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Parsis , Hindus , and Mussulmans are admitted freely into the mysteries of Freemasonry . In 18 7 8 a question was raised in an Indian Masonic Journal as to the propriety of introducing the Quran into lodges working under the E . C .

In the course of correspondence which followed , the initiation of the King of Oudh ( referred to above ) was mentioned . This took p lace in a London lodge ( Friendship , No . 6 ) on April 14 , 1 S 3 6 . On this occasion a volume of the Quran had been provided b y the M . W . G . M ., on which the illustrious candidate was obligated , the W . M . being a clergyman .

This settled the question as to the propriety of the candidate being obligated on that particular written revelation he believed in . But the volume in question was not presented to the candidate afterwards as the chief of the Three Great Lights .

The doctrine , italicized above , has been so far accepted that in the Grand Lodge of Scottish Freemasonry in India there are annually appointed Grand Quran Bearer , Grand Zendavesta Bearer , Grand Shastri Bearer , & c . These appointments were sanctioned by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1885 .

All this goes to prove that a Volume of the Sacred Law is an absolute necessity 111 every lodge . But much confusion has arisen owing to the fact that in many lodges the Volume upon which the candidate is obligated , is the one and same volume which is afterwards presented to him as the chief of the Three

Great Li g hts . No doubt can possibly exist as to the propriety of a candidate appealing to something in which he believes , when he takes the S . O ., that is to say , if the custom of kissing a book be considered a necessary one . But the Grand Registrar , not long ago , made a statement in

Grand Lodge which unsettled a good many minds . The occasion was the action of the Grand Lodge of Peru in deposing the V . S . L . altogether , and substituting the Book of Constitutions .

All that is happil y past history , and need not be again referred to . But as regards the Grand Registrar ' s statement made in Grand Lodge , June 1 st , 18 9 8 , he said , " It is not a question of the Bible beiinr on the . altar . It is the Volume of the Sacred Law we

recognise . Among Christians it is the Old and New I estaments combined ; among Jews it is the Old Testament alone : among Mahommedans it is the Quran which they believe to be the revelation of the will of the Great Architect ; but whether it be

a lodge of Christians , Jews , Mahommedans , or Hindus , it is their Volume of the Sacred Law which must be on the altar . " Of course all this referred , as to its practical result , chiefly to India , and , therefore , it is ink-resting to notice iiow it was received in that count ry .

At a communication "f I he District Grand Lodge of Bombay , the Deputy District Grand Master said : "It does not matter what that Revelation mav be called , whether it is ( he European

Bible , or the Parsi Zendavesta , or the Quran , or the Uhutwat Git , or whatever book may , in the opinion of the Individual , be the Revelation of the Most High . " ( The italics are the writer ' s . )

This it will be observed is a considerable amplification of what Brother Strachan said . But just see what results . The writer knows of one lodge , the members of which art- exclusively non-christian . Hitherto , they had two separate altars in lodge , at one of which the candidate was obligated according to his

own faith , and on the other ihe Bible , together with the other great lights , lay exposed . Since the above dictum , the brethren have removed the latter altogether , and now the Three Great Lig hts are represented by the Rig Veda , the square , and compasses . And , logically , if the Grand Registrar be right ,

they are ri g ht also . But there is worse to follow . Much of our ritual , if not all of it , is extracted from the Bible . Biblical incidents form the foundation of nearl y all we say or do . The Worshi p ful Master is still the humble representative of King

Solomon , although he has just ordered out of the lodge room the onl y thing in it which told him anything about that monarch . He still narrates the history of the Hol y Lodge , although now he possesses nothing which tells him what the Hol y Lodge was !

Now notice the words italicized . The book , which /// the opinion of the individual ! If our Peruvian brethren who caused all the trouble had had the courage of their convictions , and boldly said , that , in their opinion , Ihe Constitutions contained the Divine will , then they would apparentl y have put themselves

in the ri g ht . This is , of course , absurd , but still it follows from the official pronouncements quoted . In fact , we are solemnl y told that ( hough no innovations are to be sanctioned in any detail of ritual , that , though the motto of the Freemason must

be Stare super antit / uas vias . yet , in the most important arlicie of a Freemason ' s belief , that is what constitutes the First Great Lig ht , individual opinion is to prevail . Brother Whymper ( "Relig ion of Freemasonry , " p . 121 ) asks

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wh y the Latter Day Saints should not be allowed to have the Mormon expositor of the Sacred Law in the place of honour . Had Brother Whymper lived to hear the exposition of Masonic law we have been describing , he would not need to have expressed any doubt on the subject . And in a cosmopolitan

lodge including Jews , Christians , Mussulmans , Hindus , Parsis , and Buddhists , there mi ght be half-a-dozen volumes of the Sacred Law all different , and the candidate mi ght be asked to take his choice , and if he believed in none of them , to bring his own with him .

And this is what is actuall y happening . We feel sure , however , that Brother Strachan did not contemplate all that mi ght be inferred from his interpretation of the law .

We close this article with an extract from Brother Whvmper ' s book alread y referred to , and we may add , the reference to Brother Hughan is quite borne out b y his introduction to that work :

"Brother Hughan holds with us that nothing should ever be permitted to stand on terms of equality with the English Bible . To secure a satisfactory obligation it is ri ghtl y conceded that any Sacred Volume should be permitted in the lodge , but there , as lar as English Masonry is concerned , the use of that Sacred

volume ceases . We . know that all cannot accept our Light in the way we should wish them to , but this affords no room for abandoning it or treating it as one li ght amongst many ( the italics are the writer ' s ) , or as merely an abstract idea capable of any concrete interpretation which may appear convenient at a jrivon moment . "

It is futile trying to shirk the position ; either our Volume oi the Sacred I aw , the Bible , must be treated as THE Great Li ght of English Freemasonry , or it must be relegated to our museum of symbols .

