The Entered Apprentice's Apron And Masonic Lecturing.

says * : —White t ypifies the earth ; [ purple , the sea ; skyblue , the air ; crimson , fire . ] Dr . Mackay says , f speakin g of this Entered Apprentice ' s apron : —By the whiteness of its colour and the innocence of the animal from which it is obtained , Ave are admonished to preserve that blameless purity of life ancl

conduct , Avhich will alone enable us hereafter to present ourselves before the Great Master of the Universe unstained Avith sin , and unsullied with vice . White Avas the colour worn b y all noviciates in all knoAvn ancient rites . In all parts of the Bible ,

whether in the New or Old Testaments , Avhite ancl whiteness are ever mentioned in most honourable terms . White robes are promised to those Avho Avin the croAvn of glory . Receive the Avhite and

immaculate garment . The Avhite stone is promised to him that overcometh . The Levites , the priests of the ancient JOAVS , Avere commanded toe cloth in Avhite . The sanctum sanctorum of King Solomon ' s Temple Avas built entirely of white stone . " Come IIOAV let us reason , saith thc Lord , though your sins

be as scarlet they shall be white as snow . "j Daniel , in his vision of the kin g dom of God , beheld thc ancient of days , ivhose garment was white as snow . § And St . John in his Revelation of the g lorious coming of Jesus Christ , beheld one like unto the Son of Man , ivhose hairs Avere white like

AVOOI , as white as snow . j | " M y beloved is white . " * White ever has been a favourite emblem , too , Avith our poets and other celebrated Avriters . Dryden speaks of

"A wince stone distinguished from the rest—White as thy famo . " Milton of "White handed hope " -- " White robed truth . " Pope thus apostrophises"White robed innocence from heaven descend . "

In HebreAv the significations given to the colour white designate or denote purity , candour , nobility ; the noble , the pure , tho white , to be Avhite , to purge oneself from sin . The Egyptian priests of Osiris Avore robes of snow-Avhite cotton in the ser-¦ vice of Ceres . ** The Grecian priests also wore

Avhite . The Druids , the priests of ancient Britain , were apparelled in ivhitc . The Kni ght Templars Avore white . The Pope gave them a Avhite habit , the Avhite mantle being typical of their lives ancl their professions . Witness their ritual : " To all

professed Kni g hts , both in Avinter and summer , Ave give , if they can be procured , white garments , that those Avho have cast behind them a dark life may knoAv that they arc to commend themselves to their Creator by a pure and Avhite life . For what

is whiteness but perfect chastity , and chastity is the security of the soul , and the health of the body . " * The Avhite vestment of the Temple sets forth the same idea . Further , " It is granted to none to AY ear Avhite habits , or to have Avhite -mantles excepting the above named Kni g hts" * j * [ ° f Christ ] .

Ancl the ritual throughout commends the propriety of the white vestment , as typ ical of that IIOAV life so eloquently therein set forth . Scotch and Englisii Knight Templars Avear white tunics [ reaching to the knees ] , auclAvhite mantles [ tapering to the knees iu front and tapering aAvay to the

ankle behind ] . But to proceed . This apron is composed of three principal parts , viz ., the field , the flap , the strings . It is quite free from stain—spotless ; its surface is not marked by any device . There is no p lan delineated thereon ; there is not even an

outline sketch on it . It is one unvaried blank , naked , and free from ornament . The field is said to be nearly in the form of tho groundwork or plan of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness ; and therefore also that of King-Solomon ' s Temple , Avhich has been supposed to

have been built in exact conformity Avith the properly formed brain of a man . It symbolises the world and represents the second grand principle on which Freemasonry is founded—relief . As a citizen of the Avorld and a member of thc Craft , the Entered Apprentice Freemason must extend relief and consolation to tho afflicted of the human

race , and tho performance of this duty fills his soul Avith emotions Ave may call divine . To approve and lovo gives p leasure to the soul of man . To pity—a taste of the ideal , sweet heavenly sensation . But to relieve ! it makes him feel a greater and a nobler being , as one capable of endoAving Avith happiness his own equals—a prouder , as the entrusted medium or vehicle of God ' s favours to

his fallen race . The field of this apron is meant further to represent " the gavel , " as ono of the Avorking- tools ol an Entered Apprentice , teaching us to remember that labour is the lot of man , and no work ol manual skill can be completed Avithout it , for skill

Avithout exertion is of no avail . The head may conceive aud the heart devise in vain , if labour does not execute the design . J The four corners of the field of this apron symbolise the four cardinal virtues—temperance , fortitude , prudence , and justice—duties incumbent oh

us all , duties ivhich should eA'er actuate our minds , guide our actions , govern our passions , and regulate our intercourse . Avith the Avorld , thus proving that thc name of Masonry is not an empty title , nor our emblems arc blown bubbles . Temperance , as constituting honesty , decency , diffidence , instituting modesty , meekness , cle-