From A Lodge Of The Saints John.

Another very significant regulation was one which enjoined the initiation of candidates only at the third , sixth and ninth hours , and the reasons given are : " It was the third hour of the day that the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles at the Pentecost ; at the sixth hour Peter went up to the housetop to pray , where he was favoured with a celestial vision ; and at the ninth

hour Peter ' and John went to the Temple and healed the man who had been lame from his mother ' s womb . " The virulence of the religious wars which rent England during the sixteenth century , and in comparison with which our own civil strife was a comparative peace , rendered it very unsafe to proclaim a relig ious belief iu opposition to the dominant party ; as these changed with remarkable rapidity

the Masons no doubt found it expedient to modify their Constitutions , and render the lodge a place where toleration should exist , thereby preparing the way for that liberal spirit which characterised the Revivalists in 1717 . Indeed , when this event occurred , it was found that the charge about holy church ancl heresy had been dropped from the ritual years before .

By the provisions of the Toleration Act , which became a part of the English law in 1688 , all religious assemblies with locked doors were ; forbidden . Masonic Lodges , according to the old Constitutions , could not meet under such a law , and from this fact we have another indication that the changes in tbe dogmas of the Fraternity were dictated as much by expediency as toleration . In the charges adopted in 1722 now accepted as the foundation of Masonic

, law , but two references to the Church occur , under the head " Concerning God and Religion : " " Though in ancient times Masons were charged , in every country , to be of the religion of that country or nation , whatever it was , it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves ; " ancl under the head "Behaviour" sec . 2 : "No private piques or quarrels must be brought

, within the door of the lodge , far less any quarrels about religion , or nation , or state policy , we being , as Masons , of the Catholic religion above mentioned This charge has always been strictly enjoined and observed , but especially ever since the Reformation in Britain , or the dissent and secession of these nations from the Communion of Rome . "

During the Mastership of Martin Clare * the question was raised respecting the meaning of the phrases " the oldest Catholic reli gion " and " that religion in which all men agree , " as referred to above , to which Brother Clare replied that he had had several long and interesting conversations with Brothers Payne , Desaguliers , and Anderson , on the subject , and it -was unquestionable from their researches that the belief of our ancient brethren favoured

the opinion that Masonry is essentially Christian ; that it is indebted to Christianity for its principles ; that in all ages the English Fraternity consisted exclusively of Christians , and that , therefore , the religion iu which all men agreed was the Christian religion . The Ancient Charges were extracted from old Masonic records of lodges , not Only in Great Britain but in foreign countries , and at the time these records were originally compiled the religion

in which all men agreed was the Christian religion . During the Mastership of Dr . Manningham the question whether Freemasonry was a Christian organization was much discussed in the lodges , and the unanimous opinion of the English Masons was that it was so . The prayers used evince its religious character . One of great antiquity , printed in the " Freemason ' s Pocket Companion , " in 1764 , is : " A prayer to be used of Christian Masons to the empointing of a brother ,