Christianity And Freemasonry.

CHRISTIANITY AND FREEMASONRY .

THE following letters have appeared in the " Church Times , in answer to the one we extracted last week : SIB , —As it was my suggestion in your columns that a meeting of Masons who are Churchmen ( as the great majority in England are ) might profitably and pleasurably be held at the time of the Church Congress and in the town in which it met , I may perhaps answer the letter of your correspondent

" Offeiriad . " That gathering will not be held at Shrewsbury ( though the proposal attracted much attention , and I received letters from all parts approving the idea ) , because a high Masonic dignitary in those parts , who is also a well-known and respected Churchman , thought it might somewhat , though only for one evening , interfere with the attraction of the Congress . I hope , however , this objection may not be raised , or prevail , in another place next or some other year .

It is to be regretted that "Offeiriad , " when attacking Freemasonry does not give his name . It is obvious from his letter that he is not a Mason , and that he knows little of our principles and practices . This fairly detracts from the value of his assertions and arguments . The value of the opinion of a herring as to the merits of mountain air is not great . It is further to be regretted that as he has obviously put his views before some one who is a Mason , and has had his confusion of thought pointed out , that he still prefers his surmises to the statement of facts . His letter is really only an expansion of one sentence— " Rome condemns Masonry ; therefore let us eschew it . "

Popes , beginning with Clement XII ., in 1737 , have condemned Freemasonry . Rightly , as regards the caricature of , and departure from , its essential principles as found in Italy , France , and perhaps Belgium . Utterly wrong as regards original and real Masonry . One might as well confuse and equally condemn the Church of England and the Plymouth Brethren as assume , and even , as does " Offeiriad , " assert , in the teeth of facts and history , that Masonry is responsible for the atheism and political action of the Grand Orient of France and other bodies which English Masonry

has solemnly and utterly condemned . " Offeiriad has been told the truth as to our excommunication of those Continental bodies that now represent simply degenerate and spurious Masonry ; yet he says he may be pardoned for asking whether the separation is more than merely nominal . I , for one , fail to see why he should be pardoned . And he further betrays his ignorance when he asks whether " the Welsh Lodges have followed the example of the English . " One might as well ask when England has declared war against Russia if Llanywrtsll had done the same ? In such matters the Grand Lodge acts for all , and not separate Lodges , whether English or Welsh .

But , he says , we have no certainty that even English Masonry is innocent , because it is a secret society . Any question that would prove or disprove its innocence can readily be put by ' ¦ Offeiriad " to any Mason , and would be freely answered . We have absolutely no secrets as to our principles . And whence comes his objection to a secret society ? From the Jesuits of all people in the world ! The names of all our members are sent by law to the

Home Secretary . Will the Jesuits do the same ? Our principles , our creed ( which pledges us to a belief in God and immortality ) , our aims and purpose , are declared openly and with pride and have been printed over and over again . True , we have certian secrets , useful to us , but useless to non-Masons , and harmful to none . So have most families , and most tradesmen . No society is bad because secret , but only if its secrets are to veil bad aims or actions .

Freemasonry is not a benefit society , not a political society , not a religion , not an infidelity , not a feasting club , not a secret society ; but it is a Brotherhood of men of all classes , nations , races , colours , and creeds , who are found or believed to be believers in one , sole personal God , and in the immortality of man ; of good repute , free , sound , charitable , and loyal . It does not profess to be Christian , yet it never can be anti-Christian . Further

dogma we leave to the priests and ministers of religion outside . We assert none , but neither do we controvert any . Were all the world Christian , and did all Christians act up to their profession , then , from the moral point of view , Freemasonry would no doubt be needless , though still containing points of interest and advantage to men . But while the world and men are what they are , none but those who share the ignorance of the Pope and " Offeiriad " will refuse its aid to morality and faith .

