Feeemasoney And Christianity.

sufficient to support my argument . "Q- Why were you deprived of m when raised a M . M . ? A . As Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver , so I was divested of m , that I might not have the price of blood about me . Q . Who

was H . B . a type of ? A . He was a type of Jesus Christ , the only begotten of God , by whom man was raised from the death of sin unto the life of

righteousness ; from the tomb of corruption , unto the chambers of hope;—from the darkness of despair , to the celestial beams of faith , and not only working for us this redemption , but making with us the covenant of regeneration ; whence we

are become the children of the Divinity and inheritors of the realms of heaven . Q . What does a M-M- represent ? 1 A M . M . represents a man under the Christian doctrine saved from the grave of iniquity , and raised to the faith of Salvation- "

( See also Hutchinson ' s Spirit of Masonry ed . 1797 , p . p . 101 , 102 , and Ashe's Manual , ed . 1825 , p . 141 , where both authors add : "As the great testimonial that we are risen from the state of

corruption , we bear the emblem of the Holy Trinity , as the insignia of our vows of the origin of the Master ' s order . " ) The old lecture proceeds : Q . What does the M . M . 's order represent ? A . It represents the glorious interval of the Christian dispensation down to the consummation of all

things . It brings the Masonic enquirer into a state representing the meridian light of the last and fullest revelation from Heaven to man upon earth by the eternal Son of God ; through whose resurrection and ascension he is z'aised from

darkness and death to the certainty of life and immortality . Q . What does the M . M . 's order imply ? It implies that we have discovered the knowledge of God and his salvation , and have been redeemed from the death of sin and the

sepulchre of unrighteousness . The gracious Divinity perceiving the ruin which wss overwhelming mankind , was pleased to send his only Son to redeem ns . Piety , which , had planned the Temple of Jerusalem , was expunged , the reverence aud

adoration due to the Divinity were buried in the filth and rubbish of the world ; persecution had dispersed the few who had retained their obedience , and the name of the true God was almost totall y forgotten among men . Reliion sat

g mourning in Israel in sackcloth and ashes , and morality was scattered as it were by the four winds of the air . In this situation it might well be said , that the guide to Heaven was lost and the

Master of the works of righteousness ivas smitten ^ The nations had given themselves up to the grossest idolatry ; Solomon had fallen , and theservice of the true God was effaced from the memory of those who had yielded themselves to

the dominion of sin—true religion was fled , —¦ those who sought her by the wisdom of the " - ancients were not able to raise her , she eludedtheir grasp and their polluted hands were stretched forth in vain forth for her restoration . Those who

sought her by the old Law were frustrated , for . Death had stepped between and corruption defiled the embrace;—her tomb was in the rubbish and . filth cast forth of the Temple , and Acacia wove its . branches over her monument . "—( See also

Spiritof Masonry , p . 98 , et seq ., and Ashe ' s Manual ,, p . 139 et seq . ) Again , at the end of the fourth section of the old Lecture we find : " Q . Where do you hold your Lodges ? A . In an upper chamber . Q . Why so ? A . In an upper chamber

our blessed Redeemer , Jesus Christ , ate the last passover with his twelve disciples , instituting at the same time the Sacrament of Bread and Wine ,, the supper of our Lord . " The old Lecture goes on ¦ to describe the symbolism of King Solomon's

Temple , showing at considerable length how the Tabernacle and Temple , and the gold and brass therein , also the Ark of the Covenant , the--Cherubim , the Veil , and other accessories were emblems of Christ , but time and space will not

admit of my setting out this most instructive portion of the Lecture at length . Smith , in his " Use and Abuse of Preemasonry , " ed . 1783 . p . 33 , says , "The members of our society at this day , in the third stage of Masonry ,

confess themselves to he Christians : the veil of the temple is rent ; the builder is smitten , and we are raised from the tomb of transgression . Hence ,, how Mahometans , Jews , & c , can prevail on themselves to be initiated into this society , is to me asnrprise . '"'

Two more extracts from the old writers and I . have done . Hutchinson , in his " Spirit of Masonry , " p . 110 , says : "Assuredly the secretsrevealed to us were for other uses than what relate to labouring up masses of stone ; and our

society , as it now stands , is an association on religious and charitable principles ; which principles were instituted and arose upon the knowledge of God , and in the Christian revelation , " ( see also "Ashe ' s Manual" p . 148 . ) , and at p . 140 , Hutchinson says , " The M . M . ' s order ,..