Old Undated Masonic Manuscripts.

written before then ; but whether tho poem was written tweuty-fivo years after 1406 , or sovonty-fivo years after the above year , it is difficult to prove . One fact is certain , viz .: that the poem was written by a trite blue Roman

Catholic , for Roman Catholics . But I cannot say as much about the Matthew Cooke MS . ; for every Catholic prayer of a guild that I havo seen makes mention of tho Virgin , of Christ , aud of a Patron Saint or Saints ; the

invocation in the Masouic poem begins with , " Pray we now to God Almighty , and to His mother Mary bright . " Then follows the story of the four holy martyrs , and " Christ ' s law , " & c . The Strasburg and the Turgo

Constitutions also refer to the Virgin , to the four Saints , and to the Trinity . I have seen a similar document , belonging to tho Grocers' Guild , wherein the Trinity , the Virgin , and St . Anthony ( I believe ) were appealed to . Mr . Herbert , in his History of the Twelve London

Livery Companies , says : — ••None of the trades assembled to form fraternities without ranging themselves under the banner of some Saint ;

and , if possible , they chose a Saint who either bore relation to their trade , or to some other analogous circumstances . " Thus the Fishmougers chose St . Peter for their Patron , tho Carpenters had Saint Joseph for their Patron , & c . Now , the London Drapers could not find a Saint that was

engaged in tho drapery business , but as some of the goods thoy sold wero made out of lambs' wool , and as Christ is called " The Holy Lamb , " and as a lamb is covered with wool , so they chose the Virgin for their Patron Saint , because sho was the mother of the ** Holy Lamb . "

The London Tailors were as puzzled in choosing a suitable Saint as the Drapers were . Strange to say , that among tho old Saints of Jewish origin not one of them was a tailor , or even a dealer in " old ch . " The woollen cloth

used by Tailors doubtless suggested the * ' Holy Lamb , " bufc as the Drapers had already appropriated the mother of the Lamb , thoy therefore chose tho Baptist for their Patron Saint , because , says Herbert , "ho was tho Harbinger of

tho Holy Lamb . And hero I cannot help noticing tho extraordinary imagination of tho old pious brethren in tho woollen trades , viz ., because tho Virgin and tho Baptist were imaginarily connected with imaginary wool of an imaginary lamb

therefore the pious dealers in woollen goods imagined that tho said Saints were bound to tako an interest in the woollen trade , and would use their influence with the

powers abpvc to promote tho prosperity of tho said trade . But , any how , I have given sufficient illustrations to prove that tho documents and doings of tho old guilds were crammed with allusions to the Catholic religion .

Now tho Cooke MS . is utterly minus of all allusion to tho Catholic religion . It seems to have been written by a Protestant for Protestants . True , the language seems to have been used before tho Reformation . Wo must not ,

however , forgot that Masouic writers wero always prono to make things appear older than they wero . Nor was that craze confiued to Masons . Mr . Herbert says : — " The societies chartered aro mostly stated to bo of great antiquity ,

or to have existed from time whereof there is no memory . " But as to Masonic writers , that craze to make out everything in Masonry older than it is is still rampant among them . Now , with regard to tho Cooko MS ., I say

that it may havo been written in tho days ol Edward VI ., but in a place remote from London , where the old fashioned ways , of a hundred years before , of speaking ancl writing were still retained ;

or it may have beeu written in London after tbe Reformation , bufc fcho scribe thereof thought it prudent to use the old style in order to mislead the reader , that tho cock and bull stories which ho added to tho history of Masonry

might seem to have como down from olden time . And such was the case with the scribes ot all succeeding Masonio MSS . Tako , for instance , the MS . dated 1585 , and compare it with contemporary writings ,

such as Plott ' a or Ashmolo ' s , and wo must admit that it waa purposely designed to make it appear a hundred years older than ita date , and even tho latest MSS . are crammed with archaisms that havo been out of use for centuries , and

I cannot , therefore , seo why tho writer of tho Cooke MS . may not have resorted to the samo dodge . Two things , however , are certain ; 1 st , tbat tho Poem

waa written by a Roman Catholic ; and 2 nd , that the sixty or moro dated and undated MSS ., known as the" Old Charges , " wore tho offspring of tho Cooko MS . To be sure , some of them are varied by additions or omiaaious , but ,

Old Undated Masonic Manuscripts.

nevertheless , tho Cooko MS . is the parent , direct or indirect , of all of them . BOSTON , U . S ., 29 th July 1889 . ( To bo continued ) .

