The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

we have time to look at the one offered in its place . We often hear some youthful aspirant to Masonic honours , whose education has been very much neglected , come forth with some farrago of nonsense relative to the duties of Freemasons . He has the

liberty of doing so . We grant him the liberty freely ; but when he asks us to remove our safeguards , and those landmarks which have guided the Order for so many years , we in turn take the liberty of

declining till we have maturely considered the question . Liberty , to a Mason , means the uncontrolled right to inquire into our mysteries , to analyse them , to work with the points of the compass extended loyally , for

his own and the Craft ' s profit , but not to use one point as , a weapon of offence , wherewith , by a crafty blow , he may bring confusion upon the Craft . We confess to a dislike to all those who strain at the "unco

quid , " forgetting that man is fallible , and with their overbearing liberty of action , calling brethren who have lapsed into mortal error before the Masonic tribunals , and invoking all the terrors of the law to punish the delinquent .

Liberty is a sacred privilege of a Mason , the right to reason with the faculties , which God has given him , so that his less gifted brethren may be benefited by the result of his inquiries . He has the liberty of

expressing his opinions freely in lodge , and when characterized by wisdom and justice , he is an object of estimation , and a guide worthy of following . But when he expresses himself in a selfish , narrow-visioned fashion ,

with a mind cast in a trivial groove , every noble and large-souled sentiment absent , we grant him the very poor privilege of doing so , but we decline to be of his following . A Mason ought to be liberal , although just in

all things , liberal of his counsels and liberal in his conceptions of these ; liberal of his purse , liberal of his inquiries into the characters of those he relieves ; liberal in

all these qualities which raise a man in the scale of virtue , in the roll of honour , but chary of aught which may tend to subvert the pillars of truth and justice .

Liberty has had its dupes , although not to the same number as equality . A fine sounding name is equality . " All men arc free and equal , " cried the Yankee slaveowner , and then added this forcible

explanation , " and every man has a perfect right to wallop his nigger . " Equality on earth is a dream , a myth , a falsity . Aru men born of an equal stature , of equal rank , or of equal talents ? Nature has flatly

contradicted this , and life daily proves its falseness . A father acquires wealth by prudence and talent , which he leaves to a foolish son , who squanders all in riot and

debauchery , dying a beggar , and indebted to charity for the very boards which form his coffin . If every man was equal , the world be unbearable . There would cease

to be any cause for exertion , every pursuit would cease , education would become neglected , every generous impulse destroyed . A more dangerous fallacy never was palmed upon a confiding public than this same

equality , and those who cram this down the people ' s throats arc just those very ones who would make stepping-stones of their dupes' necks to gain power , and destroy their bait of equality . Masonic Equality is well defined , and there can neither be cavil nor mistake about

The Philosophy Of Freemasonry.

it . All Masons in the bosom of the lodge are equal , and no one can claim by position in the world a superiority over his brethren there . It must be admitted that this is not always followed amongst us , and that we

find the rank has its influence , and that men of position arc found to fill our highest offices . But , as we have said , human nature

is frail , and a title has a sounding effect . Yet , with very few instances , we have no cause to grumble at our honours being so conferred . These brethren have served

their apprenticeships , worked as Fellow Crafts , and as Master Masons may claim their positions , not as a special right belonging to their worldly rank , but to the fact that they are free of the Craft on all points .

England and Ireland are pretty free from crowding their lists of Grand officials with noble names , and commoners find the honours pretty plentiful for them . Equality

means a mixture of all classes appearing at the same board , and if twenty commoners find themselves at the table , they cannot complain of the presence of one lord .

Every Mason can aspire to office in his lodge . From Inner Guard to Master the honours are open to him , upon his showing his fitness to wear them . Thus far are all

Masons equal , but as men have not all the same talents , it follows as a matter of course that those endowed with large understandings , and extended experience of life , must

hold a higher position among the brethren . Such men show themselves prominently by virtue of these qualities , just as Saul showed himself among the people taller by the head . In all ages , and among all nations ,

there required to be leaders , just as wc find the Press now-a-days the leader of public opinion , or the forcible exponent of the same . Men of a feeble order of mind , of a vacillating disposition , naturally look for

guidance and support to those of a strong and more steadfast , and it is thus that we find amongst us brethren standing prominently before the eyes of the Craft , not

that they have thereb } r risen above the equality of Freemasons , but the equality of Freemason looks to them for protection and support . ERROL . ( To he continued . )

Grand Chapter Of England.

GRAND CHAPTER OF ENGLAND .

