This Grand Edifice.

ancient Jewish priesthood , and to the mysteries of Mithras of Persia , when they invested their candidates with the white apron as a mark of honour ; to the Essenes , who clothed their novices with a white robe , and among the early Christians who used it as a mark of fellowship . Hence , it covers , by reference , a great period of time , and symbolically places these ages side by side , while each and every reference is substantiated by authentic history .

But the teaching of this badge of a Mason touches periods of time far subsequent to the apron itself . In teaching of its honour it refers to the Golden Fleece , an order organised in A . D . 1429 ; to the order of the Star , organised in 1350 ; and to that of the Garter , an order of society , of A . D . 1193 . Now , as we look at the long line of the ages embodied here , reaching back from hundreds nf

years before Solomon to more than two thousand years after , we can only feel that a part of our mental memento must fade away . But antiquity is not the thought of the teaching of the apron in its symbolic blending of the ages . The importance is not how the workmen at the Temple wore it , but its mark as a badge of honour , in the moral power of its symbolic teaching . Here is the emblem of human and

divine purity . Here is brought in contrast with moral purity the honours and distinctions of men . Here are the

garbs of the princes of tbe realm—the royal purple and scarlet of those who sat upon the exalted thrones of empires and kingdoms . The marks of honour of the warrior from the field of carnage , where he won the laurels he justly wears upon his brow , brought into beautiful contrast with the humble peasant or civilian wearing the white badge of innocence , in which we are taught that great and worthy as the renowned warrior may have been , grand and beautiful as the crown he wore , great and mighty as the power tho throned monarch wielded , yefc these honours and powers are not comparable with the merits of him who worthily wears the snowy emblem as the testimony of a pure heart and conscience before God and bis fellow man . We pass then in our degrees over other events of history equally diverse as to time . 2 . The reference to the plumb-line found in the Book

of Amos and used in our work , was not written by that author until two hundred and twenty-seven years after Solomon . The mausoleum of Artemisia was not built until near seven hundred years after , nor the Temple of

Diana until two hundred and sixty-five years after his day . 3 . Then we go back to the days when the heroic followers of Jephthah demanded the shibboleth at the banks of the Jordan , B . C . 1139 ; to the time when men ascended the winding stair within the temple walls ; when they stood between the grand pillars of the massive porch ; when the makers of a covenant passed between the

dismembered parts of a lamb as a seal to their compact ; when priests bowed in holy reverence before the outspread roll of Holy Writ ; when men cut and carved the memories of history and the conduct of their great upon the walls and columns of their majestic temples , and upon moveable rocks and fragments of parchment to be hidden away in the secret archives of their nation ; to that time when David sang his songs of joy in the beautiful strains of

Hebrew melody and in the harmony or Hebrew verse ; when the Hebrews and Gentiles marched alike to their altars of sacrifices and worship , charmed by the strains of sacred music . We pause before the grandeur of the pyramids ; the gorgeous splendour of the temple of the Epbesians : at the magnificent porch of the temple of Solomon and beneath the Colossus at Rhodes ; before the grand architecture of the earlier and later times , and read the lessons of man ' s wisdom and power , and the wonderful

teachings of God to man that span those great lapses of time . But look where we may , it is not antiquity that stands out prominently , but the inherent qualities and value of Freemasonry ' s precepts that claim our attention and enrich her character , endear her to her votaries , and enable her to speak with power to the higher character of human intellect . Every page of her history glows with

sparkling gems of moral worth ; every symbol speaks a volume of truth , as applied to man ' s life and destiny . We are elevated by the thought that the earthly is but the stepping-stone to the heavenly life—that our Lodge below is but the type of that Lodge above . Everywhere she appeals to man ' s higher sense of moral power . The theorists of the second class argue that upon tho accession of Numa to the Roman throne he organised

This Grand Edifice.

guilds from which in the lapse of ages Masonry has grown , if this be true , we here trace architecture and tho guilds through long periods of time , until the priests of the new and rising faith wrested the leadership from the laity , and then again the laity from the priesthood . Then on until a

central head was established , from whose trestleboard all designs were given to the builders in all lands , meeting exactly the thought taught in the Lodge . Then on through all the lands of Europe—through toil and trial—under the favouritism and tyranny of kings and emperors ; in their Lodges at the rising and the setting of the sun ; in their songs and pravers ; under their patron saints and leaders

of their work ; in their united brotherhood , and identified by their grips , words and signs , and moving in their work from land to land where they obtained Master ' s wages ; in their investiture , circumambulation—rights of freeman and

observance of their many forms and ceremonies , and under their leadership of one delegated body , all of which is a perfect counterpart of the teaching of to-day—in their belief in and worship of their God , and the adornment of

themselves with the badge of innocence as their mark of honour . If this theory could be proven we might then find the blending of the guilds with tho early Lodge of A . D . 926 , the Freemasons of 1350 , and finally perhaps the nucleus around which was the organisation of the Lodge of

A . D . 1717 , from which results the present form of Masonry , and which really gives us a great antiquity . — Voice of Masonry . ( To be continued ) .

The Symbol Of Wisdom.

THE SYMBOL OF WISDOM .

THE following take-off on the intense desire of an uneducated , but ambitious , brother , who had earnestly laboured to become the Master of his Lodge , and who was finally permitted to represent King Solomon in tho East , was told at a banquet not many years ago , and called forth more good humour from tho late presiding officer who had

stepped down and out than from any of the other members . " Our election reminds me of a little story about ' The Tail and the Head of an Old Serpent , ' the Symbol of Wisdom , when at eventide the cunning old fellow was coiling himself up for a nap , and placing his Head in the centre left the Tail outside to keep guard . To this the Tail took exception and complained , that through long weary years he

had followed the Head over mountain and valley , bog and fen , never before complaining , but now he wished to . rebel and be somebody in the family , and would prefer to lead . The Head complimented the Tail for his long obedient service , and said he could raise no objection , and would willingly submit to follow . Off darted the Tail , the Head following , over the bog and the lake most successfully and joyously . The Tail made

straight for a beautiful cane brake , dense as brush and briar could make it . Through the twigs and under the roots it bent its way , the silent Head obeying . But the roots and brambles grew thicker and closer , and the Tail wriggled and scratched , and , in pain and suffering , at last found itself an immovable prisoner . It was then it cried

aloud , 'in accents wild , ' to the Head for extrication . The Head took command aud drew the Tail out of its difficulty easily and readily . "—Hebrew Leader .

The ceremony of installation will be rehearsed by Bro . John Jacobs , W . M . 1614 , at the Covent Garden Lodge of Instruction , No . 1614 , held at the Bedford Head Hotel , Maiden-lane , Covenfc Garden , W . C ., on Thursday evening , the 31 st instant , at eight o ' clock .

The following Festivals were held at the Freemasons ' Tavern during the week ending Saturday , 19 fch December 1885 : -

Monday—St . George and Cornerstone Lodge , University Chapter . Tuesday—Enoch Chapter , Royal York Chapter , Cadogan Lodge . Wednesday— Noviomagus . Thursday—Great Northern Lodge , Qloba Lod » e . Friday—London , Aberdeen , Banff and Kincardine Association Ball " Jordan Lodge , Odd Volumes . Saturday—Tottenham House Ball !

£ 20 . — TOBACCONISTS COMMENCING . —An illustrated guide ( 110 J pages ) " How to Open Respectably from £ 20 to £ 2000 . " 3 Stamps . H . MTESS & Co . Cigar and Tobacco ^ Mercbants , 109 Euston Road , London . Wholesale only . Telephone No . 7641 .