Supreme Grand Chapter.

SUPREME GRAND CHAPTER .

The Qjsrteily Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter of Riyal Arc ' i Masons of England , was held on Wednesday evening at Freemasons' Hall , London , when the following Grand Officers attended : Comps . Lt .-Col . R . Townley Caldwell . M . A ., G . Supt . Cambridge , acted as the M . E . G . Z . ; Thomas Fcnn , Past G . S . N ., as G . H . ; W . E . Brymer , M . P ., P . A . G . Soj ., as G . J . ; E . Letchworth , G . S . E . ; the Rev . W . GardinerB . D . G . S . N .

, , John Strachan , O . C ., G . Reg . ; Sir | o : eph Dimsdale , G . P . S . ; Rear-Admiral William H . St . Clair , 1 st A . G . Soj . ; Uaron de Ferrieres , P . A . G . Soj ., as 2 nd A . G . S . ; theRt . Hon . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., G . J . ; R . Horton Smith , Q . C , P . G . R . ; J . T . L . Wilkinson , P . D . G . R . ; Edward Beaumont , D . G . R . ; J . M . McLeod , P . G . Std . Br . ; Rev . A . W . Oxford , M . A ., I ' . A . G . Soi . ; Geo . Cowell , J . Stephens , P . G . S . B . ; A . J . R . Trendell , C . M . G ., P . G . Std . Br . \ Thomes Tones , P . A . G : Soj . ;

Henry J . P . Dumas , P . G . Std . Br . ; Henry l . ovegrove , P . G . Std . Ur . ; Sir ^ eon l . t .-Col . Henry Kiallmark , P . G . Std . Br . ; James S . Eastes , P . G . Std . * Br . ; Sir George David Harris , P . A . G . Soj ., President , Committee of General Purposes . Robert Grey , P . G . S . N . ; J . Leach Barrett , P . G . J .. B . ; Thomas Henry Gardiner , P . G . S . B . ; Edgar Goble , P . G . Std . Br . ; Walter Ebbetts , P . G . Std . Br . ; Charles E . Keyser , P . G . S . B . j E . M . Money , P G . Std . Br . ; John Williams

, P . G . SB . j T . A . Bullock , P . A . G . D . C ; Capt . Robert Gresley Hall , D . L ., P . G . S . B . ; Clement Godson , M . D ., P . G . S . B . ; George Mickley , M . B ., P . G . S . B . ; Major John W . Woodall , P . G . T . ; Alfred C . Spaull , P . D . G . D . C ; Richard Eve , P . G . T . ; Lewis Lazurus , P . A . G . D . C ; Perceval A . Nairne , P . G . Std . Br . ; C . F . Malier , P . Dtp . G . D . C ; Major C . \ V . Carreil , P . G . Sid . Br . ; W . B .

t-endick , P . G . Std . Br . ; Lennox Browne , F . R . C . S ., P . G . Std . Br . ; H . A Tobias , P . G . Std . Br . ; George Gravcley , P . A . G . D . C . ; James Boulton , P . A . G D . C ; S . V . Abraham , P . A . G . D . C ; Frank Richardson , P . Asst . G . Soj ., G . D ofC ; J . Whiltaker Bur-ess , P . G . Std . Br . ; Hermann Klein , P . G . Or- ; W . Fisher , A . G . D . C ; W . Al . Bywater , P . G . Std . Br . and Henry Sadlir , G . Janitor .

After the minutes cf November , 1800 . Convocation had been read and confirmed , the report of the Committee of General Purposes was , on the motion of Comp . Sir G . I ) . HARRIS . President , seconded by Comp . FRANK RICHARDSON , G . D . C ., taken as lend , and then ordered to be received and entered on the minutes .

On the motion of Comp . Sir G . I ) . MAURIS , seconded by Comp . FRANK RICHARDSON , charters were granted for the Salebeia Chapter , No . 5 6 C , Si lby ; the Southern Cro : s Chapter , N ) . 1315 , Toowoomba , Q leensland ; the Guildhall School of Music Chapter , No . 2454 , London ; and "" the Grafton Chapter , No . 2347 , London .

A charter of confirmation was granted to the Chapter of Hope and Unity , No . 214 , Chingford , l ^ sex , the original charter having been bit , and permission was given to remove the . Elliot Chap : er , No . 111 I 4 , from the Masonic Hall , St . Germains , to the Masonic Hall , Millbrook , Cornwall I the Chaucer Chapter , No . 1540 , from the Brid ge Home H Jtel to Anderton ' s Hotel , Fleet-street ; and the Derby Chapter , NJ . 1055 , from the Victoria Hotel , Manchester , to Chester Bank , P . estwich .

A memorial having been received from the Principals and companions of the Andrew Chapter , No . 8 34 , London , requesting ttiat the name be altered ti the R melagh Chapter , and the Committee rc-cammending that the request be acceded to , Grand Chapter adopted the recommendation .

A memorial having been received from the Phu > nix Chapter , N - . 914 , Jamaica , ordertd by the lavt Grand Chapter to be removed from the roll of chapters , stating that the chapter had been resuscitated , prior to the action of Grand Chapter coming to their knowled ge , that Principals had been installed and several candidates exalted , for whom fees had been remitted , and praying that the cbap : er might be restored to its position .

Grand Chapter , on the motion of Comp . Sir G . D . HARRIS , seconded by Comp . FRANK RICHARDSON , adopted the recommendation of the Committee ol General Purposes , and restored the chapter to the roll . Grand chapter was then closed in ancient and solemn form .