Work And Lectures.

one that will be most effective to prevent them ; for there is filed with the Grand Secretary a certified copy of the exoteric or monitorial portion of the Work , and the constant schooling of the Grand Lecturer and his Assistants

will bar changes in the balance of the Ritual Of course no one looks for any change in the symbolism , the philosophy or tho mystic teachings , nor can there readily be a change in a sentence or scarcely even a word .

We , however , give an example of a change in the early ritual of the Fraternity ; say the middle of the last century , when the following question and answer were invariable : " Ques . What does Geometry teach ? " Ans . The Art of Measuring , whereby the Egyptians

found out their own Land , or the quantity , which they had before the overflowing of tho River Nile , that frequently used to water the country ; at which timo they fled to the mountains till it went off again , and this made them have continual quarrels about their land . "

Contrast this with the following from the Lectures of the present day : " Geometry treat ¦ of the powers and properties of magnitudes in general , where length , breadth , and thickness are considered , from a point to a line , and from a line to a superfice , and from a superfice to

a solid . By this science the Architect is enableci to construct his plans and execute his designs ; the General to arrange his soldiers ; the Engineer to mark out grounds for encampments ; the Geographer to give us tbe dimensions of the world and all things therein

contained , to delineate the extent of seas , and specify the divisions of empires , kingdoms , and provinces . By it , also , the Astronomer is enabled to make his observations , and to fix the duration of times and seasons , years ancl circles . In fine , Geometry is the foundation of Architecture and the root of the Mathematics . "

When Calcott , Hasletine and Entick , about the middle of the last century , commenced formulating Ritual , system and uniformity followed . The first systematic form of degrees came into use about 1772 , when the bright Masonic

student Preston gave to the Fraternity in England his version , which was adopted by the Grand Lodge . These were favoured by Ireland and Scotland ; and so , materially stood , the ritual until the United Grand Lodge in 1813 , conformed all difficulties and ritual matter as well . As to our

American system , the paternity belongs to Webb , who added to and eliminated from the Preston work until it was scarcely " a chip of the old block . " The times change , men change , and ritual is not and can not be more stable than man , for man is superior to all institutions . Let us close with the version of the

Universal daily prayer as recited in the eleventh century , and observe if there is any change there : " Our Fadir that art in hevenys , Halewid be thi name , Thi kingdom come to , Be thi will in erthe , as in hevene .

Give to us this day our breed iver other substance , And forgive to us our dettis , as we forgive our dettouris , And lede us not into temptacioun . Bufc lede delyuere us from evyel . Amen . "—Hebrew Leader .

Solomon's Temple.

SOLOMON'S TEMPLE .

rilHE Edinburgh Revieiv says : The skill , the art , the - *• mighty toil that have been devoted to the adornment and the decoration of this ancient place of worship have been of extraordinary magnitude . The grandest legacy of Egyptian antiquity , the Great Pyramid , demanded , indeed ,

a large amount of naked human labour ; But in Monah there is a compulsion of the features of nature herself to the service of the builder . In the actual bulk the Great

Pyramid is to the Temple Rock as five to nine , if we descend but as far as from the sills of the five double gates of the mountain of the house . If we carry the comparison to the level at which the lowest foundation of the walls is

inlaid in the rock at the angles of the enclosure , the bulk is three times that of the Great Pyramid . The cubic contents of the Masons' work may not amount to a tenth part of that piled up by Sophis . But the hill has been honey-combed by chambers ancl

galleries ; and the declining part to the south , covered with vaults aud arches , to which Gheezeu can show no parallel , No merely artificial structure could have so successfully resisted the resolute efforts of the two greatest military nations of the ancient world to destroy its existence and

Solomon's Temple.

obliterate its memory . No other monnment , long surviving the era of Asiar ? , * ami Italian power , can over , ! !< o the noble Sanctuary , mark by its very ruins the successive

periods of its glory and its fall ! If wo regard not so much the evidence of the labour devoted to the work of the Temple as the effect produced on tho mind b y its apparent magnitude , we may suggest the following comparisons :