J . W . HOESLBY . P . S . — " Offeiriad ' s " " pretty dilemma " is too absurd to controvert . No in his instance , or in any other , does the performance of any actual or conceivable Christian duty conflict with the observance of any Masonic obligation .

SIB , —Why does not " Offeiriad , " as he signs himself , come out like a man over his own signature ? He has undertaken to write disparagingly of that with which he is evidently imperfectly acquainted—to talk of the Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons , " as a harmless , if somewhat ludicrous society , patronised by Royalty , " & c . Let me—who have been a Mason six-and-thirty years , and have held various offices in the Craft—say

that the society , as he calls it , often supplies acts of charity of which there is too evident a lack amongst Christians . If he had seen the Christian acts done by Freemasons , both in the U . S . A . and Canada during the war between North and South—as I did—he would know that Masonry is not merely " harmless ? " Harmless , forsooth ! Is it merely " harmless " to save the life of an enemy ? Is it merely " harmless , " or ia it "ludicrous , " to knock up a " revolver " aimed at a man's head ?

As to being " patronised by Royalty , " if the words are meant as a sneer , they fall flat , for though all Masons may not be Christians , they all "Fear God and honour the King , " and that is more than can be said of all Christians . And there may come a time ( which God forbid ) when Royalty will find that Masonry to them is not " ludicrous , " or a thing merely " harmless , " but a strong bulwark of the throne .

DAVID C . MOOBB , Past Grand Master Mason of Nova Scotia , and a Clergyman . Westhide , Hereford . SIB , —The letter signed " Offeiriad " in your last issue is , to say the least about it , amusing , inasmuch as the writer is in ignorance of the subject upon which he writes , and makes statements instead of asking questions , evidently with a hope of gaining information .

He will , however , gain no information , as the principles of Freemasonry are , to say the least of them , too kind to encourage controversy with the uninitiated which would hold them up to ridicule . I may be doing wrong in taking notice of the letter of " Offeiriad , " but a society which seeks to keep secret the truly religious work it does , and impresses upon its members

Christianity And Freemasonry.

charity in its highest form of love and good works is far from being anti-Christian , since the precepts as set forth in the sixth chapter of St . Matthew ' s Gospel as taught by Christ , as well as those of St . Paul in the thirteenth chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians , are the foundation-stones of the Craft . Forgive my addressing you , but " Offeiriad ' s " letter is conducive to pain and is wanting in principles it would be well should be laid . '

H . V . T . Past Prov . G . Chaplain ( Craft ) . Past G . Steward England ( Mark ) . SIB , —Having observed in your last issue the letter of " Offeiriad " under the above heading , permit me as a Past Master of tho Masonic Fraternity to offer some of the information which your correspondent seeks . The Grand Orient of France having been expressly excommunicated by the Grand Lodge

of England on account of its avowed atheistic and seditious principles , all members of the English Constitution would by implication be bound to avoid any Continental Lodge where it appears that similar tenets are maintained . I may here observe , having devoted considerable attention to the subject , that the French Orient was originally similar in most respects to our own Constitution , and continued until the end of the last century true and loyal allegiance to the Church and Throne , the chair of Grand Master being

usually filled by a Prince of tho Blood Royal . The last Prince who held this august office was Philip , Duke of Orleans , afterwards surnamed Egalite , who succeeded a Prince of Conde , whose lamentable defection from the paths of Chistianity , loyalty , and virtue , and the just retribution which thereupon ensued , need not be here alluded to , except for the purpose of observing that the Craft in France appears to have declined with him , and to have been speedily converted into a hot-bed of treason and sedition .

As to the question concerning the Welsh Lodges , the reply is simple : they all belong to the English Constitution , and are therefore bound by the decrees of Grand Lodge , which , if they contravene , it is at their own peril . This is by no means a subject for newspaper discussion , or I might add much more , and might well enlarge upon the immense services which the Craft has rendered to the Church in former days , of which so many glorious

monuments survive , not the least being Winchester Cathedral , which enshrines the ashes of two of our most illustrious Brethren—viz ., William of Wykeham and Peter de Rupibus , who possess many worthy successors in modern times , among whom I may be permitted to name the late Archbishop Magee , of York , and also a noble layman whose more recent loss we now deplore—the Earl of Limerick , who was the oldest surviving president of the E . C . U . [?] , and formerly Provincial Grand Master of Bristol .

