The William Watson Manuscript (1535)
Introduction
Nothing in the William Watson Manuscript – which consists of six parchment sheets sewn together, to form a roll some 12 feet long – gives any indication to how or why it was written (around 1535). Its first transcription was made in 1687 by a certain Edward Thompson, of whom we know nothing.
Its dating derived by comparing its contents with contemporary documents duly cataloged in the Old Charges (1) of the 16th century, within the Plot Family (1) to which it is connected.
What is known is that the manuscript was discovered in an old iron chest at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England; and was then received as a gift by a Mr. Hamilton and eventually purchased in 1890 by William Watson, the librarian of the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire, and published, as a facsimile, in 1891 (2).
The context - In 1535, Charles V of France (1500-1558) seized Tunis, Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) undertook a second journey to Canada in his search for a northwest waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and Pope Paul III (1468-1549) threatened Henry VIII (1491-1547) with excommunication.
- In 1687, the year of its transcription, James II of England (1633-1701) granted religious freedoms to Catholics of the Kingdom, and Isaac Newton (1642-1727) published his Naturalis Principia Mathematica Philosophiæ on motion and gravitation.
- It was also the year of death for Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the painter, and René-Robert Cavelier de la Salle (1643-1687), the explorer. There was a revival of arts and letters on both sides of the Channel during the 16th century, as well as the development of Protestantism in Germany.
The 17th century was one of religious wars, a strengthening of royal power in France, and the unification of the different countries of the United Kingdom.
Transcription from Old English.
The Text
In the Lord is all our Trust.
Thanks to our glorious God, Father and maker of Heaven and Earth (3), and of all things in them, because he has granted of his glorious Divinity to make so many things of such diverse benefits for mankind. For he made all worldly things to be obedient and subject to man; and all things that are edible and wholesome, he ordered to be for man’s food and sustenance; and also he has given man knowledge and understanding of diverse Sciences and Crafts by which we can travel in this world to earn our livings.
To make things that are to God’s pleasure and also for our comfort and profit, if I were to list all of them, would take too long to tell or to write, so I will leave off. But I will show and tell you part of them, and how the Science of Geometry first began, and who were its founders, as well as those of the other Crafts, as is told in the Bible, and in other histories also; how and in what manner this worthy Science of Geometry first began, I will tell you, as I said before.
You should understand that there are seven liberal Sciences, from which seven Sciences all the Sciences and Crafts in the world were first discovered, and especially Geometry, for it is the source of all the others, that are called the seven Sciences.
• A.H. [Ad Honorem, to its honor], the first is called the foundation of Sciences; its name is Grammar; it teaches a man to write and speak correctly.
• The second is Rhetoric; it teaches a man to speak fluently and elegantly.
• The third is Logic, which teaches a man to discern the true from the false, and commonly is called the art of Sophistry.
• The fourth is called Arithmetic, which teaches a man the Craft of number, to calculate and make accounts of all manner of things.
• The fifth is Geometry, which teaches a man boundaries and measures and computations or weights of all manner of Crafts.
• The sixth is Music, which teaches a man the Craft of songs, and organ, trumpet and harp, and all others relating to them.
• The seventh is Astronomy, which teaches a man to know the hours of the sun and the moon and all the other planets and stars of heaven.
Our intent is principally to treat of the first foundation of the worthy Science of Geometry, and who its founders were. As I said before, there are seven liberal Sciences, that is to say seven Sciences or Crafts that are free in themselves, which seven Sciences all depend on one, and that is Geometry. Geometry is as much as to say the measure of the earth.
“Et so a qr qr et teru lati e et metron mensure, vn Geometrie, i mesure terre nos tra” (4), which is to say in English that Geometry is, as I said, from “geo”, meaning “earth” in Greek, and “metron”, that is to say “measure”, and that is how the word Geometry is compounded, and is the measure of the earth.
Don’t be surprised that I said all the Sciences depend on the Science of Geometry, for there is nothing made or crafted by man’s hand unless it is made by Geometry, and caused by it, because if a man works with his hands he works with some kind of tool.
There is no instrument in this world that does not come from the Earth, and to Earth it will return again. And there is no instrument, that is to say, a tool, to work with, that does not have some proportion, either more or less, and proportion is measure and the tool is made from the earth, and therefore every instrument is Earth, and Geometry is the measure of the Earth.
