Masonry And Business.

An association banded together to work acts of Charity and help those who are needy . Looking at it from these points he regards it as the company in which he may be able to fulfil to some extent his duty to his fellow-men . He petitions for admission and is met at the very beginning with a declaration which he is required to make , that he seeks to join this ancient and

honourable society of his own free will , and that he is not actuated by any selfish or mercenary motives . This declaration is not in every case case true , as may be seen in instances of men-who seek by un-Masonic means to use the fraternity to further their own selfish ends . But the institution is made up of men of pure motives , for those who try to use it for mercenary purposes are an exception and are few .

Masonry as before stated is intended to help a man in his every day life , and business is a part of that life . We have a right to expect that those who wear the square and compass will deal on the square , and circumscribe their actions by the compass of justice . We have a right to expect from a Mason honest and upright dealing in all his transactions . There will be full measure and full weight . We have no right to expect that because we

can make ourselves known to him in the dark as well as in the light , he is to favour us above all men . He sells his goods at a certain price , a fair price , and as right between man and man , or Mason and Mason , we have no ri g ht to expect him to " come down " to favour us . In business , impartial justice is demanded . Masonry ought to be a strong recommendation to a man , and is , when the man practices the principles laid down for every day life .

It is said that " men live off of Masonry . " This is not true . It is a slander upon the fraternity and the men who are charged with the offencefor it is an offence . The society is so organised as to make it next to impossible for a man to " live off of it . " An impostor may run a course for a time , but he will be found out and his career cut short . If a brother is in

need the fraternity will take care of him . There are many members all over the world who are supported wholly by the lodges . They are destitute , and the principles of the institution , and it is a pleasure to the Craft to do so , require that their necessities be relieved . In health they gave of their substance to help some other brother , and now that affliction has overtaken them they are cared for . Such is the beautiful Charity of Freemasonry .

" The labourer is worthy of his hire , " and that man who devotes his time to the interests of the institution , deserves the same remuneration that he could receive in any other business . Masonry is a business , and itsaffairs need the careful attention of business men with business methods , and the very best business men , with the very best methods should be employed . There are hundreds of self-sacrificing men , who are doing themselves injustice by serving lodge , chapter and commandery without just compensation . The

worst paid men as a rule are the Secretaries , whose duties and responsibilities are of a business nature . All the details of the lodge work must be cared for by him , and he deserves to be paid for his work . It can not be said that he "livesoff of Masonry . " In the conduct of affairs of a great corporation , men are selected who are capable of understanding the magnitude of the business , and the compensation for their services is commensurate with the demands upon their ability . This is business , Masonry is a great institution and teaches justice to all men , and has no right to expect those who work for it to do so and " find themselves . "

1 here are many things connected with this subject that we cannot at this time touch upon . We leave these thoughts for the consideration of those who think on such things . A man's Masonry must not interfere with his regular business , nor must he in any wise neglect to perform his duties honestly and fearlessly . Those who are called to serve the Craft , and some must serve , should do so in a business way and be paid for it . Grand

Lodges , Grand Chapters , Grand Commanderies , or the bodies composing them , will not take care of themselves ; somebody must look after them . That thc burden may not be too great , new Grand Masters and Masters are elected from year to year to direct affairs , but the real workers of the bodies are retained , and deserve to be treated as business men . —New York Dispatch .

A So-Called "Fraternal Congress."

A SO-CALLED "FRATERNAL CONGRESS . "

Within the wide circumference of the agitations , anxieties , restless and uneasy conditions of the people , produced by hopes and contentions as to thc coming show , " World's Fair , " " Columbian Exposition , " or Exhibition , to be held at Chicage ere long , is most likely to involve incongruous combinations . Curiosity is contagious . To be in the vortex carries away sober judgment . Excitement is not surely considerate . A proposition ever so

easily suggested to take part in a pageant finds ready advocates . The novelty is in part an active agency to popularise the movement . Many unite to further it , because it is a vast attraction . It is published , proclaimed , advertised . It is made in advance a great expectation . To agree to go and join in the throng ; to see and be seen j

to mix with the multitude ; to behold all the wonders and throngs of people ; to gather at this place and that , and look , all this paralyses the reflective powers of even the sober-minded . It is , of course , an important accessory to be among the people to be seen . To unite as a body , a delegation or committee with a designation , or special character , adds to the impulse to go .

Among the strange sights will be the numberless people congregated as a body of some pretentious importance . Every ismattc association will have its committee , with badges , marking them among the crowds . Scientists seeking notoriety , with a unuephonious name , will excite monetary renown . All ologies will parade , with names both unpronounceable by , and incomprehensible to , the thousands that in wonder catch a glimpse of them .

In this whirl of excitement , it is observed that the Freemasons in some parts thereabouts have caught the contagion that is produced by an eruption of a popular agitation . It is said that a Fraternal Congress is to convene at Chicago during the " World's Fair . "

What that may be is a riddle . How it is to be convened is an enigma . What it is to do is a very serious question . What it may do is fraught with the gravest anxiety . Freemasons may voluntarily go where upright , prudent people gather , but they go as citizens , like all the rest .

As Freemasons they have no lawful summons . As delegates , they cannot meet as a body . Chicago is in a soverei gn Masonic jurisdiction . A meeting of Freemasons , claiming to be delegates from lawful Masonic bodies , recognised as such by the regulations of Masonry , cannot assemble in a delegate capacity in the jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge without its consent , or it would be a clandestine assemblage .

A So-Called "Fraternal Congress."

