Self Denial.

thus unemployed amongst the Masonic Charities . What would such self-denial realise per annum ? There are above six hundred lodges in the Craft in full work . The banquets on an average are about twelve pounds per meeting- * Once in three years a banquet foregone by each , would produce the noble sum of £ 2400 or £ 600 to each of the four charitiesand

, , all the exertion needed to carry out such a beneficial result , is but one evening ' s self-denial in three years . Or , in the case of individual Freemasons , how many of us , even Avith the most limited incomes , are there who could not practice some few acts of selfdenial and thus become subscribers to these charities '

, more especially that of the old and infirm , as they accept shillings Avhere the others require pounds . Not that these acts should be made subservient to the purchase of votes , which are trafficked in and huckstered about by some brethren for the mere pleasure of being charity-mongers , but that the little

savings practised by a brother should be given spontaneously and without taking a vote for them . It is an easy task to say I Avill not ride to-day—the weather is fair , I haA-e time on hand , to Avalk will be good for my health , and the shilling I thus save is one for my little stock of a quarterly gift toAvards my favourite Masonic charit . How or rather

y many , how few , Freemasons Avould in the course of a year save but one pound by such self-denial ? Then , if' we think for one moment of the good we are doing—how thousands more can be doing the same with us— -how we are gaining in health and strength , and Avhilst the glow of exercise sends the flush of the rose to our

cheeks , how doubly will the little act of self-denial , IcnoAvn only to our heavenly Eather and ourselves , send the warm blood tingling back to our hearts Avhilst our conscience will approve the deed and make us seek out other ways and means of practising a selfdenial , whose purity of object none can assail , because it is unknown .

To lay before our brethren all those occasions when self-denial can be practised vrould be to suppose them insensible of the many occurrences of daily life which present themselves to everyone for regulating his expenditure and holding himself aloof from either avarice on the one hand , or profusion on the other . But there are countless occasions when a man save a

may shilling which he would expend needlessly , and it is these shillings handed over to our charities by the thoughtless , giddy , yet kind hearted men , who although they do not subscribe , Avould do so if asked , and who frequently give aivay pounds annually where it is not required bj purchasing articles neither of use

nor ornament , gratifying a whim , going to places of amusement because it is the thing , making little bets on races they know nothing of , taking tickets for theatres , raffles , & c , & c , which they never attend , and the nine hundred and ninety-nine of letting shillingshalf-crownsand even half-soverei sli

, , gns , p through their fingers without system , without thought , and producing little or no good , whereas by a few acts of self-denial they Avould ha subjecting themselves to a commencement of a wholesome discipline—really

Self Denial.

benefitting their brethren—holding out a bright example which , though not visible in the man , yet would tell Avonderfully in our charity lists by such entries as " saved— £ 1 5 s . —no votes . A . B . £ 3 10 s . Qd ., no votes . Self-denial , 7 s . iod ., no votes . One folly less , £ 5 , no votes . " And AA ^ hen such became more numerous , as they would in time , how gratified every contributor Avould feel that he had helped to swell the tide of charity and to induce the practice of such a virtue as self-denial .

The Sprig Of Acacia.

THE SPRIG OF ACACIA .

BY BRO . CHAELES JOHXSTOXE . It is usual with the ignorant to asperse and deny pretensions in which they cannot share , and , accordingly , the claims of Masonry to very high antiquity are not alIoAA r ed by the outside world , and are even made the subject of constant ridicule and unworth

y comment . But , as the Sun , to a cosmopolitan and enlightened mind is always in meridian splendour , spreading the brightness of a continual noon upon those Avho , fortunately , can perceive and understand the universal love and beneficence of nature ' s God , so the true Mason feels equally Avell assured that the

principle upon Avhich his Craft and mystery are based must also have been coeval with nature's birth , Avhen everything that was made was pronounced to be good . " ' Let there be light , and there was light , " is of the A'ery essence of Masonry , and though ignorance perceiveth it notthat can be no

, argument against the great truth , the initiated clearly perceive , that the first man , Adam , raised from the dust by the hand of the Great Architect of the Universe , Avas not only emphatically the son of God , but a Master Mason , presiding in a lodge , A \ hich

Solomon ' s Temple , with all its glory , could not surpass ; and the first interpreter of nature's-speaking symbols for the information of his children , and to the praise and glory of his great father and creator . But , without taking our stand upon what will assuredly be termed transcendental Masonry , simply

because it passetb . ordinary understanding , there is abundant internal evidence in the ceremonial rites and symbols of the Craft to prove its intimate connection with the remotest period of man's recorded history , a fact which , if established , will also supply a cogent argument in favour of its having taken its

rise as a system of philosophy , long before the comparatively modern invention of letters . Other evidence , equally convincing , may be derived from the special character of the institution and the humanizing doctrine it inculcates , to show that " this system of moralityveiled in allegory" is the representative

, , of to-day of that unsophisticated school of social science which , first collected together rude and naked savages , and formed them into communities for mutual assistance and protection . We may also safely conclude that this Avas done in a situation and under

circumstances of the greatest danger and difficulty , and where it A \ as necessary to proceed not o nly with the greatest sagacity and Avisdom , but Avith the most consummate prudence and self control . A little Sprig of Acacia we become acquainted within the progress of illumination , may be usefully made the