Therefore I can say that all men live by Geometry, for all men in the world live by the labor of their hands. Many more proofs I could tell you that Geometry is the Science that reasonable men live by, but I leave off at this time, for the length of writing, and now I will proceed further on my topic.
You should understand that among all the Crafts in the world, Masonry is the most notable, and the greatest part of this Science of Geometry, as is noted and said in the histories and in the Bible, and in the Master of History and in the Polychronicon, a proven story, and also in the Doctor of History, Bede’s De Imagine Mundi, and in Isidore’s Etymologiae, Methodius, Bishop and Martyr, and others.
I suppose it may well be said, for it was founded, as it is noted in the Bible in the first book of Genesis, in Adam’s male line, in the seventh generation, before Noah’s flood, there was a man called Lamech, who had two wives, one named Adala and the other Zillah. By the first wife, called Adala, he fathered two sons, one named Jaball [Jabal] and the other named Juball [Jubal]. The older son, Jabal, was the first who ever found Geometry, Intentores atatar pastor (5), that is to say, the father of men [who live in tents].
He became the Master Mason and governor of the works when he built the city of Henoch [Enoch], which was the first city that was ever made, and it was made by Cain, Adam’s son, who gave it to his own son Enock, and gave the city the name of his own son Enoch and called it the city of Enoch, and now it is called Ephrame [Ephraim], and that is where the Science of Geometry and Masonry was first carried out and contrived as a Science and as a Craft; and so we may say that this was the first origin and foundation of all Sciences and Crafts.
Also this man Jabal was called Pastor Pastoru [Shepherd of Shepherds], and as the Master of Histories says, and also Bede, De Imagine Mundi, the Polychronicon, and many others say, he was the first who ever partitioned land so that every man might know his own ground and labor on it for himself. He divided flocks of sheep so that every man might know his own sheep, and so we may say he was the first founder of that Science.
His brother Jubal was the first founder of Music, as Pythagoras says in the Polychronicon, and Isidore says the same thing in his Etymologies, in the sixth book he says that he was the first founder of music, of song and or organ and of trumpet, and he discovered the Science of the smith’s Craft by the sound and pounding of his brother’s hammers, and that was Juball Cain.
Truly, as the Bible says in the same chapter of Genesis, that Lamech fathered on his brother’s wife Zillah a son and a daughter, whose names were called Tuball-Caine [Tubal-Cain], who was his son, and his daughter’s name was Madmah [Naamah]. As the Polychronicon says, some men said that she was another man’s wife, whether this is so or not we do not affirm, but this Tubal-Cain was the first founder of the smith’s Craft and the other Crafts of metal, that is to say of iron and of brass, of gold and of silver, as some learned persons affirm, and his sister Naamah was the first founder of the Craft of weaving, because before her time there was no cloth woven, but then they spun yarn and knit and made themselves such clothing as they could, but this woman Naamah founded the Craft of weaving, and therefore it was called women’s Craft.·
And these brothers had knowledge beforehand that God would take vengeance for sin either by fire or by water, and they had great concern what they could do to save the Sciences that they had discovered, and took council together, and by all their knowledge they said that there were two kinds of stones of such virtue that one would never burn, and that stone is called marble, and another stone that would not sink in water, and that stone is called Laterus.
So they devised to write all the Sciences that they had found on these two stones, so if God should take vengeance by fire, then the Marble stone would not burn, and if God sent vengeance by water, then the other would not drown. So they provided that their elder brother Jabal would make two pillars from the two stones, that is marble and Laterus, and that he would write on the two pillars all the Sciences and Crafts that they all had discovered, and he did so.
Therefore we may say that he was the most cunning in Sciences, because he began and performed the last end before Noah’s flood, knowing of the vengeance that God would send, whether it should be by fire or by water, the brothers did not know.
By prophecy they knew that God would do one of them, and so they wrote their Sciences on the said stones. Some men affirm that they wrote all their seven Sciences on the said stones, and as they had in their mind that vengeance would come, so it was that God sent it by water, because there came such a flood that all the world was drowned, and all men were dead in it except eight persons, who were Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives, from which three sons all the world came. Their names were in this manner, Sem, Cham and Japhett. This flood was called Noah’s flood because he and his children were saved and no more.
