Gleanings.

The work of Freemasonry should beperformod with dignity of manner clear , crisp and distinct speech , so that the candidate may apprehend , comprehend , and become imbued with the principles of Freemasonry . Mnsonry has just cause to be prond of its antiquity , proud of its

ancient origin , dating back into the dim and misty past . We have iuat reason to be prond of our many charities and of our vast numerical strength , as well as of our standing in every oommunity , but more than that , above all this , we have reason to be proud of the eternal truths taught in our Craft , of the tenets and teachings of

our great Fraternity . Masonry at all times carried tho torch of liberty and of thought ; carried always the light of love and universal toloranoe to all mankind . It ever held aloft its sweet signal of brotherly love , and at all times taught tho great truth of a Fatherhood of God and

Brotherhood of man . At no time did Masonry ever lend its pure and sacred hand to wrong , to oppression , or to persecution , but quietly , in silence and Beoreoy performs its great mission of charity and Brotherly love . Quietly and in silence it aids the widow and the orphan , succours

the poor and stands by tho weak , shields and defends those who suffer in mind or body , and it is at all times ready to battle for the right . It is thus that the great Masonio Fraternity has just cause To be proud as the advance guard of liberal thought , as the pioneer of our

civilization , as the teaoher of the immutable truths that have been isolated in former nges , but through its agencies , aud through the workers in onr vineyards has popularised them and brought them and kept them before the people . It is to this we can point as the great achievement of our Fraternity . It is in this we find our greatest pride as members of the Craft . —Keystone

A Bible and a newspaper in overy house , a good school in every district , all stndied and appreciated as they merit , are the principal support of virtue , morality and civil liberty . If you hit the mark you must aim a little above it ; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of the earth .

What are the best days in memory ? Those in whioh we met a companion who was truly suoh . The Freemason , of Toronto , expresses great fears as to the future of Royal Aroh Masonry in Canada , and says that unless a remedy for existing evils is soon found Capitular Masonry will be unable to

retain its position in tbe Masonic system . It thinks the trouble consists largely in the selection of incompetent Officers and in the slovenly manner in which the work is done . These , however , are drawbaoks not peculiar to Capitular Masonry , nor confined to any one jnrisdiotion . Tbe Freemason adds that the existing state of

affairs is causing many brethren to consider the advisability of attaching tho Royal Arch Degrees to tbe Blue Lodge . There are not a few who think that the number of distinct Masonio organisations is a misfortune . There is no reason why seven degrees might not be conferred in one organisation as well as in two , or why nine

might not be given in two as well as in three , if these were new questions . But it seems hardly practicable now to consolidate two organisations into one . The attempt that was made some years

ago to consolidate Chapters and Councils was a hopeful one at the outset , but it proved a failure in the long run . It is probable that we shall have to find some other remedy for the decay of Chapters than merging them into the Blue Lodge . —Masonic Home Journal .

The American Mason , says that the Worshipfnl Masters of all the cook county ( III . ) Lodges have appointed a committee of three from their Lodge to the joint committee for the purpose of making arrangements for the fourth annual picnic in aid of the funds of the Orphans '

Home . The previous annual picnics were eminently successful , both from a social and financial standpoint , which happy result was attained by the industry , zeal and energy of the committees then in charge .

The objection of a member to a visitor must be made in open Lodge The brother objocting may not be required to state his reasons there , fore . The W . M . of a Lodge has no absolute right to admit visitors at his pleasure . He is bound , however , to maintain the harmony of his Lodge , and it should never bo his pleasure to admit a visitor to whom objection had been made by a member in open Lodge .

The London Guild of Mason 3 was incorporated in the year 1410 , by ™? . name ana style of the Society of Freemasons , and in 1477 William Hankston , Clarencieux King-at-arms , granted them their coat-at-arms , thus heraldically described : Sable , on a chevron

neoween three castles argent , a pair of compasses of tho first crest , a castle of the second . W . Thornton , in his " Description and snrvey of London and Westminster" ( 1784 ) says : " The present Company act under the incorporation granted by letters paten * , of the 29 th , Charles II ( 17 th September 1677 ) . —Keystone .

We wonder if any one of the many tales related to show the potency of the Masonic sign or grip to save from imminent peril has j « iy claim to authenticity . Whether we havo faith or not in their "eing founded on fact , is of little moment , but it would be well to be assured . Here follows tho latest yarn of a rescue in the deadlv reach

: —In the Crimean War , during the assault on the Redan , an ^ "ghah Officer led a small party of soldiers np to one of tbe gnus placed in a recess of that fortified position , and most of the men fell j ' , . ° fcnB tremendous fire with which thoy were received . Tho '" ghsh Officer was about } to be bayoneted , when he managed to Sot hold of

the hand of a Russian Officer just in the nick of time , aud BfTf 1 > r 9 aence of min < i enough to give him the Masonic grip . " The dut t !' snblime ; the bayonet was spell-bound , and failed to do its » " /'•, brothers , Russian and English , retiring to tho rear , fer ' ' ^ j caae of one , the congratulations were both siucere and tha i t a ' ? 8 thought that Masonio privileges were not allowed e ciitrce to Russian Iwrilory . —South Australian Freemason .

Gleanings.

