Masonic Jottings, No. 73.

MASONIC JOTTINGS , No . 73 .

BY A PAST PROVINCIAL GEAND MASTER . THE MYTHICAL—THE LEGENDARY—THE HISTORICAL . The mythical , the legendary , and the historical ,

all form part of our Masonry ; and the instructed brother distinguishes them , ancl finds not difficult y or confusion in their appropriate application .

IMMORTALITY . Brother , the longing after immortality comes from the divinit y which stirs within us . * FREDERICK THE GREAT . He was initiated when Crown Prince , in the

Brunswick Lodge , ni ght of the 14 th and 15 th August , 1738 . There is an interesting account of the ceremony in Bro . Findel ' s History , page 251 .

RELIGION , A correspondent , calling himself " a Mason , who is a follower of the Hol y Jesus , " describes a Reli gion whicli certainly is not Church of Englandism . Ifc would be difficult fco show thafc ifc is Christianity . It approaches near a pure Theism ; and as

a pure Theism it would be the Religion of our Freemasonry ; as a universal Freemasonry , and not , as my correspondent supposes , as a particular Freemasonry . My correspondent should read a recent judgment of the Privy Council .

THE STOIC—TIIE MASON . Bro . E . L . P ., the contemplation of the universe and its Great Architect , in ancient times , made a chief part of the happiness of the Stoic , as it now makes a chief part of she happiness of the Mason .

SUGGESTION AS TO THE RELIGION OF THE LODGE . Let the Reli gion of the lodge be that one of the four Positive Reli g ions , Christianity , Mahommedanism , -Judaism , and Parseeism , which is the Religion of the people amongst whom the lodge is established , with Toleration of Natural Reli gion , ancl of the other three Positive Religions .

THE FIRST CHARGE OP THE 1723 CONSTITUTIONS . A correspondent asks whether in the first charge of the 1723 Constitutions we have the foundation of all true Freemasonry , namely , universality ? My answer is , —we have not . f

* Addison . t Sec " Erasure ol the Cinirgos of 1733 , " ante page 287 .

Masonic Jottings, No. 73.

THE SOUL NOT MATTER . Brother , a mode of convincing yourself that the soul is a spirit , that is to say , that ifc is nofc matter , is to withdraw ifc within itself , and attentively watch its operations .

THE EARLIEST POST-REVIVAL—LECTURES AND CHARGES . The earliest Post-Revival Lectures were not suitable to all the Christians to whom the earliest Post-Revival Charges opened the door of the English Loclge .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE HAUGHFOOT LODGE . A Brother will find the earliest portion of the Minutes of this Lodge known to have been preserved , '' Freemasons' Magazine , " vol . 21 page 109 . — CjTAP . lES PUBTOlf COOPEB .

MEMORIAL OF THE YORK LODGE , 1870 . The ensuing passage is taken from a Memorial presented by the York Lodge to Lord Zetland at the beginning of the past year : — "Our early traditions informs us that from the time of Prince Edwin , A . D . 926 , when the first Lodge was held in the Norman crypt of the York Minster , under a charter from King Athelstan , a Grand Lodge existed in an uninterrupted stream until about the year 1790 . "CHARLES PURTON COOPEE .

THEISM SAID TO BE THE RELIGION OF FREEMASORY . — THE KILWINNING FRATERNITY . ( Continued from page 267 ) . " In conferring this rank upon a Protestant in consideration of his sound divinity , the lodge of Kilwinning not only cast a reproach upon the faith of those brethren belonging to another sect of Christiansbut

, commit themselves to the expression of belief in a creed repugnant alike to the feelings of brethren of the Jewish persuasion , Mahommedans , and all others to whom the lleligion of the Cross is a stumblingblock , and a rock of offence . In unison with this profession of faith , on the part

of tbe descendants of the Craftsmen , whose zeal for Ihe Eoman Catholic Eeligion , led them to devote time and talent to tho construction of the Abbey and Monastery of St . Winning , the prayers of the Mother Lodge continues to be presented to the Great Architect of the Universe , " through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . "

Looking afc the statutes and charges by which the ancient Scottish Brethren were bound to regulate their lives , the Kilwinning Fraternity of the present time cannot , in thus ignoring the universalities of fait )) , claimed for Masonry , be chargeable with a narrow Handedness peculiar to themselves , nor with the obliteration or removal of the landmarks indicating their relation as Masons , to the religion of the country in which the lodge has for so many centuries