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nation. All men who are not atheists may belong to it. To keep harmony among heterogeneous materials like this, it is absolutely necessary that we should mutually consent to drop allusions to that on which all could not agree, that is religious topics. The nature of our society compels their exclusion. But does, therefore, my entry into a lodge necessarily make me anti-Christian, or less a Christian? It surely does not so. There exist in England, and in this country numerous societies associated for the purpose of promoting various ends, literary, scientific, religious and charitable; and these are formed by men of many nations, religions and colours: if in these societies the ball of contention, in the shape of religious faith, were thrown, all unanimity would cease; by common consent this stumbling block is avoided, and no imputation is cast on the society. Why may we not have the same privilege? why may not we do the same thing without having affixed to us the appellation anti-Christian and irreligious?

No, sir, after very mature reflection I am fully convinced that those who have used the terms on which I have animadverted, have scarcely used us fairly. Their arguments will not stand the test of reason or revelation. There is nothing in the principles inculcated in Masonry which can anti-Christianize a man; there is much to civilize and refine him; and though we do not profess to make Christians, yet Masonry, properly carried out, renders a man's mind as much like that of a Christian, as, without revelation, it can be. It is like the photographic plate after manipulation, duly prepared and rendered sensible, ready to receive the image which may fall on it.

But now I turn from these things, which I have for the honour of the Craft deemed it necessary to say, to the more immediate object of this meeting. The occasion is one of peculiar gratification to all present, to me it is most especially so. I see a large and highly respectable body assembled to celebrate an event fraught with consequences of the greatest importance to this great and interesting city. Nor am I less gratified at the presence of the galaxy of beauty which adorns this meeting. And here I speak with some trepidation, for I fear I am treading on tender ground. I am very much afraid that the ladies look upon us with no favourable eyes, for we do not admit them to our lodges. For my own part, I am of those who look forward, in the progress of civilization, to the time when our lodge doors will be more widely open, and we will hail our sisters in Masonry even as our brothers. In the mean time, and till then, you must permit me to assure you that no one possesses a more true reverence for, and admiration of, the sex than a genuine Mason. We all agree with the poet in his admirable lines

"Without the smile from partial beauty won,
Oh what were man? a world without a sun.'

And let me again assure you, in the words of a very old ode, duly chaunted at the introduction of every new made Mason

"No mortal can more the ladies adore,

Than a Free and an Accepted Mason."

It is in the important city of Benares that the first Provincial Grand Lodge has been held for the purpose of laying the foundation stone of any public edifice. The many affluent and highly respectable native gentlemen who surround me, show the interest which they feel in the undertaking; nor is it the least of the gratifications which I feel, to find associated in this duty his highness the Rajah of Benares; an eminently

mild and worthy prince, whose ancestor and mine were in this very city tied by the bonds of the warmest friendship.

The present prospect which you have here before you, of their descendants joining in the act of laying this stone, after a period closely approaching to half a century, naturally suggests, were it not too long a task for the present occasion, a contrast between what India then was, and what she now is. The step she has taken is a marvellous one, and the tokens of a further advance are not wanting. The prominent benefits which we now have, and of which, in those days, a dream even would have been deemed extravagant, are the wide diffusion of education, iudigenous and English, the opening up of public roads, the establishment of newspapers, forming in some degree what is so great a desideratum in this country, a kind of public opinion; and, though last not least, our rivers dotted with steam-boats, not established by government, but the result of private enterprise, in which many of our native brethren are concerned.

In reference to the wide spread of education I have only to call your attention to the fact, that many of the youths educated in our schools are as well grounded as in our schools in England; and it is but very recently that we have seen at home a youth of Calcutta carrying away the prize in some branches of the medical profession from all his western contemporaries—turning once more to steam-boats, I myself recollect, nineteen years ago, when the first steam-boat which navigated the upper part of the Ganges made her appearance at Patna, and myriads flocked to see, as the magic ship, a thing now, to them, of every day occurrence. But there is another coming event which casts its shadow around us, and which, though not as yet an accomplished fact, cannot be omitted in this list. I allude to the steamers' younger, and equally vigorous, sister the railway. The blasting of the rocks to build the edifices, the busy hum of the miners digging for coal in the Vindya range, the felling of wood for the sleepers, the clinking of rivets in the rails seem already to be sounding in our ears. The change which has been worked in our own country by this wonderful agent is truly great; but here, where distance is one of the most formidable obstacles to civilization, what may not be expected! Already do our Mussulman community hire steamboats at Bombay, to take them to Judda and back again, and, aided by the safety of our roads, they perform in six months a journey which formerly occupied from three to four years, and thousands yearly return safety to their homes, whereas formerly thousands perished in the way. It will not be many years ere the pilgrim to Gya and to Juggernauth will find his pilgrimage similarly shortened.

