Sonnet.

SONNET .

( For the Masonic Magazmei ^ fijoo BY BUO . REV . Jl . GORDON . ON ST . JOHN THE BAPTIST ' S DAY , JUNE , 1876 . Now Summer ' s ray hath ' woke—all nature

'woke—And blooms each tree in its full leafy pride ; While fleecy clouds and streams more cheery glide . 'Tis John the Baptist ' s day—here ' neath

, this oak , One asks me why his special smile invoke As on this day 1 his baptism was full wide ; Yet did but serve as a great watery guide To a more hopeful , a more easy yoke

Than erst prevail'd — ' twas to prepare love ' s way In each estranged , each divided breast ; And like vast ocean ' s all commingling sway , To ev ' ry land and ev ' ry clime , unblest With love , its mystic paths more ready make To speed- the joy , of which we now partake .

Triads In Masonry.

TRIADS IN MASONRY .

WE take this interesting paper , as we think it worth reproduction , from our able contemporary the "Philadelphia Keystone : " Freemasonry is full of triads . It has three degreesthree Grand Mastersthree

, , chief officers , three , knocks , three jewels , three working tools , three steps , three members as the minimum of a Lodge , and many others . These usages have come down to us from the remotest times , and of themselves are marks of the antiquity of

the Craft . In the earliest ages of the world of which we have any history the number three had a mysterious significance . In the beginning God devoted three days to the architecture of the earth , and three to the creation of its occupants , and the light-bearers in the heavens . He first huilt , and then furnished our glorious mansion , and each in a triad of days .

y 0 fhe principle of triads runs through all / Htwhology , prevades every form of ancient Jrforship , and is well worthy of study . The Trinity of the heathen Mystics consisted of the male and female principles , and the sunforming their magic triangle .

, Layard tells us the equilateral triangle was the symbol of the Babylonian trinity . Egyptian worship was always in triads . On the wonderful temple-island of Philas , in the Nile , Isis , Osiris and Horus were the sacred threeand the interior of the

, great Temple is filled with their annals . Aud each district had its favourite trinity of gods , to whom the people paid reverence . The Egyptian priests were taught to believe in but one God , but this belief was only imparted secretly to initiates in the

Mysteries , while the profane world were invariably polytheists . The land of Egypt was actually divided by the number three , one-third being owned by the priests , one-third by the king , and one-third by the soldiers . An analogous

division obtained , centuries after , in Peru , where the Inca owned one-third , the Church one-third , while the people tilled , but did not own , the remaining third . Plato , the greatest name in philosophy , taught that one beneficent Deity rules the universe , and that He is triune in nature , with love as His chief attribute .

Triads appear , too , in the earliest known languages . In the Semetic tongues , spoken by the Assyrians , Babylonians , Phoenicians , Jews , and Arabs , the root-words , with rarely an exception , consist of three consonants , so that their most fundamental characteristic is the tri-literality of their roots .

The idea of a Deity three in one , is , according to Gladstone , found in Homer . And Fort tells us that the numeral three is a substantial norm in Teutonic mythology . The Scandinavians related that the world was supported by the ash tree Yggdrasil ,

which sprang from three roots . Three gods ruled in their celestial system , Odin , Thor , and Frey , To decent ! from things celestial to those terrestial , the Laplanders , and most of the northern nations , are in the habit of using a cord tied with three

magical knots for raising the wind . During the Middle Ages three judges were required to be present in order to hold a court of justice , and each judge sat upon a chair