Lost My Interest.

all of their Masonic interests . Out of doors , on the streets , and in the affairs of life , they find that Masonry ia nothing to them . Thoy receive no favors from it , but , on the other hand , they are deceived and wronged and treated meanly by some who wear the badge and who profess to be Masons , but who have not even the smell of Masonry about them .

The fact is many men who have passed the ordeal of Masonio graduation have failed to measure up to its requisitions . They are too weak to take the steps , and too ignorant or careless to study the gronndwork of its personal and relative obligations . Some men are so filled with selfishness , and so intent on their own interests , that

they cannot measure up to auything that is good , or true , or honourable , no matter what society they may join , and therefore there is sifting to be done among Masons as well as among " other sinners . " To those who have lost their interest iu the strength of the mystic cable , we might say , courage , brothers ! Stand firm . Let your motto

be" Living friendly , feeling friendly , Acting fairly to all men ; Seeking to do that to others They may do to us again . Hating no man , scorning no man , Wronging no man by word or deed ; But forbearing , soothing , serving , Thus to live , and this your creed . "

Conservatism Of Freemasonry.

CONSERVATISM OF FREEMASONRY .

FROM THE MASONIC REVIEW .

WE live in the most thoroughly iconoclastic age the world ever saw , and the most incontinent and persistent image breakers are the people of this country . The silver and mirk of age afford no protection , and the most sacred things are as rudely handled as tho rest . Even " Masonio Landmarks " are called in quostion , and the tinselry of more idealistic workmen , harmless in itself , is in danger of being substituted , and finally admitted as an essential part .

But Masonry is of necessity conservative . Its Lodges , Chapters , Councils , and Commanderie 3 are all sacred conservatories . It must not thrust itself into the path of progress , it was never intended to be aggressive , but it must preserve the charts of the sea on which the ship is riding—it must keep the compass boxed and in order , and sit as a pilot at the helm , or even courageous and strong thinkers will

be like the bold youth that attempted to drive the chariot of Aurora ; only ruin and disaster will reward their rash courage . The attritions of thought and tho jousts of tho philosophers are not to be condemned , or discouraged , but Masonic Lodges are not to become their arenas . Masonry is not a discoverer or an inventor , but a preserver . Wo but repeat our history when we say : Theology

divides into schools ; and sects contend for rituals and forms ; reformers rowel the sides of bony hobbies ; charity weeps in the closet , while bigotry holds the reins and claims the heritage . Political parties divide the commonwealth ; hungry spoilsmen , like cormorants , strngglo for office and prey npon the country—ambition , with fiery eyes , mounts the topmost waves , while demagogues step to tbe frout

aud push statesman aside—patriotism , with blanched face , sits in the shadow of despair , and revolution drives the ploughshare of destruction through the foundations of the State , and it lies like a ruined temple . Men of science extol their themes , and loudly proclaim their discoveries ; from the mountebank , with his patent soap and limber-jack , on the street corner , to the profound professor in his chair , and from his

rostrum , while they recognize only ignorance or enmity as the animus of all wbo question their conclusions . Not from their devotions—not from tho noble tasks of government , not from the intense pursuit of knowledge and discovery would we reoall them , but from errors and narrowness ; we would somewhere find a conservatory for the real and well-defined in every department ;

and save for the people and for the coming generations the genuine and tho useful , to enrich , elevate , adorn , and happify them for all time and also for eternity . No one who has examined into the rituals and symbolism of Masonry , can fail to see that certain well-defined ideas or doctrines of religion lie at its very basis , and constitute a large proportion of its

substance . Particularly is this true of the first three degrees . At this time , and in this countrj * , is this conservatism of the utmost—indeed of incalculable value . In our zeal to be liberal we must remember that there are certain things that do not belong to us—that it would bo a crime to give them away . They are rare treasures , entrnsted to us by heaven , for Divine purposes , and can

not be diverted and squandered without robbing both God and man [ Only a savage could trample costly jewels into the street like commou stones ! Masonry is set for the keeping , not for the " liberally" giving away of these treasures to license or capricious prejudice . Even within her sacred walls our French neighbours have committed that grand offence the act of reckless suicide ; but cosmopolitan Masonry has enough virtue to disown the crime , and tho clubs also ,

which ceased to be Lodges when they committed it ? No more mischiovous notion has ever entered the Masonic sanctuary than that occasional fungus folly , that the essential and principal part ol Masonry is its social—or club-room feature . Should this notion evei prevail , the jurisdiction recognizing it would immediately become " spurious . " The single great truth of the Entered Apprantice , which meets him at the threshold and teaches him the Divine existence .

and Providence , and his personal depeudance and helplessness , is of infinitely more value than all the social features connected with it , and which I would by no means underrate . But , more particularly let us consider our own—our individual and toftl ifaseaif ? QWptiQRS , Qw objigatigqs to tfos ove ^ cqQgervatigm

Conservatism Of Freemasonry.

