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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Symbolism.
SYMBOLISM .
FROM THE "HEBREW LEADER . " TRUTH does not end with the faot alone that symbols were the first language oE mankind . That kind of communication appears to have been a favourite one with all men and in all ages . They havo been the preferred expletives of all the religions of the earth . They stand out on tho temple of Salsette , the cave of Elephants , and the palaces of Delhi . Egypt reveals tham from her monuments and her tombs ; Scandinavia , Yucatan , Mexioo , but repeat the story ; Greece
and Rome only reiterate it when it had become old ; and if all Europe and America are not now repeating it , it is simply because a purer feeling and a higher and holier morality have descended to them from the " still small voice " once breathed upon the mountains of Judah and perfected iu the teachings of that pure Being , who upon the fields aud mountains , and lakes , and seas of Palestine , brought " life and immortality to light . "
Tho lovo of symbols among mankind , anciently used as a language , and afterwards as the expletives of religion , has , in all ages , preserved the favourable opinion of tho world and has come down to us , oven politically , with a force scarcely , perhaps not at all , lessened in its power , by the intelligence of this enlightened age . We need not go far for examples . The two-headed eagle of Russia , the lilies aud the
tricolour of Frauce , the red cross of St . George , our own ever glorious stars and stripes—what are they all but symbols of nationality , and to what purpose is their symbolic character , but for distinction , national honour , national pride , or national glory ? The " eagles of victory " and of triumph have furnished the common metaphor of numerous ceuturies , the national banner is as ever sacred to the
humblest citizen a 3 to the highest statesman ; its protection from Btain constitutes the highest pride of tho soldier and the sailor , and he proudly walks to carnage or to death , while tho symbol of his country ' s honour spreads its folds to the breeze . The slightest contempt for it will electrify a nation . When a celebrated English statesman once ventured to speak contemptuously of the American
Navy , as " a half dozen fir frigates , with pieces of striped banting at their mast heads , " he little imagined that the lightning spark thus thrown forth would expire not until that piece of " striped banting " should mark its triumph upon every sea and proudly float above the red cross of his own powerful couutry ; and that the unreflecting
remark would burst forth from thousands of bosoms in retort , whenever ancl wherever the defenders of that piece of " striped buntiug " saw it borne aloft as the representatives of victory . We allude to this instance in illustration of the subject only , and not with any invidious feeling .
Symbols , then , have not passed out of use , even in this matter-offact age , and if they have always been favourites with the world , aud still are so , the Institution of Freemasonry—which ha 3 always used them—ought not to bo thought unwise , or foolish , or ridioulous , because , agreeably to her original practice , she continues to use them , and applies them to the same purposes for which thoy wore
originally designed . When , therefore , wo invest the Master with the square , the Wardens with the level and the plumb , the Deacons with the gavel , and the Tyler with the sword—when we give in charge to the Master the holy writings , the square and the compassand when our brethren appear in aprons—we ask only that common charity which is extended to all other men's modes of thinking and
of acting , iu this nineteenth century , when we ask others to believe that all this form and show , to ns , is but " tho exhibition of useful truth . " To somo men ifc may perhaps appear useless mummery ; to others , the trappings of a useless vanity ; to others , even , the garb of a supposed past disgrace . To us , it is our language—the idiom in which we teach . Ifc is more than this—ifc is an impress of what is taught .
And let it not bo forgotten here what Freemasonry , in its present speculative character , is . No one claims that it is now a society of actual architects and Craftsmen , engaged in the actual employment of building and architecture . No Freemason claims , afc the prosent day , that his brotherhood with this Society necessarily make 3 him a workman in a stone quarry , a hewer of stone and . wood and worker in
brass aud metals ; but we do instruct , and we also teach that a brother must bo well skilled as Apprentice and Craftsman before he is fitted to be Master . If tho college imparts its Greek and its Latin , we also teach our Masters a language which , for all practical purposes , has the advantage of both , in ease aud uuiversalifcy—and while the Church is labouring for some one of the ten thousand
dogmas of tho teu thousand sects , we are quietly teaching at the Masonic altar , the simple theology in which nearly all tho world agree , that there is one God and father of all , who is above all , and over all ; and that there is no doubt about the duty of offering prayors , and thanksgiving , and adoration to His ever great , glorious ancl holy name .
Frsemasonry may , very properly , as we thing , be defined as the teaching of a moral scionce by a method peculiarly its own . We unite , iu our teachings to tho initiate , the building of a splendid temple with the practice of morality , friendship and Brotherhoodwe connect with tho creation of this earthly edifico a system of private recognition , useful to onrselves , of obligation ancl protection towards those who aro dear to us , and of continual remembrance of that " mystic temple , " whose
Altars are the mountains and tho ocean—¦ Earth , sky , stars—all that springs from tho great whole Who has produced and will receive the soul . " Wo can well anticipate the inquiry which will , very naturally , bo mado here , by somo learned , independent , free-thinking outsider , ( as the modern phrase has it ) . It will bo something after this manner : _
Symbolism.
