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Masonry
Dissected
Samuel Pritchard
Being
A Universal and Genuine
DESCRIPTION
OF
All its BRANCHES from the Ori
ginal to
this Present Time.
As it is deliver'd in the
Constituted
Regular Lodges
Both in CITY and COUNTRY
According to the
Several Degrees of Admission.
Giving an Impartial Account of their Regular
Proceeding in Initiating their New Members in the whole Three Degrees of
Masonry.
I. ENTER'D 'PRENTICE, II. FELLOW CRAFT.
III. MASTER.
To which is added,
The Author's VINDICATION of himself.
By SAMUEL PRICHARD, Late Member of a
CONSTITUTED LODGE.
LONDON:
Printed for J. WILFORD, at the Three Flowered
Laces behind
the Chapter Homes near St. Paul’s, 1730.
Samuel Pritchard maketh Oath,
That the Copy hereunto annnexed
is a True and Genuine Copy in
every Particular.
Fur’ 13. Die Oct. Sam.
Pritchard
1730. coram me,
R. Hopkins,
DEDICATION.
TO THE
Rt. Worshipful and Honourable
FRATERNITY
Of
Free and Accepted Masons.
Brethren and Fellows,
IF the following sheets, done
without Partiality, gains the
universal applause of so
worshipful a Society, I doubt
not but its general Character
will be diffused and esteemed
among the remaning Polite
Part of Mankind:
Which, I hope will give intire
Satisfaction to all Lover's of
Truth, and I shall remain,
with
all humble Submission, the
Fraternity’s
Most Obedient
Humble Servant,
Sam. Pritchard
MASONRY DISSECTED.
THE
original Institution of Masonry consisteth on the Foundation of the Liberal
Arts and Sciences; but more especially on the Fifth, viz. Geometry. For at the
Building of the Tower of Babel, the Art and Mystery of Masonry was first
introduc'd, and from thence handed down by Euclid, a worthy and excellent
Mathematician of the Egyptian, and he communicated it to Hiram, the
Master-Mason concern'd in the Building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, where
was an excellent and curious Mason that was the chief under their Grand-Master
Hiram, whose Name was Mannon Grecus, who taught the Art of Masonry to one
Carolos Marcil in France, who was afterwards elected King of France, and from
thence was brought into England in the Time of King Athe Stone, who order'd an
Assembly to be held once every Year at York, which was the first Introduction
of it into England, and Masons were made in the Manner following.
Tunc
unu r ex Senioribus teneat Librum, ut illi vel ille ponant vel ponat Manus
fupra Librum; tum Præcepta debeant legi. i. e. Whilst one of the Seniors
holdeth the Book, that be or they put their Hands upon the Book, whilst the
Master ought to read the Laws or Charges.
Which
Charges were, That they should be true to one another without Exception, and
should he obliged to relieve their Brothers and Fellows Necessities, or put
them to labour and reward them accordingly. But in these latter Days Masonry
is not composed of Artificers, as it was in its primæval State, when some few
Catechetical Questions were necessary to declare a Man sufficiently qualified
for an Operative Mason.
The
Terms of Free and Accepted Masonry (as it now is) has not been heard of till
within these few Years; no Constituted Lodges or Quarterly Communications were
heard of till 1691, when Lords and Dukes, Lawyers and Shopkeepers, and other
inferior Tradesmen, Porters not excepted, were admitted into this Mystery or
no Mystery; the first fort being introduc'd at a very great Expence, the
second fort at a moderate Rate, and the latter for the Expence of six or seven
Shillings, for which they receive that Badge of Honour, which (as they term
it) is more ancient and more honourable than is the Star and Garter, which
Antiquity is accounted, according to the Rules of Masonry, as delivered by
their Tradition, ever since Adam, which I shall leave the candid Reader to
determine.
From
the Accepted Masons sprang the Real Masons, from both sprang the Gormogons,
whose Grand-Master the Volgi deduces his Original from the Chinese, whose
Writings, if to be credited, maintains the Hypotheses of the Pre-Adamites, and
consequently must be more antique than Masonry.
