Free Masonry - The Masonic Trowel

ORIGIN OP FREE MASONRY. 13.")
It is evident these charges were given to labourers, and
for them served many valuable purposes; but in modern
and speculative Masonry, they only go to make up the mystery
; few having any just conception of their meaning.
How natural among men of a trade is that charge, "no
master shall take work without a reasonable compensation."
And not less necessary is that which follows it: u nor shall
any master supplant another in regard to employment;" that
is to say, if one brother is undertaking a job, another shall
not rob him by underbidding. This is suitable to the art of
compacting bricks and mortar; but what it has to do with
the 1 art M«T»^,I«, Sum in medio coeli, lam in the midst of
heaven, is a MYSTERY, of which Mr. Hutchinson, my Lord
Petre, and others, think the explanation either ridiculous, or
glorious: as saith the poet,
" Hail, mysterious, hail, glorious Masonry."
The history of the craft will abundantly show the fitness
of its emblems with its origin; aprons and trowels belong
only to brick and mortar; and the mystical application of
the terms to the use of a secret society is a perversion,
by which they become,
" High words, that bear
" Semblance of worth, not substance."
This is the true key to the mystery of Free Masonry. At
first, a combination of honest labourers, to protect each
other from the oppressions of the feudal barons, and to
command their own price for their labour, they, like ninety
other crafts and trades in London, met in fraternities.
[Rees' 1 Cyclopedia, Art. Company.] These fraternities, in
London, are generally governed by a master and two wardens,
and have a hall and a charity fund, precisely like the
lodges. In their meetings the different trades are suppos-