Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

after an absence of nineteen years ; of Bro . James Kellock , from New York , in 1857 ; of Bro . Joseph Kellock , from Australia ; of Bro . Matthew Nicholson , from Iowa , United States , and others are still fresh in the memory of many in the Lodge .

Nor are their fraternal attentions confined to the transient of their OAvn number ; for in no lodge do visiting * brethren experience the strength of the mystic tie iu a greater degree than among the , sons of No . 252 . Here the worthy visitor is ever

Avelcome—enter AA'hen he may he will find a circle of cheerful faces looking radiantly upon him , and at the proper moment a sheaf of glowing hands ready to grasp his OAVU . Ib is held by Rob . Morris , an American brother of great Masonic

experience , that the lodge Avhich has the most visitors , other things being equal , is the best informed ; and proof of the truth of this axiom is afforded in the case of St . John ' s , which , as a country lodge , profits in a high degree by the

fraternal visits of Avayfaring brethren — those " links that unite the ten thousand lodges of the world into one harmonious chain , and afford us the best means of testing our Masonic charity ancl knoAvledge , and the integrity of the Order in other jurisdictions . "

We are free to confess that in very few of the lodges Ave have had the pleasure of visiting , have Ave observed the spirit of legitimate Masonic inquiry in such active operation as is displayed by the leading members of No . 252 . In the floorwork of the lodge the officials are scrupulously

exact ; ancl in conferring the several degrees there is a total absence of that levity , of Avhich in the work of some loclges there is too much reason for complaint , as detracting from the solemnity ancl dramatic effect of our secret rites . The excellence

of St . John ' s arrangements at makings , is iu a great measure attributable to the attention given to this ancl kindred matters by the past and present occupants of its several chair ,-. At divers times have loclges of instruction been formed in St . John ' s .

While on the subject of refreshment , Ave may in a sentence advert to the custom obtaining in St .. John ' s at toast-drinking-. In the performance of this ceremony the ancient Craftsmen seem to have retained their seats , and it was only Avhen

special honour Avas intended to be conferred on the subject of the toast that the brethren assumed a perpendicular position . The old mode has

Recollections Of The Lodge Of Freemasons At Thornhill.

gradually disappeared , and Scottish Freemasons are UOAV asked to be upstanding on every occasion of toast-drinking—a compliment Avhich in No . 252 is accompanied Avith a species of Masonic fire peculiar to itself , ancl which we cannot here

further describe than by saying that its conglomeration of movements denote the three penal signs Avith which representatives of the W . \ S . ' . are familiar , the . vhole being interspersed Avith peclal manifestations more noisy than harmonious .

"I Am Too Old."

"I AM TOO OLD . "

To solicit any one to become a member of our Order is highly un-Masonic . To defend that Order when unjustly assailed , to remove unfounded ancl childish prejudices and cavils against it , to SIIOAV what it is not , to unfold its principles ,

its aims , aud its achievements in any society in Avhich the subject of Freemasonry may happen to be broached , is not only laAvful—it is a positive duty . Such has been our procedure . We have never shrunk from speaking fully and freely on

those portions of the Craft Avhich are exoteric , and Ave have found that doing so has almost invariably produced very desirable effects . People ' have been astonished to find it so very different from what they expected . I suppose our readers

are aware that the uninitiated may be divided into IAVO great classes—those Avho believe Freemasonry to be Avicked , ancl those Avho believe it to be silly . When they find that it is neither , that almost

every jot and tittle of it is in accordance with the Scriptures of Truth , that good men have loved and extolled it , that great men have brought their powerful intellects to its elucidation , that the mighty ones of the earth , whose names are

as household words , have been enrolled on Masonry ' s glorious scroll—a feeling- akin to regret may be observed in your listeners . Ancl this feeling is particularly discernible in the old . "How beautiful , " they say , "is your Masonic

system ! HOAV adapted , for a world so unhinged ancl distracted as this ! HOAV sorry I am that I did not join it when young . I am now too old ! " We have frequently heard such expressions as these from the lips of men whom we could not

help wishing earnestly to see enrolled amongst us—men of vast erudition , hig h ancl spotless character , Avho would shed a lustre on any society Avith which they might connect themselves . And yet these men , although highly appreciating