Lessons In Freemasonry.

thought of fraternity , for we are of one family , and God * is onr father . The tiling that man is constantly saying shows , in some measure , the bent of his mind and the strucrutc of his heart . Men are nofc hypocrites by nature . This constant

appeal to God for help is not all cant . It expresses the honest desire of the soul . Rut the truth of God ' s presence and nature ns portrayed in these rites and emblems that we

use is broader aud deeper than even the mosb zealous among us are apt to imagine . Not merely as a general principle , bufc as a vitalizing force , this thought of God abides .

From the time when on bended knee you said yonr trust was in Him , until with hands and hearts closely interlocked you breathed the name of " Emmanuel ; " there is no single step thafc does not remind you of some tie thafc binds the

life below to the life above . I need not repeat them here . Thafc which is lost from out the graces and powers of life , by the usurping force of sin , is but tho influence of that sacred name . That which is found , as a nobler manhood

builds anew the temple of a redeemed character , is but the thought of God . Man is strongest when he feels the touch of the divine life ; when earth seems to be reaching up and blending into heaven . Ah ! my brothers , I cannot toll you

how , but in some way the thought of God is a power in human life . There is something in it . which speaks of victory , and peace and rest . I may be told thafc I cannot ,

know that God exists , that these emblems which are said to portray his attributes are bnt imaginations and fancies ; that the mission of " the immaculate Jesus " was bnfc a

dream of human theology ; that tbe story of tbe cross is bufc a scheme on which to build a chnrch ; but my inmost soul repudiates the carping unbelief , and I know that love

and truth and life , thrilling as they do my very nature , are from a hi gher source , than anything T . see in matter . In the midst of tho conflict I meet the " all-devouring scythe of time . " I see the emblems of death . I feel the blow of

contention and hate . Bnfc beyond them all . on the wings of faith I rise , and there , by the borders of "the silent sea , " I read the promise of eternal life— " In hoc signo vinces " ¦ — and I am afc rest . For more than a quarter of a century ,

I have seen the working of th s Order . Ifc has brought , me nothing but good . And although I have not always reached its high ideal , yet I cannot bufc acknowledge that it has been the so ' ace of many a weary honr , and a

revelation of some of the noblesfc fcraits of human character . Jesus said of some men of bis time , " By their fruits ye shall know them . " I am willing to let this institution , whose very name we love , stand on that foundation . Its

first and last lesson is this— " Be True ! True to thyself ; to thy nei ghbour ; to thy God . " Whafc canst thou ask of mortal man more than this ?—Bev . Bro . T . E . St . John ; in The Liberal Freemason .

Masonry's Centre Of Union.

MASONRY'S CENTRE OF UNION .

HOWEVER remotel y the ori gin of Freemasonry may be traced traditionally , or from material monumentg and remains , the fondest associations to members of the Fraternit y are those which cluster around the City of

'Jerusalem—the glorious setting , in which was placed that gem of gems , King Solomon ' s Temple . Our Oraffc to-day centres upon ifc our attention as Freemasons—not that other objects are nofc worthy of our regard , bufc that this one

comprehends within itself all of those elements from which way be deduced the high symbolic lessons which our Graft filone is privileged to uniquely enunciate , and to enforce With an almostTnirnnnlnnK TH-ITVCIT . WTiaf n „ , ' * » + U „ .

. I . . _ „ w , - uijivn Jerusalem was ! Although often deemed impregnable , it Presents a history unexampled in the number of its sieges , "i-fid scores of times ifc was captnrrd . But its chief characteristic consisted in the fact that , it was a centre of union . . - - ----- . „ ..... , „ v , ^ : iui ^ \ J , l \ ll \\ JU

_ y * hat it was at the beginning to the Jebnsites—a mountain fortress , whither they rallied for the preservation of their ^ liorifcy over tlie surrounding country ; what it was fco ¦ K-ing David—the base for his military operationsand a

, centre of union for Judah and Israel ; what , it was , in the Phrase of the eloquent Bishop de Vitry , the historian of the Crusades—" situated in the centre of tlie world , in the fiddle of the earth , so that all men may torn their steps warci

- s tier ; tbat , and far more than that , it , is to Free-¦ Masons . It is not only our city , the city of King Solomon ' 'd the two Hirarus—and surel y they were citizens of no n 'ean city ; " the city whence we came , as the new Jeru-

Masonry's Centre Of Union.

