Freemasonry In The East.

and tested in the most trying manner the principle of entire submission or of disobedience to his Creator . Whatever may have been the actual trial to which Adam was subjected , ancl in which he failed , that of Abraham offers a striking evidence of a

more profound sense of duty . The scene of his trial is , by Eastern tradition , believed to have been on the spot where the Kaabcli now stands . This edifice—in no manner remarkable for its proportions , otherwise than that it forms aperfect square—tradition

says , originally descended from heaven , to serve as a point of adoration for Adam after he had lost that of Eden . Around it , it is supposed , he rallied his offspring , and it so continued to be until the great destruction of , at least , the Eastern world by

the deluge . Abraham is supposed to have rebuilt it by Divine command , and though it has suffered from various vicissitudes , much of the materials used by him , it is fully believed , still exist in its original form , that of a perfect square . Indeed , the Arabic word , Kccbah , signifies a square , or

a cube , and is regarded as occupying a spot immediately under the great arc or arch of the celestial world , which predominates over all the universe of the Great Architect , and where He is supposed to preside , directing and ruling with His Divine Spirit thc whole of His creation .

The lemple of Solomon was erected , as a representative of the smaller altar , for the purpose only " to burn sacrifices before Him . " The Kaabcli of Adam and of Abraham probably also represented the primitive altars of Cain and Abel , and that of Isaac . On the right-hand side of the entrance to the Kaabeh is the " black

stone so much venerated by Moslems , and as it is also said to have descended from heaven , this tradition , and the fact of its peculiar formation , lead to the belief that it is an aerolite which , at some remote period , was seen to fall upon the earth , giving to it therefore a celestial

origin . Freemasonry , when better understood and shown to be neither a "new religion" nor a "political society , " will find many advocates among Mussulmans . They revere the memory of King Solomon quite as strongly as any other

people , and have the most profound reverence for thc Temple of Solomon , now the Hol y Rock of Omer . They reject neither the Old nor the New Testament , and freel y take their views on both ; though , there is no doubt , with a mental reservation that thc latter has been altered from

the original one . For Jesus Christ they also entertain du hi ghest respect , as thc "Spirit of God , " and I lis principles are held by them to be of the most fraternal character , fully demonstrating the humility of man and his abnegation of thc imaginary superiorities of this life . It will tend to unite them with the rest of mankind

by the ties of brotherhood , and restrict religion to thc conscience of each individual , without allowing it , as at present , to be the source ol discord ami mistrust , and relieve them from many of the prejudices which now , alas , unhappily separate peoples and nations . Freemasonry will teach them

that" 'Tis a beautiful world , notwithstanding the grief Which commingles so oft with the joys of this life ; And it tells us that these arc but passing and brief , Whilst the pleasures to tome know no sorrow nor strife .

There ' s another beyond us , around us , above , Where death never enters—there ' s nothing to fear ; Where this 'mystical lie' will e ' er bind us in love , And wc anxiously ash , 'Shall wc meet them all there ?'" Constantinople , May 22 , 1 S 70 .

DR . WALTON , M . D ., writes , November _ o , 1 S 60 , from Coshocton , Ohio :-- " 1 am happy to inform you that your Vegetable Tain Killer cures this new disease , diphtheria , or sore throat , that prevails to so ahiiniing an extent in this settien . It lias proved so successful here that scarcely any other remedy is now used , and I have not known ft fail in a single instance when used in time . —To Perry Davis & Son .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

Thc Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed b } Correspondents *

GENUINE AND SPURIOUS CHARITY . ( To ihe Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —There is a spurious charity , as there is a genuine one ; and it is to be feared that there is much ofthe former abroad , and that even the Masonic body is not wholly free

from it . A clay or two since I took up a number of the Masonic Magazine , and found the following paragraph : " Freemasonry is calculated to break down the wall of partition by which religious sectarianism , national prejudice , or narrow-minded bigotry , has for too long a period separated man from man . - ' '

Universal brotherhood is a glorious idea , which we should all feel ourselves under a religious obligation to cherish and promote . Thc Universal Father sets us thc example , in making his sun to rise on thc evil and on the good , and the rain to descend on thc just and on the unjust .

Nevertheless , there are great differences and inequalities in the condition and opportunities for enjoying good , existing amongst mankind . Wc need not look abroad into countries or communities out of the pale of civilisation to sec this . It is to be found in the civilised world— in otir own midst—in our own

highly cultivated state of society . What arc our " street Arabs , " our born and physically and mentally stunted paupers ? What are our " roughs . " as we call them , who have been born and brought up in thc back slums , amidst poverty and vice , who have grown up in a state of socielv even worse

than savagedom , and who arc shunned and feared by thc bettcr-to-do people ? Wc cannot ignore these facts , painful and humiliating though they be ; and human nature must be greatly improved before wc shall find the higher grades of society stooping to the lower , and

striving as lhey should do to lift them up . There is a " wall of partition" between the two , which none seem disposed to break down , though there are some who look over it , and throw some crumbs of comfort to those on the other side , But thc wall is there , and is likelv to remain for an indefinite

time to come . Is it uncharitable lo recognise it _ existence , and thc separation of classes which it makes ; or to aver that those on one side of it are better off than those on thc other ? Am I uncharitable in thinking arid feeling that I am better off , physically , intellectually , socially and mentally ,

than my fellow beings on the other side ofthe wall ; or in preferring to nssociatc with those on my own side ? Whether I think and do so or not , there is the fact , and everybody else will think so , including thc wretched classes themselves . l ! ut , it may be said , the ' wall of separation"

between these classes in thc social sphere , is a different thing from that which political and religious bigotry has raised , and that it is against this that the charitable-minded folks lift up their voice , and the existence of which they deprecate . Thev insist upon its being pulled down . Well , when ' lhey