If they meet , and organise , in the character of delegates , they are with , out authority and a revolutionary association . The Grand Lodgeof Illinois in any proceeding cannot give to them any other character than individual guests . If these Masons undertake to convene as a body of the Craft , they are usurpers of lawful authority .

It is said that some Grand Lodges of F . and A . M . have directed , or it may only be authorised , their Grand Masters to appoint delegates to this Fraternal Congress . For what 1 To do what ' I Such a meeting is at best an assemblage of Masons without any known recognised lawful powers . Suppose , for it is not difficult to use a stronger word , these delegates organise , elect a Chairman and Secretary , suggest some question for

consideration , talk about it , agree , or become contentious , one side and the other dividing on the proposition , then formulate opinions into preambles and resolutions , vote and decide one way or the other—what then ? All this is possible , aye , even more likely to happen . The general Craft , it may be , is not only surprised , but injured by the presumption of such action of a meeting of delegates undertaking to assume the roll of an unlawful meeting of Masons .

Heretofore in the Masonic history of the United States a project was proposed to form a General Grand Lodge , and elect George Washington Grand Master . The Craft then rejected it . No Grand Lodge would surrender its supreme sovereign character , and not one did , even to this day .

This meeting of delegates might make an attempt to form this meeting into a permanent society , and meet yearly for the transaction of business . Then what V The Craft of the United States is too keenly alive to its ancient character , its history , its traditions , the sovereign and imperious power of its Grand Lodges , to tolerate any such nurseries of schism or disorder .

The Fraternal Congress , as it is called , cannot receive the approbation of earnest , true , conservative Freemasons . If it meets , it would be the part of wisdom to declare in advance , the first meeting is to be the last . —Keystone .

The Antiquity And Ubiquity Of Masonry.

THE ANTIQUITY AND UBIQUITY OF MASONRY .

BY REV . WM . PORTEUS . The plan and purpose , the principles , and practices of Masonry are as old as the ages , as venerable as the sounds that voiced an infinite fulness out of an empty void , and moulded chaos into complete form . Every member of the fraternity is reminded at the first step of his journey of that eventful epoch when the mandate dropped from the Creator's lips , " Let there be light , and light upsprung ; let there be worlds , and worlds on nothing hung . "

Her origin is inwoven with earth ' s existence . She watched in embryo the squaring of the corner-stones of this material universe . . The principles of our Order emanated from the Throne of the Eternal , and the sweep of the encircling centuries have manifested the wisdom of their establishment , and the beauty of their perfection . Order and harmony , righteousness and truth , and a broad benevolence

are the characteristics of the Divine mind , and are the very foundationstones of Masonry . The noble and the true , the pure and the good , have graduated through her golden circles , and transmitted her principles from age to age , and clime to clime . Her imperishable principles are the landmarks of her career , no more to be mistaken than the Peak of Teneriffe , or the cataract of Niagara , bright as the morning dawn , beautiful as dewy eve . Sweet and

consoling in their application , as the waters of a pure foundation are to the parched and thirsty heart . Wherever amid the fierce and angry strife that stirs the passions of mankind , there was found the throbbing pulse of love , there was Masonry . Wherever amid ignorance revolt , and destructiveness , there was a longing for , and an effort after good , there was Masonry . One of the brightest things in the darkest hours of human society has been Masonic light .

The antiquity of the Order antedates the antiquarian search , and is older than the historian ' s page . You journey to Egypt and stand in the presence of the Pyramids , the most solemn shadow of Eternity that has fallen upon the shores of time , and the mark of the Craftsman's tools , and the work of the Master Mason looms up in bold relief before you .

There stands the great Pyramid amidst its compeers , its base covering nearly 14 acres of land , its height 480 feet . There is 6 , 848 , 000 tons of solid masonry in the mighty mass . It required a hundred thousand men sixty-six years to build it , and they

were relieved every three months . Can you imagine the undertaking . Can you in conception take in the monumental pile ? No body of men in the wide , wide World regard the Great Pyramid as holding any mystic meaning for them , more than the members of the Masonic fraternity .

Cheops was among the oldest Grand Masters . He was a Past Grand Master nearly 4000 years before the Christian era , and his vast accomp lishment still holds and clearly illustrates the true principles of all that is " level , plumb , and square . " Wiser heads than mine positively assert , and persistently maintain that the truths taught by the renowned Cheops were inspired by the being who fasrlinnr-rl flip partli . nnrl nnnrprl tl-ip . nrpnn frnm bit : itrn . wbn pvnnnded tllC ¦ £ *—

- — *• - ~ —• - , -- — .- — ... . . .. . . . . . .. w - « ..., .... w W .. J- — - firmament and lighted up the sun . " Who spread the north over the empty place , and hung the earth upon nothing . " And that the Architect of tl ' Great Pyramid has tabulated these truths in a Masonic form in this unique building , and the thought is broadly , yea , fervently expressed that the fraternity will yet find all the facts , and weld the connecting link that bind- * the two together .

I he Masonic lodge is planned after thc Great Pyramid for three reasons , " Masonic reasons , " reiterated at every lodge meeting . It seems very evident that there is a passage leading from between the paws of thc Sphinx , running diagonally to the heart or centre of the G rew Pyramid ; from the mummy within the shadow , and directly in front of UKSphinx .

The prolonged echoes of a gun fired in the heart of the Pyramid vy distinctly heard , while the same gun fired at the base of the Pyramid on the outside was hardly heard in the pit . The inference drawn from this fact strongly favours a subterraneous passage between the two , and thus the way seems clear , for the constructs