Hints To "Q." About Ancient Landmarks And Masonic Reform.

Lodges was compelled in 1723 to accept a charter from the G . L ., aud whose rank iu the Lodge List was lowered to No . 10 in 1729 ; believing , a' all others believed , i >\ the authenticity of the said compact very naturally accused the G . L . of England of injustice for breaking tho compact . . Fosiring that tho said Lodgo might , occasion trouble to tho ( J . fi . by claiming its independenco and what w > t i

I therefore took tho liberty of pointing out my reasons for doubting the story about the compact . This was one reason for writing upon tho subject . And secondly , tho discovery of Bro . Goald would havo fastened upon the founders of tho Grand Lodgo a double accusation ; first , for agreeing to a very injudicious , and , I may even add , to a very absurd compact ; and the second , tho injustice of violating their

own mado compact . I havo , therefore , endeavoured to rescue the reputation of Bros . Anderson , Desaguliers , Payne , and others , by showing that thoy woro neither guilty of folly nor of injustice , because they never mado the said compact , and , of course , never broke it ; thereupon , our hot-headed Bro . " Q . " took umbrage at my remarks , and accused mo of want of veneration for the founders of tho G . L . Bro . " Q . " made no effort to disoel my doubts about the

validity of tho said compact , but because he likes to read tho fables about Romulus , & o ., therefore I am to bo blamed , for doubting the validity and genuineness of tho compact , and for exposing tho nonsense of ancient landmarks . Tho late Bro . Charles Mackay , in ono of his poems , furnished specimens of three sermons , preached by three distinct preachers . Tho first preacher ' s admiration was centered ou the past , aud ho therefore exhorted his hearers to go backward . His philosophy was . that

" Man to misery is born , Born to drndge , and sweat , and suffer , Born to labour nnd to pray . " Tho second preacher regarded the present aye as tho summit of perfection , and he preached ,

" Stand still ! ye restless nations , Fate is law , and law is perfect , If ye meddle , ye will mar , Change is rash and over was so , Wo are happy as we aro . "

But the third and youngest preacher believed in tho co-oJiead ! dectrino . " Standing still ( he says ) is childish folly , Going backward is a crime , None should patiently endure Any ill he can cure . Onward then , while a wrong remains , Onward , and all the earth shall aid-us , & c .

Our good Bro . "Q" is evidently a disciple of the " stand still " preacher , with a certain sympathy also for the backward preacher , while my own sympathy is enlisted ou behalf of tho go-ahead preacher ; and these are my reasons . No oue can deny that wo enjoy in' the 19 th century a greater degree of civil and religious liberty than our ancestors enjoyed in trii / tn

e century , xnose again enjoyed more liberty than their ancestors enjoyed in the 15 th century , and so on , and so on . All previous ceutnrios wero darker and darker , until we come to what is called tho dark age . It is of no consequence whether it was darkest in tho Gth , 7 th , or 9 th century , or whether all theso centuries were alike dark . There is no doubt that the world , or at least

Christendom , had had very dark ages , from which it gradually emerged . It must bo obvious even to Bro . " Q . " that this progressive enlightenment is neither duo to the influence of " backward " preachers , nor to the " stand still" preachers , but we are indebted altogether for the blessings wo now enjoy to tho succession of the go-ahead or " onward " preachers , who , in the long run , havo step by step built

up the present state of civilisation . There is no need here to demonstrate tho absurdity of the doctrines of tho backward preacher , for however much a Mason may gush about antiquity , he certainly wonld not consent to bring us back to the state of barbarism of antiquity . Our last backward Masonic preacher ' s notions , rix ., Dr . Oliver ' s , aro already generally discarded . I shall therefore

confine my reasoning to the disciples of the stand . still preacher . I remember tho arguments and predictions of tho English standstill party during tho agitation for Catholic emancipation , the first Reform Bill , Jewish emancipation , & c . I remember how they used to attribute tho prosperity and power of England to her religions intolerance , rotten boroughs , and other relics of barbarism which tho

Revolution of 1688 left upon tho Statute-books . I remember , also , when the reform advocates were denominated "destructives , " & c . I nave , however , lived to witness many reforms pass in England . I am net aware that any ono was hurt , while a largo number oFEnglishmon were pacified ancl became more content . Bat , nevertheless , that was no reason for stopping all further efforts of reform , or to talk about

Jmnhhj of reform . For first , every reformer is opposed by the backward arid stand-still preachers . And secondly , Caution , prudence , or timidity cf the reformer himself generally makes him halt half way . In short , all the English reforms within my own recollection wero more compromises , something like settling with creditors at tho rate of sixpence in the pound , or a few pence , more or less . The Americans .

alter their separation from England , effected more extensive reforms , bnt even thero the standstill party were too powerful , aud the slave institution was loft untouched , the abolition of slavery was left to tho reformers of the present generation . Besides which , when a government gets to be fifty years old , or even less , a new crop of corruptions sprout out , which , if not nipped in the bud , will arow np , and . if not

looked after , they will accumulate ; these corruptions are , of course , profitable to certain parties , and an effort to abolish thoso corruptions will surely be opposed by the standstill preachers . We see , then , that , as long as selfishness , bigotry , and corruption exists , there will always bo work for the onward preacher . The founders of the G . L . of England were on ward preachers , and . are therefore entitled to our gratitude . They observed that every

Hints To "Q." About Ancient Landmarks And Masonic Reform.

