The Lord Mayor And The Freemasons.

There is yet ample time to swell the total of subscriptions then to be announced , and we hope that all who are able to do so will contribute their share ,

and thus make the presidency of the Lord Mayor at tho first Festival ol * the Masonic Institutions for 1890 as brilliant a success as was his installation on Tuesday last .

Why Freemasonry Exists.

WHY FREEMASONRY EXISTS .

( Continued from page 83 ) . WHEREVER Freemasons have in any time mot in Lodge together , whether in English inns or in open air , in cities or in the camps of armies , or in our latelypeopled villages , where the church , the school-honse ,

and tho Masonic hall , bnildcd side by side , marked the advance of American civilisation on its march across tho continent ; whether in boats on the Bay of Naples , to elude the spies of tho twin tyrannies ; or in Spainunder the bloody Ferdinand , in Russia under a

tolerant czar , in the city of Constantino , permitted by the sultan , in Egypt under tho protection of the Khedive , himself a Mason , or in tho Mohammedan and Parsee Lodges of Bombay under tho Provincial Grand Lodge of Scotland ; whether in its youth , or since it has

grown to its present estate of ripening manhood , there have always been present in the Lodge , as Inspectors of the Work , those divinities , beautiful and gracious , the Spirit of Brotherhood , Trustfulness in tho beneficence of God , tho Love of Truth , fleet-footed Charity , largc-souled

Tolerance , and warm-hearted Loving-Kindness , whoso presence has made the most plainly-furnished Lodge in camp or frontier village radiant with a greater beauty than that which adorns tho chambers of luxury in the palaces of kings .

It is often said that Masonry is not a religion . If it bo said that it is not Christianity , not Hebraism , not Mohammedanism , not Parseeism , this is true ; but there was religion in the world before any of those wore ; and if the faith of the enlightened thinkers of Greece and Rome ,

of Egypt and India , who believed that there was one Divine Creator and Preserver of the Universe , its Lord or Ruler , revering and adoring Him ns beneficent and wise ; and that the intelligent soul of man did not cease to be , at

tho death of the body;—if this was a religion , surely Freemasonry , having the same belief and trustful reverence , is likewise a religion , within the definitions of the Apostle James and the Prophet Isaiah , and by the declara - tion of Christ himself as to that which was " all tho Law

and the Prophets . " When the railing accusation is brought against Freemasonry , that it is hostile to lawful government , a Mason need make no other reply than this : That as our Institution is the faithful hand-maiden of religion

whenever that which calls itself religion claims only the power to teach and persuade , and does not pretend to the right to persecute , or exert itself to overcome republican or constitutional government , so everywhere , Freemasons , individually and collectively , are loyal and active

supporters of such governments , in all the American republics , in France and Switzerland , in Great Britain and Denmark , in Sweden and Norway , in the Netherlands and Bel gium ,

in Brazil , in Germany and Spain and Portugal , in Hungary and Italy and Greece ; for fidelity and loyalty , and peace and order , and subordination to lawful authorit y are the household gods of Freemasonry .

No human institution lives long without changes in its organic structure , in the processes of its action , in its forms and methods , and even in its principles once regarded as essential and unchangeable . The restless activity of humanity makes stability impossible . From

the common lot of all Freemasonry is not exempt ; but , in the main , has stood upon the old ways , and thence made progress . The constitutions of civil government and political organisation , whether written , or broadened from precedent to precedent , change more in a score of years

than Masonry has changed in a century . For the most part , it has adhered to the spirit , if not altogether to tho letter of the Old Charges and Regulations—too much , perhaps , in some things , in which it might bo better if the letter of the old law governed it less , and its spirit more . The field of Masonic labour is as wide as the world is ;

Why Freemasonry Exists.

and everywhere in it the toilers in tho sun will find work enough to do , and the same old enemies to overcome . No matter under what forms the workmen organise themselves to attain that concentration of effort in which strength consists and on which success depends , no matter in what

degrees each organisation embodies its teachings , making each a lcpson for its affiliates , no matter what form of government or modes of administration each may adopt , there should bo harmony and allied action among all , if the work of all is Masonic work , if tho degrees of all aro

lessons of Masonic truth , and if tho aim and end and purpose of the labours of all are the same . For the different divisions of Masonry into Rites and Orders are like streams that flow from one great inexhaustible fountain . If in one flows tho morality of

MasoTuy , in another the high principles and noble sentiments and heroic aspirations of chivalry , and in another tho philosophy which it has as heir of tho ancient ages , these streams may glide peacefully onward side by side , each with healing in its waters for tho ills of humanity ; for tho

mission of all is tho same , and there is no antagonism , and ought to bo no rivalry between them , and no claim of superiority by ono over tho other . One cannot be made to flow more amply by the diminution of tho other , nor is cither higher , greater , or nobler than the other .

All the Rites and Degrees that can justly claim to bo in their character and essence Masonic—all that have become invested by the common consent and long possession with that character , aro animated by the same great purpose , and have the same high objects . All labour to strengthen

tho ties of Masonic brotherhood , all insist upon tho observance of Masonic vows , strict performance of duty in all the relations of life , tho absolute right of every man to obey the dictates of his own conscientious convictions ; upon obedience to the divinely enacted laws of truth ,

justice , right , duty , and honour , upon tho foregoing of revenge and tho forgiveness of injuries , upon charitable judgment and opinion , generous deeds , and virtuous and decorous lives ; and no Rite will sustain any real loss by the denial to it of the

title " Masonic , " if it enforces the performance of Masonic duty , strengthens the ties of Masonic brotherhood , is animated by the true spirit and imbued by tho true

principles of Freemasonry , and labours faithfully to achieve Masonic ends , under Masonic forms , and by Masonic methods . Such a Rite or Order will be Masonic , whether called so or not .

Surely there is nothing in the world that has the power to create , between men living in different countries , speaking different tongues , and never seeing the faces nor hearing the voices of each other , an affection so warm and constant as that of Mason for Mason .

Also Freemasonry not only brings together , as nothing else in the world can , men who without it would never have known each other , bub it creates mutual liking and

esteem where without it one man , on account of political or religious differences , would have lived and died in the firm belief that the other was not fit to be either liked or esteemed .

In the current intercourse of the world , men too commonly turn the worst side of their nature outward , because the influences exerted upon human nature by the pursuits and rivalries and ambitions of human life are for the most part harmful . In our ordinary life we too generally see men at

their worst , they being unjust to themselves . In our Masonic intercourse wo see them at their best ; they are just to themselves , and we find reason to like and admire many whom , but for the brotherhood created between us

and them by Freemasonry , we should always have believed insincere , dishonest , malicious , or unjust . It is as tr uo a saying as ever was said , that it is a great excellence of human nature , and a great gift to it from God , to be able to discern the good that is in other men .

It is the high duty of a Mason to seek for and find the good that there is in human nature , and , by knowing men , and especially those of the Household of tho Faithful , better , to like and value them more ; and above all . to

cherish a conviction as strong and stedfast as if it were written by the finger of Deity upon our souls , that no difference of religious belief or of political principle , how great soever cither may be , can make a brother less worthy of our loving regard and sympathy .

I have lately for the first time learned that fully half a score of men whom I well knew fifty years and more ago —some of whom I liked and some disliked—were Masons .