The Mysteries Of Freemasonry.

. 11 and , above all , what those discrepancies So that his review ends where it begins , f " ever skilfully worded , in hazs and ignorance , doubt and difficulty . Nor could it well 111 fiu-t-vvise , nor need we affect to wonder at it . be o'lu- . ,,,. _ , . , . _ . would have been

' , > jr . even more strange . i jt been otherwise . For here is the reviewer ot "in the swim , " to use a young man ' s term f the dav , professing to know all about everything and to explain everything clearly to wonleriurr clerical readers . But what does he know r What can he explain ? It is quite clear that

he cannot unfold , even though he be like the Delphic Oracle , what he does not understand , even on his own showing , and Dr . Oliver ' s own showing , what is surrounded by mystery , and wrapped up in enigma and obscurity ! As a very remarkable evidence of how much any one

can say about nothing at all , and of a lucid explanation of what ha does not understand , we commend the '' review" in the "Guardian" of the 24 th May , page 696 , to which we have alluded , to the careful study of our clerical and non-clerical subscribers . We do not overlook ,

in saving all this , that Bro . Dr . Oliver s book was intended primarily for Freemasons , not the " profanum vulgus , " and that he is professedly expounding the exoteric teaching of the Order , to initiates . Therefore , he takes for granted

a certain amount of existing knowledge on the subject in the minds of those who read his word ? , which ostensibly in the C 3 se of the reviewer , did not and coald not exist . Hence the reviewer ' s bewilderment and bewondermcnt , his hopeless endeavour to unravel the twisted skein of

Masonic discrepancies , his mournful confession of hopeless and helpless ignorance . Here H a grave work , issued by a respectable publisher , professing to unfold the " discrepancies of Freemasonry , " and all to him is a jargon of an unknown tongue , he finds in the hoped-for

solution of cavils and controversies , only assertions in which nothing is asserted , and explanations in which nothing is explained . Now we confess we sympathize with the reviewer , because we are strongly of opinion that after all the fault docs not so much lie with him as these professed explanations ot Masonic teaching . We have

always felt , and feeling so , we have a right honest ! v to express our opinion , that the latitude of publication assumed by our excellent old brother Dr . Oliver , cannot Masonically bs defended , o : recommended to-day for imitation . It is quite clear to us that he allowed

himself , for one motive or another , to issue , before a curious and reading public , a great deal concerning Freemis-inry which ought never to have appeared in print at all . We all of us recognise gladly his great ability as a writer , his assiduous labours as an Arch . tolo ^ ist ,

the love he had for our good old Order , the scholarl y turn ho gave to all those striking disquisitions which he so carefully elaborated . But having said this , and with great admiration for our . old'teacher , we must not , as it appears to usj . ' shut our eyes to the clear , if somewhat

unpalatable fact , that he inaugurated and initiated a system of Masonic explanation and exposition fraught with danger to the best interests of l ' reeinasonry , and forbidden b y its normal constitutions . We mean this . He put before profanes as well as professed the inner teaching and cherished ceremonial of our Order far too

unreservedl y , in our humble opinion , and explained in print accessible to all , what after all ¦ s far better confined , and meant to be confined moreover , to the tyled area of the lodge-room . . '" " " ' -I be little doubt that , as always happens , *' ex planatory system he introduced I 13 S had its

neoph ytes and imitators , who have outdone their first preceptor , and have sought to disrobe . , eernasonry , so to say , and leave her like some "lushing nymph of old before startled and in nmsitivs gazers . We fear that the process has "one no good , but rather harm , to the Craft . } Here is with some a morbid anxiety , to which 11 is

wrong to pander , there is with others a love ot notoriety which is little less than unworth y . And in the meantime our " Alma Mater " silentlv sutlers . What the limits of Masonic publication snould be is no doubt a somewhat difficult matter to decide , and * it is one on which many w * pfc n ° P inio , * s exist . We shall recur to it next wce K . But in the meanwhile we feel bound to

The Mysteries Of Freemasonry.

say this , that while we are most favourable naturally to the diffusion of all proper Masonic lig ht on all matters which can fairly come before the open court of the public , we deprecate the appearance of anything which is intended to be kept " in camera , " and above all we . fear that the open communication of details of ritual ,

which , solely intended for tne lodge , deters many of our brethren from that support to Masonic literature which otherwise they would be disposed to accord . We have for some time past carefully guarded t ] le p 3 ges „ f the " Freemason " from all purely ritual discussions , and we intend for the future to follow the same course .

Hypercriticism.

HYPERCRITICISM .

We did not intend to return to this subject , but the letter of our correspondent , ' * Plain English , " seems to call for a few more fraternal remarks from us . To say the truth , we do not quire comprehend what it is our good complaining brother is really " driving at . " He

says he did not wish us to write "Anglo-Saxon , " but that his words were " plain Saxon English . " Then he informs us that " every well informed person knows that the Anglo-Saxon was a transition language , and passed away soon after the Norman Conquest "—this we fancy will be

news to Mr . Max Midler ; and lastly ha tells us that Carlyle ' s is " plain Saxon English . " These then seem to be the tniin points of his letter , except that he still says " sub si gillo confessionis" is not a common expression , and that as for " clientele " he admits his "ignorance of thc

appropriate use of it . " What then Ins it all come to ? But simply this . Our goodjbrother like a great many ofier fellows now-a-d . iys , " Rari nantes in gurgite vasto , " will try and deal with subjects which they have not carefully studied , or even laboriously thought out . For we live in

