Masonic Principles.

word , the prayer of condolence , and the material aid

afforded them . And because we have done these sacred duties and performed these sacred obligations , let us not therefore suppose that we have thereby met all the sacred

obligations of a pure and holy religion , for while the Scripture tells us that " pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this , to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction ; " yet this is only one-half ; the

other half is this , "to keep himself unspotted from the

world . " Teaching us that charity and a pure life go hand ia hand . One of the prime principles inculcated upon the very threshold of the temple is the dissipation of all caste , and

all class distinction : Soldiers and artisans , labourers and professionals , poor and rich , high and low , autocrat and peasant , all acknowledging the one living and true God as the author of their being , and the Holy Bible as the word

of His power , must meet together on the common level of a common brotherhood of a common humanity . Every badge of worldly distinction and worldly rank must be

discarded . If he be a prince , he must cast the purple from his shoulders , the diadem from his brow , and consent to sit as a man among men , as a brother among brethren , and be content to receive that honour which only manly

worth may claim . We are created intelligent and rational creatures , with a mutual dependence upon God and upon one another . And

hence , as Masons , we are enjoined to industry and perseverance in the attainment of useful knowledge , and faithful " discharge of our respective duties to God , our neighbour , and ourselves , " that in the end " we may have the

happy reflection consequent on a well-spent life , and die

in the hope of a glorious immortality . " In view of our relations to our fellow-man , and to eternity , we should not lightly esteem the earnest admonition " To walk uprightly in our several stations before God

and man , squaring our actions by the square of virtue , and ever remembering that we are travelling upon the lovel of time , to thafc undiscovered country , from whose bourne no traveller returns . "

The very implements of our Craft are symbols of the grand work of life , typically setting forth human culture , the elevation of human kind , the excision of debasing passions , and the cultivation of the Christian virtues ,

exemplifying the golden rule and " the royal law ot Christ in every transaction between man and man , and in the relations of life spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection , ancl all this with the " noble and glorious

purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all vices and superfluities of life ; thereby fitting our minchs , as living stones , for that spiritual building , that house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . "

God has endowed us with natures capable of enjoying and of suffering , capable of emulating the noblest virtues , or sinking to the most ignoble vices ; and ifc is only by entrenching ourselves in the precepts of God's eternal

truth , strengthening and fortifying ourselves in the virtues and graces of the Divine Spirit , anchoring ourselves in the well-grounded hope of eternal life , and sheltering ourselves

in the ark of God ' s mercy in Christ , that we shall be able to complete a victorious life , and "safely moor in that peaceful harbour where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest . "

Then let us emulate the holy virtues ancl graces enjoined upon us in our great Magna Chart a the Holy Bible , that wo may be prepared to meet our God in judgment * , bo fitted to stand holy and without blame before Him in

love ; then shall we have ministered to us an abundant entrance into that upper temple where thc glory of God is the light thereof ; we shall have part in the resurrection of life , have a glorious immortality ancl bo blessed in thc fall enjoyment of God to all eternity .

Ancl now , brethren , this great event will soon be upon us , whether we will or not . The sands of our short Jives are falling out one by one , they are dropping into eternity , and our days are becoming fewer , and fewer ; and by and

by the last sand will have gone down , and your life and mine will have closed , and this , too , whether we have lived true and noble lives , or not . The silver cord will soon be loosened , the golden-bowl will soon bo broken , the

pitcher will be broken at the fountain , ancl the wheel broken at the cistern ; the brittle thread of life will soon be cut , and we shall be launched into eternity , and the mourners shall go about the streets , because you and

I have gone to our long homes .

Masonic Principles.

May we then finish all our work here below with the Divine approbation , and then have our transition from this earthly abode to the heavenly temple above , there to enjoy light , glory and bliss , ineffable and eternal .

Leaving the things that are behind and reaching unto those that are before , let us press onward , that we may reach the desired goal , and lav hold on eternal life . Let

us strive to enter in at the straight gate and press up the narrow way , that we may join the redeemed multitude in the kingdom of our God .

" Then entering the eternal halls , In robes of victory , That mighty multitude shall keep , The joyous jubilee .

" Unfading palms they bear aloft , Unfaltering songs they sing ! Unending festival they keep , In presence of the King . "

" God of our life , God of each day and night , oh , keep us still till life ' s short race is run , nntil there dawns the long , long day of light , that knows no night , and needs no star nor sun . "

The History Of Freemasonry In New York.

THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN NEW YORK .

OUR sister jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of New York is to be congratulated on the praiseworthy

attention given by it to the publication of its Transactions and History . Twelve years ago , in 1876 , under authority granted to Kane Lodge , No . 454 , F . and A . M ., the " Early History and Transactions of the Grand Lodge of New

York , 1781-1815 , " were published . Bro . John G . Barker , Past Grand Librarian , was the skilful compiler of tha authoritative volume . Seven yearsago , in 1881 , the Gv nd Lodge of New York appropriately celebrated the

Centennial of its Independence , when Grand Master Bro . Jesse B . Anthony delivered an admirable historical address , ancl Bro . Frank R . Lawrenco ( the present Grand Master ) an oration . Not satisfied with these , -xci-llent as they

were , in 1886 the Grand Lodge authorized G ind Mast- r Lp . wrence to appoint a committee , in accordance w * •. It Unori ginal p lan proposed in lb-56 , to prepan * tin- H ' sti > ry

of Grand Lodge for publication . The Grand M s er appointed Bro . Charles T MeClennchan , and the handsome volume before u > is the fbst result --f hi- ir-tellio-eufc

and painstaking labours , which bring ihe -econ ! down to 1788 . His plan is not that of an analyst , but of a IO-. IOHI historian , who sketches the hisoty ot his Giand Lod ^ e , and then that of the Lodges subordinate thereto ,

prefacing both with a general view of the origin and work of Masonry in Europe , and in tbe thirteen original colonies of America . Bro . MoClenachau ' s plan is a comprehensive one , and it will no doubt prove highly satisfactory to New York Freemasons . The illustrations in the

volume aro ten in number , including fine portraits of Bro . Krank R . Lawrence , Grand Master of New York 1885-1888 ; Bro . Daniel Coxe , Provincial Gtand Master of New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania , 1730-1732 ;

Bro . Benjamin Franklin , Grand Master of Pennsylvania 1734 ; and Bro . Henry Price , Prov . Grand Master of New England 1733-1736 . In preparing his preliminary history , Bro . McClenachan has profited by the published writings

of Bro . Robert Freke Gould , Wm . James Hughan , D . Murray Lyon , A . F . A . Woodford , and J . G . Findel , abroad , and Bros . Albert G . Mackey , George F . Fort aud others , at home , as well as by Bro . Barker ' s published

Early History ancl Transactions of the Grand Lodge of New York , aud by thc pages of The Keystone . He writes at a fortunate time , when so muah authentic material is

at hand , ancl he has profited by a diligent consideration of these authorities , so that New York may well be proud of this inignum opus .

In his synoptical account of Freemasonry in the thirteen original colonies of this country , Bro . McClenachan justly awards the first place to Pennsylvania . In opening he says :

The Deputation to Dauiel Coxe , of New Jersey , by the Grand Lodge of England , dated Juno 5 , 1730 , appointed Bro . Coxe Prov . Grand Master For Pennsylvania , as well as of tlie Provinces of N « w York and New Ji-r .-cv , '' for tho sp-ier * of two years * . " It is p ifale

that in the exurcise of this power , the Provincial Grand Master authorized and established a Imdee in tho o * y of Philadel > tua in 1731 . Presumptively , Philadephia is the " premier Masonic city of America . "