From A Lodge Of The Saints John.

used in the reign of Edward IV . *—The Mighty God and Father of Heaven , with the wisdom of His Glorious Son , through the goodness of the Holy Ghost , that hath been three persons in one Godhead , be with us at our beginning , give grace to govern in our living here that we may come to His Bliss which shall never have an end . "

After the Revival the Masters of the lodge selected the prayers from the Book of Common Prayer of the English Church until Dr . Manningham and Dr . Anderson composed a prayer which received the approval of the Grand Lodge and was very generally adopted . It was similar to the one now in use , and concluded : " This Ave humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour . Amen . f The Christian significance given to the symbols with which we are familiar

are remains , not innovations . Thus iu the " Grand Mystery Discovered , " published in 1724 , in reply to the question " How many angels in St . John ' s Lodge ? " The answer is "Four , bordering on squares , " or a perfect cross ; and in " Masonry Dissected , " six years later , it is given as the reason why lodges were styled Holy Lodges of St . John , because he was the Forerunner of our Saviour and laid the first parallel line to the Gospel . Brother Preston explained the number five in the Second degree as referring to the birth , life , death , resurrection ancl ascension of our Lord ancl Saviour , Jesus Christ .

The first admission to the Order of persons not professing a belief in the Christian religion was on the Continent , where so many new degrees were fabricated , infidels admitted to Masonic fellowship , and the schisms which have disturbed the harmony of the society concocted . At the Revival in 1 / 17 there was not a Jewish Mason in the loorld , ^ . and for half a century later not more than a dozen in all England . So short a time ago as March 3 rd , 1842 the important question of recognising Jewish Masons in possession of

, proper certificates , engaged the attention of the Grand Lodge at Berlin and was the occasion of a very animated discussion . Many eloquent speeches for and against their admission were made . It was argued that a brother , in possession of a certificate from an acknowledged Masonic lodge is entitled to admission , but that a lod ge has power to refuse it ; that as Christianit y is the foundation of Masonryit is essential that Freemasons should not

, encourage in any manner the opinion that the Society sanctions infidelity . The Grand Master expressed the opinion that as the Rite to which the Grand Lodge held allegiance was founded on Christian principles , the membership of a person not acknowledging the truths of that doctrine was not admissible .

The proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts furnish a most exhaustive discussion of the subject in the action of that Grand Body upon the petition of 230 Masons , presented at the annual communication held in Boston , December 14 th , 1870 , praying that the Grand Lodge " institute a thorough examination ancl investigation into the present ritual and work . . . for the purpose of ascertaining whether the universalitof

Freey masonry has been overthrown or disregarded . " At the Quarterl y Communication held September 13 th , 1871 , a committee appointed for the purpose made an elaborate report covering twenty-six pages of the Proceedings , in which the whole matter of Christian references is considered . The committee says : —