Masonic Sermon.

nothing in their teaching or work that conflicts " with any duty they owe to God , their country , their neighbour , or themselves . " It is natural for mea to associate together . The beasts roam in herds , the birds wing their way in flocks , and is man to be alone ? No . God planted in his breast desire 3 , sympathies and warm ' feelings . We have the Episcopalian Society , the Presbyterian ,

the Methodist , the Baptist Societies , and I am free to join any of them , and I am not vilified for so doing . Why not the same freedom all along the line ? The artists have their societies , the merchants have their boards of trade , the teachers their associations , and even ministers have their private gatherings . Then why condemn honest , hard working men who gather

together , not for the purpose of rebellion or blasphemy , but for the improvement of mind , the enlarging of heart , the helpfulness of the home . Here the widow i 3 thought of ; here the orphan is planued for ; here the sick are helped in a hundred ways . Personally I have only good things to say of these manhelping societies . They provide for man in this world as the

church does for the world to come . " Well , " but some one asks , " why are these societies wanted at all ? Is the church not doing ? " "Yes , she is . " " Are the ministers not working ?" " Yes , they are , and nobly , too . " And yet after we have done our best there remains much to do . And every society and council that honours God and helps men to be brothers and " works

along the line of benevolences , should be regarded as the handmaid of the church , and there should be no rivalry or contention , but that noble contention of who can best serve and best agree . Apply the measuring rule of Christ , " By their fruits ye shall know them . " Look at a few of them . There is the Odd Fellows ; that noble brotherhood gave in charity last year on this continent

over 3 , 000 , 000 dollars . Then the Masons , our misunderstood and much-maligned Order ( modesty forbids my enumerating our good deeds ); then the United Workmen last year gave 5 , 000 , 000 dollars . The Foresters paid out nearly a million . The Eoyal Templars 44 , 000 dollars , and last , and not least , strictly Protestant orders have paid out their thousands for Brethren in distress . In the face of such facts , do you mean to say that these societies

deserve the unkind , uncharitable , untruthful and un-Christianlike things that are said about them ? I say emphatically No . I am glad the day of priest-rule is gone . ' We are too near the dawning century for the ministry of any church , Papal or Protestant , to dictate to Christian men charitable and conscientious , where they must go , or what they must do . I regard these various societies as the sti-ongest auxiliaries to the Church of God . This is preeminently true of the Masonic Order .

We depend entirely on the " Word of God " as our rule and guide to faith . Masonry dates anterior to Solomon ' s Temple , which event took place about 1 , 000 years before the Christian era . During the construction of the Temple we believe that King Solomon , Hiram , King of Tyre , and Hiram , a widow ' s son , presided as Grand Masters over Lodges , and that there the degrees

were instituted and systems of initiation were invented ; and from that period to the present Masonry has passed down the stream of time in unbroken succession and unaltered form . Every Lodge of Master Masons is a symbol of the Jewish Temple of Solomon . Each Master in the chair is a representative of the Jewish King , and every Mason is a personation of a Jewish

workman . It was King David who first proposed to erect a permanent place of worship for his people . He made many arrangements , aud gathered much material , yet he was not permitted to commence the undertaking , and the execution of the task was committed to his son and successor , Solomon . Accordingly , in the fourth year of his reign ( 1012 B . C . ) , the

ioundation was laid with the assistance of his friend and ally , Hiram , King of Tyre , who sent Hiram , a widow ' s son , and a most skillful workman . For seven and one-half years they laboured , and then it was dedicated to the Most High God with memorable ceremonies ( 1004 B . C . ) . From the upper walls of this glorious edifice on Mt . Moriah could be seen the dark vallev

oi the South ; the broad and fertile valley on the East , with its olive groves and vineyards watered by the brook Kedron ; on the West the King ' s palaces , COUI-DS and gardens ; and on the North the City of Jerusalem . As to the services within the Temple , there was space for 12 , 000 Levites , a choir of 2 , 000 voices , and a chorus of 24 , 000 singers , with an orchestra of 4 , 000 instruments-J-he choir and the orchestra were equally divided on either side

ot the great altar . They rendered the most magnificent music the world has ever heard . The double-throned chamber-room of Jehovah was 200 feet high , and on the roof were golden spikes , points upward , to prevent the birds from alighting . Cedar steps led up to a porch ; on one side was the pillar of Boaz , and ° Q the other the column of Jachin . Two priests ascended these airs

^ each day and lifted the veils of scarlet , blue and purple , a « d passed withiu the holy place and offered sacrifice for the people . From this they returned swinging the censer of incense , sweet-smelling . Behind this holy place hung a heavier , richer veil , covering the entrance to the Holy of Holies , where the outstretched wings of the cherubs guarded the Ark of the

Masonic Sermon.