The Grand Lodgo of the Republic of Pern was fonuded in 1882 , and has now 26 Lodges under its jurisdiction ; out of this number Lima , the capital , has nine . <; Your husband , " said the caller , sympathisingly , " was a man of many excellent qualities . " " Yes , " sighed the widow , " he was a good man . Everybody says so . I wasn't much acquainted with him myself . He belonged to six Lodges . "

The question whether our National Bard was Poet-Laureate of an Edinburgh Lodge of Freemasons—Canongato Kilwinning ( No . 2)—is discussed in a correspondence whioh has been printed by H . and T . Pillans and Wilson , Edinburgh , for private circulation . It scorns that the members of that Lodge , and , indeed , the Lodge itself ,

in its corporate oharacter , have " from time to time , over a lengthened period , represented that Burns was elected and installed into office as Poet-Laureate of that Lodge , " and that this " event" ia truly ponrtrayed in a large painting whioh hanga in the Board-room of tho Grand Lodge of Scotland . Mr . James Marshall , solicitor , a Past

Master of the Lodge , wrote an octavo volume in whioh he gave a detailed account of the election and installation . Mr . Allan Mackenzie , also a Past Master , published a history of the Lodge a few years ago , in whioh he deolared that the offioe of Laureate had been held by the poet . These things are , however , challenged by Mr . W . Officer , S . G . S .,

P . M . of another Lodge—the Lodge of Edinburgh ( Mary a Chapel ) , No . 1—who wrote to a Masonio journal maintaining that Bnrns ' s eonnection with No . 2 hod not been long , olose , and continuous , and that tbe statement of his installation was founded on inferences mostly assumed from alleged facts . Several replies and rejoinders were

made by these Past Masters , and then Bro . D . Murray Lyon , Grand Secretary and historian of Scottish Freemasonry , wrote that , beyond being assumed a member , Burns had no connection with the Lodge ; that the interesting story of the inauguration had been concocted about 1845 to supply . Mr . Steuart Watson with a subject for a

beautiful picture ; and that statements made to him by members of No . 2 when he was writing his history have , on subsequent investiga . tion , turned oat to have no foundation in fact . Finally , he quoted the minute of the Lodge dated 1 st Marohl 787 , the basis of the whole story , and it simply records the entering , passing , and raising of

several members , and then bears : — " No other business being before the meeting , the Lodge adjourned . " There is thus one Masonio illusion the less ; bnt , perhaps , as Masonry is based on truth eternal , every trne Mason will be glad to know that a pleasing , poetic fraud has been dissipated . —Glasgow Evening Times .

There are in India several Parses Lodges nnder English and Scottish Constitutions . There is also one Mohammedan Lodge under the Scotch Constitution , and a Hindoo Lodgo under the English Constitution . A man must be excessively stupid , as well as uncharitable , who believes there is no virtue but on hiB own side .

THE SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY . —From the symbolism of Masonry has come forth a most practical power and a beautiful influence . As the marble statues of Greece , leaving their niches in the temple of fame , have moved through ages , scattering from their hands ideals of beauty and grandeur , suggestions for the highest

art , so the genius of Masonry , moving from its shrine , has passed through the generations , the thoughts , the activities of man , casting from her generous hand moral beauty , ministries of charity , inspiration for trnest brotherhood . For Masonry rises np among tho most magnificent and precious of human institutions . The spirit whioh

informs it is kindness . Love , finding in it a true fulfilment , sends forth a charity like that which fell from the lips and hand of the Holiest of All . Its work is witnessed as the expresnion of the act grandly human , yet divinely beautiful . In the bread ! given to the hungry , in the cup of cold water to the parched and t ' evered lip , in the sick tended through days of weariness and nightei of unrest , in

the wants of the needy supplied , in the dead reverentially sepulohred . And for its work thero shall be a higher witness still when all of the members of the Order shall stand to receive the consecration which makes them immortal . I was hungry and ye fed me ; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink ; naked and ye clothed me ; sick and ye came unto me . —Rev . Bro . J . B . Murray .

WITHIN DUE BOUNDS . —We are about entering upon a political contest that will culminate next November . Before wo get into it and lose our patience and perhaps onr heads , it is well to stop and think of our duties to one another as brothers . It is one of the grandest features of our organization , that no political disoussions or

controversies can ever enter our Lodge rooms ,. Republicans , Democrats , Mugwumps , and Prohibitionists are membera of the same Lodge , and we know one another to be good , safe , patriotic citizens on the whole , however sharply they may differ on pufcilic policies that are generally misnndorstood even by those who profess to advocate

them , and not rarely purposely misrepresented . What is suoh a good feature in the Lodge room is equally good outside . Even when differing widely , always treat one another fairly . Never sipeak of a brother behind his back what yon would not say to his face . We wonld not , if we could , have all think alike or think as we do , but we

can be true brothers all the same . This part and teaohing of Masonry is as good out of the Lodge aa in . We violate no obligation and keep the spirit of all by gentlemanly and generous speech and deportment . Remember , further , that false and malicious statements about , a brother who happens to think differently from you injures

yourself moro than him . Not only is honesty the best policy , but so is geucrons charity . Envy and malice pucker np the soul in which they find entertainment . Try to remember how good you felt when you were conacious of having done a noble thing , aud try to feel the way nil tho timo . —Montana Lodge Record .

It ia themissiou of Freemasonry to bridge over and heal differouooa existing between tho various creeds , in order to unite tho . ie in a bond of common brotherhood who othorvviso would have remained at perpetual diatanco from one anothor .