Fallacious Views Of The Graft.

of our Craft , however , are the advocacy and propagation of knowledge and enlig htenment among men ; and considering as wc do that the press of a free country is the most powerful agent by which this noble cause can be assisted , wc pay all clue deference to its utterances—ancl receive its praises with the same equanimity with whicli we should regard misrepresentation or unfavourable criticism .

AVe have been led into these remarks by an article we have met with in a daily metropolitan journal , which while possessing tho advantage of cheapness , is inferior to feiv , if any , of its contemporaries , in ability and information . In tho Daily Telegraph of Aug . 3 , there appeared a leader upon Freemasonry , which as many of onr readers may not have seenwe reprint in its entirety . The writerit will bo

, , perceived , while speaking of the Order in tho most resi ^ ectfnl terms has , either from want of proper inquiry into the subject , or from defective information derived from questionable sources , arrived at very incorrect conclusions with regard to Freemasonry ; aud while he is evidently desirous of paying a well deserved tribute of admiration to those results of the

practical working ofthe Craft which arc . patent to the whole world , he greatly misconceives tho princi ples upon which the institution is founded . While wo are gratified by the expression of respect for the Craft displayed in this essay , we think that few skilled Craftsmen will fool flattered at the comparatively commonplace estimate which the writer has

formed of our antient mystery . Our contemporary does not seem in the least degree imbued with that half curious , half incredulous notion of the mystic tie which has been the foundation of so many vague speculations , so many vulgar sneers , ancl so many rouiautic absurdities ; he rather appeal's to incline somewhat

to describe the Order as a superior kind of benefit societya notion which wc are aware is entertained b j' many , though ( if wc may be pardoned for saying so ) not the best-informed among the public . The following is the article in question : —

Organizations for friendly or charitable purposes are of very ancient date . They existed among the Greeks , especially in the free state of Athens ; they existed in Borne , ami from the eternal city passed clown to the modern world . In the eighteenth century they assumed a very peculiar form , and aimed at producing extraordinary effects , nothing less than the regeneration of society , the establishment of universal freedom , and the diffusion of

plenty and contentment throughout the world . Tt remains for some historian capable , by his learning and impartiality , of doing justice to the subject , to reveal what Freemasonry , which stands at the head of all friendly societies , really was during the eighteenth century and earlier . By its enemies it has heen systematically misrepresented , its objects have been ridiculed , its ceremonies travestiedits sacred aim and profanedIts

, purpose . only real fault in those days was aiming at too nincli . There was a philosophy among the brctWen , a philosophy lofty and expansive , which induced them to hope that , hy the strict application ofthe luii- of brotherhood , all mankind might he emancipated and invested with the dignity AA'hich nature intended it to possess . The writers of the period and of that immediately succeeding , lied themselves rather to libel than

app to explain the design of Freemasonry and other cognate associations . It ivas out of the womb of charity that they sprang—it was to devclopc the principle of charity that they existed . They went back to lhe reli ' . 'ions of old times , ancl found amid their fragments ami ruins proofs that all men are brethren , and that the primary duty of life is to R ive efficacy to the doctrine of union and mutiial support .

Springing into activity , in juxtaposition with despotism , they found it impossible to avoid awakening the hostility of governments , and hence the ferocious persecutions ivhich the member ., of friendly societies encountered in the last age . They beheld the poAverful associating together for the oppression of the weak , ami they laboured to induce the weak to associate for their oivn protection , and perhaps , in some instances , to retaliate on the holders ofthe

up antagonist principle . " This was the great purpose of Freemasonry on the continent ; it hacl a grand and catholic object , it aimed at noble results ; and whatever the ignorant may think , produced them , in a great measure , since the superior condition of socielv in these cliiys is unquestionably traceable to the labours of ' Freeiim _ oiiry . ' The

great French revolution , whicli performed in the moral atmosphere the duty of a mighty thunderstorm , was an application , more or less uncouth , of Masonic doctrines . These taught the equality of man , not for purposes of discord and civil dissension , but in order to procure the execution of justice indiscriminately to all members of the community . Class legislation , the privileges of particular ordersthe traditional rihts of individualsthey

