On Symbols As Applied To Masonic Instruction.*

leopards , goats , or hi g h trees , leaders of armies , conquerors , and founders of empires ; royal dignity is described by purple or a crown ; iniquity by spotted garments ; error aud misery by an intoxicating draught ; a warrior by a sword or boiv ; a powerful man hy a gigantic stature ; and a judge by balance , weights , and

measures ( "Wadburton , Div . Lei ) , iv . s . 4 ) . According to Porphyry , there was this distinction ofthe hieroglyphics and symbolic method of writing among the Egyptians : the former expressed the meaning of an imitation of the thing represented , as when the picture of smoke ascending upwards denoted fireand the latter

, allegorising the subject by an enigma , as when a hawk was used to signify the sun , or a fly to express the quality of impudence ( vide He Vita Pytficuj . xi . 15 ) . The symbols , says " Warburton ( JDiv . Ley . iii . I'll ) , were of two kinds , tropical and enigmatical . The tropical , which were the more natural , ivere made by

employing the more unusual properties of things to express objects . Thus a cat signified the moon , because the pupil of her eye was observed to be dilated at the full , and contracted at the decrease of that satellite . The enigmatical ivere constituted by the mystical assemblage of two or more things , whose combined

properties expressed a particular quality ; thus a beetle , with a round ball in its claws , denoted the sun , because this insect makes a ball of dung , which it rolls in a circular directiou , ivith its face looking towards the sun . Such , then , are symbols and hieroglyphics . I trust I have said enough to show their ori gin and uses from the

earliest to the present time ; and can onl y hope that it may lead some ofthe brethren here present to study this very interesting subject ; they will derive much information from Bro . Dr . Olliver ' s work , Signs and Symbols , and also from some excellent papers already and now publishing in the [ EREEMASONS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIEHOR .

As eveiyfching that strikes the eye more immediately engages the attention , and imprints itself on the memory , Preemasons have universally adopted the plan of inculcating the tenets of our Order by typical figures and allegorical emblems . Every brother in his transit through the degrees is instructed iu the meaning of these emblems ; but Masonry being veiled in allegory and

illustrated by symbols , the time which it would require to enter fully into each one precludes the " W . M . from doingmore than briefly explaining each one as it comes before him ; but he thus lifts a corner of tlie veil which envelopes them , and gives the zealous and energetic Mason the opportunity of penetrating further into the hidden

paths of nature aud science . It is with a view of stimulating you to prosecute these researches that I this evening , brethren , shall endeavour to explain to you some of our working tools ; and , for this purpose , shall begin with the first instrument put into every architect ' s hand , the 24-inch gauge , or common two-foot rule . It

at first sight appears a simple thingj to lecture upon ; but ive , as Masons , find sermons in stones , and good in everything ; for , in the words of Martin . Tupper , in his Proverbial Philosophy : — " All things being are in mystery ; we expound mysteries by mysteries :

And yet the secret of them all is one in simple grandeur ; All intricate , yefc each path plain , to those who know the way ; All unapproachable , yet easy of access , to those who hold the key ; We walk among labyrinths of wonder , but thread the mazes with a clue ; "We sail in charfcless seas , but , behold ! the pole star is above us . "

On Symbols As Applied To Masonic Instruction.*

Pirst , then , what is a 24-inch gauge , and what its practical uses ? The 24-iuch gauge , or rule , often termed the carpenter ' s rule , is a strai ght piece of wood , sometimes iron , of 2-1 inches in length and 1 inch broad . Eor convenience in carrying , it is often made to shut up in the middle with a hinge . By means of this instrument , the workman about to be employed is enabled to take the dimensions of the work he is

o-oinpto engage upon , and thus to estimate the probable amount of labour and expense of the undertaking . This is its use in the hands of an artisan , but to a thinking and speculative mind it is pregnant with meaning and use besides this one . Its division into twenty-four parts may be compared with the division of the natural day into twenty-four hoursand will consequentlteach us to

, y apply the several parts to their allotted purposes , viz ., apart to prayer and the service of the Creator ; a part to labour and the benefit of the temporal interests of ourselves and families ; a part to refreshment and innocent amusement and recreation after our toils ; and a part to sleep , Nature ' s sweet restorer of our wearied frames and

energies . Por this division of our time , we have examples in the lives of good and pious men , long since returned to their kindred dust . Daniel , who was governor over all the princes of the kingdom of Darius , ive read , kneeled upon his knees three times a day , and prayed and gave thanks to his God ( Daniel , vi . 10 ) . ;

David also ( Ps . Iv . 17 ) , the man after God ' s own heart , says , " Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud , and lie shallihearjme ; " and in more modern days we read that one of the wisest and bravest kings who ever sat on the English throne , and who moreover was the then MAV . Grand Master , of our OrderI mean Alfred

, the Great , divided his time much in the same manner ; and in order that he might not appropriate too much time to one subject , he markedthe division of the time hy means of a burning candle with appropriate marks upon it . Our Grand Master Solomon also set us an example of prayer and praise to the Creator ; and in his writings has

instructed us how by prayer ive should apply our hearts unto wisdom . The most acceptable offering that can be made to the Almi ghty is that of a pure heart , with praise and prayer , for , as David says , " This also shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns

and hoofs . " Prayer is the sweet soother and refresher of the soul . Are we afflicted with any loss or sorrow , let us pray . The greater our troubles the more ferventl y and frequently should we pray for God ' s grace and mercy ; lie is always more ready to hear than we to pray . All prayer is founded on a sense of our own wantsand of God ' s poiver and goodness to l

, supp y them . It is not enough to be in want ; we must feel it , and that deeply , before we can be led to earnest prayer . Many sick people are not aware of their disease or danger , and they cannot be expected to seek a physician . The squalid Bosjesman , reared in nakedness and filth , and with scarce an idea superior to the

beasts that perish , cannot be expected to seek after the comforts of civilisation ; and wh y ? because they are accustomed to the existing state of tilings—it is habit . Man is , indeed , a bundle of habits . And thus it is with the wicked and thoughtless of mankind ; they feel not the misery , see not the danger of their case

, and thus they have no inducement to prayer . It is from ignorance alone that men serve not God as they should do . rvafli a-eavTov , which means , in the words of Pope , " Know then thyself , presume not God to scan . "

" The greatest study of mankind is man , " was inscribed over the portals of the heathen temples , that it might prove a stimulus to virtue , and lead to the de-