The Old And The New.

the truths which fill up the old ages—truths which drew the tears of Magdalen , and which overthrew the pagan empire as founded by the Greeks and Romans in such barbaric splendour . That the human mind was fashioned to seek and love

the new , is perfectly evident , but it is also true that it has overdone its alloted work in that direction , aud often turns that virtue into a vice . The new is too much loved , and the old too little . As in house decoration the recent years have loved the small extremely , and have made their homes

much like the play-houses of children and have forgotten many things of everlasting merit and beauty , so in religion it is possible for an age or country to fix its gaze upon only a fragment of its spiritual world . It is uncertain whether we may charge this defect upon our times . We

may be certain only of this—that there are old troths whose moral dimensions are colossal . Have we made our minds incapable of appreciating anything that we have heard of before ? Have the new world and its rapid development so engaged the soul with novelties that it has

lost all relish for what belong to yesterday ? Perhaps some mental powers have been smothered to death under the loads of new inventions , new discoveries and new ideas . If so , we are all to be pitied , for the past is tremendous in all ways at once , literature , art and religion .

Such worshippers of the new are all made by the creative genius of our era , that in order to appreciate the old you must ask your imagination to picture them as coming up before you for the first time . With what tears of joy would you hail the hope of immortality had that hope just

come into the world ? If dust had been the a sumed end of man , what discovery of science or art would compare in sublimity with the sudden assurance of a second and blessed life ? Such an expectation dwarfs all the common hopes of this world . A prince yearly approaching a throne , a

gifted mind gathering up the honours of learning or power , a citizen drawing near a fabulous fortune , are all small scenes or outlooks compared with that of a humble child steadily moving toward an endless and painless being . When you remember how you all love life and feel sad over

the fact that the grave is before yon , you may well be amazed at the height and depth of the doctrine of a second existence that shall be in all ways higher and sweeter than this . The slowness with which this notion came to man has hidden its vastness . Its age is a witness for its truth ,

but is against its grandeur as a thought . It is modified by its antiquity as mountains are made treeless and cold by intervening miles . Their verdure and cascades and songs of birds are all toned away from the senses by their

distance . They are spoken of as " gray" or "hazy" or " blue . " One simple attribute thus remains out of a marvellous richness and variety . From many old doctrines has the multitude moved away until ideas are seen in some one dead color—ideas vast as God and beautiful as paradise—Masonic Bevieto .

Shipwrecks And Lifeboats.

SHIPWRECKS AND LIFEBOATS .

IN the issue of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE of the 9 fch February reference was made to the Albert Edward Lifeboat , stationed at Clacton-on . Sea , and to the fatal mishap that had befallen two of the crew . The Lifeboat was a kind of thank-offering made by the Craft on the recovery of the Prince of Wales from a prolonged and dangerous illness a few years ago , and has , therefore , a peonliar

interest for Freemasons . There is a quarterly publication issued by the Boyal National Institution , which deserves more than a passing notice . It is a very interesting : little work , a record of brave deeds , of distress and help , and full of valuable information . A brief summary of the contents of the current number may not be without its valne at the present moment , and may , perhaps , help to form a better

estimate than seems generally to prevail of the great work undertaken by the Lifeboat Institution . To show the interest our Royal Grand Master takes in this noble Institution , he has promised to preside at its annual meeting , which will be held at Willis ' s Kootns , on Saturday afternoon , 15 th March . Long before Mr . Plimsoll took up the orusade against the policy of

certain shipowners in sending unseaworthy vessels to sea , bitter cries arose on account of the dangers to which sailors were unduly exposed . Agitation and legislation have followed , and even at the present time Mr . Chamberlain has charge of another Shipping Bill . It would be impolitic here to enter upon the question of shipowners and seamen . The question involves considerations that would raise political disputes , and tend to introduce an element of strife into a

body that should live in charity with all men , and seek to afford help wherever it can be given . Suffice it to say then that while we havo a deep and strong sympathy for those who go down to the sea in ships , and while we would throw around them every protection that human forethought can provide , we decline to formulate charges against owners of vessels , or venture into a discussion on the rights of property .

Shipwrecks And Lifeboats.

Taming to Hie little work before us , it opens with n >\> nci 80 , though a remarkably clear paper on tho " Lifeboat Institution nnd Salvage of Property . " Tho Institution is incorporated by U > v . d Charter , for tho solo purpose of " saving life from shipwreck . " Salvage work is no part of the duty of tho mon engaged i" this work , and they are excluded by tho terms of their ongagemont I ' mm

making their claim for services ,--the first ohargo "for salvago ou tho ship and her cargo , or any part that may bo saved , "—as by law they are entitled to de . Tho Institution alone aro liable to the men for payment . This regulation , it , will be seen , reliovca shipowners of a very heavy charge , and at tho same timo places tho Institution in its rightful position and command . It is well to observe that the

Lifeboatmon are not regularly retained , npon a fixed salary ; tho coxswains alone receive a qnarterly stipend , which is paid really for taking charge of bnathonses and gear . When they go to sea on service they are paid the same as the other men , for the job , to use a familiar phrase . But as these men are on the spot , and form a ready-mado snlvng »> c nps , tin- Itiatitntion says that they mav do salvage wink

upon certain conditions . The boats and gear shall be at their service , to be paid for out of the salvage money received at the same rato that is paid for other boats nsed for a similar purpose . In no case , however , arc the Institution ' s boats to enter into competition with those belonging to persons whose business it is to save ships and goods . Thus the Institution protects itself and private interest * .

