The Knights Templars.

you , that Jerusalem is the house of God . I do not wish to profane its sanctity by the effusion of blood . Abandon its walls , ancl in return I will bestow on you a part of my treasures , and as much laud as you will be able to culti \ "ate . " To this

the Christians replied , that they coulcl not yield up the Holy City , in which Christ had died , to any one , still less could they yield it up to him . This answer enraged Saladin , ancl he swore upon the Koran to prostrate Aviththe ground the toAvers

ancl ramparts of Jerusalem , and to avenge in a signal manner the deaths of those Mussulmen who had fallen in the first Crusade . To add to the terror caused by these threats , while Saladin was speaking , an eclipse of the sun covered the

earth with darkness , which appeared to the superstitious Christians an omen of the direst import . Dismissing the Christians , Saladin ordered his army to advance at once upon Jerusalem . ( To he continued . )

An Analysis Of Ancient And Modern Freemasonry.

AN ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN FREEMASONRY .

BY > J < BEO . WILLIAM J . HUGHAN , 18 ° . Slemher of the German Union of Freemasons , Knight Comp of the Royal Order of Scotland , § c . ( Continued from page 4-1-1 . ) jS T otes to First Part .

OEEEATIA ' E MASONIC CONSTITUTIONS ( Page 287 ) . These Constitutions are referred to in various histories of Freemasonry , aud should be familiar to every Freemason . The oldest printed copy believed to be in existence is the one in the

possession of Bro . Bichard Spencer , Loudon , to whom the writer is indebted for the gratification of havincf perused it . The following may not be uninteresting to many who may not have been so favoured . The title runs thus : — " From the old Constitutions

belonging to the Ancient and Honourable Society of Free ancl Accepted Masons ; taken from a M . S . written above five hundred years since . London : printed and sold by J . Eoberts , in Warwick-lane , 1722 . Price sixpence . " It is a pamphlet of some

score of pages , and commences— " The Almighty Father of Heaven , with the wisdom of the glorious Son , through the goodness of the Holy Ghost , three persons in one Godhead , be with our beginning , and give us by grace so to govern his bliss that never shall have end . Amen . " The ancient

charges were read to the candidate for admission , and then he subscribed to them thus— " All these articles and charges , which I have now read unto you , you shall well and truly observe , perform , and keep , to the best of your power and knowledge ,

so help me God , ancl the true ancl holy contents of this Book . " The O . B . is almost exactly the same as the MS . in the British Museum ( Harl . 1942 ) , which is saicl to be a copy of one which Avas written in the tenth century ( Vide note , Hutchinson ' s

' ¦ Spirit of Masonry , " 1843 , page 201 ) . It is as follows : — " Ancl moreover , I , A B , do here , in the presence of God Almighty and of my fellows and brethren here present , promise and declare that I will not at any time hereafter , by any act or circumstance whatsoever , directly or indirectly , publish , discover , reveal , or make

known , any of those secrets , privities , or councils of the Fraternity or Fellowship of Freemasonry which at this time , or at any time hereafter , shall be made known unto me , so help me God , and the true and holy contents of this Book . " The

beginning of this scarce Avork is very similar to " A book of the Antient Constitutions of the Free and Accepted Masons , printed ancl sold by B . Cole , engraver , in London-house-yard , St . Paul ' s Churchyard , " 1728-9—a copy of which I have the

pleasure -of owning . The latter finishes with " These charges that we have now rehearsed unto you , and all others that belong to Masons , you shall keep , so help your God ancl your Hallidon . Amen . " And the invocation culminates in wishing

" Grace , so to govern us here in our living , that we may come to his bliss that never shall have an end . Amen . "

This edition of the Constitutions of 1722 must not be confounded with a work published one year later by the Grand Lodge of England , as the former does not refer to any Grand Lodge whatever .

LAWS AND ACTS OE PAELIAJIEXT , EDJNBUEGH , 1682 ( Page 309)—Incorrectly printed MDCOXXXII . In an "Exact abridgment of all Statutes in force and use from the beginning of Magna Charta

until 1041 , by Edmund Wingate , Esq ., of Gray ' s Inn , London , 1681 , " Ave find that , according to the Statute 14 IL , 8 , " The saicl Wardens and that one stranger shall assign a proper mark for strangers' wares , Avithout taking anything for the same . " It appears that all strangers were " under the reformation of the Wardens of Handicrafts