< < i : which is blind and stubborn as Saturn in tho fable , who becoming tired of tho society of Uranus only , resorted to creating , and made an oyster , a nd went on making oysters for a thousand years , until , at last , disgusted and dissatisfied , he created Jupiter . His fear became such , that all nature froze , the things that had been made went backward , and to save the world , Jupiter slew his father Saturn .

Equally from Jup iter tho radical—the reft rmcr , as from Saturn the over-conservativo , true conservatism—such conservatism as our rites and symbols teach ns , mnst Masonry be a saviour . Emerson tells ns that " Reform in its antagonism inclines to asinine resistance—to kick with hoofs ; it runs to egotism and self-conceit , to unnatural refining and elevation , which ends in hypocrisy and sensual reaction . " For Emerson , this is nnnsnal candour , but it is so truth ul that it ia

continuously illustrated and confirmed in our sight . From the triple league of Saturn , Night , and Fate , as well as from Jupiter , Phoebus , and Uranus , Masonry must be our true Palladium . By wise men it was so designed , and for this end Providence has wonderfnlly fostered it . The Bible is assailed again , with all the virulence of former days ; and with the keener satire and harsher denunciations that come from

better and more general learning , society is also menaced by a most debasing form of communistic socialism , which would produce every where , as it did in France , less than a century ago , and at the close of the Franco-Prussian war , a reign of terror , under which virtue became a crime , learning and culture a disgrace , property the legitimate prey of thieves and loafers , aud piety a sure and unchanging

death-warrant . If the law is gone , there can be no law-breaker . If tho standard and touchstone of virtue i 3 thrown aside , wrong ia unknown , and license and liberty are one and the same thing ; society is in the pre . sence of most imminent dangers where Divine authority is ignored and religions ideas set aside . It should be known that all forms of

civilization owe their origin to religious ideas , and hold their control over the public mind only in proportion to tho extent and controlling power of them . Equally must Masonry maintain tbo truths of science and general culture . Astronomy , Geometry , Architecture , Logic , Rhetoric , and the fine arts have their place , and all their acquisitions only add harmonious members to the family of religious

and moral truths which Masonry symbolizes and defends . There can be no disagreement , although thero may bo difficulty in the efforts of unskilled minds to traco and comprehend the harmony . The trntbs of both science and religion are to be treasured by us , and neither to bo held responsible for the failures of any of tbe Craft to comprehend or illustrate them .

Thus Masonry will become a strong barrier against superstition , whether amongst Roman Catholics , Protestants , Communists or Scientific Materialists—a vice from which no name or class is entirely exempt . Principles are stronger than societies — stronger than tho State . They last while generations , assemblies and senates grow old , moulder and decay . We are only their custodians for a time .

If we pollute and defile them , reformers must arise to wash away the stains wo have made , and in whose eyes our depraved and dying fame will be only infamy . Let truth become stronger , virtue brighter , goodness more enlarged for our handling , for our custody and commerce with thorn ! Let ns nob be content to write our mementoes in fading violet , but engrave onr stubborn virtues and enlarged ex .

perience with mallet and chisel on tressel-boards of adamant , on signet and capitone of marble and brass ! It will be more tedious work than to flaunt a banner , beat a dnim and raise a shout , the chaff of frivolous minds , but it will become the heritage of immortality , the work of a Divine and eternal philosophy ! becoming our pretensions and our opportunities , and a blessing more enduring than marble and brass , and more valuable than purest gems .

It is well known that nothing adds so much to the appearance as a good hat . Now , hats may look well , but they may be far from a comfort to the wearer . We havo lately worn a newly-patented ven « tilating one , sold by Messrs . Lewis F . Marsh and Co ., of Oastle-street , Bristol . At this time of the year , when tho weathor is usually close and oppressive , any system that will give coolness and add comfort to

the wearer of a silk hat must bo a boon to the public . There are several good ventilated hats in the market . This one , which , we understand , gives great satisfaction , consists of forming slits at the junction of tbe body and the brim , at the forehead part , and fitting flat tubes to same withiu the hat , which are carried up to about the level of the top of the leather . Tho crown being also ventilated , this admits of a current of air passing freely throngh the interior

of the hat . In difference it makes scarcely half a size , the bodies being made slightly full . The lower months of the tube are screened by tho band , the weaviugs of the lower part being made open to allow the air to pass to the tubes . The patent was secured hy the firm in April last . To those of our readers who like to keep t . heir heads cool we say , —Examine Messrs . Lewis F . Marsh & Co . ' a Patent Ventilating Hats .

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NOTICE . —BACK NUMBERS , Brethren who desire to complete their seta of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , should make early application

for Back Number-3 . At present all are in print , bat of some we have only a few copies left . Oases for binding tkQ several volumes cm l ? e had at $ 9 Office , 6 ? Barman ,