At the same time the crews of the Lifeboats are encouraged" to mnko every effort , when afloat , to endeavour to save the ship , as well as the lives of the men , " the Institution undertaking , " if they do so and fail , or if the salvage reward earned is less than they would have been entitled to for saving life , to make up the difference . " Of course , there are difficulties in tho way of carrying ont this scheme . Private

interests clash , and selfishness on the part of men and masters of vessels is likely to arise . The plan of arbitration is favoured by tho Lifeboat Institution , and thns commends itself to every sense of justice . The Lifeboat men cannot be expected to do salvage work for less than is paid to others engaged in a similar enterprise , and they certainly should not receive less . A community of interests , no

doubt , will bring matters to a jnst balance , leaving sufficient debatable ground upon which contending parties may fight out rival claims . " Weather Forecasts" is a still briefer paper , but it contains an explanation and a refutation of a common belief . We frequently hear , " 0 they manage these things better in France . " America might well be substituted for France in the case of weather predictions

to hit popular belief . The idea is very general that the Americans are more skilled in the science of meteorology than ourselves . It is a popular error , founded , like many others , upon imperfect information . We are told in this paper that although the barometer is the best meteorological instrument we have , it is not altogether a perfect guide . A sudden fall indicates bad weather , " and the sooner a rise

begins the shorter will be the stay of such unpleasant times ; but to get at certain geueral principles observations must be made simultaneously at neighbouring places ; these , together " with the ob . seryance of certain clouds , sometimes called 'mare's tails , ' form tho main features of weather forecasting . " The reason why tho Americans are before us in this matter is , because " most changes

of the weather have their rise in the westward . . . their eastern shore being their principal trade coast , and the storms travelling eastward , " they are enabled to anticipate us .. Even their forecasts are subject to conditions which they cannot always determine . For instance , a violent storm may he raging on the western side of the Atlantic , whioh , travelling at the rate of 500 miles per

diem , wonld arrire on onr coasts in five days , may never reach us at all ; it may be dispersed on its journey , or its direction may be altered . Then it is possible for a storm to arise " in mid ocean , and reach us without having visited any other shore . " It is a mistake to suppose that our official weather forecasts havo been a failure , as tho following facts , taken from the Annual Report of the Meteorological

Office , will prove . It states that the total number of storm warnings justified was 81 9 per cent ., and that of weather forecasts varied from 74 per cent , in Scotland to 81 per cent , in " Scotland N . " and "England S ., " while-1 percentage of justification of the "Hay Harvest forecasts" ranged from 64 per cent , in " England N . E . " to 84 per cent , in "England E . " and the Midlands . This is not so bad , and shows that our science and skill are not so much at fault as

grumblers imagine . The rest of the Lifeboat Journal is made up chiefly of a record of the Glasgow branch of services rendered by the boats , and the proceedings of the meetings of the Committee of the Institution . Under the heading of the " Lifeboats of the United Kingdom , " there is a very readable paper on Lyme Regis and its Lifeboat , the William Woodcock . Wo are told that the church was rebuilt in the sixteenth

century , and contains what a local writer calls "the doctrine in stones . " It is " a beautifully-executed symbol , known as St . Jerome ' s esoteric symbol of the Holy Trinity . " It forms a shield , the two corners and bottom point form circles , in which are inscribed the words pater , filius , and sp us ( a curved mark uniting the p with ns , and another s placed above the first . ) In the space divided by lines ,

straight across the top and curved towards the bottom circle are the words non est , meaning the Father is not the Son , the Son is not the Holy Ghost , and the Holy Ghost is not the Father . Then there are line spaces within the shield forming the letter Y , a circle uniting the stem and the right and left branches . The word est is inscribed in the latter , and the word Deus within the circle ,

meaning of course that the Father is God , the Son is God , and the Holy Ghost is God . We have been particular in describing this interesting specimen of doctrine teaching in stone because we think it will possess special interest for many of our readers , especially those who hold the view that the doctrine of

the Trinity formed part of the principles of Freemasonry before Anderson was said to have mutilated them . From what we have written , our readers will come to the same conclusion we have arrived n ' , that the Lifeboat Journal is a very interesting production , and the exponent of one of the most beneficent movements of the age .