Harmony.

HARMONY .

THE basis of Masonry is harmony . Whenever discord enters a Masonic Lodge confusion follows . Sometimes the members of a Lodge , through " private piques and quarrels , " carry their personal differences into the Lodge and annoy their Brethren with matters which they themselves should reconcile in that spirit of brotherly love which is so forcibly taught in the Masonic ritual .

Differences among men must necessarily arise , because of the difference of temperaments , but if all Freemasons would but heed the lessons taught them , they might settle all their disputes outside the sacred precincts of the Lodge room , and by so doing avoid producing discord where harmony should always prevail .

Behold ! how good and how pleasant is unity ; greets the ears of the novitiate on the very threshold of Masonry . Why is it that so many Freemasons seem to let these words " go into one ear and out the other ?" Harmony is the support of all civil institutions , and they prosper in proportion to the degree in which harmony prevails .

Brethren of the Mystic Tie , contemplate with thoughtfulness this sublime truth , and see that your hearts foster not evil . If you have a difficulty with your Brother , go to him and endeavour to effect a reconciliation . If he be a true Freemason he will meet you half way . If he does not , you may enjoy the supreme happiness consequent to the thought that you have done your dutv . —" Pacific Mason . "

Justice.

JUSTICE .

AS one of the four cardinal virtues Ireemasonry enjoins that ' justice shall be practiced among her votaries . She defines it as being " That standard or boundary of right , which enables us to render unto every man his just due , without distinction . This virtue is not only consistent with divine and human Jaws ,

but is the very cement and support of civil society ; and as justice in a great measure constitutes the really good man , so should it be the invariable practice of every Mason never to deviate from the minutest principle thereof . " A great truth and an equally •great lesson , but how has it been learned and observed ?

In ordinary conversation and in every day life , there is no word more often used than that which heads this article . It is indeed " familiar to our mouths as household words , " and every one in employing it believes that it expresses fully the idea intended to be conveyed . Yet how little exploration is made into

the exact definition of the term . Webster defines it as " Bendering or disposed to render each one his due . Not doing wrong to any . " In tbePandecks of the great Justinian it is " The constant and perpetual disposition to render to every man his due . " Aristotle presents its meaning to be the " granting to every person that share of good or evil to which his merit entitles him . "

Martineau , Sedgwick , Mill , Spencer and others have all subjected it to their various views , with the result that harmony of definition has never been altogether reached by the various schools of philosophy . This difference may , however , be accounted for in the fact that the word is so widely used ; its thousand and one applications cannot be covered by any particular definition .

In an article as necessarily brief as this must be this virtue can only be treated in' the most summary manner , and the excuse , if any be needed , for commenting upon this greatest cf virtues , is that in the present day and generation its teachings have been overlooked and openly cast down , and selfishness and oppression hold sway . Men have not only neglected but absolutely tried to banish it from their lives . Their words and actions are not

governed by the Golden Eule , but each puts forth every energy to overreach , and in some way get the better of his neighbour . Integrity and upright conduct has become a hiss and a byword in the world , and Freemasonry's skirts have been contaminated and made unclean by contact with the evil . But it shall not be always

so . Eetribution and outraged justice shall conquer at last . " The mills of God grind slowly , but they grind exceeding small , " and the oppressor and the wrongdoer cannot escape just punishment . In considering this virtue we find that the English word Justice is derived from the Latin jus , meaning right , and signifies that which

is right or due between parties . Thus in commercial dealings there is established the relationship of d . ebtor and creditor , and Justice applies to the sum due from one to another and exacts that such debt be paid , causing the cancellation of such obligation .

