Supports Of Masonry.

Every kingdom and every family of nature is overflowing with beauty . Go abroad npon the paths of nature , and when all " Its voiees whisper and all its silent things Are breathimg the deep beauty of the world , Kneel at the simple altar , and the God Who hath the living waters , shall be there . "

On the face of the heavens are painted the unapproachable glories of the rainbow , and the varied and ever varying shadows , forms and colours that mark the rising , the course , and the setting of the sun . No less is this beauty stamped on each one of the one hundred thousand beetles described , than on the vaulted canopy of the sky . The grass of the field which to-day is , and to-morrow is cast into the

oven , is so clothed with beanty that all earthly attempts at rivalry are bnt wretched counterfeits . Even those living beings that repel tbe unthinking who regard them with aversion or terror are the best representative of the ideal of perfection of form and harmony of proportion . Even serpents are of matchless grace and beauty ; they are the living design on the trestle-board of the " line of beauty , " im .

mortalised by painter and sculptor . Their varied blending of colours sparkling in " the sun , their graceful , gliding motion conspire to convert this despised race into a fit subject of the highest admiration Onr Grand Master Solomon , King of Israel , found " four things" in all the world of matter and of mind that " were too wonderful for him : " among them . " The way of a serpent npon a rock . " Had he

possessed the same love of the beantiful in nature which he so sedulously cultivated in art , his wonder wonld have been swallowed up in regard , and his loftiest tribute would have been paid to its peerless symmetry . The clouds and tempests and lightnings have a grandeur of beauty that is felt by all reverent souls , even while they terrify . The rugged

mountains , capped with snow , and their sides clothed with verdure and instinct with life , stand ont against the sky , revealing forms and shadows and and glimpses and beauties that , above any other property , speak the divinity of their Maker . The snow covers the earth ; its whiteness soon dissolves away j bnt every flake , be it ever so small , is the perfection of attractive form , as if moulded , chiseled ,

fashioned and shaped by the hand of a cunning artificer for duration throughout eternity . Birds sing | in the forests , fly in the air , swim in the waters , and they are garnished all over with beauty . The endless variety of form , of motion , of plumage , of colour , attract the dullest sense , make the rude plonghboy halt in hia heated work , and force from him a glad exclamation of pleasure , no less than when

" Forgetful of his toils And dne repose , he loiters to behold The sunshine gleaming as through amber clouds O ' er all the western sky . " Some one has written that beauty was not necessary to the existence of plant or animal ; that beanty was an added element for the

gratification of sentient beings . Form , colour , tints conld have been made inattractive : there might have been repelling distortions ; or an entire absence of the endless varieties of shadings , shape and symmetries , and yet plant and animal conld have lived . Such a proposition needs no response in the mind of him who sees God everywhere and talks with Him as a man talks with his friend .

Beauty is indispensable to the very existence—nay to the very desire to exist—if we may so speak—of plant and animal . What Who " causes it to rain in the wilderness . . . where no man is . . . to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth ? " What Who paints the prairies with manifold hues , tinges the ocean with green , clothes the island with bright and beautiful garments , fills the

tropics with life and the perfection of form and motion and brightness , and the frozen . circles of the North with lines and images of gigantic beauty and proportions . He can do all things , but he cannot make a flower , create a bird , give wings to the tiniest insect , scales to the fish , leaves to the trees , fruit that may propagate its kind , and sot at the same act of creation , make them beantiful .

When the " Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden , he made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food . " He made them first of all beantiful , and afterwards " good for food . " There is nothing uncomely , nothing misshapen , nothing unattractive , in the whole realm of God ' s universe . With the telescope , sweep the

vast extents of space , and find beauty everywhere . With the microscope , unfold the minutest atoms that together make up the globe , and find beauty , symmetry , perfection of form everywhere . Thus finding this element all-pervading , it must be a condition necessary to existence , and if so , the dednction is natural that we should cultivate the love of the beautiful . To study and admire that

which is beantiful is to strengthen and esteem that which is good and trne . From all forms and lines and shadings that add attraction to utility , there go forth the spirit of truth and goodness , and God is goodness . From all that is deformed , and hideous , and repulsive , in art or in perverted lives , there goes forth the spirit of error and wrong . Light , grace , beauty , fitness , taste in things material , grow into love ,

peace , honour and happiness in things spiritual . Darkness , uncomelyness , squalor , and unfitness in things earthly , grow into vice , hatred , meanness and misery in things heavenly . It is a token of good when costly pictures and statuary adorn the dwellings of the rich , for these are silent teachers training the soul to the higher life . It is an equal token of good that the cheap print

ornaments the rough wall of the cabin or shanty of the pioneer or doy labourer . It is a potent educator . It breathes a benison upon the heart of the worn toiler as he crosses the threshold at the close of the day . It is a noble inspiration to the humble wife as she performs her ceaseless round of duty . It is a delight to the children

God has sent to their home , and is leading all , as the years are added , to seek the best gifts that the Omnipotent may bestow . It is a token of good when cities are beautified with all the adornments of art . When cemeteries blossom with flowers , when they are fresh with evergreens , when sparkling fountains , artistic monuments beautiful hedges , shady walks , all bathed in the perfume of fragrance '

