What Masonry Has Been And Is.

ganisation , or the means employed for the accomplishment of its purposes , they proceed from a uniform cause , which is discernible only in the moral nature of man , through which alone we may account for its origin and its preservation . The mind that is divested of prejudice , and possessing the patience and intelligence to consistently study the history of this wonderful society , will

realise an intense desire for knowing more of an institution which has survived through many centuries , being loved and supported by millions of our Brethren under whose loyal devotion it has grown in usefulness as the years have rolled into centuries . There has been much patient research by many eminent scholars and scientists into the mysteries and traditions concerning the origin of this most ancient and honourable society , for the purpose

of discovering the foundation principles upon which its social structure rests . The scientist and the philosopher start from accepted facts and circumstances , as the evidences of that which has been , and work their way into an understanding of the facts of the remotest ages , by the light of indisputable traces of former truths , that lead to others of similar character , resulting from corresponding causes .

The modern evolutionist has joined with these m their endeavour to make the discovery of the first effort producing cause ; but none of these has been able to reveal any other standing ground than upon which Masonry is planted : "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . " Our Masonic career began in the acknowledgment of God , as the only

creative power and administrator of the law that governs the universe , and , while darkness was yet upon the face of the deep , " God said , Let there be light ; and there was light . " Other light hath no man , whereby he may discern either the material or moral universe , than that which was communicated from the only light and life-giving source .

All the knowledge we possess regarding the primitive condition of man , resulting from scientific discovery , or the philosophy of untold ages , cannot dispel the conviction that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth , and by His command the light dispelled the darkness , and man was introduced in His own image , and made the special object of

His merciful care . All Masonic writers agree that Masonry is a moral institution , teaching a spirit of loyalty to God , our country , our neighbour , and ourselves , which is illustrated by symbols that bring the most sublime truths within the scope of our understanding . Our Masonic pilgrimage having begun in satisfactory evidence of belief and trust in a Supreme Being , and

of a future state of existence , its rites and ceremonies would necessarily be of such a nature as to dispel the ignorance and doubt besetting every footstep , in our endeavour to attain to a knowledge of Divine Truth , and the mysteries that lie beyond our present state . Its greatest mission is the promotion of a

knowledge of a Supreme law , and the practice of obedience thereto . Its only creed is trusting in Goa , and doing His will toward our fellow men . Whatever , changes in its ritualistic forms or ceremonies may have been made , does not change these fundamental facts .

It is comparatively easy to account for certain conditions of the present and their relation to the earliest utterances to which we ascribe the dignity and majesty of Divine law ; but it is not so easy to link them together by an unbroken chain of events and circumstances of which authentic record has been preserved . The evidences that mark the progress of mankind through past

centuries , in either a material or moral advance , are to the scientific observer as beacon lights to the storm-tossed mariner . He never ignores any of the established signals erected along the pathways of the navigable deep ; by these he guides his onward course , patiently watching through calm or storm , until an

entrance to the harbour of his destination is reached . Notwithstanding our modern scientific and literary attainments , there is no epoch in recent history so accurately recorded by consecutive events and circumstances as to preclude the necessity of a liberal exercise of credulity to supply the fact that there was a continuity of influences culminating in final results .

From these preliminary considerations we may proceed , without any strain upon the imagination , to connect all that is vital in Masonry of to-day , with the earliest enunciated law which it is doing so much to impress upon the minds of men . Among the earliest recorded incidents illustrating the origin and spirit of fraternity in our society , we find the address of Abraham

to his nephew , Lot : " Let there be no strife , I pray thee , between me and thee , and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen , for we be Brethren . " This interpretation of the principle of Brotherhood as a fundamental condition through which peace on the earth becomes attainable , stands second only to that

of fatherhood , with which our subject began . A practice of this noble precept is one of the most important Masonic duties , and if , by reason of circumstances , we can have peace only by turning to the right hand , or to the left , we are assured the whole is before us for occupancy . Following the history of our ancient Brethren , until the reign

What Masonry Has Been And Is.

