MASONRY DISSECTED
By
Samuel Prichard
1730
MASONRY DISSECTED
By
Samuel Prichard
1730
Samuel Pritchard maketh Oath,
That the Copy hereunto annnexed
is a True and Genuine Copy in
every Particular.
Fur’ 13. Die Oct. Sam. Prichard
1730. coram me,
R. Hopkins,
DEDICATION TO THE
Rt. Worshipful and Honourable
FRATERNITY
Of Free and Accepted Masons.
Brethren and Fellows,
IF the following sheets, done without Partiality, gains the universal applause of so worshipful a Society, I doubt not but its general Character will be diffused and esteemed among the remaning Polite Part of Mankind:
Which, I hope will give intire Satisfaction to all Lover's of Truth, and I shall remain, with all humble Submission, the Fraternity’s
Most Obedient Humble Servant,
Sam. Prichard
MASONRY DISSECTED.
THE original Institution of Masonry consisteth on the Foundation of the Liberal Arts and Sciences; but more especially on the Fifth, viz. Geometry. For at the Building of the Tower of Babel, the Art and Mystery of Masonry was first introduc'd, and from thence handed down by Euclid, a worthy and excellent Mathematician of the Egyptian, and he communicated it to Hiram, the Master-Mason concern'd in the Building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, where was an excellent and curious Mason that was the chief under their Grand-Master Hiram, whose Name was Mannon Grecus, who taught the Art of Masonry to one Carolos Marcil in France, who was afterwards elected King of France, and from thence was brought into England in the Time of King Athe Stone, who order'd an Assembly to be held once every Year at York, which was the first Introduction of it into England, and Masons were made in the Manner following.
Tunc unus ex Senioribus teneat Librum, ut illi vel ille ponant vel ponat Manus supra Librum; tum Præcepta debeant legi. i. e. Whilst one of the Seniors holdeth the Book, that be or they put their Hands upon the Book, whilst the Master ought to read the Laws or Charges.
Which Charges were, that they should be true to one another without Exception, and should he obliged to relieve their Brothers and Fellows Necessities, or put them to labour and reward them accordingly. But in these latter Days Masonry is not composed of Artificers, as it was in its primæval State, when some few Catechetical Questions were necessary to declare a Man sufficiently qualified for an Operative Mason.
The Terms of Free and Accepted Masonry (as it now is) has not been heard of till within these few Years; no Constituted Lodges or Quarterly Communications were heard of till 1691, when Lords and Dukes, Lawyers and Shopkeepers, and other inferior Tradesmen, Porters not excepted, were admitted into this Mystery or no Mystery; the first fort being introduc'd at a very great Expence, the second fort at a moderate Rate, and the latter for the Expence of six or seven Shillings, for which they receive that Badge of Honour, which (as they term it) is more ancient and more honourable than is the Star and Garter, which Antiquity is accounted, according to the Rules of Masonry, as delivered by their Tradition, ever since Adam, which I shall leave the candid Reader to determine.
From the Accepted Masons sprang the Real Masons, from both sprang the Gormogons, whose Grand-Master the Volgi deduces his Original from the Chinese, whose Writings, if to be credited, maintains the Hypotheses of the Pre-Adamites, and consequently must be more antique than Masonry.
The most free and open Society is that of the Grand Kaihebar, which consists of a select Company of Responsible People, whose chief discourse is concerning Trade and Business, and promoting mutual Friendship without Compulsion or Restriction.
But if after the Admission into the Secrets of Masonry, any new Brother should dislike their Proceedings, and reflect upon himself for being so easily cajoled out of his Money, declines the Fraternity or secludes himself upon the Account of the Quarterly Expences of the Lodge and Quarterly Communications, notwithstanding he has been legally admitted into a Constituted and Regular Lodge, shall be denied the Privilege (as a Visiting Brother) of knowing the Mystery for which he has already paid, which is a manifest Contradiction according to the Institution of Masonry itself, as will evidently appear by the following Treatise.
Enter'd
Enter'd 'Prentice's DEGREE.
Q. From whence came you?
A. From the Holy Lodge of St. John's
Q. What Recommendations brought you from thence?
A. The Recommendations which I brought from the Right Worshipful Brothers and Fellows of the Right Worshipful and Holy Lodge of St. John's, from whence I came, and Greet you thrice heartily well.
