FREEMASONRY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), 25 March 1881, Page 3

FREEMASONRY.

Freemasonry is an institution whose dectrines have descended from those ancient, mysterious societies that extend away back into the past. It is extended by its symbolic rites and ceremonies to represent the 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, rightly regarded and wisely used, is a store-house of spiritual instruction. It presents a picture of Man from the beginining, 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 the Sheckinah in the Holy of Holies, and to know the real character of G-od 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 desciples —servants only. Here we learn the truth which, if we practice it, sets us free. If we learn to subdue our pasions, and thus prepare the way of the Lord, we are 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. Wo work no longer from simple obedienco ; wo are Fellow-Craftsmen, even with tho Master. Wo arc animated by a love of the Truth itself, which wo begin to understand. By perseverance in doing what the Truth teaches, our inmost hearts nro opened up. We pass through tho veil, and by the trials which are necessary in order to remove all our evils and make us like tho pure in heart, who alone can see God, woaro raised into the Holy of Holies, where we arc no longer regarded as servants, but whero the Lord, our Master, takes us by the hand and clasps us to His bosom, and calls us Friends. We arc acknowledged as Master workmen, able to present our entire nature, body, mind, and soul, as perfect stones, marked and fit for the Builder's use, who, as the Great Architect of tho Universe, takes us each in due time and puts us in tho proper place in the great Tcmplo of tho Heavens.

Freemasonry teaches us all this, and more. Tho lessons of symbolism can never be exhausted, because they involve lessons of eternity. The unity of Cod, the glory and perfection of His Holy Name, the,necessity of Man preparing himself to partake of the Divine character, tho duty of obedience, of faith, of hope, and of charity, are oil involved therein. By these studies we may best unfold and illustrate the glorious tenets of our profession, we may

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 Warden.