" By The Power In Me Uested."

Lodges under our constitution AA T 1 IO have never seen the closing of a Master Masons' or a FelloAv Crafts' lodge with the respective ceremonies connected thereAvith ! " In face of such a fact , is it not a great scandal that those who are

entitled by virtue of their membership to know every portion of the Avork should be deprived of full tuition by the exercise of an authority Avhich , by the use of a phrase having no foundation of truth to justify it , hinders their attainment of a perfect knoAvledge of our ritual ?

For the sake of a consistent upholding of not the least of the three grand principles upon which our order is founded—Truth ; as well as for that of the transmission of a perfect and unimpaired ritual to those Avho have to folloAV us , and , in course of time to teach

their successors ; to say nothing as to the undignified evasion of what should be , and to the majority of Worshipful Masters is , a most agreeable duty , as an evidence of that skill and ability to which reference is made at their installation , Ave trust this assumption of a

poAver which never has , and never can be granted , will be discontinued . Wo admit that , for the con \ enience of working the three degrees , when occasion requires at any one meeting , the W . M ., having opened in the second or third may loAver by resumption to and from the first for

the proper discharge of Masonic business ; but he is bound by all the conditions of ancient custom ( so far ancient at any rate as 1813 ) , and the conservation of the Ritual itself , to close each distinct lodge with its distinctive ceremonial . But little reflection is needed to give assurance that the

repetition of the questions " What is the first care , & c . ? " and " What is the constant care , & c . ? " are intended to impress on the minds of the brethren the diversity of the respective lodges of E . A ., F . C ., and M . M ., and their

respective opening and closing ceremonies which the framers of our ritual desired to enforce ; and that if aught else had been intended they Avould ha \ o themselves provided therefor by making truthful that which is at present a false representation , " By the power in me vested . "

New Masonic Buildings At Sunderland.

NEW MASONIC BUILDINGS AT SUNDERLAND .

THE FOUNDATION STONE of the New Masonic Buildings for the Williamson Lodge , No . 'J-lil , in North Bridge Street , Sunderland , was laid on the 20 th inst ., by the R . W . Acting Provincial Grai . d Master , Bro . the Rev . Canon Tristram , D . D ., P . G . C . England , supported by a numerous gathering of Provincial Grand Officers and distinguished brethren , and Avith full and imposing Masonic

ceremony . The Provincial Grand Lodge was opened in the Workmen ' s Hall , and thence proceeded in procession headed by the constabulary band , and in full regalia , to the site of the intended buildings . After prayer and an anthem Bro . Stonehouse , P . G ., Treasurer , by the command of the R . W . Acting P . G . M ., deposited in the cavity a phial containing coins and the Freemason- and

MASONIC STAR newspapers . The R . W . Acting P . G . M . then descended from the platform to the stone and proved it properly adjusted by the plumb rule , which Avas delivered to him by the Prov . G . J . W ., by the level delivered to him by the Prov . G . S . W ., and by the square delivered to him by the Deputy P . G . M . At the conclusion

of the customary ceremony a collection Avas made on behalf of the building fund of the lodge . The cost of the whole building , including the furnishing , is estimated at about £ 1 , 700 . We regret that our limit of space prevents a more detailed account of this interesting addition to our private lodge rooms .

MASONIC OFFENCES . —It seems strange , and yet it is a fact , A \ rites the Voice of Freemasonry , that many inccngrucus expressions long pass unchallenged , their unsuitableness and inappropriateness not being discerned by any of those Avho use them . Thus it has been with the phrases " Masonic offence" and ' Masonic crime . " They have been used in reports of committees on grievance and

appeal , in addresses of Masonic Grand Officers , in reports on Masonic correspondence , and in Masonic periodicals and papers , unquestioned as to their correctness . Doubtless , thousands of the Fraternity haA'e uttered them without thinking of their impropriety . Hundreds of times , when searching for gems for this magazine , Ave have observed them without perceiving their inconsistency , and net

till AVC were in the midst of our revieAV Avork for this issue of the " Voice of Masonry " did Ave discover their discordance , incempatiblene-ss , and irreconcilableness . Then , like an inspiration , - the questions came to us , How can an offence or a crime be Masonic ? JIOAV can a Mason do a Masonic Avrong , or commit a Masonic sin ? Instantly the answers followed . There is no concord of Masonry

with offences and crimes , and it is impossible to reconcile a Mason ' s wrong-doing Avith the pure principles of Masonic morals . Offences and crimes arc tin-Masonic , and a Mason Avho so seriously errs that he must be disciplined , never is charged Avith Masonic conduct , but always the contrary . He is not tried on specifications of Masonic doing , but just the reverse . If he is found guilty , the verdict is not

that his offence or crime was Masonic , but just the opposite . And if he is expelled , or suspended , or reprimanded , it is not for anything Masonic in his Acts , but for the measure of grossness they possess un-MasGiiically . This being true , the phrases named should be dropped , and for them we should substitute un-Masonic conduct , or uii-Masonic acts , or some other phrase that contains no disagreement in its si'Tiiiication—no contradiction in its terms .

The Ritual.

THE RITUAL .