, g , vehemently denounced , inculcating at the same time a profound reverence for genius , for virtue , for religion , for morality . Their chaotic strivings were merely meant to inaugurate the reign of enlightened and equal laws , which should raise the humble from the dust , aud bring down the arrogance of the proud . " Throughout Europe the principles thus brought forward have since heen put in playmore or less letelyby the

, comp , associations of Freemasons , Odd Fellows , Druids , Foresters , and so on . Their institutions may he perverted , but the system they aim at realizing is deserving of all praise . The end they lA'Ouhl attain is the refinement and elevation of the poor and ignorant , first , by associating them with men of education ; and , next , hy affording to them in sickness and old age the means of escaping the most humiliating consequences of poverty . To be a

pauper , is to forfeit many of the rights and nearly all the dignity naturally belonging to a mini . The pauper reaps where he has not sown , devours where he has not planted . His aliments come to him not as a right , hut as an alms , and are doled out to his wants with humiliating and degrading economy . Through the influence of fricndlv societies a man is enabled to administer to

his OAA ' U wants m age , m sickness , and in unavoidable misfortunes . 'The bread he eats by this means is the bread of honest labourthe bread for which he has himself toiled , and which he earned when he had strength , precisely that he might he able to eat it when his strength failed , and when the evil days of weakness should come upon him . " It is the duty of civilization to look with approval on all

associations of this class , ivhich are calculated to foster flic feeling of independence , and render men their own benefactors . It is not unpleasant to be beholden to the person you love ; and if it he true that most men loi-e themselves most of all , then to be beholden to themselves must he the pleasantest of all feelings . A great Pagan king said it is more blessed to give than to receive , and if askedhe certainlwould have addedit is better to provide

, y , for yourselves than to be provided for hy others . Friendly associations enable men to do this , while thej' by no means deprive them of the pleasure of giving . The man ivho puts by a shilling , with an eye to the future , is more likely to put by a second , than he who has never saved a penny . Bcal economy is never niggardly . Its hands are meant for use , for distribution , for charity . Hut when there exists a common fundto whicli a

thou-, sand men contribute , which is watched over by a thousand minds , and known to he designed for the comfort in sickness of a thousand sufferers , a great deal more in proportion may he accomplished than could ever he effected by a thousand separate individuals acting without plan , kee ]_ ing the fruits of their economy apart and aiming each exclusively at his own personal advantage .

" Freemasonry—to which AVC refer because it is the most perfect of all friendly associations—is animated b y a really universal spirit , ivhich abjures all distinctions of country , race , and creed . The Mahommedan , meeting on the burning plains of Asia , with a Christian foe on the field of battle , has heen known to kneel by his side , to raise him from the earth , to bind up his wounds ' , to bear him tenderly to his own tent , and there to wait on him like brotherbecause he hacl

a , discovered that he was a Freemason . The Hindoo , the Christian , the Buddhist would do the same . 'This imparts to the Order something like a religious character , though distinct from sects and creeds . It ivould be well if we looked into the history of Masonry during the last age , and inquired how much of its present excellence is due to the efforts then made towards raising it into a catholic system , organized for the

political regeneration of the world . Its mystery , its secret apartments , its rites celebrated in darkness or extreme gloom , the flashing of swords , the burning of incense , the jargon , the mummery , the mysticism prevailing—all these things had their use , though they might occasionally he misemployed . Society in all countries requires to be galvanized freely before it can be improved . Civilization is too often synonymous witli droning vapid'

ncss , verging upon the dreaminess of Utopia . Men need to be roused , shaken , alarmed , and made to feel that all individuals are surrounded in this world by mystery—that they knoiv not whence they came , or whither they go—that they have more duties than the church explains to them—and that among these the greatest by far is that of succouring each other iii distress , without nnikiug any inquiries about beliefs , or government-, or races , or