The Object Of Freemasonry.

Man is called upon so to discipline his real self as to prove superior to temptation , pain , disabilities , bereavements , death : the powers within to be stronger than the foes warring from without . Opposition can be seen in most walks of life to be , contrary to expectation , a boon , and not a hindrance .

Obstruction creates a healthy condition of affairs , and so this all-important and immortal essence , thc character , is developed and matured in what might be designated mental struggling . This imp lies soldiership and active military service , but it is no new doctrine . Look at the earthly soldier ! Engaged in deadly

combat , putting into operation every energy , his hearing deafened by the bullets whistling past his ears , and the fearful groans of the wounded and dying , enveloped with the smoke of Ihe cannon , straining every nerve , forgetful of self , he lights for Oueen and country . All thc noble traits of his nature find

expression ; he is awarded the Victoria Cross , and we clap our hands with delight that the ancient courage and pluck and heroism have descended to the British warrior from a lionhearted ancestry . But these have lound expression under adverse conditions , for is our admiration so evoked when our

typ ical soldier is on furlough under favourable circumstances ? Man ' s primary object here is to glorify jGod , and , for this end , to make the best use of everything at his disposal , thus serving his Creator truly in that station of lile into which He has been pleased to call him ; if position be humble and

means scanty , yet the truth remains that the measure of a man ' s responsibility will be gauged by the measure of bis ability . Man linds himself in a world bristling wilh difficulties , but whether these hostilities will increase or crumble at his feet will depend very largely upon the way they are manipulated ; thc

stone that will trip up one person may prove a stepping-stone across a river of difficulties to another . Instead of saying that a man is a creature of circumstances , it would be nearer the mark to say that he is the architect of circumstances . Do wc not recognise the truth in tbe following : Soon after the

illustrious Edmund Burke had been making one of his most brilliant orations in ( he Mouse of Commons , his brother Richard , who was always considered to be superior in natural talent , was found silting in silent reverie , and when asked by a friend what hc was thinking about , replied ; "I have been wondering

how-Ned has contrived to monopolise all the talents of our family ; but I remember that when wc were doing nothing , or were at play , he was always at work . " Here wc have an instance of a man who , though intellectually handicapped , by discipline and self-mastery , superseded those whom nature had more richly endowed .

The building up of man ' s character is purcued in comparative silence , being made up of the tiniest details of daily life . I emphasise the daily details , for the morrow of every man is moulded by the yesterday , and one day , nay , any one minute , leaves its inheritance Ior ever . Recognising the importance of

life , may man live , as Apelles painted—for eternity . The greatest nobility lies in having led your own captivity captive , and in being C .-esar over the empire God has given you—the kingdom of yourself . This rule of conduct need not necessarily militate against that pregnant little story of the Englishman and Irishman desirous

of extricating themselves out of a certain trouble , the latter crying , "Who will help vie out of thc difficulty ? " while the former said , " Mow can / get out oi the difficulty ? " We may consider with profit thc device found on an ancient medal representing a bullock standing between a plough and an altar ,

with the inscription : " Ready for either—for toil or for sacrifice . " Man , if he is to succeed , has to toil in the spirit of Michael Angelo , working for a week wHiout taking off his clothes , and like Handel whose harpsichord is to be seen in thc private apartments of Windsor Castle with every note hollowed out

like a spoon , by incessant practice . The law given to Adam that he should eat bread by the sweat of his brow was a most beneficent one , and showed us that toil is thc salt of life , preserving the bod y from effeminate languor , and the soul from unhealth y breedings . True is the adage that a man will rust out

sooner than he will wear out . Success will tend to create a selfishness within if it be not counterbalanced with the spirit of sacrifice ; man should only regard " the law of accumulation

proportion to the law of distribution , " a man is at his best when he begins to transmit his good influence to others . Once more let us consider what may be styled the disabilities of life , and we ask what would the world have known of thc

gigantic intellects of such engineers as Brunei and George Stephenson had there been no such things as impediments . Physical obstacles have ever evoked man ' s highest faculties , either to lay them at his feet , or turn them to good account .

