rial, and will continue the same till this ter raqueous globe, and all the other temporary works of the Great Architect, shall be annihilated. The masonic order has for its objects, the forming of men into good citizens, good husbands, good fathers, and good sons; of making them inviolable in their promises, faithful friends, and more lovers of liberality than of recompense.

But free-masonry is not bounded by the display of virtues merely civil. As a severe and misanthropic kind of philosophy disgusts its votaries, so the establishment of the system of which we are now speaking, renders men amiable, by the attraction of innocent pleasures, pure joys, and rational gaieties. The sentiments of this society, are not such as a censorious world may be tempted to suppose. Those who are suspected of irreligion, libertinism, incredulity, and debauchery, are by the book of constitutions, and the practice of all well regulated lodges, precluded from becoming members. The meetings of the masons resemble those amiable entertainments, spoken of by Horace, where all those are made welcome guests, whose understandings may be enlightened, whose hearts may be mended, or who may be, in any way, emulous to excel in that which is true, good, or great.

From the society in question, are banished all those disputes, which might alter the tranquillity of friendship, or interrupt that perfect harmony, which cannot subsist, but by

rejecting all indecent excesses, and discordant passions. The obligation imposed upon this order is, that each member is to protect a brother as far as he can, to advise him according to his abilities, in the language of tenderness and love; to edify him by his virtues, to assist him in an exigence, to sacrifice all personal resentment, and to seek diligently for every thing, which may contribute to the pleasure and profit of the society. It instructs us in our duty to the Great Architect of the universe, and also in our duty to our neighbours; it teaches us to injure him in none of his connexions, and that in all our dealings with him, we should act with justice and impartiality; it discourages defamation, orders us to be faithful to our trusts, to be above the meanness of dissimulation, to let the words of our mouths be the thoughts of our hearts, and to perform religiously whatsoever we promise.

With regard to our secrets, to which some, who know nothing about them may object, they are only cautionary guards and innocent distinctions, by which we can discover a brother from an impostor, whatever language he may speak, or of whatever country he may be a native; and as knowledge must ever be communicated and acquired gradually, to each class amongst us, we wisely affix a distinguishing mark.

As masons, therefore, it is our duty to fraternise, for the purpose of social intercourse,

of mutual assistance, of charity to the distressed, and of good will to all; and fidelity to a trust, reverence to the constituted authority of the country in which we live, and obedience to the laws, are sculptured in capitals upon the pediment of the institution.

I cannot conclude this chapter more emphatically, than in the words of the apostle Paul, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Eph. iv. 31.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Antiquities.

CONSISTING of a number of extracts from old manuscripts, selected from different authors.*

* These extracts, in the books, from which I have transcribed them, are printed in the old Saxon character, and the orthography is such as was in use at the time when they were written; but as many of my readers might not so easily understand that old fashioned, style, I have deemed it proper to put them in the language, which is now common amongst us. I have, however, been careful not to deviate, in any instance, from the precise meaning of the original.

No. I.

An old manuscript, which is said to have been in the possession of Nicholas Stone, a celebrated sculptor under Inigo Jones, one of the greatest architects that ever appeared in England, contains the following particulars.

"St. Albans was a warm friend to the society of free-masons, and did every thing in his power to promote their interest. He saw, that they were well paid, as he gave them two shillings per week, and three pence for refreshments; whereas, previous to his time, a mason only had a penny per day, and his board. St. Albans, likewise, obtained for them, a charter from his majesty, by which they were empowered to hold a general council or assembly. At these meetings, he frequently attended in person, assisted in making masons, and, from time to time, gave them such advice, as appeared to him best calculated to improve their morals, and to promote their happiness and prosperity."

No. II.

A record of the society, written in the reign of Edward IV. formerly in the possession of Elias Ashmole, the celebrated founder of the museum at the university of Oxford, gives the following account of the state of free-masonry at that period.

"Though many of the ancient records of the fraternity in England, were lost or destroyed in the wars between the Danes and Saxons, yet king Athelstane, the grandson of Alfred the Great, who was a sincere friend to science, after causing the holy scriptures to be translated into the Saxon language, A. D 930, and restoring tranquillity to the kingdom, forthwith turned his attention to those means, by which he could most effectually promote the interest of the brotherhood. For this purpose, he erected many stately edifices, and encouraged a number of masons to remove from France, whom he appointed overseers. These brought with them the rules and regulations of the lodges on the continent, which had been preserved from the time that Rome was in her greatest glory. He also effected the improvement of the constitution of English lodges, according to the foreign model, and encreased the wages of working masons.

"The said king's brother having been initiated in the art, was soon after promoted to the office of master of the lodge, and for the love, which he bore to the craft, and the benevolent purposes on which it is founded, he obtained from king Athelstane, a free charter for the masons, by which they were empowered to regulate their proceedings as they might deem proper; to amend what might appear amiss in their constitutions, and to hold a yearly communication and general assembly.