Lecture On The First Degree.

suggest the thought that he can step forward independently . His wanderings cease when he reaches the volume of the Sacred Law , which , however , he does not immediately perceive . No ; although he may be guided to the repository of truth , yet will it be to him a sealed book , and its corruscations will by him be unperceived . He will be in tbe position of the

eunuch who was reading the book of Isaiah without understrnding it , when he was met by the Apostle Philip . Then it will behove him to examine himself and ascertain whether , above every other Avish , he has the wish to see the flashings of the light . Such a wish , not mere hypocritical professions , is an

indispensable condition ; but it is not easily formed , in consequence of the influence which the affections exercise over the understanding . It has been truly remarked that , ' where the things to be believed are things which a man would naturally and strongly wish to disbelieve , there is a great probability that the heart ; will operate injuriously on the head . ' The inclination , it is most true , plays au important part , and a moral revolution must be effected ere we shall be

able to see wondrous things out of the IHAV . lhis He alone who made the heart can accomplish , and it is to Him that we must look , as David did when he exclaimed , ' Open thou mine eyes , that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law . ' It is remarkable that even some of the heathen philosophers , Avho lived under the glimmering lig ht of natural religion , admitted the necessity of supernatural influence for the removal of the mist Avhich obscures our visions .

Plato , for instance , represents Socrates as saying , m his discourse with Alcibiades : ' Metbinks that Minerva removed the mist from the eyes of Diomed in order that he mig ht well distinguish God from man . So it is needful that He ( the heavenly Teacher ) , first removing from thy soul the mist which is now present , should then impart means by Avhich thou shalt know

good and evil ; for now thou dost not appear to me capable of this . " Justin Martyr , who lived in the second century , relates how , Avith an ardent desire of knowing God , he Avent successfully to the Stoic , the Peripatetic , the Pythagorean , and the Platonic philosophers , and how they failed to satisfy his mind .

He Avas then wandering in the dark , in the manner described above . At last be fell in with a venerable man , who cured him . of his ignorant admiration of Plato and Pythagoras , and gradually led him to some view of the nature and evidences of Christianity , adding" Above all things pray that the gates of light

, may be opened to you ; for they are not discernible , nor to be understood by any one , except God and his Christ enable a man to understand . ' * The mist Aveaved by the evil passions of man having been removed , he may exclaim , iu the words of a Masonic Song

' The terrors of darkness encompass'd me round ; But light , truth , and friendship , I speedily found ; No longer in darkness I now grope my way , Illumed by the glory and beauty of day ; The dense mist ~ f error that clouded my sight Are dispersed and destroyed by tho Science of Light ! But'it is not sufficient to discover truth , to enlist in its cause , and to wear its badge . If a man is to be

Lecture On The First Degree.

guided by its rays , he must incorporate it with himself , preparing his mind and body as a temple in Avhich the light may burn . And in setting about the building of the temple , he must be careful to keep it free from pollution , like the Jewish altars ; for , said the Lord , " It thou wilt make me an altar of stone , thoia shalt not build if of hewn stone : for if thou lift up

thy tool upon it , thou hast polluted it . * Or' like the Temple of Solomon , the stones of which . Avere hewn in the quarry , and there carved , marked , and numbered . The timber likewise Avas felled in Lebanon , and there carved , marked , and numbered , and then floated down to Joppa , whence it was conveyed on Avooden carriages to Mount Moriah , and there set up Avith wooden mauls . Thus , in the words of Bishop

Heber' No hammer fell , no ponderous axes rung , Like some tall palm tbe mystic fabric sprung . ' ' Know ye not , ' says the Apostle Paul , ' that ye are the temple of God , and that the spirit of God dvvelleth in you . If any man defile the temple , him shall God destroy , for the temple of God is holy ,

which temple ye are . ' Lord Shaftesbury has observed that St . Paul accommodated himself to the tastes of the Ephesians , who were- extremely fond of architecture , by frequent allusions to building . But it has not been uncommon to compare the bod } ' or the mind to a temple . Philo , Platoand othersrepresent a .

, , virtuous mind as the temple of God , and several heathens speak iu the strongest terms of the obligation men ai * d under to keep his temples inviolate anel nnpoiluted . f I will conclude with St . Paul ' s exhortation that we should not rest satisfied with the attainments already made . To an Entered

Apprentice the advice is peculiarly appropriate . After speaking of the necessity for pressing after further * attainments , the Apostle says ( according to Doddridge ' s paraphrase ) , ' Let as many of us , therefore , as are perfect in any degree , that is , all who are sin-, cere Christiansand initiatedif I may so express it

, , , into the holy mysteries of our religion , attend to this as our great business and aim : and if any of you are otherwise effected , if any be unhappily fallen into a remiss and indolent frame , God shall reveal even this unto you . '"

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THOMAS WOnSOJt . In a sort of commentary on tbe Abbe Barruol ' s work is the subjoined passage : — " Such are the laws to be found in Thomas Wolson and William Preston , thc one fall of contempt , the other full of zeal for English Masonry . ' Is not Thomas Wolson a mistake , and if not , what did he write against Masonry , and who was he ?—PAXKKIDGE .

TEJiriAT-,. CHURCHES . Are any of the round churches built by the Knights Templar distinguished by Masonic symbols ?—E . A . — [ They are , one and all , overflowing with them . So greatly does Masonic symbolism pervade every one of these structures , that there is no point in Freemasonry which is not symbolised in their architecture . It must be obvious to our companion "E > . A ., " that we cannot give the elucidations in print , but can assure bim so fully is it carried out that the interior of tbe columns are filled with Ma-