The Mystic Tie.

what purpose does the body exist ? " " Have not they a great secret ? How I should like to know what it is ! " To the latter question , generally put to some one who could not answer it , the reply , or spirit of the reply , generally was :

that "there is a great secret—that it is said to be very awful , but that no one ever could find ifc out . " We once heard such a remark met by another somewhat naive— " Hard to find anything out when there is nothing to tell . " Well , in one

rsense , the repartee was appropriate as well as . pointed . There is nothing to tell in the sense in which the merely inquisitive conceive there is . All ; the stories of midnight orgies , ghostly dealings , necromancy , & c , are now known by intelligent

persons to be sheer moonshine ; scarcely fit either to amuse or frig hten even children . Neither is there any dark , latent , mysterious purpose to revolutionise society , governments , or churches . No one , however keen his investigation , will find out any such

secrets , because there are none to discover . Every Freemason professes to be bound by the Book of the Law of the Lord , and he finds it there written , " Fear God , honour the king ; " " Do good unto all men , especially to them who are of the household of faith . "

Yet they have secrets undoubtedly , and they are worth knowing ; but in order to learn them , it is necessary to become a Freemason . They ¦ will not gratify idle curiosity , nor countenance frivolous taste , nor venality . Formerly , a

Freemason would be very slow to speak or write at all about the order , its nature , objects , or principles , but while the brethren are still mindful of the motto Audi Vide Taee , they have no objection that it should be understood ever so widely , and ever

so clearly , that their society exists for three purposes—for imparting knowledge by methods peculiar to it ; for the promotion of charity and mercy , " peace on earth , and good-will to men ; " and for binding together in a generous fraternity , all

true Masons . " Do they do these things ? " ifc is often asked . The answer may unhesitatingly be given , that these objects are promoted and pursued by all who walk in the communion of the Order . There are men , who although they can

never cease to be Freemasons , forsake the assembling of themselves together , and drop out of the beautiful and hallowed discipline and action which the system imposes , just as there were men professing to be members of fche Christian Church , who in the days of fche Apostles , as well as since ,

absented themselves from the communities of the brethren , and no longer walked in their spirit . Does any one need proof that the great body of Masons follow the teachings of beneficence they receive : then behold their noble charities . Count

the vast sums raised annually for the Boys' School , Girls' School , the old men ' s retreat , and the retreat for widows of members of the Craft . A Board of Benevolence sits in London , which extends with generous hand timely assistance to the

necessitous ; but these acts are not blazoned abroad , they are performed in secret until the time when He " who seeth in secret shall reward thera openly . " Not only do the Freemasons support such

institutions , but they do so on a scale grandly magnificent . The Asylums and schools are watched over wifch care , preservance , tenderness , and

affection . The children of the school are , as ifc were , the children of the Order ; they are visited , and kindly devised plans of affording them pleasure and encouragement are constantly adopted by brethren possessing the means of thus acting .

Few beyond the limits of the Craft contribute to these schools , except members of the Royal Family ^ Ifc is natural Her Majesty should do so . Her father was Grand Master ; her uncle , the Duke of Sussex , was Grand Master ; George TV .

was , certainly , not a distinguished member of the Order , but a member ; and her eldest daughter , \ he Princess Royal of England and Crown Princess of Prussia is married to a Mason , and the son of a Mason—his Majesty the King * of Prussia .

The Freemasons support , without obtaining or asking * for aid , all their magnificent charities , and those who do so are not the last to assist in

alleviating want or suffering among the people at large . In fact , every Freemasons' Lodge is a charitable institution , a fraternal society , and a school of ethics . In projoortion only as it is each of these does it work out its mission .

Ihere is a general impression that the Freemasons are very jovial , too jovial , aud that feasting , mirth , and conviviality constitute the rationale of the system , and the only end proposed by its followers .

No calumny could be more clumsy or baseless . They do hold festivals , but are there no festivals at the opening of churches and chapels , and the assemblies of synods , conferences , and convocations ? Dr . Watts taught the world to sing * : Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less .