The
most free and open Society is that of the Grand Kaihebar, which consists of a
select Company of Responsible People, whose chief discourse is concerning
Trade and Business, and promoting mutual Friendship without Compulsion or
Restriction.
But if
after the Admission into the Secrets of Masonry, any new Brother should
dislike their Proceedings, and reflect upon himself for being so easily
cajoled out of his Money, declines the Fraternity or secludes himself upon the
Account of the Quarterly Expences of the Lodge and Quarterly Communications,
notwithstanding he has been legally admitted into a Constituted and Regular
Lodge, shall be denied the Privilege (as a Visiting Brother) of knowing the
Mystery for which he has already paid, which is a manifest Contradiction
according to the Institution of Masonry itself, as will evidently appear by
the following Treatise.
Enter'd
Enter'd 'Prentice's DEGREE.
Q.
From whence came you?
A.
From the Holy Lodge of St. John's
Q.
What Recommendations brought you from thence?
A.
The Recommendations which I brought from the Right Worshipful Brothers and
Fellows of the Right Worshipful and Holy Lodge of St. John's, from whence I
came, and Greet you thrice heartily well.
Q.
What do you come here to do?
A.
Not to do my own proper Will, But to subdue my Passion still;
The
Rules of Masonry in hand to take,
And
daily Progress therein make.
Q.
Are you a Mason?
A.
I am so taken and Accepted to be among Brothers and Fellows.
Q.
How shall I know that you are a Mason?
A.
By Signs and Tokens and perfect Points of my Entrance.
Q.
What are Signs?
A.
All Squares, Angles and Perpendiculars.
Q.
What are Tokens?
A.
Certain Regular and Brotherly Gripes.
Exam. Give
me the Points of your Entrance.
Resp. Give
me the first and I'll give you the second.
Exam. I
Hail it.
Resp. I
Conceal it.
Exam. What
do you Conceal?
Resp. All
Secrets and Secrecy of Masons and Masonry, unless to a True and Lawful Brother
after due Examination, or in a just and worshipful Lodge of Brothers and
Fellows well met.
Q.
Where was you made a Mason?
A.
In a just and Perfect Lodge.
Q.
What makes a just and Perfect Lodge?
A.
Seven or more.
Q.
What do they consist on?
A.
One Master, two Wardens, two Fellow-Crafts and two Enter'd 'Prentices.
Q.
What makes a Lodge?
A.
Five.
Q.
What do they consist of?
A.
One Master, two Wardens, one Fellow-Craft, one Enter'd 'Prentice.
Q.
Who brought you to the Lodge?
A.
An Enter'd 'Prentice.
Q.
How did he bring you?
A.
Neither
naked nor cloathed, bare-foot nor shod, deprived of all Metal and in a right
moving Posture.
Q.
How got you Admittance?
A.
By three great Knocks.
Q.
Who receiv’d you?
A.
A Junior Warden.
Q.
How did he dispose of you?
A.
He carried me up to the North-Fait Part of the Lodge, and brought me back
again to the West and deliver'd me to the Senior Warden.
Q.
What did the Senior Warden do with you?
A.
He presented me, and shew'd me how to walk up (by three Steps) to the Master.
Q.
What did the Master do with you?
A.
He made me a Mason.
Q.
How did he make you a Mason?
A.
With my bare-bended Knee and Body within the Square, the Compass extended to
my naked Left Breast, my naked Right Hand on the Holy Bible; there I took the
Obligation (or Oath) of a Mason.
Q.
Can you repeat that Obligation.
A.
I'll do my Endeavour. (Which is as follows.)
I
Hereby solemnly Vow and Swear in the Presense of Almighty God and this Right
Worshipful assembly, that I will Hail and Conceal, and never Reveal the
Secrets or Secrecy of Masons or Masonry, that shall be Revealed unto me;
unless to a True and Lawful Brother, after due Examination, or in a Just and
Worshipful Lodge of Brothers and Fellows well met.
