M* The Jubilee Of The Benevolent Institution.

see a more appropriate method of marking an event which the Craft justifiably regards as one of the most important of the present time . If , however , the Stewards and other advisers of tho Institution do

not . approve of our proposition , we would at least urge them to make a suggestion as to what should be aimed at , as we believe that with a definite programme before the Craft there would be an additional incentive to special effort in all directions .

The first offioial meeting of the Stewards wag held at Freemasons * Hall , on Friday , the 11 th instant , when Bro . Sir John B . Monckton P . G . W . presided . The Board wa 3 formally constituted , and the following Officers were appointed :-r- .

PRESIDENT : B . W . Bro . Sir John B . Monckton P . G . W .

. ACTING VICE-PRESIDENTS : B . W ; Bro . Lord Brooke , M . P ., P . G . M . Essex . ¦ " „ ' ¦¦ ''" „ T . F . Halsey , M . P ., P . G . M . Hertfordshire .

- iV n Col . Le Geudre N . Starkie P . G . M . East Lancashire . . , T . W . Bro . Be * . C . J . Martyn , 31 . A ., Past G . Chaplain . . ' :. i , -,,: , i Horace B . Marshall , J . P ., Past G . Treasurer . ' : ' . ' „ „; F . A . Pbilbrick , Q . C ., Grand Registrar .

. HONORARY TREASURERS : ' , B . V 7 . Bro . Sir Begioald Hanson , Bart , M . P ., P . G . W . . " V . W . Bro . Thomas Fenh President Board of General Purposes . OliAIRMAN ov LADIES' STEWARDS : " W . Bro . Lieut-Col . Georgo Lambert , F . S . A ., P . G . S . B .

HONORARY SECRETARY : W . ' Bro . James Terry P . G . S . B . Sec . of the Institution . lb was rosolred that all Patrons , Vice-Patrons , and Vice-Pre . sidents of the Institution , all Present and Past Grand Officers and All-Present and Past Provinoial Grand Officers , be Vice-Presi-¦

dents , and that on Executive Committee , consisting of 40 London . _ . and 40 Provincial Stewards , with power to add to their nnmber , be appointed to make the necessary arrangements for holding the ' Foatjv ' al ; Bro ! C .. -F . HogardPast G . Stand . Bearer to be tho Chairman

of 'the said Committee . . , Ifc ' was also resolved that tho Steward ' s foo bo £ 2 2 ? , but in the case of Stewards from Foreign and Colonial Lodges , who aro unable to attend tho Festival , and Ladies , £ 1 Is .

Ornamentation Of Solomon's Temple.

ORNAMENTATION OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE .

- " Oa the fop ot the pillar was lily work , " 1 Kings vii . 22 . WE havo in this chapter a graphic description of that splendid temple built by Solomon . God was the architect . The plans and specifications were givon to

Moses on the Mount , and first wrought out in the Taberh ' acTe , afterwards enlarged in the Temple . Whatever originates in Heaven—whatever is designed by the . Great Architect of the Universe—deserves , and demands our attention , ' .. Heavenly things are perfect , and earthly things

should copy after them . God is not only an architect , but a practical builder . He is also a master in art decorations . It fa it significant fact that the Son of God was a carpenter , and the'idea of building and decorating runs through nearly allv / creature Hfel ^ an himself is a builder . He builds

fortunes , houses , cities , empires , but , greater than all , he is

the builder of his own life , and if there be any defect in this wonderfnl Temple called life , the fault is in the builder , not iniHe architect ,, nor in the plans , nor in material , for Gog "is , "the architect and He furnishes the material . He has not only given us the volume of the Sacred Law as

a-text book of life bnilding , but he has given the idea tangible existence in the perfect life of His Son . 1 .- —Solomon'si . Temple was built by foreign skill . The

old . Hebrews were not artists , and Hiram , King of Tyre , sent Solomon the necessary assistance . Hiram Abif , who superintended the work , is said to have been inspired as a cunning workman . : 2 .-rrAt the entrance of the Temple was a porch supported

by two brazen pillars . The one on the right was named

Jaohin , the one on the left Boaz . Jachin literally means " He that strengthens , ' ' or " Will establish ;" . Boaz meana " Iri ; strength . " The two words together signify

