The Loss Of The "London."

derived from his membership was his emancipation from that narrow-minded bigotry Avhich too frequently swayed those Avho Avere not members of the order . It Avas the absence of all such sectarian bitterness and bigotry ( one of the great

teachings of the ordei- ) , that formed one of the distinguishing characteristics of Dr . Woolley , the grateful recollection of which brought him back so viAddly before them . Though the loss of the steamship London , Avhich had SAvept him from

them , hacl occurred so far away from them , there was something * in the details of that calamity which yet seemed to bring it strangely home to themso near that they could , as it were , contemplate every incident of that most painful , that most disastrous event . Let them consider IIOAV that

large number of persons , the passengers and creAv , were banded together before even the commencement of the fatal voyage;—then the dark and gloomy day on Avhich the doomed ship sailed for a destination it was never to reach;—the

tempestuous Avintry weather that arose , the progress of which , day by day , Avas made known to us , —the long and and terrible strain upon the poor souls crowded helplessly together , imprisoned in a sloAvly-sinking ship , hope gone and fear in every

heart , until they at length stood face to face Avith death . Surely if suffering can purify the soul , it might be permitted to us to hope that their sufferings during that great and terrible trial , in Avhich all were alike involved—except a very small

remnant—did purify those whom it bore upon so hea-vily as on those who were lost in the London . Surely they might hope and trust thafc God , in his mercy , received every soul he then so suddenly recalled . It was impossible not to be struck by

the circumstances of this aAvful catastrophe , or to avoid being deeply iurpressed Avith the jsrecariousness of human life , and the inevitable approach of death . None of us were sure of our existence for

a single moment ; a termination might be suddenly imposed on our career , whensoever it might please the Supreme Being . Beauty and worth , and wealth and talent , were no safeguards against death . It has no respect to persons , but came

with equal sternness and impartiality both to the palace and to the cottage . All men hacl to pass before the King of Terrors—all to stand face to face with death . So promiscuously did his arroAvs fly that none Avere for an instant safe , unless they placed their reliance in God , and cherished hopes beyond the grave . Let them hope that those Avho

The Loss Of The "London."

died in the London , stepped like masons from the darkness into the light , and let them as masons , in obedience to the beautiful precepts of their ritual , so guide their actions as never to forget the end that must come to all of them , or be

unmindful whilst they lived , of their duty aud their privilege in regard to the family of every departed brother—especially such a one as Dr . Woolley . He begged to move— " That this meeting having heard Avith regret of the foundering of the

steamship London , on her passage to Australia , in which our late brother Dr . Woolley was a- passenger , beg to record our deep sense of the loss sustained by the craft and the colony generally in consequence of his untimely death . "

Bro . J . Simmons , P . Prov . J . G . W ., seconded the resolution , and said that he rose to do so with some diffidence , because he felt , in speaking to such a resolution , it was most important that a proper impression should be made upon tho minds

of those that heard him . ( To be continued ) .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

MASONIC SHOCKS . As supplimentaryto our note of last week , we may , for the information of "Investigator , " state that , several years ago the pages of the American JPreemason" contained an elaborate article on "The Symbolism of the Shock , " from the pen of Bro . Dr . Albert

G . Mackey . Two shocks were treated of—the Shock of Entrance and the Shock of Enlightenment ; and from what we can remember of the article in question , the learned Dr . shoAved the " shock " ceremonial to be symbolical of the rupturing of the ties which bind the profane to the neutral world , and of the illuminating power of Masonic instruction upon the mind of the candidate . — D . MUBBAY LYON .

THE RATIONALISTS . The folloAving passage , taken from the "Dictionnaire des Sciences Philosophiques , " furnishes a short , and I believe , a correct answer to tho question contained in a writing , headed " The Rationalists , " just placed in my hands by the desire of a London brother .

"Les Thcologiens contemporains qualifient de Rationalisme tout systeme qui leur parS . it adinetfcre uniquiment la raison comme priucipe de la connaissance , a 1 'exclusion cle la tradition et de la revelation . " —CHARLES PUETON COOPER . THE MATERIALISTS .

A London brother is incorrect in his point . There are Materialists who are nofc Atheists . He may consult my communication " Materialism and Freemasonry , " FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE , vol . xii ., p . 43 . 8 . — CHARLES PURTON COOPER .