I
furthermore Promise and Vow, that I will not Write them, Print them, Mark
them, Carve them or Engrave them, or cause them to be Written, Printed,
Marked, Carved or Engraved on Wood or Stone, so as the Visible Character or
Impression of a Letter may appear, whereby it may be unlawfully obtain'd.
All
this under no less Penalty than to have my throat cut, my Tongue taken from
the Roof of my Mouth, my Heart pluck'd from under my Left Breast, them to be
buried in the Sands of the Sea, the Length of a Cable-rope from Shore, where
the tide ebbs and flows twice in 24 Hours, my Body to be burnt to ashes, my
Ashes to be scatter'd upon the Face of the Earth, so that there shall be no
more Remembrance of me among Masons.
So help me God.
Q.
What Form is the Lodge?
A.
A long Square.
Q.
How long?
A.
From East to West.
Q.
How broad?
A.
From North to South.
Q.
How high?
A.
Inches, Feet and Yards innumerable, as high as the Heavens.
Q.
How deep?
A.
To the Centre of the Earth.
Q.
Where does the Lodge hand?
A.
Upon Holy Ground, or the highest Hill or lowest Vale, or in the Vale of
Jehosaphat, or any other secret Place.
Q.
How is it situated?
A.
Put East and West.
Q.
Why so?
A.
Because all Churches and Chappels are or ought to be so.
Q.
What supports a Lodge?
A.
Three great Pillars.
Q.
What are they called?
A.
Wisdom, Strength and Beauty.
Q.
Why so?
A.
Wisdom to contrive, Strength to support, and Beauty to adorn.
Q.
What Covering have you to the Lodge?
A.
A clouded Canopy of divers Colours (or the Clouds.)
Q.
Have you any Furniture in your Lodge?
A.
Yes.
Q.
What is it?
A.
Mosaick Pavement, Blazing Star and Indented Tarsel.
Q.
What are they?
A.
Mosaick Pavement, the Ground Floor of the Lodge, Blazing Star the Centre, and
Indented Tarsel the Border round about it.
Q.
What is the other Furniture of a Lodge?
A.
Bible, Compass and Square.
Q.
Who do they properly belong to?
A.
Bible to God, Compass to the Master, and Square to the Fellow-Craft.
Q.
Have you any jewels in the Lodge?
A.
Yes.
Q.
How many?
A.
Six. Three Moveable, and three Immoveable.
Q.
What are the Moveable Jewels?
A.
Square, Level and Plumb-Rule.
Q.
What are their Uses.
A.
Square to lay down True and Right Lines, Level to try all Horizontals, and
the Plumb-Rule to try all Uprights.
Q.
What are the Immoveable Jewels?
A.
Trasel Board, Rough Ashler, and Broach'd Thurnel.
Q.
What are their Uses?
A.
Trasel Board for the Master to draw his Designs upon, Rough Ashler for the
Fellow Craft to try their jewels upon, and the Broach'd Thurnel for the
Enter'd 'Prentice to learn to work upon.
Q.
Have you
any Lights in your Lodge?
A.
Yes, Three.
Q.
What do
they represent?
A.
Sun, Moon and Master-Mason.
N. B.
These Lights are three large Candles placed on high Candlesticks.
Q.
Why so?
A.
Sun to rule the Day, Moon the Night) and Matter-Mason his Lodge.
Q.
Have you any fix'd Lights in your Lodge?
A.
Yes.
Q.
How many?
A.
Three.
N. B. These fix’d Lights are
three Windows, suppos'd (tho' vainly) to be in every Room where a Lodge it
held, but more properly, the four Cardinal Points according to the antique
Rules of Masonry.
Q.
How are they situated?
A.
East, South and West.
Q.
What are their Uses?
A.
To light the Men to, at and from their Work.
Q.
Why are there no Lights in the North?
A.
Because the Sun darts no Rays from thence.
