The Present Position Of English Ereemasonry.

undeniably practising these great principles of philanthropic union and fraternal sympathy ; which tend more than anything else we know of here , to combine and to conciliate the divergent ophiions and jarring interests of our great world-wide

humanity . We will assume then for the moment , though we hope to place the matter in a still clearer and more

conclusive view before the close of this paper , that , generally speaking , the history of Ereemasonry is that of long antiquity and far spread existence . Is it too much to say that it resembles one of the great Egyptian Pyramids amid the wide

extending desert of time , towering before us in its mysterious meaning and mighty outline ?

For strange though it be in itself as a fact , Freemasonry has been found alike in the most civilized and the most uncivilized portions of the world ; amid the Arabs of the East and the Esquimaux of the North , among the Aborigines of Australia and

North America , as well as amid the more polished communities of Europe and Asia . It is not an exaggeration to add , that Freemasonry exists in all the four quarters of the globe . Its marks and symbols are traced on the Cave of Elephanta and the

Temples of Mexico ; on the mighty Cathedrals and Ecclesiastical Buildings of all Europe , as well as on the Eoman wall , on

the Egyptian pyramid , on the remains of Grecian shrines , and the " debris " of Syrian buildings ; on the internal decorations still visible through the whitewash of St . Sophia , and on the underground passages and skilfully constructed crypts of that sacred

building at Jerusalem , so well known to all Freemasons , and still dear to the memory and the . heart of some traveller and pilgrim from a far shore , as it was to those -who once worshipped in a happier time within its ever holy walls .

Many have been , as we well know today , the mutations of the world and of man , " Nations and thrones and reverend

laws , " says a great statesman and law-giver of our day * "have faded like a dream , " but the " Sodalitium Lathomorum" still holds its ground . The rapid if silent tread of time has passed over the great highway

of earthly life , throwing its spell of weakness and decay on all of earthly formation or human handiwork , and yet the "Antiqua Societas Cementariorum , " still endures . It has been attacked vehementl y yet it has

survived all attacks , it has been " trahi , " as a foreign writer said one hundered years ago , "devoilS , " " ecrasS , " but it is now

apparently flourishing more than ever . And though we may be inclined to put little faith in the " vaticinations" of any writer , yet how can we explain this seeming paradox as regards Freemasonry , that ,

it has outlived many other institutions , and seems to move on its way unaffected by the benumbing influence of time , and even more vigorous and thriving from all such assailants and all such assaults . "We

believe , that there is and can be only one answer to such a question ; only one explanation of such a seeming paradox , and it is this , Freemasonry possesses evidently hi itself , some true , some vital , some beneficial principle , whether of action or association ,

which serves to commend it alike to the appreciation and approbation — to the sympathy and support of mankind . And if it be asked here , what is its present

position in this country 1 "We propose in the present paper , if possible , to give a reply to such a friendly query . "We are anxious to use a commercial term , " to take stock , " to endeavour to realize perfectly what is the present aspect , what are the future

prospects of Freemasonry in England ; to ascertain , if possible what Freemasonry really is , whether looked at from a material , or social , or historical , or practical , point of view ; to bring before us , in short , and in as careful an epitome as possible , what are its undoubted claims to our admiration