Q. What do you come here to do?
A. Not to do my own proper Will, But to subdue my Passion still;
The Rules of Masonry in hand to take,
And daily Progress therein make.
Q. Are you a Mason?
A. I am so taken and Accepted to be among Brothers and Fellows.
Q. How shall I know that you are a Mason?
A. By Signs and Tokens and perfect Points of my Entrance.
Q. What are Signs?
A. All Squares, Angles and Perpendiculars.
Q. What are Tokens?
A. Certain Regular and Brotherly Gripes.
Exam. Give me the Points of your Entrance.
Resp. Give me the first and I'll give you the second.
Exam. I Hail it.
Resp. I Conceal it.
Exam. What do you Conceal?
Resp. All Secrets and Secrecy of Masons and Masonry, unless to a True and Lawful Brother after due Examination, or in a just and worshipful Lodge of Brothers and Fellows well met.
Q. Where was you made a Mason?
A. In a just and Perfect Lodge.
Q. What makes a just and Perfect Lodge?
A. Seven or more.
Q. What do they consist on?
A. One Master, two Wardens, two Fellow-Crafts and two Enter'd 'Prentices.
Q. What makes a Lodge?
A. Five.
Q. What do they consist of?
A. One Master, two Wardens, one Fellow-Craft, one Enter'd 'Prentice.
Q. Who brought you to the Lodge?
A. An Enter'd 'Prentice.
Q. How did he bring you?
A. Neither naked nor cloathed, bare-foot nor shod, deprived of all Metal and in a right moving Posture.
Q. How got you Admittance?
A. By three great Knocks.
Q. Who receiv’d you?
A. A Junior Warden.
Q. How did he dispose of you?
A. He carried me up to the North-Fait Part of the Lodge, and brought me back again to the West and deliver'd me to the Senior Warden.
Q. What did the Senior Warden do with you?
A. He presented me, and shew'd me how to walk up (by three Steps) to the Master.
Q. What did the Master do with you?
A. He made me a Mason.
Q. How did he make you a Mason?
A. With my bare-bended Knee and Body within the Square, the Compass extended to my naked Left Breast, my naked Right Hand on the Holy Bible; there I took the Obligation (or Oath) of a Mason.
Q. Can you repeat that Obligation.
A. I'll do my Endeavour. (Which is as follows.)
I Hereby solemnly Vow and Swear in the Presense of Almighty God and this Right Worshipful assembly, that I will Hail and Conceal, and never Reveal the Secrets or Secrecy of Masons or Masonry, that shall be Revealed unto me; unless to a True and Lawful Brother, after due Examination, or in a Just and Worshipful Lodge of Brothers and Fellows well met.
I furthermore Promise and Vow, that I will not Write them, Print them, Mark them, Carve them or Engrave them, or cause them to be Written, Printed, Marked, Carved or Engraved on Wood or Stone, so as the Visible Character or Impression of a Letter may appear, whereby it may be unlawfully obtain'd.
All this under no less Penalty than to have my throat cut, my Tongue taken from the Roof of my Mouth, my Heart pluck'd from under my Left Breast, them to be buried in the Sands of the Sea, the Length of a Cable-rope from Shore, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in 24 Hours, my Body to be burnt to ashes, my Ashes to be scatter'd upon the Face of the Earth, so that there shall be no more Remembrance of me among Masons.
So help me God.
Q. What Form is the Lodge?
A. A long Square.
Q. How long?
A. From East to West.
Q. How broad?
A. From North to South.
Q. How high?
A. Inches, Feet and Yards innumerable, as high as the Heavens.
Q. How deep?
A. To the Centre of the Earth.
Q. Where does the Lodge hand?
A. Upon Holy Ground, or the highest Hill or lowest Vale, or in the Vale of Jehosaphat, or any other secret Place.
Q. How is it situated?
A. Put East and West.
Q. Why so?
A. Because all Churches and Chappels are or ought to be so.
Q. What supports a Lodge?
A. Three great Pillars.
Q. What are they called?
A. Wisdom, Strength and Beauty.
Q. Why so?
A. Wisdom to contrive, Strength to support, and Beauty to adorn.
Q. What Covering have you to the Lodge?
A. A clouded Canopy of divers Colours (or the Clouds.)
Q. Have you any Furniture in your Lodge?
A. Yes.
Q. What is it?
A. Mosaick Pavement, Blazing Star and Indented Tarsel.
Q. What are they?
A. Mosaick Pavement, the Ground Floor of the Lodge, Blazing Star the Centre, and Indented Tarsel the Border round about it.
