The History Of French Freemasonry.

respect of the common version of French Masonic History , and if these extracts from the old London papers , a source of information too lon < r neg lected , may be looked upon fairly , as we think , as authentic , it becomes us not to dogmamatiz ' e too much on the question , but to await

further evidence . We think that the estimate of the Bui / der , that there are 500 , 000 Masons in France is based on no statistical authority , and is altogether most incorrect . There are , as far as w eare aware , no published returns of the number of members belonging to the French lodges ,

but as far as we have been able to look into the matter , we should be disposed to fix the number of Masons in France at less considerably than 100 000 ; 80 , 000 would be a liberal figure , we venture to think . If we take 30 , 000 as the total

under the Grand Orient , and 30 , 000 under the Rite Ecossais , and about 10 , 000 under the Rite of Misraim , we shall , we suspect , very nearly hit the mark . We shall be glad , however of official " renseignements " on this subject .

Bros. Caubet And Grimaux.

BROS . CAUBET AND GRIMAUX .

We have carefully perused the remarks of these two able French brothers iu the Monde Maconnique for January-February , in reply to a leader of ours in the Freemason of January 6 th . That article was written in consequence of some very foolish passages in the Monde Maconnique

for December , referring to our esteemed Grand Secretary , bnt which , by mistake , we attributed to Bro . Caubet , they being actually written , it now appears , by Bro . Adrien Grimaux . As Bro . Caubet quite agrees with Bro . Grimaux ' s unbecoming words , though he did not actually

pen them , we assume , as we may fairly do , that he consents not unwillingly to patronize the little unfledged literary bantling which claims Bro . Grimaux as its " tres cher pere . " Bro . Caubet is very angry because we said that the writer of this sneer at onr cheap Bibles , and the author of

an un-Masomc attack on Bro . Hervey , had committed a "betise , " and adds that the phrase " n ' est jamais employe en France dans des discussions que par les hommes mals eleves . " Indeed ? As the French say , vraiment ? We turn over two pages , and we find'Bro . Caubet ' s friend

Bro . Grimaux , with whom he says , " Je suis completement de son avis , " quietly arguing about this very objectionable word as if it was not quite of such uncommon occurrence , after all , as Bro . Caubet would lead us to suppose . We knew then , we know now , of no better word

in French or English to express our sense of the very childish and yet disrespectful manner in which the weighty remarks of our esteemed G . Secretary at the consecration of the Crichton Lodge were treated by the writer , as well as the flippant and almost personal tone assumed to one so excellent in every sense of the word

as is our Bro . Hervey . "But revenousanos moutons . " It may be true that we are " ties mal eleves , " and we feel sure that if that be the case , Bro . Caubet will act as our tutor and instructor in all that relates to the elegancies of literature ' or the bienseances of society , so that of him it might be truly said , " Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes ,

Emolht mores nee sinet esse feros . " To tell us , for instance , that the writer supposed there was a society in London which would supply the French Lodges with " cheap Bibles , " or that such sentiments would continue to be true of English Masons as long as

Bro . Hervey remained the all-powerful Secretary of Grand Lodge , was a mode of dealing with candid and conscientious objections to a revolutionary change , advocated by an extreme party , excessively silly , and entirely un-Masonic . And therefore we said so openly and frankly , as we

hope we shall always speak , though we are very sorry if what we wrote with the best intentions lias tended in any way to ruffle the temper or affect the sensibilities of our esteemed Bro . Caubet . We confess that we wish that his own remarks had manifested a little more wisdom

and moderation , not to say common sense . To answer our legitimate fears and fraternal advice b y a declaration of " folles menaces , " and the reiterated assertion that the suppression of this simple universal formula is an assertion of toleration , and to take away a " pretext of

Bros. Caubet And Grimaux.

intolerance , " renders any argument or appeal almost fruitless . Certainly we English Masons have offered no " folles menaces " to our French brethren . We have spoken as "Amici Curire , " in fraternal feeling and kindly sentiments , though we have expressed our views on this difficult

and delicate subject , as we trust we always shall , in manly honesty and sincerity . If we displease Bro . Caubet and his friends we are very sorry indeed , but we fancy that in all we have advanced we have the entire concurrence of all Anglo-Saxon , and of a very large number of French

Freemasons . Let Bro . Caubet accept our advice in the spirit in which it is tendered , that of sincere well wishers to French Freemasonry . Bro . Grimaux appears to think that his views represent those of all French Freemasons . We doubt it very much indeed . In fact we have

reason to know such is not the case , and that there are many French Freemasons who are deeply alarmed at the rash proceedings of a dominant party , and all are very anxious for the future of Freemasonry in France . We do not see that Bro . Grimaux advances anything that requires notice ,

and we do not think it needful to say more , except that we now trust that when next he writes aBout English Freemasons and Bro . John Hervey he will remember that the former are very sincere in their attachment to their old formulae , and that the latter is one of

the most earnest of Masons , and the most worthy of men r an insult to him is an insult to all English Freemasons . We see that Bro . Grimaux also talks of "injonctions et menaces , " as if some great wrong had been committed , because Bro . Hervey spoke openly and without reserve as a

Mason , on a point which , in the abiding interests of our common Order , had much to concern and ailect us English Freemasons . Bros . Caubet , Grimaux , and others , resemble people we often meet with in life , who , having made up their minds on a given subject , scout advice and resent

expostulation . We have done our duty in pointing out to Bros . Caubet and Grimaux the hazardous and retrograde step they are content blindfold and headlong about to take , and which is apparently only certain to land them in the bottomless pit of doubt , confusion , strife , and revolution . But having so expressed ourselves we make our

bow , and shall henceforth leave French Freemasonry to itself . We rejoice indeed to note the fraternal and sensible words of Bro . Hubert in the Chaine d' Union , contrast to the turgid nonsense we have often to wade through , and we shall await his promised remarks on the subject with much interest , and shall take care to bring them carefully before our readers .