Q.
Where hands your Master?
A.
In the East.
Q.
Why so?
A.
As the Sun rises in the East and opens the Day, so the Master stands in the
East [with his Right Hand upon his Left Breast being a Sign, and the Square
about his Neck] to open the Lodge and to set his Men at Work.
Q.
Where stands your Wardens?
A.
In the West.
Q.
What's their Business?
A.
As the Sun sets in the West to close the Day, so the Wardens stand in the
Welt [with their Right Hands upon their Left Breasts being a Sign, and the
Level and Plumb-Rule about their Necks] to close the Lodge and dismiss the Men
from Labour, paying their Wages.
Q.
Where stands the Senior Enter'd' Prentice?
A.
In the South.
Q.
What is his Business?
A.
To hear and receive Instructions and welcome strange Brothers.
Q.
Where stands the Junior Enter'd 'Prentice?
A.
In the North.
Q.
What is his Business?
A.
To keep off all Cowans and Eves-droppers.
Q.
If a Cowan (or Listner) is catch'd, how is he to be punished?
A.
To be plac'd under the Eves of the Houses (in rainy Weather) till the Water
runs in at his Shoulders and out at his Shoos.
Q.
What are the Secrets of a Mason?
A.
Signs, Tokens and many Words.
Q.
Where do you keep those Secrets?
A.
Under my Left Breast.
Q.
Have you any Key to those Secrets?
A.
Yes.
Q.
Where do you keep it?
A.
In a Bone Bone Box that neither opens nor shuts but with Ivory Keys.
Q.
Does it hang or does it lie?
A.
It hangs.
Q.
What does it hang by?
A.
A Tow-Line 9 Inches or a Span.
Q.
What Metal is it of?
A.
No manner of Metal at all; but a Tongue of good Report is as good behind a
Brother's Back as before his Face.
N. B.
The Key is the Tongue, the Bone Bone Box the Teeth, the Tow-Line the Roof of
the Mouth.
Q.
How many Principles are there in Masonry?
A.
Four.
Q.
What are they?
A.
Point, Line, Superficies and Solid.
Q.
Explain them.
A.
Point the Centre (round which the Master cannot err) Line Length without
Breadth, Superficies Length and Breadth, Solid comprehends the whole.
Q.
How many Principle-Signs?
A.
Four.
Q.
What are they?
A.
Gututral, Pectoral, Manual and Pedestal
Q.
Explain them.
A.
Guttural the Throat, Pectoral the Breast, Manual the Hand, Pedestal the Feet.
Q.
What do you learn by being a Gentleman Mason.
A.
Secrecy,
Morality and Goodfellowship.
Q.
What do you learn by being an Operative Mason?
A.
Hue, Square, Mould-Bone, by a Level and raise a Perpendicular.
Q.
Have you Seen your Master to-day?
A.
Yes.
Q.
How was he Cloathed?
A.
In a Yellow Jacket and Blue Pair of Breeches.
N. B.
The Yellow Jacket is the Compasses, and the Blue Breeches the Steel Points.
Q.
How long do you serve your Master?
A.
From Monday Morning to Saturday Night.
Q.
How do you serve him?
A.
With Chalk, Charcoal and Earthen Pan.
Q.
What do they denote?
A.
Freedom, Fervency and Zeal.
Ex.
Give me the Enter'd Prentice's Sign.
Resp.
Extending the Four Fingers of the Right Hand and drawing of them cross his
Throat, is the Sign, and demands a Token.
N. B.
A Token is by joining the Ball of the Thumb of the Right Hand upon the first
Knuckle of the Fore-finger of the Brother's Right Hand that demands a Word.
Q.
Give me the Word.
A.
I'll letter it with You.
Exam. B O A
Z. [ N. B. The Exam. says B, Resp. O, Exam.
A, Resp. Z, i. e. Boaz] Give me another.
Resp. J A C
H I N. [N.B. Boaz and Jachin were two Pillars in Solomon's Porch. 1
Kings, chap. vii. ver. 21]
Q.
