Of Good Report.

unexceptionable in moral deportment , may unite , bless each other , and rejoice in practically realizing the sublime sentiment that , " God hath made mankind one Mighty brotherhood , Himself the Master , and the World his Lodge . "—Du . J . BUBJTS :

Masonic Ambition.

MASONIC AMBITION .

There is nothing so pleasing to the venerable Masters in Masonry , as that ambition in the young which tends to assist the advancement of the Order and expand the genius of the Craft . The flowers of evening are gathering about the hoary locks of those beloved sires , and they look

upon aspiring youth with more than a fraternal interest and gratification . A . s the valley they are descending grows deeper , and the paths they tread are becoming greener , they look back on the light of the past and behold with rapture their young friends pressing after them in the Temple .

Their mantles are about falling , and a score would lift them reverently and with honor , ere they touch the ground . Their jewels are still blazing , but the hand trembles as it reaches them , and many a vigorous hearty grasp is put forth to steadyand if need beto becomingly assume

, , them . The various paraphernalia , nf office must descend to other shoulders , and youth preserves its spotless integrity with the same care that age has guarded its sacred instilments , then the Craft will do itself infinite credit in the future and

reflect a blazing splendour on the past . Ambition in any station of life , in any condition of circumstances or education , when untrammelled by insatiate greed , is always a noble element of the mind . Without it the world would not have moved one degree beyond the barbaric ages , and

all the conveniences of civilization would be still the Secrets of another sphere . Without it , advancement would never lift its eye to heaven , but rank obscurity would fetter the incoming multitude . Helpless , mild , unchristian , aud deformed , humanity would have abruptly terminated in

savage dens by violence and bloodshed , where now peaceful strains of saint-like music accompany the departing soul into a future life . How may we often thank the " All seeing One" for his great beneficence in implanting in our bosoms a desire for prominence !

If other men in the ordinary channels of life are impregnated with this aspiring element , and if it is necessary to the success of the world that man in general should be inoculated with ambition , how much more necessary , is it for the Craft to possess the elevating motives of a soaring mind ? In works of benevolence we should be

Masonic Ambition.

known by all , while words of comfort would drop from our lips , which should reconcile the fevered patient to his lot , even as the flowers cast at the feet of the wearied , sun-bronzed soldier , remind him of home , and love , and peace . If we were as ambitious to do good to others as we are to

benefit ourselves , how many more weak hearts would flutter up to bright Hope , and ask a boon of Fortune ; how many eyes would shine forth with the assurance of Faith in the future , which now only dimly reflect the sad despair of the present . How important , then , it is to keep ourselves

awake and fully alive to passing events in the existing state of the world . We may be humble , but if we are ambitious , and watch closely for an opportunity , our turn will come , when we may cast off the shackles of ignoble origin , and leap into the company of the distinguished , when we can

exchange ideas with noted statesmen , sip a genial bowl of wine with the celebrated artist , or have thought wrestles with a famous Grand Master . If we be not ambitious , then a thousand opportunities may come and pass , and no reckoning be made of them . Our plummet then seeks onlto

y measure the , depths of the brooklet , when we should be sounding the restless sea j our axe aims only at the sapling of learning , when we should be hewing at the great poplar in search of secret truth . Without ambition we are mere instruments

without the ability to expand or soar—the tool of others , fit only to serve at the footstool on which greatness stops , in its mighty effort to reach the highest round of the ladder . We may be strong , but we only lift our neighbour up ; our voices may be sweet , but we only sing another into fame ; our

brain is active only at a friend ' s bidding . Living thus , we fill up a line in the world ' s records , when our history should occupy a page ; we are one of the leaves of the forest , when we should be the stately trunk itself . Let us all , therefore , take on some aspiration in

the brotherhood . Let us have an aim , and that a high one . In seeking to reach the opposite shore of light , we may arrive at the island midway in the stream ; in aiming at the eagle , we may hit the hawk ; and in striving for the office of " Worshipful , " we may at last reach the Warden ' s chair —Masonic Heview .

THE POOE LAW SXSTEJI . — "When it is remembered that the Poor-Law operations extend to tho remotest corners of the country , to the meanest hovel on the lonely moor , to the darkest alley in the densest town , to the very haunts of hunger and vice , where fevers begotten of dirt aud ignorance thrive and spread in , ever-widening circles ; where children , alas ! are but to die from unsanitary conditions , if not from actual starvation and neglect ; when wo considermoreoverthe opportunities for accumulating

, , statistics of disease , for preventive measures , for instruction in the simplost laws of health which , have been enjoyed through so many years , it will indeed seem strange and beyond belief that nothing has been done for the Public Health ; that the zeal for sanitary work which we have noticed in to the departments of the Government should in the Poor-Law Hoard havo been hitherto couspica * ous only by its absence . Food Journal .