"Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat."

MASONIC FRIENDSHIP . —Friendship is one of the greatest blessings which the benevolent Author of our nature has conferred on our fallen and imperfect state ; and its sincerity is tested and its blessings are peculiarly appreciated in seasons of calamity . How few are there in this selfish world who will Tally around us the closer when the storms of adversity assail ns , who will open their purses to relieve us in our embarrassments , and who will whisper a kind word of encouragement when the

blasting seowl of the world is directed towards us . Yet such am the reverses and sudden vicissitudes of life that every one should calculate ou the occurrence of such calamities and make provision for them . Such a haven does Masonry open amid the calamities of life ; it assures every brother of the Order that if age should steal on him without having made provision against its infirmities , or the reverses of fortune should plunge him into

poverty , that ruthless want shall never enter his dwelling ; that his little ones shall not cry in vain for food ; that his circumstances in life shall be relieved ; that while there is a rupee in our treasury , or a spark of benevolence in our hearts , he shall be assisted in weathering the storm of life . Religion is the gohlen cord which unites man to God ; Masonry the silver line ¦ which runs from man to manin its bosom flows cheerilthe

; y milk of human kindness , and its heart expands with love and charity . It wears the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit , at peace with God , itself , and the world . "With one hand it extends the olive branch , with the other it administers succour to the distz-essed . It annihilates all parties , conciliates all private opinions , and renders those who by their Almighty Father were made of one blood , to he of one heart also , brethren firmly bound b

together y that indissoluble tie—the love of their God , aud the love of their kind . In the words of Bro . Sir AT . Scott , — "It is the secret sympathy , The silver link , the silken tie ,

With heart to heart , and mind to mind , In body and in soul can bind . " Prainffl ori ? A SnOB . —The Jews attached a more extended signification to this old Masonic custom of " pulling off a shoo " than most of our readers understand . 1 . Entering the Temple of the Lord they pulled off their shoes , that no dust or pollution might profane the * holy ground . 2 . It was the closing or cement ol a contract among eastern nations—the part ing the

y convey right or privilege pulled off his shoe and gave it to his fellow as a pledge of his fidelity . 3 . Amongst the Jews it was a token of renunciation . Thus the kinsman of Ruth renounced his claim upon her in favour of Boas .. He loosed his shoe from his foot , which showed Ruth was released from all engagements . THE COMMON GAVEL . —The Common Gavel is ' an important instrument of labour , without which no work of manual skill

can be completed ; from which we learn that skill without industry will be of no avail , and labour is the lot of man ; for the heart may conceive , and the head devise in vain , if the hand be not prompt to execute the design . Masons are called moral builders . In their rituals they declare , emphatically , that a more noble and glorious purpose than squaring stones and hewing timbers is theirs—fitting immortal nature for that spiritual building not made with hands , eternal in the heavens . It is said that the construction of the pyramids of Egypt

employed the labour of one hundred thousand men for many years , but it was only to build monumental piles , beneath whose shadows kings might rest . These pyramids are only temples for the dead ; Masons are building one for the living . The pyramids were only mausoleums in which the bones of the mighty dead might repose in imperial magnificence ; Masons are erecting a structure in which the God of Israel shall dwell for ever . The pyramid shall crumble till not one stone shall

away , be left upon another ; but who shall count the years of immortality , the lifetime of the sou' , which is fitted for its place in tbe heavens ? AVho can define its outlines , or fathom its depths , or measure its journey ? It is a stream which grows broader and deeper as it fiows ' omvard . An angel ' s eye cannot measure its length , nor an angel's wing travel to its farthest boundary . AVhen earth ' s proudest monumental piles have crumbled and that

away , sand been scattered by the desert winds , and the glory and greatness of earth shall be forgotten , then will the immortal be pluming its wings for loftier flights . It is a fountain whose sources are in the Infinite , and whose placid -waters flow on lor ever—a spring time that shall bloom , educating immortal mind for the present , the future , for all ages—is accknowledged to he one of the essential objects of Masonic labours . The builder builds for a century ; Masons , for eternity . The painter paints for a generation ; they , for everlasting years .

Metropolitan.

METROPOLITAN .

* yJ > All communications to he addressed to 19 , Salisbury-street , . fflRKOB MASONIC THE Strand , London , AV . C .