Do yon think that all Masons look at this subject from the same point of observation—that they view ifc in the light and shade now exhibited—that they see it as you see ifc , and apply its teachings aa you apply them ? The anticipated iuquiry is both natural and fair . It is one that we wish ifc was in our power , consistently with truth , to answer moro favonrably and more satisfactorily than we aro able to do . We candidly answer :
In ordinary life the difference between industrious and lazy men —between the bee or the ant , and the glutton , are fully recognised . There is no difficulty in approaching ifc . Results are written upon its face , in characters of " living light . " Is ifc strange , then , that the same results should be seen among a class of men professing the same belief , some of whom have laboured with the industry of the
ant , while others have rolled themselves up in the inaotion of the sloth . There is , between studious Masons aud their slothful , uuinquiring brethren , the same difference in the views they take of Masonry as their is between an artist and a peasant in their respective estimations of an old painting—ifc may be a Raphael or a Rubens . The peasant gazes , with stupid wonder , or with cold
indiffereuco , on the canvass redolent with life , without the excitation of a single emotion in his barren soul . Its colours , mellowed to a rich softness by the hand of time aro to him less pleasing than the gaudy tints which glare upon the siga of the village inn ; and its subjects , borrowed from the deep lore of history , or the bold imaginings of posey , are loss interesting to him than tho daubed paiut whioh
hangs conspicuously afc his cottage fireside . Bnb to the eye of the artist how different i 3 the impression conveyed ? To him everything beams with light and beauty . To him it is the voice of nature speaking in tho language of art . Prometheus-like , he sees tho warm blood rushing through the blue veins , and the eye beaming with a
fancied animation . The correctness of the outlines ; the boldness of its fore-shortenings , where the limbs appear to burst from the canvass ; the delicacy of its shadows , aud tho fine arrangement of its lights , are all before him , subjects of admiration on which ho could ever gaze , and examples of instruction which he would fain imitate .
Aud whence arises this difference of impression produced by the same object on two different individuals ? It is not ; from genius alone—for that , unaided , brings no light to the mind , though it prepares it for his reception . Ifc is cultivation which enlarges the intellect aud fits ifc for its reception , and this cultivation we arrive afc as Masons , through instruction by symbols aud legends—by that through which we work closer into the hearts of our fellow-meu than by mere words .
We are informed there will be a very startling innovation introduced in connection with the Stewards' Badges afc the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . We have reason to believe the new feature will give the greatest satisfaction .
The new Lodge , No . 1677 , bearing the style and title of the Crusaders' Lodge , will be consecrated on Wednesday , the 13 th instant , at St . John ' s Gate Tavern , Clerkenwell . Bro . James Terry , Secretary to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution will officiate on the occasion .
Mark Masonry will hold high festival in Hull on the 12 th instant .
CANTERHURY CATHEDRAL . —Canterbury Cathedral cannot thoroughly be appreciated unless it be studied from a considerable distance ; for its great sizo ancl unusually intricate plan make tho task of apprehending it a difficult one from any near point of view , so that we unconsciously compare only some part , not the whole , with surrounding objects . But when the building is seen in all its
grandeur , rising far above the trees and houses of the town—almost like a mountain of carved stone—dwarfing all surrounding objects , we realise that ifc is indeed worthy to be a mother church of a great country . The Cathedral is certainly most fortunate in it 3 surroundings . The old grey walls and circular tower 3 , which still enclose part of the town , the narrow streets with their picturesque
houses and occasional fragments of ancient buildings , chief among which is the gateway of St . Augustine ' s Abbey , tell of a peaceful present aud an unbroken continuity with the past , and fitly introduce us to the Precinct or Christ Church Gate , an extremely rich and beautiful work of the early part of the sixteenth century . JVe pass throui'h this into tho Close , and at onco obtain one of tho most
striking general views of tho Cathedral . A grassy lawn , bordered with trees , runs all along the southern side , allowing of a much more uninterrupted view than is possible from any other quarter . The central tower rises grandly above tho nave , its firm , simple , yefc graceful linos , contrasting well with the more florid and less
satisfactory outlines of thoso at the western end , the northern of which is quite a modern work replacing an old Norman tower pulled down some forty years since . Immediately in front of us is the fine southern porch , from the earliest times the prinoipal entrance to the Cathedral . —From Picturesque Europe for June ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Symbolism.
