conciliation in 1814. An old Masonic formula in my possession records the following questions and answers:- "What was the last sign which Moses brought before Pharaoh? He caused Darkness to be spread over the land of Egypt; and that darkness was the forerunner of death and destruction to Pharaoh and his host. In like manner the darkness over the land of Judea at the death of our blessed Saviour proved to be the forerunning sign of the dissolution of the Jewish polity. And at the consummation of all sublunary things and the resurrection of the dead, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. Why did the Most High appear to the Hebrews in the form of a Pillar of Cloud? It was to show that the laws and ceremonies were given to them in types of darkness till the true light should come out of the heavenly Zion to take the veil away from our dark minds, that the night of ceremonies might be abolished, and the true light shine in our hearts."

The light of a Master Mason is, therefore, described as darkness visible, and expresses the gloom which rests on the prospect of futurity. It symbolizes the darkness of death, or that mysterious veil which human reason cannot penetrate unless assisted by the light which is from above. It is our duty, therefore, in the unity of brotherly love, to perform our allotted task while it is yet day; and listen to the voice of revelation which bears witness that in this perishable frame resides a vital and immortal principle to inspire within our bosoms a holy confidence that the LORD OF LIFE will enable us to

trample the king of terrors beneath our feet, and lift up our eyes to the bright Morning Star, whose rising brings peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient of the human race.

The legend of the third degree typifies in a remarkable and effective manner a doctrine of the greatest importance, and was adopted by our ancient Brethren to establish the most awful truth connected with human salvation,-THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY; and our transatlantic Brethren have constructed a compound symbol as a pictorial representation of this doctrine. It consists of a beautiful virgin standing before a broken column, as an emblem of the expert architect H A B, placed on a platform of three steps to indicate the three stages of human life, with a cup in her left hand signifying Faith, a sprig of cassia in her right pointing to heaven, as an emblem of Hope, and before her is the Book of Life to represent the resurrection, or the triumph of faith over death and the grave. Behind her stands Time, with his usual attributes of the scythe and hour-glass, playing with her flowing ringlets, as a significant token how speedily they will be discoloured by the snows of age. The allegory is intended to remind us of the precarious state of our existence in the present world; and an intelligent Master will improve the illustration by comparisons that speak to the conscience of the newly raised brother in the expressive language of the prophet Amos,-" Prepare to meet your God.”

cr

Our traditional Grand Master, David, taught the awful truth that "the life of man is but as grass;

and although he may for a short period flourish like a flower of the field, yet, as soon as the blighting wind of disease and death passeth over it, it is gone, and the place thereof knoweth it no more." Such is the sublime language of Masonry; and the apothegm is too valuable to be lost. Other Landmarks may be tampered with, but this never. It is the voice of nature; and every succeeding generation bears an unerring testimony to its truth, whether it be referred to animate or inanimate matter. As, for instance, in the dead season of the year the leaves fall from the trees, and everything that was green and flourishing in the summer decays and withers away. A striking symbol of the life of man! And the comparison that the legend of the third degree institutes from the consideration of these organic changes, is this: that there is no greater difference between a blade of grass when it is green and when it is dry, than there is in a human and reasonable being when living and when dead.

If we compare the eye of a healthy man, bright, sparkling, instinct with life, animation, and sensual enjoyment, with the same organ when the man is dead, it will appear so dull, so ghastly, and so fearful, that we are almost afraid to look at it; and for this reason the eyes of a corpse are always closed as soon as life is extinct. Hence the striking conformity between a living and a dead man on the one hand, and beautiful flowers in summer and winter on the other. In the bright season of the year, the fields, the gardens, the meadows, are spangled with resplen

dent flowers, the very air is scented with their fragrance. Where are they in winter? Where shall we look for these gaudy blossoms? Can we find them? Alas! they have vanished away, like the symbolical corpse of our lamented Grand Master. They have been cast forth and trodden underfoot by the beasts of the field; and their only use is, to be deposited in the earth and turn to rottenness and corruption.

Our reflections, then, as Masons, when we view the allegorical proceedings of the third degree, ought to lead us to this inevitable conclusion, that we also -and we know not how soon-having flourished like a flower, may be suddenly brought down into the dust of death, and be deposited in our final narrow resting-place, never again to return to our family and friends. They may lament our loss; they may wish for our presence; but that will be as totally impossible as it is to restore a dead leaf to its original substance.

But perhaps it may be urged that, although we cannot restore a decayed branch after it has fallen from the tree, yet the parent stem will bloom again, the foliage will return, and summer will clothe the world with a new vegetation. This is the very doctrine that is inculcated in the third degree of Masonry. The leaves and flowers will be restored by the summer's sun, and our bodies will also rise with a renewed life at the resurrection of the dead. But how different, how infinitely superior, will our resurrection be to the renewal of plants and flowers ? The flower sheds its seed upon the ground and a new

plant arises; a flower of the self-same kind puts forth its buds and blossoms, yields its seed, and again perishes. But in the resurrection of the dead it is not so. The body indeed is "sown in corruption, but it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, but it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, but it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body," like the glorious hierarchies of heaven.

The meaning of all this is, that when the body of a man revives in the bright morning of the resurrection, typified in the third degree by its significant legend, it will never again die like the evanescent vegetation of plants, but will live for ever with a great accession of glory and brightness. Hence it ought to be the chief business of every free and accepted Mason in this life so to prepare himself, by the practice of faith, and hope, and charity, that he may inherit an eternity of happiness in another and a better world. Let, therefore, the remembrance of the sprig of cassia, which bloomed over the grave of him who parted with his life rather than his honour should be tarnished, stimulate us to imitate his example; that the fragrance of virtue may bloom over our mortal lives, and, like the beautiful rose of Sharon, in conjunction with the lily of the valley, improve our immortal part, when death, the grand leveller of all human greatness, hath drawn his sable curtain round us; and when his last arrow shall have deen despatched, his bow broken, and the archangel proclaims that time shall be no more, we may receive an immortal inheritance in those