person: And furthermore says, that no man ought to commit any matter of consequence to him that cannot truly keep a secret.

Lycurgus, among his continual laws, would have every man keep secret whatsoever was done or said: For this reason the Athenians were wont when they met at any feast, that the most ancient among them should shew every brother the door whereat they entered, saying, take heed that not so much as one word pass out from hence, of whatsoever shall here be acted or spoken.

The first thing that Pythagoras taught his scholars was to be silent, therefore for a certain time, he kept them without speaking, to the end that they might the better learn to preserve the valuable secrets he had to communicate to them, and never to speak but when time required, expressing thereby that secrecy was the rarest virtue: Would to God that the masters of our present lodges would put the same in practice!

Aristotle was demanded what thing appeared most difficult to him; he answered, to be secret. and silent.

To this purpose St. Ambrose, in his offices, placed among the principal foundations of virtue, the patient gift of silence..

The wise king Solomon says in his proverbs, that a king ought not to drink wine, because drunken, ness is an enemy to secrecy; and in his opinion, he is not worthy to reign that cannot keep his own secrets; he furthermore says, that he which discovers secrets is a traitor, and he that conceals them is a faithful brother: He likewise says, that he that refraineth his tongue is wise: And again, he that keeps his tongue, keeps his soul. To these I shall add the words of another wise man, Ecclesiasticus, chap. xxvii, to the 22d verse. "Whosoever discovereth secrets looseth his credit,

and shall never find a friend to his mind. Love thy friend, and be faithful unto him! But if thou bewrayest his secrets, follow no more after him: For as a man hath destroyed his enemy, so hast thou lost the love of thy neighbour. As one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so has thou let thy neighbour go, and shalt not get him again. Follow after him no more, for he is too far off: He is as a roe escaped out of the snare. As for a wound it may be bound up, and after reviling there may be reconcilement, but he that bewrayeth secrets is without hope." I could mention many other circumstances of the excellency of secrecy; and I dare venture to say that the greatest honour, justice, truth, and fidelity, has been always found amongst those who could keep their own and others secrets; and this is most nobly set forth by Horace, who says:.

:

The man resolv'd and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just;
May the rude rabble's insolence despise,
Their ferseless clamours and tumultuous cries;

The tyrant's fiercenef, he beguiles,

4

And the stein brow and the harsh voice defies,
And with fuperior greatness smiles ::
Not the rough whirlwind, that deforms

Ad ia's black gulph, and vexes it with forms;
The stubborn virtue of his foul can move:

Not the red arm of angry Jove,
That flings the thunder from the sky,

And gives it rage to roar and strength to fly.

Should the whole frame of nature round him break.
In ruin and confufion hurl'd;

He unconcern'd would hear the mighty crack;
And stand fecure amidst a falling world.

1

Therefore I am of opinion, that if secrecy and silence be duly considered, they will be found most necessary to qualify a man for any business of importance: If this be granted, I am confident that no man will dare to dispute that free-masons are superior to all other men, in concealing their secrets, from times immemorial: which the power of gold, that often has betrayed kings and princes, and sometimes overturned whole empires, nor the most cruel punishments could never extort that secret even, from the weakest member of the whole fraternity.

Therefore I humbly presume it will of consequence be granted, that the welfare and good of mankind was the cause or motive of so grand an institution as free-masonry no art yet ever being so extensively useful, which not only tends to protect its members from external injuries, but to polish the rusty dispositions of iniquitous minds, and also to detain them within the pleasant bounds of true religion, morality and virtue; for such are the precepts of this royal art, that if those who have the honour of being members thereof would but live according to the true principles of the ancient craft, every man that is endowed with the least spark of honoar or honesty, must of approve their actions, and consequently endeavour to follow their steps. And although very few or none of the brethren arrive to the sublimity and beautiful contrivance of Hiram Abif, yet the very enemies of Free-Masonry must own, that it is the most renowned society that ever was, is now, or perhaps ever will be upon earth. The following true description of the royal art, will clearly shéw its great use to mankind.

