e Grand Orient may draw
reinforcement from those sources whence it drew its system and its name.

Amongst the strange survivals of early Eastern sects are the Druses of
Lebanon, who might indeed be described as the Freemasons of the East;
their outer organization closely resembles that of the Craft Degrees in
Western Masonry, yet such is their power of secrecy that few if any
Europeans have ever succeeded in discovering the secret doctrines. That
their tendency is largely political admits of little doubt; in fact men
intimately acquainted with the Near East have declared that the
influence they exercise over the politics of that region is as
far-reaching as that of the Grand Orient over the affairs of Europe and
that they form the breeding-ground of all political ideas and changes.
Though small in numbers this mysterious society is composed of past
masters in the game of intrigue, who, whilst playing apparently a minor
part at political meetings, secret or otherwise, or even remaining
completely silent, contrive to influence decisions with startling
results.

British Masonry

We shall now consider the further ways in which British Masonry differs
from the Grand Orient.

In the first place, whilst working the same degrees, its rituals,
formulas, and ceremonies, as also the interpretation it places on words
and symbols, are different in many essential points.

Secondly, British Masonry is essentially an honest institution. Whereas
in the Grand Orient the initiate is led through a maze of ceremonies
towards a goal unknown to him which he may discover too late to be other
than he supposed, the British initiate, although admitted by gradual
stages to the mysteries of the Craft, knows nevertheless from the
beginning the general aim of the Order.

Thirdly, British Masonry is primarily philanthropic and the sums it
devotes to charitable purposes are immense. Since the war the three
principal masonic charities have collected annually over L300,000.

But the point to be emphasized here is that British Masonry is strictly
non-political, not merely in theory but in practice, and that it
enforces this principle on every occasion. Thus before the recent
General Election, the Report of the Board of General Purposes, drawn up
by Grand Lodge on December 5, 1923, recalled to the notice of the Craft
that "'all subjects of a political nature are strictly excluded from
discussion in masonic meetings,' this being in accordance