Freemasonry & Israelitism.

of the earth . " What is said of Israel can no more be properly applied to Judah than what is said of Judah can be properly applied to Israel . It has been well said that " the two houses seem to have been intended to fulfil considerably different purposes in God ' s economy of grace to

the world . Of Judah was to come the one promised Seed , the Heir of all things ; of Ephraim , or Israel , the multitudinous seed , so much promised to the fathers—the many brethren who are also called the Lord's first-born . Judah has been a standing witness to the prophetic word

whilst Israel—long , to appearance , lost—is to come forth , in the latter time , with overwhelming witness to the truth . Judah was the first fruits , gathered in the apostolic age ; but Israel is the harvest , to be gathered al the Lord ' s return . Judah was privileged to carry out the Gospel to

the north and north-west , to the many nations who have come of Jacob ; and Israel is being employed in carrying it out thence unto all the ends of the earth . Judah and his brethren were to be preserved alive in the . midst of famine ; but this was to be accomplished by their

unknown brother , Joseph , who had been sent before them , ancl given a headship over the heathen . Judah seems to be given no home , but that ofhis fathers ; whilst blessings unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills are promised to come ' upon the head of Joseph , upon

the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren . ' Their cities , it seems , are to be spread abroad ; they are to be such an innumerable multitude that , although the land of Israel will be their common centre , they will , at

the same time , be possessed of sea and land , unto the ends of the earth ( Isaiah lx ) . But then , indeed , Israel and Judah shall have become one . They shall be one nation upon the mountains of Israel for ever " ( Wilson . Lect . on Ane . Israel ) .

Now , bearing in mind this distinction between Judah and Israel , and accepting the prophecies ancl promises that are obviously spoken of Israel as to be fulfilled in them—that is , in the ten tribes , and not in Judah—that is , not in Judah as part of the chosen people , but in Israel alone

—we shall have to examine them , and determine in what way and in what degree they identify the Anglo-Saxon race with Israel , to w ' lom the prophecies and promises pertain . If we do this we shall see , or I much mistake , that not one prophecy or promiseonly , but man }' , have received

or are receiving their fulfilment in the positi m , chiwcler , ancl works ofthe Anglo-Saxons—that they describe the position , character , and works of Israel in such a way that we can find nothing answerable to them in any other people on earth , but that we do find them in or amongst

the Anglo-Saxons . The tilings predicted or promised are so obviously identical with what we know amongst this people , anti this people only , that they produce a conviction in 'the mind that they must be the people of whom tlie prophecies and promises were originally written

under the influence of the Holy Spirit . We know that there are many striking coincidences to be found in the course of human historythings turning up and so fitting together that , to many minds , they seem as if certainly connected together by some pre-ordained purpose , but we never find a number of these coincidences

falling out as in a series or obvious succession . On the contrary , they are few and far between , ar . d when the first impression which any such coincidence produces on the mind has subsided , we are generally able to disassociate the twooccurrences , and to perceive their independence of each

other . In the prophetic word touching Israel and its identification with the Anglo-Saxons , we have a different state of things . Here is not one prophecy or promise , only , receiving its obviously literal fulfilment , but many—not . one striking characteristic , only , predicted of Israel , and finding its fulfilment in the Anglo-Saxons ,

but many—not one pre-destined work to be dune by Israel which is being done by the Anglo-Saxons , but many ; and in no other known people is anything of the kind to be found . Surely , there must be something more ti an fortuitous coincidences here , and I connot t ut think that a dispassionate examination of them will lead to the conclusion , that the Anglo-

Freemasonry & Israelitism.

Saxon race is of that people of whom the Lord spoke to Abraham , when he said , " By myself have I sworn , saith the Lord .... that in blessing I will bless thee , and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven , and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore : and thy seed shall possess the gate of his

enemies : and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed " ( Gen . xxii . 16-18 ) . In proceeding to examine these prophecies , and to identify them with Israel and the Anglo-Saxon race , I shall classify them , as far as they will permit of classification , under the following heads : —

1 . Israel ' s Localisation . 2 . Their Christianisation . 3 . Their acquired possessions or settlements . . 4 . Their giving birth to nations and kings . 5 . Their diversified works .

In the examination and exhibition of these facts and circumstances , and of their connection with the prophecies concerning Israel , it is likely that other points of the identity of the Anglo-Saxon race with the prophetic declarations concerning the ten tribes may suggest themselves . Should that be so , I shall bring them together under a sixth head .

Bro. The Rev. G. R. Portal.

BRO . THE REV . G . R . PORTAL .