Q. What is the other Furniture of a Lodge?
A. Bible, Compass and Square.
Q. Who do they properly belong to?
A. Bible to God, Compass to the Master, and Square to the Fellow-Craft.
Q. Have you any jewels in the Lodge?
A. Yes.
Q. How many?
A. Six. Three Moveable, and three Immoveable.
Q. What are the Moveable Jewels?
A. Square, Level and Plumb-Rule.
Q. What are their Uses.
A. Square to lay down True and Right Lines, Level to try all Horizontals, and the Plumb-Rule to try all Uprights.
Q. What are the Immoveable Jewels?
A. Trasel Board, Rough Ashler, and Broach'd Thurnel.
Q. What are their Uses?
A. Trasel Board for the Master to draw his Designs upon, Rough Ashler for the Fellow Craft to try their jewels upon, and the Broach'd Thurnel for the Enter'd 'Prentice to learn to work upon.
Q. Have you any Lights in your Lodge?
A. Yes, Three.
Q. What do they represent?
A. Sun, Moon and Master-Mason.
N. B. These Lights are three large Candles placed on high Candlesticks.
Q. Why so?
A. Sun to rule the Day, Moon the Night) and Matter-Mason his Lodge.
Q. Have you any fix'd Lights in your Lodge?
A. Yes.
Q. How many?
A. Three.
N. B. These fix’d Lights are three Windows, suppos'd (tho' vainly) to be in every Room where a Lodge it held, but more properly, the four Cardinal Points according to the antique Rules of Masonry.
Q. How are they situated?
A. East, South and West.
Q. What are their Uses?
A. To light the Men to, at and from their Work.
Q. Why are there no Lights in the North?
A. Because the Sun darts no Rays from thence.
Q. Where hands your Master?
A. In the East.
Q. Why so?
A. As the Sun rises in the East and opens the Day, so the Master stands in the East [with his Right Hand upon his Left Breast being a Sign, and the Square about his Neck] to open the Lodge and to set his Men at Work.
Q. Where stands your Wardens?
A. In the West.
Q. What's their Business?
A. As the Sun sets in the West to close the Day, so the Wardens stand in the Welt [with their Right Hands upon their Left Breasts being a Sign, and the Level and Plumb-Rule about their Necks] to close the Lodge and dismiss the Men from Labour, paying their Wages.
Q. Where stands the Senior Enter'd' Prentice?
A. In the South.
Q. What is his Business?
A. To hear and receive Instructions and welcome strange Brothers.
Q. Where stands the Junior Enter'd 'Prentice?
A. In the North.
Q. What is his Business?
A. To keep off all Cowans and Eves-droppers.
Q. If a Cowan (or Listner) is catch'd, how is he to be punished?
A. To be plac'd under the Eves of the Houses (in rainy Weather) till the Water runs in at his Shoulders and out at his Shoos.
Q. What are the Secrets of a Mason?
A. Signs, Tokens and many Words.
Q. Where do you keep those Secrets?
A. Under my Left Breast.
Q. Have you any Key to those Secrets?
A. Yes.
Q. Where do you keep it?
A. In a Bone Bone Box that neither opens nor shuts but with Ivory Keys.
Q. Does it hang or does it lie?
A. It hangs.
Q. What does it hang by?
A. A Tow-Line 9 Inches or a Span.
Q. What Metal is it of?
A. No manner of Metal at all; but a Tongue of good Report is as good behind a Brother's Back as before his Face.
N. B. The Key is the Tongue, the Bone Bone Box the Teeth, the Tow-Line the Roof of the Mouth.
Q. How many Principles are there in Masonry?
A. Four.
Q. What are they?
A. Point, Line, Superficies and Solid.
Q. Explain them.
A. Point the Centre (round which the Master cannot err) Line Length without Breadth, Superficies Length and Breadth, Solid comprehends the whole.
