A Clerical Defence Of Freemasonry.

A CLERICAL DEFENCE OF FREEMASONRY .

The oration which Bro . the Rev . W . QUENNELL , Prov . G . Chaplain of Hertfordshire , delivered recently at the consecration of the Bushey Hall Lodge , No . 2323 , and which was reported at length in our columns last week , has come most opportunely at this moment , when we are engaged in criticising the " objections

to Freemasonry which the Rev . Canon KNOWLES has thought it consistent with his duty as Principal of the Theological College at St . Bees to lay before the young men who are there studying for Holy Orders . Bro . QUENNELL , as a Mason , has the advantage of Canon KNOWLES , who is not . The former speaks

with a full knowledge of his subject ; the latter in profound ignorance oi , at all events , what Ave have elsewhere described as the inner life of Freemasonry . Bro . QUENNELL speaks no doubt with partiality of the tenets of Freemasonry , while Canon KNOWLES , if he is not personally prejudiced against us , seems

to be going the right way to work to create a prejudice in the minds of others . At all events , to use a familiar expression , Bro . QUENNELL is able to quote chapter and verse for the opinions he has uttered in our favour , while the Canon ' s statements rest only on such feeble and untrustworthy support as is

to be obtained from hearsay evidence . However , as we are necessarily giving a certain amount of publicity to the Canon ' s objections in the criticisms we are passing upon them , we shall

probably be doing the Craft , and even Canon KNOWLES himself , a service , if we give additional prominence to the remarks in our favour of the Rev . Bro . QUENNELL , who is a brother Mason of ours and a brother clergyman of the Canon ' s .

Bro . QUENNELL expresses his belief that " in its nature " Freemasonry " enters into the deepest , and highest , ancl eternal elements of our life ; and in its purposes , and we may add in its fulfilled purposes , it ennobles and enhances it . " -These " deepest and best parts of our life , " he says , " are concerned with ( 1 )

religion , which binds us to the Supreme ; ( 2 ) duty , the recognition of authority and the bond of mutual consideration in our relation with one another ; and ( 3 ) the law of self-control , which regulates our inner personal life . " He defines " the perfect man " as " one who lives soberly , righteously , and godly , "

and he argues that it is " this perfection in man " which " our Institution tends to form ancl strengthen , " the substance of his argument being as follows : ( 1 ) As regards religion , "in all our meetings , in all our ritual , the name of God is invoked ; the work of His almighty hand is recalled by the very name by which we

address Him . . . . The book of His revelation lies open among us in the most honoured place . ... If then pur Craft speaks to the heart and conscience of each of its members ° n that holy subject , his personal religion , it says to him , ' In all % ways acknowledge God , and He shall direct thy paths . ' "

( 2 ) As regards duty , he points out that within the lodge " Ave nnd all meeting on a common ground of brotherhood , each with an equal share of privilege ancl of responsibility ; each bound to recognise and protect those equal rights of all ; but at the same t'we the most profound reverence , the most perfect obedience to

the Worshipful Master , the most respectful acknowledgment of " s authority ancl that of the officers under his control and diction by and with Avhom he rules and guides his lodge . . . . ^ d if its first motto be ' Fear God , ' the others , ' Love the Motherhood , honour the King , ' follow hard upon it . " ( 3 ) As

e gards self-control , he points out that " a man cannot duly recog nise his brother ' s claim unless he has also acquired the labit of self-control , and the opposite of selfishness is Charity , ^ narity , both as a habit of mind and as an active practice of lte > is ever to the front in our undertakings . I may affirm that

0 meeting of a lodge ever takes place but that sacred AVord is ttered and something done or proposed under its name . " He ^ n sums up the argument in favour of Freemasonry thus :

t , " then is the nature and this the purpose of our Institution , ^ perfection of man . He who is a good Mason , true to the P mci ples it inculcates , careful of the dail y duties it enjoins , Petul of the eternal privileges to which it points , is also a good

A Clerical Defence Of Freemasonry.

man , ruling himself , loving his neighbour , honouring his God , and looking forward to the hig her and eternal service of the life to come . " Thus speaks the Rev . Bro . QUENNELL , a member of lodges in Hertfordshire and Essex , and a Grand Chaplain of both Provinces , Avho knows us , the principles we profess , and the manner

in which we endeavour , each to the best of our ability , to observe those principles . The Rev . Canon KNOWLES ' S objections , so far as Ave have criticised them , are also on record , so that our readers have a better opportunity than is usually afforded them of studying the arguments in favour of and against our ancient and honourable Society .

The Craft In Queensland.

THE CRAFT IN QUEENSLAND .

The movement for the establishment of a separate and independent Grand Lodge in Queensland does not seem to progress quite so satisfactorily as its promoters could Avish . The Irish and Scotch lodges appear to be in favour of the proposed change , but the English , which constitute nearly one-half of the

Masonic community , are well content to remain as they are , and have no desire to form part of any other Grand Lodge than that to Avhich they already belong . They see no reason why they should effect a severance from their parent Grand Lodge . In their present position they have all the advantages , with none of

the responsibilities , of independence . Beyond the remittance annually of a small sum in fees for registration and Avarrants , in return for which they are entitled to participate in all those advantages which belong to Masons under the Grand Lodge of England , there is nothing required of them towards the expenses

of the parent body . They are allowed to manage their own affairs , subject , of course , to the Book of Constitutions ; they dispense their own funds as they please ; they recommend for election the brother Avhom they desire to preside over them ; and , in short , they are , as Ave have said , virtually independent ;

and , to judge from the information which reaches us , it is in this comfortable position they desire to remain . No doubt , sooner or later , when the Colony is more thickly populated , and the

Masonic community is , in their opinion , better able to stand firm on its OAvn legs , they will prefer to have a Grand Lodge of their own , but they are Avell off now , and they believe the time for any such change has not yet come .

In the three Australasian Colonies , which have already become Masonically independent of the Old Country , the movement in favour of such a change Avas gradual . South Australia led the

Avay , and so easily Avas the transition from dependence to independence managed in that Colony , that AA e at home heard of the design and execution at about one and the same time . In the case of Victoria and New South Wales the circumstances were

different . In both these Colonies disaffected members of the old Masonic communities had combined together and set up Grand Lodges of their OAvn , and when our Pro Grand Master , the Earl of CARNARVON , visited Sydney , he found a kind of internecine Avar on a small scale raging among the brethren , the

establishment of a NCAV South Wales Grand Lodge having made Avhat was confusion already still Avorse confounded . On this , his lordship suggested an amalgamation of the various Masonic

communities , and the result of that suggestion now appears in the United Grand Lodge of NeAV South Wales . So with the Colony of Victoria , which also had its separate Grand Lodge , and with the same result . But while in South Australia the movement

Avas practically unanimous , and "in Victoria and New South Wales was justified by the disorganised condition of the Masonic community , there is in Queensland a marked division of opinion as to the desirability or otherwise of making any change , while up to the present time Ave have never heard of anything in the

nature of strife . But supposing the Irish and Scotch lodges press their point for a Grand Lodge of Queensland , while the English lodges remain of their present opinion , in that case we may anticipate that instead of the three Constitutions working , as they have done heretofore , amicabl y together , Ave shall have a