Ancient And Accepted Rite.

residing without the liberties of Ipswich should be one half that of resident S . Princes . The names of certain candidates having been given in for perfection at the next meeting , and other business haying been transacted , the M . AV . S . proceeded to appoint his officers for the ensuing year , when the following Ex . and Perfect Princes were invested : 111 . Bro . Emra Holmes , 31 ° , 1 st General ; Ex . Bros . Rev . F . G . Beaumont , High Prelate ; Dr . Mills 2 nd GeneralW . CuckowG . M . ; A . J . Barber

, ; , , Recorder ; G . S . Golding , Treas . ; AV . Warren , Raphael ; W . T . Westgate , D . C . ; P . Cornell , Capt . of the Guards . The Recorder presented a scroll containing the names of tho members of the 31 st , 32 nd , and 33 rd degrees from the Supreme Grand Couucil , which was ordered to be framed and placed in a conspicuous position in the chapter . The third point having been given and the candidates received into the mystic circle , the Sovereign Chapter was closedand the brethren retired to refreshment in

, the banquet hall . After the cloth had been removed some excellent speeches were given by 111 . Bros . Capt . Philips , 33 " , and The Sec . General , S . G . C ., relative to tlie flourishing condition of tlie A . and A . llite , and the attempts of certain ambitious Masons to foist the Rite of Misraim into an equal position , and the wise and fraternal advice of the members of the S . G . C . was received with every mark of respect by the assembled brethrenwho fully appreciated tho honour of

re-, ceiving the gallant and popular Lieut . Grand Commander and his worthy and zealous coadjutor , the Grand Secretary General ; aud a very agreeable evening w ^ spent , enlivened with excellent music by some of the E . and P . Princes . The brethren separated at a late hour .

Light Comes From The East.

LIGHT COMES FROM THE EAST .

An address delivered by Bro . B . P . Poore , before tlie Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia : — Light comes from the East ! Journeying there a quarter of a century ago , when I was a young craftsman , I found legibly inscribed upon stupendous piles of Masonry in the valley of the Nile signs and symbols , the meaning of Avhich I had been

taught , while receiving my three first degrees of Freemasonry , before leaving home . There , sculptured thousands of years ago , yet with their outlines , as fresh as are those of the exterior decorations of this edifice , I saw the all-seeing eye , the mosaic pavement , the blazing star , the square , the circle , the parallel lines , the three vases , the balances , and the other emblems Avell knoAvn to every

member of the fraternity present . Upon the walls of one edifice , which I remembered well , are painted in bright fresco , a representation of the procession Avhich came to dedicate it- —officers , members , and neophytes , with their insignia , prepared for work . Indeed , I believe that all readers of history admit the existence , in ancient Egypt , of a powerful secret association , which embraced the foremost men of the nation

—the men of progress . The rulers were unAvilling to relinquish despotic poAver , find the ignorant feared to assert their rights ; but these enlightened students , concealed by mystery , imparted instruction to all around them . By ingenious hieroglyphics , and by imposing rites , and by curious ceremonials , they explained to men in every station of

life , their duties and responsibilities . This process of mental culture may seem tedious in these advanced days , but their emblems and their organization , and their ceremonials of initiation are eulogized by modern scholars Avho have examined them as displaying a profound knowledge of the human heart and its Avants . There and thus originated the philosophic

and philanthrophic idea which Ave now call Freemasonry . The mysterious vail of Isis contained the cradle of our Order . In Greece I again saAV traces of the working of this sacred ritual , Avhich had been carried there by the Phoenician merchants , who transported the grain raised in the fertile valley of the Nile to more populous but ess fertile lands on the shores of the Mediterranean .

Light Comes From The East.

At Eleusis , as at Thebes , the Masonic visitor now sees well-known signs and symbols , and recognizes the familiar an-angemenfc of the now ruined temple . These Grecian mysteries , we are told by the ablest historical Avriters , Avere solemn and reli gious , and their secrecy was sealed by the most positive obligations ; but the end and the aim of all this Avas to encourage virtue , to

elevate morals , and by the aid of ceremonies to make known the revelations of reason niider the vails of mystery . Some at this distant day may think that this mystery was not then necessary . Evifc the fate of Socrates and of Seneca prove that it was not then safe for human wisdom to take an open and bold course in instructing

mankind . Popular frenzy poisoned the chalice for one of these sages , and tyranny opened the life-veins of the other . The brotherhood made voluntary engagements to exercise generosity , forbearance , and benevolence , such as was not practiced in the community at large in which they lived .

Palestine , the birth-place of the Christian religion , had previously become the chosen home of the mystic order , which there forsook its mythological divinities , and consecrated itself to the true God . The mysteries of Egypt and of Greece were reconstructed , and were

made so practically serviceable in building the Temple of Solomon , that the edifice was reared under the direction of Hiram of Tyre , in all its majestic proportions without the sound of hammer nor axe nor any other tool of iron having been heard . But I respectfully differ from those who date the existence of our Order from the building of our Temple , or Avho believe that

we now perform the Avork there inaugurated . . I have seen on the massiA'e masonry of Solomon ' s edifice the same marks of the craftsmen that I had seen on the masonry of Egypt and Greece ; and I also saw above that work of Solomon , in successive strata , the Avork of Zerubabbel , of Herod the Great , of the Saracen , of the Crusader , of the Turk . The work of Solomon ,

as preserved by us , is the first union of symbolic fraternity Avith the religion of the HebreAvs , the first and the . constant worshippers of the Great'Jehovah , but it Avas not the foundation of Freemasonry , neither is it the entire superstructure . Think not , brethren , that I would detract from the lory of King Solomon , or of Hiram of Tyregood

g , workmen both , Avho merit the respect of every craftsman . And it is well , on such an occasion as this , that Ave , amid the joys of our dedication , should remember the ever-glorious morning Avhen the Great Temple was pronounced finished .

There is not in Masonic History a more interesting chapter than the record of that imposing scene , when a hundred and fifty thousand craftsmen rested from their labours . Brethren Avho for seven"long years had wrought in harmony Avere congregated from the quarries to meet together for the last time . Their long and hallowed labours Avere now ended . Tho glorious

structure , reared by God's OAVII command , and strictly after the outlines placed by his direction on the trestle-board , was now completed . The cap-stone had been brought forth with shoutings and oi-OAvned the inspired work . Then Avas the time , it * ever , the Mystic Order which had done all this Avas to be extended the Avide-Avorld over . The object so long

coveted by the associated craftsmen Avas then to be attained , Freemasonry Avas then and there invested with the attributes of perpetuity , and supplied with passports with Avhich to journey into every land until the archangel ' s trump shall summon her craftsmen before the Grand Architect . Christianity soon sought an alliance with the Mystio Order , and those professed ministers of the Gospel who IIOAV denounce Freemasonry should remember that when