Ever Beneficently Advancing.

EVER BENEFICENTLY ADVANCING .

( Continued from page 229 . ) DIGRESSING for a moment , we are specially reminded of that faithful three whose integrity and fidelity the furnace of persecution could not destroy ; and moro fiery recently of that fourth person having a divine aspect , and who was seen with them amidst the flames . The manifest

interposition of Providence through the faith of those three worthy companions , recalled the arrogant king to his senses . Calling the men to come out of the furnace , and declaring his belief in the God of Judah , he issued a decree to the effect that no man should , in future

question his almighty power . Returning to the subject , it is clear that whatever may be the other high purposes of Christianity , ono was to provide a new religion for this new period . Its whole texture was evidently intended for a more advanced time

than the era of governments acting solely by the pressure of irresponsible power . Its constant appeals to the common sense of man , its demands on the exercise of personal judgment , its declarations of the general

accountability , and its promises of futnre glory to all orders of men alike , in proportion to the performance of their duty here , contain at once all the essentials of human freedom , and all the loftier excitements which can awaken the hnman mind to the

most vivid exertion of its talents and virtues . The patriarchal was the earth , prepared to receive the seed , ox Jewish period , whioh germinated and blossomed in the

Masonio , and ripened into fruit in the Christian . This religion , too , was given about five hundred years before the time for which it was specially designed—that of the European kingdom .

In the brief space to which we are limited in these pages allusion can only be made to its palpable effect in creating a series of questions of the highest importance to mankind , yet which had never occurred before ; the education of the people , the improvement of their condition , the general

elevation of their habits , and the relief of their necessities

nnder the various circumstances of human suffering . Tho first declaration of the meek and humble Founder of this new system was , that he came to heal the spiritual and physical maladies of the multitude , commencing by that direct and most comprehensive of all mercies—the

preaching of the Truth to tho poor and needy . His whole career was an exemplification of this announcment ; from day to day he alike healed disease and preached the Gospel , the pure spirit of which gave a new impulse to Masonry . That -which was only operative became , by the

moral teachings of the new reli gion , also speculative . If , by the former , men , from seeking shade and shelter under the trees of the forest soon folt the necessity and saw the utility of learning a science which taught them how to

erect buildings , either for habitation or defence ; so , by the latter , were they instructed " to subdue their passions , act upon the square , keep a tongue of good report , maintain secrecy , and practise charity . "

As there was an intervening period of light between the second and third periods , so there was one of darkness between the advent of Christ and the fall of Rome .

Christianity did not accomplish all its purposes ; the world still suffered under barbarian ignorance during the middle ages , and would havo suffered still more from despotism , but for Masonry , the handmaid of the new ' religion . A long night of worse than Cimmerian darkness began to

overspread the world upon the destruction of the greatest of earthly kingdoms , and the sun of science was not again seen above the horizon for ei ght hundred years . From tho yearof Christ , 450 , to that of 1500 , did the dark ages continue ; even then the luminary did but peep upon the

world , and until three more centuries had passed , his light shone but through clouds . To the early Christian Freemasons we are indebted for all that we now possess of the writings of the ancients , whether religions , moral , historical or scientific . Solel y did these worthy brethren , in the

retired cells of their monasteries , secretly foster what may be called the embers of humane and physical learning . Saving what they were able in the way of manuscripts , they multiplied thorn in their hours of leisure : and to

many sound scholars among them we are indebted for the accuracy of the copies and the light thrown upon the text by judicious annotations . We must not wonder if , when these precious relics were recovered and understood , fchey

Ever Beneficently Advancing.

should excite a veneration which many centuries in addition have only tended to strengthen aud perpetuate . The documents were found to contain more sublime and elegant poetry ; more refined , yet nervous , eloquence ; mora brilliant , pointed , aud ingenious wit ; above all , profounder

views of law , criticism , and philosophy , than had been dreamed of since the subversion of civilization . In these treasures , tha human heart , with its springs of action , its secrets and its depth , has been depicted with the finger of truth by the lovers of truth—the Freemasons of tho

fourteenth and fifteer + h centuries . If there were any * tung wanting to elevate t io human character to its proper standard of excellence , . t was thc foundation of that religions and military Order called tbe Templars , which was established at the holy city of

Jerusalem in tho beginning of the twelfth century . Their dress was a whito habio , with a red cross sewed upon the cloak . Thoy lived a most rigid life , and dedicated themselves to God . Thoir object was not only the

protection of the holy sepulchre , and the thousands of pilgrims who flocked thither to pay their homage to the tomb of thoir Redeemer , but also to fulfil what Jamos , the servant of God , had admonished : " Pure religion and undefiled before God and tho Father is this—to visit the

fatherless aud widows m their affliction , and to keep himself unspotted from the world . " This was the origin of true chivalry . " About the time of the Knights Templar , chivalry had arrived at its highest perfection . It , had its existence ,

indeed , prior to this period ; but as it continued to influence the minds of men long after the destruction of that unhappy Order , it was thought proper to defer its consideration till the present stage of our history . When chivalry made its appearance , the moral and political

condition of Europe was , in every respect , deplorable ; the religion of Jesus existed only in name ; a degrading superstition had usurped its place , and threatened ruin to the reason and the dignity of man ; the political rights of the lower orders were sacrificed to the interests of the great

war was carried on with a degree of savage cruelty equalled only by the sanguinary contentions of the beasts of prey ; no clemency was shown to the vanquished—no humanity to the captive ; the female sex were sunk below their natural level ; they wero doomed to the most laborious occupations ,

and v . ree deserted and despised by that very sex on whose protec-aion and sympathy they have so natural a claim . To remedy these disorders , a few intelligent and pious men formed an association , whose members swore to defend the Christian religion , to practise its morals , to protect widows ,

orphans , and the weaker sex , and to decide judiciously , aud not by arms , the disputes which might arise about thoir goods or effects . It was from this association , undoubtedly , that chivalry arose , and not , as somo think , from the public investiture with arms , which was customary

among the ancient Germans . But whatever was its origin , chivalry produced a considerable change in the manners and sentiments of the great . It could not , indeed , eradicate that ignorance and depravity which engendered thoso awful evils which we have already enumerated . It has

softened , however , the ferocity of war . It has restored the fair sex to that honourable rank which they now possess , and which , at all times , they are entitled to hold . It has inspired those sentiments of generosity , sympathy , and friendship , which have already contributed very much to the civilisation of the world . "

Recollections of great events that have contributed to the welfare and improvement of mankind , are attended with two important effects : they awaken our sensibility to the benefits they have occasioned , and have a tendency to inspire us with snch dispositions as are adapted to the

share we take in those transactions and the advantages we obtain thereby . The recollection , for instance , of the discovery of the Law , in the reign of Josiah , reminds us , at the same time , of the great struggle made by the

faithful of the Lord , in thc fifteenth and sixteenth centuries , for the translation of the Bible into the vernacular , by and through which , so many great advantages have accrued to the Church in regard to our knowledge and our liberty . This recollection must likewise serve to confirm us in our

love of Freemasonry , and excite us to the imitation of that goodness and generosity which wo admire in the faithful servants of God , who were helpmates in that g lorious cause , and animate us also to persevere in the wise and Masonic principles on which they undertook and pursued that work so completely perfected by the new dis-