also solemnly aver, that no person is admitted to the Institution, without first being made acquainted with the nature of the obligations which he will be required to incur and assume.

"Freemasonry secures its members in the freedom of thought and of speech, and permits each and every one to act according to the dictates of his own conscience in matters of religion, and of his personal preferences in matters of politics. It neither knows, nor does it assume to inflict upon its erring members, however wide may be their aberrations from duty, any penalties or punishments other than Admonition, Suspension, and Expulsion.

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"The obligations of the Institution require of its members a strict obedience to the laws of God and man. So far from being bound by any engagements inconsistent with the happiness and prosperity of the nation, every citizen, who becomes a Mason, is doubly bound to be true to his God, his country, and his fellow-men. In the language of the Ancient Constitutions" of the Order, which are printed and open for public inspection, and which are used as text books in all our Lodges, he is required to keep and obey the moral law, to be a quiet and peaceable citizen, true to his government and just to his country." "Masonry disdains the making of proselytes. She opens the portals of her asylum to those only who seek admission, with the recommendation of character unspotted by immorality and vice. She simply requires of the candidate his assent to one great fundamental religious truth,—THE EXISTENCE AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD, and a practical acknowledgment of those infallible doctrines for the government of life, which are written by the finger of God on the heart of man.*

"Entertaining such sentiments, as Masons, as Citizens, as Christians, and as moral men, and deeply impressed with the conviction that the Masonic Institution has been, and may continue to be, productive of great good to their fellow-men; and having received the laws of the Society, and its accumulated funds, in sacred trust for charitable purposes," the undersigned can neither renounce nor abandon it.

6

We most cordially unite with our brethren of Massachusetts, in the declaration and hope, that, should the people of this country become so infatuated as to deprive Masons of their civil rights, in violation of the written constitutions and the wholesome spirit of just laws and free government, a vast majority of the Fraternity will still remain firm, confiding in God and the rectitude of their intentions for consolation under the trials to which they may be exposed.'"

* What do our friends of the new test say to this?

EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS OF BRO. SAMUEL LAWRENCE AT THE LAYING OF A CORNER STONE.*

WHEN we read in Ancient story of the grand and solemn ceremonial of the religious mysteries of the nations now past away—ancient Inde, and Egypt, and Greece, and Rome-however we may bemoan the darkness visible in them all, we cannot yet but respect them as the signs left of the feeling of the nations after TRUTH in those dim old times. Nay, we own to a sense of "dim, religious awe" even, as we almost feel the pulse of those dead nations beat in earnest response to the ever-recurring enquiry of Man concerning Truth-God—Eternity, and his future destiny. For every ceremony is but the outward sign of the inner thought-the visible embodiment of the invisible soul. But if the soul within be dark, grand though the signs of its existence and energy may be, they must, nevertheless, partake of its nature, and be dark also. Hence the darkness that beclouds those ancient ceremonials. The light that was in them was dim, and the outward sign must needs be dark though, doubtless, could we read their significance, as they were read by those who witnessed, and more plainly by those who explained them, we might discover in them more light than to us now appears for we are assured that God has, at no time, left himself without witness in the hearts of men.

It is the privilege of Freemasonry to be free from this darkness which shrouds, and seems inherent in the ceremonies of those nations to which I have alluded. Being itself the Science of Light, there is no darkness in it, but it dispenses light, with mild and steady ray, from every one of its ceremonies, public or private. Founded deep in the truths of the revealed word, it starts out on its sacred mission armed with all the wisdom of its founder, the wisest of men; whose wisdom was the direct gift of Heaven, and not the uncertain glimmering of human reason.

King of God's chosen people, Solomon impressed upon Freemasonry those customs which had received the sanction of the Great Jehovah himself. Among them there is, perhaps, none which more commends itself to our notice, and our imitation, than that of the dedication of houses to some special holy purpose, to which the ceremony of the laying of the Corner Stone is only the precursor and incipient stage. None can fail to be impressed with the solemn beauty of his own fervid invocation of the blessing of Jehovah at the dedication of the

From the Signet and Journal.

first Temple. We seem to stand, even now, before the presence of the glory of the Lord as we listen to the prayer which he prayed with outstretched hands before all the people-"if any man trespass against his neighbor-if Israel be smitten down before the enemy because of their sins-when heaven is shut up, and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee-if there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands towards this house; then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.)"

Tracing our custom to this source, we find that our ancient Israelitish Brethren were wont to dedicate not only their cities, and walls, (Neh. xii. 27,) and gates, and public religious buildings, but even their private dwellings, to the service of God, invoking upon them his protection and blessing. In Deuteronomy we learn there was an exemption from military service, even in time of war, for him who had built a new house, and had not yet dedicated it, (Deut. xx. 5) ; and among the Psalms of King David we have one on the special occasion of the dedication of his house, (Psa. xxx.) Moses dedicated the Tabernacle in the wilderness, (Exod. xl., Num. vii.); Solomon the first Temple, (1 Kings, viii.); Zerubbabel and the children of the captivity," the second Temple, (Ezra vi. 16, 17); and Herod, King of the Jews, the third Temple, (Jos. Antiq. xv. ii. 6.)

