A Funeral Lodge.

death , " and the wisest amongst us cannot know "I what a day may bring forth . " AA e live but to see those that we love passing away into the silent land . Think of those brethren who , but a few days since , were among us in all the pride ancl power of life ; bring to your minds the remembrance of

their wisdom , their strength , ancl their beauty ; ancl then reflect that to dust they have come at last . Think of ourselves , thus must we be when the lamp of our brief existence has burned out . Think how soon death for us will be a reality .

Man's life is like a flower which blooms today , and to-morrow is faded , cast aside , and trodden under foot . The most of us , my brethren , are fast approaching , or have already passed the meridian of life . Our sun is setting in the west ; ancl oh ! how

much more swift is the passage of our declining years than when we started upon the journey , and believed , as young men are apt to believe , that the roseate hues of the sun of our existence were alwavs to

be continued . AVben we look back upon the happy days of our childhood , when the dawning intellect first begins to exercise its powers of thought , it seems as but yesterday , and that by a simple effort of the will , we could put aside our manhood

and seek again the loving caresses of a mother , or be hajjpy in the possession of a bauble ; and could we now realize the idea that our last hour had come , our whole earthly life would seem as but the space , of time from yesterday until to-day . Centuries

upon centuries have rolled away behind us ; before us stretches out an eternity of years to come ; and on the narrow boundary between the past and the present flickers the puny taper . we term our life . When we came into the world we knew nought

of what had been before us ; but as we grew up to manhood we learned of the past ; we saw the flowers bloom as they had bloomed for centuries ; we beheld the orbs of day and night pursuing their endless course among the stars , as they had pursued

it from the birth of light ; we learned what uien had thought and said and done , from the beginning of the world to our clay ; but onl y through the eye of faith can we behold . what is to come hereafter , and only through a firm reliance upon the Divine promises can we satisfy the yearnings of an immortal soul , The cradle speaks to us of

remembrance , the coffin of hope , of a blessed trust in a never ending existence beyond the gloomy portals ot the tomb . Let these reflections convince us how vain are all the wranglings and bitterness engendered by the collisions of the world ; how little in

dignity above the puny wranglings of ants over a morsel of food , or for the possession of a square inch of soil . What shall survive us ? Not , let us hope , the petty strifes ancl bickerings , the jealousies and heartburningsthe small triumphs and mean

, advantages we have gained ; but rather the noble thoughts , the words of truth , the works of mercy ancl justice that ennoble ancl light up the existence of every honest man , however humble , and live for good when his bodis mouldering in the dust . For

y this at least man gets by death , that his calamities are not immortal . To bear grief honourably and temperately , and to die willingly and nobly , are the duties of a good man and true Mason .

' - AVhen those we love are snatched away By Death's relentless hand , Our hearts the mournful tribute pay That friendship must demand . " After making an appropriate reference to the departed brethrenBr . Barr closed

, as follows : —While , therefore , Nature will have its way , and our tears will fall upon the graves of our brethren , let us be reminded by the evergreen symbol of our faith in immortal life that the dead are but sleeping , and be comforted by the reflection

that their memories will not be forgotten ; that they will still be loved by those who are soon to follow them ; that in our archives their names are written , ancl that in our hearts there is still a place for them . And sotrusting in the infinite love and

, tender mercy of Him without whose knowledge not even a sparrow falls , let us prepare to meet them where there is no parting , and where with them we shall enjoy eternal rest .

" AVhy lament our brother ' s dying , AVhy indulge in tears and gloom ? Calmly on the Lord relying , He can greet the opening tomb . " Hark ! the golden harps are ringing , Sounds angelic fill the air ; Millions now in Heaven singing Greet his joyful entrance there .