Irish Masonic Charities.

IRISH MASONIC CHARITIES .

THE following is a summary of a sermon preached by tho Eev . Thomas B . Naylor , D . D ., W . M . of St . John ' s Lodge , No . 697 , Warrenpoint , Ireland , at the Parish Church of that town , oa the 17 th ult ., from the words " Holiness to the Lord " ( Exodus xxviii , 36 ) : The subject on which I have to address you this

evening is " Masonic Charities , " but in introducing the man . ¦ c * iie . olc-nt Institutions set ou foot by the zeal of Fieemasons and supported by their liberality , it may be useful for me to endeavour to lay before you a brief

outline of the principles and a summary of the history of Masonry in general . And first of all I would premise that Masonry is distinctively and pre-eminently a religious society . It is founded on the purest principles of piety and morality ; there is nothing in its sanctions

inconsistent with the civil , moral , and religious liberty of those admitted to its privileges . The charter of the Order is an open Bible , and liberty is an essential of

true Masonry . The system has been likened again and again to the symbol which Masons most affect , viz ., the Temple of King Solomon . In that edifice no clay substance and no brick was used . The material was

perfect of its kind ; its minutest parts were prescribed and carefully selected ; its stones were quarried in the quarries of Judaea ; they were levelled and squared in the quarries ; no axe , or hammer , or iron instrument

was used in the erection of the stately pile , whose symmetry was to symbolise the perfection of human character as the home and temple of the Great Architect of the Universe . The rubbish and waste were left

behind , and beauty and strength and sublimity marked the whole design and crowned the completed edifice . Such is the symbol of a system which teaches men to square their conduct by the volume of the Sacred Lawto purge their lives of all impurity by obeying the voice

of their conscience , and , by education , to strive after perfection that they may be His children Who said , " Be ye holy , for I am holy . " Very striking , too , is the lesson of my text . It carries us back to a time

when one might stand on some lofty peak and see Israel abiding in his tents as in the day when Balaam blessed the people he was brought to curse . There lay the mighty camp , four square . On the North three tribes , on the South three tribes , on the East three tribes , on

the West three tribes ; each division a triangle ; one tribe within , and two on the outer line ; and in the centre of the four inner tribes the tabernacle of God . In that tabernacle , the type and pattern of the Temple , once a year was witnessed a ceremony significant and

imposing . On the Great Day of Atonement the High Priest—on that day alone in the year—being the sacrificing priest—arrayed in plain white robe of his office , entered into the Holiest , and sprinkled the mercy seat

with blood . He had no light , save that shed by the red glare of his burning censer ; he bore no ornament , save the breastplate on which was graven the twelve tribes of Israel . He was the representative of man standing before God . When the atonement was made , he came

forth , and his attendants arrayed him in the gorgeous vestments of his office , and he stood before Israel as the representative of God , and on his head was the mitre , with the motto engraved upon its plate of gold , " Holiness to the Lord . " It was the message of the Supreme

to His reconciled children . Brethren , I need not explain , especially to the members of the Grand Arch , that symbolic device , but I may add , for the benefit of those who have not carefully studied this matter , that the

banner of the Masonic Order , borne in the processions of the Craft , has four quarters , and en them is described the lion , the ox , the man , and the eagle—the devices of the four tribes that compassed the sanctuary ; while ,

above all , is the motto , " Holiness to the Lord . The man on the banner of Reuben denoted religion ; the lion on Judah ' s shield was the type of power ; the ox of Ephraim was patient endurance ; and the eagle of Dan was the emblem of sublime yearnings . Such are the

religious aims—such the ultimate object—of Masonry , and we hope that , where holiness is implanted in the soul of man , the outcome of it must be

Benevolencethat the temple of God cannot fail to be an edifice honourable to the builder and of service to all men , especially to the members of the Craft . If it be said

Irish Masonic Charities.

that our views difter from that of the Cnurch , I answer fearlessly , — "Not so ; for the volume of the Sacred Law which regulates the dogmas and creeds of the Church expressly declares— Do good unto all men , especially to those who are of the household of faith . ' "

Masonry depends for acceptance and approval more on its usefulness that on its antiquity . At the same time we cannot conceal , and we have no reason to be ashamed of the fact , that we have a history—one of which any society might well be proud . Amongst our members have been the « reat and learned and the noble

ot the earth . We welcome all such , and proclaim to them and to all meu that our Order recognises no distinction of class , and no difference , save that of merit . Back into the dim cloud-land of myth and legend and misty floating traditionary lore goes the record of

our past ; onr future we are content to leave in the hands of the Great Supreme . With the mystic history of the Craft I shall concern myself but little . Some writers trace it to tbe very infancy of mankind , some to the deliverance from Egypt , some to Solomon ' s reign ,

some to the Pythagoreans , others to the Druids , others to the Religious Orders connected with the Crusades . That those Orders may have given rise to some of the degrees in Masonry may be an open question ; but Masonry itself could scarcely have had its origin in the

Militant Orders of the Mediaeval Church , vowed as they were to celibacy , and making no pretence to mystery or secrecy . Some trace the Order to the Guilds of Masons who , as early as the reign of Henry VI ., were so powerful that they were forbidden to assemble by Act of

Parliament ; others to the Eosicrucians , founded 1610 to 1620 . Another view dates the Society from the Corporation of Masons who built the Cathedral of Strasburg in 1277 , a work which spread their reputation over Germany , and led to the formation of a Guild in

1 * 450 , whose motto was " Liberty , " and whose members were divided into Masters , Companions , and Apprentices , History cannot help us much in clearing up the mystery . The evidence in support even of the " Ancient York Eite " is worthless ; and many MSS . once received as

ancient have , in the fierce light of modern criticism , been proved to have no historical value . There are , however , MSS . as old as Halliwell ' s ( 1300 A . D . ) , Matthew Cooke ' s ( 1490 A . D . ) , Lansdowne , British Museum ( 1500 A . D . ) , the Sloane MS ., and others of considerable value . From these and other sources it has been surmised that

the Order in England was founded in the reign of Athelstane , who was patron of the Guild of Masons , and the tradition that Edwin , the first Christian King of Northumbria was Grand Master of the Society , possibly has arisen from the same source . In the Fabric Eolls

of York Minster there are rules for the working of the Freemason Guild as one of the Institutions of the Chapter . That speculative Masonry was connected with the working Guilds is most probable , but we have no evidence to show that it originated with those

powerful operative associations . In 1717 Masonry was first transformed into a " Union of Unions , " or " Universal Brotherhood . " In that year rules and constitutions were drawn up giving a form and plan for the working of the Society , which have moulded its working ever

since , but this was a crisis in the history of the Order ; not the origin of the Institution , for in that very first draft-constitution there are four Lodges working in the south of England whose ancient privileges are secured to them specially under the new regime , and those four

Lodges were evidently the remnants of some older system . In 1725 the Earl of Crawford was Grand Master of England , and from this period to the present we have no trouble in following the history of the Order all the world over . We have authentic dates for the founding of Lodges iu Africa in 1736 , in India 1728 ,

Canada 1745 , United States 1729 , Italy 1733 . From that time forward we have no difficulty as to records . Our own Lodge 697 was founded in Warrenpoint in the year 1789 . This date brings us to the subject of Masonic

Charities . The first movement made in Ireland to provide for the education of Masonic orphans was in 1790 , when a few members set on foot a subscription of a few shillings each to provide schooling , but not maintenance , for the children of some deceased friends . The project was , however , warmly taken up , and a home for twenty