A Needed Reform.

A NEEDED REFORM .

We said in our last that we would call attention to one of the causes which , in our opinion , has led to the exclusion of the Hebrews from Freemasonry in some Grand Lodges of Germany ; we fulfil our promise to-day . We believe that that cause is to be found in the grafting of High

Grade , or Christian Degrees , so called , on Craft-Masonry . It is quite clear that if you attempt to weld together two systems , which are based upon and which proceed from two diametrically opposed or even antagonistic princi ples , either the greatest confusion of ideas must ensue , or one

side or the other must gain the preponderance . You cannot have the select idea and the cosmopolitan in the same one system without great jarring . You cannot make to harmonise and combine the universal and the limited , the tolerant and the sectarian theory , Towards the end of the last

century , abroad especially , the High Grades , became the fashion pro tem , and an attempt was made , using the Craft Grades as a "grundwerk , " to use a Germanism , to build thereupon a structure of High Grade , Chivalric , Hermetic , Mystical Freemasonry , as the case might be . Hence

the theory of tho Hi gh Grades , more sectional , more select , more august , than the humbler Craft Grades , became , as it were , the dominant power , and as the High Grades were Christian , they necessarily excluded Hebrews . It is not

then vory difficult to see how the intolerant spirit of darker ages has crept , so to say , partly consciously , partly unconsciously , over bodies which have this duplex system at work . The fabric being Christian , it became needful

A Needed Reform.

to bring the foundation , so to say , in harmony with it , and as none but Christians could enter into the High Grades "ex necessitate , " so neither ought any but Christians to be admitted into the Symbolical Grades . Such was the idea , such too was the argument . No doubt

a spirit of intolerance has also existed , as regards the Hebrews generally , but we are inclined to hope and to think , that the real cause of all , ( and it is more agreeable to think so , for the sake of human nature and Freemasonry , ) is the prevalence of this unwise arrangement , the conflict of these irreconcilable principles . In England we have

happily steered clear of these difficulties by never mixing up Craft and Hi gh Grade Masonry . With us each is legitimately governed by its own rulers , and each goes on its way in peace with its neighbour . If there are ( and many there are ) who are both Craft and High Grade Masons , it is for them to settle the matter for themselves .

No one presumes to question their right to act as they think fit , No one finds any fault with their individual opinions , and it is this system which we would urge upon our foreign brethren . Let the High Grades be entirely severed from Craft Masonry ; and let the Craft be governed as

a Craft , and the High Grades as High Grades , and then all " stumbling blocks" of conflicting principles and of hurtful intolerance will be removed—then all those burning objections will be settled once and for all . There will always , no doubt , be a Christian section , even in Craft

Masonry , and so long as it becomes neither too dogmatic nor too intolerant , it has fairly a " liberty of prophesying . " But the teaching of pure and simple Craft Masonry is " uni versal , " and has been , as far as we are concerned , avowedly so in England since 1813 .

Every principle , therefore , of Masonic fair play , justice , and toleration , demands that this exclusion of the Hebrews should cease , and that Craft Lodges should be governed solely as Craft Grand Lodges on Craft principles , and that the High Grades should have their own

ruling and independent authorities . This fusion of the incompatible principles of Craft Masonry and Christian Masonry should at once be given up as a mistake and an anomaly—a state of things alike liable to abuse , and tending to intolerance , and entirely at variance with the unchanging principles of Craft Masonry .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving of thc opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion , —En . l

IS FREEMASONRY MATERIALISM ? To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Having read with deep interest and much pleasure the two articles on the above subject in recent numbers of the Freemason , I do not intend by any means to answer them from an antagonistic or party

spirit . Such is quite out of thequestion ; but I humbly purpose to review them and offer a few observations , perhaps not worthless . The description and definition of the word " Materialism , " such as -we read it in the Freemason of the 27 th ult . and 3 rd inst ., cannot fail but to be duly appreciated for the masterly and scholarly manner in which they are treated ; but taken from a worldly point of view I

differ , and it is here I purpose to make my stand . " Materialism , " such as I have heard it frequently spoken of and described , amounts simply to a kind of " God" or " Idol , " and this means simply to set at defiance all kinds of religion , and naturally ignores the existence of the G . A . O . T . U ., and is a plain outspoken declaration of war to " Him . " Socially speaking , it

embodies the worst degenerate principles of . "democracy , " or , in other words , the adoption of the "Paris Commune . " Politically , it aims with all power to destroy the duly recognised authority of the land , the overthrow of all honest and just laws . This is biiefly the " materialism " which I presume Bishop Vaughan denounces in strong language , and which , in my humble opinion , every honest citizen

ought , and has a right and sacred duty , to stamp beneath his feet , as vermin . Now , unfortunately , it frequently occurs that we Masons are , as a rule , taken " wholesale " and clubbed amongst this class of misled individuals by our most bitterest enemies . Thc latter of course show no charity ; they simply accuse us as a body—just as if we were to go and abuse and denounce ministers of different religions

because history and daily facts prove and convict members of their society ; but we , on thc other hand , practise charity ; wc abstain from committing such a grievous error ; we go on thc principle , if I may so call it , that " there are good and bad in all classes , nations , and societies . " Still we cannot ignore a fact , " and it is by far wiser to openly avow it , that the " weapons " which our enemies