Our House.

He may have deceived his associates , or he may fail in after-life to embody the high principles to which be has given his allegiance . No society or church can hold its membership secure against moral any more than against other bankruptcy , but while he hails us as a Mason we cannot help but feel the value of the recommend his fellows have given him .

But there must be something more than this , for we know such men , many of whom are not Masons , and though they have all the requirements called for , we still feel that there is a difference . We may say this is in our obligations . But how many of us remember

more than their general import or think of them at all when we meet a brother ? Surely those who instituted these orders builded better than they knew . As I stood on Cleopatra ' s Needle in the hold of the great steamer that brought it from the old Nile , the thought came of how the old builders choose both their man and material .

1 here were no schools to diffuse their knowledge ; no free exercise of the inborn aspirations of the mind ; liberty of body and thought alike kept down by despotic power . The skill of former generations if kept must be kept without public record . What could keep this acquired knowledge of the past and hand it clown the generations , not diminished , but increased , as great minds added their blocks to the structure .

It might be graven on stone or inscribed on vellum , but that constituted individual , not general knowledge , and for the great work which grew under the hands of the old builders , this knowledge must be diffused . But , again , there was the need of its possessors that to maintain their eminence ( and in this human nature and needs were then as now ) , they must guard against its passing into alien hands . So grew up those old

Orders from which ours claims to have descended , very actual and material in their origin and their memberships no doubt bound by as strong , perhaps stronger , obligations than we know now . But by their secret meetings and in their secret archives , knowledge was fostered and grew—knowledge which gave them power and influence for good . Theirs were the arts of peace , and when nation warred against nation , the need the world had of their knowledge preserved them .

So was formed a bond which bound those who had taken it together , whether of one nation or another , but this bond has survived long after the material need of its existence has been done away with by the diffused knowledge of our later civilisation . We join a Masonic body and accept its obligations , it would be wrong , perhaps , to say , idly and irreverently , but still with little of the feeling which gradually comes to the initiated , as time and acquaintance teach him how

strong are the bonds he bears so easily and on how great a foundation our house is builded . We look back more than five thousand years , and trace in the hieroglyphics on the old corner-stone a ri ght—not admitted then , but which advancing civilisation has brought to much of the world now , and which our Order will be instrumental in finall y giving to all . But the subject grows greater . If pursued , it must be by another article—it is too long for one . —Herald of Masonry .

Tinkering.

TINKERING .

Ihere has come into our language many words the use of \ y '_•' : has been applied without adherence to their original meaning . T ' . \ : : ~ :: e of this applied meaning arises from the flexibility of a composite sp :: - . The English tongue is made out of , or made up of , many original languao-es . Therefore it is easy to give to words a significance they inherentl y did not present . So we say tinkering with a subject , tinkering an established rule , tinkering a report , and the like , thereby meaning an effort made to mend , patch up , or alter .

This prefatory thought is only to call attention to the constant efforts made in our Grand Lodges in the States of the United States to tinker with the Constitution or Rules and Regulations . The word , we believe , is Welsh , from tincrez , to ring . Whenever some supposed necessity is deemed to exist , to avoid the law for temporary or special purposes , at once an amendment to the Ahiman Rezon or Constitution is asked . Grand Lodges at nearly every communication find propositions to amend their ' laws .

If these propositions were based on careful and clear considerations and received the approval of brethren of large experience , and were intended to embrace the best interests of the Craft , as of general application , they would be entitled to serious attention . But we fear the reasons for very many of these amendments are superficial , or special , or limited and temporary , and reach only results that patience and cheerful submission to the established law would correct .

It is , we fear , that this tinkering of laws is the effort of unrestful dispositions of brethren who have never seriously studied the subjects they use for experimenting on the established regulations of our body of Masonry . It is easy to pull down , it is far more difficult to build up . If there is one characteristic of our Craft it is its devotion to the ancient

laws . Profane societies may indulge in the luxury of making and breaking their governing rules . To tinker in profane societies with their laws is one of the means that incompetence seeks to gain notoriety . In Freemasonry there is no need for notoriety , for every brother in our Craft makes for himself his reputation byearnest , continuous , and thoughtful study of its regulations , and seeks to adapt himself to them .

Every brother who has gained in Freemasonry the character which he cherishes , has obtained it by obedience to the established , and a cheerful contentment in the harmony that grows up out of the adaptation to the law as it is administered . Our great teacher Tubal Cain worked in brass and iron and copper ; he created as a master workman creates . He , if with us now , whatever station he mi ght hold , or notoriety he might desire , if he was weak enough to seek notoriety , would never be found among The Tinkers . —Keystone .

Proprieties Of The Lodge Room.

PROPRIETIES OF THE LODGE ROOM .

All the ceremonies of Masonry , when properly performed , are of a very dignified and impressive character . From the opening sound of the gavel m a lod ge of Entered Apprentices , lo the sheathing of swords in a commandery of Knights Templar , there is not a single ceremony performed , word uttered , or instruction given , that was not designed to produce a good eltect . There is no time nor place for indulging in levity , jesting , or any irec-and-easy , " " go-as-you-please" sort of performance . This is

Proprieties Of The Lodge Room.

especially the case while initiating a candidate into any Degree of Masonry . He should be treated with the greatest politeness and respect from the time he first enters the preparation-room until he has received the final charge and is seated as a member . When this is clone , the impression made upon the neophyte is always good , and his favourable opinion of Masonry , conceived

before he knocked at the door of a lodge , is fully sustained . He enters upon his new sphere in life with zeal , and with bright anticipations of happiness in the society of those who now surround him , and with a full assurance that in becoming a Mason he made no mistake . Thus the body into which he has entered is strengthened and the whole Institution is benefited .

