The Masonic Library.

in attempting to give an intelligible acconnt of the traditions of the Fraternity and the doctrinal significance of its imposing symbolism . They have the form , not the substance of Masonry .

And this ignorance is largely owing to the carelessness of our officials and Lodges in providing the means of information . There is no possible excuse for this state of things . In all our large towns and cities it would

not be difficult to find Lodge rooms sumptuously furnished and brilliantly lighted , and the officers decorated in costly jewels , that have not the nucleus of a library . The money that is annually spent in banquets , banners ,

parades and pageantry would be amply sufficient to endow tbe Lodge with a well-selected collection of Masonic books , magazines , and papers . With a little economy and

at a trifling sacrifice , every Lodge , Chapter , Council and Commandery could have a good library and reading room attached to their respective halls .

It is a duty that we owe to the young neophyte we encourage to come among us . He is usually taught that there are immutable signs and phrases that he should learn by heart aud be able to repeat readily , and this

is well , is indispensible . But , if he is of an inquiring turn of mind , he soon finds that these antique phrases and fixed signs are merely the alphabet of Masonry , the cabala that enshrines an occult science and history . He goes

on climbing , through the twilight , the mystic ladder , hoping to find in the strange turretted height and cupola of the ancient temple the hidden glory , but only finds a new vocabulary . He enlists in the army of crusaders ,

starts with pilgrim staff and scrip to the Holy Land , confident that near the sepulchre and place of crucifixion he may find the grand sun-burst of glory , but everywhere he finds ritual and ceremony , pageantry and drill , of

which he soon grows weary . He would penetrate the arcana of mystery , the wondrous symbolism , as explained by Eebold , Folger , Findel and Hughan , or woven into liquid verse by such poets as Rob Morris , but there is no one to

show him the way . He has been , invited to a feast , but the elegant dishes are empty . He asks for bread , and is given a stone ; and this will ever be so as long as we

are unable to lead our Brother into a room adjoining the hall , richly supplied with the treasures of Masonic lore , as interpreted and expounded by our great historians , jurisconsults , poets and thinkers .

And now see how this works . Our young neophyte has threaded his way through the curriculum of degreeism . He has a good memory , and can repeat with parrot-like exactness its ritual and ceremonial . He

is proficient in the work , is elected to a Warden ' s chair , and aspires to fill the Oriental seat of King Solomon . But is he really competent to preside and shape the

character and destiny of a Lodge , because he can confer the Degrees and open and close the Lodge and not trip for a word ? What does he know of the traditions ?

Can he give a good account of our history ? What idea has he of the different rites ? Is it not a lamentable fact that in the great majority of instances these questions would have to be answered in the negative ? And now ,

by virtue of his office , he is entitled to a seat in the Grand Lodge . Is it any wonder he is a wallflower there ? Is it strange that the business of the Craft falls into the hands of a few men , who at the sessions of the Grand Bodies are overwhelmed with work ? Not at all . The hour

from which our novitiate passed the gates of the Temple , he has been familiar with nothing but the showy wardrobe of Masonry , and we repeat again , tbat those who govern the Craft and oversee the workers of the quarries are , in a

measure , responsible for this lamentable ignorance , for not encouraging a taste for reading and enforcing it by precept and example . What can we expect of a Fraternity whose members are absorbed in regalia , parades , the

glory of Templar uniforms , and who think that proficiency in degreeism and ritual is the acme of Masonic knowledge ? who are content to remain in ignorance of its literature , who rarely ever open a Masonic paper or magazine , ancl

are actually ignorant of what is passing in their own jurisdiction , to say nothing of what is transpiring further away from home . This is an evil that should be remedied if we would enlist the appreciation of the talent and

intellect of the age , enliven the usual weary monotony of the Lodge meetings , and remove the slur that Masonry is only another form of club life , a pleasant saturnalia , a plausible excuse to stay out late at night . —San Francisco Masonic Record .

The Masonic New Year.

THE MASONIC NEW YEAR .

IN FIVE ACTS .

THE year of light 5885 opens auspiciously upon the Craft in Pennsylvania , and generally upon the Craft throughout the Masonic world . Fraternal harmony prevails , the eternal principles of the Brotherhood are upheld ,

wise and discreet rulers govern the Masonic bodies , the handful of anti-Masons " hide their diminished heads , " and the outlook for the future is one of which Freemasons may

justly feel proud . We congratulate the readers of THE KEYSTONE upon these facts , and wish them , one and all , a Happy New Tear .

Privileges , be it remembered , however , are always accompanied by corresponding responsibilities . If we would maintain the prosperity of the Craft we must be diligent in the performance of our several Masonic duties . Each one

of us is an ashlar in the Temple , and if one be weak and crumbling , all will be weak together . Let us review this matter a little . Let us see wherein we can , not merely equal , but even improve the past . Let us not criticise

others , but examine ourselves . Each of us owes all that he is in Masonry to the Fraternity that gave him Masonic birth , and as our Alma Mater , the Craft is entitled to

receive both our grateful homage and our fraternal affection—an affection that not merely voices itself in words , but makes itself felt in acts , for the continued glory and prosperity of our ancient and honourable institution .

Act I . —Never miss attendance at your lodge meetings , unless compelled to do so by imperative necessity . Avoid the possibility of getting into the liobii of non-attendance through thoughtlessness . It is extremely easy to glide

into and abide with the large company of absentees . They are a great cloud of witnesses against themselves . They include , sometimes , from fifty to seventy-five per cent , of the membership . Their Masonry is the merest veneering ,

for they are scarcely ever heard of , while living , although upon death very often the Lodge is expected to take charge of their remains , and inter them with Masonic honour . If the first act resolved upon , for this new year , be to

regularly and punctually attend the meetings of your Lodge , and other Masonic bodies , there is promise of a second act , which shall give both pleasure to yourself and profit to the fraternity .

Act II . —Live your Masonry , as well as profess it . Freemasonry is not a cloak , to be put on when you enter the Lodge Room , and taken off again when you return to the outer word . It is to be a constituent part of yourself

wherever you are . Its principles are intended to . permeate your life . A surface Mason is but the parody of a Mason , better suited to be a scarecrow to warn off the profane from Masonry than a Brother who by the purity

of his life naturally invites others to follow in his footsteps . Every bad Mason—who is in truth no Mason at alldeters good men from connecting themselves with the Fraternity . We may not advertise for candidates , but

every faithless Brother is a standing advertisement to warn all the profane against seeking initiation . No verbal eulogy of Freemasonry can cancel the effect of a wasted , wrecked Masonic life .

Act III . —Study Masonry—the entirety of Masonry . First study the work . It requires , and will repay , study . It is not easy of acquisition . Careful , prolonged thought must be given it , so that it shall be embedded in the

memory . Once there , it will remain ; and it is a possession of which any Brother may be proud . It is the portal to a school of philosophy and a system of morality—the introduction to an intellectual arena which calls forth the

noblest powers of the mind . It is the foundation of the Craft , upon which the entire superstructure is raised . But it is not all of Masonry . Springing from it , in airy and beautiful form , are the philosophy , the morality and the

jurisprudence of the Fraternity . These are to be studied , as well as , and in connection with , the work . This pursuit leads the earnest Freemason into the company of the literary lights of the Craft—those gifted Brethren who have

devoted a large part of their lives to an investigation of the origin , the history , and the philosophy of Freemasonry . Once thoroughly imbued with this spirit of investigation , a

new world of pleasure is opened up to the seeker after light . He never looks upon a fine architectural edifice without specially enjoying its symmetry and beauty , and recognising