Many years after, as the Chronicle tells, these two pillars were found; and the Polychronicon says that a great clerk, whom men called Pythagoras, found one, and Hermes the Philosopher found the other, and they taught the Sciences that they found written on them.
Every chronicle and history, and many other writers, and especially the Bible, bear witness to the making of the Tower of Babylon [Babel]. It is written in the Bible, Genesis, chapter ten, how Cham, Noah’s son [fathered] Nimrod, and he became a mighty man upon the earth, and he was a strong man, like a giant, and he was a great King. In the beginning of his reign and kingdom he was the true King of Babylon and Amad, Calneth and the land of Shinar, and these same men, brothers, began the Tower of Babylon [Babel] (6).
He taught to his workmen the Craft of Masonry and had with him many Masons, more than 40,000, and he loved them and cherished them well. As it is written in the Polychronicon and in the Master of Histories and also in other histories, and a part of this is related in the Bible, in the said tenth chapter, where it says that Assur [Asshur], who was a close relative of Nimrod, went out of the land of Shinar and built the city of Nineveh and other cities also, and it says:
“Ye illa taira in defemare egressus est Asshur et edificavit Ninevi et implecens anitates et calath et Rifio qr is Ninivehet calath he est civitas Magr” (7).
It would be reasonable to declare openly how and in what manner the Charges of the Mason’s Craft were first found, and who gave it the name of Masonry. You should well know that it is plainly stated in the Polychronicon and in Methodius Bishop and Martyr, that Asshur, who was a worthy Lord, sent to Nimrod the King, asking him to send masons and workmen of the Craft that might help him to make his city, which he intended to make and finish. Nimrod sent him 3,000 masons. When he was sending them forth he called them before him and said:
“You must go to my cousin Asshur to help him to build a city, but see that you are well governed with such a charge that it will be profitable both for you and me. Truly do you labor and Craft and take a reasonable amount for your efforts, whatever you deserve. And I would have it that you love each other as if you were brothers, and hold together truly. He that has the most ability should teach it to his brother or fellow.
“See that you govern yourselves well towards your Lord and among yourselves, so that I may have honor and thanks for sending you and teaching you the Craft.”
They received the charge from the King, who was their Lord and Master, and went forth to Asshur and built the city of Nineveh in the country of Plateas, and also other cities, that were called Calath and Resen, which is a great city between Calath and Nineveh. In this manner the Craft of Masonry was first instituted and charged as a Science and Craft.
It is reasonable that we would show you how the elders who were before our time had the charges written in Latin and in French, and now we should tell you how Euclid came to Geometry. It is noted in the Bible and in other histories. In the twelfth chapter of Genesis, it tells how Abraham came into the land of Canaan, and the Lord appeared to him and said: “I shall give this land to you and to your seed.”
But there fell a great hunger in the land and Abraham took Sarah his wife with him and went into Egypt on a journey. While the hunger lasted he would live there. Abraham, as the story says, was a wise man and a great scholar. He knew all the Seven Sciences, and taught the Egyptians the Science of Grammar (8).
This worthy clerk Euclidus [Euclid] was his pupil, and learned Masonry from him, and he was the first to give it the name of Geometry. But it is said by Isidore in the Etymologiae in the first book, Isidore in his Etymologiae in the fifth book, first chapter, says Euclid was one of the first founders of Geometry and give it its name. For in his time there was a water in the land of Egypt that was called the Nile, and it flowed so far into the land that men could not dwell therein. Euclid taught them to make great walls and ditches to hold out the water.
By Geometry he measured out the land and parted it into various parts, and made every man close off his own part with walls and ditches.
Then it became a productive country with all manner of fruit and young people, both men and women. There were so many young people that the country could not live well. The lords of the country came together and held a council how they could help their children who did not have a suitable livelihood and were not able to find them for their children, for they had many among those who were in council.
There was this worthy clerk Euclid, and when he perceived they all were not able to resolve this matter, he said to them
“If you will give me your sons in governance, I will teach them such a Science that they shall thereby live like gentlemen, under the condition that you will be sworn to me to perform whatever I tell you.”
