Original Correspondence.

to enforce , " Peace'' on earth , and goodwill towards men . " His grand motto was , " All religion has relation to life , and the life of religion is to do good . " He strictly enjoined everyone to adhere strictly to the command of our Lord

in Matt , xxni ., io : "Neither he ye called Masters , for one is your Master , even Christ . " And if the question be put , " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " the answer can only be , " Come and see . "

But to return to the charge made by Bro Carpenter , that I have " perverted facts . " I cannot allow this to be passed over without an attempt on the part of Bro Carpenter " to point out my errors and false teachings . " In each case I have given authority for my opinions , save one

—the Council of Nice—and I will now give you that authority , or , rather , authorities . In Dr . Mosheim ' s " Ecclesiastical History " ( which , is a standard work , and to be found in every theological library , and the orthodoxy of which I haveneverheard questioned ) hegives alamentable

account of the Christian Church , owing to the prevalent heresies during the third century , which appear to have culminated in the beginning of the fourth century by " The rise of the controversy with the Donatists , " vide Mosheim Cent , iv ., chap . 5 , sec . II . To trail through this

controversy would be to show that , under the sacred name of Christianity , men could act against each other in a manner that would scarcely have been tolerated by Pagan nations . It was the opening of the dark ages . Constantine—who , beyond all human expectation , had made his way to the

imperial throne—had done so by the assistance of the Christians in obtaining his victory over Maxentius . Constantine had hitherto discovered no religious principles of any kind , but he embraced Christianity as a means of obtaining empire , with all its splendour . From this time

he became patron and protector of Christianity , as then understood ; he entered into all their disputes , and presided at their great meetings . Eusebius , Bishop of Nicomedia , was his personal friend and historian . I will now quote Mosheim , sec . ix . : " The faction of the Donatists was not

the only one that troubled the Church during this century . Soon after its commencement , even in the year 317 , a new contention arose in Egypt upon a subject of much higher importance and with consequences of a yet more pernicious nature . The subject of this fatal controversy , which kindled suchdeploiable divisions throughout the Christian world , was the doctrine of three

persons m the Godhead—a doctrine which , in the preceding centuries , had happilyescaped the vain curiositiesofhumanresearches , and had been been left undefined and undetermined by any particular set of ideas . " And , in section 12 , he says : " The Council assembled by Constantine

at Nice , is one of the most famous and interesting events that are presented to us in ecclesiastical history , and yet , what is more surprising , there is no part of the history , of the Church that has been unfolded with such negligence , or , rather , passed over with such rapidity . The

ancient writers are neither agreed concerning the time nor place in which it was assembled , the number of those who sat in council , nor the bishop who presided in it . No authentic acts of its famous sentence have been committed to writing , or , at least , have been transmitted to our

times . " Such is the record as given by Mosheim . I will now quote another orthodox author , Dr . Jortin , who Fays ( " Ecclesiastical History , " book iii . ) : " Constantine viewed the whole question as trifling and utterly unimportant—he regretted that the peace ofthe Church

should be so vainly disturbed . " And , further on , he says : "Let us consider by what * iarious motives these various men might be influenced : by reverence to the Emperor , to his counsellors and favourites , his slaves and eunuchs ; by the fear of offending some great prelate , who had it in his power to insult , vex , and plague all the

bishops within and without his jurisdiction ; by the dread of passing for heretics , and of being calumniated , reviled , hated , anathematized , excommunicated , imprisoned , banished , fined , beggared , starved , if they refused to submit , & c , & c ., & c . " These are the orthodox authorities upon which I rely . I have not quoted the

Original Correspondence.

authority of Gibbon , as being not acceptable to the High Church party •but from what I have quoted , I call upon Bro . Carpenter to make good his assertion " that I have perverted facts , " or hereafter to hold his peace . I am afraid that I have affrighted the mind of " W . L . A , R . A . Comp . and 30 K . H . " (

whatever the latter may mean ) , from its propriety . I can't help it , and I feel no contrition for having done so . George Waddington , of Trinity College , Cambridge , in remarking upon Dr . Jortin ' s history , says : " The decision has now been followed by the great majority of Christians for fifteen centuries . " But I submit that the

establishment of Christianity must date from the time when the disciples returned from the mount called Olivet , and met in an upper room belonging to Peter , James , and John , which was A . D . 33 . There is therefore about 300 years intervening between this assembly and the Council of Nice . What is to be done with the hiatus ?

who will supply it ? Will our friend " AV . L . A . " attempt it ? He says , " It would be easy to refute the errors into which ' W . B . ' has fallen in this and other particulars : " but he has not done

so . Will he assay it ? He says " it is easy , " and surely it ought to be a labour of love to give a reason for the hope that is in us •but until that hiatus is satisfactorily filled in , the history of the New Church down to the time of the

third or fourth century will remain as much a myth as the names of the founders of Rome or the games of Olympia . I have now replied to the two letters , and so far my task is done . Your insertion of my former attempts , you , only , had a right to decide ;

but I submit my claim to have this inserted , as it is a reply , and , if it be your will , I will here finish . Bro . Carpenter has , I think , made a great mistake in thinking that an external history of the Jews is a final one . As well give a nutshell with the kernal extracted , and call it a

perfect nut . Bro . Carpenter has been standing upon holy ground , and has not taken off his shoes . The ground upon which he is now standing , I think , he may wear his shoes , if he pleases , fhe facts which he will select will be ,

I have no doubt , made with care and impartiality ; but the results which he will draw from them , apparently , will be wild and extravagant , as forming no unison in the workings of Divine providence . Fraternallv yours ,

W . B . 742 . THE ROYAL ORDER OF SCOTLAND .

