlto odhers?
"Answer - Peter Gower, when he journeyedde to lernne, was
ifyrste made, and anonne techedde, even soe shulcle all oclhers
be and teche. Maconnes**** hauthe always yn everyche tyme from
tyme to tyme communtycatedde to mankynlde soche of her secrettes
as generallyche myghte be usefulle; they haueth kepedc backe soche
aliein as shulde be harmfulle yff they commend yn euylle haundles,
oder soche as ne myghte be holpynge wythouten the techynges to
be joynedde herwythe in the Lodge, oder soche as do bynde the
Freles more strongelyche togecler, bey the profytte, and commodyte
cornynge to the Confrerie herfriomnme.
"Question - Whatte artes haueth the Macolnnes techecldde
mankynde?
"Answer - The Artes Aoricultura, Architectura, Astronomia,
Geometria, Numeries, Musica, Poesie, Kynmistrye, Governmente and
Itelygyonne.
"Question - How commethe Maconnes more teachers than odher
men?
"Answer - They hemselfe haueth alilein the arte of fyndyng
neue artes, whyche arte the ffyrste Maconnes receaued fromii Godde;
by the whyche they fyndethe whatte artes herln plesethe, and the
true way of techynge the same. Whatt odher menne doethe ffynde
out, ys onelyche bey chaunce, and herfore but lytel I tro.
"Question - What dothe the Maconnes concele and hyde?
"Answer - Thay concelethe the art of ffynding neue artes,
and thattys for here owne proffytte, and preise. Thay conceleth
the art of kepynge secrettes, that soe the worlde mayeth nothinge
concele
* Gecia Mcrao. "A part of Italy, formerly
so called, in which the Greeks had settled a large colony."
** Weiseager, in the old Saxon, is philosopher, wiseman or wizard.
*** Grotonz. " Groton is the name of a place in England.
The place here meant is Crotona, a city of Grecia Magne, which
in the time of Pythagoras was very populous."
**** Maconzees havethe commnunicatedds, &c. "This paragraph
hath something remarkable in it. It contains a justification of
the secrecy so much boasted of by Masons, and so much blamed by
others, asserting that they have in all ages discovered such things
as might be useful, and that they conceal such only as would be
hurtful either to the world or themselves. What these secrets
are, we see afterwards."
[26] from them. They concelethe the art of wuntlderwerklynge, and of fore sayings thynoes to come, thatt so thay same artes may not be usedde of thle wyckedde to an euylle ende; thay also conceuthe the arte of chaunges,* the wey of wynnyng the faculty of Abrac,** the skylle of becommynce guclle and parfyghlte withouten the holpynges of fere and hope, and the universelle*** longage of Maconnes.
"Question - WySlle he teche me thay
same artes?
"Answer - Ye shalle be techedce yft ye be werthye and able
to lerne.
"Question - Dothe alle Maconnes kunne more then odher menne?
"Answer - Not so. Thay onlyche haueth recht, and occasyonne
more then odher menne to kumne, butt manye doeth fale yn capacitye,
and many more cloth want industrye, that ys pernecessarye for
the gaynynge all kunnynge.
"Question - Are Maconnes gudder nenne then odhers?
"Answer - Some Maconnes are not so vertuous as some odher
mennle; but yn the moste parte, they be more gude than they woulde
be yf thay war not Maclonnes.
"Question - Doth Maconnes love eidther odher myghtylye as
beeth sayde?
"Answer - Yea verylyche, and yt may not otherwyse be; for
gude menne, anld true kennynge, eidher odher to be socle, doethl
always love the more as they be more gude.
"Here endethe the Questyonnes and Answeres."****
* The transmnutation of metals.
** Facuelye of Aibrec. An abbreviation of the word Abracadabra.
In the days of Ignorance and Superstition, that word had a magical
signification, but the explanation of it is now lost.
*** The being, able by secret and inviolable signs, carefully
preserved among the Fraternity throughout the world, to express
themselves intelligibly to men of all languages and nations. "A
man who has all these arts and advantages is certainly in a condition
to be envied; but we are told that this is not the case with all
Masons, for though these arts are among them, and all have a right
and an opportunity to know them, yet some want capacity and others
industry to acquire them. However, of all their arts and secrets,
that which I most desire to know is, The skylle of becommynge
glude and parfyghte; and I wish. it were communicated to all mankind,
since there is nothing more true than the beautiful sentence contained
in the last answer,' that the better men are, the more they love
one another.
