Notes On American Freemasonry.

connected Avith architecture , were thoroughly taught ; their principles taught by night in secret lectures , and exemplified by day as the work went forward . What proportion of the labourers ever became wise master builders we have no means of

kuowiug ; but when the Temple , and palaces , and other Hebrew works Avere completed , there was one of the noblest bands of accomplished Avorkmen the world had eA er seen ; and the Greek masters owned , in after days , that to them they were

indebted for the proudest achievements of Grecian skill in architecture . Whether this be true or not , it is , at least , certain that their Avorkmen became travellers , and went abroad in search of employment and wages ; and the secret Avords , grips , and

signs , which they had learned at Jerusalem , as the modern diploma , enabled them to make themselves known to all brethren , as Apprentices , Craftsmen , or Masters of that school . Thus , even in the time of Solomon , they built , not only the Teinple , ' . but

two or more palaces ; and cities all over the land of Israel ; and also , the Avails that enclosed Jerusalem , constructed the tent of the Bedouin Arab , and made home a place to be desired among all the nations around .

"Asyears sped , so went these men of enterprise to all lands . They fell in Avith the Avestwardbound train from Scythia and Gothland ; and Greece and Italy , and all the States of Southern Europe shared in the benefits Avhich they had to

confer on humanity ,- Carthage , also , AA ^ as built by them in Africa . In short , they carried abroad the arts of civilization ; and thus the religion of God , and the enterprise of the Phoenecians united , going hand in hand iu the grand race of enterprise and

of mercy—have fallen in with the Gospel of Christ , and spread tbe light of truth and of all the arts in all the earth . The sailors of Tyre also assisted Solomon iu navigating his ships from his navy yard at the bead of the bay of Akaba to O phir . " Such was the ori gin , and such the operative period of Masonry .

" How long these societies continued to be made up of operatives , Ave have no means of knoAving ; but , gradually builders became capitalists , and men of leisu : e , aud of letters ; and for this they AA'cre not excluded from the society which

they loved ; and their sons Avere admitted without having learned the trades of masons and of builders . Gradually the temples of science , and of the arts ,

Notes On American Freemasonry.

and of religion , were thrown open to all classes of men . The wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles was effectually broken down by the Gospel of the Eedeemer , and at length , all men who sought the moral and social influence of these

societies , if found worthy , Avere permitted to enter . " To-day Masonry has entirely ceased to be an operative thing , in the material sense . She stands as a moral , social , and humanitarian institution . She aspires not to take the place of the Church

of Christ ; for to this she bows as the human to the Divine . Like one of her patron saints she points to the Saviour of sinners and says , ' He must increase , but I must decrease . ' Fain would

she help to prepare the way of the Lord , and make a higliAvay in the world for the coming of her God . But she has nothing to offer as a substitute for the Gospel , or the Church . All she proposes is to bear some humble part in leading

men to Him who is able to save them . " But here , unbidden , arises the question / What is the moral standard of Masonry ? ' So far as religion is concerned , doubtless a Jew may embrace it as well as a Christian . She barely

takes the ground that God has revealed himself and his Law to man . Neither the Atheist , nor the Deist can enter her Lodges . Every good Mason knows , in whom he puts his trust . ' But beyond the great idea of God , as revealed in the

Old Testament , Masonry has no religious test . " By a resolution of the Grand Lodge no subordinate Lodge under this jurisdiction , shall permit any one but legally authorized Deputies ( or the Grand Master ) to lecture or instruct the said

Lodges in tbe "Work , " and tbe Grand Master will consider it his duty to discipline any Lodge or officers , which refuses to receive , learn and practice the "Work" as approved and taught by the District Deputies in this jurisdiction . ( To be continued ) .

Filial Duty, Of Parents' Claims And Children's Liabilities.

FILIAL DUTY , OF PARENTS' CLAIMS AND CHILDREN'S LIABILITIES .

BY EOBEET BOND , ATJTHOK OP " EMPLOYMENT FOR FEMALES , " "THE TIP GIEL , " & C . There is a pleasure peculiar to parents in witnessing the weak and simple gambols , and listening to the infantile prattle of their little ones , in observing the progressive growth of body and