It is curious to calculate what effect the rail will have on pilgrimages. Doubtless at first the effect will be to increase the number of those who visit these places of reputed sanctity; but in the end, the credit of the mode of mortification will diminish. As distance is said to lend enchantment to the view, so does it, in the form of difficulty, constitute the inerit of an expiatory visit to a shrine. Remove the obstacle, and you destroy the merit. To a celebrated pilgrimage from London to Canterbury we owe one of the most original and powerful poems in the English tongue. The journey between those places occupied a time, which enabled the poet to attribute to a large body of pilgrims the telling of very many long tales, without a violation of probability. The time occupied at present in passing over the same space, would barely suffice to read one of those tales. I much doubt, if these pilgrims could now re-appear on the scene,

with all their religious feelings on them, those feelings would stand a ten days experience of railroads. Such will be the case here; and what at first appears calculated to promote these pilgrimages, will end in their diminution, by opening mens' eyes to their futility. Such is the progress and final conquest of intellect and intelligence over ignorance and error. The theme is a wide one and full tempting; but I must conclude. To promote the good cause, the progress of intellect, and the eradication of error, the building, of which we have just laid this stone, will be a most efficient engine. It has been commenced at an auspicious time, after the valour of our arms has extirpated, at least in appearance, the last of our Indian enemies capable of making effectual resistance; and when our local government, under its eminent head, is distinguished by an eager anxiety to promote the cause of education, as well as other laudable designs. I might point out to you other concurrent fortunate circumstances, in the singularly felicitous association of officers, noted for ability, intelligence, and integrity, which presides over the destinies of this district, did I not fear to trespass on their feelings by an eulogy too well deserved. But allow me to tell them, that they individually and collectively enjoy the best reward of a public servant-the approbation, not of the government, which may be sometimes led by interest or favour, but of the people over whom they rule, and who honour and esteem them. With all these favourable circumstances, I cannot doubt that on the foundation this day laid, a building will arise to completion perfect in all its parts, and honourable to the builder, who, though he does not belong to us, has proved his skill and ingenuity in the production of the beautiful plan which has been just now shown to me. May the building, when finished, and the studies pursued therein, tend to the glory of Almighty God; and I conclude with the earnest prayer, "that it may please Him, who has permitted for his own wise purposes, that there should be differences of race, colour, tongues, religion, and even differences among those who hold to religions, to shed his light upon us, and to bring them and us all to be of one mind, in that which alone is vital, immutable, and everlasting truth."-Amen, so mote it be.

LITERARY NOTICES.

A Mirror for the Johannite Masons. By the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D. Spencer. London.

This pretty little volume is constructed in the form of a series of Eight Letters, addressed, by permission, to a noble and worthy brother, the Earl of Aboyne, Prov. G. M. for the counties of Northampton and Huntingdon. All the existing evidences for and against the connection of the two St. Johns' with the Order of Freemasonry, have been brought together, and arranged with care and judgment. The enquiry is conducted with great mildness and impartiality; and although it is not difficult to ascertain the Rev. Doctor's private opinion, yet he has not undertaken to pronounce a dogmatical decision on the subject, but has left the reader to form his own judgment. He concludes his last letter thus:

6

"I am no system maker; but am anxious for the discovery of truth. If my arguments be inconclusive, or my authorities untenable, let the inference be rejected. As Jerom said to his critics, so I say to the captious and doubting brethren, Let them read it if they please; if not, let them cast it aside; for I do not obtrude my book on the fastidious, but I dedicate it to the studious, if they think it worth their notice. Under any circumstances I shall not be disappointed. I have carefully collected and collated the evidences, and placed them before the fraternity for their consideration. However they may decide, my object is still attained; having nothing in view but the purity and perfection of the Order. I have devoted a life to its accomplishment; and once attained, I should joyfully rapeat the pass-word of a high degree, and triumphantly exclaim, CONSUMMATUM EST!”

We do not recollect when we have read any book that has pleased us so much. The interest never flags, but is well sustained to the very last page, and we laid it down with a feeling of regret that it had not been extended to a greater length. We do not believe that any brother who prizes the Order for its own sake, however he may differ with the Rev. Author in some of his deductions, will omit to read the book; because he cannot fail to be edified by the vast accumulation of facts which it contains, and the extracts from old and obsolete lectures which are now difficult to obtain. The Doctor's resources appear to be inexhaustible, and we must give him the credit of using them with great liberality for the benefit of the Craft.

