This argument is too obvious to be overlooked, too apparent to be neglected, too valuable to be despised. From our example the world may learn what great ends may be accomplished where a body of men unite, heart and hand, to promote a beneficent object. Accordingly, our charitable institutions are numerous and effective, for charity forms the basis of our glorious Order.

There was an excellent custom in Lincolnshire some years ago—and I regret much that it has been discontinued, although it affords me great pleasure to reflect that it is still practised in many other provinceswhich had the effect of promoting the general interests of morality and religion through the influence of masonic example. I need not say that I refer to the annual custom of assembling all the lodges in the province alternately at the principal towns, and going in public procession to church, for the purpose of displaying a sense of gratitude and piety to God by offering up mutual prayers and thanksgivings, and advocating the cause of virtue and benevolence by an exposition from the pulpit on some of the numerous moral subjects which distinguish the private lectures of the lodge. This custom brought the brethren into periodical communication with each other, and not only cemented old friendships, but formed new ones; thus extending the county acquaintance, and promoting brotherly love and social feeling amongst those, who might have remained strangers to each other till the day of their death; which is no slight advantage, because nothing can serve more strongly to cement the sacred ties of morality and virtue, than such an interchange of fraternal affection and good will. Besides, this admirable custom frequently generates a friendship which becomes mutually beneficial: old acquaintances are enabled to meet and renew those courtesies which time and distance had thrown into abeyance; and on such occasions the heart and the tongue were found, as our motto predicates, to unite in promoting each other's welfare, and rejoice in each other's prosperity.

The exclusion of females from such celebrations has been considered the pet objection against the sociality of the Order ; it may not therefore be amiss to observe in this place, that the argument is extended beyond its legitimate application. It is well known that on all public occasions ladies are admitted to the ceremonial; and in ancient times it was customary to present distinguished females with roses and gloves, as a delicate compliment to their innocence and purity. In 1845 a remarkable instance of this custom occurred at a grand re-union and festival of the masonic Order at Kingston, Canada, where the emblematical roses and gloves were presented to several ladies; and to show the real estimation with which Freemasonry clothes the female character, I subjoin, from the report in Moore's Magazine, the address which was made when Mrs. Mackenzie Frazer was introduced on the platform. "The Worshipful Master descended from the throne, and said—' High born and excellent lady, the brethren of the most ancient of all societies, who, while they pursue in silence and seclusion the unvarying tenor of their way, forget not the claims of your sex for a single moment; and looking to the approval of woman as a guiding star, feel themselves peculiarly gratified in seeing you within this mystic circle of Freemasons, whose hearts are ever open and ever ready to acknowledge that to woman alone man owes the brightest portions of his character and his felicity. In the name of Solomon I present you, lady, with the rose of beauty, and the spotless white gloves of innocence. Wear both, for of both are you worthy. Colonel Mackenzie Frazer, on the part of Mrs. F., briefly replied; and

the rose of beauty and gloves of innocence were placed upon a pedestal, covered with a beautifully embroidered white satin cloth, and the oldest Mason offered them on a crimson velvet cushion." After this, let no one say that Masons neglect to pay due honour to female virtue and excellence.

The public observe with great curiosity all these reciprocal acts of mutual love and esteem, and prize them accordingly. And as example is better even than precept, they will endeavour to imitate them, each in his own circle of acquaintance; and thus Freemasonry becomes a vehicle of incalculable benefit to those who have not received initiation into its mysteries.

What was said of the early Christians may be also said of us." It is inconceivable what unremitting diligence the Christians use to succour one another, since they have abandoned our religion (these are the words of a pagan writer) to adore a crucified man, Their teachers have acquired the wonderful art of persuading them that they are all brothers, insomuch that the whole of their possessions are given up for the general welfare. Nothing has contributed more to the progress of the Christian superstition than their attention to the poor and friendless; for they have hospitals and asylums for indigence and infirmity in every city; and it is no small ground of reproach to us, that we should be so glaringly deficient in these things, whilst the Galileans cherish and relieve not only the wretched of their own communion, but likewise of ours."

A remarkable peculiarity of Freemasonry is, that it does not court popularity; which may be one reason. why it has become so highly esteemed in modern times. All our proceedings are carried on with the simple and exclusive design of working out its principles for our own mental improvement and happiness, both temporal and eternal. "We trace wisdom and follow virtue," that we may be happy ourselves and communicate happiness to others; but with no end in view which is connected with the applause of men. We aim at the cultivation of peace and harmony-peace on earth, and goodwill towards men-and our progress in their attainment is marked and attested by the flourishing state of our lodges, and the respect which is universally conceded, as if by common consent, to the name and character of a Mason.

