quoted) its laws were established by the Almighty, is a sentiment belonging to the brain of the poet; a sentiment which must have escaped him in an irreverent moment, and which ought not hastily to be charged as one of the pretensions of the Order.

The first objection having been to the assumed era of Free Masonry, to the pretension it makes to have its beginning with the beginning of time-I come now to a second pretension, also well worth considering.

If its truth can be established; indeed, if a very small part of it be true, Free Masonry deserves a religious veneration. We ought to pay profound respect to an institution so honoured of God; so adorned by his prophets; so wonderfully, so miraculously preserved, amidst the convulsions of the deluge.

That I make not a mistake, and charge pretensions to Free Masonry which belong only to a few extravagant or disorderly brethren, I will pay no regard to the idle words of any man; but will extract fully from a standard work of Free Masonry; from a treatise, approved by the constituted authorities of Free Masonry, and by them recommended to the attention and study of all the members of the fraternity.

This is a fair course for Free Masonry; and it is the only safe course for the writer. The conclusions to which it leads must be satisfactory to all.

I wish to say nothing harshly of the following, or of any other of the pretensions of Free Masonry. I would state them fairly from the approved books of the Craft; I would throw them out upon the broad expanse of public opinion, and leave them wholly to their own weight; premising, however, my own conviction, that it will happen to the pretensions, as it did to the suspected witches of old: if one floated on the deep, she was burned for a witch; and if one sunk, she was inevitably drowned.

Free Mason's Monitor, Part II. Book I. Chapter X.

"The most potent grand master, representing Solomon, in the east, seated in a chair of state under a rich canopy, with a crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand."

We will not tarry for the description of the royal vestments, but proceed to the history and charge of this degree (Knights of the Arch.) "My worthy Brother. It is my intention at this time, to give you a clearer account than you have yet been acquainted with, of Masonry, of which at present you barely know the elements." [Hear, hear.]

"Enoch, being inspired by the Most High, and in commemoration of a wonderful vision, built a temple under ground, and dedicated the same to God. Methusaleh, the son of Enoch, constructed the building without being acquainted with his father's motives." (This is the Enoch who was "the first translated ;" and the Methusaleh who was "the oldest man.") "Enoch caused a triangular plate of gold to be made, each side of which was a cubit long; he enriched it with the most precious stones, and encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate of the same form. He then engraved upon it the ineffable characters, and placed it on a triangular pedestal of white marble, which he deposited in the deepest arch.-And none but Enoch knew of the treasure which the arches contained."

"And behold the wickedness of mankind increased more, and became grievous in the sight of the Lord; and God threatened to destroy the whole world. Enoch, perceiving that the knowledge of the arts was likely to be lost in the general destruction, and being desirous of preserving the principles of the sciences, for the posterity of those whom God should be pleased to spare, built two great pillars on the top of the highest mountain; the one of brass to withstand water; the other of marble to withstand fire. And he engraved on the marble hieroglyphics, signifying that there was a most precious treasure concealed in the arches

under ground, which he had dedicated to God; and he engraved on the pillar of brass the principles of the liberal arts, particularly of Masonry."

Not a word of so interesting a tale ought to be lost; but not to occupy too much time, I omit a page, still retaining the thread of the story.

"The flood took place in the year of the world 1656, and destroyed most of the superb monuments of antiquity. The marble pillar of Enoch, fell in the general desolation; but by divine permission, the pillar of brass withstood the water, by which means the ancient state of the liberal arts, and particularly masonry, has been handed down to us.”

Now were I to condemn this pretension in toto, some might think it sprung from a hostility to the "ancient and honourable institution;" I will, therefore, abstain from all censure; I will leave the suspected thing to sink or swim, according to the specific gravity of the medium in which it may happen to be immersed. But there are minds, in which it waits not the fagot and the stake. That Enoch was "inspired by the Most High," is allowed on the authority of the Holy Scriptures. But that he was inspired to build a temple and arches and pillars, for the preservation of Free Masonry, or of any thing belonging to Free Masonry, is, as far as my knowledge extends, a presumptuous assertion ;— and, notwithstanding the R. A. K., and the R. A. S, and the R. A. T., and the two R. A. C's. of a Grand Royal Arch Chapter, have certified, that, "The Free Masons' Monitor is replete with useful masonic information, and is fully entitled to the sanction of the Grand Chapter." I cannot believe one word of its antediluvian pretensions.

CHAPTER II.

"There are some foolish people reject us,
"For which they are highly to blame;
"They cannot show any objection,

"Or reason for doing the same;

"The Art's a divine inspiration,

"As all honest men will declare :

So here's to all true hearted Brothers,
"That live within compass and square.
66 Fa, la, la, &c."

Ahiman Reson, p. 133.

Two pretensions of masonry have been brought into view without argument. In matters so extravagant it is enough to doubt. It might seem to be in season to show the fallacy of so extraordinary claims, when something besides assertion is brought to their support. But lest I should seem not sufficiently to respect the pretensions of " the most ancient institution;" pretensions familiar to the standard works, to the ephemeral publications, and to the more noisy supporters of Free Masonry; I will give a few of the best reasons for supposing these to be wholly unworthy of credit.

The first pretension, it will be recollected, is, that “ our order has had a being ever since symmetry began." The proof is tradition-the same as is used to prove that after Deucalion's flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha repeopled the desolate earth, by throwing stones behind their backs-those which Deucalion threw becoming men, and those which Pyrrha, his wife, threw becoming maidens.

"Quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas!"

exclaims the poet; who could believe this, were not tradition the witness! This veritable witness must have left part of the masonic story untold; for if "our order" be as old as

time, it will be difficult to conceive who were the first masons. Mortals of age to constitute a lodge, did not exist until some years after the beginning of time. Who were the first masons then? A singular lodge it must have been, in which Adam was both most worshipful Master and Tyler, and Eve, the only "cowen and eaves dropper" under the sun.*

"No;" it is replied, "we do not mean so. We do not mean there were Lodges before there were men to constitute them. We only mean that the principles of the order are as old as the world."

Very well; then, "our order" has not had a being ever since symmetry began; but only the principles of the order. Exactly so. Let us examine the subject in this its best light.

First; can the principles peculiar to an institution be older than the institution itself? Certainly not. If the principles existed before the institution, the institution has no peculiar claim to them; it must have adopted or borrowed them. And if an institution be as old as the principles are which it borrows and adopts, why then a charitable institution is coeval with the principle of love! And masonry might better date its origin, not from the beginning of time, but some ages before! And so an author has it: "If from our moral principles we date the origin of Masonry, we must fix its era coexistent with the Almighty." Town's Speculative Free Masonry, p. 94.

What has Free Masonry to do with the era of creation? I do not see. Its lodges must be younger,-some of its adopted principles certainly are older. If we assume the

"Certainly the art itself is coeval with man, the great object of it. Nay, it may well be styled coeval with creation; when the Sovereign Architect raised on masonic principles the beauteous globe.”—Smith's Use and Abuse of Free Mas. p. 28. And the same words repeated, p. 108.

"Our first father, Adam, deny it who can,

"A mason was made as soon as a man."

Ahiman Reson, p. 114.