The Entered Apprentice's Apron And Masonic Lecturing.

tmd unpolluted paper , without spot or blemish , ready for the hands of the master builder to draAV thereon the grand designs of truth , Avhence may be raised the hoped-for superstructure , perfect in all its parts ancl honourableto the builder . Naked , reminding us of the vanity of all things here below .

Naked wo came into the world , naked Ave must return . We brought nothing into it , and assuredly Ave can take nothing out . Naked in token of humility ancl reverence . Much more mi ght be said , and better said , on this subject ; but it is late , and I . fear that I have

already tired you . Let me , ere I conclude , assure you , my brethren , that if a Mason acts faithfully , according to all the lessons he may learn from a studious application of the morals to be drawn from the symbolical emblems to be found in the ¦ apron of an Entered Apprentice Freemasonhe

, Avill stand approved before heaven and before man , purchasing honour to our profession and felicity ¦ to himself .

An Address Delivered To Hislodge.

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED TO HISLODGE .

BY BEO . B . S . The Freemason , in common , Avith most men of the present age , is brought into continual contact Avith others professing opinions differing from his OAVU , and perhaps inconsistent Avith them ; but , unlike othershe professes a rule which prohibits

, him from bearing himself offensively toAvards them , or making their opinions a subject of contention . Solomon Avas similarly placed . He had large dealings AA'ith the Gentiles , he made alliances and traded Avith them , he employed them also on his Avorks . It may hence be reasonably concluded

that his charity towards them became enlarged as his intercourse Avith them extended . To something of this kind may be attributed the establishment of the Masonic system by jSoloinon , if , indeed , he Avas the founder , ancl to the same thing may be attributed his fall .

I am led , then , to ask how far may a man proceed safely in laying aside his religious peculiarities for the time of his intercourse Avith others , and for the sake of stopping the progress of disunion and . dislike in the human family ? The case of Solomon SIIOAVS that there is danger

inmakingreli gious concession . That of the Sepoys of this age , and the universal story of martyrdom ancl persecution , SIIOAV that the disposition to stand apart from others is the prolific parent of cruelty and crime . Men AVIIO stand apart from others on account of opinions are led to oppress and persecute . Men Avho do not permit opinions to separate them from others fall into indifference to truth .

Is there no Avay of avoiding both these evils ? It cannot be denied that the divine law is " Love all mankind ; " but as that IaAV also enjoins the sternest bearing toAvards , and the avoidance of , all

evil doers , it is evidentthat the former law must be read subject to the limitation of the latter . It can scarcely be intended that evil doers should be the subjects of our love ; and as evil thinking must precede eA'il doing , does it not folioAV that ill opinions should exclude men from the circle of our

affections , as Avell as evil doers ? Doubtless , extended intercourse of Christians AA'hose lives evince the Avorking of their principles upon them is intended to be the great missionary agent in the conversion of the unbeliever . The spectacle of Christian consistency in olden times

converted numbers . They were seen to love , not hate , each other , like Pagans ; and the Pagans felt that the principle of their faith was active and bearing fruit . To love always , that is under all circumstances and changesthe proper subjects of our loveis the

, , duty set before us . But who are the proper subjects of our love ? "Love not the Avorld . " What says the Bible ? The Israelite Avas bound to love the Israelite , and , contemplating that mutual love in their better day , the Psalmist said , " Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to

dAvell together in unity . " Was he bound also to We the Gentile ? The Jewish sprang out of the patriarchal church , the difference between them lying in the possession of a Avritten , in addition to a traditional , revelation .

Did the J ew love the Gentile of the patriarchal faith , or Avas he bound to do so ? It is evident that in later days , Avhen idolatry had obscured the patriarchal , and human opinion the Jewish , faith , that the teaching of the age tended to exclude all from the Jew ' s love who Avere not of the same

nation and the same faith . This is shoAvn by the question put to our Lord , " Who is my neighbour ?" The Saviour did not ansAver as was evidently expected , " The Israelite , " but told the story of the good Samaritan , AA'ho forgets all antipathies Avhen he AA'itnessed the poor JOAY ' S distress . But does this parable do more than inculcate the duty of relievina- the distress of all ? Does it show that

Ave should seek out , and associate Avith men of AA'rong A'iews ? The Christian church springs from the JeAvish and patriarchal churches alike , but has again a larger revelation . Christian should love Christian ; but should he extend more than a neutral courtesy

to those beyond the pale of his church ? 1 . The Avill of God , as displayed in the religion of the early patriarchs , united men in brotherly bonds , and constrained them to 1 OA * C one another . 2 . The reception by some of them of the Mosaic rule in no Avay interfered Avith this prior obligation ,

nor does the acceptance of the Christian rule do so . 3 . Were it othenvise , one duty to God would be o ] : > posed to another duty to God , that is it would be man ' s duty to love and not to love the same object . But God is the same yesterday , to-day , and for ever ; his obligations must consequently be consistent Avith each other .