In conclusion , let me remind your correspondent of the well-known fact , that for many generations , including the Stuart period , our kings have been almost invariably members of the Oraft . As to the general merits of the Order , I can only say , in the words of St . Hildebert : — " Norunt illi qui sunt intus . "

ATTICUS . SIB , —The courteous letter of " Offeiriad" ought not to remain unanswered . He thinks that English Churchmen should refuse to countenance Masonry " in the slightest degree , " and asserts that the fact of good Catholics being members of the fraternity " is a hindrance to the Faith . " He further states that there " are cases in which the performance of Christian duty would certainly conflict with the observance of Masonic obligation . " I

have been a Freemason for more than thirty years , and let me assure him that he is mistaken . It is quite a mistake to suppose that any conflict could arise between Christian duty and Masonic obligation . To take his own example : If two equally necessitous persons —one a Freemason , but not a Christian , the other a Christian , but not a Freemason—apply to me for assistance , and I can only aid one of the two , it is not the case that I am under any sort of obligation to choose the former as the recipient of my aid . Undoubtedly the condition of Freemasonry on the continent of Europe

does cause difficulties . I hope that no Continental Lodges have fallen to so low a standard as to connect themselves with Luciferians and other anti-Christian sects ; but Lodges under the Grand Orient of France are avowedly atheistic , and for that reason none of their members are permitted to visit our Lodges , and any Freemason belonging to any Lodge under the Grand Lodge of England would be liable to be expelled if he visited one of the Grand Orient Lodges . Not long ago one who had received the honour of knighthood for colonial services was deprived of his position in Grand Lodge for fraternising with Grand Orient Masons in one of our distant colonies .

The severe , but perhaps not altogether inaccurate , description of us given by your correspondent ought , I think , to be excepted as removing us from the category of dangerous persons ; he speaks of us as " a harmless , if somewhat ludicrous , society . . . which combines benevolence with conviviality 1 " There remains the question of " indirectly aiding and abetting the anti-Christain forces of the continent , " which , I have no doubt , has often exercised the minds of other Christian Masons besides myself . " Offeiriad" has put the case temperately , but strongly from one side ; let me try to show another side .

There are about 2 , 500 Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England , and allowing the low average of 40 members to a Lodge , we have , it appears , at least 100 , 000 subscribing members , besides a large ( perhaps an equally large ) number of men who , for one cause or another , have ceased to take any active part in the concerns of the fraternity . Then there are valuable premises in London , and extensive buildings elsewhere connected with the various benevolent institutions , which , as the pronerty of the Order , all combine to

afford an element of permanence . In short , we have to deal with the fact that the Order exists in all parts of the Queen's dominions , that it permeates all classes of society , and that in this changing world nothing perhaps is more certain than that Freemasonry , in some form or other , will continue to exist . If there was anything sinful in the ritual or ceremonies of the Order , it is obvious that every Christian ought to denounce it . But there is not anything sinful , any more than there is in the Oddfellows or the Foresters .

I maintain , therefore , that it would be unwise—rather , it would be wrong—for good Churchmen to withdraw from the Society . The present sad conditon of many Continental Lodges is largely , if not entirely , due to the attitude assumed towards the Order many years ago by the ecclesiastical authorities in those countries ; it is the action of those authorities which haa

caused the Order to drift into the control of infidels and atheists . We are not allowed to discuss religion in our Lodges , but in the established ceremonies expressions such as " Great Architect of the Universe " are used , implying a belief in a personal God . It was the removal by fche Grand Orient of France of all such expressions , on purpose to suit the wishes of atheists