Freemasonry—Operative And Speculative.

various peculiarities of these interesting old documents , but as that would not be in accordance with my object to-night , I will merely read a few paragraphs of this one which , I make no doubt , will serve to remind you of some of our practices of the present day . They nearly all begin with a prayer similar to the following :

" The Almighty Father of Heaven with the wisdome of the Glorious Son through the goodness of the holy Ghost , three persons in one Godhead be with our begining , and givo us grace soe to governe our lives that wee may come to his blisse which ever shall have end , Amen . " The next paragraph is a short preface of introduction :

" Good Bretheren and Followes our purpose is to tell you how and in whafc manner this Craffc of Masonry was begune , and afterwards how it was founded by worthy Kings and Princes , and many other wayes hurtfull to

none : And alsoe to them that be here we will declare what doth belonge to every Free Mason to keepe , For in good faith if you tako heed thereunto it is well worthy to be kept , beinge one of the aeaven liberall sciences , which are these that followe . "

The seven liberal arts and sciences are next mentioned in

precisely the same order as they are given in our second lecture , with a brief explanation of each , in substance similar to the illustrations of them taught in our Lodges in the present day . This is followed by a dissertation on the value and advantages of geometry , and after that comes a

rather long history of Masonry and kindred arts , whioh 1 shall not trouble you wifch to-night ; bufc I may remark , in passing , that portions of it verge moro than " slightly on the poetical , " owing probably to the original writer having been blessed with a powerful imagination . I say original

writer , because most of these manuscripts bear evidence in some way or another of having been copied from older documents of a similar character . At the end of this curious history is a bit of Latin , which being freely translated reads thus : " Then one of the Seniors holds the book

to him who with a solemn oath repeats , and ho places his hand on the book while the articles and precepts to him are read . " The precepts or charges are 33 in number , but

I will only call your attention to a few of them . No . 3 is to the following purport : " You shall be true unto your fellowes and bretheren of the science of Masonry , and doe to them as you would be done unto . "

" 14 . You shall not take any apprentice to serve you m tho said Science of Masonry under the terme of seaven yeares , nor any but such as arc decended of good aud honest parentage , that noc Scandall may be imputed to tho Science of Masonry . "

" 15 . You shall nofc tako upon yon to make any one a Mason without the privity and consent of five or six of youre Fellowes , and none but such a ono as is Freeborne and whose parents live in good fame and name , & that hath his right & perfect limbs & personall of body to attend the said Science . "

" 17 . You shall not slander any of youre Fellowes behinde their back to impaire thoir temporall estate , or good name . " ' " 19 . You shall duely reverence youre Fellowes that the bond of Charity and mutuall Love may continue constant and stable amongst you . "

" 25 . You shall sett strangers onworke , havinge Imployment for them , at least a fortnight & truely pay them thenwages , and if you want worke for them you shall relieve them with money to defray their Reasonable charge to tho next Lodge . "

27 . Noe person of what degree soever be accepted a Free Mason unlesso he shall have a Lodge of five free masons att thc least , whereof one to be Master or Warden of that Limitt , or Division , wherein such lodge shall be kept and another of the Trade of Freemasonry . "

" 29 . Thafc noo person hereafter which shall be accepted a Free Mason shall be admitted into any Lodge or assembly untill he have brought a certificate of the tyme of his accepfcion from the Lodge that accepted him unto the

Master of that Limitt and Division where such Lodge was kept , which said Master shall iuroll tho same in pigment in a Roll to be kept for thafc purpose , and give an account of all such acceptions at every genorall assembly . "

" 30 . That every person who is now a Freo Mason shall bringe to the Master a note of the tyme of his acception to the end [ that ] the same may be iurolled in such priority of place as the person deserves , and to the end [ that ] the whole company and fellows may the better know each ofcher . "

Freemasonry—Operative And Speculative.