( Jo the Editor of The Freemason . ) SIR AND BROTHER , —1 take the liberty of entering the arena of debate , which at present owns as its denizens " X . Y . Z . " and " An Edinburgh Member of the Royal Order . " I sign my name in honour of the latter ' s scruples , and I admit myself to be a Freemason of manydegrees and of vears' standing .

In an age when Reason , after wringing the nose off the face of Faith , kicks her further off thc threshold of history , ter les , it is refreshing to find some salt of the dethroned deity extant in the human heart . Age and experience rub off the gilding from many a youthful fancy , but

until a very late period we were not doomed to find , not only the fabric of Freemasonry attacked , but even the very foundations of the Institution erased . I look around , and behold the Malcolm Canmore Charter is a forgery ; the Templars are denied a niche in the Masonic

edifice ; and , to crown all , " X . Y . Z . " seems to be about to annihilate the Roval Order . It is refreshing , I say , to find that Faith still holds her reign supreme in one bosom , and to vindicate the Royal Order from the new aspcrser ' s calumnies , I present my right hand to " An Edinburgh . Member . "

" X . \ . Z . demands proof of the antiquity of thc Order . I admit that it is difficult to produce ihc . se , and I think thc Edinburgh Member is perfectly justified in declining to comply with

" the stand-and-deliver' demand of" X . Y . Z . " As Jack Falstaff says , and a good deal of sound practical common sense had the knight-corpulent , " What ! upon compulsion ? No . Were I at the strappado , or all the racks in the world ,

Original Correspondence.

I would not tell you on compulsion . Give you a reason on compulsion ! If reasons were as plenty as blackberries , I would give no man a reason upon compulsion . I ! " Now , sir , what is the real history ofthe Royal Order ? It is as follows : —

Among the many precious things which were carefully preserved in a sacred vault of King Solomon ' s Temple was a portrait of the monarch painted by Adoniram , the son of Elkanah , priest of the second r . ourf . This vault remained

undiscovered till the time of Herod , although the secret of its existence and a description of its locality were retained by the descendants of Elkanah . During the wars of the Maccabees , certain Jews , fleeing from their native country , took refuge first in Spain and afterwards in

Britain , and amongst them was one Aholiab , the then possessor of the document necessary to find the hidden treasure . As is well known , buildings were then in progress in Edinburgh , or Dun Edwyn , as the city was then called , and thither Aholiab wended his way to find employment .

His skill in architecture speedily raised him to a prominent position in the Craft , but his premature death prevented his realising the dream of his life , which was to fetch the portrait from Jerusalem , and bestow it in the custody of the Craft . However , prior to his dissolution , he

confided the secret to certain of the Fraternity , under the bond of secrecy , and these formed a class known as " The Order of the King , " or " The Royal Order . " Time sped on , the Romans invaded Britain , and previous to the crucifixion , certain members of the old town

guard of Edinburgh , among whom were several of the Royal Order , proceeded to Rome to enter into negociations with the sovereign . From thence they proceeded to Jerusalem , and were present at the dreadful scene of the crucifixion . They succeeded in obtaining the portrait , and

also the blue veil of the temple rent upon the terrible occasion . I may dismiss these two venerable relies in a few words . Wilson , in his " Memorials of Edinburgh " ( 2 vols ., published by Hugh Paton ) , in a note to Masonic lodges , writes that this portrait was then in the possession of the

brethren of the Lodge St . David . This is an error , and arose from the fact of the Royal Order then meeting in the Lodge St . David ' s room in Hindford ' s Close . The blue veil was converted into a standard for the trades of Edinburgh , and became celebrated on many a battle-field , notably in the First Crusade , as " The Blue Blanket . "

1 'iom the presence of certain of then * number in Jerusalem on the occasion in question , the Edinburgh City Guard were often called Pontius Pilate ' s Praetorians . Now , these are facts well known to many Edinburghers still alive . Let "X . Y . Z . " go to Edinburgh , and inquire for himself .

Thc brethren , 111 addition , brought with them the teachings of thc Christians , and iu their meetings they celebrated the death of the Captain and Builder of our Salvation . The oath of the Order seals my lips further as to the peculiar mysteries of the brethren . I may , however ,

state that the Ritual , in verse , as in present use , was composed by the venerable Abbot of Inchaffray , the same who , with a crucifix in his hand , passed along the Scots' line , blessing the soldiers and the cause in which they were engaged , previous to the battle of Bannockburn . Thus ,

the Order states justly that it was revived—that is , a profounder spirit of devotion infused into it—by King Robert , by whose directions the Abbot reorganised it . I may have something else to add at a future time , should " X . Y . Z . " still persevere in his blind state of carp . How many affairs of

antiquity do we take blindly upon trust , more unworthy of credence than this ? Has he never found that there are many things which he cannot prove , and yet believes •many things which he can prove , and yet disbelieves ? Quid est Veritas I asked Pilate . Have we yet the answer to " What is truth ?" Fraternally yours ,

RANDOLF HAY . 37 , Main-street , Govan , near Glasgow . In 1880 , the Templar secrets hid in Swede *