Parting Greeting.

NOAV accept this humble token As a tribute from our hand ; Strong the grip and faithful OA'er You haA'e proved to this firm band True it is , Avhere ' er you wander

In this A-ale kind friends you'll see ; 'Tis the glory of our Order , And we say , " So mote it be "

The True Mission Of Freemasonry.

THE TRUE MISSION OF FREEMASONRY .

It is A'ery remarkable how of late j'ears the popular estimation of Freemasonry has been clearly rising iu the great open market of English thought and opinion . As Ions as our useful and excellent Order

took the form , to a great extent , of a secret and social assembly—as long as it bore among men in general the reputation of a harmless but mainly convivial fraternity—so long , for the most part , Avith the exception ot those who had the courage to lift the veil of our Masonic

Isis—the greater part of society took the easy but general explanation of what it was , aud what it professed both to be and to do . In short , they accepted our own valuation of ourselves . But when , gradually , Freemasonry , so to say , detached itself from its social character , the merely convivial aspect ( though sociality

must always be a great characteristic of our Order , and , we will add , innocent conviviality ) , from the hour that Freemasonry exhibited clearly to the world that its profession and practice went hand in hand , immediately many saw good in Freemasonry who had never seen it

before , and the world , Avhich is generally guided , as is society , to a great extent , by the opinions of the many rather than the few , chimed in at once with expressions of admiration and of praise . And hence , as we are inclined to think

that the world is sometimes ri ght—that is , that it is not always wrong—in the views it entertains of things and persons and events , Ave Avisli to impress upon our readers that this aclh'e manifestation of our great principles , Avhich has so struck men and society , is , after all , the true mission

of Freemasonry . AVe have nothing to do Avith politics , that is quite clear ; Ave have no concern Avith the polemics of denominationalism , or that " odium theologicum" which some Avriters tell us is the bitterest of ail hatreds . We have little interest in the passing frivolities of

the hour , and less in the outAvard exhibition of folly or fashion ; but , as Freemasons , Ave profess to be tolerant and kindly , large-hearted and fraternal , looking beyond the narrow limits of local , or nationalor sectarian divisionsaud

re-, , garding with sympathy and interest every " brother of the dust . " Yet , as Ave also know that true charity begins at home , we equally believe that that is falsely called true charity Avhich , indulging in high-flown sentimentality or unreal emotions , neglects

those who have the first claim upon its heart and means , and leaves them to suffering or privation , while it relieves with an overstrained zeal those Avho are far away , and who might fairly look to their own friends for succour and support . So Freemasonry first of all cares for her own . And Ave in England haA'e of late years shown how fully we value the privileges of

Freemasonry , and enter into the spirit of our teaching , as loyal members of our beneficent Order , that Ave have munificently aided eveiy form of Masonic benevolence and utility , which seemed to have a fair claim on liberality , to call for our assistance , or to invoke our cheerful support . Thus we

have , both in the metropolis and by our proA'incial grants , by large sums from our beueA'olent funds , by constant donations from our lodge pedestals , alike assisted increasing indigence or failing old age , relieved the Avidow and the unfortunate , and

educated with an unsparing liberality the orphan daughters and sons of our deceased or less prosperous brethren . Whatever opinions some may still entertain of Freemasonry , however some foolish prejudice ma 3 still lingerhowever unfounded

im-, pressions uiaj' still surA'ive , however the mistaken views of earnest religionists may question the propriety of our broad p latform , or the expaush'eness of our iuiseciariau teaching , none will A'enture to assert that our works of charity and utility

are not alike deeds of mercy and labours of love . Above the din of human controversy , over the strife of tongues , surmounting the Babel of wild struggles and