How old are you?
A.
Under Seven. [Denoting be has not pass'd Master.]
Q.
What's the Day for?
A.
To See in.
Q.
What's the Night for?
A.
To Hear.
Q.
How blows the Wind?
A.
Due East and West.
Q.
What's a Clock?
A.
High Twelve.
The End of the Enter'd 'Prentice’s
Part
Fellow-Craft's DEGREE.
Q.
Are you a Fellow-Craft?
A.
I am.
Q.
Why was you made a Fellow-Craft
A.
For the fake of the Letter G.
Q.
What does that G denote?
A.
Geometry, or the fifth Science.
Q.
Did you ever travel?
A.
Yes, East and West.
Q.
Did you ever work?
A.
Yes, in the Building of the Temple.
Q.
Where did you receive your Wages?
A.
In the middle Chamber.
Q.
How came you to the middle Chamber?
A.
Through the Porch.
Q.
When you came through the Porch, what did you see?
A.
Two great Pillars.
Q.
What are they called?
A.
J. B. i. e. Jachin and Boaz. - Vide 1 Kings, Chap. 7
Q.
How high are they?
A.
Eighteen Cubits.
Q.
How much in Circumference?
A.
Twelve Cubits.
Q.
What were they adorn'd with?
A.
Two Chapiters.
Q.
How high were the Chapiters? - Vide 1 Kings, Chap. 7
A.
Five Cubits.
Q.
What were they adorn'd with?
A.
Net-Work and Pomegranates.
Q.
How came you to the middle Chamber?
A.
By a winding Pair of Stairs.
Q.
How many?
A.
Seven or more.
Q.
Why Seven or more?
A.
Because Seven or more makes a just and Perfect Lodge.
Q.
When you came to the Door of the middle Chamber, who did you see?
A.
A Warden.
Q.
What did he demand of you?
A.
Three Things.
Q.
What were they?
A.
Sign, Token, and a Word.
N. B.
The Sign is placing the Right Hand on the Left Breast, the Token is by
joining your Right Hand to the Person that demands it, and squeezing him with
the Ball of your thumb on the first Knuckle of the middle Finger, and the Word
is Jachin.
Q.
How high was the Door of the middle Chamber?
A.
So high that a Cowan could not reach to stick a Pin in.
Q.
When you came into the middle, what did you see?
A.
The Resemblance of the Letter G.
Q.
Who doth that G denote?
A.
One that's greater than you.
Q.
Who's greater than I, that am a Free and Accepted Mason, the Master of a
Lodge.
A.
The Grand Architect and Contriver of the Universe, or He that was taken up to
the top of the Pinnacle of the Holy Temple.
Q.
Can you repeat the Letter G?
A.
I'll do my Endeavour.
The Repeating of the Letter G.
Resp. In
the midst of Solomon's Temple there hands a G,
A
Letter fair for all to read and see,
But
few there be that understands.
What
means that Letter G.
Ex.
My Friend, if you pretend to be
Of
this Fraternity,
You
can forthwith and rightly tell
What
means that Letter G.
Resp. By
Sciences are brought to Light
Bodies
of various Kinds,
Which
do appear to perfect Sight;
But
none but Males shall know my Mind.
Ex.
The Right shall.
Resp. If
Worshipful.
Ex.
Both Right and Worshipful I am,
To
Hail you I have Command,
That
you do forthwith Iet me know,
As I
you may understand.
Resp. By
Letters Four and Science Five
This G
aright doth stand,
In a
due Art and Proportion,
You
have your Answer, Friend.
N. B.
Four Letters are Boaz
Fifth Science Geometry.
Ex.
My Friend, you answer well,
If
Right and Free Principles you discover,
I'll
change your Name from Friend,
And
henceforth call you Brother.
Resp. The
Sciences are well compos'd
Of
noble Structure's Verse,
A
Point, a Line, and an Outside;
But a
Solid is the last.
Ex.
