Feeemasoney And Christianity.

FEEEMASONEY AND CHRISTIANITY .

LONDON , SATURDAY , JANVABY U , 1868 .

By Bro . * b H . B . White 18 ° , P . M . and Z . 148 , Warrington , Prov . Assist . G-. Dir . of Cers ., West Lancashire . ( Continued from JVo , 414 , p . 445 . ) I have previously declared my conviction that

no man can become a true Mason unless ho is a Christian , and the more I reflect , the more I study , the more I reason , I am the more convinced that in making such a declaration I am iucontrovertibly right . It may be urged what then becomes of the

much boasted Universality of Preemasonry ? I answer , the religion of Preemasonry is the only religion that can ever be universal , viz ., "the knowledge of the Lord which shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea , " or , in other words , Christianity . It may also be objected . How then can Jews or Mahommedans become Masons ? I

answer , they are so only m name , for to us is accorded the inestimable privilege " of knowing the mysteries but to them it is not given , " because they " seeing see not ,- and hearing they hear not , neither do they understand : " in short , the light

for them shineth in darkness , and they , being in darkness , comprehend it not . It is only since our ceremonial and formulas were revised (?) by Bro . Preston that the Blessed name of Jesus Christ has been omitted from our Masonic

prayers , see Oliver's " Revelations of a Square , " ed . 1855 p . ' 267 , where , in reply to a question from a Bro . Macintosh " Bro . Inwood replied without hesitation : ' It is true , R . W . Sir , that the actual name of Jesus Christ is not mentioned in our

present formulas , as they have been revised by Bro . Preston , but why he should have omitted the primitive invocation in his new prayer I am at a loss to conjecture , as it was always used by oitr Ancient Brethren / " see also the remainder of the

ahapter from which I have quoted . Our late lamented Bro ., Dr . Oliver , after considerably upwards of half a century ' s Masonic study and experience , says , in the preface to the last work which , as a new editionemanated from his

, pen ( and it is a glorious corroboration of my own limited experience ) , "I turn to another subject which I consider of still greater importance , embracing the present opportunity , because it is scarcely probable , at my advanced age , that

another will occur , of repeating my firm and unshaken conviction that Preemasonry is a Christian institution , established by Christian men , and embracing Christian principles ; my faith in this respect commenced at my initiation , when I was

only eighteen years of age , and has remained unshaken through a long and eventful life , and I rejoice in the opportunity of publicly professing the same faith at the age of eighty-five years . " I had written the former part . of my article before

the foregoing emphatic declaration came under my notice , or probably I had not thought it necessary to add niy weak testimony to the glorious truth . If Christianity is not the object and end of

Masonry , how can Ministers of the Gospel add the weight of their sacred calling in testifying that one of the three leading principles of Masonry is Truth ?

If Masonry is but another name for Lux or Light , and the light of Masonry is not " the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world , " must not the light that is in us be darkness , and when a newly made brother comes

to us for bread , do we not give him a stone ? That Christianity was recognised in the old Masonic ceremonial and lectures as the corner stone of Masonry , I purpose proving by some few of many extracts from the old lectures , and from

some of the early Masonic writers ; but first I would draw the attention of your readers to the subjoined engravings of two old pictures or tracing

boards , illustrative of the 3 rd degree ( as formei'ly given ) and the Royal Arch , they are illustrations well known to all brethren who have studiedjfthe Masonry of the last century , and the chief reason why I attach value to them is that they confirm