' In strength shall this my house be established . " "Symbolizing the eternally continuing fixed relation in which Jehovah stood to His people whom He had redeemed , and among whom He condescended to dwell . "

Following the pillars up to the top we- discover lily work

Ornamentation Of Solomon's Temple.

which adorns the massive columns vrHh exquisite beaufy . Altogether we have in these pillars tho divino idea of a perfect figure — gracefulness , embodied in strength , stability , and beauty . Theso words describe all the works of God . The motion of the universo represents strength ,

its continuity represents stability , its variety of featnre and adornment , beauty . Transfer this thought to the realm of moral life , fand you have the same lesson at its best in tho living person of Christ . There was more force in the glance of His eye , than in

the armoury of Korae . His integrity was immovable as the pillars of Heaven . In deportment , He waa the most beautiful character on record . But we are told that Ho is our pattern , and that in Him is wrought out God ' s idea of human life , strength , stability and beauty . These are the

possibilities in human nature that become realities under the agency of the Holy Spirit , who alone understands the material out of which to build our redeemed manhood . With Him we are to co-operate , and when the perfect fignre of a holy life is wrought out , it will not only be strong and firm , but adorned with beautiful

graces . 3 . —The religion of Christ is a system of culture . It refines the heart , and in that refinement are developed the finest qualities that grace the social world . Such Christ will present at last " without spot or wrinkle or any such

thing . This iB God s method . The strong firm column first , then the lily work . The useful and the fine arts combined . The useful , then the ornamental . The , most perfect toathetic culture is found in the Christian civilisation . In the midnight dark of ages , not only the sciences

but the arts were lost , and returned not till the Eeforination . God built the solid globe first , fixed its mountains securely , established the continents and filled them with the force of life , built up its Masonry of rocks , then carved

out the decorations , forests , orchards , harvest fields , groves , and all the boantiful scenery that fringes the river , and crowns the mountain , and drapes the starlight , and floods tho noontide .

4—The lily work is the culmination of providentially arranged conditions . It is the crown of beauty growing out of the moral character . Out of the self-same material are the pillar and the lily work . Strength , firmness , and beauty . In the rough material we may discover neither ,

but the skilful artist brings out all . That material is an interesting study out of which characters and crowns arc built . As the visitor would look upon those massive pillars , eighteen cubits high and eighteen feet in circumference , he would be inspired with admiration . There is something

commendable even in the healthful physique of the welltrained athlete . " We admire the splendid force , of the battle field , the majesty of government , the great thought of the poet , the philosopher . In these there is a human force divine out of which God is building the temple of

human excellence . Over the foundations of a solid Christian life God is bringing the world to honour . Its strength and beauty , are in the life , not in the symbol , in the character , not in the badge , in regeneration , not in the initiation .

5 . —The lily work ia the last thing to reach ., Tjhe pillars seem to be growing up to the lily . , The life of purity and

beauty is a thing of growth . It begins in ( the new nature born of the Holy Spirit and we by His help are to . bnild it ont . The real beanty of the picture—ite full effect— -is not seen till the last touch of the artist ' s brush . He was

building towards that last touch . The full beanty of the

Christian life is not seen until its graces are matured . 6 . —The foundation that makes this climax a certainty is Faith in God . Faith in God was away back of the Tyrian builders , and the Jewish contractors . No man is a true Mason who does not believe in the existence of God .

Masonry itself could not exist without it , and he who rightly understands Masonry will never be an atheist . The wise man builds bis house on the rock . The mountain must bo strong or it will be shattered by the thunder shock . Faith in God is a necessity . Believe in nothing

and life will be a failure . Every man ' s soul cries ont for the Truth . Myths and fictions will not do for a soul that is to live for ever . God alone is true , and He puts the reality of His own nature into His own works . The

sunshine , the ram , the frost and the dew are factors of Truth , ministers of God , material blessings , carving out the numberless beautiful objects that greet us everywhere in God ' s natural world . And what is the Truth concerning ourselves ? Every true Mason Uvea under the conviction