Q. How many Principle-Signs?
A. Four.
Q. What are they?
A. Gututral, Pectoral, Manual and Pedestal
Q. Explain them.
A. Guttural the Throat, Pectoral the Breast, Manual the Hand, Pedestal the Feet.
Q. What do you learn by being a Gentleman Mason.
A. Secrecy, Morality and Goodfellowship.
Q. What do you learn by being an Operative Mason?
A. Hue, Square, Mould-Bone, by a Level and raise a Perpendicular.
Q. Have you Seen your Master to-day?
A. Yes.
Q. How was he Cloathed?
A. In a Yellow Jacket and Blue Pair of Breeches.
N. B. The Yellow Jacket is the Compasses, and the Blue Breeches the Steel Points.
Q. How long do you serve your Master?
A. From Monday Morning to Saturday Night.
Q. How do you serve him?
A. With Chalk, Charcoal and Earthen Pan.
Q. What do they denote?
A. Freedom, Fervency and Zeal.
Ex. Give me the Enter'd Prentice's Sign.
Resp. Extending the Four Fingers of the Right Hand and drawing of them cross his Throat, is the Sign, and demands a Token.
N. B. A Token is by joining the Ball of the Thumb of the Right Hand upon the first Knuckle of the Fore-finger of the Brother's Right Hand that demands a Word.
Q. Give me the Word.
A. I'll letter it with You.
Exam. B O A Z. [ N. B. The Exam. says B, Resp. O, Exam. A, Resp. Z, i. e. Boaz] Give me another.
Resp. J A C H I N. [N.B. Boaz and Jachin were two Pillars in Solomon's Porch. 1 Kings, chap. vii. ver. 21]
Q. How old are you?
A. Under Seven. [Denoting be has not pass'd Master.]
Q. What's the Day for?
A. To See in.
Q. What's the Night for?
A. To Hear.
Q. How blows the Wind?
A. Due East and West.
Q. What's a Clock?
A. High Twelve.
The End of the Enter'd 'Prentice’s Part
Fellow-Craft's DEGREE.
Q. Are you a Fellow-Craft?
A. I am.
Q. Why was you made a Fellow-Craft
A. For the fake of the Letter G.
Q. What does that G denote?
A. Geometry, or the fifth Science.
Q. Did you ever travel?
A. Yes, East and West.
Q. Did you ever work?
A. Yes, in the Building of the Temple.
Q. Where did you receive your Wages?
A. In the middle Chamber.
Q. How came you to the middle Chamber?
A. Through the Porch.
Q. When you came through the Porch, what did you see?
A. Two great Pillars.
Q. What are they called?
A. J. B. i. e. Jachin and Boaz. - Vide 1 Kings, Chap. 7
Q. How high are they?
A. Eighteen Cubits.
Q. How much in Circumference?
A. Twelve Cubits.
Q. What were they adorn'd with?
A. Two Chapiters.
Q. How high were the Chapiters? - Vide 1 Kings, Chap. 7
A. Five Cubits.
Q. What were they adorn'd with?
A. Net-Work and Pomegranates.
Q. How came you to the middle Chamber?
A. By a winding Pair of Stairs.
Q. How many?
A. Seven or more.
Q. Why Seven or more?
A. Because Seven or more makes a just and Perfect Lodge.
Q. When you came to the Door of the middle Chamber, who did you see?
A. A Warden.
Q. What did he demand of you?
A. Three Things.
Q. What were they?
A. Sign, Token, and a Word.
N. B. The Sign is placing the Right Hand on the Left Breast, the Token is by joining your Right Hand to the Person that demands it, and squeezing him with the Ball of your thumb on the first Knuckle of the middle Finger, and the Word is Jachin.
Q. How high was the Door of the middle Chamber?
A. So high that a Cowan could not reach to stick a Pin in.
Q. When you came into the middle, what did you see?
A. The Resemblance of the Letter G.
Q. Who doth that G denote?
A. One that's greater than you.
Q. Who's greater than I, that am a Free and Accepted Mason, the Master of a Lodge.
A. The Grand Architect and Contriver of the Universe, or He that was taken up to the top of the Pinnacle of the Holy Temple.
Q. Can you repeat the Letter G?
A. I'll do my Endeavour.
The Repeating of the Letter G.
Resp. In the midst of Solomon's Temple there hands a G,
A Letter fair for all to read and see,
But few there be that understands.
