Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

- ¦ PAGE T HE F UTURE OF FREEMASONRY IN IRELAND 735 & 73 6 P ROV . G RAND LODGE OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 736 & 737 P ROV . G RAND LODGE OF NORFOLK 737 , 738 , & 739 PROV . GRAND MARK LODGE OF

NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM 739 THE INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS 739 A NSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 740 " A BODY WITHOUT A HEAD " 740 & 741 M ULTAM IN PARVO 741 O RIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 741 & 742 CON-ECRATION OF A LODGE IN NEW ZEALAND ... 742 C ONSECRATION OF A LODGE AT CHIPPING

SODBURY 742 C ONSECRATION OF A ROSE CROIX CHAPTER AT NEWPORT 742 C ONSECRATION OF A K . T . ENCAMPMENT AT NEWPORT 742 & 743 I

NSTRUCTIONAnniversary Supper of the Domatic Lodge ... 743 GRAND MARK LODGE 743 THE C RAFTMetropolitan 744 Provincial - 744 & 745

Illdia 745 ROYAL ARCHMetropolitan 745 Provincial 745 MARK MASONRY 745 ORDERS OF

CHIVALRYKnights Templar ... ... ... ... 74 * MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK ... 745 & 74 G SCOTLAND 749 ADVERTISEMENTS ... 733 , 734 , 746 , 747 , & 74 S

The Future Of Freemasonry In Ireland.

THE FUTURE OF FREEMASONRY IN IRELAND .

SECOND ARTICLE . Much has been said and much has been written concerning the origin of the Masonic Order , as we find it in our day . It is not my present purpose to enter at all into that

branch of the subject . Wc may , I think , fairly assume that Freemasonry , or something very similar to it , has existed from "time immemorial , " and Avhether it Avas originally exclusively operative in its

character , or not , is beside the present question . Thc Freemasonry of our day is , at all events , purely speculative , and it is only on such comparatively rare occasions as the laying of foundation-stones and

suchlike ceremonies , that any official connection between it and the operative associations from which it probably sprung is publicly asserted . Looking at it as it exists , Ave recognise a system probably as perfect as any merely human organisation can be , binding in its " mystic tie" all classes , all

countries , and all creeds ; teaching mankind the same practical lesson that Paul proclaimed to the Athenians of his day , that God " hath made of one blood all nations of men , " and inculcating its lessons of " peace , lov « , and harmony " in every locality

where the foot of man finds a resting-place . Like other great organisations , it has met with much persecution , at various times and i » many lands , ajid thc usual effect of

persecution has been found in tlie increased

energy , zeal , and devotedness of its disci-P'es . Those clays arc , happily , past . Our lines have fallen in pleasant places , ancl our grand old Order now holds a high position

in the esteem of those Avhosc good report is valuable , and wields an influence second to no other human organisation in the Avorld . ^ rue , it has its enemies . It has been said , an d said Aviselv . that a man AA'I IO has no

enemies is gooci for very little ; and , probabl y , the samct' . iismapplieswith increased force to a system . There arc those AVIIO -gnorantly misunderstand , and there arc

thosa Avho willfuly misrepresent , our organisation ; but as long as Ave keep intact the princi ples that haA'e made our Order what lt is , Ave can afford to pity the one class , "' id to despise thc other class of our assail-

The Future Of Freemasonry In Ireland.

ants . It is universally admitted that the Masonic Order has . HOAV attained to a position unprecedented in its annals ; and Avhen Ave come to ask , what may this fact be

attributed to ? I think the answer will be found in the prominence with which tAVO special " doctrines " are presented , and in the faithfulness Avith which Masonic theory on those doctrines is worked out in Masonic

practice . Those two points are , unlimited tolerance as to religious opinions , and perfect equality as regards the standing of our members . The importance of those tAvo "

platforms , " at the present day , can hardly be oA'er-stated . Thinking men differ AA'idely in their estimates of truth , and the honestest thinkers Avill come to very different conclusions Avhen religion is the subject of their

investigations . The " isms" that cling around , and frequently disfigure and obscure , the truth of God ' s revelation , divide men more effectually and Avidely than the physical barriers that map out the

globe ; and a Society which , Avhile almost a religious one in its precepts and teaching , requires no religious test of its initiates but the recognition ofa Supreme Being , affords a suitable arena Avhere honest men of all

phases of faith and forms of belief , can meet Avithout compromise of principle , and Avith the certainty that no Avord will be spoken and no act done A \ "hich need hurt the most sensitive as to religious matters .

