Masonic Celestial Mysteries.

Majesty , not all the heralds' college , including Garter , Nornj , Clair-cn-cieux , Avould have persuaded her to have handled it in public .

Freemasonry And Christianity.

FREEMASONRY AND CHRISTIANITY .

By DNALXO . A careful consideration of the design of Preemasonry will prove , that although its morality may at first sight appear more particularly adapted to Christianity than to . any other religion , yet it is

in reality cosmopolitan , and can be claimed exclusively neither by the Christian nor anjr other faith .

The real aim and design of Freemasonry is to unite all nations , creeds , and sects by a covenant of brotherly love , relief , and truth , and thus to form the whole human race into one great brotherhood , firmly united by mutual love , confidence ,

and esteem ; but this great end never can or will be attained if Masonry is allowed to assume the form of a religious institution . Amongst whatever people Masonry may exist , she will inculcate the morality of their peculiar

religion , and select as examples for their moral guidance , eminent men of their particular creed . Thus , the two St . Johns have been chosen by the Christians , and Solomon and Moses by the Jews , as the great parallels of Masonry ; in a like

manner other creeds and nations would select patrons or parallels whose moral and upright lives it would be their great object to emulate .

That her children may live together in peace , harmony , and brotherly love , during their journey through the chequered scenes ol this transitory life , Masonry strictly enjoins them to interfere -Avith no religious faith , but to be alike friendly to

all ; to be loyal and patriotic , conforming to the ¦ government under which they may dwell , by obeying the laws which yield them protection , and by rendering strict justice in all their undertakings ; to practice universal benevolence , so that their

lodges may be an asylum to the friendless and unprotected of every age and nation ; to promote the arts and sciences , by encouraging industry and rewarding merit ; and lastly , as citizens of the Avorld , to keep their minds entirely free from

religious antipathies or local prejudices , so that they may find in every nation a friend , aud in every climate a home . It is , therefore , a great error to ascribe any distinct religious tendency to Preemasonry her

Freemasonry And Christianity.

teachings , a simple and beautiful system of morality , relate to this life alone , and not to the souls hereafter ; she points out to her children the paths they must pursue in order to become good and useful members of society , but leaves to their

individual religious creeds all instructions as to the future state beyond the grave . True Freemasonry is cosmopolitan , and the whole world , with but few exceptions , will fully and completely agree as to the truth and

importance of its fundamental tenets . Religion is entirely sectarian , for among the millions who people the globe , but few men can be found who will fully and completely agree on its doctrines or principles . It is a mournful but indisputable fact

that there does not exist a more striking example of the sectarianism of religion than Christianity , nor a stronger proof of the impossibility of Freemasonry ever accomplishing its great design , if it should assume the form of a religious institution .

Where can be found such an utter absence cf brotherly love as between the different denominations of Christians ? Where more bitter or

inveterate foes , than the various factions which rend the great and glorious faith , whose motto is " Peace on earth and good will to all men . " With a full and firm conviction that the adoption of any distinct religious creed would inevitably

destroy the love and harmony in which her children dwell , Masonry avoids and strictly prohibits all approach to religious matters , save in the one question of the first degree , and this is introduced solely with the object of preventing

admission into the Order of men destitute of natural religion , whose voice cannot be relied on , since they do not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being , or in the immortality of the soul .

Much stress has been laid on the resemblance which the , legend of the third degree is supposed to bear to the great event of the Christian faith , but the same similarity could have been claimed by the initiates in the Egyptian , Eleusinian , and

other mysteries , ages before the Christian era . The third degree is a sublime lesson of death , its object being to forcibly impress upon us by a vivid proof of Our mortality , the importance of the moral and fraternal covenant we have so

solemnly vowed to observe ; and this lesson is of universal application , not sectarian . One of the most important landmarks of Freemasonry is religious toleration , every member of the Order being perfectly free to enjoy his own