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The ceremony then, of dedicating to his service, and invoking the blessing of God upon the building, is not only of ancient date, but hath holy warrant for its observance. To begin the building, therefore, on the foundation of a "tried Corner Stone," adjusted and tried with tools of the temporal workman here, and blessed with the blessing of the G. A. O. T. U. himself, cannot be, in any view, an idle ceremony. It hath more in it to commend it to our admiration and reverence, than the mere antiquity of its custom. From it we may all, if we will, derive some profit.

Let us for a moment inquire into its significance. And first, we must note the symbolism of its being the foundation Stone of the building. Hence the necessity of its being "well formed, true and

trusty." For if the foundation be faulty, the whole building to be raised thereon, will be in danger of falling into ruin. Now, in this requirement, the Mason sees the symbol of himself at his initiation. He is then taught to lay with due care the foundation Stone of his moral and Masonic edifice, resting it on the Foundation Stone of Freemasonry itself, which is God. He is advised with words of tender admonition, to try himself with the Plumb-line of Rectitude, and the Square of Virtue, divesting himself of all vices of disposition and unevennesses of character, with the Gavel of Truth, adding virtue to virtue, in the gradual erection of his spiritual house, with the strong cement of Brotherly love, till he become a Temple unto his God-a Temple whose Cape-Stone shall be placed with shouting and with praise by the assembled hosts in the Celestial Lodge above. And his Brethren and the world will try him too. The foundation Stone must be a tried Stone. As the inspired Prophet sung-" Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a Stone, a tried Stone-a precious Corner Stone, a sure foundation."-Is. xxviii, 16.

But the Corner Stone must be Square and strong-a perfect Square and of durable material. It must be well formed, true and Square, or the superstructure would soon partake of its unevenness, and coming out of level, would crumble and fall. It must be trusty and strong or else it would not be equal to bear the weight of the whole building which is to rest upon it. So in the spiritual edifice of the individual Mason, if the foundation be faulty, the character built upon it will always be faulty too.

And here, let none sneer at this comparison and analogy of material things with the immaterial soul. All external nature-all matter is the symbolic language of Deity, and the soul of Man is part and parcel of his nature. And which of us can say how near and intimate the connection between ourselves and earth, with her rocks and trees, her fountains and her flowers, forever changing, forever renewing, under the mighty hand of the Great Builder? Believe me, my friends, there is more truth than fancy in the sentiment which calls earth "our Mother Earth." From her bosom unceasingly we come, and to it unceasingly return.

But, in our ceremony, we pour on the Corner Stone of the building, when we have laid it, the sacred elements of Corn, Wine, and Oil, thereby consecrating it to the use for which it is set apart. And this ceremony hath its meaning too. 'Wherefore, my Brethren," saith an eloquent Brother, "do you carry Corn, Wine and Oil in your pro

cessions, but to remind you, that in the pilgrimage of human life, you are to impart a portion of your bread to feed the hungry, to send a cup of your Wine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the healing Oil of your consolation into the wounds which sickness hath made in the bodies, or affliction rent in the hearts of your fellow-travellers?"

Corn, among Masons, is the emblem of nourishment and plentyWine, of refreshment, and Oil, of consolation and joy-and together, they are used to remind us of the manifold blessings which our Heavenly Father, with unstinted love, showers on all who walk before Him in a consistent discharge of the duties they owe to Him, their neighbor and themselves. These blessings we have this day invoked on all who are engaged in the work of erecting this building, to be set apart and consecrate to the worship of him, the Father of Lights, and giver of every good gift. May the work prosper in the hands of the workmen unto its final completion, and long stand a monument to the zeal and liberality of this community, and their devotion to the service of our God.

From this brief explanation of the ceremony you have witnessed this day, my friends, you will perceive that our ceremonies are not idle, unmeaning mummeries, but that they have an inner significancy to make them worthy of perpetuation. Freemasonry, in its objects, as well as its antiquity, is deserving of your reverence. Its teachings, all its ceremonies, look to the glory of the GREAT I AM. As the most grateful means of advancing His glory here, it busies itself with the care of the wants of His suffering children-caring for their physical wants-caring for their intellectual wants-and caring finally for their spiritual wants. On this principle it has constituted its Degrees. It impresses on its Sons the great duty of humility, and the evil of pride the duty of labor, and the evil of idleness-the duty of love to God, and the evil of forgetfulness of His claims and neglect of obedience to His laws and commandments. As a necessary and natural consequence of love to God, the Father, it enforces its next great tenet of love to all mankind, His children.

What is the use of Masonry? is often asked. The answer can be easily given. It is to promote charity and brotherly love, peace and good will. Such has been and is its mission.