John Entick:

                     From the Creation to the Flood, 1756

 

 

John Entick:

The Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. London: Scott 1756, 1-7.

 

Zweite Ausgabe London: Johnston 1767, 1-7.

 

 

Chap. I.

 

The State of Masonry from the Creation to the Flood.

 

The Divine Wisdom having resolved to form the World, and to reduce a wild Chaos to a fair, regular, and permanent System, .the Almighty Architect not only traced out the whole Plan of the Universe, but gave Life and Being, Form and Figure to every Part thereof.

 

When the Fiat for Light was given, the dull, heavy, and terrene Parts of Matter, which over-clouded the Expansum, obeyed the Almighty's Command, and began to range into Form and Order. Some subsided to the Center of the Earth; but the lucid and fiery Particles ascending higher, separated Light from Darkness, and made the first Day and Night; which became more lucid and serene by the Work of the second Day; when the Waters were drawn off from the Chaos, and were dismissed to their several Orbs and Stations.

 

The delightful Element of the Air was disentangled and extracted from the Chaos; and next Day the Waters of the Earth, being gathered into one Place, the dry Land appeared, and was furnished with Grass for Cattle, and Herbs, and Fruit-trees for the Nourishment of Man. On the fourth Day the same Divine Wisdom created the glorious Orbs of the Sun to rule the Day, and the Moon to rule the Night; and for the Measure and Computation of Time.

 

These great Bodies thus set in Order; he proceeded to the Creation of the Animal World; and began with Fish and Fowl, which the Divine Power formed out of such Matter as was mixed and concocted with the Water, and gave them a prolifick Virtue, and a natural Instinct for Generation, to preserve their Species, and to multiply their Individuals; a Virtue which he also bestowed on the terrestrial Animals, both Savages, tame Creatures, and creeping Things.

 

A. M. 1.

Bef. C. 4004.

 

All Things necessary for Man's Felicity being perfected by the Architect and Grand-master of the Universe according to Geometry, and so ordered and disposed as to contribute, in their several Capacities, to his Benefit and Delight; then Man was also created and introduced into the World in a Manner and Solemnity not unbecoming the Lord and Governor of it.

A Work so truly Divine, that the Power of no subordinate Intelligence could be capable of it; and was not perfected without a peculiar Consultation of the Divine Persons: The Result whereof was to create Man after the Image of God; with a Heart thoroughly instructed in the noble Science of Geometry, for his own Improvement, and for the Instruction of his Descendants, in the Art of applying every Part of the Creation to the Glory of the Creator, and to the Benefit of the Creature: with a Mind fortified to bear the Divine Presence, qualified for the Divine Converse, fully illuminated by the Divine Spirit; and with a Body indulged with the Privilege of Immortality, adorned with such Comeliness and Majesty, as might challenge the Rule and Jurisdiction of this inferior World; and blessed with an universal Harmony in all its Faculties; an Understanding fraught with all Manner of Knowledge; a Will submitted to the Divine Pleasure; Affections placed upon their proper Objects; Passions calm and easy; and a Conscience quiet and serene, with resplendent Holiness and perfect Felicity.

 

How ADAM exercised himself in that noble Science in his Paradisaical State, does not certainly appear. But there is great Reason to believe that he employed himself in forming a well proportioned and convenient Plan of shelter from Heat; of Retirement, Rest, and Repast; and of Worship; and in laying out and cultivating his Garden of Delights.

However, this very Man, whom God had created upright, by thirsting after illicit Knowledge, soon forfeited the Favour of the Almighty; and his Right to that happy State: By our first Parents Disobedience to the Divine Precept in Paradise, they defaced the beautiful Works of the Creation; entailing Sin, Pain, and Death upon their Posterity:

With guilty Shame they are forced to exchange fair Eden's Garden for an uncultivated World, which produced nothing but what was the Effect of toilsome Labour; and where they had no other prospect than a sad Variety of Sorrow, Care, and Trouble: a state which, however impaired, we cannot, in anywise, suppose to be ignorant of the Liberal Sciences, much less of Geometry: in which it was found to be of the utmost Consequence, to instruct his Offspring, to enable them so trace the Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty displayed in all the wonderous Works of Creation; and by which several curious Arts were invented, which to this Day are the Glory of Mankind, and an Ornament to the World.

 

Hence it is, that there is in Man a Fund of Industry, and a certain happy Ingenuity in inventing Arts and Sciences, whether mechanical or liberal; all of which have a mighty Tendency to the Delight and Benefit of Mankind.

