The original object of the secret rites of freemasonry has been a subject of inquiry for upwards of six hundred years, and the enigma seems not to have been satisfactorily solved. The initiated, as well as those without the pale of the order, are equally ignorant of their derivation and import. The intention of this work is to endeavour to unravel the intricate web in which the mystery is involved, by tracing the order back to its source, and, by showing its intimate connection and similitude to institutions more ancient, put it beyond a doubt, that it sprang from, and is a continuation of the rites and ceremonies observed in those establishments.