The United Orders Of The Temple And Hospital And The Press.

The Spectator concludes as follows : — " When Lord Granville was recently questioned by Lord Houghton in regard to the principle of permitting British subjects to wear

foreign Orders , his reply was pitched . in a very high key indeed . What would he say if he were questioned as to the propriety , or not to put too fine a point on it , the legality , of the Prince of

Wales conferring not merely a foreign , but a Papal and Monastic Order at AVillis ' s Rooms r " If we are a Papal , Monastic , and Foreign Order we must be surely true Knights Templar ,

but then our sapient compeer speaks of ns at the outset as only a sham . If we are only imitation and Masonic Knights then the reference to the Monastic and Papal

Order is simply nonsense , if we are true Knights Templar , under the Mastership ofthe heir tothe throne and the express sanction of the Ci " own

( the fountain of law * and honour ) the question of legality is as idle as it is intended to be mischievous .

Thc Spectator opens by attacking us as spurious , and concludes by admitting our right to our title , in order to denounce us as an illegal body .

Out * contemporary is on the horns of a dilemma , and we leave it to lind its way to the logical conclusion of a line of argument , which we readily admit , is unique of its kind .

Noble Masonic Thoughts.

NOBLE MASONIC THOUGHTS .

Above all , a personal fidelity , absolutely incorruptible , should be the characteristic of every Mason ; and none should gain admission to your Temple who are not so organized and tempered

that , whatever emergency may arise , and whatever temptation may assail them , there shall be no sacrifice of one jot or tittle of the faith they have plighted at your altars . There can be no

divided fealty or devotion among us . I am one of those who demand of my Masonic brethren exactly what I propose to give them in return—a

loyalty to my vows which no earthly influences can shatter or impair 1 demand that the moral standard of the ancient brotherhood shall be

steadily advanced—raised higher and higher , and yet higher—until the golden period shall come again , when the simple name of Freemason shall be a guarantee of manhood , faithfulness , and

integrity . Let us not be content with any halfway excellence . The genius of our Order demands all the perfection attainable , and in these

respects , at least , humanity is capable of absolute perfection . No man is so constituted that he cannot be

true and faithful , antl lie who , possessing tlie faculty , will not exercise it , is unworthy material , to be cast out without compassion or delay . Let

me admonish you again to look more to quality and less to quantity ; . and not to forget thai in the character , not in the number , of vour

brethvuw . is to be found the strength , the inlluence , and the capacity of the brotherhood . I submit *• ' * you , in illustiation ot this view , the simple

Proposition that it would be better , infinitely hetter , that there should be but one hundred ¦ Masons in this : vast Commonwealth , and each ° ne of that hundred feel that he could repose in

Noble Masonic Thoughts.

serene and perfect confidence on the fidelity and truth of the other ninety-nine , than that there should be an hundred thousand , with the distrustful feeling that ten of them , in the hour of

trial , might prove false . Let us know where we stand as Masons , and whether the solemn vows which we have tittered are to govern our actions , or whether they are hollow mockeries , imposing

no higher duties than those we owed before they were uttered . Let us ascertain whether Masonry is a living reality , demanding some sacrilice as the occasion for it may arise , cr a delusion and a

sham—a child ' s rattle , to be toyed with at pleasure , and cast aside whenever a selfish interest may lead ns away from the observance of its obligations .

1 do not . propose to be thus cheated and deluded . I am earnest in my own devotion to its sublime teachings and principles . If there is one thing in our poor human nature which more

than all others tends to redeem us—if there is one thing that makes me feel like bowing down to thank Almighty God for thc poor gift of hu-¦ * hian life , it is this sense and capacity of fidelity to individuals with which he has endowed us .

