Sketches Of Notable Masonic Works.

SKETCHES OF NOTABLE MASONIC WORKS .

LONDON , SATVRDAT , FEBRUARY 22 , 1868 .

By Bro . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN , W . M . 131 . Truro , & c . No . I . HUTCHINSON ' S SPIRIT OF MASONRY . '* 1 st ed . A . D . 1775 . London : Pages vii ., 237 , and appendix , 17 pages Svo . Frontispiece . 2 nd ed . Large 8 vo ., Carlisle , 1795 . Pages vi ., 362 , and appendix . Dr . Oliver ' s new edition with notes . London : 1843 , Svo . Pages xiv ., 336 .

THE author of the " Spirit of Masonry" was an Attorney at Law , a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries , and an able compiler of several important works . The preface of the 1 st and 2 nd editions are somewhat similar , and need no mention were it not thai ) in the edition of 1843 the

latter part of the preface to the second edition is omitted . It is as follows : " I have been induced to give this edition to the press , for the purpose of relieving the family of a worthy but indigent brother , by the whole profits of the subscription

and sale , aud doubt not , that the motive to the present publication will procure it the attention of the brethren of this excellent Institution . Published by recommendation of Grand Lodge ( i . e . both 1 st and 2 nd editions ) . Bro . Hutchinson states that ib

is known to the world , " but more particularly to my brethren , that there are three degrees of Masons—Apprentices , Craftsmen , and Masters . " ( Page 2 , 1 st ed . Exact in the three editions . ) In all editions he is inclined to determine that the

appellation of Masonimplies a member of a religious sect , and a professed devotee of the Deity , who is seated in the centre of heaven ( page 21 , 1 st ed . ) . The following is the first proposition : " That the first state of a Mason is representative of the first

stage of the worship of the true God . " ( Page 82 , 1 st ed ., verbatim in the others . ) In Lecture" V . " On the Furniture of the Lodge" the author well observes , that " As Solomon at -Jerusalem carried

into the Jewish lemple all the vessels and instruments requisite for the service of Jehavah , according to the law of his people ; so we Masons , as workers in moral duties , and as servants of the Great Architect of the World , have placed in oar

view , those emblems which should constantly remind us of what we are , and what is required of ns . " ( Page 111 , 1 st ed ., and the same in the others . ) In the 1 st . ed . page 119 , it is stated that " Our three lights show to us the great stages

of Masonry , ... or otherwise our lights ara typical of the holy Trinity , " but in page 73 , 2 nd ed ., and page 126 ed . 1843 , it expressly stated that the three lights are ** most especially typical of the Holy Trinity , " although they show as well

" the worship of the God of nature , in the purity of Eden , the service under the Mosaic law , when divested of idolatry and the Christian Revelation . " These also represent the three progressive Orders of Masons . " Thus the Master Mason represents a man under the Christian doctrine saved from the

grave of iniquity , and raised to the faith of salvation" ( page 162 1 st ed ., and also included in subsequent issues of the work ) . ** Our Order is a positive contradiction to the Judaic blindness and infidelity , and testifies our faith concerning the resurrection of the body" ( page 16-1 , 1 st ed ., ancl in others the same ) .

The two last chapters we must refer to at more length . In the first edition none of the addresses in the appendix of the edition of 1795 are inserted . They are exactly as those contained in the reprint of 1843 , with the exception of the following ,

which are omitted in the latter . B A short charge generally given to a newly admitted brother . B A charge delivered to several newly initiated brethren . E ? A discourse delivered to the lodge of Free and' Accepted Masons in Durham , by the

Rev . Bro . James Hart . W Act of the Associate Synod concerning the Masonic oath , first published in the " Scottish Magazine , " 1757 . N An impartial examination of the act of the Associate Synod . P The ceremony observed at funerals according to ancient custom , with the service used on those occasions . P List of lodges , with their numbers ,

as altered by the order of the Grand Lodge , April ISfch , 1792 . P- List of lodges holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland , 1795 . Concluding with a list of the various members and lodges who subscribed for the work amounting to some 500 copies . In

the 13 th and last of the lectures , the author examines the historical basis of the societj * , and holding as he does the belief that Masons , according to the present state of Masonry , were never a body of architects . " By the ' Book of

Constitutions / published by authority , we see no Grand Communication held in form , till of very late date . " The late Bro . Dr . Oliver in editing the last edition of the three now under review , objects to such statements , and ventures to quote evidence

to " contradict the proposition laid down , " as for instance the fact that those who revived Free-