of Moses , we witness the lights and shadows of their joys or sorrows , until- we almost become participants in the joy of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt , to begin their journey toward the promised land . But they became despondent and disobedient toward their leader , and trusted not in the Lord for a fulfilment of His promises . Although they were the special objects of

Omnipotent care , they disregarded the councils of their Great Deliverer , for which He called His servant Moses to prepare them for the trumpet tones that should announce the coming of law , for the government of man in his relations to God , and fellowship with men . The grand and awe-inspiring description of the ascent of Moses to meet the Governor of the Universe

upon the glory-crowned summit of Mount Sinai , is none too thrilling a picture of an event that gave to the world those engraven tables of the law , that should stand as the governing statute of His people forever : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and thy neighbour as thyself . Thou shalt have no other gods before me . Thou shalt neither covet nor do violence to that which is thy neighbour ' s . "

Continuing on to the reign of David , we hear the psalmist bewailing the sinfulness of his people , and repeatedly exclaiming , * ' In Thee , O Lord , do I put my trust ! " for which he makes known his reason when he exclaims , " the statutes of the Lord are right . " His son and successor enters upon the discharge of a duty long conceived and cherished , of erecting an earthly temple

wherein God might dwell , and His name be glorified by his people forever . He was grandly supported by the King of Tyre , who also sent Hiram the Tyrian , a member of a society of artificers , who became the chief architect and organiser of that stupendous enterprise . It is presumed by many that the fraternity of Freemasons dates no farther back in the history of

the world than the time of the building of the temple ; which we will admit , only so far as organisation and the adoption of rules for its government are concerned . That proposition may be correct , in the same degree only that it would be correct to say that the spirit of civil and religious liberty had its birth at the time of promulgating the Declaration of Independence . of our own great American Eepublic .

From the period of seven years devoted to this enterprise , Masonry appropriates the attendant circumstances and incidents to impress upon the mind the beauty of a system of organisation and moral instruction , which has come down to us through subsequent ages , unallied to any of the sectarian creeds or forms of political philosophy that obtained prestige or power at any

time in succeeding centuries . The perfect preparation in the forest , or in the quarry , of all material for the temple , so that no jarring sound was heard in its construction , becomes to Masons a most beautiful symbol of a life prepared and finished on earth , in obedience to the designs of a Supreme Architect , for place in that temple not made with hands . The writings of Josephus ,

the Jewish historian , afford us a most interesting description of that period of ancient history , from which we have chosen a few signal lights to illustrate the origin and course of Masonry . He is corroborative of Scripture , and minute in his narration of the influences culminating in the joy , or distress , of our ancient

Brethren . Passing over a few centuries , we witness the destruction of this temple , the captivity of our ancient Brethren , and their overwhelming suffering and sorrow for their disregard of Divine law , until our hearts are moved in contemplation of their distress , as they hung their harps upon the willows and sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept .

But a brighter page in their history is written at the expiration of their captivity , from which we learn of the matchless diplomacy of Zerubbabel , in gaining an audience with Darius the King , and , by an unanswerable argument in defence of the

truth , which was from the beginning , is now and shall continue unchangeable and everlasting , secured the King ' s commission for the rebuilding of their city and temple , and the liberation of all his people . ( To be continued . )

A narrow minded man is out of place in a Masonic Lodge . There mast be some breadth of thought and ideas in the true Mason . He should have magnanimity and generosity of feeling . He should have respect for the opinion of other people . The teachings of Freemasonry , by word and symbol , are very poorly

illustrated by those Craftsmen who are full of prejudices , and who would like to force their Brethren to follow their wishes in all matters . Freemasonry bears the stamp of tolerance and

liberality , and its best representatives are those Brethren who do not cherish resentments , who take broad views of all subjects , and who can walk and work with their Brethren of different religious creeds and political opinions . — " Illinois Freemason . "

The installation meeting of the Eccentric Lodge , No . 2488 , will be held at the Criterion , on Friday , 2 nd prox ., the proceedings commencing at 5 p . m ., to be followed by a banquet at 6-30 .