I. — THE OLD YORK CONSTITUTIONS OP 926.

The " Old York Constitutions" were so called from the city of York, where they were enacted, and sometimes the " Gothic Constitutions," from the fact that they were written in the old Gothic character. Of these constitutions, which are the oldest now extant, the history is given in a record written in the reign of Edward IY., the substance of which is copied by Anderson. According to this record, we learn that Prince Edwin, having been taught Masonry, obtained from his brother, King Athelstan, a free charter, "for the Masons having a correction among themselves (as it was anciently expressed,) or a freedom and power to regulate themselves, to amend what might happen amiss, and to hold a yearly communication and general assembly.
" Accordingly, Prince Edwin summoned all the Masons in the realm to meet him in a congregation at York, who came and composed a General Lodge, of which he was Grand Master ; and having brought with them all the writings and records extant, some
THE WRITTEN LAW. 43
in Greek, some in Latin, some in French and other languages, from the contents thereof that assembly did frame the Constitution and Charges of an Eng- lish Lodge, made a law to preserve and observe the same in all time coming, and ordained good pay for the working Masons,'; &c*
The Constitutions thus framed at the city of York, in the year 926, were seen, approved and con- firmed, as we are informed by Anderson,t in the reign of Henry VI., and were then recognized as the fundamental law of Masonry. The document containing them was lost for a long time, although, according to Oliver, copies are known to have been taken during the reign of Richard II. ; at the re- vival of Masonry, however, in 1717, not a transcript was to be found.f A copy was, however, discovered in 1838, by Mr. James Orchard Halliwell. in the British Museum, and published. Dr. Oliver has very clearly proved, in an article in the American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry, % that this ancient MS., published by Mr. Halliwell, is the original Constitutions, as adopted in 926 by the General Assembly which met at York. These Constitutions contain fifteen articles and fifteen points of Masonic
* Anderson's Constitutions, 1st edit., p. 3-2.
f Anderson, 2d edit, p. 111.
+ "It eluded the search of those indefatigable brothers, Desaguliers and Anderson, at the revival of Masonry in the year of grace 1717, although they used all the means at their command, both in fois country and else- where for its discovery.'" — Oliver, on the Old York Constitutions, Amir. Quar. Rev. ofFreem., vol. i., p. 549.
§ Amer. Quar. Rev. ofFreem., vol. i., p. 546.
44 THE WRITTEN LAW.
law, which are here given, not in the antiquated language in which they were written, and in which they are published in Halli well's book — a language which would be almost wholly unintelligible to the great mass of readers — but as they have been very correctly translated and condensed by Dr. Oliver, in the volume already referred to. Besides their importance, they will be read with interest as the oldest Masonic Constitutions extant.
The Fifteen Articles.
1. The Master must be steadfast, trusty and true ; provide victuals for his men, and pay their wages punctually.*
2. Every Master shall attend the Grand Lodge when duly summoned, unless he have a good and reasonable excuse.
3. No Master shall take an Apprentice for less than seven years.f
4. The son of a bondman shall not be admitted as an Ap- prentice, lest, when he is introduced into the Lodge, any of the brethren should be offended.
5. A candidate must be without blemish, and have the full and proper use of his limbs ; for a maimed man can do the craft no good.J
6. The Master shall take especial care, in the admission of an Apprentice, that he do his lord no prejudice.
* This reference to the wages of operative Masonry is still preserved in the formula of the Senior Warden's response in opening and closing a Lodge ; but the wages of a speculative Mason consist in a knowledge of truth.
f Speculatively, no candidate shall pass to a higher degree, until he has served a " sufficient time" and made " due proficiency" in the preceding degree.
% This is repeated in all subsequent regulations, and is still in foree notwithstanding some recent attempts to reduce its rigor.
THE WRITTEN LAW. 45
7. He shall harbor no thief or thief's retainer, lest the craft should come to shame.
8. If he unknowingly employ an imperfect man, he shall discharge him from the work when his inability is dis- covered. *
9. No Master shall undertake a work that he is not able to finish to his lord's profit and the credit of his Lodge.
10. A brother shall not supplant his fellow in the work,f unless he be incapable of doing it himself; for then he may lawfully finish it, that pleasure and profit may be the mutual result.
11. A Mason shall not be obliged to work after the sun has set in the west.
12. Nor shall he decry the work of a brother or fellow, but shall deal honestly and truly by him, under a penalty of not less than ten pounds.
13. The Master shall instruct his Apprentice faithfully, and make him a perfect workman.
14. He shall teach him all the secrets of his trade.
15. And shall guard him against the commission of per jury, and all other offences by which the craft may be brought to shame.
The Fifteen Points.
1. Every Mason shall cultivate brotherly love and the love of God, and frequent holy church.
2. The workman shall labor diligently on work days, that he may deserve his holidays.
* This is the foundation of that principle of law by which rv candidate may be stopped in any part of his progress — as, for instance, that an Entered Apprentice, being objected to, may be refused by the Lodge advancement to the Fellow Craft's degree.
f That is, no Lodge shall interfere with the work of another Lodge. These afford illustrations of how the operative allusions in all the old Constitutions are to be interpreted in a speculative sense.
46 THE WEITTEN LAW.
3. Every Apprentice shall keep his Master's counsel, and not betray the secrets of his Lodge.
4. No man shall be false to the craft, or entertain a preju- dice against his Master or Fellows.
5. Every workman shall receive his wages meekly, and without scruple ; and should the Master think proper to dis- miss him from the work, he shall have due notice of the same before H. xii.
6. If any dispute arise among the brethren, it shall be settled on a holiday, that the work be not neglected, and God's law fulfilled.
7. No Mason shall debauch, or have carnal knowledge of the wife, daughter, or concubine of his Master or Fellows.
8. He shall be true to his Master, and a just mediator in all disputes or quarrels.
9. The Steward shall provide good cheer against the hour of refreshment, and each Fellow shall punctually defray his share of the reckoning, the Steward rendering a true and correct account.
10. If a Mason live amiss, or slander his Brother, so as to bring the craft to shame, he shall have no further mainten- ance among the brethren, but shall be summoned to the next Grand Lodge ; and if he refuse to appear, he shall be expelled.
11. If a Brother see his Fellow hewing a stone, and likely to spoil it by unskillful workmanship, he shall teach him to amend it, with fair words and brotherly speeches.
12. The General Assembly, or Grand Lodge, shall consist of Masters and Fellows, Lords, Knights and Squires, Mayor and Sheriff, to make new laws, and to confirm old ones when necessary.
13. Every Brother shall swear fealty, and if he violate his oath, he shall not be succored or assisted by any of the Fraternity.
14. He shall make oath to keep secrets, to be steadfast and true to all the ordinances of the Grand Lodge, to the
THE WRITTEN LAW. 47
King and Holy Church, and to all the several Points herein specified.
15. And if any Brother break his oath, he shall be com- mitted to prison, and forfeit his goods and chattels to the King.
They conclude with an additional ordinance — alia ordinacio — which declares
That a General Assembly shall be held every year, with the Grand Master at its head, to enforce these regulations, and to make new laws, when it may be expedient to do so, at which all the brethren are competent to be present ; and they must renew their 0. B. to keep these statutes and con- stitutions, which have been ordained by King Athelstan, and adopted by the Grand Lodge at York. And this Assembly further directs that, in all ages to come, the existing Grand Lodge shall petition the reigning monarch to confer his sanction on their proceedings.