Grand Chapter.

GRAND CHAPTER .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MAY 7 , 1864 .

The business of Grand Chapter on Wednesday last was conducted with , much greater regularity than has often been the case of late , the M . E . G . Z . himself presiding , supported b y "Coinp . the Eev . J . Huyshe as H ., and Comp . Gibbs , Prov . G .

Superintendent of Bombay , as J . The business Avas little more than formal ,, as usual all the recommendations of the Committee bein g agreed to . We vreve gratified to perceiA r e the Gr . Z . on the throne , feeling assured that Avere his lordshi p

or the Grand H . occasionall y to attend Ave should never have to complain of the manner in which the business is conducted .

St. John And Freemasonry.

ST . JOHN AND FREEMASONRY .

{ Concluded from ' page 342 . ) Freemasonry is considered tinder two denominations —Operative or Instrumental ; Speculative or Moral . . ' . Operative Freemasonry in its ancient history , not only refers to the use of Masonic tools or implements , the art of erecting or adorning in architecture , but includes all the liberal sciencesespeciallgeometryAvhich was

an-, y ; ciently considered as synonymous wifcli Freemasonry . As such , its principles were present with the G . A . O . T . TJ ., when by "wisdom He founded the earth , and by understanding established the heavens . " AVhen , as He declared to His servant Job , " He laid the foundations of the earth , declared the measure , and fastened the corner stone thereof . When he laid a compass upon the bosom

of the deep , and stretched a line upon the face of the dry land ; Avheu Ho hung the clouds and the starry canopy , as the covering thereof , and made darkness its swaddling band ; when He parted the light and scattered the east wind upon the earth : when He commanded the morning and caused the day spring to know his place ; when He made a pathway for the overflowing of waters , and a way for the lightning and thunder ; when He shut up tho sea with bars and said hitherto shalt thou come and

no further , and here let thy proud Avaves be stayed ; Avhen He established the ordinances of Heaven and set the dominion thereof in the earth ; when He bound the sweet influences of tho Pleiades or loosed the bands of Orion ; when he brought forth Mazaroth in his season , and guided Areturns , with his sons ; when the morning stars sang together , and all the sous of God shouted

for joy . " Speculative or Moral Freemasonry , the building , adorning and improving the mind and soul , is synonymous Avith truth , wisdom , virtue , moral light—all which arc direct emanations from , the Father of Light , in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning ; the great Master Builder and Creator of all things . He who , at that uncertain

period , when " the earth was without form and void ; and darkness rested upon the face of the deep , and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters , " said '' Let there be Light , and there was Light . " This was not that material light now beaming around us , emanating from the Sun , which , for nearly two thousand years , has hung in the firmament of Heaven , sending forth light and heat—the source of all physical power—to tho worlds rolling around him . The sun was not then created , nor had any of the lights been made ,

and set in the firmament of heaven , to give light upon the earth , and to divide the day from the night . It was , therefore , a direct effusion from the Divinity—a lucid splendour or glory—such , we may conjecture , as the celestial hierarchy , who shouted for joy when tho corner stone of creation was laid , and tuned their sweetest harps around Bethlehem's manger , delight to bathe their

intellectual natures , and gather divine energy for their work of love in the service of their Master . It has been suggested by some divines and theologians , that this light was that indescribable shekinah or glory of Jehovah . In Eden , a symbol of love and favour to man while loyal to his Maker—a flaming sword turning every way to keep the tree of life from man as a rebel . The zoliar or

window iu the ark ; a light aud assurance of safety to its inmates while floating over a drowned Avorld . The guide of Abraham , as with unswerving faith lie ascended the mount of sacrifice . The glory and majesty which hung around Horeb and Sinai where God appeared to reveal-His name and deliver His law . The light which hung around the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the glory

which so filled the Lord ' s house upon Mount Moriah , that all bowed aud worshipped and praised the Lord , saying , " For He is good ; for His mercy endureth for ever . " If this be the true exposition , the same light and glory may soon be again seen ; perhaps witnessed by some UOAV living , as seen on Mount Tabor , Avhen He , " the desire

of all nations , " shall again , com . © , in . like manner as He Avas seen to ascend ; to reward His saints and gather His ancient people , the Jews , into their owu land . And " His feet shall then stand upon the Mount of Olives , and His throne be established upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem for ever . " Then " the city shall have no need of the sun , neither the moon to shine in it ; for the glory of God will lighten it . For the moon shall be confounded , and the sun ashamed when tho Lord of Host shall reign in Mount Zion and iu Jerusalem . " Then shall the swelling

tide of righteousness and peace overflow the earth , and ' Thy kingdom come , and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven , " be a prayer answered and fulfilled . Glimmerings more or less clear or faint , of moral and spiritual light , was shed upon the Masonry or mysteries , connected with the religion of the old world ; especially along the line of patriarchs and prophets , who adhered

to the worship of the true God . Plato says of tho ancient heathen mysteries , " It was their end and drift to restore the soul to that state from which it fell , to inculcate a holy and virtuous life , in order to a happy immortality . " Says tho Rev . Dr . Oliver , one of the ablest and most voluminous Masonic Avriters of the present

century" The Order appears to have been instituted and preserved , to preserve and transmit an account of the miraculous dealings of the Most High with His people , in tho infancy of the word ; for at that early period , Freemasonry may be identified with religion . " " The most prominent facts which our traditions and ceremonies inculcate and teachdirectlor bimplicationare these .

, y y , That there is a God ; that He created man and placed him , in a state of perfect happiness , in Paradise ; that he forfeited his supreme felicity by disobedience to the Divine commands , at the suggestion of a serpent tempter ; that to alleviate his repentant contrition , a Divine revelation was communicated to him , that in process of time a Saviour should appear in the world to atone for their

sins , and place their posterity iu a condition of restoration to His favour ; that for the increasing wickedness of man , God sent a deluge to purge tho earth of its corruptions ; and when it was again re-peopled , He renewed His gracious covenan t with several of the patriarchs : delivered His people from Egypt , let ! them in the -wilderness , and in the Mosaic dispensation , gave more clear indications of the Messiah , by a succession of prophets , extending throughout the entire theocracy and monarch } ' ; that Ho instituted a tabernacle Avorship , which contained