The Holy Land And The Temple.

THE HOLY LAND AND THE TEMPLE .

BY BRO . ROB MORRIS , LL . D .

THE Temple of King Solomon , because it was built on tho top of a high mountain , and of shining marble and glittering gold and brass , was a conspicuous object under tho bright sky of Palestine ; for that country has the purest air of all countries in tho world , and polished stono preserves its smoothness and colourthoro untarnished . As I struck my gavel on the sides of rocks and noticed how clearly

the three mystio knocks reverberated to my ear , I acquired an increased admiration for that little implement whose knock is heard so cheerfully and obeyed so implicitly by Masons . As I wandered among the scenes so often desoribedby our Masonic teachers , I felt that every stone was hallowed , every path that wound throu gh those hills was sacred , for the hands that had marked them

and the feet that had trodden them . Every valley seemed to echo in my ears the so mote it be of Masons' prayers . Tho land that had felt the faithful toil of our ancient Brother gave a grave to him " of whom the world was not worthy , "—that unparalleled Architect whose skill stamped the architectural oharaoter of his age , whose skill is still reoognised in all the great struotures of the earth , for the temple of

Solomon is in many respeots the model of them all . In my descrip . tion of Gebal , the birth-place of the great Architect , I have made many allusions to this . But there need be no argument to convince Masons that the Holy Land waa the homo of all that the world knows of Operative Masonry . That sublime structure , however , with its matchless builders , has

long since disappeared from the face of the earth . It stood 420 years , and then all that mountain of marble , cedar and priceless metals went to dust , or was carried away off by the conqueror . The wood was resolved into smoke and ashes under the fires of Nebuchadnezzar . The Parian marble was oalcined by the heat or broken to pieces by hammers and thrown into the valley of Jehosaphat , by thousands of

tons , until the bed of the Brook Kedron to-day is choked up with it to the depth of fifty-threo feet . If then the Operative Masonry of our Work was all that we have to speak of I only need point yon to the splendid discoveries of Capt . Warren , at Jerusalem , his detection of the underground vaults and cisterns , and marked stones , and mightv foundations , and so close

this paper . But you and I , my brother , are taught that Operative Masonry is but the outward form , the type , the model of speculative Masonry j and that King Solomon ' s Temple , in all its particulars , was the antitype of the grand world-wide system which wo call Freemasonry . The City in which the Temple stood ( known through the world as

Salem the City of Peace ); the Mount on whioh the Temple stood ( honored above all others as the place of trial of Abram ' s faith ) ; the materials , rare and costly , of which the temple was composed ; the three remarkable men who erected it ( the Wise King , under whose auspices it was projected ; the Strong King , who furnished men and

materials ; the King of Artists , without whom , strength and wisdom would have availed nothing ); and then , above all , the brightness of the glory and comeliness of the beauty " of the Temple itself , made it a proper nucleus for a Masonic Brotherhood that , outlasting all buildings made with hands , " has endured and shall endure until time shall be no more .

The very age in whioh Solomon lived was appropriate to give birth to suoh a Fraternity , for , as the poet sings : " There was a great need of social intercourse , Benevolenoe , and Peace and Mutual Aid Between the nations !"

Let us therefore , turn our attention now to IVee-Masonry , or Speculative Masonry in the Holy Land . We must bear in mind , first , that the languages spoken in the Holy Land are altogether different from ours . If , therefore , you visit a Lodge there you will not hear a word that ever you heard before . Even our words are pronounced so differently that you must hear

them repeated several times before your ear recognizes them . In my visit to Smyrna , seven Lodges came together to welcome mo ; but they worked in seven different languages , that is Turkish , Arabic , Armenian , Greek , French , Italian and English . At the present time there are three Lodges in the Holy Land two at Beyrout , about 150 miles west of Jerusalem . At Beyrout ,

the ono works in the Arabio language , the other in French , and both together have about 200 members , soattered , of course , over the country , some of them as far as Bagdad , seven days journey east , t In so small a country , however , as the Holy Land , and with so large a proportion of tho people unfit by education and habit to be Masons , to har » 200 members is a respectable showing in point of

numbers . For the only persons you can constitutionally make Masons there are the Turks , the chiefs and high families of the Arabs , and the foreigners who settle there . For this reason , when you meet a Mason in the Holy Land , you meet a gentleman of good standing , an officer , a man of influence , one who oan counsel you if you ask it , and help you if you need it . This

was my experience , and a very happy experience it was . It is striking to see how many officers of the Turkish Government are Masons ; the Pasha of Gaza , the Governor of Joppa , the Pashas of Nablous of Aon , of Beyrout , of Liban , the Governor of Sidon , the Consuls of the different nations , French , English , Armenian , Italian , and German , the world renowned Abd-el-Kader , and above all Moh . Keschid , the Governor General of that country .