It is , however , in the moral sense that this virtue takes its highest position . In the moral world Justice is as essential as space is to the material world ; it constitutes its greatest requirement . We look at a well kept garden and observe how

harmoniously each plant and flower receives life , and warmth from the sun , all because they are properly spaced off from each other . If these flowers and plants were huddled against each other , the garden would soon become a place of wild conlusion with no

Justice.

semblance of order ; so Justice is required in the human world to properly space off its various classes to diffuse the rights of each . From the hour when Abel was brutally murdered by the pitiless hand of iiis brother , before the altar of his sacrifice , down through all the ages to the present day , the cry has been—not for pity , generosity or forbearance—but for Justice . This cry , as

some one has said , has been wrung from " millions oppressed by despots , from battle-fields where men die in torture to help the ambition of tyrants and tighten the children ' s chains , from homes desolate and brutalised , from prison depths and wide wastes of ignorance and the crowded shops of halt paid toil . " Their cry is not for chanty to lessen their misery , but for " simple justice , their rights and their liberties . "

Justice is not confined to or limited to the use of property . The greatest of all English dramatists has said : " Who steals my purse , steals trash : 'tis something , nothing ; 'Twas mine , ' tis his , and has been slave to thousands ; But ne that filches from me my good name , Robs me of that , which not enriches him ,

And makes me poor indeed . " A greater than Shakespeare has given us the injunction : " Sender , therefore , to ail their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due , custom to whom custom , fear to whom fear , honour to whom honour . " Therefore the use of Justice is as applicable to a man ' s character as to his purse . Perhaps more applicable when we consider Justice as a moral attribute—the disposition to do what

is just . Taking our stand upon the great fact that this disposition to be j ust proceeds from the perfect wisdom of God , it becomes a form of benevolence just as grace and mercy . The latter indeed has no existence except from justice . Justice , then , is a part of God's holy character , being a modified form of His love . It is His benevolence that prompts Him to " do justly " as well as to

" . love mercy . " That God is perfectly just is frequently and most explicitly set forth in the Scriptures , in Genesis xviii - \ 5 we read , " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " and in Deut . xxxii 4 , "A God of truth and without iniquity , just and right is He . " Further He has expressly commanded His creatures to be just . Solomon says , " To do justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice . "

The importance and far reaching character of God ' s command of justice upon mankind cannot be over estimated . To the individual it brings vexation or peace , as he departs from its path or steadfastly pursues its track . It manifests a bitter experience to him who deviates from it . " There is no peace , saith my God , ' to the wicked . " The lack of peace is the first

penalty the wicked have to euaure who work injustice . The silent monitor , that " still small voice , " of conscience , is the tnljunal from which no doer of injustice can escape . Eichard III ., reckless of right , dead to all moral obligation and hardened to the voice of conscience , was at last brought to bay by the terrible dream he had on ttie night before Bos worth .

Thus is illustrated that the Divine injunction must be obeyed or punishment shall surely follow its infringement . Every other law , every other tribunal may be evaded but this . The history of nations illustrates the same truth , because of a long continued departure from justice they have been cast away , and the place where once they were knows them no more . Sodom and Gomorrah , Nineveh , Babylon , Athens and Borne all have fallen from the same cause .

Men shudder and shrink in fear from the justice of God . But it is the knowledge of guilt that makes them do so . How else could they fear and shrink back before the One who will do exactly and forever right ? Of the many sides of God ' s character there is found mildness , forbearance , and compassion , in the exercise of which He forgives

iniquity , and blots out transgression and an . Suppose all of Gou ' s character was made up of these milder traits , so that injuries and offences could go unpunished . Such a character would not be perfect . Without justice as a balance He would be altogether oue-sided . Tnere would be no just proportion , no perfection . He could not be the Supreme Architect of the

Universe . His character would be deformed and defective . Such a God is not the God of . Nature or of Scripture , nor of Freemasonry , and has no foundation or existence outside of man ' s imagination . The great God of Heaveu aud earth is a just God . " Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne . " Aud His justice must De satisfied before He may exercise His mercy . — " American Tyler . "

The Altar In Masonry.

THE ALTAR IN MASONRY .

OL course this portion of the Lodge furniture is but one of the symbols oi Masomc philosophy , aud is not to be classed among the structures erected for strictly religious purposes , else would Freemasonry cease in its universality as the custodian of liberal conscience , and become a mere representative of sect or