Freemasonry Is Religious.

FREEMASONRY IS RELIGIOUS .

TIH E RE seems , of late years , to have been a very needless expenditure of ingenuity and talent , by a large number of Masonic orators and essayists , in tho endeavour to prove that Masonry is not religion . This has , undoubtedly , arisen from a well-intended but erroneous view thafc has

been taken of the connection between religion and Masonry , and from a fear that if a complete disseverance of the two institutions was not made manifest , the opponents of Masonry would be enabled successfully to establish a theory which thoy have been fond of advancing , tbat the Masons

were disposed to substitute the teachings of their Uraft for the truths of Christianity . Now , we have never for a moment believed that any such unwarrantable presumption , as that Masonry is intended to be a substitute for Christianity , could ever obtain admission into any wellregulated mind , and we , therefore , are not disposed to yield on the subject of the religious character of Masonry , quite

so much as has been yielded by our more timid Brethren . On the contrary , we contend , without any sort of hesitation , that Masonry is , in every sense of the word , except one , and that its least philosophical , an eminently religious institution—that it is indebted solely to the religious element which ib contains for its origin , and for its

continued existence , and that without this religious element it would scarcely be worthy of cultivation by the wise or tho good . But that we may understand ourselves , and be truly understood , it will be well that we should first agree upon the true definition of religion . There is nothing more illogical than to reason upon undefined terms . Ono of the most eminent orthoepists of our ago has given four distinct definitions of religion .

1 . Religion , in a comprehensive sense , includes , ho says , a belief in the being and perfections of God ; in the revelation of His will to man ; in man's obligation to obey His commands ; in a state of reward and punishment , and iu man ' s accountableness to God ; and also true godliness or

piety of life with the practice of all moral duties . 2 . His second definition is , that religion , as distinct from theology , is godliness or real piety in practice , consisting in tho performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men , in obedience to Divine command , or from love to God and His law .

3 . Again , ho says that religion , as distinct from virtue or morality , consists in tho performance of tho dnties we owo directly to God , from a principle of obedience to His will .

4 . And lastly , he defines religion to be any system of faith or worship ; aud iu this sense he says religion comprehends the belief and worship of pagans and Mohammedans as well as of Christians ; any religion consisting in

the belief of a superior power or powers governing the world and in tho worship of such power or powers . And it is in this souse that we speak of the Turkish religion , or the Jewish religion , as well as of the Christian .

Now , ifc appears very plain fco us , that in either of the first three senses in which we may take the word religion ( and they do not very materially differ from each other ) , Masonry may rightfully claim to be called a religious

institution . Closely and accurately examined , it will be found to answer to any one of the requirements of either of these three definitions . So much does it " ' include a

belief in fche being and perfections of God , " that the public profession of such a faith is essentially necessary to gain admiss on into the Craft . No disbeliever in the existence of God can be made a Mason . The " revelation of His will

to man " is technically called the " spiritual , moral and Masonic trestleboard" of every Mason , according to fche rules ancl designs of which he is to erect tbe spiiifcual edifice of his eternal life . A " state of reward and

punishment" is necessarily included in tho very idea of an obligation , which , without the belief in such a state , could be of no binding force or efficacy . And " true godliness or piety of life " is inculcated as the invariable duty of every Mason , from tho inception of tho first to tho end of

the very last degree that ho takes . So , again , in reference to the second and third definitions , all this practical piety