Supports Of Masonry.

glad incense to deity , then the city of the dead is the expression of the character of the city of the living . When churches rear their lofty spires , when porch and turret , and column beautify , when the lights through the windows are shaded by many coloured rays , when altar , aisle , pew and wall are touched by the magio wand of beauty and taste , then the glory of the honse reflects tho mind of a

people worshipping in the " beauty of holiness . And where , among all the associations of man , are there like grand opportunity and invitation to cultivate this element , as in the time honoured institution of Freemasonry ? In its several orders , its varieties of shades and forms and proportions are almost numberless . Some of these have origin long anterior to the days of Zerubabel ,

Ancient heathen symbolism was caught up by Greek and Roman of later days , incorporated by Hebrew , and adopted by Christianitydrawn , attracted irresistibly by the power of beauty . Thoso forms were made by worshippers in very remote times , the symbols of faith , and their significance lost to history and tradition , has been read engraven in lines of beauty npon the solid rocks . Bnt for their

attractiveness of form they would long ago have perished , never to be restored . Buried for ages , the dead marble speaks . Science and learning drawn with magnetic force by symmetry , and order and adornment , the wondrous lines of beauty that everywhere united all the past , unlock the mystery , and bring us face to face with onr brethren who taught Moses the lesson , and gave him the learning

not only to givo the law , but to erect the tabernacle , construct the ark , and prepare all appropriate things to establish the worship of Almighty God . Read in the trefoil of the church the triangle and triple tan of the Craft , the square , the gavel of the Lodge , the symbolism that gave to Ashtaroth the worship and adoration of the mighty nation of the earth . The Cross !

emblem of the gallant and magnanimons Knight ! What has not this symbol done for men ? It was a " sign of faith as ancient as Homerio Troy . " " It was used by the Phoenicians before the Jews had existence as a people . " Ages before the " Man of Sorrows" was nailed to its rugged limbs , it was the representative of the noblest conception of mortal or immortal minds . Engraven npon tomb , and chapel , and

pillar , and column , it is the silent , glorious evidence that nowhere in all the dim ages of the past has God " left himself without a witness " of his unquenchable love . This emblem led thousands to the grave , who left all to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the infidel conquerors . So great , so irresistible is the power of beauty ; beauty in the very form and symbolism of the Cross ; beautiful in its rugged simplicity

as it stands by the dusty wayside , on the mountain pass , in cemetery , in church , in lodge , in the cottage of the lowly . Beautiful when adorned with all the cunning skill of the most refined taste and knowledge , and this supplemented with the richest treasures that earth and ocean can yield ; beantiful in the faith it represented to Ayrian , and Hindoo , and Etruscan ; beautiful in the pathetic , the sublime

and simple story of the despised and rejected Nazarine . Holding these views , feebly expressed and but faintly illustrated , yet firm in the conviction of their truth , yon may well be prepared for words of the highest commendation of all that has been done in clothing this hall with beanty , elegance and taste . Dedicated to-day to the uses of the craft , let its beauty shine , together with the wisdom

that designed and the strength which endows with establishment . Hold not back in yonr hearts any regret for the sacrifice of money which has illumined its altar and stations , and all its parts with a radiance of light , glory , and beanty . Be not regretful that you have called to your aid culture , refinement , the best graces of art , to make this Lodge the abode of beauty , the resting place of attractive lines ,

and forms and colours . Should the Pharisee find fault and ask , " Why was this waste made ? for these might have been sold for more than . three hundred pence , and given to the poor , " rebuke bira in love , and with the Master say , " These have wrought a good work "—a good work whose influence shall never die , but shall rather increase in the widening circle of its power till the love of the beautiful shall fill all hearts , and transform all homes into images of the paradise of God . Going forth from these enchanting scenes , let us carry the lessons of beauty with us to our homes , to onr places of business , to our houses of worship , and let their rejoicing and purifying influence permeate all onr lives , and bring our characters nearer and nearer tog perfection . So shall we and our children , so shall the generation ^ following , drinking inspiration from the love of the beautiful , bo th better prepared and fitted for those immortal—those imperishabl beauties that deck the chambers of the skies . —Weekly Constitution .

To-day will appear the first issue of a new weekly illustrated paper , bearing the style and title of Touchstone . Its pages will be devoted to the discussion of literary , artistic , and social questions of general interest . It will be very ably conducted , and the editor has fortunatel y

succeeded in gathering around him a staff of experienced writers . But what will prove , in the eyes of our readers , the great attraction of the new aspirant for public favour ,

is the fact that one of its pages will be set apart for recording the Masonic news of the week . We wish the new venture every success , and hope the Craft will benefit by its exertions .

We understand that a Warrant has been granted by the Supreme Grand Council for a Conclave of Knights of the Red Cross of Constantino to be called the Eboracum Conclave , No . 137 , to be held at York , and that the Consecration ceremony will probably take place next month .