God's good Greeting be to this our happy Meeting.
Resp. And
all the Right Worshipful Brothers and Fellows.
Ex.
Of the Right Worshipful and Holy Lodge of St. John’s.
Resp. From
whence I came.
Ex.
Greet you, greet you, greet you thrice, heartily well, craving your Name.
Resp.
Timothy Ridicule.
Exam.
Welcome, Brother, by the Grace of God.
N. B.
The Reason why they Denominate themselves of the Holy Lodge of St. John's,
is, because he was the Fore-runner of our Saviour, and laid the first Parallel
Lime to the Gospel (others do alert, that our Saviour himself was accepted a
Free Mason while he was in the Flesh) but how ridiculous and prophane it
seems, I leave to judicious Readers to consider.
The End of the Fellow-Craft
Part.
The Master’s DEGREE.
Q.
Are you a Master-Mason?
A.
I am; try me, prove me, disprove me if you can.
Q.
Where was you pass'd Master ?
A.
In a Perfect Lodge of Masters.
Q.
What makes a Perfect Lodge of Masters?
A.
Three.
Q.
How came you to be pass'd Master?
A.
By the Help of God, the Square and my own Industry.
Q.
How was you pass'd Master?
A.
From the Square to the Compass.
Ex.
An Enter'd 'Prentice I presume you have been.
R.
Jachin and Boaz I have seen;
A
Master-Mason I was made most rare,
With
Diamond, Ashler and the Square.
Ex.
If a Master-Mason you would be,
You
must rightly understand the Rule of Three.
And *
M. B. shall make you free: *Machbenah
And
what you want in Masonry,
Shall
in this Lodge be shewn to thee.
R.
Good Masonry I understand;
The
Keys of all Lodges are all at my Command.
Ex.
You're an heroick Fellow; from whence came you
R.
From the East.
Ex.
Where are you a going?
R.
To the West.
Ex.
What are you a going to do there?
R.
To look for that which was lost and is now found.
Ex.
What was that which was lost and is now found?
R.
The Master-Mason's Word.
Ex.
How was it lost?
R.
By Three Great Knocks, or the Death of our Master Hiram.
Ex.
How came he by his Death?
R.
In the Building of Solomon's Temple he was Master-Mason, and at high 12 at
Noon, when the Men was gone to refresh themselves, as was his usual Custom, he
came to survey the Works, and when he was enter'd into the Temple, there were
Three Ruffians, suppos'd to be Three Fellow-Crafts, planted themselves at the
Three Entrances of the Temple, and when he came out, one demanded the Master's
Word of him, and he reply'd he did not receive it in such a manner, but Time
and a little Patience would bring him to it: He, not satisfied with that
Answer, gave him a Blow, which made him reel; he went to the other Gate, where
being accosted in the same manner, and making the same Reply, lie received a
greater Blow, and at the third his Quietus.
Ex.
What did the Ruffians kill him with?
R.
A Setting Maul, Setting Tool and Setting Beadle.
Ex.
How did they dispose of him?
R.
Carried him out at the West Door of the Temple, and hid him under some
Rubbish till High 12 again.
Ex.
What Time was that?
R.
High 12 at Night, whilst the Men were at Rest.
Ex.
How did they dispose of him afterwards?
R.
They carried him up to the Brow of the Hill, where they made a decent Grave
and buried him.
Ex.
When was he miss'd'
R.
The same Day.
Ex.
When was he found?
R.
Fifteen Days afterwards.
Ex.
Who found him?
R.
Fifteen Loving Brothers, by Order of King Solomon, went out of the Well Door
of the Temple, and divided themselves from Right to Left within Call of each
other; and they agreed that if they did not find the Word in him or about him,
the first Word should be the Master's Word; one of the Brothers being more
weary than the rest sat down to rest himself, and taking hold of a Shrub,
which came easily up, and perceiving the Ground to have been broken, he Hail'd
his Brethren, and pursuing their Search found him decently buried in a
handsome Grave 6 Foot East, 6 West, and 6 Foot perpendicular, and his Covering
was green Moss and Turf, which surprized them; whereupon they replied, Muscus
Domus Dei Gratia, which, according to Masonry, is, thanks be to God, our
Master has got a Mossy House: So they cover'd him closely, and as a farther
Ornament placed a Sprig of Cassia at the Head of his Grave, and went and
acquainted King Solomon.