Covenant and the Merey Seat . Into this saered place the High . Priest entered but once a year , on the day of Atonement . This is still observed by our Hebrew friends iu every clime . The twelve tribes came up from all parts of the land , over 6 , 000 , 000 persons being in and around Jerusalem . From sunset to sunset they had no sleep , nor tasted food or drink . Glad in shrouds as

if apparelled for the grave , they watched through the night . As dawn appeared they aJl arose and entered the gate 3 of the city and ascended Mt . Moriah to the Temple . There was no singing , no music , but silence as of death . King Solomon came , but not in robes of oriental magnificence , nor with crown of jewels , but in a slnoud ., The High Priest , with bare feet , stripped of jewels ,

mitre , pontitieial robes , wore only a linen surplice extending ^ to his feet . He ascended to the Holy of Holies , offered sacrifice , and the immense number of worshippers lay prone upon the floor as if they were dead . But now as he returns—a thrill of joy ran through the assembled Hebrews , as they gazed upon his

radiant garment . The sacrifice had been accepted . The voices of 12 , 000 Levites were lifted in praise , the mighty orchestra and the mammoth choir caught up the refrain of " Bless the Lord . " All catch the spirit , and as the 103 rd Psalm is chanted the assembled thousands join with the singers , and waves of stupendous music reverberate within the Temple .

II . CARDINAL PRINCIPLES .

Brethren , the cardinal principles of Masonry are the theological virtues of Faith , Hope and Love . Faith in God , Hope in Immortality , and Love with all mankind . In my interpretation of Masonry I give love the highest place . As the sun is the centre of the solar system , as the heart is the centre of life , so love is the central , all-conserving and enlifting principle of

our Order . Love will outrun benevolence , it will tarry longer than sympathy . Love will stand at the door and knock and wait with expectant heart and wide open eyes long after sentiment has fallen into a deep sleep . Love is born for adversity , for the storm , the night , the sick chamber , the solitary hour , for poverty and disaster . Love never faileth . Turn to I Cor . xiii .,

and see how the apostle puts it . He says it is greater than oratory . " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love , I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal . " Remember it was to the Greeks that Paul wrote this . How fondly would their memories go back to the palmy days of their history ! Israel would as soon forget the

names of the twelve tribes as the Greeks forget the name of their orators . A rude boy , whose stammering tongue had provoked the mirth of his schoolmates , had gone down to the ocean shore , and filling his mouth with white pebbles , had mastered an eloquence which 3 wayed as by magic an enraptured nation . They called him " Demosthenes , " the strength and power of the people ; and

admiring senators hastened to vote the " silver tongued " a golden crown . In Homer was devoloped the diviuest gift of song ever given to mortal man . From the eternal snows of Thessaly to the smiling valleys of Lydia ; among the echoing rocks of the Peloponnesus , around the thunder-stricken cape of Taurus ; by the fountains of Samos , and the rose-terraced hills of Chios , his

songs had floated like the sweetest summer music on the ears of men , but Homer has gone , and his poems have outlived him nigh a thousand years , but songs , songsters and fame are nothing in comparison with love . Again , Paul tells them that love is greater than knowledge , prophecy and faith . " And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge ,

and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains , & c . The philosophy of Aristotle , Plato and Socrates had brought many a laurel to the temple of Grecian national learning , but all this is nothing compared with the higher and holier acquisition of love . Again he tells them that love is greater than the widest benevolence , and gi-ander than the most heroic sacrifice , even unto

death . " And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though I give my body to be burned , " & o . The patriotic Greek was trained from his sixth year to understand that the highest mission of his life was to become an athlete , that he might in time of war give a splendid body in defence of his country ' s liberty . But this , followed by devotion , even to scourging ,

imprisonment and death by torture or fire , availed nothing without love . Look further at the apostle ' s delineation of this divinesfc grace , and see as you follow every stroke of his master hand , a complete presentation of the principles of Masonry . ( 1 ) Love is patience , " for ic sutfereth long and is kind . " Patience , when trials thicken and friends fall away , and when misunderstandings break the bowl from which we drank together at the spring . ( 2 )

It is contentment , " for it envieth not . " It looks with unjaundiced eye upon another ' s prosperity ; unlooses the tongue of no stinging scandal ; never sandals the foot that it may in an afternoon ' s travel gather fuel to destroy a neighbour ' s character . ( 3 ) It is humility , for "it vaunteth not itself . " There is no patronage in its smile , no condescension in its nod , no recital of self-achievement , and no sculptural lie , above its sleeping clay . ( 4 ) It is good breeding , " doth not behave itself unseemly . " While gracefully