Brotherly Love.

social practice of Masonry ; but in a society so widely extended it is no marvel if many of its members fall short of that perfection after which we would fain see them thrive . We profess that charity is the best test and surest proof of the sincerity of a man ' s religion , that benevolence is an honour to the nature from whence ib

springs , aud where it is nourished and cherished , that we ought to be ever ready to listen to him who craves our assistance , and from him who is in Avant not to withhold the liberal hand . Do we all act up to this ? If there be any amongst our body who speak in high terms of our charities , but , when ib comes to a question o £ -contribu . ing , draw tight their purse strings ; who remember

the poor and distressed at the festive table , bub find some excuse for relieving them in the lodge or at home . Yea ; if there bo oven those , as I have heard elsewhere there are , who even derive an unholy trade in the management of our organised charities , resorting to jobbery and using undue influence and abusing their position of trustand even sinking so low as to fatten on foul gains

, , piloted , scraped , and paired from the pittance of the widow and the orphans . Is not this truly pitiable P Does not this deserve the loathing and scorn of all , whether Masons or not ? Or truth . If there be those

amongst our body who speak ever of an absent brother as though he were present , and yet let no occasion pass of backbiting and evil speaking—who profess to love the brethren , yet are stirrers up of discussion and strifewho professes to be ready to support a brother in all his lawful undertakings , yet seek on all occasions to thwart and undermine him ; this one because he has a trade to drive

, and another because he has a wrong to avenge or a spite to gratify , another because he has a selfish design after Masonic honours ; if there be those who profess to discountenance piques and party quarrels , and yet pursue them so eagerly that they even quarrel with all who will nob lend themselves as tools of mischief ; if there be those who as far as in them lies make the

lodge , which should be the abode of peace and harmony , a place of strife and envying ; if confusion and every evil work , is this brotherly "" truth ? Is it nob rather most unbrotherly falsehood ? And so of other duties . To profess to fear God and to honour His holy name and word , and yet to be irreverent of thoughb , and ¦ foul and blasphemous of tongueto we must be

; say just , and yet to be mean , dishonest , and overreaching ; to say we must be brave , and yet to be fawning , base , and truckling ; to say we must be prudent , and yet to be idle , flippant , vain , thoughtless , and extravagant ; to say we must be temperate , and yet to indulge in riot

• and excess , returning flushed with indulgence , if nothing worse , to neglected houses ; to inculcate virtue , honour , and mercy , and yet to be unchaste , false , and harddealing ; to work for God ' s Word one hand and for the devil with the other ; is not all this the veriest frenzy of inconsistency ? If such things be known of us , who can marvel if the outer world be scandalised ? If there be such

menamongsb us , it will be from them that the ignorant and superficial will be sure to form their judgment of us , because these are the men who meet the eye even as scum always rises to the top . How can men think of us save as mere worldlings , if those of us whom they see most are so utterly worldly ? If we build a Wall , and daub it with such untempered

mortar , what marvel if a fox should go upon it that ib near break ib down ? Alas ! my brethren , even the best of us , when we contemplate the ideal temple of Masonry on the one hand , and our own manifold shortcomings on the other , may -well apply to ourselves those words of the prophet , solemnlfamiliar to those advanced in — " Who

y Masonry is left among yon . that saw this house in her first glory ? and how do ye see it now ? Is ib nob in your eyes in comparison of it as nobbing ? " Nothing , indeed , if we had only our own strength to rel y on ; but how is it written ? " Tet now be strong Zerubbabel , saith the

Lord ; and be strong 0 Joshua , son of Zoredeek , the High Priest ; and be strong all ye people of the land , and work : for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts . According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt , so my spirit remaineth among you : fear ye not . " Fear not my brethren , for Masonry hath more legitimate fruits than the apples of Sodom ,

fair to bhe eye , but blackness and bitterness , and dust and ashes in the mouth . " By this shall all men know that ye are Christ's disciples , if ye have love one to another . " Still , however , cavillers may greedily fasten on and proclaim to the world the shortcomings of here and there a brother , as though a Mason's sin were a thing to be glad of instead of to be sorry for ) still the

, mystic bond holds us together in a firm grip of brotherhood . Still the Sacred Volume pours its light upon our assemblies ; still the voice of prayer goes up to the Most High for His blessing on all our labours , that each initiate may dedicate and devote his life to His service , that the work begun iu His name may be

continued to His glory , that we may rise from the death of sin bo bhe life of righbeousness , that our eyes may be fixed on the Bright Morning Sbar , whose rising brought peace and salvation to the sons of men . Our work is before the Lord , and our recompense is with our God , and the spirit of Masonry is pure and loving , though some of its professors be not . ISTay , more ! it is granted

to us even here bo see the fruit of some of our labours , and by those fruits the unprejudiced will know and judge us . Time would fail me , and patience you , were I to relate all I could tell of poverty relieved , of sorrow soothed , of the dead buried , of the sick tended , of those in peril saved by the virtue of the Masonic bond . Even among yourselves there are those who owe their comfort

of the evening of their days , their education , and means of earning au independent living , their help in difficulties , and relief in sorrow , to the ready hands and open hearts of their Suffolk brethren—true brethren , who turn not their faces from the poor , and from whom the face of the Lord will not be turned .

Ib is His new commandmenb bhab we love one another . His heavenly wisdom is very differeub from the vain philosophy which in bhe hour of trouble may make a man a cold stoic , nay , teach him to say , "I must bear it ; it cau'bbe helped ; bub can do no more . " Such wisdom is like the moonlight , which gives light , indeed , but no warmth . Christ ' s wisdom is like bhe glorious sunshine ,

giving light , and heat , and "life altogether . His voice is not that of some different being calling to us from serene heighbs far above us , and lost in their own splendour ; it is the loving human voice of perfect man speaking to men , the voice of One who has suffered and striven even as we now suffer and strife . He is at once our Prophet , Priestand Kingand it is our hope and consolation to

, , know that He is not such an One as cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities , bub was in all points tempted as we are . He is the life and truth , and , unless our own headstrong wickedness harden it , He will also be the way . He is the great original from whence we copy . Let us seek His help , that wa may be more and more conformed to His image . His righteousness , indeed , we

cannothave , bub for all else His grace is sufficient for us . He can give us the gentle , loving heart , the willing mind , the obedient heart , making us kind and peaceful , and merciful , and pure . As He hath loved us , so He wishes us to love one another . Let us then study His example , and seek grace to follow ib . See Him with the afflicted demoniac , with the fearful disciples , with the

believing centurion , with Mary and Martha , at the grave of Lazarus , whom He loved . See His distinguishing love to each of His disciples one by one , how gently He reproved the unbelief of Thomas ; how He courted the over hearty zeal of James and John ; how when Peter denied Him He turned upon him His face of sorrow in the hall in all His own suffering and shame , with His eye all the while on Peter ' s heart . Thus in onr degree