All Honour To The Foundations.

fresh and exact as they were when first cut and painted . The base of the paint was red chalk , a natural production , and nearly indestructible by the elements or t n _ o , so that even on Egyptian monuments that are thirty-five centuries

old it is fresh and b' -ight to-day . Tn Bro . Capfain Warren ' s book describing his discoveries , and in Redding ' s " Antiquities of the Orient Unveiled , " these " Masons ' Marks" are exactly pictured and described , and are of the

deepest interest to Freemasons . But interesting as these Marks are—forming right angles , triangles , stars , circles , crosses , triple triangles , & c , and awakening important historical and antiquarian recollections as these

foundationstones do , after all the great lesson they inculcate is taught , as all fche lessons of Freemasonry are taught , symbolically . He who goes beneath the surface to find the deepest , most abiding truth , sees more than the material stones . And

what is this truth ? The fact that , while Solomon ' s Temple , Zernbhabel ' s Temple and Herod ' s Temple—the triad of Temples that have stood on the world ' s chief Masonic ground—have all been swept from the face of

Mount Moriah , so that not a vestige of them remains above the surface of the ground , the foundation stones , as originally laid , continue in place to the present day , and promise to so remain other millennials to come—from which fact we learn ,

that while Freemasonry may tower aloft , a pyramid of degrees , growing smaller and smaller as it rises into the thin air , the topmost shall be the first to fall , and the lowest of all the last to remain—eternal as the foundations upon

which King Solomon , with the aid of the Tynan builders , erected his glorious edifice to the One only living and true God ! Brethren of low degree , Brethren of high degree , and Brethren of all degrees , take note of this fact . The first

three degrees m Masonry are the foundations of the Masonic edifice to-day , and these alone , or these at last surely . like the material foundations of King Solomon ' s Temple , are destined to last for all time . The Master Mason ' s

degree is the suhlime degree , and there is none hie / her , though many others have been superadded . Others beyond are only the original three degrees attenuated and whittled away to a point . So-called " higher degrees "

may be temporarily lifted up in the air , bnt they will not remain . In tho nature of things the last degree will be the first to ' go . Look at the Great Pyramid—truncated . Those Freemasons are most to be envied who value most the

foundations of Masonry , who are most attentive to their Lodge , who attend to its duties first , and others afterwards . How many so called Masonic degrees are there ? It might be safe to say , so many to-day ; but yon could not

say how many there will be to-morrow . New rites , which are assemblages of degrees , are invented without any particular trouble . All a brother has to do is to fancy himself a Solomon , and , presto , the thing is clone . He

may either start a new rite , or revive a defunct opposition to an old rite . Everything and anything is right in the eyes of a modern Solomon . He may improvise a Royal Masonic Rite , a Mrmpbian Rite , an Egyptian Rite , or

what nofc . The field is the world , and the fools are nofc all dead . A certain class are always ready to take any degree offered . Tbe appetite for degrees "grows on what ifc feeds , " and fattens ou " accumulative Masonry , " —

Masonry gone to seed , ancl then soaked and diluted to a ninetieth trituration . What do you think of a Brother who has learned three hundred and sixty-five ways of recognising another Brother ; who understands three

hundred and sixty-five methods of teaching an initiate his duties to his Companions;—who has three hundred and sixty-five manners of investing his loose cash ; who worships with equal facility and seriousness at the altar of

Mohammedanism or the altar of Christianity ; who can one evening as a Templar imagine himself fleshing his sword in an infidel Mohammedan ' s breast , and the next can join his recent affinity in singing praises to Allah !

All this it may be is very curious , very interesting , bnt very inconsistent , and should be very startling . It is "wandering away from the old faith after strange gods . It is covering up the body of Masonry , ancl decking it ancl

smothering it with embarrassing apparel . It is erecting a superstructure which will not endure the trials of time . The basic degrees only are for all time . The foundations of King Solomon ' s Temple to-day typify this fact to

Freemasons . Let us honour these foundations as we should , for we owe to them all that we are , ancl all that we hope to be , as members of that great Free and Accepted Craft which alone as a living fraternal chain encircles the globe . —Keystone .

