The Old Charges Of The British Freemasons

of them nor disclose any secret whereb y dissention may arise amongst any Masons their fellows or prentice aud renew the behoof and himself unto all free Masons being sworno brechrm . unto irs said Mas ; er & not Lo use iu Hazard diceing or any other unlaw full gaining nor to haunt any Tavern or Alehouse not to waste any mans goods without License of his Master or any other Freemasons , and that he shall not commit adultery nor Fornication in

any mans house where he shall Work or be tabled & that he shall not purloin or steall the goods of any person nor willingly suffer harm to be done or consent thereunto during his prenticeship but to withstand the same to the utmost of his power & thereof to inform his master or some other Freemason with all convenient possible speed . Unclena Metalla . Semper Perm valibn sine bonis stagnis critula fir quoyr plumbum astimul Alomina Sunt has

Undena Metalla . Septe Artis Liberalis . Tam loquint Dia vera dent . Verba roto Mus ramit Ar undat quoq pond : as volit . asti . Vera Copia & c . J . L . HIGSOM .

Freemasonry Attacked And Defended.

FREEMASONRY ATTACKED AND DEFENDED .

BY BRO . CLIFFORD P . MCCALLB . [ We take this most valuable and able article from the Philadelphia Keystone , and thank our brother for it . It ought to be read by all Masons . —ED . 31 . Mi ] OUTSIDE adverse criticism of Freemasonry is usually founded upon both . ignorance and prejudice . Those who attack the Masonic fraternity are

unacquainted with its purpose , its methods , its history , and its character ; and , added to this , they are stimulated to underrate it by a prejudice which a few unwise men are continuously striving to spread abroad in the community . Certain religionists , among whom the Reformed and United Presbyterians are chief , traditionally , if they do not formally , teach that all " seeretism , " and secret societies , are born of the devil , and hence that Freemasons must be children of the devil and doing his work . And thev do not merely assert this

as their opinion , but they strive to substantiate it by pretending to expose what Freemasonry is and teaches . But their exposure is simply a travestie , without the shadow of a basis of truth . We will give a fair example of this unfair method of criticism , and ourselves expose a recent exposure . A brother has sent us a copy of the Reformed Presbyterian Advocate for September 1879 a monthly published iu Philadelphiawhich purportson its

, , , , cover , to be edited by two reverend gentlemen . He has , further , called our attention to an editorial article in it , entitled "Masonry , " and asked us to answer its false and malicious charges . This we shall briefly do , and in doing so shall simply and fairly state facts which we , and all Freemasons , know to be true .

The first libel is , that " Masonry is an immoral , ungodly institution . " Now , Masonry , according to its own showing , is " a beautiful system of morality , veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols , " and every brother knows ( and no other can know ) that throughout Freemasonry the purest morality is taught in the working of all the degrees . The language of the HolBibleand especially of the New Testamentis continually upon the

y , , lips of the Master of the lodge , and is spoken reverently , impressively , and with the best effect upon candidates . We assert , without fear of contradiction from any one who knows , that the morality of Masonry is the morality of the Bible . But then , ours , if not an immoral , our enemy says , " is an ungodly institution , " Pray how could this be ? The word of God always lies open in