Obscurantism And Nihilism.

Iiave coutribed to find their way into it , and are now busily engaged in schemes for battering its walls and undermining its foundations from ivithin . The Christian spirit which forms the essence of Freemasonry , and has , in this country and in the

United States , raised our Institution to unequalled splendour and glory , has unfortunately lost its hold upon many of the lodges in France , and a few in other parts of the Continent ; and through the breaches thus operated iu the bulwarks of our

fastness , infidelity has , in some cases , managed to creep in and infest the spirit of the garrison . In former ages , it did not hesitate to shew itself in its hideous nudity and appear before the world open-faced and Avithout disguise ; aud as it always proved an egregious failure in the long run , new names were resorted to from time to time

whenever the old ones became inefficient . Thus , our vocabulary was enriched AA'ith numerous synonyms of infidelity . The various designations , spiuozzism , atheism , rationalism , materialism , served each its turn j but it could not hold its OAVII against the

blows inflicted upon it by Pailey , in England , Pascal and Fenelon , in France , and at the commencement of this century it received the coup de grace by Chateaubriand ' s " Spirit of Christianity . " HaA'ing lain dormant for more than an age , it

• lias been revived since 1845 , by the successive labours of Strauss , Yogfc , & c , in Germany , Iienan and others in France . It has assumed not only a . new name , but also a new garb . Afc present it styles itself " Positivism , " and has abandoned its former policy of absolutely denying tbe existence of God ancl the soul ' s immortality . Our old friend

Proteus appears before us in a bran-new attire . The groundwork of positive religion is not to be touched , but only a strict scission betAveen faith and moral law insisted upon . Positivism { alias independent morals ) , so called because it excludes

• every positive belief from social ancl intellectual institutions , is-endeavouring at present to obtrude itself upon our OAVII society and use the latter as a handle for the furtherance of its ends—the total abolition of religion , as founded on revelation , ancl

its supplantation by nihilism . As we previously remarked , this sect has unfortunately succeeded in securing a certain number of adherents in continental lodges , chiefly in France ; aud though the . religious foundation of Freemasonry is too firmly

rooted in all lodges of this country , and no direct . or indirect danger need therefore be apprehended on that score , Ave have thought it our duty , for

some tune past , to draw the attention of our readers to the machinations of the enemies of true Masonry , and duly expose and brand them . The religious tendencies with which all humanitarian Institutions of our country , and chiefly our

OAVU Order , are imbued , cannot fail to be particularly obnoxious and distasteful to this latter class , who have for their organ the Monde Maconnique , a publication Avhose religious doctrines we really regret to be so diametrically opposed to those of

English Masonry , it being otherAvise very ably conducted . Our OAVU vieAvs , however moderately expressed , are impugned by our contemporary in the peculiar style of which a specimen folloAVs . In our issue of March 17 , we said Avith reference to

the doinars of the Positivists : —¦ o Freemasonry , resting upon and being thoroughly pervaded by the genuine doctrines of the Christian religion , necessarily repudiates all connection Avith Pantheists and Atheists on the one hand , and Jesuits and Popish zealots on the otherbut unfortunatela certain number

; y of our continental and chiefly French brethren , styling themselves positivists , on the principle of Incus a non litcendo , have of late years endeavoured to divest Freemasonry of the Avhole of its religious character , and thus undermine the very foundation stone of our edifice , & c .

It Avill be seen hoAv Bro . Favre , being at a loss for argument , has recourse to a favourite substitute , abuse . He says : — Tho reply of our English contemporary proves two things , viz .: — 1 st . That it has not understood us , which is no matter

of surprise , for we are not speaking the same tongue , and the FIIEISMASOXS' MAGAZINE lives in an ordre d'idees Avhich differs from ours , —still supposing that its editors have any idea whatever , barring their unalterable admiration for the established and ruling Church of England . 2 nd . The exclusion with which they do not hesitate to strikein one breathPantheists and JesuitsPapists

, , , and Atheists , that is to say , all those who do not belong to tlie Anglican sect , fully shows that these same editors are hardly better Freemasons than the Bishop of Liege or his colleague of Autun . The good sense of our readers is , no doubt , sufficient to dispose of this Avould-be ratiocination ;

still we cannot resist the temptation of addressing a few words less of 2 'eply than of advice to our French confrere . In the first place , Ave will tell Bro . Favre that his expressions are neither Masonic nor even parliamentary ; and he knows

very Avell that , had he used the same words in the " convent" of the Grand Orient , he Avould at once have been called to order

Injurier n ' est pas repondre , as his colleague , Bro . Beaumont , says very correctly . The language of Billingsgate ancl the Halles is out of place in Masonic publication . Secondly , if he translates any article of ours , Ave request that he will reproduce our oAvn words , ancl not make out of a