Not For Naught.

towards each other , and displace the distrust and fear which seem our normal state , with frank and open confidence , born of our knowledge of the mutual compact , and that we all must follow these same rules , we honour our

profession , and extend its power and influence in the great practical world without , where the good or evil of every act or thought is judged most by its present effect and relation to the passing moment .

We extend onr individual range of action , and accept within its limits , with safest trust , the tried and worthy members of onr Order , in multitudes so numerous that life

were all too short to test them for ourselves ; and so our world grows broader , and more full of safe delights that well reward the honest zeal and toil in man ' s behalf .

The better we have learned these lessons , the more respect and kind regard may those without have for us in the Order , and while we rate the worldly , manly virtues as less than many truths we are taught and strive to practise , may

we not claim that we have in this respect deserved of those by whom these virtues best are seen and most esteemed , that meed of praise which throngs our halls with eager applicants ?

The social law seeks to enforce an honest conduct , and an upright dealing , by force of interest , the power of restitution , and public and disgraceful punishment , and yet ,

with all its force and power , the mutual compact may exceed it all , and , as a mighty lever , move the conscience to highest justice or self-sacrifice—and this without the power to enforce one simple element of all our teaching .

We do not recognize the disturbances of business life within our lines of discipline , and yet , who of us cannot remember many instances within his observation , where our rules of faith and conduct have proved more weighty

arguments for right and truth than force or law ? And if we can attain that hi gh plane of morality in life where right and truth never need be sought for by compulsion , with what respect we may regard ourselves , as worthy

members ( if we may be ) of an Order , whose precepts followed , lead us up to common brotherhood with all the just . Yet while we may aspire to live exactly by the rnle and precept of our law , 'tis still a task so difficult that there be

few who may not from their fellows crave that mercy for their faults , thafc , seasoning justice , seemeth like an attribute of God Himself . And , after all , the present life , which , like a bubble on the stream , shrinks at the grasp , is all too

small to limit to itself the teachings of onr Order . It teaches trust in God—that God whom we , as Masons , reverence and serve—just , yet all merciful—infinite in power and wisdom , yet who troubleth Himself concerning the needs atfd wants of the least of us his creatures .

The wandering thought , uncertain where to rest in the great problem of the life eternal , has led to many a vain aud profitless belief . The evidence of sense is claimed by some to be the proper limit of belief—that death ends all ,

and over all there is no power of good or evil—that it is folly to discuss that which we cannot feel or see . Again we ' re told 'twere best to think that life is all sufficient in itself—that there is some vague potency which makes

all matter self-existent—that within this life we have our motives and rewards , and need not look beyond . And then , 'tis said , that there is nothing good or evil—that all tbe wondrous universe is an illusion—that heart and conscience

are but idle fancies—that all are made to mourn—and on the stream of life there ' s naught but sorrow and uncertainty—that joy and pleasure are but delusions dogged by pain— that what is good is only seeming good , and that the

best of all is not to be . And while there never was a time when the life beyond this life was nofc believed by most , there never yet has come to the world such evidence of that life as has satisfied all doubts . And so there is the

endless speculation which has disturbed , and will disturb , the doubting mind , and creeds will change , and heavens be new—created to please the duller sense—ancl laws and rules be made to guide the anxious soul to heaven of its own choosing .

There are to us all things unattainable , though sou ght for with most earnest zeal and fond desire . As we are told that sweetest sounds may throng the air , bufc all above limit of our dull ears , however much we strive to listen , so there

are truths thafc are beyond oar sense , and our reason is but wearied in the attempt to grasp and hold what is beyond . But the Mason ' s God has handed down , in human words , our rule and guide to faith , and trust , and hope , and in all the storms of doubt and unbelief the Bible is fche anchor of

fche soul , most sure aud stedfasfc , and , in the light of faith .

Not For Naught.

we ever pray to the Supreme Architect , knowing that He who is the giver of all good , has not implanted in our breasts the ardent desire for a life which cannot be—that He who has so wisely planned the universe of suns and

stars , and worlds within our sight , but from which we are shut out by every other sense—who did from chaos arrange this world of ours , so wise in its design , with all its varied parts so cunningly contrived , ancl wrought with such

fcranscendant skill that all the generations of mankind have but taught us how impossible it is for us to know ancl understand it all—who wrought into being the wonderful

organism of man himself , more wonderful than we can ever know , and set the mind in operation—the reason over will , subtle , elusive , always beyond our grasp—has not performed this wondrous work for naught .

And while we are shut out from sight of all thab is beyond , and cannot see the Great Artificer hidden above our earthly sense , we know that He who planned it all below has planned it all above—that He who handed down

the tablets of His law of righteous life and being has , through His chosen messengers , revealed to us the answers to those questions ringing throngh the ages , Whence am I —whither shall I go ? If a man die , shall he yet live ?

And we rest on His great mercy , carrying out the work He has prepared for us to do , according to the teachings of our Order , relying on His word—listening not to the vague , uncertain doubts that seek to disturb our firm belief , to

take away the groundwork of our hope—knowing that while we labour in His Temple here , we but fit ourselves as living stones for that great Temple , not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . —Voice of Masonry .

Necessity Of Libraries.

NECESSITY OF LIBRARIES .

MASONRY has ever been a patron of knowledge , and has deemed it not only a duty , but a privilege , to foster the liberal arts and sciences ; and , as the handmaid of the DIVINE TEACHER , has ever taught men to believe in the immortal doctrine of the " FATHERHOOD OP GOD AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN . " We claim that our Order is

" ancient and honourable ; " and if we are proud of its past history , it certainly behoves its votaries to make use of all honourable means attainable to make sure that our Society , which has stood the test of time , shall move forward in the

future in all things which tend to the improvement and advancement of our brotherhood . The history of Masonry proves that its votaries have ever been the promoters of progress ancl improvement , and that the human race has

received and derived great benefit from the existence of our Order . No organization which history records can lay claim to preserve the rights of the individual as does our Institution . As the roots of a thrifty tree stretch out into

the earth as widely as do its branches into the air , and so come into relation with their surroundings , so does Masonry interlace with , and take its form and pressure , its growth and bent , from contemporaneous matters . The need of

Masonic books to obtain a comprehensive knowledge of the origin and progress pertaining fco our Institution , and to learn of its growth and development , make apparent the necessity for the collection of Grand Lodge Libraries , thafc members of our Order can look into the medium of the

printed page , which the authors and writers of the pasfc and present , making history , leave to the Fraternity for each generation .

" That place that does Contain my books , the best companion is , To me a glorious conrt , where hourly I

Converse with the old sages and philosophers . " Although our ritual has been transmitted orall y through many centuries , yet , to the student , Masonry , as a science , aud its early history , can only be imparted and transmitted

through the books of our libraries . Unless it be the State or National libraries , which are supported by liberal appropriations , the students of specialities and reference look to the valuable libraries of Institutions specially devoted to

the consideration subjects in which they are in quest of information and directly interested . To the enlig htened Mason knowledge is of the first importance . A library , such as this Grand Lodge possesses , embodying the hig hest

theoretical and practical principles of our Order , which can be said to constitute the existence of Masonic literature and its science , should be preserved and fostered for all time , and made a source of value to the Fraternity . —Merman Q . Carter , Grand Lodge Librarian , New York .