The Craft And Its Criticisers.-Ii.

sufficient knowledge of the principles of the Craft to appreciate them , and to make them a rule of life practically regulating their conduct , is , however , so great as to form a large majority ; whatever may be their deficiencies in their power of instruction and explanation to the uninitiated . It is not intended in the present instance to give any learned disquisition on the principles of the Order , or on the" numerous points of interest whicli it presentsbut simply to offer a few statements ivhich may perhaps

, prove useful to those who have not for themselves sought out the means of satisfying the curiosity , or the pure and genuine desire for information , of any friends who may be anxious to possess such knowledge as may enable them in some degree to judge of the validity of its pretensions to consideration and adoption . Whence comes our knowledge , and in what does it consist ? Sufficient has been , said to show what Freemasonry was under the Jewish dispensation .

During the long period which has elapsed since , the institution has experienced many vicissitudes , has undergone many changes , has varied in its objects , has sometimes appeared to be lost , but has revived again . Still , throughout the whole there has been a connecting link , and it is believed that certain fixed points have remained as centres , around which others have revolved , just as our great emblem the sun is the centre of a system , with numerous planets performing their appointed courses about it ; yet

there is reason to suppose that some of these do not now occupy the positions which were originally assigned to them by Omnipotence , but that they are the debris of larger bodies which have suffered disruption . Certain ' traditionary histories have been maintained among us , certainly very interesting so far as they go ; and . in addition to these , all our observances tend to the development of a pure and elevated system of morality ,

inculcated in those shapes and forms which were necessarily adopted before the minds of men had received a large amount of cultivation , namely , by the aid of visible objects used as symbols ; and though these have been superseded by the higher motives and superior teaching offered by true religion ; still there is no reason why they should not be superadded in particular cases , and allowed to maintain that influence of which they were originally the exclusive possessors . For though all may

derive advantage by having their duties and responsibilities laid before them in a variety of ways , there are many on whom one course of mental operation produces more effect than another , and some even , whose minds have received so little expansion , from want of advantages of education , that they are more likely to be impressed by instruction imparted in the primitive mode , than in one which requires a comprehension of abstract views of things , and higher and more exalted intelligence . Nor must it be

forgotten , that our Saviour himself , in his intercourse with his disciples , made frequent use of allegory , and of parable , thus , under the new dispensation , carrying on the method of instruction which was adopted under the old one whicli he came to annul . It may be stated too , that our knowledge consists , as it is hoped , iu a better appreciation of kindly , social feelings , that among Masons a tie does practically exist , ivhich binds man to man in acts of charity , of honour , of virtue , and of truthfulness , which ordinaril y

find no place , or at least a doubtful one , under other influences . While our ritual impresses upon us not only the advantage , but the duty , of cultivating our understanding , and of obtaining an acquaintance with knowledge of every kind which can conduce to the glory of God or the good of man , it especially urges us to gain a better knowledge of ourselves , of our relative duties to each other , and of our relation to the Supreme Beino- , ivith a yiew to our happiness both here and hereafter , and furnishes means 3 E