So it was reasonable that every man would do the things that were profitable to themselves and so they took their sons to Euclid to govern them at his own will. He taught them the Craft of Masonry and gave it the name of “Geometry” because of the partition of the ground that he had taught to the people in making their walls and ditches, as said before, to close out the water. Isidore says in his Etymologiae that he called the Craft Geometry.
This worthy clerk gave it a name and taught it to the sons of the lords of the land that he had in his teaching.
He gave them charge that they should call each other fellow, and nothing else, because they were all of one Craft and of gentle birth, sons of lords. Also, he that was most able should be Governor of the Work and should be called Master. There were also other charges that were written in the Book of Charges. And so they worked with the lords of that land and made cities and towns, castles and temples and lords’ palaces, and did live honestly and truly by the said Craft.
When the Children of Israel lived in Egypt they learned the Craft of Masonry. Afterwards, when they were driven out of Egypt they came into the land of Behest, which is now called Jerusalem, and occupied it there, and the Charges were held and kept.
At the making of Solomon’s Temple, which King David began, King David loved Masons well, and he gave them charges, nearly as they are now. The making of Solomon’s Temple, as it is said in the Third Book (9) of Kings, the fifth chapter (Regnum i terti regun capitul quinto), that Solomon had 4,000 Masons at his work, and the son of the King of Tyre was his Master Mason. In other Chronicles it is said in old books of Masonry that Solomon confirmed the charges that his father David had given Masons, and Solomon himself taught them their manners, very little differing from the manners that are now used.
From there this worthy Science was brought into France by the grace of God, and into many other worthy regions. In France there was a worthy Knight who was named Carolus Secundus, that is to say Charles the Second. This Charles was elected King of France by the grace of God and by his lineage, and yet some men will say that he was elected by fortune only, which is false and untrue, as plainly appears by the Chronicle, for he was of the King’s blood royal.
This same King Charles was a Mason before he was King, and afterwards when he was King he loved Masons well and cherished them and gave them charges and manners of his devising, some of which are at this time used in France, and ordered that they should have reasonable pay, and also that they should assemble once a year and discuss together about such things as were amiss, and the same would be received by Masters and fellows.
Every honest Mason or any other worthy workman that has any love for the Craft of Masonry, and would like to know how the Craft of Masonry first came into England and by whom it was established and confirmed, it is noted and written in histories of England and in old charges of St. Alban’s time, and King Ethelstone [Athelstan] declared, that Amphabell came out of France into England, and brought St. Alban into Christendom and made him a Christian man. He brought with him the charges of Masons as they existed in France and in other lands.
At that time the King of the land, who was a pagan, lived where the city of St. Alban is now, and he had many Masons working on the town walls. At that time St. Alban was the King’s steward, pay master, and governor of the King’s work and loved Masons well and cherished them well and gave them good pay, for a Mason then received but a penny a day (10) and meat and drink.
St. Alban got from the King that every Mason should have thirty pennies a week and four pence for their meal expenses (11), and he gave them charges and manners as St. Amphabell had taught him, and they differ only a little from the charges that are now used at this time.
These charges and manners were used for many years, and afterwards they were almost lost until the time of King Athelstan. King Athelstan and his son Edwin loved well Geometry, and he applied himself busily in learning that Science, and also he desired to learn the practice of it, so he called to him the best Masons that were in the realm, because he knew well that they had the practice of Geometry the best of any Craft in the realm. He learned Masonry from them, and cherished and loved them well, and he took upon himself the charges and learned the manners.
Afterward, for the love that he had for the Craft, and for the good grounding that was found in it, he purchased a free charter from the King his father, that they should have freedom to have correction within themselves, and that they could meet together to correct such things as were amiss within themselves.
They made a great congregation of Masons to assemble together at York, where he was himself, and called the old Masons of the realm to that congregation, and commanded them to bring to him all the writings of the old books of the Craft that they had, out of which books they prepared the charges by the devising of the wisest Masons that there were, and commanded that these charges might be kept and held.
He ordered that such a congregation (12) should be called an Assembly. He ordered good pay for them, that they might live honestly, which charges I will declare hereafter, and so the Craft of Masonry was there established and considered.
In England, right worshipful Masters and fellows at various assemblies and congregations, with the consent of the lords of this realm, have ordained and made charges by their best judgment that all men who shall be made and allowed to become Masons, must be sworn upon a book to keep the same in all that they may do, to the utmost of their power, and also they have ordained that when any fellow shall be received and allowed that these charges should be read to him, and will take these charges.
