What Non-Masons Say.Of Us.

adduced to confirm this truth . The most wonderful operations of the Divine Architect , however beautiful , magnificent and useful , are overlooked because common and familiar . The sim rises and sets , the sea flows and refloAvs , rivers glide into their lants

channels , trees and p vegetate , men and beasts act , yet these , being perpetually open to view , pass unnoticed . The most astonishing productions of Nature , on the same account , escape observation , and excite no emotion . Even Virtue herself is not

exempted from tMs unhappy bias in the human frame . Novelty influences all our actions and determinations . What is IIOAV , or difficult in the acquisition , however , trifling or insigMficant , readily captivate the imagination and insures a temporal

admiration . - Did the essence of Masotet consist in the knowledge of particular secrets or peculiar forms , it might M alleged that our amusements Avere trifling and superficial . But this is not the case . These are only . keys to our treasure , and having their use , are preserved , Avhile from the recollection of the lessons AvMch they inculcate the well-informed Mason derives

instruction , draAvs them to a near inspection , views them through a proper medium , adverts to the circumstances Avhich gave them rise , and dAvells upon the tenets they convey . " It is admitted by Avriters learned in MasoMc lore that the current of mystery

pervading the old religious rites had something in common Avith Freemasonry . Warburton ' s definition of the mysteries is as follows : —

Each of the pagan gods had ( besides the public and open ) a secret worship paid unto Mm , to Avhich none Avere admitted but those who had been selected by preparatory ceremoMes called initiation . This secret worsMp Avas called the mysteries ( Divine Legationv . 1 b . ii . § 4 189 ) From

, , , p . . India , Avhere mysteries Avere practised by the Gymnosophists , the practice passed through Egypt , Greece , Eome , ' and ultimatel y to northern Europe . Perhaps there ! s a deeper meaning in the veneration paid to the east than is brought out in

connection Avith the history of the Christian Church . The sun-worsliippers looked to the east for the beams of their resplendent g ° d . _ St . Augusta states that the early Christians turned in their public prayers towards the east because it Avas the most

honourable part of the Avorld , bemg the region of light whence the glorious sun arises . Hence , according to Dr . Mackay , " All Masonic lodges , like then great prototype , the Temple of Jerusalem , are built , or supposed to be built , due east and Avest , and as the north is esteemed a place of

darkness , the east , on the contrary , is considered a place of light . " The idea , so far as the power of association is concerned , Avould be old as the world itself , for it is well knoAvn that one of the symbols representative of the divine power and love is

" light , " and hence Masons sometimes use the legend taken from Gen . i . 3 , "Lux tffttMo ^ hix erat" —light be , and light was . '' S &^ aBBeA , ~ a "ThiH ? parkness brooded o ' er the deep , D G E W saidLet there he liht I

, g IB F ? 4 p SmMjht shone forth with smiling ray , ' / KtA scattered ancient night . " ' E ^ esliasons , following the example' of the Persians and also the Druids , travel ( work )

in the lodge and in the outside Avorld in search of spiritual light , wliich can oMy be found in the east , from ivhence it springs ( i . e ., in the Fountain ' of all Light and Truth ) , and having attaMed its possession , they are thenceforth called the "Sons of Light . " But the light of Masonry is

pure-, as emanating from the source of all purity and perfection , and Masons , remembering that they are brought out of darkness ( ignorance ) into light ( knoAvledge . and truth ) , are admonished " to let the light which is M them so shine before all men "

, " that the great fountain of that light may be glorified . " In contradistinction to li ght , darkness is considered both Mstorically and symbolically the Mitial preparative state ,

and hence " the rule that the eye should not see until the heart has conceived the true nature of those beauties wMch constitute the mysteries of our' Order . " " Death and the resurrection were the doctrines taught in the ancient mysteries , and Mght and darkness were necessary to add to the

sacred awe and reverence which these doctrines ought always to inspire in the rational and contemplative mind . " And it is interesting to note that the same " doctrines form the very groundwork of Freemasonry ; " and as the Master Masonto

, use the language of Hutchinson , " represents a man saved from the grave of iniquity and raised to the faith of salvation , " dark ness and night are the appropriate " accom-