Virtue having in itself something so amiable
as to charm the hearts of all that behold it."
**** Glossary, to explain thee Old Words is? the foregoing Manuscript.
Allein, only; alweys, always; beithe, both; commodyte, conveniency;
confrerie, fratnity; faconnynge, forming; fore saying, prophesying;
freres, brethren; headlye, chiefly; hem pesethe, they please;
hemselfe, thiemselves; her, there, their; hereynne, therein; herwyth,
with it; holpynge, beneficial; kunne, know; kunnynge, knowledge;
make gudde, are beneficial; metynges, measures; mote, may; myddlelonde,
Mediterranean.; myghte, power; oecasyonne, opportunity; oder,
or; onelyche, only; pernecessarye, absolhctely necessary; precise,
honor; recht, right; reckenyngs, numbers; sonderlyche, particularly;
skylle, knowledge; wachsynge, growling; werek, operation; wey,
way; whereas, where; woned, dwelt; wunderwerckynge, working miracles;
wylde, savage; wynnynge, gasning; ynn, into.
[27] A letter from Mr. Locke to the Right Honorable Thomas Earl of Pemlebroke, to whom he sent this ancient manuscript, concludes as follows:
"I know not what effect the sight of this old paper may have upon your Lordship, but for my own part I cannot deny that it has so much raised my curiosity, as to induce 11me to enter myself into the Fraternity, which I am determined to do (if I may be admitted) the next time I go to London, (and that will be shortly.)
I am, my Lord, your Lordship's Most obedient
and humble servant,
JOHN LOCKE."
VIII - Ancient Charges at the Constitution of a Lodge, extracted from a manuscript in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity in London, written in the time of James the Second:
" * * * * And furthermore, at diverse assemblies have been put and ordained diverse crafties by the best advice of magistrates and Fellows. Tunc unus ex senioribus tenet, librum, et ille ponet manum suam, super librum.
Every man that is a Mason take good heed to these charges (we pray) that if any man find himselfe guilty of any of these charges, that he may amend himselfe, or principally for dread of God, you that be charged to take good heed that you keepe all these charges well, for it is a great evill for a man to forswear himselfe upon a book.
"The first charge is, that yee shall be true men to God and the holy church, and to use no error or heresie by your understanding and by wise men's teaching. Allso,
"Secondly, That yee shall be true liege men to the King of England, without treason or any falsehood, and that yee know no treason or treachery, but ye shall give knowledge thereof to the king or [28] to his counsell; allso yee shall be true one to another, that is to say, every Mason of the Craft that is Mason allowed, yee shall doe to him as yee would be done unto yourselfe.
" Thirdly, And yee shall keepe truely all the counsell tlhat ought to be kept in tile way of Masonhood, and all the counsell of the Lodge or of the chamber. Allso, that ye shall be no thiefe or thieves to your knowledge fiee; that yee shall be true to the King, Lord or Master that yee serve, and truely to see and worke for his advantage.
"Fourthly, Yee shall call all Masons your Fellows, or your Brethren, and no other names.
"Fifthly, Yee shall not take your Fellow's wife in villainy, nor deflower his daughter or servant, nor put him to no disworship.
"Sixthly, Yee shall truely pay for your meat or drinke wheresoever ye go, to table or bord. Also, yee shall do no villainy there, whereby the Craft or Science may be slandered.
"These be the charges general to every true Mason, both Masters and Fellowes.
"Now will I rehearse other charges single for Masons allowed or accepted.
"First, That no Mason take on him no Lord's worke, nor any other man's, unlesse he know himselfe well able to perform the worke, so that the Craft have no slander.
" Secondly, Allso, that no Master take worke but that lie take reasonable pay for itt; so that the Lord may be truly served, and the Master to live honestly, and to pay his Fellows truely. And that no Master or Fellow supplant others of their worke; that is to say, that if he hath taken a worke, or else stand Master of any worke, that lie shall not put him out, -unless he be unable of cunning to make an end of his worke. And no Master nor Fellow shall take no apprentice for less than seaven yeares. And that the apprentice be free born, and of limbs whole, as a mlan ought to be, and no bastard. And that no Master or Fellow take no allowance to be made Mason without the assent of his Fellows, at the least six or seaven.