What means that Letter G.
Ex. My Friend, if you pretend to be
Of this Fraternity,
You can forthwith and rightly tell
What means that Letter G.
Resp. By Sciences are brought to Light
Bodies of various Kinds,
Which do appear to perfect Sight;
But none but Males shall know my Mind.
Ex. The Right shall.
Resp. If Worshipful.
Ex. Both Right and Worshipful I am,
To Hail you I have Command,
That you do forthwith Iet me know,
As I you may understand.
Resp. By Letters Four and Science Five
This G aright doth stand,
In a due Art and Proportion,
You have your Answer, Friend.
N. B. Four Letters are Boaz
Fifth Science Geometry.
Ex. My Friend, you answer well,
If Right and Free Principles you discover,
I'll change your Name from Friend,
And henceforth call you Brother.
Resp. The Sciences are well compos'd
Of noble Structure's Verse,
A Point, a Line, and an Outside;
But a Solid is the last.
Ex. God's good Greeting be to this our happy Meeting.
Resp. And all the Right Worshipful Brothers and Fellows.
Ex. Of the Right Worshipful and Holy Lodge of St. John’s.
Resp. From whence I came.
Ex. Greet you, greet you, greet you thrice, heartily well, craving your Name.
Resp. Timothy Ridicule.
Exam. Welcome, Brother, by the Grace of God.
N. B. The Reason why they Denominate themselves of the Holy Lodge of St. John's, is, because he was the Fore-runner of our Saviour, and laid the first Parallel Lime to the Gospel (others do alert, that our Saviour himself was accepted a Free Mason while he was in the Flesh) but how ridiculous and prophane it seems, I leave to judicious Readers to consider.
The End of the Fellow-Craft Part.
The Master’s DEGREE.
Q. Are you a Master-Mason?
A. I am; try me, prove me, disprove me if you can.
Q. Where was you pass'd Master ?
A. In a Perfect Lodge of Masters.
Q. What makes a Perfect Lodge of Masters?
A. Three.
Q. How came you to be pass'd Master?
A. By the Help of God, the Square and my own Industry.
Q. How was you pass'd Master?
A. From the Square to the Compass.
Ex. An Enter'd 'Prentice I presume you have been.
R. Jachin and Boaz I have seen;
A Master-Mason I was made most rare,
With Diamond, Ashler and the Square.
Ex. If a Master-Mason you would be,
You must rightly understand the Rule of Three.
And * M. B. shall make you free: *Machbenah
And what you want in Masonry,
Shall in this Lodge be shewn to thee.
R. Good Masonry I understand;
The Keys of all Lodges are all at my Command.
Ex. You're an heroick Fellow; from whence came you
R. From the East.
Ex. Where are you a going?
R. To the West.
Ex. What are you a going to do there?
R. To look for that which was lost and is now found.
Ex. What was that which was lost and is now found?
R. The Master-Mason's Word.
Ex. How was it lost?
R. By Three Great Knocks, or the Death of our Master Hiram.
Ex. How came he by his Death?
R. In the Building of Solomon's Temple he was Master-Mason, and at high 12 at Noon, when the Men was gone to refresh themselves, as was his usual Custom, he came to survey the Works, and when he was enter'd into the Temple, there were Three Ruffians, suppos'd to be Three Fellow-Crafts, planted themselves at the Three Entrances of the Temple, and when he came out, one demanded the Master's Word of him, and he reply'd he did not receive it in such a manner, but Time and a little Patience would bring him to it: He, not satisfied with that Answer, gave him a Blow, which made him reel; he went to the other Gate, where being accosted in the same manner, and making the same Reply, lie received a greater Blow, and at the third his Quietus.
Ex. What did the Ruffians kill him with?
R. A Setting Maul, Setting Tool and Setting Beadle.
Ex. How did they dispose of him?
R. Carried him out at the West Door of the Temple, and hid him under some Rubbish till High 12 again.
Ex. What Time was that?
R. High 12 at Night, whilst the Men were at Rest.
Ex. How did they dispose of him afterwards?
R. They carried him up to the Brow of the Hill, where they made a decent Grave and buried him.
Ex. When was he miss'd'
R. The same Day.
Ex. When was he found?
R. Fifteen Days afterwards.
Ex. Who found him?