The Spirit Of Masonry.

THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY .

FEARTH'S greatest teacher has said , "In My Father ' s J house are many mansions . " Wore the gates ajar so thafc we might catch a glimpse of the life within , what a scene would meet our gaze . Hero we are clannish . The Frenchman hates the German , the Irish plot against the

English , tho Yankee suspects the Briton , mountain chains limit our sympathies , rivers determine our antagonisms , and imaginary lines sunder us . There , nations , kindreds , peoples , and strangers dwell together in happiest

fellowship . Here caste rules us , patrician cannot mix with p lebeian ; the one cries , with sneering contempt , " common people ! " the other mutters " privileged classes . " There the prince and the peasant , the capitalist and the hodman ,

the merchant and the menial , meet in fellowship . Here sectarian feelings alienate ; the Jew and the Gentile still stand apart ; the Catholic and the Protestant are bub resting on their arms ; the Episcopalian gives over the

Dissenter to uncovenanted mercies ; the Calviuisfc hedges himself in with the five points , and the Baptist dwells in castellated isolation , surrounded by a moat whose waters no drawbridge ever spans .

There Heaven ' s charity has fused these diverse masses into a divine kinship , and behold how beautiful the unity in which they dwell ! Here sin especially divides . Once sink below the common standard of morality , and the

Church gathers up its black skirts , and inquires , " Doth not your Master know she is a sinner ? " and the world , with a hypocritical leer passes by on the other side . There we find those who washed their robes and made them

white throngh forgiving love . They were sinners ; but the kiss of Divine Love has made them worthy of fellowship with the Just . Such is the spirit of Masonry . Ifc was born in fche heart

of God . Like the Pentecostal fire , it fuses Parthian ancl Medes , dwellers in Mesopotamia , Cretes and Arabians , Jews ancl Gentiles , into unity . Oh , that it might burn more

fiercely , until the antagonisms of race , the hatreds of creed , and the rivalries of business should disappear , and the pure gold of brotherly love remain . —Masonic Advocate ,

The regular monthly meeting of the General Committee of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys was held on Saturday , the 4 th instant , at Freemasons' Hall , London .

The minutes having been confirmed , and those of the House Committee read for information , nineteen petitions from candidates seeking admission to the Institution were

brought under consideration . Of these , fifteen were accepted , one rejected , and the remaining three were left over for fche decision of the Quarterly Court on Monday . Grants in aid of fonr former pupils were agreed to , as also

was the sale of the balance of Four per Cent . India Stock , amounting to £ 3 , 500 , standing fco the credit of the Preparatory School Building Fund . Ifc was announced fchat the Baroness Burdett-Coutts had kindly

consented to preside on the occasion of the laying of the memorial stone of the new Assembly Hall at Wood Green on Tuesday , the 11 th August , ancl a special Committee

was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the day . Notices of motion for the Quarterly Court were handed in , and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman fche proceedings were brought to a close .

Bro . Fehrenbach has just produced photographs of two Fathers in the Craft that are sure to be welcome . Both possess great interest , but the features of Bro . Lovander are no more to be seen in the flesh . This likeness of him

therefore , is now especially timely . It is not only a good specimen of the photographic art , but it reproduces the man as he appeared in Masonic costume , as he was known to many brethren , and as he deserves to be known by all

who love the Order and respect those who have worked to extend and consolidate its usefulness . All we have said of Bro . Levander may be said with equal , if nofc greater force , of Bro . Col . Sir Francis Burdett , with this

diference , that happily the latter is still with us , performing his Masonic duties with a heartiness and relish that ought ro shame many a younger brother . We commend both portraits to our readers , and advise a visit to Bro . Fehrenbach's studio in the Strand .

Death.

DEATH .

CA-vlA . —On Tuesdny , 7 _ h July , at I ! om .. ay , Bit III . E , . _ __ , wife of Brother Pr . . TO-. JEE HORMI ' S . M ; E CU . r .., nnd mother of Hio : P . P . ib .... A .