Ten Minutes With Thyself; Or Thoughts In The Chamber Of Reflection.

TEN MINUTES WITH THYSELF ; OR THOUGHTS IN THE CHAMBER OF REFLECTION .

DID you ever see the burr of a chestnut tree , still clinging to the limb , after the nuts had fallen ? Did you ever note tbe saucer of an acorn , still attached to tbe stem , when the life-bearing capsule had long left it p Did you ever note a last year ' s bird ' s nest , swaying in the

breeze when the occupants had long ago deserved it P Did the echo of a song , long ago sung , ever come to you in a ghostly breathing , when the singer was dust P Has some memory of the past ever visited you , when the opportunities of life were holding out hands filled with golden

possibilities , and you failed to grasp them ? Have you ever , in the silent watches of the night , when tossing npon a sleepless pillow , been interviewed by the grim warden conscience , who with keys and lantern in hand , has invited you to banish sleep and accompany him down to

the gloomy caves of memory ? Did you ever consent to a retrospect of the past , and side by side with the solemn custodian , peruse the pages in the book of memory ? Did you ever stand with beating heart and listen , as conscience turned the rusty key in the long closed door of the " skeleton

closet , " and hear the wards grate in the long unused look ? Did you ever gaze , with half averted eye , upon the contents of that closet , as the door swung open and displayed the treasured relics of folly and blunders marking your past life ? Did you ever take each up , piece

by piece , and read the story of that long past time in the souvenir you clasp ? Did yon ever turn away from the Pandora box of your own treasured follies , after vainly seeking at the bottom for Hope ? Did yon again return to the mill of your ( now ) existence , where the ruthless hand

of time still turns the crank , grinding out your minutes , hours , days , months , years ? Did yon ever glance into the hopper of that mill , and realise that your grist would soon be ground ? Did you ever honestly take a look in yonr mirror , and note that the once fair , brown , or black

locks were changing to grey with tbe accumulated snows of years ; that the crow-feet were tracked about tbe eyes ; that the grinders wero becoming few in number 5 that the pillars of the house now trembled ; that they that look out of tbo windows were becoming darkened ? Did you ever

—with Cardinal Wolsey—sum up all in the sad refnin "I have lived long enough ; my way of life , Is fallen into the sere and yellow leaf ; And that which shonld accompany old age , — As honour , love , obedience , troops of friends , I must not look to have ? "

It is a brave man who can thus coolly retrospect his past . It does not of necessity follow that past must be punctuated by actual crime . The sin of omission is even greater than that of commission—and which regret can never condone . When a man has lived out his day of usefulness ,

opportunity never "returns toobviate the consequences ofamistako . Life ' s battle is not fought without grcivons woundings . When we are at first marching to the field to meet the enemy , the regimentals are new , tho arms bright , and the hope of victory strong . We return from the conflict

mutilated and with armour dented and broken , bat possibly with victory perching upon our ragged banners . Then all is well , and it matters little what tbe condition of the soldier be if he can but say , " I have fought the good fight ,

I have finished my course , I have kept the faith . " But if , on the contrary , life , in retrospection , shows but a succession of defeats , then it is that the man is but a superfluous incumbrance , and the quicker he falls to the rear of oblivion the better .

Now this retrospection is not the result of a bilious disposition , nor a " bine " coloured spleen . It is simply what all shonld honestly do , in the summing up of life ' s endeavour . Rest assured , however much we may seek to ignore the fact , a man ' s lifo is too long when he outlives

his character , his health , and his estate . It is then that he finds similitude in the metaphors used in our opening interrogations . He is a scissors that has lost his rivet ; a watch with a broken mainspring ; a hilt from which the blade has been broken ; a steamless engine : a rudderless

ship ; a windless organ ; a headless drnm ; a letter stampless . All throngh the endless range of metaphor and similitude he can find for himself a synonym . Tho thesaurus of life surrounds him with things which pourtray to him the fact ho ia a derelict on tbe ocean of time . His song

Ten Minutes With Thyself; Or Thoughts In The Chamber Of Reflection.

is found with Byron , who at thirty-five could voice his die * appointment in saying : — " I'm in the sere and yellow leaf—The love , the hope of life is gone ; The worm , the canker and the grief ,

Are mine alone ; and moro bitter still he finds his portrait in the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes , 1 to 7 verses , while with the writer thereof he can truly exclaim , " vanity of vanities , all ia

vanity . Now , all this has been produced by hearing a man say—what is said by thousands— " We have only one life to live so let us enjoy it . " But ah ! when the enjoyment is passed and the harvest is gathered , what shall it be ? Never were truer words uttered than these : "

Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap . Let us but add to this gloomy retrospection one gleam of encouragement in saying : fruitless in sorrow for having done amiss , if it issue not is a resolution to do so no more , —The American Tyler .

Landmarks And Innovations.

LANDMARKS AND INNOVATIONS .

THE "Ancient Landmarks" of Freemasonry should be held in the utmost respect by the Craft and faithfully guarded against innovations . It is admitted by Masonic brethren everywhere thafc " it is not in the power of any man or body of men to make innovations in the body of Masonry . " The institution must remain unchanged—in its system , ritual , symbols and general purposes .

But while there is a hearty agreement on these propositions , the very moment we come to interpret and apply thorn thero are differences of opinion manifested . What are Landmarks ? What is it to make innovations ? The

replies that are given to these questions show a wide range of thought and feeling on the subject . There are a few distinguishing principles and declarations in the Masonic system that are accepted " landmarks " the world over . The word was used by Anderson in his

book of Constitution of 1723 , which sets forth certain regulations under the heading of " Old Landmarks . " Evidently Anderson used the words to signify certain important truths and principles which were to be held in

peculiar sacredness as essentials , nofc to be departed from under any condition or circumstances . This has been the feeling since his day ; and so there have been few innovations in the " body of Freemasonry . '

But still the question remains an open one—how many and what are tho landmarks of Freemasonry ? Dr . Mackey names twenty-five essential things under this heading ; but many brethren alike wise and conservative reject several of his declarations as in no sense constitutinsr what should

be designated as landmarks . Tho peculiarities of Lodge organization , the division of grades , the placing of great authority on the Master of a Lodge and investing a Grand Master with special prerogatives , the qualifications of candidates , the methods of work , including tho use of signs

and words , and tbe obligation of secresy , are landmarks that must remain forever unchanged . When , however , the attempt is made to inclado among landmarks a multitude of rules and practices about which there is a difference of judgment , and to cover with tho term about everything of

nomenclature , symbolism and procedure , as connected with the conferring of degrees and tho expressing of the purposes of Freemasonry confusion arises . Calling a rule of practice , long maintained , perhaps , by a Lodge or a number of Lodges , a landmark , does not make it so : and if

ltis a mistaken , unprofitable rale oi practice touching things that are not vital in tho organic life of Freemasonry , the sooner it is modified or set aside the better If not a rule of procedure , perhaps it may bo a sentence in ritual of ungrammatical expression , or a statement which is not true to the

facts of history—shall we hold back from making a desired change by being told that Masonic landmarks must not be disturbed ? Shall the work of reform and amendment in all such cases bo frustated by reason of the declaration that " it is not in the power of any man nr number of men

to make innovations in the body of Masonry ?" Onr thought is that while we stand ou the " o ! d ways , " we may advance Fomcvvliat . New methods and helps

within proper limit ? , may be applied to the work aud ceremonies . If tho langunge of the ritual is no' grammatical , set it right in this respect . If there aro statements in lectures or teachings inaccurate and misleading , wh y should .