And therefore we need not question but that the wise God, by putting these Singularities in our Nature, intended, as another End of our Creation, that we should not only live happily ourselves, and spend our Time in beneficial Occupations, or agreeable Amusements, but be likewise mutually assistant to each other, Instruments for the Good of Human Society; which, in the Scripture Phrase, is to be all of one Mind, having Compassion one for another, and to love as Brethren; as all that have been True and Faithful, have set an Example to the Free and Accepted.

 

We may be very well assured, that Adam instructed his Descendants in Geometry, and the Application of it to whatever Crafts were convenient for those early Times; without which, the Children of Men must have lived in Woods, Dens, and Caves, like Brutes; or at least in Arbours made of Branches of Trees, or in some poor and wretched Hovels of Mud.

 

[ab hier übernimmt Noorthouck weitgehend den Text von Entick]

 

A. M. 129.

Bef. C. 3879.

 

CAIN, with his Family and Adherents, being expelled from Adam's Altars, and pre-instructed in the Principles of Geometry and Architecture, forthwith built a strong city, and called it Dedicate or Consecrate, after the Name of his eldest Son Enoch; whose Race following this Example, improved themselves not only in Geometry and Masonry, but made Discoveries of several other curious Arts.

Thus Jabal, the eldest Son of Lamech, first invented the Use of Tents; for in those early Days we cannot suppose the feeble Inhabitants of the Earth were capable of erecting many Buildings in Stone and Timber; and he taught the Art of managing those Herds of Cattle, which heretofore had been dispersed wild through the Land: Jubal, his third Son, was the Inventor of Musick, and musical Instruments, especially the Harp and Organ: and Tubal Cain, his youngest Son, found out the Art of forging and working Metals, of making Armour and war-like Weapons; and was also famous for his great Strength and Skill in War.

 

The Descendants of SETH came nothing behind those of Cain, in the Cultivation of Geometry and Masonry; This Patriarch, of the other half of Mankind; must have greatly profited in those noble Sciences under the continual Tuition of Adam, with whom he lived till the Year of the World 930, and succeeded him then in the grand Direction of the Craft assisted by Enosh, Kainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, and Enoch; who, as a Monument of his superior Abilities and Love to Posterity, foreseeing the universal Desolation, which would soon happen by Water or Fire, and deprive Mankind of those Arts and Sciences already improved, raised two large Pillars, one of Brick, the other of Stone, and inscribed thereon an Abridgment of the Arts and Sciences, particularly Geometry and Masonry, that, if the Pillar of Brick happened to be overthrown by the Flood, That of Stone might remain; which Josephus tells was to be seen, in his Time, in the Land of Siriad, by the Name of Seth's or Enoch's Pillars.

And from the Contents of these Pillars we have great Reason to believe, that the enterprising Genius of Man did not confine itself to the Art of Building, and working in Brass and Iron, and to Musick; but that it very early exerted itself in Astronomy, and every Science, useful and entertaining.

 

None can doubt but Astronomy, tho' preceded by Geometry, was invented near the Commencement of Time. As there is nothing more surprizing than the Regularity of the heavenly Luminaries, it is easy to judge that one of the first Curiosities of Mankind was to consider their courses, and to observe the Periods of them. It was not Curiosity only that prompted Men to apply themselves to astronomical Speculations; Necessity itself may be said to have obliged them to it. For if the Seasons are not observed, which are distinguished by the Motion of the Sun, it is impossible to succeed in Agriculture.

If the Duration of the Month and Year were not determined, a certain Order could not be established in civil Affairs, nor could the Days allotted to the Exercise of Religion be fixed. Thus as neither Agriculture, Polity, nor Religion could dispense with the Want of Astronomy, it is evident that Mankind were obliged to apply themselves to the Sciences from the Beginning of the World.

 

The posterity of Seth, who had for some Ages retained their Integrity in the true Worship of God, and a close Application to Sciences, were at last infected with the same Contagion of Profaneness and Immorality, as the Race of Cain; so that all Sorts of Wickedness over-spread the Earth, and reigned triumphant: But at last ended in their Destruction and Extirpation by the Deluge, in which all the human Race perished, except NOAH and his Family.

Here was a dismal Face of Things; instead of the Earth, adorned with the Productions of Nature, and the Improvements of Art, a watery Desert appeared, which offered nothing to the View of Heaven, but the floating Wrecks of Man and his Fellow Creatures, who were swept away with the common Destruction; which was the most dreadful and amazing Judgment, the most horrid and portentous Catastrophe that Nature ever yet saw.