1 he Quarterly Convocation of Grand Chapter was held on Wednesday evening , at Freemasons ' Hall . Comp . the Rev . John Huyshc took the Z . chair , Comp . Dr . Hamilton the II ., and Comp . S . Rawson the J . Comp . W . Ptilteney Scott

was present as N ., and Comp . John Hervey , E . Comps . Snell , Benjamin Head , Talbot , H . Browse , T . Fenn . Joshua Nunn , W . Ough , Jas . Stevens , F . Binckes , H . Muggeridge , Joseph

Smith , James Brett , James ! ,. Thomas , H . G . Buss , F . Walters , M . A . Luewcnstark , George Neal , Hyde Pullen , R . Spencer , John Savage , John Boyd , H . Masse } - , and many others , were also present .

Ihe G . S . I ' ., having read the minutes of last Grand Chapter , the same were unanimously adopted , and the accounts , showing a balance of JCZOS r 5 - 7 d . in the hands of Grand Treasurer , were taken as read , and passed nan . con .

warrants were then unanimously granted to the lsca Lodge , No . 683 , Newport , to be called " The St . Woolo ' s Chapter , " and to meet at the Masonic Hall , Newport , Monmouthshire : lo the

Lodge Orion in the West , No . 415 , Poona , to be called "The Chapter Orion in the West , " and to meet at the Masonic Hall , Poona , East Indies ; to Lodge Star of Orissa , No . 1106 , Cuttack , to

Grand Chapter Of England.

be called " The Fiducia Chapter , " . and to meet at Cuttack , East Indies ; to the Trinity Lodge , No . 254 , Coventry , to be called " The Trinity Chapter , " and to meet at the Castle Hotel ,

Coventry , Wanvickshire ; and to theLionandLamb Lodge , No . 192 , London , to be called "The Lion and Lamb Chapter , " and to meet at the City Terminus Hotel , Cannon-street , London .

On the petition from Comps . Edward James Morris as Z , Chas . Bath as H ., George Browne Brock as J ., and twenty-one others , for a chapter to be attached to the Talbot Lodge , No .

1323 , Swansea , to be called " The Talbot Chapter , " and to meet at the Masonic Rooms , Swansea , Glamorganshire ,

Comp . W . Pulteney Scott rose , and said this was a very extreme case , and the Committee would not have recommended it to Grand

Chapter , had they not felt it to be necessary to be consistent in their dealings with applicants for charters . There were two lodges and two chapters in S \ vansea , and from circumstances that

had arisen , it was desirable that one partyshould terminate its connection with the other . A very considerable portion of the lodges and chapters had formed a new chapter , and there were as

many as ten Past Principals and a great number of old R . A . Masons ready to join the new chapter . They had , therefore , petitioned for a charter for the Talbot Chapter ; and the

Committee , feeling that theyhadbefore recommended tlie refusal of warrants to lodges which had only been established twelve months , felt the inconsistency of submitting this case to Grand Chap-

ter ' s consideration , but relied only on the very exceptional circumstances of the present instance as their justification for doing so . Comp . Talbot explained that the new lodge

in Swansea was presided over by the best working Masons in the kingdom , and had amply fulfilled the expectations that had been entertained of it . The chapter was one of the best in

the province . It numbered seventy members , and it was quite necessary that a second chapter should be formed to supplement the work of the first . The same companions had now taken the

lead in petitioning for the Talbot Chapter . They were twenty-one in number ; there were eleven P . M . 's of lodges , and eight or nine Past Principals of chapters . It was with the firm

conviction of the necessity for the new chapter that he recommended the granting of the warrant . Comps . Walters , Joseph Smith , Dr . Hamilton , and Savage supported the recommendation , and

the charter was then granted . The charter which was formerly granted to the Tynwald Lodge was annulled , the companions not having taken it up within fifteen months

of its being granted . Grand Chapter then proceeded with the consideration of an appeal by Comp . Laws , from a decision of the Grand Superintendent for Northumberland on a

complaint of the removal of the place of meeting of No . 406 before the minutes of the chapter agreeing to the removal had been confirmed . After considerable discussion , Grand Chapter affirmed

the decision of the Grand Superintendent , and dismissed the appeal . An alteration was made in the Sth ariicle of the Royal Arch Regulations , and the Grand Chapter was thereupon closed .

SMALL-POX , FEVERS , AND SKIN DISEASES . — The predisposition to is prevented by l . amplough ' s Pyrc . 'ic Saline . Vitalising and invigorating , its effects are remarkable in their cure and prcvciilion . Take it-is directed . Sold by chemists and the maker , II . Lampluugh , 113 , Ilolborn-hill . —[ Advt . ]