The Present Position Of English Ereemasonry.

Yet , surely all that has now been so imperfectly stated , is a sufficient proof that the present position of English Freemasonry , looked at from an historical and archaeological point of view , is one of active study and healthy criticism , and of greater

intellectual vigour , probably than has characterized any previous epoch of its existence . Let us earnestly hope , that all these studies and researches may end some day ere very long , in a readable and reliable and undoubtedly scientific history of our good old Order . And then when we endeavour to

ascertain what is the practical teaching or benefit of Freemasonry as now pursued hi this country , we find in it much to admire and more to commend . Ereemasonry has had its assailants in past times ; Freemasonry has its assailants

to-day , even at this very hour ; and there are many who openly object both to its actual position and its avowed principles . There are those , for instance , who think that Freemasonry should discard all the religious element from its lodges , and

confine itself to philosophical teaching or cosmopolitan sympathies . There are those who complain that Ereemasonry is not religious enough , and that by its professed universality it is a negation of a

higher Creed . But , all such impugners of our Order appear to us to forget , that Freemasonry is not Reli gion , never claims to he Reli gion , or to teach Religion to others . Freemasonry does claim to be a world-wide philanthropic sodality , based

on the one great principle which pervades the divmest of all prayers—the recognition of the One Great Universal Father , Ruler and Architect of this world and of man . That there may be denominational

difficulties felt by some in such a view as this , we do not affect to conceal , but Freemasonry qua Ereemasonry has nothing to do with denominational teaching , just as it has no concern with political opinions . Ereemasonry leaves Relhrion to those .

whose great mission is to announce its healing message to man , offering however a neutral ground , so to say , for men of contrasted views and conflicting opinions ; a place of assembly where for a little time the voice of party may be hushed , and

the contests of sectarian difference may be stilled . Freemasonry may be wrong or it may be right hi the view it takes , the teaching it avows , and the course it adopts , but such it is , and we feel , that , as it is

always better to avow our principles , to hoist our flag , there is no use whatever in at all hesitating to declare , what as we believe , the undoubted position and teaching of our great Order really are . There may he many who take a very different

view of what Masonic teaching is or should be , but it is undeniable hi our opinion , that , whatever may have been the

distinctive utterance of Freemasonry in other days , or at particular epochs , the one distinguishing feature of our present English Freemasonry is its Universality . And Freemasonry in inscribing this motto , so to say , on her graceful banner , is but

proclaiming in our time and generation , the teaching of an earlier age , when Jewish and Tyrian Masons worked side by side in the building of the Temple of the most Hig h , It may be perfectly true , that we

may find less expansive views prevailing during a period of the last century , hut whether for good or evil , the Universality of our Order has been the pervading characteristic of our teaching and our practice during this century ; and the

fact ought to be honestly admitted as alike the now deliberate position , and the unfailing characteristic of our English

Ereemasonry . Freemasonry we believe has thus a sphere of usefulness and importance in the world , hi that it serves to cement enduring sympathy between persons of very opposite feelings , and to conciliate firm friendships amongst those wdio might by birth , and education , arid inherited tradi-