The Constitutions of the Free-Masons
The year 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of the first edition of the Constitutions of the Free-Masons – known as Anderson’s Constitutions – published on 17 January 1723.
The Constitutions are the foundation of modern Freemasonry and of its work, which rests upon the legend of Hiram Abiff, the widow’s son and chief architect of King Solomon’s Temple, and upon the pyramidal structure by which the Fraternity is organised.
The principles set out in the Constitutions remain in force to this day, and the work stands as the most important text in Masonic literature.
Anderson’s Constitutions were originally drawn up for the Grand Lodge of England, in order to standardise the rituals and practices of Freemasonry among the Lodges of London and Westminster. Before that, in 1720, George Payne, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, had written the General Regulations of a Free-Mason. These were later incorporated into the Constitutions compiled by James Anderson, a Presbyterian minister. The text of the Constitutions draws upon the ancient manuscripts of the operative masons, known as the Gothic Constitutions, and upon Payne’s General Regulations.
An important part in the making of Anderson’s Constitutions was played by John Theophilus Desaguliers, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, a clergyman, distinguished scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society. He presided over a committee of “fifteen learned Brethren”, which guided the work and finally adopted the Constitutions on 24 June 1721, the Feast of St John (patron of the Knights Templar) – or, more significantly still for Freemasons, at the summer solstice, when there is most light and the days of the year are at their longest. In the most ancient times it was the Light of life, the Sun, that was celebrated; in Freemasonry, light is the symbol of truth and knowledge.
The Constitutions were a gift from Grand Master John Theophilus Desaguliers to his successor as Grand Master, the 2nd Duke of Montagu, as the dedication of the Constitutions itself makes plain.
The earliest document to which Anderson refers is the Regulations of Masons of 1356, which led to the establishment of rules governing the work of masons and Freemasons in London. Thereafter, written lists of rules and regulations for masons began to appear in England; the oldest surviving example is the Cooke Manuscript, from the 15th century. A further source was the Regius Poem of 1390, a poem which invoked some of the rules for Freemasons already described. All these sources later came to be known as the “Old Charges” or the Gothic Constitutions, and they served as the foundation of Anderson’s Constitutions.
Although the Constitutions draw on the tradition of medieval Freemasonry and its guilds, the ideas they advance are not medieval. They rest on the principles of the Enlightenment: they place man at the centre of the world, emphasise reason as the key instrument of knowledge, and promote the idea of natural rights that belong to every human being from birth, irrespective of the rights accorded him by particular nations and legal systems.
It is the universality of the ideas and values expressed in the Constitutions that has allowed them to remain in use, almost unchanged, to this day.
The Constitutions consist of three principal parts:
1. The first part covers the genesis and historical context of Freemasonry, from the time of Adam, the first man, down to the reign of King George I, who was King of Great Britain and Ireland when the Constitutions were adopted. Although many question the historical basis of such claims, the Constitutions represent the point of departure for the emergence of Freemasonry as the Royal Art. They also record the great builders and the most significant edifices of history – Noah and his Ark, the builders of the Egyptian pyramids, Hiram as builder of Solomon’s Temple, Michelangelo and the builders of St Paul’s Cathedral – thereby establishing the link between modern speculative Freemasonry and the tradition of the operative masons.
2. The second part, entitled “The Charges of a Free-Mason”, is the most important section of the Constitutions. It sets out the fundamental obligations binding upon every Freemason, contained in six basic heads:
- Concerning God and Religion,
- Of the Civil Magistrate, or civil authority, Supreme and Subordinate,
- Of Lodges,
- Of the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Fellows,
- Of the Management of the Craft in Working,
- Of Behaviour.
Besides these three basic components, the Constitutions also contain Masonic songs in praise of the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, his Wardens, Fellows and Apprentices.
3. The third part, entitled “General Regulations”, consists of thirty-nine general rules on organisation and ritual, procedure and the like, and lays the foundations for the government of the Grand Lodge and of the Lodges subordinate to it.
Examples of the obligations of Freemasons set out in the Constitutions:
- Freemasons undertake to embrace that religion in which all men agree, keeping their personal convictions to themselves, so that they may be honest and honourable men, whatever their creed.
- A Freemason is a peaceable subject to the civil powers, wherever he lives or works, and must never be concerned in plots or conspiracies against the peace and welfare of society.
- Those admitted as members of a Lodge must be honest, good and upright men; free-born; of mature age and discreet; no bondmen, no women, no immoral or scandalous men.
- All preferment among Freemasons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit, not upon unfair advantage, so that the Lords may be well served, the Brethren not put to shame, nor the Royal Craft despised. For this reason neither the Worshipful Master nor the Wardens are chosen by seniority, but solely on merit.
- None shall be envious of a Brother’s success, nor deny him recognition for his work if he is capable of finishing it; for no one can better complete another’s work to the benefit of mankind unless he thoroughly understands the plan and purposes of him who began it.
- Private piques and quarrels must not be brought within the door of the Lodge, nor may there be any discussion of religion, nations or politics; for we, as Freemasons, are of the religion mentioned above and are gathered from all nations, tongues and cultures, and we set our faces against a politicising that contributes nothing to the welfare of the Lodge.
It is interesting to note that the 1723 edition of the Constitutions was edited and published in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin a mere 11 years after its original appearance, that is, in 1734, thus becoming the first Masonic book printed in America. The second English edition of the Constitutions is recorded in 1738.
The Constitutions of 1723 laid the foundations of Freemasonry throughout the world. A comparison of the principles and precepts of those Constitutions, now exactly 300 years old, with the rules by which the VRLH works shows how fully the fundamental principles of the Constitutions have been accepted and applied. From this we may conclude beyond doubt that the Constitutions give expression to eternal and universal values.