Masonic Symbolism,

theological ladder , whose principal rounds arehaith , Hope , and Charity . The sun—the eternal fountain of light , the unwearied ruler of the day shines in the lodge , a brig ht exponent of the great Creator ' s poiver , ivhile the moon , the glorious orb of night , rejieats the lesson of Divine munificence . Here , too , we are taught that the vast universe over which this Omnipotence presides

was no work of chance , but that its foundations were laid in Wisdom , supported by strength , and adorned with Beauty . And as the presence of the Almighty illuminates with refulgent splendour the most distant recesses of the universe , so is the lodge enlightened by the presence of His revealed will . And hence the Bible , as it is

of all lights the most pure , is to the Mason most indispensable ; and , finally , as this world , vast in its extent , und complicated in its motions , is governed and regulated with unceasing concord and harmony , so is the lodge controlled and directed by the same spirit of peace , whichemanating from the exercise of Brotherly Love

, , Kelief , and truth , reaps its fruits in universal charity . " Such is the glorious spectacle of a Ereemasons' lodge , and such—the words scarcely suffice to render their full meaning—the noble precepts ivhich the mute emblems depicted around us continually teach . "A Mason , " says Hutchinson '' sitting as the member of a

lodgeclaim-, , ing these emblems as tlie testimonies of his Order , ought at that instant to transfer his thoughts to the august scene which is there initiated , and remember that he then appears professing himself a member of the great

temple of the universe , to obey the laws of the mi ghty Master of All , in whose presence he seeks t > be approved . " As the operative Mason derives his name from his profession , so in like manner does the free and accepted or speculative Mason derive his name ; the operatii'e builds visible , material edifices ; the Ereemason , invisible , heavenly ones . The one builds palaces for the reception

of kings of the earth , the other n tenrple for the reception of the King of Kings—" a temple not made with hands , eternal in the Heavens . " " As is the earthy , such are they also that are earthy ; and as is the heavenly , such are they also that are heavenly ; aud as we haA'e borne the image of the earthy , we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" ( 1 Cor . xv . 48 , 49 ) . "La

premiere idee qti ' a fait naitre l ' aspect d'un sage , a etc cello d ' un homnie libre et maitre de lui-mome ; et toute institution qui tendait a faire des sages est devenue un art de liberie et de royaute " ( Bagon ) . The greatest of all victories is that which a man gains over himself . He who can confidently allirm that he is jierfect master of his passions is a greater victor than the mightiest warrior

earth ever saw ; he only is truly free— " eclui dont le cceur est esclave servirait j usque surletrone ; celuidont le cceur est libre reste libre j usque dans les fers . " Well replied the ancient oracle that those ivill be free who have acquired the knoivledge necessary for controlling themselves . Ancl . Horace also , in his picture of a- wise man , ivell sustains his character for the knowledge of human nature : —

" Ad Rummum sapiens uno minor est Jove , dives . Liber , honoratus , pulclier , Box cleniquo Begum . " —Fpist . 1 , i , 106 . AtrueFreemason , then , is one who , by walking accordng to the precepts laid down for his ' guidance iu the Volume of the Sacred Laiv , has been enabled to free him--M from the bondage of sin and his OAVU unrul passions

y , —has risen superior to the vain glitter of this world , anel who , freeing his soul from the dominion of pride and i- ' -ejudice , ivith a heart filled with aii'e and love of his Creator , and charity and brotherly lovet'OAvards mankind , ie-AVS iu every son of jrdani a brother ofthe dust . Every

object that he beholds speaks to his heart . There is nothing in nature from ivhich he does not learn a lesson . In everything he recognises the presence of the great Creator , and perceives that His being passes through and supports the whole frame of nature—that every part of creation is full of Him—that He is lodged in our very essence , and is as a soul Avithin the sonl to irradiate its understanding , rectify its will , purify its passions , and enliven all the poivers of man : —

" \ v ith aspect mild and elevated eye , Behold him seated on a mount serene , Above the fogs of sense , and passion ' s storm ; All the black caves aud tumults of this life , Like harmless thunders breaking at his feet , Excite his piety , not impair his peace . Earth's genuine sons , the sceptred and the slave , A mingled mob ! a Avandering herd he sees

Bewilder'd in tho vale ; in all unlike ! His full rei'erse in all ! what higher praise ? "What stronger demonstration of tho right ? He sees ivith other eyes than thoir ' s ; where they Behold a sun , he spies a Deity . They , things terrestrial worship as divine ! His hopesimmortalblow them bas dust

, , y Thafc dims his sight , and shortens his survey , AA'hich longs in infinite , to loose all bound . " —Young . Such are the precepts that are taught , and such should be the character of every man who has been accepted or received into Ereemasonry .

Turn we now to the Coivan . If the operative Mason termed those who were not of their craft base felloivs , dogs , Cowans , what must one of the Eoyal Arch do' ? Wc call them Cowans , dogs , since it is the name which ancient custom has bestowed upon those who belong not to our Order ; but it is not that a Mason is puffed

up with pride at being a Mason , and therefore considers everyone ivho is not a brother a dog or Coivan ! Ear from him is such a thought . It is not the spirit of Ereemasonry to revile or persecute . A Mason has no

enemies ; not because all love him , hut because he knows how to make a gain of malice . " Coivan was , " says Bro . Oliver , " a term of exclusion amongst the early Christians . Before the service of the Church commenced , a deacon proclaimed aloud , ' Sancta sanetes , Eoris canes '" ( Greek , WB ; Erench , chiens , Cowans ) . — "Holy things for holy persons . Dogs or Cowansevil personsbegone "

, , . In the Epistle to the Phili ppians , ch . iii . 2 , ive read , " Beware of dogs ; beware of evil workers . " And in Iievelations , xxii . 15 , "Without are dogs . " In both passages the word ' - * "' "> from KVUV , is used . In the former passages the expression is applied to the false apostles on account of their impudence and greedlove

y of gain . David , in Psalm xxii . 16 , calls by the same name persecutors— " Eor many clogs are come about me , and the counsel of the wicked layeth siege against me . " Solomon and the apostle Peter compare sinners who continually relapse into their sins to dogs returning to their vomit . In all these several it must be

passages observed that the same word K » M is used , and always in a bad sense . There ever has been and must be ever a distinction , not onl y in character but also in name , between the upri ght man and him whose ways are unequal ; as in the early ages of the world the Noachidaj were called the children of light , as opposed to the

children of darkness ; the sons of men , as opposed to the sons of God or li ght , so now the brethren of the mystic tie are termed Ereemasons as opposed to Cowans . " If then wc consider the meaning of the Avord Ereemason symbolically , or in the language of speculative Masonry , it will appear that it is primaril y the appellation bestowed on a peculiar sect or craft of workmen , whose chief ivork