Freemasonry And Christianity.

brethren of the "Craft . " There are those who accord to this ancient institution powers and functions never claimed by tho Order , nor demanded as its own by any worthy and accepted teacher of its truths . I refer to tho statement often made by

brethren , that Masonry is a good enough religion for them , that if a man lives up to the teachings of this noble Order he need fear naught for the future . My brethren , what salvation does Masonry offer you ? Does it hold up a Saviour able to save from sin and death ? Has ib

discovered a law that can give life ? Has it consolation for your sorrows , pardon for your sins , grace for your weakness in the struggles and conflicts of life ? It does , indeed , hold up before us a torch of Hope lit in the blazing Sua of Righteousness , a faith resting on tho sure foundation of

God ' s Holy Word , and a love inculcated by the religion of Christ , all of which abide for ever , but thtso are as guides and encouragements on tho journey of life , for which is not claimed any power to save , Masonry iuculcates the true principles of morality , and that man who should live

according to these pure precepts would be noble and upright among men , but who would thereby have no assurance of salvation . Salvation cometh of God—it is the Father ' s gift to man . It is apprehended by faith in Christ ,

whoso name is that alone given among men whereby they must be saved . I have noticed , however , my brethren , that the best , most active , consistent and devoted Masons are those who aro likewise devout and earnest Christians .

In this Order are set forth the principles of Operative Masonry as applied to tho rearing and adornment of oharacter . I know not whether St . Paul was a Mason or not , but of this I am sure , ho recognised tho value of those principles of architecture as illustrative of tho upbuilding

of that temple of tho soul , not made with hands eternal iu the heavens . I would , in conclusion , draw out and present some of those lessons of life which in architecture wo read man ' s progress , and aro made to reflect upon tho greatness

of human endowments . Man is revealed in art , but is greater than his achievements . Whon we look upon some magnificent pile , reared by human skill , the product of human art , we find ourselves bowinor in reverence to tho

personality behind it , to the exalted soul in which it lived and breathed , a spiritual thing before ib stood forth , in all its grand proportions , to bo seen of men . At the edgo of tho dreary sands of the quiet desert

stands the Great Pyramid guarded by the mysterious Sphynx , so calm , so eternal in its solitude , seemingly as true a part of the solid earth as mountains towering upward from its bosom . This is the largest architectural achievement of tho race .

Coming down the grand highway of timo from the distance age in which that " miraclo of stone" was achieved , we trace the onward march of the race iu the development of architecture . Pelasgian , Doric , Ionic , Corinthian , Tuscan , Roman and Composite , are so many

studies along tho world ' s advance . Tho marvellous cities of Babylon and Nineveh , the temple of Solomon , with all its mystic Masonic lore , the magnificent fane at Epbcsus , dedicated to the goddess Diana , the Parthenon at Athens , the Coloseum and Pantheon at Rome , the Cathedral of St .

Mark at Venice , the great Christian Temple at Cologne , a thousand years in building , tho Palace of Versailles , St . Paul ' s in London and St . Jeter ' s in Rome , mark tho ages that produced them . In these master-pieces we read the growing conception aud expression of man ' s deeper

instincts , realizing more and more fully those dreams both in the inmost recesses of the soul . Man builds these outward forms because within ho builds with tho immortalities and constructs homes and temples out of the materials of the unseen .

Ralph Waldo Emerson , in the " Problem , " gives expression to the profoundest truth , that every line and proportion that entrance the beholder in Assyrian hall or Egyptian pyramid , was native to the human mind , begotten by some silent , soft , yet mighty impulse from the unseen .