SYMBOLISM .
FROM THE "HEBREW LEADER . " TRUTH does not end with the faot alone that symbols were the first language oE mankind . That kind of communication appears to have been a favourite one with all men and in all ages . They havo been the preferred expletives of all the religions of the earth . They stand out on tho temple of Salsette , the cave of Elephants , and the palaces of Delhi . Egypt reveals tham from her monuments and her tombs ; Scandinavia , Yucatan , Mexioo , but repeat the story ; Greece
and Rome only reiterate it when it had become old ; and if all Europe and America are not now repeating it , it is simply because a purer feeling and a higher and holier morality have descended to them from the " still small voice " once breathed upon the mountains of Judah and perfected iu the teachings of that pure Being , who upon the fields aud mountains , and lakes , and seas of Palestine , brought " life and immortality to light . "
Tho lovo of symbols among mankind , anciently used as a language , and afterwards as the expletives of religion , has , in all ages , preserved the favourable opinion of tho world and has come down to us , oven politically , with a force scarcely , perhaps not at all , lessened in its power , by the intelligence of this enlightened age . We need not go far for examples . The two-headed eagle of Russia , the lilies aud the
tricolour of Frauce , the red cross of St . George , our own ever glorious stars and stripes—what are they all but symbols of nationality , and to what purpose is their symbolic character , but for distinction , national honour , national pride , or national glory ? The " eagles of victory " and of triumph have furnished the common metaphor of numerous ceuturies , the national banner is as ever sacred to the
humblest citizen a 3 to the highest statesman ; its protection from Btain constitutes the highest pride of tho soldier and the sailor , and he proudly walks to carnage or to death , while tho symbol of his country ' s honour spreads its folds to the breeze . The slightest contempt for it will electrify a nation . When a celebrated English statesman once ventured to speak contemptuously of the American
Navy , as " a half dozen fir frigates , with pieces of striped banting at their mast heads , " he little imagined that the lightning spark thus thrown forth would expire not until that piece of " striped banting " should mark its triumph upon every sea and proudly float above the red cross of his own powerful couutry ; and that the unreflecting
remark would burst forth from thousands of bosoms in retort , whenever ancl wherever the defenders of that piece of " striped buntiug " saw it borne aloft as the representatives of victory . We allude to this instance in illustration of the subject only , and not with any invidious feeling .
Symbols , then , have not passed out of use , even in this matter-offact age , and if they have always been favourites with the world , aud still are so , the Institution of Freemasonry—which ha 3 always used them—ought not to bo thought unwise , or foolish , or ridioulous , because , agreeably to her original practice , she continues to use them , and applies them to the same purposes for which thoy wore
originally designed . When , therefore , wo invest the Master with the square , the Wardens with the level and the plumb , the Deacons with the gavel , and the Tyler with the sword—when we give in charge to the Master the holy writings , the square and the compassand when our brethren appear in aprons—we ask only that common charity which is extended to all other men's modes of thinking and
of acting , iu this nineteenth century , when we ask others to believe that all this form and show , to ns , is but " tho exhibition of useful truth . " To somo men ifc may perhaps appear useless mummery ; to others , the trappings of a useless vanity ; to others , even , the garb of a supposed past disgrace . To us , it is our language—the idiom in which we teach . Ifc is more than this—ifc is an impress of what is taught .
And let it not bo forgotten here what Freemasonry , in its present speculative character , is . No one claims that it is now a society of actual architects and Craftsmen , engaged in the actual employment of building and architecture . No Freemason claims , afc the prosent day , that his brotherhood with this Society necessarily make 3 him a workman in a stone quarry , a hewer of stone and . wood and worker in
brass aud metals ; but we do instruct , and we also teach that a brother must bo well skilled as Apprentice and Craftsman before he is fitted to be Master . If tho college imparts its Greek and its Latin , we also teach our Masters a language which , for all practical purposes , has the advantage of both , in ease aud uuiversalifcy—and while the Church is labouring for some one of the ten thousand
dogmas of tho teu thousand sects , we are quietly teaching at the Masonic altar , the simple theology in which nearly all tho world agree , that there is one God and father of all , who is above all , and over all ; and that there is no doubt about the duty of offering prayors , and thanksgiving , and adoration to His ever great , glorious ancl holy name .
Frsemasonry may , very properly , as we thing , be defined as the teaching of a moral scionce by a method peculiarly its own . We unite , iu our teachings to tho initiate , the building of a splendid temple with the practice of morality , friendship and Brotherhoodwe connect with tho creation of this earthly edifico a system of private recognition , useful to onrselves , of obligation ancl protection towards those who aro dear to us , and of continual remembrance of that " mystic temple , " whose
Altars are the mountains and tho ocean—¦ Earth , sky , stars—all that springs from tho great whole Who has produced and will receive the soul . " Wo can well anticipate the inquiry which will , very naturally , bo mado here , by somo learned , independent , free-thinking outsider , ( as the modern phrase has it ) . It will bo something after this manner : _
Symbolism.
