Grand Orient Of France.

ever , should be judged by their brethren , unless the authority acknowledges that it is in error , and recalls its decrees . An authority to do wrong and confess it ! that was never seen . We should be fortunate if Masonry gave such an example to the profane world . It will not do it , and is so much worse for it . —In the meantime the working of the lodges was

suspended , and will be so , in most cases , until their officers , dishonoured by the decree , have either been reinstated by a solemn reparation , or excluded by regular judgment . It is customary not to defer longer than thirty-three days the judgment of Masons accused on account of an offence or crime . This

legal limit has long since passed ; more than a hundred days have elapsed since the first decree , and the suspended brethren still await the reparation which is their due . This situation , alike vexatious for the Presidents of the lod and painful to the lod themselvesis

ges , ges , likely , if prolonged , to weaken the respect for Masonic authority . After showing itself prompt to accuse and to dishonour , it ought not to be slower to prove the evil which it has riroelaimed , or less negligent to repair the wrong it has done . It is not by such actions as this that they will restore to Masonry the

prestige which they have caused it to lose . They are poor advocates who would maintain authority on all occasions , and who do not know how to respect it themselves . They are like children who wound themselves with the weapons they brandish ! Authority is a force , which , like other forces , depends upon itself , and perishes if it is not revived . It is from the terror , from the faith , or from the hearty respect it inspires

m its representatives , that it can draw the elements to Wiaintain itself . Terror is not found in the minds of everyone ; faith only belongs to those who are elected ; as for respect , upon consideration , it goes to those who deserve it . But if you have drained the source of it , your authority , deprived of sustenance , is very quickly exhausted . Then the will of those who

exercised the power could no longer have any influence . And now a few words on the letter of Prince Murat . This circular-letter reproduced those vague accusations of disobedience to the law , and revolt against authority to which we have sufficiently answered . It is known now on which side justice and legality are

to be found . We shall not return to it . One word about the idea of rendering Masonry the' owner of its Temples , which , from its origin , so occupied the brain of the Grand Master that he seemed to have made it the only object of his mission . " In a few years more , " said he to the Ereemasons ,

" the Temple in Rue Cadet would have belonged to you for ever . " It is a pity , but the facts are a contradiction of these alluring promises . We read , in the last report to the stock-holders , that of the original price of 450 , 000 fr . which the estate cost , there is still due , 407 , 000 fr ., and that the

work of building is nothing like paid for . We read there that the capital of the society rises to S 34 , 000 fr ., but of which there are only 151 , 000 fr . of shares subscribed for . The difference between S 34 , 000 and 151 , 000 represents the amount of the society ' s debt . It is not a trifle we see . It is true that the estate represents a greater value , and that it could now be sold for more than a million francs , thanks to the enormous increase in the value of ground in Paris , and especially

in the qimrtier m which the hall is situated . But it is not less true that the Administration of Rne Cadet only kept itself up for four or five years by means of the circulation of bills , signed by the cashier , endorsed by the certain representative , which they negociated with obliging discounters , who very often renewed them upon their falling due . All this is well-known to

every Mason in Paris , who long lamented it . In last May the majority of the Representatives of the lodges would , doubtless , have assembled to alter it , but the premature dissolution of the Assembly , and the adjournment for five months of the meetings of the shareholdersat the instance of the civil authorities

, , has prevented and hindered every measure of this kind . We now go on to the end , since Prince Murat forces us to take this ground , which we would have avoided . The resistance of the Administration to

the wishes of Masonry ; its illegal struggle against the Masonic Legislative Assembly ; its violent measures against those deputies who could have thrown a light on the state of affairs ; its disloyal attacks against the character and intentions of the opposition ; its systematic denunciations ; its persistence to the last in representingas a iracywhat was

, consp , only the simple and lawful expression of the views of the electors , the wants of the administrators , and the rights of the shareholders , are explained by the necessity in which they find themselves placed , in order to gain time to redeem bills scattered about with the greatest profusion .

And now , they tell us that , during several years , Erench Masonry has been free from debt . How so , since the expenditure of the society exceeds its income ? But , in any case , is it strange that the Administration should have to find itself excuses for not having done a number of things required by Masons long since . During several years , they have told

us , " Masonry , freed from debt , would have been able to build a hospital , to establish schools , libraries , & c , in short , to show to the profane world what was its mission . " But this programme that they bring before us , who would believe that it is the debts of the civil society which have hindered the realisation of it on the part of the Grand Orient ? The lod when their

frages , ternal devotedness is adddressed , have inexhaustible resources ; but they must be convinced that the funds which they consecrate to truly charitable , social , and and religious works , will not be turned from their proper use by speculation or absorbed by wants of another kind . They speak of a hospital . But a

hospital has been founded several years ago by the gifts of Masonic charity . What has become of it in the hands of the Administration ? What service has it rendered with the resources placed in its hands ( about 15 , 000 francs in I 860 ) ? Does it still exist ? And what has become of it , at the time we are writing ? 12