The Spirit Of Freemasonry.

being only as Masons of the universal religion , we are also of all nations , tongues , kindreds , and languages , and are resolved against all politics , as what never yet conduced to the welfare of the lodge aud never will . From the very first institution of family control it has been a history of

changes and conflicts as to the form of human government . One of the peculiar features of Freemasonry is that all accepts , submits to , and loyally supports whatever of civil government may for the time be legitimately exercised over it . And thus

it is that a Freemason , whether his lot be cast in a Republican commonwealth , or under the most arbitrary and autocratic form of government is , nevertheless , a true and faithful citizen of each . We must not , however , infer from this that a

Freemason has no political convictions , or that he has no right to pronounce judgment upon political questions of the day . He has this undoubted ri ght in common with all other citizens ; but he has no right as a Mason to obtrude these questions within the doors of the loclge . In the lodge he knows no politics , is silent as to questions of forms of government ; has

nothing to say about ri ghts to be secured , or grievances to be redressed . But once he leaves the lodge he has a ri ght to discuss these matters in a loyal spirit , and pronounce his honest and fearless judgment upon political questions of the day . This point appears cpiite clear from our ancient

charges , and has been very generally practised by Freemasons everywhere . It is well for us to bear this fact in mind . For the last two or three years political questions in Canada , andI may sayespeciallso in this

, , y country , have been discussed with so much acrimony and personal abuse , that there is danger lest some of this same spirit may find its way into our lodges and embitter the relationshi p of one Mason with another . I am happy to say that I

am not aware of any such state of feelim * existing in this lod ge ; yet I feel that even here we need to be cautioned in time lest such a state should unhappily prevail . It is to be lamented that men cannot exercise mutual toleration in respect to political

convictions . You cannot make a coward out of a man who has the blood of a hundred generations of warriors flowin g in his veins ; you cannot make a man who ,

by some original bias , youthful training , and matured reflection , is a liberal into a tory ; neither can you make a man who , by association , training , and disposition , is a tory into a reformer . And if men can conscientiously be the one or the other ,

then certainly the wise lesson to learn is to mutually respect one another and try to cultivate a more tolerant spirit . How small , therefore , must the Mason really feel who feels aggrieved and chagrined because a brother has exercised his

undoubted right . For myself , I can truly say , though all Masons should have different convictions from myself on political questions , yet , I pray God , I may never fall so low as to think less of them , or cease to love them the more on this account . It is quite possible to make

Freemasonry a sort of high sounding display of sentimentalism without any honesty of intention or sincerity of profession . We may , by our conduct and hollowness , make it so ; but it is , nevertheless , a practical thing . It pirofesses to be the embodiment

of what is manly , noble , and of good report , and in fact it is so , and has ever maintained its character in these respects . Time will not permit me to discuss the influence of Freemasonry in the cause of civil and religious liberty ; in the

advancement of art and science , and in the great educational movements of the past and present , as well as in the work of universal benevolence . Our object is to deal with our subject iu a practical manner . I feel that the institution cannot maintain its

ancient and honourable reputation , increase the number of its members , or promote the hi gh and noble object of its founders , unless its laws are strictly observed and its principles exhibited in their jn-aetical application . Freemasonry is a practical systemand unless we look upon it as such ,

, and endeavour to carry out its requirements in a practical manner we do ourselves and the institution a great injury . What more practical lesson can we learn than those furnished by what are commonly termed the five points of fellowship . By

the first we are taught the duty of brotherly love to each other ; by the second we are instructed in our devotions to God ; by the third we are taught that when a brother entrusts to our keeping the sacred thoughts of his bosom , prudence and faithfulness should place a sacred seal upon our lips ;