Do yon think that all Masons look at this subject from the same point of observation—that they view ifc in the light and shade now exhibited—that they see it as you see ifc , and apply its teachings aa you apply them ? The anticipated iuquiry is both natural and fair . It is one that we wish ifc was in our power , consistently with truth , to answer moro favonrably and more satisfactorily than we aro able to do . We candidly answer :
In ordinary life the difference between industrious and lazy men —between the bee or the ant , and the glutton , are fully recognised . There is no difficulty in approaching ifc . Results are written upon its face , in characters of " living light . " Is ifc strange , then , that the same results should be seen among a class of men professing the same belief , some of whom have laboured with the industry of the
ant , while others have rolled themselves up in the inaotion of the sloth . There is , between studious Masons aud their slothful , uuinquiring brethren , the same difference in the views they take of Masonry as their is between an artist and a peasant in their respective estimations of an old painting—ifc may be a Raphael or a Rubens . The peasant gazes , with stupid wonder , or with cold
indiffereuco , on the canvass redolent with life , without the excitation of a single emotion in his barren soul . Its colours , mellowed to a rich softness by the hand of time aro to him less pleasing than the gaudy tints which glare upon the siga of the village inn ; and its subjects , borrowed from the deep lore of history , or the bold imaginings of posey , are loss interesting to him than tho daubed paiut whioh
hangs conspicuously afc his cottage fireside . Bnb to the eye of the artist how different i 3 the impression conveyed ? To him everything beams with light and beauty . To him it is the voice of nature speaking in tho language of art . Prometheus-like , he sees tho warm blood rushing through the blue veins , and the eye beaming with a
fancied animation . The correctness of the outlines ; the boldness of its fore-shortenings , where the limbs appear to burst from the canvass ; the delicacy of its shadows , aud tho fine arrangement of its lights , are all before him , subjects of admiration on which ho could ever gaze , and examples of instruction which he would fain imitate .
Aud whence arises this difference of impression produced by the same object on two different individuals ? It is not ; from genius alone—for that , unaided , brings no light to the mind , though it prepares it for his reception . Ifc is cultivation which enlarges the intellect aud fits ifc for its reception , and this cultivation we arrive afc as Masons , through instruction by symbols aud legends—by that through which we work closer into the hearts of our fellow-meu than by mere words .
We are informed there will be a very startling innovation introduced in connection with the Stewards' Badges afc the Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . We have reason to believe the new feature will give the greatest satisfaction .
The new Lodge , No . 1677 , bearing the style and title of the Crusaders' Lodge , will be consecrated on Wednesday , the 13 th instant , at St . John ' s Gate Tavern , Clerkenwell . Bro . James Terry , Secretary to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution will officiate on the occasion .
Mark Masonry will hold high festival in Hull on the 12 th instant .
CANTERHURY CATHEDRAL . —Canterbury Cathedral cannot thoroughly be appreciated unless it be studied from a considerable distance ; for its great sizo ancl unusually intricate plan make tho task of apprehending it a difficult one from any near point of view , so that we unconsciously compare only some part , not the whole , with surrounding objects . But when the building is seen in all its
grandeur , rising far above the trees and houses of the town—almost like a mountain of carved stone—dwarfing all surrounding objects , we realise that ifc is indeed worthy to be a mother church of a great country . The Cathedral is certainly most fortunate in it 3 surroundings . The old grey walls and circular tower 3 , which still enclose part of the town , the narrow streets with their picturesque
houses and occasional fragments of ancient buildings , chief among which is the gateway of St . Augustine ' s Abbey , tell of a peaceful present aud an unbroken continuity with the past , and fitly introduce us to the Precinct or Christ Church Gate , an extremely rich and beautiful work of the early part of the sixteenth century . JVe pass throui'h this into tho Close , and at onco obtain one of tho most
striking general views of tho Cathedral . A grassy lawn , bordered with trees , runs all along the southern side , allowing of a much more uninterrupted view than is possible from any other quarter . The central tower rises grandly above tho nave , its firm , simple , yefc graceful linos , contrasting well with the more florid and less
satisfactory outlines of thoso at the western end , the northern of which is quite a modern work replacing an old Norman tower pulled down some forty years since . Immediately in front of us is the fine southern porch , from the earliest times the prinoipal entrance to the Cathedral . —From Picturesque Europe for June ,