Again , a Society Avhich , Avithin its borders , ignores class distinctions and social differences , and takes men for Avhat they are intrinsically worth , is in striking contrast to thc usual practices of the world , and presents a haA'en where men meet their social

superiors as men and as brethren , and sink for a time the false advantages Avhich the " accidents " of birth or fortune endoAv them Avith elseAvhcrc . In those two principles AA'ill be found , I think , the key to our

success as an Institution , and just as Ave keep to , or diverge from , thc standard Avhich they establish , may Ave expect to find our Order prosperous and influential , or languishing ancl Aveakcning in its influence on our common humanity .

Looking at the Masonic system as it is established in Ireland , Ave find within it , coupled Avith much that is good and Avholesome , the elements of future disunion and disruption . Not content with thc uniA'ersal

" three degrees " of Ancient Craft Masonry , and the crowning revelations of thc Royal Arch Degree , an attempt has been made to initiate another rite , by compounding a system nominalh- of thirty-three degrees

Avhile the redeeming quality of the rite so initiated has been deliberately put aside by the introduction of thc Templar Order as a

portion of the degrees , thereby requiring all aspirants to make a profession of the Christian faith as a necessary prelude to tlieir adA'ancemcnt . In the "Ancient and

Accepted Rite" no such profession is necessary , and in its culminating degree of the thirty-three degrees it is provided that , of the nine members composing it in each country , five , at least , must hold the

Christian faith , thus rendering it possible for those not Christians to attain to its highest honours . I do not now speak of thc incongruity of conferring degrees which , in their constitution , are essentially Christian on

those Avho may be enemies of that creed , nor of thc absurd and ilIogic : il subterfuge by which the exponents of the A . and A . Rite attempt to reconcile thc teachings of such decrees as that of tlie Rose Croix with

the tenets of unchristian faith ; but they have , at all events , endeavoured to preserve ont : of the attributes of true Masonry , by

The Future Of Freemasonry In Ireland.

keeping open the " high degrees " free from a religious " test , " as applied to those who seek them . Here ,, the error lies in a different direction . Recognising the fact that those " higher degrees" are Christian in

their character , membership of the Templar Order is required as a preliminary to their reception , Avhile the additional fact is concealed or lost sight of , that those degrees are actually a part of the Templar system ,

and should , in common honesty , be placed under the control of that Christian organisation . As , hoAvever , something was necessary to give the appearance of completeness to the composite rite established here , the

" ne plus ultra " of the A . and A . Rite Avas imported and placed at the head of an arrangement Avith which it has no connection , the result being , as a whole , ludicruously inconsistent and utterly dissimilar to anything Masonic existing elseAvhere .

Nor is the departure from true Masonic principle , by the imposition of a religious barrier to the advancement of members , the only direction in Avhich Irish Freemasonry , as usually recognised , has deviated from the

proper standard . The aristocratic element , so antagonistic to true Masonry , and so repugnant to its teachings , has so permeated Avhat are called the high degrees in this country as to render them nearly , if not

quite , Avorthlcss as reAA'ards of Masonic worth . A line has been draA \ Ti beyond Avhich it has become almost impossible for those not occupying a certain social position , or not connected in some Avay Avith

certain parties , to pass , no matter Avhat may be their worth as " working " Masons . There can , of course , be no objection to brethren forming themselves into associations as exclusive as the members please ,

provided they do not hold out the banner of Masonry as a cover to proceedings opposed to its principles and irreconciliablc Avith its practice ; but Avhen degrees Avhich arc not Masonic are blended into a system

of Masonry , and held forth to young Masons , and to the outside Avorld , as a connected series of Alasonic steps constituting a complete rite of thirty-three degrees , ^ ' t is time for those AVIIO know better to

bestir themselves and to do Avhat they can to preserve , intact , genuine Freemasonry . True , Masonry is , perhaps , thc purest form of " Republicanism , " and thc A'cry title ofa " Prince Mason " is utterly inconsistent

with its simplicity and thc equality which is one of its vital principles . But in Masonry , as outside it , high pretensions and loud assertions go a long way to compensate for the want of argument and the

absence of reasonable proofs , and , as a consequence , the possessors of those socalled " higher degrees " have not only almost persuaded others , but have , I think , to a great extent , almost persuaded

themselves , that they are the natural leaders ot the Order , and , as such , arc entitled to assume a position and influence in Grand Lodge to which they have not the shadow of a claim . If Ave look back on various

Masonic proceedings within thc last few years , and estimate to Avhat extent our occasional strifes and differences are referable , directly or indirectly , to the connection with Masonry of the " high degrees , " Ave

may be able to see the danger that awaits us in thc future from the same exciting cause , and may also see thc necessity of averting the danger by cutting off , at once and for ever , its cause .

It is not necessary just now to go very fully into the origin of the "high grades " and their connection with Freemasonry . Thc readers of THE FREEMASON have been instructed on that subject , perhaps , almest