Year: 1873

ed to regard as 1.-The inestimable
gift of God to man. given to us
to be the rule and guide of our
faith and practice. What antagon-
ism, we would therefore ask, can by
any possibility exist between an in
stitution whose fundamental prin-
ciples are brotherly love, reIef, and
truth, and the system of even Chris
tianity, the advent of whose found
er on earth was lauded by q heaven.
ly choir, proclaiming sspeace on
earth and goodwill toward mani"
Surely in this respect, at least,
there is an identity Of object, where
by each may claim the sympathy
and co operation of the other; and
Masonry and Religion, whether of
the old or new dispensation, hand
in hand, may traverse the world,
ministering to the wants, mitiga-
ting the sorrows, and assuaging
the grief of the poor of frail hu-
manity.


Masonry endeavors sto make the
crooked ways straight and rough
places smooth;" and thus prepare
the way for religion, by teaching
man to subdue his unruly passions,
to have Faith in God, Hope in i'm.
mortality, and Charity to all man
kind and to discharge his duty to
God, his neighbor, and himself"


The absolute exclusion of females
from the Masonic Institution is an
other matter of complaint, and re
mains to be answered. That wo-
man is not permitted to participate
in our rites and ceremonies is most
true; but it is not because Masons
deem her unfaithful or unworthy,
or deny her the mind to under
stand, or the heart to appreciate
or principles; but simply because,
by the very organization of-Mason-
ry, man can alone fulfill the duties
it inculcates, or perform the labor
it enjoins.


Speculative Masonry is but an
application of Operative Masonry
to moral and intellectual purposes.
Operative Masons wrought at the
construction of the Temple at Je-
rusalem, while Speculative Masons
are engaged in the erection of
more eternal ediice-the temple of
the mind. They employed their
implements for purely mechanical
purposes. We use them symbolical-
ly, with more exalted designs
Thus, in oil our emblems. our Ian
guage, and our rites, there is q
beautiful exemplifcation, and ap-
plication of the rules of Operative
Masonry, as it was exercised at the
building of the Temple; and as
King Solomon employed in the
construction of that Temple only
hale and hearty men and cunning
workmen, SO we, in imitation Of
that great examplar, demand. as
indispensable prerequisites to adj
mission to our Fraternity, that the
candidate ''shall be o man free born,
of good report, of lawful age and
in possession of all his physical
faculties, as well as of his mental,
that he may be capable of perform.
ing such work as the Master may
assign him.


Hence, it must be apparent that
their admission into q society of
men and Brothers. fraternity
would be attended by singular
anomaly. As they wrought not at
the Temple, neither can they work
with us. But Masons love and
cherish them none the less. Ono
of the holiest of our mystic rites
inculcates o reverence for the wild
ow, and pity for the widows son.
The wife, the mother, the sister,
and the daughter of Mason, exer-
cisea peculiar claim upon each
Freemason's heart and affections.
And while he knew that woman's
smile, like the mild beams of an
April sun, reflects a brighter splen-
dor on tho light of prosperity, and
warns with a grateful glow the
dark chilliness of adversely, we re-
gret not the less deeply, because
unavailingly, that no ray of that
sun can illumine the recesses of q
Masonic lodge, and call our weary
workmen from labor to refresh
ment.