" 31 . That for tho future the said Society , Company , and Fraternity of Free Masons shall be regulated and governed by ono Master and assembly and Wardens and the said Company shall think fitt fco chuse at every yearoly generall assembly . "

" 32 . That noe person shall be accepted a Free Mason except he be one and twenty yeares old or more . " " 33 . That noe person hereafter be accepted a Free Mason or know the secrets of the said Society untill he shall first have taken the oath of Secresie hereafter followiuge .

These articles and charge which I have rehearsed to you , you shall well and truely observe and keep to youre power Soe help your God , & the holy contents of this book . " Then follosvs tho Apprentice ' s charge consisting of ton

clauses , some of which aro rather peculiar , but as they relate chiefly to the moral duties of an Apprentice and contain nothing more important with reference to Masonry than what you have already heard , I will not take up your time by reading them . The manuscript concludes with the

" oath for Secresie " referred to above . " I , A . B ., Doe in the presence of Almighty God and my Fellowes and Bretheren here present , promise and declare that I will not at any tyrno hereafter , by any actor circumstance whatsoever , directly or indirectly , publish , discover , or reveale , or make known ,

any of the Secretts , Priviledges or Counsells , of the Fraternity or Fellowshipp of Free Masonry , which at any tyme hereafter shall be made known unto me , soe help me God & the holy contents of this book . " I think you will all agree that what you have heard read is amply sufficient

to establish tho fact of our Operative ancestors having been accustomed to meet in Lodges , and you will doubtless have observed a striking resemblance to our present customs and regulations in many other respects , especially if you happen to be at all familiar with the First and Second Lectures .

Even our system of registration of members and the granting of certificates is evidently derived from the Operatives . As a general rule these MSS . give nofc the slightest hint of any kind of ceremony or secret mode of recognition , bnt there is one in the British Museum called the Harleian

MS ., No . 2054 , which is an exception . It is about the same age as this one , and at the end of the document are words to the following purport , apparently the result of an afterthought , and intended for a reminder : " There is several wordes and signes of a Free Mason to be re vailed to you

which as you will answer before God at the Great and terrible day of judgment , you keep secret & nofc to revaile the same in the heares of any person , or to any but the Masters and Fellowes of the said Society of Free Masons , so help me God , & c . " Another

manuscript of a moro recent date , belonging to the Bedford Lodge , No . 157 , formerly an Operative Lodge , says : " Then after tho oath taken and the book kist , these following precepts and charges are to be read . " It . says also that " seven must be present at tho making of a Mason ( which number

is termed a Lodge ) , or six at least , with the consent of a seventh in his own handwriting . " Another important link to which I particularly wish to draw your attention is the Tracing Board , or Trasel Board as it was called in fche olden time , when ifc was represented in our Lodges after the

manner of tho ono you see on the floor with the ground plan of tho building—probably meant for King Solomon ' s Temple—depicted on it . We are told that the Tracing Board is for the Master to lay lines and draw designs upon , the better to enable tbe brethren to carry on the intended

structure with regularity and propriety ; and doubtless this is a very proper description of its use in Operative Masonry , but iu Speculative Masonry it has , as you know , liko all the rest of our emblems , a symbolic and moral signification . Down io the latter part of the last century—I cannot

say bow long before—it was customary in our Lodges to h ; ivo a design somewhat similar to the ono you have before you , only much larger and moro elaborate , marked out on tho floor of the Lodge-room , the principal ingredients used being chalk , charcoal , and stone blue . Old writers

tell us " this had a very pretty effect , especially in some of tho Lodges whero they sprinkle the floor with powdered resin mixed with shining sand , and the room was brilliantly illuminated for the occasion . " This operation was called "drawing , " or "forming the Lodge , " and was usually

done by the Tyler , or some one employed by him , for in reading old minute books I have frequently seen entries of various sums paid to the Tyler for " drawing the Lodge . " Ifc was considered quite the proper thing in those days for the candidate , no matter how exalted