Freemasonry Considered.

England Service without further study , or acting up to the precepts of Christ , as call yourself a Mason because you can repeat the ritual , without studying- and applying the principles . I argue , therefore , that the rituals are no argument either

of the antiquity or modernness of Masonry . We will not be justified in saying that there was no Christianity in Britain before 1549 , when the first Book of Common Prayer was printed . Before that was the Missal ; before the Missal other books

of prayers . Whether the present rituals are of two hundred or of two thousand years existence , is of little importance . The great question is , were the doctrines at present inculcated by Freemasonry known to the ancients ? and the answer

is at once given—they were . As times change , so do customs , and there would be little to cause surprise in the fact that the brethren at a certain period thought fit to alter their ceremonial . The building fraternities , composed of men of

great talent , appear then to have become the depositories of the mysteries , and hence arose the name of "Freemason , " as our peculiar title . * Wandering over the length and breadth of Europe ,

founding lodges , and building churches , they spread their principles , and drew into the secret society the great and learned . It must be borne in mind that special privileges had been conferred upon them by the Pope , and that they were in a

manner a monkish order , each lodge being ruled over by a Master , the brethren living together in one house , aud bound by the vows of chastity and obedience . We find them in the Order of Knights Templar forming a portion of the third class of

serving brethren , being freres servons des mestiers . To their industry we owe the glorious Temple Church , in London , and many noble buildings at home and abroad . The Essenes are said to have watched over the Temple , and the Masons

seem to have exercised a similar duty in regard to buildings erected by them , as it would appear that , till the time of the Reformation , lodges were often established in close proximity to the more celebrated ecclesiastical buildings . In proof of

this we have the Kilwinning , Melrose , Glasgow and Aberdeen Lodges . Perhaps at this period , when everything that savoured of Popery was thrown to the winds , might have arisen the present

non-operative character of the lodges , and the general pursuit of Speculative Freemasonry , apart from the society of builders . But we may generally assume that Speculative Freemasonry did not take its present important position previous

to the junction of the Scots and English thrones in the person of James I . The great mistake of Masonic historians lies in their claiming , without the slightest grounds of proof , persons and events as belonging to and arising out of the fraternity ,

and thereby opening a door of attack for traducers . It would be far better at once to admit that beyond our historical documents we cannot prove positively our existence , but that we have sufficient indirect proof of a connection by uninterrupted succession with the ancient secret societies . To dogmatically insist upon the world receiving

statements upon our own vpso dixit , is absurd . Masonry has suffered more from the inconsiderate zeal of supporters than from the deliberate antagonism of its deriders . Statements have been made by Masons which cannot be supported

by documents , and that sublime chaotic evidence , tradition , has always been fallen back upon as a sure support . Tradition , in certain cases , is good evidence , but it often signally fails when called in to the aid of Masonry . It is not , however , with

tradition that we have now to do , but with a document proporting to have been written in the 16 th century , communicated to the Edinburgh brethren in 1826 bya M . de Marchot , an advocate of Nivelles , and of which a translation was inserted in the records of Mary's Chapel , under the attestation of a Notary Public *

Masonry can boast of three celebrated forged documents : 1 . The Questions of Henry VI . 2 . The Charter of Transmission of John Mark Larmenius , aud 3 . The Proclamation of Cologne , now under notice . Burnes says as to the

Proclamation , " We have little faith in German documents on Freemasonry , unless supported by other testimony ; and as no historian of the Craft makes the slightest allusion to the great convocation of the brethren at Cologne in the 16 th century , rather

than ask the reader to believe that it ever took place , we shall presume that M . de Marchot may have been deceived . "

The document proceeds upon the narrative that the Pope , the Emperor , and all kings were , according to popular report , objects of hatred and