The Grand Masonic Allegory.

portant duty of cultivating a lively conscience , that unerring guide to rectitude , is likewise set forth ; and the Master does not fail to remind his hearer that by education alone can he be rendered a fit member of regularly organised society .

Nor does he omit to exhort his pupil to the practice of prudence , teaching us to regulate our lives by the dictates of right reason ; of temperance ,. inculcating the due restraint of our passions and affections ; of fortitude , exemplifying these noble

and steady purposes of the soul which are as equally distinct from rashness as from cowardice ; and of justice , that station and boundary of right by which we are taught to render to all men their just dues without distinction . Even at this

advanced stage the conscientious Master feels that his duties towards the Apprentice whom he had accepted are not completed , and does not start him on the career of manhood , free to cany his instructed skill and labour wheresoever he will until

his soul has become still further refined by an accurate perception of the scorn of evil and of vice demanded by honour ; and of the compassion , tenderness , and pity urged on us by mercy—that chief attribute of the Deity upon whom the best

and wisest of us all are the most prompt to rest their hopes and their dependence . Brethren , the illustration of our allegory marches apace . We may now suppose that seven years haves slipped away , during which time the Entered

Apprentice has seved his Master freely , fervently , zealously , and has made such progress as , lie hopes , will entitle him to be passed to that position in the Craft in which he can earn wages , and devote himself , for his own improvement and that of his fellows , to the elucidation of the hidden paths of

nature and science . The Apprentice has reached manhood ; his desire is therefore , after careful examination , granted ; but ere as Craftsman he quits his Master's ken , accredited in the use of a Fellovvcraft ' s working tools , he is taught by a

beautiful allusion to their properties that all good men are equal , ancl that the assiduous practice of morality will fit him for the fellowship as well of princes as of peasants , if Masons and found worthy . He likewise learns that his endeavours to arrive at

those immortal mansions whence all goodness emanates , must be made by level and equal steps , and that diligent progress upon one day will not excuse sloth nor back-slididing upon another . As a Craftsman , too , he is charged to magnify and adore without ceasing , for His goodness to the

The Grand Masonic Allegory.

children of men , the Holy name of that Divine Being who created this beautiful system of the Universe . The attention of the Craftsman , moreover , is forcibly directed to the study of the liberal arts and sciences , amongst which geometry

is chief , and he is remined of the important benefits bestowed through its means upon the Egyptians by our antient brethren at Alexandria . He is recommended to follow the example of his forefathers , who travelled eastward and westward to

obtain and disseminate knowledge ; and , finally , he is taught by convincing symbols that work is worship , and that he muse thorougly earn the wages he may agree to labour for ; because if he hopes to receive them without- diffidence , he must

first be able to do so without scruple . Thus are the secrets of nature and the principles of intellectual truth unveiled to the young Craftsman ' s view , and- thus is he led to contemplate the intellectual faculties , and to trace them from their

development through the paths of Heavenly science , even to the throne of God Himself . Thus are impressed upon him , ere he is launched npon

the ever-shifting sea of human life , those utterances of our most wise Grand Master , which tell us that a good name is better than precious ointment , and wisdom better than inheritance , for by wisdom is profit to them that see the sun , and life

to them that possess her . Brethren , let us again suppose that years have rolled away , and that the faithful Craftsman , whether Speculative or operative , has been ever mindful of the lessans of his Apprenticeship , and

has expanded his intellect by studies which the better enabled him to discharge his duty as a Mason , and rightly estimate the wonderful works of the Almighty Creator . Throughout that

chequered career which awaits all humanity he has given heed to his steps , and though at times he may , perchance , have tottered upon the uneven paths of weakness , temptation , and adversity , he has , nevertheless , regained , under guidance from

above , the flowery meads of ] 3 rosperity . He has remembered that those who fear God shall come forth of all , and whatever his hand has found to do he has done with all his might . He has not forgotten that no man knows what evil shall be

upon the earth , nor that he who observes the winds shall not sow , nor that who regards the clouds shall not reap . In the morning our Craftsman has sown , snd in the evening he has not withheld his hand . When he has been chosen