Ahiman Rezon

Ancient Freemasons sought to retain a purist form of Freemasonry, which they viewed as having older rituals from medieval stone mason guilds.

The Modern Freemasons sought to change Freemasonry with updated and standardized rituals that were more akin to business meetings.

The Ahiman Rezon prepared by Smith in 1781, and used by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, as well as Daicho's edition of 1807, used by the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons of South Carolina, are both based on the original text written by Laurence Dermott, which was first published in A.D. 1756 or the year of Masonry A.L.

He then describes a fabled meeting with four 'sojourners from Jerusalem' who were present at the building of Solomon's Temple, making them at least two thousand years old, whose 'memories' were possibly failing them.

Dermott's political purpose in writing the Ahiman Rezon is revealed in his short history of famous leaders of the ancient world who were of 'mean extraction, that is poor, such as Tamerlane the son of a herdsman, and on the cover which shows the arms of the Worshipful Company of Masons as well as those of the Freemasons, possibly in an attempt to re-connect Freemasonry to its operative and artisan roots.

The Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania and South Carolina are the only two jurisdictions in the U.S. that continue to call their Constitution by this name.