We look upon ourselves as one great family, however we may be diversified by climate, education, or religion, which make no difference in the application of our principles, united as we are by an indissoluble bond to promote the welfare of each other, and associated for the noble purpose of improving the moral and social condition of mankind. And in this place I cannot resist the impulse of quoting a passage from the Suffolk Rector's "Stray Leaves," it applies so well to the subject in hand.-The members of a Freemasons' lodge had solicited the Rev. Mr. Gresham for the use of his church for an anniversary sermon. After many objections on his part had been ably refuted by the deputation, he at length said— "I am hostile to you because you combine.

The banker now fired his broadside- "We do. We are as a city at unity in itself. We form a band of united brethren; bound by one solemn obligation, stringent upon all, from the highest to the lowest. And the object of our combination? boundless charity and untiring benevolence. We must be charitable and kindly affectioned to all; but more especially to our brethren. With them we are ever to sympathize readily, and their necessities to succour cheerfully. Respect are we to have none, either as to colour, creed, or country. And yet is our charity

VOL. VI.

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to be neither indiscriminate, wasteful, nor heedless. We are to prefer the worthy brother, and to reject the worthless. And our warrant for so doing is His command who has said, thou shalt open thine hand wide to thy brother, and to the poor, and to the needy in thy land." "The latter remark none can gainsay," said the vicar coldly; "and thus, I believe, our interview terminates."

The deputation retired desperately chagrined. The church was closed against them. The new lodge was opened, but there was no public procession and no sermon. To me, lightly and carelessly as I then thought of the fraternity, there seemed much that was inexplicable in the rebuff which it sustained. Here was Mr. Gresham, a conscientious and wellintentioned man, who lamented Sunday after Sunday, the prevalence of sorrow, care, and suffering around him; who spoke, with tears in his eyes, of the apathy of the rich and the endurance of the poor; who deplored the selfishness of the age; who averred, bitterly and repeatedly, that all sought their own-here was he, withstanding to his utmost a brotherhood who declared, and none contradicted them, that their leading object was to relieve distress and sorrow. Of him they seek an audience; when gained, they use it to request the use of his pulpit, with a view of making their principles better known; of effacing some erroneous impressions afloat respecting them; in other words, of strengthening their cause.

That cause they maintain to be identical with disinterested benevolence and brotherly love.

And shall such a cause remain any longer a doubtful question of right and wrong? Shall its light be hidden under a bushel? Or shall that glorious moral force which, like the sun in the firmament of heaven enlightens and invigorates the nations of the earth-shall the real source of that noble principle by which society is so highly exalted in our own times, still remain concealed-or shall " its light shine before men to the glory of our Father which is in heaven?"

These observations will aptly apply to the Masonry of the eighteenth century; and the same may be said of the fraternity as was said by heathen nations about the primitive Christians—" See how these Masons love another!"

THE FREEMASONS' LEXICON.

(Continued from page 26.)

Schröpfer Johann.-John Schrôpfer was born at Nûrnburg. In 1759 he came to Leipzic, and in 1768 established himself in a coffee-house, and procured a quantity of masonic, Rosicrucian, and magical books; those works, which few men can understand, turned his brain entirely, especially as he was quite destitute of scholastic knowledge; nevertheless, sanguine in all his undertakings, he made such use of them as enabled him to form a so-called lodge, in which the highest degrees of wisdom and folly were thoroughly blended together. His only object by so doing was to make money to improve his financial condition. Ignorant travellers to the Leipzic mess, both Masons and non-Masons, were his principal dupes. In his assemblies his chief boast was, that he alone possessed the great secret of Freemasonry, and that, on the contrary,

the greatest number of the German Freemasons knew nothing, learned nothing, and could only remain clinging to the outside forms; that he, on the contrary, as an anointed priest (for such he gave himself out), could prove the immortality of the soul, had power over the spirits of the air, who were compelled to appear at his command and obey his will, by which means he knew the present, the past, and the future. It was principally in pretending to raise spirits that his so-called Masonry consisted; yet by this means he deceived several eminent men; others, again, quickly discovered the impostor; his spirits were formed of flesh and blood; but before the candidates for initiation were permitted to see them, they were compelled to drink a quantity of punch and other heating drinks. Nearly every one of the initiated was ashamed to confess that he had been deceived, and by this means Schrôpfer was enabled to carry on those foolish exhibitions for a considerable period. On this business he travelled into Frankfort-on-Main, Brunswick, and other places, having appointed a deputy for Leipzic during his absence. On his return he appeared in a French uniform, and reported that upon his journey he had been so fortunate as to discover that he was a natural son of one of the princes of the blood royal of France, and that his proper name was the Baron von Steinbach; that he had already legitimized himself, and had received a captain's commission in a German regiment in the French service, and would take possession of his estates in a short time; he nevertheless re- commenced his so-called Masonry and magical arts. In August, 1774, he made a journey into Dresden, in a French uniform, where he received a note from the French ambassador, desiring him to legitimize himself. The contents of this letter must not have pleased him, for he travelled back to Leipzic in all haste: and when he heard, in October, that a French nobleman had arrived from Dresden, he invited some of his most trusty disciples to an exhibition in the open air on the next morning. On the 8th October, 1774, at break of day, he led them to a small wood, called the Rosenthal, where he divided them into two parties at the Lazaretto, retired behind a tree and shot himself, in the thirty-fifth year of his corrupt life.

