LECTURE II.

THE CONSTITUTIONS OF ENGLAND.

"The Constitutions of the Order consist of two parts,-oral and written communications; the former, comprehending the mysteries of the art, are only to be acquired by practice and experience in the Lodge; the latter includes the history of genuine Masonry, the lives and characters of its patrons, and the ancient charges and general regulations of the Craft.-PRESTON.

"The ancient Constitutions and Landmarks of the Order were not made by us. We have voluntarily put ourselves under them, as have our predecessors for ages before us. As they are, we must conform to them, or leave the Institution; but we cannot alter them. The Regulations of the Grand Lodge, which are made by ourselves, must be in conformity with the Constitutions of the Order."-ADDRESS OF THE GRAND MASTER OF NEW YORK, 1843.

FREEMASONRY at the present day bears the character of a municipal institution, for it regulates its internal interests by its own laws. Now the true principle of a municipality is the privilege of enjoying unfettered discretion within its legal boundaries; for if any society of men possess the exclusive power of managing their own affairs, the privilege is usually accompanied by such conditions as may be essential to its successful execution. One of these conditions undoubtedly is; that if the rulers strictly adhere to the Constitutions the members of the society will profit, but if they violate them by the slightest

deviation, the members will surely suffer; for perfect liberty cannot exist without responsibility; in the absence of which it will be impossible either to stimulate diligence or to enforce the exercise of wholesome criticism and judicious inquiry.

The Order possesses a local and municipal government under the protection of the State. The due execution of its laws, founded on a steady principle of responsibility in its rulers, has invested the Order with its present proud position amongst the institutions of the world; and the uniform obedience of the Brethren to its statutes and ordinances constitutes a powerful evidence how abundantly a democratic society may flourish, even under the auspices of a limited monarchy. This tranquil subserviency to the law constitutes the abiding boast of the Masonic Association, and shows how admirably adapted to its requirements are the general Constitutions of the Order.

These Constitutions are of two kinds; viz., first, local or temporary, and subject to revision by the Grand Lodge when any extraordinary circumstances arise to justify such a proceeding, conformably to a regulation agreed to at York in the tenth century, which directs that "A General Assembly shall be held every year, with the Grand Master at its head, to enforce the regulations and to make new laws when it may be expedient to do so." In this class may be ranked the laws relating to complaints and misdemeanours, the amount of fees and subscriptions; the interval between the degrees, the several funds, charities, and Boards, &c., &c., all of which

may be changed at pleasure by a vote of the Grand Lodge. These are not strictly Landmarks.

But the second class of laws are undoubted Landmarks which admit of no alteration, and ought to be preserved intact to prevent innovations in the identity of the ancient Order. For instance, if a candidate were to be admitted into a Lodge without a dispensation before he had attained the age of one and twenty years, it would be a violation of the Constitutions, for which the W. Master would be amenable to punishment by the Board of General Purposes. The same offence would be perpetrated if the candidate were admitted by communication and without the usual ritual preparation or O. B. These general Constitutions, unlike the former class, prevail under the jurisdiction of every Grand Lodge in the world, and are allowed by universal consent to be unchangeable; and hence it is by the use of these significant tokens that the Order has passed through so many generations unscathed by persecution, and has preserved its pristine integrity unshaken amidst all the reverses of alternate prosperity and neglect.

The method of transmitting important facts and doctrines by oral communication is, to say the least of it, very uncertain and imperfect. The marvel is not, as Bro. Yates (U.S.) truly observes, "nor should be, that inconsistencies, and, I may say, seeming absurdities have become mixed up with the traditions of Masonry, but that there should be no more of them; when we reflect that these traditions have been handed down orally through so many genera

tions." And, he might have added, that it is still more wonderful that, under such circumstances, we have a single grain of truth left to uphold the dignity and integrity of the institution.

LECTURE III.

THE LANDMARKS.

"In the Grand Lodge resides the power of making Laws and Regulations for the government of the Craft, and of altering, repealing, and abrogating them, provided that they continue to preserve the ancient Landmarks of the Order."-CONSTITUTIONS.

"It is my opinion that so long as the Master of any Lodge observes exactly the Landmarks of the Craft, he is at liberty to give the Lectures in the language best suited to the character of the Lodge over which he presides."-H.R.H. THE DUKE OF SUSSEX, G.M.

In order to ascertain what is the real tendency and end of Freemasonry, it will be necessary to clear the way by a brief examination of the Landmarks, which denote certain standard principles in the general laws, usages, customs, and language of the Order, and were originally established by our ancient Brethren to preserve its identity, and prevent innovation. It has ever been considered essential to the integrity of Masonry that they should remain intact, because, if its leading tenets were subject to periodical changes at the will and pleasure of the Fraternity in every successive generation, its distinctive character, in process of time, might perchance be destroyed; in which case the institution would be denuded of all its fixed and determinate principles. It was fenced round with Landmarks, therefore, to preserve its integrity, and prevent the