St. John And Freemasonry.

the most indisputable types of the religion which the Messiah should reveal and propagate . In a word , the whole system of ancient religion , whether genuine or spurious , was little else than primitive Masonry , under various names and modifications . " In this connection , it may be well to notice the fact that religion among the ancients was understood to be a

system of practical duties to God and onr fellow-men , and not , as too much the case at the present day , shorn of its glory by being dwarfed into a mere thing of sentiment and feeling— " a being instead of a doing , " or as a mere system of dry and crabbed theology , or indigestible doctrine , Avhich however true , is but too little connected with the practical duties required in the Bible .

To " do justice , love mercy , and walk humbly with God " —or , " to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction , and keep ourselves unspotted from the world . " Even the Jews—God ' s chosen people—professing to be guided and directed by Him , considered religion to lie in the observance of the ceremonial , and the keeping of the moral law ; though a few , of whom the world was

not worthy , looked through their types and ceremonies , up to the great antitype—and worshipped in spirit and in truth . That religion in its broadest , purest sense , defined in our old constitutions— " Piety towards God the glorious Master Builder of the universe , and love to mankind " was—among all who acknowledged the Bible—the great

pedestal of Freemasonry , is abundantly evident , not only from our traditions , but also from the oldest records and manuscripts which have been preserved ; for it is well known and understood that , until a comparatively modern date , no records or manuscripts were allowed to exist , or be preserved in any branch of the Order . The ancient constitutions and charges of Freemasonry , were framed about the year 926 , from such manuscripts as could be gathered in Greek , Latin , French , and other languages , by the brethren who met at York , in England , for the

purpose of forming a Grand Lodge in that city , pursuant to the summons of Prince Edwin . In these charges it is laid down as the rule of duty , "A Mason is to study tho moral law as contained in the Sacred Code ; to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice ; and to regulate his life and actions by its divine precepts . He is strictly to observe his duty to God , by never

mentioning His name , but with that awe and reverence , which is due from a creature to his Creator ; to esteem Him as the chief good , and to implore His aid in all laudable undertakings . " Freemasonry in its organization as a socifcy , dates from the building of the first temple upon Mount Moriah , in Jerusalem . Says Archdeacon Maut , a learned divine and

eminent Mason , of England , "The Avhole system of Freemasonry underwent some revisal under the command of Solomon , who being acquainted with many of the most famous systems of mysterious instruction , was enabled from that knowledge , to settle among the true believers , an improved form of Masonic discipline ; and from this point accordingly our present system of

Freemasonry is properly to be dated . " Every Avell-in ^ fcructed Master Mason will endorse this position ; for our ritual , signs , passwords , and ceremonies —taken mostly from the Bible—prove the fact ; that they were originated or arranged at the building of the Temple on Mount Moriah , by Solomon King of Israel , Hiram King of Tyre , aud Hiram tho widow ' s son . To

those who have thoroughly examined the subject , the connection between our system of Ancient Craft Masonry , and that which existed previous to the erection of the temple , is also equally clear . The traditions , landmarks , ceremonies , and passivords intertwining and overlapping each other , make a connection as clear and plain as that of the church before and since the reformation ; not a creating of something new , but a wiping off and laying aside that which deformed , or polluted , or was foreign to the body ; Avith a burnishing , cleansing , and arranging

that which had the elements of purity and permanence ; which had come down from the Fountain of Light ; and was therefore not only pure , bnt unchangeable . To those of thoughtful minds and pious hearts , who , with sincere and proper motives entered our sanctuary , and have traversed its several apartments , splendidl y furnished and adorned with sublime thought and

sentiment , illumined by the steady and chastening light which radiates from the Lamp of Life—the word and will of our Great Grand Master—always reposing upon our altar . I need not say anything as to its grandeur or beauty , or furnish any proof of its antiquity , its usefulness , or its permanence . In both morality and polity it is at this day , as it has always been beyond all

controversy , the most perfect human organisation that ever existed . Though now planted in nearly every nation , kingdom , or country on this globe , and nourishing more or less according to the degree of civilisation and moral light—its native and congenial element—it is , as at the dedication of the temple , one brotherhood of Freemasonry 1 acknowledging one God , . receiving the same

s . ymbolic teachings , and having tho same landmarks , signs , and symbols . As arranged by Solomon , to whom was given wisdom above any of the sons of men , and learning beyond any upon earth , true to its character as a witness for the truth , and a vehicle for keeping in . mind God's dealings with His people , it of course adhered more closely to the

phraseology of the Bible and the Mosaic or ceremonial law of the Jews—God ' s covenant people ; all of which ceremonies were typical of the " Messiah which was for to come , " so understood by every believer aud reader of the AVord of God . That temple has been destroyed , and the Mosaic dispensation has passed away , leaving no other revealed religion than that of Faith—the Gospel covenant as made with Abraham the father of the faithful , and clearly adumbrated in nearly every one of the Psalms of David , used in the temple service . The

ceremonial law has been fulfilled by Him , whom Saint John came to herald— -Jesus the Messiah . Since that central point or era in both sacred and profane history , among those who believe that the Messiah has indeed come , Freemasoni ^ has been held to bo Christian in its character and teachings ; the New Testament explaining , illustrating , and fulfilling the old in its plainest grammatical

sense , and both joined , forming one unbroken stream of Revelation—clear as the water of life , proceeding from the throne of God and tho Lamb—are given in charge to the AVorshipful Master of every lodge at his installation , as " The Holy Bible , that great light in Masonry , will guide you in the path of Truth , direct you to the Temple of happiness , and point out to you the whole duty of man . "

From this our highly-esteemed Hebrew brethren ought not anywhere or in any manner to dissent , as by doing so they declare that Freemasonry is sectarian . They believe as we do in the fall of our first parents from innocence to guilt—a moral death—and in the promise of a restoration through the atonement of the predicted Messiah—all this the Old Testamentwhich we

, have received through them , declared , and all their ceremonies clearly typified . With them , we believe all this ; but all the Bible language , Ave use many of the symbols we employ , and the universal consent of all the civilised nations on the globe to the use of the Christian era and the authenticity of the NeAV Testament , testify that the Messiah for whom they still profess to look has already

come in the person of Jesus Christ ; that as the great anti-type , He fulfilled all the types of their ceremonial law , made an atonement for sins , and founded Christianity as the religion of the Avorld . Freemasonry , therefore , founded upon the Bible so far as it is religious , is to all Avho believe in the divine mission of Christ , Christian ; and the Scriptures , or " Holy AVritings , " containing the Old and Netv Testament—both teaching Christianitylies upon our altar , and moves with our processions as our great light . That this Avas so understood by the