' p ° ?? . it may - ? admitted that man has to combat spiritual disabilities , and cither to vanquish or convert them to his spiritual : ulv ; vnt . age . When William the Conqueror landed on our nativeshores previous to the battle of Hastings , as he was in the act

The Object Of Freemasonry.

of disembarking , his foot gave way on the shingly beach causing him to fall forward on his hands , at which misadventure his soldiers raised the cry of distress . "An evil omen ! " they sighed " is here . '' " See , my lords , replied William , "by the splendour of God I have taken possession of England with both my hands ; it is now mine , and what is mine is yours . " Thc inference is

patent . In reading the biographies of notable people , nothing is more discernible than how men have had their particular disabilities

to teach them— -may we say humility or some other virtue ? Milton , in a noble passage of " Paradise Lost , " rejoices at what is left to him , when he sings— " Docs God exact day labour , light denied ? " And in another passage he tells his friends that his

eyes" Their seeing have forgot ; Not to their idle orbs doth sight appear , Of sun , or moon , or stars throughout thc year ,

Or man or woman . Yet I argue not Against heaven ' s hand or will ; nor bate a jot Of heart or hope ; but still bear up , and steer Right onward . ...... Content , though Blind . "

We recollect Handel , in his age and blindness , full of cheerful dignity ; or Beethoven , who , in thc prime of life , lost his hearing ; though we love to think of the resignation which

illuminated anguish ; hope which triumphed over death— -tbe last earthly words of the deaf musician being , " I shall hear in heaven . " And wc recall the awe-inspiring music which was the outcome of Bach ' s poverty-stricken youth .

The divine Creator will clothe the disabilities of the sans of

men , if animated by thc spirit of truth , with heavenly significance , bestowing a pleasant savour on unsweet duties , and redeeming life by dispersing its mysterious fogs , and kindling an auroral glow of hope athwart its horizon .

An Old Masters' Lodge.

An Old Masters' Lodge .

P ^ Pp ^*| j £ | iHROUGH valued medium of my esteemed l ^^ gc ^ f friend and Brother , Robert Hudson , of Tynei \ ((§^ w ) lf niou th , the original . minutes of an old lodge that li *^^^ -J || assembled in London early last century , were lent ISlfe- ^ Ssiil me for perusal and reproduction , by the kindness of the " Freemasons' Hall Co ., " Stockton-o l-Tees ( in whose

possession this important volume is ); and at a meeting of thc " Quatuor Coronati " Lodge , No . 2076 , London , held on 24 th June , 18 97 , I read a Paper on " The Three Degrees of Freemasonry : Especially in relation to thc oldest known records of

the Master Mason ' s Ceremony , " duly printed in " Ars Quatuor Coronatorum" for that year ( and also as a separate pamphlet ) . These precious records are referred to therein at length , several of the most valuable pages being reproduced in sli ghtly reduced facsimile .

This is the oldest minute book of any regular lodge known constituted by the Grand Lodge of England , and has been quite overlooked until recently , possibly owing to its preservation in the Province of Durham , through thc lodge formed at

Stocktonon-Tees on 2 nd December , r 75 6 , and which took the number and precedence of the original on its collapse in London during that decade ; but was itself finally erased 3 rd September , 1 S 3 S , as No . 2 c \ , b y tbe name of" Philanthrophy . "

Seven brethren , on January 31 st , 1725 [ O . S . ] , petitioned tin * Rig ht Mon . the Lord Paisley , " Right Worshipful Grand Master , " to be " form'd into a Lodge at the S ; v , in and Ritinnur

or elsewhere in Finch Lane [ London ] , and humbly requested his lordship to constitute them " in due form or direct his Deputy so to do . " Also , if his lordship pleased , "to have Mr . Martin O'Connor for our Master . "

A copy of Ibis , the oldest document of its kind extant , commences the minute book , with the consent of the Grand Master appended , stating that these brethren may be constitututed into a regular lodge , and authorising his Deputy to discharge that duty .

Then follows a copy of the notice by Dr . J . T . Desaguliers , Deputy G . M ., fixing the 3 rd day of February next for the ceremony , after which , in the writing of the period , the page ends with the certificate .

" Tlie Deputy Grand Masi r met accordingly and constituted the Lodge , and Mr . Timothy O'Connor and Mr . John Vernon were admitted Brothers , and Joseph Atherton , a Drawer , was admitted a Member to attend this Lodsrc "