•480 „ M A S O 
may he truly ferved with his owne good, and the mafter 
to live honeftly, and to pay his fellowes truly their paie 
as the manner is: And alfo that noe maifter ne fellowe 
(hall not fupplant other of their worke, (that is to fay) 
and lie have 'taken a worke, or elfe Hand maifter of the 
lord’s worke, yee fliall not putt him out hut if he'he un¬ 
able of conynge for to end the worke : And alfo that 
roe mafter nor noe fellowe take no apprentice within the 
tcrme of feaven yeares ; and that the apprentice be able, 
of birth free-borne, and of lymes whole as a man ought to 
be: And alfo that noe maifter nor fellowe take noe al¬ 
lowance to be made Mafon without the affent and the 
■counfell of his fellowes at the leait fixe or feaven given 
yeares; and he that dial be made Mafon to be able in all 
manner of degrees, (that is to fay) free-borne, and of good 
'kindred come, and true, and noe bondman : And alfo 
that noe Mafon fliall not take noe apprentice but if he 
have fufficient occupacion for to occupie one, two, or 
three, feilovyes at the leaft : And alfo that noe maifter nor 
fellowe put noe lord’s worke to tafke that was wont to 
goe to journaye : And alfo that every mafter fliall give 
paye to his fellow es but as he may deferve, fo that yee he 
not deceived by falfe w orkemen : And alfo none of you 
dander another behind his back, to make him to loofe his 
good name or his worldly goods: And alfo that no fel- 
lowe within the lodge or without mifanfwer eyther un¬ 
godly or reprovably without reafonable caufe. And alfo 
that every Mafon (hall reverence his elder, and put him 
to worlhippe : And alfo that no Mafon fhall not be any 
common player att bayard or at the dice, nor at any other 
tinlawfull playes, whereby the fcience might be (laundered : 
And alfo that noe Mafon fliall not ufe noe lecherye, nor 
be noe baivde, whereby the fcience might be (laundered. 
And alfo that noe fellow>e goe into the towne on nights 
tyme there as a lodg is of fellowes, without that he have 
a fellowe with him that he may beare him wittnefle that 
he was in an lioneft place : And alfo that every mafter 
and fellow fhall come to tli’ Aftemble, and it be within 
fifty myles about him, if he have any writeinge : And if 
■yee have trefpaffed againft the fcience, for to abide the 
award of matters and fellowes, and to make them accorded 
if they may, and, if they may not accord, then to goe to 
the common lawe : And that alfo noe maifter ne fellowe 
make noe niolde nor fquyar nor rule to noe layer, nor fet 
noe layer within the lodge nor without, to hew noe molde 
ftones. And alfo that every Mafon receive and cherifh 
llrange fellowes when they come over the countryes, and 
fet them a worke and they will as the manner is, (that is 
to fay) yf he have noe mould ftones in his place, he (hail 
refrelh him with money into the next lodge. And alfo 
that every Mafon (hall truly ferve the lord for his paie, 
and every mafter truly make an end of his worke be it 
tafke or jorney, if yee have your covenants and all that 
yee ought for to have. Thefe charges that wee [have] 
now rehearfed to you, and all other that belongeth to Ma- 
fons, yee fhall keepe, foe helpe you God, and your holy- 
dome, and by this booke, unto your power. Amen.” 
There are writers on this fubjedi, however, who, lefs 
pertinacious about extreme antiquity, and perhaps with a 
itridfer view to probability, are content with tracing this 
inftitutian back to the time of the building of Solomon’s 
Temple. Even to this it has been objected,(fays Mr. Lawrie, 
in his Hiftory of Free Mafonry, 8vo. 1804,) that, if the fra¬ 
ternity of Free Mafons flourifhed during the reign of Solo¬ 
mon, it would have exilted in Judea in after-ages, and at¬ 
tracted the notice of (acred or profane hiftorians. Whe¬ 
ther this objection is well-founded, we fliall not pretend 
to determine; but, if it can be fhou n, that there didexift, 
after the building of the temple, an alfociation of men, re- 
femhling free mafons, in the nature, ceremonies,and objeCt, 
of their inftitution, the force of the objection will not 
•only be taken away, but additional ftrength will be com¬ 
municated to the opinion which lias been mentioned. 
