Masters Or Servants?

complainant , witness , fudge , and jury , all combined in one individual ; an iniquity unparalleled in any other known tribunal . Plence , in judicial matters , if the Board of General Purposes is to enjoy the confidence of the craft it must sever itself from being the blind tool of official

animus and incapacity and , by no other means can it do this than , by being made AN OPEN BOARD at which EVERY BROTHER shall have A RIGHT to be present DURING THE ENTIRE HEARING AND JUDGMENT , IN ALL CASES OF MASONIC COMPLAINT OR INQUIRY . ___ .

Hints On Masonic Reforms.—No. Ii.

HINTS ON MASONIC REFORMS . —No . II .

VENERATION is a state of mind nearly akin to adoration . By the former we express the highest sense of human approbation of our fellow man , whilst the latter should be reserved as a portion of that , too oft-neglected , duty we owe to GOD alone . Called upon , as some of us are , to hold in veneration the original rulers and patrons of the Order of Free-Masonry , and their regular successors , supreme and subordinate , according to their stations ,

we ought first to know Who are those venerable personages , and What are the links that connect them with their successors ? Free-Masonry is not sufficiently well authenticated , in the Craft and Arch degrees , to allow any studious or reflective brother to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to the identity of the original rulers and patrons of the Order . If we fix on any definite era , as a basis for our foundationthe schisms and discrepancies which

, our history presents go very farj ^ to unsettle all accounts , verbally given , as to a regular succession of authorities , ^ supreme or subordinate . If we travel beyond the year 1721 , all is confusion . Scrupulous brethren destroyed the records—not the ritualbecause they should not fall into improper hands . So there is no official documentary evidence to help us , and we have only to

trust to imperfect reports and traditions , both of the most vague and unsatisfactory character . If we come down to the Lodge of reconciliation and Union , in 1813 , one , or both , ol the parties that formed that lodge must have been acting in opposition to the regular successors of the venerable original rulers and patrons of the Order ; and if the union of the two Grand Lodges is to be

taken as the definite basis of Free-Masonry , the much boasted antiquity of the craft is reduced to just fifty-eight years , and the original rulers and patrons can be no other than the Dukes of . Kent , and Sussex , in 1813 ! If , then , it is so difficult to define who were the original rulers and patrons , it is still more perplexing to decide who are , or have been , dissenters from the original plan of Free-Masonry , and yet

an individual is called upon to discountenance all such , without any guide or intimation which may help Mm to a conclusion . From the date of the revival to this present year of Grace , 1871 , every landmark of the order has been most mercilessly tortured , hacked , hewed , and construed to mean any , or every , thing at a given moment , so that now , the landmarks are so obscured and have become so unintelligible , both in number

and effect , that no brother will undertake to define how many are in existence , or to what they allude . If the body of masonry is taken to mean the laws of the craft they have been so frequently changed , that the body of masonry can have but very little soul attached to it now . If it is contended that the term applies to the ritual , the innovations , and innovators , are , and have been , equally frequent

and numerous . That portion of Free-Masonry having undergone so many ultra changes , its own parents could scarcely recognise it . Every one who chooses to introduce a new . reading , good , bad , or indifferent , either in the law or the ritual , does it at his sole will and pleasure , and is sure to find ; as his opportunities are extended or contracted , more or less supporters .

Hints On Masonic Reforms.—No. Ii.

If we survey Free-Masonry from pole to pole , one of the most striking phenomena that will present itself to our view is the utter absence of unity in its laws , history , ceremonies , and customs . In no two countries , states , kingdoms , or empires do these particulars accord . There is no Masonic unity on the face of the earth . Again if we take Rites , or systems , we

shall find as great , or greater , diversity than there are countries , but confining ourselves to those practised in England , What do we see ? The Craft is separated from the Arch , although the latter is declared to be the completion of the former . The Craft was entirely changed , or innovated on , in 1813 , and the Arch underwent a similar process in 1835 . The Arch repudiates the Mark degree and is equally unconcerned about it whether it is

derived from the old Northern usage , the Irish , Scotch , or the more modern burlesque , SELF STYLED GRAND MARK LODGE . Knight Templary underwent serious innovations in 1851 , and is ignored by both craft , arch , and mark . The order of St . John of Jerusalem , contrary to every particle of historical evidence , is amalgamated with Templary , but suffered its share of change some years since . The Ancient and Accepted Rite—many

degrees of which are but Templary under another jurisdiction , —is repudiated by all the foregoing notwithstanding it is a perfect Rite in itself . With these facts before us can we abstain from inquiring , Where is that body of Masonry in which no man , or body of men , can make innovation ? Is not the assertion a myth , and may be likened to that lusus natures , a ! dead donkey , who is kicked by every one in turn and . owned by none ? Therefore , when a brother makes the admission in question , can it be wondered at if he reconciles it with his conscience thus ?

. . . . "A promise may be broke ; Nay , start not at it— 'tis an hourly practice ; The trader breaks it—yet is counted honest ; The courtier keeps it not—yet keeps his honour ; Husband and wife in marriage promise much , Yet follow sep ' rate pleasures , and are—virtuous .

The churchmen promise too , but wisely they To a long payment stretch the crafty bill , And draw upon futurity : A promise J 'Tis the wise man ' s freedom , and the fool ' s restraint ; It is the ship in which the knave embarks , Who rigs it with the tackle of his conscience , And sails with every wind . " «

Dirty Linen.

DIRTY LINEN .

MOST Englishmen are devoted tub-men rejoicing in a bath . In the early part of the present century shaving was the rule and the height of personal comfort was summed up in " a close shave " and a clean shirt . " Now , that the majority find the shaving a bore , we all relish the clean shirt business and , that the Editorial garment may be as comfortable as it was of yore , we have determined to go in for a "downright good wash . " Of course we

shall be met with the familiar saying that " the washing of dirty " linen should be done at home , " in privacy , but we are not inclined to concede this , for the object of all the mysteries , —and of Free-Masonry , —was the new birth , figuratively shown by washing , which symbolised cleanness of mind and body . Hence we bring our dirty linen to wash in view of the whole Craft that it may , as the hierophants of old did to their neophytes , pronounce

us clean . An old proverb tells us " that promises , like pie-crusts , are " made to be broken , " and with pie-crusts out of number have we been regaled . Contrary to the opinion of a brother , who pointed out to us that the persons we were about to depend upon were " figures of brass with feet of clay , " we commenced THE MASONIC EXAMINER , six months ago . Our prime mover in this

attempt said he had no opening to advocate his views ; he had been traduced ; he had many friends who would carry us through , if we would start a periodical in which he should have a fair