duced; and the names being separately proposed, the Brethren, by a great majority of hands, elected Mr. Anthony Sayer Grand Master of Masons for the ensuing year, who was forthwith invested by the said oldest Master, installed by the Master of the oldest Lodge, and duly congratulated by the assembly, who paid him homage. The Grand Master then entered on the duties of his office, appointed his Wardens, and commanded the Brethren of the four Lodges to meet him and his Wardens quarterly in communication; enjoining them, at the same time, to recommend to all the Fraternity a punctual attendance on the next annual assembly and feast.

Amongst a variety of regulations which were proposed and agreed to at this meeting, was the following: "That the privilege of assembling as Masons, which had been hitherto unlimited,* should be vested in certain Lodges or Assemblies of Masons convened in certain places; and that every Lodge to be hereafter convened, except the four old Lodges at this time existing, should be legally authorised to act by a warrant from the Grand Master for the time being, granted to certain individuals by petition, with the consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in communication; and that without such warrant no Lodge should be hereafter deemed regular or constitutional." In consequence of this regulation, several new Lodges were soon after convened in different parts of London and its environs, and the Masters and Wardens of these Lodges were commanded to attend the

A sufficient number of Masons met together within a certain district, with the consent of the sheriff or chief magistrate of the place, were empowered, at this time, to make Masons, and practise the rites of Masonry, without warrant of Constitution. The privi lege was inherent in themselves as individuals; and this privilege is still enjoyed by the two old Lodges now extant, which act by immemorial constitution.

meetings of the Grand Lodge, make a regular report of their proceedings, and transmit to the Grand Master, from time to time, a copy of any by-laws they might form for their own government; that no laws established among them might be contrary to, or subversive of, the general regulations by which the Fraternity had been long governed, and which had been sanctioned by the four Lodges when convened as a Grand Lodge in 1717.

In compliment to the Brethren of the four old Lodges by whom the Grand Lodge was first formed, it was resolved, "That every privilege which they collectively enjoyed by virtue of their immemorial rights, they should still continue to enjoy; and that no law, rule, or regulation, to be hereafter made or passed in Grand Lodge, should ever deprive them of such privilege, or encroach on any landmark which was at that time established as the standard of Masonic government." This resolution being confirmed, the old Masons in the metropolis, agreeably to the resolutions of the Brethren at large, vested all their inherent privileges, as individuals, in the four old Lodges, in trust that they would never suffer the old charges and ancient land-marks to be infringed. The four old Lodges then agreed to extend their patronage to every Lodge which should hereafter be constituted by the Grand Lodge according to the new regulations of the Society; and while such Lodges acted in conformity to the ancient constitutions of the Order, to admit their Masters and Wardens to share with them all the privileges of the Grand Lodge, excepting precedence of rank.

Matters being thus amicably adjusted, the Brethren of the four old Lodges considered their at tendance on the future Communications of the Society as unnecessary; and therefore, like the other Lodges, trusted implicitly to their Master

and Wardens, resting satisfied that no measure of importance would be adopted without their approbation. The officers of the old Lodges, however, soon began to discover, that the new Lodges, being equally represented with them at the Communications, might, in process of time, so far out-number the old ones, as to have it in their power, by a majority, to encroach on, or even subvert, the privileges of the original Masons of England, which had been centred in the four old Lodges, with the concurrence of the Brethren at large; therefore, they very wisely formed a code of laws for the future government of the Society; to which was annexed a conditional clause, which the Grand Master for the time being, his successors, and the Master of every Lodge to be hereafter constituted, were bound to preserve inviolate in all time coming. To commemorate this circumstance, it has been customary since that time, for the Master of the

The conditional clause runs thus :-" 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 LAND-MARKS BE CAREFULLY PRESERVED: 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.