It is the strongest similitude ol the divine , and I shall have strangely miscalculated if , in the summing up , the practice of this virtue is not suffered to cover a multitude of sins . I repeat , it is

peculiar by the province and mission of our Fraternity to cultivate that virtue * nay Freemasonry demands it ; and you cease to be Masons when you cease to practice it . And as it is the

crowning glory of -htunatrdiaracter , so the vice which stands opposed to it , —treachery , infidelity , betrayal of the confidence and trust you have invited and received , —is the basest and most odious , the

most universally detested and despised ot all human depravities . Treachery , moreover , is never a solitary invader . It brings in its train an army of lesser evils , as if to conceal its own enormity

by surrounding itself with gradations of infamy . As treason is the the hig hest crime known tothe law of the land , so in the moral and social world , iniidelity is the basest , the vilest of all vices .

The onc is the jewel which should always glutei resplendent in the Mason ' s crown ; the othei the hateful word whicli should find no place in his vocabulary . Next to that of husband and

wife , parent or child , no merely human relation is so sacred as that of the -Masonic Urotherhood . To be false in any of these connections is to sin against ourselves and descend to the lowest depths

of shame and tit gradation . Yet , we must make the humiliating confession that Masons are sometimes false to one another , and that betrayals of confidence and trust among those who sustain that re ' iatiort have been of far too frequent

occurrence . 1 would have you , as you can do if you will make an end of these humiliating and shameful occurences . 1 would imbue you with a noblei

conception of the [ spirit and requirements ot your fraternal obligations , with a more complete and unwavering devotion to your vow . If you have been imposed upon by unworthy

brethren , if you have been betrayed antl wronged in the name of Freemasonry , on your own head the blame must rest , for you hold in your own hands the remedy for all these evils : and 1 adjure you once mote , if you would preserve

Noble Masonic Thoughts.

untarnished the lustre of the name you bear , be more diligent in thc application of those remedies . If you are too cowardly to reject the doubtful or expel the unworthy—if you receive into youi

ranks the applicant of indifferent character , because your treasury is impoverished and your revenues are falling away , you have converted your trust into merchandise , and the fate of the

ancient money-changers fought to fall , aud will fall , upon your heads . Reduce you numbers , surrender your charters , let your lodges perish and seek Masonic association elsewhere , if need

be , rather than degrade your profession and compromise the Fraternity by the acceptance of unworthy material . I caution you again against making Freemasonry too popular , too

common , and too cheap . 1 renew the admonition more emphatically to-day , because you are again in the midst of a season of marked prosperity , than whicli nothing more imperils purity of

character . The danger must grow * with your growth As jou increase in numbers ancl apparent powet and influence , the shrewd and designing , the selfish and the ambitious , will seek to ally

themselves with you , not for the purpose ot becoming serviceable to their fellow-men , but with the intent to make Freemasonry servicable to- themselves . Let sleepless vigilance be the guardian

at the portals of your Temples . I am not setting up a degree of excellence unattainable , and I desire not to be misapprehended . Freemasonry does not demand

perfection . I am painfully aware how soon my own expulsion would follow the establishment of such a test , lt does not inhibit any rational enjoyment . That would be to subvert and destroy

the social qualities , which it aims rather to cultivate and develope . But it does require , most imperatively , that every one of its votaries shall at least maintain the ground of respectability ;

and he who falls but a hair ' s-breadth below that requirement should he cast out without misgiving or regret . Regard your Lodge as a family , of which you are constituent portions , and let no one enter there whose conduct or character is

such that you would be unwilling to admit him at your own lireside , or blush to present him t your own wives and daughters . It is because you have departed from these rules of conduct and fallen below this standard

of excellence , that you have become frigid and unsocial at your gatherings , and half the enjoyment of being Freemasons has become unattainable . You do not give the sojourning brother a

cordial welcome , because your experience has taught you that some who bear that name are unworthy of your confidence and fellowship . But if you had been mure careful iu making

Masons , you would have had no such experience and no such consequent distrust . 1 . have often been pained at the neglect with which strangers have been received and treated in your lodges . I

have seen them depart with more alacrity than they came , glad anil relieved , apparently , to escape from a place where they h . id come expecting fraternal regard , ami found only the form of

politeness , mingled with evident suspicion anil distrust . And though until more care is exercised in the election of candidates , and more energy is displayed in the discip line of those already chosen , there will be occasional imposi-