THE FREEMASONS AND THE MARQUIS OF RIPON.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 410, 31 December 1874, Page 2

THE FREEMASONS AND THE MARQUIS OF RIPON.

On Ootober 6 the Provincial Grand Lodge oF Warwickshire was opened at Sutton Ooldtield, under the presidency of the Provincial Grand Master, Lord Loigh; and there were present many diatinguuhed masotls. The Provincial Grand Lodge was opened with a grand religious ceremony, in whioh several clergymen (brethren) took a part. In the subae- , quant proceedings, in response to the toast of the "Rulers of the Graft/ proposed by Lord Leigh, Brother J. 0. Parkinson, Grand J>eacon of the Grand Lodge of England, Deputy G[rand Master of the Pro/mciai Grand. Lodge, of Middlesax, And Past Master of the Bard of Avon Lodge, said it would ill become him as a grand officer, whose elevation to the Masonic peerage had been one of the last official acts* of the late Grand Master, to express aught but profound regret that his lordship should have found it l^ecessary to resign his high position. It had beeh publicly stated that Lord Ripon had bean in fecret a Roman Catholic for ruariy year*, but that stajament must be denied in the most emphatic mariner, for a rery short time ago. hi* lordship personally expressed hi* great interest in a proposal made by him (Brother Parkinson) that the Freemasons should restore the church of Stratford-on-A iron, and his lordship, after making reference to tl c Protestant- ohurcu he was then building, said t at his sympathies were with the scheme for restorL q aaa^pinßQrvifig^Shajcftspeare'i) church by the jALtaonic brotherhood,'^ndithat "if such ao jutve weci.. fl^rSr decided ottb* would subscribe to any fund whioh cfugot be raised; > Him occurred a short time since, And it was c ear that the marquis' was then a warm and active supprfrtie>USf the p.jureh of Bngland as >/ fcyw established.. The speaker, while regrettiug leejVJY that uu lorlghip had seceded from that I Church', tjcftil'd 1 net share the. naite astonishment ex-» {pressed- UyjuwftQ that a Roman, ,ditb.olic might not •continue to till a leading position in tha era£t The fact- was* that .th.a .two systems ot Romanism and .Micaonry were. not meirejy incompatible, but ware^ radically opposed, for ouVofttfe "first lessons taught in Masonry w.is thai it was ''free." Freedom of thought, of ovjaiiuu, and the broadest toleration in religious .luaMdrs, were the very essence of Freemasonry, and good, true men of all religions ware I embraced in its comprehensive arms. When in India he had a Pars'ee amanuensis, who was a devout follower of Zoroaster, and was so scrupulous a tire worshipper as to ask to be excused from striking a light, iest he should be led to waste the to him divine element of lire ; but he proved himself to be a faithful brother in the craft. Last year, in America, the speaker had met advanced thinkers who were better and more devout men for being Freemasons ; and A tew months ago *t his lodge in Middlesex he had the- pleasure of initiating a M> I hammedan in the person of an AJfghan prince of blood, who had since passed the offer degrees under circumstances of peculiar interest. There were, too, many excellent Jewish brethren ; there were brethren amoug the North American Indians worshipping the Great Spirit on their native prairie, and tue learned and devout JSngluh clergymen could meet with these brethren of Various religious creeds, and on a common ground join in gntteful thanks to the Great Architect of the Universe, and subscribing together to the great doctrine of natural equality and mutual dependence. Freemasonry was a religion of good works, and asked for no priestly intermediary between a man and bis Mnker. Its impressive ritual enforced the sol ;mn truth that a man siioulvt be judgdd hereafter by his actioaa on earth rather than by any verdict passed on him by a' professional caste, and it was broadly tolerant of differences in faitii aud creed. When Roman Catholics were permitted by their spiritual, niters to uphold such opinions as these, then and not till then could they consistently coutime maabdra of the craft. The speaker concluded bv^_ m a grand office , thanking Lord LaigU aud the jgarwtialrtkijce brethren tc^f their loyal welcome, and expressing his Arm cour.ctioi that unJer the Giand tf istership of tht future King of fi.tglaud — a prince of the Protestant House of Hanover — Freemasons would continue to conserve those principles of religious liberty and spiritual freedom to which the Roman Catholic fiith had ever been strenuously opposed. There ware 300 brethren present.