The work done in the Lodges of the Holy Land is substantially the same as ours . Allowing for the different languages , national customs , and forms of religious faith , there is no difference worth speaking of , for the essential principles of Masonry are precisely the same everywhere . The fact that they recognize our diplomas in Europe , Asia , and Africa proves that . They go through substantially tho same ceremonies that wo do .

The Holy Land And The Temple.

In their Lodges you see the emblem of Deity , the Altar , the three stations of the prinoipal officers , the gavels , rods , jewels , pillars and aprons . Their emblems are the same , and they bear the same interpretation . And , best of all , the vital principles and results , that is the four cardinal virtues and three principal tenets , are the same .

Before them on the Altar lies the same open Book that we use , the Hebrew Scriptures , only printed in a different language . In brief , an oriental Mason is a full brother by tho Father ' s sida to an Occidental Mason , and the East join hands with the West in all the Lodges of tho earth . —Keystone .

Red Cross Of C0nstantine.

RED CROSS OF C 0 NSTANTINE .

ON Thursday , the 7 th inst ., an Emergenoy meeting of the Eboraoum Conclave , No . 137 , was held at tho Queen's Hotel , York , for the purpose of installing two candidates . E . Sir Knight T . B . Whyte . headM . P . S . presided , aided by E . Sir Knight Cooper V . E . and M . P . S . elect , and the rest of the Officers . Bros . J . Ward of the York Lodge 236 , and W . H . Wyatt of the Journeymen ' s Lodge , No . 8 ( S . C . ) , were

duly installed and proclaimed . After the closing of the Conolave , the St . Peter Sanotuary and Commandery of St . John were successively opened , and those degrees conferred npon Comps . M . Millington , and W . H . Wyatt . This Conclave is making very good progress , having been in existence only one year , and numbering about five-and-twenty members .

S0c: R0sic: In Scotia.

S 0 C : R 0 SIC : in Scotia .

AT a meeting of this Order , held in Freemasons' Hall , George . street , Edinburgh , on 25 th January 1878 , the following Fratres were appointed the High Council of the Order in Scotland for the ensuing year , viz .:

—Charles Fitzgerald Matier , 9 ° , Supreme Magus . The Right Hon . Lord Inverurie , 9 ° , Sen . Sub . Magus . Harry Y . D . Copland , 9 ° , Jun . Sub . Magus . The Hon . F . J . Moncrieff , 8 ° , Treasurer General . George Dickson , M . D ., 8 ° , Seoretary General . R . S . Brown , 8 ° .

At the same time and place the Metropolitan College was reconstituted , it having been in abeyance for some time past , the following Officers were then eleoted and installed into office : — The Hon . F . J . Moncrieff Primus Adeptus . Geo . Dickson , M . D ., Celebrant .

H . J . Coventry , W . S ., Suffragan . R . S . Brown Septimus . \ J . Webster Sextns . I ? > H . E . Gordon Quintus . I g Geo . Dunlop Quartus . \ 5 '

J . H . Balfour Tertius . [ SW . M . Bryce Secundus . ™ J . Digby Jone 3 Primus . F . L . Law Conductor .

Jas . Crichton Treasurer . Robt . Bryce Secretary . Robt . Davidson Organist . C . Ferin Torch Bearer . F . B . Anderson Herald .

The meetings of tho Metropolitan College wero arranged to be held quarterly . The Obligatory Meeting to bo held in tho month of January annually . The M . C . was thereafter closed in solemn form .

Obituary.

Obituary .

IT is with extreme regret we record tho sudden death of Bro . Frederick Charles Jones , M . D ., who resided at 174 Blackfriars-road . This sad event occnrred on Monday , the 4 th inst . On the preceding day he attended to his arduous professional duties with his acoustomed able promptness and assiduity , and retired to rest without feeling anything more than lassitude and fatigue . During the

nighthow-, ever , alarming symptoms ensued , and Dr . Bianchi , of Stamford-street , was called in , who sought for further aid , which unfortunately proved unavailing , as death supervened . Thus passed away a brother universally respected , esteemed , and beloved , at the early age of threescore years , who wag a ripe scholar , an orator whom few surpassed , a husband , Bon , father , and friend , who has bequeathed " a

good name and blameless reputation which exceed all earthly possessions and honours . There can be no doubt that he overtaxed his energies in a devoted attention to professional and public duties ; in discharging which he exhibited great tact and ability in main , taining tho interest and welfare of the poor , to whom he waa personally a constant friend . The Masonic body has lost in him a brother who had proved himself " a master mason " in the most

comprehensivo appellation of that term , and a large circle of friends have been deprived of one whose society was sought after on all occasions , a gentleman who endeared himself to them by his considerate and courteous conduct . Death indeed came suddenly to him , but found him ready to obey his mandate , inasmuch as his " house was in order and his lamp burning . " "Mark the perfect man , and behold the upright , for the end of that man is peace . "—South London Observer .