Schubart von Kleefeldt. Johann Christian, born in Teitz, 24th February, 1734, and died 24th April, 1787, a privy councillor of Cobourg-Saalfeld, and knight of the holy Roman empire. He distinguished himself in Freemasonry through his union with the Baron von Hund, and by the important assistance he gave in introducing the system of the Strict Observance. At the end of the seven years' war, in which he had been, as a French commissariat, he purchased several estates in the neighbourhood of Teitz, having been enabled to do so by a rich marriage; he here devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, especially to the cultivation of clover, upon which subject he wrote several works, that were very successful, and from this cause he received from the Roman emperor the title of Von Kleefeld.*

Schurz. Apron.—An apron is given to an operative Mason as a real necessary article, to a Freemason only as a symbol. If the apron of an operative Mason becomes dirty, this is mostly a sign of his praise-worthy industry; but when the Freemason does not keep himself morally pure in all his actions he stains the pure white of his apron to his own disgrace. A masonic apron is made of common white leather, and no brother is allowed to appear in a lodge without one; it is intended to

* Literally, Baron of Cloverfield.

remind him of purity of mind and morals, white amongst the ancients being considered as an emblem of purity of soul. It is well known that formerly none but those of mature age were baptized, and they had to be dressed in white, to show that they had laid aside the lusts of the flesh. Those brethren who prove by their active benevolence and industry that they are worthy receive promotion in the Order, and their aprons have proper decorations for each degree

He

Schweden. Sweden.-Freemasonry has here received uninterrupted protection, and the brethren are held in the highest respect. The Order has distinguished itself by its benevolence to the public, of which the Orphan-house supported by it in Stockholm since 1753 affords the best proof. There is a Grand Lodge in Stockholm, and in the country there are a number of St. John's lodges, which work according to an old and much respected ritual. King Gustavus III., who was murdered in 1792, was an active member of the Order. On his birth, in 1746, the Order caused a medal to be struck; and the late King Charles XIII. was, as Duke of Sûdermannland, for a long time Grand Master. was installed into this high office on the 15th March, 1780, when King Gustavus III., who was present at the ceremony, gave to the new Grand Master an ermine mantle, at the same time he assured the Grand Lodge of his protection by a diploma drawn out by himself. There was a medal struck upon this occasion also. On the 26th March, 1803, Gustavus IV. published a decree, subjecting all the secret societies which were in the kingdom to the surveillance of the police; but at the end of the order it is said "The Freemasons, who are under the especial protection of the king, are alone exempted from this police inspection and general order." Still more remarkable is the order of knighthood founded by Charles XIII. at Stockholm, 27th May, 1811. The cross of the order has in its centre a white enamelled ball, with a double united cypher C, and the number XIII. On the other side of the ball is a black enamelled masonic triangle, with a small gold ring, within which is the letter B; the four arms of the cross are formed of rubies, with facettes and gold rings. The cross is suspended below a gold crown by a watered fire-coloured ribbon round the neck. In the introduction to the statutes it is said, in the name of the king, that those who exercise virtue in private deserve a public mark of approbation, and then it goes on to state:-" We at least cannot but choose to recall to our most gracious favour, amongst those who exercise it (virtue), an ancient and honourable Swedish society, at the head of which we ourselves have stood, and whose exertions to promote the welfare of mankind we have endeavoured to encourage, promote, and extend, by this means assuring to ourselves, and to our successors upon the Swedish throne, the active co-operation of its members in promoting true religion, patriotism, benevolence, and every other virtue among mankind. As a proof of our gracious favour to this society, we do hereby declare and command, that its chief officers, to the number which we shall determine, shall in future openly wear the symbol, which is amongst themselves the distinguishing mark of the highest dignity, and of our perfect confidence; and we hereby declare, that in future they are and shall form a public order of knighthood, known by the name of the Order of Charles XIII., of which order we are Grand Master." The king further says, that he has appointed his son, Charles John, to assist him in leading those with whom he has so long associated as a brother, and deputes him to protect and continue the order he has founded. The number of the knights is fixed at thirty, besides the princes of the blood