Masonic Credulity.

got hold of a pre-1717 MS ., dated 1505 . The said MS ., together with a lecture thereon , by Bro . Kerr , was printed

in Bro . Leon Hyneman ' s paper , about thirty years ago . In 1874 Bro . Hyneman sent me tho said papers , with the question , " What do you think of the antiquity of Masonry now ? " and I immediately reolied that I was satisfied that

1705 was changed into 1505 . Briefly then , at my instigation Bro . Hyneman wrote to Bro . Kerr , and eventually the said MS . was printed in the Canadian Craftsman , and the editor confirmed my suspicion . In Bro . Gould ' s

History , Vol . I ., p 69 , under the heading of " Scarborough , " the reader will find a brief account of the above event . But I must mention another kind of imposition that was palmed off on Masons , viz ., the so-called "Inigo Jones MS ., " which is dated 1607 , and is the only MS . wherein the name of Hiram Abiff is mentioned . I have , however , no doubt that the said MS . was not manufactured before the middle of the eighteenth century . I might give scores of similar misstatements made by

Masonic writers ; some of these originated in the brains of well-meaning dreamers , and others were unscrupulous inventions . Some were invented to make Masonry older than it is ; others for the purpose of proving that Adam , Moses , Solomon and Co . were Christians ; and others , again , in order to enhance the antiquity of the high degrees ; and

as theso impositions cannot be disputed , I am , therefore , justified in demanding unexceptional evidence from Masonic writers , bo they who they may , who profess to discover some new proof about Masonic antiquity . Now , a Lodge with the outlandish name of " Quatuor

Coronati" was recently chartered in London , and its membership is confined to Masonic literati , whose respective new discoveries are to be read in the Lodge , and subsequently to be published in its Proceedings . But however praiseworthy the aim of the founders of the said

Lodge may be , yet the choice of such a name for the Lodge certainly indicates a clinging veneration for mediaeval superstition on the part of our English Masonic enlighteners . However , be that as it may , it seems that one of . its members at least is not afraid to combat errors . Briefly , then , a paper was read before the said Lodge on the 8 th of November , by Professor Hayter Lewis , designed

to prove the antiquity of the Hiramic legend , which paper was reviewed by Bro . Gould in the [ Philadelphia ] Keystone 11 th December . It seems that the whole of Bro . Lewis ' evidence rests upon a statement he received from Rabbi

Dr . Marks , that he saw in the Bodleian Library an Arabic MS . " of about the 14 th century , having reference to Masonry ( or architecture ) , in which there was a distinct reference to the Master having been lost and found . "

Bro . Gould did not question the existence of the said MS ., nor its contents , but confined his arguments to show that there is no evidence either in England or Scotland to indicate the existence of the third degree , or a knowledge

of the Hiramic legend before 1717 , or even somewhat later . Now , I also know Rabbi Marks , whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the house of my late lamented friend Bro . Henry Faudel , in 1857 —( Bro . Faudel was a P . G . D . of the

G . L . of England ) . Well , in the course of conversation that evening , Mr . Marks informed us that he once read something about the Hiramic legend in a preface to the Zohar . Now , if Bro . Lewis derived his information from the same

Mr . Marks , then there is a curious discrepancy between the two statements . However , it is possible that a Mason in the last century published an edition of the Zohar , and inserted the Masonic legend into the preface . It is also

possible that an Arabic Mason may have written an Arabic MS . in the last century , and palmed it off on the Bodleian Library as an ancient MS ., the same as the Scarborough and Inigo Jones MSS . were palmed off on the Rev . Bros . Kerr and Woodford . And as Rev . Doctors have

again and again made misstatements , as already shown ; some have even appealed to books and manuscripts in certain libraries , which upon inquiry were found utterly baseless ; it is , therefore , now no more than right and proper , before we consider Bro . Lewis' statement , to

ascertain—First . Whether there i 3 such an Arabic MS . in the Bodleian Library ? Second . Whether it was written in the 14 th century ? And third . The legend therein must be translated into English , so as to enable us to judge of its value . Should such an investigation confirm Bro . Lewis' theory , he will then be entitled to the thanks of every Mason . Should , howover , | the statement he received be on a par with

Masonic Credulity.

the statements formerly made by Messrs . Oliver , Leeson and Co ., or should the MS . in question be of recent date , it would then become tho duty of the W . M . of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge to caution Bro . Lewis , that if ho value a reputation for veracity and common sense he must never

again repeat unsupported statements , which were designed to bolster up either Masonic sectarianism , high degreedom , or the antiquity of Masonic legends , even if these

statements proceed from Medical , Divinical , or Rabbinical Doctors of the highest reputation for scholarship , piety , and what not . BOSTON , U . S . 27 th December 1886 .

Popery Or Masonry.

POPERY OR MASONRY .

nHHERE is nothing in the Catholic religion which is JL adverse to Masonry ; for the truth is that Masonry

embodies " that religion in which all men agree . " This is as true as that all veritable religion , wherever found , is in substance the same . Neither is it "in the power of any man or body of men" to make it otherwise . Doctrines and forms of observances conformable to piety , imposed by spiritual overseers , may bo as various as

the courses of the winds ; and like the latter may war with each other upon the face of the whole earth ; but they are not religion . Bigotry and zeal—the assumptions of priestcraft , with

all its countless inventions to magnify and impress the world with its own importance and the necessity of its rule over the minds of men , are ever the mainsprings

of strife , hatred and revenge , which defame and banish religion and its inseparable virtues ; and work unspeakable mischief wherever mankind are found upon the earth .

Popery and priestcraft are so allied that they may be called the same ; the truth being that the former is nothing more nor less than a special case of the latter ; being a particular form of evolution of the same vicious

principle ; which itself is but the offspring of the conceit of self-sufficiency and tho lust of dominion . Nothing which can bo named is more repugnant to the spirit of Masonry —nothing is to be more carefully guarded against ; and

this has always been well understood by all skilful masters ; and it must in truth be said that such is the wisdom of the lessons , and so admirable the order of the Ancient Craft Lodge , that these pernicious influences

have hitherto been kept under better subjection throughout all bodies of the institution , than in any other equal

to it in antiquity and the multitude of its votaries . Nevertheless Masons must not flatter themselves with the self-delusive notion which has deceived the supporters

of all orders and establishments of the world ; that they can " take a bond " of human nature to hold them harmless against the delinquency and folly common to the

race . There always glides into every association or community of whatever kind , a lurking disposition to assume and extend more and more oversight and control over

individuals and subordinate bodies if any , and to multiply provisions and prescriptions concerning conduct and beliefs , not called for or warranted by the principles of the fundamental law ; or involved in the prime object

of the institution . This prompts repeated encroachments , and departures from the original design ; always commencing with changed modes of procedure , dereliction in observing " the weightier matters of the law ; " and

making up for the schortcoming by contentious zeal in tithing " mint , anise and cummin . " From this proceeds continual legislation and controversies over countless quibbles and prevarications : and these in turn generate

new departures , with their trains of litigations ; more perplexing and vexatious as they are more and more worthless ; until division and dissolution set in . Those which have survived this stage of degeneracy have been hierarchies backed by dependent and servile civil governments , by which their integrity could be forcibly

maintained . All these troubles come in with the increase of members and influence ; as can be seen in the history of institutions founded in aid of moral aud religious improvement . The whole pt 03 ess is known by the common term " corruption , " and the further it proc 3 eds the more ircurablo