This Is Masonry.

Third . — To be a Mason , man must be a temple . In him must live , as active agencies , all the hightest mental and moral qualities . He mnst be able to love , to obey , and to be truthful . These are eternal principles . Time and the grave can never touch them .

Fourth . —A man must be progressive . If we have a dogma , this is it . We accept the great doctrine of Masonic evolution , and advocate a special order of advancement . We move along all the lines of usefulness

that God has ordained in all His laws . Each individual must march with his elbow touching a brother , and with his eyes expectantly fixed upon the sublime work of self conquest .

Masonry has not lost her high ambitions . New stars are nightly beaming down upon her " wise men , " and new gifts are coming to the birth of her new and mighty truths . Some have thought us fogies and have declared our mission ended , but tbe fields of higher usefulness and

destmy still open up before us . Along the path of centuries Masonry has been the friend of progress . It opened the secret vaults of Hiram of Tyre , and gave a field for his _? enius . wealth . and ambition , makino- his namp i ——

r ^~ J * o w immortal hy associating it with Hiram Abif and our Grand Master , King Solomon , and the Temple of his God . It took the Queen of Sheba and the rojal caravans of the Easfc , and stood them before his temple , that they might witness the glory of its architecture and the wisdom that

planned it . It has ever gathered about its altars the noblest and best of souls . The friends of Masonry have been the benefactors of the race . They have championed every cause dear to the poor ,

the ignorant , and the oppressed , and have many times fought the battles of human liberty against the votaries of superstition and tyranny . They have been the friends of learning . Art , science , and literature have often lit

their torches afc our altar fires . They have always borne aloft the banner of religious liberty . From age to age the light of divine truth has been shining upon her altars ; and , with consistent and steady march , she has taught the world the great lessons of liberal thought . Not a religious

institution , we have guarded the word of God more closely than our traditions , and have preserved its golden pages beneath our heads and hid its teachings in our hearts . It is said that Alexander had the Iliad of Homer bound in gold and placed nightly beneath his pillow . So do we

with this eternal word . He read of Trojan heroes and their struggles with the Greeks . We read of the victories of truth and the stately marches of its friends . This word greets the eyes first opened into the realms of true Masonic

life . Masonry has no creed , but all creeds may bow around its common altar . In the deep and far-reaching plans of God for the moral and spiritual uplifting of the human mind , Masonry seems to have been on a among His divine purposes , plainly indicated on the great

trestleboard of time . When this nation struggled for its rights among the

greater powers around it , Masons stood by their open Bibles with their nnlifted swords . Washington and Lafayette were bound by its sacred ties , and lived and died as the noblest types of manhood in this or any other age . It has not alone manifested its power in the defence of right upon the field of battle , but , during the pursuits

of peace , it has fostered every interest of mankind . The plans of this Fraternity are intended for the world to-day , and for the ages yet unborn . It reaches across all lines

of race , colour , and clime , and touches the industries , the commerce , the arts , the learning , aud the social and national relations of all countries . It has helped to subjugate and control error , and has aided in the

enlightenment of ignorance . It embraces va its teachings the wisdom and experience of Solomon , the ardent love of John the Evangelist , and the integrity and patriotism of Washington . It strives to restrain all personal prejudices ,

control all warring passions , and bring out into clear and beautiful review the highest , noblest and best of moral jewels in the soul . It is an arm of protection about virtue , and a sword and shield about virginity . It has for

its aim ihe eternal uplifting and approximation of man to an ideal higher than nature has yet produced—a manhood after the will , and subject to the perfect government of God . It means to apply the square of its principles to the rough ashlars of humanity , and , with the chisel of wisdom and

genius , bring a polished , shining stone into that ever living ,

This Is Masonry.

imperishable building of God—that house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . The world is full of ruined enterprises . Cities , theories , creeds , statutes , and even nations have passed away . Ifc is

said that time proves all things . It has tested many of man ' s inventions , and they have melted in the crucible of its touch , like the enemies of the Hehrew children in the furnace of their own construction . The errors of Pharaoh

were washed with him from his chariot in the billows of the sea . The ruins of Troy are fche monuments that tell of the lust of Paris . The dust of the desert has drifted across the heathen temples of Thebes and Palmyra , and the

mighty walls of Nineveh have long since slept unnoticed save by the excavator who digs amid her ruins . The mythology of Greece has come down from the Olympian heights , and the ephemeral thrones of their visionary

deities have been buried for centuries from fche belief of men . So the world moves on , with grander marches up the heights of reason , faith and hope , toward the higher goal

of God ' s higher purposes in its creation . Errors still grow old and dusty , and are laid away in the vaults along the wayside of the years . The wrong assumptions of our enemies , their egotistical anathemas , and their evil

prophecies , have marched back with the long procession oi the fossiliferous departed . Human progress has stood beside these sepulchres and inquired the causes . Down from the echoing corridors of history has come the true

response—man ' s ignorance and sin . Error in man ' s moral temple weakened its structure . Decay and change crumbled it away . Blind reason sought the realms of

faith and found its grave in the deep , dark wilderness of superstition . Masonry has stood beside them all in the calmness of delightful contemplation .

I seem , my brethren , to be standing in the vestibule of some great temple . It is grand in all its vast proportions . The architecture is superb . Its foundations are deeply laid . Every stone has passed the plumb and square

of some master mind . Every column has been turned and polished for its royal stand iu the processions of its long and spacious halls . Every arch stands richly inlaid with keys and cappings firmly bound . The cornice is gilded .

Its domes rise high above the ruins of man ' s other plans , and gold-tipped spires lift their shining heads from dizzy heights , and first salute the rising of the sun . I stand

beside its altars , and seem to see its burning tapers and the rising incense . I hear the voice of prayer . This , my brethren , is Masonry .

I hear the tread of increasing multitudes as the years go by . The wisest and best of each successive generation come and go . One is a kingly form . He comes from the

throne , and with majestic tread ascends the stairs and takes the place of honour in the East . Here is another . He is the master workman and the widow ' s son . Famed

in the hearts of kings for genius above his age , he takes his place as counsellor to the king . Hiram Abif and Solomon are here . Now comes the third , a man of Tyre

gorgeous in the gold that glitters in his crown and sparkles on the border of his kingly robe . Here is one standing by the lighted tapers . He is looking at the measurement of ethereal walls , and counting the

multitudes along the shores of eternal streams . He hears the music of the upper worlds , and looks upon the temples of the shining hills . This is John the Evangelist .

Tears have passed . Now comes a man with the tools of all the Craft . He toils amid the labourers of his age ,

and leaves his monuments in shapely domes and marble columns till a kingdom repeats his praises . This , my brethren , is Sir Christopher Wren , the great London architect . There is silence for a time . Then comes a

form—tall , graceful , and with an imperial glance . He takes his stand near the East . He has just sheathed tbe sword . He now pauses near the altar , then he passes down the halls . This , my brethren , is the Father of his

Country . There are multitudes like these whose feet have walked these holy isles . Franklin , Garfield , Starr King and Thomas Guard have passed the open door , and rest

their weary feet beneath the green acacia . Noble deeds have borne aloft the banner of our Order , and unveiled characters have stood about our altars like stars above us in the night of human life .

This temple is composed of eternal elements . —A true Mason is one at heart . Here is the throne of Speculative Masonry—the real seat of Masonic life . Ifc carries into a man ' s soul fche nriceless jewel of frindship , and brings