Masonic Notes And Queries.

s ' engage si loin qu'il aboutit a une sorte d'atheisme avore . "—CHAEI / ES PUETOS COOPEE . D ^ GI / A ^ D ' DUTY—ITvEDMASOH-Iir . The long paper which a brother has been so kind as to send does not persuade me . Much that lie writes respecting the Ereemasons of EraneeGermany

, , and Italy , ill accords with my notions . But these notions are not improbably erroneous , my kno'vlectge of the Ereemasomy of those countries being of a very imperfect kind , ancl derived almost entirely from irregular and desultory reading . I will " assume , therefore , that my brother describes correctly the

Ereemasomy of France , Germany , and Italy ; still my conviction is that the Freemasonry of England is the Freemasonry most efficient for the performance of England's duty—the duty , ivhich England ' s place amongst nations imposes in humanising rude ancl ignorant races . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .

GEOEGE HEEIOT . _ "Will any brother kindly inform me , if the distinguished founder of Heriot ' s Hospital , Edinburgh , was a member of the Masonic Order ?—M . M . MASOIflO PEEIODICADS . Can any brother furnish a comjjlete list of the

Journals of Freemasonry throughout the world ? I am acquainted with several , viz ., the Masonic Eecord of Western India , the Indian Freemasons' Friend , the National Freemason , the Freemasons'' Monthly Mar / a--zine , the Masonic Gleaner , the Fspejo Masoiiico ( Spanish )—the four last being published in

Americathe Freimaurer Zeitwig and the Bauhutle ( German ) , the Monde Magonniqiie and the Bulletin du Grand Orient de France ( French ) , ancl the Maeonniek Weekllad ( Dutch ) . "What are the names , the price , » and place ot publication of others ?—J . KIS - GSTOS - .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The "Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . REFORM LN MASOiYEY . ; 10 TH EDITOK or THE PKEEJIASOMS' MAGAZINE AX-D MASONIC Minnoit III . DEAE SIE AS"D BEOTHEE , —TO that part of our programme which has been treated in the preceding

two letters , no serious objections have as yet been urged on the part of any of our English brethren , nothing improper or unreasonable appearing therein , from their point of vieAV . In the following points only their ideas were at issue with ours , viz ., the questions of hi gh degrees , atheism , and the Bible .

1 st . The Ilir / li- Deyrces . —^ Yith the exception of the elder members of the Union of Prussian Grand Lodges , hardly anybody cultivates them any longer on the Continent , they having been almost entirel y abandoned by silent consent of tlie present generation , as being opposed to the principles of sound progress

by reason of their obsolete hierarehal organisation and _ tendencies . They fostered vanity and futile ambition by puerile display of ribbons and such like ; they excluded b y heavy taxes all those brethren not belonging to the aristocracy or plutocracj * , and unprinci pled and unscrupulous persons took undue advantage of them for the purpose of imposing upon

other brethren . With the exception of very few chapters , these bodies may be considered as belonging to a past age and to a state of civilisation happily overcome in our days . In Southern Europe , as in France , Italy , & c , the continuance of their existence might be accounted for , contention Avith religious prejudices and persecutions being still the order of

the day in those countries ; but even there we object to the vanity evinced in high-flown titles and the idle display of meaningless decorations . If brethren are impelled by their thirst of knowledge to go beyond the three fundamental degrees , let them cultivate their higher degrees as " closer unions for scientific

aspirations , " but of what earthly use are those highflown titles , those mummeries of ribbons and crosses to men of a cultivated mind ? Real greatness and genius despise and scorn such idle SIIOAV ; they shun it as much as they can ; aud we Freemasons Avho profess to be far above common ambition and vanitj * ,

still persevere in this obsolete tomfoolery . Is it not possible to rectify these degrees and titles by Masonic means , or at least limit them to some more moderate proportions ? For most German lodges this question is fully settled ancl disposed of ; in Germany the very name of the high degrees will soon have ceased to exist .

2 nd . Atheism . —This question is being cleared up more and more . People commence to see that this phrase has been greatly misapplied in past ages , just as it has been the case for some time Avith the "red spectre" of communism in political life . What is an atheist ? It is really difficult to tell . It is hardly possible to draAv a distinct line of demarcation . In

face , from a scientific point of view , there is no such thing as an atheist . Ask Darwin , Lyall , Murphy , Goethe , Murchison , the men of the " Quarterly RevieAV , " the authors of "Essays ancl Reviews , " Humboldt , Arago , Voltaire , Vogt , Moleschott , and other celebrities of the positive sciences ; they all

assume the existence of a primary cause of all things , a Supreme Being ; the difference lies only in the definition , and it is according to their respective vieAvs that they are more or less near the truth . Jesus Christ , St . Paul , Socrates , Huss , & c , all those Avho ever propounded opinions varying from the idea of Deity generally accepted as orthodox , Avere in their

times persecuted as Atheists . "He hath spoken blasphemy , " Avas said of all those Avho Avere crucified , stoned , killed with the poisoned chalice , or roasted on the stake . Are Ave to continue these contentions ? Should Ave who are convinced of professing the most correct reli gious opinions , repel those who adhere to tenets differing from our own ? "Whnot bring them

y over , perhaps convert the in to our vieAvs , if they are otherwise , honest and moral men ? Is it not difficult , according to the doctrines of any one of the Churches , to designate a distinct landmark , AA'here faith commences and infidelity ceases , or vice versa ? If once AVC tread on this path , Ave deviate from our

object and become beni ghted in religious sectarianism . In the writer ' s native country this question no longer rouses feelings or passions , and I have no doubt the practical judgment of English brethren will soon know IIOAV to dispose of it ; otherwise Ave shall have in future a Roman Catholic , Protestant , Jewish , and Mahometan Masonry , instead of a cosmopolitan community of all nations , creeds , and classes .