Sketches Of Notable Masonic Works.

SKETCHES OF NOTABLE MASONIC WORKS .

By Bro . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN , W . M . 131 , Truro , & c . ( Vide No . 1 , page 141 , No . 451 , 8 f No . 2 , page 121 , No . 47 G . ) No . 3 .

FREEMASONS' POCKET COMPANIONS . Tho first Freemasons' Pocket Companion was published in 1736 by John Torbuck in " Clarecourt , near Drury-lane , London . " It is numbered 129 , by Dr . Kloss . The second edition we have

iu our Masonic library , dated A . D . 1738 , small < Svo ., xi . —119 pages , with a neat frontispiece . It is not , however , much different to the first , although it is stated to contain " large additions . " Bro . WSmith , the author , dedicates the work " To the

brethren aud fellows of the most antient and honourable society of free and accepted Masons . " The preface is well composed , and contains much useful advice . Bro . Smith also " exhorts the

brotherhood that , avoiding * all innovations , they adhere strictly to the antient practices of the Order , when all the social virtues shone conspicuously amongst us , and the world admired us rather for our veracity , brotherly love , and relief of one another ,

than for those invaluable secrets which we have ever kept , or those fabricks which we have erected for the convenience of mankind and ornament of

the world . The following suggestions are likewise so a'oocl O OO •—/ that we offer no apology for presenting them to our readers , with our warm approval , and hope that they may be found worthy of the attention of

Masons now as well as then . The author observes " Let it never be said , that as our numbers increase , the sciences decrease , but let our knowledge shine as formerly for our own honour and the edification of others . No man ought to attain

to any dignity in Masonry who has not at least a competent knowledge in geometery and architecture ; and if the sciences were more followed in tho lodges what is unhappily substituted in their places would not prevail as it does . Then let us

all go haiid-in-hand in promoting the great and laudable ends of our institution , and we cannot fail of gaining the approbation of the whole world as well as of one another . " The " Companion " contains several odes , prologues , epilogues , and Freemasons' songs , but none of importance . The history of Masons and Masonry and the Constitu-

Sketches Of Notable Masonic Works.

tions of A . D . 1723 are inserted , and are of course mainly a copy from the authorized works . " An exact list of regular lodges " from A . D . 1717 to 1738 , with a defence of Masonry , occasioned by a pamphlet called Masonry Dissected , are also

appended , but a notice of their nature and merits would occupy too much space for mention just now The list comprises some 160 lodges , and the "defence " is well worthy of the name . We may state that both of the editions of this " Companion "

are very scarce . There was an earlier [ edition of a little work partaking of the style of a " Companion , " entitled the Freemasons' Vade-Mecum , A . D . 1735 , but we cannot refer to its contents in these pages . The

following sketch will , however , embrace all the " Companions" so far as we know , excluding , however , any works of a similar character ( like " Multa Paucis " ) but of other titles . The next of these useful little publications was

issued A . D . 1754 , by J . Scott , London , and is entitled "The Pocket Companion and History of Freemasons , containing their origin , progress , and present state , an abstract of their laws , constitutions , customs , charges , orders , and regulations , for the instruction and conduct of the brethren .

A confutation of Dr . Plot ' s false insinuations ; an apology occasioned by the persecution in the Canton of Berne and the Pope's dominions ; and a select number of songs and other particulars , for the use of the society , " ( viii . 328 , small 8 vo . )

Per bonam famam et infamam . ( No . 141 , Dr . Kloss Bibliog . ) The second edition was published A . D . 1759 ( viii . 380 ) , and the third A . D . 1764 ( 382 ) . It is one of the most interesting Companions ever published , ancl full of interesting

information relative to the history of the Craft . The work is dedicated "to the Right Hon . and R . W . John Proby , Baron of Carysfort , in the county of Wicklow , in the kingdom of Ireland , Grand Master . " It seems to be mainly a resume of the

Book of Constitutions , A . D . 1738 , as regards the first portion , but the remainder is in many respects unique . The sketch of the progress of the Grand Loclge concludes with the following , after alluding to the " true architecture everywhere abounding , "

that " whilst any of these goodly structures continue to resist the ruins of time , the fame and glory of the most ancient fraternity in the world will be honoured and esteemed by all that love true knowledge ; aud joining the operative and moral architecture together with the constant prac-