Masonry In America.

Com . ; Charles M . Furman , Charleston , S . C ., Lieut . G-. Com . ; Albert G . Mackey , JLf . Z > ., Charleston , S . C ., Sec . Gcnl . H . E . ; Achillc Le Prince , Charleston , S . C ., Treas . Gcnl . H . E . ; Charles Scott , Memphis Tennessee , G . Minister of State ; Claude Samory , New Orleans , Louisiana , G . Hospitaller ; William S . Rockwell , Sarannah , Georgia , G . Marshal ; Frederick Webber , Louisville , Kentucky , G . Standard Bearer ; Azariah T . C . Pearson , St . Paul ' s , Minesota , G . Capt . of Guards ; Charles Laffbn dc Ladebat , New Orleans , La ., G . Master of Ceremonies ; G . A . Schwartzman , Washington City , D . C ., G . Tyler .

THE SOllEOAV LODGE . The Lodge must be opened in the third degree of the Antient and Accepted Eite . All the furniture , jewels , altar , pedestal , & c , are covered ivith black , candlesticks draped in black , candles of same colour . In the east is the standard of the Supreme Council . When the ceremony is to be performed in public , the Lodge is of course called off .

On the occasion before referred to , the ceremonies , as I said , were performed in 111 . and Rev . Bro . W . D . Ilaly ' s church . In the east , the altar took the place of the pulpit , in which presided that warm and true hearted Mason , Dr . A . G . Mackey , as V . M . ; the two Wardens in the west , Bros . Charles Scott and Hillyer , and their deacons , Bros . L . E . Barborn aud A . T . C . Pearson , all Present or Past Grand Masters—a rare siht indeed—all the

g officers of the Sorrow Lodge , P . G . Ms ., and 88 ° . In front of the Venerable Master was a coffin covered with a black pall , its head to the east ; on it an apron of lambskin , a pair of white gloves , the collar of a Sov . G . Ins . Gen . 33 ° , a sword with a black scabbard and belt , the lesser lights were placed in a properjmanner round the coffin ; when all was ready , the ceremonies commenced as folloivs : —

Yen . Master . " What man is he that liveth aud shall not see death ? Shall he deliver his soul from the hands of the grave ? Response . " Man walketh in a vain shadow . He heapeth up riches , and cannot tell who shall gather them . Ven . Master . " Man that is born of woman is of few days , and full of trouble . He cometh forth like a flower , aud is cut down , he fleeth also as a shadow , and continuetli not . Response . " AVhen he dieth he shall carry nothing away . His glory

shall not descend after him . Waked he came into the world , and naked must he return . Ven . Master . " We go hence , wo shall not return , even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death , a land of darkness , as darkness itself , and of the shadow of death , without any order and where tho light is as darkness , [ Here the light in the south is extinguished by the 33 . ] Response . "There the wicked cease from troublingand there the

, weary be at rest . There the prisoners rest together : they hear not tho voice of the oppressor . Tho small and great aro there , and the slave is freed of his burthen , Ven . Master . " What profit hath a man of all his labour which lie takoth under the Sim ? One generation passeth away and another generation cometh , but the earth abideth always . Response . " Man dieth and wasteth ivoth the

away , yea , man g up ghost , aud where is he ? - Ven . Master . " All flesh shall perish together , and man shall turn again unto dust . If a man live many years , and rejoice in them all , yet let him remember the days of darkness for thoy shall be many . All that liveth is vanity .

[ The light in the west is extinguished by the J . D . ] Response . "As the waters fail from the sea , and the Hood decayeth aud drieth up . So man lioth down aud riseth not up till the heavens shall be no more . Ven . Master . " Life is a vapour that appeareth for a little while , and then vanishetli away . All flesh is as grass , aud all the glory of man as the flower of grass . The grass withereth , and the flower thereof falleth away .

Response . " It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting : for that is the end of all men , aud tho living will lay it to his heart . Ven . Master . " AVho knoweth what is good for man iu this life , all the days of his vain life , which he spendoth as a shadow ? For who can toll a man what shall be after him under the sun' ! Man knoweth not his time . As tho fishes that aro taken iu au evil net , and as the birds that aro caught in the snare , so aro tho sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them .

