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derived from , His most Holy Word . Having by faith entered the portal , and ascended the first step , we mount higher , and Hope opens to us the second gate , after passing which we are enabled to catch some glimpse of the joys which await us in the

Grand Lodge above . Henceforth , Faith sustains and Hope cheers us on our way . The one helps us manfully to overcome difficulties , and the other cheerfully to bear sorrows and disappointments . But Charity is greater than these ; for Paith aud

Hope may pass away , but Love shall last through eternal ages . Paith shall no longer be needed , for all that we believe now we shall know then ; Hope shall be no longer possible , for all our desires shall be fulfilled , and there shall be nothing more

to hope for . But Charity—brightest and best of all Masonic virtues—Charity—sweetest and fairest of all Christian graces—shall live on . Love to Gt > d and love to man shall never cease , but shall burn with brighter and still brighter flame , and its

exercise shall form our greatest joy . Even now , the true Mason in some sense anticipates the joy aud blessedness of Heaven by the practice of

Charity . He remembers all the good gifts of his Creator to himself ; aud how can he refuse gratitude and love to One so full of goodness ? He remembers that his own Creator , the Creator and the common Father of all around him , and , for

the sake of their common origin , he loves those with whom he has to do , and manifests his charity by acts of benevolence and kindness . It is true that his charity begins at home , but it reaches far beyond . Like the circles formed by letting a

stone fall into water , it is more strongly marked near the centre ; but , though the circles get fainter as they expand , they are there , and keep spreading out in every direction . So should be the Mason ' s

charity , more strongly marked among his own kindred and in his own nei ghbourhood , but yet widening out , and taking in , though in fainter circles , his whole country—the whole world . Masons as a body , however , have their own

charities , in which they unite , as Masons , to do good to their fellow-Masons and their kindred . We have our asylum for our aged brethren and their widows , we have our school for Masons ' daughters , and our school for Masons' sons . In

order to attract support to this last institution , the Lewis Lodge has been instituted . I am sure none of the brethren who have visited the school to-day , and seen the very excellent arrangements , can fail to feel that such an institution ought to be

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supported liberally . Having only just returned from the East , I have had no opportunity of seeing it until to-day , and , though my expectations had been much raised by what I had heard and read , they were far surpassed ; and I will conclude by

expressing my earnest hope that the Lewis Lodge will be found to be a powerful auxiliary to the Boys' School .

The Order Of St. John.

THE ORDER OF ST . JOHN .

NOTES BY A NOVICE . ( Continued from page 122 . ) The guardian of the Holy Sepulchre , at Jerusalem , has always preserved the privilege of creating Knights of the Order , and two or three English Boman Catholic gentlemen have recently obtained the time-honoured cross of the illustrious

Fraternity . It is almost needless to add , however , that the Masonic Knights disclaim all connection with the Latin branch which acknowledges the authority of of the Soman pontiffs , by whose unjust decrees

the Order of the Holy Sepulchre was despoiled of its property , and became merged in the Order of St . John . The number of English Knights of the Holy Sepulchre does not exceed five-and-twenty , of

whom Lord Kenlis is the present chief , bnt the re-constitution of the Order upon a more extended basis , and one involving the promotion of various useful and laudable objects , is now , we believe , engaging the attention and consideration of the heads of the Patriarchal Council of England .

Ee ver ting to the Order of St . John , it may not be out of place to notice that a convivial society , styling themselves " Knights of St . John , " existed for many years , and , up to a 2 'ecent period , * at the Old Jerusalem Tavern , St . John ' s Gate ,

Clerkenwell , a house that is well known to antiquaries as a relic of the ancient priory of the veritable Order . But the most successful attempt to re-establish the Order of St . John upon a footing in some degree worthy of its mediasval renown was made

in 1834 , when Sir Eobert Pate , aided by several gentlemen of rank and benevolent ideas , obtained a formal authority from the Continental Knights , and revived the British Laugue of the Order . Since that period the English branch has undergone various changes and vicissitudes , and it is