ROHEKT BURNS LODGE ( No . 25 ) . —A very numerous : congregation of tha brethren of this old and esteemed lodge assembled on tho Oth inst . at the Freemasons' Hall , Great Queen-street , when the AV . M ., Bro . Hartley , initiated Messrs . Bassano ,. Spencer , Doody , and Denneufc into the earliest degree of the Craft . The admirable manner in which he performed his onerous duty merited and elicited the highest eulogies of the brethren present . He alsoin the most dignigsd and solemn

, style , passed Bros . Myson , Kirkby , Taylor , Ward , and Francis . Labour being concluded , the lodge was closed , and the brethren adjourned to refreshment , which was provided in a style that did honour to the taste of the worthy manager of the tavern , Bro . Gosden . Tho P . M . 's present were Bros . Dyte , Matthews , Gladwin , AVelch , Caulcher , and Lyon , Sec . The partakers of the lodge hospitality were Bros . Dawson , Cherule , Child , Duke , and

Paterson . IJODGB or JUSTICE ( NO . 14-7 ) . —At the AVhite Swan Tavern , High-street , Depeford , this old lodge met on AVednesday , the Sth inst . Bro . G . Chapman , AV . M ., presided , aud there were present : —Bros . J . Patte , S . AV . ; J . Lightfoot , P . M ., Treas ., as J . AV . ; F . Walters , P . M ., Secure tern . ; R . G . Batt , S . D . ; Percival , J . D . ; W . Dalziel , as I . G . ; J . Deal , P . M . ; G . Bolton , P . M . ; CHDavisP . M . N . W . AA ingfieldP . M . ; H . MooreP . M . ;

. . , ; , , C . T . Speight , P . M . ; W . Barnes Buckinshaw , S . Juppa , Roberts , AV . Ward D . Davies , J . Mott , F . AVaterman , J . Miles , H . Ellis , Predam , Chappell , J . Liddiard , J . Miles , J . Roper , H . Bartlett , and many others . Visitors—Bros . G . Gale , AV . M . 54-S , Church , and others . Bro . Bartlett worked the first section of the first degree . Bro . F . Fisher , M . D ., was raised to the first degree . Alter labour the usual superior banquet followed .

LODOE or JOPPA ( NO . 1 SS ) - —This numerous lodge met for thc dispatch of Masonic business on Monday last , the 6 th inst ., at the Albion Tavern , Aldergate-street , Bro . A . Eskell , AV . M ., taking his seat soon after five o'clock , supported by Bros . H . ]___ . Lovyj Alexander , and E . P . Albert , P . M . ' s ; also by visitors Bros . A . Oliver Davis , 279 , Leicester ; G- F . Taylor , * 25 ; Simmons ,

and others . Lodge being opened , the minutes cf the last meeting were read , after which Bros . Charles Hunt , Thomas Barnes , H . Sydney , C . AV . Phillips , and M . Samuel were introduced , questioned , and passed to the degree of F . C . ' s . This was followed by the ceremony of raising , the recipients of that beautiful degree being Bros . M . L . Alexander ( a son of Bro . Alexander , P . M . ) , and S . Aaronson . The whole of the ceremonies were impressiveland lendidl iven bthe worthy W . M . Bro .

y sp y g y , Eskell . The lodge was then closed , and the brethren adjourned to refreshment , presided over by the AV . M ., who , upon the removal of the cloth , gave " The Queen and Graft" in suitable terms , followed by the usual honours . The toasts of the M . AV . G . M . the Earl of Zetland , andD . G . M . Lord De Grey and Ripon , were next given , and received with tho accustomed demonstrations . The toast of the P . M . ' s was acknowledged by

Bro . H . M . Levy in a very facetious speech . He deplored the absence of so many P . M . ' s from the lodge upon that occasion . He believed there were unavoidable reasons for it , but he presumed there would be a large muster upon tho next occasion , for the P . M . ' s of the Lodge of Joppa were always ready at the call of duty , aud no lodge had more reason to be proud of its P . M . 's than No . 183 . The W . M ., in proposing " The Benevolent

Fund , " associated with it the name of Bro . Alexander , P . M ., who replied , saying he knew not what the Joppa Lodge would be without its benevolent fund . It was only recently that a brother was compelled , from unfortunate circumstances , to seek its aid , and the sum asked for , to meet a peculiar difficulty , was imauimously granted . He ( Bro . Alexander ) trusted that such applications would be seldom madebut when such did occur

, the Benevolent Fund of the Lodge of Joppa was always open to deserving cases . The visitors were then toasted , Bro . Taylor , of No . 2 o , being congratulated upon his recovery from a long and severe illness . Bro . Taylor replied , and thanked the brethren for their kind expressions and good feeling . It was no more than he could expect , for some of his oldest Masonic Associations were connected with this lodge . Bros . Livingstou and Davis