An Old Song Re-Set.

any reputable person is admissible to its ranks—it cannot so well stand by and meet every accusation that is hurled against it with a Virtnte med me involvo As in the dark ages , already referred to , those who knew

more than their neighbours were looked upon as magicians , necromancers , witches , so now among the vulgar , Masons may be pointed at as murderers , revolutionists , atheists , as guilty , in fact , of all the crimes denounced in tho written and unwritten laws of God and man . But such

accusations as these , if they are to have any weight , must come from those who are acquainted withjour secrets , or , in other words , from renegade brothers , whose treachery alone must deprive them of all credence . Who we are , may be easily learned—in Britain , at all events—for the names of

all members are registered in accordance with the law . What rules of conduct , moral and religious , are enjoined on Masons , may be gathered from our published Constitutions , which any one may purchase for eighteen pence . And , wo repeat , any reputable person may learn our

harmless secrets by seeking admission into our ranks . No one need fear a refusal whose character will bear investigation . These are elements in the case of Freemasonry which are entirely overlooked by our accusers , and remove us entirely from the category of those secret societies and

organisations , such as the Vehmgericht of the middle ages , of which we read in Sir Walter Scott ' s Anne of Geierstein , the Inquisition , ' and others , whose sole purpose has been the destruction of all law ancl order , or , perhaps we should say

rather , the substitution of an odious civil and religious tyranny for civil and religious freedom . Let the Universe " read , mark and inwardly digest " these remarks of ours , and if there is a grain of sense in its composition it cannot but retract its base insinuations , and still baser calumnies .

Profession And Practice.

PROFESSION AND PRACTICE .

MOST of our readers in the course of their experience , have doubtless met with enthusiastic brethren who

take it for granted that a Mason can do no wrong . These enthusiasts aro thoroughly convinced that the vast majority of those who join the Order are the most benevolent , the most moral , and the very noblest members of society . The theory in their minds , like some religious theories of

" conversion , is that the instant a man has been received into the mystic circle lie becomes a new being . The ignoble become noble minded , the hard hearted become sensitive , and the man of lax morals becomes a pattern of all the virtues . An enthusiastic over-estimate of the

Order such as this , although it embodies a great deal of truth , is certain to do harm . We havo never undervalued enthusiasm , and indeed AVO regard it as a great moral force , but when a brother , bent , at all hazards , upon blowing the trumpet of fame for the Order , ventures to describe the

whole of his confraternity in terms which would be flattering if applied to the saints , we cannot but think that such commendation is sure to excite antagonism . The enemies of Masonry , on the watch for holes in our garments , will assuredly take up such a challenge as this . They

will tell us that there are mean and ignoble Masons , mercenary Masons , they may add indeed , by way of capping the sweeping assertions of the enthusiast , that Masons generally are no better than other people , and arc not to be distinguished from their neighbours for any

of the special graces of character . Possibly a calm and clear thinker might he disposed to admit the general truth of some of these charges , but he would join issue with reference to the latter , and , on fairly reasonable grounds ; he might urge , that Masons are a carefully selected

community , that whereas society is necessarily composed of persons of all classes and dispositions , the ranks of the Order are filled only with men whose characters will bear a close inspection . Granted that men of the middle classes , for example , are generally speaking good citizens , the

Mason , as such , gives an additional guarantee to society for his good behaviour , in the fact that he has become a member of a fraternity which rigidly punishes any infringement of a code which for high and pure morality will bear comparison with any system of ethics which has yet attracted the attention of men .

In saying thus much for the Order we should not unfairly beg the real point in dispute . In fact , we are willing enough to admit that there are indifferent Masons in the

Profession And Practice.

Order . A community of saints is quite unknown in this sublunary sphere . Wherever men are banded together for any noble object , there will be people who will seek admission to their ranks for purely selfish purposes . We are not , indeed , ignorant of the fact that the self seekers who

employ Masonry for purposes of their own are to be found in every social grade . We should be the last to assert that the Order is more frequently degraded for purposes of trade than for objects which appear less sordid , but which in reality are not one whit more reputable . The rich man , who

desires to get into a circle which may be entered by the agency of Grand Lodge , is unfortunately to be found occasionally in our midst . Some men make Masonry an engine for obtaining power and distinction , and while in pursuit of this object they are often willing to simulate a benevolence

they do not feel . Thackeray has remarked , over and over again in his wonderful fictions , that rich people will do far more unkind things than persons of low degree . A poor man would blush to be seen squabbling over the expenditure

of a few shillings . He would be ashamed to depart from his word , or to permit any one to think that he had done so . Some of our brethren who are by no means rich are the most active in all works of benevolence . They seek no reward for their labours , and would be

astonished if they received any . But it has sometimes happened that a rich man has made his Masonic professions chime in with his personal interest . He does not indeed display the emblems of the Order over his door , or on his carriage , but there are other ways of trading on

Masonry , and not a few candidates for social position have first qualified themselves by joining a Lodge . Some of our brethren have painful personal recollections of men of this class , who are all things to all nienin the Lodgeroom , bnt who greet a brother when they meet him in the street with the cut

direct . The great man , who is seeking to make his way into society , forgets the humbler member of the fraternity when it is convenient to do so , and only wakes up to a general and cordial recognition of his Masonic associates when his personal interests are directly at stake . We do not

hesitate to characterise men of this stamp as unworthy members of the Craft . They may be eloquent advocates of the claims of the charities , but they have no heart in the cause , ancl merely display a fictitious activity to suit their own convenience .

An insincere professor is , indeed , a very unpleasant person , and it U gratifying to know that , although they are not uncommon , they are yet few and far between . A man whose zeal for Masonry keeps time with his personal interests , who is constantly making his voice heard while he has private

objects of his own in view , but who is silent the moment he has accomplished his purpose , deserves to be received , when he appears among his brethren , with withering contempt . We have known Masons who were always ready with honied phrases , but who invariably forgot the homely

adage that " fair words butter no parsnips . " They were willing to patronise everything ; our Schools , our Benevolent Institutions , anything , in fact , which might be converted into a Masonic ladder to lift them above the

crowd . But when this height was gained they could afford to ignore the Charities , could turn their back upon their toiling brethren , and were utterly oblivious of the fact that they were indebted to the Order for all their poor social distinctions .

The cynic who decries Masomy is sure to point to men of this stamp when he is seeking to drive his adverse arguments home . He reminds us of the persons who have pushed themselves to the front by means of tho fraternity , and concludes by asking us whether our professions of purity

are not a mere sham ; whether our Order is not , after all , a gigantic organisation , based on selfish interests , and trading upon sacred principles which deserve a better fate than to be thus perverted . Our answer to these unfair imiendoes is clear enough . We frankly admit that there are men iu

our midst who are grossly selfish , in spite of their professions of benevolence and charity , but we urge that they are rare exceptions . We challenge denial when we assert that the Order , as a whole , is perfectly pure , that its devotion

to charity and general benevolence is no mere s . 'iim , and that Masons as a body are true men , who have done , and are still doing , their best to make toleration , peace and goodwill universally current in the world .