"Thirdly, That he that be made be able in all degrees; that is, free born, of a good kindred, true and no bondsman, and that he have his right limbs, as a man ought to have.
"Fourthly, That a Master take no apprentice without he have occupation to occupy two or three Fellows at the least.
"Fifthly, That no Master or Fellow put away any Lord's worke to taske that ought to be journey worke.
[29] Sixthly That every Master give pay to his Fellows and servants as they may deserve, so that he be not defamed with false workeing: And that none slander another behind his backe, to make him loose his good name.
"Seventhly, That no Fellow in the house or abroad answer another ungodly or reproveably without a cause.
"Eighthly, That every Master Mason doe reverence his elder, and that a Mason be no common pilaier at the cards, dice or hazard, nor at any other unlawful places, through the which the Science and Craft may be dishonored or slandered.
"Ninthly, That no Fellow goe into the town by night, except he have a Fellow with him, who may beare him record that he was in an honest place.
" Tenthly, That every Master and Fellow shall come to the assemblie, if it be within fifty miles of him, if he have any warning. And if he have trespassed against the Craft, to abide the award of Masters and Fellows.
" Eleventhly, That every Master Mason and Fellow that hath trespassed against tile Craft shall stand to the correction of other Masters and Fellows to made him accord, and if they cannot accord, to go to the common law.
Twelfthly, That a Master or Fellow make not a mould stone, square, nor rule, no to lowen, nor let no lowen worke within their Lodge, nor to mould stone.
"Thirteenthly, That every Mason receive and clerish strange Fellowes when they come over the countrie, and set them on worke, if they will worke, as the manner is; that is to say, if the Mason have any mould stone in his place, he shall give him a mould stone, and sett him on worke; and if he have none, the Mason shall refresh him with money unto the next Lodge,
"Fourteenthly, That every Mason shall truely serve his Master for his pay.
" Fifteenthly, That every Master shall truely make an end of his worke, taske or journey, whethersoe it be.
"These be all the charges and covenants that ought to be read at the installment of Master, or making of a Free Mason or Free Masons. The Almighty God of Jacob, who ever have you and me in his keeping, bless us now and ever, Amen."
[30] IX - Extract from the Diary of Elias Ashmole, a learned antiquary:
"I was made a Free Mason at Warrington, Lancashire, with Colonel Henry Mainwaring, or Kerthingham, in Cheshire, by Mr. Richard Penket, the Warden, and the Fellow Crafts (all of whom are specified) on the 16th October, 1646."
In another place of his Diary, he says:
"On March the 10th, 1682, about 5 hor. post. merid. I received a summons to appear at a Lodge to be held the next day at Masons' Hall in London. March 11, accordingly I went, and about noon were admitted into the fellowship of Free Masons, Sir William Wilson, Knt., Capt. Richard Borthwick, Mr. William Woodman, Mr. William Gray, Mr. Samiuel Tayor, and Mr. William Wise. I was the senior Fellow among them, it being thirty-five years since I was admitted. There were present, beside myself, the Fellows after named: Mr. Thomas Wise, Master of the Masons' company this present year, Mr. Thomas Shorthose, and seven more old Free Masons. We all dined at the Half Moon Tavern, Cheapside, at a noble dinner prepared at the charge of the new accepted Masons."
An old record of the Society describes a coat of arms much the same with that of the London company of Free Masons; whence it is generally believed that this company is a branch of that ancient Fraternity; and in former times, no man, it also appears, was made free of that company, until he was initiated in some Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, as a necessary qualification. This practice still prevails in Scotland among the operative Masons.
The writer of Mr. Ashmole's Life, who was not a Mason, before his History of Berkshire, p. 6, gives the following account of Masonry:
"He (Mr. Ashmole) was elected a Brother of the company of Free Masons, a favor esteemed so singular by the members, that [31] Kings themselves have not disdained to enter themselves of this Society. From these are derived the Adopted Masons, Accepted Masons, or Free Masons, who are known to one another all over the world by certain signals and watchwords known to them alone. They have several Lodges in different countries for their reception, and when any of them fall into decay, the Brotherhood is to relieve them. The manner of their adoption or admission is very formal and solemn, and with the administration of an oath of secrecy, which has had better fate than all other oaths, and has ever been most religiously observed, nor has the world yet been able, by the inadvertency, surprise or folly of any of its members, to dive into this mystery, or make the least discovery."