[ The light in the East is extinguished by J . D . ] Response . " The Lord gave , and the Lord hath taken away . Blessed be the name of the Lord ! Ven . Master . " Brethren , 'Tn tlio'inidst of life wo aro in death , and no ono knoweth what a day may bring forth . Wo live but to seo those wo love go away into the silent laud before us . Continually tho arrows of the insatiate archer , passing us by , smite the bosoms of our friends and brethren , teaching us the impvossive lesson— -constantly repeated , yet soon forgotten—that everyone of us must before long yield up our body

Masonry In America.

to be tho inheritance of worms , in a house of darkness and dishonour . Death and the dead are ever with us , teaching us tho uncertainty and brevity of human life , and tho instability of human fortune ; and demanding of us the performance of the last sad offices of charity and brotherhood . Death hath sometime since entered our council , and called from his labours there our J . W . Bro . John Anthony Quitman , the jurist , soldier , statesman , wise and accomplished Mason ; and now wcobeying the demands of duty , pay these last honours to his

, memory . " The following anthem , by III . Bro . Pike , ivas then sung by the church choir , with organ : — " Our brother sleeps among tho dead ; His life was rounded true and well ; And cold and green tho turf is spread Above his narrow silent cell .

" Nor paiu , nor grief , nor anxious fear Invades those hounds ; no mortal woes Tho sage and hero come anear , To trouble his serene repose . " His name is graven on the stone That friendship's tears have often wet ; But this great nation ' s heart upon

That name is stamped more deeply yet . " As Hiram slept , the widow ' s son , Even so our brother takes his rest ; His battles fought , his duties done , His name by many thousands blest . " So let him sleep that dreamless sleep , His glories clustering round his head ;

. Be comforted , ye loved , who weep The true , the frank , the fearless dead !" At the conclusion of this anthem , a prayer ( expressly prepared by Bro . Pike for this occasion ) was delivered by the Rev . Chaplain .

Masonry, Operative.

MASONRY , OPERATIVE .

Wu read in Masonic Monitors of speculative Masonry as distinguished from operative . The word " speculative , " as applied to Masonry , is of modern coinage . I confess I shall be glad to see it disused . It always seems to mc to involve the idea of talking much and doing nothing . Masonry is not speculative , but operative . It is work . Good Masonry is to do the work of life . Its natural work is practical life . Its precepts are meant for

practical use . It was not meant for the lazy and luxurious , the indifferent or selfish . To long for the regeneration of the human race , and entertain a philanthropy that embraces the whole world , is very pleasant and very easy . The difficulty is , that when Masonry is no more than that , the field to be cultivated is so extensive , that no other crop is raised in any corner of it than weeds . It is a laudable ambition to wish to be the benefactor of

the world , or at the least of a nation ; but most men can expect to be so only through the influences they can exert within their own limited circle ; and it would be too much to expect your grand philanthropist , with universal humanity for his client , to occupy himself with the pitiful interests of his own neighbourhood , and with the eradication of the evils that grow like poisonous rank weeds around his own door . " The true Mason , on

the contrary , occupies himself with what is near at hand . Right there he finds enough to do . His Masonry is to live a true , honourable , uprig ht , affectionate life , from the motive of a good man . He finds evils enough near him and around him to be corrected ; evils in trade , evils in social life , neighbourhood abuses ; wrongs swarming everywhere , to be righted ; follies crackling everywhere , to Le annihilated . " "Masonry , " it has

been well said , " cannot , iu our age , forsake the broad way of life . She must walk iu the opeu street , appear in the crowded square , and teach men bymcr deeds , her life , more eloquent than any lips . "—Albert Pike .

The Mysteries Of The Great Universe Of God.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE GREAT UNIVERSE OF GOD .

How can we , with our limited mental vision , expect to grasp and comprehend them ? Infinite space , _ stretching out from us every way , without limit ; infinite time , without beginning or end ; and we , hear and now , in the centre of each ; an infinity of suns , the nearest of ivhieh only diminish in size , viewed with the most powerful telescope ; each with its retinue of worlds ; some that ive seem to sec , whose light that now reaches our eyes has been

upon its journey for fifty centuries ; our world spinning upon its axis , and rushing ever in its circuit round the sim ; and it , with the sun and all our special system revolving round some great central point ; and that and suns , stars and worlds evermore