Prospective Arrangements And The So-Called Masonic Recess.

PROSPECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND THE SO-CALLED MASONIC RECESS .

17 WEBY now and again we arc told that the quiet -J time for Freemasonry is coming on , but we never seem to be able to realise what this statement means , more particularly when we examine it under

the light the present system of our Institution has to be regarded from . True , we are prepared to admit that a great number of our Lodges in the months of March and Anril are in the habit of adiourninsr over

J . if < j the summer months , and unless for emergent matters will not transact any business till October or thereabouts , but , on the other hand , there are the suburban and out-of-town Lodges , which find so much favour

with some of our London brethren , who like to assimilate to tho Masonic functions tho charm of sweet flowers aud fresh-mown hay . It is to this cause also we may attribute the desire so many display to associate themselves with more than

one Lodge . Then , again , we must not overlook the summer outings , which many of our lady friends have learned to look upon as a necessity , and which , if they can exert any influence , must not be overlooked by their devoted husbands or sweethearts . Another feature that must not be forgotten is that the

several Provincial Grand Lodges have to hold their Annual Meetings , and when we take these factors for providing Masonic work into consideration we at once come to tho conclusion that the recess will give us but little time for relaxation . Let us consider what our immediate Prospective

Arrangements provide us with . AVe enter on tho month of April to-day , and next week may be said to present no especial feature of interest to the Masonic enthusiast . In previous years we have known arrangements made for working the Fifteen Sections during a journey by boat , but the season is not

sufficiently advanced for any such display of enthusiasm at this Easter Tide , and the Brother who feels he must have his modicum of this sort of thing must look up the few Lodges of Instruction where meetings are held with regularity , holiday season notwithstanding . Well , if we have nothing special for next

week we shall have the Quarterly Courts- of the two Scholastic Institutions the week after , and these events will lend their share of excitement , and produce some considerable amount of fluttering in the Masonic dove cots . In this same month of April we shall have the meeting

of United Grand Lodge , when the Grand Officers for the year will be appointed and invested , and tho Grand Festival celebrated . May will bring us to the Festival of the Boyal Masonic Institution . for Girls , and this gathering will entail such subsidiary matters

as the Stewards' visit to the School , the Distribution of Prizes and Speech Day gathering , all of which events contain features of interest to the brotherhood . And their in this same month of May we shall have the

Prospective Arrangements And The So-Called Masonic Recess.

Annual Meeting of the Boyal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and the Fdection for Candidates to supply the vacancies created during the past year . And now when we come to look at what is before us we cannot but feel that as yet the Masonic recess

will not give us much leisure . So mote it be ! Wo are working in a good cause , and we trust all who take part in the work will do so with the full intent and purpose to uphold our true principles , —Brotherly Love , Belief and Truth .

Masonry's Origin And Beauty.

MASONRY'S ORIGIN AND BEAUTY .

fBlHE origin of Masonry is lost far back in an nn-historic JL acre . History does nob throw a very certain light upon it till we find it already an old and time-honoured institution , receiving the patronage and reverence of tho noblest and civatesfc men . But it matters little whether

we can trace the institution directly to lfc-i source or not . It matters little whether or nob we know what men first assembled in its name , or under what sk y its canopy wug spread , and its pillars erected . One thing wo know , that whether its devotees first assembled on the plains of

Mesopotamia or on tho summit of Mount Moriah , it was tbe love of what was beautiful in silence , noble in morality , and divino in religion , that drew them together and united their hearts in tho sympathy of a common brotherhood .

It was because men loved truth , virtue and fraternity , that they loved Masonry ; and it is so to-day , and will be for ever . No man who is nob devoted with all his heart to these principles is a true lover or Masonry , or a true Mason .

It is probable that the institution of Masonry was not of a sudden or rapid growth . lb was developed with tho development of the human mind , and grew up with the religious aspirations of tho soul . It embodies truths that it took men ages to learn , and other ages still to appreciate

and apply . By Masonry I do not mean the secret words , tokens , and steps , nor the mere machinery of the Lodgeroom , but the great truths and principles that it inculcates . Such an institution must have been of slow development the work of ages . Long were tho materials in preparation

in different lauds , perfected by the master hands of the skilful , tho wise , the learned , and the good . Hero a truth of philosophy was wrought out by some thoughtful sage . Far away , under another sky , a whole nation was learning the truths of religion , by a long experience and from tho

lips of prophets , poets and holy men . Finally , from the best thinking and best living of ages , were collected the principles , precepts , and truths , which were embodied in Speculative Masonry . Its pillars of Wisdom , Strength and Beauty were wrought out of the severe experience of a

thousand years . Its precious jewels were the treasnres that mankind had dug from the mines of truth after age 3 of groping and toil ; and when the time came for the wise

Master to rear the graud edifice of Masonry , he had all tho materials ready at hand ; and like the great Jewish temple on Mount Moriah , whose prototypo it was , the mighty temple of Masonry rose in symbolic silence and order . " No workman ' s steel , no ponderous axea rung , Like some tall palm tte noiseless fabrio sprang . "