The Universality Of Free Masonry.

THE UNIVERSALITY OF FREE MASONRY .

THIS is a very wide subject , but admitted on all hands to be the core and kernel of the professions we make as members of a common brotherhood whose branches are

spread over the whole of the habitable globe . Freemasonry , in its comprehensive and cosmopolitan sense , forms the p latform upon which men of all shades of opinion , all schools of thought , all creeds and ideas , can meet in the

freedom of unrestrained harmony and goodfellowship ; and nowhere is the word " home " so thoroughly and practically demonstrated as within the precincts of a Masonic Lodge . Here , upon the chequered floor is the only spot on

God ' s earth where are exemplified the true principles of Liberty , Equality , and Fraternity ; and they are here found in all their purest and most . disinteresfced fulness . Nations and communities have for centuries aimed at a realisation

of this condition of things , but have utterly failed to accomplish the ends embodied in that sentiment . There is no such thing existent , except in theory , as true equality , and man might as well try and add a cubit to his stature as to expect an exact parellel in all the conditions and relations

of life . The countenances , the handwritings , and the very thoughts of men , are distinctive and individual , and the axiom of seeing " eye to eye " in all mundane matters is as

remote as the discovery of the philosopher ' s stone or the attainment of perpetual motion . In nature and art , in the sciences , and all tho other phases of human affairs , transition and change are the marked indications of every age * .

progress and retrogression are ever alternate ; and as the world keep 3 moving on , the motto still holds good , " Sic tmuit gloria mnndi . " Only in our great , wise , and beneficent scheme is the great problem of universality solved , and that is in the broad , expansive scheme laid at the

feefc of every man who finds a shelter and a rest beneath the banner of our Ancient and Honourable Institution — who has felt the fraternal grasp of a brother ' s hand , and known what is meant by the pure and lofty sentiments delineated by the five points of

fellowsnip , Freemasonry has a " domain upon which the snn never sets : " with us the glorious orb is ever afc its meridian , find sheds its lavish and gracious benefits upon all , no matter of what nation , kindred , or tongue , from whom nave been removed the hoodwink of darknessand who have

, been admitted into the fulness of Masonic light . He may traverse the world from pole to zone , and ever find kindred hearts beating in unison with his own ; a hearty and genuine welcomeeverywhere , whether in frigid or torrid mates

wj . ; amongst strange people , and in strange a * ucls . Indeed , Freemasonry is " the only one touch of Hatwe which makes the whole world kin , " the " open sesame" to the heart of hearts of brethren who are linked together in the universal bonds of " ye mystic tie . " When 0 take

up contemporary journals , and find how brethren ora 0 WQ 82 j 0 reg are pgeeiye ^ fl n ( j j n gvjc h reC 0 rds y a pleasing counterpart of that which we witness every j m our own Lodges at home—a hearty sympathy and «„ " . i Potion in the common cause—a brotherlv welcome

fri , ^ nnght genuine sense of amenity and binding such "'" '• ' " ¦' 3 ere ^ no other section of humanity in which act s f ent ' ° nts are to be found as those which guide and The * i comratlnifc y of Masons throughout the world . Wl de canopy overshadows all , andthe lights which

The Universality Of Free Masonry.

illumine the Masonic mind drive away all phantoms of discord and enmity , which are never to be found inside fche portals of a Masonic Lodge . To our mind , iu theory , and we aro bound to say it is very fully borne out in practice , tho universality of Freemasonry and tho affinities it creates , bring us as near as we can hope for in this sublunary sphere

to the millennium of peace and goodwill amongst men . A brother sets out upon a distant voyage , to lands where the habits and customs of his fufcuvo associates are to him an enigma , and which take him a long * time to understaud . Upon the vasty deep he meets with brethren who have

tastes and aspirations coincident with hts own , and those who have participated in the ceremonies of a Lodge at sea will be able to appreciate the true bonds of fellowship which perhaps prevail amongst men of various nation , alities . Once on shore he finds , even at the Antipodes , a home : the counsel , advice , and hosnitalitv of friends , as

ardent in the cause as himself , as solicitous for his welfare as though he were—as , indeed , he really is—one of their * own family circle . In cases of difficulty and distress there is no deaf ear turned to the voice of supplication , but ever a helping hand stretched forth to assuage sorrow arid to

alleviate necessity . There the man who is a true student of the Divine art can never feel alone . He is a unit in the great commonwealth of brotherly love , relief , and truth , and is surrounded on every side , and hedged in by generous and sympathetic hearts , in whose hands his very iamost

secrets and dearest interests are held sacred and inviolate . This is the bright jewel which glitters in the diadem of the Brotherhood , this universal unselfish sympathy , this cordial unity and cohesion , and this unrestrained equality , which permeates the whole system of Freemasonry , which

leavens the various sections of society and kneads them into one common whole . True , ifc may be pointed out that these ideas , though lofty and noble in themselves

theoretically , are sometimes deficient in practice ; but let our detractors point to any community under the sun in which there are nofc delinquents—any rule to which there is not an exception . We are often reminded

that there is no flock , howsoever well tended , but one black sheep is there . And unquestionably , in the course of experience every one of us haj found instances in which men speak sneeringly , and even in terms of disgusfc almost , at the mere mention of those principles of which they once

avowed themselves the exponents , and the principles they at the outset of their Masonic career promised to support . The very suggestion of our cosmopolitan responsibilities running concurrent with our universal advantages is spurned by some men of acerbetive minds and temperaments , who ,

when appealed to in any cause of charity or co-operation , turn round and plead hurry or other engagements in order to shirk duties which are morally incumbent upon them . But these are the " outsiders , " so to speak , of the Craft . They are men who fail to discern the binding

responsibilities of their obligation , who have blurred the mirror of their perceptions , and fail to recognise tho sublime allegory by which our " beautiful system of morality " is veiled . Starting into life , wil , h everything around them fresh and novel , they overleap themselves with vaulting enthusiasm * , but as the stern realism ef experience sets in , and the alloy of personal interests and ambition clogs the freedom of their

mental aspirations , the universality of Freemasonry becomes a vista , in fc ' ie mist of which they lose sight of that disinterested IOSS and truth of character they displayed when they wero freely granted the " pre-

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