The Marquis Of Dalhousie Lodge (No. 1,049).

successive degrees , until at length , found worthy to be " raised" to the supreme seat in the 'Council . 2 . That tracing our descent from the earliest "builders—some enthusiasts claiming the erection

of the Tower of Babel as a Masonic work —( a "boast I cannot recognise , seeing that its purpose was to defy the Most High)—others , more moderate in their pretensions , deducing our origin . from the " Diosyniacs of Asia Minor , " AVIIO , Ave

are told by an anti-Masonic writer , though himself a Mason , " ivere , undoubtedly , an association of architects and engineers , who had the exclusive privilege of building temples , stadia , and theatres , under the mysterious tutelage of Bacchus , and were distinguished from the uninitiated or profane

inhabitants by the science which they possessed , and by many private signs and tokens by Avhich they recognised each other . " " This association , " we are further told , " came into Ionia from Syria , into Avhich country it had come from Persia , along

with that style of architecture that Ave call Grecian . We are also certain that there was a similar trading association during the dark ages in Christian Europe , Avhich monopolised the building of great churches and castles , Avorking under the

patronage and protection of the sovereigns and princes of Europe , and possessing many privileges . Circumstances , ivhieh it Avould be tedious to enumerate and discuss , continued this association later in Britain than on the Continent . " There is undoubted evidence of this association mm ' ntm ' nino "

an active existence in 1648 , in which year the Antiquary , Elias Ashmole , was initiated in a lodge at Warrington , and equally authentic evidence of its existence in 1717 , in ivhieh year four lodges in London united in forming that Grand Lodo-e from

which the present Grand Lodge of England most unquestionably descend , and AA'hich must , therefore , be taken as adopting this second—denominated the " Guild Theory "—as the origin of that system , to assist in perpetuating the teaching and

practice of which this lodge is to-day consecrated . Whether this latter theory or that to Avhich less prominent allusion has been made , be the most ¦ correct—of this there can be no doubt—on this there can be no question—ive are no longer

engaged in that Masonry ivhieh is " the art of hewing , squaring , and moulding stones , and fitting and setting them together by the aid of cement , -or damps of metal , so as to form buildings adapted for habitation , instruction , amusement , worship ,

and various other uses ; requiring for its exercise a knoivledge of mathematics and geometry . " Equally Avithout doubt or question is it , that having doffed the garb of the Operative and Free , and having donned the badge of the Accepted

Mason , Ave are called upon , and that emphatically , to make our moral works as conspicuous as did they of old their material works . Theij erected temples to God , ancl castles for the maintenance of authority and the preservation of life and

property ( too often it must be confessed perverted to other and contrary uses ) , and were fostered and cherished on account of the produce of the labour of their hands .

The tools , instruments , and terms m use in operative Masonry have been taken aud applied by us as emblems ancl illustrations of the various duties and lessons inculcated and taught in speculative Masonry , AA'hich , more justly than the

former , may be denominated a science , inasmuch it not only requires in its members a knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences , but the practice of every social ancl moral virtue . " TFe devote ourselves to works of as great nobleness and usefulness—the mental adornment

of temples not made with hands—the cultivation of youth , the support of age . In the pursuit of these works social amenities are not forgotten ; and a certain amount of regulated convivial enjoyment is both enjoined and practised . And

for this , those AVIIO know us not seek grounds of accusation ancl cause for reviling , and by them Ave are neither cherished nor honoured . Repudiate their censure , ancl they inquire , " What is Freemasonry ? " Let us give a feAV moments to a

consideration of this question , and I am not sure that its elucidation will not best be found by stating "What Freemasonry is not . " It is not a merely

convivial society ! It is not a benefit society It is not a merely secret society ! And yet , paradoxical as it may appear , Freemasonry is a society social , charitable , ancl secret . It eminently cultivates the social virtues , ancl affords

ample opportunities for their exercise in the hours of relaxation and refreshment . I care not for the taunts of those not of our Order , Avho are opposed to—nor have I any sympathy with those within our pale AVIIO ivould dispense Avith—the social

enjoyments attached to our meetings , AA'hich , agreeable in themselves , tend , by the amenities they encourage , to reconcile animosities and smooth asperities which may have arisen , and ivhieh I