These charges have been seen and reviewed by our late Sovereign Lord, King Henry the Sixth (13), and the Lords of the Honorable Council, and they have approved them and said they were right, good and reasonable to be held, and these charges have been drawn and gathered out of various ancient books, both of the old Law and new Law, as they were confirmed and made in Egypt by the King, and by the great clerk Euclid, and at the making of Solomon’s Temple by King David and by Solomon his son, and in France by Charles, King of France, and in England by St. Alban who was the steward to the King at that time, and afterward by King Athelstan who was King of England, and by his son Edwin who was King after his father, as is told in many and various histories and stories and chapters.
The charges follow, particularly and severally:
The first and principal charge is that you shall be true man or true men to God and the Holy Churcho(14), and that you shall use neither error nor heresy, by your own understanding or discretion or wise men’s teaching.
2. - That you be true liege men to the King, without treason or falsehood, and if you know of either treason or treachery, look to amend it if you can, or else privately warn the King or his rulers or his deputies and officers.
3. - That you shall be true to one another, that is to say to every Master and fellow of the Science and Craft of Masonry who have been accepted as Masons, and do to them as you would that they should do to you.
4. - That every Mason keep true counsel both of Lodge and Chamber (15), and all other counsels that ought to be kept because of Masonry.
5. - That no Mason be a thief or [support] thieves as far as he knows.
6. - That he shall be true to his Lord and Master that he serves, and truly look to his Master’s profit and advantage.
7. - You shall call Masons your fellows or your brethren, and by no other foul name, nor shall you take your fellow’s wife in villainy, nor desire his daughter or servant.
8.o-oAlso, that you pay truly for your meat and your drink wherever you go to eat, also you shall do no misconduct in the house, whereby the Craft might be criticized.
These are the general charges that every Mason should hold, both Masters and fellows. Now here are other singular charges for Masters and fellows:
1. - That no Master or fellow take upon him any Lord’s work, nor any other man’s unless he knows himself able and capable enough to perform it, so that the Craft will not be criticized or reproached, so that the Lord may be well and truly served.
2. - That no Master take any work unless he takes it reasonably so that the Lord may be well and truly served for his own good, and that the Master may live honestly and pay his fellows truly their pay, as the manner of the Craft asks.
3. - That No Master or fellow shall supplant another from their work, that is to say, if has taken a job, or is acting as Master for any Lord’s work, or any other, you shall not replace him unless he is unable to have the ability to complete the job.
4. - That no Master or fellow shall take any apprentice as his apprentice unless for seven years, and that apprentice be able of birth and of living as he ought to be.
5. - That no Mason nor fellow take anyone to be made a Mason without the consent of at least five or six of his fellows, and he that shall be made a Mason is even within all sides, that is to say that he is free born and of good family and not a bondman, and that he have his limbs right, as a man ought to have.
6. - That no Master or fellow shall take any Lord’s work as task work that has been customarily done as journey work.
7. - That every one give pay to his fellow only as he deserves, so that the worthy Lord of the work may not be deceived by false workmen.
8. - That no fellow slander another behind his back to make him lose his good name or his worldly goods.
9. - That no fellow within Lodge or without give evil answer to another, ungodly, without reasonable cause.
10. - That every Mason shall do reverence to his betters and do him honor.
11. - That no Mason shall gamble, or play at dice, nor at any other unlawful games, so that the Craft might be reproached.
12. - That no Mason engage in sexual immorality to bring the Craft into disrepute.
13. - That no fellow go into town in the night time without a fellow to bear witness for him that he has been in honest company, for if he does so there a Lodge of fellows will punish that sin.
14. - That every Mason and fellow will come to the assembly if it is within five miles of him and if has any notice to come there, at the judgment of Masons and fellows.
15. - That every Master and fellow, if they have done wrong, to stand at the judgment of Masters and fellows and make compensation if they can; and if they can not compensate them, they go to Common Law.
16. - That no Master make any mold or square, or use a ruler to lay.
17. - That no Master or fellow shall set a layer within the Lodge, nor without, to show any molded stones with any mould of his own making.