In some of Mr. Ashmole's manuscripts, there are many valuable Collections relating to the History of the Free Masons, as may be gathered from the letters of Dr. Knipe, of Christ Church, Oxford, to the publisher of Ashmole's Life; the following extracts from which will authenticate and illustrate many facts in the following history.
As to the ancient Society of Free. Masons, concerning whom you are desirous of knowing what may be known with certainty, I shall only tell you, that if our worthy Brother E. Ashmole, Esq., had executed his intended design, our Fraternity had been as much obliged to him as the Brethren of the most noble Order of the Garter. I would not have you surprised at this expression, or think it at all too assuming. The Sovereigns of that Order have not disdained our fellowship, and there have been times when Emperors were also Free Masons. What from Mr. Ashmole's collection I could gather, was, that the report of our Societies taking rise from, a bull granted by the Pope in the reign of Henry VI to some Italian architects to travel over all Europe to erect chapels, were ill-founded. Such a bull there was, and those architects were Masons. But this bull, in the opinion of the learned Mr. Ashmole, was confirmative only, and did not by any means create our Fraternity, or even establish them in his kingdom. But as to the time and manner of that establishment, something I shall relate from the same collections:
"St. Alban, the protomartyr, established Masonry here, and from his time, it flourished, more or less, according as the world went, down to the days of King Athelstane, who, for the sake of his [32] brother Edwin, granted the Masons a charter. Under our Norman princes, they frequently received extraordinary marks of royal favor; there is no doubt to be made, that the skill of Masons, which was always transcendaently great, even in the most barbarous times; their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other, how different soever in condition; and their inviolable fidelity in keeping religiously their secrets, must expose them, in ignorant, troublesome, and superstitious times, to a vast variety of adventures, according to the different fate of parties, and other alterations in government. By the way, it may be noted, that the Masons were always loyal, which exposed them to great severities when power wore the appearance of justice, and those who committed treason punished true men as traitors. Thus, in the third year of Henry VI an act passed to abolish the Society of Masons, and to hinder, under grievous penalties, the holding Chapters, Lodges, or other regular assemblies; yet this act was afterwards [virtually] repealed, and even before that, King Henry, and several Lords of his court, became Fellows of the Craft."
Some Lodges in the reign of Charles II were constituted by leave of the several noble Grand Masters, and many gentlemen and famous scholars requested at that time to be admitted of the Fraternity.
X - The experienced Mason of the present day, will, at one glance, perceive that the following regulations, with but little variation, are still in full force:
Extract from the Regulations made in General Assembly, Dec. 27, 1663. Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, Grand Master:
"1. That no person, of what degree soever, be made or accepted a Free Mason unless in a regular Lodge, whereof one to be a Master or a Warden in that limit or division where such Lodge is kept, and another to be a Craftsman in the trade of Free Masonry.
"2. That no person hereafter shall be accepted a Free Mason, but such as are of able body, honest parentage, good reputation, and an observer of the laws of the land.
"3. That no person hereafter who shall be accepted a Free Mason, shall be admitted into any Lodge or Assembly, until he has brought [33] a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation from the Lodge that accepted him, unto the Master of that limit or division where such Lode is kept: And the said Master shall enroll the same in a roll of parchment to be kept for that purpose, and shall give all account of all such acceptations at every General Assembly.
"4. That every person who is now a Free Mason shall bring to the Master a note of the time of his acceptation, to the end the same may be enrolled in such priority of place as the Brother deserves; and that the whole company and Fellows may the better know each other.
"5. That for the future, the said Fraternity of Free Masons shall be regulated and governed by one Grand Master, and as many Wardens as the said Society shall think fit to appoint at every annual General Assembly.
"6. That no person shall be accepted,
unless he be twenty-one years old, or more." Many of the
Fraternity's records of this and the preceding reign were lost
at the revolution; and not a few were too hastily burnt in our
own times by some scrupulous Brothers, from a fear of making discoveries
prejudicial to the interests of Masonry.
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