Masonry

1. The Modes of recognition.
2. The division of Symbolic Masonry into three degrees.
3. The legend of the third degree.
4. The government of the fraternity by a presiding officer called a Grand Master, who is elected from the body of tile craft.
5. The prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every assembly of the craft, wheresoever and whensoever held.
6. The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensations for conferring degrees at irregular times.
7. The prerogative of the Grand Master to grant dispensation for opening and holding lodges.
8. The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons on sight.
9. The necessity of Masons to congregate in lodges.
10. The government of every lodge by a Master and two Wardens.
11. The necessity that every lodge, when duly congregated, should be tyled.
12. The right of every Mason to be represented in all general meetings of the craft and to instruct his representatives.
13. The right of every Mason to appeal from the decision of his brethren in lodge convened, to the Grand Lodge or General Assembly of Masons.
14. The right of every Mason to visit and sit in every regular lodge.
15. That no visitor, not known to some brother present as a Mason, can enter a lodge without undergoing an examination.
16. That no lodge can interfere in the business or labor of another lodge.
17. That every Freemason is amendable to the laws and regulations of the Masonic Jurisdiction in which he resides.
18. That every candidate for initiation must be a man, free born and of lawful age.
19. That every Mason must believe in the existence of God as the Grand Architect of the Universe.
20. That every Mason must believe in a resurrection to a future life.
21. That a book of the law of God must constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every lodge.
22. That all men, in the sight of God, are equal and meet in the lodge on one common level.
23. That Freemasonry is a secret society in possession of secrets that cannot be divulged.
24. That Freemasonry consists of a speculative science founded on an operative art.
25. That the landmarks of Masonry can never be changed. These constitute the landmarks, or as they have sometimes been called, "the body of Masonry," in which it is not in the power of man or a body of men to make the least innovation.

The Charges of a Free-Mason
(Anderson's Constitutions, 1723)

These will be the rules of ethical conduct of a Brother Mason ...

Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 in Scotland and Ireland, over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England and just under two million in the United States.

The fraternity is administratively organized into independent Grand Lodges or sometimes Orients, each of which governs its own jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. The various Grand Lodges recognize each other, or not, based upon adherence to landmarks (a Grand Lodge will usually deem other Grand Lodges who share common landmarks to be regular, and those that do not to be "irregular" or "clandestine").

There are also appendant bodies, which are organizations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration.

Brief history of Freemasonry in Romania

Masonry as we know it today, has arrived in Romania at the beginning of 17^th century, coming from Istanbul along with the ships used for transporting wheat, honey and rams to the capital of Ottoman Empire. On the land, it has come from Germanic countries.

Masonry is attested in documents from 1734, the First Grand Master being the ruler of Moldavia, Nicolae Mavrocordat, which has foreseen and started Masonic papers. Due to this, he has been forced to move to Principality of Muntenia. The officers of the first lodge are known to be the nobles.

The First Grand Lodge, has been installed in 1880, in Bucharest, today's capital of Romania.

In our Masonic history there still are white stains. Consequently, tsarist armies have brought lodges on Romanian territory, even the great poet Puskin being a member of one of these lodges.