have got rid of the social wall of which I have spoken , lhey may also get rid of this ; but not till then . When all men are upon an intellectual , social , and moral equality , they may be found to think and to feel alike . Not till then ' , and how long it may be before the world will become the scene

of such a happy state , I pretend-not to say . Hut what , after all , is meant , probably is . that although the wall of separation must exist , we should pretend not to see it , but live ancl move about as if it did not exist . Or if not that , that the dwellers on cither side should never seem to be

conscious of the fact ; and , above all things , never let it be imagined that we who are one side of it think we arc bettor off , in some respects , than those on the other . 1 dissent fiom all this ; and 1 thin ! : that those who talk and write of this wall of separation greatly exaggerate its dimensions and ils evils , as

tney do the feelings of thc political and religious classes who maintain it . I know something of both the politic ; -. ! and religious world , at home and abroad , for 1 have been a labourer in each of them fiu * nearly half a century , and my experience is , that although " national prejudice " has not yet

been wholly annihilated—for all communities have the ignorant and unroll act :.. g aniong them—it has become a very harmless monster . Franc- and England ^ are no longer accounted ' ivMaral enemies . " whose constant aim should be to injure and weaken each older . Everywhere , in fa : I , men are seeing that the pre ipciitv of one coiinlrv does

not necessarily involve the ccclin , of anelhe ; . Just the contrary ; and the enormous foreign trade of England wiih all the world testifies tothe cheering fact that it is so . Even the Japanese and the Chinese are getting rid of tlieir childish notions of the outside barbarians , and are entering into commercialand friendly treaties with European nations . And then as to " religious sectarianism , " and its

Original Correspondence.

" separation of man from man , " how greatly is that exaggerated I Wc are not subjecting Jews to the torture in order to compel a discovery of their money , that wc may despoil them of it . Roman Catholics are not burning Protestant heretics , although there is here and there some ecclesiastic

lagging behind the rest of the world , who is still the slave of prejudice . Nor arc Protestants retaliating upon Roman Catholics , by imitating their modes of persecution . Even Mahommedans have ceased to treat us as infidel dogs , feeling that it is their mission either to convert or exterminate us .

Turks have become so far imbued with the European spirit that they not only drink our wine , but borrow our money , and in many other things arc assimilating themselves to the rest of mankind . A man must know very little of the religious world who now talks ofthe bitterness of sectarianism .

No doubt we have many " sects" amongst us , but they see that thc differences that separate them into " sects " arc upon such small matters , chiefly touching upon the discipline and management , of churches , that they have long since ceased to "divide man from man . " That is a thing of the past , and wc

now see Christian churchmen and dissenters uniting in their efforts to promote religious knowledge , to ameliorate human suffering , and lo improve ihe social and moral status of the poor and ignorant . No doubt each man prefers his own ** set" to any

other ; if he did not , he must act without judgment or motive , and simply lie where he happens to have been dropped . But attachment to one's own " sect " docs not make one hostile to all others , or separate one from those who compose them ; that is , in the sense which those who talk and write about "

sectenaa bigotry separating man from man , mean . I have my own preference , but so far from being separated from those who belong to other " sects , " in feeling or object , ! find myself worshipping , scmclimes in a church , and at other times in Wcslcyan , Independent , Baptist , and Swedcnborgian

congregations . And . tlie feeling that governs me , is now a pretty general one . If it be not an universal one , it is rapidly becoming so . When we can all sec alike and feel alike , ' * sects " will cease , perhaps ; but whether that will ever fall to the lot of humanity 1 know not . Meanwhile , wc have made great

progress . We maintain our " rules of separation , " but carry no sword in our hand . We agree to differ , and find reason to respect those who form their own judgment upon a matter so vital as religion , and who have the moral courage to avow tlieir convictions and preferences , whatever they may be .

I would not , knowingly , detract from the merits of Freemasonry , in as far as it has contributed , by the spread of its principles and thc example of its members , to tlie bringing about of this better state of feeling . But I cannot help thinking , that it sometimes claims too much credit for what it has done

in thc matter . What it might have wrought , had we all been true to our principles , and been governed by them in our daily life and transactions , can scarcely be over-estimated . But I confess that I regard Freemasonry , as it has hitherto existed , as an aggregation of many of thc more Catholic and tolerant of mankind , who are so free from the spirit

ofnalional , political , and religious bigotry , as toassociatc themselves with each other for a common good , rather than as having been a powerful instrument in effecting tlie change that has been brought about . 'That we may do much towards carrying on and extending it there is no doubt ; and il is greatly to be hoped that we may all see and feel this to be our mission . WILLIAM CARPENTER .

THE 1717 THEORY . ( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) SIR , —There is a controversy running its course in Till ' . l-T-iii'MASOX at present , which seems to

excite some interest 111 certain quarters , as to how much of the inner or private life of lodges can really be written or printed without thc good sense of the writers being made alive to their responsibilities to the Order . Masons will know what I

mean . And after all , what good could result lo thc general Brotherhood , although it should be historicall y proved , that thc present Order of Freemasonry did or did not exist prior to 1717 ? Many incline to do homage to matters of antiquky because of the

halo of doubt ancl uncertainty that hangs around them , while lhey overlook things of greater merit because lhey are modern . It is said that our present Order was manufactured by some ingenious Frenchman about 1717 . If there is any spice of truth in that , I would opine that said manufacturer must have been a devilish clever fellow : but knowiii "

how few inventions are purely original , 1 should fancy it far inure likely that he only copied from some good old model then existing , and if his copy was an improvement on iheorig ' ma ! , then lie deserves the thanks of every brother—even of those who admire nothing subsequent to those factious figures . I am glad none of thc writers on this subject deny the possibility of any good being done in our