an age of flippancy of assertion , and shallowness of information , be it ever remembered . We , however , who have both studied and thought out the matter , are not likely to heed even our friendly critic " Plain English , " as , with all deferent :: to him , his communications clearly

evidence , that whatever may be the strength of his peculiar views , they are literally his own , and opposed to all that philology has achieved , or literary culture would suggest . When a brother gravely recommends Carlyle ' s verbiage as a model of plain Saxon English , he is either ,

as the French would say , an Anglo-Saxon " enrage , " or he supposes that none of us have ever read Carlyle . Now , we have studied Carlylo : and much as we admire his ori ginality of thought , his honesty of utterance , and his force of words , we must decline to accept either his

language or his style as a model for English composition . Old Johnson was probably right when he told us that we must carefully study Addison if we wished to write the English language correctly and gracefully , and we cannot admit that Carlyle ' s thundering passages

have in any way affected the truth of his " dictum " or ottered us a better style in the place of that which is alike clear and forcible , apposite and eloquent . Still we will not be hypercritical . We agree with " Plain English , " " aprc-s twut , " that it is not advisable as a

general rule to use foreign words when you can supply their English equivalents , but we equally feel convinced that many a heavy sentence of pure English prose is lightened materiall y by the contrast of some lighter foreign expression , which

covers a go < d deal of ground , and relieves the monotony of our classic vernacular . So here the controversy ends , in all good humour . We shall be on our guard not to hurt our good brother ' s feelings more than we can help , and that is all we can safely promise .

The Centennial At Philadelphia.

THE CENTENNIAL AT PHILADELPHIA .

We are glad to be permitted to send across the wide Atlantic our hearty good wishes to our American brethren , who are now amid the world ' s citizens gathering together at Philadelphia . They will see a noble hall , one of the later Exhibitions which mark the depth and sincerity of the Masonic spirit in America , and

The Centennial At Philadelphia.

they will behold the onward growth of that noble fraternity which persecution has not been able to impede nor cruel slander to destroy . It is very striking for us , even amid our material prosperity , and growing numbers at home , to realize the fact , patent and positive , that considerably over half-a-million of brethren range themselves under the sacred banners of

Freemasonry in the United States , and that if this ratio of increase continues , a few years will see that number probably doubled . One of our little insular amiable weaknesses , perhaps defects , is that we do not know much of the actual condition of other countries . We take

haphazard statements as indubitable verities , and the flashy assertions of some hurried traveller , too hurried to be- reliable , as accurate data . Some wiseacre has said that Freemasonry in the United States , though numerically great , is not intrinsically Masonic in sentiment or work—that it is too much

given to outside show , and does not remember the " weightier matters " of its unchanging law of love and active benevolence . We have denied the statement before , by whomsoever made . We deny it again to-day . That Freemasonry has some difficulties to contend with in the United

States is true ; that some anomalies attend its present position we are not ignorant of , - but , as we have before pointed out , these arise from conflicting jurisdiction and separate Grand Lodges—all necessarily in the way of an uniform system of teaching or action . Indeed , some of the reported decisions of individual Grand Masters seem to us at times to savour more of the

personal idiosyncrasies of the " Ego ' than of any proper authority or Masonic fetching . But giving all this in , and let the objector make the most of it , we fancy that the Freemasons in America may fairly challenge those of other jurisdictions on most points of"Masonic

principle , practice , and obedience . They adhere very firmly to the lex scripta of the Order , and seek to uphold the landmarks of Freemasonry . They are endeavouring to throw around their lodge ceremonial all the , attractiveness of a chaste neseeticism , and they are also seeking to raise

Masonic halls everywhere , so as to give to the brethren the priceless advantages of privacy and Masonic independence . And not only this , but they ar * doing a great deal in the cause of Masonic charity , some no doubt more , some less , but all the facts , and they are many , wb ' ch

constantly corne before us of the earnest be .. evolont spirit of American Freemasons towards their suffering brethren , or their "belongings , " left in privation or penury , are very "thorough" in themselves and very pleasant to note . It often appears to us that we hardly irnke allowance

enough , even in matters worldly , for the many difficulties attendant on the formation of that very great country , the United States of America . Equally we err often in Masonic matters . They have had harder struggles than we have had to go through in this old sheltered land of ours

and they have come out of them nobly , unscathed and undaunted , stronger and more compact than ever . All honour to them ! And we to-day , knowing well the warm heart and the true Masonic feeling of our good English Craft , beg in their name to congratulate our brethren

now in Philadelphia on this their Centennial , in an honest fraternal spirit , and with many hearty good wishes . Knowing what we do of many eminent Masons there , publicly and personally , as brother Masons and as valued friends , we njjice to claim them as belonging to the great

brotherhood of Freemasonry . We , if we may say so , shake them heartily by the hand to-day , as we express our hops that their Exhibition may be a complete success , and that while all may gain alike pleasure and improvement from this

great peace federation of the world , our brethren in the United States will not the least enjoy their visit and be stimulated by the working of Freemasonry in Philadelphia to a deeper attachment even , if possible , to the principles and practice of our excellent Fraternity .

The preliminary works in connection with the Channel Tunnel have just commenced at Langatte , near Calais . Shafts have already been sunk to a depth of forty . metres , and the work is being carried on rapidly , the labourers working night and day . A powerful pump has been set up to absorb the water that is met with in rather large quantities .