CONTINUATION OF CHAP . V . OF BRO . H . J . WHYMPER S " RELIGION OF FREEMASONRY . "—( See page 257 . ) | pa | af HE language used by Preston in his book a hundred years Hi fill a £° all ( ^ l ' ^ * ^ in * Ritual at the present day are III H | alike . * He is no longer recommended or enjoined ( charged ) BBSmSfil to be a Christian , but in future it is , in conformity Avith

his solemn obligation , expected of him . It is thus emphasized that a knowledge of . principles is all that an Apprentice is expected to preserve , but that a- Fellow Craft is bound to maintain those principles . Our contention therefore is , that no matter Avhat the position of the brother was before he took the Second Degree , however little he agreed to Masonic teaching whilst he remained only an Entered

Apprentice , Avhen he has once given his formal assent to the principles of the First Degree before taking the Second , he is no longer free to accept or reject any one of the principles of the Order . One of these principles in English Masonry relates to the Bible , and we assert , Avithout the least fear of adverse authority , that no FelloAv Craft Mason can reject the Bible and be true to his obligation .

That he has not taken this into consideration is very probable ; indeed it must be so Avhen we find that after , as before initiation , some decline to accept the Bible as the guide of their life . Their requiring any other volume for the purpose of obligation is proof that they still retain their old faith in their former guide . This should have been foreseen if Freemasonry was to have an

Universal application ; it certainly Avas not . A Ritual which is thus anomalously improper for Universality continues to be used , and it must sooner or later work confusion . The expression of belief , required in the First Degree , enables us to embrace as brethren many of the principal religions of the world . To preserve our secrets Ave insist on a promise of secrecy . We

consider that , to be binding , this obligation should be on that book Avhich the candidate believes to be divinely inspired . This is the only use for any book except the Bible in a Lodge of Freemasons A mistaken A ie \ v of this has already led to error . We properly open our doors to any man Avho believes that there is a God who will hear and ansAver prayer , Avithout reference to Avhatever other

conceptions he may cherish . It is Masonic teaching that even a man with this initial belief is yet in a state of darkness . The glimmer of light he possesses is , according to Masonic teaching , of no avail , for long after he has acknoAvledged this initial belief he is presumed to be in darkness . He is supposed to enter Freemasonry with a elesire to find light , and , by a ceremonv familiar to all Masons

light is given . This light is not rej resented as afforded by the Koran—the Grunth—or the thasters , but by the Bible . We have nothing to do Avith the element of al surdity which surrounds this matter , by being treated in Ledge as a secret whilst it is published in evjry Lexicon of Freemasonry in England and America ; we only insiit that Ave haA e correctly described a Ritualistic ceremony .

The Ritual does not offer any theory by which a brother , who is not a Christian , could at once apply a symbolical meaning to the Bible and thereafter consider it simply as an emblem of some other volume , —neither does any decision of Grand Lodge w-ith Avhich Ave are acquainted . It is unquestionably open to the brother to refuse to receive the Bible as his Great Light in Masonry , or in any other

sense . He may have the utmost contempt for its teachings , and yet there is no known Avay of entirely cancelling his connection with Masonry . Neither do Ave desire to do so , if he be a just and God-fearing man : he remains our dear brother in Masonry . He may , in short , by choice remain in darkness ; Masonry can only shoAV him the light , it has no power to compel him to accept it .

But it must be remembered that this is only in the primary stage . Before Freemasonry can be further disclosed an assent to principles is demanded . This is too often lost sight of . It is impossible for any man , no matter Avhat his former belief may haA e been , to become a FelloAv Craft Mason in English Masonry and refuse to accept both the Old and the NeAV Testaments . The great principle

taught has to be accepted in the Second Degree . We do not assert that this entails the adoption of any specific form of Christian belief . We do not Avander beyond the exact length Ave are entitled to gc—Avhich is , that a FelloAv Craft Mason must accept the Bible as the guide of his life or he has not done that which he has solemnly promised to do .

The more the Rituals of the Four Degrees in Masonry are studied , the more will it be evident that if the end of Masonry Avere merely to proclaim the unity of the Godhead , three of the Degrees are superfluous . If the end were ( Avhat Aye unhesitatingly assert is only tho beginning ) merely to express a belief in one God—then nothing more than the First Degree is required . The succeeding

Degrees do not in any Avay further exemplify unity per se , —this is overlooked by the Universalist . The Degrees after the First introduce matter which establishes that Masonic belief goes further . If we are not to proceed beyond mere unity , why is the Ritual so careful to display the doctrine of the Trinity ? We are not ignorant that Triad faiths are exceedingly common . We admit it might be

possible to establish that a belief in some kind of a Trinity is as widely spread as any conviction of the Unity of God . The Hindoo would at once oblige us in this respect and satisfy enquiry by producing a Trinity , but no one can seriously argue that our system was founded Avith any such idea of Universality : if not , then what interpretation is bound up Avith our Triads , which are admittedly

but mere symbols ? Have any of our readers ever thought out this matter of the ever recurring Triads in our Ritual ? In the Library of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , London , No . 2076 , is a MS . book , —original and unique , —designed and compiled by Bro . C . E . Ferry , a member of tho Correspondence Circle or Literary Masonic Society attached to that Lodge .

» See Preston's " Illustrations , " p . 53 ; also Emulation working , Charge after Passing . ( To be continued ') .