1 he Earl of Carnarvon , D . G . M ., has appointed the Rev . G . R . Portal , M . W . G . M . M ., to the family living of Burghclere , near Newbury . The subjoined extracts from the Surrey Times will show the estimation with which our rev . brother

is regarded in the county , in which he has held a living for fourteen years : —

" THE REV . G . R . PORTAL . " The active and estimable rector of Albury will shortly remove to Burghclere , having been nominated to this living by Lord Carnarvon , to whom for some years past Mr . Portal has been chaplain . Speaking in the interests of the public , we deeply

regret Mr . Portal ' s removal from Albury . He has proved himself something more than a village clergyman , his influence having penetrated Guildford and the surrounding district . As a member of the Guildford Board of Guardians he was known as one ofthe ablest and most efficient members of the

body . Kindly in spirit , and ever with a good word in season . the interests of the poor and thc suffering never sustained loss when he was present . As a member , and for some time as chairman of the Assessment Committee , his great business qualities we . r conspicuously manifested , and enabled him to

achieve several important reforms in assessment procedure . The Surrey Deposit Society , which has now attained such laige dimensions is , as far as its introduction into Surrey is concerned , entirely the work of Mr . Portal's hands . The systematic zeal

and energy he hus displayed in promoting thc interests of the Society are beyond all praise and the success which has attended his labours must ba lo Mr . Portal his best recompense . As an active member of the Council of the Surrey County School , he has rendered essential service to the development of that now great educational

institution . Mr . Portal will be greatly missed in Western Surrey , and although we must affect to congratulate him upon his preferment , it is with the grimmest of countenances , and with the by no means reassuring reflection that we are losing in our district the services of one of the most hard-working and faithful of clergymen . "

A MOURNFUL FACT . " The Rev . G . R . Porlal has accepted the nomination of the Earl of Carnarvon to the family living of Burghclere , near Newbury . Great and widespread regret is expressed by thc parishioners of

Albury at the removal of their beloved rector . No clergyman could be held in higher love and esteem than is Mr . Portal , and the intelligence of his approaching departure has thrown a feeling of gloom over the entire village .

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Patentee—J . L . Pnlvermacher , 16 S , Regent-street , London , \ V . A Test on Loan sent gratis if required . Caution . —Spurious Electric Appliances being advertised by Quack Doctors , Patients should consult Pulvermacher's Pamphlet on that subject ( free by post ) , embodying other most interesting matter for those suffering from Rheumatic and Neuralgic Pains , Functional Disorders , Sit ., & C-rAdvt . ]

" Origin Of Freemasonry," &C.

" ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY , " & c .

No . I . Bro . Buchan having agreed with me as to the conditions for discussing the following question , viz ., "That the Freemasonry of and since 1717

is a descendant of operative Freemasonry , and in fact was a revival of the operative body of former centuries " ( see FREEMASON , page 409 , July 1 st , 1871 ) , and having also written his first

communication in support of the fiegative , it is now my turn to write the first letter on the affirmative side . My reply must be short , because

it is impossible for me to afford the time just now to present to Bro . Buchan , and the numerous readers of THE FREEMASON , anything like an exhaustive sketch of the evidences in favour

of the above position . As various articles have been written by me for several years , which have mainly tended to establish the operative origin of the Freemasonry

of 1717 , it is not my intention to reproduce the facts already adduced , but merely to confine myself in this communication to an examination of the reasons offered by Bro . Buchan for

embracing the negative . In THE FREEMASON for July 15 th ( page 443 ) , Bro . Buchan enters "into the negative view of the subject in the opening chapter of the Aberdeen Records . " I have

carefully read the article , and have found it most interesting . The most of the statements seem to me both reliable and valuable to the Masonic student .

( a ) Bro . Buchan shows that the Aberdeen Records contain no reference to Masonic degrees until the eighteenth century , ( b ) The Aberdeen Lodge was an operative one A . D . 16 70

or in other words " a trade and friendly society combined . " ( Gentlemen , however , were admitted as members , so it was partly speculative but mainly operative ) , ( c ) That the members

kept their festivals on saints' days , ( d ) A fee was exigible on the mark being selected , although there was no Mark Degree , ( e ) Great care was taken of "the Book , " or records of statutes ,

meetings , marks , & c . ( f ) The records of the lodge extend to 1779 , but no word occurs about chivalric degrees in connection with Freemasonry , nor indeed of Grand Masters or Grand Lodges until long after 1670 .

So far as our experience goes , this sketch of the first chapter of the Aberdeen Records is chiefly as the records of other old lodges , and therefore we find nothing antagonistic to our

position , but quite the contrary , as all the lodges of tne 17 th century ( and which exist now ) were formerly operative societies , formed for the purpose of protecting and carrying on the

" Measson Tra . le . " Bro . Buchan states that the question is , " Can there be found any evidence of the existence of our system , with its three

degrees , & c , before 1717 ? " If not , then we are told by the same brother that , " to talk of its revival in 1717 is simply a delusion and a mistake . "

Now , we submit that Bro . Buchan knows very well that no records of lodges have been produced working the three degrees before 1717 , and is also aware that we do not believe that the three

degrees were worked as separate degrees before r ? i 7 ; hence , unless there arc some facts to be considered other than those connected with

the degrees , the question of " revival would not be to us worth considering . From 17 * 3 , when the first Constitutions were published by the Grand Lodge of England down to the present