Necessity Of Study To A Mason.

that leads up the slope of the Mountain of Truth s and it depends upon your Secrecy , Obedience , and Fidelity , whether you will advance or remain stationary . Imagine not that you will become a thorough

Mason by learning what is commonly called the work , or merely by becoming familiar with our traditions . Masonry has a history and a literature . Its allegories and its traditions will teach you much ; but much is to be sought elsewhere . The

streams of learning that now flew broad and wide must be followed to their heads in the springs that wel ] up in the far distant Past , and thez-e you will find the meaning and the origin of Masonry . A few trite lessons upon the rudiments of

architecture , a few unimportant and unsubstantiated traditions will no longer satisfy the earnest inquirer after Masonic Truth . Let him who is satisfied aud content Avith them remain Avhere he

is , and seek to ascend no higher . But let him who desires to understand the harmonious and beautiful proportions . of Masonry , read , study , reflect , digest and discriminate . The true Mason is an ardent seeker after knoAvledge ; and he knoAvs

that books are vessels which come down to us fullfrieghted with the intellectual riches of the past ; and that in the lading of these Argosies is much that sheds light upon the history of Masonry , and proves its claims to be regarded as the great benefactor of mankind—Fomeroy ' s Democrat .

Masonry—Why It Has Been Upheld.

MASONRY—WHY IT HAS BEEN UPHELD .

It is , and has been a matter of wonderment , that the Masonic Society has out-lived every other human structure . Of all the ancient Orders Masonry alone has survived . The other fraternities of the old world have perished with the

nations which gave them birth . Some of them seemed to have been entitled rather to the appellation of literary institutions—admitting none but the learned—and Avhere intended to endure Avhile learning should continue to be cultivated amon g

men . But learning has ahvays been the object of intense pursuit , and its honours the high reAvard of ardent ambition ; and yet even the history of those Societies has become a matter of curious research . Others , embracing the whole fraternity

of architects , might reasonably have been expected to exist as long as a taste for the fine or the useful arts . But these arts are still patronized , while the labours of those Societies , as well as their history , are rapidly passing into oblivion . Others ,

extending more widely their range of members , and bound to the noble cause of relieving human suffering Avherever found , have shone while in meridiam effulgence , carrying consolation to many a bosom of sorrow . But afflictions are still the

portion of man , and those associations for Lis relief have passed aAvay forever . But Masonry can boast no attractions greater than those of many other Societies ; and therefore it is not on this account it has received constant

accessions of members . The imposing character of its external appearance has been far exceeded by those of some other institutions . That outward

pomp and splendour of celebration which leads captive the senses of the beholders , could not preserve the mysteries of ancient Greece ; and they therefore are long since extinct . Neither is the perpetuity to be sought in the secrecy of

Masonry : for other societies have possessed secrets and kept them ; and the societies and their secrets , such as " The Italian Academy of Secrets , " founded by Baptista Porta—also some of the Orders of Knighthood , have perished together .

How has it happened , then , that of all other secret societies , Masonry alone has survived ; and that even of this as an operative institution , nothing now remains but a name , except the great characteristics of the principles on which it is

founded ? We can offer no satisfactory solution of this question Avithout recurring to the mysterious and Avise providence of God . Masonry has existed to the present day , upheld by the strong arm Avhich sustains creation .

But it is better worth our inquiry , Avhy it has come to pass that such an institution , possessing no inherent principle of self-preservation—and supported by members Avho do not claim , as a body of men , any greater purity of life or elevation

of motives than many other portions of societyshould thus have been cherished so long by the fostering hand of Heaven ? Our ancient brethren were distinguished for their zeal in the dissemination of truth and virtue . They received novitiates ,

and devoted themselves to their instruction . They were particularly anxious for the culture of the youthful mind : and were deeply impressed with ,