R. Fifteen Loving Brothers, by Order of King Solomon, went out of the Well Door of the Temple, and divided themselves from Right to Left within Call of each other; and they agreed that if they did not find the Word in him or about him, the first Word should be the Master's Word; one of the Brothers being more weary than the rest sat down to rest himself, and taking hold of a Shrub, which came easily up, and perceiving the Ground to have been broken, he Hail'd his Brethren, and pursuing their Search found him decently buried in a handsome Grave 6 Foot East, 6 West, and 6 Foot perpendicular, and his Covering was green Moss and Turf, which surprized them; whereupon they replied, Muscus Domus Dei Gratia, which, according to Masonry, is, thanks be to God, our Master has got a Mossy House: So they cover'd him closely, and as a farther Ornament placed a Sprig of Cassia at the Head of his Grave, and went and acquainted King Solomon.
Ex. What did King Solomon say to all this?
R. He order'd him to be taken up and decently buried, and that 15 Fellow-Crafts with white Gloves and Aprons should attend his Funeral [which ought amongst Masons to be perform'd to this Day.]
Ex. How was Hiram rais'd?
R. As all other Masons are, when they receive the Master's Word.
Ex. How is that?
R. By the Five Points of Fellowship.
Ex. What are they?
Hand to Hand (1), Foot to Foot (2), Cheek to Cheek (3), Knee to Knee (4), and Hand in Back (5).
N. B. When Hiram was taken up, they took him by the Fore-fingers, and the Skin came off, which is called the Slip; the spreading the Right Hand and placing the middle Finger to the Wrist, clasping the Fore-finger and the Fourth to the side of the Wrist; is called the Gripe, and the Sign is placing the Thumb of the Right Hand to the Left Breast, extending the Fingers.
Ex. What's a Master-Mason nam'd.
R. Cassia is my Name, and from a Juft and Perfect Lodge I came.
Ex. Where was dram inter'd?
R. In the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Ex. How was he brought in?
R. At the West-Door of the Temple.
Q. What are the Master-Jewels?
A. The Porch, Dormer and Square Pavement.
Q. Explain them.
A. The Porch the Entring into the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Dormer the Windows or Lights within, the Square Pavement the Ground Flooring.
Ex. Give me the Master's Word.
R. Whispers him in the Ear, and supported by the Five Points of Fellowship before-mentioned, says Machbenah, which signifies The Builder is smitten.
N. B. If any Working Masons are at work, and you have a desire to distinguish accepted Masons from the rest, take a Piece of Stone, and ask him what it smells of, he immediately replies, neither Brass, Iron, nor Steel but of a Mason; then by asking him, how old he is, he replies above Seven, which denotes he has pass 'd Master.
The End of the Master’s Part.
The Author’s Vindication of himself from the prejudiced Part of Mankind.
OF all the Impositions that have appear'd amongst Mankind, none are so ridiculous as the Mystery of Masonry, which has amus'd the World, and caused various Constructions and these pretenses of Secrecy, invalid, has (tho' not perfectly) been revealed, and the grand Article, viz. the Obligation, has several Times been printed in the publick Papers, but is entirely genuine in the Daily Journal of Saturday, Aug. 22. 1730. which agrees in its Veracity with that deliver'd in this pamphlet; and consequently when the Obligation of Secrecy is abrogated, the aforesaid Secret becomes of no Effect and must be quite extinct; for some Operative Masons (but according to the polite Way of Expression, Accepted Masons) made a Visitation from the first and oldest constituted Lodge (according to the Lodge Book in London) to a noted Lodge in this City, and was denied Admittance, because their old Lodge was removed to another house, which, tho' contradictory to this great Mystery, requires another Constitution, at no less Expence than two Guineas, with an elegant Entertainment, under the Denomination of being put to charitable Uses, which if justly applied, will give great Encomiums to so worthy an Undertaking, but it is very much doubted, and most reasonable to think it will be expended towards the forming another System of Masonry, the old Fabrick being so ruinous, that, unless repair'd by some occult Mystery, will soon be Annihilated.
I was induced to publish this mighty Secret for the publick Good, at, the Request of several Masons, and it will, I hope, give entire Satisfaction, and have its desired effect in preventing so many credulous Persons being drawn into so pernicious a Society.
FINIS.