salem is the city whither we are going . " All this would be sufficient to make ifc symbolically a centre of union to the Craft . But ifc is material , and we are no longer actually its citizens ; hence it is a symbol to us of

something greater than itself , as the thing signified always is greater than the sign . The spirit of confraternity is fche centre of union to Freemasons to-day , and has ever been , even when the city of Jerusalem was the local habitation

of the Craffc . Cities deemed impregnable have often been left in shapeless ruins , but , an idea , having essential truth . for its corner-stone , is for ever invulnerable . This is the secret of the perpetuity of Freemasonry . Why is it that

the crates of boll shall not prevail against tho Church of tho living God ? Why is it that the waves of fanaticism , the storms of Anti-Masonry , the jealous , bitter enmity of the papacy , and the puerile opposition of ignorant man ,

have one and all failed to make more than the barest temporary impression upon the edifice of Masonry , which stands the shook of opposition with the firmness of Mount Moriah itself ? It , is because ifc is founded upon , and

is the apostle of indestructible , imperishable , immortal Truth . Do men and nations lament fche lost estate of the City of David ? The lost shall be found , the fallen city restored . The former joy of the whole earth shall be so

once a ^ ain . Bufc glorious as ifc was , and shall be again , it is only a type of a city greater than it , of that " new Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from God . " The Church of fche living God was built upon the rock ,

Mount ; Moriah , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it . Tbe Church of a later age , the Church of Peter , was the ¦ tame Church , founded npon the same rock and the same immortal Truth , and the life and prosperity of the one is

the life and prosperity of the other . Jerusalem is also the city of Freemasons , and therefore they shall endure , for fche same reason , thafc it shall be glorified again , and made eternal in the Heavens . Happy Jerusalem , happy Freemasons , happy Truth !

In the phrase of patriotism how often do we hear it asserted , " I know no north , no south , no east , no west . " Is ifc too much fco say that no one but a Freemason can

truthfully pronounce this sentiment ? Masons ^ have no compass ; they know no points of geographical divergence . A Freemason is of kin to the whole world of Masons . You

are no less a Brother to a Mason in India or Australia than you are fco a Mason in Pennsylvania or New York . Whoever has knelt afc Masonry ' s altar any where on the face of the earth , is to every other Mason a Brother beloved .

We have no compass—south is to us as north , east as west ; bnfc we have compasses , and these sweep around , and include within their mystic circle , every living Freemason linked to the Craffc by the living tie of Masonry . This

wonderful Masonic implement annihilates time aud space . Three thousand miles separate you and your English . Brother , but the moment you meet you know each other , and blood could not bind you together more strongly than

your mutual stedfast vow . Our compasses have thenpivotal centre every where , and their sweep is around the habitable g lobe . Is there another centre of union which can match . Freemasonry in its pervading brotherhood ? —Keystone

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Crown Svo , price 2 s 6 d , cloth lettered . ImfOTfift $ i gtowk vgiixml i \ m \ § UmumL By Bro . JAMES STEVENS , P . M ., P . Z ., & e . " Hay be read with advantage by the whole Craft . "—Sunday Times . " Irand lodge should at once set to work to secure the desired uniformity . " —Sheffield I'ost . " The subject is ably argued by the author . "—Western Daily Mercury . " Useful and valuable in the highest degree . "—" Eider Gazette . " Will havo a material effect on the future of Masonic Ritual . "—South Western Star . " The author adduces many valuations in the language used by different Preceptors "—t'w ' i Monthly Legal Circular . " Ought to be intlie hands of every ILison . "—Xorthamptou Guardian . " To Freemasons generally it will be found useful and valuable , nnd wc command ir , to their notice accordingly . "—Murrey Count ;; Uhxe . rccr . " Uro . Stevens' motion for a Committee on tha subject of Uniformity of Ritual was carried by a large majority . "—Freemason ' * Chronicle report ol Grand Lodge meeting , 3 rd December 187 ' ) . Sent ,, by post , on recoipfc of atamps , by tbe Author , Bro . JAMES STEVKNS , 112 High-street , Uinphnm , d . W . ; or by Bro . W . W . MOKGAX , : ' elvirlertt Wurks , Iferuii's lliil , l'niit <> nvi'h > , London , N .

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DANCING . -To Those Who Have Never Lean , t to Dance . —Bro . and ife . JACQUKS wrXAfAXX receive daily , and undertake to teach Indies and gentlemen , who have never had the slightest previous hn iwlcdge of instruction , to go through every fashionable ball-da ,. ce in a lew easy lessons . Private lessons any hour . Morning aud evening classes . ACADEMY -74 NEWMAN STREET , OXFORD STREET , W