Freemasonry In Mediaeval Germany.

chief architect presided as judge . Close on the spot on which was to be erected the large building they were engaged upon , and which edifice , perhaps , took centuries to construct , a wooden house or Katie was generally built ,

neatly adorned inside , in which the said chief architect , with tho sword of justice in his hand , sat under a canopy and pronounced judgment . This H / 'ilte , or court-house , in Strasburg derived a peculiar importance during the period of tho construction of the Minster . It was soon rewarded

as the most distinguished amongst all in Germany ; its institutions were imitated , and the other court-houses frequently derived counsel and judgments from it . After Strasburg came , in 1681 , under the dominion of Franco ,

all connection between this principal IliiUe and the others of Germany gradually ceased to exist ; and tho consequent disputes which arose between these latter on the subject of

each other ' s claims to superiority were eventually put an end to . n 1731 by an imperial decree , by which all distinctions of privilege between these associations and the common class of architects were abolished . —Architect .

Changeless Freemasonry.

CHANGELESS FREEMASONRY .

WHA T a world this is ! Change is stamped upon everything . Nothing stands still , nothing is to-day what it was yesterday . Night and day are hotly chasing each other , and alternately overtaking and leaving each other in the rear , but gaining

no continuing victory . Time is ringing changes on the hours . Every man is taller when he rises in the morning than when he retired at night . Every

seven years he is physically an entirely different man , and might not know himself were it not for his name . And his tailor sees that the cut of his coat matches the

changeable man . Truly , fashion rules the world , but it , with all else that is sublunary , will have to succumb at last , for the Great Light tells us , " the fashion of this

world passeth away . ' The procession is always moving , and if we do not observe it it is becanse we are a part of it . Change is the fickle god of the profane world—may the Grand Architect of the Universe deliver Freemasons from

the thraldom of its sway ! " Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change ; " let " desultory man " be " studious of change , and pleased with novelty ;" but let Freemasons and Freemasonry be exempt from its

tyrannic power . There is reason for men and things changing , but none for Freemasonry . Men cannot endure as they are , and would not if they could . Who would , or could live for ever with a decaying body and infirm mind ?

How could this earth endure , rent as it is by earthquakes and volcanoes , and worse than rotten afc the core ? Who would perpetually breathe an atmosphere which one day is charged with the leaden moisture of an east wind , another

day with the icy breath of the north wind , and still another with the enervating heat of the south wind ? Who would wage a war for ever with the evil that is around him , ancl in him ? Let the earth spin on its delusive

merry-goround until the end of time , and then we hope for something better . But , mark this , you cannot find on | fchis earth a better human institution than Freemasonry , and you cannot improve it by changing it .

Why cannot Freemasonry be improved ? Because it is a living embodiment of Truth aud Love , and to alter these , in substance or in form , would be to weaken them . The Truth of Freemasonry is the Truth of God—it is Bible

truth . Ifc is neither partial nor sectarian ; it is firm , moral ground , upon which all good men and true can stand . The Love of Freemasonry is that beneficent love of our fellows which has its highest characterisation in the inspired

statement— " God is love . " Now , the symbolic ceremonies of our Fraternity , which teach that Truth and Love should be , as nearly as may be , as changeless as these virtues

themselves . We know there is only one in the universe who can truthfully say , " I change not , " but we know also that which is the best in the world should be the least

subject to change . Let other societies be chameleons , " Borrowing from their neighbour ' s hue His white or black , his green or bine , " but let Free and Accepted Masonry aim to change , even in the smallest matters , as little as possible .

We are aware that Freemasonry has changed in the past . Some changes were inevitable ; for example , when the Craft became speculative as well as operative , and finally purely speculative , and when it was revived from its feeble

Changeless Freemasonry.

condition at the close of the seventeenth and beginning or tho eighteenth centuries . But how often , in various Masonic jurisdictions , have causeless and injudicious chancres been made . How have ritualists and lecturers

and consitutionalists tinkered at Masonry , until it is ra some sense , taken as a whole , a piece of Masonic patchwork . Look at the Masonic quilt which is spread over the world , aud observe how diversified it is .

Here , permit us to say , Pennsylvania Freemasons have just reason to be proud of thoir heritage . By the consent of all who are acquainted with the facts of Masonic history on this American continent , in Great Britain and throughout the world , the " work" of Masonry in Pennsylvania is

purer , simpler and more ancient than in any other Masonic jurisdiction on the globe . During the past century and a quarter it has been as nearly the same as it is possible for the memory of man to maintain it . There has not been here , as elsewhere , the deliberate purpose to change it .

Tho only effort has been to restore , never to alter . We abhor the profanity of the sentiment , " new day , new duty . " There can be but one duty—to uphold the Freemasonry we have received as ive received it , and

deliver it unimpaired to our successors . We acknowledge no fashions in Masonry . The garb in which it came to us is the garb we would perpetuate . We cannot improve it .

" How , now , foolish rheum ! To guild refined gold , to paint the lily To throw a perfume on the violet ,

To smooth the ice , or add another hue Unto the rainbow , or with taper light To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish , Is wasteful and ridiculous excess . " —Keystone .

The Light Behind The Knocker.

THE LIGHT BEHIND THE KNOCKER .

M ANY years ago it was customary , among benevolent institutions , such as Monasteries , Convents , and other asylums that were reared for philanthropic purposes , to have placed upon the largo entrance door a huge knocker , whose unmusical sound might reach the most

remote part of the building , and as the day departed , leaving the night and darkness behind , some kindly hand would place a bright light behind this knocker , apparently a thing of little account , but , like the beacon

on the rocky coast , it guided to safety . The traveller in the storm , wending his way along the deep mountain passes , amid dangers and difficulties , has hailed with joy this messenger of love ; the weary limbs quicken their

pace , and the sinking heart utters a prayer of thanksgiving for this beam of hope ; thus struggling on , afc last he stands on the threshold of comfort ; the kind friends

within know nought of his coming , the door is barred , he knows that in order to enter he must knock , and as he does this the door is opened , ancl if found worthy , he is received and welcomed .

How similar to this plan of ministering to humanity is the Masonic Institution ; the chief desire of those long departed saints was to do good to their fellow men . And this most certainly is the leading purpose of

Freemasonry . The keynote of our institution is brotherly love , and pursuing this comparison further , how beautifully the light of our Craft sheds its rays o ' er plain and mountain ,

and out across the ocean's breadth and depth ; how many strangers and pilgrims , journeying along the paths of life , have felt the silent influence of this mysterious brightness , unable fco discover its sources or meaning , and

at last have been drawn nearer and still nearer , until finally the applicant stands before the door he desires to enter , raises the heavy knocker , sounds the alarm , and from within the bolts are drawn , and if , like the footsore

traveller of old , he is worthy , he is allowed to enter . He treads the inner court ; before him on the sacred altar lies the source of all this radiance , which has drawn him thither . He recognises in it God's Holy Word , he

also conceives that all Masonic thought , teachings and work , can be traced to this silent monitor of our Mystic Brotherhood . What an inspiration is the thought that this great light is the guidance star of many a poor

wanderer , leading him up out of darkness and despair , bringing him at last to this quiet retreat where strife and discord are forgotten , where he becomes a workman in the temple , still guided by the light which burns brightly behind the knocker . Eoyal Craftsman .