This remarkable clause, with thirty-eight regulations preceding it, all of which are printed in the first edition of the Book of Constitutions, were approved, and confirmed by one hundred and fifty Brethren, at an annual assembly and feast held at Stationers'-hall on St. John the Baptist's day, 1721,* and in their presence subscribed by the Master and Wardens of the four old Lodges on the one part and by Philip, Duke of Wharton, then Grand Master; Theophilus Desaguliers, M.D. and F.R.S. Deputy Grand Master; Joshua Timson, and William Hawkins, Grand Wardens.; and the Masters and Wardens of sixteen Lodges, which had been constituted between 1717 and 1721, on the other part.

See the first edition of the Book of Constitutions, p. 58.

oldest Lodge to attend every Grand Installation; and, taking precedence of all present, the Grand Master only excepted, to deliver the book of the original Constitutions to the newly installed Grand Master, on his engaging to support the Ancient Charges and general regulations.

By this prudent precaution of our ancient Brethren, the original constitutions were established as the basis of all future Masonic jurisdiction in the South of England; and the ancient land-marks, as they are emphatically styled, or the boundaries set up as checks to innovation, were carefully secured against the attacks of future invaders. The four old Lodges, in consequence of the above compact, in which they considered themselves as a distinct party, continued to act by their original authority; and, so far from surrendering any of their rights, had them frequently ratified and confirmed by the whole Fraternity in Grand Lodge assembled, who always acknowledged their independent and immemorial power to practise the rites of Masonry. No regulations of the Society which might hereafter take place could, therefore, operate with respect to those Lodges, if such regulations were contrary to, or subversive of, the original constitutions, by which only they were governed; and while their proceedings were conformable to those constitutions, no power known in Masonry could legally deprive them of any right or privilege which they had ever enjoyed.

The necessity of fixing the original Constitutions as the standard by which all future laws in the Society are to be regulated, was so clearly understood and defined by the whole Fraternity at this time, that it was established as an unerring rule, at every installation, public and private, for many years afterwards, to make the Grand Master, and the Masters and Wardens of every Lodge, engage

to support the original Constitutions; to the observance of which also, every Mason was bound at his initiation. Whoever acknowledges the universality of Masonry to be its highest glory, must admit the propriety of this conduct; for were no standard fixed for the government of the Society, Masonry might be exposed to perpetual variations, which would effectually destroy all the good effects that have hitherto resulted from its universality and extended progress.*

When the earlier editions of this book were printed, the author was not sufficiently acquainted with this part of the history of Masonry in England. The above particulars have been carefully extracted from old records and authentic manuscripts, and are, in many points, confirmed by the old books of the Lodge of Antiquity, as well as the first and second editions of the Book of Constitutions.

The following account of the four old Lodges may prove acceptable to many readers.

1. The old Lodge of St. Paul, now named the Lodge of Antiquity, formerly held at the Goose and Gridiron in St. Paul's Church-yard, is still extant (in 1820,) and regularly meets at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, on the fourth Wednesday of January, February, March, May, June, October, and November, every year. The Lodge is in a very flourishing state; and, under the direction of His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, M. W. G. M. now possesses some

valuable records and curious ancient relics.

2. The old Lodge, No. 2, formerly held at the Crown in Parker's-lane, Drury-lane, has been extinct above fifty years, by the death of its members.

3. The old Lodge, No. 3, formerly held at the Apple-tree Tavern, in Charles-street, Covent Garden, has been dissolved many years. By the list of Lodges inserted in the Book of Constitutions printed in 1738, it appears, that, in February 1722-3, this Lodge was removed to the Queen's Head, in Knave's Acre, on account of some difference among its members, and that the members who met there came under a new constitution; though, says the Book of Constitutions, they wanted it not, and ranked as No. 10, in the list. Thus they inconsiderately renounced their former rank under an immemorial constitution.

4. The Lodge, No. 4, formerly held at the Rummer and Grapes Tavern, in Channel-row, Westminster, was thence removed to the Horn Tavern in New Palace Yard, where it continued to meet regularly till within these few years; when, finding themselves in a