Knowledge Is Power; Or What Is Masonry?

felt . Known by us , but realised by others . I think now I have brought the readers of the VOICE to conceive and gained their assent , that my proposition is satisfactorily maintained . Now for the conditions , or hypotheses to be deduced . The first condition is manifested by the fact that a Mason is never satisfied to live in the present ; and why ? because light gleaming upon the mind , shows a vast beyond that invites research , and the mind , that imperishable part of our being ,

created , and like its original , immortal and eternal , is started on a career , if followed out , will bring us to tho original , the self-existent I am . So the Mason , the honest seeker after more light , greater truth , will be glad , and find himself impelled to ascend the ladder of knowledge , each step of which gives him more inherent power . Having satisfactorily proved one condition of the proposition , we are prepared for the second hypothesis , and which indeed is but an offshoot of the first .

Patience : In making the future his servant in attaining the object of his search . The Mason armed with this virtue will gain his end , for he starts steady and therefore starts right . The patient Mason will be in the end the one who governs , for this virtue compels submission . From this second hypothesis , another , the chief , is deduced . Perseverance : The Mason , convinced that he is in pursuit of the right ultimatum , by a patient investigation of what

Masonry is , and the mission it is destined to fulfil in the world , where influences are ever at work to set us at variance with our -fellow man , he comes to the conclusion , that he will continue on in the good way , and throw the light of a good living and a consistent character around him—and win others to follow him , and thus he saved a sad moral death . Not only does the desire of saving from moral degradation his fellow creature—but also the incessant thirst for more lightgreater libations from the

, fountain of wisdom—urges him to journey on . So to him , what is a pleasure and almost a fascination , would be irksome and unpleasant to others not in search of as high an object . And now brothers let me sketch the creature I have set forth , aud see if it is not the embodiment of a character worth the labour to obtain . Behold the man erect , face towards the sun of know-ledge just rising tingling the morning sky with its tender and mellow hue

of pink , and reflected upon his conscience , which sparkles with a new-born intelligence , month partially open—eyes ( beaming with an earnestness never seen there before , one foot slightly raised , and the body inclining- forward , as if he was about to start on a pathway that pleasantly was inviting . Back of him is darkness—thick and impenetrable , out of which our new friend has just come . This black and impenetrable darkness is ignorance of nature—and the eager and earnest face bespeaks tho

desire inherent in man , when brought into the light of knowledge , to start off at once in the attainment of greater light , more' perfect knowledge . Again we see him , not in the first flush of pleasure at the influx of new ideas and strange emotions ; but with a more steady purpose and unflinching resolve stamped on his face to continue on till his end is attained . This brings us to the last and concluding hypothesis to be gathered . The endor object of his aim fullgained . Power

, y taking the place of Knowledge , and both so completely absorbed in each other as to baffle the most subtle ingenuity to analyse the compound . If the Mason starts with the honest desire for more light , is patient and persevering to the end , how can he help but be successful . The truth is so obvious it becomes a fact , incontrovertible , that the Mason who faithfully carries out , and by careful and honest study , makes Masonry a study , will

find the key-note of universal harmony . Knowledge is power , triumphant . The Mason of all others should understand what is meant b y " Man know thyself . " When this is understood , then we have perfect knowledge , and therefore commanding power . Do our brothers think we cannot attain so exalted a position ? VVe cannot , perhaps , here , but if we make no such aim , we certainly shall make no in that which should be the sole

progress . object , or aim , in living . But will the Mason be satisfied , with any degrees of knowledge to be attained . I say assuredly no 1 The soul endowed as it is with immortal endowments , to be limited in its expectations or desires only by eternity itself , will ever yearn after a glorious and more enlightened destiny beyond the confines of time , and when it is disenthralled from all material puh backs , like the lark , it will soar on gladsome wing and

ever joyious song , to the sun that never sets , and come into the presence of its maker with a reverential worship , bow be-™ " > , and cry - 'Holy , Holy , Holy Lord God Almighty , which was ,,. and is , and is to come , " and more : "Thou art

Knowledge Is Power; Or What Is Masonry?

worthy , O Lord , to receive glory and honour and power , for Thou hast created all things , and for Thy pleasure they are and were created . " Arrived here into the very presence of Divinity I will leave the true Mason in the possession of all influence , or command , that the soul , in its most exalted position , can attain unto , and will be found to be Knowledge and Power , for both have lost thoir identity , and never more to be recognised apart . — Voice of Masonry .

" Christian," A Term Of Wide Significance !

" CHRISTIAN , " A TERM OF WIDE SIGNIFICANCE !

In " Chaucer ' s England , the following criticism on the present significance of the word "Christian" is interesting : — Except Turkey , all Europe is nominally Christian , as it was in the fourteenth century ; but not only are the believers in the explicit divinity of Christ divided upon other matters , and to split up into sects that it almost

becomes difficult to put any clear meaning at all into the word Christian ; for , besides , there are those who believe in various ways in the divinity of Christ ' s mission , and who , while they take with more or less reserve the name of Christians , do not acknowledge the authority of Christ himself as final , much less the ' infallible authenticity of the received records of what He said

and did . To these must be added , in every country in Europe , millions of people upon whom the name of Christian sits like a loose garment—with no particular consciousness on the part of the wearer , who is perfectly ready to dispense with it for a quid pro quo . But we must enlarge our boundary yet further still * There is America , the majority of which is nominally

Christian ; there is a largo part of Australia , which is nominally Christian ; and nearly the whole world is dotted with nominally Christian settlements . To these considerations must be added the fact that there are millions of highly-cultivated , well-conducted unbelievers , who live side by side with the believers , in Europe and America , and are almost wholly assimilated to them in

their general conduct . Under the pressure of crowds shibboleths are forgotten , or they are no longer exacted , because in civilised society every man , Christian or not , finds it absolutely essential to his interest and the continuance of common intercourse to ask few questions , and to take nothing for granted in others but honesty and goodwill . —Weekly Paper .

Have Our Grand Lodges All Been Legally Organised?

HAVE OUR GRAND LODGES ALL BEEN LEGALLY ORGANISED ?

( From the American Freemason . ) Ib has been customary in later years to attach greater importance to legal organisation of Grand Lodges of Freemasons ; and the submission of the manner thereof to the Grand Lodges of the United States has been considered essential , to the end of the same may , by these arbiters , be decided as lawful or unlawful . This is done

, hoAvever , with no consideration , but the taking it for granted that all the Grand Lodges in America at the present day are themselves entirely regular and lawfully constituted bodies . And yet than this , as Ave will proceed to show , nothing can be further from the truth . There is not one Grand Lodge in the United States this day which , prior to the year 1789 , claimed to possess the

powers and privileges of a Grand Lodge of Freemasons , can be said to be legally constituted , if the manner now practiced , or which has been practiced since that year , may be regarded as the only legitimate manner of constitution ; and , further , not one of the bodies claiming to be Grand Lodges in America prior to 1789 could be admitted to be legally constituted , if that manner first established in 1717 may be regarded as the only legal manner of constituting a Grand Lodge of Freemasons . To illustrate and support this statement we will