The Grand Orient Of France Before The Craft Universal.

plied . Acting in tin ' s wise manner , tho Grand Orient has allowed tho question of its guilt or innocence , if not to lapse iuto oblivion , at least to bo , for the present and till tho proper timo of appeal , dismissed from tho mind . Now , if "forbearing one another in love" is a Biblical injunction , it will perhaps bo admitted that French Freemasons , who aro

charged with nofc using the Bible in their Lodges to " obligate their initiates , aud who do not take it as tho " unerring standard of truth and jnstico to regulate Masonic actions , " havo nevertheless given , in this particular instance , a striking proof that real principles of Freemasonry can bo carried out without reading tho S . V . to Jews and Mahomcdaus , Christians and Freethinkers , believers and

unbelievers . The Graud Orient is aware—although somo of thoso who entered their judgment upon record ng-. iitist it , namely tho United Grand Lodge of England , never took the trouble of notifying tho law ground of their sentence—that its sole offence consisted in having abrogated from its own Constitution a superfluous article which it had ,

in tho year 1819 , thoughtlessly inserted , and whoso text , as far as it was known , never existed before in any Masonic Constitution . Holding that Freemasonry is one entire body throughout tho world : — an institution destined to unite all good men in whatever part of tho globe thoy may bo , or from whatever region of the earth they may come ; an association essentially based upon liberty of conscience and free

thought , and whose purely philanthropic design has nothing whatever to do with religious creeds or dogmatic belief ; and finding that these have been and always will be the most potent cause of disunion among men , and having moro particularly to suffer abuses consequent upon their own self-made clause , French Masons thought ifc proper , after having given to the subject all tho consideration , study , and thought demanded , to cancel , in 1877 , what they had themselves

incautiously laid down in IS ( 9 , as one of the pre-rcquisite and substantial of Freemasonry , in their own Constitution . This is the plain fact , and howcver . much it may clash with other people ' s pre-conceived notions , it is nevertheless one that ought to be generally known . The legal character of tho question , in a strictly Masonic point of view , is not admissible . To elucidate therefore any point at issue bearing npon it , opinions certainly should not take the form of binding legal decision , with a penalty : —

"Shun thy neighbour never , Perhaps he has not acted rightly , Still he is thy brother . " The Grand Orient now simply believes that no man is responsible to any earthly power or person for his religions or irreligious opinions ; and that it had an incontestable right to make any such

alteration in its Constitution , in order to stop abuses of intolerance and exclusiveness iu its own Jurisdiction , without being excommunicated by any members or powers of the fraternity . That it is , in this moment , by right , and ia fact , to all intents and purposes , as much within Masonic orthodoxy as it ; was , at least , from the timo of its

organisation up to the year 1849 , when no Masonic authority whatever ventured to impugn its legality , or to command or suggest that to be orthodox it should add any clause to its constitution , asserting dogmatically the existence of a Deity , a Supremo Boing , or a G . A . O . T . U ., and besides the immortality of the soul . And how reasonably , and in justice , not to agree with it , at least , in this respect ?

The Grand Orient is of opinion that to lay hold of iu all countries , in all governments and in all philosophy the evident principles , eternal and immutable of universal morality , ami to make of tliem the unanimous and infallible dogma of fraternity , it is , above all , absolutely necessary to discard all that which divides the minds , and profess all that which unites tho hearts , of men . It has found , after

careful examination—and the facts aro staring us all in the facethafc by local and individual tendencies , at home and abroad , derived more or less , from our manual and ritualistic observances , the great vital principle of the Society , namely , " Liberty of Conscience , " was in clanger of being overwhelmed and buried onfc of sight , if not by malice aforethought , but by sheer carelessness in the performance of a

most important duty . That , unfortunately for the good repute of out- Institution , and the harmony and concord of Masons , there aro , on this and the other side of the Atlantic , brethren whose apparent object is the exclusion of a vast number of worthy , esteemed aud learned men , by trying to even force upon them declaration of faith , theological admissions and forms of worship which they cannot utter

without a violation of their own conscience . Thus iu Germany , Jews must not bo initiated , Masonry being made there , by its votaries , essentially Christian ; whilst in England , and also in America , gatherings of Provincial Grand Lodges , in many localities , cannot bo regular or perfect if—with the Bible opena processional adjournment from the Lodge to tho Parish Church ,

therein to attend Divine Service , is not mado part of the celebration Now , in these cases , while entering their strong protest again-u the anti-Masonic rnlo of tho Germans , French Masons would , bv mere tolerance , be disposed not to criticise too severely the proceed - ings of thoEnglisb , ami perhaps would oven , ont of fraternal conrrfwv , on the occasion , join in a procession which , in their consciences , tb' -v

would deem simply a superstitious show . But , surely they would not fail to say : "that , at all events this is not Freemasonry ; if it s not , according to our dogmas of complete liberty of conscience at d absolute nnsectarianism , altogether anti-Masonic . " And who wor . d prove them the contrary ? And upon what principle could lie > r stand tho demonstration ?

