The Masonic Mission.

announced by prophecy and inspiration , in ages long anterior to that when it received ils final interpretation from the Great Teacher , men must be reclaimed from hate , and hard cupidity , and the selfishness allprolific of misery , into the state of mind , temper , and mutual feeling , wherein the unclouded brain admits what the purified heart suggests—that the bond of brotherhood , in affection and sincerity , conduces alike to the good of all and each—of tiie strong and of the weak—of the wealthy and of him across whose path the res angttstae domi have cast their sombre shade .

And this principle the venerable founders of the AUCH UNBHOKEN had in view , at the remote , mysterious epoch when the first Masons assembled and vowed a fraternity which was to be undying . Cycles of centuries before the earliest period at which authentic History begins to separate the realm of fact from that of fiction , tho noble , humanising confederation of love ancl unity must have existedaccording to the irrefragable evidence

, afforded by its condition of extension and maturity at the date of our first positive acquaintance with its operations . Even then , Tradition , sacred to the Mason , had handed down , through generations , records of deeds and principles in "which ive recognise the feelings which still beat in the bosoms of our brotherhood .

Now , the purpose which , through good report and evil , through periods of persecution as through those of prosperity and popularity , the Masonic fraternity hath faithfully preserved , is that of benefitting humanity through the medium and by the aid of human hearts ancl heads . In this holy work the Mason sets the example , takes the initiative , and invites men of all races and creeds , to join him . Universal in its purpose , and diffused , more

or less , like that Christianity of which it is a type , over all the regions of the earth , it still , endeavours to work through individuals ; ancl in every faithful member added to its ranks , the Order recognises a new and valued co-labourer in the great design of good . It is for this reason , and not in any vain spirit of affectation or exclusiveness , that Masons are found so steadfastly to cherish each others' society , and to live upon terms of mutual

confidence , and earnest , sympathising friendliness , to which the uninitiated are strangers , in like manner as they are to the mysteries which constitute the emblems of brotherhood . The Mason , who adequately appreciates the dignity and high import of his position , maintains those peculiar relations of amity with his fellow-Mason , because he feels that in the latter he deals with a man who is bound with him in the same cause with whom

he can freely interchange the same aspirations for the good of-all of human kind ; and who participates in the sentiments that move his own bosom , respecting- the glorious scheme of universal benevolence in which each is an agent . It would be unreasonable to suppose that men placed in such relations , one to the other , should not entertain ancl evince reciprocal , sentiments of a kind somewhat different from any which could be felt b

y persons who do not know , do not appreciate , and can have no intimate sympathy with , the high purposes which , amid all the varied and widel y different pursuits of life , arc never wholly absent from the mind of the earnest Mason .