The Masonic "Old Charges."

To be consistent , if the clause be accepted relative to physical inability , then fellow-crafts should be permitted to be Wardens of Lodges , and Grand Masters of Grand Lodges , and thc numerous clauses respecting the employment and

management of operative Masons should also be the Laws of the Craft . How the veritable "Old Charges , " and the manufactured "Ancient Charges " ( Dr . Anderson ' s ) affect modern Masonic legislation may be seen by a careful study of Mr . W . H . Upton's " Masonic Code" for the Grand Lodge of Washington , of which body he is a Past Grand Master . It is the best thing of the kind in thc English language , and both , valuable and interesting .

To sum up , my contention is thai these " Ancient Charges" of the Rev . Dr . Anderson ' s , which are introductory to all the editions of the Eng lish "Book of Constitutions " from 1 723 , were not , and are not , inserted for legislative

purposes , have never been so used by the premier Grand Lodge of the World , and , therefore , the rule as to physical perfection , so much insisted ou by the Grand Lodges of the U . S . A ., is not justified by the evidence , and should be much modified , if not abrogated , accordingly .

WM . J AMKS HI ' IWIAV .

This valuable article on ( he "Old Charges" lias been reprinted , by the author ' s kind permission , from The Xr . c .-., j , v ( Washington , D . C . I , the special organ of the A . and A . Rite for the U . S . A . ( Southern Jurisdiction ) , the able editor of which ( Bro . George K . Moure ) thus appreciatively refers lo Uro . llughan ' s literary sei vices on behalf of the Fraternity . XOTI .. —In 1872 Brother Hughan published his celebrated work , " The Old Charges of the British Freemasons , " with a preface by flic K < _ v . A . F . A . Woodward . Dr . Albert G . Mackev wrote thus in reviewing the book : — " If we wen : asked lo say lo what Masonic writer of any period pastor present ( he History of Freemasonry was most indebted , we should

unhesitatingly answer lo William James Hughan . Others have given us their lucubrations and indulged us with theories not always tenable , and sometimes manifestly absurd , and we often arise from a perusal of their works with no increase of oar knowledge , but rather with a contused idea that what we have read is untrue , mythical , and incapable of being reconciled with what we know of contemporary history . But Brother Hughan , leaving all myths and legends lo one side , has penetrated into a rich mine hitherto hut little explored , and drawn forth (" null ( he stores of ihe British Museum and from the Archives of lCnglish Lodges , old records which poitray the condition and character ol Freemasonry at the times when they were written , and furnish to every Masonic student those authorities anterior to the writings ol Anderson , hitherto inaccessible , from which he may deduce his o . vn conclusions and establish his own theories . " This appreciation of Brother llughan ' s industry and ability was written in 1 S 73 , and is fully endorsed by Masonic students of ( he present day . — Editor M . A .

The Relation Of Freemasonry To Religion.

The Relation of Freemasonry to Religion .

By W . Bro . the Rev . J CHOUGH GIBSOX , D . D ., LL . D ., Fellow ot the Royal Society ot Literature , Rector of Ebchester , Connfv Durham .

1 SUPPOSE that no more convenient distinction could be found than that which Comtist philosophers make between the thcologic and the scientific stages of religion ; and the position or relation of dogmatic religion to practical religious life , as the latter is found in true

speculative Freemasonry , much approximates to this . There are many who regard Freemasonry as for all purposes a universal religion , while many again claim as the utmost that Freemasonry is but applied science , applied and concrete theology , and no religion at all . Both are

wrong in their limitations . Freemasonry , even if a universal religion , is not such for all purposes . Again , on the other hand , you cannot separate cause from effect . Morals must have a standard , an indwelling energy , and an authority which speaks through experience , in actual personal

observation . It is safer to say that Freemasonry is religion , but not all religion . There cannot be a true Freemason who is an atheist . The key to the life of the world is thc Will of T . G . A . O . T . U ., and without an outlook heyond the daily activity of this present state there can be no perspective of

the perfect moral life . The present relates to the eternal ( past and future ) , and he who lives always on this side the line of horizon which his infant eyes first saw , cannot realise a thousandth part of the meaning of this present sphere of labour .

Besides all this , morality cannot exist of itself . Men value moral truths because their standard of absolute good is therein enshrined ; lbey do not imagine a higher authority as the result of inherent functional energy . Freemasonry as a morality begins in the authority of the Supreme Author and Creator . It does not rise to that . The Creator informed

man ; and moral success depends upon man ' s obedience to the Heavenly vision . We spend our labour , and devote ourselves to study , that we may know the meaning of the Sacred Name ; and the existence of llie name , and of the truth in that name , are not dcbateable points to loyal Masons .

Now let me define the word Religion . My dictionary gives it thus : — " A course of life led in conformity to the belief of a superintending power , and of laws divinely established . " In what do we , as Freemasons , differ from this ? Our course of life is in accordance with the V . of the S . L ., and is led subject to the universally accepted authority

of T . G . A . O . T . U . Then Freemasonry is a religion ? ^ es ; it is the practical side of it . " To visit the fatherless and widows in their aflliclion , and to keep himself unspotted from the world . " This is common as an ideal to all true religions , and even lo many corrupt forms of originally true religion . Religion is not bv any means conterminous with academic

creeds , nor with dogma . Freeinasomv is religion , but not a religion , nor all religion . And whether we regard modern Freemasonry , with its beneficent influence over society , its hospital aid , and its orphanage , or ancient speculative Freemasonry , as found i : i Essenic and Early Christian practice

and doctrine , or the still more ancient mysteries of the Xoachid . e , from which all modern philosophy has been produced or evolved , we find that Religion and Freemasonry have been as one . But wail ; denominalionalism has not been always synonymous with Masonic practiee . Far from it ; but

denominalionalism is not essentially religion , although it may produce it eventually . Thc precepts of Noah are broad enough in their scope to include the denominations of religion ; but they arc the greater , and not the less . In these lay , in embryonic form , all that even Christian manhood ever

became . In these were all thc struggle and all the ambition of all thc ages . Religion has always found a home , and even more , in every true Masonic lodge . Exclude the obedient faith in the divine Geometrician , and Freemasonry falls to pieces . Hence it is that so much that is formally Masonic has lost its religious character , and often come into contlict with the very influence true Masons should ever exert .

Recently the Masonic lloui : 'fonriia ! . ol Louisville , Ky ., apropos of an article in thc English Eiwiiiasou upon this subject , tried to beg the question by an artificial definition of thc spheres of Religion ami Freemasonry . Now , it is impossible to prove anything by mere assertion ; and it is unwise to llv in the face of facts . Students are more

concerned with phenomena than they arc with fancies . The writer savs : — " Masonry is for the present life . The salvation of the soul looks to a future life . " On the contrary , I maintain that since the whole system of Freemasonry depends upon obedience to the V . of the S . L ., Masonry is for all life , and not for a few years ; for our lives , and for till who shall follow us and take up our tools