The New Declaration Of Faith

is required of them . This we take do be a very just and proper ground of exclusion , not only for the reason we have just given , viz ., that Freemasonry is called upon to enact laws and regulations not to suit the peculiar views of outsiders , but in accordance with tho views of its constituent members ;

but likewise because wo cannot bring ourselves to regard one who denies God as a fit person for initiation into our Society . It may bo , as the report of the Commission already alluded to points out , that tho formula now struck out of the French Constitutions found its way thither only

as recently as 1849 , and , therefore , that Freemasonry in France is but returning to its old form of faith . But in ascertaining the character of Freemasonry wo mnst go further back than a generation . Wo must revert to the earliest Constitutions as settled by the founders of modern

Freemasonry , that is , to the laws compiled by Payne , Anderson , Desaguliers , and others , and approved by the first Grand Lodge—that is to say , first in order of time—of tho Speculative Era . Thus we find the first of the Old Charges declares that "A Mason is obliged by his tenure to

obey the moral law ; and if he rightly understands the art , he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine . But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of the country or nation , whatever it was , yet it is now thought more expedient only

to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves ; that is , to be good men and true , or men of honour and honesty , by whatever denominations or persuasions they may bo distinguished ; whereby Masonry becomes tho centre of union

and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must have otherwise remained at a perpetual distance . " Here then it is laid down clearly , firmly , and deliberately that Theism is the first principle of Freemasonry . This is the solemn declaration made by the founders of

Speculative Freemasonry at a time when , as far as can be determined with any approach to certainty in these remote days , there was not a single Lodge of Freemasons , as we now understand the word , outside the limits of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Surel y it is not unreasonable , when we . are seeking for a definition of Freemasonry , to allow some little weight to the solemn statements of those who founded it .

They knew perfectly well what they were about when they framed the laws of our Society . It is said there was a Lodge in Paris in 1725 . There may have been , bntwhensover Freemasonry first appeared in France , it derived its origin from the Grand Lodge in London , and was founded

in accordance with the principles proclaimed by the latter . As to the statement that the formula as to the Deity was introduced for the first time in 1849 , into French Freemasonry , we have no French Constitutions at hand for reference , but we would ask our French brethren to explain

how , in such case a certain ornament of the Lodge in the second degree of their Rite is said to represent " le G . \ A . ' , qui ne tient que de lui seul la L . \ dont il brille . " There have been unfortunately so many revolutions in French Freemasonry that it is probably very difficult to determine

its character at or for any period of time ; but we have some idea the few words we have written above figured in the lecture or " Instihdion " of the F . C . or 2 nd degree a good

round quarter of a century before 1849 , if not at a much earlier date ; and we assume that just as our ritual and lectures are in accordance with our Constitutions , so their ritual and lectures are in accordance with theirs . We

imagine , further that " le G . ' . A . ' . " would not be introduced if his existence were not recognised . Of course , if we have stated anything that is wrong , our French readers will not be slow to correct us . At all events , we are under the impression that a belief in God , as one of the fundamental

principles of French Freemasonry , is not of so recent a date as 1849 ; but be this as it may , what is commonly known as " the French Rite , " includes the " Modern English Rite , " and to this extent tho principles of the two should be identical .

We might go still further , and point out that the legends of the old operative Guilds are all based on faith in the Supreme Being ; but as these guilds flourished only in Christian countries , their faith was Christian in its character . The founders of Speculative Freemasonry were , as we

said last week , a body of choice spirits who saw how fatal was religious and political bigotry , and who set themselves , therefore , to fashion a system of moralit y which should enable men of all political and religious opinions to meet together on an equal " footing and in complete harmony .

The New Declaration Of Faith

The motto they adopted was " liberty of conscience , " thus deliberately excluding that " want of conscience " which makes men atheists . We repeat , " tho man who claims to think as ho likes in matter of religion "—by which , of course , we mean tho man who claims to believe or not

to believe in God , just as it suits him—is not a fit and proper person to be admitted into Freemasonry . We are content to accept tho exposition offered by Rebold , the French Masonic historian , of tho doctrines and purpose of philosophic Freemasonry . "These doctrines , " he says , " are

symbolised by the three great lights which illumine its temples , and which represent tho love of God , tho lovo of man , and tho lovo of virtue . " [ Ct's doctrines sont symbolisees par les trois grands luminaires qui eclairent ses temples et qui represmtent L ' AMOUR DE DIEU , * ' AMOUR DE SON PROCHAIN ,

L ' AMOUR DE LA VERTU . ] Ancl , again , " This purpose is symbolised by the universal temple of truth , of humanity , of fraternity , that temple in tho construction of which true adepts work incessantly , aud add to it each his stone , to

the end that the edifice—the vastest which will ever have existed , for it should know no other limits than the worldmay one day upraise itself in all its grandeur and beauty , as a lasting testimony of gratitude to tho glory of tho G . A . O . T . U . "

Grand Lodge Of Massachusetts.

GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS .

THIS Grand Lodge met in Quarterly Communication on the 12 th September , under the Presidency of Bro . Percival Lowell Everett , who was numerously supported by the Grand Officers and representatives of the Subordinate Lodges . Grand Lodge having been opened in ample

form with prayer , the minutes of the previous Communication were taken as read and approved . Codes and amended codes of bye-laws having been referred to the Committee on Bye-Laws , and a petition for formal healing having been referred to the Committee on Healing , a

petition to stay proceedings in respect of a particular Lodge in conferring degrees was referred to a special Committee . The Charter of Hiram Lodge , Copiapo , Chili , which had ceased to exist , was placed among the archives . A letter from the pro tem . Grand Secretary of G . Lodge of

New Hampshire was then read , announcing the death of Bro . John A . Harris , who had filled the office of Grand Secretary since 1873 . A record was thereupon ordered to be placed on the minutes containing full particulars of the eminent services rendered by the deceased brother in the

high positions he had held in Craft , Arch , and Templar Masonry , as well as in the Ancient and Accepted Rite ; and also an expression of sympathy with the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire in respect of the loss it had sustained " in the death of so eminent a brother

and so zealous , devoted , and faithful a labourer in the cause of Masonry . " Communications having been read from the Grand Lodge of New Brunswick and Dakota , announcing the destruction by fire of their libraries , it was resolved , on the motion of Bro . Sereno D . Nickerson ,

Chairman of the Library Committee , to furnish duplicates of the Proceedings of the Massachusetts and other Grand Lodges as far as might be possible . The Committee on the proposed amendments to the Constitutions asked and obtained leave to defer their Report till tho annual Communication in

December . The Committee on Healing also obtained further time for delivering their Report . The Report of the Committee on Charters on the petition of Pilgrim Lodge was accepted . The death of Bro . Sam . K . Hutchinson , a Past G . W ., having been announced , the Committee submitted an

elaborate , highly eulogistic , and sympathetic report on the loss of one who had rendered such signal services to Freemasonry , ancl who , in the course of a Jong and honourable career , extending over more than fifty-one years , had attained such high positions in the various branches of Masonry . The

Report concluded with a series of resolutions embod ying this regret for his loss , and the sympathy of Grand Lodge with the surviving members of his family ; to whom the Recording Grand Secretary was requested to transmit copy of the same . A Report , recommending the expulsion of

an unaffiliated Mason from all the ri ghts and privileges of Masonry , for highly immoral conduct , was approved . An appeal by certain members of a particular Lodge against the Report of an Investigation Committee of said Lodge , relative to the worthiness of a candidate who had been balloted for and initiated ,