'The affociation here alluded to, is that of the Eflenes; 
jaaiuntg whom., when a candidate was propofed for admif- 
N R Y. 
(ion, the ftriCteft fcrutiny was made "into his character. 
If his life had hitherto been exemplary; and if he ap¬ 
peared capable of curbing his paftions, and regulating his 
conduCt according to the virtuous, though auftere, maxims 
of their order, he was prefented, a-t the expiration of his 
noviciate, with a white garment, as an emblem of the re¬ 
gularity of his conduCt, and the purity of his heart. A 
folemn oath was then adminiftered. to him, that lie would 
never divulge the myfteries of the order ; that he would 
make no innovations on the doCtrines of the fociety ; and 
that lie would continue in that honourable courfe of piety 
and virtue which he had begun to purfue. Like Free 
Mafons, they inftruCted the young member orally in the 
knowledge which they derived from their anceftors. 
They admitted no women into their order. They had 
particular figns for recognifing each other, which have a 
ftrong refemblance to thofe of Free Mafons. They had 
colleges or places of retirement, where they reforted to 
praCtife their rites, and fettle the affairs of their fociety ; 
and, after the performance of thefe duties, they aftembled 
in a large hall, where an entertainment was provided for 
them b.y the prefident, or mafter of the college, who allot¬ 
ted a certain quantity of provifions to every individual. 
They abolifhed all diftinclions of tank; and, if preference 
was ever given, it was given to piety, liberality, and virtue. 
Treafurers were appointed in every town, to fupply the 
■wants of indigent ftrangers. The Efil-nes pretended to 
higher degrees of piety and knowledge than the uninitiated 
vulgar; and, though their pretenlions were high, they 
were never queftioned by their enemies. Aulterity 6f 
manners was one of the chief charaCteriftics of the Eflenian 
fraternities: they frequently affembled, however, in 
convivial parties ; and relaxed for a while the feverity of 
thofe duties which they were accuttomed to perform. 
This remarkable coincidence, between the chief features 
of the Mafonic and Eflenian fraternities, can be accounted 
for, only by referring them to the fame origin. Were the 
circumftances of refemblance either few or fanciful, the 
funilarity might have been merely cafual ; but, when the 
nature, the objeCt, and the external forms, of two inftitu- 
tions, are precifely the fame, the arguments for their iden¬ 
tity are fomething more than prefumptive. There is one 
point, however, which may, at firft fight, feem to militate 
againfl this fuppofition. The Eflenes appear to have been 
in no refpeefs connected with architecture, nor addifted to 
thofe fciences and purfuits which are fubfidiary to the art 
of building. That the Eflenes directed their attention to 
particular fciences, which they pretended to have received 
from their fathers, is allowed by all writers ; but, whether 
or not thefe fciences were in any fhape connected with ar¬ 
chitecture, we are, at this diftance of time, unable to de¬ 
termine. Be this as it may, uncertainty upon this head, 
nay, even an aflurance that the-Elfenes were unconnected 
with architectural fcience, will not affeft the hypothefis 
here maintained ; for there haye been, and Hill are, many 
affociations of Tree Mafons, where no architects are 
members, and which have no connexion with the art of 
building. 
Connected with the Eflenian and Mafonic fraternities, 
was the inftitution of Pythagoras at Crotona. After this 
philofopher, in the courfe of his travels through Egypt, 
Syria, and Ionia, had been initiated into the myfteries of 
thefe enlightened kingdoms, he imported into Europe the 
fciences of Afia, and offered to the inhabitants of his na¬ 
tive foil the important benefits which he himfelf had re¬ 
ceived. The offers of the lage having been rejected by 
his countrymen of Samos, he feitled at Crotona, in Italy, 
where more refpeCt was paid to his perfon, and more atten¬ 
tion to his precepts. When the kindnefs of the Crotonians, 
and their folicitude to obtain fcientific information, had 
infpired Pythagoras with fome hopes of fuccefs, he fe- 
leCted a number of his difciples who, from funilarity of 
character, mildnefs of difpolition, and fteadinefs of con¬ 
duct, feemed bed adapted for forwarding the purpofes lit 
had in view. He formed thefe into a fraternity, orieparate 
order 