Ex.
What did King Solomon say to all this?
R.
He order'd him to be taken up and decently buried, and that 15 Fellow-Crafts
with white Gloves and Aprons should attend his Funeral [which ought amongst
Masons to be perform'd to this Day.]
Ex.
How was Hiram rais'd?
R.
As all other Masons are, when they receive the Master's Word.
Ex.
How is that?
R.
By the Five Points of Fellowship.
Ex.
What are they?
Hand
to Hand1, Foot to Foot2, Cheek to Cheek
3, Knee to Knee 4, and Hand in Back5.
N. B. When Hiram was taken up,
they took him by the Fore-fingers, and the Skin came off, which is called the
Slip; the spreading the Right Hand and placing the middle Finger to the Wrist,
clasping the Fore-finger and the Fourth to the side of the Wrist; is called
the Gripe, and the Sign is placing the Thumb of the Right Hand to the Left
Breast, extending the Fingers.
Ex.
What's a Master-Mason nam'd.
R.
Cassia is my Name, and from a Juft and Perfect Lodge I came.
Ex.
Where was dram inter'd?
R.
In the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Ex.
How was he brought in?
R.
At the West-Door of the Temple.
Q.
What are the Master-Jewels?
A.
The Porch, Dormer and Square Pavement.
Q.
Explain them.
A.
The Porch the Entring into the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Dormer the Windows or
Lights within, the Square Pavement the Ground Flooring.
Ex.
Give me the Master's Word.
R.
Whispers him in the Ear, and supported by the Five Points of Fellowship
before-mentioned, says Machbenah, which signifies The Builder is smitten.
N. B.
If any Working Masons are at work, and you have a desire to distinguish
accepted Masons from the rest, take a Piece of Stone, and ask him what it
smells of, he immediately replies, neither Brass, Iron, nor Steel but of a
Mason; then by asking him, how old he is, he replies above Seven, which
denotes he has pass 'd Master.
The End of the Master’s Part.
The
Author’s Vindication of himself from the prejudiced Part of Mankind.
OF all
the Impositions that have appear'd amongst Mankind, none are so ridiculous as
the Mystery of Masonry, which has amus'd the World, and caused various
Constructions and these pretenses of Secrecy, invalid, has (tho' not
perfectly) been revealed, and the grand Article, viz. the Obligation, has
several Times been printed in the publick Papers, but is entirely genuine in
the Daily Journal of Saturday, Aug. 22. 1730. which agrees in its Veracity
with that deliver'd in this pamphlet; and consequently when the Obligation of
Secrecy is abrogated, the aforesaid Secret becomes of no Effect and must be
quite extinct; for some Operative Masons (but according to the polite Way of
Expression, Accepted Masons) made a Visitation from the first and oldest
constituted Lodge (according to the Lodge Book in London) to a noted Lodge in
this City, and was denied Admittance, because their old Lodge was removed to
another house, which, tho' contradictory to this great Mystery, requires
another Constitution, at no less Expence than two Guineas, with an elegant
Entertainment, under the Denomination of being put to charitable Uses, which
if justly applied, will give great Encomiums to so worthy an Undertaking, but
it is very much doubted, and most reasonable to think it will be expended
towards the forming another System of Masonry, the old Fabrick being so
ruinous, that, unless repair'd by some occult Mystery, will soon be
Annihilated.
I was
induced to publish this mighty Secret for the publick Good, at, the Request of
several Masons, and it will, I hope, give entire Satisfaction, and have its
desired effect in preventing so many credulous Persons being drawn into so
pernicious a Society.
FINIS.
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