Publicity.

Lodge Meetings—discreetly worded , of course—of the anniversaries of our Charitable Institutions , of the progress that is being made by the Fraternity in other countries , or of the difficulties and even persecution which it occasionally , but , we are glad to say , very seldom , has to contend

with , all these are matters which cannot fail to prove interesting to the Masonic world . Why then should there be no organs of Masonic opinion ? The Army and Navy , the Civil Service , the various scientific and other societies , each of these has its organ , in which every variety of opinion

about questions of general interest finds expression . Why should Masonry be the only one among public bodies which treats journalism with indifference ? Publicity—to the point that is allowed by decency and the rules of our Order ,

is a benefit . Will any one be bold enough to suggest that the works on Masonry , already published , have not been of essential service ? Is it no advantage that there should exist a medium for gauging the opinion of the Craft in those countries where Masons most do

congregate . England is undoubtedly the progenitor of Masonry as it has existed since 1717 , and Ave feel confident that our English brethren will recognise , on reflection , that a newspaper is at all events a convenient medium for learning about the doings of our fellows in other

parts as well as for the study of important questions . We repeat , the brethren of to-day are becoming less and less bigoted . There is not that unreasoning opposition to Masonic publications of which we have already given an

instance . But a more liberal support of the Masonic press —we say it from no interested motives—would betoken a more liberal interest in the Craft . When we were comparatively few in number , we could rub along very well without much trouble . Now that we are so considerable

in respect of numbers we need , more than ever , the means for interchanging opinions , not only among ourselves at home , but with our friends and brethren abroad . There is to-day an absolute need for a Masonic press ; let it not be a reproach to the Order that the efforts of its journals pass unappreciated .

M. Foraisse On The Order Of The Temple And Its Doctrine.

M . FORAISSE ON THE ORDER OF THE TEMPLE AND ITS DOCTRINE .

( Translated from the French . ) THE Order of the Temple is cosmopolitan , and is divided into two great classes , denominated respectively the Order of the Temple and the Eastern Order . The Eastern Order gave birth to the Order of the Temple , and in the course of time has become an appendage of the latter . It is

in ancient Egypt that we find the cradle of the Eastern Order . Its chiefs were at one and the same time legislators and pontiffs . Their policy was opposed to the propagation of metaphysical knowledge and the natural sciences , of which they preserved the repository , and those who revealed

to the people , that is to the profane , the secrets reserved only for those of a more elevated rank in the sacerdotal hierarchy were punished with death . To the profanum

vulgus were offered only those emblems which constituted the outward form of theology , and that tended to give more power to superstition as well as greater strength to the ruling powers .

Moses was initiated in Egypt . Learned in all the mysteries of the priesthood , he was thus enabled so to profit by his knowledge as with the aid of the Almighty to rise superior to the power of the Magi , and deliver his countrymen from bondage . Aaron , his brother , and the

chiefs of the Hebrew nation became the repositories of his secrets , those chiefs or Levites being divided into several grades or classes after the manner of the Egyptian priests . In the fulness of time the son of God appeared on the earth . At the early age of nine he confounded in

argument the learned doctors of the Synagogue Thereafter , by the force of a genius which was wholly divine , directing the fruits of his deep meditations towards the civilisation of the world and the happiness of mankind , he established the true religion , preached the love of God and of one ' s

neighbour , equality before the common father of mankind , and , in the end , consecrated for ever , by a sacrifice worth y of the only Son of God , that is , God himself , the doctrine he transmitted for the spiritual benefit of man . He imparted his teachings to St . John the Baptist and to the apostles , and soon the morality of the gospel spread itself throughout

M. Foraisse On The Order Of The Temple And Its Doctrine.

the world , and nations , becoming enlightened , abjured the initiations of Egypt and the dogmas of pagan priests and their formulae . St . John the Evangelist , the apostle of brotherly love , never quitted the East . His teaching , always pure , was in

nowise altered by tho admixture of other doctrine . St . Peter and the rest of the apostles carried the dogmas of Christianity among distant peoples , but being obliged , in order to propagate their faith , oftentimes to countenance

the manners and customs of those different nations , and even to sanction rites which were not those of the East , blemishes and differences found their way into the different gospels , as into the doctrine of numerous Christian sects .

Up to the year 1118 , the mysteries and the hierarchical Order of Egyptian initiation which had been handed down to the Jews , and afterwards to the Christians , were preserved without alteration by the Eastern Brethren , but then the Christians , persecuted by the Infidels , appreciating the

courage and piety of those brave Crusaders , who , with the sword in one hand and the cross in the other , flew to the defence of the Holy Places , and rendering , above all , a grand tribute of respect to the justice and ardent charity of the

comrades of Hugues de Payens , considered they should entrust to hands so pure the repository of those sciences which had been acquired in the course of so many centuries and sanctified by the Cross , namely the doctrine and morality of the Man-God .

Such is the origin of the foundation of the Order of the Temple in which Hugues , learned in the esoteric doctrine and the initiatory formulae of the Eastern Christians , was invested with patriarcharpower and placed in the legitimate Order of the successors of St . John the Baptist .

We all know the prosecutions which were directed against the Templars . At that time , Jacques de Molay , foreseeing the misfortunes which threatened the very existence of an Order the existence of which he was anxious to perpetuate , designated as his successor Johannes

Marcus Larmenius of Jerusalem , who invested the Grand Masters destined to be his successors with a patriarchal authority , as with magisterial power , by virtue of the charter of transmission which he issued in 1324 , a charter the

original of which is deposited in the treasury of the Order , under the title of Tabida aurea , and which contains the acceptance , signed with their own hand , of all the Grand Masters who have succeeded Larmenius .

After the death of Jacques de Molay , some Scotch Templars having become apostates from the Order , at the instigation of the king Robert Bruce ranged themselves under the banners of a New Order instituted by that prince , and in which the receptions were based on those

of the Order of the Temple . It is there we must search for the origin of Scottish Masonry , and even that of the other Masonic rites . The Scotch Templars were excommunicated in 1324 by Larmenius , who described them as Templi Desertores , and the Knights of St . John of

Jerusalem as Dominiorum militice spoliatores , & c . That excommunication has since been renewed by different Grand Masters against the Scotch Templars , who have been declared rebels against the legitimate authority , and cast out from the pale of tho Temple .

From the schism introduced into Scotland have sprung a great number of different sects , nearly all of which lay claim to have descended from the Temple , while some even go so far as to call themselves the Order itself . Such aro the corrected system , the Knights Kadosh of all systems ,

& c , & c . More recently still , in Germany , other branches have detached themselves from the parent stem , at the election of a Grand Master , and because a French Knight was chosed to fill that dignity , the dissidents constituted themselves reformed Templars , and gave themselves new laws

The Order of the Temple has never ceased to exist in France , under the government of a succession of Grand Masters worthy to be commended not only for their virtues but their high position in the State , and all have maintained the principles and doctrine of the institution such as

they were at the origin of the Order . The actual organisation of the Temple is such as circumstances may permit ; its archives contain the indisputable monuments of its

ancient foundation , but what it is these knights have preserved with the most pious reverence , and what they will never depart from , is the teaching of their illustrious ancestors as set forth in an address of the Grand Master in esse .

" Devoted to honour , to our sovereign , to beneficence ,