Thoughts On The Beautiful.

Sin has not reached nor defaced those distant orbs , ancl they are beautiful still—surpassingly beautiful , as Avhen they came fresh and bright from their Maker ' s hand . Tiie tempter's power has not marred the beauty of those celestial

habitations ; they shine to-day with , the same trascendent loveliness as Avhen they sang together in chorus at the creation . Astronomy is one of the sciences Masonry cherishes ; and . there is not only beauty in the science itself , but there is beauty such as angels delight to look on in the revelations it makes to man .

There is beauty in the little bird—the bird of bright plumage aud cheerful song . See it , as it turns from its simple repast , hop upon its perch , adjust its feathers by a shake , spread out its golden Avings , lift its little head as though looking

heavenAvard , ancl pour out a song of gladnesssoft and silvery , yet musical and gushing as the pearly streamlet leaps from the mountain rock ! What heart , Avhat Mason , can look and listen unmoved ? But enough for the present . Go out

and gaze on the beautiful until you think of Him Avho made them all , and then in bending homage " adore the great Creator . " It should never be forgotten that it is not to gratify the loAver and baser £ > assions of our nature

that this Avealth of beauty is so profusely scattered over the material creation , but to elevate , to refine , to purify ancl exalt , to allure the heart heavenward , ancl to accustom the soul to draAV supplies from a fountain Avhence angels drink , and

to feed on that Avhich refreshes the " spirits of the just" AA'hile they AA alk and talk on the banks of the river of life . —Masonic Review .

The New Order Of Merit.

THE NEW ORDER OF MERIT .

It has long been the reproach of this country that there was no honourable distinction for men of science , art , or letters ; no order of merit , as in continental states , for those Avho had devoted their lives and energies to the improvement , or the happiness , of their felloAV-men ; no reward , in fact ,

for the social or intellectual virtues ; no acknoAVledgment to the man Avho saves , but only to him Avho destroys , human life . With all our civilisation , scientific improvements , and intellectual advancement , Ave have reached the latter half of the nineteenth century to findas in the thirteenth

, , that brute courage and slaughter are the only recognised virtues extant , the only qualifications that merit the Blue Ribbon of a nation's pride and homage .

The men who discovered the steam engine , invented the spinning jenny , ancl perfected the electric telegraph , passed to an uuhonoured grave ; the friend of millions , ancl the eternal benefactor of a nation , passes out of mind ancl thought like an unrecognised item of the common herd , Avhile

the leader of a charge in battle , or bhe slayer of a leash of men , is adorned Avith symbols of national gratitude Avhile living , and attended with a flourish of drums ancl trumpets to his grave Avhen dead . Nor does his exhaltation and glory end Avith life ancl burial , for the soldier or the sailor has a

hatchment that keeps to remotest ag-es the memory of his deeds ever fresh ancl verdant . In the hope to crush the obloquy that has for centuries attached to England of rewarding slaughter and ignoring civic virtue , her Majesty has lately established an order of merit for bravery , not in destroying , but in saving , lives , to be called after her late lamented consort " The Albert

Medal . " A more noble and queenly institution could not Avell have been conceived , or one more worthy the Sovereign , her people , and the age , and , in the knoAvledge that she has founded it , Ave forget the years of humiliation Ave have suffered in the Avant of such an institution . Rejoiced ,

however , as Ave are to see a step taken in so forward a manner , and in the right direction , Ave deeply regret that the name' of Albert was not reserved for arts and letters , an order of merit that must , sooner or later , be established , ancl to Avhich he , as the Avorthy jjatron of bothhad the foreznost

, claim to rank as head ; Avhile fully acknoAvledging the utility ancl benefit of her Majesty's neAV Institution , aud rejoicing in the fact that a more enlightened vieAV has been taken of the social virtues of the people , and that something more distinguished than a Humane Society ' s medal Aviil

in future reAvard the man who perils his own life to save those of his companions or the public generally . But Avhile gratefully applauding her Majesty for Avhat she has clone , and gladly accepting the Albert Medal as an initiatoiy step to a more extensive order of social meritAve cannot

, but regret that its rewards should have stopped short at one order of merit , and that this honourable distinction should only be open to those Avho have saved life from droAvning .

Not a day passes but in Avhich some brave , unlettered felloAV , Avith no reward , immediate or future , but his OAVU conscience , descends into some pit , Avell , or neglected vault , and , at his OAVU peril , brings out his gasping or dead companions . Not a night goes by but in Avhich some fireman

jeopardises his own life , and risks leaving an unprovided Avidow ancl children , in the attempt to save the life or lives of those utterly cut off by circling flames from any other hope of life . During the last fortnig ht three or four cases of marked heroism have taken place at fires , in Avhich the conductors of the lire-escapes have shown unusual coolness and bravery , one rescuing , at the inimi-