"The end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned (1 Tim. i. 5). "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. And now abideth faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these is charity" (1 Cor. xiii. 1-13). Charity or brotherly love is a grace of the heart, continually manifesting or uttering itself in the words and actions of life, governing a man's whole conduct towards all with whom he is, however variously, brought into contact in the world, and specially finding expression in deeds of kindness towards those with whom he is most nearly associated by any tie; as, in the Masonic Order, towards those whom he recognises as his brethren. The parable of the Good Samaritan affords an admirable illustration of the law of charity, in its extension to those who are not connected by any near tie, nay, in its overleaping the bounds erected by diversity of race, of nationality, and of religion, with all the old hereditary prejudices and antipathies springing out of them. "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Him, saying,

Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said, unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he, answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus, answering, said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee. Which now of these, thinkest thou, was neighbour to him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise" (Luke x. 25-37).

In this passage of Scripture we have first the great law of love or charity stated in its perfect fulness, the law which every good man strives to obey and which the principle of grace infused into his heart inclines him to obey, but by the keeping of which no man can be justified before God, because no one is able to keep it perfectly. And then, when the man, "willing to justify himself," but taking no notice of that first great part of the law which relates to the love of God, asked, with regard to the second part of it, the question "Who is my neighbour?" our Lord answered him, meeting him on his own ground, by a parable of exquisite simplicity and beauty, but such as

could not fail to excite astonishment in the mind of a Jew, accustomed to regard all Samaritans with abhorrence, and to esteem it as even a right thing and a consequence of right religious feeling to do so. And what a picture is presented to us in the parable! The heartlessness of the Jewish priest and Levite, notwithstanding their high religious profession, towards the poor man who had fallen among thieves, maltreated, and left half dead on the wayside. The kindness of the Samaritan towards one whom he might have been expected to regard with the hostile feeling of longinherited prejudice, and in whom also he could not but recognise a member of the race by whom he and his were hated and despised. It is an admirable exhibition which this parable affords of the universal obligation of the law of charity towards all our fellow-men.

To illustrate further the law of charity, as taught in the Word of God, and thence received into the Masonic system, every part of which is irradiated with the bright light of that word, one passage may be quoted from the Mosaic law. "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring him back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldst forbear to help him; thou shalt surely help with him" (Ex. xxiii. 4, 5). No feeling of hostility, no resentment of wrong was to be allowed to prevail against the great law of charity, or to prevent the forthgoing of that grace in the way appropriate to the occasion.

Faith, hope, and charity are the three principal graces of the spiritual life, "but the greatest of these is charity" (1 Cor. xiii. 13). Faith will give place to sight; hope will be swallowed up in fruition; but charity is to abide for ever. Where there is no need for relief any more, no need for compassion any more, in that land of which "the inhabitants shall no more say, I am sick, for the people that dwell there shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isa. xxxiii. 24), brotherly love shall still remain, in more intimate relation if possible than here with the love of God,

uniting the whole of His blessed family-multitudes of all kindreds, and tongues, and peoples, and nations in unbroken harmony, and ministering to their perpetual joy.

This subject might be prosecuted at greater length in connection with the present symbol; but it will recur again especially when we come to speak of the symbolic figure of charity, familiar to every Freemason.

It is to be observed of all these working tools that in their symbolic use they teach, in different ways, very much the same lessons. The great principles of morality, as well as the great truths of religion, although few and simple, are capable of being set forth in a great variety of lights and by a great variety of symbols. The correspondence in the teaching of so many of the symbols of Freemasonry may thus be regarded as proving its truth, whilst the variety of the symbols gives them greater impressiveness, and tends to increase their usefulness. We find the gauge, the gavel, the chisel, the square, the level, and the plumb all teaching us substantially the same lessons. But we are all the better for their various teaching. One may be more deeply impressed by one symbol than another, or by one lesson more than another. But if the desired result is attained, it is enough.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

MASONIC SYMBOLS.-ROUGH ASHLAR AND SMOOTH ASHLAR.

THE rough ashlar or unhewn block of stone, is an emblem of man in his natural state, with all his faults unremoved, with capacity for improvement, but as yet unimproved by the use of any means. The perfect ashlar, smoothed and squared by the hands of the workman, fitted for its place in the building, is contrasted with this as the symbol of the man of culture and education, from whose heart religion has expelled unholy passions, and whose life exhibits the beauties of virtue, a living stone in the Temple of God. The subject is one which it is most interesting and profitable to contemplate. Reflecting on man in a rude and savage state, uneducated, ignorant, destitute of religion, with evil passons unrestrained, and, therefore, increasing in their power, proud, cruel, treacherous, continually seeking the gratification of the animal appetites, and thus continually plunging into the worst excesses and debasements of vice, we cannot but be humbled,-for such must we also have been but for the blessings which it has pleased God to bestow upon us, the blessings of light and knowledge, the revelation which He has made to us of Himself, of His holy law, and of the way of salvation; the opportunities which He has given us of acquiring those arts and sciences which, next to religion, are worthy of the highest place in our esteem, and in the cultivation of which men are themselves cultivated, refined, and elevated. Gratitude is called forth, and a desire is awakened for further improvement, for the still better polishing of the stone, the development of still latent beauty. And every true Mason must rejoice, not only in