The length of the eastern wall of . the Sanctuary is rather more than double thafc of one side of tho great Pyramid . Its height , from the foundation on tho rock at the south

and near tho northern angles , was nearly a third of that of tho Egyptian structure . If to this great height of one hundred and fifty-two feet of solid wall bo added the descent of ono hundred and fourteen feet to the bed of tho

Kedron , and the farther elevation of one hundred and sixty feet attained by the pinnacle of the Temple porch , we havo a total height of four hundred and twenty-six feet , which is only fifty-nine feet less than that of tho great Pyramid . The area of the face of the eastern wall is moro

than double that of one side of the Pyramid . Thus , the magnitude of the noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem far exceeded that of any other temple in the world . Two amphitheatres of the size of the Colosseum would have stood within its colossal girdle and left room to spare .

The Colosseum is said to have seated eighty thousand spectators , and accommodated twenty-two thousand more in its arena ancl passages . For snch a number to have been crammed within its circle , the space for each person must have been limited to seventeen by twenty inches .

Allowing two cubits each way , or four square cubits for each worshipper in the Temple , the Sanctuary would have contained thirty thousand ; the Chel , excluding the Priests ' Court , twenty thousand more , and there would yet have been room in tho great court and the cloisters to make the total reach more than two hundred and ten thousand .

The October meeting of the Board of Benevolence was held on Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' Hall . Bro . James Brett P . G . P . Senior Vice-President presided . Bro . 0 . A . Cottebrune P . G . P . Junior Vice-President acted as

Senior Vice-President , and Bro . J . H . Matthews Grand Standard Bearer as Junior Vice-President . Col . Shadwell H . Gierke the Grand Secretary was present , and there was a large gathering of brethren . The first business was the confirmation of recommendations to the Grand Master

made at the September meeting to the amount of £ 235 . The new list contained the names of no less than forty petitioners . The localities from whence they came were Barton-on-Humber , West Hartlepool , Jersey , Warrington , Mottram , Worcester , Grantham , Gateshead , Sutton

Coldfield , Constantinople , Dunstable , Poonah , Salford , Todmorden , Alershot , Uminster , Guernsey , Ashton-in-Makerfield , Newnham , Newark , Calcutta , Windsor , Falmouth , Exeter , and London . Five of the cases were deferred , and one was dismissed . The remainder were relieved with a total

of £ 1160 . This was composed of four grants of £ 100 each , one of £ 75 , six of £ 50 each , four of £ 30 each , eight of £ 20 each , ten of £ 10 each , and one of five .

A warrant has been granted by H . R . H . the Prince of Wales for a new Masonic Lodge , for Portsmouth , which will be conducted on temperance principles , at the Soldiers' Institute .

The Winter Number of Society , whioh will be issued in fche first wook in November , promises to be about the best sixpennyworth ever yet known . Besides a Cartoon by Phil May , entitled the " Seven Ages of Society , " and containing about 200 Portraits of Cnlsbrities in all sections of life—dramatic , scientific , artistic , musical , literary , clerical , political , & c , the Winter Number will

contain "Julian Vanueck , " an Original Story , specially written for Society , by Hugh Conway , author of " Called Back , " " How Will It Bo , " a Poem by Clement Scott ; " A Marrage in Heaven , " by Henry Herman , joint author of the "Silver King , " " Claudian , " Ac ; "The Gliost's Love , " an Original Story by George Manville Feua ; "The

Seven Ages of Society , " a Poem by Horace Lennard ; " The Heiress , " a Story by W . Outram Tristam , author of " Julian Trevor ; " " Hands AI ! Bound , " a Christmas Story by C . Haddon Chambers ; " How I Fonnd Her , " a Poem by T . McDonald Eendle ; Should Ladies Dine in Public ? " by Howard Paul , & c .

The Revised Book of Constitutions ; Critically Considered and Compared with the Old Edition . London : Simpkin , Marshall & Co ., 4 Stationers' Hall Court , E . C . Sent on re . ceipt of stamps , One Shilling , by W . W . Morgan , Freemason ' s Chronicle Office , Belvidere Works . Hermes Hill , Pentonville .