Holiday Masons.

HOLIDAY MASONS .

IN view of the many advantages claimed for the Masonic Brotherhood it must he a matter of surprise to those who give consideration to the subject that so few of its Lodges make a feature of entertaining or meeting the members of other Lodges during the summer mouths . True , wo do occasionally have the opportunity of recording a Masonic

cricket match , or something of a similar character , between members of different Lodges , but these events are so few , and so far between , as to give even greater emphasis to bur original proposition ; they are , in fact , the notable exceptions which go far to prove the rule , which seems to hold good throughout the country , for , wherever we turn , thero is the same apparent apathy among members of the Craft in this respect .

. beyond the promotion ot good lollowship and fraternal association there is , perhaps , little in such gatherings as we speak of to recommend them , and it is , in all probability , this feature that has prevented their general adoption ; but surely good fellowship and fraternal association should , in themselves , be

sufficient to justify a special effort on the part of those who see in Freemasonry something more than a mere name , who regard it , in fact , as a means of uniting different sections of the community under the one standard , for the purpose of promoting social and intellectual enjoyment . We must probably wait for one of our Lodges to attempt something of a novelty in this direction ; then we may expect the example to

be followed in other directions , and , ultimately , every day may bring ( us tidings of some entertainment or other in which' the Masonic Order plays a prominent part , and the main purport of which is to encourage holiday meetings between different sections of the Craft . It may be that some special object to work for —beyond the actual enjovment of the meeting—is

necessary to arouse the enthusiasm one might have expected to be shown in this direction , and , with so many features of a deserving character as there are to be ^ found in Freemasonry , the provision of some suitable cause to work for should not long be a matter of difficulty . We do not like to be for ever urging brethren to devote their time and energy to work on behalf of the Charities of the Order , but if they have no local effort on which they can

bestow their sympathy there is always room for friendl y help in the work of the three great Institutions . . Whether it be a cricket match , an encounter at bowls or quoits , or an afternoon devoted to athletic sports , there should be sufficient enjoyment to be derived from the meeting , even without any special jeature to work for , but when , in addition , it is desired to benefit some poor old Craftsman , a widow , or an orphan , then there should be no lack of sympathy or support , and with a little organisation a very acceptable amount should be secured for the special object

Holiday Masons.

worked for , in addition to which there would be the satisfaction of knowing that an enjoyable meeting had been arranged and—with fraternal good willcarried to a successful issue .

Freemasonry's Sublimity.

FREEMASONRY'S SUBLIMITY .

MASONRY IN ITS TWO-FOLD FORM , PHYSICAL AND MORAL . —A GREAT PICTURE , EMBRACING MORIAH AND CALVARY , AND FAR BEYOND . An Unique , Sublime and Rhapsodical Oration , delivered by Rev . John Newland Maffdt , 1 st February lSJf . 1 , at the public Installation of the Officers of St . Louis and Naphtali Lodges , in St . Louis , Missouri , members of the Grand Lodge being present .

THERE ia not on earth a lovelier principle than association . Union is both strength and beauty . The lift of a curtain discloses to view a stormy and discordant world . Passion is the tyrant of the realm : his sceptre is tipped with scathing fires , that dart a lurid

radiance over forms which seem scorched by the glare . The withering flowers of innocence droop on either handthe storms of misfortune brood on every hill—the cataracts of calamity ravage every vale . Man himself is but a

shadow . In his proudest estate tho visions of his hopes grow fainter and fainter , until their pencilling is but a memory upon the canvas of the soul . The aspirations of

early life grow sluggish and forget to mount upward . The dream becomes but the reverberation of the sigh ; the sigh the echo of a tear . The dreams are more sombre in their

colouring ; the widow s weeping and the orphan s wailing come low on the ear of night ; the mourners go about ihe streets , for man goeth to his long home . What in such a world of shadows and of change is the only and true

philosophy of life p It is nnion ! Alone and unaided , virtue becomes a hermit to live and die " unwept , unhononred , and unsung . " Alone , misery becomes agony and despair . Alone , worth is worthless , having but its own

dubious praise , unaided by the cheering suffrages of a fellow humanity . Alone , the first Eden was a more dreary abiding place for man than the blasted fields of toil to which he was driven ; but with a friend to feel with him , a

community of woe , a fellow sensation of regret , and an interest in his future hopes , the thorns of earth became more beautiful than the flowers of Paradise . Thus , when the first man saw standing by his side another man with

whom he could take sweet counsel , and when these two saw themselves multiplied into hundreds of strong-armed and clear-headed men , leaving power to resolve and victory to

effort , we can scarcely wonder at the pride of man in the " world before the flood . " Such power and auch concentration were new to him , and he could scarcely wield them aud feel their gratitude without arrogance .

Masonry is Union . —Turned loose upon the warring theatre of matter , with his bosom bare to the pitiless storms treading on thorns harder than his flesh—and

walking in the midst of the strong elements , eaoh one with power to master and destroy him—man is the desolate orphan of creation . His Heavenly Father cannot be seen by his natural eye . He needs a shelter from the hurricane ,