A Masonic body , however , is but an association of men , possessed of all the diversities of human nature . Making one a Mason is expected to make him a wiser and better man , but it otherwise leaves him very much as he was before . If a spirit of mirthfulness or frivolity predominates in his nature , it is pretty sure to crop out , with the least excuse for it , even at inappropriate times and places , to mar the beauty , or even to destroy the effect , of a ceremony designed to illustrate and teach an important lesson . A gentle reproof in such instances may be necessary to prevent their

recurrence . Another more inexcusable annoyance while conferring a Degree is the sound of whispered conversation among brethren about the lodge room . While this evil is by no means a prevalent one , we have seen it in some Masonic bodies to the extent that the presiding officer was compelled to

suppress it in the presence of candidates . Such conduct is most unbecoming on the part of members , and they should be made to desist at once . Officers should be very careful not to give license to it by their own example . Members are quick to observe and are pretty sure to follow the example of those in official positions . Well-disciplined officers will generally insure an equally well-disciplined lodge . We have never seen it otherwise .

In all the ceremonials of Masonry the officers of a lodge occupy the most responsible position , and especially so as pertains to conferring the First Degree . As first impressions are always the most lasting , so the first approach to the candidate , as he , for the first time , presents himself at the door of a lodge , will for ever bear its impress upon his Masonic life . The Stewards , although holding the lowest official rank , thus have one of the

most responsible duties to perform . The symbolism embraced in the first preparation of a candidate constitutes several important lessons of the Lecture of the First Degree . The Stewards , therefore , should not only be well posted in their duties , but they should be men to command the respect and favourably impress a stranger . The practice , which to a considerable extent prevails , of appointing two of the youngest members as Stewards , is a great mistake . They should be selected from among the oldest , best

informed , and most discreet members . Ihere have been instances in which the favourable opinion conceived of Masonry was dispelled in the preparation room , to the extent that candidates have either quietly retired or declined to go further after having- received one Degree . Think of these things , brethren , when you assemble in the lodge room , and whatever position you may occupy , ever bear in mind the Scriptural injunction , " Let all things be done decently and in order . " — -Masonic Record of Western India .

Masonic Literature.

MASONIC LITERATURE .

Masonic literature is but too much neglected by brethren . The people of Australia , as a whole , it must be confessed , are not a studying people . They live under influences which are adverse to deep thought . They learn a little at the schools , and then , as Milton says , This having learned , thou hast attained the sum of wisdom . This scratching on the surface is but too true of those who pass through the

Public Schools of the colony . Yet education is the noblest work a State can possibly undertake for its people . It raises the status of any nation when its people are intelligent , when they can comprehend the ri ghts and privileges which are their birthright , and exercise the same in an intelligent manner . What shall , then , be said of brethren who , if they pay diligent heed to the vows they take to make themselves acquainted with not merely

the stepping-stones of science , but the deeper mysteries hid beneath ? How many brethren admitted to the Order even make themselves acquainted with these stepping-stones ? How many let charges go past as a matter of form , without once paying further heed to stud ying the duties inculcated upon them ? Whence does such a state of matters find its source ? A very little inquiry suffices to find an answer . Lodges of instruction are

almost unknown , especially in country lodges , and the reason may be largely traced to these lodges not being made interesting . This may arise from no want of information in those presiding ; but it most undoubtedly arises from those who are to be instructed not having the means to benefit from the instruction conveyed . The only remedy for this is in every

member of a lodge having the means to understand the why and the wherefore . This means can only be obtained by study , and this study can be accomplished only by each lodge having its own library . The number of books need not be large ; it is in the judicious choice of them where lies the value . The cost of these books need not be

great for the very best—sufficient for any lodge need not exceed a few pounds . Yet what are the incalculable benefits to Masons from a study of such works as those of Dr . Oliver , Mackey , Findel , How , and others ! The writer was much amused in a lodge , 25 years ago , when a notification came from the Grand Lodge of England of the death of Dr . Oliver , and asking for a subscription towards a memorial to his memory . Not a single member

had ever heard of the man who has done more towards Masonic pure literature than any other in this country , in that cultivated lodge . This is the same position in which many lodges hailing under our Constitution would bc placed to-day . Masonic literature stands aloof from literature in general , " and only those belonging to the Craft can appreciate it . It is ignorance patronised by intelligent Masons , where their brethren arc kept without the

means of knowledge , which should be within their grasp . Therefore , as Bacon says , " Studies serve for delight , for ornament , and for ability . " These three things Freemasons may find in Masonic writings would they but seek to find them . Lodges would never be the dull matter-of-fact meetings they are , a spirit of inquiry would be engendered , and the present intellectual character of the Craft would be heightened and expanded . We

search , or are supposed to search , after truth , and we are likewise supposed to find it in each member of the Craft . What sayeth our Grand Master , K . S . ? " Buy the truth ; sell it not . " By what means can members of the Craft next to the V . of the S . L . search than by studying the history and philosophy of that which they profess?—Bro . J . A . Inglis in the S ydney Freemason .