What Is Masonry?

boast of . And to Avhat is this to be traced ? Manifestly , Ave believe , to the carelessness Avith Avhich aspirants are admitted to the Order . At the risk of offending some Ave say , that there is at present too lax a system permitted in the admission of candidates for Freemasonry . Lodges have come to look rather to their funds than to

what constitutes the real strength of a lodge ; and how often does it not happen that a candidate is permitted to take upon himself obligations Avhich , Avere his antecedents knoAvn , he probably would be justl y denied a participation in . It is noAV-adays almost a sufficient justification to the

admission of a stranger into the Order—that nobody knoAvs any harm of him ; and sometimes , indeed , scarcel y so much trouble is bestoAved even as this . What results other than prejudicial ones can possibl y be expected to accrue if so lax a system be permitted ? And AAdiat wonder if amongst an

Order recruited thus carelessly , men are found who , b y their actions , bring discredit not only upon themselves , but upon the Craft—a stigma Avhich is never failed to be employed , re-sharpened , b y the traducers of the Order , in . general condemnation of it and its supporters .

We painfully feel that it cannot be said of us " See IIOAV these Masons love one another . " We fear that the growth of Masonry , if dependent upon its outward apparent results to the outside

world , AA ould be stunted indeed . And yet Avh y should this be so ? We either believe in the great truths of Masonry and in the importance of our obligations , or we do not . There can be no medium in the matter . The duty is an incumbent , imperative , ever-present one , or it is no duty at

all ; one can no more act as a Mason one day in the Aveek , and as no Mason another , than can a man be half a Christian . Indeed , if Masonry be not the handmaid of religion , Avhat is she ? and if so , the obligations of the Christian are also the obligations of a M . ason . " Love one another" is

no less the Masonic than the Divine law , and can no more be evaded Avith impunit y in the one case than the other . In a fraternity banded together in the sacred , the noble , the chivalric cause of " brotherly love , reliefand truth" there should certainly exist a

, , greater abnegation of world-day Aveaknesses than is to be found in the outer circle of men . Tet Avhat petty Aveaknesses , loose princip les , and imperfect practices , are not frequently found among

us . But it may be argued , no society of men Avas ever yet perfect . True ; but it is the duty of those setting up especiall y as their model , perfection , to attain a nearer approach to it than their fellow-men .

In what Avay , then , shall Ave improve our position amongst one another as amongst the world ? Let us set ourselves faithfully to a consideration and practice of the duties Ave oAve to the Order it should be our pride to belong to . Let us , while

What Is Masonry?

eschewing and contemning , aye , and even punishing , bad example amongst those now of us , watch carefully also that none partake the fellowshi p of our Order Avho do uot give promise of adorning it . Here lies the remedy for any evils which now afflict us—here lies the safeguard against their

repetition . Let us be true to one another , firm in our faith , bold to decry Avrong , and it must happen that the g lory and the beauty of Masonry shall not only dAvell more sensibl y in the hearts and lives of the brethren , but impress the minds and excite the admiration of the outer Avorld . —F . F . W .

Antiquity Of The Third Degree.

ANTIQUITY OF THE THIRD DEGREE .

Three Lectures delivered before Lodge Industry ( No . 873 ) , at Kotree , in Scinde , by Bro . W . A . BHI / ATON , W . M . LECI-DRE II . " Oral tradition is fairly admissible , when its substance contains nothing improbable or inconsistent with Scripture or reason ancl the traditions of Masonrytried bthis standard

; , y , will be possessed of irresistible claims to our belief . "—OLIVER , Auiiq ., p . 3 . " Whatever may be the contending opinion on the subject of the historical origin of . Freemasonry , no one wlio has iittentively investigated the subject can , for a moment , doubt that it is indebted for its peculiar mode of inculcating its principles to the same spirit of symholic science which gave rise to the

sacred language of the Egyptian priests , ancl the sublime initiations of the pagan philosophers , i ' or all the mysteries of the ancient world , whether they were the Druidical rites of Britain or tha Cahiric worship of Satnothracia , whether celebrated on the banks of the Ganges or the Nile , contained so much of the internal spirit and the outward form of pure and speculative Masonry as to demonstrate the certainty of a common origin to all . "—Freemasons' Magazine .

BRETHREN !—In my last address I tried to show you the Aveakness of the reasoning put forward by our learned brother , Dr . Oliver , Avbom I take to be the head of the " modern" theorists , Avith regard to the nonantiquity of the Third Degree . That lecture , as perhaps you too well remember , Avas an amazingly dry one . Bub brethren , it has paved tbe Avay for this other side of the

question , Avhich I trust you Avill think somewhat interesting . And now AVC will go back , if you please , three thousand years or so , to the great Pyramids of Egypt . Here , in the very cradle of the mysteries of the ancient Avorld , Ave find three degrees of initiation into what has been called tbe spurious Freemasonry of antiquity . These

are tbe mysteries of Isis , of Serapis , and of Osiris . Tbe former were called the lesser , tbe tivo latter tbe greater mysteries . Those of Isis Avere celebrated at the vernal equinox ; of Serapis at the summer solstice ; of Osiris at the autumnal equinox—spring , summer , and autumn . I have not time to tell you , brethren , the details of these mysteries . You will find them in Mackey ' s Lexicon

* Oliver ' s Signs and Symbols and Antiquities , and many other books . Suffice it to say , that at his initiation into the mysteries of Isis , the candidate had to pass through trials by air , firs , and water ; that if he once passed tbe entrance door there Avas no retreat for him ; that a solemn OB was administered to hini ; and that on his reception he Avas clothed with the mystic garments . Not

much is knoAvn of the second degree , or mysteries of Serapis . No one , hoAvevev , was permitted to participate in them , unless ha had been initiated into those of Isis . Then we come to the third degree , or mysteries of Osiris . I quote from Maekey : — "In these the legend of the murder of Osiris by his brother Typhon was