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 Freemen 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 favour esteemed so singular by the members, that 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 watch-words 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 been yet 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, was 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 this kingdom. But as to the time and manner of that establishment, something I shall relate from the same collections.

"St. Alban, the protomartyr, established Masonary 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 Brother Edwin, granted the Masons a charter. Under our Norman Princes they frequently received extraordinary marks of royal favour; there is no doubt to be made, that the skill of Masons, which was always transcendently great, even in the most barbarous times; their wonderful kindness and attachment to each other, how dif ferent soever in condition; and their inviolabble 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 th year of Henry VI. an act passed to abolish the society o 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."

asons,

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.

IX.

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. Alban's, 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 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 Lodge is kept: And the said Master shall enrol the same in a roll of parchment to be kept for that purpose, and shall give an 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 pre- ceding 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 interest of Masonry.]

OPINIONS OF MODERN WRITERS.

[Having, in the foregoing pages, extracted from a variety of au thentic sources, the records and opinions of the most respectable ancient writers, on the subject of Masonry, it may not be deemed irrelevant to our undertaking to insert the speculations of modern writers also. The following account of FreeMasonry was collected and prepared for publication by a society of literary gentlemen, in England; and as it has never been incorporated in a work of this nature, it is here inserted for the better information of the Craft:]

FREE-MASONRY denotes the system of mysteries and secrets peculiar to the society of free and accepted Masons. The origin of this society is very ancient; but we have no authentic account of the time when it was first instituted, or even what was the reason of such an association of people under the title of Masons, more than of any other me chanical profession. In Dr. Henry's history we find the origin of the Free Mason's Society in Britain attributed to the difficulty found in former times, of procuring a sufficient number of workmen to build the multitude of churches, monasteries, and other religious edifices, which the superstition of those ages prompted the people to raise. Hence the Masons were greatly favoured by the popes, and many indulgences were granted, in order to augment their numbers. In times like those we speak of, it may well be supposed that such encouragement from the supreme pastors of the church must have been productive of the most beneficial effects to the fraternity; and hence the increase of the society may naturally be deduced. The Doctor quotes, in confirmation of this, the words of an author who was well acquainted with their history and constitution. The Italians, (says he) with some Greek refugees, and with them French, Germans, and Flemings, joined into a fraternity of architects, procuring papal bulls for their encouragement and their particular privileges; they styled themselves Free-Masons, and ranged from one nation to another, as they found churches to be built: their government was regular; and where they fixed near the building in hand, they made a camp of huts. A surveyor governed in chief; every tenth man was called a Warden, and overlooked each nine. The gentlemen in the neigh

bourhood, either out of charity or commutation of penance, gave the materials and carriages. Those who have seen the accounts in records of the charge of the fabrics of some of our cathedrals near 400 years old, cannot but have a great esteem for their economy, and admire how soon they erected such lofty structures."

By other accounts, however, the antiquity of masonry is carried up much higher, even as early as the building of Solomon's temple. In Britain the introduction of masonry has been fixed at the year 674, when glass-making was first introduced; and it appears, indeed, that from this time many buildings in the Gothic style were erected by men in companies, who are said to have called themselves free, because they were at liberty to work in any part of the kingdom. Others have derived the institution of free masons from a combination among the people of that profession not to work without an advance of wages, when they were summoned from several counties, by writs of Edward III. directed to the sheriffs, to assist in rebuilding and enlarging the castle, together with the church and chapel of St. George, at Windsor. At this time, it is said, the masons agreed on certain tokens by which they might know and assist each other against being impressed, and not to work unless free, and on their own terms.

In a treatise on Masonry, published in 1792, by William Preston, master of the Lodge of Antiquity, the origin of masonry is traced from the creation. "Ever since symmetry began, and harmony displayed her charms, (says he) our order has had a being." Its introduction into England, he likewise supposes to have been prior to the Roman invasion. There are, according to him, the remains yet existing of some stupendous works executed by the Britons, much earlier than the time of the Romans; and even these display no small share of ingenuity of invention: so that we can have no doubt of the existence of masonry in Britain even during these early periods. The Druids are likewise said to have had among them many customs similar to those of the masons, and to have derived their government from Pythagoras; but the resemblance betwixt their usages and those of the free mason societies now existing, cannot be accurately traced even by the masons themselves.

Masonry is said to have been encouraged by Cæsar, and many of the Roman generals who were appointed gov