In their opinion , by discarding in the practice of Lodges f II that which pertains to religious worship and ceremony , the LYem-h have come nearer the fundamental cssenee of Freemasonry , the hot i > r to serve its purposes and carry out its cosmopolitan aim , which

embraces all humanity . They havo proclaimed a truth which alone can be depended on to maintain the integrity of the Oi dor . An I they fulfil besides , by so doing , a condition upon which the majcri-y enter the Association , and thus keep the promise made to every initiate thafc " in its vows of fidelity there was nothing incompatible

The Grand Orient Of France Before The Craft Universal.

with his civil or religious duties and convictions . " What a shocking thing to individual sense of propriety if a brother in the discharge of the duty of Ids office as Chaplain , on being called to offer prayer in the Lodge , shonld conclude by invoking the mediation of Confucius or Buddha , Allah or Christ , or else attempt to personify the G . A . O . T . U . in a Trinitarian theory ; or , again try to assimilate Him

simply to a symbol ot Nature , or its three generanfc reigns into oar globe ? Well may such an idle supposition bo sneered at ! Yet , it is an incontrovertible truth that , much as men may appear to agree in their respective countries npon tho respective name of a Deity , and much as they may be supposed to be in harmony in their own religious forms of worship , yet , it cannot be said that the same form

of prayer will snit any man and all men , even in the same Church , and far less in the same Lodgo . A Methodist divine , once a Grand Chaplain of a certain Grand Lodge , uttered his prayer for tho Lodge in accordance with his own conviction of duty . Groat objections being made , he said : —¦ " Masonry recognises tho ' rights of conscience . ' I prescribe no

form in which other men shall pray . The Grand Lodge elected me Grand Chaplain , knowing my sentiments . I deny the right of any to prescribe a form which my conscience does nofc approve . " Well , was ifc not surprising to that Grand Lodge as a Masonic body , that , might have been composed of men of all shades of suasions , and belonging to many distinct sects , to find itself that day

compelled to be Methodist in prayer , and that , too , in the very name of " tbe rights of conscience ? " To those who might feel inclined to think that snch a case is of rare occurrence , we may say that ifc is by no means so ; ifc happens unhappily too often , but generally passes unnoticed . We have collected for ourselves , in our travels both in England and America ,

and on occasions such as Provincial Grand Meetings , Dedications of new Lodges , and the like , some printed programmes of the cere , monies which wo attended , and we find therein special prayers composed for tho occasion by Chaplains , whose sectarianism was perhaps more in violation of Masonic teaching than was that of the Methodist divine ; and who , like the latter , might have defended themselves from intolerance , also on the plea of " liberty of

conscience . Of two things one or tho other : —Either Masonry ia built upon religion , and is a religious sect itself , with its own doctrine and teaching ; or , standing above or outside religion , like most associations of men , nnd leaving to each man the belief he deems best for himself , according to the clesrrce of his light , soieice , or attainments , Freemasonry is then totally unbiassed by any religious tendency

whatever . In the first case , whether fhat religion worn mere Buddhism or Islamism , Judaism or Christianity , it could not claim to be C-ulu'lic , in the true sense of the word , that is " like the srn , universally spread over the surface of tho earth , " nor could it pretend to mike a " unit" of so many discordant elements , as contained in creeds

where men cannot , and never will asrrce . Freemasonry , th ° n , must be true to its professed principles , and must not be ?¦ religion , or anything like it , in order to boast , but without fearing vie ch trg ? of imposture , of being a cosmopolitan and universal Urot herhood , proclaiming loudly tho liberty of consc enco as its sine qua non article of association . In tho absence of anv precise text law , it was

similar syllogism , which for years was argued , debited upon , thoroughly examined , and carefully dissected by tlio fir : rid Oiiy . it , before it came to the natural conclusion upon which it has ueted . Elsewhere , as well as in France , there arc , it ) Is true , men who believe that truth and justice equally practised , likewise manifested , are the only rules of life : an incentive , to virtue , a principle of

civilisation , tho assertion of human reason , human dignity , and the best guide for tlie accomplishment of tho progressive mission of man . And to Freemasonry theso men say , not without just cause it must be admitted , especially in France , where Clericalism haa made recently so many bold strides : — " Bo truly our safeguard ,

Help us to save free conscience from the paw Of hireling wolves , whose Bible is their maw . " On the other hand , Freemasonry itself possesses in ite midst those against whom protection is required . For it is likewise true that there are religious Masons who , as adepts of this or that cienomina . tion profess to think , and do not neglect to preach , that all must be

made subservient to the Bible , its teaching and influence ; and , by way of consequence , to the influence of its hierophants aud those who profess to promote it by speaking iu its name . Divided between themselves , each one claiming to be in the right , the sects to which those men belong arc nevertheless Christianism , every Church of which affects to convince its followers that without its own definitions and

explanations of tho law , in fact outside its own pile , there can be but heresy and damnation . And though diametrically opposed to each other , thoy no-ree together however to stive currency to the iscnifvons as . ieit ' nin that there can be no honest or good man except he be a religious man , idem est , one of them . No Institution could be called Freemasonry that would deliberate ! y admit into its bosom ,

and put in contac t with each other such dissoU-my : a < re . u'ies , against Fraternity , peace nnd harmony , ns those aff' » -d < d by -lv various religions and creeds ot men . No religions beli'l ' , of . ibiti-ver shade , is now , nor over will be , the groundwork , the gram ! jitnl peaceful platform of Freemasonry ; so th'rik the Masons of the Gran . ) Ori mt . They believe they have shut the door through which abuses found their way into onr Association , and have opened fhat bi which raoi . of

good report ofeverv country , rank , s < -ct , opmi > i . view , or crntehe i-an , enter to unite with each other , and contract among themselves a bond ¦ f friendship that rv > dividing influence of sectariaois -i can weaken , arid no moral partiality of consideration or merit , based on religious repute , c . i n destroy . There wc may mingle and blend together as one and the same species , free conscience being enj -yed by all without restriction ; ali engaged -n the human'sini .- works ol Freemasonry in the grand mysteries of life ; all reduced to a common level aad