For out of thought s interior sphere Those wonders rose to upper air . These noble thoughts of men , the music of their souls , stand in these lasting monuments like petrified harmony

long to endure . Yet the mind of man studying these impressive monuments of human achievements , offctimes realizes that these , be they never BO grand , are but rude representations of those visions of beauty which arise in

the silences of tho interior life . What architect ever realized in his achievements tho dream ho sought to attaiu in the structure ho had reared ? When ho beheld tho vision of what he would achieve , ib was fautless , but when that vision began to take shape , he saw tho

limitations set by the material he must employ , and the imperious laws of matter , which do not prevail in the soul . Only few men can build great and admirable monuments out of tho materials of earth , bub all are architects bnilding in the secret places of tho soul . Few can roar

tho mighty fabrics for time , yet all can build those imperishable abodes of tho soul , which shall adorn for ever the golden streets of the New Jerusalem above . In great moments of men ' s lives they behold the columns and pilasters which they aro placing in their own holy temples of

character , rising one bv one to strengthen and adorn the structure . This work is theirs . By faithful endeavour and holy sacrifice , men endowed with the grace of God arc rearing eternal habitations that shall outlast theso temples of earth , outlast the flood of the years , outlast the rolling earth itself .

The spiritual body or organism which is to be the soul ' s abode in the world to come , it is tho work of our earthly life to rear . That this is so was a more impressive fact to Inigo Jones in his first hours than that ho was to creato a Winchester Cathedral , and thus hand down his name to tho praise of posterity .

It was more vital to the soul of Sir Christopher Wren when he reached the close of his earthly life that he had built its eternal house in heaven , than that he had given to the world and glory of God at Sb . Paul ' s Cathedral . So is it , and so it must be iu tho life of every man , it is not

some mighty achievement in war or peace , it is not a wide stroke of State policy , it is not some lasting and worthy contribution to literature , it is not some valuable discovery of science , it is not some masterpiece in art , or some towering and imposing achievement in architecture , that can

secure to man a permanence of his glory . If you have not built up meanwhile that imperishablo character founded upon the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ , you shall die , and with the mouldering rnit : s of your work , shall pass for ever

from the land of tho living and from the memory of man . This eternal structure rises with every holy act of yours , and every wicked deed you do takes away from its adornment or its strength .

A noble impulse , a generous deed , a holy devotion aud unselfish sacrifice , will raise columns of beauty and stability in this temple of tho soul . " A wicked passion , like a sharp chisel iu unskilful hands will ruin the costly frieze , and cut away tho loftiest column of manhood

with its gleaming edge . " A sin , like a great hammer , may break the soul's faith in power , and crush its peace for ever . Lnsfc and intemperance will bring decay in to all its unseen parts , and silently but surely consume its strength . An evil temper will insert into the unsullied

splendour of a generous life the rotten wood of the swamp , will place above the ascending star of promise the broken pledges through which death looks , and will wreck tho brightest mind in the moment of its greatest hope . Some generous principle quarried from the mountains of God ' s

grace , polished with faithful hands , bearing the marks of an honest and loving hope , will be placed for tho adornment aud strength of tho noblest life . A truth of Christ ' s religion , placed where the greatest strain will come , will settle never an inch , but will bear up through all eternity

the hope or your immortal soul . Thus is every man a builder , on shifting sands of unbelief , on the eternal adamant of faith in Christ , with cowardice or with courage , with doubt or with faith , with selfishness or sacrifice , with the wastes of hell or the wealth of heaven , men must build

that which the fiery ordeal may consume , or that enduring house not made of corruptible things , which shall withstand all the destructive forces of the universe . But ho who builds for eternity " mush take heed , " says St . Paul ;

he must be faithful , ho must be honest , he must love God and his fellow-men , otherwise will he build of " hay , wood or stubble , " and his work will not endure , for fire shall try every man's work of what sorb ib is .

My brethren , let ns remember that this work is onr ? , that every act wo do tends to the upbuilding of the soul ' s eternal abode , or to its destruction . Let us , therefore , take

heed how we build upon the Rock of Ages , that when tho clay shall come , when every man ' s work shall be tried with fire , ours may be found indestructible , and may endure throughout all ages . It may not , my friends , be givon to