Masonic Fruits Essential.

whim , and the question I want to ask you , brethren , is : Do yon in this follow conscience , or do you follow whim ,

or convenience , or taste ? We have a Rule and Guide in i his and kindred matters , in fact in all points of Masonic law and faith and conduct , which wo cannot wisely or

safely disregard , and to one who deliberately rejects this Masonry must seem a very hollow mockery . The law of Masonry is the universal moral law accepted by all men .

The creed is limited to the simplest fundamental expression of religious faith . Every honest Mason must accept this creed , but this

does not prevent him from believing much more , nor does the acceptance in full of the Christian faith in the least impair our obligations to our brethren of Israel , or the disciples of Buddha , or Mahomet , or Confucius . We all

stand on one fundamental basis , the belief in one God , the Maker of heaven and earth , yet we are all bound in conscience to support whatever form of religion seems best of

those presented to our notice . While I have no doubt that most of you are true to your ideas of duty , there are always some with us , and in the church , who are neglectful if not perverse . There are some who find , or think they find , in Freemasonry all the religion they need , but look well to

yourselves , dear brethren , if there are any of you who thus consolo yourselves , and see whither your limited religion tends , and if you find that it satisfies you , that it brings

you peace and content and confidence , remember that any religion which ends in self is worthless . Even tho laws of our being compel us , if we would lead better lives , if we

would seek our own salvation , to help others to lead better lives , we must be concerned and labour for tho salvation of others , and bringing the whole question of our Masonic duty down to the level of self-interest , of self-preservation ,

both individually and in our corporate capacity , Freemasonry must stand or fall with religion . The foes without who threaten religion will destroy Masonry if they

can , while the more dangerous foes , those of our own household , those in our own hearts , are the hardest to fight . To conquer these will enable us to maintain a stout opposition to external enemies .

I am aware , my dear brethren , that you did not invite me to preach to you , and , if I have gone beyond the line of your patience in this matter , it is not because I am to

impose any fetters on your thought and conscience , but because I believe that Freemasonry is on trial , that she has a mission in the affairs of this life and in this nineteenth century , that I exhort you as men and Masons , if

you love Masonry , to do your best toward the fulfilment of that mission . While I have no fears for the Christian religion , which I believe to be not only the best the world has ever known

but the best possible , and that it will ultimately triumph , I recognise the fact that it is threatened , that forces now at work would accomplish its destruction if they could ,

and that all the institutions of modern life are threatened with it ; that unless these forces are counteracted , unless individuals and societies are on their guard , individuals

will fa ^ l and societies will perish , especially those which do not manfully meet and fight the foes of order . Masonic law and Masonic creed are not only

fundamental as regards religion , but also as regards the state . Let that creed be denied and there is then no authorityno law—and all existing institutions will be regarded as merely conventional ; governments may be overturned

without scruple , rights of life , of liberty , and of property , may be considered as mere fictions , and chaos as the best condition . It is not as an alarmist that I mention these possibilities ,

but viewing them as the logical consequence of denial , I know that they may come , as they have before , and the cure though speedy—the return to public sanity certainyet there is a terrible strain involving vast suffering , untold misery , monstrous injustice .

The French Revolution did its terrible work , and though good may have come out of it , it was at a fearful cost , and I presume that few sane persons would like to see that dread experiment repeated , yet it will be repeated unless the cure of evils is effected in the earlier and milder way .

When we consider that the leading men in every state , county and country are for the most part connected with

We cannot interfere as a body corporate in the affairs of the world ; cannot directly influence governments or impose moral restrictions on our fellow men , but as individuals we may do much , and ought to do much .

Masonic Fruits Essential.

our Order ; when we consider not only the immense influence directly exerted for good or for ill in consequence of the vast numbers of those connected with us , and the

indirect influence through kindred associations , it is evident that our responsibility is great , and if we would be true t . r * oYirspilvGs and the societv we love we must take unon

ourselves individually that responsibility which collectively we cannot assume , and as our lives improve , so will this noble and glorious Institution become a more permanent

and illustrious light before the world . Tho pious framers of Ancient York Masonry dedicated their Lodges to two great Saints of the Christian Church , and looked to them , in their simple faith , as the patrons of the Order—St . John the Baptist , and St . John the

Evangelist . The former was illustrious in bis straightforward , manly , self-sacrificing life ; the latter known not onlv as a bold Son of Thunder , but as the beloved disciple

—as the Apostle of Love . Aud these have been and are still the saintly patrons of Freemasonry—the lesson of their lives ever before us exemplifying the virtues which should be cultivated by every true Mason . And manliness and love form when combined an ideal of character only realised in

the Perfect One . We do well to celebrate the nativity of John the Baptist , for the great prophet , the more than prophet , the unrivalled one preaches still from the wilderness , as of yore . In hairy garment , standing by the purifying water of the

Jordan , he cried out to all comers , tbe rich and respectable , the rude and the vile , to highly honoured scribes and despised publicans , to the highly scrupulous pharisee , to the loosely scrupulous soldier , to all who asked what they should do , to all who sought not only to flee from the

wi > ath to come , but to lead the life worth living , to all these inquirers , the Voice which prophesied the kingdom of heaven gave one supreme direction , prescribed the one great remedy for all the ills of the past , and the one hope for

all the successes and joys of the future . I would not set forth to you any disputed dogma , but this great cry of the Voice comes down to us as to others in the distant past in such a way that we cannot refuse to hear it , and all men of

whatever creed must acknowledge this truth , that Repentance is not only the continual safety but the continual hope of men . With the stern old prophet hero

Repentance was not merely a matter or sentiment but of fact . The soldier must abstain from plunder and needless violence , the usurer must no longer devour widows' houses , the tax-gatherer must desist from fraud and extortion , the generation of vipers must lay aside their hypocrisy and

tyrannical dogmatism , and even in the royal household sin was denounced with a courage and zeal that took no thought of prisons or the axe of the executioner . The unthinking might say that his end was untimelv ,

and that his life , limited to contact with but few and leaving hardly a trace on the world ' s history , was a failure . If a failure , what a sublime failure ! A greater conqueror

than Alexander , a stouter hero than ryrrhus , a more magnanimous ruler than Cyrus , for he taught men to conquer themselves , helped them to resist the strongest of foes and

to rule with justice impartial and mercy unrestrained , and yet he was only the pioneer of a great advance . It was his office to make straight the roads through the desert , to level mountains and fill deep valleys ; and this he did and is doing , for the same Voice calls to us . It is and has been

the pioneer of all progress . The festal day of St . John the Evangelist is placed very near to the natal day of the One who specially loved this disciDle . The beloved disciple was no less earnest

than the Herald of the Wilderness in proclaiming truth , perhaps not more lenient and loying to the sinner , yet the Evangelist lived in a fairer time and under a more glowing Light , and in that Light he saw not only deeper into the

great problems of Christian philosophy , but with purified vision saw into the great mysteries of the future , even beyond earth , and has given us a glimpse as it were of the glories of heaven as he saw them . If we can so follow the

examples of these two earnest , upright , loving Saints , that we shall on either side touch the circle of eternal truth , -we shall , ultimately , with purified hearts and minds ,

not only be enabled to apprehend Truth but to see God . —Voice of Masonry .

NO MORE DEAF . —Nicholson ' s Patented Artificial Ear Drums care Deafness and Noises in the Head in all stages . 132 ' page illustrated Book , with fall description free . Address J . H . NICHOLSON , 21 Bedford * square , London , W . C ,