Inaugural Address To The Masonic Archæological Institute, Upon Friday, 29th January, 1869.

large , we recognise the example it has given of men of all sects , all nationalities , and all political parties , associated together under the invocation of One God of All , to maintain harmony with each other , to advance the moral interests of all members , and to inculcate their duty labouring for the amelioration of

'mankind in . general . Where society is most in harmony with the principles of Freemasonry , as here or "in the United States , its greatest qualities are in abeyance ; but let civil or foreign discord invade even the « ommunity , and Freemasonry at once becomes an operative system . It is in those countries of India and

tho East where diversity of creed and race sever man from man in ordinary society that Freemasonry is doing its greatest and noblest work ; and as no man enters the body for individual advantages , to be conferred on himself alone , but for the benefit of his fellow-men , so do many remain enlisted in

Freemasonry for the sake of the great work it is doing in other lands , and in jiromoting the amelioration of mankind and their advancement to the common enjoyment of the blessings of matured knowledge and < of progressive well-being . Such are what we acknowledge as the true

purposes of Freemasonry ; and if we succeed by means of this Institute in cultivating these , we shall have attained an ample inducement to exertion aud a legitimate justification for its foundation and maintenance .

Emblems For Show.

EMBLEMS FOR SHOW .

A perfect fury appears to rage wildly through the American Press , against the display of Masonic jewellery . Undoubtedly , as the Craftsman says : — "One of the most fruitful sources of evil to

-the Masonic institution and most inconsistent practices of its members , is the display of Masonic ¦ emblems in the form of jewelry , conspicuously placed on their persons to attract tbe attention ¦ of the community . " One might supposefrom its

, prevalence among the fraternity , that so soon as 3 ou are inducted into the Order , it is obligatory to publish to the world that you are a Freemason . Indeed , to such an extent does this practice

prevail , that almost every other young man you meet has either a Masonic pin in his neck tie , or his watch chain borne down with the weig ht of Masonic jewels . Nor does the display stop here , but some more zealous of the Craft have these

emblems printed on business cards , painted on sign boards , on bar-room windows ; and we have even heard of them being engraven on dog chains ; this last application of them is , we presume , designed to insure the life of the dog . Whenever we see a profusion of these emblems displayed upon the person , we cannot help the conclusion

that it is either done thrugh ignorance , a misapprehension of the nature of our institution , or from sinister motives , and a desire to speculate upon Freemasonry . There is no language too strong to express

the condemnation by the true spirit of Freemasonry of this prostitution of its privileges , or this perversion of its sacred emblems . Masonry is a secret institution , and the great responsibility that rests upon every member to keep sacred and

inviolable the secrets that are committed to him , should keep them ever mindful of the injunction , never to let fall the least sign , token or word , whereby the secrets of Masonry might be unlawfully obtained .

Let no one imagine that because be has passed through the ceremonies of the several degrees , and become a Templar Mason , that Masonry has done its work upon him , and that , therefore , he is bright in the noble art , and that all that remains

for him to do is to adorn himself externally with Masonic emblems , and proclaim to the world that he is a luminary in its sacred temple ; but rather let him seek to adorn his mind and heart with its noble principles and generous affections , by

studying its moral teachings , and expending the money wasted on those expensive emblems in drying the tears of the widow and orphan , cheering the heart of the desolate , so that when he knocks at the door of the Grand Lodge above , our Supreme

Grand Master will say , " Come ye blessed of my Father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger and ye took me in . "

ECLECTIC MASONRY . —This was an order or rite established at Frankfort , in Germany , in the year 1783 , by Baron de Knigge , for the purpose , if possible , of abolishing the hautes grades , or philosophical degrees , which had , at that period , increased to an excessive number . This "Eclectic Masonry " acknowledged the three

symbolic degrees only as the true ritual , but permitted each lodge to select at its option any of the higher degrees , provided they did not interfere with the uniformity of the first three . The founder of the rite hoped by this system of diffusion to weaken tho importance , and at length totallto destroy the existence of these higb .

y degrees . But he failed in this expectation ; and while these high degrees are still flourishing , there are not a dozen lodges of the Eclectic rite now in operation in Europe . Into this country it has never penetrated ;—Maclcey .