THE FREEMASONS AND THE MARQUIS OF RIPON.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1870, 30 December 1874, Page 2

THE FREEMASONS AND THE MARQUIS OF RIPON.

"On Oct 1 6 the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire was opened at Sutton Coldfieid, under the presidency of the provincial grand master, Lord Leigh, and there were present many distinguished masons. The Provincial Grand Lodge was opened with a grand religious ceremony, in which several clergymen (brethren) took a part. In the subsequent proceedings, in the response to the toast of the "Kulers of the Graft," proposed by Loivl Leigh, Brother JVC. Parkinson, grand deacon of the Grand Lodge of England, deputy grand master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex, and past-master of the Bard of Avon Lodge, said it would ill become him" as a gr^nd officer whose elevation to the Masonic peerage had been one of the last official acts of the late grand master, to express aught bwfc profound regret that his lordship should have fouud it necessary to resign his high position. It had been publicly stated that Lord Eipori had been in secret a Koman Catholic for many years, but that statement must be denied in the mo«t emphatic manner, for a very short time ago his lordship personally expressed his givat interest In a proposal made by hi n (Brother Parkinson) that the Freemasons should restore the church of Stratford-on Avon, and bis lordship, after

making reference to the Protestant cbibrch he was then building, said that his sympathies were with the scheme for restor-'j ing and preserrinw Shakespeare's church by the Masonic brotherhood, and that if such a course were ever decided on he would subscribe to any fund which might be raised. This occurred a short time since, and it was clear that the marquis was then a warm and active supporter of the Church of England as by jaw established. The speaker, while regretting deeply that his lordship had seceded from that Church, could not share the naive astonishment expressed by seme that a Romanl Catholic' might not continue to fill a leading position in the craft. The fact, was that the two systems of Romanism and Masonry were not merely incompatible, but were radically opposed, forone of the first lessons taught in Masonry was that it wa*_ "free." Freedom of thought; of opinion, and the broadest toleration in religious matters, were the very essence of Freemasonry, and good, true men of all religions were embraced in its comprehensive arms: When in India he had a Parsee amanuensis, who was a devout follower of Zoroaster, and was so scrupulous a fire worshipper as to ask to be excused from striking a light, lest heshould be led to waste the to jfeim. divine element of fire; but he prove&Uimself to be a faithful brother in the $a.{'t. Last year, in America, the speaker had met advanced thinkers who were better and more devout men for being Freemasons ; and a few months ago at his lodge in Middlesex he had the pleasure of initiating a Mohammedan in the person of an Afi%han prince of the blood, who had since passed the other degrees under circumstances of peculiar interest. There were, too, many excellent Jewish brethren; there were brethren among the. North American Indians worshipping the Great Spirit on their native priarifc,' and the learned and devout English clergymen, could meet with these brethren of various religious creeds, and on a common ground join in grateful thanks to the Great Architect of the Universe, and subscribe together to the great doctrine of natural I' equality and mutual dependence. Freemasonry was a religion of good works, and asked for no priestly intermediary between a man and his Maker.' Itsimpres- : sive ritual enforced the solemn truth that I a man should be judged, hereafter by his actions on earth rather than any verdict | passed on him by a professional caste, and it was broadly tolerant of differences in faith and creed. When Eoman Catholics were permitted by. their spiritual rulers to xiphoid such opinions as these, then and not till then could they consistently continue members of the craft. The speaker concluded by, as a grand officer, thanking Lord Leigh and the Warwickshire brethren for theirloyal welcome, and expressing his firm conviction that under the grand mastership of the future King of England—a prince of the Protestant House of Hanover—Freemasons would ; continue to conserve those principles of religious liberty and spiritual freedom to which the Kbtnan Catholic faithifa'dbeen strenuously opposed. There were 300 brethren present.