FREEMASONRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1346, 15 February 1881, Page 3

FREEMASONRY.

Freemason rt is an institution whose doctrines have decended from those i ancient, mysterious societies that; extend away back into the past, It is intended by its symbolic rites and ceremonies to represent th.B great truths which are the Light of the World. It is true that men may pass through these rites, as they pass through the world itself, and never see their sacred symbolism. But that is the fault of the man, and not of the institution. Freemasonry, righthly regarded and wisely used, is a store-house of spiritual instruction. It presents a picture of Man from the beginning, when he knocks at the door of the lodge in darkness and in bondage, unto the end of the journey of Life, when he comes to see the light of tbo Sheckinah in the Holy of Holies, and to know the real character of God by learning the Ineffable Name of the great "I AM." There are three stages of this journey, because each stage represents the work of opening and cultivating one of the three degrees in Man. First, as an Entered Apprentice, we come to receive our instructions from the Master. Then we are what Jesus, at the beginning, called His disciples — servants only. Here we learn the truth which, if we practibe it, Rets ub iree. If we learn to subdue our passions, and thus prepare the way of the Lord, we aie admitted to an inferior degree. We pass from the outer porch of the temple into the middle chamber. We come now into a higher degree of right and liberty.We work no longer from simple obedience ; we are Fellow-Craftsmen, even with the Master. We are animated by a love of the Truth itself, which we begin to understand. By perseverance in doing what the Truth teaches, our inmost hearts are opened up. We pa&s through the veil, and by the trials which are necessary in order to remove all our evils and make us like the pure in heart, who alone can see God, we are raised into the Holy of Holies, where we are no longer regarded as servants, but where the Lord, our Master, takes us by the hand and clasps us to His bosom, and calls us Friends. "We are acknowledged as Master workmen, able to present our entire nature, body, mind, and boul, as perfect stones, marked and fit for the Builder's use, who, as the Great Architect of the Universe, takes us each in due time and puts us in the proper place in the great Temple of the Heavens. Freemasonary teaches us all this, and more. The lessons of its symbolism can never bo exhausted, because they involve lesions of eternity. The unity of God, the glory and perfection of His Holy Name, the necessity of Man preparing himself to partake of the Divine charact tor, the duty of obedience, of faith, of hope, and of charity, are all involved therein. By these studies we may best unfold ana illustrate the glorious tenets of our profession, we may best admonish ourselves and each other to be more faithful in our work, and wo may gain the true understanding of the real character of our beloved Institution.— The Wnrdai.

Mr Watson of Blackford, and Mr Forbes Gordon of Rayne, have given their tenants the benefits of the Ground Game Act. In Wurtemborg there have been recently founded a class of Schools, open only during the winter months, and intended for the practical education of the daughters of small farmers and peasants in cooking, washing, house cleaning, medicine, &c. The system, is said to bo working admirably, and to be effectiug a revolution in the condition of the peasantry. Among a herd of Irish cattle imported from Waterford for Bristol a serions outbreak of foot-j>nd-mouth disease has occurred, and fears are entertained that the infection will spread, as the herd was offered for sale in Bristol market.

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