HAIL mighty art! gracious gift of heaven,
To aid mankind, by our creator given :
It was you alone that gave the ark its form,
Which sav'd the faithful from impending storm;
When sinful Cowans were grov'ling in the tide,
The Mason'sark triumphantly did ride,
O'er mighty waves, nor car'd they where it steer'd,
'Till floods abated and dry land appear'd:
On Arraret's mount, after the dreadful storm,
There stood their ark and open'd lodge in form;

course

There the good mason, of his own accord,
An altar built to serve the heavenly lord;
Returned thanks with off'ring sacrifice,
Which pleased Jove and to himself he cries,
For sake of man I'll curse the ground no more,
Nor smite the living as I've done before:
While earth remain this blessing I'll bestow,
A proper time when you your feed may sow;
The harvest-time to bless the lab'ring swain,
With fruitful crops for all his care and pain:
Nights, days and seasons shall surround this ball,
Nor shall they cease until the end of all:
And to confirm my promise unto thee,
Amidst the clouds my bow a witness be:
An heav'nly arch shews how God sav'd the lives
Of masons four, likewise their happy wives.
Such the blessings of each time and season,
God has promis'd to that master-mason;
By which we see that mighty things were done
By this great art, since first the world began.
What mortal living, whether far or near,
Around the globe within the heav'nly sphere,
Can name one art so much by God approv'd,
As masonry in David whom he lov'd:
Witness Moriah, where god appear'd to man,
And gave the prince the holy temple's plan ;
Which charge Solomon after did fulfill,
By aid of Tyre and Hiram's mighty skill.
This is the art that did the world excel,
And pleas'd the Lord of Host to come and dwell,
the men, who did the temple frame,
To worship God and keep his sacred name.
By Mason's art aspiring domes appear,
Where God is worship'd still in truth and fear;
By Mason's art the greedy miser's breast,
(Thoiron-bound, much closer than his chest)
Compassion feels, values not his store,
And freely gives what he ne'er thought before;
By Mason's art the busy tongue doth fall,
Before the throne, when awful silence call;
By Mason's art the wings of loose desire,
Are clipt short, prevents their soaring higher;
The vicious mind the ancient craft restrain,
From immodest bents, unlawful and profane;
By Mason's art the puny foppish ass,
(Mankind's disgrace, and sport of ev'ry lass)
Soon quits his folly, and more wiser grown,
Looks on himself as one before unknown;

Amongst the m

By Masons art the proud ensigns of state,
(Ambition's nurs'ry, and her lofty seat)

Are deemed vain and useless toys,
Free-Masons prize more solid joys.

"

But methinks I hear some of my readers say, surely if Free-Masonry be such as it is here represented, the brotherhood most certainly are the happiest men living; and yet, on the contrary, we often meet some very miserable, and others very great knaves, and a number of ignorant, illiterate stupid fools of the society, or at least would endeavor to make the world believe so. This has been duly considered and answered, in the insructions for such as would become Free-Masons. In the mean time I am well assured, that none but strangers to the craft, and ungenerous enemies to good society, will doubt the veracity of what is here inserted concerning Free-Masonry. And for further satisfaction to my female readers, and such of the male sex as have not the honour of being initiated into the mystery, I here beg leave to treat of the principles of the craft, so far as comes within the limitation of my pen, which I hope will meet with a just admiration, because they are founded upon religion, morality, brotherly love, and good fellowship. Las fog

VO

A Mason is obliged by his tenure to believe firmly in the true worship of the eternal God, as well as in all those sacred records which the dignitaries and fathers of the church have compiled and published for the use o of all good men; so that no one who rightly understands the art, can possibly tread in the irreligious paths of the unhappy libertine, or be induced to follow the arnogant professors of atheism or deism; neither is he to be stained with the gross errors of blind superstition, but may have the liberty of embrac ing what faith he shall think proper, provided at