Hints On Masonic Reforms.—No. I.

Duke of Sussex to the present hour , has so steadily sought to crush and render nugatory . In England too , at last , the dry bones of Free-Masonry are shaking together with no uncertain sound . In the metropolis and the provinces there are many utterances , if not loud yet deep , against the present state of things . Masonic discontent is rife

and it is no uncommon occurrence to hear strong denunciations of current abuses , especially those connnected with a clerk in our employment . Bro . Dr . A . G . Mackey , in his book on Masonic Jurisprudence , sets out by stating that" Sir William Blackstone commences his Commentaries on the

" Laws of England with the succinct definition that 'law , in its '' most general and comprehensive sense , signifies a rule of action , " whether animate or inanimate , rational or irrational . ' It is in '' this sense that we speak of the laws of a country as being those " rules , whether derived from positive enactment of the legislative " authority , or from long established custom , by which the conduct " of its citizens is regulated .

" So too , societies , which are but empires , kingdoms , or " republics , in miniature , are also controlled by rules of action " which are , to their respective members , as perfect laws as the : I Statutes of the Realm . Hence Free-Masonry , as the most " ancient and universal of all societies , is governed by its laws or " rules of action , which either spring out of its organisation , and " are based upon its established customs and usages , or are

" derived from the enactments of its superintending tribunals . " Accepting the above definition in its widest and best sense , it ought not to be forgotten that there used to be a very common saying , respecting the majority of the clauses of Acts of Parliament , to the effect , that they were frequently so loosely framed that a coach and four might be driven through them without running lhe risk of coming into collision with their provisions .

This , of course , was in the old days of the road ; now , however , we travel by steam , and if the original description held good in some cases it may as safely tie asserted now , " that " tire most "' extensive railway train ever set in motion could travel , with a greater share of impunity , through tire majority of the written , and customary , laws of Free-Masonry . At certain stated periods -within the lodge , brethren are called upon to assent , and . submit , to a number of abstract propositions having the properties of -laws , although there are no penalties

attached to their infraction , and t & se admissions may be made either with a full reliance on their being what they are usually termed , or in a . non-natural sense . - It ought to be a source of no small gratification to every ardent Free-Mason to believe that there are enrolled in the order thousands of good men and true , -who strictly obey the moral law , and are a credit and honour to the craft . But it is no less

a fact , to be deplored , that there are quite as many , if not more—¦ some of them holding stations and honourable dignities in the craft—whose moral code appears to be framed so as , specially , to exclude reverence , chastity , and sobriety . However painful such an admission is , yet it is an incontrovertible fact , widely known and , with questionable taste , made a joke by their companions . Favour alone , not worth or real merit , has been the instrument

by which their elevation has been gained ; and because they are punctual in the discharge of their lodge dues—not a very great example of moral virtue—and always appear as subscribers to everything , in which their charity finds a record in print , they are emphatically pronounced good Masons . No warning , no reproof , is ever administered to them , but they sit in judgment and mete out punishment to smalloffenders . Notwithstanding the notoriety

of such cases , men are required to assert and swallow the good man and true , as well as the strict morality , theories , both of which are bywords and delusions . " It is only in the company of the good that the real enjoyment " is to be found ; any other society is hollow and heartless . You '' may be excited by the play of wit , by the collision of ambitious " spirits , and by the brilliant exhibition of self-confident power ;

Hints On Masonic Reforms.—No. I.

" but the satisfaction ends with the scene . Far unlike this is the " quiet confiding intercourse of sincere minds and friendly " hearts , knowing , loving , and esteeming , each other . " " Men are machines , with all their boasted freedom , Their movements turn upon some favourite passion ; Let art but find the latent foible out , We touch the spring , and wind them at our pleasure . "

Review.

REVIEW .

Mackey " s National Freemason . No . I . October , 1 S 71 . McGill and Witherow , publishers , Washington , United States . THE name and fame of . Brother Mackey is , most deservedly , "held in high estimation by brothers and fellows , wherever " dispersed over the face of earth and water , " and the number before us is calculated to popularise Dr . Mackey ' s name and add

materially to his fame . The new-comer is presented to us in the shape of " A Monthly " Magazine , devoted to the Science , Philosophy , History , Sym" holism , and Jurisprudence of Masonry ; Edited by Albert G . " Mackey , M . D ., " and no masonic student can fail to welcome it , in the old craft expressive style , Brother Mackey ' s National Freemason " we greet you well . "

, That our readers may gather somewhat of the intentions of Bro . Mackey in this publication we quote from his Salutatory Address : — " We cannot refrain from expressing the gratification " we experience at the prospect of a renewal of literary inter" course with our brethren , —an intercourse which , in' by-gone " years , was so pleasant to ourselves , and , we would fain hope , " not wholly uninteresting to our readers . " This truth is

evident ; for every Masonic student will be pleased to welcome Tiro . Mackey again in a field where his former efforts were so productive of sound , wholesome , and scholarly inquiry . Bro . Mackey hopes "If the work is well conducted , and " " give _ Tthe " satisfaction which every honest editor strives to " bestow , his readers will be apt to exclaim , in the language of " the old masonic formula , on the issue of every number , 'Happy " to meet , sorry to part , and happy to meet again '" ; a wish we reciprocate with the utmost warmth to Bro . Mackey's National Freemason .

Bro . Mackey irresistibly combats the fears of some old fogies who dread the light of the printing press on Masonic affairs . He shows how untenable their position is , but recognises the desirability of " Abstaining , with due caution , from any unnecessary " reference to that which it is forbidden to communicate , leaving "the ritual and the aphoreta or esoteric doctrines under the veil " which the obligations of Masonry have thrown around them . "

He concludes in the following playful manner : — " The Editor , "—not now making his 'first appearance on the boards , 'but " rather , like an old actor , who has long since lost his ' stage " fright , ' —comes before the public with but little timidity , but " rather with the confidence that he is among old friends , who " will give him in this undertaking , as they have done in the " long past of his Masonic life , their unalterable kindness and

" continued goodwill . " To all of which we , of the MASONIC EXAMINER , sitting in the pit , respond with hearty clapping of hands and stentorian shouts of Bravo ! Bro . Mackey ' s prologue ended , the curtain is raised , and the dramatis persons appear , in the following articles . " Parliamen" tary Law , as Applied to the Government of Masonic Bodies , " by the Editor . " The Stonemasons of the Middle Ages , the

" Precursors of the Freemasons , " by the Editor . " Templarism : " Its Duty and its Sphere , " by Bro . Albert Pike . "Henry " Cornelius Agrippa , " by the Editor . " Proselytism in Masonry , " by the Editor . " Is Ignorance a Crime in Masonry ? " by Dr . J . E . Mason . "Bacillus : The Staff of the Grand Master of the " Templars , " by the Editor . " The Mason ' s Holy House , " by Bro . Albert Pike . "Old Records of . Freemasonry , " by the i Editor . "The Royal Arch Banners , " by the Editor . "The