In the Eighth Letter the Author has quietly refuted the hypercritical strictures on Freemasonry, which have been recently promulgated by a gentleman of the name of Soane, in a work which he calls "A Book of the Months." Mr. Soane's hypothesis includes the three following principles-1. Freemasonry never had anything to do with the Working Guilds; or in other words, was never in the hands of Operative Masons. 2. It was unknown before the 17th century. 3. It was concocted by the Rosicrucians at that period, as a branch of their own mystery.

The Doctor has successfully combatted and overthrown all these assertions. In reply to the first, which indeed is too obviously false to need a refutation, he simply asks-if the Craft were never practised by Operative Masons, how does it happen that it passed successively through the hands of Archbishop Sheldon, Sir John Denham, Webb, Stone, Inigo Jones and Sir C. Wren; and that the two latter, one in 1685, and the other in 1603, both being eminent architects and builders, and neither of them Rosicrucians, were appointed Grand Masters of our system of Freemasonry?

He answers the second proposition by saying, that "in 1566 Queen Elizabeth sent an armed force to York for the purpose of breaking up the Grand Lodge, and arresting its members; and in 1429 lodges of Freemasonry were regularly holden under the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury in which the Masters, Wardens, Fellow Crafts, and Entered Apprentices are all especially named. It is probable," the Author adds, "that Mr. Soane, instead of endeavouring to account for these facts which so completely overthrow his hypothesis, will boldly cut the Gordian Knot, by asserting that we have no evidence to prove them, and that consequently they are untrue. But I will tell him that they are not untrue; for we have the most incontrovertible evidence, in the actual minutes of the lodges, which are accessible to any enquirer who

will be at the trouble of consulting the MS. register of the Prior of Canterbury under the above date.”

The third proposition is disposed of in the same summary manner, thus:-The most celebrated English Rosicrucian of the 17th century was Doctor Fludd. He was the preceptor of Ashmole, who was also deeply imbued with the same occult doctrines. But Fludd died in 1637, without having initiated his pupil into Masonry, of which indeed he is believed to have been ignorant. Nine years after his death, Ashmole, as he himself tells us, was initiated in an existing lodge at Warrington, by the persons whom he particularly names, none of whom were Rosicrucians. Now "if Freemasonry grew out of Rosicrucianism," as Mr. Soane boldly asserts, and was produced in the very age when Fludd and Ashmole flourished, it seems equally strange and unaccountable that the former should have been ignorant of it, and the latter have found it necessary to seek initiation in a lodge which might have been in existence half a century, and none of its members were Rosicrucians. But the most remarkable circumstance in the enquiry is, that Ashmole himself, who was a profound antiquary, and to whom all the secrets of the Rosy Cross were familiar, ascribes the origin of Masonry to a very different source.'

We have no space for further quotations; but we must record it as our opinion that the Doctor's arguments are unanswerable; and Mr. Soane will do well to remember that old English adage which says"the higher the ape climbs, the more he shows his

Freemasonry. A Sermon. By the Rev. J. Osmond Dakeyne, M.A., Grand Chaplain. Spencer.

This sermon, preached at Lichfield on the 5th October, 1847, before the Provincial Grand Lodge of Staffordshire, was originally delivered before the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lincolnshire. It is a most remarkable discourse, "perfect in all its parts, and honourable to the builder." We entered into its merits at the time, and express no surprise that a second edition has been called for.

Love, the Spirit of Masonry. By the Rev. W. M. Herchmer, M.A. Kingston, Canada.

This pleasing address was delivered in St. George's, Kingston, on the Festival of St. John the Evangelist, 1847, by Bro. Herchmer, chaplain to St John's Lodge-" And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also," John iv. 21. In a prefatory note, the reverend brother observes that the address is intended" to exhibit the connexion of Masonry with the religion of Jesus Christ-to remove the prejudices of the uninitiated-to remind the brethren of their duties, and to promote universal charity." Such objects are worthy of the author's thoughts, and in giving them publicity he has done great service, and given testimony of a truthful spirit.

Sermon. By the Rev. C. Woodward, B. C.L. Latham and Forster, Sydney.

The brethren at Sydney having commenced a masonic benevolent fund, the committee requested Bro. Woodward, H. M. chaplain, to preach a sermon in aid of it, with which request he complied, and delivered the discourse on the 22nd October, 1844, from the 133rd Psalm"Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together

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