Dr. James Anderson in his Constitutions of the Free Masons, published in 1723, reflected the traditional fundamental principles of the Craft when he stated in the first Charge that “Masonry becomes the Centre of Union and the Means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual Distance.” When one joins the Craft, one acquires a large
number of Brothers. To him, the word “Brother” meant a great deal more than it did to the average sense. Joining the Craft is a deeply moving experience where one realizes that he had acquired an unspecified number of friends to whom he was bound by an obligation stronger than any physical binding could be.