18. - That every Master shall receive and cherish strange Masons when they come out of the country, and set them to work as the manner is, that is to say, if they have molded stones in place they shall set them to work for at least two weeks, and give him his pay, and if he doesn’t have stones for him to work, then he shall assist him to the next Lodge.
19. - That you shall truly serve the Lord for your pay, and justly and truly complete your work, be it task or journey work, so that you may have your pay truly, according to how you ought to have it.
20. - That every Mason work truly on the working day, so that he may receive his pay, and serve it so he may live honestly upon the holy day, and that you and every Mason receive your pay from your pay master, and that you shall keep correct account of your time of work and rest as it is ordained by the Masters Council.
21. - That if any fellows shall be at discord or dissension, you shall truly treat between them to make accord and agreement and show no favor on the part of either, but justly and truly for both the parties, and that it be done at such a time that the Lord’s work not be delayed.
22. - Also, if you act as Warden or have any authority under the Master where you are serving, you shall be true to your Master while you are with him, and be a true mediator between the Master and his fellows to the utmost of your power.
23. - Also, if you act as Steward, either of the Lodge Chamber or of Common House needs, you shall keep a true account of your fellows’ goods, how they are dispensed, when they will take account, and also if you are more capable than your fellow who stands by you in his work and you see him in danger of spoiling his stone and he wants advice from you, you shall inform and teach him honestly so that the Lord’s work is not spoiled.
These charges that we have declared and recorded to you, you shall well and truly keep to your power, so help you God and Holy Doom and by the holy contents of this book.
Edward Thompson,
Anno Domini 1687.
NOTES
1. - Set in legendary stories, regulations and obligations, the Old Charges, over a hundred in number, are usually divided into distinct families; the most important one (besides the Regius Ms placed outside families) belong to the Grand Lodge family (53 documents) Sloane family (21 documents) and Tew family (nine documents), The Plot family has got six documents, the Cooke family only three.
2. - The William Watson Manuscript, which we reproduce from the original text, has nothing to do with the Watson Manuscript presented by some English websites: it can be, however, compared with the Grand Lodge Manuscript No.1 (1583) and the York No. 1 (1600).
3. - The text of the William Watson Manuscript somewhat resembles the Cooke Manuscript, which dates from 1410; which could lead one to believe that one is directly derived from the other, an hypothesis which is however rejected by many Masonic authors such as G. W. Speth, D.C. and Howard W. Begemann, for whom the two documents would, rather, be the heirs of a third one ... now disappeared.
4. - This is a very corrupt rendition of the Latin phrase in the Cooke Manuscript: “Et sic dicitur a geo graece quod est terra latinae et metron quod est mensura, unde Geometria, id est mensura terrae vel terrarum.”
5. - This is a corruption of “Pater habitancium in tentoris atque pastorum.”
6. - Confusion between the Tower of Babel and the Tower of Babylon, see Cooke Ms.
7. - A corruption of “De terra illa egressus est Assur, et aedificavit Niniven, et plateas civitatis, et Chale, Resen Quoque inter Ninevet et Chale: haec est civitas magna.”
8. - In the Cooke Manuscript, it is said: Geometry.
9. - See the Cooke Manuscript, note 14.
10. - Penny - The penny is an old English monetary unit.
11. - The editor wrote: “IIIj d for their nonfinding,” which makes no sense if one does not translate “IIIj” as four and “non-finding” by “snack” or “light meal”.
12. - Congregation, assembly - An assembly is a meeting organized for a number of people, while a congregation is a meeting of cardinals and prelates, permanent or temporary, to examine certain special religious cases, and by analogy a group of senior Masons.
13. - Henry VI of England, son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, married Margaret of Anjou, reigned from 1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to his death. During a period of nine years, he was deprived of his kingdom by Edward of York, grandson of Charles VII of France.
14. - The Watson Manuscript dates, let us say around 1535. It might be considered slightly older if one refers to the words Holy Church which usually characterizes the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, having failed to obtain in 1527, from Pope Clement VII, the annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII imposed in retaliation various measures contrary to the interests of the Church: so, in December 1534, the Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, making the King the supreme head on earth of the Church of England.
15. - Lodge and Chamber- The Lodge (a Craft site) and the Chamber (a Meeting site) are clearly differentiated in the text.