religionist was apt to puff up his own religion , and to treat with contempt all other sects but his own . Each religionist pretended that his sacred looks taught bolter docti'ines than all other sacred books , anil nil protended that their respective books taught tho fathcrho''d of God and tho brotherhood of man , charity , justice , mercv , & c . If tho pretension of either of theso had boon true , the

votaries of theso sects ought to have been as good as angels ; instead of which , thoy acted more like devils . Every sect , when it obtained power , invariably persecuted all other sects . Had Dr . Anderson lived in Scotland ono hundred years earlier , ho mig ht havo been as bigoted a presbytcri . in as tho majority of tho members of his church wero , bnt lie happened to live in England at a time when his church

was despised by tho dominant church . He might also have remembered tho persecution of his brethren in tho days of Charles II . or James II . Desaguliers was aJFronch exile for conscience sake . Payne may also havo been a dissenter . Hence , to emancipate themselves from tho disagreeable intolerance , thoy reasoned themselves into the belief that religious intolerance was wrong ( though it was a very

ancient landmark ) and this conviction of theirs gave riso to our Freemasonry , viz . —to unite tho good and true , irrespective of religions differences , into a brotherhood , providing they believed in a Supremo Being . It is evident that such a union would have been impossible if each religionist had been allowed in tho Lodge , either to insult tho religions of the other brethren , or even to continue the

old practice of puffing up his own religion ; religious discussion was , therefore , prohibited in the Lodge . But that was not all . The pre 1717 Masons used to pray in Lodges to the Trinity ; the said prayer would have been offensive to tha Anti-trinitarian , while the orthodox wonld have been offended if their sectarian notion had been omitted from tho prayer . Hence ( so it seems to me ) , prayers wero discon .

tinned altogether . Bro . E . T . Corson , of Cincinnati , sent mo three extracts from distinct works ; tho last was printed in 1706 , each of these confirming tho abovo statement ; that the moderns used no prayers in their Lodges . The ancients , who wero instigated by backward preachers , continued to use Christian prayers , which tho moderns afterwards imitated . But I firmly believe , and so does Dr .

Albert G . Mackay , that for about fifty years after the establishment of tho G . L . of England no prayers wero used in her Lodges . Tho Bible was used among tho pre 1717 Masons to obligate candidates on ; in the earliest ritual of the G . Lodge it was used for no other purpose j its being mado into a " great light , " was a subsequent innovation . Even as lato as 1730 the G . L . of England was opened in due

farm without the Bible on the pedestal . It is rather curious that in 1730 tho G . Lodge was opened with tho Book of the Constitution and the sword lying on tho pedestal instead of tho Bible , just the samo as the French Masons do now . But whatever credit and gratitude may bo duo to the founders of tho G . Lodge , we should not forget the fact that they wore liable to err ; aud it is as much my duty to

expose their shortcoming , as it is to praise for the good they havo done . The faults of Bro . Anderson wero , first , his writing a very absurd history of Freemasonry , and , second , his retention in the ritual of saint patronage , and tho observance of saints' days , enjoined by him in tho Constitution . These blunders were tho parents of Templar degrees ,

Christian degrees , & c , which uprooted tho fundamental Masonic aim on tho European Continent , and which afterwards reacted upon English Masonry itself . Tho Ancients were the first to adopt tho now humbnggries . Dunckerloy made them popular among tho Moderns . Hutchinson persuaded everybody that tho third degree ia Christian , and what not . In short , all tho Masonic preachers after

Anderson , during the last centnry , either preached the backward doctrine or the stand still doctrine ; but , upon the whole , even English Masonry was pushed backward . Preston stopped tho practice of using sectarian prayers in Lodges . In 1814 , Dr . Hemming revised the ritual , and mado an onward movement , by discarding saint patronage and the observance of saints'days ; and

that was the first , aud is still tho first , onward movement in England . In America , not only no onward movement was mado at all , but the ritual has been interlarded with additional rant aud cant , unknown in any European Masonic ritual ; and to the repeated remonstrances mado in New York and Boston against tho American

Masonic mongrel , their reply amounted to no more and no less than , " Wo have so received it , and wo must so impart it ; " or , in other words , ancient landmarks . And yet , some points which they call ancient landmarks were introduced in 1819 , and even later . Thero is a great deal of rubbish even in tho English ritual which requires pruning . A very eminent English Officer of the Grand Lodgo said

once in my presence , " Our ritual will havo to be overhauled , and a great deal of accumulated rnbbish will have to bo thrown out . " And even Bro . Q . confessed that "Masonry had its share of humbug attached to it . " Such being the case , I ask Bro . Q . wheM-. ei .-humbug ought to be tolerated iu any respectable society ? aud muro especially so , whether it ought to bo tolerated in a society which

boasts that hypocrisy and deceit is unknown amongst them , and sincerity and plain dealing aro thoir distinguishing characteristics ? Surely , Bro . Q . will not answer theso questions in tho affirmative ! and if my supposition is right , then ho ought not to find fault with mo for attacking the nonsense of irrepealable laws and ancient

landmarks , which may be called tho citadel , behind which all bigots and Jesuits , all the backward and all the stand still preachers , inside and outside of Masonry , have invariably entrenched themselves . When once that fortification is demolished , wo shall havo a chauco of reasoning rationally about Masonic reform .

The annual meeting of the John Hervey Lodgo , No . 12 G 0 , took place on Wednesday , when Bro . E . Jones Goodacro was installed as W . M . for the ensuing year . A report will appear in our next .